Carinus 4, Prime Kindergarten

'Dark. Why is it so dark?' Came the first thought she has ever had in her life. The total absence of light was startling to say the least, but the sound of all encompassing roaring formed by the thousands of voices coming from beyond was far more terrifying. It was so terrifying in fact, that she was almost convinced not to crawl out from the… 'exit hole', as her pre-programmed knowledge seemed to tell her the place she was currently in was called.

Ultimately however, it was that same programming which in the end coaxed her forwards into the crowd gathered in front of her. Her hands slowly swept the area in an attempt to feel her way around so she could orient herself and find which way was actually the front. After all, it would be embarrassing if the first thing an aristocrat such as herself ended up doing was walking face first into a slab of rock.

'That is where the walls are then.' She noted, now knowing where the sides were. The last thing left to do was separate the front from the back. Thankfully for her, the exit hole was still freshly exploded, causing a temperature difference within as air rushed in to cool the area. With that in mind she stuck her arms onto the rock in one direction before facing the other way and doing the same, then upon judging which way was colder she took her first few tentative steps into the world.

However, at the same moment she felt the dawn light shining down on her form for the first time, the cheers from the crowd that had come to watch her emergence began to slowly dissipate into an uneasy silence, only for it to build up into a malignant breeze of wispy gossiping moments later. At that, she suddenly became incredibly self-conscious, the same unease she felt when she emerged seeping into her as she questioned what had brought about such a response.

"What happened to her face!" An aghast sounding person called out.

"Is that her eye?" This person's tone was more grim, as they knew full well the fate for gems such as her.

"Maybe that is why she took so long to walk out." Came the dismissive, almost rude words of another gem who decided to give their thoughts on the situation.

Then the realisation hit her like a fist. She could feel light bearing down on her form, but she could not see anything aside from an endless sea of black. Prompted by the comments made by the audience she lifted her hair to feel her face, yet instead of a soft eyelid, her fingers instead made contact with the smooth hardened surface of her gemstone which had seemingly taken its place.

"Alright alright! Move on back to your posts, we'll handle this." A gruff voice shouted out to the crowd to suppress them. The massive thumps of that group's heavy footfalls gradually grew louder as their sources approached where she stood, and as they did she felt her self-preservation instincts kick in, urging her to run away. However fear anchored her to ground, fear of both those that were coming to take her and fear of the increased punishment she would face should she try to avoid justice.

"You're coming with us." Came the same gravelly voice again as she was mildly whiplashed when two large hands clamped down on her arms, the sheer force of the brutes' actions nearly shoving her over. These were quartzes, amethysts specifically if she had to guess considering she was of the blue court. Soon after she felt herself almost be dragged along the ground as the far larger amethysts moved along with all speed, the relatively small legs underneath her dress struggling to keep pace.

Stars knows where they would take her, but she knew deep down it was nowhere good.

#####

"Wait. If her deformity left her to be technically classed as an off colour, then how come Sapphire was not..." Bolt stopped himself and paused to think of a more polite way to word his question.

"Shattered on the spot?" Ammolite plainly finished his sentence without showing the turmoil underneath her visage of muted anger. "Mere convenience." She spat, the words feeling like poison as they left her mouth. Though she could not physically see it, she knew the child perched on her shoulders was - if a bit apprehensive to ask outright - still curious to hear more. As a result she obliged, if only to warn him the Empire was never to be trusted by those in their position.

"The resource shortages the Empire was experiencing because of the failure of the Earth colonisation effort meant that a gem as valuable as a sapphire simply could not be thrown away. Especially in Sapphire's case where despite having a major flaw, her prophetic abilities were proven to still be intact. That was probably the one of the only things that saved her from being shattered and recycled." She subtly vented her frustrations to him. To know the only reason she was alive was because she was seen as little else than a resource was much to her distaste.

When she was telling him this, Ammolite almost moved to stop herself from saying any further out of instinct, but continued speaking anyway. This was no longer the complex world of court politics Sapphire had to endure, where the slightest amount of information you overshared with another could be used against you in some convoluted way later. This was the curiousity of someone who's only motivation was to know more - to learn and nothing beyond that.

She found this aspect of Bolt's character refreshing, hee was someone who she could confide in and not worry about him whispering her deepest secrets to others who may use it for their own ends. His innocent curiousity was also endearing in a way, as she didn't even need to see him or use her precognition to know that he was already putting on that face. It was one where his expression was near neutral aside from partially puckered lips and wide attentive eyes that had the uncanny ability to wordlessly tug at the person currently telling a story for more details whenever he directly looked at them.

"Where did the amethysts take Sapphire after that?" He finally mustered the courage to ask Ammolite to continue onto what was likely some of her more repressed memories.

"To Blue Diamond."

#####

Carinus 4-1, Diamond base

The warp pad in the base sung its short tune as it activated with a concentrated flash of pale blue light, depositing Sapphire and her jailers within a structure located on the planet's moon. Barely being given a breather, she was forced to be on the move again when the amethysts jerked her forwards as they made their way through the base.

Two of them remained by her side with their hands solidly gripping her arms while she could hear a set of footsteps both behind and in front of her, signifying there were four of them around her in total. Though the brutish soldiers mistreated her to no end, she made no protests against them in the forlorn hope of a more lenient sentence being given to her for cooperating. Even then, there was little that a noble who was scarcely built for war could do against four dedicated soldiers.

The system containing Carinus 4 may have only been recently colonised barely over four centuries ago, but the diamond base was already extensive in its size, which was owed to the thousands of years of expertise gathered by its overseer. Murals utilising soft colours and curved lines along with elegantly designed statues placed on the edges of every hall emanated culture and power in equal with their presence. Not that Sapphire could see any of it however.

She underwent further bouts of whiplash as the amethysts turned each corner into more long hallways when they navigated the complex. Here, the only things she could hear were the rhythmic stomps of the soldiers' feet or the occasional refined steps of another aristocrat high ranking enough to be allowed access to the area. Though much to her chagrin, those types of steps would often also be accompanied with a sneer directed towards her as they passed by.

It was only a matter of time before she was made to ascend up a set of stairs to be judged and meet her fate inside the main chamber of the diamond base, which was located on a tower extending far above the main building. As they arrived into the throne room of the base Sapphire felt herself being chucked down onto hard ground, the sounds of her struggling to stand back upright being ignored by those around her.

'What have I done to deserve this?' She thought to herself, letting out a resigned sigh as she dusted herself and got back on her feet. This may be the end of her very short life, and if that was the case, then she would at least die with some scrap of dignity.

"My diamond!" She heard the amethysts shout out in unison.

"I have already received the reports, you may leave now. Except you." Ordered a smooth and melodic, yet authoritative voice that caused Sapphire's programming to force her to feel an overwhelming level of ingrained fear and respect once it recognised who was present in front of her.

"Yes my diamond!" Came an almost robotic reply from them that preluded the group marching out of the room. When the door hissed open then slammed behind her, she knew that she was now alone in a room with no one else but a diamond and likely their pearl, and as a flawed gem, this was perhaps the singular most utterly petrifying company she could ever ask for.

"Sapphire, Facet-1H3M, Cut-2TF." Blue Diamond summoned her attention. "I want you to attempt to peer into the future. Once you do, tell me what you see." Though her tone was an eerie, nearly reassuring calm, Sapphire knew that this was far from the truth. Her life hung in the balance here, and it was up to the events that would occur in the next few minutes for that to be tipped in her favour.

Little did she know however, the odds were heavily stacked against her. Blue Diamond's confidence in the capabilities of her kind had been shaken by previous events, especially by the grand failure of that sapphire to predict the course of an event vital in ending the rebellion. That same sapphire who then dared to turn traitorous and run away into Earth's wilds with an errant ruby before joining the Crystal Gems. Several hundreds years may have fallen to the past since then, but for a being as ancient and immortal as a diamond, that meant it may as well have occurred yesterday. As such, she was barely in the mood for failure.

"O- of course. My diamond." She stuttered out and hastily tacked on the honorary title as she did a shaky version of the salute, her anxiety still ever present within. Sapphire took a deep breath to dissipate the ice that was forming around where she stood as a result of her fear and to steady herself before she went silent for a time. Her normally blackened vision now emerged into a landscape formed of naught else except from an unsettling dark blue background and plains, with an enormous slow flowing river of nondescript smooth sky blue liquid snaking through the ground.

She followed the stream down to see where it would lead her. After having done so for some time she eventually saw the stream split into two, then looking upwards she saw it split again into four, then eight. Over and over did it split, some sections appearing as if they were large rapids leading into lakes and waterfalls while others were the size of mere rivulets that were barely able to fill the creeks and puddles they led to.

Choosing at random she picked one of the medium sized streams and followed it until she arrived at a sheltered pond. When she peered into the liquid that pooled there, her mind was flooded near the point of sensory overload with smells, sounds and even sights too. Initially shocked, she quickly got over it and began to sort the excess information into something more perceivable so she may be able to gather a presentable vision and depart from here.

"What did you see?" The cold, hardened inquisitiveness of Blue Diamond snapped Sapphire out of the near trance like state she had entered in a desperate attempt to find a vision that was good enough to warrant preserving her life.

"I foresee that in five months from now one of the specimens in-" She went quiet as she tried to find the correct term to describe the location her vision took place in. "-the human zoo giving life to five humans all at once. This will be something never before documented and it will be studied, but ultimately it is of minimal consequence to the Empire as a whole." She said, mentioning an event that was far too specific to be falsified and near enough in the future that she would not have to languish in captivity for centuries.

'If I am to be recycled, then I may as well not delay the inevitable.' Sapphire thought as she bemoaned her fate.

"...Very well." Blue Diamond said with a slow, almost imperceptible nod. "For the time being you are to remain here under my sight until the time your vision comes to pass exactly as described." She finished with veiled harshness as she waved her giant hand at the console in front of her, the wind formed by the action causing Sapphire's dress to sway in its wake.

A square section of the left wall in the room glowed a blinding blue before it jutted out with unshaped light that soon solidified into an opened prison cell that was the size needed to imprison most regular gems. The insides were barebones, without even a single object that Sapphire could have used to at least used for sitting being contained within.

"Pearl, escort her into the cell." She ordered the meek gem that had so far stood silently at the foot of her throne. "Do not resist them." She then commanded Sapphire, who's programming forcibly caused her to obey without reservation despite her trying to fight off these instincts. She may not have had eyes to see with, but the small gem could feel the unshakeable icy glare of the titanic matriarch when it bore into the very core of her being.

"Yes my diamond." Came the timid whisper from Blue Pearl, who saluted and curtsied before she walked off the sides and went down the smaller set of stairs meant for her use that lay beside the main steps which lead up towards the command throne, as she was far more miniscule than the one she served.

"Y- yes, my diamond." Sapphire at last said, keen to not draw the ire of her creator. When she heard the dainty footsteps of Blue Pearl as they approached she raised one of her hands up so that the diamond's servant may take it and guide her into imprisonment.

The moment Sapphire entered the cell, Blue Pearl stepped out and she could hear the sound of buttons being pressed before another noise came. It was one of the arcing electricity that sounded out the activation of the destabilisation field in front, now making the cell a fully enclosed box where there was to be no escape from within.

Now the only way she would be let out is if she should be granted amnesty, or be consigned to execution.

#####

"Disgusting." Bolt commented on Sapphire's treatment. "For how mighty I've been told the diamonds are, they seem to show plenty of cowardice." He said after taking a pause to think over what he had been told.

"How so?" Ammolite asked. It was her turn to be curious as she wondered what part of the story prompted him to say that since she had been, for the most part, trying to paint Blue Diamond as cold and invincible.

"Programming someone to be able to instinctively know what to do so they can complete their work unhindered is understandable, but to program them to be compulsively loyal? Pathetic. Do they not have enough confidence in their own skills as leaders that they place purpose-built shackles on their subjects' minds instead?" He took his turn to share his frustrations too.

"Though in the end, look at what good that did them, they still lost one of the precious members of their authority to an uprising. If they intended to make every being in their 'perfect' empire a thrall, then they should at least have done it more thoroughly or not at all." Bolt said, sounding as if he had nearly entered a monologue.

"I suppose that is one way of interpreting their methods." Ammolite replied slowly. Despite having been the one to suffer a diamond's wrath, she was left somewhat dumbstruck by the sheer raw callousness that came from him.

"Interpreting? I think it was more an assessment of their obvious failures." He replied with contempt. "But perhaps I should be glad the diamonds did such a shale job, otherwise I would never have met you or the others." He added, his voice growing gentler at the end of the rant as he began to subconsciously hug Ammolite's forehead tighter, now no longer only to cling onto her as she moved, but also in genuine childlike affection.

"Either that, or we were simply stronger than the shackles that they created to bind us." Ammolite said with a prideful smirk.

"You know, that may just be the better explanation." Bolt playfully agreed with an encouraging giggle, raising his head up so she could hear his compliment better before going into quiet rumination.

"I know that Sapphire did survive, else you would not be here talking to me today. But that does bring up the question, how does Pearl eventually factor into all of this?" He asked.

"Like I said earlier, mere convenience. Sapphire may have been blind, though because of Pink Diamond's shattering what remained of her court was split up among Blue and Yellow Diamond seeing as it would have been such a waste to recycle so many already manufactured gems who were otherwise still fit for duty." Ammolite recalled.

"And as luck would have it, one of the gems that were redirected to the blue court was none other than a lone, ownerless pink pearl."

#####

Carinus 4, Main warp hub

On the northern pole of the colony sat a massive structure, and though it was not tall by any stretch of the imagination, it was wide enough to cover an area similar to an entire city sector. White crystalline ground stretched nearly to the horizon, the only other features upon it being hundreds of tiered circular ziggurats with warp pads, made of the same white crystalline material, that jutted up above the floors on each tier.

And on the centre was a single, enormous and ornate pad, studded with evenly spaced geometrically shaped crystal structures on its outer perimeter that glowed brilliantly with all colours of the rainbow when the light struck it. Meanwhile on its flanks were two life size depictions of Blue Diamond on podiums, posed with her face staring up to the heavens on either side - the constructs demanding absolute respect from any onlooker with their striking presence.

Now this was what a galaxy warp was supposed to look like. This was a place truly worthy of its name, its grandeur reflecting the greatness of its task as it ferried people to other pads, both in domestic destinations within the same system along with flinging them across to planets that were potentially opposites to eachother in the galaxy in mere minutes at most. These constructs meant logistics were near a non-issue, and so they allowed the Empire to project their influence across the stars themselves with trivial ease.

Because of its sheer importance, the area would normally be chiming with the signature ring of warp pad activations at a nigh constant state, which signalled that tens of thousands gems would be moving to and fro as they made their way to wherever they were called to be. Starships too should have been filling the sky, with fiery trails coming from their engines whilst they flew in the high atmosphere and waited to land at port.

But today the area seemed practically deserted. Only a small host of the nobility crowded around the main warp pad in neat rows, all of them doing their best to maintain the thin veneer of perfection as they stood still in their silent sorrowful vigil, their elaborately formed courtly dresses lazily swaying in the wind as they did.

This mood seemed to be shared across the whole colony, as nearly every other gem had gone into a state of mourning once the news of Pink Diamond's shattering being confirmed had reached the colony - the sheer shock of a diamond being broken having brought everything to a standstill. Even these high ranking gems would have taken the time off to grieve too had it not been for the order for them to come here.

Suddenly, a massive pillar of ghostly blue light erupted from the central warp pad. Upon its dissipation it revealed a small battalion composed of the stout red bodies of ruby guards standing in formation. Upon disembarking from the pad a blue garnet stepped out from the crowd to direct the rubies to follow her so that they may receive a new post to work at and barracks to operate from.

Instantly they complied and marched in line behind her until they reached one of the smaller domestic warp pads that would bring them to their new posts. When the tramp of feet was silenced by another chime coming from behind, the rest of the aristocrats were once again left in silence as they awaited the next batch of gems for them to take charge of to arrive.

Though among the group was one who was not meant to lead, but to be led.

Sapphire stood there too, at the back of the group hanging her head low in shame as to not attract any attention to her production flaw, and in doing so she avoided the usual signs of disapproval that usually came with any recognition of it. Barely a few days ago her life had been spared, if only just, when the Holly Blue Agate leading the human zoo confirmed with Blue Diamond that a human had indeed given life to five more all in the same event at the time Sapphire had prescribed.

The mix of circumstances - with the resource shortages, her own value and the sudden amount of unowned pearls due to their owners becoming casualties of the war meant that Blue Diamond had deemed it acceptable that she would be left alive - despite the usually damning manufacturing error she exhibited - and be given a pearl to act as her eyes so she would be able to perform her duties properly without walking into a wall half of the time.

This was also due to the fact that many of the elite from the other courts had so far mostly refused to take ownership of any gem from the pink pearl line, seeing them not only as hand-me-downs, but also because of the fact that they clashed with the neatly organised monochrome palettes they tried to achieve. Sapphire sighed as she realised the further belittling from her peers that would come because of her owning a pink pearl. Nevertheless, she had to take it on the chin if she wished to avoid the alternative.

Suddenly, the fret in her mind was silenced by another loud chime that came from in front of her, but in place of the raucous hardened march of rubies, there was instead a barely perceptible click-clack of low heeled shoes landing daintily on the solid floor that belonged to what she foresaw to be a small troupe of no more and no less than seventeen pearls.

One of these footsteps grew louder far quicker than the rest and it sounded as if it was coming from a source directly in front of her, which made Sapphire realise that the pearl reassigned to be her guide was already making their way over. Then just as the steps reached their peak volume, which admittedly was still ghostly quiet, they stopped.

"New owner recognised: Sapphire, Facet-1H3M, Cut-2TF." A smooth, yet nearly machine-like voice called out her designation as if reading from a pre-made script. "Greetings my Sapphire, I am here to serve as your personal pearl." Pearl announced as she finished with a bow, not that Sapphire could see any of it.

"I see..." Sapphire replied awkwardly, not knowing any other way to respond to her new servant's blank words.

"I also have a directive to act as your sight as you cannot see, do you wish for it to be performed?" She asked, causing Sapphire to inwardly wince at the irony of her previous choice of words.

"Yes, that would be commendable." She agreed, then upon the words being said Pearl shot her arm down and grabbed onto Sapphire's hand with a strange mechanical grace. While she had shocked the noblewoman with the suddenness of the action, her grasp had left her otherwise unharmed with how oddly gentle it was.

"Take me to the 240th floor of the spire on sector-3 in City-9." Sapphire finally requested to be brought to her first proper assignment after an uncomfortably long silence, not realising that she needed to command the pearl before they would do most things.

"As you wish my Sapphire. Moving to the closest domestic warp pad now." Pearl intoned with a nod, as if Sapphire would be able to see it. When they lurched forwards to move, she could not help but be reminded of the last time when someone else had taken her away, brutish soldiers surrounding her in every direction to haul her as if she was nothing more than scrap meant to be recycled.

Yet this was nothing like that. If anything, there was something oddly reassuring about being taken somewhere by this Pearl since there was nothing to fear from them. No reprisal, no insults, no violence - only the calm quiet of an attendant that was both dedicated to her well being and happy to be able to work for somebody. Though not exactly the most cordial company to be around, she was still the first friendly figure who Sapphire had been with, and at that she was grateful.

As she sensed the changes in elevation and the feel of the ground beneath her feet, she braced herself as a chime sang out from all around her, signalling the creation of a pillar of light that marked her departure. Her destination was on the same planet, however it may as well have been in another world of its own. It was a world abound with intrigue, abound with plots, abound with gossip.

At that moment, she was sent away headfirst into the cutthroat world of aristocratic politics.

#####

"Let me guess, every other upper crust she met later wished her disgraced or dead?" Bolt asked rhetorically, as if the answer was already obvious to him. He was understandably irritated by the bloated state of leadership, even more so by the pretentious etiquette they then utilised to cast a gleaming illusion to cover their sly and corrupted power struggles.

"Considering the Empire's attitudes I can not blame you for thinking that way, but strangely enough the answer is no." Ammolite corrected.

"Really? What happened to her instead then?"

"Sapphire's flaw ostracised her from the rest of the court and made it hard for her to make any allies, which meant no one saw her as a direct threat to their power. Though just because she was not the target of their schemes certainly did not mean she was left alone entirely." She said, sounding despondent as her memories came flooding back.

"Wait, so was she still caught up in their schemes, but left at their mercy as a pawn or tool?" Bolt guessed, his tone becoming sympathetic as he heard of more of her plight.

"Perceptive." She said with a shudder of breath, secondhand misery from her past building up in her chest. "One by one the other elites would form an invisible queue to slander and manipulate Sapphire through whatever method they felt like using. Sapphire was tough and she resisted them, though she could only ever keep it up for so long before giving in. Day after day this would happen, and they would only leave her alone once they got what they wanted from her." She said, taking a break and drawing a short breath before continuing.

"To them, she was not the venerated and sometimes feared seers most Sapphires were, but a mere fortune teller that told them who would plot against them next, or who they should move to ally with in the future. Then there was Pearl. Oh, Pearl could only ever watch in the background, never being able to voice her thoughts against those above her, even if her owner was being threatened by them." Came the rest of the answer as she gulped some air in an attempt to quash the discomfort within.

"Nine hundred years. Nine hundred whole damn years we had to endure that." She whispered to herself, all of four her fists clenching in equal measures of rage and grief.

"Ammolite, are you sure you want to continue speaking? No one is forcing you to carry on if you do not want to." Bolt's hushed, comforting voice informed her as he softly laid his cheek back down on her head.

He laid this way for a time, slowly, almost intuitively, moving his neck in a slight circular motion to massage the soft baby fat on his cheeks on her out of an automatic attempt to try and console the fusion. Bolt felt himself rising up and down lazily as Ammolite at last took a deep inhale and exhale to relieve her anguish, wiping away the lone tear that leaked out as she did.

Though this was not a tear birthed from sadness, on the contrary, it was a subtle joyful response to the kind action of the precious youth roosting on her shoulders. While he knew it not, ever since the off colours took him in after his enigmatic pod had landed at their feet, his influence made them happier than they had ever felt in centuries. Even when he was tiny enough to cradle and all he could do was coo, laugh and wiggle around, the unconditional love he showed since day one to the band of outcasts that no one else ever did meant everything to them.

'Do not ever let anybody tell you any different Bolt.'

"What? And stop just as we get to the best part?" She replied, her spirit now sounding unexpectedly upbeat. "Now we arrive at the end of Sapphire and Pearl's journey..." Ammolite smiled as one of the only fond memories of her components' time as subjects of the Empire resurfaced in her mind.

"And the beginning of mine."

A/N:

There may be a ton of scene changes in this chapter and the next because of the flashback format because I was trying to find a way of retelling the past without having Ammolite just describing it while still allowing her and Bolt to interact since that seemed a lot more interesting to write.