Based on the prompt: "Faded Blue Bloop meets Little Rebellions Bloop"

For those who don't know, Little Rebellions is a story by Completely Different, which explores the lives and problems of Homeworld Pearls. While familiarity helps, it doesn't need to be read to understand the following story; you just need to know it has a very different interpretation of Blue Pearl.

oOoOo

Counterpart

The chamber was dark, and cold, and silent, and filled with looming shadows.

Outside it was loud. Pearl could feel the vibrations through the floor— the shudder of explosions, the roar of flames, the panic of screams being cut off—

How many Gems were still standing?

Pearl shook her head. Couldn't think about that. Had to keep moving.

She went deeper and deeper into the darkness.

Her intel had been good. It was right where she'd been told it would be. A little thing, an antique. An hourglass, all fine silver metal that glowed dimly, its inside filled with sapphire dust…

Would it work?

Yes. It would. But there was a very good chance that it would work in the same way as a mass-driver bomb.

Pearl pressed her eyes closed. Could she really do this? There was a reason not even the Diamonds dared dabble with time travel. A single ill-placed change, and everything could become so, so much worse than you could possibly imagine.

Nothing can be worse than this.

Too many tortured. Too many shattered. Too many lost.

And it shouldn't have had to be. That was the worse part. The civil war had been brutal, but rebellion could have won. It nearly had.

But the Diamonds would not allow for that. So rather than lose, they had broken the board.

How many Gems were still standing? Surely no more than a hundred, in the whole galaxy...

Pearl could save all of them. Make it so it never happened.

An explosion nearly knocked her to her feet. The distant screaming grew louder.

She hardened her resolve. Her people were depending on her. She had to do this. There was no other option.

She held the hourglass to her chest, letting it touch her gem. She closed her eyes and thought: Change this. Rewrite this existence. Give me one where it didn't go wrong. Where I didn't lead us all to our own destruction. Where I can still make things better.

All noise cut out. All sight, all sensation. Except— except Pearl could still feel everything rushing past her, like she was moving at impossible speeds, yet floating in a void, winds sweeping past her, and through her, or her through them. She didn't seem to have a body or a form at all, she could see things, entire worlds, entire nebulae, entire galaxies, just for instants- could-have-beens and might-have-beens, too huge to comprehend, to grasp, to remember— It went on and on and on for eternity, and for no time at all and then—

— it stopped.

There was wind. A normal wind, soft and gentle, carrying a scent she vaguely remembered. There was light. Normal, simple light from a yellow sun. The ground under her feet was springy. There were sounds in the background, soft, sweet sounds, and the suddenness of it was shocking.

Slowly, gradually, Pearl began to recognise the things around her. Trees. Grass. Birds. Insects.

Earth?

She had not been on Earth in millennia, and certainly never alone in its wilderness. Thankfully, she did not have time to become overwhelmed before she saw something familiar, grounding.

Blue Diamond's Palanquin.

Pearl's relief was short-lived. If the Palanquin was here, then no doubt so was its owner. Straining her ears, Pearl could hear it: Blue Diamond's Song. It was strangely faint, but Pearl had spent her entire life in its presence, always wary of it, and it was unmistakeable.

It was accompanied by the sound of footsteps.

She had to get out of here.

In her hands was the hourglass- or the remains of it. Its bulb was broken. The stress of the reality alteration had clearly damaged it. Glass shards littered the grass below, and the sapphire dust was pouring out. Pearl frowned at it. Messy. Suspicious. But no time to clean or hide it.

On light feet, she headed for the treeline. Earth was good for hiding. It took her only moments to find a suitable bush to crouch behind, one which would block her from view, but still allow her to peer through the branches. It even offered enough cover to store the hourglass's remains in her gem.

Looking out through the leaves, a figure came into sight.

She was short, chubby, dressed in blue clothing of an unfamiliar style. At first, Pearl assumed her to be one of the Earth's dominant species, a human. But she had not survived so long by assuming, and when she paid closer attention— she noticed the figure was the source of Blue Diamond's Song.

Impossible.

But it wasn't. As the being bent down to inspect the sapphire dust, Pearl spotted a blue point of a gem sticking out from beneath the being's clothes. Blue Diamond's gem.

Pearl could have shook her head from confusion. What— what was this timeline? In this universe, had they found a way to trap Blue Diamond in a weak, ineffective body?

There wasn't any time to think this over, because Blue Diamond was now coming closer.

No chance to retreat deeper into the underbrush. Pearl was quiet, but she wasn't that quiet. Any movement would surely disturb the leaves, bushes, and sticks, drawing Blue Diamond even closer. It might make the bird chirping overhead take flight. So instead, Pearl took refuge where she always had: stillness.

It didn't work. Blue Diamond stepped into the undergrowth, pushed aside the bushes, and stared right up at her. "Pearl?"

Pearl said nothing. Not yet. Wait and see.

"What're you doing here?" Blue Diamond asked.

"Hiding."

Blue Diamond raised an eyebrow. "Hiding? From… what?"

Pearl pointed up to the singing bird.

"... why?"

"It frightened me."

Blue Diamond raised her eyebrows. "You're scared… of Nari?"

Nari. Perhaps a type of bird. Pearl nodded.

"O…kay. Well, Nari's not gonna hurt you. Why don't you come out?"

In her mind, Pearl was smiling. This strange Blue Diamond did not appear angry or suspicious at all. And of course, why would she? Pearls were so easily frightened, after all. Of course she'd gone hiding in the bushes.

It would be easy to slip into this timeline.

As Pearl stepped out of the bushes, Blue Diamond asked, "What's that blue stuff on the ground, d'you think?" pointing at the sapphire dust.

"I could not say," Pearl murmured, which was true enough.

This Blue Diamond was strange. She did not press about the sapphire dust, even though it should have been a fairly easy deduction to make. Instead she just shrugged, laid down on the grass some distance away, and asked Pearl to join her. Pearl complied. Blue Diamond took out a book and began to draw. She spoke very little, giving Pearl time to think, to observe her surroundings, and consider them. Had Blue Diamond returned to this planet to grieve? If so, she did not seem very sad. Perhaps things had gone very, very different in this timeline.

"What d'you think Pearl?" Blue Diamond asked, holding up the book she was drawing in. There was a quite-realistic picture of what appeared to be an extremely rudimentary wheeled vehicle.

Very different indeed.

"It is very nice, my Diamond."

Despite the compliment, Blue Diamond frowned. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by another voice.

"Steven! Lunch is prepared!"

The voice was a Pearl's voice.

Pearl turned towards it, because Blue Diamond had, and so it would not be seen as suspicious.

The Pearl coming out of the palanquin looked like her. Same hair, same color, same gem-placement.

This was not immediately shocking. There were many Pearls in the galaxies which had been modelled after her, by Gems emulating the fashion of their Diamond. Pearl herself had been an exact duplicate of an untold number of predecessors.

But then Pearl watched as her counterpart's mouth dropped open.

And she heard it.

It was like an echo- but no, echoes came after the original. This Song was playing in time with hers, like two instruments in such perfect harmony that you couldn't even determine the difference unless you focused on it.

This Pearl's song was the same as her own.

This Pearl was her.


If you're captured, reveal nothing.

If the rebellion had had formal rules, that would have been rule one. And Pearl would not betray it.

Blue Diamond and the Alternate Pearl interrogated her, and with every question, Pearl played dumb. Innocent. Confused.

"Where did you come from?"

The ground.

"Which Kindergarten?"

I do not know.

"Why were you spying on us?"

I was not spying.

"You were watching me from the bushes."

I was hiding. I was scared.

"But were you sent by Homeworld?"

Homeworld?

"Who's your owner?"

I have no owner.

This Blue Diamond continued to perplex. She did not get angry. As the interrogation went on, she wore an expression of increasing concern and confusion. Pearl did not trust this. Not for one moment. There was an angle there. A lie. A trap, a trick.

But she had her own tricks. It would only be a matter of time before Pearl found a way to escape. Blue Diamond had not hurt her, and neither had this Alternate Pearl, for all that she had brandished a knife. They underestimated her. As long as she had her body, she would be able to find a time when she wasn't under surveillance, a chance to run.

But then the Lapis Lazuli arrived, and held her in a bubble of water.

"I know you are lying," Alternate Pearl said, voice very soft. "No Kindergartens have been functional on Earth for millennia, and no Pearl farms were ever established here in the first place."

Pearl said nothing. This was all true. She had heard it all from overhearing her Diamonds' meetings.

She had realized, in the back of her mind, that Alternate Pearl must have too.

But she hadn't expected her counterpart to use it against her.

Alternate Pearl held the knife up and continued. "You were not made on this planet, which means you came here somehow. And somehow, you have my song. We will find out how, and why."

"Pearl," Blue Diamond said, tugging on Alternate Pearl's sheer skirt. "I think you're scaring her."

Alternate Pearl said nothing. Pearl knew she was staring at her through thick hair.

The questioning continued for some time. Eventually the Lazuli sighed. "We're not getting anything out of her." She shook her head. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe we should bring her over to Rose Quartz."

Rose Quartz? Pearl thought.

"Rose Quartz?" Blue Diamond echoed.

Lazuli shrugged. "The Crystal Gems have a way with runaway Gems."

The Crystal Gems.

Pearl did not believe it. Or she could not, until she was brought before rebel leader herself.

Had she betrayed the cause? Pearl wondered.

But no. There was no diamond emblem on her form, and in its place was that single, iconic star.

But still, Pearl did not trust her. For her entire life, silence had been her greatest protection, and it was not one that she would give up so easily.

Until another figure stepped out of the Crystal Gem base; a spear in one hand, an oblong white gem at her temple.

The Renegade.


Over five thousand years ago, Pearl was offered an outstretched hand and a choice.

In one lifetime, Pearl had looked away.

But in another, she had looked the Renegade in the eyes.

"You will need information from the inside. I can provide it."


That had been Pearl's life, during the War. To all appearances, a silent, dutiful figure, the perfect specimen. She was at her Diamond's side at all times, never speaking, always listening.

She found ways to smuggle her information out. Sometimes in person— exhilarating and terrifying treks into the Earthen landscape, stealing away on warp pads, sneaking between trees— a chance to surround herself with fellow rebels. More often, especially as the centuries wore on, through other messengers. Quietly exchanged whispers or holograms, maps exchanged in passing, a hand signal or brush of skin.

Pearl passed on everything she could. Battle plans, construction locations, Gem production numbers, weapon delivery dates, star maps, the rumors circulating around Homeworld. She listened out for sympathizers, and helped them escape or defect. She helped change the course of the rebellion. Battles were won on the details she supplied. She helped secure victory, secure the planet Earth!

And then, in a single flash of light, that victory had been stolen.


It could have ended there. Perhaps it should have.

Pearl had longed for it. Oh, so many times. It would have been easy. The rebellion had failed, and surely that was more than enough proof that Homeworld's ideals were the right ones. Every Gem a duty, every duty a Gem...

She could have been a Pearl again. She could have been a silent, dutiful figure, the perfect specimen.

But she'd decided to keep fighting.

It had been a long, slow, arduous progress. After the Crystal Gems' defeat, no one wanted to step out of line. Too much fear, too much uncertainty.

But Pearl had listened. She had schemed, and planned, and reached out. She'd helped smuggle defects to safety. Helped hide illicit fusions from discovery. Helped sway the outcome of trials by altering evidence.

Over the course of millennia, she'd built up a network. Another rebellion, seeping into the very foundation of Homeworld society, reaching out its tendrils, ready to pull it all down.

And they had.

They had.

But the Diamonds were not ones to accept defeat.

It had all fallen down. All of it.


So in one final, desperate move, Pearl had tried to repair all that had been broken.


Pearl told these Crystal Gems- these few miraculously surviving Crystal Gems. She told them everything, and eventually, they believed it.


Pearl figured out the events of the Alternate Pearl's life in bits and pieces, through implications and deductions.

She had rejected the Renegade's offer. She'd remained the perfect Pearl.

She had given the Crystal Gems no information, no battle plans, no supplies. The Crystal Gems had fought on despite that, and fought well.

But they had still lost.


"What was even the point?" Pearl wondered allowed one night, staring up at the stars. "All my spying, my scheming? It was all for naught."

"It wasn't," said the Renegade.

"Do not give me false flattery, Pearl. I can see quite plainly I mattered very little to your rebellion, and that I mattered too much to my own. What was the point, if all I did was lead my people to devastation?"

The Renegade did not answer. Merely looked away, her face grim.

Rose Quartz was the one who met Pearl's eyes. They were usually so light, so joyful, but just then, there were familiar shadows in their depths. She said, "The point was wetried."


Serving at Blue Diamond's side was one of tedium and monotony and inescapable sadness. It had worn away at Pearl, threatening to dissolve her into nothing.

Her rebellion was what she had clung to. It had been terrifying and stressful and painful, but it also had been glorious, and those emotions had burned in her core, completely and utterly hers.

Pearl wondered what had kept the Alternate Pearl going all those years, had kept herself from simply eroding away.


Pearl had fought and fought and fought for her independence from Blue Diamond, and in the end, never truly won it.

Alternate Pearl had never fought at all. But she hadn't needed to. Her Blue Diamond had just stepped away and let her go.

Pearl hadn't been sure what to make of Steven Universe, the bearer of the Blue Diamond gem. Even after being given the explanation, it had seemed too ludicrous to be true. Suspicion had burned within her.

"Are you certain we are safe around… him?" Pearl had asked the Renegade, tripping over the strange pronoun.

The Renegade waved the question away. "Safe enough."

That had reassured her somewhat. But the true reassurance had come from Steven Universe himself. Pearl had spent her entire life at Blue Diamond's side, and knew she was no actress. This hybrid did things she never would have. Spoke to animals. Spent hours playing games and drawing pictures. Said 'please' and 'thank you' and apologized if he hurt someone.

Pearl watched him carefully, at every opportunity she had. Watched him at lessons, carefully listening to Alternate Pearls words. Watched him tear up from a sun burn, and then giggle as he let Alternate Pearl rub a soothing cream on his back. Watched him wrap his arms around Alternate Pearl and bury his face into her waist.

It should have been a relief, to know there was no Blue Diamond left in this timeline, that she had been replaced with someone so much better.

But watching such moments simply filled Pearl with another emotion, nameless and dark and painful.


Pearl spent much of her time in meetings with the Crystal Gems. They were not war meetings, as such, since there was no war going on. But they had the same atmosphere.

It was an exchange of information. Pearl gave them everything she knew about modern Homeworld— its politics, its technology levels, its size, its weaknesses. Every single scrap of information the Crystal Gems might be able to use in the defense of their planet. The Crystal Gems, in turn, listened carefully to her tales of her own attempted rebellion, each win, each tie, and especially, each loss. They gave her new perspectives, insight into what went wrong, and how it could go better.

Pearl wasn't sure how much help either of them were to the other. After all, neither of them had been victorious. But it was all they had.

Never once did Pearl allow Steven Universe to sit in on the meetings. He may not have been Blue Diamond, but that did not mean she trusted him to know all her secrets and her tactics. Just in case.

She never let Alternate Pearl in either. Not when she'd surely just run and report everything she heard to her Owner.


Eventually the stories dried up, and there were no more discussions to be had.

Pearl found herself looking for ways to fill the time. The Renegade began to train her in combat— it was not a skill she'd ever had the opportunity to learn before. Garnet guided her in the basics of fusion. Rose Quartz invited her to help out in the gardens, tending to plants. Amethyst always encouraged her to 'lighten up', showing her around the planet and guiding her through human culture. Over time, Pearl improved at all of it.

It was enjoyable. Very much so. In fact, it was the most pleasant time she'd experienced in the entirety of her long life.

But it all felt aimless.


"I can give you a ship."

The words came so suddenly, so startling, that Pearl nearly punched the speaker in the face.

Instead, she grabbed a hold of herself. Forced her face back into neutrality. Looked at Alternate Pearl right in her hidden-eyes and said, in her softest, most polite voice, "Pardon?"

"I can give you a ship," Alternate Pearl repeated. "Blue Diamond left a number of Roaming Eyes for Steven's use."

"Why would you do that?"

"You do not want to be here."

Pearl said nothing.

"You try to hide it," said Alternate Pearl. "But I know what to look for. You're anxious. You want to return to Homeworld. Finish what you set out to do."

There was a long, long silence.

Finally, Pearl spoke. "Why do you care?"

"I—" began Alternate Pearl.

"You didn't care when the Renegade offered you a place in the rebellion," Pearl said, her voice rising for perhaps the first time in her entire life. "You evidently didn't care after the Crystal Gems fell. You didn't let yourself care! You were too scared! Too selfish!"

"Maybe," said Alternate Pearl. "But I didn't destroy our entire civilization."

Cold fury rushed through her, all the colder because she knew it was true.

"How do you know these things? Who told you?" Pearl certainly hadn't, after all. Had one of the Crystal Gems, after she'd deliberately asked them not to-

"No one," said Alternate Pearl. "I am not stupid. I have ears, I have eyes. I have basic common sense. I would never be foolish enough to meddle with time, not unless I was truly, truly desperate. It's a matter of simple deduction. The only thing that would drive you to it is if there was absolutely no other choice. You started a war that destroyed us all, and now you've come here to try and start it again."

"Then why help me go back?" Pearl demanded, the words coming out hot and loud.

"For now Earth is a safe haven," said Alternate Pearl, "but it will not be for forever. Homeworld will be expecting the Cluster to emerge, and when they come looking for it, they will find us. It is in all our interests that when the time comes, we have an ally on the inside."

So even now, that Alternate Pearl was still motivated out of fear and selfishness.

But was that so different from her? When the Renegade offered a hand to her, had her mind been filled with lofty ideals?

No. There had been fear— fear of Blue Diamond and her punishments, but fear too, of being away from her, lost in the wilderness of a strange planet. And there had been anger, too, and resentment, and the savage thought of the satisfaction she'd feel, if she took everything from the ones who owned her.

Pearl told her alternate self, "Very well. Give me the ship."

"I will," said Alternate Pearl, "if you promise me something in return."

Pearl balled her fists. She nearly snapped, That wasn't the deal!

But there had not been a deal. Alternate Pearl had simply said that she could provide a ship, not that she necessarily would.

A distant part of Pearl's mind appreciated this tactic. Get somebody to want something you could give, and then use that desire to control them. It was one she herself had utilised on some of the less willing rebellion members.

Most of her mind was simply infuriated.

She refused to let that irritation show. Pearl said, "Tell me what you want."

"To not harm Steven."

"As long as he has no intention of harming myself or my cause, I have no intention of harming him."

Alternate Pearl stepped forward, gave the smallest shake of her head. "That is not enough. You must ensure that in the chaos you will stir, he will not be caught in the crosshairs."

Pearl pressed her lips together. There was no promising that. This alternate self did not understand: on a scale as grand as revolution, the safety of any one individual did not matter. Even— or perhaps, especially— the 'child' of a Diamond.

But she wanted that ship.

"I shall do all that that I can to protect him."

"You had better," the Alternate Pearl said, and though those words were soft, they reverberated with something so cold and deadly, they hardly seemed to belong to someone so sweet and delicate. "If you make those same mistakes this time, you will be putting Steven in danger. If that happens, then you will not have a chance to escape again. Because I will find you first. And any pain that was inflicted on him, I will inflict upon you, three times over."

She could do it, Pearl realized. This other Pearl was her, and if Pearl herself was capable of it, then so was this reflection.

If the rebellion was what Pearl clung to, to keep herself whole, it seemed she had found what this Alternate Self's anchor.

And for a moment, she wondered— wondered what it would be like to care about a single individual so deeply, to care about a Diamond that deeply, to feel there was anyone deserving of such devotion—

But she pushed those thoughts away. They hardly mattered at the moment.

"I understand," Pearl said.

There was a silence as the Alternate Pearl surveyed her. "Then you can have your ship."


It was only a few short Earth days later when Pearl found herself in the cockpit, giving one last look over the equipment that would take her from the peaceful, wild beauty of Earth into the hostile, strict regime of Homeworld.

She could wait. There was nothing stopping her from taking a little more time, enjoying the freedom, the safety, a little longer. But no. Every moment she delayed, the more opportunities were lost. She would need to start reaching out to contacts, contacts who in this world, she'd never made. Build up a reservoir of informants, of safe houses, of intelligence. Begin to leverage the uncertainty that was no doubt brewing in Blue Diamond's absence.

"You do not need to go, if you don't want to," Rose Quartz said.

"But I do."

"It'll be dangerous— an unowned Pearl, you'll be so exposed—" the Renegade said.

"There are ways for a Pearl to blend in."

"Yo, are you sure we don't want us to come with ya? We can help keep ya safe!" Amethyst said.

"You would simply stand out."

"But when the time comes, if you call for our help, we'll come," Garnet said.

"That is appreciated."

Pearl had expected parting words from all of them. She had not expected Steven Universe to come too, hands buried deep in his pockets. After that first day, the two of them had barely exchanged a handful of words. The blue diamond gem was poking out, barely visible beneath his shirt.

"Be careful," he said. "Just— try not to get hurt."

"I will try," Pearl promised, her voice much softer than she had expected.

To her surprise, the hybrid rushed forward and gave her a brief hug, before quickly backing away.

His body had been surprisingly soft and warm.

Everyone gave their goodbyes then, and Pearl watched as they all left the ship, looking back over their shoulders at her. Eventually the only two remaining was Pearl, and her alternate self.

"Go well," Alternate Pearl said.

Pearl nodded.

Then she too left, and Pearl was left alone, to set off into the stars.