When Holly Blue reformed she found herself in a make-shift cave.
It was incredibly dark and deep. The entire atmosphere reminded her of when she first emerged from the ground.
The only hint that the Agate was not alone were the drones of heavy breathing, a slight glimmer of red coming from a nearby gemstone's owner, and the fact that the cave in question was SWELTERING in temperature.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"
Holly Blue immediately regretted her outburst of frustration.
Apparently, the cave in question was HUGE, and completely filled to the brim with sleeping Rubies- HUNDREDS of them.
The little soldiers woke up with a start! Many of them had been sleeping in piles- every soldier with a built in gemstone flashlight immediately turned to the Agate- temporarily blinding her.
"Hey! You woke us up!"
"Yeah!"
"Pipe down newby!"
"The blue one reformed!"
Holly Blue was baffled! Apparently, these soldiers now saw her as one of their own- which would explain why her gemstone hadn't been smashed to bits.
"What the-?! I am NOT a lowly Ruby like YOU! I am a prestige Agate! I am ABOVE you! You must do what I say!"
"Pfffft!"
"Yeah right!"
"Your just a different colored Ruby!"
"-and tall!"
"You just like fighting- all of us do!"
"...But you lost!"
"She was the last one in the fight! She's in charge now!"
One of the Rubies pointed at another Ruby- still asleep- alone on a prominent rock in the cave. The flat rock was the highest in the massive room, and surrounded by various other rocks that were shiny and different interesting colors.
It was obvious that the pathetic pile of various rocks was meant to represent a throne of some-sort.
Holly Blue fumed in a rage. "THAT'S ENOUGH! YOU WILL ALL LISTEN TO ME OR I WILL REPORT THE LOT OF YOU TO THE DIAMONDS!"
The Rubies stared at Holly sarcastically.
"All the weird-colored Rubies ALWAYS say that!"
"YEAH!"
"You can't do it."
Holly Blue huffed! "OH YEAH?! WATCH ME! Where's your communication system?!"
"It's right here!" One of the Rubies dug under a pile of rocks, and lifted a partially-melted pile of shrapnel and wires. The soldier continued: "It only really does anything if you do this..."
To Holly's terror, the soldier proceeded to use a nearby rock to hit the machine- it emitted an odd groan as sparks flew from the thing.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STARS! STOP THAT!" Holly Blue panicked.
The Ruby stopped.
"By the Diamonds! What is wrong with all of you! Did a bolder crush your skulls?! ...Are you defective?!"
The single Ruby that had attempted to make the machine work for her new friend began to tear up with grief. "That- THAT was MEAN! That was a MEAN thing to say! I was jus- trying to HEEEEEEELPPPPPP!" As the small red Gem began to cry, her other friends attempted to comfort, and coax her into a better mood:
"I'm sure the Blue Ruby didn't mean it!"
"Yeah!"
"She just appeared today- she don't know any better! She's still dumb an' stuff!"
"Yeah!"
"Yeah...still dumb!"
"She doesn't know about feelings yet!"
The Agate's rage just increased ten fold with these comments. "STOP TALKING ABOUT ME LIKE I'M NOT HERE! ...AND YOU ARE THE IMBECILES! NOT ME!"
"Pipe down newby!"
"Yeah dumb-dumb!"
"Go back to sleep dumb-dumb!"
"If you cause any more trouble, you're gonna get poofed again!"
A few minutes went by, before the din settled and the Rubies began to sleep again.
Holly Blue knew only two things- she had to get off this planet, and she had to find a way for this massive barge of Ruby soldiers to respect her.