After Steven turned in for the night, Amethyst took the Yellow Diamond and her Pearl (and Peridot too) back to the Prime Kindergarten where she first emerged. Knowing that Lars mentioned meeting a whole bunch of Amethysts that came from the same Kindergarten, it made her want to cherish her memories of the Prime Kindergarten.
"I used to think this place was full of empty holes, but now it's like it's empty with holes which were once full!" said Amethyst in awe.
It was all a real eye-opener for the Yellow Diamond. This was what Peridot was talking about when she said the Earth should be preserved for its resources. The ground beneath her was bone dry, yet the dirt surrounding the area was moist like it should be. She looked at the thousands upon thousands of holes made by the gems that were created there. The injecting kept going long after Rose Quartz shattered the Pink Diamond, and then they stopped. This got the Yellow Diamond to thinking: during her last few years, the Pink Diamond grew a bit hesitant about the idea of setting up a Kindergarten on Earth. Rose Quartz was against the idea altogether, although it gave her Amethyst. So could it be that the Pink Diamond wanted Rose Quartz to shatter her? Did she sacrifice herself as an attempt to make the other Diamonds go away?
Point being, the Kindergarten drained the planet of potential life. Peridot could relate, having spent at least a month in a barn.
"This used to make sense to me," she lamented, "I thought life was generated in a Kindergarten. Formless, aimless energy channeled into new, useful gems...but life doesn't start in a Kindergarten. It ends here. I've gotten used to plants everywhere back at the barn. Bugs and breeze and sunshine... All of that has been sucked out of this place. It's with the Amethysts like you that were produced here, and now, this place is nothing but a miserable husk."
"What about that flower over there?" said Yellow's Pearl.
The Pearl pointed toward a single flower over by one of the Yellow Diamond's boots. It was a surprise to everyone there.
"WOW!" said Amethyst in awe, "I've been stuck here for five thousand years, and I've never seen anything like this!"
There was a good reason for this, and the Yellow Diamond was the first to figure it out.
"This can't be right..." she said, stepping on it.
"WHAT?!" yelled Peridot, "What did you do THAT for?"
Before anyone could answer, the ground began to shake. The flower began to rise up from the ground, only for Amethyst, Peridot and the Yellows to realize...
...that it wasn't a flower after all. It was another corrupted gem-monster-thing! Even the Yellow Diamond herself was scared, and even started to retreat with the others! But being the Diamond she was, she knew what do to. She stopped after getting a good distance away from the gem monster, and, raising her hands up into the air, sent out a series of electric, lightning-style jolts, directed at the gem-monster-until it was poofed back into its gem.
"WOAH!" said Amethyst, "Just like the Emperor in Return of the Jedi!"
"I've seen that five times now," added Peridot, "Although Empire Strikes Back was the true magnum opus."
The Yellow Diamond knelt down and bubbled the corrupted gem.
"This was never supposed to happen," she explained, "These gems were supposed to have been obliterated completely. Looks like the ray wasn't strong or long enough. I'm not gonna lie, that really did come out of nowhere."
"See, this is the stuff we deal with on a regular basis," said Amethyst, matter-of-factly.
Amethyst took the corrupted gem to the burning room, Peridot went back to the barn, and the Yellow Diamond and Pearl went back to beside the hill where her ship sat. The Diamond needed some time to herself, to take in what she saw during that excursion to the Prime Kindergarten. She may have been a 'flawless' gem, but even she didn't anticipate the intensity of the encounter with that corrupted gem. It almost convinced her to cave in and consider herself a Crystal Gem, but then she remembered about her loyalty to the Homeworld. If only she knew how the Pink Diamond was really shattered...
Tomorrow was Thursday. She could never get the hang of Thursdays.
The next morning, Steven sat on the couch. Before him was the coffee table, with Rose Quartz's old sword sitting there, placed there by Steven.
"How could this...shatter a Diamond?" pondered Steven, pre-supposing if it really was his mother who did it.
"If she didn't use the sword, then why did she have it? Maybe somebody planted the sword for others to find."
Behind him, Amethyst was teaching (or at least trying to teach) Pearl, our Pearl, how to use a smartphone.
"No, you gotta tap it, not hold it down! That just sets all the apps loose so you can move 'em around."
Steven chuckles at Amethyst's impatience.
"You gotta get a case for that thing!"
"I got one," said Pearl, pulling out a briefcase from her gem.
Amethyst was not amused, "Lemme go get a real case from my room," and she took off.
"Well, we can't all adapt quickly to modern tech," said Steven to himself, remembering how easy it was when the Yellow Diamond tried it out.
He watched as Pearl set the phone down on the table behind her, and he began to speak again.
"Pearl, you wouldn't, by any chance, know how my Mom shattered Pink Diamond, do you?"
Pearl opened her mouth to say something, but she quickly covered it with her hands. Her voice was trying to break through, but it couldn't...as if a curse was put on her and part of it involved being unable to tell others about it.
"I'm back!" said Amethyst, with a phone case in hand, "This is the newest one I have. Hope it works with that model!"
Steven left the two gems alone, and ran outside to find the Yellow Diamond.
He found her standing around in a convenience store on the one road the lead out of town. She was down to a manageable size, and next in line at the cashier. The guy before her demanded that he speak to the manager.
"This is the worst tea I've ever tasted!" he complained, "It's like somebody put the wrong ingredients in!"
The Yellow Diamond looked over the man's shoulder and into the cup. I definitely wasn't tea, no doubt about it. Rather, it was a liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.
The cashier was no help either. She spoke to the man as if she was doing a rehearsed bit.
"If you have enjoyed the experience of your drink, why not share it with your friends?"
"Because I wanna keep them! Why can't I just get real tea, like at the usual location I go to, huh?"
"You mean dried leaves boiled in water?"
Tea in a nutshell, the Yellow Diamond made a note of that. But the way the cashier said it, it sounded so primitive.
At last, the manager showed up.
"Whasgoinonere?" he grumbled.
"Do we still make...tea?" said the cashier.
"You're fired," he said.
Apologizing, the manager refunded and dismissed the customer. But he was still without tea. The Yellow Diamond decided to take off too, as she lost her appetite while waiting (not that she had one to begin with, being an alien and all). In its place was an epiphany, and she told it so Steven.
"It's just one species doing all sorts of things. They do what they want, when they want, many of them without a care in the world. It's as if they don't give a something-or-other if I end up deciding that Earth is not worth existing!"
The people in the store all looked at her in shock.
"...I didn't say positively!" the Yellow Diamond protested.
"Well, if you're not going to let the Earth live," said Steven, "At least your observations will give you something to write home about! Look at that cashier that just left, she's gonna find a job elsewhere, if not a better one. It's not like on Homeworld, where one type of gem is restricted to a single purpose. I mean, do all Pearls have to serve as someone else's servant? Wouldn't it be nice if you gave an Aquamarine a break and sent out an Amethyst to collect humans?"
"What in the Milky Way are you talking about...'Steven'?"
"It's called Equal Opportunity Employment. There's a book on it in the library. I think."
A text came up on Steven's smartphone. It was from Pearl. It said "I want to tell you, but I can't."
"I think I'm on to something," said Steven, "I asked Pearl if she knew anything about Pink Diamond, but she didn't say anything, and it looked like it was against her will."
"Hmmm, that does sound suspicious," said the Yellow Diamond, a hand to her chin, "Pearls always do what they're told, even if it means being silent on certain topics."
"I really hope what she's hiding is what we're looking for. Rose Quartz's innocence, or what really happened."
And they set off for home.
Pearl was finishing cleaning up the place when Steven and the Yellow Diamond arrived.
"Pearl! I'm ready to talk!" said Steven, "I got your text."
"What text?" said Pearl, genuinely confused.
Steven showed her his smartphone.
"I didn't write that..." Pearl had a moment of realization herself, "No...it's impossible!"
Frantically, she started reaching into her gem in search of her phone. She pulled out a whole bunch of stuff. Everything but the phone.
Sighing, she gave up and said "Steven, I need you to go inside my gem and get find my phone."
"Inside...your gem?"
"Steven, there are some things I can't tell you, but I can tell you that my phone's in there somewhere."
Pearl looked up toward the Yellow Diamond, then back down to Steven.
"I think it would be best if you brought Yellow Diamond along, too," she added.
"Me? Go inside your gem?" said the Yellow Diamond, "I wouldn't even do that with my Pearl!"
"Please?" begged Steven, giving him big, sad, starry eyes, "What if this could lead to the answers we're looking for?"
The Yellow Diamond, having been on Earth for four days now, got used to that sad face and just couldn't say no anymore. He may be the son of Rose Quartz, but come on now; the Rose Quartz she knew couldn't have been this cute! Reluctantly, she agreed.
Pearl took Steven's phone, "Text me when you find it."
Her gem started to glow. Steven and the Yellow Diamond were slowly lifted off the ground, reduced in size, then were sent flying...straight into Pearl's Pearl!
Inside her gem was a large room, filled to the brim with a whole bunch of neat junk. It was like Amethyst's room, only organized. Also off to one side was where Pearl kept her spears.
"Okay," said the Yellow Diamond, "Let's get the 'phone' and be over with."
"What's the rush?" said Steven, "It's my first time doing this too, and you don't hear me complaining."
Unfortunately, amidst the carefully-sorted junk, the phone was nowhere in sight. There was, however, another Pearl, keeping track of the sorting. Steven decided to ask her about the phone.
"Oh, Steven!" she picked him, then turned to the wall of junk, looking for an opening, "Where should I put you?"
"NO! Don't file me! You sent me here looking for your smartphone!"
Pearl put him down, then searched the wall for the phone. Still nothing.
"Uh oh. Maybe another Pearl has it," she sighed.
"Another Pearl?"
"Steven, Yellow Diamond, you're gonna need to go inside my gem."
"Again?" groaned the Yellow Diamond.
"It's worth a shot," assured Steven.
Pearl's gem glowed.
Steven and the Yellow Diamond found themselves on the beach of Beach City. It was night time, there was a stage set up, his dad's van was parked nearby, and...Pearl was seated in front of them, sobbing about something. It was a Pearl in a Pearl in a Pearl! Huh!
"What was she thinking?" the Pearl cried, "Rose can't have a baby!"
"Rose?!" said the Yellow Diamond, impulsively, "Where is she? I'll shatter her!"
Pearl, startled, turned around and shrieked.
"NO!" said Steven, "Stop! That's not what we're here for."
Steven showed the Yellow Diamond another sad face. It worked again.
Pearl went back to sobbing, "What am I gonna do when she disappears? I'm gonna lose her, like I lost..."
Steven gave her a comforting hug.
"I think I know where you can find it," said Pearl, calmed down.
Her gem started to glow. Steven grabbed the Yellow Diamond by her hand.
Another level down, they found themselves on a battlefield. It looked like the end of a War, all those Homeworld ships retreating or something. Yet another Pearl was there, thinking about what has happened, what she has done. She found the duo, and sent them into her gem.
Down another level, Steven recognized this place. It looked like Korea, where he saw the Pink Diamond's palanquin. Standing before them was Rose Quartz, in all her majestic glory. She was holding her sword down, and shards of what appeared to be the Pink Diamond were scattered across the ground before her. The Yellow Diamond almost prepared to attack again, but Steven kept her at bay. Something wasn't right, he thought. He looked closely at the Rose Quartz that stood before them. There, on her forehead, was another Pearl. In her free hand, was another Pink Diamond...whole.
"Wha?" they both said, obviously confused.
Once more, Rose Quartz!Pearl's gem began to glow.
This time, they were inside the Pink Diamond's palanquin. In front of them were Rose Quartz and Pearl. Steven held the Yellow Diamond back before she could do anything.
"This is it," said Steven, he could see Pearl's phone in the pocket of her dress.
"There has to be another way!" the Pearl said.
"Yellow and Blue don't care, they never had," said Rose Quartz, "This is Pink Diamond's colony, and if we pull this off, it will be ours!"
Pearl blushed and gulped.
"I want to give this world the the Crystal Gems. I want to live with the humans. I want to live with you!" Rose Quartz hugged Pearl.
"Surprise attack on three?" said the Yellow Diamond, anxiously.
"Shhh," said Steven, "Something's happening!"
They turned back to Rose Quartz and Pearl.
"I can't believe I'm doing this!" said Pearl.
"Well I can't shatter myself," said Rose Quartz.
Steven and the Yellow Diamond looked at each other, baffled. What was she talking about? Then Rose Quartz started to glow: she was shapeshifting. But that wasn't all: the Rose Quartz gem on her belly turned over on its side, revealing that...it wasn't really a Quartz at all. It was...
...The majestic Pink Diamond herself! Everybody gasped in shock and awe. The answer they were looking for was there. Forty two!
The Pink Diamond picked up a flower and a pile of dirt from outside the palanquin. She gave the flower to Pearl for her to put in her hair. She squeezed the pile of dirt until she opened her hands to reveal that she turned it into diamond shards.
"Convincing?"
"Very much so, my Diamond," said Pearl.
"Soon, it will be just Rose," said the Pink Diamond, "And one more thing?" She put a hand over Pearl's mouth, "No one can ever find out we did this. I never want to look back. For my last order to you as a Diamond, please, let's never speak of this again. No one can know."
She swallowed the fake diamond pieces whole, then stepped outside. Pearl turned around to see Steven and the Yellow Diamond, and gave them her phone.
"Sorry to make you come all this way," she said apologetically.
She shapeshifted into Rose Quartz, then ran outside after the Pink Diamond. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Steven texted to his Pearl "Found it," and before he knew what hit him, he and the Yellow Diamond were back in the beach house. They knew the truth.
"I've wanted to tell you for so long," said Pearl.
"Mom was Pink Diamond," said Steven in realization.
Garnet and Amethyst appeared behind them.
"WHAAAAAAATTTTTTT?"