Steven Universe: Pink Moon

Chapter 3: To the Moon and Back

Pink watched her soldiers emerge from the Kindergarten. They were all there to fight for her. They had no other purpose, and no chance to be anything else than what they already were. She looked around, in her Moon Base.

Maybe she could stop killing life on Earth, by moving the quartz gems to the Moon. There was no life there. And she wouldn't have to shatter any gems. Yes, that was it. 

"Pearl, can you set a course for 100 ships from Earth to the Moon? I want to transport, hmm, 1000, 2000, maybe 4000 of the gem soldiers away. And just leave a few behind." 

"Of course, my Diamond!" said Pearl. She skipped over to a control panel near the window of the Moon Base, tapped some buttons, typed out some commands in a script that Pink couldn't recognise and then tapped the Diamond pattern which Pink remembered, after having watched Yellow and Blue tap it countless times.

"100 ships from Earth have just been despatched to the Moon, each filled with Quartz soldiers, my Diamond. They should arrive at their destination in approximately 9 Earth hours." Pink nodded intently at Pearl. "Thank you, Pearl. Let's begin preparations for the gems' arrival, tout de suite." 

Pearl and Pink exited the Moon Base, accompanied by a large team of uniformed Lapis Lazuli, sent by Blue to help build on the Moon. "These Lapis Lazuli are here to build whatever you desire on this Moon. They can work at top speed, thanks to their flight ability and strong link to the qualities of water. The top reachable speed of a Lapis Lazuli is even faster than the speed of light!" Pearl explained to the fascinated Pink, as the Lapis Lazuli began grouping up, flying around the Moon at amazing speed.

Pink commanded the Lapis Lazuli to start creating caves for the gems to incubate in. About 15 of them started to terraform the Moon. Before long, a huge crater formed, and spaced out evenly within were 10x10 caves for the gem soldiers. Pink was amazed as she watched these diligent little flying gems reform the seemingly unbreakable surface of the Moon, in barely any time. Of course, every gem had its purpose, and for Lapis Lazuli, this was building.

When the gems and resources arrived, everything was immediately put into place by the Lapis Lazuli, the Peridots, and the Agates. These gems wanted nothing more than to serve their Diamond and carry out their singular purposes. Finally, it was done. The Prime Kindergarten had been completely moved to the Moon. Pink was so pleased, the Earth could finally flourish by itself, prosperously. The organic life was left unscathed. 

"This is the perfect place for gems, Pearl." Pink said. "I think it is much better to keep them away from Earth's life. Because I still want to go back and see it again with you. It's so beautiful. Who better to enjoy such things with, than you?" 

Checking that all the builder gems had gone, Pink started to shapeshift into Rose Quartz. Pearl and Rose smiled at each other fondly. "And it is even more beautiful when you are there, Rose!" Pearl said, gazing at her.

Rose laughed, Pearl acted so differently towards her when she was in her Rose Quartz form than her Diamond form. She seemed less tense, and more...affectionate? Rose knew that she loved Pearl, and that their bond was one that would last forever. And she was so glad that her Rose Quartz form gave Pearl a chance to act more freely and almost break her mould.

Secretly, Pink couldn't stand the way most gems acted towards her. All she wanted was to be treated like an equal, but she only got put on a pedestal by her subjects and servants, or pushed away and talked down to by the other Diamonds. Nobody quite knew how to treat her, apparently. Pink treated every gem she met, equally. She talked the same way to the lowliest Ruby, as she did to White Diamond. But, she could only keep this up as long as they did the same. As long as they didn't treat her weirdly. 

She was so happy that if she took a new form, the gem hierarchy which she despised might disappear.

Pearl and Rose travelled to Earth once again. They were walking, hand in hand, through a beautiful copse of coniferous trees, and Rose was admiring the animals. She saw little soft creatures with tails, and slimy ones that hopped and slithered, and then she saw something else. It was something like nothing she had ever seen before. 

There were about three of these strange Earth creatures sitting by a body of still, clear water. They each had a different colour. Like gems, they wore clothes. As Rose learnt, there was a phenomenon called 'weather' on Earth, so these creatures probably wore clothes for protection against weather, rather than for identifying what their function was. They moved in a similar way to gems, she noticed.

"Look, Pearl." Rose pointed at the strange creatures by the river. "They look like gems, but...I don't think they are. Do you know what type of Earth life form this is?" Pearl thought for a while, then said "These look like humans. They are the Earth's dominant species. They are part of the mammal group, and come in many different shapes, sizes and colours. Humans grow, develop and change much throughout their lives, one of the things which sets them apart from other Earth life forms. Their lives may be short, but on this planet they seem long."

"I can't wait to see more of them! They sound so interesting! And so fun!" Rose said excitedly. Pearl laughed, a melodious laugh which Rose seldom heard but loved it when she did. "Yes, I have always rather wanted to meet one too." she said. 

They continued walking through the trees, and through a patch of pink flowers. Pearl picked a bouquet of those she deemed to be the most beautiful to give to Rose, who accepted it and kissed Pearl's gem affectionately. They talked, and laughed, and then-

"Aah!" 

A voice came from in front of Rose, and Pearl pulled out her spear to protect her. 

"Oh, please don't hurt me!" 

The voice spoke again. 

"Who are you, show yourself now." Rose called. A confused and slightly frightened figure stood up in front of her. 

It was the Ruby and Sapphire fusion. It was Garnet.