#hey she was able to mention what the 4th color was because she wasn't talking about Pink Diamond directly dfshfghfg

[pacexlikexaxghost]

❝Lucky, and some were very smart to make up for the failures of those who weren't. It doesn't do well to forget the hard work that went into it, especially as seldom few of those gems are still around, most having met the displeasure of their diamonds one way or another over the millennia.❞

It was something she was struck by when reading all of that documentation. They were, even then, the words of long dead gems that she was reading. Gems don't... die of natural causes often. They don't age, they don't starve, or dehydrate, or fall ill...

There are only two ways it really happens. Long term light isolation, and catastrophic code failure, and both are extraordinarily rare because of the countless fail safes in every gem to prevent them.

Low energy modes and the ability to go entirely dormant automatically past a certain low magic threshold to come back when exposed to magic again. It takes thousands of years dormant to have enough magic leak to cause a gem to die that way.

And catastrophic code failure? Even rarer, especially with Homeworld's tendency to cull even the most minor of defects if they're caught.

Every defective gem who has been allowed to live is... aware of it. The concern that whatever errors there may be in their code might lead to an eventual complete breakdown of function. But it's not common, by any means. Pearl looked, and only found one actual case of it ever, which did a great deal to ease that anxiety from her mind. Base codes are written with many catches and fail safes specifically to avoid that; even if part of the code ceased working, the rest of the gem can compensate.

Both ways a gem can die naturally are exceedingly rare, and yet starkly few gems that old are still around. It just goes to show how... no one can please the Diamonds forever.

And even one of them is gone now, in some sense.

❝Caring about organic life is a threat to their power. I had been led to believe organic life couldn't even be sentient before I came to Earth, and saw that it wasn't true. If gems as a whole knew, if they cared? The Diamonds would never be able to create a functioning colony again.❞

She lets him consider it in silence for a moment, already feeling better, but she still quickly jumps on it as he asks further, beaming, genuinely.

❝Oh this is something I love. Homeworld, for all it's flaws, is beautiful. And uniquely so! There aren't... cities on Homeworld, in the way they are here on Earth. No clustered population centers, but instead the entire planet is covered in structures, all densely interconnected and hundreds of levels tall, spanning even over the oceans. It makes the entire planet appear to be one large, incredible shimmering crystal.❞ She laughs breathlessly. ❝What it took to get there was atrocious, but it is stunning. What I would give to see it one more time...❞

She trails off for a moment, staring up at the sky. Lapis got off planet. She'll get to see Homeworld.

Pearl can only hope that she doesn't send Homeworld back their way. Stars, they need to double check that the Galaxy Warp is all offline. They chipped every pad ages ago, but it's important to make absolutely certain that none of them work.

❝It's beautiful on the ground, too. Every surface crystalline, and lit from within, in whites, yellows, blues and pinks, depending on what court controlled that part of the planet. And shared spaces are in all four colors.❞ Her gaze is still fixed on the sky. ❝I miss Homeworld at night. There were towers stretching even higher, with the lights turned down low so all the stars could be seen. And the shining civilization below and the endless stars above... seldom little compares to that.❞

She looks back at Valor. The only thing that has come even close is looking out on the dark sea on a clear night here. There's no significant light pollution in Beach City, and the way the stars reflect on the water is breathtaking.

❝It's so strange, to miss such an awful place. To know I would hate to ever return in reality, but still... not all of it was bad. It was home, once upon a time...❞

Titan, that was a lot. It was fascinating, in a morbid sort of way, but it was a lot. "They must have been very lucky." And her words about them having the ability to turn the gravity generator back on answered his follow up question about if the pieces ever got out of alignment.

Valor made a face when she said even just having a public record of any organic creatures would be granting them dignity and respect, and he replied, "Titan they really care nothing at all for us, huh." Not even just to note what was already there!

He sat processing the explanations for a while, before realizing, "Oh, I meant to also ask. You said the oceans can't much be seen? What do you mean by that?"