Summary: Some last bit of data compiling
"And with that the tungsten shielding should be good to go." Peridot smirked. "Now the machine won't melt when we hit the mantle." Not that she would die, she's a tough gem, but they'd be stuck swimming in a very deep hole.
"This actually took a lot less longer than I originally calculated." The Pearl looked over her..their combined progress as the drill reached the final stage of its completion.
"I concur. I acknowledge your knowledge of technology, no matter how primitive, accelerated the process." Peridot stated. "We should be ready to begin the drilling process within the next few days."
"Finally! Between school and this, I'm tired of listening to all the nerd talk." The Mewman that named herself Star said as she laid down on the grass.
"Just to clarify before we do this, because of unexpected complications, you CAN destroy the Cluster, right?" Peridot asked.
"Destruction is my middle name…though I usually don't have the best luck when it comes to destroying gem stuff." The Mewman shrugged. "Pretty sure that's nothing to worry about."
"Alright, make that another week before we commence drilling, I need to reinforce the drillbit just in case we need to do this the hard way."
"I'm still iffy on destroying the Cluster, it's a gem." The Steven grumbled.
"It's a fused mass of gem shards. It's not even sentient enough to realize it can harm people, much less its own existence." Peridot explained. "It was made with the intention of being a mindless geoweapon to destroy planets not colonizable for the Gem Homeworld."
"A giant space wrecking ball, again sounds so cool, but with homeworld involved, it makes it so terrible." The Kelly sighed as she sat rather closely towards the Steven.
"Maybe we need a break." The Steven suggested.
"There's no objects that need destruction." Peridot replied.
"No, he means we need a moment to rest." Peridot raised her eyes at The Marco's explanation. That seemed very inefficient with their timeframe. "Do you have any hobbies? Or activities other than work."
"I'm an electrical engineer and certified kindergartener from a species that's not required to rest at any moment of time. My whole life is work."
"Come on, that's super boring." The Mewman leaned back. "Do you do anything other than machines? Anything at all!?"
"... Well there has been one thing as of late." She glared at them. "Decoding that cryptic cypher with little to no results.
"Look, I was lying before. Space Unicorn isn't code, it's just music."
"... MuuusIc?"
"You know, like singing, playing instruments?" The Steven held up the strange human contraption in his hold
"They don't have much on Homeworld." The Garnet spoke from her spot. "Most singing, when allowed, were only performed by Pearls and gems designed for entertainment purposes, like Spinels."
"Ah, now I understand." Peridot nodded. "Something with no logical value other than messing with feelings." Never understood why so many aristocrats admired it before.
"It doesn't mess with feelings, it's a way to express them." The Steven lightly strummed the 'instrument'. "When someone's feeling sad, they can play a sad song to get all that sadness out, or when someone's happy, calm and relaxed, they can play something that helps spread that good vibe everywhere."
Peridot watched the boy strum the strings in a certain pattern. "Is this really that important?" She asked the others.
"He's the son of a musician and has been playing pretty much every kind of music since he was about four…so yeah." The Star confirmed.
" Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do.." The boy said as he strummed.
"Do-mi-so-do…?" Out of curiosity, she followed along. If it was important to the hybrid, then their had to be something of value that came out of it.
"Isn't it pretty.. ?"
"That's exceedingly simple." Peridot deadpanned. "Do-mi-so-ti…"
"We're making music." The Mewman called out next to him.
"What is the point? You're not making anything." It was just a bunch of words slightly altered by the tone they were saying it in.
"Well, if it isn't anything, then why does it sound so good?" The Marco observed, and that made her think about it from a slightly different angle.
"I suppose it's just interesti…"
"Do-mi-so-do.." The Kelly injected next.
"Devoid of substance or purpose, a hypothetical pattern." It sounded like what being an organic was all about.
"Do-mi-so-ti.." The Marco called out next.
"For the satisfaction of bringing it to completion." A pleasure center for doing something out of nothing. "Sure.."
"Do-mi-so-ti.." It rolled back around to the Steven.
"Interest without meaning?" It sounded illogical."Solutions without problems?" What was the purpose for a gem like herself?
"And then you just add words." The Marco added in.
"Here's what I have been working on." The Steven strummed their 'instrument'.
"Life and death and love and birth,
And peace and war on the planet Earth
Is there anything that's worth more
Than peace and love on the planet Earth?
Ooh-woah, come on and sing it with me.."
"Sing?" He wanted her to join him?
"The words relate to the key.." The Kelly continued on from where the Steven left off.
"Key?" What did a metal object for the use of unlocking compartments have anything to do with music?
"If it's a pattern…
If it's a pattern…
Then just repeat after me…" The Star 'sang'.
"Life and death and love and birth…" The Steven gestures to her direction.
"Life and death and love and birth…?" She did her best to match the tone he was 'singing' in.
"Now you sing mi-fa-mi-mi-fa-mi-ti-la!…" The Marco explained what kind of pattern was required for the next sentence.
"And peace and war on the planet Earth!" She and the rest of the organics exclaimed at the same time. Saying it all at the same time…it made it sound more special somehow.
"Yes, yes! That's it!" The Star exclaimed with a level of enthusiasm that seemed a bit misplaced for the situation. "Now you're getting it."
"That's so easy." She was certain even a pebble could accomplish the same task just as well.
"Yeah, but that's what's fun about it.." The Steven sent a smile to her before his eyes' got wide. "You should write something, you should write a song!
"About what?" She just learned about the concept, and they wanted her to accomplish a task outside of her normal function?
"Whatever you're thinking." The Marco said. "Whatever you feel." Whatever she feels …
"I guess we're already here
I guess we already know…" The days would pass on as she continued to work on the drill with the rest of the group. Marco remained the most helpful aside from the Pearl. Even if he didn't completely understand the intricacies of what they were making, he was more than willing to listen and do his best to help;
"We've all got something to fear
We've all got nowhere to go…" The Amethyst had this strange desire to devour things, even their messed up art materials. On the plus side, the Garnet and the Pearl actually attacked her when she did, so it was a win in Peridot's books.
"I think you're all insane!
But I guess I am too…" No doubt the most ludicrous of the bunch was the Mewman Star and the hybrid Steven, who seemed to be the most alike out of the group. More often than not, Star would be seen summoning something with her 'magic' wand device that Steven would either run from or play with. Both circumstances ended with the two laughing and engaging in the physical contact known as the 'hug'. There was a slight amusing charm to watching the two be crazy together.
"Anybody would be if they were stuck on Earth with you." She expressed her 'song' to the rest of the group as they gathered around a 'campfire' while they 'cooked smores', whatever that meant.
"Hahaha yes!" The Steven shouted.
"Now you're catching on!" The Marco patted her on the head … it felt warm.
"Life and death and love and birth and." The Pearl sang as she adjusted a panel.
"Life and death and love and birth and." The Amethyst sang as she banged dents out of metal.
"Life and death and love and birth and." The fusion sang as they carried a giant half of the drill to the other one.
"Peace and war on the planet Earth." The Star sang as she used a laser to wield a few pieces of metal together.
" Is there anything that's worth more?" The Steven sang as they played their guitar.
"Is there anything that's worth more?" The Kelly sang as she started pulling out tools from her oversized nerve endings that seemed to have nigh infinite storage.
"Is there anything that's worth more?" Marco sang as he handed her another tape recorder … a gift.
"Than peace and love on the planet Earth?" … Was there anything worth more?
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Sadie heard the bell ring, looking up to see Jackie Lyn Tomas walking through the door. "Sadie, Lars, how's it hangin?"
"Oh, ah nothing much, I mean why would anything be hanging around a dump like this..oh.." Lars, in typical fashion, failed to be cool in any shape or form. At least it got a good laugh out of her.
"Well I mean the signs hanging right?" She joked.
"Hah, good one Sadie." Jackie snorted. "Nice to see the part time job hasn't completely crushed your spirit."
"Not yet, but it's getting close. Might end up setting this place on fire one of these days...or quitting, it's a toss up between those two." Sadie responded with a light laugh.
"The moment she does I might join." Lars grumbled. "If there's another job that can accept a highschooler." He looked at her. "Surprised Diaz didn't join you, I heard you two got together."
"Actually we're on break." Jackie shrugged.
"Really?" That was weird. "Last I checked, he was counting the seconds until he could ask you out."
"He is still eager about it, and the dates we've been on were pretty good, but then a few weeks ago, he said he was in another dimension for sixteen years, and now he has a hard time comprehending the world around him."
"Ouch." Sadie winced. "Sounds like a rough ride."
"Yeah, just gonna let him readjust." The girl shrugged. "So what's been going on between you two?"
"Nothing really. We didn't have dates for prom so we just went together." Lars shrugged like it was no big deal, and it was probably a bit much to expect him to care about it as much as she did. "Man, that night was a mess, nothing like how tv portrays it."
"I know right!" Jackie waved her hands up. "You'd think they could manage to have some level of accuracy so we don't get our hopes up."
"Isn't that the folly of youth? You wake up thinking the world's your oyster, and then reality crushes it the moment you realize you need money to live, and then slowly squeezes the enthusiasm out of you like a toothpaste bottle." Sadie chuckled.
"I never took you for someone that appreciates dark humor." Jackie looked at her with small amusement. "Keep it up, I think it suits you."
"Really?" Sadie said with surprise.
"Well yeah, why do you think I invite you to watch horror movies, you're the only one besides Jana that appreciates the jokes." Lars answered with a small smile, before hearing a loud noise outside. "I swear if that's Steven and his Lion in the dumpster again, I'm gonna lose it!"
The two watched as the guy grabbed a broom, running outside. A few seconds of silence and they heard clanking. "Scatter Lion, he's curling!"
"You'd think he would give up by now. It is a magical lion and a magical kid…and they're not even the weirdest things that eat out of the dumpster." Sadie laughed.
"I guess he's dedicated to the job." She had no idea. "Hey, wanna hang out tomorrow? My usual skate buddy is on a trip and I could use a spotter on the track."
Huh, hanging out with arguably the coolest girl in their grade…not exactly who Sadie thought she would be friends with, but she wouldn't complain. "Sure, it'll be nice to do something new." And talking to Jackie weirdly helped her deal with whatever feelings Sadie had left for Marco.
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"Haha, we're good to go!" Amethyst watched as they completed the drill. It had been a work in progress, but at least it was done.
"Wow, we actually did it..It's complete!" Peridot, like the dorky nerd she was, squealed in excitement. "Hooray! We're not going to perish! We're not going to die a horrible death to a colossal super weapon! WE'RE GOING TO LIVE!"
"Wow, she's so much more expressive nowadays." Steven looked at the green gem with a fond look. "It only feels just like yesterday she was trying to kill us."
"Just like Buff Frog, they've come so far." Star wiped away a tear.
"And here I was going to murder the apathetic twerp." Kelly patted Marco on the bald spot he got recently. "You did good man."
"I'm like my sensei, reaching a young one the ways of the world." Marco spoke, teary eyed as well.
"Organics are weird." Peridot grumbled. "Now all I need is to set up the computer for a course straight to the center of the earth."
"Are you sure it's in the center?" Pearl asked. "We don't have the luxury of searching each layer of the planet if you're wrong."
"I'm hardly, if ever wrong. Anytime I am, it's due to external factors outside of my control." The little green nerd snapped back before sighing. "Though unfortunately it is a valid observation, and due to the interference of a certain group of Clods…" She gazed at all of them. "My lab in the Kindergarten is destroyed, so I can't check where specifically."
"Hehe … to be fair … you were trying to kill us." Steven rubbed his head guiltily.
"So how are we supposed to find the place then?" Amethyst asked.
"I guess there is one more place that would have the answer." She pointed to the hill in the distance.
"Inside the hill?" Star asked
"Higher."
"Inside the observatory?" Kelly asked.
"Higher."
"But that's just the moon." Steven asked, before his eyes began sparkling with excitement. "Wait, you're telling me that we need to go to the moon!?"
"Yes, it's where Homeworld observed the progress of the colony personally. All the data on the planet is stored there."
"We're going to space!" Star exclaimed. "And it's gonna be awesome this time!"
"Need I remind you that you have destroyed every means of traveling there?" Peridot rolled her eyes. "If you just spared at least ONE of the robonoids, we could've warped there.without a single issue."
"Oh poor naive Peridot, so smart, yet so ignorant about the universe you live in." Star chuckled as she swung a pair of scissors in her hands. "So have either of you guys ever been to Earth's moon?" She asked Amethyst and the rest of the Crystal Gems.
"No, only the most trusted of Homeworld was allowed there." Garnet spoke up. "None of us could get close enough to leave the planet, and it wasn't like we wanted to either."
"Yes, it's a very… uncomfortable place for any of us to be at any moment in time." Pearl said with a nervous looking sweat.
"No prob then. I guess I'll just have to open a portal within looking distance, how hard can it-" Literally everyone other than Amethyst tackled the girl.
"How can you be so moronic!?" Peridot shouted. "Do you want us all to become lost in the void!?"
"Trust me Star, portals have been basically my business for the last sixteen years! You do NOT want to tamper with what you can't understand!" Marco shook the princess.
"Besides, we still have one option available." Steven whistled, and Lion came running right to him. "Hey Lion, you wouldn't happen to be able to open a giant super portal to the moon?"
"Because of course it can." Peridot grumbled. "Why did I expect something logical?"
Lion took one look at the destination, before flopping to the ground. "Come on Lion, if you don't do this, there's no going to be any more earth, which means no more Lion Lickers for you to enjoy anymore."
"Raaaagghh!" The beast let out a mighty roar, fire in his eyes.
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All of them landed in the moon base, panting as the color finally died in their eyes. "That was … a lot more intense … then his usual jumps." Star got out. "Bleh… okay, dimensional scissors are definitely my preferred choice of travel now." Good thing they were all here, because now they all could jump here anytime they wanted without using Lion.
"You okay buddy?" Steven asked, blinking away the rainbow as Lion lay on the ground, looking exhausted and tired. "Just rest up, you earned those lickers."
"Personal note to self, remember to despise the organic creature known as the 'feline'. The fur just rubs you in all the wrong places." Peridot shivered in place before looking around them.
"Between that and the Cat Fingers, it's a wonder how we can go a single day without experiencing ptsd just by looking at a cat." Marco gave a dark chuckle.
"Hey, Steven Jr is adorable, don't put her in that mix." Star huffed. "Don't worry, my one eyed baby, mama will be home soon."
"Hey guys, check it out!" Kelly was about ten feet above the ground and slowly descending. "Nothing can get in my way now, I'm the invincible Moon Girl!"
"Hang on tight, Moon Boy is right behind you!" Steven laughed as he got in on the action, making a giant leap. "I can fly! Evil doers beware! I'll stop you from the sky now!"
"They're not wings, but it'll do!" Star joined in soon afterwards, letting herself hang upside down in the air. "Someday, I'll be doing this for real."
"I'm up next!" Amethyst laughed, jumping up before hitting the ground. "What gives!?"
"Galactic Conquerors." Peridot deadpanned. "We auto adjust on any planet."
"Another perk to being half human I guess." Steven smirked as he let the weightlessness carry him. "I was bouncing on the moon one day..!" Steven started to sing, only for him to bump in a wall with weird looking paintings on them.
Peridot gave a squeal. "Diamond Architecture! And such an antique one too, fascinating." The gem looked over the paintings of wall ladies.
"You know, I keep hearing about them, but I never get a straight answer." Steven stated, looking at the paintings. "What are the diamonds?"
Peridot gave a gasp, looking at him with wide eyes. "Who are the-They're EVERYTHING!" She stated, looking at them. "All gems have their strengths and flaws during creation, but they're the exception. They're the first four gems to ever exist, flawless in all cuts and colors! They rule over all Gem kinds with powers beyond comprehension, comparable to organic worship … except they exist."
"Tell that to the demons in the underworld." Star grumbled under her breath.
"And here is the real best!" Peridot pointed to a yellow woman, with a lot of circles drawn around her with spikes adorning her body. "Yellow Diamond, my diamond. She's awesome."
"Did you actually use the word awesome?" Marco asked with slight skepticism.
"No, we used radiant, flawless, perfect, divine, shining." The gem went on.
"What are all the orbs next to them?" Kelly asked.
"The number of planets colonized. Only succeeded by White Diamond herself."
"Yellow, blue, white..that's three." Star went on. "What about the fourth one?"
"Pink Diamond? This was actually her first colony." Peridot explained. "Until, you know." The little green one shrugged.
"Know what?" Star asked skeptically.
"Hey, what's this button do!?" Amethyst pressed something on the wall, opening a door straight to space.
"Amethyst, stop trying to throw us into the vacuum and space and close it!" Pearl chastised the purple gem. "Steven and the other's faces will explode if the atmosphere gets sucked out!"
"I like my face not exploding, please!" Steven shouted out. Such was the way of life she supposed.
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Marco-Everyone dejected that Peridot hasn't lost her homeworld loyalty, noticing the communication crystal she sneaks out.
Marco watched as Peridot fiddled with the controls. "So archaic … you Crystal Clods would be amazed by the new stuff we have." She stated. "But then again, I'm sitting where a Diamond sat, so I can't really complain."
"Never expected you to be a fangirl before I showed you camp pining hearts." Marco joked. "What's next? Did you have shipping wars too on homeworld?"
"No, we had diamond wars, where we'd argue against gems of other colonies who the most grand diamond is for years."
"Really big deals." Steven nodded. "I guess that explains something in the alternate reality … so did you find it?"
"Just about … and there." They displayed a map. "Hmm … looks like it was placed in the Beta Kindergarten."
"Wait, there's a second one!?" The non gems shouted.
"It's not as impressive as the Alpha one. The Beta was a rush job to gain soldiers in the war." Peridot shrugged. "The one Amethyst comes from was far richer in minerals, so she's already twice as impressive as anyone that came from the beta."
"Stop, you're making me blush." Said gem said in mock bashfulness.
"Alright." Said bashfulness washed over their heads. "And if it was that deep … I've got the coordinates."
"Then if that's all we need, then mission accomplished! We did it!" Pearl exclaimed with a perky nature Marco wasn't quite used to seeing.
"We did, now let's go." Garnet said with stoic anger. "Star, get us back to earth."
"In a minute, this place looks super cool, and just how many Queens can say they've been to outer space before?" Star smiled. "So Peridot, this thing got any games?"
"Naive Mewman, this place wasn't used for games, it was for observing the colony and its progress from above." Peridot began touching more panels on the computer. "I can only imagine what data could've been found on the Mewni station."
"Why did they even want Mewni anyway?" Steven asked.
"They were going to colonize it until the moon just … vanished." They typed on the control panel. "Such a shame too, you don't find a planet and a moon with such rich resources everyday,'it would've been such an amazing start to a first colony." An image of the earth showed on the screen. "Just look at what the finished product would've been."
The earth..started to hollow out, all the green dying off and replaced with dead and dull metallic colors, the center of the planet becoming more empty until it became a hallowed husk. "This just got … a lot less cool." Star winced.
"Are you kidding, this is amazing!" Peridot shouted. "All resources used to their fullest potential, a Galaxy Warp in each facet, and plenty of room for a large variety of spires and gems to occupy in! It would've been great!"
"It would have been horrible!" Steven shouted. "The lives here would have died!"
"There would have been hundreds, if not thousands, maybe millions of new gem lives created just from this one colony!" Peridot argued back
"And the billions of people living here wouldn't exist!" Amethyst shouted.
"Rose believed that every life had a purpose, and chose to protect it!" Pearl grunted.
"Well a lot of good that did." Marco winced at her retort. "Thanks to her, the earth is going to be doomed. It could have been great, but all you did was make it worse for the people living here." Peridot rolled her eyes. "Thanks a lot, Rose Quartz, you're such a fantastic failure!"
Boom.
Garnet slammed the machine hard, scattering it to pieces before grabbing Peridot by the throat. "You haven't been here and seen what we have. So you don't get to talk about Rose, and things you don't understand ."
"Let her go Garnet…she's not worth it." Steven looked down at the ground dejectedly. "We got what we came for, let's just grab Lion and leave." Steven headed for the stairs.
Garnet stayed still for ten seconds before throwing the gem on the ground, walking away without another word. After sending scowls to Peridot, the other crystal gems did the same.
"Geeze, what drama gems, am I right?" Peridot snorted to the rest of them, and got smacked in the head by Star in return. "Why does everyone keep hitting me!? I'm only telling the truth!"
"Oh yeah, then here's another truth bomb: you insulted their friend and my brother's mom, which makes you an insensitive idiot." Star stormed off down the stairs.
"You're lucky you're not even worth the effort to poof." Kelly threatened as she pointed her sword at Peridot, before heading out too.
"You're the only reasonable sapient being I swear." Peridot grumbled. "Come on, we better head or we'll be left behind."
"Yeah…we will." Marco sighed, wondering if this was just going to be another lobster claws incident. "Hey, what's that in your hand?" He asked, pointing to the diamond shaped object in her palms.
"Nothing important." Peridot answered too quickly for his taste…which means he had to deal with this quickly.