Things Change

Prologue
A gray and desolate landscape fanned out for as far as anyone could see. Dust scattered in the faint breeze, and small minerals and other rocks stuck up from the ground. This was the planet Xenor-5, about ten light years from the Gem Home-world. In its old days, it had been a planet flourishing with forests and animals one could only imagine, and once had been rich in natural resources. But that was twelve-thousand years ago, when the Crystal Gems of Earth had still stood in defiance of the Diamond Authority. Now, they had fallen, and the Home-world had engaged in a total imperialistic takeover of the universe, turning each and every planet into a gem factory. Rebels like Rose Quartz's troops had sprung up here and there, but had ultimately been stomped out. Now, only one rebel remained. And he was being hunted. A small group of five gems, armed with a variety of weapons, marched across desert, their marching kicking up a cloud of dust to block out the nearby suns. In their lead was a large purple gem, her helmet covering her head as she spied the landscape. She grunted in frustration. This had been the seventh time she had been assigned to search for the fugitive here. She wasn't about to question her leader-Yellow Diamond had gone from violent to psychopathic since their conquest had begun-but she was tired of searching this skeleton of a planet for something that clearly wasn't here. She grumbled under her breath, then called for a halt. The twin suns were setting, and the few creatures that had survived the destruction of this planet were nocturnal, and very deadly. They began to set up camp, when something caught the leader's eye. ---   A small light in the gray landscape sparkled for an instant. The Prism, once a powerful weapon used to command armies of light, was now half-buried in the ashes of the dead planet, cracked down the center. It sparkled again, and this time dislodged itself from the dust. It levitated in the air, a light building in its center. The prism was performing its final programming; if it were to be damaged, it was to create a physical form to protect itself, and now it began spinning. As the light crescendo'd, a shape began forming around it, until it had completed its physical stature and landed on the ground. Tall and built like any other gem, this new figure was unique in ways gems couldn't be. Its head was shaped like the jagged star the prism unleashed when activated, but was smaller and actually connected to a real torso. Its body was made of a stone that looked like glass, with lights of alternating colors reflecting through it. Its joints were not attached, instead floating together like a gravitational pull held them together. its hands ended in claws, and it had one, large eye in the center of its face, changing colors seemingly at random. The figure looked around, worried that it had been spotted, and seeing the search party moving towards it, began making its way back to its base. This was Prism, and he was the final remnant of a rebellion long since silenced. He had been cracked long ago, when Yellow Diamond had begun her conquest. He fought alongside the rebels against her, using his powers of light manipulation, as well as his ability to mimic others' weapons, to assist. But because the light holder itself acted as his gem, when it was cracked he lacked as much power as he would if he were whole. The new resistance had failed, and Yellow Diamond had soon begun to take over the known universe. As it was, the universe was infinitely expanding, and Yellow Diamond was never satisfied with what she had. Prism had been trying to restart the rebellion, but his teammates had turned on him, and now he was all alone, trapped on this desolate rock. Even so, he had a plan to stop her whole dictatorship. And he was certain it would work. That is, if he could get away from the party that had spotted him. Guards had been placed on every planet as the Kindergartens had gone to work, told to find the elusive light warrior as soon as possible. Prism had been hard-pressed to get what he needed, but now he was finally ready. All of the death, the suffering...it would not have been for nothing. He ducked beneath a rock outcropping, possibly the only one on the planet, and moved a massive boulder that acted as his door. Jumping inside and moving the boulder back into place, he beheld the only piece of furniture he head; a Warp Pad, stolen from Home-world and rengineered to traverse more than just space. As he stuck the final piece in and the pad activated, the rock behind him suddenly disappeared, hurled aside by a much larger blue gem. The purple leader gave Prism a menacing smile. "Looks like it's time for light's out!" the gem said, reaching for the crystalline soldier. "On the contrary." Prism replied in a emotion filled, yet mechanical, voice, hopping onto the pad. "I have only just begun!" Then he was gone, the pad taking him away in a column of light. The leader of the party watched as he vanished, and she gulped. Yellow Diamond was not going to like this.

Chapter 1
Peridot took a seat on the couch inside the house connected to their Temple. Opening her computer, she gave a big sigh as she heard her teammate, Jasper, crash through the kitchen. Always the messy one, Jasper just had to wreck something of theirs every single day. It drove Peridot crazy. She liked having everything neat and in place, and everyone seemed set on preventing that from happening. She heard Lapis sigh next to her. "So when's Steven supposed to get back?" the blue gem asked. Peridot glanced over to her, watching her gaze remain fixed on the door. "Steven will be home shortly." she said. "He is out with that one he calls 'the Connie.' Gregory assured us she could be trusted." Lapis sighed. "I'm just so booooooored." she complained. Peridot sighed again. "Jasper has an infestation of centipeedles in her room again." the green gem replied. "You could try and remove those to pass the time." Lapis gave her a disgusted look. "I am not touching those things." Peridot shrugged. "Then you may proceed with being bored." Jasper poked her head over the counter. "Oh, come on, Lapis!" she called. "Let's go get rid of 'em! I can show you that fighting technique I told you about!" Lapis gave her own grunt. "It's the one where you 'ground' someone again, isn't it?" Jasper seemed heartbroken. "How did you know?" "Because you show me that one every other week." Lapis replied. "And I'm telling you, that's not how grounding works." "Then how does it work?" Jasper retorted sarcastically, sticking her tongue out. Peridot put a hand to her face-anything to not have to watch this stupidity. "Grounding is a punishment." Lapis explained. "When you say a human is grounded, it means they are prohibited from using something. It doesn't mean you bury them with your bare hands." she gestured to Jasper's large hands. "Though I'm sure you've 'grounded' more than one person with those meaty paws of yours." Jasper's face flushed. "Meaty paws?!" she said, hopping the counter. "I'll have you know these 'meaty paws' could crush you any day of the week!" "Probably by accident." Lapis snickered. Jasper temper began to visibly rise, but before she could reply, Peridot whipped her computer shut. "Enough! The both of you!" she snapped. "We are the defenders of this planet! The last thing we need to do is fight each other!" The two looked at their angry companion, then at each other. They turned away, Jasper returning to the kitchen while Lapis remained fixed on the door. Peridot reopened her computer. "That being said," she added, "Lapis, the centipeedle's are starting to invade my room. I really need you to take care of them." Jasper gave a snort of laughter. "That means you too, Jasper." Now the orange gem gave a grunt. "Why don't you come with us?" "Because they came from your room." Peridot replied. "The only reason I'm sending Lapis with you is because I don't need you pile-driving those bugs through my ceiling." Jasper sighed. "Fine." she removed her head from the fridge, a monstrous sandwich already in her mouth as the pair walked from the house to the connected Temple. The door opened to Jasper's room, where a blob of acid instantly flew through, nearly burning the pair as it landed on the floor and instantly dissolved the wood. They looked at each other, nodded, and charged in, giving mock battle cries as the door closed behind them. Peridot couldn't help but smile slightly. Stupid as they could be, the pair were her closest friends. Well...there was one more. She looked over the front door, eyeing the picture of Yellow Diamond that sat over the door. Her expression was peaceful, even while fire and death raged around her in the background. Peridot found it a comforting scene, and though she missed their leader with the depths of her heart, the green gem knew she still existed...in her son. A flash from the Warp Pad brought Peridot's attention to the back of the room. There, standing on the pad, was the strangest looking being she had ever seen. His body was constructed of transparent rocks, and as light passed through him, multiple colors came out the other end. He only had one eye, and though it should restrict his depth perception, the man seemed to take in his surroundings with ease. He stepped off of the pad, turning his star-shaped head this way and that as he sighed contentedly. That's when his eyes fell on Peridot. The both stared at each other for a long period of time, only broken as the door to the Temple opened. Jasper and Lapis reentered, Jasper still holding a centipeedle that writhed in her grasp. One twist, and it disappeared, leaving the room quiet once more. "Hey Peri!" Lapis said cheerfully. "Man you wouldn't believe how many centipeedles were in there..." she took notice of the stranger in the room for the first time. Though he didn't actually have a mouth, he still spoke. "What in the world..." he turned back to Peridot. "How did you all get in here? What are you even doing here?" The trio looked between themselves before Peridot rose, making her way slowly towards the mysterious man. "It's okay..." she said, her hands out in front of her to show she was unarmed. "We're not going to hurt you..." "Bull-honkey!" he shouted, keeping his eye on both Peridot and the pair behind him. "You guys are from Home-world! Sworn to destroy the Crystal Gems!" he looked around the room in panic. "What did you do with them?" The trio once again looked between themselves as the figure backed away, his back now up against the fridge. "We..." Peridot hesitated. "Are the Diamond Gems." Jasper said for her. "We'll always save the day!" Lapis said ecstatically, but a glare from Peridot told her not to continue. The man looked around, even more confused. "What year is this?" he said. "Where am I? How..." he was cut off as the front door opened. Steven Universe entered, his face alight with a smile. He waved at the trio of gems. "Peridot! Jasper! Lapis!" he said. "You'll never believe what happened today..." he stopped as he saw they had surrounded a stranger. "Who is that?" Prism just stared at the boy. If he had a mouth, it would've hit the floor by now. Steven looked exactly as he had before, same shirt, same hair, same everything. The only difference was his gem. Where once a round, pink gem had been now sat a yellow diamond. Prism looked at the assembled group, his fear palpable. "We need to talk." he said. "Now."