Third Wheel

Garnet was a fusion, and an incredibly powerful one at that. She could be best compared to a brick wall, glued together by pure love. She was such a perfect unit, in fact, that nobody thought of her as a combination of Ruby and Sapphire, but her own separate entity, born from the best traits of both. She was not a combination of their bodies, or even their minds, but rather a pure manifestation of their love, having taken physical form. And she was stronger than you, this hypothetical "you" being just about every other Gem on homeworld. And unfortunately for Homeworld, she was not on their side. And to add to the misfortune, Garnet was about to get another addition.

The Homeworld resistance was still young, and Rose Quartz, the former Pink Diamond, new better than to strike at Homeworld with her meager squad of fellow resistance members. They were powerful, and determined, certainly, but in Rose's mind, now was the time for patience, and care. Her plan was to hack Homeworld transmissions from the moon in which she currently hid, with the help of Pearl, to spread her message of compassion towards other species to Homeworld, and to urge gems who sympathized with her to contact her through Pearl. From there, it was a simple matter of stealthily adjusting Warp Pads and inviting more gems to join her cause. So far, nobody had shown up, but Rose was hopeful, as she always was.

"It'll be fine" Garnet said, putting a hand on Rose's shoulder. "We both believe in the good nature of Gems. More will show up. I promise"

Rose smiled. "I know, it'll just take some time"

A projection burst forth from Pearl's gem, that of a gem, obscured by holographic static. It could be seen, however, that she was on the short side, and made to look even shorter by her perpetually hunched-over posture. She had very strong features, with well-defined cheekbones and a pointed nose. Her hair was combed so that it covered one of her eyes, the other being round, with one small pupil surrounded by a sea of white. Her most unusual feature was a large, segmented tail that sprouted from her back, with a clawed hand at the end of it, with a square gem upon its palm.

"My name is Emerald," she said. "Can anyone hear me?"

"Yes!" Rose said, hopping between Pearl and the projection. "This is Rose Quartz. Are you hear about my message?"

"Yes" Emerald said. "I want to join the Homeworld resistance"

"Alright" Rose said. "Pearl, send her the coordinates to the warp pad, and Garnet, activate it for her"

The gems scattered, and before long, Emerald was present atop the Warp Pad.

The gems gathered around Emerald, who stared at them for a few moments, before humbly prostrating herself at the feet of Rose Quartz. Rose looked down at her, giggling softly. "That won't be necessary" she said. Emerald stood upright, or at least, as upright as the perpetually hunched gem could manage.

"Right" she said. "Sorry, I'm still into the Homeworld habit of kneeling before a Diamond"

"I'm not a Diamond anymore" she said.

"Right, yeah, sorry" Emerald responded. She huffed. "I want to join your cause. I'm willing to do anything it takes to earn your trust, and prove myself worthy of-"

Before Emerald could finish, Rose had already said "Alright everyone, welcome Emerald to the group"

"Welcome, Emerald!" Pearl said, leaning in to shake the gem's hand. Emerald took it, shaking it limply.

"Hey" Garnet said, glaring at Emerald from a distance.

"So, what do I have to do now?" she asked, taking a seat on a nearby rock.

"Well, as of now..." Rose said softly. "We're waiting to recruit more Gems"

"We're just waiting" Garnet said.

Emerald grumbled. "Alright, I guess"

"We should rest for now" Rose suggested. "Pearl, deactivate the Warp Pad, we'll see if any more Gems contact us tomorrow"

Rose nodded, turning off the Warp Pad. Rose yawned, laying down on her back, as Pearl swiftly dove under her arm. "Come on Garnet, join the pile" Rose said.

"I think I'd rather sleep alone for tonight" she said. "I have some thinking to do"

"Suit yourself" Rose said. "Come on Emerald, there's room for you" Rose said, lifting her arm, inviting Emerald to lay underneath it.

"Is this...how an army is run?" Emerald said, more perplexed than anything. Hesitantly, she slipped herself underneath Rose's arm, who clutched both her and Pearl close to her chest.

Garnet made a purposeful stride towards a nearby rock, leaning against it and sighing. "We to do something" she said to herself.

She shook her head violently. "No, Rose told us to wait"

"Do you know how many innocent aliens are dying right now because you refuse to act?" she gritted her teeth.

"We can't do anything with just four Gems!" she shouted. Her glasses dropped from her face, revealing three eyes, all wincing. Garnet began to glow with a pale light, and two gems dropped onto the surface of the moon.

"Well, now we have five" Ruby said, trudging off.