Chapter Text
White Diamond hated Era 3.
The humming of the Bust Ship warping across hyperspace kept her mind comfortably numb, but she would rather not be there. The road to redemption was a seemingly unending one, and had she known this was going to be the case, maybe Steven's words wouldn't have felt so right when he invaded her privacy and overthrew her empire. If only Yellow and Blue didn't love the kid so much, she might even feel in a position to make an argument for the good old days.
White sighed. She didn't really believe that. This extended apology tour was just very taxing on her mind.
"Pearl, what is our next stop?" She asked.
When asked, White Diamond tried implying there was a subtle difference between the way she treated Pink's old Pearl before and the way she treated her now. For one, Pearl got to keep her colors this time, and was working with her ostensibly because she felt like it. White had to assume Pearl either liked how she was treated, or it was just habit to obey a Diamond. She arrived at this conclusion by only following her own assumptions about how the world works, none of which really needed to be tested at any point.
"Inbix, My Diamond." Pink Pearl said, manipulating a holographic projection of their route. "Colony 15, labeled as a non-exploratory operational port."
"Hm. Why did we never explore it?" She asked.
"No useful minerals were ever found in its soil. The inhabitants eventually grew weary of our presence. When open conflict ensued, they receded to their forests and mountains. After that, they came back with…"
The ruler tuned out most of the rest of the conversation. She was not in the mood for it. The last two worlds that she visited had not been kind on her nerves.
The former empress of the largest galactic empire in the Universe was not used to being openly disagreed with; or challenged at all, really. But this was her life now.
"Approaching, My Diamond." Pearl stated, putting the planet on screen. Lush greens and white clouds. Yet another one of those.
Surely nothing could go wrong.