Luckily for Bright Moon, since that battle, the Whispering Woods had regrown, making it harder, than ever, for the Horde to retake Bright Moon, especially with a strong and united Princess Alliance.

On the last part of their tour, Angella showed them her private library, with books and materials of all sizes and shapes. Glimmer had never seen them herself because she didn’t care much for such intellectual pursuits, unlike Adora or perhaps Bow. Steven and Connie, thinking back to the Buddy Buddwick Library in Beach City they had visited and where Steven found the wonderful journal of Buddy Buddwick, the first mate on the ship that founded Beach City, loved this most of all. Lapis and Garnet, on the other hand, who were not against libraries, or books, were not in the mood for such intellectualism at this time of day. Angella explained the importance of her library, which she had curated herself.

”These books mean so much to me personally. Some are diaries written by the first settlers on this planet, others are books of spells used by sorcerers, histories of Etheria I commissioned during my reign as Queen, and other assorted materials I like to read for fun.”

Turning to Steven and Connie, she handed Connie one thick diary, titled The tale of Rainbow Quartz and Pink Diamond. ”I’ve tried to understand what this book means, but from all the Etherian history I know, I’ve never heard of these names before. Perhaps you can figure out what it means since you call yourselves gems and the people in this book are a bit like all of you.”

She paused and continued. ”Just remember to bring it back within a week, because it’s one of my most prized possessions.”

Connie responded radiantly and politely. ”Can do, ma’am!”

With the tour coming to an end, Angella led them to their quarters, an extra room in the castle where they were to sleep. As she walked away, Connie, Steven, Garnet, and Lapis ran to the rooms of Glimmer and Adora, finding Amethyst, Peri, and Pearl. What happened next was unexpected, even for the Gems. Perhaps the gems wanted to get to know their new friends, or maybe Adora, Glimmer, and Bow felt similarly about these new visitors. Whatever the reason, a slumber party came together. Adora, Glimmer, Bow, Peri, Amethyst, Pearl, Steven, Connie, Lapis, and Garnet all slept in the same place: Adora’s room. While they were not sleeping together in one bed, they were huddled in different parts of the room. While the Crystal Gems hoped that the next day would allow them to relax in this strange new land, where they had met some of the nicest people, Adora, Glimmer, and Bow had similar hopes, learning more about these visitors, who were almost like alien invaders from outer space to them. As they drifted into deeper and deeper sleep, with Lapis snoring like she usually did, Pearl’s projecting her dream across the room, although no one saw it since they were fast asleep. It showed her teaching Adora to improved sword fighting skills and awarding what she called ”Pearl Points” for her progress so far, indicating the bond of friendship between them had strengthened.