Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She was laying quietly in the soil. There were lots of strange sounds that one could hear from outside her gemstone. Most of these noises consisted of massive booms that would immediately be followed by tremors of the worst kind!!

Despite this, the gemstone laid dormant.

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In (what seemed like) an eternity later, her form began to take shape! With a mighty glow, a Ruby formed!

…..

Unfortunately, the Ruby still seemed…quite buried. The small Gem began to dig in every direction! She knew she should have popped out of a cliff side- but her center of gravity was informing her that she was laying on her back!

How very odd…

Desperate for the sun’s energy, the Ruby began to dig upward!!

“Dig….dig…..dig.”

“POP!!!”
The surface had been breached! The little Gem sighed with bliss, as the bright star beamed down upon her for the first time!

The Ruby looked up- and immediate terror smacked her into reality!
This was…a Ruby Kindergarten? It HAD to be! It MUST be! She was a Ruby- after all!
…
Something was terribly wrong.
For one thing, (as theorized) she HAD come out of the ground…NOT the cliff side!
The Ruby looked in every direction. There was no one to be found ANYWHERE!
Which….may have been a GOOD thing. She stared at the other Ruby’s cliff holes- absolutely terrified!

Each hole towered above her! The height of the silhouettes suggested that the missing Rubies were about the size of Diamonds…no…even BIGGER than the average Diamond!! The small Gem shivered in fear- alone and scared out of her witts!

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As it turned out, Homeworld had gotten…rather sloppy and frugal from the middle to the end of era two. Resources were dwindling- Gems were given less power (like shapeshifting), and the drills of yore were becoming older.
Machines were being recycled. Many of them had notable cracks and rust from overuse. Of course, lots of Gems were desperately needed for the war! No one had time to fully repair or build new injectors…the resulting gemstones seemed fine anyway!

Unfortunately, the drills were LEAKING. They had been leaking Diamond essence for a while.
No one thought anything of it. A few drops of leaked Diamond essence were easy enough to replace.

However….

….as the consistent: “drip, drip, dripping” of the liquid entered the soil- it resulted in a unforeseen circumstance. It was still being absorbed into the ground- laying dormant after dropping from the machines.
The surprising result, was this lone Ruby- appearing thousands of years after her regular-sized sisters. She was no bigger than a human fingernail. Her gemstone was so tiny- it might be mistaken as a piece of normal-looking jewelry if found by an unexpected organic local.

The small Gem hyperventilated in absolute fear. She quickly found a tiny, dead, leaf, and dove underneath to protect herself.

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In fact- this was not a rare case at all. Gems were made out of their Diamond’s essence. While not nearly as potent as their dictators- ALL Gems had- yes, the ability to make smaller selves out of their own…secretions.

Nobody ever seemed to notice this. It would take SO LONG for a Pearl tear to fall onto organic ground, form, and reappear as a near microscopic version of themself- that by the time everything had concluded, the tiny Gem in question would find themselves: small, confused, and all alone.

The two most common Gems were typically Pearls (who tended to cry the most), OR pure blue Gems (such as tiny Lapis’, Aquamarines, or Agates)- from Blue Diamond’s own tears. Strangely enough- a Diamond’s tear could not create another Diamond- only subordinates. Perhaps this was because Diamonds required very SPECIFIC incubation to form properly.

There were quite a lot of red and pink Gems too- resulting from their Pink Diamond’s crying fits. (Although, most of these were centralized on Earth).

Gems that had a secondary color palate- such as a Peridot- were much more likely to form from the drips of broken injectors where the ooze from Blue and Yellow Diamond had already been mixed. Thus, green, purple, and orange gems were the rarest of the bunch- unless a Jasper or Bismuth happened to be especially emotional…or (on the VERY rare occasion), were messy eaters.

Yellow ones were much less common then the rest- but would still appear from Kindergarten ground soil- from time to time.

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Thusly, this minuscule Ruby hiding under a leaf found herself in QUITE the predicament! She was insignificant, alone, forgotten, and so small that a lizard could probably eat her. She had NO CLUE what to do with herself!

Her programming was the same as any other Ruby soldier. She should obey her upper crusts.
(Which there were none)
She should get a lay of the land.
(Which she was too frightened to do)
She should be assigned to a squad of other Rubies.
(Whom all seemed either absent- or frighteningly massive in comparison)

The Ruby cried. She grabbed the stem of the little leaf, and used all her strength to stay camouflaged among the brown soil- the leaf creating decent cover as she walked across the abandoned Kindergarten.

Chapter Text

Rumors began to spread quickly. The Gems of Homeworld crudely called this mythical type of Gem: “Rubble”. They were (supposedly) leftovers, tears, pieces, bits of other more worthy citizens.

Most Gems didn’t believe in such nonsense!! The Diamonds (and by default, their design and machines) were undoubtedly FLAWLESS! They would NEVER allow such inadequate off-color Gems to exist in the FIRST place!

Any Homeworld citizen that claimed to have seen such ridiculous myths, were typically shattered for treason on the spot.

…and yet…
small things would bother, nag, and poke. Nothing significant (of course) but the most curious little things.

Sometimes, a Pebble would go missing without any sign of struggle- as if they had followed something, and wandered off into the abyss.

Sometimes, writing utensils or tiny bolts used for limb enhancers would disappear. Most Gems came to the logical explanation of either being “forgetful”, or working so hard that their tools would be overused.

Nothing new.
Nothing out of the ordinary.

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In reality, Homeworld had a infestation of smaller counterparts.
Humans (in the same situation) may have called them “Borrowers”.

But even Borrowers depicted in Human fairy tales would TOWER over any type of “Rubble Gem”.

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The only Gems that ever noted these small changes were Homeworld citizens that had WAY too much time on their hands…or the SMALLEST of Gems- like Earth and Heaven Beetles. Their eyes were very close to the floor level- and they would become surprised and spooked if something smaller then them happened to dash across the floor, and disappear just as quickly.

Almost no Gem had any clue what was going on with these mysterious phantoms.

ALMOST no Gem….

Chapter Text

She was only supposed to be in here for a few years.

The Pearl wept in desperation! This situation was becoming incredibly painful.

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Her Agate had brought the servant along to a Kindergarden to help keep track of important paperwork. The poor Pearl was not used to the organic gravel and grit in the area.

All it took was a quick slip.

The servant unintentionally swiped her finger over her own holo-screen while attempting to catch herself….
….resulting in all the important documents accidentally being deleted and tossed on the spot.

She had tried everything in her power. The Gem had attempted all of her backup plans to retrieve the lost paperwork.

The Pearl had failed.

Her master came up with the most cruel punishment! The Agate forced her servant into a tiny pre-used Kindergarten hole on the side of the hill- and barricaded her inside with an obscene amount of bolders.

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The situation wouldn’t have been so bad, if it wasn’t for the fact that the Pearl was STARVING.
It was true: Gems did NOT need to eat- but when deprived from light for a certain amount of time, the creatures would begin to suffer.
She NEEDED light to keep her flashlight working.
She NEEDED light to prevent her form from fluctuating.
She NEEDED light to survive…just like all Gems.

In truth, the only reason why she was still alive was because two of the bolders blocking her path had a VERY tiny ray of sunshine peaking through their gap that would enter the inside of the cave everyday for (about) two hours.
When the small glimmer of light came into the crevice, the Pearl would turn her gemstone directly into the sunlight in relief…
…only for it to snuff out all too quickly.

She spent the rest of her time weeping, crying, and shouting in despair! She thought her punishment would have only lasted for several hundred years- but it had been at LEAST 1,534 (give or take).

The Pearl wasn’t quite sure WHY she was continuing to shout in desperation. If they hadn’t let her out by now, certainly they wouldn’t do it anytime soon? She was fearful that she had been forgotten. She hadn’t heard any noise outside of her prison for some time now.

How long would she be here? Suffering? On the brink of death for an eternity?
The tears continued to fall into the soil as the servant lost a little more hope everyday.

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An eternity passed.

It got to the point where the Pearl had stopped crying, stopped moving. She was laying down in a helpless slump. The Gem no longer had energy for such things. Tears used up essence. Moving took energy.
The Pearl was laying down in the most uncomfortable-looking position. She had discovered that if she stayed like this- the light would hit her gemstone everyday in the best place possible.

The servant dare not move-and was internally curious if she would outlive the star? She feared that the sun would just disappear one day.

“EEEEEEEEEEKKK!!!”

It was around this time, when there was the most TERRIBLE of dins! The first noise she had heard in several hundred years!
The previously sedate Pearl suddenly jolted upright with shock- a mistake she immediately regretted as her fatigue forced her to the floor again in a wave of dizziness.

“EEEEEEEEEEKKK!!!”

There it was again! It sounded like a mixture between a mouse screaming and claws on a chalkboard!

The Pearl shivered in response, and groaned in pain. What was THAT?!?

“EEEEEEEEEEKKK!!!”
“AAAAAAAHHH”
“OH MY STARS!!!”

What the?!? The Pearl turned her head on the ground with all the strength she could muster…

“DON’T MOVE!”
“STAY STILL!!!”

The Pearl obeyed. She figured she had begun to loose her mind at this point. She was hearing VOICES…oh STARS…even if she DID somehow manage to get out of here, was her mind truly this far gone?

It seemed so.

In addition to the voices she began SEEING things- tiny versions of…herself? Looking up at her?
They were coming out of the ground one by one- giving her tiny terrified sounds and glances- before being comforted by her other tiny selves.

The Pearl sighed in frustration- knocking several of the smaller Gems off of their feet- tumbling.

More appeared- at least two hundred before their numbers began to slow.

The Pearl was exhausted- and (apparently) this was incredibly clear by the banter she was hearing down below:

“She’s so…BIG!”
“Where are we?”
“Why is it so DARK?”
“She…she looks scary.”
“NO…she looks SICK.”
“S-should we help her?”
“I-I am not sure?”
“Where is our owner?”
“Is SHE our owner?!?”
“How can that be?”
“Another Pearl owning a Pearl?”
“She’s closer to the size of a Diamond. Do you think she’s a new Diamond?”
“I just scanned her- it says she’s a Pearl…like US!”

The small crowd all thought to themselves- not quite sure what to do in this terribly odd situation.

“I…don’t think she wants to hurt us.”
“She stopped moving when I asked her to do so!”
“Thanks for that. We would’ve been crushed for sure….”

The massive Pearl closed her eyes in fatigue- struggling to breath…

“OH!”
“She’s not doing well at all!”
“I just saw her form fluctuate!”
“Yeah…her arms and legs are having difficulty keeping solid!”
“Who put her in this dark place?”
“She needs sunlight!”
“We HAVE to help her.”
“It’s the right thing to do-“

…and then the massive Pearl passed out.

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The crowd gasped in shock, before spying the small crack of sunlight hitting the larger Pearl’s Gemstone…

“THERE! We need to widen that crevice!”

“Are you kidding?!?! Those rocks are HUGE!!”

“Maybe if we work together?”

“One small stone at a time…”

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The Pearl suddenly awoke!!!
What a…STRANGE dream that had been!
Just to make sure- she slowly glanced around the floor. Of COURSE there were no smaller versions of her here! Her hunger had caused hallucinations!

Her hunger…
She…she wasn’t hungry! Her form was solid!

The Pearl glanced up at her precious crevice in a panic!

It seemed that someone had moved several smaller stones that had gotten stuck between the bolders- widening the sunlight’s reach. There was also an obvious new crack that had formed within the pile of stones- as if someone had attempted (and failed) at breaking them apart.

With all of her strength back, the Pearl was able to find a weak point in the pile. She smacked it as hard as she could!
…
The pile of bolders heaved a sigh, before crumbling- JUUUUST enough for the Pearl to fit through to the other side!

The servant struggled to climb to the top of the pile, and scuffled her way through the opening. It was tight and uncomfortable- but she FINALLY made it out!

The poor Gem fell a small way on the other side, and panted in exhaustion. She took her first good look at the outside world in hundreds of years.

The Kindergarden was finished.
It had long ago been abandoned.
The sun smiled.
Despite the lack of life, the Pearl felt like she was the luckiest Gem in the world!

Chapter Text

The Amethysts of the base camp had found a wonderful source of entertainment.

Every day, during the little downtime that they had, the excitable Gems would gather around a small box. The cube was typically hidden under a pile of discarded Gem tech.

The Amethysts would take bets. Worthwhile trinkets were exchanged in hopes of a positive outcome.

Inside the small box, were several MORE Amethysts- the smallest things they had ever seen! One of the guards had come across a horde of them one day while walking through the planet’s flora. It did not take long to scoop up a majority of the tiny things, and place them in this prison.

The tiny Rubble Gems squinted up in fear and frustration as the massive Amethysts laughed deviously overhead. The poor tiny things looked battered and malnourished. They knew what the monsters wanted- they wanted the friends to fight each other.

The group sighed. They were SO tired of this- forcing themselves to purposely hurt each other for the sake of gambling.

If they refused, the box was picked up and shaken violently- resulting in extra injuries, fear, and pain from the contents inside.

One tiny Amethyst looked at her sister and groaned in the most depressing manner. “Let’s just…get this over with…so they will leave us alone.”
The sister nodded as the various Rubble Gems took attack stances.

The Amethysts up above hooted and hollered in excitement!!! More trinkets were exchanged for bets on the victor.

The resulting fight was chaotic. Tiny whips, spin dashes, and hand-to-hand combat resulted in the Rubble Amethysts poofing one after another!

It typically took about 30 minutes before there was a lone victor- scarred, bruised, and heaving with exhaustion.

Several of the giants cheered, while others “Booed”. The bets were distributed to the victors, before the box was re-hidden under the pile of Gem tech.

The remaining un-poofed Rubble Amethyst would drop in an exhausted huff- cursing her meager existence. The fights they put on for the giants were staged. Poofing over and over again was not healthy, so the small Gems had decided to take turns. Sometimes, her friends would reform quickly, and hug each other in comfort. Other times, the depression forced the Amethysts to take as long as possible. None of them wanted to be apart of this horrific, cruel world.

Many things had been attempted to free themselves from the box. Their whips were too small to reach the top. The punches they fed it would conclude in disappointment.

Thus: on and on this horrific practice went- day after day, year after year.

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It was the middle of the night. About half of the Rubble Gems had come back and regenerated. The herd cried and huddled together in a sad attempt to make each other feel better. Their life was HELL. THIS life was HELL.
If only things could go back to the way they were before…
…
Unexpectedly, a flash of light erupted from the Amethysts! Their various gemstones swam into a pool of wonder!
…
The Rubble Gems opened their eyes. They had GROWN!! Grown into a larger Gem… a larger Amethyst! How was this possible?!?
…
Indeed they HAD become bigger…but only as tall as a Pebble or Heaven Beetle. Fortunately, this extra height was all that was required…

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The next day, the massive Amethysts took their break- excited about that day’s gambling fight! They removed the discarded Gem tech- only to find that the box and its contents had gone missing.

The group grunted in a huff! It seemed that they would have to find a new activity to preoccupy their downtime.

Chapter Text

The Heaven Beetle had an incredible secret!

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She was walking down one of Homeroom’s halls, when a small, wet, something zoomed into her hair!!!
The Beetle jumped in shock, and quickly gave a nasty stare to her Jasper guard who was towering above her.
The solder looked down, utterly confused.
The tiny regal Gem was mumbling curses under her breath.

The Jasper had NO CLUE what had gotten her clarity so peeved, but decided to stay attentive, just in case the…whatever it was…returned.

Meanwhile, the Beetle was quite annoyed. Typically, when something WET fell into her hair- it was nothing desirable. Tears, spit, water from buckets, sweat, a leaking dirty pipe- were ALL contenders. She would have to clean herself off after returning to her chamber.

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Fortunately, the Beetle’s room was quite spacious- yet comfortable.

Her regal status meant that accommodations were always available! The doorway to and from said chamber was just big enough for her to fit.
Soldiers would keep guard in front of her estate- but she was very rarely bothered here- unless a Diamond requested her presence.

The Beetle headed to the sanitation station that was placed in her bedroom, and violently began to scrub her hair clean in the sink.

“Plip!”

The Beetle jumped! Something had fallen into the the water…from her head?!? What the Stars?!?

She quickly fished the small object out of the sink, before the drain claimed it.

It was…a blue stone?

The Beetle turned the strange object in the palm of her hand. It was…so TINY- even to HER!!! She squinted at it with puzzlement. It almost looked like…a Lapis gemstone? She had frequently seen the stone on the various blue Gems while walking in the hallway- but a NORMAL Lapis’ gemstone was typically just as big- if not BIGGER than she!

Excited, and more than a bit curious, the Beetle placed the tiny rock onto a small pillow, and waited patiently.

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It took several days for the stone to come to life, but the event was SO peculiar- that the small Beetle clapped in excitement!
The tiny blue rock hovered, glowed and danced- as something emerged from the inside!

“Let’s see what this is all about!” The Heaven Beetle mused to herself as she waited patiently.

From the glowing aura, appeared the most tiny, adorable, Lapis the Beetle had ever seen!

The confused water Gem looked around in a panic, before spotting the Beetle-
-“YELP!!”
The minuscule thing spread her wings and desperately attempted to find a quick escape route- not unlike that of a trapped butterfly. She hit her side against the wall in desperation several times, before becoming dizzy. The Lapis began to flutter- lob sided, as the Beetle caught her before landing on the tile floor.

“GOODNESS! Calm down! Calm yourself! I will not harm you…” the regal Gem chortled to herself in amusement.

The Lapis laid in her new friend’s hands- panting and shivering in fear!

“My stars! Your shivering like an earthquake! It’s alright!” The Beetle rubbed her thumb against the Lapis’ back. It seemed to settle her a bit. “Huh! You’re so…tiny! Where on Homeworld did you come from?”

Despite the odd situation, the royal Gem seemed more charmed then frightened by the off-color darling. It was VERY rare to find a living thing smaller then herself. She could happily relate to the Lapis’ misfortune.

The Lapis said nothing. She suddenly sighed in exhaustion. It seemed that nothing would harm her in this safe place. She began to doze- completely overwhelmed with the situation.

“DAAAWWW!” The Beetle cooed. She couldn’t help herself! What a special friend she had found!
The regal Gem carefully placed the Lapis back on the small pillow- before yawning and walking to her own sleeping spot to get some rest.

Chapter Text

The walls were the best way to travel safely.
The walls also held the most collectible and prized objects!

A Rubble Peridot was on the hunt! She absolutely ADORED tinkering and inventing stuff.

Without any bigger bully Gems to nip at her decisions, the Peridot was a completely free spirit- taking what she wanted with little to no consequences.

“Ahh! This pile will come in handy!” The green Gem chopped at the red, blue, and yellow wires with an improvised sharp tool made from pieces of discarded shrapnel. The things tore apart easily.

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“Bwoooooooo….”
Yellow Pearl and her Diamond looked at the chamber ceiling mere seconds before the lights went out.

Incredibly annoyed, Yellow Diamond began barking orders: “PEARL!! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!?”

“I-I DON’T KNOW MY DIAMOND!! Should-should I call a technician?”

“That goes without saying….MY PEARL?!?”

“WEEP! Yes my Diamond?!?”

“Turn on your gemstone’s flashlight. I can’t see a FRACKING thing in here!”

“Y-yes my Diamond.” The Pearl obeyed.

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Meanwhile, the tiny Peridot looked very smug with herself! “Ahh! Perfect!”
The green Gem climbed onward! Searching for the next precious item would not be easy….

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A mega light lithium battery appeared!

The tiny Gem took some ropes off of her back that she had constructed with some elongated copper. She placed the things around the precious cargo.

She yanked and heaved!!!

“POP!!”

The battery came loose! It was no bigger then the ones placed in regular pocket watches-but was a mighty armful for the thief.

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“FZZZZZT!!”

The corresponding Rhodonites gasped as their main computer crashed. They were in charge of the ship flight coordinations…and thus, all the ships that were attempting to enter Homeworld’s atmosphere immediately either: stopped, or bumped into each other! The resulting din of honking and cursing was magnificent!

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“This is a wonderful power source!” The tiny Peridot purred to herself.

The green one went about her business. She was completely unaware of all the chaos her collecting habits were causing to the larger world around her.

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The Peridot’s last stop was underneath an important terminal. She needed some sort of light bulb.
The tiny Gem had seen a pretty red one here previously, and discreetly unscrewed it from below.

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There was a massive panel utilized to warn Homeworld when the pressure in a energy chamber became too high.

The tiny red lightbulb was an indicator that the machine needed manual attention. The thing was even smaller than a Christmas light, but was vitally important.

Unfortunately for everyone in the area, the tiny lightbulb suddenly descended into the machine and disappeared underneath.

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“There we are! This is WONDERFUL!” The tiny Peridot’s arms were now greatly overstuffed.
Satisfied, the Rubble Gem took the safe route back to her personal bungalow- a oddly placed crevice she had found within the walls.

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After tinkering with the battery, wires, and lightbulb- the Peridot successfully managed to create a new source of light for the little nook!

She sat down, happy and exhausted- as she heard a massive explosion somewhere in the distance.

Chapter Text

The walls typically didn’t say much, but they definitely LISTENED.

Most regular Gems had NO CLUE that the sentient walls were MUCH more important then previously perceived…specifically, the top of their heads.

Indeed.

The Gems that made up the building were SO tall, that no one but the periodic Diamond walking through the hallway could see above the walls.

In fact, the walls were perfectly FINE with this!

Their tops were serving as: not JUST a highway, but a safe, SUPER highway for Rubble Gems!

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Each day, literally HUNDREDS of the tiny Rubbles would walk back and forth. Every color, class, job, and size were represented! The tiny Gems were unusually grateful for the wall’s service.

While the normal Gems down below would either ignore or mumble obscenities about the sentient slabs, the Rubble Gems up above sympathized!

If a crack formed on the highway, tiny Bismuths would try everything in their power to aid the pain.

The Spinels would dangle their legs over the edge and entertain the wall with jokes and banter!

Sometimes, Rubble Gems would leave things that smelled good- like flower petals or bits of gem cream for the walls to enjoy.

On occasion, a Rubble Ruby would give the wall a warm hug!

Pearls would gather in mornings and practice stretching their legs to keep up appearances and stamina. It became a respectable tradition to pat the ground twice in thanks after the exorcises.
For whichever wall was chosen, this ended up being a friendly pat on the head.
…and the sentient wall was grateful.

Despite having (perhaps) the most knowledge about the Rubble Gems- the walls never gave away their secret.

They considered the tiny community their most special friends.