The Gems simply went about their business, doing their jobs, whether it be teaching newborn Gems, or those who worked directly under the Diamond Authority. While the low rank Gems did away at their work without a second thought, their was much more going on inside the walls of Yellow Diamond's Fortress, which, for you earth humans, can consider the White House of the Homeworld, where the leader/dictator, Yellow Diamond, made all of the decisions.
She was the one who would send Gems to other planets, to exterminate the life there, build Kindergartens, and harvest Gems. She was the one who presided over any and all Governmental decisons, and she is the one who will gladly shatter your Gem to mere dust, should you disobey, fail orders too many times, and, the most common, if you are defective, or are succumbing to corruption. It doesn't matter how high rank you are, or even if you have a stable relationship with Yellow Diamond, if you show any, ANY signs of corruption, you are shattered.
There is no other way.
There is no cure for corruption.
As for defects and disobeyers, they shall be publicly shattered as an example to all Gems what fate shall befall them should they go rouge.
...Or, should Yellow Diamond still find use of their powers, they shall be tortured in the most horrific ways possible, until they re-swear their alliegance to the Diamond Authority.
The most famous example of treason would be Rose Quartz.
She was a Gem known by nearly every Gem in existence. She used to be one of the most kind, caring, and considerate Gems who ever lived.
But not all good things last forever. When the Homeworld stumbled onto a little blue planet, which was full of life, full of thriving creatures known as humans, Rose turned against Homeworld and built an army to protect the little blue planet from harm.
That planet, as you should know, is known as Earth.
The war lasted centuries, and many Gems perished on both sides. The Homeworld was confident that they would prevail, and take Earth as it's own, they had even managed to construct a Kindergarten there, but were never able to activate it.
Despite their bigger numbers, Rose's Army had succeeded in the war, forcing the Homeworld to retreat, and, due to the thousands of Gems that perished, were forced to wait over the centuries as the other Kindergartens they had established on other planets to restore their society.
Garnet...
Amethyst...
Rose...
Pearl...
Cobalt...
We, are the Crystal Gems!
"Come on Dad, again!" squaked a small voice.
A deep chuckle could be heard, "That's the eighth time kiddo! You must really like that story huh?"
"Uh-huh!" said the small boy.
"Well, I'll be sure to tell it to you once we get to Beach City. It's been years since I've been to see everyone."
The young boy's brown eyes trailed off to the window. He was smiling broadly as he could see a small town in the distance. 'Beach City, huh? This should be fun!' He thought, as his hand came to rest on his stomach.
"Hmm...I'm in the mood for a sandwich but I'm also in the mood for something sweet too..." Steven muttered, as he paced around the kitchen.
The Gems were currently on a mission elsewhere fighting some kind of dangerous monster. This left Steven alone for the day.
"What do you think Lion?" Steven asked, as he turned to the massive pink creature. Of course, Lion was fast asleep and unable to answer that question.
Steven's stomach growled in protest and hunger, forcing him to make the decision a lot faster. But before he could open the refrigerator, his phone started to ring.
Upon answering, he was met with a familiar jovial voice.
Steven!
"Hey Dad, what's up?" Steven asked.
Oh, nothing much Stu-Ball. Hey, do you think you can come by the wash, there are a few friends I'd like you to meet.
Steven beamed at the request, "Sure thing Daddy-O, I'll be right there!" He said.
As Steven arrived on his bike, Greg turned away from the man he was talking to and smiled. "Steven! Come here!" Greg said, waving him over.
Steven wandered over to his father and was met with another boy and his father.
The man was an inch or so taller than Greg and had messy brown hair and gentle brown eyes. He wore a green t-shirt, jeans, and black sneakers.
"Wow Steven! I can't believe it! You've grown like a weed!" said the man.
"Steven, this is one of my old buddies that I met on the road from way back when." Greg said.
"Harvey Galaxy and this is my son." Harvey said, gesturing to the boy standing beside him.
The boy on the other hand was the same height as Steven with messy brown hair like his father but strangely enough he had a royal blue stripe through his hair, deep brown eyes framed by thin-rimmed, rectangular, black glasses. He was dressed in a blue t-shirt, a black short-sleeved, button-down shirt, jeans, and white and blue sneakers.
"Hi. I'm Doug. Is it true that your mom was one of the Crystal Gems?" Doug asked.
Steven blinked at the question. Harvey saw the boy's confusion and chuckled, "Geez Greg, did you really keep the kid in the dark about me and Cobalt?" He asked.
"Cobalt? Dad, who's he talking about?" Steven asked.
Greg sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh boy..." he muttered. "Cobalt was another Crystal Gem. Like your mom she had the same infatuation with humans and then she met Harvey here and I'm pretty sure you know the rest."
Both Steven and Doug looked at each other with their eyes wide.
"If your mom's a Crystal Gem..." Steven began.
"Then you're a..." Doug added.
"Hybrid just like me!" They finished together.
Greg and Harvey smiled as the two struck up their own conversation and began to walk to town.
"Kids, I'll tell ya what." Harvey muttered.
"Yeah. So how've you been?" Greg asked.
"I've been great. Since Doug's Gem powers have started to show up, I thought I'd bring him back to the only place that could teach him." Harvey said.
"Well he's certainly got his work cut out for him, especially after you know..." Greg said.
"I put that behind me, and I hope the Gems did as well." Harvey said.