//------------------------------//
// Epilogue: Her destiny 
// Story: Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 3: Tirek 
// by Jeweled Pen 
//------------------------------//

“Ugh...” Rainbow groaned, half-limping, half-flying back to where the ship hovered above the forest, a beacon of where the others should be.

“Hey… Rainbow,” Applejack said with a groan, giving a small, exhausted smile to the other mare. “Took your time, huh? How’d yah do? Where’s Shining?” She then blinked. “Wait. Where’s Scootaloo?”

“Shining is… dealt with,” Rainbow mumbled. “Wait. Scootaloo isn’t back yet? Eh… she’ll be back soon. Probably going to be pissed at me. Where’s Hothoof? And what about him?” she asked, pointing a hoof towards Dazzling, who was tied up to a tree.

“He’s dealt with,” Rarity said with a shake of her head. “He won’t give us any more trouble.”

“Hothoof offed himself,” Applebloom said with a sigh. “Almost got us, too.” She motioned to the leg Sweetie was currently bandaging up.

“Silver’s gone on ahead, we think,” Sweetie said with a sigh. Even with the rest, she could still feel the poison in her veins, hindering her and making even wrapping a bandage difficult. “We should go after her as soon as Scootaloo gets here. Even if we’re beat up, we may be able to tip the scales in--”

“That won’t be necessary,” Silver’s voice came out from the trees, making the ponies turn around. “Everything is done, we’ve won. But...” The earth pony was carrying an unconscious Diamond across her back.

“What?” Rarity said, her mouth open in horror. “Her… her cutie mark. It’s… Meadowbrook, did she?”

Silver didn’t answer, moving and gently laying the now bare-flanked pony on the ground. The other ponies moved to surround her.

Once they were together, she shook her head. “No. It wasn’t her. It was me.” Her eyes glowed purple and the alicorn amulet appeared around her throat. Applejack and Rainbow turned, the former lifting a hoof and the right moving a wing back. But their wounds slowed them too much. The gathered ponies were enveloped in dark, purple magic before they could act.

When they fell, their screams echoing through the air, Silver stared. “Five of the world’s most powerful benders… now all blank flanks,” she mumbled softly, shaking her head. She glanced towards the bound up Dazzling, who was missing his mark as well. “Six, I suppose. I’m sorry… but now nopony can stand in my way,” she whispered, before turning and trotting back into the woods.

Music filled the air once again. “Because… I’m the bad guy.”