//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Pier pressure // Story: Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 4: Immortals // by Jeweled Pen //------------------------------// Alarms filled the air as Button felt the rush of adrenaline surge through him. The three had been spotted as they had intended. Granted, even he was starting to feel like this was a terrible idea. They were vastly outnumbered, but the three of them were good. They could do this. No, would do this. The outpost was simple enough. Surrounded by a thick wooden wall, with a three story tall building built into the mountains itself. At the top of the building, the pier jutted out from the mountain, where the airships would dock and bring more supplies in. Destroying the pier was up to Celestia and Luna. He was their entrance and exit, as well as delaying tactic. A buzzing sound filled the air, though he paid it no heed, yet. He had one goal. Destroy the wall so the other two could run inside. He leaped forward and then landed hard, driving his hooves into the ground. There was a sickening crunch when stone and dirt rushed up, shoving at the bottom of the wall. The buzzing got louder and he glanced up. His heart raced faster. There were dozens of black, buzzing ponies. The changelings reminded him of bugs. Then a moment later they flashed green and they were splitting images of him, Luna and Celestia. Fire shot up, blocking them from view a second later, when Celestia galloped past. “Less gawking more breaking!” she yelled at him. “R-right!” he yelled. He took a deep breath, digging his hooves in as hard as he could. Sweat started to form on his body while he shoved with all his might, the ground imitating his movements. “Come on… come on… THERE!” he yelled. With a much louder crunch, part of the wall gave way and a hole big enough for three or four ponies to get through was made, one of the massive posts of the wall flying away from the fort and crashing to the ground. He panted with exertion, watching the twins disappear inside. He wiped the sweat from his brow before glancing up. Some of the changelings had disappeared, but there were still a dozen or so, who flew down at him. No telling how many more would be coming out to fight him, too. He gulped and raced away from the hole he made, heading towards the main towers that stood on either side of the primary entrance. He growled and then shoved both his hooves forward with all his might. Lava formed in front of him, a veritable river of it. It shot out over the road and then under the main gate and tower. More angry buzzing filled the air when more of the changelings shot out from the, now burning, tower. Button then turned, the lava at his back, while the changelings landed behind him. Now all images of Celestia and Luna. “Come on, guys,” he mumbled, narrowing his eyes. “Do you have to wear my coltfriend’s face? You’re just making this awk-- eep!” He leaped to the left, narrowly avoiding a blast of green magic from one of their horns. “Okay, fine!” He then tapped his hooves, forming a wall of rock in front of him, blocking more magical beams. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you! I’ll kick ALL your flanks!” he yelled, before turning and bucking. The wall shot out, striking two of the changelings and sending them toppling back. He then whipped around to face the veritable horde. He really hoped Celestia and Luna were doing better. He leaped up, the ground rising to help shoot him into the air, moments before his prior position was enveloped in green magic beams. He landed, skidding along the ground, before sending more stones hurtling at the crowd. At least with so many, he didn’t have to worry about aiming. ------ Celestia let out a giddy laugh when she burst into the outpost. Her eyes narrowed on the large, metal door of the main building and she quickly leaped into the air, sending out a powerful, crashing burst of flame at the door. The door crumbled like paper, bursting in and taking out a few of the ponies inside. Luna raced in, ahead of her, his horn glowing. Spikes of ice raced at him, but he quickly turned in a tight circle, turning the spikes to water and then forming a whip in front of himself. The whip lashed out at the nearest unicorn, gripping the pony’s front hooves and yanking him forward in time for Celestia to race forward and swirl into a powerful buck to the pony’s chest. He sailed through the air. Luna saw three more unicorns and two copies of himself and his sister. The unicorns were staring at the two in shock, however. He didn’t blame them. It wasn’t everyday you saw the prince and princess of your nation burst in through your front door. While he would have preferred to take his time and talk with them, time was something they had in very limited supplies. His whip lashed out, gripping the withers of the other two unicorns and slamming them together, sending them toppling to the ground. Celestia sent a firm stream of fire forward, forcing their duplicates to scatter from the heat and open the stairway to them, before she galloped up it. Luna followed closely behind, tossing the limited water he’d gathered onto the steps behind them and quickly freezing it solid. He was rewarded by the sound of a startled shriek, then a few scattered thumps and shrieks. He smiled, galloping after his sister, who slowed down just enough so he could pass her. Her horn lit up once again and she lit the wall behind them aflame, blocking off their pursuers. “You never were one for subtlety, dear sister. Are you not worried you’ll burn the place to the ground?” “There are water benders EVERYWHERE here,” she said quickly. “Point.” He burst up to the top of the steps as well and quickly ducked and rolled. A changeling flew over where he had been, crashing into the wall by the steps. Celestia stomped on the poor creature’s body on her way up, moving to his side. The hallway had three more ponies, two unicorns and a pegasus. Thankfully they didn’t look like the twins. Luna readied her horn, but the two unicorns bowed their head. “Y-your highnesses! What are you doing here? You’re in grave danger!” Celestia’s left hoof was raised, fire in it, but it was paused. “We’re here for the pier. Which way is up?” “Down this hall, on the left. But you can’t be here. Tittering will--” “Don’t worry about that. We kicked your butts, okay?” Celestia said, before galloping past the three. They moved aside, not raising any objections. Luna raced after his sister, sparring only a small glance back. Fortunately, it seemed not all ponies were so easily beaten. No matter what Silver did, she was just one pony. She couldn’t control every individual pony and many of them still knew where their loyalties lie. Of course, when he raced up the steps behind his sister he was forced to remember that, while some would still side with them, it didn’t apply to all of them. A veritable wall of water came surging down the steps at the two. He barely had time to step in and hold it back, forming a wall of rushing water in front of the two. He could feel another bender, possibly more than one, shoving at the top of the steps to try and shove them back down. “S-sister...” “On it,” Celestia said, backing up. “Let it go when I say. You ready?” “Yes.” She nodded. Fire erupted from her horn. She dug her hooves firmly into the wood. Red fire formed on the tip of her horn. She took a deep breath before, slowly, the fire got hotter and hotter. Shifting from red to orange, yellow and then blue. The heat radiating off it gave even Luna pause, especially in the tight stairway. “NOW!” Celestia yelled, thrusting her horn forward. Luna let the water go and focused all of her efforts on the steam that filled the stairway. Or rather, would have filled the stairway and killed the two of them. He forced it up and above, redirecting it away from them. It wasn’t easy, as the super heated water wanted to escape and fill the area and it took all his efforts to stop it from burning them, redirecting it back behind them while they made their way up the tunnel. They burst through the water at the top of the stairwell and a jet of Celestia’s flame shot forward, burning a hole through the wall of the compound and searing the stone behind it. The pair of water benders at the top of the steps stared at the pair, unwilling to come closer. Four changelings stared at the two, seemingly unsure now if they should transform or not. Celestia didn’t give them time to recover, her horn flame quickly fading out moments before she leaped forward, slamming her front hoof into the nearest bender, crashing them to the ground. She then charged two of the changelings, spinning around and bucking with enough power that two of them were sent flying across the room to crash into the wall. Luna flicked his head, gathering the small remaining dregs of water. It fashioned quickly into a dull hook, before reaching forward, gripping around the remaining water bender’s neck and drawing him down, slamming his head against the ground. He then melted the hook back into water and formed a small swirl of water, which moved up to deflect one of the charging changelings past him. The first skidded to a halt, whipping around to rush at him, while the second charged from ahead. Luna sighed and, with practiced ease, he stepped towards the one in front of him. The water he held moved in front of the changelings vision for a second to distract him, before he gripped the changeling’s front hoof and spun, sending the changeling into its partner. The two crashed to the ground a second later. Celestia galloped past him, a grin on her lips. “You know, this is kind of fun! We haven’t had a workout like this in ages!” Luna gave a soft chuckle, following besides his sister. “Quite. I will admit it is a bit… exhilarating.” “How do you think Button’s doing?” “I’m certain he’s doing fine. Come along, we still have a bit left to go, and we must be out of here before Tittering shows her face.” ------ Button shrieked and galloped as fast as he could, the sound of angry buzzing behind him. He leaped forward, hitting the ground and skidding along it. Behind him, a wall of stone rose up and he was rewarded by a loud, satisfying splatting sound when the changelings slammed into it. He whipped around, quickly sending the stone wall toppling back onto them, burying the creatures in rubble. He panted with exhilaration, before digging his hooves back into the ground. There were at least a dozen changelings, two, maybe more, water benders. He saw a few unicorns who he’d seen water bend, but with the changelings mixed in and taking on different forms, it was near impossible for him to determine what everypony was. A scream, LUNA’S scream tore his attention. He turned back to face the hole in the wall he’d made, and saw Luna fly out from it, crashing to the ground. His heart almost stopped and he stared with abject horror. 'No no no no. Have they failed?' he thought as a water bender raced towards Luna, lifting her horn up and formed spears of ice overhead. Button galloped towards them. Unstopping. Punching through everything. His eyes narrowed and stone formed around him. He wasn’t a rock or dirt or stone or any of that. He was the avalanche. The water bender glanced up at the earth pony. Her eyes widened and she had only a split second to try and re-direct the spears, but she was too slow. Button slammed into the unicorn and sent her soaring back through the air, making the spears fall to the ground. He then turned towards Luna. “Luna, Luna are you okay?” Behind him, a ditch had been dug into the ground from his unstoppable charge. The stallion whimpered. “B-Button. It’s… Celestia. She’s in danger. Y-you have to help her. S-she’s… ugh… She’s hurt, they captured her.” Button nodded. “On it.” He lifted his right hoof up and turned towards the hole. “I--” Luna smirked, her horn glowing with a green light and sending a blast of changeling magic at the earth pony. A wall of stone rose up between the two when he put his hoof down. “-- am not dumb enough to fall for such a silly trick. You actually had me for a second when you came crashing out. But you’re not nearly as good a pretender as you think you are.” The changeling let out a shriek when the stone wall fell on top of him, leaving him groaning in a pile of rubble. Button snickered, rolling his eyes. “They really think low of me, don’t they? As if I’d ever be fooled by a fake Luna.” He whipped around, narrowing his eyes on the encroaching forces. “Come on, everypony! Let’s--” The words stopped in his mouth. Off in the distance, he could see the town. A few dozen changelings were already in the air, some of them pulling chariots. Reinforcements were coming. Which likely meant Tittering. He gulped. “WAIT!” he yelled, giving the slowly advancing forces pause. “Before we continue on, I need to ask you one very, very important question.” The changelings buzzed, staring at him. Finally, one of the water benders spoke up. “Err… yes?” “Are you ready to rock?” he asked. “Huh?” Button grinned and then sat down. He started rotating his front left and right hooves, tapping them on the ground. The confused ponies shared looks, before charging forward. The earth pony smirked, digging his hooves in harder and harder with each tap. The ground around him began to shake and rumble. “You reallllllly should have enchanted the ground,” he said softly. Moments later, the ground around him erupted, sending a veritable tidal wave of dirt and rock out at the encroaching ponies. There were shrieks while the ponies tried to reverse course, but they were too slow. The earth pony gulped, staring at the destruction he’d wrought. Slowly, a grin formed on his lips. “Oh yeah! That’s how I-- GAHHHHH!” He stumbled forward, moments before a second and third blast of green magic struck him in the back, sending him toppling forward. He groaned, his body feeling numb. He stared at the hole in the fort, seeing more changelings and possible ponies. Three of the changelings shot more blasts of their magic at him, but he quickly tapped a hoof and formed a wall of dirt, before rolling to his feet. “I’m… not done yet...” he mumbled, staring at the ponies. It hurt, though. He could feel the numbness slowly beginning to spread from the blast, somehow worse than the pain they were taking. Still, he couldn’t fall here. The others were depending on him. “Come on, let’s go!” he yelled, before shoving his hooves forward and sending more rocks at the crowd. ------ Luna’s horn dipped forward and the small whip of water he’d made lashed out, gripping the hoof of the changeling blocking their way and yanking, bringing the creature down to the ground. A quick strike from his sister and the changeling went flying. The twins then burst through the last door, the bright light outside almost blinding them. But the pair had made it. They stepped out onto the docks. There were four unicorns there, along with dozens of changelings. One of the unicorns spoke up. “Princess Celestia. Prince Luna. Cease this destruction. Please, I’m begging you. Surrender peacefully.” Celestia snorted. “Why would I ever do that? You’re barely making this a challenge for us.” The stallion bristled. “I am Commander Icyveil, this is my outpost you’ve been damaging. We’ve all heard tales of your… rebellion,” the stallion said, shaking his head. “It’s foolhardy. Discord has won, he rules now. All you’re doing is making foals of yourselves and putting ponies at risk.” Luna sighed. “And you would rather us take it lying down?” he asked. He glanced off to the left, however, before turning back to the unicorn. He could see the reinforcements quickly making their way towards them. They didn’t have much time left. “Yes. You two have already caused enough disgrace for our nation, need you add a hopeless rebellion to your list?” he asked, his voice cold and hard. The twins froze. “Disgrace?” Celestia asked. “How could standing up to a tyrant possibly be a disgrace?” The stallion shook his head, his cold facade breaking and anger covering his features. “Truly? You ask me of disgrace? Your whole history is nothing but a cycle of disgrace. A fire bender in line for the throne of the WATER nation?” he asked, his eyes narrowing. “A colt who shares the appearance of the great Nightmare Moon and yet shares none of the traits that made her the powerful ruler she was? And then there’s the heir and your mother. So timid and frightened to act when it is required. So frightened of disturbing the other nations that they refuse to show the strength our nation once held. It is far, far better that our kingdom fall now, under the hoof of this abomination. Than letting it crumble to pieces from the weakness of your family’s disgrace. The Water Nation can recover its former glory, but not if it rots from the inside out.” Celestia took a slow, deep breath. “Ah. So you’re one of those types, then?” she asked, fire forming at the tip of her horn. “You know what I have to say to that?” “What? You still wish to fight? You can’t possibly believe you can defeat all of us,” he asked with an amused smirk. “One, so what if I’m a fire bender? My mother taught me that there’s not much difference between the benders, different nations or not. A pony is still a pony.” The fire on her horn glowed brighter, slowly growing. “Two, my brother is one of the greatest ponies you’ll EVER have the honor of meeting. His traits are incredible and you’d wish you were half the pony he was if you could see out through your own tail hole!” The flame shifted colors again, until settling on blue. The opposing unicorns took a small step back. “Three, my mother and big sister? They’re trying to heal the damage the Water Nation did. Who cares if we’re seen as weak? They aren’t. Anypony with half a brain can see they aren’t. You have no idea how hard they are working to fix everything.” She then smirked. “And four...” “Y-yes?” the stallion asked, his eyes locked on the fire on her horn. “I don’t need to beat any of you to destroy this pier.” She then whipped her head forward. The fire shot out, scorching forward and searing the docks, instantly incinerating the boards it touched. The changelings and ponies scattered aside, trying to avoid the inferno. Celestia soon stumbled back, the fire on her horn going out. However, the damage was done. The fire quickly began to spread through the dock and they could see the supports catching alight through the holes in the wood. “Whew… think I over did it a bit?” she asked with a soft chuckle. “Come on, let’s go back.” “We can’t,” Luna mumbled. “Tittering is almost upon us.” “W-what?” the unicorn asked, glancing towards the town. She paled at the sight of the fast approaching forces. “O-oh...” “… How much do you trust Button?” Luna asked. “Huh? Wh-- EEEEEEE!” the mare shrieked when she was shoved OFF the burning pier. Luna followed a moment later. “LUNA WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!!” she shrieked, staring at the fast approaching ground. Down below, she could see Button facing off against a hoard of changelings. The stallion shrugged. “I believe this is called a trust fall. BUTTON!” he yelled. The earth pony glanced up and his heart almost stopped. “LUNA!” He stumbled back when another blast of changeling magic hit him. He shook his head and then glared. “OH BUCK THIS!” he yelled. He thrust his hooves forward and the ground rose up around him, dirt and rock swirling around him in a protective barrier. He then surged forward, the green blasts bouncing off the armor. He raced towards the twins, pushing everything he had into it. He snagged the two, barely, out of the air and quickly made the dirt give way, slowing their fall while the earth carried them forward. The three tumbled forward, before bursting into and then through one of the outer walls of the outpost, making the thick wall post crack with a mighty crash. The three ponies were sent toppling out from the wave of stone, hitting the ground and rolling forward, laying still. After a few moments, Celestia spoke up. “Trust. Fall. My. Little. White. Flank. Ow.” “I-I don’t… wanna do that… again...” Button mumbled, shaking his head. “Luna?” “Yes… Button?” he asked, slowly getting to his hooves. “Dear sister… you’d best… get up. It is time for us to… depart...” he said, before reaching a hoof up to his forehead and shaking it. “That’s my Luna. We should… oh buck,” he said softly. The changelings were almost upon them. He could make out Tittering on one of the chariots, her eyes locked on them. “Time to go! Sorry!” he said before tapping the ground again. The dirt under them opened up, swallowing the three. ------ Celestia hacked up dirt, laying on her side. Luna didn’t fare much better, the stallion laying opposite her and coughing up a small bit of dirt as well. “Sorry! Sorry!” Button said for the thousandth time, bowing his head profusely. “They were right there! I had to move fast! I’m so, so sorry!” “It’s… quite alright...” Luna muttered, before coughing up a few more specks of dirt. “Emergency situations call for… emergency reactions. You… got us out under… Tittering’s nose. That, in and of itself, is a success… Even if the methods had to be a bit… harsh...” he mumbled, before slowly getting to his hooves. He then shook his head, sitting back down. Slowly, he reached a hoof out and placed it on Button’s withers, giving the stallion a small smile. “There are… dozens of different methods that… water benders have to stop earth benders when they flee. You got us out before they could--” He was cut off by another fit of coughing. “-- before they could unleash any of them on us. A rough trip is far, far preferable to being captured.” “Ugh… I swear I swallowed some rocks,” Celestia groaned, before snorting. “And it’s up my nose… but yeah. What Luna said. You did good, Button. Got us out of there. Ready to go meet with the rebels?” Button nodded. “Yeah. Here’s hoping they succeeded. We’ve… still got quite the road ahead of us, don’t we?” Luna nodded. “Yes. Indeed we do. But...” He gently moved besides Button and bumped his flank against the other stallion’s. “So long as we face it together, I know we’ll succeed. Now come, Dear Button. Sister. Our people require our presence.” ------ “They escaped. I can’t believe you let them escape!” Icyveil said, storming back and forth across his office. His outpost had been nearly destroyed. The pier was in tatters, the lower floors had been burned as well. It would take weeks to repair the damage. “I wasn’t here,” Tittering said with a light giggle. “I never really mastered teleportation, my bad. Still, you have to admire their courage. Charging in, wiping out the pier like that? Especially with the main force so close? Impressive.” “Do you find this FUNNY?” Icyveil asked. “Her highness is going to be furious with us!” “Oh, relax,” Tittering said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “So a small outpost got wrecked. The rebels do stuff like that all the time. She won’t even care.” “The prince and princess were there! And that other one, Button. He was one of the Avatar’s friends! If you’d just let me lay down the poisoned water like I asked, they never would have escaped. I would have caught them here and now!” “Hmmm. Probably. Totally my bad, sorry, big guy,” Tittering said with a shrug. “How can you be so--” He was cut off when the door burst open. A changeling burst in, glancing to Tittering. “General Tittering. The ponies, while you were here, they launched an attack on the prison. All of the prisoners, they’re gone.” Tittering blinked, her eyes widening. She nodded before motioning the changeling to leave. “I… see. Thank you. Bye bye now!” She waited for the changeling to leave, before she leaned back in her seat and giggled into her hoof. Icyveil stared at the mare. He’d heard of her, of course he had. Lots of ponies assumed she was mad, but he had never believed it until now. How could she be laughing at this? Prisoners had escaped. They were going to be in so much trouble! Slowly, his mouth fell open. “W-why… why are you laughing?” “Oh, it’s just so funny! The perfect joke! Come here, draw us off. Then, BAM! The perfect punchline. I really have to give it to them. If Silver heard about this, we’d look like total idiots,” she said with a giggle. He narrowed his eyes. “If? How do you expect to keep it from her?” Tittering shrugged. “I just won’t tell her. Well, not everything. Still, they got us good. Smart ponies, them. Amazing delivery,” she said with another giggle. Icyveil glared. He could see it now. She truly was mad. There was only one way to deal with a pony such as this. His left hoof shot forward. Water shot from a nearby decanter, turning to shards of ice and flying at the general. They stopped centimeter’s from her throat and she gave a soft sigh, shaking her head. “Now now, commander. I wasn’t going to make you take the fall for this… but if you insist? I’ll oblige,” she said with a little giggle. Her right hoof slid gently forward while the water from the decanter rose up into the air. He gulped, taking a step back. “G-general, wait, I wasn’t, I didn’t mean to-- AGHHHHHHHHH!”