//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Hot and sticky // Story: Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 4: Immortals // by Jeweled Pen //------------------------------// Acrylic paced back and forth, trying to keep himself calm and unfortunately failing. “Where is she? She’s taking too long. We should go check on her!” he said firmly, wiping his sweaty yellow mane back. His blue coat was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and sand, unfortunately making each step mildly uncomfortable even without his panic. Even the sand colored cloak he wore could only do so much in such intense heat. “Calm down,” the pink mare lounging on a rock nearby said with a shake of her head. “It’s only been like, an hour. Even I wouldn’t be done this fast,” Pinkie Pie said with a light giggle. “Well, okay. I guess if I was planning a party, maybe. Or if it was an emergency, but--” “How is this not an emergency, Pinkie?!” Acrylic asked, before shaking his head. He then turned, glancing out over the sandy dunes and towards the massive city off in the distance. Manehatten. Heart of the Fire Tribe nation. Hanging above it was, for lack of a better word, a second sun. The Fire Immortal. Housing dozens, possibly hundreds of fire bender cutie marks. “Because, for the moment, nopony is dying, or about to die, or about to be captured, or--” “EVERYPONY is about to be captured! Every moment we’re waiting is another moment that--” “That’s war,” Pinkie said with a shake of her head. “It sucks. It’s terrible. Nopony likes it. But when it happens? You need to be careful and pick your battles.” She reached out and put a hoof on Acrylic’s chest. “Trust me. We were doing this for years. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sweetie. If you burn yourself out and spend all your time worrying about what might happen, then you’ll never be able to fight when there’s something you CAN do. Remember that, okay?” she said with a gentle smile. “Now, we’ve still got a lot of work to do. There’s a lot of things we CAN’T do yet. So we have to be patient and calm.” Acrylic let out a frustrated growl and shook his head. “Fine. But… but I STILL hate this. We should be out there, with her. What if she’s in danger?” “Then she’s in danger and there isn’t much we can do from here. Unless you want to run in and challenge Scorched to a hoof fight, we have to trust her,” Pinkie said dismissively, before giving a light yawn. “Besides. You’re kiiiiind of recognizable. So am I. She’s the best pony for this job.” Acrylic nodded before giving a soft sigh. He KNEW the elder mare was right. But he hated standing here and waiting. He stared at the massive city, that knot of dread in his stomach refusing to leave. There were changelings occasionally flying in and out of the city, with guards posted on the entrances, stopping anypony who was too recognizable from getting in without notice. Were it just food and water, it would have been easy for them to acquire them by other means. Instead, they needed traders. Ponies who could get them supplies that were just not very common anywhere BUT the capital. So instead they were stuck, here, in the very heart of the Fire Tribes, where the majority of Silver’s forces were waiting. The only positive was that trade was still going on in the nation, so ponies could get in and out of the city so long as they weren’t identified as rebels. “I hate this...” Acrylic mumbled. “So do I,” Pinkie mumbled, glancing back towards the city. “That, unfortunately, won’t go away. Even if you know they’ll be okay, you’ll always worry. Same as you worry about Button or Diamond or Silver. You never stop worrying until you know with a hundred percent certainty that they’re safe. And even then? You still worry. You worry that they’re not eating enough, or that they’re pushing themselves too hard, or that some assassin will get the drop on them, or that they’ll decide to wander off alone and do something foalish like trying to reason with Trixie, or--” “I get it,” Acrylic mumbled, shaking his head. “And I am NOT worried about Silver. She’s the one who’s caused this whole mess. If it wasn’t for her, she’d… there wouldn’t be anything like this going on,” he muttered. “Really?” Pinkie asked, eyeing him. “You’re not worried about her at all?” “I’m… not… maybe...” he trailed off, shifting nervously from side to side. He hated talking about Silver. If he hadn’t seen first hoof what she was capable of, he would have never believed it. But he had. He’d been trapped, locked away in that weird form by her. By somepony he had considered a friend. He felt a light, burning pain in his heart. By somepony he’d had more than just friend feelings for. He wanted to hate her. Wanted to be one of the many who wanted her defeated. But despite his words, he still couldn’t bring himself to really believe that Silver was doing all this. That she’d stolen Diamond’s cutie mark and was terrorizing the world, binding it to her will. That she had summoned the changelings and was now using them to wage war. He wanted to deny it. But he knew he couldn’t. The facts were staring him in the face. With every battle, ponies got hurt and it was entirely her fault. No matter how much he wanted to believe it wasn’t her, locking himself in denial helped nopony. He glanced to Pinkie. “Well… you met her. What do you think?” “I mean, it’s Silver, she seemed nice enough,” the earth pony said with a shrug. “And she’s got Diamond of all ponies trying to save her. DIAMOND!” She gave a light giggle. “If anypony can kick her out of this bratty mood, she can. She’s a good friend, after all. She’s got a bit of Twilight and everypony else in her. How could she fail? If anypony can change this script, she can,” Pinkie said before glancing back out over the city. “Besides. Good friends are friends forever, even if they’re Discord.” Acrylic sighed and shook his head. “Maybe...” he muttered. He wished they could talk about something else. He really wanted to believe in those words, that they could save Silver. But it was impossible. She’d gone bad, there was nothing he could do about it. But that same part of him wondered if maybe she was right. He didn’t want to believe he was being too quick to judge, but he’d been hurt by her. In more ways than one. His hoof reached up to his heart. What if he was letting old hurts color his judgment? What if she could be saved and he just wasn’t giving her the chance? What if rather than being foalish and melting in denial by wanting to believe in her, he was actually doing the same thing by believing she HAD to be evil? He let out another soft growl, shaking his head. “I… hope you’re right. But I don’t think Diamond is looking for a way to ‘fix’ Silver, just beat her.” “Eh,” Pinkie said with a shrug. “It can be the same thing in some cases. Sometimes, your friends just need a firm and solid slap to the face.” “I think we’d all like to give her one of those,” Acrylic muttered. He glanced back out over the city and his heart jumped when he saw a pony step off the main road. “Is that her?” “… No. Give her some time,” Pinkie said with a light giggle once the pony turned back around and started on the road again. “Trust her. She’s smart and capable. Besides, she’s like an honorary member of Team Avatar. It’s a very important position which you don’t get by not being able to be careful and sneaky.” He sighed and rubbed his forehead, wiping more sweat away. “Fine. I just don’t like her being out there...” Once again he found his gaze drawn to the immortal hovering over the city. His heart jumped when he saw it was beginning to move, panic beginning to course through him. Movement at the main city gates made him freeze, his heart pounding in his ears. “Oh no...” he whispered. Armored ponies were walking out from the city, at least a few dozen of them. He suspected that most of them were changelings in other forms. Walking in the center of them was a unicorn in golden fire tribe armor that covered their entire body. General Scorched Legacy. One of the most powerful fire benders they’d ever seen. Acrylic doubted even Diamond in her prime or Sunset herself could have out fire bent the master. Maybe Twilight could have, with luck. However, to make it even worse, the general controlled the Fire Immortal. They’d run into her a few times, though the general never spoke. She moved with ruthless precision and wielded power that would have crushed them, had they not been careful and retreated when they did. “The general is moving again,” he whispered softly, staring at the general. “You don’t think he knows, do you?” “No. He’s not coming at us. He’s probably going on patrol,” Pinkie said, before shaking her head. His heart beat heavier when the forces came to a turn in the road. North or south. His breath calmed when they went south. “See? Patrol,” Pinkie said, before reaching out and lightly patting his withers. “He’s not heading towards the dragons at all. He doesn’t know.” “No, he’s not...” Acrylic muttered. “Good. He must not have found Pearl. But...” “Still not done worrying, are you?” “… Nope.” ------ “There she is!” Acrylic said, nearly hopping in place at the sight of the silver coated pony making her way from the city. While the majority of her body was hidden by the cloak she wore and her large supply bag on her back, he would have recognized her anywhere. Namely because a bit of her coat peaked out from under the cloak. “Okay then, let’s go,” Pinkie said before slowly getting to her hooves and stretching out. “Nnnnnngggg… I’m getting way too old for this...” she said with a soft yawn. Acrylic blinked and eyed the mare. If he didn’t know better, he’d have thought the mare wasn’t much older than him. He often found himself barely able to keep up with her energy. ‘Too old for this’ his flank. He turned and started walking away from their vantage point, making his way towards a large rock off in the distance. Pinkie suddenly dashed past him. “Come on, race yah!” she yelled after him. He rolled his eyes, but refused to move any faster. It was hot and he had no desire to push himself too hard when they had a long trip ahead of them. Of course, soon after he arrived, he saw Pearl walking around the edges of one of the dunes. The hood she had down hid all but her mouth, which was curled in a small smile. “I got everything we need. We can go.” “Are you okay? Did you run into any trouble? Do you need a rest? Did--” Acrylic was cut off by the earth pony raising a hoof. “I’m fine and no. It wasn’t too hard. The capital has more than a few sympathizers, it was mostly just an issue of going through the right channels,” she said, before stepping forward and rubbing her nose against his, drawing a blush from the stallion. “The general was out and about, though, so I had to be careful. Once she left the city, it was a lot easier.” “Did you get any information on where she was going?” Acrylic asked. The earth pony shook her head. “Not this time, sorry. I think it’s just a normal patrol. There weren’t any rumors about… well. You know. Dragons. I don’t think she has any idea what they’re planning. Now, let’s go. The sooner we get away from there, the better off we’ll be.” “Good,” Acrylic mumbled. His horn glowed and a moment later the bag disappeared off her back, only to reappear onto his a moment later. “If we’re going, I’ll carry this.” “I can--” “You had to do all the work. At least let me take care of this. Please?” he asked, eyeing her. “… Fine,” she said with a small, knowing smile. “Just be ready in case anything happens, okay?” She turned and started walking towards Pinkie. “Shall we?” The earth pony nodded. “Of course! Spike is going to be giddy when he sees what we’ve brought!” Acrylic nodded, following after the two mares. Once again, he felt that bit of dread in his stomach. He eyed Pearl again, feeling that knot in his stomach. In the end, she was just an earth pony. Where they were going was dangerous. If she’d been a bender, it would have been different. At least she hadn’t run into any trouble, though. “That move you taught me, Miss Pinkie? The flip? It was really useful. Thank you.” “Please, just call me Aunt Pie,” the pink mare said with a laugh. “Really? What happened?” “Oh, I ran into this one pony who tried to mug me,” she said with a shake of her head. “A fire bender. She didn’t expect that at all.” “Benders never do,” Pinkie said with a giggle. “Wait, somepony tried to mug you?” Acrylic asked, his heart plummeting. “Were you hurt? Did you--” “I was fine,” Pearl said with a shake of her head. “One quick thump to the head and the pony was on the ground begging for mercy. She barely even knew what hit her. Honestly? I feel a bit bad for her. I left her some bread, but well… we needed these supplies a lot more. I couldn’t let her have them.” Acrylic stared. “You gave her FOOD after she tried to mug you?” “It’s tough times in there,” she said with a shake of her head. “Lots of ponies are scared. Anypony who even whispers the notion of rebellion is imprisoned and loses their cutie mark. Ponies are losing jobs, struggling to make ends meet. It’s, frankly, a disaster. On top of that, with the changelings shifting into other ponies all the time? It’s hard for anypony to trust anypony else. Some ponies are surviving. Others are just trying to survive. I can’t fault them for that.” “You can’t reward people who try to hurt you.” “Eh. They were doing a terrible job of it, anyway,” she said flatly. “Their stance was awful. I’ve seen proper fire benders, they were not that. Not to mention the fire they tried to use was more like a tiny fire cracker. They weren’t going to come close to hurting me.” “But they were going to try and--” “If I was in their position, I might do the same thing,” she said with a shrug. “You could have been hurt!” “If I was afraid of getting a bit hurt, I wouldn’t be here,” she said flatly, before glancing back at him. “Besides. I know if anything happens I can’t handle, you’ll save me. My hero,” she said with a small, teasing grin. He stumbled and almost fell over, lowering his eyes. “I-I wasn’t there...” “And I didn’t need you. But when I did? You were. Obviously this just means I didn’t need you to be there today.” His mouth fell open, then closed. Finally, he glanced to Pinkie. “You taught her that bit of logic, didn’t you?” “What? Me? No. No no no no. Yes. But it is a good piece of advice! Very logical.” Acrylic face hoofed. “How in the world is that logical? I can’t just… appear because she needs me!” “Of course you can. You can teleport now.” “That’s not what I mean! I mean, if I don’t know she needs me, then I won’t be able to appear and save her.” “Ah, but if you don’t know, then she wouldn’t need you.” “But what if she does need me and I don’t know she needs me!” he asked, feeling his temper rising. “Then obviously she has it handled.” “… That… that’s not...” Acrylic shook his head. He didn’t understand how this mare could call ANY of that logic. It was like arguing with a donut. Circular and yet, somehow, in the end you felt silly, annoyed and somewhat sticky. “Besides, I can handle myself. I’ve taken care of myself for years, Acrylic,” Pearl said firmly. “Both before and after you. Besides. You have enough things to worry about as it is.” She slowed down a little so she could walk besides him and gently push up against him. “I’m okay, Acrylic. Relax,” she said soothingly. “You don’t need to protect me just because I can’t bend. Pinkie has been teaching me all kinds of different things. Even before that, I’ve had more than a few years of training. I worked on the pier, I saw all kinds of trouble all the time. Unless somepony tries to drop a five ton crate on my head, I’ll be fine. Okay?” He nodded slowly, before sighing. “Fine. I just… worry about you, is all.” She nodded and then leaned up, kissing his cheek and drawing another small blush from him. “I know. But trust me. Just because you had to save me the first time we met, doesn’t mean you always need to protect me from everything. I can handle myself, promise.” He nodded, giving a small smile and nuzzling her back. He idly wondered if this was how the prior avatar and her friends felt when they traveled with Pinkie. He really wanted to believe that she could be okay. He frowned when his mind traveled back to Silver. She’d always been the non-bender of their group before. She too had wanted to jump into everything, even when it was dangerous. Now? She was the most dangerous pony he knew, having brought the world down around her. Ruling with a tyrannical hoof. How could he have been so stupid? If only he had let himself see the true danger that was in front of him. He couldn’t allow himself to fall for it again. He had to see Silver as the threat she truly was. A danger to ponies. To ALL ponies. Not his friend. Not the earth pony without any magic. The smart, clever mare who fought using tools rather than any kind of bending. Who’d always been generous and supported them no matter what. She was an enemy, now. She was an enemy of all of them. No matter how much he found his mind drawn back to their childhood together. The games they’d played. The support she offered them in their pro bending. How scared or worried she seemed for them. All of it was lies, a trick to make them trust her. All so she could turn on them in the end, betray them. No matter what Button or Pinkie said, he couldn’t allow himself to hope that she would turn out to be okay in the end. That, somehow, she wouldn’t just trick them again. But he wished he could believe, just for a moment, that the Silver he knew would come back. He wished so, so badly it hurt.