Diamond groaned as the world slowly came back into focus around her. Whereever she was, it was cool and dark. Slowly her head rose and she groaned. She was sitting in a dark room, with only a single light above her head. She was in a metal chair, leaning against a metal table. A lot of her body hurt.
She then realized there was a pony sitting across from her. A pegasus. He had a light red coat and a dark purple mane. He was wearing the same black and purple uniforms of the Shadowbolts, except his had thin metal blades across his wings. He didn't look very old, about the age of Prism and with a matching scowl. “Avatar, a pleasure to meet you,” he said.
“I'd imagine so, I mean I--”
“That was sarcasm,” the stallion said, his voice dripping with venom.
She cringed. “Hey, what are you getting all mad at me for? I saved that pony, I--”
The pegasus dropped a stack of paper on the table. “You've been here less than five hours and already caused a week's worth of problems. Nearly causing a riot at an anti-bender rally.”
“W-what? I didn't do that!” she said defensively. “They were bad mouthing benders! I just--”
“It was a peaceful protest, which they are allowed to do,” he said firmly. “They had the licenses and everything. You nearly made it something much worse. Then wrecking half a block and nearly killing two ponies, ruining a sting we had planned for weeks.”
She coughed. “Well, err, they started it.”
He looked down at the file. “'I am going to break you'? You actually said that?”
She fidgeted. “Well? So what? He was being rude and I meant it! I'm the Avatar,” she said before standing up. “I'm the greatest bender the world has ever known! So what if I beat up a few criminals? That's what I'm supposed to do!”
“No, that's what we're supposed to do. I'm Ironwing, leader of the Shadowbolts. When it comes to benders, we deal with them. We take them down. We keep them from causing trouble. We don't want, or need your help, child.”
Her eyes twitched. “I'm not--”
“No, you are,” he said before standing up. With the mask he wore, she couldn't see his eyes and she suddenly felt ill prepared for this encounter. “You're a spoiled child who has come into my city and started causing a racket. If you want to sightsee, fine. I don't care. But we do not, nor will we ever, need benders like you.”
She trembled a little, taking a hoof back. “Y-you can't talk to me like that! I'm the Avatar, I made this city and--”
“No, Twilight Sparkle did. She was an amazing pony and an amazing bender. Were she here right now, I would take her help in a heartbeat.” Even through the mask she could practically feel those eyes narrowing. “But you are a child. Untested and untrained. You've already caused me a mountain of paperwork and if the decision was up to me, you'd be locked up or kicked out of our city.”
She cringed. “Y-you can't... talk to me like that. I... I'm the Ava--”
“I will talk to you however I please. Being the Avatar means nothing if you cause more problems than you fix. Now I--”
The door behind her suddenly slammed open, making her jump. She turned around to see Prism standing in the doorway. The two pegasi shared a look. It was far from friendly.
Ironwing cleared his throat. “About time you got here, Prism. Take your little student and get her out of my hair. Keep her on that stupid little island of yours.”
She opened her mouth to object, but felt a hoof on her shoulder. “Come on, let's go,” Prism said before giving her a little tug. She grumbled softly before trotting after him.
“What's his problem?” she asked once they left the room.
“He and I have... a history,” the Wonderbolt said with a shrug. “I wouldn't worry about it.”
“He was so rude,” Diamond grumbled. “He had no right to talk to me like that.”
“Did you really wipe out half a block with fire bending?”
She opened her mouth to deny it, before cringing. “Well, the pony had it coming.”
He let out a soft sigh. “And set off a riot at an anti-bender protest?”
She cringed a bit more then. “They threw vegetables at me.”
“I really shouldn't have let you walk through the city alone. If Sunburst hadn't gotten involved you might have been imprisoned.”
“Sunburst?”
“Sunburst, the leader of the council. He'll be wanting to meet you, soon.”
She nodded, turning to look ahead. The building had a bunch of negasi, zebras and pegasi working. “How can you let those anti-bender protests go on? They're stupid and dangerous. Ponies shouldn't talk about us like that.”
“They've been going on for years,” the pegasus said with a shrug. “As long as they're peaceful, there's no danger to them. They have as much right to voice their grievences as any other pony.”
“What's with those artificial wings and horns? They shouldn't be allowed to do that.”
He cocked his head to the side, before chuckling. “Ahhhh. Tomorrow Industries. Why? Frankly, as a pegasus I see nothing wrong with allowing all ponies the thrill of flying through the air. I'll admit, some of their earlier prototypes weren't well done, but the newest models seem to be quite safe.”
“So? What's next? Fake bending? Telekinesis and stuff should be something only unicorns can do.”
He sighed. “I see no problem with...” He paused and looked over. “Ah, right. I forgot. You're an earth pony naturally, correct?”
She nodded slowly.
“So you can't do telekinesis, despite your horn, can you?”
Her cheeks turned red. “I can do three different types of bending, I don't need to have telekinesis or other stupid magic!”
He sighed and led her out of the building. “I think you and I should have a long talk about what exactly goes on in Harmony. You're going to find that the idea of bender superiority doesn't work very well. Nor should it.”
“Why not? Benders are awesome. We do everything! And anything!”
He shook his head. “And what of all the other races? The buffalo? The zebras? Even the diamond dogs?”
“What about them?”
“You'll meet some eventually. They tend to stay out of sight, though. When Twilight created this nation, she wanted a place where all ponies, all species would be equal. She didn't want a ruling class of benders like the other nations have. That's why we have the council.”
She nodded, though she let out another soft grumble. “It's so stupid, though. They shouldn't be able to just... meet like that.”
“As long as they don't cause damage, there's no danger of it.” He paused a moment. “Though, I will admit they have gotten more frequent and... troublesome of late. I'm thankful you went to one of the smaller ones.”
“Wait, smaller ones? But there were dozens there.”
“Sometimes there will be protests outside the city equaling in the hundreds. The anti-benders have been trying for a seat on the council, after all.”
“Council?” Diamond asked with a cocked eye.
“Ah, right. Earth Kingdom. Well, Harmony uses a governmental structure similar to the Fire Tribes. However, instead of giving each tribe its own tribal leader and a vote on the council, instead every group of benders and races have a seat on the council. There are currently fourteen different seats, with the fire benders holding the position of leader. Sunburst. The anti-benders have been trying for years to get the benders positions removed.”
Diamond snorted. “That's stupid. Why would you want to remove the benders? We should remove all the other positions.”
He sighed. “Well, Diamond, not all of their worries are unfounded. Many see it as ponies having too many votes. Seven spots on the council are made up of ponies, after all. Eight if you count the zebras and nine if you count the negasi. That's the key reason any drastic changes to the council require two thirds approval.”
She nodded. “Right. So when do I get a seat on the council?”
He cringed and let out a sigh of relief. He didn't want to imagine HER on the council. “While there used to be a seat on the council for the Avatar, when Twilight left she removed the power from it, saying she wished for us to govern ourselves. You would have to seek a seat as one of the benders.”
She frowned. “What? I'm the most powerful bender in the world! Why can't you just... vote for a new seat for me?”
“Perhaps one day that'll happen, but for now I wouldn't expect many votes leaning towards that. You have a long way to go.”
She snorted, shaking her head. “Really? I could take one of those positions, easy.”
“You'd have to try for the earth bender position. And I doubt Octavia intends to give it up anytime soon,” he said with a light chuckle. “That's enough talk about politics, though. Tell me, have you had any practice in air bending before?”
She shook her head. “No. It's the one element daddy had a lot of trouble finding a proper teacher for.”
He nodded. “I'm not surprised. Finding somepony willing to keep it all quiet and... well, anyway.” He stopped on the southern end of the city. “There it is, where you'll be staying. Avatar island,” he said with a smile.
Diamond looked over at the large island in the middle of the lake and let out a soft gasp. It stood out like a great hump, with a massive stone statue of an alicorn with spread wings. She was wearing a chest guard and had a long tail and mane. “Is that Twilight?” Besides it was a tower, a few small buildings and then a massive stone tower that reached up towards the heavens.
“Yes.”
“It's such a nice island. But... it looks kind of...”
“Fake? It was. Apparently it was created during one of Octavia and Vinyl's... disagreements.”
“W-what?” Diamond asked, her eyes widening. “One bender made that?”
“Well, the island. The buildings and such came later. Much later. Apparently she was trying to get Vinyl to get out of the water for some reason.”
“What reason?”
“I don't know. They don't talk about it much. I do believe Octavia won that fight, though.”
The unicorn snorted. “I'd hope so. So, where's the boat?”
“There is none. You're a water bender, aren't you?”
She cocked an eye. “Of course.”
“Then let's see you get across. Try not to drown.” He sat on the shore and watched her. She rolled her eyes and trotted forward. Her horn glowed and the water began to rise up, swirling around her. It then shot out in a burst at Prism. He nimbly stepped to the right, twirling and his left wing shot out, sending a burst of air out to send her streaking into the water. “Are you quite done?”
She popped up, spitting out the water like a fountain before glowering at him. “You attacked me!”
“You attacked me, first.”
“But you're my teacher, you can't attack me!”
He cocked an eye. “If you launch a strike, you should expect one in kind. Unless I tell you I won't fight you, I'm going to have no trouble sending you packing. Now, are you quite ready to go?”
She glared for a few more moments before nodding. The water around her turned to ice and she climbed up. She lightly pushed her hooves forward, skidding along the surface of the water as it froze beneath her. He flew above her, temptingly within range. She wondered if a sneak attack would take that smirk off his face, but didn't like the idea of being sent flying again. She'd show him. One day she'd be an air bender too, then she'd kick his flank.
She skidded to a stop in front of the island, before leaping up onto the shore. The shore was nothing but sand, but a little further up it was all grass. “You live here?”
He landed besides her. “Indeed. My wife and I have lived in that temple for many years. My mother used to as well before she left.”
Diamond nodded, but then stopped. Three ponies began to lightly come trotting down the hill towards them. One was an earth pony covered in different sheets of metal across her back, neck and hooves. She had a red coat with a black mane. She also looked almost twice as big as any pony she'd ever seen, with thick muscles and a back that could have had a building fall on it. The building would have lost. The second was a unicorn with a blue coat and yellow mane. She was wearing thin, metal armor decorated with pictures of the stars and moon. The last was a pegasus with a yellow coat and orange mane. She was just wearing a small lightning bolt necklace.
“Ah, wonderful. You're all here,” Prism said before stopping and giving a polite bow. They stopped a few feet from him as well, bowing politely. “Avatar Diamond Tiara, I'd like you to meet Copper Shield, current leader of the metal benders.”
The earth pony looked down at her and cocked an eye. She then gave a nod.
“Errr, nice to meet you,” Diamond said with a nervous smile. She half expected the mare to lean forward and gobble her up. “Been leader long?”
“Eeyup.”
“Like it here?”
“Eeyup.”
Diamond just watched the mare, waiting for her to expand a bit on it. Sadly, she received nothing. Finally she just shrugged. “Moving on?”
Prism coughed. “Don't mind Copper. She tends to be a bit of a quiet sort. Now, this is Tittering Splash, leader of the moon raisers.”
Diamond expected the mare to be just as quiet and reserved as the other. She was wrong. The unicorn suddenly moved forward and grabbed her hoof, shaking it rapidly. “Well, I have to admit I am just pleased as punch to meet you! When I heard that Prism finally had a lead on the Avatar, well, I thought it was simply too good to be true. I mean, it really is a shame that the old Avatar died, but most things do that, right? I'm looking forward to see what you do, I bet you already have a lot of plans to make your legacy.”
“E-err, right, I--” Diamond started but was quickly cut off.
“I'm Tittering Splash, but you can call me Splash. I served ten years in the Water Nation military before coming here but I have to say this is absolutely the best city, err, country I've ever been in. You're going to just love it here, I tell you. Why, I think you could travel all over this world and you'd never, ever find someplace like Harmony. The last Avatar really did her job right making this place.”
The poor Avatar's hoof was starting to hurt. “Errr, I see th--”
“Not to say that the previous avatars were doing a bad job, or anything. I mean, they all did a great job keeping the nations secure and I know most of them gave their lives for it, but this is truly something else, ain't it? A whole nation of every race and bender imaginable. Well, except the dragons but I bet once the dragons get their numbers up they'll get enough down here to take their seat on the council. Do you think you'll be trying to take a seat on the council?”
“Probably, I--” She was starting to get a bit dizzy, too.
“Though I guess with all the anti-bender sentiment going around you're probably going to want to deal with that, first. I'm sure you already have a few dozen ideas on how to fix that. Well, at least I imagine you must, after all you ARE the Avatar, things like that should be right up your alley.”
“Of course, I--” Oh gosh there was no escape. There was no Splash. There was no Avatar. There was only the shake.
“But most of them are really nice, you know. In fact, I have a few friends who are members and they're just the nicest ponies. I think they just have a hard time understanding how water benders, fire benders and unicorns can be different. Maybe if the countries all came together for good they might one day be that way. I guess after what Queen Rarity did, having a fire bender and a water bender as her children, there's already one step towards them being one, but I think there's still a lot of bad blood between the two nations after that whole war incident.”
Diamond looked to Prism for help, but to her horror he was smirking. That giant blue turkey was enjoying this! She then looked towards the other pegasus, a grin on her face as well. Copper at least had the decency to look unamused. Though the avatar had yet to see her show the slightest hint of emotion.
“Well, I guess it was less of an incident, but you know what I mean. Can't say I blame them, the whole hundred years of darkness thing was quite horrible. Not to mention all that fighting and running and general mayhem that Avatar Twilight had to deal with. But it's all behind us now, I hope. After all there are just so many ponies from the four nations just trying to get along and now that we've got you here to help guide us, I'm certain it's going to just be fabulous. I do hope you'll make some time to come see the moon raising ceremony. I'd suggest coming to see it during the festival, it's going to be absolutely spectacular!”
“Festival?” Diamond asked, too late realizing her error as the unicorn took in another breath. There was no survival. Ten years from now they'd find her body, hoof still shaking as she stood in place.
“The Fall of Discord Festival. Every year to celebrate the defeat of Discord. We haven't had an actual Avatar show up for it in almost... well, quite a while. What with the city only barely being finished when Twilight up and left. It's a real shame she left like that, you know. There were still a lot of ponies who never gave up hope that she was alive and all. Err, not to say that we aren't happy to have you here, of course. I'm sure you'll be a great Avatar. It's just, well, she touched a lot of hearts. It's a shame she passed away so young, we could still use her guidance I think. She'd have made everything easier.”
Then, miracles of miracles, the shaking stopped. Well, Splash let her go. It took about ten more seconds before the Avatar could get her hoof to stop shaking. “I... I see. I'll do my absolute best to try to attend.”
“Oh, you'll love it! After that the pro bending season starts, it'll be quite the sight.”
“Wait, pro bending? What's--”
“Okay, I think we'd best move along,” Prism said with a soft chuckle. “Splash? Shouldn't you get with the rest of the moon raisers? The sun will be setting soon.”
“Oh, right! Ohhh, Vinyl is going to be furious if I miss another moon raising. Bye!” She then galloped off, leaping onto the water and skidding off, leaving a trail of ice in her wake.
“She's... energetic,” Diamond mumbled as she rubbed her aching hoof. “Kind of a weirdo.”
“She's eccentric. She replaced Vinyl Scratch after Vinyl become a member of the council. She may seem a bit odd, but trust me. Her water bending skills are beyond compare. She came to our city highly recommended by the queen herself.”
“Huh. I could probably take her,” she said before looking to the pegasus. “So, who are you?”
The mare smiled to her. “I am Blaze, representative of the air benders on the council. A pleasure to meet you, Avatar. I will do everything in my power to try to make your stay a pleasant one.”
“Oh. Okay. So... when's dinner?” she asked, looking to Blaze.
“Dinner will be ready soon. Which leaves us plenty of time to begin your training,” Prism said with a firm nod. Blaze turned and started trotting up and the two followed her. Copper stood on the beach for a few moments, before tapping her hooves and disappearing under the ground.
“So, is that everypony?” Diamond asked.
“That you need to meet? For now, yes,” Prism said with a shrug. “Harmony has three main military forces. The Shadowbolts who deal with most air threats, metal benders who deal with problems on the ground and the Moon Raisers who tend to the waters. There is still plenty of over lap, of course, but the Shadowbolts do tend to deal with any problem benders we have.”
Diamond couldn't help but feel a little insulted by the way he said that, while glancing at her. “Hmph. Their leader is extremely rude and disrespectful.”
“He is,” Prism agreed.
Blaze let out a sigh. “Prism, you and Ironwing didn't get into another fight, did you? I swear, you two are like foals sometimes.”
“There was nothing of the sort,” the pegasus said quickly. “I merely gathered the avatar and left. That was all there was to it.”
The pegasus let out a little snort. “Oh, I'm sure that was.”
Diamond looked between the two, a frown on her lips. Then her eyes widened. “Ohhhh! This is your wife, isn't it?”
There was a pause, then the mare nodded. “Yes. We are indeed married. Dinner will be ready in half an hour. I expect you to both be ready by then.”
“Of course,” Prism said before giving her a little nuzzle. He stopped at the top of the hill. There was a nice, open area, covered in bricks to keep it nice and even. However, it was covered in dried leaves. Diamond looked around, but couldn't find a single tree for the leaves to have come from. “Well, Avatar, we'll start small.” He blew lightly and the gust reached down, plucking one of the leaves from the ground and sending it flying into the air, gently falling towards her head. “See how long you can keep that in the air.”
“W-what? But... what? It's just a leaf? How is this--”
“It's a test in air bending,” he said firmly. “You don't have wings yet, so we'll have to start small. Using your mouth, just try to keep the leaf in the air.”
She sighed and looked up, glaring at the leaf. This was so stupid. She blew up. The leaf wiggled a little and ignored her attempts to keep it afloat, instead landing on her nose. A little bit of it crumbled and made her give a sharp intake of air, before sneezing. The leaf fell across her face, landing on the ground with a gentle little waver.
Prism nodded. “Don't expect it to be easy. Not everypony can grasp air bending easily.”
She frowned and tossed the leaf up. “Oh, knock it off. I'm the Avatar. I'll have your air bending figured out in twenty minutes. Tomorrow I'll be going home at this rate.”
------
“Soooo, how did it go?” Blaze asked, smiling gently at them. She was greeted by the daggers of Diamond's glare.
“She has a lot of work to do, but I'm hopeful she'll be able to make some progress tomorrow,” Prism said with a nod. He used his wings to pick up one of the toasty oat buns on his plate, gently blowing on it before bringing it to his lips. “Did you make these yourself?” he asked with a smile.
The pegasus gave a nod. “Yes. I made the oat buns, but Skillet made the cabbage soup and hay cakes.”
Diamond grumbled softly as she nibbled one of the cakes. To her delight, they were quite sweet, if a bit dry. “Who's Skillet?”
“Don't talk with your mouth full,” Blaze said sternly.
The avatar rolled her eyes. “Will you answer the--” Her eyes went wide as one of Blaze's wings snapped out and flicked her nose. “Hey!”
“Don't talk with your mouth full,” she said again.
“You flicked my nose!”
“If you're going to act like a petulant child, you'll be treated like one,” the mare said firmly. “Remember that you are the Avatar, it is your duty to set an example for all ponies. That means being polite during meals.”
The unicorn grumbled, but swallowed her food. “Fine, there, happy? Want me to let you see, too? Or is this fine?” her voice dripped with sarcasm.
“That's quite alright. Now, to answer your question, Skillet is the cook here. She prepares all the meals when we have visitors.”
“Visitors? Like who?” Diamond asked with a grumble, before using her bending to make the soup flow up from her bowl into her mouth. It was actually pretty good. A bit less salty than she'd like, but still good.
“Well, we occasionally have council meetings here. The Shadowbolts will sometimes come to perform training exercises with the Wonderbolts. Whenever more Wonderbolts come, they stay here as well. Sadly, we haven't had many students in a while, most have been training in Cloudsdale. Finally, the Moon Raisers will occasionally visit or stop by during their training exercises.”
Diamond shrugged. “So a high traffic area? No wonder you wanted me here.”
“Actually, you were chosen to come here because we didn't want anything to interrupt your training. We thought we were going to have to train you in fire and water bending. It's... quite pleasant to realize you've already grown your horn.”
The unicorn snorted and gave a little smirk. “Of course. I am a protégé, you know. My father says no avatar on record has learned their first three elements as fast as I have.”
“Perhaps you learned them quickly. But you're still missing your fourth. How long has it been since you learned your last element?”
Her cheeks turned red and her gaze lowered. “A... a few years. Finding an air bending master has been difficult.”
Prism sighed. “No, finding one who he could trust to keep hiding you was the hard part. I wouldn't worry, however. Your age shouldn't be an issue, you're still quite young. A little younger than Avatar Twilight was when she started her journey, I believe.”
She nodded and smirked. “Of course. I'm already two elements up on her, anyway. Before you know it, I'll have put her completely to shame.”
“Then again, she did learn all three within a year, while simultaneously fighting a war, nearly dying and saving the world from an evil spirit of chaos. So I wouldn't jump to trying to best her quite so soon,” Prism said firmly, making the unicorn cringe.
“Really? What's wrong with trying to best her?” Diamond asked with a weak chuckle. “After all, I'm the Avatar. I'm pretty much guaranteed to do great things. I mean, look at my record. How many Avatars do you know that weren't incredibly awesome?”
“I personally have heard of three,” Prism said with a shrug. “Many of the air nomad records were destroyed in the war, but there are mentions of a few avatars who died young in accidents and never made it to adult hood. One who even died before getting her cutie mark. Still, it's a rare occurrence. The world will expect great things from you.”
She gave a dismissive wave. “As well it should. I'm going to be the most amazing Avatar ever.” She stood up. “Well, I'm kind of tired. Where's my room?”
“Base of the tower, door on the right,” Blaze said quickly.
The unicorn trotted off. Once she was gone, Prism gave a sigh, leaning forward to cover his face with his hooves. “This has all gone wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look at her, she's a child! A spoiled, rotten little child. How can our world depend on her? She--”
“She'll grow out of it,” Blaze said with a shrug. “She's young, naive. In a few weeks she'll start learning air bending and whatever else she needs to learn, bending wise.”
He snorted. “She's already caused so much damage, she--”
“If I remember correctly, you and your mother used to cause twice that amount of property damage. Daily.”
His face turned red. “I was... young. Immature.”
“As is she.” She lifted up her mug and took a soft sip. “She's been hidden away from the world for a long time. It'll take time for her to adjust. Besides, Twilight left the world in great shape. Perhaps if she's lucky, there won't even need to be an avatar for many generations.”
He snorted. “But why her? Why would she be chosen? Why not somepony from--” The words caught in his throat as he caught his wife's eye.
“Why not somepony from the Air Nomads? Who knows? The world must need an Earth Kingdom pony. The next avatar will be from the Air Nomads and, if we're lucky, we won't have to see it happen.” She stood up and walking behind him, gently reaching out with her wings to massage his back. “She's young and inexperienced. Thinks she knows everything. Like a certain somepony I once knew.”
He snorted and shook his head. “I may have thought I knew everything, but I was NEVER that bad.”
She snickered. “Oh? What was it you said the first day of training? 'I'm going to beat all my mom's records! Just you watch!' I still remember the look of horror on Spitfire's face when she realized you finally got accepted.”
He chuckled and gave a nod. “Yeah. Wasn't nearly as funny as the look of horror when you and I set up that stink bomb in the lightning clouds. Remember when she kicked it?”
Blaze snorted, moving a hoof to her lips. “Oh, yes. And I remember her chasing you clear from Cloudsdale all the way to Windina. But, if I remember correctly, it was less us, and more you.”
He grinned back at her. “Only because you never got caught.”
She nodded. “Perhaps. If you'd just known how to wash your hooves proper, instead of rushing through it, you'd have gotten caught far less often.”
He chuckled and then shook his head. “It's been so long since... do you really think we can turn her around? I saw her home, I saw Filthy Rich's mansion. It's going to take a lot to break her of those habits.”
“Perhaps. But at the end of the day, she's the avatar. We need her and it's not like we can just throw her out into the wild and hope the next one is better. I'm sure if anypony can train her properly, you can.”
“And if I can't?”
“We lock her in the room and throw in a stink bomb. If that doesn't teach her air bending, nothing will. And if it doesn't help her bad attitude, at least it'll make us feel better.”