Diamond blinked as the magical lights went off in her face, the magic bursts flashing over and over, nearly blinding her and forcing her to squint. 'Why are all these unicorns doing that? Can't they use their little magical image lockers without the flash? Are they TRYING to blind me? So rude,” she thought to herself, but she tried to keep herself steady and unwavering.
“The unmarked are to be considered dangerous, for now,” Sunburst said firmly to the great crowd. “Now, while not every one of them are, those who identify with the movement are to turn themselves in to their nearest Shadowbolt. However, those who have been stripped of their cutie mark without their desire should be kept safe and protected. Nopony wanted this to happen to them. This Meadowbrook is a monster and terrorist, using whatever dark magic she got her hoofs on to take away what makes a pony unique and special. We can, and will bring her to justice.” He then glanced to the right.
Ironwing, Tittering, Copper and Diamond stepped forward. “The metal benders, Moon Raisers, Shadowbolts and even the Avatar will all be working their hardest to bring this Meadowbrook to justice. If anypony has any information on who she may be, please come to us immediately.” There was a pause. “Any information on unmarked sympathizers or members should be reported immediately as well. Do not approach them on your own.” He smiled to the crowd. “Now, a message to all of you unmarked who chose this life. Please, turn yourself in willingly. We understand, this Meadowbrook tricked you, talking of equality. However, she has proved herself nothing more than a terrorist. We harbor no ill will against you for being tricked by her. We only wish to help. Please, allow us.”
“Avatar, Avatar do you have any words to add?” one of the reporters called out.
Diamond glanced to Sunburst. He merely nodded. She gave a confident smirk. “This pony is a coward, hiding behind a mask. She won't be any trouble for me. The moment she comes out of hiding, I'll be there. Just you wait and see.”
------
“Did you really have to antagonize this pony?” Acrylic asked as he sent a burst of water flying at Diamond. She blasted it away with a burst of flame, before sending a small blast at Button.
“Of course. This mare is nothing, trust me. She just has a fancy staff. Once I break it, she'll be helpless and everypony will see just how weak she is,” the unicorn said before thrusting her head forward and sending two bursts at Acrylic.
Button blocked the blast coming at him with an earth disk. “I don't know, she seemed pretty awesome to me. I read the paper. Mom's pretty pissed, though. She doesn't like how they're handling it at all.” He sent a disk at both of them. Diamond wove around it with ease, while Acrylic knocked it away with a tendril of water.
“My mom's all for it. Says it's about time they're finally doing something about this. I'm surprised she kept it from me so long, though,” Acrylic muttered before sending a tendril at Button. It hit him clear in the chest, knocking him back. He wasn't even looking at them any more, instead looking at the door.
Both his teammates turned to see the Rock Bunnies. Limestone stepped forward, a smirk on her lips. “Well well. If it isn't the Losing Notes. I should have known you two would have something sneaky up your hooves this time. What's a matter, couldn't get one of your mom's friends to come carry your team, had to beg the Avatar?”
Diamond snickered softly, raising a hoof to her mouth. Limestone then turned on her. “It doesn't matter if you're the Avatar. I'm going to smash you into the ground so hard you'll never want to fire bend again.”
The smile left the Avatar's face and she stepped forward. “Oh yeah? Just wait until we go a round! I'm going to break you like a piece of dried out timber!” she snapped, stomping a hoof down. “A pathetic, useless piece of timber that nopony cares about!” Fire gathered around her horn. “I am the most powerful fire bender you'll EVER meet.”
The other unicorn just grinned, fire forming on her horn. “Oh? Why don't you just try it. Talk big all you like, we're going to make you pay for what you said during the festival.”
The two took a step towards each other, but found the way blocked by Acrylic. “Easy. Are you trying to get us disqualified?” he asked Diamond.
She growled and stomped her hoof again. “No, I just--”
“Then no fighting.”
The fire on her horn snuffed out and she turned towards the other mare. “Just you wait. I'm going to crush you like a pathetic, useless little bug. You may be a... mediocre fire bender. But you're pathetic compared to somepony like me. I'm going to crush your pathetic little fire bending and make you wish you'd never set foot in this city.”
Diamond and Limestone just glared at each other.
“P-please... d-don't fight,” Marble said softly, reaching out a hoof to touch Limestone. “I-it doesn't matter, r-right? There's no need to f-fight over this.” She looked over to the three. “After all, they've only barely made it through the qualifiers thanks to her. We'll probably not see them in the finals.”
Limestone snorted, before giving a nod. “Fine. Probably. Just you wait, Avatar. If by some miracle you make it to the finals, I'm going to knock you right off that little perch of yours.” The three turned and walked off.
Diamond ground a hoof into the ground and grit her teeth. “What were they even doing here?” she asked, trembling with rage.
“They probably came to use the practice facilities,” Acrylic muttered. “Don't let them get to you. They're just trying to throw you off your game so when they fight us, they'll have an edge.”
Diamond nodded, turning to get back to practice. She let out a frustrated growl as she started launching a few fire blasts. “I'm going to kick her flank so hard!”
Her two teammates ducked down, quickly. “Easy! Unnecessary roughness!” Button yelled.
------
The days flew by quickly and Diamond was starting to feel better and better with each day of practice. She was spending more and more time with her teammates, too. To her annoyance, Button still wasn't really getting any better. He was competent, but his stance just left too many openings. He never seemed able to properly ground himself. He just had way too much energy and kept jumping around.
At least he had a lot of passion for what he did and he was fast.
Acrylic, on the other hoof seemed to be doing... mostly well. Except for when Silver came to watch them. Whenever she was there, he tended to mess up or go a bit over the top. It was really beginning to annoy Diamond. It wasn't like Alicity would cut their funding if he didn't perform the best. Besides, most of the ponies would be there to see her, not him.
Finally, though, the night of their first match was here. Diamond could barely contain her excitement as she hopped from hoof to hoof in the main room of the island. “Blaze! Prism! Move it or I'm leaving without you!”
“Hold on, hold on! We're almost done!” Blaze yelled back. “There's no fire yet, so relax!”
“I don't want to relax!” Diamond yelled, stomping her hooves again. “Come ooooon!”
“A few more minutes!”
She sighed and trotted around the room. She couldn't wait to get there, though the match wouldn't be for another few hours. Then she heard the walking of hoof steps. She turned towards them. “Fina--” The words locked in her throat as she stared.
Finally, she burst into helpless giggles, falling over and rolling on the ground.
“Too much?” Blaze asked.
“Bwa ha ha ha ha!” Diamond shrieked.
The two were wearing light blue overcoats with their faces covered in white makeup. Over their foreheads was a little blue and brown dot. “What? They're your colors!” Prism said.
“Oh my gosh I can't believe you painted your faces!” Diamond shrieked, unable to stand, or breath for that matter. “You look ridiculous!”
“See, I told you we should have just stuck with the banner,” Prism said with a sigh.
“Oh, come on. I always dressed up for your games. Remember when Ironwing wore that giant paper head like your face? He ended up falling down the stands and nearly toppling into the side drink.”
Diamond laughed even harder, but Prism just went quiet. He trotted towards the door. “Come on, we're late already. Let's go.”
The Avatar finally managed to get up, helped by Blaze. She kept snickering none the less. “W-what's he so upset about? Oh my gosh I can't believe you actually got him to do this.”
“Oh, he used to love pro-bending. I know he doesn't approve, but trust me. He's watching every move you make and wishing he could be there at your side.” She started walking.
“So, why'd he stop if he likes it so much?”
That made Blaze stop. She slowly shook her head. “That's... not important. There was... an incident and...” She sighed. “I'd really rather not talk about it.”
Diamond frowned and followed after them. “Gee, do you two ever get whiplash when your moods shift like that? It's a shame, for a second there you two actually seemed relaxed and pretty fun to be around. Well, a little.” She gave her a little rump bump. “Tonight's going to be awesome. We're going to kick so much flank that they'll be begging for more. Just you wait and see.”
Blaze chuckled and gave a nod. “I hope so. As hard as you've been practicing I'll be disappointed if you three don't make it to the finals.”
She nodded. “We're as ready as anypony has ever been. We'll crush this.”
------
Diamond gasped as they made it to the arena. The entrance was flocked with ponies, flashing lights from horns and ponies barely being held back by security as the teams walked forward. She gave Blaze and Prism a grin. “I'll see you guys after. Bye!” she called back before trotting towards the main entrance. She waved to her adoring fans as she walked, grinning from ear to ear.
Oh yeah. This was going to be amazing. She snickered softly as she reached out and occasionally hoof bumped a few ponies. Finally she made it inside and it was almost distressingly quiet compared to outside. She made her way to their locker room.
“Wow, how long have you two been here?” she asked when she saw Acrylic and Button already dressed up in their white uniforms.
“Quite a while,” Acrylic muttered. “Button kept panicking about us maybe being late.”
“Come on guys, this is our first tournament! You guys have to be as excited as I am!” the earth pony said.
Diamond grinned. “I have to admit, I am pretty thrilled. I can't wait to beat some ponies into the ground. This is going to be awesome!”
Acrylic sighed and gave a nod. “Hurry up and get dressed. The opening ceremonies will start soon.”
She gave a shrug and walked to her locker. She pulled it open and gasped, recoiling from the smell.
“What hap-- what is that?” Button asked, jumping back and covering his nose.
The three stared in horror at her locker. Garbage and algae dripped out from it, the entire thing filled all the way to the top. Her uniform was packed completely in the stuff. “W-who would... why would somepony do this?” Diamond asked.
“A prank,” Acrylic said harshly. “Probably trying to throw off your game.”
Diamond's eyes narrowed. “Of course. The rabbits. I should have known they'd play dirty.”
“We don't know it's them,” Acrylic said with a shake of his head. “It could have been anypony who wanted to see you fail.”
“That's a very short list!”
“I think it's extremely long,” Acrylic muttered. “Come on, I've got a spare uniform you can wear. It might be a bit loose, but it should work.”
“Why can't she wear one of mine?” Button asked.
“Because your helmet won't fit. Unicorn, remember?”
“Oh,” the earth pony said before chuckling. “Come on, get changed. Don't worry about this. We'll get you a new uniform before you know it.”
Diamond nodded, though she couldn't take her eyes off the mess for a few seconds. That had been HER locker. It had HER uniform in it. How could somepony do this? She knew the rabbits were behind this. She would beat them so hard for this. She swore. She didn't care how long it took, they would pay. She turned to the others, her eyes narrowed. “Let's kick some flank.”
------
Diamond took a deep breath as she stepped out towards the large platform. The crowd was already cheering, though she could barely hear them. Her focus was ahead, on whoever's flank they'd have to kick. Acrylic's uniform was very awkward to wear. He was taller than her, but thinner as well. It made it very uncomfortable to walk in. But she tried to keep that out of her mind as she walked up the ramp to their platform.
They were going to win. She knew it. She wouldn't accept defeat after that.
They made it to the platform and her eyes widened. They were facing off against an earth pony, unicorn and pegasus. She'd actually forgotten that there were air benders in this competition. She gulped, moving into her position on the left as the announcer yelled out over the crowd. She toned everything out except for the fight. Another air bender. That would mean they'd be hard to lay down. Already she could see the pony had only put a bit of weight on their hooves, their wings spread out. They weren't allowed to raise more than five inches off the ground and be in the air for more than a second, but even then she knew they wouldn't be easy to strike.
That also left the unicorn. Were they a fire bender or a water bender? She paused. 'Wait, did the announcer just say what they were? Shoot! I should have listened, why didn't I listen? Ack!' she mentally scolded herself. The referee raised his hooves and brought them down.
It only took her a second to figure it out. The unicorn's horn lit up and the water around them was gathered, surging out towards Acrylic. He raised a hoof and sent it scattering. The air bender was already on the move, moving through her comrades with grace and ease, sending out a few quick bursts. Diamond ducked down and lunged her head forward, sending a few quick bursts out. Unfortunately, the air bender moved around and swirled the air around in front, knocking the attacks away. Blasts of water and stone disks flew at the three as they were forced back.
Diamond's eyes widened as she sent out a blast of fire along with Acrylic's water and Button's earth disks. The air bender moved around though, sending the attacks spiraling into each other with a little tunnel of wind. She was working purely on defense, allowing her comrades to launch attacks with ease and barely having to move.
Diamond yiped and was forced to jump to the right, bumping into Acrylic.
“Watch it!” he snapped, stumbling back. There was a buzz filling the air.
“All three are out of the zone. The Cushions move forward one zone.”
Diamond looked down. Sure enough, all three of them had moved into the second zone. How had this happened?
“Sorry, Avatar,” the air bender said as she took her place. “I have nothing but respect for you and what you do. But we came here to win.”
The match started again and the three were put on the defensive again. All of their attacks did nothing but hit wind, knocked aside with ease. There was a shriek from her right and she looked in time to see Button's hooves knocked from under him, then a burst of water sent him off the platform.
They were already down one and they couldn't get any attack through that air bending defense. Diamond's frustration rose. How could they hope to win if they didn't get--
A grin formed on her face. “Hey, air bender. Block THIS!” She turned and bucked out with all of her force, driving the fire clear at the air bender.
The pegasus yelped and tried to swirl it around. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't able to relieve the blow enough. It struck her in the chest, sending her toppling back into her comrades.
“Now!” Diamond yelled, before sending quick bursts in. Acrylic matched her assaults, sending the ponies toppling back and, after a few moments there was the sound of three quick splashes.
The unicorn stood there, panting and staring. They'd done it. They'd actually done it. There weren't any calls for unnecessary aggression this time, either.
Not that she'd had any doubts. In fact, she couldn't understand why her heart was pounding so hard. Of course they'd won. She stared at the now empty spots, unable to take her eyes off them.
That was, until a pair of hooves hugged her suddenly. “We did it! We did it! Woo hoo! WOO HOOOOOO!” Acrylic yelled, the excitement evident on his face. It took him a few seconds to catch her eye and then he froze. The color drained from it and he quickly pulled back. “Err... I mean, of course we... I uhhh...”
“Of course we won,” Diamond said with a shrug. “I am on your team, after all. As if I could lose in our first match,” she said with a harrumph, before turning and walking off the platform, making her way towards their locker rooms. She tried to suppress it, but she couldn't lie. She wanted to jump and squeal and hug some pony just as badly as he did. The cheering crowd felt great and the fact she knew she'd earned that victory made it all the better.
“You were all amazing!” Silver said when they arrived in the locker room. “I couldn't take my eyes off you. One moment you were getting fought back and then the next, bam, you took them out! It was spectacular!”
Diamond chuckled and gave a nod. “Yeah, I was pretty amazing. Didn't even get in trouble for unnecessary aggressiveness this time.” She paused as Button walked past them, dripping water. His head was hanging and he took off his helmet, throwing it across the room.
'Ugh, what's his problem? At least his uniform fits. Besides, we won, why's he looking all upset?' she thought to herself as she moved to one of the chairs and started stripping her uniform off.
“Is everything okay?” Silver asked softly.
“Yeah, of course. Everything's just peachy!” Button grumbled, before stomping his hoof. “I screwed up again, but fortunately the Avatar and Acrylic were there to pick up the slack.”
“Well, yeah. You kind of sucked out there,” Diamond said with a shrug.
“Diamond!” Acrylic snapped, trotting towards his friend.
“What? He did. He's an earth bender and he went down like a little colt. Seriously, he claims to be an earth bender but he can't take a shot. All he's doing is hold us back. If he...” She trailed off at the glares she was receiving. What? It wasn't like she'd done anything wrong. Heck, if not for her they never would have won that. She practically, no, completely carried them.
“He's a fine--”
“No, she's right,” Button said, tossing off his leg guards. “I'm a horrible, useless earth bender. I shouldn't even be on this team. You should try to find an earth bender who can actually pull his weight. Or an air bender. Anypony else,” he said before tossing off his chest piece, tears forming in his eyes. “I... I'm going home.”
Diamond watched him go, before cringing at the scathing look that Acrylic gave her. “What?”
“How could you say that to him? It was obvious he felt horrible after that!”
“Well, he should. His stance and fighting is atrocious. He's next to useless as an earth bender. Fine, he might be a little decent, but most ponies at his age should know how to properly position themselves. How to stand, how to block. I'm not going to lie and shield him just because it might make him feel bad.”
He trembled with rage. “You have absolutely NO idea what you're talking about! He's an amazing bender, he tries as hard as anypony I know!”
“So? Trying isn't good enough. Plenty of ponies 'try' to be good benders. If he wants to 'try' then he shouldn't try to go pro like this. This is a test to see who's good and who's not. Passable is for rock farmers.”
Acrylic growled and stomped his hooves, he finally turned and stormed out. “Go buck yourself!”
She shook her head. “What's his problem? I only told him the truth!” She looked to the one remaining pony in the room. “Silver, am I wrong? Should I have lied just to make him not feel so bad?”
The mare eeped and lowered her gaze. “I-I don't... r-really know. I-I mean... I think... I think he was p-pretty upset but... I-I don't know if... lying was the best thing to do,” she mumbled softly. “He was really upset, though. Maybe... being a little nicer? Not quite so... honest?”
Diamond glanced to the door and sighed, giving a shrug. “Ugh. Fine. I guess I'll go talk to him later or something. So, what are--”
Some heavy hoof steps interrupted her and she looked up to see Prism and Blaze making their way in. “That was spectacular!” Prism said happily. Unfortunately, his makeup was now gone, so she had nothing to laugh at.
“Yeah, I was pretty awesome,” she said with a chuckle. “Blew right past that air benders defense. I didn't know they could do that.” She paused and looked between the two of them. “Wait, you two competed, didn't you? Is that how you fought?”
Blaze gave a snort. “Oh, no. Honestly... well... we tended to take his mother's approach when it came to pro bending.”
“Oh? What was that?”
“Let's just say Rainbow is the reason there are rules against excessive force,” the pegasus said with a sly grin.
Prism sighed and shook his head. “That's in the past, however. Your first match was a resounding success, but I do expect you to continue your other training, as well. There's a week before your next match, after all.”
She nodded. “Yeah yeah, I know.” She wiped herself off with a towel, before trotting towards the door. She stopped and looked towards her locker. “Hey, Silver? I'll see you around, okay? Can you let your dad know somepony trashed my locker? They'll need to get it cleaned and stuff.”
The mare gave a little nod. “Ummm... yeah... I'll see you. Dad'll take care of it.”
Diamond trotted out with the two pegasi, though they gave her concerned looks. She ignored them and kept moving. When they made it a little down the hall, she slowed down. “Hey, Prism?”
He glanced back. “Yes?”
“When we were fighting, how would you say Button did?”
The stallion sighed. “He... has much work to do. I am afraid I know very little about earth bending, but even I can see the weakness in his form. He's nowhere near as capable as his mother.”
She nodded. “Right. Would... you say he's holding us back?”
There was a pause. “Possibly. But if you're thinking of kicking him from the team, I'd advise against it. Rather than booting a weaker teammate, it is usually better to try and raise them to your level. To make them stronger, faster and better. There's more to a team than just having the strongest members, after all.”
“I wasn't thinking that. Just... I mean, why is he so bad? Doesn't he practice with his mom?”
“Yes,” Blaze said before the stallion could answer. “I've seen a few of their sessions myself. Unfortunately, well...” She gave a soft sigh. “He... does tend to lack the raw talent she does. He's partially good, of that there can be no denial. But the two have completely different styles of earth bending.”
“Different styles?” Diamond asked with a roll of her eyes. “There's only one style for earth bending.”
“Depending on how you look at it, that's true,” Blaze said. “But, only on a base level. You see, all of the elements have their own strengths and weaknesses. There is a base level and principle for each. For air style, such as the one I and Prism use, it's about being quick and light on our hooves. True masters will take and mold their particular style to match their bending. For example, the metal bending style is a more focused, precise version of the earth bending base style. But I've heard of earth benders who operate on much looser, quicker movements. One I've heard of is the land slide style.”
Diamond cocked an eye. “I've never... heard of that.”
“That's because it's not the official name,” Prism said with a roll of his eyes. “But the idea focuses on rather than making yourself an impassible stone, a pony moves in a furious onslaught of heavy, rapid attacks. Creating a veritable rock slide through bending. Now, for one you're more knowledgeable about, I'd talk about water bending. Water, ice, mist are just three of the many different styles they use and I've--”
“Wait, hey! Those are all three of the same style! I can use them all!” Diamond objected, glaring. “They aren't different at all.”
“Oh, but they are,” Blaze said with a chuckle. “Again, at the base level most water benders can use different kinds of the three. But there are ponies who train and master them. If you ever see an ice bending master versus a mist bending master... well, let me tell you it is quite amazing.”
“On occasion you'll meet ponies who try to master all the different variations of their particular style. However, most prefer to use their base style and achieve master hood in that, maybe dabbling in the other styles.”
Diamond nodded, blinking a few times. “So a pony who had achieved master hood in all the variations of their style?”
“A pony like that would be truly dangerous. In many cases, there's no point to it,” Prism said with a shrug. “It can take a life time to develop just one or two. I've only met a hoofful of ponies who mastered more than one and only one who has mastered three in one element.”
“Who was that?”
“My mother,” Prism said with a sigh.
The three walked in awkward silence for a few minutes. Finally, Diamond spoke up. “So, he sucks because of that? Why not just have her teach him another way, then?”
Blaze and Prism both snickered, before the mare spoke up. “Octavia can be quite a bit... stubborn. I believe she intends to have him take over as leader of the metal benders one day, or at least become a ranking member. Copper is a wonderful commander, but...” She shrugged. “I don't know if Octavia wants her to remain forever. But their styles don't mesh well together and I'm not sure he even has the capability to become a metal bender. I hear it can be quite difficult even for the ponies who are talented, let alone those who clash so harshly.”
Diamond rolled her eyes. “Ugh, all of that is so stupid.”
“So, what brings this on, anyway? You weren't intending to boot him, were you?” Prism asked.
“No. He was all whiny and feeling upset because he, frankly, is a horrible bender. I told him he was right and holding us back. I mean, come on, his stance is all over the place. If we had another earth bender, I'd kick him in a second and--” She stopped and realized she was walking alone. She stopped and looked back. Both of the pegasi were standing there. Blaze looked furious, Prism was staring at her with a look of... there was no other word for it. Disgust.
“You told your teammate this?” Blaze asked.
“Well, yeah. He can't take a shot and he needs to hear it. Then he ran off all whiny and crying and stuff. He needs to get better or--” The rest of her words were cut off as Blaze's hoof smacked her across the face. She stumbled back, too shocked to speak.
“How COULD you? He is your teammate! Your ally! And you talk to him like... like that? What the buck is wrong with you?” the pegasus asked.
“W-what? But I was just--”
“Just what? Seeing your teammate hurt and upset and you decide to pick at the wound? Have you even heard of compassion? Empathy?”
“I-I was just--”
“You were just being the worst kind of pony you could possibly be!” Blaze stepped in and looked right into Diamond's eyes. “You act high and mighty, Avatar, but you are a disgusting creature who can't seem to grasp the first thing about caring for other ponies. How can you ever even hope to do your task if you can't even begin to understand the feelings or emotions of other ponies?”
“I-I didn't, I wasn't, I just--”
“No. You were being a shallow, spoiled, cruel little bitch--” The word struck Diamond like a second slap across the face. “-- who rather than supporting a teammate when they needed it, lashed out and cut them deeper just so you could get your self important little high to pretend your better than everypony else. Fine, you know what? You're a better bender. Congratulations. You're a filthy, disgusting little monster with a soul as black as burnt marble, but you bend really well. I hope when you finally finish your training and spend the rest of your life being hated by everypony around you, your extra little bending helps keep you warm at night. Because it sure as buck won't be any warm feelings from anypony who knows you.”
The pegasus turned and stormed off.
Diamond looked to Prism. “She--”
“Was right,” the stallion said before following after his wife.
Diamond watched the two of them walking off, a hoof going up to her cheek. She couldn't believe it. As they turned the corner, all she could feel like doing was crying. Her soul wasn't black. She had a heart. She cared, of course she cared what ponies thought of her. The crowd loved her, adored her even. She was the Avatar, an amazing bender. Truly spectacular.
Why did her words hurt so much? Why did she feel like crying? She wanted to go home. She wanted to be with her daddy. Or her friends.
Well, not her friends, but the servants. The servants loved her after all. They had to. That's what they were paid for. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. Why were they so upset? Why were they so mad? She just wanted to to make Button better. He sucked. So she told him. She couldn't lie to him. Pampering wouldn't have helped him any. He needed to get good or get going. If anypony deserved to be upset, it was her. She was the one getting yelled at, slapped. She'd done a great job, too. Even after her locker had been ruined and she had to use a different uniform.
So what if he'd been hurt? Or upset? She was hurt and upset now and she wasn't running.
“Avatar Diamond?” a voice asked from behind her. She turned and saw Silver standing there. “Is everything alright?”
She quickly looked away, wiping her eyes off. “W-what? Y-yeah. I'm fine. Just had a little... fight with Blaze and... I'm fine.” She took a deep breath. Okay, she could do this. She would do this. Just had to go back to the island and...
She didn't want to go back to the island. Just thinking about it made her heart hurt. “I uhhh... I think I want to wait for them to cool down a bit before I do. Would you be okay if I stayed at your place tonight?”
The mare moved up besides her and gave a little smile. “Oh, I'm sure that'd be fine. We're friends after all, right?”
“Y-yeah. All... friends,” she whispered softly, wiping her face off again. Why wouldn't they stop watering? “You uhhh, you think maybe I was a bit too harsh on Button?” If he felt anything like she felt right now, she wished she could take every single word back. Nopony deserved to feel like this.
“A little. I mean... you were right,” Silver said with a sigh. “But... your timing was bad. Maybe if you'd told him in a gentler manner or when he wasn't feeling so bad? He had nearly cost you three the match, after all.” She paused. “N-not that you could have won without him, just--”
“No, I know,” she said softly. “Let's just... go. Okay?” She started walking again. When they made it out of the arena, she couldn't even smile at the crowds.
She was an amazing bender, the best in the world.
What if what Blaze had said was true? What if in the end, that wasn't enough?