Ivorytouch gave a soft sigh before she tapped a hoof on the ground, feeling the echoes from the earth that flowed around her hooves. To her surprise, she actually felt something this time and quickly stood at attention. Two unicorns were walking down the street towards her. She squinted her eyes and tried to see them, but they were far enough away that she couldn't see anything aside from two black blobs in the darkness. She tapped on the ground, signaling for backup. She doubted she needed it, but Stony had given them orders not to take any chances. By the time the two ponies were near enough to make out more details, there were three guards watching.
She felt silly a moment later when she could make out that they were both old, with faded coats and one had an old, gnarled stick with her. “Miss?” she called out.
The mare moved forward, giving a gnarled, weak smile. “H-hello. I'm sorry to be a bother, but we have been on the road for hours and we require lodging for the night. Could you show me the way to the nearest inn?”
Ivorytouch smiled to her and gave her a nod. “Of course. Now, we don't have a proper inn, haven't for years. But guests will often stay at the school. If you'll follow me,” the mare said before turning around and trotting off, giving the others a quick nod. They nodded back and she trotted off, the older couple following slowly behind her.
“Do you get travelers here often?” the elder mare asked. “That's a mighty fine air ship.”
“Huh?” Ivorytouch asked before glancing towards the edge of the town. “Oh, no. Just some important guests. The Avatar and her friends. If you're lucky, you might even be able to meet them while you're here.”
“Oh, I doubt that. We still have a long, long journey ahead of us and we'll be leaving in the early morning,” the elder mare said with a chuckle. “Besides, the Avatar has far, far more important things to worry about than a couple of old unicorns.”
Ivorytouch shrugged. “I suppose. But you really might want to stick around for a bit. If you just wait until the school has breakfast, you'll probably meet her, she's staying here as well.” The mare nodded to the guards as she headed into the compound. “Two travelers for the night.” They were quickly waved inside.
“I must say, the ponies here certainly are friendly here.”
“Of course. Here at Sweet Apple Acres the need to take proper care of all guests, no matter who they are, is always stressed. Why, as the Apples often say, a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet.”
The older pony nodded as they stepped inside. Once they were inside, she grinned. “Well, it's good to know you ponies are so friendly.” She tapped the staff on the ground and there was a sudden flash of light.
Ivorytouch turned back, her eyes widening. The pair of old ponies weren't there anymore. Instead there stood two unicorns in the prime of their lives. The stallion stepped forward and raised a hoof a moment before her entire body locked up. Her eyes widened and pain shot through her as she found herself unable to move on her own. She tried to scream or yell, but her body refused to obey her. The staff was leveled on her a moment later.
“Nighty night,” Meadowbrook said before there was another flash. She then nodded to the unconscious body before traveling forward. “Come on, let's find the Avatar before somepony wakes up.”
“Of course,” Dazzling muttered before trotting after the mare.
Meadowbrook frowned as she started making her way through the building, her staff raised up into the air. “That's... strange,” she muttered darkly.
“What is it?” the unicorn asked.
“Discord isn't here, I'd know if he was. But... I can sense...” She then shook her head. “Nothing. Come on, let's go. She's this way.” She started to trot up the hall, going as quietly as she could. She couldn't keep the grin off her face as she made her way through the building, finally stopping outside one of the doors. She reached out and opened it.
The door behind her opened and she whipped around. “Dazzling!”
“DIAMOND!” Rainbow yelled, spreading out her wings, but her grogginess slowed her down just enough for Dazzling to thrust a hoof out. Before the pegasus could flap her wings, she found herself frozen in place.
Meadowbrook let out a curse and turned towards the door she'd just opened and stepped inside, leaving Dazzling to deal with the pegasus as she raised her staff.
Suddenly flames erupted out, nearly blinding her and a hoof came crashing down at the staff. She narrowly pulled it back in time before the flaming hooves moved, stepping in closer and jamming out at her. She let out a yelp and stumbled back. “Dazzling, a little help!” she hissed.
“Kinda... busy,” the unicorn growled. It took all of his focus just to keep Rainbow still as she struggled against his blood bending. He had a vial of water at his hip, but he didn't dare loosen his grip for a second to grab it.
Meadowbrook struggled to parry the flaming hooves away as Diamond stepped in, striking out with a powerful ferocity. Then her left wing shot out and sent Dazzling stumbling back with a small burst of wind. It was just enough to dampen his control and allow Rainbow's wings a chance to break free. She flapped once, sending a burst of wind into the stallion, sending him flying back into the wall with enough force to bend the wood.
“Buck it!” Meadowbrook snapped, spinning the staff around and trying to bring it down on Diamond's head, but the alicorn twisted her body around, slamming a hoof down against staff and spinning around it, driving her back hoof into Meadowbrook's face hard enough to send her flying through the air. She spun once, before crashing to the ground in a daze.
“Diamond!” Rarity yelled before opening the door.
“I'm fine!” Diamond yelled before charging at Meadowbrook. However, she froze mid step when Dazzling held out a hoof towards her.
Meadowbrook cursed when she saw the tide shifting around them, not to mention her face hurt terribly. She grabbed her staff in her magic and then disappeared in a flash. She reappeared by Dazzling and a moment later the two of them disappeared.
Rainbow landed where they had been a moment later, just a second too slow. “Buck! Find them!” she yelled.
Diamond stood there, panting with exertion, her eyes wide.
------
“I just don't... know how it happened. One moment they were an old couple, the next... they were those two. I... I never meant to lead them in here, honest,” Ivorytouch said, on the verge of tears. “I didn't... know... I just...”
“Easy there, sugar cube,” Applejack said before she stepped in, patting her on the back. “We all know it ain't your fault. Yah were jus' tryin' tah help a couple'a ponies out. Ain't nopony here who'd think for a second that yah'd let some ponies in here tah steal your cutie mark.” She then glanced to Rainbow, who was looking antsy as she paced back and forth. “We're all jus' lucky Rainbow is such a light sleeper.”
“I'm not really that light,” Rainbow muttered, her hoof going up to her throat. “I just... you know... I felt like...” The frown deepened on her face. “Ugh. It's nothing.”
“What is it?” Applejack asked, cocking an eye. “Yah know we ain't gonna laugh at yah if yah had a nightmare. Well, much.”
“No, it's not that. I wish it was that. I just... you know I kinda felt like...” She rubbed her neck again. “I... I swore I felt my element.”
“Air?” Rarity asked.
“No, my element. Of Harmony. It was just for a moment, so faint. Weak. Kinda like what... well... you know. Applejack, what you said before. I swore I felt it for a second. It was right there. Faint, but... there.”
That made the ponies share looks. “Yah... think that means this Meadowbrook has somethin' tah do with them, then?”
“I don't think she's Meadowbrook,” Diamond finally said, drawing every eye and ear to her.
“What? Of course it's Meadowbrook,” Rarity said, cocking her head to the side. “What other pony could do this?”
“I don't know,” she said before looking to Ivorytouch. “Can... I ask you something?”
“Huh? Oh, I suppose. What?”
“How do you feel?”
“Sad, upset, angry, why?”
“I mean, do you feel like... empty? Do you feel...” Diamond frowned and rubbed her chin. “Do you feel like you're completely bland and empty? Weaker, slow?”
The mare blinked a few times. “I... don't quite know what you mean, but no? Or... I feel... kind of scared. I lost my magic and--”
“That's just it,” Diamond interrupted. “She lost her magic and her cutie mark, but she's not like the unmarked. Trust me, I was ONE of the unmarked. When it happens, you feel... empty. Like a part of you is gone. Not like just your magic is gone, but like your mind was sucked out of you too. I don't think Meadowbrook is doing that this time. I think she's just taking magic.” She took a long, slow breath. “And... I think she's using Meadowbrook as a cover.”
“What? Why?” Rarity asked. “If it's just a new spell, it could--”
“It's not just that. I fought Meadowbrook. This wasn't her. Meadowbrook was fast, agile. Deadly. This pony could barely keep up with me. I know I've trained, but not this much. Not enough I could smash her in like that. If we'd kept fighting, I would have crushed her. Even if she has a lot of power, she's not fast enough to keep up. I was well on my way when Dazzling stopped me.” Diamond shook her head. “I'm not being arrogant. I know how powerful Meadowbrook is and how dangerous she is. There is no way that was her.”
Rarity frowned and tapped the ground a few moments, lightly shaking her head. “Diamond... how sure are you on this?”
“Very sure,” the alicorn said softly.
“Then maybe that was just a decoy,” Rainbow offered.
“Ah for one don't like the thought of that,” Applejack said with a shudder. “That'd mean there are two ponies runnin' around with that lil cutie mark removin' spell. Is it possible that she's jus' under the effects of whatever cost her her cutie mark tah begin with?”
“I guess,” Diamond said softly. “It might explain why she was so... weak, I guess,” the alicorn said before lowering her eyes, doubt beginning to creep in. “I'm sorry, I know it probably sounds crazy. I just... I just feel like it's not her. Like there's something else going on here.”
Rainbow gave a shrug. “Well, then there's probably something else going on here. I mean, buck, I never fought this Meadowbrook, so I'd have no idea if that was her or not. If you've fought her and you're pretty sure that's not her, that's good enough for me.”
Applejack gave a nod. “Ah guess meh too.” She rubbed her chin for a moment before her eyes widened. “Ah, buck. Yah know, if it ain't Meadowbrook who's runnin' about doin' all this, well... chances are she went an' got that spell from somepony. Maybe this is her teacher comin' an' causin' all these problems?”
Rarity's eyes widened and a moment later she face hoofed. “Oh. I... hadn't considered that. It might explain how she managed to escape to begin with. Anypony who was able to use such a powerful spell is not to be trifled with.”
“Then that could mean the real Meadowbrook is still out there somewhere,” Diamond said softly. “If she's even still alive.” She put a hoof to her forehead and shook her head. She then froze. “Wait. Where were Shining and Hothoof? Did anypony see them?”
“Those two were the only two who breached our defenses,” Stony said, his eyes lowered. “There was nopony underground or in the air, or at least none that came close.”
“Then where are those two? Why just bring the two of them? Why split up?”
------
Meadowbrook groaned as she rubbed her cheek, staring in the mirror. “I hate this body,” she muttered.
“I honestly expected a more... impressive showing from you,” Dazzling said with a cocked eye. “At least, not to watch you get your flank flattened by a child.” He eyed her, his hoof idly rubbing the vial of water he carried.
“It would have been easy if I'd just zapped her,” Meadowbrook muttered. “But no, I have to do things your pony way. For now.” She rubbed her chin some more. “Like a bucking bat out of Tartarus.”
“If you couldn't take her down now, what makes you think you'll be able to defeat her and the other one later?”
Meadowbrook rolled her eyes before turning to Shimmering. “Because the goal isn't to defeat them, foal. You should know this by now.” She trotted towards the map and stared down at it. “Last time I attacked either of them directly I ended up locked in stone for countless centuries. Even if I thought I could crush her, she's the Avatar. She'd probably pull some new trick out of her flank like she did with Discord and Starlight.” She tapped her chin. “No, if I'm going to do this, I need to leave nothing to chance this time. I need to know all the pieces.”
Shimmering nodded and eyed the mare, his eyes narrowed to slits. “Of course.”
“HA! Was easy as pie!” Shining yelled as she flew into the cave, doing a quick circle. “You should have seen it, those ponies never knew what hit them!”
Meadowbrook glanced up. “Really? Where is he, then?”
“Hothoof has him, he'll be back in a second.” She landed and gave a shrug. “And don't worry your precious little head. I didn't kill him. I just beat the crap out of him. You know, so he wouldn't try any earth bending.”
Meadowbrook nodded and after a few minutes, Hothoof came trotting in, an unconscious and heavily bruised brown earth pony on his back. With a swing of his hips, he dumped the pony on the ground. The pony moaned and a bruised eye opened slowly.
“Who... who are you... ponies?” the stallion asked weakly. “Do... do you know who I am? I'm Filthy Rich, you can't--” He was silenced by Meadowbrook slamming her stick against his face. She frowned and then aimed the stick at him. His eyes went wide as her magic enveloped him and he dropped to the ground, snoring.
She then stared down at him. “Yes, Filthy, I know exactly who you are. You're bait. Just be thankful I still have appearances to keep or I'd drain your magic like the others.” She then looked back towards the map. “This game is getting far more annoying.” She reached up and rubbed her jaw again.
“What's with her? She seems kinda extra bitchy today,” Shining asked.
Dazzling shrugged. “She tried fighting the Avatar head on and got throttled.”
Shining snorted. “Really? If she could do it, why can't we?”
“Because I can't yet afford to bring my full power to bear against the Avatar,” Meadowbrook said with a low growl. “You two hapless twits, on the other hoof, have no such protections. Or the Avatar's innate abilities to deal with my kind.” She turned to them before a yellow aura began to surround her horn. “Would you care to test your luck?”
Both of the other two quickly turned away and trotted off, deeper into the cave.
------
Diamond paced back and forth, waiting patiently for any news of the two having been found, but she doubted there would be any. Her mind was still frantic as she thought back to last night. She was better, stronger than she'd ever been. Faster, too. But she still suspected that she couldn't have fought the real Meadowbrook like that. Yet whoever this new pony was, she was using a similar spell to her and draining entire towns.
But other than that, there was also something oddly... familiar about the pony. Not as in Meadowbrook, but as in whatever that pony was. When she'd touched the staff, she'd felt something she swore she recognized. She tried brushing it off and telling herself it was just familiarity with the cutie mark removing spell, but she couldn't help feeling that wasn't it, that there was something else, just below the surface.
All in all, she just felt so frustrated and annoyed. There were just so many unanswered questions and she had no idea where to start with any of them. She felt a little confident having trashed the pony last night, but that somehow just made her feel more dread, as if something worse was coming. She missed the days when she had believed that only good things would happen to her because she was so awesome, now she couldn't even enjoy a minor victory without suspecting something was going to come and smack her down. “Is this what it's like, Twilight? Is this how you felt? Always worried and paranoid that something really bad was going to happen?”
“Avatar!” a voice yelled, making her jump and look to the door. An earth pony was standing there, looking pale.
“What? What's wrong? Were they found?”
“No. We just got a message from...” He paused. “The airship will be departing soon. You should come with me.”
“What? Why? Where are we going?”
“It's your father.”
Diamond's heart almost stopped and she stared at the pony, unable to move.
------
The alicorn's heart hammered in her chest when her hometown finally came within view. It looked fine, for the most part. All except for her home. The roof had been blown clear off and one of the walls had completely collapsed into a pit of magma, which had now cooled. Many of the walls had been damaged as well, an effect of having a sonic rainboom go off right over the house.
The entire attack had only lasted a few minutes, at least according to what she'd been told. A sonic rainboom on the house and then, before they knew what was happening, the building was collapsing and ponies were trying to escape the wreckage. Everypony had been accounted for except for her father. “How?” she asked softly. “W-why would they do this? He wasn't... he wasn't a threat...”
Rarity reached out and put a hoof on her back. “Diamond... I... I know you must feel upset right now, but you have to stay calm. We'll find him.”
“She took my daddy... how... how did we not see this coming?” she asked softly, struggling not to cry.
“They haven't launched any attacks anywhere near here,” Rarity said softly. “Hothoof and Shining must have sneaked across the country to try to get here. Nopony was expecting them to show up here.”
“We should have seen it coming. I mean... he's... he's my daddy... how... how can I...” She shuddered. “What if they... what if they kill him?”
Rarity went quiet, staring at the rubble as the ship slowly lowered to the ground. “I... do not believe that is likely. Meadowbrook hasn't shown much interest in killing ponies. She--”
“Shining killed ponies. Hothoof has killed ponies. Dazzling has definitely killed ponies. The killer ponies just foalnapped my daddy. What if they decide to make him Meadowbrook's first? What if they already killed him?”
“Diamond, don't--”
“What if he's already dead, because of me? If I... if I had made sure to be here, if I'd realized her was in danger, if I'd--”
“There wasn't nothing yah coulda done!” Applejack snapped, moving besides the mare and putting a hoof on her withers. “Listen, Diamond, ah know how yah feel. Ah mean it, ah know EXACTLY how yah feel. But there wasn't a darn thing yah coulda done here. This was a quick snatch an' grab, if yah had been here yah'd have likely jus' been hurt. We had no reason tah suspect she'd try tah go after your family.”
Diamond shuddered, putting a hoof to her face and trying to stop the tears from falling down. “But... but if I'd been here, maybe... maybe I could have done something and... and I... w-what if I never... what if I never see my daddy again? I mean... I...”
Applejack moved in a little closer and gave her a tight hug. “Easy there, easy. It's okay, Diamond. It's going to be okay. We're goin' tah find your dad, an' we're goin' tah get him back. There ain't no body here; an' they wouldn't ah gone through the trouble tah nab him if they jus' wanted him dead.”
The alicorn sobbed into her chest, shaking. “I-I never even came to visit! I-I've been... been just a week away! And I never came to see him! I just s-stayed in H-Harmony or did my own business and ignored him! Even... even when he came for me, even when h-he visited me I-I was too focused on my own things a-and I wasn't there for him!” She wailed into the earth pony's chest. “W-what if now I never get to see him again?”
Applejack took a slow, deep breath. “Diamond... I know how you feel. Right now, you feel like you're the... plum worst daughter that ever lived. Like you're ungrateful an'... an' unforgivable. But your dad ain't dead. Your dad is still out there, an' we can still save him.” She paused and looked down at the mare. “An' even if he wasn't, he wouldn't want this tah be how yah remember him. He'd want yah tah live a strong, long, happy life. One that yah'd be proud tah call your own. One that he'd be proud tah look out over an' go 'mah lil girl did that'. Ah know you're hurtin' now an' that's okay. But we gotta go take a look an' see what we can find. Now, you're more than welcome tah stay in the airship an' wait. But if yah feel up tah it, it might do yah some good tah come down and talk tah ponies, tah find out what yah can. Okay?”
Diamond sobbed into her chest for a few more moments before slowly, gingerly, pulling her head back and giving a nod. “R-right. You're... you're right. I'm the... I'm the Avatar. I need to... to still be strong.” She gave a weak smile and wiped her face off with her hoof. “If... if not for me, then at least for all those ponies still counting on me, right? And... and for daddy.”
“That's right,” Applejack said, giving a nod. “Now, how about you go on ahead with Rarity. Ah'll catch up in a moment, okay?”
Diamond nodded and turned to the unicorn, following after her. Applejack watched the two disappear down the ramp, before wiping her eyes with a hoof. “Bucking... brat sure knows where to push...”
“You going to be okay?” Rainbow asked as she trotted up. “I heard that and... well...”
“Yeah, yeah, jus' need a moment. Just a few good... kicks in the right spot. Yah know how it is.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow muttered. “You know... since traveling with her, I kinda feel... sometimes it's like old times. Both good and bad.”
“Yeah...” Applejack muttered.
“But it's not all like old times,” Rainbow said with a nod.
“Huh? What's that me--” Applejack was cut off by Applebloom coming up behind her and giving her a tight hug. She then gave a light chuckle. “Yeah... ah guess in some ways it's better now.”