Avatar: The Last Alicorn. Book 2: Earth Pony

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 28: Prodigal Sister

Suri growled as she was roughly lead through the dungeon of Fillydelphia. She was surrounded by half a dozen earth pony guards. If she so much as tried to bend a pebble she knew she'd find herself buried in seconds. It didn't curb her anger in the slightest. “You'll all pay for this. There's a water bender in our city and you dare to arrest me, ME!”

“Silence prisoner,” the pony ahead of her said. She was led into a large wooden room, devoid of any earth to bend. In the center of it sat a pony, at a desk, she recognized instantly. Sapphire Shores, the commander of Fillydelphia's military.

Suri shoved past the guards, darting towards the mare. “Commander!”

Sapphire raised a hoof, stopping the guards from lunging at the prisoner. “Leave us. We are not to be disturbed. Lock the door.” The guards quickly nodded, closing the door before it let out an audible click. “Sit.”

Suri did so. “Commander, you must listen to me. There is a water bender here, in this city.”

“So I heard. Tell me more about her.”

“She's not just a water bender, she claimed to be a princess. Sister to the commander attacking our city.”

“What does she look like?” a voice said from behind the mare. Suri turned to see a cloaked figure against the wall. She couldn't remember seeing the pony before.

“Who are--”

“Answer,” Sapphire said before stomping a hoof down. “Now.”

Suri turned back to the commander. “She... she had a white coat and a short purple mane. A tad curly. The fire bender, Blueblood, is protecting her.”

The cloaked figure burst into laughter. “Blueblood as well?” As the earth pony turned, she gazed into the eyes of the figure, the mare's hood down. Sweetie smiled as her eyes glowed purple. “So, my sister is here. Now, little... Suri was it? You're going to bring her to me.”

The earth pony opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. The purple eyes stared into her. Sweetie grinned as her magic poked and prodded through the mare's mind. She brushed aside thoughts and ideas like dust as she searched for the darkness within the mare's heart. To her glee, it was found quickly. Vanity. Pride. It throbbed within the earth pony, beating like a second heart. “I see what you want. You want recognition. To be the best designer in all the land. For everypony to kneel before you in reverence of your name? You wish for glory. I can give it to you.”

Suri slowly nodded.

“Swear allegiance to me and all of the nations will know of you. Just as they will Commander Sapphire. Your talents will no longer be wasted here.”

The earth pony slowly grinned as the magic enveloped the beating mass within, strengthening it. “I... I swear.” Her eyes glowed purple for a moment.

“Good. Sapphire, take this mare and capture my sister. If our aunt is there, bring her as well.”

The commander got to her hooves. “As you wish. And the fire bender?”

“I no longer have a need for him. Do whatever is needed,” Sweetie lifted the hood over her head again and headed to the corner of the room. Soon, the door was opened and the two left. However, as Sapphire walked away, she and the unicorn's eyes met. Purple flashed in both their eyes before the earth pony nodded.

“Of course,” the commander said before walking out. Once she was gone, one of the guards popped his head inside the room, but it was empty. He failed to notice the roof tile slide back into place above.

------

“Wow,” Twilight said in awe as she watched the cursed water slowly turn to its clear, natural form. Four unicorns stood over one of the pits, slowly dispelling the liquid until it became natural yet again. “How do they do it? They can't bend.”

“It's not a bending act,” Vinyl said. “That magic on the water is dark magic, but it is magic. A water bender can dispel it easier, but any unicorn with the proper training could dispel it. I'm surprised you weren't able to.”

The alicorn blushed and shuffled her hooves. “I... I honestly never thought to try. I knew it took bending to create, so I assumed it would take bending to reverse.”

“You were a unicorn before you became an alicorn, correct?” Vinyl asked. “You should try learning some magic. I know with all your bending talents you probably have to spend a lot of time studying them, but it can't hurt to learn how normal magic works. It could save your life one day.”

“Maybe.” Twilight sighed as she watched a number of earth benders close up the holes the water had made. “Is this what you wanted to show me? No water bending?”

The unicorn chuckled. “Oh, don't worry. I'll start training you soon enough. Once we fight off this invasion, we'll have lots of time to practice, okay? But there was one thing I wanted to discuss with you. When we were forced to run, it took us ages to find a place we could hide. We eventually came across your biggest fan.” A large grin formed on Vinyl's face. “He wasn't too happy to find us.”

“My biggest fan? Why? What happened?”

“He tried eating us whole when he found out we were water benders. Took Octy ages to get him to calm down and listen to who we were.” The unicorn watched the avatar, waiting for her words to sink in.

Twilight's eyes bulged. “You mean... you can't mean. No, it's impossible. He's... I don't know where he is. Do you mean the Great Dragon? You met him?”

“Yep! Bit of a hot head, but we managed to calm him down. Once he realized we were on your side, he was... well, still uptight. But a bit less chompy chomp. Even helped us find a place to lie low. Wanted me to give you this.” From her pack she pulled out a letter. “I wanted to give it to you sooner, but I figured you deserved a chance to get some rest. Then the whole sinking city thing. Better late than never, right?”

Twilight rolled her eyes before taking the note. She popped it over and scanned across it. She let out a loud squeak. “It... I can't believe it!” A small leaf hovered into the air. “It's smokewarp root!”

“It looks like a leaf to me...”

“No, not that. It's something us fire benders used to do. See, when you throw it in a fire, the flames will glow green. Then, whatever you throw into it gets transported to the chosen destination. We used to use it to make giant fires or fed it to dragons so they could send letters to each other. Back when I was learning how to fire bend, we had this massive green bonfire in the center of the hall and we would use it to send letters back home to our... to our...” The alicorn trailed off as moisture filled her eyes. “S-sorry...”

Vinyl frowned for a few moments. Then, her glasses flew off her head and onto the avatar's. “I didn't see anything. So, what's it all mean to us non-fire benders?”

“It means I can send a message to the dragon. I know exactly what I'm going to tell him, too.” Twilight started trotting off, forcing Vinyl to gallop after her.

“What?”

“I've found the fire benders and your water benders. I think it's time both are gathered together, here. With their added help, we should be able to push off these water benders easily.”

“I'm not sure bringing water benders here is the best idea.”

“It is, trust me. Besides, we need them. If they use more of that cursed water, we'll need capable benders to remove it quickly. It'll also make fixing the water purificating system faster. Don't worry, I'll have no problem getting the emperor to agree.”

------

Celestia groaned as she got up from her bed. She glanced outside, the full moon's light casting across the street. “Who would be here at this hour?” The mare slowly climbed down the long, evil stairs that took her further and further from her warm bed. She stepped out into the lobby and froze. Through the glass she saw Suri's smug face, as well as over a dozen earth ponies in armor. The unicorn turned and galloped back the way she came.

“Diamondeye, Blueblood, we need to go.” She tore into their respective rooms, tearing blankets away. The sound of shattering glass echoed up the hall, making the other two groggy ponies stand up.

“W-what's going on?” Rarity asked with a stifled yawn.

“Things are worse than we initially though. We need to go, now!” Celestia tore open her niece's window, gazing out into the back yard. It was grassy and fenced in, but the wall was short.

Blueblood crawled from his bed and looked down the stairs. For the moment, the earth ponies were in such a rush to get up, they were pushing and tumbling over each other to get up the narrow rises. It wouldn't last long. “Get her out first, I'll follow!” the stallion yelled as flames formed on his horn. It took a moment for the earth ponies to notice, but when they did they dove from the stairs, landing out of the way as flames burst forth. With them sufficiently delayed, Blueblood galloped into Rarity's room.

“She's out,” Celestia said as she motioned to the window. “You're next, come on.”

He gulped and darted to the window, leaning out the side slightly. With a deep breath, and a guiding hoof from the elder mare, he leaped down. He hit the ground hard, eliciting a pained moan. His bandages turned red, but he slowly got to his hooves. “Come on, Jademane, we--”

Rocks suddenly raced up behind them, covering the back end of the building as well as the window. “Auntie!” Rarity screamed before she started to run at the mass of stone.

Blueblood grabbed her in his magic, holding her back. “No! We need to go, she can take care of herself, they want you! Your mother will be fine!”

“I can't leave her! She's my, you don't understand, she--”

“She'd tell you to run!” the stallion yelled. She stared at him for a few moments before glancing back to the wall of rock. With a nod, she turned and galloped. They leaped over the small fence in the backyard and stopped. Eight earth ponies surrounded them. “Get behind me.” Blueblood stepped forward and swirled his horn in a small circle as lightning crackled from the tip. “Leave us alone, she's done nothing wrong.”

One of the earth benders stepped forward. “Surrender. We know who you are, princess Rarity. Fire bender, we have no fight with you, stay out of the way.” The pony raised a hoof.

“She's not a princess of anything. Leave her alone, I won't let Suri near her!” Lightning arched off his horn towards the earth pony. The earth bender lowered his hoof as a wall of dirt flowed up in front of him. It cracked from the blast. “How-- guhhh!” Spikes of rock shot forward and sent Blueblood sailing through the air, toppling head over hoof before slamming into the fence. His head sagged to the side as the pony fell limp.

“Blueblood!” Rarity yelled before galloping toward him, but skidded to a stop as a wall of rock formed in front of her.

“You're coming with us. Rarity, surrender.” The earth pony raised a hoof towards her.

“You... you... earth benders!” Her body shook as she turned to them, tears in her eyes. Her horn began to glow and two of the earth ponies lifted their hooves. They let out started shrieks as their bodies began twisting around them, their back hooves lashing out at their nearby comrades.

“What are you doing? AHHH!” Her eyes fell on the talking one next, her horn glowing a brilliant blue as the stallion's body began fighting on its own, attacking his comrades as they struggled to defend themselves, confusion spreading through their ranks. One by one they fought, bucking and kicking until all eight laid on the ground in painful heaps. With them defeated, she turned to the fallen unicorn and ran.

“B-Blueblood, are you okay?” she asked as she lightly shook the stallion.

“U-ugh...” He looked up at her, a smile on his lips. “So... your... name is Rarity?”

“Y-yes,” she said as she looked over his bleeding chest. “Hold on, I'll see if I can fix these.”

Blueblood reached up and took her hooves before she could touch him.“It's a beautiful name. I'm sorry I didn't learn it sooner.”

“Fine, it's beautiful. Just hold still.”

“Go,” the stallion whispered. “Get... get out of here. More of them are coming. Don't worry, I'll be fine.”

“But--”

“I promise. Just go!” he said before shoving her hooves away. She watched him for a moment, before turning and galloping away.

The stallion looked in the opposite direction. Earth ponies turned the corner. Flames formed on the tip of his horn as he slowly sat up, the bandages soaked through.

------

Twilight stared into the green flames, the glow flickering ominously. Her friends sat around the fire, watching it with wide eyed wonder as the long forgotten magic sparked and popped. The alicorn held a thick envelope in her hooves, her breathing slow but ragged. “Is this really the right thing to do?”

Applejack lowered her hat to her chest. “Ah think yah know the answer tah that. Yah wouldn't a made it if it wasn't the right thing tah do.”

“I think you should,” Fluttershy said barely above a whisper. “He'd want to know what happened to Spike and everything else.”

“Besides, he wasn't a big fan of the little guy anyway,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “I'm sure he'll get over it fast once he realizes we're all on the case. No way the little pipsqueak is gone for good.”

“I guess,” the alicorn sighed again. “Is bringing him here really the right thing to do? I'll be bringing everypony to the Water Nation.”

“Oh, don't be such a worry goosy! I'm sure he'll arrive just at the perfect time, right when we need him most.” Pinkie patted the avatar on the back with a happy giggle. “Besides, no matter what happens, we're always here to have your back!”

Twilight grinned and nodded. “Thank you. You're right, I... I know everything will work out in the end. As long as we're all together.” She tossed the letter forward. It burned instantly before green sparkles flew off through the air and out the window. “Now, I think I'm going to get ready for some sleep. We should--”

The door opened suddenly, eliciting gasps from the ponies. Photo stood in the portal, a smile on her face. “Applejack, could you come here?”

“Huh? What's yah need?” the mare asked before she hopped to her hooves and trotted to the mare.

“I have a note for you. One of the guards delivered it a moment ago.”

“Huh?” The cowpony took the letter and opened it. She gasped. “Yah all aren't gonna believe this!”

“What is it?” Twilight asked before the other four got to their hooves and trotted forward.

“It's mah big brother! He's better an' managed tah get one a our shipments through them soldiers outside. Ah always knew he wouldn't let any ah our shipments go to waste even if a hydra gone and blocked his way. Seems he's in town an' hopin' tah see me!”

“Sounds a bit suspicious,” Rainbow asked with a wary glare. “Who delivered this note?”

“I was told a large, red stallion. He didn't say much, just dropped this off and left.”

“That's mah big brother! Ah'm sorry everypony, but ah gotta go chat with him. Yah all be okay for the night without meh?”

“Go on, have fun. It's about time we all went to sleep anyway,” Twilight said with a smile. “Stay out as long as you need, we'll find you if there's trouble.”

“Okay! See yah all later!” Applejack galloped off, a wide grin on her face. Photo watched her leave, before turning to go as well.

“Thanks for delivering this, Photo!” Twilight called out. “It really, hee hee, brings out ze magic in her!” The earth pony merely shrugged as she trotted away. The alicorn stared for a few moments, before shaking her head.

“Something wrong?” Rainbow asked.

“No. Probably just my imagination. It's late though, I'm going to go get some sleep. I'll see you all in the morning.”

------

Rarity huddled in the darkness, tears flowing down her face as everypony she had failed flashed in her mind. Death after death, their empty eyes played through her mind like a grim dance, though she tried desperately to shut them out. Even her aunt was likely gone now. All because of her confession.

Tears flowed down her cheeks, burning as they went. She held her head against the ground, struggling desperately to calm the raging sadness within her. She had only felt something like this once before, when she had first been banished. Without her aunt to comfort her, it was all the worse.

“Sister,” Sweetie said as she enveloped the older mare in her hooves. “Why do you cry so?”

“Because, e-everypony is--” She froze and looked up at the younger unicorn hugging her. Confusion clouded her face before she leaped back, pulling free. “Sweetie Belle! What are you doing here? How? When? It's dangerous, you must--” A hoof was placed to her mouth, silencing her.

“Rarity, dear elder sister. Isn't it obvious? It's time for Fillydelphia to fall. Come, join me. You will share in my triumph. We can return to the Water Nation as heroes.”

The elder unicorn stepped forward, reaching a hoof to her sister. She then pulled away. “No. Sweetie, I... I still need to save you. I can't... I can't give up.”

“Save me? Save me from what? I'm here to save you!”

“I know what you did!” Rarity's hooves trembled. “I saw... I saw Shadowhoof.”

“Who?”

“The stallion. One of our soldiers. I saw how you had his horn ripped from his head, hung from a tree to die. I saw how you...” She choked on the words. “I... I know what you did.”

Sweetie's eyes went wide, then she lowered her head and let out a soft sob. “I... I'm so sorry. Dear... dear sister. I know of who you speak. I tried. I tried to protect him, honest! I ordered them to stop, but their passion was too intense. They rose up against me, p-pushed me aside. I... I couldn't do anything to stop them. I... I was s-so afraid they'd do the same to me if... if I released him.”

Rarity froze, the words cutting through her like a razor. “You... you didn't do it? But... but the fire benders. You were going to do the same to them. Rip out their horns and... and...”

“No! Of course not! Oh dear sister, i-is that why you fought against me? Never!” The young mare shook her head. “I only wished to capture them. I had no intentions of harming them. I... I could never do such a thing. I just... wanted to capture them for mother. I... I hoped if I imprisoned them... that maybe mother... would let you return. They would have been kept under watch, but I could never rip ones horn away. How... how could you even think such a thing?”

Rarity looked to her sister, the young unicorn's eyes wet and hurt. With a gentle cry of distress she charged forward and enveloped her little sister in a tight hug. “Oh Sweetie. I'm so, so, so sorry. I thought... I just thought...” She struggled to push away the pain and torment she felt, letting her sister fill it.

“I know, I understand.” Sweetie's eyes glowed purple. “Tell me, what have these earth benders done to you? Don't worry yourself. In the end, we'll defeat them. Together.”

------

Applejack knocked on the small home she had been directed to. She held up the note before glancing to the side. “Well, this is the right address. Heh, yah old varmint.” She knocked on the door a few times, but no pony answered. She tried opening it and, to her surprise, it slid open with ease. “Big Mac?” she called before stepping inside. The room was very dark, though in the center she saw a very weak lamp. “Oh Big Mac. Plannin' some kinda surprise party? Ah know you're here, a big red lumix like you is kinda hard tah miss.” She chuckled before trotting to the lamp. The ground cracked from below and then shot up, clamping shut around her.

The earth pony let out a shriek as she fell into the small pit, but quickly started kicking out with her hooves. “Let me out! What are you... huh?” She hit twice more and stopped. She was surrounded on all sides by metal.

Suddenly, a small light came from above, shining through the one small window her prison had. She crawled up and peered through, her eyes going wide in horror. “It's been a while, Applejack,” Flim said as he tapped on the prison.

“I hope you didn't forget us,” Flam said with a twirl of his mustache.

“You two, you two, dirty, no good, rotten, you, you you--”

“Always the one for words, weren't yah, Applejack?” Flim asked with another chuckle. “Make yourself comfortable. We were paid a lot of money by those water benders to bring you to them. You're going to be in this good ol' box a long time.” He tapped the wall, sending a clang echoing through.

“LET ME OUT!” Applejack screamed as she bucked as hard as she could, though the metal refused to bend under her assault.

“Go ahead, keep wearing yourself out. No pony can bend metal,” Flam said before the two brothers started pulling out blankets. “You'll need to cover her well, can't have her causing too much noise. I'll get the wagon.”

------

Fancy yawned as he trotted through the castle, his tired eyes blinking blearily as he struggled to stop from tottering over. The halls were bare of any ponies, a strange occurrence even for this hour. Usually when he left his room either Sapphire or Photo would find their way to his side before he made it to the first turn, but tonight they were nowhere in sight. He couldn't deny he was enjoying the silence without those two complaining about each other.

He let out a yelp as a cloaked pony darted by, almost knocking him over. “Sorry!” Scootaloo called back.

“I... what? Hey! Hold! Stop!” Despite his yells, the pony didn't stop. He looked left and right, but there were no guards in sight. He considered for a few moments, before charging after her. “I demand you stop immediately!”

The pony led him through the halls before suddenly stopping outside Photo's room. She knocked on the door a few times before it opened and the mare darted inside. Fancy galloped after her. “Photo Finish, stop! Just what is going on here?”

Photo stepped out from the room, smiling to him. “Your highness? What seems to be the problem?”

“Just what is going on here?” the emperor demanded before stomping his hooves. “I haven't seen you since Sapphire spoke to you this evening. I woke up, but the palace seems to be abandoned. Where are all the guards? And who was that pony galloping through the halls?”

“Ah. Yes. Due to the pending attacks from the Water Nation, I sent many of my soldiers to assist Sapphire's. It was what she requested. The galloping mare was... my niece. I'm afraid with all the attacks going on she--” The mare was sent careening backwards after Fancy turned and bucked her.

The stallion ran down the hall, panic filling him as he heard yells and galloping hooves behind. His lungs began to burn when suddenly a familiar pony stood in his path. “Sapphire!”

“Your highness? What's going on? Why are you galloping around the castle at this hour?”

“P-Photo. I don't, I don't know how.” Fancy turned back down the hall, where he heard his pursuer's gallops. “B-but that's not her. I-It's an imposter. Quick, a-alert the soldiers, we're under attack. We--” The stallion turned back in time to see the hoof coming at his face, toppling him over with a crash.

------

Twilight awoke with a start, powerful gongs echoing through the castle. She slowly sat up to peer out a window, unwilling to crawl out of bed and the view made a nice excuse to stay. The sun was only just beginning to rise, casting its glow across the world. The beautiful sight mesmerized her for a few moments. She lowered her gaze and gasped. From the vantage point she could see the front courtyard of the castle and, more importantly, the fire benders who stood in it with their horns aglow. Guilt swarmed her as she realized she had yet to make a moments time for them. Everything had just happened so fast.

She was torn from her thoughts by another clang of the gong. The alicorn sighed and climbed from bed. With a dissatisfied grunt she made her way to the door, softly yawning as she went. She heard her friends awakening as well, though they seemed much more resistant to getting up than she did. Except Pinkie. That mare hadn't even stirred, for which the avatar was eternally thankful. She doubted she had the energy to deal with somepony who could wake up so refreshed with only a small amount of sleep.

The gong played a third time. She trotted from her room, looking around the halls as she went. They were oddly devoid of life aside from the occasional pony galloping past, until she came to the throne room. Dozens of earth ponies stood across from the throne, which Sapphire and Photo stood in front of. More ponies filed in as the gong, sitting against the far wall, was hit three more times. Finally, Sapphire stepped forward.

“It is with great sadness I am forced to inform all of you that the emperor has gone missing in the night.” A collective gasp filled the air, drowning out the mare's next words. She waited for the ponies to calm down, before speaking again. “There are a number of believed suspects in this assault on the very heart of our kingdom. All will be rounded up and questioned before the day is through.” She stomped a hoof. “Rest assured, soldiers of the glorious Earth Kingdom! This day may be dark, perhaps the darkest day we have ever faced! However, those responsible will be brought to justice. We WILL find our emperor!” The ponies let out a cheer, for which she waited to die down before speaking up again.

“Now, these ponies shall be gathered immediately. Octavia Melody. Vinyl Scratch.--” Twilight just stared in shock, unable to process what was going on as more names were called out. She was eventually torn from her thoughts by one last name. “--Twilight Sparkle.” The alicorn barely had time to gasp as two heavy hoofs grabbed her from behind.

Comments

[Crack-Fic Casey]

Well, that went well.

[Angel_Bunny]

4373564 Coco would actually not be Jet, Suri would be Jet if anything.

[eric-emanwu]

4376897 Whoops, wrong pony.

Anyways, so, bad news bears for team avatar and for rarity. Perhaps the thing that I want to call out the most is, "SWEETIE!!! YOU ARE A LIAR!!!" Because if I remember my protocol for the siege of everfree forest, she fully intended to kill and rip the horns off all firebenders there. You know, to stop them from raising the sun and all that. But that won't matter to Rarity right now. She's at her emotional low at this point, thinking she's lost everyone in the attack, and thus she fell right into the hands of Sweetie. Also, despite the bolivian army end for blueblood, part of me doesn't believe that he's dead yet. I know that Celestia's definitely not yet dead.

Anyways, it also seems that team avatar is getting into trouble as well. AJ got all metalbending caught. Though the interesting thing is that at least Rainbow showed some suspicion on who had delivered the letter. Also of note is how it appears that sweetie's even more cunning than I thought. It seems she got control of not only the military but the dai li at the same time. Oh hell no! And with the avatar in trouble, this is only gets worse if the red dragon is coming. Though with this swirl of events, what happened to the search for spike? The fall is coming.

[Adixon524]

gosh i have no idea how she's going to break free but im guessing that she'll end up bending metal like it was tinker toy or break it like basalt wood

[Zubric]

Cue frantic to be continued text