The Little Pony Legend 4: Balance of the Heart

by MaggiesHeartLove

Battle for Zaofu

*(~)*

Jude 1:22~

And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering.

*(~)*

Battle for Zaofu

Several mecha tanks surrounded the metallic tent that served as Kuvira's sleeping quarters. While the city of Zaofu slumbered, and the watch towers around Kuvira's encampment shinned their lights around the area, a lone guard scouted the path, not too far from the camp. However, he would soon realize that patrolling all alone in the middle of the night wasn't such a bright idea to begin with.

The man dropped his flashlight when a metallic slat suddenly came flying from the darkness around him, covering his mouth. The shock resulted in him dropping the flashlight, which flew off into the air. Now surrounded in total darkness, the guard never saw the metallic whip that wrapped around his ankles. He tried to yell, but found it futile due to his mouth being covered by a metal plate. His body was dragged towards a bush and three more cables shot up from the bush, fastening around a tree branch above. Suyin and her twin sons, Wei and Wing, rose up and crunched down on the tree branch, reeling in their cables. The three were completely clothed in black form head to toe.

"Are you sure this will work?" Wing asked his mother, "Even without Kuvira, they could still crush us."

"Most of this army has been forced into service by Kuvira. If we take her out, they'll have no reason to fight." Suyin replied. She pulled a black hood over her head, tucking in her short curly gray hair and covered the lower half of her face, minus her eyes. "Tonight we end her reign of terror."

The Beifong family made their way into the camp, hiding underneath a tank from a bypassing mecha tank. Once the cost was clear, they quickly scrambled out to hide behind another tank just when the beam of light from one of the watch towers shined in their path. They hid behind a a stack of boxes, close to Kuvira's metallic hut. Through a crack between the boxes, Su witnessed another mecha tank walk by. Once it left, she stomped her foot onto the ground, using her seismic sense to look into the hut. She sense a human presence there, no doubt Kuvira.

"She's alone in there. Now's our chance!"

The three bended the earth beneath them, creating individuals holes and leaped into. From inside the hut, three more holes opened up, tearing away the metal from underneath, and the three leaped out before the slumbering body in the single bed. Su unleashed metallic cables from her waist belt, wrapping them around Kuvira before rolling her over. However, the woman on the bed was revealed to be neither sleeping, nor Kuvira.

"Don't hurt me!"

"Zhu Li?" Su was surprised to see Varrick's assistant instead of Kuvira as she removed her mask.

The metal sides of the hut began to fall apart and a loud siren blared. Mecha tanks and soldiers surrounded the three, and the watchtower spotlighted the intruders. The alarm halted and Kuvira appeared between two mecha tanks, who stepped aside, allowing her to approach the three, staring down at her former mentor in disapproval.

"I knew you'd try a sneak attack." Kuvira said, hands behind her back. while Suyin and the boys took on a fighting stance. "You were afraid to step up and lead the Earth Kingdom when you had the chance. You were afraid to join me when I became the leader, and now, you're afraid of a fair fight. You've always been a coward."

Kuvira expected Suyin to say something in reply. To protest, to deny such a claim. However, Su did not say a word, she simply narrowed her eyes, frozen in her stance with a clenched fist. Still, Kuvira could see traces of visible hurt in the woman's eyes. Just as Kuvira thought, Suyin was nothing more than a coward. And to think, she once regarded her as her role model. The metalbender turned away from the Beifong family and walked away, but not before giving her followers an oder.

"Take them!"

The two mechas shot lightning at Suyin and her sons, knocking them unconscious before they were dragged away. Su had lost this battle.

(~)

The metallic dome covered the entire city of Zaofu, as it did every night. Inside, right at Suyin's mansion's front door step, Jinora, Opal, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Korra gathered together in hopes of coming up with a plan to keep Kuvira from attacking the city. But as of yet they could not agree on anything. The whole time, Bataar sat on a bench with his knuckles pressed to his chin, and elbows resting on his knees, also trying to think of a solution, but it was difficult task. After all, he was an architect, not a war strategist, or a fighter like his dear beloved wife.

"Korra, you have to go stop Su before she does something terrible." Jinora said.

"Stop her? We should be helping her." Opal protested.

"I agree with Opal." said Rainbow with a raise of her hand.

But Korra rose both her hands to keep them steady, "We have no idea where Su is, or what her plan is. If we go charging into Kuvira's camp, we could get them all captured, or worse. All we can do now is wait."

Opal looked away from the princess in dismay, when suddenly the speakers around Zaofu emitted a brief static sound and Kuvira's voice was heard through the speakers, muffled with a faint static. "Attention citizens of Zaofu. Your leader, Su Beifong, attempted to attack me tonight while I slept, ignoring the terms of our truce. Luckily, I now have her and her assault team in custody."

"No!" Opal exclaimed with worry. The rest of Kuvira's speech spread all throughout the city, were everybody ceased whatever it was they were doing in order to listen.

"Rest assured that I will not take revenge on the peaceful citizens of Zaofu, unless your remaining representatives meet me outside the city at dawn to offer the full and unconditional surrender of your city. That is all."

Once Kuvira's voice faded, Opal turned to the Avatar princess."Korra, you can't let Kuvira get away with this! We have to go break out Mom and my brothers!" she said furiously. She wasn't even asking, she was outright demanding Korra do so.

"You swore an oath of non-aggression when you became an airbender." Jinora narrowed her eyes sternly, "You can't just attack Kuvira!"

"I don't care about the oath! I have to save my family!"

Korra placed a hand on Opal's shoulder in an effort to calm her down, "No, Jinora is right. Your mom attacked the camp and I agreed with Kuvira that I would give her twenty four hours to make up her mind. She was just defending herself."

Opal angrily shrugged Korra's hand off, "Defending herself? She was going to attack our city! I can't believe you're refusing to fight, especially after what she did to you! She took you away from your family, are you going to let her take away mine?"

A look of regret flashed before Korra's face. Before she could even so much as think of a proper responce, if she could even mutter one after that, the doors of the house opened. Meelo and Ikki emerged, both wearing their pajamas. Baatar's other son, Huan, also walked out from his room, wearing his pajamas and his hair was an untangled mess.

Meelo rubbed his sleepy eyes. "Why is that loudspeaker lady talking when I'm trying to sleep?"

"Korra, what are we going to do?" Baatar asked once he stood up to approach the princess.

"Rainbow, Flutters and I will go talk to Kuvira at dawn, and, maybe, we can work something out. I promise, I'll do everything I can to keep the peace."

Rainbow rose her hands up, "Okay, back up. The woman has been enslaving villages, made you forget who you were, now she's outright demanding the people of Zaofu pledge themselves to her or else, and you still refuse to fight her? I know I said she was in the clear before, but that ship is sailing and sailing away fast!"

Rainbow did make a very valid point. Kuvira had done far too much damage to simply be given a second chance, but Korra didn't want to completely give up on her friend. She had a strong feeling there was something more going on, and Kuvira still had a chance at redemption. She couldn't allow her to be swept into the darkness like this, she'd seen what it can do and she couldn't go down that route. She refused to sink to Kuvira's level and she refused to fail her friend.

"I know Rainbow, but I don't want to give up on Kuvira just yet. She wasn't always like this, she was once my friend. Deep down, I know our friendship meant something to her."

"Korra, the woman made you a potion that took you away from us."

"I know, but where do you think she got the recipe, let alone the skills to make such a thing? If anything, she may be influenced by those two ponies she was with."

"But why would they want to get rid of you?" Fluttershy asked.

"That's exactly what I need to find out. If I can figure out Kuvira was being manipulated into doing all of this, maybe there's still a chance to reach her. Besides, I'm not going through this while seeking revenge. We've all seen how that turned out in the past."

The other remained silent at the mention of this. It was true, they have seen many terrible examples of people who sought revenge in order to right a wrong. It always ended the same way. Korra was wise in not taking this route. She wasn't a cocky teenager anymore, and neither were any of them.

"I'll go with you." Opal said.

"Me too." said Jinora.

"We'll go, too." said Ikki.

"No!" Fluttershy exclaimed, "Tenzin told us to find Korra, and we did. Now you need to stay safe."

"Come on! Let us help!" Ikki protested.

"I can't risk anyone else being captured." Korra crunched down to Meelo's level, ruffling his hair, "You can stay with Baatar and Huan while we work things out with Kuvira." she turned to Baatar, "Make sure they get back to Tenzin if anything goes wrong."

Meelo groaned in disappointment, "Aw, man! When am I gonna see some action?"

(~)

"Cookie jar ... empty. No ... hot ... towels! Waxy ... buildup! Zhu Li!"

Varrick woke up from his nightmare, only to find that he, Bolin and a now pony formed Melody were still inside their prison. The three were ridding on the Earth Empire train which would lead them to their fate after having betrayed Kuvira. The rich man looked around, as if hoping to find something, before looking downcast.

"Oh ... she really is gone."

The doors at the end of the car slid open, revealing Baatar Jr. and two other guards. "Up and at 'em, Varrick! Time to go to work." Baatar said as one of the guards unlocked the cell door, sliding it open. "We have another lab set up for you. Kuvira wants the spirit vine weapon operational as soon as possible."

"Zhu Li always greeted me in the morning with a hot cup of tea." Varrick said, smiling at the memory of the hot steamy beverage, mixed with honey and cinnamon, delivered to him every time by Zhu Li who always had it made just right, and always on time. His smile immediately faded away when one of the guards lifted Varrick by the shoulders, forcing him on his own two feet.

"You'll get your tea when you start working." Baatar Jr. said sternly.

"Well, I'm really only productive for about fifteen minutes a day, usually in the afternoon around three-forty-five."

The guard turned at Baatar Jr. who simply nodded, giving him his full permission. The guard then grabbed Varrick by the shirt and slammed him against wall, making a clang sound once his back collided with the metal surface. The rich man let out a cowardly yelp in the process.

"You'll work now." Baatar Jr. demanded, "I want you to show me how the device works."

Bolin yawned, finally waking up from his slumber. Melody rubbed her sleepy eyes before standing up, shaking her entire body like a dog.

"What's goin' on?" Bolin asked, becoming aware of what was happening before him. It didn't take long for his drowsiness to complete disappear once he saw Varrick lifted by the collar, his back against the wall, and Baatar Jr. narrowing down at him.

"Go back to sleep. We only need Varrick. You two will need your energy when you get to the re-education camp."

"I can't be expected to work without an assistant!" Varrick said, now free of the guard's grip. "Without Zhu Li, I'm helpless!"

"One of the guards will be your assistant. I'll be supervising."

Varrick glanced at the guard next to him and shrugged, "Well, I guess he'll be fine. As long as he doesn't need his hands afterwards!" he chuckled, somewhat maliciously.

The guard's eyes widened and looked at his boss. "What's he talking about, sir?" he asked nervously.

"The last time we worked with the spirit vines, it created an uncontrollable blast that burned through a wall and could still be blowing up comets in space, as far as I know! I wouldn't want to assist me if I were you!"

The guard turned towards Baatar Jr., visibly horrified, "Maybe we should just let the kid help him out."

Baatar Jr. sighed in frustration, "Fine. Bolin can assist."

"Wait, what? I need my hands!" Bolin began to panic once the guard towered over him, hiding his hands under his underarms in the process.

Melody intervened, "Uh, hold on! Can we have breakfast first?"

"While we still have hands?" Bolin added feebly. The guards ignored the pony, shoving her aside and started dragging Bolin out of the cell by his collar. Melody quickly morphed into her anthro form.

"Wait! If he goes, I'll go."

"You will remain here, you traitor." Baatar Jr. said with a fierce look in his eyes. He would never forgive the pony for what she did to his fiance.

"Now hold on." Varrick quickly intervened, "In case something happens to Bolin, I'll need a back up helper."

Melody didn't want to help build a death machine, but this could be their one and only chance to find a way out of this situation. Besides, she couldn't leave Bolin and Varrick alone. She just couldn't. She was in Kuvira's inner circle longer than they've been, they would need her.

Baatar Jr. decided to end these protests. "Very well. You may help Varrick with the weapon. But be sure to remember, if you try anything, you'll wish you really were sent to the re-education camp."

Melody gulped nervously before nodding her head.

(~)

Back in Equestria, Leilani was looking at some letters she had received from Raiko. She and her daughters, as well as Princess Cadance and Shinning Armor were asked to come to Republic City in order to resolve the whole Kuvira situation once and for all. But as the queen rose from her throne, she felt an instant pain in her head, and suddenly began to cough roughly. She had been feeling a bit down recently, but being an alicorn no doubt a small bug would fade in a few short days.

One of the guards looked at her with concern, "Are you alright, your Majesty?"

"I'm fine. I must call my daughters, we are needed elsewhere."

"The Princesses are still in bed, my Queen."

"What? I thought they would be up by now."

The doors at the end of the hallway opened to reveal her daughters walking in to greet her. Their eyes were still tired and Luna let out a rough cough, similar to the one her mother had just had. They looked awful, this worried the alicorn mother.

"Girls, are you alright?"

"We're fine, mother." Luna assured, "Just a small bug. Is there anything you need?"

"Yes. Raiko has summoned us. It's urgent, we must leave at once. Uh," Leilani grunted as she attempted to approach her daughters.

"Mother!"

"I'm alright. We mustn't delay."

(~)

At one end of the vast valley, Kuvira's army stood in perfect alignment, in six separate rows of mecha tanks, with the troops out in front. Poles with the the Earth Empire banners billowed in the soft breeze.

Kuvira stood in front of her entire army, her back turned to them for the moment as the Princess Avatar and her companions approached from the opposite side. As always, Dazzle and Starblaze stood by Kuvira on her left and right, but they were not alone. Behind them were three massive steel cases, containing Su, Wei and Wing. Their heads were visible, but from the neck down their bodies were incarcerated;

"Release them now!" Opal called out angrily at Kuvira.

"If Su agrees to bow to me and turn over Zaofu, she and the rest of your family will not be harmed."

"Never! I'll never bow to you!" Susaid vehemently.

Starblaze rolled her eyes, "Why am I not surprised."

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at the Great Uniter, "Kuvira, you better let them go right now or else!"

"You are in no position to make threats, Rainbow Dash." Kuvira said calmly.

"There must be some way for us to resolve this!" Korra said hopefully, "The Kuvira I remember wouldn't hurt anyone she cared about."

"I've already laid out my terms, and I think they're very reasonable." said Kuvira, the lower half of her green clothing billowing in the brisk winds. "After all, Su did try to take me out during our peaceful negotiations."

"You call bringing an army to threaten our city "peaceful"?" Wei exclaimed.

"Shut it, pretty boy!" Dazzle spatted.

"Where's Bolin?" Fluttershy asked demandingly, "I know he would never go along with this!"

"Bolin is with my fiancé, working on something very important." Kuvira said, "But, I assure you, he's on board with my plans. I guess you don't realize how much Bolin has grown up and now sees where his loyalties lay."

Rainbow Dash's nostrils flared in anger. "You're out of your mind if you think Bolin would ever side with you!"

"I'm growing impatient. Turn over Zaofu, now."

"I can't just let you take the city!" Korra said fearlessly, taking one step forward.

Kuvira's fists slowly began to clench, which they would have seen had she not kept them behind her back, keeping her diplomatic demeanor. Kuvira took in a deep breath before replying sternly. "Princess Korra, you are interfering with internal Earth Empire business, and letting your personal feelings get in the way of reason. As usual. Zaofu cannot continue to rule itself. They have been hoarding their riches and technology too long. I'm here to distribute those resources fairly throughout the nation. This is about equality."

"You don't care about equality!" Opal exclaimed furiously, "This is about control!" she turned to Korra and the ponies, "Just take her down! You know it's the right thing to do! You have to stop this!"

"The only way you're going to keep Kuvira from marching into Zaofu is if you physically stop her." said Starblaze, "Now what are you going to do?"

Korra looked at both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, hoping they had any other ideas, but they too agreed with Opal. They did not want violence, but it seemed there was really no other option here. Korra didn't want to come to this, but...

"It looks like you're not giving me a choice."

Kuvira averted her gaze, not unable to hide the amused smile from her face. "Fine." she said smoothly before addressing to her troops. "I want you all to know that I would never ask any of you to do something that I'm not willing to do myself. So, rather than risk your lives, I will fight the Avatar one-on-one." she looked at both her pony friends, who bowed before her.

"We will let you handle this, Vira." Dazzle said, as usual, in her admirable tone of voice, "We would never want to hoard your spotlight."

Kuvira turned to face Korra, "If you win, then you can do whatever you want with Zaofu. But after I beat you, I want you out of my business for good. I'm the one who brought peace to the Earth Empire, not you. You're not relevant here anymore."

Korra closed her eyes for a brief moment, tightened them and sighed in defeat before opening them again, glaring at Kuvira with a look of determination. "Fine. You wanna fight me? Then let's finish this, right here, right now."

Dazzle and Starblaze smirked in satisfaction. The princess was playing right into Kuvira's game. Su and her sons watched on with worry and Fluttershy tugged Korra by the arm, "Are you really ready to fight her?"

"Just stay back and let me handle this. It's been a while, but I got a lot of pent-up rage."

"Don't mess around!" Opal said, looking on at Kuvira's stoic expression. "Kuvira is too good! Just go into the Avatar State and get it over with!"

"No, I'm only going to use that as a last resort."

"Show her who's boss." Rainbow said and she and Korra clapped hands for good luck. Fluttershy gave the Avatar a side hug for reassurance as they, along with Opal and Jinora walked away.

Jinora placed a hand on Korra's arm, "Be careful."

Once the group left, Korra cracked her neck and positioned herself into a fighting stance, spreading her wings wide as Kuvira stepped forward.

"Use whatever you want: the four elements; the Avatar State, your wings, magic; anything you need. I know you're a little rusty." Kuvira smirked tauntingly as she took up her own battle stance.

"Enough talk!"

Korra began the fight by shooting jets of fire at Kuvira, who maneuvered each attempt. Korra then jumped, unleashing a fire arc which Kuvira also dodged, followed by a rock that was hurled at Kuvira's face, to which she swung her head back, the rock narrowly missing her nose.

Kuvira bended a slab of earth upwards to strike Korra, who spread out her wings. Now hovering, the star on her forehead started to glow, a beam of magic manifested into Korra's palms and she hurtled it like a ball at Kuvira. She summersaulted out of the way, the impact causing the dust of the ground to rise up to form a small cloud. Kuvira bended three metal clasps at Korra's wrists and ankles, and even one on her left wing. Korra yelled in shock at this once the metal tightened around her beautiful wing. Kuvira bended the metal on Korra, forcing her body to come crashing down to the ground.

Kuvira's soldiers cheated on, as did Dazzle and Starblaze. Zhu Li stood on the front line, clapping slowly with her usually stoic expression. She didn't appear as invested as the rest, which for her case was to be expected.

Kuvira straightened herself, a few stray hairs overlapping her forehead. She laughed humorously while jogging from side to side before resuming her fighting pose.

"Looks like the Avatar's a little off her game!"

Korra grunted as she got to her feet. She knew she was rusty but this was ridiculous. It's like she was intentionally trying to hold back, or not giving it her very all. Once she got up she heard Opal calling out to her from a safe distance away.

"Don't let her get you frustrated! She wants you to make a mistake!"

Korra waited for a second, her cerulean eyes shimmering with the rainbow colors, before launching a fissure at Kuvira, who then rolled out of its way and dodged Korra's incoming ice magic attacks. The Avatar spread her wings, launching herself into the air, and shoot magical sparkly blasts at Kuvira, which she dodged once again. While still in mid flight, Korra shoot water bullets from her hands, which knocked Kuvira down, flat on her back. The woman landed with a yell and a grunt as her two ponies sneered at the sight.

"Don't let her get away with that, Kuvira!" Starblaze shouted.

Kuvira stood up once more and eartbended chunks of earth at Korra, who maneuvered them all by flying over Kuvira's head, all while unleashing more magic blasts at the metalbender, as well as several air blasts, and block other attacks with a shield spell. After that hit, Korra's determination had risen. She wasn't going to hold back this time, she would make sire of it. Korra commanded the winds around to to rise Kuvira up into the air. The earthbender felt her body tighten and Korra tossed her to the side. Kuvira rolled on the ground, crying out in pain in the process. Her cries reached Korra's ears and her expression softened when she saw Kuvira hugging her stomach as she struggled to stand up. Korra gasped and ceased her attacks, looking on with concern.

"Kuvira!"

Seeing the chance, Kuvira unleashed a rock at Korra's wing, causing her to lose balance, and plummet down to the ground yet again. Korra grunted as she stood up, mentally nagging herself for being so foolish. No more miss nice princess. Standing up, Korra shot a couple more magic blasts, but Kuvira dodged them all before trapping Korra's foot in a fissure. A metal slap came flying off, wrapping around Korra's eyes, blinding her. Unable to see, Korra felt a rock strike her in the stomach and she fell on her back.

Tearing the metal off of her face, Korra rose up again into the sky before she came crashing down, landing on the ground with crushing force. From her shoot, sheer ice spread from the bottom of her foot, incarcerating the surface of the ground, extending towards Kuvira, causing her to slip and fall with a loud grunt. The ice was seriously cold and powerful, it could cut skin with just one slice. Kuvira felt something wet near her lip and wiped it off with her gloved hands, her eyes widening at the sight of blood.

Korra's eyes widened at what she had done and Kuvira noticed this look of concern and smiled. She knew Korra's weak spot.

(~)

Back at the lab, Varrick was hard at work with the spirit vine project, all the while Baatar Jr. kept a very close, watchful eye on the progress. Never once did his gaze leave the scientist. Bolin stood close behind Varrick, sadly watching the process. Melody stood beside him, wearing the exact same expression.

"Bolin, do the thing." Varrick ordered, outstretching his hand to the earthbender as if expecting something.

"What thing?" Bolin asked.

"The thing! I never had to tell Zhu Li what thing!"

"I'm not Zhu Li, okay? Pretend I don't know anything about anything that's happening here, also pretend I don't want to build a super weapon or get my hands blown off!"

Varrick stood up, briefly glared at Bolin in annoyance, and walked over to the table and grabbed a pair of pliers before getting back to work on the stasis capsule.

Baatar Jr. walked over to Varrick, leaning in closer to see the work for himself, squatting down to Varrick's level. "Walk me through what you're doing. I want to know every detail of your work."

Varrick slightly pushed Baatar Jr. away from the machine, and himself before tampering with the wires again. "You know, when I started working with the vines, the point was to find a clean, unlimited source of energy, not develop some spirity death ray."

Bolin poked his head in, "Clean energy! Sounds great! Who doesn't like that stuff? Let's do that instead!"

"I agree!" Melody said, also poking her head into the conversation.

Baatar Jr. glared in annoyance, "Quiet! You're here to help, not talk." With that, Bolin and Melody stepped away and Baatar J. reverted his attention back to Varrick while standing back up. "And you of all people, should realize that once a discovery is made, it is our responsibility as scientists to pursue it as far as we can. Wherever it leads."

"How would you know? You couldn't discover a wolfbat if it was building a nest in your butt." Varrick said sarcastically, making Bolin and Melody chuckle.

"You're pathetic." Baatar Jr. said, folding his arms and turning away, "Wolfbats don't build nests." he said arrogantly.

"Ooh. You got me there, Dr. Science." Varrick said, still using his sarcasm, and stepped away from the machine for a moment, "You'll never know how it feels to give birth to genius, only to have it kidnapped, and raised by fools!"

"Are you done with your rambling, or do the guards need to encourage you to continue your work?" at the mention of this, two guards started approaching Varrick. He rose his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, okay." Varrick said, raising his hands up in surrender before getting back to work. As he walked by Bolin and Melody, he gave them a sly wink, which Baatar Jr. did not catch. The two looked on in confusion as Varrick continued to explain the process.

"The last time we ran the current through the vine we couldn't control the power, so I'm trying something new to see if I can direct it."

Melody had a sinking feeling that Varrick was up to something. Either that, or he had something stuck in his eye. Or maybe….nah, probably one of the first two.

(~)

Korra stood there for a few seconds, unable to take her eyes away from the blood dripping from Kuvira's lower lip, until Rainbow Dash called out to her.

"Korra! Snap out of it!"

The princess shook her head in an attempt to get her mind back to the battle at hand and continued to fight her opponent. Kuvira dodged more blasts from Korra and sent several metal plates her way. Korra used her shield magic to block each incoming one. She sent a beam of magic at Kuvira, who summersaulted away from it and then stroked the Avatar with a rock which strikes Korra hard, knocking her down. The princess rolled on the ground, grunting in the process.

Korra staggered as she rose back up again and attempting to land a few more hits at Kuvira with her magic, fire and airbending, but Kuvira saw an opening and slapped a metal plate around Korra's wrist, pulling her upwards into the air, only this time, Korra's entire body suddenly glowed brightly and she disappeared in a patch of sparkles. Kuvira stared in surprise, seeing the metal plate land on the ground with a clang. She was then thrown to the ground by a powerful blast of wind from behind, where Korra had manifested herself. Korra bended the earth at Kuvira, who rolled away and shot more metal plates at Korra, who shielded herself with her magic before pushing the shield forward at Kuvira. She bended a rock upwards to protect herself with, breaking the magical shield as if it were glass, which evaporated into tiny sparkles which then faded into thin air.

Kuvira pushed the rock forward to Korra, who started to push back. The two opponents simultaneously pushed on the rock, trying to knock the other down. Korra strained as she and Kuvira simultaneously pushed the rock at one another. Korra took a glimpsed at Kuvira, and for a brief moment, sadness took over. She hatted needing to fight her like this. Throughout the entire fight, Korra had to brush off the memory of their friendship. But it still lingered.

Seeing her hesitation, Kuvira acted quickly and disintegrated the rock itself, the impact causing Korra to fall to her knees. Kuvira smiled smugly. "Come on, Avatar, get up! Show me what you've got!"

Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Opal and Jinora watched from afar with great concern. Opal started to rush forward into the battle. "We have to help her!"

As she laid on the ground, Korra rose her head up, calling out to Opal from across the field. "No! Stay back! I can handle this." she said, prompting Opal to stop in her tracks.

Kuvira got back in a fighting stance, smiling smugly, matching Dazzle and Starblaze's. From the looks of things, Korra was already growing tired.

"This is turning out better than I thought." Dazzle whispered to her sister, "Korra just can't will herself to finish Kuvira."

Starblaze folded her arms, smiling smugly. "The Princess of Friendship, defeated and humiliated by one of her old friends. Oh, the sweet, sweet irony."

(~)

A board Bolin played with a screwdriver while Baatar closely studied the weapon. Melody was leaning against the wall, equally as board as Bolin, while singing a song, but with zero enthusiasm.

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen.

Nobody knows my sorrow

Varrick interrupted her, "Melody, when I asked you to sing, I was hoping for something with a bit more bounce to it. Come on, I need inspiration here!"

Melody rolled her eyes and sang another song. "Fine."

It's a small world after all…

Varrick:

"No! No, anything but that!"

Sonata:

"Okay…You don't have to be afraid to put your dreams in action,

Varrick;

"Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Melody;

You're never gonna fade you'll be the mane attraction.

Varrick hummed along as he worked happily while she sang.

Not a fantasy

Just remember me

When it-- "Uh, I bet Twilight never had to do this for Korra."

At the mention of that name, Baatar Jr. lashed out at the pony, making her flinch away in fear, "What did you say?!"

"Uh, nothing! Nothing!"

"You know the rules; Never, ever mention the name of that wannabe princess!"

"But, Kuvira's not even here right now."

"But I am! And anything that upsets my fiance upsets me! Understand?!"

Melody rose her hands in surrender, and her pony ears pressed down against her head. "Yes sir! Totally, totally understood. No more mention of you-know-who. Not from me, promise."

With that, Baatar once again turned to Varrick, "So I see how the current interacts with the vine, and here is a kind of directional tube, but that is baffling here at the base. It looks like that would only redirect the energy back where it came from. And what's that piece of equipment you're fiddling with now on the power source?

Varrick gestured his hand to Bolin without even looking at him, "Hand me the ... screw-turn-thingy, would ya?"

Bolin groaned and reluctantly handed Varrick the screwdriver, "Ugh, I can't believe you're helping them, you know this isn't right."

"Funny story, Bolin. I first got the idea for harnessing spirit power when I watched that giant Unalaq-monster attack the city from my jail cell. That giant monster set me free!" Varrick briefly stopped working and turned his head to look at Bolin. "Trust me, kid, I know what I'm doing." he said, speaking in a slightly lower tone, on complete contrast to his loud eccentric one. He sounded almost…serious. As in, empathetically serious.

Both Bolin and Melody looked baffled as Varrick stood up, stretching his arms bait. "That ought to do it." he said. Silence filled the room and the machine remained unresponsive.

Seeing this, Varrick tapped on the machine, but still received no responce. "Huh. Okay, stand back." Varrick walked back a couple feet before kicking the machine with his foot. It was with this that it came to life, the glowing purple energy returned, illuminating the room with its supernatural aura. The same glow emitted from the capsules that contained the spirit vines.

Varrick rose his arms victoriously. "There we go!" he said. Just then, a ticking sound came from the machine, much to Baatar Jr. surprise and confusion.

"What's that ticking?"

"That's the timer." Varrick replied calmly.

"The timer for what?"

"For the bomb, of course!"

"What?! What bomb?" Bolin and Melody both exclaimed with worry.

"The bomb that's gonna explode in five minutes and destroy this entire train, all of the spirit vines, and everything else within a few hundred yards."

All of the men in the train instinctively covered their ears once Melody began screaming. Her terrified shriek was so loud it nearly blew Bolin's ear-drones. Once she stopped Varrick smiled smugly at a baffled Baatar Jr. "You know what, I'd get out of here if I were you. This is the first time I've built a timer and it might run a little fast. Bolin, Melody and I are ready to go down with the ship, or train, in this case, but you seem like you have a lot to live for."

Baatar Jr. stared down at Varrick with a look of pure rage. He could not believe this, this moron had managed to outsmart him. And right under his nose?!

"No no no no! I'm not ready to go down with the ship, or the train!" Bolin exclaimed in terror as he grabbed Varrick by the collar, shaking him frantically, all the while Varrick kept looking at Baatar Jr with his smug smile.

"You're bluffing." Baatar Jr. said, unwilling to accept that Varrick was clever enough to come up with something like this, or to actually kill himself just to destroy this project.

"Stick around five minutes and you'll find out who's bluffing." Varrick said with a cool demeanor, right before shouting into the sky, "You'll be sorry you left me, Zhu Li! When they write the history books, your name will be synonymous with betrayal! People will say, "Hey, what happened to that guy? Oh, didn't you hear? He 'Varricked' himself because some girl 'Zhu Li'd' him!"

"Enough! What makes you think we would let you blow yourself up? You're working for Kuvira! You don't get to quit." Baatar Jr. snapped his fingers, "Grab him." he said to one of the guards behind him.Another guard from the opposite side of the train also started approaching Varrick.

Varrick then pulled out a detonator from his pocket. "You try to pull me away from this thing and I'll hit this remote, and blow it immediately!"

Melody popped up from behind him, "Wait, why do you have a timer and a remote?"

"Well, first, I built the timer, but then I thought, you could drag me off the train, so then I built a remote, but then I thought, do I really need the timer, because now I got a remote in my-- Whatever! I'm covering all my bases! The point is, you're leaving, we're staying!"

"He's crazy." Melody said to Bolin, who wore a face of complete terror and shock.

"I know."

(~)

Korra shot a fire at Kuvira, and once again, she managed to dodged it and turned the ground under Korra's feet in an attempt to throw her off balance, but Korra managed to leap out of the way thanks to her wings. Korra rose a rock from the ground to strike Kuvira, who sent a metal plate at her ankle, summersaulting her in mid air before throwing her against the ground.

"You have to go into the Avatar State!" Su exclaimed from her contained prison from across the battlefield, "Do it!"

Korra didn't want to come to this, but it seemed there was no other choice.

Kuvira came charging at her, jumped into the air, ready to strike the final blow now that the Avatar was down. Korra closed her eyes and once they reopened they glowed as brightly as the sun reflecting off of a pearl. Her wings radiated with the same light as the Princess outstretched her hands towards Kuvira, unleashing a powerful tornado. Kuvira was blasted away, sliding across the ground, dust rising upwards, making her cough.

Korra charged at the metalbender, extending her hands to create another blast as she flew at rapid speed towards her opponent. The blast sent Kuvira flying into the air once again and she came tumbling down,her hair bun loosened, allowing her raven locks to fall over her face. Cuts and bruises adorned her face as she sneered at the radiant glowing winged humanoid before her, all the while Dazzle and Starblaze looked on with anger.

Korra rose up from the ground, her wings flapping powerfully, creating gusts of wind in her wake while levitating an enormous boulder over her head. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked on in horror at the display, not because they believed Korra would do it…but because they knew she wouldn't be able to.

Korra readied the attack, her focus dead set on ending this fight once and for all. From down bellow her, Kuvira pulled herself to her hands and knees, slowly raising her head. For a moment, everything stopped. The woman's eyes looked tired, frightened even underneath the shadow of the boulder above her that would surely crush her to bits if it landed. Her life was in Korra's hands and the princess's fierce expression softened as the memories returned. The times in which she laughed with Kuvira, when they shared their past, their hopes and dreams, their friendship. Her wings and eyes stopped glowing as she looked down upon Kuvira with sadness and regret. She just couldn't do it.

Seeing the chance, Kuvira hurled a metal slate at Korra, which left a small cut on her left arm. Korra cried out in pain and dropped the boulder as she fell to the ground. Kuvira had used the woman's compassion against her.

"I don't understand." Jinora said, sadly witnessing the events unfold, "We got the potion out, what's wrong with her?"

"She won't finish Kuvira." Rainbow stated, "She can't do it."

Korra grunted as she tried to stand up. She felt so weak. So helpless. She should be able to win this fight, but she couldn't. She was holding back. But Kuvira was far from down.

"I knew you were weak." Kuvira taunted before sending two metal plates from her shoulder pads and wrapped them around Korra's wrists, ankles and wings. She held Korra in mid-air, the princess looked down at Kuvira in regret. She didn't know what was worse, the fact that she couldn't protect Zaofu or that she couldn't help Kuvira. Either way, her heart felt heavy. Too heavy for her to continue on. Loosing one of her friends like this was more painful than all the cuts and bruises she received.

Kuvira smiled, before slamming Korra down into the ground. The ground beneath Korra cracked before rising up, encasing her from the shoulders down in a mound of earth. Korra hung her head, now unconscious due to the impact to her head, as Kuvira walked closer. The metalbender's hips swayed in a similar fashion as her pony friends, whom watched from afar with gleeful smiles while their pendents glowed alongside Kuvira's.

"Finish her, Vira!" Dazzle shouted encouragingly from across the field. Kuvira bended six metal plates off of her shoulder, giving them all a razor sharp edge. The sun bounced off of them, giving them a threatening shine.

Rainbow Dash clenched her fists, "Alright, that's it!" without hesitation, she rushed on forward into the battle field, sending a blast of fire at Kuvira, which was blocked by Dazzle, who stepped in to protect her.

Fluttershy, Opal and Jinora together unleashed a powerful wind blast, throwing Kuvira and Dazzle into the air and landing hard on their backs in front of the troops and Starblaze. She helped her sister, while the troops assisted Kuvira.

"You broke our agreement!" Kuvira exclaimed in anger before giving the command. "Attack!"

The army charged at the heroes. The three airbenders united to create a powerful tornado, which sent a large number of troops away, though several others were able to cement themselves onto the ground long enough. Kuvira shielded herself, trying to keep her balance, but the winds proved to be too powerful. The dust rose upwards, making it hard for them to see.

While Rainbow Dash tried to wake up the unconscious Korra, Jinora cried out to Opal over the rapid winds, "Keep them back, I'm calling for help!" she stood perfectly still, closed her eyes and placed her knuckles together.

(~)

Back in the city, Huan had taken the time to give Ikki and Meelo some art lessons. Huan stroked his chin as he observed Ikki's painting. While it wasn't anything groundbreaking, it most certainly was vibrant with a creative use of color. Ikki had done a self made portrait of herself happily flying in the sky, with a rainbow and various, colorful spirit animals around her. The creativity and sense of freedom behind it was definitely with Huan's artistic attention.

"Stunning work, Ikki. It hurts my eyes with its ... raw, emotional power!" Ikki smiled at the compliment and Huan walked over to Meelo to see his work. He looked on in disgust at the painting; a self portrait, just like Ikki, but depicting Meelo in a very serious demeanor, wearing a large fancy cloak in front of a dull colored background.

"Ugh, pedestrian. I already know what you look like on the outside, I want you to show me, the inner Meelo!"

It was then when Jinora's astral projection appeared before them, looking visibly distressed. "Help! You have to get Korra and the rest of us out of here now! Hurry!"

Meelo kicked down his portrait, not caring in the slightest that the wet paint had ruined it. he pounded his fist into the air, shouting excitedly. "Finally! Let's get it on!"

(~)

One by one, Baatar Jr. and his guards evacuated Varrick's lab and boarded onto the other half of the train, along with everybody else. "That's everyone, our half of the train is clear." Bolin said.

"That's good, we're almost out of time." Varrick said, holding the remote in his hand.

"You're insane." Baatar Jr. said, glaring at the mad man.

"You knew that when you hired me! Bolin, do the thing!" Varrick ordered. Bolin cocked his head in confusion, not knowing what Varrick meant. "Unhook the cars, oh, come on, that was an easy one!"

Bolin obeyed and pulled on a lever. The door on the other half of the train where Baatar Jr. and everybody else were, had closed shut before being pulled away. The train split in half, leaving Bolin, Varrick and Melody with just the machine and the bomb.

Once they were gone, Bolin was finally able to relax, "Man, that was great! I gotta admit, you had me going there for a while, I really thought you were gonna blow us up! Now, how do we turn this thing off?"

"Ooh, we can't turn it off. We're gonna blow up." Varrick said with a disturbingly calmed face. Bolin's relaxed expression shifted to a horrified one. "But, we had a pretty good run, right?"

Bolin frantically grabbed Varrick by the collar, shaking the man, "What are you talking about, "a good run"? I'm still running! I like running! I can't die now! I still have to make things right with Asami!" he quickly ran over to the machine, desperately trying to find something that could shut the bomb off. Too bad he had no idea how any of this stuff actually worked.

While Bolin was still frantically trying to shut off the bomb, Melody looked around the car, spotting a hatch on the floor. "Bolin, look!"

The earthbender turned his head to where the pony was pointing at and he ran over to open the hatch. He stuck his head out, seeing that the train was heading down the tracks. He nodded his head to Melody, indicating this was their only way out.

Meanwhile, Varrick was bidding a found farewell to his life, speaking in a poetic manner. "I'll see you on the other side, Zhu Li."

Bolin glared at the man and, unexpectedly, slapped him across the face before grabbing him by the collar again. "I want you to know, I hate you." He grabbed Varrick, while Melody (now in her pony form) leaped into Varrick's arms. He held her tightly and screamed the moment Bolin jumped down the hatch, taking them both with him, followed by the sound of moving rocks.

From the other side of the train, Baatar Jr. watched through his spyglass until the departing train carts exploded in an intense purple blast. The light was so intense he had to look away. A large, luminescent cloud rose up into the air before disappearing entirely. Once the light diminished, Baatar Jr. could only stare in bewilderment. He showed no concern, or regret over their deaths, he was just…surprised.

"I can't believe he actually blew himself up. That man was crazier than a sewer pipe elephant-rat."with that said, he turned to the rest of his troops, completely moving past the fact that two men and a pony literally perished right before his very eyes. "Let's get back to Zaofu."

The explosion resulted in a large, deep, black crater with gray smoke emitting from the remains of the train. A hole was formed on the side of a stone wall, and Bolin, Melody and Varrick emerged. Bolin used his earthbending to create a tunnel underneath the train tracks, protecting them from the blast. The three coughed, their clothes entirely covered in dirt and torn. Their faces and hair were filthy but at least they were alive. Melody placed her hands on her knees, catching her breath while Varrick rolled on his back on the pile of dirt.

"Melody, you okay?" Bolin asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

Varrick was coughing the dirt from his lungs, but his coughing then morphed into fits of laughter, followed by a victorious roar as he rose his fists into the air, his back still to the ground.

"Yes! You did it, Bolin, you did the thing!" Varrick got up an kissed Bolin on the forehead, all while the earthbender continued to look at him with a glare of death.

"I can't believe Zhu Li worked for you as long as she did."

Melody looked on as the train left and disappeared from view. This was it. She had made her choice. Her sisters were gone. Her only family had turned their backs on her. But strangely enough….she had no regrets.

(~)

The tornado had increased in size, blowing away even a mecha tank away. But Kuvira's forces were resilient and refused to give in so easily. Rainbow Dash tapped on Korra's face, trying to get her to come too. "Korra! Korra, wake up." since nothing else worked, she had to resort to only one thing…slapping her across the face.

Korra jolted awake due to the powerful slap, "Ow! Hey!" seeing she was trapped, Korra punched her way out of her earth prison before falling to the ground in exhausting. Rainbow kneeled beside her and helped her to stand back up.

A shadow hovered over them, realizing it was Pepper, with Meelo at the reins. "Dive, Pepper, dive! Here comes a hurricane!" Pepper dove into the literal eye of the tornado, which had begun to due down now that Fluttershy, Opal and Jinora ceased their airbending and helped Korra onto the bison's saddle. Meelo blasted at an incoming mecha tank with multiple blasts of wind from his hands.

"You can't handle all this Meelo!"

"We've got her, go!" At Fluttershy's command, Pepper took off into the sky, narrowly missing the metal cables being launched at them by the mecha suits.

Opal looked down, ready to jump out to return to her family, which were still incarcerated down bellow. "Wait! We have to save them!" Opal exclaimed, but was stopped by Ikki and Jinora, both sisters grabbing her by the arms and pulling her back regardless of her struggle.

"Opal, get out of here, we'll be fine! Just go!" her mother cried out as she helplessly watched her daughter fly away from sight yet again.

Opal's heart shattered. She couldn't save her family but she swore she would return. Tears rolled down her cheeks, making her vision blurry as the bison took off and she called out to her mother, "I'll be back for you! I love you!"

Kuvira clenched her right rib while her pony friends helped her stand up. They watched the bison fly away into the distance. A wide, malicious looking smile formed across her lips as she turned to the rest of her army. The dust around them parted and the Great Uniter thrusted her arm into the air, waving a clenched fist.

"Zaofu is ours!"

As the army cheered, Kuvira could feel her pride swell up. She was so close she could taste it. Her emotions were so powerful and passionate.

To Dazzle and Starblaze, it was delicious. The more the crowd cheered, their pride growing just as much, the green mist grew around their feet, being absorbed into Kuvira's pendent as well as that of the ponies. While this went unseen by everyone else, one woman in particular did take notice of it

Zhu Li's brows furrowed suspiciously.

Korra felt so ashamed. She couldn't take down Kuvira. But she knew there was no one else to blame but herself.

(~)

It didn't take long for banners of the Earth Empire to be hung on the buildings of Zaofu. Kuvira, Baatar Jr., Zhu Li, Dazzle and Starblaze stood before the people standing on top of some stairs. At Kuvira's feet were Suyin and her two songs, still trapped inside the metal containers, hanging their heads in shame and regret while Kuvira addressed the crowd.

"Bring the citizens of Zaofu to kneel before the Great Uniter! All who pledge their loyalty to me will keep their freedom and will be dealt with fairly as full citizens of the Earth Empire. The rest will be imprisoned as traitors, like Su Beifong and her sons. Now bow!"

The people stared at the woman in terror. Their eyes carried no adoration, nor respect for the woman. Seeing their hesitation, Dazzle and Starblaze opened their mouths to harmonize. As they did, green mist emitted from their pendents, as did Kuvira's. The mist surrounded the people, many of their eyes began to glow green and found themselves unable to resist the urge to obey their new leader. Seeing how many were bowing as well, those who looked on in fear followed their example, not because they wanted to, but because they were afraid. But once everyone kneeled down, Baatar and Huan were revealed to be the only two who rebelled against such an act.

Bataar Jr. clenched his jaw, growling in anger as he approached them. He yelled right in his father's face. "Bow to her! Do it! She is your rightful leader!"

His father, who looked so much like him, dared to look him in the eye. His face filled with great sadness. "I am so disappointed in you, Junior." even saying the words hurt his heart.

Even if Baatar Jr. refused to admit it, those words impaled him more than he could ever know. "Take them away!" at his command, two guards arrested both Baatar and Huan.

"Get your hands off me! You're crushing my individuality!" Huan protested as he and his father were forced away. Baatar Jr. stood before the crowd, fear evident in their eyes but he was far too drunk in the victory to even care.

"All hail the Great Uniter!"

At his command, the crowd cheered for their new leader. Suyin hung her head, tears rolling down from her eyes and down her cheek. Strands of gray hair sticking to her face. She had failed her city. She had failed her daughter. She had failed her family.

(~)

Kuvira wondered around the garden, decorated with pedestals and meteorites. She took one small metal stone and began contorting it into various shapes with one hand. One shape, by accident, took on the form of a lotus flower. Kuvira froze while gazing at the flower, hovering over her palm. The last time she saw something like this was right here, in this garden.

"You did it!" Dazzle praised, prompting Kuvira to change the meteorite from the flower into something else. "We're so proud of you. You showed that no good disgrace of a Princess who she was messing with. It was beautiful."

Kuvira smiled, "Thanks to you girls. Normally, I would say you broke the rules by intervening in the battle."

"What did you expect us to do? Let that tramp's friends overthrow you? As if! You are The Great Uniter, and nobody should stand in your way. Maybe we shouldn't have intervened, but we just couldn't let all of your progress go to waste."

This was enough for Kuvira to let it slide, "For your loyalty, I'll brush it off."

They received more company when her fiance and Zhu Li approached them. "Kuvira, there's something you should know." her fiance began.

"What is it?"

"Varrick blew up our progress on the weapon, he, Bolin and Melody detached the train car and it exploded."

Dazzle's eyes widened, "What?!"

"Nobody seems to have survived."

"You sure about that?" Kuvira asked.

"Positive."

"That's not true." said Starblaze, "Somehow those maniacs did survive."

"How do you know?" Baatar asked.

"We can sense Melody's still out there. They must have jumped off before the explosion happened. Though, I highly doubt they will be much trouble for us now." strangely enough, the idea that their sister was still alive felt, surprisingly comforting.

Kuvira closed her eyes for a second before turning to her fiance, "They won't survive out in the wild. Only now we don't have Varrick to work on the weapon."

"I think I can replicate his work with the spirit vines and get us back on track." Baatar Jr. said, "I'll just need an assistant."

Kuvira turned to Zhu Li and smiled, "How would you like to help Baatar build the most powerful weapon the world has ever seen?"

"It would be my honor, Great Uniter." Zhu Li said with a bow before walking away. But as she did, Dazzle and Starblaze knew there was something off about this girl. But then again, it wasn't anything they couldn't fix. Kuvira turned to her fiance.

"Begin dismantling the domes."

(~)

Author's Note:

Next episode is when Korra is reunited with her friends and family once again. YAY!

Comments

[Wildcard25]

Awesome chapter. It's sad how Korra wasn't able to defeat Kuvira, but the war has just begun and I know Korra can stop her.

[chrisharte97]

All kinds of awesome right here.

[Epicdiscord214]

What was that song Melody was singing that Varrick joined up in? It's driving me crazy!

[Kingarthur]

I love the Victorius mention.

[Twinzoopony15]

"I'm alright. Me mustn't delay."

we