Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 1: Harmony

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 12: Aftermath

Diamond groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. The ground under her was soft, but her body felt as if it had been burned from the inside out. All she could see was the darkness. Was she still trapped? Where had Meadowbrook gone?

“Avatar, can you hear me?” a voice called off to her right. She could see a small flickering glow in the distance.

“Over... over here,” Diamond called out before slowly sitting up. Her eyes bulged slightly as more pain shot through her. Whatever those ponies used, they hurt a lot. After a moment an earth pony with a torch strapped to her appeared, walking towards the mare.

“Avatar, you're okay!” the mare said happily. “You suddenly disappeared and we didn't know where you'd gone, we--”

Then the mare's eyes went past her. Diamond followed the gaze and her eyes landed on Silver. The mare no longer had a cutie mark or any of her equipment. “Is... she with Meadowbrook?”

Diamond couldn't help it. She tried to hold them back, but the tears started to flow. “N-no. She's... she's one o-of my friends,” she said weakly. She'd been so sure of herself, so loud and arrogant. She'd been the one there, who had drawn Meadowbrook out. So why was her friend the one who had to suffer for it? She barely managed to stifle the tears as more ponies appeared. If the earth pony saw any of the tears, she didn't mention it.

The unicorn slowly moved over to the mare, reaching a hoof out to touch her. “O-oh Silver...”

The earth pony didn't respond.

Gently, Diamond reached a hoof out and shook her. “I'm so sorry... I thought... I thought I could h-handle her. I thought I could...” She tried to blink the tears away. 'Why? Why her? I was the one who called her out. It should have been my cutie mark. My punishment. Not my friend's!' she yelled at herself, stomping a hoof down.

“Avatar,” Ironwing's voice came up and she cringed. She closed her eyes.

“What? Go ahead, say it.”

“It's not your fault. We never should have agreed to any of this. We shouldn't have let you be used as bait.”

Diamond's eyes opened and she turned to the pegasus. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT MY FAULT?! Of course it's my fault! You know it's my fault!” she screamed, before lunging forward and grabbing him by the withers. “I drew her out! I let Silver stay when I should have sent her away! I did this! You can't stand there and say it's not my fault when we all know it is!” she screamed into his face, the tears flowing down her face again. The pegasus just stared back, his face a mask of stone. They all just watched her. Shadowbolts and metal benders. “What? You're all thinking it! I know you are. 'Oh, Diamond, such a pathetic Avatar. Couldn't even take down one little terrorist.' I would have! I would have smashed her into the ground! But she snuck up on me a-and tricked me and I... and I... and I f-fell for it and I...” Her grip loosened and she sat back down on her flank. “I don't want to d-do this any more... it's not... it's not fun anymore...”

The pegasus stared at her for a moment before turning away. “I'm afraid you'll find very few responsibilities are. Come on, let's get them both to the hospital. I doubt there's much we can do. Shadowbolts, search for any sign of Meadowbrook. She'll need to surface somewhere.”

There were a few nods and she was only slightly aware as she was led away. 'How could I fail so horribly? I am the Avatar. I'm supposed to be the strongest. The best. It's supposed to be so easy. So why is it all so hard?'

------

“I don't blame you.”

Silver's words echoed through the Avatar's head as she stared across the room at the mare. The two had been brought to the hospital and, after a quick examination, left to rest. The earth pony had woken up soon after, only to smile at Diamond and say those words. Each one cutting through her like a knife.

“I know you did everything you could.”

“H-how can you say that?” Diamond asked, lowering her eyes. “I should have... bent the chains or... cut them with fire or...”

“We were ambushed. I shouldn't have been there at all. I'm sorry.”

“Don't say you're sorry!” Diamond shrieked, shaking her head. “I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have done this. I should have just left the council to deal with it. Not gone off on my own. Not decided I could do it myself. If I hadn't... if I hadn't you'd still have your cutie mark.”

She nodded. “I... guess. But... I know you'll get it back. You're supposed to be the hero, right? So you have to win in the end.”

Diamond nodded, though she couldn't stop the doubt in her heart. “What if... what if I can't?”

“You will. I believe in you.”

The unicorn nodded before falling back onto the bed. She wished she could feel that confident. Not that long ago she would have. But now she just felt... horrible. As if a great weight had slammed down on her chest and was threatening to overwhelm her. If only she hadn't challenged that mare. Not brought her out. Why did she have to do that?

If only she'd been more careful. Less cocky. Known that she could fail.

The door burst open and Diamond looked over.

“Silver!” Dr. Alicity cried, racing over and then scooping up the mare in his hooves. “Oh my little baby girl! Why did you go out there? Why? Why weren't you wearing the attachments? Why weren't you--”

“Daddy! I'm fine!” Silver objected, trying to shove him off. It didn't do much, she was too weak now. “Please, calm down.”

“I will not calm down! This is not a calm down situation! Secretary, do the thing!”

“Sir, the thing is panicking and you are already doing it well enough for both of us.”

“How could this happen? I designed your suit specifically for this kind of situation!”

“It didn't survive the water,” Silver said, lowering her eyes. “I'm sorry, daddy. But they dragged us under the lake and then electrocuted us. There was nothing we could do. The entire suit was fried in seconds.”

Alicity frowned. “Take notes! Next suit, water proof, electric proof, magic proof--”

“No such thing, sir.”

“Then we'll invent it! My little girl is never going outside again until we have this fixed!”

“Daddy!”

“No buts, dear,” the doctor said with a shake of his head. “I have a safe room with four feet thick walls. I think it can hold you.”

“Daddy!”

“Sir, there's no air in that room,” Secretary said with another sigh.

“Then we'll make a machine that makes air!”

“It doesn't work that way.”

“But--”

“DADDY!” Silver screamed, finally managing to push him off. “I'm fine! I'm missing my cutie mark, but I'm fine. Okay? I'm not hurt, or bleeding, nothing is broken. I know Diamond will get it back. Please, just calm down.”

“Perhaps if I recreate the alibot--”

“NO!” both Secretary and Silver said in unison, their eyes wide with horror.

“But--”

“Daddy, please, calm down.” Silver smiled up at him. “I'm fine. Look at me. I could have been much worse, but I'm not.”

“I'm sorry,” Diamond muttered, drawing their attention. “I couldn't... stop Meadowbrook.”

There was a pause, before the doctor shook his head. “No. I never should have let you leave the house. If I had been a better father, I--”

“You're a fine father,” Silver said with a small smile. “I wanted to go out there. You couldn't stop me.”

He frowned. “I should have. This will never happen again, I swear,” he said firmly, before giving her another tight hug. “I will fix this. I'll find a way. Somehow.” He then, slowly, let her go and pulled back. “Come on. We're going home.”

“But--”

“Home,” he said again.

Silver gave Diamond an apologetic look, before slowly sliding out of bed and following after him.

That left Diamond alone in the room and she slowly laid back, closing her eyes. She couldn't help but feel more guilt as she laid there. She opened her eyes stared up at the roof.

She played the encounter over in her mind, again and again. What if she'd been a better bender? But she'd been taken by surprise, it had all happened so fast. Before she even knew what had happened she had been hit so hard she could do little more than twitch. Why hadn't her cutie mark been removed, too? Was it because the magic wouldn't work on her? Meadowbrook had to see her as a threat.

Didn't she?

Diamond huddled up into a little ball as more and more doubts flowed into her mind. What if she wasn't capable of doing this? What if those other ponies had been right? She'd always assumed that being the Avatar meant she was the strongest, the best. But what if it didn't? What if it just meant she was like everypony else. Twilight had managed to defeat the strongest, evilest spirit of all time and an entire country. What if she was so incapable that she couldn't even stop this one mare? What if her being the Avatar was all a mistake? She let out a soft whimper and felt tears forming in her eyes again.

She felt a hoof placed gently on her side. “It's okay,” Prism's voice cut through.

“G-go away,” she said softly.

“No. Now is not the time for you to be alone.”

“I-I want to b-be alone,” she said weakly. “I... I just... y-you have no idea what I've been through. What--”

“You feel like you failed. You feel like you let somepony you cared about down. You feel like there was something you should have done, could have done, to make it all better.” She slowly looked up at him and he smiled down at her. “It's too late now.”

She sobbed and bit her lip. “I... I'm supposed to be o-one of the greatest b-benders of all time. B-but I can't even fix this. C-couldn't stop this. What's the p-point, then? I-if I'm s-so great, how come everything is... everything is going s-so wrong?”

His smile wavered and he gently patted her on the head. “I'm going to tell you something somepony really wise once told me. It's okay that you're sad. It's okay that you're upset. That you're hurting. If you need to cry, then cry. Whine. Complain. Even curse the world if you have to. Let all of the pain flow out.”

She nodded and closed her eyes. “I... I never wanted this to happen. I want to stop her. Why did this have to h-happen?”

“Bad things happen all the time. There are bad ponies who will take and hurt all they can. Ponies like us try to stop them, but sometimes others get hurt in the process. We get hurt. Sometimes we die, sometimes we lose a part of ourselves. Sometimes those we care about get hurt. But that doesn't mean we give up. You're hurt, and that's okay. But you can't let this break you and you can't let this destroy you. There is still so much in the world that you can do. The world needs an Avatar.”

She nodded slowly before looking up at him. “Do... you think it's true? That my... that my soul is black? That I don't... care?”

He paused for a second and stared down at her. Finally, he shook his head. “No. I think what you said was cruel and hurtful. Especially to a teammate. But I don't think you're so far gone that there is no good in you. I just think you still have a long way to go. I don't know what Filthy has been teaching you, but the Avatar is not the be all, end all. You're going to find there are plenty of ponies who are better benders than you, who can do what you cannot. But there will also be things that only you can do. That doesn't make you any better or worse than them. It just makes you different.”

She nodded. “Okay. I... talked with Button. I... I think you were right. I think he just... needed some other way to learn.” She slowly sat up and cringed. She was still pretty sore. She wondered how Silver had been able to cope with the pain after all those electrical bursts. She then rolled her eyes. She doubted her friend had even been shocked. “Is Blaze still mad at me?”

“For doing this? Yes. It was really stupid to try to face Meadowbrook like that. Especially when we have no idea what she's capable of. There's still a lot of talk going on with the council. Nopony expected her to escape through the lake like that. Where she even got such an underwater device is anypony's guess.”

Diamond nodded. “So she did drag us underwater. Did they manage to find her?”

“No,” he said with a soft sigh. “If the Moon Raisers were still here, it likely would have been easy. But they were sent on an airship yesterday. Earth benders aren't so good against water and those rivers go for miles. She could be anywhere.”

The unicorn slid out of bed and let out a soft gasp of pain. She moved to stand by him and looked up. “Can... I stop this?”

“Stop what?”

“Working with the council. I...” She took a deep breath. “I don't think I'm ready to face Meadowbrook right now. Maybe eventually, but... I don't think I can beat her right now. I'd rather just focus on learning to air bend and the tournament. Just for now. Maybe... later, I'll fight her.”

Prism nodded. “That'll be fine. I'll talk with Blaze and she can make an announcement.” He paused. “You'll likely have to talk with Sunburst as well.”

“I know. I will. But... right now I just want to... take it easy for now. Please.”

He nodded and turned. “As you wish. How about we head home for now, okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I'd... I'd like that.” She trotted after him, her head low. It wasn't like she was scared of Meadowbrook or anything. She just didn't want anypony else getting hurt when she fought her. Not again.

Author's Note:

Okay, going to be last chapter for a bit. Super busy times rights now so I'm kind of behind on some things. Still writing them, just haven't gotten final edits to submit to my editor done. Should be back soonish.

Comments

[eric-emanwu]

Whooo!! And THAT is what I call the catharsis chapter! All of Diamond's secret fears, boasts, strengths, torn down in an instant. Seeing her best friend pay for her arrogance, and yet receiving that forgiveness almost stung as much. And then there was the bit on dad. No doubt Diamond was seeing herself in that moment. But still, ML did a number on her.

She broke the spirit. It's going to take time to fix it now. And now, she understands Button. That weight of legacy on her shoulder, of how responsibility can take its toll. That's what Lin can say for sure.

Seems being an egotist also made DT refuse to pass the blame to others now. Letting the grief flow with her other dad. Who used his fluttershy truth to let her let it all out. Retire her from public life for a bit. She may have avoided making a martyr, but ML did manage to destroy a symbol. And that's already a victory in her favor again.

Well, God bless DT, you finally are ready to be a true avatar now.