Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 1: Harmony

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 15: Finals

Diamond gulped and pranced in place. “Come on come on come oooon! I wanna goooo!”

“She's almost done, relax,” Prism said, eying the Avatar closely. He and Blaze had taken turns this time to get ready, so the unicorn couldn't run off without them. She couldn't hide her annoyance at it.

“But we're going to be late and I'm going to lose because we forfeit and I want to win and kick their butts!”

“You're going to be fine,” he said with a shake of his head. “We have plenty of time.”

She shook her head and sat down, though quickly jumped back to her hooves and started walking around again a moment later. “Come oooon! BLAZE! Hurry it up!”

“I'm almost done! Calm your flank down!” a voice yelled from upstairs.

Diamond looked to the stallion, in his full Wonderbolt uniform, and sighed. “So, no face paint this time?”

“If anything happens, we want to be at our peak. Getting that stuff in our eyes can be really distracting,” he said matter of factually. “Please, just relax. We still have plenty of time. The arena will still be there when we arrive.”

“Why can't I just go on ahead?”

“Not happening,” Prism said with a shake of his head. “Too dangerous. Just calm down.”

“Gahhhhhhh!” Diamond roared.

“I'm done! I'm coming!” Blaze yelled before trotting down the stairs. She made it to the steps, in her full blue Wonderbolt uniform.

“Did it really have to take you THAT long to get dressed?” Diamond asked.

“My wing got stuck,” the mare snapped. “These things aren't the easiest to get on. We usually help each other get them on and off. If you didn't have such a history of running off on your own, Prism and I could have gotten dressed at the same time.”

“Guhhhh! Fine, whatever, let's go!” the Avatar said before turning and galloping out the door. The other two followed behind her, flying through the air.

The streets of the city seemed almost empty as she walked through them. She could see the lights on in the houses, but nopony was out and about. “Where is everypony?” she asked softly.

“Probably trying to avoid problems,” Blaze muttered. “There hasn't been a curfew set yet, but it's been up to debate multiple times. The nights in the city are getting far more dangerous, both for marked and unmarked alike.”

“Why? I can understand the unmarked but... why the marked?”

“The unmarked have taken to going in groups, sometimes even up to ten,” Blaze said with a shake of her head. “It's for their own protection, of course. But then others start to react poorly. They see it as a threat. Some rocks are thrown, or threats levered, then a fight breaks out...” She gave a sad sigh. “It's getting dangerous out here at night. If we don't capture this mad mare soon...”

“I'm sure she'll be found before long,” Diamond muttered. “She's one pony, how hard could she be to find? Just look for somepony with a stick and no cutie mark.”

Blaze groaned. “Don't even get me started on those sticks. You know there was a pony selling knock off versions of it in the market the other day?”

Diamond blinked a few times, her mouth falling open. “You're... kidding.”

“No! It was apparently pretty close to the actual one. The pony said she got some accounts from ponies and thought it would be a great souvenir. The nerve of some ponies! They'll do anything to make a quick bit.”

Diamond rolled her eyes. “I can't believe someponies. How could they? That's just the... ugh. Really?”

The mare nodded slowly.

She let out a low whistle as they made it to the last few streets from the arena. The streets were now packed with ponies, forming long lines and talking amongst themselves. A few shops had been set up as well. However, the moment they arrived a few ponies shrieked and yelled out, waving their hooves. “Avatar! Avatar!” they yelled.

Diamond grinned and waved a hoof. “Hey! Don't worry, we're going to win tonight! Thank you for coming out to support us!” she yelled as she tried making her way through the crowd, the ponies pushing in on her from all sides, calling her name and trying to touch her hooves.

Then a cloaked pony lunged forward with a sparkling hoofshoe. She dodged to the right, narrowly evading the burst of electricity. The ponies around her scattered, pushing away as she turned around and bucked the pony in the side. Her hooves hit metal. She spun away and the pony stepped back.

The earth pony was wearing the full alicorn armor, the metal wings jutting out and sparkling. “I'm sorry, Avatar. But it has to end like this.” The mare charged.

She was brought down by a dive bomb buck from Blaze. She slammed into the ground, the armor cracking and breaking off her like an egg shell. The pony groaned, her blank flank revealed to all. Blaze sighed and looked to Prism. “Get her into the arena. I'll take this mare--”

“Leave that to us,” three winged Shadowbolts said as they flew in. They landed on the ground a moment before two zebra Shadowbolts stepped out from the crowd. “Council mare, Avatar, Wonderbolt, we'll escort you and deal with this.”

Diamond nodded slowly, staring at the groaning mare. Well, at least now she knew what Meadowbrook had planned. Still, it seemed like so little. A few attacks on the competitors? Her eyes widened. “W-wait, are the others here? Are they--”

“The rest of the competitors have made it in already,” her escort said. “You're the last to arrive.”

“I knew it! I told you to hurry,” Diamond told Blaze.

“And if we could have trusted you not to run off on your own, we wouldn't have had to watch you,” the pegasus said with a roll of her eyes.

“That's... that's besides the point.”

“That is right ON the point.”

“You suck!”

“Well, you blow!”

“Girls, please!” Prism said with a roll of his eyes. “I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm the only adult here.”

“Shut up!” both mares said in unison, turning to glare at him.

Prism yelped and backed up, moving besides one of the Shadowbolt negasi. “Sometimes I think my mother had the right idea,” he muttered softly.

“I'm pretty sure your wife would find you,” the negasi said with a shrug.

“Yeah, she probably would. Then I'd truly be doomed,” he muttered softly.

Diamond let out a low whistle as the arena came into view. The main doors were packed with ponies flooding in. A small checkpoint had been set up, with metal benders and Shadowbolts working together to examine every pony that came near. It was slow going, so it would probably delay the game a bit.

But there were still crowds. Even with the danger, they were coming to seem them fight. It was as if all these ponies came out to say they weren't afraid, that they wouldn't let Meadowbrook control them. A part of her hoped that mare showed up just so she could look with horror at how little they respected her fear tactics. Diamond felt pride swell within her. She'd make sure to give them all a show worth the risk.

Then the first egg crashed against her head. “Huh?” Followed by a tomato. She let out a shriek and started running with her escorts.

------

“What happened to you?” Button asked, a hoof over his mouth as he tried, unsuccessfully, to hide his mirth.

“I HATE Marble's fans,” Diamond muttered as she wiped an egg shell off her flank before making her way towards the showers.

“Are you sure they were her fans? Maybe they'd just met you?” Acrylic said, not even trying to hide his amusement as he watched the trash covered mare walk off.

“Go buck yourself!” she yelled back.

She tried to tune out their laughter as she turned the water on, letting the hot spray wash over her and get the lettuce, tomato and egg out of her hair. “I feel like a bucking salad,” she grumbled to herself. “And yes they were Marble's fans! They were holding up signs for her!” She turned back to the spray and tried to get it all out of her hair. “I'm going to thrash those three. So hard. Slam them through a wall or something. Limestone especially. But Marble, you're next. And then Babs!” She paused. “Wait, why is her name Babs? Shouldn't it be Quartz or something? Why is the earth bender on their team the only one who doesn't... GAH! I hate them so MUCH!” she shrieked.

Finally cleaned, she stepped out from the showers and stomped her hoof, sending the water dripping off. She glared at her team mates. “Got it out of your system now? Any more chuckles? Guffaws? Giggles?”

Button giggled softly before taking a deep breath. “Okay, I'm done.”

Diamond rolled her eyes. “How did you two manage to avoid getting peppered with that stuff?”

“We came here in style!” the earth pony said proudly.

“Came here in... did you bring the tank?”

There was a long moment of silence, before Button slowly shook his head. “No...”

------

Outside the arena, three ponies wearing Marble shirts stood besides the great tank, eying its three cannons suspiciously. They then looked down at their rolls of toilet paper.

“Buck this,” one of them said before galloping off, the other two quickly following suit.

------

“We most definitely did not ride the tank here and it was not so awesome that my heart almost exploded from coolness.”

Diamond rolled her eyes before getting to her hooves with a groan. “So, are you two ready to kick some flank?”

“They're going to be a tough team,” Acrylic said softly. “I wouldn't get too cocky.”

“We're an awesome team, though,” Diamond said with a smirk. “My fire bending is second to none. Your water bending is great. Button has been getting better by leaps and bounds since I took over his training. All he needed was a true master.”

Acrylic rolled his eyes. “A humble one, too.” He then smiled to her. “Though you have been helping him a lot. So thanks.”

“Eh, it was nothing. He's actually kinda... talented once you get past the whole lousy at basic earth bending thing. He'd make a great fire bender.”

“Coming from you, that means a lot,” Button said with a grin.

Diamond nodded and then opened her locker. Her uniform wasn't trashed or anything, so that was good. She half expected it to be torn to shreds or worse. She quickly got dressed and stretched. “I hope you're all ready for this. After tonight, we're going to be the champions. Ponies everywhere will know our names.”

“Ponies all over the city already know your name,” Acrylic said with a chuckle.

“Well, they'll know yours too. You won't be your mommy's boys anymore. You'll be famous. Come on!” She turned to the exit and started trotting out, a wide grin on her face. Finally, all of their training had come to this.

As they stepped out into the main arena room she couldn't help but grin. The place was absolutely packed, almost every seat taken. Cheers filled the air as the three of them made their way forward. It was going to be one for the history books and everypony here knew it. She trotted up to the main platform, Acrylic and Button besides her. On the opposite end of the platform were the Rock Bunnies, in their special cloak and bunny ear costumes. With a flourish, they tossed the garments aside, revealing themselves.

The crowds response was almost deafening. Diamond could barely believe it, the response they were getting was even louder than the one she received. How could they possibly be more popular?

“And here we have it, ladies and gents!” the announcer called as he pointed a hoof at the two teams. “The Rock Bunnies and the Fighting Notes! Our reigning champions versus the first team in league history to have an Avatar! Both teams have proven themselves again and again over the last few weeks and tonight they put it all on the line for the final championship! Two amazingly talented teams, but only one can make it to the finals! So let's cheer these two team to the ends of the world and have the best match in pro-bending history!”

“You're going down,” Limestone said with a smirk.

“Yeah, to a wonderful little cabbage restaurant after we smash you into the ground and win this tournament,” Diamond said with her own matching smirk. The three moved across from each other, lowering their heads and waiting for the bell.

“On your mark.”

She took a deep breath and tried to keep herself calm. This was it, the final match. After they won this, there wouldn't be any pony in the entire city who could doubt their skill.

“Get set.”

Diamond felt her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn't going to just win, she was going to slaughter. She was the best fire bender around, there wasn't any way they could hope to beat her.

“Go!” the announcer called.

Diamond turned and bucked, sending a quick, but powerful burst at Limestone, sending her whole body into a full spin. She saw the other mare duck under it, before launching her own burst of fire out. The Avatar jumped up, swirling around in a tight spin to gather the flame and then shoot it right back at the unicorn. Limestone moved to the right and then thrust her horn forward, fire erupting at the Avatar.

Diamond grinned and moved back, deflecting the burst. Or at least, she planned to. However, the burst kept coming, making her shriek as she was enveloped in flames, barely managing to back away and pull free, her uniform singed.

“What gives? That's an illegal attack!” Diamond objected. “You can't burst that long!”

“And the Bunnies push the Avatar behind the next zone with an illegal fire attack. I don't know why, but the ref isn't calling a foul!” the announcer called.

Diamond's eyes widened as suddenly two of the earth disks rose up from behind Acrylic and slammed into his back, sending him hurtling forward, only to get punched in the chest by another powerful fire burst, sending him flying back and barely managing to right himself, gripping the edge.

“And the Bunnies use the disks in the Note's zones! I don't know why the ref isn't calling it, but another rule has gone abused and unpunished!”

Button was sent hurtling back a moment later, letting out a yelp as water drenched him. “And the Bunnies advance!” the announcer called.

“What did you do?” Diamond asked, her eyes wide, barely deflecting a burst of flame.

“You're a joke, Avatar!” Limestone yelled. “Nopony wants to see you win this and we're done putting up with your grief! You're going down, now!”

Diamond dove to the left, narrowly avoiding the strike, only for her hoof to hit a patch of ice on the ground. She tried to right herself, but before she could she was sent toppling back by three hard bricks to the chest. She rolled hooves over head, before feeling nothing but air under herself. She flailed her hooves wildly, trying to get some kind of grip, but there was nothing. She plummeted below, splashing into the drink. She stared up, her mouth wide. They'd cheated!

A moment later there were two more splashes.

“And the Rock Bunnies have done it! They've won! You're... seeing it here, folks. I don't know what the ref is thinking, but... they've won. Our new champions!”

Diamond stared, her eyes narrowing as she growled, the water around her beginning to bubble and churn. They'd cheated. The entire match had only lasted a few minutes. They would have won. She knew it. The anger rose faster and harder in her. 'Oh. Buck. This.'

“And here comes-- wait, what's this? Something's happening in the-- it's the Avatar!”

Diamond lifted her hooves and the water surged around her, raising her up into the air. She brought the wave of water down on the platform, nearly sending the three toppling over the edge and they only barely managed to keep from falling off. She ground her hooves into the ground as her horn glowed and earth disks began to rise into the air around her, swirling like a miniature tornado. “Okay then. If you want to cheat, I'll show you how the AVATAR cheats!” she screamed.

The Bunnies stared for a moment, before Limestone moved into action. Fire flared onto her horn and she pulled her head back. However, the water flowing through the platform suddenly rose up and turned to ice, binding her and snuffing the flame out.

“Games over, Bunnies,” Diamond said with a growl. “If you don't wanna play by the rules, then neither will I,” she said, before thrusting her horn forward. The disks shot forward at the unicorn. Babs raced in front of her teammate, swirling around and breaking the disks. Diamond smiled and soon the rain of earth disks were joined by water disks, which smashed against the earth pony and made her stumble back. Marble was behind Babs, trying to unfreeze Limestone.

“It looks like the Avatar is out for revenge!” the announcer called. “I don't like the looks of this, she doesn't seem to be following the rules anymore and-- eep!” He quickly shut his mouth as a spike of ice embedded itself in his desk.

Diamond laughed, eying the three. They knew how to pro-bend well, that was true. Even if they had fought dirty. But she was going to break them. Crush them. Turn their bones into--

A chill went down her spine and she barely moved to the left in time. Ironwing missed her by inches, skidding along the stage ground before rising into the air. “Avatar, knock this off!” he ordered.

“No! They cheated! They need to pay!” Diamond yelled before her horn glowed and the water around the stage swirled up again, surging forward and sending the three toppling into the drink. It was time to finish them. She let out a yelp as Ironwing dived down at her a second time. She turned and raced across the stage, using some of the gathered water to make herself a bridge of ice. “THEY NEED TO SUFFER!”

“Stop this now or I'll take you down!” Ironwing yelled, flying after her.

“Just try it!” she yelled. She leaped over into the stands, fortunately ponies were already clearing out. She tapped her hoof and some of the stones rose up, flying through the air at the Shadowbolt. He wove around them with ease, landing on the ground and launching himself at her. She tried to back up, but hit one of the stairs. She flung another stone at him, but he ducked under and then was on her. His hooves lanced out and tapped her front hooves, then her side. She started to drop, but before she could, his hooves hit her head, horn, hind quarters and back legs. The sensations she felt were like nothing she knew. Her entire body went limp, as if she was paralyzed. She couldn't even look around, just lay there and hear the screaming.

She paused. Why was there screaming?

She heard a loud zap and then Ironwing collapsed in front of her with a wide eyed groan, twitching weakly before his eyes closed.

How? What? Who?

------

Ponies screamed and ran around in terror as the unmarked spread through the ranks, their alicorn enhancements zapping the ponies who could even try to stop them. Even the council members were taken by surprise, zapped by the ponies they believed had been their guards. Finally, the time was right. The remaining ponies were too scared to try and fight against the armored ponies looking over them.

Above the platform, the glass shattered and ropes dropped down. Ponies slid down them, at their front, Meadowbrook. Her staff glowed and then, for a moment, there was a high pitched shriek. Her voice soon boomed through every inch of the arena.

“Hello, everypony. I did warn you. This entire tournament was nothing more than a sham,” the mare said as she slowly trotted around the platform. “So shameful.” She stopped by the edge and looked down at the three Bunnies, barely moving and slightly singed as her unmarked dragged them from the water. “Your champions, nothing more than cheaters. Your Avatar, nothing more than a bully who doesn't care if she hurts or even kills ponies, so long as she gets her way.” She lifted her staff and pointed it at the unmoving Bunnies.

“N-no, please,” Babs said, trying to sit up. One of the unmarked quickly zapped her with an electrical wing. “Gahhhhh!”

“This is not the way of equality. This is nothing more than a sign of corruption and wickedness that these things bring.” A beam of magic shot out from the staff and, after a moment, their marks shot off into the air, flowing to Meadowbrook and disappearing under her cloak. “Competition, for what reason? So one pony can say they are better than another? This doesn't breed harmony, compassion, kindness. All this breeds is a desire to win, a desire to prove one's self better than others. By any means necessary.” She stopped in the center of the platform. “And this will all end now. There will be equality. Starting now, all ponies will know that none are beyond any other. Cutie marks, bending, they are nothing more than catalysts to war, pain and suffering. I will end them. The end of the cutie marks are now.” She waved a hoof and her ponies jumped from the stands, their artificial wings allowing them to start flying up, into the air.

Ironwing groaned and shook his head, slowly getting to his hooves. He then turned towards the platform, his eyes narrowing on Meadowbrook. He took to the air and flew right at her, the blades on his wings flashing out. It wouldn't be hard, a single strike to wound, not kill.

He was only a few feet from her when the staff launched out, twirling and striking him across the face. It threw him off, just a little bit and forced him to the side.

Then a second strike whipped out, hitting him right between his hind legs. His world erupted in pain as she used the strike to leverage him away, tossing him over the side of the stage. Many of the ponies in the stage watched with pitying horror as the poor stallion plummeted into the drink. “A shame the poor stallion decided to get involved.” She leaped up and grabbed one of the robes before they pulled her up.

Diamond groaned, trying to move her body. Sadly, she couldn't do anything. Whatever Ironwing had done wasn't wearing off. She couldn't believe it. Meadowbrook was RIGHT THERE. And she couldn't do a darn thing about it.

Author's Note:

I'm gonna be honest. When I first saw this episode, I soooo wanted Korra to flip out and start trashing them. Soooo happy I was able to have DT do that.

Comments

[eric-emanwu]

Well, it's time. Time for the finals.

And both DT and Blaze were still at each other's throats. Both were exasperated by the nerve of ponies wanting to make knockoffs to Meadowlark's staff, and DT was unnerved on how things were getting worse for the city with all the fights and hate and the like. But, both still disliked each other at the moment, which lead to Prism now being the peacemaker between them, earning him an undeserved but still hilarious "Shut up!”

Also, seems that ML's strategy included diversionary attacks on the fringe in order to hide the fact that something bigger was coming soon. Interesting.

Though at first, it seems that the fans of Marble were a bit worse than the equalists...er, I mean the blanks. Rabid fans. Must be because Marble's the cute one. The cute ones always seem to attract the meanest fans. Also, filler joke about Babs Seed being a stand in for a lost Pie sister! Great.

Although, it was oddly sweet in a way that DT talked about Button and Acrylic standing on their own hooves once this was over. No longer just "the son of", but their own pony in the city. DT's already known, but now she's interested in making her friends well off too.

Buuuttt, it was not to be. Cause the bunnies had either rigged the match, or the ref had a serious bundle on them. I mean seriously, no respect for the rules. I mean, yuck. Ice, and behind the back shots, and long bursts? Boooooo!! I would say beat em with their own rules...but from the sound of it, even that wouldn't be enough if they tried. Also, perhaps this also ties into bad feelings against the avatar? That they let the bunnies get away with it? I mean, if they were criminal benders, that might also make sense, but how is it that they can get away with it? Did the bribe, cajole? I mean, come on!

But, well, oh boy.... Seems that you're living out your personal fantasy for the story with revenge of the Avatar. Her anger burned bright, and so she lashed out like an angry snake. But unfortunately, the 9th rule of avatarhood is that you have to play within certain guidelines, or you get shut down by the outsiders. That's the Yellow Daisy's speal after all. And in this case, Lin...er Ironwing was going in hot to stop DT from doing something that might haunt her in the days to come. And unfortunately, it meant she got the shadowbolt strike for full paralysis...just as the moles began their reign of terror.

That's right, the full blown Terrorist attack on a public area. And saying...I told you so. Well..this is awkward for the leaders of the status quo. Tricked, embarassed, unable to keep their promise, humiliated, and left with nothing but bad memories after all this. And even the fact that there is some molecules of truth in ML. But that's why you need corruption investigations. And discipline for avatars. And friends. What is the equality you're actually looking for? Tearing it down? While there might be elites in the ring, at the least it does provide a place for species to come together. Enjoy a common interest and so forth. It's a place for unity...even if the sport itself has issues. Well, then the bunnies got cutie wiped. Now, where are the jars on MB's person?

Well, now for aftermath, and where extremes meet and so forth.