Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 1: Harmony

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 25: Prisoner

Two days passed slowly, each morning and night Meadowbrook came again, to offer Diamond a place at her side. Each time the mare refused. She tried to come up with a plan, some way of possibly defeating the powerful unicorn, but nothing she thought of seemed to have any chance of success.

The only possible way she could see out of this was with her death. Perhaps a new Avatar was what the world needed. One who was stronger, faster. Who didn't have her arrogance. One who could do all four types of bending, not just three. Or none, now. But what if her death ended the cycle?

Maybe they had all been right when she first came. She hadn't been ready for this. She thought she knew best, but she knew nothing.

She needed help, but she had no idea who or what to turn to. She wished Prism and Blaze were here. If only they could save her.

The little window on the door opened. “Avatar, it's time,” Meadowbrook said, before slowly pushing the door open.

“I hate you,” Diamond muttered.

“Of course you do. But you won't forever. Eventually you'll come around to my way of thinking. You'll see that all of us are better off being equal,” the mare said before slowly stepping forward, the staff leveled on the two prisoners. “Don't try anything. Silver, back of the room. Diamond, come on.”

The unicorn sighed and slowly got to her hooves. She thought about putting up a fight, ignoring the mare. But what was the point? There was nothing she could do. She was a beaten mare. “Let's just get this over with,” she muttered.

“Oh Avatar, there's no need to be so melodramatic,” Meadowbrook said with a chuckle. “You'll be a herald of a new age. Once ponies realize even the Avatar has become one with us, they'll all come crawling to Harmony seeking Equality.”

“They'll attack you. They'll destroy this city,” Diamond muttered.

“We have weapons. We will defend ourselves, if need be. We have airships, like that one I tricked you with. Dr. Alicity will make more.”

“How long until you remove his cutie mark, too? Ponies will adapt. They'll change. They'll--”

“They'll see I offer nothing more than friendship and equality. That I mean them no harm,” the mare said with a shake of her head. “Why should they be so upset? So angry about it?”

“Because you're forcing them!” Diamond yelled.

“So? Ponies are forced to do things all the time. They're forced to obey rulers who want to take from them. Forced to fight in wars they don't care about. Forced to suffer at the hooves of those stronger than them. I've done none of that. I merely ask that all ponies be equal. That all ponies care for each other and never raise themselves up. I... truly wished that you could see that. Understand that. But it seems it will take more time.”

“I will never join you,” Diamond muttered.

“We will see,” Meadowbrook said before nudging her out the door, the staff at her back.

Diamond stepped out and let out a soft gasp, her eyes widening. The sidewalks were packed with ponies, all of them unmarked. Hundreds, possibly thousands of them. All watching her.

Every single one of them a pony she had failed, their blank flanks a testament to it. She'd tried, and lost. Again and again. She looked over the hordes of ponies. Some looked at her with excitement, cheering and raising their hooves at her failure.

Others stared with despair, the hope draining from their faces as they saw that she too had fallen. A failure. Their best hope, broken and unmarked. She lowered her eyes, staring at the street ahead of her.

“Look at them, Avatar. Every single one of them unmarked. Each one equal, no better or worse than their comrades. All as one,” the mare said softly. “Harmony, the way it was supposed to be. A place of true equality.” Meadowbrook gave the Avatar a nudge, making her walk onto the street.

Diamond couldn't look up, couldn't see all those ponies. She kept her eyes low, the shame so strong she could barely breathe. To think, not long ago she'd imagined herself better than all of them. As if her bending made her so special, so superior compared to them. She'd actually believed that all of those non-benders were lesser ponies, not even worthy of her. And yet in the end, she'd failed. She wasn't even a bender anymore. The same as all of them. Just another normal pony. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes and couldn't keep them back, the despair overwhelming her.

“Oh, Avatar. There is no need to cry. We are friends here, all of us. You'll never have to suffer or be afraid. Never have to feel inferior. True equality.”

“You're a monster,” Diamond said softly.

“I am their savior.”

“You think you're better than all of us. But you're nothing more than another tyrant. You don't even realize the misery you've caused, do you?”

“Ponies will learn. They'll adapt. Soon they'll be thankful for what I've done. Many already are.”

Diamond shook her head. “You can't take what makes a pony a pony, then expect them to be happy. All of them will feel like this soon. This... despair. This hopelessness.” She felt the tears streaming down her face, leaving warm lines down it. “Someday, somepony will stop you.”

“Maybe. Or maybe I'm right and this is the way the world is supposed to be. Have you even considered what I offer? What good this will do for the world? Maybe one day you'll accept it and be an ally of this new, glorious nation. Avatar, are you really so vain to believe that having other ponies equal to you is so horrible?”

The Avatar shook her head. “Vanity has nothing to do with it. You just... ughhhh. You're giving me a headache,” she said softly before wiping off her face. She hated this. Being so weak and helpless. Knowing she'd lost. She couldn't even think of rebuttals anymore. Knowing there was nothing she could do but look at these poor unmarked ponies as she was paraded before them, their last hope of getting their cutie marks back. She'd have given anything for one more chance, one last opportunity. Her tears stopped as a new thought occurred to her. Maybe there was hope, after all.

She looked back to Meadowbrook, eying the mask and cloak for a moment before looking ahead. Slowly she raised her head. She looked to the gathered ponies, so many of them. Maybe there was a chance. Just one. But it might be all she needed. “Where are you taking me?”

“You are the last beacon. I am taking you before all of the ponies, where they can see you. Where your comrades will try to stop me, and they will be captured. Already my ponies are ready to launch their counter attack.”

“You'll fail.”

“No, I won't.”

Diamond grit her teeth as she kept walking. There was still a chance, though a small one. She knew it. She was led through the city, walked down the streets and allowed to look at the ponies she had failed. So many of them. All of them hanging on Meadowbrook's words, some willing and some not.

Diamond would destroy those words. She ground her hooves into the ground a little as they entered the main courtyard. The same one she'd entered so long ago during the festival. At least, it felt as if it was so long ago. She supposed it had only been a month or so. A tall, towering stage had been set up in the middle of it and she was led towards it. The unmarked surrounded her on all sides, with more filtering in from the side streets with every second. She slowly walked up the steps of the stage, directed by Meadowbrook.

Once there, the masked mare forced her to the back, before taking her spot behind a microphone. “Equality has finally come! Not only is Harmony now under our control, but the Avatar herself is now one of us. They call us the unmarked. They call us terrorists. I say they're wrong. I look out over every pony here and I see equality. No longer will one pony stand above another. We are all equal, the same. No longer will we feel shame or humiliation, lacking what others have. No longer will ponies keep us under their hooves. For now, nopony is better than any other. For we are all the unmarked!”

“All except for you!” Diamond yelled, turning on the mare.

Meadowbrook took a step back. “Excuse me?”

“You claim you're all for equality, but what about you?” Diamond said, her courage slowly rising within herself. “After all, you still have your cutie mark. That's why you hide under that cloak, isn't it? I saw the way you fought. You still have your talent!”

There was murmuring and grumbling amongst the crowd. The mare was silent for a moment, before she burst into laughter. “I see, young Avatar. You really have sunk to pure desperation, haven't you?” the mare asked before she reached up with her hooves. “Very well. Let it never be said that Meadowbrook wasn't a mare of her word.” She slowly pulled her mask aside. “There is no longer a need to hide my face, after all. We have won. Let it be known now!” she yelled, raising her hoof. “We are all equal! Nothing I have done couldn't be done by any of you!” She then flung her cloak into the air.

Diamond's mouth nearly hit the floor. She couldn't believe it. She saw it, but she couldn't believe it.

Meadowbrook's flank was blank. Not a single mark on it. She thrust it out for the world to see. “That's... that's impossible,” the Avatar said softly. “We fought. You and I. We... we were...”

“You were hardly a challenge, Avatar. You were a child fighting for nothing. I was a hero fighting for the way forward. You were doomed from the start.” The murmurs were dying down now. The mare held the staff aloft. “This is what makes it possible. This is what gives us our equality. Together, we will make a new world! One without rulers, without nobles, a world where nopony can claim their superiority!”

“STAMPEDE!” a voice screamed from the back.

Meadowbrook chuckled softly, lowering the staff to her side. “And so it begins. The last hurrah of your defenders and the final victory of the unmarked,” she said before looking to Diamond. “Watch, Avatar. Soon, true equality shall reign.”

Diamond stared at the courtyard and shook her head. “No... they... they can't.”

The buffalo charged in from the north, knocking ponies aside as they galloped towards the stage. Throughout the crowd ponies began flying into the air, some with fake wings others with real, as diamond dogs started popping out of the ground, smashing the bricks and cement aside. Then from the south she saw the second stampede, this one comprised of donkeys and yaks. Then, as if that wasn't enough, the east entrance of the courtyard was filled with the sound of stomping hooves as well as the minotaurs came galloping in, shoving their way through. Only the west remained empty. Though their numbers were so small compared to the unmarked, she was amazed they decided to come from three different angles. But they were plowing their way through quickly.

Diamond looked to Meadowbrook, a grin on her face. “They're coming. You'll lose this, Meadowbrook.”

The mare chuckled softly as she watched them. “That's where your wrong. I told you before. We have Dr. Alicity.”

Flocks of ponies rose into the air, emptying out the courtyard quickly. Soon only a few ponies remained.

All of which were carrying large cloaked containers on their backs. The ponies moved to the tower, facing the stampedes. They removed the cloaks, revealing long cylinders on their backs and hooves. “After all, he wasn't kidding when he said he wanted to create artificial bending. NOW!” the mare yelled.

Fire filled the air, erupting from the cylinders, streaking out across the courtyard and making the stampedes fall short.

“I think it's time to see just how far my magic has advanced,” Meadowbrook said with a chuckle, before aiming the staff at the nearest creature, a diamond dog. The green light shot out, enveloping the creature before it could pull back.

Diamond wasn't sure what she saw, but something was leaving the dog. Drawn out by the green magic, a dark taint seemed to flow out of the dog and then back towards Meadowbrook. However, rather than going to her, it disappeared under her cloak. The dog shook its head, and tried going back under the ground, but its claws seemed to have no effect on the ground now.

“Finally, it's time,” Meadowbrook whispered. “ALL SHALL BE EQUAL!” she yelled, before thrusting the staff out, sending bursts of magic out. The stampeders tried to get through, but the defense of flame was too much for them to penetrate. The courtyard began to rumble again, before more holes appeared all over it. At first the mare paid it no mind.

Then great pillars of water rose up into the air. Diamond's eyes widened and she looked around, trying to see any sign of Acrylic or the others. Sadly, there didn't seem to be one, yet. However, Meadowbrook, for the first time in a while, looked worried. “Hold the line!” the mare yelled, sending out bursts of water with her staff.

Diamond slowly inched forward and tugged the cloak, opening it up. Sewn inside was a small circular mirror. Except rather than reflect, it was a solid silver. As the magic was drawn from another diamond dog, it flowed back behind Meadowbrook and into the mirror, which rippled like water. The Avatar stared at it, before looking up. The torrents of water were already dying down, though water filled the courtyard now. The stone erupted and Button shot up, thrusting his hooves forward. Stones rained down at the stage, making her yelp, though none came close, all falling short and being knocked back by the flames. Acrylic stood in the courtyard, surrounded by the diamond dogs.

Then the water rose up and rained down on the ponies, making the fires sizzle. “Blasted water bender,” Meadowbrook grumbled as she aimed her staff at Acrylic and shot out a beam of magic. He dodged it with ease, before sending out another burst at the pseudo fire benders.

“Buck it. I'll deal with him myself!” the mare yelled, before reaching down to grab her cloak. She felt nothing but air. She looked down in confusion, before her eyes were drawn to Diamond. The Avatar held the mirror in her hooves, the cloak tossed aside and sporting a hole. “Put that down.”

“Okay,” Diamond said, before driving it down, shattering it across her knee. Her eyes bulged and she fell over, dropping the fragments and holding her knee. “Ow ow ow ow oh why did I do that owie ow ow whyyyyyy?” She gave a little whimper, but smiled none the less. The smile slowly faded. “W-what? Nothing's happening!”

“You idiot! You broke my portal!” the mare snapped, before glaring. “You have any idea how annoying that is?”

“I... I thought it... w-would release the cutie marks and... and something.”

The unicorn just stared at her for a few moments before shaking her head. “Of course not. It will take more than that. Do you really think if it did that, I'd carry it with me?” she asked before pointing the staff again. Acrylic dodged away from the blast, but a diamond dog got caught in the burst, his magic drawn from him as well. It came to Meadowbrook, moving to the broken mirror before swirling around the staff. “You've only made this... slightly more difficult,” the mare said softly, before she leaped down from the stage. She brought the staff up and the ground swirled up to her, stopping her fall before she sent a burst of water flying at Acrylic.

The stallion danced back, sending his own burst of water to block it. Button sent a flurry of stone raining down on her, but she sent it scattering with a burst of wind from her staff.

Diamond watched from above, biting her lower lip as she saw the mare fighting her friends. Even though she was no longer as strong, fast or able as she once was, she knew enough to see where this was going.

Meadowbrook would win. The stampede had failed and already hundreds of unmarked were descending on the crowds. Some used fire, others used electricity. Acrylic and Button wouldn't last long. She didn't know where Sunburst was, but she was sure he'd fall soon as well. There was nothing she could do, but watch and wait. She collapsed on the ground and let out a sob.

'There has to be something I can do. Anything I can do. Please,' she begged herself, covering her face with her hooves. 'I need to be strong, I need to be... I need... I need...' She slowly lowered her hooves. “Help me. Please,” she said softly. “I don't know if you can hear me. I don't even know if you can. But if you're in there, Twilight. Please. Help me. I can't... I can't do this on my own. I can't... I need your help. I'm not strong enough. I'm not good enough. I'm not the best. I NEED YOU!” she screamed, stomping her hooves forward.

It was like a flip switched in her head. Suddenly she felt it. She didn't know if it was Twilight, the connection with her past lives, or something else. But it felt warm and comforting. Protective. She tried to resist it at first, to pull away. It wasn't her, she didn't need it. Almost as quickly as it started, she felt that connection start to falter.

“No,” she told herself, before taking a step forward. “I'm not strong enough. I'm not good enough. I'm not powerful enough. But one day, I might be. For now... if you'll give me your help, I'll gladly take it.” She then ran forward, leaping off the stage and into the empty air.

All you ever had to do was ask.

Comments

[eric-emanwu]

So, DT tried to hold herself up. Her soul straining to hold together. Each time offered release for joining, and each time refused. DT thought she only saw death, and wondering if she really wasn't ready as she was working to save the city. But, it was a silent day, and soon enough, her doom and the breaking of spirit final was approaching. But DT knew that whatever ML's building, it'll come down. The 4 nations will come in, the world will resist and refuse the equality that she offers, because they know that this tear down isn't right. So the avatar was paraded out like a trophy of war. The unmarked shocked and happy. DT finally seeing the simplest truth about MB: That in the end, she's no different than the water nation in her campaign. Hurting and causing pain to others by taking something essential to them just as they did.

And...with the ceremony coming on and all that, we also got to Korra challenging Amon and calling his story a lie. Which, in true amon fashon she was prepared for.

And so, the final battle began. A 3 way strike from the last bastions of strength. And...somehow the staff now takes physical traits too. Strength, skill, the things that makes different species unique. Fire and water clashed, as Bolin and Mako lead the charge. Giving cover and keeping the fire down.

So, DT used the confusion to destroy a mirror....which I assume was like a portal in and out...I think? Whatever the case, it kept rattling MB, making her stealing more difficult. And so the brothers in spirit fought the mastermind. And just like in Korra, it's here in the gravest threat to her love interest, that DT finally restarted the touch. Seems the physical elements aren't necessary to continue the avatar spirit, and thus the spirit of avatars past began to flow back into the avatar egotist. She made her leap of faith, and thus began her airbending comeback.