Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 1: Harmony

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 4: The Festival

Diamond awoke, a grin plastered on her face as she jumped up. She pulled her head back, a flame on the end of her horn. She was up super early for once and Prism was gonna get a face full when he came barging in this time. She wouldn't hurt him, much. Just burn off half his fur. After the last few days he'd been making her absolutely miserable with all his training and junk. Waking her up at the crack of dawn, barging into her room, tossing her out the window. But today was going to be different. This time she was ready.

Best of all, it was the day of the festival so he'd come in, get singed, then have to spend the whole day walking around without any fur. It was going to be hilarious. He'd have to tell everypony why he looked so silly. Oh yes. Annnnny second now.

Any moment.

That door would open in a few moments and he'd get flames to the face.

Now.

… Now.

Any moment.

Any second.

“What are you doing?” Prism asked from behind her, making her jump. She whipped around to glare at him as he hovered outside her window.

“How, what, when, where did you come from? Why didn't you use the door?”

“I noticed you were awake, so I didn't see much point in waking you up. Come on, let's go.” He glided down off towards their little training area. She glowered at him. How DARE he. Her vengeance was going to be long and sweet! Instead it was short and bitter! She considered launching a sneak attack now, but she knew he'd expect it. Then probably just slam her into the wall or something. Ugh, she hated him sooooo much.

The training session ended with her tripping and falling on the ground, a lot. She was getting better at moving, but it all seemed so silly. She was a tough pony, why did she need to dodge things like that? She was immovable! She knew how to redirect an attack, take an attack or, if need be, just punch through it. What was the point of avoiding one? The whole barely touching the ground thing was just as annoying. How could you possibly launch a proper attack without the stability and use of force that properly grounding one's self offered?

She ate her breakfast in silence, angrily crunching her oats as she glowered at him from across the room.

“Something wrong?” Blaze asked with a small smile.

“No,” they both said in unison, making the pegasus roll her eyes.

Prism watched the unicorn from across the room. It just didn't make any sense. She was... talented. He didn't deny that. She was picking up the form quite quickly, at least for a pony who had already learned three different forms. She was going a few minutes now without falling on her face and she was learning how to move around the wind, rather than against it. But she hadn't shown even the slightest ability to actually air bend. Were she not the avatar, he'd have imagined she wasn't an air bender at all. Usually by now his students would have made a little breeze or sliced the air a small smidgen, but with her there was nothing. He was playing it off, but he hadn't told her.

What if he was doing everything wrong? Maybe he was focusing too much on the form. But actual air bending wasn't getting her anywhere, since she couldn't do it. Her form was good, but she couldn't move properly with it or move with the wind well enough to go to anything too advanced. Would she grow her wings soon? Would that help? Would she even be able to grow her wings without learning some air bending?

He thought back to what his mother said about the past Avatar's training. She'd learned air bending before she had wings. It hadn't even been too hard. But then, she'd also been a unicorn and a bit of a savant, supposedly. Diamond seemed to have a little talent, having already learned three elements, but this one was likely going to be her most difficult. What if he wasn't up to doing it?

“Sooooo, looking forward to the festival?” Blaze asked with a grin. “What do you plan to wear?”

Diamond shrugged. “Hadn't really thought about it. Not much. Maybe my tiara.”

Prism blinked a few times and stared at her. “You... have an actual tiara?”

“Of course I have a tiara. Why did you think my name is Diamond Tiara if I didn't have a tiara?”

He rolled his eyes, but bit back his response.

“We'll be leaving after noon, so if you want to go with us, make sure you're ready,” Blaze said with a grin.

She nodded, quickly polishing off her meal before jumping to her hooves and galloping off, leaving the plates behind. Blaze then looked to Prism. “Something wrong, dear?”

“I'm still doubtful if a pony like that can truly be the Avatar,” Prism muttered. “She's so... that.”

“It's only been a few days, she'll learn.”

He sighed. “I hope so. It's going to be interesting seeing how she develops. Maybe in a few weeks we can teach her to pick up after herself.”

Both pairs of eyes fell on the plate, before Blaze gave a soft sigh. “Dear, no pony expects a miracle.”

------

Prism sighed as he knocked on the Avatar's door. He couldn't believe this. They were going to be late! He thought she'd be thrilled for this. Well, he supposed there was nothing to do. He'd have to open the door. He smirked knowingly.

He knew she was on the other end, standing and waiting. Probably hoping to ambush him when he shoved open the door. Well, she'd be in for a big surprise when he deflected whatever she had in mind and she had to walk around the festival with a wind torn mane.

He shoved open the door and ready his deflection.

Then he stared.

In the middle of the room was a pony shaped statue made of dirt. Diamond was nowhere to be seen. His eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. “BLAZE!”

------

Diamond grinned as she skidded along the ice, making her way towards the city. Oh, this was going to be awesome. She wished she could have seen Prism's face when he realized the trick she pulled on him, but she supposed if she had then it wouldn't have been the face she wanted to see. What with her being there, and all. If she was going to be going to the city as a tourist, she wasn't going to do it with those two sticks in the mud watching her. Talk about boring.

She jumped off the ice, landing on the shore with a smile. She'd thought about wearing a dress and a few other things, but decided against it. Tonight she wanted to be fast and light, so instead she'd just worn a single small diamond necklace. Simple, elegant, easy. Also, sparkly enough that anypony who looked at her would quickly realize she was wearing very little because she CHOSE to, not because she couldn't afford to wear some fancy dress.

She trotted into the city and already the place was packed with ponies running about, amongst other things. There were plenty of zebras, negasi and donkeys, but she was finding the other species seemed strangely absent. She wondered if they just didn't celebrate the defeat of Discord.

There was a play going on and she stopped, watching it for a few moments. It was a simple thing, showing the defeat of Discord as the six heroes of the last generation defeated him using the power of all of the ponies of the world, getting their aid in the final battle. Some ponies cleverly dubbed it 'rainbow power'. A silly name. How could rainbows be powerful? They were manufactured in factories. Just--

She let out a yipe as suddenly a pony banged into her, sending her toppling over. She groaned and glowered up at the gray earth pony on top of her. Ugh, even worse, the mare had on a pair of those fake wings and the metal horn. They had gems lining them, but they were still so tacky.

“I-I'm s-so sorry,” the mare said, sniffling and rubbing her eyes before pulling back. “I-I wasn't, I was just... s-sorry.”

“Ugh, just watch where you're going, okay?” Diamond said with a roll of her eyes. “Maybe you should try to get some viewers or something on that hunk of junk on your back.”

The mare seemed shocked for a moment, before lowering her eyes. “S-sorry. I wasn't... I-I was having some problems with it and I got some dirt in my eyes,” she said as she wiped at her eyes. “I didn't mean to intrude on your watching of the play.”

“It's fine, it's a stupid play anyway. I'm sure the real thing was wayyyyy better. I mean, rainbow power? What kind of dumb name is that?”

The mare blinked a few times, before looking towards the stage. She then glanced back and nodded. “Y-yeah. I mean... it's such a silly name. Like rainbows are that powerful, right?”

“Ugh, I know,” Diamond said with a nod, before looking the mare over. “Why do you wear that hunk of junk, anyway? Isn't it annoying?”

“T-this? Oh... yeah, kinda,” the mare said sheepishly. “But my daddy is very particular about me wearing it. I uhhh... I'm Silver Spoon. Nice to meet you.”

“Well, your dad sounds like an idiot,” Diamond said with a roll of her eyes, before holding out a hoof. “I'm Diamond Tiara. Nice to meet you.”

Silver looked confused, before reaching out and nervously shaking her hoof. “You're new to town, aren't you?”

“Just arrived a few days ago,” the unicorn said with a sigh. “Been--” She cringed. Should she tell the mare she was at the island? Ugh, did she want to admit she was the Avatar? Probably make a huge deal about it if she did. She was pretty awesome though. Not like she didn't deserve to have a big deal made about her. “--here with a few ponies. I don't know if I'll be staying long, though.”

Silver nodded. “I could... uhhh... show you around? If you want?”

“Cool! I'd really like to see some of the pro bending stuff. That's pretty big here, right?”

The mare gave a nod. “Oh! I was actually heading there soon anyway. I could show you the way?”

“The way?”

“To the arena.”

Diamond's eyes widened. They had an ARENA! “I'd like to see that, sounds cool,” she said as calmly as she could. But inside she felt giddy as could be. An arena! A full bucking arena! Ohhhh, she couldn't wait to show off what she could do in it. She was going to kick all their flanks! She could already imagine herself before screaming, raving crowd. She could do all kinds of bending, maybe she could try entering as a one pony fighter. Kicking the flanks of entire teams. Oh, it would be beautiful.

She let out a gasp when they turned a street and she saw it. “Is... is that it?” she asked, motioning towards it.

“Yes,” Silver said with a smile. “Impressive, isn't it?”

“Y-yes,” Diamond whispered slightly as she stared. Quickly she shook her head. “I mean, it looks okay, I guess. I've seen bigger.” The stadium was at the very end of the street, on the border of the city. It practically made the end, towering at least five stores high and so wide that she couldn't even see all of it around the buildings of the street. It was made of stone, but covered in statues of different ponies. The three largest, a pegasus, earth pony and unicorn, stood on the roof, their hooves connected in the most amazing of high hooves. “Who are those supposed to be?” she asked as she motioned towards them. The paint had long since faded, but she could make out a few fragments of blue.

“If I'm correct, Rainbow Dash, Octavia Melody and Vinyl Scratch. They were the first champions of the pro bending league and went undefeated before they retired. When the arena was made, that was put on top of it. Though some ponies claim it's supposed to be an image of unity between the three types of ponies.”

Diamond nodded, still staring. It was just so... big. So amazing. She could already here them chanting her name. They made their way through the crowds with ease, though. “Why aren't more ponies here now?” she asked softly.

“Most of the teams aren't even here yet,” she said with a shrug. “Not a lot of reason to be. A few are training, though.”

“Cool,” she whispered softly. “I'm going to go watch!” Diamond yelled before galloping off.

“W-what? Wait! You shouldn't...” Silver tried, but it was already too late. The unicorn was gone. She let out a sigh and shook her head.

------

Diamond raced through the arena halls, her eyes wide. She could hardly believe it. This arena was massive. The walls were lined with memorabilia from all the different teams that played. Oddly, at one point she swore she saw a pegasus that looked like Prism in one of the pictures, but it was probably her imagination. She raced around until she could barely run anymore and then realized one thing.

This place was huge. She had absolutely NO idea where anything was. 'Ugh. I should have waited for Silver,' she thought to herself before shrugging and then closed her eyes, tapping the floor three times before grinning. There were ponies out there, practicing. She raced off, soon coming to a large room filled with weights, stone disks, punching bags, ropes and all other kinds of exercise equipment.

Two unicorns and an earth pony were training against each other in the center of the room. One was a fire bender, another a water bender and the last a earth bender. She watched in awe as they moved. They were all wearing silver padded uniforms that covered their bodies. The earth bender fought with the disks, but the water and fire bender fought with little streams of their chosen element.

She smirked none the less. They were all... passable, but she could have out bent any of them. With ease. Especially the fire bender. He didn't have nearly enough power when he thrust, his footing was all off. The earth bender wasn't much better, though. He kept dancing around like an air bender, but kept falling back whenever he got hit. Even the light hits made him stumble back, nothing like a proper earth bender. The only one of them she would have really called competent was the water bender. He fought like a true one, dancing around in tight circles, using the water to redirect what he couldn't dodge, always moving and launching his own counter attacks.

She snickered softly when the fire bender was sent flying back, out of the training circle by an earth disk. Unfortunately for the earth bender, he left himself open and the water bender acted on it, sending him flying out of the small training circle next.

“Well, that could have gone better,” the water bender said with a shake of his head. “Button, you need to keep your guard up better. You're an earth bender, try to keep stable. A little bit of fire and water aren't going to hurt you.” He then turned towards the fire bender. “Piro, you need to work on your stability, too. You're always the first one down and remember our last match? You were out in the first ten seconds.”

“It's cool, I made a slight mistake,” the stallion said with a shake of his head. “It was just a fluke.”

Diamond snorted. “It was hardly a fluke, your stance is horrible,” she said with a snicker.

All three faces turned towards hers. The earth pony let out a gasp, his eyes going wide. “Fans! We have fans!”

“Wait, Button, don't--” the water bender said, but it was too late.

The earth pony was already in front of her, his helmet torn off. A wide grin plastered across his face. “Well hello there. Have you come to watch the magnificent Button Mash train?” he asked with... what she imagined he thought was a suave wink.

“I'd hardly call any of you magnifcent,” she said with a snort. “I mean, you fire bender doesn't know the first thing about how to actually fire bend, your stance is so wobbly a stiff breeze could knock you over and your water bender is so slow he might as well have been an earth bender,” she said with a dismissive wave.

“If you think you're such a great fire bender, why don't you come and prove it?” Piro yelled, grinding his hooves into the ground. “Otherwise, why don't you go sit down and shut up?”

She snorted and stepped forward, pushing Button aside. “Oh? With ease.” She stepped into the training circle. The stallion looked shocked, but slowly moved in with her.

“Piro...” the water bender said.

“Shut up, Acrylic. I'm going to thrash her for bad mouthing me,” the stallion snapped. “You wanna put on some of the training gear so you don't get hurt?”

“Why? It's not like you'll be laying a hoof on me.”

His eyes narrowed and he lifted a hoof up.

“Wait!” Acrylic called, getting between them. “Fine, if you want to do it, then go ahead. But miss, do you know the rules?”

“What, it's bending. How many rules can there be?”

He sighed. “Quite a few. First one out of the circle is out. Stay in your section,” he said before motioning towards the line drawn in the middle of the circle. “Finally, as fire benders, no more than one second bursts of flame.”

“One second? Ugh, easy enough,” Diamond said with a roll of her eyes. The water bender got out of the circle and she smirked down at the fire bender. “Don't cry when I trounce you, okay?”

He quickly went into his stance, sending out a burst of fire at her face. She ducked under it with ease, spinning around. 'Ugh, his stance is soooooo horrible, his hooves arn't even planted in the ground right. This is shameful. Luckily, it won't last long,' She thought to herself. She dug both her front hooves into the ground, before bucking out with her back hooves. A single quick burst of fire was all she needed, before she twirled back around in time to see the stallion sailing through the air and slam into the wall, sliding down it a moment later.

“Piro!” Acrylic and Button yelled, running towards him.

“Ugh, as I said, pathetic,” she said with a shake of her head. “Your stance is just all over the place. You need to firmly plant your back hooves and--”

“SHUT UP!” Piro yelled, getting to his hooves and shoving the other two off him. “That's it! I quit!”

“W-wait, Piro--” Acrylic tried.

“No, that's it, screw all of you. This entire thing was just a stupid idea. Find some other idiot to join your team. Try her for all I bucking care,” the stallion yelled, shoving them aside as he stormed out the door.

Once he was gone, the other two turned and glared at her. She just gave a shrug.

“What? It's not my fault he sucks. Now, onto you, earth bender. Your stance needs work too, not as much, though. You--”

“What do you know about earth bending?” Button asked with an exasperated sigh. “You're a fire bender.”

“Yes. And an earth bender. And a water bender,” she said with her biggest grin. She watched as, slowly, the realization dawned on them.

“You're... the Avatar,” Acrylic finally said. “No-- ah!” He let out a yelp as she grabbed his hoof with a whip of water and yanked it from under him.

“The one and only,” she said with a shrug. “Now, are you going to listen now?”

The water bender growled. “No. Do you have any idea what you've done? We have less than a day to find a new fire bender. Just get--”

“Hey hey hey,” Button said, before putting a hoof over Acrylic's side and quickly dragging him off. “Come on, bro. This is the Avatar we're talking about. How often do you think we'll get a shot like this?”

“A shot like what?”

“To train with her, of course. The Avatar is supposed to be the best of the best, right? If we train with her, our game is bound to step up.”

“She's an arrogant brat!” he added with a glare.

“So? You saw what she did to Piro. She's gotta be strong. Maybe we can convince her to join our team. If we had her, we would be able to go all out.”

“You do realize I can hear you, right?” Diamond asked with a soft snort. “I mean, you're hardly whispering.”

Both quickly pulled back from her and eyed her sheepishly. Finally, Acrylic shook his head. “Thank you for your... helpful suggestions, Avatar. But we're not going to take up any more of your time. We're--”

“Kind of pathetic and have a long way to go before you're any kind of competent, let alone good,” Diamond said with a shrug. “You have talent, I won't deny. I'm better, of course, but you're not super bad. Your friend... ehhhh, if he works on his stance, he'll be fine. You need to learn to take a hit, Button.”

The stallion cringed. “Yeah, my mom says that too.”

“ANYWAY,” Acrylic added quickly. “We do not require your aid at this time. We'll find a fire bender or an air bender to join us, we--”

“Oh come on,” she said with a roll of her eyes, before smirking. “If you want me to carry your flanks through this little pro bending thing, just ask. I--”

“I wouldn't ask you for a glass of water if I was dying of thirst and on fire,” Acrylic snapped, before stepping forward. “Fine, you're a better bender than Piro. You're probably a better bender than all of us.” He moved in front of her, staring into her eyes. “But you're an arrogant, snot nosed little brat. I don't care if you are the best bender in all the world, I'd sooner quit the pro bending league than have to ask you for anything.” He turned and stormed off. “I'm going to go talk to Dr. Alicity, let him know we need a new bender.”

Button cringed as the door slammed. “Hey... uhhh, don't mind him. He's just... yeah.”

Diamond watched the door for a few moments. Why did he react so harshly? Everything she said was the truth, after all. She could carry both of them through any kind of tournament. Why didn't he want her help. She then looked to Button. “Well?”

“Err... what?”

“Are you going to ask for my help, or not? I can just leave, you know. Find some other team that interests me.”

“What? No!” the stallion said with a sheepish grin. “Errr... h-help me?” he asked softly.

She rolled her eyes and moved over. “Fine, first things first. Go into your stance.”

He quickly obeyed, jamming all four hooves into the ground. She cocked an eye. It actually wasn't half bad. In fact, it was quite good. His stability was great, his weight was distributed right, even she'd have probably had a hard time knocking him over. “Now, get ready to block.”

“Wait, what?”

He let out a shriek as she sent a small ball of fire at him. He ducked away, throwing off his stance completely, and barely avoiding the flames. She sent a few more at him, but he just kept moving away, trying to avoid them rather than taking the blows like an earth bender.

“Oh my gosh, are you TRYING to be the lamest earth bender ever?” she asked with a roll of her eyes. “Come on, you're a big, tough stallion. Try acting like it!”

“S-sorry,” he said softly. She picked up some earth discs with her bending and sent them flying at him. He tried to block them this time, however the force sent him falling on his back.

She raised a hoof to her face and sighed. “Yeah, this is going to take a while.”

------

Despite her complaints, she couldn't deny she enjoyed practicing with him. Showing him how to properly earth bend was actually a lot of fun, even if he was more or less pathetic and horrible at it.

She just couldn't figure out why. His starting stance was perfect, but he just kept screwing up whenever he had to move or dodge things. He couldn't block at all. Somepony had obviously trained him in all the basics and some of the more advanced things, but he didn't seem to have taken much of it to heart. After a while he finally collapsed on the ground, panting. “N-no more...”

“O-oh, come on, is that all you've got?” she asked, panting lightly. “Show some drive, some gumption. You're an earth pony, act like it.”

“P-please,” he begged weakly.

She rolled her eyes. “Fiiiiine. But seriously, you wouldn't last a day in my training routines.” She wiped some sweat from her coat. Ugh, she needed to rinse off before she went anywhere. “This place have showers?”

“Errr, yeah, I can show you to them,” he said before slowly getting up with a cringe. He stopped for a second and glanced towards her. “Hey uhhh... do you by any chance... well... would you be willing to help us?”

“What?”

“Joining our team. Would you be willing to join with us and be our fire bender?”

She blinked before rolling her eyes. “Really? I thought your friend would rather have died of thirst?”

“Heyyyy, Acrylic just gets... touchy. But come on, you're an amazing bender. Do you already have a team?”

She shook her head.

“Well, there you go. You'll need one if you want to compete. I can talk with Acrylic, get him to okay it. Our sponsor should be all for it, too.” He gave her a wide grin and stared at her. “So, whaddaya say?”

She rolled her eyes and almost said no. It would have served Acrylic right. How dare that pompous water bender refuse her help. Except Button was giving her the... strangest look. How in the world were his eyes getting so big? So wide? So watery? She shuffled nervously and got the sudden impression of kicking a kitten. “Ugh, fine, whatever.”

“Yay!” he said as he reared up, his front hooves wiggling in the air. She swore she heard some kind of... beep a beep a beep. Was she hearing things?

She shook her head. “I guess if you guys really need me and are desperate, I'll help you out. Just swing by the island sometime, okay?”

“Island?”

“Yeah. Avatar Island. In the lake.”

He snorted, giving a nod. “Ohhhh. Okay, I'll be there, no problem. Thanks!” And then he lunged forward and gave her a hug, making her eyes go wide. “Best Avatar ever!”

“Err, of course,” she said, blinking a few times before he galloped off.

“Wait! HEY! Get back here!”

“Huh? Why?” he asked, looking back.

She rolled her eyes again. “The showers, rock head?”

“What? I... oh! Heh, sorry,” he said sheepishly, his cheeks getting red. She shook her head and trotted after him.

------

Diamond stretched out a little as she stepped out from the shower rooms, completely dry. One of the many benefits of being a water bender, she never had to worry about towels. She looked around, but Button was nowhere in sight. She shrugged and trotted towards the exit.

She half expected to see Silver outside, waiting for her. But that mare was gone too. She shrugged and started walking through the crowds. The streets were filling up now. Even the air was filled with pegasi. She glanced up, the sun was almost gone, disappearing off into the distance. She bet the moon raisers were right now lifting the moon up and--

“THERE YOU ARE!” a voice boomed before a blue blur landed behind her. She cringed and glanced back to Prism.

“Yeah, what about it?” she asked with a roll of her eyes. “I've been having fun.”

“We've been worried sick. We were supposed to come here together. Blaze and half the Shadowbolts are looking for you,” he snapped angrily.

“The Shadowbolts? Why?”

“Because we had no idea if you'd been captured!”

“Of course I wasn't captured. I'm the Avatar. What bender could possibly pose a threat to me?”

He facehoofed. “Stars, give me strength. Avatar, come with me.” He grabbed her hoof, but she yanked it back.

“Why should I? I want to have fun and, frankly, you're the exact opposite of fun. You're like where fun goes to die.”

“We're not having this talk now,” he snapped. “The council wants to meet with you.”

“Why would I-- wait, council?”

“Yes, the council. At least, a few of them wish to meet you. It would do well for you to remember your man... it would do well for you to pretend you HAD manners,” he said with annoyance. “Come,” he said bitterly before trotting off, leading her through the crowd. The streets were at least twice as full as they had been earlier, but Prism seemed to have no problem forcing his way through. It seemed the blue uniform of his had quite an effect on ponies. She walked in his wake, keeping an eye out as she went.

“Why are you so mad? I thought you'd be happy not having to watch me. You sure act like you hate me.”

“If you had merely asked to be escorted, we could have--”

“I am the Avatar. I don't NEED an escort,” she said with another roll of her eyes. “I can take care of myself!”

“You're doing nothing but causing me trouble!”

“Then maybe somepony else should be my teacher. I never ASKED to have you teach me. There are PLENTY of other pegasi out there who I am sure would love having the Avatar as their student.”

He grit his teeth and shook his head. “If only that was an option,” he said bitterly, before turning the corner down another street. She gasped and stopped. “Is... that...”

“Yes. It's part of the parade that goes through the streets. We'll have to cut around it as best we can.”

She stared, unmoving. At the head of the great parade was a massive purple alicorn balloon, so large the end of her horn almost stood as tall as the roofs. “That's Twilight, isn't it?” She couldn't help but feel oddly... safe, looking at the great balloon. It was imposing, but it was also... oddly gentle. Its wings spread out, wide over the gathered ponies. As if it was protecting them.

“Yes. It's... quite the sight. I hear it was used in the first parade, made by ponies who knew her.” He paused, looking back to her. “She was quite the mare. But then, it would take quite the mare to go up against an entire nation and defeat Discord.”

“I'll be like that one day,” Diamond said softly.

“I find that hard to believe. I doubt there will ever be a threat anywhere near as dangerous as Discord.”

She snorted, before getting up and moving towards him. He started walking again. “So, am I going to meet everypony on the council?”

“No. But you will meet the vast majority. This tends to be more a... pony focused tradition, so all of the pony council members will be there. Including the negasi and zebras. You'll meet the others at a later time, when they wish to meet you.”

She nearly stumbled then. “Wait, wish to meet me? They don't want to meet me now? But I'm the Avatar! How can they not want to meet me? I'm... well, I'm the Avatar!”

“And to the species that can't bend, you're really not a big deal. They have very little point of reference, Diamond,” he said with a shake of his head. “Bending has always just been a pony thing. So you're just a pony who's more... pony. Right now they're more than likely just watching you to see how the rest of the ponies will react.”

“That's stupid, they're stupid.”

“Most of them have gotten on the council because they are very, very wise. They learned to wait and watch. To choose the right moment. As an earth bender, I figured you would know all about the value of patience.”

“Patience, yeah. But who wouldn't want to meet me?”

“Anypony who has met you,” Prism muttered under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing. We're almost there.” He turned another corner and let out a sigh of relief. “Finally.”

She followed after him and let out a low gasp. “That's... a lot of ponies.”

“It's the main plaza. Of course it is.”

The plaza looked more like a giant box than an opened area, surrounded on all four sides with the city buildings. Stages and stands were set up all over the place, taking up about a third of the standing room. Almost every inch of the rest of the plaza were ponies of all kinds, as well as negasi and zebras. “I didn't know there were so many,” she whispered.

“Of course. Some are travelers, but the majority of them likely live here,” he said with a chuckle. “Come along. It's time to meet the council members.” He led her through the crowd towards a small, raised platform off to the side, overlooking one of the plays. He was quickly waved on by a few of the guards, who gave her wary glances. She stepped forward nervously. It wasn't that she was scared or anything. Just both bouncers were large enough to smush her into paste.

A long line of stairs led up to the platform, making her gulp. She slowly looked up as Prism went on ahead. He stopped and looked down.

“Something wrong?”

“What? No,” she said before following after him.

Odd. She suddenly felt excited, as if she was going to be meeting some old friends. She wondered why.

Comments

[Rhanoa]

Were she not the air bender, he'd have imagined she wasn't an air bender at all

Should be "avatar" I suppose.

But who wouldn't want to meet me?”
“Anypony who has met you,” Prism muttered under his breath.

Of course Button is the exception affirming the rule.

[eric-emanwu]

Well, the players continue to gather. Asami, Bolin and Mako. All put into place, preparing for a future that's coming sooner than any of them might expect.

But we begin...with Diamond trying to outdo Prism by getting up first. Only to not check her blindspots, and get outwitted....again.

Also, seems she's still trying understand the philosophy behind airbending. Hence her inability to understand that there are some things that you need to weave around rather than plow through for the best solution. Use your head rather than your horn.

Also, Seems Blaze knows there's tension between master and apprentice, but isn't quite ready to confront the two of them about it yet. Both oddly frustrated by their limitations. DT with the point of moving, and Tenzin with her inability to give even a puff. And I love the realism Blaze keeps pushing in. "No pony expects a miracle.” Slow development. And the old sneak out the back trick.

Also, so arrogant to wear the necklace to show that she didn't want to wear something. Show a little decorum and humility. Rich really did spoil you girl.

Then she arrived, with some festivities, but not as many of the non-poninoid species. And saw the play showing the end of the great discording, the avatar harmony team taping power of all with.....with what? () OF COURSE! IT ALL MAKES SENSE! OF COURSE IT WAS CALLED RAINBOW POWER! THAT'S THE NEXT EVOLUTION OF POWER IN FIM TOO!! You Mad Genius!

And that's how you're meeting Silver? Like....Ah HA! Just like how Mako first met Asami in Korra. Running into each other! Yeah, you definitely need glasses young lady. Also, you need a bit of a backbone.

So they made their way to the benders area. Where we see the original master bending team. Since Team Avatar Harmony had splintered beyond belief, We never got to See AJ, Rainbow, Twilight and Rarity form an unstoppable 4 person Pro-bender squad. Instead, we find out that RD joined up with Jeong Jeong and Bumi to have an unbeaten record before retiring to new things. Guess Dash allowed herself more frivolities as she got older. Also, wouldn't Rainbow have been the one who would have rights to the first TRUE pairs of glasses? She's short sighted, not blind after all.

Whatever the case, again we see Diamond hungry for glory, and totally socially inept. In her case, she's like a drill instructor. (YOU CALL THAT BENDING? MY BROTHER COULD OUTBEND YOU WITH ONE HOOF BEHIND HIS BACK!" Shut up tiny) And...getting to meet her Mako and Bolin. Only in this case, it's Button and Acrylic. And just like Bolin, Button was all over DT despite her attitude. Classic Bolin, always going out to make friends despite his situation.

Also, to quote Jill's anger from Inside Out regarding DT's bragging, "I COULD STRANGLE HER RIGHT NOW!"

I also liked the nod of "You're the avatar, and I'm an Idiot" in this universe. Though still, unlikable DT. Unlikable.

I am interested to hear how probending works if they can actually draw from all 4 types. Is it a rotation sort of thing, or a sub in and out, or pick your team if it's more than 3?

Though, it seems that DT's getting seeds planted in her head. "Why did he react so harshly?" Oh, much to learn you have...young padawan. Oh my celestias. Diamond Tiara is like Anakin Skywalker. Super talented, socially stunted, arrogant, needs to come down a peg in some ways, destined for greatness in the future if they can keep their heads on. (brrr) you said it pinkie.

Oh, and Button, much like DT needs heart to get down what he's meant to be. She needs grace. He needs to be grounded in himself. Though, I love how DT's learning empathy by seeing Button's puppy eyes. I'm guessing he's going to partially by the Shy of the group too.

Then came the confrontation with Prism. Tenzin's at it again. Though, since she is younger than most avatars at this stage, you can get the whole "captured" thing. Seriously DT, put yourself in their shoes once in a while already. See the nuisance you're becoming for all of them. So DT saw her past again, foreshadowing spirit channeling...hopefully. And watch your mouth Prism. You think Discord was Bad? Wait till you get a load of Tirek. That being was so evil, Discord and Harmony actually teamed up to beat em. I mean...DT's got a big road ahead of her!

Oh, and past life deja vu. Hence her excitement to see the council. Well, let's see who's left of the old guard.