Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 2: Discord

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 11: Cursed

Diamond groaned as she laid on her back, her eyes little swirls. She made yet another mental note.

Training with Rainbow bucking sucked.

For one, the mare was extremely lazy and seemed to spend more time just slacking off than actually training. Second, when she DID train, she seemed to expect Diamond to keep up with her in EVERYTHING she did. Speed, strength, control. She couldn't imagine how a mare could be both so amazing AND so lazy at the same time. Third, the mare liked to laugh at her and, in her words, 'wreck her'. She seemed to be completely devoid of any tact.

Worst of all. She was just. So. Arrogant. Diamond was really starting to see why ponies had gotten so mad at her before. It was like looking in a mirror of her past self.

On the up side, while she still had no idea how to work this 'air sight' ability the mare talked of, the few days she'd spent training with her had advanced her ability to fly by leaps and bounds. Mostly out of necessity. And survival.

After a particularly grueling session(which to Diamond's annoyance, had left her too sore to move and Rainbow with barely a drop of sweat lost), she laid on a small bench and struggled to catch her breath, glancing over to Prism. “You... trained with her... as a kid? How did... you survive?”

He chuckled and glanced to her. “Could it be? Perhaps you are starting to appreciate my training methods now?”

“No pony... should get up... at the crack of dawn.”

“Wait, what was that?” Rainbow asked. “Prism, up at the crack of dawn? Surely you mean the crack of two thirty, right?”

Prism blushed and covered his face. “No, mother. I've gotten a bit more... mature since last we spoke.”

“Bucking... who gets up at DAWN though? If we were meant to rise with the sun, mornings wouldn't be so cold,” the mare said with a shake of her head. “That's not the Prism I knew.”

“Well, sometimes we change. Now I get up at dawn and take care of my responsibilities before I start horsing around.”

“That's perfect, that leaves you plenty of time in the day to make up with Ironwing then.”

“W-what?” the pegasus said, before shaking his head. “Oh no, I am not talking with that--”

“Oh yes you are,” Rainbow said with a shake of her head. “You two are making up nice and quickly. Because I said so.” She walked over, grabbing his hoof and tugging him along. “Now come on. I think the Avatar is done for now.”

He refused to budge, pulling his hoof back. “No, mother. I told you, let this go. We're not--”

“Too bad,” Rainbow said with a shake of her head. “Listen, I get it. You two fought, big time. I'm sorry I was at the center of that, but...” She took a deep breath and turned towards Diamond. “You should hear this too, Avatar.” She then turned back to her son. “Friendship isn't something you just let die. I remember you two. You were inseparable. Buck, I remember your little special mega bolt training, or whatever you called it. Shady wonder I think. You two were good, bucking good. When you worked together, even I would have hesitated to go up against you two. And I'm ME. I'm bucking awesome.”

Prism sighed and shook his head. “That was then, this is now. We're adults now, mature and--”

“Since when does 'mature' mean having a stick up your flank? Listen, I get it. You two had a fight and let it stew for... well, years. But it's a grudge and you need to let it go. Like it or not, you still like him.”

“I do not!”

“Of course you do. If you didn't like him, you wouldn't be so bitter and up tight about it. I've been there, more or less.” She put a hoof to her chest. “I've felt like I was betrayed, like my friends all turned against me. Buck, I've been to the point where I thought they didn't care about me at all. But you know what? That doesn't matter. Sometimes, you need to be the pony to go and say you're sorry. You need to talk things out, before they get out of hoof. Though it seems they already are.”

Prism pulled away, shaking his head. “It's too late for that, mom. Me and him, we're done.” He stormed off, leaving them behind.

“Ugh, he is so stubborn,” Rainbow said with a shake of her head. “He gets it from his father. Stars know I'd never be that pig headed.”

Diamond snickered, covering her mouth with her hoof.

“Something funny, Avatar?” the pegasus asked dangerously.

“N-no Miss Rainbow,” Diamond said quickly, the smile vanishing.

------

Silver couldn't keep the frown off her face as she looked over all the reports. It didn't make any sense. They were bucking lost. Worst than that, every few hours something on the ship was breaking.

Altena had tried to keep them on a steady course, but it wasn't her fault. Nothing worked right here. The weather was unpredictable, sending hail the size of cupcakes at them one second, then blistering heat the next. The ship had been struck by lightning at least a dozen times(thank goodness she'd put lightning rods on the vessel to protect a city or it would have sunk long ago) and they'd nearly been caught in four tornadoes as it was. Even with all the defenses, they had still been hit a few times as if the weather itself was targeting them. The scouts weren't making any real headway, because everything just seemed to materialize out of nowhere. The only reason the ship was flying still was because it was staying above the cloud cover, but they'd sprung so many leaks she wasn't sure if they could hold on much longer. They needed to land for repairs, but she wasn't sure how long they'd last if it came to that.

It didn't help that none of their navigation tools worked, either. It was as if the stars themselves moved randomly across the night sky. Their compass spun in all random directions and there was no real signs of them making steady progress. For all she knew, they were less than an hours travel from the Fire Tribe lands. Or they could have been days away. Even weeks away depending on winds.

There was nothing that could be done about it, they'd have to land soon. But as bad as the weather was up in the sky, down on the ground it was far, far worse. She closed her eyes and leaned back, taking a slow, deep breath.

It was almost as if Discord himself was trying to ruin everything, setting the world around them off and unleashing his chaotic magic on them. Except if that was the case, she'd have felt it. She'd have been able to stop it. This was something else, something possibly worse. Something bad had happened in the Badlands and she had no idea what it could be.

Her eyes widened and she got to her hooves, a grin forming on her lips.

She might not know, but there was one other way to find out, she was sure. She trotted through the ship, glancing back and forth as she made her way towards the storage hold. Once there it only took her a few moments to find the large jars containing thick, green liquid. She'd asked Zecora to make a few batches of her special Spirit World potion, in case the Avatar needed it. She couldn't see why it wouldn't work for her.

Her metallic wings slowly reached out, gripping the nearest bottle and pulling it close. “Hello, my darling, I--”

“What are you doing?” Acrylic asked, making her jump and nearly drop the bottle.

“Gahhhh!” She turned around, placing the bottle back. “Acrylic? What are you doing in here?”

“I uhhhh, haven't seen you much the last few days, I wanted to see how you were doing. There hasn't been any news of changes, so... I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Are you okay? You seem a bit jumpy.”

Silver nodded. “I'm fine. I...” She paused, before taking a deep breath. The best lies were always the ones based on the truth. She picked up the bottle. “Promise not to tell the others, especially not my father?”

He frowned and nodded.

“I... think we're lost. Something is wrong out there.”

“I know, the Badlands are apparently always like this.”

“No, I don't just mean... bad. I mean very bad.” She looked towards him and shuffled her hooves. “I... think it might be something with the Spirit World. I want to check.”

“Huh? What do you--” His eyes glanced to the potion. “Wait, what is that stuff?”

“You know about the potion Zecora has made for the Avatar to help her travel there? Well, this is it,” she said before holding it up. “I... want to try it.”

“That's dangerous! You could be killed, you—”

“Please, Acrylic!” She rushed forward, covering his mouth with her wing. “Not so loud, you'll let everypony know!”

He slowly nodded. “You can't, it's dangerous. There's no--”

“I know, I know. It's dangerous, but I have to try. And it's not THAT dangerous. I just want to take a little peep and then come back, that's all.”

“But normal ponies can't go there! It takes years of training and a natural talent to--”

“And that's what the potion is for,” she said with a nod. “And... well, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But if it does work, I might be able to find out what's going on. Why things are so... weird here.”

“We should get Diamond, she--”

“The Avatar is sick, so sick she can barely stand. If she went to the Spirit World she'd be worse off than me. I'm at least able bodied.” She put a hoof over his. “Please, Acrylic. You're my friend. I... want you to help me with this.”

He stared for a few moments before shaking his head. “No. It's too dangerous. It... it's...”

She looked away. “I see how it is. You're just like my father, aren't you? You don't have any faith in me either.”

“W-what? No, that's not it, I think you're amazing, you--”

“Then why? I just need to know if I can. The Avatar can't and I just want to take a peep. I know what's in there, I've studied the Spirit World plenty of times.”

“You have? When?”

The earth pony paused for a moment, her mind reeling as she struggled to think of a reason. “All the time. It's the Spirit World, you never know when something from there could be useful. Besides, it's fascinating, you should read some of the books on it.”

Acrylic eyed her for a few moments, before sighing. “Fine. But... I want to come with you.”

Silver paused, before shaking her head. “No. I... want you to keep watch for me. Please. I... don't want the others to know.” Her metallic horn glowed and she gingerly picked up the bottle.

“Why?”

“Because this is my fault. It's my fault we're lost, I was the one who designed this ship, I should have been better prepared for what we're encountering. That means it's my job to take the risks. Please. For me?”

The stallion chewed on his lower lip for a few moments, eying her. Then, slowly, he nodded. “Fine. I don't like any of it, but fine. I'll do what you want. Just this once, okay?”

She lunged forward and gave him a hug. “Thank you! You're the best, Acrylic!”

He yiped a little, nodding. “O-okay. I uhhh... heh heh. F-for you, a-anything.”

“Okay, let's go. We can do it in my room.” She trotted out of the room, the stallion following behind him. She looked at a the bottle, a wide grin on her face.

She was thankful it was him who found her. She knew Button would have helped her too, but he would have probably blabbed to everypony. Acrylic was far more subtle. She couldn't imagine why he'd agreed so readily, though. She'd thought it would have been harder.

------

Silver took a slow, deep breath as she eyed the potion. On the one hoof, she'd have given just about anything to know what was in it and how to concoct such a brew, it could be very useful in the future.

On the other hoof, she was about to drink it, so it was probably for the best that she had no idea what was in it. Whatever it was, it smelled nasty and made her wanna gag when she took a sniff. She glanced towards the door with a little worry.

Acrylic was outside, keep an eye out in case there was any trouble. She wasn't expecting much and she seriously doubted she'd be gone for long, but she still wanted to keep this as hidden as possible. “Not that any of them would believe I was doing anything... dishonest, anyway,” she mumbled before she swirled the potion. After a moment she closed her eyes. “Well... to the best.” She took a small swig.

Oh, she was wrong. She was so very, very, very wrong. She didn't want to ever know what went into the nasty concoction. She quickly closed the bottle up and barely managed to swallow, the aftertaste refusing to leave her tongue and instead just made her shudder. She laid back and closed her eyes, waiting for it to take effect.

She didn't have to wait long until she felt slightly detached from herself. As if she was floating out of her body. She didn't fight the sensation, struggling to keep herself focused while slowly she began to lift into the air.

When she opened her eyes she was greeted with destruction. A barren, empty wasteland. She took a step back, her claws clattering across the ground. She glanced down and froze.

Her front right hoof was instead a great clawed paw, her left hoof was a bird's talons. She glanced back to her wings and froze. One was leathery like a dragons, the other feathery like a pegasus. Her paw reached up to her face, but she shook her head and closed her eyes. “No no no no. Not... no,” she whispered weakly, taking a deep, slow breath. “Of... course I look like this. Nothing is wrong,” she said softly, before lowering her paw to the ground.

“I am the Avatar of Discord. It is only natural I would take on such an appearance. There is no need to panic, nothing is wrong,” she repeated to herself. “Just need to focus. Just need to...” She opened her eyes and looked down. Her legs were hooves again and when she looked back, the wings were now metal, like her suit in the real world. “There. Better. More me,” she said firmly before looking around. “Hello!” she yelled out.

She received no response, though she wasn't surprised. She started trotting around, not that there was anything to see. The place was absolutely devoid of any life, not even a tumbleweed. The deserts they had flown over were downright brimming with life in comparison. “Is anything here? Anything at all?”

She squinted off towards the distance. Far, far away she swore she could make out a small hint of green, but it looked as if it was days away by hoof. She didn't have time to go searching through every little thing trying to find something. Still, she spread her wings and slowly flapped them.

Despite the fact they were metal, she could still feel them as they moved, the wind brushing through them and ruffling the metal bits. It made her feel uneasy, but slowly she began to rise into the air and go up, into the sky. She let out a soft sigh of relief as she moved up and began to get a wider view of the area.

Barren in almost all directions, except that small big of green off in the distance. Except, as she rose she could soon she it wasn't quite as small as she initially assumed. In fact, the green seemed to spread out for miles, great, massive trees as far as the eye could see. The more she stared, the larger they seemed to become, even though she wasn't moving any closer.

She longed to go explore them and get answers, but instead she slowly descended back to the ground. “That's enough for now,” she said softly, before closing her eyes.

She sat up in the real world, gasping. A hoof rose to her heart and she felt it pounding. “A-Acrylic?” she called out.

The door opened a moment later and he stepped in. “Is everything okay?”

“Y-yeah. I just... yeah. It's all okay. Just...” She took a slow, deep breath and slid the potion into the cupboard. “It seems I'm capable of going there, though.”

“What was it like?” Acrylic asked softly.

Silver glanced to the cupboard. “You... can try it, if you like. You're probably able to--”

“No, no no,” he said with a shake of his head. “I like being here, really.” He sat down besides her. “What did you see?”

“It was all... barren and empty. Dead as far as the eye could see. Like nothing had lived there for years.”

“Really?” Acrylic asked, frowning. “That's... weird. We should tell Diamond.”

“No!” Silver said quickly.

“Silver?”

“I don't want her know I went in there. She'll worry and fret.” She took a slow, deep breath. “We'll wait until we land and then give her the potion. There didn't seem to be anything dangerous there, so I'm sure it'll be fine. It's not like anything will change between now and when we land, anyway.”

The stallion chewed on his lower lip, glancing away. “I... don't know. This sounds pretty... well... spirits are big to Avatars, aren't they? Isn't this kind of stuff important?”

“Y-yes. But if she knows I went in without her, she'll start to panic and worry. You know how Diamond is, she doesn't like it when other ponies... well, do stuff that she can do. She'll probably lecture me about the danger, tell me not to do it again, or make a big deal about nothing.”

Acrylic sighed. “But it was dangerous, I shouldn't have--”

“I can take care of myself,” she said firmly. “Just because I'm not a bender like you guys doesn't mean I'm helpless.” She spread out her wings, the metal tips flaring with electricity. “Besides, I was careful. Very careful. So please, don't worry so much.”

“It's... hard not to worry about you,” he said with a small blush.

“Why?” She rolled her eyes. “Don't be like my dad. I know how to take care of myself, I'm not helpless. There is absolutely no reason to worry about me. Okay?”

“But I just... it's just...” He gave a sigh and nodded. “Right, sorry. I know you're... capable. I just... I...”

“You what?”

“I...” He blushed and then leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

Her eyes went wide and she barely managed not to shriek. After a moment, a loud zap filled the air and he collapsed. She shrieked, her face bright red. “I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I panicked, you kissed me and I panicked and I'm sorry I didn't mean to zap you, you just kissed me and I just, I'm sorry I'm so sorry I didn't mean to! Acrylic?” She nudged him gently. “Errr... Acrylic? Buddy?” She nudged him a few more times. “Oh dear...”

------

Diamond trotted into the infirmary, despite the fact she knew she shouldn't be, she felt quite good. Namely because she was here for someone other than her this time. “Heyyyy Acrylic. How you feeling?” she asked with a big grin.

“Like I just got zapped by ten thousand volts,” the unicorn grumbled.

Silver blushed and looked down. “I-I said I was sorry, I kind of... I didn't mean to...”

Diamond cocked an eye. “So, what happened, anyway?”

“Hardware malfunction,” the two said in unison, their faces bright red.

“Uh... huh. Where's Button? I figured he'd beat me here.”

“With Luna, probably,” Acrylic said with a sigh.

------

Celestia sighed and glanced towards Luna and Button, the latter who was trying, and failing, to serenade the former with a badly tuned banjo.

------

“Makes sense,” Diamond said before sitting down at the foot of the bed. “How you feeling? I know those things can kinda hurt. Got any twitches?”

“I'll be fine,” Acrylic mumbled, his right hind leg twitching slightly. “How'd you find out, anyway?”

“Prism called me. Said he saw you being hauled to the infirmary with Silver chasing you and apologizing the whole time. I put two and two together.” She then glanced to Silver. “Are you sure your dad hasn't been messing with your wings again? Maybe he has it set to zap anypony who comes within a few feet.”

“Shouldn't you be in bed?” the earth pony grumbled, her eyes lowered.

The alicorn opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked between the two. “Is... something wrong? You two seem... odd. Extra angry and--” Her eyes widened and a hoof went up to her mouth. “N-no way. Acrylic... you... you confessed, didn't you?”

Both ponies cringed.

“A-and Silver, you zapped him for it?”

There was a long, long moment of silence. Diamond face hoofed. “And here I thought I handled Button badly.”

“I-it took me by surprise! He kissed me! He didn't warn me, he just kissed me!”

“I-I was in the moment,” Acrylic said, his face even redder.

Diamond blinked, a grin forming on her lips. “W-wait. He... kissed you? Just flat out kissed you? Wow. Way to go, Acrylic. I didn't think you had it in you.”

“S-shut up! I was just, in the moment and I thought, I was...”

Diamond snickered, before glancing to Silver. “So... ummm, what does this mean for you two? Did you kiss him back?” She paused, a wider grin on her lips. “Was he a good kisser?”

The earth pony groaned, her cheeks bright red. “D-Diamond, please. Stop... being evil.”

“Oh, come on, this time the drama isn't my fault! I want answers! Did he sl--” She let out a yelp as suddenly the ship jarred to the right, sending her into the wall. A heavy booming echoed through the hall.

“Oh, thank heavens, literally anything else,” Silver said with relief. She raced to the nearest intercom and pushed a few buttons. “This is Silver, what's the situation?”

“Err... Lady Silver, we're going to have to land.”

Silver blinked. “What? Why? What happened?”

“Lightning has struck one of the balloons, erupting it. It needs to be replaced and refilled if we want to head back above.”

Silver let out a groan, before nodding. “An external balloon? That should be--”

“It struck an internal balloon. One of the big ones.”

The earth pony paused and stared. “How the buck did it... I hate this place. Acrylic, we can talk later, I need to go deal with this, okay, bye!” she said before racing out the door.

Diamond chuckled as she watched her go, before turning to Acrylic. The smile vanished a moment later. “Acrylic? Are... are you crying?”

“N-no,” he said with a sniffle, wiping his eyes. “It's just the... electricity.”

She moved over to him, sitting down. “Acrylic...”

“S-shut up...”

“What's wrong?”

“It's obvious what's wrong. I was stupid and I just... acted without thinking. I-I should have said something and tested the waters and... ugh. I acted like my mother!” He brought his hooves to his face, shaking his head. “So stupid stupid stupid!”

“Acrylic, you aren't stupid,” Diamond muttered before reaching out and patting his knees. “You were just... impulsive. And you've like Silver for a long, long...” She paused. “Actually, I've only known you a few months. How long HAVE you liked her?”

His cheeks flared red yet again.

“Never mind. It doesn't matter. I bet it just came as a shock, she's probably just trying to figure it out. Once she does, she'll talk with you. She's pretty smart, and...” Diamond coughed into her hoof. “So... uhhh, just flat out kissed her? Really?”

“It was stupid and I regret it and it was so awesome and I hate my mother.”

Diamond chuckled and patted his side again. “Who knows? Maybe she thought it was pretty awesome too.”

“I doubt it...”

The alarms suddenly blared. “Prepare for an emergency landing, everypony, please brace yourself. Repeat, prepare for an emergency landing.”

Diamond glanced up and gripped the bed. “It's fine, Acrylic. Really. Worse that can happen is she rejects you and you're just friends.”

“How is that supposed to help me?” he grumbled, covering his face with his hooves.

“Well, now it's out in the open. Before it was in hiding, you were cowering away and not letting her know. Now at least she knows. If she doesn't feel that way about you, then... you're back where you started. Except you'll know nothing can happen between you two, so you can move on. Find somepony else to pine over. Like... I don't know. Zecora.”

He glanced up and glared at her. “Why would I pine over Zecora?”

“I don't know. You seem like someone who would have a thing for rhymes.”

“She's as old as my mother!”

“Also, you have mommy issues,” she said with a grin.

He glared at her, but after a moment he smiled and gave a soft chuckle. “You know, Avatar, sometimes I hate you.”

“I know. But do you hate me right now?”

“Not much more than normal.”

“Then that's progress.” She gave his side another pat. “So, uhh... are you still hurting? I mean, that whole zap and all...”

“Honestly? Mostly just my pride, it's--” The ship suddenly jarred heavily, sending them both scattering to the ground. Acrylic groaned from the ground. “O-ow... landed... on a bed... pan... now I hurt...”

------

Silver steadied herself as the ship managed to both crash and land on the ground below. It skidded along, sending ripples through the ship as it went.

The damages had been far, far worse than they had hoped. She couldn't understand how the lightning had hit the balloon, it should have been impossible. Physically impossible, there were dozens of lightning rods set up throughout the ship, protecting them from such a possibility. It wasn't magic, as best she could tell. A few bolts had hit the ship before, but it was as if this bolt had targeted that balloon directly.

It was as if the very balance of the world had been thrown off here, something terrible and just... strange. Even for her. She'd had no choice but to make an emergency landing. They'd managed to slow and delay it as long as possible before making their way towards the stablest area they could. Their scouts had managed to find a small patch of grass nearby and they'd barely managed to land on top of it.

Unfortunately, the ship was damaged and there was no telling how long it would take to repair it, nor how much damage had been done from the explosion.

But, possibly worst of all, Acrylic had kissed her. Silver had no idea what to do. She couldn't imagine why he'd done such a thing, he'd never expressed the slightest interest in her. At least, not in that manner. She'd have to talk with him eventually, but that was not something she was looking forward to.

'Ugh, all I want to do is defeat the Avatar and unleash the world into chaos, why does he have to make it hard?' she mentally whined, before glancing towards the captain. “I... guess everything is in your hooves, now. Get us into the air as soon as you can, but don't rush things. Better to get it done right than have to crash down again.”

“Of course,” the pegasus said.

Silver took a deep breath and made her way towards the boarding ramp, her mind swirling. She wished she had some point of reference to compare it with. She considered for a moment talking with her father about it, but the mere thought sent a shudder through her body.

By the time she made it to the ramp, it was already open and a dozen ponies were already outside, looking over the damage. She joined them and cringed.

The bottom of the ship was designed to minimize damage in such a case, with a reinforced hull, no jutting parts and special springs to reduce the impact to the rest of the ship. It still didn't look too good. Parts of the ship had been torn off, the ship had dug a very deep hole and the skid marks had torn a long trail through the fields. Still, the ship was in mostly one piece and nothing integral seemed to have snapped off. In a few hours it could probably be replaced and fixed before they headed off again.

She took a slow, deep breath before spreading out her mechanical wings and taking to the air. She could fly pretty quickly now, thanks to all the improvements that had been made since Meadowbrook's attack. It took her only a few moments to find where the lightning had struck the ship. Namely thanks to the big black smoldering hole it left in the side of the ship. “Buck,” she said softly.

It wasn't the largest internal balloon in the ship, but it was one of them. It traveled through the entire vessel and was blocked off through a big, metal hatch. A few earth ponies wearing the same kind of metallic wings she did were already working on getting the hatch open.

When they did, smoke and the smell of burnt rubber filled the air. “Buck,” she said again as she walked over and peered inside.

The tunnel was covered in deep black burn marks. “That's not good,” she muttered. “How long until a pony will be able to get in there?”

“Probably about twenty minutes until it cools off enough. We're trying to vent the system now, but we have to be slow so nopony gets hurt.”

She nodded. “Take as long as needed, I don't want anypony getting wounded over this.” She then glanced to the two lightning rods right next to the balloon. The ones the lightning had avoided entirely.

She really, really hated this place. She wondered if maybe there was a bit to those rumors about Twilight's curse.

Comments

[Rhanoa]

I laugh too much at the chapter title. There was no escape. The best way to crash a ship is talking about crash.

[Blaster M]

Curse of the Avatar strikes again...