Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 2: Discord

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 12: Worming out

“Ahhhh, land. Wonderful, amazing, delightful dirt and grass!” Diamond cheered as she jumped from the ramp and landed on the ground, hugging it as best she could.

“No matter what you do, don't eat any!” Silver yelled down.

“What? Why?”

“These are the Badlands! There's no telling what kind of strange things thrive in this realm!” the earth pony yelled. She frowned as her eyes wandered back to the sky. It was sunny now, but there was no telling how long that would last. The ponies has already put up a small shelter around the damaged part of the ship, so it would at least stay dry if they began to get rained on.

For now there was nothing she could do but wait. It was times like this she wished she had all of Discord's power. Turning off the chaotic weather would have made everything better and easier.

“So, any idea how long this will take?” Diamond asked as she trotted over, a big grin on her face. “It's an absolutely pleasant day for--” All of a sudden the skies opened up and rain began to pelt them. Her mouth fell open and she stared. “H-how... no, really, how? The skies were clear and sunny just ten seconds ago!”

“The Badlands,” Silver muttered, before grinning. “Hey, while we're here, though, maybe there is something you can do to help.”

“Oh? What?”

“Well... the weather here is really strange and this land is supposed to be connected to the Spirit World, right?”

“Zecora told me it was, but I haven't seen any spirits here. Why?”

“Well, perhaps if you were to go to the Spirit World, you could find out if there's anything there we need to worry about. Maybe there's some angry spirit or something following us and that's how the ship got hit.”

“I... suppose I can,” Diamond said with a nod. “I'll need a potion, though. Did Zecora--”

“A whole batch of them. Come on, follow me,” Silver said with a chuckle, before trotting back into the ship. A low rumble ran across her hooves, making her stop. “Did... you feel that?”

“Feel what?” Diamond asked. “Solid ground? Oh yeah. It's awesome.”

“No, I thought I just felt a...” She shook her head. “Nothing, never mind. Come on, let's go get you that potion.”

------

“Would you like me to get you something to drink? Something to eat?” Button asked Luna, a big grin on his face.

The stallion shook his head as he reclined under the shade of the shelter Button had made for him. “No, thank you. You have done more than enough already, Dear Button,” he said with a smile as he glanced back to his book. “You need not fret over me so.”

“It's fine, really, that's what coltfriends are far,” he said proudly.

Luna chuckled and nodded. “Odd, I never did much of that. But then, I suppose that's the joys of being a--”

“Button!” a voice called out, interrupting the prince. The two glanced over to Alicity, who was racing over and wearing a big metal helmet with a screen over it. “Quick, do the thing!”

“The what now?” he asked with a cocked eye.

“The thing! Do the thing! You know, the thing!” Alicity said, tapping his hoof expectantly.

“He means the earth sensing,” Secretary said flatly.

“Huh?” Button asked, before shaking his head. “I uhhh... I'm not really good at it. It's... kinda one of the reasons I have so much trouble with metal bending. Since... well...”

“It doesn't matter, do it!” Alicity yelled. “I've been taking measurements since we landed and, if I'm not mistaken, there's a big hollow area under us!”

Button blinked, before tapping the ground. “I'm not very good, just--” He froze, his hoof on the ground. Slowly the color began to drain from his face. “Errr... d-doc. How uhhh... what kind of measurements?”

“Oh, you know, standard things. Soil samples, vegetation samples, bug samples, seismic activities. The moment we parked I had Secretary start unloading everything. But this chamber could be a huge find! There's no telling what is buried under neath us!”

“I think your equipment is off,” Button said with a little gulp. “That's... that's not hollow.”

“Of course it's hollow!” Alicity said before holding out his papers. “Just look, the lines are...” He paused and flipped it open. “Oh. Oh dear.”

Button tapped it again, before gulping. “I... I think we chose the wrong place to land.”

“What is it?” Luna asked before sliding to his hooves.

The earth pony glanced to the others. “Get to the ship. We need to get out of here, now. There's no telling what--”

The ground began to shake and rumble under them, nearly knocking the ponies to the ground.

“Go go go!” Button yelled, tapping his hooves and making the ground rise up, shoving them towards the ship.

The ponies ran while the ground shook and rumbled violently. The ponies were almost to the ship when it suddenly began to rise into the air. The ponies on it quickly jumped away, their mechanical wings taking them away as the ship rose up and up and up. A great purple tube seemed to have become attached to the bottom, carrying the vessel. Then it violently shook to the right, tossing the ship aside and revealing itself in all its glory.

It was the biggest worm, or possibly snake, Button had ever seen. The majority of its body was purple, but its head was pink. It had a red flower-like mane around its neck(or at least, the closest thing it had to a neck) and it seemed to have three faces. Then its face divided into three different parts, each one having its own pair of eyes with red streaks by them. It roared, revealing a mouth filled with long green tentacles and teeth. So many teeth.

Button squeaked, staring at the thing. “A-Alicity, do you have anything to deal with that?”

“A-actually, yes. Unfortunately, all of them are on the ship,” the stallion said nervously. “Secretary, do the thing!”

“Of course, sir,” she said before her horn glowed. A moment later a great ball of electricity shot out from the ship, slamming into the creature's side. It seemed relatively unharmed.

“Ah. In that case. Do the OTHER thing!” he yelled before turning and fleeing, Secretary in tow.

“What's the thing?” Button called after him.

“Fleeing for our lives!” Secretary yelled back.

The giant worm let out another roar before it lunged after them, swimming through the dirt with ease, rising up out of the ground directly behind them. Its massive jaws opened again as the tentacles lashed out at Button.

A rainbow blur burst from the ship and slammed into the back of the creature, sending its attack off course and slamming its head into the ground. “Hey, ugly! What do you think you're doing?” Rainbow called up at it, rubbing her hoof.

The worm turned towards her and roared, its tentacles lashing out at her. She dove away with ease, pulling up and into the air. She sent a burst of air at it, but it just bounced off the creature's face with ease.

“Ha, you think you can keep up with me? I'm Rainbow Dash!” the pegasus yelled, before doing a tight turn up and looping back around the creature's face, slamming both her front hooves into its side. She cringed again and darted away before it could grab her. “Heh... heh. Tough little guy, aren't yah?” she asked, rubbing her hooves. She quickly flew up, narrowly avoided the creature as it lunged after her. She flew out of reach, panting slightly. “Come on, guys, get to the ship!”

“R-right,” Button called, before turning back around and racing towards the ship with the others. Rainbow dove and weaved around the creature, trying to keep its attention but unable to break through.

“Ha! You're nowhere near as tough as the Great Dragon and I used to pound my fists into his face all the time!” Rainbow yelled before bucking it in the side again. She let out a startled yelp as a tentacle lashed out, wrapping around one of her hooves. “H-hey!”

The creature lunged forward, its tongue pulling her in as it came closer, maw gaping. Rainbow yelped and covered her face, a moment before the pressure was relieved from her hoof and something slammed into her chest.

“You okay, mom?” Prism asked.

“Took your time, didn't you?” she asked with a snort. Green goo leaked from the sliced tongue wrapped around her hoof. Ironwing hovered a few feet away, his wing blades covered in the goo.

“Sorry, we didn't expect the ship to be suddenly flipped upside down,” Ironwing grumbled, before charging towards the creature. He was slower than Rainbow, but his wings managed to slice through the tongues when they came close, making the creature roar all the angrier.

“They're trying to get it back up, but there's no telling how long that'll take. We can't go to max height like this,” Prism yelled before letting his mother go and racing at the worm. He turned and slammed both his back hooves into its side, knocking it off kilter a moment later. The worm slammed down to the side, hitting the ground with a painful thump. It lifted its head for only a moment, before diving it back down and disappearing into the ground.

“Is that it? Is it gone?” Rainbow asked.

“I think so. I don't see it anywhere,” Ironwing muttered. “I think we--” A massive shriek tore through the ground before the creature lunged out of the ground, its whole body flying at them as it broke through to the surface. The three scattered, avoiding the creature.

The worm twisted and writhed in the air, wiggling about and giving loud, angry roars. Then it came crashing down.

Prism's eyes widened. “Oh no.”

The worm landed tail first, hitting the ground before the rest of its hulking mass came down after it, directly onto the airship as it struggled to right itself and get back into the air. The ship never stood a chance, it slammed into it as metal, glass and fabric tore away, the ship crumbling in the center. The worm roared again, writhing on top of the ship and shattering more of it before finally crossing over the crippled vessel, diving head first into the ground.

“Buck!” Rainbow yelled before flying at the ship. “We need to help them, before it--”

The worm rose once again, its head rising up over the ship while its tail began come out the other side. The tail quickly looped around the ship and the dent it caused, slowly crushing it.

“Stop it!” Rainbow yelled, racing down at it and slamming her hooves into its face again. Prism and Ironwing followed suit, jamming themselves against its body. It shook them off, constricting its tail tighter and slowly crushing the ship. It opened its mouth, its tongues lashing out and slowly reaching towards the holes that were beginning to form and lashing at the ponies trying to escape through them.

Suddenly a brown blur crashed down on its face, directly between the top eyes. A brown pegasus with a gray streaked mane looked around with a cocky grin on her face. She was wearing a brown shirt and a simple white hat. “Well, aren't you a big one?” the mare asked before reaching into her shirt and pulling out a small vial. “But you know what they say!” She slammed it down on the creature's face, before jumping into the air moments before a thick dust filled the air. “Big ones are all cry babies!”

For a moment nothing seemed to happen as the giant worm kept crushing the ship. Then it let out a sneeze, freezing in place. Then it let out a second and third sneeze, its body slowly going still. By the fourth sneeze it started to writhe and shake its head, its tail unlatching from the ship as it struggled to clear itself, shaking violently about before diving into the ground.

“... Okay, who is that?” Rainbow asked, pointing towards the pony.

“I... have no idea,” Prism said.

“You know, not to be a stickler or anything,” the pony said before pointing to the ship. “But I did arrive a bit late. Shouldn't you be trying to help all your friends stuck in that?”

“Oh buck...” Ironwing said, before diving down towards the ship.

------

Silver was not crying. She was so, so past crying as she hugged the Promise, or at least what remained of it. “M-my baby! My beautiful, one of a kind baby! It's not fair! It's not f-fair!” she wailed, hugging the hull. “We were going to see the world, we were going to see everything! H-how? How could you be taken from me so soon? It's not fair!” she screamed.

Diamond coughed, slowly moving up behind the earth pony. “It's... not so bad, Silver. I mean, there were a lot of wounded, but at least nopony was killed.” She put a hand on her withers. “We could--”

“DON'T YOU TOUCH ME!” Silver screamed, knocking the hoof away, turning her hate filled gaze on Diamond. “This is YOUR FAULT! It's your stupid Avatar curse! Just like Twilight and her air ships! Do you have ANY idea how long it took me to make this? How many bits have been spent on it? The sleepless nights, the ensuring everything was perfect! I worked... I worked so hard and it's just... it's...” She trembled, the tears flowing down her face.

Diamond stood there, stunned as she looked at her friend. She then lunged forward and hugged her as tight as she could. “Silver... I am so, so sorry. I... I never wanted any of this to happen. It's going to be okay though, I promise. We can make a new Promise. We--”

“I-I don't want a new Promise! I want THIS Promise! She was perfect, she was beautiful a-and she was glorious,” the mare wailed, sobbing into the alicorn's withers. Diamond just held her, gently rubbing her back and doing her best to comfort the stricken mare. Slowly, the wails broke down to crying, then sobbing then finally small hiccups. She gave a few last sniffles and then pulled back. “S-sorry. I just--”

“It's okay,” the alicorn said with a smile. “We're friends, we're always here for each other.”

Silver nodded, before wiping her eyes and looking towards the crew and passengers, all of which were doing their best to avoid looking at her and focus on gathering what they could. She took a slow, deep breath. “Okay, well, there's no use crying... any more... over the ship. We'll have to gather up what we can and make for...” She blinked, and then looked to the pegasus that had saved them. “Actually, yeah. Before that. Who are you? And do you know where we can get shelter near here, especially away from that big... thing?”

“Oh, the tatzlwurm? I wouldn't worry about that. Deadly buggers, but extremely sensitive noses. It won't be back for a day or so.” She stepped forward and held out her hoof. “Name's Daring Do, a pleasure to meet you little lady.”

“Silver Spoon,” the earth pony said back. “Would you mind telling me exactly... where you came from?”

“My village. It isn't very far from here,” she said with a grin, before glancing towards Diamond. “So... I can't help but notice a lot of you seem to have horns and wings. But... well, hers are a lot less metal. Is she... well, you know. Who I think?”

“I am the Avatar, yes,” Diamond said with a nod. “You're familiar with me?”

Daring nodded. “Of course. My mom said if I ever met the next Avatar, me and my sister better do our best to help.” She then glanced down to Silver. “But... I didn't know they made metal ones. I thought there was only supposed to be one.”

“My horns and wings are artificial,” Silver said firmly. “You're familiar with the legend of the Avatar?” She then blinked. “Wait, I don't suppose you're familiar with Twilight Sparkle, the previous Avatar?”

The pegasus chuckled. “Well, I'd better have been. She was my mom, after all. Wish I'd known the Avatar was with you a few days back, I'd have shown myself a lot sooner. Probably stopped you from running into... that... you all okay?” She waved a hoof in front of Silver's face. “Hello? Anypony in there?”

Rainbow was the first to recover. “TWILIGHT'S YOUR MOM?!”

Author's Note:

And boom! Ugh, this has been waiting for sooooo long...

Comments

[CrystalMaster76]

Well crap, didn't see that ending coming at all. I was wondering if Daring was gonna show up, given that she was one of the few named ponies that didn't show up in the first series.

On the other hand, The Promise being destroyed, saw that coming a mile away, surprised it took this long.

So our expedition cast now includes: Diamond, Silver, Button, Acrylic, Celestia, Luna, Alacity, Secretary, the Zebra whose name eludes me, Prism, Ironwing, Rainbow, and now Daring, plus a few more crew members, that's 13 main crew members all with a story arc of some sort (save Secretary), this book is gonna be long. I'm ecstatic.

So yeah, good chapter, looking forward to more.