Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 2: Discord

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 24: Grave

Luna sipped from his water and occasionally eyed across the medical tent at Button. He struggled to stop it, but he couldn't help but feel a low warmth in his chest when he looked at the stallion.

He still couldn't believe he'd actually jumped in after him. There was only one other stallion he could imagine doing something like that, his father.

Of course, it was a foalish, stupid, dangerous and just all around useless action to take. Yet, Button had managed to succeed and save them both. That just seemed to be his way, though. Bashing his head against the world and hoping the world gave in first. Or he passed out and forgot why he was bashing it to begin with.

Despite Luna's earlier trepidation, he couldn't help it. He was actually falling for the stallion. He felt this warm glow in his stomach whenever he saw him now(and being in the medical tent together, they saw a lot of each other). Even if at first it had been a small little fling accepted only because Luna had been flattered by the attention, now it felt like so much more.

Button looked up and Luna quickly looked down, his own cheeks red. He couldn't believe he was being so emotional, practically broadcasting his thoughts like this. The other stallion could probably read him like a book.

------

Button glanced up at Luna. He really wished he had any idea what was going through the prince's head. The unicorn kept looking over, but then looking away.

Maybe he was mad? Oh gosh, was he going to break up with him? That made Button's heart beat a little faster. He still didn't know what he wanted. He was still pretty sure he wasn't into stallions. But he knew he was definitely into Luna. He wondered if that was a thing, could a pony be attracted to mares and in one special stallion?

'Ugh! Why does everything have to be so confusing? Would it kill you to just make things simple for once, universe?' He swore sometimes it felt like Discord was personally involved in his life in some way. Fortunately, even he wasn't gullible enough to actually believe that was possible.

He face hoofed again and again.

“Button? Is something wrong?” Luna asked.

He yiped, blushing red before slowly looking up at him. He gingerly shook his head. “No. I just... thinking.”

“O-oh. Okay. If... you need any help, do ask.”

Button nodded, before blinking a few times. He took a slow, deep breath. Maybe he just needed to talk it out with him. Luna was smart, he'd know what to do. “Luna, can I--”

“Luna, Button!” Celestia yelled when she galloped inside, panting slightly. “I'm so, so, so sorry. I should have come here when I first heard, but it's just, well, you're not going to believe it!”

Button quickly shut up, glancing to the princess. “What is it?”

“Twilight, they got her body. They'll be having a funeral later when the others get here. They're burying her now, though. I uhhh... well, I thought you might want to come.”

The earth pony blinked, before slowly nodding. “I uhhh... didn't really know her, but she was really important. I wouldn't want to miss the funeral. I know my mom would want to be here for it, if she was able.”

“I as well,” Luna said with a nod. “We owe her much for all that she has done for our people.”

Celestia nodded, before trotting over and sitting at the hoof of Luna's bed. “So, what are you two up to?”

“Button was about to ask me something,” Luna said, glancing to the stallion.

Button froze, gulping nervously. He then gave a little, weak smile. “I uhhh... I just... errr... I just... I wanted to k-know if you'd like to get a bite or something later. I mean, I'm feeling a lot better now, eh heh. Maybe... if you want.”

Luna's cheeks turned just the slightest tint of red. “If you like, that sounds positively delightful. After the funeral?”

“Yeah. That uhhhh, sounds nice. The bite to eat part, not the funeral. The funeral part sounds... yeah.” The earth pony poked his hooves together.

Celestia snickered. “Aw, you two are just adorable when you're shy. Is he always like this when you two plan meals together?”

“Quite often,” Luna said with a nod. “It is quite endearing and adorable. He is such a shy colt.”

Button gave a little squeak, burying his face in his hooves.

“So, tell us. Did you... see the body? How... ummm...”

“Stabbed through the chest, likely by ice,” Celestia said with a sigh. “Trixie, most likely. But... the body itself looked oddly well preserved. Aside from being covered in purple goop. I don't know what the Smooze is, but it doesn't seem to digest things very quickly. Possibly at all.”

“It sure felt like it was digesting us,” Button muttered, a hoof rubbing his chest.

“Digesting our magic, at least,” Luna said softly. “It was... an interesting experience. One I do not wish to repeat.”

“Well, luckily you won't have to,” Celestia said with a chuckle. “Besides, your colt friend was the only one who managed to fight it off, that's gotta mean something. I bet your mom'll be pretty amazed when she hears about it.”

Button chuckled. “Yeah, can't metal bend to save my life, but can lava bend to--” The words caught in his throat and his cheeks flared.

“Save mine?” Luna offered.

He squeaked and nodded, his face red and he glanced towards Luna. He wished he could figure out at all what the stallion was thinking. The smallest hint, that's all he wanted.

------

“Sir, are you sure this is... wise?” Secretary asked before she handed Alicity a wrench. “They shouldn't all need cannons.”

“Bah!” the doctor said with a shrug. “This is for defense! Besides, there's no telling how many of them will get hit by lightning.”

“All of them. Over and over,” she muttered darkly.

“That's the spirit!”

The unicorn sighed and shook her head. “Sir...”

“Besides, who knows what they could be useful for? What if one of them crashed?” He grinned up at her. “I guarantee you, if I only set up a cannon for one of them, then that would be the only one to crash in the first ten minutes. If they all have cannons, either they'll all make it through or they'll all explode in a fiery explosion!”

Secretary blinked a few times, before sighing. “It scares me, sir, that that is most likely... accurate.”

“Of course it is. You need to prepare for the hundred to one odds, Secretary! Always! Now, get me the thing.”

“Yes, sir,” she said before giving him the screw driver.

------

“Hey, kid,” Rainbow said as she landed on the cloud behind Daring. “How you holding up?”

“Huh? Oh, I uhhh... I'm fine,” the mare said with a weak smile. “Just... just thinking. You know how it is. Just...” She sighed. “Just... never thought...”

“You'd see your mom like that?”

“No. I just... well... I did. I mean... I-I knew she was gone. I knew she was dead a... a long time ago,” Daring muttered, her hooves wrapping around herself. “I mean, it makes sense. She wouldn't just... disappear l-like that otherwise. You know? So... so she had to be gone. She just...” She took a slow, deep breath. “There was never any... doubt about it. There was hope, but never doubt.” She glanced back. “How uhh... how are you holding up? I mean... she was your friend and... all?”

“Ehhhh. I'm fine. I've lost more than a few over the years,” Rainbow said with a chuckle before laying down on the cloud. “I mean, it sucks. Twilight was pretty awesome, and trust me, I know awesome. But... we all gotta go sometime. I already knew she was gone anyway, so there's that. Sorta... seeing the body sucked. Or at least, sensing it. But well... you know. If you wanna talk about it though, I'm here. I know this can't be...”

“Is your mom still alive?”

Rainbow froze. “I'm... sorry?”

“Is she still... alive? I mean, do you... well...”

The pegasus took a slow, deep breath. “Yeah... no, she's not. Parents passed on a few years back. Quite a few, actually.” She coughed into her hoof. “We were... never really close, though. I mean, I pretty much went on this big, epic journey across the four countries and didn't even really say bye. Or try to. Just... you know.”

Daring sighed and gave a nod. “We... said bye. When mom left, she said she'd be back in a few days. We hugged, kissed, couldn't wait to see each other.” She took a slow, deep breath again. “It was the last time I'd ever see her. I have... so much I wish I could have told her. And yet at the same time, I don't think I would. I just... you know?” She shook her head. “I feel... guilty that I don't feel worse. I feel I should be crying but... I'm not. I just feel kind of sad.”

“That's pretty normal,” Rainbow said, reaching out and patting her back. “I think everypony feels like that. Like they should feel worse. But... you already knew she was gone. Sorta. I mean, you grew up without her, so... it's not like...”

Daring wiped her eyes. “I just... I wish I could talk with her one more time, you know? Ask why she thought she had to do this. Why did she have to... leave us like that? I... I know it's stupid, but I can't help but feel that... that maybe it was something we did.” She held up a hoof. “I know it's not. I KNOW it was Avatar stuff. I know she didn't want to go, probably. But I still just... can't help feeling like it's my fault. Like if I had been a better daughter, she never would have left. She would have waited. That I could have gone with her. Helped her. I just... I just...”

Rainbow lunged forward, hugging her tight. “You're right. It's not your fault. I get it, you have doubts and worries, but Twilight would NEVER have wanted you to think any of what happened happened because of you. I knew her. She was one of the greatest mares I ever knew. I know you would have meant the world to her. There is absolutely no way that what happened had anything to do with you.”

“I know, I know,” Daring muttered, leaning against the other mare. “It just... feels like I'm partially responsible. Ugh, this is so annoying.” She closed her eyes. “I wish mom was here.”

“You know... I wish Twilight was here too,” Rainbow muttered.

------

Ironwing sighed softly as he looked down at the grave. “Twilight deserved better.”

Prism looked around at the other grave stones from the village. They were all simple things, many with their stones long since faded. “Yeah, she did. She deserved a massive statue over her grave stone that let all ponies know who she was. Savior of the four countries.” He then shook his head. “But I think she would have liked this more. She was never... really one for all the ceremony and stuff. She was more...” He waved his hoof from side to side. “I think she'd like being here. Where her family was, where the Spirit World portal is. I... think in the end this is the kind of thing she'd like a lot.”

The other stallion nodded, looking down at her grave. “You going to stick around for the ceremony?”

Prism shook his head. “No. I... I've already said what I need to say. I think... I think the ponies just need a chance to say good bye and I'd rather not intrude on that. They deserve a chance to say good bye in peace. You?”

Ironwing shook his head. “No. Hauling her back was... I think about as much as I could stand. You know, mom used to tell me so many stories about her.”

“Yeah, me too. I never thought I'd... carry her body and just...” Prism sighed, before glancing over. “So... I uhhh... how have you been? Doing... okay?”

“I'm fine. You?”

“Good, good. How is your... current...”

“We're doing fine. I guess on a break since this trip, but we're fine. Surprised you knew.”

“Please, everypony knows. You'd have to be blind not to see it.”

The two sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. Finally, Prism spoke up. “So... do you think you'll try to become a Shadowbolt again?”

Ironwing nodded. “Yes. Right now it's just best I'm not there. Too many ponies might cause problems for the new boss if I'm there. Comparing us and everything.”

“Uh huh. Do you know who--”

“No. I don't want to know. Until I'm ready to start again, I don't want to be involved with them.”

“Right, right. So... how about Daring? You seem to be enjoying training.”

Ironwing grinned. “Yeah. I... miss it, to be honest. I haven't been able to really get my hooves dirty and practice in the longest time. It was always either paperwork or... stuff like that. I was usually just security detail, at best, or another political flank to fill a seat. Actually getting my hooves dirty and working on things... really feels good.”

“Good, good. That's... uhhhh... good.”

Once again the two sat in awkward silence, looking away from each other. Finally, Ironwing coughed and looked over. “So uhhh... where do we go, from here?”

“I honestly have no idea.”

“Yeah... me either.”

“... Wanna ask Blaze when we get back home?”

“You mean put this off longer? Yes, most definitely.” Ironwing nodded rapidly.

Prism chuckled and quickly got to his hooves, trotting away.

The remaining pegasus sighed and glanced towards the grave. “Twilight, I wonder if you ever had times like this. Heh. Judging by the things my mom said... probably all the time.” He got to his hooves and trotted off as well.

------

Acrylic took a slow, deep breath as he eyed the small orb of ice on his desk. He closed his eyes and focused, leaning his horn forward before it started to glow. “Come on, come on... you can do it. Come on...”

The orb of ice just laid there. He chewed on his lower lip, growling as more magic surged through his horn. “DO IT!”

The orb disappeared. “YES! I--” It landed on his head, cracking in half and falling to the side. He whimpered and fell back, clutching his skull. “O-ow...” He laid there for a few moments, a grin on his face despite the pain. “Heh. Still, I did it. I am the best. N-now, let's see what else I can teleport.” He got to his hooves and looked back at the book, reading over the notes again. “All about focus...”

He grinned down at it. “Now, turning an apple into an orange.” He suddenly felt a chill go down his spine. “Let's just stick with teleportation for now.” He levitated the chunks of ice over, putting them on the table.

------

Diamond glanced over to Sunset, nervously chewing on her lip. They were almost back to camp now and the mare had barely spoken since they'd left the two. “So uhh... how are you doing?”

“Fine,” the unicorn said.

“Are you feeling okay? I mean, I know--”

“I said I'm fine.”

“Okay,” the alicorn said, before glancing to Silver. “How uhh... are you feeling?”

“A little nauseous, to be honest,” Silver said with a smile. “I think I should have brought more snacks for us to eat. But uhh... more or less, fine. I uhhh...” She chewed on her lower lip. “Diamond?”

“Hmmm?”

“What do you think... caused this? The whole... Spirit World thing? Everything being so... broken here? Empty?”

The alicorn blinked, before lowering her eyes. “To... be honest? I think it might be... kind of my fault.”

“What? Yours? How?”

“Well... I just... I mean, I'm the Avatar, right? I'm supposed to be able to go to the Spirit World and do things there. Fix things. But I haven't been. I mean, until recently I never even thought about trying to enter. When Twilight... did things, there was probably a lot of stuff that changed. The spirits probably needed an Avatar who would monitor it closely. Who would be there to help. But when they lost Twilight...” She sighed. “What if they've been trying to contact me? What if all this time, the Spirit World needed me, and I've just been ignoring it? Ignoring my... duties?”

Silver sighed. “Diamond, this isn't your fault. I mean... really? Not everything that goes wrong is your fault.”

“It sure feels like it is, sometimes. Sunset? What do you think?”

“Huh? Oh, right, yeah,” the unicorn said dismissively.

Diamond rolled her eyes and glanced back to Silver. “But... I kinda wanna fix things now. I wonder if... well, I wanna talk with the others about it.”

“Oh?”

“Well, what if I can enter the Spirit World now? If I can, I need to. And... more importantly, I want you guys to come with me. You, Button, Acrylic.”

Silver's eyes widened. “Ex... excuse me?

“Well, it might be hard, right? Let's be honest, most of my success comes when I work together with everyone. Doing things alone backfires alllll the time. So this time, why not nip it in the bud and go straight to getting help from my friends?”

Silver smiled and gave a nod. “I... I'll think about it. But... it might be fine. Do you think you can fix it?”

“Maybe. I can't help but think... well... Discord was important to the Spirit World. I don't know how much of what I heard was true, but he was connected. What if him being gone... is killing it? What if... that world needed him? I might have to do something major to fix it. When we get home, I want to focus on that.”

“And finding the amulet?” Silver asked.

“Of course.” Diamond blinked. “Now that I think about it, though... if I do find him and get the amulet back, I wonder if I'll even be able to bring it with me? I mean, it's a physical object and... ugh. I wish I understood the Spirit World more.”

“It's a very confusing place,” Silver said with a shrug. “I... wouldn't mind coming with you, though. Entering the Spirit World and helping you on your journey. I don't know how much help I'll be, though. I can't bend.”

“When I enter through this way, I can't bend either, so it'll be fine. As long as I'm there with my friends, I know things'll work out in the end.” Diamond stared ahead. “That's what Twilight told me. I need to count on and depend on my friends. I can't just... run off on my own. That'll just cause problems for everypony.”

Silver nodded, glancing off to the side. “I'll... try to help as best I can, then. I'm sure the others will, too.”

Diamond nodded and then let out a sigh of relief as the exit of the forest came into sight. “Finally. I feel like we've been walking for days. I guess we were pretty lucky, though. I mean, we didn't run into any of those... weird spots that Celestia mentioned.”

Silver smiled knowingly. “Yeah, lucky.”

The alicorn giggled. “Our Celestia and Luna are going to be soooo thrilled when they find out who we met. I bet they won't be able to wait to go visit them.”

“I know I wouldn't,” Silver said with a grin.

She glanced back to Sunset. “Maybe she can use some alone time too, okay? How about we head over to the medical tent, talk to Luna first?”

“I think that would be for the best.”

“Sunset, we're going to go talk to Luna. Try to uhhh... get some sleep. Okay?”

“I'm fine,” the unicorn mumbled, before trotting away from the two and towards the small training area.

“I don't know how she can spend so much time practicing, I'd go nuts,” Diamond muttered, before turning towards the medical tent and trotting along. The camp had gotten oddly quiet. She saw other ponies sitting around and eating, but none of them were really talking. She couldn't blame them, though. The past Avatar had been quite loved, most of them had probably grown up hearing stories of how awesome she was.

Instead all they got was Diamond, an Avatar who kept screwing up. She sighed and shook her head as she headed into the tent, clearing her mind. Her eyes widened when she saw Celestia in there with Luna and Button. “Well, hello.”

“Oh? Avatar? You've returned! Any luck?” Luna asked, a smile on his lips.

“Not with the amulet, but we were pretty lucky,” Diamond said with a smile, before glancing towards the door. “But uhhh... about... Twilight. Have they...?”

“She's buried. They even put on a grave stone with it, earth bent,” Celestia said quickly. “There's plans for a ceremony, we were holding it off until you got here. But uhhh... I think most of the people are talking to her now. I've seen quite a few walking over towards it, then leave. So... not sure how big a ceremony it'll be. She has been dead for years.”

“It's helpful to get closure,” Silver said softly. “Sometimes that's all a pony needs. Diamond, I believe there was something you wanted to tell them?”

Diamond blinked, before nodding. “A-ah, right. Yes. You two won't believe who we saw while we were in the Spirit World.”

“A platypus duck?” Button offered, drawing every eye towards him. “What? If I was anywhere, that's the last thing I'd expect to see!”

The alicorn face hoofed. “No. Luna and Celestia.”

“Yes?” the two said together.

“No no, I saw them.”

“How could you see us? We're right here,” Luna offered, cocking an eye.

“No! Not you, Luna and Celestia! I saw them!”

“Avatar, you're making no sense,” Celestia said, shaking her head. “Perhaps you were in the Spirit World for too long?”

“No! Not...” Diamond face hoofed.

“She saw your predecessors. The once Nightmare Moon and General Celestia,” Silver added.

The two ponies froze, before slowly looking to each other. Luna spoke first. “That's... impossible. They're dead. Our mother told us long ago that the two of them...” He took a deep breath.

“Moved on from this world,” Celestia finished.

“They did,” Silver said with a nod. “And moved onto the Spirit World. They ascended, I guess you could call it.”

Celestia and Luna shared another look.

“I can take you to meet them tomorrow,” Diamond offered with a smile. “If you want. I know you must be... well, pretty anxious to meet them yourselves. To find out if it's true.”

“I was... unaware such a thing could happen,” Luna said softly. “Are you quite certain it is really them? It... could be a spirit playing some sort of trick.”

“Well, I've never met the two, so I guess it's possible,” Diamond admitted. “But they seemed pretty... nice. They really didn't seem the sort to play such a trick on a pony. You've met them before, right?”

“When we were young,” Celestia said softly. “I... would very much like to meet them. To see if they are... as you claim.”

“You can have as long as you like, tomorrow,” Silver said with a nod. “We probably won't be leaving until the morning after tomorrow, so that leaves you as much time as you need, then.”

Luna nodded. “Thank you, Avatar. This... will be something of great interest to us.” He slowly climbed out of bed and got to his hooves, a bit shakily. “I... think we'd best get ready, though. The ceremony will begin soon.”

Diamond nodded, turning towards the door. “I uhhhh... I'll meet you there.”

------

Diamond eyed the grave stone, a soft sigh escaping her lips. Rainbow had given the eulogy, short but sweet. Told a few small stories about the adventures they'd gone on, how great Twilight had been. Everypony had said their good byes. She couldn't help but notice how small the turn out had been. Only a few dozen or so had been there, though she noted the majority of other ponies were hanging on the outskirts, apparently not sure if they wanted to come to the eulogy or hide away.

She couldn't blame them. Were she not the Avatar, she probably would have stayed away. It just didn't feel real to her. She'd just talked to Twilight, not even a day ago. Yet she'd seen the mare's corpse before that.

It felt as if the mare wasn't really dead, that instead she was just... moved. She wondered if that was how it would be for her one day. Would all her friends and family grieve over her grave, while the newest Avatar sat over her tomb, chatting with her about the flowers or something mundane? Would they want to talk with her, or would they try to ignore her like Sunset was doing to Twilight?

“Is everything alright?” Silver asked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah... no. It's not. I...” She took a slow, deep breath. “I... don't think an Avatar should be at another Avatar's funeral.”

The earth pony smiled and leaned forward, giving her a hug. “It's okay. It's not your death.”

“I... I know. It just... raises so many questions.” She glanced over. “If... I die first, would you miss me?”

Silver blinked a few times, her eyes quickly lowering. “D-Diamond... I... of course I would miss you. You're my friend. You'd miss me, wouldn't you?”

“Of course I would,” Diamond said before giving her a hug. “But let's be honest, I'm wayyyy more likely to die first. I mean, I am the Avatar.”

“And I am Dr. Alicity's daughter.”

The Avatar blinked a few times before shuddering. “Oh my gosh you're right. You're going to die first. It's going to be horrible. There will probably be cheese cake or lima beans involved. Somehow. The last thing you'll hear is 'Secretary, get me the thing'.”

Silver snickered and gave her a shove. “That was horrible. I'm going to bed, try not to stay up too late, okay?”

“Fine. Have you seen Sunset? She isn't... well, she's not still practicing, is she?”

The earth pony froze, before giving a small nod. “I... think so. She's very... focused. I guess it's the right word.”

“Do you think I should go talk to her?”

“No,” Silver said with a shake of her head. “I think this is something she needs to work out for herself. Seeing her mom and just...” She shuddered. “I'd just let her figure things out as she needs to.”

Diamond nodded and looked back towards the grave. “Okay. I uhhh... I'll probably turn in too. It's... well, going to be an interesting day tomorrow. But it should at least be easy.”

The earth pony chuckled. “When are your days ever easy?”

Comments

[Rhanoa]

Technically speaking DT is the reincarnation of Twilight. They share the same soul. They are the same person. It's like assisting your own funeral. Most ackward chapter ever.

[Pepperbrony]

7203685 A similar thought occured to me. In Avatar: the Last Airbender, previous Avatars could manifest through the current one. Just think: Twilight could have actually delivered her own eulogy.

[Mocha Star]

Button x Luna is best ship.