• Member Since 24th Dec, 2011
  • offline last seen Sunday

Jeweled Pen


Just a girl trying to make it as an freelancer writer. Please check out my stories, both fanfiction and independent works! Any comments are deeply loved and you're all awesome.

T

This story is a sequel to Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 1: Harmony


Avatar Diamond Tiara has suffered her first real victory, and in many ways her greatest defeat. Now she finds herself struggling to cope with the realization that she needs far more help than she ever thought. So she must turn to her old lives and, more importantly, Twilight. Together with her friends, can she discover what happened to her previous incarnation and, more importantly, the origins of the Elements of Harmony?

Image by Silfoe again. Thankies. :) Probably best one so far.
Special thanks to Angel_Bunny for editing the chapters for me.
Please enjoy!

Full collection:
Avatar the Last Alicorn:
Book 1.
Book 2.
Book 3.
Book 4.

Legend of Diamond Tiara:
Book 1.
Book 2.
Book 3.
Book 4.

Disclaimer: "Avatar: the Last Airbender" and all associated characters, storylines, and materials belong to Nickelodeon and were created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino.
My little pony: Friendship is magic and all associated characters, storylines, and materials belong to Hasbro, and was made incredibly awesome by Lauren Faust.

Chapters (28)
Comments ( 52 )

Yeah, new Book.
Well this chapter certainly has New Season Fallout syndrome, in that over half of it felt like it was more of an epilogue to the last season than the start of a new one, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Korra season 2 suffered hugely from sweeping the previous season under the rug, heck the only season that didn't suffer that was Balance.

By far my favorite parts of this chapter were Silver Spoon's, having a villain protagonist (or at least one we presumably will follow regularly) makes for a good change of pace, and Silver pulls out the manipulative bitch card very well here. I wonder of the fact that both DT and SS have loving overprotective and not all that good fathers will play a part in their interactions down the line after the inevitable villain revel.

Button and Acrylic's romance stuff was fine, i just hope it doesn't bog the season down.
I didn't find Prism and Ironwing's particularly compelling, Blaze was my fav character last book, so i hope this doesn't end up a comic relief subplot.

Diamond's stuff sets up the mystery of the book nicely, and i like seeing her post break the haughty, nice she hasn't completely lost her condescending attitude, just knows to keep it in check, i also hope we get to see more of the other races interact with Diamond.

Solid start, looking forward to this series moving forward.

OK, i really liked this chapter.
The contrast between Diamond's chats with her father figure mentor and her actual dad makes for some effective character building. i also dug Acrylic's chat with Vival (he was probably the least interesting in season 1), so this was a nice shake up.
Also please let more be done with the surviving original cast than what was done in Korra, there is serious potential there for great scene building. It also makes me wonder just what the hay happened to Applejack and Applebloom, since they were nowhere to be fond in the Season 4 epilogue, i would have them be related to Babs as a connection and her cheating in book 1 gets there attention, but that might just be me.
Anywho, great chapter.

7067920 Oh, don't worry. I have a ton planned for the survivors, though not so much in this book aside from... some special things. But there is a few things in store for them. ^^

I may be a bit biased against anything romantic relating to Avatar or Korra specifically, but i'l try to be moderate.
I find Diamond not remembering the kiss just a bit forced, her not really having feelings for Button and it just being a heat of the moment thing is fine though.
And the tiniest seedlings of doubt appear in Silver mind, subtly asking if their is any forgiveness for being related to Discord, only for Diamond to unintentionally shoot that down.
if i had to guess on Silver, i would say she doesn't necessarily want to be a monster, but a lifetime of hearing Discord be the worst monster ever and knowing that shes his Avatar's reincarnation, plus a lack of anyone to reach out to (she obviously has almost no friends and a loving but lousy dad), and Trixie being crazy in her head and her dad being crazy out of it, yeah it's easy to see how she got here.
On a side note, i really hope there is redemption for Silver, but not Discord, Discord in this series is way more evil than the show's, and it just barely worked in the show.

*gives hug* there you go Button, everything will be all right

Oh. Right. It's just...” Diamond gave a soft sigh. “You, Acrylic, Button. You're all my friends. I mean... I guess... I kind of have other friends. Zecora now, Prism, Blaze, and well... others. But they're more... Avatar friends. You three are my real friends, though. My close ones. I know I can trust you three.”
Silver hesitated at the door for a moment, before pushing it open.

I believe this is the first time Diamond touch Silver's heart for real.

She gave another soft sigh. “You know, sometimes I wonder if I ever heard you at all...”

Silver also lost her connection to her past lives ? Interesting.

Rarity froze and whipped around, her eyes narrowed. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt the need to unleash bloody vengeance on some pony. Alas, there were no targets in proper range. She shrugged and went back to her book.

That's right, Diamond can antagonize ponies without meeting them. :rainbowlaugh:

Button turned away, his eyes slowly lowering as the smile wilted. “Yeah. Just... fine. Friends are... cool,” he muttered to himself as he trotted away.

Pour Button, he deserves love and hapiness. Well, maybe it will work at the end. They would make a cute duo.

Feel free to give Button a hug. Line starts here.

No homo. *hugs*

Now this is the type of legacy building i can get behind, respecting the past while keeping the focus on the present. Rarity's chat with Diamond has now eclipsed Diamond's chat with Prism and Blaze that ended with the epic smack-down as my favorite conversation of the series.

Also, yeah, Sweeties here too, hopefully we get a nice catch up chat with Scootaloo (who really hasn't done much other then stare down her husband.) Colgate as head daughter?, works but i prefer Minuet as her name. I like the initial impression we get of the new Cele and Luna, i just hope they don't end up brainwashed as Silver's goons (both this series and this family has had enough of that).

Other than that, good action, good character dialogue, great chapter, cheers.

Ah the Cabin Fever voyage chapter i do like this trope. Diamond's air sickness and the reactions are the funniest things in things in the series so far. I'm fine with oblivious Button, but can we please avoid any of the mopping cliches when the truth comes out, i kind of like the idea of Button thinking no different of Luna when he finds out.

7085756 Luna is a stallion and Celestia is a mare.

Man, Button's more unlucky in love than Daredevil. And he even fell for the wrong one! I....don't think he realizes Luna's a dude. :facehoof:

7088518 hi emanwu~
I can't wait to see what you say on poor button.

7088049 At most I would say the last sentence would be the only instance of the confusion (outside of button's comments) and that was Button's thinking going on so I would say it was a pass. If you could show me an example I would be happy to correct myself.

Wow Diamond Tiara is Korra XD the only difference is that i still hate Korra

One of the few things Korra did brilliantly throughout was being unafraid to show that the original cast did not turn out to be perfect people in there older age, especially Aang. This chapter takes that premise and turns it up to eleven.

Rainbow Dash vs Diamond should be a completely one sided talk, but Diamonds abject bluntness combined with the obvious screw up Dash made by running away for so long leave the score 0-1 in favor of the "new chickenwings".

So, we know Dash's unnamed husband died, we know a number of trainees and Bolts were killed, and someone else, we've had no mention of any siblings for Prism. My only guess would be Spitfire or Soarin, but not sure if that would justify a minor mystery.

And Dash joins the crew, yes i'm very excited to see how this shakes up the dynamic. I have to say that Button and Acrylic are starting to suffer from Mako and Bolin syndrome of just not being as interesting as the rest of the cast, they have pathos and they're not unlikable, but they're surrounded by the DT and SS dynamic, returning old characters, and world building that overshadows them

Great Chapter overall.

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.

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

sigh, it's a good story, too bad not much people give a thumbs up, I for example like it.

7065690 Thanks! Happy you're liking it. Sadly, Blaze doesn't have too big a part in this book, yet. I have plans, of course, but the plans must be followed!
7067920 I have a lot of connections planned, but most will likely take place in book 3.
7074319 *Button makes squeak noise.*
7075332 Diamond could piss ponies off just by breathing. Also *Button makes second squeak noise.*
7080913 I promise nothing.
7085751 Oh, Button will be Button, that's all I can say.
7088518 Button does have the... most interesting luck.
7103431 I regret nothing. Nopony may know Secretary's name. For if they did, it would destroy the universe. Dun dun duuuuun.
7116125 The true legacy of the Avatar. Air ship repair bills.
7120817 Eh, it makes sense. In order to read and fully grasp this story there are FIVE whole books leading up to it. Some of which are pretty bucking long. By the end, there will be 7-8 books for people to catch up on, just to read new chapters in this one story. It is the problem with writing such a long spanning story. It doesn't help that, frankly, the story was never that popular to begin with so now any new readers have to go 'well, this premise looks fun, I guess I'll read the first five books just to see how it turns out'. By the end, I'll be amazed if I ever break 20 thumbs up on the last book. But honestly? The few readers I have on this story do make it worth while. And I've made a few pretty good friends off it, too, so I can never regret it.

Okay, sorry for the delay, everyone. I normally try to post quickly and respond but... well, I've been a tiny bit exhausted and regularly burnt out, so doing anything past my required writing each day has just been... blehs. I'll try to keep up better this time and I hope you're enjoying the series.

Ha Nyx does make an appearance. Looks like Pinkie got here wish, she just missed it

Silver closed the book and wiped the tears off her face. “You killed Trixie too, didn't you?” she asked the book softly. “You... were right. We are horrible monsters. But... Diamond won't strike. I won't let her. I'll be stronger.”

But the Avatar gets her ass kicked by almost every one. If I was Silver, I be more worried by the others, like Sunset of Rainbow.

I'd like to see that,” Sunset said. “I also need to help you on your training. Mother always wanted me to take care of that.”

And the group keeps growing. That is a lot of characters.

That is a stupid saying. The best defense is a good defense. If you're too offensive and you miss, you'll be crushed.

Sunset actually made a good point. :rainbowderp:

Silver galloped back, panting heavily. “S-she's... on her... way... don't you... dare try... to leave.”

Awwwwww, that was cute, even evil mastermind cares deeply about her daddy. :rainbowlaugh:

Welcome to the next stage of the journey.

We begin not with Dark Spirits leading the first strike, but with a pony forcing himself to deal with a tough job. And surprisingly, grumbling about how Ironwing was seen as a more fair leader back in the day. Sure, he might have gotten the post in part due to nepotism, but he was still thoughtful and well balanced as a lead, even if it did kinda take up all his time.

And so Fresheye was forced into the undesirable position of playing interrogator to Dr. Alicity. Who was definitely showing more of his Varrick stripes with this. The eccentricities showing a will that isn't constrained by any will of any government. Even if he's out there to help others through his work.

Though seriously dude, take some responsibility for what you did. I mean come on!:ajbemused: Although, I have to admit, it's kinda cool that Alicity invented the automatic can opener. Even if that was a distraction.

Anyway, Silver Spoon wasn't happy at all about her dad doing these things, and she said as much to our old pal DT. Who admittedly is in a very different place compared to Korra. In part because since she hasn't activated the avatar state at will yet can't cheat in airbending races, and so is still in a position of relative weakness rather than strength. The wings are new though. :twilightoops: Guess overcoming her airbending block did help her out in one way.

Meanwhile, it seems DT's also struggling with their houseguest. Ironwing's moved onto air temple island for now, and it's not exactly making things easy for Anyone there. Not Prism, not Blaze, and certainly not the avatar.

In a way, Silver is voicing my complaints that with him evading responsibility like this, Alicity is...wee bit annoying right now. And Silver is in Asami's place at the moment with being frustrated about the company. Not over her competitors shunning her like in Korra Canon, but because her father can be a bit of a control freak. Seems that despite it all, there are still people interested in working with the tech head of the avatar world. Interesting. You'd think after everything, they'd be like poison, but I suppose like say...Ford in early days, what they make is too valuable to really get fully cut out.

As for the other part, Diamond visited the lower parts of the Vault. Where "the city's greatest villains" were kept. Something tells me it's going to start filling up like bosses in a video game before long. And for now, the one relevant to the story is...well, discorded. In a madness mantra. And yet, there's one word in her words that provides a clue if anyone would dig far enough: Chaos. Why would a mare trying set up a new world ORDER be ranting about Chaos? It's a clue. Just, one that nobody can see yet.

Meanwhile, the best friends were practicing. Button feeling the power of being a "firebending" earthbender, and walking forward in his relationship to be. I also had to give a chuckle that even after all this, Acrylic lost to Button in making a move in the dating game. And that the Bolin totally knew he had the hots for Silver.

Meanwhile, the old lady Vinyl was feeling oddly nostalgic. Because a republican government can be a real strain sometimes. Even though the outlook of nations was worse at the time, at least being under a monarchy or on the run was less tedious. Seems that Octy for her part was taking this far better. Seems Bumi Sr. is doing much better thanks to her leadership background.

See, the problem is that when Sunburst disappeared, it left 2 open spots! Fire bending leader, and council leader. That means that it takes a lot of time reviewing possible candidates to work out. I'm reminded of Supreme Court appointments with the length and problems, like if they wanted to appoint a supreme court member and a president at the same time. It's a headache to do at the same time. Then there was Vinyl's personal load of trying to deal with Moon Raiser backlog orders after their return from exile, which she couldn't pass onto Ikki...er, tittering. But THEN there's also cleanup from the last crisis they have to deal with. And now it seems they're working overtime a lot more. And being a mare of action even at this age (waterbending and all that), Vinyl chafed under the heavy load. Maybe she needs a vacation in time.

But for all Vinyl was dealing with, at least she wasn't being forced to be with a frenemy for weeks now. Which is what Prism and Ironwing were going through. Where all the "roommate" problems are getting on their nerves. But at least Ironwing is ok with his Ex girlfriend.

Meanwhile, DT was getting spirit training under Zecora. Where she was comfy in the atmosphere, but not necessarily with the mare. But it did give her another person to serve as confidant during home troubles. I have to like the image of the 2 housemates sparring with nonlethal weapons though. Nice Gilligan Cut.

DT was finding the 2nd stage of Airbending much easier with both wings and the bending block getting out, but Avatar contact? The presence is just out of reach. Kinda like how some feel about a Christian God. You know God's walking alongside you so often and can feel his presence on good days, but hearing? Not as easy.

It seems that having The Elements nominally crushed created something akin to the Korra Conundrum. That there were issues with reception to the past. And DT, don't be so hard on yourself. Twilight probably felt acute loss much more than you feel acute longing. And for DT's personal journey, she felt her failings strongly, repented from her past view...in part at least. But repentance isn't enough. She is still special and responsible for greater things than just "another pony".

So, DT went on a little trip out to the spirit realm. Only in this place, rather than giant water horses, jungles, swamps or any of the spots Twilight visited, it was a rocky world. Without tree or grass. And DT, you don't have to be Twilight. You just have to be you. No avatar should take directly after a previous one, cause the problems are always changing. So she talked to the void, searching out for her "mom" metaphorically. And the wind and attacks wasn't luck. It was destiny. After all, the author would never write a sequel series about a loser avatar who couldn't even beat her first enemy.

It wasn't any success in her searches, with things being just out, just blocked, but as for other developments, DT managed to catch a changeling. Flying like Shy could heal in the spirit world. And weirdly enough, it was just 1 changeling too. where's the swarm? Where's Crysalis? And what was the changeling pointing at? Did killing Discord mess up the spirit realm somehow? Was he trying to tell her about something near her that she needs to look out for? After all, Crysalis did mention that the spirits for all their feelings had little love for Discord overall. They bowed to him as the strongest, but some like her were all too glad to have him out of the way in the meantime.

But what does silver have in mind for a month? What is it that she really wants? Profit was good for her, but at the same time she has some kind of spirit of chaos edging her on, and...what is Silver's main goal anyways?

7146259
From buttons point of view only. lol

7125591 Pinkie is always watching.
7136576 So. Many. Characters. >.< Also, Silver may be a mega powered spirit of chaos and anarchy... but she's still a daddy's girl. *nod.*
7139578 Yay, you're back! Missed you. :D Always fun to read these.
7149743 Yes, it was, from his point of view.

As an aside, Angel is my editor and has helped me a ton in plotting out these stories, in general every decision I tend to make goes through him in one way or another(we may not always agree, but he ALWAYS has my back and has given me plenty of support when I do things he doesn't like) so unless I specifically comment on something against what he says, it's generally safe to assume whatever he says is word of creator(Especially since there are plenty of times when I just can't log in here due to irl stuff, but am able to clarify things with him.)

This is especially true if anything should ever happen to me, he's currently the only one with a full outline of what will eventually happen in the story and currently only one I'd really trust to continue it if something like that did happen to me.

"Cool. Then let's get started! Teach me how to dodge!

why do I have the feeling that there are flying wrenches involved

We begin with DT wanting to rest after a hard day's training. But unfortunately, old angers hold power over avatar island, so that in the dark of night, still the prism and Iron clashed.

And DT hated that. Hated it so much that now their anger is disturbing her as well. Blaze at least was willing to cheat with earmuffs, but DT wasn't going to take this any longer.

She also talked through with Prism about her intention to see the Badlands, try and find out what happened to her past self. But it also lead to her talking about her other dad. The one she left behind. It also seems that DT was stalling on talking to him. She'd changed so much. And faced so many setbacks as well. Considering what Rich made of her once, she was terrified he wouldn't approve. But other dad was firm. No matter what might happen, family loves, and you DT, you've grown up so much. Shown you can be the hero you were made to be. And that means you are no failure. As long as you draw breath, you have not failed.

Meanwhile, Mako....er Acrylic was practicing. Unfortunately, being the son of a legend is a high order to live up to. And momma Vinyl came home early to have a mother son talk. It's also nice to remember that Vinyl for all her love of fun was still a general, a master, a planner and a warrior. So she had a talk with her son. First about Octy being up in pride over her son showing some earth bender pride, and then how the pro-bending stuff is on the backburner with Ac at the moment. He wants to take the next step into life, and to that end, he wants to earn a spot with the moon raisers.

AC also wanted to get better at the craft. But mom also was getting to him that being good is so much more than being skilled. For Vinyl, that meant playing the favors game well to become a general. Cause for all her skill, that didn't mean she was the best water bender in the universe. And Vinyl also recognized something that DT eventually learned. The Avatar doesn't usually end up as the supreme master of all bending. For anyone's progress, the best will be a side effect, not an endgoal to know. Hence how Avatar Twilight just happened to get master Air, Water and Earth benders on her team on accident. But the new Team Avatar isn't set yet. Sure, there's button, DT, Acrylic and Silver for sure, but that's only 4/6 of the old harmony gangs. Whatever happened to the old elements, it would make for good tradition for the avatar to have 5 best friends again. And perhaps a spiritual connection in time?

And that brings us back around to Diamond confronting her blood.

She began by seeing that her aunt comes from old money far more opulent and much less unconventional compared with Silver's new money. Though it seems she's sharing right now. That's a good sign. Shows character.

And speaking of character, this is where Diamond really starts to show what's changed in her. In a way, she's almost unrecognizable from "canon" DT of the first 4 seasons. But, perhaps a bit closer to redeeming diamond from when the crusaders got their marks. That she's assertive, and that means she has to stand firm once she understands things about herself and others. Hence her standing up to Rich over being sent to the earth kingdom again! And it is an empress I see. Can you say Queen Hou Ting in the future?

Also, hearing DT rant at Filthy about being at risk is my job gave me strange flash sideways to Kung Fu Panda 3. Where a child rages at a parent for trying to keep them safe when fighting maniacs is part of the job description of being the chosen one.

Though what is it with ponies assuming Diamond wants to go to the badlands alone?

And it seems that Unlaq is also bringing in Zuko a season early! Well I'll be. Let's see what's coming in then.

I can't see how it could cause any problems. The more ponies who know their way around could be useful,” Diamond said with a nod before glancing to Sunset

I have the feeling she accept Daring in the gang just to spite Sunset.

Truly what the world needs is more Rainbow Dash,” Ironwing said with a shudder. “Could you imagine? Nopony getting up before noon.”

No more morning. Gosh, I want to love in this world. Dashie knows how to live.

Of course. If he was truly here, then why didn't I ever see him? Why hadn't mother?”

Any particular reason why he avoids her like a plague ?

SHUT UP!” Diamond screamed before diving back down at the spirit. More stones flew at her, but she enveloped her body in fire and blew them aside, bucking and kicking them away. She hit the ground hard, but didn't stop. She charged at the spirit, screaming as her hooves lashed out. “I'LL DESTROY YOU

Ho Lee Fuk, Diamond can antagonize herself. That is too rich. No one is safe. What is the next step ? :rainbowlaugh:

Then the bubbles spread out and the Smooze began to withdraw. Magma shot out from the hole, crashing down against the Smooze before the smell of burning gunk filled the air. Button was sitting on the ground, his hooves wrapped around Luna, a circle of lava surrounding the two, while the purple spirit tried to withdraw, retreating from the magma. Button kicked the ground and more of the lava turned to it, driving the ooze back.

Diamond gets back her bending. Silver gets the amulet. Button gets the kickass bending and the girl-guy. Yep, Button is the true winner of the chapter.

Well, earn your keep!” Rainbow snapped, nudging their healer forward. The mare yiped and steppes forward, reaching out as her hooves began to glow.

I know you already have too much character. Bug you could at least give her a proper name. Poor undentified mare.

The alicorn stared for a few moments, then lunged forward and hugged Silver. “You know what? I don't care. All of my friends are okay. You, Button, Luna. I'll track the spirit down and get the amulet later. But you're okay. That's all that matters,” she said calmly, a wide grin on her face. “Just... next time... stay close to the group, okay? I don't wanna know what would have happened...” She shook her head. She then pulled back. “Okay, everypony, we're going back!”

Almost lost someone help you see the brighter side more easily. Hearthwarming avatar moment. They grow so fast. :pinkiesmile:

Guess who's back? New chaps should be coming up soon!

Yes please. Great chapter is great. I must know when Silver will get busted. And if she will carry on her evil plan. She is too soft and nice for an evil chaotic lord.

Guess Silver didn't save anyone. :raritydespair:

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. :unsuresweetie:

I like the chapter (will give a full season review when its over), but...
This is the SECOND chapter titled Ancestors, the first was chapter 22...
May i suggest...
Generation Gap...
Ancestral Meeting...
eh that's all i got, not good to have two chapters with the same name, it would be harder to keep track of than the two Celestia's and Luna's

Silver gets cocky. She cannot stop the innuendo. I believe the alicorn amulet starts corrupting her. :rainbowderp:

Oh yeah,” Princess Luna said with a nod. “Mom was able to crush him with ease. She's one of the greatest water benders around now, you know. She used to tell me how bad she was, is it true?”

Luna turns princess. Lucky Button, your problem is solved. They are cute together. :scootangel:

Socu an emotional joyride. I like it! The drama everyone still learning their place. Daring, Sunset, Daimond, everyone and the action is intense!:scootangel:

7155109 Not wrenches, per say...
7167519 Soooo missed these. Always a delight. ^^ Also, the main reason everyone assumes she wants to go alone: Everypony assumes she's an idiot, probably. :P
7177760 Maaaaaaybe. A lil bit. Would YOU wanna mess with her? She is the master. He totally is. This mayyyyy be relevant later. Ayes. Let's see if she can keep growing. And finally, almost there!
7187496 For now.
7201532 I have my plans.
7203685 Eeyup. I know I wouldn't wanna have to do it.
7204656 Thankies. Fixed, used one of the names. ^^
7217968 Thanks! They're all slowly growing up, making their own way in the world. So proud.

A few days late, but as promised, my season end review.
So this book was the equivalent to Spirits: the almost universally agreed worst book in the Avatar series.
Sad to say i think this is the weakest overall book other than Pegasus, and i can identify the reasons why.
Spirits was too ambitious for its own good, this series has the opposite problem, it felt too safe and low key. As bad as Spirits got, it was never boring. That isn't to say i dislike the book, i'm just a bit let down.
The Plot: I can directly point to the point where things started to go down hill, that village. Up until than the book was keeping up a good pace with a clear objective and character dynamics and goals. As soon as the group hits the village, the plot grinds a halt, and the character dynamic meanders around a lot. The big problem is the lack of direct conflict, or any challenge the group can just walk away from. Which brings us to...
Silver Spoon: I have to say that Silver was the biggest let down of the book. At first she was great, she played the two faced manipulator egging the plot along in her direction very well, and you could slowly see the doubt etching its way into her thinking. But then, she just kind of tapered off and never came back. She felt like she was just going through the motions. By the end Silver has accomplished her goal without any interference and she hasn't changed her viewpoint of herself, she just feels really bad about it now, as shown by her genuine attempts to help the group. We needed to learn more about Silver's past, we needed to see her interacting with Trixie, we needed to say Alicity's poor parenting have an affect on her, we needed Discord's Avatar to take center stage in a book called Discord, and we don't get it.
Diamond Tiara: Sad to say, but after Harmony, Diamond was a bit of a bore in Discord. Obviously we needed to have her spend some time rebuilding herself after she was torn down in book 1, but she barely made any progress. She still has her bad social skills, brutal honesty, and complaining, The latter two are part of her character and shouldn't be discarded, but we have very little new to replace the old. Diamond simply had to character arc in this story, just an objective. We know she would put her friends before anything, but that was played as a far bigger moment than it warranted. Diamond needs to get the self confidence back and soon, the best scene with her in this book was her owning Rainbow Dash in their first meeting. Diamond sees an issue, and isn't afraid to dispense with niceness to get something done, boom she near effortlessly owns a veteran by cutting through the bullshit.
Luna and Button: Ok, full disclosure, these two saved the book. Their romance and the interest surrounding it was way more interesting character stuff than anything else going on. It dodged a bunch of the romantic cliques and was just sweet in general. But the truly amazing thing is that it improved everything it was involved with. Best tense moment: Luna and the shmooze, best DT and SS moment: them debating on Button telling the truth, best moments for Celestia and Acrylic: giving advice to these two.
Acrylic and Celestia: Honestly, so little happened with these two that its not even worth commenting, not bad by any means but nothing great either.
Prism, Ironwing, and Rainbow Dash: These three have a good dynamic and there talk of the past makes for some of the strongest scenes in the book. Unfortunately it climaxes about halfway through leaving Prism with almost nothing to do. The others chummy relationship with Daring was good and i look forward to more.
Daring Do and Sunset Shimmer: I love that Twilight proved to be a believably loving but also not great parent (kind of a running theme with this series). Both show the effects of a poor circumstance upbringing well, and their interactions with Diamond, Dash, and each other were believable in their awkwardness and hostility. My only complaint was that we needed a scene after the fact that showed the two confronting each other over their respective poor points of upbringing.
The Big Problems:
1. Almost no wham moments. The shmooze almost getting Luna and maybe Twilight's death are all we get, but we already knew about the latter, so it has much less impact then it felt like it should.
2. Little pay off or resolution, their was no climax to all of this, DT, SS, and several others feel like their plots hit the end of a part 1 movie rather than a natural stopping point.
3. Way to much exposition, especially the origins backstory, that could've easily been made into a flashback.
So yeah, its still a good book, but it was lacking compared to the last 4.
4. Trixie remains completely uninteresting in something that features her head in the cover image.
5. All three of Tirek's henchman were related to past group teammates? That feels awfully contrived.
Briefly my Hopes for book 3:
1. Diamond gets her mojo back and stops taking shit
2. Big One: don't kill the old cast, there is so much more they can do for this story alive then dead, and killing them would be the cheapest way possible to raise the steaks, especially since we've already been shown that our cast aren't invincible with Twi's death and Rainbow's ambush.
3. More focus on Celestia and Acrylic, they need it.
4. Don't focus too much on the villains, the heroes are what we are here for. Korra made this mistake far too often.

You did an amazing job setting up the villains of the next book while still keeping the focus on the main story. We were given most of their back stories, and their abilities, and we were given them in an unobtrusive way. Hats off to you, and may the next story be posted soon.:heart:

7155109 If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a fireball, wind gust, boulder, ice shard, lightning bolt, tornado, landslide, water whip...

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.

Comment posted by Starlight Nova deleted Jun 3rd, 2017

Curse of the Avatar strikes again...

So Button has been revenge dating?

7149743
No need to be rude u know. He's just trying to help!

I finally figured out what is up with Celestia and Luna, they're the Eska and Desna of this!

She did not have this. As she was driven through the city towards the city center, where the announcement would take place, she began to make out the crowds of gathered ponies. Thousands of them. All waiting for her announcement. Her heart started pounding faster and she felt sweat forming under her fur. None the less, she took a few slow, deep breaths and tried to calm herself. “You've got this, you've got this. You CAN do this.

Lol.
Brilliant

Oh, poor button mash... He just doesn't have the capacity to know.

Button mentally eeeeed as he laid on his bed, rocking back and forth.

Oh, poor button...

11332692
Hee hee, no comment. >:3c

11332781
Bolin would be just as ashamed of button. Lol
I mean, c'mon!

Yes! Go Bolin, I mean Button.
Be happy with who you wanna be.

Damn it, Trixie. Why u must be evil?!👹

Login or register to comment