Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 3: Tirek

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 19: Bad news

Acrylic ducked down, the rock flying over his head. He rolled to the left, just barely stopping himself as a pool of lava appeared where he was rolling toward. He narrowly jumped forward avoiding a rock that had intended to smash him, as he flipped backwards and used the rock to leap into the air.

He gripped a piece of rock in his magic and sent it hurtling at Button. The earth pony kicked his hoof out to block it… only for it to disappear a moment later, and then come down on the back of his head, making him face plant into to the dirt. He coughed and rolled, before slamming both hooves down on the ground and sending the dirt rumbling and forcing the unicorn to dig his hooves in.

Acrylic panted with exertion, water swirling around himself. It formed three little poles of ice, which he then sent at Button… Only to have them teleport a moment later behind Button.

The earth pony didn’t even turn, he thrust his front hooves forward and a wave of lava rose up behind him, protecting his back, with a protective layer of stone on the inside. The ice hit the lava and sizzled away into steam, as the stone hardened around Button, the lava cooling quickly. The cocoon of stone erupted a moment later, flying at Acrylic.

The unicorn’s head moved through the air, water redirecting and dispersing the stone, before he tapped his hoof and formed a barrier of ice to block the biggest fragments. Through the ice, he saw Button running at him. And he saw his mistake. He’d stayed in one place too long. A stream of lava now surrounded them. Confining them. He gathered up what ice he could, the radiating heat making him pant harder. He gathered it into a dozen small blocks of ice, before charging at the earth pony. It was time they finished this.

Button launched a wave of dirt, Acrylic countered by sharpening the shards and jamming them into the dirt, parting it down the middle and charging straight into the earth pony. Button’s right hoof shot out and the unicorn stepped to the right, melting one of the ice shards and using the water to coil around the hoof and using the other pony’s momentum to flip him over his shoulder and slam him into the ground.

To his surprise, Button rolled to his hooves a moment later, skidding his hoof across the ground and pelting Acrylic with stones. The unicorn stumbled back, hearing a sizzling and realizing the lava was just behind him as Button charged at him. He’d lost… or so Button thought. Except Acrylic melted the ice around him and formed a ball of water, which then disappeared… Only to appear under Button’s chin and flash up, covering his face and turning to ice. Acrylic then lunged forward, turned and bucked Button straight in the face, shattering the ice.

Button flew back, crashing and then rolling across the ground and for a scant second Acrylic thought maybe he’d gone too far. Then the ground rose under him and in quick succession, three blows of rock struck his stomach from below, the last tossing him up and into the air and making him crash to the ground a few feet away.

The two stared at each other, panting with exertion. Slowly both began to rise to their hooves, the lava having cooled to rock.

“Quite impressive, I can’t deny. Lava bending, such a rare and unique art I’ve only seen a few times. And teleportation magic mixed with your own? Quite a rare skill as well. Very valuable,” a voice said, making them both jump. They turned and saw True standing at the entrance of the arena, a smile on his lips.

“How long have you been there?” Acrylic asked.

“Only since the ring of lava. I thought I should step in if anypony fell, but it looked like you two had things well in hoof.”

Button groaned and stretched. “Ow. Why are you here?”

The pony sighed. “I’ve been tasked with finding you two. Which wasn’t easy, by the way,” he said with a shake of his wings. “There’s been a new development and you two have been asked to come join the council with the Avatar.”

The two shared a look, then turned back to True. “Diamond asked us to? We told her--”

“It wasn’t at her request,” True interrupted. “It was at councilmare’s Vinyl Scratch and Octavia that the comrades closest to the Avatar attend this meeting.”

The two shared another look before galloping away towards the council building. “Thanks, True!” Button called back.

True sighed and rubbed his head as they left. “Yeah yeah… One of the greatest fliers in the world, use me as a messenger pony,” he grumbled light heartedly. “Oh well, time to get back to work.”

------

“Do you think we’re in trouble?” Button asked as they walked into the building.

“No.”

“Getting kicked out of the… Well… I guess I’m not one of the metal benders really… so… Do you think you’re getting kicked from--”

“Gosh no.”

“You don’t think something happened to Diamond or Silver, do you?” Button asked, panic in his voice.

“No!” Acrylic said a bit harsher than he meant to, trotting faster now. He stumbled for a second when he recognized one of the ponies near the entrance. Pearl? He wondered what she was doing here. She waved to him and he gave a nod back, before losing sight of her as he headed deeper into the building.

His breath caught when he was guided into the main chamber. The full council was there, right down to the diamond dogs. As were Rarity, Applejack, Applebloom, Sweetie, Rainbow, Silver, Prism, Daring and Diamond. He couldn’t help feeling nervous as every eye fell on them. “W-what’d we do?”

Blaze sighed, shaking her head. “Nothing. We just felt it important that you all hear this. Ahem. I have some pressing news. And it is very important that everyone here hears it. To begin with… Sunset Shimmer has disappeared, we--”

“WHAT?!” Daring screamed, flying up into the air and interrupting her. “Who did it? When? How?! Where is she?! Why am I only hearing about this NOW! We’ve been waiting almost twenty minutes! That should have been the first thing you said when I got here!”

“As I was saying,” Blaze repeated. “Please remain calm. There was no sign of an attack or any fight. No sign of discharged magic. It seems she left of her own free will. Something she is allowed to do, as a citizen. It’s… more troubling that we don’t know why she left, or even when. We have ponies waiting in the badlands, keeping an eye out for her in case she returns home and it’s possible she’s already returned and we just haven’t heard about it, yet.”

Daring growled. “Buck that. I’m heading there right now! Stupid sister,” the pegasus snapped, before turning.

“WAIT!” Blaze yelled. “You were ALL called here for a reason, please wait!” the mare snapped, making the other pegasus cringe, but stop. “Now, that is the minor news. Unfortunately, the reason we summoned all of you was for a far, far more pressing matter. Meadowbrook.”

“Oh no...” Diamond whispered.

“She’s no longer showing restraint, or control,” Blaze said coldly. “While before, her strikes were calm and quiet, attempting to keep as silent as possible, now she’s attacking far larger towns. While the responses are faster due to the…. bluntness of their attacks, many of the first responders have been being drained as well. She’s building up a lot of power and, if what we’ve heard is correct, not just for herself, but for Hothoof, Shining and Dazzling. We’ve started trying to evacuate towns but...” Blaze trailed off.

“But that just means more ponies gathered in one place to drain,” Diamond finished for her.

“Exactly. Our attempts to stop her have proved… Less than successful.”

Diamond stomped a hoof down. “There has to be something we can do...” she mumbled.

“There is,” Blaze said. “We believe we know where they’re headed. They’re making their way back towards the Earth Kingdom, and if we’re correct, we know about when they’ll cross over. We need to move, as we only have about two weeks to meet with them.”

“But what’s to stop her from teleporting away again? She does it every time!” Diamond objected.

Blaze turned towards Silver. “Actually, your friend. Silver, we require the assistance of you, and your family. We are all very familiar with your father’s abilities to decipher and alter magic. We need the ability to nullify it,” she said firmly. “We know it’s possible to deploy barriers that stop it, but we need a portable weapon that can nullify it for a short time. Teleportation magic specifically.”

Silver blinked, staring. “W-what. WHAT?! Y-you can’t be serious! You can’t make something like that… portable! It’s impossible!”

Blaze nodded. “It may be. Either way, we’ll have some of our best unicorns there to try and delay and stop her, to track her if she does escape. But...”

“Doing that risks them getting drained,” Diamond said with a sigh.

“Exactly. We’d prefer only those who are fighting her directly be involved,” Blaze said firmly. “We understand what we ask may be too much. But… if anyone can do it, your family can. Price--”

“Isn’t an issue, I know,” Silver said as she tapped her hoof. “I’ll talk with daddy, but I make no promises.”

Blaze nodded. “Good. Which brings us to why all of you were summoned here. For this fight, we want the following ponies involved and facing them. Rarity, Sweetie, Rainbow, Scootaloo, Applejack, Applebloom, Diamond, Acrylic, Button.”

Acrylic and Button looked to each other, then shook their heads. “W-what? We can’t!” the unicorn said. “We’re still training and--”

“You two have faced both Hothoof AND Dazzling. And survived, no. Better than that. You BEAT them. That is something only a handful of ponies, most of which are in this room right now, can say. Your training may not be where you desire it to be. But we need you,” Blaze said firmly. “We need you in a way we’ve never needed you before, because this is something we cannot just ask of any pony. While it is possible we may be able to do it without you, every extra hoof helps.”

Acrylic opened his mouth to object, but stopped. He and Button shared another look, before nodding.

Diamond let out a sigh of relief, she’d really expected them to put up more of a fight. “So we have two weeks, then?”

Blaze nodded. “Yes. During that time, we need everypony to get ready. We’ll try to stop them where we can, but… it’s very unlikely they’ll be able to succeed. We need our efforts to be focused here, to undo what they have done. You are all dismissed to prepare, to train, to ready yourselves. Thank you.”

“Wait!” Daring snapped. “What about me? You can’t just tell me my sister is missing and then expect me to sit here!”

Blaze was silent for a long moment and… “We have no jurisdiction over the affairs of the Fire tribes, especially during such a dangerous time,” she said firmly. “The fact they have offered this information to us is the extent of what we--”

“Horse apples!” Daring yelled. “I know my sister! There’s NO WAY she’d just up and disappear! Something happened and if you’re not going to find her, then I will!”

Blaze looked down at the pony and… Daring wasn’t sure, but she swore she saw just a hint of a smile on the councilmare’s face. “As you have vacated the position of shadowbolt and you were never an official citizen of Harmony, there is nothing the council can do to impede or aid in these efforts.”

Daring blinked a few times. Then she smiled. “Oh. Ohhhhhh. No wonder Prism married you. In that case… Buck all of you, I’m going to go find my sister!” the pegasus yelled, before turning and galloping out the door.

Diamond stared, her mouth hanging open. She honestly wasn’t sure what just happened. “Let the record show that Daring left of her own volition and there was nothing we could do to stop her. The rest of you, dismissed,” Blaze said with a nod.

The ponies bowed their heads and slowly trotted out. Diamond let out a sigh once they were out. “So… I guess the team is all together for this then, huh?” she said with a low, weak chuckle as she glanced to Button, Acrylic and Silver.

“Yeah...” Acrylic mumbled. “Except...”

“Oh please, as if I’m going to let any of you do this without me,” Silver said with a roll of her eyes. “Who else is going to be able to use such a device?”

“So you can make it?” the alicorn asked.

“Yes? Maybe? I mean… I’d think so, but I’ve never made anything like… that,” Silver muttered. “But I’ll, we’ll, try. If anyone can, daddy can. And I’ll help him every step of the way. I really need to get to it, though. I’ll talk to you ponies later!” she said before galloping off.

Diamond nodded. “I should go, too, I have a session with Plasmahoof and I don’t want to miss it. Not now, when it’s so important. Bye, you two!” she said before galloping off after the other mare.

Acrylic nodded. “I guess we should--”

“Acrylic!” A voice all but yelled at the two, making them start before looking up. Pearl stared at them, her face burning.

Button blinked and stared at the mare. “Friend… of yours?”

“The mare I saved before burning myself out.”

“What?! Oh my gosh! I KNEW it had to be some cute mare! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s not like that, I was just doing my duty,” Acrylic said with a roll of his eyes. Before urking and turning to look back at the mare. “Err, right. Sorry. How can I help you? Did something else happen?”

“No, err… I ummm… I just… I...” The mare shuffled from hoof to hoof, her eyes lowered and she chewed on her lower lip.

“… Well? What?” Acrylic asked, cocking his head to the side. “Was there an issue at the pier? Do you need a moon raiser? I’m still, technically on leave, but I can get you in contact with our main forces.”

Button stared flatly at him. “Oh my gosh. You cannot be this blind.”

“What?”

“I mean… come on!”

“What?” Acrylic asked, before looking to the flustered mare. His eyes widened with alarm. “O-oh! Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! W-wow. You’re right. I’ve been blind. Pearl, right?”

The mare nodded, gulping. “Err… y-yes...”

“Are you sick? Do you need a doctor?” The sound of Button’s facehoof echoed in the hall. “What?”

“Just… wow. And I thought I was the inattentive one.”

“What?!”

“You spend way too much time training and not enough time--”

“WILL YOU GO TO THE GOLDEN LADDLE WITH ME?!” Pearl finally yelled, interrupting Button.

Acrylic opened his mouth, then paused… “Huh? I’m afraid anything to do with food poisoning or restaurant management would be a--”

“OH MY GOSH, DUDE! She’s asking you out!” Button snapped.

“Wait, what? No she’s not, don’t be… O-oh,” the unicorn said as he saw the mare nodding emphatically. “O-oh. I… ummm...” Red flooded his cheeks. “O-okay. Err… w-when?”

“Err… Ummm...” Pearl said, shuffling from hoof to hoof.

“Tonight,” Button said.

“Y-yeah, tonight,” she said with a nod.

“At seven.”

“A-at seven.”

Acrylic nodded. “O-oh. Ummm… I… err...”

“He’d love to,” Button offered.

“Y-yeah, that...”

“Okay thank you BYE!” Pearl said before galloping away so fast she left a dust cloud.

Acrylic, meanwhile, stared, his mouth hanging open. “W-what… what just happened?”

“You got a date.”

“Oh,” he said, staring. Then, after a few moments he shook his head. “W-wait, what? I can’t, I can’t have a date! I need to train! I have practice to do! I mean, I just got told we--”

“If you don’t, I will tell Diamond and Silver about this and that you’re trying to ignore it… Then I’ll tell your mom.”

Acrylic paled. “You… wouldn’t...”

“Try me.”

“… So, a date then,” the unicorn mumbled. “Maybe it’ll be… fun and not miserable.”

“It’ll be awesome. You’ll love it, trust me,” Button said happily before trotting off… He was definitely going to tell the girls and Vinyl anyway.

------

Ironwing gave a soft yawn as he put the finishing touches on his paperwork. He wondered idly what time it was, probably late. He didn’t see anypony else around in the offices. Only the select few night crew who weren’t on patrol remained in, and they usually didn’t have too much paperwork. Except… Coppertips?

The pegasus was walking up to him, and Ironwing couldn’t help but feel a little confused. He glanced to his schedule, nope, no plans to fly with Coppertips this week. He quickly stood at attention.

“At ease,” Coppertips said with a laugh. “Didn’t you hear? I was busted down a rank, no longer one of the captains.”

“Oh. Sorry to hear, afraid I haven’t,” he said, feeling a momentary surge of relief. At least it meant Coppertips wouldn’t get any more ponies hurt with his antics. “Working the night patrols?”

“No, no, I actually wanted to talk with you. You’ve seemed… well. A lot happier lately,” Coppertips said with a chuckle. “More relaxed. It’s all the rage with the gossipers, so you’ve got to tell me. What is it that Stratios has you doing that’s making you so relaxed?”

Ironwing blinked and shook his head. “Mostly just paperwork. Do I really seem that… well…”

“Oh, yeah,” Coppertips said with a chuckle. “Are you done? I’d like to chat with you for a bit.”

“Sure, I’ll just file these and then I’m headed home.”

“Perfect, I’ll walk with you for a bit, I’ll meet you outside.”

Ironwing nodded, though he found it odd the pegasus was approaching him. Was he really being… friendly? Once he was outside, true to his word, Coppertips was waiting for him.

“Man, I can’t get over it,” Coppertips said with a chuckle. “You used to just be so… Tight. Like a spring just waiting to pop. But you’ve really calmed down. I hear you’ve even been hanging out with Prism again.”

“From time to time, rarely,” he said with a nod. “I… suppose just being rank and file is easier on me.”

“Well, it shows. You used to be so tense that everypony was scared of you. But man, now? You look great. You should have retired ages ago.”

Ironwing sighed. “Yeah… Retired. It’s good to be back, though. Maybe they were right about me. Too much, too quickly,” he said.

“Well, you look great. Come on, let me treat you to dinner. My treat.”

The pegasus stumbled, before turning to him aghast. “I’m… sorry?”

“Dinner, to celebrate. I knew when you came back you’d do some awesome things. So come on, let’s go get something to celebrate you finally removing the stick,” he said in a teasing tone.

Ironwing blinked a few times and then nodded. “O-okay,” he said softly. None of his coworkers had EVER asked him out to a dinner or… Really anything celebratory. “Sure.”

The other pegasus took to the air and flew up, flying through the city. Going through alleys, cutting through streets and… “Almost there. Great little restaurant, makes the best--”

They came out of nowhere. Ironwing’s eyes widened as three shadowbolts were suddenly on him. One hitting his right wing, the other the left. The last hit him hard from above, sending him him plummeting down to the ground of the alley, skidding along the dirt and rolling onto his back. Ironwing laid there, dazed and confused. His wings were paralyzed and part of his back was, too. He barely had time to open his eyes and tense as Coppertips flew down and drove his hoofs into his stomach. He felt a rib crack under the blow, as the other pegasi landed besides him and with a few quick taps, Ironwing felt his body lose control, paralyzed entirely.

“W-what?” he rasped.

“Man, you really let your guard down when you’re off the clock these days, don’t you?” Coppertips asked. The other three shadowbolts landed down, their uniforms making them almost invisible in the night. He tried to identify who they could be, but as hurt as he was, he could barely focus. “Paperwork my flank. I was a CAPTAIN, you little maggot. And you took it away from me!” Coppertips snapped, before his hoof lashed out and struck Ironwing across the head and smacking his head against the ground.

“T-this… is about my reports?” Ironwing finally pieced together. “Y-you’re mad that… you were demoted?”

“Mad? I’m furious. And I’m not the only one. Do you think we’re stupid? We all found out exactly what you were doing, you little worm,” Coppertips snapped bitterly. “I don’t know what made Stratios decide to let YOU decide who of us deserved our ranks, but trust me. Everypony knows now. And nopony is going to miss you, you little backstabber.”

“W-what?”

“I took you in under my wing. You know when you returned, EVERYPONY was pissed about it. Everypony thought you were just going to cause us more problems. But I extended a wing. I offered to help you. I was the ONLY one who offered to take you in my squad. And you betray my generosity by getting me DEMOTED?” he asked in a rage, his hooves lashing out across his face in three quick strikes that left him dazed and confused. He tried to move, but his paralyzed body refused to respond. He was going to die. There was more yelling, more shouting, more anger. Then more strikes.

He was going to die. And there was nothing he could do to stop it. Even delay it. It was over for him…

------

Daring didn’t know why she was there. No, she knew exactly why. She’d gathered up her things, wanted to go but… She had to say goodbye to Ironwing first. After all he’d done for her, she couldn’t just leave. However, he hadn’t been with Styx, probably working late... again.

She was a mare of energy. Of life. So she’d finally just flown up and started circling the route between Styx’s and HQ, planning to catch him and then just leave. To her surprise, she’d caught sight of Ironwing dipping into one of the alleys, with another pony she couldn’t identify. She’d flown after them as fast as she could, flying up to get a better vantage point.

Her eyes widened when she saw something dark block her view of him, then him slam into the ground. She saw the attacks, the yelling… And then she saw red.

She took off like a bolt. The other pegasus didn’t even look up before she slammed into him from above, driving him into the ground and riding him like a sled out the alleyway as he let out shrieks of pain. She then gripped his collar, and rolled so he was on her for a second and bucked with all four hooves, sending him flying at least twenty feet, out of the alley and into the middle of the street. She rolled to her hooves. Her clothes, hat and backpack had dirt from the alley, but she didn’t care. She stared at the three shadowbolts, who were staring at her with wide eyes. “GET YOUR FILTHY HOOVES AWAY FROM HIM!” she screamed, before taking off like a bolt towards them.

To her surprise, they scattered, flying up and away. She dove to Ironwing’s side. The ground was soaked in his blood, his head bleeding from at least a dozen different places and one of his eyes were bruised shut. She could hear the screams from the street, but couldn’t focus on them. “Ironwing? Ironwing, speak to me. Please, please speak to me.”

“Arng?” the pegasus said. He was looking right at her, but his eye wasn’t focusing.

“Come on, stay with me. Don’t lose consciousness. It’s going to be okay. I promise. I’m going to get help. I’m going to get help...” She glanced back towards the pony she’d hit, still laying in the center of the street. Ponies were gathering though. “H-hey!” she yelled. “Somepony, get a doctor! Anypony!” she yelled, before turning to Ironwing. “Come on, buddy. Come on. Please. Please please please. You’re going to be okay, okay? You’re going to be okay… Please, please be okay...” she begged the stars, tears welling up in her eyes.

Author's Note:

And another chapter down! Enjoy. <3

Comments

[Mocha Star]

Damn. Ambushed by friends..it sucks.

[Jeweled Pen]

11334646
Nopony ever expects it.