Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 3: Tirek

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 22: ME?!

Ironwing glanced over towards the doorframe moments before Scootaloo appeared in it. “Hi, mom,” he said softly. He sighed and closed his eyes again. It had been… he didn’t know how long since he’d regained consciousness. A lot of his body still ached.

He had to give it to Goldentips and… whoever else had been there. They definitely knew HOW to make beating up a pony stick. He was almost impressed. He wasn’t sure how he had survived, he couldn’t shake the feeling he shouldn’t have. These ponies here were miracle workers. Though he swore if he EVER got his hooves on the ponies who did this to him he would break them like twigs.

“How are you feeling?” his mother asked softly, giving a small smile.

“Better. I’m guessing I know why you’re here,” he said with a sigh.

“…”

“I’m not stupid. I know you’re going with the assault squad. Has there been any news on Prism or Button?”

“No, not yet. They’re...”

“If they’re still missing, you shouldn’t go.”

Scootaloo gave a sigh. “I know. They’re--”

“Part of Diamond’s support. She’ll need them. Trust me. I saw them while we were on that mission. Together, I doubt there’s anything they couldn’t pull off. Don’t tell them I said that.”

Scootaloo snorted. “I won’t. The final preparations are underway, though. It’s too late. We couldn’t pull back now, even if we wanted to. There’s too much at stake, and we might not get another chance.”

“I know. I still don’t like this...”

“Nopony does. I take it Styx has been keeping you up to date on everything?”

“Of course.”

She nodded. “Then you know that we still have five of the most powerful benders in the world, as well as myself, on top of our other forces. You worry too much. All Diamond has to focus on is--”

“Last time, she had all of her friends. Button and Acrylic were there, they were pivotal.”

Scootaloo sighed and then stepped forward. “And I wasn’t, right?”

“… This is something new, something we don’t fully understand. You shouldn’t be there.”

“No, maybe not. But I’m needed,” she said with a small smile. “Don’t worry. Okay? This is our mess, at least most of it is. There’s no reason for us not to fix it.”

He sighed and shook his head. “And there’s every reason to not risk yourself. Just… be careful, okay? I know you idolize Rainbow and the others, but they can’t handle everything.”

“Just most of it,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “And I will, I promise.” She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. She snickered at the groan he gave in response. “You really are like your father.”

“Oh please don’t let those be the last words you say before you go,” he said with a groan.

“Fine. Any idea when you and Styx are planning to--”

“OKAY FINE I’M LIKE DAD BYE NOW!” Ironwing snapped, his cheeks burning.

Scootaloo snickered and turned, trotting towards the door.

------

Silver held her breath and stared, her eyes riveted to the miniature tower in the center of the room. Standing on four legs, it was covered in all manner of runes, ending in a crystal ball on top. The ball was glowing with a faint purple light.

Diamond moved a little closer to Silver, the worry evident on her face. This was it. They were almost out of time. If they wanted to stop them, they needed this test to work. Dozen’s of other ponies watched with bated breath while the ball’s light began to glow brighter, before expanding out in a glowing sphere of magical energy.

Silver cringed when it washed over her, a light tingling coursing through her bodies. The chaos magic flowed through the apparatus now lingered in the air. She couldn’t help but worry that somepony else would notice the difference, but fortunately nopony seemed to be able to separate the feeling of her magic from Everfree’s.

“Barrier is holding,” Secretary called out from across the warehouse. “Expand by three-hundred percent!” The barrier already coated the entirety of the building, but even so it rapidly grew. After a few moments, there was a loud horn from outside. “Distance test, success!” she called out.

“Perfect!” Alicity called. “Perform the first magic test!” he called.

Silver’s breath went still. Now would determine if everything they’d done was worth it. Six unicorns moved forward, taking places amongst two large teleportation circles. The most powerful they could create. An apple was placed inside one, and then test began.

Six unicorns working in tandem caused the circles to glow. The room went still while nearly everypony held their breath. Watching and waiting.

Then nothing happened.

A cheer tore through the building, loud enough to almost shatter the windows.

Alicity, however, didn’t stop. “Next test!” he called. “Team two and three!”

Despite his desire to test, however, the spirits were already lifted as ponies and the audience quickly started filtering out, planning their own little celebrations. Fortunately, the other teams were moving forward as instructed, testing alternate forms of magic in the field to see how it was affected. Afterwards, they would test bending. Silver couldn’t help but smile while she watched. There did seem to be a bit of difficulty using other magic, but the only type that seemed to be completely stopped was teleportation. With her father’s invention, they could do this.

“I guess that’s it, then,” Diamond said softly, staring at the invention. “We have the tools to stop them. We have the hooves. We… we can do this...” she mumbled. She then shook her head and glanced to Silver. “Do… you mind if we talk for a little bit? In your office?”

“Huh? Oh. Yeah. Let’s go to my office...” the earth pony mumbled, turning and trotting towards the exit. The two walked through the compound, not speaking. Silver’s mind raced across a dozen different avenues of conversation, but none of them felt right to start. Finally, the two found their way into her office. When she entered, she couldn’t help but find her eyes drawn to a case up against the wall, filled with all manner of random trinkets. Which included Button and Acrylic in small, stony form. A constant reminder of her screw up. “So, we’re here. Nervous about the big fight?”

“Terrified, yeah,” the alicorn mumbled, before sighing. “Can we… talk? For a bit? I mean like… just… don’t tell anypony?”

“Always,” Silver said, reaching out a hoof to shove the door shut. “You know I’m here for you, no matter what. So… what’s wrong?”

“Nothing… everything. I… I don’t know,” Diamond said, trotting to the window and looking out at the sky. “My stomach is in knots and I keep wanting to just throw up. This whole thing I just… I want it to be over. I’m scared… you know?”

“Scared?”

“What if I can’t do this?” she asked, glancing back. “What if I’m not strong enough?”

“I’m… I’m sorry?” Silver asked.

“I mean. I’ve talked to… but like… they...” She groaned and face hoofed. “What if I can’t win? They are absorbing the powers of a LOT of ponies! What if I can’t win? What if I lose? Acrylic and Button are missing, on top of it. Without the four of us, we… we’re a team. You know?”

“You won’t lose. You’re--”

“Twilight lost all the time!” Diamond said. “Her stories? Everypony tells me how much she won. But how many times did she LOSE to get to that point? How many times did Trixie, or Nightmare Moon or even Discord kick her butt?”

Silver cringed at the last one, turning to look back at the statues. “Well… yes. For a bit. But you’re a hero, Diamond. It’s… who you are. You’re--”

“I’m the Avatar, I know. But what if I’m NOT a good one? Twilight was so strong, and brave and smart. I’m not like her. I’m talented, yeah. I’m an incredible fighter. But that’s it. And I’m trying to be like her. To act like her. But what if I can’t be? What if she’s so incredible, so amazing, and I just can’t do that?”

“You don’t have to be… exactly like her...” Silver mumbled. “But you can’t not be the Avatar.”

“But what if I… what if I don’t want to be the Avatar?”

The earth pony froze. “Ex… excuse me?”

“What if I don’t want to be the Avatar anymore? What if I don’t want the responsibility? What if I just say like… buck it, and run off and hide and not have everypony depend on me and everypony count on me and… and everypony… and not… let everypony down when I fail...”

“Diamond...” Silver whispered, slowly stepping forward. “You can’t...”

“What? Just because I’m the Avatar doesn’t mean I HAVE to be like all of them, does it? I mean… like… their past doesn’t have to decide my future, right?”

Silver froze, her eyes widening. Once again, she found her eyes drifting to the case. “I don’t...”

Diamond gave a sigh and turned back to her friend, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I’m just… scared. The others… I get so many different voices telling me things. Like… Applejack says if I can’t do this, it’s fine, they’ll cover for me. But it doesn’t work like that, does it? Nopony can cover for me, can they? Sure, they can for this one fight, this one time. But what about the next? Or the one after that? Or the one after that?” she asked softly. “Every fight, every big fight I have I’m so certain, ‘Okay, this is the last one’. But there is always something bigger and badder across the horizon, and then I have to work all over again. And what happens when the ‘bigger and badder’ thing is just… too much for me? What happens when I CAN’T beat it?”

Silver stared at her, her mouth falling open. “Can’t… beat it?”

“Yes! It’s like… What happens then?” Diamond asked, motioning a hoof towards the horizon. “You know what happens then? I fail, and I die. that’s my destiny. To keep fighting off bad thing after bad thing, until I die and somepony else becomes the Avatar takes on the next bad thing. And it’s just… kind of scary, you know? How do I go against my destiny like that?”

The earth pony slowly looked away. “You… can’t. Can you? I mean… it’s your destiny. Just… just because… I mean, look at what happened to Twilight, she--”

“She saved the world and then was killed by Trixie,” Diamond interrupted. “Isn’t the same thing just going to happen to me? What if this IS my Trixie? What if we go out there and she… Or worse. What if there’s another, even bigger threat right behind her? What if they strike when the--”

“STOP!” Silver yelled, before covering her mouth and blushing. She stared at the alicorn and shook her head. “Just… stop. That’s not going to happen. You’re not going to die. And… and even if you DO let everypony down? Who cares? It’s their own fault for expecting you to carry everything for them.”

Diamond blinked a few times, staring at her. “But… I don’t...”

“But… you’re right. You can’t go against your destiny...” Silver gently rubbed her throat. “No matter what you do, you’ll always be the Avatar. And there will likely always be threats… so… long as you’re the Avatar. But you know what? You’re amazing. And we’ll all be by your side, facing it together. No matter what. So even if your destiny is to keep fighting, you’ll never do it alone, I promise! Even if… whatever we have to fight is super terrible and awful. Okay? I’ll always be by your--”

Silver’s words were cut off by Diamond stepping in, pressing her lips against the other mare’s.

“MMMFFFFFF?!!!” Silver objected, quickly stumbling back. Her cheeks were burning and she SWORE she could hear Trixie in the back of her mind, gagging. “Y-you kissed me! You kissed me! Why did you kiss me? You can’t kiss ME of all ponies?! Why did you kiss me?!”

Diamond urked, her cheeks burning. She quickly looked away, shaking her head. “I… I mean… I just… I...”

“Me! You kissed me!”

“I just… you were so… and I really wanted… I just...” The alicorn shook her head. “I-I don’t know. I just… I… really like you and I think I’ve really liked you for a while. And… and all of this has been so… hard. You know? I’ve been thinking and reacting and things have been crazy and... But… you’re always there. And you were so… and I just… I...”

“… I...” Silver said gently, before shaking her head. “I just… I need to think. Please. I just...”

“I-I’m sorry… I just… guhhh… Did I just mess everything up?”

The earth pony stared at her for the longest time. Before finally, she shook her head. “Yes, you did. But in the best… possible way. I just… I need some time to think. We’re leaving soon. We can talk on the ship, okay?”

Diamond nodded, giving a small, weak smile. “Of course. I… I can’t wait. And… and thank you. For everything.”

“Of course… after all, what are friends for?” Silver smiled while she watched her friend trot away, before letting out a sigh of relief once the door closed. She then turned towards the two small statues of Button and Acrylic. “I’m so, so, so sorry. But you know what? It’s going to be okay. I’ve made my decision. And it--”

“And what, exactly, is that decision?” Trixie asked, making the earth pony jump.

Silver turned back and glared at the ghostly form of the long dead general. “Of course. Enjoy the show?”

“You kissed the Avatar.”

“Well, she kissed me, technically.”

“You still, ew, how COULD you? She stands against everything that, well, WE stand for!”

“Nope. She stands against everything you stand for. Not me.”

The unicorn’s eyes narrowed. “And what, exactly, does that mean?”

“It means I was wrong. You were wrong. I’m going to tell her everything. Just as soon as I deal with Tirek. I already have everything in place for it, he should be easy enough to deal with. So long as there are no surprises. I’ll just… have to alter the end a bit. But this will work, if we can get him to stop teleporting around. And then I’ll tell her everything and I’ll give her the Alicorn Amulet.”

“WHAT?! Are you insane? She’ll kill--”

“No, she won’t!” Silver snapped. “She’s my FRIEND!”

“You don’t GET friends!” Trixie snarled back, moving inches from her nose. “You’re Discord’s--”

“I am Silver Spoon,” she said, waving her hoof through the other mare, making her disappear like the memory she was. “And I will. Not. Be. Discord’s. Tool. The Avatar is my friend and she won’t lay a hoof on me. Even… even knowing this. You’ll see.”

There was nothing but silence and, for a moment, she believed the other mare had finally given up.

Except she soon heard a light chuckle. “Very well,” Trixie’s voice echoed in her head. “Tell her… But when she turns on you. When the Avatar looks at you the way the world does… remember. I warned you,” she sang.

Silver sighed and trotted to her desk, resting a hoof on it. “That won’t happen. We’ll face this threat together...”

The earth pony’s eyes moved up, to the statues of her friends. “And then we’ll be friends. Real friends. No more secrets… No more lies. I’ll fix everything. And I’ll spend my whole life making up for all of this, no matter what it takes. Just… please be patient. Please.”

Author's Note:

And here it is, another chapter! This story is almost done and should be making its way through quickly. I hope you all enjoy it!

And, as I am in full author mode now, I will be doing more and more things soon! Accordingly, please expect more updates on my announcements. Additionally, I will soon be opening up a Discord server, where people can discuss and ask questions about my works, that will be announced on my main page.

As it is, we're almost to the end of this book, hope you're as excited to read it as I was to write it.

Comments

[Blaster M]

whispersax.mp3

[CrystalMaster76]

2 things worry me. Pacing wise.
1. I hope things go well for Silver here because her being the Avatar of Discord publicly should be something she has to deal with for at least a season
2. I know who they are based of, but I always got a best friends vibe from Diamond and Silver, but if they are gonna be a couple, they should be together for the last season and not pull the awful; the gay couple only gets together in the last or close to last episode thing.

[Mocha Star]

Wooo, go for it Diamond! 😘

[Mocha Star]

You refer to Silver Spoon as Silver Belle twice. Why?

[Jeweled Pen]

11334666
Likely I was writing a story with a character named Silver Belle at the time. ^^;