Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 3: Tirek

by Jeweled Pen

Epilogue: Her destiny

“Ugh...” Rainbow groaned, half-limping, half-flying back to where the ship hovered above the forest, a beacon of where the others should be.

“Hey… Rainbow,” Applejack said with a groan, giving a small, exhausted smile to the other mare. “Took your time, huh? How’d yah do? Where’s Shining?” She then blinked. “Wait. Where’s Scootaloo?”

“Shining is… dealt with,” Rainbow mumbled. “Wait. Scootaloo isn’t back yet? Eh… she’ll be back soon. Probably going to be pissed at me. Where’s Hothoof? And what about him?” she asked, pointing a hoof towards Dazzling, who was tied up to a tree.

“He’s dealt with,” Rarity said with a shake of her head. “He won’t give us any more trouble.”

“Hothoof offed himself,” Applebloom said with a sigh. “Almost got us, too.” She motioned to the leg Sweetie was currently bandaging up.

“Silver’s gone on ahead, we think,” Sweetie said with a sigh. Even with the rest, she could still feel the poison in her veins, hindering her and making even wrapping a bandage difficult. “We should go after her as soon as Scootaloo gets here. Even if we’re beat up, we may be able to tip the scales in--”

“That won’t be necessary,” Silver’s voice came out from the trees, making the ponies turn around. “Everything is done, we’ve won. But...” The earth pony was carrying an unconscious Diamond across her back.

“What?” Rarity said, her mouth open in horror. “Her… her cutie mark. It’s… Meadowbrook, did she?”

Silver didn’t answer, moving and gently laying the now bare-flanked pony on the ground. The other ponies moved to surround her.

Once they were together, she shook her head. “No. It wasn’t her. It was me.” Her eyes glowed purple and the alicorn amulet appeared around her throat. Applejack and Rainbow turned, the former lifting a hoof and the right moving a wing back. But their wounds slowed them too much. The gathered ponies were enveloped in dark, purple magic before they could act.

When they fell, their screams echoing through the air, Silver stared. “Five of the world’s most powerful benders… now all blank flanks,” she mumbled softly, shaking her head. She glanced towards the bound up Dazzling, who was missing his mark as well. “Six, I suppose. I’m sorry… but now nopony can stand in my way,” she whispered, before turning and trotting back into the woods.

Music filled the air once again. “Because… I’m the bad guy.”

Author's Note:

And so ends the third book. Tirek is gone, Diamond's mark is gone. Silver has given in to what she believes is her destiny. And now...

Now I want to create. Accordingly, book four has something very, very special about it. Primarily, that I am actually starting it TODAY! That's right, rather than my normal 'I'll be rotating to another project for a bit then coming back' style, I actually finished Twilight Glow's season already. And, while I had intended to take some time off from fanfiction writing and work on an original work... the fact of the matter is, I love all of you guys and you all give me so much motivation to work. As such, I'll be working on the Avatar series while working on original works. The fourth book in Diamond Tiara's saga, the culmination of everything Silver and Diamond have been charging towards and the final book(likely) in the avatar series, the series that started me writing... will start soon.

I hope you look forward to it. And for those worried about where it will go, well.... All I can ask is that you trust me.

And, as a small little blurb at the end. For those interested, please hop into my discord and remember I have both a patreon and am doing commissions, feel free to let me know if there's any story you'd like me to tell. And stay tuned, as book eight of the full Avatar saga starts now!

Edit: Okay, I realized something after discussing it with my editor and some comments. Book 4 requires even more than I though. So, while the idea is to start it, fully, truly start it either next week or the week after, I have a TON of work to do and am in the midst of redrawing the entire outline for it. A lot of stuff has changed since I originally wrote it, and there's so, so much more stuff to fit in, now. So there will be a brief delay, but the story should be even better than before. So woo!

Comments

[CrystalMaster76]

Look i'm glad you are in a place where you get to do more writing on a regular basis and the daily updates on this and Glow have been nice, but i'm not gonna sugarcoat this: Book 3 of Diamond Tiara was the weakest since Pegasus.
Having Silver so full evil was the safest and most boring and predictable option and you took it. The interest in the final season has waned considerably now. Instead of having to see Silver adapt to having her ID out on the open, we get a face turn and now she's our villan, yawn. Sunset would've made for a much better final villian.

[Jeweled Pen]

9691685
Ayes, I can understand that feeling. However, while I can't spoil things, I can tell you that there is a plan in motion. A lot of things have been hinted at throughout this story, a lot of foreshadowing and plotting and readying for the final culmination. Silver's AND Diamond's journey is so, so far from being done. All I can ask is that you trust me and that this will pay off in the end. If I've lost your faith in me, well... I'm sorry. But I'm still going to keep going and try to give all of you a story worth all the time you've waited patiently for it. And I have a lot of plans left to go.

[Blaster M]

The ending:

Kono Discord Da!

[CrystalMaster76]

9691735
It less that i feel that Diamond and Silver's story wont come to a satifying conclusion, its that i feel like it should have gotten there by now. Like i said the most enticing part of the (honestly genious) idea of spinning the Dark Avatar into just another Avatar of a seperte but malighned power is getting to see what happens when the world finds out and they try to fit in regardless. Even if that gets to happen it will only be for part of the last season, when its honestly a premise that could easily cover half the show.
This chapter feels like a mid season finale rather then something befitting the ending of the penultimate season, especially since season 3 here has been so stale in the plot department, the whole seasons plot is effectivly waiting around to make a move on Tirek and shuffling in place while (good) character stuff happens.

[Jeweled Pen]

9691975
I'm sorry. I really am. I really, really want to write the kind of story everyone can enjoy, and I am sorry for letting you down. But, yes, I won't deny. I'm terrified that the grand finale will be a let down and not the kind of story everyone was expecting. It's entirely possible I'm not a good enough writer for this, or that my stories won't be good enough. I did, however, think long and hard on this before I came to this point. I spent weeks agonizing over the entire outline for all four books, crafting in all the little hints and moments. A lot of things changed over time, but others stayed the same.

I intend to do my very best to try and be as good as all of you deserve. And if I fail, I'm sorry. And I am sorry it came out as a boring book and disappointing. I could make excuses but, the fact of the matter is, I'm likely not as good a writer as I desperately want to be. I still have a lot to learn and, throughout the entirety of the Avatar series I've made mistake after mistake. But I'm going to keep trying. And I hope you'll give the next book a chance as I intend to give everything I can to make it a good, satisfying conclusion to everything I've made up to this point.

[CrystalMaster76]

Now hold up, I did not call this season boring, just that the plot pacing was poor, but it had good character work.
I don’t doubt that the conclusion to Diamond and Silvers story will be good, but it’s what comes after that is the most interesting.
As for you as a writer, your biggest strengths are ideas, character work, and emotions, but pacing is your biggest weakness. That’s why Twilight Glow has been consistently good: it’s episodic structure plays to your strengths while nullifying the pacing issue. Avatar, by comparison, is serialized andvthus the pacing stands out more.

[Jeweled Pen]

9692034
You know, I never noticed. But I have always been better at writing stories in a more episodic structure. Its always been easier for me. This has made me think, though, a lot. I may have actually been going about this the wrong way.

[Mocha Star]

What.the.Fuck.