Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 3: Tirek

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 5: Practice

Silver groaned before she climbed out of bed, giving a soft yawn. An hour or two was more than enough, she was sure. It was more of a nap, at least. She adjusted the invisible necklace around her throat and sighed. She really should try to contact Trixie, she could feel it. There was just this strange feeling about it. It was making her feel uncomfortable. Maybe after she took care of all her other tasks. She sniffed the air, something smelt good.

She soon followed her nose to the kitchen and was surprised to find two pegasi sitting there, breakfast on the table before them, but now mostly cold. The two were chatting away about some inane flight thing or another. Something about a wind vortex. She trotted past them and poured herself a small cup of coffee, unaware the conversation had stopped. She then glanced back towards the two, sipping her drink.

“Good morning, Miss Spoon,” Leadwing said softly.

“Mmmm,” she mumbled back. “I thought you two would be gone by now. Where'd Diamond go?”

“I think to get some practice in,” True said, eying her. “Are you feeling okay? You look distressed.”

“Just a long night and it's looking like I'm going to have a few more,” she said before giving a soft yawn.

“That's a shame. A pretty young thing like you should get all the rest she needs,” True said with a little wink.

“A package came for you while you were out. Said it was from the Fire Tribes,” Leadwing said.

Silver nearly dropped her coffee. Slowly it drifted back to the table and her fake horn fizzled, just a little bit. “Daddy... sent me something. I swear, it better be... souvenirs.” She stormed out, leaving the two pegasi confused as she made her way down the hall. Before coming right back. “Where's the package?”

“Err... over there,” True said, pointing towards the counter.

It was a small, brown box. Silver walked over and pulled it off the counter, tearing it open and spilling the contents on the ground. Her eyes twitched slightly as she read through the letter. “GAHHHHHHH! Really daddy, REALLY?”

“Errr... is something wrong?” True asked weakly.

“Ugh, everything. He found out what I planned, now he's trying to get his hooves involved and... I swear, if I find out which pony leaked this to him that pony is going to be janitorial duties for months,” Silver muttered as she looked through the files of suggested ideas for her new projects. “How did he even find out about them so fast? It's been like... a day! Did they contact him the moment I submitted them? Gahhhhh!”

“Are they... bad ideas?” Leadwing asked.

“No, they're actually pretty good but that just makes it worse!” Silver muttered before closing the box. “Can't just let me do one thing on my own, has to jump into every little thing and try to help me. No no, stars forbid he actually let me do something on my own. I might actually make some mistakes and learn something,” she muttered with annoyance.

“I... I'm sure he's just doing it because he cares,” Leadwing offered.

“Of course he cares! He's the best daddy ever but I wish he'd, just once, let me do something on my own. I couldn't even go with the Avatar on my own without having to drag him along for the ride,” she muttered. “Even if his ships ended up helping us in the end and aghhhhh. I'd better just send these to research and development and then kill one of those ponies when I find out who told him.”

“Err... there there?” True said softly.

“Whatever. I'm going to go get some more sleep before I kill a pony,” she grumbled darkly, her mood ruined. “You two can stay as long as you like, I guess. Just don't come into my room, okay? I really need to get some sleep. Do you know when Diamond will be back?”

“Probably not for a while,” True said with a shrug. “Practice and all that.”

“Right, of course,” Silver muttered before dumping her coffee down the sink. “I'll deal with his notes later. After I've gotten some rest.” She trotted out of the room, making her way back to her room. She closed and locked the door before frowning. She slowly crawled into her bed, before tapping the necklace. It appeared a moment later and she let out a soft gasp of pleasure.

She felt the sudden surge of power flow into her, the power of chaos. Of Discord. Her power, amplified. That was the one problem with having the necklace suppressed and hidden. It made it difficult to draw on its power. But now she could feel the full flow and it was oddly pleasing.

She gripped the power and let it flow through her, slowly drawing her out of her body. Her breathing was calm and steady until, finally, she opened her eyes and was once again in the Spirit World.

In front of her stood an all too familiar blue unicorn. “My my. Finally decided to visit me, huh? Having too much fun hanging out with your Avatar friends?”

“You... you could see that?” Silver asked softly.

“Parts of it, not all,” Trixie said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “So then, little youngling, what is it you wished to talk with the Great and Powerful Trixie about?”

Silver blinked a few times before sighing. “I guess... this. All of... this. Discord's power. What can we do with it? What are the limits?”

The other mare merely shrugged. “I don't know.”

“What do you mean, 'you don't know'? How can you not know? You're... you were the first!”

“And Discord was kind of a monster. A sick, twisted, evil monster who had a firm 'figure it out yourself' method of training. Trust me. I know,” she said bitterly. “Made me learn fire, earth and air bending, then took them all away...” she grumbled bitterly.

“Huh?”

“Nothing. I barely even used these little... powers of his. I was only... grudgingly aware of having them. Don't depend on them, though. Unicorn magic is far superior. When it does something, it actually does what you WANT it to do. Instead of following some strange, made up rules that seem to act on an arbitrary method depending on how many geese have farted that day or something.”

Silver blinked a few times. “What? It's not THAT hard. I never had any trouble with it, well, after a while. I--” Her eyes widened. “W-wait. Trixie, did you never find out how to make this magic work?”

The Great and Powerful Trixie paled slightly. “O-of course I mastered them. But it would do no good for me to explain it to you, you'd never understand.”

Silver snickered a little, a hoof to her mouth. “Oh my goodness. You had no idea how to use this magic, did you? I thought it would be easier for a unicorn, you already have magic.”

“I-it was easy for the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“Uh huh. Well... one thing I'm curious about. Are you actually Trixie?”

The blue unicorn opened her mouth, before blinking a few times. “Of... course I am the Great and Powerful Trixie. Who else would I be?”

“No... I mean... well, I always wondered. When I was a kid I heard you and Discord a lot. You two would talk to me. But then it kind of faded away and... a part of me thought I was crazy. If not for my powers... well...” She then sighed. “Well, my point is. Are you the real Trixie? Are you like... trapped in me? Is Discord in there, too? Or are you kind of like an after image? Some kind of... memory of Trixie, but not the real thing?”

Trixie looked shocked, before looking confused and a little worried. “The... Great and Powerful Trixie is... is of course herself. You are quite... stupid to even ask such a question. Stop asking such stupid questions.”

Silver blinked and cocked her head to the side. “Interesting, you don't know. I wonder if one day I'll be like you?”

“Of course I know!” she shrieked. “Be quiet, you foal!”

Silver shook her head and then glanced back. “And... Discord is here, isn't he?”

“Discord is dead.”

“But I still heard him.”

“He died, killed by Twilight,” Trixie said softly. “You've heard his echoes. The dying rasps of a wicked, evil creature that was as useless as he was stupid. Had he not betrayed me, had he not... followed his own stupid little games, we would have won. I would have won. Twilight would have fallen...”

“So his echo is still there though, isn't it? I... remember at times. Seeing through your life. You could still hear him, couldn't you?”

“From... time to time.”

“So there is at least some part of him still out there, still... watching over us.” She paused and reached up, rubbing her neck. “Is he still... does he still have power? Control over us?”

Trixie snorted. “Of course not. The power is mine, and...” She paused. “Ours now, I suppose. Discord could never control me.”

Silver blinked a few times, before smiling. “Thanks. I... needed to hear that. I uhhh... I'll see you around. I guess. Maybe.” She closed her eyes and slowly let herself drift back. She laid in bed, giving a soft sigh.

Then realized there was a knocking on the door. She sat up quickly, lifting a hoof to the necklace and making it disappear a moment later. “Who is it? What do you want?”

“It's me, Lady Spoon,” True's voice came from the other side of the door. There was a long pause before he spoke again. “I... merely wanted to let you know we'd be departing. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

She blinked a few times, cocking her head to the side. “Okay? Have fun.” She pulled her blankets up and sighed, thankful she'd locked the door. She didn't want to have to explain to anyone how the amulet was suddenly around her neck. She listened as he trotted off and then closed her eyes.

Maybe there was hope, after all. At least a little.

------

Diamond took a slow, deep breath before reaching out and gently knocking on the door. It took a moment before a pony answered the door, a butler. “H-hey. I uhhh... I'm here to see my aunt Sassy? Or... Plasmahoof? Is he here?”

The pony looked down at her, before nodding. “Of course. If you'll follow me.”

Diamond nodded and followed after him. To her surprise, the place looked far, far better. All the messes were cleaned up, the paintings and statues were out again and there weren't any hoards of families taking refuge anymore. It wasn't surprising, she supposed. The city had been fixed, there was now no more need to give all those ponies homes. She was brought to the tea room and cringed. There was Sassy, sitting across from a unicorn with a black coat and blue mane.

“Ah, niece. How sweet of you to join us,” the mare said with a smile. “Please, have a seat.” She motioned to the seat besides her.

Diamond slowly moved into position and soon a cup of tea was placed in front of her. “Soooo... uhhhh, Plasmahoof. Long time no see.”

The stallion gave a sigh and then nodded. “Indeed. I was... less than thrilled by this request, but your aunt paid a considerable amount for it.”

“Uh huh,” Diamond said, glancing to the elder mare.

“I merely wanted to make sure at least one of your teachers was somepony you remembered from your past,” Sassy said with a smile. “With all these changes going on in your life, I thought some familiarity would do you good.”

Diamond nodded, before sighing. “I... suppose that's true enough. I can definitely use some help on my fire bending, after all.”

Plasmahoof choked on his tea, covering his mouth with his hoof. “P-pardon me.”

“Are you okay?” Diamond asked, staring at him.

“Q-quite alright.” He coughed into his hoof. “You need help?”

“Of course. If there's one thing I learned, it's that my fire bending is nowhere near as good as I thought it was. I mean, it is pretty good. But there are still so many better fire benders. Twilight was definitely amazing. Sunset was far, far better than I'd ever been. I still have a long, long way to go.”

Plasmahoof just stared at her as if she'd grown a second head.

“Is something wrong?”

“N-no. Nothing is... wrong,” he said, his voice filled with confusion.

“I think it's marvelous. Your father is looking forward to seeing you. I sent him a letter, informing him of your return to the city. I haven't heard back from him yet, though.”

Diamond sighed. “I should... try to make some time to visit him soon. Perhaps once this... Meadowbrook incident has been dealt with.”

“Perhaps you could visit sooner,” Sassy said before sipping her tea. “After all, your father has barely seen you since you came to the city. Even I rarely see you outside of council meetings.”

Diamond blinked. “That... reminds me. Why aren't you with the council? I thought... well, you of all ponies would be there?”

“Why? There is little we can do at the moment. We all have our ponies out and about, searching for some sign of Meadowbrook and the others.”

“Well... yeah, but you're almost always all there.”

“Since you've arrived, there has been a near constant state of emergency. Right now is... oddly peaceful. There is a disaster on the horizon, but there is little we can do about it until we have more information. Fortunately, it is not yet directly affecting our city. So, for the moment, there is mostly paperwork to attend to.” She sipped her tea. “Much of which I can do from here.”

“Oh. I guess... oh,” Diamond muttered.

“Be thankful you're not a member of the council, Diamond. Otherwise, you too would be buried under paperwork until you could barely stand.”

The alicorn shuddered then. “Good point. So, uhhh...” She looked to Plasmahoof. “Would you be good to try training me now?”

“Of course. Where shall we?”

“The front yard will work,” Sassy said quickly. “But do try to keep your blasts from...” She frowned. “How about you two head down to the arena? It's off season right now, so there should be rooms available to practice.”

Diamond nodded and got to her hooves. Plasmahoof frowned. “I'm... not familiar with that place.”

“I'll take you, don't worry,” Diamond said before trotting towards the door. The stallion watched her warily, his eyes narrowing slightly. Once they were outside, he glanced towards her.

“You must respect your aunt very much.”

“Of course. She's family, after all.”

“Mmm hmm... I can see that.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. Let's go, Avatar. Show me the way.”

Diamond nodded and walked ahead, guiding him through the streets. “Have you liked your stay so far?” she asked, glancing back to him.

“Hmmm? Oh, it's been quite alright. I've had a few matters to attend to and tried a bit of diamond dog cuisine. I was quite impressed, I wasn't aware you could make a ruby so soft and spicy.”

The alicorn blinked a few times and looked around. “You know... now that I think about it, I haven't tried any of the things around here. Was it really that good?”

“It wasn't the kind of thing I found obscenely delightful,” he said with a shake of his head. “But it was a unique experience. You should try it, while you get the chance. This entire city is filled with so many different races, you could get just about anything here. It could be a good growing experience for you.”

She nodded again. “You're right. I'll have to make sure to give it a try. Maybe I can convince Silver to try it with me. Thanks for the tip.”

He stumbled slightly, before shaking his head. “Of course... Avatar.”

It wasn't long before the two of them came to the arena and she was let in with a few quick words with the staff. Once they were in, she turned and smiled to him. “Okay, so... is something wrong?”

He just stared at her, his eyes narrowed. He then glanced towards her horn, followed by her wings. “It's... nothing, Avatar. Please, give me a quick demonstration of what you've learned.”

She nodded before taking a deep breath. “I'm sorry but... I should admit. I haven't had much chance to practice fire bending since getting it back. I did a little bit of training with Sunset but... well, we parted ways a while ago. I do hope she's okay.”

“Sunset?”

“Oh, Twilight's daughter.”

He nodded. “Ahhhh. Of course. I... had heard something about your previous incarnation's daughters appearing. I do hope you weren't... too rude to her.”

“I don't think I was,” she said, before taking a deep breath and then going into her stances, moving forward and thrusting out.

Plasmahoof eyed her again, shaking his head as he watched. “You've... become less aggressive, I see.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry, should I try to be more?” she asked, smiling to him. “I'm just trying to follow more of what Sunset taught me.”

Plasmahoof stared at her, his mouth falling over slightly. Finally, his eyes narrowed. “Okay, that's it. Avatar, what happened to you? You're... well...”

“Yes?”

“Tolerable!” he finally snapped.

She blinked a few times, cocking her head to the side. “Ex... cuse me?”

“You're actually asking for advice! When we walked in here, you were polite to the staff. You actually LISTENED to me when I told you about the cuisine, rather than being your normal, obnoxious self and bragging about some inane thing or another.” He waved his hoof from side to side. “It's like... you're a whole different pony! It hasn't even been a year since I last saw you, what happened?!”

Diamond blinked a few times, before lowering her eyes. “A... lot happened,” she said softly. “I failed. I messed up. I made mistake after mistake after mistake. I cost... not just myself so much, but my friends and family. I learned I wasn't as important as I thought I was, that I wasn't the center of the universe. I... I just... failed.” She closed her eyes. “And you're right. I wasn't... good. I didn't want to learn. I wanted to be the best, but I didn't want to earn it. I thought because I was the Avatar, that made me as good as all the other Avatars. No, that it even made me better. But I was wrong. I know that now. And now I want to learn. I want to get better. I want to get stronger. The world needs me. Just like it needed Twilight, and Starswirl and Nyx. I can't just say 'I'm the Avatar, so I'm good enough' anymore. I tried that with Meadowbrook and so many things went wrong. Ponies got hurt. Ponies almost died. Because I couldn't stop her.” She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “I may be the Avatar, but that doesn't mean I can slack off and just coast by. I have to fight, I have to learn. I have to grow strong. Because those who are going to go up against me are going to do the same. If I want to be anything like Twilight, I have to work just as hard as she did to make sure I don't fail.”

He stared at her for a few moments, before nodding. “I see. Well, Diamond. I must say, whoever your new teacher is who taught you these things... he or she must have been very skilled.”

The alicorn chuckled nervously and nudged the ground. “Yeah. Prism is a pretty good teacher. He taught me... quite a lot.” She then dug her hooves into the ground, forming a fire at the tip of her horn. “Now, can we continue? I'm going to have to train with Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow later, so I want to make sure I can learn as much as possible before then.”

Plasmahoof nodded, before turning towards the dummy. “Very well. We can start off at the basics.” He waited for her to roll her eyes, but instead she just watched him intently. “You know how to form the flame, but from there we need to move onto the basic movements. Practice is the key. A move practiced a thousand times is far more dependable than a thousand moves practiced once each.”

------

Prism smiled and gently held up one of the cheese covered chips to his mouth, nibbling it. “See? We should do this more often. I have all the best ideas.”

Blaze rolled her eyes as their minotaur server came and filled their water. “Except I was the one who chose this place,” she said with a soft chuckle.

“Ah, yes. But I was the one who said 'Eh, you choose. Whatever you feel like.' And see? It turned out fabulously.”

She snorted and shook her head. “You're intolerable.” She then slowly put a wing around him. “Though... you seem a bit lighter today.”

He looked down. “Huh? I don't think I've lost any weight.”

“No, not like that.” She sighed and then leaned up, nuzzling his ear. “Happier. Calmer. More... the stallion I married.”

He blinked a few times, before sighing. “I guess I just... well... I realized there's no point in being caught up in the past, you know?”

“Does this mean you and Ironwing made up?”

He cringed a little, before nodding. “Yeah. Sorta. I mean... yes? In a way? I just...” He gave a soft sigh. “We're getting there. It's not easy but... well, piece by piece, I guess. I don't really... hate him right now. I just think like.... we'll be fine. Just need a bit of time apart.”

“Mmmm. And you're mommy's back,” she teased.

“Ugh, don't remind me. I'm not sure Harmony can survive it this time,” he said with a snicker. “Really, though, I just missed you. It was... well, the trip was weird. A lot of the times just weird. But... I'm not used to not having you around.” He leaned up and nibbled her ears. “I didn't even realize how much I missed you until I came home and you... well, weren't there with me.”

She sighed. “I know, the council--”

“The council needed you. Harmony needs you. I know and I'll never argue that. You're one of the reasons this city even still stands.” He then closed his eyes and put a hoof around her waist. “But sometimes I still miss you. And I think I've spent too much time focusing on the things I've lost. I'm not going to be training Diamond for a while, so I think this is the perfect opportunity to try and show my wonderful wife just how much she means to me.”

She snickered softly before closing her eyes and resting her head on his shoulder. “Well... I guess that's not a bad idea. Having a loving, doting husband for a little bit might be a fun experience. Maybe I'll even get used to it.”

He snickered softly. “Don't get too attached. I'm sure work will spring up around us eventually. But... for now, I think it's time I made up for all that time we lost on this trip.” He leaned up and gave her lower lip a little nibble.

------

Button groaned and collapsed in his chair, struggling to avoid collapsing face first into his hay salad. He was covered in bruises and if he didn't know better, he'd swear Copper was enjoying this. As powerful as his lava bending was, he didn't seem to have much control or accuracy with it yet, mostly just turning the ground to lava and being able to mildly direct its flow. He couldn't control the direction very well, either.

She sat besides him, eating her sandwich quietly.

“So, uhhh... you're pretty good,” he said softly.

“Mmmmm hm.”

“I didn't think... well... I mean, I-I almost had you when I tried to knock you into it.”

“Mmmm... nnnnnope.”

He sighed. “Yeah, you're right.”

She glanced to him. “You don't want to hurt me.”

He cringed and poked his hooves together. “I... well... no.”

She nodded, taking another bite. “Should focus on maneuverability.”

“Huh?”

“Don't want to hurt? Disable movements.”

“Lava can't really do that, like metal bending can. I can't just like... bind someone up with lava ropes. That'd kill them.”

She shook her head. “Lava isn't metal.”

“I know, exactly. There's no real... well, way to use it defensively. I can't just bind you up with it.”

She shook her head. “Can't lava bend.”

“You can't? I know, but it's just like...” He gave a frustrated sigh and buried his head on the table. “I'm hopeless...”

Copper shrugged. “Learn it. Master it. Don't want to kill, find ways not to.”

“I wish I could metal bend, it'd be so much easier to fight like that...”

“Why?”

“I know how to fight like a metal bender. Mom showed me like a hundred thousand times. Power, force, unbending. Then you can bind people up, even fire benders can't get out of it. I mean... well, I guess...”

“Melted metal,” she said softly, before taking another bite.

“Yeah, but that's about it. It's so... offensive.”

“You're an offensive fighter.”

“Yeah, but I need to be more like... you. Controlled, strong, stoic. A real metal bender. Not some useless lava bender,” he muttered before flicked off a small oat from his salad. “You're so lucky, you know?”

“Mmmm?”

“You're just so... talented. And skilled. I wish I could have been more like you... more like mom,” he muttered softly.

Copper sighed, before finishing her sandwich. She got to her hooves and started to walk off.

“Huh? Where are you going?”

“Work. Busy.”

“Huh? But we were...” He paused and blinked, before giving a nod. “R-right. Sorry, I just thought... yeah. Thanks for the help. It uhhh... it was nice.”

“Mmmm,” she muttered, giving a small shrug before trotting off.

Button sighed and slowly rolled a tomato around on his plate, before shaking his head. “Why am I so bad at this? Why can't I just metal bend? What's the point of having a special bending style if I can't do the one that really matters?” He picked up his tomato and popped it into his mouth. “I hope Acrylic is doing better than me...”

------

Acrylic followed closely behind his commander, a mare by the name of Icytouch. Her coat was a dark blue and she had a light blue mane. He tried his best to keep his heart from pounding, but it refused to keep calm.

He was actually a Moon Raiser. Maybe not a high ranking member, but he was a member. He had all the rights and responsibilities of a member now. He knew he could have been one just about any time, but he felt like he had earned it. Without his mother's influence.

However, his mind flashed back to what Tittering had said. Despite the many, many times he had been annoyed by Diamond, she was his friend. She'd grown a lot, too, so she wasn't so bad. He wondered if maybe there had been a reason they'd ended up together. What if there really was something special about him? He then snorted at that thought.

“Something funny, recruit?” Icytouch asked.

“What? No ma'am, just thinking.”

“Should be careful about that, too much is bad for your health,” she said as she trotted across the dock. There were only a few ships there, in the midst of being unloaded. A quiet day. “So, tell me about yourself.”

“Huh? There's not really a lot to tell.”

She snorted. “Really? You are the son of Vinyl, aren't you?”

His cheeks turned red. “Y-yeah, but I'm not like mom. I don't... have ten thousand stories or anything like that.”

“You were a pro bender, weren't you? And aren't you a friend to the Avatar?”

“Diamond? Well, yeah, but... neither of those things are who I am. Besides, I didn't really do much to help Diamond...”

“You cut the Staff of Sameness in half, don't deny it. Buck, I was there, it was quite the sight.”

Acrylic froze, his mouth falling open. “W-what? But the Moon Raisers had been evacuated, they--” The words caught in his throat.

“All but those who had become unmarked, yes?” she asked with a cocked eye. “It... well, it sucked. I was one of the worst. But I'm not an unmarked anymore. See?” She motioned to her flank, which was covered in her blue garments. “Well... you could see if not for the uniform. Anyway, I was there and I saw you fighting. It was one of the reasons I offered to take you under my horn.”

He nodded. “O-oh. Right... I uhh... sorry. I was there, but it wasn't really... me. It was Diamond who got the staff away from her and gave me the opportunity. I just was in the right place, at the right time.”

“There's a lot of good that can come of things like that,” she said with a smile, before giving a soft chuckle. “You don't need to be so serious, we're not looking for pirates. We're basically glorified life guards and--” Her horn whipped out and a tendril of water shot out from under the pier a moment later, surging up. He heard a shriek a moment later and saw the tendril, turned to ice and wrapped around two ends of a snapped rope supporting a large crate. “Maintenance ponies.”

“I... I didn't even hear it snap,” Acrylic said softly.

“It happens all the time, you get used to it. Little accidents,” she said with a shrug. “Nopony gets hurt, but they can cause a lot of damage. Though... sometimes ponies will get hurt.” She gave a soft sigh. “You're on the pier, we aren't the most... there's not a lot of glory here. To be honest, no real threats EVER make it this deep. We get a few drunk ponies, those looking for fights, but pirates or things like that would never get this far. Most of what we do is helping with little accidents like that, trying to stop them from becoming big problems.” She then waved a hoof. “So they put the ponies like us here. Those who need to learn still.”

He blinked and then looked back to the rope, then back to her. “But... you were so fast. You can't work on the higher positions?”

She shook her head. “Nope, afraid not. Can't go on boats, I get sea sick.”

Acrylic blinked a few times, before snickering.

“What?”

“W-what? That was kind of funny. A water bender who gets sea sick.” He gave another chuckle before realizing she was just watching him. “Wait... you're serious?”

She nodded. “Of course. Really nasty, too. I can't even make a path of ice on water without a bit of time to relax. Air ships are even worse for me. Ten, twenty minutes and I'm practically dead.” She tapped the wood underhoof. “That's why I work the piers. Nice and stable, easy to keep solid footing and if anything happens, I can usually help it from here.”

“What if somepony falls into the water and you need to fish them out?”

“Water funnel,” she said with a nod. “Or I get one of the others.” She turned and kept walking across the pier. “Congratulations, you'll usually be others.”

He nodded. “Oh. I'm uhhh... sorry to hear that.”

“Mmmm, it happens. We all have something. I'm kind of curious about you, though. You're Vinyl's son, a pretty talented pro-bender and a personal friend of the Avatar. Why in the world are you working the piers? I can understand you not being with the actual Moon Raisers, but why aren't you on the boats running patrols?”

He gave a soft sigh. “My... well, my bending is still kind of sub par.”

“Really? But you were a pro.”

“I was a pro water bender. Unfortunately... you can't use ice or other bending in the pro leagues. I never really studied them, I thought water would be... enough.”

She gave a soft snicker. “Ahhhh. I see, focused too much? Well, it can't be that bad. I'm sure you'll catch up eventually. You've been practicing a lot, right?”

He nodded. “Y-yeah. I just don't... really seem to have a lot of power no matter what I do, though. I might just... not be that good.”

She gave a soft snicker. “Really? Not that good? I find THAT unlikely.”

“What? Why?”

“The reasons I've already listed,” she said with a snicker. “Well, just practice practice practice! Learn all about water bending, practice practice!”

He gave a nod. “I've been working on that, actually. Even tried mixing other styles with mine. Fire, earth, wi--”

“What? How could that help any?”

He paused a moment, before coughing. “W-well, I uhhh... I'd seen a few benders who had mixed stances and stuff from other bending styles to theirs. Like fire bending. It worked rather well for them and--”

“Don't. Just, don't. That's stupid,” she said with a light snort. “You want to be a good water bender? Then practice water bending. Learning how to fire bend without the right skills and abilities of a fire bender is just weird.”

“But they--”

“They're wrong,” she said with a snort. “Have you ever seen any of the Moon Benders trying to fire bend?”

He shook his head. “W-well, no. I mean, I just...” He sighed again. “I've seen benders a lot better than me who did, though.”

“And if they'd just focused on their elements, then they'd have probably been even better. How much success have you had on using these other elements, anyway?”

“N-none, honestly.”

“There you go. Proof.” She gave him a smile. “Listen, I understand. You want some kind of short cut to become good, but there isn't one. You don't become a good water bender by learning how to bend other elements. They don't mix like that. There's nothing the other elements could teach you.”

He sighed and gave a nod, looking off to the side. “I... guess you'd know better than me. Have you ever heard of... well, anypony mixing their magic with their element?”

“What?”

“Well... like... magic. Using it alongside bending?”

She shook her head. “No. But at least it's less silly than trying to bend other elements.”

He nodded slowly, a small smile on his face. “Y-yeah. I guess... is kind of silly.”

------

Diamond sat down, panting with exhaustion with her eyes closed. Plasmahoof sat across from her, in a similar state. “Well, Avatar, I must say you have improved dramatically since last I saw you. You're adapting quite quickly to your instructions. Your control is getting better, too.”

“Control?” she asked softly.

“Indeed. You were always a strong bender. I remember many of our training sessions, it was as if you had absolutely no control, you always tried to overpower and crush your opponents to dust.”

She gave a soft groan. “I tried to do that to Prism, so many times. It... didn't work.”

He nodded. “That's good, you've learned then.” He eyed her a few moments before slowly getting to his hooves. “Avatar, I think I'm done for today.”

She blinked a few times. “What? Already? But we only just started!”

“Yes, but... the lessons I had planned won't work now.”

“They won't? Why?”

“I was expecting the... old you as my student. You've grown, my methods will have to grow with them.” He gave a small smile. “It's a good thing. I just need a bit more time to adequately prepare before we continue our lessons. Perhaps you should go visit one of your other teachers?”

Diamond nodded and stretched out, making her back pop. “Ugh... yeah, I guess I can.” She bowed her head. “Thank you. It was a pleasure training with you.”

He eyed her for a moment, before bowing as well. “Yes, Diamond. It... was quite a pleasure training you.” He watched her leave, before rubbing his chin. “It's as if she's a whole new mare. Maybe... there was a reason she was chosen, after all.” He then glanced towards a small stack of papers sitting on a nearby bench. his horn glowed and they burned to ash within moments. "Makes my job harder, though."

Author's Note:

No sooner do I start getting things in order, then everything starts to explode! We get a new manager who's trying to drown us in paperwork and has no idea how anything works, medical conditions decide to grab me by the back of the neck and slam me into the mud and finally I have a nice lil panic attack.

Guh. I swear I'd give like, almost anything to just get a chance at a job in IT. At least then I'd be using my degree for something. Still, all of you readers help make it a lot more bearable and it's good to know someone appreciates my work. I hope you guys enjoy the story even if it has been slow.