Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 4: Immortals

by Jeweled Pen

Prologue: Her world

Silver Spoon stared out over her kingdom, her home, her world.

Harmony, the great city in the middle of the four kingdoms, a place of unity and power. A place where all ponies could come and be safe. Be secure. Be happy. Now the very seat of Discord herself. A city where her armies had sprung from, washing over the other nations. Capturing them. Binding them. Enslaving them.

Over the lake that had once held the Avatar was a single massive portal to the Spirit World. A testament to her power. It had been difficult to create as it had required not only her power, but the power she had stolen from Diamond. But it was necessary. She was Discord. She ruled both worlds now. It was her destiny. What she HAD to do. Just like Diamond had to try and stop her, like Harmony had directed. She felt yet another burst of frustration at her frie-- rival.

Diamond had lost. Silver now ruled. Her magic had rippled across the Spirit World, destroying every binding, every hindrance, every barrier. Everything the past avatars had done to contain and control the Spirit World was now undone. Gone. Crushed beneath her might. And now this world felt it was well. Harmony had been the first to fall. The first to taste her hoof.

A soft pang of regret echoed across her heart, but she ignored it. Her moment of victory. No! Her moment of triumph. So many ponies had come to her and knelt before her. Sided with her.

And yet, her own father had gone and disappeared. Somehow, Acrylic and Button had escaped their binds as well. Of all the ponies she’d expected to disappear, they hadn’t been one of them. She understood why, of course. But her own father…

She shook her head and narrowed her eyes. “No matter. All of you fear me. All of you fear Discord,” she whispered, glaring down at the city. “No wonder you flee. No wonder you hide. You cower. I’m the monster of legends. The pony you held festivals celebrating the demise of. Well? Celebrate this. Celebrate the fact I came and I won,” she said bitterly.

The world had fallen beneath her hoof. Without Diamond to stop her, without an Avatar, it seemed nopony could stand in her way. She’d left her friends behind, taken their cutie marks and left. The ponies who opposed her, who fought her, met a similar fate. Were she a normal pony, what she had done would have been impossible. The countries could not be defeated so quickly.

But she was Discord. Her powers were beyond them. And she had what nopony else expected. She had unleashed an army on the world, the forces by which she now ruled. Her march on Harmony had been something different. She had wielded the power of some of the most powerful benders in Equestria. None of them had been able to stop her from creating the portal to the Spirit World. Stopped her from exerting her power over HER realm.

They couldn't stop her from calling on the spirits, all of the spirits, that had so long not had a master. And the changelings had answered. Thousands of them. Millions of them. An army of spirits that had washed over Harmony and then slowly spread out over the land. Spirits unlike anything normal ponies had been able to deal with.

Granted, it took more than just that to stop ponies. An army of spirits couldn’t do it alone… It had taken her touch. Her eyes wavered to a creature made of writhing, swirling water, that slowly moved around the lake. Her greatest creation. Her ‘Immortals’. One of four changelings, each one molded with one of the four aspects of Diamond’s cutie mark. Then infused with a small fraction of her own considerable power and finally, fused with cutie marks from all the different ponies and benders who had had their marks stolen by her. With every battle, more marks of those who opposed her were taken. With every battle, they grew ever stronger.

With every battle, her victory became more and more assured.

Some ponies had flocked to her side, she told herself again. Powerful ponies. It seemed almost too easy. The first ones had seemed to come to her on their own, almost as if they were seeking her out. But then more and more joined her. They were not foals. They knew there was no Diamond to save them. No great Avatar to rescue them. The Immortals marched on every battle, the Avatar’s mark emblazoned on their hip. More cutie marks stolen. More power drawn to her side. More ponies surrendered or joined her. Fell under her hoof.

In a few short months she had managed to do what the Water Nation had attempted for decades.

Then again, she supposed the original Discord had managed the same feat in a few days. Chaos magic truly was cheating. But this time there was nothing left to chance. There were no ‘Elements’ to save them, the past Discord had tended to that. Diamond was powerless. ALL of her magic stolen. There was nothing more to be done. She’d won, the words repeated through her mind over and over. All that remained, now, was to sweep away the last remnants of rebellion that kept managing to appear underhoof. She had generals for that, of course. And her army. She’d won. She’d won. She’d won.

Her eyes were brought back to a pair of changelings flying by, focused ahead. Chaotic, strange creatures. They were the only spirits that had come at her call. She wondered where the others were hiding, or perhaps they hadn’t desired to fight back against the ponies, to come to their master? But perhaps she had been gone too long.

Or maybe the changelings saw much of themselves in her. The kind of creatures that would turn on their friends. The kinds of creatures that would betray them and trick them and hurt them and--

“Your highness?” a voice called out, making her jump. She quickly wiped the flowing tears from her eyes before turning around. A green coated unicorn with a blue mane stood in the doorway. Gracious Warmth, one of the first to join her. One of the ponies who saw her fight. Saw her win. Because she had won. She had.

“W-what?” Silver asked softly, choking on the words.

“News from the Earth Kingdom. The siege on Metal Orchard has begun.”

“Metal Orchard?”

“The primary outpost of the rebellion remaining in the Earth Kingdom. Where councilmare Octavia and Vinyl retreated,” the mare answered, giving a small, gentle smile. Of course she was smiling. She was following Silver. And Silver had won. No matter what, she was on the winning side.

“Y-yes. They did. Right,” Silver said, shaking her head. Acrylic and Button’s mothers. She wondered how they felt. Scared? Angry? Hurt? Hatred, she suspected. They’d known her. Been close to her. She wondered if they ever suspected how close they were to pure evil. That if they had just struck, when she was weak and vulnerable, all the misery they could have prevented. Ended her before she had risen to power.

But no. This was her destiny. Her victory. She’d played her part perfectly. Played everypony else for foals, made them believe that she was the good, kind, obedient little heiress who just wanted to help them. Made them think she was a friend. Capable of being a friend. And it had worked.

She turned back towards the portal. Then, she found her eyes lowering towards her Immortal. Her creation. Crafted using her best friend’s cutie mark. She felt tears rise in her eyes.

“Your highness?” Gracious asked, walking up behind the mare and softly placing a hoof on her back. “Are you not feeling well? Are you worried about your Immortal? The wounds the rebellion did will fade soon. Your power is too much to weaken it for long.”

“It’s fine. I just… I have a headache.” Sometimes victory came with headaches, she was sure. But she had won. Wounded or not, there was nothing that could truly stand against her Immortal. Even if it was taking a lot longer to heal than she suspected it should have, it was nothing she had to worry about. Because she had won, she reminded herself once more.

“I see. You should take better care of yourself. You are the only Avatar of Discord, are you not? Every eye in the world is on you now. Watching you. Waiting for their moment to strike. You must keep yourself strong.”

Silver nodded, before closing her eyes. “Things are never going to be the same, are they?” She knew it was a stupid question. She won, why would she want things to go back to the way they were?

“No, they will not,” the mare said soothingly. “But is that truly so bad? You’re creating something new and special, your highness. A brand new world.”

She tried to keep the words contained, but they refused. “So did Discord, and we all know how well that turned out.”

Gracious was silent for a moment, staring out over the world. “No. You’re doing something far, far greater than he. He changed the world, altered it. But you, your highness. Are making it kneel to you. You are doing something even the previous Avatar couldn’t do. Something even Twilight couldn’t do. You are the most powerful pony in the world. This is your destiny. This is your right.”

Silver ground her hoof into the ground. She’d won. “I… you’re right.” But it still didn’t feel right. No matter how hard she tried, there was one thing she couldn’t deny. “I just… I miss my friends.”

“Were they ever truly your friends? Would they have accepted you? No. You’re Discord. But now, you have us. We understand you,” Gracious said, gently patting her withers. “We are friends, are we not?”

“… Yes. Yes we are.” She reached up and gently rubbed the amulet around her neck. The alicorn amulet. She still couldn’t believe she had come to this point. She’d had so many plans. So many schemes. She’d always intended to ‘defeat’ the Avatar. She’d been so certain it was her destiny to fight her and, win or lose, things would end there. Yet, she had always suspected it would be ‘lose’. But...

She was the big, scary, terrifying Discord. The spirit that ponies threw celebrations about defeating. The pony that everypony hated. The one creature, in all the world, that could never, ever, EVER be forgiven. And, for just a moment, she’d forgotten that. She’d allowed herself to believe that friendship would win. That she didn’t need plans. That she didn’t have to fight. That Diamond would still…

Would forgive her.

‘I trusted you.’ Diamond’s words played back in her mind. The fire on her horn. The look of betrayal. It was fair, though. Maybe, just maybe, Silver could have earned their forgiveness. If she had admitted to Diamond what she was. Who she was. If she could go back, back before they went to the Badlands. Back when they were fighting Meadowbrook. Back when they first met. If she could go back to the very beginning and just tell her the truth. Tell her everything. Undo everything.

Instead she had lied. Instead she had betrayed. Instead she had been so focused on following her ‘destiny’ that she had cut off and hurt so many ponies around her. It was no wonder that Diamond had found that revelation to be too much to forgive. She truly was just like Discord, in the end. All she had cared about was victory. And she’d won a victory that made her sick.

“Your highness?”

“R-right, sorry. I just have a lot on my mind. Has there been any news about… my… about...”

“Alicity’s airship hasn’t been found. Tittering believes it’s still in the Water Nation, however. But...”

“But there’s an entire kingdom of water benders there. Islands they could hide on. And a whole world of ponies who would like nothing more than to see us all fail?” she asked, her eyes narrowing. She took a long, slow breath. Steeling herself for what she knew she had to do.

She’d been stupid. She’d hesitated. She’d messed up again and again. But there was no forgiveness, now. There never had been. This was her destiny, and she would face it with strength and confidence. With authority. With the iron resolve that she had once held. The world was hers. She had won. All of the nations had fallen to her hoof and were being united under a single banner. Soon, the rebellions would fall as well. “Will I be needed on any of the fronts?”

“Against the rebellion? No. You have won. We have this handled, your highness.”

“Then… go. Please.”

“Your highness?”

“I just wish to be alone.”

“As you wish,” the mare said before bowing her head and turning, trotting away.

Silver sighed, watching the other mare until the door was closed behind her. She then slowly dragged herself to her bed, tossing herself into it. She closed her eyes and tried to focus. Tried to peer ahead.

She had altered the ‘story’ once, as Discord would put it. She had been able to see the words. But now, she couldn’t. She had healed. The headache from her overuse of power was now gone.

But she still couldn’t see anymore. There was something blocking it. Something changing things around her in a way even she couldn’t understand.

Had she thrown everything so off? In such a wild direction that even she couldn’t make sense out of the chaos any more? Tirek was gone. Harmony was gone. The elements were gone. The Avatar was gone. There weren’t any more threats to her. There wasn’t anything that could stand against her. And yet, it felt as if there was just something so, so wrong. Like there was something obvious that she was missing. Something in her path, blocking her. Something that was changing everything. And yet, she’d won. She’d fulfilled her destiny. Perhaps she had shattered the ‘story’ entirely. Perhaps there was nothing left for her to see. Or maybe it was something else. Something she missed.

If it was something she missed, she suspected that Diamond was at the center of it. As much as she hoped she’d never see her friend again, she couldn’t help dreading that, before long, their paths would cross one final time.

Somehow, the thought made her both happy and sad.

What if she had to win again?

Author's Note:

I'll be honest. This book is likely going to be the most difficult one I've written so far. The grand finale. I'm terrified of letting all of you down, but I'm going to try my hardest to make it as good as I wanted it to be when I first started Diamond Tiara. In order to do this, the entirety of the outline for book 4 has been re-written in preparation. Angel had to work a TON of overtime on this. So please, enjoy.

Also, in an attempt to avoid the current 'Feast or famine' thing I seem to be having going on, I'm switching to a weekly update process. Every monday, a new chapter of Avatar will be released(pending IRL blockades).

Finally, I am still taking commissions, so please take a look at my page if you're interested! Also, I've re-released one of my original works, Landasy Reality Angel's Escape. If you'd like to help support my writing, please pick it up and leave a review, thank you.

Comments

[Mythic Day]

Silver....you didn't have to be the villain, chaos and order are both apart of the natural balance. but you listened to that fool Trixie and now you're alone atop the world.

On to actual commenting..
The previous books in this series have been great, and I look forward to this one.