Avatar: Legend of Diamond Tiara. Book 4: Immortals

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 13: Little Walks

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Gracious asked for what must have been the hundredth time.

“Please stop asking me that,” Silver said with a roll of her eyes before she stepped out from her home. A small part of her considered making it start to rain chocolate. Really put on a grand display, let everypony know she was coming. She nudged that thought down. It was probably more Trixie’s idea than hers, anyway.

Everypony knew who she was, that much hadn’t changed. Those who opposed her knew as they had been stripped of their very cutie marks and magic. They were merely fortunate that was all they had lost. Were she truly like Discord she would have taken even their minds from them. Even if a pony lost their magic like this, they at least could still function as themselves, she didn’t take that from them. Still, it didn’t stop ponies from looking up at her with those terrified looks.

Silver tensed up when she passed a pair of ponies giving her hateful looks and she heard the light crackle from her metallic wings, the weapon charging up. She quickly made it stop, but she saw Gracious glance over and the two ponies quickly flee.

“Lady Discord?” Gracious asked. “Is everything okay?”

“Of course it is,” Silver said, though she knew it wasn’t. She gave a soft sigh and glanced up to the portal that hovered over the city. “I’m a monster, aren’t I?”

“Yes,” Gracious said before looking up as well. “No pony could do what you’ve done, your highness. It is horrifying, yet spectacular.”

Silver gave a small nod. “Do you think…” She trailed off, letting the words hang in the air before shaking her head. “Never mind.”

“Lady Discord?” Gracious asked.

“Nothing, it’s nothing,” Silver said before glancing around. Everywhere she stepped the ponies fled or hid, peering out from shadows and behind windows at her as if they expected her at any moment to grab them and tear them apart. Not that she couldn’t, if she wanted to. Oh no, it was distressingly easy to do such. Though she wouldn’t tell anypony, that was part of why she had to create the Immortals to begin with.

She could hold the cutie marks and the magic of others within herself. But all of that power had a cost, in some ways. It made her feel strong, powerful. It made her feel as if there was nothing she couldn’t do. It made all of their natures spring up. Good and bad. She could mute it, if she wanted. Suppress it with ease. But it was still there. Not enough to control her, but enough to make her feel…

Guilty. It made her feel guilty. She idly wondered if this was why her spirits weren’t coming. Only the changelings and a hoofful of others had responded to her call. Even Chrysalis wasn’t here, though she knew that spirit was out there somewhere. Every time she reached out to the changelings there was this strange, small delay. As if her commands were being filtered through something before being carried out. She suspected it was the leader of the changelings. Though why she had yet to come to Discord’s summons she didn’t know. A part of her was tempted to try and force her to come, to reach out and just grab her, make it a command rather than a request.

But Chrysalis wasn’t Tirek. Even if he was disloyal and twisted, the remaining three likely weren’t. Whatever had her so far away likely was important. In the end, she’d trust her servants. After all, she’d already won. Just like Discord before her. What more was there to do?

“Your highness?” Gracious asked.

“Huh?” Silver asked before glancing over to the unicorn. Her eyes widened when she realized she was being offered a small pie. “When did you get this?”

“You really are out of it, aren’t you?” Gracious asked in a slightly teasing tone. “Did you not even notice me trot off?”

“I… right,” Silver said before her fake horn began to glow and the pie was gripped in her magic. She took a small bite. Banana cream, it was nice. “That shop is still open?”

“Shop?” Gracious asked.

Silver held up the pie and cocked an eye.

“Oh, right,” Gracious said with a small chuckle. “They seem to be. Ponies still need to eat, no? Unless you intend to change that. Could you?”

“Probably,” Silver said. She didn’t want to, though. She could have made so many changes. She’d heard the stories of the things Discord had done to ponies during his short reign. As powerful as she was, all she would have to do was reach out with her magic and she could change them as easily as she ate this pie. Some would likely resist and struggle against it, but they’d crumble before long. She couldn’t do it to everypony at once like he could, but she could do it one by one. “It wouldn’t be hard. Why, do you want to stop eating?”

“Oh, no!” Gracious said quickly, taking a step back before she could stop herself. “Err, I mean, I wouldn’t dare to ask you to expend any of your great, majestic power on somepony as insignifi--”

“Oh, knock it off,” Silver said with a roll of her eyes. “If I was going to do something terrible to you I would have already done so. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Err, of course, your highness,” Gracious said quickly.

Her friend. Of course Gracious was. Or at least as close as she could have. Discord didn’t have friends so she supposed the real her couldn’t truly have them either. A general would have to be close enough. Even if said general cowered at the merest thought of chaos magic being unleashed on her. Even if that general likely would turn on her in a moment if she thought she could win.

Not that Silver could blame her. Even if she wasn’t as powerful as Discord, with the Alicorn Amulet and her Immortals, few forces could stand against her. All those last bastions of resistance could do was hide and hope she wouldn’t truly turn her gaze on them, because they’d be helpless. Hopeless.

Silver felt her headache growing again and she gave a sigh. She wondered if she should go back, maybe--

She froze in place before looking around. Something was different. What was--

Her eyes fell on the source and she sighed. A crowd had gathered a block or so away, off the road they were traveling. She could hear some jeering from it, but shoved it aside. She nearly kept on walking, but stopped when she realized Gracious had looked towards it as well.

“How about we go see what all the excitement is about?” Silver asked before turning towards it.

“Your highness,” Gracious said. “Are you sure that’s wise? I think it’s just some benders. A--” She froze when a small burst of flame went over the crowd. Silver could see the way she tensed. “Perhaps I should deal with this?”

Silver rolled her eyes and started trotting towards it. She wondered if Gracious was trying to keep her safe from them or them safe from her. Most likely the latter.

Silver made her way to the group and lightly nudged the ponies blocking her way. “Hey, watch it b--” one of the ponies said before going silent when he realized who had nudged him. He quickly moved aside and practically galloped away. He wasn’t the only one. Within a few moments the crowd was quickly parting for her.

The crowd cheered and she idly wondered just what kind of performer had so many ponies gathered around. Judging by the tufts of flames overhead it was a fire breather of sorts.

“Get her!” a voice yelled out. “Sweep the leg!”

Silver tensed and readied herself for an attack, but nothing came.

“Give her what she deserves!” another voice called out.

Very few of the ponies were focused on her, though. So who were they--

Silver’s eyes went wide and she suddenly realized just what kind of ‘performance’ this was. Her eyes glowed with a green light and she found it far, far easier to slip through the crowd, her body molding and shifting to easily slip between ponies in a manner that would have been impossible for a normal pony.

It wasn’t long before she managed to get through the crowd and shove a few in the front aside. Once they saw who she was the ponies quickly moved aside, backing away.

She recognized the ponies in the middle of this ‘circle’ clearly. Well, three of them. Two of them had attempted to stop her when she had begun her assault on Harmony and been stripped of their magic accordingly. The third hadn’t been a part of that particular assault. Even if they hadn’t, though, she would have recognized them.

The Rock Bunnies. Babs Seed, a brown earth bender with a red mane. Limestone, a gray fire bender with a dusty white mane. Or rather, they had both been benders once. Since she’d stolen their magic for their place in the attack, they couldn’t bend at all anymore. The pair were covered in bruises and collapsed on the ground, their third member standing in front of them.

Marble, a water bender with a lighter gray coat and a streaked gray mane. Water swirled around her, but she looked exhausted. Her opponent, a unicorn mare, sent small tufts of flame at her again and again, each blast being scattered by the water. There were two others with the mare, an earth pony and a pegasus. It didn’t take a genius, or an embodiment of chaos, to see how this would go.

The crowd continued to cheer as Marble struggled to find off the fire blasts, unable to move from her position without putting the other two members of her team in the way of the flames. The fire bender kept lazily throwing out blasts of fire as her comrades stood behind her and watched. After a few moments the earth bender lightly tapped the ground. A rock rose up from behind Marble and sped at the two prone ponies, only for Marble to lunge in front of it and for the water to turn to ice, slicing it in half.

A moment later a narrow stream of air hit her in the side, nearly toppling her over and making her struggle to regain her balance before another blast of fire was propelled at her friends. She narrowly managed to get in front of it in time, the water scattering it but getting singed for her efforts. She let out a low whimper, while the crowd cheered.

“What’s a matter?” the fire bender asked in a taunting tone. “No referee here to help you cheat? You always said you were sooooo strong. After what you did to the Avatar and her friends I thought you’d be a whole lot better.”

Marble tried to gallop forward, the water turning to ice. However, she barely made it a few feet closer before spikes of stone rose up in front of her, driving her back. She let out a low growl, looking between the three of them.

Once again the tufts of flame shot out, forcing her to defend herself.

Babs let out a groan and tried to get to her feet, only to drop down a moment later. “G-get out of here, Marble, leave us.”

If Marble heard her, Silver didn’t know. The unicorn didn’t even acknowledge it, just deflecting the assaults again.

“Break the traitor’s horn!” a pony yelled.

Silver’s eyes widened and she was finally snapped out from her shock. She focused on her metallic wings, making them move over her head and the tips connect before releasing a large charge of electricity. The resulting zap made the crowd go silent as nearly every eye turned towards her. A moment later most of the owners of said eyes were fleeing to every nook and cranny they could get to, abandoning the fight. The air bender and earth bender took one look at her and fled for their lives while the fire bender just stared at her with horror.

Silver took a single step forward and the fire bender ran for her life with a light yelp of fear. She then gave a sigh before looking to Marble. To her surprise, the unicorn had moved between her and the two collapsed ponies.

“M-Marble, run!” Babs told her.

“Get out of here, you idiot,” Limestone snapped.

Silver couldn’t help being a tiny bit impressed at the two when they tried to stand. Considering how bruised and beaten they were, it couldn’t have been easy. Still, Limestone only made it halfway to her hooves before collapsing and while Babs did manage to fully make it, she was using all of her energy just to stand, judging by how badly she was shaking. She doubted the earth pony could even fully see her, considering one of her eyes were bruised shut. Watching the three struggle to protect each other made her own heart ache.

What in the world happened here? She wanted to reach out and ask them, but they looked even more afraid of her than they had their attackers. More importantly, she could feel every eye on them. Seeing what would happen. If she offered any comfort or aid it would only make things worse. ‘Break the traitor’s horn’. She wondered if that was what had sparked this confrontation. Was it because the three had fought the Avatar and her companions so long ago? Was it not enough that two of them had lost their marks to her? Were ponies that desperate to find a target for revenge?

She supposed so. After all, the Avatar was the hero and she was the villain. So why not attack those who had bullied her so long ago while they were defenseless?

Diamond would have been furious.

“Your highness,” Gracious said, trotting up besides her. “They’re not a threat, I-I don’t think they meant to cause any disturbances.” There was a slight tenseness to her voice, worry.

Of course. After all, Silver was a monster. THE monster. She couldn’t give comfort or she’d just make things worse. Instead, she reached out and called for her changelings. Within a few minutes there was a light buzzing and then the strange insectoid creatures began to land by them, surrounding the bruised ponies.

“And yet they did,” Silver said in a loud enough voice for their watchers to hear. “More importantly, those two once stood against me. Their blank flanks are testaments to that. Arrest them.”

“Lady Discord?” Gracious asked.

“Yes, take them to the dungeons,” Silver said. “I’ll decide what I want to do to them later. If I feel like it.” She gave a small shrug and then turned to lightly trot away.

At least she knew Gracious would take good care of them. Make sure their wounds were looked at and that they’d get proper treatment for their wounds. Maybe she could even find out if she was right before just pretending not to care about them. It wouldn’t be hard to let them escape the dungeons. After all, she was Discord. She could hardly be expected to care what happened to her prisoners.

“Don’t touch her!” Babs yelled.

Silver turned in time to see Babs try and charge Gracious. She cringed when the fire bender swept the earth pony’s front leg out from under her and drove her face first into the ground. Blue flame flickered to the tip of the unicorn’s horn and she narrowed her eyes on the others, one hoof on the back of Babs’ head. “Please do not disobey the judgment of Lady Discord,” Gracious said coldly. “I don’t want to hurt you any more than I have to.”

Silver cringed and just kept walking. Her judgment. Of course. This was everything she ever wanted, after all.

To the victor went the spoils.

Author's Note:

If that's not a blast from the past... Quite a few ponies are quite upset and looking for a target. Silver doesn't quite approve, though. Poor Rock Bunnies got unmarked a second time, albeit differently this time. And at least one of them is... mostly okay. For now.