The Reason to Smile

by Onomonopia

They're Just Shiny Rocks

"I've never liked being underground," Rainbow Dash growled.

"I can agree with that. Too many places for evildoers to hide," All Might agreed.

"Well, there's that, but also that it's way too hard to fly down here."

"Ah, that makes sense."

The six ponies and All Might moved through the mined out tunnels, Twilight using her horn to illuminate the way. In the back Applejack had to drag Rarity along by the tail as the mare couldn't go more than ten feet without trying to rip one of the giant crystals out of the wall. The fact that there were so many crystals did not go unnoticed by All Might. And Twilight noticed his concern.

"Worried about Diamond Dust?" she asked him.

"Yes. Something about this feels...off," All Might muttered. Twilight's horn flashed and a pulse of light scanned the tunnels.

"I don't feel anything."

"It's just something in my gut telling me that this isn't going to be easy," All Might said. "After you've been at this long enough, you'll probably develop the same feeling."

"Excuse me, Twilight and All Might? How long do you think we'll be down here?" Pinkie asked.

"Um, that depends on how much of a fight Diamond puts up," All Might said.

"Why do you ask, Pinkie?" Twilight asked.

"It's just that it's story time tonight and I promised Lil' Cheese that I would read his favorite story to him," Pinkie said with a smile. "And he would just be so upset if I missed it."

Twilight was about to answer, but then she caught All Might's face out of the corner of her eye. For a moment, his smile was gone and he instead wore a look of concern. Then the smile was back a moment later.

"Fear not, young Pinkie! I promise you that your son will have you back right on time for story time! And if I get you home even a second later, then I will personally act out all the scenes from the story!" All Might promised with a laugh.

"Oooo, really? Well, I might have to take my time getting home," Pinkie teased.

Twilight smiled at the pair's antics before something set off her senses. All caught her face change and his serious smile spread on his face. The rest of the group quickly fell into line and slowly they exited the tunnel that they had been traveling in, exiting into a large chamber that was filled with numerous items to draw the eye.

The first thing Rarity noticed were the colossal gems that adorned the walls, floor and ceiling, some of them so large that her house would have been dwarfed by them. Twilight immediately noticed the woman in her forties, with greyish hair, a fur hat and coat along with a glare that showed she was not a nice person. And All Might noticed all of the miners, trapped within gemstones, frozen in place. And those were the ones that weren't dead.

"All Might," Diamond Dust said with absolute disgust in her voice. "Why must you taint a place so beautiful with your hideous features?"

"Hideous? Pray tell, my dear Diamond Dust, what part of me is hideous?" All Might asked with a chuckle. Twilight took a step forward, but All Might held out a hand to stop her advance.

"Why, everything about you. Your disgusting smile that contorts your face. Your hair style, if I dare to call it that. And that gaudy, tacky suit you call a uniform. Haven't you ever heard that three is the magic number when it comes to a costume?"

"Once or twice," All Might said.

'All Might, what's going on?' Twilight's voice said in All Might's mind. It took all of All Might's control to not react to hearing her voice in his mind. 'Why aren't we taking her down?'

'She has hostages,' All Might replied. He made a quick motion to the ponies trapped within the crystals and gems. 'And though I might be fast enough to take her down, I don't know what will happen to them if I do take her down. For now, we stall until I can think of a way to free them from the crystals.'

'I have an idea. Buy a bit more time.'

"...and that isn't even considering how ugly those muscles are," Diamond Dust finished. All Might widened his smile on his face and bowed slightly to her, making sure to take his eyes off of her.

"I live to impress," he replied. He knew what was coming. The moment he broke eye contact he knew she would make her move. Diamond didn't disappoint. With a swing of her hand she ripped two of the large crystals from the ceiling and hurled them towards All Might. He moved even quicker by leaping back and grabbing the ponies behind them, using his abnormally large body to shield them as the crystals slammed into the ground behind him.

"Cool, we fighting now?!" Rainbow asked before she rocketed toward Diamond in a bolt of rainbows. The elderly woman sneered at the mare before lifting a finger, causing a massive pillar of crystal to erupt from the ground and drive the mare into the ceiling.

"Rainbow!" Applejack cried out.

All Might leapt up to where the mare had been crushed. He landed on the crystal and threw a punch with enough force to shatter the crystal with ease. Rainbow Dash fell out of the ceiling, only to be swiftly caught by All Might. Her eyes were glazed over and she was groaning weakly, but other than that All Might didn't see anything wrong with her. He let out a small sigh, only for his super reflexes to alert him to the next attack. All Might wasn't fast enough to get out of the way, but he was fast enough to wrap his body around Rainbow. A massive crystal collided with All Might and rocketed him into the wall of the room, where the crystal crushed him a moment later.

"Okay, no more Ms. Nice Mare!" Applejack snarled. "Pinkie, give me a distraction. Fluttershy, see if you can help All Might and Rainbow. Twilight-"

"Working on something!" Twilight called over from where the miners were frozen.

"Then keep at it. Rarity, how confident are ya with yer control over gems?"

"I am a maestro with the gems."

"Great. See if ya can deflect her attacks. Ambassadors, move!"

Applejack let out a whinny before she charged forward, gaining her a sneer from Diamond Dust. The woman twitched a finger and crystals rained down on AJ from above. The mare grit her teeth, but a barrier of magic constructed itself around her. She did a quick wave to Rarity before charging into the storm. Diamond bit her lip before ripping a large chunk sapphire out of the wall and aimed it at AJ.

"HIYA!"

Diamond whipped around and hurled the sapphire at whatever had just startled her. Pinkie let out a yelp as the sapphire soared over her head.

"And just what are you?" Diamond asked in disgust.

"I'm Pinkie Pie! How are you doing?" Pinkie asked.

"I'll be better in just a moment."

"Whoopsies!" Pinkie leapt, dodged and moved as crystals erupted out of the ground, doing their best to impale her. Diamond snarled before shattering the sapphire behind Pinkie and raining down the crystals in a diamond dust storm. Yet, to the amazement of the woman, Pinkie managed to dodge all of the attacks with ease.

"How are you...so fast?" Diamond Dust panted. Her arms shook and her hair was starting to lose its luster, going from a silver gray to a dull gray. "My attacks...move as fast...as cars."

"Really? Are cars all that fast?" Pinkie asked, stepping to the side to avoid another crystal. "You seem to be missing a lot. Are you sure you can see alright in your old age."

For a moment, the entire room went silent. All of Diamond Dust's crystals fell to the ground, her attacks ceased and even the crystals that were holding the miners prisoners began to crack. The other ponies were about to reach her, Twilight had nearly gotten the miners free and All Might was picking himself out of the wall. Diamond didn't care about any of that. Her entire fury was focused on the pony that had just called her old.

"Did you just say...in my old age?" Diamond Dust whispered.

"Well, I saw your gray hair, not to mention all the wrinkles on your face, and figured that you must be pretty old. So how old are you anyway? Sixty? Seventy? I'm feeling a real sixty five."

"Gray hair...wrinkles...SEVENTY?!" Diamond Dust screamed. She pulled an orb out of her coat and shattered it in her grip, letting out a banshee screech as power flooded into her. Crystals erupted out of the ground and immediately shattered, turning into a massive storm swirling over her head. The other ponies (aside from Twilight) were blown away by the sheer force of the diamond storm, except for Pinkie, who backed up slowly into the wall.

"I'M STILL FORTY, DAMMIT! I'M! NOT OLD!" Diamond Dust then aimed both hands at Pinkie sending every crystal, gemstone and shiny object towards Pinkie. The mare dodges as best she could, her Pinkie sense giving her a chance, but there were too many gemstones. Pinkie screamed out as one of the crystals punctured her back leg, dropping her to the ground. She saw the crystal storm barreling down on her and covered her face with her hooves, yet a barrier of magic erupted around Pinkie to save her.

"How about you try me, Grandma!"

"WHO DARES?!" Diamond roared as she spun around.

"I do!" Twilight snarled back. Twilight blasted a beam of violet magic towards Diamond Dust. The woman smirked before moving dozens of crystals in front of her. The beam of magic was reflected among the crystals, bouncing the attack around the room before it came flying back towards Twilight. Twilight let out a yelp as she teleported out of the way, appearing at Diamond's side.

"Oh dear, someone wasn't paying attention." Twilight had just a moment to process what the woman was saying before her own spell, which hadn't stopped bouncing, caught her in the back. Twilight let out a cry as she collapsed to the ground. "I will deal with you in a moment, but first..."

Diamond slowly turned back around to face Pinkie, who had only crawled a short way away from where she had fallen. "I believe that I owe you for daring to call me...old...so now pony...take your lasts breathes," Diamond began as she fused all of the crystals into one, giant sword over her head and aimed it right at Pinkie. "And die."

Diamond Dust brought the sword down right onto Pinkie...only to blink and realize that the pony was gone. With only a rainbow trail to tell her where she had vanished to. Diamond Dust spun around furiously...only to come face to face with the Symbol of Peace, who had a fist cocked back and a lock of fury upon his face. And upon seeing that, all of Diamond's fury was replaced by fear. And a hope that this wouldn't leave a mark. It would.

"Deadwood...SMASH!"

All Might slammed his fist right into the face of Diamond Dust, driving her through her crystals and dropping her to the ground. She bounced off the ground before All Might's fist collided with her again and again, driving her down like a jackhammer. His flurry of punches didn't stop until the woman was practically buried in the ground, with only her legs sticking up. Only then, when he was certain she was unconscious and her crystals began to fall down around him, did All Might finally let out a sigh and look around.

Twilight was tending to Pinkie while Applejack was supporting Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was comforting the miners while Rarity still freed those that were stuck. Which left All Might the only one to wonder how Diamond Dust could have gotten so powerful. He had tangled with her power and knew that what he had just seen was above her pay grade. Yet she had surprised him and Pinkie's life had almost been forfeit. A person...pony had nearly died...a child almost lost their mother, because he had lowered his guard for a moment. And this was the second time one of the villains had been far stronger than what he knew.

And yet his gut, which had never failed him before, told him this was only the beginning.

Comments

[Pete100]

Twilight was about to answer, but then she caught All Might's face out of the corner of her eye. For a moment, his smile was gone and he instead wore a look of concern. Then the smile was back a moment later.

Why is he concerned?

Twilight smiled at the pair's antics before something set off her senses. All caught her face change and his serious smile spread on his face.

When it says senses does it her five senses? Also, What does he’s serious smile look like?

For a moment, the entire room went silent. All of Diamond Dust's crystals fell to the ground, her attacks ceased and even the crystals that were holding the miners prisoners began to crack. The other ponies were about to reach her, Twilight had nearly gotten the miners free and All Might was picking himself out of the wall. Diamond didn't care about any of that. Her entire fury was focused on the pony that had just called her old.

All you would have heard at that moment was laughter if I was in there.

"Deadwood...SMASH!"

That’s new

[Fireeaters]

Well, fuck.

[badninja]

Pinkie was a little too glib there. Hopefully she recognizes her mistake and doesn’t repeat it later.

[Navarone]

10445583
pinkie, filter her mouth?
PREPOSTEROUS, BLASPHEMY
THE PONK CAN NEVER BE SILENCED

[Norwegian boy]

10445583
It's PINKIE.

[Diokno44]

10445293
Deadwood, South Dakota. Huh, I can't recall when he's done a Smash named after a city...oh wait, Detroit Smash