“…wait…you’re who, now?” Sunny asked, perplexed. Her ears were cocked and she tilted her head. Confusion reigned supreme in her head. She’d never heard of this Luster Dawn, nor did she know how in Equestria the apparent leader of Scarlet Wing had become an Alicorn. From her understanding of the phenomenon, Alicorn-hood was only granted when some magic force thought one had done enough to earn one’s wings. It was all extremely bewildering to the young orange mare, and she needed some answers. That, and whatever Luster said could work to their advantage should it come to a battle.
“I’m Luster Dawn,” the other Alicorn repeated.
A moment’s silence followed as Sunny continued to look completely lost.
“Um…Twilight’s old student?” Luster offered.
“Nope, not ringing any bells,” Sunny said honestly.
Luster smacked her face with a hoof. “See, this is why I started Scarlet Wing! Twilight said that there’d be friends, there’d be family, there’d be notoriety and acceptance, but NOOOOOOOO! I got stuck with four supposed friends who weren’t even my own species! Then, when they decided to-“
“Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!” Sunny said. “Calm down. Then, maybe, you can form a coherent thought.”
“I will not take orders from my prisoners,” Luster growled, “and there’s no way in Tartarus that you’re gonna catch me monologuing! Ruffled Feather, prepare to throw them into their cell!”
“Aye, Your Majesty,” Ruffled said, in a voice that betrayed his excitement at getting to carry out his queen’s command.
“But, before you do,” Luster said, “I wish to congratulate the brave agent who has led them directly to us. I knew planting her in the EPUP town would lead to some good.”
“Wait…agent?” Sunny asked, eyes wide.
“Yes, agent Meadow Bloom,” Luster said with a smirk.
Sunny’s mouth fell open as the pegasus whom she thought was her friend stepped forward. Meadow had an evil sneer on her face while bowing low to Luster. The self-proclaimed Queen of Equestria got down off her throne and used a hoof to “knight” Meadow. She then whispered something in a foreign tongue, that of which was written on the cave walls all around them. Meadow responded with the same language, almost as if it had been rehearsed many times over. Then, the winged traitor turned to face her supposed friends, all of whom were in complete shock.
“You pitiful fools,” Meadow growled. “Are you so determined on your mission of regression that you couldn’t even notice all of my faux clumsiness? Seriously, how could anypony actually be that awkward? I mean, I was stepping on every tree root, bashing every little rock with my hoof, and each time, we’d head off in the direction of my plight. It was in this way that I very carefully (and cleverly) led you right to Her Majesty’s doorstep. The Friendship Journal I gave you was gifted to me by Her Majesty in the hopes that we might dupe those who’d dare cross Scarlet Wing’s glorious distrust dust. Don’t you idiots know that it’s time to evolve beyond friendship…that the time of Luster Dawn has begun? Don’t you know that Twilight Sparkle’s teachings were lost to space and time eons ago? Nopony needs friends anymore! All you need is you. That’s what evolution and progression is. The strong survive while the weak are left to rot and die.”
“Mm…I love your outlining of our goal, Meadow!” Luster praised.
“Thank you, my Queen,” Meadow said with a bow, “it was pretty impressive, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, indeed,” Luster responded. “Now, then, Ruffled, you may escort our guests to their quarters.”
“Yes, Ma’am!” Ruffled barked, before turning and doing the same to the cloaked ponies around the group. Suddenly, they were each beaten down. Sunny felt a sharp pain course through her before everything turned into blackness…
When she awoke, she found herself in some sort of prison cell. Iron bars wrapped their way around the front of the room. The three sides around her were lit by torches, and created of rough, jagged stone. Shadows that danced on these places seemed to taunt her, telling her that she’d failed in her mission. Now, she knew that she’d never know what happened to her mother, nor to anypony else who’d entered these woods. For she had become just another number…a casualty of Scarlet Wing’s miniature empire. Despite their lack of concerted power over Equestria, they were still a dangerous outfit…and one that Sunny had no idea how to overcome.
“Comfortable?” A voice asked.
Sunny looked up and saw Meadow standing on the outside of the door. Her first reaction was to use a sharp hoof and claw the traitor’s face off. But she held her temper and stood to meet her new adversary. The two mares became deadlocked in something of a staring contest (much to the delight of one Izzy Moonbow), but soon became interested in using facial expressions to try and look intimidating. When this battle turned into a stalemate, they began pacing back and forth, matching each other hoofstep for hoofstep. Sunny’s eyes burned into Meadow, and vice versa. The young Alicorn just couldn’t believe that somepony would be so blatantly treacherous. Then again, if Meadow was working for Scarlet Wing, then it wasn’t surprising.
“You betrayed us,” Sunny growled after a few minute’s pacing.
“Eh,” Meadow said, “you’re all expendable in Her Majesty’s great plan.”
“What plan?” Hitch suddenly asked as he trotted up to stand beside Sunny.
“Why, the plan to lead Equestria into its greatest era, of course,” Meadow said with a smirk. “See, Equestria needs evolution. It needs progression. It needs Queen Luster like never before. Twilight’s teachings of friendship and love are regressive, causing the weak and strong to mix and be kind to each other. But Queen Luster knows what strength is, and she knows what power is. That is what Equestria needs: strength and power. We almost had it…until you guys found those crystals. The Distrust Dust was doing its job. Queen Luster was ready to ascend to the throne, and then-“
“-and then you meddlesome bunch happened,” came the sound of the self-categorized monarch.
Meadow bowed as Luster came in to address her new prisoners. “Meadow has explained a lot…and all quite well, I might add. She’s an excellent Prime Minister.”
“Prime Minister?” Sunny asked.
“Oh, yes,” Luster said. “Every royal needs a second, and Meadow is mine. She agreed to be placed undercover in the EPUP town when our spies in Maretime reported that you all were scheming again. She accomplished her mission with great vigor and success, and I’m very pleased with her.”
“So…why’d you start Scarlet Wing in the first place?” Zipp asked as the rest of Sunny’s group joined her at the bars.
“Oh, that my dear, is a story worth telling,” Luster said, “and since I have you behind bars that are not only iron, but built of a material that rejects all spells used against it, I think we have some time. The glorious story of Scarlet Wing is this…”