//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: MLP A New Generation 3: The Rise of Armored Hoof // by TwiShine45 //------------------------------// There were still questions that needed answering. Sunny knew this, yet she still took time to enjoy the moment when Luster was finally dealt with. True, she didn’t particularly like the method with which she’d had to deal with the evil Alicorn, but that was all in the past. She couldn’t redact any hoof swipe, nor any horn blow. The blood of the fallen stained the dust around her hooves, turning it into something out of the bowels of Tartarus itself. She wondered if death had been the right choice, but quickly put the thought to rest as her new status as Princess came flooding back in. Not only that, but she also had hundreds of now ex-Scarlet Wing agents to deal with. Luckily, they were all scared to death of her. “She…she killed the great one…” a pony said, shivering in fear. “Our queen…the revolutionary, evolutionary, all-powerful Luster…snuffed out in a second,” concurred another. “What shall we do now?!” A third wailed in desperation. “Perhaps turn to friendship and love?” Sunny asked, fluttering to the floor and standing in a position that was both nonthreatening and authoritative. “But…but friendship isn’t evolutionary!” The first pony yelped. “We’ve lost our evolution! We’ve lost our progression! We’ve lost our assimilation! The glorious future that Luster promised-“ “-was an illusion,” Hitch said calmly. “Can’t you see that? Ever since the Unity Crystals were brought back together, Equestria has lived a real future. It’s one where everypony is kind to each other and no amount of wings or horns ever divides us. Don’t you want to be a part of this Equestria?” “Not if it means we don’t get what we deserve!” The second pony howled. “Yeah!” The third pony agreed. “I mean, we all worked our rumps off for Luster. We distributed her Distrust Dust, guarded this cave, and did it all in secret! We killed for Luster. We robbed for Luster. We brought Luster all that she needed to bring forth a terrific evolution, and for what? To be taken in by some self-proclaimed successor to Twilight Sparkle herself? How do we know that you even saw the princesses in that vision of yours?!” “It’s called trust, everypony!” Zipp said in thunderous defense of her friend. “It’s something that binds friends together…but you all appear to have forgotten what trust is. Luster brainwashed you in such a way that you are now unable to even appreciate the concept, let alone take a firm grasp of it.” “My sister’s right,” Pipp said. “If Sunny said she saw the four princesses in her dream, then I, for one, believe her!” “Oh, brother!” The third ex-agent snarled. “If we went by your way, we’d all be flitting around some random garden somewhere, exchanging hugs and pretty little necklaces. Ooooooo, friendship! Well, let me tell you something…Scarlet Wing is not dead yet! Not as long as I’m around!” “Me too!” The first pony said. “Me too!” The second pony roared. “Queen Luster would have loved this show of support,” a new voice said. Sunny and her friends turned to see their supposed friend, Meadow Bloom, standing on a rock behind them. Her fur was mussed up and her mane undone. She slowly dropped to the ground and began advancing on them. Some of the former agents started binding together with them, formulating a new version of the group. However, others had listened to the victorious harbingers of friendship and hope and were gravitating towards them. Fairly soon, Scarlet Wing had split right down the middle, and Meadow’s group stood and stared at their former comrades. “Hmph!” Meadow huffed. “You ponies don’t appreciate Luster!” “We appreciate that she was a murderous, sick, twisted pony!” One of the converted ponies cried out. “After Princess Sunny showed us who Luster really was…or, more to the point, after Luster outed herself…we’ve decided not to stick with her anymore!” “Oh, you worthless equines!” Meadow howled in a rage. “Luster was the greatest ruler this nation has ever known! She wanted to bring true change to this weak, saccharine nation. Love? Friendship? The Tree of Harmony has been dead for millennia! How is it that the ancient teachings still affect us today?! How is it that Twilight Sparkle’s own hoof still continues to guide this nation’s destiny?! Why is it that the disturbingly mediocre sanctuaries from long ago still throw their portals open wide, denying entrance to strength, but accepting the low and the pitiable?! How?! HOW?!” Sunny took a step forward and stood nose to nose with Meadow. She spread her wings in a show of royal power, causing the wicked pony to flinch just slightly. For a moment, she and Meadow were deadlocked in a staring contest. She could practically feel Izzy’s deceased body urging her forward, demanding that this mental battle be won. Afterwards, they would deal with the physical. She pressed forward, her turquoise orbs burrowing into Meadow’s aqua blue ones. Tension built in the room, only broken by the sound of a gentle wind blowing through the roof of the cave. “They continue, Meadow Bloom,” Sunny said in a voice that reflected Twilight’s own, “because we allow them to. Friendship never died. It was simply misplaced. The Distrust Dust might have had a stranglehold on Equestria for generations, but not even that could kill harmony. Whatever Twilight’s true story is, I know this…I saw her, and I love and cherish her memory. I saw the other princesses, too. They gave me this destiny and I will work my hooves to the bone to fulfill it. I owe it to them.” “Then you’ll do it with a great deal of opposition,” Meadow said with tones that registered somewhere between a snarl and a harsh whisper. She bent forward and touched her lips to Sunny’s ear. “Scarlet Wing will never die, and the only reason I’m not killing you now is because I want to destroy you, your friends, and that putrid Maretime Bay.” “I won’t break, Meadow,” Sunny responded. “You may set me up at the gates of Tartarus, but I won’t break, and neither will my friends. Bring your forces, bring your best…because we will defend Maretime, and our friendship.”