Opaline leapt at Sunny, who used her quickness to dodge back behind her hiding spot. Not one to throw in the towel so easily, Opaline then used her magic to pull Sunny out. The Alicorn struggled against Opaline’s force, but unfortunately, Sunny did not quite have the handle on her own magic the way Opaline did on hers. The evil unicorn cackled as she pulled Sunny ever closer, grinning with glee as the soon-to-be ruler squirmed against the pressure. Sunny knew she had to do something quickly, and she racked her mind in an attempt to get Opaline off of her. But it was no use. Scarlet Wing’s general had her in a veritable vacuum, and she had no way out.
Opaline laughed all the more. “You fool! Don’t you get it? I’m one of the most powerful unicorns in all of Equestria! The only one more powerful than me is Meadow Bloom herself! I work, not just for her, but to cement the legacy of our beloved Queen Luster Dawn! It was her who brought about the destruction of the wicked Twilight Sparkle, it was her who brought about the hatred and division in this land, and it was her who finally got Equestria to evolve beyond such stupid, primitive, loathsome concepts like love and kindness! Ugh! I can’t even say those cloying words…such preposterousness…such foolishness…”
“Being a friend to others is not foolishness!” Sunny cried in a rage. “The true fools are those who believe they can go through life and never need a friend! Those are the ones who lose, Opaline.”
“Oh, is that so?” Opaline asked rhetorically. “Well, if that’s the case…then why are YOU the one that’s being pulled in by my magic? Why are YOU the one who’s struggling for her very existence?”
Sunny thought for a moment as she was finally pulled up face-to-face with Opaline. “I…I can’t answer that. But one thing I do know is that friendship will always win out in the end. Equestria was built on that very principle. From the time of the earliest pony tribes up until now, Equestria has always been driven by friendship. The very first Hearth’s Warming proved that.”
“Hearth’s Warming?” Opaline asked. “Now, how in the world did you hear about such a repulsive celebration?”
“Not repulsive…rewarding,” Sunny said, “as to how I found out about it…I read about it…in a book…written by Twilight Sparkle herself. My father was an avid connoisseur of her literature…before Scarlet Wing left his body in a broken, bloody mess in those dark, evil woods.”
Opaline smiled. “Ah, yes, the death of Argyle Starshine. That was one of my favorite projects I ever got to help out on. I remember receiving the intel that led to the hit being put on him. It was glorious. He was trying to hold Equestria back from its much needed continuous evolution. For us…killing him was an easy decision. I was on the raiding team that slaughtered both him and that other pony that was with him. I didn’t even catch the other one’s name. Pity. Collateral damage and all that. But still…Argyle squirming in my hooves as he spoke his final words…oh…that was priceless…I remember biting into his flesh…feeling his blood coat my teeth…watching the life and light die from his eyes…it was absolute ecstasy.”
Sunny ground her teeth together as images of her dead father flashed through her mind. She remembered his kindness towards others, regardless of which kind of pony they were. His tenacity and unwillingness to let Maretime Bay’s negative attitudes get to him soared like birds through her consciousness. His face lit up every corner of her being. The gentle visage that read her stories, tucked her in at night, and always pushed her to be a better pony flooded her vision. Opaline’s insults tore into her very soul, lighting a fire that Equestria had not seen since the days of Twilight herself. It was at this point that Sunny recognized her true destiny and she felt Twilight’s teachings and ways giving her strength.
She began to glow. Her eyes shone as bright as the sun, and her mane became as hot as magma. Her wings spread and her horn began to pulsate with the hope and dreams of all the ponies who had come before her, driving her out of Opaline’s grasp and into the air. No longer was it just Argyle that populated her vision. Now, it was Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack. She saw the ponies she’d read about countless times over in the ancient tomes. It was time for a new generation to rule Equestria, and lead it back into Twilight’s ways. She was at its spearhead, ready to protect her beloved home and friends from the wickedness of these evil Scarlet Wing malefactors.
“Wha…what’s going on?” Opaline asked as her eyes widened.
Sunny flapped her wings defiantly, sending the equivalent of an earthquake bounding through the schoolhouse. “Opaline…thou hast been judged by thine Princess…and been found extremely wanting. Thou hast been weighed on the scales of friendship and found lacking. Thou, Opaline, hast brought about the damnation of thine own Scarlet Wing brethren. The power that thou seekest cannot be found within the caverns that thou and thy wicked horde populate. The ultimate power of this world, and any world, is the power of friendship. But thou hast made the foolish decision to abandon Twilight Sparkle’s manner. Not only that, but thou hast committed murder and wanton atrocities in the name of Twilight’s former protégé Luster Dawn. Thou…and all thy brethren…are hereby sentenced to death!”
At this point, Sunny closed her eyes and called upon the power of every last one of her dead friends and relatives. She saw them within Scarlet Wing’s grasp, which drove her anger even further. However, it was a controlled anger, and it manifested itself in a spell of doom and destruction. With her power at its limit, Sunny unleashed it all across Equestria. It cleansed the land of Scarlet Wing, punishing those ponies it found associated with the group by magically ending their existences. They disintegrated into dust, quickly blown away by the wind. The power was so massive that it took only a few seconds. But afterwards, everypony that ever attacked Sunny, her friends, or Equestria was gone. Scarlet Wing was destroyed…never to return.