20 years later
All the inhabitants of Equestria—both pony and creature—did successfully live together in peace and prosperity thanks to the wise rulership of Princess Twilight. As the sun shined high in the skies, everyone gathered together once again for a special celebration at Canterlot City; as all the creatures and ponies, both young and old, were assembled before the castle, two royal guards opened the front doors of the palace before the alicorn herself stepped out.
Now Twilight, wearing new royal attire, was fully grown in the same height as Celestia with her long mane magically flowing in the air.
As she stood before the gathered crowd, a massive object—covered by a large tarp—was placed between her and the assembly. After that, six different creatures appeared in a flash with Starlight, Sunburst, and Trixie with them.
“Citizens of Equestria, I have gathered you all here together on this special day—a day in which the Magic of Friendship both rose up and prevailed!” Twilight began. “It was truly a fearful time for us all when friendship nearly perished before our very eyes; Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow thought they had won, but friendship ultimately emerged triumphant…thanks to these courageous creatures.”
Right on cue, the Young Six approached Twilight before she ignited her horn; the tarp fell off, revealing a brand new statue for all of the crowd to see. It was a statue of the Young Six posing in their unique ways when they were much younger.
This surprised the six as they gazed at their statue before looking back at Twilight. “You six have demonstrated to the world what friendship means and how powerful it is. If it weren’t for you, I don’t think any of us would be standing together today.”
Having said that, all the ponies and creatures cheered for the Young Six. Pinkie Pie launched fireworks from her party cannon, and Discord snapped his fingers—where bouchées grew mouths and arms and sang with trumpets in a circle.
Ocellus grew tears in her eyes as she smiled with quivering lips. Grinning, Smolder wiped off the changeling’s tears, comfortably patting her on the shoulder.
Sandbar and Yona both smiled as they were hailed as heroes; they briefly looked at each other and nuzzled their faces together, blushing.
Gallus was blushing in embarrassment however and tried to maintain his normal composure; giggling, Silverstream playfully punched his arm which made him flinch. Rolling his eyes, he accepted the flowers thrown at him from the crowd.
Starlight, Trixie, and Sunburst proudly looked upon their former students, happy that they have succeeded their goals and have now become icons of the Magic of Friendship alongside the Princess.
Nevertheless, there was one pony who still wasn’t happy with everything going on. She was there in the midst of the crowd, glaring at the Young Six with scorn in her eyes. Growling, she sullenly turned away and departed from the assembly.
Now a fully grown unicorn, Feisty trotted to Ponyville by herself. She irritably groaned at the sight of a pony and a changeling holding hooves together at a picnic table. Then she noticed a griffon happily flying with a pegasus high above the clouds, joyfully shouting.
She also noticed some fillies playing ball with a little hippogriff not far from Cheerilee’s school. Shaking her head, she went on her way to a cafe.
After she had lunch, she exited the cafe and prepared to leave Ponyville until she bumped into a pink unicorn.
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” Feisty snapped.
“Sorry, sorry! I didn’t see you!” the unicorn apologized.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
“Hey, no need to be rude! She said she was sorry!” a young griffon spoke up, standing by his friend.
“I don’t think I was talking to you, griffon. Mind your own business,” Feisty sneered.
“Is something wrong, ma’am? I hope everything is okay,” the unicorn said, worried.
“Oh sure, everything is perfectly fine! Nothing like being surrounded by du—*ahem* I mean, cool creatures every single day of my life. I’m definitely okay,” Feisty sarcastically replied with an insincere smile.
“Uhhhh, okay… well, I hope you have a good day, ma’am. My name is Luster Dawn. What’s yours?”
“Feisty.”
“Nice name! Pleasure to meet you, Feisty! Do you wanna meet my new friends?”
“Oh no thanks, I have a rather…busy schedule today. But I…appreciate it.”
“Alright, see you next time then!” Luster smiled, waving her hoof.
The moment she and the griffon left was when Feisty’s smile dropped. “Ughhh…that was embarrassing.” Then she finally left Ponyville.
She returned back home in Canterlot. She opened the door to her house where her middle-aged mother was at the kitchen cooking food. Groaning, Feisty closed the door and rejoined her.
“Back so soon, dear?”
“Eh, it was a boring ceremony anyway.”
“Let me guess: the anniversary of the Young Six’s victory over the villains annoyed you?”
“It’s not that, Mom.”
Then her mother gave her a doubtful look. “Okay, fine, you got me! Why should we even care about that at this point?! I just don’t get why they are so much more important than every pony else!”
As she ranted on, the mom stopped cooking for a moment and went over to her daughter, laying her hoof on her shoulder. “Are you still thinking about what happened to your father?”
That caught Feisty off-guard. “I thought we were past this. I told you, Feisty, you shouldn’t let that incident get to you. Your father would’ve wanted you to move on and be happy.”
“BE HAPPY?!?” Feisty snapped, slamming her hooves on the table. “Happy with the fact that the ones responsible for what happened to him are now living amongst us?! Happy that they are supposedly our friends now?!”
Her mother was startled by her outburst; nonetheless, she had a sympathetic look on her face as her daughter finally broke down in tears. She hugged her tightly.
“I’m sorry. I know it’s very hard to let go of the pain. I know it hurts so much to lose someone you love dearly. But hatred and anger will not make it better for you.”
“Don’t lecture me, Mom. I’ll be fine,” Feisty coldly responded.
She left the house and slammed the door shut. Her mom then silently sat back down on the table and briefly sobbed, shaking her head in disappointment.
It was night time. Feisty sat quietly on top of a hill where she watched the moon rise and the Princess watching the city from the balcony. Once the latter went back inside, the unicorn laid her head on a tree.
“*sigh* I’ll never understand why ponies are just blindly complacent about befriending these guys,” she muttered. “If this is what friendship is all about, then I want no part in it.”
Suddenly, she heard a strange mechanical noise. Curious, she looked behind her…only to find nothing or no one at all. Shrugging it off, she laid back on the tree and took a deep breath.
Then she heard the same noise again but only slightly louder. Frightened by the sound, she ignited her horn as she looked left and right. “Who goes there?” She heard no reply.
“What was that?”
The noise was again heard near her but this time, it was coming from above. Looking up, she was met by multiple orange eyes staring menacingly at her from the tree branches.
“AHHH!” she screamed, dropping to the ground.
“Forgive us, dear. We mean you no harm.”
“What are you?!” she demanded, sweating fearfully.
“We are The Core, a hive mind of the most brilliant souls in the universe. We couldn’t help but overhear your…grievances.”
The Core climbed down from the tree with its tentacles, approaching the unicorn slowly. “What is your name, madam?”
“I’m…Feisty. My name is Feisty. W-Where did you come from? What…are you even supposed to be?”
“Let’s just say we are from a very, very far place, and we have been dwelling here for only Frog knows how long. Hmm, we believe 20 years to be exact. Yes, twenty years of searching and waiting…”
Feisty looked at it puzzled, arching an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“You see…we aren’t so different from each other. You despise these creatures, and we despise them too. Do you know what it’s like to put up with the ridiculous notions of….ugh…friendship? Or to deal with a gullible patriot like Twilight Sparkle?”
This caught Feisty’s interest as The Core spoke. “I’m listening…”
“These ponies think that friendship with every single creature will solve all their problems, but they fail to realize that it is nothing more than a liability that keeps one’s potential from growing.”
“Believe us, for we have seen this ourselves before. But of course, he was always weak-minded. But you…” the hive mind walked around her while its tentacles played with Feisty’s mane, making her a bit nervous.
“You seem to be the only sentient lifeform with a brain. Tell us, why do you hate these…’non-ponies’? Pray, do tell us…”
Feisty once again took a deep breath before she answered, “Well, those monsters have always been Equestria’s thorn on its side for far too long. I mean, the yaks are just stupid, smelly, and destructive; the dragons are ruthless; the griffons are just simply horrible; the hippogriffs are spineless cowards; and the changelings?! *growls* I hate them the most…”
“Oh?”
“They were our worst enemies…for decades, and the fact that my own kind has been friends with them after their so-called ‘transformation’ is INFURIATING! After everything they’ve done, I will never let it go!” Feisty vented, grinding her teeth.
“Clearly, you were young when they were your adversaries. Is that really your reason for your hatred, or…is there more to the story?” The Core asked.
Feisty then looked down and angrily closed her eyes.
“Ahhh, I see. No matter, that is all we needed to know. You want to have your revenge on them, don’t you?”
The unicorn looked up at the hive mind with a demonic expression of unholy wrath. “Yes….ALL of them.”
The Core’s eyes brightened with excitement. “Perfect. We come to offer you a proposal: a life-changing opportunity to right the wrongs of this fallen nation and to demonstrate what true power is all about.”
Feisty’s ears lit up as she eagerly awaited to hear what the offer was. “Yes?”
“Join us. Together, we can bring this world to our knees and show Princess Twilight how big of a mistake she has made in welcoming these…savages. We…can rule this Equestria together…as its rightful rulers. We can be…inevitable.”
Then the unicorn grew an evil smile on her face. “It’s a deal.”
The Core and Feisty then shook one another’s hoof/claw. “You are making history, my dear Feisty. Now, remember, our meticulous plan must be executed fully to the letter. So, here is how you lay the foundation…”