Terror in Equestria 5: A Thousand Years Later

It was mid-afternoon in Maredrid when a bright flash appeared in the sky.  Nopony could figure out what it was from at first but very quickly it was realized that Princess Celestia and the Dark Goddess Twilight Sparkle had returned.

Twilight levitated above the crowd and had her wings spread wide, she along with Celestia landed on the stage and began to speak.

"Hello my little minions!" said Twilight "It has been 1,000 years since I have seen any of you and I am sure you are all happy to see me again!"

Celestia asked, "Twily, don't you think you better tone it down a notch?"

Twilight shouted, "ME, TONE IT DOWN?  NEVER!  I AM THE DARK GODDESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE AND I OWN ALL OF YOU AND YOU WILL LIKE IT!"

Celestia spoke to the crowd, "Ok everypony, as you all know the leaders of the world claim that things have been so wonderful since we have been gone but I beg to differ."

Twilight interrupted, "Well guess what?  Things have gone downhill dramatically since I was banished.  It was great after Celestia was banished but once I was gone, I know things have gone down the toilet!  I am what made the world great!"

This irritated Celestia a lot but she managed to hold back her anger.  She said, "Listen Twilight, you do know that it wasn't until you rose to power that things fell into despair, don't you?"

Twilight decided to bite her tongue and held back her rage.  She said, "Oh come on Celestia.  I knew what I was doing was what made things great.  You do know that, don't you?"

Celestia shouted, "Look Twilight, I thought we had reconciled during our time in the sun but I can tell that your hunger for power is still as strong as it ever was."

Twilight yelled, "Well duh!  You honestly don't think that I am going to just hand the crown jewels of this world over to you, now do you?"

LaurFa shouted, "STOP IT YOU TWO!  What do you two want now that you have returned?"

Celestia said, "Well I want to take Equestria back and allow the stewards that Twilight put in power to continue to rule over their countries."

LaurFa asked, "What about you Twilight?"

Twilight shouted, "First off, that is Dark Goddess Twilight Sparkle to you steward LaurFa.  I am the top pony in charge again.  My goal is to conquer everything again and have you "rulers" maintain stewardship over the lands you govern.  You answer to me now LaurFa and very soon everypony will answer to the Dark Goddess Twilight Sparkle once more!"

Celestia yelled, "You haven't changed one bit have you Twilight?"

"Look Celestia," said Twilight "I know you just think you are entitled to everything but you're not.  Do you want to go to the void along with Cadence, Sombra, Chrysalis, those stupid royal guards of yours and that bumblebee I tested my spell on?"

Celestia got a scared look on her face and said, "No, please Dark Goddess Twilight Sparkle, don't banish me there.  I'm scared of bees."

Twilight replied, "Well then obey me and do what I say or you might just get sent to be with that bee."

Celestia said, "Ok everypony.  I want you to pay attention to Twilight.  She is the boss now.  LaurFa, you especially need to obey her."

A pony in the crowd asked, "Dark Goddess Twilight Sparkle, what sorts of plans do you have for the ponies of the world?  I really hope you won't put us in chains."

Twilight smiled and said, "Now why would I want to put you in chains?  I have learned that ponies who are forced into labor do not do that good of a job.  It is ponies who are offered great pay because of their excellent work ethic that do the best work."

LaurFa asked, "When should we have a meeting to discuss what we are doing?"

Twilight replied, "I think we should do this now.  Thanks for being here everypony, but we need to have a meeting and considering the fact that I along with my second in command, Celestia, haven't ate in a thousand years, we really want to go get a bite to eat!"

The three headed to the throne room in LaurFa's castle where much to the dismay of LaurFa, Twilight sat in her throne.  LaurFa glared at her for doing this.

Twilight shouted, "Why are you glaring at me LaurFa?  Do you want to go to the void again?  You do know I could just let Celestia be the steward here.  You are not irreplaceable.  Do you understand?"

LaurFa replied, "Yes your Majesty, I understand."

Both Celestia and LaurFa knew that Twilight was going to be far meaner and harder to get along with since her sentence had ended.

Twilight asked, "Ok you two, what do you think would make things great in this world now that I am back?"

LaurFa replied, "Well first I think you need to conquer the whole planet again before you start talking like that."

Twilight shouted, "WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME?  LaurFa, I want you to restart my revenue generating program here again."

LaurFa said, "But your Majesty, I don't even remember what it was."

Twilight shouted, "Are you kidding me?  I want you to force ponies to pay 10 percent of their monthly income in revenue to me.  Those who can't pay or refuse to pay will have all their assets seized.  Does that ring a bell?"

LaurFa replied, "Oh, yeah.  Now I remember.  When do you want me to start enforcing this?"

Twilight shouted, "NOW!  Get your generals in here, I want to speak to them as they will be the enforcers."

LaurFa headed to the dining room where her officers were and told the dark Alicorn general Thunder Ice and the changeling general Green Toxin that Twilight wishes to speak with them.

They headed back into the throne room where they were greeted by a nervous Celestia and a Twilight with a stern look on her face.

"Hi Twilight," said Thunder Ice "It is nice to see that you have returned.  I do have a question, what happened to you.  You used to be bigger than Celestia?"

Twilight shouted, "THAT IS DARK GODDESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE TO YOU!  What do you mean I used to be bigger than Celestia?"

LaurFa said, "Twilight, right before she had Luna banish you to the sun, Colgate drained you of much of your size and a lot of your magical abilities."

Twilight yelled, "She did what?  Oh when I get my hooves on that power hungry wretch, she will wish she was never born!"

Celestia said, "Twilight, you need to be careful.  She is so powerful now that she could do anything she wants to."

Twilight growled, "Then why doesn't she own the whole world?"

LaurFa replied, "She wanted to restore stability to the world, and she has.  Every nation is far better off than they were a thousand years ago."

This did not sit well with Twilight.  Her green eyes began to glow and she fired a bolt of energy at LaurFa, knocking her back against the wall and stunning her."

Twilight shouted, "This is what happens when you say something that pisses me off!"

LaurFa replied, "I'm sorry your Majesty, I guess I am just saying what other leaders have told me."

Twilight realized something though.  She realized that she still had nowhere near the amount of power that Colgate or even her former friends have.  Twilight said, "I am going to be honest.  I know I don't have near the power that Colgate or even my former recruits have.  What am I going to do?"

Celestia asked, "Twilight, Shining Armor is still the second in command there.  Do you think that since you are back, that maybe he would be loyal to you again?  Maybe he could help you get into the archives."

Twilight replied, "I doubt it.  When I was there even he didn't know the spell to get into the archives and I am certain that Colgate has probably changed the spell since I was banished."

Celestia asked, "LaurFa, do you know if there are any other places in this world that have collections on magic?"

LaurFa replied, "Yes, there is a small collection of books regarding magic here.  There isn't much but it would at least help Twilight gain a little bit of ability back."

"Really?  Could you show me where it is?  I want to study, and I want to study everything you have!" shouted a happy and excited Twilight

LaurFa led her into the palace library and showed her the magic section.  While it was small in comparison to anything else Twilight had ever seen, she was happy as she was when she got into Celestia's school when she saw it she said, "Thank you LaurFa!  I will make this worth your while!"

In Ponyville Colgate saw all of this happening and she snickered when she saw Twilight getting so excited over such a tiny collection of books regarding basic magic.  She thought to herself, "This is going to be a piece of cake!  I do know that Saddle Arabia and Neigh Zealand have collections similar to the one in Maredrid, so she won't learn much more from those.  Of course she took all of Faustica's collection so I don't have to worry about that!"

Colgate flew down to the base and saw that her entire army along with Twilight's former friends.  She decided that she would tell her troops about what was going on.

Colgate said, "Alright troops.  I have been watching the events unfolding in Maredrid.  First, Twilight has cemented herself as the pony in charge.  LaurFa is merely a steward once more and Celestia is basically Twilight's little lap dog.  We need to prepare though.  While it is tiny in comparison to what I have, Maredrid does have a small collection of books about magic that Twilight is studying."

Fluttershy asked, "Colgate, where is Shining Armor, I thought he would be here considering the importance of what is going on."

Applejack asked, "Ah don't want to upset you Colgate, but do you think that he may have defected and headed off to Maredrid?  Would you be able to see him flying off that way or sailing there if he did so?"

Colgate replied, "Actually yes.  When was the last time somepony saw him?"

Ice Storm said, "Well this morning when the two silhouettes in the sun disappeared and they returned to our world, I saw him take off towards the east coast."

Colgate replied, "Well let me go check and see."

Colgate flew up to her bedroom and tapped into the eye.  Sure enough, Shining Armor had reached the east coast and set sail for Maredrid.  When Colgate saw this, she became enraged and shouted, "I WILL KILL HIM FOR THIS!"

She sped back down to the base and said, "Alright troops, Shining Armor has betrayed us.  He flew to the coast, stole a ship and has set sail for Maredrid.  When he returns with her I will kill him.  Given that he was the second in command, this form of treason is punishable by death."

Stinging Haze said, "I thought Alicorns don't die."

Colgate replied, "Alicorns can not die of old age or some form of illness, but they can die in battle or be executed.  How I will execute him will be a surprise for all of you."

Ice Storm asked, "What are we going to do about a second in command now Supreme Commander?"

Colgate replied, "Well who here thinks they have what it takes to be the second in command?"

Applejack shouted, "Ah could do it Colgate.  Ah offer you my services to be commander."

Colgate replied, "Thank you Applejack.  Don't let it interfere with your job applebucking or any other jobs you have over at the farm but I thank you for your services."

Applejack said, "Don't worry about it Colgate.  There are plenty of other members in the family to take care of it."

Colgate replied, "Alright Commander Applejack, but remember, if they need your help they come first and also remember if something happens to me, Equestria belongs to you!"

Applejack said, "Thank you Colgate.  Ah certainly hope nothing happens to you!"

The ponies cheered Colgate's decision to make the hardest working pony in all of Ponyville the commander and second in line to the role of Supreme Commander.  Colgate was easily able to rally her troops to not only want to save their country, but to make Shining Armor pay for the crime of treason.  As Shining Armor headed off to rejoin his sister, he had no clue that Colgate had issued a death warrant against him.