Colgate's Practice 3: Nipping the Problem in the Bud

The three headed to the dining hall for lunch where they were joined by General Pearly Whites. He saw that they looked much less stressed and wondered if everything was ok but he wanted to know for sure. He asked, "Your Majesty, Colgate, Amethyst, is everything ok?"

Luna replied, "Yes General, everything is alright. We have ironed things out and things will remain the same, for the most part."

Pearly asked, "What do you mean 'for the most part?'"

Luna replied, "Well Colgate and Amethyst will continue to live here in the castle, they will continue to run their practice and they will remain heads of the EDA. The primary difference is that from this point forward they are forbidden from torturing anypony for any reason."

Pearly knew that this would cause some major changes, changes that would affect the lives of all the soldiers. He asked, "Your Majesty, does this mean that I along with the soldiers will be returning to Canterlot?"

Luna replied, "No, it does not. Most of you will but you along with a few regular soldiers will remain here to protect the castle along with Colgate and Amethyst."

Colgate was surprised that Luna would give them any kind of protection given that they are not royalty. Amethyst gasped, "Seriously? You're going to allow Colgate and I to have protection even though we are not royalty?"

Luna replied, "Of course thou shall still receive protection. Thou are part of our government and besides, thou lives in a castle, which makes thou a target for jealous ponies who may be envious of thee."

This brought out nervous looks on the two's faces but Luna reassured them and let them know that they had no need to worry, that she would also keep an eye out for them and punish anypony who may try to breach the castle or harm them. Their lunch was the most stress free meal that had been eaten in the castle for quite some time. After lunch Luna ordered Pearly to gather all of the soldiers together.

Luna headed out to the housing area for the soldiers and addressed them, "Alright troops, we want to let thee know that Colgate and Amethyst will no longer be torturing ponies."

One of the soldiers asked, "Your Majesty, does this mean that all of us will be returning to Canterlot with you?"

Luna replied, "No, not all of thee. Most of thee will return with us but five soldiers shall remain here with Pearly. Which of thee wishes to stay here?"

This was a question that Luna would not get the desired answer with. Every single soldier raised his hoof screaming that he desired to remain with Pearly. This irritated Luna quite a bit, not just because it made it harder to decide who to leave behind, but it also made her feel like they do not like her. She looked over at Pearly and ordered, "Pearly, pick the five thee desires to stay here."

Pearly headed into the crowd of soldiers and hoof picked the five that he desired to remain with him. The rest of the soldiers sighed in disappointment. Luna pointed to an area outside of the castle grounds and ordered, "Soldiers, gather there while we say our goodbyes to Colgate and Amethyst."

While the soldiers headed outside the castle grounds Luna headed back up to the throne room and caught Colgate and Amethyst in a loving embrace. She smiled and asked, "We take it thou hast made up and thy love hast returned."

Colgate replied, "Yes your Majesty. While you were out addressing your troops we talked and discovered that our love still exists."

Amethyst gave Colgate a kiss and added, "And our love is as strong as ever. Thank you your Majesty. Thank you for everything you have ever done for us."

Luna replied, "It is our pleasure." She looked towards the door and continued, "Well we must be going. We shall see thee again soon."

The two rushed up to Luna and hugged her thanking her again for what she had done for them, especially for helping them realize that their anger and hate was irrational. Luna smiled and told them that she must get going. When Luna got back outside she looked at Pearly and said, "Well General, we shall see thee later." She then yelled at her troops, "Let's go troops, let's get back to Canterlot."

Pearly and his soldiers waved goodbye to Luna and the other soldiers. They headed into the castle and were greeted by Colgate and Amethyst, who had their wings wrapped around one another. Pearly smiled and said, "Well it is good to see you two back to normal."

Amethyst replied, "Well it feels wonderful for things to be back to normal. I just hope that things will stay this way."

Colgate had decided that since there were only a few soldiers remaining that they should move into the castle. She addressed her troops and said, "Well troops, I have a question. What would you think about moving from the barracks into the castle?"

One of the soldiers asked, "Really? You want us to move in here with you? Are there enough bedrooms?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, there are enough spare bedrooms for each of you to have your own bedroom. Each bedroom has it's own bath so you won't have to worry about sharing bathrooms."

The five remaining soldiers cheered loudly and rushed to Colgate, hugging her and thanking her. Colgate smiled, "No need to thank me. If you want to thank anypony, thank Luna. She is the one who decided that five of you may remain here."

Pearly asked, "Will all the soldiers be staying on the same side of the castle with me or will some be on your side as well?"

Colgate replied, "They will all be on your side of the castle as there are no spare bedrooms on the side that Amethyst and I sleep on. After all, we can't have anypony too close to our quarters."

Pearly said, "I know, you two are loud enough most nights anyway."

The two blushed and Amethyst said, "Come on now general, we're not that loud!"

Pearly replied, "Not that loud? You two make so much noise that I can barely sleep on most nights!"

Colgate said, "Shhhhh......General, I do not want the soldiers to know this stuff."

One of the soldiers suggested, "Well general, we could always wear ear plugs. That way they can make all the noise they want and we can still sleep."

Colgate noticed it was time for supper and cleared her throat, "Ahem......it is time for supper." She smiled at the soldiers and continued, "And for those of you soldiers who stayed here, have I got a surprise for you!"

One of the soldiers asked what it was but Colgate simply told them to follow her. When they arrived in the dining hall they discovered that there were five more chairs around the table than normal. One of the soldiers asked, "Wait a minute, we get to eat in here with you now, don't we?"

Colgate replied, "Yep. You live in here now so you will eat in here as well."

They all began to have a friendly conversation until their meals were brought to them. The soldiers were amazed by the high quality of the meal. When they lived out in the barracks, their meals were generally your normal mess hall food but what they would be eating now was food of a very high quality, something they had never had before in their lives. Colgate could see the happiness in their eyes. She said, "Well troops, you can expect meals like this all the time now. No more mess hall food for you!"

The troops again began to cheer. After a delightful evening of conversation and relaxation, Amethyst began to head up the stairs. She smiled and asked, "Colgate sweetie, are you coming to bed."

Colgate rushed towards the stairs and replied, "Of course sweetie!"

The two rushed up to their bedroom and locked the door once they got inside. The soldiers could hear their giggling, moaning and squealing all the way down in the throne room. One of the soldiers asked, "What is that noise? What are they doing up there?"

Pearly replied, "That noise is the sound of normalcy. While it was rather annoying for years, I no longer find it as such. As long as I hear that noise every night, I know things will be normal and stress free."

From that point on, things quickly returned to normal in the castle. Colgate and Amethyst would spend four days a week working in their practice, on some Fridays they would go through new license requests and reviewing renewal requests and they would spend their weekends in joyful, close knit bliss. Most importantly though, they stayed true to their promise to Queen Luna and never again harmed a single pony. The two realized that life had not only returned to normal, but that it had become better than before. They both realized that it truly was a great time to be alive.