Colgate's Practice 4: Blood, Torture and Power

Once they finished with their showers, they gathered in the throne room. Colgate sat up on the throne with a huge smile on her face. She began, "Well guys, for a long time this throne has merely been my seat after Twilight was taken out but soon it shall be used for a monarch once again."

Pearly asked, "Colgate, I take it you are moving the capitol to Ponyville?"

Colgate replied, "Yep. Even though I will be the absolute ruler of Equestria, I will continue to run my practice. After all, why should I be a lazy rat like the prior monarchs were when I can still contribute to this nation?"

Pearly said, "Good point. You always have placed a lot of value on a hard work ethic."

Colgate stood up and began to head towards the exit. She replied, "That I have. Now we must get going. The next train for Canterlot leaves here shortly and we need to get there as soon as possible."

They followed her out the door and towards the train station. When other ponies saw her and her soldiers heading towards the train station without Amethyst they couldn't help but wonder what was going on. One of the ponies asked, "Colgate, where is Amethyst?"

Colgate ignored the pony's question and picked up her pace. Once they arrived at the train station it was rather busy which made Colgate a bit nervous, especially once many ponies began asking her about Amethyst. One pony asked, "Colgate, where is Amethyst? Usually you two are inseparable."

Colgate replied, "She went out of town with her parents and I am needed in Canterlot."

Luckily for her none of the ponies there even knew that Amethyst and her parents had returned. Once they boarded the train and it took off, Colgate's smile grew bigger. She thought to herself, "One final journey as just a regular pony! On the way back I shall be Queen Colgate, ruler of all of Equestria!"

Pearly saw this and whispered, "Colgate, don't you think you should keep the smile to a minimum? You don't want to bring any unwanted attention to us, do you?"

Colgate's facial expression changed to a more neutral one as she whispered back, "Good point general, good point."

Once the train pulled into the station Colgate and her troops headed directly to the palace where they were greeted by one of the guards. He said, "Colgate, there has been a terrible tragedy."

Colgate asked, "What happened?"

The guard replied, "Just follow me to the throne room. There is something we must discuss with you."

Colgate nodded and followed the guard to the throne room. While she didn't dare show it, she had a very strong feeling about what they were going to discuss. She believed that they were going to discuss the line of succession and knew that with everything that has happened, that she is at the top of that line.

Once they arrived in the throne room several guard ponies were present. The one who appeared to be their captain began, "Colgate, you have been brought here because a great tragedy has happened. Queen Luna is dead."

Colgate asked, "Dead? How could Queen Luna be dead? How in Equestria did that happen?"

The guard replied, "Well when we went in to check on her we had discovered that she was laying on her stomach with her face buried in her pillows. We believe that she simply flipped onto her stomach and buried her face in her sleep and suffocated."

Colgate began to cry, "No! I can't believe this would happen to Luna. Why, why?"

The guard hugged her and replied, "I am sorry Colgate. I know you two were close but there are other things that have to be discussed."

Colgate asked, "What?"

The guard continued, "I am not sure if you are aware of this but there is a line of succession to the throne and you happen to be in it."

Colgate asked, "Seriously, I am?"

The guard replied, "Yes, you are. After Luna, it is her nephew, Prince Blueblood. After him it is Prince Shining Armor and after him it is Fancy Pants and then you."

Colgate asked, "So I take it Blueblood is going to become king?"

The guard replied, "Well not exactly. The thing is, he, Shining Armor and Fancy Pants have all gone missing. If none of them show up after thirty days from today, you will be crowned queen."

Upon hearing this, Colgate's excitement grew more and more but she did an extremely good job of hiding it. She asked, "They all went missing at the same time? That is odd."

The guard replied, "It is odd but right now we have more pressing matters. We must prepare a funeral for Queen Luna." He hugged her and continued, "And since you were closest to her, we believe that you should officiate her funeral."

Colgate replied, "Alright. I'll admit I'm not overly good speaking in front of large crowds, especially in a situation like this, but I will do my best to provide our queen with the funeral she deserves."

Two days had passed when ponies began to convene in the royal ball room. For ages this room had held many joyous events, events such as the Gala and weddings. This day however would be different. For the first time in it's history it would host a funeral.

At the front of the room lay a midnight blue casket with a white crescent moon, containing the remains of Queen Luna. As ponies were getting seated, many were openly crying while others were sobbing quietly. In the next room Colgate was nervous. While she was already not all that good at giving public speeches, officiating a funeral of a pony that she murdered would make it all the harder.

She looked to her general and asked, "Pearly, what am I going to do if I start losing control of my emotions?"

Pearly asked, "Do you mean as in you breaking down crying or you start celebrating?"

Colgate sighed, "Crying. I know well enough that I can't start celebrating like a schoolfilly."

Pearly replied, "If you do break down crying that might actually help you. I saw how you broke down a couple days ago when the guards told you the news of her death. If you remain monotone and emotionless, that may raise suspicions that you are responsible for all the disappearances."

Colgate said, "Good point Pearly, good point."

An hour had passed when Colgate stepped up in front of the crowd. She had never been more nervous in her whole life but realized that if she can pull this off without raising any suspicions, that she will be able to handle anything.

She stood behind the podium and began,

"Citizens of Canterlot, citizens of Equestria, guests from abroad, today is an unfortunate day as we have to lay our beloved Queen Luna to rest. Her's was a long and successful life. In the ages of long, long ago she and her sister brought down the dark warlords that once ruled over the land. She is also the one who brought us the moon each and every night for many, many moons. Yes she had her battle with her sister and was banished to the moon, but upon her return she was just as loved then as she was over a thousand years ago."

Colgate began to cry, "And I knew Queen Luna on a personal level. She was a dear friend of mine and she officiated over the wedding of Amethyst Star and myself. It was also she who put me in charge of the Equestrian Dental Association and gave me the power to grant or deny dental licenses as well as choose whether to renew them or not." Her crying became harder as she continued, "But most of all, if I had a problem I needed to discuss with her she would provide me with the guidance that any wise pony would. Even if I just wanted to have a friendly chit-chat she was there for me. I know some ponies criticized her for not forging close relationships with many ponies the way her sister did, but those that she did forge close relationships with, she would always be there for them." She calmed down a bit and sniffled, "I'm sorry everypony, it is just that I was so close with her."

The room went silent before Colgate continued, "And so now we must say our final farewells to our beloved queen as she heads off into the loving hooves of Mother Faust Almighty. May she be reunited with her sister and live in peace for all eternity, away from the strife and turbulence of our world. Just know our queen that you are loved by us all and will be very much missed."

After saying her finishing words Colgate levitated Luna's casket and carried it towards the royal cemetery, followed by all of the ponies in the room. Once she arrived in the cemetery she lowered the casket into the ground and began to cover it. She began to cry again, "We're going to miss you Queen Luna. May you forever feel peace in your afterlife."

For five minutes the ponies stood around Luna's grave in silence, paying their respects before dispersing. After bowing before Luna's grave, Colgate headed back to the palace. As she was returning, she felt quite proud of herself. She felt as though she had done the best job acting and realized that since Luna's death had been ruled as suffocating herself that nopony would suspect her in the murder. Now all she had to do was wait for her coronation.