Chapters Visit to a Different Ponyville
Prelude
For the previous 4,000 years Equestria and the entire world had been in a near constant state of unrest as ponies who sought world conquest were battling one another for supremacy. Yes there were times of peace but even those seemed to be uneasy. In the end the previous four millennia and constant state of uneasiness was brought to an end when Supreme Commander Colgate killed the Dark Goddess Twilight Sparkle. Even though the world was restored to a state of peacefulness that had not existed since before Twilight's corruption, the culture across the world never returned to what it was so long ago.
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Colgate's Frustration
A new morning began in Ponyville and like she always does after being woke up by the sun, Supreme Commander Colgate took a look through the blue eye to scan the world. While all threats to global peace had bee destroyed just over a year ago, she still monitored things in the event some sort of uprising was happening at home or abroad.
When she saw nothing was out of the ordinary she groaned, "Ugh, I'm so bored! Why can't anything exciting be happening?"
General Dark Night, her top general for over 4,000 years heard her groan. He rushed up to her room and asked, "Colgate, are you ok? You sound upset."
Colgate replied, "Ugh, I'm so bored! Everything is completely peaceful. Not a single problematic event is happening!" She stomped her hoof into the floor and continued, "Can't anything exciting happen? Can't there even be a lousy uprising somewhere? Ugh, I'd even be happy with a severe thunderstorm that would do enough damage that we'd have to go out and help ponies rebuild."
Dark Night patted Colgate on the shoulder, "Colgate, I thought you were happy that the world had a bit of normalcy restored and now here you are hoping for uprisings and nasty storms?"
Colgate sighed, "You're right general. I just feel like all I do is go to the base once a day to check on Scootaloo and the soldiers while the rest of the time I'm either visiting the Apple Family or doing absolutely nothing." She raised her voice and continued, "I just want something exciting to do rather than the mundane things I've been doing."
Dark Night asked, "What would you rather deal with, this or Twilight Sparkle enslaving ponies and all of us putting our lives on the line to stop her?"
Colgate replied, "Oh you're right, I highly doubt the ponies of this world want anymore warfare." Her stomach growled as she continued, "Let's get down and get some breakfast. Maybe that will distract me from this boredom for a while."
The two headed downstairs where they were greeted by her changeling general, General Lightning Storm and her second in command, Commander Scootaloo. Scootaloo could see the irritated look on her boss's face and asked, "Colgate, what's wrong?"
Colgate replied, "I'm just bored Scootaloo. I guess when you've had to put up with constant threats for thousands of years and suddenly all is calm and there are no threats, things just don't seem right."
Lightning Storm asked, "Are you having trouble adjusting to this post Twilight Sparkle world?"
Colgate sighed, "Actually, yes I am. I guess the times of peace prior to everything going downhill are so far in the past that I can barely remember it anymore. I actually feel like I don't fit into the new world of peace. I'm just a pony who still has a bit of thirst for blood in a world where such things aren't normal anymore."
Scootaloo added, "I know how you feel but besides monitoring things on the base, I do help out with apple bucking at Sweet Apple Acres to keep myself occupied." She then focused more on what Colgate said and continued, "Wait a minute, you still have a thirst for blood?"
Colgate snapped, "Yes. I still have dreams about killing enemies and feasting on them. I still dream about nuking enemies that attack us."
Scootaloo gasped, "Colgate, you've got to adjust to the post-war world. You can't keep on living in a world that is a thing of the past."
Dark Night was getting nervous that Colgate may do something to start a war and knew he had to do something. He suggested, "You know, perhaps you should reopen your practice. I know how much you loved dentistry prior to becoming a full time leader."
Lightning Storm added, "Maybe that will restore the old you, the you that was always so happy."
Colgate sighed, "You know, I can hardly remember anything about dentistry anymore and I don't even remember what that kind of happiness feels like anymore either." What she said brought about a great amount of sadness to her. She had a few tears streaming down her face as she continued, "You know what? I'm not hungry, I'm going for a flight over the forest. Maybe I'll spot an unruly manticore and have to put it in it's place."
Colgate exited the dining hall and headed towards the exit. Scootaloo sighed, "You know, I honestly don't know what we're going to do. I've never seen her like this and I don't know what kind of advice to give her to get out of this funk." She became more nervous and continued, "And I'm actually afraid she may start a war just so things can return to what is normal, well for her."
Lightning Storm replied, "You know, I'm worried about the same thing but give her time and she will evetually adjust."
Dark Night added, "I'll try to talk to her about getting back into dentistry. I'm sure all her knowledge is buried deep within her and if she could just get out of this non-stop warrior mentality, I think she'd remember it all and become a much happier pony."
Scootaloo continued, "Maybe she'll do some deep thinking during her flight and realize that she needs to go back to doing what she loved most."
Author's Note
General Dark Night (Dark Alicorn)
General Lightning Storm (Changeling)
Visit to a Different Ponyville
Descent into Madness
While her second in command and her generals were discussing her problems, Colgate was flying over the Everfree Forest. She believed that perhaps getting out of Ponyville for even a little while, getting away from her dark tower and the military would help her clear her mind but it didn't. She just couldn't help but miss the days of warfare, plotting on how she would wipe out Twilight and she especially missed just being able to go and kill ponies for the sole reason that they were subjects of her enemies. Deep down she even wished she had enemies again just to make life interesting.
She screamed, "Ugh, why must everything be so peaceful? Why can't one of my allies turn on me? I just want to be involved in a war again!"
As she began to fly over the densest part of the forest she decided to land. At that point she didn't care if she ran into timberwolves or something else dangerous, she simply wanted to fight against something, anything that would be a threat to her life. As she continued to head through the forest she could hear timberwolves growling. This caused her to yell, "You want a piece of me? Come and get me! I'll kill you all!"
She lit her horn up hoping it would bring out the predators that were watching her every move but it did the opposite. It caused them to retreat from the angry Alicorn. Colgate yelled, "You afraid of me cowards? You know I'll kill you? Fine, I'd rather deal with a real enemy anyway!"
As Colgate continued yelling at the predators and becoming more agitated, her mane and tail began to become a mess. She didn't care though, she continued marching further and further into the dark forest until she saw a cave that seemed to be calling to her. She heard a voice say, "Colgate, come here. Come here, come here."
The voice sounded like that of Twilight Sparkle. This angered her because she knew she had killed Twilight but given the state she was in, she lit up her horn and began firing energy towards the cave. She was snorting and yelling, "You want a piece of me Twily? Come and get me. I'll feast on your nasty little corpse!"
She was in such a fury that she didn't even pay attention to the gray vortex that existed in the cave. Suddenly she found herself flying through a portal full of colors. When she finally came out of the other side she tripped over her hooves and landed in a forest. Unlike the Everfree Forest though, this forest wasn't dark and gloomy. While the canopy was somewhat thick, plenty of light made it through. She got up on her hooves and yelled, "Where are you Twily? Quit being such a coward and get over here!"
Colgate began walking through the forest with her horn lit up, ready to attack and kill anything that crossed her path. As the forest began to thin she realized that if Twilight was there, that she would have absolutely no problems hunting her down. She began to sneak so that her "enemy" would not hear her. She continued to turn her head in all directions until she finally exited the forest.
As she exited the forest she looked around. While things looked similar to her, they also looked different. She could tell by the sun angle that she was indeed headed south. What caused her to wonder what was going on was when she looked off to the west. She saw something that resembled Canterlot Mountain but things didn't look right. It appeared as though nothing had ever existed there at all. There were no jagged edges in the rock from when she destroyed Canterlot thousands of years ago.
The difference in the landscape only made Colgate angrier. She yelled, "So you're going to use crazy spells to alter landscapes and try to confuse me? Guess what Twily, that won't work! I'll still hunt you down and kill you for real!"
As she continued her journey south she continued to look around herself frantically so that she would be ready in the event Twilight was to show up out of the middle of nowhere. Despite her new surroundings seeming quite serene, she still couldn't help but wonder where Twilight was and how she was going to try and kill her.
Visit to a Different Ponyville
As Colgate continued to journey south every single noise made her jump as she was certain that Twilight was stalking her and making plans to kill her. By this point her mane and tail were in worse shape than Twilight's ever were. Eventually she began to walk down a hill into a quaint village. She looked around and something about the place felt incredibly creepy to her.
Again she believed that Twilight was using spells to manipulate things. She yelled, "Keep it up Twily! Keep these confusion spells up and you'll wind up on my dinner plate!"
When she was yelling she noticed some of the ponies giving her very strange looks. She noticed something different about them, very different. She saw that their eyes were smaller and that they were a bit more stocky. While things began to feel creepy to her before, now things were feeling very creepy and again she thought it was Twilight doing this, "Now you're screwing up other ponies Twily? That's it! When I catch you I'm going to kill you and feast on your filthy little corpse!"
A couple of the ponies were very unnerved by what she had said so they rushed into their houses and closed their doors. Colgate sighed, "Pathetic little cowards, probably being mind controlled by Twilight."
Eventually she reached the center of town where there seemed to be a some sort of festivity going on. The first pony to greet her was a sky blue earth pony named Rainbow Dash, "Oh hello darling, I've never seen you here before."
Colgate asked, "Rainbow Dash, what the hell happened to your wings and horn and why are you talking like that?" She became angry and yelled, "Twilight took your wings and horn didn't she? She is using her dark magic to manipulate your personality isn't she?"
Colgate's reaction scared not just Rainbow but everypony. She replied, "I just said that I've never seen you before darling. That is no reason to blame Twilight."
Some of the other ponies had rushed over to see what the commotion was all about. Cheerilee asked, "Rainbow Dash, what is wrong?" She then glared at Colgate and continued, "And why are you yelling at Rainbow Dash?"
Colgate replied, "I'm not yelling at her. I'm yelling because I'm concerned about all of you."
Rainbow asked, "If you are concerned about us darling, why are you yelling?"
Colgate yelled, "Because Twilight took your wings and horn. She's done something to all of you! She's done something bad to Ponyville." She calmed down and continued, "Don't worry everypony, once I hunt her down and kill her everything will be restored to normal. My tower will be back, you'll all be restored to yourselves, the base will return and all these weird things like that castle will be gone."
What she said caused everypony's jaws to drop open. None of them knew what she was talking about and they were very unnerved by Colgate wanting to hunt down and kill Twilight. Cheerilee rushed to her and shouted, "I don't know who you are but you will not kill Twilight. Where you get this idea she has magic is beyond me but she doesn't!"
Rainbow added, "Darling, Twilight Twinkle is an earth pony, not a unicorn, especially not an evil unicorn."
At first Colgate was thinking that her statement was a result of some sort of mind manipulation spell but she noticed something about Rainbow as she said it. She could tell that she was indeed telling the truth. Colgate sighed, "Ok, so your Twilight doesn't have magic." She became much more concerned as she continued, "I have a question, have any of you seen a dark lavender Alicorn running around here using dark magic?"
The ponies couldn't help but laugh a little. Pinkie asked, "What's an Alicorn?"
Rainbow added, "And darling, no one uses dark magic."
Colgate didn't believe her. She began looking around and screamed, "She has to be around here somewhere!" She grew suspicious and continued, "And she is probably forcing one of you to hide her here! She knows I'm hunting for her! Where is she? Lead me to her so I can free you of her spell."
Her yelling caused an orange earth pony to run up and pounce on her. She yelled, "You do not yell at my friends!"
Colgate teleported out of the pony's hold and floated above them. She growled, "If none of you will tell me where she is, I'll search every last house to find her. I will drag her out here, kill her and if you wish, allow you to feast on her nasty corpse with me!"
Before anypony could say anything she flew off towards the castle assuming that is where she would likely be hiding. She kicked the doors open and immediately flew into the castle. She began frantically checking each room yelling, "Where are you you little coward? Afraid I'll kill you! When i find you I'm killing you!"
She heard some of the ponies come rushing into the castle and in the state she was in, she thought she heard Twilight. She flew towards the sound of the voices and yelled, "That's it you coward! When I'm done with you you'll be on my dinner......" *THUD*
Colgate was in such a frenzy to get to what she thought was Twilight that she did not notice where she was going. She hit her head on the ceiling, cut her head open a bit and knocked herself unconscious. When she hit the floor the ponies surrounded her to see if she was ok. Despite them being scared of her and worrying about what she might do when she came to, they knew they had to take care of the gash on her head.
Visit to a Different Ponyville
While Colgate was laying there unconscious the ponies couldn't help but wonder what was going on. They began to talk about what they think might be wrong with her. Rainbow asked, "Darlings, what do you think is wrong with her?"
Cheerilee replied, "I don't know and what I'm wondering is how she has both wings and a horn and how she can be so big."
Scootaloo, who had pounced on her earlier added, "And I'd like to know how she can just disappear and then reappear in a different place."
Pinkie laughed, "I think it was kind of funny."
Finally Colgate began to come to, "Ugh, where am I? What happened?" She looked up and saw the same ponies that she saw before. She asked, "Who are you and what is wrong with you? Why are your eyes so small?"
They decided that with the hit to the head she took that they could avoid the question. Rainbow said, "Darling, my name is Rainbow Dash."
"My name is Cheerilee"
"My name is Pinkie Pie."
"And I'm Scootaloo."
Colgate took a close look at them and realized that not only was Rainbow missing her wings and horn, but so was Scootaloo. She asked, "Scootaloo, what the hay happened to your wings and horn? You are an Alicorn after all."
Scootaloo gave her a confused look, "What is an Alicorn and why do you think I'm one?"
Colgate pointed to her wings and her horn. She replied, "I'm an Alicorn and you're supposed to be one too Scootaloo." She cast her gaze to Rainbow and continued, "And you as well." She then became agitated and shouted, "It has to be Twilight and her dark magic! She took your wings and horns so she could rise back to power!"
Finally one of the ponies had enough of Colgate and her weird claims, Cheerilee. She got in Colgate's face and said, "Listen, none of what you are saying is making sense. We want to know where you are really from and why you are here."
After being stared down by Cheerilee things began to make sense to Colgate. She realized that she wasn't in her world, that she wasn't in Equestria, that she was in a totally different place. She replied, "Well, for you to understand why I've been saying everything I have been I'd have to tell you about some of my past."
The four ponies nodded and motioned for Colgate to begin, "Well as far as who I am, my name is Supreme Commander Colgate, leader of the nation of Equestria."
Scootaloo interrupted, "What is Equestria?"
Colgate sighed, "Equestria is my homeland, it is where I am from."
Rainbow asked, "Colgate darling, earlier you were saying something about something being wrong with Ponyville. You said something about how once you killed Twilight your tower would be back and that we would be restored. What is all that about?"
Colgate replied, "Well back in my homeland I had an enemy, a very powerful enemy that went by the name of The Dark Goddess Twilight Sparkle. In my world she had been corrupted by an evil unicorn king and a wicked changeling queen. Once she was corrupted, she banished them to the void, she deposed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, both of who ruled Equestria at the time and then took it as her own."
Cheerilee asked, "How does this pertain to your history?"
Colgate continued, "Because at one time I was her commander. For quite some time actually she was a good, competent leader. She is the one who transformed myself, a couple friends of mine and the rest of her friends into Alicorns to aid in her goal of global conquest. She actually had control of Equestria until I overthrew her and ended her tyranny. After that, Princess Luna banished her to the sun for a thousand years."
All their jaws dropped open when they heard this. Rainbow asked, "Darling, how would anyone banish someone else to the sun?"
Scootaloo added, "And wouldn't that kill her?"
Colgate replied, "You would have to understand the nature of the magic in my world and it's inhabitants. Ponies can survive being banished to the sun, the moon, distant moons and the void for millennia and survive. This happened to Princess Luna when her sister banished her to the moon for a thousand years for trying to kill her."
The four began to laugh. Scootaloo commented, "I don't know why you are saying this because that is impossible. No one lives that long."
Colgate glared at her and replied, "In my world, some ponies do. Alicorns such as myself are immortal. Yes we can die in battle but no illness or age can kill us."
Her mentioning immortality only made them laugh further, which frustrated Colgate greatly. She began to storm off, "Fine, I'm just heading home." Then she decided this could be her opportunity to end her boredom. She continued, "You know what? I'll bring my army through that portal and slaughter all of you! NOPONY laughs at Supreme Commander Colgate!"
When she mentioned the portal they began to chase after her. They had heard legends about a portal that led to a strange, exotic world. They realized that she must have come from that world. Once they reached her Rainbow said, "Colgate darling, we are sorry for laughing at you."
Cheerilee added, "We had no idea that portal was actually real. We just thought it was an old legend and that you were just telling us a tall tale."
Scootaloo continued, "Now we know that you aren't lying and that your world truly does exist."
Pinkie pleaded, "Please don't bring your army here. We're sorry for doubting you."
Colgate sighed, "Oh alright. I won't declare war on you." She saw a curious look in their eyes and added, "I take it you want to know more about me so you'll understand my world?"
In unison the four replied, "Yes, we would."
Colgate continued, "Ok, about when things changed with Twilight and myself. It was after she took control of the whole world that she began to travel abroad and not focus on her duties at home. That caused me and the army, which I had turned against her to seize power and liberate the planet, restoring the old world of five separate nations."
They gave her a confused look as they had a hard time comprehending this. Rainbow asked, "Darling, this is so much to take in. We know you are speaking the truth but could you simply tell us about why you think this Twilight pony is out to get everyone?"
Colgate sighed, "Yes, I can. For you to understand the history of my world dating back to Twilight's coronation as a princess, you would have to come to my world or I would have to bring all the history books pertaining to my nation's history here."
They nodded and motioned for her to continue. Colgate continued, "I'll let you know about the final days of Twilight's existence. When her and I had our final battle, the world had been in a state of almost non-stop unrest for 4,000 years. Yes there were times of peace, when Twilight was banished that things weren't all that bad but everypony remained alert worrying that she may return."
Cheerilee asked, "Is that why you are so nervous about her trying to hunt you down?"
Colgate replied, "Actually no. It was a little over a year ago that I finally ended any threats of her enslaving our world when I killed her. While the world breathed a sigh of relief when she met her demise, the world's culture had been changed forever. When everything started going downhill, the world, especially Equestria, had a culture of friendship and harmony. Now every nation has a more militant and standoffish mindset."
The four were curious as to what she did prior to all the wars. Scootaloo asked, "Colgate, what did you do before everything got so bad?"
Colgate replied, "I used to be a dentist. I was known as the best dentist in all of Equestria." Colgate began to break down, "I really miss those days, back when everypony was carefree and we didn't have threats like we do now."
Rainbow asked, "Colgate darling, you said that this evil pony named Twilight is dead. What other threats are there?"
It was at this moment that Colgate realized that her paranoia and the stress she had been causing herself for the past year was completely unnecessary. She replied, "To be honest, there aren't any threats anymore, I guess when a pony is in a constant state of either war or a threat of a war, she gets into a certain mindset and can't get past it even when the threat is no longer there."
Scootaloo asked, "So I take it you never adjusted to this post war world?"
Colgate replied, "No, I have not and I have no idea how to adjust."
Cheerilee suggested, "You said you used to be the best dentist in your country? Have you ever thought about returning to dentistry?"
Colgate sighed, "I would love to but being the leader of a nation pretty much makes that impossible. The duties involved in that are stressful enough and I simply wouldn't have any time to see patients."
While the four knew that Colgate was the leader of Equestria and highly doubted she would do it but one of them decided to ask. Scootaloo asked, "Colgate, have you ever thought about stepping down and letting someone else take over."
At first this caused Colgate to blow her stack, "What? Why the hay would I step down? Without me Equestria would fall."
Scootaloo replied, "Well it seems like this is causing you a lot of stress. I just thought that if you stepped down and let someone else take over you would be happier."
Colgate sat there deep in thought for a minute before replying, "Well I do have an excellent second in command, one who has been through nearly as many battles as me. I'll think about it." She yawned and continued, "I don't mean to sound like I don't want to share any more information but I'm tired. Do any of you have anywhere I can take a nap?"
Rainbow motioned for her to go to her house and replied, "Of course I do darling! Follow me and I'll take you to my guest bedroom."
Colgate followed her to her house and once she got the bedroom, she plopped down on the bed and almost immediately fell asleep. While she doubted it would happen, Rainbow did hope that she would take Scootaloo's advice. While at first Rainbow wasn't overly fond of Colgate, once she went into her history and stopped blowing up all the time, she developed a concern over her general welfare.
Visit to a Different Ponyville
Soon Colgate found herself back in her Ponyville yet something was not right, a horrible battle was taking place, one which was far worse than any she had ever seen before. She looked around in horror as changelings and dark Alicorns were slaughtering the citizens of Ponyville. She did what she would normally do. She took to the skies and began to slay her enemies. While she was taking them out she couldn't help but wonder who had attacked Equestria.
It was at that moment that she looked off to the right and saw a wrathful LaurFa yelling, "You want an enemy? You got an enemy!"
Colgate's jaw dropped open. Yes she did want an enemy but she never imagined that LaurFa would be the one to attack her. She asked, "Why LaurFa, why? Why would you attack Equestria?"
She laughed, "You kept on saying you wanted an enemy, well now you have one!"
Suddenly LaurFa transformed into something much more sinister, something that would send Colgate into a rage. She transformed into Twilight. After transforming she continued, "Ha! It's just like with Celestia, here your city is being destroyed and you don't even know what to do."
Without responding Colgate sped towards Twilight and began firing powerful bolts of energy at her. Much to Colgate's dismay, her energy was not even affecting her. She yelled, "Damn it! Why aren't you falling? Why aren't you being affected?"
Twilight laughed, "Oh this is too funny! I couldn't be unmade again but after coming back from being killed, I can't even be harmed!" She began to mock her, "Oh and let me guess, you're going to cry just like Celestia always did, wah-wah-wah!"
In a rage Colgate launched herself at Twilight and kicked her out of the sky. She pounced on Twilight and began slamming her head into the ground until she broke her horn off. She yelled, "Oh I'll do more than hurt you, I'm going to kill you, again!" She slammed her head down so hard she broke her horn off and continued, "and this time Twibitch, there's no coming back!"
She picked Twilight's horn up and began ramming it into her torso but much to her dismay nothing was happening. Twilight wasn't even screaming in pain, much less bleeding. What confused and angered Colgate further was that Twilight's horn had grown back. She continued slamming the broken horn into her foe screaming, "Just die already you bitch! Damn it, just die already!"
Twilight kicked her off of her and pointed her horn at her. She laughed, "Oh Colgate, you just don't get it do you?" She fired some energy at her, knocking her backwards. She continued, "I'm completely immortal you traitor. Nothing can kill me, absolutely nothing can kill me. I am invincible!"
She pounced on Colgate, took her severed first horn and began plunging it into Colgate's abdomen, causing her to scream out in agony. Colgate tried kicking Twilight off of her but she was quickly losing strength and couldn't help but feel a sense of despair as she looked up and saw those glowing green eyes smiling down at her. Twilight continued to laugh, "This is what you get for betraying me! Nopony betrays the Dark Goddess Twilight Sparkle and gets away with it!"
She stood up, planted her hoof on the side of her enemy and boasted, "Victory is.........."
Suddenly a bright blue light flashed in the sky, causing Twilight, the battle and Ponyville to vanish. All Colgate saw was an empty landscape, the moon and a figure floating down. She squinted her eyes and knew who it was. She shouted, "Queen Luna?"
Luna landed and helped her up. Colgate had a confused look on her face and asked, "Luna, what happened? What happened to the battle? What happened to Ponyville? What happened to Twilight and why couldn't I kill her?"
Luna replied, "Colgate, sometimes our nightmares are so bad that bringing them to a close is impossible."
Colgate looked around and asked, "Wait a minute. This was all just a nightmare?"
Luna replied, "Yes, it was." She helped Colgate up, put her wing around her and continued, "Colgate, is there anything that has been bothering you lately?"
Colgate replied, "Yeah, I've been bored and I've been hoping for something exciting to happen, something like what was going on when you intervened." She hung her head low and continued, "I guess that would be more than I would ask for."
Luna gave her a smile and continued, "Colgate, I can understand your frustration but what you have been desiring is not what this world wants or needs. After having this nightmare I would hope it isn't what you want anymore either."
Colgate hung her head low, "It was for quite a while but not anymore." She stomped her hoof into the ground and continued, "But this inactivity is driving me up the wall! All I do is check on Scootaloo and the soldiers once a day, visit the Apple Family every now and then and when I'm not doing that, I'm not doing anything!"
Luna sighed, "Colgate, I know you have received advice from multiple sources that may help you out of the frustration you are going through."
Colgate replied, "Well Dark Night thinks I should reopen my practice and after hearing about my problems, the ponies of the world I am in right now think I should not only reopen my practice but that I should step down and let somepony else take over." She stood there for a moment in thought before continuing, "Actually, it was a pony named Scootaloo in this world that suggested it."
Luna suggested, "I am not sure what you would think about this but perhaps it is a sign that you should retire to private life, reopen your practice and promote Scootaloo to Supreme Commander. She has a great amount of military experience and would have Dark Night to offer her advice if she needed it."
Colgate sighed, "That is true."
Luna interrupted, "And Colgate, I do have my fears that if you remain in power that your nightmare would become a reality. I know of secret things that are running through your subconscious mind that likely even you do not."
Colgate shrank down, "Seriously? But how would Twilight come back? She is dead."
Luna replied, "She would not come back but I can sense deep down you were plotting an attack against the Crystal Empire." She gave Colgate a more stern look and continued, "Colgate, please take what the ponies of this world are suggesting seriously. They may not understand our world or the relations between nations, but they know what is best for not just you, but our world."
Colgate finally realized that she had no other choice, that her time to step down had come. While she would never state it out loud, she was indeed planning on starting a war with the Crystal Empire. She said, "Alright Luna, when I return to our world I will step down."
Luna suggested, "And I believe that all the world leaders should be present in Ponyville when you do this so we will all know at once. Besides, I'm pretty sure we'll all want to give you quite the send off."
As Colgate was getting ready to reply Luna took off and shouted, "KEEP YOUR WORD AND STEP DOWN!"
This caused Colgate to wake up and scream, "QUEEN LUNA?"
Her scream quickly got the attention of Rainbow Dash causing her to coming running upstairs. She rushed into the room and asked, "Colgate darling, are you ok?"
Colgate was breathing heavily and was soaked in sweat. She gasped, "Not really, I just had a bad nightmare and then Queen Luna gave me some advice."
Rainbow had heard her mention Princess Luna earlier and was confused by the term Queen Luna. She asked, "Queen Luna? Is she related to the Princess Luna you brought up earlier?"
Colgate replied, "Well they are one in the same. Long, long ago she was Princess Luna, back when Twilight took over but at the present time she is the queen of one of the countries in my world."
Rainbow also noticed that she said that she received advice. She asked, "You mentioned that Luna gave you advice. What advice did she give you?"
Colgate replied, "Could I discuss this with you and your other friends because I think they would be interested in it as well."
Rainbow pointed her hoof towards the door and continued, "Let's go to the castle darling! We can discuss things more in there."
Colgate headed out the door and was followed by Rainbow. While Rainbow was unsure about what the advice was or whether it would hold their best interests in mind given that their worlds are connected, Colgate knew that they would be thrilled over it and hoped they would accept an invitation that she planned on offering them.
Visit to a Different Ponyville
It was late in the afternoon as Colgate and Rainbow headed back to the castle. While she did not notice at first, Rainbow eventually noticed the mess that Colgate's mane and tail had become, "Colgate darling, your mane and tail are a mess. We've got to get you looking presentable!"
Colgate took a look at her tail and brushed it off, "Eh, I'm fine. You should see how it would get after the battles I was in back home. Looking like this back home is honorable."
Rainbow gave her an odd look and replied, "Colgate darling, you're not in that world right now and I certainly hope you don't engage in anymore battles." Her look changed to a smile as she continued, "Whether you like it or not darling, when we get to the castle, you are brushing your mane and tail."
Colgate sighed, "Oh alright, only for you Dash."
There was something about how she referred to her as odd, Dash. Nopony had ever referred to her merely as Dash. Rainbow yes but Dash, no. This did concern her at first but then she figured that is just how ponies speak in her world. Once they arrived at the castle Rainbow brought her a brush and ordered, "Now make yourself presentable before my friends see you in this horrid state."
Colgate levitated the brush to herself and began to take care of her mane and tail as Rainbow's other friends showed up. They could tell that Colgate had been covered in sweat. Cheerilee asked, "Rainbow, what's wrong with her, she looks like she has been sweating a lot."
Rainbow replied, "Well she was having a horrible nightmare and I heard her yell 'QUEEN LUNA.' I'm hoping we can find out what all that is about and then she told me she has made a decision."
Once Colgate got herself looking presentable, well in Rainbow's eyes, Rainbow asked, "Colgate, you said you have made a decision. Does it involve what you are going to do when you get home?"
Colgate replied, "Yes but let me tell you about what brought me to the decision I am making." She took a breath and continued, "Well it wasn't too long after I fell asleep that I found myself back in Ponyville, in my world. All around me a battle was taking place, one that resembled the ones that used to take place in my world. Suddenly I find one of the other leaders in my world laughing at me, telling me that since I wanted an enemy that I got one."
Scootaloo asked, "Who was the leader who attacked you?"
Colgate continued, "Her name is LaurFa. She is the queen of the Crystal Empire and is one of the two goddess sisters that created my world many, many eons ago. My citizens were being slaughtered by her army when she transformed into one that I killed a little over a year ago."
Pinkie asked, "Do yo mean that Twilight Sparkle pony you keep talking about?"
Colgate continued, "Yes, I mean her. To make matters worse once we began to fight, I couldn't inflict any damage upon her. I even broke her horn off and began to plunge it into her abdomen. In my nightmare since she had came back from being killed, she was invincible. Nothing at all could kill her."
Scootaloo asked, "Did she try to kill you?"
Colgate continued, "Yes, she did. For quite a while I thought she was going to be successful. This especially worried me because there is an old legend in Equestria that if you die in your dream, you do indeed die. Luckily Queen Luna was able to rescue me from the nightmare."
They all had confused looks on their faces. Rainbow asked, "Colgate darling, I thought she was a queen in your world. How would she be able to save you in a nightmare?"
Colgate continued, "Well besides being Queen of the Equine Empire, she is also the queen of the night. She is a dream walker. It is part of her royal duties to go into ponies' nightmares and save them from whatever is after them. How she was able to find my nightmare on this side of the portal is beyond me but I'm glad she did. Had she not and the old legends are true, I would not be alive to tell you this."
Rainbow asked, "Ok, now that we know about your nightmare, what about this decision you are going to make? Does it regard your staying in power or stepping down in your world?"
Colgate replied, "Yes, it does. I have decided that it would not only be in my best interests, but the best interests of my world if I step down and hand control of Equestria over to Commander Scootaloo. She has been my second in command for many millennia and she is extremely intelligent."
Rainbow asked, "Darling, what about her mentality? Has she moved on to a post-war world or is she still hoping for the old days to return?"
Colgate replied, "Well she helps her adoptive family harvest apples when she isn't over making sure everything is going as it should with the soldiers. So I would say she would be perfect for the job."
In unison they sighed in relief, "Good." Rainbow continued, "So when are you going to do this?"
Colgate replied, "Regarding that. I was going to see if you would want to come through the portal with me to my world and be present when I announce my resignation."
The four stood there stunned. While they were glad that Colgate had made the decision that she did, they never once imagined that she would invite them to her world. The first one to say anything was Scootaloo, "Yeah, I'll come. Besides, I want to meet the Scootaloo of your world."
Rainbow added, "Of course I will darling! I want to make sure that you do indeed step down."
Pinkie added, "Of course! I'm curious about your world."
Cheerilee finished, "Yeah I'll come. While your world sounds scary, it sounds fascinating as well."
Colgate headed towards the exit and replied, "I was hoping you would. Now let's get going. I don't know what time it is back in my world but I certainly don't want us walking through the Everfree at night."
Rainbow asked, "What's the Everfree?"
Colgate replied, "A deep, dark forest filled with predators that wouldn't have any problems turning us into their next meal."
Rainbow sighed, "On second thought...."
Colgate interrupted, "Don't worry. I can fire energy from my horn that will blow them to pieces."
That did reassure the four that their journey to Colgate's world would be safe. While they all were looking forward to this trip, given the warlike nature of Colgate's world, they couldn't help but worry that they may have to not only run from a war, but have it follow them through the portal.
Visit to a Different Ponyville
From Ponyville to Ponyville
It was in the afternoon that Colgate and her new acquaintances headed into the forest. While it, despite not being that dark, unnerved them a little while Colgate enjoyed the stroll through it. It was the type of place that she wished the Everfree was more like. Soon they reached a darker portion of the forest and saw a cave. Colgate pointed her hoof towards the opening and said, "Alright ladies, follow me. This is the cave that leads to my world."
Colgate stepped into the portal and her companions followed and they found themselves falling through a portal of swirling colors. Soon they came out the other side into a pitch dark cave. Colgate lit up her horn and asked, "Is everypony ok?"
In unison they replied yes. The five came out of the cave and noticed that while it was extremely dark, that it wasn't night. Colgate looked up and said, "Well it is daylight. I'm not sure exactly what time of day it is but follow me, I know the way to Ponyville."
They followed Colgate and began to hear growling noises and saw green eyes watching them from behind the trees. Rainbow asked, "Colgate darling, are you sure this is safe?"
Colgate fired a couple bolts of energy into the trees and blasted a couple timberwolves to bits. When they heard the whine and the sound of splintering wood at the same time, they were shocked. They wondered how such creatures could even exist. Cheerilee asked, "Colgate, why would we hear a whine and splintering wood together? Did you kill something and hit a tree?"
Colgate replied, "No. I killed a couple of timberwolves." Colgate lit her horn up as bright as she could and continued, "This forest is filled with them. Many ponies that come this deep into the forest do not make it out alive."
The four were so shocked that they didn't say much else until the forest began to thin a bit and they eventually saw an old castle in ruins. Rainbow in particular was in awe of it. She asked, "Colgate darling, what happened to that castle?"
Colgate replied, "That castle is extremely old. It even predates the time of Twilight's corruption by well over a thousand years. If they do come to the ceremony where I hand power over to Scootaloo, you will be able to meet Celestia and Luna, who long ago, called it home."
They were stunned that a structure could stand that long. While they had no clue exactly as to how old it would be, they could tell that it was likely older than even the oldest buildings in their world. Eventually they hit the border of the forest. In their world the forests tended to thin out gradually before having a solid border yet with the Everfree, a pony can go from being in a dark forest one moment to being in a wide open area the next.
The first pony to say anything was Scootaloo, "Ugh, we go from so much darkness to it being so bright."
Colgate replied, "Yeah, that's how our world is. The break between the forest and open land is sudden." As they continued south her tower came into view. She pointed her hoof forward and continued, "You see that tall structure ahead? That is my home."
The four sighed in amazement and wondered how such a tall structure could possibly be built. Cheerilee asked, "Colgate, how could ponies build something that tall?"
Pinkie added, "And how do you keep all of it together?"
Colgate replied, "Well the pony who called it home before I did used slave labor to mine the iron and then she used her magic to not only weld the material together, but to also cast a spell to prevent the iron from rusting."
Rainbow asked, "I take it Twilight Sparkle called it home prior to your living in it?"
Colgate replied, "Yes, she did."
They then saw the great blue eye that sat atop the tower. While three of them looked at it very nervously, Scootaloo couldn't help but look in fascination. She asked, "Colgate, what is that blue thing on top of your home? What do you do with it?"
Colgate replied, "It is what I have used for many millennia to monitor events across the world. With it, I can make sure that nothing threatens Equestria. In the past we were attacked. Because of me being able to see it happen in real time, I was able to send forces out to defend our homeland and then I along with some of my army headed out and then attacked the nation that attacked us."
Colgate mentioning sending forces out confused the four as violence never took place in their world. Colgate looked back and saw confusion in their faces. She continued, "When we arrive at my tower, you can read through the vast history books I have so you will understand the history and nature of my world more easily."
They began to look around more curiously as they entered Ponyville. To them some of the landscape looked familiar but other areas looked much different. One thing that really confused them though was the military base across from Colgate's tower. Scootaloo asked, "Colgate, what is that over there?"
Colgate replied, "It is the base." She saw Commander Scootaloo and her top two generals talking casually along the northern boundary of the base. She yelled, "Scootaloo, I need you and our top two generals to come over to the tower, now ."
Scootaloo replied, "Alright." She looked at the generals and continued, "Come on, this sounds important."
They followed Colgate and her guests into the tower and up to the throne room. Not only were Scootaloo and the generals wondering what was going on, Colgate's guests were also wondering what was going on. What shocked them the most though were the appearances of the generals. While they looked evil to the four, they figured that they must not be given their closeness to Colgate.
Visit to a Different Ponyville
Colgate's Decision
While arriving in Ponyville was fascinating and somewhat shocking for Colgate's acquaintances, going into her tower would be even more fascinating. They noticed that the tower's lights were much different than any that they had ever seen. Rainbow was the first to mention anything, "Colgate darling, how do these lights work? How are they able to give off light without anything being burned."
Colgate replied, "It is something that would be completely foreign to your world. We use this source known as electricity which is generated by a local dam."
Scootaloo had read about such things in fantasy books so she thought she knew how it worked. She asked, "Does it somehow use the energy of the flowing water to generate the energy to power these lights?"
Colgate replied, "Yes, it does." She paused for a few seconds and asked, "How did you know that? I didn't know such things existed in your world."
Before she could reply Rainbow interrupted, "Darling, they don't. Scootaloo likes reading fantasy books about worlds that are much more advanced than ours."
Scootaloo added, "And now I actually get to see a world like that in real life!"
They got to what appeared to be a door in the wall and next to it was a button, which Colgate pressed. The door opened and they headed into the elevator. Colgate pushed the proper button and they began to go upwards. Their guests were fascinated by this device as nothing like it existed in their world. Once the door opened they headed into the hall and then into the throne room where Colgate was going to break the news to everypony.
Before she could say anything Scootaloo gasped, "Wow Colgate! Your world is just like the ones in the books I like so much. Devices to move you up without using stairs, artificial lights and really tall buildings! What else do you have?"
Colgate sighed, "You'll learn more about this world the longer you are here but now for the reason I have brought you up here."
Commander Scootaloo asked, "Is it something regarding these four?" She glared at them and continued, "Did they invade Equestria? Do we need to put them in the dungeon?"
Colgate replied, "No Commander, they come in peace. In fact, it is them who have helped me come to a very important decision."
The commander's initial reaction to them unnerved the four, especially Cheerilee. She asked, "Colgate, is everypony here like her? Do they not trust many ponies?"
Colgate replied, "Cheerilee, you just have to understand Commander Scootaloo's nature. She has always had this rough and tough mentality ever since she was a filly, a very adorable filly!"
Commander Scootaloo yelled, "Hey, I was not adorable! I was never adorable!"
Colgate couldn't help but chuckle realizing that her second in command was trying to put up a tough attitude in front of their guests. Colgate decided that the time had come to change the topic to what she originally brought them up for, "Alright everypony, now for what I brought us up here for. I have decided the time for me to step down has come."
Scootaloo and the generals gasped in shock. They all knew how Colgate felt that she knew how to run things best and figured that she would likely rule Equestria forever. General Lightning Storm, Colgate's changeling general asked, "Seriously, you're going to step down?"
General Dark Night asked, "But why? You have brought stability to not just Equestria, but this entire world."
Colgate replied, "Listen everypony, I know I have brought stability to a world that was in a lot of turmoil for ages but you saw how I was becoming just a couple days ago. You saw how I was going into madness thinking that a pony I had killed over a year ago was out to get me." She pointed her hoof over to her guests and continued, "Just ask them, they saw the shape I was in when I unexpectedly arrived in their world."
Rainbow added, "Yes, the poor darling was a complete mess. Her mane and tail were messy, she kept on going off about how this pony named Twilight Sparkle had cast spells on everything, including us, to trick her."
Pinkie added, "And she accused this Twilight pony of forcing one of us to hide her."
Scootaloo continued, "And she thought she was in the castle so she flew in there and tried to find her."
Cheerilee finished, "And in her search she hit her head on the ceiling and knocked herself unconscious. We had her lay down and go to sleep for a while until we thought she would be ok."
This brought out a lot of concern from Colgate's second in command, "Wait a minute, she knocked herself unconscious and you have her lay down? Chances are she gave herself a concussion and if a pony has a concussion you are not supposed to let them go to sleep." Her voice became more angry as she continued, "You're supposed to make sure that their mind is kept occupied!" She lit her horn up, ready to attack and yelled, "What were you thinking? Did you want her to think stepping down would be the best option?"
Despite being a bit leery of her, Scootaloo replied, "Listen commander, what Rainbow did is what she thought was best. She didn't know that you aren't supposed to let ponies go to sleep in that situation. We don't have all this advanced knowledge that you have in this world."
Colgate could tell that things were going down hill in a hurry and she also knew of Scootaloo's nature. She knew that she would have absolutely no problems killing these four ponies so she tried to deescalate the situation, "Commander Scootaloo, while we know that a pony who has knocked herself unconscious is to not be allowed to go to sleep, these ponies did not know that. I don't think they had any ill intentions."
Commander Scootaloo kept her horn flared up and continued, "Colgate, I want to know what happened while you were asleep. Did you hear any voices or have any visions, such as them telling you to step down?"
Colgate replied, "No but I did have a nightmare that LaurFa had her army invading Ponyville and then she turned into Twilight and I couldn't kill her. Then something strange happened, Luna entered my dream. She ended the battle, restored everything to normal and then told me that such a battle really would happen if I stayed in power. She told me that she can sense that I want to attack somepony to bring war back to this world."
Commander Scootaloo calmed down and asked, "Is that true though? Were you planning on attacking somepony?"
Colgate hung her head low and replied, "Yes, I was making plans on doing to the Crystal Empire what I did to the arctic prior to the attack on Neigh Zealand. I was going stir-crazy just sitting here and doing nothing." She smiled at the four and continued, "It was Luna's advice in that nightmare along with advice from these ponies that helped me realize that for the best interests of this world, that I step down and allow you to take over."
Scootaloo's look of anger quickly changed to one of shock. She asked, "Seriously, you think that I am the one to take over? You trust me that much?"
Colgate asked in return, "Scootaloo, remember that day back when Shining Armor betrayed us and I promoted you to commander and said that if something happened to me that you would become Supreme Commander?"
Scootaloo replied, "Yes, I do."
Colgate said, "Even way back then, before you reclaimed the Equine Empire for Luna and captured Lemon Hearts, I knew you had what it took to rule over a nation. I believe that time has come now. Mentally I simply can't handle this anymore and I know you are the pony for the job."
While this made Scootaloo feel very good, she was very nervous. She knew that she had a lot to learn but one thing that bothered her the most was the fact that Colgate was something that she was not. She asked, "Colgate, how am I going to be able to do this as good as you? You're a goddess! I'm just a regular Alicorn."
Colgate replied, "Scootaloo, remember how I became a goddess simply by using a massive amount of power to create that hypercane to try to sink Twilight's ship? All you would need to do is put a massive enough amount of energy in a spell that causes beams of energy to shoot out of your eyes to become a goddess."
Scootaloo asked, "But what would I do? We don't have any enemies for me to launch an attack spell on."
Colgate replied, "We don't but I do think that with the proper spell you could cast is one to make Neigh Zealand habitable again." She saw her second in command's eyes light up and continued, "It shall be official then. I know how important it is to you that you have my level of powers before taking over so once you accomplish a task to elevate yourself to being a goddess, I will step down and Equestria will be yours."
While Commander Scootaloo, Dark Night and Lightning Storm were ecstatic, this unnerved Colgate's guests. While they were happy that Colgate had decided that she would do what she had to do to keep her sanity, Scootaloo's short temper and readiness to attack others over a simple argument did worry them. Without the future supreme commander seeing or hearing, Rainbow whispered to Colgate, "Darling, are you sure that giving her the job is that good of an idea? She has such a short temper. What if she were to find the portal, decide she wants our world too, takes her army in and takes it over?"
Colgate replied, "Don't worry, once you four decide to go home I will follow you to the cave and once you are back in your homeland, I will drain the portal of it's energy. That way nothing from our world will have access to your world."
Rainbow sighed in relief, "Well that is good to know but what if she was to start a war? How would she be stopped?"
Colgate whispered, "Listen, if she were to start a war, I would intervene, take back power and resume my current role until a pony who would not be so likely to start wars could be found to take over."
They stopped their conversation when Commander Scootaloo turned her attention to them. She asked, "So Colgate, when do you want me to cleanse Neigh Zealand of all that radiation?"
Colgate replied, "Scootaloo, I know you are excited about becoming Supreme Commander of Equestria, but there are a lot of things you are going to have to learn in the coming days. I am going to have to teach you how to get into the archives, I am going to have to teach you the proper spell so that you are the one who knows how to use the eye, you need to learn all the proper spells to ensure victory in battles and there is so much other stuff involved in being Supreme Commander that you must learn."
Scootaloo replied, "Well whenever you are ready to start teaching me, let me know!"
To be concluded....
