Once everypony had arrived in the dining hall they all sat down but given that she was going to be a large part of this discussion, Colgate sat at the head of the table much to Twilight's dismay. She asked, "Colgate, this is my castle so shouldn't I be sitting at the head of the table."

Colgate gave her a smile and replied, "Normally you would Twilight but since I am going to be in charge in this discussion, I figured I may as well be."

The other leaders, especially those who were allies of Colgate's could tell that she had not changed one bit. They could tell that she was still the same Colgate who liked to be in charge and keep order. Colgate cast her gaze at the other ponies and asked, "Alright, so like you said earlier, all of you want me to return here to Eqqus 1 in the event Grogar was to return."

Celestia asked, "Eqqus 1?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, Eqqus 1. That is the title Brevity and I use for this place and we refer to what is our home now as Eqqus 2." She took a short breath before continuing, "White Magick, you said that you believe that all the evil that was released when you did your cleansings may cause him and Tambelon to return. What I would like to know is why you feel that way?"

White Magick replied, "I feel that way because that much evil spreading out across the world may cause it to return from the darkness it was cast back into the last time Grogar was defeated."

Colgate simply sighed, "Oh?"

White Magick continued, "And we are long overdue for Tambelon to return. The first time he was defeated he wound up returning after just five hundred years. It has been well over 10,000 years since then. I have my concerns that he could return at any time."

One part of Colgate could see where he was coming from but another part was frustrated. She put her hoof up to her forehead and suggested, "I think I know why he has yet to return. His returns back then were tied to the magic of Ponyland. That magic ceased to exist the day Ponyland ceased to exist so I doubt we have anything to worry about."

White Magick asked, "But the darkness of Sombra and Chrysalis....."

Colgate interrupted, "Are full of Equestrian dark magic. Like I said, everything should be fine."

Colgate's skepticism was starting to frustrate the other ponies in the room, particularly LaurFa. She glared at Colgate and stated, "Colgate, I know you are making good points but none of us really want to take a chance."

Luna added, "And you are the only pony with the magic to be able to alert us all in time so we can gather together and make a plan on how to defeat him or any other evil that may rise."

Colgate was not enjoying all of what she considered paranoia on their part but knew that now would be as good of a time as any to finally act on what she was planning. She replied, "Tell you what, I'll stay here since my magic is so valuable BUT I do have conditions that must be met."

Everypony with the exception of Scootaloo and Brevity gasped in shock. To many of them, especially Galaxia, this was a sign of Colgate being not just greedy but full of herself as well. She asked, "Seriously Colgate, you have conditions that must be met? Can't you just help us out of the goodness of your heart?"

Colgate replied, "Listen, on Eqqus 2 I have plans on establishing our Equestria but if you want me to stay here and give that up, I want something in return for the sacrifices I will be making."

The other leaders looked at one another and quickly realized that if they wanted her help, that they would have to give Colgate something. LaurFa asked, "Colgate, so what is it that you want?"

Colgate replied, "Well for starters, I was a leader in this world in the past and one part of my demands will be that I have a nation of my own to rule over." She began to look around with a smile on her face and laughed, "You know, Equestria did fine with me before and I'm sure it would be do just fine with me again." She continued to look around and continued, "And I must say, this castle here is quite posh. I think it would make a great home and given that the base is still here, I think Ponyville would be a perfect capitol."

With the exception of Brevity, everypony immediately objected. Celestia raised her voice and said, "Colgate, I know you ruled Equestria for a long time but you can not have it back!"

Twilight added, "Yeah, Princess Celestia and I will be ruling together and this castle is my home!"

Colgate asked, "Well then, what about the Equine Empire?"

Luna, using the loudest form of the Canterlot Voice yelled, "No, thou will not take our country. The Equine Empire is ruled by thy Queen of the Night."

Colgate could tell that this was quickly going to go nowhere and knew there had to be a better way. She turned to Twilight and asked, "Twilight, I'm sure you have maps in your library. Go grab one, the most modern one you have and bring it up here."

Twilight knew that Colgate meant business so she rushed to get a map, causing the others to wonder what Colgate was really up to. Celestia, who was visibly the most upset over Colgate's current demands spoke up, "Colgate, why are you being like this?" She got a nervous look on her face and asked, "You aren't going to try and take over the world are you?"

Colgate laughed, "Of course not! Had I wanted to rule the whole world I would have after Twilight was banished to the sun and if not then, after Twilight was unmade." She raised her voice and continued, "Listen, I had plenty of chances to rule the roost here on Eqqus 1 but I didn't. I simply believe I should have a leadership role somewhere."

Before their conversation could continue, Twilight arrived with a map. She spread it out in front of Colgate and things generally did not look any different than it did a thousand years ago. The Equine Empire was huge and one part of her wanted half of it but the half she would wind up with would be sparsely populated. She then turned to Equestria and focused on the east coast, the part of Equestria that is not too far away from where Tambelon would return if it did. She pointed her hoof to the northeastern coast and said, "The area that includes the cities of Fillydelphia, Manehattan, Neighark and spreading west to Marentreal, that is the territory I want if I am to give up what I have on Eqqus 2."

Celestia slammed her hoof down on the table and yelled, "Are you serious? That is basically half the population of Equestria!"

Twilight added, "Colgate, isn't there something else that might look appealing to you? Isn't there somewhere that you might want to maybe co-rule instead?" She looked at Celestia and suggested, "Maybe she could co-rule with us here in Equestria instead of taking land and making her own nation."

Colgate scowled at the two and then turned to Brevity. "Well Brevity, shall we round up our soldiers and get going because they have clearly shown that they must not want my help to prevent any evils form destroying this world as badly as they claim."

Just as Brevity was beginning to reply Celestia spoke up, "Fine! You can have that territory!"

Luna asked, "So what else do you want?"

Colgate replied, "Well I should be able to create a tower on my own so I won't worry about that but I will need knowledge and a way to see everything coming as it happens in real time."

It didn't take long for most of the other ponies to know what she was expecting. White Magick asked, "Colgate, are you wanting copies of every book in Twilight's archives?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, I am."

LaurFa could understand her desire for knowledge but knew that she needed to make one thing clear right away, "Colgate, I am sorry but there is no more jade Alicorn for anypony to use. It was shattered when Twilight's old tower collapsed on it."

Colgate sighed in frustration but then remembered the old legends of how the jade Alicorn was found in a cave on Alicorn Island. She suggested, "LaurFa, I know that the jade Alicorn was found in a cave on Alicorn Island. I'm wondering if there may be another relic in there that would give me the ability to see across the world?"

LaurFa immediately protested, "No Colgate. We do not need somepony constantly scanning the world like that. It bothers me enough that you're going to have a tower built but the fact that you want an eye with it is unacceptable."

Colgate sighed, "Very well then." She again turned to Brevity and continued, "Shall we get going? I'm sure the ponies of Eqqus 2 are anticipating......"

LaurFa interrupted, "Fine! We can go look for some sort of relic that you might be able to use."

Colgate again stood up and suggested, "Well LaurFa, shall we?"

LaurFa asked, "You will be using your time spell to get us there won't you?"

Colgate replied, "Of course I will! You should know that I don't want to spend days doing this." After saying this something crossed her mind, if a gem exists that would aid her in seeing everything, that having somepony that can find gems would be useful. She turned to Twilight and asked, "Where is Rarity at this time of day?"

Twilight asked in return, "Well normally she is at Sugarcube Corner but why would you need her?"

Colgate replied, "Because she can find gems and having her there will make things go by more quickly."

Colgate got up and motioned for LaurFa to follow her. They headed towards Sugarcube Corner and LaurFa couldn't help but feel irritated. She thought it was bad enough that Colgate was demanding so much but thought it was worse that she would enlist another pony to aid them in finding a gem.

When they arrived everypony looked in shock to see Colgate there. The first one to say anything was Applejack, "Colgate, you're back? What are y'all doing back? Ah thought you were staying on that new world."

Colgate replied, "Why I'm back can wait until later." She pointed her hoof at Rarity and continued, "Rarity, LaurFa and I need your help."

Rarity asked, "What do you need my help with darlings?"

Colgate replied, "I know you can find gems and we need somepony to aid us in finding a gem on Alicorn Island, a special gem that will allow me to protect this world."

Before anypony else could say anything LaurFa added, "You see, she has decided to stay here in the event any kind of evil was to return and she thinks there may be another special gem there, one similar to the jade Alicorn, one that would allow her to see everything."

Colgate was giving Rarity one of those looks similar to the one she did so long ago when she sassed her on the base, a look that unnerved her. She got up and replied, "Alright Colgate, I'll help you."

Colgate said, "Good. I just hope your wings are still in good enough shape to help carry us along in a time bubble."

Rarity gasped, "Colgate, none of our wings are that strong! We haven't had to do much of any flying in over a millennium!"

Colgate sighed, "Well just try and fly as fast as you can then....she turned to LaurFa and added, you too LaurFa. I don't want to be not only trying to keep that thing moving but carry you as well."

The two nodded and followed Colgate outside.

Once they got outside Colgate ordered LaurFa and Rarity to fly up beside her. After everything was in order, Colgate did something she had not done in over a thousand years, she began the complex process of a time spell. First she recited,

"A bubble is what we need so from frozen time we can be freed,
In this bubble we can move fast, while everything else is stuck in the past,
It is frozen time which through we must pass so we will never be late to class."

As soon as she cast it, the three were enclosed in a bubble but the next part was the trickiest because if Colgate didn't get it just right, time would be eternally frozen. She poked her horn just barely out of the bubble and recited,

"Tick tock, tick tock, look at the racing clock,
What is short is time and being late is a crime, we must finish on top so it is time I must stop,
With time froze, it is my enemies I shall bulldoze."

The moment she cast it time outside of the bubble was frozen and the three began to fly off to the west but Colgate became angry when LaurFa and Rarity was not flying all that fast. She yelled, "LaurFa, Rarity, I need you two to fly fast enough that we can get this thing going and break the sound barrier."

Rarity had never been involved in moving a time bubble and it had been ages since LaurFa had to aid in getting it going and she had forgot how fast they had to fly. No matter how hard they tried, it seemed like they just couldn't get up to the right speed and while Colgate did have it moving at a decent pace, it still wasn't fast enough for her liking.

She yelled, "Come on you two, I can't carry you and this time bubble at the same time. Fly faster damn it, fly faster!"

The growl in Colgate's voice reminded Rarity of the old Colgate, the one who had absolutely no patience and was partially responsible for her getting locked in the dungeon so she started flying faster and soon, despite LaurFa not having the strength to do, they were able to break the sound barrier and got to Alicorn Island fairly quickly.

Once they arrived at the island they stopped right over what would soon again be LaurFa's palace so Colgate could undo the time bubble. First she would have to recite the spell to unfreeze time,

"Look at the clock, it is stuck in place, with this there can be no pace,
Everything is still but that does not fit the bill,
For now the clock shall again run so everypony can have fun."

As soon as she cast it, time outside the bubble began to run and the ponies of the world could return to doing what they were before. Next she would cast the spell to undo the time bubble,

"In the bubble time continues to run, but now the time outside runs and allows fun,
The bubble must burst so we can quench our thirst,
From the bubble we are now free and everything we can clearly see."

As soon as she finished the spell the bubble broke and they were able to float down to the ground but LaurFa's return would not go unnoticed. One pony yelled, "It's her! It's the pony who betrayed us and joined the dark goddess!"

Another pony yelled, "Let's get her! She must be punished for her betrayal!"

Given that they were all Alicorns, Rarity and even LaurFa herself began to get nervous but Colgate remained calm. She stepped in front of LaurFa and said, "Ponies, LaurFa is no longer corrupted by the dark goddess. She is good now and will resume her leadership role here fairly soon."

One pony yelled, "Never, we will not bow....."

Another pony came to LaurFa's defense. He said, "Look, if Supreme Commander Colgate is vouching for her, then she means us no harm."

The rest of the crowd knew that he spoke the truth but they did not go flocking to her like they did in the old days, they simply returned to their business. Colgate saw this and asked, "Well since you aren't being mobbed by an adoring crowd, lead me to where you initially found the jade Alicorn."

LaurFa nodded and the three took flight to the opposite side of the island where they found a cave in the side of a mountain. As they headed in LaurFa got a case of the shivers as it had probably been at least ten millennia since she had last been in there. They lit up their horns and headed into the old cave.

Almost immediately Rarity began locating gems but the three figured that if there was another kind of special gem, that it would not be located so close to the exit. Colgate asked, "Rarity, now do you only have the ability to find gems or can you also tell what shape they are?"

Rarity replied, "Colgate darling, all I can do is find gems! I've never even attempted to see if I can tell their shape."

Colgate asked, "Well could you see if you can? If we can find a gem, probably in the shape of an Alicorn, we can get back sooner."

Rarity sighed in frustration but soon discovered that she could also tell what shape they were. They continued to go further and further back and Rarity had yet to find any special shaped gem. Finally after what seemed to be forever they reached the very back of the cave. The back cave wall was completely devoid of gems which surprised the three and caused Colgate to wonder what was up.

She began pounding her hoof on the wall and noticed something, it didn't seem solid. She asked, "LaurFa, did you find the jade Alicorn in some sort of hidden chamber because this seems hollow back here."

LaurFa replied, "It's been so long that I honestly don't remember. All I remember is finding the jade Alicorn and the golden plate together."

Colgate sighed in disgust as she felt LaurFa did know but didn't want to tell her. She knew that LaurFa didn't want her having any advantages over the others but something in her mind was telling her that what she wants may be behind that hollow rock. Without warning anypony she began firing energy at the cave wall until it fell in and revealed a hidden chamber.

Colgate could see something in there given how much light her horn gave off. She said, "Come on ladies, I think I see something in here."

Colgate lit up her horn even brighter and in the cave were many, many gems but one in particular caught her eye. In the center of the chamber, sitting on a pedestal was a gold plate with a blue gem on it. The three approached it and saw that it wasn't any ordinary gem, it was a sapphire in the shape of an Alicorn. Colgate began to inspect it much more closely and realized that this may be what she needed. She turned to LaurFa and asked, "LaurFa, when you found the jade Alicorn how long was it until you decided to see if you could spy on the whole world with it?"

LaurFa replied, "It was quite a while until I took it up to my room and wrote the proper spell to see if it would work."

Colgate suggested, "Alright then, we are going up to your room and I'm going to see if this is what I need. I didn't come all the way out here simply for a pretty plate and a unique gem."

Her companions nodded and they headed to the exit of the cave before flying to the castle and into LaurFa's old bedroom. Colgate saw a pedestal near the balcony and asked, "Was this where you set it?"

LaurFa replied, "Yes, it was."

While Colgate knew the spell to change the color of the eye and change who can use it, she had no clue as how to activate it. She asked, "LaurFa, could you give me the spell to activate this assuming it is the same?"

LaurFa replied, "Colgate, do you know how long it is since I have activated that thing? I don't even know what the spell was, much less the energies involved in it."

Colgate sighed in frustration, "Well I suppose we are going to be staying here until I can write a spell to activate this thing."

Colgate grabbed a pen and some paper and began to wrack her brain trying to figure out how to even begin when she heard LaurFa say, "I remember it! I remember the spell for the jade Alicorn!"

Rarity added, "Perhaps the one for this one will be similar."

Colgate replied, "Alright then, read it for me."

LaurFa recited,

"The jade Alicorn will help me see all, without it I might miss a brawl,
While the distances are great, I can see all the hate,
Wisdom is what comes along with the eye so that overthrowing me nopony will try."

Colgate wrote that down and said, "Alright but with this one being made out of sapphire, I have a feeling that the wording may have to be different." Rarity began to say something when Colgate interrupted, "Give me some silence while I do this, I can not have any distractions."

The two went silent while Colgate began thinking of what would need to be changed. After an hour she finally came up with what she thought it might be and wrote down,

"The Alicorn of sapphire shall allow me to see it all, without it I might miss a brawl,
Seeing all this ensures nothing I will miss, I will see if anything goes amiss,
Advance warning is what comes with the eye so deposing me nopony will try"

Once Colgate got it wrote down she ordered, "LaurFa, set the plate and the sapphire Alicorn on that pedestal so I can see if this will work."

LaurFa did as requested and Colgate headed over to it. Her eyes began to shine blue, her horn lit up and she recited,

"The Alicorn of sapphire shall allow me to see it all, without it I might miss a brawl,
Seeing all this ensures nothing I will miss, I will see if anything goes amiss,
Advance warning is what comes with the eye so deposing me nopony will try"

As she finished reciting the spell, a powerful bolt of energy struck the sapphire Alicorn. Suddenly a blue eye appeared above the palace and Colgate stared into the Alicorn and could see everything that was going on in the world. Much to her delight, everything was going as it normally would and there were no problems. She began flying around shouting, "Yes, yes, yes, yes it worked!" Now I can take this baby home, get my tower built and then fire it up and monitor everything."

LaurFa still didn't like how Colgate wanted a tower. She asked, "Colgate, why is it you want a tower? A tower is what Twilight initially had built. Would you settle perhaps for a regular castle instead?"

Colgate replied, "No. I want the tower to be similar to how Twilight's was because the platform on top was the perfect place for the eye and besides, I did like the whole design of that place."

She took the sapphire Alicorn and plate off the pedestal and the eye disappeared. She began to look around and asked, "LaurFa, I also remember the jade Alicorn having a case. Did you find that in the cave as well or did you have it made?"

LaurFa replied, "I had it made. There was no case that came with it."

Colgate sighed, "Well I suppose I'll have to find something to carry it in." She headed over to LaurFa's old closet and began digging around which did not please her one bit."

LaurFa yelled, "Colgate, what are you doing in my closet?"

Colgate snapped back, "I'm looking to see if......" She suddenly went quiet when she found something that nopony even knew existed, a secret compartment. She said to herself, "Hmmm, I wonder what could be in here?"

She grasped the block that was hiding the compartment and removed it. In it was a golden box, exactly like the one that held the jade Alicorn. She removed it and exclaimed, "Well it looks like I'll have something to carry it in after all!"

LaurFa was not thrilled when she saw what Colgate had found but knew that if she didn't let her use it, that she may simply decide to take the sapphire Alicorn and then return to Eqqus 2 so she replied, "Well that's good."

Colgate opened the case and put the Alicorn and the golden plate in it. Once she had it locked she began looking for something else, some saddlebags to carry it in so she wouldn't have to be holding it with her magic while she had time frozen. She asked, "LaurFa, do you know if there are any spare saddle bags around? Some would come in really handy right now."

LaurFa levitated a pair out of her closet and onto Colgate's back. Colgate thanked her and put the box in her new saddlebags and asked, "Well ladies, since we found what I was looking for, shall we get back to Ponyville?"

LaurFa replied, "Yes, let's go."

Rarity added, "I think that would be splendid."

Colgate led the two outside and cast the proper spells so that they could get going again. Like it was on the way out there, both Rarity and LaurFa had trouble flying fast enough for Colgate's liking but eventually both were able to match Colgate's speed and the time bubble was flying right along.

It didn't take long for them to get home and once Colgate resumed the flow of time and undone the bubble, only two hours had passed and most of that passed while they were in the cave and figuring out how to get the sapphire Alicorn to work.

Upon arrival back in Ponyville, Rarity headed home while LaurFa and Colgate returned to the throne room. When they arrived and Colgate proudly pulled the gold case she had her new acquisitions stored in, everypony but Brevity and Scootaloo were upset. The first to say anything was Celestia, "Colgate, did you really have to do this? Do you really have to spy...."

Colgate interrupted, "You mean monitor the world." She sighed and continued, "Look, if you want me to aid in keeping Eqqus 1 safe, you'll be happy that I have what I need."

Another pony who was not thrilled with Colgate having something she could monitor everything with was Galaxia. Galaxia glared at Colgate and asked, "Alright, you have this thing and now you're going to build a tower back east? What exactly is this tower going to look like?"

Colgate looked in Twilight's direction a bit nervously knowing that bringing up a dark tower directly may cause her to return to being evil so she replied, "I'm thinking it will be like the one that I used to live in when I ruled Equestria" she turned to LaurFa and asked, "I want to know something, how did this castle get here so quick and how did Twilight get a library so quickly?"

LaurFa replied, "Well I created it for her, both the castle and they library."

Colgate gave her an intense look and asked, "Well then, I suppose whatever magic it was that you used to create this and the library you can do for me as well, correct?"

LaurFa knew that Colgate would either take the sapphire Alicorn with her and return to Eqqus 2 or she might start banishing ponies to the void if she didn't tell her so she sighed, "Yes Colgate, I can. I will just need to grab the books in Twilight's library in my aura for a minute or two and then I will be able to."

Colgate gave her a smile and laughed, "That is good, I'd hate for Brevity and I have come all this way for nothing."

LaurFa turned to her sister and asked, "Speaking of you, what are your plans? Will you remain here as well in the event you are needed to unmake an enemy or are you going to return to what you call Eqqus 2?"

Brevity sat there in thought for a moment before replying, "Brevity has put a lot of effort into leading the ponies out of Saddle Arabia there so Brevity has decided she shall return to Eqqus 2."

Colgate asked, "Brevity, when do you plan on doing this?"

Brevity replied, "As soon as this meeting is adjourned."

Twilight and White Magick, both of who had been rather quiet began to get up. Colgate asked, "Where do you two think you're going?"

White Magick replied, "Well I assumed this meeting was drawing to a close so I thought we could leave and besides, I promised Twilight I would take her to my realm so I'm rounding up my soldiers and we are heading out so she can see my library."

Twilight turned as red as an apple and said, "I'm really looking forward to this." Her blush deepened further as she continued, "I can't wait to learn everything from the dark days you've talked about."

Colgate had a feeling that the route to his realm was likely on the way to what would become Coastal Equestria and where she would have her tower built and asked, "Your Majesty, I'm wondering if you wouldn't mind if I were to join you two" she turned to LaurFa and asked, "LaurFa, so are you going to be joining me on route to my new capitol?"

LaurFa replied, "Well if you want this tower and that library I will."

Colgate said, "I was hoping that would be your answer." She then turned to White Magick and continued where she left off, "Would you mind if LaurFa and I joined you two as well? I'm pretty sure your realm is on the way to where I will establish my capitol and I'll admit, I would like to see your library."

While White Magick did not like the idea of LaurFa entering his realm and had his concerns about Colgate and her power hungry nature, he knew that allowing them to come would be in his best interests. He replied, "Yeah sure, you can."

Colgate gave LaurFa a smile and said, "Well it looks like we will get to go!"

LaurFa nervously replied, "It looks that way."

LaurFa could tell by Colgate's smile that she likely wanted a whole lot more than to merely check out White Magick's library but knew better than to say anything. It wasn't only Colgate's behavior that concerned her, Twilight's constant blushing at White Magick did as well. She could tell that Twilight had developed a crush on the king but knew that he was married. She just hoped that Twilight would not do that around White Magick's wife as that could spell doom for her.

Author's Note

Time Bubble

"A bubble is what we need, so from frozen time we can be freed, in this bubble we can move fast, while everything else is stuck in the past, it is frozen time which through we must pass so we will never be late to class."

Freeze Time

"Tick tock, tick tock, look at the racing clock, what is short is time and being late is a crime, we must finish on top so it is time I must stop, with time froze, it is my enemies I shall bulldoze."

Unfreeze Time

"Look at the clock, it is stuck in place, with this there can be no pace, everything is still but that does not fit the bill, for now the clock shall again run so everypony can have fun."

Undo Time Bubble

"In the bubble time continues to run, but now the time outside runs and allows fun, the bubble must burst so we can quench our thirst, from the bubble we are now free and everything we can clearly see."