Terror in Equestria 9: Return of Tambelon

Several hours after departing Ponyville, the hills in the eastern part of the Everfree Forest became visible. White Magick pointed his hoof towards them and ordered, "Alright everypony, follow me."

Everypony followed him and when they landed, the forest canopy was thick and it was just as dark as it is in the forest north of Ponyville. This didn't seem to bother anypony except for one, Twilight. She put her wing around White Magick and asked, "White Magick, is this area safe? It seems awfully dark here."

White Magick knew that she did not remember anything about her trip there when she was corrupted so he did not bring it up. Instead he put his wing around her to comfort her and replied, "It's perfectly safe Twilight but if staying close to me will make you feel better, then I'll keep you close."

Twilight's face turned red as an apple as she said, "Thanks White Magick, I appreciate that."

Further back LaurFa and Colgate both watched in disapproval. LaurFa leaned over and commented, "You know, if she keeps that up and he stays close to her like that, we may witness something very bad happen in his realm."

Colgate asked, "Are you talking about his wife putting her in her place?"

LaurFa replied, "Yes and unfortunately, Equestrian ponies can not use their magic in his realm so not only would we be unable to help her, but I think we had best be on our best behavior while we are there."

She would never admit it but Colgate honestly didn't care if anything happened to Twilight but she tried to appear as though she did, "Let's just hope she quits hitting on him and don't worry, I don't plan on doing anything that may cause problems."

LaurFa simply nodded and soon they reached the chasm that led towards the vortex that would take them to his realm. He ordered everypony to stop and addressed them, "Alright everypony, we are about to enter my realm. For those of you who are from Equestria, you will be unable to use your magic in my realm."

LaurFa, Colgate, her soldiers and generals did not question this but one would, Twilight. She asked, "White Magick, why can't we use our magic in your realm? Does it have some sort of strange magic of its own?"

White Magick replied, "Yes, it does." He raised his voice and continued, "Also, I want to let you know that my wife isn't overly trusting of outsiders." He began to turn around to continue marching but then turned back, "And one other thing, I think it would be best for all of you to refer to both my wife and I as 'your Majesty' rather than just by name. Addressing me by name may cause her to think that not only are you up to something, but that I may be being taken advantage of."

White Magick's soldiers knew this and LaurFa, Colgate and her soldiers weren't bothered any by it. It did unnerve Twilight a bit though but she did not say anything because she knew that the stallion she had a crush on would likely be a much different pony around his wife.

Eventually they had walked far enough through the chasm that the portal was in sight. White Magick said, "Alright everypony, there is the portal that goes to my realm."

Everypony simply nodded and followed him through. The Equestrian ponies felt a slight shock as they went through and when they arrived on the other side, it was nice and cool. Once they were on the other side White Magick said, "Alright everypony, follow me to the palace and remember, don't call me by my name."

Colgate said, "Yes your Majesty."

Both LaurFa and Twilight felt a bit nervous as they approached the palace but for different reasons. LaurFa knew that Ruby Heart would remember her from the distant past and Twilight was concerned that she might be able to tell that she had a crush on White Magick. Once they arrived at the palace the very first place they went to was the throne room where they were greeted by his wife, Queen Ruby Heart.

The very first thing she noticed did not please her, she noticed both Twilight and LaurFa were present and that Blue Star was absent. She glared at her husband and growled, "White Magick, what are THEY doing here and where is our son? Where is Blue Star?"

White Magick replied, "Honey, Blue Star was granted an opportunity that not only could he not pass up, but I gave him my blessing to do so."

Ruby Heart's glare deepened and she asked, "So, what was this that you gave him your blessing to do?"

White Magick replied, "Well you see, after all the turmoil the world has been through, with the return of many ponies from Equestria's past and the need to re-establish a nation from old, he was offered a position of leadership and he took it."

Ruby asked, "Oh and what was this position of leadership? Is he simply some sort of high general or a second in command somewhere?"

White Magick replied, "No, he is now the king of Neigh Zealand. "

Ruby's scowl changed to a smile and she exclaimed, "I'm so proud of him! I know that he'll be a perfect leader there!" Her smile quickly vanished as she pointed her hoof at LaurFa and Twilight and ordered, "Now that I know what has happened with our son, tell me what are those two doing here?"

White Magick knew that she was upset over Twilight and LaurFa being there and knew that he had to try and calm her down. He replied, "Honey, they are here because it is in the best interest of the entire planet."

She got up off her throne and headed straight towards LaurFa. She began circling her to see if she could sense any negative energy or any ill intentions coming from her but found none. This would not stop her from interrogating her though, "So LaurFa, tell me, why are you in our realm? Why did my husband bring you here? Why would he bring you here when you threatened to purge us so long ago?"

This question really unnerved LaurFa since the only reason she even came on this trip was to aid Colgate in establishing her capitol. She replied, "Well you see" she pointed her hoof at Colgate and continued, "I'm here because her and I are on our way further east to establish her capitol and she wanted to see your library."

Ruby gave LaurFa a glare before replying, "Alright, perhaps you don't have any ill intentions." She then walked over to Twilight and growled, "And what about you? Why would my husband bring a self-proclaimed dark goddess back to our realm?"

Twilight shrank back and found herself unable to speak. Luckily for her White Magick would come to her defense, "Honey, don't you see that her eyes are no longer green and her coat isn't as dark as it was?"

Ruby really began to violate Twilight's personal space and went as far as sniffing before replying, "Well perhaps she isn't a dark goddess anymore." This caused Twilight to stand straight up in relief but Ruby continued, "But I still don't trust her."

White Magick gave her a slight glare and said, "Honey, I cleansed her so I know for a fact that she can be trusted."

Ruby simply rolled her eyes before approaching Colgate. With the same growl in her voice she asked, "Who are you and why did my husband bring you to our realm?"

Colgate replied, "My name is Supreme Commander Colgate and I will be the leader of Coastal Equestria as soon as I get my borders with Equestria established."

Ruby asked, "Supreme Commander and leader of Coastal Equestria?"

Colgate replied, "Your Majesty, do you think that you and I could talk about this more alone?" She leaned in and whispered, "Somewhere away from Twilight."

The fact that Colgate seemed to not trust Twilight caused Ruby to warm up to her some. She replied, "Of course we can Supreme Commander....."

Colgate interrupted, "I would prefer if you simply call me Colgate, it would make me feel more comfortable."

This really impressed her and caused her to realize that Colgate truly meant no harm, that she may even make a great ally. She replied, "Well then Colgate, you may just call me Ruby."

White Magick was listening in on his wife's conversation with Colgate in shock. Never in his life did he imagine that his wife would allow an outsider, especially an Equestrian, to be informal with her. While he did not hear everything that Colgate had said, he had a feeling that Colgate did not trust Twilight and that may be why his wife was so friendly with her.

After White Magick had led Twilight and LaurFa out of the throne room Colgate and Ruby decided to talk further. Ruby couldn't help but be curious about why Colgate wanted to discuss things away from Twilight. She asked, "Colgate, what was it that you wanted to talk with me about away from Twilight?"

Colgate replied, "Well I may be jumping the gun here but I have a feeling that Twilight might have a crush on your husband."

A deep scowl grew on Ruby's face as she asked, "She what? She has a crush on White Magick?"

Colgate replied, "I think so. It seems like every time they interact she blushes and LaurFa and I both have our concerns about how clingy she seemed to be to him on the way here."

Ruby's blood was already beginning to boil. She snapped, "What? She has been clingy to him?" Ruby calmed down a bit so that nopony would hear them and continued, "How has she been clingy to him?"

Colgate replied, "Well when we were flying here she flew quite close to him and once we landed and began to walk, she got cold." She lowered her voice and continued, "And when she said this, he put his wing around her to keep her warm and she really blushed then."

It was not so much a matter of Twilight being clingy that angered her this time, it was the fact that White Magick had put his wing around her to keep her warm that angered her but she knew she needed to remain calm and wait until the right moment to address this. She calmly asked, "Alright, now that I know that I can handle it but tell me a bit about yourself. If we are going to be allies we should know more about one another."

Colgate replied, "Agreed." She took a deep breath and began, "Well I was born in a small town called Ponyville to two working class unicorns....."

Ruby interrupted, "You don't have to tell me your life story, I just want to know about how you came to be a leader and what you did before that."

Colgate nodded and continued, "Alright. At one time, over 5,000 years ago dating back to before Twilight's corruption, I was a dentist. I was known as the best dentist in Equestria but all that would come to an end when Twilight took over and decided that she wanted the jade Alicorn."

Ruby asked, "Are you telling me what I think you are telling me? Were you at one time part of her government and aided in getting her this jade Alicorn?"

Colgate replied, "Yes but this was before she actually became evil. At that point she was simply power hungry and it was her need for that relic that caused her to transform me, a couple of my friends, her brother and her friends into Alicorns."

Despite knowing that Colgate was once on Twilight's side, she could tell that she obviously wasn't on Twilight's side now so she asked, "I know about the jade Alicorn but I'm curious, with her no longer being evil can she still use it?"

Colgate replied, "From what I understand when White Magick cleansed her of her evil, her tower collapsed and the jade Alicorn was crushed." She got a smile on her face and continued, "And even if it hadn't been, she wouldn't have been able to use it anyway because all the magic she learned after her corruption by Chrysalis has been forgotten."

Ruby got a huge smile on her face and laughed, "So she pretty much only knows the magic she knew a long time ago?"

Colgate replied, "Yep, that's it."

She then asked, "What about you Colgate? What kinds of magic do you know?"

Colgate replied, "I know everything Twilight knew before she was cleansed and then some. Next to LaurFa, I'm probably the most well learned Alicorn in Equestria."

This caused Ruby to see a great opportunity. She figured that Colgate had probably learned everything she did through extensive studying but thought she might want to learn more. She asked, "I'm curious, what would you think about being able to learn even more and become more powerful?"

Colgate asked in return, "How would I do that? I don't know how long LaurFa will want to stay before we head east to establish my capitol, get my tower built and for her to give me copies of the materials in Twilight's castle."

She chuckled, "Oh the good old book duplication spell, gotta love it, right?" She then leaned down and whispered, "What would you think of being able to do that but with our collection?"

Colgate asked, "But how, I would have to grasp your collection in my aura and I can't use my magic here."

Ruby liked Colgate and knew that she could be trusted so she decided to do something that she never imagined she would ever do, cast a spell to allow an outsider to use her magic in their realm. She ordered, "Colgate, lean your head forward."

Colgate did as ordered and Ruby touched the point of her horn against that of Colgate. Her horn began to glow as she recited,

"The outsider can not use her magic which is quite tragic,
It is knowledge that she seeks but with no magic she is meek
This is something that can not be because it is truth that she must see
Now her abilities she can use and her power she shall not refuse."

As soon as she finished the spell a stream of white energy flowed into Colgate until her horn started glowing. She couldn't believe it, she couldn't believe that Queen Ruby Heart, who has always been so distrustful of outsiders, would cast a spell so she could do what other outsiders could not. She embraced Ruby and exclaimed, Thank you Ruby, thank you!"

Ruby gave her a smile and replied, "No need for thanks Colgate." She cast her gaze down the hall and continued, "How about we go to the library now?

Colgate nodded and the two headed to the library. When Colgate saw it she was beyond amazed. She turned to Ruby and said, "Wow, this place is huge!" She lowered her voice and continued, "Now to find that spell to duplicate your collection."

Ruby simply nodded and led her to the book she would need. She opened the book to the right page and pointed her hoof towards it. Colgate gave her a smile and said, "Thanks! I take it this is the spell LaurFa knows?"

Ruby replied, "Yes." She then pointed her hoof off to the left towards some much older books and continued, "You know, once you get everything established in your capitol and your collection duplicated, there are some really powerful spells in there" her voice became a whisper as she continued, "The most ancient spells known to ponykind, predating the dark days that followed the fall of Ponyland."

Colgate's eyes grew wide as she asked, "You mean some of those spells were from Ponyland ponies?"

Ruby replied, "Yes, those. Many think that the ponies of that time did not know much magic but they had more knowledge than we thought, magic that may aid us in defeating Grogar if he were to return."

While Colgate began to look for the first part of the book duplication spell, Ruby headed off to find her husband and would not be thrilled with what she would find. She found him by Twilight's side reading through an old spell book. She gave her husband a glare and asked, "Honey, may I speak to you for a moment?"

White Magick replied, "Sure." He cast his gaze at Twilight and continued, "I'll be back, this should just take a minute."

Ruby grabbed him in her aura and began to drag her back off in the direction of Colgate. She gave him an intense glare and asked, "May I ask why you are so close to her? May I ask why you are helping her study?"

White Magick replied, "I promised her that she could come and look at our collection. I just want to help her learn some things since she has forgotten all the magic she learned during her corruption."

Ruby got up in his face and snarled, "I know that BUT she never knew any of our magic and I do not feel comfortable with her knowing our magic."

White Magick pointed his hoof towards Colgate and asked, "What about her? Why is it you seem to show so much favoritism towards her and why in the world would you cast a spell on her to where she can use her magic here?"

Ruby did not like where this was going but wanted to make sure he knew that she had good reasons for doing what she did, "Listen, she is very powerful and she is an ally of ours now. I feel as though she has earned it."

Before White Magick could say anything else Ruby stormed off in the direction of Twilight. She was bound and determined to see what it was that she was studying and if it was anything she felt she shouldn't know, she would take the book away from her.

When she approached Twilight she noticed that she was reading a history book, an older history book. Twilight looked up to see Ruby standing over her and greeted her, "Hello your Majesty."

Ruby was not fond of Twilight but knew that she simply could not go putting Twilight in her place since she had not done anything wrong. She replied, "I'm fine." She looked down and asked, "So Princess, what are you studying?"

Twilight looked up and replied, "I'm studying some of your oldest history." She became much more enthusiastic as she continued, "I can't believe everything I'm learning! I was taught my whole life that Ponyland, Grogar and Tambelon were all old pony tales and now here I am learning it is true!"

Ruby was glad to see that Twilight knew that their history was more than just a myth but wanted to know if she had been studying anything else. In a calm, almost caring voice she asked, "So, have you been studying anything else?"

Twilight nervously replied, "Well I tried reading through a magic book but the spells in there were really advanced, even more advanced than Equestria's so I didn't even understand them."

Ruby looked deep into Twilight's eyes as she said this and could tell that she was actually telling the truth. She put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder and replied, "Yes, our spells are incredibly advanced and outsiders generally don't understand them and that is out of the rare few we give the honor of viewing them."

Twilight simply nodded before she headed back to Colgate to find her memorizing the spell so she can duplicate their collection once she gets her tower built. She gave Colgate a smile and asked, "Getting it down?"

Colgate replied, "Yep, I'm pretty sure I have the energies necessary to do this down. All I have to do now is wait for all the books to be put back in place and I can do it."

Ruby put her hoof on her shoulder, gave her a smile and said, "Good. Out of all the Equestrian ponies, you are the only one I consider deserving of this." She lowered her voice, pointed at Twilight and continued, "I'm sure White Magick would feel differently but I talked to her and she said that she can't even understand our spells."

Colgate gave her a smile and replied, "That is good, it is proof that she truly was cleansed of everything, including her abilities to understand truly advanced magic like she had when she was corrupted." She looked around and asked, "So when do you think we could get all the books put back in place so I can do the first part of the spell?"

Ruby replied, "Of course!" While Colgate was putting the book she was studying back she headed back over to Twilight and tapped her on the shoulder. She continued, "Twilight, I really need you to put that book back where you found it."

Twilight had really been enjoying reading about the ancient past and the horrible evils from the dark days but complied. Once she put it back Ruby nodded at Colgate, signaling that she could begin the first half of the spell.

Much to the surprise of LaurFa, Colgate lit up her horn and grasped the whole collection in her aura. She recited,

"The amount of knowledge is great and with it I can prevent hate
It is smarts that I need so that wisdom can be my seed
The ability to duplicate is a must so my dreams of knowledge won't go bust
Now this duplication can be done so ignorance will be none."

As she finished the spell her eyes shone a bright blue for a moment before returning to normal. She gave Ruby a smile and said, "Thank you Ruby. Now once I get my capitol established and get my tower built, after LaurFa provides me with Twilight's collection, I can duplicate yours and then you can come to my realm and discover how I will have a distinct advantage over the evil forces that may return."

Ruby gave her a curious look and asked, "If I may, what is it that will give you this advantage?"

Colgate pulled a golden case out of her saddle bags and showed it to Ruby. Ruby saw this and asked, "A golden box? How is that going to aid you?"

Colgate opened the box and showed her the golden plate and the sapphire Alicorn. Ruby had heard legends about how Alicorn gems can aid in spying on the world. She gasped, "I know Twilight had that jade Alicorn but I thought she was simply full of herself. I always thought the Alicorn gems were merely a thing of myth! I never knew they actually existed!"

Colgate replied, "They do. At first LaurFa used one made of jade until Twilight took it and once I overthrew her, I used it but I have special plans for this one. In the event somepony was to get into my tower and knew a spell to take over control of it like Twilight did and I did, I'm going to cast a protection spell on this."

Ruby's eyes grew wide as she commented, "You must be really good at writing your own magic."

Colgate replied, "I am." She pointed her hoof over towards Twilight and continued, "She was good at it too but even during her time of corruption, I was still better at it and now that she has lost over five millennia of knowledge, she is pretty much a harmless, naive Alicorn who only knows what Celestia taught her."

Ruby gave Colgate a hoof bump and laughed, "Good, now just to make sure my husband doesn't fall into her little trap."

Colgate replied, "While I don't know your husband much, I can tell by his demeanor that he will remain loyal to you. Twilight is simply a young mare with a crush."

Ruby's stomach began to growl so she said, "I don't know about you but I'm ready for a meal." She gave Colgate a smile and added, "I'm sure you are wanting to get going to create your new capitol but what would you think about a hearty meal before you leave."

Colgate licked her chops and replied, "That sounds great. After all, it is easier to accomplish things on a full stomach."

Ruby and Colgate headed to get to the others and then headed to the throne room. Colgate felt proud, very proud. She had gained an ally in the one pony who distrusts pretty much every Equestrian alive and even better, she was granted the ability to use her magic in their realm. LaurFa however was a bit worried that Ruby had established such a close alliance with Colgate. While she knew that both would prove to be very valuable against Grogar if he were to return, she couldn't help but wonder that if Grogar returned and was defeated, that Colgate may very well try to take all of Equestria for herself.