Terror in Equestria 11: Death and Destruction

Chapters

The Grand Summit
Information Sharing
Retrieval of the Alicorn Gems
A Prophecy and a Discovery
LaurFa's Harrowing Journey to Equestria
A Meeting With Celestia
A Visit to the Crystal Empire
Acquiring More Knowledge
A Dark Transformation
A Meeting With Luna
Planning an Ambush
Visiting Unicornia
Busted
Interrogation and Torture
Ponyville Acquisitions
Meeting in Ridead
Detaining Her Prisoners
Birth of the Witch Queen of Marentreal
Last Meeting in Ridead
Planning Her First Terror
The First Terror
Dark Creations
Saving Celestia
Beasts for the Riders
Informing Blue Star
The Return of Brevity Thrash
Global Attacks
Attack on Neigh Zealand
Return of the Generals
Discovery of the Second Prophecy
Ruby Heart's Discovery and Transformation
Informing the Troops
Terror in Faustica
Mourning in Faustica
Death of a Kingdom
Fall of the King
Ruby's Return to Canterlot
Attack Against the Sun
Retrieving Ruby's Blade
New Weapons & Armor
The Fall of a Creator Goddess
Celestia's Unexpected Plan
Summoning the Riders
One Last Transformation
Celestia's Plans
Heading off to Battle
Final Preparations
The Battle to End All Battles
Death and Destruction
Epilogue: An Eternal Punishment
One Last Transformation (Alternate Ending)
Prelude: A Changing World

The Grand Summit

State of the World Meeting

The 20,000 year anniversary of the corruption of Twilight Sparkle by Queen Chrysalis had arrived and like it had been for the past 5,000 years, a global summit had been scheduled to take place in Canterlot. Like she always did, Princess Celestia was going to make sure that the other leaders were treated just as good as she was, like royalty.

Early in the morning, immediately after she rose the sun, Princess Celestia saw the first of her guests approaching from the east, the reunited Queen Ruby Heart and King White Magick of Unicornia. When they landed on her balcony Celestia greeted them warmly, "Queen Ruby Heart, King White Magick, it is so good to see you!"

Both the Queen and the King embraced Celestia, "It is good to see you too!"

As the three stood there on the balcony awaiting the arrival of the other leaders, they decided to just have an ordinary chit-chat, "White Magick, Ruby, how have things been in Unicornia?"

Ruby, who normally took control of conversations replied, "Things have been going well. We haven't had any problems arise and there have been no ponies going into the hills surrounding the portal."

Celestia asked, "Not even Colgate?"

Over the years, Colgate had become more distant and distrustful. Ruby replied, "Actually no. At one time we were so close but now it seems like she doesn't even trust us and if we want to visit her, we have to go to her black tower."

Celestia knew that Colgate's trust of the world leaders had declined significantly over the years but never imagined that she would grow distant from the royalty of Unicornia. As they looked off to the east, they saw not one but two Alicorns approaching the city, Colgate and Scootaloo. As they entered the city, Celestia said, "Well maybe we can find out why she has been so distant."

The monarchs from Unicornia nodded as the two Alicorns landed on the balcony. Scootaloo had less distrust towards the other leaders and greeted them warmly, "Princess Celestia, King White Magick, Queen Ruby Heart, it is so good to see you!"

In unison the three added, "It is good to see you too Scootaloo!"

Scootaloo gave each of the three a light embrace while Colgate stood there with a neutral look on her face. The three knew that Colgate normally showed little emotion and also knew how they had to address her. Her long time ally Ruby extended her hoof, "Supreme Commander Colgate, it is good to see you."

Colgate gave her a hoofshake and replied, "It is good to see you as well."

She turned to the other two and added, "And you two as well."

As they waited for the other leaders, all but one of them began to have a casual conversation while Colgate stood at the edge of the balcony watching for the other leaders. Over the next hour, the other leaders arrived and once all were present, Celestia pointed back towards the interior of the castle and suggested, "How about we go and get this summit started?"

Everypony agreed and they headed towards the dining hall where they would not only discuss important issues but also enjoy a large banquet. Unlike it was in the past, many ponies around the world had went away from eating meat, except for Coastal Equestrians so they had to make sure that they did have a proper meal for Colgate.

Once their meals had been brought to them, Celestia pounded her hoof on the table and announced, "Welcome everypony, welcome! Welcome to the Grand Global Summit." She cast her gaze towards Colgate and added, "And it is wonderful to see everypony attending this year."

Luna, who had missed a couple of summits recently replied, "Of course big sister, I know this is a special summit."

Colgate added, "That it is." She got a huge smile on her face and added, "It has been five millennia to the day since we slayed those centaurs and since I finally put the last evil in her place." She then licked her chops and added, "And had the tastiest meal I ever had!"

Everypony knew what she was talking about and a majority of them gave her a glare, particularly Celestia. That was the signal to her that bringing up Twilight's final moments likely was not the best thing for her to do. Celestia sighed, "Yes, that." She then became more cheerful and continued, "Alright everypony, how have things been going in your nations?"

LaurFa was the first to say anything, "Well things have been peaceful although I have had my subjects working on improving their magic in the event anything bad was to happen."

Colgate asked, "Oh, and what would you classify as bad?"

LaurFa knew that she couldn't just come out and state what she was worried about and had to think of a lie, "Oh nothing in particular, it doesn't hurt anypony to improve their magic does it?"

Colgate rolled her eyes and Celestia figured it would be best to move to the next leader, "Blue Star, what about you? How have things been in Neigh Zealand?"

Blue Star replied, "Great actually. The weather has been great, crop outputs have been spectacular, the wool trade has been exceptional and everypony is happy."

She then turned to Galaxia and Cosmos, "And what about Saddle Arabia?"

Galaxia replied, "Wonderful! We have had no problems at all, the dust storms are at a minimum and there is a lot of harmony between everypony."

Celestia gave them a smile and moved on, "Little Sister, and what about the Equine Empire?"

Luna replied, "Things have been going great big sister. Crop harvests are better than they have been in ages, there have been no droughts and like everywhere else, harmony is the norm."

Celestia said, "Good." She then turned to Ruby Heart and White Magick, "And what about Unicornia?"

Ruby replied, "Things are going as they always have and I know I have been saying this for quite some time but I am glad they welcomed White Magick back."

Celestia gave her a smile before turning to Scootaloo, "And what about the Crystal Empire?"

Scootaloo replied, "Wonderful. We still have our crystallings and everypony is happy so nothing new."

Celestia developed a frown on her face and finished, "And what about Coastal Equestria? What has the black tower seen?"

Colgate was not thrilled with the way she was asked and decided to pour on the sarcasm, "Oh you know, nothing special. Outdoing all of you economically, making plans to feast on your foals, mining for uranium, torturing dissidents, being distrusted by the rest of you so nothing new."

Her response did not surprise anypony given the way she had been at recent summits. After Colgate's sarcastic response she asked, "So Celestia, other that reporting on the states of our nations, what else did you call us here for?"

Celestia replied, "Well other than to enjoy one another's company, nothing else really."

Colgate was very frustrated that she had spent so much energy and wasted so much time solely for that. She grunted, "Had I known this was all, I would have just sent Dark Night." She began to head towards the exit and motioned to Scootaloo, "Scootaloo, we need to talk before I waste any more time than I already have."

Scootaloo followed Colgate out the door where she would be ordered, "Scootaloo, like you always have, be buddy buddy with them. Make them think you distrust me a bit and get as much information as possible." She moved in closer and whispered, "And report to me."

Something seemed different about Colgate to Scootaloo but she figured that it may just be a matter of how she felt she was treated. She replied, "Yes, I'll report everything to you."

Colgate gave her a smile, "Good, very good."

Colgate then took off towards the east as Scootaloo returned to the dining hall. Scootaloo had a feeling that the other leaders would likely ask her about what her and Colgate were talking about. She walked a bit slower than normal as she was trying to think of a good lie to tell everypony.

Information Gathering

Once Scootaloo had returned to the dining hall, she was met with suspicion. She could see it in their eyes and knew that she couldn't gather any information with them like that and before she could even say anything, LaurFa asked, "So Scootaloo, what did Colgate have to talk to you about?"

Ruby added, "Is she making any kind of ill plans?"

Scootaloo replied, "No, she simply wanted to say good-bye to me on her own and told me to wish you all well."

They all gave her looks of suspicion as they did not completely believe her. Celestia asked, "Is that all? Are you sure that she didn't say anything else?"

Scootaloo was not fond of their questioning but knew of one thing to say that always eased their suspicion, "I'll swear on the crystal heart that she has no ill plans. I'll swear on the whole Empire that that is all she had to say."

She saw a look of relief form on their faces when she swore on things directly tied to her nation. LaurFa then motioned for her to approach her, "Scootaloo, I know the two of you are still fairly close and I know that you likely share things involving the rest of the world. What has she said about us?"

Colgate had told her many, many things over the years but she knew that if she was to spill anything that her mentor had told her, that not only would she, but the whole Empire would be eradicated so she decided to be vague, "Well she has talked to me about how she wishes that all of you would trust her." She turned to Ruby and continued, "Especially you. She has said on multiple occasions that she wishes that Unicornia and Coastal Equestria could be strong allies like they were in the past."

Ruby replied, "I wish we could be too but when she fused Grogar's collar into herself I lost some trust in her and when she took the shattered Rainbow of Light and Rainbow of Darkness home with her, I just got this feeling that she is up to something, something that would not be in the world's best interests."

Luna, who had been quiet, asked, "About those relics, has she done anything with them?"

Scootaloo had become very good at lying over the years so she easily lied, "Actually no. I go with her into the back of the archives all the time and she simply has them laying on the floor, I always look at them and can tell they haven't even been touched, much less had any attempts to repair them done."

As they watched Scootaloo, they could tell that she was telling the truth. This caused them all to look at one another, smile and motion for LaurFa to put her wing around her, "Supreme Commander Scootaloo, can you keep a secret?"

Scootaloo replied, "Of course I can. Remember I swore allegiance to you after everypony showed their concerns after Colgate took those relics home with her."

LaurFa gave her a smile, "Very well then." Her voice became more serious as she continued, "As most ponies know, there is a cave on the west side of Alicorn Island where Alicorn gems have been discovered in the past."

Scootaloo asked, "You mean ones like the one Colgate has?"

LaurFa replied, "Yes. I have been doing a lot of thinking and after Colgate's behavior today, I think it is vital that every leader have one, including you."

Given that every other leader was still present, another decided to chime in. Blue Star asked, "I take it you want us all to be able to keep an eye on the black tower?"

LaurFa replied, "Yes, I honestly do not trust her. The last few times I have seen her something did not seem right but this time, she seemed worse."

Everypony in the room nodded in agreement until Celestia asked, "Ok, you are going to find more Alicorn gems but how are we supposed to use them. Only you and Colgate know how."

LaurFa replied, "I know the spell and I can teach you all how the magic that controls those things work."

Scootaloo asked, "So how long do you think it will take to find these gems?"

LaurFa replied, "I'm not sure. It took me a very long time to find the jade Alicorn and finding the sapphire Alicorn was no easy task either." She got a nervous look on her face and continued, "And I'll be honest, I'm not even sure that there are any more of them in there."

Everypony sighed in frustration. While Scootaloo did not look overly frustrated, some of them look very frustrated, particularly Celestia. She slammed her hoof into the floor and shouted, "What, you promise us these things and yet you don't even know if there are any." She lit up her horn and continued, "Look, Colgate could easily bring her forces in here and I want to be ready if she marches her army in here as soon as possible."

LaurFa could see that all the leaders were not thrilled over her promising something and then not even knowing if there are any. Even Scootaloo was not thrilled, "Why would you promise us something you don't even know if it exists?"

Blue Star added, "You know what everypony, we're just going to have to rely on things the old fashioned way." He headed towards the exit and continued, "I don't know about any of you but I'm out of here."

All the other leaders said, "Here, here!"

LaurFa and Celestia watched in shock as everypony headed towards the exit and then took off towards home. It had been what seemed to be forever since there had even been a blow up at a summit, much less everypony storming off like that. LaurFa could tell that Celestia was also not a happy camper and said, "Well I probably better get going as well."

Celestia sighed in frustration as she took off towards the west. Most every leader was very angry with the exception of one, Scootaloo. As she flew first to the north and then to the east, she was ecstatic. She was thrilled that those who she deemed as enemies would fight like that and knew that Colgate would be thrilled and maybe start making plans for them to conquer and then split Eqqus 1.

Information Sharing

As Scootaloo headed off towards Colgate's black tower, she had a feeling that her mentor would be ecstatic over the news that she had discovered. The flight back to the black tower was much longer than the flight from the Crystal Empire to Canterlot. By the time the black tower was finally approaching on the horizon, Scootaloo's wings had begun to hurt a bit. That was one thing she would never admit to her mentor though as she had no room for any kind of weakness in her circle of allies.

Colgate was out at the base engaging in a training exercise and when Scootaloo landed next to her, Colgate yelled, "At ease soldiers, at ease." Once the training exercise had halted Colgate pointed to the tower and ordered, "Follow me and report."

Like it had been at the summit, something didn't seem right about Colgate. She seemed to be more formal with her than normal but any nerves she had, she could never show. With Grogar's collar having been fused into her body ages ago, she knew that any angry outburst from Colgate could result in her being imprisoned in a cage.

Once they arrived in the throne room Colgate ordered, "Report. What did you discover after I left?"

Scootaloo began, "Well I do have information that you need to know. LaurFa is planning on looking in the cave on the west side of Alicorn Island for more Alicorn gems."

Colgate flared her horn up in anger and yelled, "She's doing what?"

Scootaloo replied, "She wants to find more Alicorn gems and she promised to give one to each leader so they can spy on you."

Colgate was so angry that she fired a bolt of energy into the floor. Scootaloo became a bit nervous as she began to go on a rant about how nopony trusted her and that something had to be done because of this. Once she had calmed down she asked, "So when does she plan on doing this?"

Scootaloo replied, "She didn't say but then every leader got angry when the same question was asked and she said she wasn't sure if there were any gems left."

Colgate asked, "Oh?"

Scootaloo replied, "Yes, they got mad." She began to laugh as she continued, "They got so angry that they all stormed out and headed home early! They ended the summit much earlier than normal."

Colgate got a huge smile on her face as she realized that she could use this to her advantage. She had a look of determination on her face as she replied, "You know, if disharmony begins to form between them, my ultimate plan may be much easier to achieve."

Scootaloo asked, "What plan?"

Colgate became more sinister, "Doing what I should have done when Twilight was banished to the sun and I was viewed as a hero. Perhaps the time has come for me to go on my own quest for conquest and with them all fighting, taking everything as my own will be easy."

Scootaloo's eyes grew wide as she asked, "Take everything? You aren't planning on taking the Crystal Empire too are you?"

Colgate knew that the words she had used were likely not the best and that she would have to eradicate any nervousness that she may have given her ally, "Of course not. You are like the daughter I never had Scootaloo so of course I would never try to take your nation."

Scootaloo gave her a weak smile, "Well I just wanted to make sure." She again became a bit nervous and continued, "Can I ask you something and you won't get mad."

Colgate had a feeling that it may very well be something that would irritate her but knew she had to keep her cool, "Yes, you may."

Scootaloo asked, "Here lately you don't seem to be yourself. You seem to be more hostile at the summits, you have grown more distant with every ally except for me and your response over how things have been here, it just seemed odd and a bit dark."

Colgate couldn't help but laugh, "Oh regarding the answer, I just felt like being sarcastic because of their distrust." She then became more serious, "And regarding me growing distant from my other allies, it is their distrust that has caused me to do so. Even Ruby, who was such a strong ally at one time, constantly stares at my collar with suspicion. If they aren't going to trust me, I'm not going to be as close with them."

Scootaloo could understand where she was coming from but even she had her concerns, she still wondered why it was so important to have those broken relics but like so many other things, she knew that she could never let Colgate know about it if she wanted to stay on her good side. One thing she wasn't overly good at at that moment though was coming up with a response and this made Colgate curious, "Scootaloo, what's up with the silence? Normally you're quick to dismiss their concerns."

Scootaloo knew that she had better tell the truth given the powers of the pony asking, "Well I'm going to admit, I am curious as to why you would take shattered relics with you."

Colgate wasn't thrilled with her response but like she always does with her, she kept her cool, "Scootaloo, I did that in the interests of not just our nations, but the whole world. Given that LaurFa is a creator goddess, I do not believe that her hooves are the best ones to be trusted with such powerful relics." Her voice became more intense as she continued, "If she was to get them repaired and restored, her power would be unimaginable, every other leader combined may not be enough to stop her."

This brought out fear in Scootaloo's eyes, "Seriously, she would have that much power?" Colgate nodded her head and Scootaloo continued, "Well then it is a good thing you have those. Ever since you betrayed Twilight so long ago, you have only ever did what was good for this world."

Colgate gave her a smile, "That is right and I'm going to admit this, the very fact that they still distrust me after ten millennia makes me wonder if they aren't the ones making sinister plans, if it isn't them who want to enslave this world."

Scootaloo added, "That is pretty bad. If you had any sinister plans you would have worked on repairing those immediately and conquered them thousands of years ago!"

Colgate couldn't help but smile as she knew that she did have one ally who still trusted her, an ally that she could count on to be loyal to the bitter end. Colgate became much more cheerful and suggested, "Enough of this negative talk! Let's go get my generals and have the chefs fix us a hearty, meat heavy feast!"

Retrieval of the Alicorn Gems

Suppertime Discussion

Three days had passed since Scootaloo returned to the Empire and Colgate began to think about what would happen if LaurFa did manage to find more Alicorn gems and what the consequences of that could be. She said to herself, "Them spy on me, I think not. That is unacceptable, she must not find any more."

Normally Colgate would have a discussion with her generals over most things but this was something that she figured would be best done alone. She knew that would be best because going solo would make moving the time bubble beyond easy. The only issue would be actually retrieving any further Alicorn gems assuming they existed without being noticed. She then realized that given how bright her horn glowed that she could easily find them during the night.

One thing she also knew is that this would require a larger supper than normal. That evening when she and her generals gathered for supper, both of her generals couldn't help but notice the size of her meal. Dark Night was the first to say anything, "You really hungry tonight?"

Lightning Storm added, "I know you like your meals big but I haven't seen you eat something this big in ages."

Colgate wasn't overly thrilled that they would ask about the size of her meal but then something crossed her mind, Dark Night was a strong flyer and perhaps having two ponies engaging in the endeavor of retrieving any Alicorn gems, assuming there were any left, would make life easier. She gave her two generals an intense look and began, "Alright generals, I learned something from Scootaloo during her visit that would not be in our best interests."

The two had noticed that over the years Colgate had become more paranoid and were thinking that it would be nothing important. Lightning Storm asked, "What is it that she found out? What is it that might not be in our best interests?"

Colgate continued, "Well at the last summit after I departed, Scootaloo learned that LaurFa wants to search for more Alicorn gems in the cave where the jade and sapphire Alicorns were found." She turned to Dark Night and added, "And we must make sure she that she does not succeed, we must make sure she doesn't find any more."

Dark Night gave her a nervous look, "And what would we do to prevent her from finding them assuming they exist."

She continued, "Once the sun drops below the horizon, you and I are heading to Alicorn Island, heading to that cave and finding any further gems even if it means blasting out that side of the mountain."

Dark Night's jaw dropped open, "But that will take forever just to get there and what if we were to get spotted?"

Colgate reminded him, "Remember, I have my time spell and if anypony spots us" she pointed to her collar and continued, "I will simply put them in a cage and we will bring them back here and deal with them appropriately."

Lightning Storm, who didn't appear to be taking part in this mission asked, "Why would you need those gems anyway? It's not like you have anything to hide."

Colgate developed a slight smile, "Perhaps not but I still do not want anypony spying upon me. It is MY JOB to scan the world and my job alone...."

Dark Night added, "You mentioned imprisoning anypony who caught us, bringing them home and dealing with them appropriately. What exactly do you mean 'dealing with them appropriately?'"

Colgate laughed, "Oh nothing in particular. If they are a higher up, torture them and make them spill the beans and if they are a civilian, use them as a bargaining chip."

At that moment the two realized that Colgate's plans may not be simply acquiring what she needed to prevent espionage against her. They began to realize that the fears they had about Colgate not just fusing Grogar's collar into her but also eating Twilight's heart may be coming to pass. Dark Night asked, "Ok, I know you want those gems but must you capture anypony in the process." He did not like that idea and figured that there would be one way to get her to change her plans, "Colgate, you know carrying somepony home with us would slow us down. You certainly wouldn't want that, would you?"

Colgate sighed, "Oh you're right general, you're right." She looked out the window and saw that the sun had set. She stood up and added, "Dark Night, grab our saddle bags and let's get going. I want to get this done and make sure nopony spies upon us."

Lightning Storm noticed that she was not being brought up and asked, "What about me Colgate? Don't you want my assistance as well."

Colgate replied, "Lightning Storm, while I appreciate the offer, changelings simply can't fly as fast as we need to move that time bubble along at maximum speeds." She headed towards the exit and continued, "Come on Dark Night, let's get going."

Retrieval of the Alicorn Gems

Lightning Storm sighed in frustration as he was left in the dining hall but knew that Colgate was right about changelings and their inability to fly fast enough to break the sound barrier. Once they got outside Colgate ordered, "Get up here by me."

Once Dark Night joined her off the ground, she recited the first part of the spell,

"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."

Once Colgate cast that spell, the two were inside a bubble. Like she had done in the past and had to do it that way, she poked the very edge of her horn through 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."

Once she cast the spell, time outside the bubble had frozen and she ordered, "Come on Dark Night, let's get going."

Like she did in the past, she had to keep her horn poked just barely through the bubble so that frozen time would not enter the bubble and freeze them and the outside world forever. Given that both of them were great flyers, they broke the sound barrier in no time. That was one thing that Colgate always loved, was breaking the sound barrier in nothing flat and shortening the time of the trip significantly.

By the time they reached the west side of Alicorn Island, Colgate knew that once she unfroze time that the sun would be up and they would have to be careful about not being spotted. Once they stopped Colgate recited the third part of the spell,

"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."

Once she cast the spell, time was running normally outside the bubble again and Colgate cast the final part of the spell,

"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."

Once she cast the spell, the bubble burst and what shocked Dark Night was that the sun was shining. He asked, "Wait a minute, how can the sun be shining? It was dark when we left."

This question irritated Colgate but she did not want to make him feel stupid or uncomfortable. She replied, "General, Eqqus 1 is round so while it was dark back home when we left, the sun is still shining here." She did not want to discuss the issue for so long and she continued, "Alright, let's find that cave."

Given that she had been there before, Colgate knew exactly where it was. She saw it immediately and ordered, "Follow me Dark Night, let's get this taken care of."

When the two headed into the cave, Colgate was thrilled because it looked like nopony had even set hoof in there in many, many millennia. The first thing she did once they got in was start pounding on the sides of the cave. Dark Night saw this and asked, "Colgate, why are you pounding on the walls like that?"

Colgate replied, "There was a chamber behind the back wall that contained the sapphire Alicorn. Now LaurFa claimed that the jade Alicorn was just buried in the rock but I don't believe her. I have a feeling that all of them are likely going to be in chambers."

Dark Night nodded and too began to pound on the sides of the cave. After ten minutes and not a horrible distance into the cave Dark Night said, "Colgate, come here. This sounds hollow."

Colgate's eyes grew wide and she began firing energy at the rock until she blasted a hole in the side of the cave and lit her horn up as she headed inside. It would not be long until she would find one of the gems she was looking for, a ruby Alicorn. When she saw the color of it she gasped, "Wait a minute, are these supposed to match the ponies they would be given to?"

Dark Night replied, "You know, they very well could."

Colgate commented, "Hmmm....Ruby. This one was likely the one that would be given to Ruby."

Dark Night replied, "Yeah, probably."

Colgate began counting to herself, "Ok, one down and one, two, three, four, five, six. If that is indeed the case, six more to go!"

Along with the gem was a golden plate which did not surprise Colgate. She added, "It's a good thing we brought our saddle bags."

Once they retrieved the items, they got back to searching the cave. Not too much further back was a hollow spot and after she blasted the cave wall open, they discovered a topaz Alicorn gem. Given that it was blue in color, Colgate shouted, "Topaz, this must be the one that was meant for Blue Star!"

Dark Night commented, "Well that is two down, five to go!"

Colgate nodded as they retrieved the items and continued further back. The next chamber would be a bit further back, adjacent to the one where her sapphire Alicorn was. Once they got further back, they had to keep their horns lit. Once they found the next hollow spot, they blasted it open and discovered another red Alicorn stone. Colgate took a good look at it and continued, "Garnet, the same color as LaurFa's mane!"

Colgate's smile got bigger as she had now found three of the necessary stones, "Three down, four to go!"

One thing Colgate noticed was a doorway in the side of that chamber and decided to follow it. It let to a passage that had doorways on each side of it. She headed into another chamber and found an orange Alicorn gem, a citrine Alicorn. Colgate began jumping up and down and continued, "Citrine! This one must be intended for Scootaloo!"

While at first Dark Night wasn't completely sure about doing this, seeing the Supreme Commander so happy reassured him. He said, "Alright, four down, three to go!"

Colgate nodded before heading back to the passage. Right across from them was another doorway into another chamber. In it was a yellow sapphire Alicorn, which surprised Colgate, "A yellow sapphire Alicorn, I'm guessing this one is meant for Celestia, or should I say WAS!"

She retrieved it along with it's plate and continued, "Five down, two to go."

They returned to the passage and headed further back and into another chamber. When they headed in, they discovered a white diamond Alicorn. Colgate's smile became bigger as she retrieved it along with it's golden plate. She said, "Well Dark Night this one has to be for Galaxia, one more and we will have acquired what we came for."

Dark Night replied, "Good, I have my concerns that we may get caught if we stay around too much longer."

Colgate sighed, "You know if we get caught I can just put them in a cage, leave them here and we can head home."

Dark Night gave her a nervous smile but was not going to say anything over leaving somepony to die in the caves, especially given what a good mood Colgate was in. As they headed back to the hall and into the chamber across from them, they quickly discovered a dark blue Alicorn gem. Colgate inspected it and was shocked by what it was, an incredibly rare blue spinel. She jumped up and down and yelled, "Blue spinel, this gem must have been meant for Luna!" She headed towards the exit and joyfully said, "We got them all Dark Night, we got them all. Now nopony can spy on us!"

Once they got back out into the hallway Colgate looked off to her left and saw the cave wall had begun to glow. She said, "That's weird, it's glowing. It wasn't before."

Colgate approached the back of the hallway and began blasting away at the rock. She would be interrupted when Dark Night suggested, "Colgate, I think we should leave that one alone. I have a bad feeling about it."

Colgate gave him a frown and replied, "General, whatever is in there is very important. I believe that if we don't get it, THEY WILL and all of them could use it to destroy Coastal Equestria."

Dark Night knew that when Colgate got in that mindset, that there would be no reasoning with her. It took her nearly five minutes of blasting the rock until she finally revealed a much larger chamber, one decorated with blue banners with hourglass symbols and banners with images of her collar. She continued to look around and couldn't help but notice that everything in there was symbolic of her. She became excited, "Dark Night, do you see this? All these images are related to me!"

Dark Night was in shock as he looked around. He replied, "That is odd, very odd."

As Colgate approached the center of the chamber, she did not find a colorful Alicorn gem in a golden plate, she found a black diamond in the shape of her cutie mark laying on a platinum plate. The moment she picked it up she seemed drawn to it. She inspected it further and in a dreamy voice she said, "My precious!"

The way she seemed drawn to the gem and what she said when she held it up scared Dark Night. He nudged Colgate and asked, "Are you sure you should take this?"

Colgate pulled the gem closer to herself and snapped, "Don't touch this, it is MINE!" She grabbed the platinum plate and yelled, "And this is MINE too!"

Dark Night jumped back and gasped, "Ok, ok. I won't touch them!"

Colgate initially gave him a scowl before a smile returned to her face, "Well Dark Night, shall we get going? I think we have retrieved everything we need."

Dark Night nodded and followed Colgate back through the passage, back into the main part of the cave and the exit. Once they got outside, the sun had set long ago. Colgate faced Dark Night and said, "You know the drill."

Dark Night flew by Colgate while she cast the necessary spells. The trip home was rather quick and once she returned to her black tower, the sun was beginning to rise above the horizon. The first thing she did when she landed was levitate Dark Night's saddlebags off of him and headed straight towards the archives. As she headed in Dark Night asked, "Colgate, do you need....."

Before he could finish his sentence, she slammed the door shut and locked it behind her. Dark Night was very unnerved by how secretive she was with the gems and was completely terrified over not just the black diamond, but by what she said when she touched it. He couldn't help but wonder what she meant by "my precious."

Securing the Alicorn Gems

After slamming the door shut in Dark Night's face, Colgate headed down into the archives, closing and locking each door behind her. Once she entered the last chamber, the one that contained Grogar's library, she immediately grabbed hold of the black gem, held it up to herself and said, "Don't worry my precious, I will find a way to ensure we are never parted. I will make sure that we become one someday."

She continued to sit there, gazing at her new acquisition lovingly until she saw an image in the gemstone, an image of a map with the location of Midnight Castle, the ancient home of Tirac. She then saw the castle as it was in the past, then a pathway going down into the deepest bowls of the palace where a library existed. She then saw the book that held the spell to fuse it into herself and then finally, the page it was on.

Colgate snapped out of her daze when she saw this and realized one thing, that she had to go to Midnight Castle, cast the duplication spell on Tirac's library, create her own copy in an even further back chamber and then fuse the gem into herself. She then began to laugh, "Those other leaders will soon find out what the punishment for distrusting me shall be. Eqqus 1 will be mine and all shall love me in despair!"

Author's Note

Time Bubble Spell

Freeze Time Spell

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

A Prophecy and a Discovery

The Prophecy

The sun was rising the following morning on Alicorn Island and things just didn't seem right to LaurFa. While she did get an incredibly peaceful night's sleep, she couldn't help but wonder why as normally she is a light sleeper. Once she headed downstairs to the dining hall she was greeted by one of her guards, "LaurFa your majesty, something seems to be wrong, very wrong!"

Nothing seemed to be wrong and in Faustica, it was a nice sunny day. She gave the guard a curious look and asked, "White Wings, whatever could be wrong, everything seems perfectly fine?"

White Wings replied, "Time! We were frozen in place for a while last night, time was frozen for a while last night!"

LaurFa's head shot up when he said this as she knew that only one pony knew how to freeze time, Colgate. She gasped, "Wait a minute, Colgate cast one of her time spells? Why would she do that?"

White Wings replied, "I am not sure but I have a feeling that she may have been out around here. Why I'm not sure but whatever it was, it certainly couldn't have been good."

LaurFa remembered how they had been talking about retrieving Alicorn gems after Colgate had left but prior to Scootaloo's departure. She also remembered how close the two were and one thing initially came to her mind, that Scootaloo had to have told her mentor about her plans, assuming any of the gems still existed. After thinking for a minute though, she thought to herself, "Come on LaurFa, Scootaloo isn't going to betray numerous ponies more powerful than her!"

She said, "White Wings, after breakfast I am going to go into the library to do some research on whether there were any more gems or not."

White Wings nodded and while they were sitting down to breakfast, LaurFa could not help but wonder if Colgate went looking for Alicorn gems in the cave. While they waited, She buried her face into her hooves and sighed, "I just hope that I was right about there not being any more of them, if she came and found them, Eqqus 1 is doomed."

After eating, LaurFa and White Wings headed into the library. Her guard noticed her searching in the oldest books in the library and asked, "Your Majesty, what are you looking for?"

LaurFa replied, "I'm looking to see if there is anything in any of these books about the gems, whether it be a history book or even a book on prophecies." Eventually she found a book written by one of the earliest seers who had written many prophecies, all of which had come to pass in the history of Eqqus 1. She grabbed it and continued, "Here we go, let's see if anything is in here."

She knew that it would not be early on in the book, she knew that it would be towards the end. After searching through it for an hour she finally discovered what she was looking for. She began to read the prediction out loud,

"In the far future, many millennia after the death of the lavender evil, the black tower of the east will grow to distrust the others. The black tower shall travel to the western cave in almost no time. While many leaders wish to spy on the tower, she will see to it that will not come to pass.

Under the cover of darkness she will come to foil the plans of the others. In her quest, not only will the gems intended for the others be seized, a truly terrible one, a black one in the shape of the tower's cutie mark will also be found. With the black one, the black tower shall assault all of the planet. She will launch her terror upon the planet with many beasts, wicked necromancy and the resurrection and brainwashing of the lavender one.

With the lavender one, she will unleash terror upon the sun. Upon orders of the tower, she will devastate the city, her reign of terror will spread far and wide but the blue one shall transform into Evil herself, with the devastation she will bring, she will destroy all who oppose her. One final battle shall take place between the black tower and the Creator, the Creator shall fall love and light shall be destroyed and all of the world shall love the hourglass in despair."

LaurFa slammed her hoof into the floor, "Half of this isn't even legible! How are we supposed to know what this prophecy is all about. The only thing I'm getting out of this is that death and destruction will reign upon this world and a tower." Suddenly it hit her, a tower. She continued, "A tower, could this be referring to Colgate bringing destruction to our world?"

White Wings suggested, replied, "I'm not sure but I have a feeling that we should check that old cave where the Alicorn gems were found."

LaurFa was not completely sure about this, "But why? I don't think the idea of any more gems would cross her mind. She got that sapphire Alicorn and seemed perfectly happy with it." LaurFa paused for a moment and continued, "I don't think she would even bother wasting her time to come out looking for them unless....."

White Wings was in the room when she brought up further Alicorn gems that would be used to spy upon Colgate. He gasped, "Scootaloo! I know she is close with Colgate and she had to have told...."

LaurFa interrupted, "Look, I know that Scootaloo is close with Colgate but I think she knows what would happen if she betrayed us. I think she knows that her punishment would be swift and harsh."

White Wings sighed, "Very well but I am going to go take a look anyway."

LaurFa sighed in frustration as the guard headed towards the cave, "Why would he think Scootaloo betrayed us? I know she is close with her but I don't think even she would be dumb enough to betray all of us."

The Discovery

As White Wings headed towards the cave, he couldn't help but wonder why LaurFa would seem to have so little concern over it. He knew the prophecy didn't say a whole lot but the fact that it brought up a tower and the fact that Colgate has been more hostile as of late, that this was important.

Once he arrived at the cave, he lit up his horn and went inside. It would not be long until he saw holes blasted in the sides of the cave, revealing chambers. He had heard about how the sapphire Alicorn had been found so long ago, sitting in a golden plate on a pedestal. When he saw that was absent from the chamber, he knew that he had to go and notify LaurFa immediately.

Without even checking any of the other chambers that had been revealed, he rushed back to the palace. When he rushed into the throne room he shouted, "LaurFa, you need to come look at this. A chamber has been revealed and there is no golden plate or Alicorn gem in it!"

LaurFa's jaw dropped open, "Seriously?"

White Wings began to become more frantic, "Really, you need to come check this out."

LaurFa knew that none of her guards would lie like that, especially over something that serious. As LaurFa followed him to the cave, she hoped that perhaps it was just one chamber that had been revealed. Once they landed and headed in, both lit up their horns. It would not be long until they got to the first opening. LaurFa headed in and sure enough, just as what White Wings had told her, there was no golden plate or Alicorn gem on the pedestal.

LaurFa threw her hooves up in the air and shouted, "Great, just great."

White Wings pointed his hoof further back and continued, "I suppose we should see if any others have been revealed."

As they headed further back, they quickly discovered another chamber that had been revealed and like the previous one, the gem and golden plate had also been removed. With their discovery that two had been taken LaurFa sighed, "I don't like the looks of this."

White Wings added, "Nor do I."

Soon they would reach the back of the cave where there two blasted open chambers. One was where Colgate found the sapphire Alicorn but then they saw another one. LaurFa pointed towards it and ordered, "Follow me, here is another one."

They headed in and in the center, like the others, there was a pedestal but no plate or gem. LaurFa sighed in frustration and then she saw the same doorway Colgate did. She added, "That doorway, I bet it leads to more chambers. Maybe those have been untouched."

The two headed through the doorway and discovered a passage. One thing that worried LaurFa was that there were four more piles of rubble which lied in front of a hidden chambers. She and White Wings headed into each one and discovered the same. LaurFa screamed, "Great, just great! All the Alicorn gems are probably gone!"

The two headed out of the last side chamber and looked off to their left. There was another, much larger pile of rubble which brought out a great amount of concern from both of them. White Wings suggested, "Well we better go in there too."

LaurFa yelled, "Why, I have a feeling that all of them are gone! Why would anypony go in there?"

White Wings tried to calm LaurFa down, "Your Majesty, let's just take a look. Maybe they went in there, missed something and whatever would be in there would be important, very important."

LaurFa didn't want to spend any more time in the caves than necessary but decided to follow White Wings. As soon as they stepped hoof in the chamber, their horns went out. White Wings asked, "What? Why did our horns suddenly go out?"

LaurFa continued to walk further in and could sense one thing in the chamber, evil, pure evil. She tried powering her horn up again but only got a few sparks. She yelled, "White Wings, try powering up your horn."

The two tried to power up their horns. While normally both of them could power up their horns easily, all they continued to get were a few sparks and a great amount of pain. After five minutes of trying, LaurFa was finally able to get it powered up. "

She approached the center of the chamber and like it was with the others, it had a pedestal in it but no plate or gem. Her horn began to flicker a bit as she looked around the room. In the chamber she saw many blue banners with an hourglass on them and other banners of the same color with a collar on them, a collar that matched Colgate's perfectly. She shouted, "Is this meant for....."

Her horn went out and both of them began to experience excruciating headaches, headaches that were worse than any they had had before. LaurFa yelled, "White Wings, we have to get out of here! Something about this place is trying to kill us!"

The two began to head in the direction of where they thought the exit was but neither one could find it. They continued to bump into one another and into the walls. Again the two tried trying to power up their horns but with no success. The room began to shake and a large chunk of ceiling fell right on top of White Wings. When LaurFa heard a painful yell she headed in the direction of it.

Suddenly she was able to power up her horn but would be devastated by what she saw. There before her lied White Wings with a huge rock on top of him. She tried to levitate the rock off of him but all the more power she had was enough to create light. Despite using all of her strength, she was unable to move the rock off of him. She tried nudging him but got no response and when she felt for a pulse, there was none. LaurFa knelt down before him and began to cry in agony before the room began to shake again.

She knew that White Wings had passed and realized that if she did not get out of the chamber that she would likely join him. As she began to rush for the exit, her horn began to flicker again making it more difficult for her to see. Once she was out of the chamber, the shaking did not stop. It seemed as though the whole cave was in the process of collapsing. As she began rushing down the passage and into the other chamber, her horn continued to flicker and once she got out of the chamber, the whole ceiling collapsed.

She would not be out of danger there though, once she was into the main passage that led to the exit, the cave continued to shake and she began getting hit with small stones. Once she finally got to the exit, she could tell that not just the cave, but the whole mountainside was in the process of collapsing. As she exited the cave, the shaking had stopped but she was in no mood to care about it.

As LaurFa sped back to her palace, she had no desire to interact with anypony. She sped back as fast as she could and without even responding to her guards, she rushed to her sleeping chambers and slammed the door shut. She fell forward onto her bed and couldn't help but wonder, "what if?" She couldn't help but wonder what if they had not gone into the last chamber or what if she would have put her hoof down and ordered him not to go in there. As she laid on her bed crying, she couldn't help but blame herself over his death.

Author's Note

In the prophecy, all parts that are blacked out are not legible. For those of you who have not dealt with blacked out spoiler text, hover your mouse over it or highlight the whole prophecy and you'll be able to read it.

LaurFa's Harrowing Journey to Equestria

Morning Discussions

Several hours had passed since LaurFa had returned to the palace and she was still laying in her sleeping chambers questioning herself over the events of the day. She continued to question going into that back chamber and given that it was her researching that caused White Wings to go to the cave to start with, she placed the blame on herself there as well. Eventually though she realized that she simply could not hide out in her room. She knew that outside of Colgate, all of the leaders would have to be notified.

She headed out onto her balcony and looked off to the east. She thought that out of all the leaders that would need to be notified first, it should be Celestia since she shares the same landmass as Colgate. She did know one thing though, she knew that flying to Equestria would be a true test of her abilities. One part of her thought that maybe she should just sail there but she also knew that doing so would take way too long, long enough that it would provide Colgate more than enough time to act on any plans she had. What she knew the most though, she would have to be well rested and have a full stomach so she decided to wait until the following morning to depart.

As she turned in for the night, she tried hard to get some sleep but she just couldn't. The events of the day, the death of White Wings in particular, haunted her thoughts. She knew that there would be only one way to finally get to sleep, to clear her mind entirely. At first it was difficult, but once she got her mind cleared, falling asleep was easy.

When the following morning arrived, LaurFa was well rested and knew that after a decent breakfast, that the time to take the flight of her life would arrive. When she headed down to the dining hall, she was greeted by her top general, General Blazing Skies. He greeted her warmly like he always does, "Your Majesty, did you rest well?"

LaurFa replied, "At first no but then yes and it is good that I did because I have to fly to Equestria after I finish breakfast."

Her general knew of the great distance that lie between Alicorn Island and Equestria. He gasped, "Your Majesty that is thousands of miles! How are you going to manage that?"

LaurFa replied, "While it may not be the most direct route, there is a path I can take where some small islands lie, hopefully islands with vegetation."

Blazing Skies had always thought highly of LaurFa and was not sure if she should travel alone, "Your Majesty, do you think you should go alone? Don't you think that having a guard travel with you would be in your best interests?"

LaurFa replied, "I appreciate your offer general but once I do get to Canterlot, I along with the other leaders will have to travel around the world before returning here to go over that journal."

Blazing Skies gasped, "You're all going to be flying those huge of distances? I'm concerned that even you can't make it to Equestria, much less do that much flying!"

LaurFa replied, "I'm thinking that after getting Celestia and Scootaloo, we may just have to set sail, even if it does take us a month."

Blazing Skies, like White Wings, was present during the last summit. He asked, "Your Majesty, are you sure you should be taking Scootaloo with you anywhere? She is very close to Colgate after all."

Like it was with White Wings, LaurFa couldn't understand why her general would distrust Scootaloo, "General, yes they are close but one thing she does does know, if she were to betray us, she would have many, many powerful leaders coming to her and all she would have is Colgate."

Her general sighed, "Very well, you know what is best."

Things quieted down between the two as breakfast arrived. LaurFa really wanted to drop the issue of any disloyalty coming from the Crystal Empire and Blazing Skies was never much for stressful situations involving his leader.

After breakfast, LaurFa grabbed her saddlebags and began to fill them with fruit knowing that those islands along the path she would be taking were no short distant apart. Once she had gathered what she thought was a sufficient amount of fruit, she headed towards the exit where she would be approached by her general, "Well your Majesty, you be careful. Don't overexert yourself, alright?"

LaurFa replied, "Don't worry general, I won't."

A Dangerous Journey

Once LaurFa took off to the east, she began to think about what was part of the prophecy she could make out, the parts involving a tower, death and destruction. Once she had flown further out she began to wonder more about Scootaloo and if she had betrayed them given that the only one who would even show the slightest interest in Alicorn gems would be her mentor since she would want to stop any plans of theirs to spy upon her.

During the first few hours of her flight, she had a good tail wind pushing her along, causing her to arrive at a decent sized island ahead of schedule for lunch. When she landed, she was glad that it was an island that still had yet to be inhabited by anypony. While she did have some fruit in her saddlebags, the trees of the island had things that she had not packed with her, lemons.

As if she were a regular pony without a drop of royal or regal blood in her, LaurFa began levitating the lemons off of the trees and feasted on them. She knew that she could not eat too much because an overly full stomach would slow her down. Once she took to the sky again, she had even stronger tailwind pushing her along. While she knew that she definitely wouldn't reach Equestria in one day, she had a feeling that, barring any headwinds or crosswinds, that she would reach her destination as soon as the next day.

Not too long after taking flight, she wound up encountering a nasty headwind, a headwind that had slowed her progress significantly. After a couple of hours of flying, her wings here in so much pain that she had to land. Like the last island, it appeared as though the island was uninhabited but unlike the last island, it did not have much in the way of trees. She looked around and realized that besides what she had packed, she would have to eat berries off of the bushes that covered the island.

Given that there were still several hours of daylight left, LaurFa figured that she would fly further towards the center of the island, hoping that she could find some trees with something more substantial than berries growing from them. Once she arrived in what seemed to be the center of the island, not only were there a lot of trees, lemon and lime trees but there was also a cave nearby in the event she decided to camp out there overnight.

As the day progressed, LaurFa noticed that a storm was moving in from the east, which would produce even stronger headwinds than she had faced earlier. At that moment she made the decision to spend the night on the island. She thought to herself, "This won't be so bad. There is plenty of food here and there is shelter to keep me dry from the coming storm."

It would not be long until a heavy rain began to fall accompanied by strong winds. LaurFa immediately took shelter in the cave, deep enough that the winds would not suck her out. As she sat there towards the back, she couldn't help but wonder how long the storm would last. "Will it be fast moving, will it be slow moving, will it delay my arrival in Canterlot?" she thought as the storm continued to intensify.

Once it was totally dark, LaurFa tried to get some sleep. She was used to sleeping in her comfy bed and it had been so long that she couldn't remember the last time she had to sleep on the ground, much less on the hard, jagged rocks that were in the cave. The uncomfortable sleeping conditions were only one part of her being unable to go to sleep. The wind was howling, creating a horrible din inside the cave.

Once she did finally get to sleep, she had not so pleasant dreams. She had a terrifying dream involving not just the death of White Wings, but her own at the hooves of the one pony that many had grown to distrust over the years, Supreme Commander Colgate. Just as Colgate was about to plunge a cursed blade into her heart, she woke up screaming, "No, no, please don't!"

LaurFa continued to scream for over a minute before she finally realized it was just a dream and was able to calm herself down. By that point, the rain had become so heavy that the cave had begun to flood. LaurFa stood up and was soaking wet. She began to wonder if she should have just took a ship despite it likely having took a week. She sighed, "Well I can't go back now, I'll just have to do my best."

After a much longer than normal night, day had finally arrived on the island but the rain continued to pour and the winds continued to howl. That morning, despite being tired, she knew that she would have to try to get to Equestria, storm or no storm. Those thoughts would be put on the back burner when she heard something outside the cave. She was not sure what it was but she decided to go and check it out.

She headed out into the pouring rain and saw a bulge in the ground that was moving. While she had never dealt with one personally, she knew what it was, it was a Tatzlwurm. The last time one had even been dealt with by ponies was eons ago. One thing she did know, that they can only go through the dirt, that if she stayed in the cave, that it couldn't get her but that would create another problem, the creature would basically be able to wait until she starved in the cave.

Eventually she knew that she couldn't just wait for that thing to leave given that they hunt by sensing seismic vibrations, even the tiniest movement would attract it. She had but one option, fly out of there. The moment she got airborne, the beast leapt out of the ground and grabbed her with its tentacles. As it began to fall, it tried pulling her into its mouth.

LaurFa was not the type to get scared in such a situation though. She began firing energy at the worm and was able to free herself. Again it leapt out of the ground after her and again it grabbed her. This time though she was not only going to free herself, she was going to make sure the worm never hurt anything ever again. After freeing herself, she began to burn it with powerful bursts of energy. With each strike, it cried out in pain. This did not cause LaurFa to show any sympathy, "This is what you get you dirty beast! This is what your kind deserves!"

After yelling at the worm, she began to glow as bright as the noonday sun and struck the beast with one final bolt of energy and killed it. While it did not do anything to ease the storm any, she had taken out a creature that was trying to make a meal out of her. Despite being dead tired and the storm still raging, she knew that she had to continue her journey in the event more Tatzlwurms inhabited the island.

She continued her flight east and despite facing horrible headwinds and a torrential downpour, it was evening when she arrived in Equestria. LaurFa was starving by the time she reached the coast but one thing that did brighten her spirits were the delicious apples that had grown in that area for what seemed to be eons.

Once she had finished her meal, she continued her flight east and much to her delight, the rain stopped and she got a nice tailwind to push her towards Canterlot. When she arrived, it was dark and quiet but that would not stop her from heading to the one place she needed to go, the palace.

Author's Note

Tatzlwurm

A Meeting With Celestia

Arrival at the Palace

It was late when LaurFa arrived in Canterlot and approached the palace. Given that there were no visible lights on, she couldn't help but wonder if anypony was even awake. Once she got to the gate, she was greeted by two guards.

One asked, "Halt, who goes there?"

The other added, "State your business."

LaurFa replied, "I am LaurFa, Creator Goddess and ruler of Alicorn Island and I need to speak to Princess Celestia."

One of the guards gave her a stern look and one asked, "Do you not know how late....."

The other guard, one who had met LaurFa before interrupted, "LaurFa, Princess Celestia is likely sleeping right now but I can lead you to the throne room and we can see if Celestia will wake to speak to you."

The guard threw the door open and she followed them to the palace. That was a first, her having to be escorted to the throne room since in the past she was simply allowed to walk there herself. Once they arrived the more friendly guard continued, "Wait here while I go and see if she will wake to speak to you."

LaurFa followed the orders and the guard headed to Celestia's chambers to wake her. When he knocked on her door all he heard was, "Go away! Don't you know what time it is?"

The guard knew better than to open her door so he loudly said, "Princess Celestia, LaurFa is here and she needs to speak to you."

In the past, Princess Celestia had always dropped anything but this would be the first time she wouldn't. The guard heard a yell, "Escort her to a guest room and tell her we can talk tomorrow morning." She raised her voice and added, "I'm trying to sleep, ok?"

When he returned to the throne room he said, "Your Majesty, I am sorry but she will not speak to anypony until morning." He pointed his wings towards a hallway and continued, "Follow me to a guest room."

LaurFa was shocked that the princess would not get up to talk to her. Initially she couldn't help but wonder why Celestia would not want to wake to speak to her over important matters but then figured that perhaps she had had a long day. Once they arrived to the guest rooms the guard ordered, "Pick one out your Majesty."

LaurFa nodded and headed to the one that Colgate always chose when she would be staying overnight, the largest one. Once she got settled in, she laid on the bed and couldn't help but notice how comfortable it was, so comfortable that it rivaled her own. She thought to herself, "No wonder Colgate always demanded this one, this bed is so comfortable."

A Discussion With Celestia

Several hours had passed and LaurFa was in a peaceful slumber when she heard a knock on her door. She shot up and asked, "Hello, who is it?"

She heard a much warmer voice than what the guard did the previous night, it was that of Princess Celestia. "From what I understand you wanted to talk to me?"

LaurFa replied, "Yes I do. Just give me a minute."

LaurFa got up and headed towards the door to see the princess waiting for her. She was embraced and greeted, "Good morning your Majesty, what did you want to talk about?"

LaurFa's stomach began to grumble and she asked, "It is something very important but do you think we could talk about it over breakfast?"

Celestia replied, "Of course we can."

The two headed down to the dining hall and while she was looking forward to some breakfast, she was a tiny bit nervous to talk about the missing Alicorn gems, especially since she had said that she was not sure if there were any more of them. Once they arrived Celestia summoned the chef and they ordered their breakfast.

While they were waiting Celestia asked, "So what is it that you wished to discuss with me?"

LaurFa asked, "Remember how Alicorn gems came up in the summit and I said that I'm not sure if there were any others?"

Celestia replied, "Yes, I do."

LaurFa continued, "Well I discovered that they do actually exist." Celestia's eyes grew wide as LaurFa continued, "But I do have some bad news, somepony apparently knew about them, went out there, blasted every hidden chamber open and stole them."

Celestia gasped, "What? Those Alicorn gems that we could have used were stolen?"

LaurFa continued, "Yes and to make matters worse, in a prophecy book I have learned that there were not seven gems but eight and the eighth was one of pure evil, one that the user could use to unleash a horrible wrath upon our world."

Celestia began to ask, "But who would steal them, who would even......?" She then slammed her hoof on the table and yelled, "Scootaloo, it had to be Scootaloo!" She became more agitated as she continued, "She probably wound up flying off to Marentreal and told Colgate about them!"

LaurFa said, "I was thinking that but I wasn't 100% sure. I thought maybe that with there being so many more of us than just her and Colgate that maybe she would know better."

Celestia asked, "Ok, this prophecy book regarding the gems, do you have it with you?"

LaurFa developed a nervous look on her face, "Well no. I was thinking that all of us could travel to Faustica and then we could go over it together."

Celestia sighed in disgust that LaurFa would not even bring the book with her so that they could go over it and know more when they tell the others. She sighed, "So about this doing all this traveling, how are we supposed to do it? None of us even have the ability to alter time to travel from place to place quickly and I doubt all of us will be able to simply fly through."

LaurFa again looked nervous, "Well it will likely take us an extremely long time but we may have to sail everywhere except the Crystal Empire and Unicornia."

Celestia developed a frown on her face the moment she brought it up. She asked, "Seriously, you would want us to have Scootaloo with us and the portal to Unicornia lies within the borders of Coastal Equestria. If Colgate truly is turning bad, we can't get caught in her nation."

LaurFa came up with a couple of ideas, "Well regarding Scootaloo, I'm thinking that once all of us are present, we should be able to scare her into telling us everything she knows and regarding the monarchs of Unicornia, since Scootaloo is close with Colgate, maybe she can deliver the message that they are needed and they could meet us somewhere."

Celestia replied, "Well that could work." She looked towards the exit and asked, "So when do you want to do this? When do you want to go rounding up the leaders and who do you want to get first?"

LaurFa replied, "Well I'm thinking we should leave as soon as possible and first I think we should get Scootaloo and then take things from there."

Celestia got up and began to head towards the exit, "Very well, let's get going. Let's just hope that Scootaloo doesn't get suspicious."

LaurFa agreed, "Let's hope not."

As they exited the castle and took off towards the Crystal Empire, Celestia couldn't help but be frustrated with LaurFa. She was not exactly in the mood to be flying long distances but what bothered her the most was that LaurFa didn't even bother bringing the prophecy book, that she just assumed that everypony was going to want to go to Faustica after already having traveled so far.

A Visit to the Crystal Empire

A Confrontation With Scootaloo

Princess Celestia and LaurFa had been flying north towards the Crystal Empire for a good ten hours. Both of their wings were burning in pain, both of their lungs had a burning sensation and neither were exactly thrilled that they had run into a blizzard, a blizzard with strong northerly winds which were hindering their progress significantly. Eventually the two simply couldn't handle the wind anymore and had to land and wait for the storm to pass.

Once the two landed, they knew they had to discuss their plans, "LaurFa, I know our wings hurt but we can't stay here for too long." It had begun to get dark and Celestia continued, "If we wait until it is dark, it will only get worse!"

Given that LaurFa had been through her own stormy journey, one that would easily best what they were dealing with at the time she replied, "Celestia, you think this is bad? Yes we can't see but if we keep flying, it will keep the blood pumping and we'll be less likely to get frostbite."

Celestia groaned, "But my wings hurt so bad! I don't know if I can go much further."

LaurFa snapped, "And you think mine don't? Look, maybe it isn't too much further." She took to the sky again and ordered, "Come on Celestia, unless you want to freeze out here, we need to get going."

Grudgingly, Celestia took to the skies and the two continued to fly north, straight into the strong winds and the white out. After another hour, their environment finally became much more pleasant as they crossed into the Empire. The sun was dropping below the horizon and despite both of their wings burning in pain, they sped up and flew towards the Crystal Palace. Once they finally landed, they saw Scootaloo was finishing a drill with her soldiers.

As she left the base, she saw the two white Alicorns heading towards her and immediately her mind became filled with suspicion. She turned to them and asked, "Hello Celestia and LaurFa. To what do I owe this visit?"

LaurFa approached her and suggested, "How about we go to your throne room and we can discuss some things, very important things."

Scootaloo noticed the looks on both of their faces and sighed in frustration, "Very well, follow me."

As they followed Scootaloo towards the throne room, they knew that dealing with her was not likely going to be pleasant and getting her to actually go with them may not be easy. Once they arrived Scootaloo sat on her throne and asked, "Now tell me, what are these very important things."

LaurFa was the first to say anything, "Scootaloo, we aren't pointing any hooves but we have a feeling that Colgate has done something bad, very bad."

Scootaloo sneered, "Oh and what did she do, send you a letter showing disdain in your distrust of her?"

LaurFa approached her, spread her wings and replied, "Scootaloo, drop the tough mare act. In the event you didn't notice or were asleep, time stopped entirely a few days ago."

Scootaloo grunted, "Yeah and?"

LaurFa replied, "You are very close to her. We know that the only way time ever stops is if she is using her time spell to travel great distances."

Celestia spread her wings wide and added, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about her doing that or why she would do that, would you?"

Scootaloo flared her horn up and demanded, "Tell me, why would you think that Colgate would be doing any long distance flying?"

LaurFa looked towards Celestia and asked, "Shall we tell her?" Celestia nodded and LaurFa turned back towards Scootaloo, "I have found some information that gives me reason to think she stole some gems from Alicorn Island."

Scootaloo grunted, "And what information is this?"

LaurFa replied, "I found some information about gems, a tower and wrath in a prophecy book."

Celestia added, "We have reason to believe that you betrayed us and told Colgate about the fact that LaurFa was going to search for more gems so we could all keep an eye on her."

Scootaloo couldn't help but laugh, "A prophecy book, is that the best you've got?" She then became more serious, "Show me this prophecy book and MAYBE I will believe you but still, prophecies are just that, prophecies. There is nothing real about them."

Both Alicorns gave her a nervous look before regaining their composure. Both lit up their horns and Celestia asked, "Has Colgate said anything unusual to you? Has she shown any signs that she may do something that is not in our best interests."

LaurFa lit her horn up further and added, "Something like global conquest perhaps?"

Despite that being the truth, Scootaloo remained defiant, "Look, Colgate has had two separate occasions in the past when she could have taken it easily. There were times when she was viewed as a hero and everypony would have likely welcomed her as their leader with open hooves!"

They both remembered those days but knew things wouldn't be like that anymore. LaurFa commented, "You know Scootaloo, that was many, many millennia ago. That was long before she had done things like fuse that collar into herself and do forbidden things like raising Tambelon from the depths."

Scootaloo countered, "What she did was in the best of the whole world." She spread her wings wide and added, "Had it not been for HER and her aggressive nature when it comes to handling enemies, we all would have been enslaved." Her voice became more of a yell, "And I highly doubt she would do anything bad to this world after everything she has done for us, all of us!"

Finally the two had had enough. Celestia sighed, "Fine, keep on protecting your precious mentor. We are sure she is up to something because of the way you are acting."

LaurFa added, "Don't say we didn't say so Supreme Commander, when Colgate comes in, puts you in a cage and makes your subjects wish King Sombra was still in charge, don't say we didn't warn you."

Scootaloo pointed her wing towards the exit and ordered, "Just go, I don't need this kind of stress." She then began to escort them out and once they got outside, she added, "And I'm pretty sure you're going to go whine to the other leaders about the one who has saved the world multiple times from the Dark Goddess, right?"

Celestia leaned over to LaurFa and asked, "Shall we use reverse psychology on her? Shall we make her scared of Colgate?"

LaurFa nodded and turned to Scootaloo, "You know the truth, admit it. Deep down you wish to tell us what you know but you are terrified that Colgate will find out, aren't you?"

Celestia added, "Tell us what you know and we will make sure nothing happens to your citizens. Tell us and the life of the citizens of the Empire will be much easier."

If there was one thing that Scootaloo cared about, it was the citizens of the Empire, "Fine, she has talked about global conquest. I told her about the gems and she wasn't happy about it!"

The two powered down their horns and stepped back. LaurFa asked, "So, did she show any interest in the Alicorn gems when you brought them up?"

Scootaloo replied, "I'm not sure but she certainly didn't like the idea of all of you getting them and she thinks that all of you are up to something sinister because of your distrust."

The two again looked at one another before Celestia asked, "Do you personally think that she is up to anything?"

Scootaloo replied, "She might be because she did bring up global conquest and while she assured me she wouldn't, I think she wants everything, the Crystal Empire included."

Again the two looked at one another before LaurFa asked, "Scootaloo, if you will join our side, not only will we not punish you for telling her about what was going on but we will aid in making sure you don't lose the Empire."

Scootaloo went from being nervous to being hopeful, "Really, if I join you you'd do all that for me even though I betrayed you?" They both nodded and Scootaloo continued, "I will join your side then. I do have other concerns about her, concerns that I would never tell her but I'm guessing you two are probably hungry and tired." She pointed towards the entrance and added, "Let's go to the dining hall and have some supper! Whatever you two want, if I have it, you can have!"

The two thought that dealing with Scootaloo would be impossible but they were pleasantly surprised that not only had she told them about some of Colgate's plans, but also had a bit of distrust in her mentor and most importantly, that she would join their side.

Acquiring More Knowledge

A Treasonous Discovery

While Celestia and LaurFa were talking with Scootaloo outside, one pony had been watching from afar, Supreme Commander Colgate. As she watched their interactions and then listened in on their conversation, she became enraged, "That tyrant! That lying, conniving little tyrant!"

Dark Night heard her rage and like he had numerous times in the past, he headed up to her bedroom to see what had drove her into such a fury. He asked, "Colgate, what is wrong? Why are you screaming and who is a conniving little tyrant?"

Colgate flared her horn up in anger, "Scootaloo! She told them about my desire for the gems and she admitted to worrying about me having taken those relics!" She stomped her hoof into the ground and yelled, "General, the time has come. The time has come for me to do what I should have done long ago but trust me, if they think little Twily was bad, they will learn that Tartarus hath no fury worse than a leader who has been betrayed!"

Dark Night knew that Colgate could get furious and in this instance, understandably so, but he couldn't help but wonder what Colgate meant by them thinking she would be worse than Twily. He asked, "Well it won't be anything too bad will it?"

Colgate gave him a smile, "Oh it won't be too bad. I just have a little trip I have to make today, I need to go and search for some information after I look through the eye so I will know exactly where to go."

Without saying anything further, Colgate rushed up to her chambers and tapped into the eye, scanning the whole land for where Midnight Castle was. In the vision, it showed it as it was a long time ago so she had to take into account what time would have done to it. She thought to herself, "It may not even be visible anymore! The most that might be left of it would be a mound!"

She continued to look until she saw something strange in the Everfree Forest, something that appeared to be ruins that were almost completely overgrown by grass and trees. The closer she analyzed it, the more she began to think it may be where she would need to go. After analyzing that area, she zeroed in on the Crystal Empire and noticed that Scootaloo along with LaurFa and Celestia were out at the base casually talking. What caught her attention was that she decided to allow them to stay for a couple days because of wing fatigue before they would head off to the Equine Empire.

Colgate developed a sinister smile and she laughed, "Very good you three, take your time. The longer you take, the more time I have to do what I need to do!"

While she did not think a ton about it, Colgate had a feeling that Dark Night might try to persuade her out of doing what she had planned so without notifying anypony, she took off of her balcony and sped off to the north. There was one thing Colgate definitely was not going to admit to anypony, even those closest to her, was that her wrath would be unprecedented.

The Darkest Acquisitions

Colgate had been flying for four hours when she felt as though she had reached where the ruins might be. When she dropped below the forest canopy, it was dark, incredibly dark. She lit up her horn as brightly as she could and still she could not see things as well as she would like.

Eventually things began to look a bit familiar to what she saw in the vision and then she saw what she believed might be what she was looking for, a pile of rubble that was covered in moss and had trees growing out of it. She sighed in frustration wondering if the library would still even exist and if it did, if any of the books would even be salvageable.

Colgate continued to inspect the ruins and then noticed that an opening seemed to be visible. She began to levitate enough rocks away that she could find out. After removing probably a dozen rocks, she discovered that a passage still existed, a passage that led underground. Despite not being completely sure about the safety of it, Colgate entered hoping that she could duplicate the library and then get out of there before it could collapse.

The passage, outside of the light from Colgate's horn, was dark. Colgate remembered how there were torches that still lit the inside of Grogar's living quarters but the same would not be here. As she continued further into the darkness, she couldn't help but worry that everything was going to collapse in on her.

After a decent distance of walking, her light revealed a passageway that took off to the right. She remembered in the vision that it was a passage to the right that led to the library. When she arrived in the chamber she was shocked when she saw that the books in the library were still in pristine condition. She whispered to herself, "Yes! Now I can duplicate this, get out of here and make another addition to my collection!"

Colgate's horn began to glow brighter as she grabbed the collection and proceeded to cast the proper spell. Like it was in Tambelon, something seemed to be preventing her from duplicating it, only much more so. As Colgate continued to put more energy into the spell, she began to develop a headache but that was not about to prevent her from getting this done. She didn't care how long it took or how bad her headache became, she was not going to stop trying.

After what seemed to be forever to her, she felt it, she got that feeling that she had achieved her objective, she was able to duplicate the collection. While one part of her wanted to hurry up and get going, another part of her desired to continue exploring as the passage went deeper, much deeper. Eventually her curious side would win out and further back she went.

At the very end of the passage, she noticed a bit of light coming from a chamber. When she entered, she noticed that there was some torch light. She thought to herself, "Just like in Tambelon, dark magic providing a bit of light!"

She looked towards the back of the chamber and there was Tirac's old throne. In Tambelon, Colgate had no desire to sit on Grogar's throne out of fear of being corrupted. This time though, Colgate couldn't resist, she wanted to sit on the long dead villain's seat. As she climbed up on it and sat down, she could feel energy flowing into her, the energy of pure black magic, magic that she never imagined before.

As the energy continued to flow into her, visions of giant flying beasts, cloaked equine riders and directions on how to create both. The longer she sat on the throne, the more intense and realistic the visions seemed. After an hour, Colgate knew that she had best get out of Midnight Castle, especially when a piece of ceiling fell, narrowly missing her.

While she wanted very much to gallop out of the place, she saw something in the left corner of the throne room, behind Tirac's old throne and despite the risks, she had to check it out. What she discovered made her very happy, she discovered a barrel with nine swords in it and a larger sabre. She grabbed them in her aura and realized that they had been cursed in one way or another, a way that would give her forces another advantage against the enemy. She said to herself, "These will be perfect! Perhaps with these, I can stab my foes and make them into my slaves!"

Once she grabbed the swords she began to leave but noticed one more item in a far corner. As she approached it she was shocked to see what she found. She found a mask, a mask that looked like a pony's face twisted into something downright terrifying. She put her hoof up against the mask and felt the same evil in it that she felt in the swords. She said to herself, "Perhaps I should take this with me too. I'm certain I can make good use of it!"

After grabbing everything she found in her aura, she knew that she had best get out of the old castle and do so quietly. She knew that any more loud noises could lead to her demise so she walked out as quietly as possible. Once she finally exited what was left of the old castle, she fired some energy at the ruins, causing the entrance to be blocked once more. While she figured that the chances of Ruby going and casting the same spell were slim to none, she wasn't going to take any chances.

A New Chamber

Once Colgate returned to the tower, she was greeted by Dark Night, not in a pleasant manner but a concerned one. He took a close look at her and gasped, "Colgate, what happened to your coat, it is darker." He then took a close look at her eyes and noticed that the very outer edge of her eyes had turned gray. He continued, "And your eyes, they are darker!" His jaw dropped open as he finished, "And those weapons and that mask, they don't seem right!"

Colgate was in no mood for small talk but did want her general to join her in the archives. She pointed her wing towards the tower and suggested, "How about you join me down in the archives, I have things you have to see."

Dark Night followed her down into the back of the archives wondering what it was that she wanted him to see. Once they got to the back chamber, Colgate began blasting out rock to make room for what would be her darkest collection, the collection that would wind up having to be locked away with even more security than the Tambelon collection. Once she blasted out enough rock, she grabbed the walls with her aura and cast the spell to duplicate it. Like it was with the Tambelon collection, fresh shelving and the books appeared.

When Colgate saw this she was elated, "Well Dark Night, after I do some studying, I can accomplish my ultimate goal and make those distrustful leaders pay." Her voice became more sinister as she added, "And especially that disloyal little rat Scootaloo. She will find out how truly terrible the punishment will be for betraying me."

Like he had been earlier, Dark Night was a bit concerned but when he realized what it was, he was very concerned, "Is that what I think it is? Is that the collection from Midnight Castle?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, it is." She stood taller and proudly continued, "And now, I can do what it takes to fuse my gem into myself!"

Dark Night gave her a nervous look and asked, "Ok but about you being darker. Why did you become darker? That didn't happen when you duplicated the Tambelon collection."

Colgate gave him a slight smile, "Well let's just say I sat on Tirac's old throne, some energy flowed into me and I learned all sorts of things!" She became prouder and continued, "I will be able to create all sorts of things for what I want to do........." She then realized that she better not reveal too much so she would not make him worry too much. She continued, "Just things that would aid Coastal Equestria in the event we were attacked."

Dark Night was very nervous over how to reply to this given how dead set Colgate was in doing all of this. He asked, "And what about those swords, did you find them there too?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, I did. I think they will give us an even bigger advantage against our foes." She held the sabre up and added, "And this, shall be my weapon. It shall be my weapon to cut our foes' heads straight off of them."

Dark Night gasped, "Wait a minute, you're going to go beheading our enemies now?"

Colgate replied, "Yes. If there are ones that are more difficult than others, cutting off their heads will make things far easier." She saw a nervous look coming from her general and continued, "Why the nervous look? You look like you are worried my methods won't work!"

Dark Night replied, "Oh I'm sure they will. I'm sure everything you have will lead to victory."

Colgate said, "Good. Now could you head back upstairs while I do some much needed studying?"

Dark Night simply nodded and did as requested. The very fact that Colgate would not only acquire the Midnight Castle library but bring back weapons, weapons that were most likely cursed, did bother him. He had been wondering about Colgate for a very long time but he now knew that the fears he had had since she ate Twilight's heart were going to come to pass, he knew that soon Colgate would make the things Twilight did look like foal's play.

While Dark Night was becoming more nervous, Colgate was thrilled. Not only did she have the collection she wanted, she also knew what she needed to do to create everything she needed to truly bring about the wrath she had been planning since the distrust began, especially with Scootaloo's betrayal.

A Dark Transformation

Since LaurFa and Celestia would be spending at least a couple more days up in the Crystal Empire before departing for the Equine Empire, Colgate figured that she could get to studying her Midnight Castle collection more closely before beginning to create what would unleash an unmatched wrath and terror upon the world.

As she stood there in her deepest chamber, she immediately went to the book that she had seen in the vision and began to read through it. While in the vision it showed her the exact page that the proper spell to fuse the black diamond into herself was on, she figured that she would have more than enough time to study it thoroughly.

When she began to read about the black diamond, the text read,

"The black diamond is as old as Eqqus itself and its location is unknown. For anyone who possesses the gem, they will be able to bring about darkness, evil and wrath of unprecedented proportions. With this gem, the possessor could easily rule the whole of Eqqus 1. With the gem, the possessor's subjects shall show unconditional love yet live in utter despair. Upon fusion of the gem into one's body, they themselves will become much more than what they once were, they will become Evil itself. No others, regardless of the relic they possess, no matter how dark it is, shall match the power of Evil."

Colgate got a huge smile on her face knowing that any relic her enemies would possess would not give them an advantage over her. She got a huge smile on her face and laughed, "Now to fuse this baby into myself and Evil I shall become, an invincible Evil!"

Colgate continued to read on and noticed that the book mentioned something about the spell having to be cast outside. When Colgate first saw that she was curious as to why but then she realized that perhaps the spell would release so much energy that it could either injure herself, the black tower or perhaps both if she did not follow the instructions exactly.

She then got to the spell itself and read over it,

"The gem's power is great,
With it the hourglass can spread great amounts of hate.
To be set free from the bonds of light,
The gem must be fused with her great might.

The darkness and the hourglass shall become one
The light of the world will soon be done.
Victory is guaranteed with the gem of black,
With the darkness the world will never go back.

With the fusion the hourglass will never suffer a terrible fate,
The global conquest the hourglass seeks will not be late.
A mad fury will be unleashed across the land,
With the gem the hourglass will always have the upper hand.

Upon the fusion, the hourglass and evil will become one,
Darkness shall follow her where ever she goes.
The light will be purged as all will see,
The Goddess of Terror she shall be."

As Colgate read this she could hardly believe her eyes. Just as it was with the hourglass symbols in the chamber where she found the black diamond, the spell appeared as though it was written for her. She thought to herself, "Am I the chosen one? Am I the one who is meant to rule this world?"

After reading over the spell multiple times, everything began to become clear to her. She realized that the reason she did not take control when she had the chances to in the past is because that was not how or when it was supposed to be. Her conquest was not meant to be until the world was against her, that love and light is not what the world deserves, but misery and darkness.

Once she had read it enough that she memorized it, she grabbed the gem and exited her tower. She was not sure how much damage the fusion process would do to its surroundings so she flew a mile away. Once she figured she was far enough away that no damage would happen to her tower or to the city of Marentreal, she landed.

She grabbed the gem in her aura and then began to wonder where she should fuse it. At first she wondered if she should fuse it into her chest the way the collar was, then she wondered if she should fuse it into her flank, over her cutie mark since the gem is of the same shape. Then a final thought came to her mind, fusing it into herself directly below her horn so that its true energies could be harnessed the most.

She then grabbed the gem in her aura, held it in place and recited,

"The gem's power is great,
With it the hourglass can spread great amounts of hate.
To be set free from the bonds of light,
The gem must be fused with her great might.

The darkness and the hourglass shall become one
The light of the world will soon be done.
Victory is guaranteed with the gem of black,
With the darkness the world will never go back.

Upon the fusion, the hourglass and evil will become one,
Darkness shall follow her where ever she goes.
The light will be purged as all will see,
The Goddess of Terror she shall be."

Almost immediately, Colgate became enveloped in an orb of pure darkness, a darkness that could be seen for miles. The fusion of the gem became painful for Colgate, horribly painful. Her screams of pain were horribly loud and only became worse as blood began to flow out of her forehead where the gem was being fused into her. At that moment she was wishing that she had chose against doing this but it was too late to go back, once the fusion process began, it could not be stopped.

After an hour of a painful fusion, Colgate dropped to the ground and laid there unconscious. While she laid there, she had dreams involving everything that would be done to accomplish her goal, dreams that would provide her with the information to ensure that the horrible, painful process of fusion would not be all for naught.

When she came to, she did not feel miserable and suffer from pain like one would expect. Instead, she felt better and more energetic than she had in her whole life. Immediately she flew back to the tower and would be met by her generals. The very moment they saw her they were terrified. The pony they saw was not the same pony that had left earlier in the day. What they saw was a pony that had grown further, her coat was darker, the parts of her eyes that were at first white and then blue, they had turned into a shade of dark gray. The part that scared them the most was the black diamond that had been fused into her forehead.

Colgate saw the terrified looks on their faces and asked, "Generals, what is wrong?"

Dark Night replied, "It is just what has happened. The black diamond under your horn, your even larger size, your coat color....."

Lightning Storm added, "And your eyes, can you see ok?"

Colgate could tell the two were terrified by her new appearance but figured that they would be. She replied, "I can see fine but I would advise that you two toughen up. You are soldiers and I can not have generals who are scared of me solely because I have taken on a different appearance." She then gave them a smile, "Don't worry, I'm the same old Colgate you've known for ages."

The two gave her a nod before she continued, "Generals, for now I need some time to reflect on the events of the day and tap into the eye."

Again the two nodded and returned to the base while Colgate headed up to her chambers to tap into the eye, the very first place she checked was the Crystal Empire and she saw them outside engaging in a minor exercise with the troops. This caused her jaw to drop open, "What, Celestia and LaurFa actually engaging in military exercises?"

With them doing that she couldn't help but wonder how much longer they would stay up there but did know one thing, the time had come for her to set the next part of her plan in action, the part that her generals may even oppose but it would have to be done, no matter what. She then turned her focus to the hills that surround the entrance to Unicornia and said to herself, "I can deal with them later. I have studying to do and then a body to retrieve."

A Meeting With Luna

Two days had passed and up in the Crystal Empire, Scootaloo, LaurFa and Celestia had been talking and she had shared more about Colgate, her activities and her increasing paranoia. More importantly though, they had begun to form a bond like allies should, not that of ponies who are merely spying against their enemies.

Another good thing was that LaurFa and Celestia's wings were no longer sore and all three of them were itching to get going. One thing they would discuss first though would be how they would get to Maredrid as it was a very long distance. LaurFa was the first to say anything, "Scootaloo, I know it would be dangerous but the shortest path would be to fly over the eastern part of Coastal Equestria."

Celestia added, "I'm not real sure about that. If we were to get spotted, we could start a war."

Given that they had stopped and visited Luna there in the past Scootaloo suggested, "I know it will take longer but I have a suggestion." She grabbed a map and continued, "How about we fly to Marescow first, stay the night and then fly down to Maredrid. That way we can avoid flying over Coastal Equestria and not tire our wings out. Yes it would add an extra day to the trip but I think it would be worth it."

Both of them were shocked by her suggestion. The Scootaloo that they had known for many millennia, even dating back to when she was a filly, would have wanted to hurry up and get to their destination as quickly as possible. They both gave her a smile and LaurFa agreed, "I think that is our best option."

Celestia added, "I think that is a great idea. We won't risk starting a war nor will we tire our wings out, it is a win-win for all of us."

Given that it was still morning, Scootaloo looked off to the east and suggested, "Shall we? It is no short flight to Marescow but if we leave now, we should be able to get there before sundown."

Both agreed with her and they took off. They were unsure of how it would be outside of the Empire but once they left the protective dome, they would be pleasantly surprised when it was a rather nice day. Yes it was chilly but no wind was blowing so it didn't feel nearly as cold as it normally would.

Despite the trip to Marescow being a rather long one, the calm and sunny conditions made the trip seem not quite so long. After what took a great part of the day, they saw the city approaching in the distance, along with the ancient citadel which had stood for as long as the city existed. When they landed they saw something strange sitting by the walled off building, something they had never seen before, an air ship.

As soon as they got to the gates, they were greeted by two guards.

"Halt, who goes there?"

"State your business."

Given that she was Luna's sister, Princess Celestia answered, "My name is Princess Celestia and with me is Creator Goddess LaurFa and Supreme Commander Scootaloo of the Crystal Empire. I am wondering if my sister is here or if she is down in Maredrid."

The guards became much more relaxed when she stated who she was, "I'm sorry about the gruff question your Majesty. Luna is here, let me lead you three to the throne room."

As they were being led to the throne room, Celestia couldn't help but be excited to see her sister yet be nervous at the same time. She knew that her sister would likely have a similar reaction to what Scootaloo did at first. When they finally arrived, Celestia was the first to approach her, "Sister, we have a serious problem."

LaurFa added, "It involves those Alicorn gems and then another gem, one of pure evil."

Luna gave her a scowl, "Oh? So I take it the gems do exist after all?"

LaurFa replied, "Yes and I think that they have been stolen, including the black diamond."

The black diamond was something that Luna had a very hard time believing was real. She asked, "Tell me, how do you know these gems are real and how do you know this alleged black diamond is real?"

LaurFa could tell that the queen was going to be even more skeptical and became nervous, "Well-well, you see, I discovered this old prophecy book and it spoke of them. Half of it wasn't legible but all I got out of it was the gems and a tower."

Scootaloo added, "We think the whole tower part may involve Colgate."

Luna ignored Scootaloo and scoffed, "Pfft.....a prophecy book, really?" She became more serious as she continued, "Where is this prophecy book? I would like very much to see it."

LaurFa gulped, "Well I left it at home. I was thinking once we gather everypony, we could all go to Faustica and study it."

Luna was far less than pleased. She lit up her horn and reverted to her archaic way of speaking, "What? Thou tells us of this book yet thou dost not bring it with thee? Thou expects us all to go to Faustica just to see it?"

LaurFa knew that in this day and age, that Luna only spoke that way when she was angry and Celestia knew that she had to intervene, "Sister, I along with Scootaloo both wondered the same but I think it would be best if we left tomorrow at the latest."

Luna asked, "And I take it our next destination would be Ridead to notify mom and dad about this and hope they will join us?"

Celestia replied, "Well yes, that was LaurFa's plan."

Luna asked, "Alright, so we will need to get mom and dad, we will have to get King Blue Star and Ruby and White Magick." She looked around and noticed, "Speaking of them, where are they? I thought you would have went to Unicornia prior to coming here."

The three looked at one another in shock. They had been so concerned over first the prophecy book, Scootaloo revealing more of Colgate's plans and then getting to Marescow. Scootaloo replied, "Well they are probably still in Unicornia."

Again Luna flared her horn up in anger, "What? Thou decides everypony needs to be gathered yet thou dost not travel there before thou came here?"

LaurFa too flared her horn up, "Look, how are we supposed to even get to them? The portal to Unicornia lies inside Coastal Equestria and you know as well as we do that Colgate does not exactly trust us and if we were to go into Coastal Equestria, that she may see it as an act of war."

Luna pointed her hoof towards Scootaloo, "What about you? You and Colgate are still close."

Scootaloo replied, "I could probably do it. It will take quite a while to fly there......"

Luna interrupted, "Scootaloo, outside of Colgate, you have the strongest wings out of all of us." Luna paused for a moment before continuing, "I have an idea. How about we stay here until tomorrow morning. After breakfast you will head to Unicornia while the three of us will go to Ridead."

Scootaloo knew that she didn't have much of a choice so she agreed, "Ok but what about after I get them? Where do we go then?"

Luna began to say something before LaurFa interrupted, "Go to Faustica. Yes it will take a couple days but it will be much easier than flying over the whole planet looking for us."

Scootaloo replied, "Very well, that is what we will do then."

While everypony else thought that would be a good plan, Scootaloo couldn't help but wonder if it was entirely safe to be flying over Coastal Equestria. She knew that Colgate was likely monitoring her, LaurFa and Celestia during their time in the Empire. She also knew that given how Colgate is, that she may even consider allowing them to stay for a couple of days as an act of treason.

Planning an Ambush

Final Meeting in Marescow

The following morning arrived and after breakfast, the leaders were getting ready to depart. They were gathered outside of the citadel in Marescow and were having a discussion. Luna, Celestia and LaurFa could see a nervous look in Scootaloo's face and knew that something was up, they were wondering why she would be so nervous to travel to a nation ran by her primary ally.

LaurFa asked, "Scootaloo, what is wrong? You seem nervous to be flying over a nation that is governed by your ally."

Scootaloo's look only became more nervous, "Well she has that eye and what if she saw us talking, what if she heard everything we were talking about."

Out of the three, Luna was the most understanding, "You know, she does make a point. I would hate to think what would happen to Scootaloo if she not only saw you but heard you. If she heard her spilling the beans and was to catch her, I'm certain that there would be hell to....."

LaurFa interrupted, "But this has to be done. There is no getting around it!"

Celestia added, "Maybe she wasn't tapping into the eye or maybe she wasn't paying to the Crystal Empire." She put her hoof around Scootaloo and added, "Don't worry Scoots, everything will be fine."

Scoots, something that Scootaloo had not been referred to since harmony still existed on Eqqus 1, back when she was a filly. She gave her a nervous smile and replied, "You're right, everything should be ok." She then pointed towards the airship and asked, "What is that thing?"

Luna stood tall and proudly stated, "It is something that will make the trip to Ridead for the rest of us much easier. It is an airship that I just commissioned after my return from the summit."

Both Celestia and LaurFa's eyes lit up. Celestia asked, "You mean that we won't have to wear our wings out flying anymore?"

Luna shook her head yes and LaurFa added, "What a shame I didn't have something like this to get from Faustica to Canterlot. I wouldn't have had to fly through a storm and I also wouldn't have nearly got eaten by a Tatzlwurm."

All three of them gasped in shock given that it had been many millennia since one of those were even seen. Celestia asked, "Seriously? I thought those things went extinct ages ago!"

LaurFa replied, "Apparently not."

Luna finally realized that if they didn't get going that it would wind up being dark before they reached their destinations. She pointed her wing towards the west and ordered, "Scootaloo, you had best get going. You have a long flight ahead of you." She then turned towards the airship and added, "And we had best get going as well. I'm sure we will want to arrive in Ridead before it gets too late."

Scootaloo nodded and took off towards the west. While she was trying to calm herself down, she knew that if Colgate knew she was on her way and had heard everything that she said, things would not turn out well for her, nor would it turn out well for the Unicornia royalty if she was to catch her with them.

Planning the Ambush

Several hours had passed and in her black tower, Colgate was waking up. She had trouble sleeping the previous night because of everything she had seen and heard, including the betrayal by Scootaloo. The first thing she did when she got up was tap into the eye and scan the world. Things off to the west looked completely normal, she saw nothing out of the ordinary to the south but when she began to scan things off to the east, she would not be so thrilled.

The first thing she saw was three of the leaders sailing south in an airship. Given that the Equine Empire was the first nation to actually develop one, she grunted, "What, they have an airship?" She then stomped her hoof and added, "Why the hay didn't I think about one of those?" She then got a smile on her face as she continued, "If I have my way, that thing's going down and they won't even know what hit them."

She then focused a bit further to the north and noticed Scootaloo was flying towards the west, towards Coastal Equestria. She continued, "So Scootaloo, coming to notify the royalty of Unicornia about everything that was discovered huh?" She developed a frown and finished, "Well we shall see about that."

After noticing Scootaloo flying in her direction, she didn't even bother to look towards the north and headed down to the dining hall for breakfast. She would be pleased when she saw that her two generals were waiting down there for her. When they saw her, they saw an intense look on her face and knew that something serious was going on. Dark Night asked, "Colgate, what is up with the intense look?"

Colgate replied, "Generals, we are going to be having a visitor later today." She summoned the chef and ordered, "Fix all of us eggs, bacon, toast and cider, we have something important to do today."

Lightning Storm asked, "A visitor, who?"

Colgate replied, "After breakfast, the three of us along with a few soldiers are heading towards the portal to Unicornia. That tyrant Scootaloo is coming to warn them about how they think I took those gems."

While Dark Night had his concerns over Colgate's recent behavior, he knew that she would not be thrilled if he was to not want to join her on what was sounding like a capture mission. He suggested, "Four of each type of soldier perhaps?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, in the event she along with Ruby and White Magick are captured as well." Her voice became more intense as she continued, "Which in an ideal situation will happen."

Her generals could tell that it was going to be one of those days where she was going to be focused on one thing and one thing only, business. Once their breakfast arrived, Colgate immediately began to chow down while her generals were eating a bit more slowly. She noticed this and asked, "Generals, why are you eating so slowly? We need to hurry up and acquire her, alright?"

The two nodded and began to eat their breakfast at a more rapid pace. Once they were finished she ordered, "Go and grab four soldiers of each type, the ones that you think would do the best job."

The two nodded and headed to the base to get the soldiers and Colgate waited impatiently. After five minutes they arrived and Colgate sighed, "Well it took you long enough." She pointed her wing towards the west and ordered, "Alright, to the hills surrounding the portal, now."

They all took off to the west, towards the portal to Unicornia. While they were not sure when Scootaloo would arrive, they wanted to be ready to ambush her, and hopefully the royals as well. Once they landed, they listened carefully for Unicornia guards that normally find ponies in the hills rather quickly.

After a couple hours of nothing, they heard a sound and prepared to strike. What they saw through the trees though was not guards, it was Scootaloo. Colgate saw this and thought to herself, "Alright Scoots, when you come back out, you're tyrannical flank is mine!"

Visiting Unicornia

Scootaloo's Visit to Unicornia

When Scootaloo landed, she was quickly surrounded by guards, "Freeze!"

Scootaloo froze in her tracks and had spears pointed towards her. One of the guards asked, "Who are you and why are you in these hills?"

Scootaloo replied, "Well my name is Supreme Commander Scootaloo of the Crystal Empire and I have been sent here by the Creator Goddess LaurFa to discuss issues of great importance with the king and queen."

The guard poked her with his spear and asked, "What issues of importance?"

Scootaloo replied, "It involves Alicorn gems and some prophecy involving them."

The guards all lowered their spears and ordered, "Very well. Follow us and we shall lead you to their palace."

Scootaloo nodded and followed them through the portal. As she crossed into Unicornia, she felt a slight tingle as she was no longer able to use her magic. As she looked around, she saw ponies watching her with suspicion. Given that it had been quite some time since an outsider had been brought through the portal, they couldn't help but wonder who she was and why she was being brought in.

Once the guards got her into the throne room, the two monarchs knew exactly who she was. The first to speak was Ruby Heart, "Scootaloo, why is it that you were brought here by my guards?"

Scootaloo bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, I have some very important information I have to tell you."

Ruby asked, "Oh and what is that? Does it involve Colgate?"

Scootaloo began, "Yes it does. As you know LaurFa found that prophecy book about Alicorn gems and as it turns out, those are real. I do have bad news though, not only did Colgate get to Alicorn Island and steal them, she also acquired this black gem that will give her a lot of dark power."

Ruby asked, "Seriously, how do you know that she acquired these gems?"

Scootaloo replied, "After discovering the prophecy, LaurFa went into the cave where it predicted they would be and numerous hidden chambers were blasted open very recently and they were all empty, including the one where the dark gem was."

Ruby looked over at White Magick, who had been silent so far. He asked, "So what is it they want us to do? Do they want to meet us somewhere or what?"

Scootaloo replied, "Yes, they do. They want us to meet them in Faustica."

Both monarch's jaws dropped open, "Faustica? They expect us to fly that far just like that?"

Ruby added, "Certainly you must be tired because I highly doubt Colgate will just let you stay with her."

Scootaloo replied, "After everything she has done, I wouldn't want to. It is well into the afternoon so I don't know if you would want to take off as soon as possible or if you would want to wait until tomorrow morning."

The two monarchs looked at one another until Ruby suggested, "Well I think we should wait until morning but I am curious about something. Why is it that you and the others are so quick to blame Colgate for this. Do you know something that I don't?"

Scootaloo began to have second thoughts but realized since she had already brought it up, that she had no choice but to tell them, "Well she has been talking about how she is not thrilled with everypony's distrust of her and brought up doing what she should have done back when she was viewed as a hero."

White Magick asked, "I take it she had a chance to control everything but chose against it?"

Scootaloo replied, "Yes. This was long before the portal to your nation was discovered. Colgate had defeated the Dark Goddess on two separate occasions and could have easily taken control of the world but instead chose to grant independence to every nation." She became a bit nervous and continued, "But that Colgate is long gone. The Colgate that cared about everypony has been replaced by one filled with resentment, distrust and a hunger for power."

The two nodded before Ruby asked, "Ok, back to these gems. What I would like to know is how she even knew about them and why it is that she wanted them to start with."

This caused Scootaloo to freeze. She knew that when the monarchs found out how she knew that she would likely be in a lot of trouble but also hoped that maybe since she was telling them what she knew, that maybe they would not be too angry with her.

She replied, "Well I kind of told her and she wanted them so that nopony could spy on her."

Ruby flared up her horn and struck Scootaloo with a bolt of energy. She yelled, "You what? You told her not only about our intentions but also that those things might exist?" She grabbed Scootaloo in her aura and continued, "You know something, I should blast you to bits right now!"

White Magick smacked her horn and suggested, "Honey, I don't think we should do that to her. She was deep in Colgate's counsel and she could give us all the information we would need to defeat Colgate."

Ruby sighed, "Very well but tomorrow morning, we are starting what will be a horribly long flight, perhaps a flight that will take us two days and once everypony is present, you will tell us EVERYTHING you know about her and her plans." She grabbed Scootaloo in her aura and ordered, "Everything. You will not hide a single detail from us because if you do, I will know and you most certainly will not like your punishment."

White Magick, who had developed a rather laid back personality over the past millennium, grabbed Scootaloo out of his wife's aura and suggested, "Honey, I don't think she is going to hide anything. How about we just have some supper, get some rest tonight and at least try to fly to Canterlot tomorrow, alright?"

Ruby sighed, "Very well." She turned back to Scootaloo and suggested, "How about you join us for some supper and drop any more serious discussions for the night, ok?"

Scootaloo replied, "That sounds good to me."

After what was a rather stress free evening, Scootaloo was escorted to a guest bedroom and turned in for the night. While she seemed to have the king's trust, she could help but feel a bit nervous about how Ruby had treated her that day. What troubled her further though was the thought of "What if Colgate saw her come to Unicornia? What if she and some of her troops were waiting outside to ambush them?"

Busted

Morning Discussion

Morning had arrived in Unicornia and Scootaloo, Ruby and White Magick had sat down to breakfast. While many ponies in the world had gone away from eating meat, Scootaloo was more like her mentor and still ate it regularly. When her breakfast was placed in front of her and she saw that it was hay sausage instead of regular sausage she asked, "Hay sausage? You don't have any regular sausage?"

Ruby replied, "Scootaloo, like most ponies of this world, we have gone away from eating meat long ago."

White Magick added, "Outside of the ponies of Coastal Equestria, outside of eggs, most of us have become herbivores."

Scootaloo sighed, "Alright, I can live with that."

Their breakfast was strangely quiet as they all knew that it was going to be a very long, two day trip to Faustica. The three were eating slowly as they all knew the repercussions of getting caught in Coastal Equestria. All they could do was hope that they could cross over into Equestria before Colgate could find a way to stop them.

After a long breakfast, Ruby stood up and suggested, "Shall we? We have a rather long flight today and a worse one tomorrow."

Both Scootaloo and White Magick nodded in approval as the three headed towards the portal, ready to face the day and tackle a long flight that none of them were looking forward to.

Busted

Outside of the portal, Colgate and her soldiers were ready to attack. The sun had been up for a while and Colgate began to wonder if maybe they knew she was out there waiting for them. Dark Night saw her becoming impatient and suggested, "Colgate, I really think you should calm down. Getting worked up over this isn't going to make them come any quicker."

Lightning Storm added, "Look at it this way, if you are too upset when they come out, we may not acquire any of them."

Colgate replied, "Oh you're right. I just hope they don't take too much longer. While things like berries are fine, I'm hoping I can have a substantial meal later today."

Just as she finished her reply, they all began to hear noises coming from the portal. Colgate gave her generals the signal to be ready to attack. It would not be long until three ponies came out of the portal and found themselves surrounded by soldiers, soldiers they hoped not to see.

Colgate ordered, "Cover them in ooze, now!"

Ruby, one who was quick to react took to the sky and yelled, "Don't let them cover you! Come on, we have to get to Faustica, now!"

White Magick and Scootaloo both took off but before she could get far, Scootaloo found herself covered in ooze and felt a thud as she crashed to the ground. When she fell, her allies quickly turned around and went to save their new ally. As they headed in Colgate yelled, "Cover them in ooze, take them down!"

The changelings quickly did as ordered. While they were able to bring down White Magick, Ruby was too agile for them. She began firing beams of energy downwards, not just to take out the changelings but to free the other two. She was quick enough that she was able to free White Magick but was unable to free Scootaloo.

Ruby looked down and saw that Scootaloo had been brought down and covered in ooze. She continued to hover above, trying to figure out if maybe she could save her until she heard a yell, "I'm not worth it! Just get to Faustica, everypony else needs you."

Ruby shouted, "Don't worry, we will prevail in the end." before taking off to the west.

Colgate noticed that they were getting away but for her, that was not an option, at least not with a confrontation. She took after them and was able to immediately shoot them down. She landed in front of the two and ordered, "Faustica? Tell me, why is it that you are traveling to Faustica?"

Ruby stuttered, "Well-well."

Colgate burned her with some energy and yelled, "Tell me, why would an alleged ally of mine be going to Faustica when there is no summit?"

She turned to White Magick, burned him as well and yelled, "Let me guess, so you could betray me just like Scootaloo did?"

The two were nervous seeing the furious Alicorn yelling at them but then something else would unnerve them further, Colgate's appearance. Both of them couldn't help but notice that everything about her was darker, that she had grown and most of all, the black diamond in her forehead.

Ruby's eyes grew wide as she asked, "You did take them didn't you? You found the black one and became one with it, didn't you?"

Colgate again burned her with energy and laughed, "Well aren't you the observant one." She burned her further and continued, "Now tell me, why is it that you two would betray me, an alleged ally."

Ruby yelled, "An alleged ally? You won't even come to visit anymore! Whenever you want a meeting, we have to come to you."

White Magick added, "And that is not how alliances work......"

Colgate was quickly growing tired of dealing with them so she decided that she would put them in cages and deal with them later. The two noticed that her collar began to light up and Ruby yelled, "Strike her! We can't let her imprison us!"

Before Colgate could cast the spell to imprison them, both of them fired bolts of energy at her at the same time, knocking her backwards while they took off. It did not take long for Colgate to get backup but as she saw them flying off towards the west, she decided that she would just let them go. She realized that the one she wanted most had been subdued and decided the time had come to deal with her appropriately.

When she returned to her soldiers and Scootaloo, Dark Night asked, "Colgate, what happened?"

Lightning Storm added, "They got away didn't they?"

Colgate sighed, "Unfortunately yes but I have the one I wanted most." She then turned towards Scootaloo and continued, "Well, well, well, what do we have here? Why it is the tyrant Scootaloo my dear!"

Scootaloo looked up at Colgate in fear and asked, "Why would you do this?" She then saw that Colgate had grown, became darker and had a black gem fused into her forehead. She continued, "Why are you so dark,,,,?"

Colgate kicked her in the head and ordered, "Tell me, why were you visiting Unicornia? Why did you spend so much time with LaurFa and Celestia? Why were you traveling to Marescow with those tyrants?"

Scootaloo yelled, "I'm not going to tell you! I can tell that you have bad things planned for all of Eqqus 1."

Colgate smacked her and snapped, "You know what you rat, since you refuse to tell me, you will soon discover what happens to those who betray the black tower." Colgate grabbed her in her aura, turned to her soldiers and ordered, "Let's get her to the tower and after I have her detained, I will get answers from her using any means necessary!"

As she was being carried east, Scootaloo knew that she was in a world of trouble. She was not sure exactly what sort of punishment she would face but had a feeling that it would be far, far worse than anything the dark goddess would have ever unleashed upon anypony.

Interrogation and Torture

A couple hours later, they arrived at the tower and Colgate ordered, "Troops, you go over to the base." she then intensified her hold on Scootaloo and continued, "While I get this one properly detained and get some information from her."

Her soldiers did as ordered while Colgate took her prisoner into the dungeon, a dungeon that had never been used before. As Colgate carried her down there, Scootaloo began to plead with Colgate to release her but it was all for naught. Once Colgate got her down there, she placed a horn cap on Scootaloo and threw her down. She approached her and ordered, "Now tell me, why would you betray me like that?"

Scootaloo was terrified, more terrified than she had ever been in her life. She stuttered, "Well, uh-uh...."

She would be interrupted when Colgate struck her with a whip. She yelled, "Tell me you little traitor, why would you betray me like that?"

Scootaloo again stuttered, "Well-well you see, LaurFa and Celestia told me about all the Alicorn gems and how you stole them and that you wanted to take the Crystal Empire for yourself."

Colgate again whipped her and yelled, "Did I not tell you that I would let you keep the Empire? Did I not tell you that you were like a daughter to me and that I would never do that?"

The whipping was causing a great amount of pain in the orange Alicorn, causing her to cry, "Yes you did but they promised me nothing bad would happen to me!"

Colgate began to whip her violently and yelled, "No more are you like a daughter to me, you are a crybaby, a treasonous little rat!" She stopped the whipping and continued, "Now you are going to share everything with me, got it? You are going to share everything with me unless you want an even worse punishment."

Scootaloo begged, "Please stop whipping me and I will confess to everything!"

Colgate put the whip down, got in Scootaloo's face and ordered, "Speak, sing like a canary or else!"

Scootaloo began, "Ok, they paid me a visit and at first I refused to tell them anything. Then they told me about the Alicorn gems and brought up a black gem that would make you really powerful." She took a closer look at Colgate and saw not only how much larger and darker she was, but noticed that she had fused a black gem into herself. She gasped, "It's true isn't it? You took the gems and found the black one didn't you?"

Colgate again whipped her and yelled, "Look rat, do not ask me questions." She smacked her and continued, "Now continue where you were."

Scootaloo continued, "Ok, they told me about the gems, they told me about the caves, they told me about the time stopping and they told me about this prophecy book that mentioned them!"

Colgate got in her face and asked, "What else? What else did you say to betray me?"

Scootaloo stuttered, "We-well I told them about how I think you might be planning gl-global conquest. I told them how you were unhappy with them wanting to watch you."

Colgate smacked her again and ordered, "What else? What else did you say to betray your mentor?"

Scootaloo was getting frustrated with the constant smacking and wanted it to stop. She yelled, "You know what, if you don't stop this, I won't tell you anything else!"

Colgate struck her with energy and yelled, "Well then, since you refuse to tell me, you shall suffer dearly."

Colgate grabbed Scootaloo and rammed hooks at the end of chains on the wall through the bottom of each of her legs. Scootaloo was terrified as once she was put in place, the chains stretched her out to where she looked like an X. Colgate began to turn one of the cranks and began to stretch one of her legs away from her body. This brought about a great amount of pain in her and she began to cry out in pain.

Colgate stopped turning the crank and suggested, "If I were you, I would reveal everything that was shared, and I mean everything" She turned the crank further, putting more of a strain on her leg muscles and continued, "unless you want a dislocated leg."

Scootaloo began, "Ok, I told them about how I thought you wanted global conquest! I told them about how we were talking about taking them down and then planning on splitting the world among ourselves."

Colgate again whipped her and yelled, "What else?"

Scootaloo had begun to cry by this point, "And I told them about my concerns on how you might want it all."

While Colgate was satisfied that she had shared everything with her, one thing did not please her one bit, Scootaloo's crying. She grabbed some chains, began to beat her and yelled, "This is what you get for betraying me! This is what you get for being a crybaby!" She stopped beating her and returned to the cranks. She began to stretch out another leg and yelled, "Know this little rat, once I am in charge of this world, there will be no tolerance for crybabies! Crybabies will be punished severely!"

Colgate continued to turn on the crank until she had stretched her leg out to where it was almost dislocated. She then moved on to the others until she had every single leg stretched out to the point where it was about to be dislocated. When she was done, Scootaloo was crying in agony and again Colgate took the chains to her, determined to make sure she knew that what she did warranted it.

After ten minutes of beating, Colgate finally stopped. Colgate stood there before the badly beaten and bruised Scootaloo and shook her head. She sighed, "I remember back when you were a tough pony, I remember back when you were strong pony but most importantly I remember back when you were a loyal pony." She approached her, smacked her and continued, "But now you are nothing more than a disloyal, weak, pathetic tyrannical little rat."

Scootaloo whimpered, "How am I supposed to be strong in a situation like this? You've rammed hooks through my legs, you've whipped me and beaten me with chains! If this happened to you, you'd be the same way!"

Colgate grabbed her whip and again began to whip her. She yelled, "Actually no, I would not because unlike everypony else in this pathetic world, I am tough as nails." She pointed towards the black diamond fused into her and added, "And unlike all you little weaklings, Evil feels no pain, the Goddess of Terror feels no pain."

When she heard Colgate say this, she was horrified. She remembered how when Twilight had her transformation that she started calling herself a dark goddess and now here was a transformed Colgate referring to herself as something else. She asked, "Evil, Goddess of Terror?"

Colgate got up in her face and laughed, "Yes, Goddess of Terror and give it time, you will be an instrument in my goal to bring about terror and misery upon this pathetic world that will be unparalleled and you will not be alone. Others shall be abducted, slain, resurrected and corrupted to suit my needs."

Scootaloo gasped, "Slain?"

Colgate laughed, "Yes, slain. For what I plan on doing, they can not simply become what I want them to be if they are alive."

Scootaloo's eyes grew wide as she asked, "So you're going to kill me to make me what you want?"

Colgate laughed, "I might, I might not." Her voice became more cheerful as she continued, "Now let's get you off of those hooks and into a cell. I certainly can't have you dying on me this soon."

Once Scootaloo realized that death was likely in her immediate future, she began trying to blow the horn cap off but all she got was a few sparks from the base of her horn. Colgate saw this and laughed, "Don't you remember Scootaloo, enchanted horn caps can only be removed by the pony that put them on you!"

As Scootaloo was having the hooks removed from her legs, she let out a cry of pain. This was one thing that send Colgate into a rage. She threw Scootaloo to the ground, began to whip her and yelled, "Pathetic, absolutely pathetic! You should be feeling fine since I removed you, not crying like a little baby." She then picked Scootaloo up and threw her in a cell. She finished, "There, that will keep you nice and secure. Now if you will excuse me, it is time for supper and I'm not about to miss a meal because of a crybaby prisoner."

When Colgate brought up a meal, despite being in a horrible amount of pain, Scootaloo realized she was hungry. She asked, "What about me? Don't I get something to eat?"

Colgate rolled her eyes and sighed, "Yes you will, after I finish my meal."

Before Scootaloo could say anything further, Colgate left the dungeon and slammed the door behind her. This was one thing that she never thought would come to pass, having to torture a pony who was once like a daughter to her for treason. One thing she did know though was that Scootaloo would be just the beginning. She knew that she needed plenty of others and knew exactly what she wanted next, ponies that were as close as could be.

Author's Note

Colgate's Practice style torture.

Ponyville Acquisitions

Evening Meeting

After finishing her supper and giving Scootaloo her less than stellar meal, Colgate decided the time had come to set her next plan into action. Before she would do so, she decided to tap into the eye and see what was going on in the world. As she scanned various parts of the world, everything looked normal and when she looked to the east, she noticed that the airship that Queen Luna and her other foes were taking to Ridead had encountered some strong head winds, slowing it down significantly.

When she saw this she couldn't help but laugh, "Excellent! The time has come for me to set the next part of my plan in action."

Night had already set but that would not stop Colgate from going to the base and notifying Dark Night. She headed to the base and she discovered that everypony and everychangeling was sitting around relaxing. Once she arrived she yelled, "Attention!"

Give that the sun had already set, the soldiers knew what something important had to be going on because Colgate was not the type of pony who would set out to do anything after dark. Immediately every soldier was standing at attention when Colgate began her address, "Troops, tonight I plan on setting in motion the next part of my plan, my ultimate plan."

Dark Night was the first to ask anything, "Colgate, what is this plan you want to set in motion?"

Lightning Storm added, "And why do we have to be addressed at night?"

Colgate replied, "Troops, it is an extremely long trip to our destination and I believe it would be best if we fly a majority of our trip under the cover of darkness. I need both of you to grab ten of your best soldiers so we can depart immediately."

Both generals were getting more curious about why she wanted to do this at night. Dark Night asked, "But why Colgate? Can't we fly during the day?"

For the first time in her life, Colgate lit up her horn in anger at her general. She yelled, "No, we must do this tonight." Her voice became more calm as she continued, "Now could you please go and round up some of your hoof soldiers. I want to get going now."

Given how she reacted to his question, he along with Lightning Storm immediately rushed and grabbed some soldiers, ten of each type. Once they returned, Colgate began to inspect each one to see if they truly were of the material that she was looking for. After a ten minute inspection, she turned to her generals and said, "Alright, let's go. It is a very long trip."

Once she took off, all her soldiers took off and followed her. As they were on their flight west, her generals couldn't help but wonder why Colgate not only wanted to do this at night but also why she was being so secretive about it. Never before had she been this way with a mission, normally she was rather transparent.

Acquisitions in Ponyville

After a long night of flying, the sun was rising and Colgate's target was on the horizon. When he saw this Dark Night asked, "Ponyville? What in the world would you want here?"

Colgate give him a sinister grin, "You'll see!" She then pointed towards the forest and continued, "Land in the forest, there should be food in there and it will provide us with cover."

Colgate and her troops landed in the forest and the first thing they did was begin to gorge themselves on berries. While it was not even close to what they would eat at home, it was sufficient. While Colgate knew exactly what she was looking for, her generals couldn't help but wonder why she continued to stick her head out from behind the trees and focus on what at one time was Twilight's castle.

After two hours of waiting, Colgate saw five ponies heading into the castle, five ponies that she wanted to acquire. Once they got inside Colgate turned to her soldiers and ordered, "Follow me troops, we can now acquire what I came for."

Her troops did as ordered and without anypony else noticing, they all charged into the castle to find that there was nopony present. She knew that she had seen them enter the castle and ordered, "Troops, fan out. We are going to search every last inch of this castle until they are found." She pointed her wing towards Lightning Storm and continued, "You and a couple drones stand here at the door. If they try to leave, cover them in ooze and wait for our return."

Lightning Storm nodded and a couple drones stayed behind with him. As for the rest, they followed Colgate in search of their foes. As they continued to search the castle, Colgate was becoming impatient that finding them was taking them so long but then something crossed her mind, "I've got it!"

Dark Night asked, "What? What is it?"

Colgate replied, "Today would have been Twilight's birthday. I can't help but wonder if maybe she wasn't buried down in what was her archives and they aren't paying her grave a visit."

Dark Night commented, "Perhaps so, maybe we should check it out."

Colgate nodded and ordered the soldiers that joined her, outside of Dark Night and a changeling drone, to remain upstairs. When they found the entrance to the archives and saw that the door was open, Colgate couldn't help but smile. As they approached the first chamber, the door was open. As they proceeded through it, they noticed the door to the second one was open as well. Colgate was pleased when she saw this but would then be even more pleased when she saw the door to the back portion of the archives was open. As she approached it, she heard voices, voices of the five ponies she had come to acquire.

She peaked around and saw them all gathered around what looked like a casket and decided to listen in on their conversation before acquiring them.

"You know Twi, I know you were evil for so long and including when you passed but we know deep down you were always a good pony."

"I'm just sorry that that meany-mean hooves centaur and his dark rainbow did this to you."

"Darling, I know we say this every time we visit you darling but we forgive you for everything."

"Uhm Twilight, we just want you to know that we all loved you."

"Twilight, I know you were corrupted in the end but we will always cherish our memories we had."

As they were talking, they heard a noise. Their heads all shot up and they wondered what it was. Before any of them could say anything further they heard a yell, "Charge!"

The five were in shock when they saw Colgate, a couple dark Alicorns and a couple changelings storming into the room and immediately the five began to fire energy at them. Much to their surprise, all it did was knock them backwards. Colgate yelled, "Cover them in ooze!"

Almost immediately, the five were covered in ooze, immobilized and were unable to use their magic. Once they were subdued Colgate approached them and laughed, "Well, well, well, what do we have here."

The five were not one bit pleased with their capture but Rainbow was obviously the angriest, "Colgate, what the hay are you doing here?"

Colgate laughed, "Acquiring what I need to set my plans in action." She then fired energy at them and put all of them in cages. She continued, "And now I have all of you."

Fluttershy asked, "Plans? What plans?"

Colgate noticed that Twilight's casket was under glass so she fired a bolt of energy and broke the glass. She then levitated it to herself and snickered, "Wow, you certainly went all out for a dark goddess now didn't you?"

The five gasped but Fluttershy became angry, "She is NOT a dark goddess!"

Rarity added, "And what about you. You're a lot bigger, you're a lot darker, your eyes are darker and that black gem you fused into yourself! If anypony is a dark goddess, it is you!"

Colgate couldn't help but laugh, "I've been a goddess for quite some time but thanks to this gem and siting on the throne of a villain I killed, I became much more."

Applejack asked, "What did y'all become then?"

Colgate replied, "You will find out in good time." Colgate pointed towards the five and ordered, "Dark Night, dark Alicorn hoof soldiers, grab these five while I handle the prize."

They were all grabbed in somepony's aura and they were visibly angry over Colgate holding Twilight's casket in her aura. Rainbow yelled, "What the hay are you going to do with Twilight?"

Colgate ordered, "Hold them harder troops. I don't feel like listening to them yap."

Her troops did as ordered and carried them back upstairs. When they arrived, the other soldiers were there waiting. Colgate continued, "Alright troops, let's get these rats back to the tower."

In unison they all yelled, "Yes ma'am!"

When they exited the castle they were confronted by a good portion of Ponyville. One pony yelled, "What are you doing with our friends?"

Another added, "And what are you doing with Twilight?"

Colgate sat Twilight down and began putting the ponies in cages. The ones that were not immediately captured began to run away and in the case of the pegasi, they took to the skies hoping to escape the fate that happened to their fellow Ponyville residents. Colgate then realized something, she would have to have some pegasi for her plan so she took off after them.

She knew exactly what kind of pegasi she wanted, strong stallions that were good fliers yet fired at all of them, putting each one in a cage as she struck them. The first to fall were the weaker mares, then the stronger mares and stallions of equal strength but eventually she was able to imprison the strongest of the stallions. Once they had all fallen, she approached the ones that were the hardest to imprison and inspected them to see if they had what she thought was necessary.

She headed to the largest cages and discovered good, strong stallions. As she approached one of them he yelled, "Who are you and why are you taking Twilight and her friends?"

Colgate did not answer. She grabbed his cage in her aura and headed to the next one where she would be received in a similar manner and like it was with the first one, she ignored his question and grabbed his cage in her aura and moved on to the next. Once she had all six, she returned to her troops and ordered, "Alright troops, let's get these scum back to the tower."

Dark Night noticed that a large part of the town was still imprisoned and asked, "Colgate, what about the rest of them? Aren't you going to free them?"

Colgate did a facehoof and snapped, "And why would I do that?"

Dark Night replied, "If you leave them like that, they will starve."

Colgate laughed, "And you think I actually care?" Despite carrying Twilight's casket along with six imprisoned pegasi, she easily took to the sky and ordered, "Come on troops, let get these rats back to the tower. I need to ready them for my big plan."

While the regular hoof soldiers and drones did so without questioning her, her generals couldn't help but wonder why Colgate would just leave the majority of a whole town to starve. They, Dark Night especially, had noticed that she had been getting darker and showing signs of evil but this time truly made him think. For the first time in his life, he began to wonder if continuing to serve under Colgate was what he should do.

He thought to himself, "She's worse than Sombra, she's worse than the Dark Goddess, should I defect and risk death or should I stay and continue to fight for a cause I think is wrong in every way?"

Meeting in Ridead

An Unpleasant Arrival

Several days had passed since leaving Marescow and thanks to sub-par weather conditions and strong winds, Luna and her companions were approaching Ridead well behind schedule. Their landing would not be easy though as a dust storm had moved into the area. Luna was trying to steer the airship as good as she could and knew that if it was to crash into any buildings, particularly a house, that not only would the air ship be destroyed, so would the house.

After trying to land it for nearly half an hour, a gust of wind wound up blowing it away from the landing site and caused it to crash into a residential area. It wound up destroying multiple houses, burst into flames and eventually exploded. While Luna was able to escape the crash unscathed, Celestia and LaurFa both suffered some burned feathers.

Luna saw what happened and surveyed the wreckage and yelled, "Curse it, curse that wind!"

Despite being in pain Celestia yelled, "Sister, why would you use that thing? All it did was slow us down and you know how bad the winds are here."

LaurFa added, "We would have been much better off had we just flown here like ponies have for tens of millennia!"

Luna rolled her eyes and snapped, "Look, I know this journey didn't go as well as we had hoped and several houses were destroyed but we got here, alright?

Her two companions grunted and when they approached the castle, Luna would not be any more pleased when a guard said, "Halt, who goes there?"

Before the other could speak Luna grabbed both of them in her aura and snapped, "Do you not know who we are? Do you not see our cutie marks?"

The other guard replied, "Well....."

Luna interrupted, "We are Galaxia and Cosmos's daughters and with us is the Creator Goddess LaurFa."

The first guard replied, "No need to be so grumpy. I shall lead you to their throne room."

Luna shoved the guards out of the way and led her companions to the throne room. When they arrived Galaxia and Cosmos could tell that their daughter was in a very bad mood. Galaxia asked, "Luna, what is wrong? Why are you so angry?"

Luna snapped, "You know that new airship I commissioned? Well when we got here, I couldn't get it landed properly and it crashed, exploded and took out a few houses."

This did not sit well with either Galaxia or Cosmos. Cosmos gasped, "You brought an airship when you should know how bad the winds are here?"

Galaxia added, "And chances are some ponies wound up losing their lives thanks to you."

Cosmos stood up and suggested, "Well we better go and survey the damage and make sure nopony was injured or killed."

Luna asked, "I know this is important but we have some very important things to discuss with you."

Galaxia suggested, "How about we talk about it after we survey the damage. While I'm certain it is important, OUR SUBJECTS come first."

The five headed out to take a look at the damage and saw that it was quite bad. Not only was the airship destroyed, but several houses were as well but what bothered the two the most was that there were several ponies laying there lifeless. Galaxia approached them, leaned down and felt for a pulse. When she found none in all of them, she was very upset. She pointed her wing at Luna and asked, "Thanks to you and this thing, several ponies have lost their lives." She then turned to Celestia and LaurFa and continued, "And did you two support her in using this thing?"

Celestia replied, "Well we thought it was good at first but when the wind slowed us down and now this, we think it probably wasn't the best decision."

Galaxia knew that they couldn't just leave the bodies to rot yet she also had a feeling that whatever her daughters had to tell her was very important so she made a decision. Well I will get guards to take care of the bodies and prepare them for burial but for now, let's go back to the throne room. I'm sure whatever it is you have come to discuss with us is very important.

A Royal Meeting

After notifying the guards that there were fatalities in the area where the airship crashed, Galaxia and Cosmos led the three into the throne room. Neither one of the monarchs, Galaxia especially, were thrilled over the way the three arrived but knew that they had to keep their cool. Galaxia asked, "So what is it that you wish to discuss?"

Given that she was the one who discovered the prophecy book and discovered that the Alicorn gems not only existed but were stolen, LaurFa decided to reply first, "Do you two remember at the last summit when we discussed the possible existence of more Alicorn gems that would allow us all to spy on Colgate?"

Galaxia replied, "Yes. I remember how you weren't certain that they existed and all of us were irritated by it."

LaurFa continued, "The thing is, those actually exist. They are real."

Cosmos asked, "Oh and how can you possibly know that?"

LaurFa continued, "Well first I read a prophecy book about the gems and it went into detail about them and where they could be found."

Unlike the other leaders, the two were not so skeptical over a book involving prophecies. Galaxia asked, "And I take it you searched for them and found them?"

LaurFa continued, "Yes I searched for them but the bad thing is, I discovered that they have been stolen. The night before I searched for them, time froze for a while so I have reason to believe that Colgate flew out here, stole them but that wasn't the only thing she stole. She stole something much worse than Alicorn gems."

Galaxia asked, "Tell me, how could she have even found out about the gems and what else was it she stole."

LaurFa replied, "We visited the Crystal Empire and Scootaloo admitted to telling Colgate about the possible existence of the gems and as far as what else she stole, she stole a black diamond, a diamond that is of pure evil."

Both monarch's sighed, "Oh?"

LaurFa continued, "Yes. I read in the prophecy book and it went into detail about a black diamond, one that would provide the bearer with a great amount of power. It went on about how a tower in the east would unleash a wrath upon this world and I have a feeling that is warning us about Colgate."

Cosmos asked, "You wouldn't happen to have this book with you, would you?"

LaurFa replied, "Well no. It is in Faustica and I figured that we could all go over it together after we get Blue Star."

Galaxia looked at them and asked, "Ok, you said all of us. What about the royalty from Unicornia and what happened with Scootaloo? Did she run off to Colgate to warn her or what?"

LaurFa replied, "Regarding Scootaloo, she has betrayed Colgate and has joined our side. Assuming she was not caught, she went and notified the royals in Unicornia and hopefully they will be arriving in Faustica in a couple days time."

Galaxia and Cosmos both nodded before Galaxia asked, "Ok, you want us to have all the global leaders outside of Colgate in Faustica for this meeting. When is it that you would want us to depart?"

Cosmos suggested, "Personally I think we need to get a couple days rest before we fly out to Neigh Zealand because not only will it be an extremely long flight but we will also have to chart the right path so that there will be islands for us to land on and rest when it is needed."

While Luna and her company were hoping to get going right away, they could understand why they thought it would be best if they waited a couple of days. LaurFa replied, "Very well but once we can get going, I think we should."

After their meeting, things again became more stressful between all of them. Luna knew that she had made a big mistake and one of the things that the monarchs loved most were their citizens. Although Luna is their daughter, they still couldn't understand why she would fly something as unstable as an airship into an area that is almost always windy.

Detaining Her Prisoners

As Colgate and her soldiers were getting their prisoners back to the tower, Colgate began to think more in-depth about what she wanted to do and perhaps what she would need to study to do so. She had extremely dark plans for Twilight and her friends and she also had plans for the pegasi but for them, she realized that she may have only one option. She would have to learn how to repair the Rainbow of Darkness to transform them into the beasts she desired.

Once they arrived, Colgate and her soldiers took her prisoners down to the dungeon and once they arrived, Colgate discovered that she did not have enough cells to hold them all. While there was only one bed in each cell, Colgate decided that multiple ponies would have to share one. She thought to herself, "Oh well, they are prisoners. I'm running a dungeon here, not a high end hotel."

When all her captives noticed that there were not enough cells for all of them, all of them were not thrilled. Rainbow yelled, "First you capture us and now you don't have enough cells for all of us?"

Colgate turned to Dark Night and ordered, "Get me some horn caps. I can not have them teleporting out of here once I free them from these cages."

Dark Night did as ordered and again her captives began to object to her plans. Fluttershy yelled, "What are you going to do to us? Why did you take Twilight when she has passed long ago when YOU killed her?"

Colgate snapped, "Look, I did what I had to do to save this whole world. Had I spared her, she would have enslaved you, all of you!"

Rainbow asked, "But why us? Why these pegasi?" She looked over towards Scootaloo and yelled, "And why is Scootaloo locked up? Why would you do that to your ally?"

Colgate yelled, "Because she betrayed me and regarding all of you, all of you will be my instruments to bring about misery to this miserable, pathetic world."

Rainbow gasped, "What, path....."

Before she could finish her sentence, Dark Night returned with the horn caps. Colgate levitated one to herself and began, "Now where should I start? Shall I go with the arrogant one, the tyrant, the diva, the mare-foal or the workhorse?"

Out of all of them, at one time Fluttershy was fiercely loyal to her so she grabbed her cage and said, "You know something, at one time you were loyal to me but then you turned on me so it shall be you first."

Colgate freed her from the cage but before she could react, Colgate quickly put a horn cap on her. She then wanted to see how her friends would react to seeing their friend being punished. She grabbed a whip and began to strike Fluttershy violently. She yelled, "This is what you get for betraying me! This is what tyrants deserve! Nopony betrays the Goddess of Terror, NOPONY!"

Fluttershy was crying loudly but would quickly be interrupted when Rarity heard what she referred to herself as. She yelled, "Goddess of Terror?"

Colgate stopped whipping Fluttershy, turned to Rarity and replied, "Yes Rarity, the Goddess of Terror. It is my job to bring about terror and misery upon this world and YOU SIX will assist me with this."

Rarity asked, "You six?"

Colgate pulled her cage close to her and growled, "Yes, you six. The five of you must suffer dearly and as far as Twilight goes, she shall be resurrected and you five will be bound to her." She then began to laugh, "Then she shall be unquestionably subservient to me, as will all of you."

Rainbow was the first to object, "No, we will not be subservient to you! None of us will!" She then turned to her soldiers and pleaded, "Can't any of you see that this is wrong?"

Rarity added, "I know all of you have served her for ages but can't you see she......."

Colgate approached Rarity, removed her from the cage and immediately put a horn cap on her. She then began to whip her violently and screamed, "Don't you dare you little wretch! Don't you dare try and poison their minds. They are loyal to me and no other!"

As Colgate continued to whip Rarity, one would have no more of it. Dark Night fired energy at the whip, breaking Colgate's hold on it. He stood in front of Rarity and yelled, "No more. No longer can I be part of this. You have turned into the very thing you fought against for so long."

Lightning Storm stood next to his fellow general and added, "Nor will I. Colgate, ever since you ate Twilight's heart something hasn't been right but since your return from Midnight Castle, you have become a monster."

Dark Night continued, "I know of your plans. I know you wish to do things that will make what Twilight did look like nothing. She wanted subservience and tribute, you want to bring about misery, terror and darkness upon this world."

With the exception of Colgate, the drones and the hoofsoldiers, everypony gasped. Applejack was the first to speak, "What? Y'all want to bring that upon this world?"

Colgate grabbed her cage, removed her and placed a horn cap on her before replying, "Yes. Outside of Coastal Equestria, everypony in this world is deserving of it."

Pinkie asked, "But why? Why are they deserving of it?"

Colgate did the same with Pinkie, smacked her and snapped, "It should not matter to any of you now. Soon you will all be bound to me and no other." She turned to her generals and added, "And because of your recent actions, I am hereby declaring both of you traitors and your punishment will be far more severe."

She levitated the two to her and placed horn caps on them before finally doing the same with Rainbow. Before her stood five ponies who were betrayed by Twilight at one time and the two individuals that she never imagined that she would have to discipline, much less deem traitors, General Dark Night and General Lightning Storm.

After having horn caps on all of them, she forced Dark Night and Lightning Storm into the same cell as Scootaloo. To punish them further, she forced all of Twilight's old friends into a single cell and then placed three of the pegasi in one cell and the other three in another. Once she had them locked up, she grabbed Twilight's casket and ordered her hoofsoldiers upstairs. As they saw their friend's casket being hauled out of the dungeon, they couldn't help but wonder what she had planned.

Rainbow asked, "Colgate, what the hay are you doing now? Where the hay are you taking Twilight?"

Colgate gave her a smirk and laughed, "Oh you'll see! Oh yes, you'll see!"

At that moment, Colgate felt betrayed. Ever since Colgate overthrew Twilight the first time, Dark Night and Lightning Storm had been loyal to her and now all of a sudden they were questioning her and to her, that was disloyalty. She knew that she could always cast another loyalty spell on them but realized that perhaps the time had come to simply replace them or given what she planned on doing, go without changeling and dark Alicorn officers altogether.

Now that she had enough pegasi captured to become what she wanted, had Twilight's corpse along with her friends along with three others, the time had come to not only do a massive amount of studying, but to create something that will terrorize one nation in particular, Equestria.

Birth of the Witch Queen of Marentreal

After she left the dungeon, Colgate was irate. Never did she imagine that the generals that had served her for so long, well decorated generals that could have retired many, many millennia ago would turn on her the way they did. She knew that with their betrayal, that her next plans would need to be set in motion much, much sooner than she initially planned.

Before she would go to the archives, she headed up to her chambers to tap into the eye, taking Twilight with her. As she set Twilight's casket down next to her bed and began to scan the world she laughed, "Don't you miss this Twily? Don't you miss being able to spy on everypony?" She then kicked the casket and laughed, "What's that, you do?" Her laugh became more manic as she continued, "Well too bad, I'm the only pony with that ability now!"

She then began to scan the world and noticed that the royalty from Unicornia had reached the coast and were snacking on the apples that had been growing there for so long. She then began to scan other areas and noticed nothing out of the ordinary until she looked off to the southeast, towards Ridead.

She began to laugh when she noticed that Luna's airship had crashed into some houses and that there were fatalities. Colgate laughed, "Ha! That's what Galaxia and Cosmos deserve for distrusting me!" She began jumping up and down around the room and exclaimed, "Now this is a great day! Hopefully it will crush their precious little hearts!"

After a minute of celebration, Colgate grabbed Twilight's casket in her aura and continued, "And now my Dear Twilight, the time has come to resurrect you, corrupt you and make you completely and unquestionably subservient to me!"

Colgate carried her casket down into the very back of the archives, back where the Midnight Castle collection and artifacts were located. She knew that this was going to take quite some time to figure out how to do this. She also knew that the spell to resurrect Twilight into what she wanted her to be would require a vastly different spell than the one she used to resurrect Ruby.

She began to go through the collection from the very start. In those she found some of the most ancient of the dark spells but would not find anything she was looking for. As she continued to look through the more recent books, still nothing. Once she finished going through the final book she still found nothing. She threw her hooves up in the air and grunted, "Great, just great. I'm going to have to write my own magic."

Colgate was initially irritated by this but soon she figured that it would likely be for the best because it would be something that she would have complete and absolute control of. Another thing she knew was that for what she wanted to do, it may be best if she ate a substantial meal first and then did it outside where any amounts of energy discharged from it would not do any damage to the tower.

After eating a hearty meal, Colgate returned to the archives to grab the one thing that she wanted her newest creation to be bound to, the twisted mask that she found at Midnight Castle along with her sabre in the event she were to need some sort of blood sacrifice to finish it.

She took Twilight's casket along with the mask and sabre out to the same area where she fused the black diamond into herself. She stood there wondering how she was going to do this. She knew what kind of energies to put into it but it was the words that would be a challenge for her, especially given that she had never written any black magic before.

She stood there and suddenly the words came to her,

"A long time ago the dark one fell in defeat,
in this defeat her heart became meat.
In her life she had plenty of free will,
In her new form though, her free will shall be nil.

The darkness that flowed through her was great,
Yet the darkness she had sealed her fate.
What she needs is something darker still,
something that will fit her Master's bill.

The Dark Goddess she was in life,
in life she caused much strife.
A new title she shall now receive,
a title that will never deceive.

A new life she shall now own,
By her Master her path shall be shown.
No longer the Dark Goddess she shall be,
the Witch Queen is now what all will see.

The power of the Witch Queen shall be great,
Those she faces shall suffer a terrible fate.
While her power will be strong,
It is to the Goddess of Terror she shall belong.

Absolute subservience to me is a must,
For without it all will be a bust.
While her attacks will be great,
It shall always be her Master who holds her fate."

After the words came to her, something seemed right about them. In her mind, it felt like it would work. She then decided to open the casket and remove the decayed body of Twilight. The very moment she opened the casket, a horrid smell came flowing out, a smell so horrid it caused Colgate to gag. She had never smelled anything worse in her long life yet she knew that it was something she would have to put up with if she was to go through with her plan.

She levitated Twilight's remains out of the casket and sat them on the ground. She noticed that the rib cage was broken open and that brought back so many fond memories. It brought back memories of her leading the effort to defeat the two centaurs, memories of her torturing the Dark Goddess in the moments leading up to her death, memories of feasting on her heart and memories of claiming the two broken rainbows as her own.

Something then began to cross her mind, to truly pour her wickedness into what would soon become the Witch Queen, a blood sacrifice would be necessary. She grabbed her sabre, cut her chest and allowed some of her blood to drip down onto the blade. She then allowed the blood to drip from the sabre onto the skull of the remains. As she continued to bleed, she continued the process until the bleeding stopped.

She then placed the mask over the skull and readied herself to cast the spell. A black aura formed around her horn and soon she became encircled in a black orb. She pointed her horn down and released energy into the corpse and recited,

"A long time ago the dark one fell in defeat,
in this defeat her heart became meat.
In her life she had plenty of free will,
In her now form though, her free will shall be nil.

The darkness that flowed through her was great,
Yet the darkness she had sealed her fate.
What she needs is something darker still,
something that will fit her Master's bill.

The Dark Goddess she was in life,
in life she caused much strife.
A new title she shall now receive,
a title that will never deceive.

A new life she shall now own,
By her Master her path shall be shown.
No longer the Dark Goddess she shall be,
the Witch Queen is now what all will see.

The power of the Witch Queen shall be great,
Those she faces shall suffer a terrible fate.
While her power will be strong,
It is to the Goddess of Terror she shall belong.

Absolute subservience to me is a must,
For without it all will be a bust.
While her attacks will be great,
It shall always be her Master who holds her fate."

Once she recited the spell, the remains of Twilight began to levitate and became encircled in a dark lavender orb, similar to the black one that encircled Colgate. Inside the orb a new being was being born, not one of a true flesh and blood pony but one of evil, the same evil Colgate had poured into her.

When the orb finally popped, down floated what appeared to be an Alicorn, an Alicorn wearing a mask that appeared as a pony with a distorted face. Colgate began to inspect the figure and would be pleased when she saw the cutie mark. It was what Twilight's was yet it had blood dripping from it. What made Colgate the happiest though is that it was inside a much larger cutie mark, her cutie mark.

In the eyes of Colgate, this was a success. She believed that this was a sign that her creation would be unquestionably loyal to her but she wanted to make sure. She turned to the figure and asked, "Who are you?"

In a raspy voice the figure replied, "I am the Witch Queen of Marentreal."

Colgate asked, "And whom do you serve?"

The Witch Queen hissed, "I serve Colgate, the Goddess of Terror and no other."

Colgate smiled, "Good, now follow me."

Colgate led her new creation into the dungeon where she would be introduced to her prisoners. When they saw her they all shrieked in terror at what they saw. While they knew that what stood by Colgate's side was supposed to be Twilight, they knew it wasn't. Colgate smiled at the five and said, "Ladies, let me be the first to introduce you to who you shall all be bound, the Witch Queen of Marentreal."

The Witch Queen approached the five and gave them a snarl. Rainbow was the first to ask, "Wait a minute, is that Twilight?"

Colgate laughed, "Used to be and soon you all shall become like her. Yes you will not be as powerful but still, you will serve much more use to this world than you do now."

Rainbow gasped, "No, we will not serve more use, all we will do is be instruments of yours to destroy it!"

Colgate turned to the Witch Queen and ordered, "While a great amount of terror you shall unleash later, for now your job is to watch them all."

The Witch Queen hissed, "Yes Master."

Colgate turned the other way and left the dungeon. She felt as though the past few days were successful beyond her wildest dreams. Not only had she created the lead Witch Pony that would be only second to her in power, but one that would lead an attack on the place that Twilight once called home.

Last Meeting in Ridead

Two days had passed and the sun was rising over Ridead. The first to wake were not the monarchs but Celestia, Luna and LaurFa as they were ready to get going. The three headed down to the dining hall and waited for Galaxia and Cosmos to get up so they could eat and get going. While they were waiting they began to wonder what happened with Scootaloo and the royalty from Unicornia.

LaurFa was the first to say anything, "So do you think Scootaloo and the royalty from Unicornia made it out of Coastal Equestria ok?"

Luna replied, "I certainly hope so. With the way she feels towards all three of them now, being caught would not bode well for them."

Celestia added, "Especially Scootaloo. I know Colgate thinks of her as a daughter and if she got caught, Colgate would likely deem it as the worst form of treason and probably torture......"

Before she could finish her statement Galaxia and Cosmos arrived in the dining hall. Galaxia asked, "What about treason and torture?"

Celestia replied, "We were just talking about what might happen to Scootaloo if she were caught in Coastal Equestria notifying the royalty from Unicornia."

Galaxia commented, "I could see that but enough of the negativity. Let's eat and then get set off for Prancington. It is a horribly long flight to Neigh Zealand."

Everypony agreed and after ordering their breakfast, they sat down and continued their discussion. Cosmos asked, "LaurFa, I know it is a long trip but isn't there some other way to get to Neigh Zealand other than wearing our wings half to death?"

Galaxia suggested, "I know it will take a very long time but maybe we should take the royal ship. I can get it well stocked and our trip will be much more pleasant than flying ourselves to death."

LaurFa was not thrilled with the idea of taking a slow ship given the nature of the situation but decided to see what everypony else thought. She sighed, "Very well, we shall do this by a vote. Everypony in favor of going by ship raise your hooves."

LaurFa would not be thrilled when she saw that everypony raised their hooves. She threw her hooves up in the air and sighed, "Very well." She pointed her wing at Galaxia and Cosmos and said, "Well you better get your ship stocked for two weeks at least for the five of us."

The two nodded and headed to stock the ship. Once they had left LaurFa decided to see why the Royal Pony Sisters would choose such an inefficient way of traveling. She asked, "Celestia, Luna, why is it that you don't care that it will take forever for us to get to Neigh Zealand when flying would be so much quicker?"

Celestia knew about LaurFa's less than pleasant trip from Faustica to Equestria. She asked in return, "LaurFa, if I remember correctly you had to fly to Equestria in a rather nasty storm and it took you a lot longer than it normally would have."

Luna added, "And it is far longer from here to Neigh Zealand and none of us want to have to fly in nasty storms."

After doing a minute of thinking, LaurFa realized that everypony made a point when it came to the distance flying. She commented, "You do make a point Celestia. I remember that trip from Faustica and I suppose I'm in such a hurry that my unpleasant journey didn't even cross my mind."

Both nodded in agreement when Galaxia and Cosmos returned. LaurFa felt bad over how she had reacted earlier and apologized, "I would like to apologize to you two. Celestia helped me realize that flying that far for that long would not be in our best interests." She focused more on Galaxia and continued, "So how long will it be until the ship is ready?"

Galaxia replied, "Give it a couple hours and it should be ready. For now though I think we should just sit back and relax."

Two hours had passed and the ship was finally ready to set sail. Galaxia and Cosmos returned once the ship was stocked. Galaxia announced, "Alright everypony, the ship is ready, let's get going. We have a long voyage ahead of us."

Everypony nodded and they headed towards the ship. As they stepped on board, Cosmos got a case of the shivers and LaurFa noticed this. She asked, "Cosmos, what is wrong? What was up with you shivering?"

Cosmos replied, "I don't know, I just have a bad feeling about this voyage. I have a bad feeling that a great terror awaits us."

LaurFa said, "Well hopefully everything will be fine. If things start to get bad, we can just get under the deck and ride it out."

Cosmos replied, "I certainly hope so."

Once the ship left port, most everypony began to casually chit-chat and talk about the future and about how they are certain that if Colgate tried anything, that together every world leader would be able to take her on, bring her down and end the chances of Colgate causing any harm to the world.

Cosmos on the other hoof, couldn't help but wonder if the others were too laid back to things that could happen. He knew of Colgate's powers, he remembered the super storm that she summoned so long ago against her enemies. He also knew that her magic was much better now and that anything was possible.

Planning Her First Terror

Repairing the Rainbow of Darkness

A new morning arrived and like she had for many, many millennia the first thing Colgate did when she woke up was tap into the eye. As she began to scan the world, everything seemed to be normal until she noticed that Ruby and White Magick were approaching Faustica. She couldn't help but laugh, "Oh just wait you two. You may think you'll be safe out there but from that island, there shall be no escape from my wrath, no escape!"

She then continued to scan the world and would be pleasantly surprised when she took a look at Ridead. She saw that all the royals were going to go to Neigh Zealand by ship rather than flying. She knew that the time had come to continue with her plans to unleash terror upon then and given the time it took to sail, she knew that doing so would be easy. As she continued to monitor them, she listened in and heard Cosmos voicing his concerns about what could happen. Colgate laughed, "Oh Cosmos, you're going to face a terror alright, a terror this world has never seen before!"

After tapping into the eye, Colgate headed down to the dining hall for some breakfast. It felt odd to her, having breakfast alone instead of having her generals with her. Unlike it would have been in the past, it did not bring out any sadness in her, she did what she had to do the day before and realized that with them locked up, there would be nopony to try and talk her out of going through with her plans.

After eating a filling breakfast, Colgate knew what she had to do next. She knew that she would have to try and repair the Rainbow of Darkness before she could use it on one of the pegasi and then cast a growth spell. As she headed into the back of the archives, she immediately started looking in the absolute oldest part of the archives to see how it was created to start with.

It would not be long until she would find it and would be shocked that like it was with Grogar's collar, it was the witches of the Volcano of Gloom that created it. She said to herself, "Good grief, did those three make all the dark artifacts of the past?"

She grabbed the Rainbow and began to focus intently on the book. She read through the spell but realized that what was in there was the one to create the Rainbow, not fix it. She continued to flip through the book and found nothing. Initially she was frustrated but then realized that perhaps it would not be such a bad thing. She knew that this way, she could pour her own energy into it, make it better and have more control over it.

Like she had done with fusing the black diamond into herself and resurrecting Twilight, she took the broken relic and got a decent distance away from the tower as she did not want to cause any damage to her home. She set the relic down, grasped it in her aura and began to concentrate on what she believed would work. Eventually the words came to her,

"The pouch is broken and that can not be,
Streaks of gray and black are what everypony should see.
Darkness is what this world needs,
Yet a broken pouch can not provide the seeds.

The pouch must come to be of use once more,
With it the beasts shall return that are of long lost lore.
Now the Rainbow shall return,
And to exact revenge it shall be my turn."

She fired a bolt of energy at the pouch and it became encircled in a black orb. Once the orb dissipated, the pouch dropped to the ground and Colgate took a look at it. The pouch itself had been repaired but was the Rainbow of Darkness restored. She put the pouch around her neck, the same way that Tirac wore it and decided to find out. She looked around and saw a small rabbit off in the distance and decided to see if it had worked.

She pointed the pouch towards the rabbit and opened it. Just like it did when Tirac used it, a gray and black rainbow came from it and struck the rabbit. When Colgate closed the pouch she would be pleasantly surprised by what she saw. The rabbit had turned into an ugly little beast. Colgate soon realized that her newest creation did not have her best interests in mind as it bore its teeth and came after her.

Colgate took to the sky, grabbed the little beast in her aura and fired a powerful bolt of energy at it, blowing it apart. Colgate landed and realized that she would have to add a second spell to make whatever she used it on to make them loyal to her rather than wanting to make a meal out of her. She knew of the spells of old but believed that the creatures she would be creating would only respond to her own spells, much darker spells.

A New Creation

Once Colgate knew that the Rainbow of Darkness had been restored, she then realized that the time had come to use the Rainbow and test a loyalty and growth spell on a pegasus so the Witch Queen would have a beast to get herself out to the ship the royals were sailing on. When she got to the dungeon, she saw the Witch Queen following orders and guarding her prisoners.

As she opened one of the cells and began to drag the largest, strongest looking stallion with her. Her captives couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Rainbow yelled, "What are you doing with him? What are you going to do with that pegasus?"

Rarity added, "And Tirac's pouch, how did you fix it?"

Colgate approached them, burned them with some energy and yelled, "Do not question me! You will find out soon enough." She then approached the Witch Queen and continued, "Soon this shall be your mode of transport. Once I get done what needs to be done, you'll have your beast."

The Witch Queen hissed, "Yes Master."

Colgate nodded and grabbed the pegasus in her aura. As she was carrying him outside he began to yell, "What are you doing with me? What do you mean I'll be that dark creature's mode of transport?"

Colgate laughed, "Oh you'll find out soon enough. For now though, just enjoy your last moments of imperfection."

The pegasus continued to scream at Colgate as she took him out to the same place where she had cast many of her dark spells. She continued to hold him in her aura and tried her best to block out the din of his yelling while she focused on what would work for a spell to transform him into what she wanted.

She stood there for over ten minutes thinking until she felt as though she had the right spell. Given that she already had the pegasus with her, she knew that she simply couldn't set him down and try it out on another creature. She cast her gaze at her captive and said to herself, "Well here goes nothing."

She intensified her hold on him and recited,

"The pony is currently loyal to none,
That is something that simply can not be done.
His loyalty to me is a must,
Without it all shall be a bust.

His loyalty now belongs to me,
Yet his size must be large for all to see.
A large beast is what he shall be,
One which is loyal to me and only me."

She opened the pouch and fired a bolt of energy at the pegasus. She would be pleasantly surprised as she saw him transform from a regular pony into a beast that was large, very large. She approached the beast and closely inspected it. She patted it on the nose and said, "You'll be perfect, absolutely perfect." She flew up on its back and ordered, "To the tower, your primary rider awaits."

The beast took off and it did not take long for it to arrive at the tower where Colgate would order, "Land here."

The beast did as ordered and Colgate headed into the tower to get her other creation, the creation that would ride the beast. She headed to the dungeon, grabbed her and ordered her up to her chambers. Once she arrived, she tapped into the eye to see exactly where her enemies were. After focusing on them for a minute, she projected two images in front of the Witch Queen.

She pointed to the first one, a map. She said, "This area right here should be where they will be by the time you reach that area." She then pointed to the other, "You see this pony, the one with two bright stars on his flank? That is the one I want you to acquire and bring him back unspoiled." She then laughed, "After we get all the information from him we can, then your new companion shall have a tasty meal."

The Witch Queen asked, "Tasty meal?"

Colgate pointed her wing downstairs and said, "Yes. Now follow me and you shall meet this companion."

She followed Colgate downstairs and then outside where she would meet her new companion and was impressed. Colgate approached the beast and said, "This is the Witch Queen of Marentreal. She shall be your Master when I am not around."

The beast growled in approval. Colgate then cast her gaze at the Witch Queen and ordered, "That ship, go and attack it. That dark blue stallion, bring him to me."

The Witch Queen nodded, mounted her new companion and took off to the southeast. Colgate couldn't help but smile as she saw this. She wasn't sure exactly how long it would take but knew that her creations would easily reach the ship before it reached its destination. She also knew that she would have the other five ready when she returned so she could begin planning for the ultimate attack, the attack that would bring her foes to their knees begging for mercy.

The First Terror

Three days had passed since LaurFa and her companions had departed Ridead and so far, their journey had been stress free. The weather had been fine, the seas had been calm and most importantly, there had been no tension among them at all. LaurFa remembered how Cosmos had a case of the shivers prior to their departure and said that he had a bad feeling. She approached him and asked, "Cosmos, remember how you had a bad feeling that something bad was going to happen?"

Cosmos still felt a bit nervous but he really didn't want to bring it up. He replied, "Well not really........."

He then got a case of the shivers, one that was much worse than what he experienced when they were setting sail, it was bad enough that it was clearly visible to LaurFa. She asked, "What was that about? It is probably 80 degrees out here, if not warmer!"

Cosmos replied, "I don't know what it is but I'm feeling it again. I'm feeling it that something bad is going to happen TODAY. Something that nopony would ever expect, something that will be unprecedented."

Given that everything had been going fine with their voyage she dismissed him, "Oh everything is going to be fine. Just calm down, alright?"

Cosmos was not thrilled that she would simply dismiss him the way she did so he headed to the back of the ship to seek some solitude while LaurFa headed to the front where she would join the rest of the monarchs. Celestia was the first to notice that her father was not with her. She asked, "LaurFa, where is my father. I thought he would be joining you."

LaurFa sighed, "Oh he had another case of the shivers and is now worried that something bad is going to happen, again. He thinks that something unprecedented is going to happen today."

Galaxia knew that Cosmos could get paranoid from time to time but normally it was just over trivial things. She replied, "Well hopefully it isn't anything too bad. I know he gets paranoid but I doubt we have anything serious to work about."

Celestia however was not in the same mindset, "Look, just because he often times gets paranoid does not mean that it is nothing to worry about." She saw looks of amusement from them and yelled, "Forget it, I'm going to go check on dad."

She stormed to the back of the ship to join her father. When she arrived, it looked like he was watching the horizon, almost like he was expecting something. She asked, "Dad, are you ok?"

Cosmos replied, "Not really. I have a bad feeling something may happen to us and LaurFa treats me like I'm just worrying over nothing." He raised his voice and continued, "I know my paranoia is often times unwarranted but this time things just don't feel right."

Celestia headed to the edge of the deck and cast her gaze towards the horizon as well. As she continued to watch she couldn't help but feel the same. She commented, "You know dad, things don't feel right. I don't know if Colgate is going to cast some sort of spell to summon a storm or what."

Cosmos countered, "Could be but what I feel like is going to happen will be unprecedented!" He became more paranoid and continued, "What if he resurrected some villain from the past and is sending them this way?"

Celestia initially snickered a bit until her father yelled, "So you don't believe me either?" He raised his voice further and continued, "Do you not remember how Colgate resurrected Ruby? Do you not remember how she knows necromancy spells?"

When he brought up the necromancy, it made Celestia think. She asked, "Who do you think she would have resurrected? Would it have been Grogar, Tirac or Tirek?"

Cosmos replied, "Well without his collar Grogar is harmless and without that Rainbow of Darkness, Tirac is harmless and I don't think she would risk resurrecting Tirek, he is simply too dangerous."

Celestia asked, "Who then....." She then saw something dark on the horizon. She pointed her wing towards the northwest and asked, "Dad, what is that?"

Cosmos stared at the approaching object and knew it wasn't something to be messed with. He knew it was something they would have to hide from. He yelled, "Run Celestia! We have to get everypony under deck!"

The two rushed towards the front of the deck and Cosmos yelled, "Everypony under deck! Something is coming, something horrible, something deadly!"

LaurFa couldn't help but chuckle, "Seriously Cosmos? I know you get paranoid but this is ridi....."

*SHRIEK!*

When they heard the shriek, they realized that Cosmos was right. They knew that they had best get into the cabin. As they were rushing into the cabin, a bolt of dark lavender energy struck Celestia, knocking her to the ground. Celestia was able to recover quickly and got into the cabin and shut the door. Celestia was in a great amount of pain and cried, "What happened, what was that?"

LaurFa looked out of the windshield and saw a large dark gray beast and what appeared to be a pony riding on it. She replied, "I don't know but it is something that I've never seen......" She then turned towards Celestia and gasped, "Celestia, it is HER!"

Celestia, still in pain, cried out, "Who? Who is her?"

LaurFa pointed at Celestia's burn mark and was shocked by what she saw. It was a six pointed star. Celestia saw it and was terrified, "It's Twilight! How can it be Twilight, she has been dead for 5,000 years!"

LaurFa replied, "Celestia, Colgate resurrected Ruby after five thousand years so she probably......"

She stopped talking when they felt the ship being lifted out of the water. Cosmos looked out the windshield and saw that the ship was grasped in a dark lavender aura, one similar to what Twilight's was in her last days, only darker. He said, "I don't know what's going to happen but we need to be ready." He pointed towards Celestia and continued, "You most of all. I am pretty sure she will do anything she can to terrify you before doing whatever it is she has planned."

Before she could reply the boat began to spin, causing them to get thrown around inside the cabin. Not only were they slamming into the walls, they were also slamming into one another. After what felt like forever to them, the spinning stopped but they could tell the ship was falling. They couldn't help but wonder if they were going to crash on land or fall into the ocean.

Finally they crashed on a small island. As it hit the ground, the ship broke into many, many pieces and everypony was exposed. Initially they thought that maybe Twilight would stop at simply destroying their ship until they heard another shriek. The approaching Witch Queen was not their only problem as they saw something moving under the ground. LaurFa yelled, "Its a Tatzlwurm! Get airborne!"

Despite the huge beast and Twilight being in the area, all but one of them took to the air. Cosmos had got up but couldn't get his wings to work. Galaxia screamed, "Get off the ground honey, it's going to eat you."

Cosmos yelled, "I can't my wings......"

He let out a scream as the worm surfaced and grabbed him with tentacles. As it began to pull him into its mouth he yelled, "Help me!"

The others took to the sky and began to blast the worm's tentacles with their energy, temporarily freeing him but the worm was not about to give it's meal up that easily. It again grabbed him and quickly pulled him in, head first. The other Alicorns continued to fire energy at it but would be surprised by what would happen next, the worm was pulled out of the ground and ripped open by the beast.

They knew that Cosmos was likely a lost cause so they tried to run away but would be stopped when the remains of the worm were dropped in front of them. When the worm hit the ground, it split open but it was too late for Cosmos, he had already passed. All of them were devastated, especially Celestia as she began to cry in agony.

Finally the beast landed in front of them and the pony riding it dismounted and approached them. The very first one she approached was Celestia. She hissed, "Well, well, well, what do we have here." She pulled out her sword and laughed, "Same old crybaby Celestia, wah-wah-wah!"

Celestia looked up at the figure that approached her and cried, "Twilight, is that you under that mask?"

The pony turned to the right and showed her her cutie mark. Celestia would be terrified by what she saw. While she did see Twilight's cutie mark, it was inside a much larger cutie mark, that of Colgate. She asked, "How Twilight, how did this happen?"

The figure moved its sword closer to her and hissed, "No longer am I Twilight. I am the Witch Queen of Marentreal, servant of Colgate, The Goddess of Terror."

All of them gasped, "The Goddess of Terror?"

The Witch Queen laughed, "Yes, the Goddess of terror." She saw that Cosmos had been killed by the worm and grunted in frustration. She knew that Colgate was not going to be pleased with her when she returned without the one Colgate wanted. She then turned to Celestia and hissed, "And now to do what I should have done ages ago!" She pointed her horn at Celestia and hissed, "I should never have let you go into exile that night in Canterlot, I should have destroyed you!"

The Witch Queen let out a loud shriek as she plunged the sword straight into Celestia's abdomen. She let out an agonizing cry of pain but the sword would be pulled out when Galaxia was able to grasp it out of the Witch's aura. Galaxia, LaurFa and Luna all began to fire energy at the Witch Queen. The Queen was not sure exactly what to do given that Cosmos was the only one her Master wanted so she grabbed her sword, mounted her beast and took off back towards the black tower.

Once she was gone, the remaining three rushed to Celestia and saw that her solid white coat had begun to go pale and that her mane had lost its normal wavy appearance. LaurFa put her hoof to her forehead and said, "She's been stabbed by a cursed blade."

Galaxia asked, "What's going to happen to her, what's going to happen to my daughter?"

Luna added, "Do you know some sort of healing magic to save her?"

LaurFa saw that there was a cave not too far away so she grabbed Celestia in her aura and ordered everypony in. Once they got into the cave, LaurFa sat Celestia down and replied, "I do know some healing magic but what she has been stabbed by was of pure black magic. It is going to take everything I know to save her."

LaurFa knew that this was going to be a challenge, a challenge that she was not sure that she would be able to complete. As she began to wonder how she was going to do this, Celestia laid before her continuing to cry out in pain, growing paler and growing colder. One thing LaurFa did know was that if she didn't get Celestia healed before too long, that she would become dark and corrupted, just like the Witch that stabbed her.

Dark Creations

Deadly Sacrifices

After the Witch Queen took off to go and attack LaurFa and her envoy, Colgate decided the time had come to transform the others. She had plans to transform them the same way she did Twilight but that would mean one thing, five deaths would have to occur along with five blood sacrifices. Colgate was a bit hungry so she figured that one meal would be a good start. After doing some deep thought on which one she would sacrifice first, she headed to the dungeon.

When she arrived, everypony began to yell at her until she flared up her horn in anger and yelled, "Shut up, all of you." She approached their cells and continued, "Unless you shut up, I will do something to you and you most certainly will not like it!"

The whole dungeon went quiet until Colgate opened one of the cell doors and drug Fluttershy out of it. Everypony began to yell and ask what her plans for the yellow Alicorn were and again Colgate flared up her horn and the whole dungeon again went quiet. Colgate had such a tight hold on Fluttershy that she was unable to speak. Colgate cast her gaze at her and thought out loud, "Now where should I do this? Should I do this here? Should I do it in the archives?" She then laughed, "I've got it! I'll do this in the dining hall!"

She carried the struggling Fluttershy to the dining hall and when they arrived, she slammed Fluttershy into the floor so hard she broke one of her wings. Fluttershy cried out, "Why Colgate, why? Why are you doing this?"

Colgate kicked her in the head and laughed, "So I can unleash a never before seen wrath upon this miserable world." Her voice became more intense as she continued, "Those other leaders want to distrust me, I'll give them a reason to distrust me!"

Before Fluttershy could respond, Colgate pounced on her and immediately began to eat the flesh off of her abdomen. Fluttershy was kicking and screaming as Colgate continued to feast on her flesh until she had revealed the rib cage and the organs that lie beneath. She figured that it would be best if Fluttershy wound up dying exactly like Twilight did, being eaten alive.

Despite being weakened by the ordeal, Fluttershy was able to throw her captor off of her. She yelled, "No, this will not happen. I will not allow you to do to me what you did to Twilight."

Colgate returned to kneeling over her and began to punch her violently. She screamed, "You do not tell me what will or what will not happen you little rat!" She leaned down, broke Fluttershy's rib cage open and screamed, "After I'm done with you, I shall have your allegiance, I will OWN you just like I OWN Twilight!"

The pain was horrible for Fluttershy. It was the type of pain that she never imagined was possible. Colgate bent her head down into her chest cavity, grabbed her heart in her aura and laughed, "Any last words?"

Fluttershy screamed, "You will not get away with this! Even though you have that black gem in you and that crazy collar, LaurFa will......."

Colgate was in no mood to hear what she had to say so she ripped her heart out with her teeth and quickly consumed it. She stared down at the remains and laughed, "What was that Flutters? What was that you were saying?" She then smacked her face and continued, "Must not have been important since you went silent."

Colgate wanted her other captives to know something bad had happened but not exactly. She left her remains in the dining hall and returned to the dungeon to get her next victim. When she returned they all saw her face was covered in blood. They had seen this before and knew exactly what happened. Rainbow was the first to comment, "Why the hay would you kill Fluttershy?"

Pinkie added, "Yeah, Fluttershy didn't do anything to you."

Colgate gave the remaining four an intense look and asked, "Who wants to go next? Who wishes to become much more than you currently are? Who wishes to be perfected?"

All four began to protest what she was doing so she decided to take the one she considered the most mouthy, Rainbow. She grabbed her in her aura and growled, "Come with me little rat, your time has come. The time has come for your transitioning into something much more useful to me."

Colgate dragged Rainbow up to the dining hall and she would be horrified by what she saw. There before her was laying the ripped open, heartless corpse of her friend. She yelled, "You monster, how could yo do this?"

Colgate did the same thing with her that she did to Fluttershy, she slammed her so hard into the floor that she broke her wings. Colgate kicked her in the head and yelled, "I did it to make her useful to me! She could never be useful to me if I tried to transform her while she was alive."

Like she did with Fluttershy, she pounced on her and began to tear into her. Rainbow was stronger than Fluttershy was and was able to kick her captor off of her. For Colgate, this was unacceptable. She grabbed her by the head and began to slam it into the floor. She yelled, "That's it you little rat! I can not have such disobedience from you!"

Once she had given Rainbow a concussion, she resumed tearing into her. Given that Rainbow was not completely coherent, she was not as resistant once Colgate had broke her rib cage open and was readying herself to consume her heart. Colgate asked her if she had any last words but Rainbow had gone into shock and all she let out were a few moans.

Colgate grunted, "Nothing important apparently." She then ripped Rainbow's heart out with her teeth, causing Rainbow to let out one last scream. Colgate, like it was with Fluttershy, quickly consumed her heart and returned to the dungeon to ready the other three for their transformation.

When she returned, the remaining captives were not as loud as they knew what their fate was. They knew that Colgate was going to eat them alive and while Rarity and Pinkie had resigned themselves to their fate, Applejack had not, she wanted answers. She yelled, "Colgate, Ah want to know what y'all are doing with us? Why are y'all eating us alive?"

Colgate laughed, "Just like it was with Twilight, I can't perfect you unless I consume your heart while you are still alive."

Rarity then chimed in, "But why must you do this darling? Why must you 'perfect us' as you are calling it?"

Colgate again laughed, "So I can have what I need to punish those distrustful and ungrateful world leaders!" Pinkie then began to say something until Colgate yelled, "Just shut up already! This HAS to be done!"

Colgate then decided that she would just take care of the remaining three all at once. She grabbed them in her aura, slammed them in the wall a few times and gave them a concussion. Like she did the others, she also slammed them into the floor hard enough she broke their wings before taking them up to the dining hall and did what she needed to do for the next phase of their transition, ripped them open and consumed their hearts while they were still alive.

Once she had ate the hearts of all of them, she decided that she would get to work on transforming them into the same thing she did Twilight, black riders, witches of some sort. She began to think about the talents the five used to have and immediately thought about a role for what used to be Fluttershy, one that would involve creations that would have an insatiable appetite, ones that could feast on the flesh of those she wanted to wipe out.

For Fluttershy, it was easy for her to figure out. For the others, it was not so easy. She wanted to hurry up and get them transformed. She knew that she could handle all their roles later.

Birth of "The Witch of Beasts"

After making up her mind on how she would handle the role of each one, Colgate headed down into the archives to grab something very important, her sabre. Given that she had done a blood sacrifice when she created the Witch Queen, she knew that she would need to do the same with the other five.

Once she grabbed her sabre, she grabbed the bodies of the five and then took them outside to cast the proper spells to resurrect them into what she wanted. Like she had done with all the other spells she had cast, she took them up to the same spot she fused the black diamond into herself. She laid the bodies on the ground with several feet separating each one.

As she stood there readying herself to cast the first spell, she then remembered that when it came to Twilight, she already had her title ready and her role ready for her. She knew that this would take a while but the one she planned on resurrecting first was the one that at one time was an ally of hers, Fluttershy.

Before casting any kind of spell, Colgate took her sabre and cut herself, allowing blood to drip on it. She then allowed the blood to drip from the sabre onto Fluttershy's head. She continued to collect more blood and allow it to drop on the corpse until she quit bleeding. Once she felt enough had been sacrificed, she lit up her horn and recited,

"In life she was the sweet one,
those that she hated were none.
It was the animals that she loved most,
for all animals, great or small, she was a loving host.

During life she was both strong and weak,
She was something that many would seek,
While many loved the fact that she was meek,
For others, the stench of all that reeked.

The sweet innocence of her is no more,
the wrath she shall bring about will be something from lore.
In her youth she was young and sweet,
Yet that is something that anypony could beat.

Her new role will not be the same,
her past was really lame.
A master of the beasts she shall still be,
Yet the beasts shall be monsters for all to see.

In life free-will for her was a must,
in this new world all that will lead to a bust.
Her new form will be quite a sight to see,
In her new form she will be unquestionably loyal to me.

In her new form she shall be great,
In her new form she will spread a great amount of hate.
It is to The Goddess of Terror that her allegiance shall be,
For now it is the Witch of the Beasts that all shall see."

She then fired a powerful bolt of energy at the corpse. She continued to hold onto it as it rose and became encircled in a black orb. Colgate couldn't help but smile as the final process of transformation was finally happening. Colgate released her hold as the bubble burst and revealed the creature inside.

As the new Fluttershy floated to the ground, she was no longer what she once was. While she was still yellow, albeit a very dark yellow with a dull pink mane, what had transformed were her eyes. No longer did she have blue eyes like she did in life, what she had now were nothing but black pits, terrifying black pits. Colgate also ordered her newest creation to turn to its side and was thrilled by what she saw. Her creation still had Fluttershy's old cutie mark yet like it was with the Witch Queen, the mark was inside a much larger one, Colgate's.

Colgate approached her creation and asked, "Who are you and who are you loyal to?"

Her creation hissed, "I am the Witch of the Beasts and my loyalty belongs to Colgate, The Goddess of Terror."

Colgate smiled, "Good, very good." She pointed her wing towards the other corpses and added, "One down, four to go."

Birth of "The Witch of the Skies"

As she looked over the remaining four, it did not take her long to decide who to transform next, Rainbow. She approached the corpse and like she did with Fluttershy, she took her sabre, cut herself and allowed the blood to drip onto the sabre and then onto Rainbow's head. Colgate got a great amount of satisfaction with the blood sacrifices. She knew that with the sacrifices that her creations truly would be bound to her, she knew that their loyalty would be guaranteed.

Once she had sacrificed enough blood for Rainbow, she powered up her horn and recited,

"In life her quality was loyalty,
the quality was so strong it made her friends with royalty.
Her speed was great,
So great that it could generate hate.

Ultimately the speed became no more,
Despite being bested by one it was still of lore.
In the end it was no match for me,
That was something that was easy to see.

The loyalty within her will never die,
That is something that nopony can deny.
Her loyalty will be something of mine,
Any disloyalty to me would be crossing the line.

While her past life has ceased to be,
Her adventures will continue on for all to see.
Her adventures shall be great,
She shall never suffer a terrible fate.

In life she always took to the sky,
For those who saw that was no lie.
Now the Witch of the Skies she shall be,
And her loyalty shall belong solely to me."

Like it was with Fluttershy, Colgate fired a bolt of energy at the corpse and it began to rise as it was encircled in a black orb. Colgate was watching with a smile on her face as the orb popped and a new being landed. Like it was with Fluttershy, the new creature had black pits for eyes, was darker in color and while it did have Rainbow's cutie mark, it was inside a much larger mark of her own.

She approached the creature and asked, "Who are you and who are you loyal to?"

Her newest creation hissed, "I am the Witch of the Skies and my loyalty belongs to Colgate, The Goddess of Terror."

Colgate gave a smile, "Good, very good."

She motioned for her latest creation to stand besides her counterpart and cast her gaze at the remaining corpses, planning on who she would transform next. She remembered how there were times that Rarity would be disobedient and realized that handling her would be a special case, so she is the one she focused on next.

Birth of "The Witch of Greed"

Once Colgate decided who she would handle next, she again cut herself and allowed the blood to drip onto her sabre before allowing it to fall onto Rarity's head. Once she had quit bleeding, she got to work. She powered up her horn and recited,

"In life she was the Element of generosity,
For many, such behavior was a curiosity.
While she was plenty generous,
She could also be treasonous.

In life she would often times be disobedient,
She did this when she should have been subservient.
Overall she had a generous heart indeed,
Yet often times she was guilty of greed.

It was her friends that she cared about the most,
In ancient times she would make a great host.
Sometimes it was attention that she would seek,
She was anything but meek.

The days of generosity are a thing of the past,
For nothing can forever last.
Greed and lust shall now fill her heart,
It will be lives where you shall start.

Over the millennia times have changed,
A new path has been arranged.
The new path has been set,
Subservience to The Goddess of Terror is a sure bet.

Rather than being graced with elegance,
Ponies will see her malevolence.
From the past she must now be set free,
It is now The Witch of Greed she shall now be."

Colgate fired a bolt of energy at the remains and like it was with the others, her remains became encircled in a black orb. Colgate watched in approval when another creation emerged from the orb when it popped. Like it was with the others, her creation had a dull coat compared to the pony it once was. With the Witch of Greed, her mane was straight, her eyes were black pits like the others and she had her cutie mark, albeit being inside a much larger mark, that of Colgate.

Like she did with the others, Colgate approached her new creation and asked, "Who are you and who do you show your allegiance to?"

Her creation hissed, "I am The Witch of Greed and I serve but one master, The Goddess of Terror, Colgate."

Colgate patted the new witch pony on the back and replied, "Good, very good."

With three down and two to go, Colgate knew that chances are all her creations would be finished prior to the return of The Witch Queen. She cast her gaze at the two remaining bodies and decided on Applejack. She thought to herself, "What should I do with her? I certainly can't have her being dishonest, well with me anyway."

Birth of "The Witch of Deceit"

After the first three ponies had been "perfected," Colgate turned to the last two, the ones that were earth ponies prior to their transformations so long ago. The next corpse she turned to was Applejack's. Like she did with the others, she cut herself and let blood drip onto her sabre before having it drip onto Applejack's head. Once she had exhausted her blood, the time had come to resurrect her into what she wanted. She powered up her horn and recited,

"In life the truth is always what she told,
Yet her words didn't always have everypony sold.
Hard work was always a quality she had,
Yet her schedule made some mad.

Telling the truth is always something she would,
Although at times sparing feelings is what some thought she should.
Along with honesty also it was strength she possessed,
Often times it was her work that had her obsessed.

It was her friends she treated great,
It was towards them that she never showed any hate.
Always it was her who was the best host,
It was her they appreciated the most.

Her family were the ones she truly loved,
They were the ones she never shoved.
Many viewed her as truly great,
And it was those she never showed any hate.

The days of her honesty are in the past,
for all things all good never truly last.
Dishonesty to most in the quality that belongs to her,
Yet to me she shall still provide that honesty for sure.

A new destiny for her has come to be,
She shall now be The Witch of Deceit for all to see,
Free will is no longer her own,
It is subservience to The Goddess of Terror that shall be shown."

She fired a powerful bolt of energy at the corpse and like the others, it began to rise it became encircled in a black orb. Once the orb popped, a new creature levitated to the ground. Like it was with the others, Colgate went to inspect her. Like it was with the others, the creature's coat was darker and it had black pits for eyes. Most importantly to Colgate though, it had Applejack's old mark inside a much larger one, one of her own.

She approached the creature and asked, "Who are you and who do you show your loyalty towards?"

The creature hissed, "I am The Witch of Deceit and it is The Goddess of Terror I am loyal to."

Colgate replied, "Good, very good." She then turned towards the last remaining corpse and continued, "And now to deal with one more, the once immature one."

Birth of The Witch of Anger

One last time she grabbed her sabre, cut herself and allowed the blood to drip onto the sabre and then onto Pinkie's head. Once she had done this, she lit up her horn and recited,

"It life she provided happiness with glee,
She did that so gladness among the ponies would be.
Sweets was one thing she loved the most,
She was never one to boast.

Parties she often used to bring about happiness,
A select few though saw this as sappiness.
Often it was treats for others she would make,
For the Princess of the Sun it was always cake.

Her time of bringing others cheer has come to an end,
Now the happiness is nothing but pretend.
The time for hate is now here,
And this is quite clear.

The end of immaturity is quite late,
The quality of anger can no longer wait.
Her allegiance shall now be mine,
Failure of this will cross the line.

Darkness shall now consume her,
That is something that is quite sure.
No longer will the element of laughter she be,
It is The Witch of Sadism that all shall see."

Like it was with the others, she fired a bolt of energy and the corpse began to levitate inside a black orb. Once the orb popped, down floated a figure that was a darker pink, had a dark pink, straight mane and tail and had black pits for eyes. She approached the figure and asked, "Who are you and who do you show your allegiance to?"

The figure hissed, "I am the Witch of Sadism and my allegiance belongs to Colgate, The Goddess of Terror."

Colgate smiled and then noticed that like the others, the cutie mark was its former one inside of a much larger one, hers. She turned to the five and ordered, "Come my creations, follow me."

The five did as ordered and Colgate led them down into the dungeon. When they arrived their captives gasped in shock. Dark Night was the first to say anything, "How could you? How could you simply kill five more ponies and turn them into these abominations?"

Colgate flared her horn up in anger and snapped, "Because I need them this way." She approached the cell he was in and continued, "Now unless you wish to join them in this form, I would advise you shut up."

Dark Night was not the only one who was unhappy with what she had done. Scootaloo was no happier, "Colgate, I want to know what happened to the Colgate of old? What happened to the Colgate that saved the world on many occasions? What happened to the Colgate...."

Colgate fired a bolt of energy at her and burned her, causing her to scream out in agony. She yelled, "Look you treasonous rat, what I plan on doing will be saving Eqqus 1 from horrible, distrustful leaders. This world has no room for the scum that currently rule. Once I'm done with them, this world will be pure again, it will be as it should have been the first time Twilight was defeated! It shall be MINE, ALL MINE!"

She then turned to her new creations and ordered, "Stay here and guard all of them. Yes they have horn caps on and the pegasi pose no threat but still, keep an eye on them."

Colgate's Discoveries

In unison the five hissed in approval. Colgate then headed up to her chambers and immediately tapped into the eye. The very first thing she checked on was the South Alicorn Ocean and would be less than thrilled with what she saw. While she was happy that the Witch Queen had crashed their ship, she was not thrilled that Cosmos had been killed by a Tatzlwurm. She screamed, "Damn it, damn it, damn it! You were supposed to bring him back to me alive, not let some creature kill him!"

She began to stomp on the floor but would soon stop when she saw what happened next. She got a huge smile on her face as she saw Celestia being stabbed with a cursed blade. She then laughed, "Well I may not get Cosmos out of all this but soon I will have another servant!" She began to giggle further, "Hmmm.....The Witch of Darkness has a good ring to it!"

After seeing what happened to Celestia, Colgate felt a sense of satisfaction. She saw the terror that was unleashed upon her enemies and knew that the death and transformation of Celestia would absolutely crush the spirits of her foes. She said to herself, "Just like it was back when my storm killed Shining Armor, psychological warfare! Psychological warfare!"

Saving Celestia

On an island in the South Alicorn Ocean, LaurFa and what remained her envoy were inside a cave, surrounding Celestia, who had been stabbed by a cursed blade by the Witch Queen. LaurFa knew that the type of blade that Celestia had been stabbed with was going to require massive amounts of healing magic, healing magic she was not completely sure that she knew.

As Celestia's state continued to grow worse, LaurFa pointed her wing toward the back of the cave and said, "I need my space to do this. Could you go to the back of the cave?"

As they were headed back, Galaxia asked, "Can you save her? Can you save my daughter."

LaurFa gave her an uncertain look, "I'm not sure. I hope so, but I'm not sure."

Galaxia began to weep quietly as LaurFa began to think of what she would do. While she was trying to figure out what to do she heard a voice, "LaurFa, is that you? Everything is going dark. You look gray, the light is fading."

LaurFa replied, "Yes it is me Celestia." She saw that she was becoming colder and darker and then began to think of something, plants that may help draw the poison out of the wound. She looked outside and saw a plant growing among the trees off to the left of the cave. She pointed her wing towards the exit and continued, "You see those plants over by the bases of those trees, it is Red Clover. It is a detoxifier, I need one of you to go and get me some."

While it sounded simple enough, Galaxia and Luna saw something moving under the ground just outside of the cave, a Tatzlwurm. Galaxia asked, "How are we going to get to it? There is a Tatzlwurm out there."

LaurFa yelled, "Do you want Celestia to survive or not?"

Luna suggested, "Mom, you go get the red clover. I will wait by the entrance and attack the worm if it tries to eat you."

Galaxia was terrified at what might happen to her but she knew that without the plant, that Celestia would die and then turn into the same thing that Twilight had become. She took flight and barely avoided crashing into the cave's entrance and began to collect as much of the clover as she could. Once she began collecting it, the worm surfaced and grabbed her.

Luna yelled, "Mom!"

Luna began to blast the worm with energy, freeing Galaxia. Despite being in a state of panic, Galaxia was able to continue collecting the plant she needed. While she was doing this, Luna had grabbed its tentacles in her aura and decided to do more than just injure the worm's tentacles, she set out to destroy them.

Once Galaxia collected what she thought would be enough clover, she returned to the cave and much to everypony's delight, Luna incinerated the worms tentacles, making it harmless. When she got back into the cave, she screamed, "Take that you cursed worm, take that!"

While LaurFa was pleased that she had the clover needed and that Luna took care of the worm, she was not thrilled with the noise. She pointed her wing towards the back of the cave and ordered, "I need it quiet if I am to save Celestia."

The two did as ordered and LaurFa began to place the clover on Celestia's wound. When it made contact with her wound, Celestia let out a cry of agony. LaurFa said, "This is going to hurt but I have to draw the poison out of the wound."

LaurFa continued to try and drain the wound of the poison but it just didn't seem to be working. It would not be long until Celestia's coat began to turn black, starting at the hooves. Celestia's breathing began to get shallow and erratic. LaurFa realized at this point that the clover was not going to be enough, especially as the black continued to spread further up her body.

Luna and Galaxia both watched in horror as it appeared that Celestia was going to succumb to the poison. Luna shouted, "Curse thee Twilight Sparkle, curse thee Colgate, curse you both!"

Finally Celestia had turned completely black with the exception of her horn and she had stopped breathing. LaurFa yelled, "No Celestia, no! Please don't give in, please don't give in to the darkness."

LaurFa grabbed her in her aura and noticed that her horn had also began to turn black. She knew that if she was to save Celestia, that she would have to make a huge sacrifice. While many ponies would never do such a thing, LaurFa did so without even thinking twice about it. She lit up her horn, placed the tip of it on the tip of Celestia's and said, "Let the gift the universe has given me pass onto her, let her live."

She released her energy into Celestia and immediately the blackness began to retreat. Once she had turned completely white, she began to breathe again. She was far from out of the woods though. While she was breathing again, it was still erratic and the wound was still dark gray. LaurFa continued to apply the clover to the wound for hours.

After having to make a huge sacrifice and applying clover to the wound for what seemed to be forever, LaurFa saw that the last of the darkness had left Celestia. Celestia got up and while she was wobbly at first, she was able to stand. When they saw this, her family rushed to her and exclaimed, "Celestia, you're ok!"

When they embraced her, Celestia nearly fell over but they were able to grab her. Galaxia said, "I'm so glad you are ok!"

Luna added, "We were so afraid we were going to lose you."

LaurFa stood up, approached the three and replied, "Had we not got everything when we did, we would have lost her."

The three looked at LaurFa and couldn't help but notice something. Ever since the beginning, she was always a pure white but what they saw was different. While she still had a white coat, it did not have the same regal appearance it always had. Celestia's eyes grew wide and asked, "LaurFa, what happened? You don't look quite the same."

Galaxia had a feeling as to what happened but wanted to make sure, "LaurFa, did you sacrifice your immortality to save Celestia? Did you sacrifice your creative powers?"

LaurFa gave her a smile, "I did."

All three of them knew that since LaurFa would no longer have as strong of powers anymore, they couldn't help but be concerned. Celestia asked, "But LaurFa, how are we going to defeat Colgate now? It was your power that gave us the best chance."

LaurFa replied, "Celestia, there will be many of us and only one of her." She let out a yawn, "I really need to get some rest, saving you took a lot out of me."

Celestia let out a yawn as well and headed to the back of the cave, "Perhaps we should all get some rest."

Galaxia and Luna nodded in agreement and the four headed to the back of the cave to get some rest. While it was easy for three of them to get to sleep, LaurFa laid there and began to wonder what was going to happen to not just her, but everything. She had always existed and it was believed that she always would but no longer would that be the case. She realized that the only pony who would be eternal now was her sister. Then it hit her, she realized that Brevity had powers equal to what hers once were and that perhaps if she could contact her, that maybe she would aid them in defeating Colgate and her evils.

Beasts for the Riders

Colgate had been watching through the eye ever since she finished her other dark creations and was not thrilled when she saw Cosmos fall prey to the Tatzlwurm nor was she thrilled that the Witch Queen had revealed her identity and also revealing what her new title was. When she saw the Witch Queen returning from her mission, she was not thrilled.

When the Witch landed, Colgate immediately headed out to greet her. As Colgate approached her first creation, it clearly was unnerved by her Master's scowl. Colgate snapped, "You were supposed to bring me Cosmos unspoiled, not allow him to get eaten."

The Witch hissed, "There was nothing I could do. When he fell, he could not get airborne and it ate him."

Colgate gave her a scowl before continuing, "Well there is nothing that we can do about it now." Her scowl intensified as she yelled, "And why did you reveal your identity and why did you state that I am your Master? Now they know who they are going up against."

The Witch knew that just as quickly as Colgate created her, that she could just as easily take her out. She shied back and replied, "I thought that is what you wanted. I thought you wanted them to know you were the one they were up against."

Colgate rolled her eyes, "Well there is nothing we can do about it now." She began to head back towards the tower and continued, "Follow me, your fellow Witches await."

The Witch Queen followed her master into the tower and down to the dungeon where she would meet her fellow witches. Despite having been corrupted beyond repair, she immediately recognized them. She approached them and hissed, "Fluttershy, Rainbow, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, it is so good to see....."

Before she could finish her sentence the witch felt a sabre at her throat and found a scowling master standing at her side. She snapped, "That is no longer who they are and neither are you who you once were." She pressed her blade up against the witch's throat and continued, "Perhaps your Master needs to start from scratch, perhaps you are not what The Goddess of Terror truly needs."

From one of the cells she heard a voice, "Supreme Commander Colgate, perhaps they will work better together if you allow them to remain friends like that."

Another added, "If you truly want them to unleash this unprecedented terror upon this world, allowing them to interact as they once did may be the best."

Colgate turned towards the voices and saw that it was Dark Night and Lightning Storm. What surprised Colgate was that they were giving her advice that would perhaps aid in her plans for the world. She simply nodded at them and then turned to the Witch Queen, "However you six decide to interact will be fine as long as you continue to assist me in my plans, I will allow it."

Given Colgate's nature, the six knew that unless they wanted Colgate to wipe them out, they would behave in a way that they believed their master would prefer. Colgate took her sabre and pointed it to each of them, "This is Fluttershy, the Witch of Beasts, this is Rainbow Dash, Witch of the Skies, this is Rarity, the Witch of Greed, this is Applejack, the Witch of Deceit and this is Pinkie Pie, the Witch of Sadism."

The Witch Queen addressed each of them by name and then much to Colgate's surprise, they began to converse among one another the same way they would have long ago. Colgate watched them closely to make sure they were not making any ill plans but then heard the voice of who was once her highest general, "Colgate, this is going to be perfect."

Lightning Storm added, "With them interacting like this, they will spread all the terror you could ever imagine."

Colgate was in a state of shock that those she had punished so severely for their disloyalty were suddenly acting like they supported her. At that moment things began to feel like they used to for Colgate, having two supportive generals. While she could tell that they were being genuine, she figured that a new, much more powerful loyalty spell would be required. She knew that the simple loyalty spell of the past was insufficient in the modern world, a much more complex one would be necessary. Before she would free them, she needed to take care of some of the pegasi and give her creations orders.

She gave the two a slight smile and said, "Dark Night, Lightning Storm, I shall return soon as I have different plans for you." She then opened the cells that the pegasi were being held in, held her sabre and ordered, "Outside, now!" She then turned to her creations and added, "Lead them outside and make sure they do not fly away. There is something, a gift, that I have for each of you."

They turned towards Twilight and saw the blade she had. Fluttershy hissed, "Blades like hers?"

Colgate replied, "Yes. Now lead these scum outside so I can make them useful."

The six nodded and led the pegasi outside while Colgate headed into the archives, back into the chamber where the Midnight Castle collection was and grabbed five swords. She got a smile on her face and laughed, "And now, the world shall suffer the wrath of The Goddess of Terror!"

She then remembered one more thing, she would need to transform the pegasi into beasts so she also grabbed the Rainbow of Darkness. Once she had put it around her neck, she headed upstairs and then outside. When she arrived, she saw that her creations were staring down the pegasi, staring them down to the point that they were in a daze. She then asked, "I take it you have found the one you want as your beast?"

The five hissed and nodded. She then ordered the pegasi, "Follow me, the time for you to be perfected has come."

Despite having been stared down by who would soon be their riders, a couple of them became defiant. One shouted, "No, we will not be perfected!"

Another yelled, "Well will not serve you or your monsters."

Colgate grabbed them in her aura and yelled, "Like it or not, you're coming with me!"

Colgate grabbed them in her aura and carried them up to the same hilltop where she had done all the other transformations. Once she got them sat down, they took off trying to fly away but that would be quickly stopped when Colgate shot them down with her energy. They were writing in pain as they laid there. Colgate approached them and yelled, "Up, up! I don't have all day."

The five got up and Colgate decided that since it had worked the first time, that she would simply transform them one at a time. She pointed at them and ordered, "Four of you, off to the side." She then pointed towards the one remaining in front of her and continued, "Stand still."

The pegasus did as ordered and Colgate grabbed a hold of him in her aura. She then began to recite the spell as she opened the pouch,

"The pony is currently loyal to none,
That is something that simply can not be done.
His loyalty to me is a must,
Without it all shall be a bust.

His loyalty now belongs to me,
Yet his size must be large for all to see.
A large beast is what he shall be,
One which is loyal to me and only me."

The dark rainbow shot out of the pouch and struck the pegasus. Soon he began to grow in size and resembled the one that the Witch Queen rode. The other four pegasi screamed in shock as Colgate approached the creature. She patted it on its nose and it behaved the same way the first one she created did. She said to herself, "Perfect, absolutely perfect!"

She then turned to the pegasi and yelled, "Next!"

The remaining pegasi took off and tried to fly away but would not only be stopped by Colgate, but by the beast that she had just created. The four fell to the ground after Colgate shot them down. Colgate stood over them and laughed, "You do realize this transformation is not optional don't you?" She spread her wings and continued, "This MUST be done! It is the only option!"

After being stared down by Colgate for a couple of minutes, the remaining pegasi resigned themselves to their fate. This was something they did not want but knew that there was no other choice. They knew that Colgate would not just let them go and gather other pegasi and they knew that Colgate would not kill them. Once Colgate realized that they had resigned themselves, she cast the same spell on each one of them, one by one.

Eventually she had five huge beasts, five obedient beasts. She cast her gaze at them and ordered, "Follow me my pets, your riders await."

Colgate took off towards the tower and was followed by her new creations. When she and the beasts landed, the beasts each headed to the Witch that had stared them down earlier. Colgate gave them all a smile and said, "Very good my pets, you have found your rider."

All she heard was a brief grunt from each one. With each rider now having a beast, she decided that the time had come for her to spread her terror on a global scale. As she approached the five, she began to wonder how she should address them. Initially she figured that she would simply address them by their new identity but then the words of Dark Night again began to ring in her head. At that moment, she decided she would address them by the names they had in life.

She approached them, gave them their cursed blades and ordered, "Rarity, you are to fly to Ridead and I am ordering you to seize their crown jewels and return them here to the tower. If any resist, slay them. Slay them all!"

Rarity hissed, "Yes Master." She nodded, mounted her beast and immediately took off to the southeast. Colgate couldn't help but smile realizing that perhaps getting her creations to travel abroad and do her bidding was going to be far easier than even she imagined. She then approached the second and ordered, "Applejack, you are to fly to Maredrid and take over. You are to tell their citizens that Luna is dead and that you have been sent to take over. If any disobey, slay them."

Applejack hissed, "Yes Master." She then mounted her beast and took off to the east.

Colgate approached the next and ordered, "Rainbow, you are to travel the world and terrorize all in your path. Terrorize many but slay few." She then pulled her sabre up and continued, "But you do NOT bother any citizens of Coastal Equestria. They are the ones you do not terrorize or harm." She pointed her sabre at her and finished, "And if even ONE of my subjects is terrorized or slain, you will meet your demise."

Rainbow hissed, "Yes Master."

Colgate ordered, "Good. Now go and terrorize Canterlot first, then spread your terror further."

Rainbow hissed, mounted her beast and took off to the west. Colgate noticed that along with Twilight still waiting for orders, so were Pinkie and Fluttershy. She approached Pinkie and ordered, "You are to do the same as Rainbow. Terrorize many, slay few and spare Coastal Equestria any terror and spare them any death." She then held her sabre up to her and finished, "Or else!"

Pinkie hissed, "Yes Master."

She mounted her beasts and took off towards the north. Next was Twilight. Colgate ordered, "You shall stay here for now. Once conditions are right, I will send you on a special mission, a mission to slay the one who you were once very close to."

Twilight hissed, "Yes Master."

Colgate then approached Fluttershy and ordered, "Follow me. Before I send you off on your mission, you are going to need a pet."

She hissed in approval and followed Colgate into the hills off to the north of her tower. She began to look around and then saw a timberwolf not too far away. She knew of the voracious appetites that they have and had a feeling that if she used the right kind of magic, that she would be able to transform it into something that could reproduce quickly merely by eating enough.

She knew that merely opening the pouch would not work with what she wanted this thing to become. She grabbed it in her aura, pictured exactly what kind of creature she wanted it to become and imagined its habits. When she opened the pouch, it struck the timberwolf and it transformed into something radically different.

The creature she created had no eyes, it saw by a heat sensor on the top of its head, which led it towards food. When it fully transformed, Colgate heard a shriek and saw her creation coming straight at her. She took to the sky and it stopped. What she did notice though is that it approached the Witch of the Beasts and simply looked up at her and grunted. Colgate could tell that Fluttershy must have already had some sort of control.

She pointed back towards the tower and ordered, "Follow me Fluttershy. Bring your pet with you, mount your beast and then head to Ponyville." She began to snicker, "I have a feeling your pet is going to be quite hungry and the food supply there shall satisfy its appetite."

Fluttershy nodded and when they returned to the tower, she grabbed her pet, mounted her beast and took off towards the west. Colgate then approached Twilight and ordered, "Into the tower, until your time has come, you shall stand guard."

Twilight hissed, "Yes Master."

Colgate and the Witch Queen headed into the tower and while she would simply stand guard in the throne room, Colgate headed down to the archives to do some studying. She not only was wanting to find a much better loyalty spell, she also decided the time had come to not only repair the Rainbow of Light, but to fuse it and the Rainbow of Darkness into herself and make herself even more powerful.

Informing Blue Star

Three days had passed since LaurFa sacrificed her goddess powers to save Celestia and she finally felt as though she would be ready to depart so they could travel to Neigh Zealand. As the sun rose that morning, she was the first to rise. She was full of energy and was ready to get going so she woke everypony else up and said, "Come on everypony, lets eat and get going. I want us to get a good start before it gets too warm."

Galaxia and her daughters were less than thrilled over the idea, especially given that their ship had been destroyed when the Witch Queen attacked them. Galaxia sat up and asked, "How, our ship was destroyed."

LaurFa sighed, "Look, I know it isn't going to be pleasant and we will have to take a specific path but we will just have to fly the same way ponies with much stronger wings do, the way Colgate would if she didn't have that time spell of hers."

The three groaned but got up and followed LaurFa out of the cave and began to gorge themselves on the berries that grew on the bushes. They did not have a one track mind as they did this though. They knew that the island had Tatzlwurms living on it and had to be on a constant watch to make sure that none of them wound up like Cosmos.

After finishing their meal, they took to the sky and LaurFa pointed her wing towards the southeast and ordered, "Follow me. I know a path that will lead us over plenty of islands so we can stop for meals and stop to rest tonight."

The three nodded and followed LaurFa. Despite being not too far to the south of the equator, conditions were quite comfortable and they had a good tail wind pushing them along. This allowed them to move along much quicker without working their wings too hard which was a relief for all four of them.

After two days of flying and the temperatures slowly dropping the further south they headed, they finally saw Neigh Zealand on the horizon. LaurFa shouted back, "We're almost there ladies! I can see the islands."

The three gave her a nod of relief and it would not be long until they reached the capitol city of Prancington. As they were flying over the city and arrived at the palace, they saw that Blue Star was out leading a military exercise, ones similar to those that he has led ever since he became king.

He halted the exercise when he saw shadows flying overhead. He lit up his horn and yelled, "Who is it that flies over my palace?"

The four landed down in front of him and LaurFa replied, "It is us. We have come to tell you that the time has come. We have come to tell you that the enemy has begun her attack."

Blue Star gasped, "Colgate has begun her attack?" He then noticed that some ponies that should be with them were absent. He pointed his wing toward them and continued, "Where are mom and dad? Where is Cosmos?"

LaurFa replied, "Your mother and father took flight to Faustica along with Scootaloo......"

Blue Star lit his horn up in anger and yelled, "Scootaloo? Why would that tyrannical little spy go with them?"

LaurFa replied, "Scootaloo has turned on Colgate but speaking of Colgate and the reason why Cosmos is not with us, it is something much more serious."

Galaxia added, "I don't know how she did it but Colgate has not only created a giant flying beast but she has also resurrected Twilight, corrupted her beyond repair and has made her one of her minions."

Blue Star asked, "She did what? She resurrected Twilight and has created huge beasts."

Galaxia replied, "Yes."

Celestia added, "And we know that she is Colgate's minion because not only is her cutie mark inside a much larger one of Colgate's, but she, who now goes by the name of The Witch Queen of Marentreal, also told us that she is a servant of Colgate, The Goddess of Terror."

This was something that caused Blue Star's pupils to shrink. He knew that this was going to be something that would require a vast amount of planning given that Colgate's powers had bested Twilight's for a very long time. He pointed his wing towards the castle and ordered, "Follow me to the throne room. I want you to tell me everything you know so that perhaps we can defeat this new evil goddess."

The five headed into the throne room and continued their discussion. While Blue Star knew that from what they told her, that some sort of plan would need to be taken. He gave LaurFa a curious look and asked, "LaurFa, I remember you discussed something about more Alicorn gems, gems that would allow us to spy on Colgate. Have you come up with any idea where they are?"

LaurFa replied, "Actually yes. I read about their location in a prophecy book and as it turns out, they do indeed exist."

This brought a sigh of relief to Blue Star, "Good. We can use these to keep an eye on the enemy and monitor her every move. We shall see to it that she is not the only one who can spy upon this world."

LaurFa got a sick look on her face as she replied, "Well that is not going to be possible. Before she betrayed her, Scootaloo informed Colgate about the possibility of Alicorn gems." She saw a look of anger building in Blue Star's eyes and continued, "That isn't the worst of our problems. The prophecy book I read about them in also mentioned a black diamond that would give its bearer dark powers and when I explored the cave, it had been stolen along with the rest of them."

Blue Star threw his hooves up in the air, "Great, just great. Now not only will we have no way to spy on her but now she is in possession of something that will give her even more power?" She raised his voice and yelled, "Well this is just dandy."

The four were getting a bit nervous over how upset Blue Star was getting and while they did not wish to anger him further, LaurFa knew that she had to tell him about the attack and what she had to sacrifice. She patted him on the shoulder and said, "Blue Star, I know you are upset but other things happened on that trip that will make defeating Colgate even harder."

Blue Star, still angry, snapped, "You told me about the corrupted the Witch Queen and the huge beast already." He took a deep breath and continued, "What else? What else is going to make this more difficult."

LaurFa replied, "Well in that attack Celestia was stabbed by a cursed blade that the Witch Queen was carrying. Where Colgate got that thing I'm not sure but I have a bad feeling that she has been doing a great deal of traveling, traveling to places of pure evil."

Celestia continued, "And I wound up getting stabbed by the Witch's blade and it took everything LaurFa had to save me."

Blue Star began to look closer at LaurFa and while at first he didn't think anything about it, he noticed that she no longer had the same regal appearance that she had before. His eyes grew wide as he asked, "What all did it take to save Celestia? You didn't sacrifice......."

LaurFa interrupted, "Yes, I sacrificed my immortality and creator goddess powers to save her."

Blue Star's jaw dropped open he was so shocked by what she had done. While he did know that LaurFa would never lie about such a thing but also realized that now they had no pony with goddess tier powers to face off against a wicked pony who has those kinds of powers. He sighed, "What are we going to do now? We have nopony that has goddess tier......"

Luna interrupted, "Wait a minute. What about Brevity Thrash?" She turned to LaurFa and continued, "Do you think you could contact her? Do you think you could try and contact your sister?"

LaurFa had an uncertain look on her face, "Without my goddess powers I don't know. I can try but there are no guarantees." She raised her voice and continued, "So when do you want me to try and do this? When do you want me to try and contact her?"

Blue Star replied, "The sooner the better."

LaurFa suggested, "Very well then. We shall head outside and I will attempt to contact her."

The five left the throne room and proceeded to head outside. While Blue Star was just as certain as ever that LaurFa would be able to do this, she had her doubts. Once they got out in the open, LaurFa said, "Well here goes nothing." She then began to flash her horn in a way that would send the message that Brevity was needed and that it was urgent.

The Return of Brevity Thrash

Receiving the Message

The sun was rising on Alicorn Island on Eqqus 2 and Brevity Thrash was just waking from a peaceful slumber. She stretched out and let out a yawn, "Ugh, not yet! We do not wish to get up this early!"

She shut her curtain, spread her legs out and attempted to drift back to sleep for a little while. That would be interrupted when one of her guards came racing into her room. "Brevity your Majesty, you have to come quick!"

Brevity gave him a scowl and groaned, "What is it? What is so important that it can not wait?"

"There is a reddish-white light flashing in the east. This may sound odd but it has a pattern to it!" The guard replied.

Brevity was not thrilled with having to get up but she knew what it was. She knew that her sister likely needed her back on Eqqus 1. She got up and groaned, "Well we shall see what it is. We shall see what kind of message is being sent."

Brevity got up and headed to her east facing balcony. Sure enough there was a light flashing but it was the way it was flashing that caused her to be concerned. She gasped, "For it to be this urgent I return, it must be bad."

Brevity focused on the flashing light further so that she could figure out exactly where she needed to return. Normally figuring out the exact location was easy but this time it was a bit more difficult. Something didn't seem quite right about the flashing nor did the energy that it was giving off seem as powerful but finally after ten minutes of staring at what was an incredibly frantic pace of flashing, she figured it out. "Neigh Zealand?" she pondered. "Why would it be coming from there?"

After wondering for a moment, she powered up her horn and recited the spell to return,

"To the old world we shall go even if it is just for a brief while or so
Whether it be simply for what happened for us to see or if it is this world some wish to flee
Now the time for us to go has come and a brief stay is what awaits some."

Brevity's Return

In Prancington, LaurFa continued to flash her horn frantically. She had been flashing it for a good fifteen minutes with no response, which was much longer than what it normally took. Finally she realized that either her sister did not see her flashing or that since she no longer had her creator goddess powers, that she no longer had the ability to contact her sister like that.

She sighed in frustration but then noticed a yellowish-pink ball forming above them. Once it popped, down floated Brevity. The very first thing she did was rush to her sister, embrace her and ask, "Sister, we got thy message! Art thou ok?"

"No, I am not ok nor is this whole planet!" replied LaurFa.

Brevity could tell by not just her sister's response but by the expressions of all those with her that things were indeed not ok. She asked, "What is going on? Why is it that thou contacted us?"

LaurFa replied, "It is Supreme Commander Colgate, she distrusts us all now and has begun her attack upon this world. She has created....."

Brevity interrupted, "That can not be so! We know Colgate, we know that she would never do such a thing. We know that all she has ever done was for the good......"

Celestia, who had been a direct victim of the first attack interrupted, "Brevity your Majesty, that Colgate no longer exists. She has grown distrustful of us all."

"What?" gasped Brevity.

Luna added, "Yes, she no longer trusts anypony. It was after her consumption of the dark goddess's heart that she began to change and it was just recently that she has began to use incredibly dark magic, magic of pure evil to unleash her wrath upon us all."

Brevity was still having a hard time believing them, "How so, tell us how thou knows this? Tell us why thou art accusing Colgate of these things?"

Celestia approached Brevity, spread her wings wide and raised her voice, "Because on the way here our ship was attacked. We were attacked by a dark creature riding a giant gray beast."

Luna added, "And the dark creature had Twilight's cutie mark on it BUT the mark was inside a much larger one, Colgate's cutie mark."

LaurFa continued, "And Celestia was stabbed by a cursed blade and it took everything I had to save her."

This caused Brevity's attitude to change entirely. When they mentioned the creature having Twilight's cutie mark inside Colgate's, she realized that they were not lying about the dark magic that was being used. She also knew about cursed blades and knew that there was only one place to get them.

"Wait a minute, she was stabbed by a blade from Midnight Castle?" Brevity asked. She then realized that it had been many, many millennia since that castle had even stood, she realized it was from the long passed era of Ponyland. She again became a bit skeptical and continued, "How didst she acquire a blade from there? That place hast likely been reduced to nothing many, many millennia ago."

"I don't know but given the dark magic that place was protected by, part of it may have survived and Colgate likely found it." She saw Brevity begin to scowl and continued, "After all, Tambelon was still there after many, many millennia of being gone." replied LaurFa.

"Very well then." She then began to examine her sister more closely and noticed something. She noticed that her sister did not have the same regal appearance that she normally did and this brought out concern from her, "Sister, thy coat dost not seem as white as normal, what happened." She then remembered how she brought up having to save Celestia and continued, "Sister, did you sacri......?"

"Yes, I sacrificed my creator goddess tier powers to save Celestia when she was stabbed by that blade." replied LaurFa.

This did not sit well with Brevity, especially given that LaurFa was the only other creator goddess besides herself. She became angry, so angry that she forgot to speak in her normal way, "Sister, you are the only other creator goddess and now that is gone? Do you know....."

LaurFa was not thrilled with her sister's questioning and interrupted her, "You know what? If I had not sacrificed what I did, Celestia would have died and turned into the very thing that attacked us! What I sacrificed was for the benefit of all, especially Celestia."

Brevity sighed, "Well we suppose we can see thy point." She then cast her gaze at Blue Star's palace and continued, "It seems as though we have a serious problem on our hooves. Let us go to the king's throne room so thou can brief us on everything thou knows."

Briefing Brevity

Once Brevity had found out that her sister had sacrificed not only her goddess tier powers but her immortality, she was not one bit pleased. She and her sister had always been and believed that both of them always would be but now, that was all gone. While LaurFa had had her powers drained in the past, she knew that this time there would be no going back, she knew there was no way to restore them. She did know however that if they are to take on and defeat the world's new threat, that she could not dwell on it nor could she put any guilt trips on her sister.

Once they arrived in the throne room, Brevity was more than ready to get down to business and learn everything she needed to know so they could make a plan of action. She looked around and noticed that some leaders were absent. She turned to Blue Star and asked, "Your Majesty, where art the others? Where art thy mother and father, where art Scootaloo?"

Given that she knew more about their situation, Luna would respond, "Assuming Scootaloo made it to and out of Unicornia safely, she and the royal family should be in Faustica as we speak."

"What dost thou mean if they made it to and out of Unicornia safely?" asked Brevity.

Luna continued, "Up until recently, Scootaloo had been fiercely loyal to Supreme Commander Colgate but she has since joined our side. Also, Colgate has that eye and if she saw her betrayal and she were caught in Coastal Equestria, things likely would not bode well for her."

Celestia added, "And if all three of them were caught in Colgate's nation, they would likely have had horn caps placed on them and be locked away in the black tower's dungeon."

"Thou brought up Scootaloo once being loyal to Colgate but has since joined her side. What would prompt her to do such a thing?" asked Brevity.

LaurFa figured that it would likely be best if she simply told her sister about everything so that perhaps they could get everything out in the open and hopefully get sailing to Faustica before too long, "Sister, this all involves an ancient prophecy, Alicorn gems, Scootaloo telling Colgate about them, Colgate acquiring them, Scootaloo's betrayal and a gem of pure evil."

"An ancient prophecy?" asked Brevity.

"Yes, an ancient prophecy." LaurFa began, "As you know, the Alicorn gems allow the user to spy on the world."

Brevity nodded and LaurFa continued, "Well as it turns out, a prophecy book I was reading spoke of many of these gems in a cave on the west side of Alicorn Island. While I was skeptical at first, as it turns out, they do indeed exist."

"We take it that thou plans on giving one to each global leader so that thy new enemy can be spied upon?" asked Brevity.

"I wish." replied Laurfa. "The bad thing is, Colgate stole the gems, including a black one of pure evil and with the black one, if the prophecy is correct, she could unleash a wrath of unprecedented horror upon this world."

Brevity was still having a bit of trouble believing everything that her sister had been telling her as it seemed to be unbelievable, "Sister, we would very much like to see this prophecy book. Everything seems so overly dramatic."

Celestia yelled, "So you're saying you don't believe that I was stabbed by a cursed blade?" She pointed towards LaurFa and continued, "You could tell that your sister sacrificed her powers! She wouldn't just do that for no good reason."

Brevity sighed, "Very well, when dost thou wish for us to go to Alicorn Island?"

Blue star replied, "Given that these five had to fly here, I would say allow them to rest for a couple of days before we decide whether we are going to fly or set sail."

Brevity nodded and then said, "How about we get some food as we are most hungry."

The five leaders were not exactly thrilled with Brevity's skepticism despite hearing their stories, especially the attack on Celestia and LaurFa having to sacrifice what made her unique to save her. As they headed to the dining hall, all LaurFa could do was hope that when her sister actually saw the book and perhaps even the cave, well the parts that were safe to enter, she would fully believe them.

Global Attacks

Author's Note

The riders will be referred to what their names were in life.

Global Attacks

After Colgate had sent her riders off to bring about terror across the world, she headed up to her sleeping chambers so that she could monitor them. She knew that it would likely be a few hours before the first attack would begin in Ponyville but still, she decided she would monitor all of them and make sure that they were heading in the right direction.

As she tapped into the eye, she would be delighted when she saw that they were headed in the right direction. She would be even happier when she saw what was Fluttershy approaching Ponyville quicker than she thought. "Hmmm..." she thought, "Perhaps those giant beasts can fly a lot faster than what I gave them credit for."

Attack on Ponyville

It had only been a couple hours since Fluttershy, her pet and her beast had departed the black tower and Ponyville was already in the distance. As she approached the town, she ordered her beast to land and she along with her pet dismounted not too far away from her old cottage. The moment they dismounted, her pet could sense the body heat coming from the animals that were present. When she heard it let out a shriek she hissed, "Feast on their flesh my pet, feast on their flesh!"

The creature immediately took off and went after the animals. The very first one it took off after was the largest, a bear. When the bear heard it and saw it charging at it, it did not run in terror. It was a fair amount larger than what was pursuing it so it figured that it could easily take the thing out. That would not be the case though as it immediately latched onto the bear's leg and began to feast. Fluttershy watched on in joy as it was quickly bringing down its target. It would not be long until the bear would succumb to blood loss.

Once the creature had finished off the bear, it looked like it was going to throw up. Initially this was not sitting well with Fluttershy until she approached the creature and when it did throw up, it was not meat that it threw up. She saw that it appeared to be a baby version of it and much to her delight, the baby began to grow rather quickly. Once it had fully grown, Fluttershy hissed, "Feast on the rest of them! Feast on them all!"

The two creatures immediately took off the other animals and given that they were smaller, they were able to consume them in one bite and as they continued to feast, they would hack up more of themselves until all the animals were dead and she had sixteen of the creatures. She pointed towards Ponyville and hissed, "Come my pets! More meals await!"

Fluttershy's beast remained outside the town but she along with her pets headed into town. The first thing she noticed were quite a few ponies nearing starvation locked away in cages along with some ponies banging on the cages trying to free their fellow residents and others who had resigned to the fact that the others were going to pass and were living their normal lives with many in the market. Before Fluttershy could even say anything, they sensed the body heat coming from the ponies and charged into town.

When everypony heard the loud shrieking, they began to run in terror. Some began to race out of town but others were in such a state of panic that they were panicking and running into one another which made them easy prey for the creatures. When Fluttershy saw that some may escape, she knew that her Master would not be thrilled if any survive so she headed back to her beast, mounted it and ordered it to take after them.

It did not take very long for it to catch them and when it did, she ordered it to land and again she dismounted. As the ponies saw the two creatures that stood before them, they were frozen in shock. One pony could sort of tell who the rider was. She gasped, "Fluttershy, is that you?"

Without responding, she took her blade and plunged it deep into the pony's abdomen, killing her immediately. She began to stab others but figured her beast must be hungry. She hissed, "Feast on them my pet! Feast on their flesh!"

Almost immediately, the beast took to the other citizens of Ponyville, consuming many of them whole and the ones that it did not get right away, Fluttershy beheaded with her sword. She knew that nothing short of killing everypony would upset her Master. After finishing them off, she returned to town to see that everypony, except those in cages, had been eaten. She approached her pets, which now resembled more of an army and hissed, "You have done well my pets, you have done well."

While the ponies that were in the cages had grown very weak from lack of food, some were still able to scream and yell. One yelled, "You beast, you will not win! Colgate will not win! The forces of good will prevail!"

Fluttershy approached the pony and hissed, "If you say so!"

She then pushed her sword through the gaps of the cage and rammed her sword straight through the pony's throat, killing him. Others had resigned themselves to their fate and figured that a quick death by a blade would be preferable to the long drawn out process of starvation that they were currently going through so they began to yell the same thing. This however did not work the way they thought it would. Fluttershy had her concerns that simply killing them may not be what her Master would want, she realized that she would prefer that they starved to death.

She was however going to make sure that no magical force would free them so she, her beast and her pets simply decided to stay in Ponyville to ensure that they did starve like what her Master likely wanted. There was plenty of food for her pets to consume and continue to expand what she viewed as an army to feast on any living being, outside of her Master, that would attempt to remove her.

When Colgate saw the events that unfolded in Ponyville, she couldn't help but cheer in glee. Yes Ponyville was but a speck on the global map but it was a site of great significance to her as it was the place where at one time, the dark goddess resided and ruled. She laughed, "One down, four to go!" She then remembered that the Witch Queen would have a mission before too long and corrected herself, "I mean five more to go!"

Attacking the Empire

After seeing events unfold in Ponyville exactly the way she had hoped, Colgate returned to scanning the world through the eye. She knew that both Rarity and Applejack likely would not reach their destinations for quite some time so she decided to search for Pinkie and Rainbow. The first one she noticed was Rainbow heading off in the direction of Neigh Zealand. Initially she was not thrilled that she did not terrorize Canterlot as she had instructed but then something else crossed her mind, the leaders that betrayed her. She thought to herself, "Good, go and attack those tyrants! Go and wipe them out!"

She then began to scan again and noticed that Pinkie was not too far away from the Crystal Empire. She got an evil grin and thought to herself, "Oh this is going to be too funny! When that little rat learns of an attack on her precious subjects, her reaction will be priceless!"

Something else began to run through her mind, "I've got it! I'll drag that little crybaby up here, project what is going on for her and FORCE her to watch her subjects cower down and flee in terror! That will certainly teach her a valuable lesson! It will teach her what happens to the subjects of those who betray me!"

She then headed down to the dungeon to retrieve her former ally. When she arrived, she was greeted by not only Scootaloo but her formal generals. The first to say anything was Dark Night, "So Supreme Commander Colgate, how is this terror you plan on unleashing going?"

Initially Colgate thought perhaps he was being sarcastic but then could tell by the tone of his voice that he was actually being respectful and asking the way a general normally would. She replied, "You and Lightning Storm will find out eventually."

Both gave her a nervous, "Ok."

She then grabbed Scootaloo in her aura and dragged her out of her cell. This was something that angered her, "Colgate, what are you doing, where are you taking me?" She raised her voice and screamed, "You're going to kill me, aren't you?"

Colgate gave her a chuckle, "No I'm not going to kill you but I do think there is something you need to see."

Scootaloo couldn't help but wonder what she meant by that but had a feeling that whatever it was, it could not be good. She became more nervous as Colgate was leading her up to her sleeping chambers and would be even more worried when she sat her on her bed and ordered, now watch closely Scootaloo and you will see what the worst punishment is for betraying your mentor.

Colgate fired a beam of energy at the sapphire Alicorn and suddenly what she was seeing earlier was projected for Scootaloo to see. Scootaloo would be terrified by what she saw, she was terrified when she saw a large gray beast with what appeared to be an Alicorn rider on its back. She immediately knew that whatever it was that it would not bode well for her subjects.

"No!" Scootaloo screamed.

"Just watch little rat, just watch." Colgate laughed

It was a calm day in the Crystal Empire and ponies were readying themselves for a crystalling as a new foal had been born just a couple days earlier. Like it always was, ponies were gathered outside of the crystal palace. Normally such a ceremony would not take place without their leader present but everypony knew that their supreme commander was away on necessary business. When that was the case, one of her generals would take her place.

Once the ceremony began, like it had always been, the couple stood on a platform in front of the crowd and their foal was presented to them. They lowered their heads and began to pump the same love and light as they always did but this time it would not reach the purity crystal.

*SHRIEK!*

Everypony's attention shifted from the new foal to the terrifying sound. They looked up and saw a dark gray beast with what appeared to be an Alicorn rider on it's back. The beast swooped down and grabbed some ponies in it's claws before flying up higher into the sky. The beast flew far above the crowd before dropping the ponies to their deaths. Many of the ponies were scrambling around in fear and bumping into one another but two were frozen in fear, the foal's parents.

When Pinkie saw this, she saw an opportunity to bring about more terror to the citizens of the Empire. She ordered her beast to land right in front of the parents. She dismounted her beast and approached the terrified parents. The father nervously asked, "Why? Wh-why are you doing this?"

Pinkie hissed, "Because attacking and killing ponies is FUN!"

She then eyeballed the foal before grabbing it in her aura and pulling it away from the mother. She jumped out trying to get her foal back but to no avail. She began to cry, "Please, don't kill our foal! Please, please don't kill our foal!"

Pinkie hissed, "Very well, I shall not kill your foal." She then held the foal in front of her beast and it immediately ate it. She gave the parents a laugh, "I promised not to kill it but my friend here is a different story."

Seeing their foal being consumed by the beast brought out different emotions in the two. The mother broke down crying but the father became angry, incredibly angry. He swung his hoof out, hit Pinkie and yelled, "You will not get away with this. When Supreme Commander Scootaloo learns of this, you'll be sorry!"

"Want to know what else would be fun?" asked Pinkie. She then raised her sword and stabbed both of them. When the two fell Pinkie became much more protective of them, especially once they began to turn black and their breathing became erratic and shallow. She knew what was going to happen and realized that she would not have to be the one to finish off the Empire.

When the two finally turned all black, Pinkie began to hiss, "Fun, fun, fun!"

It would not be long until the two now black equines stood up and asked, "What is it you wish for us to do?"

Pinkie ordered, "The rest of the citizens of the Empire, kill them! It would be fun, fun, fun!"

The two immediately charged out into the city and began to tackle the Empire's subjects. Given that they had no weapons to kill them with, they did the one thing they could think of. The moment they tackled them, they slammed their heads into the ground and then bit their throats open. Seeing this brought a great amount of joy to Pinkie and although her Master had told her to not kill too many, she figured this was fine since she never said anything about having others go on a killing spree.

Pinkie figured that her job of spreading terror to the Crystal Empire was complete but then a thought crossed her mind. She believed that she could get in Colgate's good graces if she made life even more miserable for the citizens of the Crystal Empire so she took the heart out of its holding place, causing the skies to turn orange. This brought out even more panic from the citizens of the Empire as they believed that perhaps Sombra had returned and was coming to enslave them.

Pinkie then took the heart and began to stab more citizens of the Crystal Empire, creating more minions. As she did this she continued to hiss, "Fun, fun, fun!" Once all the citizens were either dead or had been turned into mindless minions of hers, she stood tall and proclaimed, "I Pinkie Pie, the Witch of Sadism do hereby claim the Crystal Empire for Supreme Commander Colgate, the Goddess of Terror!"

When Colgate stopped projecting what she was seeing, she turned around to see Scootaloo crying, "How could you? How could you kill so many innocent ponies?" Her voice became more snide as she continued, "Oh wait, you've never cared how many you killed. Just like it was when you nuked Neigh Zealand, you enjoy high death totals."

Colgate approached her, smacked her and yelled, "If I remember correctly, you were happy when I did that. If I remember correctly, you were on MY side when I did that so I don't see why you are complaining about it."

"That was a long time ago Colgate. That was back when you were a good pony....." Scootaloo protested.

Colgate slammed her hoof down on her muzzle and broke it. "That doesn't change the fact that you supported me in that mass slaughter so that makes you no less guilty!" She smacked her again and yelled, "Remember your torture of General Black Feet Scoots? Remember how you waterboarded him? Remember how much fun you had doing that? Remember how you beheaded him despite him telling you everything you asked of him?"

"But...."

Again Colgate smacked her, "You are no little angel Scootaloo. Had you not been my second in command, you would have been deemed a war criminal and put to death."

"But...." Scootaloo tried to speak again.

Colgate began to slam her head into the floor and yelled, "Never mind, you're coming with me."

Since Colgate had shown Scootaloo what she wanted her to see, she dragged her back down to the dungeon and threw her back to her cell. She gave Scootaloo a smile and laughed, "Don't you worry Scootaloo, you won't be stuck in here forever. Once I need you, you shall receive your freedom."

"No I won't!" yelled Scootaloo. "You'll probably just wind up doing something horrible to me with all that black magic you know!"

She then turned to her two former generals and continued, "And as far as you two go, I'm thinking your freedom shall come much sooner, well depending on how things go over the next couple days."

Both of them gasped, "Really?"

"Yes, really." She then gave them a smile and continued, "You know something, since you two do seem to be showing at least a little bit of loyalty, your rations shall return to that of what they once were."

Lightning Storm gasped, "You mean we will get meat again?"

Colgate replied, "Yep, you will." Her stomach began to growl and she continued, "For now though, it is time for my meal. I shall bring everypony's meals down to them after my supper."

Colgate left the dungeon and headed up to eat her supper before returning to tapping into the eye and monitoring the activities of her other minions. While she was still angry over what her former generals had done in questioning her decisions, she did have fond memories of how they had helped her in the past and made a decision, she decided that after her minions achieved their objectives, that she would write an iron clad loyalty spell, cast it on them and then free them.

Raiding Ridead

One day had passed since what was Rarity in life and her beast when they saw Ridead approaching in the distance. She had Colgate's words ringing in her head, her demands that she return the riches of Saddle Arabia to her and was set to do just that. Once the city was clearly visible, she readied herself to attack.

It was another day in Ridead, one that mirrored most every other day. The citizens were out in the market selling their wares, everything from the fabrics only they can provide to the tangerines that grow in the far south of their country. The peace though would be shattered rather quickly,

*SHRIEK!*

When Rideadians looked up, they saw a large gray beast with what appeared to be an Alicorn rider. Unlike ponies in other parts of the world, the Saddle Arabians were not so quick to panic. There was not much most of them could do but the unicorns began to fire energy at the beast, hoping to bring it down. Much to their dismay, the beast didn't even seem to notice they were firing on it, much less even being affected.

Once Rarity landed in the center of the market, she drew her blade and proceeded to find out where the crown jewels were but would be distracted by items in the market. She first approached the stand selling robes and hissed, "These robes, they are simply divine!" She then grabbed them in her aura and continued, "And they are mine, all mine!"

The unicorn selling them was very unnerved by the creature that was taking his robes but he wasn't about to allow some monster of an equine to take his products. He fired a bolt of energy at her horn, causing her to drop the robes. He yelled, "These are not your robes you beast!" He then began firing energy at her and continued, "If you want my robes, you will have to pay for them!"

"Wrong answer darling," the beast hissed. She drew her blade, cut the unicorn's head off, grabbed the robes and hissed, "The robes are mine!"

Seeing this caused all the other Saddle Arabians to rush away from the market with great haste. Once the market had cleared out, Rarity began grabbing more and more items hissing, "Mine, mine, they're all mine!"

Eventually some of the guards approached her and were met by an amused chuckle from her. A guard ordered, "Drop the items, now!"

Rarity took off her hood to reveal herself for what she was. When the guards saw her black pits for eyes, they all shied back. Rarity could tell that they were scared and figured that this would be her opportunity to seize what she wanted. "The crown jewels, lead me to them now!" she hissed.

The guards simply nodded and led her towards Ridead Tower. To get there, they had to lead her through the throne room. As she was walking through it and saw the thrones, something began to cross her mind. She figured though that she would wait until she saw all the gems they had, she figured that it would likely be something she would love.

Once she got to the treasury and saw all that gold and all those gems, she was immediately in love, "Oh my, it is all just so divine!" She then pulled her sword out, held it to the guard and proclaimed, "Saddle Arabia, it is mine, all mine!"

The guard objected, "Yours, never! Saddle Arabia belongs to Queen Galaxia and King......."

Rarity lopped his head off, held it in her aura and headed out to the balcony. As she looked out, the streets were still mostly deserted with the exception of a few guards and a couple of the bravest unicorns. She held the guard's head in her aura, raised her sword skywards an loudly hissed, "Look upon me Saddle Arabia, for I am your new leader, the Witch of Greed, for I am RARITY!"

The unicorns that were out there immediately objected. One shouted, "Never, we only bow to Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos!"

Rarity flew down from her balcony, pulled her sword and held it up to the unicorn. "What was that commoner? What was that about those two? Rarity hissed.

Seeing those black pits for eyes did scare the unicorn somewhat but not enough to cause him to become obedient, "I'll say it again you beast! We bow to none other than Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos!"

Rarity let out a screech and plowed her sword into the unicorn's abdomen. Once he dropped, his breathing became shallow and given that he was not of any royal origin, he began to succumb to the poison much quicker than Celestia did. Other equines looked on in horror, realizing that their fellow citizen would not be with them much longer. Once he finally succumbed and turned completely black, he got up and hissed, "Rarity, how may I serve you?"

This thrilled her. She realized that while Colgate would likely be unhappy, she decided she would turn as many Saddle Arabians into her minions and take the nation and its wealth for herself. She hissed, "Restrain as many as you can even if it means breaking their bodies."

He obliged and immediately began tackling other Saddle Arabians and restraining them well enough that she could stab them and turn more of them into obedient minions, minions that were loyal to her. It took her a great part of the day but by sunset she had transformed every single resident of the city into her minions. At that point, she no longer cared what Colgate would do to her, she believed that with an army of minions that she could take her down and claim not only Saddle Arabia as hers, but the whole planet.

Colgate was watching this in her tower and went into the type of fury she used to, "That wretch, that miserable pathetic wretch!" She grabbed her sabre and screamed, "When I get my hooves on you, you will learn that just as quickly as I brought you into this world, I WILL take you out!"

After going into her fury, it suddenly hit her. She realized that pouring greed magic into what was once Rarity was a huge mistake. She stomped the floor and yelled, "Once Applejack and Rainbow accomplish their objectives, I'm writing a new loyalty spell, casting it on my former generals and freeing them. Nopony dares disobey The Goddess of Terror, NOPONY!"

Marking Maredrid as Hers

It had been quite some time since Queen Luna had first headed to Marescow and then off on official business with her family and the citizens of Maredrid had become quite concerned. While they were not completely sure as to why she had been gone for so long, rumors had spread that a "great terror in the west" had awaken and was on a quest to bring about darkness upon the whole world and enslave them all. Given what the rumors entailed, many believed that it was the dark goddess that had returned.

Around lunchtime when the market below Luna's balcony where a guard was standing. The guard too had heard of the rumors but knew that it was part of his job to calm down. Like he had been every day since Luna departed, he approached the edge of the balcony, which quickly got the attention of the city's citizens. Before he could say anything one of the residents shouted, "Where is Luna, where is our queen?"

The guard replied, "Like I have been saying for a while, she is off on official business."

One pony yelled, "But what about the dark force in the west? Is it the dark goddess, has she returned?"

"Look, I don't know. As far as I know Twilight Sparkle has been dead for......"

While the guard was responding to the question a black shadow flew overhead and they heard a loud

*SHRIEK!*

When they heard the shriek, they looked up and saw the same thing that ponies in other cities had been seeing. The crowd began to run in all directions hoping to get away from what I saw. While Applejack did have a desire to simply attack, she remembered that her master had told her to simply take over and lie to them about what happened so once the courtyard was clear, she landed and dismounted her beast.

Ponies were peering out their windows in fear as what appeared to be a cloaked equine was walking around, holding its sword in its aura. Finally a guard approached the figure and asked, "Who are you and what is it you want?"

Applejack hissed, "I have come to deliver the message that Luna is dead and I have been sent to take over for her."

The guard knew it was a lie, "You lie you beast. I know for a fact that nopony would send something as vile as you to take over for her."

This did not sit well with Applejack but she knew that she simply could not go slaying the ponies in Maredrid if she wanted their loyalty. She pointed her sword at the guard and hissed, "Trust me." She then turned towards the ponies that were hiding in their houses and continued, "Trust me y'all, y'all have nothing to worry about. I am simply here to spread the sad news regarding your queen and the fact that I have been sent to take over."

The ponies in Maredrid knew that the rider could have easily stabbed the guard or beheaded him but did not do so. The ponies began to emerge from their houses and one asked, "How was it that our queen died? What was it that caused Queen Luna to fall?"

Applejack knew well enough how to get the citizens of the city not only on her side, but on the side of her Master. She hissed, "Your queen fell in battle against the Dark Goddess Twilight Sparkle but worry not about the dark goddess. Fortunately for us all, Supreme Commander Colgate prevailed and has slain her."

One thing Applejack did not take into account was that the fact that Colgate had consumed the dark goddess's heart many millennia ago was known by ponies on a global scale. One pony yelled, "You lie, the dark goddess was killed by the supreme commander many, many millennia ago!"

Another yelled, "What REALLY happened?"

The questionings and accusations of the ponies was not sitting well with Applejack but unlike her fellow riders, she knew that Colgate could easily take her out and continued to follow orders. "Citizens of Maredrid, what I tell you is the truth. The dark goddess, like she has in the past, found a way to return to our world but Colgate wiped her out. She has sent me here to not only rule over your land, but to protect it from others who may not have your best interests in mind."

One pony yelled, "Such as who?"

Again Applejack lied, "The dark goddess has again corrupted the leaders of Saddle Arabia and as I speak, they are making plans on coming in here, attacking and enslaving you, all of you!"

The ponies began to talk among one another and Applejack heard some of them still doubting whether what she said as true or not. Unlike what her counterpart further to the south in Ridead did, she remained patient, hoping that she could eventually win them over. She pointed her sword skyward and loudly hissed, "Galaxia and Cosmos are making plans to enslave all of you and only I can prevent that!"

Despite the menacing appearance of the creature before them, they finally began to cheer for her. One pony asked, "No disrespect but what is your name?"

She knew that she simply couldn't come out and tell them who she was so she lied, "My name is Applejack, former Element Bearer and ally of Supreme Commander Colgate, the one who defeated the dark goddess."

The ponies began to chant her name and while many wondered why a former element bearer would have taken on such an appearance, they knew that the tens of millennia had taken their toll on everypony and that the events that had taken place did cause change in some ponies, especially those who had been exposed to the most evil.

In her black tower, Colgate was watching with a smile on her face. Unlike the disobedience that Rarity had taken part in, Applejack was following her orders exactly as instructed. She did not kill anypony who was not disobedient and she was able to get the citizens of an enemy nation to buy into her lie. She said to herself, "Good job Applejack, thanks for securing the loyalty of Little Miss Luna's subjects for me."

Attack on Neigh Zealand

Two days had passed since the return of Brevity Thrash and everypony was sitting down for breakfast. The day had arrived that they would decide whether they would simply fly to Faustica or whether they would take the long voyage by ship. Once they got sat down Blue Star asked, "Well everypony, the day to leave has arrived. How do you think we should travel? Shall we fly or shall we go by ship?"

The other royals began to look at one another as not all of them had equal wing strength. They knew that Blue Star had strong wings, almost as strong as those of Colgate but they also knew that even though she had healed from her stab wound, that Celestia may not be in any shape to travel that far. Galaxia was the first to voice her concerns, "Blue Star, I know you have strong wings and would likely prefer it if we flew but I don't think Celestia could make such a long flight."

LaurFa agreed, "Galaxia is right, even if she hadn't suffered that wound, Celestia simply doesn't have the wing strength to fly that far and I honestly don't know if Galaxia does or not either."

They turned to Galaxia who nodded in agreement, "Well I'm thinking maybe it would be best if we went by ship."

Celestia agreed, "I agree with my mother, I say we go by ship."

The two were greeted with sighs of frustration as the rest of them had stronger wings. Blue Star asked, "Very well." He then turned to the others and asked, "What about you three? What is your suggestion?"

Luna suggested, "I think we should go by ship." She was greeted with scowls and continued, "Look, my mother and sister simply don't have the wing strength to fly that far."

LaurFa suggested, "I also think we should go by ship. I do not wish to see everypony wear their wings out and us not be able to make the full journey."

Brevity countered, "Sister, dost thou not know how long a trip by ship would take? It is several thousand miles to Alicorn Island from here! It could take us more than two weeks and if Colgate truly is unleashing evil upon this world, we have no time to waste!"

Blue Star added, "I agree with Brevity but I do think LaurFa makes a point. As much as I would like to just fly, some of us can not make that sort of journey so we shall go by ship."

Those who couldn't make that sort of journey flying let out a sigh of relief while Brevity developed a scowl on her face. "Blue Star, so when dost thou think we should depart? If thou asks us, we think that we should depart soon, the sooner the better."

Blue Star agreed, "You do make a point and I will see to it that the ship is stocked well enough by this afternoon that we can depart."

After breakfast Blue Star notified his soldiers that they were to begin stocking the ship for what could be up to three weeks for six ponies. Blue Star watched in approval as plenty of apples, plenty of water and plenty of oats were being carried onto the ship. While Blue Star was happy with what he was seeing, Brevity couldn't help but show some concern, "Blue Star, art thou certain that will be enough? There are six of us and the journey will take quite some time?"

Blue Star replied, "Yes, I am certain that there will be enough for us all."

Brevity remained skeptical but didn't say anything further. The time it took to stock the ship seemed to take forever to them and when it was finally stocked, it was mid-afternoon, much later than what they had hoped for. Blue Star turned to the others and said, "Well shall we, shall we get going?"

Everypony nodded in agreement and they headed towards the ship. One thing that none of them noticed was a dark figure approaching from the north. While they did not notice it, one of the guards did. He rushed to them and yelled, "Stop! We're under attack."

LaurFa couldn't help but chuckle, "We are not! Why would you say......."

"SHRIEK!"

Everypony looked up and were terrified when they saw a large gray beast flying overhead with what appeared to be an Alicorn riding on its back. Blue Star shouted, "Bring it down everypony, bring it down!"

Everypony from the guards to all the royals began firing bolts of energy at the beast. While it was letting out some groans of pain when it was hit, the energy did not seem to slow it down any. It swooped down, grabbed some civilians and then flew back up before dropping them to their deaths. The beast then again swooped down but went after something else, the ship. They then heard a loud hiss, "Destroy their ship, destroy their ship!"

The beast listened to its rider and smashed into the ship, causing it to sink. This angered all six of them but at that point they were more concerned with what was attacking them than they were the ship. LaurFa yelled, "Unmake them sister, unmake them!"

Brevity knew that doing so in that situation would be difficult but not impossible. She knew that she would have to get behind something, she would have to get out of the beast's line of sight. She was finally able to do so and readied herself to cast the spell. Her horn lit up and she recited,

"For this object was created in ancient times, long long before nearly anypony's time,
the atoms that hold this together are strong but that won't last for long,
for what was made can also be unmade for even atoms ultimately will go to their grave."

Brevity fired a pink bolt of energy at Rainbow and her beast but it would not reach them. Rainbow fired her own bolt of energy back and it deflected Brevity's beam and directed it straight into the palace. When the beam struck it, it vanished entirely. Brevity was in a state of shock while Blue Star became angry , very angry. He began firing energy at the beast and yelled, "You beast, when I get my hooves on......"

He would be silenced when Rainbow fired a bolt of energy at him, striking him directly. Rainbow flew off her beast and landed on the docks, right in front of the six Alicorns. She drew her sword and rather than going after them, she took off after some of the guards. She remembered how Colgate had told her not to kill many but that didn't mean she couldn't turn some others into creatures like her and instruct them to kill.

It did not take long for her to reach some guards. She let out a loud shriek as she stabbed each one of them. She would continue to stab them until she felt a blade in her back when a guard stabbed her. The stab did nothing more than cause her to lose her hold on her sword but it caused the guard a great amount of pain. It would not be long until Rainbow realized that she had best secure the ones she had stabbed as their coats were turning black and their breathing was becoming shallow.

The royals approached the figure and Celestia noticed like it was with Twilight, Rainbow's cutie mark was inside a much larger one, Colgate's cutie mark. She pointed to Brevity and asked, "Now do you believe us? Now do you believe that Colgate is using black magic?"

Brevity was horrified when she realized that Colgate had done this. She knew of Colgate's powers and realized that with her knowing that kind of necromancy, that anything was possible. She knew that they would have to maybe learn forbidden magic of their own. One thing she did know though was that they were going to have to hurry up and leave if they didn't want to suffer the same fate that Blue Star's guards were suffering.

She turned to the other Alicorns and yelled, "We've got to get out of here! We have to fly to Faustica!"

Without hesitation, they all took off to the north and hoped that Rainbow and her beast would not follow them. Once they got out of eyesight of the capitol, they slowed down when they noticed that they were not being pursued. They stopped, caught their breath and tried to regain their focus. Brevity was the first to say anything, "Good grief, how does Colgate know that kind of magic? We have never seen things like that before."

LaurFa replied, "With Colgate, anything is possible. She is likely taking risks that nopony else would to acquire such information, she is likely going to places nopony else would even dare to go. She has but one goal, to rule this world and make everypony suffer."

They all looked at one another and realized one thing, they had to get to Faustica. Blue Star was the one to address them, "Look, I know that some of you may not have the wing strength to fly to Faustica but I know a route that should have enough islands along it that we can stop when we need to." He turned to the two with the weakest wings and continued, "Galaxia, Celestia, will that work for you."

The two knew that they had no other choice at this point, "It has to." replied Galaxia.

Celestia added, "It will work."

Blue Star pointed his wing to the north and ordered, "Follow me. We must get to Faustica."

He took off to the north and the others followed him. He knew that Colgate had dark powers but after the attack on his capitol and actually seeing something similar to what attacked Celestia, he knew that they would have to figure something out. He began to wonder if one of them may have to take the risk of corrupting themselves and fight fire with fire. He began to wonder if perhaps the way to defeat Colgate and her minions was with their own black magic.

In her black tower Colgate had been watching the events unfold in Neigh Zealand over the past couple of days and initially was not thrilled by the return of Brevity Thrash. She knew of Brevity's powers but when she saw how Brevity's energy was deflected and the palace there was unmade, she began to wonder if perhaps she could force Brevity's own energy into her and cause her to unmake herself.

She then began to watch Rainbow stabbing more guards and turning them into her minions. She was initially thrilled by this but once she remembered the type of magic she had poured into her, her mood changed entirely. She growled, "Great, just great. I have a bad feeling that she may use those things against me." She then looked down and realized that rather than simply talking about it, the time had come to make good on what she had been telling those who were once her generals, the time had come to free them and cast strong loyalty spells on them.

Return of the Generals

After watching the global attacks, Colgate was pleased for the most part. The one thing that did not please her though was Rarity, the Witch of Greed, taking Saddle Arabia as her own rather than claiming it for Colgate and simply watching over it for her. To her, that was the ultimate form of betrayal, even worse than the tyrannical betrayal of Scootaloo. She knew that her former generals wouldn't be able to take on her foes alone but knew that their presence could help. She realized that the soldiers may work better if ones of their own kind were leading them and she realized that they, despite being held captive, had been giving her good advice. At that moment, she decided to head to the archives to see if there were any loyalty spells that were stronger than the ones that had been used for tens of millennia, loyalty spells that would never wear off.

She headed down to the archives and couldn't help but wonder, should she try and use a standard loyalty spell or should she use a darker one, one that would more closely resemble the types of energies that she now possessed. After a minute of thinking, she decided to go with a darker one, preferably from the Midnight Castle collection, so she headed to the back of the archives to find one.

She started in the very back and began to read through them. At first she was not finding any but once she got to the middle of the collection, she began to find them but something didn't seem right about them. Yes they were loyalty spells, iron clad ones, but as she was reading through them she couldn't help but wonder if they would eventually cause them to perhaps rebel and be loyal to a cause that would not be in her best interests, a cause that would lead to them trying to overthrow her. Once her paranoia had gotten great enough, she decided that she would do what she had one plenty of other times, write her own magic.

Despite it having been ages since she had cast the ages old loyalty spell, she still remembered it. She wasn't sure if she should simply use it and put more power into it or if she should add to the spell since modern spells were much, much longer and more complex than the spells were from the times immediately following Twilight's corruption. Eventually she came to the conclusion that a new one would need to be written, one that would be equal to other modern spells.

She sat there and began to think of the right wording. Over the ages she had always been good at writing magic but this one would not be so easy. She was becoming frustrated until words finally came to her,

"Currently their loyalty belongs to none
Without it though my quest is done,
Their loyalty is an absolute must
For without it everything will be a bust.

My plans for conquest are what must be
That is something everypony can clearly see,
With their loyalty everything will be fine
And all of Eqqus 1 shall be mine.

Hear me my troops
With your loyalty you shall never be out of the loop,
Your loyalty now belongs to The Goddess of Terror
To resist shall be a grave error."

After reading over it multiple times, she decided that it would work so she then went to do something that would make two individuals very happy and likely anger one. She headed down to the dungeon to free Dark Night and Lightning Storm. She was still fairly angry over how her former generals dared to question her actions but knew that once a loyalty spell was cast, that things would return to how they were for so many millennia.

She exited the archives and headed to the dungeon. When she arrived she would be greeted by an unpleasant snarl, "So Colgate, what are you going to do next? Are you going to turn me into a beast?" She then pointed at Dark Night and Lightning Storm and continued, "Are you going to turn them into beasts or come up with some other evil plan?"

Colgate ignored her, opened the cell that Dark Night and Lightning Storm were in and ordered, "Follow me generals, your time has come. Your time to resume your duties has come."

The two gasped in shock. It wasn't so much that Colgate mentioned that it was time to resume their duties but that she had referred to them as generals. Dark Night was the first thing to say anything, "Really, you trust us enough to do our duties again?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, I do. Now let's get to the base so you can get back in the loop of things."

The two nodded and they nervously followed Colgate as she led them out of the dungeon before she slammed the door, leaving Scootaloo down there, all alone. When they got back above ground and into the main part of the tower, they shielded their eyes. It had been quite some time since they had seen that much light. Colgate saw this and continued, "Don't worry you two, your eyes will adjust."

The light became much brighter for them as they headed outside. While the light was horribly right, they took in deep breaths as that was the freshest air they had been exposed to in quite some time. Once they arrived at the base, the other soldiers were shocked to see that their generals had returned. She pointed out to her soldiers and ordered, "Generals, join your fellow soldiers so I may address you all."

They did as ordered and awaited the speech from who they believed was still only their Supreme Commander. She was thinking about whether she should just cast the loyalty spell right away or perhaps go over everything that had been going on. It did not take long for her to decide that she would cast the loyalty spell to prevent any objections to her plans or any disobedience. She lit up her horn and ordered, "Stand still and focus on me."

They knew what was going to happen and knew what the punishment would be for not obeying orders. Once Colgate had their full attention, decided she would do things much differently than she did in the past. She decided that rather than simply firing the energy at them, she grabbed them in her aura. She then intensified her hold on them and recited,

"Currently their loyalty belongs to none
Without it though my quest is done,
Their loyalty is an absolute must
For without it everything will be a bust.

My plans for conquest are what must be
That is something everypony can clearly see,
With their loyalty everything will be fine
And all of Eqqus 1 shall be mine.

Hear me my troops
With your loyalty you shall never be out of the loop,
Your loyalty now belongs to The Goddess of Terror
To resist shall be a grave error."

As she finished reciting a spell, a great surge of energy flowed from her horn into the soldiers. She continued to pump the energy into them for a full five minutes before finally releasing them. Once she released them, they all gave her a salute and proclaimed, "All hail Supreme Commander Colgate, The Goddess of Terror, our one and only leader!"

This brought a huge smile to Colgate's face. It had been a very long time since she last had her army state that she was their one and only leader. Once they made their proclamation Colgate began, "Troops, first let me apologize for my neglect of you. I have been very busy as of late, busy doing what it will take to defeat our enemies."

One of the soldiers asked, "What sorts of things? Which enemies?"

Colgate began, "Over the years, many of the world leaders have grown distrustful of me and I have reason to believe that they are preparing to attack us. I have been watching through the eye and all of the leaders are planning some sort of meeting in Faustica regarding Coastal Equestria, except one."

Her generals knew exactly who she was talking about but none of the regular soldiers knew about the betrayal of Scootaloo. She continued, "I am not sure how many of you remember my former commander and current Supreme Commander of the Crystal Empire but she betrayed the citizens of Coastal Equestria and is currently in the dungeon."

The regular soldiers gasped and before Colgate could continue, Lightning Storm added, "Yes, Scootaloo has betrayed us, she has joined forces with the enemy."

Dark Night added, "We caught her exiting Unicornia in an attempt to lead the royals there, FORMER ALLIES, to Faustica for this meeting, a meeting to make hostile plans against us."

When her generals shared some information with the regular soldiers, Colgate could tell that they were ready to lead again and motioned them to join her in front of the army. Once they joined her she continued, "Yes, she was planning on joining them on a trip to Faustica. Luckily she is in my dungeon and as far as Ruby Heart and White Magick, they will wish they had never distrusted me, they will wish that they never betrayed Coastal Equestria when I get my hooves on them."

At the time there were very few soldiers since it had been ages since Colgate had to duplicate them. One of them asked, "So when will we be taking them on? When will you duplicate us so we can go and wipe them out?"

Colgate replied, "Not for a while. I want to spy on them when they are having their little meeting. Trust me though, once the time comes, I will duplicate you many times over and we shall crush our foes! We shall feast on their flesh!"

Her troops began to cheer loudly like they did in the past when such a speech was given, especially when feasting on an enemy's flesh was brought up. She began to head back towards the black tower and ordered, "Follow me troops, to celebrate the return of our generals, we are going to have an epic feast! We are going to have a feast bigger than we have had in ages!"

As the troops were following her into the tower, Colgate felt a great sense of pride. Not only had she cast a much more powerful loyalty spell on her forces and had rallied them up some, she had done something she felt was equally if not more important. She had got her generals to no longer have any fear of her because of her appearance. She felt as though, despite having multiple enemies, that things were looking up. She felt as though her chances of punishing what she viewed as an ungrateful world had increased many times over.

Discovery of the Second Prophecy

Two days after leaving Neigh Zealand and spending a great deal of their days in the sky, LaurFa and her envoy finally saw Faustica off in the distance. When they saw the city approaching, all of them breathed a sigh of relief although one would be much less happy to see the city than the others, Brevity. Brevity couldn't help but scowl knowing that her sister had changed things from when she ruled during LaurFa's corruption and banishment. The thing that bothered her the most though was the name. No longer did it have a unifying name like it did when she ruled, it was back to Faustica, a name that glorified LaurFa and LaurFa alone.

When they landed, they immediately headed to the palace. As they headed there, LaurFa hoped that the royals from Unicornia along with Scootaloo would be there. She knew that if Colgate had captured them, that things would be only worse than they already were. When they headed into the throne room, she would be shocked when she suddenly found herself in an embrace, "LaurFa, we were all so worried about you."

LaurFa broke the embrace and would be happy when she saw that it was Queen Ruby Heart with White Magick back near the throne. She looked around and was concerned by the one pony that she did not see. "Scootaloo?" she asked. "What happened to Scootaloo?"

Galaxia added, "She didn't rejoin Colgate's side did she?"

Ruby gave the two a nervous look, "Well no she didn't but she was captured by Colgate and her forces."

White Magick chimed in, "Yes and if I know Colgate well enough, Scootaloo is either already dead or begging for death. With the way Colgate was when she was captured, I know nothing good can come of this." He then noticed that somepony that should have arrived with them was not, "Cosmos, where is King Cosmos?"

Galaxia held her head low and began to sob, "He fell. He fell to a tatzlwurm during an attack by the Witch Queen of Marentreal."

Ruby asked, "Who?"

LaurFa replied, "It is a very long story involving Colgate, wicked necromancy and Twilight Sparkle."

The royalty from Unicornia gasped, "Twilight Sparkle, Colgate, necromancy?"

"Yes," LaurFa began. "On our trip to Neigh Zealand, we were attacked by a cloaked Alicorn rider riding a huge dark gray beast. It struck Celestia with energy before picking up our ship and throwing it onto an island."

Again Galaxia began to sob, "And then that is when the tatzlwurm got Cosmos and even worse, this thing that had Twilight's cutie mark in it stabbed Celestia with a cursed blade."

Luna added, "And this creature that had Twilight's cutie mark on it but it was inside a much larger one, Colgate's. She stated that she served Colgate, The Goddess of Terror."

The two gasped, "The Goddess of Terror?"

LaurFa replied, "Yes, the Goddess of Terror. I have a feeling that Colgate has gone many places most ponies would never dare to go since she acquired the black gem that was stolen."

Luna added, "And we are thinking that perhaps she went to Midnight Castle to acquire those blades because no other place would have such things."

Celestia added, "Regarding gems, where is this prophecy book you mentioned regarding them."

LaurFa replied, "It is in my sleeping chambers. Let me go and get it."

Once LaurFa headed to get the prophecy book she had been telling everypony about, they all began to speculate about the book. Luna was the first to comment, "Well now we shall see if this prophecy book of hers has any truth to it or this whole trip" she began to become angry, "including losing our father was all for naught."

Celestia too was suspicious, "If this whole journey was for nothing, I will blame her for the death of our father."

Galaxia wasn't much more positive, "Well we shall see but I'm not going to go accepting some prophecy book as truth until I see what is in it for myself!"

Ruby wasn't quite as skeptical, "If this prophecy book did mention something about gems and they do indeed exist, I wouldn't just discount it yet."

Just as Ruby had finished her statement, LaurFa returned. She was holding the book in her aura and motioned for them to follow her, "Join me in the dining hall. There I can show you what I found and why I am so concerned."

They followed LaurFa into the dining hall where she sat it down and they all gathered around it. LaurFa had bookmarked the area that had her the most concern about so finding what she wanted them to see was no problem.

She opened the book to the very first prophecy she had come across and pointed it out to everypony. The first to say anything was Celestia, "How are we supposed to figure this out? Half of it isn't even legible!"

Brevity began to examine it more closely and she was able to decipher it better than her sister or anypony else. She began to mumble as she was reading it until she finally came to a conclusion, "Sister, it seems as though thy book does speak the truth. The theft of the gems, the beasts, the necromancy, the resurrection of Twilight" she then began to become more nervous as she continued, "And towards the end, it states that the Creator will be shattered by death on the battlefield against the black tower."

LaurFa knew that since she had sacrificed her immortality to save Celestia, that that could mean only one thing. She gasped, "Brevity, if this battle does indeed take place, the prophecy states that you will fall."

Brevity scoffed, "Not if Brevity has anything to say about it. Thanks to this, Brevity will be prepared, Brevity will know that she must slay Colgate before she can be slain."

This brought out a smile from Celestia, "So now you believe me? Now you believe that Colgate has created foul beasts and used black magic?"

Brevity finally resigned herself to the fact that she hoped was not true, "Yes, we have. Brevity just wishes she knew why Colgate became so distrustful and why she has gone down this path."

The one who was once Colgate's closest ally believed she knew why spoke up, "Brevity, I believe it dates back to when Colgate ate Twilight's heart after we defeated those centaurs. I believe it was the dark magic from that 'meal' that led her down this path."

White Magick added, "And I also believe that our concerns about her taking those broken relics with her added to her distrust."

Brevity replied, "We know but still, why would she go this far?"

LaurFa snapped, "So she can rule this world with an iron hoof, that's why! I have a feeling that she believes the whole world must suffer her wrath because of our distrust!"

Brevity remembered that it was Colgate who freed her from her banishment and believed that perhaps she could be the one to get Colgate to see the errors of her ways and maybe stop her from going beyond the point of no return. She suggested, "Perhaps we could travel to the black tower and speak to her. Perhaps we could reason with her."

LaurFa objected, "I don't know if that is a good idea. I know for a fact that if she saw you return through that eye and travel up here with us, she will distrust you as much as she does the rest of us."

Luna added, "And do not forget about the prophecy, she may simply see you approaching her as an act of war and slay you right there at the base of the tower."

Brevity sighed, "Very well, Brevity can see your point." She grabbed the prophecy book and continued, "Sister, is there anything else in this prophecy book that may be of importance to us?"

Brevity continued to read over the prophecy that LaurFa had found and continued, "So the lavender one will bring terror to the sun?" She pointed to Celestia and continued, "It appears as though that has already occurred and we have a feeling it will happen again so Celestia, we would advise that thou remains vigilant, we would advise thou always keep an eye out for her."

Celestia replied, "Well that is the plan but she could appear in nothing flat! It's not like I can tell if she is coming."

Brevity continued, "And she will use wicked necromancy. Well we have all seen that with our own eyes. We have also seen her using these beasts to attack the world with as well so this whole prophecy is legit."

LaurFa groaned, "Well no kidding, we already know that!"

Brevity returned her focus to the book and suggested, "Perhaps we should continue to read through this. Perhaps it will mention something that will counter the dark power Colgate now has."

While many unicorns and Alicorns can easily flip through a book and know what is in it in nothing flat, Brevity was taking her time going through it. She knew that something this important may take a while to find. After a half an hour of going through the book, Brevity came through something that gave her hope. She pointed to it and suggested, "Look at this everypony, perhaps we can defeat the darkness!" She pointed at the text and continued, "Read this."

"In the future, the darkness of the hourglass will have brought suffering to many. The minions of the black tower have slain many and none have dared oppose the hourglass. Yet in the darkest hour, not all hope is lost for the light. Those who hold true to the values that have shaped the world shall find something special, something powerful that will still provide hope of the victory of harmony.

In the western caves lie a truly magical and pure gem. Off to the side of the sapphire lies a chamber, a chamber that contains the opposite of the black gem, a heart of purity. With the gem, the wielder can counter the darkness. With the gem, the Queen of the Unicorns can stand tall against her foe. With the gem, victory is certain. With the gem, She will free the world from the darkness of the tower of the east.

Even with the gem though, victory will not be easy. Blood of both good and bad shall be spilled at the tower. Freedom of the world will come at a price yet in the end, the Queen shall slay her former ally and her minions, minions that are many. After a battle of much spilled blood, love, light and harmony shall finally return to the world. The world shall return to how it was prior to the corruption of the lavender one."

When Brevity finished reading the prophecy, she stated, "Now we know what we must do, we must head into the caves where the sapphire Alicorn was found and find that chamber." She pointed towards Ruby and continued, "And we need to find the gem meant for you, we need to find that gem that will allow you to save our world."

Ruby was more than ready to go and headed towards the exit before LaurFa would grab her in her aura, "Ruby, we can't! The last time I was in those caves I was almost crushed and one of my guards was crushed! We can't do this."

This was the wrong thing for her to say, "LaurFa, you heard the prophecy, with that gem we can defeat Colgate." She was able to free herself from LaurFa's hold and continued, "Look, it is either we go and get that gem or we all perish. It is either we go get that gem or Colgate succeeds in plunging this world into darkness and despair." She raised her voice and continued, "I don't know about you but I want to be able to bring love and light back to this world. I do not want it to fall into pure darkness."

Everypony else agreed with Ruby and then cast their gaze at LaurFa, looks of determination causing her to know that Ruby was right. She replied, "Very well but we must be careful. Even if that part of the caves is not cursed with evil, it is still likely unstable and could collapse on us."

Ruby sighed, "We should be ok, alright." She again headed towards the exit and continued, "Alright everypony, let's go get that gem." She then turned to LaurFa and finished, "You know the way to the caves so lead the way."

LaurFa gave them all a nervous look but led the way as they exited the caves. The caves were one place that she had grown to fear after the death of White Wings, the caves were the one place on Alicorn Island that she had no desire to go. She also knew that she was the only one familiar with the caves and had no choice but to lead them in. She knew it was either lead them into the caves or suffer a certain death at the hooves of Colgate.

Ruby Heart's Discovery and Transformation

After reading the prophecy involving what sounded like a gem meant for Ruby Heart, LaurFa led everypony towards the cave. Most everypony with the exception of LaurFa was looking forward to going in and getting that gem. LaurFa however, could only remember one thing, the day that her top guard was killed in the chamber of the black gem. When they got to the other side of the island and saw the opening to the cave, LaurFa felt a sense of dread.

When they landed at the opening, LaurFa pointed her wing into the cave and said, "Follow me. I think I know the way to the proper chamber."

Once they got in the cave, LaurFa began to breathe heavier as the memories from her last trip into the caves began to flood back to her. While everypony's horns were lit and giving off a normal amount of light, she couldn't help but wonder what would happen the further they headed back. Soon they reached the two large chambers, one that had a pile of rubble in it and the other, the one where the sapphire Alicorn was found. Ruby looked in and asked, "I take it this is where the sapphire Alicorn was found?"

LaurFa replied, "Yes, it is."

Ruby headed in and said, "Well shall we?"

While that chamber had no evil to it, given that it had Colgate's Alicorn gem in it, she couldn't help but be nervous. Despite that though, she led them in and they began to see if there were any pathways or chambers that may be attached to the larger chamber. Most of them were looking on the right side but one, Ruby, knew better. She knew that on the other side of that wall was the chamber with the rubble in it so she was looking on the left side.

Initially she believed that a doorway would be clearly visible but it was not. She took a few steps back and began to analyze the wall, looking to see if there may be any special markings that may indicate a hidden entrance, an entrance that could only be opened using magic. She at first did not see any until she approached the wall and took a closer look. It was then when she saw something, a small opening, an opening that looked like it was designed for a horn.

She turned back and yelled, "Come here everypony, this could be what we need."

Everypony surrounded her and the first to say anything was LaurFa, "What is it?" She took a closer look and continued, "What is it you think we need because I don't see anything."

Ruby leaned forward, placed her horn in the hole and released some energy to it. Everypony with the exception of Ruby was shocked when a door slid open, revealing a passage that led further back into the caves. Ruby removed her horn and suggested, "Shall we see where this leads?"

White Magick replied, "Yes, we should see where it leads."

Everypony nodded in agreement and they headed into the passage. Unlike the other passage that ultimately led to the chamber with the black gem, this one had no doorways that revealed chambers on the sides. After what was a longer distance than what any of them expected, they came to a doorway that had a bright light shining through it. Ruby said, "This must be it!"

When they headed in, it was obvious that the chamber was being lit by magic that was of a pure good, magic that was the polar opposite of what was in the other chamber. They looked around and saw many banners, white banners with Ruby's cutie mark on it. Brevity was the first to say anything, "Ruby, it looks like we have found the chamber with thy gem in it."

"Yes, we have." Ruby replied. She then saw a large table in the center of the room and in the center of it there was a diamond in the shape of a heart and right above it was a sword, a sword with a blade made of diamonds.

White Magick joined her at the table and asked, "Do you think that is the weapon that you can defeat Colgate with? Do you think that is the only thing that will slay her?"

Ruby noticed that the heart was on a chain so she levitated it up and put it around her neck. While she was expecting something special to happen to her, it did not. She looked around and said, "I am glad I found this but I thought that something special would happen, I thought maybe some sort of special energy would flow into me."

White Magick remembered that when they were captured by Colgate that she had fused the black gem into her and that was likely what had caused her to become even darker. He suggested, "Ruby, maybe you should try to fuse the diamond into yourself the way Colgate had that black gem fused into her, perhaps that is what will give you that extra amount of good energy I can tell you were expecting."

Ruby remembered this as well and replied, "Perhaps so." She grabbed the sword in her aura and continued, "Well everypony, shall we get going? I am likely going to have to write my own magic to get this gem fused into myself and I know I will need a clear mind to do so."

When she picked up the sword she noticed that there was some parchment with writing on it. As she began to read over the spell, she was shocked to discover that not only was it a spell to fuse the gem into herself but that it seemed to mention her in ways that described her. She held the parchment up and said, "Well this just made life a whole lot easier. This parchment contains the necessary spell, it is just now getting the energies just right."

The first to say anything was Celestia, "So what does it say? What is the spell for you to do this?"

Ruby recited it,

"With this gem comes love and light
The wielder of it shall possess a lot of might,
Harmony is what the diamond heart shall bring
The magic it possesses will make a great many sing.

The light and the heart of ruby shall become one
Against its power the chance of darkness is none,
Victory is guaranteed for the one who possesses the gem of light
Not even the darkest of the dark stands a chance in a fight.

The heart of red must fuse the gem into her chest
After this the chances of defeat will be far less,
Love and light shall spread across the land
From everything from the tallest mountain to the very last grain of sand.

Once the fusion is done, the heart of ruby and the gem shall become one
With the gem fused her time will never be done.
Yet if the bearer and the gem are ever parted
Immediate death is the thing that shall be started."

When Ruby finished reading the spell, everypony gasped in shock. They could not believe that a spell for such a gem would end in such a dark way. White Magick was the first to say anything, "Are you sure you want to go through with this. If you fuse that into yourself and it is somehow removed, you will die."

Galaxia added, "And none of us want to see you die if that was to somehow fall out of you."

Ruby countered, "If I fuse this into myself and it and I become one, how will it be removed? If I fuse this into myself, it will become part of me, just like that black one did with Colgate. It will become part of my body, just like the collar and the black gem did Colgate."

Celestia sighed, "Very well but we will still have our concerns."

"Thanks for your concern." replied Ruby. "Don't worry though, everything is going to be fine." She then pointed her wing towards the exit and finished, "Shall we? I want to get this fused into myself before sunset."

Given the nature of the end of the spell, everypony gave her a nervous look but could tell by the way that she was behaving that convincing her to reconsider fusing it into herself was not going to happen. As they were headed out of the caves, LaurFa felt a sense of relief knowing that nopony was going to wind up getting injured or killed this time.

Once they exited the caves, they began to fly back towards Faustica. While most of them were planning on going right back to the palace, Ruby had other plans. She began to wonder where she should try and fuse the gem into herself. Once they landed in front of the palace everypony saw Ruby begin to look around and analyze the landscape. They couldn't help but wonder why she was looking around so intently and White Magick was going to find out why, "Ruby, why are you looking around like that?" It then hit him why, "You're looking for a place to fuse that gem into yourself, aren't you?"

Ruby replied, "Yes, I am and I have a feeling that I'm going to have to fuse this into myself away from other ponies and buildings. If this fusion releases as much energy as I think it will, I can not do it near any populated areas." She then looked off to the south and continued, "I think it would be best if I did this on an island that is not populated."

The others, LaurFa in particular gave her a look of concern. "You really think it will unleash that much energy? You really think fusing that thing into you could cause damage?"

Ruby replied, "Yes, I do." She turned to the south and continued, "Don't worry about me, I will be fine."

She then took off before they could say anything further. She was bound and determined to fuse that gem into herself for the sake of the whole planet. She knew that without it being part of her, that she would stand no chance against Colgate and the level of dark power that she now had.

Once she reached the next island, one that was unpopulated, she landed along the shore and began to look over the parchment. She then looked at the gem and began to wonder where she should fuse it. The very first thing that came to her mind was to fuse it right underneath her horn, in the same place that Colgate had fused the black gem into herself. She then realized something, she realized that the diamond heart was too big to fuse into her forehead, it would have to be fused elsewhere.

She stood there frustrated for a moment before it hit her, given that the diamond was in the shape of a heart, that perhaps fusing it into her torso right above where her heart was would be the best. She then began to read over the spell multiple times because she knew that she likely would not be able to hold the parchment while she was fusing the diamond into herself. After reading over the spell a few times, she sat the parchment down, intensified her hold on the gem and said to herself, "Well here we go, hopefully this won't be painful."

She cleared her mind of any other thoughts, held the diamond to her chest and began to focus on the process. She then recited the spell,

"With this gem comes love and light
The wielder of it shall possess a lot of might,
Harmony is what the diamond heart shall bring
The magic it possesses will make a great many sing.

Once she finished reciting the spell, she began to levitate high into the sky and found herself encircled in a bright orb of light. The orb was so bright that it appeared like a second sun in the sky, only quite a bit brighter. As the gem began to fuse into her, she felt a sense of warmth and peace as it started to become part of her. The fusion process took much longer than she had anticipated but unlike it was for Colgate, the fusion process actually felt very good to her.

After the fusion process was complete, she floated down to the ground and had a new appearance. She had grown a fair amount but what shocked her was that when she held her leg up and noticed that her coat was a much brighter white than before, brighter than even what LaurFa's was. She thought to herself, "What happened? Has this transformed me into a goddess of some sort?"

Ruby knew that once she got to the palace that perhaps the prophecy book or some other book would provide some insight into what the fusion of that gem into herself had done to her. She did know one thing though, she knew that she now possessed the love, light and harmony within her to bring down the darkness and evil that was now Colgate.

Once Ruby had returned to the palace, she was greeted by a group of shocked ponies as she headed into the throne room. White Magick was the first to say anything, "Ruby, you've grown! Your coat is whiter!"

Everypony else was staring at the diamond that was now fused into her chest and then her and were in a state of shock. LaurFa then spoke up, "Ruby, I think you fusing that into yourself has done something special, I believe that you are now much more than you once were." She approached her, embraced her and continued, "I think you have just become the polar opposite of Colgate, you have become the one thing that can and will defeat her."

Ruby gasped, "Really?"

LaurFa replied, "Yes." She motioned for her to follow her and she had the prophecy book open to a page that would provide some insight to what had happened. She pointed at it and suggested, "I think you should take a look at this. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by what has happened."

Ruby began to read through the passage and was beyond stunned when she read it,

"The diamond heart is as old as the world itself and its powers are immense. With this diamond fused into themselves, the bearer shall possess more love, light and harmony than any other pony in history. The one who bears it will be able to take on any dark force and win, no matter how powerful it shall be. The bearer will have the power to free any who have been forced into subservience by darkness and restore their free will. The one who fuses this into themselves will become much more than they used to be. The one who fuses it shall be granted powers even stronger than that of the Creators, she shall become the Goddess of Love and Light. She will become all that is good and have the ability to restore harmony to a fractured and dark world."

After she read it out loud, everypony got a huge smile on their face, save one, Brevity. The very fact that the diamond had given her powers that exceeded not only hers but what LaurFa had before she sacrificed them to save Celestia brought out a great amount of jealousy from her. "How?" She thought to herself, "How could a diamond gem give her such immense powers? How could it give her, a non-Creator Goddess, greater powers than mine?"

Brevity along with everypony else would soon discover that the diamond had given Ruby powers that were not even mentioned when she spoke, "Brevity, it troubles me that you are feeling this jealousy. I know you feel that as a Creator Goddess you should have the most power but remember, we are in this together. Your jealousy may lead to disharmony in a time when complete unity between us all is necessary."

The fact that Ruby could sense this despite not even looking at Brevity shocked everypony. "How?" Brevity asked, "How could thou know of our feelings of jealousy? Thou wast not even looking our way?"

Ruby replied, "I could just sense it Brevity. I have a feeling that this diamond has given me the power to sense the feelings of others as well."

While Brevity was not exactly thrilled that now Ruby could pick up on everypony's feelings, the others thought it was a good thing. Luna spoke up, "Ruby, I think this is excellent that the diamond gave you all these powers. With it, you will be able to sense any feelings from any of us who may be experiencing fear, anxiety or even overconfidence. This will aid us tremendously in our battle against the enemy."

Galaxia added, "Luna is right, with your new powers, you can pick up on anything. Perhaps you could even pick up on Colgate's thoughts once we get close enough to her."

Celestia continued, "Perhaps you could even take advantage of that. Perhaps you could use psychological tactics to get her to realize that everything she has done is wrong. This could very well lead to us winning without any blood being spilled on either side."

White Magick was a bit more lighthearted and laughed, "Well I guess now I can't pretend to like your cooking when I don't!"

Ruby gave him a glare before breaking down into a laugh, "That is correct. From now on, you can't lie about my cooking or anything else!"

Brevity finally realized that everything her allies had brought up were correct, "Very well Ruby. While we still are a tad bit jealous of thy new powers, we know that thy new abilities will aid in our victory over Colgate."

LaurFa was the last one to speak, "Very well, we are all on the same page. Now how about we have a feast to celebrate Ruby's new abilities." She pointed to White Magick and finished, "And you had best not lie about liking the food because your wife can now pick up on any lie you tell!"

White Magick laughed, "I know, I know."

Once they finished their conversation, they headed to the dining hall to partake in a meal larger than any of them had likely had in quite some time. As they were heading to the dining hall, they all had a new felt sense of confidence. With Ruby's new powers, they felt like victory against Colgate was pretty much a given. Despite the dark powers she possessed, the felt as though with Ruby that Colgate would fall and they could finally rid the world of her and her minions.

Informing the Troops

Colgate had tapped into the eye around midday and noticed the events that were going on off to the west in Faustica and was not thrilled. She was already angry enough that Brevity had joined forces with her enemy but would be even angrier when Ruby found not only a very powerful crystal that allowed her to ascend to a much higher level and became angrier when she discovered that she had a sword made of diamonds that went along with her diamond.

What angered her the most though was watching Ruby fuse the diamond into herself and ascend to a goddess and gain what LaurFa had stated as, "Unprecedented powers." When Colgate heard her say that, she screamed, "Ruby have more powers than me? I think not!" Her scream became louder as she continued, "How could she have got a sword with her gem? Where was the sword that should have been with my gem?"

Dark Night heard her yells and like he did in the past, he ran up to her chambers to find her screaming and yelling. He raised his voice and asked, "Colgate, what is wrong? Why are you screaming?"

Colgate had a scowl on her face and snapped, "General, we need to go out to the base and address the troops. Something has happened that will make our plans to punish those ungrateful leaders much more difficult."

Dark Night asked, "What happened?"

Colgate replied, "I will tell everypony everything at the base." She headed to her balcony and ordered, "Follow me."

Colgate headed to her balcony and then flew down to the base and was followed by Dark Night. Lightning Storm was leading the troops in a minor military exercise when Colgate landed in front of them. When she arrived she barked, "Attention!"

It had been quite some time since she had addressed the troops in that way and they knew it was something very important. Once she had their full attention she began, "Troops, I am sure you are wondering why I am addressing you today."

Lightning Storm replied, "Actually yes, I am."

Colgate began, "Well this involves a former ally of ours, Queen Ruby Heart of Unicornia."

The troops that knew about how close they once were gasped in shock before Colgate continued, "We have a major problem. As some of you know, the trust between her and myself has been in a decline for quite some time but a few weeks ago, she broke any trust that may have remained by siding with our enemies. She has sided with those who wish to purge us from this world."

One of the soldiers asked, "Seriously? After everything you've done for this world they want to purge you?"

Colgate knew that by including all of them that she could rally the troops up further, "She wants to purge US. She wants to purge all of us." She stomped her hoof into the ground and continued, "Chances are they probably want to purge our citizens as well."

This caused her army to first boo and then one of the regular soldiers to yell, "Death to Ruby! Kill her, crush her!"

The rest of the army agreed, "Here, here!"

Colgate gave her army a smile, "That is the plan." Her expression then became more neutral as she pointed towards Dark Night and continued, "Now for what I saw through the eye. As it turns out Ruby has found not only a sword with a diamond blade but also a diamond in the shape of a heart and unfortunately, she has fused it into herself."

Dark Night asked, "What happened when she fused it into herself."

Colgate continued, "That is what concerns me. When she fused that thing into herself, she grew some and her coat is much, much brighter than it once was. I was listening in and LaurFa had told her that with this fusion, she has become much more than she used to be." She then began to become angry and continued, "If what LaurFa said is right, she now has more power than any other pony in history and has become The Goddess of Love and Light."

Dark Night yelled, "Her have more power than you? NEVER!"

Colgate continued, "That is what I thought but regarding that sword she found. Given that her special diamond had a sword with it, I have reason to believe" she pointed to the black diamond in her forehead and continued, "that in the chamber where this was found there was likely a sword with a black diamond blade that I had missed when I acquired this."

Lightning Storm asked, "There could be but what about your sabre? Wouldn't it work against her sword or will you have to be making another trip to Alicorn Island to acquire that sword, if it exists?"

Colgate continued, "A diamond blade is tough and it could very easily break my sabre so one last trip to those caves is necessary." She got a smile on her face as she continued, "But there is one bit of good news regarding that gem that Ruby fused into herself. If I can rip it out of her, whether it be using a blade or my magic, I could KILL Ruby. That diamond, once she fused it into herself, it became a vital part of her and without it, she will die."

Her army began to cheer loudly and started calling for Colgate to remove the diamond from Ruby no matter what the cost. Colgate did admittedly enjoy having the army more enthused and behind her than they had since before she turned to darkness, she knew that she could not let anything cloud her judgement or cause her to look too far ahead. She raised and lowered her wings and continued, "We will get to that when the time comes." She pointed her wing towards Dark Night and continued, "For now though, we have a trip to Alicorn Island to take care of. If a sword with a black diamond blade exists, it MUST be acquired."

This was something that nopony, especially Dark Night, was expecting. He asked, "So when do you want to do this?" He saw one of those looks of disgust forming on Colgate's face and had a feeling as to what the answer would be, "The sooner the better I take it?"

"After we have a decent meal. After all, trying to move a time bubble on an empty stomach is not an easy task, not to mention an undesirable activity." replied Colgate.

Lightning Storm, despite wanting to go knew that he nor any of the other changelings had the ability to travel at speeds required to move a time bubble so despite really wanting to go, he remained silent. Colgate pointed her wing towards the tower and ordered, "Join me in the dining hall, we need to have a decent meal prior to our departure."

Dark Night replied, "A good meal does sound good."

Colgate headed towards the tower and was followed by Dark Night. While he had the loyalty spell cast on him and was again as loyal to Colgate as he was when he first turned on Twilight, he couldn't help but wonder what was going to come of this journey. He knew that if Ruby did indeed have those levels of powers, that a confrontation with her may not be as easy to handle as it used to would have been.

Terror in Faustica

Acquiring the Black Blades

After eating a hearty meal, Colgate and Dark Night flew out of the tower and prepared themselves for their journey to Alicorn Island. Given that he had likely lost some wing muscle during his imprisonment, Colgate was unsure as to whether her general would still be able to assist her in moving a time bubble. She turned to him and asked, "Are you sure you can do this? Are you sure you have the wing muscle to do this?"

"Of course I do." he replied, "If I didn't think I could do it, I would have let you know."

"Very well then, get over next to me." Colgate said.

Once he was close enough to her, she lit up her horn and recited the first part of the spell,

Once Colgate cast that spell, the two were inside a bubble. Like she had done in the past and had to do it that way, she poked the very edge of her horn through the bubble and recited,

After casting the spell and freezing time, the two took off to the west. While Colgate did have her concerns that Dark Night's wings may have lost some of their muscle during his imprisonment, that was not the case. He was easily able to get his speed up as quickly as he always had and it was not long until the two broke the sound barrier and were moving along rather quickly.

By the time they reached Alicorn Island, the sun was nearing its peak and they knew that they simply couldn't stop and undo the spells while they were within eyesight of Faustica because they knew that if they were spotted that things may go downhill rather quickly, especially given Ruby's new powers. To avoid this, they flew past Faustica and Colgate decided to undo the spells there.

Once they reached the other side of the island, they stopped entirely so Colgate could undo the spells. She first cast the spell to resume 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."

Once time outside the bubble was flowing normally again, she cast the final spell to undo the time bubble,

Once Colgate finished casting the final spell, they saw that they were right above the entrance to the cave. Colgate pointed towards it and ordered, "Follow me, I want to see if a sword came with my gem or not."

The two landed and lit up their horns before heading into the cave. At first everything looked as it did the last time they were there but then as they headed into the chamber that led to where her gem was found, she saw that part of the ceiling had fallen in. "Huh?" she asked, "I wonder what caused this?"

Dark Night suggested, "Maybe there was an earthquake or something?"

"Perhaps." Colgate agreed.

Once they got into the passage that led to the chamber where her gem was found, the amount of debris began to increase more and more. By the time they got to the end of the passage, a huge pile of debris had blocked the doorway entirely. Colgate groaned, "I just hope the chamber itself isn't full of debris. If it is, any sword that may have been there would be impossible to find!"

Both of them began moving the chunks of fallen ceiling into a neighboring chamber until they had cleared enough away they could enter the back chamber. As they entered the chamber, both their horns began to glow brighter and Colgate felt an increased amount of energy. Like it was at the entrance, there was plenty of debris on the ground and the first one to notice something strange was Dark Night. He walked up to a huge rock that had a corpse underneath it.

He got Colgate's attention, "Come look at this. It looks like somepony who didn't belong here was foolish enough to come back here."

Colgate approached the corpse and got a smile on her face when she saw it. The corpse was wearing the same armor as what LaurFa's personal guards wore. She laughed, "So LaurFa came back looking for the black gem I see." She leaned down and whispered, "You poor lad, had you done something useful with your life instead of being the subordinate of a tyrant, you'd still be alive."

Dark Night commented, "Well better he be laying their dead crushed by a rock than us having to deal with him, right?"

This was something that Colgate certainly did not expect to come from him but was pleased that it did. "That is right general, better the rock kill him than us have to kill him on the battlefield."

Colgate then continued to look around the chamber until she saw a couple of items laying over in a corner. She approached them and would be pleased by what she saw. Not only did she see a sword with a blade made of black diamonds but she saw a sabre made out of the same material. What made her happier was that the handle on the sabre had her cutie mark on it. She called to her general, "Dark Night, come over here. It looks like there is something for both of us!"

Dark Night joined her in the corner and saw that both weapons had blades made of black diamonds but something about the sword brought back memories from over twenty millennia ago. The sword's handle resembled that of the one that Sombra once had. He levitated it to himself, analyzed it more closely and replied, "This looks like Sombra's old sword! If it had a regular blade, I'd think it was his."

Colgate gave him a smile, "Yes the handles are very similar but the blade is made of black diamonds, just like my sabre is." Her smile became bigger, "You are my top ranking general, the general of my army and that is why I think this one is for you. If it were not meant for you, it would not have a similar blade."

Given that they had acquired what they came for, Dark Night figured that perhaps it was time to go. He began to head towards the exit when he heard a yell, "Stop, I'm not ready to go yet."

Dark Night turned around and asked, "I thought that with us having found these that you would be ready to go. Why do you want to stay?"

Colgate got an evil smile on her face, "I think we need to stay in here until after sunset. I have a little something I want to do before we go." The smile disappeared and was replaced by a scowl, "I want to send a clear message to LaurFa and her minions that distrusting me the way they have is a mistake."

Dark Night developed a slight smile on his face, "Thinking of slaughtering some civilians to rattle their psyches?"

"And as many guards as possible!" she yelled, "Given that they are all Alicorns, they could use that duplication spell on them, march on our city and attack. If we slay as many as possible, perhaps they will know not to cross our paths."

Dark Night agreed, "That sounds like a plan so now we just wait, right?"

Colgate replied, "Right."

Massacre in Faustica

Several hours had passed and Colgate was beginning to think that perhaps they had been hiding in the chamber for long enough, she figured that they could get going. She spoke up, "Dark Night, it should be late enough we can go and take care of what I want us to."

"I'm assuming you think it is after sunset?" asked Dark Night.

"Yes," Colgate replied "I do. Now let's go and paint the town red!"

Colgate led the way out of the chamber and the two headed for the exit of the caves. Once they reached the exit the sun had indeed set but there was still some light and this concerned Dark Night, "Colgate, are you sure we should head to Faustica right now? There is still some light to give us away."

Colgate had a sadistic grin on her face, "Oh I'm sure. Right now should be the evening rush for their outdoor cafes! There will be plenty of ponies out there enjoying supper, plenty of ponies to slay!"

"Planning on a feast?" laughed Dark Night.

Colgate laughed in return, "I wish!" Her voice became more neutral as she continued, "Unfortunately though, we're not going to have time to go feasting on our victims. We're going to have to kill as many as possible and then get going before Ruby comes along." She saw a curious look forming on her general's face and finished, "I want to bring her down on MY turf. I want to slay her at the base of my tower and feast upon her flesh in my dining hall!"

Dark Night took to the sky and suggested, "Shall we? Shall we go teach LaurFa a lesson?"

Colgate nodded and the two took off to the east, towards their target. As they were flying there, Colgate couldn't help but wonder what kind of reaction that her enemies would have once they discovered all the bloodshed. At that moment she decided that she wanted to see for herself. She decided against telling Dark Night about her sudden change in plans. She knew he was loyal but did not want him to be questioning her in the name of looking out for her safety.

Once they were over Faustica, they landed on the top of a building to survey where the best place to strike would be. It would not take them long to find a cafe where plenty of ponies were out eating. Colgate pointed her sabre towards a large group of them and said, "You see that cafe down there? It is incredibly busy and they will all be sitting ducks, easy prey for us!"

Dark Night added, "And look at the way they're down there laughing and enjoying one another's company." He then began to laugh, "Oh they won't be laughing for long!"

Colgate then realized something, she realized that they were going to be attacking a city with nothing but Alicorns in it. Before he could take off she suggested, "How about I cast an armor spell on us? That way they won't be bringing us down."

Dark Night agreed, "Sounds like a good plan to me. We certainly don't want to be brought down and have to leave before we do maximum damage."

Colgate then flared up her horn, formed a ball of energy around the two and got ready to recite the spell but then something crossed her mind. She realized that in this day and age that the simple armor spell of long ago would likely no longer be sufficient. She turned to Dark Night and said, "Give me a minute, I need to come up with a better armor spell. Everypony we are facing will be Alicorns after all."

Dark Night nodded and waited for Colgate to come up with something new. It did not take her long and she recited,

"Into battle we are about to head,
Everything must be just right so we can come out ahead.
Our enemies possess a power of great might,
That is something that we must keep in sight.

A great armor is a must,
For without it our quest will be nothing but a bust.
The armor we shall possess shall be great,
It shall be so great we can destroy all hate."

After reciting the spell, energy filled the ball and was absorbed into their bodies. Unlike it was in the past, Colgate was able to cast a spell upon herself at the same time she did somepony else. She pointed her wing towards the cafe and ordered, "Let's do this! Let's let it be known that nopony crosses our path, NOPONY!"

The two took to the skies with their blades held in their auras before swooping down and beginning their attack. What was a nice evening full of laughter and cheer had turned into a nightmare. Many of the Alicorns were in such a panic that rather than firing energy at their attackers, they were simply running into one another and those were the first ones that the two went after first.

Colgate was the first to get a hit as she cut a stallions head clean off. "Bullseye!" she yelled. She then took off after another one of the stronger looking stallions while Dark Night had begun to slay each pony he encountered. Soon the Faustica guard would arrive and begin firing energy at their foes. Much to their dismay, the energy was simply bouncing off of them and doing damage to the city.

One of the guards yelled, "We need the armed guard! They are protected by an armor spell!"

Both Colgate and Dark Night took off after them, leaving the few civilians they had not slain in a state of panic. When they arrived at their base, spears began to be fired at them but they were easily able to outmaneuver them. As they continued to avoid getting hit, the guard became more frustrated. Colgate yelled, "Go for the neck! Go for the neck!"

The guard would not be as easily rattled as the civilians as they then grabbed their bows and began firing arrows at them. While they did score some hits, all they did was slow the two down. Once they got close enough, the two drew their blades and began scoring direct hits on the guards, slashing their throats. Once they began to fall, the others began to panic. Colgate ordered, "Slay them all! Leave none alive!"

Their determination grew greater as the guard ponies went into more of a panic. Finally the commotion was heard by ponies in the castle and all of Colgate's enemies came rushing outside. When they first saw two ponies easily wiping out their guard they were horrified but when Ruby saw a figure of pure black, she knew who it was. "It's Colgate!" Ruby screamed. "We must slay her!"

They figured that the two likely had armor spells cast on them and knew that the easiest way to fix that problem was to strike them with enough energy. Immediately they all began to fire energy at the two invaders. After killing the last guard, Colgate turned around to see the one pony who she desired to slay the most, Ruby.

She took off after Ruby and yelled, "So you have chose the route of death! If it is death you want, it is death you shall receive!"

She intensified the hold on her sabre and readied it to be swung in a way that she could cut Ruby's head clean off. Just as she was about to strike she heard a yell, "Mom, look out!"

Just as she swung her sabre down, Blue Star leaped in front of his mom and when the sabre hit him, his head was cut clean off. Once she cut Blue Star's head off, she could tell that her armor protection was about to be broken. She took off away from the battle and yelled, "Dark Night, we have to get going! My armor is about to be shattered!"

Dark Night and Colgate both took off to the east. At first they were being pursued by an angry Ruby and Brevity. Soon though they would stop their pursuit as they simply did not have the wing strength, the speed or endurance as Colgate and Dark Night. Once they got far enough away, the two stopped their flight and Colgate gave her general a hoof bump, "We really kicked some flank back there! You did well general, you did well!"

Dark Night had a huge smile on his face, "Yep we did. We wiped out every last guard and hopefully now they will know there is no way for them to defeat us! With no army, they may as well not even bother!"

Colgate replied, "Hopefully not but I'm not going to go celebrating until all our foes have been slain." She looked off to the east and continued, "Let me cast the proper spells so we can get home in a timely manner. I don't feel like it taking us a couple days to get home."

"Agreed." said Dark Night.

Colgate cast the proper spells and once they got the time bubble moving, it did not take them long to return to the black tower. Once they returned to the tower and Colgate undid the spells, there was a bit of light beginning to appear on the horizon. She turned to Dark Night and suggested, "What do you say we get some well deserved rest and then all of us shall have a huge feast to celebrate this victory." She began to laugh as she continued, "We may not be feasting on the corpses of Faustica citizens or our enemies but we will have more than enough meat!"

Dark Night replied, "That sounds great!"

The two parted ways and Colgate headed to the tower feeling a great amount of satisfaction. At first her only plan was to acquire the sword she believed was there but was still thrilled that not only was there a sword for Dark Night but a sabre for her, a sabre she could easily behead her enemies with.

She then began to feel a much bigger sense of satisfaction over all the blood that she and her general had spilled. She laughed to herself, "I knew blood would be spilled but I even I never imagined we would wipe out ALL their guards!"

She then tapped into the eye and zeroed in on Faustica and watched in delight as she saw all the heartbreak that was going on. She watched with a huge smile on her face as the royalty from Unicornia was crying over the headless body of their son and began to laugh as the others were crying over all the other bodies that littered the city. She snickered, "Well now, all of you have a real reason to distrust me!"

One final thought crossed her mind, "Hmm...I wonder. Ruby and White Magick are really sad right now. I wonder how they would react to me slaying every last citizen of Unicornia?"

After twenty minutes of watching all the heartache in Faustica Colgate finally decided to go to bed given that the sun would be rising before too long. As she laid there continuing to think about all the blood she spilled and how she could spill so much more, she couldn't help but smile. Eventually she was able to clear her mind and fall asleep with a smile on her face.

Mourning in Faustica

Colgate and Dark Night had just brutally attacked Faustica and wiped out not only a good part of their civilian population but every last guard. For the two, Colgate in particular, it was a sweet victory, it was the type of victory that Colgate believed would crush the psyche of her foes and make global domination much, much easier.

In Faustica however, sadness filled the entire city. The streets were cluttered with the bodies of civilians and guard ponies alike. Once Colgate and Dark Night had left, the royals began to assess the situation but the first thing everypony did was comfort the royal family from Unicornia.

The two were standing over the headless body of their son sobbing, "How? How could this have happened?" sobbed White Magick.

Ruby Heart was sobbing harder, "I know she distrusted us but to kill our son?" Her cries became more angry as she continued, "Curse that Colgate! When I get my hooves on her it shall be she who is headless!"

Galaxia was the first to approach the two and pull them into an embrace, "I'm sorry you two. I never once imagined that any pony would ever engage in things like this, not even the dark goddess. I never imagined that ponies were capable of such darkness."

Ruby screamed, "She is not a pony anymore. She has fused evil relics into herself and has become something else. She has the magic of Grogar and that black diamond in her! I don't know what you'd call her anymore but it certainly isn't a pony!"

LaurFa was roaming the courtyards and sobbing over all the blood that had been spilled. She began to cry wondering, "What if? What if I would have been out here, could I have stopped this?"

Even though Brevity still felt a bit of bitterness towards the fact that her sister had changed things back to how they used to be, she too couldn't stop crying. She knew that it was not the fault of the citizens that this could happen and did have some empathy for how her sister was feeling. She approached her, embraced her and said, "Sister, we know that this is hard on you but we can not mourn for too long. Right now our number one focus needs to be Colgate, our focus needs to be slaying her."

LaurFa flared her horn up in anger, "How am I supposed to do that? Many civilians have been slaughtered and outside of my personal guards, every last one of them is dead! We don't even have a way to protect ourselves."

Brevity yelled, "Look, we know this is saddening but standing around moping will in no way help us! We know Colgate is watching and she could show up again at any moment! With the way we are right now, she could easily slaughter us all!"

Celestia and Luna were watching the others beginning to bicker. Given the situation they were in, this began to bother and sadden them. Finally Luna realized something had to be done, "Stop!" Her yell got the attention of everypony else and she continued, "Right now is no time to argue! Much blood has been spilled and we have to remain focused."

Celestia added, "We need to make plans to bury the dead but also, we have to make plans on how to defeat Colgate and arguing isn't going to help us any!"

The others stood there for a moment and realized that Galaxia's daughters were right. LaurFa hung her head low, "I know, this is just so infuriating and saddening. It is so saddening to have lost most of my citizens."

Celestia replied, "I know but for now we must be strong. We must start making plans on what to do next."

Ruby agreed, "Celestia is right. I think we need to get the remaining citizens that are alive to assist in getting everypony buried and then start making plans on what we should do next."

Giving everypony a proper burial was something of great importance to Ruby and White Magick, "And what of our son? For us to give him a proper burial, he will have to be buried in Unicornia." said White Magick.

Ruby added, "After all, a Unicornian must be buried in his or her homeland for it to be considered proper."

Everypony else could see their point but there was one thing that they figured needed to be brought up, "How?" asked LaurFa, "The entrance to Unicornia lies inside Coastal Equestria and I know she will be watching. I know if you go there to bury him, she and her army could easily surround you and slaughter you."

For the two this was not an option. "No!" screamed Ruby, "We will not bury our son on foreign soil nor will we simply allow his corpse to decay before we can get him buried."

White Magick added, "LaurFa, I don't think you understand our culture. Our citizens must be buried in Unicornia if they perish if at all possible."

Ruby pointed towards her sword and the diamond she fused into herself and continued, "And I think that if she and her minions show up, we should be able to handle them." Her voice became more determined as she continued, "And if she shows up, she will wish she had never been born."

While Brevity could understand where they were coming from, she voiced her concerns, "Ruby, White Magick, we know it is important that thou buries thy son in his homeland but Colgate could create a massive army! Her changelings could easily cover thee in ooze and make thou easy targets for her."

Ruby flared her horn up in anger, "Brevity, that changeling ooze will be no match for me now! With this diamond I am the most powerful pony ever!"

Something about her statement hit not just Brevity wrong, but LaurFa as well. Brevity was the first to say anything, "Ruby, just because thou has that diamond fused into thee dost not give thee Creator Goddess powers!" Brevity then became angrier, so angry that she forgot to speak in the way that she had for eons, "You still don't have the same powers as me nor do you have the powers that my sister at one time had!"

LaurFa too was angry but for different reasons, "Ruby, just listen to yourself! You sound exactly like Twilight did when she was the dark goddess! You are proclaiming yourself to be the most powerful pony ever, just like she did!"

Ruby stood there in silence and let what the two had said to her sink in and realized that they were right, "You're right, I guess I shouldn't have said what I did but still, I want to bury my son in Unicornia as soon as possible."

White Magick added, "As do I."

The other Alicorns looked at one another and realized that there was going to be no convincing Blue Star's parents that traveling to Unicornia at that time would be a bad idea. LaurFa stepped forward and sighed, "Very well, go ahead and go but we are going to have to come up with plans for a counter-attack."

"So do you want us to travel back here to make these plans or what?" asked Ruby.

Celestia glanced at the others, nodded and said, "No, we shall travel to Canterlot and meet you there. It will make your journey back much shorter and I do believe that we could launch our counter-attack from there much easier."

"Sounds like a plan." replied Ruby. She then turned to White Magick and continued, "Well shall we, shall we get going?"

White Magick grabbed their son's body in his aura and replied, "Yes, we shall." He then turned to LaurFa and finished, "We shall see you in Canterlot when you get there."

The two then took off to the east towards their homeland. They knew that the flight was going to be a long and tiring one but they did not care. Getting their son's corpse home and getting it buried before it could begin to decay was their primary concern. They knew that to get to Unicornia they would have to fly through Coastal Equestria but Ruby figured that with her having fused that diamond into herself, that she could fend off any attack or capture attempt by Colgate.

Colgate had been monitoring the movements and conversations of her enemies and was delighted by what she heard and saw. She knew that with the royal family flying home, the time had come to go and spill some more blood and more importantly, hopefully crush the psyche of her enemies. She laughed to herself, "Well, well, well, it looks like the time has come!" Her laugh became louder as she continued, "When those two see their whole kingdom wiped out, they'll be so distraught that Ruby won't even think to use her diamond against me!"

Death of a Kingdom

Preparing the Troops

Colgate had been watching the events that unfolded in Faustica after she and Dark Night had slaughtered a good portion of the population. What made her happiest though was the fact that the royal family was heading home. This gave her an idea, an idea that she believed would completely crush the will of her foes so she took off from her balcony down to the base to not only notify her forces of her plans, but to duplicate some of them so she could wipe an entire nation, a nation that was older than Equestria itself, off the map.

When she landed down at the base in front of her troops who were engaging in a normal military exercise, she had a huge smile on her face. The first to notice this was Dark Night, "Colgate, what's up with the smile."

"General," she then turned to her regular troops and continued, "troops, the time has come. The time has come to crush the will of that royal family that distrusts us." She raised her voice and continued, "The time has come to wipe Unicornia off the map!"

Her troops began to cheer wildly until her other general, Lightning Storm expressed some concern, "Colgate, there are likely many of them but so few of us! How are we going to pull this off?"

Colgate was initially annoyed by the question but then remembered that it had been ages since she had cast a duplication spell so she held her irritation, "General, just like it was in the past, I shall cast the duplication spell on the hoof soldiers enough times that we will easily outnumber them and easily drive their kind to extinction."

Again they began to cheer until Dark Night brought up one very important thing, "Colgate, that will help but we can't use our magic in Unicornia. Outside of you, no outsider can do so there."

Colgate remembered the spell and replied, "Don't worry general, I know the spell Ruby used on me. I will cast it, we will all still have our magic and we can accomplish the task at hand." She then pointed at her troops and continued, "Hoof soldiers, I need you all to gather together so I can duplicate you." Something then crossed her mind, something that would make things easier, "Before I cast the duplication spell on you, I will cast the spell so you can use your magic in Unicornia. It will make my life much easier."

They all gathered closer together and Colgate flared her horn up and prepared to cast the spell until a changeling drone spoke up, "But what about the duplicates? Will they be able to use their magic or will you have to cast the spell on them too?"

Colgate rolled her eyes in frustration and sighed, "The duplicates are exact copies so they will be able to use their powers there." She wanted to hurry up and get things done so they could head out so she flared her horn up again, grabbed them all in her aura and began to speak,

"The outsider can not use her magic which is quite tragic,....." She then stopped and said, "Wait, I can tell by the way this is worded that I will have to cast it in Unicornia! I can not cast it here because none of you are outsiders!"

This did cause some of her forces to be concerned, Dark Night in particular, "Colgate, so we are going to have to go in with you being the only one able to use your magic at first?"

"Yes," Colgate replied, "But with the powers I have and my sabre, they won't cause us any problems." She got a large smile on her face and continued, "Besides, they are just ordinary unicorns with average powers so they are no match for me!"

Dark Night then had another question, "So how many of us will be going? What kind of army will you be taking with you?"

Colgate replied, "You along with one changeling drone and one dark Alicorn soldier. Once we arrive there and I wipe out their top general, I can cast the proper spells on you and then we can slay them all."

Lightning Storm asked, "So I take it you want me to stay at home and hold down the fort with the rest of the soldiers?"

Colgate replied, "That is correct." She then turned to Dark Night and ordered, "General, grab a hoof soldier and a drone and let's get going. I want to make sure and get this done before they return."

"Yes ma'am." replied Dark Night.

The Death of Unicornia

Once Dark Night had grabbed one of each type of soldier, Dark Night had grabbed his sword and Colgate had grabbed her sabre, they all took off towards the west. Dark Night knew what to expect out of the trip but the hoof soldiers who had never been on such a quest before were unsure as to what their leader's plans were. As they continued their trip west, Colgate's smile continued to get bigger as she couldn't wait to spill blood. She had initially just planned on slaughtering every last Unicornian but then other plans began to cross her mind, plans that would bring about a lot more joy to her.

After a couple hours of flying, they saw the hilly region of the Everfree Forest and Colgate pointed her wing down, "Land here, we're almost there." Once they landed Colgate continued, "Be on the look out, they have soldiers that patrol these hills. If we encounter then, we must slay them."

Her soldiers nodded and Colgate began to lead them towards the portal. Dark Night and the regular soldiers hoped that they would not encounter the ponies patrolling the area but Colgate wanted to. She knew that the only way to drive Ruby's kind to extinction was to encounter them and slay them. Much to Colgate's delight, it would not be long until they were all surrounded and had spears pointed at them. One of the ponies yelled, "Freeze!"

Another questioned, "Who are you and what are you doing in these hills."

Colgate ordered, "Slaughter them, kill them all!"

The regular soldiers began to burn them with energy while Colgate and Dark Night took their blades to them. While Dark Night was stabbing them with his sword, Colgate took off after the leader of the patrol and beheaded him. When she got back to the scene of the attack, she was delighted to see that all had been killed except one, one that had been covered in ooze. Colgate stood over the soldier and laughed, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

The soldier was terrified by what he saw. He had never seen Colgate before and what he saw absolutely terrified him. He asked, "Who-who are you?"

Colgate kicked him in the head and sneered, "I am one who was once one of your leaders' allies, I was once one who she trusted."

The soldier had heard Ruby speak of how at one time she could trust Colgate but that was no longer the case. He asked, "Wait a minute, you're Colgate aren't you?" He realized that he simply couldn't be terrified of the pony who stood over him anymore, "You're the one who turned against Ruby aren't you?"

Colgate laughed, "My my, aren't you the smart one." She again kicked him and continued, "What a shame I don't have more time to talk." She levitated him, swung her sabre, cut his head off and continued, "Come on troops, lets get into Unicornia, I can cast the proper spells and then we can take care of the task at hand."

In unison her troops shouted, "Yes ma'am!"

Colgate led them through the portal and as they crossed, outside of Colgate, they felt a slight tingling sensation and they were no longer able to use their magic. Once they were all the way through, Colgate led them into a more open area. Luckily for them, there were no citizens in sight. Colgate ordered them to all stand together, grabbed them in her aura and recited,

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

The magic flowed from her horn and into the soldiers. Almost immediately, they were able to use their magic. Colgate gave them a smile and then ordered, "Dark Night, join me up here because only the ordinary soldiers are to be duplicated."

Once Dark Night joined her up in front, she grabbed the soldiers in her aura and cast an old spell but an effective spell,

"From one to two, two to four and so much more. When one is simple mere, more shall appear."

When Colgate cast the spell, like it had for over twenty millennia, the size of her forces doubled. For her, this was not enough so she continued to cast the spell until she had over fifty of each type of soldier. Once she was satisfied with their numbers she gave her orders, "Changeling soldiers, I want you to cover them in ooze. Dark Alicorn soldiers, I want you to burn them with your energy." She then turned to Dark Night and continued, "And you know the drill, right?"

Dark Night gave her a smile, "You bet I do."

Colgate turned around, pointed her sabre towards the city and yelled, "Charge! Slay them all! Leave none alive!"

Colgate and her troops stormed in and almost immediately panic began to spread among the civilians. They were running around in terror as dark Alicorns were firing energy at them, changelings were covering them in ooze and Dark Night had begun to stab them. Colgate however, took off to the base and readied herself to not only slay her enemies but to have to face armed soldiers.

When the soldiers saw a large, dark Alicorn swooping down towards them, one of them would keep his composure, General Blazing Glory. He ordered to his troops, "Bring her down, shoot her down!"

Colgate noticed that they had drawn their arrows and at that moment she realized she had made a huge mistake, she did not cast an armor spell on her troops or herself. At that point though she knew that she couldn't simply fly off and cast one, she had a base full of soldiers that she knew she had to take down before they could go and try to save the civilians.

The soldiers fired on her and Colgate was able to dodge every arrow but one. One hit her in the gut and she fell to the ground. The soldiers had a feeling that this was their chance to take down the invader but would be stopped when Colgate encircled herself in a ball and then had it explode, shoving them all backwards. She ripped the arrow out of her abdomen and began to fly around, swooping down and cutting a soldier's head off with each swing of her sabre.

The soldiers who were still alive rushed to grab their bows but would be stopped when Colgate would strike them with a bolt of energy and then fly down and behead them. Eventually the remaining soldiers had gone into a panic and were easy prey for their foe. Once Colgate had killed all but one of them, she decided she would confront the remaining one, General Blazing Glory, before taking care of him.

When Colgate landed in front of him, he was in a state of fear. Never before had he been scared of anything but the large, dark blue Alicorn in front of him unnerved him. At first he was unsure as to who it was but then he saw the two things that still gave Colgate away, her cutie mark and given that her mane and tail were still mostly the same color, those also gave her away. He asked, "Supreme Commander Colgate, why? Why would you do this?"

Colgate grabbed him in her aura and snarled, "Because the king and queen of this place distrusted me! They distrusted me over something as simple as taking a couple of relics for safe keeping!"

Ruby had spoke to her general on multiple occasions about the situation and sought advice so he knew some about the situation, "Colgate, everypony had good reason to distrust you! You ate the dark goddess's heart, you fused Grogar's collar into you, you took an even darker relic with you and now you have fused an incredibly dark gem into yourself. How could they not trust you? You are pure evil now!"

Colgate snapped, "What?"

Blazing Glory continued, "Look at yourself, those relics you have in you and you've become so dark! You're nothing like you used to be."

Colgate levitated her sabre to where it was level with the general's neck and laughed, "That's right, I'm not like I used to be. Back in the old days, I was sweet and didn't have nearly the power I should have had." She moved her sabre closer to his throat and continued, "But now, I have been perfected! The powers I have are greater than anypony in the history of not just this miserable world, but the whole universe."

Blazing Glory yelled, "You more powerful than Ruby, nev......."

Before he could finish his sentence, Colgate swung her sabre and beheaded him. She let the body drop and then something began to cross her mind, an even better way to pound the point home to the royal family that they should never have distrusted her. She grabbed a spear she saw nearby, planted it into the ground and then forced Blazing Glory's head on it. She looked straight into its eyes and laughed, "Now you be sure and tell Ruby and White Magick that I wish them well, alright!"

She then grabbed his corpse in her aura and headed towards the palace. What she saw would please her for the most part. While she had lost a few changeling drones, the rest of her army was alive and well and had slaughtered every single Unicornian citizen. Colgate began to walk around and survey all the carnage with a huge smile on her face. She gave her troops a huge smile and laughed, "Well outside of Ruby and White Magick, the race of the Unicornians is no more and give it time, and they too will be gone." She planted her hoof on a corpse and continued, "And it is going to be so nice to rid the world of their kind." She looked down at the corpse and finished, "And to think, had your leaders not distrusted me, your kind would not be on the brink of extinction!"

Dark Night looked towards the direction of the exit and then at Colgate. He asked, "Well think we should get going?"

Colgate joyfully replied, "Goodness no! I'm hungry and I'm sure all of you are too." She began to eyeball the many corpses laying around and continued, "Don't worry, there is more than enough food for all of us!"

Dark Night questioned, "But what about Ruby and White Magick? What if they come and we are all caught snacking on her subjects?"

The way he said it caused Colgate to break down laughing, "Oh don't worry about that. It should still be a day and a half before they get here and besides, I am thinking when I think they are getting close, I will cast an invisibility spell on all of us!"

One of the changeling drones asked, "Why?"

Dark Night gave Colgate a smile as he knew what her reason would be. She replied, "There are two reasons. One, I want to see their reaction to seeing the last of their kind having been slaughtered and second, once they bury their son and then fly to Canterlot to scheme against us, I'm taking Blue Star's corpse."

Dark Night gasped, "Really? You're going to take his corpse?"

Colgate laughed, "Yes, I am. You really don't think I'm going to let a high level kill like that just rot do you?"

Dark Night knew how Colgate was, especially when it came to high level figures that she slaughtered and couldn't help but wonder one thing, "Colgate, if you do take it with you, will you share with me? I did aid in the attack on Faustica after all."

Colgate replied, "Of course I will share! I know I love to feast on my enemies but you aided me with the attack on Faustica so you deserve it!" She then raised her voice and continued, "Enough chit-chat everypony. Grab a body and fill up! What fun is killing somepony if you don't eat them, right?"

Her soldiers all yelled, "Here, here!"

While Colgate began to tear into Blazing Glory's corpse, her soldiers each grabbed a corpse of a random body and began to dig in. This was one of those moments where Colgate felt incredibly proud, not only had she wiped out the entire kingdom of one of her enemies but she was also able to provide every single one of her soldiers with a very filling and tasty meal. She then began to wonder how distraught her enemies would be when they saw all the death. She began to snicker to herself, "Their reactions are going to be priceless, absolutely priceless!"

Fall of the King

A day and a half had passed since Ruby and White Magick had departed Faustica and despite them being incredibly tired and wore out, they had been flying non-stop for the most part so they could get home and bury Blue Star before his corpse began to rot. When they finally saw the hills of the Everfree, both of them sighed in relief.

"Well we're almost home." said White Magick.

"I know" replied Ruby, "and the first thing we are doing when we get home is burying Blue Star."

White Magick nodded and they headed down into the hills and landed. Once they landed, it was incredibly quiet and it seemed a bit darker than normal. This did initially unnerve them but they figured that they would soon run into a patrol that would be out searching for outsiders. As they continued towards the portal, things just didn't seem right to them as they had yet to run into any patrols. The closer they got to the portal, they began to get nervous as there seemed to be nothing but silence.

When they got to the entrance they would be horrified when they saw the bodies of several patrol ponies. Ruby was the first to say something, "Wasn't the attack on Faustica enough, now she has to come and kill some of our citizens too?"

White Magick added, "We better be careful, for all we know she could be waiting in Unicornia, waiting for us to arrive and then slay us."

Ruby scoffed at the comment, "I think she would know better than to go there. Our citizens are more than strong enough to repel any attack from her." She turned towards the portal and ordered, "Grab their bodies so that they may be buried."

White Magick did as ordered and they headed through. Once they crossed into Unicornia, like it was in the hills, there was nothing but silence. This unnerved them as normally their citizens are out and about and conversing with one another. Eventually they saw something they never imagined, when they got into the city they saw nothing but corpses. They knew that there was only one thing that would cause it, an attack by Colgate and her army.

Ruby went into a rage, "Curse her, curse her! Does her blood lust know no bounds?"

White Magick was in such a state of shock that he couldn't even say anything. As they continued to walk around the city and head towards the base, all they saw were corpses and once they got to the base, White Magic would go into a fury when he saw not only every single soldier laying on the ground dead, but also seeing his top general's head planted on a spear. He screamed, "How did she do this, is she really that powerful?"

While the two were out looking at the carnage, Colgate and her troops were hiding in the palace. When Colgate saw White Magick standing by the remains of his top general, she got an idea. She began to snicker which prompted Dark Night to ask, "Colgate, what are you thinking?"

Colgate snickered, "Just wait, this is going to be priceless!"

She cast a spell on Blazing Glory's head, causing it to speak, "Your Majesties, this is your fault! Had you just trusted Colgate, all our citizens would still be alive."

Both Ruby and White Magick stood there in a state of shock as the head spoke to them. Colgate found their shock rather amusing so she had the head continue, "I don't get why you distrusted Colgate so much. All she did was eat the dark goddess's heart and take a couple relics home with her for safe keeping." The head then began to laugh, "It's not like she created evil beasts and practiced forbidden magic or anything!"

At that moment they both knew that Colgate was there, they knew she was using her magic to have the head speak. White Magick yelled, "Where are you? Show yourself you little coward!"

Ruby began to head towards the palace. Along with being able to pick up on ponies' thoughts, she was also able to tell where they were coming from. As they continued towards the palace, Ruby ordered, "Be ready for her attack, I have a feeling she likely brought soldiers with her."

White Magick gave her a nod and remained silent. When they got into the palace, the first place they headed was the throne room. Once they arrived, they saw many dark Alicorn and changeling soldiers and up on Ruby's throne was Colgate. Ruby was in no mood for a conversation with her foe, she wanted to attack her. She flared up her horn and fired a bolt of energy at her, striking her and knocking her backwards.

Ruby took off towards Colgate with her sword drawn, ready to slay her. As Colgate was getting up she ordered her troops to attack. As soon as the orders were given, changeling drones and dark Alicorn soldiers came swarming out of every nook and cranny. Colgate had hoped that this would send the two into a panic but it did not. Both began firing energy at them, taking them down. Colgate was not thrilled seeing so many of her soldiers going down but was not about to allow it to stop her from achieving her ultimate goal, wiping the monarchs out.

While White Magick was busy taking out soldiers, Ruby's focus was on Colgate. She glared at Colgate and asked, "Why? Why are you doing this? Was Faustica not enough?"

Colgate jumped forward, began to swing her sabre towards Ruby but would be stopped when her blade struck Ruby's. Ruby then swung her sword towards Colgate but missed. She yelled, "So this is how you want to perish? You are picking death by the blade over death by magic?"

Colgate did not reply and again swung her sabre. The two got into a fight, both believing that they could take out the other. Both took swing after swing at one another. Ruby believed that the straight design of her sword could eventually knock Colgate out and Colgate believed that the larger and curved design of her sabre would eventually shatter Ruby's sword.

While they were fighting, White Magick continued to take out Colgate's soldiers and despite not having his own blade, he was able to knock Dark Night backwards. White Magick was becoming frustrated because unlike how it was with the drones and regular dark Alicorn soldiers, he could not seem to harm him. Colgate saw this and yelled to her remaining soldiers, "Circle him, circle him!"

When the soldiers circled him, he immediately began firing at the ones right in front of him. This gave Dark Night an idea. He decided to attack from behind. When the soldiers to his rear saw Dark Night was behind them, they cleared a path for the general. Dark Night drew his blade and plowed it into White Magick's flank, bringing out a loud scream before he fell to the floor.

When she heard this, Ruby's primary concern went to dealing with Colgate to aiding her husband. She rushed towards her husband but saw that he was surrounded by changelings and that Dark Night had his blade drawn, pointed towards White Magick and ready to stab him again. She fired a powerful bolt of energy at him and yelled, "You may have stabbed him but you will not kill him!"

Ruby fired bolts of energy at the changeling drones and killed a good many of them. She struck the dark Alicorn soldiers but was only able to kill a few of them. She leaned over her husband and saw that he bad begun to turn pale, just like Celestia did when she was stabbed by a cursed blade. She shook him and said, "Fight the darkness, don't give in to....."

Before she could finish her sentence, Colgate blasted her with a powerful bolt of magic, throwing her off of White Magick. She went flying across the throne room and very quickly Colgate flew to where she laid. Ruby was laying there a bit disoriented but not knocked out. Colgate stood over her and said, "Embrace the power of the Goddess of Terror and perhaps I shall let you live." She drew her sabre and continued, "Or continue to fight me and meet your demise."

This was not an option for Ruby. She knew that Colgate had one of two goals, either kill her or stab her and cause the dark powers of her blade to corrupt her. She shot up with her sword drawn and again began to fight Colgate. The two continued to swing their blades at one another, causing the two to clash. Their fight continued on until with one powerful swing of her sabre, Colgate shattered Ruby's diamond blade. When this happened she knew that she had only one option, she knew that she would have to get away from Colgate and hopefully retrieve her husband before he succumbed to the darkness.

She took off towards her husband and noticed that he was surrounded by dark Alicorns and changelings. Colgate had a feeling that he would likely be nearing death and figured that Ruby should see for herself. She fired a bolt of magic at her and knocked her to the ground and caused her to land right on top of her husband. What she would see when she hit the ground terrified her, her husband had begun to turn black and his breathing was becoming erratic.

Despite being surrounded by enemies, she looked down at him and began to cry, "No, please no! Please don't give in, you're stronger than their dark magic."

Colgate saw this and while one part of her wanted to laugh, another part of her wanted to finish this off. She grabbed Ruby in her magic, levitated her off of her husband and ordered, "Finish him off Dark Night, finish him off!"

Dark Night did as ordered and plowed his sword straight through White Magick's chest and into his heart. He let out one final scream before he perished. When Ruby saw this, she began to cry uncontrollably but that would not last long as not only did she have Colgate with her sabre drawn coming towards her, she also had Dark Night with his sword coming after her. While this was one thing Ruby had never dreamed she would have to do, she took off and fled towards the portal.

As she was nearing the portal, Colgate was firing bolts of energy at her but was intentionally missing. Once Ruby had flew through the portal, Colgate stopped her pursuit and turned towards her troops, "Well troops, one down, one to go."

Dark Night knew how Colgate would normally behave, he knew that she would normally pursue her enemies and not stop until they were slain. He turned to her and asked, "Colgate, why didn't you go after her? Why didn't you hunt her down and slay her?"

Colgate gave him a smile, "I want to wait until the final battle to take her down. I want to slay her last and have it be her death that will bring about a new era for this miserable, pathetic world. I want to finalize our victory by killing her." She then turned back towards the palace and asked, "So, what are your plans for White Magick? What do you plan on doing with your kill?"

This was something that he never imagined that Colgate would do. He knew that she was a great leader as long as one was loyal to her, he never thought she'd refer to a kill in such a way. He asked, "My kill? I get to decide what to do with him?"

Colgate replied, "Yes. You are the one who killed him so what happens with his corpse shall be up to you."

Dark Night thought for a minute before asking, "I would love nothing more than to cut him open and eat his organs, I want his heart most of all."

Colgate again gave him a smile, "Then it is all yours. You killed him so you get the tastiest part." She then began to look around at all the corpses and continued, "I think we should all wait around for a few days and eat as much Unicornian meat as possible. I figure the best way to celebrate is to have our feast here, in what WAS her kingdom!"

Dark Night was ecstatic that he was going to be allowed first dibs on what was one of the highest level kill that any of them had achieved. As he grabbed White Magick's remains in his aura, Colgate went to where Blue Star's remains were and levitated them to herself. There were plenty of other corpses that still had meat on them so she continued, "Help yourselves troops, there is plenty more to spare!"

Colgate then flew up to the balcony that Ruby would address her subjects from and shouted, "I, Supreme Commander Colgate, the Goddess of Terror do hereby claim what was once the Kingdom of Unicornia for Coastal Equestria!"

Her troops began to cheer loudly before Colgate returned to the ground and began to dig in on the corpse of Blue Star. She felt proud that she and her army was able to wipe out an entire kingdom and hunt an entire race of ponies down to where only one remained. As she was feasting on the former queen's son, she began to think about the ultimate feast, the meal that she was looking forward to most, that of her former ally, Ruby Heart.

Author's Note

Hide in palace, attack upon entry and slay White Magick....and run Ruby out.

Ruby's Return to Canterlot

Once Ruby had flown past the portal, she knew that she would have to hurry and get out of Coastal Equestria before Colgate and her army decided to come after her so she sped off to the west as quickly as possible. As she was heading towards Canterlot where LaurFa had stated that the other leaders would be, she had so many things running through her mind.

The most important thing that was running through her mind was the loss of her husband, especially the way that he fell. Another thing that was running through her mind was how easy it was for Colgate's sabre to shatter her diamond sword and she also had her concerns as to what kind of weapon she would wield against her enemy. She thought to herself, "With that sabre being able to shatter diamonds, nothing else will work!"

As she continued her flight west and Canterlot came into view, she began to wonder about how exactly she would break the news. She wondered how her allies would react to not only the population of Unicornia being wiped out and her husband being slain, but the weapon that they believed to be the one thing to take down Colgate being shattered as though it were made of glass.

After what was a very exhausting flight, Ruby landed in the courtyard outside Canterlot Castle and immediately rushed into the palace. When she got to the throne room, she was met by the other leaders. The very first thing they noticed was that she was alone, "Ruby, what happened? Where is White Magick?" asked LaurFa

Brevity noticed another thing, "Ruby, where art thy sword?" She then became more nervous and continued, "Colgate didn't get it did she? Colgate didn't steal it did she?"

Once Ruby got closer to them, they could see that her eyes were red and that there was a great amount of sorrow in them. Galaxia was the first to approach and embrace her, "He fell, didn't he?"

Ruby nodded her head and Celestia asked, "Did they ambush you outside of the portal?"

Ruby began, "Well what happened is a long story, a very painful story." The other leaders nodded and she continued, "As you know, we were taking Blue Star's remains home to be buried but when we landed in the forest, it was silent, deadly silent." She saw them nod again and continued, "And when we got to the portal several of our patrol ponies had been killed!"

Luna asked, "Do you think it was Colgate?"

Her question did not sit well with Ruby, "Well of course it was Colgate! Who else would have gone in there and killed my patrol ponies so easily?" Her allies remained silent and she continued, "And then when we go through the portal, there was silence, nothing but silence and normally our citizens are out and about, normally they can be heard the moment you cross the portal."

Galaxia asked, "What happened?"

Ruby burst into tears, "When we finally got into town, they were dead, every single one of them. Some of them were killed by magic and some of them were killed with swords. It was horrible, seeing all my subjects laying dead like that."

LaurFa embraced her, "I can imagine, it must have been like how I felt after the attack on Faustica."

Ruby shoved her back and screamed, "It was worse, it was everypony. It was the civilians and the soldiers and I know Colgate was there because my top general was beheaded and his head was planted on a spear." Her screams became louder as she continued, "And she was there hiding because his head started talking to me! His head stated that none of this would have happened had we not distrusted Colgate!"

They could tell that Ruby was becoming more distraught by the minute but given she had shoved LaurFa back, they knew that she was in no mood for physical comfort. They waited for her to quite down and continue, "And then we went into the palace and Colgate was up on my throne....and that is when she and her army attacked!"

"I take it that is when White Magick fell?" asked Luna.

"Yes, it was." Ruby continued. She began to cry in agony, "And it isn't just Colgate that has a cursed blade, her top general has one too. Colgate has that cursed sabre and her general has a sword that is made out of the same thing. When he stabbed White Magick, he began to turn black before he was stabbed in the heart."

The very mention of a cursed blade made Celestia cringe. She had been stabbed by one before and she could only imagine how bad things must have been for the fallen king before he was killed, "That is terrible, that is a terrible way to go."

Knowing what Colgate and Dark Night have as weapons, this brought a question from LaurFa, "Ok, Colgate and Dark Night have these cursed blades." She became more concerned as she continued, "And what of thy diamond sword? Why dost thou not have it with thee?"

Ruby began to become agitated, "While their general and her other soldiers were attacking White Magick, Colgate and I got into a fight...." her yells became louder as she continued, "and that sabre of hers shattered my sword. My diamond sword was shattered by that blade of hers. How could that even be possible? Nothing is stronger than diamonds!"

Her allies stood there in shock upon learning of her sword's destruction but then something crept into Luna's mind, "Ruby, chances are her sabre is made of black diamonds. That is the only thing that could destroy your sword."

Knowing that was likely the case, Ruby got a sick feeling in her stomach. She knew that with Colgate possessing a weapon that strong, that there wouldn't be much they could do, "Luna, what do we do now? If that blade of hers can shatter a diamond blade, a regular blade made out of metal is useless, completely useless!"

The other leaders stood there in silence, knowing what Ruby stated was true. Something then began to run across Brevity's mind, something that could work against Colgate's sabre. "Listen everypony, we think we know of a way to create something that could work against that sabre," she saw looks of curiosity forming on their faces and continued, "we must retrieve the shards of Ruby's sword, return them here and using the right magic, we could make it indestructible."

All of them gasped in shock. "Sister," LaurFa began, "how are we supposed to retrieve those? I am quite certain that Colgate has claimed what was once Unicornia as her own and has troops stationed there."

Brevity countered, "Sister, what other option do we have? We canst just use metal or some other kind of gemstone. That sword was enchanted and we must retrieve it, ALL OF IT!"

"And I suppose you think you're the one to do it!" LaurFa yelled, "Look, I know that is likely the case but even if we was to retrieve it, somepony would likely have to sacrifice themselves to strengthen it once we restore it."

The very mentioning of somepony maybe having to sacrifice themselves caused the whole room to go silent. The very thoughts of sacrificing a life seemed like something that Colgate would do. "Isn't there anything else we could do?" shouted Celestia, "Sacrificing a pony seems pure evil, it reminds me of something Colgate would do or has likely already done on multiple occasions."

Again the room went silent until a pony who had been mostly quiet spoke up, "Look, if we have to get the remains of this sword, we have to get it and if it would help, I would gladly go and retrieve them."

Galaxia's offering to do this shocked all of them and impressed most of them, except one. "Galaxia," Brevity began, "while we do find it admirable that thou are willing to put thy life on the line like this, we do not think it would be in thy best interests nor ours." She then turned towards LaurFa and added, "We are the one who could win this for us if she attacked because we could unmake....."

LaurFa was getting sick and tired of what she thought was her sister's desire for glory, "Fine then, go and get it but don't go saying we didn't warn you if Colgate was to be waiting and found a way to turn your magic against you." Her voice became more snide as she continued, "And tell you what, since you seem to love glory so much, you could have the glory of sacrificing yourself to make Ruby's sword indestructible."

Brevity flared her horn up in anger, "No sister, we......"

One pony had finally had enough and fired a bolt of energy into the ceiling, silencing them all. Ruby's horn was glowing and in a fury she yelled, "Stop it! This yelling will get us nowhere and will only give Colgate a bigger advantage!" She then calmed down and continued, "I shall go and retrieve the remains of MY sword from MY country, alright?"

"No." shouted Brevity. She flared her horn up and continued, "Listen everypony, like we said earlier, we are the one with the magic to defeat her." She began to head towards the exit and continued, "We shall return and with any luck, Colgate will be waiting and we can unmake her and secure victory, alright." She then turned to Ruby and added, "Ruby, it is thy energy of pure good that will take down the evil that is Colgate in the end so just let us do this, alright?"

Ruby knew that Brevity would have things no other way so she replied, "Very well, you go and retrieve it but you better hope the black tower is not watching. I know Colgate would love to......"

Brevity shouted, "Just drop it, we can handle Colgate just fine!"

Before anypony could say anything further, Brevity left the palace and took off to the east. After her departure her allies began to talk among one another how Brevity going may be a mistake and then something crossed Ruby's mind, "She can't use her magic there! Brevity will not be able to use her magic there."

LaurFa immediately realized that sending Brevity was a huge mistake. She said, "Great, just great. IF Brevity finds those remains, she will have to pick them up with her teeth like an earth pony." Then another thing crossed her mind, "And she didn't take any saddle bags." She turned to Ruby, "Ruby, you need to go and catch her. You are right, YOU are the only one who can retrieve those shards."

Without any hesitation, Ruby immediately left the palace and headed off to the east. She was flying faster than she normally would as she knew that she had to catch up to her ally and with any luck, convince her to return to Canterlot and allow her to do this mission by herself.

Brevity knew that her allies were not exactly thrilled with her demands to be the one to retrieve the remains of Ruby's sword but knew that she was the only one with the magic to take down Colgate. As she sped off to the east she said to herself, "If we encounter Colgate, we will unmake her and secure victory for our side and destroy evil once and for all."

Attack Against the Sun

Colgate had been watching everything from her tower and when she saw Brevity and LaurFa fighting, she broke down laughing. She was laughing so hard that she fell to the floor and all the noise prompted Dark Night to go up to her chambers and check on her. When he arrived, he saw her laying on the floor pounding her hooves. While he knew that Colgate was in anything but a bad mood, he tapped her and asked, "Colgate, what are you laughing about? What is so funny?"

Colgate was having trouble getting up she was laughing so hard but once she did, she began, "Get this Dark Night...." she broke down laughing again, "They're fighting, LaurFa and Brevity are fighting!"

Dark Night gave a curious chuckle, "Fighting, fighting over what?"

Colgate continued to laugh, "Over who is going to go and retrieve the remains of Ruby's sword from what USED to be Unicornia! Isn't it hilarious?"

The fact that they were sending somepony to retrieve the remains of that sword was not funny to Dark Night, it was concerning. He nudged Colgate and asked, "Colgate, shouldn't we be concerned? What if they get the shards, take it back, fix it and do something to make it stronger?"

Colgate continued to laugh, "Oh that is their plan but get this, they think somepony may have to sacrifice themselves to do it...." she began to laugh so hard she was snorting, "and LaurFa suggested Brevity sacrifice herself for it! Isn't it hilarious?"

While seeing Colgate laughing like this did make Dark Night happy for the most part, for the first time ever, he thought Colgate wasn't taking a threat serious enough. He raised his voice and asked, "Colgate, aren't you even the least bit worried that they could do something to make that sword stronger than your sabre."

Colgate finally calmed down somewhat and replied, "Not really. If I have to I can use my magic to make my own stronger too." She then finally became more determined and continued, "And as we speak, Brevity is flying towards our newest acquisition and is being followed by Ruby since they realized that Brevity can't use her magic there." Her face became more grim as she continued, "And with both of them gone, the time has come for one of my creations to finally wipe out the one she has hated since the day she was corrupted."

"I take it Twilight's time for one final bit of revenge has come?" asked Dark Night.

"Yes, it has." replied Colgate. "And she will not be going along, Fluttershy shall join her. With both Ruby and Brevity gone, they can slay the rest and then I can handle the one I want most."

After she finished her conversation with Dark Night, Colgate headed to the throne room where Twilight, as ordered, had been standing guard silently. She approached her and asked, "Twilight, what would you think about destroying the one you hate the most? What would you think about destroying the one you have hated for twenty millennia?"

Twilight gave Colgate her attention and hissed, "Yes Master?"

Colgate was not thrilled that it sounded like a question but knew exactly how to get her creation's attention, "The time has come, the time has come for you to travel to Canterlot and slay Princess Celestia and her allies."

The moment she mentioned slaying Celestia, Twilight's head shot up and she gave out a more enthusiastic hiss, "Yes Master!"

Colgate gave her an intense look, "Follow me." She led her creation outside to where her beast had been waiting for quite some time to go on another flight. She pointed towards the beast and continued, "Now go. First you are to fly to Ponyville and get Fluttershy to aid you in this quest." She paused for a moment before continuing, "And if at all possible, have Fluttershy grab some of her pets to accompany you two." She then gave Twilight a smile and finished, "And when you two arrive in Canterlot, leave none alive! Slay them all!"

"Yes Master!" Twilight hissed.

Twilight quickly mounted her beast and took off to the west. Colgate watched with a smile on her face knowing that it would not be long until terror, death and destruction would rain down upon another capitol of her enemies. Once Twilight got out of eyesight, Colgate immediately headed up to her chambers to tap into the eye to make sure that her creation did as ordered before going to Canterlot and eradicating everypony there.

Twilight had been flying for roughly three hours when Ponyville came into the distance. She slowed the rate her beast was flying and began to circle the town, looking for the one that she was supposed to acquire. In the center of the town, next to the town hall was Fluttershy, her beast and her pets. She landed, dismounted her beast and approached her fellow creation.

"Fluttershy," Twilight hissed "I come to you with orders from the black tower."

"What orders?" hissed Fluttershy.

Twilight began, "We are to fly to Canterlot and slay everypony there, everypony." She then pointed to her pets and continued, "And you are to grab them, take them with us so they may feast upon the city."

Given that once they had finished off the rest of the population of Ponyville and had not had a lot to eat, she only had forty of them but this still was a fair amount to have to transport. Fluttershy hissed, "How? How are we supposed to transport them? There are too many for them to ride on my beast's back."

Twilight grabbed them in her aura and growled, "Like this." She pointed towards Fluttershy's beast and ordered, "Follow me."

Twilight took to the sky and was followed by Fluttershy. Given that Canterlot can be seen from Ponyville, it did not take long for them to reach the city. While Fluttershy simply saw this as an order from Colgate, Twilight couldn't help but be excited. She knew that the time would soon arrive that she would be able to wipe out the one she hated the most, Princess Celestia.

In Canterlot, it was a rather peaceful day. Many ponies were out and about doing their usual business. Some were dining, some were simply enjoying the nice day while others were at work. The ponies were so relaxed and focused on what they were doing that they failed to notice two large shadows over the city until they heard a noise that would terrify them.

SHRIEK!

When the citizens saw the two beasts flying above the city, they began to run around in a panic. That panic would be worsened when Twilight sat Fluttershy's pets down in the city and they immediately began their attacks. None of the ponies had ever seen such creatures before and with many of them, the creatures attacked and began to eat them before they could react. It would not be long until the unicorn guard arrived and knew that they had to start taking out the creatures.

One thing the guard quickly discovered was that while the creatures were vicious and had insatiable appetites for meat, they were incredibly easy to kill with magic. Before long, the whole guard arrived and very quickly incinerated every single creature. It was at this time that Twilight and Fluttershy decided to launch their attacks. They had their beasts soar high above the city before swooping down, grabbing ponies, flying back up and then dropping them to their deaths.

As the commotion got louder, the world's leaders finally heard the commotion and rushed outside to see what was going on. They were terrified when they saw the foul beasts with Alicorn riders. They all knew what was going on and while most of them immediately rushed out to begin repelling the attack, one would be hindered by a sharp pain where she had been stabbed before, Celestia.

When Luna saw this she shouted, "Sister, we have to take them down! We have to drive them away!"

Despite being in pain, Celestia followed her sister out into the courtyard to join the guard ponies in the battle. By this time not only had the regular unicorn guard arrived, but so had the armed guard. Armed with their swords, they would swipe at the beasts when they would swoop down but the most they could get was a slight swipe at their claws, which was not even felt by them. When one guard was picked up, he dropped his sword and at that moment Celestia realized that perhaps she could go after her long time foe and not just drive her away but take her down.

She looked up and saw the beast that Twilight was riding and immediately fired some magic before heading off to the right where there were not so many ponies running around in a panic. When Twilight saw this, she instructed her beast to land in the courtyard. She hissed, "Feast upon her flesh, finish her off!"

The beast immediately began going after her but despite being in a lot of pain, Celestia was quite agile and the beast just couldn't get her. Celestia then took the sword and began swiping it at the beasts head, hoping to cut it off. The beast continued to miss her while she continued to score hit after hit on it until she finally cut its head off. When she got its head off, the beast fell down to a lower level of the city and crushed many of the panicked citizens.

Twilight however did not fall with the beast. She flew up into the courtyard and landed in front of Celestia. She stood tall and hissed, "So you think you can rid the world of me? You think you can rid the world of the power of the black tower?" She approached her and continued, "You will never rid the world of the darkness." She aimed her sword towards Celestia and finished, "And now you must die!"

Luna was not too far away and knew that she could not allow this to happen. She shouted, "Sister!" She fired a powerful bolt of energy at Twilight, causing her to drop her sword and let out a loud shriek, a shriek that pierced all their ears, temporarily disorienting them. The energy though, had also disoriented Twilight and when Celestia got her bearings straight, she knew the time had come to not only rid this world of Twilight once and for all, but to prove to everypony that thought she may not be tough enough for battle that she was.

She picked up her sword, pointed it towards the disoriented abomination in front of her and stated, "I made the mistake of taking you in as my student over twenty millennia ago and you have done many bad things to not just me, but this world. That all stops now Twilight, good riddance!"

She then plunged her sword straight through the mask that covered Twilight's face and immediately Celestia was thrown back as a great wind began to blow out from what was once Twilight. The Witch Queen began to disintegrate and just as she was completely destroyed, one final blast of energy shot out, knocking Celestia completely back against a city wall and again disoriented her. Luna very quickly rushed to her sister and tried to get her back up.

When Celestia got up, Luna congratulated her, "Sister, you did it! You destroyed her!"

Celestia embraced her, "Thanks to you. Had you not blasted her with energy, I may not be alive."

The two approached the cloak and mask that remained and moved them. Underneath was a burn mark, Twilight's cutie mark inside of Colgate's. Celestia stared down at it and sternly said, "Well Twilight, it is game over." She raised her voice and continued, "I WON YOU LITTLE TYRANT, I WON!"

Luna nudged her sister and pointed towards the other side of the city, "Sister, you can celebrate later. We have one more to take down."

Celestia grabbed her sword and yelled, "Well let's do it sister, let's wipe that one out too."

In all the years the world had been in so much turmoil, Luna had never seen Celestia be so ready to charge into a battle. Celestia flew towards the other side of the city and immediately launched an attack on the other beast that had landed and began taking her sword to the beast's neck. This one would be more of a challenge as it grabbed her in it's mouth and flung her towards the ground. Celestia would be quick to regain her composure though. As she was flying back up, she remembered how her sister's energy stunned Twilight long enough for her to wipe her out.

She decided to fly behind the beast and fired a bolt of energy towards the rider, striking it and temporarily stunning it. She then took off to where she was in front of it and like it was with Twilight, she stabbed her sword straight into its face without even looking to see which one it was. Like it was with Twilight, a great blast of wind came from the disintegrating rider before it finally exploded and all that remained was its cloak.

The sudden absence of its master caused its beast to become more aggressive. Despite many ponies having swords and were trying to cut its head off, it began grabbing ponies and rather than simply throwing them to what would be their death, it began grabbing them and eating them. This sent many, Queen Galaxia in particular, into a rage. She grabbed a sword from a fallen soldier and began swinging the blade at it, scoring a couple of hits but not enough to do any real damage to it.

After getting a few minor hits, the beast grabbed Galaxia in its jaws and tried to pull her in head first. Galaxia began blasting it with powerful bolts of energy, causing it to groan in pain but it was not about to be denied its meal that easily. It clamped down on her harder but that wouldn't stop her from struggling. The more she struggled though, the harder the beast's bite was and despite LaurFa grabbing Galaxia with her energy trying to pull her out, she couldn't free her from the beast's grasp.

When Celestia saw that her mom was in its jaws, she cried out, "Mom!" She then did the only thing she could think of, she swooped down and slashed the beasts neck, cutting it off. As the head became detached from the rest of the body, Galaxia went flying out of its jaws and was flung to the side of the castle. Everypony then rushed to her to check and see if she was ok.

Luna and Celestia were the first to arrive. Both leaned down and Celestia began to cry, "No, please no! Please don't be dead mom, please don't be dead."

Luna pressed her hoof against her mother's neck and was unable to find a pulse. She leaned over and began to sob, "She's gone, she's gone."

Celestia broke down in agony, "No, please no! Please don't be gone mom, please don't be gone."

While Luna normally tried to be strong in most situations, this was one situation where she simply couldn't. Seeing the loss of her father was incredibly hard on her but also seeing her mother pass, especially the way she did, caused Luna to break down in a cry of agony, "No, please no." Her cries became more angry as she continued, "Curse her, curse that Colgate! When I get my hooves on her, she will wish she was never born."

At that moment the guards that remained and the few civilians knew that it would likely be best if they gave the two sisters their space but one decided to approach the two, LaurFa. "Celestia, Luna, I am sorry. I know this is hard but we have to focus on the matter at hand, we must focus on Colgate and defeating her."

This angered the two, "LaurFa, we lost our father to a tatzlwurm and now we have lost our mother to that thing. We can't just focus on Colgate alone right now." cried Celestia.

Luna was much angrier, "Listen LaurFa, I honestly don't think you even know what this is like. You are a Creator Goddess and are probably as old as the universe itself, you've probably never lost any parents."

LaurFa tried to get some words in but would be interrupted by the two, "Just leave us alone!" Celestia then pointed her wing outwards and yelled, "Just go!"

After LaurFa left the two alone Celestia cried, "Sister, I can't help but wonder. What if we hadn't told Ruby to go after Brevity? What if we hadn't brought up retrieving the remains of that sword at all? Could we have stopped this, would mom still be alive?" She then became more angry, "What if LaurFa had tried harder to free mom from the beast's grasp?" She then screamed loudly, "Why didn't she just teleport her out of its hold? Her magic is more than strong enough!"

Luna was a bit calmer but still sobbing, "Sister, we can't worry about that now. We need to be strong, we need to get mom buried and while I am not thrilled to admit this right now, LaurFa is right. Once mom is buried, we need to focus on Colgate and once Ruby and Brevity return, we need to make plans to take her down." She became angry and continued, "I know for sure that she is probably watching us through that eye and despite her beasts and minions falling, she is probably laughing." She then became more determined and finished, "Mark my words though dear sister, Colgate will not have faced the wrath of two sisters whose parents she took from them."

In the black tower Colgate was less than thrilled over the results of what happened. While she was furious that both Twilight and Fluttershy were destroyed and their beasts were killed, she did get some satisfaction out of watching Galaxia getting killed. In most situations Colgate would have gone into a mad fury over seeing her minions being wiped out but in this instance, all she could do was grumble to herself, "Miserable failures in life, miserable failures in death. Perhaps Dark Night and I should have done this ourselves."

She then figured she would share the news with Dark Night so she went to her balcony and flew down to the base where Dark Night was leading a garden variety exercise. She landed next to him and ordered, "At ease soldiers, at ease." She then turned to Dark Night and said, "Dark Night, I need to speak to you in private."

He gave her a nervous look and asked, "You want to talk about the attack on Canterlot, don't you?"

Colgate nodded, pointed her wing towards her balcony and ordered, "Follow me."

Dark Night did as ordered and he followed Colgate onto her balcony and into her chambers. She turned to him and asked, "You want to hear the bad news first or the good news first?"

Dark Night knew how Colgate would be if she finished with the bad news so he replied, "I will take the bad news first."

"Very well," Colgate began "well I am beginning to think that you and I should have went and took care of this ourselves."

"Oh, why is that?" asked Dark Night

Colgate began to become agitated, "Because not only did both of them get destroyed but their beasts had their heads cut off and then," she began to yell "it was Celestia who wiped them both out! It was the overly emotional crybaby Celestia who wiped them out!"

Dark Night gasped, "Seriously, it was Celestia who wiped them out?"

"Yes." Colgate screamed. She then calmed down a bit and continued, "But there is one bit of good news, you know Celestia and Luna's mother?"

"Queen Galaxia?" Dark Night asked.

"Yes," Colgate then began to laugh, "She fell in the attack. Fluttershy's beast grabbed her in its mouth and while it didn't eat her, it did kill her!" Her laugh became louder, "And right now her precious daughters are over there crying and whining!" She then began to mock them, "Oh our mommy is dead, wah-wah-wah! We can't just focus on Colgate right now, wah-wah-wah!"

Dark Night chuckled, "Well that does sound like Celestia but that doesn't sound like Luna."

"Well," Colgate continued "both of them have seen both their parents die in attacks by foul creatures." She then headed out to her balcony, looked west and continued, "and now I shall keep an eye on our foes who are going to what used to be Unicornia." She then pointed down towards the base and finished, "Now you may return to your exercise, I need some time to reflect on things and decide what to do next."

Dark Night nodded and followed Colgate's orders. Once he had returned to the base, she tapped into the eye and noticed that Ruby had caught up to Brevity and the two landed in the forest not too far away from the portal. She was watching them intently and said, "You two go in and retrieve that sword. Even if you do find a way to restore it and strengthen it, I can make my sabre even stronger." Her voice became louder as she finished, "My mission is going just as I planned for the most part and when you and your lackeys march on the tower, your flanks are mine!"

Retrieving Ruby's Blade

Darkness was setting in as Brevity landed in the hills around the portal to what was once Unicornia. While Brevity was certain that going in and retrieving the remains of the sword would be easy, it was not. She knew that it was in the hills but she was not sure as to exactly where. When she landed, it was darker than she had anticipated so she flared up her horn to provide some light. When she lit up her horn, she realized that she must not have landed in the right area as there was no path.

Rather than flying back up above the canopy, she began to walk around, hoping that she would eventually reach a path that would take her right to her destination. After an hour of walking around, Brevity was becoming frustrated, very frustrated, "Ugh, where is that path? Why can't we find it? It has to be here somewhere."

As soon as she said that, she heard a voice coming from what appeared to be her left, "Brevity, is that you?"

It was the voice of Ruby. Brevity replied, "Yes, it is us." Ruby then lit her horn up brighter so that Brevity could find her.

Once Brevity found her, Ruby said, "I'm so glad I found you."

Brevity was not thrilled that somepony would be joining her on this quest as she figured that this was something that she could easily do on her own. She asked, "Why, why didst thou come searching for us? Brevity can do this just fine on her own!" She then became angry, so angry that she did not speak in her normal manner, and questioned, "You don't think I can do this alone, do you? The others don't think I can do this on my own either, do they?"

Ruby replied, "Well they sent me because......."

Brevity snapped, "They don't, do they?" She then looked towards the east and continued, "Now we know how Colgate must feel, we know how frustrating it is to not be trusted!"

The very mention of Colgate brought out a fury from Ruby, "What? You think you know how Colgate feels?" She flared up her horn in anger and continued, "Look, all of us simply realized that you wouldn't be able to use your magic there! This has nothing to do with distrust, this is simply us knowing a fact."

Brevity calmed down and began to let it sink in and then she realized that Ruby was right, "Very well, we know that thou dost not distrust us." She paused for a minute before continuing, "Well shall we go and retrieve the remains of thy sword?"

Ruby replied, "Let's do."

Ruby immediately began to head towards the portal and Brevity followed. The trip did not last too long as Brevity had initially not landed that far away from it. Once they reached the chasm where the portal was located, Brevity noticed the corpses of patrol ponies. She stopped and asked, "Ruby, what happened? Did Colgate come and kill them?"

To Ruby that was one of those no brainer type of questions and was not one bit pleased that Brevity would ask such a question. She snapped, "Well of course she did. How else do you think they were slaughtered?"

Ruby then pointed her wing towards the portal and the two crossed through. Once they got into the city, Brevity gasped in shock. She knew that Colgate had become bloodthirsty and sought revenge against those that distrusted her but never did she imagine that one pony could be responsible for so much death. She put her hoof on Ruby's shoulder and said, "I'm sorry Ruby, I'm sorry."

Ruby could tell that seeing all the death was even a shock to a pony who was as old as time itself. She replied, "I know, it is a lot to take in." She then turned towards the palace and continued, "Let's go and retrieve the remains of my sword."

Brevity followed Ruby into the palace and the moment they stepped inside, they both began to gag over the stench. Despite both of them having been around for ages, neither had ever smelled anything so foul in their lives. Eventually it was too much for Brevity to handle and she began to vomit. While Ruby was feeling like she was going to throw up herself, her desire to find what she needed overpowered it.

As she was passing by the discolored and butchered remains of White Magick, she began to cry in agony, "Why did this have to happen, why? Why does Colgate have to be so evil?"

Once Ruby began to cry, Brevity headed towards her and replied, "Because she has fused so much evil into herself. She's fused Grogar's collar into herself, she fused that black gem into herself and who knows what else she has done."

Ruby continued to cry for a few more minutes before calming down and continuing closer to what was her throne. There she saw the remains of her blade. Seeing all those shards brought back memories from the day she was ambushed, everything from the changelings and dark Alicorns taking down here soldiers, the attack and savage slaughter of her husband to Colgate shattering her blade and running her out of Unicornia. She began to scream, "Curse her, curse her!"

She began to levitate the shards into her saddle bags and hope that she wound up getting all of them. She knew that if she failed to recover even one tiny bit of the blade, that it could not be restored. She also knew about how good Brevity's eyesight was and called out to her, "Brevity, could you come here? I need to find every last piece of it."

Brevity did as requested and began to search for pieces that Ruby may not be able to see. Very quickly Brevity began to point out the tiniest of pieces so that Ruby could levitate them into her saddle bags. As Brevity was pointing out the smallest pieces to her, Ruby breathed a sigh of relief knowing that with Brevity having such good eyesight, that she would easily find it all and that with everypony working together in Canterlot, that it could be restored. After an hour of searching and retrieving the tiniest of pieces, Brevity found the handle. She said, "And last but not least, we have the handle."

Ruby embraced Brevity and thanked, "Thank you Brevity. Without you I never could have recovered all of it."

"Don't mention it" said Brevity. She then crinkled her nose and continued, "Now let's get out of here, we canst handle anymore of this stench."

Ruby agreed and they headed towards the exit. By this point the stench was getting so bad that Ruby did not even feel like hanging around any longer than was necessary, not even long enough to give her husband a proper burial. The two quickly rushed towards the portal and once they crossed back into Coastal Equestria, they breathed a sigh of relief, albeit a nervous one."

"Fresh air!" Exclaimed Brevity. "We never thought the air of an enemy's nation would smell so good."

Ruby replied, "Likewise but we need to get going. I know Colgate is likely just letting us do this but still, I have my concerns that she may decide to attack out of the blue."

Brevity nodded and the two took to the air and sped back towards Canterlot. As they were flying back to Equestria's capitol, both felt a sense of relief. Ruby in particular felt a bit more confident knowing that not only could she get her blade restored, but that chances are they could write the proper magic to make it stronger, strong enough to shatter Colgate's black diamond sabre and with any luck, slay her.

In the black tower Colgate was watching through the eye with not anger or disgust, but amusement. She had a slight smile on her face as she laughed to herself, "So you two think you can restore that thing? You two think you can strengthen it?" Her laugh became louder as she continued, "Well good, I always like a good fight but with the magic I know, I can make mine indestructible!"

New Weapons & Armor

An Unpleasant Return

After flying for many hours, Ruby and Brevity arrived in Canterlot well after dark. When they landed the scene seemed eerily similar to what had happened in Faustica earlier in the year. The courtyards were littered with the bodies of citizens, guard ponies could be seen laying dead and the silence was deafening. They continued to look for survivors but when none were to be found, they headed to the palace where there were lights on.

Unlike it would have been in the past, there were no guards present to question them so they were able to just go right in. When they finally arrived in the throne room, the tension was thick and they could see a great amount of sorrow on the faces of the leaders. Ruby was the first to say anything, "What happened? Did Colgate and her general attack?"

This question was not well received, "No!" screamed Celestia, "It was the same beast and it's creature that attacked me in the past. It was what was once Twilight."

Luna added, "And then there was another one that joined her." She pointed her wing towards her sister and continued, "But thanks to Celestia, both are no more."

Both knew about Celestia's past and how at times she could be a liability because of how emotional she could get and were shocked to hear this. Brevity commented, "Well it is good that you took care of them." She then began to look around and continued, "Where is Galaxia, where is thy mother? She is normally with thee."

The throne room went silent before the royal sisters broke down crying in agony. "She was killed in the attack." cried Luna. "She was killed by one of the beasts."

Celestia's cries became more angry as she continued, "And the attack probably happened because you two were gone." She pointed her hoof at Ruby and screamed, "Colgate probably saw both of you were gone and knew it would be a prime time to attack." Her yells became louder, "This is all your fault! Had one of you stayed, my mother would probably still be alive."

Ruby flared up her horn in anger, "Do not blame me for this. I had to go help Brevity get the remains of my sword. Without that, we'd all be as good as dead."

Luna too became angry, "So you are saying is that us losing our mother was worth it just so you could be sure and get the remnants of your sword?"

One pony was watching the argument and realized that this kind of arguing was not only not getting anything done but it was causing a great amount of disharmony. LaurFa fired a bolt of energy into the ceiling and yelled, "Stop it, all of you!" She calmed down and continued, "You know what, we need to focus on defeating Colgate and with the way you three are right now, she could probably come in here by herself and slay all of us." She again raised her voice, "We need to focus! We need to focus on fixing Ruby's sword."

The throne room went silent before Luna would speak up, "Very well but what do we focus on first? Do we focus on Ruby's sword" she pointed her wing towards Ruby and continued, "or do we focus on you resurrecting soldiers? We will need an army to take on Colgate."

This was something that none of them had thought about but it would not be too long until Ruby would make a suggestion, "I think we need to focus on rebuilding the army. If it were to just be us marching on the black tower, we wouldn't stand a chance."

Brevity replied, "Very well, thou shalt go out into the courtyard and revive fallen soldiers......."

Celestia interrupted, "No, she shall revive ALL of our citizens. No one pony shall be put ahead of another."

"Celestia, I am not sure how many times I can cast that spell without draining myself." said Ruby "I have only used it once in the distant past."

Celestia replied, "Well revive as many of them as you can." The then pointed her wings at the others and continued, "And we shall figure out how we can restore your sword."

Brevity was not overly fond of the idea of them trying to figure that out on their own but agreed with Celestia's suggestion. She levitated her saddle bags to Celestia, "Good luck. I doubt you will be able to do anything without my presence but if you can figure out what to do, that would be much appreciated."

New Discoveries

Once Ruby headed out to begin reviving as many of the fallen that she could, Celestia and the others headed into the royal library to see if there were any books at all on restoration spells. Brevity, LaurFa and Celestia, always being the positive one, believed that if they looked hard enough, that they could perhaps find something. Luna had her doubts though that anything involving restoration spells for foreign objects would be in there.

Once they began the long, arduous search for the right book, they could tell that this search would not be a quick one. Each pony began looking in a separate corner of the library and while many spell books were found, including ones to reassemble simple objects that were destroyed, none of them were seeing anything that would include what they needed. After two hours of looking, Luna threw her hooves up in the air, "Ugh, this is hopeless." She turned towards Celestia and continued, "Sister, there is likely absolutely nothing like that in here!" She raised her voice and continued, "Unless we look in the restricted section, we're probably not going to find anything!"

Celestia's head shot up when Luna brought that up, "That's it! Something like that would only be found in the most secure part of the library." She headed towards a door in the back and continued, "Come on sister, let's go and check in there."

Luna began to follow her as did the others until Celestia stopped and sternly said, "No, the rest of you can not come in here. The restricted section is reserved solely for Luna and myself."

This not only did not sit well with the other leaders but it brought out a bit of suspicion in them. Brevity continued to approach them and asked, "And why is that? Art thou hiding something of thy own in there? Dost thou have evil relics of thy own locked away that thou dost not want the rest of us to see?"

The question angered the two sisters, "No Brevity. You must understand, as long as we have been alive nopony but us has ever been allowed in the restricted section." Luna snapped.

Celestia added, "Even back when I had my magic school, even my brightest and most promising proteges were not allowed in there. It is called a restricted section for a reason, it is restricted to just the two of us."

LaurFa decided to be more subtle than her sister, "Listen, we just think that if you allow us to join you that we may find what we are looking for much more quickly."

Celestia and Luna looked at one another and nodded. Celestia said, "Very well, we shall make an exception just this once."

Luna added, "We are breaking with many millennia of tradition but you may join us."

Brevity and LaurFa did not say much of anything as they followed the two into the restricted section. Once they entered, they all had to light up their horns as there was no lighting in there. There were many, many cobwebs in there given that nopony had entered in millennia. The Creator Goddesses began to look around and did see things that one would normally not find in a library, things such as armor and what appeared to be enchanted swords, many enchanted swords, swords that seemed to have an aura to them.

LaurFa headed over towards them and asked, "Princesses, what are these? What are these swords doing in here?"

Brevity added, "And what of the armor? We would think they would be in thy armory, not thy private library."

Celestia gave the two a glare as she was not one bit happy that anypony outside of them now knew that they had enchanted weapons hidden away but knew that she would have to answer the question. "They are swords that were forged prior to the founding of Equestria. They could very well be the last weapons with the magic of Ponylanders flowing within them."

The room went silent as LaurFa and Brevity were trying to process what Celestia had told them. Neither one could imagine that Celestia would be hiding something that could be so useful in their quest, weapons that could have stopped evil ages ago. Brevity finally spoke up, "Perhaps these are what we need to defeat Colgate."

Brevity added, "Colgate's dark weapons are from the Ponyland era, perhaps these could counter the blades that she and her general possess." She then began to look over the armor and noticed something about it. She noticed that it looked much stronger than the armor that guard ponies wore and that it covered more of a pony's body and added, "And it appears that these are from the same era as the swords."

Celestia knew what Brevity was hinting at and realized that perhaps the time had come to finally use the weapons from an earlier era that they had kept locked away. She sighed, "Very well, we shall bring them out and take them into battle."

LaurFa replied, "Good but now let's see if any of the books in here contain the type of spell we need."

The four then began to look through the books and unlike it was in the main library, there were plenty of books regarding warfare and weapons, some books dating back to the final days of Ponyland. Luna was looking through one and gasped, "I think I found it!" The others headed to her and she continued, "Restoring ancient and enchanted swords."

They all began to read through it and in the middle of the book, it spoke of a "diamond blade from the island of immortality" and the energies needed to restore it should it ever be shattered. It then continued on to say that the energy of the one who wields it must be used to restore it.

Once they read this they then began to read further on to see if it contained any kind of spell but they would be disappointed when they discovered there wasn't one. Brevity spoke up, "It looks like Ruby will have to write her own magic to do this." Brevity grabbed the swords and armor in her aura and continued, "Well it looks like we will have good news and bad news to break to Ruby."

Celestia commented, "Let's just hope she doesn't get too angry about having to write her own magic."

The others agreed and headed back to the throne room. When they arrived they noticed that Ruby had two unicorn guard ponies with her. Celestia gave her a smile and exclaimed, "You did it Ruby, you were able to resurrect some of them."

Luna was not quite as enthusiastic in her response, "That is all? Two is all the more you were able to resurrect?"

Ruby replied, "Listen, resurrection spells drain a lot of energy from a pony and they aren't something that can just be used en masse."

Celestia was curious about one thing, "What about civilians, did you resurrect any civilians?"

Ruby gave her a smile, "Yes, I was able to. I was able to resurrect one mare and one stallion to slowly but surely rebuild the city's population."

Neither one of the sisters was thrilled that she could only bring back one of each since such a limited gene pool would lead to ponies with many genetic problems being born but knew that they had more pressing matters on their hooves. LaurFa held the book up that they found and levitated it to Ruby, "As it turns out, this book does have information about your sword in it but" she sighed before continuing, "It is you who must restore it. It is the wielder who must fix it."

Ruby began to read through the book and saw that it contained no spell in it. This did not surprise her though since the ponies of the final years of Ponyland did not keep copies of their spells along with information regarding the object it was for. She set the book down and said, "Well, it appears as though I will be writing my own magic." She pointed towards the armor and swords and continued, "And what is that? Where did those swords and armor come from."

Celestia had a feeling that when she told her about it and how old it was, that she would likely become angry so she readied herself to speak and speak in a way in which nopony could interrupt her, "This armor and these blades are from before the founding of Equestria. They were found in the ruins of Dream Valley immediately after my sister and I were sent to rebuild this land and make it inhabitable for ponies again."

Ruby screamed, "What....."

Celestia cut her off, "Just listen. We discovered them and locked them away after we built Canterlot to keep them from falling into the wrong hoov...."

Ruby again interrupted, "You know something? We probably could have used these weapons many millennia ago. We could have defeated lesser evils and stopped this from getting to the point where we're facing an evil we may not be able to defeat."

Luna was not thrilled with Ruby yelling at her sister, "Well we have them now, don't we?" She then motioned for the guards to approach them, "Come, let's see if this armor will fit you."

The guards approached her and she levitated the armor to them. They could tell that the armor was designed for ponies somewhat larger from them. The two began to try to put the armor on and then something magical happened, it immediately conformed to their bodies. They then put the helmets on and the same thing happened. This caused all the leaders to gasp. "Enchanted armor!" gasped Ruby. "I never once imagined such armor would exist."

Luna got a smile on her face, "I guess those Dream Valley ponies had much more advanced magic than any of us ever thought."

"It looks that way." Celestia agreed.

Luna then became curious as to whether the armor would only shrink to fit a pony's body or if it would expand to fit a pony as well so she attempted to put some on and just like it was with the guard ponies, the armor immediately conformed to fit her larger body. Given that there was still plenty more armor, this gave Luna hope. "Look at this, it expanded to fit me." She turned to her fellow leaders and continued, "It looks like we can go into battle with a huge advantage, enchanted armor."

Luna then pointed her wing towards the blades and continued, "And it looks like we will all have enchanted blades as well."

Ruby levitated one of the swords and began to examine it. She could sense the energy radiating from it and knew she had felt that before, it was the enchantment of Dream Valley blades. She gave Luna a smile, "Yes, it looks that way. I do think that we will stand a much better chance against the black tower now."

After seeing what happened, the other leaders too tried on some armor and it expanded to fit them perfectly. While the five knew that this did not guarantee victory by a long shot, that it along with reforging Ruby's sword, that their chances would be much higher. Now there was one more thing that they needed to do, restore Ruby's sword.

Restoring Ruby's Sword

After discovering that the armor that Celestia had kept locked away in the restricted section of the library was enchanted and would alter itself to fit any pony that put it on, Ruby decided that the time had come to try and restore her sword. She opened the book again and levitated the shards of her sword onto the floor and began to focus. She saw the other leaders gathering around her a look of disapproval and said, "Look, I know you're wanting to see this but I am going to need to be alone to do this. I can't focus with all of you around."

"Very well." replied Celestia

The other four along with the guard ponies left the throne room to give Ruby the solitude that she needed. She continued to read the same part of the book over and over until she felt that she might be able to figure something out. As she stood there looking down at the remains, she began to try to think about what the right words would be for a spell that would work. One thing she did notice soon though was that the shards of diamond were in a pile, not in the shape of a blade.

She then began to lay out the shards into the shape of a blade, with the thickest pieces laying right up against the handle since those were likely the ones that were there earlier. Once she took care of that, she again began to focus on what the right words would be. She knew that a simple spell like the ones that were used back at the time of Twilight's corruption would not be sufficient, she thought that a modern, more complex spell would be needed.

She went into a trance, she stared down at the shards and began,

"In battle the blade was broken
The way it is now makes it only a token,
Strong it is supposed to be
For the time that is not what we see

The diamonds are supposed to be strong
But in the past that did not last for long,
For strength is a must
Without it this blade will be a bust.

The energy flowing within me is great
The energy must be used to prevent hate,
With this the shards shall once again become one
When it is restored our enemies shall be done.

She fired a bolt of energy at the shards and they began to levitate into the air. They became encircled in light and it looked like they were fusing together and connecting to the handle. She would not be pleased though when the light faded and everything fell to the floor. "Damn it, damn it." screamed Ruby.

Ruby could not understand why the spell would fail when she felt as though she had worded everything right. She then realized that she could not simply put her energy into it to work, she remembered about how before she and Brevity had departed to retrieve the shards that it was brought up that life force may have to be sacrificed to restore it.

The very thoughts of actually sacrificing any of her life force made Ruby very nervous. So many different scenarios began to play out in her head. She began to wonder that if she did this, if she suddenly wouldn't be strong enough to take on Colgate, she began to wonder if she would even be fit for battle and she began to worry about giving up too much and suddenly becoming weak and frail.

After worrying and going through the worst case scenarios for over twenty minutes, she finally stopped thinking the worst and did what she had to do. She again arranged the shards into the shape of a blade and recited the spell. This time though she put a small amount of life force into it. She didn't put enough into it that it would lessen her strength but she did feel a slight tingle as she did it. This time, much to her delight, the spell worked.

Ruby held the blade up to herself and was analyzing it. For the most part it looked like it did when she first found it but upon further inspection, she noticed that it was a bit thicker, that it was stronger. She couldn't help but smile when she saw this. She then began to think about how suddenly she would have the advantage. She snickered, "Just you wait Colgate. With my stronger blade and our enchanted armor, you don't stand a chance!"

The Fall of a Creator Goddess

Colgate had been watching the events of the day transpire through the eye and while Ruby restoring her blade did not irritate her any, the fact that Celestia had been hiding enchanted armor for so long did. When she saw how the armor would simply conform to fit anypony's body, she was not thrilled. Unlike she would have in the past though, she did not go into a furious rage when she saw that her enemy had an advantage over her, she began to come up with a plan.

Once it appeared as though nothing else of any significance was going to happen in Canterlot, she headed down to the base to talk to both of her generals. When she landed she was pleased to see that they were engaging in normal military exercises. Once she arrived she yelled, "At ease soldiers, at ease!"

Colgate had been visiting the base a bit more in the past few months than she had been in the past but what surprised them was the calm in her voice. In past instances recently there always seemed to be a bit of urgency to her but not this time. Once she had got their attention, she approached her generals and said, "I need to speak to you two, alone."

"Is it anything really bad?" asked Dark Night

Lightning Storm added, "Are our enemies on the move?"

"No, not at all." replied Colgate. She took off towards the tower and continued, "Follow me."

The two followed her up to her balcony into her chambers before the three headed down to the throne room. Once they arrived Lightning Storm asked, "Colgate, if our enemies aren't on the move what is going on?"

Colgate began, "Well I have some expected news and some not so pleasant news."

Dark Night asked, "What is the expected news?"

"Well, Ruby did manage to reforge her sword but she wound up having to sacrifice a bit of her life force into it to strengthen it." replied Colgate

"Doesn't that concern you?" asked Dark Night "Aren't you worried that it may be stronger than your sabre now?"

"I'm not worried." replied Colgate. "Now for the bad news, I have discovered that the royal pony sisters have been hiding away enchanted armor from the last days of Dream Valley." She saw the eyes of her generals become filled with concern until she continued, "I do think we should go on a little trip, all three of us."

They knew enough about Colgate's nature that she wasn't about to allow her enemies to have any kind of advantage. Dark Night asked, "I take it you want to go and steal this armor?"

"You know me all too well general." replied Colgate.

"Why am I going though?" asked Lightning Storm. "In the past you have said I will slow you down too much in moving a time bubble."

Colgate replied, "Well I have a plan for that." She saw the two grow more curious as she continued, "I want us to fly the old fashioned way, without a time spell. I don't want them knowing that I did any long distance traveling."

"Colgate," asked Dark Night "won't that take us a very long time?"

Colgate replied, "It will take us much longer than what I would like but it will give us the element of surprise, something that we do not give our foes enough of."

Lightning Storm asked, "So when do you want us to leave?"

Colgate replied, "Tomorrow morning. Tonight we rest well, tomorrow morning we have a substantial breakfast and then we head out."

"How exactly long will this take? " asked Dark Night. "Are we going to have to wind up hiding out and sleeping in a sheltered area?"

To Colgate, this was an incredibly ridiculous question with an obvious answer but she did not show any disdain. She calmly replied, "Yes, tomorrow. It will take us all day, including a lunch break to get to Canterlot. Once we are within eyesight, I will cast an invisibility spell on us and once it gets dark, we'll go in and take what I want."

"Just like old times!" exclaimed Dark Night. "We haven't used that one in ages."

"We haven't but to do this, it will be necessary." replied Colgate. "Now get some rest tonight, the three of us have a long flight tomorrow."

The two nodded and returned to the base while Colgate returned to her chambers to continue to monitor her enemies. One thing that did please her though was seeing that rather than returning all that armor to the restricted section, that they were placing it at the base. She got a smile on her face and laughed, "You all must want me to come and get it, huh?" Her laugh became louder as she continued, "Oh this is going to be easy, too easy!"

The following morning arrived and Colgate was more than ready to get going. She was so ready to get going that she didn't even invite her generals for a substantial breakfast nor did she eat anything more than she normally did. Once she finished eating, she headed to the base and was greeted by two concerned generals.

"Colgate, why didn't you come get us for breakfast?" asked Dark Night

Lightning Storm added, "Are we going to delay our trip?"

"No." Colgate replied. "We shall go today as we have planned. I did have a normal breakfast and I am hoping that the two of you had a decent one as well, I want to get going."

The two let her know that they did eat a bit more than normal so Colgate took to the skies and they followed her. As they were heading west, Colgate couldn't help but feel a bit irritated that because of her desires that the trip would take so long but then other thoughts crept into her mind, the thoughts of her enemies being in a state of shock her foes would have once some of that armor would be missing.

After a long day of flying, longer than any of them would like, Canterlot was approaching in the distance. It was well after sunset, it was dark enough that only the lights of the city could be seen. "Halt." she ordered. "Alright generals, we may not have to do the invisibility spell after all. It is dark enough that we should be able to go in there, take what we want and then get going."

"So do you want us to take all of the armor or just some of it?" asked Lightning Storm

Colgate was not thrilled with the question. She yelled, "Well of course I want us to take all of it! Why would I have had us fly ourselves half to death for only a bit of it." She then raised her voice and continued, "And I want you to cover them all in ooze."

This surprised the two, especially Dark Night. He gasped, "Wait a minute, you don't want to kill them? You want to let them live?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, I want to let them live. Had I wanted to slay them, we would have brought weapons." She paused for a minute before snickering, "Besides, watching them cry and whine to their precious Celestia about this will be well worth it!"

Neither of the two thought it was that great of an idea to go in without weapons but then figured that Colgate was probably going to want to do things the old way, using only magic. Colgate looked towards the city and yelled, "Charge!"

Colgate and her generals then headed towards the city. They knew that to avoid detection that they would have to fly high but then something crossed Colgate's mind, she decided she wanted to spill some blood. She looked down and noticed that apparently Ruby had been able to resurrect more civilians as there were ponies out and about, some were out dining, which would make them sitting ducks.

She ordered, "Halt!"

Her generals stopped and Lightning Storm asked, "What is it Colgate? Why did you have us stop right over the city where we can be seen?"

Colgate pointed her wing down and ordered, "Grab some swords from their base. This city has too many living ponies for my liking."

Dark Night laughed, "Your thirst for blood is insatiable isn't it?"

Colgate replied, "Yes it is." She then realized something, she had yet to cast an armor spell on them. She ordered, "Gather around me, we will need an armor spell."

They gathered around her, she lit up her horn and recited,

"Into battle we are about to head,
Everything must be just right so we can come out ahead.
Our enemies possess a power of great might,
That is something that we must keep in sight.

A great armor is a must,
For without it our quest will be nothing but a bust.
The armor we shall possess shall be great,
It shall be so great we can destroy all hate."

Once she had cast the armor spell they readied themselves for attack and sped towards the base. Once they were right over the base, they decided to immobilize the soldiers first. She yelled to Lightning Storm, "Cover them in ooze, cover them all!"

Lightning Storm swooped down and immediately began to cover their foes in ooze, immobilizing their magic. After they were all covered in ooze, she grabbed a sword and yelled at the two, "Grab the armor, grab as much as you can!"

The two headed to get the armor while Colgate headed to accomplish her objective, kill as many civilians as possible. She flew over the area where ponies were out dining. When a figure swooped down and got their attention, they began to panic. One yelled, "It's her, it's Colgate! Everypony run!"

The ponies began to run and in their panic, they were bumping into one another. This made them easy prey as she would swoop down, take her sword and with some their throats were slashed and with others, she cut their heads clean off. After a couple minutes of screaming, crying and Colgate taking civilians out, the remaining royal ponies came rushing out. When they saw who it was, Ruby yelled, "Not this time Colgate, you will not wipe out everypony."

She began to fire energy at Colgate but would not be pleased when the energy simply bounced off of her and wound up killing a few civilians. When the others came rushing out Ruby immediately rushed to Brevity, "Brevity, unmake her, unmake her! She has an armor spell cast on her!"

Brevity took to the skies and hid in an area she did not believe that Colgate could see her from. She flared up her horn and recited,

She fired the bolt of energy at Colgate but she saw it coming from her side. She quickly turned to her left and fired a bolt of energy at it and directed it downwards, causing it to strike several civilians. Colgate saw this and laughed, "Ha, even your unmaking spell can not undo me!"

She noticed that the other Alicorns were continuing to fire energy at her generals so she yelled, "Retreat generals, retreat! Your armor is about to shatter."

Her generals took off to the east away from the battle but Colgate's armor was also weakening but she wanted to wipe out Brevity. She took off towards her and thought to herself, "The time has come Brevity, the time for your demise has come!"

Brevity saw Colgate coming and again cast the unmaking spell and like before, Colgate saw it coming and fired her own bolt of energy to counter it. This time the two bolts met in the middle and a struggle began between the two. Colgate knew that with her armor weakening that she had to unmake her or she could be the one that was unmade. The other Alicorns saw what was going on and immediately began firing energy at Colgate. Much to their dismay, Colgate's armor was still strong enough to deflect their energy and cause damage to the city and the death of multiple civilians.

As the battle progressed, Colgate's power became greater and greater as Brevity's energy began to get forced back into her. After an hour of a painful energy fight between the two, Brevity's energy was forced back into her and there was a great explosion accompanied by a strong wind. The energy that was released shattered Colgate's armor but more importantly, it unmade Brevity. Once Colgate's armor was shattered, she headed to the east and joined her generals.

When she got to them she cheered, "One more down troops, one more down!" Her voice became more of a yell as she continued, "Back to the tower, back to the tower!"

The three headed off to the east while in Canterlot, all had fallen silent. The four remaining Alicorns headed to where Brevity was and all that remained was a burn mark and damage to the wall she was up against in her final moments. This was the first time that LaurFa had ever experienced a death in the family as she cried out, "No, no! Curse you Colgate, curse you!"

The others remained silent and began to realize that defeating Colgate may not be possible as Brevity was the one who could have destroyed all of Colgate's forces with a single spell. The three stood there around the crying Creator Goddess when Luna commented, "That leaves only four. How are we even going to do this? Perhaps we should try negotiating with her."

None of them were particularly thrilled with the suggestion but Celestia would go into a fury, "Are you kidding sister? You honestly think Colgate of all ponies would negotiate?" She slapped her and yelled, "She wants to rule this world with an iron hoof and WE are at the top of her kill list!"

Nopony had seen this side of Celestia. For so long it seemed like Celestia was the weak link but after the slaying of Twilight and the beasts, they knew Celestia's mentality had become that of a pony who would stop at nothing to save the world. Luna was not thrilled by her sister slapping her but knew she was right, "I'm sorry dear sister. You are right, she won't negotiate."

LaurFa knew that she had to be strong and that despite having lost her sister, that they needed to check on the rest of the city, especially the troops, "Well everypony, we better go and see if we even have an army left."

What they would walk through was depressing for Celestia and Luna. With the exception of a few who had managed to take cover and those who had not gone out that night, every single civilian that Ruby had resurrected laid dead. Celestia yelled, "Curse you Colgate. You will not get away with this!"

By the time they reached the base though, they would be shocked by what they saw. While their forces were all covered in ooze, not a single one had been slain. When asked, one of the soldiers let them know the bad news about the armor, "Your majesties, they took almost all of the armor."

Celestia looked around and saw that all but four sets of armor were gone and was not pleased. She yelled, "How could you let them get away with so much armor? Why didn't you stop them."

The soldier was not thrilled with her yelling. He looked around and snapped, "Look, they had armor spells cast on them and we all got covered in ooze before we could stop them."

LaurFa felt that Celestia's reaction was not the best, "Celestia, calm down. They did the best they did in the situation that was thrown at them and besides, there are still four sets left, one set for each of us."

Luna added, "Sister, we need to free our troops of this ooze and make plans on how we are going to do this."

Ruby finished, "Look Celestia, getting emotional, regardless of what kind of emotion it is, will not help us." She raised her voice and continued, "And with the state we're in, Colgate and her generals could come back and slay all of us easily." She approached Celestia, calmed down and finished, "We need to free the soldiers and figure out the best way to march on the black tower if we don't want this world to live in an eternal darkness."

Celestia calmed down, "Very well." The four began to free all the soldiers from the ooze and once they were all freed Celestia continued, "Troops, ready yourselves. Ahead of us shall be the biggest battle of our lives."

One of the troops added, "Your Majesty, there are but one hundred of us. How are we going to go up against a force that Colgate could easily make several thousand of."

Celestia stood there for a minute in thought before replying, "While it has never been done with regular ponies, we will have to duplicate all of you many times over if we are to win." She turned to the other monarchs and continued, "Follow me into the palace so we may make these plans."

There was one thing that Luna noticed about Celestia's comment, that about regular ponies having not been duplicated. She commented, "Sister, regular ponies have been duplicated. Remember when Twilight......"

Celestia interrupted, "You are right sister but these duplicates will be created using our energy, not that of a dark goddess." She raised her voice and ordered, "Now follow me to the palace, we must make plans for our attack."

They knew that Celestia was bound and determined to take down Colgate and that the Celestia of old was gone. They knew the emotional Celestia that Twilight could so easily rattle had been replaced by a tougher, stronger Celestia, a Celestia that would not stop until Colgate had been slain.

Celestia's Unexpected Plan

Secret of the Royal Pony Sisters

After another attack by Colgate and the death of another leader, only four Alicorn monarchs remained. Three of them were beginning to have doubts but one was not about to simply give up, Princess Celestia. When the four got into the throne room, Celestia gave her fellow monarchs an intense look and began, "Alright everypony, the time has come. The time has come to march on the black tower and slay Colgate and her minions."

Luna was the first to reply, "Sister, this isn't going to be as easy as you think. Yes we can duplicate the army but she has that eye, she is always watching and any size of army we may have, she can make hers bigger."

Ruby added, "Even with my sword, I have a feeling that it may not be enough. One sword can not outdo an army that she could make into the tens of thousands."

LaurFa said, "If only we had the same type of advantage she had. If only we had a way to transform some ponies into something like those beasts Colgate has, or should I say had."

LaurFa's comment caused Celestia to realize that the time had come for the Royal Pony Sisters to reveal something that they had been hiding for many, many millennia, something that could very well cause her allies to turn on her. She turned to Luna and asked, "Shall we little sister, shall we unveil what we hoped we would never have to?"

Luna gasped, "Sister, we can't! We vowed to never use it, we vowed that it would remain hidden forever."

Celestia snapped, "Look, we lost Brevity, we lost White Magick, we lost Blue Star, and we lost mom and dad." Her voice became more intense as she continued, "I'm sorry little sister but we have no other choice."

Luna sighed, "Very well big sister." She turned to Ruby and LaurFa and said, "Follow us."

Again they headed towards the restricted section of the library. As they all headed towards it, Ruby and LaurFa both couldn't help but wonder what it was that Celestia and Luna had been hiding for so long and wondered why they were so secretive about it. When they finally arrived at their destination Celestia headed to the back wall and lowered her head. She inserted her horn into a hole and released energy into it, causing a passage to be revealed.

Celestia began to head into it and was followed by the others. Given the secrecy of this passageway, Ruby and LaurFa couldn't help but wonder what Celestia and Luna had been hiding for so long. After what seemed to be a long, downwards walk, they finally entered a large room. Celestia and Luna both lit up their horns and in the very back of the room was a small bookcase. Celestia walked back to it and almost as though she knew it by heart, she pulled a book out and held it up.

"This," she stated, "this book has the spells in it that we would need."

To brighten the room further, Ruby and LaurFa lit up their horns and would be terrified by what they saw. Before them, in Celestia's aura was book on forbidden magic, a book similar to the ones Colgate had duplicated. LaurFa was the first to say anything, "Princess Celestia, may I ask why you have such a book in your possession? May I ask why you have been hiding this from the world?"

Princess Celestia replied, "How we acquired this book does not matter nor does why we have it. What matters is the information inside." Celestia's face became more grim as she continued, "As much as I hate to, we are going to have to use black magic to fight black magic. Given the situation we are in, we have no other choice."

LaurFa however wanted answers, "Look Celestia, I will not partake in this unless you two share with us how you found this book, where you found it and why you hid it."

Ruby added, "Nor will I. I will not aid a pony who uses dark magic unless it is for a good reason."

Neither one of the sisters were thrilled that they would make such statements. Luna's eyes began to shine a bright white as she yelled, "Listen, didst thou not hear what our sister said, she said it does not matter! She said it must be used!"

Luna had not used the Royal Canterlot Voice in many, many millennia. This angered Ruby and LaurFa but it caused Celestia to also use the Royal Canterlot Voice, "Fine then, if thou dost not wish to assist us, then perhaps thou can go up against us AND Colgate. Perhaps thou aren't such good allies after all."

After Celestia finished speaking, the two realized that Celestia and Luna were not about to share the information they wanted nor did they want to have multiple ponies using dark, forbidden magic as foes. Ruby sighed, "Very well then. Don't tell us but we do want to know what exactly this will do."

Celestia headed towards the exit and ordered, "Follow Luna and I. It will be much easier to study this when we are back in the throne room and once we have studied it, I can show you how it works."

Ruby and LaurFa, for the first time in their lives, felt nervous around the pony sisters. They could not help but wonder what it is this spell does and if it had to be cast on anypony. One thing they did know, they knew that it likely wasn't anything good given where it had been stored for so long and the fact that they had not wanted to use it unless it was absolutely necessary.

Celestia's Uexpected Magic

Once they returned to the throne room, Celestia decided that her allies could finally see the spell book that her and Luna had been hiding away for so long. The moment LaurFa and Ruby saw the cover, they knew that it was something unimaginably horrible. LaurFa was the first to say anything, "Wait a minute, you acquired this from Midnight Castle, didn't you?"

Celestia flared up her horn in anger, "It dost not matter where we acquired it! What matters is that we have it and can use it against Colgate!"

The very fact that Celestia would use the archaic way of speaking twice in one day really unnerved the two. They knew now that Celestia truly was bound and determined on slaying Colgate, no matter what the cost. Once she had calmed down she opened the book and continued, "You see, in this book is a spell that will allow us to transform a pegasus into the same type of beast that Colgate used."

Ruby gasped, "So you are going to go sacrificing ponies and turn them into beasts solely to defeat Colgate?"

LaurFa added, "You do realize that would make you no better than her don't you?"

Celestia turned to the next page and said, "You see this, this is the counter spell to return them to being a pony after the battle is over so NO I will not be just like Colgate. I know she would never use a counter spell even if she had it while I will."

The two stood there in a shocked silence until Ruby finally spoke up, "Very well then. I do however want to see if you know how to cast this spell. I want to see if you have the darkness within you to use such magic." Her voice became more snide as she continued, "I want to see if you have secretly been hiding the same darkness within you that has consumed Colgate."

Celestia simply rolled her eyes and led them outside. She led them over to the base where she was greeted by a pegasus guard, "Princess Celestia your Majesty, is something wrong? Is it Colgate?"

Celestia replied, "No, it is not." She took to the sky and continued, "Now follow me, there is something that I need to do."

The guard and the other leaders took to the sky wondering where Celestia was leading them. When they flew to the ground at the base of Canterlot Mountain, the guard was shocked but the others knew what was going on. Celestia levitated the book to herself and ordered, "Stand still alright, stand still."

The guard stood still, Celestia pointed her horn towards the guard, lit it up and recited,

"The pony is currently loyal to none,
That is something that simply can not be done.
His loyalty to me is a must,
Without it all shall be a bust.

His loyalty now belongs to me,
Yet his size must be large for all to see.
A large beast is what he shall be,
One which is loyal to me and only me."

When Celestia finished reciting the spell, a darker bulb of energy formed at the end of the horn and she released the energy. Unfortunately for Celestia, the spell did not have the intended result. Rather than transforming the guard into a beast, the energy deflected off the guard and hit the side of the mountain. In the process, a few rocks fell on them and had it not been for his quick thinking to get out of the way, the guard would have been crushed.

Ruby gave her a bit of a smirk, "Well I guess at least the Celestia we all know is still there. At least you don't have the ability to perform dark magic."

LaurFa stood there in thought before giving a suggestion, "Celestia, maybe you should reword that a bit and put your energy into the spell. It likely didn't work because you aren't consumed by evil, you are still a good pony and good ponies can't do dark magic."

Celestia gave her a smile and replied, "Good idea LaurFa. Let me think of a way to reword this a bit."

Celestia began to read over the spell and realized that the whole thing wasn't right. The spell focused far too much on forced loyalty along with transforming the pony into a beast. She knew that forced loyalty was a thing that was used by not only Colgate, but Twilight back when she was still alive. She turned to the guard and her fellow monarchs and said, "This may take a while so be patient."

Luna asked, "How long is a while big sister?"

Celestia replied, "It could be half an hour or it could take a good part of the day." She gave them all an intense look and continued, "Don't go anywhere, I want to try this the moment I come up with a new one."

"Very well." replied Ruby

Celestia began to focus intently on the spell. While she knew that it wasn't horribly bad and that it could be used as a guide, she knew that a majority of it had to go, she knew that most of it simply wasn't suitable to cast. An hour later something came to Celestia as a new spell came to her mind,

"The pony is one of us,
That is something that is a must.
His loyalty to our cause is great,
Without it all that could be spread is hate.

His aid will improve our chances much,
Yet his size must be large for this to be such.
A large pony is what he shall be,
One which will bring about victory for all to see."

Celestia looked up and exclaimed, "I've got it! I think I know the proper spell."

Ruby sighed, "We shall see."

Celestia was not thrilled with Ruby's doubt but was not about to allow Ruby's doubt to prevent her from trying this. Her horn began to glow yellow as she recited,

"The pony is one of us,
That is something that is a must.
His loyalty to our cause is great,
Without it all that could be spread is hate.

His aid will improve our chances much,
Yet his size must be large for this to be such.
A large pony is what he shall be,
One which will bring about victory for all to see."

Once she finished reciting the spell, a bolt of energy shot out of her horn and struck the pegasus. Almost immediately he began to grow into a much larger pony. While he did not grow quite to the size of Colgate's beasts, he was still large enough to be able to take one of them on. Celestia gave Ruby a smirk and said, "Still think I can't do this?"

Ruby replied, "I am sorry about the doubt Celestia. I just felt uncomfortable about the source of the original spell."

In a loud booming voice the pegasus asked, "So am I going to remain big like this or do you know a spell to return me to my normal size."

The fact that he could speak after being enlarged not only shocked the four but it also made them very happy. "Sister," said Luna "he can do what Colgate's beasts can't do. He can speak!"

Celestia replied, "Which means we will have much smarter large ponies going into battle, much smarter than those abominations Colgate created." She then turned to the pegasus and said, "Give me just a minute and I will return you to your normal size."

Given that the original size restoration size was also that of dark magic, Celestia knew that it would have to be re-worded at least. One thing that did please her is that the size restoration spell was a simpler spell, something similar to the types of spells that were used in the days right after Twilight's corruption. Once the words came to her, she lit up her horn and recited,

"Right now the pony is big
But hunger would cause him to snap like a twig.
Back to his normal size he must go
Without that hunger would stop him from being so."

Once she fired her energy at the enormous pony, he returned to his normal size once the energy struck him. The words of Celestia did cause everypony some concern. The pegasus asked, "If I am going to get really hungry at that size, how am I going to have enough to eat before we go into battle? I know that hunger would make any of us you turn big weak from hunger."

This is one thing that did not cross Celestia's mind. She thought that the large ponies would have no need for large amounts of food since it seemed like Colgate's beasts didn't. She replied, "Well what will happen is something similar to the soldiers we will duplicate. You will eat enough before the battle, then I will transform you and after the battle, I will return all of you to normal."

While the pegasus thought it sounded simple enough, her fellow monarchs had their concerns. Luna asked, "Sister, what if they are unable to get enough to eat before the attack?"

Ruby continued, "And what if Colgate and her forces were to attack before we even have the chance to do this? If she has more of those things, we won't stand a chance."

Celestia countered, "Look, we killed two of those things along with her riders in the last attack. Who is to say she has any more of them."

LaurFa gave her a stern look and replied, "Look, I know one of those riders was Twilight and one of them was one that was once one of her friends. If she did that with all six of them and made them beasts to ride, there would be at least four more of them and if I know Colgate well enough, she will likely create one for herself so that would make five of them."

Celestia stood there with an unsure look on her face until something crossed her mind, something that she could see being the case. "LaurFa, if I know Colgate well enough, she will want to bring us down right there by her tower. She will want to slay us right there and then feast on us in her dining hall."

Luna gave her sister an approving smile, "Sister, you are probably right. She would get much more satisfaction out of killing us on her turf."

Ruby and LaurFa nodded while the pegasus gave her a nervous look, "So how many of us pegasi are you going to be transforming?"

Celestia replied, "Well given that Colgate will likely have five of these beasts, I will transform ten of you." The pegasus began to say something until Celestia continued, "And regarding the unicorn guard, it will depend on how many soldiers she has but I am thinking I will duplicate them until we have an army of ten thousand."

Her fellow monarchs gasped, "Ten thousand?"

Celestia replied, "Yes, then thousand. That should be enough to take on those beasts and her dark Alicorn and changeling army."

The three stood there for a moment before Luna replied, "Very well big sister. We shall go with your plan."

Celestia replied, "Good now lets get back up to the castle" she turned to the pegasus and added, "and you return to the base. It is time for lunch and I am sure we are all hungry."

Celestia took to the sky and headed back to the palace. The others followed her and while Celestia seemed rather confident, the others couldn't help but have their doubts. Ruby and LaurFa in particular had concerns because ever since the slaying of Twilight, the other rider, their beasts and especially after the unmaking of Brevity, it seemed like Celestia had transformed from emotional and easy to rattle to becoming a pony hell bent on slaying her foes, even if it meant going on the offensive and risking everything. One thing they did know, is that the Celestia of old was likely gone for good.

Summoning the Riders

Colgate had been watching the events unfolding in Canterlot and was not one bit thrilled. Her blood began to boil when she saw that not only did the Royal Pony Sisters have dark magic books hidden away but the fact that Celestia could actually transform pegasi into creatures that were almost the size of her beasts infuriated her. What angered her further was the fact that unlike the beasts she created, that Celestia's could speak, that hers were more intelligent.

"Damn it, damn it!" Colgate screamed as she saw Celestia transform a pegasus into a larger creature.

Colgate began screaming and yelling so loud that it was easily heard down at the base. Her yells quickly caught the attention of her troops and like he often does when Colgate got like this, Dark Night quickly flew up to her balcony. When he arrived he saw Colgate with her horn flared up and kicking holes in the wall. He knew that she needed to be calmed down, "Colgate, calm down!"

While she heard it and replied, her yells did not stop, "Damn it Dark Night, Celestia knows my kind of magic! She transformed a pegasus into something big."

Dark Night again requested that she calm down. Once she did he asked, "Wait a minute, you mean to tell me that Celestia actually knows dark magic? You mean to tell me that she created something the size of our beasts?"

While Colgate had calmed down, she was still agitated. She snapped, "Yes and the damn things can speak."

"They can speak?" gasped Dark Night

Colgate replied, "Yes they can speak. As I was watching, they were having a normal conversation with it. They were reassuring it when it began asking about hunger being that big."

When Dark Night heard this, he became more curious. He asked, "Ok, you said she turned it into something big and that it can speak. What I am curious about is how did she do it? What did it look like when she cast the spell?"

Colgate replied, "Well at first she tried casting the spell from the book the way it should be cast, using dark magic but she failed. She then put her own magic into it and changed the words into something that didn't involve forced loyalty." Colgate suddenly became more positive and continued, "Wait a minute, if she put her magic into those things, they will experience normal emotions! They will not be like mine, they will have the fatal flaws of getting hungry" she then got a huge smile on her face and continued, "and they will feel fear!"

Dark Night nodded and asked, "So what now? What are your plans knowing they can create these things?"

Colgate headed out to her balcony and replied, "It is time to summon the remaining riders." She then got a more sinister grin and continued, "And when they begin their march here, I shall make Scootaloo useful, her time to aid me in my quest has come."

"So when do you plan on summoning the riders?" asked Dark Night

"Now." Colgate replied.

She then headed out to the very edge of her balcony and began to flash her horn, sending the summons. "Hear me my minions, the time for you to return to the tower has come. The time to destroy our enemies has come." She then raised her voice and added, "Return to the tower or else."

Once Colgate finished with the summons, she immediately tapped into the eye to make sure that her creations would answer the call. The first place she zeroed in on was the Crystal Empire to make sure that what was once Pinkamena answered.

In the Crystal Empire it was a normal day, well normal for what it was at that point. Pinkamena was watching over the citizens, all of whom had been corrupted, and was playing with the crystal heart. She was tossing it up and down in the air cackling until she saw something black flashing to the south. She then began to hear the message in her head. She hissed, "Ugh, really Colgate? You want me to return to that boring no fun tower?" She then heard the last part of the message and knew that she had best get going.

One thing she was not sure about though was what to do with the crystal heart but then she realized that it would likely make Colgate very happy if she took it with her and froze the Empire over. Once she made that decision, she took the heart with her, mounted her beast and hissed, "To the black tower."

They took off and the moment they left the Empire, the arctic reclaimed it. As Colgate was watching this, she had a huge smile on her face. She began to laugh, "What a shame Scootaloo wasn't here to see this." She paused for a moment and continued, "Oh well, I'll just take that Crystal Heart down to the dungeon and show it to her! She'll know her pathetic subjects are as good as dead when she sees it!"

In Maredrid, what was once Applejack was out mingling with the citizens, who surprisingly were still ponies. Because of their loyalty for the most part and easily buying into her lie about Queen Luna, they were having causal conversations with her despite her unnerving appearance. Soon though those conversations would stop when one of the citizens saw a black orb flashing in the west. He pointed his hoof to the west and asked, "Applejack, what is that?"

Another asked, "We're not under attack are we?"

Applejack could hear Colgate's words in her head but knew that she couldn't say anything that would bring about suspicion. Like she had been doing ever since she had been corrupted, she lied. "Well we might be. I'm sorry y'all but I have to get going to stop this."

Applejack immediately rushed to her beast, mounted it and took off towards the tower. When Colgate saw this she was very happy. She was happy that her creation was doing an excellent job at lying and even better, bonding with what she thought would be a tough to win over populace. She said to herself, "Well two down, two to go."

In Neigh Zealand, things were not so peaceful. What was once Rainbow Dash had been flying around the country and stabbing as many ponies as she could, transforming them into minions that were completely loyal to her. Like it was with Pinkamena, she was having plenty of fun going and stabbing victims and making them loyal to her. While she was taking a reprieve after having transformed most of the nation's citizens, she saw a black orb flashing off to the north.

She knew that it was Colgate summoning the riders but a part of her really didn't want to answer the summons. She hissed, "Really, Colgate expects me to go and aid her? Forget that, I'm staying here!" She then heard the last part of the message and knew that with her powers, that Colgate could take her out of this world as quickly as she brought her into it so she mounted her beast and took off towards the tower. When Colgate saw this she said, "Well three down, one to go."

In Ridead it was the same as it was on every other day, what was once Rarity was sitting in the throne room, admiring herself in a mirror and admiring the various gems that she had collected. She watched in delight as the citizens, all of which had been corrupted by this point, were out hunting for and bringing her more gems. As it was in life, she loved her gems and she loved herself, only more so.

As one of her citizens was bringing in a cart full of gems, he saw a black orb flashing off to the west. He wasn't sure what it was but he knew that he had to tell her. As he approached her throne, he bowed and said, "Oh Almighty Queen Rarity the Magnificent, there is a black orb in the western sky. I think you need to check it out."

Rarity hissed, "Ugh, very well."

Rarity headed out onto her balcony and looked at the flashing orb. She could hear the message in her head and hissed, "No, I'm not leaving just so you can come steal my things!" She then heard the final part of the message and continued, "I know what your plan is, the moment I leave you'll have Dark Night or Lightning Storm come and steal my gems!" She headed back into the throne room and hissed, "No, I'm staying here to guard my gems!"

When Colgate saw this she went into a furious rage, "That greedy little wretch, that greedy little wretch." Her yells soon attracted Dark Night and he headed up to Colgate's chambers. When he arrived she was screaming and yelling, cursing Rarity and yelling about what her plans for her would be once she defeated LaurFa and her minions.

When Dark Night arrived he asked, "Colgate, what is wrong now? Why are you in such a rage?"

Colgate's horn was glowing a dark gray as she yelled, "The Witch of Greed has betrayed us! She has chosen to remain in Saddle Arabia and guard her precious gems over helping me, the one she is supposed to be loyal to." She stomped her hoof into the floor and screamed, "Once we crush LaurFa and her minions, I'll make sure that abomination feels unprecedented levels of pain before I purge it from this world!"

Dark Night asked, "But can these creatures even feel pain?"

Colgate broke down into a sadistic laugh, "Oh this one will once I get a hold of it and its cries of pain will be priceless, completely priceless."

Colgate was very angry that what was once Rarity would betray her over something as menial as gems but then something crossed her mind. She knew that with there going to be one less beast, that something would need to be done to make up for it. Then it hit her, she would need to transform Scootaloo into something larger, something worthy for The Goddess of Terror to be riding, something truly terrifying.

One Last Transformation

Three days had passed since Colgate had sent out the summons to her riders and finally they were arriving at the tower. Colgate had been watching them through the eye and noticed that they had been being rather lackadaisical in returning to the tower. She was not sure why it took them so long but she was going to get answers out of them, no matter what it took.

Once they had all landed at the base of the tower and dismounted their beasts, Colgate grabbed her sabre and went out to greet them. When she arrived, they immediately turned their attention to her and waited for her to speak. The first one she approached was Pinkamena, who was holding the Crystal Heart. When she approached her, she held out the relic and hissed, "For you Master."

Colgate gave her a smile and replied, "Thank you Pinkamena, I was hoping you would bring this." She broke into a sinister laugh and continued, "Now a certain prisoner can know what happened to her precious subjects!" Her voice became more stern as she continued, "And now I would like to know why it took all of you three days to get here." She pointed towards their beasts and finished, "Even you Dash, it shouldn't have taken you more than a day and a half to get here."

The three stood there without an answer and Colgate began to pick up on something that should not be radiating from them, nervousness. She wanted to test their psychological strength so she held her sabre up against Rainbow's throat and ordered, "Tell me, why did it take you three days to arrive?"

She hissed in shock as the blade made contact with her. Colgate pulled her blade back and asked, "So you three, are you nervous with me holding my blade? Are you scared of me?" Her voice became more snide as she continued, "If so, I can wipe you out as quickly as I created you. I have absolutely no use for psychological weak links, none whatsoever."

The creatures then realized that they couldn't show any weaknesses if they didn't want Colgate to wipe them out. She then approached Applejack and asked, "Now tell me, what took you so long?"

"Uh, uh, headwinds! Yeah, I encountered some mighty strong headwinds. They were blowing at uh, uh 200 miles an hour! Yep, they were really strong!" she lied.

Colgate's horn began to glow black and she snapped, "Don't you lie to me. I made you to lie to others, but not to me....your Creator."

That then caused her to tell the truth, "Well I really wasn't wanting to come. I thought if I waited the battle would be over and then you'd send me back."

The other two wised up and gave Colgate the same answer and none of this sat well with her. She decided that rather than flying off the handle on them or eradicating them with her sabre, that she would simply cast her loyalty spell on them to make sure they didn't do anything such as either flee the battle or betray her and side with the enemy. She glared at the three and ordered, "Stand still and give me your full and undivided attention."

"Yes Master." The three hissed in unison.

Once the three had given their complete and undivided attention to her, she readied herself to cast her loyalty spell. She knew that it would have to be altered a tiny bit since she would be using it on her creations rather than her generals. Once she figured out what she needed to say, she flared up her horn and recited,

"Currently their loyalty belongs to none
Without it though my quest is done,
Their loyalty is an absolute must
For without it everything will be a bust.

My plans for conquest are what must be
That is something everypony can clearly see,
With their loyalty everything will be fine
And all of Eqqus 1 shall be mine.

Hear me my minions
With your loyalty nopony shall cast us out from my dominion,
Your loyalty now belongs to The Goddess of Terror
To resist shall be a grave error."

The bolt of energy she fired at the three was very powerful but much to Colgate's relief, rather than knocking them backwards the way incredibly powerful loyalty spells did in the past, it was absorbed by their bodies. Once it appeared they had their bearings straight, Colgate asked, "To whom do your loyalties lie?"

"To Supreme Commander Colgate, The Goddess of Terror and no other." the three hissed.

Colgate nodded before saying, "You three stay here. The time has come for me to make my final prisoner useful."

The three stood like statues while Colgate headed into her tower and down into the dungeon. She had a huge smile on her face as she knew how Scootaloo would react to her possessing the crystal heart. When she entered the dungeon a voice asked, "Colgate, is that you?"

Colgate laughed, "It is little rat." She then held the crystal heart up and continued, "So Scoots, what do you think of my new decoration? It is quite pretty isn't it?"

Scootaloo's pupils shrank when she saw what was in front of her. She screamed, "No, no! Without the crystal heart the Empire will freeze over!"

Colgate opened the door to her cell, grabbed Scootaloo in her aura and laughed, "Well let's take a look shall we?"

Colgate grabbed Scootaloo in her aura and began to drag her up to her chambers to tap into the eye. Scootaloo was screaming and yelling the whole way up there. While normally such noise would anger the supreme commander, she found it rather entertaining. Once she got up to her chambers, she slammed Scootaloo into the floor and ordered, "Just watch this rat, I'm sure you'll find it quite fascinating and rather enjoyable."

Colgate tapped into the eye and zeroed in on the Crystal Empire before projecting it so her captive could see what was going on. Scootaloo started crying the moment she saw what had happened. All she saw was ice and snow. Colgate began to laugh when a dark figure could be seen, struggling in a futile attempt to escape the ice and snow. Colgate smacked Scootaloo and laughed, "And to think, had you not betrayed me, your citizens would be nice and warm, not doomed to an icy grave!"

"You monster, you horrible evil monster!" she screamed. "You're worse than the Dark Goddess ever was, you've become everything you fought against and then some!"

Colgate again grabbed her in her aura and snapped, "You're coming with me rat. I need to get something and then make you useful!"

As Colgate was dragging her downstairs and down to the archives, she made sure that Scootaloo's head would hit the floor with each stair they hit. Once they arrived in the archives, Colgate drug her to the very back room where she was storing the rainbow of darkness. She placed the crystal heart on a shelf and placed the pouch around her neck. She turned to Scootaloo and asked, "Now do you know how I'm going to make you useful?"

"The Rainbow of Darkness!" Scootaloo shouted. "Those other leaders were right all along when you took it! You're using it for conquest!"

Colgate smacked her and snapped, "Well of course I am. You don't think I took those relics for the fun of it do you?" She got up in Scootaloo's face and continued, "I have long hidden this but the moment those other leaders distrusted me after killing Twilight and taking those relics, I decided a time would come when they would pay." She again smacked Scootaloo and finished, "And you shall be an instrument in my achieving my goal, wiping them all out and ruling this miserable world with an iron hoof."

Scootaloo then began screaming every obscenity and insult she could think of at Scootaloo but The Goddess of Terror simply ignored her and started dragging her upstairs so she could do what she needed to ensure victory. Once Colgate got her outside, she levitated her up to the hill where she had created her other minions. When they arrived, she threw Scootaloo to the ground and ordered, "Now stand still or you will experience never before experienced realms of pain."

At that moment Scootaloo realized that no matter what, she was going to become an instrument in Colgate's plans for conquest so rather than struggling, she stood still and gave her attention to Colgate. Colgate pointed her pouch at Scootaloo, flared up her horn and recited,

"The pony is currently loyal to none,
That is something that simply can not be done.
Her loyalty to me is a must,
Without it all shall be a bust.

Her loyalty now belongs to me,
Yet her size must be large for all to see.
A large beast is what she shall be,
One which is loyal to me and only me."

Once the Rainbow shot out of the pouch, Colgate poured some of her own energy into it as well so that her newly created beast would be worthy of having her at its rider. She wanted to make sure that this one would be larger than the others and could easily take out anything that Celestia would create.

When all the energy struck Scootaloo, she became encircled in a black ball, a black ball that began to increase in size as she did. After a couple of minutes, the huge black ball broke and a much larger, dark gray creature emerged. Colgate flew up to the creature's head and patted it on the cheek. The creature seemed to like it so Colgate figured that this was the creature's way of saying that it was loyal to her. She mounted the beast and ordered, "To the tower, now!"

The beast took off and it did not take even a minute for them to reach their destination. When the creature landed, the ground shook because of the force it landed with. While her riders looked at the new beast in curiosity, Dark Night and Lightning Storm rushed from the base to see what had landed.

When they saw Colgate fly off its back, they knew what had happened. Dark Night gave Colgate a smile and asked, "I take it your former ally is useful now?"

Colgate replied, "That she is and with her size, we can more than makeup for the absence of that tyrannical greedy abomination and her beast."

Lightning Storm, who knew less about the whole situation and how the huge beasts operate asked, "So how are you going to feed this thing? I don't know if there is enough food in all of Coastal Equestria for it."

Colgate couldn't help but chuckle, "The great thing about these creatures is that they don't have to eat to survive. They could go a whole millennia without eating a morsel and they'll be just fine."

"Well good." He replied, "I wouldn't want to see any of these things go and eat our citizens."

"Don't worry, they won't." Colgate reassured him. She then turned to the tower and continued, "Now to go and see what is going on in Canterlot. I want to see what our enemies are up to and see if they are ready to march upon us."

Colgate then took flight and headed to her balcony. Once she got into her chambers, she would be pleasantly surprised to see that it was a rather mundane day in the Equestrian capitol. She spied in on the leaders and was surprised to see them sitting down to a rather carefree meal rather than making any war plans. Colgate laughed, "Have they decided to just sit there and do nothing?" Her laugh became more serious as she continued, "If that is the case, then perhaps we shall go and destroy them. After all, I didn't acquire everything I have to not face off against them."

Celestia's Plans

One week had passed since Colgate had transformed Scootaloo into a beast and in Canterlot, the leaders had not been doing much in the way of making plans for battle, except for one. Princess Celestia had been sitting there on her throne with the thoughts of revenge running through her mind, revenge against the pony who was responsible for the deaths of her parents.

That day while they sat down to lunch, Luna, LaurFa and Ruby were talking casually while Celestia had a scowl on her face. She was getting sick and tired of them not making any plans for battle, much less marching on the black tower. She finally couldn't take it anymore and yelled, "When are we going to make plans to march on the black tower? When are we going to avenge the deaths of my parents?"

The other three looked up in disdain. Ruby would be the most displeased though, "Princess Celestia, we have been waiting for you to bring it up but all you have done is sit there and think about this."

LaurFa added, "Look, all this time you could have had the soldiers training for this but you have done nothing, nothing at all!"

Luna continued, "Sister, we have been waiting on you. We just figured you weren't ready."

Celestia sighed, "Well I am and after lunch, we are going to the base and informing the troops that the time has come, the time has come for us to wipe out Colgate and save this world from her oppression."

The rest of their lunch was quiet and tense. What seemed to be a carefree day for them turned into a stressful day. Celestia's fellow leaders had noticed she was changing as of late but given her suddenly less pleasant behavior, they knew it would be best to not say anything.

Once lunch was over, the four headed towards the base. As they were headed there, Celestia was walking in a way that none of them had seen her do before. She had become more confident but they couldn't help but notice that she had begun to walk more like Colgate, like not just a strong leader, but a military commander.

Once they arrived at the base Celestia yelled, "Attention!"

The troops had never heard Celestia demand their attention in that way before but knew that it was likely something important. One of the soldiers asked, "What is it Princess Celestia?"

Celestia began, "Alright troops, the time has come. The time has come for us to march on the black tower and slay Colgate. The time has come to not only avenge the deaths of my parents but to also save this world from her oppression."

The soldiers knew about Colgate's army, what it consisted of and how she could easily duplicate them. The head soldier asked, "Princess Celestia, how are we going to do that? Colgate could duplicate her forces many times over! There are so few of us, that would be a suicide mission."

Celestia was not thrilled over the question. For the first time in her life, Celestia flared up her horn in anger. She yelled, "Look, I'll duplicate all of you just like Colgate duplicates her soldiers. It is the only way we can pull it off."

The soldiers knew that regular ponies had never been duplicated before but given Celestia's less than pleasant mood, they didn't question her over that but one did have a question, "Princess, how are we going to train for this? How are we going to train to go up against changelings that could cover us in ooze?"

This was something that did not cross Celestia's mind. The question did frustrate her but she knew the soldier made a good point. She replied, "Well we can do our best to keep armor spells cast and regarding training for them, all we can really do on the battle field is remain alert."

One of the pegasus soldiers asked, "So how are we going to do this? How are us pegasus soldiers going to be of any use? We can't hold weapons and we have no magic."

Celestia replied, "I have a plan for that and that will involve making you huge so you can go up against large creatures that Colgate has." She then turned to the unicorn soldiers and continued, "And we are going to have to transform you into Alicorns because given the nature of Colgate's army, you'd be sitting ducks not being able to fly." She then turned to her fellow leaders and finished, "And we shall train with our swords since Colgate seems to have developed a like in using blades in warfare."

As she began to leave the base she ordered, "I am going to need ten unicorn soldiers, NOW!"

Ten of the unicorn soldiers nervously followed Celestia, unsure as to how this spell to make them Alicorns would work. Once they got into an open courtyard Celestia ordered, "Alright troops, I need your attention while I do this. Like I said, you would be sitting ducks if you can't fly."

Princess Celestia knew that Twilight had used spells in the ancient past to transform unicorns into Alicorns. While she was somewhat responsible for transforming Twilight so long ago, these soldiers had not written their own magic so transforming them wouldn't be so easy. She put her hoof up to her forehead and sighed, "Troops, go back to the base for now. I just realized that I am either going to have to do some studying to find the necessary spell or I will have to write my own magic."

The soldiers headed back to the base while Celestia returned to the palace to do some research. She knew that finding information on such a spell would be difficult given that the only pony known to actually write such a spell was Twilight. When she headed into the library, she knew that such a spell wouldn't be made available to just anypony so she headed to the restricted section.

She began to look through the section regarding spells to see if any such spells were in any of the books. She continued to look for nearly two hours before she realized that they had no such spells on record, "Ugh, nothing, absolutely nothing!" she screamed.

She then realized that there was one place that may very well hold the information she was looking for, the archives in what was Twilight's castle. She immediately headed into the throne room where she was greeted by the other leaders. "Sister, why didn't you transform the unicorn soldiers into Alicorns?" asked Luna.

"Because I don't know the spell." Celestia replied "She then began to head towards the exit and continued, "And the only place I know I can find it is in what was once Twilight's castle."

Her fellow leaders gave her a look of concern, "Princess Celestia," LaurFa began, "are you sure you should be going there? Are you sure that place is safe?"

"Sister," Luna added "you know she was a dark goddess. For all you know she may have put a curse on the place to keep ponies out."

Celestia countered, "Luna, Twilight did not become a dark goddess again until after she was struck with the rainbow of darkness. The last time she was in that castle, she was a good pony."

Ruby sighed, "Very well, you know what is best even though I think it would be better if you simply wrote your own magic for this."

Celestia let out a sigh of frustration before heading out. Once she was out of earshot Ruby asked, "Is it just me or does Celestia seem to be in too big of a hurry?"

LaurFa replied, "It seems that way. I would think she would write her own magic instead of flying off to try and find a spell that may not work for her."

Luna added, "And is likely outdated compared to the more advanced spells Colgate uses but all we can do is trust her judgement and hope it works."

As Princess Celestia was flying into Ponyville, she expected things to be like they had been for many millennia, ponies out and about, the market being set up and ponies buying things that they needed. When she landed, it was deathly quiet. Outside of the wind causing rusted out gutters to creek, there was nothing. Soon she would see why the town was so quiet. She saw that there were many cages in the town, each one had the decayed corpse of a pony in it.

When Celestia saw this, her blood began to boil yet she began to cry at the same time, "Curse Colgate, curse her! Does she have no regard for life?" She quieted down a bit and mumbled, "Of course not. She has but one desire, to slay any and all who don't serve her."

After passing many more cages, she finally arrived at the castle. Much to her surprise, the door was ajar so she headed in. Once she got inside, she could sense that something truly terrible had happened. She then remembered that it was a creature with Twilight's cutie mark that attacked her so she headed into the archives to see if Colgate had done something with her body.

When she arrived in the back of the archives, she saw that Colgate indeed must have got in there and stole her body because her casket was gone. Despite Twilight having done many horrible things to her lifetime, seeing this brought about a great amount of sadness in her. She knelt down next to where her casket was and sighed, "I'm sorry Twilight, I'm sorry about everything that happened to you." A tear began to run down her face as she continued, "If I would have waited to ascend you or extended your coronation, you may have never been corrupted."

Soon she realized that she had to focus on the mission at hand, finding Twilight's spell book. She started first with the back chamber but was eventually not able to find anything. She then moved to the middle chamber where the old Canterlot collection was and was unable to find anything. Then it hit her, any spell book of hers likely would be in the front chamber, where all of the books that were truly hers were located. It would not take long until she saw a book with a lavender spine and Twilight's cutie mark on it.

She pulled the book out and on the cover was Twilight's cutie mark and the words "My Spells" on it. The moment she grabbed the book, she felt a strange energy coming from it. She began to wonder if Twilight had perhaps enchanted the book but then realized that was likely not the case.

She then opened up the book and began to read through all the spells, everything from duplication spells, armor spells and loyalty spells. Towards the back of the book she found the one she would need, the spell to turn unicorns into Alicorns. She found the spell and read it out loud,

"The unicorn who has no wings is bound to the ground, they can not really get around, their smarts are great yet without flight they will be late, with these smarts they will be great and they shall never have a bad fate."

One thing she noticed was that it was written in a different way than the most ancient spells and the more modern spells were written. She continued to read over it and sighed, "If only she hadn't done this with Colgate, the world would be safe. She likely could have been reformed more easily, the amount of warfare wouldn't have been so much....." She then sighed, "Come on Celestia, dwelling on the past isn't going to defeat Colgate."

Celestia grabbed the book and headed back towards Canterlot. While she knew that Twilight's spell was very simple, she thought that may work to her advantage. While it was written by Twilight, she figured that something that simple could likely be cast by anypony.

Once Celestia returned to Canterlot, she headed to the throne room where she was greeted by the other leaders. She held up the spell book and said, "Well I found what I was looking for."

When they saw the book, frowns immediately developed on their faces. They had their concerns about her going to Ponyville to search for such a book to begin with but the fact that it was Twilight's personal spell book unnerved them, Ruby in particular.

She glared at Celestia and snapped, "Her personal spell book? You brought her personal spell book?" Ruby couldn't help but remember how Twilight had been a thorn in her side in one way or another from the moment she met her clear up until she breathed her last. She continued, "Look Celestia, I know you think that her spell may work but I honestly don't want to have anything to do with something SHE wrote."

LaurFa too had her concerns, "Celestia, you know she used these spells against the forces of so good for so long. What if this was to backfire?"

Luna was in a different mindset, "Listen everypony, if these spells will work for us, I don't see any problems. Besides, she used these against Colgate too."

In unison Ruby and LaurFa yelled, "AND LOST."

Celestia was not thrilled with her allies' comment. "But remember, there were times when she won too. It is true she never defeated Colgate with them but they did help her in global conquest so just give this a shot."

"Very well." sighed Ruby.

Ruby took the book and began to read through it. She couldn't help but snicker a bit when she saw how short and simple Twilight's spells were, "Now I know why she couldn't beat Colgate. These spells are so simple. Compared to what the ancient spells were like and the ones Colgate has written, a foal could understand and cast these!"

LaurFa added, "Princess Celestia, with the way you are acting, I almost can't help but wonder if you don't have a soft spot for her, deep within."

Celestia replied, "LaurFa, I know she did a lot of horrible things to a lot of ponies, myself included, but at one time she was my protege and I do think she had the smarts to write good magic and I think we should give them a chance."

In unison the other three sighed, "Very well, we shall give them a shot."

Celestia took the book back from LaurFa and headed to her chambers. Once she got in there, she locked the door and continued to read over the spells. Memories then came back to her, memories of when Twilight was just a filly and then her star student, the one that always outshined all the others. She began to sob quietly, if only I had waited to ascend her until after she defeated Tirek, none of this would have happened. She would still be alive and this world would be safe. She clenched the book closer to her and sobbed harder, "I'm sorry Twilight, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for failing you!"

In the black tower Colgate had been monitoring everything Celestia was doing and was not only elated by the sudden return of her emotional side, but entertained as well. "Wah-wah-wah! Same old crybaby Celestia!" Colgate laughed.

Colgate noticed that there was something about that spell book that seemed to affect Celestia, there was something about it that caused that deep hidden soft spot she had for Twilight to come to the surface. She then laughed, "Well now, it looks like one of my changelings will aid in bringing her down, time to make it look like her little Twily has come back!" She then began to snicker, "As her sweet, pre-corruption self!"

Heading off to Battle

After what turned out to be an emotional day for Celestia, the following day she woke up more focused. While the fond memories of Twilight's distant past had surfaced the previous day, she knew that those memories were something she couldn't carry into battle if they were to win.

When she entered the dining hall, she had her head held up high and appeared to be her normal self, the self prior to her handling Twilight's spell book. Luna was the first to notice this and commented, "Sister, we take it you are feeling better today?"

Celestia stood tall and replied, "Yes sister, I am."

Ruby asked, "Princess Celestia, do you think handling Twilight's old spell book may have......?"

Celestia interrupted, "Don't, just don't. We need to eat and then ready ourselves to attack the black tower."

LaurFa asked, "Today?"

Celestia replied, "Yes, today. I have a feeling that the less time we give her to prepare, the better our chances are of victory."

Her fellow leaders gave her stunned looks, Luna in particular, "Sister, are you suggesting we gather the soldiers and do this immediately after breakfast?"

Celestia replied, "Yes, little sister I do."

Luna questioned her, "But don't we have to duplicate the unicorn soldiers? Don't we have to use that enlarging spell on the pegasi? Don't we have to transform the unicorn soldiers into Alicorns?"

Celestia replied, "Luna, I shall transform the unicorns here. Once we get within eyesight of the black tower, I will transform the pegasi and duplicate the Alicorn soldiers."

Ruby had her own concerns, "Princess Celestia, if we are within eyesight of the tower, won't Colgate just attack us before we can cast any of those spells?"

Celestia replied, "Ruby, I know how her mind works. She would want us to come at her with full force. She doesn't like easy battles, she wants a good fight."

The three sighed in frustration but given that Celestia seemed to be the one who would be leading the charge, they realized that it would be her decision when they left so all they could do was hope for the best.

After breakfast, they began to leave the palace when something crossed Luna's mind, "Sister, hadn't we better get that enchanted armor and our swords?"

Celestia sighed in frustration that she would forget to get something that important. She replied, "Give me a minute and I'll be back with it, alright?"

Celestia headed back into the restricted section of the library where their armor and swords had been being stored, including Ruby's diamond sword. Celestia put her armor on and she felt a surge of strength flowing through her. She levitated her sword to herself and said, "Well Colgate, let's see how you fare against us now." Her voice became more determined as she continued, "Soon you shall answer for your crimes, soon you shall pay the price for killing my parents."

She grasped the others' armor and swords in her aura and carried them out to the waiting leaders. When Ruby grasped her sword, she held it up close to her face and began to examine it. After a minute of looking it over, she developed a smile and said, "And now the time has come, the time has come for us to avenge the death of White Magick and Blue Star."

Once everypony had got into their armor and had their swords, they headed to the base. Once they arrived, the soldiers were shocked to see them in armor as they did not know that they were going to be heading out that day. When they arrived Celestia yelled, "Attention!"

Once it was clear that she had every soldier's attention she began, "Alright troops, the time has come. The time has come to march on the black tower and avenge the deaths of my family AND save this planet from the iron hoof of Colgate."

The soldiers remained quiet waiting for her to continue her address, "Alright, I am going to need only five pegasus soldiers but I am going to need every last unicorn soldier." She pointed her wing towards the courtyard and ordered, "Follow me."

The unicorn soldiers all followed but the pegasi soldiers could not understand why only five of them would be needed. After a few seconds of looking at one another, five soldiers finally stepped forward into the courtyard. Once they had all arrived, Celestia ordered, "Alright troops, I need all the unicorn soldiers to my right."

The soldiers gathered to her right and Celestia ordered, "Stand still."

The soldiers did as ordered and Celestia readied herself to cast the spell. While she was confident in her spell casting abilities, she hoped that she would be able to cast it given that it was written by the pony that for a very long time was her nemesis. She flared up her horn and recited,

Once she finished reciting the spell, a bolt of energy shot from her horn and suddenly each one of the soldiers, all fifty of them were circled in a ball of light. Celestia had a feeling that was what was supposed to happen and five minutes later, an Alicorn soldier floated down from each ball.

Celestia gave the troops a smile and said, "Well it worked! Now we can fly to the battlefield much quicker."

One of the soldiers asked, "But there are only fifty of us and who knows how many Colgate will have."

Another added, "And why only five pegasus soldiers? That is so few that you may as well not take any at all."

Celestia replied, "I will duplicate all of you when we get near the battlefield and regarding the pegasus ponies, I have special plans for them." She turned towards the other leaders and ordered, "Follow me troops, we have a long flight ahead of us."

Once they arrived where the other leaders were, Luna was the first to say anything, "So sister, are we just going to fly straight into battle or are we going to be stopping somewhere to rest along the way?"

Celestia replied, "Luna, that forest where the portal to Unicornia used to be is not too far away from the black tower so we will take cover there and then the following morning, I will cast the necessary spells on the Alicorn soldiers and the pegasus soldiers before going into battle."

Celestia was not sure what kind of reaction to expect out of the soldiers given she had never led an army like this before but would be pleasantly surprised when they began to chant, "Celestia, Celestia, Celestia!"

The reaction did bring a smile to her face but she knew that if she were to start gobbling up any of the attention, that she would likely suffer the same fate Twilight often did, failure because of overconfidence. Once the soldiers quieted down, she pointed her wing towards the east and yelled, "To war! To victory!"

Again the soldiers cheered and they all followed as Celestia took off to the east. Her fellow leaders were happy to see that Celestia was being something they never thought she would be before, a strong and confident commander.

As they were flying east, Ruby began to get a sick feeling in her stomach. She was unsure what to make of it but she knew she had to talk to somepony about it. Luna had sped up to where she was flying by her sister in the front while LaurFa remained behind the soldiers with Ruby. Ruby turned to her and said, "LaurFa, I have a bad feeling about this. I feel like Celestia is rushing into this and to be honest, I feel like we're flying to our doom."

LaurFa extended her hoof and patted Ruby on the shoulder, "I know how you feel but we have our armor, we have our swords and Celestia will be duplicating the army many times over so I hope we will be ok." She paused momentarily before continuing, "And I know your desire for vengeance will be more than enough to push back any nervousness you may be feeling."

Ruby knew that LaurFa made great points and began to think more about how it was because of Colgate that her family had been taken from her. Soon that nervousness began to fade and instead, visions of her slaughtering Colgate began to fill Ruby's mind.

After many, many hours of flying, their destination was not too far away. The sun was about to drop below the horizon but their final target was still visible, just barely. Celestia stopped and pointed off to the east, "You see that? That is our final destination, that is where we shall be victorious." She then pointed down towards a clearing in the forest and continued, "And that shall be our resting place for the night."

She flew down into the clearing and was followed by her forces. Much to their delight, there was a good sized lake along with plenty of fruit bearing trees. Celestia gave her troops a smile and said, "Alright, I'm sure we are all hungry and thirsty."

Immediately the troops began to drink water, as did Celestia and the other leaders. At this point, Celestia was very tired and the other leaders could tell it. Luna, who could see her sister having trouble even keeping her eyes open, asked, "Sister, so are we going to do this tomorrow?"

Ruby added, "I am curious because we are all very tired and I'm sure the soldiers are."

LaurFa continued, "Celestia, you said that Colgate would want to wait until we march on the tower rather than coming out after us. I'm thinking that maybe we should wait until the day after tomorrow to do this."

Celestia was extremely tired, so tired that she thought that perhaps that would be a good idea, "Alright, we'll do that. I shall inform the troops. This way, we'll be fully ready to take Colgate on."

Once it appeared that everypony had got a good fill on fruit and water, Celestia ordered, "Attention!"

The troops immediately gave her their attention and she continued, "Alright, as you all know we flew a very long way today with out any rest and I for one am exhausted. Because of that, I have decided that we shall put our attack off until the day after tomorrow."

One of the soldiers asked, "But what about Colgate? What if she was to come attack us here?"

Celestia replied, "I know how her mind works. She is not the type that likes an easy battle and she will want to fight us there by her tower so that IF she was to win, she could celebrate on her own turf" Celestia then decided to make a more snide comment "close to her precious bed so she can get her beauty sleep because she'll be so tired."

The comment caused all the soldiers to break down laughing. Even her fellow leaders broke down laughing. Luna couldn't help but chuckle, "Oh dear sister, that is too funny!" She then became more serious and continued, "But Colgate won't be getting any beauty sleep, all she will be getting is a permanent sleep after we're done with her."

LaurFa and Ruby yelled, "Here, here!"

Celestia had a huge smile on her face as not only were her soldiers behind her but she could tell that her sister, Ruby and LaurFa too were behind her. That night, as they turned in, Celestia felt a greater confidence than she had in many millennia. As she laid there trying to get to sleep, unlike she would have in the past when a battle was imminent, she felt a sense of calm. She felt as though that after all was said and done, that the world could eventually return to normal.

Colgate had spent a majority of the day monitoring Celestia and her troops through the eye. She was monitoring their activities in the forest more closely than she normally would. Once she heard Celestia mention the day when they would attack she said, "So Celestia, the day after tomorrow huh?" She became more cheerful and continued, "Thank you so much princess! Thank you so much for giving me an extra day to prepare."

Colgate then decided to head down to the base and inform the troops of the current situation. She headed to her balcony, took off and headed down to the base. When she arrived, the soldiers were casually talking among themselves sharing a few laughs. Colgate landed on the platform she normally gave her addresses from and yelled, "Attention!"

All the conversations stopped and she had their attention. Dark Night asked, "Colgate, what is it? Is the enemy on the move?"

Colgate replied, "Even better than that general." She raised her voice and continued, "Troops, right now the enemy is resting in a clearing not too far away from here in the forest. I was listening in on them and they plan on attacking the day after tomorrow so tomorrow we are going to prepare for this."

Lightning Storm asked, "Intense exercises?"

Colgate replied, "Actually no. I believe that all of you are ready for this and what I want everyone to do tomorrow is clear their minds and ready yourselves for the battle of your lives, the final battle, the battle to end all battles." She then stood taller and finished, "The battle that will end all warfare on Eqqus 1 for all eternity!"

The soldiers began to cheer and chant, "Colgate, Colgate, Colgate!"

Once the soldiers had been chanting her name for a minute Colgate finished her address, "Calm down, calm down." Once the troops had calmed down she said, "Dismissed."

Colgate then headed back up to her balcony to monitor Celestia and her forces some more before turning in for the night. That night she was full of confidence as she laid there trying to go to sleep. While she knew that Celestia had spells to create her own large creatures, she couldn't help but snicker thinking about them having the fatal flaws of normal ponies, flaws that could cause them to flee during the battle.

Author's Note

"From one to two, two to four and so much more. When one is simple mere, more and more shall appear."

"The pony is one of us,
That is something that is a must.
His loyalty to our cause is great,
Without it all that could be spread is hate.

His aid will improve our chances much,
Yet his size must be large for this to be such.
A large pony is what he shall be,
One which will bring about victory for all to see."

"With only one
we are certainly done,
Multiplying them is a must
Otherwise our mission will be a bust.

More and more forces there must be
For it is terror in our foes we want to see,
With so few it is us who could suffer a loss
With many we can show our foes who is boss.

With many many soldiers it is their blood we shall spill
Lots and lots of foes they shall kill,
Strength in numbers shall cause us to prevail
With my huge army our enemies are guaranteed to fail."

Final Preparations

Two days had passed and the day that Celestia and her forces were set to attack had arrived. Colgate had been anxiously awaiting the moment that was about to arrive for a very long time. She headed to her balcony but then realized one thing, she needed to get her armor on and grab her sabre. Once she had that taken care of, she headed to the base.

When she arrived, she addressed the troops, "Alright troops, the day has come. The day has come that we can finally end the violence that has plagued this world for the past twenty millennia, the day has arrived that peace can finally be restored and this planet can be unified under a single banner once more!" She raised her voice and continued, "The banner it should have been a long, long time ago!"

The soldiers began to cheer until Colgate noticed that her two generals were not ready. She pointed to them and ordered, "Generals, you need to get your armor on and grab your swords." She then turned to the rest of her army and ordered, "And the rest of you, follow me. The time to duplicate you has come."

The soldiers followed her to an area that was much more open, an area that would have enough room to accommodate the number of soldiers that would be needed. One thing Colgate was hoping for was that the new spell she had written wouldn't have to be cast multiple times like the older, simpler spell did. Once all the troops had gathered in one place she ordered, "Alright troops, stand still."

The troops did as ordered, Colgate flared up her horn and recited,

"With only one
we are certainly done,
Multiplying them is a must
Otherwise our mission will be a bust.

More and more forces there must be
For it is terror in our foes we want to see,
With so few it is us who could suffer a loss
With many we can show our foes who is boss.

Once she finished the spell, a bolt of energy spread out from her horn and encircled the troops. Unlike the past spell where the duplication was immediate, this one took a couple of minutes but Colgate would be thrilled when she saw what had happened. What was a grand total of fifty of each type of soldier had transformed into five thousand of each. She had a huge smile on her face and said, "Very well troops, now we wait for them to charge."

She then decided to speak to a couple of the changelings to take care of what she thought might break Celestia psychologically. She approached Lighting Storm and asked, "You remember what Twilight Sparkle looked like when she was good?"

Lightning Storm nodded and immediately took on her form. Colgate smiled and said, "Alright, now I need one of the other changeling soldiers to take on that form."

The changeling standing closest to Lightning Storm immediately took on the form of Twilight Sparkle. Colgate said, "Good, very good." She then turned to Lightning Storm and ordered, "You may return to your own form now."

Lightning Storm did as ordered and Colgate pulled the "Twilight" to the side and said, "Alright, listen to me, I need to tell you some things about our primary foe, Princess Celestia."

The changeling replied, "I'm listening."

Colgate began, "Long ago, Princess Twilight Sparkle was the protege of Princess Celestia and the two were very close. They were almost like mother and daughter. Over the millennia they have had turbulent times, being both friend and foe but right before Twilight's final corruption, they were close and Twilight thought of Celestia as almost a protector, a protector from me."

The changeling asked, "So do you want me to hide behind her?"

Colgate replied, "No but I do want you to approach her looking innocent and loving. I know that if you do that, you'll be able to rattle her and then she will be easy to wipe out."

The changeling had never seen Celestia before and asked, "So what does this Princess Celestia look like?"

Colgate replied, "She is a solid white Alicorn with a multi-colored mane and tail with a sun cutie mark. The moment you see her when they begin their attack, approach her, address her by name and hug her."

"That I shall do." replied the changeling.

"Good." Colgate replied. She then approached her riders and asked, "Are you three ready for this?"

In unison they hissed, "Yes Master."

She gave them a stern look and replied, "You better be." Her voice became more stern as she continued, "I want you to go after the leaders BUT remember, Ruby Heart is mine. I am going to be the one to kill her, not you and not one of the soldiers."

"Yes Master." they hissed.

Colgate then headed back to her army and ordered, "Now we wait. Our enemies will likely be coming before too long."

Something then crossed Colgate's mind, they would need an armor spell to protect themselves from the enemy's magic. She mounted her beast and ordered, "Surround me, all of you. I need to cast an armor spell on us."

Her whole army replied, "Yes Ma'am!"

Once they had all gathered around her, her horn began to glow a dark gray and a black bulb formed at the end of it as she recited,

"Into battle we are about to head,
Everything must be just right so we can come out ahead.
Our enemies possess a power of great might,
That is something that we must keep in sight.

A great armor is a must,
For without it our quest will be nothing but a bust.
The armor we shall possess shall be great,
It shall be so great we can destroy all hate."

Once she recited the spell, a ball of energy spread out and the energy was absorbed by her entire army along with the beasts and the riders. She gave her troops a smile and said, "And now we wait."

Dark Night asked, "So are we going to wait for them to charge us?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, we are. They know that we are waiting on them and I feel that by letting them attack first, they will get overconfident and we can easily slay them."

Colgate and her forces then stood there, ready for the attack that was about to be unleashed upon them. They knew that Celestia would be bringing a large army but with Colgate as their commander, they believed that they would prevail.

While Colgate was making her final preparations, Princess Celestia and her forces were readying themselves for battle. After a filling breakfast and drinking plenty of water Celestia began, "Alright everypony, today is the day that will determine the fate of this world. If we win, harmony can finally return to this world but if we fail, everypony will suffer under the rule of Colgate."

Her troops appeared nervous and gave her no response. Her sister would though. She approached her and whispered, "Sister, I think you could have said that better. They appear to be nervous rather than rallied up and I'm sure Colgate has her troops fired up."

Celestia replied, "Well I'm sorry. That was just the first thing that came to my mind." She then pointed her wing skywards and added, "Everypony, follow me. The time has come, the time to march into victory has come!"

This got the troops fired up and they began to cheer as they followed Celestia and the other leaders into the sky. Celestia had seen a place when they first went to the forest that she believed would be a good place to do all the transformations and duplications, a ridge roughly a mile west of the black tower.

When they landed, Celestia looked off to the east and was in a state of shock with what she saw. Not only did she see that Colgate had a huge army and had three riders with beasts, but she saw Colgate's much larger beast, one that was probably twice the size of what she could transform the pegasi into. At that moment she realized that while she knew it would not be easy, she knew that this would be a matter of having to slay Colgate's beast early if they were to win.

She turned to her fellow leaders and pointed her wing towards the tower. She said, "Luna, LaurFa and Ruby, we must kill Colgate's beast as soon as possible. The longer that thing stays alive, the worse things will be."

"Sister," Luna replied, "I know you have taken those kinds of things down before but that is twice the size of the others."

Celestia gave her a glare, "I know it will be more difficult than the others but now, we must duplicate the forces and enlarge the pegasi." She then turned to the Alicorn soldiers and ordered, "Stand still."

The soldiers did as ordered. Celestia lit up her horn, grasped them in her aura and recited,

"From one to two, two to four and so much more. When one is simple mere, more and more shall appear."

Once she finished the spell, what was one hundred soldiers became two hundred. She knew that would still not be nearly enough, especially given that the army they were facing was likely in excess of ten thousand along with the large beasts and Colgate. She grasped them in her aura and duplicated them again and again until she had well in excess of ten thousand soldiers. She gave her suddenly huge army a smile and said, "Now this is more like it." She turned to the five pegasi soldiers and continued, "And now for the five of you." She pointed her wing to the left and ordered, "Gather a good distance off to my left and stand a decent distance apart."

The soldiers did as ordered and Celestia readied herself to cast the spell that she believed would at least level the playing field if not give them the advantage. She lit up her horn, grasped them in her aura and recited,

"The ponies are one of us,
That is something that is a must.
Their loyalty to our cause is great,
Without it all that could be spread is hate.

Their aid will improve our chances much,
Yet their size must be large for this to be such.
[i}Large ponies are what they shall be,
Ones which will bring about victory for all to see."

Once she cast the spell, the five pegasi became circled in bright balls of light and began to increase in size. Celestia put a bit more power into this spell so that they would be a bit larger than the beasts Colgate's riders had. Once the transformation was done she ordered, "Luna, Ruby, LaurFa, mount one of them."

The three did as ordered and given that there were five large pegasi, Celestia pointed to one of the highest ranking soldiers and ordered, "You too, mount one of them."

"Yes your Majesty."

Celestia mounted her pegasus and realized that one more thing needed to be done, an armor spell. She ordered, "Alright everypony, gather around me."

The troops did as ordered. Celestia grasped her army in her aura and recited,

"The ones without armor do not stand a chance, so it is what we must enhance, the unarmed ones will likely receive death, with armor they shall continue to draw breath, without armor they will be torn to shreds like a rag but with armor victory is in the bag."

Energy immediately shot out of her horn and was absorbed by her forces. Celestia knew then that her army would be ready for battle and would be able to not only take a lot of hits but also knew that any changeling ooze would deflect off of them and hopefully cover Colgate's dark Alicorns in it.

Celestia stood before what she believed was an army that she could prevail with and exclaimed, "Now this is more like it! With all of us, Colgate doesn't stand a chance!" All soldiers began to cheer as Celestia continued, "Today, we shall transform the plain outside the black tower into the graveyard of the dark forces!"

The troops began to cheer louder and louder, chanting Celestia's name. Celestia had a huge smile on her face knowing that she had rallied her soldiers to the point that things such as nervousness would not be a problem. At that moment she was sure that victory was certain.

The Battle to End All Battles

One hour had passed since Colgate and Celestia had completed their final preparations for the battle yet all both sides were doing was waiting on the other, staring one another down. Colgate was not one bit impatient as she knew that Celestia and her forces would soon attack. Celestia, who had been waiting for Colgate to go on the offensive, was becoming impatient.

She grumbled, "I thought she would have attacked by now. What is taking so long?"

Ruby replied, "Celestia, I'm betting she is waiting on us. If we want to have this battle before those huge pegasi start getting hungry, we need to charge in and win this."

Celestia said, "Very well." She then said one final thing to her forces, "Troops, it is now or never. Colgate could sit there and wait until we all starve." She then pointed her sword to the east and yelled, "CHARGE!"

Immediately her army charged towards the east and the first to get there were the leaders, riding on their pegasi. Colgate's beasts immediately met them in mid-air. The beasts began biting at the pegasi, hoping to rip their necks open but the pegasi were agile and strong. They butted heads with the beasts, knocking them backwards. While the beasts were fighting the pegasi, Colgate decided that she would thin out what appeared to be Celestia's larger army.

She had her beast swoop down into the charging forces, throwing many to the side and other Alicorn soldiers would find themselves being impaled by the beast's claws. Colgate continued to have her beast fly high into the sky and then back down to knock as many of the enemy soldiers to the side, stunning them and making them easy targets for her own forces.

The changeling that had taken on the form of Twilight saw his target and immediately took off after her. He landed in front of Princess Celestia and immediately she had her pegasus stop. She looked at the changeling in shock and asked, "Twilight, is that you? But how?"

The changeling was suddenly confused as it knew nothing about how a pony could be brought back from death. It replied, "I honestly don't know how but I'm back."

It did not take Celestia long to realize that what was in front of her was not Twilight but was a changeling. She levitated her sword and yelled, "You are no Twilight Sparkle!"

She swung her sword at the changeling and cut it in half. Celestia was not one bit thrilled that Colgate would order one of her changelings to imitate a pony that she once cared for so much so she decided that she would find Colgate and exact the revenge that she had wanted to for so long.

In the skies dark Alicorns and changelings were firing energy at their Alicorn foes. Both sides were firing energy at one another rapidly, hoping to break the armor spell of the others. Despite the complexity of Colgate's spell, both sides' armor was shattered fairly quickly and like it had been for twenty millennia, forces began to drop from the sky en masse. The power of the regular Alicorns was making quick work of the changelings at first but the dark Alicorns were easily burning their foes with energy and causing them to fall to the ground in pain.

Luna and her pegasus were doing battle with a beast and a rider that was once Rainbow Dash. The rider was quickly tiring of her beast and the pegasus simply butting heads so she ordered it to take off and try to get behind her foe. She was able to do so and before Luna could even react, the beast grabbed her in its jaws and consumed her. Celestia saw this and screamed, "Luna, no!"

It was too late for Luna but Celestia was not about to let this deed go unpunished. She had taken on both riders and beasts before and was confident that she could wipe them both out. She knew that the rider would be more difficult to kill so she flew off of her pegasus and took straight after the beast. She went straight after its head and while it was biting at her hoping to make a meal out of her, it couldn't get her. She began slashing at its neck and was able to get its head cut off, killing it.

The rider then let out a screech causing Celestia to fall to the ground and it took off after her. When it landed in front of her, it had its blade drawn, ready to kill her. It flared up its horn, struck Celestia with a bolt of energy and knocked her backwards. Celestia looked down at the burn mark and quickly realized that the one that attacked her was once Rainbow but she couldn't dwell on that. She knew that if the creature that was after her stabbed her, that she would likely succumb to the poison from the cursed blade rather quickly.

She got up on her hooves and began a sword fight with the rider. The rider was not anticipating that Celestia would be so good with a sword and was quickly getting frustrated. It began trying harder to hit its foe but it also left itself more vulnerable in the process. Celestia soon got a swipe on it with her blade. The creature let out a loud shriek, temporarily disorienting Celestia. She was able to get her bearings straight before the rider could so like she did with the first two she took out in Canterlot, she plunged her blade straight into where its face would be and wiped it out.

She then took off back to her pegasus and began going after the other riders. She had initially planned on going after Colgate first but when she saw how she and her beast were swooping down and then soaring high into the sky, she knew that handling the others would likely be the best option.

LaurFa soon crossed paths with the one that was once Pinkie Pie. She could hear the rider hissing, "Fun, Fun, Fun!"

LaurFa immediately instructed her pegasus to attack its beast and rather than butting heads, the beast had a quicker reaction time and clamped onto the pegasus's neck and was able to make quick work of it. Her pegasus fell so quickly that she didn't even have time to react so when she fell, she hit the ground hard. As she was trying to get up, she saw that the beast had landed near her and the rider was approaching her.

As the rider stood over her, with its sword drawn it again began to hiss, "Fun, Fun, Fun!"

LaurFa was able to get up and swung her blade at the rider. The rider quickly countered and before LaurFa could take another swing, the rider burned her with its energy, leaving its former cutie mark singed into the Creator Goddess's fur. The rider then took it's opportunity. Before LaurFa could react, it let out a loud shriek before plunging its blade straight into her heart. The rider began dancing around the remains hissing, "Fun, Fun, Fun!"

Celestia was in the area and knew that it was too late for LaurFa but saw an opportunity to kill yet another rider. She swooped down in front of it and yelled, "You may have killed LaurFa but you will not kill any others."

The rider knew of Celestia's nature and hissed, "Oh, what is crybaby Celestia going to do, drown me with her tears?"

Celestia flared up her horn and blasted the rider with a great amount of energy, knocking it onto its back. Celestia was able to get right over the rider before it could react and without saying a word, she plunged her sword straight into its dark face, killing it. Rather than celebrating, Celestia was able to mount its beast and take control of it.

The first thing she initially wanted to do was have it go after Colgate but she then changed her mind when she had it near the tower. She believed that if she could have it crash into the tower, that she could not only kill the beast but knock the tower over and damage her enemy's psyche.

One thing she discovered is that the beasts would easily follow orders, regardless of who was on its back. She ordered, "The tower, smash into it face first, NOW!"

The beast complied and Celestia was thrilled when it crashed straight into it. The beast let out a loud groan as it broke its neck and fell to the ground. Much to Celestia's dismay though, the tower remained undamaged. What Celestia did though would not go unnoticed by Colgate. Colgate, who had been thinning out Celestia's Alicorn soldiers immediately took off towards her tower.

Her beast landed right in front of Celestia, towering over her. Celestia however was not one bit terrified. She could see Colgate on its back and yelled, "You are responsible for the death of my family but you will not survive my wrath nor will your beast."

Colgate laughed, "Come on Celestia, I know you'll break sooner or later. I know that same crybaby that was so terrified of Twilight for so long will come to the surface."

Celestia did not give Colgate the satisfaction of a response. Instead she began going after the beast. While it was much larger, Celestia began to go after its neck. The creature tried to catch her in its mouth but it just couldn't. Colgate simply looked on in amusement as she was sure that it would not be long until Celestia would finally become a meal.

No matter how hard she tried, Celestia could not kill the beast. She then realized something, she realized that if she could get underneath the beasts head and go after the softer underside of its neck, that she could likely kill it. She was able to get underneath its head and while Colgate was trying to pull it back, Celestia had begun taking swipes at its throat and it suddenly wouldn't obey her.

Celestia continued to slash the beasts throat until it finally let out a painful groan. Blood began to flood out of the wound and the beast fell on its side and died. Colgate was not thrilled with what Celestia had done. She got off of her now deceased beast and stood tall over Celestia. She was holding her sabre and readying to swing it, hoping to put Celestia out of her misery.

Colgate however was not going to simply kill Celestia, she wanted to have a bit of fun with her first. She took her sabre, swung it at her but intentionally missed. She then burned Celestia with some energy before saying, "You know something Celestia, for such a crybaby you have done pretty good against my riders and my beasts."

Celestia spat back at her, "Don't patronize me oh Goddess of Terror, you are responsible for the deaths of my whole family." She flared her horn up and hit Colgate with a powerful bolt of energy. The energy however did not knock Colgate down, it only knocked her back.

Colgate quickly approached Celestia with her horn flared up and struck Celestia with a bolt of pure black energy, knocking Celestia to the ground and causing her to cry out in pain. Colgate quickly jumped over and began to stomp her. She yelled, "Crybaby, crybaby, crybaby! Same old crybaby Celestia, wah-wah-wah!"

She stepped back and began to strike her with more and more energy. Celestia let out more and more painful cries as Colgate continued the attack. Colgate however was not going to show her any mercy. She continued to strike her until she had singed her whole coat black. Once the only part of Celestia that was still white was her horn, Colgate stopped the attack. She kicked her and laughed, "Cosmos was killed by a tatzlwurm, Galaxia and Luna were killed by my beasts but it is quite fitting that I'm the one to kill you!" She began to stomp what she thought was Celestia's remains and screamed, "A life for a life! You killed my creations, I killed you so I'd say we're even!"

While Colgate was dealing with Celestia, Ruby took off towards the last remaining rider and beast. Having seen all of her allies fall in battle made her not only angry but realized that if she didn't take out the remaining rider but also Colgate, that the world would wind up plunging into a state of eternal suffering and despair.

Like it was with her other allies, she took her pegasus head on against the beast. The two began butting heads and grunting in pain. Ruby looked over at the rider and could tell that it was not impressed that a mere overgrown pegasus was battling so hard against something it should have lost to rather quickly. Ruby saw its frustration mounting and figured that this could be her chance to kill the last one.

She took off and landed on the beasts back, right in front of the rider. The rider however was not quite as easy to provoke as the others. Rather than immediately attacking her it hissed, "Submit to the power of the black tower and perhaps Colgate will let you survive!"

"Never!" yelled Ruby. She then readied her sword and readied to strike, "Never will I submit to the black tower and I will do everything in my power to slay you and Colgate. I will do everything in my power to bring harmony back to this world!"

Ruby saw the rider flare up its horn and just as it fired a bolt of energy, she was able to get out of the way. She then began a sword fight with it, scoring multiple hits as she was much more agile. Eventually Ruby swung her sword with as much force as she could and shattered the riders blade. Without its sword, Ruby knew this was her chance. She took straight after it and rammed her blade straight into its face and killed it.

Ruby then went after the beast. With each slash of her diamond blade, the beast let out an agonizing cry until she was finally able to lop its head off and it crashed to the earth. When Ruby landed next to the beast, she saw that one of the large pegasi was still in the sky but was battling against Colgate's top generals.

She sped off towards the battle and was delighted to see that the pegasus was acting more like one of Colgate's beasts, biting at the two smaller opponents attempting to eat them. She sped towards the battle and fired a bolt of energy at Lightning Storm. He tried firing ooze at her but missed. The arrival of Ruby had distracted the large pegasus and Dark Night saw this as the opportunity to finish the last big foe off.

Ruby and Lighting Storm got into a sword fight and the large pegasus went from being focused to being distracted. Dark Night immediately took to it and slashed its throat, causing it to fall from the sky immediately. The Alicorn soldier that had mounted it however, was more than ready to do battle. The soldier however, lacks something that Dark Night had, a sword. Dark Night, while he was not in the mood for an easy kill, knew it had to be done so he quickly flew down to where the soldier had fallen and plowed his sword straight into his heart.

In the sky Lightning Storm had his sword drawn, ready to slay Ruby but then remembered Colgate saying that Ruby was hers, that she would be the one to kill her so rather than attacking her with his blade, he began to fire ooze at her to take her down so that Colgate could then take her out. Ruby however was extremely agile and no matter how many times he fired on her, he couldn't hit her.

Ruby felt like this was almost too easy but didn't want to keep this going forever so she blasted him with a bolt of energy, knocking him to the ground. When she landed by him, she noticed that outside of the one Alicorn soldier, that everypony else on her side lay dead and this brought about a fury in her. She drew her sword and yelled, "You and your vermin allies have done nothing but kill, kill, kill! Well that stops now, no longer!"

She swung her sword and cut Lightning Storm's head off. Ruby was relieved when she saw this but when she saw that Dark Night had plunged his sword into her last Alicorn soldier's heart, she had enough. She fired a bolt of energy behind him, throwing him forward.

She then jumped over him and readied herself to plunge her sword into his back until she was thrown forward by bolt of energy. Ruby cried out in pain and would not be surprised when she saw who was approaching her. What she saw approaching her was something that she wanted to take down but feared at the same time, Colgate. While Ruby did fear her, she knew that she couldn't just cower back.

Ruby got on her hooves and noticed that Colgate had her sabre ready for battle. Colgate gave her an ice cold glare and asked, "Any last words traitor? Any last words before you succumb to the Goddess of Terror?"

Ruby grasped her sword in her aura and began, "Colgate......"

Colgate interrupted, "That is either Supreme Commander Colgate or Almighty Goddess of Terror to you."

Ruby was not about to address Colgate as the Goddess of Terror. "Supreme Commander Colgate, " Ruby began "I would love to know what happened to you. At one time you were a freedom fighter, you fought for all that was good. You fought against the dark goddess but now you have become far, far worse than she ever was."

Colgate blasted her with some energy, leaving a burn mark on her face. "What happened? What happened?" She picked Ruby up and slammed her to the ground before continuing, "Had you and those other leaders trusted me to store those relics, none of this would have happened! This world would still be a harmonious place and every sorry excuse of a leader would still be alive."

Ruby fired back at Colgate, striking her directly and knocking her to the ground, "We knew of your intentions and we were right. You raised Tambelon from the depths, you journeyed to Midnight Castle, you used forbidden magic so we had every reason to distrust you and now, your reign of terror shall end." She drew her sword and finished, "And now we must rid the world of you, now you must die."

Colgate was quick to get to her hooves and swung her sabre at her foe. Ruby quickly countered and like they did when White Magick was slain, the two got into a fight with their blades. Ruby fought with confidence as she believed that since some life force had been poured into her sword when it was reforged, she believed it could not be shattered. Colgate knew her sabre was stronger and rather than merely striking at the edge at first, she immediately began swinging towards the base of it, hoping to score a hit on her foe if possible.

The two Alicorns continued their fight, bound and determined to slay the other. With each strike, Ruby began to become frustrated believing that her sword should have shattered Colgate's sabre. Colgate however, was patiently waiting for the moment that she could shatter Ruby's blade and after an hour of fighting, with one powerful swing of her sabre, Ruby's sword shattered.

The energy from the diamond blade breaking threw Ruby backwards to the ground. Ruby lay there in shock, having trouble believing what had just happened. She would have little time to focus on her sword breaking when Colgate burned her with some energy, throwing her backwards.

Colgate approached her former ally with her horn glowing black. She gave her a smile and laughed, "So what was that about you going to rid this world of me?"

Ruby, while she knew that things were likely not going to turn out well for her was still defiant, "Look Colgate, you haven't won yet!"

Ruby flared her horn up and fired a bolt of energy at Colgate. Despite it striking her, it did not do much more than knock her backwards. Colgate flared her horn up again and struck Ruby with another bolt of energy. She couldn't help but laugh, "Oh my, I haven't won yet!" Her laugh got louder as she continued, "And I'm guessing next you'll make some sort of claim that you'll rise up and kill me!"

Colgate did not give Ruby a chance to respond, she instead started burning her with more and more energy. She wanted to do to her exactly what she did to Celestia, she wanted to burn her coat black. She continued burning her and burning her and with each bolt of energy, Ruby's cries became louder and louder. Once Colgate had burned every part of her black except for her horn, she decided the moment she had been fantasizing about ever since she saw Ruby fuse that diamond heart into herself had arrived, the time to remove it and kill her.

After having her coat singed completely black, Ruby was laying there below Colgate whimpering in pain. This was something that brought a great amount of joy to Colgate. Seeing the pony who was once such a close ally, one that betrayed her through distrust, laying there in such a state not only brought a lot of happiness to her, but satisfaction.

Colgate grabbed Ruby in her aura, held her up to her and said, "And now Ruby, the time has come for me to cement myself as Supreme Commander Colgate, Goddess of Terror as Ruler of Eqqus 1." She focused a majority of her hold on the diamond heart in Ruby's chest and asked, "Any last words traitor?"

Ruby went into thought and then something from the last time an evil force threatened the world came to her memory, the curse of Twilight Sparkle. Ruby gasped, "The curse of Twilight Sparkle! Before you ate Twilight's heart she cursed this world to pestilence, death and destruction and you have brought about death and destruction. You may think you won this but the real winner is the one who put the curse on everypony, the true winner here is the Dark Goddess Twilight Sparkle!

That was all the more Colgate needed to hear to begin the process of killing her foe. She again grasped the heart in her aura and began trying to remove it. With each yank on the heart, it was hundreds of more times painful than the hardest bite on a horn could ever be for Ruby. As Colgate continued to try and remove it, the pain was becoming more and more unbearable for her.

Finally after ten minutes of Ruby's screaming in agonizing pain, Colgate ripped the heart out of her. The moment the heart was removed from her, Ruby let out one more agonizing scream before her body went limp. Colgate put a hoof on her neck to feel for a pulse but much to her delight, there was one. She looked down at the remains and said, "And that Ruby, is what you get for distrusting me. Had you remained a good ally and trusted me like a good pony would have, none of this would have happened."

After smiling at the corpse of Ruby for several minutes, Colgate took the heart with her up to her balcony. When she got onto her balcony, she stood tall, cast a spell to project her voice and announced, "Hear me Eqqus 1, for I am Supreme Commander Colgate, the Goddess of Terror, the ruler of Eqqus 1." She then projected her voice further and yelled, "ALL SHALL LOVE ME AND DESPAIR!"

Death and Destruction

After a bloody battle that had claimed tens of thousands of lives, all was silent at the tower. Colgate stood on her balcony looking over all the corpses watching closely to see if anypony on either side had survived. She knew that Lightning Storm fell in the battle but then one thing crossed her mind, Dark Night. She only remembered seeing him get blasted by energy, not being killed. She knew that he would likely be laying near where she had her confrontation with Ruby.

She took off and flew to that spot on the battlefield. There she found a beat up but alive Dark Night. He was trying to get up but the energy blast from Ruby had disoriented him a lot more than one would expect. She pulled him up and held him in her aura so he wouldn't fall. She asked, "You alright general?"

Dark Night replied, "Well not really. I'm a bit dizzy but other than that, I'm decent." He then began to look around and saw that the battlefield was littered with many many corpses but saw no enemies out and about. He commented, "I take it we won?"

Colgate asked, "Yes, and remember how Celestia was so strong there at the end and was causing a whole host of problems?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well follow me, I have something you have got to see!"

Colgate released Dark Night from her hold and while he was wobbling around a bit, he was able to follow Colgate to the base of her tower. She however would not be pleased when what she thought was there wasn't. She yelled, "Where is she, where the hay is she?"

Dark Night asked, "What do you mean where is she?"

Colgate pointed down and yelled, "Celestia was laying here after I had burned her black." She then noticed another thing, she noticed that Celestia's sword was missing as well. She then became nervous, "Dark Night, I don't like the looks of this."

He asked, "Think she may have survived and could be lurking around, waiting for the right moment to strike?"

"Yes," Colgate replied "so be careful. She could be anywhere and I know she wants nothing more than to slay both of us and......"

She would not be able to finish her sentence when they saw Celestia come charging out from behind the tower, holding a sword in a golden aura. Dark Night and Colgate both flared up their horns and fired energy at her but would miss. She then leapt in front of Colgate and plunged her sword deep into her lower abdomen. Colgate immediately fell to the ground, screaming in agony.

Dark Night was not about to allow her to get away with it. He charged Celestia and rammed his horn straight into her abdomen. "NO!" he yelled "You will not kill Colgate nor will you take this world as your own."

Celestia grabbed him in her aura and slammed him into the ground. She pounced on him and began slamming his head violently into the ground, "No, no, no! You and your precious Goddess of Terror have killed so many, both of you are responsible for the death of my whole family ad every other world leader."

She then got up, grabbed Dark Night in her aura and with one swing of her sword, she lopped his head off. Immediately after she killed him, she was tackled by a weakened but furious Colgate. She decided that the time had come to finally wipe out the foe who seemed to handle her darkest creations so well but it would not be easy. Celestia fired a bolt of energy and threw her off of her.

Celestia's energy threw Colgate up against the base of her tower, injuring her further. Celestia saw this as her chance to finally take Colgate out. She pounced on her and decided to do the one thing she loved to do, she bent down and took a bite out of Colgate's abdomen. As she was chewing up her flesh she laughed, "Isn't it ironic? For so long you ate ponies but now it is YOU who will be eaten."

Blood loss was causing Colgate to get weaker but that would not stop her from fighting back. She was able to grab Celestia in her aura and throw her off of her, head first into the tower. Much to Colgate's delight, she had broke her foe's horn off and gave her a concussion. By this point, Colgate's bleeding was getting worse from the deep wound and the bite from Celestia so rather than flying to her or even jumping to her, she had to crawl. When she finally got to Celestia, she found her foe only half coherent.

She knelt over Celestia and said, "You know Celestia, I suppose I should be proud of you for showing so much strength in the end but even your temporary strength can't last forever." She began to grow weaker as she was losing more blood but was not about to allow Celestia to be the last one alive. She knelt right over her and asked, "Any last words."

Celestia tried firing energy out of the remainder of her horn but was only able to get a few sparks out. She yelled, "You Colgate are pure evil! I hope you are cast into the bottom most bowels of Tar.....AAAAAH."

Before she could finish her sentence, Colgate bit into Celestia's throat, tearing it open. The blood began to pour out of Celestia and she very quickly perished. As Colgate laid there on top of Celestia, she was happy that she finally took her out but realized one thing, she knew that she likely wasn't going to last much longer. She looked around and yelled, "If I can't have Eqqus 1, nopony can!"

She was unsure as to whether she could do it or not, especially in the state she was in, but Colgate decided that if she used enough of her dark powers, that she could literally destroy the entire planet. She didn't know any spells to do it, she doubted that any such spells existed and she knew that she did not have the time to write any spells to do so.

She lowered her head and planted her horn into the ground. She then began to release the blackest of black energy into the world. As she did this, she found herself being levitated into the air and encircled in a black ball. Her energy from her horn continued to strike the ground and the longer she was in the ball, the more powerful her magic became.

Soon the ground would begin to shake, not just at the tower but on a global scale. The skies began to darken and the winds began to pick up the longer this went on. The ground continued to shake harder and harder across the world and eventually it began to split open, allowing magma to begin shooting into the air like geysers. Once the magma hit the surface and more and more of the world was being split open, temperatures across the world continued to get hotter and hotter.

Eventually the world was shaking so hard that great tidal waves were crashing on the shores of the planet's continents. It would not be much longer until the black tower began to collapse. As it was collapsing, Colgate released one final powerful bolt of energy and the interior of the planet fractured and finally exploded, killing many millions of ponies and other sapient life forms.

All that remained of what was once a planet full of live, love and harmony was rubble being spread out in orbit around the sun, the same sun that at one time was the prison for multiple ponies.

Epilogue: An Eternal Punishment

When Colgate finally came to, she found herself in a dimly lit place. She got up on her hooves and saw that she was in a cage. She immediately began firing bolts of energy at the cage but they would pass straight through them. She finally decided she would try and pry the bars apart but was thrown backwards by a huge shock.

She then again began firing energy at the bars but was getting more and more frustrated as nothing was happening. She began to snort and yelled, "Ugh, how am I supposed to get out of here?"

She then heard a voice, "You're not getting out of here."

That voice sounded so familiar and to Colgate unpleasant. She turned around and saw a dark lavender Alicorn with green eyes. She gasped, "Twilight Sparkle?" Her voice became more snide as she continued, "What are you doing here?"

Twilight replied, "I'm here for the same reason you are, being punished for my crimes." She then took a closer look at Colgate and laughed, "And look at you, so much black." She pointed at her and added, "Your dark color, that black gem, Grogar's collar....so so edgy!"

Colgate flared up her horn and fired a bolt of energy at Twilight but it passed right through her. She screamed, "Why isn't my magic hurting you?"

Twilight laughed, "Colgate, we're dead. We're nothing more than spirits now and unfortunately, we can't harm one another."

Colgate then saw a bright light behind her and a white ball landed in front of the cage she now shared with Twilight. When the light faded she saw a pony that she had dealt with not that much earlier, Ruby. She flared her horn up and yelled, "How is this possible. I just killed you!"

Ruby replied, "Colgate, I am of pure good. Yes I am not alive physically but spiritually, I am very much alive and can come and go as I please." She pointed towards her and Twilight and continued, "But you two. You two are of pure evil and while you are alive spiritually, you are condemned to spend all eternity stuck here in the bottom most bowels of Tartarus," she then began to laugh, "together, together like two peas in a pod forever!"

Both yelled, "What? We're stuck together forever?"

Ruby laughed, "Yes." She pointed to the two and began, "LaurFa and I both know how much you two hate one another and since you two are the only villains who have spilled blood, we figured that being stuck together like this for all eternity would be perfect!"

Neither one of the two cared much for LaurFa or Ruby. Twilight yelled, "Look, I'm not that bad! I shouldn't have to be stuck with a planet killer!"

Colgate added, "And I deserve better. I shouldn't be stuck with this lowly amateur, this amateur that has no clue what real evil is."

Ruby gave the two a stern look and said, "Tough luck you two. This is what has been decided is best and Colgate, I know you think you're the most evil pony of all time and should be imprisoned even further down but you're stuck with this 'amateur' as you put it." She then looked upwards and finished, "And now I shall take my leave. Have fun ladies!"

She again became encircled in a white ball and floated back up. The two villains gave one another an intense glare and Twilight said, "Oh, so you think you're so much more evil than me? Please, I'm the most evil pony ever!"

Colgate broke down laughing, "Aww is the widdle dark goddess jeawous? Is hers jeawous that hers only killed a couple thousand while I killed millions and destroyed an entire planet?"

Colgate talking to her like she was a baby infuriated Twilight. She lit up her horn and yelled, "No, I am not jealous!" She began to stomp her hooves on the ground and continued, "I would never be jealous of you, never!"

Colgate replied, "I think your reaction says otherwise Twilight. Yes you did plenty of bad things but compared to me, you are nothing, absolutely nothing." She then threw in one final snide comment, "And at least I am lawfully evil, at least I never turned anypony into a sex slave."

Twilight let out a loud screech and again stomped her hooves. She did not give Colgate the satisfaction of another response but knew she was right. She knew that Colgate's statement that she was more evil was correct. Colgate continued to laugh over Twilight's tantrum and exclaimed, "Perhaps tormenting you over your low body count and sexual promiscuity won't be so bad after all, ain't that right little Twily?"

The End

One Last Transformation (Alternate Ending)

One Last Fusion

After a bloody battle that had claimed tens of thousands of lives, all was silent at the black tower. Colgate stood on the edge of her balcony looking over all the corpses with a smile on her face. She knew that while many of her forces fell, she had accomplished what she wanted, she killed the other leaders and their armies. She then looked at the diamond heart she was grasping in her aura and wondered what she should do with it, she wondered if she should lock it up or destroy the last relic of pure good in the world.

Her thoughts would then turn elsewhere, they turned to the one soldier she didn't see get killed, General Dark Night. She took the heart with her and began the search for her general. Given that he had been blasted by energy by Ruby right before she fought her, she went to the area where she battled her.

When she landed, the first thing she saw was Ruby's singed body. She kicked it and laughed, "Enjoying yourself down there?" Her laugh became louder as she continued, "Of course you are, you're good and dead!"

She then turned to the left and saw the one she was looking for, General Dark Night. She leaned down, shook him and asked, "General, are you ok?"

Dark Night opened his eyes and asked, "Ugh, what happened?"

Colgate pulled him up and exclaimed, "General, I'm so glad to see you're ok!"

Dark Night tried getting up on his hooves but fell multiple times before finally being able to stand. He looked around and asked, "I take it we won?"

Colgate replied, "Yes general we won. It came at a great cost but we were able to defeat our enemies." She then showed him the singed body of Ruby and continued, "And I punished the one who injured you severely."

Dark Night nodded but would then see the corpse of his fellow general. He pointed to it and sighed, "It is saddening that we lost Lightning Storm, he was a great general." He then saw Colgate holding something in her aura and continued, "What is that you're holding?"

Colgate held it up high and proudly stated, "It is the final relic of pure good in this world. It was what was keeping Ruby alive and now it is mine!" She then began to laugh and asked, "So what should I do? Should I lock it away or should I destroy it?"

Dark Night replied, "Well there is a third........"

He would be cut off when Colgate continued, "This is my world now and there is no room for anything like this! There is no room for something that is not what I represent. There is only room in this world for things like me, pure evil. Things that bring about terror and misery upon all is the only thing we should have."

Even after Colgate had cast that iron clad loyalty spell on Dark Night and Lightning Storm, her desire to bring about misery and suffering upon the world had bothered them. Whenever Colgate would discuss killing Ruby by removing the diamond heart from her, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen to her if she tried to fuse it into herself. He always thought that maybe it would purge the evil from her. For a very long time he was scared to bring it up but with every other dark Alicorn and changeling dead, he decided that he would have nothing to lose.

"I have a third option, what about fusing it into yourself?" suggested Dark Night.

Colgate's jaw dropped open when she heard this. She flared her horn up in anger and yelled, "What? You want me, the Goddess of Terror, to fuse an object of pure good into myself?" She turned towards Dark Night and screamed, "You're trying to get me to lose my powers, aren't you? You don't want me to rule this world the way I want, don't you?"

Dark Night did not shy back or show any nervousness, he instead came up with an answer that he figured she would like. "Colgate, you have always wanted more and more power. Just think about it, if you had the power of that thing flowing through you, it could make your dark powers even stronger. I am certain you could easily corrupt it to fit your needs and who knows, it could make you infinitely powerful! With that, you could conquer the whole universe!"

This brought a huge smile to Colgate's face. While conquering Eqqus 1 was her initial goal, the very thoughts of going for more seemed irresistible to her. She gave him a smile and replied, "Now that is an excellent plan." She held the relic high and continued, "And I even know the spell to fuse this into me." She then took to the sky and ordered, "You stay here. I have a feeling that this will unleash a lot of energy."

Dark Night did as ordered and Colgate flew to the same hill where she had done so many other things, where she had fused the black gem into herself and created her riders. She began to levitate it towards her chest to where it was right over her heart. She said, "Well here goes nothing."

Colgate began to go over the spell in her head but then realized something. She realized that parts of it would have to be rewritten because the wording of it was specifically for Ruby and nopony else. She groaned in frustration, "Ugh, who knows how long this will take!"

She then began to focus intently on the spell, thinking of what would need to be changed. She did know that anything involving a red heart would have to be changed to something involving the hourglass since that was what her cutie mark was of. She then came up with what she thought would be the right spell,

"With this gem comes love and light
The wielder of it shall possess a lot of might,
Harmony is what the diamond heart shall bring
The magic it possesses will make a great many sing.

The light and the heart of the hourglass shall become one
Against its power the chance of darkness is none,
Victory is guaranteed for the one who possesses the gem of light
Not even the darkest of the dark stands a chance in a fight.

The hourglass of gold must fuse the gem into her chest
After this the chances of defeat will be far less,
Love and light shall spread across the land
From everything from the tallest mountain to the very last grain of sand.

Once the fusion is done, the hourglass of gold and the gem shall become one
With the gem fused her time will never be done.
Yet if the bearer and the gem are ever parted
Immediate death is the thing that shall be started."

There was one thing that she did not like though, the very end. While she wanted all that extra power, she did not want there to be a chance of her dying if it was to be removed. She thought that if she could replace that part with something that didn't involve death, something that would involve the gem being unable to be removed, that it would work a lot better.

After nearly an hour of thinking of what would be great, she said the spell out loud,

"With this gem comes love and light
The wielder of it shall possess a lot of might,
Harmony is what the diamond heart shall bring
The magic it possesses will make a great many sing.

Once the fusion is done, the hourglass of gold and the gem shall become one
With the gem fused her time will never be done.
The diamond and the hourglass shall be one for eternity
With this union the love she spreads will be a certainty."

Colgate thought about it for a minute before finally deciding to try to use that spell. She had a feeling that this would likely cause her a great amount of pain. She did not care though, she wanted an infinite amount of power, she wanted to be able to conquer all of creation so she recited,

"With this gem comes love and light
The wielder of it shall possess a lot of might,
Harmony is what the diamond heart shall bring
The magic it possesses will make a great many sing.

The moment she finished reciting the spell, it began to fuse into her chest. For Colgate, the pain was unbearable and she could feel every ounce of her energy trying to fight the fusion. The pain soon became so bad that she began to shake and her cries of pain could be heard for a great distance. As the fusion continued and the diamond plowed its way into her chest, darkness began to leak from Colgate.

The pain only became worse for her as the black gem she had fused into herself began to crack. The gem was causing her even more pain as it was fracturing. The collar she had fused into herself too began to fracture, causing her even more pain. Soon the diamond would be mostly fused into her and as the fusion completed, the black gem shattered, the collar shattered and a great shockwave of dark energy shot out from Colgate, knocking her unconscious.

When Dark Night saw the shockwave, he flew up to the hill where Colgate was laying. What he saw was not the Colgate that headed up to the hill. The Colgate he saw was one similar to the one he first met, yet now rather than being almost completely dark, her body appeared to have a bit of a white aura to it. He shook Colgate and yelled, "Colgate, it's me Dark Night! Are you ok?"

All he got out of her was a few mumbles so he levitated her up to her sleeping chambers. Despite being a dark Alicorn, it was a challenge for him. Once he got her there, he got her into bed and sat there, hoping that she would eventually come to.

Colgate's Rebirth

Over the next three days, Colgate would have occasional bouts of painful screams which would then be followed by moments of silence from her. The behavior she was exhibiting concerned Dark Night as he could tell that she was experiencing a lot of pain.

Eventually Colgate's screams of pain got worse, they got bad enough to the point that Dark Night had to go out of the room and cover his ears. He was not sure what was going on with her but was hoping that with that loudest screams of pain, that maybe she would come to soon, he was hoping that this was maybe a rebirth for her.

After an hour of her loudest screaming, she went silent. Dark Night headed into her chambers and saw her open her eyes. She reached up, wiped them and saw that Dark Night was standing right over her. "Ugh, what happened?"

He pulled her up, embraced her and exclaimed, "You're alright! I was so worried about you!"

Colgate got out of bed and replied, "Well I feel alright." She then headed into her bathroom and saw herself in the mirror and was in a state of shock. No longer did she see a nearly solid black Alicorn, she saw a blue Alicorn that seemed to have a bit of a white aura to her. She gasped, "What happened?" She then looked at her chest and saw the diamond heart fused into herself. The first emotion she felt was shock but she would then be overcome with joy, "I'm free! I'm finally free of the corruption!"

She exited the bathroom and then a memory came to her, she remembered Dark Night suggesting to her that she fuse Ruby's old relic into herself. She grabbed him in her aura, hugged him and exclaimed, "Thank you Dark Night, thank you! Thank you for everything!" She set him down and began to jump around the room cheering in joy.

When Dark Night saw this, he was elated. What he saw was the Colgate that he thought he would never see again, a Colgate of pure good. That cheering would go quiet very quickly when Colgate headed to her balcony and looked out at the battlefield. When she saw all the corpses that littered the ground she began to cry in agony, "I'm responsible for this? I'm responsible for all this death?"

She then flew down to the battlefield and began looking at all the corpses with a great amount of sadness. Dark Night followed her down into the battlefield and saw that she was headed towards where she had her fight with Ruby. When Colgate arrived, she noticed that Ruby had been burned black and noticed a gaping hole in her chest. Memories began to flood to her about the things that had happened. She leaned down and began to talk to the corpse, "I'm sorry Ruby, I'm sorry for everything."

She then turned to her left and saw Lightning Storm laying there. The very first thing that crossed her mind was using the resurrection spell on him. She grabbed him in her aura and took flight towards the base of the tower. Once she arrived she sat him down and readied herself to cast the spell. She grasped him in her aura and recited,

"The fallen one's time has yet to be,
the fallen one still has many days to run free,
for potential the fallen one has a lot,
without life it would all be for not,
for life shall be renewed,
the fallen one's past decisions need not be reviewed."

Once she finished the spell, a bolt of bluish white energy shot out from her horn and caused him to be encircled in a white orb. The orb then began to lift off the ground and while the orb began to darken, Colgate knew that it was not anything bad, it was simply reflecting the color of Lightning Storm. After ten minutes of floating in the air, the orb popped and he floated to the ground.

The moment he saw Colgate he knew what had happened, he knew that Colgate had used the resurrection spell to bring him back. He rushed to her, embraced her and exclaimed, "Thank you Colgate, thank you! Thank you so much for bringing me back!"

Colgate yawned, "Well general, I value you a lot and I wanted to bring you back."

Dark Night noticed that Colgate was suddenly tired when she wasn't just a moment ago. He asked, "Colgate, why are you suddenly so tired? You seemed just fine a bit ago."

Colgate again let out a huge yawn, "I don't know why but casting that spell took a lot out of me." She looked up towards her balcony and continued, "Well I am going to hit the hay. How about you two take a VIP room because I do need to speak to you about something after I wake."

Her generals nodded and flew up to her balcony with her. When she got to her chambers, her generals headed to a VIP room. Once she was alone, Colgate decided to tap into the eye and see what was going on around the world. The things she saw troubled her greatly. In Saddle Arabia she saw what was once Rarity forcing her subjects to bring her gems and admiring herself in a mirror.

In Neigh Zealand, she saw the corrupted figures that were once ponies slaughtering the few remaining citizens alive. She saw nothing but a few citizens roaming around in both Faustica and Canterlot, she saw a dead and desolate Ponyville, she took a look at where the Crystal Empire once was and only saw a frozen wasteland. She then turned to Maredrid and noticed that while life seemed to be going on normally, their citizens seemed to be a bit paranoid and were questioning the fate of not only Applejack, but Luna as well.

The last place Colgate zeroed in on was her own capitol city of Marentreal. While she had always vowed that her citizens would come first, what she saw proved that during her time of darkness, she had not. She saw that the markets were empty and that ponies were having to go outside of town and eat what equines ate long before the world had become civilized, they were out eating grass.

As Colgate collapsed on her bed, she knew that something had to be done. She knew that this was no way for anypony, regardless of the country they live in, to live. She was trying her hardest to fall asleep, but just couldn't. Everything was keeping her awake it seemed. She just couldn't get to sleep knowing that she was responsible for not just the terrible conditions across the world but the mass graveyard that was outside of her tower.

To be Concluded.

Prelude: A Changing World

Over the past five millennia, despite the world having been at peace, many global leaders had begun to use magic to strengthen their borders. They had done this not out of distrust of one another, but because of distrust towards the one leader that everypony except Supreme Commander Scootaloo of the Crystal Empire had, Supreme Commander Colgate of Coastal Equestria.

While she seemed to be no threat, it still bothered ponies that she had taken two shattered relics home with her after the slaying of the dark goddess Twilight Sparkle. Out of all the leaders though, it was Queen Ruby Heart of Unicornia and Princess Celestia of Equestria that had the most distrust when it came to her. Celestia could feel that Colgate had the desire to retake all of Equestria for herself and Ruby knew that Colgate had grown to hate her over the distrust she now showed.

Over the millennia, as was requested of her, Scootaloo had been sharing secrets with Colgate and as time passed, the more Colgate learned, the more her hatred and bitterness grew. Once she learned that other ponies were using magic to strengthen their borders, Colgate realized that they may use magic to go on the offensive against her and that was the last straw. Colgate knew that something would have to be done about this, she knew that she may have to do the one thing that she vowed she would never do, transform herself into something truly terrible, something that would make what Twilight did look like foal's play.