Terror in Equestria 11: Death and Destruction

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.