Terror in Equestria 11: Death and Destruction

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.

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."

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.