Terror in Equestria 11: Death and Destruction

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."