Visit to a Different Ponyville

by StormLuna

Making Up Her Mind

It was late in the afternoon as Colgate and Rainbow headed back to the castle. While she did not notice at first, Rainbow eventually noticed the mess that Colgate's mane and tail had become, "Colgate darling, your mane and tail are a mess. We've got to get you looking presentable!"

Colgate took a look at her tail and brushed it off, "Eh, I'm fine. You should see how it would get after the battles I was in back home. Looking like this back home is honorable."

Rainbow gave her an odd look and replied, "Colgate darling, you're not in that world right now and I certainly hope you don't engage in anymore battles." Her look changed to a smile as she continued, "Whether you like it or not darling, when we get to the castle, you are brushing your mane and tail."

Colgate sighed, "Oh alright, only for you Dash."

There was something about how she referred to her as odd, Dash. Nopony had ever referred to her merely as Dash. Rainbow yes but Dash, no. This did concern her at first but then she figured that is just how ponies speak in her world. Once they arrived at the castle Rainbow brought her a brush and ordered, "Now make yourself presentable before my friends see you in this horrid state."

Colgate levitated the brush to herself and began to take care of her mane and tail as Rainbow's other friends showed up. They could tell that Colgate had been covered in sweat. Cheerilee asked, "Rainbow, what's wrong with her, she looks like she has been sweating a lot."

Rainbow replied, "Well she was having a horrible nightmare and I heard her yell 'QUEEN LUNA.' I'm hoping we can find out what all that is about and then she told me she has made a decision."

Once Colgate got herself looking presentable, well in Rainbow's eyes, Rainbow asked, "Colgate, you said you have made a decision. Does it involve what you are going to do when you get home?"

Colgate replied, "Yes but let me tell you about what brought me to the decision I am making." She took a breath and continued, "Well it wasn't too long after I fell asleep that I found myself back in Ponyville, in my world. All around me a battle was taking place, one that resembled the ones that used to take place in my world. Suddenly I find one of the other leaders in my world laughing at me, telling me that since I wanted an enemy that I got one."

Scootaloo asked, "Who was the leader who attacked you?"

Colgate continued, "Her name is LaurFa. She is the queen of the Crystal Empire and is one of the two goddess sisters that created my world many, many eons ago. My citizens were being slaughtered by her army when she transformed into one that I killed a little over a year ago."

Pinkie asked, "Do yo mean that Twilight Sparkle pony you keep talking about?"

Colgate continued, "Yes, I mean her. To make matters worse once we began to fight, I couldn't inflict any damage upon her. I even broke her horn off and began to plunge it into her abdomen. In my nightmare since she had came back from being killed, she was invincible. Nothing at all could kill her."

Scootaloo asked, "Did she try to kill you?"

Colgate continued, "Yes, she did. For quite a while I thought she was going to be successful. This especially worried me because there is an old legend in Equestria that if you die in your dream, you do indeed die. Luckily Queen Luna was able to rescue me from the nightmare."

They all had confused looks on their faces. Rainbow asked, "Colgate darling, I thought she was a queen in your world. How would she be able to save you in a nightmare?"

Colgate continued, "Well besides being Queen of the Equine Empire, she is also the queen of the night. She is a dream walker. It is part of her royal duties to go into ponies' nightmares and save them from whatever is after them. How she was able to find my nightmare on this side of the portal is beyond me but I'm glad she did. Had she not and the old legends are true, I would not be alive to tell you this."

Rainbow asked, "Ok, now that we know about your nightmare, what about this decision you are going to make? Does it regard your staying in power or stepping down in your world?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, it does. I have decided that it would not only be in my best interests, but the best interests of my world if I step down and hand control of Equestria over to Commander Scootaloo. She has been my second in command for many millennia and she is extremely intelligent."

Rainbow asked, "Darling, what about her mentality? Has she moved on to a post-war world or is she still hoping for the old days to return?"

Colgate replied, "Well she helps her adoptive family harvest apples when she isn't over making sure everything is going as it should with the soldiers. So I would say she would be perfect for the job."

In unison they sighed in relief, "Good." Rainbow continued, "So when are you going to do this?"

Colgate replied, "Regarding that. I was going to see if you would want to come through the portal with me to my world and be present when I announce my resignation."

The four stood there stunned. While they were glad that Colgate had made the decision that she did, they never once imagined that she would invite them to her world. The first one to say anything was Scootaloo, "Yeah, I'll come. Besides, I want to meet the Scootaloo of your world."

Rainbow added, "Of course I will darling! I want to make sure that you do indeed step down."

Pinkie added, "Of course! I'm curious about your world."

Cheerilee finished, "Yeah I'll come. While your world sounds scary, it sounds fascinating as well."

Colgate headed towards the exit and replied, "I was hoping you would. Now let's get going. I don't know what time it is back in my world but I certainly don't want us walking through the Everfree at night."

Rainbow asked, "What's the Everfree?"

Colgate replied, "A deep, dark forest filled with predators that wouldn't have any problems turning us into their next meal."

Rainbow sighed, "On second thought...."

Colgate interrupted, "Don't worry. I can fire energy from my horn that will blow them to pieces."

That did reassure the four that their journey to Colgate's world would be safe. While they all were looking forward to this trip, given the warlike nature of Colgate's world, they couldn't help but worry that they may have to not only run from a war, but have it follow them through the portal.