//------------------------------//
// A New Alliance 
// Story: Terror in Equestria 4:  The Collapse of Evil 
// by StormLuna 
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Monday morning arrived in Ponyville and Colgate was standing out on her balcony before she headed down for breakfast.  She saw an Alicorn flying in from the west.  She got ready to attack first but then she saw it was Luna.  Luna landed on her balcony.

Luna said, "Colgate, we have a serious problem."

Colgate replied, "What is that?"

Luna said, "Twilight is becoming the dark goddess everypony had feared.  She is now going to force ponies all over the world to pay her tribute."  

Colgate shouted, "WHAT THE HAY?"

Luna said, "Yep, she is wanting to force ponies all over the world to pay her tribute.  I stormed out of the meeting before everything was complete but I do know that Lyra is extremely opposed to this."

Colgate replied, "Well perhaps that would work to our advantage.  For right now, I think we need to have a meeting with my officers.  First though, let's have a huge breakfast.  You must be starving."

Luna said, "Thank you Colgate.  I am very hungry.  Flying almost non-stop for a day and a half is very tiring.  I stopped at the coast and ate and slept for a few hours yesterday but then I got going again.  I know that getting this information to you is extremely important."

On the way down to the dining hall, Colgate asked, "How much longer will this meeting last?"

Luna replied, "Well they said that they will be having fun from Sunday through Wednesday.  So I am guessing they would leave on Thursday and get back here on Sunday."

Colgate replied, "Excellent.  That will give me plenty of time to get things in order.  Before we have breakfast, I need to get Applejack and her friends."

Luna asked, "Applejack and her friends?  Aren't they friends with Twilight?"

Colgate replied, "They have seen what she is doing and they think I would make a better leader so they are on my side now."

Pinkie Pie and everypony else were having a get together over at Sugarcube Corner when Colgate and Luna arrived.

"Hi Commander Colgate, Hi Princess Luna," said Pinkie "can I get you something sweet to eat?"

Colgate replied, "Sure, but we didn't come here for a bite to eat.  We need all of you to come up to my tower and have breakfast with Luna and I.  After that, we have an extremely important meeting involving not just the future of Equestria, but the whole planet."

Rainbow Dash said, "Your tower?  That is Twilight's tower."

Colgate glared at her and said, "Very soon that will change.  The winds of change have hit this world.  Come with us, eat breakfast and then Luna will you what she has found out about Twilight."

Applejack said, "Thank y'all kindly for inviting us up for breakfast.  Ah'm glad you want us to be informed on everything."

Colgate replied, "Well unlike Twilight, I think of you four as part of the inner circle of the government.  After all, you were transformed into Alicorns and there are a lot of responsibilities that comes with that, including taking part in meetings regarding government policies and fending off military threats."

They got up to the dining hall where they were met by Colgate's officers.  "Hi everypony," said Lightning Wasp "how is everything going?"

Fluttershy said, "Well I am grateful Colgate is letting us have breakfast with all of you but I'm worried about what the meeting is about."

Colgate replied, "Don't worry Fluttershy.  It is nothing bad and I have seen how you are when your friends are threatened, you take the initiative and show their foes who's boss."

Fluttershy said, "Yeah, I do.  Oh, here comes our breakfast!"

Luna added, "Oh good.  I am so hungry!  I feel like I could eat a full grown dragon!"

Pinkie said, "Wow princess, you must be really hungry!"

Luna replied, "I am, except for a few hours rest, I have been flying non-stop since Saturday evening."

Applejack asked, "Wow princess, what caused y'all to do that?"

Luna replied, "We will discuss that later, not during our meal."

After breakfast Colgate, her officers, Luna and Applejack and her friends headed to the throne room for the meeting.

Colgate started, "Alright everypony.  This is extremely important.  Luna arrived early this morning and gave me some information that has caused me to realize that the rumors that Twilight will one day become the 'dark goddess' she calls herself are starting to come to pass.  Luna, the floor is all yours."

Luna started, "As you all know there was a meeting held in Faustica on Saturday afternoon and evening before they started the fun part of the trip on Sunday.  At first it was just touching base with how things are going in the provinces and everything seems to be going better, especially in Neigh Zealand.  Well, Twilight was strutting around like a prize rooster taking all the credit for things improving, this is where things began to go south."

Rainbow Dash said, "Well I figured Twilight would start acting like this sooner or later."

Luna continued, "Well, she had the audacity to say that the ponies around the world should start paying her tribute for having the privilege of living on HER PLANET."

"Her planet?" shouted Fluttershy "I never imagined she would do this, but I guess the predictions are coming true."

Luna continued, "Twilight along with all the other stewards had the audacity to belittle Lyra for opposing this.  They seem to think that Twilight is the best thing in the world and my mom and dad are scared of her so even though they opposed it, they told her anything she wanted, they would do."

Black Mist asked, "Luna, I don't want you to get mad, but do you think if you unbanished Celestia, she would help us in our cause?"

Luna replied, "Are you kidding?  She thinks Twilight is the best thing ever.  She would go into her 'my Twily, oh i love you Twily, anything for you Twily' mode.  She would be a major enemy and besides, I get too much satisfaction with seeing her silhouette in the sun twice a day.  She deserved what she got.  Maybe I should send Twily there and then it can be mama Celestia and baby Twily together for a thousand years."

Rainbow Dash asked, "Wow, Celestia thinks that highly of Twilight?"

Luna said, "Yes, she does.  Celestia is in the sun now so she is irrelevant.  We need to focus on the current problem.  The thing we need to do is get Lyra to become more powerful in magic.

Colgate said, "I have a plan for that.  I'm not sure if all of you know this or not, but besides being a dentist I am a Time Lady."

Pinkie asked, "What is a Time Lady?"

Colgate replied, "A Time Lady is a mare who has the ability to manipulate time using her magic."

Applejack asked, "Ah notice Dr. Whooves has the same cutie mark as you.  Is he a Time Lord?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, he is.  I have thought about it but I am not sure if having two ponies who know how to manipulate time would be that good for our cause."

Luna asked, "So what is this plan of yours involving getting Lyra to become more advanced in magic.?"

Colgate replied, "Well, what I can do is create a time bubble first for myself and a few soldiers.  Then I would freeze time.  We would then use our wing power to get that time bubble cruising many times faster than the sound barrier.  We would head to Prancington.  We would then unfreeze time and then undo the time bubble.  We would get Lyra, create another time bubble, with her in it with us, freeze time, travel back here, educate her and then do the same thing when we take her back.  This could all be done while Twilight and her goons are out in the Alicorn Ocean."

Lightning Wasp asked, "How long would this take?"

Colgate replied, "Well as far as going there, getting her and bringing her back, that would take approximately 5 minutes.  It would be the educating her that would use the most running time, probably a couple of days if it is high intensity education, then it would take 5 minutes to take her back."

Applejack asked, "What about that meeting in Maredrid?  Will she be attending it?"

Colgate replied, "Crap, yes she will be.  I have an idea, we could set out right at the time her ship leaves.  With time frozen we will get there, land on her ship, unfreeze time, undo the time bubble and educate her on the ship.  It is a five day journey from Prancington to Maredrid.  With my plan, we will easily be able to get her re-educated and then refreeze time, get home and then unfreeze it again with more than enough time to spare."

Ice Storm asked, "What about her soldiers, they are loyal to Twilight and they see us coming, what if they try to attack us?"

Colgate replied, "I will cast an armor spell on us so if they do attack us, we will escape unscathed."

Rainbow Dash said, "Wow Colgate, you are dead set on making sure what Twilight wants won't come to pass, aren't you?"

Colgate replied, "Yep, I will make sure that Twilight does not get that tribute pay and if I have things my way, she will have no power whatsoever.  The stewards, especially Lyra, have made things better in their provinces.  The only part of 'Twily World' that has not improved is Equestria, and I plan on changing that."

Luna asked, "Colgate, how much magic have you learned since she has been gone on this trip?"

Colgate replied, "A lot.  Twilight foolishly left a book that had her spells for the lock on the door to the archives on her nightstand.  She is letting me sleep in her comfy bed while she is gone.  I saw that book, memorized the spells, got into the archives, found all of her other spells written on paper in an open box, I learned them, then I read works of Starswirl's even more advanced than Twilight has and wrote some of my own magic.  So I know more magic than Twilight does, well more magic when it comes to battle.  She knows armor spells but she does not know spells to shatter armor, whereas I do.  Of course I have my time spells from since I was a filly.  With that being the case, we have the ultimate ally, TIME!"

Applejack asked, "Regarding the magic, is there anyway you could teach us any of it so we can use it against her?"

Colgate replied, "Of course.  If we are to defeat her, we all need to know as much magic as possible.  She will be returning next Sunday.  So we have plenty of time to learn as much as possible.  I want all four of you to learn as much as you can and the same goes with you Luna."

Rainbow Dash asked, "Now will we only be able to learn all of Twilight's spells and your non-time spells or will we be able to learn the time spells as well."

Colgate replied, "I'm sorry Rainbow, but only a Time Lady or a Time Lord can use those kind of spells.  It is kind of something you are born with but you could help us move the time bubble much faster when we go out to educate Lyra."

Rainbow Dash said, "I'm up for that!  That sounds exciting."

Fluttershy asked, "Colgate, when do you want to start teaching us all this magic?"

Colgate replied, "This afternoon, after lunch.  I want to get this done as soon as possible.  Once Twilight returns, DO NOT use any of the advanced magic I will be teaching you.  I CAN NOT have her finding out that I am educating any of you.  Let's head to lunch and then I will take you all down to the archives so we can get started."

Fluttershy asked, "So Luna, where will you be living now?"

Luna replied, "I will be living in the Everfree Forest.  Colgate, I will come here when my sixth sense tells me to come."

Colgate said, "Good.  Just try to lay low until that point.  For now though, let's eat and then head down to the archives.  I know there is plenty you have yet to learn as well Luna."