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// The Maredrid Meeting 
// Story: Terror in Equestria 4:  The Collapse of Evil 
// by StormLuna 
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While Colgate was crisscrossing the Pegasus Ocean getting ready to bring Twilight down, Twilight and her envoy were sailing across the Alicorn Ocean towards Maredrid.  Despite strong headwinds, Twilight wasn't worried about anything.

"Twilight," asked Dark Night "how much do you think this wind will slow us down?"

Twilight replied, "Oh, I'm not overly worried about it.  This Ocean isn't as big as the Pegasus Ocean so the worst it might be is four and a half days to reach Maredrid, unless we run into some really nasty weather."

Shining Armor said, "I don't think we have to worry about that.  Yeah the seas are choppy but the skies are generally clear and I have a sense of when things like that are going to happen."

Thunder Rage asked, "Twilight, you don't think Colgate will cast a hurricane spell like you did, do you?"

Twilight laughed, "No, she doesn't have that kind of power!  First Spike and now you?  Why are you so suspicious of Colgate?"

Thunder Rage replied, "I don't know.  I guess it is just the way she was when she was doing the exercises with your friends, especially the way she was with Rarity.  Always yelling and screaming at her when she wouldn't do what she was supposed to, always getting on Rarity's case when she would just play with her mane and demanding so much.  She reminded me of Chrysalis, rewarding a good performance but yell at those who did poorly."

Twilight said, "Well then that means she was doing her job as commander.  That is nothing to worry about."

The winds abruptly shifted directions and started blowing from the west, pushing her ship along at a great rate of speed.

Twilight said, "Wow big brother, that wind shift was abrupt, but it is nice to have the wind pushing us along!"

Shining Armor replied, "Yeah it is but sometimes sudden wind shifts can mean that a storm is coming our way.  The skies have become very cloudy in the past hour."

Dark Night said, "Twilight, are those clouds blue?"

Twilight replied, "No, they are gray, it is just an optical illusion that is making them blue."

They very quickly ran into a nasty downpour.  Twilight shouted, "Everypony under deck.  This is a nasty storm!"

Lightning began to flash all around them and the rain continued to fall heavier and heavier as the wind picked up in intensity.  The part of the ocean where they were was a bit shallow so Twilight ordered Shining Armor to drop the anchor.  The ship began to rock back and forth violently the winds were so strong.

Starswirl asked, "Twilight, you don't think this storm will tear the ship apart do you?"

Twilight replied, "No but I do know that we're not going to be able to go anywhere until this wind calms down and the rain lets up a bit.

Shining Armor said, "I think I'm getting sea sick.  I feel like I'm going to throw up."

Twilight replied, "Well just don't puke on me.  There is a bucket over there in the corner.  Puke in it if you have to throw up.

The storm raged all night, rocking the ship back and forth not allowing anypony to get sleep.  All they were able to do was lay on the floor trying to avoid throwing up.  

Finally morning arrived, while it was still cloudy and there was a drizzle falling, the winds had calmed down enough to where they could continue sailing.  Twilight ordered Shining Armor to raise the anchor so they could be on their way.

Dark Night asked, "What kind of storm was that?  Whatever it was, it was very violent."

Twilight replied, "It was the remnants of a post-tropical storm.  Those storms create very heavy rains, still have strong winds, produce plenty of lightning but also move very fast.  Had it still been a tropical storm or a hurricane, we would still be getting hammered."

Thunder Rage said, "Wow, I have never seen any kind of storm like it.  I can just imagine how bad it must be for somepony to have to sail through a hurricane.  Has anypony ever sailed through one of those?"

Twilight said, "Yeah, some have.  From what I understand their ship was destroyed and some of the crew wound up getting thrown overboard and were eaten by sharks."

Spike said, "Wow, there are storms that bad.  I feel bad for those who were eaten by sharks though."

Starswirl asked, "How do you know that some of the crew were eaten by sharks?  Did you find it in a history book?"

Twilight replied, "Yeah, I did.  It was written by the survivors of the voyage.  From what I understand it was the wealthiest members of the crew that fell victim to the sharks."

Spike said, "It kind of makes you scared to go sailing in areas where those types of storms happen."

Twilight's stomach started to rumble.  She said, "Let's eat something.  I'm getting hungry and then I just want to rest some.  I didn't get much rest last night."

Twilight and her crew rested for a majority of the trip until the afternoon of the fourth day of their voyage when they finally saw something on the horizon.

Twilight said, "I hope that is what I think it is, please be Maredrid.  I just want to get on dry ground again."

Shining Armor took a closer look and sure enough, it was Maredrid.

Dark Night said, "Finally, I thought this voyage was going to take forever!"

Twilight said, "Well this voyage will be short compared to the trip from Maredrid to Faustica.  That one could take us anywhere from 10-14 days."

Starswirl said, "It is too bad we don't have a Time Lord or a Time Lady in our service.  That would have made the trip extremely quick."

Twilight said, "I know but we don't, so we just have to do the best we can."

They finally reached the dock and stepped onto dry ground.  They were all very happy and decided to fly up to the palace that LaurFa lived in.

Lemon Hearts was already there with LaurFa when they flew up to the balcony.  When they got there LaurFa asked them why they took so long.

Twilight said, "Well we got caught up in a horrible storm.  It was so bad that we had to lower the anchor and just stay in place for over twelve hours.

Lemon Hearts stated, "I had heard there was some nasty weather out that way and I was worried that you would run into it.  I knew that with you there though, you could easily fix the ship if there was any damage or just dissipate the storm."

Twilight looked shocked and said, "I didn't even think of dissipating the storm.  I was so scared that night that I just went into survival mode, not to mention I was really sea sick.  I just laid on the floor trying to not throw up.

LaurFa asked, "So when should we have the business part of this meeting before we move on to the rest and relaxation part of the meeting."

Twilight replied, "Well given that there is not a ton of business to discuss, let's just do it now and get it out of the way.  It might take an hour at the most."

LaurFa, Twilight and Lemon Hearts headed to the throne room while everypony else walked around Maredrid relaxing and getting a better look at the city.

LaurFa said, "Ok, I know that Lyra isn't here but Twilight does have something important that she wants to discuss with us.  Twilight, the floor is yours."

Twilight said, "Thanks LaurFa.  Ok, shortly after I returned from the meeting in Faustica I headed to Canterlot to collect the tribute they owed me.  I let them know how much they would owe.  Most of them paid their tribute except for three.  One was a crystal pony who had no money that was basically a refugee, another was an earth pony who spent a lot of his money on a party and another was an earth pony who flat out refused to pay tribute because she was an elite pony and she claimed that she should not have to pay."

Lemon Hearts said, "Well it is good that you got so much tribute money.  Why is it that you seem upset?"

Twilight replied, "While we did get a huge amount of money, it is handling those who you are taking to the labor camp that is a royal pain in the flank.  Besides being a royal pain, it caused my military a lot of grief to have to watch over them and providing the extra food isn't cheap either."

LaurFa asked, "Who exactly were those ponies you took to Ponyville?"

Twilight replied, "Well the one that flat out refused to pay was Photo Finish, a high profile photographer in Equestria, another was Hoity Toity, who blew a majority of his money hosting a party and only had 50 bits left to pay me and the third, the one who had no money to pay me, was Accurate Aim, a crystal pony who fled the Crystal Empire when Sombra and Chrysalis took it over.  He was basically a refugee."

LaurFa asked, "Why would you demand money out of a refugee?  If a pony has no money to pay you, then they shouldn't be punished, especially if they are a refugee."

Twilight shouted, "Oh I see, you are a softy just like Lyra.  Why more ponies can't be like me is beyond me."

Lemon Hearts asked, "What happened with them that caused you to decide to change the type of punishment for those who won't or can't pay?"

Twilight replied, "Well not only did they cause my military grief but they also are not very good workers.  I learned very quickly that forced laborers aren't the best workers."

LaurFa asked, "What about those you took from Fillydelphia to gather the materials for your tower?"

Twilight replied, "Well ok, MOST forced laborers aren't the best workers.  Only Accurate Aim did a good job.  Photo Finish and Hoity Toity are your typical elites, afraid to chip a hoof."

Lemon Hearts asked, "What about Accurate Aim?"

Twilight replied, "Well he dug like crazy and found a lot of gems.  I saw how good his work ethic was and decided to give him a good paying, at will job."

This shocked both LaurFa and Lemon Hearts that Twilight would give a pony she took in like that a job.

LaurFa asked, "What kind of job did you give him?"

Twilight replied, "Well he is now a highly paid chef.  Since he works for me he is immune from the tribute law I put in place and I tell you, he is the best chef I have ever seen.  I am working on getting him his own sleeping quarters in the tower so he doesn't have to share a room with the other chef."

Lemon Hearts said, "Wow, he's that good!  Mentioning the tribute, I thought you wanted to change that."

Twilight answered, "I do.  It was the experience with the elite snobs that made me decide that.  Right now I have Hoity Toity and Photo Finish in the dungeon with Rarity and my parents."

LaurFa asked, "You have your parents in the dungeon?  Why?"

Twilight replied, "Because they sold my brother and I to the monarchy for financial gain when we were young."

Lemon Hearts asked, "Why does the sun have a silhouette in it every morning and every evening?"

Twilight replied, "Well it was Princess Celestia that paid my family very well in exchange for my brother and myself.  I found that as the worst crime possible so I had Princess Luna banish her to the sun for a thousand years."

LaurFa asked, "Was this sort of like a revenge punishment having Luna do that because of what Celestia did?"

Twilight replied, "Well I was going to banish her somewhere regardless.  Luna and I have grown very close here lately so I let her be the one to administer the punishment.  I felt she needed vindication."

LaurFa said, "That is good but when are you going to tell us about your new plan for non-payers?"

Twilight said, "Now.  I think that seizing non-payers' assets would be a much better option.  That way things such as bank accounts can just be drained empty, their houses become mine and I can charge rent for ponies to live in them, which will provide plenty of revenue."

Lemon Hearts asked, "What about the ponies' that live in those houses?"

Twilight replied, "Well they can either pay me rent to live in it or relocate elsewhere."

LaurFa asked, "What if they can't afford to move elsewhere and what if they can't afford to rent the house that you take over?"

Twilight replied, "That isn't my problem.  If I seize assets and they can't afford to pay rent or they can't afford to move elsewhere, they can go live out in the middle of nowhere and live off the land."

Lemon Hearts asked, "Will there be a certain amount of their assets you will seize or will you take everything they have and leave them with absolutely nothing?"

Twilight snapped, "Well what do you think I would do?  Anypony who knows me knows I would take everything."

LaurFa asked, "Would you ever consider selling the houses you seize to other ponies to make money?"

Twilight replied, "It would depend on how much they offered.  They would have to offer me twice the market value before I would consider selling to them."

Lemon Hearts said, "Well, I know you won't like what I am going to say but you will have a lot of empty houses if you do that."

Twilight growled, "I am irritated yet at the same time I know you are right.  That is probably why I will consider turning them into rentals instead.  I want to know something, are you two willing to enforce this or will I have to have extra officers in your provinces to enforce this?"

Lemon Hearts said, "What ever it is that you desire, is what I shall enforce.  You are the leader of the world and if the ponies don't like it, I will warn them to do what they are told or that they will have to deal with you directly.  That should scare them into obedience."

Twilight smiled and said, "I am so happy to hear that.  I know I can trust you.  What about you LaurFa?"

LaurFa replied, "I will do the same.  We can't have the ponies showing blatant disrespect towards you.  Also, what are we going to do about the ponies we already have in labor camps?"

Twilight said, "Just release them or throw them in the dungeon, whichever you think would be better.  I threw the two Canterlot snobs in the dungeon and like I said, I made Accurate Aim a chef.  If any of them have a good work ethic and a can do attitude, give them a paying job in your palace."

LaurFa replied, "I will do that."

Lemon Hearts said, "Same here."

Twilight said, "Alright, it seems as though the business part of this trip is finished.  Let's get our officers together, the rest of my envoy together and have some supper, I'm starving."