//------------------------------//
// The Trip Home 
// Story: Terror in Equestria 4:  The Collapse of Evil 
// by StormLuna 
//------------------------------//

Five days had passed and Twilight and her envoy were ready to head back to Equestria.  Galaxia and Cosmos put a couple of their generals in charge and got on board.  Twilight ordered Shining Armor to raise the anchor so they could get headed back home.

"Wait!" said Shining Armor "Remember, you were going to cast a duplication spell on their military so we could take some with us."

Twilight growled, "Oh, and where are we going to put all of them?  I will need at least another ship."

Cosmos said, "We have an additional ship that we can take.  You can use the largest ship in our fleet, our carrier should be able to hold all of them."

Twilight replied, "Thanks Cosmos.  Alright.  You know Spike, I'm only doing this so you and Shining Armor will feel better."

Spike said, "Yeah Twilight, I know.  But you know how Shining Armor and I worry."

Twilight ordered the Faustica forces to gather together.  She pointed her horn at them.  She began to glow, her eyes began to shine green and her horn began to glow as she recited, "From one to two, two to four and so much more, when one is simple mere, more and more shall appear."

Galaxia said to the duplicate forces, "Come on guys, get on board.  It is a four day trip and we don't need to wait any longer."

General Dark Moon, the changeling general, said, "Alright guys, you heard our queen, get on board."

Galaxia and Cosmos's duplicate forces got on board and began their journey east towards Equestria.

In Ponyville Colgate was watching this and flew down to the base.  She said, "Alright everypony, they have set sail and are returning.  For the next two days, we need to have high intensity exercises and after that we will relax and prepare mentally for this.  The fate of the entire planet rests on what happens once Twilight returns here."

Fluttershy asked, "What happens if we don't defeat Twilight?"

Colgate replied, "You don't want to know Fluttershy.  All of Ponyville would be covered in our blood, but since we all know more magic than her now and have more powerful energy, we don't have to worry about that happening."

Scootaloo shouted, "That's right!  Twilight's going down!"

Colgate yelled, "That's the spirit Scootaloo!  Never say die!  Also, there is something very important I need to do regarding you officers."

"What is that?" asked Lightning Wasp

Colgate asked, "Remember how I said I was going to give you all promotions while Twilight was gone on her second trip?"

Ice Storm replied, "Yes, I remember that."

Colgate said "Well today is the day.  All of you are now one rank higher than you were.  However, now we need a lieutenant for each branch of my forces.  General Lightning Wasp, General Ice Storm, you know your forces the best.  Find the most self-aware of your kind and bring them to me.  I need to transform them into officers."

Lightning Wasp and Ice Storm headed out and got the best officer material out of their soldiers.  Lightning Wasp and Ice Storm brought back who they thought would be the best officer material.  Lightning Wasp brought Harsh Wind and Ice Storm brought Cold Wind.  They both lined up in front of Colgate for their transformation.

Colgate began to glow blue, her eyes were shining blue and her horn began to glow as she recited, "those without a mind are in a bind, no longer shall they just be, but they will still be loyal to me, for officers they are now but they don't ask how."

Colgate asked, "Who are you two?"

Both of them immediately knew their new roles.  Cold Wind replied, "I am Lieutenant Cold Wind."

Harsh Wind replied, "I am Lieutenant Harsh Wind."

Colgate was thrilled with this and said, "Good, I'm glad to know that you two know your roles.  What are we preparing for you two?"

In unison they both replied, "The return of Twilight, our mission is to destroy her."

Colgate shouted, "Hay yeah!  Let's break for lunch, I'm getting hungry."

Two days had passed and out at sea Twilight, her envoy and soldiers were half way back to Equestria when a shift in the wind took place.  Instead of a good tail wind they encountered a nasty head wind that caused them to slow down considerably.

Twilight asked, "Shining Armor, do you think there is a storm coming?"

Shining Armor replied, "No, the winds shift like this sometimes.  You see those dark clouds off to the south?"

Twilight replied, "Yeah, I see them."

Shining Armor said, "Well this wind is blowing in a counter clockwise motion around them, causing these easterly winds down here.  The winds should calm down before too long."

Starswirl said, "I certainly hope so.  I know how much Twilight is looking forward to being able to sleep in her own bed again."

Twilight replied, "You bet I am.  Colgate better enjoy it while she can, because after this I have no plans on traveling for quite a while."

LaurFa asked, "Twilight, how are the rest of us going to get home after this meeting?"

This question irritated Twilight a lot.  She snapped, "That has to be the dumbest question I have ever heard.  You will fly to the coast and there will be a ship that you can sail home in.  Good grief, how do you think you would get home, teleport?  Nopony, not even me, can teleport that far."

LaurFa said, "I'm sorry Twilight, I was just wondering."

Very soon the wind was starting to make Twilight nervous as she began to bite on her hooves and her mane was starting to get messy.

"Twilight," asked Shining Armor "What has you so worried?  Is it the wind?"

Twilight replied, "No big brother, it isn't the wind.  I don't know why, but I'm just getting nervous."

Spike asked, "Twilight, do you think it has something to do with Colgate?"

Twilight snapped, "No.  For the last time Spike, Colgate is as loyal as they come and wouldn't betray me.  So would you just drop it?"

Clouds began to develop and it began to rain.  Twilight ordered everypony to get under deck as the winds began to pick up.

Twilight said, "Shining Armor, I thought you said there wouldn't be any storms coming our way."

Shining Armor replied, "Well ok, I'm sorry.  There just aren't any hurricanes coming our way."

Lemon Hearts asked, "You don't think this could transform into a nasty storm do you?"

Twilight was no frantically pacing back and forth in the cabin and said, "You know Lemon Hearts, I don't know.  The waters out in this area are very warm which is conducive for the development of strong storms."

Shining Armor said, "Twilight, with the way this wind is getting, I think we better drop our anchor and wait it out until the winds calm down."

Twilight said, "Ok, tell the soldiers on the carrier to do the same.  I don't want us to be separated."

In Ponyville Colgate saw all of this and realized that this would delay Twilight's arrival but decided to keep her forces' schedule as it was planned.  Lightning Wasp came up to her bedroom and said, "Colgate, you have been watching that a lot.  What is happening?"

Colgate replied, "Well General, they are caught in a rather nasty storm right now and dropped their anchors.  Because they have 5,000 soldiers with them, they had to bring Faustica's carrier with them."

Lightning Wasp asked, "Did you send a storm their way?"

Colgate replied, "No, I didn't.  Like I said before, I want to bring Twilight down here.  I want her to beg me to go easy on her."

Lightning Wasp said, "Knowing Twilight, she won't beg for anything.  She will probably go down screaming and yelling, whether you banish her to the void, have Luna send her to the sun or whether you just decide to kill her."

Colgate replied, "Well I have already promised Luna that she can banish her to the sun.  Besides, I think it would be fitting for mama Celestia and daughter Twily to be together for a thousand years."

"Wow," said LIghtning Wasp "it seems as though you really want to punish her."

Colgate replied, "I do.  She complained so much about Celestia sitting there looking pretty more than she did rule and once she took the whole world, she became just like her.  Both her and Shining Armor started becoming globe trotters leaving me here to take care of everything.  Since I already run the show, I may as well cement myself as Supreme Commander and get her out of the picture."

Lightning Wasp asked, "Colgate, what are you going to do with Shining Armor?"

Colgate replied, "Oh crap, I totally forgot about what to do with him.  Maybe I'll just cast him into the void."

Lightning Wasp asked, "What about the other stewards?  What are your plans for them?"

Colgate replied, "Once Twilight is banished to the sun, the loyalty spells on them will be gone and they will have minds of their own.  They will be like Lyra, have plans of their own, which will most likely be go and rule the provinces they currently do, except that they will be sovereign nations and they will be queen, princess, supreme commander or whatever title they choose."

Lightning Wasp asked, "What title will you choose, will you become Queen Colgate?"

Colgate replied, "No.  I will take the official title of Supreme Commander Colgate.  I will still be part of the military and Equestria will become the first nation in the history of the world to be ruled by it's military."

Lightning Wasp asked, "Don't you think you need some body armor for the upcoming battle?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, I do.  I am going to head down to the local blacksmith and have him make me some."

Colgate flew down to the local blacksmith and told him that she needed body armor.  She also told him that she needed a good commander's helmet with a hole for her horn to fit through.

The local blacksmith, Steel Mane, replied, "Alright Commander, I will have to measure you.  This won't be easy as I have never made body armor before."

Colgate replied, "Well as long as it fits, provides adequate armor and my helmet gives me protection and a hole for my horn, everything will be fine."

Steel Mane measured her and said, "Alright Commander, I will work on this tonight and everything should be ready tomorrow morning for you.  I think you will look like the toughest pony on the face of the planet."

Colgate replied, "Thanks Steel Mane.  You have no clue how much I appreciate this.  Oh, and you don't have to address me as Commander, just call me Colgate."

"Alright Colgate, you have a good night." replied Steel Mane

Colgate flew back up to her tower and decided the time to get some rest had arrived.  She looked into the eye one more time and noticed that Twilight's ships were still anchored down enduring the storm.  She thought to herself, "Well this will give us a bit more time to prepare."

Morning arrived out at sea and the storm had finally let up.  Twilight was the first to wake up and saw the sun was shining and the wind had calmed down.  She yelled at everypony in the cabin, "WAKE UP!  WE NEED TO GET THE ANCHOR UP AND GET GOING!"

This scared everypony and Shining Armor said, "Twilight, why do you have to yell like that?"

Twilight screamed, "Because we need to get going.  I am in no mood to be away from my bed any longer than I have to be!"

Everypony realized that it was going to be a very rough day.  They knew that Twilight was not going to be very pleasant to be around but knew better than to say anything.

Twilight said, "Starswirl, would you fly over to the carrier and check on our soldiers.  With the mood I'm in today, I would suggest you simply ride with them for the day."

Starswirl replied, "Alright Twilight, will do!"

Starswirl felt a sense of ease as he flew over to the carrier.  He was greeted by Dark Night.  "Hi Starswirl, how is everything going?"

Starswirl replied, "It is going alright.  Twilight is in a very bad mood today and she suggested I ride with you guys today.  You guys are a lot nicer than she is and I'm getting to the point of where I am scared of her sometimes."

Dark Night said, "You too?  I have been a bit scared of her for a while, but I try not to let it show.  I have a feeling that eventually she will be so mean that we will all wish we had Sombra as our leader."

Thunder Rage asked, "Starswirl, I'm not sure if you will know this, but how much longer do you think we have before we hit the coast?"

Starswirl replied, "Probably this time tomorrow or earlier.  We have a decent tailwind and it is pushing us along nicely."

It was midday in Ponyville when Colgate flew down to the blacksmith's shop and got her armor.  When Steel Mane showed it to her, she liked what she saw.

Steel Mane said, "Well try it on Colgate.  I want to see how it looks on you."

Colgate tried it on and it fit her perfectly, the holes for her wings were perfect and the helmet fit perfectly as well.  The hole in the helmet was exactly perfect for her horn to fit through.  She said, "Thanks Steel Mane, I greatly appreciate it.  I better go up to my tower and check on things.  You have a good day."

Steel Mane replied, "You too."

Colgate headed back up to her balcony and went into her bedroom and tapped into the eye.  She saw that Twilight's ships were within a day of reaching the coast.  She immediately went down to the base where all of her forces were engaging in military exercises.  She shouted, "AT EASE SOLDIERS!"

Sweetie Belle asked, "Colgate, are they getting close?  Is that why you want us to be at ease?"

Colgate replied, "Yep, they are Sweetie Belle.  They will probably be hitting the coast around 9 in the morning and be arriving around 3 in the afternoon tomorrow.  We need to be well rested, have a full belly, be alert and relaxed.  I have tapped into the eye and also I want you all to know that Twilight is being a total jerk to her envoy and is biting her hooves a lot."

Applejack asked, "What does that mean?"

Colgate replied, "That means that she is very nervous.  She gets nervous like this but I know that she isn't sure why she is nervous.  You know what they say about soldiers who go into battle nervous?"

Fluttershy said, "Don't soldiers and commanders who head into battle nervous usually lose all control of their forces and lose?"

Colgate replied, "Yep, they do!"

Scootaloo said, "Wow Colgate, that is awesome body armor you have, and that helmet makes you look fearless."

Rainbow Dash added, "Yeah Colgate, your body armor looks a lot better than Twilight's and a soldier helmet makes you look like a legitimate warrior, unlike Twilight's bulky crown."

Colgate replied, "You bet!  Why the hay she would go into battle wearing a crown is beyond me, but she sure didn't look like a warrior of any sort.  Alright troops, let's get some food in our guts and then get some rest."

Out at sea Twilight had gotten into a less rotten mood but she was still biting her hooves.

Shining Armor said, "Twilight, you are going to bite your hooves down to the quick.  That is going to hurt really bad if you do."

Twilight said, "I can't help it big brother, I just know something is going on but I can't put my hoof on it."

Shining Armor was going to say something about Colgate but figured he better not because he did not feel like getting screamed and yelled at.

As day was transitioning into night Twilight asked, "Shining Armor, where is Starswirl?"

Shining Armor replied, "He is still over on the other ship.  Maybe he figured he would keep them company or keep an eye on them for you.  You know little sis, this isn't like you.  Usually you are so composed.  Not only are you biting your hooves all the time now but your mane and tail is a complete mess."

Twilight shouted, "DOES IT MATTER WHAT MY MANE AND TAIL LOOK LIKE?  NO IT DOES NOT!"

Shining Armor replied, "I'm sorry Twilight.  I can tell you are getting more nervous the closer to Equestria we get."

Twilight replied, "I'm sorry big brother.  I don't know what is happening to me, I just feel like I am going to explode at any moment.  I am sorry that everypony has had to see me like this."

LaurFa said, "It is alright Twilight.  Everything will be ok.  By this time tomorrow night, you will be sinking into your bed getting ready to go to sleep."

This put Twilight in a far better mood.  Even the mention of her bed caused her to relax some.  She got a big smile on her face and said, "Yeah, my bed!  I hear it calling my name!"

Twilight and her envoy finally decided to go to bed.  Twilight knew that she would be getting home tomorrow, but she had no clue that her return to Ponyville would be anything but pleasant.