It was just before sunrise when Twilight's ships made landfall. The ships making landfall woke her up. She said, "Wake up everypony, we have made landfall!"
Twilight was in a far better mood than she was yesterday and that made everypony very happy. Twilight was looking forward to eating some of those apples that she likes so much. Just as the sun rose everypony got off their ships and Twilight addressed them.
Twilight said, "Ok everypony, let's get some breakfast in us before we fly home. It is a long flight and even I get tired after it. I do know that the first thing I am going to do when we get back is I'm taking a nap!"
Lemon Hearts asked, "What about that important meeting?"
Twilight growled, "Lemon Hearts, please don't ruin my day already. I'm in a good mood and I want to stay that way. We will all rest for the rest of the day. The meeting can wait until tomorrow. Don't worry, there will be places for you to sleep. For now, let's eat!"
Twilight and everypony else began to eat the apples that grow along the coast and drink the water in the lakes that are just inland. While they did this, Colgate and her forces had already eaten breakfast and she was watching her.
Colgate flew down to the base and said, "Alright everypony, they just arrived at the coast. They are eating those apples that everypony likes so much. Within the next 30-45 minutes they will take off and be here by mid-afternoon, probably around three. Let's just relax, enjoy one another's company and keep an eye on the western horizon. That is the direction they will be coming from."
Lightning Wasp asked, "Colgate, when will you duplicate us multiple times so Twilight will be flying into a hornets' nest from which there will be no escape?"
Colgate replied, "After lunch. The duplicates will have full stomachs like you guys will. We don't have the food to spare to feed an army of over 100,000."
Pinkie Pie asked, "So what will we do when we see them flying over the horizon?"
Colgate replied, "Well I will have already cast the armor spell and the duplication spell, so we will just wait for them and once they get close to town, I will cast the shatter armor spell on them and then we wipe them out."
Luna asked, "Do I still get to banish Twilight to the sun?"
Colgate replied, "Of course you do! When they get within a mile of town, I want you to transform into Nightmare Moon. I want us to do everything we can to strike fear into an already nervous pony's heart."
Lyra asked, "How do you know she is nervous?"
Colgate replied, "Because I have been watching her through the eye. The closer to Equestria they get, the more paranoid and cranky she gets! I'll be back, I need to go check and see what they are doing. I need to monitor their every move."
Out at the coast Twilight suddenly started freaking she was shouting "OH NO, NO, PLEASE NO!"
Shining Armor asked, "What is wrong little sis?"
Twilight said, "Remember that first trip we took to Faustica?"
Shining Armor said, "Yeah, I do."
Twilight said, "Well I accidentally left the book that i had my locking and unlocking spells in on my night stand and Colgate was sleeping in there. What if she read them and learned them?"
Spike said, "But Twilight, I thought you trusted her entirely."
Shining Armor added, "If she would have done that, wouldn't she have broke in there, learned everything and attacked us when we returned from Faustica the last time?"
Twilight said, "You're right. Now here I am the one paranoid about Colgate and you two are trying to reassure me. What a role reversal!"
An hour had passed and Twilight said, "Alright guys, let's head home. I miss Ponyville so much!"
With that they took off towards the east not realizing what awaited them, and Colgate was watching their every move.
In Ponyville, Colgate saw this and flew down to the base. She said, "Alright troops, they just left the coast. Let's eat some lunch, then I will duplicate our forces and then we wait."
Babs asked, "So, what is our last meal going to be?"
Colgate replied, "Last meal? You act like we are going to lose!"
Babs said, "Ok, so I worded it wrong. What are we going to eat?"
Colgate replied, "Well we are going to have steak, potatoes, apples, corn and cider. Here comes our lunch everypony! Eat up!"
While Colgate and her forces were having lunch Twilight and her forces were heading east but Twilight just couldn't fly as fast as normal. They stopped for a short rest out in the desert.
LaurFa asked, "Twilight, what is wrong? Usually you can travel this distance so easily."
Twilight started to cry and said, "It was a careless mistake I made before my first trip to Faustica. I left a book with spells that provide access to the archives out in the open where anypony could get a hold of it, what if Colgate learned them, broke into the archives and learned everything and then some?"
Spike said, "Twilight, what did we tell you back at the coast? Had she done that she would have attacked you when we got back from the first trip."
Twilight said, "You're right, I have nothing to worry about. Let's get going again. I want to get home by three or four."
With that Twilight and her forces continued to head east while Colgate was getting ready to duplicate her forces many times.
Colgate addressed the changeling drones and dark Alicorn soldiers, "Alright troops, I need you to gather over there in that field. I am going to duplicate you multiple times. This way when Twilight comes, she will be totally overwhelmed."
"Yes ma'am!" shouted her forces
Her forces gathered in the field and Colgate began to glow a bright blue, her eyes began to shine a bright blue and her horn began to blow as she recited, "From one to two, two to four and so much more, when one is simple mere, more and more shall appear."
Colgate fired her energy at them and suddenly there were twice as many of them. She continued to cast the spell until there were 50,000 of each type of soldier. Colgate shouted, "Alright troops, once she gets within 10 miles of town, I will cast the armor spell."
Everypony shouted, "ALL HAIL SUPREME COMMANDER COLGATE, DEATH TO THE DARK GODDESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"
A couple hours later Colgate flew up to the tower and tapped into the eye one more time. She saw that they were ten miles away. She knew the time to cast the armor spell had come. She then flew back down to the base.
She said, "They are only ten miles away. Everypony gather around me."
Colgate began to glow a deep shade of blue, her horn began to glow, her eyes shined like blue laser beams and her cutie mark began to glow brightly as she recited, "The one without armor does not stand a chance, so it is what we must enhance, the unarmed one will likely receive death, with armor he shall continue to draw breath, without armor he will be torn to shreds like a rag but with armor victory is in the bag."
As she finished the spell a huge burst of energy spread outwards, causing the energy to be absorbed by everypony's body. Colgate realized that the armor spell she cast was far more powerful than anything Twilight could ever cast.
Apple Bloom said, "Wow, that must've been an awful powerful spell for even your cutie mark to glow!"
Colgate replied, "Yep. I put a ton of power into it. I don't want there to even be a chance of us getting injured or killed."
Lyra asked, "What do we do now?"
Colgate replied, "We wait. They should be here within ten minutes. Oh boy, Twily is going to be in for the shock of her life!"
Twilight and her forces could see Galaxia Ridge off in the distance and Twilight said, "One more ridge and home will be in our sights! I'm so happy!"
Twilight's happiness would soon be transformed into a sense of absolute fear. They cleared Galaxia Ridge and saw a massive army in Ponyville, one larger than any army any of them had ever seen."
Twilight stopped in her tracks and started to cry, "What happened? She got into the archives, I know it. Let's land here and think about what to do."
Shining Armor looked hard and said, "Uh Twilight, this isn't good. She obviously did get into the archives. She has duplicated the forces to where she has over 100,000 soldiers in total. Even worse, she has Lyra and Luna with her."
Twilight looked harder and said, "Holy crap! She has transformed Granny Smith, Big Macintosh and all of the cutie mark crusaders into Alicorns." Twilight started to cry realizing that her reign was in danger of coming to an end.
LaurFa asked, "Twilight, what are we going to do?"
Twilight went from crying to going into a rage and said, "We go in there and crush her. She will wish she had never been born. I AM GOING TO KILL ALL OF THEM."
Colgate looked off to the west and saw them all standing on Galaxia Ridge. She said, "Alright forces, they are standing on Galaxia Ridge, they will head this way any minute. FOR EQUESTRIA, FOR THE WORLD, TO WAR, TO VICTORY!"
Her forces started cheering so loudly that Twilight and her forces could hear it. Shining Armor said, "Are you sure you want to go through with this little sis?"
This sent Twilight into a rage and she shouted, "YES I WANT TO GO INTO IT. WHAT ARE YOU, A DAMN COWARD. FOLLOW ME INTO BATTLE OR DIE, ALL OF YOU!"
Twilight and her forces sped towards Ponyville. Luna knew her time had come. Clouds began to shroud the sky and the wind began to howl as she transformed into Nightmare Moon. Twilight's forces were terrified but Twilight was thirsting for blood.
Twilight shouted, "Gather around me you maggots, I need to cast an armor spell."
Her forces gathered around her, her horn began to glow as she recited, "The one without armor does not stand a chance, so it is what we must enhance, the unarmed one will likely receive death, with armor he shall continue to draw breath, without armor he will be torn to shreds like a rag but with armor victory is in the bag."
Her energy spread out and formed a dome of protection around them. Twilight demanded that her forces remain in the formation around her. Colgate saw this and knew that the time had come to destroy their armor.
Twilight's forces got to within a half mile of town when Colgate began to levitate skywards, she began to glow brightly and she recited "Our foes' armor is great, that is something I hate, with their armor they are strong, but them having armor is just plain wrong, now their armor is gone and it is time for them to say bye as they are struck by energy and die."
She fired an incredibly powerful bolt of energy at Twilight and her forces. As it hit the dome of energy, the protective shield shattered like glass. It appeared as though shards of purple glass were falling to the ground.
Twilight was stunned and terrified by this. She said, "How does she know an armor shattering spell? Even I don't know an armor shattering spell. Now I know she got into the archives for sure."
Colgate could see the distress in Twilight's face and irrational anger flowing throughout her body, she decided the time for battle had come.
Colgate shouted, "Alright troops, let's get them, crush them!"
Colgate and her forces flew in and began to decimate Twilight's dark Alicorns and changelings. Twilight began to panic, her wings froze shut and she fell to the ground. Very quickly the same happened to the rest of her non-military envoy, leaving only dark Alicorn soldiers and changelings in the air.
All of Colgate's forces were firing energy as fast as they could and within a minute, all of Twilight's army was dead. Colgate and her Alicorn recruits landed around a terrified Twilight.
Twilight looked up and was terrified by what she saw. She saw a wrathful Colgate who was larger than her and had blue eyes. Twilight said, "Colgate, you miserable wretch, how did you do this?"
Colgate began to laugh and said, "Oh Twilight, you are so generous! Remember the first trip you took to Faustica?"
Twilight replied, "Yes I do."
Colgate said, "Well you left the book containing your spells to get into the archives on your night stand. Well I read your spells, I got into the archives, learned more than you ever have and taught it to all MY recruits! I guess once you conquered the world you became so careless and started strutting around like a prize rooster you left a big present for me!"
Twilight asked, "But why? What did I ever do to you?"
Colgate replied, "Well, you and your brother started traveling all over the world and left everything else to me so I decided that Equestria needs a leader who will actually be around to do the job, not be off globe trotting and start demanding ponies pay tribute."
Twilight shouted, "You address me as Dark Goddess Twilight Sparkle! You are nothing! You're going to the void forever!"
Colgate began to laugh and said, "Oh Twily, you make me laugh. You do know you can't banish a pony more powerful than you anywhere don't you?"
Twilight shouted, "You more powerful than me, yeah right you little ass, I am the most powerful being in the universe!"
Colgate was fed up with Twilight. She lowered her horn, began to glow brightly, her eyes began to shine blue and she recited "The large pony is too big for me, for smaller the pony shall be, the size and knowledge will become mine, but the negative qualities is where I draw the line, for what must grow is my power, so that I may remain in the tower."
She began to drain Twilight. As Twilight began to shrink in size Colgate grew even larger. Colgate finally stopped when Twilight was the size she was when she was crowned as a princess.
Twilight's defeat was complete. Colgate was now ready to transform the provinces into sovereign nations and make their stewards the leaders of the new nations. The filly Twilight laid there dreading what her punishment would be.