A Turbulent Change

by StormLuna

Rounding Up the Leaders

Rounding Up Brevity

Three hours had passed and the sun began to rise above the horizon and Colgate was sound asleep. While Scootaloo was getting fairly tired herself, she was not about to just try and even get any rest. She nudged Colgate and woke her up. She asked, "Colgate, the sun is rising. Think we should get going?"

Despite still being quite tired Colgate replied, "Yeah, we probably should." Her stomach began to growl as she continued, "Besides, I'm hungry and I really want to get some food in my stomach."

Scootaloo asked, "So where are we going first?"

Colgate replied, "Well I am thinking that we can hit Alicorn Island first, then Saddle Arabia, then the Equine Empire and finally the Crystal Empire before we head home...."

Scootaloo interrupted, "Yeah and then we can get home and crown me as Supreme......"

Colgate angrily interrupted, "Scootaloo, military leaders are NOT crowned. We are simply promoted. Ugh with the way you are acting it seems like you'd rather be a monarch than what I have groomed you for millennia to be, Supreme Commander of Equestria."

Scootaloo sighed, "Ok, you're right."

Colgate took to the sky and motioned for her to take to the sky with her so she could create the time bubble. Once Scootaloo was by her side she recited, "A bubble is what we need, so from frozen time we can be freed, in this bubble we can move fast, while everything else is stuck in the past, it is frozen time which through we must pass so we will never be late to class."

The time bubble formed around her and Colgate poked the edge of her horn out of it and continued, "Tick tock, tick tock, look at the racing clock, what is short is time and being late is a crime, we must finish on top so it is time I must stop, with time froze, it is my enemies I shall bulldoze."

Time was now froze outside of the bubble. Colgate looked at Scootaloo and ordered, "Let's get going, I want to get up to Alicorn City as soon as possible."

Scootaloo nodded and the two took off and much more quickly this time they broke the sound barrier and headed north. Despite time being frozen and them traveling faster than the speed of sound, it took several hours to reach Alicorn Island as it is no short distance from Neigh Zealand. Finally after a tiring flight Alicorn Island appeared on the horizon. Colgate ordered Scootaloo to stop and she recited, "Look at the clock, it is stuck in place, with this there can be no pace, everything is still but that does not fit the bill, for now the clock shall again run so everypony can have fun."

Once she recited this time began to run outside the bubble and she only had one more spell to cast, the undoing of the time bubble, "In the bubble time continues to run, but now the time outside runs and allows fun, the bubble must burst so we can quench our thirst, from the bubble we are now free and everything we can clearly see."

She cast the spell and they took off towards Alicorn City. Colgate pointed her wing at Brevity's palace and ordered, "Let's get to the palace. Hopefully Brevity will let us have some food and we can get going."

Scootaloo simply nodded but thought to herself, "Yes, one step closer to me taking over!"

They headed to the palace and saw Brevity standing out on her balcony getting some fresh air. She saw them and yelled, "Colgate, Scootaloo, what brings thee to Alicorn Island?"

Colgate replied, "Well I have come to let you know that I need you in Ponyville. I have some news that needs to be shared." Again her stomach growled and she asked, "But first I was wondering if you have anything Scootaloo and I could eat? We are both famished."

Brevity replied, "Follow us to the dining hall and we shall have something to eat." She looked back and continued, "But why dost thou have to tell us something in Ponyville? Canst thee just tell us now?" Her voice grew more concerned as she asked, "Twilight didn't somehow come back from being dead did she?"

Colgate laughed, "No Twilight is still dead! I just need to announce something to the leaders of the world and I want to do it with all of them together in Ponyville."

Scootaloo added, "Yeah, she's goi........"

Colgate put her wing over Scootaloo's mouth and gave her a death glare. The three headed to the dining hall and Brevity summoned the chefs to fix them a good, filling breakfast. She asked, "Colgate, Scootaloo wast going to say something but thou stopped her. What wast she going to say?"

Colgate replied, "For right now that is classified information. I will notify everypony once we are all together."

Brevity sighed, "Well we are most curious and hope that it is nothing bad."

Colgate replied, "Do not worry, it isn't."

After finishing their meal Colgate decided it was time for them to go. As they headed outside Brevity asked, "So are we going to travel by ship or are we going to use thy time spell?"

Colgate replied, "Brevity, didn't you feel yourself being frozen in place for a bit a couple of times? We are going to use my time spell. It is much, much quicker and I want to get this announcement taken care of as soon as possible."

Brevity looked at Scootaloo and asked, "This is quite important, isn't it?"

Scootaloo replied, "Yes, it is very important. It is not just important for her, but for the whole world."

Brevity was not sure what exactly she was hinting at but thought that maybe Colgate was wanting to negotiate commodity prices or something else economical given that it would affect the whole world.

Colgate ordered, "Gather around me so that I can cast the proper spells."

The two gathered around Colgate and she cast the proper spells. As they headed out Colgate looked back and ordered, "Brevity, remember we need to break the sound barrier if we want to get to Ridead before we wear our wings out!"

---

Rounding Up the Celestial Monarchs

Brevity picked up speed and soon they broke the sound barrier. While Colgate and Scootaloo were both used to flying around quite a bit, since the days of war and unrest had ended, Brevity did not fly around as much as she used to so this was putting quite a strain on her. After what seemed to be forever for her they finally saw Ridead on the horizon. Colgate ordered them to stop and cast the necessary spells so they could head to the palace.

Unlike it was with Brevity though, none of the royals were out and about, they were in the palace. When they reached the gate a guard asked, "Halt, who goes there?"

These guards had seen them before and this angered Colgate. She asked, "You have seen the three of us before have you not? We need to speak to Princess Celestia and her parents."

This jogged the guard's memory, "Oh my goodness, Supreme Commander Colgate, I am sorry for questioning you. Follow me, I shall lead you to their throne room."

As soon as they arrived Celestia ran up to them, "Colgate, Brevity, Scootaloo, how are you doing?"

Colgate replied, "We are doing quite well." She looked at her parents and motioned for them to step forward.

Brevity spoke up, "We need to speak to the three of you in Ponyville over something very important."

Galaxia approached them and asked, "Why do we have to discuss this in Ponyville? Why can't we discuss it here?"

Cosmos, who had also approached them noticed Scootaloo's eyes right away. He pointed his wing at her and asked, "Does this involve Scootaloo's eyes? Did she do something to achieve goddess status? Is that why they have that orange tinge to them?"

Colgate replied, "Like I have said, I will tell all of you this when we get to Ponyville." She leaned over to Celestia's ear and whispered, "Try not to act overly happy but I'll give you a hint. You'll have your own country to rule over again soon!"

Despite being told not to, Celestia began jumping around like a school-filly and screamed, "Yes, yes, yes! I can be Queen Celestia of Neigh Zealand soon!"

This caused the mouths of the other three to drop. Brevity gasped, "Colgate, Scootaloo cleanses Neigh Zealand of it's radiation and thou dost not tell us?

Colgate glared at Celestia and growled, "Princess Celestia, I told you not to act all happy when I told you that." She cast her gaze at the others and continued, "Ok, you all know that Scootaloo has cleansed Neigh Zealand of its radiation but when we get to Maredrid and the Crystal Empire, do not go acting like you know this." She glared at Celestia and added, "Especially you! I don't think your sister would take kindly to me sharing information with the four of you before I do her."

Celestia sighed, "Oh alright."

Colgate replied, "Good. Now let's get going. We have done a lot of traveling today and we have a lot more to do." She headed out the door and continued, "You know the routine, follow me."

The four headed out and surrounded Colgate so she could cast the proper spells. Once she cast them they took off for Maredrid. Like it was with Brevity, the Saddle Arabian monarchs had not done much flying so their wings were out of shape and they just couldn't reach the speed needed to break the sound barrier. Colgate noticed this and ordered, "Look, I know your wings are likely out of shape but the three of us can not carry this bubble alone."

Scootaloo added, "Come on you three, I need you to do this! I don't want my moment to be delayed!"

The three looked at Scootaloo with curiosity wondering what exactly she meant by "her moment."

---

Rounding Up Luna

Despite them trying as hard as they could, Celestia, Galaxia and Cosmos simply could not break the sound barrier so for them anyway, the trip to Ridead took much longer than it should have. After what was hours for them, they finally saw Maredrid on the horizon. Colgate ordered them to stop so she could cast the necessary spells. After casting them they flew down to the palace where they were greeted by the guards. Unlike the guards in Saddle Arabia, these guards knew who they were immediately.

One guard asked, "I take it you are here to see Queen Luna?"

Celestia replied, "Yes, we are."

The guard said, "Well unfortunately she is not here today. She left a few hours ago to spend a couple days up in Marescow to meet with the mayor and mingle with her subjects."

Scootaloo groaned, "Ugh, we have to work our wings to death AGAIN?"

Colgate replied, "No. We will just fly up there like ponies normally would. Besides, after the way we've been working our wings today, a nice relaxing flight sounds nice."

Brevity and the Saddle Arabian monarchs nodded in agreement but the same could not be said of Scootaloo. This frustrated her greatly, "Colgate, that is going to take forever! You said that we would get everypony rounded up today, get home and then my moment would come!"

Colgate was tired and was quickly becoming frustrated with Scootaloo's impatience, very frustrated. Her eyes began to shine white as she yelled, "Look, there is no time limit on this. We will get back to Ponyville when we get back." Her voice became more intense as she continued, "Don't rush this Scootaloo, patience is a virtue."

Scootaloo interrupted, "But,"

Colgate shouted, "Look, if you keep this up I may just decide a couple day vacation in either Marescow or the Crystal Empire is necessary. I am trying to reduce my stress levels and you aren't helping any!"

Scootaloo had not seen her boss that angry in a very long time so she figured that it would be best if she stopped trying to rush things. She replied, "Alright, I understand."

Colgate sighed, "Good. Now let's get going."

Colgate took off northwards and everypony else did the same. For all except one, it was a nice, peaceful flight and the southerly breeze sped up their trip some. After four hours Marescow was finally visible in the distance. Colgate looked back and yelled, "Alright, we're almost there!"

Cosmos replied, "Good, maybe we'll be able to get something to eat! I'm so hungry."

Celestia licked her chops and added, "Maybe my sister will have some cake!"

Brevity laughed, "Oh thou and thy cake!"

Colgate laughed a bit and then led them all down into Marescow into the courtyard in front of the palace. She knew how Luna was, that on nice days she likes to be out mingling and that is exactly where she was. Luna saw them all land in the courtyard and immediately ran to her family, "Mother, Father, Sister, what brings all of you here?"

Celestia, despite knowing what happened with Scootaloo replied, "Little sister, I am not even sure of that myself." She pointed her wing at Colgate and continued, "Ask her, she is the one who is rounding us all up for one reason or another."

Colgate added, "Well I have something I need to address to all the world leaders but I think it would be best if I told everypony at once and given the nature of the message I need to address, it must be done in Ponyville."

Luna looked at everypony who was present and sighed, "I take it you still have to go to the Crystal Empire and get LaurFa?

Colgate replied, "Yes, I do."

Luna motioned for Colgate to follow her away from the rest of her party and asked, "So I take it you have taken the advice of those other ponies? I take it you are going to step down and want us all present?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, I have. I know the ponies from that other world have their concerns about Scootaloo's temper but I think she'll do a perfectly good job."

Luna said, "As do I." She looked skyward and continued, "Think we should get going? I'm sure Scootaloo wants us to get LaurFa, get back to Ponyville and get all this done."

Colgate replied, "That would be nice but I'm thinking we should just fly regularly up to the Empire. Your family couldn't fly fast enough to break the sound barrier and it was hard to carry three ponies in that bubble who can't fly that fast."

Luna suggested, "I do agree and perhaps when we get to the Crystal Empire we should just see if LaurFa will let us stay the night. I'm sure you and Scootaloo are dead tired."

Colgate replied, "Good plan but your sister wants cake and likely won't leave until she gets some."

Luna gasped, "But all I have is fritters! I am not a big fan of cake so I don't have any, especially up here! Maybe LaurFa will have some."

Colgate replied, "Hopefully now let's go and tell the rest of them that we're headed up to the Crystal Empire. Some of us are hungry but I think we should be fine until we get up there."

Luna nodded and the two headed over to tell the rest of their convoy the news. Naturally Celestia was upset and when Colgate said they were just going to fly up there like they normally would, Scootaloo again was unhappy but did her best to hide it. They took to the sky and headed due north.

Rounding Up LaurFa

It was late in the afternoon when they saw the Crystal Empire off in the distance. Despite her being having the most endurance out of all of them, even Colgate was exhausted. When they crossed through the dome Colgate ordered for them to land. She sighed, "I don't think I've put my wings through this much of a workout in one day in ages! I certainly am looking forward to some rest!"

Scootaloo asked, "Rest? But after we pick up LaurFa aren't we going to head home and take care of things?"

All of the leaders glared at her and Luna replied, "Scootaloo, while some of us are more tired than others, we have decided that we may see if we can spend the night up here. I don't know about you but I am tired, very tired."

Scootaloo protested, "Really? Can't we just get her and go home?" Scootaloo then remembered how Colgate would make entire trips around the world easily in the past and continued, "Colgate, back during the era of the wars, you would get going in that time bubble and travel the world like it is nothing! Why are you so tired?"

Colgate could again sense impatience coming from her second in command, "Scootaloo, for starters, I didn't have any ponies to carry in that bubble that couldn't break the sound barrier. Second, I had to do that on a regular basis back then and it was urgent." She raised her voice and finished, "And finally, I didn't have somepony complaining about how we have to get things done ASAP. If she will allow it, we are staying the night here whether you like it or not."

Colgate grunted as they headed towards the palace. Luckily for them the guards recognized them and led them to the throne room. When she saw them LaurFa was shocked to see all of them together, and was especially surprised to see Scootaloo with them. The first one she addressed was her sister, "Brevity, what is going on? Why is everypony up here at once?"

Despite knowing part of it involved Scootaloo, Brevity replied, "We are wondering that ourselves. We know part of it involves Scootaloo and Colgate wanting us to go to Ponyville but what else we are not sure of."

Colgate added, "LaurFa, there is a situation that I need to discuss with every leader present."

LaurFa sighed, "Well we are all here so why don't you just bring it up now? Why do all of us have to be in Ponyville for you to address it?"

Colgate replied, "Because we just do. This is a big thing going on and it can only be addressed in Ponyville as it will have a huge impact there."

LaurFa asked, "So are you going to do that time spell and are we going to leave now?"

Colgate replied, "No, most of us are quite tired and hungry." She stepped closer to her and asked, "Actually, I was going to see if we could join you for supper and then if it would be ok with you, stay the night?"

LaurFa was ecstatic that she would have guests for the night. She joyfully replied, "Of course you can stay the night! It will be nice to have more than just my officers joining me for supper!"

Celestia interrupted, "What about desert? Will you be having cake for dessert?"

LaurFa broke down laughing, "Oh Celestia, you and your cake! What are we going to do with you?"

Luna chimed in, "Feed her lots and lots of cake and feed me lots and lots of fritters!"

LaurFa cast her gaze at Galaxia and Cosmos and asked, "What is it with your daughters and sweets? Why do they crave sweets so much."

Galaxia pointed her wing at Cosmos and laughed, "They probably got that from Cosmos here. He gorges himself on donuts all the time!"

LaurFa looked up at the clock and said, "Well look at the time. Let's head to the dining hall and have some supper....and don't worry you two....I mean three, I'll make sure you get the sweets you love so much."

While almost everypony was thrilled that they would not only get a filling supper but also be able to spend the night, Scootaloo was not. She began to feel more than frustration that Colgate had went back on her word about transferring power to her that day but also anger and even distrust. She began to wonder if Colgate was even serious about this or if, despite her being a goddess now, that Colgate would not step down and she would just remain her second in command.

Author's Note:

Time Bubble

"A bubble is what we need, so from frozen time we can be freed, in this bubble we can move fast, while everything else is stuck in the past, it is frozen time which through we must pass so we will never be late to class."

Freeze Time

"Tick tock, tick tock, look at the racing clock, what is short is time and being late is a crime, we must finish on top so it is time I must stop, with time froze, it is my enemies I shall bulldoze."

Unfreeze Time

"Look at the clock, it is stuck in place, with this there can be no pace, everything is still but that does not fit the bill, for now the clock shall again run so everypony can have fun."

Undo Time Bubble

"In the bubble time continues to run, but now the time outside runs and allows fun, the bubble must burst so we can quench our thirst, from the bubble we are now free and everything we can clearly see."

Comments

[dragondarko]

Despite them trying as hard as they could, Celestia, Galaxia and Cosmos simply could not break the sound barrier so for them anyway, the trip to Ridead too(k) much longer than it should have.

There's a "k" missing at the ending of "too".

"Second, I had to do that on a regular basis back the(n) and it was urgent." She raised her voice and finished.

"N" is missing at the end of "the".