Terror in Equestria 6: The Great War

Chapters

Prelude
The Tri-Millennial Summit
Formation of the Alliances
Axis Meetings
The Grand Assassinations
An Emergency Meeting of the Allies
Battle Plans
Invasion of the Equine Empire
The Arrival and the Departure
D-Day
The Surrounding of Stalliongrad
Meeting in Maredrid
The Fall of Ridead
Meeting in the Black Tower
Colgate's Test
The Return of Evil
Attack on Los Alicornus
Important Meetings
Departing for Neigh Zealand
A Nervous Voyage
Death, Destruction and Victory

Prelude

Three thousand years have passed since the Dark Goddess Twilight Sparkle and those who she brainwashed into her service were unmade by Brevity Thrash. After their unmaking, the five nation world was restored and love and harmony were restored. For well over 2,500 years it remained strong, then as the world began to change that love and harmony began to slowly deteriorate.

For thousands and thousands of years each nation's economies were dictated solely by what was produced within their borders. Eventually, for the first time in the world's history, trade began to happen between nations. Naturally the resources that one nation produces have a higher value than others. This results in the nations with the more valuable resources doing better off financially than those which produce items of lower value.

Also, some nations wind up being able to produce resources that they used to import from other nations. This winds up hurting the economy of the nation that was the original producer of that product. With some leaders, this began to cause their hearts to be filled with resentment, envy and eventually hatred. With this being the case, relations between world leaders will not be as harmonious as they used to be.

Ultimately world summits become less harmonious, world leaders begin to fight and alliances become very fragile, and that is where things are now. With all the instability that has developed in the world and the hatred that has filled the hearts of some leaders, the world has become a tinderbox that could explode into a war of unprecedented proportions at any time.

The Tri-Millennial Summit

It was another peaceful morning in Ponyville as Colgate woke up in her black tower. She looked out from her balcony and everything seemed to be going on normally. The schoolponies were headed to school, the Apple Family was apple bucking, Rarity was opening her shop, Pinkie was making sweets at Sugarcube Corner and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were preparing for an upcoming relay race, like they did before the world fell into chaos. Just like she had for a bit over 3,000 years, she tapped into the blue eye to scan the world. Much to her delight, everything was going as it normally would. She then heard hoofsteps coming up towards her room.

Scootaloo, her commander for 3,000 years, asked, "Colgate, are you coming to breakfast? Everypony is waiting."

Colgate replied, "Yeah, I am. I was just making sure that there are no problems going on in the world and there aren't."

Colgate followed Scootaloo down to the dining hall where she was greeted by her usual company. General Dark Night, Equestria's highest ranking dark Alicorn for over 3,000 years said, "Good morning Colgate. It is so good to see you!"

Colgate replied, "Thanks, it is good to see all of you too."

Major Frigid Wind asked, "Colgate, how long has it been since the last violence our world has seen?"

Colgate replied, "Hmmm....." She scratched her face and asked, "Wait a minute, it is May 13, 5579 isn't it?"

Frigid Wind replied, "It is, why do you ask?"

Colgate smiled and said, "It has been 3,000 years to the day since Brevity Thrash unmade Twilight Sparkle and her minions!"

Scootaloo asked, "Why are you so excited?"

Colgate replied, "That means that the tri-millennial summit is....."

Before Colgate could say anything further one of her changeling drones led two ponies into the dining hall, Goddess Brevity Thrash of Alicorn Island and Queen Luna of the Equine Empire. Colgate ran into their wings, hugged them and said, "Brevity, Luna! It is so good to see you!"

Brevity replied, "It is so good to see you too!"

Luna added, "It is! It has been far too long!"

Colgate looked shocked at first and asked, "It is wonderful to see you two but you usually don't arrive this long before the summit."

Brevity asked, "What do you mean? Brevity thought the summit started today."

Colgate got a sheepish grin on her face and replied, "Oh yeah, it does. How the hay could I have forgot that."

Very soon their food arrived and they began to eat. Brevity said, "Wow Colgate, Brevity forgot about how good the food is here. Don't get us wrong, the food back home is great, but your meals are the best!"

Luna asked, "Brevity, I thought you gave up that speaking in the third-pony. Do you speak this way to the citizens of Alicorn Island?"

Brevity replied, "No, we do not. Brevity guesses that once she is not home she can let her mane down and be herself."

After eating Colgate, Brevity and Luna headed into the throne room to engage in minor chit chat before the rest of the world leaders showed up. Colgate asked, "Brevity, Luna, what happened? Usually Lyra and Lemon Hearts come with you two."

Luna replied, "Well they don't communicate much with us anymore. I might sound a bit paranoid but that does worry me."

Brevity added, "What really worries us is that when we are doing our patrols over the waters that surround our home we have been seeing a lot of carriers with the Neigh Zealand flag on them. We don't know what to think of this."

Colgate replied, "Hmmm....Well perhaps we can get some answers out of them once they get here."

There was a knock on the throne room door. Colgate opened the door and there were Lemon Hearts and Lyra, neither of which looked very happy to be there. Colgate went to hug the two but Lyra pushed her back with her wings.

Lyra said, "I am in no mood from a hug from you. Let's just get this started, ok?"

Lemon Hearts added, "I'm in the same mindset as Lyra is. I want to get this done so I can get back home."

Colgate shrugged her shoulders and asked, "What crawled up your flanks and died?"

Lyra grunted and headed over to her seat around the table. Colgate banged her hoof on the table and said, "Welcome to the tri-millennial summit everypony. It may not seem like it but it has been 3,000 years since Goddess Brevity unmade Twilight Sparkle and her minions!"

Brevity blushed and said, "Oh it was nothing!"

Luna patted Brevity on the back and asked, "What do you mean it was nothing? You pretty much ended the chances of there ever being another war on our world when you did that."

Lyra and Lemon Hearts had glares on their faces when Luna was patting Brevity on the back. Lemon Hearts asked, "Oh and what makes Brevity so great? What, is it because she speaks in the third-pony? Is it because she has that fancy unmaking spell? Is it because she is a Creator Goddess?"

Colgate banged her hoof on the table and asked, "Lemon Hearts, what has gotten into you. I know you and Lyra both haven't been overly friendly for the past fifty years but really, what has you two so angry?"

Lyra had been bottling her frustration up for many years but she just couldn't do it anymore. She stood up, spread her wings wide and shouted, "YOU KNOW WHAT HAS BOTH OF US SO ANGRY?"

Colgate replied, "No, we do not know. Why don't you enlighten us as to why you two are so grumpy."

Lyra said, "What has both of us grumpy is the fact that our economies are not doing that well. Ever since global trade started, our nations have been in decline while the nations YOU THREE rule are prospering!"

Colgate interrupted, "That is what has you upset? You have got to be kidding me!"

Lyra replied, "No I am not kidding."

Lemon Hearts added, "Yeah, Luna and Colgate have all these precious metals they export and Brevity has all this fancy silk she exports. What do I have? Fruit! Oranges and tangerines are the only natural resources that Saddle Arabia has!"

Lyra shouted, "AND ALL NEIGH ZEALAND HAS IS WOOL!"

This did not sit well with the other three. Brevity stood up and asked, "Have either of you two bothered to explore your nations more to see if there might be precious metals there?"

Luna added, "Look Lyra, I have seen plenty of rock formations in the hills down there that most likely have precious metals in them. We have the same types of rock formations in the Equine Empire and they are loaded with silver, gold and even platinum!"

Lyra growled, "Look, we are doing things the way we have for the past three thousand years and I do not want to change that. I don't want to have to make my subjects do that kind of hard work."

Colgate put her hoof up to her face and said, "Oh for crying out loud Lyra. Listen, I know you love the citizens in your country with all your heart but you are only hurting them by not adapting to a changing world."

Brevity was getting upset that she had not been able to address the situation involving Lyra and her carriers so she figured she would just jump in and ask. She asked, "Lyra, why the hay are you having carriers with YOUR flag sailing clear up around Alicorn Island?"

Lyra replied, "I haven't had any of my carriers that far up north."

Brevity said, "Brevity knows you are lying. When she goes on her patrols off to the south of her island she sees your carriers sailing in her waters. They have your flag on them."

Lyra started mocking Brevity. She said, "Well Brevity knows this, Brevity sees that, Brevity, Brevity, Brevity. Why can't you talk like a normal pony. Oh, I forgot it is because you are the most narcissistic pony to have ever walked the face of the planet, or in your case, the whole universe."

Colgate pounded her hoof on the table and shouted, "That is it! I have had enough of you Lyra. The same goes with you Lemon Hearts. All you two have done so far is cause trouble and you won't do anything to HELP your nations. You are so stuck in the past that you would rather bankrupt your nations before doing something to help your citizens."

Lyra and Lemon Hearts got up and headed for the door. Lemon Hearts said, "You know what? The hay with the three of you. You can find somewhere else to get your tangerines and oranges. I'm cutting ties with you."

Lyra added, "Same here, you three economics queens can get your wool somewhere else. GOOD RIDDANCE!"

They stormed out of the throne room and flew back towards their ship which was docked on the west coast of Equestria. Colgate looked at Brevity and Luna with a nervous look on her face and said, "Brevity, you really need to keep a closer eye out on those carriers of her's and Luna, you may want to keep an eye on your border with Saddle Arabia."

The three remaining leaders that were part of the alliance forged an even closer bond and their friendships grew even stronger. Lyra and Lemon Hearts decided to forge their own separate alliance and they grew much closer as they had the same enemies.

Author's Note

Colgate's dark Alicorns

General Dark Night
Colonel Black Mist
Major Frigid Wind
Captain Black Ice
Lieutenant Dark Crystal

Changelings

General Lightning Storm
Colonel Green Toxin
Major Deadly Cloud
Captain Green Storm
Lieutenant Southern Haze

Formation of the Alliances

Late that afternoon Lyra and Lemon Hearts arrived at their ship on the coast and set sail for Prancington, Neigh Zealand. Both were frustrated but realized that in a changing world they could no longer be allies with Brevity, Colgate and Luna. Lyra asked, "Lemon Hearts, I never imagined that this would happen. I remember back when Twilight was defeated we were so close, what happened?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "Well things change, times change. They seem to care about nothing except money. They care nothing about the old world that was full of love and harmony."

Lyra suggested, "You know Lemon Hearts, I am seriously thinking that we need to start exploring our countries for more natural resources. After all, if we were to have to go to war with them, I don't think we would fare all that well against them with most of our equipment being made of wood."

Lemon Hearts asked, "Why do you say that? Do they have different types of equipment?"

Lyra replied, "Yes. When we were sailing out didn't you see their military base on the coast? Equestria's carriers are made out of metal. All they would have to do is ram our wooden carriers and we would sink in nothing flat. Plus, wood is easily destroyed by the energy of dark Alicorns, that metal they use isn't."

Lemon Hearts did not want to deviate from thousands of years of tradition but realized that Lyra was right. So she reluctantly agreed to Lyra's plan. She asked, "So what are we going to do? I really don't want to force my subjects to have to go out and do the hard work of mining."

Lyra replied, "Just do what Equestria and the Equine Empire does, have your dark Alicorn soldiers do it. Their civilian ponies don't have to do stuff like that."

Lemon Hearts grunted, "Why didn't both of us think about this thousands of years ago?"

Lyra replied, "I honestly don't know. This just came to my mind. I guess both of us have wanted to keep living in the old ways when peace and harmony were the norm, that we failed to see that our new enemies were forcing change on the world."

Lyra was scratching her head when something came to her mind. She looked at Lemon Hearts and asked, "Lemon Hearts, I believe it would be in our best interests if we form more than just a trade alliance. What do you think?"

Lemon Hearts knew what Lyra was thinking and she was unsure about it. She knew in the back of her mind that Lyra wanted to wage war on the Equine Empire and ultimately Equestria but she had not developed the hate that Lyra had. She asked, "Uh, Lyra, are you sure that would be such a good idea?"

Lyra replied, "Yes Lemon Hearts. I know they are going to forge a military alliance. They are probably drawing up plans in Colgate's black tower as we speak. It is either that or we get crushed. I now realize that Neigh Zealand must move forward from the past."

Lemon Hearts said, "Well you go ahead. I do not wish to eradicate love and harmony in Saddle Arabia just to be ready for a war."

Lyra replied, "Well, it is your choice. If you don't move forward, I can and will come in there, take Saddle Arabia for myself and modernize it just as I am going to Neigh Zealand."

Lemon Hearts shouted, "YOU WOULD SERIOUSLY DO THAT?"

Lyra replied, "Yes Lemon Hearts, I would. Yes I would rather be able to keep things the way they used to be but it can't be that way anymore. I care enough about my citizens to adapt to changing times. If you won't help your citizens the same way I will go in there and do it myself." Lyra's eyes were starting to shine white and she had her horn pointed at Lemon Hearts. She asked, "So which is it, will you adapt or do I have to bring Saddle Arabia into the modern era FOR YOU?"

Lemon Hearts started cowering back in fear. She had never seen Lyra act like this before. She also knew that Lyra knew much more magic than she did so she felt like she had no other choice than to concede defeat. She said, "Ok, Lyra. I agree, we should forge a military alliance as well."

Lyra replied, "Good. We can do that when we get back to my castle in Prancington. We can get my dark Alicorns and changelings in a meeting with us. There we can discuss with them what needs to be done in Neigh Zealand and then you, some of my higher ups and I need to go to Ridead and discuss the same with your officers."

Lemon Hearts said, "Ok, whatever you want Lyra I shall do it."

Lyra smiled and replied, "Good! That is the Lemon Hearts that I consider such a good friend and ally!"

In Ponyville Colgate, Brevity and Luna were still a bit in shock but ultimately realized what needed to be done. They realized that a strong military alliance must be formed. Colgate looked at her two allies and said, "Brevity, I think you really need to build up your army. Your army is still quite small. Yes your entire population is Alicorns and they can shoot enemies out of the sky but I still think you need to increase the size of your army."

Brevity replied, "Brevity thinks you make a good point. We do have more than just one island. We do have other islands that they could be stationed on."

Colgate said, "Sounds like a good plan. Luna, I think you might want to ready your forces for battle, as do you Brevity. You never know when Lemon Hearts might send her forces flooding across your border."

Luna asked, "What about you? What will you be doing?"

Colgate replied, "I plan on stationing more of my forces near our large coastal cities. If I had to pick which one would be more likely to use the resources to come here and attack, it would be Lyra."

Brevity asked, "Why would it be Lyra?"

Colgate replied, "Did you notice how much more aggressive Lyra seemed when she was here. I can sense that she wants to do anything she can to crush our nations simply because we have more resources."

Luna began to laugh, "Oh that is a good one! How is Lyra going to come crush us when our militaries are more advanced than her's and our armies are larger and more powerful?"

Colgate glared at Luna and said, "Luna, this is no laughing matter. I have a feeling that she is going to change what she is doing as soon as she returns home. I also have this feeling that she is going to manipulate Lemon Hearts into aiding her in any war efforts. She could even go as far as threaten her with a takeover if she doesn't do what she wants."

Brevity asked, "Why do you have that feeling?"

Brevity replied, "Because Lyra is quite a bit more advanced with magic than Lemon Hearts is, that's why. Ok, who is in favor of us forming a military alliance."

All three of them raised their hooves. Colgate said, "Good. Now let's just relax for a few days. I will, however, watch them through the eye and monitor what they are doing. I can then relay any and all information I find out to you. Let's just say that I have a feeling that the peace the world has enjoyed for the past 3,000 years will soon come to an end."

Author's Note

Colgate's dark Alicorns

General Dark Night
Colonel Black Mist
Major Frigid Wind
Captain Black Ice
Lieutenant Dark Crystal

Changelings

General Lightning Storm
Colonel Green Toxin
Major Deadly Cloud
Captain Green Storm
Lieutenant Southern Haze

Axis Meetings

Five days later Lyra and Lemon Hearts arrived in Prancington where Lyra led Lemon Hearts into her castle. They headed directly to the throne room where they were greeted by Lyra's top dark Alicorn officer, General Black Rocks. Black Rocks said, "It is so good to see you Lyra! How did the summit go?"

Lyra growled, "It didn't. We are no longer allies with Luna, Colgate or Brevity. They have decided that the world has to move on to a new era. They have decided that money and stronger militaries are more important than love and harmony."

Black Hooves asked, "What are we going to do?"

Lyra replied, "Go get every dark Alicorn officer and every changeling officer. Lemon Hearts and I need to discuss things with you. Oh, and tell Grand Prince Silver Star that I need him here as well."

"Yes your Majesty." Replied Black Hooves

Lemon Hearts asked, "So what all are we going to discuss and why do you need all your officers along with your grand prince here?"

Lyra replied, "Just sit back and relax. You will find out in good time."

Lemon Hearts had an uneasy feeling about all of this. In the back of her mind she was worried that Lyra was going to start making plans for a war before they even had the proper equipment. Finally all of Lyra's officers and grand prince Silver Star were present.

Lemon Hearts asked, "So who are all of your officers?"

Lyra walked up to her dark Alicorns and said, "Well from left to right we have General Black Rocks, Colonel Stone Gray, Major Rock Crusher, Captain Steel Seas and Lieutenant Gray Mist."

Lemon Hearts said, "It is nice to meet all of you."

Black Rocks replied, "Likewise."

Lyra cleared her throat and continued, "These are my changeling officers. From left to right we have General Green Eyes, Colonel Blue Streak, Major Green Death, Captain Fly Wings and Lieutenant Black Haze. And the Alicorn to my right is Grand Prince Silver Star."

Lemon Hearts asked, "So Lyra, what are we going to discuss? I do hope it is more than just having me meet your officers."

Lyra sneered, "Well of course it is more than just meeting my officers. Bringing you here solely to meet my officers would be a waste of not just my time but yours as well."

Silver Star asked, "Your Majesty, what sort of things do you have planned."

Lyra replied, "Ok, for my plans. We must get out of the dark ages. Only having wool as an export is causing us to fall behind. We need to start exploring the hills in our nation, on BOTH ISLANDS."

Black Rocks asked, "So do you want me to go find the strongest stallions to start these mining operations?"

Lyra replied, "No, Major Rock Crusher will round up our dark Alicorns and have them blast the rock formations open. Any non-precious metals such as iron and titanium are to be separated from the precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum. We need to build several open-hearth furnaces to convert this iron into steel. After all, we are going to need better materials to build our carriers with."

Colonel Blue Streak asked, "Your Majesty, couldn't you just use your magic to transform the iron into steel?"

Lyra replied, "I could do that. It would make the process easier and much more efficient. Good thinking Colonel."

Lemon Hearts asked, "How do you convert iron into steel anyway?"

For Lyra this was one of those facehoof moments. Yes while Neigh Zealand was not exactly a nation that did much work with metals she did know that spell. She asked in return, "Lemon Hearts, you are an Alicorn and you don't know one of the most simple spells on the face of the planet?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "No, I don't. For the small amounts of steel we have produced we used an open-hearth furnace, which is obviously more than you guys have ever done since you don't even have one."

Lyra rolled her eyes and continued, "Ok, once you get this iron out of the ground and get it transformed into steel here is what I want you to do. Go to the library, there are books in there about carriers and how to make metal made carriers that do not sink. I want you to build those carriers."

Major Rock Crusher asked, "How many of us do you want to work on this operation?"

Lyra replied, "I want you, Captain Steel Seas, Lieutenant Gray Mist and every single available dark Alicorn soldier to work on this. If all ten thousand of you work on it, hopefully when I return from Ridead I will see a whole fleet of carriers."

Rock Crusher asked, "How are we supposed to turn all this steel into carriers?"

Lyra yelled, "Weld it together using your magic! What are you, stupid or something?"

Rock Crusher replied, "No your Majesty, I am not stupid and what if they are not perfect?"

Lyra shouted, "IF THEY'RE NOT I WILL FIND WHO IS RESPONSIBLE AND FRY THEM! Oh and then I will use my magic to make the carrier perfect."

Lemon Hearts was quickly seeing a side to Lyra she never knew existed. For all of her life until just the past few days, the Lyra she knew was sweet, kind and caring. Now she sees a Lyra that is not preparing to defend her homeland, but to go on the offensive.

Lyra looked at her officers and asked, "Any questions?"

Steel Seas replied, "Where do you want us to put the precious metals when we find them?"

Lyra said, "Take it to the palace storage facility and we can remove the impurities later. Right now we need to get a good fleet built." She then looked at her generals, colonels and Silver Star and said, "Come on guys, we need to get going. It is a long voyage to Ridead. Let's get going."

Lemon Hearts asked, "Lyra, don't we need to get some food and water? The ship is running very low on both."

Lyra replied, "Yes, we better. Black Rocks, Stone Gray, get some of our soldiers to take those bins of apples up to the ship. Have some others wash out old cider bottles and fill them with water. Hurry up, I want to set sail before nightfall."

Lemon Hearts asked, "Can't we just wait until the morning and get some sleep here? It would give everypony more time to get the ship stocked with what we need."

Lyra rolled her eyes and replied, "Fine. But we are getting up and eating breakfast early. I want to get to Ridead as soon as possible."

The night passed all too quickly for Lemon Hearts but all too slowly for Lyra. They got up early that morning and ate breakfast before dawn. While they were eating Lyra asked, "Is everypony going to be ready for when we depart. It is anywhere between a seven to ten day voyage to Ridead, depending on the weather."

Lemon Hearts asked, "Lyra, can't we wait a couple more days? I don't know why you are in such a hurry."

Lyra growled, "Look, the sooner we get to Ridead, the sooner we can start getting Saddle Arabia moving into the modern age. You never know, Luna might try to strike first. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get your country ready for the upcoming war. Silver Star, round up both the generals and colonels. We need to get going."

Lemon Hearts looked stunned. She asked, "Upcoming war? How do you know that there is going to be a war? Are you going to start it?"

Lyra laughed and replied, "Now Lemon Hearts my friend, now why would I want to go starting a war? What I said just came out wrong."

Lemon Hearts was frustrated but knew better than to keep questioning the much more powerful Lyra. Finally breakfast was done and Lemon Hearts, Lyra, Silver Star and Lyra's generals and colonels boarded their ship and headed towards Ridead.

It was a rather uneventful week during their voyage to Ridead. Finally on the morning of the eighth day they saw Ridead in the distance. Lemon Hearts smiled and said, "Finally, soon we will be able to step back on dry ground! I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight!"

Lyra glared at her and said, "Look, I know Ridead is your capitol but once we make landfall we are having a meeting similar to what I had in Prancington."

Lemon Hearts asked, "So do you want me to have my dark Alicorn soldiers go out and look for iron and precious metals too?"

Lyra glared at her and replied, "Yes, I do. Unless you want my forces to come in, raise my flag over your capitol and do it themselves."

Lemon Hearts was quickly getting sick and tired of being treated like Lyra's subordinate. She shouted, "LISTEN LYRA, THIS IS MY CAPITOL AND WE'RE DOING THINGS MY WAY!"

Lyra's eyes began to shine white and she pointed her horn at Lemon Hearts. She asked, "Oh really? Are you sure about that?"

Lemon Hearts hung her head in defeat and replied, "Ok, we'll do things your way."

Lyra smiled and said, "Good! You know my way is more efficient anyway."

Once they arrived in Ridead they headed to Lemon Hearts' castle to have their meeting. Lemon Hearts still seemed a bit hesitant to call a meeting but felt like she had to as Lyra glared at her. Lyra asked, "Lemon Hearts, I would like to meet your officers. Could you go and get them?"

Lemon Hearts looked at her dark Alicorn general and asked, "General Black Feet, could you go round up all of my officers along with Grand Prince Crescent Moon"

Black Feet replied, "Yes your Majesty."

While Black Feet was out rounding up the rest of the officers Lyra asked, "Lemon Hearts, why do you seem so ancy? You act like you are preparing your officers for an execution."

Lemon Hearts replied, "I'm just nervous Lyra. I'm nervous about why you think it is so important that we meet one another's officers and the fact that you brought your generals, colonels and your grand prince with us really makes me wonder what you are really up to."

Silver Star asked, "No offense your majesty, but why the hay does it make you so nervous?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "I have seen Lyra's actions lately. She says she wants to build a good military to protect her homeland but she is building the type of military back home that is designed to launch invasions with."

Lyra interrupted, "Oh Lemon Hearts, you are just as bad as the dark goddess was, OVERLY PARANOID!"

Finally Black Feet returned with all of Lyra's officers and her grand prince. Lemon Hearts walked over to them and said, "Ok Lyra, here are my officers. My dark Alicorn officers are General Black Feet, Colonel Iron Hooves, Major Black Iron, Captain Dark Hooves and Lieutenant Thunder Hooves. My changeling officers are General Green Cloud, Colonel Sticky Ooze, Major Green Poison, Captain Deadly Ooze and Lieutenant Chryso. The Alicorn to my right is Grand Prince Crescent Moon."

Lyra said, "It is a pleasure to meet all of you."

Crescent Moon replied, "Likewise Queen Lyra."

Lemon Hearts started, "Alright troops, we are going to do things similar to how Lyra is going to be doing things in Neigh Zealand. We need to begin exploring our hills for natural resources, both precious metals and industrial metals such as iron and titanium."

Crescent Moon asked, "Your Majesty, will we be building a fleet of carriers with the iron and titanium?"

Lemon Hearts began to reply when Lyra interrupted, "BRAVO! We have a star student here! What do you think I would want done with it?, have shiny decorations made with it?"

Lemon Hearts shouted, "Look Lyra, this is my capitol and my meeting. You DO NOT try to run my meeting."

Lyra's eyes began to shine white and her horn began to glow gold as she replied, "Oh really Lemon Hearts? Remember which one of us is more powerful."

Lemon Hearts grunted and just allowed Lyra to continue on. Lyra continued, "When you are doing this, you will come across both precious metals and industrial metals. Take the precious metals and store them here in your royal depository or wherever you store items of high value. Take the iron and turn it into steel. Use the steel and titanium to build a fleet of carriers with it. You will need a good fleet of carriers if you are to defend your homeland and invade other territories."

Lemon Hearts shouted, "INVADE OTHER TERRITORIES? Listen Lyra, I am not going to go invading other countries. You want to go wage war on the world, be my guest but count me out. That is something I will not do!"

Lyra smirked and replied, "Oh we'll see about that."

General Black Feet asked, "So who will be doing all this exploring?"

Lyra replied, "Major Black Iron will lead all the other dark Alicorns in doing this. You along with Colonel Iron Hooves, Crescent Moon, the changeling general and colonel, my officers and Silver Star are going up north to inspect the fence along the border with the Equine Empire."

Lemon Hearts realized that it would be best to just let Lyra run the show. Crescent Moon asked, "So when do you want us to head up to the border?"

Lyra replied, "I want the ten of you to head up there right away. You can all fly so it won't take you that long."

Before they headed out Lyra gathered the officers of Lemon Hearts and her own together and said, "Listen, if you eight know what is good for you, you will kill both grand princes, come back here and claim that Luna's soldiers killed them."

Green Eyes gasped, "Really?"

Lyra replied, "Yes, really. Now get going. Border security is a must."

While the ten sped off to the north neither Crescent Moon or Silver Star knew that Lyra was sending them on what amounted to a suicide mission, that she would make sure something would happen to start a war. Lyra watched the ten speed off to the north with a huge smile on her face. Lemon Hearts saw this and asked, "Lyra, what is the huge grin for?"

Lyra replied, "Oh I'm just happy to see that we are going to start getting both our nations moving forward into the modern era. I think if we sell our precious metals to Alicorn Island at even one percent lower than Equestria or the Equine Empire does, we can sink them."

Lemon Hearts asked, "Lyra, why can't we just use diplomacy instead of building powerful militaries and using unfair economic practices to crush Equestria and the Equine Empire?"

Lyra rolled her eyes and replied, "Trust me Lemon Hearts, this will create balance across the whole world, not just military balance but economic balance as well."

Lemon Hearts just couldn't help but worry about Lyra's true plans. She wanted to believe her friend but deep down she believed that Saddle Arabia would soon be thrown into a war never before seen by ponykind.

Author's Note

Colgate's dark Alicorns

General Dark Night
Colonel Black Mist
Major Frigid Wind
Captain Black Ice
Lieutenant Dark Crystal

Changelings

General Lightning Storm
Colonel Green Toxin
Major Deadly Cloud
Captain Green Storm
Lieutenant Southern Haze

Lyra's Grand Prince
Grand Prince Silver Star

Lyra's dark Alicorns

General Black Rocks
Colonel Stone Gray
Major Rock Crusher
Captain Steel Seas
Lieutenant Gray Mist

Changelings

General Green Eyes
Colonel Blue Streak
Major Green Death
Captain Fly Wings
Lieutenant Black Haze

Lemon Hearts' Grand Prince
Crescent Moon

dark Alicorns

General Black Feet
Colonel Iron Hooves
Major Black Iron
Captain Dark Hooves
Lieutenant Thunder Hooves

changelings

General Green Cloud
Colonel Sticky Ooze
Major Green Poison
Captain Deadly Ooze
Lieutenant Chryso

The Grand Assassinations

After four hours of flying Lyra and Lemon Hearts' forces landed along the border and were exhausted. Grand Prince Silver Star said, "Wow, I knew it was quite a distance from Ridead to the border but I didn't know it was this far."

Crescent Moon replied, "It is. I knew this would be quite the tiring flight."

General Black Rocks asked, "Well shall we inspect the fence?"

Crescent Moon replied, "Yes, but I really hope we don't have to inspect the whole length. It is several thousand miles long and it could take us weeks!"

Crescent Moon continued, "Well how about we just rest and relax out here for a few weeks. It will be nice for us to be away from the monarchs who rule over us and besides, it's not like they would know we're not doing anything."

Everypony else agreed with Crescent and decided to just sit around, talk about how they think the world is going and how much they resent the queens they serve. Little did the grand princes know that the officers were lying and were just biding their time until it was time to kill them and start the war.

In Ridead Lyra and Lemon Hearts were holding a meeting before turning in for the night. Lemon Hearts asked, "Lyra, how long do you think they will be out there?"

Lyra replied, "Well considering that they will be inspecting the full length of the border, it might take a month. As long as they stay on our side of the border we will be fine."

Lemon Hearts shouted, "DON'T YOU MEAN MY SIDE OF THE BORDER? YOU DON'T RULE HERE WITH ME."

Lyra replied, "Ok, your side. Again, it just came out wrong."

Lemon Hearts started to panic and asked, "Lyra, what if they accidentally cross the border and Luna's forces catch them? They might want to invade us!"

Lyra got a huge smile on her face and replied, "You see Lemon Hearts. Even you are beginning to realize that anything is possible. I wouldn't worry about it though. With as big as that border is, the chance of Luna's border guards even seeing our forces is next to zero."

Lemon Hearts said, "You're right Lyra, I don't have anything to worry about. They will fix what needs to be fixed, come home and then you and your officers can head home."

Lyra smiled and replied, "Yeah, that will be what happens. I'm hitting the hay for the night. You get some rest Lemon Hearts."

Three weeks pass and up at the border the grand princes and officers have only inspected about a mile of fence and spent the rest of their time relaxing, grazing and even discussing how they would rule their countries if they took their queens out. Crescent Moon asked, "Well guys, think we should head home? I'm ready to sleep in my own bed again."

Silver Star replied, "I second that. Let's get going!"

The military officers looked at one another and decided the time had come. The changeling officers covered both of them in ooze rendering them unable to move and use their magic. General Green Eyes smiled at the two and said, "You two aren't going anywhere!"

Silver Star shouted, "What the hay? Lyra put all of you up to this didn't you?"

Colonel Blue Streak asked, "Now why would Lyra put us up to this?"

Crescent Moon shouted, "I see it in how she acts, how she talks. She is bloodthirsty, she wants a war and she thinks that if you kill us and blame it on Luna's border guards, Lemon Hearts will declare war."

General Black Feet shouted, "Alright boys, let's kill them!"

The dark Alicorns began frying them with their energy. The grand princes fell to the ground screaming in pain and horror as they were slowly but surely being fried to death by energy. After around three minutes of non-stop attacking, both grand princes were dead. Iron Hooves shouted, "Remember boys, we were attacked by Luna's forces. Let's get back to Ridead, this news must get to Lyra and Lemon Hearts."

In Ponyville Colgate was scanning the world and saw this. She overheard their conversations and started shouting, "DAMN IT, DAMIN IT, CURSE YOU LYRA!"

Commander Scootaloo heard Colgate's shouting and ran up to see what it was about. When she arrived in Colgate's room she asked, "Colgate, why are you screaming?"

Colgate glared at her and replied, "Commander Scootaloo, go get all our reserves, something has happened that will most likely result in the entire world going to war."

Scootaloo replied, "Alright, I'm on it."

Colgate was enraged over what she was seeing. She was even more enraged over the fact that Lyra had planned all of this out to start a war. She realized that after she informed her reserves and her army, that she would need to travel to Maredrid and Alicorn City to notify Luna and Brevity.

Author's Note

Colgate's dark Alicorns

General Dark Night
Colonel Black Mist
Major Frigid Wind
Captain Black Ice
Lieutenant Dark Crystal

Changelings

General Lightning Storm
Colonel Green Toxin
Major Deadly Cloud
Captain Green Storm
Lieutenant Southern Haze

Lyra's Grand Prince
Grand Prince Silver Star

Lyra's dark Alicorns

General Black Rocks
Colonel Stone Gray
Major Rock Crusher
Captain Steel Seas
Lieutenant Gray Mist

Changelings

General Green Eyes
Colonel Blue Streak
Major Green Death
Captain Fly Wings
Lieutenant Black Haze

Lemon Hearts' Grand Prince
Crescent Moon

dark Alicorns

General Black Feet
Colonel Iron Hooves
Major Black Iron
Captain Dark Hooves
Lieutenant Thunder Hooves

changelings

General Green Cloud
Colonel Sticky Ooze
Major Green Poison
Captain Deadly Ooze
Lieutenant Chryso

An Emergency Meeting of the Allies

After seeing the murders of the grand princes unfold along the Equine Empire/Saddle Arabia border Colgate realized that the reserves would need to be notified and that she would need to bring Luna and Brevity to Ponyville to notify them. Colgate said, "Scootaloo, we need to go to Sugarcube Corner. This is usually when most of my reserves are having their mid-day get together. Let's get going."

Colgate and Scootaloo flew over to Sugarcube Corner and walked in. Given that Colgate has only went there when there are threats to Equestria everypony looked up at her with concern. Applejack got a worried look on her face and asked, "Whoa-nelly, what is going on for you to be here?"

Colgate replied, "We will discuss that at the meeting over at the base. Applejack, I need you to gather the rest of your family and go over there. Rainbow, Fluttershy, I need you to come with me to go get Brevity and Luna. You two are my fastest fliers and we need to get them back here ASAP. The rest of you, go over to the base and await our return. It should be twenty minutes max."

Rarity asked, "What happened? Did Twilight somehow reform?"

Colgate replied, "No. I will inform you all at the base. Come on, let's get going."

Fluttershy asked, "So who will we be going to get first?"

Colgate replied, "We will go get Brevity first. Then we will go get Luna. Come on, chop-chop."

With the sense of urgency Colgate seemed to be in the two Alicorns realized that they had no time to waste. They followed Colgate outside and waited for her to cast the necessary spells. Once they got outside they faced the west as Colgate began to recite the necessary spells.

She started out by reciting the 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." She then recited the spell to 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."

Time was now frozen and everypony outside the bubble was frozen in place. Colgate said, "Alright everypony, let's get going."

All three began to flap their wings with a furious pace. They had to be careful not to break the sound barrier though, which both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could do way too easily if they didn't remain focused. Finally in what was three minutes they could see Alicorn City in the distance. Colgate ordered them to stop so she could restart time and undo the time bubble.

She started by reciting the spell to 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." Time outside the bubble resumed and all movement continued. She then recited the spell to undo 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."

Now the bubble was gone and they felt a light breeze blowing in their faces. Colgate said, "Come on, we need to get to Alicorn City and notify Brevity of what is happening."

The three sped with great haste to Alicorn City. Brevity was out on her balcony having a mid-morning snack when the three landed in front of her. Brevity looked up and asked, "Colgate, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, what brings you three here?"

Colgate replied, "We will discuss this later, we need to get to Maredrid, pick up Luna and then head back to Ponyville. Some unexpected events have happened and an emergency meeting is necessary."

Brevity asked, "Colgate, couldn't you just drop Brevity off in Ponyville and then you three go to Maredrid and get Luna?"

Colgate replied, "Brevity, that would use up and extra minute or two and we have no time to waste. Besides, with you flying with us we can get to Maredrid much quicker."

Brevity seemed kind of frustrated but gathered around the other three Alicorns and Colgate cast the necessary spells. They decided to fly west and cross the vast eastern parts of the Equine Empire to get to Maredrid. The trip there was fairly quick as it took no more than five minutes. Luna was in her throne room visiting with some citizens who had stopped by to talk. There was a knock on the throne room door. General Black Night walked in with Brevity, Colgate, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Luna looked over and asked, "Colgate, what brings the four of you here?"

Colgate replied, "Luna, we have no time to waste. We need to get back to Ponyville as soon as possible."

Luna asked, "Colgate, can't you see I have company? I do not like to bolt out of here when I am visiting with my fellow equines."

Gray Hooves, one of the ponies Luna was chit-chatting with said, "Your majesty, I know that important royal duties come along. My brother and I can come back and talk at another time."

Luna asked, "Are you two sure?"

Gray Hooves replied, "Yes, it sounds important. You better get going."

Gray Hooves and his brother left the throne room and Luna asked, "Ok, what is it that brings you here and why the hay is it so urgent. There hasn't been anything truly threatening happen in this world in over 3,000 years."

Colgate replied, "Alright, it involves Lemon Hearts and Lyra and something that happened close to your border with Saddle Arabia."

Luna's attitude changed quickly and she said, "Alright, let's get to Ponyville. We need to make a plan of action."

Colgate smiled as Luna gathered around the four. Colgate again cast the necessary spells and they sped off to the west. Five minutes later they landed in Ponyville at the base where Colgate cast the proper spells so they could start the meeting. Colgate was pleased to see that all her reserves and her entire military were standing at attention. Colgate headed up to the front and said, "At ease."

Everypony became at ease and Colgate continued, "I am sure all of you are wondering why I have brought Queen Luna and Goddess Brevity here for a military meeting on such short notice."

Brevity replied, "Actually yes, Brevity is wondering why you have done this."

Colgate motioned for her and Luna to fly up to the front stage. They flew up to the front stage and Colgate continued, "Alright everypony, events have unfolded in Saddle Arabia that must be addressed. I was scanning the world a few weeks ago and I saw Lyra and Lemon Hearts having a meeting in Ridead."

Applejack asked, "Alright but why is that so important?"

Colgate cleared her throat and continued, "Well, they had already had a meeting in Prancington and Lyra has begun to modernize her army and she is dead set on forcing Lemon Hearts to do the same with her's. Once they got to Ridead Lyra pretty much took control of the meeting there. Her and Lemon Hearts sent their generals and their grand princes up to the border with the Equine Empire to allegedly inspect some fence."

Luna asked, "Oh and what did they do when they were up near their border with my country?"

Colgate continued, "Well before they left I saw Lyra talking to the officers to kill the grand princes up at the border and blame Luna's forces for it. That is exactly what they did. They spent three weeks up there doing basically nothing except talk about how things would be if they ran their countries and graze."

Brevity asked, "So have they killed the grand princes yet?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, they did less than an hour ago. The grand princes decided it was time to head home. The changeling officers covered them in ooze and the dark Alicorn officers fried them to death with energy. It is my belief that Lyra put them up to killing the grand princes. Lyra has become bloodthirsty and is threatening Lemon Hearts with a hostile takeover if she doesn't do exactly what she says. My guess is that once the officers get home, they will notify both Lyra and Lemon Hearts and both nations will declare war on the Equine Empire."

Fluttershy asked, "What does that have to do with Equestria and Alicorn Island?"

Luna interrupted, "Fluttershy, back when all of us were allies we signed a treaty that if one nation was attacked, it would be as though all of us were attacked and we would go to war. If this happens, each nation needs to be ready to go to war to aid the nation that was attacked."

General Dark Night raised his hoof and asked, "Colgate, when do you want Scootaloo, General Lightning Storm and myself to start preparing our forces for war?"

Colgate replied, "Tomorrow morning immediately after breakfast. Luckily we won't have any dragons or dark goddesses to face up against but still, I want us to be prepared for the war of our lifetimes."

Brevity asked, "Colgate, when will be going home and when will we need to start preparing our forces for the upcoming war?"

Colgate replied, "Immediately after this meeting. Regarding when you should start preparing your forces, I would say tomorrow morning. Luna, you might want to make plans on relocating your capitol if Saddle Arabian forces do indeed cross your border. Maredrid is dangerously close to that border."

Luna threw her hooves up in the air and asked, "Where am I supposed to relocate my capitol to?"

Colgate replied, "That is up to you but I would suggest Marescow. There are a couple of mountain ranges that separate it from the border and conditions there are colder than what Saddle Arabian forces can handle from October through late April. Now let's get going."

Luna replied, "Ok, Marescow it will be, only if it is necessary."

Colgate, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Brevity and Luna gathered around Colgate as she cast the necessary spells to take the two leaders back home. In what was thirty minutes Colgate, Fluttershy and Rainbow took the leaders home and returned to Ponyville. It was still a few hours before supper so Colgate thought she would watch over what was going on in Ridead. She believed that the officers over there would arrive home and notify their leaders before supper time, so she would have plenty of time to keep an eye on things.

Author's Note

Colgate's dark Alicorns

General Dark Night
Colonel Black Mist
Major Frigid Wind
Captain Black Ice
Lieutenant Dark Crystal

Changelings

General Lightning Storm
Colonel Green Toxin
Major Deadly Cloud
Captain Green Storm
Lieutenant Southern Haze

Lyra's Grand Prince
Grand Prince Silver Star

Lyra's dark Alicorns

General Black Rocks
Colonel Stone Gray
Major Rock Crusher
Captain Steel Seas
Lieutenant Gray Mist

Changelings

General Green Eyes
Colonel Blue Streak
Major Green Death
Captain Fly Wings
Lieutenant Black Haze

Lemon Hearts' Grand Prince
Crescent Moon

dark Alicorns

General Black Feet
Colonel Iron Hooves
Major Black Iron
Captain Dark Hooves
Lieutenant Thunder Hooves

changelings

General Green Cloud
Colonel Sticky Ooze
Major Green Poison
Captain Deadly Ooze
Lieutenant Chryso

Luna's dark Alicorns

General Black Night
Colonel Dark Rocks
Major Black Seas
Captain Gravel Crusher
Lieutenant Night Sky

Changelings
General Green Waters
Colonel Choking Mist
Major Dim Sun
Captain Dark Rage
Lieutenant Steel Wrath

Brevity's officers
General Green Star
Colonel Stargazer
Lt. Colonel Moonrise
Major Starry Skies
Captain Moonlight
Lieutenant Soaring Skies
Invisibility----"Whether it be one or a bunch of ones, nopony needs to see so that we don't have to flee, invisibility is the treat of not having to retreat."

Visibility---"The unseen shall now be seen, with their friends being present, hiding only shows resent, those who have disappeared shall now appear."

Duplication---"From one to two, two to four and so much more, when one is simple mere, more and more shall appear."

Banish to void--- "You have committed treason and that is not in season, you are a threat to me and I simply can not let that be, I can no longer be annoyed so you shall be cast into the void."

Loyalty spell---"From another to me, that is where your allegiance will now be, you thought your old commander loved you like pie when all they wanted was for you to die. With me all shall be great, there shall be no hate."

Giving drones a mind of their own---"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."

Unbanish---"The one who has been banished has done their time, they are now forgiven for their crime, their time has come, now they need to contribute some, it is Equestria that they must serve or into the spiral of the void they shall curve."

Transform unicorn to Alicorn--- "The unicorn who has no wings is bound to the ground, they can not really get around, their smarts are great yet without flight they will be late, with these wings they will be great and they shall never have a bad fate."

Transform multiple unicorns to Alicorns--- "The unicorns who have no wings are bound to the ground, they can not really get around, their smarts are great yet without flight they will be late, with these wings they will be great and they shall never have a bad fate."

Transform Pegasus to Alicorn---"The one who can fly likes to fly free desires the powers that allow the unicorn to be, he/she wishes so much to levitate and create, rather than berate, for the winged one now has magic, without that it would be tragic."

Transform Earth Pony to Alicorn---"The pony without magic or flight is in a bind, for they feel like they have fallen behind, they work themselves to death, even to their very last breath, for now with magic and wings, great things shall be what life brings."

Increase size of pony---"The small one wishes they were tall so that they won't have to crawl, with height their future is bright and everything will be alright, for the small one is small no more, with height their happiness shall be galore."

Mature pony--"The innocent pony is unsure of who she wants to be, that may be cute but it is not what is good for me, she needs to mature if she is to be strong for without maturity she won't last for long, the naive one shall be so no more, for her maturity will carry her into lore."

Strengthen Armor---"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."

Activate Jade Alicorn---"The jade Alicorn will help me see all, without it I might miss a brawl, while the distances are great, I can see all the hate, wisdom is what comes along with the eye so that overthrowing me nopony will try."

Hurricane spell--- "The nice weather must come to an end, for without a storm the enemy will not bend, the wind shall be strong and my enemies won't last for long, a hurricane is a must so the tyrants will sink and go bust."

Fixing spell--- "The city was devastated by a storm, which is not the norm, their suffering is great yet we can not allow normalcy to be late, the city must be restored to the way it was before so they can pay taxes like they did before.

COLGATE'S SPELLS

Unlock---"The door is locked, but from me my information is blocked, a lot of learning I have to do, but with this locked I won't have a clue, now the door is open for me and infinite knowledge for me shall now be."

Lock---"Right now the door is not locked, from others the information is not blocked, the others must not be allowed to learn, for this is not theirs to earn, the door is now closed for all but me because infinite knowledge is not free."

Shatter Armor---"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."

Return Blue sky---"The sky is purple which is ok for some, but it just makes me numb, for I miss the way it used to be, blue is beautiful to me, the normal sky shall be back and everything will return on track."

Drain pony---"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."

Change eye blue---"The green eye is not for me, for blue is what it shall be, the evil shall be banished as the good can not vanish, what shall return will be an eye of blue as it is the perfect hue."

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."

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."

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."

Release Brevity Thrash--- "She was banished long ago, but her power she will not forego, it is revenge she wants, it is her sister she shall taunt, for Brevity Thrash shall return once more and be more than just long lost lore."

PINKIE'S SPELL

"The changeling's power is good, but not great, they can fire ooze but not enough to make their foes lose, for them to be great, they must fire bolts of hate, the energy shall be strong so their enemies won't last for long."

Battle Plans

Nearly four hours after the assassinations of the grand princes Lyra and Lemon Hearts' generals and colonels arrived back in Ridead. Lemon Hearts greeted them with a scowl on her face and asked, "Where are Crescent Moon and Silver Star? Why didn't they return with you?"

Lyra walked up next to Lemon Hearts and asked, "Was there some sort of accident, do we need to send rescue forces out after them?"

Colonel Stone Gray replied, "Well it would be more of a recovery crew. We were attacked by Equine Empire forces and they killed the grand princes."

Lyra got this sadistic grin on her face as Lemon Hearts broke down crying. She cried, "Why would they do that? We never did a thing to them."

Lyra patted Lemon Hearts on the shoulder and asked, "Lemon Hearts, so what do you want to do? Personally I would classify this as the Equine Empire declaring war on both our nations but what do you think?"

Lemon Hearts went from crying to screaming, "I will crush them! Luna wants a war, she's got a war! Alright troops, we need to prepare for war. We need to hurry up and get a real fleet built so we can invade them by sea."

Lyra said, "Lemon Hearts, once you get your fleet built I do think you need to attack them along their west coast. Also, I think you need to send forces north across the border and attack Maredrid. If you take their capitol, it will be a crushing blow to their morale and it will make the rest of the country ripe for the taking."

Lemon Hearts asked, "So what are your plans? Am I going to have to do this alone?"

Lyra replied, "No, I will send my carriers north and invade the eastern part of the country. If we can take both sides of the nation, they will be surrounded and in the end they will have no choice but to surrender."

Lemon Hearts asked, "But what about Luna? She could easily teleport out of there. She would probably teleport to Equestria. What if she went there, enlisted Colgate and her massive army and sailed across the Alicorn Ocean and invaded?"

Lyra replied, "Lemon Hearts, by then you will have a powerful enough army to drive any Equestrian force out and since I will have forces occupying the eastern part of the country, we will be fine."

Lemon Hearts said, "Well you better get back home and get ready for battle."

Lyra nodded and her and her officers headed back home. Once they got far enough out to sea Lyra started celebrating. She started jumping up and down on the deck shouting, "Yes, yes, yes! We got our war! Soon the economic queens will be gone and the world will be MINE, ALL MINE!"

General Black Rocks asked, "I'm glad you are happy my Queen but what about Lemon Hearts, she will have part of the world too."

Lyra replied, "Oh once we have taken care of Luna, Colgate and Brevity we will then take Lemon Hearts down and the whole world will be under the control of Queen Lyra Heartstrings!"

Her officers decided to let her celebrate yet they all had a sick feeling in their stomachs because they knew that Lyra didn't have anywhere near the knowledge of advanced magic of their new foes.

In Ridead Lemon Hearts was very angry yet at the same time she was still in a state of shock. Her changeling General, Green Cloud, walked up to her and asked, "Lemon Hearts, nopony ever saw this coming. Do you think anything that happened at the summit earlier this year may have provoked this?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "It very well could have. Lyra and I were very angry over the way the economic conditions around the world were going. All three of them were angry but Luna seemed to have this bad attitude towards me, well that is how I felt anyway. Long story short, yes, I think that may have caused it."

Green Cloud asked, "Are there any other plans of action you think we should take besides heading north and attacking Maredrid?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "Yes, there is. This will be taking a page from the days of old but I do think that the remaining dark unicorns we have should march north and attack Stalliongrad."

Green Cloud asked, "Why Stalliongrad?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "It is a city of almost entirely earth ponies. Yes they do have a few dark unicorns there as well but it is also where a lot of their most significant and regal artifacts lie. That city has been cherished for many, many millennia, dating all the way back to not long after that country was founded. That would KILL their morale."

Green Cloud said, "I like your way of thinking, that would be a great way to take the country."

Lemon Hearts motioned her general to the dining hall as it was getting late. She said, "Come on general, I'm sure the other officers are waiting. It is getting late and none of us have eaten since noon."

Eight days later Lyra's ship returned to Prancington and Lyra saw something that made her extremely happy, a whole fleet of thirty carriers, thirty strong steel and titanium carriers. When they docked Lyra flew over to the carriers and inspected each one. They were built even better than she could have imagined. When she arrived at her palace Major Rock Crusher approached her and asked, "Your Majesty, I take it you like the fleet?"

Lyra hugged her major and replied, "Major Rock Crusher, they are better than anything I could have ever imagined! Now I can duplicate our forces many times over and once we do some training exercises, we can set sail and invade the eastern part of the Equine Empire, which will be easy to take since it is sparsely populated."

Rock Crusher asked, "I know you have big plans my queen but aren't you worried about sailing into Alicorn Island waters? If Brevity catches us sailing into her waters she will probably have every single resident there launch a massive attack on us."

Lyra replied, "Good point. We will pull our ships ashore beyond eye sight of Alicorn Island and begin taking over the Equine Empire from the southeast and move northwest."

Rock Crusher asked, "How many carriers of soldiers will we be taking to invade the Equine Empire?"

Lyra replied, "We will be taking probably 18. The other 12 we will be using to launch aerial assaults on the coastal cities of Equestria. That way we can take care of two enemies at once."

General Black Rocks overheard this and asked, "Uh your Majesty, are you sure it is the best idea to attack Equestria right now. They do have the most advanced military in the world and Colgate is the most knowledgeable military commander not just in the world now, but maybe even in the history of the world."

Lyra spread her wings wide casting Black Rocks in her shadow and growled, "So, you're on HER side huh? I should drag you down to the base and KILL you to remind everypony what happens to backstabbers."

Rock Crusher said, "Queen Lyra, we do need to prepare our forces more if we are to take on Equestria. They are far more powerful than the Equine Empire and besides, Colgate has that eye she scans the whole world with."

Lyra grunted, "Oh you're right. I shouldn't be getting ahead of myself."

In Maredrid Luna decided she better address her citizens. She stood out on her balcony where the city's residents had gathered. She started, "My friends, my family, I have some very bad news that will affect us all. There has been an assassination on the south side of our border with Saddle Arabia. While it was an inside job on the part of Neigh Zealand and Saddle Arabia, we are being blamed and our friend over in Ponyville, Supreme Commander Colgate, believes that we will most likely have war declared on us."

A concerned citizen raised his hoof and asked, "Luna, what does all of this mean?"

Luna replied, "Given that our city is very close to the border it means that all of us will have to relocate until this threat has passed."

Another pony in the crowd asked, "Where would we move to?"

Luna continued, "Well Colgate seems to think that Marescow would be a good temporary location. It is well fortified and two mountain ranges separate it from the border."

Another citizen asked, "Will there be enough housing there for all of us?"

Luna smiled and replied, "Of course there will be. I will simply use my magic to create more, and whatever damage our enemies do when they come here I can easily fix it, so don't worry, after this war is over our wonderful capitol will be restored and our lives will return to normal."

Another citizen asked, "When will we head up to Marescow?"

Luna replied, "We will be spending the next week relocating. We do have sufficient transportation methods to take us and our belongings up there. For now I think we need to remain calm. I have everything covered."

After that the crowd dispersed and headed home. Luna headed into her throne room and seemed a bit irritated. General Black Night said, "Your Majesty, I know in the end everything will be ok. If you have to you can always transform into Nightmare Moon and take on our foes."

Luna's ears perked up and she replied, "Damn General, you're right. I totally forgot about that. I guess when you haven't had to do that in several millennia, you completely forget about it. Thanks for reminding me."

In Ponyville Colgate had called a meeting with Scootaloo and her officers. She began to tell them about how Lyra was discussing launching aerial attacks on Equestria's coastal cities. Scootaloo said, "Wow, Lyra seems to be overconfident if you ask me."

Colgate replied, "She is being over confident. She is sitting there thinking that she is invincible. Little does she know that besides us having a vastly more powerful military, that I have discovered a material that when coupled with some powerful magic, that I could obliterate Neigh Zealand if I wanted to do so."

Lieutenant Dark Crystal had heard of legends that a powerful substance known as uranium existed in trace amounts in the hills around Ponyville. He asked, "Colgate, is it the uranium that you discovered?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, it is. Over the last century I have went out and mined some of it on my own. Why did I do this in such a secretive manner? I did so because I didn't want it in anypony's hooves except my own."

Scootaloo asked, "So what would happen if you used uranium with a powerful beam of energy?"

Colgate replied, "The combination of the two would result in the most powerful, destructive and deadly explosion of all time. For it to work, I would have to put enough energy into my magic to split the uranium atoms. After the splitting of the atoms, radioactive fallout would spread over a large area. If Neigh Zealand attacked and I had to use it on them, I could render that place uninhabitable if I used enough of it."

Major Frigid Wind got a terrified look on his face. Just like with how vicious she was in killing Twilight's brother with a hypercane, he realized that Colgate was willing to take war to a whole new level. Colgate could see the fear in his eyes. She asked, "Major, what is wrong? You act like you are the one I will unleash my wrath upon."

Frigid Wind asked, "Regarding this fallout, will it kill everything within a certain distance from the detonation of it and how will you know if it will work? Wouldn't you need to test it first?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, it will kill everything within a certain distance. It would depend on how much of it I use. I will be testing my nuclear spell on the uranium in the arctic north, where the Crystal Empire used to be. That way it should be far enough away that no fallout will reach inhabited areas of Equestria. Alright everypony, let's call it a night. I'm getting tired."

Everypony left the throne room in a very nervous mood. Colonel Green Toxin was talking to Scootaloo. He asked, "Commander, does it scare you that she is wanting to use a weapon of this magnitude?"

Scootaloo replied, "I am. I am very scared. It isn't just the incredibly destructive power of it but what if the fallout were to do something really bad, like tear a hole in the fabric of the void unleashing all the villains that Twilight had banished or even worse, what if it somehow caused Twilight and her allies to reform?"

Green Toxin replied, "If that is the case, then we will be in for a war that could destroy the entire planet if her nuclear spells don't destroy it first."

Scootaloo nodded and suggested that they stop talking about it so Colgate doesn't hear them and punish them. While everypony headed home Colgate was up in her bedroom contemplating how destructive the uranium weapon would be if she had to use it. She was thinking to herself, "If I use that and Lyra sees the destructive nature of it, she will go from being bloodthirsty to being petrified and once I capture her and drag her back here she will be thrown into the void forever!"

Author's Note

Colgate's dark Alicorns

General Dark Night
Colonel Black Mist
Major Frigid Wind
Captain Black Ice
Lieutenant Dark Crystal

Changelings

General Lightning Storm
Colonel Green Toxin
Major Deadly Cloud
Captain Green Storm
Lieutenant Southern Haze

Lyra's Grand Prince
Grand Prince Silver Star

Lyra's dark Alicorns

General Black Rocks
Colonel Stone Gray
Major Rock Crusher
Captain Steel Seas
Lieutenant Gray Mist

Changelings

General Green Eyes
Colonel Blue Streak
Major Green Death
Captain Fly Wings
Lieutenant Black Haze

Lemon Hearts' Grand Prince
Crescent Moon

dark Alicorns

General Black Feet
Colonel Iron Hooves
Major Black Iron
Captain Dark Hooves
Lieutenant Thunder Hooves

changelings

General Green Cloud
Colonel Sticky Ooze
Major Green Poison
Captain Deadly Ooze
Lieutenant Chryso

Luna's dark Alicorns

General Black Night
Colonel Dark Rocks
Major Black Seas
Captain Gravel Crusher
Lieutenant Night Sky

Changelings
General Green Waters
Colonel Choking Mist
Major Dim Sun
Captain Dark Rage
Lieutenant Steel Wrath

Visibility---"The unseen shall now be seen, with their friends being present, hiding only shows resent, those who have disappeared shall now appear."

Duplication---"From one to two, two to four and so much more, when one is simple mere, more and more shall appear."

Banish to void--- "You have committed treason and that is not in season, you are a threat to me and I simply can not let that be, I can no longer be annoyed so you shall be cast into the void."

Giving drones a mind of their own---"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'S SPELLS

PINKIE'S SPELL

Invasion of the Equine Empire

Two weeks had passed since Lyra headed home and Lemon Hearts had put her troops through intensive exercises. It was a calm morning in mid-July in Ridead as Lemon Hearts addressed her troops. She said, "Alright troops, the time has come. Luna had her forces killed Crescent Moon and now she must pay. Black Feet, Green Cloud, you guys are to sail north and attack Maredrid. Once you get there, cover everypony in ooze, destroy it and leave none alive. Then you sail northward up the coast, do the same to every other city and once you hit Braylin, leave the ships in their shipyard and fly to the northeast."

Black Feet asked, "Why would we do that?"

Lemon Hearts growled, "Because that will take you to Marescow. I am certain that is where Luna will take her beloved citizens, well the ones that get out alive anyway. Once you get to Marescow, kill everypony, destroy the city and bring me Luna's head on a platter."

One of the changelings laughed, "But your Majesty, what if we can't find a platter? Would it be ok if we brought it in a bowl instead?"

Lemon Hearts' eyes began to shine a bright white, she fired a powerful bolt of energy at the soldier and incinerated him. She stood up on her balcony and shouted to her troops. "THIS IS SERIOUS BUSINESS. THAT IS WHAT HAPPENS TO IDIOTS WHO TREAT THIS LIKE IT IS A GAME."

General Eternal Darkness asked, "What about us dark unicorns? What do you want us to do?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "I want you guys to march to Stalliongrad. It is a heavily fortified city and while it is mostly earth ponies, they do have a few dark unicorns of their own. Marching in there full force may result in many losses so what I want you to do is surround the city. This will cut off their supply lines and eventually they will run out of food and starve. THEN move in there and raise our flag."

One of the dark unicorns asked, "Your Majesty, please don't get mad at me for asking this but what will we do for food."

Lemon Hearts' eyes began to shine white and with her voice dripping with sarcasm, she replied, "Oh your majesty, please don't get mad at me for asking this, but what will we do for food?" She then glared at him and continued, "What the hay do you think you will eat. You will eat the same crap you will be eating on the way up there, you will graze on the available vegetation. GOOD GRIEF, DO I HAVE A MILITARY FULL OF IDIOTS?"

Her forces looked stunned because she had never been this ill-tempered. She then shouted at them, "TO WAR, TO VICTORY!" She then motioned for them to go on their missions, all except for a thousand soldiers she was keeping in Ridead in the event they were to be invaded.

Up in Maredrid Luna stood on her balcony in front of a concerned city's residents. She started, "Ok everypony, I think the time has come that we must, for now, retreat further north. I love it here as much as all of you do but we are very close to the border with Saddle Arabia. Our city will be their first target."

A citizen in the crowd asked, "Queen Luna, where will be relocating to?"

Luna replied, "We will be relocating to the city of Marescow, way up north. It is a well fortified city plus there are three mountain ranges between here and there. Saddle Arabian forces are not used to the cold and flying through such frigid regions should kill a decent portion of them."

Another citizen asked, "When will we be leaving?"

Luna replied, "Today. I want you to grab only your most prized possessions, one item per pony and get to the passenger train. The whole evacuation will take four to five days so it will be a matter of who gets to the train first. We have to get going, now."

The citizens dispersed, headed home and grabbed their one prized possession. Very soon a line of ponies was waiting at the train station waiting for the train to leave. Luna saw this and had a sense of nervousness about her and her officers could tell it. General Black Night stood next to her and asked, "Your Majesty, you seem awfully nervous. Why is that?"

Luna looked down at him and replied, "Well General, I am nervous because I'm not sure if we will be able to get everypony out of here before Lemon Hearts' forces get here. Many of them are earth ponies and can't just fly out of here or use magic to defend themselves."

Black Night asked, "I am assuming that both dark Alicorns and changelings will be invading?"

Luna replied, "Yes, they will be. It isn't so much the dark Alicorns I'm worried about, it is changelings. The changelings of the world are much tougher and more resistant to energy than they used to be thanks to Pinkie's spell that made them so."

Black Night scratched his head and replied, "I don't get it. What do you mean?"

Luna replied, "Well a little over 4,000 years ago when Colgate was educating those who were Twilight's friends to defend Equestria against the then dark goddess, Pinkie Pie, one of Twilight's old friends discovered a spell to strengthen changelings. Well she cast it on their changelings and since every changeling alive today descends from those, they are much more durable than the ones that Chrysalis had."

Black Night nodded and they watched over the events going on to make sure that there was no fighting among the ponies as to who would get on the first train out of town.

Two days had passed when roughly half of the city's residents had left. However, half of the city's residents remained as the enemy forces' target was within sight. Out at sea General Black Feet addressed his troops. He said, "Alright troops, you see that city on the skyline? That is Maredrid, our first target. We need to go in there, kill everypony and level it."

One of the changelings asked, "General, do we really have to kill all of them? What about the foals? Couldn't we just capture them, send them down to Ridead and have Lemon Hearts brainwash them?"

This enraged Black Feet. He shouted, "WHAT? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" He lowered his voice and continued, "Look, we are to act with no mercy and what the hell is a changeling doing having these kinds of thoughts anyway? You are a weak link. We can't have weak links around here!"

Before the changeling could react Black Feet fired a powerful beam of energy and incinerated him. He glared at the rest of his troops and said, "Is anypony else here a softy? Anypony else have these stupid, foalish feelings?"

Black Feet finished, "Alright, half of us, including half of the officers, myself included, will remain here in the ships in the event we are wiped out. After all, we need forces to continue on northward."

They shook their heads and readied themselves for the battle. Finally they docked and flew into the unaware city. Luna and her officers were walking out in the streets as another trainload of ponies pulled out of the station and headed north. Green Waters, Luna's changeling general, looked off to the west and saw dark Alicorns and changelings invading the city and firing energy to destroy buildings. Luna shouted, "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! EVERYPONY GET SOMEWHERE SAFE!"

Colonel Iron Hooves led the forces into the city and shouted, "Cover them in ooze and kill them troops! Leave none alive!"

Luna ordered her troops to take to the sky to fight the invading forces. While the changelings and dark Alicorns on both sides were beginning to fall, Luna began wiping Lemon Hearts' invading forces out. While she and her forces continued to fire, enemy forces had begun to kill the residents of the city and level buildings. Finally Luna was having trouble flying and using her magic as she was covered in ooze. She shouted, "Somepony help me, I'm caught in ooze!"

General Black Night shouted, "I'm coming your Majesty!"

Black Night fired a calm beam of energy to melt away the ooze. Luna shouted, "The city is lost, we need to get to Marescow, NOW!"

Black Night asked, "What about the residents of the city your Majesty? We can't just leave them to perish."

Luna looked down and saw many, many corpses and saw buildings continue to be leveled. She began to cry and shouted, "IT'S TOO LATE! THEY'RE ALL DEAD. UNLESS WE WANT TO JOIN THEM, WE MUST GO, NOW!"

Luna and all of her officers took off towards the north. They knew it would be a long journey to what would become the new capitol so once they were out of eyesight of what remained of Maredrid, they slowed down so that they would not use all their energy at once.

In Maredrid almost every building was leveled while the palace, given that it was built quite well, sustained only minimal damage. Black Feet flew to the top of the castle, lowered the Equine Empire flag, burned it and raised the Saddle Arabian flag. He shouted, "VICTORY! IN THE NAME OF SADDLE ARABIA, IN THE NAME OF LEMON HEARTS, MAREDRID IS OURS!"

While victory was being celebrated in Maredrid, several hundred miles to the east an army of dark unicorns crossed into the Equine Empire. General Eternal Darkness looked back at his troops and said, "Ok troops, we are in enemy territory now. Stay extra alert, we could get attacked at any time."

His troops shouted, "YES SIR!"

The general nodded and they continued their northward march. In Ponyville Colgate was watching all of this and realized that she must send forces to the Equine Empire to stop Lemon Hearts' advancing forces. She looked over at Scootaloo and said, "Commander, we must get to the base. We need to put our forces through high intensity exercises. They must be duplicated and we need to send forces to the Equine Empire."

Scootaloo asked, "Why? Is Saddle Arabia invading them?"

Colgate replied, "Yes Scootaloo, they are. Let's get to the base, now!"

They flew down to the base with great haste. Once they got there the army stood at attention. General Dark Night, who has served Equestria for over 4,000 years asked, "Colgate, you have a serious look on your face. What is going on?"

Colgate said, "At ease soldiers." She cleared her throat and continued, "Alright troops, I have some very bad news. I have been watching through the eye and Saddle Arabia has invaded the Equine Empire. They have already taken over Maredrid."

Dark Night asked, "Colgate, what happened to Queen Luna? I know that is their capitol."

Colgate continued, "Well luckily Luna and all of her officers were able to escape. Also, she had already got half of the city's residents out of town but the other half was mercilessly killed in the invasion. Now they will continue to sail north and attack coastal cities while an army of dark unicorns is marching northwards towards Stalliongrad."

Dark Night asked, "When do you want me to have them ready? Would two days be enough time to get them adequately ready?"

Colgate replied, "You must have been reading my mind. I will duplicate them in two days time and they will head to the coast and set sail eastward to stop the Saddle Arabian forces and hopefully run them back down into their own country."

Dark Night and Scootaloo immediately started having their forces engage in the proper exercises while a nervous Colgate flew back up to her bedroom. Luna was a dear friend of hers and she did not want her nation to fall. She laid on her bed contemplating not only the plan of action to save the Equine Empire but what to do in the event that Equestria were to fall victim to an attack or invasion.

Author's Note

Colgate's dark Alicorns

General Dark Night
Colonel Black Mist
Major Frigid Wind
Captain Black Ice
Lieutenant Dark Crystal

Changelings

General Lightning Storm
Colonel Green Toxin
Major Deadly Cloud
Captain Green Storm
Lieutenant Southern Haze

Lyra's Grand Prince
Grand Prince Silver Star (DEAD)

Lyra's dark Alicorns

General Black Rocks
Colonel Stone Gray
Major Rock Crusher
Captain Steel Seas
Lieutenant Gray Mist

Changelings

General Green Eyes
Colonel Blue Streak
Major Green Death
Captain Fly Wings
Lieutenant Black Haze

Lemon Hearts' Grand Prince
Crescent Moon (DEAD)

dark Alicorns

General Black Feet
Colonel Iron Hooves
Major Black Iron
Captain Dark Hooves
Lieutenant Thunder Hooves

dark unicorns

General Eternal Darkness
Colonel Killer Mist
Major Dark Death
Captain Storm Force
Lieutenant Crushing Death

changelings

General Green Cloud
Colonel Sticky Ooze
Major Green Poison
Captain Deadly Ooze
Lieutenant Chryso

Luna's dark Alicorns

General Black Night
Colonel Dark Rocks
Major Black Seas
Captain Gravel Crusher
Lieutenant Night Sky

Changelings
General Green Waters
Colonel Choking Mist
Major Dim Sun
Captain Dark Rage
Lieutenant Steel Wrath

Brevity's officers
General Green Star
Colonel Stargazer
Lt. Colonel Moonrise
Major Starry Skies
Captain Moonlight
Lieutenant Soaring Skies

Invisibility----"Whether it be one or a bunch of ones, nopony needs to see so that we don't have to flee, invisibility is the treat of not having to retreat."

Visibility---"The unseen shall now be seen, with their friends being present, hiding only shows resent, those who have disappeared shall now appear."

Duplication---"From one to two, two to four and so much more, when one is simple mere, more and more shall appear."

Banish to void--- "You have committed treason and that is not in season, you are a threat to me and I simply can not let that be, I can no longer be annoyed so you shall be cast into the void."

Giving drones a mind of their own---"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'S SPELLS

PINKIE'S SPELL

The Arrival and the Departure

Early in the morning after the fall of Maredrid an exhausted Luna and her officers finally arrived in Marescow. She and her officers landed in the city square. At first the citizens were terrified when they saw an Alicorn with numerous changelings and dark Alicorns land in their city until a filly from Maredrid ran up to her.

"Queen Luna! Are you ok? What happened to Maredrid?" asked the filly

Luna had a sad look on her face and replied, "I am sorry little one, but those who were unable to evacuate were killed and the city was leveled to the ground."

The filly began to cry and asked, "Even Aunt Tulip and Uncle Anvil?"

While Luna did not personally know the two she could tell by the filly's question that they had not evacuated when the attack occurred. Luna leaned down, nuzzled the filly and replied, "I'm sorry, but they did not survive the attack."

She grabbed of Luna's hoof and held on to it tightly and cried harder and harder. Very soon her parents, Misty Mae and Cactus Joe came running to the sound of their daughter's cries.

Misty Mae said, "Primrose, you leave Queen Luna alone. I'm sure she has bigger issues to worry about than your crying."

Luna interrupted, "Ma'am, your daughter is crying because her aunt Tulip and uncle Anvil were unable to evacuate before the attack and were killed by enemy forces. Her sadness is important to me."

Primrose's parents ran to their daughter and Luna hugged all three of them. Luna said, "I know there are many here who are going through the same situation as you three are. I need to address those who relocated here."

Luna flew up to the balcony of the ancient citadel that rose from the city's center and began to address the crowd. She started, "Citizens of Marescow, refugees from Maredrid, I want you all to know that the city of Maredrid has been attacked, everypony who was unable to evacuate has been killed and the city has been leveled."

When she said this a lot of ponies in the crowd began to cry and comfort one another. Luna saw this and continued, "Alright everypony, I want you to know that I am here for you. If you need to talk, come to the ancient throne room in the citadel and discuss things with me. Right now I can't do much but comfort you."

While the refugees and Marescow natives who lost family in the attack were distraught, they knew that eventually Luna would find a way to help them anyway she could.

Two days had passed and in Ponyville Colgate's forces were ready to head to the coast and set sail. Colgate stood before her troops and said, "Alright troops, an ally and a very dear friend of ours needs our help. I am going to duplicate ALL of you. I am going to do this because we need forces both here and to drive Saddle Arabian forces back into Saddle Arabia."

General Dark Night asked, "Colgate, so where are we going to make landfall?"

Colgate replied, "Well I have been listening in on their conversations and the final city their forces plan on attacking by sea is Braylin. That is where you guys will be setting sail for. We should arrive there before they do. That way, we can ambush them before they can do much damage and prevent them from heading to Marescow."

Dark Night asked, "Colgate, will you be going with us?"

Colgate replied, "No. I am sending Commander Scootaloo with you guys. Don't worry, she has an immense amount of military knowledge and she possesses very powerful magic, almost as powerful as my own."

Scootaloo stood there stunned. She never imagined that Colgate would put her in charge of a full scale invasion. Scootaloo asked, "Colgate, can I say goodbye to my friends and family before we leave?"

Colgate replied, "Sure, just make it quick because I want you guys to set sail before nightfall."

Scootaloo nodded and headed over to Sweet Apple Acres. Everypony was in the barn enjoying lunch. She went running to them and said, "Goodbye everypony."

Applejack spit out her cider and asked, "What do you mean by goodbye sugar cube?"

Scootaloo replied, "Well Lemon Hearts launched a full scale invasion of the Equine Empire. Colgate has put me in charge of a mission in which we will sail to Braylin and lay in wait to attack Saddle Arabian forces when they get there."

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom ran up to her. Apple Bloom asked, "Scootaloo, why are y'all saying goodbye for. You're acting like you're not coming back."

Sweetie Belle added, "Yeah, you act like you're going to get killed."

Scootaloo replied, "What if I do?"

Applejack said, "Now don't you worry Scootaloo. Your power is great, your knowledge of how opposing forces work is immense. Just use your energy, keep your troops well disciplined and everything will be just fine."

Scootaloo hugged them and said, "Well I better get back over to the base. Colgate said to make it quick and you know how she gets when somepony is late. Instead of good bye, how about I say see you guys later."

Applejack replied, "Now that's better. See y'all later."

Scootaloo nodded and flew back over to the base and was met by a surprised Colgate. Colgate said, "Wow, that was quick. I know I said to make it quick but I didn't expect you to be back this quickly."

Scootaloo replied, "Well the sooner we get going the sooner we can liberate the Equine Empire."

Colgate said, "Now that's why I made you the commander so long ago. You have the initiative to go get things done."

Colgate looked out at her troops and continued, "Alright troops, I need you all to stand out in that field. I need to duplicate you."

Colgate motioned for her forces to go to the field and once they got there she 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."

Suddenly there were twice as many officers as there were before. Scootaloo asked, "Colgate, I am taking the duplicates with me, right?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, they are the ones who will be going with you."

Scootaloo looked at the soldiers and said, "Those of you who are duplicates, follow me. We need to get to the coast as soon as possible. Colgate wants us to set sail by nightfall."

Scootaloo and the duplicates flew off to the east. Colgate felt like a proud parent as her commander led the duplicate soldiers off to the east. General Dark Night asked, "Colgate, aren't you worried that something might happen to her?"

Colgate replied, "General, I know you are concerned about her but she is tough as nails and isn't the type of pony to make dumb decisions. Besides, I have taught her many spells, the armor spell being one of them, so I am thinking everything should be fine. Troops, you are dismissed. It is time for lunch anyway, officers, let's go grab a bite to eat."

Five hours later Scootaloo and her forces landed out at the shore where three ships sit there waiting. Colonel Black Mist asked, "Scootaloo, what are we going to do for food and water? I highly doubt those ships are already stocked."

Scootaloo replied, "We are going to have to pick these plum bushes empty. The voyage to Braylin is a four to six day journey depending on the weather. Luckily these plums have enough juices in them that they will keep us hydrated. Before we start stocking the ships, let's eat a few of them. I'm hungry after that long flight."

Scootaloo and her forces spend around thirty minutes eating and then spent two and a half hours picking the plum bushes clean so they would have adequate food for their journey. Finally right as the sun was setting they finished. Scootaloo said, "Alright troops, let's get going. Board one of the ships, let's raise our anchors and let's get going!"

Right as the sun dipped below the horizon Equestria disappeared from the skyline. Scootaloo looked back and said to herself, "Colgate, I won't let you down and Equestria, I promise to return."

It was right after supper in Ponyville as Colgate was watching them set sail to the east. Colgate said to herself, "Good job Scootaloo, you set sail exactly on time. I take this as a good sign."

Author's Note

Colgate's dark Alicorns

General Dark Night
Colonel Black Mist
Major Frigid Wind
Captain Black Ice
Lieutenant Dark Crystal

Changelings

General Lightning Storm
Colonel Green Toxin
Major Deadly Cloud
Captain Green Storm
Lieutenant Southern Haze

NOTE: Since the changelings and dark Alicorns that Colgate duplicated for Scootaloo to take to the Equine Empire, the officers will have the same names since duplicates are EXACT duplicates.