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!"