//------------------------------//
// The Fall of Ridead 
// Story: Terror in Equestria 6:  The Great War 
// by StormLuna 
//------------------------------//

After three days of resting in Maredrid Luna and Scootaloo decided the time had come to go through with the invasion.  Scootaloo was really hoping to conquer Ridead soon as there was little food in Maredrid and never being completely full was starting to irritate her.  She said, "Alright Luna, I am going to duplicate my troops.  The duplicates will stay here while you, my forces and I will take flight as soon as possible."

It was mid-morning when Scootaloo addressed her forces.  She started, "Alright guys, today we begin our offensive against Saddle Arabia.  However, we must leave forces here to protect Maredrid and the Equine Empire in general."

General Dark Night asked, "Does this mean we will be duplicated?"

Scootaloo replied, "Yes general, it does.  I need all of you to gather together."

Her whole army of changelings and dark Alicorns gathered in the town square.  Standing up on the balcony with Luna, Scootaloo's horn began to glow and she recited, "From one to two, two to four and so much more, when one is simple mere, more and more shall appear."

She fired the energy and suddenly her army was twice as large as it was before.  Like what happened when Colgate duplicated her forces, there are now two of each soldier and two of each officer.  Scootaloo shouted, "Alright, those of you who are the originals, follow Luna and I.  The duplicates need to stay here and hold down the fort."

The duplicate Dark Night asked, "But Commander, what are we going to eat, there isn't a ton of food around here."

Scootaloo replied, "Well you might have to go back to eating the way ponies did in the ancient days, grazing in the fields outside of town."

One of the changeling soldiers asked, "What about us changelings?  What are we supposed to eat?"

Scootaloo replied, "Well you might have to graze as well.  Yes I know changelings aren't exactly fond of grass and brush, but you might have to deal with it."

Luna interrupted, "Changelings, as much as it pains me to say this, you may just have to eat the corpses of the dead here.  I know you guys prefer meat.  You have my permission to do so."

Scootaloo was shocked by this.  She said, "Luna, you would simply have them eat the corpses of your citizens?  What has gotten into you?"

Luna glared at her and replied, "Look Scootaloo, you are the one who is in such a hellfire hurry to get going."  Luna paused and looked out at their soldiers and said, "Originals, follow us, duplicates, stay put."

Luna and Scootaloo took to the skies and headed south.  All of Scootaloo's original forces followed them.  Shortly before noon they crossed the border into Saddle Arabia.  Scootaloo looked back at her forces and shouted, "Alright troops, we are in enemy territory now, keep your eyes open, be alert and most of all, be ready to attack if we encounter enemy forces."

In Ridead Lemon Hearts was in her throne room meeting with her new officers.   She said, "Alright officers, while we have sent forces to conquer the Equine Empire, I could see Luna being dumb enough to think she could invade us at the same time.  And naturally, if they do invade, since we aren't overly far away from the border, we would be the target."  Lemon Hearts paused for a minute and then continued, "So boys, if we are invaded what do we do?"

Her new dark Alicorn general Dark Skies replied, "We attack them with full force and wipe them out."

Lemon Hearts smiled and said, "That is correct."  She then asked in a more stern voice, "And what if Luna is accompanying them instead of defending her own keep?  What do we do with her?"

Her changeling general, Green Skies replied, "We cover her in ooze and bring her to you to deal with."

Lemon Hearts got a huge grin on her face, started jumping up and down like a school filly and replied, "YES!  Now I know why I made you and Dark Skies generals!  It is because you two are so bright!"

This kind of irritated the other officers but they knew better than to say anything because not only would Lemon Hearts punish them, their superior officers would punish them as well.  Lemon Hearts looked off towards the dining hall and said, "You know something guys?  It is time for lunch.  Let's go grab a bite to eat."

While Lemon Hearts and her officers were enjoying a lavish, filling lunch Scootaloo, Luna and their soldiers landed in a field and were eating the only thing they could find, which was brush, grass and a few berries from the bushes that grew in the area.  Luna scowled at Scootaloo and said, "This meal is the embodiment of disappointment.  Couldn't you have found a better place to land for lunch?"

Scootaloo growled, "Look Luna, this whole area does not have much in the way to eat.  It is either we eat grass, brush and these berries or we starve.  You should be glad that there is a small lake here as well.  This isn't Equestria where you can find great food almost anywhere."

Despite Luna having ruled in Equestria at the past she was rather irked by that statement as she felt that Scootaloo was saying that Equestria was superior to every other country.  She glared at her fellow leader and replied, "Oh, so are you saying that Equestria is better than everywhere else in the world?"

Scootaloo replied, "No, I am not saying that.  I am simply saying that the climate here is not conducive to the growth of apple trees or other plants that produce nutrient rich fruits.  Now let's hurry up and eat.  It is still a two day flight to Ridead."

Luna was really beginning to have her doubts about Scootaloo.  She knew that she was basically a carbon copy of Colgate when it came to war and world issues.  She truly felt that once things were over, that Scootaloo and Colgate would want it all.  Finally around mid-afternoon they took off towards the southeast towards their final objective.

Two days later Luna, Scootaloo and her forces see Ridead on the horizon.  Scootaloo orders them to stop and land.  Once they land Scootaloo addresses them, "Alright everypony, off on the horizon is our target.  We shall fly no further today as we will need to be well rested and completely alert for this attack."

This time they had landed by an apple orchard and a good sized lake.  Lieutenant Dark Crystal said, "Wow, these apples look so tasty.  It is about time we find some good food in this country."

Luna added, "Thank you for having us land here Scootaloo.  With the way your mind works, I thought you would have just sped straight into the city full force without much rest and with little to eat."

Scootaloo replied, "Well we aren't attacking until tomorrow after breakfast.  After breakfast tomorrow I shall duplicate our forces two times over, with the exception of the officers.  That way we should have twice as many soldiers as Lemon Hearts has there protecting the city."

Luna suggested, "Scootaloo, I do have a suggestion.  Would you let me handle Lemon Hearts?  She respects me more and will be more likely to talk to me than you."

Scootaloo realized that Luna just wanted to coddle Lemon Hearts like international law dictates.  She replied, "Luna, whoever gets to her first will be the one to handle her.  If you get to her first, you can go ahead and coddle her like she is your precious little daughter.  If I get to her first, she will be treated like any other threat to Equestrian security would be treated."

Luna shouted, "SCOOTALOO, SHE DIDN'T EVEN INVADE EQUESTRIA!  SHE IS NOT YOUR ENEMY!"

Scootaloo laughed, "Oh you're so funny Luna.  Let's just relax, enjoy our food and once night falls, get some sleep.  There is no need to stress out over how an enemy leader is treated upon capture."

Luna decided to drop it and get some rest.  Her and Scootaloo continued to be kinda cold towards one another for the rest of the time they rested.  Finally night fell and almost everypony fell asleep except for Luna and Scootaloo's changeling colonel, Green Toxin.  Luna, despite being tired, looked like she was getting ready to fly off to Ridead when she was stopped.

Green Toxin stood in her way and asked, "So where do you think you're going?  What are you going to do, go warn Lemon Hearts of our coming?  Go and capture her so she can be coddled like a small child?"

Luna replied, "Colonel, don't you see anything wrong with how brutal Scootaloo is?"  She paused for a minute and continued, "I know about how brutal she was to Black Feet before she killed him.  Yes I know Lemon Hearts needs to be punished, but I don't think she needs to be tortured."

Green Toxin stared into Luna's eyes and made her even more tired.  After this Luna continued, "You know colonel, perhaps I should stay here with you guys and wait, I'm just so tired."

The colonel nodded and eventually both he and Luna fell asleep.  Finally dawn arrived and in Ridead Lemon Hearts and her officers were sitting down to breakfast.  Dark Skies looked at Lemon Hearts, smiled and said, "Wow, oats, bacon, eggs and orange juice.  You are so good to us my queen."

Lemon Hearts blushed and replied, "I don't know why you're saying this this morning when this is what we always eat, but thank you nonetheless."

Dark Mane, her dark Alicorn captain asked, "Your Majesty, do you think we have anything to worry about regarding an invasion by Luna?"

Lemon Hearts had been asked this numerous times by her officers and regular soldiers in the past couple weeks and she was finally fed up with it.  She shouted, "NO, I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!  WOULD ALL OF YOU JUST DROP IT?"

Her captain replied, "I'm sorry.  I won't ask again."

Lemon Hearts put her hooves on her head and just sighed.  While she was putting forth the attitude that there would be no chances of an invasion she had a sixth sense that she was trying to ignore telling her that all her forces she sent to the Equine Empire were dead and that an invasion was being planned.

Colonel Steel Armor could sense her stress and asked, "Your Majesty, you seem quite stressed.  Is there anything that any of us could do for you?"

Lemon Hearts sighed, "Yeah, could you guys just let me have some alone time?  I just need to do some deep thinking."

Her officers headed out of the dining hall and let Lemon Hearts have her alone time.  While she continued to eat her meal she thought to herself, "What the hay am I going to do if Luna does invade?  My power is nothing compared to her's.  I would just have to beg for mercy."

Back out where Scootaloo's troops had landed to rest yesterday they were finishing their breakfast.  Scootaloo was licking her chops as she was finishing the last of what had been five apples.  Luna could see in her eyes that it wasn't the juices of the apples that was causing her to do that.  Finally Scootaloo looked off to the east and addressed her troops.  She started, "Alright troops, the day has come.  Today Saddle Arabia falls and will, for the time being anyway, be jointly held by Equestria and the Equine Empire."

Luna interrupted, "What?  Jointly held?"

Scootaloo replied, "Yes, jointly held.  After all we are doing this together.  Besides, Colgate will see this happening and will then do what she thinks is best here."

Luna growled, "Oh, and what do you think that will be?"

Scootaloo smiled and replied, "I know what she would want.  She would want us to have Lemon Hearts covered in ooze, have me torture her to get information out of her and then haul her to the dungeon until the time comes to transport her to Alicorn Island."

Luna sighed, "Whatever Scootaloo."

Scootaloo told her forces, excluding the officers, to gather together so they would be sure and have sufficient forces for the attack.  Once they were gathered together Scootaloo cast the duplication spell on them a couple of times so they then had twice the number of soldiers that Lemon Hearts had.

Before taking off, Scootaloo whispered to her generals, "Follow me into the palace.  We are taking Lemon Hearts.  She must be punished for what she has done."

Her generals agreed to her plan.  Scootaloo looked back at her troops and shouted, "TO WAR, TO VICTORY!"  She then motioned for her forces to follow her into the city and they took off.

In Ridead Lemon Hearts was standing on her balcony looking off to the west when she saw what appeared to be a swarm of insects heading towards the city.  General Dark Skies, who has better eyesight than her shouted, "We're under attack!  This orange Alicorn and Luna are leading forces into the city!"

Lemon Hearts and her generals then ran back into the palace knowing that their time of being free will most likely end soon.  Lemon Hearts shouted, "Follow me to the bunker guys.  With as strong as the door to it is, they shouldn't be able to capture us."

While Luna and the soldiers were starting to take out enemy soldiers Scootaloo and her generals flew into the palace through the open entrance to the balcony.  Dark Night asked, "Scootaloo, where do you think her and her generals are hiding?"

Scootaloo replied, "They most likely went to her basement bunker.  Let's get down there.  Our forces are making quick work of her army and we can not have Luna getting to her first."

Outside the palace Scootaloo's forces decimated Lemon Hearts' forces in less than twenty minutes.  Luna then took flight towards the open balcony.  She was bound and determined to get to Lemon Hearts first.  She figured that since she knew the layout of the castle, that she would easily be able to acquire her.

After twenty-five minutes of searching Scootaloo finally found her way down to the bunker.  She was kicking on the door but was unable to get it open.  Inside Lemon Hearts was with her generals cowering in fear in the back corner of the room.  Dark Skies asked, "Lemon Hearts, who do you think is trying to break in?"

Lemon Hearts, her voice now trembling replied, "We-well I h-hope it is Lu-Luna.  She will b-be less harsh."

Outside Scootaloo was quickly getting angry.  Finally she decided she would just vaporize it.  She began to glow a bright orange, her eyes were shining a bright white, her horn was glowing and she fired a powerful bolt of energy at the door, blasting it open.  Luna saw the orange glow and ran towards it.  It was too late though, Scootaloo had got into the bunker first.

Scootaloo said, "Lightning Storm, cover them in ooze."

Lightning Storm covered the three in ooze and as Luna entered the bunker Scootaloo started laughing, "Well, well, well, what do we have here.  Why it is the tyrant Queen Lemon Hearts my dear!"

Scootaloo then picked up Lemon Hearts with her magic and slammed her up against the wall.  She motioned for her generals to surround her while she decided to take care of Lemon Hearts' generals.  Luna shouted, "Scootaloo, stop!"

All this did was irritate Scootaloo so rather than say anything to them she fired powerful bolts of energy at them until they were dead.  When she turned around Luna was angry.  She shouted, "SCOOTALOO, WHAT DID WE AGREE TO?"

Scootaloo laughed, "Luna, I was the one who got to them first.  Therefore, I decide their fate."  She then looked at her generals and ordered, "Come on boys, let's get our little queenie to sing just like Black Feet did."

Luna rolled her eyes and headed back upstairs.  Lemon Hearts shouted, "Scootaloo, what the hay did you do to Black Feet?"

Scootaloo replied, "You will soon find out."

Within five minutes Scootaloo and her generals had Lemon Hearts tied to a gurney and Scootaloo had plenty of water ready.  She asked, "So Lemon Hearts, do you wish to tell me what you have done regarding your forces or do I need to force you to tell me?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "Ok, I will tell you.  I sent forces into the Equine Empire.  I sent dark Alicorns and changelings up the west coast to seize and destroy the cities there."

Scootaloo replied, "No worries there.  My forces and I destroyed every last one of them in Braylin."

Lemon Hearts growled, "And I sent an army of dark unicorns to surround and starve out the ponies of Stalliongrad."

Scootaloo interrupted, "Don't worry, they're all dead too.  Anything else?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "Well that is all I did as far as military action goes."

Scootaloo asked, "What about Lyra?  What are her plans?"

Lemon Hearts was scared of Lyra so she flat out refused to say anything about her plans.  Once she did this Scootaloo began to waterboard her just like she did with Black Feet.  After ten minutes Scootaloo stopped the waterboarding and asked, "So Lemon Hearts, what plans does Lyra have?"

Lemon Hearts decided to just tell her to stop any further torture.  She replied, "Well she was saying something about taking 18 of her carriers and invading the Equine Empire and then using 12 of her carriers to launch attacks on Equestria.  But I have a feeling she won't attack the eastern part of the Equine Empire at all.  She has a lot of hate towards Colgate and will likely use all 30 of them not to just attack coastal cities, but to launch a full scale invasion."

Scootaloo stared into the very soul of the fallen queen and could tell that she had told her the truth.  Scootaloo said, "Alright Lemon Hearts.  Lead us to one of your carriers.  We are taking you to Alicorn Island.  There you will be held until this is all over and the victorious leaders can deal with you."

While Scootaloo led Lemon Hearts to the carrier, back in Ponyville Colgate was watching all of this and was very pleased with Scootaloo's performance.  She said to herself, "Wow Scootaloo, you did an amazing job."  She paused for a minute and then growled, "So Lyra wants to attack us huh?  Well it looks like the time has come to test my new weapon!"

While one part of the war had drawn to a close, a much nastier part of the war was about to begin, a part so nasty that it would transition the world into a new era of warfare completely.