The world had just emerged from the worst war in the history of ponykind, a war which saw new, brutal interrogation methods, caused more civilian casualties than every other war before it put together and gave birth to a new era of horrific warfare. In Alicorn City Goddess Brevity Thrash, Queen Luna of the Equine Empire and Commander Scootaloo of Equestria were standing out on the royal palace's balcony talking amongst themselves about the recent events.

Scootaloo asked, "Brevity, I know you can sort of sense things that you can't see. What do you think is going on with the war in Neigh Zealand?"

Brevity replied, "Well Brevity senses that horrible, incredibly destructive spells have been used there. She believes that the war is over, Equestria was victorious and that Colgate will be bringing Lyra, if she wasn't killed, up here to answer for her crimes."

Just as soon as Brevity finished saying that she saw a fleet on the southern horizon sailing towards Alicorn Island. Brevity strained her eyes trying to figure out whose fleet it was. Once the fleet got closer she saw the Equestrian flag on all the carriers. She smiled and said, 'Well Scootaloo, it looks like Brevity was right. That is Equestria's fleet approaching us."

Thirty minutes later the fleet arrived at the port and docked. The first ponies to fly towards the palace were not Colgate and Fluttershy carrying Lyra. It was Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. The two looked up at the balcony and saw their friend up there. They immediately flew towards her.

Once they landed there Scootaloo ran to them and said, "Sweetie Belle! Apple Bloom! It has been so long! I am so happy to see you!"

The three engaged in a group hug and Apple Bloom asked, "Scootaloo, how did you feel when you captured Lemon Hearts?"

Sweetie Belle asked, "Was she begging for her life?"

Scootaloo replied, "Well I can't really discuss anything involving this until the court proceedings start. Since I captured Lemon Hearts and liberated the Equine Empire, I will have to share a lot of information that is currently classified."

Apple Bloom said, "Ah understand, I'm just glad you're ok."

Brevity looked at the three and asked, "Brevity takes it that you three are really good friends?"

Sweetie Belle replied, "Yes, we've been friends ever since we were little fillies over 4,000 years ago."

Brevity saw Colgate and Fluttershy levitating an angry Lyra out of the E.S.S. Colgate. Brevity said, "Come on ladies, it looks like Colgate may need our help with Lyra."

They flew down to the ship and when Lyra saw Brevity she shouted, "Oh YAY, it looks like I have to deal with the most narcissistic pony in the history of all ponies."

Luna shouted, "Lyra, just shut up and cooperate. It will make all of our lives easier."

Brevity just rolled her eyes and said, "Come on, let's get her into the throne room. Brevity wants to start this as soon as possible."

Twenty minutes later they had Lyra up in the throne room while Brevity went down to the dungeon to get Lemon Hearts. Once Lemon Hearts was taken into the throne room she immediately started shouting at Lyra. "You filthy wretch Lyra, I knew I shouldn't have went on with this stupid war you wanted so bad. This is all your fault!"

Lyra shouted back, "Nopony forced you to do this Lemon Hearts....."

Brevity interrupted, "Would you two shut up!"

This was the first time that the international court had to be used so nopony exactly knew how things should proceed. Given that she was the only pony with judicial experience, Luna suggested that she should be the judge. Brevity did not agree with this. Brevity said, "Luna, yes Brevity knows you have judicial experience but you were one of the leaders who was affected by this war. It would be a conflict of interest for you to be the judge."

Luna knew that Brevity was right. She replied, "Ok, your right Brevity. While you are part of our alliance, since Alicorn Island was not affected by the war, it would be best for you to be the judge."

Lyra shouted, "NO! IT WOULD BE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST FOR HER TO BE A JUDGE TOO!"

Lemon Hearts added, "She is part of your alliance so she of course will be biased."

Brevity said, "Look, this is taking place on Brevity's soil so Brevity will be the judge, got it?"

Lyra and Lemon Hearts were not happy but knew that there was nopony else who could handle the proceedings. Brevity addressed everypony, "Ok, Brevity wants to have this operate differently than a regular court proceeding. Brevity thinks it is better if it is more like a regular conversation than a rigid court proceeding."

Colgate replied, "I agree, it will make things much easier."

Everypony involved in the war, not just the leaders but commanders and officers gathered around a large round table and started things off. Brevity started, "Lyra, Lemon Hearts, Brevity remembers you two storming out of the tri-millennial summit. What sorts of things did you discuss on the way home?"

Despite both of them being defendants and being on the losing side, Lyra and Lemon Hearts hated each other by this point so neither one would have issues testifying against the other. Lemon Hearts replied, "Well Lyra kept going on and on about how both Saddle Arabia and Neigh Zealand need to modernize and have militaries more like the allied nations do."

Brevity asked, "Alright, but what led to things going the way they did?"

Lyra replied, "Well I took her down to Prancington to meet my officers, my grand prince and talk about the formation of a military alliance."

Lemon Hearts interrupted, "We did but I feel like I was forced to do it!"

Brevity shouted, "ORDER! INTERRUPTIONS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN INTERNATIONAL COURT."

Lyra continued, "Well after she met my officers and grand prince, her, my generals, my grand prince and my self sailed up to Saddle Arabia."

Brevity looked at Lemon Hearts and asked, "Lemon Hearts, what did she talk to you about once you two got to your capitol."

Lemon Hearts replied, "Well I introduced her to my officers and grand prince. One thing that really irked me though was that she kept on threatening to come invade Saddle Arabia and take it for herself if I refused to modernize my military and explore my land for natural resources."

Brevity asked, "Did anything in particular happen during your stay there Lyra?"

Lyra replied, "Not really. I do remember us sending our grand princes and officers up to Saddle Arabia's border with the Equine Empire to fix some fence."

Brevity asked, "Why did you do this? Shouldn't it have been Lemon Hearts who sent personnel up there to work on the fence."

Lemon Hearts was quickly becoming agitated. She shouted, "I should have but she just had to run the show. I saw her talking secretively to our officers before sending them out. Then three weeks later, the officers come back and tell us the grand princes had been killed by Luna's forces." Lemon Hearts paused for a minute, pointed her hoof at Lyra and shouted, "I THINK SHE TOLD THE OFFICERS TO KILL THE GRAND PRINCES AND BLAME IT ON LUNA'S FORCES SO I WOULD DECLARE WAR."

Luna glared at Lyra and asked, "So Lyra, are Lemon Hearts' accusations correct?"

Brevity added, "Remember Lyra, lying about this is a crime in itself."

Lyra rolled her eyes and replied, "Yes, what she is accusing me of is correct. I wanted this war, I wanted to force the three rich nations to spend resources on a war, I wanted them to lose military personnel, i wanted them to suffer civilian casualties."

Brevity looked at Lemon Hearts and asked, "So Lemon Hearts, Brevity assumes you did declare war. Is that correct?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "That is correct."

Brevity looked over to Colgate and asked, "Colgate, Brevity knows you have that eye you can see all using that eye. What did you see regarding the invasion of the Equine Empire?"

Colgate replied, "Well she ordered one part of her military to move up the west coast of the Equine Empire, destroying each city and killing as many civilians as possible."

Brevity glared at Lemon Hearts and asked, "Is that correct Lemon Hearts?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "Yes, it is. I will save Colgate some breath and admit to sending forces to surround Stalliongrad to starve them out."

Brevity said, "You know Lemon Hearts, for a pony who was initially so against war you sure gave your soldiers strange orders. You gave them the type of orders that a bloodthirsty commander would give, not a queen who was opposed to the war." She then looked at Colgate and said, "Continue."

Colgate continued, "Well when I saw her forces take Maredrid, I sent my own forces over there to intercept them at Braylin to prevent them from killing that city's residents, going up to Marescow and as Lemon Hearts put it, kill Luna and take her head back to Ridead on a platter."

Luna's eyes began to shine white and she aimed her horn at Lemon Hearts. She shouted, "YOU SAID WHAT? IF THIS WASN'T INTERNATIONAL COURT I WOULD KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!"

Brevity raised her voice and said, "Order! Calm down Luna, Lemon Hearts is answering for her crimes. No need to threaten her with death!"

Luna sat there with a scowl on her face while Colgate continued, "Well my forces did indeed stop them at Braylin. They were able to catch the Saddle Arabian forces off guard and massacred them. Scootaloo did quite a good job handling them."

Brevity looked over to Scootaloo and asked, "Commander Scootaloo, what happened in Braylin?"

Scootaloo replied, "Well when we arrived there I suggested that all the residents head further north, which after a bit of persuading, they did. When General Black Feet and his forces landed in the city they found that it appeared to be abandoned. So naturally they headed to the city hall to raise their flag. That is when I ordered my troops to attack. Like Colgate said, it was a massacre. We killed all of them except Black Feet, who I made sing like a canary!"

Brevity asked, "Sing like a canary? Could you elaborate on that?"

Scootaloo arrogantly continued, "Yes, I can elaborate on it! Well I asked him what Lemon Hearts' plans were and he refused to tell me so I decided to punish him to make him talk. First I beat him with chains and he still would not talk. I then slammed him up against a building using full force, still he would not talk. Then I decided to water board him. After quite a bit of waterboarding he finally sang like a canary!"

Lemon Hearts shouted, "WATERBOARDING? YOU MEAN LIKE WHAT YOU DID TO ME?"

Luna asked, "What the hay is waterboarding?"

Scootaloo laughed, "Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning." She paused for a minute and laughed, "I tell you, I had to waterboard him a lot to get him to talk."

Lemon Hearts shouted, "YOU MONSTER! YOU SHOULD BE TRIED FOR WAR CRIMES!"

Scootaloo laughed harder, "Oh my dear Lemon Hearts, there are no laws against using waterboarding as a form of enhanced interrogation."

Brevity said, "She is right. No form of torture is considered a war crime because since it has never been used before, it can not be punished. Now ordering the assassinations of two grand princes to start a war is, as is giving explicit orders to your soldiers to go kill citizens in specific cities."

Lyra asked, "So Brevity, what specifically does constitute as a war crime?"

Brevity replied, "Well, killing ponies based on what kind they are, ordering attacks on specific cities, manipulating other leaders into going to war in a case when they were initially against it and ordering the assassination of other high level officials to name a few."

Lemon Hearts broke down crying and said, "Fine, I'm guilty. I ordered attacks on certain cities, not just a whole nation in general."

Brevity said, "Well Lemon Hearts, since you admitted that you did commit war crimes, your sentence will be greatly reduced."

Lemon Hearts smiled while Lyra sat there with a scowl on her face. Brevity looked at Lyra and asked, "Lyra, you have pretty much admitted to committing war crimes when you said you did indeed order the officers to kill the grand princes to start a war. Do you wish to admit guilt? Your sentence will be greatly reduced."

Lyra, despite being angry, decided to concede defeat. Now it was a matter of what their punishments should be. The three allied leaders gathered in the corner of the room. Luna asked, "What do you think should be done with them. A lot of the ponies in my country were killed by them. I think they need to be executed."

Brevity replied, "Whoa Luna. Brevity told them they would get reduced sentences. Colgate, is there anything you can think of?"

Colgate replied, "Yes. I think that I should cast the most powerful loyalty spell on them possible. When I tested that nuke spell I tore a hole in the void. Queen Chrysalis already came and wooed some members of my military to join her up in the arctic. I think that if I can get them under my complete and absolute control, that they will be useful in our battle against Chrysalis and whoever else fell out of the void."

Luna shouted, "So you just want them to be free?"

Colgate glared at her and replied, "This would not be them being free. Physically they would be free but psychologically they would be under my complete and absolute control. I would send them into battles first, increasing the chances they would get killed. Does that make things better?"

Luna replied, "Fine. I agree to this."

Brevity added, "Brevity agrees to this as well."

The three walked back over to Lemon Hearts and Lyra. While the two were glaring at the victorious leaders Brevity said, "Lyra, Lemon Hearts, the three of us have decided that the punishment for you two will be aiding Colgate in any threats that may arise in Equestria."

Lyra looked shocked. She asked, "That's it?"

Colgate replied, "Yes it is. Now I need you two to get over in that corner if you know what is good for you."

Luna herded the two into the corner while Colgate stood in front of them. She began to glow a deep blue, her eyes were shining a deep blue, her cutie mark was glowing and her horn was glowing as she recited, "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."

Colgate's beam of energy was extremely powerful, almost as powerful as the energy she used to split the uranium atoms in the war. Like prior loyalty spells she used, the energy was absorbed into their bodies. After the energy was absorbed, the two stood at attention and said, "All hail Supreme Commander Colgate, our one and only leader!"

Colgate replied, "Good. Now we will have two more loyal soldiers to aid Equestria."

Brevity said, "Because of the way international law is Colgate, we all must stay here for two weeks to make sure the loyalty spells don't wear off."

Colgate replied, "Alright, well I was hoping to stay here for a little bit anyway so this works to all our advantage."

While Colgate did know that Equestria and Ponyville in particular had threats against them, she also knew that she could not violate international law. Doing so would result in her being tried and probably being imprisoned.

Author's Notes:

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