Whispers started spreading around the room, and Celestia raised a hoof until all was silent again. "As tragic as this news is, I'm afraid the bad news does not end there. The attack was carried out by Mareitania. A Mareitania that has fallen under the control of a previously unknown alicorn named Faust, who has manipulated the leadership of Mareitania into not only forgetting the kinship and friendship our two countries briefly enjoyed, but has also succeeded in turning them utterly against us here in Equestria. She has made her intentions against Equestria, and furthermore the world, very clear, and her abduction of the three bearers of Harmony is merely the first move in what can only be a prelude to war between our two countries."