Twilight strode through the halls of her castle. It had been almost a month since she had returned to Terra and things had progressed to the point she was ready to engage the Ligers.

Behind her were four members of her old squad from the 5th SOG. Jazz, her spotter and fellow sniper had suffered a gender change as well as species, now in the body of a lithe unicorn mare with grey fur and a white mane. Not much had changed with her personality other than being more forward with males than the uber macho Special Forces community had allowed her when she was male.

Next to her was Heavyarms, their heavy weapons specialist. He was a large muscular man on Earth, and since coming to Terra, he was now an Earther, the same size as Big Macintosh, but with dark blue fur and a fiery red mane.

Then there was Dutch. Another that had to deal with changing genders, she was now a trim pegasus with a red coat and purple mane that was even more lethal in her ability at being their demolitions specialist thanks to her ability to fly.

Finally there was Reaper. He was an Earther as well, but shorter than Twilight, with dense muscles that added to his skill as their close quarters combat specialist.

Twilight had asked for them as her personal guard as she trusted them entirely, having spent years training and fighting with them.

All five of them were wearing body armor and armed to the teeth with their prefered weapons.

Heavyarms carried an M-240G with an ACOG optic mounted on the rail. Jazz and Twilight both carried their M-14 sniper rifles. Dutch was outfitted with an AA-12 automatic shotgun with a drum magazine. Finally, Reaper carried an MP-5. All carried a .40 Smith & Wesson semi-auto pistol as a secondary weapon.

All of them had a full combat load out of ammunition as well as flash and frag grenades.

The group soon entered the command center located deep in the center of the crystalline tree structure.

On the far wall there were several large monitors that were each split into six screens showing various elements of the strike force.

In front of those were five arcing rows of desks with analysts and controllers, receiving and passing on reports from the multitude of units that were advancing across the ocean.

“Status report!” Twilight barked out as she entered the room.

Starlight Glimmer, once a thorn in Twilight’s side, had flourished as her adjunct. The mare took to being in the military like a fish to water.

“All of our naval units are reporting in position. The guided missile cruisers and destroyers are in firing position and our guided missile subs are at launch depth. All are awaiting orders to commence firing. All fleet carriers are reporting that their wings are ready and awaiting orders to launch, all have Hawkeyes and four Hornets each flying recon patrols. Land based bombers are orbiting just off the coast with AWACS and their fighter escorts. Compass Call is reporting that their three aircraft are in position at their maximum altitude and are standing by to commence electronic warfare. Attack submarines are currently trailing all u-boat wolf packs that are currently at sea. All amphibious assault ships are reporting that their Apache and Cobra attack helicopters are loaded and standing by. Spectre and Spooky gunships are orbiting off the coast as well.” Starlight reported.

Twilight nodded. “Good. Send the word. OPERATION SHOCK AND AWE starts now.” She ordered.

Nearly four thousand miles from Ponyville, ships and aircraft began receiving orders.

Below the waves, torpedo tubes aboard the Los Angeles, Seawolf, and Virginia class fast attack submarines were loaded with Mk-48 CBASS torpedos. The sonar-guided torpedos were set in a standard search pattern and the fifty-five knot speed and nearly thirty kilometer range would mean that any ship caught by the would have little chance of outrunning the fish.

Firing solutions on all fifty-one boats were locked in for all of the targets that they had been trailing. Tubes were flooded and outer doors glided open. Targets and solutions were checked again.

The targets of the USS Colorado, the newest Virginia-class fast attack submarine, were sitting on the surface, charging their batteries with their diesel engines, making enough noise that the Colorado’s sonar operators had no trouble tracking them.

Some of the crew were on deck enjoying the fresh air, not realizing that a silent hunter of the deep was nearly a hundred meters below them.

Suddenly, one of the u-boats on the outer edge of the wolfpack exploded and lifted out of the water before crashing back down and sinking. Then in rapid succession, the other five boats of the group suffered similar fates, leaving nothing but burning oil slicks as evidence of their fates, their radio operators were unable to get off a message.

Five hundred miles off the coast of the eastern continent, four Ohio class guided missile submarines, twenty Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers, and ten Ticonderoga class guided missile cruisers moved into final position. Coordinates were checked and assigned to each of their missiles. Within minutes over a thousand Tomahawk cruise missiles were streaking towards their land based targets.

On the ocean wall, the Liger forces that were guarding the heavily fortified coast like from their bunkers and gun emplacements were shaken from their routines as strange objects screamed past less than a hundred meters overheard. The commanders of the batteries attempted to report the strange occurrence, but were unable to raise the higher headquarters due to the overload of the switchboards, that were destroyed mere moments later by thousand pound warheads. Communications attempts via radio was met with static on all channels.

The commanders looked at their staff with looks of growing panic. They were in the dark and had no idea what was going on.

In the air, swarms of attack helicopters approached the coast a mere two dozen meters off the water. Weapons offices tracked their targets with the cameras mounted in the noses of their Hellfire missiles. Once the targets were in range, the pilots slowed to a hover and the weapons officers fired the optically guided missiles, guiding them into the narrow opening of the bunkers.

Hundreds of missiles struck home, pressure waves liquefying the occupants and the heat and shrapnel destroyed weapons.

Each bunker received similar treatment. After all the bunkers were neutralized, the helicopters moved in and began systematically destroying anti-air guns, vehicles and tents with rocket and missile fire. The troops that survived were cut down by the chin mounted chain guns.

At ten thousand meters above, wings of B-52H Stratofortress and B-1B Lancer heavy bombers turned towards their targets. Within two hours, the targets that had been identified from satellite imagery and overflights by U-2Q Dragonlady reconnaissance planes were left smoking ruins by the two thousand pound JDAM payloads of the bombers.

Along the roads and highways of the eastern continent, military convoys were hunted down and destroyed by AC-130 Specter and Spooky II gunships. The strikes left few, if any surviving personnel to report that they were struck by demons from the skies.

Flying over the coastal defensive walls that were still smoking three wings of O/A-10C Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft headed towards known tank positions.

Within hours, the exhausted pilots would land at runways captured by special operations commandos reporting that all tank units that they had been able to find were routed.

In the hours after dawn, Navy Seabees and Army Sappers, partnered with EOD units from all branches of service were clearing the landing beaches and blowing holes in the walls to allow vehicles and personnel to advance inland.

Soon, every Abrams MBT, Bradley Fighting Vehicle, Centurion MBT, Stryker IAV, MRAP, HUMVEE, and Paladin self propelled howitzer would be advancing deep into the conquered continent.

Author's Note

Short, but given the technological disparity between Twilight's forces and what the Ligers have, a properly coordinated simultaneous strike on all fronts would completely destroy any and all ability to fight back, as well as destroying the moral of all but the most fanatical units.