The commander stood proudly at the fore of his ship. No Americans were even daring to approach them, cowed by the presence of so many vessels, no doubt. He smiled with a soft snort. "We'll run them over and claim these islands. They'll make a fine platform for striking at their mainland." Others nodded in agreement, but most were busy working, keeping the ship moving.

He spotted something odd in the air. Rainbows? It wasn't a single rainbow, or a band of rainbows. It was as if the horizon was vomitting an uneven spray of rainbows, all coming from about the same place, but spreading as they went.

That was how it looked when a great cluster of medium-range missiles streaked at many times the speed of sound, reacting with the atmosphere and throwing off their wild colors. Each one had produced an envelope with the tremendous engine that powered each one, shielding them from drag as they screamed towards the hostile navy.

As fast as they were moving, they were coming from so far away that he had time to witness their terrible approach. "Oh... for.... Shields up. Shields at maximum!" He bellowed, turning and running for cover. "Brace for impact!"

The entire fleet began to glow as if competing with the brilliance of the oncoming attack. Their shields were raised high enough to be visible even when not being struck, angry shades of protective might.

Soldiers fearfully cowered. Were they being struck by world ending missiles? "So much for not using them," sighed out one.

As it turned out, they weren't. Not that it mattered. Humans loved a good explosion. It did not have to be nuclear to ruin their opponent's day. The first missile struck a ship in the second line of the formation with the force of tons of TNT. The sea itself heaved in objection. The shield sizzled before a mighty explosion ripped through the interior of the ship, the generator blown to pieces. The ship was exposed.

And so began the rain of fire. Missiles pounded down on them like an angry god was hurling fire from atop their mountain, determined to show its disapproval with a seemingly unending supply of ruination. Hawaii had plenty of land-based silos ready for the purpose, and meant to defend itself with the ferocity that far belied its small size. As vulnerable as it had appeared, its teeth sank deep into the invading force, tearing ships apart. Each shield could handle one such strike before collapsing, and there were plenty to go around.

In some cases, a single strike destroyed multiple ships if it happened to hit a clustered unit of de-shielded vessels at once.

They did not go entirely without a fight. Their weapons lashed out, forcing some missiles to detonate early, or even fall to the sea in uneven chunks, never getting a chance to express their explosive potential. It wasn't a complete annihilation, but it came close enough to not matter. Their mighty fleet had been reduced at least in half in one action.

The bulk of Hawaii's naval forces sat comfortably long out of visual range of their target. With the steady thumping of launching missiles, they bombarded a land target quite some distance away.

"Did you hear," asked one sailor to the next. "They tried to make a move on Hawaii while we're out here."

"Shit man. Why aren't we turning around then?"

The first clapped the second on the arm. "We lit them up like a Christmas tree. Those missiles aren't only for offense man."

The second laughed, realizing all was well.

Until an angry purple beam lanced right down the center of their great ship. Just like that, it began to sink, cut cleanly in half.

Great static emplacements, much like Hawaii's missile silos, had come online and began attacks that were more like lasers than bombs, if one could even imagine a laser with such frightful power and size as to be able to punch through tens feet of metal in an instant.

"Redirect fire, redirect!" They had computers, they could figure out where the enemy gun was, even without seeing it. "Targeting position..."

As tremendous as the ship-based shields were, the ones that protected a perfectly static station proved even mightier, shrugging off the first clumsy volley that wasn't even entirely on target. The beams kept coming, then from two places, another of these lumbering guns coming online and joining in the fun of dissecting American vessels.

A beam struck lucky, hitting the munitions. That ship didn't sink miserably into the water, it exploded in a brilliant spray of metal, then began to sink, burning, crew screaming.

Lighter and faster ships began to scatter. As powerful as the guns were, they didn't seem to be able to keep a lock on them from outside visual range. Any ship that didn't fire on the minotaurs wasn't lanced, implying they were backtracking from the incoming missile fire.

That day, both sides made it clear to the other; attacking en masse would have deadly consequences for the other. Neither homeland was without a means to defend itself from large craft that dared to approach.

"Dozens of EFC ships sent to the sea floor," bellowed out a fox waving a paper around excitedly. "Read all about it. TSDI defenses shine!"

"An attempted attack on Hawaii was stopped cold in its tracks," spoke a man looking towards the camera as a window showed the rapid firing of land-based missiles, rainbows erupting as they hit the required speeds.

A mare sniffled softly. "I'm sorry, um... In today's news, the war hit a tragic note... Countless fighters from both sides were sent to a watery grave..." She willed over a napkin to blow her nose into, tears flowing copiously. "So many poor creatures... I hate this!"

"You can't say that," hissed a voice from off-camera.

"I can and I will." The mare stomped a hoof. "I ha--"

The feed cut off with a technical difficulties banner.

Rason held his face in a hand. That had gone... poorly. In his eyes, it was his fault that the ships and their crews had suffered their losses. Hawaii had defended itself, that was good, but... Maybe he should have recalled the fleet... But how could he have known?

Ignorance was no excuse. "Damn it all..." Ignorance was the worst excuse. He should have pressed harder to have known.

If only there was a way to... He stood up suddenly. "There is..."

Chrysalis would never accept him as he was, but there was another... Loathesome though they were... they had joined with the ponies. They were EFC...

He took three large steps across the room and grabbed his phone with a rough grip. He smashed at it and the phone was soon ringing.

"Ooo, hello! Wow, you're the first person to call me. This is exciting!" came the almost juvenile joy of Thorax. "President of America? Hello!"

Rason rolled his eyes. God, they really were... Ugh, it wasn't time for being picky. "Thorax, I presume?"

"Sure is!" He could hear the fluttering of excited wings. "Hello!"

"I have need of your people. I need your best, cleverest, most serious changelings. They will be paid well, but they will also be in danger."

"Are you talking to the Americans like that?" came another voice, male, deeper. "They aren't smiles and rainbows, Brother. Get with it!" Another noise, the phone being grabbed. "This is Pharynx, what do you need?"

Rason liked the sound of this other changeling. They sounded almost... respectable. "Do you understand what war is?"

"This is Pharynx, head of the changeling patrol. I know what fighting is. I know what dying is. Don't look like that, Brother, ugh. Fighting does that. Anyway, yes, why?"

Rason's estimation of that particular changeling kept rising. "I need your best finding out the secrets of TSDI. I need locations of defenses, their variety, and everything else they can get their hooves on, and I need this yesterday. Can you do this?"

"Maybe."

Such bold indifference. "All agents will be well-rewarded for their service."

"That's cool..." Pharynx sounded almost uninterested.

"Pharynx, stop talking mean!" There was some noise, perhaps the phone being wrestled over, at least until Pharynx had his brother in an arm lock.

"So here's how it's going to go down," he resumed. "Any 'ling we sent better be paid good, sure, but we want something, as a country. Equestria's getting all the good stuff, we want it too, and we want it on America's coins. You promise that, and I'll get my best and brightest."

"I'll have to get approval, but accept my conditional agreement to those terms."

"Approval? I thought you were their king?"

"It's more complicated than that." Rason tapped at his desk, leaning against it. "If that proposal is denied, we'll find something to balance the scales, I promise that. You are a member of the EFC, supporting this is a promise you already made."

Pharynx hissed softly with the reminder that they were part of that defensive treaty. "Right, yeah... fine, we have a deal. Expect callbacks from not-this-number, right?" The line went suddenly dead.

Rason took a soft breath as he set the phone down. He had to have some faith in not-really-changelings to do a changeling's job... At least that Pharynx person sounded like they were serious about things.

Chrysalis marched in. They knew her, as a cat, and they did not challenge her as she went to her appointed place in the building to deliver vital intelligence.

The door slapped shut just as she walked into the room.

"You didn't warn us they could fight that way! Our shields were ready--" boomed the angry bull. "--to deflect anything up to and including our best, and they overwhelmed them with sheer brute force!"

Chrysalis smiled calmly at the incensed military bull. "The humans love their toys, especially the ones that explode. I didn't think I'd have to tell you the obvious. I suppose that's why they call people like me military intelligence, hmm."

"Don't you take that tone with me!" He drove a fist into the wall from the side, leaving a dent. "This is your fault."

"No it isn't, and screaming it doesn't change that, but, more importantly... I have news for you."

"Mm?" He was glaring at her, but curiosity kept his mouth closed.

"I can get you human bombs.... Their biggest... Their world enders... You could match them." She sauntered past the bull, hips swaying in a distracting way. "I have a friend that can make that happen, but you may not like her very much."

"If she can do that, I'd kiss her!"

"Mmm... no thanks. I'll settle for a promise that you'll be a polite boy and let her show you what she has."

"Yes, fine, she can display what she has." He threw an arm aside as the other gestured at the cat. "But this had better be good! We don't have time to go wasting it."

With a rush of flames, Chrysalis was revealed. "I wouldn't want to go doing that... I assure you, it will be quite worth it."

The bull's teeth clenched at the revelation that the cat he knew wasn't actually a cat. "I thought the changelings had join--"

Chrysalis was suddenly on him, one arm across his throat. "Those things are not changelings! No true changeling would join the EFC, really..." She drew back, huffing softly. "You just wait patiently a moment longer... I'll bring you what you need."

She could feel his fury, but also that smoldering hope. It was such a tasty little nibble. "I'll bring you deliverance, and we'll show our enemies how foolish it was to pick a fight they couldn't finish."

Chrysalis was allowed to walk out in her true form. No guns were fired, and not a hair on her insectoid head was put out of place. Word was already spreading. People were hoping, desperately, for her to be the answer they needed.

All according to plan.

Author's Notes:

We are getting close to that dark hour in the timeline.

I was amused at TSDI vs EFC vs Pony news coverage. Was it just me?

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