War of The Gods

April 3rd

Southward City Harbor

The air was damp and salty and the hot afternoon sun was beating down on the six girls as they walked along the creaking wooden dock. They were far away from the bustling main harbor of the city, there were no large freighters here or a loud dockyard. Instead, they found themselves in an older and seldom-used part of town where the only boats present were half-sunk dinghies and old fishing trawlers. The inconspicuous and hidden dock was the perfect place for the girls to go for their seemingly top-secret mission.

"Are you sure this is the place, Twilight?" Rarity, a posh young woman with deep blue hair, said anxiously.

"Well it looks like the place," Replied Twilight, a bookish girl with violet-streaked hair tied into a bun. "And I don't think Princess Celestia would purposefully give us the wrong location," Twilight looked around at the dingy dock and town before glancing back at the piece of paper in her hands, adjusting her big round glasses "Unless we're at the wrong place," She said with a sigh.

"Ah don't see any planes 'round here," Applejack, a tall, blonde, and well-built farm girl exclaimed as she looked around nervously "Ah don't think anybody in their right mind would be down here, no matter the circumstance,"

"Maybe... No, I read the address right, maybe Princess Celestia gave us the wrong address," Twilight let out another sigh.

"Wait a sec," Rainbow Dash, in her gray officer's uniform, began"Where's Pinkie?"

"I'm back here!" Their friend with poofy pink hair shouted cheerfully from far away. The group turned around to find her almost at the opposite end of the dock pulling a giant wooden crate behind her in a little red wagon. "Just... Give... Me... A second!" She shouted as she strained with her cargo, moments later she had finally reached the group, faceplanting on the dock from weariness. A moment later she hopped back up cheerfully, brushing off her blue ballon-covered dress.

"Pinkie..." Twilight rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration "Did you really have to bring... That?" She gestured to the crate.

"Well," A smile stretched across Pinkie's face "I couldn't decide what type of cake I should make for the meeting. So I made as many cakes as I could make in two days!" She began listing them off on her fingers. "I made, vanilla cake, chocolate cake, strawberry cake, cheesecake, coconut cake, pineapple upside-down cake, bunt cake, double chocolate cake, and carrot cake! Then I combined them all into one big cake! I was gonna make an ice cream cake but it melted so-"

"Pinkie!" Twilight shouted, halting Pinkie's rambling "I don't think that crate's gonna fit on the plane,"

"Well it doesn't look like there's even gonna be a plane," Rainbow Dash complained, rubbing her face in frustration. Just then they were approached by someone, he was a young man in a pilot's uniform with a peaked cap and bomber jacket.

"Excuse me," He said, "I'm Captain Northwind, you're looking for your pilot right?" Twilight turned to face him.

"Yes sir,"

"Well follow me then," He turned and continued back where he came from, the six girls following as close as they could with Pinkie's heavy crate in tow. They followed him to the end of the dock where several soldiers stood outside a large metal door. Just beyond the pier and built into the cliff it ran along was a massive wooden gate that looked more like a boathouse gate than anything. Captain Northwind opened the door, holding it for the girls and their cargo before letting it close behind them with a boom. Behind the door was a cave strung with cables powering bright lights that hung from the roof. They were still on a wooden dock, lined with large tool cases, fuel drums, and other bits and pieces related to aircraft, men in army uniforms walked along the pier. The girls were shocked to see that in the water next to the dock was a rather large boat plane. The massive beast was silver with high wings holding four radial engines and a boat-like bottom, a bright sun painted on the fuselage to mark it as Equestrian. Two walkways led to the front and rear of the craft, holding the passenger and cargo entrances respectfully. "Alright, hand your gear to the boys and we'll get loaded and head off," Captain Northwind told them before boarding through the passenger entrance. The girls sat their luggage and large crate down next to the cargo ramp and started to board the plane. Accept for Fluttershy, who had been quiet the entire journey.

"A-are you sure we should be doing this?" She asked with a kindly yet nervous smile "I'm sure there's a much s-safer way of getting there that doesn't involve... Flying..." Something about the plane and the idea of flying in it elicited a sense of dread in the shy girl. Rainbow Dash walked back down the ramp.

"What's wrong Flutters?" she asked lovingly.

"Well, it's just... I've never flown before, a-and we've never gone this far away before... And I'm worried about the animals at home," She exclaimed anxiously

"Whoa there, Flutters, everything's gonna be fine, flying isn't that bad," Rainbow Dash told Fluttershy reassuringly.

"Yeah, and the Crusaders'll take real good care of the critters," Applejack proclaimed.

"And the plane's perfectly safe, nothing could go wrong,"

"Well..." Twilight was about to say something but Rainbow Dash cut her off.

"Twilight, do not say a word," Rainbow Dash said seriously. "Come on Flutters, flying's fun, you'll see,"

"Well... Ok," She started up the ramp with Rainbow Dash and all the girls boarded into the surprisingly spacious interior. There was a lounge, a viewing deck, a dining area, and even separate bunks.

"well this a real step up from the... Usual planes," Rarity said in reference to the military transports they normally rode in as she sat down in one of the couch-like lounge chairs lining the walls.

"Alright everyone, settle down and we'll start off," Captain Northwind called through the static-filled intercom. The group settled down in their seats, it was not long before each of the four engines rattled to life with low drones that were muffled by the plane's fuselage. The tall wooden gate crept open and the cables and ramps were pulled away, allowing the floating beast to roll out of its hiding spot and into the open waters. The pilot turned the plane east and started off over the water, picking up speed. It was not long before the plane finally lifted out of the water and began rising up into the sky. Each girl inside felt a mix of excitement and fear, Fluttershy clenching her eyes shut as tight as humanly possible. By the time the plane leveled out she had almost passed out from holding her breath the whole time. "You may now move around the cabin," Their captain called, all of the girls got up and left the cabin to the viewing deck just up a narrow staircase and watched the ocean below them as they left their familiar home for a new world.

April 3rd

New Richmond, Federal Republic of Dixie

Thatcher sat in his personal chamber, his only light being that of his bedside lamp and wood furnish television, which sat across from his leather recliner. He was leaning back, a cigar in his hand wearing only his sleeping clothes and red robes as he watched an old black and white John Wayne movie. He was jolted from his relaxed state by a knock coming from his office door.

"Hold on a moment!" He called with a groan he set his cigar in the ashtray next to his chair and got up. He walked from the bedroom to his office which was pitch black say for the dull glow behind him. He crossed the office, careful to avoid any of the boxes of files littered about the hastily assembled room, and found the worn-out light switch next to the door, he flipped it on and the room was bathed in the warmth of the old Edison bulbs hanging from the ceiling in a street lamp like fixture. Thatcher opened the splintering old door with a creak and found himself face to face with an officer in his mid-thirties, and from the silver oak leaf on his shoulders, this man was a lieutenant colonel. "Evenin', Lieutenant Colonel Hammond," He greeted in his smooth Mississippi accent

"Good evenin' to you too, Governor Thatcher," he said casually, a small smile on his mustache face. "I hope I'm not intrudin' on you, sir,"

"It's not a problem, I've seen The Alamo enough times," Thatcher scowled "But it is rather late, and I would like to finish my cigar 'fore I head off to bed,"

"Sorry then sir, but this is rather important," He reached into the pocket of his coat and produced a folded strand of telegraph paper, and handed it to Thatcher. "It's from a city called Canterlot, sir," Thatcher unfolded the piece of paper.

"Well, I reckon Canterlot's the capital of that nation our Super Pegasus had its little accident in," Thatcher looked it over. "Hmm," He reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out of half-lense reading glasses, putting them on. "Says here that they're sending six diplomats to Ravensburg," He chuckled "I guess they ain't got the news that we've changed the name of this little town to New Richmond,"

"Six ain't a small number, sir," Hammond said.

"No, it ain't..." Thatcher rested his back against the doorframe "Perhaps they want to talk about a bit more than that plane,"

"Perhaps it's the soldiers we have stationed there,"

"Well he had to do somethin'," Thatcher explained "We don't need 'em pokin' and proddin' around our equipment, no sir. And it's not like we could haul it back to the Vigilance on a Seahorse, we'd need at least an HT-98 to haul that thing off,"

"Perhaps an HT-18 even," Hammond interjected.

"Therein lies the issue, if we need one of those we'd have to send off to Old Richmond and order one to be brought it, we ain't got one here with us. Hell, we only got two T-18s!" Thatcher exclaimed aloud. "And six diplomats are still an awful lot, they must want somethin' more,"

"Perhaps an alliance," Hammond Proposed

"Perhaps, or they could want a piece of our pie here, this country's so big just about everyone would want a piece of it,"

"Yeah, it's about half the size of Russia, which still puts it as bigger than the mainland Confederacy. Who wouldn't want a piece of it, hell I imagine that just about everybody north, south, east, and west of us is itchin' for a bite,"

"Well we know that little country, North Zebrica is after some of it," Hammond told his superior with conviction.

"Don't remind me, not even a month here and we've had three raids down south from those savages, hell I've seen more civilized warriors in The Congo,"

"Evidently, their king ain't much of a king,"

"No sir," Thatcher stopped and looked over the piece of paper again "They left from a place called Southward CIty, I reckon that'll put them out 'til tomorrow," Thatcher stood straight up "Lieutenant Colonel," He began, causing Hammond to compose himself more seriously "I need you to tell them to put one of them land-ships out on the firin' range, and set aside a Cougar for tomorrow. Ya know, show 'em the might of the Confederacy, and have a platoon fresh and clean in the mornin' properly groomed, washed fatigues and pristine gear, have 'em clean their guns too,"

"Sir yes sir!" Hammond said with a salute before going off, only to be stopped by Thatcher immediately

"And another thing, have a telegram sent to Field Marshall Hughes in Memphis, I reckon they might be comin' by boat plane and I want him to greet 'em if so,"

"Sir yes sir," Hammond said with another salute before going off. Thatcher shut and locked the door, clicking off the office lights and returning to his bedroom, picking up where he left off on his cigar and finishing his movie.

April 4th

Memphis, Federal Republic of Dixie

"We're here!" Twilight excitedly called as she and her company looked out from the viewing deck, below them was the bustling harbor of West Humbleville, a dockside city that had been a prestigious harbor before the nation's fall to communism some years ago and its second fall into the hands of a mysterious and modern army. The city was dingy and concealed by low clouds, the rocking mirky water was home to cruisers of a modern ilk, bearing a blue flag with seven stars in a circle. Sitting away from the cruisers and small cargo ships, and away from the harbor was a tall and long battleship bearing nine great guns on broad turrets.

"Attention, we will now be landing so please return to your seats and settle in," Captain Northwind called over the intercom, the girls went back down to the lounge and settled in their seats as the plane descended over the harbor, finding a spot at the near empty boat plane dock far away from the other ships. The craft landed with a splash and slowed to a crawl, turning into a spot guided by men in matte gray clothes. The plane halted, tied to the dock by cables, and the unloading ramps were pushed against its side. "You may now depart," Northwind called, signaling for the six girls to depart their flight, the cool damp air bit at them, most of them not dressed for the weather. Fluttershy shivered, she wore a sundress, which was more fit for a summer afternoon rather than an early spring morning. Rarity faired no better in her custom-made blue dress made from thin fabric. Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and surprisingly Pinkie Pie were fairing far better, as they made their way down the steel ramp onto the concrete dock a man approached them. He was tall and thin, wearing a gray officer's suit. His skin was a dark brown almost black color, his short black hair was covered by a peaked officer's cap and a thin pencil mustache marked his middle-aged face.

"Good mornin' ladies," He said with a toothy smile "I reckon y'all had a good flight?"

"Yes sir," Twilight began "It was quite a fun flight, I don't think any of us have ever come this far,"

"Glad to hear it, I'm Field Marshall Edgar Fredrick Hughes, 3rd Legion Mississippi," He extended his hand out to Twilight.

"And I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle," She shook his hand.

"Princess? Well, I wasn't told we were gonna have a princess with us today," He said "You do dress different from any princesses I know of though," He was commenting on the out-of-place lab coat she wore "It is rather odd for anybody to be wearing a lab coat outside of a lab," He broke the handshake "And I assume these are your consorts?"

"Oh no, these are my friends," Twilight replied.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet y'all too," Hughes greeted, tipping his cap "Now what's y'all's names?"

"Ah'm Applejack," Applejack said with a smile

"I'm Rainbow Dash," Rainbow Dash greeted pridefully.

"And you're a fellow officer too, army?"

"Airforce,"

"Well ya coulda fooled me, a less knowledgeable man woulda mistaken you for a Confederate Army Officer,"

"I'm Rarity," Rarity greeted in her usual flamboyant manner.

"Folks as good-lookin' as you are truly a rarity," Hughes jokingly complimented "Just don't tell my wife I said that," Rarity blushed at the compliment.

"Thank you, darling..."

"I'M PINKIE PIE!" Shouted Pinkie, more excited than usual.

"Yes, I see..." Hughes responded nervously, shocked by the outburst.

"And... I'm F-Fluttershy..." Fluttershy greeted, hiding behind Rainbow Dash as she played with her hair nervously.

"Nervous ain't ya," Hughes began "We all get nervous the first time in a new place, I tell you the first parachute drop I did back in Venezuela I nearly died of a heart attack just from hoppin' out of the plane," Hughes laughed. A moment later men in gray fatigues without helmets passed the group pushing carts carrying their luggage, three men hauled the crate, one pulling and two pushing it from behind. "We'll have to do a quick bag check but we'll be flyin' in a minute,"

"Wait... We'll be doing more flying?" Fluttershy's eyes widened in horror. Rainbow Dash wrapped her arm around Fluttershy and pulled her closer, a loving smile on her face, calming Fluttershy down. The girls and luggage went further up the dock where their luggage was checked by men holding strange guns who aimed them at the bags, running them over like scanners.

"All clear," One said, giving a thumbs up. The group left the dock, entering the nearby airstrip through a checkpoint guarded by men holding rifles with helmets marked MP. The airstrip was a smaller one, with three large hangars and most of the planes sitting in the open, which were mostly forest green trimotor transports.

"Now sadly we didn't have a proper passenger plane on hand," Hughes told the girls as they approached one of the trimotors waiting near the runway "So we'll be using a regular transport if that's not too much of an issue,"

"Oh, it shouldn't be," Twilight responded "We've flown in plenty of military transports,"

"Good, I wouldn't trust any plane more than a classic GPT-98, I've been taken to almost every CZ in one of these," Edgar said as he grabbed the round handle on the large rear door, turning it with a loud screech and letting it swing open with a low moan. "Ladies first," He said stepping aside. Twilight was the first inside and was taken aback by the sparseness of the interior. The floor was all metal, the walls had no lining beside the supports holding the outer paneling and round windows and there were no seats to be found.

"Hmm," Twilight said confused as her other friends funneled in behind her.

"Oh, this looks... Lovely..." Rarity said, forcing a smile.

"I don't think we've ever flown in a plane without seats before," Applejack stated, trying to laugh.

"A-are we gonna have to stand?" Fluttershy asked horrified.

"Oh no ma'am," Hughes stated loudly as he stepped in. "Pardon me," he said as he pushed through the group "The seats fold up," He said as he grabbed one of the small seats folded against the plane's interior, pulling it down with a creak that echoed throughout the cabin. Each of the girls folded down a seat and sat down across the walkway from Huges while their cargo was loaded at the plane's rear, leaving just enough room for someone to squeeze through the door.

"Christ," A voice called from outside "They gotta be kiddin',"

"Doesn't look like it," Another called

"That box looks like it'll put us right at the weight limit," Both voices laughed, and a moment later in stepped two men, both wearing gray uniforms and bomber jackets with peaked caps. The men squeezed through the cramped cabin and to the cockpit separated only by a thin wall and narrow doorway. "Y'all ready?" One called as they settled down in their seats.

"Yes sir!" Hughes responded. The pilots proceeded with their pre-flight checks, getting through them as quickly as possible.

"Ready battery engine one," The pilot called.

"Copy, battery ready," A low hum could be heard through the paper-thin walls of the plane.

"Engage fuel pump engine one,"

"Copy, engaging fuel pump engine one," A low clicking could be heard amongst the humming now.

"Start engine one,"

"Copy, starting engine one," First there was a loud whir then the engine thundered to life with a ferocious and monstrous roar as the sixteen-cylinder radial engine kicked into gear. Suddenly a loud buzzer was heard in the cockpit.

"Shit... We got a bad piston in engine one,"

"Aw hell, what are we gonna do?"

"We're gonna go if this plane can fly on one engine then we'll make it on a bad piston," This seemed to worry all the girls. "Repeat process engine two,"

"Copy that, repeating process engine two," Moments later the engine ahead of the cockpit roared to life, filling the cabin with the deafening roar of thirty-two cylinders.

"No faults, repeat process engine three,"

"Copy, repeating process engine three," Engine three soon roared to life, joining the industrial symphony of the other engines. Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight caught what looked to be fire shooting out of engine three's exhaust.

"Pilot!" She cried over the engines "There's fire coming out of the engine!"

"That's normal!" The pilot shouted back in response "If it don't spit fire then it ain't worth flyin'!" The pilot and copilot laughed aloud. After a quick call to air traffic control, the plane started off down the runway, gaining speed as it slowly lifted off the ground rising to just below the gray cloudline. They flew in silence, holding onto their seats in fear as the plane rattled its way over the flat countryside and what looked like the scattered remains of aircraft and other equipment that littered the ground below.

"How are you so cool with this?!" Twilight shouted to Hughes over the roaring engines.

"With what?!" He shouted back

"With this flight! How can you enjoy this?!"

"Hell, I've been through worse! You ain't ever had flak goin' off all around you! Hell, durin' the drop over Valencia, back in 2012, you couldn't see the city there was so much artillery smoke!"

"Ya shoulda been over New Richmond last week!" The pilot shouted "We took an almost direct hit from some flak! Lost engine three and almost lost engine two! Airman Barkley got a graze on his leg and freaked out like he lost both of them!" The pilot laughed. They kept on flying, Hughes and the crew cracking jokes and telling stories while the girls sat stiff as boards with every bump in the air they went over.

April 4th

New Richmond, Federal Republic of Dixie

After around three hours of rough and rattling flight the pilot called out from his cockpit: "We're here ladies! New Richmond! Say, Marshall, have you been to New Richmond yet!?"

"No sir!" Hughes answered.

"Well it's beautiful, they built a big ass airfield in two days, not a dirt strip in sight, all tarmac!"

"We got the best engineers on Earth!" Hughes called back with a laugh.

"Earth?" Twilight thought to herself "I don't think I've ever heard anyone call the world earth before... Come to think of it I haven't heard of or even read about some of those places he was talking about. Mississippi, Valencia, Venezuela, even the dates don't add up!" She was jolted from her thoughts as the plane landed on the runway below them with a heavy thud, slowing to taxiing speed and turning off toward a line of brick buildings separated from the strip by a tall chainlink fence. The plane's engines rattled to silence the hefty plane door was swung open, allowing the weary passengers to leave, Hughes following close behind unafflicted by the journey. Rarity tiredly leaned against the plane's outer wall.

"I... I don't think I want to do that ever again," She said breathlessly.

"Yeah," Twilight replied leaning over "That was..."

"Somethin' else," Applejack finished.

"I thought it was unusually smooth, actually," Hughes said in all seriousness. A few moments later, after everyone had gotten off the plane and was resting nearby, a single forest green flatbed three-quarter-ton truck rolled up with its top and windshield down and a crew of six men in worker's clothes sitting in the back, and an officer in the passenger seat. The truck halted before them, the driver shutting its engine off, and the eight men departed, the driver and workers filing in behind the officer. He was tall and broad, with a graying beard on his aging face and a peaked cap covering his bald head, he was an intimidating figure to behold.

"Good mornin' ladies," He greeted in a smooth voice that sounded almost out of place coming from the man before them. They did not answer his greeting. "I'm Military Governor Aaron Lee. Thatcher, Ya don't need to worry about greetin's now, I got a telegram with your names on it, military policy, so I know who y'all are," The girls still stood silent, gazing at the mountain of a man before them, who just smiled on. "Marshall Hughes," He began, breaking the silence and striding over to Hughes, shaking his hand "I assume you had a fine flight here?"

"Yes sir, although I don't think our guests here were too fond of it," Hughes responded, gesturing to the rattled young women.

"I'm not surprised, flyin' on one of those takes some gettin' used to," He slapped the tail of the plane with his large hand. "Captain Willard," Thatcher greeted yet again, extending his hand to the tall thin pilot.

"Governor Thatcher," He shook Thatcher's hand. "If we're talkin' about planes, the old girl here had a bad piston in engine one,"

"I'll call for a tractor to come and pull it to maintenance," He ended their handshake and turned to face the girls "Our ride'll be here in a moment, don't worry, it's a much smoother ride than the plane. That, I assure you," He turned around to the workers "Alright!" He commanded in a hard and booming voice that caused all the girls to jump "I want this plane unloaded and the cargo taken to the guest quarters, now!" The men got to work, unloading the bags and heavy crate from the plane, it was soon after that a much larger truck with tall and thick mud tires rumbled up to them. "Here she is!" Thatcher shouted over its diesel engine, his voice reverted back to its previous smooth nature. "Hop in!" He went over to the truck, climbing up into the high open cab. The girls along with Hughes climbed into the end, setting themselves down on the wooden bench behind the cab. With a hard slap on the back of the cab from Hughes the truck was off. It was a rough ride, but it was far more comfortable than the plane ride at least. Before long they had left the airport and were now riding along a crudely made road between mounds of rubble that must have been buildings before. They passed by work sites where bucket loaders dumped piles of concrete and other materials into similar-sized trucks with dumping beds. In the distance, an explosion echoed out and a hollowed-out building collapsed in a pile of rock and dust. Finally, after at least a ten-minute drive they reached their destination, a pile of sandbags where several men, both officers, and soldiers stood. The truck halted in a cloud of dust next to the gathered men, shutting down. They all unloaded off the truck.

"Governor Thatcher," One of the two officers there, a much older man with a thick beard and a gold-handled cane, greeted in a harsh and raspy voice.

"Marshall Clemson," The two men shook hands, Thatcher ended the handshake and went over to the other officer, a thin man with round glasses and a long face "Marshall Smith," They shook hands.

"Governor Thatcher," he greeted in a sniveling voice. "I assume these are the diplomats,"

"Yes sir," Thatcher said, ending the handshake and gesturing to the girls "They journeyed all the way from Equestria to talk to us about the airplane situation. I figured I'd give 'em a little demonstration of our equipment," Thatcher looked around "Speaking of which... Lieutenant!" He shouted to the two soldiers who were standing next to an emplaced field phone. "Where's the damned tank!?"

"The guys at the lot said there was a busted fuel line, sir! They said they would be out here as soon as possible, sir!"

"Well that's glorious, ain't it?" Thatcher rubbed his eyes in frustration "Y'all just wait here," He said turning to Twilight and her friends "The officers and I need to go discuss something over by the truck," So the girls went over to the sandbags, looking at the old metal husk of a multi-turreted land ship that sat some distance away, and the four men went over to the rear of the truck, Clemson hobbling on his cane. "So what do y'all think?" Thatcher asked quietly, making sure the group had their backs turned "About our little group? A diverse bunch, ain't they?"

"A little underdressed too," Clemson commented "One's dressed like she just got off the tractor, one's dressed like she teaches at a clown school, and one's dressed like she's about to go for a walk on the beach. Only 'bout three o' them are dressed for any sorta proper occasion,"

"I don't know, one's dressed like a whorehouse dancer and one's dressed like a doctor," Hughes replied "Only one's really dressed for the occasion," He pointed to Rainbow Dash.

"I wouldn't call that dressed like a doctor anyway," Thatcher began, smirking. "She's wearing a skirt that's gotta be at least four inches above the knee, any doctor knows that is far outside of regulation,"

"I think they're queer too," Smith interjected in his usual observational manner.

"What makes ya say that?" Thatcher asked, reaching into his coat for his cigar case. Smith pointed to the group, and both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, who were leaning on the sandbags holding hands and talking about something.

"Hmm," Thatcher put a thick cigar in his mouth, sparking it up with a silver lighter and blowing off thick clouds of smoke into the light morning breeze. "Ya think they'd have the decency to hide it, wouldn't ya?" He said in a puff of smoke, an heir of disgust in his voice.

"Well they ain't heard about God, so..." Clemson stated, leaning on his cane.

"Yet," Thatcher began. "They'll hear about him soon enough," Thatcher chuckled and took a puff off of his cigar. Finally, after several minutes the rumble of a diesel engine came over in the distance, the tank had finally arrived and was pulling down the same road the group had ridden in on, its commander riding atop the round turret. Its fearsome engine belched black smoke from its twin tailpipes as it rattled and groaned, its tracks pushing it along. The beast parked adjacent to the gathered spectators and some ten feet ahead of the sandbags, its engine still rumbling lightly. Thatcher's group gathered at the sandbags, Thatcher going to the tank and grabbing a headset from the crew for communication. Setting his hat on the sandbags, he put on the headset and began commanding the crew: "Load SABOT, aim the gun, and wait for my command!" Thatcher looked over at his guests, covering the microphone on his headset "Ya might wanna cover your ears," All except for Clemson and Thatcher covered their ears "Fire!" Thatcher commanded, not a moment later a blast of fire and smoke ejected from the tank's gun, shooting out on plumes from the side of its muzzle break followed by a boom that shook the ground. The distant land ship erupted in a shower of sparks and flames as the depleted uranium shot struck the side of its hull. Thatcher and his gang burst out laughing like a group of joyful kids. "Quite the spectacle, ain't it?" Thatcher asked Twilight.

"I guess it was pretty cool," Twilight let out a chuckle, it was a pretty exciting sight, even for her.

"Good, there's more where that came from," He responded with a grin "Take the tank about two-hundred yards away and engage your ATLO System, then pull forward," The tank turned and back some two hundred yards right of the spectators and started back toward them "Notice how the gun's turret is moving with the tank?" Thatcher asked "The Advanced Target Lock-On System, or ATLO System locks the tank's gun onto its target allowing better moving fire without putting too much stress on the crew... Now cover your ears," The gun, moving free of the tank, fired again with another burst of smoke and another blast of fire and sparks from the target as the tank passed before the sandbag viewing platform.

"That all sounds pretty expensive," Twilight commented.

"Not when you've got a big military budget," Thatcher responded nonchalantly. "You're dismissed Commander, return to the shop," The tank spun around on its tracks and started back up the road.

Later in The Day...

Thatcher and his group had just finished their rather summarized base tour, showing off their transport planes and strange machines called helicopters, alongside the mysterious jet fighters they kept hidden in their hangars. The group halted before a squad of ten men in full battle dress including forest green plate carriers with ammo pouches, steel battle helmets that protected the head, their kitbags with bed rolls and entrenching tools, and their battle rifles with green polymer furniture. Two men stood out with one holding a smaller carbine and the other an all-metal belt-fed light machine gun. The men saluted as the four officers approached.

"Now I had originally wanted a full platoon," Thatcher began, his back turned to the soldiers "Sadly we just shipped a bunch of our boys down south to deal with some raidin' down that way, so the best we could muster for a display was a squad," He turned back to the men "Ten men, seven regulars, one light gun squad, and a Sergeant at the head," Thatcher approached one of them, who stood off to the side. "Sergeant!" He commanded in his booming voice.

"Sir, yes, sir!" The middle-aged sergeant shouted in response.

"Give me your rifle!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" The sergeant slung his rifle from his shoulder, handing it to Thatcher who turned around and displayed the gun to the crowd.

"This is the SLCR-12/3, which stands for Self Loading Combat Rifle Model of 2012, Variant 3! The current variant has a folding and nonreciprocating charging handle just below the ejection port, as well as improved effectiveness in desert environments! This rifle is modeled after the Fusil Automatique Leger, a design first built by the Belgian company Fabrique Nationale in 1994, and adopted by the Confederate States Army in 2011! It is chambered in the powerful .308 Bradford cartridge and fires in both three-round burst and semi-automatic from a twenty-one-round box magazine!" There it was again, Belgian, 2012, 2011, 1994, America, these were names and dates that lined up with none of the knowledge Twilight had of Equus.

"Hold on a sec," Twilight interjected "None of these dates or names make any sense," Thatcher handed the rifle back to the sergeant.

"What do you mean?" he asked almost gravely.

"2012, Mississippi, Belgian, none of it makes sense!" Twilight cried in confusion "In all of the books I've read, there's no mention of any of this!"

"Whoa now partner," Thatcher said, his voice turning back to the smooth and casual way he normally used "We'll talk about this over supper, let's finish the display here and head on in. You look like you could use a drink anyways," Twilight finally calmed down.

"Ok..." She said breathlessly.

"Good," Thatcher responded before losing his smile "Sergeant!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Do you see that silhouette target!?" Thatcher pointed to a paper target standing about three hundred yards west of them.

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Put six rounds downrange in semi-automatic, center mass, no hesitation!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" The soldier readied his rifle, clicked the safety off, and aimed the rifle. He fired off six rounds in quick succession with thundering cracks, all hitting center mass.

"Good job, soldier!" Thatcher commended "Now finish off the mag in burst mode!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" He clicked the switch again and fired off in loud bursts, emptying the last fifteen rounds into the black target before dropping the thin metal magazine to the ground and pulling one from his plate carrier, jamming it into the mag well closing the bolt. The sergeant clicked the safety and slung it back over his shoulder with a salute.

"Dismissed!" Thatcher commanded, sending the soldiers marching off in formation with a salute. Sometime later they were sitting at a long wooden table under the warm glow of the ceiling-mounted lamps. On the long table were dishes of macaroni and cheese, baked beans, green beans, cornbread, and seared rabbit. "Now before we did in, I'd like to say a word of grace," Thatcher said as he stood up "So if you would please, bow your head and close your eyes," All the attendees did so, even though it confused the girls a little. "Our father, who art in heaven, thank you for blessing us with the most bountiful meal that is resting before us. Please let it be nourishment to our bodies as we serve you oh Father God, in your name we pray, amen,"

"Amen," The officers all said in unison, the girls still sat silent.

"Alright," Thatcher sat down, lifting his glass of Amaretto "Dig in," All except for Fluttershy.

"Uhm, Excuse me," She began, Thatcher setting his glass down to look at her. "Uhm... I don't really... you know..."

"She doesn't eat meat," Rainbow Dash interjected, finishing for the shy girl who simply smiled.

"Well," Thatcher began seriously in a harsher voice "She can eat beans and cornbread, it was near impossible to get that rabbit out here somebody's eatin' it," He looked directly across the table at Twilight "Now that that's resolved, what were you on the verge of losin' it over out yonder?" He chuckled.

"It's just that, the dates and names don't make sense, it's 1007, not 2012! And where is this Mississippi?" Thatcher took one more sip from his glass before sitting it down and folding his hands in front of him.

"You wanna know about that stuff?" Thatcher asked gravely "Alright, I'll get the most jarring thing out of the way first and say that we aren't of this world," Rainbow Dash immediately burst out laughing unprompted. Thatcher stared her down and she stopped

"Wait... You're serious... Aren't you?" She asked embarrassed.

"Yes ma'am,"

"But that doesn't make sense," Twilight proclaimed as she rubbed her temples "How can you be from a different world?"

"Well, I assumed you noticed how our skin color ain't quite so diverse," Twilight blushed.

"I wasn't gonna comment on that," Twilight let out a nervous chuckled

"You're doin' better than a lot of folks where we're from. As for the dates, you said it's what?"

"April 4th, 1007..."

"It's September 15th, 2028 on Earth, our planet, I turned 56 two days ago," He raised his glass, as did the other officers.

"Ooooooh happy late birthday!" Pinkie Pie burst out excitedly "You know I brought a giant cake without even knowing there was a birthday boy!"

"Silence women!" Thatcher stated loudly at the poofy-haired girl. "We will discuss the cake once supper is finished, and we have concluded with our talks of a more serious matter,"

"Wait a minute, how can you be from a different world? By all calculations that should be impossible,"

"You clearly didn't do the right calculations, the portal to get here required so much math we had better luck just creating a computer to do it for us,"

"Portal?"

"Yep, we used a portal to get here, hell of a lot easier than some sort of spaceship. We got our navy here through a lightning storm so big it nearly destroyed Memphis,"

"Yep," Hughes interjected.

"And we did most of this in about a week, takes a lot of gumption," Thatcher cut a piece of rabbit and quickly ate it "I'm from Mississippi, it's a state in the deeper part of the Confederacy, hot and humid as hell. Hughes is from Alabama, which is the same as Mississippi minus the good stuff," Hughes punched Thatcher's arm and laughed along with him. This confused Twilight, who found it odd that they would make fun of each other's homelands while laughing alongside. Thatcher ceased laughing "Smith is from Tennessee, a beautiful state no doubt, and Clemson is from Virginia, the grand capital state of our nation,"

"Yes sir!" Clemson called, raising his glass of Whiskey and Coke.

"Where are these places?" Twilight asked "This Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi?"

"We'll look at the maps tomorrow after we've discussed our little plane situation,"

"Tomorrow?" Twilight asked confused

"Of course, it's a little too late now, we'll go to bed and discuss it in the morning when we're all a bit more rested. I imagine y'all would want some rest after your flight and tour," Twilight was feeling a bit tired, both flights and the quick tour of the base had taken their toll on her and her friends, dinner, and dessert followed by a bath and a good night's sleep on solid ground sounded great. "That sounds like enough info for right now, we can finish tomorrow," Thatcher ended that conversation and continued eating, along with the others.

"So, Aaron," Clemson said, losing any sense of military etiquette. "Where's Billy at? You said he was gonna join us for supper," Thatcher began chuckling, he had been doing that a lot and said:

"So this one's a funny story, Ya know how I brought Sasparilla here with me? Well, I had him go feed her this mornin', right? And ya know she's got a bit of a mean streak in her. Well, he got a little too close to her behind and took a good kick to the fellas... He's in the infirmary," The whole group of officers burst out laughing, leaving the girls puzzled.

"Special Operations Captain William Henry Thatcher, the man that took a gunshot to the chest and kept fightin' has been sent to the hospital from a kick to the manhood!" Clemson stated with hoarse laughter.

"I was already gonna give him a medal for takin' the damn city, I reckon he's gonna get another Blue Cross for injury in the line of duty!" They all finished their meals and ate from the seven-foot-tall cake, most finding it difficult to discern what was under all the frosting. Even with all ten of them and Pinkie's love for sweets the cake was too big to finish. Afterward, they all bathed in the luckily private showers and were led to the quarters, a large room with six army cots covered by thin gray blankets. "Sorry it's just cots, we were taken a little off guard by your arrival," Thatcher said apologetically "Now y'all sleep as long as ya like, ignore the first call that's for the soldiers. Good night," He closed the door behind them.

"Ugh, anything seems better than those beds on the plane," Rarity said as she plopped down on one of the cots, almost immediately falling asleep. The others followed suit, laying down on their springy cots, drifting to sleep to the sound of a bugle playing its slow evening call.