April 12th
Canterlot, Principality of Equestria

It was raining in Canterlot that day, the roaring rush of water from the sky flowed down the palace's windows. Lightning struck across the sky like jagged scars and thunder cracked like cannons. Sleep had not found its home in the castle that night, at the long table that had held the previous night's dinner Princess Celestia and her guests were gathered. Thatcher arrived looking oddly rested and fully dressed in a less decorated suit, taking his place at the table alone.

"Mornin'," He greeted, looking at all the tired faces around him. "I need some coffee," He said looking around the table. A servant sat a small silver cup of black coffee before him. Thatcher drank from the cup and leaned back in his chair. "So it's official,"

"What's official?" Twilight asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"War," Thatcher exclaimed, sounding almost excited. "We're goin' to war with North Zebrica, mobilization has already begun," Fluttershy dropped her spoon into the bowl of oatmeal she had been eating from, her eyes wide in horror.

"That fast?" Rainbow Dash asked shocked, ignoring Fluttershy.

"Yes ma'am, we'd been ready to go to war with them for some time," He sipped from his coffee. "We had garrisons in Lubbock and New Galveston, we'd already gotten three battalions of air cav on standby,"

"Air cav?"

"They're infantry that flies in them helicopters I showed y'all. They go in, kill their enemies, and get the hell out, I was in there myself for a while," Thatcher smiled. "After my first drop in Venezuela they pulled me out of the airborne and put me in the cavalry, it wasn't near as fun," As he said that, four more people joined them, it was all of the field marshals. Crawford, Clemson, Shimmer, and Armor made their way in and sat down at the table, Clemson and Crawford barely awake. "We spent all night on the phone with New Richmond determinin' how the war was gonna play out,"

"It's a damned helicopter war," Clemson stated, leaning wearily on his arm, Fluttershy lurched lightly in her seat. No one saw this as they were all focused on Thatcher.

"Yep," Thatcher replied sounding disheartened. "Which is a damn shame,"

"Why's that?" Sunset Shimmer asked, she too was well rested.

"A helicopter war is gonna slow us down, we can't just move in and roll 'em over. Now we gotta do a little touch and go, drop our boys in, let 'em kill the bad guys, and pull 'em out. It'll slow us the hell down," Thatcher sipped from the near-empty cup of coffee in his hand. "It's a pain in the ass for logistics,"

"Get me some damned coffee," Clemson ordered to whoever was listening, Crawford fell onto the table asleep, and Thatcher facepalmed.

"Christ alive, that's pitiful," Thatcher took his cap off and reached across the table, slapping Crawford's head with it. "Wake up Sleepin' Beauty, you'll miss breakfast," Crawford stirred awake, sitting up and blinking his eyes in a confused way.

"Where the fuck am I?" he asked.

"Vicksburg Mississippi, we're about to beat back Grant... We're in Canterlot, you knucklehead," Thatcher took a final sip from his coffee. "I need more coffee, and something to eat," A servant passed him by to bring Clemson his coffee. "Hey, butler, two more cups of coffee and three plates of pancakes," The servant nodded and left for the kitchen. "Helicopters are only part of the equation," Thatcher began as he steered back toward the new war in North Zebrica. "There are the warplanes," Fluttershy tensed up in her seat. "Ever heard of napalm?" The table shared a collective nod. "It's like gasoline, but it's a jelly, and we drop it in canisters off of airplanes to burn things up. We also put it in flamethrowers," Thatcher chuckled. "War... It's a business,"

"Yes sir," Clemson said in agreeance.

"Stop... Please," Fluttershy said in her usual quiet manner.

"You say somethin', Ma'am?" Thatcher asked, just barely picking up her comment.

"C-could you please stop... saying that word?" Her breath was picking up.

"Which word would that be, ms?"

"W... War..." She timidly said, she quickly stood up. "Rainbow Dash, I think we need to go," Rainbow Dash stood up alongside her and grabbed her hand, walking with her outside of the dining area to the hallway.

"Shellshock," Thatcher said as the two left. "Or some variant of it,"

"How'd you know?" Twilight, who had stayed silent, asked.

"It's pretty easy, words triggerin' her like that, quickened breathin', she's got it," Thatcher turned to his men. "She don't look the type to have been fightin' though, I assume somethin' else got her like that, but I ain't gonna keep pushin' it," The servants entered the room through the same door as the two vacant guests carrying plates of pancakes and cups with a pot of coffee. "Thank you sirs," Thatcher thanked as their meals were sat before them. They prepared their food and dug in. "This is some damn fine food," Thatcher said before taking another bite of it. "It's a damned shame we gotta leave so soon,"

"Yes, it truly is a... Shame that the three of you must go," Princess Celestia said sympathetically.

"Yep, it's a fine country y'all have here, Princess, hell it's almost as Beautiful as the Old World. Nothin' quite beats the vast cotton and tobacco fields of Mississippi,"

"There's big tobacco fields down south, ya know," Applejack interjected, Thatcher was taken aback by her accent, he didn't quite recall hearing her speak. "Down there in Rockville it's nothin' but tobacco fields,"

"Well I might have to check that out next time we're over here, but in the meantime, we got more important things to deal with than tobacco fields,"

"Speaking of those things," Sunset Shimmer began, Thatcher, turning to face her just across the table. "If I may speak, Princess Celestia, I have a proposal for Military Governor Thatcher,"

"You may speak, Field Marshal Shimmer," Princess Celestia said.

"Very well, Governor Thatcher I wish to accompany you and your men back to Dixie to observe your army's actions in North Zebrica,"

"I don't see a reason why we can't do that, it might be good to have some new eyes see how the army works, and those eyes not be the enemies," Thatcher responded.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Clemson said, with Crawford nodding in agreeance. They all then turned to face Princess Celestia at the head of the table.

"She's your soldier, Princess, you gotta sign off on this," Thatcher said. Princess Celestia thought for a moment, running over her options before finally answering.

"Alright then, Field Marshal Shimmer, I give you permission to go to Dixie to observe the Confederate Army in action,"

"Thank you, Princess Celestia," Sunset Shimmer thanked, bowing her head in acknowledgment.

"Very well, we shall leave at 1500 hours," Thatcher proclaimed. "Now find Ms. Inkwell and we will begin to pack,"

April 13th
Border of North Zebrica

The sun crept up the horizon, putting a faint glow on the tall M503 Self Propelled Guns as they sat silently, hidden under mounds of faux shrubbery in the tall southern grass. The bugler stood firm with his rifle slung over his shoulder and his jungle hat hanging off the back of his neck. He took a look at his army-issue roller watch, 0559 it read in luminant numbers. He watched it for some thirty seconds until it rolled over, now reading 0600.

He stuck the olive drab M1950 bugle to his lips and played the long and cheerful To Horse call, a sound that meant something different in the age of modern warfare. Jumping up from dugouts hidden in the grass came men dressed the same as him, running to the emplaced SPGs and opening their rear hatches. The commands were called:

"105 Mike Mike, high explosive, two-pound charge!" Men ran to bunkers that had been packed with shells and charges, running back to the guns with the long shells and green bags of cordite in hand.

"Run it coordinates 2 3 5 6 8 9, 1 4 2 6 6 7!" The guns were raised and turned in the ordered direction.

"Load guns!" The breech of the gun was opened and the shell was jammed in, being rammed up by a man with a ramrod, the charge rammed in behind. The breech was closed and locked, and the pull cord was clipped around the trigger at the end.

"Fire!" The gunners pulled their cords and the guns fired, lighting the dim morning like it was midday as they rammed back into the hulls. The orders were repeated as the guns were reloaded and fired over and over again, going on until the air was filled with the haze of artillery smoke and the pungent scent of burned cordite. They fired until 0700 when the order came over the radio to cease their bombardment, then the invasion properly began.

Roaring over the border came fleets of Eagle transport choppers and their air cavalry soldiers. Rolling behind them were the Cougar battle tanks of the 6th Armored Battalion. They lead six-ton trucks and half-track heavy weapons platforms, with the artillery soon loading up and following suit. The air that had once been filled with the boom of guns was now filled with the roar of chopper blades and diesel engines the mighty Confederate Army charged toward North Zebrica in a mighty armored wall.

They crossed the border, breaking down the barricades of the few roads leading into the country. What few border personnel that survived the horrific bombardment had either fled or were hiding in the shell craters in hopes of ambushing the armored columns. They were gunned down by a mix of gunfire from the choppers and machine gun fire from the other vehicles leading the invasion. The tanks and half-tracks crossed the cratered and uncivilized land like nothing, their crossed battle flags whipping in the wind.

They went on unheeded for some time until meeting a village heavily garrisoned. Armored cars tried to halt their advance but were cut down by the tank's destructive shells. The 6th Battalion halted at the village, their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Harold Whitworth, stuck his head up from the commander cupola of his tank with an olive-drab field phone in his hand.

"Trojan 1 this is Alpha 6, we've reached objective Zulu, awaiting further instructions," He said in his rough voice as more choppers roared overhead.

Author's Note

Yes, this one is a bit shorter, but now we're getting into the combat section of our story, hope y'all enjoy.