//------------------------------//
// Battle Scars 
// Story: The New Home 
// by Arrenius 
//------------------------------//

	The Lucky Shoe was a sports bar on the west end of Manehatten, near the docks. It was popular with the military population of the city and on the average night could count on a reasonable number of uniformed ponies relaxing after a hard day’s work. Today it was completely packed with soldiers. Gale took a seat at the only free table and looked around. At least 40 of his troops were here, lured by Shining Armor’s promise of free alcohol. Gale looked at a clock on the wall, remembering that Shining hadn’t actually given him a specific time. He’d never served under a better leader, but that stallion could be a complete scatterbrain when it came to timing and organization. 
Before Gale even had the chance to devise a sarcastic quip regarding Shining’s tardiness, the Unicorn arrived. He was wearing the khaki tunic meant to be worn on duty under armor. For a long time it had been the unofficial ‘work clothes’ of the Equestrian military, and it had eventually been adopted as No. 4 in the orders of dress. For the second time in his life, Gale also saw Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Quite a few heads turned as she walked in, and nearly every stallion in the bar stopped drinking for a moment. Even here in some sports bar, mane hanging out freely, no dress or royal regalia, Cadance was utterly breathtaking. Gale had forgotten just how damn beautiful Shining’s wife was... the lucky bastard. Upon seeing his friend, Shining gave a warm smile and sat down. 
“Gale! Glad I caught you, we got held up by some royal business, Cadance’s vizier would probably run the whole Crystal Empire ragged if we left him alone for a week... which reminds me, you two haven’t ever been formally introduced, have you?”
Gale shook his head, and was about to ask if he should bow (he was in uniform after all) when Shining continued. “Knight Lieutenant Storm, this is my wife, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza... but don’t call her that she hates it.” 
Deciding to err on the side of caution, Gale rose from his seat and gave a short bow. “I’m honored, your majesty. Your husband speaks very highly of you, very often.” 
Cadance smiled at him. “Lieutenant, everypony in here is either drunk or getting there, I’m here to meet my husband’s friend, just ignore the formalities.” 
“Really? ‘cause I was going to read off all your titles, y’know, Duchess of this, Lord Protector of that, maybe even come up with a couple new ones... how does Vanquisher of the Dark King sound?” Shining said, amused.
Cadance gave her husband a look. “Like something only you would come up with... I wish I could say that Shining speaks about you often, Gale, but I’d never even heard of you until a week ago, he seems to have kept me out of the loop...”
Shining shrugged, interrupting her. “Family trait.” 
Cadance rolled her eyes and continued. “Anyway, once he finally got around to mentioning you, he did speak highly of you as well. It’s nice that I can finally meet you,”
“We’ve met once before, actually,” Gale said clearing his throat. “While Shining and I were on leave from CROA. We met when he came to visit you.” 
Shining smiled. He remembered that night very well. Cadance, however, looked a little embarrassed. “Oh! I feel awful, I should have remembered...”
Gale shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, I was only there for a few seconds anyway. Barely had time to say hello.” 
Shining cut in. “Now that we’re all acquainted... Could we have a seat?”
“Of course!” Gale said happily. “Feel free,”
The couple sat down and picked up menus. It was all standard fare pub food, hayfries, sandwiches, twelve beers on tap. Cadance spoke up a moment after the server took their menus. “So, Gale... You’re apparently one of my husbands best friends, and I barely know you, tell me a little about yourself, you sound like an interesting stallion.”
Gale let out a laugh. “Thank you for the compliment, but I’d hardly call myself interesting...”
Shining scoffed. “How about you tell her about your great-great grandmother? That’s pretty interesting right there...”
Cadance gave her husband a light slap on the shoulder. “Let him speak you big oaf.”
Gale laughed a little. “Well, I was born and raised in cloudsdale. My family are all junkers, ” 
Cadance gave him an impressed look. “Oh, you’re a lord then? Pegasus nobility?”
Gale nodded. “Lame-duck noble, some of us get to keep the title, but it doesn’t really mean anything outside of Cloudsdale, the Canterlot gentry have all the real power. It’s really just holdovers from pre-unification. Most families don’t even keep track of their lineage anymore.” An outright lie, but a politically correct one. Pegasus society was highly structured around the ancient families and clans, despite the clans having been (in theory) ‘abolished’ during the Unification of Equestria.
Cadance nodded. “That really is too bad, each family must have such a rich history.” 
Gale raised an eyebrow. Surely Princess Cadance knew that it was a major taboo for Pegasi to flaunt their heritage, more than enough to earn the average Pegasus a place on an RIB watch list. Cadance continued her line of inquiry however, showing no lack of interest in the subject. 
“What did Shining mean when he mentioned your great great grandmother?” Cadance asked, her curiosity piqued.
“Well...” Gale gave Shining a look, the white unicorn took a sip from his drink and egged his friend on. “Go on, tell her,” 
“There’d be quite a few more ‘greats’ in there... but my family can trace its lineage almost directly back to Commander Hurricane.” 
Cadance’s eyes widened in shock, she could hardly believe what she was hearing. Commander Hurricane was a founding mother of Equestria! “Really? A direct line to a founder? That’s incredible!”
“As direct as a line can be after more than 2000 years, it’s been something of a point of pride for my family.” Gale said.
Another realization hit Cadance as she considered what the stallion had told her. “Gale... are you by any chance related to Prefect Wind Twister of Cloudsdale?”
The soldier nodded. “My mother. Father is General Lightning Storm, if you were interested.”
Cadance shook her head in disbelief. “Descendant of a signatory of Princess Platinum’s peace accord, and born of a renowned military officer and the current Prefect of Cloudsdale... What do you consider interesting Gale?”
“You didn’t ask about my family, Princess, you asked about me.” Gale said simply. 
“Maybe I should have started with that...” Cadance giggled a bit. “Well, I have to use the little fillies room... You two colts catch up, I won’t be too long.” Cadance walked off as her husband stared after her with a smile. Gale looked at his old friend in disbelief. “How in the world did you wind up with a mare like that...”
Shining smiled. “I ask myself that every single day... sweet Celestia I love her.” 
“I’m happy for you, she seems great.”
“She’s more than that Gale, she’s amazing...” A somber look came across Shining’s face. 
“After we got home from the Trottoman war... I... I wasn’t myself. I couldn’t talk to anypony, I was barely eating. She was... more patient with me than I deserved. Must’ve found me at the bottom of a dozen bottles.”
Gale remembered every moment of that war, and every moment of the aftermath. That had been worse than Samarkand... and what he had just gone through seemed like nothing in comparison. Shining had carried the weight of the world on his shoulders in that one, to this day Gale didn’t know how the young officer had stayed sane through it all. 
“I... I know how you feel.” Gale said, staring blankly at his glass.
“One night... everything that had happened, everything we saw... everyone we lost... it all just, hit me. I crawled out of bed and stared out a window for an hour. At one point I went to find a drink to drown it all in, but I didn’t even make it to the wine cellar. I just... curled up under a table, and couldn’t stop crying...” Shining paused for a moment, swallowing spit. “She... she found me like that Gale. She pulled me out from under there and hugged me, brought me back to bed and just... laid there with me. For hours...”
The two were silent for a minute. Their minds far from Equestria, remembering the smell of blood and sweat, the sound of guns and artillery shells and the constant feeling of sand grating against every part of their bodies. Shining couldn’t tear his mind away, his thoughts returning to the ones he left in that desert, in those mountains, and on the side of that damned long river. He remembered every name, every face, and every look of anguish across the faces of their loved ones when he broke the news. Shining reached for a drink, trying to push it all out of his mind. He knew they wouldn’t leave, the images he saw were a part of him now, he had come to accept that two years ago. All he could do was what he had always done, make a promise to the dead that he would do better, that he would never repeat his mistakes. Those thoughts were cold comfort though, as they always were. 
The two stallions sat without a word passing between them, the silence only broken by Gale tapping his hoof against the table. They had been through Samarkand together, each thinking they’d seen the worst the world had to offer, and then they had gone to the Trottoman Empire together, and learned just how wrong they had been. They had faced death together, saved each others lives more times than they could count. Nothing they could say about any of that seemed like enough. The silence continued for a moment, until Gale spoke, vocalizing a sincere regret.
“Shining... I’m sorry I couldn’t be here for the wedding, and... y’know,”
“The street fighting in the capitol? No worries, Gale, you were on a deployment, it’s all good.” Shining replied, shifting his thoughts to the ‘incident’ (as the press had taken to calling it) at his wedding. “Yeah, that whole situation probably could have used a dose of Gale Storm... worst part of it is they haven’t changed anything. The Guard did as well as they could be expected to on such short notice, but we took more casualties than we should have, not to mention they almost had half the high command and political elite in one attack. Next time something like that happens, I don’t think we’ll be as lucky as we were this time.”
Gale scoffed. “Sounds like it should’ve been a wake up call.”
“It was to me. Every few years we march some troops off to fight somepony elses war, meanwhile we’re losing the peace back home.”
“The Changelings,” Gale said understandingly. “I didn’t know they were a major threat, all I’ve heard is rumors and ‘news’ from the army papers. 
Shining nodded.“They’re the biggest conventional threat in decades. We caught two infiltrators last month on sheer luck, both trying to impersonate low level bureaucrats, but still. The rangers have reported about a dozen skirmishes with them, and they’ve taken casualties. Four rangers wound up dead, one of them, Wald something, he got murdered in his outpost just last week. They tied him up and shot him, this was barely ten clicks from Ponyville!”
“Any buzz out of the General Staff on our response?” Gale inquired.
“They keep telling me to wait until the reorganization phase is done, that the changelings are a ‘major concern’, but come on Gale, nopony in the General Staff wants to be the one to wear this. If we start fighting an open war with the changelings, they’re going to have to learn how to fight an open war. Even the good ones, Cuirass, Thorn, Blade, they haven’t commanded above the regimental level in actual combat, I hate to say it, but that idiot Bristle is the closest thing we have to an experienced general.”
Gale took a sip from his glass, he’d heard that Major General Bristle was ‘suspended pending disciplinary review’ due to his actions during the recent battle at Drift Station. Gale had only heard rumors, (and none of them good) regarding his role. Shining didn’t look too happy mentioning Bristle’s name, so Gale decided not to pursue the subject. 
“If it happens it happens. Do you think we’re ready?”
“Right now? We’ve got about a snowflake’s chance in tartarus. Next year? Like I said earlier, things are changing.” 
Gale was about to inquire as to just what all this change was going to mean, when Princess Cadance came into view, walking towards them.
“Sorry, boys...” Cadance said, returning to the table with a smile.
Shining perked up almost immediately on her return, matching her smile and pulling out her chair for her. “Well it’s about time... sheesh Cadance did you fall asleep or something?” He teased.
Cadance teased her husband right back. “How could I not, Shining? You’re so dull that I feel the need to yawn whenever we’re in the same room... your friend on the other hand has me fascinated, so how about I just talk to him tonight and you can turn in early?” 
Shining melodramatically placed his right hoof over his heart. “Madam, you wound me, you truly do... what can I possibly do...” Shining touched her hoof with his own. “To regain your favor?”
Cadance smirked at him. “I’m sure we can think of something...” 
Gale laughed, shaking his head. “You two are awful...”
“The Lieutenant’s right, Shining, you’re setting a terrible example for all these soldiers in here. We’ll sort this out later.” She winked at Shining, eliciting a laugh from the unicorn. 
For the rest of the night, the conversation continued much like that. Shining and Gale reminisced about their school days, not their war stories. They laughed and joked together, and put on a smile. Around them, soldiers drank and laughed as well, grateful to be home, grateful to be alive. As the night carried on, more than a few drunken songs were sung, and Shining bought the whole bar a round at least twice. Ponies started to shuffle out after midnight, and Cadance, who was (much to Gale’s astonishment) barely drunk, bade farewell to her husbands friend, “It was nice meeting you” was what she had probably said, it certainly sounded like that to Gale’s intoxicated ears. Shining and Cadance left soon after they paid their portion of the bill, and all the way out the Unicorn laughed and smiled and said things that probably wouldn’t have been funny if anypony in the bar was sober. 
Gale walked out onto the street and headed for the nearest hotel, (He wasn’t going to try to fly to Cloudsdale in this state.) muddling through paying for a room in a drunken stupor. As he collapsed onto the somewhat lumpy bed, not a single thought of any of what he and Shining had talked about entered his mind. He didn’t think about wars past, or wars to come, didn’t think about the state of his country, or even how close he had come to death just a few days ago. Gale only laid there on the bed, which to him was as comfortable as the softest cloud, and slowly drifted into unconsciousness. 
If he had had even the slightest measure of self awareness at that point, Gale would have fallen on his knees and prayed to whatever deities he could think of, giving thanks for the simple bliss of being happily drunk.