The New Home

by Arrenius

First published 10th of May, 2013

Rainbow Dash struggles with the decision to enlist in the Equestrian Military as the country becomes increasingly unsafe for her friends.

A platoon of Royal Equestrian Army soldiers returns from a distant mission. Hailed as heroes, the success of Gale Storm and his troops has inspired ponies all across the nation, including Rainbow Dash. In a time when disaster after disaster has eroded confidence in Equestria, with unrest on the rise, Rainbow wonders whether the time is now to enlist, and begin her journey on the road to being a Wonderbolt. Her friends have their doubts, however. With the way things are going in Equestria, a soldier's job is nowhere near as safe as it used to be. As Rainbow grapples with her decision, Twilight Sparkle finds herself drawn, as a representative of the Princess, into the shifting alliances and rivalries of the Equestrian political system. Given a mandate to try and encourage change, and reform among the backwards court of nobles, she meets more obstacles than she had prepared for. All the while, in the shadows, a new kind of enemy lurks, one which nopony in Equestria is truly prepared for...

To be a Hero

Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened slowly as she stretched out her wings. As usual, the sun was up well before she was. And that was just how the weather pegasus liked it. WCB orders came on a weekly basis, so as long as the weather patrol got everything in order by the end of the week, they didn’t need to be pushing clouds around 24/7. Dash looked around, noticing Tank wasn’t around. Must be downstairs, probably sleeping. Rainbow thought.

Rainbow leapt from her bed and trotted about her house for a minute, waking herself up. She remembered it was... saturday? No, yesterday was saturday, Twilight had had that thing planned. So, since today was Sunday, she could take the day off. Rainbow smiled, that was exactly what she needed, a nice day off. She figured she’d fly around ponyville for a bit (keep up appearances and all) and then spend the rest of the day relaxing at the lake.

Rainbow cracked open a can of food for Tank and dropped it into his bowl. The tortoise tended to be pretty independent, so there was no need to portion it out or anything like that. She stretched out her wings and grabbed some breakfast, a bowl of oats and milk. When she caught a glimpse out her window, she realized just how late she was, and elected to skip the rest of breakfast.

She rushed out to find the Patrol all milling about their meeting place, looking more than a little annoyed. Mental note, Dash thought to herself. Remember to give them the orders the day before next time.

“Uhh... hey guys, we all ready to go?” She said, trying to play it nonchalantly.

It was Thunderlane who cut in, with an aside glance and sarcastic tone. “Yeah, in fact, we’ve been ready to go for like an hour; it’s almost as if we should have started earlier...”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Alright, I get it, I’m late. You know you could have started without me, or would that just be too much thinking for you to handle?”

“And how are we supposed to do anything without orders from cloudsdale?” Thunderlane retorted.

Rainbow smiled. “This brings me back to my earlier point, about thinking. Orders for today are easy; Team two goes out to sweep up debris from that concert they had out on the Canterlot road, team one stays in town and clears out this stratus system we’ve been circulating. Any questions?”

There were none. Annoyed though they were about the late start, the patrol knew a load that light could be cleared well before quitting time. They broke off into teams and from there with their partners, Thunderlane tagging along with Dash.

About fifteen minutes of uneventful cloud clearing around the town outskirts brought them closer to the center of town, and Rainbow decided she’d take a look around town from the air, as she often did.

A low pass over the market revealed a number of ponies crowded around a stall. From what Rainbow could see, they were fairly rowdy. The Pegasus smiled a little; around here rowdy ponies meant good times were on the way. She figured she’d get in on the ground floor of whatever adventure was going to happen this week; better than sitting the whole thing out like she sometimes had to.

She flapped over to Thunderlane and tapped him on the shoulder. “You seeing this?”

He turned around and raised an eyebrow. “What, the stratiform? It’s nothing special.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “No you featherbrain! That crowd, down there in the market!”

Thunderlane looked down and shrugged. “Eh, seems par for the course. We gonna get these moved today or should I just put it off again?”

“Nah, Cloudsdale’s been breathing down my neck about this one. Get em moved out by lunch. I’m going to go see what this is all about.”

Thunderlane looked annoyed. “So I have to deal with a sky full of clouds while you go to the market to screw around?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much the gist of it. I’ll be back when I’m done-”

“Whenever the hay that is.” Thunderlane quipped.

Rainbow continued regardless. “and until then, you can pull some ponies off of that debris sweeping detail. It’s a make-work anyway.”

“So... why do you get to make the call on what orders we do and don’t follow?”

Rainbow gave him a wry glance. “When you’re democratically elected patrol leader, you get to make autocratic decisions. I’ll see you in a few.”

With a strong flap, Rainbow glided towards the market, landing soft and clean just at the back of the crowd. Rainbow gave a rash of ‘excuse me’s’ and ‘can I get through here?’ as she strong armed her way to the head of the crowd. Close to the front, she saw Fluttershy timidly letting ponies past her. Rainbow moved towards her friend and greeted her with a nudge to the forearm.

“Hey Fluttershy! What’s with the mob?”

“Oh, I have no idea... I was just out picking up some cherries, and there was a big crowd here at the news stand... apparently there’s some big story.”

Rainbow’s expression flattened from excitement to a mixture of disappointment and annoyance. “All these ponies are here to pick up a newspaper?”

An earth pony with an annoying nasally voice rolled her eyes and looked at Rainbow. “Have you not heard? There was some kind of big battle that happened in Transvaal; I heard it from my friend, who heard it from her cousin who works at the Manehatten Times. I want to know if we won!”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. Transvaal was never a big story; most ponies didn’t even know Equestria had troops there. She honestly only knew because she read an article about a wonderbolts performance for the troops where Fleetfoot had been injured.

Surprisingly, it was Fluttershy that piped up next. “But... I thought we weren’t supposed to be doing any fighting in Transvaal, weren’t we just bringing in aid supplies and trying to get the zebras and boerperds to negotiate a truce?”

The other pony shrugged and Rainbow gave Fluttershy a surprised look, to which she blushed a little. “It was in a magazine I read sometimes...”

Before Rainbow could respond, a cart came by; the pony that normally ran the newspaper stall pulling it. “Alright, I’ve got the latest editions here; this is one you don’t want to miss fillies and gentlecolts! Four bits a paper, line up right here!”

Someone in the crowd called out to him. “What’s the headline?”

“War hero saves Boerperd conflict!” The papercolt said, proudly and obliviously. Within a moment the whole crowd swarmed upon him, and he struggled to meet them.

Rainbow suppressed a laugh as he frantically tried to produce enough papers for all his customers, while Fluttershy winced. After a couple of chaotic minutes, the crowd had been satisfied and were off to tear into their newly purchased periodicals, leaving the papercolt disheveled and in the dust.

Still giggling under her breath, Rainbow walked up to the stallion, who bore an acute look of shell-shock. “I’ll take one, if you have any left.” She said flipping, him a five-bit piece.

He nodded and gave a dazed response. “Here you go...” He said, eyes spinning dizzied about in their sockets. “Enjoy....”

Rainbow took the paper, and elected to let the poor papercolt keep the change. She walked off briskly, turning to her friend. “Come on Fluttershy, let’s see what all this commotion is about.”

Rainbow flew up on a low sitting cloud, and Fluttershy followed suit quickly. She unrolled the paper to see the headline, over a picture of a Pegasus stallion clad in armor. He didn’t wear a helmet, and his mane blew in the wind as his front hooves supported him atop a sandbag wall. As heroic as it looked, Rainbow couldn’t help but wonder if it had been staged. (That kind of sexiness was too much for any real stallion to pull off)

Rainbow continued to read, muttering half-words to herself as she went through. Fluttershy was clearly reading over her shoulder, so when the story ‘continued A2’ she gave a look behind her to see if Fluttershy was ready to turn the page. Her friend nodded, and Rainbow read on. After a minute, Rainbow reflected with a mixture of awe and skepticism. Everypony knew the newspapers fudged numbers, but to say a guy could take on 4000 with a bunch of sick and wounded soldiers who didn’t want to be there in the first place? Something that absurd had to have at least some truth to it.

Rainbow tore to another page to see the newspaper’s biography on the officer in command, Gale Storm. It was a solid Pegasus name, and he appeared to be from a well off family, born in Cloudsdale (hometown hoofbump), and went to school at Cloudsdale Academy for Pegasi, that in particular raised an eyebrow. They had gone to the same school? That was weird; she didn’t remember ever seeing him, though he looked about the same age as her from the photo.

The more Rainbow read, the more fascinated she became. The military had always somewhat interested her, but battles and campaigns always just seemed like a boring history lesson, so her interest kind of stopped after where the Wonderbolts were concerned. This story though, it caught her attention in a way she couldn’t totally explain.

Fluttershy snapped her out of her thoughts with a sigh. “Oh how awful... twenty dead, and that’s just on our side.”

Rainbow responded quickly. “Yeah, but it seems like it could have been a lot worse, it looks like we expected our guys all to get killed.”

“I don’t hate a lot of things Rainbow, but I think I hate war. All those dead ponies and zebras... and they’re treating it like we won a sports tournament.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Courage is courage, if you’re gonna be out risking your neck for your country, you’re at least as cool as the average athlete.”

Again Fluttershy sighed. “I know, it is very brave of them... I just wish nopony had to die. I know it sounds silly, but if we could all just get along these kinds of things wouldn’t happen.”

“What do you think about Storm?” Rainbow said, changing the subject, which had become a little too sober for her tastes.

“The officer? I remember him, he’s nice.”

Rainbow put down the paper and looked up in confusion. “Wait, you remember him? From school?”

“He was a senior when we were in our first year. He was the president of that secret club Everypony wanted to be in.”

“The Krypteia? They were awesome! I don’t even know what they did and I wanted to be in it.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I remember him; sometimes he would tutor me in history or intermediate level theory and practice of flight. He was very patient, very smart, and he never made fun of me when I tried to fly. Even the teacher did that sometimes...” Fluttershy looked at her hooves, remembering how tough school had been for her.

“That’s so weird... I must have met him at least once; it wasn’t that big of a school.”

“You did. You bumped into him in the hall and spilled his lunch everywhere.”

“How do you remember these things?”

“I remember how terrified I was; I thought he’d be angrier with you...”

Rainbow chuckled. “Well, since I don’t remember it, it probably didn’t turn out too bad. I wonder if I could meet him when he gets back... he seems like a pretty cool guy.”

“That’s how I remember him. Now he’s a war hero, I wonder what that feels like...”

Rainbow put the paper away, laying back resting her head on her forehooves. “If it’s anything like being regular old heroes like us, it probably feels awesome.”

*****

Gale let out a desperate gasp as his head shot from the cot pillow. A quick look to his left and right failed to alleviate the disorientation. There were no windows in this room, and he had no weapon. Panic overtook him for a moment; the enemy had just been here, where had they gone? He had been fighting.... he couldn’t even remember. It entered the soldier’s mind for a moment that he had been captured. Had he somehow been incapacitated in the frantic melee he had just been in the thick of? There had been blood, bodies, and all the usual. A chaos of soldiers he barely recognized, and enemies he could hardly see had danced about him in a rage, every moment spent without a semblance of ordered thought or command, an incoherence he had never before imagined.

If the officer had indeed been taken prisoner, it was certainly not by the Impi... he vaguely remembered fighting the Impi of the Zebra, but he remembered enough to know that this room, built of steel and wood, was far too advanced for them. An awful possibility crept into the terrified reaches of Gale’s mind. This could be a blacksite. Perhaps after all these years, the RIB had finally caught up with him; the fight he remembered could have been with the Adjudicators... but something seemed off. Gale’s better judgement still failed to enter into the equation as he speculated further on the blacksite theory. If he was here, his mother and father wouldn’t be far behind, not to mention his old friends. If he ever hoped to see the light of day again, Gale knew he would need to get out of here.

He took a step and found some difficulty gaining his footing, almost as if the floor were rocking back and forth. Had he been given some kind of drug? Gale pushed the thought out of his mind. He could stand and walk, that was what mattered. He went to the door and opened it, finding it unlocked and leading to a notably unguarded hallway. Gale froze for a moment in confusion. If this was a secret prison, it was a particularly terrible one. Not only had his cell been comfortable, there was literally nothing keeping him in it. Doubt entered Gale’s mind as he wandered through the hallway towards a narrow staircase leading up.

Ascending the staircase, Gale noticed a hatch at the top of it. It had one of those round opening mechanisms, the wheel that somehow opened it, what the bloody hell were those called? Gale had either forgotten or simply hadn’t known in the first place. Either was totally possible, but neither was important. What was important was that Gale noticed the seal of the Merchant Marine on the hatch, and suddenly he felt like a gigantic idiot.

Pulling the hatch open Gale stepped onto the deck of the ship, shaking his head as he walked to the railing. A blacksite, what childish stupidity. He was honestly embarrassed at how long it had taken him to recover from a nightmare. Embarrassed, and more than a little worried. His nightmare (for that is what Gale concluded the ‘battle’ must have been) had blurred his perception of reality in a bizarre way, one he couldn’t quite explain.

Gale was taken out of his thoughts as the ship gave a lurch. A moments stagger turned Gale’s stomach over, and he remembered why he hadn’t joined the navy. Pegasi, being fliers by nature, had an inherent distaste for the sea, and Gale had a history of mild seasickness in his own right. That, the nightmare, and the unwelcome memory of the carnage he had presided over just two days before all compounded to produce in the grey Pegasus an acute nausea which compelled him to hang his head over the railing.

After a moment waiting, Gale realized that his body had no intention of allowing him to be sick, instead choosing to occupy that hellish limbo wherein one wants to, but is unable to, vomit. Not wanting to return to his quarters just yet, Gale looked out over the railing, crossing his forehooves on top of it. He took a glance in the direction the boat was travelling, the sea breeze providing at least some respite from his unsettled stomach.

Home. The ship was heading home. He could tell that it was going northwest, if he had a sextant he could even figure out, within a few kilometers, where they were geographically, but none of that was nearly as important as what Gale knew. And Gale knew they were bound for Equestria.

When the soldier had collapsed drenched in blood, sweat, and dirt after the battle at Drift Station, home had topped his thoughts. He had yearned to return to Cloudsdale, to see his parents and young sister, and maybe spend a day or two asleep in his bed, enjoying the great boundless liberty that was existence without responsibility or obligation. As he looked towards Equestria, more and more did those thoughts come into his head.

And more and more did they fail to satisfy him.

Every moment he tried to think about home, his thoughts wandered. The more he drafted his vacation plan, the more he went over his battle plan from two days ago. Every mental image of Gale Storm stretched out on a comfortable bed faded into Gale Storm mangled by a Zebra spear he had barely dodged. Every moment contemplating the bliss of irresponsibility brought a pang of guilt at even considering the dereliction of his duty.

Gale frowned at the horizon, watching the waves thrown back by the bow of the ship. He followed the movements of the water around the hull, scrutinising the water as if he were focused on a single molecule he wished to track. As the water flowed past the stern, Gale looked again at the horizon, but this time not at the ship’s bow. He uncrossed his forehooves, planting them on the deck, and took a few steps astern, staring back at Transvaal.

That place had been hell. Heat that was almost desert like, war, uncontrolled disease, slash and burn farming, bandit raids, and a lack of such modern conveniences as plumbing. How was it that he stared back at that place where he had seen so much horror and death, (and even dealt out his fair share of both) that he couldn’t tear his mind away from his time there?

How was it that, deep down in the innermost, hidden regions of this Stallion’s heart that he wanted to go back?

Once again, Gale looked to the horizon along the bow. The ship was, doubtless, headed for Equestria.
But Gale was no longer sure he was headed home.

*****

Venture did up the clamps on his armor. He had almost wanted to stay home today, (he had 72 vacation days saved and he was dangerously close to the ‘use them or lose them’ threshold) but there was only one captain today; nopony could really take over in his absence. He couldn’t leave the Paladins to run about trying to figure out what had happened to Shining Armor, and he certainly didn’t want them finding out from a politician.

The walk to his office was somber and quiet. Some NCO’s walked by and saluted, and several civilians who knew who he was gave him a respectful nod, but none tried to speak to him. Whether it was because of his status or the scowl on his face, he couldn’t quite tell. Venture had no particular desire to have a discussion with anypony anyway, yesterday’s madness had put him in such a mood that it would have rapidly devolved into a shouting match.

He entered the Guard HQ, returning more salutes from the door guards. As he walked through the foyer, the other of his counterparts approached him, and he groaned. In front of the captain stood the commander of Luna’s nascent guard contingent, a purple coated Earth Mare by the name of Nightfall. A veteran officer who had served in multiple tours of duty, (including one with the Special Forces that Venture wasn’t supposed to know about) Venture had every reason to respect Captain Nightfall, even be her friend. But to be perfectly honest she scared the hay right out of his cart. The mare was unbelievably intense, and didn’t suffer what she perceived to be incompetence. Venture also suspected that she was secretly some kind of sociopathic serial killer, but that had more to do with the whole ‘bat motif’ floating about everywhere with her.

She wasted no time in speaking, and got directly to the point, businesslike and serious as she always was. “Is it true then? Has Captain Armor been arrested?”

Venture kept on walking and replied tersely. “Yes. They convicted him of treason and tossed him in lockup.”

“Who’s they?” She asked

“Celestia, Courser, all the plotholes on the council who prefer dead bodies to disobedience.”

She looked confused. “What did he do and how did they find out?”

“He issued an illegal order to save his friend. They crucified him for it.” Venture was letting his frustration seep through. He didn’t want a damn conversation about this and was making every effort to let that be known.

“That doesn’t make sense, how did they find out that he-”

“Because I bucking turned him in!” Venture snapped. He hadn’t even realized the level to which he had raised his voice. Other officers in the area were looking on, shocked.

“I did it. I brought him to the Princess. If there’s anyone to blame over this... It’s me.”
Venture looked at the ground, ashamed of himself. “I... I think I may resign soon. I’m getting too old for this.” He looked up and spoke quietly, almost at a whisper. “Night, we need to play this close to the vest for now. If they find out what happened...” He looked towards the officers. “If they learn what happened yesterday we’ll be on the edge of a bloody coup. That’s where we are, that’s how serious this has gotten.”

Nightfall absorbed the information quickly. “Understood. I’ll see what I can do about burying this.”

“I don’t want any bodies found in dumpsters or black bags over ponies’ heads. Just keep it quiet.”
Nightfall smirked. “There’s more than one way to contain information, but we’ll play it your way.”

Venture nodded and walked on to his office. He realized in retrospect that Night may take... liberties with his recommendation (he had seniority, but their ranks were equivalent). But honestly he didn’t give a damn. If boy scouts like Shining Armor were getting locked up, perhaps a military coup was what the nation needed.

He opened the door to his office, still fuming. But as the door opened, the fire in him was instantly extinguished. His office wasn’t empty, and when he saw its occupant, he was paralyzed with fear. His hooves felt like cinderblocks, and his eyes were wide open in shock.

The occupant stared him right in the face and greeted him. Such a familiar voice, known by so many to be full of love and caring now spoke with a barely restrained rage, and the icy determination of a slighted Mare.

“Good morning Captain Venture.”

All the anger in him was gone, the courage he had called upon a dozen times to propel him into gunfire and waiting enemy spears was nowhere to be found, he could only manage a weak, obviously terrified reply.

“Good... good morning Princess Cadance...”

She stood up and walked towards him.

“Captain, I’m going to ask you a question. And I’m only going to ask it once.”

She got right up in his face, staring him in the eyes. Venture slunk away a little.

“Where. Is. My. Husband.”

*****

Author's Notes:

Confused as to why Shining is in prison? You probably should be. Check out the prequel, Rising Storm, to find out.

Out of Exile

The world became light again, as the black bag was torn from the stallion’s head. Before him stood a Pegasus, with a coat of faded red. The first thing the stallion noted about his captor was his size; one of the largest Pegasi he had ever laid eyes on, but a mass clearly born of training and exercise, in true military fashion. He wore a patchwork set of leather armor and over it a civilian webbing vest with utility pouches. Practically a vision torn from a propaganda piece on nationalist rebels, his captor looked probably as imposing as he must have felt.

“Why have you come here?” The Pegasus asked. His voice was a deep, anhalter accent with an air of authority. His voice radiated power, in a sinister way, lacking any form of subtlety. The captive stallion before him stayed silent a moment, responding slowly, and quietly.

“You are the Schaffer der verlorn then?”

“I ask the questions here, mein herr.” He said with no lack of contempt.

“And you are right to do so, of course. How else to keep your company safe? This merry band of outlaws you guide, living in constant fear of those who cast you out, who else to safeguard them from the dangers that follow than, a shepherd... I am quite sure you are Schaffer, though I expect you shall deny that to me. I come to you as a volunteer, with a set of well honed skills that I believe you may find useful.”

The stallion nodded. “A volunteer? I feel you may have misunderstood the nature of our organization....” With a nod, the guard cocked his weapon and placed it to the captive’s head. “We’re referral only, you see.”
The captive did not even flinch; his face remained completely straight, with a confident, charming smile that looked to belong more at an aristocrat’s dinner party than at this business. This earned a smile from his captor, if nothing else, the foal was not afraid to die.

“I am Schaffer, as you say. With stallions as intelligent as us, there is neither a need for, nor a point to, deception.”
The captive nodded. “I am glad that we can be civilized, we have much to discuss, and having no title by which to address you is making this conversation rather difficult.”

Schaffer tilted his head, playing along with the charade. “May I then have the honor of knowing what you call yourself?”

“My real name is of no importance, to you or to me. I go by Gloaming Dusk, as you go by Shepherd of the Lost.”

“Both those words mean the same thing.” Schaffer said flatly.

Dusk smiled. “Ah... so they do.” Dusk paused for a moment before continuing. “Believe me, herr Schaffer, I would not take the time to seek you out here in the wilderness if I were only to waste your time. I can be a valuable asset to your organization, if only allowed the chance to do so.”

“Make your proposal then, herr Dusk. We shall see if it is worth my time.”

“Very well. I am, like all of you, a patriot. However, unlike all of you, I still have a number of friends, from my old life. Well connected friends, in key positions within the military and intelligence communities. My network of contacts is extensive and influential. I can provide avenues to secure armaments, supplies, funding, and most importantly; I can provide you with information. Warning in advance of police raids, intelligence on troop movements, potential recruits under surveillance, targets of opportunity, that sort of thing. I have observed your organization, the Verbannten for some time; I know you are but a band of survivalists, ex soldiers and patriots only wishing to live alone, out from under the iron hoof of the Unicorns. What I am offering you... is the opportunity to become so much more.”

Schaffer scoffed. “You’re suggesting we become everything they say we are? That we terrorize them and validate all their lies? Lend legitimacy to their propaganda? The RIB and the Royal Guard would descend upon us like a swarm of locusts; we’d be swept up and in black site prisons before we accomplished anything.”

Dusk dropped his facade of civility and took up an accusative tone. “They started this war! They made enemies of us! You say you wish to be left alone? They do not share your quaint 'live and let live' attitude! They seek to spread their filth to every corner of this land! Their settlers push further in every direction year after year, and they’re getting closer. When they come here, do you think they will extend a hoof of friendship to their new neighbours?”

“They fear the everfree forest like a colt fears the monsters beneath his bed!” Schaffer retorted. “The Unicorns are weak here, their magic less potent; the weather is beyond their control, they dare not venture in! We are safe, and always will be, as long as we keep to the forest.”

Dusk looked to the sky and let out a spine chilling maniacal laugh, his mouth opened wide and eyes closed. The laughter was so terrible that even Schaffer found himself disconcerted, lifting a forehoof as if to step back. The laughter continued for a few seconds, and Dusk continued, catching his breath. “Oh my dear Schaffer... how can the hunted take shelter in the darkness, if the hunter brings a torch?” Schaffer looked puzzled, and opened his mouth to speak, cut off before he could do so. “Open my bag. In it you’ll find a folder. That folder contains the classified reports of an agent of the Royal Inquiries Bureau. He outlines the steps necessary to begin an Equestrian colonization of this forest.”

Schaffer scowled and opened the bag. He tore out the folder in question and sifted through it furiously. After a moment, he looked back at Dusk. “How do I know you didn’t fake this?”

“You could wait until the colonists bring a host of soldiers and police, if you wish. That would certainly affirm what I say.”

Schaffer pulled a blade from his vest, in a heartbeat he was upon Dusk, the blade held to the captive stallion’s throat.

“No more games, no more witty remarks. If you’re lying to me, I’ll spread you over this forest like strawberry jam.”

Dusk smiled. “No more games? My friend, you have a lot to learn. Everything is a game; it’s merely a question of the stakes. You and I, our stakes are very high, in fact we stake our very lives just to have this conversation. And we play against a cunning and deadly foe, which also happens to have more pieces.”

Schaffer’s scowl deepened and he pulled the blade back from Dusk’s throat. “Hmm. This game of yours, it doesn’t sound all that fair. I’d prefer not to play, I think.”

“We have one advantage, one the enemy cannot hope to counter.”

“And what would that be?” Schaffer asked facetiously.

“They don’t know they’re playing yet.”

Schaffer turned around, looking at the ground in contemplation. Since the first day they had fled to the woods, the Verbannten had dreamed of striking back at the nation that had cast them out. The most prominent desire among all of them, after survival, was unquestionably vengeance. Though he wished to protect them, as he had always done, Schaffer had to admit that most of the company would gladly lay down their lives for even the chance to settle the score with the Unicorns.

Though he couldn’t see Schaffer’s face, Dusk knew he had struck a chord.

“Tonight, far from this forest, in their great cities, Canterlot, Manehatten, Fillydelphia... The Unicorns and their puppets sleep soundly in their beds. Their perfect little world goes on every day, interrupted every now and again by some supernatural occurrence or other, but ultimately undisturbed. They are content, they are complacent... and they are weak. Not one of those politicians honestly believes that ‘nationalism’ is a serious threat. To them... the idea of a Pegasus rebel, a patriot, restoring the glory of an ancient empire, flying proudly a banner that has been trodden upon by the hooves of the unworthy, that’s their worst nightmare. But they sleep easy, knowing that it’s just that. A nightmare.”

Dusk took a moment to let his comment sink in. “Look at me. Look at me Schaffer!”

Schaffer turned abruptly, and Dusk continued, seething. “I am offering you the chance of a lifetime, my friend, all of you. I offer you the chance to strike back, not just for yourselves, but for your ancestors. Your exalted forefathers who made this land kneel before their might! I am offering you a chance to restore the honor our race once held. Together, you and I can make their nightmare very, very real.”

Schaffer looked the captive Pegasus in the eyes. As Dusk spoke, Schaffer could see the conviction, the belief. The fanaticism manifested as a look of righteous fury, and Schaffer knew all he had to from this self proclaimed volunteer’s countenance. Fervour was as powerful a weapon as any crafted for war, even more so, being infectious.

"I will, naturally, require proof of your loyalty, and proof that you can deliver on these grand promises." Schaffer said, his softening tone indicating to Gloaming that he was ready.

"You shall have your proof. By this time next month, there will not be a living soul in Equestria who has not heard the name Verbannten."

There was no more consideration in Schaffer’s mind. If this stallion was to be believed, hiding from Equestria was no longer an option.

The time had come to strike back.

******

The cell isn’t really all that bad, the unicorn thought. Yeah it’s dank and all, but this cobblestone is more comfortable than some beds in the barracks. Ever the optimist, Shining Armor had managed to find some sleep, and was now amusing himself by carving out battle plans in the floor. The infantry symbol was giving him some trouble, the shape of the stone meant it kept coming out all wonky. He had written out a scenario for two regimental-sized forces running into each other around Ponyville, one had orders to secure the town, the other had orders to evacuate the civilians.

A half hours worth of toying around and Shining got a little frustrated. There weren’t a lot of options for the defenders. Ponyville was small, a town of around 3000, but even still a mass exodus would take considerable time. The defenders could reach the outskirts of the town quick enough to establish themselves, but not enough to entrench. Add that to the force needed to lead the evacuees and prevent looting, and the attackers had a clear advantage. Without entrenchment of any kind, the defenders would be rapidly dislodged, and the fighting would be in the town soon enough. Mission failed.

Shining laid back against the wall thinking about his little thought game. Why had he chosen Ponyville? Obviously he had thought of his little sister, still wanting to protect her even in hypothetical exercises. The thought struck him though, had he really thought of her? Twili would have made a massive difference here, he wouldn’t need much of a contingent to organize the evacuation if he were commanding the defense, he’d just need to ask his sister to take care of it.

Shining shook his head. Twili, the quiet shy little filly who had once told her brother: ‘I don’t want any friends, I don’t need any friends, I just need my books’. Now she was a de facto community official, a national hero, and a leader. A bona fide leader. He was so damn proud of his little sister. The magic had always come naturally to her, as had her schooling, but socially she had been one of the most awkward little fillies he had ever known. He remembered a long talk with Cadance about whether Twili could actually handle boarding school.

That thought took him to Cadance. He had been in here less than a day, but he already missed his wife. Absolutely bizarre, they’d been apart for longer before, but something about this felt different. Probably the whole ‘detained and arrested’ thing.

There was a bit of a ruckus outside and one of the guards on the door cocked his head to look. His partner took a few steps forward. Suddenly the lock on the door to the cellblock clicked into position, the two guards returned to the position of attention and saluted. Shining walked up to the bars of his cell to see who had come in.

Iron Venture walked right up to the cell door and gave Shining one of the angriest death glares he had ever seen. Venture said nothing but Shining read ‘you got me into this’ on his face. Shining beamed when he saw who came in next and exclaimed in joy.

“Cadance! What are you doing here?” Shining realized about a half second after he opened his mouth that he had made a very bad call. He had just sailed blindly into a typhoon.

“What am I doing here? Are you serious?” Cadance snapped at her caged husband. “What the buck are YOU doing here? I’m out of the capital no less than a day and suddenly my husband, a Captain of the Princesses Royal Guard is a convicted felon!”

“Traitor, actually.” Venture said, annoyed.

“How in the world did you get charged with treason? What were you thinking? Was this another one of your stupid jokes? Or did you finally push the council over the edge? Wait, no, let me guess, you were playing hero and made somepony look bad?”

Shining spoke up. “My jokes are not stupid. They require significant planning and preparation to properly execute. Not to mention the technical expertise involved...”

Cadance seethed at him. “So you think this is some kind of joke then?”

“No, I didn’t prepare for it.” Shining said, smiling.

“Stop! Just stop! I’m glad you think a life in prison is funny, but I’m not sure I like the idea of seeing you 72 hours every month.”

“Cadance, calm down, they’ll probably just put me to the gallows.” Shining quipped.

She pushed Venture aside and put her face right up to the bars. “Don’t you dare talk like that. This isn’t funny! We can’t let them do this! Whatever you did, I’m sure Princess Celestia will help!”

Venture cut in again. “We thought the same thing. She thought a cell would be more appropriate.”

Cadence looked at him, utterly shocked. “You- you can’t be serious,” She said. “Princess... Auntie... no, no she wouldn’t...” She looked back at Shining. “What did you do?”

“I issued an order to a combat unit and it was countermanded, so I impersonated the Princess and issued an illegal order which countermanded the order to countermand my original order.” Shining only really recognized the ridiculousness of that sentence after he had said it.

Cadance stared at him flatly. “So you got bored and wanted to play general?”

Shining snapped. “Bristle was leaving soldiers to die! I couldn’t just stand there while Equestrian troops were slaughtered because of one stallion’s idiocy! 150 REA troops were caught behind enemy lines; I tried to send them reinforcements! To bring them home!” He caught himself after the outburst, Cadance hadn’t meant to hurt him, and she hadn’t known about the circumstances (not to mention she didn’t know anything about Gale Storm). He felt awful for yelling at her like that, especially when she was probably in a state herself. He gave her an apologetic look and was about to vocalize it when she spoke.

“Oh Shining,” Cadance said melancholically. “I... I know you just want to do the right thing, but why didn’t you just go and ask Celestia if she would issue the order for you?”

“I didn’t have time!” He insisted. “And besides, if she threw me in here for it, she probably wouldn’t have issued it. And then the order wouldn’t have even got out! Cadance, the officer in command of those soldiers in trouble.... he’s, he’s a friend. A very old, very good friend.”

Cadance shook her head. Shining’s heart, as always, had been in the right place. She had heard so many rumors, up to and including one that claimed her husband had tried to initiate a coup. She had rushed to leave the Empire frantically, absolutely horrified at what might have happened. Of course he had been trying to help somepony, it was all he ever did. She loved him dearly for it, but knew it would lead him to an early grave if he wasn’t careful.

“Shining... I... I’ll figure something out, I... I can’t lose you, not like this.”

Cadances eyes watered, and Shining slipped his snout through the bars.

“Hey, come here,” Shining said.

Cadance leaned in and kissed him, it was a soft, longing kiss, the kind usually reserved for when either of them had to go away, and wouldn’t be coming back for a long while. After a long moment, Shining drew back a little and broke the kiss.
“You’ll be fine. No matter what happens to me, you’ll be okay. Believe that.”

Cadance looked away from her husband, choking back tears. She couldn’t believe he would consign himself to this so easily, he was a fighter by trade, by nature even. Sometimes it seemed to her that the uniform was as much a part of him as his coat. The princess turned around to try and mask her tears, Iron Venture shook his head distraught at the whole thing.
Shining seethed. He wanted nothing more than to break free of his cage and hold his wife. He no longer felt slighted by Celestia for imprisoning him, but instead, he was furious with himself for not being there for Cadance. All the while Venture wracked his brains for some obscure legal precedent that would allow him to release Shining. There were some technicalities he could exploit, but Princess Celestia knew very well the difference between the letter and spirit of the law.

Though Venture was stumped, Cadance was not. A flash of inspiration came to her, stemming from her thought about Shining’s uniform. She wiped the tears from her eyes and made an effort to stand up straight and composed. There wasn’t much to her plan, really only a basic idea, but it would have to do. She had improvised before.

“Captain Venture. I need you to set this stallion free at once.” Cadance said, making an effort to sound as dignified as possible.

Venture stared blankly for a moment, unsure of how to respond. “I... thought we all understood why I can’t do that.” He said, confused.

Shining lifted an eyebrow. Just asking to release him, there was no way that could work, Cadance must have known that.

The Princess continued regardless. “Captain, you run the risk of causing a serious diplomatic incident.”

Venture followed Shining’s example and raised his eyebrow as well. “I... what?” Venture said.

“The Stallion in your cell over here plays a vital role in the security of the Crystal Empire. In fact, I cannot overstate his importance. He is the Supreme Commander of the Crystal Legions.”

Venture wore a disdainful look of incredulity, and spoke in the flattest tone Shining had ever heard from him.

“What.”

Cadance made an effort to sound offended. “Iron Venture! Every moment Supreme Commander Armor languishes in his cell is another moment my empire spends in a paralysing state of military indecision!”
Shining noted that, as an absolute monarch, Cadance didn’t need any such supreme commander, the position would naturally fall to her. But he elected to keep that observation to himself.

Venture, however, had other thoughts.

“Are... are you serious about this?”

“Yes.” She replied tersely.

“So, if I don’t let him out, you’ll turn this into a diplomatic incident and have half of the court calling for my resignation?”

“That’s about right.”

“And if I do release him, I disobey a direct order and you’ll have the other half doing the exact same thing?”

Cadance gave him a sympathetic look. “Captain, if it were your family, how far would you go?”

Venture’s mouth hung open for a moment. He swallowed, closed his eyes and lowered his head. Without another word, he opened one of the utility pouches on his armor with his wing, and produced a keyring, which he threw on the floor in front of Princess Cadance.

Shining was surprised at how deeply the comment had affected his counterpart. Venture lived alone, and if he had any family, he had certainly never mentioned them. Cadance’s attention was focused entirely on her husband.

“Shining, I don’t know how much trouble we’ll get in for this, so just... be ready.”

“Cadance, please, don’t throw away your whole life for me.” Shining pleaded.

Not listening at all, Cadance opened the cell door. “Come on. We’ll need to move quickly.”

Shining thought about staying, refusing to put Cadance in danger for his sake, but when he realized just how sanctimonious that would be, he nodded and followed her out.

“Where will we go?”

Cadance gave him a dour look. “To.... my empire?”

Shining rolled his eyes, why would she think he hadn’t already considered that? “It’s an Equestrian client state Cadance! It’s a train ride from here to there.”

“Trains can be stopped.” Cadance replied.

“We’re going to cut off ties with Equestria over this? Cadance, I know you’re just trying to protect me, but we have to draw the line somewhere,”

“THERE IS NO LINE!” Cadance shouted. Shining was taken aback, he had never heard Cadance this... desperate.

“There’s no line... not when it comes to you.” Cadance said as she held back tears. “I didn’t let Chrysalis take you from me, I didn’t let Sombra take you from me, I didn’t let any of those wars take you from me. I’m not going to sit here and watch you rot in prison.”

“Cadance.... I,” Shining started.

“No, just, we need to go.”

The two left the dungeon at a trot, and failed to notice the other captain of the guard, silently weeping in the corner of the room.

Homecoming.

“So... these Crystal Legions you mentioned, since when have they had a Supreme Commander?” Shining asked.

“Since the moment of their creation, five minutes ago when I made them up.” Cadance replied curtly.

“Excellent. So what are the uniforms like?”

“Sparkly and pink. Just to spite you.”

“Sounds kinky, I could get into that.”

“Could you get into me gagging you so I can get five seconds quiet?” Cadance regretted the sentence as soon as it left her lips.

“Uhm, duh, I could totally get into that.”

Cadance rolled her eyes. She looked at her husband, but noticed that he wore an unusually intense expression. He held up his hoof and stopped walking. Cadance was about to speak, but Shining beat her to it.

“Somepony’s here.”

“What?”

“Three Lunar Guards coming around the corner.”

“How can you-”

“Get behind me.”

“Shining, we’re in this together!”

“When’s the last time you fought a trained soldier? Let me handle this.”

Cadance let Shining step forward, and true to his predictions, two Night Guards, led by Captain Nightfall rounded the corner. For a moment Nightfall almost looked impressed by the sight of her fellow officer.

“Captain Armor... I can see your imprisonment is coming along quite nicely.”

Cadance cut in. “Conjugals in the cell just don’t quite cut it anymore.”

Shining spoke up. “Night, you’re a good soldier. I don’t want to fight you, but I will do whatever I have to to protect Cadance. Back off right now.”

Night smiled. “Of course you’ll do what you have to Captain, such is your duty. A duty which I believe you found yourself late for this morning. I hope you can appreciate that my duty shift is over, and I should like you to take up my post so I may return home and sleep.”

Shining raised an eyebrow. “Did we not just go over the imprisonment thing?”
“I was sent here by Princess Luna, she needs to speak with you about a meeting you missed yesterday. The matter of your imprisonment has been settled. Princess Celestia issued you a full pardon just ten minutes ago.” Night took a moment to produce a piece of parchment, written upon it what Shining recognized to be not only a full pardon, but an expungement, completely erasing the incident from official record. Night continued after giving Shining a moment to read. “Now if you will permit me to take my leave?”

Shining was incredibly skeptical. “So she gave me a pardon? Just like that?”

“That was what she communicated to me, yes.”

“Doesn’t that seem like a cop-out to you?” Cadance asked.

“Alas,” Night said. “That is a matter which you will have to discuss with the Princess.”

Shining gave her a confused glance, and then nodded. “I... think I understand. You’re dismissed Night.”

Night bowed her head, and the guards followed her as she walked on past Shining and Cadance.

“I... what just happened?” Cadance said bewildered.

“I think we just got our rumps saved, by Princess Celestia.” Shining said slowly.

“After she got us here in the first place?”

“Yeah... seems the landscape's changed a bit...” Shining took a moment to think. “So... I guess we just, go on business as usual?”

“The hay we do!” Cadance exclaimed. “I need to get some things sorted out with my dear aunt Celestia. I have some questions that need answered.”

“Cadance, seriously. Gift horse? Mouth?”

“You’re telling me you’re not even curious as to why you just spent a night in Jail?”

Shining shrugged. “No more than I was as to why I spent a year in Samarkand.”

Cadance shook her head. “Sometimes I just don’t understand what goes on in your head.”

“Eh, if you did you probably never would have married me. Especially if you’d known when we first met...”

“Oh Shining, you’re so cute...” Cadance said in a condescending singsong. “You think you were the only one thinking nasty thoughts when we first met...”

“Yeah I know, Twili was being a little demon-filly that night.” He shot her a wry glance.

“It’s too bad, really...” Cadance said, sensually placing her hoof on Shining’s foreleg. “I was looking forward to being on the run with a big bad fugitive for a husband.”

“Well, I’ve got a brown duster and revolver back home...”

“Maybe later. My Vizier isn’t expecting me back until tomorrow...”

Shining kissed her on the cheek and smiled. “Then in that case... I’ll be in my bunk.”

*****

“Hey, Twi... Can I talk to you?” Twilight looked up from her book to the sight of Rainbow Dash in her doorway. Odd... Twilight hadn’t heard her come in, either she forgot to lock the doors (a frequent occurrence, considering that fell under Spike’s jurisdiction... at least she thought it did.) Mental note, find out whether you've asked Spike to remember to lock the door. Twilight realized after a quick moment that she hadn't responded, and Rainbow was giving her a confused look.

“Uhm... Twi? You good? You’re lookin’ kinda spaced...”

Twilight shook her head. “Oh, no, I’m fine, I just wasn’t expecting company... what do you need to talk about Rainbow?”

Rainbow looked around a bit, nervously. Her mind now back in the world rather than in her book, Twilight noticed Rainbow looked a little disheveled. Her mane was even more unkempt than usual, and there was some swelling around her eyes, almost as if she’d been crying. Concerned though she was, Twilight decided not to force the issue, if Rainbow wanted to talk about it, she would. “I... well... I just got some application package from the Wonderbolts, and I was reading up on the entry options,”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Why would you need to do that? You already went to the Academy, what more is there?”

“A lot... The Academy is just to make sure you’re good enough to send them an application form. There’re about a dozen different stages of the process... but that isn’t important. What is important is... well...” Rainbow looked at the floor, whether crestfallen or embarrassed, Twilight couldn’t tell. Rainbow was silent for a moment looking off into the distance, so Twilight gave her a tap on the shoulder to bring her back.

“Well? What’s important?”

Rainbow closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew she’d have to tell Everypony eventually, but she felt so... stupid about it. She’ll think I’m an idiot. Rainbow thought, I’ll get a ‘should have thought it all through’ speech, she might even make me write a letter to the princess! Rainbow’s eyes started watering and she swore under her breath. Twilight stood up, having moved from concerned to worried. “Rainbow... are you alright? If there’s something bothering you-”

Rainbow cut her off abruptly. “I can’t be a Wonderbolt.”

Twilight’s mouth hung open in shock. “I... What? You aced the academy! All their flight tests, training, everything they threw at you! I saw your scores, you were just shy of perfect! Not accepting you with that kind of record doesn’t make any sense!”

Rainbow rubbed her eyes a bit, trying not to sniffle. “It has nothing to do with my test scores. The Wonderbolt’s aren’t all drawn from the military, but they’re all a part of it once they’re in the team. They’re all commissioned officers, and you can’t get a commission-”

It was Twilight’s turn to cut Rainbow off.

“Without a university degree... oh Rainbow I’m so sorry.” Twilight gave her friend the most sympathetic look she could manage. She couldn’t imagine how Rainbow felt right now, all those years of hard work, everything she’d done, all rendered worthless because of some archaic intellectual elitism. Rainbow looked on the edge of tears for a moment, and Twilight spoke up, desperately trying to find some other option.

“Well, this shouldn’t be too hard... you’ve got amazing character references and your high school diploma, just enroll in a university and-”

“Twi, I haven’t got anything close to the kind of cash you need to get a degree. Maybe if I sold my house I could pay a couple year’s tuition.”

“Scholarships! I can talk to the princess about getting a scholarship lined up-”

Rainbow wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up a little straighter. “Twi! Even if I got a full ride, that’s four more years of waiting. And not just waiting, but having less and less time to practice, I may not be good enough anymore by then, not to mention my recommendation from the Academy would be up, I'd need to go back.”

Twilight stamped her hoof. “Don’t talk like that! Rainbow you’re a brilliant flier, and four years of study won’t change that! Have a little faith in yourself.”

Twilight cast Rainbow a pleading look, and she drew in her breath. “Well... the thing is... there’s another option.”

Twilight smiled; at least Rainbow was willing to work with her. “Well, let’s hear it!”

“I don’t think you’ll like it, Twi.” Rainbow said cautiously.

“Rainbow, if it gets you in, I’m in love with it.” Twilight gave a sincere smile.

Rainbow nodded, and held her breath. “Okay... well, I can get a degree, and a commission, while still making, uh, practical use of my flying skill.”

Twilight nodded excitedly. “Well that sounds like exactly what you need! What is it?”

“If I enlist... in the army.”

Twilight froze; a look of utter astonishment came upon her. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing; did Rainbow Dash just seriously suggest that she join the army? Twilights imagination ran wild, replaying a dozen old battles she’d read about, one of her best friends since the day she had moved to Ponyville lying broken and bleeding on some field in the middle of nowhere, reduced to a nameless figure tallied up in casualty reports.

Twilight trembled a little, “R-Rainbow... are you sure that’s the best idea?”

“I don’t know, I need time to think on it.”

Twilight gave Rainbow a pleading look. She remembered what army life had been like (and in a lot of ways still was) for her brother. She remembered hearing him awake in the middle of the night pacing, or writing in a notebook, muttering in his sleep, and she remembered vividly the months spent practically in seclusion, barely speaking to his own family. She couldn't imagine that happening to Rainbow, just like she couldn't imagine it happening to Shining before it did. “Rainbow... when Shining Armor came back from Samarkand, he was... different. He’d never say it, but it had changed him. Let alone what happened to him after the Trottoman war. Maybe you should talk to him before you decide?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Twi, I’m not stupid, I know it’s not an easy life, but this could be my only shot at being a Wonderbolt. Do you know how long I’ve wanted that?”

“I know Rainbow... just... don’t rush into anything just yet.”

Rainbow was silent for a moment, looking out a window. “My dad’s gonna have a fit.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Wasn’t he in the army for a while? Why would he be upset?”

“Because he was in the army for a while, he never wanted me anywhere near it...” Rainbow trailed off, pausing for a few seconds before speaking up again. “So, do you think you could send a letter to your brother for me?”

Twilight nodded. “If I know Shining he won’t try to discourage you, or give you the recruiting pitch, he’ll tell it like it is.”

Rainbow nodded in gratitude and started towards the door. “Thanks Twi... I gotta go meet up with Pinkie Pie. I’ll see you around, kay?”

“Take care Rainbow,” Twilight said as her friend left the room. She continued to stare at the door for a moment, after Rainbow had left, trying to decide what to make of all this.

“Just be careful, Dash....”

*****

Gale stepped off the gangway at the head of the column, looking around calmly at the chanting crowd. Held back by the Royal Guard, the ponies in the crowd cheered and waved signs, a band further ahead had started in on Circle of Friends, and Gale walked through the passageway the guards had created with a mild sense of discomfort. To see civilians whom he had never met before cheer him as if he were some kind of celebrity was unsettling. A procession approached Gale and his troops, comprised of several high ranking military officers, one of whom Gale recognized as Pierce Thorn, one of the Army advisors on the Security Council. Gale stopped and gave a salute, which Thorn returned in kind.

“So you’re Gale Storm then?” The general started. “Do you know every senior officer from here to Canterlot is clamoring to hear what the hay happened up at Drift Station?”

Gale responded deliberately and professionally. “The report’s been telegraphed to General headquarters in its entirety sir, is there anything specific you’re wondering about?”

Thorn let out a laugh. “Anything specific he says... as if it were just another day on the job. How, lad!”

“How, sir?”

“How, Storm, we all want to know how! We have the what of it, every move you made, every order you gave, every shell you fired. You’re bloody meticulous on the cold, hard, facts of the action... what I’d like to know is what was running through your head. How did you turn 150 stallions, barely older than colts, with, let’s face it lad, sub-par training and equipment, into hardened, disciplined soldiers that could fend off some of the most fearsome warriors on the planet?”

Gale was silent for a moment. How was he supposed to answer that? He tried to look like he was in control of the situation and he had them sing a song. Had there been any more to it? Had he made some brilliant tactical maneuver, innovative and original, that cadets would study as part of their strategy course syllabus? He certainly hadn't felt particularly inventive; he was merely reacting to circumstances as they changed. No answer to be found, Gale reached for a cop out.

“I... couldn't say sir. I just, did what came naturally.”

Thorn gave the young officer a look. He could swear that if the stallion didn’t have military protocol to fall back on he would have run out of things to say. His humility seemed deeper than a simple modest nature, but the old general decided not to pursue the subject any further.

“‘What came naturally’ he says. You have a hay of a future with the military. I’ve been authorized to inform you that you are being awarded the Celestial Sun, along with a promotion to Knight Captain, both to be awarded by Princess Celestia herself.”

Gale was shocked. “The Princess?”

“Problem, Knight Lieutenant?”

“No sir, I just, don’t understand...”

Thorne shook his head. “You’re a hero; you’ve been all over the papers for a week. Everypony in Equestria has heard your name. The Princess has already praised you in an address to the Court of Nobles. If nothing else, she wants you to smile for the cameras and get a pretty medal pinned on your chest.”

Gale nodded skeptically. “Right... permission to speak freely sir?”

Thorn nodded. “If you’ve earned any right, it’s that one.”

Gale continued. “Honestly? I’m not sure how comfortable I am with being a household name sir; I’m just doing my job.”

“Soldier, believe me when I tell you, this is a part of your job now. You may not like it, but there it is.”

“I understand sir.”

Thorn gave Gale a sympathetic look. Being a soldier was hard enough without having to be a celebrity. Though he had never dealt with the Wonderbolts personally he knew that the need to balance duty with public opinion was the single largest cause of wonderbolts resignations. (Very few equestrians considered that they were an actual interceptor squadron expected to fly sorties as well as air demonstrations.) The weight of public opinion was heavier than any armor.

“Come on then soldier,” Thorn said, giving the young hero a fatherly smile. “There’s somepony wants to see you.”

Gale held back a groan. Somehow he knew it was a noble, some political bigwig or other eager to turn his desperate struggle for survival into the slogan of his next campaign. Gale closed his eyes and took a breath, preparing himself mentally.

That only enhanced his surprise, however, at the familiar voice which spoke next.

“You showboating son of a bitch...”
Gale opened his eyes, and his face brightened. There in front of him, in the uniform of a Captain of the Royal Guard, and with a smug smirk on his face, stood one of Gale’s most treasured friends.

General Thorn smiled. “I think you two have some catching up to do. Captain Armor, I trust you’ll inform the Lieutenant of his... obligations?”

Shining nodded. “Absolutely sir. I’ll fill him in.”

Thorn nodded and trotted off, leaving Gale to greet his old friend. Gale turned and spoke with a serious expression, which both stallions knew was part of the joke.

“Captain Shining Armor, turned out in full regalia I see... and I’m the showboat, sir?”

“I thought we had this worked out Lieutenant, you do the actual work, and I pull off the thrilling heroics and get the credit. We had a good thing going here.”

Gale smiled. “Just couldn’t resist a chance at making you look bad sir, always my greatest ambition.”
Shining started walking, motioning for his friend to follow. “Storm I’m getting really sick of you calling me sir. But it looks like we’re finally going to start working on that. Like the general said, you're being promoted to Knight Captain, but don't get any funny ideas, my 'captain' means more than yours. You've got a week of paid leave... don’t look at me like that it isn’t coming from your pool, and then your company is going to turn out for a parade at the Royal Square in Canterlot. The reviewing party will include the Defense Minister, Princess Celestia as RO, and my wife. So please try to be on your best behaviour.”

Gale was perplexed, he’d never heard of any defense minister, as far as he knew the office didn’t exist. “Defense Minister? That’s new,”

Shining nodded grimly. “It isn’t the only thing, we’ve had a hectic few weeks back here, and not hectic in the way I like. The nobles always play games, that’s no big change, but this... what’s been going on here is a whole different beast. The REA is getting flooded with recruitment applications, a couple of Pegasus community leaders are clamoring to raise their enrollment ceilings, and rumor has it that when the budget comes out the General Staff are going to have skid marks on their uniforms it’s so good for us.”

Storm stopped walking for a moment. “Why would the General Staff be excited, their spending is dictated by the Security Council, isn’t it?”

“Oh, yeah. That doesn’t exist anymore. That’s like, what, three centuries of utter bureaucratic stupidity struck down with a wave of the Princess’ hoof? If I’d heard the news in a better mood I might have started... I dunno, singing or something.”

“And been immediately arrested for attempted murder, your singing is so awful.” Gale joked. To his surprise, however, Shining didn’t seem to find it all that funny.

“Anyway, they’ve been filling up the papers with reports on the peacekeeping mission, there was a whole three page special on you, and the Equestria Daily wants you for an interview so they can put it in their biography, your dad told me they’ve already talked to him. There might be a dozen ponies in the whole country who haven’t heard your name at this point.”

Gale couldn’t believe what he was hearing; equestrians abhorred violence, considered war an entirely foreign phenomenon. The Equestrian Armed Forces were only internationally recognized as peacekeepers, and the general population seemed to be content with that label. It didn’t seem at all possible that that could change so dramatically in just a couple of weeks. He didn’t even know where to begin describing his discomfort to Shining, but the two needed only to exchange a glance for Shining to see it.

“I don’t like it either, Gale. I have a really bad feeling about all this.”

“Why? What do you think is going to happen?” Gale asked, looking back at the cheering crowds. It seemed that hundreds of ponies had turned out, waving Equestrian flags, holding up support the troops signs, even a few off duty soldiers in uniform saluted as he passed. A month ago, Gale’s return would have been entirely ignored, and a few erudite individuals may have even sneered as they remembered their favorite talk show host or newspaper periodical discussing how Equestrian soldiers had no business in foreign lands. Now, here he was, hailed as a hero, walking through a throng of cheering citizens, like the triumphal parades of the ancient Pegasus generals returning from some great conquest. The comparison to his ancestry worried Gale, he knew the history of the Pegasus Empire, and the atrocities generals would commit to earn themselves a triumph.

“I dunno,” Shining said pensively. “It’s just a feeling...” Shining was silent for a moment. His expression was grim and thoughtful, a rare sight out for the confident unicorn. A moment passed, and Shining smiled. “But that’s something we can worry about tomorrow. Before you dismiss your colts, let them know that they’re welcome at the Lucky Shoe tonight, first round’s on me.”

“That’ll settle one you owe me. It’s good to see you again Shining.”

Shining smiled. “Anyway, I need to go meet my wife for lunch, we’ll both be at the Shoe tonight, and there’s room for one more if you want to catch up.”

Gale smiled and nodded. “Thank you sir, I’ll see you then.” He looked back to see General Thorn shaking his troops hooves, a number of reporters asked some of them questions, and a photographer even took a picture of Zephyr Whisk pulling a mare (who Gale assumed was his wife) through the Royal Guard Cordon and kissing her. Whatever the reason for the homecoming, and whatever worries it gave Gale, he was happy for it. Even if it was all some political game, his soldiers had suffered enough overseas to earn themselves a day as heroes. Come what may tomorrow, Gale was going to ensure that today was the homecoming they all deserved.

Author's Notes:

There's a three day time-skip in this chapter at each of the POV breaks. Gale's 'moment' in the first chapter occurred, chronologically, about the same time as Rainbow and Twilight's talk in this chapter.

Hidden Motives.

Cobalt laid the two wine glasses on the table next to his wife. He went to take the bottle back to the fridge, but Sugar gave him a look.

“Leave the bottle.” She said.

Cobalt nodded and took a breath. He’d been dodging this talk long enough. They were safe back in Canterlot, the foals were all asleep, and Sugar had been more than patient. Cobalt took a seat on the couch next to his wife and gave her a sympathetic smile.

“I guess you have some questions that need answered.”

Sugar nodded. “Yeah, you think?”

“Look, Sugar, what I do, it’s... complicated. There are things that I can’t tell you, as in, I’d lose my job, wind up in jail or worse. But, I’ll try to... bend the rules. You deserve, something.”

“Did they tell you that you had to lie to me about what you did?”

Cobalt nodded. “They thought it was best for everyone. The less you know, the safer you are. That’s the truth.”

Sugar scowled at him. “Do you think I’m that childish? That I wouldn't be able to handle what you do? I’m not some little filly you need to make up stories for, I’m your wife! You know, equal partner in everything for twenty years? Or was that all a lie as well?”

Cobalt cut her off before she could say any more. “Don’t even start with that. I love you, we’ve had children together, I promised to be with you until we’re both old and senile, none of that is a lie.”

“But yet you still don’t trust me?”

“It isn't like that! My department of the RIB doesn't even officially exist to ponies without Top Secret clearance.” Cobalt gave his wife a pleading look. “Please, try to understand, if I could have told you, I would have.”

“So you’re what, a spy?” She ventured.

“No. Spies are the bad guys. I’m a covert operative.”

Sugar stared at him flatly.

“Fine, I’m a spy. There is a difference you know.”

“You’re really not in a position to be playing games with me.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just, you watch the movies and read the books, and you think that a spy is something that it isn’t. I’m not Con Mane.”

Sugar raised an eyebrow. “Well then... What is it, precisely, that you do?”

Cobalt closed his eyes and tried to think of a way to answer that. “Ponies in the government, ponies in law enforcement, ponies in the army... they need to know things so that they can make decisions, keep their own alive, do their jobs. My job is to make sure that they know everything they need to. I’ve saved soldiers lives, I’ve put some very bad ponies behind bars, and I’ve given advice to officials in the highest levels of Equestrian Government. I really can’t say much more than that.”

“So, every family vacation we’ve ever been on, has that just been you working a job? All some kind of smokescreen?” She said accusatively.

Cobalt went on the defensive. “That wasn’t something that should have happened. It was the first time they ever asked me to do anything like that, and It will be the last time. There’s a line and they crossed it.”

Sugar nodded. “Was that... thing you gave to our son... was it the only one?”

Cobalt looked confused. “What thing?”

She shot him a look. “What thing? The instrument specifically designed to maim and kill! That’s what thing!”

Cobalt stared at her blankly. “That.... is a very poetic and derogatory way to refer to my pistol cuff. But yes, it’s the only one.”

Sugar looked at her glass for a second. “Have you ever... well, as part of your job... to, get...” Sugar trailed off, eyes watering. Cobalt moved in closer,confused as she looked away from him. She continued, voice wavering. “To... get close to, someone you had to... learn something from... have you...” Cobalt cut her off.

“Sugar, look at me.” She looked up to see him giving a warm smile. “I know what you’re thinking. And the answer is no. Never. Those movies are escapism, adolescent fantasies. Don’t believe any of it. I’m not an international playcolt, and there’s only one mare on this earth that I’ve ever...” He borrowed her earlier term as he ran his hoof along the side of her neck. “Gotten close to.”

Sugar seemed satisfied with that, giving a weak smile in return. For a moment she said nothing, looking at her glass again. Cobalt continued to smile, hoping his wife had no further questions. But after an awkward pause, she spoke again, her voice almost a whisper.

“Cobalt... have you ever...” Her volume dropped drastically, and Cobalt failed to hear the end of her sentence.

“Uhm... come again?” Cobalt tried.

“Have you ever.... killed anypony?”

The look on her husbands face was all the answer Sugar needed. He stiffened and looked away, debating his response. Sugar took a breath and wiped her eyes.

Cobalt spoke as calmly as he could. “There are some questions.... that I think you don’t want answered.”

“I just need to know.”

“Are you sure?”

“Cobalt!” She snapped at her husband. “Please... just tell me.”

The stallion closed his eyes, silent for a moment, and spoke.

“Yes.”

Sugar looked away, on the edge of tears. Cobalt put his forelegs around her. “Listen to me. I’ve never taken it lightly. Ever. When I kill, there is no other option. I take a life to save a life, I’m no different than a soldier or a Gendarme in that regard. It’s... hard. And I’ve never... It’s kept me up at night.”

Sugar was barely holding back tears, Cobalt could tell just by looking at her. What had she been expecting? She wouldn’t have believed him if he’d said anything else, and she didn’t deserve any more lies. Cobalt placed his forehooves around her neck and held his wife close. “I’m so sorry Sugar... I’m so sorry for all this... this isn’t how you should have found out... I promise I’ll make this right, if it takes the rest of my life I’ll make this up to you.”

Sugar Heart looked up at her husband. In his face was the same sincerity that had been there through every tender moment in their relationship. Through all the sunny days and stormy nights, Cobalt had been there for her, and she for him. There had obviously been arguments, but he would show her that genuine smile and apologize, even when he had been in the right. When Cobalt looked at her like that, Sugar always melted, always trusted in him implicitly.

But not this time. He had lied to them all, lied to his own children for their entire lives up until this point, lied to her since the day he started work at the ‘post office’. But that wasn’t even the worst of it anymore, a liar was one thing, a killer was quite another. That soft, warm smile, the caring, compassionate face, it was a mask. A mask worn by somepony she wasn’t sure she knew, somepony who freely admitted to the taking of lives. And if the debacle on their recent ‘vacation’ hadn’t happened, Sugar might never have known she had married a killer. Sugar trembled, and pulled away from Cobalt, at which his ears drooped. Her voice was shaky as she addressed her husband.

“Cobalt... I need some time to make sense of all of this.”

He nodded. “I understand...” Cobalt looked around the room for a moment as the realization dawned on him. “I’m... I’m sleeping here in the living room tonight, aren’t I?”

Sugar sighed, giving a slight nod. “Goodnight Cobalt.”

Not another word was exchanged as Sugar went up to their bedroom. The bed felt much larger tonight than it ever had before when she’d slept alone. Both ponies tossed and turned for hours chasing sleep,but they found none. Instead their thoughts drifted to each other, and the way things had been before. Both Cobalt and Sugar knew that things had changed, that there was a tension between them that had never been nearly this extreme. Neither could have possibly guessed, however, just how lonely the other felt. Though only a flight of stairs and a door at the end of a hallway separated them, they felt as if they were a whole world away from each other.
The more Cobalt reflected on that feeling, the more he realized that it might be the truth.

*****

Lieutenant General Regal Blade walked briskly through the halls of the palace in Canterlot. Though he had taken his leave today to spend time with his wife, one did not simply refuse a direct summons from the Princess herself. His duties of late had kept him far from the capitol, which had been welcome at first (one could only really drink so much tea, after all), but the rigors of life at the frontier had rapidly done their number on the old Stallion. His wife would never say so (she was far too proper of a military wife), but she yearned for her social clubs, her old friends, and to be near her son. She loved Canterlot dearly, but never had she asked to return. Such a conversation would have been terribly awkward, and the subject became something of a taboo. They were both largely unsatisfied, but too set in their ways to try and change.

As the General walked into the wing of the castle where he was to meet Celestia, he overheard an ongoing conversation between some familiar voices.

“The military advisors will have to be reorganized. If we’re to undertake an expansion such as this then we simply cannot do with less than twenty General officers, and I should greatly prefer around thirty,” The voice was that of Lieutenant General Alabaster Cuirass. A staunch old Pegasus stallion in his mid sixties; Alabaster’s coat was, ironically, not white, but rather a noble scarlet, which had the amusing effect of blending with his dress uniform. His voice and mannerisms were unusually proper for a Pegasus, and a soldier to boot. Alabaster had won over the Unicorns at court with his fierce loyalty, gentlemanly conduct, and unwavering sense of personal honor. Not to mention he had quite literally written the book on modern defensive tactics.

The second voice was a good deal more familiar. “I trust your judgement, General Cuirass. If we need more generals I shall submit them for promotion. Present me with a list of suitable candidates within the next twenty four hours.”

“You’ll have it in six.” Alabaster replied.

As he heard the voice, Blade stopped. Surely it wasn’t... he wouldn’t be speaking to a General officer in such a manner, could it really be?

When the pair rounded the corner into Blade’s sight, they stopped as well. Firstly, Blade rendered a salute to his superior, which was returned in kind. During the salute, the Blade got a good look at the pony to whom Cuirass had been speaking.

“Father...” Courser said, clearly quite surprised. “I wasn’t aware you were in the capitol.”

“A summons from the princess, Procurator; I was to come here immediately.” Blade used his son’s official title; the young stallion technically outranked him due to his civilian position on the council.

Courser looked a little excited for a moment. “You’ve not heard then?”
Blade raised an eyebrow, perplexed. “Heard what?”

“I no longer hold the title of procurator. I’ve been appointed the first Equestrian Minister for Defense.”

The old general was taken aback. Courser was barely old enough to be a politician, but a cabinet minister? The thought was ludicrous. The sheer audacity of the appointment caused the general to forget for a moment that this was his son. The shock on Blade’s face was obviously visible, as Courser for a moment seemed very disappointed.

The crestfallen look on his son's face shot a pang through Blade’s heart. He cursed his self restraint, and looked for something to say to his son.

“When were you given the appointment? And what shall your... portfolio entail?” Doing his best to sound genuinely curious, Blade put a forced smile on as best he could, but his sons ears had already fallen, and he avoided eye contact with his father.

“The bureau will be responsible for conducting the organization and deployment of the Royal Equestrian Army. The appointment was given to me by the Princess herself.” Courser looked at his father hopefully. Blade gave him a soft smile.

“I... Do you feel you’re ready? You’re quite young to hold such an important post...”

“I’m not a fool, father; I’m actively seeking the advice and guidance of your colleagues. And should you wish to offer any, I... I would be most appreciative.”

Blade gave him a worried look. Courser had been full of ambition and ideas, unlike many from noble stock; he had seen politics as an actual civil service rather than his entitlement. Though Courser had undeniably been self important at times, there was a real desire to be of use to his nation. Whether it was out of personal ambition or legitimate patriotism, even his father couldn’t really say.

“If you ever need anything, I’ll be there. I wish you all the best.”

“Goodbye father,” Courser walked away, still looking hurt. He had hoped his father would be proud of him, but Blade could hardly take pride in something he truly didn’t understand. He assured himself that he would watch his son, and hopefully prevent him from destroying his career. If Courser’s tenure was successful, that would be the time for praise.

Blade continued on without another word to his son, he could only contemplate the new development. A ministry for defense meant that the Security Council was no longer in place, which could bode good or ill. But why appoint somepony so young? Why announce the change on such short notice, and without publicity? Such questions were for the consideration of politicians, but after the rank of colonel, a soldier tends to find himself forced to play politician more than he is often comfortable with.

Blade arrived outside the Princesses study, where an aide showed him in. He found the Princess at her desk reading a file. Blade saluted and spoke. “Lieutenant General Blade, Commander Frontier Task Force. Reporting as ordered your majesty.” She looked up momentarily and smiled.

“Ah, General, please, sit down.”

The soldier did as he was told, and accepted a cup of tea from an aide.

“Thank you for your hospitality, my liege. To what do I owe the honour of this summons?”

“Have you heard of the recent developments in the Transvaal conflict?”

Blade was disinterested. The Transvaal Task Force was Bristle’s show, and Blade had had to fork over three companies that had ultimately done nothing but garrison duty for the last year.

“I’m afraid I’ve not. Has there been some major news?”

“One hundred-fifty Equestrian soldiers held a defensive position for nearly eighteen hours against a force of over 4000. The Impi were so shocked that they’re willing to come to the negotiating table.”

This caught Blade’s attention. “150? How many casualties?”

“Fewer than twenty.” The princess said.

That was of particular interest. Blade’s mouth hung slightly open in awe. It was no secret that the REA was far from an elite fighting force; feats such as this were quite rare.

Celestia observed the shock on the General’s face and continued. “The Officer commanding the defense was a former student of the Canterlot Royal Officers Academy, while you were serving as Commandant. He is a young Pegasus Knight Lieutenant by the name of Gale Storm.”

The corner of Blade’s mouth curled into a smile. Of course it would be Storm. He had known that cadet would go on to do great things, just like he had known with Shining Armor.

With a look of pride, Blade raised his chin and smiled. “This is excellent news, Gale was one of my finest students, I had a feeling he would make an excellent officer, are there plans to decorate him?”

“Naturally,” Celestia responded. “He has made a full report, based on his recommendations, medals will be awarded to the soldiers he has indicated. Storm himself will receive the Celestial Sun for his actions. I wish to present the medal myself, but I also would like to know more about the soldier receiving it, which is, incidentally, why I’ve called you here.”

Celestia looked the General in the eye, studying his reactions. There was an unrestrained pride here, the General held his chin up, and seemed to wear Storm’s victory as if it were his own. Or better yet, as if Storm were his child. Celestia continued calmly.

“I want you to tell me everything you can about Knight Lieutenant Gale Storm. Not what’s in his file, I have that in front of me.”

Blade raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure I know what you mean, his record ought to speak for itself.”

Celestia waved her hoof. “It speaks to the soldier, not the stallion. I want to know who he is when he takes the armor off, what drives him to do what he does.”

Blade nodded. “He was... quiet, at first. You could’ve called him introverted, private, a little angry even. He had quite the temper in the first few months and had no patience for his fellow cadets wasting time. It made him decidedly unpopular, but Shining brought him out of his shell. Before long they were inseparable, all the same classes, most of the same training and rec clubs. It took us about a year to realize what potential Gale and Shining had.” The old general smiled, fondly reminiscing. Celestia couldn’t help but wonder if Blade regarded the achievements of his own son quite so proudly as those of two young soldiers whose school he had administered. Celestia took a sip of tea, and Blade followed suit. Celestia knew that Regal Blade had a penchant for storytelling, he loved to regale anypony who would listen about his time in this or that post, and he seemed particularly proud of his time as CROA's Commandant. If there was a better way to learn what the General truly thought of young Gale Storm, Celestia certainly couldn’t think of it.

“I hope you’ll indulge me, general; it sounds like you have quite a few fond memories of Lieutenant Storm during his time at the Academy.”

Blade smiled widely. “More than a few... I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of a student than I was of him and Shining Armor, in fact I’m not sure if I’ve ever been more proud of anypony in my entire life.”

Well, Celestia thought. That certainly answers the question as to his feelings towards his son... “General, I do hope you’ll regale me with one or two stories... I’m very much looking forward to meeting Lieutenant Storm.”

“What would you like to hear, your majesty?”

Celestia took another sip of her tea. Storm would have a role to play in the days to come, but to know what that role must be, she needed to know so much more than his service record and a few brief statements as to his character.

“Everything...” The Princess said calmly. “I’d like to hear everything.”

Battle Scars

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.