Chapters Battle Cry was flying home from the airship port, he had just returned from his tour in Saddle Arabia. That wasn’t why he was happy though, Battle Cry hadn’t seen his family in over a year but his early return gave him the ability to surprise them As the sun began to set he saw his hometown of Ponyville come into view. He adjusted his uniform as he neared the sleepy little town. His light brown fur and grey and black mane fluttered in the wind.
“Battle Cry!?” A very excited pegasus shouted, the rainbow maned mare flew up to him and blocked his path. He smiled.
“Sup RD, been a while.” Battlecry said with a chuckle, the rainbow maned pegasus had always held a special place in Battle Cry’s heart. Ever since they had become friends in flight school he had had a small crush on her until he met his wife.
“You don’t write me in over a year and all you have to say is ‘been a while’?” Rainbow Dash said with a fake pout.
“Well I would have written but you said Reading is for Eggheads so i didn’t think it was worth it.” Battle Cry said with a shiteating grin.
“Yeah about that....I may have started reading Daring Do...” Rainbow Dash muttered, Battle Cry would be rolling on the ground if he didn’t have to fly.
“Well seems a lot has changed, guess I’ll have to catch up with you when I’m finished talking to Berry and the little one.” Battle Cry chuckled, Rainbow Dash suddenly realised something about Battle Cry. He had a lot of scars and he had mentioned Berry Punch ,his wife. But wasn’t she seeing thunder- uh oh.
“Hey I uh I gotta go. If you need anything just stop by my house okay?” Rainbow Dash asked, Battle Cry nodded before flying towards his home. When he arrived he noticed something odd, loud, masculine laughter emanating from the home. He straightened his mane and approached the door. Wrapping his hoof three times before waiting.
“Just a second!” A familiar female voice called out, the door swung open and immediately Battle Cry could tell something was off. his wife looked different, more relaxed but more...different. “B-Battle Cry?!” She stammered, her face blanched when battle cry nodded slowly before raising an eyebrow.
“Who is it darling? One of yo- Oh can I help you?” Another Pegasus appeared in the doorway, Battle Cry shook the shock off of his face and it was replaced with anger and pain.
“No...I must be at the wrong house.” Battle Cry muttered before beginning to turn away, he felt a hoof touch him but he shrugged it off.
“Dad?” A young filly asked, Battle Cry visibly winced but kept walking. then he opened his scarred wings and took to the sky, Thunderlane looked at berry Punch.
“Who was that?” He asked, she was staring at the spot where Battle Cry had just been and without averting her gaze she muttered.
“No one.” it was so low thunderlane could barely hear it.
“That was dad!” The filly shouted. Thunderlane turned to her and raised an Eyebrow.
“Dad? What do you mean Flower Petal?” Thunderlane asked
“Dad, My dad! Didn’t mom ever tell you! He’s in the Air Force, he wasn't supposed to come back for a while....why did he leave?”
(~~~~~)
Battle Cry landed a punch on the punching bag in the Barracks, his new assignment to Ponyville had seemed like a dream come true but now he hated it. He landed blow after blow on the poor punching bag until the seams began to split and sand fell to the floor. He continued to hit it as the image of the pegasus from the door began to fade. He sighed and turned from the bag before doing a spin kick and sending it flying. A grunt escaped the muzzle of a older looking pegasus, on his flank was the mark of a Lieutenant Colonel and he had an olive green coat. he was scarred much like Battle Cry and had a look of sympathy like that of an uncle or a grandfather.
“Rough night son?” He said with a depressed sigh, Battle Cry nodded. “Come on and tell me whats up? Far from home?”
“No, I live in Ponyville. Or least i used to. Guess I’ll just stay in the barracks.” Battle Cry said with a similar sigh.
“Your girl cheating on you isn’t she?” The old Pegasus said, Battle Cry remained silent and just sat on a bench. He felt a hoof on his shoulder and looked up to see the older pegasus. “You gotta let that stuff go.”
“But what about my daughter!?” Battle Cry shouted suddenly, the pegasus muttered something but sighed.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll work out fine kiddo. Now come one before the janitors find this mess, drinks are on this old Stallion.” The pegasus said, Battle Cry nodded and the two started for the door. “Names Epluribus, Most people call me uncle though.”
“Battle Cry.” Battle Cry replied.
(~~~~~)
Rainbow Dash and her friends were at sugarcube corner, the recent addition of alcohol had made the place an even more famous gold mine.
“Oh darling! What seems to be the trouble?” Rarity asked Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash shook her head and looked at her friends.
“What? Nothings wrong...” Rainbow Dash lied, Applejack glared at her “Ugh Fine.” She groaned before motioning for her friends to lean in closer. “You know Berry Punch right?”
“Yeah.” Her friends said in unison, the town drunk was kind of hard to miss.
“You know how shes dating thunderlane?” Rainbow asked, the girls nodded. “Well I totaly spaced the fact she was married to one of my friends from flight school. Who just so happened to return from Saddle Arabia tonight.”
“Oh we should throw him a ‘glad-the-saddle-arabians-didn’t-kill-you’ party!” Pinkie Pie shouted extatically
“As I was saying, what do you think is gonna happen when the poor colt finds out?” Rainbow Dash asked, her friends looked at her for a moment before Twilight spoke up.
“I guess you won’t know until you see him again...” She said putting a hoof on her friends tense shoulders.
“Speak of Discord.” Rainbow Dash said pointing at the door to Sugarcube corner, to pegasi entered and went over to the bar.
“Gimme the hardest drink you have.” Battle Cry could be heard saying, he sighed as his companion tried to talk him out of his stupor.
“Look, you filly will be alright. Its not like she can keep you from seeing her.” The older one said.
“Unless she moves! Then I won’t see my filly or my wife ever again. What do I do Epluribus.” Battle Cry said before the bartender returned with his drink, Rainbow Dash knew what was going to happen if she didn’t intervene.
“Be right back girls.” She said before getting up and going towards the bar. “Battle Cry...”
Battle Cry turned and looked at Rainbow Dash, the sadness was evident in his eyes though he hid it well. He took a sip of his drink and looked at Dash expectantly.
“Battle Cry, um....Are you okay?” Dash asked, Battle Cry looked at her for what felt like an hour before stating.
“No.” He looked her in the eyes. “I’m not okay, not in the slightest. My Wife is cheating on me, I can’t speak to my own daughter and I didn’t even get a heads up about it.” He looked like he was going to blow a gasget. “I thought we were friends Dashie, What happened to ‘you watch my flank I watch yours?’”
“Battle Cry...” Dash began but before she could start to formulate a response the older Pegasus put a hoof on the fuming soldier shoulder.
“Easy son, don’t say anything you're gonna regret.” He said cautioning, he looked at Dash. “Sorry Miss, he’s had a hell of a night.”
“damn right about that.” Battle Cry said as he lay his head down on the bar only lifting it to take the occasional sip. “Now they’re gonna stick me with weather duty for sure.” Dash bit her lip for a moment before putting a hoof on Battle Cry’s shoulder.
“Hey if you want you can come sit with me and my friends.” Dash said sincerely, she didn’t know why but the poor stallion looked like he flinched at being touched by her. Battle Cry looked at his companion who nodded.
“Sure Dash, and...i’m sorry.” Battle Cry said, he got up from the bar with his drink and headed over to the table where Dash’s friends sat. The pink one smiled widely at him and before he knew it, pulled out a small cannon. The soldier’s eyes went wide and he ducked under the table.
*BOOM*
“Get out of here Private! Thats an order!” Sergeant Iron Wing shouted, Battle Cry shook his head.
“Not without you sarge!” He shouted back
“INCOMING!” The sound of incoming artillery echoed through the air as the rounds rained down on the position Battle Cry had just been in.
“Sergeant!”
“Sergeant!” Battle Cry shouted as he hit the floor, the sound in the building drained as did the color from the pink mares hair. On the ground looking like a kicked pup, was Battle Cry. All eyes were on him then on the pink mare who’s hair deflated like a balloon. Rainbow Dash looked at Battle Cry before helping him up, he looked around at the concerned faces of everypony in the building.
“Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash shouted in a voice she rarely used because it sound far to much like her mother. “Don’t pull the party cannon out infront of him!” Battle Cry was shaking as he looked around like a hyper alert squirrel. “Its okay Bats, she didn’t mean it.”
“I-I-Is it safe, N-N-No more explosions O-O-Okay?” Battle Cry stammered almost like Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash escorted him to an empty seat at the table while the rest of the girls stared at him with looks of sympathy. Life eventually returned to the silent room as did energy to the pink menace, but the fear that something could happen was far from gone.
“Okay, everyone this is Battle Cry. He’s not normally so jumpy.” Dash said trying to lighten the mood.
“Pleasure to meet y’all.” Applejack said.
“Charmed to meet one of Equestria’s finest.” Rarity added.
“O-O-Oh Hi.” Fluttershy meekly squeaked
“Sorry I scared you!” Pinkie shouted, Battle Cry’s eyes landed on the lavender one and instantly he snapped to a salute. She laughed.
“Relax, I’m not as bookwormish as I used to be.” Twilight giggled, Battle Cry seemed to relax a bit. his shaking had ceased for the most part and his hyper vigilance was less than it was before.
“thank you ma’am.” Battle Cry said, he looked at all the ponies and smiled. “Well you all know my name, I take it Dashie filled you in on my problem.”
“Simply Dreadful that such a stallion, a guardian of equestria no less, be put through this. If you need anything my door is always open. “Rarity said, Battle Cry nodded to her.
“I’ll keep that in mind ma’am.” Battle Cry said in his stoic voice, Dash nudged him a bit. “What is it you like to do for fun around here?”
“Well theres, Partying, Baking, Cooking, Eating Apple Pie, Playing who wants to be a billionmare, eye Spy! Ooooh theres so muc to do in ponyviillleeee!” Pinkie began to sing
(One Song and Dance later)
“Nice song really, but were the massive timberwolves in tiaras and tutu’s really necessary?” Rainbow Dash asked, a very tense looking Battle Cry nodded his agreement to the statement.
“Of course silly filly! Even the massive space armadillo was needed!” Pinkie said with a chipper tone.
“yes...that was quite.....Interesting.” Rarity added, Battle Cry sighed as he finished he drink.
“I-I think I’m t-t-to fucked up to fly....” Battle Cry muttered, Rainbow Dash looked at the now drunken pegasus. He needed somepony now more than ever and she owed that to him.
“You can come to my house, just promise you won’t get sick.” Rainbow Dash said, Battle Cry nodded and grabbed hold of the Rainbow Maned pegsus’s tail. “Not too tight. Okay girls, I’ll see you all tomorrow.” With that the two pegasi flew off into the sky towards Rainbows house.
“What do you think he was so jumpy about? I mean sure a cannon out of no where is a big surprise but why did he yell ‘Sergeant’ like that?” Twilght asked “More importantly, why was Rainbow Dash so....not Rainbow Dash? She’s normally never like that.”
“I think he may have some demons to face, I wouldn’t be surprised if that ‘sergeant’ had something to do with what ever gave him all them scars.” Applejack added.
“I-Its not nice to talk about other ponies behind their backs.” Fluttershy muttered and with that the conversation came to an end and the ponies went their seperate ways.
(~~~~~)
Battle Cry trotted from the door to the couch in under ten seconds before plopping down and staring at his hostess.
“What?” She said, Battle Cry smiled widely.
“I-I T-Think I need....a k-k-k-” Battle Cry stammered, Rainbow Dash put a hoof over his lips, she giggled and looked at his scars curiously.
“Okay bats, tell me how you got those scars...” She said, Battle Cry shook his head.
“Can’t talk about it...to many bad things, you wouldn't look at me the same way if I told you.” Battle Cry said semi coherently, he leaned over on the couch and let out a loud snore indicating he was done speaking for the night....
A New Job/ Heart to Heart
“Hold up, looks like its a colt...” Battle Cry said to his Squad as they paroled the Saddle Arabian desert. A colt was walking down a road alone.
“What's he doing down there?” Coriolis, the team’s interpreter, muttered
“Alright lets check it out, Bats you're on Cori’s flank got it?” Lieutenant Triblade said, the heat from the desert saw to it that there were no clouds so the squad was traveling on foot most of the time if they weren't flying. Coriolis and Battle Cry started moving towards the Colt cautiously, he was crying and holding something close to his chest.
“ياعم أنت على ما يرام؟ أين أمك وأبي؟ (Hey pal, you alright? Where's your mom and dad?)” Coriolis said in Saddle Arabian, the kid looked at him for a moment before turning away. Coriolis approached carfully while Battle Cry stood back with his crossbow ready for anything. The Colt suddenly stopped whimpering and shouted.
“DIE EQUESTRIAN!” Battle Cry dropped his weapon as he saw the spoon of a grenade fly into the air. He Pushed Coriolis out of the way as the Colt ran off. The Grenade Exploded sending shrapnel into his wings and body.
"AMBUSH!"
“GGGAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” Battle Cry shouted as he shot off of the couch, his head was throbbing, to much to drink las night perhaps? The feeling of the shrapnel in his body that had long been removed felt as if it was still there. He looked around for any sign of an attacker but relaxed when he saw no one.
“WHAT HAPPENED!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she burst into the room with a Baseball bat. She looked at Battle cry, her rainbow mane was disheveled and she still had morning wing. [A/N: Yeah I went there.]
“Nothing! Just a nightmare!” Battle Cry assured her, she put the bat down and then looked at Battle Cry with a fake motherly look.
“Oh did little batty watty have a bad dream?” She mocked, Battle Cry chuckled but in truth he had had a dream so bad it sent shivers down his spine.
“Heh, good one.” He looked at the clock “I should probably go.” He said getting up off the couch and adjusting his uniform. Rainbow Dash smiled at him and nodded before he exited the house. He opened his wings and looked towards the barracks, then he glided down to them.
The flight was uneventful which Battle Cry hoped would be a precursor to his day, when he landed however it was a different story. Standing at the assignment board where civilian and military weather patrols were scheduled was none other that Thunderlane. The blood in Battle Cry’s veins turned to lava, his eye twitched as he saw the smug expression on the stallions face. If glares could kill Thunderlane would be six feet under, Battle Cry made his way to the board and looked it over. His name was penciled next to his partner for the day, Rainbow Dash. At this he smiled but his attention quickly turned back to thunderlane.
“So how is that girl of yours, heard she’s a screamer.” A random Pegasus said, Thunderlane laughed and nodded.
“You could say that, she does have a bit of a lust for me.” Thunderlane said, Battle Cry’s eye began to twitch. He started towards the offending Pegasus when a familiar hoof placed itself on his shoulder.
“Thunderlane the Stallion who been with your wife?” Epluribus asked, Battle Cry nodded. “Keep Calm. I’ll figure it out okay?”
“So wheres Rainbow Dash.” Battle Cry asked trying to forget the conversation between thunderlane and the other pegasi.
“She normally comes in late, so you can start without her or wait around.” Epluribus replied, Battle Cry looked at him.
“Alright where's our Op-sec.” Battle Cry asked.
“Sweet Apple Acres, Just keep the clouds out of the sky and you’ll be fine.”
(~~~~~~)
Battle Cry let his legs demolish one of the last clouds in the sky, he had only been here an hour and the work was almost done. Where was Rainbow Dash?
“bats, what’s up?” She appeared out of nowhere causing Battle Cry to flinch. He really hated surprises. “Wow, did you do all this in under an hour?”
“Yeah.” Battle Cry said as he caught his breath, it was tiring work. He pulled up the last cloud and sat on it looking down at the apples below. The sight of Twilight Sparkle trotting nervously over to the farm house however was not peaceful at all. In fact it was erratic in movement and speed. “What's eating her?”
“I don’t know, Knowing Twi it’s probably nothing.” Rainbow Replied, she noticed the sweat covering Battle Cry’s body. He really had pushed himself hadn't he? She dove down to the apple Trees below and came back with two apples in her hooves. “Here, Applejack lets us have free apples for working this sector.”
“Uh huh.” Battle Cry said skeptically, he had a lot more on his mind that the legality of the apples. Rainbow could tell just by looking at the stallion.
“Hey why are you so glum?” She asked, Battle Cry shrugged. “Aside from obvious reasons...”
“You know what its like to be far from home?” He asked, Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Well its like having your heart ripped out every single day. Thats why you had to find something to hold onto or else you go completely crazy. For some of the Colts over there it was a chariot, or their moms apple pie. But for me, it was my wife and daughter. Now it seems like everything has changed, maybe cause it has. Its just after some of the things I’ve done, the things i’ve seen....well have you ever thought that maybe to see the face of evil all you had to do was look in the mirror?” Rainbow Dash at this point had sat next to the Near sobbing stallion. “All their faces, every single one of them. I can still see them every time I close my eyes...”
“Battle Cry, its not your fault this happened.” Rainbow Dash tried to comfort the now crying veteran.
“Everything’s gone. My family, my career, my life....” Battle Cry just sat staring at the cloud. “Can’t fly combat missions anymore, Doctors say I can’t fly full speed anymore, and there's no one to help me now.”
“Hey!” Rainbow Dash said grabbing Battle Cry’s face in her hooves and staring into his eyes. “Thats not true, you still got me. You watch My flank I watch yours remember?” Battle Cry sniffed a bit but nodded.
“Thanks Dash, But....but I think I need to be alone for a while....” battle Cry said before taking off towards the barracks, Rainbow Dash hoped he wasn't doing anything stupid.
(~~~~~~)
Berry Punch rubbed her face, she had had a very rough night. Thunderlane had come home drunk again, he still was pissed that she hadn’t told him about her husband. The bruise was one of many she had received in the year since Battle Cry had gone to war. At first it was hard for her to contemplate that she had cheated on her husband but as the pain of him being gone grew so did her need to relieve stress which only lead to more drinking and more bad decisions. Poor Flower Petal was forced to watch this downward spiral and it was even harder on her when the school kids would tease her about not having a dad.
“But I do have a daddy!” She would cry before running away. “Don’t I?” Often times Flower Petal would come home crying only to see her mother drinking again. She would lock herself in her room and keep her crying to a minimum because Thunderlane hated crying. As berry Punch reflected on all this she couldn't help but feel the anger begin to well up. How could she have let such a bastard take control of her life! She took a look at the bottle of Stalliongrad reserve Vodka before tossing it aside. It was time she took a stand.
Beat Down / Taking A Stand
“Thunderlane! Front and Center!” Epluribus shouted, the pegasus in question appeared in front of the old stallion and immediately wished he hadn’t. “As you know today’s sparing day! I’ve noticed you seem a little rusty so you’re up first!” Thunderlane HATED sparing day, never any challenges or too many to count, but Epluribus was the CO and he made the rules.
“Okay Uncle, Who am I up against.” Thunderlane sighed, Epluribus gave a wicked smile and pointed to the weight room where the boxing ring was set up.
“Oh you’ll see.” These words made Thunderlane shiver, who would Epluribus possibly have up his sleeve that could cause him to shiver? Was it Snowflake, Skull Fracture? S-S-Spitfire? The sound of a punching bag being beaten mercilessly grew louder and louder. Angry grunts that seemed to seep pure hatred permeated the air. Thunderlane was scared, this sounded way out of his league!
Epluribus and Thunderlane approached the door as did many other pegasi, the sounds of anger, fury and power now echoed through Thunderlane’s ears. Who could he be fighting that wanted to hurt him this badly!?
(~~~~~)
Rainbow Dash arrived minutes after Battle Cry, when she did get there she saw that most of the ponies had gone to the weight room. “Sparring day today...Right.” she thought to herself before walking to weight room, what she saw was enough to make her giddy and nervous. There she saw Battle Cry with murder in his eyes getting ready to fight....THUNDERLANE! Battle Cry looked at her and nodded before turning his attention back to his opponent. In the middle of the ring was “Uncle” as most people called him
“Fillies and Gentlecolts! WELCOME TO THE MAIN EVENT!” Epluribus shouted, the crowd cheered. “Introducing first! Fighting out of the red corner! This Stallion is Air Force Combat Specialist and a Lieutenant in the Royal Air Guard! Give it up for BATTLE CRY!” The crowd shouted even though they knew not who this newcomer was. He had only been in the barracks of the base a couple days now, but Rainbow Dash knew all to well what he was capable of.
“And in this corner! We have the Fighter of the year! Thunderlane!” Thunderlane looked confident now. After all this pony he was up against couldn’t possibly better than him, just a normal, beaten, scarred pony! “Now Come forwards and Touch hooves.” Thunderlane approached, his normal cocky grin was soon replaced with one of confusion when he recognised the face of the stallion he was facing. The two touched hooves, and when Battle Cry spoke it sent shivers down Thunder Lanes spine.
“I. Will. Break You.” Four words that scared Thunderlane more than anything.
(~~~~~)
Battle Cry smiled at the sight of the fear in thunderlanes eyes, he knew RD was watching and now he could finally show her and everyone else how pissed he was.
“FIGHT!” Epluribus said, Thunderlane raised his hoof but like a bolt of lightning he was hit across the face. So hard in fact that one of his teeth went flying out of the ring. Another blow between the eyes sent him reeling backwards, blindly he lashed out and got a lucky blow on Battle Cry who grunted and then proceeded to pummel Thunderlane. He beat him so bad that his face started to swell like a balloon, still no bell rang. He lifted the now battered and horribly disfigured Thunderlane onto his back before tossing him into the air and landing a powerful buck to his stomach which sent the poor stallion flying into the ropes.
“I-I’m sorry I hit her!” Thunderlane groaned, Battle Cry looked at him with a newly founded fury. “Oh shit, you didn’t know did you?” Battle Cry’s response was to bring his hoof down on one of Thunderlanes wings snapping it into multiple pieces. Weakly Thunderlane tried to stand to his hooves only to have them kicked out from under him and then stomped on. By this point the crowd was staring in awe at the two fighters, Battle Cry picked up his hoof and held it over Thunderlanes head. One stomp and it would be over. The bell Finally rang, with that Battle Cry lowered his hoof and walked away, Rainbow Dash trotted up to him and looked into his eyes.
“I feel...” Battle Cry put a hoof on his chin. “Good!” he smiled with a hint of satisfaction on his face.
“No one! Not even Snowflake! Has ever beat up Thunderlane like that before!” Rainbow Dash said, she was slightly proud and slightly nervous about the display but Battle Cry seemed in much better spirits. “So Bats, you wanna get something to drink!?”
“Hooha.” Battle Cry replied, the two ponies exited the barracks watching as several paramedics carted Thunderlane away to the hospital. “I hope hes okay...”
“Really!?” Dash shouted in shock, Battle Cry turned and looked at her before plainly stating.
“No.” His Lips curled into a grin and the two walked to sugarcube corner.
(~~~~)
Berry Punch was packing her things when she heard a knock at the door, without thinking she opened it to see a battered and bruised Thunderlane. He barged in with an angry scowl on his face and immediatly walked into the living room where the bags were strewn about.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” Thunderlane roared, Berry Punch could have flinched, could have been submissive but she didn’t. She stared Thunderlane in the eyes and spoke slowly and clearly as if talking to a dumb animal.
“Nowhere, but you are. This is My house Thunderlane! NOT YOURS!” She shouted, upstairs Flower Petal hid under her pillow and started to silently weep.
“YOU UGLY WHORSE!” Thunderlane roared before he raised a hoof and smacked Berry Punch across the face. “YOU’D BE NOTHING WITHOUT ME!”
“I’D BE SAFE IN MY OWN HOME! I’D BE BETTER OFF WITH BATTLE CRY THAN YOU AND I CAN’T FORGIVE MYSELF FOR NOT REALIZING THAT UNTIL NOW! I WANT YOU GONE!” Berry bellowed back.....
