Chapter 2
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“Wait. So you have a house in Ponyville?” Thunderlane asked, blinking.
He and Octavia were seated outside a café Octavia remembered visiting once or twice, back when she was living with her Aunt High Note. She’d totally forgotten it even existed and was surprised it was still around.
The two had spent the last few minutes chatting after placing their orders, Thunderlane explaining his morning, including a very unpleasant encounter with two high society ponies.
Thankfully, they’d moved on to more pleasant topics.
She nodded, before shaking her head. “I honestly don’t know why at times Vinyl and I didn’t just choose to move there permanently. Granted, Ponyville isn’t exactly the quietest place to live and not where one would think a musician could concentrate, but it has a homey feeling, I suppose. Plus, I don’t think I could ever bare to give up the place.”
Thunderlane cocked an eyebrow. “How come?”
Octavia’s smile slipped a little and she looked down as their food was set on their table, a plate with pair of cheese and chive squares and two small cups of coffee. “It was a small cottage left to us in Aunt High Note’s will. We go there, every once in a while, whenever Canterlot life gets a bit too… stuffy, I guess you could say.”
Thunderlane nodded. Having had to deal with Canterlot ponies all throughout the gala, he had a good idea what Octavia meant.
“When was the last time you were there?” he asked, not wanting to remember the more unpleasant parts of last night.
For some reason, that made Octavia chuckle. “Oh, we went for a wedding. Well, I did, anyway. Vinyl decided to tag along because she’d had nothing “fun” to do at the time and didn’t want to suffer the “hoity toity” ponies on her own.”
Thunderlane blinked. “A wedding?”
She nodded. “Yes. I was hired to play at the reception. We barely made it there in time. The fact a Bugbear was attacking the town that day certainly did not help and… is something wrong, Thunderlane?”
He was giving her a shocked and confused look. “Wait. You two were the ones who tossed me into the air and rushed me through town to get to Cranky and Matilda’s wedding on that giant… whatever that machine was?”
It was Ocativa’s turn to be surprised. “What? You were at the wedding too?”
He nodded. “My parents were invited and had asked me to come too. It was before I actually fully joined the Wonderbolts. I was still just a reserve back then.”
The two stared at each other for a moments, before laughing a little awkwardly.
“Well, that is a surprise,” Octavia said. “We met each other last night without knowing we’d been close by each other at the same wedding. Though, how come you hadn’t remembered me?”
“Well, to be honest, I wasn’t really all that interested in the wedding,” Thunderlane said, rubbing his neck a little bashfully. “I don’t know Cranky or Matilda. I was only there because my parents wanted me to come. Once the main ceremony was over, I’d headed off back to training. I didn’t stay for the after party.”
“That would explain it,” Ocativa nodded, accepting the explanation and taking a bite of the pastry. “What about you then? When was the last time, aside from the wedding, you visited Ponyville?”
Thunderlane rubbed his chin with a hoof for a minute, thinking, before blushing. “I think… it wasn’t even for Ponyville. Despite the fact I haven’t lived there since I was a really small foal, I was asked to be on the Ponyville Air Sprinters’ team during the Equestria Games. Guess having been raised there was enough to count, even if I’ve been living in Cloudsdale since I moved out of my parents place. My brother’s still a colt, so he still lives there, though.”
“Oh. You have a younger sibling too?” Octavia was intrigued.
Thunderlane nodded. “Rumble. Kids loves that I’m a Wonderbolt now. Keeps talking about how he’s gonna be one when he grows up.”
Octavia smiled. “Sounds like he really looks up to you.”
Thunderlane nodded. “Yeah. I just hope he doesn’t narrow his choices in life because of it. I mean, I’d love if he became a Wonderbolyt too, but I don’t want him to miss out on other things in life just because he focused only on being a Wonderbolt, ya know?”
The two lapsed into a small silence, enjoying their food and drink.
“What… did you mean, exactly?” Octavia asked quite suddenly.
Thunderlane quickly swallowed. “Mean by what?”
“When you said you hadn’t lived in Ponyville since you were a really small foal?” Octavia clarified.
Thunderlane blinked, before frowning in though. Then, his eyes widened and he shook his head with a light laugh. “Wow. We’ve more in common than I thought.”
Octavia gave a raised eyebrow.
“You told me you moved to live here in Canterlot with your aunt since you were young.” He laughed. “I’ve only just realized I did the same with my uncle in Cloudsdale. Granted, I did visit my family a lot, but I lived most of my life in Cloudsdale. I think…” he rubbed his chin in thought. “I was about… five when I moved in with Uncle Lightning Track and… what?” he asked at the giggle from the Earth mare.
She shook her head, trying to stifle the giggles. “Sorry, sorry. I shouldn’t laugh, but your names.” To his confused raised eyebrow, she answered, “Thunder-Lane and Lightning Track?”
He paused, thinking it over for a moment, before blinking and facehoofing. “I’m gonna have to talk to Mom and Dad about puns and… Yep, definitely gonna have to talk about that.” To her questioning look he replied, “My brother’s name is Rumble.”
There was a pause, before the two laughed lightly.
“This is the mare?!” a loud voice suddenly cut through the air… a voice Thunderlane recgonized and caused his expression to fall.
“What’s wrong?” Octavia asked.
“A pair of headaches from earlier,” he replied, turning as a pair of ponies he had hoped he wouldn’t meet again stomped up to their table.
The mare glared daggers at Octavia, causing her to wince, unsure as to what she could’ve done to warrant such a look.
“What do you two want?” Thunderlane said curtly, making it clear to Octavia he was not pleased to be interacting with these ponies. “I thought I made myself quite clear earlier this morning.”
“You’d choose this wench over my daughter?!” the mare prat9ically screamed, waving an erratic hoof at Thunderlane.
At once, Octavia knew exactly who this ponies were and why Thunderlane’s mood had changed so rapidly. And, judging by the mare’s choice of words, he’d been kind when describing them and why he hadn’t liked them.
“If you think we’re going to let you choose this… Mud Pony over our daughter, you have another thing coming!” the stallion said, getting right up in Thunderlane’s face, eyes narrowed.
Now Octavia felt the same way as Thunderlane. “Mud Pony? Sir, if you—”
“Be silent, wench!” he shot back at her, thrusting a hoof in her direction. “You’ve caused enough trouble as it is!”
A snort from Thunderlane stopped any retort Octavia would have used. That look on his face. She’d obviously never seen it on him, but she’d seen it many a times on other ponies.
“Apologize.”
“What?” the stallion turned to Thunderlane.
Thunderlane stood up, his larger height than the other stallion becoming immediately apparent. “Apologize to the lady, right now!”
The stallion hesitated for a moment, the height difference clearly not going unnoticed to him, but he shored up quickly, meeting Thunderlane’s gaze, even if the effect was lost due to the fact he had to turn his head up to do it. “I have nothing to apologize for! You, on the otherhoof, are going to apologize for insulting my family!”
“I have done no such thing,” Thunderlane said curtly.
“You certainly did!” the mare thrust a hoof in Octavia’s direction. “You choose this Mud Pony over our daughter! The very nerve of it all! Our family’s never suffered such a slander!”
“Then I shall be happy to be the second to slander it,” another voice, this one with a Prench accent said.
The four ponies turned to see a purplish-blue unicorn stallion with a white mane, dressed in a tuxedo and with a tea cup for a Cutie Mark and yellow eyes standing there.
He was giving the two new ponies quite the disapproving look.
“Come again?” the mare narrowed her eyes at him.
The unicorn pointed to his right. “Leave my establishment at once. We do not tolerate our customers being harassed.”
“Do you know who we are, you disrespectful whelp?” the mare’s husband almost snarled.
“Ponies who are no longer welcome near my café,” he said bluntly. “Now, leave or I shall call the guard.”
The two ponies looked like they were about to pop a blood vessel, but the unicorn did not change his stance.
After several tense moments of the two failing to intimidate him into backing down, they turned, giving one final scathing glare at Octavia and Thunderlane, before stomping off, trying and failing to look like they were leaving with grace and dignity.
“I’m so sorry, Monsieur et Madame,” the unicorn said, turning to Thunderlane and Ocativa. “It is on the house.”
“Oh, there’s no need for that,” Thunderlane began. “I’m more than willing to—”
“I insist, Monsieur,” the unicorn replied, holding up a hoof. “Good day to you both.”
He left, leaving the two to watch… not quite sure how to feel about the free meal.
“Well, I can definitely see why you spoke so dispassionately about those two,” Octavia said as they returned to their meal. “Frankly, the way you described them before, you were being far too kind. They’re far more unpleasant.”
“Ponies like them just really get on my nerves,” Thunderlane said, shaking his head. “Anyway, barring any other interruptions, where were we again?”
Octavia had barely opened her mouth before another voice cut her off.
“Lane!” a shrill voice shouted, Thunderlane at once tensing.
Turning, the two saw a mare in a Wonderbolts uniform landing. The rainbow mane was a dead giveaway as to the identity.
“Ponyfeathers,” Thunderlane muttered, gulping.
“Wait a minute.” The rainbow maned mare blinked, looking confused. “Octavia?”
“Rainbow Dash,” the Earth Mare replied politely. “Nice to see you again. To what do we owe the honour?”
Rainbow Dash frowned, looking to Thunderlane, before nodding, as if deciding something. “Okay. I get it now. That explains a lot.”
“Um,” Octavia glanced to Thunderlane, who was sweating bullets.
Dash looked him up and down, her eyes narrowing. “Where’s your uniform?”
“I-it’s at my place,” Octavia chimed in. She could tell Thunderlane was in troiuble for something and had the feeling it was partly her fault.
Dash glanced at the Earth Mare, then Thunderlane and sighed. “Fine. Go get your uniform and report back to barracks as soon possible. Consideirng I can vagely guess what’s going on, I’ll let it slide this once.” She thrust a hoof in Thunderlane’s face. “Still, you’re going to be on Kitchen Duty for the next month now, got it?” Dash said, looking firmly at the other Pegasus.
He nodded frantically.
With a firm look to the Pegasus and a polite farewell Octavia, Dash shot up into air and flew off in what Ocativa guessed was the direction of Cloudsdale.