Thunder groaned as a stabbing headache and sour stomach brought him back to consciousness. He cracked his eyes open and found Berry Punch, still asleep, lying next to him. He couldn’t remember anything past walking in her door, and felt a stab of worry. Oh, buck, did we— he relaxed slightly, but only slightly, when he saw the telltale glow of a protection spell around himself. An empty bottle nearly tripped him as he got out of the bed.
A bit of searching led him to the bathroom, where he relieved himself and rinsed some of the awful taste out of his mouth. He felt only a minor twinge of guilt as he raided Berry’s medicine cabinet and swallowed two painkillers with another mouthful of water. As he looked at himself in the mirror the last traces of the night’s protection spell faded away, leaving nothing but one very hungover pony.
He trudged back to the bedroom and laid back down next to Berry, who didn’t stir. That was for the best. However much Thunder was suffering from yesterday’s drinking, she was going to be worse. Never thought I’d see the day when a mare other than Wing Beat drank me under the table.
He must have dozed off because when he opened his eyes again the sun was shining much more brightly, the painkillers had taken the edge off of his headache, and Berry wasn’t in the bed. Retching sounds coming from the bathroom clued him in as to where she’d gone and why.
“Morning,” she grunted a few minutes later, having emptied her stomach of its poisonous contents.
“Morning,” Thunder said uneasily. “Listen, about last night—”
Berry waved a hoof. “I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to, I promise."
“You sure?”
Berry laughed, then seemed to regret it as she clutched her stomach. “You’re cute, Thunder. Yes, I’m sure.”
“Cute?” Thunder lifted an eyebrow, “Never been called that before.”
“You are though!” she chirped. “Come on, you up for some breakfast?”
Thunder stopped to consider the state of his stomach. He was at the point where food would either make things better or much, much worse. Nonetheless, he followed Berry into the kitchen and let her place a loaf of bread and a mug of cider in front of him.
The cider actually helped with the hangover. It was a hair of the timberwolf that bit him, as the saying went. Which is a dumb saying, seeing as timberwolves don’t have hair, Thunder mused. With his stomach somewhat settled he attempted a bit of the bread, then realized exactly how hungry he was. Aside from the ursa claws he'd had for breakfast he hadn’t actually eaten yesterday, choosing instead to fill his belly with wine and cider. Despite his efforts to pace himself, he quickly devoured the loaf.
“So, you’re a singer?” Berry said, picking up the thread of some half-remembered conversation from yesterday.
“Yeah. Well, I was.”
“That must be tough.”
“I miss my bandmates,” Thunder admitted.
Berry frowned. “Even if you can’t play anymore, can’t you still see them?”
“Cacophony got them,” Thunder said softly. “They were the first.”
“Oh!” Berry’s eyes shone with tears, “Oh, I’m so sorry.”
“What kind of music do you like?” Thunder asked, changing the subject.
“All kinds of stuff,” Berry said around a mouthful of bread, “but DJ Pon-3 is my favorite.”
"You and the rest of Equestria," Thunder snorted.
“I just can’t believe she’s gone.” Berry trailed off, staring down at the table.
Thunder scratched his nose nervously. He had never been any good with upset mares.
"I hate this!" Berry burst out suddenly.
Thunder was taken aback. “Hate what?”
“This. All of it. It’s been a month since the last time I heard music. Nopony sings anymore, nopony plays, everyone’s afraid all the time. Did you know that the other day I had to stop a filly who started singing a nursery rhyme? A filly!”
Thunder felt a pang. And I just pissed off the ponies with the power to fix it.
“I think that’s why I drink so much lately,” Berry continued. “I mean, I always liked to drink, probably a bit more than I should, but lately it seems like that’s all I do.” She shook her head and smiled at him. “I’m sorry, listen to me going on. I know others have lost more than I have.”
“It’s okay. Everyone’s suffering.” And bucked if I’m going to keep sitting here doing nothing about it. He stood up. “Berry?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for letting me crash here. I have to get going, there’s something I have to do.”
Berry swallowed a mouthful of cider and smiled at him. “Okay.” She stood up and held out her forelegs for a hug, which Thunder gladly gave her. “Don’t be a stranger.”
“See you soon.” Thunder walked out the door.
Ten minutes of walking—and fifteen of nervous indecision—later, Thunder knocked on the library door. After a moment it opened, revealing a purple unicorn mare behind it.
“Thunder,” Twilight said flatly.
“Twilight.” Thunder pawed the ground anxiously. “Listen, I—”
“You smell like alcohol,” Twilight interrupted.
“Oh. Yeah. That’s from yesterday.” It occurred to Thunder that he should probably have asked to use Berry’s shower. “I wanted to—”
“What did you do yesterday?” Twilight cut him off again.
“None of your business," Thunder snapped. "Are you ready to talk to me or not?” Nice apology, buckhead.
Twilight sighed and relented. “Look, Thunder, I shouldn’t have snapped at you like I did yesterday. I know things have been really hard for you lately. I certainly shouldn't have thrown you out in the cold when you were counting on me.”
Thunder blinked. “Wait, are you apologizing to me?”
Twilight glared. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still furious with you. You had absolutely no right to shout at me, and while I respect that Rainbow Dash can make her own decisions, I’m worried that you’re going to get her into trouble.”
“Listen,” Thunder cut in, “I’m trying to apologize for that, but it’s tough when you won’t let me talk.”
“Alright then, talk.”
Thunder sighed and unconsciously pawed at the ground again. “Look, I know I was way out of line yesterday. You’re right, things have been tough, but that doesn’t excuse it. You, all of you, have been so nice to me when you could have just told me to go buck myself. Tartarus, I’d probably have told me to go buck myself. I’ve got no right to ask you for another chance, but…” He took a deep breath. “Stopping Cacophony, saving my friends, that means everything to me right now, and you guys are my only chance to do that. I don’t know if you can forgive me for being a… well, a colossal buckhead, but could you at least let me work with you until this is over? After that I’ll leave, and you’ll never have to see me again.”
Twilight stared him down a few moments longer. Thunder could almost see her weighing his fate in those huge purple eyes of hers. Finally, she opened the door all the way and stepped aside.
“Go take a shower,” she said. “You smell terrible."
Thunder walked past her toward the bathroom.
"You have a hickey on your neck,” she added.
Thunder flushed and escaped into the shower, where he cleaned off the smells of cider, wine, and Berry Punch. He sighed and relaxed slightly as the hot water coursed over him. He stayed in there long after he was clean, simply relishing the feeling and trying to let go of some of the hatred and rage that still burned inside of him. It didn’t work, not really, but he at least looked calm by the time he finally left the bathroom.
He stepped out of a cloud of steam and into a room full of ponies who looked at him with expressions ranging from suspicion to pity. Only Rainbow Dash, apparently unaware of the atmosphere, approached him.
“Thunder!” She held up a hoof, which he bumped. “Yesterday was so awesome. Just wait ‘till I tell my friends in Cloudsdale that I went drinking with Thunder Growl! We gotta do that again.”
“Yeah, definitely,” Thunder agreed readily. Twilight wrinkled her nose, but didn’t say anything. “You get home okay?”
“Well, duh, I’m only the best flier in Equestria. It takes more than a bit of cider to change that!”
“Anyway,” Twilight interrupted, “as I was saying, there are a lot of things about the fight yesterday that don’t add up." Nopony was surprised to see her pull out an actual list and begin reading off of it.
"First of all, I don’t see how there could possibly be as many Cacophonies as we saw, considering that it would take a unicorn almost as powerful as Starswirl to make even one. Secondly, a gestalt made of living creatures should have all of their minds forced together as well. It seems unlikely that something like that would even be able to function, let alone carry out a vendetta like it has been.”
Thunder wondered if she realized that only about half of her friends were following her. The others simply nodded blankly.
“Third, the Elements of Harmony destroyed one of the Cacophonies. That isn’t right. The Elements aren’t destructive, as far as anypony can tell they work by returning things to their natural, harmonious state. Finally, after we used the Elements, the Cacophonies who appeared completely ignored Thunder in order to come for us, even though Thunder was the one who had been singing. That goes directly against everything we know about this being.”
“So, what’s all that mean?” Applejack asked.
Twilight shook her head. “That’s just it, I don’t know.”
They were interrupted by the sound of a certain baby dragon belching. A moment later, Spike came pattering into the room holding a letter.
“Twilight!” he called out, “It’s a letter from Princess Celestia!”
Twilight nodded for him to proceed.
“Ahem.
“My faithful student Twilight,
"I apologize for not responding earlier. I have been thinking on all that you told me in your last report. I have some ideas that I wish to share, and others that require more research. I would very much appreciate it if all of you, Thunder Growl included, would come see me in Canterlot as soon as possible.
Yours,
Princess Celestia”
“Wow, she’s got really good timing!” Pinkie exclaimed.
"Well, I guess that’s that, then,” Twilight said with finality. “We’re going to Canterlot! Just let me pack a few things.”
There was a chorus of groans as Twilight pulled out a pair of saddlebags and began cramming so many books into them that Thunder was pretty sure she must have been using an Aggregation Spell of her own. Somehow, the fact that he had been personally invited to meet the princess—by the princess—hadn't quite registered yet.
Perhaps twenty minutes passed before Twilight was satisfied with her choices, and then the group trekked out the door to the train station. As they were walking, they heard a sound. It was a sound none of them had heard in quite a while, and it took them a moment to place it: singing. Someone was singing quite loudly.
The group shot horrified looks at one another.
“Quick,” Thunder, the first to recover, called out, “go get your orbital friendship cannon thing! I’ll try to stop her before Cacophony gets here!”
“Right," Twilight agreed a moment later. "We’ll be back as soon as we can!” Twilight’s horn glowed brightly and she teleported the entire group, minus Thunder, back to the library to retrieve the Elements.
Pausing only for an instant to jam earplugs into his ears, Thunder raced as fast as his hooves could take him toward the source of the singing. It seemed to be coming from the open square in the center of town. As he got closer he found himself having to dodge around ponies who were running away. When he was within sight of the square a small patch of darkness flitted past under his hoof.
He burst into the square and found, on the raised dais where Mayor Mare gave her speeches, an extremely drunk Berry Punch with a bottle in her hand, singing her heart out with tears in her eyes.
“Berry!” Thunder roared. “Are you out of your damned mind?” He galloped toward her, racing the approaching darkness.
He was too late. A dark shape coagulated directly between Thunder and Berry. Thunder felt the same fear he had felt yesterday, but did not hesitate in throwing himself on Cacophony's back, trying to get his forelegs around its throat. Cacophony bucked, and Thunder was hurled into the back wall of the stage.
“No!” Thunder stood on shaky legs. Desperate tears stung his eyes. “Not again!” He planted himself between Berry and Cacophony, but was sent flying by a casual backhoof from the monster and crashed into the side of a building. He tried to rise again but his body had no strength left. All he could do was watch helplessly as Cacophony approached Berry where she stood on the dais.
“Berry!”
At last, Thunder got to see what Cacophony did to its victims. It reached Berry and touched her with an indistinct hoof. As Thunder watched, appalled, the darkness spread across Berry and slowly pulled her in, absorbing her body into the mass. She did not resist. Driven by wild desperation not to lose another friend, Thunder forced himself back to his hooves.
Berry’s head was the last part of her to be consumed. Before she was absorbed completely, she locked eyes with Thunder. Tears streamed down her flushed face. She spoke, and despite everything happening around him, her voice was all that Thunder could hear.
“I just," she hiccuped, "I just didn’t want to live in an Equestria without music.”
Then she was gone.
Something inside of Thunder broke, and his world collapsed. His ears filled with a deafening roar that had nothing to do with the horrible sounds coming from Cacophony. His vision tunneled and his body went numb as Cacophony turned to him.
“YoU have STOod IN my way ToO ofTen.”
Thunder was barely aware of the barrage of rainbow energy that destroyed the monster. His weakened hind legs collapsed under him and he sank to his haunches. The battered and crumbling walls around his heart had taken one blow too many.
"Thunder!"
In a heartbeat he had six ponies—six friends—at his side, their differences forgotten. Thunder's internal barriers finally fell, and something happened that had not occurred since he was a foal. Thunder Growl began to cry.
As he collapsed forward, a pair of infinitely gentle yellow forelegs caught and cradled his head. He wept wretchedly into Fluttershy’s coat, not really aware of how he had gotten there, Pinkie Pie, who no longer needed to cry on his behalf, softly stroked his mane with a hoof.
“There, there,” Pinkie murmured. “Just let it all out. You'll feel better, and that's a Pinkie Promise."
“Uh, Twi?” Applejack's nervous voice sounded terribly far away to Thunder. “D’ya think you could get us outta here?”
“Yikes! Time to go, everypony!”
There was a purple flash. A a moment later the group stood back in the library with the exception of Thunder, who was still collapsed against Fluttershy, crying helplessly.
“Thunder.”
Thunder looked up to see an exhausted-looking Twilight speaking to him with sympathy in her eyes. He tried to respond but only managed a strangled gasp. Fluttershy squeezed him more tightly, and he held onto her foreleg with a death grip. At last he was able to choke out a single word.
“Why?”
Rarity knelt down next to him. “Why what, dear?”
“Why did she do that?” Thunder forced out between sobs. “She knew what would happen.”
The elegant unicorn tsked and magicked out a hoofkerchief, which she used to gently brush away Thunder’s tears. “Who can say? Perhaps she just wanted to give Ponyville the gift of music one more time.”
The simple beauty of that idea caused the knot in Thunder’s chest to twist even tighter, and he back dissolved into miserable weeping.
He had no idea how long he stayed there, clinging to his friends for dear life as his own rebellious feelings assaulted him. A couple of times he became ashamed of his pathetic display and tried to bring himself back under control, but his fragile grasp on his emotions never lasted more than a few seconds.
“I’m sorry,” he whimpered at one point.
“Aw, c’mon now,” Applejack said kindly, “everyone needs ta' cry sometimes.”
Thunder shook his head. “I mean,” he sniffled, “you’re all so good to me, for no bucking reason, and I’m such a plothole to all of you. I’m sorry.”
His eloquent language notwithstanding, Twilight in particular seemed to appreciate the sentiment.
He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to stop, but time passed and eventually Thunder mastered himself again. He wiped his eyes and nose once more with Rarity’s hoofkerchief, which was now quite soggy. After a moment’s consideration—and a grimace from the unicorn herself—Thunder tucked it into his own saddlebag rather than trying to return it to its owner. A few more sniffles and he was finally able to disentangle himself from the mass of ponies. He stood up and cleared his throat embarassedly.
“So, uh...” Thunder pawed the ground, avoiding everyone's eyes. He wasn't sure how to explain a complete breakdown that left him crying like a filly whose coltfriend just dumped her, not even to himself.
Applejack punched him jokingly in the shoulder. “Don'tcha worry, tough guy,” she chuckled, “we won't tell nopony.”
Thunder glanced sideways at Rainbow Dash, who so recently had held such a high opinion of him. Rainbow noticed his attention on her and stepped up beside him.
“Hey. You feeling better?”
Thunder nodded. He actually did feel quite a bit better, almost like throwing up after a hard night's drinking. Puking for the soul. Good one, Thunder. “Not much point in me acting cool anymore, huh?” Thunder's voice was comically nasal, and he forced a small laugh at the sound of it. “Think you'd still be willing to do a Sonic Rainboom for the band?”
“Hey, you're plenty cool.” Rainbow Dash clapped him on the shoulder. “Real stallions aren't afraid to cry.”
Thunder laughed again, and this time it was genuine. What does that make me, then?
Twilight approached Thunder Growl, who watched her uncertainly. He wasn't sure where they stood at the moment. To his surprise, she placed a foreleg around him and squeezed gently.
“Are you okay now?” she asked. “Are you ready to go?”
Thunder nodded. “Ready when you are. Sorry, we've wasted enough time already.”
“No,” Twilight smiled, “being there for your friends is never a waste of time.”