Charley lay angrily down on the bench he was at that morning, the sun fully set over the horizon. He watched the moon and the stars in the sky, wondering what the heck he was going to do. He should’ve known better than to act like that. Almost forty eight hours into this journey, he was no closer to making a friend than he was when he got here. Maybe he was even farther away now. Pinkie Pie and that mail mare were sure to talk about what happened to everyone. He probably ruined any chance he had at being able to make a friend, at being able to…
“God, what the fuck is wrong with me?” he asked frustratedly. “All that ever happens is everything around me gets screwed the hell up! Why can’t things just be easy?”
The moon offered no answer, only staring silently down at him as he huffed angrily at his circumstances. He couldn’t make one friend. Not one. Not even with what were likely the two most idiotic girls he had ever met. There was no way he was going to find two easier friends than that, and he couldn’t even manage to manipulate them. It was just gonna be one more week of bullshit for him before Death used his scythe to kill him. How he thought he could ever make one friend, he didn’t know. Death was right when he said he thought his soul was truly lost.
He sighed to himself as he lay on his back on the bench, staring at the stars. They were prettier here than they were on Earth, although he couldn’t recognize the constellations. It was one beautiful thing. One thing in a life full of nothing but regrets and sadness and pain, but one thing he wanted to appreciate. He only had a few days to. Might as well do his best to take it all in now.
God, I’m so stupid, he thought to himself. I’m gonna be alone for the rest of my short life like I always was because I can’t handle being around people.
He lay quietly on the bench, staring up at the sky until his view was obscured by someone hovering stationary overhead. It was the stallion from yesterday, the black one, Thunderlane he remembered. He was looking down at him with a silly expression, like a confused puppy watching something strange happen.
“What are you still doing on this bench?” he asked as he hovered over head. “Don’t tell me you sleep out here, do you?”
“What’s it to you?” Charley asked back angrily. “And can you get out of the way? You’re blocking my view.” He watched the bird pony, pegasus he remembered, float down next to him to talk to him, making Charley roll his eyes. He really just wanted to be alone right now, like he always was, even if he did need to make friends.
“Do you want to get a drink?” Thunderlane asked, the exact same question he asked the previous night.
“I’m fine where I am,” he replied. “You don’t need to keep trying to pick me up, Mr. ‘I’m Not Gay’.”
“I’m not. It’s just weird seeing you laying on this bench again for the second night in a row. You’re not homeless, are you? Did you sleep out here?”
There was no reason he should’ve felt ashamed by that fact, but somehow, he did. The fur on his cheeks went red and he turned away, ears flattening against his skull.
“Yeah, well, it’s not like that matters. I won’t be here for very long anyway.” Five days. Five days, and then he’d be gone. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to stop existing, but he didn’t think it would be a pleasant experience.
“Look, you can stay out here if you want to. I was just offering you a drink because you seem like you’re lonely and could use one. If you want me to stop bothering you though, I will.” With the words, the black pegasus lifted his wings to take off again.
“Wait,” Charley called, sighing as he did. As nice as it would’ve been to mope around and feel sorry for himself, he knew he couldn’t pass up an offer like this. This might have been his very last chance at a friend after cursing out Pinkie Pie in front of everyone. He didn’t think there’d be very many more opportunities if he turned this down.
“Fine,” he finally agreed, standing back up from his spot on the bench and stretching out his wings. “I’ll have a drink with you. One drink though, because I’m not looking for you to take me home. Also you’re gonna have to pay, because I don’t have any money.”
“That’s fine, and I’m not trying to take you home, unless you don’t have a place to stay at. But like I said, I’m not gay, so if you’re expecting that from me, it’s not gonna happen.”
With that, Thunderlane spread his wings and took off, lifting a few dozen feet into the air before looking down to see Charley wasn’t following him.
“I can’t fly,” he called as he looked up at the black pegasus. “If you really want to buy me a drink, it has to be something I can get to on the ground, because there’s no way I can get up there.”
“You really can’t fly?” Thunderlane asked as he settled back on the ground. “Your wings look fine,” he said as he walked around Charley, using a wing to lift his, inspecting them. “I don’t see anything wrong with them. Did you just never learn?”
“Never learned, and I don’t think I’m gonna learn,” he said. “I asked one of these ponies to teach me, but I didn’t realize they were the worst pony to ask. They gave me bruises because they did nothing but crash into me, it was bad.”
“Are you talking about the gray mail mare with the yellow mane?” Thunderlane asked, smiling and chuckling a little bit. “I can’t remember her name, but she crashes into everypony. Like, she’d be the last person I’d ask to teach me to fly.”
“You’re telling me. I’m still sore from my last encounter with her.”
Charley smiled a little bit as he said it. It wasn’t much, just the corner of his mouth, but it was more than he’d given to anyone else in Equestria up to that point, genuinely at least. In fact it was more than he’d shown in months. It almost felt weird to do after so long.
“You should’ve asked me yesterday,” the pegasus told him. “I can teach you in about a day and a half, assuming you’ve never flown at all before and have no idea what you’re doing. I mean, not right now, of course, but whenever you want me to, if you’re up for it.”
“Uh, sure, I don’t see why not,” Charley shrugged. This might be his last attempt at friendship, but with how normal this guy sounded as compared to everyone else he talked to, this was also probably his best chance. He could manipulate this guy into being his friend, no sweat, as long as he didn’t act like those other two ponies.
“What about tomorrow?”
“Can’t do tomorrow. I have a Wonderbolts show to preform in for a good chunk of the day, and I’ll be worn out after. But the day after should be good. But anyway, let’s go get those drinks. Uh… do you know a good bar around here?”
He didn’t, but that didn’t ruin things for them. The two walked around for a while, looking for one that was more empty, when they finally found a place at the end of the town. It only had a few other ponies, which Charley appreciated, and the two found a spot where they could sit mostly alone. Thunderlane ordered apple cider for both of them, and they both took their drinks as they started to talk.
“What were you doing laying out on that bench alone?” Thunderlane asked, drinking about half his mug in one gulp. “It was two nights in a row you were out there. You aren’t really homeless, are you?”
“I guess technically I am,” he explained. “It doesn’t really matter though because I’m only gonna be here for a week. Less than that now actually. Five days.” He took sip of cider as he continued, “I could’ve stayed with Pinkie Pie, but…”
“But Pinkie acts like Pinkie?”
“Like she had twenty six cups of coffee in a row? Yeah.”
“Haha, yeah. Did she throw you one of her parties for being new in Ponyville?”
“If you’re talking about that little event that looked like it was meant for 3-year-olds, then yes. Yes, she did. And somehow everyone there looked like they were having the most fun ever, even though it was more boring than a bag of rocks.”
“Yeah, I can tell you I’ve been there,” Thunderlane laughed. It made Charley chuckle a tiny bit as the pegasus continued, “What are you doing in Ponyville anyway?” That was where Charley sighed again, any slight enjoyment he had about the conversation gone.
“Apparently I fucking suck at making friends,” he said as he sipped his drink, “so I got sent here to make one. And I have one week to do it.”
“Oh, well, making one friend should take no time at all. You said you talked to the mail mare and Pinkie Pie? You should already be friends with them. They literally want to be friends with everypony.”
“Yeah, well, like I said, they act like they’re hopped up on coffee and talk your ears off and bump into you a million times until you’re black and purple.” He sighed again, finishing, “It probably didn’t help that I cursed her out in front of everyone. She’s not bright, but I’m pretty sure she’ll take exception to that.”
“Oof. Yikes. Yeah, that’ll make it difficult," he said, cringing slightly at the idea of it. "But I mean, I’ll be your friend if you want me to be.”
“You will?” Charley asked, sounding confused as he raised an eyebrow. “Like, actually be my friend? No strings attached? Not gonna make me go to a party or tell me I’m scary or whatever other stupid thing?”
“Um, no?” Thunderlane laughed. “I mean, you asked, or well, you were about to, so what am I supposed to do? Not offer?”
“It just seems creepy with how quickly you offered. If you’re trying to seduce me, I’m telling you, I don’t roll like that.”
“Oh my gosh, I’m not trying to seduce you!” the pegasus said exasperated as he laughed at the idea. “You’re like a mare with how much you’re going on about that. I’m really not interested.”
That made Charley blush and turn away as he grumbled to himself for a second. “So we’re friends then?” he asked. “Just like that? You’re not gonna be weird or annoying about it or crash into me or tell me I’m scary? Because let me tell you, those two have been a couple of characters, especially the pink one.” As he said it, he realized he didn’t have very much room to talk, with as weird and creepy about it as he’d been.
“Sure,” Thunderlane smiled kindly. “I mean, I don’t really know you, but if you need to make a friend in a week, I can be your friend. I mean, as long as you're somepony normal who I can chill with. That’s hard to find down here in Ponyville.”
“Yeah, apparently. Everyone I talked to in this town is completely crazy." He left out the fact that he might have been a tad aggressive in his interactions.
“Ha, don’t I know it,” the stallion laughed. “What’s your name?”
“Charley. Charley Baker. And yours is Thunderlane, right?”
“Sure is, although your name is pretty weird. I’d expect that name to come from a griffon, honestly. I assume you bake stuff?”
“No. Well, I can, but I don’t,” he said. “I don’t really do anything. I guess that’s why I’m here.” He sighed and put a hoof on his chin, taking a gulp of his drink. He didn’t even bother to ask how hooves could be used to pick up anything. He really didn’t care.
Thunderlane sat silently waiting for an explanation, but one didn’t come. Instead, Charley asked, “And what does the name ‘Thunderlane’ mean?”
Charley tried his best to listen, but wasn’t really that interested. He wasn’t annoyed sitting there as Thunderlane talked about being in the Wonderbolts, something he clearly took pride in. It was much more bearable a conversation than anything he had with the other two ponies he interacted with. Part of it was the fact that he didn’t talk at Charley, which was something he appreciated. It was nice to be able to have an actual back and forth, even if most of it was getting the guy to talk about himself and what he liked.
Another part of it was that Thunderlane was just an interesting pony to look at. His coat might have been all black, but it was pristine, like it was well maintained and had pride put into it. His mane and tail were both cut perfectly, very short and bristly looking, something that looked a bit weird but also kind of worked for him. It was uniform, except for a few sharp angles that made him look a bit more rugged. Charley found himself once again thinking that he was extremely handsome.
Even more than that though were his eyes. He’d seen something similar on other ponies, but his matched his coat and mane perfectly. Watching how his irises shifted from golden to yellow as he stared into them completed his look, and what a look it was. He was stunning. Charley was certain the pony he was talking to could get any woman he went after. Any man, too, for that matter.
Blech. Stop acting like a fourteen-year-old girl. He’s a horse. And a man, for that matter.
“So what about you, Charley? What do you do?” Thunderlane asked, that kind hearted, perfectly friendly smile still on his face. It made Charley realize he was smiling too, and caused him to drop back into his usual frown.
“I worked in fast food, at a place called Hardees. Flipping burgers and frying fries and talking to rude people and the whole nine yards. It was awful.” He looked down at his butt and remarked, “So awful that they put a frying basket on my butt as a reminder that I’m good for nothing else.”
“Hmm. Well, just because it’s your special talent doesn’t mean that’s what you have to do,” Thunderlane said.
“Yup, that’s me. My special talent is working a dead end job at Hardees.”
“That’s not what I meant. You can be great at other things and do other things. Like me. My special talent is cloud control and weather maintenance, but I’m in the Wonderbolts full time. You don’t have to do whatever your cutie mark says.”
“Yeah, right. As if I’m good at anything else.”
He didn’t know what a cutie mark was, but he could guess it was the picture on his flank signifying his ‘special talent’. Even after dying of cancer, God or the universe or whatever was out there was still playing jokes on him at his expense. Not that he was surprised of course.
“Let me have another drink,” he said as he finished the rest of his mug.
Another drink was poured as the two continued to talk, Thunderlane asking Charley about himself now. He mostly deflected when he could, not really wanting to discuss how terrible his life was, but did talk about a few things. He talked about how he had a sixteen-year-old son he’d hadn’t seen in ten years and an ex wife who hated him, and how he never really was able to amount to anything because he didn’t finish school. It made the stallion frown to hear.
He also described how he liked to listen to super loud rock music and sit at the library and write little stories no one would ever see, and go out walking in the middle of the night to look at the stars. It got Thunderlane to smile when he heard it, which was a good thing. Charley didn’t want to come off as completely boring and depressing, even if what he offered wasn’t much.
“I always wanted to be an astronomer,” Charley told him. “Since I was a little kid.” He scowled down at his cutie mark, saying, “Just another thing that I lost out on because my life hates me.”
Couldn’t be an astronomer, couldn’t be a woman, couldn’t have parents who loved him, couldn’t even live to be thirty five years old. What could he have?
He could have one of those things when he saw death again though. He just had to keep going, keep manipulating this pony. This was working. He was sure of it.
“You want to be an astronomer? Like, somepony who looks at the stars and charts meteors and stuff?” Charley nodded, and Thunderlane continued, “Then go and be that. I’m sure there are schools you could go to and stuff if that’s what you want to do. I actually know a pegasus who’s special talent was something like uniform making, or something else she hated. She went on to do astronomy, and now works under Princess Luna to help map the stars.”
He didn’t know what all that meant, but laughed sadly anyway. “It’s too late for all that now. Way, way too late. Any dreams I have these days are all just fantasies.” He sighed and finished, “I guess that’s why I’m here.”
“You’re here because you didn’t become an astronomer, so someone told you to learn about friendship?”
“I guess in a way, yes, but that’s just… a whole can of worms I don’t wanna get into at all. Long story short though, my life is just a fucking mess, and I need to make a friend to prove it’s not.”
“Well like I said, I’ll be your friend,” Thunderlane offered. “And if you like astronomy and stars and stuff, I have a place in Cloudsdale that’s perfect for looking at the stars. I take all of my dates there.” His face went hot red when he realized what he said. “Not that I’m trying to take you out, of course,” he quickly added. “I’m not. I swear.”
“Sure you’re not,” Charley replied unamused, rolling his eyes. “Either way, Cloudsville sounds like a place I’d have to fly to, and once again, I can’t do that.” He extended his wings for emphasis. “So unless you’re gonna carry me there, it’s not happening.”
“I can carry you there if you want,” the stallion offered. “That’s not an issue at all.”
“You’re gonna carry me, a full grown horse, all the way up to a city in the sky?” Charley asked, unbelieving.
“Sure. It’s only a few thousand feet. I’ve carried heavier ponies twice as far without breaking a sweat.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. I mean, unless you don’t want me to. It’s fine if you don’t.”
“And you’re really not trying to pick me up?” Charley asked suspiciously. “Because I won’t lie, this has serious, ‘I wanna fuck you’ vibes, and like I said, I don’t roll like that.”
“I promise, I’m not trying to pick you up,” Thunderlane laughed. “I just thought you were looking for a friend, and figured I’d do a better job at helping you with that than Pinkie Pie would.”
“Well I haven’t cursed you out yet, so that’s something. But I’m still pretty sure you won’t be able to carry me to Cloudsville.”
“Well, let’s go outside and I can prove it,” Thunderlane said firmly, finishing his drink and getting up. “This’ll be a piece of cake, even after a couple of drinks.”
Charley shrugged, finishing his own drink before he stepped back outside. This whole situation was so intensely strange, and just got stranger by the hour. He’d go with it though, if it meant being able to make one friend and get out of here. Thunderlane was much easier to work with and talk to than anypony else, and he might have actually enjoyed being around the stallion a little bit.
“You know, I really don’t see how– whoa! What are you doing?” Thunderlane was suddenly behind him, putting one hoof between his legs and the other around his barrel to lift him up and lay him on his back in his grasp.
“I’m taking you to Cloudsdale, remember?” the stallion smiled. “You said you didn’t think I could do it, so now I’m gonna prove it to you.”
“You’re really gonna be able to fly with me in your arms like this?” he asked. In response, Thunderlane spread his wings and kicked off the ground, lifting him into the air.
“You’re really gonna fly carrying me like this!” Charley laughed, the idea completely ridiculous. “I thought you said you weren’t trying to pick me up!” he joked. "And yet here I am, being carried in your arms."
“What can I say? You convinced me. But then again, who wouldn’t be convinced to try and pick you up, what with those beautiful green eyes of yours?”
“Stop it!” he laughed, getting more enjoyment from this than he should’ve been. He had to admit, he was getting to like this stallion more and more, even if he hadn’t known him for very long. Only an hour or so, not any time at all. Even still, it was more than he could say he’d gotten from anyone else in the last ten years. It helped that Thunderlane was kind of a charmer and easy to talk to.
“Eventually, I’m gonna expect you to do this yourself,” the stallion said to Charley, stopping on a cloud that rested several hundred feet below a towering city. “You’re heavier than I thought,” he said, laying on his back for a breath.
“Is this the spot? This isn’t really a good place to look at stars. That… cloud city thing, it obscures most of our view.”
“No, this isn’t it. I’m just stopping here to rest for a little while.”
“Resting?” Charley smiled a little bit. “You said you could carry stallions twice my size without breaking a sweat.”
Was he actually liking spending time with this pony? He barely even knew him. He didn’t even enjoy spending time with people he’d known for years. What could’ve been so different about this guy?
What is this, some ‘love at first sight’ crap? Don’t go getting attached to him. You’re only here so you can make a friend and then leave. Nothing else.
“How are we even able to lay on clouds like this?” he asked. “I’m pretty sure we should be falling through them to our deaths, since they’re made of water vapor.”
“We’re pegasi,” Thunderlane explained. “The magic in our bodies lets us walk on clouds and stuff. You should know all of this.”
“Well, I can’t fly, so if you’re expecting me to know anything, you’re wrong. I did glide down from about this height a couple of days ago, though, so that should be encouraging.”
“That’s good to hear. That means if I throw you off a cliff when I teach you, you won’t die. It’s much easier to learn in the sky than on the ground.”
“I’ll trust you on that.” Charley stretched and yawned, asking, “Can we keep going now? I wanna see that spot you take all your dates, Mr. ‘I’m Not Trying To Pick You Up’.”
“Haha, like I said, I’m not into stallions. I mean, unless you’re secretly a mare?”
Charley flinched hard hearing that, and turned away. He so hated having that poked at. Why were all these ponies able to see and poke at that? It hurt badly to have that nerve touched, it was so raw.
Charley knew Thunderlane could see how fast it made him scowl, and wasn’t surprised when he heard an apology a second later.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to make you upset like that. Uh, ready to see the spot I was talking about?”
“Ready if you are. But please, just… for future reference, don’t say things like that to me.”
“I will make sure to not say things like that,” the stallion assured him, moving to pick Charley up again a second later. “Ready?” he asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
With the confirmation, Thunderlane kicked off the ground and began to fly again, Charley silently enjoying feeling the wind in his hair, liking the idea that he was going to spend more time with the stallion. It was a weird feeling for him, one he hadn’t had in a long time, the feeling that he wanted to spend time with someone else. He hated being around people, and yet, somehow, he didn’t really hate being around Thunderlane. In fact, he kind of liked it, even if it hurt having that nerve touched.
It was a scary thought, the idea that he liked spending time with Thunderlane.
Stop acting like this, he told himself. You’re only here for someone to be friends with you, not for you to be friends with someone else. You’re only here so you can be who you want to be once this is all over.