Twilight frowned and slightly adjusted the magic flowing from her horn. "Try it now." The others covered their ears as Thunder took a deep breath and shouted at the formless blob hovering in front of him.
Thunder had been a little freaked out when Twilight had first made that appear, but it had soon become clear that this was not another Cacophony, just a little fragment of something that Twilight had made with her magic. Watching her make it had actually been rather interesting. She had used a combination of her usual unicorn magic, her own voice, and the ambient sound of the courtyard. It had created a strange effect as she cast the spell, muffling all sound around them as though Thunder had put his earplugs back in. Now that the spell was complete the background noise was back to normal, but the mass in front of them still gave off random tones and spurts of sound. Twilight had explained that it was the sonic equivalent of the light one saw from traditional unicorn magic. Thunder just thought it was annoying.
Thunder's voice erupted from him with a faint purple glow, the soundwaves themselves made visible by Twilight's magic. The spell amplified the volume of his voice as well as giving it whatever quality allowed him to, theoretically, disrupt the sound constructs. The enhanced sound crashed through the small courtyard, but the dark blob remained unaffected.
"Dammit," Thunder rasped. His voice was beginning to give out on him as if he had just finished a particularly brutal show.
"Might I suggest we take a break?" Rarity said, wincing from the ringing in her ears.
"Yes, please," Fluttershy whimpered. She was still clamping her hooves over her ears.
Twilight sighed and let her magic dissipate. The glow around Thunder faded, though the sound construct remained. Having been created, it was now self-sustaining; luckily, this particular construct had no function except to exist.
"Spike," Twilight ordered, "write down magical frequency 23.3665289109, failure."
"Got it, Twilight," Spike said heavily, massaging his cramped claw.
"We're missing something, I'm sure of it," Twilight said as she turned back to her notes. "We've gone through nearly my entire range of magical frequencies and gotten nowhere."
"Maybe it needs to be louder!" Pinkie shouted. Fluttershy squeaked at the thought.
"Do you think you could do that to my Sonic Rainboom?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I'll bet that could destroy anything!"
Twilight cocked her head in thought. "I don't see why not."
"Awesome!" Rainbow leaped into the air.
"But, it would be really dangerous. A Sonic Rainboom is powerful already, and it's not controlled like somepony's voice. We don't know how much damage that would do."
"Awww..." she sank back down to the ground.
Thunder flattened his ears against the random sounds still emanating from the construct. It wasn't nearly as bad as Cacophony, but he was getting bucking sick of hearing it.
"Perhaps Thunder's pitch is off?" Rarity suggested.
Thunder bit back an instinctive retort. That would normally be an insult to a singer, but in this case he had to admit that she had a point. After all, he wasn't even sure what pitch he was trying for. "Maybe," he allowed. "I could widen the range some more."
"Why don't ya take a few minutes first," Applejack suggested. "Sounds like yer voice could use a rest."
Thunder nodded gratefully. "Anypony have some tea, or a lozenge?"
"Tea?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You drink tea?"
"Nothing better on a sore throat," Thunder nodded. "Not everything I drink has to be alcoholic, you know. Although," he tapped his chin thoughtfully, "I wouldn't complain if it had some brandy in it."
"Thunder," Twilight warned him.
"Alright, sorry, bad joke." It had been a joke. Mostly. "Still, some tea and a break sounds good."
Everypony agreed, and when they returned to the courtyard a half-hour later they all felt refreshed and ready to try again.
"So this time we're going to keep the magical frequency steady and you'll try altering your pitch, okay?" Twilight said to Thunder as they took their places again.
"Got it." Thunder took a breath, and when he felt Twilight's magic flowing over him again, he began to growl. He decided it would be logical to start at the lowest pitch he could hit and go up from there. What came from his mouth was a low bass rumble to begin with, then he began climbing the scales.
"Wait!" Rarity exclaimed. "That pitch, right there!" The sound construct was vibrating slightly. "Twilight, dear, perhaps if you increased the power?"
Twilight pushed a bit more magic through her horn. The construct vibrated more noticeably but still refused to break. Twilight altered her magic's frequency first one way, then the other, trying to find exactly the right oscillation. As Thunder's breath began to give out on him, she finally hit something that felt right.
The construct shattered and dissolved into nothing.
"Woo-hoo!" Rainbow shot into the air.
"Very well done, you two," Rarity congratulated them.
"Yes!" Thunder rasped and pumped a foreleg. "Hoof-bump!" He held out his hoof toward Twilight, who laughed and hit it gently with her own.
"Now that's more like it!" Applejack crowed.
Fluttershy screamed. Everyone whirled around and saw her pointing at something across the courtyard. They followed her foreleg and froze in disbelief.
A horrible grating sound filled the courtyard as bits of shadow flowed together into a vaguely equine shape. Thunder's face paled.
"No," he whispered, "no." His legs trembled. Apparently one note at a time did not count as singing, but the scales he had been using to find the right pitch were enough to attract the monster's attention.
"Everypony get inside!" Applejack yelled.
They were not fast enough. Before they had a chance to run, before they could even call for help, the monster flowed across the courtyard toward them too quickly to escape. It was coming straight for Thunder, a horrible black non-shape that was, to him, the personification of death.
Thunder grunted as something knocked him to the ground. He shook off the paralyzing fear and rolled back up to his hooves to find Pinkie Pie standing beside him. She must have tackled him out of the way. "Twilight," he called, "the spell! Now!"
"Right!" Twilight powered up her horn again. When Thunder felt the telltale tingle of magic, he opened his mouth and... nothing came out. His voice was shot, and he couldn't produce another magically enhanced scream.
"Pinkie!" Rainbow shouted, agonized. Pinkie Pie, who had saved Thunder, was now directly in the monster's path. As Rainbow streaked down to save her friend, Cacophony reached out with one warping foreleg. Pinkie tried to avoid it, but as she moved it extended and brushed her side.
"You get offa her!" Applejack yelled. She charged forward and kicked Cacophony with all of the strength that a lifetime of apple bucking had given her. It didn't budge.
"Thunder, please," Fluttershy flew over to him. "I know you're tired, but you can do this."
Thunder swallowed, cleared his throat, relaxed as much as he could, and took a deep breath.
"Pinkie Pie!" Rarity cried. Her friend had nearly been completely absorbed by the dark mass.
"You're not bucking getting her!" Thunder shouted. He opened his mouth and screamed.
The purple soundwaves washed over Cacophony. It jerked back, the first response any of them had ever seen it give to any sort of attack, but did not stop its attack on Pinkie Pie.
"More power, Twilight!" Rarity screamed.
Twilight boosted the spell and the volume of Thunder's shout increased. Cacophony began to tremble. As they watched, the last hair of Pinkie's curly mane was pulled into the darkness. Twilight increased the power of her spell still further, worried that she might cause permanent damage to Thunder's voice, but more worried by far about losing her friend.
Thunder's shout became deafening. Cacophony shook, staggered backward, and, to the relief of everyone there, fell apart. Thunder cut off with a choked gasp and fell to the ground panting. He felt lightheaded and dizzy, starved for air, like he used to get when he was first learning to sing and forgot to breathe properly.
"P-Pinkie?" Fluttershy sniffled.
"No... no, it cain't be," Applejack whispered.
Thunder's insides twisted into knots. He fought through the dizziness and raised his head to confirm his fears: there was no Pinkie Pie there.
Spike let out a wail and clung to Twilight's foreleg, sobbing into the soft purple fur. She tried her best to soothe the baby dragon even as tears spilled from her own eyes. Soon the two of them were holding one another as they cried.
"No," Thunder could not manage anything more than a whisper. The knot in his stomach twisted itself tighter. The dizziness faded as he caught his breath and he was able to stand again, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do now. "I'm... I'm so sorry, everyone." He took a hesitant step toward the grieving friends, then backed away instead. "I'm sorry."
"Don't," Rarity gulped, "don't be sorry, Thunder. It wasn't your fault." She levitated a hoofkerchief up to wipe at her eyes.
It was his fault, though, Thunder thought miserably. It had been his singing that had drawn Cacophony, and it had been his weakness that stopped them from destroying it in time. He had never thought he could feel more wretched than he had felt this morning when Berry had been taken; this was worse.
Royal guards suddenly began pouring into the courtyard. Unicorns and earth ponies raced in through the single door, while several pegasi winged in from the sky. They stopped almost as soon as they arrived, however, and an uncomfortable hush settled over the courtyard as the guards realized that they were too late.
"Miss Sparkle," a brown stallion approached her, "what happened here?"
As they spoke, the other guards approached the group to collect information and offer what comfort they could. Thunder found himself speaking with a familiar female guard.
"Nectar?" he croaked.
The guard nodded and offered him a hesitant smile. "How are you, Mr. Growl?"
"I've been better," Thunder answered, "and just Thunder is fine."
"Are you willing to talk to me today?" Nectar asked with a hint of a bite in her voice.
Thunder flushed and looked away as he remembered how he had treated her before. "Yeah. Sorry." Why did he keep apologizing to everypony? Probably because he kept screwing everything up, he answered himself.
"Alright, Thunder then. Why don't you tell me what happened here?"
In short order the guards had collected everyone's accounts of the events in the courtyard and the group found themselves gently but efficiently escorted back inside to someplace where, they were promised, they would have privacy and whatever else they might need.
A very subdued group sat in the small sitting room they'd been given. Twilight knew it well, as Princess Celestia had sometimes used this room for their private lessons. It was small but not cramped, furnished with comfortable couches and cushions. A fire blazed in a fireplace, banishing the early winter chill from their bodies but doing little for their hearts. They sat in a silence that was broken only by Spike's sobs and the occasional sniffle.
Thunder tried a couple of times to speak, but no words would come. What could he possibly say? Spike still clung tightly to Twilight, who hugged him back and would not let go. Applejack held Fluttershy as she cried her heart out into the orange pony's coat. Rarity lay on a couch and sobbed quiety into her hoofkerchief. Rainbow Dash paced the room angrily. Thunder sat on a cushion and stared into the fire, lost in dark thoughts.
"We should be out there!" Rainbow burst out, shattering the quiet. "That thing has our friend, and we're all just sitting here. Why aren't we out looking for Pinkie Pie? Why aren't we," she choked up, "why aren't we doingsomething?"
"What would we do?" Twilight asked. "We have no idea where it took her. We have no way of tracking it." She unconsciously stroked Spike's spines, drawing as much comfort as she was giving. "There's nothing we can do."
"We could go searching!" Rainbow shouted angrily at her. "You said it yourself, Twilight. This spell probably hurts the ponies it's used on. Who knows what's happening to Pinkie Pie right now?"
"Stop it, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity cried. "Just stop it."
"But I—" Rainbow sobbed, "but Pinkie..." She sat down, holding herself tightly with her forelegs.
"There, there, dear," Rarity murmured soothingly. She walked over and began running a hoof gently through Rainbow's mane. "It's alright. We're all hurting."
Thunder bit his lower lip and continued looking into the flames. He felt utterly miserable, but unlike the others his eyes were dry. He wasn't certain why. He felt as if he should be crying, but no tears came. He was left with nothing but a sickening hollow feeling and a gut-wrenching sense of guilt. He shivered and moved closer to the fire, but it didn't make him feel any warmer.
As the others grieved Thunder nosed open one of his saddlebags, took out a pad of paper and a pencil, and laid them in front of him. He took a moment to gather his thoughts, then began composing.
Darkness Silence Cacophony falls upon Equestria.
Hearts are cold and voices songs are music is(?) silent.
Ponies cry out(?) in the darkness,
(rhymes with silent: violent? assignment?)
My voice is hushed but my heart is violent.
"Bah." Thunder crumpled up his first attempt and threw it into the fire. It needed to be less touchy-feely, more brutal. He started again.
CACOPHONY!
A scream. That was always a good way to start a song, and it would echo the way they actually fought Cacophony.
Cacophony comes to take
Your music, your laughter, your very life's at stake.
Better. Much better.
One by one, your friends are taken lost,
Just you Alone against the coming _________ (rhymes with lost: frost? cost? crossed?)
He scratched out those two lines.
By your song, its path is crossed.
One by one, your friends are lost.
Alone against the coming ________ (storm?)
Equestria's joy is its promised cost!
"Thunder?"
Thunder jumped and covered the incomplete song with a hoof. He hadn't even heard Twilight approaching. "Yeah? What's up?"
"I just wanted to see how you were," Twilight said. Her eyes were puffy and her voice was choked, but she appeared to be in control again.
"Me?" Thunder shrugged. "I'm okay, I guess," he lied. "How are you holding up?"
Twilight sighed heavily and closed her eyes for a moment. "We're going to get her back," she said instead of answering. "Pinkie, your friends, everyone. We're going to get everyone back."
"Of course we are," Thunder answered. "Any ideas on how to find them?"
Twilight shook her head and settled in across from him. "I'm thinking that there must be some kind of sound enchantment over all of Equestria. How else could Cacophony appear almost instantly wherever there's music? If we could find the source of it... but I have no idea how to do that."
"Hey, c'mon now, egghead," Thunder jokingly used Rainbow Dash's nickname for her, "you're the smartest pony I've ever met. I'm sure you'll figure something out."
Twilight blushed slightly at the compliment and looked for something else to focus on. "What's that you're writing?"
"This?" Thunder tried to put it into his saddlebag without her seeing what was on it. "It's a new song I'm working on. It's not ready yet."
"Could I read it?"
"Um..." Thunder felt very self-conscious about his work, especially when it was still in-progress, but it seemed like the least he could do. "Sure." He reluctantly handed it over.
It took Twilight all of half-second to read what he had so far. When she had finished she laid her ears back and looked at him with fresh tears in her eyes. "Oh, Thunder..."
"Huh?" It was an emotional time, sure, but that wasn't the reaction he expected to one of his songs.
Twilight moved a little closer to him. "You're not alone, you know," she said. "As long as you have friends, you're never alone."
"I—" he exhaled heavily and smiled at her. "Yeah. I know." He took the song back and put it safely in his bag. "So what's the next move?"
"Now that we have a counter to the echoes, the next step is to track down the real Cacophony. If we can stop it, that will solve everything." Having something to focus on seemed to be helping Twilight to cope.
"If this is an enchantment, is there some way to... I don't know, break it?" Thunder asked. He would be the first to admit that he knew buck-all about magic, but that seemed like it should be possible.
"Maybe," Twilight answered. "In theory any spell can be countered, but all that would do is stop new echoes from forming. Cacophony would still have everypony it's already taken."
"Hm," Thunder grunted. "What about when those echoes form? Could we trace them back somehow?"
Twilight shook her head. "That wouldn't work. If I'm right about this, the enchantment would be all around us. There wouldn't be a single point of origin for the echoes that we see."
"Ah, buck," Thunder sighed. "Sorry, I don't know what I'm talking about here."
"No, Thunder, they're good ideas," Twilight reassured him, "they just won't work in this particular case."
"So what can we do?"
Twilight looked around the room. "I think everypony still needs time. I'm going to speak with Princess Celestia and then go back to the library. I have some things I want to look into."
Thunder nodded. "You sure you're going to be alright?"
"No," Twilight admitted, "but if anyone can help right now it's the princess, and I've always found research to be relaxing. It'll be the best thing for me."
"Alright. Do you want me to come with you?"
Twilight smiled at him. "I appreciate the offer, but no, thank you. I'd rather be alone right now. Why don't you stay here and finish your song?"
Thunder nodded. "Sounds good. Take care of yourself."
"You too." Twilight stood up and left the room.
Thunder looked once around the room. Spike was curled up with Rarity now, the unicorn doing what she could to comfort him. Applejack still held tightly to Fluttershy, both of them drawing strength from each others' nearness. Rainbow Dash huddled miserably in a corner, holding herself as she cried. Thunder's heart ached for them, and for himself, but he couldn't face them just yet. Not when he still felt responsible for their pain.
Thunder took the beginnings of his new song back out and got back to work.