MLP: FiM
The Weight of Responsibility
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 6:
The alarm clock beside Thunderlane’s bed rang out as the hands struck exactly four in the morning. He quickly reached out his wing and smacked it down over the bells. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, not feeling quite as well rested as usual. It was to be expected though. He’d be working on barely six hours of sleep for a while.
For a while? Why didn’t that bother him like it used to? He had woken up every day wondering when the hell they were gonna let him go. Now the thought wasn’t even on his mind. He was surprising himself. There were few times in his life where he really gave much of a damn about anything. Here he had a clear goal, clear reason, and failure on the horizon should he not give it his all. It was honestly new to him.
Caring about something. Going after something that matters. What had he been doing most of his life?
He rolled out of bed, his hooves landing gently to the ground as he stretched out his wings and gave them a couple flaps and twists. He was complete with them finally unbound. He more than proved he’d make a lousy earth pony.
The sun still hadn’t risen, but it was clearly just below the horizon. The rays of sun creeping over, shed a faint light outside and slightly illuminated his room. A new day and a new purpose. Thunderlane glanced at the mirror on top of the room’s dresser, looking at himself. How things had changed so fast, he’d never figure out. But he knew for sure that the Apple Family had made an impression on him.
His thought process was now: I will work my hardest until we meet our goal. As opposed to what it used to be: Sheesh, I’ve only been here for a week?!
He turned to the door and made his way towards it, hoping to get breakfast early so he could get to work.
His door swung open as he drew near.
“Rise an’ sh—” Big Mac, as usual, but he froze when he saw Thunderlane out of bed. Thunderlane flinched as the door opened, and then realized he had no explanation ready for something important. Mac glared when he saw the rope gone from around Thunderlane. “Hey!” He quickly stepped in the room and put Thunderlane in a “gentle” headlock.
“WHOA WHOA! WAIT! STOP!” Thunderlane frantically tried to explain while flailing his hooves, but Mac held him firm.
“How’d you git the rope off?!” Mac belted. Mac had shown a degree of control when treating Thunderlane. He had barely spoken and kept his emotions in check, unlike his sister. But the little incident where Thunderlane had tricked Fluttershy into freeing him had left Mac slightly bitter and wary of any other possible “escape” attempts.
“Ah! I wasn’t trying to run away! Ow!” Thunderlane tried to flap his wings and squirm his way out, but Mac tightened the grip slightly to hold him still. Suddenly the sound of hooves came galloping along the squeaky floorboards from the hall. Applejack slid to a stop outside the open doorway of Thunderlane’s room.
“MAC! Let ‘im go!” She quickly yelled. Big Mac looked at her, confused.
“Ow!” Thunderlane yelped as Mac pulled him over so his side was showing to Applejack. Mac made one fluid point motion towards Thunderlane’s flailing wings.
“I untied him Mac! LET. HIM. GO.” She repeated. Mac’s eyes widened in surprise and he instantly released his hold. Thunderlane fell to the floor with a THUD, quickly standing up and backing away from Mac into a corner while panting and shaking his head out. Mac kept looking between Thunderlane and Applejack, as if demanding an explanation. “He ain’t gonna run away.” Applejack stomped her hoof down. “So don’t go roughin’ him up, y’hear?”
Mac glanced over at Thunderlane and snorted.
“If ya say so.” Mac said before trudging towards the door. Applejack extended a hoof and pushed it against Mac’s chest before glaring and making a head motion towards Thunderlane. Mac rolled his eyes before looking over his shoulder. “Sorry.” He said before walking out.
Applejack sighed and trotted over to Thunderlane, who was still in the back corner, terrified. That was the first time Big Mac showed direct anger at him, and Thunderlane almost wet himself. The big red stallion was an unstoppable force under everyday circumstances. That fact alone made the possibilities when angered absolutely spine-chilling.
“Sorry about Mac, I didn’t get to him in time.”
“Cripes!” Thunderlane remarked as he peeled himself off the wall corner. “I thought he was gonna rip my head off!” He shivered. Applejack blinked and glanced back at the door.
“How hard was he holdin’ ya?” She questioned.
“Well,” Thunderlane’s eyes slowly trailed off, “not THAT hard, but…” he was embarrassed to admit it. Didn’t feel like the stallionly thing to do.
“Pfff.” Applejack suddenly held back a laugh.
“What?” Thunderlane frowned.
“Yer scared of him?” She figured out. Thunderlane flinched.
“Well, he’s three times my size and can pull enough apple carts to give the whole damn town a tour of the farm at once.” He admitted. Applejack shook her head as they began walking across the room towards the door.
“Trust me Thunderlane, unless you make him REALLY mad, he ain’t gonna hurt a fly.”
“Define really mad.” Thunderlane gulped as they turned down the hallway towards the stairs.
“Hurt one of us or do something, ANYTHING wrong to Fluttershy. Those are the only two things that seem to piss him off.” She explained.
“Wait, then before, when I tried to escape,” Thunderlane shamefully recalled.
“Ya got lucky Fluttershy stopped him. Can’t imagine you’d be unscathed right now had she not.” She smirked. Thunderlane cringed at the very thought.
“So you punched me instead.” He said with a brief chuckle. Applejack flinched and pulled her hat down slightly.
“Yeah, I suppose I did, let’s not talk about that please.”
“Fair enough.” Said Thunderlane as they got to the bottom of the stairs. Breakfast awaited them, and work right after.
“Whoa there! No more tied wings?” Dash quickly commented as she and Soarin landed by the barn, the sun had finally risen over the horizon and it was bathing the farm in its soft morning glow. Thunderlane beamed with pride as he extended his wings out.
“Yep!” He answered as he lifted off and hovered in the air.
“How the hell did you convince Applejack?” She smirked.
“He promised not to fly off.” Applejack answered for him as she approached.
“And you believed him?” Dash lifted an eyebrow. Applejack pointed at Thunderlane.
“He’s still here ain’t he?” She said before continuing towards the barn. Dash just shrugged and turned her attention to Soarin as Thunderlane glided over to the barn door with Applejack. “Braeburn! Mac! What the hell are you two doin’ in there!? Or do I wanna know?!”
“Don’t even joke about that cousin,” Braeburn poked his head out from the door with an uncomfortable look on his face.
“Well, then what’s takin’ so long.” She pressed. Braeburn scratched his head.
“I think Mac an’ I miscounted the apples yesterday. Looks like we have enough set aside to take into town today.”
The Apple family kept their apples stored in the barn for short term use. They were separated into four different categories: 1). A pile used for baking needs 2). A small pile for eating themselves 3). A pile used for order deliveries 4). And a last larger pile to be carted into town to sell. The last pile was where Applejack and Thunderlane had dumped all their apples last night during their extra work session.
“Well if that’s the case, why don’t we split up today?” Applejack suggested, trying to hide a smirk, “Rainbow Dash an’ I can carry apples into town to sell while all you big strong stallions work on rebuilding the storage unit with Mac.” She said with a hint of sarcasm.
“Sound good Mac?” Mac emerged from behind Braeburn and nodded.
“Eeyup.” He said while shooting a glance at Thunderlane. He and Braeburn went back into the barn to load up the carts. Applejack turned and winked at Thunderlane. He chuckled in response and awaited his task.
“Alright Applejack,” Rainbow Dash trotted alongside as the two pulled apple filled carts into town. “Why DID you let Thunderlane out of the rope?”
“I told you, didn’t I?” Applejack avoided the question as the apple carts clattered and creaked along over the hilly path. Dash flattened her ears.
“Element of honesty my ass. You’re the strictest pony I know, you expect me to believe you just took his word and let him out?” Dash pressed. Applejack thought hard about how to handle this. She didn’t want to reveal the more pressing matter to Dash, or that she and Thunderlane were working secretly at night. So she went with an answer that was sure to make Dash both laugh and leave it be.
“He begged me.” She said simply. Dash lifted an eyebrow.
“That’s it?”
“He got down on his legs in front of me and begged, so I made him promise not to fly off or else there’d be severe consequences. I’m letting him prove it today or else it’s going back on.” She fibbed. Element of honesty or no, she just couldn’t let the truth out. It wasn’t like it was COMPLETELY a lie. He did beg.
“Pff, well let’s hope it works out. Don’t expect much from him.” Dash left her alone and the two continued up the path.
Applejack smiled to herself. Dash didn’t know half the truth. She would be surprised when she saw just how hard Thunderlane was actually working.
“Wow, look at him go.” Soarin commented beside Mac as he observed Thunderlane assisting Braeburn.
The storage unit had been toppled completely when Thunderlane took his clumsy dive into it. But over the course of the last week, they had done a number on it. The frame was back in place, now they were working on the outer walls and roof. Braeburn was putting the roof together and Thunderlane was zipping up and down with tools and materials for him.
“Eeyup.” Mac replied simply. He was rolled beneath a piece of machinery for the cooling unit, making repairs.
“You know why Applejack let him off exactly?” Soarin asked as Mac reached out for a different tool. He patted around, but couldn’t find it until Soarin pushed it closer.
“Nnope.” He replied simply again. Soarin kept watching as Braeburn actually stopped Thunderlane and told him to slow down a little.
“At least he isn’t brooding again. He was pretty weird last night.” Soarin remembered.
“Eeyup.” A huge puff of smoke shot out from the machine. Soarin quickly backed away, but Mac kept working regardless.
“Break something?” Soarin asked as he hovered back over.
“Nnope.”
“You’re a great conversationalist Mac.” Soarin rolled his eyes.
“Eeyup.”
It was a long day of hard work, but the mood had changed. Everything happened quickly with a much higher rate of efficiency thanks to Thunderlane making use of his wings. Everypony was both surprised and curious as to how and why this sudden change in his demeanor came about. All of them except for Applejack that is.
She was approached and questioned multiple times during the day about it, but each time she bent the truth JUST enough to appease they’re curiosity. She felt a new wave of confidence as she watched the day progress. If they could keep up this work and add in the small secret night sessions, they could slowly put everything back on track.
But most importantly, Thunderlane wasn’t playing her. Despite his showcase of concern the night before, she was still a LITTLE bit skeptical. But once he kept at it and gave no signs or showed any attempts to sneak away, she knew for sure he was serious. Didn’t mean she wouldn’t keep her eye on him though. She had to keep him going after all if they were to reach their goals down the road.
With the work finished for the day and everypony full from a nice meal, it was getting close to bedtime for the Apple family. With still half an hour before lights out, Thunderlane went back to his room to rest his body before he would be sneaking out to work some more later.
“Phew!” He sighed loudly as he shook out his legs and wings. At least he hadn’t pulled carts all day. He was glad he was free from that. It would make the work that night less exhausting too.
Thunderlane crossed the room over to his window. Upon closer inspection, it had been unsealed. It was a little cool outside, so he decided to let some fresh air in. As he went to push it open, something suddenly slammed against it and fell. It looked like a little colt. Thunderlane blinked and quickened his pace, pushing the window up and peering out.
“Bro!” A quiet whisper came from below.
“Little dude?” Thunderlane recognized his brother’s voice. Rumble suddenly hovered up by the window and flew right passed Thunderlane into the house. He had a bandana mask on and was wearing a belt that looked to be full of gadgets including a few pouches, a small flashlight, a small pocket knife, and pack of bubble gum. Thunderlane just looked at his brother funny. What the heck was Rumble up to?
“Bro! Quick! I don’t think anyone saw me!” He reached for the pocket knife. “I brought this to cut the rope! We can get you out of here!”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down little dude.” Thunderlane turned and extended his wings to show Rumble that he was actually free of the ropes. “Also, what did I tell you about stealing my pocket knife?” He scolded, but Rumble didn’t listen, he was glancing around frantically.
“No time bro! We gotta fly!” He made a gallop towards the window, but Thunderlane reached his wing out and scooped his little brother up off the ground.
“RUMBLE.” He said his name sternly. Rumble stopped galloping in mid air and looked at his brother.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Thunderlane explained as he set his brother down.
“What? But Flitter said they were beating you up!” He gave his brother the big round eyes, but Thunderlane shook his head.
“Flitter’s bending the truth a little, and don’t even tell me what Cloud Chaser said about this, but look,” He ruffled Rumbles mane, “I broke something that belongs to this family, I’m paying them back okay? Go home and don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” He said with a smile.
Off to the side Applejack had been listening from outside. Thunderlane hadn’t closed his door all the way, so she watched and listened from the small crack in the door. Rumble’s little attempt to “rescue” Thunderlane was drop dead adorable. She couldn’t hold in a few chuckles. She turned and looked behind her and gave a nod.
“Bro, I don’t get it! I thought you were being forced to work!” Rumble tried to reason.
“I said, stop worrying. Now you better get out of here before they find out you tried to break in.” Thunderlane reached to turn his brother to the window, but they were both promptly interrupted by the door to his room swinging open. Thunderlane just looked up in surprise, but Rumble almost leapt to the ceiling.
In the doorway were Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. They all wore newspaper hats and were carrying what looked like used paper towel rolls wrapped in tin foil.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: NIGHT WATCH SECURITY!” They yelled and charged in towards Rumble.
“AHHHHH!!!!!!” Rumble yelled as he took off, but didn’t look where he was going and hit the wall beside the window. He fell to the floor and the three fillies started bopping him with their makeshift billy clubs. “Bro! Help!” He called to Thunderlane.
Thunderlane was trying his best not to burst out laughing. He shrugged.
“You got caught little dude.” He teased. Rumble rolled out between the fillies, got to his hooves and fired out the window as fast as he could fly.
“Quick! After him!” Scootaloo yelled before the three sprinted back out the door past Applejack, who now stood leaning against the doorframe with a smirk. Thunderlane shook his head with a grin.
“That was pretty evil of you.” He commented with no sign of disapproval.
“I couldn’t resist when I saw those three walking around like guards. Cute little brother ya got there. He’s just like you, bad timing an’ gettin’ inta trouble.” She jeered. Thunderlane rolled his eyes.
“Oh don’t be like that. I’m sure little dude is gonna be afraid of fillies for months now.” He said as he and Applejack shared a laugh.
“But I don’t think I mind.” Applejack suddenly said. She turned her back on Thunderlane as he looked to her. “As long as he takes after the good parts of his brother.” She cocked her head to the side then shook her head. “Alright, I’ll knock on your door twice when I head out.” She left at what seemed to be a slightly quickened pace.
Thunderlane just stared. Where did that last bit come from so suddenly?
Once all the Apples were in bed, Thunderlane waited patiently until Applejack knocked on his door twice. It was much easier to get down through the house with his wings, although he did take an interested note of how Applejack kept to the right side to avoid the creaking floorboards.
She didn’t say anything to him as they made their way out into the moonlit night. Besides a gentle breeze that cooled off the heated summer air, there was absolutely no noise between the two of them. It almost felt like she was avoiding contact with him, but why would she do that?
Thunderlane broke off towards the apple fields as Applejack fetched her carts. He couldn’t understand why he was so bothered by her sudden silence. She had no problem talking to him yesterday or up to an hour ago in his room. Also, why was he worried? Was he searching for acknowledgement? He did put forth a large effort in convincing Applejack he wanted to help. He found her opinion of him to suddenly be something he cared about. Maybe he just really wanted to redo the terrible first impression he gave all of them. No, again, it was focused on her impression, what the hell? He was confusing himself! In the end it seemed just like another competition in his brain. He refused to let Applejack think poorly of him, especially after he spilled his guts to her and pleaded to help. She WOULD see him in a good light even if he had to bite and scratch to get it.
As they worked into the night, Applejack noticed that Thunderlane seemed to be putting forth even more effort than the day before. This time she COULDN’T keep up with him. He zipped about the trees barely visible with his black fur against the darkening sky, faint silhouettes against the moonlight being her only way of keeping track of him.
But she SHOULD have been keeping better track of what was directly in front of her. The dirt path that winded through Sweet Apple Acres wasn’t as smooth as it used to be. It was getting a little beat up recently by all the work too. There were some pot holes and upturned rocks that had appeared as of late. Applejack had just taken a step right into one of said pot holes.
“Whoa!” She yelped as she tripped over her hooves. The sudden change in pace made the carts behind her lurch forward and smack into her. They pushed her forward, and Applejack ended up having her right front leg drag through the rugged dirt, slam into and scrape against a small sharp rock that protruded from the ground. “AH!” She cried out as the carts came to a halt and a very sharp pain ran through her leg. “Rghhhffff” She grunted as pins and needles pricked her nerves. “Ahhhhh…”
“Applejack?” Thunderlane heard both her fall and her painful groaning after. He quickly dropped the apples he was carrying in a nearby basket before gliding over to her. “What happened?” He quickly asked as she winced continuously. He reached out to her, but reclined quickly when she yelped again, and when he felt something wet. Or at least he thought it was wet. It was blood. “Oh shit!”
Applejack had a very nasty gash on her front right leg running from her carpel joint almost entirely down to her hoof. It wasn’t a deep cut, but one of those nasty skin scrapes that hurt and start to bleed like hell.
“I’m… fine!” Applejack pushed him back, gritted her teeth and forced herself up. Her fortitude didn’t last. Her leg wobbled as the pain shot through her whole body and she fell back down.
“Hey! Don’t move it!” He tried to come forward again, but she stopped him with her other hoof.
“I said I’m FINE!” She insisted, trying to tough it out, but the pain was too much, she couldn’t stand.
“I’ll go get some bandages. Do you keep any outside the house?” Thunderlane asked, regardless of being pushed aside twice. Applejack gave him a stern glare between the wincing.
“Thunderlane, how many times do I have to repeat myself with you?!” She barked. He stood his ground.
“What the hell Applejack?! I’m just trying to help!” He yelled back while glaring.
“Ah don’t need—!” She stopped. What the hell was she doing? She looked down, scrunched her face and held her breath until her cheeks puffed out. After a hard exhale she reached up and pulled her hat down to cover her eyes. “We keep a first aid stash in the barn. It’s hangin’ up on the wall next t’the back door.” She explained.
Thunderlane was gone before she could say anything else, blazing a trail through the air to retrieve the first aid kit.
Why was he making her so frustrated? He was doing nothing to instigate it and NOTHING to deserve it! She thought her pains regarding him would be over now that he was being so helpful and sincere, but now there was a different frustration.
She wanted to be nice to him! She wanted to acknowledge him and his willingness to help. Then why? Why oh why was she still teeter-tottering? Why did she lash out just now? Why did she care so much? Why?
She managed to unhook herself from the cart and sat patiently, dealing with the pain as Thunderlane flew back and landed beside her. She watched him as he frantically dug through the bag for something to clean off her wound with.
He cared. He clearly cared. He cared about her and her family, if he didn’t he wouldn’t be willingly helping them all in so many different ways. He was no longer tied down either, he was doing it all on his own free will. Applejack had one golden rule when it came to judging a pony: she will respect them as long as they respect her family. Family was everything to her and always came first. Cross her family? You just crossed her.
But how was this different? Thunderlane respected her and her family, so she felt the need to show equal respect. For some reason it didn’t end there though. There was respect, but was it the same as care? This was the first time someone outside her family had shown they CARED. For her there was a huge difference, and it was drawing her to him. Every time she spoke to him, it felt good, but then she didn’t know why and quickly made an exit.
He broke something of theirs, whined about being forced to work, and then turned it all around. Was it a mix of how he realized what he had done, had the courage and maturity to face it all, and then make amends? Whatever it was, her head was starting to hurt. So she stopped thinking so hard and simplified it for herself.
She liked him. He was a good pony on the inside, he proved it himself. Now if only she could stop being so stubborn about EVERYTHING.
“Ah here!” Thunderlane turned to her with a sterile cloth. “Let’s clean that up.” He stopped as he reached for her, seeing her body tense up in anticipation of the pain. “Oh uh…” He reached it out to her. “I guess… if you’d rather do it yourself.” He asked in all seriousness. She didn’t blame him, she had just refused help multiple times.
The time was now. She had to stop being so stiff. At least maybe a little for him.
“No, go ahead,” she looked away and reached her arm towards him.
Thunderlane breathed an internal sigh of relief.
HE JUST WANTED TO HELP.
Applejack was stubborn. She had proven that immediately upon her first interaction with him. She was a pony who would work hard and never give up, but sometimes that led her to not put any burden on others no matter how hard it was on her. She was clearly having some personal issues, but regardless she had accepted his plead to help fix what he had damaged. That already seemed like a stretch for her.
But the least she could do was let him patch up a scratch.
“NNNFFF!!!” She bit her lip and cringed as Thunderlane carefully wiped the blood off of her arm. Each stroke of the rag felt like a fire was burning on her arm. He quickly dropped the rag and unrolled some bandages before the bleeding could start again.
“Doing okay?” He asked as he began to wrap them around.
“Mmhmm,” was all she could manage to answer through the pain. Thunderlane gingerly wrapped her arm up completely, but made sure it was tied tight. He knotted off the end and nodded to her.
“All done.” He said. She still hadn’t looked at him the whole time.
“T—thanks.” She stuttered. Why couldn’t she look at him? Was she that ashamed of how she treated him? Was she that confused about why she cared? She prayed to Celestia he wouldn’t ask.
“Applejack what’s wrong? You’ve been weird ever since we started doing this yesterday.”
He asked. Applejack shook her head. Screw it. If she kept it bottle up any longer her head would explode.
“It’s you.” She said simply. Thunderlane pulled his head back slightly while raising an eyebrow.
“Me?”
“Yeah you.” She repeated.
“What did I do this time?!” He threw his hooves up and his wings out. He was getting tired of this. There was no such thing as a straight answer from her.
“You did nothing, it’s just you.” She added quietly. Thunderlane was more confused than an earth pony living in Cloudsdale.
“Applejack, please start making sense.” He pleaded.
“You… care.” She said, finally glancing at him once. She never felt so embarrassed in her life. “I’ve never known a pony outside my family that… cares so much about them… and me.” She shakily explained. She wasn’t good at this opening up thing. “You were a shit’an a half to work and deal with, but when everythin’ turned incredibly bad on our end, you sucked it up and put us above yourself. I just… ain’t never seen a pony do that before. I don’t know why it makes me…” She stopped.
“Yes?” He beckoned her to continue. She growled and slammed her hat back firmly onto her head.
“Look Thunderlane, you’re helping despite it not being yer business. I guess it just makes me happy to see that.” Her gruff side took over quickly. “I just wanna say… thanks and that I respect ya for this… a lot.” She got up and took a few wobbly steps.
“I can live with that.” Thunderlane sighed. Just when he thought he was getting a true heart to heart out of her, back to square one.
“Sorry about yellin’ at ya and sorry if I snap every once in a while. I’m still a little on edge with all this, it ain’t nuthin’ yer doin’. I don’t mean it, don’t take it the wrong way.” She finished, still facing away. Thunderlane smiled. At least he got some of the acknowledgement he was looking for. Applejack was a kind pony at heart and he wouldn’t soon forget it.
“C’mon, there’s no way your pulling any carts full of apples like that, let’s call it for the night.” He suggested.
“But—!” She started a retort, but deep down, she agreed. “Aight, let’s get what we got back for now.”
It had been an interesting night, but Thunderlane and Applejack both could see they had much to learn both about and from each other. It would definitely be even more interesting going forward.
They made sure to clean up to cover their tracks and called it a night, contemplating how to explain Applejack’s injury to the rest tomorrow morning.
---To be Continued---