Thunder & Lightning

by Jetto


Chapter 5: It's his fault

Four days. That's how long it has been since the week began. Since Lightning Dust joined their merry bunch. That's how long it took them to take care of all the snow clouds, though they weren't exactly being hasty, fully knowing that if Lightning Dust or Rainbow Dash wanted, they'd do it in an hour, tops. But more importantly, it's been four days since last time Blossomforth and Thunderlane really talked and it was about time it resumed. Blossomforth didn't even remember what they argued about- probably something stupid, which was a good thing she couldn't recall, otherwise her white coat would instantly turn crimson. Whatever beef she had with her on and off coltfriend, none of that was bothering her anymore. It was time.

"Hey, Thunderlane?" She asked him, right before they went out for their assignment. Now that clouds were ready, it was time to actually setup the incoming storm. It was the best time to approach Thunderlane, who seemed most relaxed when everypony was too busy with work to argue about small stuff. Thunderlane turned to her and at first seemed annoyed, but upon seeing her innocent, humble eyes, he calmed down and paid her more attention.

"Hey, Blossom." He replied, shortly falling into silence. The two shifted and were glad they were the only ponies inside office. Celestia knows they didn't need Cloud Kicker and her antics right now.

"So... a lot happened recently, right?" Blossomforth started. "What with those snow clouds and the new girl?"

"Yeah. No time for boredom," he nodded "especially now that Rainbow's the worst she's ever been."

"Yeah, I can imagine how hard it can be to keep up with her... so, you're doing okay?"

"Not really. But I'll manage. And you?"

"Honestly?" She scratched her head and shifted her eyes around. "I've been thinking a lot recently and, well, I guess what I wanted to say was... I miss you." Her cheeks turned all red. "You think we can start over?"

There it was. The cute smile that he fell for all these years ago, the one that was almost always right next to him. The one that cheered him up all this time. The one he really missed these past few days, even if he didn't realize it. So yeah, they had a lot of bad episodes and this probably wasn't the last time they fought, but at this point, he was past caring about small stuff.

"Blossom..." He looked her in the eyes, getting closer to her face.

"Thunderlane..." She looked at him as well, cheeks burning even hotter than usual.

Their eyes closed, their lips got closer to each other, and they could feel each other’s breaths on their faces...

SMACK! *

"Thunderlane, a word with you! Hi Blossom." Rainbow 'Moment Killer' Dash suddenly entered the office with a loud crash, passing the pair of now confused and annoyed ponies, completely ignoring them and their situation.

"Rainbow!" Blossom barked at her. "We were in the middle of something!"

"I know, I'm NOT blind!" Rainbow answered, taking her seat at the desk. "You two know the rules, no smooching in the office!"

To Rainbow's defense, "No smooching" was literally printed on the wall and signed by everypony working here (even Lightning Dust). This was a rule she invented herself, after she caught the former Weather Manager red hooved going at it with his wife on the former office desk (which she instantly burned and bought another, different color). The awkward part was that former manager was her father. It took her a week off in Las Pegasus with Pinkie Pie to heal that particular wound, which still left a nasty scar.

"Seriously Thunderlane, I need your help with something."

"Can't it wait?"

"No." She gave him a serious, emotionless glare. That was not something you often see Rainbow do, so he nodded and turned to Blossomforth.

"Can we talk later? This seems important."

"Yeah, sure. I mean, we have a lot to do today anyway. After work, Five at Sugarcube Corner?"

"Sounds great. See ya then."

The two hesitated whether it was a right time to say or do something else when saying their goodbyes, but decided against it, at least not until they had a proper 'talk'. The rest of the working hours were out, since they covered different parts of Ponyville, what with the schedule being written to accommodate THEM. Rainbow Dash might have her flaws, but she was fast on her hooves whenever their episodes begun.

Once Blossomforth left, Thunderlane went towards the desk and sat across Rainbow. There was a long silence before Rainbow finally broke down, sighed and turned to Thunderlane with pleading eyes.
"Thunderlane, I need your help!" She suddenly asked, catching him completely unaware. It wasn't often you see Rainbow Dash pleading. And it probably wasn't about homework. He gulped and let her continue.
"You need to talk to Lightning Dust, before she ruins me completely!"

All of ten seconds, that's how long Thunderlane took this seriously. He shook his head, mostly at himself, not seeing this coming from a mile.
"Again, why me? Why can't you just talk by yourself?"

"I tried! But every time I see her smug face, I can't help but want to smack her and before we know it, I'm lashing at her like a... a rabid dog, while everypony glares at us! She's doing it on purpose, I'm sure of it!"

"She's doing what, destroying your reputation?"

"YES! Ever since she appeared, she's been on to me! She was asking everypony about me, heck, she transferred here BECAUSE of me! And it's not because she wants to join the fan club, that much I'm sure of!"

"Still, I don't think I can help you. She doesn't treat me seriously, for some reason."

"At least you'll do a better job than me! You know I suck at this thing, that’s why I'm asking you." As an emphasis, she left her seat and knelt, blushing furiously while doing the unspeakable.
"Pleeaaaaaaaaase!"

Thunderlane had all the intentions of just shrugging her off and leaving. It wasn't his problem and Celestia knows he had enough of those already. But at the same time, a lot of factors worked against that.
For one, Rainbow 'Desperate' Dash was creeping him out.
Two, Lightning Dust was acting a little suspicious, even admitting she wanted to meet with Dash, probably not in a good way.
And three, this was a chance to finally put a stop to this ridiculous farce, once and for all. Dash couldn't count on anypony else, but him.
Which meant four, she would owe him a favor, which was always good.

"... fine."

"OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" And then she glomped and hugged him tightly on his chair. It took Rainbow five seconds to realize just how awkward this moment was getting. Only one thing could make it worse.

"Uuuuuhh..." Raindrops announced, with mouth agape, as she stood there, looking at the absurdity in front of her. Rainbow Dash quickly got up, fixed her mane and coughed.

"You've seen nothin'!"

"Right. Nothing at all." She nodded, still processing it in her head.

Suddenly, another pony entered the office.
"Hiya folks! What did I miss?" Cloud Kicker asked, excited as always.

"Nothing." Answered Raindrops.

'Great', Rainbow thought, 'now I owe two favors! Just peachy..."


"So, how was Lightning Dust then?"

Soarin wasn't a little bit surprised when he had to wait for an answer a little longer. He had time and Luna knew that his Mohawk friend needed all of it in the world. This wasn't just some stressed out pony rambling about his bad day anymore. This was a friend in need. This was Thunderlane, lying on the couch, watching the ceiling half dead, half exhausted from life. And he didn't even talk to Blossomforth yet!

"Well?" Soarin asked again. "Wanna talk about it?"

Thunderlane shifted on the couch, then sighed deeply.
"Might as well..."


Lightning Dust had a different set of duties than most weather ponies. Hers was to monitor Everfree Forest in case of emergency. When that time comes, she would be invaluable to the team. But most of the time, it didn't, leaving her more or less free to do whatever she wanted at any times, but even then, it was an unspoken rule that any free consultants were supposed to help the others with cloud placing. It was to help strengthen the connections between members and form new friendships in work. Lightning Dust wasn't a fan of that, but nothing good came from HQ hearing about you lazing around (unless someone from HQ is your parent, that is). At least it helped alleviate the boredom. She enjoyed working alone, at her own pace, with nopony bothering her. Mostly the 'Chirpy Annoying Blonde One', who couldn't shut up and was too strong for her to beat her up (that, and morality, lawsuits and stuff).

"Hey Lightning Dust, can we talk?"

She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes, as she turned towards the other one she couldn't stand. She almost forgot about him, which was a testament of how much she respected the black stallion.

"What do you want, Clubber Flame?" She asked him, once he took residence on the same cloud as she.

"That's not even close to my real name."

"No? Well, too bad." She shrugged and jumped to another cloud, with Thunderlane following her.

"Nevermind that, we need to talk."

"Sure. Speak, then." She said, busy patching the holes in the cloud she sat on. Thunderlane was hoping she would at least pay attention to him, but he doubted she would turn even if asked.

"Look, can you just stop doing what you're doing to Rainbow Dash?"

"Doing what?"

"Sabotaging her. Making her look bad, humiliating her in front of her fans."

"I'm not doing anything wrong," she shrugged "I'm doing EXACTLY what she does on a daily basis, except better. Is this a crime? Is she the only pony allowed to be 'cool' in Ponyville?"

Thunderlane sighed deeply. Talking to her was never easy, especially when defending Rainbow 'Not Quite Saint' Dash.
"These past few days have been tough for all of us, so why can't you two just get along and spare us the drama? I have plenty without your help!"

For some reason, that caught her attention, which she shifted from the cloud towards him.
"Please, don't pretend anything about it is about you. Honestly, I'm not even surprised anymore that she would send somepony else to do her bidding. Ever since meeting her, I've seen exactly zero positive qualities of a leader. That is, aside from forcing her duties to others, she's a master at it! Boy, I sure hope she's a fast flier, because she has A LOT to prove!"

There it was again. Thunderlane felt like he should defend Rainbow Dash, or at least call Lightning Dust on her general attitude, but had a hard time disagreeing with that logic. Still, they were adults and had to be better than this.

"Whatever, she's not perfect and neither are you. I just want you to stop making her look bad. We're supposed to be a team and we'll be doing it for at least next few months. So tone down your attitude, you're not making any friends that way."

"Pfft, who said I wanted any friends? I'm here to work and train. No more, no less."

"Well, I tried," he shrugged "I can see why Rainbow doesn't want to talk to you," he turned back and was about to leave the cloud "I guess, like her, you're too proud and mighty to consider what other ponies are feeling. What, didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

He was about to jump off and be done with this conversation, report back to Rainbow Dash about his failure. There goes the favor he could get from her later, but considering the price, it wasn't worth it. His nerves were strained as they were, he could live his life not interacting with either of them anymore. Just few more months and they'll both join the Wonderbolts anyway, so why bother. Just as he was about to leave, he shivered and cold sweat started pouring from his forehead. Something wasn't right and he quickly found out what, as a stray spark hit his legs. A spark that went from the cloud he was standing on. A cloud that wasn't even active, and if it was, it wouldn't end on small sparks. He turned towards Lightning Dust and his ears dropped at the sight. Previously, she was annoyed. Now? Her eyes were twitching, he noticed a single vein bulging on her head, as her entire body was covered in electric currents. But more important was the glare she gave him.

"Umm..." he tried asking, but Lightning Dust quickly walked up to him.

"WELL MAYBE THEY DIDN'T!" She yelled straight at his face and shoved him out of the cloud.

The combined surprise and strength of the mare left him completely defenseless, as he plummeted to the ground. He managed to regain control and safely land on the ground without any damage, but his heart was still beating fast. Lightning Dust landed right next to him, still not quite done. Normally, he would jump at her in self-defense, but currently was too terrified and tired to catch a breath, much less form a sentence.

"Wanna know what MY problem is?" She asked, not even blinking when she continued to glare into his eyes. "Well fine, I'll tell you my problem! You know what I hate?
Ponies that have it all served on them on a silver platter, that's what! Buncha friends? Check! Parents in important places? Check. Well paid job of doing not a bucking thing? Check. Adoration from entire town? Bloody bucking check! So excuuuuse me when after spending my ENTIRE life studying, training, saving up every single bit and sacrificing EVERYTHING else, when I finally want to get some appreciation, I'm being treated like a villain! For doing WHAT? Stealing her gig? Being rude and unfriendly? Well buck, welcome to life!"

She stopped her rant to take a few breaths. If there was a time to reply, it was right now. And yet, Thunderlane couldn't bring himself to do anything. He knew she wouldn't be able to do anything to him, not directly, but he was still terrified.

"And who is Rainbow Dash to decide what's right or wrong, anyway? All I've seen so far was a talentless hack, who couldn't even sign a proper document without messing it up and blaming others on her own stupid failures! And those 'humiliating' moments? None of them would have happened if she just shut the buck up and talked like a normal pony would, but who has time to be normal and proper when you're Rainbow 'Somepony Punch Me Already' Dash! Yes, I provoked her here and there, big deal! She has a problem with that? Than tell me in my face, instead of sending her slave to do her work!"

"S-slave?" Thunderlane asked, but didn't elaborate on that, seeing as Lightning Dust was far from over.

"No, I take that back, you're no slave. You're a dog!" She went even closer and pushed him even further. "A poor, little puppy, so attached to a master that doesn't even care! She has a problem? Send a barking puppy to scare the evil doers, give him a biscuit in return. And who cares if you bark at her once in a while, when in the end, you'll be at her hooves all over again, because what choice do you have? It's not like you have any guts to oppose her, right? Seriously, I'd understand if you were a couple or at least bang buddies, then sure, why the heck not! I mean, you don't even like her, or respect her, at least I didn't see it that way!"

"THAT'S why out of all that miserable bunch, consisting of Prima 'Rainbow Dash' Donna, Miss Bubbly No Personal Space, Sarcastic Normal One and Miss Cry-And-Or-Scream-A-Lot, I hate YOU the most! Because you're a doormat, pretending to be somepony bigger and better, while letting everypony step on you and wipe their hooves of your coat! Prove. Me. Wrong!" She stepped closer and accentuated every word with a prod.

He wanted to prove her wrong so badly. He wanted to say a lot of things. But at the same time, he didn't know what those things were. He wanted arguments, but didn't have any. Aside from Elements of Harmony, he couldn't find anything to reply with.

"Didn't think so," Lightning Dust sighed and shrugged "I know when I'm not welcome. I'll go to Rainbow Dash and challenge her to a race, like I always intended. Win or lose, I'll transfer somewhere else and stop disturbing your oh-so-perfect life of lying in front of the doorways, just like you always so enjoyed." And then she turned back and trotted away, leaving the destroyed pegasus on his own.


"Well, now I know who won't be invited to my birthday party!" said Soarin, trying to bring some levity into the situation. Failing miserably, he coughed and tried a different approach. "Oh come on Thunderlane, you can't take that mare seriously! I mean, she's been here for what, four days? She has the nerve, insulting one of my best friends and coolest ponies I know. In broad daylight, no less!"

As energetic as his rant was, it made absolutely no difference in Thunderlane's mood, which was about as far down the toilet as he ever seen him thus far.
"Thunderlane, come on! Nopony believes any of that crap, we know you better than that!"

Thunderlane snorted and sat on the couch, staring at Soarin with the same, tired look he had the entire time.
"Really? Name a few of my good traits. Go on."

Soarin blinked, but took on the challange.
"Umm, okay. For one, you're an Element of Honesty!"

"So what? Feels like anypony could be it, if I wasn't there with you."

"I don't think that's how it works, but speaking of, you went to Everfree Forest with us!"

"Yeah, like I did anything useful there..."

"...we fought a manticore together..."

"...which Big Mac one-shot a moment later..."

"...and you hit Nightmare Moon with a giant thunderbolt..."

"...that did nothing, aside from pissing her off even more."

"You're not making it easy," Soarin shook his head, but was far from done "fine, how about being the best big brother Rumble could ever wish for? Not just everypony can raise a child, alone, at that young age."

Thunderlane remained silent for a moment, then sighed.
"...alright, point taken. That's one. What's next?"

Soarin's smile was short-lived, as he took a moment to think of something else to say.
"You keep the entire Weather Patrol office in check!"

"Because Rainbow Dash sucks at her job and keeps pushing it to me! And you know what would happen if I ever said no?" He paused for a moment, giving Soarin a little bit of time to think whether it's a legitimate question, or just rhetoric one. "Nothing! Because she can't force me to do anything outside my duties, yet I keep on serving her, like a dog on a chain..."

"Whoa, let's not go there!"

"Why not? Almost my entire life is all about her! When we were foals, all I ever wanted was to beat her! When we were growing up, I just tried to catch up! And when I started working in the office, I'm working for her! And I hate every day I see her and bless every hour she's lazing around, because then I'm actually in control for once and stuff doesn't fall apart! ARGH!" He ended with a growl, then fell on the couch once again.

"And the crazy thing?" Thunderlane continued. "It took Lightning Dust chewing me out to make me realize just how messed up my life is! Not just work and Rainbow 'Center Of My Life' Dash, but everything! All my life, is taking care of Rumble, messing up my relationship with Blossomforth time and again and trying not to go crazy in my work. And ever since becoming an Element Bearer, all that's changed is hanging out with you guys once in a while, which I appreciate... but that's it! Meanwhile, you guys do so much amazing things!
You have this office, where you help ponies with their love lives.
Shining Armor is working to become a royal guard.
Blueblood is studying advanced magic.
Big Macintosh runs a giant farm with his family.
Doctor... I dunno, but he seems happy."

"Even Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust, for all the flaws they have, at least have a goal they're working forward to. Myself? I can't think of the last time I was satisfied with my life. Heck, I'm not even chasing after Rainbow anymore..."

Soarin was at a loss of words. Thunderlane, the symbol of toughness and willpower, at least in his book was crumbling before him. He couldn't take it anymore, the former Wonderbolt left his comfortable chair and quickly trotted towards his friend to offer a kind, sincere pat on the shoulder, which soon after turned into a full blown friendly hug, which Thunderlane accepted, for once. It's not every time your best friend realizes his life was a mess and you couldn't even convince him otherwise. He was really hoping it was just a moment of weakness and he'd get better over time. And if not, then it was up to him and their other friends to bring back their old, grumpy friend back the way he was. Maybe less grumpy, if possible.

Their tender moment was interrupted by a few knocks on the door, shortly after which the door opened and Cloud Chaser entered the room. Normally a view of two, adult straight stallions would raise some questions, but when working with Soarin, this was one of the tamer scenes.
"Always hate to break the bromance, but we have a client."

"Tell them to wait. I have important things to take care of here."

"We can't. He came directly from Trotsdale, he made an appointment weeks ago! We can't just let him wait!"

"Chasey, we talked about this. Friends always take priority ove--... w-wait," he paused, un-hugging Thunderlane and thinking with hoof under his chin "how many appointments did we have today?"

"Only this one. And it's kinda important."

Soarin raised an eyebrow, then looked at the wall above the door for a clock.
"Huh, already six? Time sure flew by fast..."

Thunderlane sat there on the couch, observing boss and secretary, not registering what they were talking about, not caring in the slightest. He did, however, catch a single word.
"Six?" He asked the pair, then slowly shifted his head towards the clock. His eyes slowly widened, along with his jaw dropping as down as possible, all the while every single pore in his body poured what seemed like entire bodies storage of cold sweat.

"Umm, Thunderlane?" Soarin asked, waving a hoof before his face. "Whats the matter buddy?"

Nopony was ready for the next ten seconds.

.

..

...

....

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"

"Waah!" Soarin fell back on his plot, heart beating fast, after being scared to death by sudden scream that would make some of his filliefriends run for their money. "What? What's the matter?!"

He didn't get answer, because the moment the screaming stopped, Thunderlane jumped off the couch and lunged towards the door at hypersonic speed, passing the confused Cloud Chaser with enough momentum, that the wind following him collapsed her, face flat.
"Ouch..." the mare grumbled, as she slowly rose from the floor. She tried to massage her aching head, but a single electric shock from her hair hit her hoof. She looked at her it confused, before turning to her boss. "What was that all about?"

"Honestly? No clue, but..." he looked wide-eyed at the electrified carpet in the office, where harmless sparks were still passing here and there "...that HAS TO be an academy record!"


"Pleasestillbethere, pleasestillbethere, pleasestillbethere, pleasestillbethere!"

Despite the weather being scheduled for a storm not today, but next day, the clouds were already gathered and ready for the discharge. That's why everypony on the streets of Ponyville were surprised to hear a thunderbolt coming from nearby, but not as surprised as seeing said thunderbolt passing them by, vertically, leaving only dust, occasional sparks and coughing ponies behind.

"Pleasestillbethere!"

He finally started slowing down, once Sugarcube Corner appeared on the horizon. He extended his wings, letting them stop his momentum, while planting all four of his hooves into the ground, taking a long slide across the dirt road, leaving even more dust up in the air, until he finally stopped, right in front of the doors to the bakery. Ignoring the complaints of everypony else around bothered by the sudden shower of dirt in their manes and occasionally clothes, he swallowed, took a large breath and opened the door. Once inside the Sugarcube Corner, he slowly scanned the interior, looking for a table where a white pegasus was hopefully sitting. Failing to notice her, he walked further and extended his search, but aside from some foals enjoying hayshakes and one businesspony with after work coffee and donut, he saw nopony else.

"Damn!" He cursed to himself, then scanned the area for the staff. Finding a familiar pink-maned mare, he went to her and asked. "Hey Pinkie, is Blossomforth still here?"

'Please say yes, please say yes!'

"Hi Thunderlane! Nope, she left about ten minutes ago!" She answered with her usual, cheerful demeanor, which only furthered Thunderlane's bad mood. "But, she left something for you!" His ears perked, as Pinkie Pie went towards the counter and fished out a tray with some pie. At first he raised his eyebrow confused, until he noticed that whipped cream was arranged in a barely readable sentence.

'Choke on it!'

"...buck..." he muttered, sitting on the floor with resigned look in his eyes.

"At first Blossom wanted me to smack you in the face with it," Pinkie continued, scratching her head "but that wouldn't be too nice, so she settled on writing this instead. I think she's mad at you."

"Thanks Pinkie, I noticed." He sighed heavily and massaged his forehead. It was bad, really bad, but he wasn't about to give up just yet. He took a deep breath and quickly ran outside the shop, leaving Pinkie with one hostile pie.


KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Come on..."

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Don't do this to me," Thunderlane muttered to himself in between knocking on the doors. He cleared his throat and called through the door. "Blossomforth? I know you're inside, let me in!"

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Blossom, please..."

Knock! Knock!

"Buck... don't do this to me, Blossom..."

He was about to knock once again, but stopped once he heard the doors unlocking from the inside. He gulped and waited as the doors opened, but instead of a white pegasus, he instead met a yellow one.

"Raindrops?" He asked his fellow weather pony. "Let me in, I need to talk to Blossom, this is all a..." He stopped, once Raindrops lifted her hoof at his face. She glared at him and shook her head.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you." She said calmly.

"I need to talk to her, I..."

"You," she interjected him "need to leave. Do you have any idea what you did today? She was really looking forward to making up with you. She waited for an hour, for Celestia's sake! Where the hell were you?"

"I, uhm..." it was right here and there, he realized just how stupid his excuse was going to sound "... Rainbow Dash asked me to... talk to Lightning Dust..." he paused, noticing the less than amused look on Raindrops face "...but she, well, said some stuff that made me think and..." his ears dropped significantly, along with his entire body "...I went to Soarin to get some advice and, I kinda lost track of time... so yeah..." Currently, he wanted to walk out of his body, punch himself once for last few hours, then ten times more for the rest of his life.

"Let me get this straight," Raindrops crossed her hooves "Rainbow sent you to talk to Lightning Dust, and after she said something, you had to spend hours with your buddy, instead of meeting up with you marefriend. Did I get this right?"

"...yes..."

"Do you REALLY want to go there," she pointed at the inside of the house "and tell HER that?"

Silence. Even disregarding Blossom's unstable mood shifts, with or without his today’s screw up, this had to be the worst excuse possible. All of a sudden, he lost any previous interest in going inside this house. He didn't give her an answer, but she could tell what it would be. Raindrops sighed and put a hoof on Thunderlane's back.

"Listen, I know you mean well, but sit this one out, okay? Trust me, she's not ready. And from the looks of it, neither are you."

Once again, Thunderlane was at a loss of words. He knew Raindrops was right and nothing good would come out of him going there. He could already imagine possible emotions that Blossom was going through, from fiery rage, to complete and utter depression. He looked at Raindrops and nodded. She wasn't his best friend, they barely talked and had close to nothing in common other than a job, but when push came to shove, he could count on her. At least she didn't do anything to Blossom to earn her ire.

"Okay..." he answered with a heavy sigh, then turned around and started slowly walking away.


It took around five minutes of slow walking to get home, but it felt like forever. He ignored anything and anypony along the way, even though he could swear he heard some greeting him, maybe even one pony approached him to complain about dirtying their new fashion dress earlier, but being lost in his thoughts made him project a very strong repelling aura, warning everypony from getting too close to a hazard that he now was. Once in his yard, he lazily searched over several potted flowers hanging outside his windows for a key. Inspecting them too long had a side effect of stinging him in his heart yet again. Blossomforth, true to her name and special talent, picked these flowers for him, to help bring some charm into a house of two males. After shaking his head, he went towards the door and slowly opened it, thinking twice before wiping his hooves on a doormat, until he ignored the 'Welcome' and just went inside, closing the door behind him.

A growling sound from his stomach reminded him of the dinner. He didn't have time and mood for appetite since meeting Rainbow Dash today. He breathed heavily and contemplated just lying on his bed and calling it a day, hoping his nightmares wouldn't be nearly as bad as his life. Or scratch that, couch in the living room was closer. It wasn't the most comfortable piece to sleep on, but he had a day off next day, so he didn't need to be in shape.
His stomach reminded him once again. He ignored it just as before, but a voice in the back of his head reminded him of one important detail- somepony else in this home had to eat, bad mood be damned. With only that thought motivating his actions, he headed towards kitchen.

The fridge was almost empty, like every Thursday evening. Friday was a grocery shopping time, after all. He sighed and scanned for anything that could be turned edible. Eggs, few tomatoes, lettuce, milk, baking oil, along with some flour and seasonings from other shelves would have to do.

First was turning on the oven, upon which a frying pan with some oil would start heating up. Meanwhile, he cut the vegetables into small pieces and put them into the bowl.

"Damnit!"

Remembering that eggs were supposed to go there first, but decided to ignore it and poured some milk and flour on it. Then he took the eggs and cracked them on the table, pouring them inside the bowl. He was about to mix the batter, when he noticed some eggshells in the mix.

"Crap!"

He attempted to fish them out with his hooves, without any results, only making the worse mess as he did.

"Buck!"

Giving up, he grabbed a spoon from the drawers and carefully, slowly scooped the unwanted element from the batter. He didn't have any time to be satisfied, when he heard sizzling oil from the red hot pan.

"Shit!"

Leaving the batter, he grabbed the handle of the frying pan with his mouth, learning the hard way that it was also crazy hot. He yelled and fell backwards, grabbing a hold of the first object he could, while the hot oil from the pan sprayed over the kitchen, thankfully in the opposite direction. The object he grabbed happened to be the bowl itself, which went flying along with him, crashing itself on the ground, sending the gooey batter that was going to be their dinner in every direction. He himself fell on his back, right next to the mess that was his kitchen, luckily avoiding the ceramic shards of the bowl. Lucky indeed.

Both his back, wings, hooves, back of the head and still slightly burned tongue, all hurt. And yet, he didn't even bother massaging them. Or standing up, instead content with just looking at the ceiling for the time being, ignoring everything else. Ignoring the broken bowl. Ignoring a batter of flour, milk, vegetables and eggs, colorfully sprayed all over the place. Ignoring the still burning stove, which could, but probably won't cause fire alarms to activate. Ignoring the hot oil on the floor just near him. Ignoring the growling from his stomach, perfectly accompanying the pounding on his head and tingling sensation of his burned tongue.

This was Thunderlane. A pony who couldn't care less anymore, if he tried.

"One reason..." he muttered, staring at the ceiling, talking to some imaginary concepts that could rule the powers of fate. The same ones that made him their chewing toy today, yet for some reason didn't feel like killing him would be hilarious enough.

"One good reason... just one... I shouldn't go crazy and kill the entire town!"

He waited a few seconds in complete silence, ready to yell out all the air in his lungs, if only to stop himself from crying.
Then, a reason entered the kitchen.

"THUNDERLANE!"

The stallion turned his head to look for the reason. He found Rumble, his little brother and only pride, rushing towards him, throwing his saddlebags away, slowing only to avoid stepping on the mess on the floor. Thunderlane sighed and turned towards his ceiling fate gods again.
"Touche."

"Thunderlane, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Thunderlane turned towards his little brother and allowed himself a weak smile.
"I'm..." he was going to say that he's fine, that it's nothing, that he shouldn't be worried about anything. But looking at him right now, at his worried eyes, he realized that he couldn't. There was no force in the world that would make him lie to his own brother.
"...no," he muttered, as his eyes started tearing "...I'm not!"

Rumble didn't say anything at that. His eyes narrowed, as he grabbed his brother by his front hooves and lifted him up into a sitting position. Then, he wrapped his hooves around him and held him tightly, while his older brother, guardian, father figure, his hero, cried himself into him.