Colton, Northern Equestria
“ThunderClap,” the young filly exclaimed. “Wait for me!”
The young colt glanced over his shoulder to see that his neighbor, a filly named QuickSiver, was trying her best to catch up with him. He repressed the urge to roll his eyes while continuing upon his way, albeit at a slower pace. Quicksilver was two years younger than he, making her nine years old to his eleven and she insisted on following him everywhere. At first he found it rather amusing but now it was just getting on his nerves. The other colts in his class were constantly teasing him about his yellow-maned shadow who followed his every move. It was common knowledge that Quicksilver had a huge crush on ThunderClap but he refused to acknowledge it for he was afraid that if he did, even in the slightest, it would only end up encouraging her.
“Where are you going?” Quicksilver panted as she trotted up beside him.
“To the store.” He mumbled. “Mama needs some fresh milk.”
“Oh!” She grinned. “What a coinc…coinc…” She frowned.
“Coincidence.” He offered.
“Yeah! That! What a coincidence. I need to go to the store too.”
He raised his brow in her direction. “Oh yeah? For what?”
“Eggs.” She responded without hesitation.
“What kind?”
“Brown.”
“How many?”
“Twelve.”
He smacked his hoof against his forehead. She had thought of everything. “Let me guess,” he asked, “You want to come with me?”
“Sure!” She beamed up at him.
“Fine,” he groaned. “But I’m not carrying them on the way home, and you are not allowed to come over. Mama doesn’t want any company.”
“That’s okay. I need to help my mom in the kitchen anyways.” She huffed while flicking her tail.
ThunderClap and Quicksilver lived in Colton, a small community where the livestock outnumbered the ponies two-to-one. It was a located in the center of a vast, thick evergreen forest and the primary export of the town, besides milk and eggs, was lumber. Almost every stallion that turned of age ended up working in the lumber yards, cutting down trees and preparing them for transport. It was a very dangerous job that resulting in dozens of injuries every year but thanks to the magic of the unicorns and the speed of the Pegasus, the ponies of Colton were able to prevent any serious tragedies.
The process was quick simple. The unicorns would use their magic to keep the trees steady as the Earth-Ponies used large, wiggly saw-blades to cut the trees down. Once they cut all the way through, the Pegasus ponies would then gently guide the tree down to the ground by teaming up and slowly lowering it to the soil. It was a much slower process than just cutting the trees and letting them fall wherever they wanted, but it was much safer this way.
Once the trees had been felled and stripped of their branches, outside contractors – very large and powerful Clydesdale Horses from their sister city Clydes Hill, would pull carts filled with evergreens to the mills where they would be chopped into lumber, boards, and other wood products such as tables, desks, and cabinets. It was hard, but honest, work that kept Colton thriving. Sure, none of the ponies would become millionaires, but they would never go hungry.
ThunderClap wanted nothing more in life than to become one of those brave Pegasus who help lower the trees. Not every Pegasus was guaranteed the job – only the strongest of the strong were chose and it was considered a great honor to make the cut.
However it wasn’t just the honor that ThunderClap wanted, but the ability to live up to his father’s name. His father, LightningStrike, had passed away almost three years ago from an accident out in the woods. From what ThunderClap’s mother had said, his father was helping in the felling of a massive evergreen when suddenly one of the unicorns passed out. The poor mare had been feeling sick all week but she had refused to call in to work. The result was that she ended up overexerting herself to the point where her body literally just turned itself off. LightingStrike and several other Pegasus were caught in the aftermath. Several Pegasus survived with bumps and bruises but LightningStrike suffered from more serious injuries. He succumbed to them days later.
His father had a memorial built in his honor; a brass plaque that rested upon the walls of town hall. It was during his father’s funeral that ThunderClap had decided in becoming a lumberjack pony. His father’s co-workers had spoke so highly of Lightingstrike that ThunderClap wanted nothing more than to being as good as, if not better than, his father.
Someday, Thunderclap thought to himself.
“Thinking about your dad?” Quicksilver asked; her tinny voice cutting through his thoughts like a knife.
“Huh?” He blinked while shaking his head. “What?”
“Every time you think about your dad, you get this funny look on your face.” She pursed her lips together while half-closing her eyes. “Like this.”
“Oh,” he frowned, embarrassed at having been caught day-dreaming. “Yeah, I was.”
“He was nice,” she said. “I always liked him.”
“He was,” ThunderClap agreed.
“Do you miss him?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Sometimes. Mama misses him more, though. I catch her looking at his picture all the time.”
Quicksilver frowned. “Oh…” she whispered. ThunderClap looked down at her and decided to change the subject. “So, uhm, what kind of cake are you and your mother baking?”
Her ears perked as a smile replaced her frown. “Vanilla with chocolate frosting! My favorite!”
ThunderClap smirked. “That sounds good.”
She flicked her tail back and forth. “If you carry my eggs back to my house, I’ll save you a piece!”
He glared down at her but then rolled his eyes while sighing. “Fine. Deal.”
“Yipee!” she began skipping all around him as they continued towards the store. He couldn’t help but to laugh at her antics. Yes, she annoyed the heck out of him, but it was all in good fun. Besides, she was a real sweet filly. Who could ever dislike a mare such as she?
That Night
Click…
ThunderClap shifted upon his bed.
Click…click…
He rolled onto his back while smacking his lips.
Click, click, click…
He opened his left eye as the sounds began to rouse him his slumber. Upon the sixth click, he realized that the sound was coming from his bedroom window. He rolled out of his bed to trot over to his window. He used his nose to push open the window to see who in the hay was causing such a racket. He looked outside to see Quicksilver standing outside. She had been throwing pebbles at his window and she looked as if she had seen a ghost.
“What are you doing?” He hissed down at her.
She looked over her shoulders, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Even in this poor lighting, he could see that she had been crying. “Can I come up there, please?”
“You’ll wake my mom!”
“I’ll be very quiet, I swear!” her voice was beginning to crack and he knew that if he didn’t react now, she’d start crying again. Muttering under his breath, ThunderClap whispered, “I’ll be down in a second!” He snuck out of his room and made sure that his mother’s bedroom door was shut tight. Once he confirmed that, he crept downstairs and opened the backdoor to let Quicksilver inside.
“What is wrong with you?” he whispered, unable to keep the anger out of his voice.
“The cicadas are back,” she whimpered, tears dripped down the sides of her cheeks.
ThunderClap forgot all about his anger as he poked his head outside. Sure enough, the eerie screeching sound of the tiny beetle-like insects filled the entire forest. He closed the door and made such to lock the bolts. It wasn’t that he wasn’t afraid of the bugs, the act of locking the door was more for Quicksilver’s sake than his own. She had this unimaginable fear of the sound the cicadas made, a fear that ThunderClap did not quite understand but he knew just how devastating it was to her. It was probably the only time he did not mind her being around.
“Why didn’t you just crawl into your parents’ bed?” he whispered while leading her to his kitchen.
“Daddy thinks that I am just over-reacting,” she sniffled. “He and mommy locks their bedroom door now so I can’t get in.”
ThunderClap sighed. “I’m sorry,” He used his teeth to pull open the ice-box. “Do you want some juice, or maybe some milk?”
“Juice,” she whimpered. He stole a glance over his shoulder to see that she was trembling from mane to hoof. Her eyes kept darting towards the windows as if she expected the cicadas to suddenly burst through and attack her. He didn’t blame her, those blasted bugs had a very creepy sound to them, but her fear came from something more primal for as long as he had known her, the very mention of cicadas drove her into a frenzy. He didn’t understand it, but he didn’t question it either.
“Here you go,” he offered her a cup of orange juice. She set it down besides her but did not bother taking a sip. Her eyes were glues to the window.
ThunderClap watched her for several seconds, noticing the smaller details that he hadn’t paid attention to before. Her cheeks were still moist from crying, her eyes red, her bottom lip trembling. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her, but how to do that exactly, he had no idea.
“C-can I sleep here tonight?” she whimpered, eyes still focused on he window.
He bit his lip. “What about your parents?”
“They won’t be up until past sunrise. I’ll go home before then.” She forced her gaze from the window and into his eyes. “Please?”
He sighed. “Okay…as long as you are home before they wake up.”
“Thanks,” she took a sip of her juice but didn’t bother finishing it. He set it up onto the kitchen counter and together the two fillies retreated up to ThunderClap’s bedroom. He closed the curtains to his window as to keep Quicksilver from staring out into the darkness then jumped into bed. She followed right after, sneaking under his blankets and curling up into a tight ball at his side. She reminded him of a frightened kitten, the way she covered her face with her blond tail, her tiny form trembling. Sighing in both frustration and worry, he snuggled up besides her, hoping that his presence would be enough to comfort her. She nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder and eventually the trembling stopped. When he was certain that she had finally fallen asleep, he too closed his eyes and drifted into a deep slumber.
Quicksilver was a filly of her word. Sure enough, when the sun began to rise and the sound of the cicadas quieted down, she snuck out of ThunderClap’s room and crept back into her own house. So quiet as she that ThunderClap didn’t even notice that she was gone until he had woken up. He noticed that she was no longer in his room, put two and two together, and figured that everything had worked out in the end. He wondered, however, how long she would end up sneaking over since the cicadas were seasonal. He was unsure if he was bothered by the fact that she may be coming over every single night, or secretly pleased. As much as he hated to admit it, it was actually quite nice having her spend the night. He couldn’t quite explain how he felt, but just feeling her body nuzzled up close to his made him quite happy.
He shook the idea out of his head. She was practically a sister to him. Besides, what kind of colt would ever admit in wanting to have a slumber party with a mare? That’s just weird.
Still…
“ThunderClap, breakfast!” his mother called out from downstairs. His mind still swirling in uncertain and unwanted feelings, he dragged himself downstairs to breakfast.
The sleep-overs continued throughout the rest of the week. Quicksilver’s fear of the cicadas did not seem to diminish over time, in fact the louder they got, the worse she became. It was during the third night when ThunderClap noticed that she hadn’t spoken a single word to him during her visit. She just climbed up into his bed and hid under the covers. If it wasn’t for the fact that he could feel her bodyheat and see her tiny nose sticking out from under the blanket, he would never guess that she was spending the night. He frowned down at her during this night, tempted to wake her up and make her explain exactly why she was so afraid of the cicadas, but he decided against it at the last second. If spending the night next to him was all she needed to feel safe, it was a small sacrifice he’d give in order to see her happy.
Now this was another cause for concern. As the week went on, he began feeling oddly protective of the younger filly. He actually snapped at some of his friends when they had begun teasing her about following ThunderClap around all the time. It was so strange to no longer be annoyed by the filly but instead feeling some kind of unusual affection for her. He figured that this time together, just sleeping side-by-side was allowing them to become closer as friends, but as the nights went on, he found that his protective feelings were growing with each passing second.
Maybe it had something to do with how he looked at her. She wasn’t just the girl next door, he had always considered her more like a sister which was only natural considering that they had spent their entire lives living next door to one another, but the more he thought about it, the more he knew that that wasn’t it. There was something different in how he felt, an emotion he couldn’t quite understand and to be honest, he wasn’t a hundred percent sure he wanted to understand it.
He debated with the notion of telling her to stay home tomorrow evening but before he could come up with a conclusion, he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, all the while snuggled up around the trembling little filly that slept against his side…
The next morning ThunderClap was awoken by his mother. She asked him to come downstairs but judging by the tone of her voice, this had nothing to do with his morning breakfast. When he entered the living room, still yawning from having been disturbed so early, he discovered that Quicksilver’s parents were standing in the center of the room. Quicksilver was standing just behind her father’s powerful legs, her little blue eyes peaking out from around his calf with a sheepish expression upon her face.
“ThunderClap,” his mother spoke up. “I want you to tell me the truth.” She turned around to look him in the eyes. “Has Quicksilver been sleeping in your room every night this week?”
ThunderClap considered fibbing his way out of the situation but judging by the look in his mother’s eyes, he knew that she already knew the truth. “Yes,” he whispered, swallowing nervously.
“We are not upset,” Quicksilver’s father explained. He was a tall, broad chested stallion whose muscles came from years of working in the forest. His mane was the color of molten steel, his brown eyes so dark that they might as well been black. He was a very intimidating pony indeed, one who made ThunderClap feel like a three-year-old in comparison. “We just want to know what’s been going on. I woke up early this morning to catch Quicksilver sneaking through her bedroom window.” He looked down to his daughter who shrank back in fear. “She and I had a long talk and now I want to hear your side of the story.”
“I-I don’t really know what to say,” ThunderClap answered honestly. “She was afraid of the sound the cicadas made and asked if she could spend the night.” He looked from her parents to his mother. He didn’t really understand what the big deal was outside the fact she had been sneaking out.
“That’s what she told me,” her father replied while nodding. He took a long, slow breath and exhaled through his nostrils. “Her mother and I have been talking all morning about how to handle this situation.”
“What situation?” ThunderClap asked.
“The situation between you and Quicksilver,” his mother replied.
“About her being afraid?” He cocked his head.
“About her spending the night.” She explained. “It’s just…” she bit her bottom lip. “Well, it’s just not appropriate for fillies and colts to be spending the night together in the same bed at your age.”
“Why not?” he blinked, shocked at what he was hearing.
She sighed. “I’ll explain at a different time, but I think we should listen to hear what her father has to say.”
“Listen,” Quicksilver’s dad said. “We’ve known about her phobia for a long time but we never knew it had escalated to the point it has become. We figured it was just a phase but now we know better. This is why we are moving to Clydes Hill.”
“What?” ThunderClap exclaimed. “But why?”
“Two reason, actually.” Quicksilver’s mother clarified. “The first being that Clydes Hill is fair enough away from the forest that Quicksilver will not be disturbed by the sound of the cicadas.”
“Secondly,” her father continued. “There are some doctors who live in the city who may be able to help us understand Quicksilver’s phobia.” He turned around to nuzzle his daughter’s cheek. “We feel awful in knowing that we were just exasperating the problem instead of solving it. With these doctors we may be able to figure out what is causing this fear and, hopefully, finally put a stop to it.”
“This is not a punishment,” he continued. “In fact, we are very happy to hear that you had helped her out so. We’d be more than happy to send a carriage to Colton during the summer so you can come and visit whenever you want. I’ll still be working here so Quicksilver will be able to visit you as well.”
“Oh,” ThunderClap felt as if his heart had suddenly been crushed in a vice – yet another emotion he couldn’t understand. He felt almost as sad as the day his father died but this was a different kind of sadness. It felt like loneliness, one he had never felt before. “I guess…”
“It will be okay,” he consoled. “I promise.” He looked to his wife. “We’ll leave you two alone to say your goodbyes but Quicksilver,” he glanced down to his daughter. “I want you home in half an hour to help us pack our things. Understood?”
“Yes daddy,” she mewled.
Her parents returned to their home. “I’ll start breakfast,” ThunderClap’s mother said. The moment she left the room, Quicksilver pounced ThunderClap’s chest and buried her face against him. “Promise me you’ll visit!”
“Of course I will.” He responded, hugging her back.
“You had better,” she sniffed. She clung to him for a minute longer before letting go. “I had better just get home…” she whimpered. ThunderClap watched as she slunked towards the front door. He wanted to say something, anything to make her look back over to him but no words came out. Instead he just stood there in shocked silence as she walked out of his house one last time…