Thunderlane blinked in confusion at the scene in front of him. The dark grey pegasus had been making his way towards the farm, his head a stew of warring emotions as he considered how or even if he should, approach Applejack about maybe wanting to try for something deeper than friendship. This had come to an abrupt halt however as he witnessed a somewhat dirty and scruffy looking Soarin in a bizarre wrestling match with a dozen squirrels, all the while attempting not to fall of a tree branch of an acorn tree in the park.
Thunderlane observed the fight, if one could even call flailing around like a lunatic while swiping at small furry animals a fight, until finally it seemed there was a victor. Soarin’s heavy growls turned into a startled yelp as he lost his balance and fell from his branch, hitting the ground with a loud thud. The squirrels, pleased at their triumph all seemed to give a mighty war cry, which sounded like anything but, before retreating within a hollow above the branch and disappearing from sight.
Thunderlane stood still for a moment, processing, before trotting over to his downed friend, who was now pulling himself up and grumbling angrily as he rubbed his aching flank.
“Stupid squirrels… only needed one dumb branch… gonna tell Fluttershy about this… teach those little pests to share…”
“Uh Soarin… you okay?”
The light blue stallion turned to his confused friend and gave a sigh.
“Yeah… yeah I’m fine. Just in a bad spot at the moment, is all.”
“Well, tell me about it. You certain look like you need to vent after… whatever that was,” Thunderlane beckoned him with a wave of his foreleg and led them over to a nearby bench, where Thunderlane could see Soarin’s overnight bag hanging over the side of it.
The two stallions took a seat, and after Soarin gave himself a quick dust off, he turned to his friend and let it all out.
“See, I’ve been put in a bad situation. Blueblood is finally moving in with Rarity. He’s getting a place set up for the two of them, and frankly I’m real happy for them.”
Thunderlane could see there was definitely more to this situation. “Except…”
“Except… except, it leaves me without a place to stay. See we figured, with the real estate market around here doing so and so, that we should put the house up for sale ASAP, while we each got sorted with our future living arrangements. However a new couple to Ponyville bought it right off the bat. Blueblood is set for a place to stay temporarily, since he can stay with Rarity at the boutique. I on the hoof, do not.”
“So, hold on, you got no place to stay right now?” Thunderlane asked with a hint of worry.
Soarin just shook his head and kept talking, “Nope. I originally meant to book a room over at the Nesting Pegasus hotel. Fluttershy was nice enough to take in Skye since she wouldn’t be able to come with me to the hotel, and I got a bag packed with some essentials while the rest of my stuff is sitting in boxes in Blueblood’s storage at the warehouse. It looked like I’d be fine for a few days. Until suddenly this miracle tonic thing came to town.”
“Miracle tonic… what? What are you talking about? And how would that have any effect on you staying at the motel?”
“Honestly, I have no idea what this tonic thing is all about. All I know is a couple of ponies outside Ponyville are selling it and supposedly it works. Because of that, a freakin’ buttload of ill or injured ponies all showed up in town hoping to get some of this tonic. So many in fact that they took up every room of the hotel and the bed & breakfast, the bar- Egh, basically every place in town with a spare bed has suddenly found themselves with a new houseguest or tenant, and I’ve been left with no place to stay.”
Soarin rose from the bench, an annoyed expression now sliding across his muzzle. Thunderlane was concerned about the whole situation, but he could see Soarin still had some more venting to do, so he kept quiet and listened.
“So after that I figured, maybe I could stay with one of my friends for a couple of days. I tried Big Mac and Fluttershy, and discovered that is definitely not an option as Fluttershy likes it rough in the bedroom.”
Both stallions blushed at this, but Soarin continued to rant, choosing to ignore the image in his head.
“By that point it was really late in the day so I figured, screw it, Dashie loves sleeping in trees, so I could stay in a tree for one night no problem. Turns out sleeping in a tree all night is reeeally uncomfortable, and I just about threw my back out. So I figured, ‘okay, never mind, I have time now, so maybe one of my other friends can put me up for a few nights’. So I go for a wander, but when I get to Twilight’s, I could hear she and Midnight were getting into this debate that sounded like an argument, so I stayed well clear. Then I figured, maybe Pinkie Pie or Cheese Sandwich. Only to first catch them in the middle of a date.”
Thunderlane blinked in surprise at this but kept listening as Soarin went on, “Then when I tried them again later, they were in the middle of some bizarre musical number about s’mores or something. They didn’t seem to be ending that any time soon, so I figured, screw it, I guess I’m just going to have to live in the park for a while. Only to get here and find out some damn squirrels took the only somewhat comfortable branch in the whole park and wouldn’t share! I tried to offer them some food, but they just took it and hit me with acorns! At that point the fight was on, but you caught the tail end of that fight. So now I’m tired, dirty with no place to sleep until I can find a way to beat up some squirrels without Fluttershy finding out!”
Soarin finished his rant and just stood there panting, his wings sprung out and twitching angrily and his eyes bloodshot and irritated. Thunderlane’s eyes were wide as he processed everything, before he came to a decision.
“Damn, dude, you’ve had a rough time. But I think I have a suggestion that might make it better for you.”
The blue stallion turned to him, a look of ragged hope in his eyes. Thunderlane smiled before unfurling one of his wings to reveal a keyring with a few keys and a Wonderbolt keychain.
“I live with my little brother and my pet bat Soundwave, and I don’t have a spare room. I do however have a perfectly good couch you are more than welcome to crash on until you get your living arrangements sorted out..”
Soarin almost looked like he was about to burst into tears, his eyes wide and shiny and his lip quivering. “Really?”
Thunderlane grabbed Soarin’s foreleg and placed the keys on Soarin’s hoof, his smile never wavering.
“Sure thing Soarin. You’re my friend, I’ll always help you out. Heck you can even bring over Skye as long as she and Soundwave can get along.”
Soarin grabbed Thunderlane in a big hug, his stress and anger all evaporating in seconds. “Thanks, Thunderlane, you have no idea how much this means to me!”
Thunderlane just gave a chuckle and patted him on the back. “No problem, buddy. Now I’ve got something important do right now, but you are welcome to head over to my place and get yourself cleaned up! You certainly look like you could use a nice shower and a nap.”
“Believe me, it will be the first thing that I do.”
Soarin opened the front door to Thunderlane’s modest one story house, which was conveniently just a block away from the weather office where Thunder and Dash both worked. The place was small and a little dull, but to a pony who had just slept in a tree and got into a brawl with woodland critters, it may as well have been the most luxurious room in Canterlot castle. Soarin didn’t even bother going on a tour. He took about four steps before his wings roared to life and his rocketed to the living room couch, his overnight bag thumped on the floor beside him.
He could shower later. Right now, he would take a well deserved nap.
“Uh hey Soarin… could you move please? My TV show’s on.”
Soarin looked up to see Rumble standing in front of him, TV remote in hoof and a bowl of popcorn on his back.
The blue stallion just gave a groan. Maybe this wasn’t so amazing after all.
Approaching Sweet Apple Acres, Thunderlane wondered, how was he going to do this? Thunderlane had been going over everything in his head for a while now. Ever since he first discovered his feelings during his talk with Rarity, he had been completely panicked and unsure. He'd built a powerful friendship with Applejack, and he had known her for years, ever since he and Rumble had first moved to Ponyville after he finished his schooling and took on a position in Ponyville's weather station. He had no idea how she was going to react to this revelation. She might freak out. She might be disgusted. She might want to stop being friends. The last thought scared him immensely and he almost decided to double back and just forget the whole thing. But a hope resided in him.
What if she felt something, too?
It was a small hope, one he was sure wasn't true. But none the less, that tiny spark seemed to motivate him, and he continued on towards the farm.
As he trotted on, he remembered the talk with Big Mac from the day before. Remembered the warm smile the farmer had given him, the respect and care from a brother and a friend. He remembered the Trust, and it gave Thunderlane strength.
But for all the strength it gave, it was what Applejack felt that would mean the most.
Applejack.
After Thunderlane had taken some time to really think about his feelings, he realized a lot of things about the mare.
Thunderlane had never really had an interest in most mares. When he was younger maybe, but as he had grown, he had too many responsibilities to really focus on the opposite sex. But thinking on it now, the dark grey stallion felt something powerful for AJ that he just didn't see in other mares.
There was her physical features, of course. Years of hard farm work had given her an iron core and powerful muscles, but they hadn't taken away from her feminine charms either. Her mane always seemed silky and smooth, despite usually holding twigs or leaves, or just being messy from hours of hard work. Her coat was such a bright warm color, just seeming to radiate positivity and friendliness. But her most prominent feature was her beautiful green eyes that shimmered like emerald seas. He could just lose himself in those eyes.
But all that was just the physical. What truly drew Thunderlane in, was what was beneath her exterior. Applejack was so strong willed and passionate. Everything she valued, her family, her friends, her traditions, or farm, all of it, she put so much of herself into taking care of them all. Anything that threatened her passions, she fought against tooth and hoof.
She was as much a workaholic as Thunderlane was, probably even more so, a fact that attracted the stallion greatly. Every day she threw herself into her work, always giving her best effort and never being satisfied until the job was done right. Then there was her cooking skills. Pinkie might be a great baker, but nothing compared to AJ's home cooking, at least to Thunderlane. She was a mare of so many talents and skills. They all made her so amazing.
But the key to her, the central aspect of herself that she prided above all.
Her Honesty.
Just as Thunderlane valued the virtue of Trust, Applejack always believed in Honesty, in being true to one’s self and to others. To never hiding or deceiving, just putting forth what needed to be said, no matter what. Thunderlane could not help but respect her for this. Honesty was a policy that could at time be hard to follow. The truth wasn't something everypony wanted to hear and sometimes it was easy to ignore our own inner selves and focus on the physical. But Applejack, she just held firm, acting as a pillar of strength and compassion, no matter how difficult it was.
She was amazing.
He also liked her hat, which he was among the few mementos Applejack had of her father, Bright Macintosh. She and Big Macintosh had inherited their dad’s hat and work collar respectively while Apple Bloom had received a mane ribbon from their mother.
That was another thing about Applejack Thunderlane related to. His own parents weren’t around anymore either. They’d been in an accident which left a preteen Thunderlane and his toddler-aged brother Rumble orphans. He’d shelved his dreams of one day joining the Wonderbolts back then to focus on his school work and find work in order to prove himself a capable legal guardian of his brother so Foal Services didn’t split them up.
He never brought up that unfortunate thing they shared in common with Applejack however, not wanting to connect that way.
*THWACK*
The unmistakable sound of applebucking snapped Thunderlane out of his pondering and he looked ahead. There she was, bucking some trees and collecting the literal fruits of her labor. Strangely enough, Thunderlane realized he’d never tried applebucking himself. But the way Applejack was able to get so many apples to fall from a tree with one buck of her strong hind legs, there had to be some kind of technique to it.
He kept approaching but didn’t call out to AJ, not wanting to interrupt until she was done with the tree. However he noticed a troubled look on the farmer pony’s face, and whatever was on her mind distracted her enough to throw off her aim,
“YOW! Oof!” Applejack yelped as her hooves bucked thin air and caused her to throw herself off balance and fall onto her tummy. Applejack groaned a bit as she hauled herself up and dusted off her flanks with her tail in a somewhat absentminded way.
“AJ!”
She looked to see Thunderlane flapping over to her with a look of concern, “Are you okay?”
“Well… Tha’ depends,” Applejack sighed as she sat down on her haunches and leaned her back against the tree.
Unsure but wanting to help if he could, Thunderlane joined her in the shade, and said nothing, waiting for her to say her piece.
“If yer askin’ if Ah’m fine in th’ physical sense, Ah’m jus’ dandy.”
…
…
…
“And in the… not physical sense?” Thunderlane gently pressed.
Applejack hesitated a little before replying, “Ah jus’... Ah… Oh, Thunder… Ah’m jus’ so unsure right now!”
“Well, what’s got you so torn up?” Thunderlane hoped he could help. He could see whatever it was, Applejack needed someone to be here for her right now.
“Hav' ya heard th’ Flim Flam brothers are back in town?”
“Don’t tell me those two sleazes are the ones selling that miracle tonic I heard about,” Thunderlane huffed.
“Eeyup, an’ tha’ tonic o’ theirs is fake!”
“What?!” Thunderlane gaped at Applejack, “AJ, I’ve heard that tonic has the- The… ‘Applejack approval’?! How could you possibly approve of something that isn’t real?!”
“Oh Thunderlane, it- It’s such a mess!” Applejack pressed her hoof against her forehead, unable to look Thunderlane in the eye. But then, she felt something warm and soft wrap around her shoulders and she looked to see Thunderlane had offered her a comforting wing, with a gentle smile.
“Tell me everything,” he kindly suggested.
So that’s what Applejack did. She began with how she and her family had noticed a whole bunch of ill and/or injured ponies converging at a tent where they found Flim and Flam running another of the symphonious scams. They claimed their ‘Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic’ could do a wonder of many things to heal all kinds of illness, injuries, ailments, to the point of obviously being too good to be true.
Unfortunately, Granny Smith nipped at the proverbial carrot and bought herself a bottle of the stuff, and later that day AJ, Mac, `Bloom, and Twinken found Granny Smith swimming merrily down the river just as she used to when she was an aqua pony, and gallivanting around like a yearling. While it was nice to see Granny Smith more lively and happily more active, it had worried Applejack and her younger siblings enough to pay Flim and Flam another visit yesterday evening, in order to find out exactly what was in that tonic.
When they did, they came across the same pony from the first demonstration doing the same thing in the same musical number. After cornering him, and learning his name was Silver Shill, Applejack realized Silver Shill was a part of the act and pretended to be cured by the tonic with each demonstration while wearing a different disguise.
AJ wound up confronting those conning `corns who “hypothetically and theoretically” entertained her accusation with a virtual confession of the tonic being nothing more than a mixture of apple juice and beet leaves while mentioning how much happier Granny Smith was after trying the stuff. Finally, they had asked her, if she really wanted to dash away all that happiness by revealing the truth?
It got even worse the next morning when Flim and Flam put AJ on the spot by mentioning their tonic had the approval of the most honest pony in Ponyville, and Applejack felt even more guilty that her holding her tongue was causing more ponies to buy into the tonic, literally and figuratively.
“...an’ now Granny Smith an’ Apple Bloom are off practicin’ a routine fer th’ swim meet,” Applejack wrapped it up. “Ah jus’ don’ know wha’ t’ do, Thunder! Ah wanna tell th’ truth but… Ah wan’ Granny t’ be happy! Wha’s worse, Ah let Flim n’ Flam use me to make their tonic look legit! Ah know a lie by omission is still a lie, but… Oh, Thunderlane, wha’ should Ah do?”
“...Hmm, well, Applejack, lemme tell you a little about my Element of Harmony,” Thunderlane offered, Applejack looking at him.
"To me, Trust is special but it can also be fragile. Like trusting those you care about or those you respect never to steer you wrong and guide you on the right path. But one of the hardest things to do is to trust in ourselves. For you, Honesty isn’t just your Element, it’s what you believe to be the best policy in almost any situation! Can the truth hurt, AJ? Yes, it can. But when it comes down to it, what do you trust is the right thing in a situation where it seems the truth can hurt?”
Applejack considered Thunderlane’s words a moment but when it appeared she still wasn’t sure, Thunderlane went on.
“I mean, you’ve always trusted your own better judgement and kept an open mind, and you always trusted your integrity. And it’s that amazing moral character of yours that made you worthy of the Element of Honesty! So, be honest with yourself, AJ, and tell me: What do you think you should do right now?”
Thunderlane’s words resonated in Applejack’s mind as she realized he was right! She had always trusted her judgement because she believed in the virtue of honesty, that being truthful and nothing less than the genuine article is how you show who you really are and the true way you are accepted.
Applejack smiled with deep appreciation at Thunderlane, “Thank ya kindly, Thunder. Ah think Ah know wha’ Ah hav’ t’ do.”
Then, to Thunderlane’s surprise, Applejack leaned over and gave him a grateful cheek-to-cheek nuzzle, making him blush almost as red at Big Mac.
“Uh…” Thunderlane dazed with a dumb look on his face, barely noticing Applejack stand up.
“Whattya say we head on over t’ th’ swim meet? Ah got some things t’ say t’ everypony, an’ a couple o’ swindlers to unmask.”
“Uh… OK!” Thunderlane quickly stood up and followed Applejack down the path from Sweet Apple Acres.
“Oh no Granny!”
Applejack’s eyes were wide in panic as she watched her beloved Granny Smith standing atop a gigantic diving board so dizzyingly high in the air she could barely see the top. The elder pony had evidently taken her dream of her aqua pony comeback too far and was about to attempt the high-diving record she never got the chance to try that would have made her an aqua pony legend, as evidenced by Apple Bloom pushing a small bowl of water underneath the diving board.
Applejack’s heart was pounding and her breathing was shaky, but she didn’t hesitate to bolt as fast as she could towards that diving tower, praying to whatever gods there were in the sky that she’d make it in time.
It seemed they weren’t listening today.
Granny Smith did a quick bounce off the board before diving straight off down, shooting at a ridiculous speed. Her hooves were stretched out in a perfect diving posture and her eyes were narrowed in determination, but none of this mattered to Applejack. Her eyes started to get teary as she sprinted forward, knowing that being on the ground, she had no chance to stopping the inevitable.
“No, please no! Ah already lost Ma an’ Pa, please don’ let me lose her too!”
Her plea was desperate and filled with sorrow, but no miraculous beings listened in or made a move.
That is until one did.
Applejack was nearly bowled over by a powerful gust of wind as a dark grey shape zoomed past her and toward her rapidly-descending grandmother.
The elderly mare was just seconds away from certain doom, when the speeding shape grabbed her around the barrel and hurtled her through the air. She and the shape went speeding past the ground and into the pool nearby. Granny felt the snatcher adjust themselves before impact, taking the brunt of the slam into the water, sending up a geyser as the two sunk beneath.
Ponies scrambled aside, trying not to get splashed, while Flim and Flam, whom had been selling their miracle tonic nearby, pulled down the hatches and ducked for cover.
Applejack paused for a moment, shock paralyzing her, before she snapped out of it and bolted for the pool. As the water settled she skidded up, her eyes searching the pool, looking for her family.
Suddenly two shapes burst up. The first was Granny, coughing up water and looking none too pleased her dive had been sabotaged. And beside her…
“Thunderlane!”
“Ugh… I am never going swimming again…”
The big stallion floated beside Granny from where he had snatched her. He had seen Applejack’s panic and seen Granny in danger, and his instincts kicked into gear. If Rainbow Dash had been there, she’d have been trying to convince herself his speed had been a fluke.
As Applejack’s heart slowed and her fears retreated, she gave her Granny an annoyed look.
“Granny! Wha’ in thunder-ation were you thinkin’! You cain’t do a dive that high!”
The green mare gave Thunderlane a miffed look before paddling to the edge of the pool and hauling herself up before her granddaughter.
“Oh quit yer’ fussin’. Why Ah could’a done a dive ten times tha’ high!”
With a speed that would have had the already angry Rainbow Dash having a conniption fit, Flim and Flam sped over beside Granny, another bottle of miracle tonic held in their magic.
“Why I say it could have been twenty times!”
“Thirty if she had a favorable breeze.”
Granny gave the two con ponies a smile and started to gulp down the miracle tonic they presented her.
As Thunderlane floundered his way over to the edge of the pool, Applejack just stared at her grandmother guzzling down the phony tonic. The elder mare truly believed that drink would help her. Would let her do things she just couldn’t. As the sun shone through that emptying bottle, a rainbow of light seemed to circle Applejack’s eyes, and it was that light that helped Applejack realize...
She turned to Thunderlane, remembering his advice in the orchard. The stallion was soaking wet and lying on the ground beside her, but he seemed to sense exactly what was going through her head. He just looked up at her, gave a confident smile and nod from his tired face, and Applejack nodded in return.
The farmer raised her head high and firm and strutted forwards to her grandmother and the con ponies beside her.
“Ah’m sorry everyone, but Granny couldn’t o’ made tha’ dive.”
Flim and Flam could see a determination in her eyes, and they held themselves stiff as the mare thrust a hoof out at their tonic, and angry snarl on her muzzle.
“Because this tonic is a fake!”
Thunderlane was slowly dragging himself to his hooves. But he couldn’t help but smile as AJ made her announcement. Everypony around them all gasped and voiced their confusion over Applejack’s supposed stamp of approval. But Thunderlane never stopped smiling. He watched AJ, in her element, admitting to her wrongs and reinforcing her belief of true Honesty right from her heart. As she held herself strong, never wavering in her belief, Thunderlane could just tell once and for all, that what he felt for her, was no mere crush. There was no confusion or worry. No worries or doubt.
He was in love with her, totally and completely.
He was so lost in his own world that he barely noticed the mare trot up beside him.
“Thunderlane… thank you. When Ah saw mah Granny jumpin’ from tha’ high board. Well Ah just had no idea what to do. Ah was so scared watching her fall. Ah thawt Ah’d lose more o’ my family. But you saved her! You flapped those mighty wings o’ yers an’ saved mah Granny’s life. Ah don’t think I can ever repay you for that.”
Then, with a redness in her cheek, but no waiver in her determination, the orange mare lifted her muzzle and kissed Thunderlane on his cheek.
Instantly Thunderlane’s wings rocketed up, firm and stiff and his eyes shrunk into dots. Blazing red crossed his face and a goofy expression crossed his muzzle. So completely lost in his head, that he missed the awwing crowd. He missed Silver Shill calling out Flim and Flam while admitting his own complicity in their scheme and Granny Smith realizing her own strengths. He missed the talk with Silver Shill, as the stallion passed along his first earned bit to Applejack in thanks for what he had learned.
All that crossed his mind, was that those lips were so soft and lovely, and he longed to feel them again.
Applejack sat beneath an apple tree on the corner of the orchard, looking out over Ponyville. At her hooves sat the friendship diary, ready and waiting to record the important lesson she had learned that day. As the words hit the paper, Applejack thought them aloud to herself.
“Being Honest can be hard when you think it will hurt the ponies you care about. But Ah think believing a lie can end up hurting even more.”
Across town, Flim and Flam hurriedly began pushing their cart away, filled with their phony tonic and ill-gotten bag of bits. They stopped however as they saw a wanted poster pasted on just about every tree or pole, with their smarmy mugs and a list of charges, including (but not limited to) fraud, false-advertising, selling medicine without a permit, and negligence. Both ponies could see Prince Midnight in the distance, an angry expression on his face as he talked to the sick and injured ponies they had conned, about how he'd make sure Flim and Flam would pay for their crimes. Both brothers just gulped and quickened their pace.
“Someponies might not care about that, but ah sure ain’t one of them. And those that do will always get what's coming to `em in the end.”
Applejack paused in her writing for a moment as she caught some movement in the distance. Thunderlane’s home was still a ways off, but she could make out Thunderlane and Soarin in the front yard, mowing the lawn and trimming some hedges together while Rumble flitted about spouting off his yapper, likely about some show he’d watched that afternoon.
As Applejack watched, a red blush came to her face. Then with a smile, her lips found her pencil and more words seemed to flow onto the dairy.
“An important friend also reminded me, that Honesty is important, but sometimes when it hurts too much to say, we should always Trust in ourselves and our morals. Because if we forget ourselves, then lies just spread and spread.”
Closing the journal, Applejack smiled as she remembered that kiss upon the stallion’s cheek. Deciding to call it a day and spend some time with her family, one last thought flittered through her mind.
Ah sure hope Ah get a chance to do that again.