When Music is Silenced

by Summer Knight

Friendship and Family

Several hours later, when Twilight rejoined the others, they were all faring a bit better. Spike had cried himself to sleep and Rarity had gently tucked him in on one of the couches. Rainbow Dash's grief had run its course, leaving her with nothing but anger and a burning need to get out and do something. The fact that there was nothing she could do just then was the hardest part for her. Fluttershy had likewise cried herself out in Applejack's forelegs and now sat across from Thunder, staring into the fireplace. Thunder Growl had the only dry eyes in the room, having instead poured his feelings into his song, the first draft of which was now complete and safely tucked away in his saddlebags. Applejack and Rarity had worked through their feelings by comforting the others, taking strength and solace from doing so. As for Twilight herself, speaking with the princess had done wonders for her state of mind and having something else to focus on for a while had helped her to get herself back under control.

They had quickly decided that they would catch the next train back to Ponyville, as everypony was longing for their homes and their loved ones. Twilight regretted not being able to stop and see her parents before they left Canterlot, and Thunder wished that he'd had a chance to say goodbye to Trixie and Octavia, but all had agreed that the group should stay together.

"If y'all need anything, anything at all," Applejack said as they were parting ways at the train station, "feel free to drop by the farm."

"My door is open as well, to any of you," Rarity reassured them. They gathered together in one more group hug. Thunder stood awkwardly a couple of steps away.

"Come on, you too," Rainbow chided him. Thunder chuckled and threw his forelegs around the others, smiling as he let their shared strength and warmth flow into him. He wasn't sure he quite believed that friendship was magic, but it was definitely pleasant.

The friends all went their separate ways, and Thunder found himself trailing Twilight and Spike back to the library. Spike was no longer crying, but neither would he leave Twilight's side even for a moment. It was good for both of them, Thunder supposed. Each seemed to draw strength from the other.

"I'm just going to put Spike to bed," Twilight said once they reached her home, "then I'll be right back down. I'm probably going to spend the rest of the day studying though, so I might not be very good company. Sorry."

"That's alright," Thunder answered. "Do what you gotta do, I'll manage."

"Okay, thanks," Twilight smiled. "But Thunder?"

"Yeah?"

"No getting drunk."

Thunder came within a hair of telling Twilight to go buck herself—if he had ever needed a drink or ten, it was now—but he restrained himself when he looked into her puffy, sad eyes. He had given them all enough grief already. If staying sober would keep from adding to it, then it was the least he could do.

"Right," he said. "Promise. You hungry? I'm gonna get some dinner, you want anything?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, but thank you."

Thunder left the library in search of dinner. He only knew two establishments in this town: the bar, which was currently out of the question, and Sugarcube Corner, where he'd gotten some bucking good ursa claws. He headed for the latter.

As Thunder opened the door of the gingerbread house he caught sight of a very familiar earth pony, her trademark stetson held over her heart, speaking with two middle-aged ponies. The very air inside the building seemed heavy and dark, and Thunder had no sooner stepped inside than he knew that he shouldn't have.

"Thunder?" Applejack said. She looked surprised, and Thunder couldn't blame her. How could he have forgotten that this was the place where he had met Pinkie to begin with? Applejack had clearly come to offer her condolences, but him? He'd come for a bucking sandwich.

"Oh, are you Thunder Growl?" the mare behind the counter asked with tears in her eyes. Thunder thought darkly that he had seen—and shed—far too many tears today. "It's always a pleasure to meet one of Pinkie's friends."

"That's good," Thunder said weakly, "since it seems like everypony's her friend."

The stallion chuckled, then stopped to wipe his eyes. "That they are," he said.

"She saved me, you know," Thunder said softly, without knowing quite why he was saying it. "Cacophony was coming for me. It should have gotten me instead, but Pinkie knocked me out of the way."

The mare sobbed and held a hoof to her mouth, fresh tears spilling out of her eyes. The stallion, whom Thunder took to be her husband, stepped in to comfort her.

"Did she?" the stallion replied. "That doesn't surprise me one bit."

"That's our Pinkie Pie," the mare choked out. "Always looking out for everypony else."

"I'm so sorry," Thunder shook his head. "Are you two her parents?"

"Oh!" the mare exclaimed with a watery smile. "No, dearie, we aren't the Pies. We're the Cakes. I'm Cup Cake, and this is my husband Carrot Cake."

"Oh," Thunder snickered. "Sorry, how could I have gotten those mixed up?"

The stallion chuckled. Thunder was glad that he'd gotten a laugh out of the two of them, even if it was accidental and at his own expense. "No relation at all, actually," the stallion said. "Pinkie rents the loft upstairs and helps us run the store. Celestia knows we love her like our own, though."

Cup Cake wailed and buried her muzzle in her husband's fur. He shushed her gently as he stroked her mane.

"Thunder, ah think we'd better get goin,'" Applejack prompted him.

"Yeah. Um, nice meeting you both," he said awkwardly.

"You too, Mr. Growl," Carrot Cake answered.

"Hey, Mr. Growl is my father," Thunder answered, a habitual joke.

The Cakes both laughed. There were hasty goodbyes all around, and then Thunder and Applejack left Sugarcube Corner to leave the Cakes to their grief.

"So what brings you out ta the Corner now of all times?" Applejack asked.

Thunder shook his head. "I didn't know that was Pinkie's house." His stomach answered the rest of the question with a loud growl.

Applejack chuckled. "Gotcha. Well, I do seem to recall invitin' ya to come around fer dinner sometime. Care to join me? Ah was just about to head back to the farm."

"You sure?" Thunder asked. "I thought you wanted some time alone with your family."

"But you haven't got any family 'round here, right?"

"Right," Thunder answered. He bit his tongue on the thought that he didn't have family worth mentioning around here or anywhere else. "Don't see what that has to do with anything, though."

Applejack shook her head sadly. "Nopony should have to go through a time like this all on their own. Besides, Granny Smith always makes enough fer ten extra ponies. Now you come on out to the farm with me, we'll take good care of ya."

Thunder scuffed a hoof against the ground. "Well, if you're sure, then yeah. I'd love to." Invitation or not it still felt like intruding, but Thunder thought this cowpony might just lasso him and drag him along if he refused.

"Ah'm sure," Applejack answered with a smile. She led the way down the road, Thunder trotting to keep up.

"So, everyone has family around here?" Thunder asked as they went.

"Well, sorta," Applejack answered. "Mah family lives out on Sweet Apple Acres. That'd be me, mah brother Big McIntosh, mah little sis Apple Bloom, an' Granny Smith."

Thunder was tempted to ask what had happened to her parents, but refrained. Everypony was sad enough without bringing up dung like that.

"Twi and Spike got each other, they're practically like brother an' sister," Applejack continued. "Rarity's folks are right nearby, an' unless I miss mah guess, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are probably together right now."

"Oh?" Thunder raised an eyebrow. He'd gotten a bit of a filly-fooler vibe off of Rainbow Dash, but Fluttershy?

"Now I know what you're thinkin,' and it ain't like that," Applejack chided him. "Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash have been friends since they were little fillies. They've always been there for each other."

"Gotcha."

"What about you?" Applejack asked. "Ah know ya don't have much to do with your family anymore, but what about your friends?"

Thunder sighed. "My closest friends were my bandmates: Power Chord, Bass Groove, and Wing Beat. Cacophony got them. You've apparently met Trixie, who is probably my oldest friend, though we aren't as close as when we were foals. Beyond that," he shrugged, "I travel around a lot. I have ponies that I know here and there, but I don't know if I could call them friends."

"Ya got us," Applejack nudged him with a smile. "Ah think if you were honest with yerself, you'd realize you've got more friends than ya think."

Thunder shrugged but didn't respond, and Applejack let the matter drop.

"Well, here we are!" Applejack gestured with a hoof as they passed under an arched gate advertising the place as "Sweet Apple Acres."

Thunder looked around and whistled. Orchards stretched as far as he could see. "You didn't tell me you were rich," he joked.

"Naw, we ain't rich," Applejack answered as they continued walking. "To be honest with ya, some years we barely scrape by. Pretty much all the money we make we gotta put right back into the farm."

"Sounds rough," Thunder replied. "Sorry."

"Oh, it's not as bad as all that," Applejack hurried to reassure him. She led him up to a small house and opened the door. "Granny Smith!" she called out, "I'm home!"

"Oh, there ya are, Applejack," an extremely old pony called as she walked into the small living room. Thunder glanced around and saw that Applejack had been telling the truth. Judging by this house, the Apples were anything but rich. The old mare pulled Applejack into a tight hug. “How’re ya holding up?”

“Ah’m alright,” Applejack said, resting her head gently on the other pony. “It’s good to be home.”

"Well, don’t you worry, Applejack. Ah know things are bad now, but we’ll get through this. You’re a strong mare. Hurry up now, dinner’s gonna get cold.” At that point, she noticed Thunder for the first time. “Oh! Why didn't ya tell me you were bringing a coltfriend over?"

Coltfriend? Thunder and Applejack looked at each other and blushed.

"Now you listen here, mister," the elderly pony said, getting right in Thunder's face. "If I so much as think that you aren't treatin' my granddaughter right, I'll plant my hoof so far up yer keister that you'll be spittin' horseapples for a week, you hear me?"

Thunder stared at her, then laughed. "I like this one," he said to Applejack.

Applejack hid her face behind her hat, mortified. "Granny Smith, he isn't mah coltfriend."

"He isn't?” Granny Smith turned to look at Applejack in surprise. “Ah, ponyfeathers, he looks like a good’un, too." She backed off a step and shook Thunder’s hoof enthusiastically. "Well, it's mighty nice to meet ya anyway.”

"Granny Smith, this is Thunder Growl. Ah told you about him. Thunder, this is mah grandmother, everypony just calls her Granny Smith."

"Well, c'mon in," Granny Smith invited them. "We were just about ta have dinner. Big Mac! Apple Bloom! There's a guest for y'all to meet."

A little yellow filly with a hair bow came skipping into the room followed by an absolutely massive red earth pony.

"Well, you must be Big McIntosh," Thunder said, holding out a hoof to the latter.

"Eeyup." He was almost as tall as Celestia, and a whole lot bulkier.

"Nice to meet ya, ah'm Apple Bloom!" the filly chirped, shaking Thunder's hoof with both of hers. Thunder didn't much care for foals, but he had to admit that this one was pretty cute.

They all sat down to a dinner that was every bit as large as Applejack had promised. As they ate, a light snow began to fall outside, which quickly escalated into a driving snowstorm.

"They didn't tell us there was supposed to be a storm tonight!" Granny Smith complained as the snowfall grew heavier.

In response, Apple Bloom simply tapped a flyer that read "Warning: heavy snowfall scheduled for tonight. Stay indoors and keep warm!" It was signed Ponyville Weather Team.

"Oh," Granny Smith said. "Well, they still shoulda said something. Shoot, Thunder, where are ya staying while yer here?"

"Twilight's letting me stay at her house," Thunder answered. "I'll get back alright."

"Oh, no ya won't!" Granny Smith shook her hoof scoldingly. "Ah ain't about to let anypony walk that far in a blizzard. You're gonna enjoy some old-fashioned Apple Family hospitality tonight. Big Mac, we got enough wood for a fire?"

"Eeyup."

"Well, git one started, would ya?"

"Eeyup." Big Mac stood up and went into the living room. As he worked to get a fire going, the others began clearing the table. Thunder began to help, but was quickly stopped by Granny Smith.

"Don't you lift a hoof, mister!" she barked. "You just go get comfy by the fire, we'll be along."

Thunder wasn't sure whether to thank her or apologize as she took the plate he had picked up and carried it into the kitchen. Instead he retreated into the living room, where Big McIntosh had already gotten a roaring fire going.

It was drafty in that little house, but quite warm by the fireplace. Between that, his overfull belly, and his quiet companion, Thunder soon found himself dozing. He roused a few minutes later as the rest of the Apples came to join them by the fire.

“Did I ever tell ya the story of when your Aunt Orange and I visited Fillydelphia?” Granny Smith asked, rocking gently in her chair.

“Sure did,” Applejack answered. “’Bout a dozen times.”

“Ah wasn’t askin’ you,” she grumbled. “I bet Thunder’d like to hear about it.” Without waiting for a response, she launched into an extremely long and boring story, complete with old black-and-white photos. Somehow it didn’t bother Thunder as much as he expected it to.

They passed the next couple of hours chatting amiably. Big Mac occasionally braved the cold outside to bring in more wood for the fire, and after a while Applejack put on a kettle of cider—not hard cider, to Thunder’s disappointment. The kettle soon began steaming and giving off a delicious aroma, and they sipped on the hot cider as the night got colder and the wind howled outside.

So this is what a real family is like, huh? Thunder mused sleepily as the night wore on. Not bad. He yawned happily. Not bad at all.