When Music is Silenced

by Summer Knight

Wrapping Up

The ponies had been a little worried about how they would get back out of the mountain, but their concerns proved unfounded. Pinkie Pie found a staircase cut into one wall that led them up to a door and back out into the caves. From there it was a relatively simple matter to find their way back to the palace basement.

Thunder felt wonderful. Far from hurting him, the power of the Elements of Harmony had restored his hearing and his voice. They had done the same for Applejack, and somehow even healed Rainbow Dash's broken bones. He talked and laughed with his bandmates and Berry as they walked, and even the claustrophobic atmosphere of the tunnels was not enough to smother their joy.

Power Chord, however, noticed that Thunder kept glancing out of the corner of his eye at Vinyl Scratch. The DJ had been mobbed by fans and admirers ever since the Elements had destroyed Cacophony.

"Go talk to her," Power Chord nudged him.

"Huh?"

"You've been looking at Pon-3 ever since you first spotted her. Whatever you want to say, go say it."

"I can't even get near her," Thunder protested. The crowd around her was much too thick.

"You just helped save Equestria," Wing Beat said. "I think they'll let you through."

Thunder's stomach twisted nervously. He hadn't had nearly enough booze to deal with this, but with all of his bandmates encouraging him there didn't seem to be any way to avoid it. He pushed his way through the crowd of ponies, who made way for him as soon as they realized who he was.

"Hey, Vinyl?" he asked quietly. Why was this so bucking hard? He'd just saved Equestria from a monster, and he was getting cold hooves about talking to Vinyl Scratch?

Thunder cleared his throat. "Vinyl?" he called more loudly.

The DJ looked over. "Yo, Thunder!" she called out happily.

Thunder scuffed a hoof against the ground. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Vinyl caught his mood. "Sure, what's up?" She looked around at the other ponies crowding them. "You mind giving us a minute?"

The crowd slowly dispersed with a mix of protests and apologies, eventually leaving the two of them in relative privacy.

"Look," Thunder began, "I know I've been a bit of a plothole to you lately."

Vinyl slowly nodded with a thoughtful frown. "I thought you'd been acting a bit weird. What's going on?"

Thunder sighed. Now that they'd come down to it, he wasn't even sure he could say it. "I guess I've been... well... the truth is I was jealous of you."

"Jealous?" Vinyl raised an eyebrow.

What was he supposed to say now? I hate that you're more successful than I am, and I've had a crush on your marefriend for years. Yeah, that'll go over well. "Yeah. It just seemed like," he cast about for the right non-incriminating words, "like you always get everything I want, and it started to get to me. When Cacophony captured you I realized what a bucking little idiot I'd been, but by then it was too late. I was throwing our friendship away over a stupid jealous grudge." He looked away. He hadn't really been meeting her eyes, but he now found himself unable to even look into her signature sunglasses. "I guess what I'm trying to say here is: I'm sorry."

Vinyl slid her sunglasses down to the tip of her muzzle, her violet eyes peering over the top of the shades at him. The red eyes that she was famous for had been a prank. Everypony had been so eager to see her real eyes, so she had bought theatrical contact lenses and then made an appearance without her sunglasses.

"Well," Vinyl drew out the word thoughtfully. Thunder's stomach twisted into knots as he waited to hear her verdict. "You did just save my life, not to mention all of Equestria, so I suppose I can forgive you just this once. If," she continued. Thunder looked up in surprise to find that she was grinning impishly, "you buy me a drink once we're out of here."

Thunder couldn't help himself. He laughed. "Deal."

"C'mere, you." Vinyl slung a foreleg over Thunder's shoulders and gave him a one-hoofed hug as they walked.

Twilight used her magic to open the large steel door leading to the palace basement and led a vertiable parade of laughing, singing ponies past the surprised guards. For the first time in over a month the sounds of music swelled throughout the royal palace and spread to the streets of Canterlot as Cacophony's prisoners rejoiced in their freedom. More and more ponies realized that the threat had passed, and soon the entire city was alive with song and dance.

Octavia was one of the first on the scene when she heard the music, and Thunder had the pleasure of seeing her tearful reunion with Vinyl Scratch. He looked away once they started making out, though.

"Oh thank you, thank you!" Octavia exclaimed, wringing Thunder's hoof and those of the six bearers of Harmony. "Excuse me," she sniffled as tears began rolling down her face again, "I'm afraid I am quite out of countenance."

Thunder gave Octavia a brief hug and then allowed her to return to Vinyl, where she wept happy tears into the DJ's shoulder. All around were similar scenes of joy and relief as ponies found their loved ones again. Those who were not from Canterlot looked briefly lost until they were pulled in—forcibly, in some cases—to join the festivities.

Thunder had never smiled so much in his life.

"Very well done, my little ponies!" Celestia's voice rang out over the crowd. All around ponies gasped and dropped into bows as the princess of the sun descended from the sky. She graced them with a gentle smile. "To those who have been returned to us, welcome back. To those who worked so hard to free Cacophony's prisoners, thank you. Now, everypony: let us celebrate the return of music to Equestria!"

The celebration resumed once it became clear that Celestia was finished speaking. When everything was back in full swing, the princess sought out her student. "Twilight Sparkle," she said with a smile, "you continue to impress. All of you do."

"Celly!" Pinkie squealed, springing up to wrap her forelegs around Celestia's neck.

Celestia chuckled. "It is good to see you too, Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie reached behind her back and somehow produced a large cake, fully baked and decorated. Celestia's eyebrows rose.

"It is very good to see you."

Once the impossible cake had been divided among the friends and the princess, Celestia turned to Twilight. "Did you find out who was responsible for Cacophony?" she asked quietly.

Twilight shook her head sadly. She hated disappointing her teacher. "Maybe it was one of the ponies that followed us out, but there's no way of knowing."

"A pony?" a mocking masculine voice asked from behind Twilight's ear. "Please, Twilight Sparkle, I thought you were supposed to be smart."

"Discord!" Twilight gasped as the draconequus slithered out from her mane. There was no way his entire body could have fit in there, but when had a little thing like physics ever stopped him? "What do you want?"

"Now is that any way to greet a friend?" Discord laid a hand over his heart. "And here I only wanted to help." His eyes became impossibly large and watery.

"I'm sure she didn't mean it like that," Fluttershy flew up to reassure her friend. "You just startled her is all. Isn't that right, Twilight?"

Twilight rolled her eyes, but nodded. "Right. Sorry. I guess."

"Apology accepted, friend!" Discord produced a conical hat that read "friend"—though it looked suspiciously like a dunce cap otherwise—and crammed it onto Twilight's head, then proceeded to vigorously shake her hoof. Twilight's entire body continued shaking for several seconds after Discord let go.

"What did you want to say to us?" Fluttershy asked.

"Ah, yes." The draconequus reached into one ear and pulled out a full-sized drinking glass, the opening covered with plastic wrap. Inside of it was something that looked disgustingly like a slug, though it swirled with many different colors and darted rapidly around its transparent prison. Rarity shrieked and attempted to hide behind Applejack.

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked, flying forward to get a closer look. "I've never seen a gastropod quite like that before."

"This, my dear Buttershy, is your villain. Ladies, meet Cacophony. He'd been living in the mountain right under your hooves for centuries. That was the reason the mining operations were stopped: they stumbled onto this little guy, and realized that they'd released something they really shouldn't have. They sealed everything up and left."

"Hold it," Applejack glared at Discord. "You knew all along what was goin' on and ya never told anyone?"

"Well, you never asked," Discord retorted. He disappeared and emerged from under Applejack's hat, staring upside-down into her eyes. Rarity squeaked and retreated farther away as the glass holding the slug-like creature came uncomfortably close to her face. "This entire time not one pony ever thought to say 'gee, remember that ancient and omnipotent, not to mention dashingly handsome spirit of chaos? Maybe he knows something about this.' You're lucky I'm not the suspicious type, or I might think you were avoiding me."

"So, what exactly is it?" Twilight asked, her curiosity getting the better of her revulsion.

"So glad you asked!" Discord vanished in a white flash and reappered in front of Twilight, holding the repulsive creature right under her nose and causing her to instinctively jerk her head back. "What you are looking at, my dear, is your basic low-level spirit of chaos."

"Wait, like you?" Twilight asked.

"Please, don't insult me," Discord grumbled. "Cacophony is as much like me as a weed is like an alicorn. I mean, really, destroying music? How boring can you get?" He squeezed the glass between two of his talons and it vanished in a white flash. "But you don't need to worry about it anymore."

"Where did you just send that creature, Discord?" Celestia asked.

Discord held a finger to his chin in thought. "Hmm. It wasn't really a 'where' so much as a 'when.' I've banished it to February 33rd."

"There's no such thing!" Twilight protested.

"Exactly! I've ensured that Cacophony will never trouble you again, simply out of the goodness of my heart." Discord reached into his chest and pulled out his own heart, which was topped with an angelic halo. He waited just long enough for the ponies to start looking ill, then tossed the heart behind himself. It flew into the air and exploded like a firework. "Besides, what would I have done the next time I needed to ask for a glass of water?"

"What? You know what, never mind," Twilight muttered. "I don't think I want to know."

"Oooh! Oooh!" Pinkie Pie pranced up on top of Discord's head and leaned over to look him in the eye. "As long as we're wrapping up plot holes—"

"Pinkie Pie!" Rarity gasped.

"Not that kind of plot hole! Anyway, how come Cacophony only attacked other ponies the first time it showed up? And how come the real one didn't talk?"

"Excellent questions." Discord plucked Pinkie off of his head and produced a jawbreaker larger than the pony herself, which she crammed into her mouth all at once. The side of her face bulged impossibly like a grotesque parody of a chipmunk, but it at least kept her quiet long enough for Discord to explain. "Cacophony wasn't accustomed to using its magic, which is why it lost control the first time. He actually was speaking when you fought him, but it was so lost in all the chaos that you couldn't tell." Just the word chaos seemed to make the draconequus happy.

"An' just how do ya know all of this?" Applejack demanded.

"I am effectively a god, you know. Just call it a Discord ex machina. Now if you'll excuse me, I do believe I'm missing an excellent party here. Toodles!" Discord wrapped himself into a circle and bit his own tail, eating himself until he was completely gone.

"Have fun, Discord!" Fluttershy called after him. "Be good!"

It was late afternoon when the group of friends disembarked at the Ponyville train station. Thunder couldn't believe that it was still so early in the day. It seemed like weeks had passed since he'd woken up at the Apples' home this morning.

"Well," he said to the others before they went their separate ways, "I guess this is it. Thanks for everything, guys. I'll just pick up my stuff and—"

"Oh no ya don't," Applejack interrupted him.

"You wouldn't leave before the 'We Saved Equestria (Again)' party, would you?" Pinkie's eyes rivaled Discord's for how large and teary they could get.

"Um, I mean, if you don't have somewhere else to be," Fluttershy added.

Thunder laughed. "Nah, I think I can manage to make time for a party."

"Yay!" Pinkie threw her forelegs into the air with a shower of confetti.

"Ah'll go warn Granny Smith and Big Mac," Applejack said. "Got a feelin' this is gonna be a big one."

The ponies split up to go home and prepare for the party, and in Pinkie's case to let the Cakes know that she was safe. Thunder tagged along with Twilight so that he could get the bags he had left at her house.

Twilight opened the door and found herself muzzle-to-snout with a baby dragon who was very irate at having been left behind. While Twilight smoothed Spike's ruffled spines, Thunder went over to the little bed he'd been using in the corner of the room to get his things. On an impulse, he took the covers from the bed and folded them into something vaguely resembling a neat square, then dragged the mattress back up to the closet that Twilight had retrieved it from. By the time he was finished cleaning up after himself, Twilight and Spike had finished arguing and were hugging happily.

As Thunder came back down the stairs there was a knock at the door. Twilight opened it to find Pinkie Pie there with a huge smile on her face and a list of party supplies.

"Hey Twilight!" Pinkie chirped as she pranced into the library. "Could I borrow some ink? I ran out." She unrolled the list to show what she had been working on, and Twilight stared openmouthed as it just continued unrolling, eventually stretching across the entire library several times.

"Uh, sure," Twilight said weakly. "Hold on a second." She went to get a fresh ink bottle for her friend.

"Ooooh, what's this?" Pinkie asked. Thunder moved so he could see what she was looking at and found her examining the energy drink that he had offered Twilight and then forgotten on the table.

"Uh, Pinkie?" Thunder tried to warn her, but it was too late. Pinkie popped the cap and downed the contents in a single swallow. "Oh, alicorns..."

Pinkie smacked her lips thoughtfully, then stopped and went wide-eyed. Her entire body started to shake like a jackhammer. As Twilight walked back into the room, Pinkie flew into the air on a trail of sparks and exploded like a firework.

"What is going on in here?" Twilight demanded.

"Don't ask," Thunder grumbled around his facehoof.

It was early evening and Thunder was running a pleasant buzz. It seemed like all of Ponyville had turned out for the party, which the Apples had been kind enough to host at Sweet Apple Acres. Berry Punch had brought as much wine and liquor as the bar could spare, and purchased two casks of cider directly from the Apples for the party. The Cakes, overjoyed to have Pinkie Pie back, outdid themselves with an array of sweets and pastries for everypony to snack on. Pinkie herself was little more than a pink blur, seeming to be in at least three places at once at any given time. No more energy drinks for her, Thunder thought with amusement.

Rainbow Dash darted up to the record player, which was currently pumping out something upbeat and fun that would not have been out of place at a cuteceanera.

"C'mon, Pinkie," she managed to hold the hyperactive pony in one place long enough to speak to her, "let's put on some real music. She held up a record with an image of a microphone being struck by lightning on the front.

"Okey dokey lokey!" Pinkie snatched the record from Rainbow Dash and swapped it with the other so quickly that there was no perceptible break in the music.

Thunder's ears perked up as he heard a very familiar guitar riff.

"Oh, buck yes!" he shouted. He knocked back what was left in his glass and went to the center of the room to sing along with himself. He hadn't gotten more than a few words into Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Your Grave when an exuberant and rather drunk rainbow slammed into his side, knocking him a few steps away. He looked over and grinned fiercely. Oh, you're on, Dash.

Thunder charged back at her and knocked her with a shoulder, sending the pegasus tumbling. She sprang back up to her hooves and came right back at him. Some of the ponies, particularly the older ones, looked somewhere between concerned and horrified, but a lot of the younger crowd dove right in to the mosh pit.

About twenty minutes a later a sweaty, slightly bruised, and very happy Thunder Growl found an out-of-the-way table to sit down at with a fresh helping of brandy. He found himself sitting next to Big Mac, Applejack's large but quiet older brother, who was sipping slowly on a glass of cider.

"Come on, you're not gonna get in there?" Thunder gestured to the large open space where ponies were still slamming into one another in fits of joyous energy.

"Nnnnope."

"What, are you afraid you're gonna hurt someone?"

"Eeeyup. That, an' I jus' don't care to."

"Wow, you get downright chatty when you've been drinking," Thunder laughed.

"Thunder!" Rainbow called out as she joined the two of them at the small table. Her eyes were slightly unfocused and she was holding a mug of cider of her own. "Let's hoof-wrestle!"

"Sure, why the buck not?" It was that kind of a night. Thunder took a hefty swallow of brandy and set his glass aside to make room on the table.

Despite being smaller than Thunder, Rainbow was toned and wiry and stronger than she looked. Even so, she couldn't match his brute strength. It took more effort than he expected, but Thunder got her hoof to touch down on the table.

"Alright, Big Mac," Rainbow shouted, "you've got winner!"

"Nnnnope."

"Aww, come on!"

"Nnnnope!"

"What's wrong," Thunder goaded the larger stallion, "ya chicken?"

Big McIntosh turned to glare at him. "Ain't nopony calls me chicken." He slowly lifted a foreleg to the table and Thunder met it with his own.

"Go!" Rainbow shouted.

Less than a second later Thunder was massaging his hoof and grinning sheepishly. "Uh, good match?"

"Eeyup." Big Mac went back to his cider.

Time passed and the party wound down. Ponies starting leaving alone or in small groups to head back to their homes and beds. Thunder picked up his bags and sought out the six ponies who had seen him through the worst time of his life, giving each a hug and his heartfelt thanks. Pinkie Pie wouldn't let him go until he promised to come back for her next party, and Rainbow Dash made him swear to get her in to Pegapalooza.

The last one he found was Twilight. Spike, who had refused to be left behind again even though it was getting very late, was walking with her.

"Spike," Thunder overheard Twilight say, "take a letter."

Thunder approached the two of them as Spike pulled out a piece of paper and a quill.

"Ready!"

"Dear Princess Celestia—"

"Twilight?" Thunder interrupted them. His head was swimming pleasantly, and the alcohol had given him an idea.

"What is it?"

Thunder nodded toward Spike, still poised to write a friendship report. "May I?"

It took Twilight a moment to realize what he meant. She looked from Thunder to Spike, then smiled.

"Sure."

Thunder cleared his throat and thought for a minute. His mind was a bit fuzzy, but that had never stopped him from finding the right words before. In fact, it usually helped loosen him up so the words could flow.

"Dear Princess Celestia, this is Thunder Growl writing to you. This past week or so, I've learned... buck, where do I start? "You can leave out that part," Thunder said as an aside.

"Don't worry, I didn't write that bit down," Spike chuckled. "Wanna start over?"

"Yeah, good idea," Thunder laughed. He gathered his thoughts and began again.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

"This is Thunder Growl. About a week ago, one of your guards dropped me off in Ponyville. It was the worst time of my life, but it was still one of the best things that ever happened to me. With some help from the ponies there I was able to work through a lot of," he bit his tongue on the word dung, "uh, problems. My own problems and Equestria's. I hurt a lot of ponies, some that I meant to and some that I didn't, and I was on the verge of destroying myself too. Usually my bandmates and my friends are there to keep me from getting too out of control, and without them I was totally lost for a while. Twilight and the others got me through it.

"If all of this has taught me anything, it's that there are always ponies who will be there for you, ponies who won't give up on you even when you've given up on yourself. Ponies are stronger together than they could ever be alone.

"I guess..." he cast about in his mind for the right phrase. "I guess what I'm trying to say here is: I've learned that Friendship is Magic.

Your Sometimes-Wayward Subject,

Thunder Growl