Extremely Loud, Intensely Bright, Drastically Tense, Exceedingly Tight

by h4ns

Famous Last Words

Chapter 68: Famous Last Words

Thunderlane felt like an idiot. Correction, he felt like the idiot everypony had always claimed he was, even if Thunderlane had at the time thought the same about them.

But the stallion didn't feel this way when he let out what he'd seen Bryce do with the barrel of peanuts, nor when he entered the barn. It had been when Bryce shut the barn door and, with use of his telekinesis, slid the barricade into the slot, locking the door from the inside.

The slate grey pegasus was beginning to wonder what he'd expected to happen when he said those words. At the time it had been the only thing he could think of to stop the human in his tracks, hoping the human would hear him out. It had stopped him alright, but Thunderlane was alone with a person who was not only at least twice his size, but could pick him up off his hooves with a thought. Celestia only knew what else the human could do, but the worst Thunderlane could muster was that he wouldn't have to worry about flying anymore once his wings were pulled from their sockets, if Bryce decided to stop with those two limbs.

For a while Bryce said nothing as he laid his head against the door. In truth, he wanted to do what Thunderlane thought he'd do and tear him limb from limb. But he couldn't do that, he would never do something so heinous, even if Thunderlane was a complete asshole.

Without looking back, Bryce asked, "How much do you know?"

Thunderlane felt his whole body lock up and his blood run cold. "A- About what?"

Bryce punched the door. "Don't play with me! You already told me about the peanuts." He turned around to look at Thunderlane with his inky black stare. "How much do you know?!"

Upon seeing that bottomless stare the words caught in Thunderlane's throat.

When it became clear Thunderlane wasn't going to say anything, Bryce stepped forward.

Thunderlane fell back, using his hooves to push himself away from the human. He knew it was pointless, but he wanted to be as far away from Bryce as possible. He could have ran, tried to get past the human, but Bryce would grip him up with an invisible force only he could control. It didn't matter if he had his flight or not, Bryce would have him. And when Thunderlane felt his back reach the back wall of the barn he knew this had to be it.

With each remaining step the human took towards Thunderlane, the stallion felt his pulse rise, and his shallow breaths raise to match the tempo at the same rate. If his heart didn't give out first, Thunderlane knew he was about to be in a world of pain.

When Bryce was standing over Thunderlane he brought a pitchfork into his hand using his telekinesis. After touching a finger to the tip of one of the tines, he asked again in a calm tone, "How much do you know?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rumble flew around the barn, looking for a way to get inside. He knew the door was a bust, Bryce had managed to lock it from the inside. The windows that ran along the ground floor were a no, Bryce would see him coming. He could look for a loose board in the roof, but that may take too long, and it ran the risk of Bryce hearing him.

The only possible way in was the big sliding door that Rumble thought would open to a hay loft. It was possible, but Rumble didn't know if he could muster the wing strength to slide it open enough to slip inside.

After flying around the barn for at least the tenth time Rumble came back down to the ground. He could tell the last option was the only possible option, but he didn't know if he could see it through. Opening the hay loft door would require him to fly, and his wings were strong enough to just keep him aloft, and only just. In addition to that, the he would need to slide open was big enough that a full grown cow could be thrown through, with enough space left for a stallion.

As Rumble allowed his wings to rest from his flight, he crawled under one of the lower windows. Creeping up on his back hooves he peeked inside. Rumble could see Bryce, who was propped against the barn door. Sitting on his hind legs at the center of the barn was Thunderlane.

A few seconds afterwards, Rumble watched as Bryce turned back from the door, staring directly at the slate grey pegasus. He could see his mouth move but couldn't hear the words. It wasn't long after Bryce began to walk towards Thunderlane, who soon fell on his back and began to push himself away from the advancing human.

That was all Rumble needed to haul his flank up to attempt to get up to the hay loft. He knew if he didn't do something then his brother would do something to make things worse for sure.

When Rumble reached the large door, he placed his fore hooves along its edge. With a few big flaps of his adolescent wings, he felt the door slowly but surely slide open. Soon there was a crack big enough for the pegasus colt to hear Bryce ask, "How much do you know?"

At hearing that, Rumble allowed himself to hover in the air, his hooves keeping the door open. He stuck his ear against the gap, listening to what else was said. "Wh- What are you gonna do with that pitchfork?" He heard Thunderlane ask.

There was a short pause before Bryce ask him back, "What makes you think I need to use it?"

"Be- Because...I..." Thunderlane must have been taking too long for Bryce's liking. The next thing Rumble heard was the sound of the pitchfork being rammed through the wall, with a shrill cry coming from the older pegasus. Looking down, Rumble could see the tips of the farm tool jutting out of the outside wall down below.

Rumble redoubled his efforts. Flapping his wings with greater force, he slid open the door until the gap was wide enough for him to slip inside. Once inside, Rumble fell to the floor, using the last bit of strength in his wings to quiet his landing. Once Rumble was sure he hadn't been caught, he peeked through a gap in the floorboards.

Though he could barely see through to the other side, he could see Thunderlane leaning against the back wall, unmoving. Shifting around, he found Bryce as well. He held the pitchfork in one hand, his attention still down at the slate grey pegasus. For a moment Rumble was sure Bryce had done the unthinkable and pierced his older brother. But after moving around a little more Rumble found an open knothole. Peeking through, he let out a low sigh of relief; Thunderlane hadn't been skewered, at least not yet.

"I don't want to have to use this, but if you leave me no choice I might have to." Bryce released his hold on the pitchfork, allowing it to hang in the wall. He bent down, with his face a few inches from Thunderlane's. "I just want to know...how much...you know."

Up above Rumble felt left out of whatever crazy loop Thunderlane had gotten himself caught into. He still remembered what Thunderlane had said, something about how Bryce had moved a barrel of peanuts. But there didn't seem to be anything strange with that. Heck, with the weird fore hooves Bryce had he could move anything with ease.

There had to be more to it. Moving a barrel with whatever one called those strange hooves wasn't something to get worked up about. Rumble just pushed open a barn door with his own pair of hooves and nopony threw a parade for that. He knew if he were to find out he would have to stay quiet, and see if Bryce revealed it for himself.

"I... I only know about that. I- I swear," Thunderlane managed to blurt out.

"About what exactly? I want to hear you say it."

"A- About the peanuts. I saw you move them without touching them."

"Is that all?"

Thunderlane gave a nod, causing Bryce to grip him by the mohawk. He pulled the pegasus to where his golden eyes met his black, bottomless ones. "You are not going to nod. You are not going to shake your head. You are going to answer me, in words, in complete sentences. Is that all you know?"

Without looking away, Thunderlane answered, "Ye- Yeah. That's all I know."

"Have you told anyone?"

"No, I haven't told anypony."

"What about Rumble? Did you tell your brother?"

"I didn't tell him about the peanuts."

"Then what did you tell him?"

Thunderlane replied with stuttered words. "A- About- About the-" His eyes glazed away from Bryce.

Bryce shook him from side-to-side before asking him, "Why won't you answer?"

"You wo- won't like it."

"Humor me."

Smacking his dry lips, Thunderlane said, "I told how, how, how you took my flight away... And that you... You did it through... With... Mind...control..."

At those words Bryce shook his head while he gave a smirk. "Mind control." He laughed in his throat. "Mind control." He gave a few more laughs as he let go of Thunderlane's mohawk. Bryce stood back up, and walking a short distance away said, "You're an idiot, but you're not far off."

Thunderlane and Rumble looked at Bryce, dumbfounded by his comment. "Wait, it is?!" Thunderlane exclaimed.

"Partly, but mostly it's not. Since you won't remember any of this, not after I'm finished with you, I might as well-"

And then from the hay loft, there came a loud thud that made everyone jump. It left both Bryce and Thunderlane motionless, but Rumble was looking around for the culprit. It didn't take him long to find it: The sliding door, which Rumble had used to sneak into the barn, had closed itself and let everyone know about it.

For a moment Rumble was prepared to believe he was the only one who'd heard it, but when he looked back through the knothole he found Thunderlane still lying against the barn wall, and Bryce nowhere in sight.

Looking across the hay loft floor, Rumble could imagine Bryce standing right below the ledge. At that thought he forced himself to freeze up as he took short, shallow breaths. If he could stay still for long enough then maybe Bryce would brush it off and go back to his brother. But it was not the case.

"Who's up there?!" Bryce called up to the hay loft, standing where Rumble had expected him to be.

Rumble drew in a deep breath, and held it. If he kept as quiet as possible then Bryce would have to drop it and go back to Thunderlane.

"I know you're up there, so come down!"

Rumble gave no answer.

Down below, Bryce made his way back to Thunderlane. Grabbing the pitchfork with both hands he yanked it out of the wall. He looked to the slate grey pegasus, telling him, "Not one move; not one sound," without moving his mouth.

Taking the pitchfork, Bryce tapped the handle end against the bottom of the hay loft. Rumble heard where it had come from; a little more than a foot from his position.

Bryce tapped the same spot a few more times, finally deciding it wasn't the right spot and moved to a new spot six inches closer to Rumble's position up above.

Rumble didn't know what Bryce expected, but he figured the human was trying to find him based on the sound the tap gave off. The colt was skeptical of this assumption, but if Bryce could tell from the sound alone then sticking to the same spot would give him away in no time. He would have used his wings, but after his battle with the hay loft door it had left them feeling sore. And the rectangular hay bales were stacked too high for him to mount. Getting to his hooves, Rumble tiptoed away from where Bryce was currently tapping, which wasn't very far behind.

For the next ten minutes Bryce continued to tap around the underside of the hayloft, and Rumble would move about above. But as time went on Rumble noticed the human was taking less time between taps, and did fewer and fewer in a given spot. Either Bryce was getting better or he was baiting him towards the edge. Rumble could believe it to be both.

Whatever the case, Rumble continued to walk about, being forced to inch ever closer to the edge. It was then Rumble noticed something he hadn't seen until now. Right at the edge of the hay loft was a bale of hay, one small enough he could get on top of. If he could get on top of it then maybe it would throw off the sound when Bryce tapped at that spot. It was a long shot, but Rumble knew he had no other options.

Once Rumble was close enough he mounted the hay bale, pushing the front a few inches over the edge in the process. After the pegasus colt was on top of the bale he ducked down with his fore hooves over his head. Feeling himself safe, Rumble did nothing else but listen as Bryce continued to beat the bottom of the hay loft. When the time came for Bryce to strike the area right under his hay bale, Rumble braced himself for the vibration that would come with it.

But it never came.

Instead a sharp wolf call pierced the air, making Rumble cover his ears in the enclosed space.

"Rumble," Bryce called up to the light grey colt in a singsong tone, "I see you."

The hairs on Rumble's neck stood on end when Bryce said that. He was afraid of what he would see when he opened his eyes, and when he did it made his pupils shrink: He could see down to the barn floor, down to where Bryce stood looking up to him in plain view. The pitchfork was held over his shoulder.

Bryce motioned for Rumble to come down. "Get on down here, kid."

But Rumble refused to oblige. After what the light grey colt had seen Bryce do and having listened to his brother admit to have seen the colt didn't feel he could trust the human. Between moving barrels of peanuts without physical contact and stating he had taken Thunderlane's flight away through mind control one thing was certain: Bryce was not what he seemed.

Bryce waved up to Rumble again. "Kid, come on down."

Without thinking, Rumble attempted to push backwards, while still facing forwards, but only managed to kick up pieces of hay. It didn't take him long to kick away enough to form an incline, an incline that would slide him down to Bryce. He tried to push himself back with renewed effort, but it only served to expedite his fate.

Rumble slipped down the slide he'd created, and began to fall. But then, as he was falling through the air, his hoof gripped something that stopped his descent.

Bryce saw this happen, and yelled, "Rumble just stay calm!"

Rumble kept calm, but more out of not yet comprehending that he was hanging in the air. All Bryce had said was little more than a mumble.

Shaking his head, Rumble came back to reality, and heard Bryce say, "Rumble, just let go, I'll catch you!" He stuck out his arms, ready to catch the colt.

Panting heavily, Rumble looked up to see what had him: It was the drawstring that held the bale together. He pulled down, pulling the hay over the edge that much more. After a few tugs he resorted to using his wings to set himself free, ignoring the shots of pain he received with each flap. Each tug only served tightened the loop around his hoof. He heard Bryce down below him, but he disregarded the human's words.

Not knowing what else to do, Rumble used his hind legs to kick off from the bale, and with the aid of his wings threw himself away with enough force that the string snapped away.

Rumble flew backwards, almost hitting the ceiling, and with the last ounce of strength in his small wings, came to an unceremonious landing in a corner of the barn. He let out a cry of pain when he made contact with the ground.

Bryce ran over, scared the colt had hurt himself. He took a knee. "Rumble, are you okay?!"

Rumble looked through a slight in his eyelids. His heart started to race when he saw the human kneeling over him. When Bryce tried to lay a hand on him Rumble forced himself as far back into the corner as physically possible.

Bryce was a bit thrown by Rumble's reaction. "Rumble, I just want check and see if you're-" Bryce tried to reach out to the light grey pegasus a second time, but the colt ran past him, coming to a stop behind one of the barn's support beams. "Rumble, you need to calm down. You're going to hurt yourself even more."

"How did you move the peanuts?!" Rumble shouted back.

"The peanuts...? Kid, that's not important right now." Bryce took a few steps toward Rumble. "I need to see if you're okay."

Rumble ran back from Bryce again, taking refuge behind another beam. "It does matter. If you moved them without touching them then how did you move them?"

Bryce continued to make his way towards the light grey colt. "I can explain. But I want to see if you're hurt first."

When Bryce was almost upon him, Rumble ran back, this time running over to his brother at the back wall. He grabbed Thunderlane by the shoulders. "Lane, what did he do?!"

Thunderlane gave no response. He just continued to look up at Bryce, who was slowly making his way towards them both. When it was clear Thunderlane was to be of no help, Rumble looked to Bryce. "What did you do to him?!"

"He's fine. He'll move again in a few minutes. Now I need you to come here so I can-"

Rumble pointed a hoof in Thunderlane's direction. "You call that fine!? He's frozen! You- What did you do?!"

"He's paralyzed. It'll wear off in a few minutes."

"H- How do you know that?! Have you done stuff like this before?! Have you frozen other ponies like this before?!"

"No, I haven't paralyzed any ponies. This is beside the issue."

Rumble started to come towards Bryce. "This is the issue! You've frozen my brother, and from what I heard you've used some kind of mind control to do it. That, and take away his ability to fly."

Bryce started to back away. "I didn't take it away. He still has the ability, he just won't put in the effort to get it back."

"But you just said you didn't take it."

"I didn't. I can explain, but not until I can... I..." Bryce stopped midsentence. The same feeling he had felt many times before was now upon him. He grabbed at his head, a burning pain shooting up his head from his spine. His eyes rolled back into his head as a trickle of blood began to run from his nostril. He feel to his knees before Rumble.

Rumble took a step back, but soon found himself pulled into the air. He could tell his wings weren't doing it, they would have hurt. He broke out of his stupor when he saw he was being drawn towards Bryce.

He let his feathered appendages fly loose, but it did nothing to draw him away from the human, whose hands shook as he held them palms down over his chest. All around anything that wasn't nailed down began to slowly float around in a vortex, including Thunderlane.

It was then that Rumble understood what had happened. Bryce had moved a barrel of peanuts. For whatever reason the colt didn't know, but now he knew the how, and it only filled Rumble with fear.

When Rumble came to a stop a few inches from Bryce's face he allowed his wings to droop down. He knew there was no way he could get out of Bryce's telekinetic grip. Locking eyes with the human, he prepared himself for the end.

But whatever Rumble expected to happen didn't. Instead Bryce said something that chilled the light grey colt to the bone. With his light grey eyes locked on Rumble's, Bryce said, "If you run...you die..."

And then like an angel from heaven, the hay bale that Rumble had been hanging from only a few minutes before came down. It hit Bryce hard enough that he fell into unconsciousness.

With Bryce out, everything that had been caught in his telekinetic vortex fell to the floor, including the two pegasus brothers. Rumble had a much softer landing, but Thunderlane's wasn't as graceful. Despite this, it did have the effect of breaking the slate grey stallion's paralysis.

Once Thunderlane was able to move, he pushed himself up with his fore legs. He called out to his brother, "Rumble, where are you?!"

Rumble came running over, saying, "I'm right here, Lane."

"What about Bryce, is he still here?"

"He is," Rumble stated, "but he's knocked out cold."

"Are you sure?"

Rumble gave a nod. "Yeah, I saw it myself."

"What did he say to you?"

"What?"

"He said something to you, what was it?"

"H- He said 'If we run we die'." Rumble took a look at the human over his shoulder. "You don't think he's serious, do you? I mean, he wouldn't actually kill us..." He looked back to his older brother. "Right...?"

Thunderlane trotted over to Bryce, taking his time in doing so. When he came close enough he gave Bryce a poke in the side. He flinched back, expecting the human react, but Bryce never stirred. Taking a few deep breaths, Thunderlane said, "I'm not putting it past him. You saw what he could do. He lifted you with... Whatever that was. If he hadn't been put out I bet anything he would have crushed you like a bug."

Rumble took a look over Bryce. He felt Thunderlane could be right, after everything that had happened, but the last thing Bryce had said still ran through his mind. "I don't know, Lane. He said if we ran. What if-?"

"You're not actually telling me you trust him still, are you?"

Rumble looked down to Bryce for a few seconds. "I- I don't know..."

"You don't- YOU DON'T KNOW?!?!?!" He grabbed Rumble by the back of his mane and turned his head around to look at the state of the barn. "Look around, Rumble! Look at all this! After making all this float around, you included, and taking away my flight can you really say he's good for your health?!"

"Tha- That is something, but he didn't want to hurt you."

"Sure, and that giant fork he had trained on me was just for show."

"I wouldn't doubt it was. Lane, think about it. He had you. He stabbed at you. But in the end he missed you on purpose."

Thunderlane returned this deduction with a huff. He trudged over to the door and slid the barricade out of its slot. After he kicked the doors open he turned back to Rumble. "If you want to stay around here when he wakes up you do that, but I'm not going to wait around here for my head to be popped like a grape." Thunderlane ran out the door, not waiting for Rumble to respond.

Rumble didn't like it, but he didn't want to wait around either. If he stuck around Bryce may do him in, but if he ran off with Thunderlane there was a possibly it would happen anyway, whether by Bryce's hand or not. Even though the colt doubted the human would do such a thing, he knew for sure if he left his brother to his own demented thoughts then Thunderlane would get done in for sure.

Stomping his hoof into the ground, Rumble called out, "Lane, wait up," and ran to catch up with his brother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the announcement that class was over for the day, Rocksalt became sick to his stomach. With school being done for the day, the time for the dull brown colt to part with his prized Wonderbolts poster had come. And if he didn't then he would lose the only two friends that were his age, give a year.

Rocksalt and the Nut twins were the last to pile out of the schoolhouse. The whole time since they had met outside the schoolhouse that morning the fillies had said little to him, despite being the only other foals in the back row. After being ignored by them for just one morning Rocksalt had a better feeling of what it would feel to be ignored by them for life. Whatever value the thick sheet of paper once held to him started to diminish compared to the value of the twins' friendship.

"You got it, Rocko?" Pecan asked.

Rocksalt didn't need to guess what the daring twin meant. "Ah got it," he said, dragging a cardboard tube out of his bag.

"Great, now what does Scootaloo look like?"

"She's a pegasus. She's orange, has a blank flank, and a mane that's... Ah don't know, some kinda red or pink... It's done up kinda like Rainbow's, 'cept not so long in the back."

"Okay. And do you know where she lives?"

Rocksalt had to stop and think. "At the... At the orphanage. She said she was an orphan." Rocksalt looked down to his hoofs at what he said next. "Ah made fun of'er for it."

"That's just something more you have to apologize for." Pecan and Almond came in close, the former speaking in a voice loud enough that nopony else would hear. "Here's what we think you should do. Everything you did wrong to Scootaloo you have to admit it, and then apologize," said Pecan. "We don't care if she likes you or not, we just want you to do what's right. Apologize, and give her the poster."

Almond nodded in agreement at her sister's side.

"Now, the orphanage's is somewhere this way, I think."

The three foals eventually found the orphanage, but when they arrived they saw Scootaloo was nowhere to be found. They then checked around Ponyville, going to Sugarcube Corner, the movie theater, the joke shop, the playground, anyplace a foal would find interesting. And with the farmer's market still going strong the search through the center of town was close to impossible. Regardless of where they looked, after nearly two hours of searching they came up without a single orange, pegasus filly.

It was then the group decided to take a break and go to the twins' father's stall, with hope they would be able to snag a free treat to keep them going.

When they came upon the chestnut stallion he had just finished with a customer, and greeted them with a smile. "Hello, girls. And hello to you as well, Rocksalt. How are things?" After seeing their dampened moods Kernal could tell something was amiss. "Is something wrong?"

Pecan and Rocksalt tried to play innocent, but it was Almond who would admit to her father, "We've been looking for a filly Rocksalt used to pick. We've been looking all over town but we can’t find her." Both her sister and Rocksalt slowly looked to the almond colored filly in disbelief, their mouths slightly agape. This reaction forced Almond to stare down as she ran her hoof through the dirt. "Sorry..."

Kernal cleared his throat, getting the foals' attention back on him. With a blank stare, the chestnut stallion looked down to Rocksalt. "Is this true, son? Did you really bully a filly?"

Rocksalt felt too guilty to look Kernal in the eye. "Yes, sir."

"And what do you intend to do once you find her?"

"Ah... Ah wanna try and apologize to her. And to give her something Ah'd promised her."

"May I ask what brought this on?" Rocksalt explained to the stallion what had happened at the schoolhouse the day before. All the while Kernal nodded in agreement, clinging to every word. When Rocksalt was finished, Kernal thought on what the dull brown colt had told him before he himself responded with, "I can’t condone what happened, most especially with it being to a filly." The chestnut stallion lay a hoof on Rocksalt's withers. "Looking past that, however, I commend you for your current course of action. I'm sure it will not be an easy one, but in the end you'll feel all the better for it, through and through."

"Ya think so?"

"I know so. But I will give you fair warning: Don't expect this Scootaloo to be as forgiving as you are apologetic. From what you told me I would say it best you watch out for a hoof to the chops."

"Sure, Ah'll try and remember that."

"Make sure you do." Kernal then turned to his twin daughters. "And girls, while it is alright to influence somepony to do something you feel is best for them, you should not be holding something as dear as your friendship over their heads."

"But, Dad," Pecan started to protest.

"I'm sure what you intend to do is a good thing, and in this case it is, but you should not put such conditions on somepony who is already under such pressure. You both need to first ask yourselves how it would feel if Rocksalt did the same to you. Does that make sense?"

The two almond colored fillies gave their father a slow nod.

Kernal returned his daughters' nods with a heartfelt smile.

A second later, Almond asked, "Do we have to tell Mom?"

It didn't take Kernal to reply with, "Well, this is a very serious situation, girls. Of course we're not going to tell your mother. Now then, before you all go back to your search, why don't we all have ourselves a little snack. You can have one too, Rocksalt."

After munching down their snack, the three foals were on their way. Thinking that Scootaloo may have returned back to the orphanage by now, they checked there first, and were not disappointed.

They found her off by herself, away from the other parentless foals who were playing at the orphanage playground. Scootaloo's attention was on something she held in her hooves.

When the three foals spotted the orange filly they came to a stop.

Pecan was the first to ask, "Is that her, Rocko?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"Alright, have at her."

Rocksalt didn't move.

Pecan prodded the dull brown colt in his flank. "Go on, Rocko. What's holding you?"

"Ah... Ah don't know... It doesn't seem like the right time."

"Well, no time like the present, so hop to it," Pecan said, following up with a nudge.

The entire time Almond kept quiet. She could tell the dull brown colt was having a tough time already, and Pecan's prodding wasn't helpful. "Pecan," the quiet filly said in a soft voice, "maybe you need to lay off, just a teeny bit?"

"Nah, Rocko's okay. He's just taking a long time."

Rocksalt looked back to the girls. "Hey, are y'all gonna still be here when Ah'm done?"

"Not if you don't-"

Almond came in close to her sister. "Pecan," she whispered, "remember what Dad said."

It was enough to make Pecan pause. She thought back to what her father had said to them not too long ago. Pecan looked to the colt. "Yeah, we'll still be here."

Whether Pecan meant it or not, Rocksalt took it to heart. Turning back to Scootaloo, Rocksalt said, "Thanks, girls. Thanks for sticking with me. And Ah’m... Ah'm sorry ya got yourselves caught up in this.” He took a few steps forward, but was stopped when Pecan said, "Rocko, be careful. Remember what our Dad told ya." She finished by sinking her hoof into her jaw."

"Yeah, Ah'll try to." Rocksalt continued forward, taking his time to clear the distance between the Nuts and Scootaloo.

When Rocksalt reached the orange pegasus, he could see what she what held her attention. It was a small wood toy, carved to look like Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo made sound effects as she twisted mini Dash around. He didn't know who made it, but it looked neat.

Taking one final gulp, Rocksalt said, "Hey, that looks neat."

At hearing the dull brown colt's voice, Scootaloo nestled mini Dash to her chest. Sneaking a look back, Scootaloo's face was quick to dissolve into a cold stare. Placing mini Dash carefully on the ground, she positioned herself between the toy and the colt. With a leer, Scootaloo asked in a low tone, "What do you want?!"

"Oh... Ah... Ah just...wanted to... Uh..." He scratched the back of his neck.

"If you think I'm going to let you take mini Dash you can forget it," Scootaloo spat. "I'd die before I let somepony like you have her."

Rocksalt took a cautionary step back. "No, it's not that. Ah... Ah got something for ya." Dropping his saddlebag on the ground, he pulled out the cardboard tube.

Scootaloo's immediate thought was that it was a weapon, and she pounced on the colt for that reason. Forcing her fore leg over his neck lengthwise, she exclaimed, "If you think I'm just going to sit back and let you hit me with that you've got another thing coming!" She turned back to mini Dash. "Cover your eyes, mini Dash." Taking the cardboard tube, she began to strike Rocksalt in the head repeatedly.

Between strikes, Rocksalt said, "Wait, Scoot- Ow! Scootaloo. It's not- Ow! It's not what you think. OW!!!"

Scootaloo held the tube over her head, prepared to strike the colt again. "Yeah, then what is it?!"

Before she could hit him, Rocksalt blurted out, "It's the poster."

Scootaloo stopped mid-swing. "What poster?!"

"The- The Wonderbolts poster Ah promised Ah'd give ya," he said, using his hooves to protect from the expected smack. "The one with the hoof prints of the whole team."

Still keeping him pinned to the ground, Scootaloo looked the tube over. Pulling off one of the caps, she shook out the contents. When she finally managed to coax the thing inside out, it hit the ground and unrolled.

Scootaloo couldn't believe what she saw. It was just as Rocksalt said it was, complete with hoof prints from Soarin, Fleetwing, Rapidfire, all the Wonderbolts. Spitfire’s was included amongst them, right at the center. "What are you doing with this? You said you didn't really have it."

What Rocksalt said next was enough to leave a burn of acid in his mouth, but it didn't compare with the smack from the cardboard tube that would follow. "Ah lied." When Scootaloo finally rolled off the colt he continued to lie in place for fear she'd smack him again. After a while he got to his hooves, and saw Scootaloo looking over the poster. With a dry mouth, he said, "I'm sorry I lied about it."

Scootaloo shot him another glare. "Is that all?" She asked in a low voice. "Is that all you're sorry about?"

"Well, no. Ah'm sorry about what Ah said to ya. About how Ah said ya didn't have any parents because ya were a runt who couldn't fly. And for making ya go up ta Bryce, even when nopony else would. And for the chocolate, and for keeping the poster for so long. And for-"

The orange filly waved a hoof in Rocksalt's face, silencing whatever he would have said next. "Whatever, just stop all this girly apologizing. Bleh!" She rolled up the poster, placing it back inside its cardboard carrier. With one final look at the colt, she said, "You're still a jerk," and walked inside to find the perfect to hide her prize from the other foals at the orphanage.

While this went on Rocksalt did nothing to stop her. After hitting him with a cardboard tube he knew where he was on her list of all-time favorite ponies. The beating she'd given him hurt, but the feeling of being ignored hurt a lot worse.

Almond and Pecan came trotting over. "Hey, Rocko, how'd it go?"

"She...took it..."

"What she say to you?"

"She said Ah was a jerk. And Ah feel like one."

Pecan looped a leg over his withers. "Eh, come on. You're not a jerk."

"Try telling Scootaloo that. She acted like all Ah said was for nothing."

"Well, it's like our Dad said, 'don’t expect Scootaloo to be as forgiving as you are alphabetic’."

"Apologetic," Almond corrected.

"Yeah," Pecan said, pointing a hoof to her sister's direction. "What she said."

"Ah know, but Ah just wish she'd have said something else."

The group went quiet for a second. It fell to Almond to break the lull. "We don't think you're a jerk, Rocksalt."

Rocksalt looked to the quiet filly. "What do you mean? I was mean to Scootaloo. And I tried to make up for it and she treated me like dirt."

"So, what does it matter what she thinks?" Almond continued. "I don't care what she thinks, it took a lot of courage to say what you said. And even after she jumped on you and hit you with that tube you didn't hit her back. If you were a jerk you wouldn't have been so forgiving. And I bet if it had been any other colt I'm sure they would have given her back worse than she gave. Don't you think?"

"Maybe, but I deserved what she did to me."

"Maybe you did, but you still didn't hit her back afterwards. And whether you think so or not, you're still my friend."

Rocksalt looked up to Almond, and saw she was being sincere "You still want me as a friend?"

"Of course. If anything, you're a lot nicer than the other foals in our class. They won't have anything to do with us, but that's okay, because I like having you for a friend."

"And I do, too," Pecan added.

When the girls said that it brought a tear to Rocksalt's eye.

"Rocko, what's the matter?"

He wiped the tear away. "It's nothing. Scootaloo musta got something in my eye."

The girls knew it was a lie, but they let it slide. Reaching forward at the same time, they wrapped their hooves around the colt's neck, with Rocksalt wrapping his around both of theirs' soon after.

After they were finished, Rocksalt said, "I like ya both, too. You're my...best friends." He shook his head, taking on a more serious face. "But ya both could've at least helped get her off me."

"We wanted to, but you seemed to be handling it so well by yourself," Pecan stated.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get going. We still have a little while before dark."

They went to move away, but Pecan hung back; something had peeked her interest. "Hey, you guys, check this thing out," she called.

Almond and Rocksalt looked back. There in the grass was the very thing the latter had seen in the possession of Scootaloo. "Oh no, you guys. That's Scootaloo's mini Dash."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, Ah saw her with it." Rocksalt took it up, being sure to handle it with as much care as possible. He didn't know if he could handle another round of whacks from the orange pegasus if the little wooden toy became damaged. "Ah'm gonna go in and run this inside to her. Ah'll try and be quick."

It wasn't until he was a few feet from the door that he heard a loud commotion coming from the orphanage's playground. Looking over, he could see most of the orphans crowded around three other foals. The two bigger foals were at work on the smaller, who lay in the center of the ring curled into a ball. He looked to be a few years younger than Rocksalt was now.

Rocksalt knew what was happening here, he'd given out one or two beat downs himself back in Manehatten. He looked around to see if there were any adults about, but there were none. As the cheers of the assembled foals began to rise in volume, Rocksalt decided he had to put an end to it.

He approached the ring. "Hey, featherbrains!"

That got the attention of the two older foals. They stopped beating on the foal in the center to look to Rocksalt. "What the hay do you want, you little buckface?!"

"Why don't ya pick on somepony your own size?!"

"What?" The first one asked. "You lookin to take his place?"

Rocksalt puffed out his chest. "Yeah, maybe Ah am!"

The first one was about to come at the dull brown colt, but was stopped by the second. "Come on, he's not worth the hairs on your rump."

The first thought for a second before saying, "Yeah, you're right." He went back to the young foal.

Rocksalt gritted his teeth as Pecan and Almond came over. "Rocko, I think you should stay out of this."

"Nah uh, Ah'm not gonna let'em just do that to the little guy." He tossed mini Dash over his back, which Pecan caught. "Hold this, and cover your eyes."

Jumping into the center of the ring, Rocksalt landed on the first colt's back. Before the older colt could react, Rocksalt spun around and bucked him in the back of the neck.

Pecan and Almond looked on as the two older colts struggled to pry Rocksalt loose. When they finally did, the second one pin him to the ground, while the first prepared to trample him.

Scrunching up her brow, Pecan tossed mini Dash over to Almond, and told her sister, "Almond, cover your eyes, you don't need to see this." Jumping into the ring, she hopped onto the second colt's rump. By the time he turned back, Pecan had sunken her teeth into the meatiest part of his flank.

Almond, having no intention to jump into the fight, covered her eyes. And for good measure, she placed her free hoof over mini Dash's eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rumble was beginning to wonder what, if any possible reason Thunderlane would have in dragging them both into Froggy Bottom Bogg. Unfortunately, the light grey pegasus didn't have the pleasure of asking; the mosquitos that wafted through the air made it impossible to for either one of them open their mouths.

What else surprised Rumble was how they had managed to avoid falling into the stagnant water. They'd come close a few times, but somehow kept it together enough to pull themselves out of the spring trap that was the bog water. It wasn't that Rumble didn't mind avoiding a dip into the bog, it was more that the sight of the water made him thirsty. But Rumble knew a single sip of the murky water could mean instant death. It made him think of the quote: 'Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.' And that only served to make him that much more thirsty.

Right when the cloud of mosquitos begin to give out Thunderlane skid to a halt, with Rumble doing the same. As Rumble took the time to catch his breath, he saw what had made the slate grey pegasus stop: They were out of solid ground.

Rumble looked up to his brother. "What now, Lane?"

"I... I don't know. Just give me a minute." Thunderlane began to pace around the small peninsula, his golden eyes darting at every possible angle. After a few minutes Thunderlane came to a stop. He extended his hoof out over the water. "There."

Rumble looked at where his brother had indicated. It was somewhat hard to see, but not far from the shore he could see an opening to a cave. "How are we going to get out there?"

"Quit whining, Rumble. It's not that far."

"I'm not whining. I'm just concerned about the big puddle between here and there called a 'swamp'."

"And like I said, it's not that far."

Rumble peeked his head over the shoreline. "Ick -- I'm not getting into that!" He looked over to Thunderlane. "Why are we even out here?"

"Because being around water will make sure he won't find us."

"What makes you so sure he won't?"

"Because he hates to be wet. And what better place than this? It's practically all water."

Rumble rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's water. But if we tried to drink it we'd get stomach aches that would break the band. And what are we supposed to do when we get dehydrated? And to top to top it off, nopony knows we're out here."

"Which means Bryce doesn't know. Now come on, I think I see a way to get across." Thunderlane dropped down into the water, the water settling around the middle of his legs. "Ha, you see. Now come on."

Rumble walked over to the edge. He couldn't see whatever it was Thunderlane was standing on but one thing was certain. It was too low for Rumble to walk across, and his wings were out of commission. "Lane, I can't do it."

"You can and you will."

"But I'm too short. And I can't swim."

"Then use your wings."

"They're sore."

Thunderlane gave a deep, heavy sigh. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Let me tag along on your back."

Thunderlane gave a low grumble, but backtracked to the shore. When he reached his brother he stopped him. "What's that on your hoof?"

Rumble looked where Thunderlane had stated. Around his hoof he found the drawstring from the hay bale he'd been attached to. Rumble tugged it off, and threw it away, but gasped at the imprint it had left.

"Get on, I'm not waiting all day," Thunderlane scoffed. Once Rumble was on, he said to him, "I'm going to say this once: If you bellyache I'm throwing you off."

With Rumble on his back, Thunderlane walked across the submerged land bridge. It was when they were close to the mouth of the cave that Rumble cried, "Wait!"

Thunderlane stopped. "What now?!"

"What if there's something in there?"

"Like what?! What could be in there?!"

"An alligator, for starters."

"Pfft, yeah right. Look around, Rumble. Do you see any alligators?"

"Well, no.”

"Then there aren't any alligators. Oh, and that counts as bellyaching." Thrusting up his rump, Thunderlane sent the light grey colt into the water.

Thankfully, he landed on the land bridge, with the water stopping at his neck. He had thought Thunderlane would have waited, but when he looked over he saw the slate grey pegasus heading inside the cave. After trudging through the neck high swamp, Rumble reached the cave.

Shaking himself dry, he stared daggers at his brother. Thunderlane looked back, a smile on his face. "What?"

"You're a jerk!"

"For what? I said no bellyaching."

"But did you really have to do that? I already told you I can’t swim."

"Lighten up. You would've been fine."

"You didn’t know that. I'm starting to think staying back with Bryce would have been better. Gosh, am I an idiot!"

Thunderlane gave a snicker. "You just called yourself an idiot."

"Yeah, Lane, you're one to talk. It's because of you we're out here to start with."

"No it's not. We wouldn't be out here if Bryce would just give me my flight back."

Rumble gave a growl. "And there you go with that again. I don't know what it is Bryce did to you, but I wish he would have taken away the part of your brain makes you act like such an... Such an ASSHOLE!!!"

For a second the last word Rumble said echoed through the cave. When the word finished reverberating Thunderlane's jaw dropped. "Rumble...?"

"You know what, Lane, just shut up! I'm tired, I'm thirsty, and since there's no fresh water, I'm going to take a nap!" Rumble went deeper into the cave, far enough away that Thunderlane was hard to see at the cave's mouth. After that, he lay down on his belly, not taking long to fall asleep.

Thunderlane, meanwhile, continued to stand at the entrance to the cave. He couldn't believe what Rumble had said, but he could feel it cut through him sharper than any knife. When Thunderlane had woken up that day the last thing he expected to happen was to have to run out of town. And now he was, and with Rumble of all ponies.

As Thunderlane walked a short distance into the cave, he could feel that after trying not to lose Rumble he'd ended up losing him anyway. When Thunderlane felt he'd gone far enough in, with enough distance from his brother, he lied down.

When his belly touched the cave floor, he felt something slick crawl under his belly. Looking down, Thunderlane found it to be a small, black salamander with yellow spots dotting its back like stars. Taking the amphibian by its tail, Thunderlane tossed it towards the mouth of the cave. "Stupid lizard," he said under his breath.

As Thunderlane lied down, his last thought was that the more distance he and Rumble put between them and Bryce the better. But for now they were far enough away where nothing could get to them.

Not even Bryce.

Comments

[JohnIsOffline]

Wow...that escalated quickly...
everything is fuck up...

[Khenlos]

I'm honestly surprised that this has the comedy tag .
Everything lately has been just a snowball effect of drama and conflict for Bryce and keeps escalating more and more.
So the only question is when are you going to add the tragedy or dark tag, because if you add some sudden death (which would not be a surprise at this rate) you have the perfect formula.

[Valhuir]

6426418 Exactly... this is no comedy. It's a drama that has maybe one or two moderately funny bits.

[h4ns]

6426418

I won't give it away, but I will say it is close. There are a few chapters more between there and now, but it Is close.

Right now the climb up the mountain is hard, but when you reach the top you must travel back down. But you'll find the descent to be faster and harder than the ascent. Because while the diagonal slopes you rose over were steep to begin with, you will find you must fight to keep yourself from rolling the rest of the way down. Or you could fall, and it just ends.

In short, the need for the tragedy tag is coming. And while I would like for no one to die (and in a way we are all like this with certain things), I know it must happen, and it will happen. All I can ask is for your patience as I complete this long, drawn out story.

[Deadinlight]

There's no more comedy. So I'm bout done with this story. Honestly it's just becoming a story about turning the human into a bad guy through means outside his control.

[Truthseeker]

I am very seriously beginning to question whether or not Bryce is even a good person any more. He lied about taking Thunderlane's flight (ereasing a portion of his memory is the same thing), and he has been just declining more and more as a person. What right does he have to play God with somebody's memory? Mind control, mind wiping... hello M.K. ULTRA.