A Tale of Thunder

by ComradeUncleJoe

Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

The slender creature curled its mouth into a toothy grin and began laughing in a deep, almost inaudible tone. Its blood red eyes felt like it was staring directly at Thunder’s soul. A cold chill overwhelmed his body, despite the raging fire so close to him.

This thing’s stare kept him frozen in place, unable to move, or even scream, as it slowly sauntered closer to him. He just watched as the creature moved closer and closer. With it came a darkness that seemed to engulf him, blocking out the bright starry night. It extended its arms and pointed its slender fingers, reaching out to touch Thunder…

Thunder shot up, his body drenched in sweat, as he woke up from his dream. It had been years since he had remembered that night so vividly. He had thought he had moved past it, gotten over what had happened. He sat in bed as dread filled his body; he began to worry something wrong was going to happen.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, causing Thunder to jump. “C-come in…” he called out. A delicately dressed servant pushed the door open and walked in.

“Excuse me sir, your train will be leaving in the next hour.” She says in a quiet, delicate voice.

“O-oh…th-thank you.” He smiled and slid out of bed and began gathering his belongings.

“Sir, the Princess wanted me to tell you that you should pack accordingly and you may leave any belongings you need here in the palace. They will be taken care of in your absence.”

“Y-yes thank you. I will take that in mind.” She nods and smiles as she walks back out the door, closing it slowly.

Lightning looked at his abundance of luggage and began to go through it, picking out only the necessary items. He picked out a few books and some precautionary clothing; he decided to pack lightly for his trip.

Once he had finished gathering his belongings and rushed out of his room and downstairs to the main hall of the palace. There he ran into Princess Luna, who had been waiting for him to arrive. “Ah Thunder, I trust you slept well.”

“Um…I-it was fine…” he weakly smiled.

“Hmm…well I wish there was more time to chat, but your train will be leaving soon, and I wish to discuss a few things about this test with you.” Lightning nodded and listened closely as the Princess began speaking. “This amulet that I seek, it holds great importance to me. It is a powerful magical artifact that I have owned for as long as I can remember. You must take great care to not damage it, or endanger yourself or others. Improper handling could prove to be very dangerous.” The Princess spoke in a very serious tone, Thunder could tell it was very important and he made a detailed mental note of everything she said. “Do you understand Thunder?”

“O-of course ma’am.” Thunder nodded.

“Good. Well you best be off if you wish to catch your train.” Thunder nodded again and said his goodbyes as he left. His body brimmed with excitement as he rushed down the streets. The dream from last night had completely abandoned his mind, replaced by a mix of excitement and happiness.

Thunder was so excited he was completely oblivious to his surroundings…until he crashed into another pony.

“Ohmigosh! I am so sorry!” said a rather familiar voice. Thunder looked up and saw the same white and pink mare from the other day. “Oh hey you, nice to see you again…um…you know, I never got your name yesterday.”

“Um…h-hello…it’s Thunder…Thunder Bolt.” He said sheepishly.

“Well nice to meet you Thunder; so what made you run into me again? Was I just too irresistible for you?” She giggled and winked. Thunder blushed hard and shook his head.

“I-I’m sorry, I was just in a hurry and didn’t see you.”

“Uh hu, sure. Whatever you say cutie.” She giggled again. Thunder noticed she was very cute when she did that.

“L-look…I’m sorry, b-but I have to go. I have a train to catch.”

“Oh where are you going?” she asked in a rather overly curious fashion.

“J-just…” Thunder had just realized, he hasn’t even looked at the notes or map Princess Luna had given him. He didn’t know where he was going. “I-I’m going to a village to begin my test for Princess Luna.”

“Oh really now? Sounds exciting!”

“Y-yes yes…if you’ll e-excuse me, I must go.” He turned to leave, but the mare stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

“Wait! Would it be okay if I joined you?”

“wh-what?!” he almost shouted.

“Please? It’s so drab and boring here. Nothing happens, I just sit around my home and do nothing all day.”

“N-no! Y-you can’t come!”

“Aw c’mon! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease? Pretty please? I really wanna goooo.” She made a cute pouty face as she begged to be brought along. “My parents will be okay with it, c’mon take me with you.”

“Mmm…” he thought for a few moments. “f-fine! If it’s okay with your parents…m-meet me at the train station within the hour. If you’re not there, I’m leaving without you!” he said forcefully.

Strawberry Swirl bounced happily and cheered. “Yay! Thank you thank you thank you! I promise you won’t regret taking me along.” She kissed Thunder’s cheek and ran off down the street. Thunder blushed hard and regained his composure, before continuing to the train station.

Thunder stood waiting for several almost an hour. His train was about to leave and he intended to be on it, with or without Strawberry Swirl. He tapped his hoof impatiently; if she lollygagged anymore, she wouldn’t make it.

“All aboard!” the conductor called out. Thunder took one last impatient look around before he moved to get on the train.

“Wait! I’m coming! Don’t leave yet!” Thunder stopped just before climbing on the train, he knew who it was. He slowly turned around, and there she was, Strawberry Swirl.

Thunder let out a sigh and stood there, one hoof on the train, one on the platform. He watched as Strawberry Swirl came closer and closer. She barreled towards him, huffing and puffing, and carrying two medium sized saddle bags.

Finally she arrived, almost collapsing when she came to a stop. She took a minute to catch her breath. “L-let’s….g-go…” Thunder nods and gets on the train, followed by Strawberry Swirl.

They walked down the aisles and found an empty room. They moved in and set their bags away and sat down. Strawberry was still breathing heavily and sweating.

“A-are you okay? You look like you ran a marathon.”

She nodded “Y-yeah…I’m…f-fine…” she laid back in her seat and closed her eyes. As the train slowly pulled away, Thunder decided it’d be best if he did the same, they had a long journey ahead of them, and he needed to be refreshed and ready…

“Strawberry!!!” Thunder’s eyes shot open. He heard the sound of hooves getting closer and closer. Thunder looked out the window and saw a massive stallion galloping towards the train. “Strawberry where are you?!” the stallion shouted out again.

Strawberry Swirl peaked out the window and sank in her seat. “Oh no…” she covered her face with her hooves.

“Strawberry Swirl…who is that?” a terrified chill ran down his spine as the stallion reach Thunder’s window, banging on it and shouting.

“Th-that’s my dad...”

“Y-your dad?!?! I thought he w-was okay with th-this!” Thunder began having a panic attack.

“You little bastard! Give me back my daughter!” the stallion shouted. Thunder ducked down and began praying that the train sped up.

“Dad! Go away! This is important to me!” she shouted back at her dad. “Oh gosh this is so embarrassing. I’m so sorry Thunder. My dad wouldn’t let me go so I had to sneak out.”

“Y-you…you s-snuck…out?! Oh no…oh no. S-sweet Luna…th-this is the w-worst thing…” Thunder began having a panic attack. He began to worry the authorities would come after him and arrest him for kidnapping or something.

“Strawberry! You get out of this train this instant!”

“No! I’m going and you can’t stop me!” she stuck her tongue out. Her father kept running until he fell off the platform and the train sped off. Thunder watched, terrified, as her father became a tiny blur in the distance.

“Wh-what in the name…o-of all that i-is holy, was that?!” Thunder said in a near shout.

“I’m sorry…I just really wanted to go with you, and my dad wouldn’t let me.” She looked down with a depressed look on her face. “I’ll…get off at the next stop…you’ll never have to see me again…” she looked like she was about to cry.

“Hey..um…i-it’s okay…you don’t have to leave…y-you can stay with me.” Thunder was immediately squished under Strawberry.

“Oh thank you thank you thank you!” she kissed him all over and hugged him tightly.

“I-it’s fine, really…p-please stop.” Thunder’s face turned completely red and he tried to wiggle away from her.

“Aw but I like kissing you.” She pouted as she climbed off him and sat back down.

“Th-thanks, but it’s not appropriate. I-I mean, I barely kn-know you…”

Strawberry just rolled her eyes and said, “so where we going?”

“Old Canterlot,” Thunder replied, “it used to be the capital until the civil war between the Princesses, now it’s just a ghost town.”

“What happened to it?”

“According to historians, the war had made it uninhabitable. Buildings were destroyed, the waters ran red with blood, and the very life force of the land was ripped from it, twisting and mutating anything that stayed…”

“Wait…so we’re going to a place that is practically Tartarus?”

“W-well…it should be safe. Princess Luna wouldn’t be sending one pony there if it wasn’t…”

“Uh hu, suuuure…” Strawberry Swirl rolled her eyes and got comfy, grabbing a blanket from one of the racks and wrapping up in it.

“Um…we sh-should probably get some rest…” Thunder said. He looked at her and saw she was already asleep, and was lying on his shoulder. He blushed harder and tried to push her off, but she clung to him and refused to let go. He just sighed and leaned against the window and watched as the landscape quickly passed by.