Under the Moonlight

by Thunderblast

Harnessing Power

"I don't get it. What the hay does this thing do?"

Thunderblast stared and stared at his element necklace, at a table in a room at the royal guard building with his buddy Spear and Shuriken.

"I'm not sure. Have you tried saying something?" Shuriken asked.

"What am I supposed to say? Princess Celestia didn't say what."

"Hmm, good point."

"What about touching it?" Spear asked.

"Dude, seriously? I've been holding this thing for about a week now." Thunder replied.

"Alright then. I don't know what to say bro." Spear said back.

"Ugh, me neither." Shuriken said.

Thunderblast sighed. "There's gotta be something to activate it."

"How do you know you're ready to wield a powerful weapon like this? Whatever it is?" Shuriken said.

"I don't know man... Maybe Shining's right, maybe when it's time, it'll activate for me. Until then, i'll keep trying." Thunder replied.

"Alright. I'm out of ideas though." Shuriken said, before turning and walking out the door with Spear. "See you later, Thunder."

"See you." Thunder said, watching them leave, then lowering his head, eying the mysterious and so called 'weapon' in front of his eyes.

---

Later that night...

"Mmm....no....go away.....p-please!"

After a long day at work, Thunderblast was sleeping almost soundly in his bed at his apartment in Canterlot. Not really soundly at all, more like horribly. He was experiencing a rare nightmare, something he hasn't had in years. Thunder tossed and turned, rolled in every possible direction, even face planted into the pillow and hung off the bed, bending in ways he never was built to go, but nothing worked to shake away the bad dreams. In his dreams, he was at his current age and size, but was different. Thunder was running through a burning forest, trees and embers falling all around him.

"S-stop following me!" He said, running and jumping over fallen trees, past burning bushes and skeletons of small woodland creatures.

"Sssssstop running, Thunder." A very creepy yet quiet voice echoed.

"Nngh! No! I will never stop running from you." Thunder said, trying to shake off a headache the voice gave him, before coming up to a cliff at the edge of the fiery destruction behind him, which fell straight down into a three-hundred foot chasm, which ended with a rocky rapid river below.

"There issss no hiding from meeee."

"I-I wouldn't have guessed." Thunder stuttered, desperately looking for a bridge to walk across, before looking back at his wings and opening them to reveal his flank had no cutie mark. "I gotta do this." he said, taking a deep breath and running towards the cliff and jumping, flying forwards, before falling straight down.

"Thunder..."

...

"Thunder... Wake up..."

"No... I don't want to..."

"Please, son. Wake up. You're safe."

Thunder opened his eyes, which hurt at first due to the amount of unexpected brightness, which seemed to go on forever around him. He was laying on a cloud high in the sky.

"W-where am I?"

He looked around, slowly standing up and rubbing his eyes to see if he was dreaming.

"Over here son."

"Where?"

Thunder turned, and he saw a large, muscular pegasus stallion, and a smaller, light blue pegasus mare standing side by side, and smiling.

"You're safe now." The stallion said.

"M-mom? Dad? H-how....how?!" Thunder said, staring in disbelief.

The stallion slowly walked up to the smaller stallion, who was beginning to tear up.

"Thunder, listen to me." He said.

"I-I'm listening." Thunder replied.

The stallion smiled more, resting his hoof on Thunder's shoulder.

"I'm proud, son. Very proud." The stallion said.

"We couldn't be prouder, Thunder." The mare continued.

"Proud of what?"

"You, and who you are." They both said.

"You're a corporal in the Royal Guard, and at such a young age too. That is something special." The white stallion said, pulling Thunderblast into a tight hug, Thunder returning the hug.

"This...all feels so real." Thunder said.

"It does." The mare said.

The stallion sighed. "We wish it could be, son."

The mare then came over and hugged Thunder, all embracing tightly in an inseparable hug, Thunder bawling his eyes out as he felt their bodies touch his. In a bright flash, he woke up in his bed in the dark room, which had a slight amount of moonlight flooding in, making a cut light on the wall from the blinds on his window.

Thunderblast whimpered, tearing up even more, before turning over and crying face down into his pillow uncontrollably.

"I wish you were here..."

---

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

"Uuugh. Come on you stupid clock!" Thunder grumbled, covers completely over him, his hoof reaching out from under the blanket and feeling for the clock to turn it off...

CRACK

...Or simply destroy it.

"Stupid...clocks!" Thunderblast quietly said, sounding out of breath and exhausted. He had not gotten much sleep after his rough night, and was slightly baggy-eyed. Thunder rose out of bed and quickly got out, something he doesn't normally do. Usually he sits there, like a statue, staring at nothing, letting his mind start up. Instead, he walked into the bathroom and brushed his teeth, looking crabby and tired, top eye lid hanging down, making him look angry. After brushing his teeth, he showered and ate, then put on his armor. After putting on his armor, he walked over to a mirror to see if everything was right, smiling slightly at his looks, before his eyes shrunk and jaw opened slightly.

"My necklace..." he said, just before running into his living room, out to the balcony, and flying out as quickly as possible to the guard outpost, where he thought he had left his element necklace, but unknowingly left it at his apartment. Thunder needed it to see if his friend Blitz could help him get it to work today, as he was off from the wonderbolts academy today.

---

Outside the outpost, Blitz sat in a bench in the small park next to the main building, wearing a tag of clearance, something civilians need to enter royal guard outposts.

"Hi Blitz! I'm sorry i'm late." Thunderblast said, quickly flying in and landing in front of the white pegasus.

"That's alright, you weren't late at all actually. Got your necklace?" Blitz said, standing up.

"That's the problem, I think I left it here or something." Thunder replied.

"Okay. We'll find it, no worries. I doubt anypony would have taken it." Blitz said back.

"Why wouldn't they? It's a powerful weapon." Thunder said.

"Oh, right. Still, let's go look for it. You lead me in, i'm unfamiliar with these places." Blitz said.

After walking in...

"Alright, Thunder. Where did you leave it?" Blitz asked.

"I think the mess hall." Thunder said, trotting quickly towards it, Blitz by his side.

When reaching the mess hall and the table Thunder supposedly left it at, it was...

"GONE?!" Thunder and Blitz yelled, eyes shrinking.

"W-where did it go?!" Thunder stuttered.

"Are you sure you left it here??" Blitz asked, looking at his friend.

"Yes! I'm perfectly sure!" Thunder replied, looking back at Blitz.

"It couldn't have gone far if it was just simply moved... I'll check the east side of the building... You check the west!" Blitz said.

"Alright. We'll meet back here when we're done." Thunder said, running off to look for his element, Blitz running off in the other direction.

After an hour of searching, as well as getting accidentally zapped by unicorn guards a few times, the two met back up in the main hall.

"Nothing." Thunder said, wiping some sweat from his forehead.

"Ditto. Where could it have gone I wonder?" Blitz said, tapping his hoof.

They both thought for a moment, before a gasp broke the silence.

"What?!" Blitz said.

"I brought it back to my apartment last night."