Thunderlane's New Life

by The Delirium

Odd Jobs

Thunderlane groaned as he rolled over onto his side. The previous night had been a long one for him. He was currently living with his old friend, Soarin. Unfortunately, Soarin only had one bed in his home and didn't want to give it up. As a result, Thunderlane was forced to sleep on the couch. It wouldn't have been a problem, if it wasn't for the couch's size. It was literally half as long as Thunderlane and just as wide. A pony could barely even sit on it, much less lay down and sleep on it. After a while of tossing and turning, Thunderlane had found a semi-decent position and quickly fell asleep. However a loud noise woke him up shortly after. Thunderlane could see the kitchen light was on, so he hopped off the couch and trotted towards the kitchen door. He opened it up and was surprised to see Soarin holding open the refrigerator. He did this while using his wings to slide multiple pies off the shelves and into his forelegs.

"Really, Soarin? I know you love pie, but for Celestia's sake, it's four in the morning." Soarin was startled by his friends voice and flew up into the air. This caused them to drop all of his pies on to the floor. Unfortunately, one of them landed directly on Thunderlane's face. Soarin hovered back down as he gazed at his pie covered friend.

"Whoops. Sorry, Thunder." The only response Thunderlane gave was a giant lick of his own muzzle.

"Yum." he began. "Blueberry."

---

After Thundrlane had caught Soarin raiding his own fridge in the early hours of the morning, Thunderlane could not find it in himself to fall back asleep. So, after two hours of relentless struggle, Thunderlane finally accepted he wasn't getting any more rest and got up for the day. He had taken a quick shower, gelled his mane into a mohawk, put on his shirt and scarf, and put in his nose rings. Now, Thunderlane was just about to head out the door when he was stopped by Soarin.

"Wait, Thunderlane."

"What is it, Soar?"

"I can't help but think that maybe you're making a mistake."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you left your whole life behind you, including your friends."

"They weren't really my friends. I was just some pony they could make fun of and have pay for their drinks."

"I know and I agree that you have very right to be upset. But have you ever considered they might feel bad and want to change? My bet is they're looking for you right now." Thunderlane took a long time before answering, contemplating Soarin's words.

"Maybe I'll eventually go back there and see them. Just not right now. It's too soon and I really don't want to see them for a while."

"That's fair. Anyway, good luck at work."

"Thanks, you too." Thunderlane then unfurled his wings and flew out the door. The crisp morning air tickled his feathers as he soared through the sky. Thunderlane headed south towards the outskirts of town, where his job was located. After about ten minutes of flying, Thunderlane came across the familiar building of Special Delivery's shop. He tucked in his wings as he frefalled towards the building. At the last second, he flapped his wings hard and made a gentle landing right at the entrance. Special Delivery had been in the doorway and came out to greet Thunderlane.

"Nice moves, I haven't seen a landing that soft in years." Special paused when he saw what Thudnerlane was wearing. "Woah, you look different."

"Ya, I got some new clothes yesterday. Like em?"

"They look good, just surprised me was all. Anyways, I know it's only your second day, but I've taken you off packaging." Thunderlan'es face lit up with glee.

"You mean I'm making deliveries!"

"No exactly. Every day there are a few...odd jobs that need to be taken care of. No pony likes doing them so we have a system where every pony is assigned a day each month to do them. I added you to the system and lucky you, today's your day!"

"Great." Thunderlane said sarcastically.

"Don't worry, we always have two ponies working together, so you won't be alone. You and Gilda will be doing them together."

"Did you say Gilda?"

"Yep. For some reason, she was more than happy to volunteer when I said you would be working with her. Anyways, she's inside. Tell me when you two are ready and I'll give you your first job." Special Delivery walked inside and Thunderlane followed shortly after. When he got inside, he could see Gilda was leaning against the counter.

"About time you got here. There's something you should know about me. I don't like waiting." Gilda then looked up and saw what Thunderlane looked like. "Why do you look like you're about to mug some pony?"

"Got some new clothes is all. No big deal."

"Oh, it's a big deal when you look that stupid." Gilda began laughing as Thunderlane stood there, unamused. "Anyways, we should get to work. Things won't take care of themselves."

"By the way, what did Special mean when he said odd jobs."

"Oh, you'll see."

---

At the beginning of the day, Thunderlane did not think he would find himself squeezed into an air duct, face to flank with another pony. Just like Gilda had said, Thunderlane soon saw exactly what his boss meant when he said odd jobs. Apparently, some of the delivery ponies used the air ducts to leave the building, instead of the windows. Thunderlane was shocked to learn that one of those pegasi had gotten stuck and needed to be freed. Thunderlane was more shocked to learn that he had to be the one to free them. He and Gilda had been taken to the air duct and showed the pony that was stuck inside. Gilda was bulkier than Thudnerlane, so she made him go in instead of her. Thunderlane had crawled throughout the duct until he reached the stuck pony. Unfortunately, all he could see of them was their flank and hind legs.

"Ok." he said to the pony. "I'm going to get you out of here."

"About time." the pony replied, rather ungratefully.

"I can't pull you out this way, so I'm going to have to push you out. Got it?"

"Alright, just make it quick." So, Thunderlane stretched his forelegs out in front of him and put his hoofs on the ponies flanks. He then gave a small push, which didn't seem to move the pony forward at all.

"You're going to have to do better than that, dweeb." He heard Gilda call from behind him.

"I'm trying!" he screamed back. Thunderlane gave another push, but this time, with all of his strength. The pony's body instantly came lose and they started moving forward. With a kick of their hind legs, they pushed themselves out of the air duct and out of the building. Unfortunately for Thunderlane, their hind legs had kicked right into his face, sending him sliding back through the air duct. He came to a stop right at the entrance, but his front half was still within the duct, so his bottom half was hanging out of it.

"Nice flanks." Gilda said, before blushing. Thunderlane, blushing himself, was completely flustered.

"Th...thanks. So, what's next for today?"

"During packaging, a pony accidentally sealed themselves in a box and now we have to get them out."

"That doesn't seem so bad."

"The box got delivered and we have to go track it down."

"Oh."

"Yep, odd jobs."

Comments

[SageBrony07]

I like the idea of these odd jobs. Good luck with the next chapter. I like how Gilda is starting to stare at Thunderlane.