The Raging Thunder Act-1

by Thunder Bolt

Hope

Chapter 2

The sounds of the forest soothed Thunder’s ears as he laid in a patch of sun, perforating the dark green canopy above. A good rest was pleasant after a long day, running about fetching different plants and herbs to be used as ingredients in his guardian’s concoctions. She made all sorts of things, from ailment healing brews to average stews. As you can imagine, someone who spends a lot of time over a cauldron requires a lot of different things to put in it, and that job isn’t made any easier when you live out in the middle of a forest. So his days usually ended up in a routine of scouring the forest floor for a list of many different plants. It wasn’t like it was always just a walk through the woods to gather these things either. It was tiring work actually, as he was often times forced to go quite long distances to gather ingredients. It was nice when he had some time to himself to simply relax, and he really knew the value of a decent nap since he hardly got the chance. This day was a little bit more special though, because his guardian decided to go out on her own today, so he was given some extra time to himself. After he finished his short nap, he got himself up and walked over to a nearby tree, a large oak that went far above the forest canopy, with many branches, mangled and broken from age, that hung down from above. Putting his front hooves up against the side of the tree, he gave three taps and then whistled.

“You can come on now, I’m not working no more, she’s gone out today.” He spoke up to the tree. Then out of a hole in the tree came the head of a small squirrel, poking itself out to see it’s pony friend on the ground below. It leaped out on the branch and scurried its way down to him, hopping onto his back, only to do a funny scuttle as it fought it’s way up his mane to sit on top of his head.

“Haha! You’re silly Razzle, you always sit on my head.” The young colt chuckled as he reached up to pet the small squirrel,and then walked off down a little path in the woods, having a chat with his furry friend.

The small pony talked and talked as he walked with his small friend, telling him about all the things that had happened in his life recently. The squirrel liked to listen to him, he would lay on his head and make little head nodding motions, showing understanding of what was being said, whether he understood it or not. Razzle was a funny sort of squirrel, not quite like all the others, he was never as cautious or timid as other squirrels. See, Thunder found him when he was very tiny, all alone with no family, so he raised the little squirrel, and then found him a nice tree to live in. He was Thunder’s best friend, and this is typically what Thunder would do when he had time to himself. He’d come see Razzle and talk to him, who in return gave Thunder someone to share his experiences and emotions with. Razzle might not be much of a talker, but he was always there to listen to Thunder, and he appreciated that greatly.

Thunder walked all the way to a small lake with Razzle, laying down in the grass and staring down into the water. Thunder watched as their reflections rippled in the water, and as lights danced around him from the reflections of the sun, beaming through the gaps in the trees above. Thunder thought to himself for a moment as he laid there, watching himself in the water. Then he looked up at his little friend, poking his head over Thunder’s face.

“Hey Razzle, can I ask you something?” Thunder asked his friend. The squirrel then hopped down from Thunder’s head and sat in front of him, sitting and watching him like some wise pony ready to give advice. “Do you ever feel an empty spot inside you? Like there’s something missing?” At this, Razzle tilted his head and then after a few moments smiled and nodded. “Oh you have? Well, what do you do then?” In reply to this, Razzle held up his paw and then quickly bolted off into the woods. Thunder watched him curiously as he ran off, wondering what he could possibly be doing. He laid there and a few moments later Razzle came bounding back and sat once again in front of Thunder, only this time with puffed out cheeks. Lowering his head, Razzle emptied a bunch of berries and some nuts onto the ground and proceed to hold some up for Thunder. Thunder just stared at him blankly for a few seconds, and then smiled, and unable to control himself burst out in a small fit of laughter. “Bahahahahahaha! Oo-ha-oo-haha that’s just too good!” Razzle flattened his ears and frowned as Thunder laughed, then, after calming himself down, Thunder wiped a tear from his eye and patted his friend on the head. “Oh, thank you for the offer Razzle, but that isn’t really what I meant by ‘empty’.” Razzle then tilted his head and stared at Thunder dumbfounded. “Oh, come on silly, I think I should take you home now, ‘cuz I really need to get home myself. Come on Razzle, hop up.” Thunder lowered his head and Razzle gleefully jumped aboard, clinging to his large pony friend’s mane. “You sure like riding on my head Razzle.”

Later that afternoon, after Thunder had taken Razzle to his tree, he headed back for his home. The walk was short since he didn’t live too far away, and only a small amount of time passed before he was in sight of the large tree-hut of which he lived in. As his home came into view, he began to head for the large wooden front door, grateful to be back after such long day. He hadn’t had a bit of food the entire time, and he was just dying to get a bite to eat. Unfortunately, if his guardian hadn’t returned yet, he may have to wait a while longer as he wasn’t allowed to cook by himself. Then, as he was approaching the front door, it suddenly opened and some one stepped out of it. The one who stepped out, just so happened to be Thunder’s guardian, and although to some she might just look like any average pony, she was actually a zebra. Covering her body were many long black stripes and she had a large sun-looking pattern on both sides of her flank, which appeared to be a sort of tattoo. Her mane was relatively short, starting at the top of her neck and ending just before her forehead, but it went up into a fairly tall, striped mohawk. She also wore a lot of jewelery, which was composed completely of different sized golden rings. A large stack of golden rings encased her neck, exaggerating the length of it, and there were also many rings around her right foreleg as well as one large crescent ring hanging from each ear. All of which shined in the light of the open door, emanating from the fire pit within her house, creating a glow of beauty around her. Looking down at Thunder, she smiled and began to speak.

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you!

Come, and you’ll find I made your favorite stew.”
Upon hearing this, Thunder grinned widely and bolted for the door.

“Coming Zecora!” He shouted as he ran, quickly entering his home and heading for the small table near the wall. Zecora then closed the door and followed, as Thunder was already waiting to be served a delicious dinner that he would enjoy with his loving guardian.

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Zecora sat across the room from Thunder, sorting out a few bottles and jars full of various remedies, plants, and odd ingredients, meanwhile watching little Thunder as he ate. She marveled at how much the young colt had grown in the last few years, and although he was still very young, he had grown such a great amount in that time. It really did seem like such a short time since she first found him all alone beneath that tree. The years really did just fly past Zecora, which was probably a sign of her age, but she still had quite a bit of youth in herself.

After a few moments of stray thought, Zecora reminded herself of something important which she intended to tell Thunder about. Once he had finished eating, she went over to him and sat on the opposite side of the small table.

“I do hope you enjoyed your stew.” Zecora began.

“But now I have some splendid news,

Your interests of which I’m sure will amuse.” Licking his dinner from his face, Thunder looked up at Zecora with a big grin, still there from his treat of a meal.

“Really? What kind of news Zecora? I hope it’s that you’ll be making flower stew more often.” This, of course, was the meal that Thunder had just eaten. Flower stew was a special treat Zecora made for him every so often, containing many different edible flowers found within and around the forest, that were mixed together in a very specific fashion to draw out an incredibly sweet flavor, as well as give off an aroma that could be smelled from well over a mile away.

Zecora laughed and leaned over the table to tussle Thunder’s mane as she spoke.

“No no no, you silly fool.

You’re going to be starting school.” Being that Thunder was patting down his mane, he quickly looked up at Zecora and gasped as she said this, and in one large bound he jumped at Zecora from over the table, causing her to tumble backwards and land on her back with a loud “Oof!”

“You mean I’m gunna get to meet new ponies like me?”

“Yes, and make many friends, just wait and see.”

“Oh thank you thank you thank you Zecora!” Thunder exclaimed as he held his forelegs tightly around Zecora’s neck. Zecora lifted the young pony up and set him aside, letting herself up off the floor and back onto her hooves. Fixing her mane and straightening out her rings rather quickly, she then began walking towards the back door to her hut.

“Now now, settle down,

That smile may yet become a frown.” Thunder stopped his cheering for a moment and looked over at her curiously.

“What do you mean Zecora?”

“Well you see, the problem is,

This school is way up in the sky,

And it’ll be hard to get there, if you haven’t learned to fly.”

“Oh.” Was all that Thunder said, as he looked down at his small wings. Living with Zecora, Thunder had learned to travel around mainly by ground, and he never really had the chance to learn how to properly fly. Every now and then he would use them for small things, like to help him jump over large pits or pools, but was never able to keep himself in the air for more than a few seconds. Zecora chuckled at the young Thunder’s sudden change of reaction and began to open the back door.

“Now don’t you worry little one,

Learning to fly will be lots of fun,

And I have a plan that’s just for you,

To prove flying is something you can easily do.” Thunder walked over to her and peeked out the back door, then looked back up at her.

“What are we going to do Zecora?”

“Come little one, follow me,

And very soon, you shall see.” To this, she walked out of the hut, and Thunder followed, closing the door behind him. Outside of the hut, Zecora took Thunder down a small path which went down a slightly thicker area of the forest, but it was not too thick, as small streams of light still shined down through the thick canopy here and there. They walked and walked, going around a few bends and sharp turns, Zecora staying completely silent the entire way as if she wanted it to be some sort of surprise. Then, after a while of walking, they finally came off of the path into another small clearing in the forest. This area also had a lake in it, similar to the one he always went to with Razzle, but this lake was a lot bigger and had way more shallow areas in it as well as a much larger space that gave a clear view of the sky. Zecora took Thunder over to a very large tree that had grown way closer to the edge of the lake than any other tree. It was very tall and had almost no leaves on it, which meant that it was very close to dying. On closer inspection, Thunder observed that something was a little odd about the tree. Jutting directly over the edge of the lake was a very large branch, which caused the entire tree to lean slightly to one side. It was very wide and it even had some leaves growing on it, indicating that it was rather sturdy. This branch was also in particular the one that Zecora was pointing out as Thunder observed it.

“This tree I found is just great,

And with it, your training wont have to wait.

You can use it to learn to fly,

And make your way into the sky,

And if you should so happen to fall,

The lake below, it will surely stall.” Thunder observed this and smiled at his guardian, now understanding the plan behind her actions. So without hesitation he leaped at the tree, and using his hooves to grab onto it, he would flap his wings to help him slowly shimmy his way up until he made it to the branch. Climbing on top, he steadied himself and got ready for a charge.

“Well then what are we waiting for!” He shouted down at Zecora.”I need to start training now if I want to start school and meet new ponies!”

“Well then go! Head for the sky!

I’ll always be here to watch, until I know you can fly!” Zecora shouted back to him. Thunder nodded and turned back to the lake, looking up at the clouds in the sky, he promised himself there that he would learn to fly no matter how hard he had to try. He loved Zecora and the forest where he lived, but he had lived practically his entire life here, and he had never even met some pony like himself. He ran from the trunk of the tree, and in one bound he stretched out his legs and extended his wings with his head held high. So far, life has been pretty good to the young colt, with a loving guardian and a good little friend, but there was still something missing in his life. Even though he had so much, he still felt empty inside, as if there was one final piece he needed, to bring all his fortunes together into one whole. Perhaps school was where he would find that final piece, amongst his own kind. He flapped his wings and he reached out far, as if he was trying to grab at some imaginary force, that would make his young pony life complete.

A loud splash, and a shuffle for the surface of chilly water brought him back to reality. Popping his head out onto the surface, he spewed water out of his mouth, and looked at Zecora laughing at him. It was not spiteful, but warming, and he laughed at himself as well. He would get there some day, but perhaps it would take a little longer than he had hoped for.

End Chapter

Authors note: I hope the story is enjoyable so far. Just keep in mind, I am writing this story gradually and many tragedies start off happy.

Comments

[Whisper The Saint]

Chapter 2 done.

Okay, first the grammar: besides the commas, I noticed a few moments you used a word... but I think you meant another one.

For example, when you write "weather", didn't you mean "either"? That was at the scene the protagonist is talking with the squirrel. Also, at the phrase: “You can come on now, I’m not working no more, she’s gone out today.”, wouldn't it be better "out" in place of "on"... and "anymore" in place of "no more"?

About the history: I have to say that Thunder and his squirrel moments were Daww worthy. Also mother and son moments always move my strings. :

Another thing that caught my attention is the author notes: you said that many tragedies start happy. Does this mean things will get pretty bad from now on?

Keep safe.