The Follies of a Fragile Flyer
Was it all just a dream? A bad dream with a very weird but also strangely wholesome outcome? These were the thoughts going through Thunderlane's head as he groggily sat up in his puffy cloud bed. Looking out the window to the same old familiar Cloudsdale view made him feel a bit better, ponies flying around busy as ever living their lives totally normal. Right… normal…but last night felt all too real to him.
From drinking the potion to getting pulled apart like a toy, the whole scene played out again and again in his head as he got ready for the day. But he woke up in his bed safe and sound! If last night was real then he would’ve been scattered around the house! Or still being cuddled by Soarin! Or maybe-
*bonk* *thud*
Or maybe he should stop thinking to himself while getting ready, as he hit his head on the doorway and is now watching his body stumble around as a head on the floor. Right… normal…
After a yelling match with his body and a clumsy reattachment, Thunderlane steps into the kitchen of his and Soarin’s apartment, to the aforementioned pegasus preparing breakfast for the two of them.
“Mornin hun! Looks like someone couldn’t sleep with their head on straight”
Thunderlane sighs as he takes a seat at the table and realizes he put his head back on at an off angle, but his coltfriend rights it for him.
“How long did you say this potion was supposed to last for?”
“That shopkeeper said just for a night, but maybe it’s just dying down?”
Dying down huh? With his luck, it’s only just started. The things he does for his partner…
“Aw cmon Thundy, you can’t be down in the dumps today! Did’ja forget about the big show today~?”
Oh shit the show! How could he forget?! Today was Thunderlane's anniversary for becoming a wonderbolt, which meant he had a very important ceremony to attend!
“Yeah man, I totally remembered! Last night definitely did throw my memory off or anything heh heh…”
Nervous laughter, very smooth featherbrain. Soarin laughs and puts a meal of bacon and eggs on the table and puts a hoof on the worried pony’s shoulder.
“Look babe, I’m sorry for wrapping you up in another of my weird fantasies, but I’m glad you did! It meant a lot to me that you were willing to give it a try~”
Give it a try he says, now he has to worrying about staying in one piece before the ceremony!
“Babe you know I have errands to run before that! Spitfire put me in charge of getting decorations, gotta make sure the food is prepared, there’s quite a list man!”
“Oh don’t you worry your pretty little head about it, you’ll manage! You are the great thunderlane after all~ besides, you don’t want your head to actually fall off from worrying~”
The fact that he was serious about that comment was annoying in of itself. He had a point though, worrying about it would just make things worse. Stuffing his face sounded like a good distraction for the moment too.
—————————————————————-
With the most important meal of the day done and out of the way, it was about time Thunderlane got started on his duties. He said goodbye to his partner and flew downwards into ponyville. Right, first on the list was decorations, so that meant Sugarcube Corner was his first stop. There was no other place he would find the Super Duper Party Pony of course. He landed in the bustling street and carefully navigated the herd of ponies in the bustling streets. Of course today was busy, just his luck…
Ok, entering the store now, looks like just one other customer in here, so far so good… just have to find-
“A SPECIAL WONDERBOLT WELCOME TO YOU THUNDERLANE!!!”
The pink bundle of joy burst out from behind a shelf in front of him. Good thing he was expecting a welcome like this, otherwise he would’ve been in pieces on the floor from shock.
“Er- Hello to you too Pinkie Pie~ I assume you know why I’m here?”
“Well duh~ I know I can be all over the place 99% of the time, but when it comes to party planning, I got it all in here!”
She would comically point a hoof to her head.
“You’re here for the decorations for your biiiig day right? Spitfire gave me the heads up and I already have em all set aside for you in some saddlebags!”
Sounds like Spitfire all right, on top of things and always one step ahead of the rest. Pinkie Pie moved to another isle to help another customer.
“Thanks a lot Pinkie, you have no idea how much I appreciate how easy you make things”
As Thunderlane slung the saddlebags on his backside, a popping sound echoed throughout the store and the pegasus fell forward with a crash. The weight of the saddlebags had caused him to pop in half, causing his baffled bottom to stand awkwardly. Using his athletics, he grabs his lower half and rolls behind the counter to hide.
Pinkie quickly whipped around at the commotion
“Um, Thunderlane? That area is usually just for staff, but I’ll let it slide since it’s your day and all hehe~”
Shit! She was coming this way, this has to be the quickest reattachment he’s ever done. Good thing wonderbolts are trained to work under pressure, it took no time at all to get his panicked posterior back into place. Thunderlane got his bags back on and leaned on the counter, awkwardly smiling to try and hide his panic.
“Right! I knew that… I just uh, saw a bug! Yeah, it was a big one and I didn’t want you to have to deal with it- anywaygottagothankspinkie!”
The busy black wonderbolt slammed some bits on the counter and flew right out the front door in a rush.
“Wowee, I know it’s a big day for him, but what’s got his twizzlers in a twist?”
Pinkie went behind the counter to clean up the mess, when she spotted what looked like a blue ribbon…wait- a tail? Weeeeird- She picked it up and went outside
“Thunderlane waaaaait! You forgot something!!! Phooey- he’s already gone… and I thought stuff like this only happened to me!”
—————————————————————
Alright, that just happened, almost just showed everypony that he was a freak but it’s good! It’s alllll good. Next on the list was Sweet Apple Acres, the Apple family was handling the catering so Thunderlane had to make sure everything that was on the menu was ready and prepared. He landed down next to the barn, but it seemed like nopony was around. It wasn’t until he heard a loud slam that he knew he wasn’t alone. Behind the barn was a rather large red stallion wearing a big brown collar, bucking apples from an apple tree into a nearby cart.
“Erm, excuse me- I’m here to check on the catering for the Wonderbolt event. Erm- I’m Thunderlane… the Wonderbolt, you've probably heard of me.”
The red stallion would only do so much as glance in his direction
“Eeyup.”
“Right! Of course you have, we are a big deal after all! So is it just you here?”
“Eeyup.”
Quite the talker this one. He just seemed focused on the tree more than the actual wonderbolt that just showed up on his doorstep. The thought of being pushed off like that annoyed the pampered Pegasus, so he steps in the way of the stallion's apple bucking.
“Look I think you should actually try looking me in the eyes when you tal-”
The world became a blur as Thunderlane hit the tree and fell to the grass, maybe stepping in between a massive stallion and his apple tree wasn’t the best idea. Spitting out dirt from his mouth, he looked up to see the horrifying sight that it was only his head that got dealt the blow. The dazed black body stumbled clumsily, leaving the big red stranger to stand over Thunderlane's detached head. Weird, he didn’t seem too fazed by the sight of literally decapitating a pony. The collared brute picked up the helpless head by the mane and put it on a nearby tree stump as he sat next to him.
“Sorry ‘bout that.”
Sorry?! This random stranger just bucked his head off and all he had to say was sorry?!
“I mean, apology accepted but… you’re taking this surprisingly well-”
“Ah’m in business with the pony who supplied you the potion that made you like that. They need some ingredients we have, we supply it for a bit of extra bits. My family ain’t all interested in his stock, but he’s got certain…tastes that I take fancy towards… names Big Mac by the way.”
Oh Celestia, he was just like his boyfriend. Still, from the name alone he now knew who this pony was. Big brother of the apple family, Big Macintosh never said much, but did lots of the heavy lifting for the famous apple family… and was apparently also into fall apart ponies.
“So you’ve dealt with this kinda stuff before?”
“Eeyup”
“And you know it’s not permanent right?”
“Not unless you want it to”
“Huh… you’re enjoying seeing me like this aren’t you?!”
Big Mac just laughed
—————————————————————
Too many thoughts were racing through Thunderlanes mind as he walked to the Wonderbolts locker room to get changed for his big event. He had talked more with Big Mac, turns out the big apple dabbled in the modular potion too! Even helped teach him a few things about it before he helped with the reassembly. He made it seem kinda fun, which made Thunderlane think he was going crazy. The worried black pegasus sighed as he opened his locker and got his uniform out, it would take a miracle for something not to go wrong given his track record today. His uniform seemed too tight now too, why is it so hard to put on-?!
*pop* *pop*
Aaaand there goes his forelegs. He sat back in frustration, burying his face in his wings.
“Cmon, it’s not like it’s your first flight~ you have the jitters?”
Gah! Oh- it was just Soarin, just in time to see his coltfriend falling apart…literally. Soarin picked up the fallen forelegs and gave a helping hoof.
“Thanks babe, I've just had a hard day today… too many close shaves for me.”
“Oh I believe it! But I’m not just here to cheer you up, I got a package for ya!”
Soarin opened his saddlebags and produced a pink package wrapped up neatly. Curious, Thunderlane opened it very carefully as it was very nicely wrapped. Confetti shot out of the box, already a dead giveaway to who it was from. Inside was a note and something else, but he decided to read the note first.
“Thunderlane
Just your friendly neighborhood party pony here^^ you seemed kinda jumpy when you came by so I wanted to write to you to cheer you up! It’s your big day and I just know you’ll show everypony why you are a Wonderbolt! I even planned an after party for you! Yay!!!
Best wishes!
Pinkie Pie
P.S. you left something too! It’s in the box, just make sure you keep spares and don’t be afraid if you need to borrow one of mine :p
Left something? What could it possibly-
Thunderlane just blushes as he pulls out his tail from the box, looks like he really was all over the place today.
Soarin laughed and put a wing around the bright red and black pony as he was reattaching his tail.
“Hehe I can’t believe you didn’t notice that was missing~ Even Big Mac did! I passed by him on the way here and he said you came by. You know how he is though, doesn’t say much, but he was looking forward to seeing you again. Don’t you see, no matter what kinda troubles you deal with, there will always be the right kinda ponies you need there to help you. I should know, I'm one of them!”
Thunderlane wipes a tear from his eyes and stands up, the crowd starting to cheer as the event was drawing close to its start. Yeah, today didn’t turn out as planned, but at least now he knows that help can come where you can least expect it. Probably gonna lay off the weird potions for a while though…
Maybe~