Revenge

by Thunder_Strike

First published 17th of November, 2012

Life is not always easy

Thunder's life has not been easy. He is considered unusual, weird and a freak by the other ponies standards, and never really had any friends, his mother and father are the closest ponies to friends that he knows, yet he is content with life. But as a tragedy falls upon him, leaving him with little to nothing left, he will take it upon himself to exact revenge on events that have occurred in his past, that tore him on the inside, changing him in ways he couldn't imagine.

Chapter 1

The sound of a young colt’s laughter filled the crisp morning air, and the sun’s rays beamed down through the tree of which he played. A young Pegasi, who didn’t look much older than the age of 5, was running around, circling the tree holding up a Wonderbolts figure in one of his hooves, making it flip through the air and do all sorts of tricks. The young Pegasus had a black mane, a black tail and a light grey coat, his golden-honey shaded eyes glistened in the sun as he continued to play and frolic. Being the young colt he was, he had yet to attain a Cutie Mark, but that was the least of his worries because he was happy and content with the way he already was. He lived on a farm near the outskirts of Ponyville with his two parents, his father, Rain Strike and mother Cloud Strike. The sound of the laughter and play was interrupted by a smooth and calming voice calling out to him from the porch of their home.
“Strike, Strikey dear, breakfast is ready, come eat it while it’s warm!”
The young colt looked up from his toy towards where the voice was coming from, and noticed his mother standing on the porch, calling him over. He sat his figure in one of the tree branches and galloped over towards her, giving his little wings a flitter every now and then to attempt to run faster, he could fly if he wanted to, but he wasn’t very strong at it. He never really was. He reached the porch and jumped towards his mother, hugging her before trotting inside, panting slightly. He entered the dining area where a bowl of warm porridge sat on a table, it looked and smelled good to him, like Cloud’s cooking usually did. He sat down and started eating it immediately, but he didn’t think about how hot it would be and ended up burning his tongue.
“Ow! Mum you didn’t say the porridge would be so…burny and hot!”
he glanced across the table where his mother had sat and looked at her with a sense of blame in his eyes.
“Now, now Thunder dear, you must be more careful! Here, look, just blow on it a little like this…”
She took the spoon from him and blew gently at the porridge on it, then handed it back looking at him with a warm motherly like smile.
“Oh…thankyou”
He pushed the spoon into his mouth once more, and was able to bear it this time. It wasn’t long before he had finished the entire bowl and stared back up at Cloud, smiling with porridge around his mouth as he pushed the empty bowl towards her.
“All done! Can I go and play outside now? Please!?”
“Yes Strike dear you can go play outside again, just remember to be careful and try not to get too dirty, you’ll want to look nice for when your father gets home!”
“Okay mum, don’t worry I won’t get too muddy and dusty!”
He trotted up to his mother and hugged her once more before heading back out to the tree to play.

He wasn’t outside playing for long before a black coated earth pony with a grey mane, red eyes and a scar across his face noticed him, and jumped right over the fence of their farm proceeding to trot up to him. His voice was deep and rather sinister, and it was clear that he wasn’t any normal passer-by.
“Hello young colt, what are you doing all the way up here on your own hmm?”
Thunder looked up at this new stallion and lowered one of his ears, slightly startled at the ponies appearance. He held up his Wonderbolts figure and gave it a little shake.
“Playing with your toy hmm? Well that sounds like fun, would you mind if I joined in?”
The young colt lowered his toy and continued to stare at the stallion.
“C’mon, there’s no need to be so quiet, tell me young colt, what is your name? You have a nice place out here don’t you? Come now, you don’t have to worry you can trust me!”
The black stallion looked down at the colt and grinned, but there was something about his grin that didn’t seem normal. Regardless of this, Thunder spoke anyway.
“My mother told me that I shouldn’t talk to strangers and that it was best that I stayed far away from them.”
His face frowned as he looked at the Stallion in front of him, who seemed to be getting slightly frustrated with the young colt refusing to talk properly to him. The black stallion saw that Thunder wasn’t going to talk to him so he formulated another plan to try and get him to speak.
“Oh it’s okay, I am a friend of your fathers, we used to know each other when we were little. I’m just dropping in to see if he is home”
“My dad’s not here right now, he’s out buying seeds from another farm…the one with the apple trees! But my mum is in the house, you can say hello to her if you want to mister”
The grey colts face brightened up slightly. If this pony knew his dad, he couldn’t be a stranger. He must have been trustworthy.
“No its okay, I don’t need to see your mother. Your father sent me here to take you to the other farm to show you something”
“Oh really? Cool! I should go tell mum first though so she doesn’t think I’ve run off!”
He was about to turn around and gallop back to the house but he was stopped by the black stallion.
“You don’t have to tell your mother we are leaving, I’m sure your dad has already told her about it! C’mon you can take your toy with you and we’ll head right off!”
The grey Pegasi felt a sense of security around this new pony, everything he said made sense to him but then again, he wasn’t really old enough to understand anyway. The Black pony started trotting back the way he came, ushering the little Pegasi to follow him.
“what’s your name mister?”
He followed the black stallion close behind, still grasping the Wonderbolts toy.
“My name? we’ll most Ponies I’ve come across call me Dark, so I’ve kind of adopted that name to use as my own.”
He jumped back over the fence and turned around to face Thunder
“C’mon what are you waiting for? Fly over and let’s keep going, don’t want to keep your father waiting now don’t you?”
“Well umm…Dark, I can’t uhh…I can’t fly”’
He flapped his wings as fast as he could, but it was a meagre effort and nothing came out of it, he just stayed on the ground. He looked past the fence and frowned at Dark, there weren’t many Pegasi his age he knew that couldn’t fly.
“Ughh fine, I’ll help you over!”
he jumped the fence once more and cupped his hooves in front of him.
“Okay, now just step onto my hooves, and I’ll lift you over!”
He managed to put on a fake smile, trying to give the young colt some reassurance.
“Uh…okay then…”
The colt slowly stepped onto his hooves and rested his free front hoof onto Darks shoulder.
“So now what happe- WAAAH!”
Thunder was thrust into the air. He panicked a little and flapped his wings but it still did nothing, and he landed on the dirt road on the other side of the fence with a thud, his Wonderbolt toy however, did not make it over with him and it buried itself into the grass alongside the fence.
“ohh…my head! Oh and I’m all dusty too! Mother said that I should look clean for when I see dad!”
He began to pout and watched the earth pony jump over the fence once more.
“And where’s my toy?! I think it landed on that side over there, could you get it for me?”
“You don’t need the toy where we are going, now hurry up! That thing your father wanted to show you will be gone soon and you won’t get to see it! So hurry along and keep up!”
He spoke in a harsh tone, and as his normal voice always made him sound slightly agitated, there was quite a distinct difference when he was annoyed.
“Oh…sorry Dark, I’ll try to keep up”
“Good! I don’t want to hear another word from you until we get there either!”
Dark started to trot at a pretty fast speed, and because he was so big compared to little Thunder Strike, the colt had to pretty much gallop to try and catch up to him. They trotted along the road for a very long time, and the sun was beginning to set by the time they had reached the end of the road, which stopped at the entrance of a rather dark and gloomy forest.
“Well, here we are. End of the road!” Dark looked down upon the little colt, who was starting to look tired.
“I don’t get it…there’s nothing here, where’s dad?”
He started to get a bit worried, and he felt sick and exhausted, mainly because they had been trotting all day and he hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
“I’m a little hungry too, can we go home now?”
Dark laughed somewhat malevolently at the young colts remark and turned to him with a grin.
“I’m afraid you won’t be seeing home for quite some time now young Thunder”
As he heard this, Strikes attention immediately turned from his stomach and focused straight on what was going on. He was no longer sick of hunger, but sick with worry and concern, he began to slowly back up.
“What do you mean I won’t see home again for a long time? Why not? It’s just back along that road right?”
“Hahaha, silly colt, you haven’t figured anything out yet haven’t you? This is the end of the road for you! You can kiss your little childhood and life goodbye, from now on you will be our pawn on the chessboard! I’m afraid you won’t be able to see where we go from now on, so why don’t you be a good little Foal and stay still, this won’t hurt for long.”
“W..w..what are you talking about miste-“
Dark turned around and bucked into Strikes head, not hard enough to cause any permanent damage, just enough to knock him out cold for a while. A satisfied smile spread across his face as he placed the limp body across his back and headed into the forest.
Hours went by, and Strike finally started to regain consciousness. His head was throbbing, and when he opened his eyes, there was nothing but more darkness. It was cold, dark and he was feeling very scared, and dizzy. The stress from this situation made him feel like throwing up, but he managed not to. He slowly regained his ability to hear, and although it was muffled and unclear, he managed to make out most of what the voice was talking about, but this time there was more than one voice, and the others were not familiar in the slightest.
“Wow I can’t believe I talked him into getting here that easily”
“Oh shut up Dark, there’s nothing worth bragging about he’s a child for bucks sake! It’s easy to convince them to do anything!”
“So what do we do now, do we just wait for them to come looking for us or what?”
“You fool! I swear sometimes you’re no smarter than the foals we take! Alas what we do now is wait for them to find the note, send one back to us agreeing, they can have their little colt back and we get what we want, understand!?”
“Well, yes I do except there’s one slight problem with that…” Dark grinned at the other pony stupidly and held out a piece of paper. “I may of forgot to place…it there…”
“YOU IDIOT! IS THERE ANYTHING YOUR RELIABLE FOR BESIDES A COVER UP!? NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT YOU’D PROBABLY BUCK THAT UP SOMEHOW TOO!”
Strike heard a cracking sound, like somepony had been hit over the head with something, then he heard the distinct sound of a door unlocking and a pony trotted into the room.
“Wake up, might as well feed you if you’re going to be of any use to us now!”
He trotted over to the Strike and hit his side, rolling him onto the floor. He leant over and took off the blindfold. The light cut into Strikes eyes like a razor.
“ughh…its so bright!”
“Shut up! I don’t care about you or your wellbeing. As soon as you parents surrender your farm to us you can return to them, and as long as you don’t be stupid and be a good little Colt you will be safe, and unharmed. That’s the deal okay, no if’s, ands or buts about it. Not that you get a choice anyway.”
Strikes eyes became adjusted to the light, and he found himself sitting in a small room. There was a bed in the corner, using torn rags as blankets and a square of wood covered in some old dirty fabric as a pillow. There were pipes running along the roof and a single light that flickered on and off hung loosely from the ceiling. In the middle of it all stood a tall Unicorn with a dark blue coat, brown eyes and for what scraps of hair remained a completely white mane. This new pony pushed a plate with a few pieces of bread and a bowl of water towards him.
“Now eat up, can’t have you dyeing on us! No, that would be terrible, wouldn’t it?”
A malevolent grin spread across his face, and a feeling of accomplishment overcame him.
“W..who are you? Where am i? Where is my mother, and father?”
The little colt became overwhelmed with fear and worry, he was hungry, afraid, and cold. He looked up to the dark blue Unicorn and his eyes welled up with tears.
“Ughh…Little foals and their questions!”
The Unicorn bought his hoof up to his face and shook his head.
“My name is Blue Horn; you are in a secret location deep within the underground of the Everfree, and as for your father and mother? Well like I said, once we get somepony reliable around here to deliver this message and they agree you may see them again, and live a happy life without fear of meeting us again. Should you choose to do something stupid then you and your parents might have a little…unexpected accident that nopony will be able to prevent.”
Blue laughed to himself and walked out the door, but before he shut and locked it he turned around to face Thunder once more.
“We will have no more questions, don’t go complaining or bitching to any of us here either; it’s annoying enough that we even have to keep an eye out on you”
The last thing Thunder heard was Blue Horns annoyed grunts as he pushed the door, closing and locking it, from then on it was just him, and the small room. Strike was tired and hungry, so he ate the stale tasting bread and curled up in a ball on the mattress, where he cried himself to sleep.

Chapter 2

Thunder Strike found himself in a dark, black room. There was no scenery, just pure darkness. He uncurled from his sleep and stood up, looking around. This place was not normal and he definitely didn’t like it one bit. Strike looked around for a bit, searching for a way out, and from the darkness he heard something, or somepony, calling his name.
“Strikey…Strikey dear it’s okay, don’t be afraid. Mummy’s here for you”
He heard the smooth soft sound of his mother’s voice and turned around and saw his mother and father standing together at the end of the dark corridor.
“Mum! Dad!” he started galloping towards them faster than he ever had in his life, but something didn’t add up. He kept galloping towards them, but the closer he tried to get, the further away they seemed to be.
“Come here son, you don’t have to worry anymore; you’ll be safe with us!”
“Listen to your father dear, come now don’t you want to be with us?”
He galloped harder and faster into the dark corridor. The only sound that could be heard was that of his hooves hitting the ground, and his parent’s voices echoing throughout the hall.
“I can’t get to you mummy! Please! Come here!” Strike yelled out to them, and he started to sob as he kept galloping, never getting closer to them.
“Oh whats the matter son? C’mon you can do it, almost there now”
“Yes dear, so close! Don’t give up now, keep galloping!”
He did just that, and they finally started to get closer and closer. Strike stopped sobbing seeing this, and a grin spread across his face.
“Mother! Father! I’m coming! Stay there don’t move!”
He was so close now. They reached out their hooves preparing to hug him, preparing to be a happy family once more. He jumped for them but when he got there, when he finally reached their arms, they disappeared into dust and he was left alone in the darkness once more.
“Mother? Father? Where did you go! Come back!”
He started to cry again as he sat down. Why did they leave him when he was so close?
“They never loved you…”
Another voice came from the darkness. This one sounded dark and haunting as it echoed across the nothing.
“None of them…”
“Where are you! Who are you! Who’s there? Where’s mummy? Where’s dad!”
“Hmhmhm…little foals and there questions”
The voice grew louder, but there was nopony to be seen, it was just Strike.
“Never loved you, they never cared! Why else would they let you be taken away to a place like this hmm?”
“My parents do love me! They always will and have! I know it because daddy and mummy both tell me all the time!” he started yelling at the voice, choking up every now and then from the tears.
“That’s not true, they don’t love you! You were nothing but a little mistake! After all, who would love a Pegasus who can’t even fly? Hahaha. Looks like poor little Thunder Strike has struck out!”
Almost immediately after saying this, the ground gave way below him. Strike felt the feeling of plummeting down, the air hit his face and he started to panic. He flapped his wings trying as hard as he could to try and fly up but it didn’t work, he just kept falling into darkness. the voices didn’t take long to return to him.
“They never loved you…Never will…Nothing but a mistake…you can’t even fly! You’re a failure”
“Stop! Please just stop!”
Strike started to cry again, he stopped flapping his wings, it was pointless anyway. The voice appeared one last time, only this time it was very loud and almost sounded demonic.
“Looks like it’s the end of the road for you young thunder!”

“AHHHHHH! MUMMY! DAD!”
Thunder Strike sat immediately upright, calling out to his mum and his dad repeatedly. There was a loud knock on the door and a voice from behind it.
“Shut the hell up! I’m trying to concentrate in here! Keep going on like that and ill come in there and GIVE you something to cry about!”
He reduced his screams and noticed that he was back in the small room. His forehead was sweating and he was shaking a little.
“I..it was j…just a nightmare…”
He picked himself off the floor and headed towards the door. He was about to knock on it but he heard more muffled speaking so he decided to sit and listen.
“Razor! Any word from that colts parents about handing over the land yet?”
“Blue, you know I’d prefer to be called dark…and no, not yet. They are being as stubborn as they always have been.”
“Did you even check the location they were meant to leave the agreement dark?”
“Yes sir, I did. Nothing. We’ve been trying to get this land from them for so long! I’m beginning to forget why you want it so badly in the first place…”
“Because! I’m led to believe that they are sitting right on top of a gem mine! Can you imagine what would happen if we got all those gems? We’d make millions!”
“Oh…I do like the sound of that!...but if that’s all we need why did I have to take that colt?” Dark began to feel a little puzzled. To him, if all they needed was the land what was the point in take Thunder Strike away?
“Because we need him for a bit of an…exchange…if you will. I’ve asked many, MANY times to even at least have an excavation of the land and see if there’s anything there but they simply refused! Something about it being special or some crap like that. To be honest I couldn’t care less, I just want those gems. I don’t know how many times I’ve explained this but I’ll do it one more time, so I don’t want to hear you ask about it again. They agree to hand over their land in exchange for little Thunder Strike in there, or if they disagree, bad things will happen. VERY bad things.”
Strike pulled away from the door and fell back. The things he had just heard were a bit too much for him to comprehend. He did not know what they meant by “Special land” or the “Gem mine” under his parents farm, all he knew was that these ponies certainly did not have good intentions, and he wanted to see his parents again. He got up and shook off the bad feelings that he had, he may have been little and he may not of had his Cutie Mark or been able to fly, but he was rather smart. Strike knocked on the door fairly loudly so he could get their attention.
“Excuse me…uhh..anypony? I really, REALLY need to use the bathroom!”
He sat by the door and soon enough, the familiar annoyed tone of Blue came from the other side.
“Does it sound like I care?”
“But please I really need to, I don’t think I can hold it in much longer!”
There was some muffled arguing that occurred from the other side of the door, before finally Strike heard the sound of the door unlocking.
“Okay, follow Dark, and don’t you dare try anything stupid you hear me!”
He grabbed Strike and pushed him violently through the door, muttering curses under his breath as he shut it, and slumped down on a solitary chair that sat in the corner.
Thunder Strike trotted behind Dark for about 2 minutes, weaving through corridors that seemed to have no end. There was close to no lighting at all, and the scenery from the walls never changed from the same old stone. There was one wall that had a little indent in it, but that’s about the most that changed.
“Okay, It’s in there, now Hurry up! I haven’t got all bloody day!”
Dark threw the young colt into a room and closed the door behind him. Strike picked himself up and dusted himself off, examining the room that he was pushed into. The room wasn’t much bigger than the cell he was locked in, the only exception really was the toilet and sink. Strike rubbed his head and sat down on the toilet, he was rather surprised that they were stupid enough to believe his lie. He looked closely for any signs or ways that he could get out, and go back home, but there didn’t seem to be any options.
“Damn it kid, will you hurry up in there! You’re beginning to waste my time!”
He heard the muffled yelling of Dark from outside, and it gave him an idea. He was not sure if it would work or how it would play out, but it was worth a shot.
“I..im done, you can open the door now please?”
“Do it yourself, I’m not here to be your slave!”
“I can’t reach it! I’m too small!”
There were more annoyed grunts and mutters, and the door was swung open to reveal the black stallion standing behind it.
“Hurry up, don’t step out of line either”
He started to trot back towards the cell, through the dark corridors making no sound. He kept pace with dark, trotting up ahead of him until he stopped in his tracks.
“What are you doing? Get a move on!”
Strike sat there and shook his head.
“It’s not an option! Hurry up and move or I’ll knock you out cold and take you back myself!”
“I don’t want to move! I saw something in the dark; it was big and hairy looking and weird!”
Strike sat there and pretended to shake of fear, looking back at Dark with a genuinely scared expression.
“There’s nothing there! Stop being so stupid and get a move on!”
“No I did I really did see it!”
Strike started to tear up and whined a little, covering his eyes with his hooves and lying on the ground. Dark got angry and trotted up ahead of him into the hallway and started ranting on about how there was nothing there. Strike saw this opportunity and quickly ducked into the indent in the wall, he covered himself up as much as he could with his mane and tail and tried to blend into the dark. He felt his heart start to beat really fast and he steadied his breathing. Dark finished talking and turned around to find that Thunder was gone, he was angry and confused at the same time, how could he be so foolish to let the little colt get away in such a short amount of time.
“Oh now you’ve gone and done it you little shit! You’ve been nothing more than trouble since we found you!”
Dark hit the wall with his hoof and Strike heard it shatter slightly, hearing Darks strength made his heart beat go much faster and he began to sweat and shake.
“I’m going to find you…there’s nowhere you could of gone that I can’t find, and when I do there will be hell to pay, a good little colt would of heeded our warnings but now you’re gonna get it! Just you wait until I find you!”
Dark started looking around, every corner of every wall, looking along cracks in the ceiling that Strike could have been able to fit through, all the while mumbling threats about what he’d do the colt if he found him. Strike heard him getting closer and his heart starting beating so fast you could hear I if you listened. He pushed himself as far into the wall indent as he could, but his tail slipped and fell out. Dark kept trotting slowly along the wall searching up and down, as he was trotting along he felt something tangled and soft under his hoof, unlike the floor itself. This was followed by a small whimpering sound, almost unrecognizable due to the little noise it made, but it was enough for Strikes position to be revealed.
“Oh I’ve got you now little colt, there’s nowhere for you to go now”
Dark slowly headed towards the indent where Strike was hiding and he could hear his breathing, it was rather unsteady. Strike saw him getting closer and made a quick decision that would either work or be the end of him. He faced himself against the wall so that his tail was facing Dark.
“Cowering is not going to help you no-“
Strike bucked Dark in the snout as hard as he possibly could, and there was a loud cracking sound.
“AHH YOU LITTLE SHIT!”
Dark grabbed his snout and felt the blood trickle down his arm, he took a few steps back and stumbled over his tail, falling and cracking his head on the wall. Strike opened his eyes and turned around slowly to see Dark lying unconscious against the wall, a small pool of blood hat formed around him from where Strike bucked him. He stared open mouthed at the Stallion, shocked that he was able to hit him with that much force. Strike snapped out of it, he knew that he didn’t have a lot of time left to get out of there and he wanted to go home, he hadn’t eaten or drank much since yesterday morning and he was beginning to feel a little weak. Strike galloped down the corridor, desperately searching for a way out. It was very dark and he couldn’t see very well, but he managed to keep going, it would only be a matter of time before Blue found Dark in the corridor unconscious and he wasn’t going to stay around for that to happen. He kept galloping as fast as he could until he tripped and hit his head against something sharp, sending his vision spiralling and giving him a slight headache. He groaned in pain as he waited for his vision to return to normal and realised that he had tripped on a step leading upwards towards a doorway with a small amount of light emitting from it. Thunder smiled a little and raced as fast as he could up the stairs. As he got to the top he heard the voice of Blue, echoing down the corridor, screaming out to him. His smile faded and he pushed the door but it wouldn’t budge, it was locked. Blue Horn soon appeared at the bottom of the staircase and stared up at the young colt at the top.
“Well, looks like somepony didn’t listen to a word I said, didn’t they?”
He began to slowly step up the staircase, trying to intimidate Thunder who was furiously trying to shake the door open.
“What part of don’t try anything stupid didn’t you understand hmm? And don’t think because you got past Dark you’ll get past me! To be honest his strength far outweighs his smarts, it doesn’t surprise me you got by him.”
“Leave me alone! Just let me go home!”
Strike had given up on trying to open the door and was now backed up against it, trying desperately to get away from the unicorn. By now Blue had made it to the top of the staircase and was staring down at the colt.
“Oh well, it all could of ended differently, but it looks like we’ll have to get that farm a different way. I’m going to enjoy putting a hoofmark in the back of your head!”
Strikes eyes started to tear up again. He watched blue raise one of his hooves.
“Goodnight forever little colt!”
He lashed out at Thunder, but missed as Thunder pushed himself onto the ground covering his eyes. There was a loud crashing sound and thunder uncovered his eyes to see that Blues hoof had reduced the door to splinters. Strike made a quick decision and jumped out of the door. He pushed through the vines and found himself in the dark gloomy depths of the Everfree.
“COME BACK HERE, IM NOT LETTING YOU LEAVE HERE ALIVE!”

Chapter 3

Strike quickly jumped inside a bush and concealed himself as best as he could. Blue jumped through the vines and started punching his hoof against the ground, emitting a small light from the tip of his horn.
“Strike…where are you? Come out, I won’t hurt you its all okay, I was just kidding is all…”
He started searching the area slowly, calling out Thunders name teasingly. Thunder began to sweat and shake again, he found it hard to breath and his heart rate went through the roof.
“C’mon now, stop hiding, didn’t your parents ever tell you to listen to your elders?”
He trotted slowly towards the area where Thunder was hiding and he stopped to listen for any signs of life. Blue leaned in really close to the bush where Thunder hid, inspecting it thoroughly. Thunder stopped breathing and closed his eyes tightly. He felt Blues breath breeze across his mane.
“Hmmph. Come on Strike, im going to find you we both know it! Might as well save yourself the trouble and give up now.”
Blue left the bush area and started heading further into the forest continuing to call out Strikes name and call out blank threats. Strike noticed the voice fade and the light slowly disappear, but he still didn’t move, he was too afraid. He was almost caught and he was sobbing quietly, wishing he was home.

Strike was in the bush for about 10 minutes, he eventually decided to get up and try and find his way back to the road. It was dark and cold, and he didn’t know which direction the road was in, so he decided to go with his better judgement and choose the path that was opposite the one Blue had gone down. He trekked for what seemed like hours through the jungle, hopping over tree trunks. He’d occasionally flinch at the sound of birds or other animals rustling in the foliage, every so often he’d look behind him to shake off the feeling that he was being followed. He was feeling like he should just give up, that he was going around in a never ending circle. Thunder started to get very tired and weary so he sat down on a rock by some trees and closed his eyes for a while and before he knew it he had fallen asleep. He was awoken a few hours later by a large crashing sound that seemed close by. He opened his eyes almost instantly to see that a tree and fallen down, almost hitting the rock he was sleeping on. He stopped himself from shaking as much as he could and stretched out on his hooves, but he was weak and fell backwards, rolling through the trees and landing on a dirt surface surrounded by dust. Thunder shook the dust away and observed his surroundings only to find that he had landed on the Dirt road he was looking for, next to some dried up blood and the entrance to the Everfree. A large smile spread across his face and at the sight of the road he felt stronger and the will to continue returned to him. He started to gallop back along the road, heading in the direction of home. The sun was starting to set, and he was very hungry and tired, but he didn’t care because he knew once he got home that everything would be okay, he’d tell mother and father what had happened and they would take care of him. He might even get to go see the Wonderbolts because he was so brave. It was at least another 10 minutes of galloping before he finally reached the familiar fence of home. Thunder immediately trotted up to it, opening the gate and trotting up the lane, trotting of course every so often out of weakness. He managed to get up to the front door where he knocked on it.
“Mother? Father? Is Anypony there?”
It wasn’t long before the door was swung wide open revealing Cloud Strike.
“Strikey! Oh we were so worried about you! are you okay? where on earth did you go?”
“mum..”
Strike smiled seeing his mother at the door and managed to call her name once before collapsing onto the ground. He heard Cloud call out to his father before the darkness consumed him.

“Ughh…I don’t feel so good…”
Thunders head was stirring, and when he opened his eyes he found that he was in his bed, surrounded by his mother, father and two other ponies.
“He’s awake! Look dear he’s waking up!”
Cloud leant over the bed and gave Thunder a long warm hug as his dad came over and rested a hoof on her shoulder, smiling down at him. When Cloud broke the hug Thunder could see that she was crying a little.
“Oh Strikey dear, it’s going to be okay! You’re in your room at home now, your fathers here too see!”
“Hello son, I’m so happy you’re safe! Your mother and I were so worried!”
“But it’s okay because we aren’t letting you out of our sight again!”
One of the ponies trotted up beside the bed and looked at Cloud and Rain Strike.
“Excuse me, ma’am, sir, now that young Thunder here is awake I think it would be the opportune moment to run some tests and do a check-up, it looks like he’s been through a lot.”
This pony had a brown coat, green eyes and a cutie mark in the shape of a red cross. He looked over at Thunder.
“Thunder, I am a doctor, im here to help you and make you feel a little better okay?”
He rested a hoof on the side of the bed and gave a warm smile to the young colt to show he meant to harm to him.
“Now I want you to be a brave little colt for me, this will only hurt a little bit okay?”
He pulled out a needle, and held it up. Upon seeing this, Thunder flinched and moved back as far from the doctor as he could.
“It’s okay son, it’s going to help make you feel better. Here hold my hoof If you want to”
Rain held his hoof out to grasp Thunders hoof, attempting to calm him down.
“C’mon son, it will only sting for a little bit then it will be all over”
Thunder nodded his head slightly and closed his eyes and before he knew it, it was over. Thunder rubbed a hoof along his arm and laid back down, looking back at his parents.
“Well from the looks of him he’ll be fine. He just needs to rest for a few days. May I ask what happened to him?”
“We don’t know! He just disappeared one day and came back a few days later, collapsed on the porch and now he’s here! We looked all over for him we were worried sick!”
The other pony, who was significantly taller than the other 4, trotted forward and kept his gaze on Rain and Cloud.
“I suppose that’s why you called the attention of the royal guard then?”
This unicorn had a white coat and blue eyes. He stood taller than the rest and his expression never changed from the stern one it always was.
“If this was a case of getting lost than obviously there is nothing we can do and it’s over now, I trust that there is a legitimate reason I have been sent here?”
When he spoke, his voice was deep and sounded very official. Rain Strike turned his attention from Thunder to the guard.
“Yes, who knows where he went other than our poor Thunder himself!”
“Let me have a talk to the colt, see what I can find out. If it’s something major we will do the best we can to help in any way possible. If not, then I’m afraid there’s not much the royal guard can do to help.”
He trotted over and looked down at the colt.
“Young Thunder, you need to tell me what happened, don’t leave anything out okay? We are all here to help you now you’ll be okay.”
Thunder strike looked up to him from the bed and spoke in a mere whisper.
“I don’t want to! They’ll hurt me more!”
“They? Who are they? Please you need to tell us, nopony is going to hurt you, you’ll be fine.”
Strike looked up at his father and mother, looking at them as if they would be able to tell the guard everything, had they known what happened. Cloud placed a reassuring hoof onto Strikes arm and stared at him.
“Strikey, just tell the guard, nopony can help you if you don’t tell us what happened”’
He sat there in the bed, and just shook his head. The guard turned his attention to the couple sitting by the bed.
“Never mind, he seems to have had a rough time…let him have some more rest, and call us back when he’s feeling better.”
The guard turned around and left the room without giving them a chance to respond, the sound of the front door opening, and quickly closing soon followed. The Doctor stood up, and spoke briefly to them.
“I think it would be best if I left as well. As the guard said, you should let him rest; he’ll feel better later on. If you have any more troubles you should get me as soon as you can.”
“Thankyou, surely he will be fine from here on though”
The Doctor nodded slightly, and left the house making his way back to Ponyville. Rain stood back up and brushed the mane out of his eyes.
“Thunder, if you need anything at all just ask, your mother and I will be downstairs if you need us, you try and rest up now, you’ll feel better by tomorrow.”
They started to head out the door, but a tired voice stopped them before they left.
“No don’t leave!”
Cloud turned around and trotted back towards Thunder, bending down and hugging him.
“Sweety, it will be okay. Nopony will hurt you your safe now.”
And with that, she turned around, and walked out, softly closing the door behind her, leaving Thunder to finally get some sleep. Thunder stared at the door for a while, he felt secure now. A sense that he had not felt for some time. He rolled onto his back, looked up at the ceiling and fell into a peaceful sleep.

Chapter 4

“Strikey, quickly, get up!”
Thunder opened his eyes, and as they adjusted, saw his mother standing over him, urging him to get up. The murmuring of ponies arguing could be heard downstairs, and Cloud looked rather frantic.
“Strikey, get up, now!”
He looked around, disorientated from being woken up from such a deep sleep. He was still exhausted from the previous events and found it hard enough to even speak, yet he felt himself being lifted up anyway.
“M…mum, whats wrong?”
He looked around, and saw a bag filled with assorted clothes and objects on the end of his bed. The arguing downstairs grew louder, the voice of his father raised to an angry yell, and the other ponies’ voice went silent, there was a smashing sound, like glass being broken over a hard surface, and then silence. The look on his mother’s face turned into a worried frown, she took a glance at the door and then back at Thunder. She took a breath and spoke briskly.
“Honey, you’re going to have to leave the house for a little while okay?”
She forced a smile, trying to reassure the young Colt that everything was okay. A voice came from downstairs, but it wasn’t his fathers.
“Hide the body; I’ll look for the colt and the Mother. Don’t let Anypony come near this place!”
There was a grunt of agreement, and Clouds eyes welled up with tears. She locked the door, and trotted over to the desk and began to scribble something down on a piece of paper. Hooves could be heard traversing the stairs as Cloud finished writing and put it in the side of the backpack. She went over and grabbed Thunder by his arms and looked him dead in the eye.
“How about we play a quick game of hide and seek hmm? Go grab that bag and hide in the closet, then count to 100, but make sure you do it quietly or you’ll lose okay?”
“I don’t want to mum, I’m so tired”
“C’mon honey, if you win I’ll give you a special treat!”
The doorknob turned, and there was an annoyed grunt from the other side as it refused to open. Cloud began to cry silently, she knew what was going on and what was going to happen, but she didn’t have much of a choice. Something smashed against the door, each time getting harder as it started to splinter. Cloud looked back at Thunder, and hugged him, pulling him close. She grabbed his head and kissed him on the snout.
“I love you Thunder, Your father and I are so proud of you!”
The door burst slightly, and she knew that she had run out of time. She grabbed the backpack, placed it on thunder and pushed him into the closet.
“Remember, if you count loudly, you lose!”
She smiled at him, and kissed him one last time, then shut the cupboard. She trotted over to the door, and unlocked it. She waited a few seconds, then slammed it open as hard as she could, hitting the pony beating into it on the other side on the head. He stumbled back and looked at the pony standing in the doorway.
“You Bitch!”
The voice was now painfully obvious, it belonged to Blue. He dived at Cloud, but she leapt to the side and galloped down the stairs, and outside with a furious Blue close behind.
“Razor, STOP HER!”
Razor appeared from around the side of the house, and crashed tackled her to the ground, pinning her down. He started beating her violently, punching as hard as he could. He was soon stopped by Blue, ripping him off her and telling him off. Had she the strength she would have taken this opportunity to escape, but she was fading in and out of consciousness. Blue trotted over towards her and peered at her.
“Where is the colt?”
He asked this simply, with an angry tone. Cloud spat blood at him, and In turn was slapped across the face. Blue looked down at her, the moonlight glistening of his eyes, and asked one last time with a very held back rage;
“Where…Is…The…COLT!”
“I’m not going to tell you…I’d rather die than tell you where he is!”
“That can very easily be arranged. Have it your way, I’m sure we will find him ourselves. Razor, Finish her.”
“Yes sir..”
Cloud laid her head back, and closed her eyes. She thought back to when Rain and Thunder and herself were a happy family, with no worries in life. She thought of all the happy times they had, to holding him when he was just a little foal, teaching him to walk, watching Rain play with him and trying to teach him to fly. A single tear dripped down her face and she smiled. Those were the last memories she ever had.
Back inside the house, Strike finished his counting, and slowly opened the door of the closet, peering into the darkness that eerily covered the hallway outside his door. He slowly trotted out, over towards the stairs. He headed down towards the bottom and looked around. He couldn’t make out much, and also couldn’t see his father or mother anywhere. He headed towards the back door and opened it. He trotted outside into the darkness. he trotted around the corner. He crept forward, moving as quiet as he could but accidently tripped over something, making a small yelping sound as he hit the ground. He picked himself up and looked at the ground to see his father, lifeless on the ground. He screamed and backed up frantically, running right into Dark.
“Why hello Thunder, how nice to meet again, you’ve caused us quite a bit of trouble haven’t you, now why don’t you be a good little colt and come with me, or you’ll be joining your mother and father in no time”
Thunder backed up slowly, then turned around and galloped, he flapped his wings, trying to get away, flapped harder than he ever had in his entire life, and slowly he started to lift off the ground. Dark stopped chasing and just stood there, looking up at him, the colt that was slowly escaping them. Thunder realized that he was off the ground, but was too focused on getting away to be excited. He got into the rhythm of flying quite quickly and was quickly flying off towards Ponyville in no time.
Thunder started to cry as he flew and rain started pelting down onto him, followed by a crack of thunder, he pushed on, flying as fast as he could. The storm grew worse, and lightning cracked onto the ground beside him, he freaked out and lost control of his flying. He begun to plummet towards the ground, unable to stop it he just closed his eyes and braced for the impact. He hit the ground and rolled into a door. He opened his eyes and saw a silhouetted pony open it and look down on him. It was the last thing he remembered seeing before he blacked out.