When Music is Silenced

Chapters

Crashing the Bash
One Month Later
Getting it Together
Falling Apart
Breaking Down
Interlude: The Bumpy Road to Canterlot
The Princess and the Performer
Peace and Quiet
Experimentation
Friendship and Family
Dreams and Hopes
Cacophony
Harmony
Wrapping Up
Epilogue: Pegapalooza

Crashing the Bash

The air of Manehattan was afire with sound. The ground shook with bass and the hoof stomps of the crowd. A dark red unicorn held a pick in a light blue magical field and shredded on a guitar so quickly that it seemed it should burst into flame. Next to him, a blue unicorn bobbed his head as the deep notes from his bass held the discordant sounds together. The two were brothers, and had been moderately successful as a two-piece rock outfit before they had met the others. A mint-green pegasus sat behind a drum set. She had drumsticks strapped to both her forelegs and her wingtips, and she filled the air with an frantic, almost schizophrenic beat as she kept four different rhythms simultaneously. At the forefront, a dark gray earth pony with a long and messy blond mane alternately growled and screamed into a microphone. His cutie mark was a microphone being struck by lightning.

“The land it burns,

your blood it boils!

Strike down your foe,

and claim the spoils.

Death and destruction all around,

this is the land you fight to save,

black rainbows crashing to the ground and

pink fluffy unicorns dancing on YOUR GRAAAAAAAAAAAVE!”

"Thank you Manehattan,” the earth pony shouted over the crowd as the song wound down, “you've been bucking awesome! For those of you who don't know us, we've got Power Chord on electric guitar!”

Power Chord improvised a riff and bowed his head in greeting.

“Bass Groove on bass!”

The blue unicorn thrust a hoof into the air.

“Wing Beat on drums!”

Wing Beat hovered an inch above the ground and spun rapidly in place, striking her drums with all four drumsticks and her hind hooves. It was impossible to pick individual drum beats out of the whirlwind of sound.

“And I am,” his voice dropped back into the deep roar he used for performing, “Thunder Growl. You can catch us in Fillydelphia next month at Nightmarefest, and we'll be tearing down Cloudsdale at Pegapalooza! Good night, Manehattan!”

With the roar of the crowd still ringing in his ears, Thunder Growl led the band offstage.

“Awesome show, everypony!” a certain white unicorn yelled as they joined the rest of the musicians backstage.

“Thanks!” Power Chord shouted back. “You're up next, right?”

“Sure am!” The unicorn adjusted her signature sunglasses and headed for the stage entrance.

“Kick some flank out there!” Wing Beat called after her.

“Fillies and gentlecolts,” the MC's voice came from the stage, “let's hear it once more for My Metal Pony!” He waited a few moments for the cheering to subside. “And now, the pony you've all been waiting for. It is my pleasure to bring you… DJ Pon-3!” My Metal Pony could not have played loudly enough to be heard over the screaming of the crowd.

“Great show out there!” Silk Ace, one of the organizers of the Manehattan Bash, picked up a sack of bits in his teeth and tossed it over to Thunder Growl. “A hundred each, per your contract. Now then, you've all got front row spots reserved for DJ Pon-3's show, aisle F. Better hurry up, she'll be starting any minute now.”

“Thanks, pony.” Power Chord offered Ace a hoof, which he promptly bumped. “C'mon, I don't wanna miss this!”

“Hmph.” Thunder Growl nosed open the bag, which contained four smaller pouches of a hundred bits each. He picked up one and tucked it into his saddlebag, then kicked the sack over to his bandmates. “Have fun. I'll be at the bar.”

“Huh?” Wing Beat flew in front of him. “You're leaving? C'mon, she's only the biggest DJ in Equestria! The bar will still be there in an hour.”

Thunder Growl glared at his drummer. “Yeah. I'm leaving.” He shouldered past the pegasus and made for the exit.

“What crawled up your plot?” Bass Groove asked as he levitated his share of the pay out of the bag.

Thunder snorted and looked back over his shoulder. “I hate dubstep.” He offered no further explanation as he walked out the door, making sure to kick it shut as hard as he could.

The other three members of My Metal Pony exchanged confused glances, then shrugged and went to take their places in the crowd.

Thunder Growl winced and took a deep drink of cider as another wave of wubs pulsed through the bar. DJ Pon-3's music—if it could be called that—pumped at full volume out of the bar's radio. Thunder slammed his empty glass down and clopped a hoof on the bar. The bartender looked at him skeptically, but caved when Thunder shot him a deadly glare. Thunder set a bit next to the six already on the bar and took his newly-filled glass.

Holding the glass in his teeth, Thunder Growl rose from the thin cushion he had been sitting on and stumbled slightly. Long practice allowed him to keep his cider from spilling as the world skewed. Once everything was back in place and seemed unlikely to move again, he set out to find some secluded corner where he could pretend that his ears weren't being abused by the filthy basslines that ponies seemed to like more than his own band's flank-kicking, muzzle-melting metal.

The noise abruptly cut off.

“Oh, thank Luna,” Thunder Growl grumbled as he took another swallow.

“Hey, what happened?” somepony demanded.

“That was the best part!” A unicorn who made Thunder Growl look like the poster pony for sobriety stood up from his cushion and promptly faceplanted.

A confused babble started to rise inside the bar, and Thunder Growl slowly set his drink down as he realized that this was not supposed to have been the end of DJ Pon-3's set.

“Hey! Hey everypony, shut the buck up for a minute!” The bartender adjusted a knob on the radio he had behind the bar and tilted an ear close to it. Thunder Growl sidled over to listen in.

“...no, definitely not part of the show,” the reporter was saying, “I think DJ Pon-3 might be in—aagh!”

Both Thunder Growl and the bartender flinched back at the ear-shattering noise that emanated from the speakers.

“Equestria shALlnever know MUsiC aGain!” It was a hellish sound, like a thousand ponies shouting all at once, not quite in sync with one another. “ThEre will beonlyCACOPHONY!”

The horrible voice faded away, leaving only a very shaken-sounding reporter. “For… for those of you just joining us, this is Viridian Flower. I am reporting live from the Manehattan Bash, where somepony, or something, has just crashed the show and foalnapped DJ Pon-3!”

Thunder Growl dropped his glass, not even noticing the sticky cider splashing over his hooves. He whirled and galloped toward the door, barely pausing to deck the bouncer across the face as the overly burly pegasus tried to block his path.

“You can't go out there,” the bouncer shouted as he massaged his jaw, “it's not safe!”

Thunder didn't hear a word of it. The Manehattan street blurred under his hooves as he galloped back toward the concert venue. Hang in there, Vinyl. I'm coming!

Thunder Growl skidded to a stop as he arrived at the edge of the open-air venue. Hundreds if not thousands of ponies lay on the ground. Most were unconscious, and those that weren't were moaning and twitching weakly. Many had blood leaking from one or both ears. Onstage was a… thing. Thunder's eyes couldn't seem to make sense of it, and he didn't think that was a result of the cider. It was as if the creature's physical form were as distorted as its voice. It seemed to change size and shape from moment to moment. One instant it seemed to be a large earth pony, then Thunder blinked and it was a slender unicorn. He rubbed his eyes, but the conflicting images refused to resolve into something coherent.

It didn't matter. What did matter was that there was no sign of Vinyl Scratch. DJ Pon-3's impressive turntable had nopony behind it, and the only sound coming from the stage was the horribly perverted voice of the monster who had attacked the Bash. Thunder Growl galloped for the stage, weaving deftly among the writhing ponies on the ground. The creature's terrible noise assailed him, but he did not stop.

“Where is she?!” Thunder roared, doing his best to be heard over the deafening racket.

The monster laughed. At least, Thunder thought it was supposed to be a laugh. It sounded more like a hundred carriages crashing into each other.

Thunder reached the stage and vaulted onto it, landing directly in front of the thing. “Where is she?!” he demanded again as he reared up, milling his forelegs threateningly.

The creature seemed taken aback. “How dO youwiThstandCacophOny?”

Thunder grinned and tapped an ear. A small piece of dark orange foam was visible inside it, something that he had neglected to remove after his set. “Earplugs, nag.” He swung with all his strength toward where he guessed the monster's face should be.

There was a terrible crunching sound and Thunder howled in pain. He collapsed to the ground clutching his right foreleg, which was bent at an unnatural angle, the hoof was chipped and cracked where he had struck the monster. He may as well have punched a stone wall.

The monster hissed. The sound was like a mass of snakes being scalded by steam venting from cracked pipes. It spun in place and kicked Thunder Growl with a back leg that seemed to shift and extend even as it moved. Thunder felt ribs crack as the force of the kick lifted him off the ground and sent him flying back into the crowd of ponies. He tried to rise, but succeeded only in twitching weakly.

There was an explosive noise like a thunderclap, and then finally blessed silence. Thunder forced his head up and saw that the stage was empty. The monster was gone, and so was Vinyl Scratch. The effort proved too much for his battered body, and Thunder's head fell forward as his consciousness slipped away.

Some time later, Thunder groaned and opened his eyes. He couldn't seem to make sense of anything he saw, and the effort made him dizzy. Just how much did I drink last night?

He soon became aware of a strange sensation on his foreleg, as though something were wrapping itself tightly around him. The first thought to flash through his confused mind was: snakes! Thunder tried to jerk the limb away and was rewarded with a flash of searing pain.

“Woah,” somepony called from above him, “easy there, you're safe now. You just need to keep that leg still so that I can finish splinting it.”

Thunder Growl grunted inquisitively. It was all that he could manage just then.

“Your foreleg is broken and you've got several cracked ribs.” Whoever it was sounded calm and clinical, as though they dealt with the aftermath of a monster attack on a daily basis. “Your ears are fine, somehow. You're the only pony we've found so far without some sort of hearing loss.” The voice took on a disapproving tone.“You also have either a concussion or a hangover, I'm not sure which.”

Thunder tried again to open his eyes, but immediately shut them and clapped his good hoof over his mouth as the world skewed.

“Here.” The pony treating him set down a small bag of something. “Painkillers. It's the best we can do for you right now, there are a lot of injured ponies here. Don't take more than two at a time, and no more than six in a day. We'll be sending teams to take ponies for proper medical care as soon as we're able. Understand?”

Thunder opened his mouth. It was one of the hardest things he'd ever done. He forced himself to speak. “Thanks.” The world darkened again. He knew distantly that he shouldn't fall asleep when he had a potential head injury, but he lacked the strength to fight it. Whatever. It's just a hangover anyway.

When Thunder Growl opened his eyes again, the sun was shining brightly through a layer of white cloth. It had been evening when he fought with... whatever it was, meaning that he'd been unconscious all night. It seemed that at some point he had been moved to a pavilion, or perhaps the pavilion had been erected around him. There were many other injured ponies there as well, some unconscious and some stirring.

The good news was that he felt distinctly better/worse. He was able to open his eyes without wanting to vomit, but he was slowly becoming aware of just how much everything hurt, including the beginnings of what promised to be a splitting headache. His right foreleg was immobilized in a splint, and bandages had been wrapped tightly around his chest and barrel. He used his left foreleg to open the bag of painkillers that the medical pony had left, and was thrilled to find that he'd been given a bottle of water as well. He popped two of the pills into his mouth and drank greedily from the bottle, which soothed his parched throat and slightly lessened his headache.

Somewhat revived, Thunder got his three good legs under himself and stood. He swayed a bit, but his strength seemed to be returning. The next order of business was to get out of here before—

Ah, buck. Guardsponies were swarming around the former concert venue, questioning those ponies who were well enough to speak. Any chance he'd be able to get away from here without further trouble was gone.

It was a matter of moments before somepony took note of Thunder standing on his own. A white pegasus guard swiftly winged over to him. “How are you doing, sir?” The guard spoke with a stiff formality. “I'm Bright Shield of the Royal Guard. I have some questions for you, if you're feeling up to it.”

“And what if I'm not?” Thunder grumbled back at him.

“Well,” the pegasus winked at him, “then I'll have to assume you're not well enough to be up and about, and I'll get a nurse to haul you back to bed.”

Thunder rolled his eyes—to his relief, he was able to do so without the world spinning any more than it should—and nodded. “Fine. What is it?”

“Did you see who did this?”

"Yeah.” He didn't elaborate.

“Care to fill us in?” the pegasus prompted.

“Not really.”

"Alright, let's try this another way, smart-flank. Tell me everything you saw, or I'll throw you in prison for obstructing an official investigation.”

“Fine,” Thunder snapped, “I don't know what it was, alright? I couldn't get a good look at it.”

“It? What do you mean, 'it?' Wasn't it a pony?”

“No. Sorta. Bucked if I know what it was, it looked different every time I looked at it.”

The guard was looking at him very strangely. “Did you hit your head when it attacked? You don't sound like you're remembering it very well.”

“My head's fine!” Thunder flared, pointedly ignoring the pounding ache that the previous night's drinking had left him with. “I'm telling you, it kept changing shape. It didn't talk normal, either. It didn't have one voice, it was like a...” He blinked as he remembered. “It called itself Cacophony. It foalnapped Vinyl!”

“Who?”

“DJ Pon-3, you alicorn-damned moron, it got DJ Pon-3!”

“Sir, I need you to—”

“Shut up! What the buck are you doing interrogating me? That thing is still out there!” Thunder stopped shouting as he abruptly felt a strange sense of peace come over him.

“Thanks, Nectar,” the pegasus sighed as another guard, a female unicorn, came walking up beside him. The unicorn's horn glowed with a faint green magic, which was flowing into Thunder Growl.

“Sir, I am using a calming spell on you,” the unicorn explained. “If you still don't cooperate, I will turn it into a sedation spell that will knock you unconscious. Understand?”

Thunder nodded, still caught up in the wonderful serenity of Nectar's magic.

“Good. Now, let's start with your name and what you were doing here.”

“Thunder Growl,” he murmured, “singer. Was performing here yesterday.”

Bright Shield and Nectar shot wide-eyed looks at each other.

“You were a performer?” Bright Shield asked.

Thunder blinked slowly. Even through the haze of the calming spell he could sense that something was amiss. “Yeah. Why?”

“Mr. Growl,” Nectar cleared her throat hesitantly, “everypony who performed here last night is missing, presumed foalnapped.”

“What?” Thunder's eyes snapped open, wide and suddenly lucid. “What about My Metal Pony? Power Chord? Bass Groove? Wing Beat?”

“Sir, please, we don't know where they are right now, but there's no reason to assume—”

“To assume what?” Thunder tried to take a step forward, but his right foreleg buckled.

“To assume... the worst.”

Thunder felt the calming effect of the spell become stronger, but he was now too upset to be soothed. “And you plotholes are still here talking to me? Get your flanks out there and... find my—” The calming spell suddenly became distinctly different. It was sapping his strength, making it harder to stand, to speak, to think...

Bright Shield darted forward and caught Thunder as he collapsed, overcome by Nectar's sedation spell and his own weakened state.

When Thunder Growl next awoke he was in a bed, his splint had been removed and replaced with a proper cast, and somepony had left a tray of food on the nightstand. The white walls and scent of antiseptic clued him in that he had been taken to a hospital. He also saw that he had a visitor.

“Mr. Growl, I'm afraid we got off on the wrong hoof.” It was that unicorn guard from before. She had removed her armor, revealing a pale orange coat and some kind of fruit as her cutie mark. “My name is Nectarine Drop.”

“That's a stupid name.”

Nectarine—Nectar—gave no sign that she had heard him. “I am a guard in Princess Celestia's service, and we are investigating the attack on the Manehattan Bash.”

“Good for you.” Thunder couldn't work up the energy for proper anger, so he was forced to stick with bitter sniping. “You find Cacophony yet?”

Nectar snorted and stomped a front hoof. “Sir, I understand that you're upset, and worried about your friends, but the best thing you can do for them now is help us.”

“I already told you everything I know!” Thunder snapped back.

“You were the only performer that Cacophony didn't capture. Why is that?”

“Because I wasn't there. I left after my set, and I only came back because I heard that Vin—that DJ Pon-3 was in trouble.”

“You're friends with DJ Pon-3, then?”

“We're... it's a long story, and I'm not getting into it right now.”

“I see. Well, that's not important right now. What is important is that you have connections with several of the foalnapped ponies: your own band, of course, and DJ Pon-3. Did you know any of the others? What do they all have in common that made them targets?”

Thunder gave her a withering glare. “Gee, maybe the fact that they're musicians? When that thing appeared, it said that there wasn't going to be any more music in Equestria. It was on the radio, if you were paying any attention.”

Nectar sighed and stood up. “I can see that this isn't going anywhere. If you remember anything else, have someone come and find me or one of the other guards.” Her voice softened. “For what it's worth, I am sorry about your friends. We're doing all that we can.”

“Whatever. Just get out,” Thunder grumbled, but there was no real heat behind it.

When Nectar was gone, he turned his attention to the tray of food. Apples and oats. Nothing fancy, but filling. His hangover was mostly gone, too, the combination of time and painkillers having worked their magic. When the food was gone he nosed through his saddlebags and was relieved to find everything still there, including the sack of bits, still full minus... horse dung, I spent seven bits on cider last night? He sighed and settled back, trying to think.

The truth was that he did want to help the others, he just wasn't sure how he could. He truly had told the guards everything he knew. His friends were gone, and the only two things he was good at—yelling and brawling—hadn't done anything to get them back. He covered his eyes with his good foreleg to block out the light and the outside world. Buck, but he hated feeling helpless.

One Month Later

“You're certain that you're okay with being used as bait?” Nectar frowned at Thunder.

“I told you, I'm not afraid of that thing.” Thunder, his broken bones now fully healed, adjusted his microphone stand to bring it down to the proper height. He tapped on the mic, which sent a loud pulse of sound through the speakers.

“I want to reassure you that you will be perfectly safe. Your 'bandmates' are all royal guards, and the audience consists of guards mixed with the local police force.”

Thunder rolled his eyes. “Yes, I know. You've explained this five times.”

“I just want you to know that—”

“I get it!” Alright, maybe he was a little bit on edge. After the attack on the Manehattan Bash and similar events at Nightmarefest—for obvious reasons, My Metal Pony had been forced to break their engagement to play that event—and the Winter War in Detrot, which was held once a year to welcome the change in seasons, it seemed that Cacophony was keeping its promise to create an Equestria without music. There had even been rumors of ponies disappearing just for singing while going about their daily business, as ponies tended to do.

Thunder leaned in toward the mic. “Check. Check. Cheeeeeeeck.” The sound system sent his growl clearly throughout the open field where they were setting up the ambush. “I volunteered for this, Nectar. You don't have to keep trying to convince me.”

“I know. Thank you.” Nectar looked up at a cloud just above and behind the stage. Nova Wing, their swiftest flier, stood at attention there, ready to fly down and pull Thunder away at the first sign of danger.

Behind Thunder Growl three more ponies were setting up their instruments. An earth pony had an electric guitar slung across his chest and a pick strapped to his hoof. Thunder couldn't imagine that it would be as fast or precise as a unicorn's telekinesis, but then again, this wasn't a real show. They didn't need perfection.

On the subject of telekinesis, a white unicorn held two drumsticks in a light green magical field and was running a sound check of his own. Thunder blinked and looked away. The color of the magic was a bit too much like Wing Beat's coat. Why did that one have to be the drummer?

A second unicorn was tuning his bass. At least this one was brown, not blue like Bass Groove. He strummed a few more notes, did a couple of scales, then nodded to Thunder that he was ready. It wasn't long before the other two followed suit.

Thunder turned to look at Nectar, who was just getting a report from somepony stationed in the “audience.” She turned and trotted back to the stage.

“Dawn Storm says everypony is in position and ear plugs are in. Commence operation.”

Thunder cocked his head questioningly.

“That means you can start,” the guitarist explained.

“Oh.” Thunder turned to the microphone. “Fillies and gentlecolts,” he roared, “welcome to the ambush. Now let's catch us a monster!” He locked eyes with the drummer and nodded once, signaling him to begin.

“Everypony ready?” The white unicorn knocked his drumsticks together to set the tempo. “One, two, three, four!”

Sound exploded off of the stage and out over the crowd. They were no My Metal Pony, but Thunder had to admit that the guards weren't half-bad. They had been training for a month in the strictest secrecy and security, working on talents that they had previously employed only as a hobby.

The song's intro rose to a crescendo, and Thunder began to do what he did best.

“I'm not a fan of puppeteers,

but I've a nagging fear

someone else is pulling at the strings.”

The guards hadn't wanted to waste time learning a proper My Metal Pony set, so they were making do with covers of songs that everypony knew. Thunder had swallowed his pride and agreed. This one seemed especially appropriate.

“Something terrible is going down

through the entire town,

wreaking anarchy and all it brings!

I can't sit idly,

no I can't move at all.

I curse the name,

the one behind it aaaaaall!”

The heavy guitar and drums sounded surprisingly good in a song that had been created as electronica, something closer to what DJ Pon-3 might pump through those huge-flank speakers of hers. Thunder's voice rose from a deep growl to a scream of fury.

“DISCORD! I'm howlin' at the moon,

and sleepin' in the middle of a summer afternoon.”

Thunder had always found singing therapeutic. Even though he was shouting at the wrong being, he felt a bit of his tension ease as he vented his feelings.

“DISCORD! Whatever did we do

to make you take our world awaaaaaaaaaaaaay?!”

During the break in singing, Thunder became aware that there was a commotion running through the crowd. Shadows were flitting where there should not be any, patches of blackness streaking over the white snow and refusing to coalesce into definite shapes. Thunder grinned fiercely. Come on, you foal of a nag.

“I'm fine with changing status quo,

but not in letting go,

now the world is being torn a—oof!”

The wind was knocked from Thunder's lungs as Nova Wing swooped into him and smoothly began ascending again.

"What the buck are you doing?” Thunder shouted.

"Getting you to safety, what's it look like?" Nova yelled back

"This wasn't part of the plan! I wasn't in danger yet!"

Nova Wing stared back at him. “What do you mean? You didn't think you were actually going to be fighting, did you?”

“Yes! Put me the buck down right bucking now!”

Nova shook his head. “Can't do that. Those are trained Canterlot guards and police back there, and you're a civilian. To put it bluntly, you'd be in the way.”

Even angry as he was, Thunder Growl had to admit the truth of that. Alicorns knew he hadn't made much of a showing the last time he'd directly confronted Cacophony. The fight went out of him and he sagged a bit in Nova's grip.

“My orders are to drop you off at the safe zone and return for you when the operation is complete,” Nova continued. “You've helped us more than you think,” he reassured the singer. “When we rescue everypony from Cacophony, it'll be because you brought it out of hiding.”

Thunder snorted and looked away. The only sound for the remainder of their brief flight was the roaring wind. No sooner had Nova set him down at the edge of the nearest village—the safe zone—than he was off and flying back toward the battle. Back toward where Thunder wanted to be.

He snorted again, his breath steaming in the winter air, and looked toward the safe zone. “Welcome to Ponyville!” a large, too-cheery sign proclaimed. That's a stupid name for a town.

The sun was high overhead. Cacophony had taken the bait almost immediately, and the day was still young. As good a time as any to find the bar.

Something's gone wrong. It was over an hour later and Thunder was on his fifth drink, having had nothing else to do while he waited for Nova to come back. The only other pony in the bar, a wine-colored earth pony who had introduced herself as Berry Punch, clinked glasses with him again and took a deep drink. Thunder followed suit, hoping to settle his nerves.

“See, the thing about Manehattan is that everypony's too caught up in themselves.” After hearing that Thunder had played the Manehattan Bash, Berry had struck up a conversation about her brief time living there.

“Not as bad as Canterlot,” Thunder replied, only slurring a little bit. “The band and I had a game where we'd take a drink every time one of those ponies had their nose so high in the air that they tripped on their own hooves. We got pretty smashed.”

Berry laughed and took another sip. “I know what you mean, but Manehattan's just as bad. Jus' different. They aren't so snooty, but nopony's got any time for anypony but themselves. S'why I came back here. Ponies 'round here are way friendlier. Hey, bartender!” Berry hit the bar with a hoof. “Another round!”

“You are the bartender.”

“Oh, right!” Berry giggled. “Well, would you like another?”

“Please.”

“You oughta come around here more often!” Berry filled both of their glasses and brought them back over. “Where ya from?”

“Grew up in Detrot.” Thunder put another bit on the bar. At the rate he was going, it was a good thing that working with the Royal Guard paid better than any single show he'd ever played. “Haven't been back there in years though, 'cept for a couple shows.”

“What about your family?” Berry asked.

Thunder snorted. “Haven't seen them since way before I moved out of Detrot. They weren't much of a family." His gaze darkened as he remembered cold, hungry nights and yelling. Always yelling. He often wondered if that had something to do with his talent.

Berry Punch caught his hoof gently with her own.

“Easy there, fella. You alright?”

Thunder shook off the gloom. “Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry. That was a long time ago, anyway.”

"Sounds like a pretty rough time.” Berry's wide eyes shone with concern, and she hadn't let go of his hoof yet. "I know what it's like. My folks were great, but some of my friends..." she trailed off sadly.

What's with her? We've just met. “I don't really want to talk about it.”

“That's okay, I understand. So what do you wanna talk about?”

I want to talk about what's taking those royal guards so bucking long. Instead of answering, Thunder just raised his glass in a silent toast. Berry giggled and touched glasses with him, spilling a bit of cider onto the already-sticky bar. They both drank.

The sun was low on the horizon when Thunder finally stumbled out of the bar. Nova Wing had never come back for him, nor had any of the other guards. The citizens of Ponyville were blissfully unaware of the trap that had been laid only ten miles from their town and had no idea what might have happened.

Thunder made up his mind to go back and find out. Any fighting would be long over by now, so there would be nothing for him to get in the way of. He stumbled as he walked, ignoring the look that a passing unicorn shot him. She was a prissy little thing, with her mane and tail all curled. She probably gave those looks to everypony she met. Not worth his time.

By the time he had reached the center of town he was feeling exhausted, wrung-out, and decidedly sick. He yawned and felt his head nodding. He had to keep going. He had to get back to where they'd fought Cacophony! He had to see what had happened.

He found himself in the cool shade of a tree, which felt wonderful as his body worked overtime to burn off alcohol. It seemed like the heat radiating from him should be melting the snow underhoof. Without quite realizing what he was doing, Thunder curled up under the branches of the tree and dozed off.

“Excuse me, can I help you?”

Thunder made an incoherent noise and half-opened one eye. A purple unicorn stood over him with a puzzled look on her face. Her appearance was accompanied by a blinding headache, a dry mouth that tasted like poison and old apples, and a feeling of nausea. He noticed that it was now quite late at night, and the light dusting of snow around his body had all melted. Hours must have passed.

“Doubt it,” Thunder mumbled into the dirt.

“Well, it's just," she scuffed a hoof uncomfortably, "this is my house.”

Huh? Thunder flushed with embarrassment. “Sorry, I thought it was a tree.”

“Well, it is a tree, but it's also my house.”

“Oh, buck, sorry about that.” Thunder got his hooves under him and stood up. “I'll just—” He staggered and clapped a hoof to his mouth as the world spun under him. When he was fairly sure that he wasn't about to puke—not just yet, anyway—he put his hoof back on the ground.

The unicorn wrinkled her nose as she caught a whiff of his breath. “Hold on a second.” She charged her horn with a spell and touched him gently on the forehead.

Thunder's eyes went wide as the horrible sick feeling left him. He was less pleased that it took the remnants of his drunkenness with it, but it seemed like a more-than-fair trade. “Uh. Thanks.”

“Basic detoxification spell, effective against all minor poisons.” The unicorn's smug voice took on a decidedly disapproving tone. “Including alcohol.”

“Right. Well,” Thunder cleared his throat, “thanks again. I'd better go, I think I've made enough of an ass of myself today.”

“Excuse me?” A passing donkey in an awful toupee stopped to glower at him. Thunder facehoofed.

“I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, Cranky,” the purple pony reassured him. The donkey continued on his way, grumbling under his breath.

“I don't think I've seen you around Ponyville before,” she continued once the donkey was gone. “I'm Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?”

“Thunder Growl. It's my first time here.” Thunder frowned in thought. “Twilight Sparkle? Why do I know that name?”

Twilight blushed. “Oh, um, do you? I mean, I'm Princess Celestia's pupil, and the bearer of the Element of Magic, maybe you heard something about that?” She pawed the dirt nervously.

“Bearer of the what-now?" Thunder's eyes lit up in realization. "Wait, are you the Twilight Sparkle who invented the cloudwalking spell?”

“Oh, that?” Twilight flushed an even deeper red. “It was nothing, really. I just couldn't stand to leave my friend with no one to cheer for her at the Young Fliers' Competition.” She crossed her forelegs and looked down at the ground. “I really wish everypony would stop making such a big deal of it.”

“It wasn't nothing, you're the one who made Pegapalooza possible!”

Twilight looked away, embarrassed. “Um, sorry, what's Pegapalooza?”

Thunder stared. Is she serious? “It's one of the biggest concerts in Equestria, and it's only happening because your cloudwalking spell made it possible for earth ponies and unicorns to go to Cloudsdale. You really didn't hear about it?”

“It does sound kind of familiar. Maybe Rainbow Dash said something about it. It seems like her kind of thing.”

"Wait," Thunder's voice took on a sudden intensity, "you know Rainbow Dash?”

“Of course! She's one of my best friends.”

Thunder tried very hard not to fanfilly. “Do you think she'd be willing to do a Sonic Rainboom at one of our shows? We could get her in for free, since she'd be part of the crew.” It was something My Metal Pony had been talking about for a while, though they'd never thought of it as anything more than a pipe dream.

“Um,” Twilight squeaked, “I can ask her. Who is 'we?'”

“My band. My Metal Pony!” Thunder suddenly trailed off and sat down hard. “Well, I guess there is no 'we.'” The ambush failed. It must have. That's why Nova never came back. "It's just me now." He punched the ground with a hoof.

Twilight took half a step toward him, her eyes suddenly full of worry. “Hey, Thunder, are you okay? Did something happen?”

Thunder shook his head. “I don't want to talk about it.” What was with the mares in this town with their big watery eyes wanting to know all of his problems? “Listen, I have to go. Thanks for the detox, and if you could introduce me to Rainbow Dash someday that would be awesome. Maybe I'll see you around.” Not like I have anywhere else to go, if what I think happened actually happened.

“Okay, sure.” Twilight still looked concerned. “If you ever need anything you can stop by. Except another detoxification spell,” she amended, “next time I might just let you learn your lesson.”

Filly, that wasn't the first hangover I've had and it sure won't be the last. “Right. See ya.”

Thunder stood up and walked away. The town was dark and mostly asleep by now, so he didn't encounter anypony else. A light dusting of snow crunched under his hooves, and he suddenly became aware that he was rather cold. His leather vest and forelegbands didn't do a whole lot to keep his body heat in.

He got as far as the edge of town before realizing that it was already dark, the place where they'd set the ambush was quite a distance away on hoof, and he wasn't sure which direction it was in. Between the embarassment, the awkwardness, and the need to be doing something, he really hadn't thought this through. Stymied, he sat down again and stared out helplessly at the night. He found himself shivering with the cold. Of course it was just the cold. Buck! Buck it! Buck everything! He punched the ground over and over in impotent rage, until the sound of a light hooffall behind him made him turn around.

“Are you ready to talk now?”

“Twilight!” Thunder turned to glare at her. “Did you follow me?” he demanded.

“Ponies don't get as drunk as you were unless something's really bothering them. It's self-destructive behavior. I just had to make sure you weren't about to go hurt yourself again.”

“Very nice. Did you read that in a textbook?” Thunder sneered.

“Directionless anger: another classic sign of repressed trauma.”

“You're not my psychiatrist, you nag.”

Neither Thunder's language nor the fury behind it seemed to daunt Twilight. “No I'm not, but I could be your friend." “I don't want to be your bucking friend!” Thunder shouted.

“Is yelling at me making you feel better?” Twilight asked as she walked slowly toward him, the way one might approach a wounded animal. “What about the drinking? Whatever's wrong, it didn't help, did it?”

Thunder snorted angrily and stomped a forehoof. He didn't usually hit fillies, but this one might be the exception. “You want to help? Fine. Tell me how to get my friends back from Cacophony! Oh, wait, the royal guards couldn't even beat that monster, so just what the buck do you think you can do for me?”

Twilight had kept walking toward Thunder as he ranted. Now she threw her forelegs around his neck and pulled him into a warm, comforting hug. Thunder was shocked into silence.

“I'm so sorry about your friends, Thunder,” she murmured. “I've never heard of a monster called Cacophony, but I'll ask Princess Celestia if she knows anything.”

Thunder's trembling slowed. It was because she was warm, that was all. He'd been cold. To Thunder's own surprise he found himself gratefully returning Twilight's hug.

“Come back to town with me, okay?” Thunder hadn't protested yet, so Twilight didn't let go. “You can stay at the library for tonight. I'll do some research, and in the morning I'll write to the princess.”

“I... sure, okay.” What had happened to all of his anger? It was still there, buried deep along with pain and grief, but he was calmer. He felt more peaceful now than he had under Nectar's calming spell, more peaceful than he'd felt since Cacophony first appeared. Besides which, he thought since his brain was demanding a more logical reason to follow this pushy mare, he had noplace else to go. “Thanks. Again.”

Getting it Together

“Spike?” Twilight softly called out as she opened the door to the tree that served as both the library and her home.

“Who's Spike?” Thunder asked. He was picturing a large burly stallion, perhaps a jealous coltfriend or overprotective brother who might take offense to Twilight bringing a strange stallion home.

“My assistant. He's still young, he's probably asleep already.”

Thunder grunted and scratched nervously at his neck. There was something bothering him. “Twilight,” he finally spoke up.

“Hm?” Twilight was distracted, using her magic to pull pillows and a blanket out of a closet.

“Why are you doing all of this?”

Twilight's magic faded and she turned to him with a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“I mean this. All of it. Why are you sticking your neck out so far for a total stranger?”

“It's just what anypony would do.” Twilight sounded truly puzzled.

Thunder snorted. “Then we know very different ponies.”

“Honestly, it's because you seemed like you needed a friend. When we were talking at first you seemed very nice. I don't know what got you so angry and upset, but I knew that wasn't you. Ohhh, this will make a great friendship report for the princess!” the unicorn clapped her hooves together excitedly.

“Friendship... report?” Thunder tried to keep the scorn out of his voice. It sounded like absolutely the dumbest thing he'd ever heard of.

“Yeah!” Twilight grabbed up the pillows and blanket again with her magic and started floating them up the staircase against the far wall. “Princess Celestia has me studying the magic of friendship. It's really amazing stuff. Did you know that every pony has magic inside of them? Unicorns, of course, can use their horns to cast spells, and pegasi have their flight and weather magic, but even earth ponies can tap into the magic of friendship!”

“I—” don't give a buck, he didn't say. It didn't seem like Twilight even noticed that he'd tried to speak, though.

“It's just like the old Hearth's Warming Eve story, where the three tribes banded together and used the fire of friendship to defeat the windigos.”

“Uh-huh.” Thunder's eyes were starting to glaze over. Luckily, they had now reached the top of the stairs. Twilight opened the door to reveal a room a bed with a small basket next to it. Thunder faintly heard the sound of snoring coming from the basket.

“Alright,” Twilight admitted, “it's not a guest room so much as a guest mattress. Would you be okay sleeping in the living room?”

Thunder shrugged. “Not like I have anywhere better to go. Thank you for this.”

“You don't have to keep thanking me, Thunder. If there's one thing I've learned from my studies, it's that you should always help a friend in need.”

When exactly did we become friends? Thunder kept his mouth shut and watched as Twilight magicked open a closet door and pulled a small mattress out of it. She put the sheets and pillows that she was holding in her telekinesis onto it, then transported the entire thing back out into the main room.

“The bathroom is through there,” Twilight gestured with her hoof, “and Owloysius will be here if you need anything.”

"Who?”

“Exactly,” Twilight giggled. She smiled at him. “Get some sleep, okay? We'll figure this whole thing out in the morning, I promise. Princess Celestia will know what to do. Good night.”

“'Night.” Thunder turned and walked back down the stairs to where Twilight had placed his mattress against the far wall.

“Oh,” Twilight stuck her head back out through the door, “and if you take any books down make sure to put them back where they belong, okay?”

“Sure, okay.” He couldn't even remember the last time he'd read a book.

Thunder laid down and tried to relax, but calmness would not come to him. His mind was spinning with everything that had happened, and he desperately wanted to know what had become of the attempt to ambush Cacophony. An ever-present anger sat deep in his chest like a red-hot coal. The more he tried to ignore it the hotter it burned, searing away any hope of rest. He tossed and turned, fidgeting with directionless energy, until he finally gave up and started pacing. With nothing else to look at, his eyes started roving the bookshelves. Not much of interest there: history books, books about magic, politics, adventure stories, books about nearly anything he could imagine. Even some books about music, which caught his attention briefly. He was just considering pulling down one of the latter when he spotted it. Right next to Elements of Harmony, a Reference Guide was a book titled An Elementary Bestiary of the Crystal Mountains. Thunder wasn't sure where he'd heard the word before, but he remembered that “bestiary” meant a book of monsters. Apart from sounding metal as buck, a book like that might have something like Cacophony in it.

He carefully picked up the bestiary in his teeth and carried it to the large central table. He flipped open the book to a random page, but found himself squinting to make out any of the words. The title, embossed in large golden letters, had been easy to read in the dim light, but the small black words within faded into the darkness.

“Who.”

Thunder jumped as an owl flew over with a lit taper and applied it to a lantern next to where he sat. A soft light poured over the pages of the book, the perfect level of illumination for reading.

“Who,” the creature hooted agreeably.

“Well, you must be Owloysius. I see why she keeps you around.”

The owl preened. Thunder had never imagined that a bird could look so pleased with itself. His job done for the moment, Owloysius flew back to a perch near the door that Thunder had not noticed before. He puffed out his feathers and settled in.

Thunder shook his head. This mare just got weirder by the minute.

He turned his attention to the book and found that he had opened it to a page describing a rock roc, a sort of giant crystal bird that lived high in the mountains to the north and fed on gemstones. The book detailed how flocks of rock rocs often found themselves in conflict with dragons as both attempted to lay claim to the same gems. Thunder thought that there was a kick-flank song in there somewhere, but it was a thought he set aside for later.

He flipped to the back and scanned through the index, looking for anything that sounded remotely like what he was looking for. There was nothing under “cacophony,” which did not surprise him. “Changeling” sounded interesting, and his heart jumped when he flipped to the page and found a picture of a jet-black creature that looked vaguely like a pony, but it turned out to be unrelated.

Time passed, and Thunder finally felt himself starting to nod. He was also growing very frustrated, as the Bestiary and several other books with similar titles had failed to produce any answers. He nearly threw his latest find across the room before reminding himself that these belonged to somepony else. Somepony to whom he owed his gratitude, if not his friendship.

Utterly spent, he laid his head down on the table. He would get over to his bed in a minute. He just had to work up the energy.

“Who are you?” a youthful voice pierced through Thunder's sleepy haze.

“Huh?” Thunder blinked his eyes open and a small purple... something... swam into view.

“You fell asleep reading, didn't you?” the creature laughed, “I've never seen anypony but Twilight do that before. I'm Spike, what's your name?”

“Thunder Growl.” Thunder tilted his head from side to side to work the kinks out. His neck cracked loudly and satisfyingly. “Twilight mentioned you, but she didn't say you were a... whatever you are."

“I'm a dragon!” Spike puffed out his chest proudly.

“So, Twilight has an owl and a dragon as her assistants? How does that happen?”

“Well, she hatched me from an egg as her entrance exam into magic school. Owloysius she just kinda picked up along the way. He's more like a pet, really. I'm her number one assistant.”

Thunder smirked. Hit a nerve, did I? “Well, if you're her assistant, maybe you can help me with something.”

“What's that?”

“What does she like to eat?” Normally he would pick up a nice bottle of brandy or something as a thank-you, but from the way she'd talked to him before he guessed that Twilight didn't drink.

“Huh? I was just about to make breakfast, but—”

“I'll save you the trouble. Tell me where I can get us something good to eat, I'll take care of it.”

“Well, Sugarcube Corner is always a good bet. The ursa claws there are her favorite.”

“Ursa claws. Got it.”

Twenty minutes and one very strange conversation with an almost absurdly pink mare later, Thunder returned to the library with a bag of a half-dozen ursa claws to find Twilight awake and speaking with Spike. They turned around when the door opened.

"Oh!” Twilight exclaimed when she saw the bag in his mouth, “what's this?”

“Urha haws.” Thunder placed the bag down and tried again. “Ursa claws. Spike said you like them.”

“He was right. Thank you so much, Thunder!”

“No problem.”

They passed an agreeable fifteen minutes or so as all of them—Spike included—ate their breakfast. The ursa claws were delicious. Thunder wolfed down two in the time it took Twilight to finish her first, and had to stop himself from taking another before he was sure that Twilight and Spike had eaten their fill.

“Right.” Thunder could almost hear Twilight marking off a mental checklist as she dusted the crumbs from her hooves. “Next order of business: Spike, take a letter.”

"Yes, ma'am!” The baby dragon pulled a roll of parchment and a quill from... somewhere.

“Dear Princess Celestia,” Twilight dictated, “This is not one of my usual friendship reports, though I think you can expect an excellent one shortly. I am actually writing to ask about a monster that calls itself Cacophony.” With Thunder's help, Twilight described the monster and its recent actions. “Do you know anything about this creature? Anything you can tell me would be a huge help. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

Thunder watched as Spike rolled up the carefully-written letter and burned it to ash with his breath. “What was the point of writing the letter if you were just going to burn it?” he demanded.

Twilight and Spike shared an amused look. “Just watch this,” the baby dragon said. A minute or so passed, and then Spike suddenly belched out a burst of flame. Another letter appeared from within the green fire.

“What the buck?”

“Watch your language!” Twilight snapped, “Spike's still a baby dragon, you know!”

“Sorry.”

Spike unrolled the letter and cleared his throat. “My faithful student,” he began, “I see that you have met Thunder Growl.” He paused in his reading as both he and Twilight looked at Thunder, who was as surprised as either of them. Why was the princess of all Equestria concerned with him?

The baby dragon continued reading. “I have heard reports of this being called Cacophony. Based on your description and what my guards have told me, I believe it to be a gestalt.

"Geh-stalt,” Twilight corrected Spike's pronunciation, “it's a hard g.”

“Uh. Right. It is my wish that you, Twilight, and your friends use the Elements of Harmony to bring an end to this monster's attack on our fair land and its ponies. You and Thunder Growl should be able to help one another in this time of trouble. There is a reason I placed him in your path. If Thunder Growl is there, read the following:” Spike paused and blushed as he realized that that part wasn't meant to be read aloud, “I know that things have been difficult for you lately, Thunder Growl. I know that you have lost much to this monster. I wish to reassure you that I can think of nopony better suited for the task at hand than Twilight Sparkle and her friends, and you yourself. Twice now you have faced Cacophony and escaped. Twilight and her friends will need your experience and your guidance to bring this to a swift resolution. I have absolute faith that you will defeat Cacophony and save your friends. Stay strong, and remember that nothing in this world is greater than the magic of friendship.

"I also want to reassure you both that, although the guards failed to subdue Cacophony, nopony was seriously injured in the ambush. The musicians were all flown to safety as Thunder was, and it did not attack the others.

"Twilight: I leave the rest to you. I have absolute faith that you will rid our fair land of this menace, and return the joy of song to Equestria.

"Yours, Princess Celestia.” Spike rolled up the letter and looked up to see a determined Twilight and a confused Thunder Growl.

“What does she mean she 'placed me in your path'?” Thunder asked.

“I dunno,” Spike answered, “how did you wind up in Ponyville?”

“We set up an ambush for Cacophony, and a royal guard—oh, buck me.”

“Thunder!”

“Sorry, sorry!”

“Alright. Spike,” Twilight turned to her assistant with purpose in her eyes, “I need you to go round up the others and bring them back to the library as soon as possible. I have some studying to do.”

“You got it. I'll be back in two shakes of a griffon's tail.” Spike scampered out the door.

“Alright, so I understood about half of that letter,” Thunder admitted once Spike was gone. “What was she talking about with all that stuff about Elements and friends? Also, how did you manage to get a direct response from the princess of Equestria?”

“I told you, I'm her number-one student,” Twilight seemed to practically swell with pride,“and my friends and I are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.” When that name sparked no reaction from Thunder, she elaborated. “They're magical artifacts. Each one represents a particular quality: Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty and Magic. Mine is Magic.”

“So, wait, you have a magical artifact with the quality of being magical?”

“No, you don't understand. It's not magical, it is Magic. It's the physical representation of the magic of friendship.”

That horse manure again? “Uh huh.”

Their conversation was interrupted by an explosive crash and a shower of splinters as a prismatic blur came streaking into the room. Thunder dove under the table for cover, thinking that they were under attack. Twilight, however, stood her ground and caught the projectile in a magical field.

“Rainbow Dash! How many times have I told you to use the door?”

“No time! Twi, something really bad's happened!” The too-colorful blur was now talking nearly as fast as it had been flying.

Thunder got out from his embarrassing position, and something registered in his mind a second too late. Did she say Rainbow Dash?

“Rainbow, I need you to calm down and tell me what's going on. Did Spike send you?”

“Spike? No, haven't seen him. That doesn't matter! Listen Twi, something really bad happened not too far from Ponyville. I was out on weather patrol when I saw it. I don't know what, but it looks like there was a huge fight or something. I found this.” The multicolored pony tossed a royal guard's golden helmet on the floor at Twilight's feet.

Twilight picked it up with her magic and examined it. “It's okay, Rainbow. We just got a letter from the princess telling us about this. She promised that everypony is okay.” She thought for a moment. “It's just as well that you're here, I actually just sent Spike out to find you and the others. There's someone I want you all to meet, and then we have orders from the princess to carry out.”

“You sure? Well, as long as everypony's alright.” Rainbow squinted at her. “What kind of orders?”

“I'll get to that later. For now,” she waved a hoof for Thunder to come join them, “Rainbow, I want you to meet Thunder Growl. Thunder, meet Rainbow Dash.”

“Yeah, sure, nice to meet YOU!” Rainbow's jaw dropped open as she took in the pony standing in front of her. “Thunder Growl? The Thunder Growl? Omigoshomigosh, I have all of My Metal Pony's albums, you guys are so awesome!”

Thunder, who had been preparing some gushing of his own, was pleased and a bit embarrassed by her reaction. “And Rainbow Dash, I know all about you! I was just asking Twilight yesterday if you'd be willing to come do a Sonic Rainboom at one of our shows. We could get you in for free.”

Rainbow's eyes lit up like sparklers. “You want me to do a Sonic Rainboom for My Metal Pony? And you can get me in for free?!” She flew up into the air and pumped a foreleg. “Yes! This is gonna be awesome!”

“You'll do it?!” Thunder barked a laugh of pure excitement. “Buck yeah!” He held up a hoof, which Rainbow swooped down to bump.

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes, though she couldn't hold back a smile. Leaving Rainbow and Thunder to their mutual fanfillying, she started pulling books down from the shelves.

“Let's see. Gestalt, gestalt, I know I've read something about that,” she muttered as she scanned titles. A slowly growing pile of discarded books formed by her hooves. “Aha! Gestalt. See: Aggregation Spell?”

Roughly an hour later Spike flung the door open and came back in, gasping for breath. He was followed by an orange cowpony, a yellow pegasus who tried to hide behind her mane as soon as she caught sight of Thunder, the hyperactive pink pony from Sugarcube Corner, and an elegant white unicorn whom it took Thunder a moment to place. She was the one who had looked at him the night before as though he were a piece of dirt clinging to her perfect hooficure. Thunder snorted slightly upon seeing her.

“Twilight...” Spike panted, “I couldn't find... Rainbow... any—oh,” he broke off as he realized that the pony in question was already there.

“Thank you, Spike.” Twilight smiled at her assistant, then turned to the newcomers. “Everyone, I'd like you to meet Thunder Growl.”

“Nice to meetcha! I'm Pinkie Pie!” the pink one pranced over and shook Thunder's hoof.

“We met like an hour ago,” Thunder said.

"Well of course we did, silly, but meeting new friends is so nice that I wanted to meet you twice!"

“Um... hello, I'm Fluttershy,” the yellow pegasus whispered, still trying to disappear into her own hair.

“A pleasure, Mister Growl. My name is Rarity,” the pompous white unicorn gently shook the hoof that Pinkie had just let go of.

“Well, howdy!” If Rarity's hoofshake had been gentle, this one was anything but. The orange mare took Thunder's hoof in both of hers and shook for far longer than she needed to. “Ah'm Applejack. Pleased ta' make yer acquaintance!”

“Thunder Growl,” Twilight continued once the greetings were finished, “meet my friends!”

Thunder blinked, trying to process it all. “Right. Nice to meet all of you. So,” he turned back to Twilight, “why are they here?”

“Because Spike told us to come here because you got a letter from the princess saying that we should come here so Spike went to get us so that we could come here,” the pink pony was prancing in a circle around Thunder as she spoke, “because there's something called Cacophony and you need the Elements of Harmony to stop it so the princess sent a letter saying that we should stop it so Spike told us that we should come here so that we can use the Elements of Harmony to stop Cacophony because the princess sent a letter—”

“Okay, I get it!” Thunder clapped his hooves to either side of his head to stop his eyes from spinning.

"I believe what Pinkie is trying to say,” Rarity said in her carefully cultivated accent, “is that we are here to help.”

“That's right,” Applejack chimed in, “a friend o' Twilight's is a friend o' mine. Not ta mention the whole 'makin' Equestria safe fer music again' thing.”

“See, Thunder?” Twilight lifted her muzzle out of the book she'd been reading. “The next time you face Cacophony, you'll have all of us by your side.”

“What.” Thunder's flat tone stopped all the activity dead, and six pairs of eyes—seven, including Spike—turned to stare at him. “Abso-bucking-lutely not. That thing took down an entire squad of royal guards. It's way too dangerous.”

“Uh, Thunder?” Twilight said hesitantly, “this was the plan all along. We need to be there to use the Elements so that we can stop Cacophony.”

“I didn't know what the Elements were. Tartarus, I still don't really know what they are, but you're out of your alicorn-damned mind if you think I'm going to let six ponies like you get yourselves killed for me.”

“Ponies like us?” Rarity questioned, “whatever do you mean?”

“You know,” Thunder sighed, trying to put it into words, “nice ponies, I guess.”

"But you’re a nice pony." Pinkie finally stopped her hyperactive prancing and landed next to Thunder, tilting her head in confusion.

Thunder laughed once. “I’m a lot of things, but ‘nice’ ain’t one of them.”

“Alright, tough guy,” Applejack teased, “why is it okay fer you to go fight this thing, but not us?”

“Because it’s my problem!” Thunder snapped.

“That’s ridiculous,” Twilight answered, “it’s all of Equestria’s problem.”

Rainbow swooped down beside Thunder. “You really don't know who we are, do you? Elements of Harmony? Most powerful magic in Equestria? Beat Nightmare Moon, Discord, King Sombra, ringing any bells?”

“Actually, the Crystal Heart defeated King Sombra—”

“Yeah, and we—well, Twilight and Spike—found the Crystal Heart!” the pegasus cut Rarity off.

"Not to mention that the orders came straight from Princess Celestia,” Twilight added. “Of course, we’d be doing this even if they hadn’t.”

“Sorry, sugar cube, looks like yer stuck with us. So, Twi, what exactly are we up against here?”

Thunder threw up his hooves in surrender as Twilight levitated a book over to the table. Everypony gathered around to look at the page she’d opened to.

"Princess Celestia thinks that Cacophony is a gestalt.”

“Which is what, exactly?” Rainbow asked, despite the fact that she was staring right at the description.

“Starswirl the Bearded invented a spell that would allow multiple objects to occupy the same space simultaneously, and the resulting object was called a gestalt. I never imagined that it could be used on living beings, though!” Twilight sounded horrified.

“Um,” Fluttershy asked, having picked up on Twilight’s tone, “what would that do to the ponies? Would it hurt them?”

“I’m not sure,” Twilight admitted, “but the Aggregation Spell was always unstable. The objects aren’t meant to be forced together like that.”

“Well, then what are we waiting for?” Rainbow demanded. “We find this thing, we blast it with the Elements, easy peasy one-two-threesy.”

“Thunder, do you think we could lure out Cacophony the same way you and the guards did yesterday?” Twilight asked.

Thunder shook his head disbelievingly. “I still think you’re all crazy, but yeah, I don’t see why not.”

“Great!” Rainbow exclaimed, “Go get the Elements and let’s save Equestria! Again!”

Thunder watched bemusedly as Twilight walked over to a very fancy-looking glass case set against the wall. She opened it and levitated out five necklaces and a big crown thing, giving one of the necklaces to each of the others then setting the crown on her own head.

“Alright, ladies and gentlestallion. Let’s go!”

Falling Apart

For the second time in as many days Thunder found himself on a stage, preparing to lure out the most dangerous creature he’d ever seen. After a quick flyover by Rainbow Dash had revealed that the stage from yesterday’s ambush was still mostly intact, and that the equipment still worked, they had gone there to bring an end to Cacophony.

Thunder worked in a daze, struggling to catch up with everything that had happened the day before. His mind still rebelled against the idea of letting these six fillies throw themselves in harm’s way for his sake.

“That’s pretty egotistical,” Twilight had said at one point. “What makes you think that Cacophony is your responsibility? Do you think that you’re the only one who can stop it?”

Thunder had shaken his head. “I know damned well that I can’t stop it, but it just doesn’t feel right.”

“Look, darling,” Rarity had reassured him, “it’s very kind of you to worry about us, but it truly isn’t necessary.”

That had been about half an hour ago. Now Thunder was hooking up the microphone he had been using yesterday, checking the connections, and making sure that he could still put on a show that would bring the monster running. His particular style of singing didn’t exactly lend itself well to performing a capella, but hopefully it would still work.

“Cacophony attacked us almost instantly last time,” Thunder warned as he tapped a hoof on the microphone. The speakers sent out a satisfying pulse of sound. “Whatever that jewelry does, be ready to do it, because I doubt I can hold it off for long.”

“You shouldn’t have to hold it off at all,” Twilight responded. “We’re ready when you are.”

“Right.” Thunder stepped up to the mic and cleared his throat, then froze. Something was preventing him from singing: a tension in his throat and stomach, a strange coldness in his hooves…

Celestia dammit, I am notafraid of that thing!

“Um, Thunder?” Fluttershy whispered. She floated over to him and placed a hoof gently on his shoulder. “You’re shaking.”

Thunder snorted and shook his head. “I’m fine. Let’s do this.” He put his mouth up to the microphone and took a breath.

“The night... will last... forever!”

If the others thought the song's subject matter was in bad taste, they kept it to themselves.

“Shining bright above the frozen land,

her coat as black as night, your lives like grains of sand.

The sun shall never rise again, it's true.

The Mare in the Moon is watching you!

The Nightmare falls upon you all tonight.

You cry out to be saved but there's no hope in sight.

The foals will cry, the crops will die,

for the Nightmare Moon is in the sky!

“Equestria, your queen behold,

your final fate shall now unfold,

all light and joy she shall withhold,

and grip you in eternal cold!”

“There it is!” Twilight’s voice was all but lost under Thunder’s growling. “Get ready, girls!”

Fragments of black shadow were indeed racing across the open field toward them. As they watched, the shadows clumped together directly in front of the stage and formed into something vaguely pony-shaped, though as usual Thunder’s eyes refused to make sense of the conglomeration.

Thunder stopped singing as his blood seemed to fill with ice. He wanted to run, to hide, and possibly to piss himself. Instead, he placed all four hooves firmly on the ground and set himself to fight.

He never got the chance. As Thunder prepared to charge, a massive stream of rainbow energy blasted out of the sky.

“What the buck?” Thunder traced the magical downpour up into the sky, and then back to directly behind him, where Twilight and the others stood—floated?—surrounded by magical auras. He turned his attention back to Cacophony in time to see the dark non-shape break into pieces and dissolve in the torrent.

The magic faded, leaving behind six very tired ponies and one very excited Thunder Growl.

“We did it! Buck me, you did it, I didn’t do an alicorn-damned thing! Take that, you foal of a nag! Ha-HA! Cacophony, meet Harmony!” He raced to the six friends behind him, giving each a solid hoof-bump. He was greeted with weak smiles and shaky legs, but the six seemed unharmed, though tired and a bit disoriented.

Thunder froze. He thought he had seen a small patch of darkness dancing where there should not have been one. He turned around, praying to whatever alicorns might be listening that his eyes were playing tricks on him.

The entire field writhed with shadows. As he watched they formed together into another Cacophony. Then another, and another, and another. Dozens of the creatures stared at the small group gathered on the raised stage. Thunder felt his legs turn shaky and weak.

“What in tarnation?” Applejack forced herself back up to her hooves. “Fire up those Elements, girls, we ain’t done yet!”

“Uhnn…” Twilight stood as well and tried to tap back into the powerful flow of Magic, but she felt so drained. She’d never had to use her Element twice in a row before. The others seemed to be having similar trouble, but the determination in their eyes never wavered.

Twilight closed her eyes, and when she opened them again they glowed white with energy. The power was coming, but slowly, so slowly. Through the haze of magic she faintly saw Thunder holding his ground in front of the approaching Cacophonies, trying to protect her and her friends.

“Don’t touch them!” he was roaring, “You get the buck away from them, it’s me you want!” As Twilight watched, he lowered his head and rammed his shoulder into the nearest one. It didn’t budge, but Thunder went stumbling back.

We aren’t going to make it. It was a stunning realization. Somehow, the Elements of Harmony had failed.

Twilight closed her eyes and forcibly broke her connection with Magic, and by extension the rest of the Elements. Instead she focused her own more mundane magic into her horn. It glowed a brilliant lavender, then gained a second layer of blinding white glow as she poured more power into the spell. She put every ounce of what she had left into the burst of magic, and with a flash she, her friends, and Thunder Growl disappeared.

Thunder reappeared next to the others in the middle of the Ponyville library. His hind legs wavered and he fell to his haunches. Part of it was that he was disoriented by the teleport, but the larger part was that he simply couldn’t be bothered to stand.

“There’s more than one of those things?” Rainbow demanded.

“A lot more, apparently,” Twilight answered. “Everypony okay?”

A chorus of affirmatives answered her. Thunder remained silent, staring into space.

“Thunder?” Twilight walked toward him hesitantly. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No.”

“Which question was that answering?”

Thunder shrugged.

“Hey.” Pinkie walked toward him from the front, ducking her head low so that she could look at his face. “C’mon, Thunder. We beat one of those Cacopho-ninnies. Next time we’ll get them all!”

Thunder grunted. His gaze was still somewhere miles away, staring at a darkness that would never go away, and from which his friends would never be freed.

Pinkie crept closer and looked into his face. He blinked once and met her gaze. Almost as soon as she saw his hollow, haunted eyes, her own eyes filled up with tears. She threw herself around his neck and he felt a warm wetness on his shoulder.

“What are you crying about?” Thunder asked. Even his voice was distant.

“Your eyes,” Pinkie’s voice was choked. “Eyes like that mean you need to cry, but you can’t. So,” her breath hitched, “so I’m crying for you!” She leaned back slightly and gave him a watery smile.

“That’s…” actually kind of touching, in a bucked-up sort of way. “You are one weird pony, you know that?”

Pinkie nodded and leaned back into his shoulder, sniffling. A gentle hoof on his back signaled Fluttershy joining the pity party. Applejack stood nearby, her sturdy presence reassuring in itself. Rarity tsked and murmured soothing nothings. Rainbow seemed unsure whether she was supposed to be comforting Thunder Growl or Pinkie Pie, and settled for awkwardly hovering a few inches away.

Twilight stood several steps apart from the others, her powerful mind already working a hundred miles a minute. Too much of what had just happened didn't add up. By the time Thunder had shaken off her friends' attentions and gotten a bit of life back into his eyes, she already had half-a-dozen theories that she desperately wanted to begin researching. First things first, however.

“Spike, take a letter.”

Spike, barely recovered from the shock of seeing his friends appear with no warning, and in such distress, nonetheless reached behind him and produced a roll of paper and a quill. “Ready.”

“Dear Princess Celestia,

“I regret to inform you that Cacophony has not been stopped. While our plan to lure it out and use the Elements of Harmony on it was successful, we underestimated the scope of the threat. The creature that was hit by the Elements' power was seemingly destroyed, but there were others, and we were forced to retreat. I estimate that we saw roughly twenty of the creatures before teleporting back to Ponyville.

“We are all safe. There are many things about the encounter that I wish to research. I will write to you again soon with my findings.

“Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

The report vanished in a puff of green flame.

“Well, what now?” Applejack asked.

Twilight sighed. “I need to do some research. A lot of research. I should have done this in the first place, but I wanted to get rid of Cacophony as soon as possible and I never expected the Elements to fail. Maybe we should meet up again tomorrow, I don't think there's much to be done until then.”

“Are you sure, dear?” Rarity asked. “Perhaps we should stay with you. Seven heads are better than two.”

“You've all got things to take care of,” Twilight answered. “Besides, I do my homework best alone.” She smiled at her friends. “Thank you all for your help today.”

“Anytime, sugar cube. Well, I'll see ya tomorrow, then.” Applejack tipped her hat. She clapped Thunder on the shoulder on her way out. “Buck up, Thunder. Twilight ain't gonna let ya down.”

“I'm so sorry it didn't work out the way we hoped, Thunder.” Fluttershy said. “Um, well, I'll see you tomorrow?”

“If you need anything, anything at all, you come straight to the Boutique,” Rarity said, and then she, too, was gone.

Pinkie finally pried herself from his shoulder. She looked at him with big blue eyes that showed no signs that she had ever been crying. “You just wait. We'll get those Cacopho-neeny-meanies, and that's a Pinkie Pie Swear! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She gave a totally unresponsive Thunder one last hug and sprang out the door.

“Right. Well, uh. See you tomorrow.” Rainbow pawed the floor, not sure what else to say.

“Hey, Rainbow?” Thunder finally spoke up.

“Yeah?”

“You drink?”

Several hours and many, many drinks later, Thunder stumbled out of the tavern with a drunken grin plastered across his face, Rainbow leaning against one side of him and Berry Punch on the other. Whether they were doing so to help his balance or their own was debatable.

“Think I’m gonna go take a nap,” Rainbow announced, stretching out her wings. “This was awesome, we gotta do this again soon.”

“Whoa,” Thunder held out a hoof, “you sure you’re okay to fly? Don’t need anyone getting an FUI.”

Rainbow laughed. “If they wanna give me a ticket, they’ll have to catch me first!” She took off, and a slightly wobbly rainbow streak tore across the sky.

“I’d better get home too,” Berry said. She was even more drunk than Thunder, and could barely stay upright.

“Let me walk you home,” Thunder offered. He held up his hooves at her suspicious look. “My inten-shuns are hono… honr… good. Just wanna get you home safe. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Berry giggled. “Well, now I know I’m safe. You don’t want to know what happens to ponies who break a Pinkie Pie Promise.”

After seeing Berry safely home Thunder staggered back toward the library, looking forward to a nap of his own. He opened the door to find Twilight, still buried in a book, and Fluttershy, who had apparently come back to help. Fluttershy spotted him first.

“Oh, goodness!” She darted over to him, taking in his unfocused eyes and wobbly steps. She laid a hoof on his forehead. “You’re burning up!”

“I’m fine,” Thunder mumbled, brushing her leg away.

“Oh no, you’re not fine,” she tried to guide him over to his bed in the corner, “you’re very sick.”

“He’s very drunk,” Twilight said. Fluttershy squeaked and darted away, looking at Thunder uncertainly. Thunder looked up to see Twilight glaring at him. "Again."

“Yeah,” Thunder said flatly, “so what?”

“It’s the middle of the afternoon!”

“Again, so what?”

“You are unbelievable!” Twilight stomped across the room toward him. “We’re doing everything we can to help, and what do you do? You run off and get dung-faced with Rainbow Dash!”

Thunder snorted angrily. “You aren't my bucking mother, whatever you might seem to think, and Rainbow’s old enough to make her own decisions. I let myself hope, again, that we were going to beat Cacophony and save my friends, and then that came back to bite me in the flank like it always does, so excuse me if I needed a bucking drink!” He was shouting at the top of his lungs by the end of it, head lowered as if to charge.

Twilight was silent for a moment. “Get out,” she said quietly.

“What?”

“I said get out! How dare you, how dare you speak to me like that? We’re all doing everything we can, Thunder, you’re the only one who’s giving up. By the way, if you want to drink yourself to death then do it, but don’t try to take my friends with you!”

Thunder stared at her, stunned.

“Until you’re sober and ready to help, you can find somewhere else to stay.” Twilight used a pulse of magic to shove Thunder back out the door, then slammed it behind him.

Thunder wandered the streets of Ponyville in a daze, wondering what he should do next. How does this bucking town not have a hotel or something? He could ask one of the others for a place to stay, but that would only work until the nag told her friends not to help him. He could just leave, of course, hop on a train to anywhere in Equestria, but something told him not to. Twilight, her friends, and their fancy jewelry might still be his best chance to take down Cacophony.

With nowhere else to go, he eventually found himself back in front of Berry Punch’s door. Hesitantly, nervously, he lifted a hoof and knocked.

“Hol’ on. Jus’ a second,” a terribly slurred voice called from inside. The door opened and there stood Berry, balancing a wine bottle on one hoof. “Thunder! What brin's you back here?”

“You’re still drinking?” Thunder blurted. He was starting to worry about her, and that was saying something.

“’Course I am,” Berry answered, “ain’t like there’s much else ta’ do.” She motioned with the bottle. “Well, wha’re ya standin’ out there for? Come in!”

Breaking Down

Thunder groaned as a stabbing headache and sour stomach brought him back to consciousness. He cracked his eyes open and found Berry Punch, still asleep, lying next to him. He couldn’t remember anything past walking in her door, and felt a stab of worry. Oh, buck, did we— he relaxed slightly, but only slightly, when he saw the telltale glow of a protection spell around himself. An empty bottle nearly tripped him as he got out of the bed.

A bit of searching led him to the bathroom, where he relieved himself and rinsed some of the awful taste out of his mouth. He felt only a minor twinge of guilt as he raided Berry’s medicine cabinet and swallowed two painkillers with another mouthful of water. As he looked at himself in the mirror the last traces of the night’s protection spell faded away, leaving nothing but one very hungover pony.

He trudged back to the bedroom and laid back down next to Berry, who didn’t stir. That was for the best. However much Thunder was suffering from yesterday’s drinking, she was going to be worse. Never thought I’d see the day when a mare other than Wing Beat drank me under the table.

He must have dozed off because when he opened his eyes again the sun was shining much more brightly, the painkillers had taken the edge off of his headache, and Berry wasn’t in the bed. Retching sounds coming from the bathroom clued him in as to where she’d gone and why.

“Morning,” she grunted a few minutes later, having emptied her stomach of its poisonous contents.

“Morning,” Thunder said uneasily. “Listen, about last night—”

Berry waved a hoof. “I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to, I promise."

“You sure?”

Berry laughed, then seemed to regret it as she clutched her stomach. “You’re cute, Thunder. Yes, I’m sure.”

“Cute?” Thunder lifted an eyebrow, “Never been called that before.”

“You are though!” she chirped. “Come on, you up for some breakfast?”

Thunder stopped to consider the state of his stomach. He was at the point where food would either make things better or much, much worse. Nonetheless, he followed Berry into the kitchen and let her place a loaf of bread and a mug of cider in front of him.

The cider actually helped with the hangover. It was a hair of the timberwolf that bit him, as the saying went. Which is a dumb saying, seeing as timberwolves don’t have hair, Thunder mused. With his stomach somewhat settled he attempted a bit of the bread, then realized exactly how hungry he was. Aside from the ursa claws he'd had for breakfast he hadn’t actually eaten yesterday, choosing instead to fill his belly with wine and cider. Despite his efforts to pace himself, he quickly devoured the loaf.

“So, you’re a singer?” Berry said, picking up the thread of some half-remembered conversation from yesterday.

“Yeah. Well, I was.”

“That must be tough.”

“I miss my bandmates,” Thunder admitted.

Berry frowned. “Even if you can’t play anymore, can’t you still see them?”

“Cacophony got them,” Thunder said softly. “They were the first.”

“Oh!” Berry’s eyes shone with tears, “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“What kind of music do you like?” Thunder asked, changing the subject.

“All kinds of stuff,” Berry said around a mouthful of bread, “but DJ Pon-3 is my favorite.”

"You and the rest of Equestria," Thunder snorted.

“I just can’t believe she’s gone.” Berry trailed off, staring down at the table.

Thunder scratched his nose nervously. He had never been any good with upset mares.

"I hate this!" Berry burst out suddenly.

Thunder was taken aback. “Hate what?”

“This. All of it. It’s been a month since the last time I heard music. Nopony sings anymore, nopony plays, everyone’s afraid all the time. Did you know that the other day I had to stop a filly who started singing a nursery rhyme? A filly!”

Thunder felt a pang. And I just pissed off the ponies with the power to fix it.

“I think that’s why I drink so much lately,” Berry continued. “I mean, I always liked to drink, probably a bit more than I should, but lately it seems like that’s all I do.” She shook her head and smiled at him. “I’m sorry, listen to me going on. I know others have lost more than I have.”

“It’s okay. Everyone’s suffering.” And bucked if I’m going to keep sitting here doing nothing about it. He stood up. “Berry?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for letting me crash here. I have to get going, there’s something I have to do.”

Berry swallowed a mouthful of cider and smiled at him. “Okay.” She stood up and held out her forelegs for a hug, which Thunder gladly gave her. “Don’t be a stranger.”

“See you soon.” Thunder walked out the door.

Ten minutes of walking—and fifteen of nervous indecision—later, Thunder knocked on the library door. After a moment it opened, revealing a purple unicorn mare behind it.

“Thunder,” Twilight said flatly.

“Twilight.” Thunder pawed the ground anxiously. “Listen, I—”

“You smell like alcohol,” Twilight interrupted.

“Oh. Yeah. That’s from yesterday.” It occurred to Thunder that he should probably have asked to use Berry’s shower. “I wanted to—”

“What did you do yesterday?” Twilight cut him off again.

“None of your business," Thunder snapped. "Are you ready to talk to me or not?” Nice apology, buckhead.

Twilight sighed and relented. “Look, Thunder, I shouldn’t have snapped at you like I did yesterday. I know things have been really hard for you lately. I certainly shouldn't have thrown you out in the cold when you were counting on me.”

Thunder blinked. “Wait, are you apologizing to me?”

Twilight glared. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still furious with you. You had absolutely no right to shout at me, and while I respect that Rainbow Dash can make her own decisions, I’m worried that you’re going to get her into trouble.”

“Listen,” Thunder cut in, “I’m trying to apologize for that, but it’s tough when you won’t let me talk.”

“Alright then, talk.”

Thunder sighed and unconsciously pawed at the ground again. “Look, I know I was way out of line yesterday. You’re right, things have been tough, but that doesn’t excuse it. You, all of you, have been so nice to me when you could have just told me to go buck myself. Tartarus, I’d probably have told me to go buck myself. I’ve got no right to ask you for another chance, but…” He took a deep breath. “Stopping Cacophony, saving my friends, that means everything to me right now, and you guys are my only chance to do that. I don’t know if you can forgive me for being a… well, a colossal buckhead, but could you at least let me work with you until this is over? After that I’ll leave, and you’ll never have to see me again.”

Twilight stared him down a few moments longer. Thunder could almost see her weighing his fate in those huge purple eyes of hers. Finally, she opened the door all the way and stepped aside.

“Go take a shower,” she said. “You smell terrible."

Thunder walked past her toward the bathroom.

"You have a hickey on your neck,” she added.

Thunder flushed and escaped into the shower, where he cleaned off the smells of cider, wine, and Berry Punch. He sighed and relaxed slightly as the hot water coursed over him. He stayed in there long after he was clean, simply relishing the feeling and trying to let go of some of the hatred and rage that still burned inside of him. It didn’t work, not really, but he at least looked calm by the time he finally left the bathroom.

He stepped out of a cloud of steam and into a room full of ponies who looked at him with expressions ranging from suspicion to pity. Only Rainbow Dash, apparently unaware of the atmosphere, approached him.

“Thunder!” She held up a hoof, which he bumped. “Yesterday was so awesome. Just wait ‘till I tell my friends in Cloudsdale that I went drinking with Thunder Growl! We gotta do that again.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Thunder agreed readily. Twilight wrinkled her nose, but didn’t say anything. “You get home okay?”

“Well, duh, I’m only the best flier in Equestria. It takes more than a bit of cider to change that!”

“Anyway,” Twilight interrupted, “as I was saying, there are a lot of things about the fight yesterday that don’t add up." Nopony was surprised to see her pull out an actual list and begin reading off of it.

"First of all, I don’t see how there could possibly be as many Cacophonies as we saw, considering that it would take a unicorn almost as powerful as Starswirl to make even one. Secondly, a gestalt made of living creatures should have all of their minds forced together as well. It seems unlikely that something like that would even be able to function, let alone carry out a vendetta like it has been.”

Thunder wondered if she realized that only about half of her friends were following her. The others simply nodded blankly.

“Third, the Elements of Harmony destroyed one of the Cacophonies. That isn’t right. The Elements aren’t destructive, as far as anypony can tell they work by returning things to their natural, harmonious state. Finally, after we used the Elements, the Cacophonies who appeared completely ignored Thunder in order to come for us, even though Thunder was the one who had been singing. That goes directly against everything we know about this being.”

“So, what’s all that mean?” Applejack asked.

Twilight shook her head. “That’s just it, I don’t know.”

They were interrupted by the sound of a certain baby dragon belching. A moment later, Spike came pattering into the room holding a letter.

“Twilight!” he called out, “It’s a letter from Princess Celestia!”

Twilight nodded for him to proceed.

“Ahem.

“My faithful student Twilight,

"I apologize for not responding earlier. I have been thinking on all that you told me in your last report. I have some ideas that I wish to share, and others that require more research. I would very much appreciate it if all of you, Thunder Growl included, would come see me in Canterlot as soon as possible.

Yours,

Princess Celestia”

“Wow, she’s got really good timing!” Pinkie exclaimed.

"Well, I guess that’s that, then,” Twilight said with finality. “We’re going to Canterlot! Just let me pack a few things.”

There was a chorus of groans as Twilight pulled out a pair of saddlebags and began cramming so many books into them that Thunder was pretty sure she must have been using an Aggregation Spell of her own. Somehow, the fact that he had been personally invited to meet the princess—by the princess—hadn't quite registered yet.

Perhaps twenty minutes passed before Twilight was satisfied with her choices, and then the group trekked out the door to the train station. As they were walking, they heard a sound. It was a sound none of them had heard in quite a while, and it took them a moment to place it: singing. Someone was singing quite loudly.

The group shot horrified looks at one another.

“Quick,” Thunder, the first to recover, called out, “go get your orbital friendship cannon thing! I’ll try to stop her before Cacophony gets here!”

“Right," Twilight agreed a moment later. "We’ll be back as soon as we can!” Twilight’s horn glowed brightly and she teleported the entire group, minus Thunder, back to the library to retrieve the Elements.

Pausing only for an instant to jam earplugs into his ears, Thunder raced as fast as his hooves could take him toward the source of the singing. It seemed to be coming from the open square in the center of town. As he got closer he found himself having to dodge around ponies who were running away. When he was within sight of the square a small patch of darkness flitted past under his hoof.

He burst into the square and found, on the raised dais where Mayor Mare gave her speeches, an extremely drunk Berry Punch with a bottle in her hand, singing her heart out with tears in her eyes.

“Berry!” Thunder roared. “Are you out of your damned mind?” He galloped toward her, racing the approaching darkness.

He was too late. A dark shape coagulated directly between Thunder and Berry. Thunder felt the same fear he had felt yesterday, but did not hesitate in throwing himself on Cacophony's back, trying to get his forelegs around its throat. Cacophony bucked, and Thunder was hurled into the back wall of the stage.

“No!” Thunder stood on shaky legs. Desperate tears stung his eyes. “Not again!” He planted himself between Berry and Cacophony, but was sent flying by a casual backhoof from the monster and crashed into the side of a building. He tried to rise again but his body had no strength left. All he could do was watch helplessly as Cacophony approached Berry where she stood on the dais.

“Berry!”

At last, Thunder got to see what Cacophony did to its victims. It reached Berry and touched her with an indistinct hoof. As Thunder watched, appalled, the darkness spread across Berry and slowly pulled her in, absorbing her body into the mass. She did not resist. Driven by wild desperation not to lose another friend, Thunder forced himself back to his hooves.

Berry’s head was the last part of her to be consumed. Before she was absorbed completely, she locked eyes with Thunder. Tears streamed down her flushed face. She spoke, and despite everything happening around him, her voice was all that Thunder could hear.

“I just," she hiccuped, "I just didn’t want to live in an Equestria without music.”

Then she was gone.

Something inside of Thunder broke, and his world collapsed. His ears filled with a deafening roar that had nothing to do with the horrible sounds coming from Cacophony. His vision tunneled and his body went numb as Cacophony turned to him.

“YoU have STOodIN myway ToO ofTen.”

Thunder was barely aware of the barrage of rainbow energy that destroyed the monster. His weakened hind legs collapsed under him and he sank to his haunches. The battered and crumbling walls around his heart had taken one blow too many.

"Thunder!"

In a heartbeat he had six ponies—six friends—at his side, their differences forgotten. Thunder's internal barriers finally fell, and something happened that had not occurred since he was a foal. Thunder Growl began to cry.

As he collapsed forward, a pair of infinitely gentle yellow forelegs caught and cradled his head. He wept wretchedly into Fluttershy’s coat, not really aware of how he had gotten there, Pinkie Pie, who no longer needed to cry on his behalf, softly stroked his mane with a hoof.

“There, there,” Pinkie murmured. “Just let it all out. You'll feel better, and that's a Pinkie Promise."

“Uh, Twi?” Applejack's nervous voice sounded terribly far away to Thunder. “D’ya think you could get us outta here?”

“Yikes! Time to go, everypony!”

There was a purple flash. A a moment later the group stood back in the library with the exception of Thunder, who was still collapsed against Fluttershy, crying helplessly.

“Thunder.”

Thunder looked up to see an exhausted-looking Twilight speaking to him with sympathy in her eyes. He tried to respond but only managed a strangled gasp. Fluttershy squeezed him more tightly, and he held onto her foreleg with a death grip. At last he was able to choke out a single word.

“Why?”

Rarity knelt down next to him. “Why what, dear?”

“Why did she do that?” Thunder forced out between sobs. “She knew what would happen.”

The elegant unicorn tsked and magicked out a hoofkerchief, which she used to gently brush away Thunder’s tears. “Who can say? Perhaps she just wanted to give Ponyville the gift of music one more time.”

The simple beauty of that idea caused the knot in Thunder’s chest to twist even tighter, and he back dissolved into miserable weeping.

He had no idea how long he stayed there, clinging to his friends for dear life as his own rebellious feelings assaulted him. A couple of times he became ashamed of his pathetic display and tried to bring himself back under control, but his fragile grasp on his emotions never lasted more than a few seconds.

“I’m sorry,” he whimpered at one point.

“Aw, c’mon now,” Applejack said kindly, “everyone needs ta' cry sometimes.”

Thunder shook his head. “I mean,” he sniffled, “you’re all so good to me, for no bucking reason, and I’m such a plothole to all of you. I’m sorry.”

His eloquent language notwithstanding, Twilight in particular seemed to appreciate the sentiment.

He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to stop, but time passed and eventually Thunder mastered himself again. He wiped his eyes and nose once more with Rarity’s hoofkerchief, which was now quite soggy. After a moment’s consideration—and a grimace from the unicorn herself—Thunder tucked it into his own saddlebag rather than trying to return it to its owner. A few more sniffles and he was finally able to disentangle himself from the mass of ponies. He stood up and cleared his throat embarassedly.

“So, uh...” Thunder pawed the ground, avoiding everyone's eyes. He wasn't sure how to explain a complete breakdown that left him crying like a filly whose coltfriend just dumped her, not even to himself.

Applejack punched him jokingly in the shoulder. “Don'tcha worry, tough guy,” she chuckled, “we won't tell nopony.”

Thunder glanced sideways at Rainbow Dash, who so recently had held such a high opinion of him. Rainbow noticed his attention on her and stepped up beside him.

“Hey. You feeling better?”

Thunder nodded. He actually did feel quite a bit better, almost like throwing up after a hard night's drinking. Puking for the soul. Good one, Thunder. “Not much point in me acting cool anymore, huh?” Thunder's voice was comically nasal, and he forced a small laugh at the sound of it. “Think you'd still be willing to do a Sonic Rainboom for the band?”

“Hey, you're plenty cool.” Rainbow Dash clapped him on the shoulder. “Real stallions aren't afraid to cry.”

Thunder laughed again, and this time it was genuine. What does that make me, then?

Twilight approached Thunder Growl, who watched her uncertainly. He wasn't sure where they stood at the moment. To his surprise, she placed a foreleg around him and squeezed gently.

“Are you okay now?” she asked. “Are you ready to go?”

Thunder nodded. “Ready when you are. Sorry, we've wasted enough time already.”

“No,” Twilight smiled, “being there for your friends is never a waste of time.”

Interlude: The Bumpy Road to Canterlot

Thunder and the others walked through Ponyville once again, with Spike tagging along behind them. The streets were empty except for the eight of them, everypony having been scared back into their homes by the appearance of Cacophony.

“What happened after I, um,” Thunder looked away in embarrassment. His voice was no longer so nasal or raspy, though his eyes were still glassy.

Rarity picked up on what Thunder didn’t want to voice. “We used the Elements to destroy the Cacophony that you had been fighting with—and might I suggest that you stop trying to hooffight with those monsters?—but then more of them appeared, just like last time. While you were... ah, occupied, Rainbow went out to see what was happening, but they had already disappeared.”

“I thought they might try to hurt other ponies once we were gone,” Twilight added, “but it seems like they only target musicians.”

Thunder thought about that for a moment. “I’ve never seen more than one at a time when it was just music,” he said, “not even at the Manehattan Bash. I never even knew there was more than one until you guys started using your Element thingies.”

“Ya think Cacophony’s goin’ after the Elements of Harmony, then?”

Thunder shrugged. “It makes sense. Those are the only things that have been able to do anything to them.”

They walked in silence for a while longer. Thunder slowly became aware of everypony glancing at him when they thought he wasn’t looking, trying to seem as if they weren’t. He snorted. “I’m fine, guys. You don’t need to look like I’m about to shatter.”

“Were you and Berry Punch very close?” Rarity asked delicately. Twilight eeped and blushed as she remembered the love bite on Thunder’s neck, but luckily no one else noticed.

Thunder shook his head. “We only met a couple of days ago. I’m really not sure why I fell apart like that.”

“Ya been through a lot lately,” Applejack reasoned. “Ah reckon that was just the apple that broke the pony’s back.”

Fluttershy gasped and held a hoof to her mouth. “I never knew working on a farm was so dangerous,” she whispered.

“It’s not good to keep all of that stress in, darling,” Rarity counseled. “You should really talk to somepony about it. I’m certain that any of us would be glad to listen.”

“Can we drop it?”

“It’s just—”

Thunder’s eyes flashed. “I said drop it,” he growled. He caught himself when he saw that Rarity looked taken aback, perhaps even hurt. Thunder sighed. “Sorry, I’m doing it again.”

“Er, doing what, dear?”

“Being an ass—uh, a plot—” he cleared his throat. “Being a jerk. I know you’re trying to help, I just really don’t want to talk about it.”

Rarity apologized and backed off, and the group made small talk for the remainder of the walk to the train station. Thunder’s breakdown had not caused them to miss the train, which was fortunate, as the next one to Canterlot was not for several hours. In short order they had their tickets and had boarded the train. They even managed to get a car to themselves, since it was the middle of the day and most ponies were at work.

The trip to Canterlot was not a very long one. They passed a good deal of it in conversation, as Thunder learned more about his new friends and spoke in turn about himself and his band.

“So where do you live now?” the ever-curious Twilight asked.

“Well, I’ve got a house in Fillydelphia, but I’m hardly ever there. Most of the time I’m out touring with the band or at the studio in Manehattan.”

“What about yer family?”

“Don’t really have any,” Thunder answered the cowmare. “I grew up in Detrot with my parents, but I haven’t been back there in years.”

“Ah, shoot.” Applejack looked down. “Ah’m awful sorry ta hear that.”

Thunder wondered what she meant, then realized how he had made it sound. “Oh, no, it’s nothing like that!” he hastened to reassure her. “They’re alive and well, or at least they were last I knew. We just don’t really get along.” That was putting it lightly, but he didn’t elaborate.

If he had meant to make her feel better, it hadn’t worked. Applejack glared at him, her mouth hanging slightly open. “You… y’all…” she shook her head and stood up. “‘Scuse me, ah’m gonna get some air.” She trotted out without another word, closing the door hard behind her.

“Oh dear,” Rarity said softly. “I had better go make sure she’s okay.” She followed the cowpony out into the small open space between cars.

Thunder looked after them, confused. Had Applejack been angry with him? “What did I do now?” he asked.

Twilight glanced away awkwardly. “Nothing, Thunder. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Applejack lost her parents when she was young,” Fluttershy explained, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah, and family’s really super-important to the Apples,” Pinkie added in the most subdued tone he’d ever heard from her.

Thunder stomped lightly on the floor of the car. Could I please go five bucking minutes without bucking everything up? “Sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Twilight reassured him, “how could you have? Like I said, it wasn’t your fault.”

“So, what’s up with your family, anyway?” Rainbow Dash chimed in. “Why don’t you see them anymore?”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight cut her off. “Don’t you think that’s a bit personal?”

Thunder shook his head. “It’s alright. Like I said, we just don’t really get along. They never wanted me to be a singer, not even after my cutie mark appeared. My dad especially used to get mad about it, said I was an embarrassment. He wanted me to be a hoofypony, like him. You know, carpenter, electrician, that kind of thing. Something ‘practical.’”

“But you went and became a singer anyway,” Twilight said. “That’s brave.”

Thunder laughed bitterly. “I tried it his way, I was just never any good at working with my hooves. That was another thing Dad always took as an insult. I’m pretty sure he thought I was doing it on purpose.”

“I know what that’s like,” Fluttershy sympathized. “When I was a filly I couldn’t fly for anything. Everypony used to make fun of me for it.”

“Hey, not everypony,” Rainbow Dash protested.

“That’s true.” Fluttershy smiled at her friend with a faint squee.

“What about your mother?” Twilight asked.

“She wasn’t as bad, but she pretty much went along with whatever Dad wanted.” That wasn’t quite fair to her, Thunder knew, but he didn’t really care. She had stood up to his father on more than one occasion, but in the end she always got browbeaten into agreeing with him. He waved a hoof. “That was all a long time ago, though. I’m my own pony now, and I'm more successful than they ever were.” So buck 'em, he refrained from adding.

They all looked up as the door at the end of the car rattled again. Thunder stood up.

“Gonna use the little colt’s room. Be right back.” He exited the car going the other way just as Applejack and Rarity re-entered.

By the time Thunder got back to their train car—he actually had needed to use the bathroom, though it had mostly been an excuse to give Applejack and himself some more time to cool off—it seemed that things had settled down. Applejack looked uncomfortable, but not angry.

“Ah’m sorry, Thunder,” she said as soon as he sat back down. “Ah shouldn’ta flown off the handle like I did.”

Thunder chuckled. “You call that flying off the handle?” He looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry too, I didn’t realize—”

Applejack waved a hoof. “No harm done, sugar cube. We’ve all got different stories, ah reckon. Ya know what,” she said as if just thinking of it, “you oughta come have lunch with me an' my folks sometime. We have the girls over all the time, wouldn’t be any trouble to set another place.”

Thunder smiled at her. “Sure. I’d like that.”

With the tension defused, they passed the remainder of the trip quite pleasantly. Pinkie pulled a board game out of somewhere, and Thunder spent the rest of the ride to Canterlot trying to climb Candy Mountain. He didn’t make it, and by the time they were pulling into the station he thought he might be mildly traumatized.

The Princess and the Performer

“Something isn't right here.”

As the group filed onto the platform at Canterlot Station, Twilight looked around uneasily.

“I can't put my hoof on it, but something's wrong,” she continued.

Thunder pricked his ears up. “It's too quiet,” he said. “A big city like Canterlot, there should be music everywhere: concerts, street performers, festivals, whatever. There's nothing.”

“It's spooky.” Even Pinkie Pie was subdued as they walked through the quiet streets. There were many ponies about the city, but none of the usual exuberance that came with crowds. Even conversations were hushed, as if the speakers feared that their voices would attract unwanted attention. Unsettled, the group made haste toward the palace.

“So, what am I supposed to do?” Thunder asked as they walked. Though he spoke at a normal volume his voice seemed to crash through the hushed city, causing everypony to wince slightly.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked him.

“I mean, when we get to the palace, what do I do?” Thunder continued more quietly. “What do I say to the princess?”

“Shucks, no need to be nervous,” Applejack reassured him. “Princess Celestia's about as nice as they come.”

“Just be yourself, dear,” Rarity advised.

Thunder twitched one eyebrow. Be a drunken ass? Don't think I will, thanks. Not terribly comforted, he trailed slightly behind the others as they continued through Canterlot toward the palace. He looked around curiously as he went. He had not been to Canterlot in over a year, but very little seemed to have changed, at least about the city itself. Its inhabitants were another story.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight called out as she and her friends entered the throne room. The others walked in with easy familiarity, but Thunder felt distinctly out of place. He looked around nervously at all of the windows, two of which depicted the very ponies he was with wielding their Elements against terrifying enemies. There was even one of Spike saving the day with some sort of diamond heart floating above him.

“My little ponies,” the princess's infinitely kind and loving voice greeted them, and Thunder hastily joined the others in prostrating himself. He risked a glance upward as he heard her gold-shod hooves drawing closer and found the others already rising from their bows. He followed their lead, and when he reached his full height he was struck by just how big Princess Celestia really was. Thunder was not a small pony, but the top of his head was barely level with her chest. Her slender height was accentuated by her multicolored mane, which flowed over and around her with no regard for gravity. He had known what Celestia looked like, of course, but pictures and distant viewings did little justice to the true majesty of the sun princess.

Then she spoiled the effect by sweeping Twilight into a loving hug and turning a warm gaze upon the others. This was not a princess acknowledging her subjects, it was a pony greeting some old friends. “It is good to see you all,” she said. “Thank you for coming so quickly.” Her gaze settled on Thunder last of all. “Thunder Growl,” she greeted him, “it is a pleasure to meet you.”

Thunder swallowed nervously. “Likewise, Your Highness.”

“Please, join me for lunch,” Celestia invited them, gesturing with a hoof toward another room. “We have much to discuss.”

A pink blur raced past them at the mention of lunch, to be followed more slowly by the rest of the ponies. Twilight and Celestia were deep in conversation as they walked, while through the doorway Pinkie could be seen stuffing her muzzle. Still hesitant, Thunder brought up the rear.

He was put slightly more at ease by the relaxed attitude with which the others took their places and began to eat and talk. Still, he remained unusually quiet, still not certain what his place here was.

“Thunder Growl,” Celestia said after some time, “it is my understanding that you were present the first time Cacophony appeared.”

Thunder, caught with a mouthful of lettuce, swallowed hastily and nearly choked. There was a twinkle in Celestia's eye that made him wonder if she'd done that on purpose.

“Right,” he finally managed to say, “at the Manehattan Bash.”

“And what happened?” the princess prompted. “I have heard the reports, of course, but I would like to hear from somepony who was actually there.”

“Well,” Thunder began hesitantly, “I wasn't there right at the beginning. I had left already, but I went back when I heard that the Bash was under attack. By the time I got there it was pretty much over. The musicians had been,” he had to pause to swallow a lump in his throat, “taken, and everyone else was hurt or unconscious.”

“Yes,” Celestia frowned, “Cacophony attacked everyone who was there, not just the musicians. Why was that? It did not harm anyone but its targets in its other attacks.”

Thunder stopped to chew that over, along with what remained of his mouthful of food. “I don't know. Maybe it just wanted to make more of a splash, since that was its first time showing itself.”

“Maybe,” Celestia allowed.

“You've got that look again,” Twilight accused the princess.

“What look would that be, my faithful student?” Celestia asked, her voice tinged with amusement.

“That look that says you know something we don't.” Twilight sounded faintly annoyed, though it was a look she was more than used to seeing.

“Perhaps,” Celestia replied with a faint smile. “I likely know many things that you do not. I have had longer to learn them.”

“Something about Cacophony,” Twilight prompted.

“Oooh! I know!” Pinkie raised a hoof. “Cacophony is an old enemy that you and/or Luna sealed away a thousand years ago who escaped his prison and came back for revenge!”

Celestia laughed. “Good guess, but no.” She nosed her empty plate away, where it was promptly picked up by a servingpony. “Twilight Sparkle has brought several things to my attention. First, that there are multiple Cacophonies, many more than seems likely or even possible. Second, that the Elements of Harmony have destroyed the Cacophonies that they were used on, rather than undoing the Amalgamation Spell and returning them to their natural state. It would seem to mean that their natural state is that of not existing at all. Third, after the Elements are used, dozens of these Cacophonies appear as if drawn by the Elements' power, though they supposedly exist only to destroy that which is musical.”

“Yeah, we know all that,” Rainbow Dash said impatiently, “but what's it all mean?”

“I believe that what you have faced thus far are thaumaturigcal reverberations that have their provenance in the true Cacophony.”

“Oh!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Ohhh!” Pinkie repeated, nodding knowingly.

“Oh?” Rarity questioned.

“Huh?” Applejack said what Thunder was fairly certain everypony except Twilight was thinking.

“They're, um,” Twilight fidgeted with her hooves as she considered how to explain an incredibly advanced magical phenomenon in terms that her friends would understand. Her eyes lit up. “They're like echoes! Oh, Princess Celestia, you're brilliant, that explains everything!”

“It does?” Thunder asked.

“Sure! Think about it. The things we've been seeing aren't the real Cacophony, they're reflections of its power. It's like... alright, you know how most pony magic is based on light?” As a demonstration, she wrapped her teacup in a purple field and raised it to her lips. “Well, Princess Celestia is saying that Cacophony uses magic that's based on sound. When sound bounces off of something it's called an echo. When sound-based magic bounces off of something, it creates what's called a thaumaturgical reverberation. If the princess is right, that's how it manages to appear almost instantly wherever there's music. Somehow it manages to make its magic 'echo' off of music, which creates these fake Cacophonies.”

“But then what about using the Elements?” Rarity asked. “Why does that bring so many of them?”

“Well—” Twilight trailed off, defeated by the question.

“There are many forms of Harmony,” Princess Celestia filled the gap. “One of the most basic meanings of Harmony is a variety of musical notes coming together. That is one of the ideas embodied by the Elements of Harmony: multiple qualities coming together to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. In that sense, using the Elements could create a much greater 'echo' than any musical performance.”

“So, by using the Elements,” Fluttershy broke off with a whimper as she realized the implications.

“We've been makin' things worse!” Applejack exclaimed, finishing the thought. “Ah thought we were at least destroyin' some of 'em, but yer sayin' that we're just makin' more?”

“Not exactly,” Celestia answered. “You are causing more to appear, but it is likely that these reverberations do not last long. As an echo will lose strength and quickly fade, so will these Cacophonies. I still believe I was correct in saying that the Elements of Harmony can defeat Cacophony, but you must use them against the correct Cacophony. You must find the source of the echoes.”

“Awesome!” Rainbow flew up into the air, ready to begin searching immediately, then stopped. “Uh, how?”

“And how will we protect ourselves if the Elements of Harmony only create more Cacophonies?” Thunder asked.

Celestia smiled. “I have thought about that. These are constructs of sound magic, so it should be possible to disrupt them with the proper spell and a powerful enough source of sound. You, Thunder, should be able to work together with Twilight to create a counterspell. If she finds the correct magical frequency and empowers your voice with it, you should be able to use your musical talent to destroy the 'echoes' without creating more of them.”

Thunder's eyes went wide and his hooves went cold. “Wait, me? Why me?”

Celestia regarded him with kind but stern eyes. “You have shown time and again that you have the courage to face this foe. With your friends by your side, you have the strength to defeat him.”

Thunder tried to swallow his fear. “Am I really the only one?” he couldn't stop himself from asking.

“Not the only one, no,” Celestia replied, “but undoubtedly the best choice. Do you not wish to help?”

“Of course I want to help!” Thunder exclaimed. “It's just...” he shook his head. “Nothing. Never mind. Yes, of course I'll do whatever I can.”

Celestia smiled. “Good. With that out of the way, it is time to get to what is really important.” She clapped her hooves, and a pony in a white chef's coat and hat entered pushing a trolley. There was a rounded metal cover on top of it, just the right size to hide a very large cake. “Dessert!”

The chef bowed and carefully took the cover in his teeth. He pulled it off to reveal...

...a very bloated pink pony with frosting stains around her mouth. Blinking in the sudden light, she belched and giggled sheepishly.

“How did she—?” Thunder looked to his left, where Pinkie Pie had been sitting only a few seconds ago.

Twilight shook her head. “We don't bother asking anymore.” She looked somewhere between bemused and impressed.

Princess Celestia simply looked devastated.

Despite being deprived of their dessert, except for Pinkie Pie of course, it was an invigorated group that left the royal palace. They weren’t yet certain of their next step, but they now knew what they were up against and how to fight it.

“Watch in awe!” a magically enhanced voice commanded from several streets over, accompanied by colorful explosions in the sky.

“Oh, nice, Trixie’s in town!” Thunder exclaimed with a smile. “She puts on a great show. We should catch it before we leave.”

His companions shared uncomfortable looks.

“Ah’ve seen it, thanks,” Applejack grumbled. “Don’t care ta see it again.”

“Oh, she did mention that she was going to Ponyville a while back,” Thunder recalled. “What, you guys didn’t like it?”

“Um,” Twilight looked very uncomfortable, “do you know Trixie?”

“Yeah, we go way back. We spent a lot of time together when we were foals. Her parents didn’t think much of what she wanted to do either,” he confided.

“She came to Ponyville twice, actually,” Rarity said. “The first time she was such an insufferable show-off that I just couldn’t stand it. The second time was… much worse.”

Thunder looked sideways at her. He felt the beginnings of anger burning in his chest. “Trixie’s a performer. It’s her job to show off.”

“But she was up there bragging about how she could do anything better than anypony, and then she cheated using her magic.” Rainbow cut in. “She humiliated us!”

Thunder narrowed his eyes. “Are you really complaining that she was showing off her magic tricks at a magic show? If you didn’t like it, you could have left.”

“Um,” Fluttershy whispered to her friends, “now that I think of it, we were standing right in the front, and saying things that weren’t very nice.”

“Well, that doesn’t excuse her behavior when she came back!” Twilight said.

“But that wasn’t her fault,” Pinkie protested. “It was that amulet that was making her such a meanie.”

“Amulet?” Thunder asked.

“Oh, yeah, um,” Twilight cleared her throat. “She couldn’t perform after what happened in Ponyville because everyone knew she was a fraud. She found an ancient and very dangerous amulet which boosted her magical powers but twisted her mind and made her evil. She came back for revenge.”

Thunder stared silently for a time, trying to process all of this. He wasn’t sure exactly who he was angry with—well, no, he was sure as Tartarus that he was furious with these ponies who had humiliated his childhood friend, he just wasn’t sure what he wanted to do about it. He also wasn’t sure how to handle the news that she had turned into a supervillain, if only temporarily.

“Thunder, where are you going?” Twilight called.

Thunder snorted angrily, already several steps away from the group and heading toward Trixie’s pavilion. “I’m going to go see my friend. I think she might need me.”

“What about Cacophony?” Rainbow shouted after him.

“Equestria will live for another hour,” Thunder shot back.

“Thunder! Wait, let's talk about this!” Twilight shouted.

Thunder ignored her. He was seeing red as he stalked the streets toward where the magical fireworks had originated. He couldn’t believe the sheer rudeness of it: standing in the front row of a show and talking trash about the performer? They were lucky they’d only gotten a few embarrassing magic tricks dished out in return. Anypony who tried that around Thunder would have been on the business end of his hooves before they knew what happened. Maybe it was a bit late to help Trixie with that, but he had to at least see how she was doing.

“Thunder Growl, is that you?”

The voice sent a hot spike through his heart and made his stomach jump. His rage fled, or at least buried itself for a time, as he turned to face the speaker. He had not planned on seeing her during his time here, though it was not an unwelcome surprise. “Octavia!”

“Thunder, it is you!” The dusky earth pony walked toward him and placed her forelegs around him in a gentle hug. “Whatever brings you to Canterlot?”

“I was meeting with the princess, if you can believe it,” Thunder answered with a smile.

“Goodness!” Octavia exclaimed. “What did Princess Celestia want with a ruffian like you?” The way she said “ruffian” made it into a term of endearment. “Nothing bad, I trust?”

Thunder frowned. Now that he saw her up close, Octavia looked very unwell. She had dark circles under her eyes, and though she had always kept herself thin she now looked like she might be bordering on malnutrition.

“Hey Octy, are you alright?” he asked instead of answering her question. “You don’t look so good.”

“So well,” she corrected him with a smile, then sighed, “and I will confess that I have had better months.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Thunder commiserated.

Another explosion of color came from the next street over, which gave Thunder an idea.

“I was just on my way to see Trixie’s show, do you want to come with me?”

“Certainly.” She tagged along beside him as Thunder continued toward the pavilion. “So, Thunder, it’s been quite a while. How have you been?”

“I’ve... well, I haven’t been doing so great either, but I think things are going to start looking up.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“That’s actually what I was meeting with the princess about. We were trying to figure out a way to fight back against Cacophony, and I think we’re getting somewhere.”

“Who is ‘we?’” Octavia asked curiously.

“Me, Princess Celestia, and six ponies with these magical necklace things called the Elements of Harmony.”

Octavia gasped. “You know the bearers of Harmony?”

Thunder snorted and looked away. “Yeah.”

“Is everything okay? You sound angry.”

“I always sound angry.”

“Thunder,” Octavia demanded.

“Alright, alright,” Thunder grumbled, “they told me about the time when Trixie went to Ponyville. They,” he bit his tongue on the scathing curse words that came to mind, “weren’t very nice to her.”

“Oh, yes, I heard,” Octavia nodded. “The poor dear, her reputation took quite a while to recover after Ponyville. Still, she’s doing wonderfully for herself now. With,” she swallowed as a sudden tightness constricted her throat, “with all of the musicians gone, she’s the only show in town.” As the two rounded a corner a large crowd came into sight, proving Octavia right.

“Yeah, that’s true.” Thunder breathed out heavily. “Well, good, I’m glad for her.”

“Mhm,” Octavia agreed quietly. She seemed distracted, her head turned away from Thunder and her eyes staring at the ground.

“Octy?” Thunder asked, concerned. “You okay?”

“I’m—” she sniffled, then stopped suddenly and made to turn around. “I am sorry, Thunder, I'm afraid that I am not fit company at the moment.”

“What—?” Oh, you bucking idiot. Octavia had two great loves in her life: the cello and Vinyl Scratch. Cacophony had taken them both. Rather than asking a stupid question, Thunder just put a foreleg around her and pulled her in close, not letting her get away.

“Hey. I told you, we’re getting somewhere. I think we know how to stop Cacophony now. We’re going to save everyone and bring music back to Equestria, alright?” He squeezed her a bit tighter, feeling her tremble in his grip. “Maybe we’ll have you play at our ‘we saved the world’ bash. You can open for My Metal Pony.”

Octavia scoffed, though it sounded more like a hiccup. “Not likely. If anything, you louts should open for me.” She sniffed again and rested her head on Thunder’s shoulder. “Ponies are watching,” she said quietly. Indeed, there were looks ranging from worried to scandalized being turned in their direction.

“Yeah, buck ‘em,” Thunder said unconcernedly.

Octavia laughed, a real laugh this time. “Now there is the Thunder Growl I remember. I was going to ask when you became so, ah..."

“Touchy-feely?” Thunder suggested.

“I was going to say caring, but as you will.”

Thunder shrugged. “Oh, who knows? Maybe those Element things are rubbing off on me.”

Octavia gritted her teeth and her shoulders shook against him, and then Thunder had nothing left to say, nothing to do but hold her tightly as her grief ran its course.

“The Great and Powerful Trrrrrrrrrixie—"

“—suggests that you get a room.” Thunder and Octavia jumped as Trixie’s voice came from right next to them. They looked over to see the blue unicorn standing a few inches away with a sly grin on her muzzle.

Thunder snorted as the crowd laughed at her antics. Trixie's words had hit just a little too close to home, but she hadn't meant anything by it. “You ass,” he chuckled. Octavia blushed and stepped away from Thunder, blinking rapidly and then looking up into the sky to clear her watery eyes.

“So, Thunder Growl,” Trixie proclaimed in her best stage voice, “you have returned to challenge The Great and Powerful Trrrrrrrixie to a rematch?”

Thunder matched her expression with a Nightmare-may-care grin of his own. “Bring it.”

Peace and Quiet

“So, what is it that you think you can do better than The Great and Powerful Trixie?” Trixie’s magically enhanced voice boomed over the audience.

Thunder, who had followed Trixie back to the stage, grinned. “Hoof-wrestling.”

Trixie scoffed. “Hoof-wrestling? Rather plebian for The Great and Powerful Trixie, but so be it. Hoof-wrestling it is!”

She telekinetically pulled a small table from her carriage and placed it between them. She raised a foreleg and placed it on the table, silently challenging Thunder to put his bits where his muzzle was. Thunder stepped up and placed his hoof against hers.

“Begin!” Trixie called. Thunder began to push against her hoof with all his might. Trixie’s foreleg descended slowly toward the table, overpowered by Thunder’s strength. She looked utterly unconcerned.

As Trixie's hoof neared the table, Thunder suddenly felt a strange sensation around his stomach. It tickled like crazy, causing him to squirm uncomfortably and lose his focus. He had been concentrating so hard on Trixie’s foreleg that he hadn’t even noticed her horn glowing. The tickling sensation intensified and Thunder lost control, laughing and squirming uncontrollably as Trixie slammed his hoof down on the table.

“Once again, The Great and Powerful Trixie is victorious!” she announced as the crowd laughed at the display.

Thunder scratched himself to get rid of the last of the magical tickling. “I’ll get you next time, Trixie!” he shouted dramatically.

Trixie laughed. “The Great and Powerful Trixie doubts that, but she will look forward to your challenge. Now begone with you!”

Thunder made a great show of leaving the stage in defeat. The crowd made way for him until he was able to rejoin Octavia near the back.

“She certainly does lay it on thick, doesn’t she?” Octavia asked in distaste.

Thunder waved a hoof. “It’s just her gimmick, it’s all part of the show. It’s like how I’m not actually a loud, angry jackass, and you’re not actually a snooty high-society type.” He scrunched his nose in mock-confusion. “Wait…”

Octavia scoffed and smacked him jokingly.

They passed the rest of the show in companionable silence, drawing comfort and strength from each other’s nearness, though Thunder had to remind himself several times to keep his feelings in check. They tended to rage out of control around Octavia—rather, they tended to rage out of control a lot of the time, but more so than usual around Octavia.

When the show ended and the crowd dispersed Thunder and Octavia approached the stage. Trixie was packing up her props, but hopped down to give each of them a hug.

“It is good to see you both,” Trixie said with a smile. “I did not know you were in Canterlot, Thunder.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie didn’t know something?” Thunder arched an eyebrow.

Trixie scoffed. “It must have been beneath The Great and Powerful Trixie’s notice.” She maintained her haughty attitude for a moment longer before it cracked into laughter. “What brings you here?”

“Cacophony.” That single word silenced the happy laughter of the three friends. “I came here with some fillies from Ponyville to meet with Princess Celestia and find a way to stop it.” Once again Thunder told the story of his various encounters with the monster, and how Celestia believed that he and the others could work together to defeat the echoes.

“I see.” Trixie’s normally boisterous voice was subdued. “I hope that you succeed, for everypony’s sake.” Octavia simply nodded in silent agreement.

“You said Ponyville?” Trixie asked hesitantly.

Thunder nodded. “Yeah,” he said, “I heard about when you performed for them. I think you let them off easy, after the crap they were saying.”

“Where are they now?” Trixie asked.

Thunder shrugged. “Bucked if I know. They ticked me off, so I left for a while.”

“Whatever did they do?” Octavia asked.

“Remember how I said I heard about when Trixie performed in Ponyville? Yeah. It was that. Who the buck do they think they are, going to somepony else’s show and talking about them like that?”

Trixie winced and looked away. “I think you did not hear the full story.”

“I heard that they were standing right up front and talking trash about you and your show,” Thunder said. “You used your magic to make them look stupid, and it sounds to me like they had it coming.”

“That was only the beginning of it,” Trixie said quietly. She looked uncomfortably at Octavia, who took the hint and politely excused herself. Thunder was sorry to see her go, but he understood.

“Do look me up when your business in Canterlot is done,” Octavia said to Thunder before leaving. She gave him a brief hug and trotted off toward the marketplace.

“What you heard, I think, was only the beginning of the story.” Trixie briefly related how the situation had escalated from there, with some overzealous fans bringing an Ursa Major—which turned out to be an Ursa Minor—to Ponyville for her to “defeat,” and how Twilight had saved them all. She then related the incident with the Alicorn Amulet. Thunder listened, horrified at what the artifact had done to his friend. Trixie had always been brash, and sometimes inconsiderate, but never in her life had she been cruel.

“So you see,” Trixie finished quietly, “the blame for that incident does not lie entirely, nor even mostly, with those six. Nonetheless,” she said, perking up, “we have forgiven one another, and it is in the past now.”

“I… wow.” Thunder cast about for something more fitting, or at least more intelligent, to say. “Still, it all started because of how they treated you.”

“It did,” Trixie agreed, “but it escalated beyond all reason, and that was my fault.”

Thunder sighed and pawed the ground, realizing that once again he had let his anger make a foal of him. “I suppose I may have overreacted a bit.”

“A bit,” Trixie agreed snidely. “I am glad you came to see me, but right now your friends need you. Equestria needs you!” she reared up on her hind legs and let off a flurry of magical fireworks. “Go, Thunder Growl! Slay the monster and save our fair land, before the Great and Powerful Trixie does it for you!” She returned to all four hooves as the last fireworks spiraled off into nothingness. “And come have a drink with me when you’re done.”

Thunder laughed at the over-the-top display. “Alright, alright, I’m going! Now, if I were a dorky purple unicorn, where would I be?”

Thunder and Trixie met each others' eyes and spoke in unison.

“The library.”

Thunder returned to the royal palace. After asking directions from a guard, getting thoroughly lost, and somehow finding himself in an upside-down multiverse made of licorice and inhabited by a draconequus, Thunder found himself in front of the door do the royal library. He peered inside. As he had expected, Twilight had her muzzle buried in a book and was surrounded by stacks of texts.

Thunder’s heart fluttered nervously. He was sure that he was in for a lecture, and by Faust could that nag lecture. The image of Octavia’s thin face and sad eyes swam into his mind. The poor mare was heartbroken, and she wasn’t the only one. With a pang, he remembered Berry Punch, so desperate for music and laughter that she sacrificed herself just to bring its joy to Ponyville one more time. He forced back the tears that sprang to his eyes at the thought, crushing them under a fierce determination to set things right, first with these six ponies and then with all of Equestria. He took a deep breath and entered the library.

“Thunder!” Rainbow Dash, whose attention had been wandering restlessly, spotted him first. She flew over in a prismatic blur. “You’re back!”

“Of course I’m back.” Thunder raised a hoof and bumped hers. “I told you I would be.”

“I know, but you seemed pretty mad back there,” Rainbow answered.

“I was,” Thunder sighed. “I was angrier than I should have been, and I didn’t know the whole story. Do you think we could get everyone over here? I’d rather only do this once.”

“Sure!” Rainbow took a deep breath. “Hey, everypony!” Everyone except Rainbow winced as her voice echoed around the nearly silent library.

The librarian gave her a glare that could have curdled milk and an angry “Sssshhhh!” but the pegasus seemed not to notice.

Thunder waited with some trepidation as they gathered around. Last of all was Twilight, who had taken longer than the others to realize that something outside of a book demanded her attention. When she saw who was there, she started to say something, but Thunder stopped her with a raised hoof.

“Everypony,” he began, then stopped. The librarian was still glaring at all of them over her horn-rimmed glasses. “Actually, would you mind if we stepped outside for a minute?” Once everyone was safely in the hall, away from the librarian’s death-stare, Thunder took a nervous breath and tried again.

“Listen,” he said, “I talked to Trixie, and I know I really flew off the handle back there. I overreacted, and I didn’t know the whole story. Not by a long shot. I just got so angry the second I heard that you had insulted a friend of mine, I didn’t even stick around to hear what happened next. So, uh…” he scuffed the floor with a nervous hoof.

“Apology accepted, Thunder,” Fluttershy said with a gentle smile. “Actually, I think there’s something that we need to say too.”

“Yes, there is.” Twilight stepped forward. She, and the other ponies, looked strangely abashed. “Thunder, when we were saying those things about Trixie, we didn’t realize how hurtful we were being, and we didn’t understand why Trixie reacted the way she did. You were right to get angry about it. It was rude of us, and inconsiderate to bring it up again in front of you.”

“Ah was badmouthin’ her—again—and I didn’t even stop ta think that she might be a friend of yours,” Applejack chimed in. “Not that I shoulda been sayin' those things in the first place. Ah’m awful sorry, Thunder. I sure know how ah’d feel if someone were talkin’ like that about a friend o’ mine.”

“I… huh?” Thunder, caught mid-apology, stopped and tried to process what was happening.

“What we’re trying to say is that, in this case, we were all in the wrong,” Rarity filled the gap in the conversation. “Everypony spoke without thinking and without knowing the whole story, and because of it we all ended up looking foolish.”

There were nods all around.

“Huh.” Thunder felt strange. It was almost like he had a headache, except it wasn't unpleasant. “I think I just learned something.”

“I think we all did. In fact,” Twilight turned to her assistant, “Spike, take a letter.”

Spike reached behind him and produced a roll of paper and a quill. Someday Thunder was going to have to ask where he kept those. On second thought, perhaps he was better off not knowing.

“Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight dictated. "Today I had an argument with one of my friends. I insulted someone he cared about without thinking, and without realizing that they were friends. He got very upset, and things got even worse because we all thought we knew what was right when really each of us only knew our own side of the story. No story is one-sided, and it’s a big mistake to assume you know everything when you only have your own perspective on it. I’m just glad that, this time, everything worked out in the end. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight looked around at the group. “Anypony have anything to add?” The others all shook their heads, so she nodded to Spike. The letter disappeared in a burst of green fire.

"Now," Twilight said with a gleam in her eye, "we have some studying to do!"

Her excitement was met with a round of groans.

An hour later Thunder lethargically nosed a book aside and let his head flop down on the table. How could learning to destroy something with his voice possibly be so bucking boring? Truth be told, he thought Twilight was the only one here who really knew what she was looking for. She kept going on about pitches and magical frequencies and amplitude, and everypony else just sort of nodded along and idly nosed through the books she pointed at. Rainbow Dash had given up on even that and was dozing in a corner, though Rarity seemed able to at least somewhat keep pace with Twilight. Thunder supposed that, as a unicorn, she probably had at least some idea of what was happening with all this magical horse dung.

"Pinkie Pie, that's a cookbook," Twilight said exasperatedly as she returned from her latest foray into the stacks of books. The pink pony nodded happily and went right back to reading. "Hey, Thunder, I think I found something." Twilght magicked a thick book with a worn brown cover to him. Written on the spine was A Brief History of the Battlesingers. Thunder perked up immediately, thinking that that sounded like absolutely one of the most kick-flank things he'd ever heard of. His interest piqued, Thunder opened the book and began reading.

"The Battlesingers were one of the most powerful groups in old Equestria," Thunder read eagerly. "They used their magical songs to calm ponies' hearts and bring peace to conflicted—argh!" He slammed the book shut.

"Do not underestimate the power of peace, Thunder Growl," a regal voice came from behind him, by the entrance to the library. Thunder jumped and turned around to see Princess Celestia there with what he was beginning to suspect was her default expression: a knowing smile. "After all," she approached the group, "are you not trying to bring peace back to Equestria?"

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed. She and the others bowed, then she trotted over to her teacher.

"Twilight," she smiled, "I had a rare moment to myself when I received an interesting letter, and I thought I would see how my student and her friends were doing."

"Sorry," Thunder said. He wasn't exactly sure what he was apologizing for, but it felt like he should.

"Do not be sorry," Celestia said with a smile. "Disagreements, even arguments, between friends are not uncommon. I think that how quickly you all made amends says more about you than the disagreement itself. How is the research coming along, Twilight?"

"Ugh!" Twilight voiced what they all were thinking. "We just don't have enough information!"

Well, maybe not quite what they all were thinking, Thunder mused as he looked around at the piles of books.

"I know the spell that I need to use," Twilight continued, "but if I don't get the magical frequency exactly right it won't spark the resonance. Beyond that, I don't how much volume we're going to need, and if the amplitude of the waves isn't high enough it won't disrupt the reverberation!"

The others in the room stared at Twilight.

"Uh, anypony else understand a word o' that?" Applejack asked.

"Well, Twilight, why don't you start with what you do know?" Celestia suggested gently.

Twilight sighed. She had been over that in her own mind a hundred times in the last hour. "We know that Cacophony appears wherever there is music, and much more strongly if the Elements of Harmony are used," she began rattling off her list. "We know that it targets specific ponies and—with the exception of its first appearance at the Manehattan Bash—does not cause collateral damage. We know that the Cacophonies we have seen are resistant, if not immune, to all traditional forms of attack, both physical and magical."

"We know that they're really, really loud," Pinkie offered.

"We know that they're strong as b—uh, that they're very strong," Thunder added.

"We know that their shapes constantly change, though they remain equine," Rarity said.

"And we know," Thunder paused to swallow and blink rapidly, "we know what they do to the ponies they catch."

"Right," Twilight resumed her summary, "and since the ponies don't come back when we hit the echoes with the Elements of Harmony, we can assume that there is some kind of transport magic involved as well."

"So, what does all of that information tell you?" Celestia asked.

"That we're dealing with somepony, or something, that has incredibly powerful and varied magic. Somepony strong enough to maintain an amalgamation of at least several dozen ponies, and I suspect they must be maintaining a mind-control spell too, or else the conflicting thoughts from all of the different ponies would make the gestalt useless. On top of all of that, they are able to teleport ponies from anywhere in Equestria to wherever they are operating from with just an echo of their magic." She rubbed her eyes. "I can't think of anyone powerful enough to do all of that except maybe Discord, but this isn't his style at all."

"What about the Alicorn Amulet?" Thunder remembered the story he had heard from Trixie. "Doesn't that make unicorns crazy-powerful?"

"That was one of my first thoughts too," Twilight said, "but I sent a message to Zecora and it's still in her hut. Nopony's used it."

"Something similar, perhaps?" Rarity suggested.

"That would make sense," Twilight agreed, "I don't see how anypony could manage this without something boosting their magic. Still, for now we're trying to stick with what we're certain of."

"Which ain't a whole lot," Applejack said.

"More than you think, perhaps," Princess Celestia cut through the babble. "You've answered many of your own questions about what makes up these echoes. Now, if only you had something to test your theories on...?"

"Of course!" Twilight practically pranced with glee. "Oh, Princess, you're brilliant!"

"Why Twilight, I haven't done anything at all," Celestia winked at her student. "But I do think that, perhaps, we are getting a bit too boisterous for the library."

The ponies all looked over at the librarian, who was doing a very good job of staring them down while somehow avoiding glaring at the princess.

"I've set aside the inner courtyard for you," Celestia informed them. "You may use it for whatever experimentation you need. I'm afraid I must be going. Do stop by and see me before you leave, though." The princess of the sun gave them all a smile and excused herself.

"So, what was that all about?" Applejack asked once Celestia was gone.

"I had the answers the whole time, I just didn't see them!" Twilight exclaimed, still brimming over with excitement. She stopped suddenly as she caught the librarian's eye. That mare had a stare to rival Fluttershy's. "But the princess is right," she said sheepishly, "we should probably go."

"The missing information was right in front of us," Twilight explained as they walked the halls of the palace. "We needed to know what the echoes of Cacophony were, but the answer was in what they could do. They're literally made of magic, so their abilities can tell us exactly what they are!"

"And the," Fluttershy gulped, "experimentation?"

"Well," Twilight said, "I've been doing some research on sound magic. Now that we've put all the pieces together, I should be able to make something that's pretty close to one of these echoes. If it works, we should be able to practice as much as we need to learn how to dissipate it!"

"Wait, you learned how to to use a completely new type of magic?" Thunder asked skeptically. "In, what, the past two days, in between studying, traveling, and fighting?"

"Well... yeah." Twilight at least had the decency to look self-conscious about it.

Rainbow laughed. "That's our egghead!"

Thunder shook his head in disbelief and continued to follow the others.

Experimentation

Twilight frowned and slightly adjusted the magic flowing from her horn. "Try it now." The others covered their ears as Thunder took a deep breath and shouted at the formless blob hovering in front of him.

Thunder had been a little freaked out when Twilight had first made that appear, but it had soon become clear that this was not another Cacophony, just a little fragment of something that Twilight had made with her magic. Watching her make it had actually been rather interesting. She had used a combination of her usual unicorn magic, her own voice, and the ambient sound of the courtyard. It had created a strange effect as she cast the spell, muffling all sound around them as though Thunder had put his earplugs back in. Now that the spell was complete the background noise was back to normal, but the mass in front of them still gave off random tones and spurts of sound. Twilight had explained that it was the sonic equivalent of the light one saw from traditional unicorn magic. Thunder just thought it was annoying.

Thunder's voice erupted from him with a faint purple glow, the soundwaves themselves made visible by Twilight's magic. The spell amplified the volume of his voice as well as giving it whatever quality allowed him to, theoretically, disrupt the sound constructs. The enhanced sound crashed through the small courtyard, but the dark blob remained unaffected.

"Dammit," Thunder rasped. His voice was beginning to give out on him as if he had just finished a particularly brutal show.

"Might I suggest we take a break?" Rarity said, wincing from the ringing in her ears.

"Yes, please," Fluttershy whimpered. She was still clamping her hooves over her ears.

Twilight sighed and let her magic dissipate. The glow around Thunder faded, though the sound construct remained. Having been created, it was now self-sustaining; luckily, this particular construct had no function except to exist.

"Spike," Twilight ordered, "write down magical frequency 23.3665289109, failure."

"Got it, Twilight," Spike said heavily, massaging his cramped claw.

"We're missing something, I'm sure of it," Twilight said as she turned back to her notes. "We've gone through nearly my entire range of magical frequencies and gotten nowhere."

"Maybe it needs to be louder!" Pinkie shouted. Fluttershy squeaked at the thought.

"Do you think you could do that to my Sonic Rainboom?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I'll bet that could destroy anything!"

Twilight cocked her head in thought. "I don't see why not."

"Awesome!" Rainbow leaped into the air.

"But, it would be really dangerous. A Sonic Rainboom is powerful already, and it's not controlled like somepony's voice. We don't know how much damage that would do."

"Awww..." she sank back down to the ground.

Thunder flattened his ears against the random sounds still emanating from the construct. It wasn't nearly as bad as Cacophony, but he was getting bucking sick of hearing it.

"Perhaps Thunder's pitch is off?" Rarity suggested.

Thunder bit back an instinctive retort. That would normally be an insult to a singer, but in this case he had to admit that she had a point. After all, he wasn't even sure what pitch he was trying for. "Maybe," he allowed. "I could widen the range some more."

"Why don't ya take a few minutes first," Applejack suggested. "Sounds like yer voice could use a rest."

Thunder nodded gratefully. "Anypony have some tea, or a lozenge?"

"Tea?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You drink tea?"

"Nothing better on a sore throat," Thunder nodded. "Not everything I drink has to be alcoholic, you know. Although," he tapped his chin thoughtfully, "I wouldn't complain if it had some brandy in it."

"Thunder," Twilight warned him.

"Alright, sorry, bad joke." It had been a joke. Mostly. "Still, some tea and a break sounds good."

Everypony agreed, and when they returned to the courtyard a half-hour later they all felt refreshed and ready to try again.

"So this time we're going to keep the magical frequency steady and you'll try altering your pitch, okay?" Twilight said to Thunder as they took their places again.

"Got it." Thunder took a breath, and when he felt Twilight's magic flowing over him again, he began to growl. He decided it would be logical to start at the lowest pitch he could hit and go up from there. What came from his mouth was a low bass rumble to begin with, then he began climbing the scales.

"Wait!" Rarity exclaimed. "That pitch, right there!" The sound construct was vibrating slightly. "Twilight, dear, perhaps if you increased the power?"

Twilight pushed a bit more magic through her horn. The construct vibrated more noticeably but still refused to break. Twilight altered her magic's frequency first one way, then the other, trying to find exactly the right oscillation. As Thunder's breath began to give out on him, she finally hit something that felt right.

The construct shattered and dissolved into nothing.

"Woo-hoo!" Rainbow shot into the air.

"Very well done, you two," Rarity congratulated them.

"Yes!" Thunder rasped and pumped a foreleg. "Hoof-bump!" He held out his hoof toward Twilight, who laughed and hit it gently with her own.

"Now that's more like it!" Applejack crowed.

Fluttershy screamed. Everyone whirled around and saw her pointing at something across the courtyard. They followed her foreleg and froze in disbelief.

A horrible grating sound filled the courtyard as bits of shadow flowed together into a vaguely equine shape. Thunder's face paled.

"No," he whispered, "no." His legs trembled. Apparently one note at a time did not count as singing, but the scales he had been using to find the right pitch were enough to attract the monster's attention.

"Everypony get inside!" Applejack yelled.

They were not fast enough. Before they had a chance to run, before they could even call for help, the monster flowed across the courtyard toward them too quickly to escape. It was coming straight for Thunder, a horrible black non-shape that was, to him, the personification of death.

Thunder grunted as something knocked him to the ground. He shook off the paralyzing fear and rolled back up to his hooves to find Pinkie Pie standing beside him. She must have tackled him out of the way. "Twilight," he called, "the spell! Now!"

"Right!" Twilight powered up her horn again. When Thunder felt the telltale tingle of magic, he opened his mouth and... nothing came out. His voice was shot, and he couldn't produce another magically enhanced scream.

"Pinkie!" Rainbow shouted, agonized. Pinkie Pie, who had saved Thunder, was now directly in the monster's path. As Rainbow streaked down to save her friend, Cacophony reached out with one warping foreleg. Pinkie tried to avoid it, but as she moved it extended and brushed her side.

"You get offa her!" Applejack yelled. She charged forward and kicked Cacophony with all of the strength that a lifetime of apple bucking had given her. It didn't budge.

"Thunder, please," Fluttershy flew over to him. "I know you're tired, but you can do this."

Thunder swallowed, cleared his throat, relaxed as much as he could, and took a deep breath.

"Pinkie Pie!" Rarity cried. Her friend had nearly been completely absorbed by the dark mass.

"You're not bucking getting her!" Thunder shouted. He opened his mouth and screamed.

The purple soundwaves washed over Cacophony. It jerked back, the first response any of them had ever seen it give to any sort of attack, but did not stop its attack on Pinkie Pie.

"More power, Twilight!" Rarity screamed.

Twilight boosted the spell and the volume of Thunder's shout increased. Cacophony began to tremble. As they watched, the last hair of Pinkie's curly mane was pulled into the darkness. Twilight increased the power of her spell still further, worried that she might cause permanent damage to Thunder's voice, but more worried by far about losing her friend.

Thunder's shout became deafening. Cacophony shook, staggered backward, and, to the relief of everyone there, fell apart. Thunder cut off with a choked gasp and fell to the ground panting. He felt lightheaded and dizzy, starved for air, like he used to get when he was first learning to sing and forgot to breathe properly.

"P-Pinkie?" Fluttershy sniffled.

"No... no, it cain't be," Applejack whispered.

Thunder's insides twisted into knots. He fought through the dizziness and raised his head to confirm his fears: there was no Pinkie Pie there.

Spike let out a wail and clung to Twilight's foreleg, sobbing into the soft purple fur. She tried her best to soothe the baby dragon even as tears spilled from her own eyes. Soon the two of them were holding one another as they cried.

"No," Thunder could not manage anything more than a whisper. The knot in his stomach twisted itself tighter. The dizziness faded as he caught his breath and he was able to stand again, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do now. "I'm... I'm so sorry, everyone." He took a hesitant step toward the grieving friends, then backed away instead. "I'm sorry."

"Don't," Rarity gulped, "don't be sorry, Thunder. It wasn't your fault." She levitated a hoofkerchief up to wipe at her eyes.

It was his fault, though, Thunder thought miserably. It had been his singing that had drawn Cacophony, and it had been his weakness that stopped them from destroying it in time. He had never thought he could feel more wretched than he had felt this morning when Berry had been taken; this was worse.

Royal guards suddenly began pouring into the courtyard. Unicorns and earth ponies raced in through the single door, while several pegasi winged in from the sky. They stopped almost as soon as they arrived, however, and an uncomfortable hush settled over the courtyard as the guards realized that they were too late.

"Miss Sparkle," a brown stallion approached her, "what happened here?"

As they spoke, the other guards approached the group to collect information and offer what comfort they could. Thunder found himself speaking with a familiar female guard.

"Nectar?" he croaked.

The guard nodded and offered him a hesitant smile. "How are you, Mr. Growl?"

"I've been better," Thunder answered, "and just Thunder is fine."

"Are you willing to talk to me today?" Nectar asked with a hint of a bite in her voice.

Thunder flushed and looked away as he remembered how he had treated her before. "Yeah. Sorry." Why did he keep apologizing to everypony? Probably because he kept screwing everything up, he answered himself.

"Alright, Thunder then. Why don't you tell me what happened here?"

In short order the guards had collected everyone's accounts of the events in the courtyard and the group found themselves gently but efficiently escorted back inside to someplace where, they were promised, they would have privacy and whatever else they might need.

A very subdued group sat in the small sitting room they'd been given. Twilight knew it well, as Princess Celestia had sometimes used this room for their private lessons. It was small but not cramped, furnished with comfortable couches and cushions. A fire blazed in a fireplace, banishing the early winter chill from their bodies but doing little for their hearts. They sat in a silence that was broken only by Spike's sobs and the occasional sniffle.

Thunder tried a couple of times to speak, but no words would come. What could he possibly say? Spike still clung tightly to Twilight, who hugged him back and would not let go. Applejack held Fluttershy as she cried her heart out into the orange pony's coat. Rarity lay on a couch and sobbed quiety into her hoofkerchief. Rainbow Dash paced the room angrily. Thunder sat on a cushion and stared into the fire, lost in dark thoughts.

"We should be out there!" Rainbow burst out, shattering the quiet. "That thing has our friend, and we're all just sitting here. Why aren't we out looking for Pinkie Pie? Why aren't we," she choked up, "why aren't we doingsomething?"

"What would we do?" Twilight asked. "We have no idea where it took her. We have no way of tracking it." She unconsciously stroked Spike's spines, drawing as much comfort as she was giving. "There's nothing we can do."

"We could go searching!" Rainbow shouted angrily at her. "You said it yourself, Twilight. This spell probably hurts the ponies it's used on. Who knows what's happening to Pinkie Pie right now?"

"Stop it, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity cried. "Just stop it."

"But I—" Rainbow sobbed, "but Pinkie..." She sat down, holding herself tightly with her forelegs.

"There, there, dear," Rarity murmured soothingly. She walked over and began running a hoof gently through Rainbow's mane. "It's alright. We're all hurting."

Thunder bit his lower lip and continued looking into the flames. He felt utterly miserable, but unlike the others his eyes were dry. He wasn't certain why. He felt as if he should be crying, but no tears came. He was left with nothing but a sickening hollow feeling and a gut-wrenching sense of guilt. He shivered and moved closer to the fire, but it didn't make him feel any warmer.

As the others grieved Thunder nosed open one of his saddlebags, took out a pad of paper and a pencil, and laid them in front of him. He took a moment to gather his thoughts, then began composing.

Darkness Silence Cacophony falls upon Equestria.

Hearts are cold and voices songs are music is(?) silent.

Ponies cry out(?) in the darkness,

(rhymes with silent: violent? assignment?)

My voice is hushed but my heart is violent.

"Bah." Thunder crumpled up his first attempt and threw it into the fire. It needed to be less touchy-feely, more brutal. He started again.

CACOPHONY!

A scream. That was always a good way to start a song, and it would echo the way they actually fought Cacophony.

Cacophony comes to take

Your music, your laughter, your very life's at stake.

Better. Much better.

One by one, your friends are taken lost,

Just you Alone against the coming _________ (rhymes with lost: frost? cost? crossed?)

He scratched out those two lines.

By your song, its path is crossed.

One by one, your friends are lost.

Alone against the coming ________ (storm?)

Equestria's joy is its promised cost!

"Thunder?"

Thunder jumped and covered the incomplete song with a hoof. He hadn't even heard Twilight approaching. "Yeah? What's up?"

"I just wanted to see how you were," Twilight said. Her eyes were puffy and her voice was choked, but she appeared to be in control again.

"Me?" Thunder shrugged. "I'm okay, I guess," he lied. "How are you holding up?"

Twilight sighed heavily and closed her eyes for a moment. "We're going to get her back," she said instead of answering. "Pinkie, your friends, everyone. We're going to get everyone back."

"Of course we are," Thunder answered. "Any ideas on how to find them?"

Twilight shook her head and settled in across from him. "I'm thinking that there must be some kind of sound enchantment over all of Equestria. How else could Cacophony appear almost instantly wherever there's music? If we could find the source of it... but I have no idea how to do that."

"Hey, c'mon now, egghead," Thunder jokingly used Rainbow Dash's nickname for her, "you're the smartest pony I've ever met. I'm sure you'll figure something out."

Twilight blushed slightly at the compliment and looked for something else to focus on. "What's that you're writing?"

"This?" Thunder tried to put it into his saddlebag without her seeing what was on it. "It's a new song I'm working on. It's not ready yet."

"Could I read it?"

"Um..." Thunder felt very self-conscious about his work, especially when it was still in-progress, but it seemed like the least he could do. "Sure." He reluctantly handed it over.

It took Twilight all of half-second to read what he had so far. When she had finished she laid her ears back and looked at him with fresh tears in her eyes. "Oh, Thunder..."

"Huh?" It was an emotional time, sure, but that wasn't the reaction he expected to one of his songs.

Twilight moved a little closer to him. "You're not alone, you know," she said. "As long as you have friends, you're never alone."

"I—" he exhaled heavily and smiled at her. "Yeah. I know." He took the song back and put it safely in his bag. "So what's the next move?"

"Now that we have a counter to the echoes, the next step is to track down the real Cacophony. If we can stop it, that will solve everything." Having something to focus on seemed to be helping Twilight to cope.

"If this is an enchantment, is there some way to... I don't know, break it?" Thunder asked. He would be the first to admit that he knew buck-all about magic, but that seemed like it should be possible.

"Maybe," Twilight answered. "In theory any spell can be countered, but all that would do is stop new echoes from forming. Cacophony would still have everypony it's already taken."

"Hm," Thunder grunted. "What about when those echoes form? Could we trace them back somehow?"

Twilight shook her head. "That wouldn't work. If I'm right about this, the enchantment would be all around us. There wouldn't be a single point of origin for the echoes that we see."

"Ah, buck," Thunder sighed. "Sorry, I don't know what I'm talking about here."

"No, Thunder, they're good ideas," Twilight reassured him, "they just won't work in this particular case."

"So what can we do?"

Twilight looked around the room. "I think everypony still needs time. I'm going to speak with Princess Celestia and then go back to the library. I have some things I want to look into."

Thunder nodded. "You sure you're going to be alright?"

"No," Twilight admitted, "but if anyone can help right now it's the princess, and I've always found research to be relaxing. It'll be the best thing for me."

"Alright. Do you want me to come with you?"

Twilight smiled at him. "I appreciate the offer, but no, thank you. I'd rather be alone right now. Why don't you stay here and finish your song?"

Thunder nodded. "Sounds good. Take care of yourself."

"You too." Twilight stood up and left the room.

Thunder looked once around the room. Spike was curled up with Rarity now, the unicorn doing what she could to comfort him. Applejack still held tightly to Fluttershy, both of them drawing strength from each others' nearness. Rainbow Dash huddled miserably in a corner, holding herself as she cried. Thunder's heart ached for them, and for himself, but he couldn't face them just yet. Not when he still felt responsible for their pain.

Thunder took the beginnings of his new song back out and got back to work.

Friendship and Family

Several hours later, when Twilight rejoined the others, they were all faring a bit better. Spike had cried himself to sleep and Rarity had gently tucked him in on one of the couches. Rainbow Dash's grief had run its course, leaving her with nothing but anger and a burning need to get out and do something. The fact that there was nothing she could do just then was the hardest part for her. Fluttershy had likewise cried herself out in Applejack's forelegs and now sat across from Thunder, staring into the fireplace. Thunder Growl had the only dry eyes in the room, having instead poured his feelings into his song, the first draft of which was now complete and safely tucked away in his saddlebags. Applejack and Rarity had worked through their feelings by comforting the others, taking strength and solace from doing so. As for Twilight herself, speaking with the princess had done wonders for her state of mind and having something else to focus on for a while had helped her to get herself back under control.

They had quickly decided that they would catch the next train back to Ponyville, as everypony was longing for their homes and their loved ones. Twilight regretted not being able to stop and see her parents before they left Canterlot, and Thunder wished that he'd had a chance to say goodbye to Trixie and Octavia, but all had agreed that the group should stay together.

"If y'all need anything, anything at all," Applejack said as they were parting ways at the train station, "feel free to drop by the farm."

"My door is open as well, to any of you," Rarity reassured them. They gathered together in one more group hug. Thunder stood awkwardly a couple of steps away.

"Come on, you too," Rainbow chided him. Thunder chuckled and threw his forelegs around the others, smiling as he let their shared strength and warmth flow into him. He wasn't sure he quite believed that friendship was magic, but it was definitely pleasant.

The friends all went their separate ways, and Thunder found himself trailing Twilight and Spike back to the library. Spike was no longer crying, but neither would he leave Twilight's side even for a moment. It was good for both of them, Thunder supposed. Each seemed to draw strength from the other.

"I'm just going to put Spike to bed," Twilight said once they reached her home, "then I'll be right back down. I'm probably going to spend the rest of the day studying though, so I might not be very good company. Sorry."

"That's alright," Thunder answered. "Do what you gotta do, I'll manage."

"Okay, thanks," Twilight smiled. "But Thunder?"

"Yeah?"

"No getting drunk."

Thunder came within a hair of telling Twilight to go buck herself—if he had ever needed a drink or ten, it was now—but he restrained himself when he looked into her puffy, sad eyes. He had given them all enough grief already. If staying sober would keep from adding to it, then it was the least he could do.

"Right," he said. "Promise. You hungry? I'm gonna get some dinner, you want anything?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, but thank you."

Thunder left the library in search of dinner. He only knew two establishments in this town: the bar, which was currently out of the question, and Sugarcube Corner, where he'd gotten some bucking good ursa claws. He headed for the latter.

As Thunder opened the door of the gingerbread house he caught sight of a very familiar earth pony, her trademark stetson held over her heart, speaking with two middle-aged ponies. The very air inside the building seemed heavy and dark, and Thunder had no sooner stepped inside than he knew that he shouldn't have.

"Thunder?" Applejack said. She looked surprised, and Thunder couldn't blame her. How could he have forgotten that this was the place where he had met Pinkie to begin with? Applejack had clearly come to offer her condolences, but him? He'd come for a bucking sandwich.

"Oh, are you Thunder Growl?" the mare behind the counter asked with tears in her eyes. Thunder thought darkly that he had seen—and shed—far too many tears today. "It's always a pleasure to meet one of Pinkie's friends."

"That's good," Thunder said weakly, "since it seems like everypony's her friend."

The stallion chuckled, then stopped to wipe his eyes. "That they are," he said.

"She saved me, you know," Thunder said softly, without knowing quite why he was saying it. "Cacophony was coming for me. It should have gotten me instead, but Pinkie knocked me out of the way."

The mare sobbed and held a hoof to her mouth, fresh tears spilling out of her eyes. The stallion, whom Thunder took to be her husband, stepped in to comfort her.

"Did she?" the stallion replied. "That doesn't surprise me one bit."

"That's our Pinkie Pie," the mare choked out. "Always looking out for everypony else."

"I'm so sorry," Thunder shook his head. "Are you two her parents?"

"Oh!" the mare exclaimed with a watery smile. "No, dearie, we aren't the Pies. We're the Cakes. I'm Cup Cake, and this is my husband Carrot Cake."

"Oh," Thunder snickered. "Sorry, how could I have gotten those mixed up?"

The stallion chuckled. Thunder was glad that he'd gotten a laugh out of the two of them, even if it was accidental and at his own expense. "No relation at all, actually," the stallion said. "Pinkie rents the loft upstairs and helps us run the store. Celestia knows we love her like our own, though."

Cup Cake wailed and buried her muzzle in her husband's fur. He shushed her gently as he stroked her mane.

"Thunder, ah think we'd better get goin,'" Applejack prompted him.

"Yeah. Um, nice meeting you both," he said awkwardly.

"You too, Mr. Growl," Carrot Cake answered.

"Hey, Mr. Growl is my father," Thunder answered, a habitual joke.

The Cakes both laughed. There were hasty goodbyes all around, and then Thunder and Applejack left Sugarcube Corner to leave the Cakes to their grief.

"So what brings you out ta the Corner now of all times?" Applejack asked.

Thunder shook his head. "I didn't know that was Pinkie's house." His stomach answered the rest of the question with a loud growl.

Applejack chuckled. "Gotcha. Well, I do seem to recall invitin' ya to come around fer dinner sometime. Care to join me? Ah was just about to head back to the farm."

"You sure?" Thunder asked. "I thought you wanted some time alone with your family."

"But you haven't got any family 'round here, right?"

"Right," Thunder answered. He bit his tongue on the thought that he didn't have family worth mentioning around here or anywhere else. "Don't see what that has to do with anything, though."

Applejack shook her head sadly. "Nopony should have to go through a time like this all on their own. Besides, Granny Smith always makes enough fer ten extra ponies. Now you come on out to the farm with me, we'll take good care of ya."

Thunder scuffed a hoof against the ground. "Well, if you're sure, then yeah. I'd love to." Invitation or not it still felt like intruding, but Thunder thought this cowpony might just lasso him and drag him along if he refused.

"Ah'm sure," Applejack answered with a smile. She led the way down the road, Thunder trotting to keep up.

"So, everyone has family around here?" Thunder asked as they went.

"Well, sorta," Applejack answered. "Mah family lives out on Sweet Apple Acres. That'd be me, mah brother Big McIntosh, mah little sis Apple Bloom, an' Granny Smith."

Thunder was tempted to ask what had happened to her parents, but refrained. Everypony was sad enough without bringing up dung like that.

"Twi and Spike got each other, they're practically like brother an' sister," Applejack continued. "Rarity's folks are right nearby, an' unless I miss mah guess, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are probably together right now."

"Oh?" Thunder raised an eyebrow. He'd gotten a bit of a filly-fooler vibe off of Rainbow Dash, but Fluttershy?

"Now I know what you're thinkin,' and it ain't like that," Applejack chided him. "Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash have been friends since they were little fillies. They've always been there for each other."

"Gotcha."

"What about you?" Applejack asked. "Ah know ya don't have much to do with your family anymore, but what about your friends?"

Thunder sighed. "My closest friends were my bandmates: Power Chord, Bass Groove, and Wing Beat. Cacophony got them. You've apparently met Trixie, who is probably my oldest friend, though we aren't as close as when we were foals. Beyond that," he shrugged, "I travel around a lot. I have ponies that I know here and there, but I don't know if I could call them friends."

"Ya got us," Applejack nudged him with a smile. "Ah think if you were honest with yerself, you'd realize you've got more friends than ya think."

Thunder shrugged but didn't respond, and Applejack let the matter drop.

"Well, here we are!" Applejack gestured with a hoof as they passed under an arched gate advertising the place as "Sweet Apple Acres."

Thunder looked around and whistled. Orchards stretched as far as he could see. "You didn't tell me you were rich," he joked.

"Naw, we ain't rich," Applejack answered as they continued walking. "To be honest with ya, some years we barely scrape by. Pretty much all the money we make we gotta put right back into the farm."

"Sounds rough," Thunder replied. "Sorry."

"Oh, it's not as bad as all that," Applejack hurried to reassure him. She led him up to a small house and opened the door. "Granny Smith!" she called out, "I'm home!"

"Oh, there ya are, Applejack," an extremely old pony called as she walked into the small living room. Thunder glanced around and saw that Applejack had been telling the truth. Judging by this house, the Apples were anything but rich. The old mare pulled Applejack into a tight hug. “How’re ya holding up?”

“Ah’m alright,” Applejack said, resting her head gently on the other pony. “It’s good to be home.”

"Well, don’t you worry, Applejack. Ah know things are bad now, but we’ll get through this. You’re a strong mare. Hurry up now, dinner’s gonna get cold.” At that point, she noticed Thunder for the first time. “Oh! Why didn't ya tell me you were bringing a coltfriend over?"

Coltfriend? Thunder and Applejack looked at each other and blushed.

"Now you listen here, mister," the elderly pony said, getting right in Thunder's face. "If I so much as think that you aren't treatin' my granddaughter right, I'll plant my hoof so far up yer keister that you'll be spittin' horseapples for a week, you hear me?"

Thunder stared at her, then laughed. "I like this one," he said to Applejack.

Applejack hid her face behind her hat, mortified. "Granny Smith, he isn't mah coltfriend."

"He isn't?” Granny Smith turned to look at Applejack in surprise. “Ah, ponyfeathers, he looks like a good’un, too." She backed off a step and shook Thunder’s hoof enthusiastically. "Well, it's mighty nice to meet ya anyway.”

"Granny Smith, this is Thunder Growl. Ah told you about him. Thunder, this is mah grandmother, everypony just calls her Granny Smith."

"Well, c'mon in," Granny Smith invited them. "We were just about ta have dinner. Big Mac! Apple Bloom! There's a guest for y'all to meet."

A little yellow filly with a hair bow came skipping into the room followed by an absolutely massive red earth pony.

"Well, you must be Big McIntosh," Thunder said, holding out a hoof to the latter.

"Eeyup." He was almost as tall as Celestia, and a whole lot bulkier.

"Nice to meet ya, ah'm Apple Bloom!" the filly chirped, shaking Thunder's hoof with both of hers. Thunder didn't much care for foals, but he had to admit that this one was pretty cute.

They all sat down to a dinner that was every bit as large as Applejack had promised. As they ate, a light snow began to fall outside, which quickly escalated into a driving snowstorm.

"They didn't tell us there was supposed to be a storm tonight!" Granny Smith complained as the snowfall grew heavier.

In response, Apple Bloom simply tapped a flyer that read "Warning: heavy snowfall scheduled for tonight. Stay indoors and keep warm!" It was signed Ponyville Weather Team.

"Oh," Granny Smith said. "Well, they still shoulda said something. Shoot, Thunder, where are ya staying while yer here?"

"Twilight's letting me stay at her house," Thunder answered. "I'll get back alright."

"Oh, no ya won't!" Granny Smith shook her hoof scoldingly. "Ah ain't about to let anypony walk that far in a blizzard. You're gonna enjoy some old-fashioned Apple Family hospitality tonight. Big Mac, we got enough wood for a fire?"

"Eeyup."

"Well, git one started, would ya?"

"Eeyup." Big Mac stood up and went into the living room. As he worked to get a fire going, the others began clearing the table. Thunder began to help, but was quickly stopped by Granny Smith.

"Don't you lift a hoof, mister!" she barked. "You just go get comfy by the fire, we'll be along."

Thunder wasn't sure whether to thank her or apologize as she took the plate he had picked up and carried it into the kitchen. Instead he retreated into the living room, where Big McIntosh had already gotten a roaring fire going.

It was drafty in that little house, but quite warm by the fireplace. Between that, his overfull belly, and his quiet companion, Thunder soon found himself dozing. He roused a few minutes later as the rest of the Apples came to join them by the fire.

“Did I ever tell ya the story of when your Aunt Orange and I visited Fillydelphia?” Granny Smith asked, rocking gently in her chair.

“Sure did,” Applejack answered. “’Bout a dozen times.”

“Ah wasn’t askin’ you,” she grumbled. “I bet Thunder’d like to hear about it.” Without waiting for a response, she launched into an extremely long and boring story, complete with old black-and-white photos. Somehow it didn’t bother Thunder as much as he expected it to.

They passed the next couple of hours chatting amiably. Big Mac occasionally braved the cold outside to bring in more wood for the fire, and after a while Applejack put on a kettle of cider—not hard cider, to Thunder’s disappointment. The kettle soon began steaming and giving off a delicious aroma, and they sipped on the hot cider as the night got colder and the wind howled outside.

So this is what a real family is like, huh? Thunder mused sleepily as the night wore on. Not bad. He yawned happily. Not bad at all.

Dreams and Hopes

Thunder cowered in the darkness. He couldn't see anything, not even his own muzzle, but he could hear. Dear alicorns above, he could hear, and he wished he couldn't. The darkness was alive with sound—not just sound, but noise. Horrible, grinding, deafening noise that covering his ears did nothing to block out. It was like dirty, ragged claws scraping across his eardrums; like catastrophic accidents and the screams of tortured ponies; like the sound of all his mistakes and failures thrown in his face.

He tried to run, but there was nowhere to go. His legs moved slowly, so horribly slowly that he did not think he was covering any ground at all. As he ran, or tried to run, he saw brief glimpses of things in the dark. A pegasus, pulled into the black void; a beautiful gray mare with a broken cello; a flash of pink; a pair of all-too-distinctive sunglasses. Those sunglasses rose up in front of him, baleful red eyes glaring out from behind them.

No, Thunder thought, panicked, her eyes aren't red, they're violet!

Red eyes; horrible, soul-rending sounds; a door; a red unicorn screaming in agony...

A door?

A large wooden door was clearly visible in the darkness, the only thing that did not shift and vanish among the phantasmagoria. Thunder ran, and it seemed that he was getting visibly nearer to it. He threw his shoulder against the wood and it gave way.

He found himself in a calm, quiet, moonlit field. The tranquility around him was completely at odds with his own terror, but it soon took hold, beginning to wash away the effects of his nightmare.

As Thunder breathed in the cool night air he began to look around himself. The garden was lined with bushes too high to see over, and a large tree marked the center of it. He got the feeling that beyond those bushes was simply nothing, that they marked the boundaries of this little bubble in his dreamscape. The remainder of the garden was filled with flowers in gentle blues and violets, all washed by the silver glow of the moon. His hooves clicked on stone as he followed the only visible path, which led straight to the tree and to the dusky blue alicorn beneath it.

"Thunder Growl," Luna said, "are you alright?"

"Princess Luna?" Thunder began to bow, but she stopped him with a raised hoof.

"Nay, you need not bow to me," Luna said with a smile. "Your dreams are your own kingdom, and you are its ruler, not I. Will you sit with me, Thunder Growl?"

Thunder, caught up in the unreality of it all, did so without question. Luna settled down next to him. The two sat in silence for a timeless moment, then Luna turned to him.

"Would you care to tell me about your dream?"

He had known the question was coming, but he was not sure how to answer it. He shrugged. "You saw it, right? I assume that's why you're here. I had a nightmare. What's there to tell?"

"Dreams, and indeed nightmares, can tell us quite a lot if we care to listen," Luna chided him. "You were being confronted by your friends, were you not? Those you lost to Cacophony?"

Thunder nodded. "Yeah," he sighed.

"Why tonight, of all nights?" Luna pressed him.

"Bucked if I know." In his dreamy haze, Thunder didn't even realize that he had cursed in front of royalty.

"Something is different about this night," Luna insisted, "or perhaps about the day?"

Thunder stared at the ground as he thought, and then it came to him. "Pinkie Pie."

"You feel responsible for what happened to her." It wasn't a question.

"Well, it was my bucking fault, wasn't it? It wasn't like the other times. I didn't just not save her, Cacophony came because of me. She got caught because she was protecting me."

"I see." Luna tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Have you shared these concerns with your friends?"

Thunder snorted. "What am I supposed to say? 'Hey guys, sorry I called a monster and got your best friend captured?'"

Luna gazed down at him. "A burden shared is a burden lessened, Thunder Growl. I know that only too well. Cacophony is not of your making, and you should not take its actions upon your own shoulders. I do not think the others blame you."

Thunder sighed miserably and laid down. "I just don't know anymore, Luna. Everything I do gets bucked up. Every time I try to help I make things worse." The words poured from him. Something about the dream made him feel uninhibited, free to share anything and everything with her. It was almost like being drunk, though it came with a feeling of serenity that he had never found in a bottle.

"It is normal to feel these things during difficult times," Luna reassured him. "That does not make them true."

"So what am I supposed to do?" He was whining like a foal, but somehow it didn't bother him. The strange unreality of the dream and Luna's presence had dulled any sense of self-consciousness.

"Speak with your friends, Thunder Growl. Unburden your heart. You cannot run from your fears forever, for they will catch you." She nodded toward the door through which Thunder had entered her garden. "You experienced that tonight."

They sat in silence a while longer, then Luna rose to her hooves. "I must go. Our time together is at an end, for now."

"Is it morning already?" Thunder asked.

Luna smiled. "Nay. Believe it or not, it has been but a few minutes in the waking world, but I have many more ponies to visit this night. There seem to be more and more nightmares about of late. Pleasant dreams, Thunder Growl." She took to the air and vanished into the night sky.

Thunder awoke feeling both refreshed and uneasy. Though he had feared that the nightmares would return once Luna left, that had not happened, and he had spent the remainder of his night in the peaceful garden that she had made for him. In the timeless manner of dreams it had seemed as though he would have eternity to rest there, yet in the next moment he found himself awakening in the Apple family's guest room.

As he got out of bed and stretched the kinks from his legs and neck, Thunder reflected that there was definitely something to be said for waking up without a headache or an upset stomach. It didn't happen very often. He nosed the curtains aside and blinked in the sunlight, surprised to see that it was barely past sunrise. The blizzard had passed and the sky was clear, leaving the ground blanketed in white.

Thunder had no idea what time they had ended up going to bed, but he supposed it must have been quite early. It made sense for farmers, but the hard-partying musician wasn't used to it.

Thunder walked out into the hall and made for the bathroom. As he passed the living room he was surprised to find the entire family already awake. Applejack was setting the table, and the delicious smells coming from the kitchen said plainly that Granny Smith was making another of her feasts.

"Mornin', Thunder!" Applejack called. "Good timin', ah was just about ta come wake ya up. We'll have some breakfast, then go find the others."

"Sounds good. What time is it, anyway?"

"'Bout seven."

"Seven... seven?" he looked at her in mock alarm. "I've never been awake at seven before! What do I do?"

Applejack laughed. "Well, you sure are chipper today."

Thunder dropped the panicked act. "Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good, actually." For the most part. "Just give me a minute here," he said, continuing on his way to the bathroom. Once his business there was done, he returned to join the others as they sat down to eat.

The Apples were as friendly and the food as plentiful as last night, and it was with a smile and a bulging belly that Thunder said goodbye to them.

"Thanks for everything," he said.

"Any time," Granny Smith said. "Now you come back and visit us again, y'hear?"

Thunder jumped as something wrapped itself around his foreleg. He looked down to see Apple Bloom hugging him. She looked at him with those wide eyes of hers. "You will come back and visit, won'tcha?"

Thunder shook his foreleg as if trying to dislodge her. "Hey, come on now, how am I supposed to look cool with you doing that?" Apple Bloom refused to let go until she'd gotten a promise that we would come visit them again as soon as possible. He and Applejack said their goodbyes and started toward town, the snow crunching under their hooves.

It was cold but not bitter, and Granny Smith had refused to let Thunder leave until he put on a scarf that she had given him. The scarf was bright green, not his style at all, but at least it was warm.

Thunder's thoughts wandered as they walked. He wanted to bring up what he and Luna had been talking about in his dream, but he wasn't sure how to approach it. He'd never bared his heart to another pony like that before, and he wasn't quite sure how to do it. Still, these ponies had all been good to him. They'd seen him at his worst—a couple of different ways—and had stayed by him. He was surprised at the depth of the connection he felt with them, and more surprised still to realize that he'd met them all less than a week ago. Twilight really was good at the whole "friendship" thing.

Still, he thought it might be easier to talk about this with just one of them to start, and Applejack seemed like the most down-to-Equestria out of the group. He would never get a better chance, but he was running out of time.

"Hey, Applejack." He did his best to ignore the nervous feeling twisting his stomach into knots.

"Yeah?"

Thunder scuffed a hoof through the snow. He wasn't sure how to say this, but maybe it would be best to just say it. He took a deep breath. "Do you blame me for what happened to Pinkie?"

Applejack's eyes widened in shock. "Of course not! Why in Equestria would'ja think that?"

"Because it was my fault," Thunder said. "Cacophony only showed up because I was singing. She got caught protecting me."

Applejack shook her head. "Shoot," she said, "is that what's been eatin' at ya?" She laid a hoof on his shoulder and squeezed. "You didn't know that was gonna bring Cacophony. You were only doin' it in the first place because you were helping us. Hey," she said firmly, "look at me." Thunder reluctantly met her eyes. "Ah promise you, nopony think it was your fault. The only one blamin' you is you, and that's the honest truth."

Thunder forced a smile. "Thanks," he said. "I think I really needed to hear that." He shook his head ruefully. "All this dung is way over my head. A week ago my biggest problems were where I was going to get a drink and when my next show was."

The two ponies kept walking toward the town. "Ah hear ya," Applejack said. "Shoot, how do ya think I felt when I got mah Element of Harmony? Farmin' was all I'd ever known, and suddenly I was savin' all of Equestria. Ah reckon that, whatever happens, all anypony can do is their best."

Thunder nodded. They walked the rest of the way in companionable silence, each lost in his or her thoughts.

A short while later they reached the tree that served as both the town library and Twilight's home. The library's sign advertised that it opened at eight o'clock, so they reasoned that she would be awake by now. Indeed, as Applejack pushed the door open they were greeted with a brightly lit room and stacks of books.

"Twi?" Applejack called out.

"Morning, Applejack." An extremely groggy Twilight emerged from behind one of the piles holding a cup of coffee with her magic. "Morning, Thunder."

Thunder snorted. "Rough night?"

"I am not a morning pony," Twilight grumbled. She took a gulp of coffee.

"Especially when you're up half the night studying," Spike's voice added from behind a large tome.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "That wasn't necessary."

The baby dragon's giggle was her only answer.

"So what's the plan, Twilight?" Applejack asked.

"Right." Twilight set her cup down and levitated a small stack of notes. "I think we have everything we need to find and beat Cacophony. Today is the day!" She then spoiled the mood somewhat with a large yawn.

While Twilight and Applejack talked, Thunder went over to the saddlebags he'd left in the corner and nosed one of them open. He should still have... there!

Thunder walked back over and placed a small plastic bottle on the desk in the middle of the room in front of Twilight.

"What's that?" Twilight asked.

"Energy drink. I know a thing or two about late nights."

"An energy drink? Do you even know what's in those?" Twilight asked.

"Caffiene, taurine, more vitamins than you need in a week, some other stuff," Thunder rattled off.

"I appreciate the thought, but I'll stick with coffee." Twilight looked a bit disgusted.

Thunder shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Twilight yawned again. "So," she said, "I think we're ready. Let's just round up the others and we can put an end to this."

I've heard that before. The bitter thought came unbidden to Thunder's mind. He shook off the dark mood and did his best to show the enthusiasm that this deserved. "Awesome. What are we waiting for?"

"Ah'll go get Fluttershy and send her after Rainbow Dash. Thunder, ya mind roundin' up Rarity for us?"

"Sure. That big circus-tent-looking place, right?" He'd noted it on his walk through town before, thinking that it looked like someplace Trixie might like to live. He decided not to share that particular thought with them.

"That's the one," Applejack chuckled.

"Got it." Thunder trotted out the door, followed closely by Applejack as she went galloping for Fluttershy's cottage. The Boutique wasn't far off, and within ten minutes—he'd only made one wrong turn—he was knocking on the door. A few moments passed with no response, so he knocked a bit louder.

Rarity opened the door, looking for all the world as if she had been awake for hours. She had not a single hair out of place, as opposed to Twilight's messy mane—not to mention Thunder's—and her eyes were bright and clear.

"Shhh, you'll wake Sweetie Belle," Rarity gently hushed him.

"Who's Sweetie Belle?" Thunder asked.

"My little sister." Rarity shut the door behind her so that they could talk more freely. "She stayed up half the night with me, bless her heart. Celestia knows I needed it."

"You doing alright?"

"Quite well now, thank you, especially if you're here for the reason I think you are."

Thunder nodded as they turned toward the library. "Twilight says she's ready. We're going to find Cacophony and we're going to kick its flank."

"Well, that is the best news I've heard in weeks. And you, Thunder? How are you doing?"

"I'm good. Just..."

"Just what?"

Thunder shrugged. "This won't be the first time somepony's faced Cacophony with what seems like a perfect plan."

"I see," Rarity said solemnly. "Everything is going to be alright, Thunder. You just have to believe that."

What if it isn't? Thunder bit back his retort. It wouldn't do any good. If this didn't work, he would. just.. well, he had no bucking idea what he would do. Probably go get drunk, which he would do anyway once all of this was over. It had been two extremely stressful days since he'd had a drink.

They returned to the library where they were shortly joined by Applejack, then by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash a few minutes later. While they were gone, Twilight had quickly tidied up both the library and herself. Her mane was neatly combed once again, and the stray books had been put away. Spike shelved the last few as they waited for everyone to arrive.

"Alright, everypony," Twilight said once they had all gathered. "I think I've worked out how to trace the enchantment on Equestria back to its source. All we have to do it find it and break the Aggregation spell that's holding Cacophony together."

"Awesome!" Rainbow shouted. "So what are we waiting for?"

"Well, there's one problem." Twilight looked to the case that held the Elements of Harmony and sighed.

"Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy whispered.

"We can't use the Elements without her," Rarity murmured.

"What if I wore it?" Thunder stepped forward. "Could I just use the necklace thing instead of her?"

Twilight shook her head. "Sorry, it doesn't work like that."

"Believe me, we've tried," Spike added ruefully.

"Buck." Thunder gritted his teeth. "So after all of this, we still can't win."

"I think we can," Twilight said. "Pinkie Pie is part of Cacophony now. Maybe, if we got Cacophony to hold Pinkie's element, we could still activate it."

The others stared at her.

"Um," Fluttershy whispered.

"You want to give an Element of Harmony to Cacophony?" Rainbow exclaimed. "What is wrong with you?"

"Twilight, darling, you must realize that sounds a bit... unusual."

"No way am ah lettin' that thing lay a hoof on an Element!"

"Will it work?" Thunder's voice cut through the babble.

"Well, the theory is sound—"

"Twilight," Thunder gritted. "Cacophony has run free for way too long already. He's hurt so many ponies, and if you're risking an Element, you're risking our last chance to stop it. Will. It. Work?

Twilight took a breath and met Thunder's fiery eyes. "Yes." She held his gaze without flinching.

Thunder let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Well, then I say we go for it."

"Thunder, you don't know what you're asking," Rarity said. "The Elements of Harmony represent the very things that make us who we are."

"I get that they're important to you, but who cares about a shiny necklace when Cacophony's already got your friend?"

"I think he's right," Twilight said. She looked less certain staring down her other friends than she had been facing Thunder, but she pressed on. "Without Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter is just a piece of jewelery. For the chance to get our friend back, it's worth the risk."

"Are you sure there's no other way?" Fluttershy asked.

"With as many ponies as Cacophony's gathered, I think it's going to be too powerful for us to break the spell by any normal means. We have to use the Elements."

"Twilight, ya realize that if anythin' goes wrong here, we'll be throwin' away the only thing that can save Equestria?"

"Of course I understand that, but I don't see what choice we have. Like you said, the Elements are the only thing that can save Equestria now, but I can't do this alone. We're all bearers, so it's everypony's choice. If you don't think this is the right thing to do, I won't try to make you do it."

"Um, well, I think it would be good to save everyone as soon as possible," Fluttershy said.

"So you're in? Cool," Thunder said.

"Well, perhaps I was a bit hasty," Rarity said. "It's just that the idea of that monster getting his hooves on an Element is rather upsetting.

"Are you sure we can make this work?" Rainbow Dash asked Twilight.

Twilight closed her eyes for a moment in thought. When she opened them again they burned with a determined fire. "Yes. We have to."

Rainbow nodded. "Now that's the spirit! If Twilight's sure, then I'm sure. Let's do it!"

Applejack nodded slowly. "Ah still cain't say I like it, but if this is what's gonna save Equestria and get our friend back, then ah'm in."

Twilight smiled, relieved. "Thank you, everyone. So, here's the plan..."

Cacophony

Twilight's horn glowed like a beacon as she cast about with her magic, seeking the origin point of the enchantment that blanketed Equestria. Thunder hummed a low, steady note, providing the required sound component of the spell. Rarity stood off to the side practicing the disruption spell that, combined with Thunder's singing, would allow her to destroy Cacophony's echoes.

"Just in case," Twilight had said. In case of what, she did not say and the others did not press her.

"It's to the north," Twilight said slowly as she tried to pinpoint it. "Somewhere high up. Really high, like a mountain."

"A mountain to the north?" Fluttershy asked. "That could be anything."

"Not as far north as the Crystal Mountains, I think," Twilight continued. "Closer than that."

Rarity came trotting over. "But darling, all that leaves is Canterlot."

"Right." Twilight's horn stopped glowing, and Thunder stopped his humming. "It's the perfect place for it. It's at the center of Equestria, and up on top of that mountain Cacophony would be able to see just about everything."

"Cacophony's working out of Canterlot?" Rainbow asked. "I think somepony would have noticed."

"Canterlot, or the mountain under it," Twilight mused. "Princess Celestia told me once that there are lots of caves, and practically no one goes in there."

"Canterlot?" Thunder facehoofed. "Buck me, we were just there!"

"Thunder, language!" Rarity scolded him.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Rainbow asked. "Grab the Elements and let's go!"

"I agree," Applejack said,"time's a wastin'!"

"Right," Twilight said. She opened the case holding the Elements and gave them to their respective bearers. After staring sadly at the Element of Laughter for a moment, she put it into her saddlebag with a silent promise to Pinkie Pie. Her eyes shone with determination as she faced the others. "Let's go."

As soon as they stepped off the train at Canterlot station Twilight cast her finding spell again. She turned slowly on the spot as Thunder hummed, trying to determine exactly where the vague sense she was getting was strongest. After about a minute she stopped and opened her eyes. "Yes, it's below us now. It's definitely coming from somewhere in the mountain."

"So how do we get down there?" Thunder asked.

"There's a way into the caves from the palace," Twilight said. "I tried exploring it once when I was a filly. I, uh, didn't get very far." She blushed slightly. "It was dark."

So, for the second time in two days, the group found themselves walking through Canterlot toward the palace. They were struck again by the strained quiet of the city, and this time there was no performance breaking the silence. Thunder kept glancing around, half-hoping to see a sign of Trixie or Octavia. He really hoped Trixie hadn't left the city already, since he was fully intending to take her up on that offer of meeting up for a drink once this was over.

They reached the palace without incident and were escorted in by a guard. Twilight explained what they had found, and though they did not see Princess Celestia, it seemed that the royal guards held Twilight in almost as high esteem as the princess herself. Within minutes they had been led to the lowest level of the palace to a large steel door. The dust on the floor showed plainly that nopony had been here in quite some time, though the door itself was untouched by rust or dirt. The steel of the door glowed faintly with an enchantment that Thunder suspected was responsible for its good condition.

"This was once used for access to the mines under Canterlot," the guard explained as she cast the spell to unlock it, "but no one's gone down there in centuries. Do you really think Cacophony's been right under our hooves this whole time?"

"It seems that way," Twilight answered. The door unlatched with a loud metallic clank and began to swing open. A rush of stale air assaulted them. "What's in the mines?" Twilight asked. "Is it dangerous to go in there?"

The guard shook her head. "Nothing's in there as far as we know. Just old caves and abandoned equipment."

"Well, there's somethin' down there," Applejack said, "an' we're gonna find out what."

"Elements on, girls," Twilight said as she settled her crown onto her own head. The others followed suit, putting on their necklaces.

"Good luck, Ms. Sparkle, everypony," the guard said with a salute.

The group entered the caves and the door slowly shut behind them with an all-too-final clang.

The combined glow of Rarity's and Twilight's horns lit their way through the caves. Twilight was once again casting her finding spell with Thunder's help, while Rarity was shining her light ahead of them so that they could see where they were going.

"Why in Equestria would they have abandoned these mines?" Rarity asked as she swung her head around. "There are still loads of gems here."

"Once Canterlot started to expand the ponies didn't want mining operations happening right under their hooves," Twilight explained. "For one thing it was very noisy, and for another they were worried that an accident could cause a landslide and destroy the city."

Thunder had always thought it was pretty stupid to perch a city on the edge of a mountain like that, but of necessity he kept his thoughts to himself and continued humming.

Twilight's head suddenly snapped around to face down a passage to their right. Mine cart tracks led down into the darkness, but they could not see anything else.

"What is it?" Rainbow asked.

"Something's interfering with my finding spell," Twilight said. She gritted her teeth and forced more power through her horn. "It's trying to disrupt the magic. I think it's coming from this way." She winced as her horn flared wildly, but she managed to bring the spell back under control. Sweat poured down her face as she grappled with whatever was resisting her. Thunder felt the strain as well, and tried to fight back by increasing the volume of the sound he was making.

"You alright, Twi?" a concerned Applejack asked.

"Yeah," Twilight grunted, "just need to break through this resistance."

"Come on, Twilight," Rainbow cheered her on, "you're the most magical unicorn in Equestria, you can do it!"

Twilight winced and closed her eyes, pouring everything she had into overcoming the counterspell. Thunder trembled on his hooves. Finally, with a gasp, Twilight collapsed to the ground and her horn went dark. Thunder stumbled as he felt a sudden release of pressure, but remained standing.

"Twilight!" Fluttershy darted forward and checked her over. Rarity stepped forward to provide more light for the pegasus.

Twilight groaned. "I'm alright, just tired. I should have known better. Cacophony has the power of dozens of ponies, including a lot of unicorns. It's stronger than I am." She massaged her aching head with a hoof.

"Should we go back?" Fluttershy asked. "We can try again when you're feeling better."

"No. No, I'm fine." Twilight forced herself up. "Ponies are counting on us."

"So, no finding spell?" Rainbow asked. "How are we supposed to, you know, find it?

"It came from that way," Twilight gestured down the path she had been looking at earlier. "Beyond that, I guess we'll have to look the old-fashioned way."

As they walked down the tunnel, Thunder's ears perked up. "Do you hear that?"

The others looked around in confusion and shook their heads.

"It's really low, almost too low to hear." Thunder pressed his ear to the wall. He doubted he would have even noticed it if he weren't so used to listening to heavy basslines. "I think it's coming from up ahead, but it's hard to tell in here."

"Let's keep going, then." Twilight was still rubbing her head, but her horn's glow was strong and steady.

The sound grew louder as they progressed. Soon the others became aware of it as well, though it was more felt than heard, a constant rumbling that seemed to vibrate through their legs and chests. Thunder swiveled his ears, trying to determine the source of the noise.

"That way." He pointed down another side passage. When they reached the end of that they found themselves in what looked like a central hub of sorts. Rusted, abandoned equipment littered the ground and walls, and tracks stretched off into the darkness down several different tunnels. Where they stood now was more open than anyplace they had seen inside the mountain thus far, stretching several feet above their heads and wide enough for the entire group to walk side-by-side with room to spare. The low rumbling sound was becoming unpleasantly loud, and Thunder flattened his ears against his head to block some of it out.

"I think we'd better put our earplugs in now," he shouted to be heard over the sound. The others couldn't understand him, so he held up his earplugs pointedly and put them in. The others nodded, remembering that they had brought them along for just such a possibility, and put in their own. Though they still could not hear one another speak, blocking out that awful sound was a relief.

Reduced to communicating by pointing and gesturing, the group attempted to find where the sound was loudest and follow it. Thunder gritted his teeth as they progressed, the noise eventually becoming painful even through the earplugs. If they got out of this without some hearing loss, Thunder thought, it would be a miracle.

Rarity's mouth opened wide and she pointed forward with a hoof. Thunder squinted into the dark but could not see what she was looking at. He looked at her with one eyebrow raised questioningly.

Rarity brightened the light from her horn and extended it farther ahead of them, allowing the others to see what had surprised her: an enormous gem, easily twice the size of Thunder Growl, filled the tunnel and blocked their path. Rarity looked enraptured, but Twilight simply stepped forward and tried to move it. It resisted her every attempt to dislodge it from the tunnel. She eventually resorted to a blast from her horn, eliciting a shriek from Rarity that could be heard even over the grinding, thrumming noise that filled the air, but the gem caught Twilight's beam and refracted it harmlessly, allowing it to pass through and strike the wall behind.

Twilight nudged Rarity to get her attention. She pointed to Rarity's cutie mark, then to her horn, then to the gem. Working with gems is your special talent, get that thing out of our way.

Rarity looked horrified at the idea and shook her head emphatically. I will not!

Twilight sighed and levitated the Element of Laughter out of her saddlebag, holding it in front of Rarity's face. Do it for Pinkie Pie.

Rarity stared wide-eyed at the necklace for a moment, then looked at the enormous gem. She closed her eyes for a moment and a tear leaked from the corner of one of them.

She stepped forward and lowered her head, sending a bright blue ray into the gem. This beam did not break apart and pass through the stone, but struck it solidly. She held the spell steady and a large crack appeared in the front facet of the gem. A few moments later the entire stone shattered and fell to the ground in shards. Their path was clear.

Rarity swooned, falling backward onto a red-padded couch that she had pulled from alicorns-knew-where.

Applejack walked over and tapped her lightly, but the distraught unicorn waved her away. Applejack rolled her eyes and picked her up bodily, slinging Rarity across her back and continuing down the hall, her protests going unheard amidst the noise.

Eventually the group came upon a large metal door, similar to the one through which they had left Celestia's palace except that it was completely rusted. Thunder tried the handle but could not budge it. He threw all of his strength against the door but the rusted hinges would not move. He looked back at the others and shook his head.

Twilight hesitantly tried to cast a spell. When the lingering ache in her head did not spike, she proceeded with more confidence. Purple magic covered the group, and with a bright flash they teleported several feet forward, as close as Twilight dared to her estimation of where the other side of the door should be.

Upon reappearing they were immediately blasted by the awful grating, grinding sound, which was much louder on this side of the door. They all pinned their ears down as the noise gave them instant headaches even through the earplugs. Fluttershy fell to the ground and cowered, attempting to bury her head into her forelegs to block it out.

Thunder, the most accustomed to loud noises, lifted his head enough to look forward. His head hurt to the point that he was seeing double, but he squinted and forced the images together. He realized that he was looking at an enormous open space, nearly the size of the entire mountain. They stood on a platform near the top of the room, and Thunder stumbled backward a step as he realized that he was dangerously close to falling. Floating at the center of it was... something. No matter how he blinked or tilted his head, he couldn't make sense of it.

It seemed like a horrible mockery of an equine. The thing was vaguely pony-shaped, but extra legs, heads, wings, and horns sprouted from it in random places and vanished again, while its central mass writhed and shifted constantly. This thing was not black and shadowy like the echoes, but seemed to contain every color imaginable, swirling around and into one another like a maddened rainbow.

A gentle blue glow filled the air and the terrible noise died away somewhat. The ponies sighed in relief. Thunder turned and found Rarity casting a spell.

"It's a little something I use to help block out distractions while I'm working," she explained. While the spell did not block out nearly all of the sound, it was enough that they could hear one another speak.

"Look down there," Thunder nodded toward the center of the room. The others cautiously approached the edge of the platform. Fluttershy gasped and looked away. Rarity and Twilight looked ill, while Applejack simply stared.

"Doesn't seem like it's noticed us," Applejack said.

"Perfect," Rainbow Dash said. "I can swoop right down there and stick the Element of Laughter on it, then we can blast this thing!"

"Just be careful," Twilight warned her as she levitated the Element over. "We don't know what it's capable of."

Rainbow nodded, but the cocky grin didn't leave her face. She hooked a foreleg through the necklace and took off, streaking toward the monstrous thing in a prismatic blur. Even leaving Rarity's spell and being blasted once more by the full force of Cacophony's sound didn't shake her. Her confidence began to falter, however, as she realized two things: first, Cacophony was a lot farther away than she had thought, and second, it was a lot bigger than it had looked. There was no way the Element would fit around its neck. She would be lucky if she could get it around an ankle.

She drew close to the mass and flitted around it, looking for an opening among the constantly sprouting and vanishing extra limbs. She picked her moment carefully, at a time when its right foreleg seemed relatively clear of the disturbing growths, and darted in with the Element outstretched.

Cacophony thrummed, and Rainbow was blasted backward by what seemed to be a solid wall of sound. She barely caught herself in time to avoid crashing into the wall. Rainbow's eyes went wide as Cacophony's ill-defined head swiveled to look down at her.

Rainbow rocketed back up to rejoin her friends. "Uh, guys?" she said as Cacophony began to move, "I think we're in trouble."

Harmony

Cacophony screeched with a noise like a thousand dragons scraping their claws across a thousand blackboards. Thunder was fairly certain that the only thing that kept their heads from exploding was Rarity's spell taking the edge off of the sound. Cracks raced up the wall behind the platform they stood on and, with a shower of rock, it fell.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy instinctively took to the air when they felt the floor give way, only to clutch their heads in agony as they left the range of Rarity's magic. Blinking away tears of pain, Rainbow bolted downward to catch up to her falling friends with Fluttershy only a wingbeat behind. Each pegasus caught a friend under each foreleg and, though they could not properly fly while carrying so much weight, they were able to safely glide down to another ledge.

"Twilight," Thunder called, trying to ignore the hammering in his chest that warned him how close he had just come to dying, "the disruption spell! Make it as strong as you can!"

Twilight nodded and her horn began to glow. When Thunder felt the telltale warmth of her magic enveloping him he opened his mouth and roared. The moment he began shouting he knew that this would not end well for his voice. The sound emerging from him was louder than any pony should be able to create, almost as loud as when it was enhanced by the enormous amps he was used to using for concerts. He felt his throat being stripped raw, but did not relent.

Cacophony stopped and began to tremble as the sound hit it. It did not break apart as the echoes had, but the spell did seem to be hurting it.

"Rainbow! Now!" Applejack shouted.

Rainbow, who had been staring at the display, blinked. "Oh, right!" She took the opportunity while Cacophony was distracted to try again. She was once again hit by the wave of sound that Cacophony used to defend itself, but it was much weaker. Rather than knocking her away it merely made it difficult to continue forward, as though she were flying into a strong wind. Her powerful wings forced her through the resistance and she stretched forward, trying once again to latch the Element of Laughter onto Cacophony's oversized forleg. As she neared it the limb lashed out, seeming to warp and extend even as it moved so that she couldn't anticipate the movement. It struck her squarely, sending her crashing into the far wall.

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity wailed.

Applejack ran forward and pulled a rope from under her hat. Hastily fashioning a lasso, she threw it and caught the falling pegasus. "Gotcha!" she said around the rope in her mouth. She pulled the limp Rainbow Dash safely back to the platform. Rainbow groaned and tried to sit up, but her battered body would not obey her.

"The Element!" Rarity pointed with a hoof. Rainbow Dash, stunned by the attack and the impact with the wall, had dropped the Element of Laughter. The necklace was now falling toward the far-away floor of the enormous room.

"Fluttershy," Rainbow croaked out, "catch it!"

Fluttershy, who was hovering anxiously over her injured friend, bit her lip with tears in her eyes at the thought of leaving Rainbow.

"I'll be fine," Rainbow shouted, "just go!"

Fluttershy nodded reluctantly and dove after Pinkie's element. Rainbow pushed herself back up to her hooves, ignoring the flaring pain in her side. She had a broken rib for sure, maybe worse, but this wasn't the time to worry about it. At least her wings seemed uninjured. She forced her face to remain smooth and confident, not showing her pain.

As Rainbow stood, Thunder sank to his knees and his voice gave out. His head was spinning from lack of oxygen and flecks of blood from his torn throat spattered the ground as he coughed. He took a deep breath and forced himself to continue shouting, but it was a much weaker sound than before.

Cacophony, no longer taking the the full brunt of Twilight and Thunder's disruption spell, continued drifting across the room toward them. It struck forward with a foreleg which stretched impossibly far, reaching across the huge distance between them. The ponies jumped out of the way, but Cacophony's "hoof" struck the platform squarely, tearing it away. Once again they found themselves falling.

Twilight abandoned the now-ineffective disruption spell, instead using her magic to gather the others together and teleport them downward. Rather than aiming for another platform she took them straight to the floor of the enormous room where they would not be so vulnerable. Fluttershy swooped down to rejoin them, the Element of Laughter clutched between her forelegs.

Another wave of sound came from Cacophony, striking the group like a physical blow. Rarity's spell flared as she forced more power into it, but even so the ponies were slammed into the metal floor. Rainbow was unable to hold back a cry of pain as her damaged body took even more abuse.

Twilight, who had discerned the mechanics behind Rarity's spell, fed her own power into it. It was fairly simple magic, effectively creating a buffer in the air that blocked out sound—it actually appeared to be related to Shining Armor's defensive spells. With both unicorns focusing on defending the group, the noise and pressure died away enough that the ponies could stand.

"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash shouted, "I have an idea! Use that disruption spell thingy on me."

"What are you planning?" Twilight asked. With Thunder gasping for air and coughing up blood he was effectively out of the fight, and she didn't think any of the others' voices would be able to withstand the stress of the full-power disruption spell.

"Remember what we talked about before?" Rainbow asked. "I'm gonna hit that thing with a Rainboom."

"I told you how dangerous that could be!" Twilight said. "Besides which, you're hurt. Can you even do a Sonic Rainboom with those injuries?"

"What choice do we have?" Rainbow asked. She flinched as Cacophony redoubled its efforts, but the combined magic of Twilight and Rarity held its attacks at bay for now. "I'll be fine."

Before Twilight could come to a decision Cacophony dropped to the ground in front of them. Up close it became clear exactly how big it really was. Thunder, the largest of them, was barely up to its knee. Cacophony seemed to ripple, its flesh flowing like water disturbed by a stone, and it separated before their eyes. Where there had been one Cacophony the size of a hydra there were now six, each roughly the size of a manticore.

"Uh-oh," Applejack muttered.

"That shouldn't be possible!" Twilight exclaimed. "How could it possibly have enough magic to maintain six amalgamation spells?"

"Questions later," Thunder rasped, his voice a pale shadow of itself, "fighting now." He planted himself in front of the group, prepared to defend the ponies who actually had the power to defeat this monster.

The six Cacophonies rushed forward and Thunder stepped in to meet them. He ducked under the first one's swing and retaliated with a kick. Unlike fighting the echoes, he felt a satisfying impact as his hoof sank into the monster's shifting flesh. He still wasn't certain that he'd hurt it, but at least it seemed that the true Cacophony could be fought physically. His satisfaction did not last beyond that first moment.

Thunder screamed and fell twitching to the ground as a blast of sound struck him. It was so high-pitched as to be almost beyond hearing, but it pierced his skull like a white-hot spike. Something warm and wet trickled from his ears.

One of the Cacophonies raised a hoof to finish the job, but was staggered by a purple beam of energy. It screamed in rage with a noise that suddenly seemed strangely distant to Thunder, though the pressure behind it was every bit as strong. Applejack caught one of the six monsters with her lasso and planted her hooves, trying to restrain it, but Cacophony's immense strength tossed her aside with ease. She, too, screamed in agony and fell as she left the protective bubble of Twilight and Rarity's spell.

"Alright, mister, that is enough!" Fluttershy shouted. An almost physical pressure came from her in waves as she turned her Stare upon Cacophony. "Now you stop hurting my friends!"

Cacphony trembled and froze under her Stare, but she found it difficult to pin down all six of them at once. She had to constantly shift her focus between them, keeping any one of the six from drawing too close to the group. All six of them slowly crept forward.

"Twilight," Rainbow screamed at her friend, "I need that spell, now!" At this rate Cacophony would soon close the distance, and they were helpless against it.

Twilight bit her lip uncertainly. She wasn't certain that Rainbow could even pull off a Rainboom in her condition, and even if she could she wasn't sure what it might do to the rest of them when empowered by Twilight's disruption spell. Still, she was right. If they didn't do something, Cacophony was going to defeat them all.

"Okay." Despite her misgivings, Twilight redirected some of her energy from the protective spell and channeled it into Rainbow's body. Maintaining two spells at once was difficult, but nothing Twilight couldn't handle.

"Aww yeah," Rainbow grinned as she felt the power flowing through her. Plugging her ears with her forehooves, she rocketed into the air up to the top of the room. It was so tall that it took her nearly thirty seconds to reach the peak at her top speed, but the good news was that she would have plenty of room for a Rainboom. She angled herself downward and flew for all she was worth. Her confident grin faltered as the pain in her side grew from a sharp ache to a small fire, like an hot coal embedded beneath her ribs. Her eyes watered with the pain, but she forced herself to keep flying. Her friends were counting on her, and no way was she going to leave them hanging.

Rainbow began to shout as she plummeted. It was not a battle cry nor a cry of fear, but a scream of pain. Her injuries were being badly exacerbated by the strain she was putting on her body, but she did not relent. She felt the telltale resistance as a cone of air formed around her; she was approaching Rainboom speed.

One of the Cacophonies finally drew close enough to strike and knocked Fluttershy aside with a swipe of one foreleg. The pegasus flew through the air and crumpled to the ground.

A note of fury entered Rainbow's yell. She was now roughly halfway between the ceiling and floor of the gigantic room. She pushed through the agony, her determination redoubled by seeing one of her oldest friends thrown aside like a ragdoll.

The Cacophonies, freed from Fluttershy's Stare, moved forward unimpeded and surrounded the group. Those still standing backed away, trying to keep distance between themselves and the monsters. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Thunder Growl lay motionless on the ground.

Rainbow, mere feet above the six Cacophonies, finally broke through the resistance. The room filled with an ear-shattering sonic boom and a blinding purple-tinted rainbow light as she rocketed forward to supersonic speeds. She angled herself upward to avoid crashing into the walls as her speed suddenly doubled and she shot into the sky, trailed by a brilliant rainbow.

The Cacophonies shrieked and fell to the ground, their flesh rippling wildly. Random bits of ponies appeared and disappeared almost too quickly to be seen, but Twilight caught a glimpse of a familiar curly pink mane emerging from the farthest one. It was gone in an instant, but it was enough.

Twilight snatched up the Element of Laughter with her magic and hurled it toward the telltale flash of pink. Cacophony, stunned by Rainbow Dash's magically empowered Rainboom, did not defend itself as the Element latched around its throat. It may have been Twilight's imagination, but she thought she saw the balloon-shaped jewel twinkle as it fastened, as though the Element were happy to be reunited with its bearer even under these circumstances.

Rainbow landed next to her again. Though she tried to put on a brave front, she was nearly doubled over with the pain in her side.

"Good job, Rainbow," Twilight said, "just hang in there a little longer. Rarity, go check on Applejack. I'll get Fluttershy. This is our only chance."

The two unicorns galloped to their fallen friends, desperate to awaken them before Cacophony recovered from the Rainboom. Fluttershy, who was simply dazed from the hit, groaned and opened her eyes the moment Twilight called her name. Applejack was in worse shape.

"Applejack!" Rarity called to her fallen friend. "Applejack, please, you must get up." She belatedly noticed the red liquid seeping from Applejack's ears and gasped, holding a hoof to her mouth. Realizing that the farmpony could not hear her, Rarity reached down and gently shook her friend.

Applejack stirred slightly.

"Applejack!" Rarity cried desperately, shaking her harder. One of the Cacophonies was beginning to stand up.

"Uhhnn... Rarity?" Applejack said. Her voice was louder than usual and she was slurring her words slightly. "You sayin' somethin'? Why's it so quiet in here?"

Rarity gave up on speaking and simply pointed.

Applejack turned her head and her eyes widened as she saw the six monsters getting back to their hooves. "Woah, nelly!" she shouted. Her earth pony strength proved itself as she forced herself to rise. With everypony up and ready, the five of them gathered together and prepared for the final attack.

Twilight's eyes glowed white with power as she drew on the Element of Magic. Please work, please work... she prayed silently as she focused all of her will into the Element and, through it, into her friends. The other Elements began glowing in turn, their bearers floating into the air upon their magic. Dimly through the magical haze, Twilight saw the Element of Laughter begin to glow as well.

A distinct flash of pink emerged from the swirling colors of the most distant Cacophony. A pink hoof and foreleg extended from its chest, and a pink muzzle became visible through Cacophony's own oversized one. Finally, Pinkie Pie emerged fully from her living prison, the Element of Laughter clasped firmly about her neck and a rapturous smile upon her face.

Thunder groaned and lifted his head. The room was strangely quiet. Why wasn't he being nearly deafened by the noise of combat and Cacophony's sound magic?

Wait. He held a hoof up to his ear. Deafened? The sticky, warm wetness of blood confirmed his fears. He was already deaf.

It was a problem for later. For now, he had to see this through.

He rose on shaking legs and looked around desperately. He spotted the six monsters, who were currently under attack by a very familiar barrage of rainbow magic. The six ponies—six? How did they get Pinkie Pie back?—floated in the air, channeling the power of their Elements, but something was wrong.

The magic was not reaching Cacophony. Though Thunder could not hear, a certain pressure in the air and a deep bass rumbling through the floor told him that Cacophony was still using its magic. Apparently it was somehow defending itself from the Elements.

It couldn't be. The Elements of Harmony were supposed to be the strongest artifacts in Equestria. If they couldn't destroy this monster, then Equestria was doomed to never know music again.

The light of the Elements was simply not strong enough to destroy this darkness.

Light. It came to Thunder in a flash. The Elements of Harmony used light-based magic, which Cacophony was countering with his sound-based magic. The monster had proven time and again that it was immune to any conventional form of attack, but there was a way.

Not giving himself time to think, not taking the chance that he might second-guess himself, Thunder galloped forward and threw himself into the stream of energy. Power roared into him, a thousand times stronger than Twilight's magic. A blinding white light obliterated everything that he could see, everything that he could feel or think or be. There was nothing but the power. No longer aware of what he was doing, no longer aware of himself or that he even had a self, Thunder opened his mouth and screamed.

Thunder groaned. His head was spinning and his body felt like lead. "What happened last night?"

He could hear himself speak. That was surprising for some reason. Why was that surprising? Something about not being able to hear. Something about his musical career, his entire life, being over because he couldn't hear.

"Thunder?"

That voice was familiar. What was that voice? For some reason it made him think of purple. Purple. Smart. Magic. Element? Element of Magic? Why was that phrase sticking in his mind?

Thunder shook his head slightly, hoping to rearrange his jumbled thoughts, but he only succeeded in making the pain in his head spike. His stomach felt alright, which was a small blessing at least. Usually when he felt like this it came with intense nausea.

"Thunder!" The voice pierced through his hazy musings.

"Twilight?" Yes, that was the mare's name. Twilight Sparkle, the nerdy purple librarian. She liked to lecture, as he recalled, and dear alicorns above did she look ready to give a lecture now.

"Thunder Growl, what were you thinking?" she burst out. "That was the most reckless, poorly thought out... bucking stupid thing that I've ever seen anypony do!"

Ah, yes. Now it was all coming back. He liked to do stupid things, and she liked to lecture him for doing them.

"You're welcome," Thunder grumbled. His voice seemed to have returned along with his hearing. Had the Elements done that?

"You had absolutely no idea what the Elements of Harmony would do to you," Twilight continued. "They might have killed you!"

Thunder shook his head. "Didn't matter."

"What do you mean? How could it not matter?"

"I didn't know what would happen if I jumped in," Thunder said, "but I knew what would happen if I didn't. It had to be sound magic or it wasn't going to work."

"Still, that was such a dangerous thing to do—"

Thunder cut her off. "It didn't matter because, for once in my stupid, selfish life, I cared about something more than I cared about myself. If having the Elements blast me to pieces was what it took to get rid of Cacophony, then I was okay with that." He looked down at himself. "I'm kinda glad they didn't, though."

"Alright, Twi, give the stallion some air." Applejack shooed her friend away. "How ya feelin', sugar cube?" she asked Thunder.

"I feel..." Thunder took stock of himself, "pretty good, actually." The headache and dizziness were fading and strength was returning to his limbs. What he had at first mistaken for a brutal hangover had been nothing but simple exhaustion. He stood up, and then the true import of what had just happened struck him. "We did it, didn't we?"

Applejack smiled and nodded. "We sure did. Cacophony's history."

A smile broke out on Thunder's face. He felt strange, jittery, overflowing with nervous energy, as if he were simply too happy to contain it all. His legs trembled and his heart pounded in his chest. He felt like he was on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Buck yeah!" Thunder reared back and roared for all he was worth. He found himself prancing like a foal. "Buck yes, buck yes, BUCK YES, we did it!" he laughed. He glanced to the side and found himself being joined by very familiar pink mare.

"Pinkie Pie!" he shouted gleefully and caught her up in a bone-crushing hug. He could have sworn her head deflated slightly as he released her. He watched her prance away with a smile, but seeing her reminded him of something else. "What about everypony that Cacophony captured? What happened to them?"

Applejack was trying, and failing, to hide her mirth at Thunder's exuberance. "Just look around ya."

Thunder became aware that there were more ponies present—a lot more—than just the seven of them. The room was filled with scores, maybe even hundreds of ponies talking, hugging, laughing, and singing.

"You've been out for a while," Applejack explained. "That was part o' why Twilight was so worried."

"Oh, is that what she was?" Thunder chuckled. It had looked more like she was furious.

Singing. That was something Thunder hadn't heard in far too long, save for one unfortunate incident. In fact, one of those singing voices sounded very familiar.

"Berry!" Thunder called across the room.

Berry came trotting over, an enormous—and sober—smile on her face as she sang her heart out for joy. Thunder pulled her into a hug and she rested her head happily against his shoulder. It was wonderful to see her again, though there were three ponies in particular that he wanted to see even more.

"Thunder?"

Thunder froze at the familiar voice. Hardly daring to hope, he turned to face the speaker. A red unicorn stood next to his brother, and beside them was a mint-green pegasus mare. All three looked at Thunder with huge smiles on their faces. Thunder trembled slightly as he stared back at his bandmates.

"Dude, are you crying?" Bass Groove teased him.

"No," Thunder sniffled. "What do you think I am, some kind of," his voice hitched, "bucking little," he hiccuped, "schoolfilly?" Tears of joy streamed down the sides of his face.

All three of them stepped forward to embrace Thunder. Together the four friends shared a very long, and very wet, hug.

Wrapping Up

The ponies had been a little worried about how they would get back out of the mountain, but their concerns proved unfounded. Pinkie Pie found a staircase cut into one wall that led them up to a door and back out into the caves. From there it was a relatively simple matter to find their way back to the palace basement.

Thunder felt wonderful. Far from hurting him, the power of the Elements of Harmony had restored his hearing and his voice. They had done the same for Applejack, and somehow even healed Rainbow Dash's broken bones. He talked and laughed with his bandmates and Berry as they walked, and even the claustrophobic atmosphere of the tunnels was not enough to smother their joy.

Power Chord, however, noticed that Thunder kept glancing out of the corner of his eye at Vinyl Scratch. The DJ had been mobbed by fans and admirers ever since the Elements had destroyed Cacophony.

"Go talk to her," Power Chord nudged him.

"Huh?"

"You've been looking at Pon-3 ever since you first spotted her. Whatever you want to say, go say it."

"I can't even get near her," Thunder protested. The crowd around her was much too thick.

"You just helped save Equestria," Wing Beat said. "I think they'll let you through."

Thunder's stomach twisted nervously. He hadn't had nearly enough booze to deal with this, but with all of his bandmates encouraging him there didn't seem to be any way to avoid it. He pushed his way through the crowd of ponies, who made way for him as soon as they realized who he was.

"Hey, Vinyl?" he asked quietly. Why was this so bucking hard? He'd just saved Equestria from a monster, and he was getting cold hooves about talking to Vinyl Scratch?

Thunder cleared his throat. "Vinyl?" he called more loudly.

The DJ looked over. "Yo, Thunder!" she called out happily.

Thunder scuffed a hoof against the ground. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Vinyl caught his mood. "Sure, what's up?" She looked around at the other ponies crowding them. "You mind giving us a minute?"

The crowd slowly dispersed with a mix of protests and apologies, eventually leaving the two of them in relative privacy.

"Look," Thunder began, "I know I've been a bit of a plothole to you lately."

Vinyl slowly nodded with a thoughtful frown. "I thought you'd been acting a bit weird. What's going on?"

Thunder sighed. Now that they'd come down to it, he wasn't even sure he could say it. "I guess I've been... well... the truth is I was jealous of you."

"Jealous?" Vinyl raised an eyebrow.

What was he supposed to say now? I hate that you're more successful than I am, and I've had a crush on your marefriend for years. Yeah, that'll go over well. "Yeah. It just seemed like," he cast about for the right non-incriminating words, "like you always get everything I want, and it started to get to me. When Cacophony captured you I realized what a bucking little idiot I'd been, but by then it was too late. I was throwing our friendship away over a stupid jealous grudge." He looked away. He hadn't really been meeting her eyes, but he now found himself unable to even look into her signature sunglasses. "I guess what I'm trying to say here is: I'm sorry."

Vinyl slid her sunglasses down to the tip of her muzzle, her violet eyes peering over the top of the shades at him. The red eyes that she was famous for had been a prank. Everypony had been so eager to see her real eyes, so she had bought theatrical contact lenses and then made an appearance without her sunglasses.

"Well," Vinyl drew out the word thoughtfully. Thunder's stomach twisted into knots as he waited to hear her verdict. "You did just save my life, not to mention all of Equestria, so I suppose I can forgive you just this once. If," she continued. Thunder looked up in surprise to find that she was grinning impishly, "you buy me a drink once we're out of here."

Thunder couldn't help himself. He laughed. "Deal."

"C'mere, you." Vinyl slung a foreleg over Thunder's shoulders and gave him a one-hoofed hug as they walked.

Twilight used her magic to open the large steel door leading to the palace basement and led a vertiable parade of laughing, singing ponies past the surprised guards. For the first time in over a month the sounds of music swelled throughout the royal palace and spread to the streets of Canterlot as Cacophony's prisoners rejoiced in their freedom. More and more ponies realized that the threat had passed, and soon the entire city was alive with song and dance.

Octavia was one of the first on the scene when she heard the music, and Thunder had the pleasure of seeing her tearful reunion with Vinyl Scratch. He looked away once they started making out, though.

"Oh thank you, thank you!" Octavia exclaimed, wringing Thunder's hoof and those of the six bearers of Harmony. "Excuse me," she sniffled as tears began rolling down her face again, "I'm afraid I am quite out of countenance."

Thunder gave Octavia a brief hug and then allowed her to return to Vinyl, where she wept happy tears into the DJ's shoulder. All around were similar scenes of joy and relief as ponies found their loved ones again. Those who were not from Canterlot looked briefly lost until they were pulled in—forcibly, in some cases—to join the festivities.

Thunder had never smiled so much in his life.

"Very well done, my little ponies!" Celestia's voice rang out over the crowd. All around ponies gasped and dropped into bows as the princess of the sun descended from the sky. She graced them with a gentle smile. "To those who have been returned to us, welcome back. To those who worked so hard to free Cacophony's prisoners, thank you. Now, everypony: let us celebrate the return of music to Equestria!"

The celebration resumed once it became clear that Celestia was finished speaking. When everything was back in full swing, the princess sought out her student. "Twilight Sparkle," she said with a smile, "you continue to impress. All of you do."

"Celly!" Pinkie squealed, springing up to wrap her forelegs around Celestia's neck.

Celestia chuckled. "It is good to see you too, Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie reached behind her back and somehow produced a large cake, fully baked and decorated. Celestia's eyebrows rose.

"It is very good to see you."

Once the impossible cake had been divided among the friends and the princess, Celestia turned to Twilight. "Did you find out who was responsible for Cacophony?" she asked quietly.

Twilight shook her head sadly. She hated disappointing her teacher. "Maybe it was one of the ponies that followed us out, but there's no way of knowing."

"A pony?" a mocking masculine voice asked from behind Twilight's ear. "Please, Twilight Sparkle, I thought you were supposed to be smart."

"Discord!" Twilight gasped as the draconequus slithered out from her mane. There was no way his entire body could have fit in there, but when had a little thing like physics ever stopped him? "What do you want?"

"Now is that any way to greet a friend?" Discord laid a hand over his heart. "And here I only wanted to help." His eyes became impossibly large and watery.

"I'm sure she didn't mean it like that," Fluttershy flew up to reassure her friend. "You just startled her is all. Isn't that right, Twilight?"

Twilight rolled her eyes, but nodded. "Right. Sorry. I guess."

"Apology accepted, friend!" Discord produced a conical hat that read "friend"—though it looked suspiciously like a dunce cap otherwise—and crammed it onto Twilight's head, then proceeded to vigorously shake her hoof. Twilight's entire body continued shaking for several seconds after Discord let go.

"What did you want to say to us?" Fluttershy asked.

"Ah, yes." The draconequus reached into one ear and pulled out a full-sized drinking glass, the opening covered with plastic wrap. Inside of it was something that looked disgustingly like a slug, though it swirled with many different colors and darted rapidly around its transparent prison. Rarity shrieked and attempted to hide behind Applejack.

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked, flying forward to get a closer look. "I've never seen a gastropod quite like that before."

"This, my dear Buttershy, is your villain. Ladies, meet Cacophony. He'd been living in the mountain right under your hooves for centuries. That was the reason the mining operations were stopped: they stumbled onto this little guy, and realized that they'd released something they really shouldn't have. They sealed everything up and left."

"Hold it," Applejack glared at Discord. "You knew all along what was goin' on and ya never told anyone?"

"Well, you never asked," Discord retorted. He disappeared and emerged from under Applejack's hat, staring upside-down into her eyes. Rarity squeaked and retreated farther away as the glass holding the slug-like creature came uncomfortably close to her face. "This entire time not one pony ever thought to say 'gee, remember that ancient and omnipotent, not to mention dashingly handsome spirit of chaos? Maybe he knows something about this.' You're lucky I'm not the suspicious type, or I might think you were avoiding me."

"So, what exactly is it?" Twilight asked, her curiosity getting the better of her revulsion.

"So glad you asked!" Discord vanished in a white flash and reappered in front of Twilight, holding the repulsive creature right under her nose and causing her to instinctively jerk her head back. "What you are looking at, my dear, is your basic low-level spirit of chaos."

"Wait, like you?" Twilight asked.

"Please, don't insult me," Discord grumbled. "Cacophony is as much like me as a weed is like an alicorn. I mean, really, destroying music? How boring can you get?" He squeezed the glass between two of his talons and it vanished in a white flash. "But you don't need to worry about it anymore."

"Where did you just send that creature, Discord?" Celestia asked.

Discord held a finger to his chin in thought. "Hmm. It wasn't really a 'where' so much as a 'when.' I've banished it to February 33rd."

"There's no such thing!" Twilight protested.

"Exactly! I've ensured that Cacophony will never trouble you again, simply out of the goodness of my heart." Discord reached into his chest and pulled out his own heart, which was topped with an angelic halo. He waited just long enough for the ponies to start looking ill, then tossed the heart behind himself. It flew into the air and exploded like a firework. "Besides, what would I have done the next time I needed to ask for a glass of water?"

"What? You know what, never mind," Twilight muttered. "I don't think I want to know."

"Oooh! Oooh!" Pinkie Pie pranced up on top of Discord's head and leaned over to look him in the eye. "As long as we're wrapping up plot holes—"

"Pinkie Pie!" Rarity gasped.

"Not that kind of plot hole! Anyway, how come Cacophony only attacked other ponies the first time it showed up? And how come the real one didn't talk?"

"Excellent questions." Discord plucked Pinkie off of his head and produced a jawbreaker larger than the pony herself, which she crammed into her mouth all at once. The side of her face bulged impossibly like a grotesque parody of a chipmunk, but it at least kept her quiet long enough for Discord to explain. "Cacophony wasn't accustomed to using its magic, which is why it lost control the first time. He actually was speaking when you fought him, but it was so lost in all the chaos that you couldn't tell." Just the word chaos seemed to make the draconequus happy.

"An' just how do ya know all of this?" Applejack demanded.

"I am effectively a god, you know. Just call it a Discord ex machina. Now if you'll excuse me, I do believe I'm missing an excellent party here. Toodles!" Discord wrapped himself into a circle and bit his own tail, eating himself until he was completely gone.

"Have fun, Discord!" Fluttershy called after him. "Be good!"

It was late afternoon when the group of friends disembarked at the Ponyville train station. Thunder couldn't believe that it was still so early in the day. It seemed like weeks had passed since he'd woken up at the Apples' home this morning.

"Well," he said to the others before they went their separate ways, "I guess this is it. Thanks for everything, guys. I'll just pick up my stuff and—"

"Oh no ya don't," Applejack interrupted him.

"You wouldn't leave before the 'We Saved Equestria (Again)' party, would you?" Pinkie's eyes rivaled Discord's for how large and teary they could get.

"Um, I mean, if you don't have somewhere else to be," Fluttershy added.

Thunder laughed. "Nah, I think I can manage to make time for a party."

"Yay!" Pinkie threw her forelegs into the air with a shower of confetti.

"Ah'll go warn Granny Smith and Big Mac," Applejack said. "Got a feelin' this is gonna be a big one."

The ponies split up to go home and prepare for the party, and in Pinkie's case to let the Cakes know that she was safe. Thunder tagged along with Twilight so that he could get the bags he had left at her house.

Twilight opened the door and found herself muzzle-to-snout with a baby dragon who was very irate at having been left behind. While Twilight smoothed Spike's ruffled spines, Thunder went over to the little bed he'd been using in the corner of the room to get his things. On an impulse, he took the covers from the bed and folded them into something vaguely resembling a neat square, then dragged the mattress back up to the closet that Twilight had retrieved it from. By the time he was finished cleaning up after himself, Twilight and Spike had finished arguing and were hugging happily.

As Thunder came back down the stairs there was a knock at the door. Twilight opened it to find Pinkie Pie there with a huge smile on her face and a list of party supplies.

"Hey Twilight!" Pinkie chirped as she pranced into the library. "Could I borrow some ink? I ran out." She unrolled the list to show what she had been working on, and Twilight stared openmouthed as it just continued unrolling, eventually stretching across the entire library several times.

"Uh, sure," Twilight said weakly. "Hold on a second." She went to get a fresh ink bottle for her friend.

"Ooooh, what's this?" Pinkie asked. Thunder moved so he could see what she was looking at and found her examining the energy drink that he had offered Twilight and then forgotten on the table.

"Uh, Pinkie?" Thunder tried to warn her, but it was too late. Pinkie popped the cap and downed the contents in a single swallow. "Oh, alicorns..."

Pinkie smacked her lips thoughtfully, then stopped and went wide-eyed. Her entire body started to shake like a jackhammer. As Twilight walked back into the room, Pinkie flew into the air on a trail of sparks and exploded like a firework.

"What is going on in here?" Twilight demanded.

"Don't ask," Thunder grumbled around his facehoof.

It was early evening and Thunder was running a pleasant buzz. It seemed like all of Ponyville had turned out for the party, which the Apples had been kind enough to host at Sweet Apple Acres. Berry Punch had brought as much wine and liquor as the bar could spare, and purchased two casks of cider directly from the Apples for the party. The Cakes, overjoyed to have Pinkie Pie back, outdid themselves with an array of sweets and pastries for everypony to snack on. Pinkie herself was little more than a pink blur, seeming to be in at least three places at once at any given time. No more energy drinks for her, Thunder thought with amusement.

Rainbow Dash darted up to the record player, which was currently pumping out something upbeat and fun that would not have been out of place at a cuteceanera.

"C'mon, Pinkie," she managed to hold the hyperactive pony in one place long enough to speak to her, "let's put on some real music. She held up a record with an image of a microphone being struck by lightning on the front.

"Okey dokey lokey!" Pinkie snatched the record from Rainbow Dash and swapped it with the other so quickly that there was no perceptible break in the music.

Thunder's ears perked up as he heard a very familiar guitar riff.

"Oh, buck yes!" he shouted. He knocked back what was left in his glass and went to the center of the room to sing along with himself. He hadn't gotten more than a few words into Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Your Grave when an exuberant and rather drunk rainbow slammed into his side, knocking him a few steps away. He looked over and grinned fiercely. Oh, you're on, Dash.

Thunder charged back at her and knocked her with a shoulder, sending the pegasus tumbling. She sprang back up to her hooves and came right back at him. Some of the ponies, particularly the older ones, looked somewhere between concerned and horrified, but a lot of the younger crowd dove right in to the mosh pit.

About twenty minutes a later a sweaty, slightly bruised, and very happy Thunder Growl found an out-of-the-way table to sit down at with a fresh helping of brandy. He found himself sitting next to Big Mac, Applejack's large but quiet older brother, who was sipping slowly on a glass of cider.

"Come on, you're not gonna get in there?" Thunder gestured to the large open space where ponies were still slamming into one another in fits of joyous energy.

"Nnnnope."

"What, are you afraid you're gonna hurt someone?"

"Eeeyup. That, an' I jus' don't care to."

"Wow, you get downright chatty when you've been drinking," Thunder laughed.

"Thunder!" Rainbow called out as she joined the two of them at the small table. Her eyes were slightly unfocused and she was holding a mug of cider of her own. "Let's hoof-wrestle!"

"Sure, why the buck not?" It was that kind of a night. Thunder took a hefty swallow of brandy and set his glass aside to make room on the table.

Despite being smaller than Thunder, Rainbow was toned and wiry and stronger than she looked. Even so, she couldn't match his brute strength. It took more effort than he expected, but Thunder got her hoof to touch down on the table.

"Alright, Big Mac," Rainbow shouted, "you've got winner!"

"Nnnnope."

"Aww, come on!"

"Nnnnope!"

"What's wrong," Thunder goaded the larger stallion, "ya chicken?"

Big McIntosh turned to glare at him. "Ain't nopony calls me chicken." He slowly lifted a foreleg to the table and Thunder met it with his own.

"Go!" Rainbow shouted.

Less than a second later Thunder was massaging his hoof and grinning sheepishly. "Uh, good match?"

"Eeyup." Big Mac went back to his cider.

Time passed and the party wound down. Ponies starting leaving alone or in small groups to head back to their homes and beds. Thunder picked up his bags and sought out the six ponies who had seen him through the worst time of his life, giving each a hug and his heartfelt thanks. Pinkie Pie wouldn't let him go until he promised to come back for her next party, and Rainbow Dash made him swear to get her in to Pegapalooza.

The last one he found was Twilight. Spike, who had refused to be left behind again even though it was getting very late, was walking with her.

"Spike," Thunder overheard Twilight say, "take a letter."

Thunder approached the two of them as Spike pulled out a piece of paper and a quill.

"Ready!"

"Dear Princess Celestia—"

"Twilight?" Thunder interrupted them. His head was swimming pleasantly, and the alcohol had given him an idea.

"What is it?"

Thunder nodded toward Spike, still poised to write a friendship report. "May I?"

It took Twilight a moment to realize what he meant. She looked from Thunder to Spike, then smiled.

"Sure."

Thunder cleared his throat and thought for a minute. His mind was a bit fuzzy, but that had never stopped him from finding the right words before. In fact, it usually helped loosen him up so the words could flow.

"Dear Princess Celestia, this is Thunder Growl writing to you. This past week or so, I've learned... buck, where do I start? "You can leave out that part," Thunder said as an aside.

"Don't worry, I didn't write that bit down," Spike chuckled. "Wanna start over?"

"Yeah, good idea," Thunder laughed. He gathered his thoughts and began again.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

"This is Thunder Growl. About a week ago, one of your guards dropped me off in Ponyville. It was the worst time of my life, but it was still one of the best things that ever happened to me. With some help from the ponies there I was able to work through a lot of," he bit his tongue on the word dung, "uh, problems. My own problems and Equestria's. I hurt a lot of ponies, some that I meant to and some that I didn't, and I was on the verge of destroying myself too. Usually my bandmates and my friends are there to keep me from getting too out of control, and without them I was totally lost for a while. Twilight and the others got me through it.

"If all of this has taught me anything, it's that there are always ponies who will be there for you, ponies who won't give up on you even when you've given up on yourself. Ponies are stronger together than they could ever be alone.

"I guess..." he cast about in his mind for the right phrase. "I guess what I'm trying to say here is: I've learned that Friendship is Magic.

Your Sometimes-Wayward Subject,

Thunder Growl

Epilogue: Pegapalooza

The muzzle-melting music of My Metal Pony tore through Cloudsdale. Thunder scanned the crowd during a brief instrumental and took pleasure and pride in how fierce and energetic his music had made them.

I've never seen a mosh pit in mid-air before. That is seriously bad-flank. Masses of pegasi were soaring around and slamming into one another directly above the more traditional mosh pit that the earth ponies and unicorns had begun on the clouds below. Twilight's cloud-walking spell worked perfectly, and the clouds gave no more trouble to the ponies than a grassy field would.

The wild tones from Power Chord's guitar reached their peak and began to fade, cuing Thunder to lean forward and sing.

"With your song, your path is crossed.

One by one, your friends are lost.

Alone you face the coming storm,

Equestria's joy its cost! CACOPHONYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

He banged his head to the music as he waited for his next verse to begin.

"All you know has been forsaken,

magic, mirth, and music taken.

But not alone you face the beast,

your power shall awaken! CACOPHONYYYYYYYYYYYY!

When you're faced with a demon's might,

when there is no hope in sight,

when it seems that all must fall,

just take in the light. HARMONYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

A rainbow blur shot from behind the stage, nearly drowning out the last notes of the song as it punched a hole in the sky. The crowd stared in awe at the Sonic Rainboom, a thing that had only been done three times—now four—in living memory.

"HARMONYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Thunder's voice faded with the music and the band stood silent, drinking in the cheers and applause of the audience. Rainbow Dash landed on stage next to him, making sure to get her share of the adoration. Hooves on clouds made a weird sound, Thunder mused, but the energy was there.

"Thank you, Cloudsdale!" Thunder roared into his microphone, making himself heard over the crowd. "It has been bucking amazing being here. I would just like to take a moment to thank Rainbow Dash for her bad-flank Rainboom!" He paused to let the crowd roar their approval. "Twilight Sparkle—sorry, it's Princess Twilight Sparkle now—whose cloudwalking spell made Pegapalooza possible!" Another pause for cheering, even though the bookish now-alicorn had opted not to come to the concert. "I would also like to thank Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, who, along with Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow here, planted their hooves up Cacophony's plot so we could be here tonight!"

This cheer was the loudest yet, and it seemed to go on for ages. Finally the noise died down enough for Thunder to finish.

"Thank you all for coming out tonight. We are My Metal Pony, and we'll be back next year to tear this place down all over again!"

The four of them vacated the stage to make way for the next act. Once backstage they indulged in a group hug. It had been a little over a month since Cacophony's defeat, but this had been their first show since the Manehattan Bash.

"Awesome as always, My Metal Pony," Vinyl said with a smile. The members of My Metal Pony each gave her a hoof bump as they passed.

"Thanks, Pon-3," Thunder said as he took his turn. "Break a leg or four out there."

"It's good to see you two getting along again," Wing Beat said as Vinyl walked out to prepare for her set.

"It's good to be getting along again," Thunder admitted.

"Very well done, everyone," Octavia said in her cultured accent. Apparently Vinyl had gotten her a backstage pass for the show.

"Thanks." Seeing her reminded Thunder of something. "Where's Berry?"

Octavia rolled her eyes. "The bar, I'm certain."

Thunder snorted. "Why'd I even ask? C'mon guys, you wanna get a drink or six?"

With a general chorus of affirmatives, Thunder's bandmates quickly stowed their instruments and joined him at the large cloud bar, which was being tended by no less than ten pegasi to keep up with the huge crowd.

"Well, there you are!" Berry slurred. She stumbled over and planted a sloppy kiss on Thunder's cheek. "You guys sounded great out there."

Thunder kissed Berry back and wrapped a foreleg around her, pulling her in close. "Thanks. I know it's not really your thing."

"Nononono, I like it," Berry giggled.

"Awesome set," one of the bartenders said when she spotted them. "What can I get you? On the house, of course."

"Cider, please," Bass Groove placed his order.

"Rum and cola for me," Power Chord said.

"Apple brandy," Thunder requested. "I've gotten a taste for it lately."

"Dry manehattan, straight up," Wing Beat said.

"Another glass of marelot, Miss?" the bartender asked Berry, who nodded. "Coming right up." She darted away to prepare the drinks.

"The Great and Powerful Trrrrrrrrixie would like bourbon on the rocks!" a familiar voice called from not too far away. Thunder caught her eye and waved for her to sit with them. While they were waiting for their drinks they were also joined by Rainbow Dash, who looked a bit flushed from exertion and the praise she'd been getting from the crowd.

By the time they all had their drinks the distinctive beats of DJ Pon-3 were tearing through the air. Thunder grimaced and took a deep drink of his brandy. He might have made his peace with Vinyl, but holy buck did he still hate dubstep.

Celestia had raised the sun by the time the last act had finished and the ponies had begun to stagger home. Thunder thought more than once that it was a very good thing the pegasi had created high barriers around the edges of this particular cloud. Given the amount of energy and alcohol involved in Pegapalooza it would have been very easy for somepony to wind up as a messy spot on the ground otherwise.

Balloons stood ready to take the hardest partiers back down to the ground, while most of the pegasi simply flew themselves home. Thunder winced sympathetically as he saw one get pulled over—literally pulled by the hind leg—for an FUI. Thunder, his bandmates, Berry Punch, and Trixie got a balloon to themselves and settled in to enjoy the trip back down. Their instruments and equipment would be brought down separately by pegasus roadies. Cloudies? Thunder wasn't quite sure what to call them and didn't much care.

Cuddled into his side, Berry fell into an alcohol-induced slumber within seconds. The others looked equally tired, and even Trixie was uncharacteristically quiet.

"What was it like being part of Cacophony?" Thunder asked suddenly. The alcohol had muddled his thoughts but loosened his tongue, and he'd been meaning to ask for a while.

His bandmates exchanged uncomfortable looks.

"It was like a bad dream," Wing Beat finally said. "Like one of those dreams where you keep thinking that you woke up, but things still aren't right. You try to move and you can't, you try to talk and you can't..." she trailed off.

"I couldn't even think for myself," Bass Groove added. "I'd try to think of something, but my mind kept getting forced back to whatever Cacophony wanted me to think about."

"You mind if we don't get into it right now?" Power Chord finally said.

Thunder shook his head. "No problem, pony. Sorry, didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

Trixie walked over to sit next to Thunder and rested her head sleepily on his shoulder. "Thunder," she whispered for his ears only, "if I am not mistaken, your friends are going to need your help to get past this."

Thunder nodded. He'd been thinking the same thing.

"I know what Twilight Sparkle can teach," she added. "I know they will be in good hooves with you. Now," she said more loudly, "The Great and Powerful Trixie is weary and must sleep. Wake Trixie when we land." She pulled her large hat down over eyes and settled bacwas snoring within moments.

Thunder considered his bandmates. Their faces were drawn, their eyes troubled. He knew exactly buck-all about helping somepony get past trauma like what they'd endured, but he had been taught a thing or two about friendship lately. He would do everything he could for them, just as a group of mares from a backwater town had done everything they could for him during his time of need. He would do it because he could. He would do it because it was the right thing to do. Most of all, he would do it because they were his friends. He would do it because, if there was one thing he now knew, it was simply this: Friendship is Magic.