Ponyville Bachelors' Club

Thunderlane, defiantly laughing, taunting, and laughing at his red eyed pursuer, sped around the room with Snowflake close behind.

The other five tried to catch them and bring them back to earth so as to deny either of them the chance to come to blows with the other. They knew their friends too well, and there was no doubt that neither of them would stop fighting once they started until the other was out cold, and that wasn't a favorable outcome.

However, the stubborn pair continued blitzing around the house, knocking glasses over and buzzing the heads of their friends. Thunderlane zipped past Lucky close enough to disturb the hairs on his head, but Snowflake wasn't as nimble, and the stallion had to duck to avoid the oncoming freight train of an equine.

Lane repeated the maneuver to Doc, Noteworthy and Caramel, but when he tried it with Big Macintosh, the stallion only reached up and caught him in a very big brother-like headlock.

The draft horse muscled the struggling Thunderlane beneath his forelimb and locked him into a stockade of muscle, repeating the maneuver with a tad more effort to Snowflake when he darted for Thunderlane's vulnerable skull.

He held the two stallions, one under each forelimb in unbreakable holds. Their wings buzzed and their back legs kicked as Thunderlane pleaded and Snowflake demanded that he let them go, but Macintosh's grip held true.

They refused to stop, and so, the red stallion brought the two's crowns together with a thunderous *crack*

"Agh," groaned Thunderlane while Snowflake grimaced.

"Y'all are actin' like a bunch o' foals! Now knock it off, or I'll end this tussle myself here and now!" bellowed Macintosh, much to the surprise of his companions.

"Are ya gonna stop?" the red horse asked, receiving two vigorous nods.

"Thunderlane, if ya start somethin' else, I won't stop him again, and Snowflake, I won't let ya kill him even if he starts it. Y'all understand?"

He released the two and shoved them in the direction of their seats, and that was the end of the quarrel.

They all regained their breath from the frantic pursuit, and then reacquired cups of cider and tried to forget what had just happened.

"Enough of that," said Doc, sitting down heavily in an armchair, "No more talk about nights we've gotten lucky; it'd be utterly pointless. Between Noteworthy and Lane, they've probably bedded most of the girls we've come to know at least once, twice in some cases."

"Especially Cloudchaser," said Thunderlane, "Man I lit that up!"

With that, the white pegasus lounged for him again.

Snowflake hit Thunderlane with a blow that would have crippled a bull, sending the charcoal stallion flying back into the wall. He hit with a *smack*, and before a second passed, Snowflake was on him again.

"Ya know what," stated Mac, nonchalantly leaning back in his seat as Thunderlane zipped by, hitting the other side of the room with a crash, "Maybe we should let 'em have it out."

The others nodded and leaned back in their seats as well to let the fight play out.

It wasn't long before Snowflake had Thunderlane wrapped up again in a choke hold, but Thunderlane just couldn't stop jeering at him.

"She said mine was bigger than yours," he squeaked through a compressing windpipe, "and so did her sister Flitter," again, Snowflake's hold tightened a bit as the black pony added, "at the same time."

"Wait," started Snowflake, releasing his grip, "at the same time?"

"Yep."

"Respect bro," he said, extending a forelimb in the direction of his previous victim.

Thunderlane bumped it, but then the brawl continued from the same place it had left off, with Snowflake immediately constricting Thunderlane into the same hold as before with an added level of violence.

He was able to wriggle a hoof free, and swung it backwards, hitting Snowflake on the snout and prompting him to recoil, allowing enough time for an escape.

Thunderlane danced back and forth in front of Snowflake, dodging haymakers and hooks amidst taunts, which only enraged the stallion more and more.

"Whatcha got?" Thunderlane teased as he connected with a lightning fast jab, setting him up for another jab and another until his opponent was off balance.

That was when Thunderlane put all he had into a single blow; he wound up and leaned into a massive swing landing on Snowflake's left eye.

Snowflake stepped back, and appeared as if he was about to fall, but just as Thunderlane was beginning to celebrate victory, he looked back up and snorted hot air into his face.

The white stallion reared back, preparing a blow of his own. Thunderlane saw it coming.

"Oh sh..." he started, but he was unable to get out of the way.

The hook sent him flying back to the other side of the room, leaving a pony shaped imprint in the wall where he hit.

Meanwhile, back where things were a bit more civilized, the others continued their conversations.

"So, what do you guys find attractive in a mare?" started Lucky, taking a sip from his cider.

"How do you mean?" inquired Doc.

"Alright we'll start simple. Pegasus, unicorn or normal?"

"Earth," came the answer from Noteworthy and Lucky, Mac again, choosing not to respond.

"I don't know," began Doc, stroking his chin, "I've always like pegasi a little more."

"Same," agreed Caramel.

"Alright then, what demographic?" asked Doc amidst the sound of grunts and breaking glass behind them.

Suddenly, Thunderlane flew across the room and landed on the table next to Mac.

Weakly, he reached over and took Mac's forelimb, and croaked, "Help me."

The red stallion only looked down at him and muttered, "Nope," before Snowflake grabbed him by a leg and flung him to the far side of the room again.

Thunderlane landed on the bench press, the bar, with nearly six hundred pounds of bar bells, coming free and landing on his chest.

"Ungh!" he choked, and then began straining with all his might to rid himself of the burden.

He lifted with all his might, moving the bar an inch at a time until finally, he pressed it to the full extent of his forelimbs.

"Check it out!" he yelled triumphantly, only to look up and see Snowflake bull rushing him.

Any hint of satisfaction left his face as he zipped out from underneath the weights, leaving the bar conveniently suspended in mid-air until Snowflake was where he previously was. The bar fell onto Snowflake's back, pinning him to the bar, and Thunderlane didn't waste the opportunity to tease him.

"Well, I guess I've always liked the partiers," admitted Lucky to Caramel, the precarious movements and dances of a jeering black pegasus visible in the background.

"I know a mare you should meet," began Noteworthy, "I wouldn't date her, but man is she wild. Naw, I've had plenty o' mares in my run, but I think I like country girls the best."

"You stay away from my sister," rumbled Big Macintosh, extending a hoof threateningly, but his glare eventually broke into a smile when he saw the terrified look on his friend's face.

They all chuckled a bit, but Mac interrupted to sternly add, "but seriously."

"I suppose I've always liked the ones that need me the most," started Doc reflectively.

"But they're the clingy ones," complained Noteworthy.

"Those are the best kind," interrupted Caramel to his roommate, "I agree with Doc, because you know they'll never leave you."

"How 'bout you brother Mac," started Noteworthy as they heard the barbells clatter to the floor and Thunderlane's cursing choked to a stop, "What do you think?"

The stallion, his drink still in one hoof, waved the other theatrically, and said, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

"And what does that mean to you Mac?" started Caramel, prying for more words.

"It means I like 'em country too."

The others applauded, hoping for an encore from their friend of few words, but all he added was "Eeyup."

Suddenly, a loud crack interrupted their talk, and they all turned to see Snowflake on the floor holding his head and Thunderlane with a broken board in his hooves.

"You just hit him with that?!" asked Lucky concernedly.

"Yeah. I had to. He was winnin...ungh!"

Snowflake was back up in a heartbeat, and had tackled his opponent to the ground and commenced beating him with his hooves before he could finish.

"Should we stop them now?" asked Noteworthy.

"One more question, then we'll head over there," answered Lucky, "Why do you guys come here? I know it's not just to drink and b.s., so what's your motive?"

"I do it because I can be a stallion around you all. I don't have to try and be a gentlecolt like I do around mares, and it's a perfect release," answered Caramel sincerely.

"I guess I come here to be with guys who won't judge me for who I am," started Noteworthy, "I can be me when I'm here, and who I am is a lover, a fighter, a musician, and a bad poker player who likes to have a drink every now and again."

The others nodded in embracing thoughts.

"I'm here cuz it's the one thing I can do off the farm. After a day o' breakin' my back in the fields, I'd rather give it a rest here than anywhere else," explained Mac.

"This is an escape for me," started Lucky, "You guys don't hate me like most of the world does. Granted, I have taken most of the world's money at one point or another, but they despise me for it, and you guys just tip a glass to me for it. I'm accepted here."

"So," started Doc, "I think we can agree that we come here to forget for a while. Whether it's a way to forget about work, our past, ourselves, our lives," he said looking back at the two stallions still contorted in a tumbling mass of hooves and curses, "our lost lovers, and whatever Lane wants to escape from," he reverted his gaze to the four in front of him, "we can all come here and just be what we are for a few hours, and what we are, are stallions."

"Amen," said Mac, lifting his glass to the center of the group.

Five mugs came together in the night's final toast.

Then Lucky said, "Alright, let's get them away from each other; Thunderlane just went limp."