(The main Storyline of Locked Out of Time. Created by Thunder Soprano and Sonari Neirrachen.)
Chapter 1… Differences...
The night was young, and there was nopony in the PIT University park. Well, except for those two stallions over there, fighting over bits. But this story has nothing to do with them. Oh, nevermind. It has everything to do with them!
“Where’s my money? You stupid foal, you said you’d bring it, and guess what!? You’re empty hoofed! AGAIN!” This stallion’s name is Thunder Soprano. A strange pony with a flaming semiquaver for a cutiemark, an orange coat with a blue and red mane and tail.
“Why would I give to anypony with the likes of you?! You’re just a deceitful lit-”
“NO! You owe me, Sonari. You know you do.” He interrupted and threatened Sonari as he trotted forward with a very displeased look on his face. They were muzzle to muzzle, and Sonari shifted his weight uncomfortably.
“You owe me the bits, and you’re a month late! You’ve gone too far, and now you’ve pissed me off, so right now, you’re gonna pay the price. Doubled,” He whispered harshly; he meant business, and those who thought he wouldn’t come through with his greatest threats were so wrong.
Sonari barely replied, “I don’t have six hundred bits! Not even fifty!” Now. This stallion’s name is Sonari Neiracchen. A very kind pony most of the time, and when I say most of the time I mean all the time.
“How do you even-Nevermind. I am not leaving you alone until I have my bits, and I’ll do what is necessary to get them. Is that understood?” Thunder said in a deep, threatening voice.
“Yes! Just- Please don’t hurt me!” He pleaded, although it was clear that Thunder wasn’t listening.
“I said I will do what is necessary.” He replied back, with a look of hatred and disgust.
“Y- You know what will happen if you hurt me! You’ll be kicked out of your dorm!” He was trotting backwards rapidly to avoid the oncoming storm.
“Does it look like I care?!” He yelled, merely a few inches away from his muzzle. “And since nopony else is around…” Thunder said with a look in his eyes that could cut through stone.
“Please! Thunder, you don’t have to do this!” He whimpered, softly. “I’ll pay you next week! Tomorrow even!”
Sonari’s dark red coat looked almost pitch-black in the dim streetlight, and his messy, light green and blue mane was covering his tarnished, golden eyes. Although Thunder could barely see them , he knew he was scared, and understood why. Normally, Thunder was a quiet pony, and never sat with anypony because he’s never had a true friend. All the friends he did have simply left him for the popular ponies.
He decided it was enough, but he had to make sure. “We both know that won’t happen, Sonari.” He said as he trotted away. But before turning the corner, he swiftly jerked back around to say one final thing to him. “You’re going down,. Bits or not, you are dead! Can you fit that into your small little pony head?” He turned around and trotted away, leaving Sonari to himself.
Sonari yelled at his back, “I’m sorry! Damnit Thunder…” He sighed as tears formed in his eyes. He simply sat there, muttering to himself. “You really bucked up this time. You finally get over Callisto, and now this?!” He started to cry, tears, running down his muzzle and dropping onto the ruffled grass beneath him. “I never wanted to be this type of pony. What happened to me?!” He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his emotions. In that moment, it felt like Equestria stood still. “Well. I better get home and figure out how to get six hundred bits in two days flat.”
THE NEXT DAY
“Okay, everypony. Pages 956 and 957 are due tomorrow. And if you don’t stop throwing paper balls I will give you all detentions,” the class teacher, Professor Phyllis said calmly after the class had ended. As for Thunder, he stayed behind just to talk with Sonari.
“Hey, Sonari…” Thunder said, as he slowly made his way towards him, trying not to look aggressive, but obviously failing.
“What do you want? I’m busy.” He replied in a half-arsed sort of way.
“L- look. I don’t want to be here either, honestly!” He stuttered, shyly. “I just want to talk while the class is go-”
“You wanna say something? Go ahead. I really don’t give a shit! This work won’t get itself done.” He looked up at Thunder, tears forming in the side of his eyes from a vicious mixture of stress, hatred, and sheer aggression.
“Look.” Thunder said, as he closed Sonari’s textbook. “I understand if you can’t get the bits in time! I’ll forget this ever happened if you pay by Tuesday!” He was being sincere. He didn’t want to hurt him, he really didn’t, but he had a reputation to uphold and disloyalty doesn’t slide with Thunder.
“Fine.” He said as he opened up his book again, but he ripped a few pages in doing so. “Bucking hell. The book is evil I say, just like you! And why do I feel so suspicious about this situation?” he said in a monotonous tone.
“Because, the last time we were alone, I said I’d kill you.”
“Oh, haha. Yeah.” He was not amused, not at all.
He closed Sonari’s book again. “Sonari! All I want to say is that I am truly sorry…” He bucked up and he let the angers of his past out at the wrong time. “I’ve been under a lot of stress lately. My family is leaving me to fend for myself, the attacks on the news, the oncoming tests! And that’s only the start… I have nopony to really help me through this. I get kind of reactive… ”
“Fine. I ‘forgive’ you,” he said, taking in his heart felt words of apology. “Tuesday it is.”
“Hoofbump?” He didn’t really know if that was an appropriate time, but he held out his hoof anyway.
“Fine. It is just a hoof. You won’t kill me after this, I hope.” He outstretched his hoof and tapped it lightly against Thunder’s.
There was a short silence where Sonari opened up his book and started working again.
“You still don’t trust me, do you?” Thunder said, breaking the awkward pause.
“Why in Tartarus would I?! You got me into this mess, and all you’ve done since is threaten me!” Perhaps he was being overly-assertive, but he made a really good point, nonetheless.
“Okay! Okay, I understand that. But I promise that things will change if you stick with me.” Thunder said, unknowing of the irony in the events to come.
The following Tuesday…
“Well. I’m here, at the set time, with the money.” Sonari said as he slowly trotted up to the park, where not even a week ago, Thunder had threatened to kill him. Thunder, however was already there sitting down looking into space. Confused as to why he was like this, Sonari tried to snap him out of it. “Thunder? Hey!”
“Oh- Hi Sonari, didn’t notice you were here…” Thunder said, looking up at Sonari for a second then looking back into space. “Do you have the money?” He asked in a somewhat neutral tone.
“Right… Here.” He said as he grabbed a small satchel out of his saddle bag and tossed it onto the ground in front of Thunder. Thunder looked down and was astonished at how many bits there were inside it.
“What?! How did you come up with this much?!” He replied as he looked at the money with a wide-eyed expression.
“Uhh… Not, legally,” he replied as he sat down a few feet away.
“What did you do?” He said, looking up to Sonari. “Y- you didn’t rob a bank, did you?” He asked, his eyes filled with concern. “I swear to Celestia if yo-”
“What? No! I would never do that! Geez.” He said it with confidence, but then frowned as to what he actually did. “I stole it from my parents’ bank account. I‘ll put it all back in when I find a job, I promise.” He crossed his heart solemnly.
“W- wow. I didn’t kn- know you would even try to do that!” He stuttered. This was the first time anypony did something like this for him.
“So this means we won’t have any more interactions between each other. Right?” He said, but Thunder went back into staring into space with a worried expression on his face.
Desperately trying to get an answer, he yelled “Hey! Thunder! You okay? Are we cool now?” He waved a hoof in front of his eyes to regain his attention.
“Huh- Oh, yeah! I’m just anxious. That’s all…” He said, looking at Sonari, deep in the eyes. Thunder had dark bags under his eyes, looking like he hadn’t had sleep in a long while. He couldn’t really see his eyes that night because it was dark and in class his mane usually covered them.
“Uhh… Anxious about what? Look at this weather! It’s a beautiful day!” He said as he looked around with a half-smile on his face.
“Well, what about the news-” He was interrupted by the abrupt screeches of the university bells.
“Celestia damnit! Ahem! Anyways, as I was saying-”
“Sorry Thunder, I really gotta get to class.” Sonari bolted through the university doors, and sharply turned a corner and accidentally ran right into somepony.
“Hey! Watch where you’re trotting, dumbflank!” Sonari shouted before picking up his books with his teeth and putting them back in his saddlebags. “Agh, and of course! Nopony is around to help up Sonari after he falls. Typical! Of all the dumbest-”
Outside, Thunder was enjoying the ambient sounds of everypony’s conversations when they all stopped abruptly. He looked back down towards where everypony used to be. He snapped out of his daydream and instantly knew something was up.
The front university doors opened once again and quickly fell off their hinges after Thunder burst through, yelling through lost breath.
“Sonari! You need to run, now!” He screamed as he galloped towards Sonari. “C’mon! I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s bad, and we need to run!”
“Run! Run from what? I said I was late for class, you idiot!” He said as Thunder whizzed by him. “What in Celestia’s name is your problem?”
“Take a freakin’ look behind you!” He said as he continued to gallop through the corridor.
“What? I don’t see anypo- Huh. I just got a sense of Deja vu.” He said, oblivious to Thunder’s meaning.
“Oh Celes- The halls were packed just a second ago!” Thunder yelled, quickly losing his patience with a confused Sonari.
“Luna, damnit! GET THAT RUMP OF YOURS MOVING!!! NOW!”
“Ugh, Thunder. I don’t have time for this. They’re all in class. I really need to g-”
“DO YOU SEE ANY CLASSROOMS??? WE ARE IN THE OPENING CORRIDOR! THERE ARE NO CLASSROOMS HERE!”
“Right. Good point… But wait a second. If all the other ponies are disappearing, then where do we go?”
That was a good question. But it didn’t matter to Thunder.
“Just go! We have to get outta here fast!” He simply sped up, running to the other side of the building, adrenaline already pumping through his veins. The look in his eyes was a look of somepony who knew that their lives were going to change, for better, or for worse…
/[(/\OoO/)]/\
Author's Note
Oh my gosh! This was so much fun to write! I hope you enjoy this story that my friend and I created. It was originally going to be a radio play, but, we couldn't get enough people to help us with voices. But! This story is going to go on for a while, thanks to my friend and I's stupidity. We created over 10 acts worth of story and plot, and we haven't recorded a single line for it! So, prepare for a year of LOoTing!
~ThunderS.
Check out his YT channel at: SonariNeiracchen
And mine at: ThunderSoprano