Whispering Thunder (In dedication to a good friend)

"Ponyville" Thunderwolf thought to himself, "Friendship... happiness" he kept thinking as he looked back at his wings. "That's right... I'm a pegasus" he thought as he opened his wings. They were as large as an alicorn's wings.

Thunderwolf never flew before. He never tried because when he opened his wings, all of the other fillies and colts would point and laugh because of his oddly large wings. Even if he was to fly, they would call him a flying rat because he was part bat pony.

"I can't fly, I couldn't before, and I won't ever..." Thunderwolf said to himself as he closed his wings and continued to walk.

The day soon faded to night, and he was so far from home, he wasn't able to see the mountains. The open land with not as many obstructions as he grew up with filled him with awe as the smiling moon castes its faint blue glow upon the land. Thunderwolf began to get sleepy, so he looked for a suitable place to sleep, but there was no decent land structure. He looked around awhile longer, till his stamina gave out. He fell gave up the fight and lied next to the path and slowly fell asleep. Thoughts of his parents and the life he had before ran through his mind. Though many were painful, he kept digging for the good times. A voice called to him. A very familiar voice that he remembered. One that made him check under his wing to make sure he still held on to a special object, and he did. The voice was calling to calm him, to stop the tears that fell as the sad memories haunted him. He then fully remembered the voice, and he was so relieved and happy that he had no problem falling asleep with a smile. "Autumn..."

The sun rose, casting its harsh summer rays upon the land. Thunderwolf's thirst was now clenching, and as just a little colt, how was he supposed to know anything about survival. He picked the object up and started walking to hopefully find a source of water. His hunger started to tug at him as well, but he didn't slow his pace. Thunderwolf kept thinking and thinking about how his life used to be, but he was too thirsty to cry any more tears, so he just cried on the inside.

He kept pulling himself. His vision was blurred. Thirst. He was scared. Water. He couldn't think straight. Hope. Thunderwolf dropped the object and his hooves gave out from under him. Hunger. He lied there, as he saw two black figures circle in the sky above. Exhaustion. The hot, bright new world faded to a cold, black nothingness.

"Thump, clop, squeak, rumble, tumble" Thunderwolf awoke to the sound of a wagon and the hoof steps of another pony. He opened his dry, crusted eyes to see that he was lying in a wooden wagon that was filled with wheat and various fruits like apples and mangoes. Thunderwolf sat up, still dizzy from hunger and the after effect of thirst. He had an IV connected to him, but it looks like it wasn't put in by a professional. Thunderwolf looked forward to see the back of a large, dirty brown stallion pulling the wagon. He had a dirty sweat and dirt smell and a few other foul smells.

"Uhh, excuse me mister" Thunderwolf spoke

"Hmm" the stallion said, not even looking back

"Thank you for helping me"

The stallion just continued with his business. Thunderwolf looked down and noticed he was chained to the wagon. He pulled and struggled, but it was pointless, the metal wouldn't budge.

"You better quite down back there. I'm thinkin, and your not gonna disturb me" the stallion said with a snap.

Thunderwolf was scared and didn't know what he got himself into... but he wanted out. After a long, silent travel, they arrived at a small camp. There were four other ponies and they all looked frail and dirty, though they were posted near a lake and had plenty of food.

"Alright boys, I've found us a 'friend' who will 'help' us with our chores to work off the life debt he owns us" the stallion said.

The most frail, most dirty pony spoke up, "Wow Rough Edge, that's one hell of a catch"

Thunderwolf gasped at the foul language they used, for that no pony back home used that kind of language, not even old ponies or lower classed. One of the other ponies climbed up on the wagon and got close, like real close to the point his nose was a centimeter away from Thunderwolf's. He looked into his eyes with a killer expression on his face for a good ten seconds.

"Yeah, he ain't nothin. Just a lowly mountain pony" he said, turning around, wiping Thunderwolf in the face with his tail making Thunderwolf tumble over the chains.

The other ponies laughed.

The third pony spoke, "Alright Bullseye, that's enough, don't wanna beat him too bad, then he can't work off his debt"

Bullseye snapped back, "Don't you go tellin me what to do Rust now ya hear" he said with a hoof up, signaling to fight.

Thunderwolf couldn't believe it, this was friendship? Well, it was the longest anypony kept him around, even if it was against his will.

"Rough Edge, what in the flying rat hell did you do for three days" Bullseye said, kicking the mangoes and apples at Thunderwolf. "Is this sorry shit an excuse for a three-day haul"

Rough Edge dismounted the wagon and walked to one of the tents, "Well, the damn village that was just found in the mountains that I was goin to steal from was already being raided, so I brought home what I had" he said, disappearing into the tent.

Rust gathered all of the supplies from the wagon and took it into the same tent as Bullseye followed, leaving Thunderwolf alone with nothing but the open wagon and the IV, which was now detached and across the path. A cracking thunder boomed from above, startling Thunderwolf making the back of his coat stand straight up. Though thunder was in his name, he was horribly terrified of it. He jumped out the wagon, only to be restrained by the metal cuff and chain. Thunderwolf hid under the wagon with his hoof being forced in the air because the chain was too short.

Boom. Crackle. Bang. Rumble. Thunderwolf endured the harsh conditions of the storm. With each thunder boom, it shook Thunderwolf's body. Hours have passed with no stop, and he shivered both from the cold, and the terrifying streaks and sounds of death that roared above. Thunderwolf was sleepy, but the conditions forced him awake. The next day. Thunderwolf was finally asleep, but with horrible nightmares... Almost just like a kick when he was down.

"Alright now, get up" Rough Edge said standing, looking at the chain leading to Thunderwolf's forced-levitated hoof. Thunderwolf slowly opened his eyes, still sleep deprived, but he still listened.

"I said, Get Up!" Rough Edge said, kicking the mud in Thunderwolf's face, causing him to shoot up, hitting his head on the bottom of the wagon.

Thunderwolf yelped, but then he quickly corrected himself, making sure his new friend did seem him as weird like the rest. Rough Edge yanked the chain, pulling Thunderwolf out, stumbling over his front hoof, but being held up by the chain.

"Come on little friend, I need a little favor from you" Rough Edge said, in a sarcastic tone that Thunderwolf believed it was him really calling Thunderwolf his friend.

Thunderwolf smiled, and he brushed off all of what happened before. The night before was an honest accident, and when he woke him up, it was because he should've gotten up faster... at least what Thunderwolf thought.

Rough Edge unlocked the cuff from Thunderwolf's hoof and pointed to a horribly managed crop plot. Thunderwolf was skilled in plants, but it was in such bad condition, that he couldn't make out what plants they were trying to grow. Thunderwolf went and started to pull weeds and rough up the dirt. Thunderwolf had to completely remove the grass and stir up the dirt to bring out the healthy dirt for planting. Rough Edge didn't understand, but he was too lazy to care. He sat at the entrance of the plot keeping post. Later, Rough Edge was asleep. He felt a light tap on his shoulder and awoke to see Thunderwolf, dirty and exhausted. The whole plot was professionally refined, and it looked healthy as ever. Rough Edge blinked, not even noticing his mouth was dropped open. Thunderwolf smiled at his friend's reaction. Rough Edge shook his head to snap back to the situation.

"Alright, not bad" Rough Edge said. Rough Edge turned around and stretched with uncivilized grunts and fluctuates. "Follow me buddy" Rough Edge said, putting emphasis on 'buddy'.

The sun was setting and Thunderwolf sat patiently at the wagon with the cuff chained to his hoof staring at the tent with his head slightly tilted, confused waiting for Rough Edge to come back to tell Thunderwolf what Rough Edge wanted to say to him. Rough Edge appeared out from the tent as he brought Thunderwolf a thin, dirty sheet of cloth and dropped it in front of him.

"Here boy, keep doin us favors and you'll pay off your debt in no time" Rough Edge said.

Thunderwolf smiled as he picked up the cloth that was covered in dirt and stains. Rough Edge turned around, and Thunderwolf flinched at his tail, but there was no contact. Thunderwolf opened his eyes and Rough Edge already disappeared into the tent. Thunderwolf took the cloth an looked up at the wagon and sighed.

"Still to high" he said as he crawled under the wagon an snuggled into the blanket. Thunderwolf was hungry, but hydrated because before Rough Edge chained him to the wagon, he brought a rusty bowl of water, and he said "Once I see plants breaking the surface, then you'll get to eat, but not ever till then".

Thunderwolf knew this seemed cruel, but he thought it was just one of those hard games with difficult rules that the other fillies and colts used to do when they play pretend. Thunderwolf smiled and hugged the cloth and slowly fell asleep. Thunderwolf's torture and mistreatment continued for months and years. Thunderwolf finally worked his way to getting his own tent. It was tattered and wasn't very much of an improvement from living under the wagon, but he was thankful for what he had, and continued to think of the ponies as friends. Thunderwolf was abruptly pulled from his peaceful sleep from the cold chilling splash of a pale of water thrown by Rough Edge.

"Wake up boy, time to get back to work" Rough Edge said, unlocking the same rusty chain that has kept Thunderwolf captured from the beginning.

Thunderwolf shook the water off, again followed by a correction, trying to not show any wolf traits. He followed Rough Edge to a rusty tub.

"I want this filled to the brim with warm pure water"

Thunderwolf's eyes widened, "That much?!"

Rough Edge's eye twitched, "what" he said at a low tone, "What boy!" He said a loud and hostile tone. "What did I say-" he said as he picked up his hoof "'bout talkin back boy!" He said as his hoof collided with Thunderwolf's face; The force causing him to slam to the ground.

Thunderwolf groaned stayed down as he opened his eyes, scarily looking up at the beast that stood over him. Though it took quite some time for him to realize, Thunderwolf knew this was no friendship, this was slavery.

"Now get up and do what I say, you hear" he said picking up his hoof again, "If you know what's the best for ya"

Thunderwolf began the process of purifying the lake water by making a fire and collecting the steam into a bowl. The process was painfully slow and he got burned a lot, but he managed to fill the whole tub with pure, warm water, only taking the whole morning till midnight.

Thunderwolf smiled and wiped his head and called for Rough Edge, "The bath is ready!" Rough Edge appeared from their tent and walked to the tub.

Rough Edge examined the tub, then took a sip, "Hmm" he said as he put his hoof in the water, making a dirt cloud spread from one end to the other because of the excessive amount of dirt that was dried on his coat. He pulled back and grumbled and yelled, "Ain't good enough!" as he turned away from the tub, rose his hind hooves and bucked the tub, spilling all of the warm water Thunderwolf worked so hard for on Thunderwolf and causing the tub to land on him.

The water was sudden and most of it was still trapped, causing Thunderwolf to be trapped under the tub with little air. Kicking and struggling, Thunderwolf managed to lift the tub, draining the water, and afterwards lifting the tub upside to escape. Thunderwolf crawled and coughed up water as if he breathed a gallon of water. Thunderwolf coughed some more and wheezed for air, then passed out. Rough Edge laughed the whole time hierarchically, but then when he noticed Thunderwolf wasn't moving, he walked over and stomped his Thunderwolf's back, causing him to cough up more water as he screamed of pain.

"Get the hell up boy" he said as he forced Thunderwolf up, "Because you did a shit job, you ain't eatin' for the rest of the week or drinking till tomorrow night because you drank the bath water" Rough Edge pulled Thunderwolf to the crop plot and chained his hoof to a long chain, "Now I want every single plant picked, ripe or not"

Thunderwolf picked at the plants and waited till Rough Edge disappeared into the tent and fell to the ground and started to cry. Thunderwolf was still shocked from the near death experience and was still in pain from the back aching stop from Rough Edge. Thunderwolf, after what seemed like two years, finally came to the self agreement that these were bad friends, and he wanted out... but how is the question in mind. The next morning, Thunderwolf awoke to the foot steps of Rough Edge that Thunderwolf has grown to fear and stood straight up. Rough Edge glared at Thunderwolf, trembling within his own skin, then at the plot, speckled with seeds with a pile of freshly picked plants.

He glared back at Thunderwolf and grumbled, "Hmm, okay" he said, unlocking Thunderwolf's shackle, "Now come, your gonna clean my tub up after you made that mess" Thunderwolf's heart raced.

He thought out a plan for escape, but he needed something to distract him. As he noticed Rust and Bullseye appear over the horizon with the wagon, his plan began to become more and more distorted and complicated and success seemed even more vague.

"Rough Edge, you puttin that boy to work?" Bullseye said as he unmounted the wagon.

Thunderwolf stayed back plotting while they talked about the next cruel task they'll force Thunderwolf to do. Thunderwolf thought and thought, but he couldn't think of an idea to distract them. Eventually, his time ran out.