Searching for a Friend.

Thunderclap flew through the forest. "Arpeggio!" He called, "Dammit, Arpeggio!" He continued to look for his friend. "Why did he have to run away?" He sighed. "It would have been better if once I got to Ponyville I just kept on walking." He landed. "All I've done is cause pain for him." He said aloud. He then continued tolook for his friend.

Arpeggio hadn't stopped running; he had just run and run and run since entering the forest; he had a few gashes on him from running through branches but nothing too deep; his sadness and anger kept him from really feeling any sort of pain or exhaustion.

"Dammit... DAMMIT!" He swore to himself, hot tears still running down his cheeks. He didn't stop running until he reached a spot deeper in the forest with several trees; the trees had grown in a way that their roots were practically entwined. Arpeggio crawled under one of the trees, buried his face in his forelegs, and cried; his sobbing wasn't incredibly audible but one could hear it if they listened hard enough.

Thunderclap continued walking through the forest. "Where could he be?" He wondered aloud to himself. He looked around every tree and under every bush. "Dammit." He muttered. "Nothing."

Whiplash walked through the Everfree Forest. Even if other ponies shunned it, he liked the forest. Always something new to learn. Whiplash did a double take as he saw a large blue pegasus walking by. "Not used to seeing other ponies around here. Names Whiplash. Can I be of assistance?" He said, cocking his head.

"Oh, hi." Thunderclap said, surprised. "Ya, I'm looking for my best friend. He ran off, and I can't find him." He said, his voice sad.

"Say no more!" Said Whiplash. "I'll help you look. Can't be too hard to find, right?" He asked, and began to look around. "I'm an archaeologist, finding things is my job." He said, matter of factly.

Arpeggio remained under the tree, his face still buried in his foreleg; he continued to cry until tears wouldn't come anymore. After that happened, he just sobbed, his voice pained.

Whiplash continued to look around. He didn't know what this Arpeggio looked like, but he figured anypony he saw out here would probably be him. Whiplash's thoughts were interrupted by strange noises coming from a nearby tree. "OK Thunderclap, I hear something. Could be your friend, but given this place, it could be something nasty." He said. He pulled out his whip and slowly approached the tree. He looked down to see a large brown pegasus crying on the ground. "Hello there. I'm Whiplash. Need any help?" He asked.

He looked up at Whiplash, his eyes red and puffy from crying. "Dunno. Doubt it's anything you can help me with."

His mane and tail where rather disheveled as well; that coupled with his gashes... all in all, the brown pegasus looked absolutely miserable. He slowly crawled out from the tree, not having noticed the other pony besides them.

"I may not be able to help, but I'll do my best." Whiplash said and removed his saddlebags. He put his whip down and rummaged through his bags. "Like fixing up some of your cuts." He pulled out some bandages and gauss.

Thunderclap walked up next to Whiplash." Um, hi Arpeggio." He said. He wanted to say more but all he could manage was, "I am so sorry."

Arpeggio was thankful to the earth pony fixing up his cuts. "Thank you very much... Whiplash, was it?"

He shot a very angry glare at Thunderclap when the other pegasus got into his view. "Why are you here?"

"Yup, Whiplash. And what was your name?" He asked, bandaging up Arpeggio's scrapes.

"Arpeggio, I came to apologize. Please, please forgive me." He said. He walked closer to Arpeggio. He smiled at his friend.

"I thought you two were supposed to be friends." Said Whiplash, finishing up with Arpeggio. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

He trembled with barely-contained anger as he glared at Thunderclap; his right foreleg tensed. "You... utter... bastard. You break my heart just like that, then expect me to forgive you in the same way?!" He snarled and tensed, as if to swing at Thunderclap again, but stopped. He got right up in Thunder's face, his voice dropping a good octave.

"You listen here and listen good. I meant what I said. I hate both of you right now." He snarled further, his singer's training helping him mimic the Royal Canterlot Voice. "You can burn in Tartarus and take your DAMNED 'SPECIAL SOMEPONY' WITH YOU FOR ALL I CARE!" He shoved Thunderclap back forcefully.

He then turned towards Whiplash. "Put most simply, there was a love triangle and I got my heart utterly broken. THEN he and his marefriend had the gall to pity me and try to 'make nice'." He scoffed. "What a bunch of horseapples."

Thunderclap stepped forward. "Now you listen here mister!" He said, his guilt making way for anger. "You have no place to talk about Spring like that! This is between you and I!" He took a step closer to Arpeggio. "And do you have any clue how selfish you are being? Only thinking of your own feelings!? Not about how I feel, or how Spring feels! I'm glad you haven't met my parents. They would never accept how you act. Compared to me, compared to them, your life has been an absolute walk in the park!" Thunderclap's wings unfolded and stood straight up. "And we did not pity you! We knew how you would feel, and we tried to console you. I care about you! Don't you dare accuse me of feeling any different." He yelled.

Whiplash got tired of the yelling. He picked up his whip and swung it. It created a loud crack. "Hey! Calm down and deal with this as level headed ponies!"

Arpeggio's ears twitched at the whip crack. He took a shaky, still-enraged breath. After calming down sufficiently to keep his voice level, he began to speak.

"It seems clear to me that you still have very little understanding of how relationships work, Thunder. I see crystal clear how you feel and how Spring feels. I can see that you and her are just shy of all over each other; felt like a stab in the damn heart when she kissed you when we all met. Did you not see this outcome? I would think that you'd be able to tell that consolation wouldn't help me."

He took a step back, giving the other pegasus a disgusted look. "Oh, I make no claims of my life being worse than yours or your parents'. You and Spring should consider yourselves damn lucky that you've never had to experience utter heartbreak. It sucks. It feels like a stab in the heart, gut, and back. Cold and icy."

He turned towards Whiplash. "Is that level-headed enough?"

"Just shy of all over each other?" Thunderclap said, his anger boiling to a fury, "You are one to talk! You couldn't keep your hooves off of me!" He walked up closer to Arpeggio, ignoring the whip's crack. "And you may not have said your life is worse, but you sure are acting like it! 'Oh woe is me!' And such." Thunderclap started breathing heavily. "And I do know heartbreak. You didn't have to watch your best friend die when you were a foal!!" He yelled, not caring who heard. "So don't you dare talk down to me about loss and heartbreak."

Whiplash stood off to the side, trying to figure out what to do.

"Y'know what? I didn't hear you telling me to stop, Thunder. I gladly would've if you had."

Arpeggio didn't give any ground, staying icily cool even as Thunderclap yelled at him. "Unfortunate though it is that your best friend died, at the least you have the happy memories with him to cherish."

He remained silent for a while, looking directly into Thunderclap's eyes. "Be happy that you have those memories. I would've given anything growing up for just one friend that I could've made happy memories with."

"That's why this cut me so deeply. You were the first I'd ever been able to consider a true friend. I admired your fortitude, your kindness, and willpower more than anything else. I loved you. Buck me with a rusty jagged spear for it, but I still do despite all this."

He turned his back to Thunderclap. "I didn't just lose a stallion who I loved, the first and likely one of the few ponies I probably ever will love. I also lost my best and only true friend. So don't you dare try and downplay this."

"You have not lost me. I am still your friend. Through thick and thin. I am, and forever will be, your friend." He said, more quite now. "When did I say I wasn't your friend? When did I push you away? I never. I am still your friend. The fact I ran into a forest looking for you is a testament to that." He stepped closer. "I promised I would never leave you and I stand by that promise."

"...Thunderclap... I'm sorry, but... what happened before I ran here... that's when. We can't stay friends... not after this." He hung his head slightly. "I'm sorry... I'll help you find a home of your own... you can't stay at my home anymore. It's no fault of yours... I'm just a damned overemotional stallion... who'd always want for what he could never have." His voice began to crack, tears welling up in his eyes. "I'm not worth it. You could do far better for friends than me and should. You shouldn't have come after me, Thunderclap... I'm a pathetic stallion... I don't deserve to be loved; not after this... how I acted..."

The dam broke. He sat down on his haunches, beginning to sob again. "...And here I thought... that'd I'd already cried myself out..." Fresh tears began dripping down his cheeks. "_...Dammit..."

Thunderclap shook his head. "Nope, sorry. I can't take that as an answer. I promised nothing would desperate us, and nothing will. You want me out of your house? You'll have to move me yourself. You are still my friend, no matter what." He sat down next to Arpeggio. "And I promise that I will not leave you until I have fixed this problem. I swear this." He said.

Whiplash walked up to the two pegasi. "I would take him up on his offer. Ignoring or distancing yourself from the problem won't work. It'll just fester inside you and make everything miserable. You gotta face your problems head on."

"...D-Dammit, what can I do?! Thunder, I can't just lock away my feelings for you!" He looked at the blue pegasus, tears running down his cheeks. "I'm an absolute emotional wreck right now! Why?! ...Why do you care so much about me? About someone who hates your relationship... who hates your marefriend?! If I see you two together, I'll feel ill, I know I will..."

At Whiplash's statement, Arpeggio grimaced slightly. "That's easy enough to say, but what can I do? I don't have a damn clue how to deal with this!"

Whiplash nodded. "Exactly! You don't know how to deal with it! That's the first step! You realize that you can't do it. At least not on your own." He sat down as well. "If I may make a suggestion, is that you two need some time apart from each other. Let things sink in, gather your thoughts. An emotional state is not a good one for thinking." He said.

"So what'll we do? Thunderclap's currently living as my roommate; I'd see him practically every day. Not to mention the Gala!"

Arpeggio groaned, hugging Thunderclap tightly. "...I'm such a damned fool... I'm so sorry I broke my promise to you... I can't see either you or her for a while... especially her."

"Ugh... what can we do?" He turned towards Whiplash. "Any suggestions?"

"Well, I don't know what the Gala has to do with anything, but Thunder will need to find a different place to stay. He seems like a resourceful pony, I'm sure he'll figure something out." Whiplash turned to Arpeggio. "You. Get out. Make friends. Spend as much time as you can with them. It seems to me that a lot of this pain is also coming from Thunder being your only close friend."

"Ha! I'll just sleep out under the stars, like I always do." He said. "I'll just go get my things and go set up camp."

"The Gala... I'm singing there as a guest performer; I invited Thunderclap to go with me as my 'plus one' with my invitation; this was before this whole issue arose..."

He sighed. "Guess that duet probably won't be happening, then, unless I can sort myself out before then... Well... I'm also going to need to avoid Spring Shower like the plague. Be sure you tell her that, Thunder. ...I have a lot of anger directed at her right now and I highly highly doubt that's going to change any time soon."

Arpeggio thought for a bit. "...I should chat with Moon Whistle more... she needs to know about this, anyway; she and I had a spa treatment together before this mess happened."

He sighed. "...Above all else... right now, I need to sleep. Two emotional breakdowns in a day isn't good for your health..." Arpeggio seemed completely exhausted, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

"Yes, go rest." Whiplash said. "And you said you can find a place to stay Thunderclap? Good" He patted both ponies on the back. "Go your seperate ways. I'll act as a go between. When you want to see each other again, come find me. I live in a house by the library. If I'm not there, I'll be in the library studying."

Arpeggio stood up, nodding at Whiplash. "Alright..." He began walking back home, his heart quite heavy.

He couldn't really help it; between what happened earlier and this, he felt absolutely miserable.

Thunderclap stood up silently. He slowly walked out of the forest, wondering what to do.