"But Thunderlane, why can't I go with you?"

"I'm sorry Rumble, but you just can't."

The charcoal stallion was half way out the door, but his younger brother simply wouldn't let him leave.

"It's not fair! I don't want to stay here while you get to go out and have fun."

"I thought you said you like it when Flitter and Cloudchaser watch you," said Thunderlane, nodding to the two mares on either side of his brother.

"Yeah, come on Rumble. We can have just as much fun here. What do you want to do?" inquired Flitter, nuzzling the tiny foal maternally.

"I want to have a guy's night like him."

"Well, we can't do that; we're not guys," said Cloudchaser playfully.

"Tell you what," prepositioned Thunderlane, kneeling down to eyelevel with his sibling, "Tomorrow, we'll have our own guys' night, just you and me. Sound good?"

Rumble seemed to consider the offer like a business proposal, working over whether or not to allow his brother to leave, but he eventually nodded, saying, "Deal."

"Cool."

The black stallion playfully mussed Rumble's hair, drawing a smile from the foal.

Then, he turned to his brothers' foalsitters, "There' food and cider in the fridge if you want some. I'll pay you when I get back later."

"Oh forget that Lane," commanded Flitter, "You don't need to pay us."

"Yeah, just go. Have some fun. Heaven knows you've done enough for us," said Cloudchaser playfully elbowing the stallion's ribs.

Thunderlane gave a smile, and then pushed through the door, leaving it swinging on its hinges.

Thunderlane cruised above Ponyville, flying towards the edge of town. The house he was headed for was secluded, and was marked by its lonely lights standing out in the darkness of the young night.

He descended from the stars to the house's front porch, the laughter and noise from within growing louder as he drew nearer. Thunderlane found a smile growing on him in preparation of a good time, and leaned into the door, entering the house.

He was nearly blown back outside by a thunderous "Wazzap!" from all within.

Upon regaining his footing and slowing his heart rate, Thunderlane looked around the interior of the room. He was one of the last to show, and nearly every stallion who frequented these get-togethers was already present.

The house was simple enough, but it had plenty of things guys tended to universally like, such as a bar, a set of weights in the corner, a poker table and a massive, flat screen t.v.

Big Macintosh was seated on a stool at the wooden counter, and had stopped drinking from a mug of sweet cider to greet the dark pegasus . Noteworthy had taken up his usual seat in an armchair in the corner, Caramel in the seat next to him chatting away. The dark blue earth pony was strumming out notes contentedly on his ever-present guitar, and was smiling with each hit of the string. Snowflake, the owner of the bachelor's pad, had stopped chatting with Lucky Clover near the weights to give a sort of intense, glaring smile his way.

"Is everyone here already?" asked Thunderlane, still recovering from the enthusiastic greeting.

"Naw, Time Turner ain't here yet. We're just waitin' on him now," explained Noteworthy as he struck a resounding chord.

Thunderlane took a seat next to Mac at the bar, and poured himself a tall glass of cider.

"He's always the last one to show isn't he?" asked Caramel in a gruff baritone.

"Eeyup."

Thunderlane chuckled a bit as he took his first drink. Big Mac always came to these get-togethers, and yet, he almost never spoke on his own. They had to pry to get him to say a complete sentence in the past, and even then, it only consisted of a few words. Drinking didn't help the cause either; the draft horse could hold his cider better than all the others at the gathering combined.

None of the stallions were willing to start festivities without everypony there, and with the impending arrival of Time Turner, they all simply bummed around, waiting for the door to open and reveal the brown pony. So, Thunderlane, still sipping his cider conservatively, scanned the room, remembering each and every one of his friends present that he only wished he got to see more often.

Caramel's deep laugh seized his attention, and he began reminiscing about all the memories he had of him. The light brown earth pony was famed in Ponyville for his mane, which was universally regarded as nothing less than glorious. Rumor had it that he brushed it one hundred times a day. Personality-wise, he was a decent guy, just like the rest of them, and apart from being infamously forgetful, he didn't really have any issues. On a different subject, the stallion worked as a smith, making horseshoes in a shop next to Carousel boutique, where he lived with his seasonal roommate Noteworthy.

Noteworthy. The dark blue stallion was still strumming his six-string. His swept back mane was cut short and had a nearly spiky appearance, but it worked for him. After all, every mare between Ponyville and Appleloosa knew of him. The stud was an infamous heartbreaker who split his time between the two towns, playing in a jazz band in Ponyville and living the quiet life in Appleloosa during the summer. He had been coming to guys' night for years, but this was one of the first times he had been since he returned from the southern town he had been staying in for a few months.

And then there was Snowflake, Ponyville's resident meathead. He was a good guy, and he was nice enough to offer his home as the cite for guys' night, but he was excessively masculine at times. He had muscles to rival a minotaur, but his foal-sized wings were a root cause of his self-image issues. He made up for his tiny appendages with excessive steroids, which nopony dared to confront him on. Regardless, he had achieved somewhat of an alpha status accompanied by widespread respect among stallions at the gym.

One of the stallions that he had won the respect of was Lucky Clover, better known as Lucky. He acquired the alias through the depiction of a clover on his flank and his gambling prowess. He was infamously good at beating the worst odds in any game, and it had become the root source of his income. Rumor had it that he had never guessed wrong at the roulette wheel, and he was close to unbeatable at poker. He had gained an intense friendship with Snowflake after the pegasus used his bulk to bail him out of a tight spot in Las Pegasus over a game of cards and one too many cocktails. Lucky spent most of his time there, as it was most beneficial to his wealth due to the casinos being bigger and more fun to beat at Black Jack, but they all looked forward to his time spent in Ponyville.

Suddenly, a breeze blew in as the door opened.

"WAZZAP!"

The burst of hot air exerted by the cumulative release of breath from all within blew the earth pony back outside. Eventually, Time Turner, his swept back mane displaced by the gust of breath and his green scarf blown around his neck in a fashion not unlike that of a noose, dragged himself back inside the house.

"Why do you do that every time?"

"Relax Turner," said Lucky, his voice the highest pitched of the group, from his chair near the poker table, "we're just saying hello."

"Well, next time, say hello a bit quieter. I'd prefer to keep my eardrums. And please, I'd rather you call me Doctor."

"Alright Doc," agreed Lucky sarcastically, "and, what's your PhD in again?"

"Metaphysical Inter-Dimensional Theoretical Progressive Quantum Mechanics, better known as time."

Thunderlane couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Time Turner, or Doctor as he preferred to be called for reasons unknown, was the most profound member of their little clique. He had employment as the official timekeeper of Ponyville, but he took his job very seriously, to the point of taking frequent astronomical observations to check the clock tower's accuracy to within one hundredth of a second. He was the most sophisticated, almost excessively so, stallion any of them knew, from his dress to his speaking style, and prided himself on being a gentelcolt, but he wasn't above having fun.

"Alright! The boys are back ya'll!" sang Noteworthy as he rose from the chair energetically, "We're all here, we're all right, now let's murder some brain cells!"

The stallion got up and helped himself to seven mugs, filling them each to the brim from a tap on the inside of the bar counter as each stallion took a seat on a stool. He slid the cups down the countertop and everypony caught one.

"To us," said Caramel, raising his glass, "The Bachelors of Ponyville."

"Ow Ow!" added Noteworthy as seven mugs clinked together in unison, and the first official drink of guy's night disappeared down the hatch.

"Ah, now what lads?" inquired Time Turner after licking his lips clean of his drink's foam.

"What do you mean? We party! Now let's drink!" said Noteworthy, perhaps a bit amped up from all the testosterone in the room.

"YEEE-AAAH!" added Snowflake.

"Wait," interrupted Caramel before the others could down a second cup, "I have a better idea."

Author's Notes:

So, this is an idea I had when I started thinking about what the stallions in Ponyville might do. After all, they need friends too. I hope you guys like it. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think. Thanks.