//------------------------------// // Surprise! // Story: Mixing Colors // by Lyssa //------------------------------// The next morning, before I was up I felt a warm-ish breeze on my cheeks. Whatever I was laying on felt funny- wasn't I in a bed? No, a chair, my groggy, sleepy mind managed to put together. I was down here with Braeburn. So most likely the breeze wasn't a draft, it was Braeburn. I snuggled into the cuddly little crook between the chairs, still lost in pleasant, lucid sleep. What I wouldn't give to have him all mine, my stallionfriend, my Very Special Somepony... My own thoughts startled me a bit. I didn't even realize how much I liked him, how badly I wanted him, until my sleep-addled brain revealed it to me, and frankly, it was startling. In fact, it startled me so much my eyes fluttered open. Staring at me were two bright emerald orbs. "Surprise!" Yelled Braeburn. "AHHH!" I screamed, jumping in... Well, surprise, right off the back of my chair and onto the dusty wood floor. I landed, thankfully, on my belly, so no real injuries (especially to my bad wing). I groaned at the sudden awakening and fall and reluctantly picked myself back up. For the third time that week, I found myself muzzle to muzzle with Braeburn. "Say, ain't we met like this before?" He asked, his relaxed green eyes looking straight into mine. I blushed and smiled shyly, but he maintained the same amused smirk. I giggled nervously at his ever-closeness. "W-what was the surprise?" I stuttered. "You may wanna sit down for this," he told me, his eyes still holding a happy sparkle. I unceremoniously plomped my flank down on the chair I'd been sleeping on. "Come on, Braeburn, don't leave me hanging!" He took a deep breath. "Somefriends'aminearecomin'ifromPonyvillenforashortstayandthey'rerealimportantsothetrain'scomin'early!" What. I understood maybe 5 words of that. "Braeburn! Geez, slow down. It sounds like exciting news but I can't get excited if I don't understand you." He took another breath. "Ah!" I interrupted, putting a cyan hoof over his gold muzzle. "Keep it slow." He grinned. "Some friends of mine are comin' in from Ponyville for a short stay and they're real important, so the train's comin' early!" My eyes widened and a huge smile swept across my face. "Yay yay yay omigosh omigosh omigosh!!!" I cried, jumping all around the room like a schoolfilly. "Oh goodness there's so much to do! I have to finish the rest of the art and pack up all my stuff and thank Easel and call the curator, and oh Braeburn you'll love Manehattan-" I babbled, until I suddenly stopped jumping and talking all at once. The realization hit me like the floor hit my face. Braeburn wasn't coming with me. "Are you okay, sugarcube?" Braeburn asked, galloping over to the other side of the living room where I had face planted, all of my legs going behind me and my plot straight up in the air. I shimmied my front legs out from under the rest of me and began to get up. "Yeah. I'm- I'll be fine," I said, wiping the tears in my eyes from the impact. Braeburn's concerned expression immediately ironed out into a calm one, but his normally bright eyes remained dark. I gave a weary smile- my muzzle still hurt, but it was just a bruise- and asked Braeburn to help me gather up my supplies. *** A few hours and one red, gold and green splatter painting-hehe-later, I was just about ready to head off. First we would meet Braeburn's friends, wait 10 minutes for everypony departing or coming in to sort themselves out, and I would be gone. Since I had quite a while before my meeting with the curator, I would be able to finish my art by then and hopefully he'd like them. I sat in front of my expertly prepared oat burger trying to cheer myself up. Just think. The Manehattan Museum. Everypony who's anypony in the art world is featured there, my brain told me. However, my heart cried a different tune. Stay with Braeburn! If you just stay a little longer he's bound to fall in love with you... Shut up, heart. What do you know anyway? More than you, obviously. Think about how many bad decisions you've led us into. Does this happen to normal ponies or just me? This internal arguing went on for a while. Before I knew it, my oat burger was cold and Braeburn was saying "Er, sugarcube? We gotta go soon..." I shook my head to clear the thoughts. Suddenly, all I had was instinct. Eat. Train. Hurry. Run! I gobbled down three monster bites of burger and loaded my satchel onto my back. Wow, great burger. Two more bites. I turned to Braeburn and told him with my mouth still full, "Er'm rerdy, lert's go." He smiled and shook his head. "Alright then, here we go." We trotted leisurely towards the train station together. I made sure to get a good look of the town I might not see again, at least for a while. I couldn't believe I thought so little of it before- now it was hard saying goodbye to the amiable ponies and cute-although-dusty shoppes and stands. Finally, we arrived at the train station, and in perfect timing since the train had just squealed to a stop. Six colorful mares got off first- purple, blue, pink, orange, white, yellow. My eyes widened in shock. However, my jaw completely dropped when Braeburn trotted over and greeted them. Those were his important friends?! After recovering slightly, I joined Braeburn, meaning to have a talk with him. His smile got even wider as I came over. "This here is Splatter Paint. Ah've been takin' care 'a her, since her wing was broken. Now she's going to Manehattan, to show off her art in the museum," he said almost proudly. "OMIGOSHOMIGOSH THAT MUST BE SO EXCITING!! ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE A PARTY?!" Cried a bouncing pink blur that must have been the element of laughter. I had never seen them in real life, but everypony has heard about them saving Equestria- multiple times, I might add. I blushed. "Actually, I-" suddenly I was acutely aware of a presence over my right side. A rainbow-maned Pegasus was hovering over me. "A broken wing, huh? Yeah, I've had one of those before. Hurts like buck. Hey, have you ever-" "Rainbow Dash!" Chided a sophisticated-looking pale unicorn. "You should not use such language in front of such-" she batted her heavily mascara-laden eyelashes at Braeburn, making him blush uncomfortably- "Nice ponies." The prismatic Pegasus-Rainbow Dash?- rolled her magenta eyes. "Whatever! Like I was saying, ever heard of Daring Do?" I shook my head. "Um, no, but-" "Hey you remind me of my friend Fluttershy," she interrupted. "Neither of you talk very much." "Um, did somepony say my name?" "Boy howdy, cuz! Sounds like y'all had a great harvest this year!" "You gotta shaaare, you gotta caaaare," "Rarity, help me with this map Princess Celestia gave me. We don't have much time!" "Sorry, darling, I was just looking at-" All this noise swirled around me. I folded my ears back. All I wanted was some quiet. All I wanted was to have one last special moment with Braeburn before I left. "Oh my Celestia, make it stop!!!" I shouted, stomping my front hooves down in frustration. Elements of Harmony or not, they were damned annoying. "Well!" Huffed miss fancier-than-thou, subtly sidling up to a slightly shocked Braeburn, "a proper lady never makes such obscene outbursts!" I frowned. Little Miss Priss sure did seem to want Braeburn's attention pretty badly. Talking about the element of generosity, she sure was generous with all that makeup. "Look, I'm just really stressed, okay? I have a ton of thoughts right now and I just need some peace and quiet right now!" "Oh, I'm terribly sorry and we didn't mean to cause any trouble," the Element of Kindness almost whispered. "Come on, girls," declared a lavender unicorn-Princess Celestia's student?- "I know how it is to need some peace. We need to figure out this map Celestia sent anyway." So she was the student. I was grateful for her graciousness. "Thank you," I sighed. After the six elements trotted away, Generosity shooting me a wicked glare and a fluttery glance to Braeburn, I trotted into the station to get a drink from the fountain and collect my thoughts on a wooden bench. I didn't wait for Braeburn. Maybe it would be easier if I just pulled away from him like a bandage. If he was just a fond memory... I felt a shadow go over me. I hadn't even realized I had closed my eyes until a figure blocked the sun from them. It was, of course, Braeburn. He laid down next to me on the bench and lifted my downturned head with his hoof. "Listen, sugarcube," he said gently, "Ah know those mares can drive anypony crazy, but listen. Ah need you to go to Manehattan." I looked at him, kind of puzzled. That was exactly what I had been warring over in my head. And, well, in my heart too- whether to go and follow my dreams, or stay with Braeburn, the stallion of my dreams. "You seem kind of reluctant to go because you're leaving me behind. We've become real close friends in the short time you've been here-" Damn. Friendzoned. "But Ah think it's best if you go on ahead." A small half-smile graced his unusually sad face. "Ah'll be right here." Tears sprung up in my eyes. I didn't know if they were happy or sad, but it didn't matter. "Thanks, Braeburn," I said. "For everything." "All aboard!" "We'd best get you on that train," he called over the noise of the engine starting up. A giggling mess of Elements made it on just before me, a slightly frazzled looking pale unicorn fanning herself with magic and winking at Braeburn. That filly... I thought angrily. I had no right to be-Braeburn wasn't mine, but still... We said a wordless goodbye. It was all in the eyes. I'll miss you. Good luck. Have a nice trip. Take care. Only one thing was left unsaid as the train pulled away. I love you. *** Not five miles out of Apploosa, a sudden crashing and several thumps were heard. The brakes squealed to a halt, throwing everypony forward. I straightened myself up and saw a familiar gang of pegasi flying away. A pony burst through the door of the car and announced that the engineer and coal colt were knocked out and the engine tampered with. We were to walk back to town and it would take a week for somepony to come up and fix it. Yes. No. Yes. No. Braeburn.