Morning Glory

by Jade Ring

Special Guest Chapter- Secret Rendezvous by The Princess Rarity

Author's Note:

To commemorate her tremendous achievement of gaining 500 Followers, I offered one of my favorite fans and fellow authors, The Princess Rarity, the chance to do a guest chapter. I offered her several scenarios and she elected to try her hand at the Soarin/Braeburn chapter. Outside of a few minor guidelines and one or two small edits from yours truly, here's her contribution to 'Morning Glory.'

I think she did a tremendous job.

https://www.fimfiction.net/user/The+Princess+Rarity

The sun was a bit of an enemy, almost forcing Braeburn to awake from his very peaceful slumber. He tried keeping his eyes shut, but the light was too harsh to ignore. He turned over to face away from it, but found himself colliding with an obstacle and also realizing that this was not his bed at home in Appleloosa.

Instead of a nice, fluffy firm mattress, he was resting on wooden boards and haybales. It was comfortable, in a tolerable sort of way, but not one’s ideal choice of a place to rest for the night.

Then again, the obstacle he bumped into made it worthwhile.

Silky soft feathers that matched the color of the sky tickled Braeburn and an unexpectedly loud snore suddenly echoed through the barn. Trying to stifle a chuckle, he nudged the figure, who made no effort at all to even stir in the slightest bit. Braeburn pursed his lips in thought and poked his companion once again, but alas nothing.

Ah, well, desperate times call for desperate measures.

“Soarin, wake up, there’s breakfast downstairs,” Braeburn whispered.

Oddly enough, there was nothing. That was strange, it usually did the trick.

“I made pancakes,” he added.

“Wha?” Soarin mumbled, as he fluttered his eyes open and looked around. Once he became aware of his surroundings, he let out a huff. “You’re cruel, Brae.”

Braeburn laughed and gave a shrug. “Well, unless ya can think of another way for me to wake you up, that’s gonna have to stick for now,” he teased.

With an unamused roll of his eyes, Soarin let out a groan as he stretched himself out.

“Ugh, what time is it?” he muttered.

“Judging by the sun, I’m gonna say mid morning,” Braeburn mused. “From what I’m seein’, it’s not too late, but probably not early either.” He let out a yawn and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The rustling of hay was heard for a moment, and he looked up, slightly entertained at what he saw. “Now what in the world are you doin’?”

Sticking his tongue out like the child he was, Soarin was now wearing Braeburn’s hat.

“Well? How do I look?” he said, with his usual goofy chuckle.

“Like a darn fool,” Braeburn replied, smirking slightly. “Now give it ‘ere, mister.”

“Nuh-uh, no way,” Soarin argued. “I’m keeping this hat.”

“And what makes ya think you can do that?” Braeburn murmured, as he suddenly lunged forward in a dash to grab his accessory… but he failed and ended up falling on top of Soarin.

An second of odd silence passed, only before they both erupted into laughter.

“You gotta be the biggest featherbrain I ev’r met,” Braeburn declared.

He snatched his hat back and placed it on his head. He rolled off of Soarin, who sat up and nuzzled the other stallion next to him. They shared a grin, and Braeburn boldly kissed his lover, who was more than happy to return the embrace. It was sweet, sincere, with a touch of silliness and awkward feeling - sort of like their whole relationship, mixed into one.

“If I’m the featherbrain, then you’re the hick,” Soarin playfully shot back.

“Why do I put up with you?” Braeburn sighed, as he shook his head - but his smile never wore off.

Soarin opened his mouth to reply, however, the sound of nearby muffled chatter from not that far away was soon heard, thus interrupting him. Braeburn’s expression looked alarmed for a moment, and he peered over the edge of the hayloft, noticing two ponies -- a stallion and a mare -- standing in the doorway of the barn.

He had seen them around the reception once or twice, but what with the way the stallion kept running off and disappearing, Braeburn figured the couple hadn’t stayed the night.

Now, from the looks of it, the two ponies were arguing for a moment. He winced as the mare backed away, almost as if she was hurt, and the two of them began bickering some more, but when the stallion pulled her in for a kiss, it seemed that all was well for them again.

“Aww,” Soarin said, with a stupid, sappy grin. “They’re cute, aren’t they?”

Braeburn clamped a hoof over the pegasus’s mouth and shot him a glare. “Will ya can it?!” he harshly whispered. “They might hear ya!”

Soarin’s green eyes went wide, in alarm, and he grunted as he was pushed back.

“Gee, Brae, that was kinda cruel, don’t you think?” he muttered. “I mean, you know I like it rough but--”

“--very funny, featherbrain,” Braeburn mumbled, crawling away from the edge of the hayloft.

“Seriously, though,” Soarin whispered. “What the hay was that for?”

A loud, breathy sigh escaped Braeburn and he hesitated. He crossed his forehooves and bit his lip, mulling over his thoughts for a moment. “I just… y’know, don’t want anypony knowin’ about us,” he admitted.

“Oh,” was the only thing that could slip past Soarin’s lips.

He fell silent, and stared up the ceiling of the barn.

The two stallions lay side-by-side, thinking hard about the same things, as strange as it were. Braeburn’s worry sure wasn’t odd. Lots of ponies didn’t agree with coltcuddlers or fillyfoolers -- in fact, entire cities had banned them from marrying and a few hate crimes still sprung up from time to time. Coming out of the closet was sometimes a risk for a couple of ponies in that sort of community, and yet here Braeburn and Soarin were, happily in love, with a slight worry in their hearts.

Granted, they had visited Ponyville more than a few times: and they could tell that this small town was so peaceful for a reason. More accepting and loving than other communities. They would have no problem being open in this area, but Appleloosa and Cloudsdale, on the other hoof…

...just a few weeks back, it was banned in Cloudsdale for same-sex couples to adopt foals, and a fillyfooler had been assaulted. One could perfectly well understand how much strength it really took to come out, no matter where they lived.

“Hey,” Soarin murmured, as he reached out and took Braeburn’s hoof into his own. “I get it.”

“Ya do?” Braeburn said, with a quaver in his voice.

“Totally,” Soarin replied. “I mean, I grew up in a household that kicked me out ‘cause I liked colts. Then again, becoming famous was the best sorta revenge. But you don’t wanna go through that, so you wanna keep our relationship hidden. I don’t really like going through with it, but if it makes ya happy, well… I guess we could keep at it.”

Braeburn let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and he managed the most bittersweet of smiles.

He snuggled up to Soarin, enjoying the silky embrace of feathers.

“I don’t wanna hide, but I ain’t too sure if my folks and family are alright with it, s’all,” he admitted. “I want ‘em to meet ya, I really do, I just don’t know if we should try it.”

Soarin placed a kiss on Braeburn’s forehead. “We’ll wait as long as you need,” he murmured.

Braeburn instantly felt his anxiousness melt away, and he smiled a real, true sort of smile.

“I love ya, you crazy featherbrain,” Braeburn muttered, with a playful punch on Soarin’s foreleg.

“Love you too, you stupid hick,” Soarin teased, releasing his typical goofy laugh.

The past, when they had met, was pure awkwardness and memories they loved looking back and poking fun at. The present, now, was contentment and swelling hearts of anticipation. The future was undecided, but ultimately full of hope.

But then, a sudden flash in the background alerted the two stallions out of their tranquility.

“Brae, dude, what was that?” Soarin spoke up. “Did you see--”

“--kinda cloudy outside. Coulda been lightning,” Braeburn muttered. There was a nagging unease in the back of his mind as he watched the clouds move in front of the sun. "Looks like there might be a storm..."

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

For all that these two aren't very fleshed out in canon, they were believably brought to life here.

[ElJorro]

A bright flash...

Uh-oh

[Brocky]

Guest chapters are a good test of an author's Skill, so I am impressed by their ability to merge directly into the story.

I look forward to browsing their work.

[Dawn Flower]

This was beautiful. I'll give her stories a look.

[Frazzled Pony]

Honestly didn't like this. And it's because, frankly, the style clashes with the others. The others were almost pure fluff, only Rarity and Spike even having any inkling of "what will people think" and then, when the male-male pairing comes up, the tone goes all negative, mentioning hate-crime in a fic that has so far been all "love finds a way and even drunken rolls in the hay only results in relationship "upgrade" or "oh, well, it was a drunken experiment, we're all good right".

Also, for some reason, it irks me that except for the Fluttermac chapter, the rest seemed like they were the kind of "got drunk, roll in hay, find that they like that development somewhat", while the males have an established relationship. I kinda want a male-male one of the "suddenly, finally, realize that they are in love after random roll in the hay"-type.

OK, to be fair, the Derpy was kinda the same kind of negative tone. Wasn't a fan of that either. All in all, I just dislike the sudden introduction of prejudice in what seemed like one of the fluffy, utopian fics.

However, credit where it's due, Soarin and Braeburn are pretty sweet and fun to read. I just really dislike the whole "in the closet 'cause even ponies are prejudiced" that this chapter had. I like MLP because it is, in many ways, better than our society and I kinda want the "Loving and understanding" to expand to sexual freedom.

Also, sadly, I think the craftsmanship was a little subpar compared to the other chapters. The very first sentence is a good example of that: "The sun was a bit of an enemy, almost forcing Braeburn to awake from his very peaceful slumber." I think it falls into the common fanfic trap of too many "almost" and "seemed" and such words. The comedy is not diminished by the more direct, and somewhat overdramatic: "The sun was an enemy, forcing Braeburn to awake..."

It's sad that my longest reviews are the negative ones. Still, despite my complaints, this is still pretty well-written and is still far above much of the manure that you have to trudge through to find the good fics.

Happy writing.

[rogueunicorn]

Braeburn/Soarin? I never would have imagined that in a million years.

[Passion and Violence]

ALL OF MY YES!!!