The legends told of their return.

For over a decade Equestria has been beset by the dragons. Every year more villages vanish in flames, and the lonely cities stand as our last redoubt. Winter has gripped the world, and our hope is fading.

But the legends tell of another, a light in the darkness. The Dragonborn, a mythic warrior reborn with the power of the Voice, the only one who can stand against the dragons.

But when she appeared, she was not what we were expecting...

When one of Fluttershy's dear animal companions wanders into the Everfree, she sets out to bring him home safely - but what she finds at the center of the forest is something she didn't expect, and something that ushers in a change to her world that makes each day darker than the last.

Braeburn Apple has always been raised in a conservative household, as a member of the Apple family.
Throughout his life, he's been taught what's 'wrong' and what's 'right', who he was allowed to love, and who he wasn't. Above all, he was told what to be, and how to be it.
When he meets a certain blue Pegasus stallion buying pies at Sweet Apple Acres while he just so happens to be staying there, he discovers feelings he never knew he had.
Unfortunately, they happen to be the same ones he was always taught to suppress.
Can Soarin convince him that it's not wrong to be in love, and that, sometimes, in order to be happy, you need to break out of your comfort zone?
A story about discovering who you are, and being that person, no matter what others tell you to be.

WARNING: M/M, SoarinxBraeburn Coltcuddling! Touches up on some serious social issues in the real world, but with ponies, and at least 20% cooler.
If you don't like it, please do not read it.

Featured on EqD!

Cross-posted to FanFiction.NET.

Rated T for alcohol references, crude humour, and slight language.

Cover image is by Mn27 on DeviantART.

Edited by many people, included Carcer, LunaUsesCaps, and Diexna, but none have contributed more than the amazing Smayds, who has been my main editor for almost every chapter.