//------------------------------//
// Part 1 
// Story: Long Division 
// by Hoofclid 
//------------------------------//





It is strange that the same sound can produce so many different emotions. The whistle of the happy train that brings your boyfriend for a visit is the same as the whistle of the sad train that takes him away again.

Braeburn had become very accustomed to that sound, and its attendant emotions, over the past few months. Last September his cousin Applejack had summoned him to Ponyville and introduced him to a grey unicorn mathematician called Hoofclid. That kind timid pony had quickly wriggled into Brae's affections, and Hoofclid was just as besotted with him. There was just one problem: distance.

The uncanny ability of party ponies to travel instantaneously notwithstanding, several hours by train were needed for most ponies to get from Appleloosa to Ponyville. Sometimes one of the coltfriends would be able to leave early and catch the sleeper train, but most weekends the travel put a serious dent in the stallions' time together. And then that vicious train would arrive again the next day to steal one pony from the other.

Braeburn glanced at the town clock in the distance. It was well after lunch already. And the train was seven minutes late… at least. Surely it must be here soon?

Aha! What was that on the horizon? A whiff of rogue cloud escaped from a pegasus? No! It was the puff of smoke from the approaching locomotive!

The train arrived and the passengers began to disembark. Braeburn cantered up and down the platform, greeting anypony he passed as he searched for his unicorn. 

"Welcome to Appleloosa!" he whinnied repeatedly, or "Have a nice stay!".

He got a handful of odd looks, but most ponies just looked happy to get a friendly welcome to town. Not that Braeburn paid much attention to the reactions. He was searching. 

Ah! There he was! Walking slowly under the weight of his saddlebags, Hoofclid stepped to the platform. He hardly had time to glance around the platform before Braeburn threw his forelegs around him, giving the unicorn a firm kiss on the cheek.

"Is he going to do that to all of us?" a nearby mare asked her companion.

"I don't know dear, perhaps they have different customs here…"

Braeburn grinned at them. 

"Sorry ladies, this'un gets special treatment."

"I won the lottery!" joked Hoofclid, swishing his tail.

As the nearby ponies strode off to town, some muttering about needing to find a lottery ticket, the coltfriends exchanged a proper hug, nuzzling into each other's manes and breathing in the comforting familiar scents. Apples on the one hand and, well, apple-scented shampoo on the other. Breaking the hug, Braeburn touched his muzzle to Hoofclid's, but a slight blush told him that his boyfriend was feeling a bit shy for a kiss in public right now.

"Home for tea?" the earth pony asked.

"Home for tea!"

The ponies turned their steps away from the station towards Braeburn's cottage on the other side of the town. Brae started to outpace his boyfriend, the naturally sedate unicorn being slowed by his saddle bags. Brae gestured to them with a hoof.

"You want some help with those, sugarcube?"

"Yes please, that'd—nyeep!"

Hoofclid found himself suddenly lifted off the ground, his boyfriend apparently having decided the best way to carry the saddlebags was to burrow under the unicorn's tummy and carry both pony and saddlebags.

"I forgot how strong you earth ponies are!" giggled Hoofclid as Brae accelerated to a canter, speeding his laughing coltfriend through town to their appointment with the kettle. 









It didn't occur to Braeburn to ask why the saddlebags were so heavy in the first place until much later in the day. They had just been plonked down in a corner of Braeburn's house and forgotten about as Hoofclid and Braeburn went about their normal Saturday routine. Tea. Snuggles. A walk in the forest as Hoofclid rambled about the books he had read that week. Then back home for apple pie.

"So what are you lugging around in those things?" asked Braeburn, waving a hoof at the saddlebags. 

"Oh!" Hoofclid looked surprised, as if he had forgotten about them. "I brought us some board games to play!"

"'Some'?" Braeburn grinned. "Just how many are we talking about?"

Spotting the blush starting on the unicorn's face, Brae leaned forward to hold hooves with his boyfriend. Holding hooves was always nice, but it was even better when it stopped a cute pony hiding his blushes behind his hooves. Hoofclid levitated the bags over, smiling shyly. 

"I wasn't sure what you might be in the mood for… so I brought lots of choices. Didn't want to have an idea you liked and not be able to play. Let's see… I brought Marecassonne, Monopony, Hungry Hungry Hippogriffs..."

Name after name rolled over Braeburn as box after box piled up on the table. When Hoofclid seemed to have finished, the earth pony squinted suspiciously into the empty bag. There was no way that the huge stack of boxes next to him should have come out of that size of bag.

"Did you enchant your saddlebags so you didn't have to deprive me of game options?"

Hoofclid grinned nervously.

"Mayyyyyybe..."

Braeburn laughed. The unicorn shuffled uncertainly, not sure how to proceed after his scheme had been rumbled. Brae gestured a yellow hoof towards one of the boxes.

"Why don't you start by telling me about this one?"

That started the tide of explanation. The grey unicorn was often hesitant at first, but once he got going on a topic he liked, he could flow and flow. Brae rested his head on one hoof to listen, enjoying his nerdy boyfriend's enthusiasm showing through. The earth pony enjoyed a board game as much as the next stallion, but sharing something his coltfriend so clearly enjoyed was the really special thing.

Braeburn chose one of the games that seemed a little quicker, with a glance out of the window towards the troublingly swift sunset. One weekend was scarce time to pack in a week's worth of love.

Nevertheless night was firmly upon Appleloosa when the game ended. Braeburn had lost, never having played before, but the play had been fun and he looked forward to a rematch. 

Now, however, there was something more important to attend to. For a few weeks Hoofclid and Braeburn had been reading together. One would read and the other would listen, resting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. Today was Braeburn's turn to read first, but he got barely a few paragraphs in before he realized the unicorn on his shoulder was not merely resting his eyes, but had finally run out of energy and was fast asleep. Travelling always took a lot out of the shy pony, and sleep did not come easily to him. The soothing tones of an earth pony reading was the last straw.

Dang. Braeburn had been looking forward all week to wishing his Hoofy a good night in person, and hearing the same back. There was no question of waking him back up of course. Braeburn sneaked gently out from under the snuggles and crept upstairs to find a blanket and chuck his waistcoat on the bed. Then he tucked himself back in place beneath the snoozy pony and covered them both in the blanket. A soft kiss on the nose and a whispered good night. And then the yellow stallion settled down himself, hoping perhaps to locate his dream colt in the world of sleep.