The prompt: Two of the following characters go on a blind date: Bon Bon, Thunderlane, Princess Luna, Braeburn, Vinyl Scratch, Fancypants, Ditzy Doo/Derpy Hooves.
Braeburn shifted uncomfortably in his chair, no less unsure about this whole debacle than he was when he’d first arrived at the restaurant. Part of him wished he had just said no to the whole mess and stayed home. That part accounted for the vast majority of himself. If he had to declare it specifically, he’d have said that his heart, mind, skeleton, muscles, other internal organs, skin, head, body, mane, and legs would have all been wishing to be back at Applejack’s farm, having no part of this. Maybe a little part of his tail would have been okay with being here, but it was severely outvoted. Yet here he sat, waiting for what was sure to be a terrible experience.
He supposed, though, that he’d already been through such a terrible experience that this one might pale in comparison. It was about a month ago that he’d finally come to terms with some of his innermost feelings, some of which were so far in that even he had not been aware of them. Many ponies, both within his own family and outside of it, had always wondered why he hadn’t settled down with a mare yet. They called him lots of nice things. Handsome, charming, charismatic, funny, sweet, strong. They were all awful nice things to say, and he appreciated them at their base level, but there was something about the tone of them that he didn’t appreciate quite as much, something he couldn’t quite place his hoof on. Perhaps it was the fact that they were always said in reference to his failure to find a mare to settle down with. Something about that had always felt wrong to him, but it was a feeling that he was unable to put into words. They’d wondered why nothing came of his one or two dates with Little Strongheart. They’d ruminated, often a little too loudly, over his decisions to stay in when the other single stallions in town would go out and hit the Salty Spitoon in search of pretty young things to talk up. Sometimes he questioned them too.
It was only last month that he finally discovered the truth about himself. That discovery, one that he’d hoped would be a happy one, led to three weeks of mental anguish, unsure of how to let his family know. At that point, he hadn’t really considered that things could go wrong. He’d just been trying to figure out exactly what to say, how to say it, who to say it to first. It took some time before he was able to devise the perfect setup, and it was just last week that he put it into action.
Braeburn sighed, idly stirring the hot water in front of him with a spoon. He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a small teabag. Apple cinnamon, his favorite flavor. He submerged the bag and watched as the water darkened, taking a moment to equate them to that day. His immediate family was the water, all gathered together in one place, all for the same purpose, all, for the most part, uniform. He was the tea bag, the one different one of the bunch, introducing a new element. There was one big flaw in his metaphor, though. The water accepted the tea bag and let its essence shine, enriching the community as a whole.
He’d tried to get away from his family for a bit by making the trip to Ponyville. He’d hoped that maybe Applejack would be more accepting of his decision. Unfortunately, she also seemed quite perplexed by the entire situation. She didn’t respond with anywhere near the same level of vitriol as the family back in Appleloosa, but the confusion on her face was enough to harken back to them. It was only two days ago that he’d told her, and she’d been oddly quiet to him since. That is, up until yesterday, when she’d proposed the idea of this blind date. She’d punctuated the idea with talk of “finding the right pony for him,” just like their family back in Appleloosa had always said. It had hurt him, but he’d finally accepted the idea, primarily to make her happy. He wanted to make his kin happy no matter what, wishing to himself that they could just find it in them to do the same for him.
Braeburn looked up as the restaurant door opened. He watched Applejack enter, talking to a pony he couldn’t see. He immediately looked back down, not even in the mood to see the mare that AJ had brought to try and convince him to abandon his self-discovery. He heard hoofsteps get closer to his table, and at that moment he could find nothing more interesting to look at than the teacup set in front of him.
“Braeburn?” a voice asked. Brae blinked, startled by the deep voice. He looked up from his teacup to see a sleek, decidedly non-feminine stallion, coat as black as the night, standing in front of him.
“I’m Thunder Lane,” the stallion said, taking a seat. “Your cousin told me a lot about you.” Brae took another look at him before looking to the restaurant door. AJ was still there, giving him a big, warm smile. Brae gave her a smile back before turning his attention back to his blind date. Maybe his tail was right about this.