Braeburn walked up to the office at the entrance to the orchard with White at his side. Brae punched his time card in & turned to White giving him a quick kiss before he motioned for him to follow him back out toward the orchard proper. White hadn't actually walked through the town with Braeburn, White convinced his coltfriend to let him fly far above as they progressed toward the orchard. He landed as soon as he thought they were close enough to their destination that he wouldn't be seen. White had never seen so many trees before now, & hanging from the branches of each tree were countless apples much like the one adorning the flank he wasted no opportunity to stare at. He noticed that each tree had several baskets around it, this confused him until he saw Brae turn on his forelegs and deliver a powerful buck to the tree behind him. All the apples from the tree fell neatly into the baskets.
"Care to give it a go?" Asked Braeburn, who then motioned to a tree yet bucked. White not wanting to seem weak in front of his companion took up the challenge. White copied Braeburn's motions with the grace of a master, however only one worm-eaten apple dropped to the ground completely missing the baskets.
...
"Well it's obviously not for everypony, but you looked right fierce trying if you want my opinion." Braeburn said in a semi-sultry tone. It did little to help White's already crippled ego but still painted a smile upon the thestral's face.
"How about i just sit under a tree & let the professional take care of it?"
"Well i reckon you could do that, or you could go introduce yerself to my boss in the office & maybe the secretary too if'n you feel brave enough." Braeburn said with a hopeful smile that was not lost on his companion. At this White could only sigh and nod before he began to walk off to the office. He soon found himself back in the office where Brae had punched his time card less than ten minutes ago. He headed down the hall and turned the corner to find a light-orange mare with a poofy pink mane sitting behind a desk. Her name placard read "Mrs. Peachy Keen", she was busy with some sort of form & had yet to notice his presence. He lightly knocked on the wall of the office to garner her attention. Her head immediately shot up & after a moment examining him she smiled & said:
"well hello there! Are you here to see Upper Management?" The odd question left White a little confused but he didn't dwell on it.
"Actually I'm White Night & I'm new in town & Braeburn said he'd like me to meet his coworkers." He said trying to keep his composure before the new pony.
"I see, well it's not often we get somepony moving all the way out here of all places. I'm not surprised Braeburn already got to you he always greets everypony new to town even if they're just visitting. I don't recall seeing any construction recently, where are you staying?" She asked in her sweet, nearly sing-song voice.
"Um... well you see... I'm going to be living with Braeburn. I-I'm his coltfriend." White said, suddenly feeling much smaller than he already was. At this point Mrs. Peachy Keen got up from behind her desk & trotted right in front of a very nervous White. White was to panic-stricken at this action to notice her expression was one of joy instead of anger. He didn't snap out of his trance until she embraced him in a bone-crushing hug & said:
"Oooooooh I'm so glad you found each other, Braeburn has been so down lately! You treat that poor stallion right you hear me?"
"Y-yes ma'am... ma'am... I can't breathe." White struggled to say through her monstrous hug. This got him dropped onto the floor promptly, as he was finally able to breathe again he pondered the mare's words.
"So you knew Braeburn was gay?" He asked genuinely surprised.
"Well not for certain but it wasn't to hard to pick up on. I didn't peg Braeburn as one to go after pegasi though."
"I-I'm not a pegasus ma'am I'm a thestral." He corrected her.
"Oh, like princess Luna's guard? I'd seen pictures of them since her return but I thought that all of you were a blue-gray color?"
"normally we are but I'm an albino so I look like this." He said with sadness noticeably returning a bit. But before she could apologize the door on the other side of the room swung open revealing an abnormally burly chocolate brown stallion with a dark chocolate colored mane who said:
"Peach I need you to call the Flim Flam Bros. & tell them to stick their "proposal" for us to buy automatic apple pickers up each of their skinny fla- ..." At this point the stallion noticed the white stallion standing next to his secretary shielding himself with has unusual wings.
"Who's the pegasus?" The stallion asked his secretary.
"This is White Night he's new in town." Peach informed her boss who White learned was in fact named Upper Management from a name-tag attached to his work shirt.
"Is he looking for work? We are a tad short handed when it comes to collection."
"No sir, it seems he & Braeburn are an item & he's here to say hello to us." Peach stated happily. However at this news Upper Management's expression grew more serious & he leaned in close to White & asked:
"Is this true little stallion?"
All white could do was nod shakily. To which the massive stallion immediately softened & White was swept up into a hug that could reduce diamonds to dust.
"Good, good, Braeburn always works better when he's happy! I can get more work for the same wage now!" The Stallion bellowed happily. He then unceremoniously dropped a very sore White flat on his flank. He then returned to barking orders at his secretary while shooing White out the door. White knew the introductions could have been worse so he took the strange events as a personal victory.
As he trotted back to the orchard proper he spotted Baeburn hard at work while speaking to an orange creature a bit shorter than him that had a curly mane adorned with a feather. White realized this must be a buffalo, the stallion at the train station had told him that Apploosa was very near buffalo lands. Confident that it was safe to approach with Braeburn being there he trotted up garnering a smile from his stallion.
"Hey White this is one of my friends, her name is Little StrongHeart she's the daughter of the chief of her tribe." Braeburn said.
"Hello, White. Braeburn has told me much of you since my arrival today. I have never met a thestral before. It is a pleasure to meet one who has made my friend so happy." StrongHeart said with a warm smile. At this point Braeburn's face was in full blush (a phenomenon White would often try to replicate).
"Well thank you, I've never met a buffalo either. I'd be glad to be your friend but please don't hug me, ok?" To this statement Brae & StrongHeart both chuckled heartily as they told him of their own first encounters with Mrs. Peach & her monolithic boss. All three of them shared a laugh at one-another's misfortune though White still ached whenever he laughed. Soon time passed and Brae & StrongHeart returned to bucking trees while White laid under the now barren tree he had originally tried to kick as to avoid the sun's rays for awhile.
After several hours of endless tree kicking Braeburn's workday was over & they could escape the monotony of the orchard. White didn't feel the need to fly up to avoid the public eye anymore, so long as he was with the beautiful stetson-wearer beside him.Braeburn even stopped to introduce White to some of the ponies they passed on their way including the town sheriff. They had reached there destination before long, the only restaurant in town. The building was plain like most of the town but the large sign over the door that read: "The Golden Trough" made it stand out a bit. Before they could enter White began doubting himself again as he had never been one for public places full of ponies. White only ever went to a small rundown all-night diner when few ponies would be awake when he had lived in Canterlot. Braeburn felt a featherless wing stretch over his barrel as he was pulled towards White's side. He noticed the thestral in question was staring at the restaurant's door like it was going to grow teeth and devour him. Brae knew his angel was not one for anything public but this new apprehension coupled with the wing-grab (which Braeburn would not object to, because he enjoyed the public display of affection) told him that this would be a big deal. So Braeburn did literally the only thing he could think of, he kissed White there on the doorstep. White was caught off guard but his instincts soon took over & his both his wings draped over Braeburn's back pulling him into a tight embrace with the now care-free thestral. After a moment (or 5) of bliss they looked into each other's eyes White's pale pink slitted eyes reflected in Braeburn's big luscious green eyes. Braeburn took no small amount of willpower to break the silence, he said:
"We should probably go inside now, don'cha think?"
...
"Can i keep a wing over you till we sit down?" White asked with the best puppy-dog eyes he could muster with slitted pupils. Though they seemed to work wonderfully.
"Course you can, now let's go before I starve 10 feet away from dinner." With that the couple entered the building side by side.
White was no expert on fine dining but "The Golden Trough" seemed like a large bar more than an eatery. The bar stretched the length of the wall to their left, aside from the numerous stools there were three round tables that could seat 4 comfortably. There were various dated photos lining the walls, this revealed to White that the town was only about 5 years old. White noticed Braeburn & several other ponies he had met doing various tasks in the photos. In a far corner opposite the bar was a large jukebox playing a strange song saying something about diamond dogs. All in all White was extremely relieved that the "restaurant" was not much more than a glorified tavern. He & Brae took up 2 stools at the center of the bar. The bartender, White was surprised to see was a unicorn dressed in bar tending clothes you might see in an old film. He noticed the pair & promptly trotted over.
"Evening Braeburn, who's the pale guy?" The bartender said.
"This is White, he's always pale. He's my coltfriend, you'll be seein' lots of him from now on. He's staying with me up at the house." Brae replied.
The bartender looked at them both with a confused expression for a moment before saying:
"You work pretty fast Brae, you took a train ride back to Whinnypeg single less than a week ago & came back with a stallion in tow? Didn't think that was a social visit but who am I to judge."
At this both White & Brae both blushed a bit before White spoke up:
"A-actually I'm from Canterlot, we met on the train here."
Braeburn wanting to shield his angel from further personal question changed the subject as fast as he could.
"I'd love to catch up sometime but I've been in the orchard all day & I'm a might peckish. I'd like a salad & some hayfries with cheese-dip. White?"
"I think I'll just have the same please." Said the thestral, grateful to his companion for the topic switch. This seemed to also switch the barkeep into business mode immediately as he wrote down their orders the second the words had left their mouths. He proceeded to place them on a windowsill that opened into what white assumed was a kitchen, an unknown set of hooves swept up the paper & various sounds could be heard.
"What can I get you to drink gentlecolts?" the bartender asked as he turned back to them.
"I'll just take my usual cider." Braeburn said, garnering a nod.
"What about you?" He said looking at White.
"Do you know how to make a fuzzy navel?" White asked.
As soon as the words left his lips the barkeep & Braeburn both looked at him with expressions only describable as indescribable. Then they proceeded to bust out laughing much to White's confusion. After a good minute or 2 they calmed down & the bartender said:
"My apologies for not introducing myself, my name & specialty are both Fuzzy Navel."
"Oh... heh it's alright I just wasn't sure what to make of the looks i got." White said blushing greatly.
"I'll have those right out to ya." Fuzzy stated as he began getting their drinks. While he worked he said:
"You know I think I like you 2 as a couple, Your guy here as impeccable taste in drinks Brae." This lead to another round of blushes. As White & Braeburn chatted their drinks & food came & everything was good. Eventually more ponies started to enter The Trough for drinks and small-talk with their friends & neighbors, even a buffalo couple came in for a quick drink. White had already met many of the ponies & grew to realize the town really was as isolated and sparsely populated as he had been lead to believe. This, combined with the liquid courage he had been consuming let him relax as the ponies here were all generally accepting of him thanks to everypony's mutual friend Braeburn. After a night of more socializing than White had done in his lifetime the stallions headed home at a reasonable hour to keep up with Brae's early-hour schedule.