Braeburn is getting old.

Not as old as he might behave, of course-- with all of his whining and wistfulness, you'd think he was nearing 80. For an athlete, of course, 50 may as well be 80.

His buckball days behind him, Braeburn has turned to coaching. It's only now that he's started to wonder what he may have missed out on during his many years in the rodeo and as a member of Appleloosa's buckball team. More than anything, he'd like to turn back the clock and spend his youth a little less occupied by work.

When he puts out an ad in the Equestrian Gazette, an anonymous stranger offers a rather literal solution to his problem.

It can't possibly be anything more than a clever joke... can it?

Written for Nailah's Shipping Contest! The pairing (Braeburn x Hondo Flanks) was randomly generated. Hope you all enjoy!

Rarity, a young filly, is trying to find her ailing mother the perfect Hearth's Warming gift.

Part of Serina's Hearth's Warming Eve Collection for 2023.

Inspiration

This story is a sequel to Multifaceted

Falling in love with someone is a package deal. Yes, you get your significant other, but for good and for ill, you also get their family. Normally, that's all upside for Applejack. For all her aunts, uncles, and cousins, she still doesn't have as much family as she wishes.

But Rarity is extraordinary in so many ways, and so are her relatives. Especially her father. And now AJ has to worry about setting off a truly extraordinary family feud.

After all, "It's just a game" doesn't work on a man with an Ultra Bowl ring.

Part of the Oversaturated World, with little to no familiarity required for this story. Rated T for stronger language and substances than the pastel humanoids could get away with on camera.

This is a commission for Tailsic.

Rarity is an up and coming fashion designer with an overprotective mother. Other than that her life seems normal. But that's only because her mother never told her that once upon a time they were both living as Kirin and she was tasked with a mission to kill Rarity, the infant princess of a rival clan, a mission she couldn't bring herself to complete.

Now, living under assumed identities, Cookie Crumbles parents with one eye over her shoulder while her unwittingly adopted daughter lives in comfortable ignorance. Many years after her flight it seems they'd successfully outrun the politics and vengeance of the Kirin until one day when their sordid past comes roaring back.

After both of her parents are hospitalized from a shadowy attack, Rarity must finally confront who she really is and go on a mission to her isolated homeland to try and bring peace to the warring Kirin factions.