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Welcoming Party

This is not spell checked because I am a lazy little cunt.... tee hee...

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It belongs to The Hub, Hasbro, Studio B, and Lauren Faust. I do not own any of these characters in any way or how, nor do I claim ownership to the pony franchise. These characters are simply my toys.

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"Where were you... when I needed you most?"
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Entangled Pathways
Chapter 8: Welcoming Party

The laughter coming from Rapidfire’s body was loud, Soarin watched as he fought to keep some amount of air in his lungs while also half laying on Braeburn, who was also giggling and trying to keep his cool. The pale blue pegasus watched as Fleetfoot rolled her eyes, a smirk on her face indicated she truly was having great fun at the moment. It was a strange sight just to see Braeburn get a break for once, and just enjoy the time he had left on this planet. Soarin didn’t even know what was so funny, it might have just been a silly face at this point from the amount of alcohol Rapidfire had managed to consume, forcing Braeburn to do the same.

Soarin somehow found himself chuckling at just how silly the three looked at the moment. Even from so far away, he felt warmth in his chest simply staring at Braeburn look happy. The tears from before felt long gone, where they had come up from in the first place seemed to stop pushing his chest, it was almost as if crying to his friends had somehow relived him.

The pale blue pegasus let a small smile shine on his face, that for once wasn’t forced. He let his wings spread out and cover his body in warmth, the feathers giving him some amount of protection from the harsh winds blowing on the balcony of the hotel room. He found himself looking at Braeburn often, even though at this point it was clear he wasn’t needed anymore.

“I’m a little surprised you stopped yourself from going over with them and just cuddling him.” Spitfire murmured, as if she were speaking to herself and not Soarin, a hint of a giggle was in her voice. Soarin blinked his eyes as he glanced in front of him to the other end of the balcony, staring at Spitfire for a while before letting his smile fade. “I mean… from the way you told us about what happened to him… I just figured you would be over protective of him…”

Soarin shook his head. “I have been being overprotective.” He stated. “I never told him about how I snapped when those ponies in Appleloosa talked so horribly about him, and I did everything in my power to keep every insult directed at him away from his ears. I guess you could say I’m just letting my guard down.” The pegasus didn’t seem like his usual, fun-loving self. If anything he looked tired, worn out, used.

Spitfire blinked a few times. “Then what’s so different now?” She cocked her head to the side as she said this. Soarin suddenly realized she was mimicking him in using her wings as blankets. The cool air of the city seemed… much cooler than it should have after spending a month near Appleloosa.

“I obviously can’t be there every second, and I also can’t baby him forever!” Soarin said, a smirk hitting his face that just had the tiniest hinting of being forced. “Plus, I don’t think he’s had any friend but me in a long time. I don’t want him hiding himself by turning to me because he gets nervous of the others.” Soarin looked back to Braeburn. Part of him did indeed want to hold the yellow pony to his chest, hissing and scratching at anypony who made him feel uneasy.

Soarin knew that this part of him was only selfish, and dismissed it whenever it popped into his mind.

“Gosh, I didn’t know you worried about him so much, Mommy.” Spitfire teased. “But seriously, you sound just like a parent of a foal, it’s freaking me out a bit!”

“I don’t think normal parents plow their foals.” Soarin stated, watching as Spitfire burst out laughing. He himself began to chuckle, holding a hoof over his mouth as the warm air hit his freezing hooves. Silence hit the two captains for a good thirty seconds after this, the wind picking up speed as the final glimpses of a twilight sky exited the sky.

“But seriously…” Spitifire began. Soarin suddenly stopped all movements, he knew this tone of voice, he knew what she was about to ask. He began to feel irritated, and just a little bit angry… and yet he couldn’t blame Spitfire in the slightest, she had good reason. “You… aren’t using him like the others… right?”

Soarin didn’t answer. He simply looked down with the smallest hinting’s of shame. “Do we really have to go into this now, Spitty?” He mumbled.

Spitfire let out what seemed to be a groan. “C’mon Soar, you and I both know how you acted before you met him, how you treated other stallions and mares just because you were upset. I’m not saying I blame you, I know you were hurting and I don’t think I can blame you even if I wanted to,” Spitfire paused. “But… I don’t want to see Braeburn get hurt like the others were, I’ve only met him twice and I can already tell he’s the kind of stallion who wouldn’t be able to take it if you did something to hurt him. I’m trying to believe you’ve changed, I really am… but just everything you did to the others… I really don’t like the idea of you just up and inviting him to come with us around the world if I’m going to forget his face in a year.” Her eyes looked a little scared, either for himself or Braeburn, Soarin couldn’t tell.

Spitfire’s eyes looked pleading suddenly. “I saw how upset you were when you had to tell us what happened to him back in Appleloosa, and I know Rapidfire just wants to make him forget such he’s such a softie, he was trying his best not to cry earlier… Fleetfoot is worried for him too, but she doesn’t show it as much.” As the golden pegasus said this, she began to run a hoof through her fiery mane, looking directly into Soarin’s gaze with a piercing glare. “You aren’t the only one involved anymore is all I’m saying, I know that those two in there will hold a grudge against you if you hurt him after tonight… I’ve forgiven you before, but I don’t know if I can do it anymore…”

“I can’t believe you’re bringing this up.” Soarin grumbled out. His voice was monotone, he wouldn’t let himself betray emotion. As he glanced over into Spitfire’s fiery eyes, he began to feel a pang of guilt. “L-Look…” He stuttered. “I know… I know that in the past I hurt a lot of ponies, and I really don’t feel all that proud of it.” Soarin began to look at Braeburn again. “I think that maybe… maybe when I left him, I was like that. I was willing to hurt him without guilt when I first left him in Appleloosa… I even told him that stupid story about how I tried to help random stallions who were in the closet… Yeah, I used him back then because I was selfish and greedy and he was weak and helpless… but in this past year… I think I might have really…”

The glass door of the balcony suddenly flew open. Soarin looked up with his wide, green eyes to see Braeburn, he stopped mid-sentence, not wanting Braeburn to become curious. His cheeks were red from the amount of drinking he had this night. His eyes seemed less worried, more carefree than usual. “Heavens to Betsy Soar, ah’m freezing my tail off just standin’ here!” He said with a drunken chuckle. Soarin let a smile hit his face at the sight of his drunken lover. “Get in here gosh darn it! I’m gettin’ cold just watchin’ ya!”

Soarin chuckled, realizing that if anypony on earth could make a “Cute drunk”, it would have to be Braeburn. “Coming Brae, give me a few minutes would you?”

As the pegasus watched his lover go back to both his newly acquired friends, he let a small smile shine of his face once more. His chest began to warm as he started to get up. “I guess that… I think I might really love somepony this time…” He said.

Soarin felt a hoof land on his shoulder. He found himself looking back at Spitfire, whose fiery gaze had in fact softened. “If you keep smiling like that… I just might be able to believe you.” She mumbled, pushing him aside as she began to walk forward, opening the door on her own and walking inside.

Soarin blinked several times as he walked into the warm hotel room. He just wanted this to be the right choice, he only wanted, and hoped, that he hadn’t made another mistake.

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Soarin glanced around the blackened room, blinking his eyes quickly in an attempt to adjust them to the darkness. As he opened his mouth to yawn, he realized he must have dozed off, that would explain why the yelling had stopped. Everypony went to sleep.

The pegasus began to listen intently as he glanced over. He saw Rapidfire on his back with Fleetfoot next to him, half rolled up in his wing. Both were snoring quite loudly. He glanced further down to a spot where a blanket was rolled up, and saw a fire orange mane sticking out of the top. Spitfire must have been asleep under there, not snoring as usual.

Soarin began to stretch his wings as he sat up with a tiny groan. His back was going to hurt like hell tomorrow. He began to glance around the room, looking for the final and most important pony of the night. When he finally spotted Braeburn… he looked to laying down up against the wall, curled up tightly in a ball. His head was down, but his hooves kept moving in circled on the carpet. He was most defiantly awake, that was for sure.

Soarin yawned once more as he began to drag himself over to Braeburn’s body. He rubbed an eye with one of his hooves before whispering out. “Hey, Brae?” This caused Braeburn to jump, and look up with a frightful expression. Soarin paused, cocking his head to the side when he saw this on the face of his lover.

“Oh… Soarin, it’s only you…” Braeburn mumbled. His eyes looked tired, they kept closing briefly only to snap open in an instant. He sat up, looking as if it took all his strength to do so.

Soarin opened his mouth, only it became dry in an instant. He shook his head briefly, trying to wake up. “Have you… slept at all?” Soarin asked.

Braeburn avoided his eyes from Soarin’s own as he gave a shrug. “Ah really don’t want ta go ta sleep.” He murmured out. He shifted uncomfortably in place, closing his eyes briefly only for them to snap back open.

“Why… why not?” Soarin found himself speaking aloud even though he was positive he only thought those words. But still, he wanted to know.

Braeburn glanced up, his eyes had dark circles under them. He wasn’t looking at Soarin’s eyes, only his mane. “Ah had fun tonight… ah really did…” He mumbled. “Ah think ah made friends with Rapidfire and Fleetfoot, just like ya said ah would.” Braeburn gave off a chuckle as his eyes briefly crossed Soarin’s. They looked upset. “Ah… ah just don’t wanna go ta sleep… because when ah do… ah might have that dream again.”

Soarin realized he was holding his breath after Braeburn said that, as he struggled to breathe normally, Braeburn continued. “Ah mean… ah didn’t wanna wake ya up… or disturb the others, so ah’m just scared to go ta sleep… because… ah don’t want to find myself wakin’ up cryin’, or even screamin’ just because of it, with that overpowering fear in my chest that ah can’t handle on my own… ah know that ah might have woken the others up if that happened… ya know ah can... ya know ah can’t calm myself down without ya anymore, ah can’t tell what’s real and what’s not right when ah wake up…”

Soarin began to grumble, hearing the whimpering escape from Braeburn’s throat hurt him deep in his chest. “Dummy…” He mumbled, reaching out a hoof and lightly bonking Braeburn on top of his head. “I swear one of these day’s I’m going to have to hit you because you’re so stupid.” He paused, reaching out a hoof and stroking down Braeburn’s mane, the other winced and felt like he was trembling. “Just wake me up next time, for the sake of Celestia this’ll be a lot easier if you do that from now on.”

Braeburn sniffled before letting himself fall on Soarin’s chest, trembling without saying a word as he hid his face somewhere in the safety of those blue tufts of fur that tickled his face. He began to feel encaged as wings surrounded his body. While being flimsy, and weak on their own, with Soarin owning the feathers Braeburn felt much safer.

“You’re so stupid.” Soarin mumbled, stroking down Braeburn’s mane with a hoof. Braeburn really was fragile, like glass. His mind was so easily changed from happy to sad in just a few hurtful words. He needed Soarin to survive, or else his heart would shatter once more. Soarin began to remember those horrible letters that scared him, scared him that Braeburn might indeed take his own life he was so depressed. He wasn’t himself when he wrote those letters, and he wasn’t himself now.

Soarin began to wonder just how long Braeburn had transformed all of his anger at the townsfolk of Appleloosa into depression just to protect their worthless lives, just to make sure he wouldn’t snap. It was a little strange to say, but in a way Soarin was proud of Braeburn for managing not to become a rotten lowlife like the rest of them.

Braeburn sniffled once more, and muffled out something that sounded like an apology. Soarin began to shake his head before gently kissing one of the yellow ears on his muzzle.

“Shut up.”

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“Ah, Celestia my head!” Rapidfire whined.

Soarin ignored Rapidfire’s usual whiny nature after getting a hangover. He had tried to feel sorry at one point at time, before realizing Rapidfire must have been born with that crap he drank in his bloodstream. “Shut up, you’re the one who drank so much.”

“Why the hell are you being so mean?” Rapidfire whined, trotting up to Soarin with his wings flapping just enough so he wouldn’t hover. “You’re being nice to Brae Brae…”

“That’s because he was influenced by a stupid older stallion with no sense of when to stop. And why are you calling him Brae Brae?” Soarin began to feel irritated as he rubbed the back of his green looking lover, whose coat looked mangled and grimy, his mane not in much better shape. He whimpered slightly as he rubbed his scalp with a free hoof, keeping his eyes shut to avoid sunlight hurting his mind. He held the trashcan close at hoof in case his belly decided to disagree with him once more.

“Brae Brae’s a cute name, don’t you think?” Rapidfire asked. “Besides, why are we moving so much this early in the morning?”

“Shouldn’t Braeburn be asking that…” Soarin grumbled out. After all, Rapidfire had in fact been traveling with them for years on end, why should he be so shocked they were moving all of a sudden. They had shows to do and ponies to see. They were famous after all.

“Braeburn is sick, I’m talking for him since he can’t.” Rapidfire said in a high and mighty voice.

“Will you colts shut up?” Spitfire snapped. “The train leaves in an hour, let’s just get going. Did Braeburn get all the crap he needs?”

“I think so.” Soarin said, patting Braeburn’s back to show he would be back in a moment. “I think that everypony here is ready, whiny or not.” He flapped his wings as he took off into the air, flying toward the door as he rolled his eyes. “Look, let’s just get going.”

“I just said that…” Spitfire growled out.

Soarin flew to grab Braeburn’s bag, double checking inside of it that nothing was forgotten. He began to busy his mind with thoughts about pie as he realized just how horrible it would be for a hungover pony to be on a train that was by no means smooth.

Soarin glanced over to the spot he left Braeburn, and cocked up a brow in confusion. “Where did…”

“He stepped out for air.” Fleetfoot called, knowing the end of the vice-captain’s sentence.

Soarin shook his head as he flew over to the door and opened it up with a single swing, spotting Braeburn hunched over the newspaper. He wasn’t saying a single word. Under any normal day, Soarin would have wondered just why a newspaper was being delivered in a hotel room, but something about the way Braeburn was staring threw him off. It was almost… upset…

“Something wrong Bra-” Soarin cut himself off as he looked at the image right smack on the front page of the newspaper. The image right smack on the front, plain for everypony in Equestria to see, and likely they had. How this picture had managed to be snapped without his knowing… he would never really know for certain.

The sound of the door opening happened again, and Rapidfire glanced over Braeburn’s other shoulder, staring at the same image.

“Is that Braeburn in socks and a thong?”

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Edragon

Edragon #1 · Aug 14th, 2012 · 1 · ·

Cue Braeburn meltdown in
3...
2...
1...
images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110915231136/mlp/images/thumb/6/64/Braeburn_Freaking_Out_S1E21.png/640px-Braeburn_Freaking_Out_S1E21.png

I was just thinking about this story and was wondering when it would update.
Also, for not proofing/editing...not much was wrong with it only a handful here and there in the whole thing...

SpikeDark

SpikeDark #2 · Aug 14th, 2012 · · ·

yes Rapidfire “Is that Braeburn in socks and a thong?”

Yuki Harima

Yuki Harima #3 · Aug 14th, 2012 · · ·

Stupid iPod being stupid deleting my comment.

Yuki: I really like the back story you have given soarin and how selfish he can be. I also love the emotion and the reality on how corrupt people thoughts can be towards a tragic event and how rash their decisions can be. Grammar errors but you haven't edit yet so I am okay with it. Keep up the work

Harima: blah blah boring stuff aside, you need a picture of drunk Braeburn and the chapter complete. The party scene was awesome, plowing your own child was a great line, and finally the picture comes into play. I want to see more drunkenness, more plowing references and more awkward moments to come. Harima out.

Storm butt

Storm butt #4 · Aug 14th, 2012 · · ·

1085877 I always write those little comedy moments on the spot, never thinking of them until I write them out XD.

mageli7

mageli7 #5 · Aug 14th, 2012 · · ·

YAYYYYY UPDATTTTE I'M SO HAPPY I COULD WRITE A FIC BUT I WONT BECAUSE I'M LAZZZZY!

Yuki Harima

Yuki Harima #6 · Aug 14th, 2012 · · ·

1086161 the best jokes just come random man. They pop into your head and you just need to get it written down before it goes away. Usually that is how writing works in general.P

Abrams