Passing Through

by Meteor_Mirage

Chapter 1

Sunburst slowly awoke to light filtering in through the window, striking him directly in the face. He opened one eye just enough to glare at the sunlight, cursing it for having the gaul to wake him up in such a way.

He had half a mind to roll over and ignore the call of the morning, instead favoring the idea of covering his head with his blanket and getting at least another hour of sleep. But his “doctor” once told him that it was a “bad idea” and would ruin his “sleep schedule”, so he instead decided against it.

Instead, he sat up in bed, stretching his forelegs above his head with a loud yawn. As he came down from this yawn, he affixed his glasses to his face and took a second to look around and realized with a bit of a start:

This was not his bedroom.

The luggage and books littering the floor were familiar to him, but they littered a bedroom much more spacious than his own. Instead of bookshelves filled to near spilling out, the walls were mostly empty other than some tasteful paintings of orange and apple trees and other rustic fare. The furnishing, as sparse as it was, seemed to be rustic and hoof-crafted from wood as well.

This all served to confuse Sunburst, and it took him a few moments to remember that he was currently in Appleloosa to help solve a magical issue. And it took him just a bit longer to remember he put himself to sleep with one of the apples he was tasked to heal.

He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he hadn’t been kidnapped. But also glad that his scientific experiments hadn’t risked his life so hard.

Again. And again.

After a few moments of just sitting and letting awakeness wash over him, Sunburst finally decided that it was time to finally throw the blanket off and get out of bed. Lest the urge to go right back to bed keep growing.

As there was work afoot, he crawled out of bed. He shook his head in an attempt to shake off the remaining tiredness and, to his surprise, instead of sticking to his brain like usual, the tiredness just slid off of him entirely.

“Curiouser and curiouser.” Sunburst muttered to himself. Instead of looking into the issue further, he decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth. He just lit his horn, picking up his folded cloak from the bedside table and quickly hooking the clasp around his neck.

He gave a gentle sigh, shaking his head again before finally leaving the bedroom.

Looking around the hallway outside Sunburst could see two mystery rooms, one across from him and the other to his right at the end of the hall. While he was curious what they were, he felt as if Braeburn would think him strange were he to just start exploring without permission. So he left them alone for now.

To his left was a staircase leading down. This briefly confused Sunburst, wondering how he got from the ground floor to the first, before he realized there was a very easy explanation.

His face flushed a bright red as he tried to get the image of Braeburn lifting him up a flight of stairs with ease.

It did not work, but at least he tried.

Descending the stairs, keeping his head down in attempts to hide his flushed face until it corrected itself, Sunburst’s nose twitched as the scent of cooking food entered it. His stomach growled loudly, reminding him that he’d accidentally slept through lunch.

Practically beelining it to the kitchen, Sunburst knocked on the swinging doors before sticking his head in.

Braeburn, currently tending over multiple pots and pans on his stovetop, practically jumped out of his stylish vest at the sudden intrusion of noise. He took a second to ensure nothing he was working on would burn or overflow from lack of attention paid.

And then he swung around with a small scowl, ready to give the interruption a piece of his mind for halting his cooking.

But his scowl quickly fell to a soft grin as he saw Sunburst standing in the doorway, a gentle blush still on his face.

“Well g’morning, Sleeping Beauty.” Braeburn said, then trailed off to a gentle yawn. He shook his head, attempting to shake off the tiredness but only serving to drop his hat on the ground. Slowly, he leaned down to pick it up. “Heh, whoops. Looks like I’m a li’l bit of a clutz today.”

As Braeburn stood back up to reaffix the hat to his head, Sunburst could see dark bags under the stallion’s eyes. For a moment, he considered asking Braeburn about them, but quickly decided against it. He didn’t want to pry.

Instead, he fully stepped into the kitchen. “Uh, good morning I suppose! I hope I’m not interrupting anything…” He smiled bashfully, scratching the back of his head with a hoof. “I mean, I guess that I already interrupted your cooking once today with the whole apple thing, but I really hope I didn’t do it again.”

It took Braeburn a second to process, but he quickly waved Sunburst’s worries away with a chuckle. “Oh don’t worry about none of that. I’m just glad you’re alright.”

“I’d say more than just alright.” Sunburst said with a grin. “I feel more well-rested than I’ve been in a while!”

Braeburn chuckled again, but it again trailed into a yawn. “Guess that’s what happens when you sleep through a whole day, huh?”

“A whole day? Like, 24 hours?” Sunburst asked, to which Braeburn nodded to confirm. He blinked. A few times. He then let out a groan, covering his face with a hoof. “Ugh, and here I was hoping I could take a look at some more spells after my nap.”

“Eh, I’d say the sleep is probably worth it. ‘Specially if you’re feelin’ so good now.” Braeburn said with a shrug. He then turned around, opening the oven to pull out a tray of golden brown biscuits. He still turned his head slightly to speak towards Sunburst. “It ain’t like y’can’t study some today, right?”

“Well I was hoping to have a gameplan to work with today, but…” Sunburst trailed off with a shrug. After a beat of silence, he cleared his throat and willingly drew his attention to something to distract himself with. His eyes quickly fell upon the very pots and pans Braeburn was working with.

Drawing slightly closer to Braeburn, Sunburst timidly extended a hoof. “Oh! Uh, is there any way I can help you out here? I don’t want to impose, but I’d feel a little weird if you did all the work.”

“Well these potatoes here’ve only got a li’l bit left on them.” Braeburn said, but then turned to gesture to a set of wooden cabinets to his right, hanging above his kitchen’s counter. “If you want though, I need two of the big plates from up in there. Then dinner should be all squared away.”

The mention of dinner made Sunburst’s stomach growl loudly again. As he blushed at Braeburn’s attempt to hide his chuckling, he quickly made his way over to the cabinet Braeburn was gesturing to. He got up onto his forelegs and opened the doors to reveal his dilemma.

There were numerous plates of varying sizes, none of which seemed appropriately ‘big’ to him. He gave a confused look to the tableware, but was stopped from further questioning by the sound of movement behind him. In a panic he took two similarly sized, but otherwise questionably wanted plates from the cabinet and turned to look at Braeburn.

Braeburn shrugged. These plates were fine.

Sunburst grimaced. They were fine, but not correct.

---

Sunburst had to fight every urge to not just begin stuffing himself full the very second he sat down at the dining table. Everything, from the gravyed biscuits to the mashed potatoes to even the okra, looked absolutely delicious. His stomach fought him, growling and groaning as it told its owner just how it felt about his sudden fasting.

But thankfully, Braeburn entered the room carrying with him two glasses of water.

“Sorry ‘bout the wait!” He said as he placed the waters down, one to Sunburst’s side and one at his own side as he moved to sit down. He gave a small sigh, looking up to spot Sunburst’s uncomfortable stare towards him, then down a little to see Sunburst’s untouched plate. “Aww, y’all didn’t have to go and wait for me. Go ahead and dig in if you’re hungry.”

Sunburst didn’t have to be told twice. In fact, he barely had to be told once.

The next few minutes were quietly spent with him absolutely tucking into the meal, perhaps a bit too eagerly eating all he had on offer. His fork and knife were practically a blur in his hooves as he consumed, though he did his best to at least remain mostly respectful as he pigged out.

Taking a moment to finally have a sip of water, Sunburst finally noticed that Braeburn was staring at him as he ate.

A massive blush covered his face, Sunburst quickly stopping his eating to grab a napkin and wipe his face off. “Oh s-sorry. I’m probably not being very polite right now, am I?” He cleared his throat, then bashfully took up his utensils and began to eat again, though this time much more slowly.

“Naw, you’re fine. Just glad you’re enjoying the food.” Braeburn said with a chuckle, though his eyes still hadn’t left Sunburst. “Just thought it was a bit strange you eat with your hooves, is all. Most unicorns I’ve met can’t stand using hooves.”

“Oh it’s, uh, complicated. Not, like, complicated complicated like I’ll have to explain a lot of things to you, but…” Sunburst trailed off, drooping lower in his seat with a sigh.

“Complicated like y’ain’t one to tell someone you just met?” Braeburn asked.

There was a small, embarrassed delay before Sunburst nodded his head. “Yes, something like that.” His blush grew stronger, and he took to distracting himself by cutting one of his biscuits in half. “I’m not the best at talking about myself in general, but that’s definitely something I keep close to my chest.”

“Well then I hope you’ll forgive me for tryin’ to pry.” Braeburn said, tipping his head and pressing a hoof to his chest.

“No need to apologize. You didn’t know.” Sunburst waved it off with a hoof. “And you can hardly call that prying. If you want to see prying, I should introduce you to my mother.”

Braeburn raised an eyebrow, a sly grin forming on his lips. “Well, not tryin’ to pry, but I take it the two of you don’t get along?”

“I don’t think I’d go that far, but she’s just-” Sunburst stopped his rant short to instead clench his hooves and jaw for a few moments, pursing his lips and then releasing a deep sigh. “She’s a mother. My mother, to be specific, and that means she’s a bit neurotic, overprotective, and definitely controlling. And while I love her, I could do without her constantly pestering me about my life, love or otherwise.”

There was a solid beat of silence where neither stallion quite knew where to take the conversation.

Then Sunburst’s head popped up as a lightbulb went off within it. “Oh right, conversation. Uh, how’s your relationship with your parents? I mean, being an Apple, I bet you’re all a bit close.”

“You’d think, wouldn’t ya?” Braeburn said with a chuckle, though this one bearing a different ring than the usual. “We… ain’t exactly seein’ eye to eye these days. Never have on account of my ‘running away’ and ‘not acting like a true Manehattanite’, whatever that means.” He gave a shrug, a calm smile crossing his face. “Don’t matter to me much. I’m happier ‘round here bucking apples than I’d be at another dumb dinner party.”

Sunburst’s head tilted as he tried to decide which part of that to tackle first. “You’re… from Manehattan?” He decided to begin with.

“Y’all’re darned right! Can’t ya tell from th’accent?” Braeburn asked, his decidedly southern accent getting thicker as he did so. Just as Sunburst began to dissect his speech for even a hint of Manehattan, Braeburn laughed out loudly, shaking his head with a wide smile. “Naw, I just moved there with ‘em when we got outta Dodge Junction. They loved it and my sis was too young to care, but I hated it. Only thing that place gave me was a taste for suits and a whole bunch of issues.”

For a moment, Sunburst was too occupied with the image of Braeburn in a suit to respond. Quickly filing that away for later, he nodded his head in agreement. “I’m with you on the issues front. Living and going to school in Canterlot did wonders for my anxiety and my self-esteem.” He breathed a ragged sigh, then shrugged his shoulders. “Well, at least Ponyville is treating me better. It may be a hotspot for every danger known to Equestria, but it sure beats high school.”

“Now ain’t that the truth.” Braeburn said. “Runnin’ away to help Appleloosa grow into the town it is now’s probably the best decision I ever made. Some’a the ones I made after though? Probably not too great.”

Sunburst paused, then raised his eyebrows with the slightest hint of a grin. “Alright, I feel like that one has a story to it.”

“Ehhh, try a couple dozen barely connected ones.” Braeburn elaborated, however poorly. “When I left Manehattan to join up in growin’ this tiny town, I started to get a touch lonely after a while. So I just started gettin’ close to whatever stallions’d get close right back.” He paused to let out a sharp laugh, shaking his head. “And lemmie tell you, these were some real slim pickings back when I got here. Shame is they were only passin’ through, so whatever I had didn’t last too long.”

“That’s… terrible.” Sunburst said after a moment, shooting Braeburn an empathetic look. “I can't imagine doing that to someone without at least warning them first. And even then…" He shook his head as he trailed off.

“The only ones I’ve got a problem with are the ones that said they’d write me after. Only one ever really did.” Braeburn explained, unsure why Sunburst’s face got bashful as he did. “It ain’t so bad if you know you’re gonna get from it. The few days are nice, and I’ve learned to move on quick.”

A few seconds passed before Braeburn chuckled softly. “Whew, I sure did kinda kill the mood there, didn’t I?” He asked before gesturing a hoof towards Sunburst. “How’s about you? I’m sure a nice guy like you has someone waiting back at home for you.”

“Ah, no, nothing like that.” Sunburst said, shyly avoiding Braeburn’s gaze to look down at his empty plate. “I’ve never really had the time for relationships until now, so I feel like I’ve missed out on all the lessons you learn when you’re dating as a teenager.”

“Naw, I’m sure you’ll pick it up anyway. You’re smart enough.” Braeburn told him before finally standing up from the table, taking with him his empty plate. “And while I’d love to give you a couple pointers, not that they’d be any good comin’ from me, I think we should go check on the field before it gets too late.”

“A-ah, right!” Sunburst quickly jumped from his seat, taking his plate up as well and trailed behind Braeburn into the kitchen. “Here, let me help you out with the clean up.”

---

By the time the two finished cleaning and packing away leftovers, night had fallen. And with the night came a sea of stars and a full moon bright enough to light the way.

For most ponies.

As the stallions made their way through the orchard, Sunburst, still nightblind enough to need a guide, nervously stuck close behind Braeburn who periodically stopped to check on a tree they were passing. Every time, he just frowned and moved on.

Sunburst let this happen two more times before he stopped in his tracks. “Forgive me for asking, but what exactly are we doing here?”

Braeburn stopped at the next tree, pressing a hoof to the trunk before turning to look at Sunburst. “Just gotta check on which trees are infected and which ain’t.” At this, Braeburn shut his eyes to focus. After a moment he clicked his tongue, shaking his head with a frown. “That’s the third that’s been infected since last time I checked. This problem’s gettin’ worse.” His sad gaze held strong on the tree for a few seconds before he caught sight of Sunburst fidgeting to the side. Hoof still held on the tree, he turned his head towards Sunburst. “You can probably just sit down if you want. This is gonna take a while.”

Sunburst thought about it briefly. His hooves were already fairly tired from all the walking, and he knew that he still had a lot of studying to do if he were to be of any help.

But he wanted to be useful now.

“I, um, think I might have something to help?” Sunburst said with all the confidence he could manage. He slowly drew a book from his cloak, flipping it open and tilting it so that he was able to read it in the moonlight. He hemmed and hawed over the book for a few moments until, just before Braeburn was about to interrupt, he gave a soft squeak of joy. “I think I’ve got it!”

Sunburst lit his horn, bathing his surroundings in a golden light. The glow quickly got brighter as he ensnared the tree Braeburn had his hoof on in his magic. And then another. And another.

Soon, all the trees within Sunburst’s field of vision were wrapped up in his golden magic. But as soon as it happened, he shut his aura off with a confused squint towards the book still in his hoof.

Braeburn was quick to approach Sunburst warily, extending a hoof towards him but not yet touching. “Y’alright there? Magic on the fritz again?”

It took a bit for Braeburn’s words to break Sunburst’s hasty reading. Looking up from his book, he shook his head. “Not quite. This spell is just finicky and only lets me scan plants I can see. And I can’t exactly see the orchard through the trees.” He hastily fixed his glasses, pushing them up his face, then sighed. “This is something I can probably only cast once today, and I want to get it right the first time. But to do that, I need a way to see all of the trees.”

As Sunburst began to puzzle over this dilemma, Braeburn simply looked up towards the cliffside that overlooked the entire orchard. “I think I’ve got the solution.” He said, pointing towards the cliff.

Sunburst followed the gesture, then gave a small grin. “Oh!” He exclaimed. “That’s much better than my ‘shrink the orchard’ idea. A lot less magic used too.”

In a brisk walk, Braeburn lead Sunburst up a winding path up towards a cliff overlooking the apple orchard.

Sunburst stood near the edge of the cliff, overlooking the orchard that, in the bright moonlight, was completely visible to him now. He turned to look towards Braeburn with a soft grin. “This is pretty perfect for what I need. “Wow, the view up here is beautiful! Have you been up here before?”

Instead of looking at Sunburst, Braeburn’s gaze remained fixed upwards. “Guess you could say I come here a lot.”

Curious, Sunburst followed his eyes and looked up towards the sky as well. And his eyes widened.

Now out from under the orchard’s semi-dense tree covering, the full breadth of the night sky was revealed to them, and with it came a full sea of stars. They shone more brightly than Sunburst had ever seen before, and it made the constellations he could see burn brighter because of it.

Sunburst continued to stare up in awe for a few more moments before attempting to shake it off. There was time for stargazing later.

He took a cursory step towards the cliff’s edge, taking in the full brunt of the orchard beneath him. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a brief moment to focus himself.

He lit his horn, opening his eyes just enough to see the orchard, and let his magic wash over all of the trees. The golden glow hung around the trees for a few moments, shimmering gently before intensifying into a bright flash of light and fading into nothing but a few golden sparks.

Sunburst blinked, a wave of tiredness washing over him after finishing his casting. With a sharp breath he shook his head in an attempt to fight it off, but it only served to make him lightheaded.

Seeing Sunburst begin to stumble, Braeburn rushed forward to catch him. He wrapped a hoof around Sunburst to stabilize him, slowly kneeling down to bring both of them safely to the ground.

“Let’s just take a li’l break.” Braeburn told Sunburst, his hoof still around him for a brief moment. “Y’alright, or do you need me to get someone?”

Sunburst took a second to take stock of his physical health, then gave a soft sigh and a tired look towards Braeburn. “I think I’m fine. The spell just took more than I expected.” He admitted, then looked out towards the orchard. “It worked though! Out of your hundred trees, only sixty-nine of them are infected.”

“That’s nice, but are you sure you’re alright?” Braeburn asked again, this time with a more concerned look. “AJ’s probably gonna kill me if I let anything happen to one’a her friends, so maybe y’all should take it easy for a couple days.”

“I’m fine, Braeburn. I swear!” Sunburst insisted with a gentle giggle. “I appreciate the worry, but I’m used to overextending myself like this by now. All I need to do is rest, and I should be fine by tomorrow.”

“Well what better way to rest than under an Appleloosan night sky?” Braeburn asked with a giggle. As he did so, he gave Sunburst a gentle squeeze with the hoof he still had wrapped around.

Immediately, with simultaneously bright blushes, both stallions realized that Braeburn was still holding Sunburst tightly against him. Both froze for an instant then, with a soft squeak, Braeburn quickly unwrapped his hoof and scooted a more respectable distance away from Sunburst.

HeHe dipped his head, attempting to hide his blush with the brim of his hat. "Heh, 'scuse me for that. Hopin' I didn't make you too uncomfortable."

Sunburst readily shook his head with a blush of his own. “N-no, nothing like that! You were just helping me down, and I don’t mind if you want to stay close to me to keep warm from the cold.”

Braeburn tilted his head.

The cold?

It was normal for Appleloosa nights to get a bit cold, but it wasn’t anything Braeburn wasn’t used to.

And yet, looking over at Sunburst who was giving a compassionate smile, Braeburn couldn’t help but force a bashful nod. “I suppose it’s a mite cold tonight. Though I don’t wanna impose, if’n you-”

Sunburst cut Braeburn off by scooting closer to him, closing the distance between the two stallions yet again. “It’s no problem to me.” He said with a smile. “I lived in the Crystal Empire for a while, back when it wasn’t protected by the Crystal Heart, so the cold doesn’t bother me much. In fact…” He unclipped his cloak with a hoof, then did his best to extend as much as he could over Braeburn. “It’s, um, not much. But it should help?”

Braeburn’s face flushed redder as he felt Sunburst’s warmth fully against him now. He turned away to hide his blush, dipping his head again. “Thank ya kindly, partner.” He said softly, his voice wavering slightly.

Sunburst simply smiled, then looked up towards the sky. “The stars sure are beautiful tonight, huh?”

Braeburn sighed, thankful for the distraction, then nodded eagerly. “Eeyup, but they look like that every night ‘round here. It’s one’a the reasons I stuck around here so long, ‘cause you can’t get stars like this in Manehattan.”

“Not even in Ponyville, I think.” Sunburst agreed with a sigh. “It’s a shame. The stars have gone dark around most of Equestria due to light pollution. But at least now I know there’s somewhere I can see the Pillar constellations in their entirety.”

Braeburn tilted his head. “Pillar constellations? Y’all might gotta help me out a li’l here. Most I can find up there is a Dipper or two.”

Sunburst’s eyes lit up as he quickly extended a hoof towards the sky. “Well if you look up there next to the Big Dipper, up and to the right a bit, you can start to see four stars in sort of a trapezoidal shape, then three stars trailing down.” As he said this, he slowly traced his hoof against the sky to demonstrate. “Back when the Pillars of Equestria were still around saving the world, ponies took to calling that one Rockhoof’s Shovel after, you know, Rockhoof.”

Braeburn squinted his eyes and craned his neck to look closer at the stars. “I guess I can sorta see what you’re talkin’ about.”

Sunburst beamed at this, quickly pointing to another set of stars. “And there’s one for each of them! Like right there is Somnambula’s Blindfold, and there’s Magnus’s Shield, and Mistmane’s Flower, and Meadowbrook’s Mask.” With each name he rattled off, he traced his hoof against another set of stars in the same general area. After this, his hoof held on a sixth set of stars, and then a seventh. “And now these last two are kind of contested. Before the Pillars disappeared, the constellation we now know as Orion’s Belt was Starswirl’s Horn, and this square shaped one over here was Stygian’s Grimoire. After Stygian became the Pony of Shadows, Orion became Orion, and it’s now Starswirl’s Spellbook. And now Stygian is leading a movement to reclaim his constellation, which is kinda funny when you think about it.”

As Sunburst gave a gentle chuckle, he could see Braeburn nodding out of the corner of his eye. At first he was glad that someone was finally enjoying one of his impromptu infodumps but, as he turned his head towards Braeburn to fire off a few more Star Facts, he was instead given pause as he saw the true reason.

What Sunburst took for nodding was really Braeburn’s nodding off, his eyes held shut and breathing gentle as he very obviously toed the line between awake and asleep.

Sunburst let out a soft sigh, his face falling from the eager grin it held before. “I’m probably boring you, aren’t I?”

At this, Braeburn jerked awake for the moment, quickly shaking his head. “It ain’t you, I swear. Just forgot to do some sleeping last night, and it’s finally catching up to me.” He gave a soft yawn, then smiled tiredly at Sunburst. “But don’t let that make you think I ain’t listenin’. Y’all sound so passionate about it, it’s kinda hard not to listen.”

Sunburst blushed again, then looked back up towards the stars. “I don’t know if I’d say passionate. I’ve just spent a lot of time reading about the many myths and legends of Old Equestria.” He let that statement sit momentarily before his eyes lit up again, turning to look at Braeburn yet again. “Like, did you know that for the longest time ponies believed the Pillars would return to assist Nightmare Moon in her reign of Eternal Night? Of course, this came from a severe misunderstanding of where they disappeared to in the first place but I thought it was interesting.”

“Interesting maybe, but I dunno if I’d buy it.” Braeburn said with a shrug. “Ms. Meadowbrook didn’t seem like the Eternal Night kinda mare when I met her.”

“Well it wouldn’t be the first time a good pony went evil. Stygian, King Sombra, Princess Luna… Heck, a good portion of my friends have morally questionable pasts.” Sunburst said with a soft giggle. “But it was mostly just ponies trying to figure out which stars would aid in Nightmare Moon’s escape. It’s not a hard sell for it to be the group of ponies who disappeared around the time she was sealed away in the moon, right?”

“Makes sense.” Braeburn said with a slow, tired nod.

“Only if you don’t think about it for too long. I mean, like you said, most of them probably wouldn’t even think of helping her create an everlasting night.” Sunburst said. “I could maybe see it from Stygian, but only for more time to study by moonlight. Which, while I can understand completely, probably seems like a bit much, right?”

He waited a beat for Braeburn to respond. And then another. On the third, he looked to his side to see why the usually talkative stallion was clamming up so suddenly.

Braeburn slumbered peacefully beside Sunburst, his head resting upon crossed hooves as he softly snored. Sunburst hadn’t noticed before, but he could feel Braeburn’s weight pressing against him as he slept.

Sunburst sighed softly, a gentle grin on his face. “And here I thought you’d last a little bit longer. Not that I can complain too much.” He said, doing his best to be as quiet as possible. “I know I can be a bit of a bore, but I’m glad that you gave it a shot anyway. You’re a nice guy, Braeburn.”

With a brief yawn, he took to crossing his hooves in front of him and laying his head down upon them, mirroring Braeburn’s admittedly comfortable looking pose.

As he looked out to the orchard again, he grumbled softly. “And I’m going to find some way to fix your orchard. I just need a bit more time, and I know I can make it happen. And I’ll be studying whatever I can until then.”

Looking over to Braeburn’s home in the distance, he had a small form of realization.

“But first I need to figure out how to get both of us down, huh?”

Comments

[Bicyclette]

He had half a mind to roll over and ignore the call of the morning, instead favoring the idea of covering his head with his blanket and getting at least another hour of sleep. But his “doctor” once told him that it was a “bad idea” and would ruin his “sleep schedule”, so he instead decided against it.

aww, character growth! love to see it

After a few moments of just sitting and letting awakeness wash over him, Sunburst finally decided that it was time to finally throw the blanket off and get out of bed. Lest the urge to go right back to bed keep growing.

i should really take cues from this myself

Instead of looking into the issue further, he decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth.

it's really funny to imagine the reason that ponies would have this saying

To his left was a staircase leading down. This briefly confused Sunburst, wondering how he got from the ground floor to the first, before he realized there was a very easy explanation.

British floor numbering!

His face flushed a bright red as he tried to get the image of Braeburn lifting him up a flight of stairs with ease.

It did not work, but at least he tried.

hehe

Braeburn shrugged. These plates were fine.

Sunburst grimaced. They were fine, but not correct.

aww, just want to give this anxious horse a hug!

“Naw, you’re fine. Just glad you’re enjoying the food.” Braeburn said with a chuckle, though his eyes still hadn’t left Sunburst. “Just thought it was a bit strange you eat with your hooves, is all. Most unicorns I’ve met can’t stand using hooves.”

love this moment

“No need to apologize. You didn’t know.” Sunburst waved it off with a hoof. “And you can hardly call that prying. If you want to see prying, I should introduce you to my mother.”

haha, so true!

For a moment, Sunburst was too occupied with the image of Braeburn in a suit to respond.

hehehe

“Ah, no, nothing like that.” Sunburst said, shyly avoiding Braeburn’s gaze to look down at his empty plate. “I’ve never really had the time for relationships until now, so I feel like I’ve missed out on all the lessons you learn when you’re dating as a teenager.”

very relatable to younger me

Sunburst followed the gesture, then gave a small grin. “Oh!” He exclaimed. “That’s much better than my ‘shrink the orchard’ idea. A lot less magic used too.”

it's frightening that this was a viable enough plan to be thought about! unicorn magic is strange

Sunburst stood near the edge of the cliff, overlooking the orchard that, in the bright moonlight, was completely visible to him now. He turned to look towards Braeburn with a soft grin. “This is pretty perfect for what I need. “Wow, the view up here is beautiful! Have you been up here before?”

ah, love how circumstance is bringing them to all these romantic trope moments!

“It worked though! Out of your hundred trees, only sixty-nine of them are infected.”

nice

“Well what better way to rest than under an Appleloosan night sky?” Braeburn asked with a giggle. As he did so, he gave Sunburst a gentle squeeze with the hoof he still had wrapped around.

Immediately, with simultaneously bright blushes, both stallions realized that Braeburn was still holding Sunburst tightly against him. Both froze for an instant then, with a soft squeak, Braeburn quickly unwrapped his hoof and scooted a more respectable distance away from Sunburst.

auauaugh adorable

Sunburst cut Braeburn off by scooting closer to him, closing the distance between the two stallions yet again. “It’s no problem to me.” He said with a smile. “I lived in the Crystal Empire for a while, back when it wasn’t protected by the Crystal Heart, so the cold doesn’t bother me much. In fact…” He unclipped his cloak with a hoof, then did his best to extend as much as he could over Braeburn. “It’s, um, not much. But it should help?”

Braeburn’s face flushed redder as he felt Sunburst’s warmth fully against him now. He turned away to hide his blush, dipping his head again. “Thank ya kindly, partner.” He said softly, his voice wavering slightly.

aaaaaa love this! so warm and fuzzy

“And now these last two are kind of contested. Before the Pillars disappeared, the constellation we now know as Orion’s Belt was Starswirl’s Horn, and this square shaped one over here was Stygian’s Grimoire. After Stygian became the Pony of Shadows, Orion became Orion, and it’s now Starswirl’s Spellbook. And now Stygian is leading a movement to reclaim his constellation, which is kinda funny when you think about it.”

also love this! cultural bits like that really make this world feel real. also, of course Sunburst is a big ol' nerd about stars!

As Sunburst gave a gentle chuckle, he could see Braeburn nodding out of the corner of his eye. At first he was glad that someone was finally enjoying one of his impromptu infodumps but, as he turned his head towards Braeburn to fire off a few more Star Facts, he was instead given pause as he saw the true reason.

What Sunburst took for nodding was really Braeburn’s nodding off, his eyes held shut and breathing gentle as he very obviously toed the line between awake and asleep.

also, oof!

“But don’t let that make you think I ain’t listenin’. Y’all sound so passionate about it, it’s kinda hard not to listen.”

auauaugh perfect

“Like, did you know that for the longest time ponies believed the Pillars would return to assist Nightmare Moon in her reign of Eternal Night? Of course, this came from a severe misunderstanding of where they disappeared to in the first place but I thought it was interesting.”

really fascinating to think about what happened to their mythologies in their absence!

“But it was mostly just ponies trying to figure out which stars would aid in Nightmare Moon’s escape. It’s not a hard sell for it to be the group of ponies who disappeared around the time she was sealed away in the moon, right?”

has any other line from the pilot never followed up on again generated this much fan content? really loving this one, though!

He waited a beat for Braeburn to respond. And then another. On the third, he looked to his side to see why the usually talkative stallion was clamming up so suddenly.

Braeburn slumbered peacefully beside Sunburst, his head resting upon crossed hooves as he softly snored. Sunburst hadn’t noticed before, but he could feel Braeburn’s weight pressing against him as he slept.

aww! the thread of Braeburn's sleepiness reaching its conclusion with perfect timing. augh, this was a great scene!