Passing Through

by Meteor_Mirage

Chapter 3

Sunburst’s forehead rested on the smooth, wooden surface of the bar top he sat at. His eyes squeezed shut as he tried to drown out the cacophony of laughter and sounds of enjoyment that surrounded him in the overfull bar. For some reason, he thought he could just treat the only bar in Appleloosa like a quiet, hole-in-the-wall coffee shop and get some work done while enjoying a drink.

His thinking was sorely wrong, and now he couldn’t string a single thought together with all of the noise. And it didn’t help that his thoughts kept going back to the argument he’d had with Braeburn only an hour earlier.

And the stool he was sat on wasn’t nearly as comfortable as a coffee shop chair. So many difficulties.

“You ready to order something yet, kid?”

Sunburst’s head shot up. While he’d certainly expected the overwhelming sound around him to continue, in fact he dreaded it, he never expected it to be pointed at him in any way.

And now he was staring directly at the very unamused bartender. And he didn’t look too keen on repeating himself.

“Uh… Kahlua and Cream?” Sunburst said after a few seconds. “Please?”

The bartender said nothing, just let out a small, amused scoff. This confused Sunburst, but he didn’t have much time to bring it to question, as the bartender quickly stepped away to continue tending the bar.

And as he walked away to hopefully begin making Sunburst’s drink, Sunburst was yet again left alone in a crowd. Left to look over Mage Meadowbrook’s booklet of musings and potions that, while very insightful and interesting, weren’t of much help when it came to a sleep plague ripping its way through an entire orchard. There were, however, a few on maintaining and boosting plant growth that Sunburst wrote down on a napkin for later.

He had a cactus at home in dire need of help, and maybe a Potion of Plant Cure was the solution.

As he scribbled down the recipe and a few places he knew he could go to grab some of the ingredients, the bartender returned to quickly place his requested drink down and rush off with as little fanfare as possible. Barely letting Sunburst get out a quick, mumbled “Thank you” before leaving.

Normally Sunburst would have appreciated this level of customer service, one with as little actual interaction as possible, but right now he was in dire need of someone to bounce ideas off of. Or maybe a rubber duck to talk at until he figured things out.

Instead, he had a drink he didn’t exactly want that cost an amount of bits he didn’t exactly want to spend.

But at least it was something to focus on other than the massive amounts of sound going on around him. And with that thought, he lifted the glass and took a tentative sip of the alcoholic beverage.

And he recoiled immediately how much alcohol he could taste in the drink, despite everything.

“Take it Rye went a li’l too hard on the Kaluha side again?” Came a familiar voice to Sunburst’s side.

Flinching at the sound of a voice he didn’t exactly want to hear at the moment, Sunburst turned to see Braeburn standing beside him.

“Howdy.” Braeburn said with a bashful smile, lifting his hoof to give a very small wave.

Sunburst immediately moved to get up from his seat and abscond, but was quickly stopped as Braeburn placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“I ain’t here to bother you with nonsense again, I promise.” Braeburn said softly, just barely audible over the sound of ponies around them. “Just stopped by to bring you something I figure you’d wanna grab anyway.”

Reaching behind him, Braeburn pulled the large dark blue bundle of starry fabric from his back and hoofed it over to Sunburst with a soft smile.

“I, uh, figured you’d wanna have your robe if you’re gonna walk home in the cold.” Braeburn said, wrapping Sunburst’s cloak around the Sunburst’s shoulders. “I took the liberty of giving it a wash first, and I tried to get all the books and doodads back into the pockets after.”

After clasping his cloak around his neck, Sunburst took a moment to check his pockets and found that things were in mostly the same places, though his candy pouch and Things To Chew On pocket had swapped sides. There was absolutely no way this could go wrong.

After his quick check, Sunburst turned to Braeburn with a smile. “Thank you! It’s, erm, probably been a little longer than I’d like to admit since it's been washed, so it means a lot.”

“Don’t mention it.” Braeburn said with a chickle, waving the thanks away with a hoof. He lingered for a moment, waiting and wanting to say something more, but sighed as he came up with nothing. “Well, I suppose I’ll just leave you to it then.”

“W-wait!” Sunburst said loudly just as Braeburn turned to leave. "Would you like to join me? I could really use someone to bounce ideas off of, and I don’t think anyone around here would be interested in my rambling.”

Braeburn didn’t have to be told twice, eagerly sitting down in the empty stool right next to Sunburst.

As Braeburn sat down, Sunburst shuffled nervously in his seat, absentmindedly organizing the napkins he was using as note paper into an ordered pile. He avoided reading any of the words he’d scrawled on them in his fevered, distracted state. He knew he’d have to rewrite it all eventually, when his mind was more clear, so reading any of it would only serve to frustrate him further.

Braeburn, on the other hand, leaned over eagerly with a friendly smile, peering over at whatever it was that Sunburst was so very quick to cover with his hooves. “Those your notes?”

Sunburst’s first instinct was to detach, distract, and dissociate, but upon looking at that kind grin, he realized it would be rude to do that to a friend. Instead, he gave a deep sigh and pushed the stack of napkins towards Braeburn. “It’s… I was trying to collect my thoughts on the spread of the Nap Apples and what Mage Meadowbrook’s notes could add to what I already know, but I ended up getting lost in the weeds so to speak.”

As Sunburst took another sip of his drink, flinching again at the alcoholic taste, Braeburn made himself familiar with the unicorn’s writing. He skimmed the panicked and feverish writing for a short few seconds before letting out a small hum.

“Well, I like the part where you wrote ‘Dear Celestia I have no idea what I’m doing here’.” He said as he pressed a hoof to the paper. “And y’all even underlined it. Five times. Must be important.”

Sunburst let out a long, mournful sigh. “It was gonna be six, but I felt it would be a little too much.” He explained. “All I’ve provided so far is a bandage that, as far as I know, is going to fall off eventually when the trees start infecting each other. And I can’t figure out how to cure all of your trees at once, because there’s really no precedent to this event, so there’s no spell for me to copy.” His face fell as he let out yet another sigh, taking a hard swig from his drink and fighting any discomfort it caused.

Braeburn pursed his lips briefly, then placed a hoof on Sunburst’s own, looking at him sternly. “Bandage solution or not, y’all still helped us out more than you’d like to think. I mean, I was havin’ the time of my life tryin’ to get this mess handled before you showed up. Now all I’ve gotta do is find a few more unicorns willing to move here and zap a few trees until we can get this problem fully sorted.”

“Hopefully it’s not too expensive. The Crystal Empire was offering up a pretty penny to solve their whole Eternal Winter problem.” Sunburst said softly, then gave a soft chuckle. “I don’t think I ever even claimed that bounty, but it might be a bit too late at this point.”

“I don’t care about the cost, so long as I can keep my orchard running at some sorta profit.” Braeburn sighed.

Hesitating for a moment, Braeburn’s stern look hardened as he continued to stare down at Sunburst who, conversely, was doing everything he could to not look directly at him.

And then it softened, and his hoof’s grip on Sunburst’s grew tighter as he inched himself closer.

“I promise this ain’t some underhanded tactic to get you all distracted or anything but…” Braeburn took a deep breath, then released it as a sigh. “I think you need a break.”

Sunburst blinked, then tilted his head in confusion and a raise of his half empty glass. “That’s what this is, isn’t it? I’m… breaking. Currently being broken. Why else would I be in a bar?” He punctuated this question with another swig of his drink.

“Y’know what I mean.” Braeburn said with a roll of his eyes. There was a brief moment where his trademark smile faltered, but it was quickly redoubled as he turned his attention to Sunburst’s notenapkins. “I think y’all are too rooted down in this here problem. Thinking about work all the time can’t be that healthy.”

“It’s strange to hear an Apple say that.” Sunburst mused with a soft smile. He opened his mouth to continue, but suddenly cut himself off as he squinted his eyes in thought.

Sunburst quickly reopened Mage Meadowbrook’s journal, flitting through pages before finally landing on one and giving a mad grin. “I think I’ve got it!” He squeaked loudly as he looked up at Braeburn. Extracting his hoof from under Braeburn’s, he then placed it atop Braeburn’s hoof and gave it a quick squeeze. “You’re a genius, Brae!”

Without elaborating at all, Sunburst collected his belongings and quickly rushed out of the saloon. Assumedly, heading towards the orchard to follow through with whatever plan he had thought up.

After watching Sunburst leave, his starry cloak billowing in the breeze of the night, it was now Braeburn who found himself alone in a crowd.

“Well, so much for takin’ a break.” Braeburn said very softly to himself.

Breathing a small sigh, Braeburn stood up from his seat, tossed a few bits on the counter to pay for Sunburst’s drink, and began his walk to the door.

”Might as well get this thing over with.”

---

Braeburn rejoined Sunburst in the orchard minutes later, the wizardly stallion bathed in the light of the moon as he used it to read the journal he held in a hoof.

Hearing the sound of hoofsteps behind him, Sunburst quickly whipped around anxiously, but was happy to find that it was only Braeburn behind him.

“Oh! I was wondering where you went.” Sunburst said with a bright smile, then gave a gentle gesture towards the orchard. “Thanks to you, I think I finally understand what went wrong with the spell. So, if you’d like to join me, we can figure out if it works, uh, together?”

While Braeburn did indeed join, walking to stand just beside Sunburst, he tilted his head with no small amount of confusion as he squinted to read the journal in the moonlight. “I’m not sure I follow. As far as I remember, all I said was you should take a break. And I’d be shocked if that’s what fixed that spell of yours.”

“As nice as that would be, sadly no.” Sunburst said with a gentle chuckle. “But you did say something about how I’m too rooted down in this orchard problem and, you know, trees have roots too! They are, if I’m reading this journal correctly, very integral to the life of a tree because they drink up all the nutrients from the soil.” He quickly looked over the journal to ensure he wasn’t horribly incorrect, then looked over to Braeburn and giving another, louder laugh. “Look at me, explaining how trees work to an apple farmer.”

“Well I get that much, but I dunno how…” Braeburn trailed off, squinting his eyes as he thought it over for a moment before, as if a lightbulb suddenly came on in his head, he came into full realization. And as he did so, he stomped the ground with a hoof. “Gosh dang it, it’s been the soil this whole time hasn’t it?”

“It’s been the soil. This whole time.” Sunburst confirmed. “The soil took in a huge amount of bootleg sleeping potions and will continue doing so until there isn’t any left. So, we could either wait it out ooor…” Taking a pause, Sunburst lit his horn with a grin. “I could try my hoof at a more magical solution.”

For as much as Braeburn wanted to try the longer solution, he could see in Sunburst’s eyes that he very much wanted to try the magical option.

So he forced a smile, gesturing towards Sunburst with a hoof. "Be my guest, sugarcube."

Sunburst beamed. He took a few steps towards the center of the orchard and closed his eyes, focusing himself and his magic.

As he did earlier in the morning, Sunburst drew his magic inwardly and let it build it within him, letting it trickle down into his hooves instead of his horn. He breathed an uneasy sigh, his hooves yet again thrumming with an unnatural amount of energy.

And he hesitated, holding the magic there for a few moments and wondering if this was really the best course of action. But at that point he felt it was far too late to be second guessing himself, and so he loosed his hold on the magic in his hooves.

Even through his shut eyes, Sunburst could still see the large flash of golden light emitted the second he pushed his magic into the ground beneath him. It only lasted a moment, but it left his hooves numb and jittery, and his legs weaker than usual.

Sunburst let out a soft yelp, fighting to remain standing and, thankfully, not falling right on his face like he’d expected.

“I, uh, I think that’s it.” Sunburst said softly.

He quickly whipped around to face Braeburn, but was distraught to find that there was no one to be found.

“Uh… Brae?” He asked the air, looking around to find the unexpectedly disappeared farmer.

Thankfully it didn’t take too long to find Braeburn. After taking a moment to check the house and finding it empty, he quickly began the slow trek towards the cliff overlooking the orchard.

And it was there that Sunburst found Braeburn. Laying on the ground near the edge of the cliff, looking up towards the stars.

Sunburst hesitated, holding back in the shadows a few feet behind Braeburn with an undue amount of anxiety. He had no idea if Braeburn would prefer to be alone or, in fact, why he’d rushed off so quickly in the first place. So he just stood, shuffling nervously on his hooves as he was filled with indecision.

But he pressed forward despite this.

Slowly, Sunburst trotted up behind Braeburn.

Hearing the sound of hoofsteps behind him, Braeburn slowly turned his head to look at the intruder. Seeing it was Sunburst, he gave a small frown. “Oh.” He said. “Howdy.”

“H-hey.” Sunburst said as he forced a soft smile, waving gently with a hoof. “You, uh, kinda disappeared, so I went looking for you.”

“Sorry ‘bout that. Just figured I’d let you do your magic thing.” Braeburn shrugged softly, then looked out toward the orchard beneath him. “I saw that light show of yours. Pretty impressive, but I figure it means you’re near on your way out, huh?”

“Not necessarily. I mean, we still don’t know if the spell worked or anything, but, uh…” Sunburst trailed off, taking a slight tentative step towards Braeburn. “Is everything alright? I mean, you’ve been acting a bit off all day, and I was just wondering if I did anything wrong? I’m well known for missing social cues, so you’ll have to tell me if I-”

“Y’all didn’t do anything, I promise.” Braeburn interrupted, waving Sunburst’s anxieties away with a hoof. “It’s just, I dunno… It’s been great spendin’ time with you, and I guess I’m just bummed it’s all gonna be ending soon.” Braeburn shrugged, sighing sadly, then looked again upwardly towards the stars.

Sunburst took another step towards Braeburn, this one larger and more decisive. Now standing directly behind Braeburn, close enough to be able to reach out and touch him, he hesitated yet again. “Well, I’m not gone yet.” He told Braeburn. “I don’t leave until tomorrow, so there’s still more than enough time to spend. As a break, for a change?”

Braeburn smiled at that, turning back to look at Sunburst with a smirk. He gently scooted over to provide room, then pat the ground beside him with a hoof. “Care to join me?”

Sunburst smiled, not needing to be told twice. He proceeded to lay down beside Braeburn in a way one might call too close. Neither stallion would, however, as both enjoyed the warmth of the stallion laying beside them.

A gentle silence bloomed between the two as they shared in each other’s company, both staring up at the bright night sky and the hundreds of stars that littered it on this night.

“I wish you didn’t need to go back to Ponyville.” Braeburn said softly after a few moments. “Not this soon, at least. Feels like we only started gettin’ acquainted, and I can’t believe it’s near over already.”

“It doesn’t have to be.” Sunburst said. He looked up at Braeburn, hesitating briefly before placing his hoof atop one of Braeburn’s. “I, uh, do have to go back to Ponyville for work, but that doesn’t mean I’m gone forever. I’d like to come back to Appleloosa as soon as possible.”

Braeburn turned away from Sunburst’s gaze, giving a small sighing laugh. “Yeah, heard that one before. Most ponies say that, then I never see ‘em again.”

“Well I’ve been told that I’m not like most ponies!” Sunburst said, giving Braeburn’s hoof a soft squeeze. “I mean, usually it’s said in a more derogatory sense, but…” He trailed off briefly, then shook his head to refocus himself. “What I mean to say is, I’m not one to just forget about a pony. Especially not one like you.” He looked towards Braeburn again, a gentle smile across his face. “I like you, Braeburn. You’re quite possibly the sweetest non-married stallion I’ve ever met, and I’d like to spend a lot more time with you. Whether it be something like this, or I could take you up on that hat shopping offer.”

Braeburn sighed, rolling his eyes. “I ain’t ever gonna live that one down, am I?” He said with a light chuckle. After which, he looked down at Sunburst with a warm smile, placing his unoccupied hoof atop Sunburst’s. “I’m mighty fond of you too, Sunny, and obviously I wanna spend more time with you. It’s part of the reason I was tryin’ so hard to distract you.”

“I figured that was the reason. Either that, or you really just didn’t want to have an orchard anymore.” Sunburst said with a soft giggle. He then sighed, leaning gently against Braeburn’s side. “But now that that’s all over, you have my full attention. Is there anything you’d like to do with it?”

Braeburn hesitated for a moment, then looked up towards the sky and the bright stars glittering in it. “Y’know, I never did get to hear you finish talkin’ about the Pillars and their constellations. On account of me so rudely passing out on you, o’course.” Tipping his hat in shame, he looked towards Sunburst and offered a bashful smile. “Think you’d wanna give it another shot? I promise I won’t fall asleep on you this time.”

Sunburst used a hoof to unclip the clasp of his starry cloak, then lit his horn and used his magic to extend the cloak across both he and Braeburn. Taking a moment to scoot even closer to the stallion beside him, Sunburst sighed happily and looked upwards.

“It would be my pleasure, Brae.”

Comments

[Bicyclette]

He had a cactus at home in dire need of help, and maybe a Potion of Plant Cure was the solution.

aww, already thinking of Appaloosa as in his past

After clasping his cloak around his neck, Sunburst took a moment to check his pockets and found that things were in mostly the same places, though his candy pouch and Things To Chew On pocket had swapped sides. There was absolutely no way this could go wrong.

haha, love this! it's so whimsical and fun

“Well, I like the part where you wrote ‘Dear Celestia I have no idea what I’m doing here’.” He said as he pressed a hoof to the paper. “And y’all even underlined it. Five times. Must be important.”

hehehe. also, a Dear Celestia letter!

“Hopefully it’s not too expensive. The Crystal Empire was offering up a pretty penny to solve their whole Eternal Winter problem.” Sunburst said softly, then gave a soft chuckle. “I don’t think I ever even claimed that bounty, but it might be a bit too late at this point.”

i mean, what's Cadance gonna do, stiff ya?

“That’s what this is, isn’t it? I’m… breaking. Currently being broken. Why else would I be in a bar?”

haha, love this. i should use "currently being broken" at some point

“It’s strange to hear an Apple say that.” Sunburst mused with a soft smile. He opened his mouth to continue, but suddenly cut himself off as he squinted his eyes in thought.

Sunburst quickly reopened Mage Meadowbrook’s journal, flitting through pages before finally landing on one and giving a mad grin. “I think I’ve got it!” He squeaked loudly as he looked up at Braeburn. Extracting his hoof from under Braeburn’s, he then placed it atop Braeburn’s hoof and gave it a quick squeeze. “You’re a genius, Brae!”

yes! always great when this happens! feels just like an episode of TV (used directly in "All Bottled Up", among others!)

“Look at me, explaining how trees work to an apple farmer.”

hehe, that is so Sunburst! and very useful for us readers

And as he did so, he stomped the ground with a hoof. “Gosh dang it, it’s been the soil this whole time hasn’t it?”

environmental pollution!

And it was there that Sunburst found Braeburn. Laying on the ground near the edge of the cliff, looking up towards the stars.

augh, love this mental image

“Is everything alright? I mean, you’ve been acting a bit off all day, and I was just wondering if I did anything wrong? I’m well known for missing social cues, so you’ll have to tell me if I-”

oof, too relatable!

“I wish you didn’t need to go back to Ponyville.” Braeburn said softly after a few moments. “Not this soon, at least. Feels like we only started gettin’ acquainted, and I can’t believe it’s near over already.”

“It doesn’t have to be.” Sunburst said. He looked up at Braeburn, hesitating briefly before placing his hoof atop one of Braeburn’s. “I, uh, do have to go back to Ponyville for work, but that doesn’t mean I’m gone forever. I’d like to come back to Appleloosa as soon as possible.”

Braeburn turned away from Sunburst’s gaze, giving a small sighing laugh. “Yeah, heard that one before. Most ponies say that, then I never see ‘em again.”

oof! picking up from that earlier conversation. great stuff

You’re quite possibly the sweetest non-married stallion I’ve ever met...

one guess to me on who this is about! love it

“I figured that was the reason. Either that, or you really just didn’t want to have an orchard anymore.” Sunburst said with a soft giggle.

hehehe, love this little bit of wit

Braeburn hesitated for a moment, then looked up towards the sky and the bright stars glittering in it. “Y’know, I never did get to hear you finish talkin’ about the Pillars and their constellations. On account of me so rudely passing out on you, o’course.” Tipping his hat in shame, he looked towards Sunburst and offered a bashful smile. “Think you’d wanna give it another shot? I promise I won’t fall asleep on you this time.”

Sunburst used a hoof to unclip the clasp of his starry cloak, then lit his horn and used his magic to extend the cloak across both he and Braeburn. Taking a moment to scoot even closer to the stallion beside him, Sunburst sighed happily and looked upwards.

“It would be my pleasure, Brae.”

augh, circling back to their earlier conversation at this exact spot! so good