Our Winter Story

by Meteor_Mirage

Chapter 5 - Reinforcements

“So, what you’re telling me is that you invited this stallion out, delivered him a dorky little gift, and promised to help him solve his sorrowful plight?” Blueblood grinned, clearly fighting back the urge to laugh. “Tell me, how does that not constitute a date?”

Looking at Blueblood’s smug, smirking face told Shining Armor that this may have been a mistake.

It was Monday morning, and he’d dragged himself out of bed early to make it to school as soon as possible. Braving the early morning chill and the horrors of Not Having Breakfast, he had one goal in mind as he trudged to school far before he normally would.

He needed help. With Sunburst.

And Blueblood was one of the best Shining knew for this kind of relationship, barring any nosey love princesses he’d prefer to keep out of it.

And now, sitting in the cold courtyard of Canterlot Academy as he made conversation with Equestria's least favorite ‘prince’, he regretted most every step he'd made on his way to this mistake.

But thankfully Blueblood was a package deal, and Shining was saved from further smuggery as Fancy Pants gave the self-satisfied duke a quick silencing swat to the head.

“Enough, Blue. There’s no reason to embarrass the lad any more than we already have.” Looking to Shining, Fancy Pants offered a calm and cool smile to contrast Blueblood’s. “Now, tell us a bit more about this Sunburst. I take it he’s the frail little stallion that distracted you from our spar?”

Shining nodded, though it was not without an embarrassed blush creeping across his face. “I mean, he’s really nice, and dorky, and a little thoughtful. And I really wanna spend more time with him, but I don’t wanna be weird about it if he’s not interested.”

“Too late!” Blueblood laughed, earning him another quieting nudge from Fancy Pants.

“Well, to my companion’s initial point, it seems the first step has already been taken.” Fancy said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Did Sunburst perhaps show any… romantic interest in you? At all?”

Scratching the back of his head with a growing blush, Shining winced. “Well, I dunno. He got me coffee? Is that anything?”

“Inconclusive. Woefully, sometimes coffee is simply coffee.” Fancy Pants muttered, pursing his lips as he thought harder. “Ah, well, at least we know Sunburst is into stallions. That means you at least have a chance.”

Shining looked away from the pair of stallions, saying nothing.

“We… do know that, yes?” Fancy Pants asked. “Surely we haven’t spent a morning fretting over an incompatible stallion.”

“I didn’t get that far.” Shining admitted after a moment. “We were too busy having fun for me to ask him his preferences, I guess.”

Suddenly, Fancy Pants clapped his hooves with a smirk. “Thus, we have our next step. Confirm whether or not our little Sunburst would even be interested in dating a stallion.” Smirking coyly, his mustache bristling with glee, he turned to Blueblood. “It seems as if we may have competition for Canterlot Academy’s ‘It Couple’ after all. Won’t we, love?”

Blueblood hummed softly, but it transitioned to a gentle laugh as he briefly pressed his lips against Fancy Pants’. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself, my darling. Shiny still has to confirm.” Not taking his eyes off his lover for a moment, the blond stallion simply lazily gestured toward Shining with a hoof. “Any ideas on the how, dear almost-cousin?”

Now it was time for Shining to stroke his chin thoughtfully, humming as he thought long and hard about his predicament.

For a moment, at least. In the end, he just threw his hooves up with an annoyed sigh.

“Oh, I dunno.” Shining grunted, crossing his forelegs beneath him. “Maybe I’ll just ask him after O&O with the boys tonight.”

“Oho? Another date?” Blueblood asked teasingly, a grin creeping across his face as he leaned in towards Shining.

Despite his previous reactions, Fancy Pants simply smiled down at his lover. “As I said, he’s giving us a run for our money.” With a cat-like smirk, he leaned down and returned Blueblood’s kiss eagerly. “With date quantity, at least. You do always manage to bring out the quality, my little Chicory.”

Just as Shining was about to, quite correctly, insist that an O&O date was as quality as possible, a voice appeared from behind him. This one far more feminine than Shining’s or Fancy’s, and only a dash more than Blueblood’s.

“What’cha guys talking about?”

Whipping his head around, Shining saw Cadance had somehow appeared behind him while he wasn’t paying attention. As he stared at the mare’s smiling yet tired face, he wasn’t sure whether it was worse that she was the Princess of Love or his ex-girlfriend.

Either way, he knew better than to talk about his romantic life around her. She could get a tad bit… overinvolved. As such, he didn’t feel the most comfortable talking about it around her until he figured everything out.

And, as such, Shining quickly scrambled to come up with a cover story.

“O-oh nothing! We were just talking about, uh,” Shining quickly looked to Blueblood and Fancy Pants, “Boys?”

Damn it.

Cadance gave a soft, light chuckle as she settled down in her usual place beside Shining. “Oh, so more of the same? Any stallions in particular?” Shooting a glance to Shining directly, she grinned very coyly. “Sunburst, perhaps?”

Standing up suddenly, Shining gave a brief, abrupt, bark of a laugh as he turned to face away from his three companions. “You know what? I think I heard the bell! I should probably get to class.”

Cadance blinked. “I don’t think I-”

Grabbing at one of the many magic-activated school bells littered around in his own magic, Shining forced it to make some sort of sound.

“Yep, there it was! I must be psychic. Anyway, I’ll see you in class, Cady! And Blueblood?” Shining squinted down at the royal stallion as he barely fought off the need to laugh. “Remember, I know where you live.”

Open laughter followed Shining as he made his dignified exit. But it was fine, he told himself, as at least he’d soon be able to see the shy smile of Sunburst, and maybe be able to use what little help he really got from Fancy Pants and Blueblood.

Or so it seemed.

As Shining arrived to his AP History class, the one class he shared with Sunburst, later in the day he saw that the seat normally occupied by the orange stallion was notably empty. Sitting in his own seat, Cadance taking the seat to his right as per usual, he couldn’t manage to break his focus on the empty seat.

This focus maintained throughout the class, whatever it was Ms. Copper Vase was teaching fading to the background entirely. Ruler slams and teacherly talkings to notwithstanding.

As the bell rang to signal the end of the class, Shining bolted up from his seat, only to be pulled back down by his tail.

Undoing her magic’s hold, Cadance turned to Shining with a concerned look. “Dude, what’s your deal today? You’ve just been staring at Sunburst’s desk for like an hour now.”

Shining blinked. “Oh, I was just… wondering where Sunburst was.”

“He’s sick. If he’s smart, he’s probably still in his dorm.” Cadance said, followed by a bit of an annoyed sigh. “Ms. Vase told us when class started, told you when she caught you staring. Were you not paying attention?”

Shining blinked again. A few times. When done exercising his eyelids, he looked off to the side with a light blush and pursed lips. “I guess not? I’ve been a little… distracted.” He gave a lingering, embarrassed glance towards Sunburst’s desk once again.

But then his eyes lit up as the hamster wheel in his brain began to spin. “Oh! So I’ll just head to his dorm!” He exclaimed with a big grin. “I bet he’ll be happy to see me.”

As Shining trotted off excitedly to visit Sunburst, Cadance took off too. She tried her best to chase down the stallion, with his guard-trained speed and stamina, but was only able to shout out as she lagged behind.

“Shining wait! We still have class!”

---

Regrettably, Cadance was right. It was probably best to stay in school until the end of the day.

Though, in the end, it wasn’t through the call of studiousness that convinced Shining to stay his quick exit. Instead, it was only being reminded that today was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

And Shining Armor was not about to miss out on enchilada day in the cafeteria.

But after gorging himself on as many enchiladas as he could before the lunch ladies cut him off, and somehow making it through three more classes after that, school ended and Shining was free to move as he wanted. And all he wanted to do was head over to Sunburst’s dorm.

After a quick pit stop at the local drugstore, at least.

But either way, Shining found himself standing in front of the door of Sunburst's dorm room like the day before. Only this time far less soaked and far more alone.

And he had snacks.

After taking a moment to brace himself, part of him fearing that the tiny unicorn just might not be a fan of random drop-ins, Shining knocked on the door.

A sharp, loud yelp followed immediately after, itself followed by the sounds of a pony scrambling nervously. But that ended as Shining could then hear a hurried gallop towards the door.

The door cracked open slightly, one tired and bleary blue eye looking out into the world. “H-hello?” Sunburst croaked as his eye tried to adjust to the light.

Focusing on Shining after a few moments of blinking, his eyes widened in shock as he jumped slightly and let out another yelp.

A large grin pulling across Shining's face, he wasn't able to hold back from laughing a bit. “Good morning to you too, Sunny! I, uh, heard you were sick, so I sorta got you a few things.” Though still smiling, an embarrassed blush bloomed across his face as he hoofed over the small bag he'd gotten from the drugstore.

Feeling obligated to take it, Sunburst grabbed the bag in hoof and took a quick peek inside. As he did, a gentle blush coated his face as his ears folded back. “Oh, um, thank you for thinking of me, but…” He hesitated for a moment, breathing out a soft sigh. “Today was mostly a mental health day, not a physical one. I suppose yesterday took a bit more out of me than I expected.”

“Oh, I, uh,” a frown pulled across Shining’s face as he looked away, “Sorry if yesterday was a little too much.”

Eyes widening with shock, Sunburst was quick to wave the notion away. “Oh no, I had a great time yesterday!” He flashed an uneasy smile, scratching the back of his head with a hoof. “I just, I don’t know, haven’t had much in the way of social interaction recently. That battery got quickly drained, I suppose.”

There was a moment of silence between them, Sunburst letting out a sigh as Shining thought on exactly how to fix this.

But Sunburst beat him to it, offering a shy smile as he gestured inwards towards his dorm. “Well, I still appreciate that you came all this way. Would you like to come in for a bit?”

A wide grin spreading across his face, Shining eagerly nodded. “Sure! I, uh…” Lighting his horn, he pulled another plastic bag out of his saddlebag, this one chock full of various bags of chips. “I brought snacks!”

Sunburst let out a warm laugh as he turned and left his doorway, turning his head to look back at Shining with a cheeky smirk. “A bit presumptuous, don’t you think? Or did you just know I’d be happy to see you?”

Shining gave a quick chuckle in response. “Of course you’d be happy!” He said with an easy grin, following Sunburst into his dorm room. “But nah, this is mostly for O&O later tonight.”

“Ooh, I almost forgot about that! I hope there’s, um, still room for me at the table.” Sunburst scratched the back of his neck nervously with a hoof as he sat down at his desk. “It’s fine if there isn’t, but I did spend a lot of last night preparing the Perfect Character Sheet.”

“Of course there’s room for you, dude! If anything there’s… probably a bit too much room.” Shining breathed out a sigh at that. “Any chance you rolled up a healer? Gizmo caught a cold, so we're down our cleric.”

Looking down at his neat and proper character sheet, Sunburst let out a small sigh as he set it to the side. “Oh, well, I suppose I could rethink my barbarian.” He said, with no lack of a grumble.

Approaching from behind and staring over Sunburst’s shoulder, Shining hummed softly. “Well, it’ll totally work for when Gizmo can play again, but until then…” He trailed off in thought for a moment, his eyes scrolling across Sunburst’s desk.

After a moment, his eyes finally landed on a deck of cards with a single card set aside next to them: The Knight of Swords,

“Oh hey, that’s those tarot thingies!” Shining grinned, looking the cards over with a mix of excitement and confusion, taking special interest in the one set aside. “Ooh, what’s that one? Is it your future, Sunny?”

Sunburst’s face flashed red with a blush as he quickly scooped up the card and shuffled it into the deck. “I, um, yes? Usually I pull a card a day to see what the day ahead will be like.” Looking away for a moment, he kept shuffling nervously. “It’s… a bit private, however.”

“Well, do you wanna do mine?”

Sunburst blinked, tilting his head slightly before his eyes brightened with recognition. “Oh, I did promise to do a reading for you, didn’t I?” He thought for another moment, then stood from his desk while taking his tarot deck with him. “Well, follow me to the table, and maybe I can give it a shot.”

The two stallions quickly moved to Sunburst’s black table, both taking seats opposite from each other as they kneeled on the carpeted floor. For a long moment, Sunburst avoided looking across the table at Shining as he still nervously shuffled his cards.

“So, um, I think I’ll just do a simple three-card reading, if that’s fine.” Sunburst said, his voice a bit more nervous and frenetic than usual. “The first thing I’m going to need you to do is shuffle these cards for me.”

Sunburst offered over the cards for a moment, but pulled his offering as he saw Shining’s horn light to grab them. “Oh, um, you have to shuffle with your hooves. It’s the only way they can get… attuned…. to you.”

Shining couldn’t help but chuckle a little as he saw Sunburst’s ears fold back as he said that. Still, flashing a friendly grin, he accepted the cards in his hooves and began to shuffle.

It was a slow, unsteady shuffle, with Shining almost dropping the deck multiple times. But it worked. And Shining set it on the table in front of them with a slight grin.

“Alright, what’s next?” He asked, a bit excited as he looked to Sunburst for further instruction.

Sunburst hummed gently, thinking for another moment, then set a hoof atop the deck. “Well next, I’ll deal you out three cards. These cards represent your past,” he set one card out, closest to the deck, “your present,” another card, right beside it, “and your future.”

As Sunburst set out the last card, both stallions stared at the set of three for a brief second.

Scratching the back of his neck, Sunburst sighed. “It’s been a while since I’ve read these for others, so just, um, bear with me?”

“You’re already doin’ great!” Shining said with a smile. “So, I guess we start with my past? I mean, I already know what happened there, right?”

“I’d hope so!” Sunburst said with a bit of a nervous laugh, then moved his hoof to hover over the first card he’d set down. “But yes, this card will represent your past.”

Flipping it over, Sunburst revealed a card depicting a simple scene of two swords crossed over in battle with a black sun hanging overhead.

Seeing this, Sunburst hummed thoughtfully. “The Two of Swords, huh?”

Shining let out a small, surprised laugh. “Woah, that’s cool. That’s totally about my swordfight with Fancy, right? I mean, it’s our swords crossed, and that cool sun in the middle is even, uh…” His eyes briefly flicked up towards Sunburst.

Then he looked away.

Not noticing, Sunburst let out a laugh of his own. “Oh, well, the cards aren’t usually that specific. Usuallly this card is emblematic of being at a crossroads. Difficult decisions to be made.” Pursing his lips, Sunburst shrugged. “But, if it’s in your past, then I suppose that means you’ve worked past it. At least, I hope so.”

“Well, the last hard decision I had to make was about me and Cadance.” Shining pursed his lips, breathing out an uncomfortable sigh for a moment, but moving on as he looked back to Sunburst. “Well, that’s still a bit weird. What comes next though?”

“Well next comes the present… um, obviously.” Sunburst shook his head, hovering a hoof over the next card. “Your present in particular is…”

Flipping over this card, Sunburst revealed the scene of a stoic young stallion in flashy robes standing on his hindlegs in a desolate landscape, his stance bolstered by a long staff to hold him upright as he looks upwards at the stars. Beneath the image, it read ‘Page of Wands’.

“Ooh, a court card!” Sunburst said, excitement clear in his voice. “So, um, I was always told that court cards represent a key person in your life rather than a concept. If they’re the Page of Wands, then they’d most likely be someone with a bright future ahead of them, but perhaps hasn’t taken many steps towards it.

“Still though, probably very excitable when you get them talking about any of their goals or interests though.” Sunburst finished with a spritely laugh. “Think that reminds you of anyone?”

“Oh, well, uh…” Shining looked away with a blush. “I can probably think of someone.”

“Your sister, right?” Sunburst asked. “She seems like she’d fit the bill, at least.”

Shining scratched the back of his head with a strange smile. “Ssssomething like that, I guess. So, what’s the next card?”

Sunburst nodded along, holding his hoof over the next one. “Well, this has been going over well so far, so let’s hope for a bright future.”

As Sunburst turned over the last card, Shining was shocked to see what it displayed.

A hooded grim reaper stared back at Shining with blazing lights in their eye sockets, holding their long scythe aloft behind them while the full moon blazed overhead.

Beneath, it read ‘XIII - Death’.

Shining couldn’t help but jump from his seat, his heart skipping a beat as he stared at this clear bad omen. He looked to Sunburst with fear.

Only to see the orange stallion staring impassively, a small sly smile on his face. Curious at this, Shining settled down and sat back down in front of Sunburst.

“Give it to me straight doc, does this mean what I think it means?” Looking down at the card on the table, the spirit of death still staring mockingly back at him, he looked back up at Sunburst with a bit of fear. “Does this mean I’m gonna, like, die?”

“Well, unless you’re one of the princesses, I think that part is inevitable!” Sunburst said, somehow cheerfully, but his face fell a bit as he saw the face Shining gave him. “W-well, um, Death isn’t exactly a signifier of that. It’s more the end of a phase of your life and moving onto the next.”

Shining thought on that for a moment, going silent, then sighed. “Well, that’s not very specific, is it?”

“Nope! But at least it doesn’t mean you’re dying!” Sunburst said with a chuckle that, if Shining didn’t know any better, would seem ominous. “Well, that’s what we have The Tower for. Anyway, I-”

Before he could finish his thought, Sunburst was quickly interrupted by the strong sound of vibration. It shocked both stallions, making both jump a bit, before both turned to the source of the sound in Shining’s saddlebag.

After a moment of realization, Shining blushed sheepishly. “Ah heck, sorry, that was my pager.”

Shining rifled through his saddlebag for a moment before pulling out a folded sheet of vibrating paper, though one Sunburst could tell had far more enchantments than just that, and opened it up to read.

“Ah, 8-Bit just wrote that he’s gonna start setting up the classroom for O&O soon.” Settling back down into his seat across from Sunburst, he sighed. “I better go help him, or he might start poking through the minifigs I set aside for tonight’s session.”

“Well, you should probably go stop him then.” Sunburst giggled softly.

But neither stallion moved. Instead, they both stayed looking at each other bashfully for another moment.

But then Shining cracked a grin, scratching the back of his head with a bit of a laugh. “Weeeeeell, seeing as you don’t know we host our games, maybe we could, uh, walk together? And talk about your character?”

“I’ll go grab my stuff.” Sunburst grinned, already quickly moving back to his desk to gather. “How would you feel if I were to make a Paladin?”

Comments

[Bicyclette]

It was Monday morning, and he’d dragged himself out of bed early to make it to school as soon as possible. Braving the early morning chill and the horrors of Not Having Breakfast, he had one goal in mind as he trudged to school far before he normally would.

oof, way to set the scene, because this morning sounds miserable

And Blueblood was one of the best Shining knew for this kind of relationship, barring any nosey love princesses he’d prefer to keep out of it.

aww but it’s fun when she’s nosey!

Suddenly, Fancy Pants clapped his hooves with a smirk. “Thus, we have our next step. Confirm whether or not our little Sunburst would even be interested in dating a stallion.” Smirking coyly, his mustache bristling with glee, he turned to Blueblood. “It seems as if we may have competition for Canterlot Academy’s ‘It Couple’ after all. Won’t we, love?”

loving young Blueblood and Fancy Pants here, they have been such a vibe throughout

“What’cha guys talking about?”

yay Cady’s here!

“O-oh nothing! We were just talking about, uh,” Shining quickly looked to Blueblood and Fancy Pants, “Boys?”

Shining is absolutely the worst at this i love it

As Shining trotted off excitedly to visit Sunburst, Cadance took off too. She tried her best to chase down the stallion, with his guard-trained speed and stamina, but was only able to shout out as she lagged behind.

“Shining wait! We still have class!”

ahaha poor Cady!

Though, in the end, it wasn’t through the call of studiousness that convinced Shining to stay his quick exit. Instead, it was only being reminded that today was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

And Shining Armor was not about to miss out on enchilada day in the cafeteria.

this Shining Armor is so Shining Armor

A wide grin spreading across his face, Shining eagerly nodded. “Sure! I, uh…” Lighting his horn, he pulled another plastic bag out of his saddlebag, this one chock full of various bags of chips. “I brought snacks!”

dang Shining Armor is being a perfect date for Sunburst rn

Sunburst offered over the cards for a moment, but pulled his offering as he saw Shining’s horn light to grab them. “Oh, um, you have to shuffle with your hooves. It’s the only way they can get… attuned…. to you.”

hehe, makes sense with this being an earthpony invention

Shining let out a small, surprised laugh. “Woah, that’s cool. That’s totally about my swordfight with Fancy, right? I mean, it’s our swords crossed, and that cool sun in the middle is even, uh…” His eyes briefly flicked up towards Sunburst.

that is too on the nose!

“W-well, um, Death isn’t exactly a signifier of that. It’s more the end of a phase of your life and moving onto the next.”

Shining thought on that for a moment, going silent, then sighed. “Well, that’s not very specific, is it?”

that’s how it works! that is indeed very not very specific