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Meteor_Mirage

I write about horses and other creatures kissing. The gayest of kissing

Meteor_Mirage Joined 26th Oct, 2012 · Offline

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As an average student at Canterlot Academy, Shining Armor usually spends daily life worrying about O&O campaigns, guard training, and ignoring the incessant gossiping of his more popular friends.

But with the gossiping turning to the new transfer student, a dropout from Celestia's own Magic Academy, Shining finds himself more interested than he's willing to admit in the new arrival. Especially when it feels like all of his friends look to be to be pushing him towards this seemingly dark and stoic new arrival.

Written for the M/M Shipping Contest III! And to fulfill my need to keep writing about Sunburst and his various boyfriends.
Chapters (7)
Complete Published: Nov 13th, 2023 Download
22,569 words
Comments ( 15 )
Mix-up
Mix-up #1 · Nov 13th, 2023 · · 4 · Chapter 2 - Reticence ·
Reply

Awesome story so far I do like this take on the show characters. The tenuous connection create between SA and SB seems pretty natural with their conflicting tastes and different temperaments not that they are ever aggressive with each other but just not really have interest in each other and are putting in the work to at least try. Looking forward to see more of this story.

Mix-up
Mix-up #2 · Nov 24th, 2023 · · 3 · Chapter 4 - Recreation ·
Reply

Nice update dude, it's getting interesting

Mix-up
Mix-up #3 · Dec 2nd, 2023 · · 1 · Chapter 6 - Romp ·
Reply

Still a fun story, looking forward where this leads to.

Rego
Rego #4 · Dec 3rd, 2023 · · · Chapter 7 - Reflection ·
Reply

This was a pretty relaxing, warm, and fuzzy read. Light on the drama, but just enough tension to keep the reader engaged. Thanks for sharing.

Mix-up
Mix-up #5 · Dec 3rd, 2023 · · · Chapter 7 - Reflection ·
Reply

This was a fun, if light, conclusion to the story. Keep it up dude.

DiscordantDisciple
DiscordantDisciple #6 · Dec 4th, 2023 · · · Chapter 6 - Romp ·
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This story is the sweetest slice of sunshine on this site

Silver Needle
Silver Needle #7 · Dec 5th, 2023 · · · Chapter 7 - Reflection ·
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So cute. Loved reading this.

AltruistArtist
AltruistArtist #8 · Dec 21st, 2023 · · · Chapter 7 - Reflection ·
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It was so lovely to live inside this sweet story for a while. I love me some Sunburst and your characterization of him at a younger and vastly uncertain point in his life was very endearing. Of course, that's not to overshadow how great Shining was in this, too! What a patient sweetheart.

I was also very intrigued by the arguably central plot point of the "curse" on Sunburst's cloak. I certainly could be reading into things and stretching the limits of some potentially subtle misdirections in the writing, but was it meant to be real or just him projecting his insecurities onto an external object? Given that it made the wearer act brashly and overemphasize their capabilities, I could very well see Sunburst, already ostracized by his peers, believing a hex had been placed on him as a way to rationalize his loneliness. However, if it was meant to be understood as legitimate, it's still a great allegory for what I described above! Adding in the caveat of it being potentially harmful to the one who attempts to break it -- that's certainly how a chronically lonely person might feel when someone well meaning attempts to get close to them: "I don't want to drag you into my own bad feelings; you could get hurt by association."

Overall, it was a great narrative throughline to represent Shining's kindness and dedication to Sunburst!

Bicyclette
Bicyclette #9 · January 15th · · · Chapter 1 - Rumors ·
Reply

“Kicked out? And how did he even manage that?”

“Well, I heard…”

oh hey just like the title!

A student who’d made the grievous error of… changing high schools in the middle of the year. And thus, as The Popular Students, it was up to them to point laugh and ridicule. Apparently.

teenagers are so cruel aren’t they

Following a few heart-to-heart talks in dorm rooms and on park benches late at night, it had just turned out that they shared their taste in stallions as well as everything else, and if anything their rapport was better than it had ever been.

nice, well that takes care of that!

[“That one mare, Sunset something, is still enrolled even after what happened. Add in the bullies, curses, and magic fights, and…”

hehe, “Sunset something”. glad she’s in this tho

“Anyway, what I’m saying is that it’s not easy to be kicked out. And I’ve heard that this new guy is… a bit dark and edgy. Which means-”

guessing that this student is supposed to be Sunburst, in which case i really want to know what she means by this

“You’re just afraid you’ll be into him.” Cadance smirked.

gottem

“Let the poor boy rest, dear Cadance.” Fancy Pants smirked, his mustache bristling as he was finally drawn from his own little world with Blueblood.

nice to see that Fancy Pants was always the same even as a teenager, moustache and all

Sadly, it’s also how he found out that Soarin’, who he’d thought was straight, was now dating Caramel, who he’d also thought was straight.

dang Shining is bad at this, which is also canon

“Yes, very cute. Spindly, kind of feminine. Complete dork, but he was a real asshole about it.” Cadance rolled her eyes. “I thought I was used to it from Bluebutt, but-”

ooh will we get to see jerk Sunburst

Despite a blank, tired expression, the look in the strange, young unicorn's eyes was communicating something very clearly - that he didn't care about this place, he didn't care about the ponies in it, and there was precious little chance of that ever, ever changing.

omc he’s a little meow meow

But instead he pulled out what looked like a deck of cards. Setting the deck to the side, he dealt himself five cards and inspected them with more interest than Shining had yet seen from the stallion.

ooh great choice to demonstrate this delinquent version of Sunburst, given his skill in card tricks later in life

Clearly, it was Shining’s time to shine.

i can just imagine him puffing up his chest

“Sure.” The stallion said brusquely, turning back to his card game without another moment’s regard for Shining. “Sounds like fun.”

you gotta get a leather jacket on this guy with how cool he is

The stallion stood stunned for a moment, then flashed a bit of a smile at Shining Armor’s sheer brashness. “I’m Sunburst.”

hell yeah he is

Bicyclette
Bicyclette #10 · January 15th · · · Chapter 2 - Reticence ·
Reply

This usually meant incomplete sets of popular series like Neighruto and Gatherer/Gatherer, or strangely complete sets of canceled series like Beat the Vandel Buster.

ok “Gatherer/Gatherer” is just brilliant

Not a single speck of the orange and cream stallion could be found.

aww he is a creamsicle

Seeing movement to his side, Sunburst turned in surprise to see it. Seeing a big, bulky jock of a stallion now suddenly behind him, he jumped in surprise from his seat with a bit of a yelp.

aww he is so scrunkly

“Well, yes. Usually I require them to see.” Sunburst grumbled, now moving to pick up the fallen books. He fretted a bit over which one went where, his organization system now rendered useless. “That is, when I don’t misplace them when moving into a new dorm room.”

well now he is starting to resemble more the Sunburst we are used to

Sunburst looked up from his book again, a bit of shock adorning his face. It took him another moment just to respond. “ Well, yes, but I was more thinking we focus on his earlier life. From being dipped in the Styx to that time he was a princess."

consider Tartarus and Cerberus exist in canon Equestria, we might as well just take all the ancient Greek personnages

From anyone else, Sunburst would have found this question suspect at best and obviously leading to a thinly veiled insult at worst. But there was something about Shining Armor, this golden retriever of a stallion, who seemed to be bouncing in his seat as he excitedly waited for a response…

Shining would have that effect wouldn’t he

Despite Shining’s excitement, Sunburst sighed a bit. “S-sort of? Neighruto is a nice manga and all, but I suppose I’m into more niche series like Ghost Note or Case Closed.”

i assume this is Sunburst being a manga elitist in which case yeah that tracks

Suddenly, Sunburst was out of his seat with hooves planted hard on the table in front of him. “So you’re telling me that there’s a place in Canterlot that sells imported manga in its original language, untouched by the hooves of uneducated and biased localizers…” His eyes were wide and his grin elated as he slammed his hooves upon the table. “And no one thought to tell me?”

dang Sunburst is a super nerd! which, again, tracks

“Sounds like a plan! And, uh, thanks for being cool about all this.” Shining blushed as he packed up and stood from his seat. “I guess the rumors were wrong about you, you’re just a pretty rad guy.”

very like Shining to just let this slip without a thought lol

“So, tell me about him.” Twilight Velvet said with a soft smile. “This mystery stallion, forcing you to spend all of your bits on comics.”

hehe love the way Twilight Velvet put it

[1]Keikaku means Plan.

perfect

Bicyclette
Bicyclette #11 · January 15th · · · Chapter 3 - Repartee ·
Reply

“Ugh, I think I broke a tooth.” Spearhead grumbled to himself, pressing a hoof to his cheek and wincing. “Who in Tartarus decided to let us mouth our swords?”

that and many other questions about just how wielding weapons with mouths is upposed to work

Only to have his piercing shot deflected by a red, shielding barrier as Shining brought his magic up just in time. Capitalizing on Fancy Pants’ briefly being stunned, he swung his own blade down where his opponent stood.

oh hey it’s Shining Armor’s cutie mark ability!

“A couple years fencing, and suddenly he’s the one to beat for swordfighting. Personally, I think it’s the mustache.”

the moustache does indeed help

Getting his coughing under control after a moment, Shining was quick to wave that notion away. “N-no! I just didn’t think it’d be so… sweet.”

dang Sunburst isn’t living up to his reputation at all here!

Bicyclette
Bicyclette #12 · January 15th · · · Chapter 4 - Recreation ·
Reply

But don’t let that make you think there was much room to move. Much like the shop’s namesake, the shop was a bit of a chaotic clutter.

hehe, fun that the name was a deliberate reference to Discord by the shopowner

“Oh, so like divination? My little sister showed me the threads of fate once. It was… weird.” Shining shook off that uncomfortable feeling quickly, his horn flickering to life with a red aura.

ahaha love this aside

But Shining only smirked, his horn flickering to life as it set a red shield of magic above the two of them. It acted as a makeshift umbrella, protecting them from any further ice-cold rainwater. With a bit of a bow, he looked over to Sunburst. “If you want, I could walk you back to your dorm. You know, as thanks for the coffee earlier.”

oh that is perfect that Shining’s magic is used as the umbrella in this classic shipfic beat

“Gah, sorry Sunburst.” Shining panted out, hoof to his chest as he finally gathered his breath enough to speak. “I’m still not used to holding that spell for that long, I guess.”

hehe love that that is how that turned out, even more adorable somehow

Black bedspread adorning the dorm’s mattress, a black writing desk that didn’t seem to come standard with the room, black metal and occult posters adorning the walls, and a black dresser that, Shining assumed, probably held more black hoodies for Sunburst to wear.

starting to guess where Sunburst’s reputation came from

“It… made me act like an idiot while convincing me I was the greatest sorcerer in all of Equestria.” Sunburst sighed, his blush growing in intensity as he hid his face in his hooves. “I guess they felt it was a fitting ‘punishment’ for a friendless know-it-all unicorn who can barely do any magic.”

oh no, it came from this! that is way worse! also bridges the gap between the Sunburst we know and the child that somehow got expelled from Celestia’s school

To this, Shining offered only a sly grin. “Aw, Sunny, don’t worry! I’m probably already too much idiot for this thing to handle.”

i can’t tell if this is definitely true or ironic foreshadowing or both somehow

Bicyclette
Bicyclette #13 · January 15th · · · Chapter 5 - Reinforcements ·
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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

Bicyclette
Bicyclette #14 · January 15th · · · Chapter 6 - Romp ·
Reply

“More like Cottonsworth the Gelded.”

gottem

And now, all eyes fell on Sunburst, who was torn between cringing hard at this or rushing out of the room with his tail between his legs. But, as he turned to look at Shining, seeing the stallion’s soft and calming smile as he gestured Sunburst on, he began to feel at least a little bit calmer.

embrace the cringe Sunburst! eat the cringe!

Sunburst took a breath, breathing in deep as he puffed out his chest. He looked at the two characters before him and let out a small sigh. “I’m, uh, Glittering Shield.” He said, making an attempt to bring his voice down lower. “I guess I’m… mostly trying to protect as many ponies as possible?”

Sunburst might be just as bad as Shining Armor at subtlety

Shining hummed. “Well, it still musta been weird to flirt at me, even if I was playing a mare.”

hehe ok Shining might be better at subtlety than i thought

Trailing his sentence off uncomfortably, Shining hid his face in his hooves and groaned rather than finish it. “Ugh, this is so dumb. I’m gonna start over.” Taking a deep breath, then letting it out as a sigh, Shining removed his face from his hooves to look at a blushing Sunburst once again. “Sunny, I like you. And I like spending time with you. I dunno if you’d be interested, but I’d really like to go to that bookstore with you again, and maybe, I dunno, grab some lunch after?”

i was worried Shining was gonna stop short of confessing so i am glad he did not!

From nowhere, green dragonfire briefly plumed in front of Shining Armor. It circled for a moment, then took form into the shape of a simple scroll wrapped in blue cloth.

In contrast to Sunburst’s clear shock at these events, Shining simply took the note in hoof and read its contents.

‘mom says bring home eggs’

ahaha, Shining Armor’s life really is just extra magical and weird compared to Sunburst’s

Twilight’s eyes remained locked on the package. “Favors come free. You know my price by now.”

Shining sighed, rolling his eyes. “Two books.”

“Three.” Twilight responded, smugly smirking up at her older brother. “Or you can find another unicorn strong enough to break curses.”

auauagh i love this

Her eyes narrowed briefly, then her expression changed momentarily to one Shining couldn’t quite discern.

Twilight quickly pulled the cloak into her room, sliding it out of view as she forced a smile up at Shining. “I’ll, uh, I’ll take care of it!” She said.

ooh mysterious… i would wonder if Twilight was the one to make the curse if the timing made sense at all

Bicyclette
Bicyclette #15 · January 15th · · · Chapter 7 - Reflection ·
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Spike pulled back from Shining, crossing his arms indignantly. “It’s not a cloak! Cloaks are dumb!” He said, puffing out his cheeks to show his clear anger at the mistake. “It’s my super cool Super-Spike cape! Twilight gave it to me.”

Slinking out from the shadows, somehow in a well-lit hallway, Twilight stared at Shining with tired, darkly ringed eyes. “I let him wear it so that I could see if I broke the curse or not.”

ahaha love this. somehow child Twilight treating baby Spike as an experimental subject like this just makes sense

Smiling triumphantly, though letting out a yawn to taint the smug grin, Twilight shrugged. “Well, looks like it worked. Unless that friend of yours was cursed to act like a Superdork.”

would we even be able to tell, then?

“Well I did, and it doesn’t.” Twilight said indignantly, stomping a hoof as she interrupted Shining. “So stop complaining and take back your dumb friend’s dumb cloak.”

really feel like there’s more going on here than it seems! what does this child know

“Omigosh! Where are you even taking him? Is it, like, a casual date? A serious date? A serious casual date?” Cadance asked, pulling out a notebook emblazoned with ‘In Case of Shining Date (with stallion)’ and tearing it open wildly. “Okay so if you’re going out this weekend then the ideal time is Sunday afternoon, during which you’ll spend roughly 45 minutes walking through the park until you both get hungry. And then…”

love this

“Sunny!” Shining cried upon seeing his favorite orange, dappled stallion (sorry Gaffer)

ooh burn on Gaffer

“You’d be surprised how often it happens.” Cadance admitted, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s a Love Princess thing, I think. Ponies just can’t help but be attracted to me, even if I’m not really their type.”

well that would explain it!

“Your other friends are all… pretty spectacular.” Sunburst sighed after quite a few more moments. “You’ve dated actual royalty, and are seemingly in a romantic rivalry with rich not-quite royals. And apparently you and your siblings are complete magical savants, which makes me think your parents must be as well. I can’t help but wonder…”

yeah that about sums it up… a lot to take in at once for sure

Thinking on it for a moment, pressing a hoof to his chin, Shining sighed. “Maybe a bit?” He admitted, earning quite the shocked look from Sunburst. “I wanna help you stop comparing yourself to other ponies. And, maybe, I can show you just how great you are.”

aww that is so nice! and exactly what Sunburst needs to hear

“Well, if the curse is still there and makes the wearer act like an idiot,” Shining began, throwing the cloak over his and Sunburst’s backs, “Then at least we can be idiots together.”

so true love them

The two basked in this warmth for a long moment, both closing their eyes so as to not mar it in any way. Only the sound of soft, steady breathing could be heard in the room, though Sunburst’s own breath did hitch for a moment as Shining began to lean into him.

this is such a cozy scene to end it on, love it

you really make Shining’s high school days come to life here! not only does it fill in the blanks of what happened to Sunburst after failing out of CSGU, but also paints a really full picture of the supporting characters in Shining Armor’s life. it’s no wonder that Sunburst would be worried about how he could fit in such a complete picture, but i am glad that he will find out. thank you for writing!

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