Dark Corners & Light Skulduggery

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Deep within the depths of the School for Gifted Unicorns lay tale of of secret tomes locked in the forbidden Restricted Section.

Two colts aspire to uncover its secrets, one intrepid and brave and the other meek yet curious.

But it seems as if the school isn't the only one with secrets to lay bare.

Written for the Fourth Annual M/M Shipping Contest and inspired by the pic I'm using as cover art by HopeNotFound on DeviantArt!

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Bicyclette

Bicyclette #1 · 1 week ago · · ·

“And this, my little Sunspark, is why even a gentlecolt needs to know at least one semi-decent lockpicking spell.”

aww so true, love this establishing just what young Fancy Pants is like in one sentence. definitely seeing a young Sunburst being enamored with this!

Though it was lit slightly by the glow emitted by Fancy Pants’ horn, the only source of light in the room, all it did was cast even harsher shadows within.

literature! Fancy Pants being a guiding light for Sunburst taking risks he would not otherwise, but the brighter that glow the harsher the unfamiliar circumstances Sunburst will find himself in, pushing him even closer to Fancy Pants for comfort and guidance

Sunburst said as his face lit up with a blush, his horn flickering on in his embarrassment and dazzling Fancy Pants with a shower of sparks.

hehe love Sunburst being canonically terrible at doing actual magic resulting in him being a klutz idiot in the most adorable way

Both colts relaxing with a sigh, Fancy Pants withdrew his hoof. “We’ll get there eventually. Even if we have to engage in some…” He swirled his hoof in the air, a showy gesture towards the unlocked passage, “...skulduggery.”

*guy who thinks about Rarity 24 hours a day voice* this is delightfully Rarity-coded

Just the mention of skulls, whether dug or not, was enough to frighten Sunburst, the poor creamsicle colt emitting an eep of pure terror as he pulled even closer into Fancy Pants’ comforting aura.

such an adorable sentence! “creamsicle coat” so true

Sunburst’s mother always warned him against staring, how it wasn’t polite and made ponies feel uncomfortable.

as if lil’ Sunburst wouldn’t have enough problems with social anxiety!

Or, alternatively, the stallion, but she quickly clammed up when Sunburst started asking questions about how building a family that way would be much different.
He wasn’t ready for that talk yet.

aww but at least he will be someday?

Dust caked seemingly every inch of the shelves and the books that sat upon them. Cobwebs infected every dark corner and underside, belying whatever nasty creatures lurked within. This was a room rarely, if ever, visited by anypony. And it was clear that the school's cleaners had long since forgotten its existence.

oof, doesn’t speak much good for the possible condition of any books they do find!

But, with book names like ‘The Earth Pony Problem’ and ‘To Preen a Pegasus’, neither was exactly sure they’d find anything about magic. Just reminders of Canterlot’s past, thankfully hidden away for no one to find.

the titles do seem like they could be implying some bad things about Canterlot’s past!

“Doesn’t this seem so reductive? Stallions can be more than just househusbands.”

commentary! seriously tho i always love to see it

Though, if following the trend, Fancy was sure that, instead of spells, their pages were full of ramblings about the ‘Unicorn’s Burden’ his parents were so incensed about.

ah yeah bad things indeed! and being from an élite Canterlot family, Fancy Pants wouldn’t not be able to grapple with that legacy

Though, as a Short Prince of a colt, he had to stretch his entire body out just to try and grab it.

ahaha love the ponified Short King, i hope i remember to steal this one wholesale

Soon, a veritable avalanche of books surrounded poor Sunburst, and Fancy Pants was far too shocked to rush to his aid. Standing stock still as he watched most of the shelf collapse in upon itself and cover Sunburst in a pile of books.

this sure does happen to Sunburst a lot!

Despite that, it still took him several moments to unlatch himself from Sunburst, slowly pulling away and standing himself up on shaky legs. Fancy took a second to brush the dust off of himself, and an extra to settle himself with a few breaths, but offered a foreleg to help Sunburst up as well.

aww!

“So I, um, I got the book.” Sunburst squeaked quietly. “I dunno if it’s the right one but… it’s purple. My friend back home is purple, and she taught me a whole ton about magic, so…”

ahahahaha love that Starlight is the “purple friend” so true

“Rich colts like you all grew up with fencing lessons and bodyguards. All I got growing up was a pocket knife, and I think that’d do more than just scare Blueblood.”

love the pocket knife, everyone loves the pocket knife. honestly star of the fic so far, this line, does so much to imply unexpected stuff about Sunburst’s character love it

“I haven’t had the chance to ask yet, but I’m sure the answer will be ‘yes’.” Fancy Pants continued. “My mother will be fitting both Fleur and I for our outfits this weekend, so perhaps I can ask her there.”

aaaaaa

the freeze-frame where you can see both Sunburst and reader’s heart break at the same time

The walk through the forbidden tunnel was as quiet as it was before, though the tension between the two colts felt twofold as this time Sunburst led the charge. Fancy Pants still dutifully lit the way, but Sunburst just seemed to want to rush ahead of the light.

and oof yeah, quite the contrast with their journey on the way

“Yeah… see you tomorrow.” Sunburst said softly with a gentle nod, not looking back as he walked away.

augh, poor Sunburst! lovely tale, extremely canon. and while baby’s first experience with unrequited-crush-heartbreak is always sad, at least it is nice to know that he will indeed grow up to find the stallion of his dreams one day. adorable fic, thank you so much for writing!

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