Passing Through

[M/M Romance]
After Appleloosa's orchard of apples is spiked with bootleg sleeping potions, Sunburst finds himself called to their aid ~~as all of Princess Twilight's other friends were busy at the time.~~

Thankfully, he finds himself enjoying the company of Braeburn, the town's official unofficial welcoming committee and host for his stay in Appleloosa.

But hopefully it won't interfere with his studies too much.

-----

Written for the beautiful Crackship Contest! and thankfully that deadline was moved, because there was no way I was getting this thing out on time otherwise.

AU tag is to cover my strange takes on: Braeburn's Past, Appleloosa's founding, Sunburst's Sunburst, and probably more?

Chapters (5)

Prologue · 17th Mar 2022 · 3,435 words
3,435
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Chapter 1 · 17th Mar 2022 · 5,087 words
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Chapter 2 · 17th Mar 2022 · 5,035 words
5,035
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Chapter 3 · 17th Mar 2022 · 3,393 words
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Epilogue · 17th Mar 2022 · 875 words
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Comments ( 14 )

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Thrawn1800

Thrawn1800 #1 · Mar 18th, 2022 · 2 · 2 · Epilogue ·

This was a very nice read. I'd love to see more :)

Comment posted by Meteor_Mirage deleted Mar 18th, 2022

Meteor_Mirage

Meteor_Mirage #3 · Mar 18th, 2022 · 3 · 2 · Epilogue ·

11184512
I was already toying with the idea of a "meet the parents" sort of thing with one of the boys. But we'll see if it ever actually happens.

Thrawn1800

Thrawn1800 #4 · Mar 18th, 2022 · 2 · 2 · Epilogue ·

11184553
That could be very interesting, especially with Sunburst's mother!

Guy_Incognito

Guy_Incognito #5 · Mar 21st, 2022 · 2 · 2 · Epilogue ·

This was really cute. Great job.

Meteor_Mirage

Meteor_Mirage #6 · Mar 22nd, 2022 · 1 · 2 · Epilogue ·

11187903
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the story

daOtterGuy

daOtterGuy #7 · May 8th, 2022 · 2 · 2 · Epilogue ·

Howdy, hi~!

This was super cute. I like how you characterized Sunburst as this very lovable dork. Braeburn was a hoot and the slow burn was very fun. I like how they bounce off each other in this domestic way that really hits the happy part of my brain.

Excellent read, thank you~!

Bicyclette

Bicyclette #8 · May 13th, 2022 · 1 · · Prologue ·

Sunburst groaned softly, shifting to-and-fro in order to prevent the books from cutting into his ribs.

for some reason this reminded me of my own childhood! maybe i laid down on top of school backpacks a lot as a kid? or this fic incepted me?

“Well, uh, consider me welcomed. It’s nice to meet you Braeburn.” Sunburst gave an uneasy smile as he accepted the hoofshake. Having experience with The Apple Family, he expected his hoof to be crushed but, to his relief, he was able to pull it back without injury.

how can a hoofshake result in a crushed hoof? that just raises further questions! it has that delightful magical thinking logic that i love about MLP

“I had to keep my hoof on ice for a few hours after meeting Big Mac.” Sunburst explained. “And Applejack nearly sent me to the hospital.”

oof! AJ, that's no way to greet someone!

Sunburst panted, shaking his head as he tried not to stumble and fall over from the stress of his magic.

oof, i'd definitely imagine lifting an entire apple tree as something that would be very taxing on the average unicorn

Sunburst gave a small yelp as he finally collapsed under the weight of his own luggage.

aww, poor Sunburst!

Braeburn dropped the apple onto the ground, then stomped on it with a hoof. Instead of the uncomfortable squishing sound that Sunburst expected, there was a loud popping noise that nearly made him jump out of his fur. He fought to keep from gasping out in shock, especially as a putrid black smoke filled the air between the two stallions.

dang, Equestrian apples sure are weird sometimes!

“A couple’a two-bit scammers showed up and started peddling some dodgy sleep potions. We ran ‘em outta town as quick as we could, but we found an open pile of these in the center of the orchard.”

i have a guess about who the "couple'a" are, hehe. also, this being the result of environmental pollution is a neat idea. always topical!

Though as hard as he tried, he couldn’t seem to focus on any of the books at all. His stomach growled loudly, the smell of Braeburn’s cooking serving to only intensify his craving for food further. It seems that skipping breakfast in favor of a few more hours of attempting to sleep was a bad idea after all.

Sunburst! why are you always making bad life decisions?

“Alright, so there’s a 50/50 chance that you’re a Nap Apple.”

of course it had to rhyme with "Zap Apple"!

The apple, being mostly inanimate, did not respond.

so true

The apple popped, releasing an inky black smoke that, upon his scared gasp, Sunburst inhaled readily. There was only a second of shocked realization from Sunburst, who immediately realized what a bad idea this really was.

i honestly don't know what Sunburst expected

“Y’know, I really shoulda seen this one coming.” Braeburn said with a sigh, shaking his head.

so true

Bicyclette

Bicyclette #9 · May 13th, 2022 · 2 · · Chapter 1 ·

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!

Bicyclette

Bicyclette #10 · May 13th, 2022 · 1 · 1 · Chapter 2 ·

His eyes slid open slowly to see the morning light filtering in through his window. He jerked awake immediately after, shooting up to a seated position and turning to his alarm clock with no small amount of fear and confirming that the time was, indeed, in the middle of the afternoon.

oof, too relatable of a fear!

Instead, what Braeburn saw was a room that was full of suitcases, but empty of cute unicorn.

yes Sunburst is a cute unicorn yessssss

Sunburst’s ears flicked towards the sound of falling hoofsteps, and slowly he began to stir awake. He whipped his head up and squinted towards the source of the sound. Seeing only a yellow and brown blob set along the blue wall.
Excusing himself to quickly grab his glasses from the table, he set them on to then see Braeburn looking at him strangely.

classic glasses-wearer moment!

Sunburst quickly looked down at the book to check for any water damage, then shook his head. “No, I usually have my books magically treated against liquids just in case…” He trailed off, snapping his head up to squint at Braeburn yet again. “Hold on, are you making fun of me?”

hehehe, loving their exchanges

“There is, however, a small chance that the apples will explode into poisonous gas when I cast this spell.” Sunburst said, then gestured towards the door. “Shall we?”
Braeburn gave a deep sigh. “I’ll go get the gas masks.”

love how in-stride ponies take these things

“Seeing as it isn’t too intensive a spell, I could definitely teach it to your unicorns. Just in case I’m not able to provide a non-bandaid solution before I have to leave.”

this unicorn solutions!

The stares he was getting from the moment he entered Appleloosa proper would have made him feel exposed normally, but the lack of a cloak he could hide behind made him feel far more embarrassed than usual. It was all he could do to just smile politely at the prying eyes and give a small nod.

the staring is relatable! whenever i see Sunburst without his cloak, i can only see him as starkly naked

“Heh, ‘s a shame. That colt might have been a few apples short of a bushel, but he was one heck of a player. It’s just so hard to get a good unicorn to play for long.”

oh, Snails is in this?

“Another shame. I figure you’d look pretty cute in one of the uniforms.”

dang Braeburn, save some smoothness for the rest of us!

The second Sunburst stepped into the saloon, all of the commotion he heard inside stopped. Ponies who were formerly in the middle of jovial conversations instead turned to face the newcomer, eyeing him up warily as he did so.

ah, the local bar trope, love it

“Don’t let ‘em scare you, sugarcube.” Braeburn said with a gentle grin.

that word is effortlessly charming no matter which Apple Family member says it!

It only took him a few minutes before he pulled out a book, this one about the intricacies of tree law, and began to nervously read to distract himself.

love it. love tree law

His release came sooner than he expected in the form of a smiling Braeburn. Even less expected was the tray that Braeburn carried with him, on it two of the largest hayburgers he’d seen and an absolute avalanche of potato wedges that surrounded said burgers.

im waiting on dinnertime right now and ugh i want this

“Apples?” Sunburst asked as he looked up at Braeburn, who was similarly enjoying his own burger. Though with an increased proficiency.

ooh, applesauce on burgers? interesting!

His ears flicked to and fro anxiously before finally deciding to fold back entirely.

augh, love this adorable bit of equine body language

“W-well, I mean, while that sounds lovely I really do need to start reading some of the books I-” He then blinked, tilting his head in thought for a moment before his eyes lit up eagerly. “Did you say library?”

haha, nerd!

His advance was quickly stopped by Sunburst turning to look behind him, not with an expression of malice or anger, but sheer disappointment and sadness. “Alone, Braeburn. Please.”
And as Sunburst returned to his walk, Braeburn stood silently at the edge of town. For as much as he wanted to follow his wizardly companion, he simply began his lonely walk to his house. His head low and his ears tucked back with shame.

oof, watching it all collapse in this conversation was painful to watch. i would have been blindsided too, in Braeburn's place. oof!

Bicyclette

Bicyclette #11 · May 13th, 2022 · 1 · 2 · Chapter 3 ·

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

Bicyclette

Bicyclette #12 · May 13th, 2022 · 2 · 2 · Epilogue ·

“Probably should.” Braeburn agreed, leaning down to nuzzle Sunburst right back. “You say safe now, y’hear? Anything happens to you, and I’m gonna give AJ one heck of an earful for lettin’ it happen.”

a reversal of his earlier statements about AJ! love it

Looking at the sight of the farmer stallion wearing a wizardly cloak too small for him, Sunburst couldn’t help but laugh.

ah, the wonderful sights a crackship can create! truly a delight

“It ain’t much, not a gift from a childhood friend or nothin’, but hold onto my hat for me ‘til you get back. Was the first thing I got here in Appleloosa, so make sure to take good care of it.”

augh, i love this! the exchange of signature clothing items. such good stuff!

Clapping a hoof on Braeburn’s shoulder, Sunburst looked upwards at him while still chuckling lightly. “Well, maybe we can revisit that idea next time I’m in Appleloosa.” He said with a soft, teasing grin.

augh, i love this ending! it really left a smile on my face and a warm, fuzzy feeling right in the center of me. it's just so wholesome and bright and exciting and augh! just wonderful stuff!

i loved this story so much! the characters bounced off of each other so well, and your Sunburst is to die for. not to mention the myriad of cute shipping moments throughout! and the balancing act between the romantic arc and the problem-solving story was just so well-done and well-integrated, it really stood out to me. just a thoroughly enjoyable romance from start to finish, thank you for it!

Parker

Parker #13 · May 23rd, 2022 · 3 · 1 · Epilogue ·

I really, thoroughly enjoyed this.

Both characters felt totally authentic--voice and actions and dialog all sat well. The limitations on Sunburst's magical power and Braeburn's overeager (one might say desperate) attitude were spot on. I love the yin/yang of their social forwardness and retreat.

The magic problem you set up felt very real and possible in their world, something that would require significant attention without being cataclysmic. Just very cool idea.

Passing magic through his hooves!!! Oh, that's just... you're brilliant, you are. Earth pony magic woven into the world seamlessly and executed as something strange and unwieldy by a unicorn. I can't say enough good about that. Fantastic world building.

Accessory swap!!!! Just, yes. Yes please. The only bad thing about that is that now I really, really want to see that drawn by someone.

dertoxbraid