Sweet Apple Summer: A Braeburn and Pinkie Pie story

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo watched Braeburn as he lay with his head against the trunk of an apple tree, his mouth hanging wide open as his snores carried the delicate and melodic pitch of an old chainsaw that was in dire need of an oiling.

"Well, we tried everything, girls." Apple Bloom said in defeat.

Scootaloo stretched out the muscles in her forelegs. "Not everything..."

"Hey, wait, what are you thinking?" Apple Bloom held her hoof out in an attempt to stop her brash friend from doing exactly what she thought she was going to do.

"Braeburn!" Scootaloo, not holding anything back, let the sleeping stallion have it with a hard right hook. "Wake up!" She assaulted him again with a left hook, then a right cross, then an upper cut. She looked on in amazement at the stallion who was still snoring away. "Are you fricken cereal?" The punch happy filly's eyes shrunk to the size of pinpricks before her surprised formed into an irate scowl. "Okay, no more miss nice filly."

"Scootaloo, stop pummeling mah cousin!"

"We need to wake his lazy butt up!" Scootaloo retorted before letting Braeburn have it with a hard hay maker that connected with his jaw. "Jeez!" The filly rubbed her throbbing hoof. "It's like punching a brick wall!"

"You'd think a chicken would be better at waking somepony," Apple Bloom commented with a giggle.

"I don't see you two coming up with any better ideas!"

"I've had enough of this mindless violence," Sweetie Belle suddenly stepped in front of her brutal colleague.

Scootaloo frowned, still rubbing the aches out of her hoof. "You have a better plan?"

"A proper lady, such as myself, has no need for such ruff-play. I have the poise, the elegance, and the tactical mind to tackle any task without having to result to such barbarism."

"Look at miss snooty-patootie over here," Scootaloo said in a low whisper to Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Belle approached Braeburn who still lay against the tree, seemingly dead to the world as if he were in a coma. She cleared her throat with her hoof over her mouth, just as her sister taught her, then spoke the words she knew would rouse Braeburn from his deep sleep. "Hey, look, it's Pinkie Pie... And she's wearing lingerie socks!"

Braeburn's snoring came to grinding halt, his ears suddenly twitched before his eyes half-opened.

"Huh...? Where?" He sleepily scanned left-to-right in search of that adorable pink minx of his, but all he noticed was the open space of his work site and the three young fillies who sat on their haunches looking up at him.

Scootaloo shook her head in frustration. "We tried yelling in your ear, nudging you, pouring water over you, hitting you, and the thing that wakes you up is the mention of Pinkie Pie... In lingerie..."

Braeburn stared back at them with sleepy eyes as the sensation of blunt force trauma on his face and realization that his mane was soaking wet suddenly hit him. He rubbed his cheek with a sad and pitiful look.

Guilt suddenly struck Scootaloo with the force of a heavy weight in her heart. "I-I'm sorry that I hit you... Are you okay?" She ducked her head down with her ears flattened back.

"Ah could care less about a couple a licks," Braeburn mumbled before taking one more thorough look around his surroundings. "Pinkie Pie ain't really here, then?"

Scootaloo face-hooved. "No, she isn't here."

"Oh... Why'd ya say she was?" Braeburn asked somberly as he rubbed his battered face.

Sweetie Belle shrugged. "Nothing else we were doing was waking you up. I really didn't think the Pinkie Pie thing would work, but it was worth a try."

Braeburn laughed away his minor irritation as he stretched his legs. "Ah understand y'all got a message for me, Sweetie Belle? Sorry Ah fell asleep while Ah waited for ya. Didn't get much rest last night."

"I understand," Sweetie Belle assured before getting to the point. "I want you to come on an errand with us tonight."

"Tonight tonight?" Braeburn asked.

"Yeah," the ivory filly responded. "Tonight tonight."

"Sorry, darlin - Ah cant tonight. Ah got a date with Pinkie Pie."

"But we're going to need you," Apple bloom suddenly spoke up.

Breaburn rubbed his chin inquisitively. "Why y'all need me?"

"We're going to need a body guard if we're going into the Everfree forest." Sweetie Belle offered. "Apple Bloom says you're really tough and we thought you'd want to—."

Braeburn held his hoof out, stopping her in mid sentence. "Hey, hold on, now. Come again? Why are you going there?"

"I was getting to that." Sweetie Belle cleared her throat. "In the heart of the Everfree forest, a rare flower called a Nightingale rose grows. My sister recently got an order from a client offering a large sum of money for a corsage made from this particular plant. She went to the florist, but she didn't have the particular flower my sister was looking for. The mare working at the flower shop then told her that the closest place she knew of where Nightingales grew was the Everfree forest. I'll bet we could find them if we all go together."

"Absolutely not," Braeburn responded with a firmness that took the fillies off guard. "Ah never been there mahself, but from what Ah heard, that forest is host to terrible creatures that prey on whoever sets hoof within it's borders."

"Scared?" Sweetie Belle asked, attempting to goad the stallion.

"Ah am," Braeburn admitted, not even trying to attempt a tough guy facade. "But Ah'm more scared for you three than Ah am for me."

Sweetie Belle acted almost as if she was channeling her sister's personality to a T as she harrumphed and looked away from him. "Well, if you're not coming, we'll just go on our own."

Braeburn narrowed his eyes, not liking her sudden change in attitude. "You wanna run that one by me again, young lady?"

Sweetie Belle scowled defiantly. "I'm going to get that flower for my sister regardless of your disapproval of me doing so."

Braeburn didn't like the haughty tone she spoke to him in, but she was young, and he factored that in as he mulled over his response. "Suppose Ah tell your sister about this little escapade o' yours?"

"You can't do that - she'd flip! She might even send me to go live with my parents for the rest of the summer!"

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gasped.

"Then Ah guess you and Ah got an understanding between us?"

Sweetie Belle grimaced over the thought of her having to spend the rest of the summer with her lame parents, away from her best friends. not being able to see them until the school year started again.

Braeburn looked down at her, waiting for a response. "Answer me, young lady."

"Fine!" Sweetie Belle snapped. "You snitch!"

"Darlin, you gotta understand that Ah'm only looking out for you." Braeburn reached down to set his hoof on Sweetie Belle's head, but she slapped it away.

"You know, I thought you were really cool when I first met you." Sweetie Belles eyes glazed over as she looked up him. "But now I find out that you're just a snitch! I just wanted to do something nice for my big sister, but you have to ruin everything!"

Braeburn felt a pang of guilt, but he wasn't about to let his personal feelings cloud his judgment. "Darlin... I—"

"And don't call me 'darlin'!" Sweetie Belle demanded, emphasizing the word to mock the stallion's southern drawl before she sauntered off with her nose in the air, flicking her tail at him as she walked away.

Apple Bloom looked at Braeburn, then looked back at Sweetie Belle. "That escalated quickly," she said before running off to  placate her sassy friend.

Scootaloo approached Braeburn who was now in the process of dusting himself off before getting back to work. "Hey, don't feel bad. Sweetie Belle didn't mean any of that. She tends to get a bit passionate sometimes."

"A little drama queen," Braeburn spoke as he remembered the words his cousin had said to him the night before. "Just like her sister."

"Pretty much," Scootaloo agreed before offering him a parting nod, then trotting away in the direction her fellow crusaders went.

As guilty as the stallion felt for denying Sweetie Belle a chance to do such a kind deed for her sister, he couldn't help but smile when he thought of the night ahead of him. Visions of Pinkie Pie's smiling face were the only thoughts that occupied his mind for the rest of his work day, though he wished that Sweetie Belle had never inserted the image of her wearing socks into his mind. It was not at all an unpleasant thought for him by any means, but it was a definitely a distracting one.

"Pinkie Pie?" Mrs. Cake called out from the bakery kitchen. "Are you going to help Mr. Cake and I close the bakery down, or are you just going to keep staring up at that clock?"

"But he's almost here!" Pinkie exclaimed as she padded the ground underneath her nervously. "He might turn around and go home if I'm not here to answer the door when he knocks!"

"Right," Mr. Cake replied condescendingly. "So. this 'boyfriend' of yours?"

Pinkie Pie smiled instantly as she glanced back at Mr. Cake. "Yes?"

"He's probably a clown, or a super hero, or something to that effect, right?"

"He's a cowboy!" Pinkie answered gleefully, not noticing the facetiousness in the baker's tone.

"Oh, a 'cowboy,' is he?" Laughed Mr. Cake. "Is he like one of those pretty boy cowboys on the covers of the romance novels, or is he one of those tough guy Colt Eastwood types?"

"Sugar beat!" hissed Mrs. Cake from behind the counter. "Stop patronizing her! If this boyfriend of hers is real, then you should be a little more supportive."

"But I doubt that he is... A cowboy? Seriously?" he whispered back.

"I can hear everything you two are saying." Pinkie Pie announced as her gaze remained fixated on the clock above her. "I'm not going to bother convincing you of anything, Mr. Cake. Just wait 'til he gets here. If you two were here for his party last night, you would have met him."

Mrs. Cake could feel a slight twinge of chiding in Pinkie Pie's tone. "I know I promised Mr Cake and I would help you with the party, but an order from out of town came up," she offered remorsefully.

"It's Okay, Mrs. Cake," Pinkie Pie said. "I understand that you have a business to run. The party was still really fun, and I got to finally meet the special somepony of my dreams, so I think I can forgive you."

.

Mr. Cake rolled his eyes. "Well, when Eastwood gets here, be sure to tell him I really liked him in Dodge Junction massacre, and be sure to get an autograph for me."

"His name isn't Eastwood, silly!" Pinkie Pie laughed. "What's aunt Pinkie's special friend's name, Pound Cake?"

"Babun!" The young foal answered from his play pin in the kitchen.

Mr. Cake turned to his infant child with a look of shock. "You can say the name of Pinkie Pie's imaginary boyfriend, but you can't even say 'daddy' yet? What kind of a name is 'baboon' anyway?" The baker then turned to look at his daughter who played beside her brother in the pin. "You can say 'dada,' can't you. princess?" he asked with a big, hopeful smile.

"Doodoo!" she exclaimed before flicking her magical horn in his direction, pegging him square in the forehead with a block.

"Dada!" The baker corrected as he rubbed the bruise on his head.

"Babun!" She responded.

"You're saying it, too?"

Pumpkin Cake responded by blowing a raspberry at him, then flicked another block in his direction.

"You're only a foal, and you're already breaking your daddy's heart." The emotional stallion pouted with a protruded lower lip.

Mrs. Cake restrained a laugh while she rubbed Mr. Cake's back sympathetically. "There, there dear."

Pinkie Pie could feel her ear twitching as her smile grew wide with excitement. "He's here!" She exclaimed before rushing to the door. She came to an instant stop and bounced up and down excitedly.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake watched Pinkie Pie's erratic behavior as she seemed to be expelling all of her pent of energy she had withheld while sitting in front of the clock for most of the day. Everything was silent other than the pogo sounds pinkie Pie was making as she hopped.

Nearly an entire minute went by before Mr Cake spoke. "I thought so," he said conclusively. "Pinkie, I think it's about time you went out and met some real boys. I really don't think this is healthy for a grown mare to—" This disbelieving baker fell silent when he heard three knocks at the door.

Pinkie Pie glanced back and Mr. Cake to give him one last 'I told you so' look before she opened the door to let Braeburn in.

He stood there - looking into Pinkie Pie's eyes as hers stared back into his. Her blue eyes were big, round, and intense with a overwhelmingly affectionate joy. Like magnets with opposite polarities, they were instantly drawn into each others' embrace, neither one of them knowing or caring which one had made the advance first.

Mr. Cake watched in defeated awe while the two love birds intertwined with one another as intangible hearts appeared and burst from an unknown source above them.

Pinkie Pie stood on her hind legs to reach his ear. "Shall I introduce you to the cakes before we go upstairs?" she asked before dragging him to the kitchen without waiting for an answer.

"This is Mrs. Cake." Pinkie Pie pointed to the blue mare.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Braeburn," Mrs. Cake greeted with a smile.

Braeburn walked up to her, took her hoof, then kissed it. "It's nice to meet you as well, ma'am."

Mrs. Cake's face flushed, not knowing how to respond to such an intimate greeting.

"And I am Mr. Cake," The baker interrupted with a scowl on his face. "Mrs. Cake's husband," he added, putting heavy emphasis into his title.

"So nice to meet you, sir," Braeburn dipped his head politely toward him.

"You're not gonna kiss my hoof as well, you little home wrecker?"

"Honey!" Mrs. Cake exclaimed.

"Is one mare not enough for you?" Mr. Cake fumed in irritation, bothered that Pinkie Pie had just made a fool out of him, and upset at the sight of his wife being so taken by the charms of another stallion.

Braeburn chuckled as he grabbed Pinkie Pie and pulled her close. "This is all the mare Ah need, sir." He then took even Pinkie herself by surprise when he put his hoof under her chin, turned her head toward him, then kissed her. Pinkie, not expecting such an impulsive and powerful display of affection seemed to be confused for a moment. But it only took a few seconds for her to close her eyes and relax herself, which commissioned the strange hearts to once again appear and pop above them.

"I remember when you were that bold and passionate," Mrs. Cake sighed as she watched them.

Mr. Cake sneered at the stallion who he had already realized that he didn't like while Pinkie Pie dragged him to the foal's pin.

"This is Pound Cake, and this is Pumpkin Cake."  Pinkie watched Braeburn's reaction, not knowing what to expect as she wasn't sure of his position, or disposition towards children. Most stallions really didn't seem to care at all about babies that were not their own, but Braeburn once again surprised her with an over-the-top reaction that took her, and the Cakes, completely off guard.

The knife wielding cowboy stallion contradicted pretty much every single law in the tough guy's rule book on how to act and be hard when he put his hooves up to his mouth and made the biggest squee face any of them had ever seen on a male.

"These... little rugrats... are they yours?!" Braeburn looked back at Mrs. Cake who's eyes were wide in surprise of the stallion's reaction upon seeing her children. She could only nod dumbly.

"Hello, little guy!" Braeburn picked up Pound Cake from his play pin. "Just look how adorable you are!" he cooed softly as he rubbed the child's belly. The baby began to laugh and wriggle about, attempting to grab Braeburn's hoof to keep him from tickling him. He then held him out over his pin. "Who's awesome?"

The foal tilted his head as he stared at the grown stallion, not knowing what to make of him as he curiously pointed at himself.

"That's right!" Braeburn cheered for him. "You're awesome!"

Pound Cake threw his legs up and laughed in response before noticing a wooden object protruding from the stallion's vest. Overwhelmed with curiosity, he took it in his legs and pulled it free from it's concealed sheath. The foal's eyes widened in astonishment as he looked at his own reflection gleaming back at him in the blade of the bowie knife.

"You carry weapons around with you?" Mr. Cake interrogated the stallion as if he were ready to pull his child away from him at any moment.

Mr. Cake felt his wife nudge him. "Honey, lighten up."

"Ah like to think of it as a tool," Braeburn laughed as he gently took his knife back, careful to not upset the young foal. "That's not a toy, little man."

"A tool? What exactly does this 'tool' come in handy for, if you don't mind me asking." Mr. Cake pressed, ignoring his wife's plea.

"Well, it comes in handy for cutting rope, prying open boxes, cutting apples, slicing the ties on hay bails. Anything, really. Ah made this knife so there would never be another one like it. It's equally balanced at it's center, so it can be thrown with surgical, aerodynamic precision. It's sturdy enough to saw through the thickest branch, yet fine enough to shave a face. Ah even had a unicorn friend o' mine back in Appaloosa enchant it so it would never dull or break."

Pound cake reached for Braeburn's knife again, but he held it out to keep him from reaching it. "It's not a toy, little guy."

To the amazement of the other adults in the room, the foal didn't cry, which was his usual response when anything dangerous was taken from him. His interest in the knife transitioned to a sudden fixation on Braeburn's hat, which he took and attempted to wear, but his entire head was engulfed by it.

Braeburn could now hear Pumpkin Cake in her pin.

"Babun, up." He looked down and saw her reaching up to him with her legs. "Up, Babun!"

"Do you feel neglected, little lady?" He asked in a gentle sing-songy voice before setting Pound Cake down, letting him keep the hat for the moment.

"Up," she insisted again with her tiny fore legs out.

"I had no idea you were so good with kids, Braeburn!" Pinkie stated, looking on in amazement.

Braeburn smiled as the little foal yanked on a long strand of his mane. "Ah love kids," He responded, smiling at the child who yanked on his mane. "Especially adorable little ones like these!"

"Pinkie," Mrs. Cake whispered with a nudge.

Pinkie Pie looked at her, and when she did, the blue mare pointed at the golden stallion near the play pin before giving her a surreptitious 'he's a keeper' expression, to which Pinkie Pie replied with an 'I know' face.

Braeburn gently set Pumpkin Cake back into the play pin beside her brother before he looked back to a half-concealed Pound Cake. "May Ah have mah hat back, little guy?" he asked the foal who now laid on in his belly with the hat on his back, most likely thinking he was cleverly hidden.

"Ah wonder where that little rascal Pumpkin Cake went," he said playfully before lifting his hat. "There he is!" The foals, Pinkie Pie, and Mrs. Cake laughed. Mr. Cake, however, did not seem to be amused in the slightest. It only took five minutes for his wife and both of his children to succumb to this wild-eyed stallion's wiles, and he didn't seem to appreciate it. It always seemed as if he had to work hard for his family's affections, and here comes this new guy in town who practically had them pouring theirs out all over him.

With a bounding leap, Pinkie Pie pounced on Braeburn's back and locked her legs around him. "You ready to come upstairs now that you've met everypony?"

"Lead the way," he answered.

"You know the way," Pinkie responded before nestling her face into the back of his neck. "I'm quite comfy up here." Braeburn smiled at the foals before taking his hat back which Pound Cake wouldn't give up with out a slight fuss. But he was quick to release his grip from it once Braeburn soothed him with a promise that he would bring one of his own back for him on his next visit. With his hat adorning his head once again, and Pinkie Pie mounted to his back, he dismissed himself with a polite bow to Mr. and Mrs. Cake.

"Have fun, you two." Mrs. Cake said with a wave.

"But not too much," Mr. Cake grumbled before being elbowed by his disapproving wife.

"They're adults - let them be!"

Mr. Cake rolled his eyes. "It's really hard to think of Pinkie Pie as an adult. And those cowboy types are the kind to love em and leave em. You'll see..."

Mrs. Cake elbowed him again. "If you have time to criticize, you have time to help me clean!"

Braeburn carried Pinkie Pie up the stairs as her tail swung around like a pendulum from his side. When he made his way to the drawstring hanging from the ceiling, he must have forgotten about the ladder as he pulled the door open. The collapsible ladder fell from on high and Braeburn quickly made the sacrifice of taking the impact to his head other than the alternative of ducking under it and letting Pinkie take the blow.

"You okay?!" Pinkie Pie asked as she gently rubbed the stallion's bruised noggin.

"Yeah," he answered while his eyes rolled about, swearing he could see little thong-wearing cupid's with M-60 Machine guns flying around his head before shaking them away.

Pinkie Pie climbed off of him once they had made their way to her room. She pulled the ladder back to the trapdoor, then pulled a string to close off the ceiling. She then sauntered her way to a box that lay in the corner of her room near the projector screen than hung on her wall.

"What kind of movies do you like?" She asked while she mused with her hoof on her chin as she looked into the box of circular film reels.

"Ah never been a big movie buff. Why don't you pick?"

"Okay..." She mused a moment longer before looking back at the stallion who was still standing in the same spot near her door.

"You can make yourself at home, you know."

Braeburn looked back at her. "It ain't often Ah'm ever a guest at anyone else's home. Back at mah house, Ah'm usually the one with guests to entertain."

Pinkie Pie shrugged. "Oh, well just act like you're at your place with one of the boys then."

"You're assuming that the guests Ah entertain are male?" Braeburn laughed.

Pinkie Pie looked back at him again, her eyes narrowing. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"Ah didn't mean nothin' by it," Braeburn shrugged. "Most of my guests are mares. Some of em have a habit of just randomly showing up, wondering what Ah'm up to. It wouldn't be neighborly to just ask them to leave. Ah at least grant them the courtesy of inviting them in for tea."

"Uh huh..." Pinkie Pie quickly realized that she would need to keep her eyes peeled for other mares who seemed to be getting to friendly with her stallion. Braeburn didn't seem to her to be the type to cheat, but the very thought of some hussy trying to steal him made her think dark thoughts.

Braeburn tilted his head. "You okay, sugarcube?"

"I'm fine," Pinkie answered. "Just wondering what movie I should put on." She about-faced and dug through her movies again, completely pushing her macabre thoughts aside. "Just relax on the bed."

"If y'all insist." Braeburn approached the large bed of the likes which he had never seen before. It's purple comforter looked very thick, and it was made out of a material he couldn't identify. He felt it, and was pleased when he had a feel for just how soft the material was. He sat on the bed then laid back. His eyes widened in surprised when it suddenly felt as if the large thick comforter was swallowing him.

"Comfy, isn't it?" Pinkie asked as she fiddled with the projector with one of her films.

"This must be what one of them clouds feels like that the Pegusi are always making their beds from."

"Yep," Pinkie said. "My bed and comforter are actually stuffed with clouds. My friend Rainbow Dash gathered the clouds for me one day, Rarity quilted my comforter, and then Twilight Sparkle cast a special spell on them so the clouds that the bed and comforter are stuffed with will never dissipate."

Braeburn was now thrashing and struggling to keep his head above the layers of the comforter, as if trying to keep his head above water.

Pinkie Pie clicked the switch on the projector and the screen on the wall lit up. "You're going to love this movie. The director got arrested for filming it because he used real dead bodies on puppet strings for the zombies!" She then jumped onto her bead beside Braeburn and slowly sank in beside him.

Braeburn took note of Pinkie as she relaxed and simply let the thick comforter contour to her body. He stopped his struggling and laid still for a moment. The material of the bed seemed to be pushing him upward slightly, though he was still sunken into it deeper than Pinkie Pie was. Once he was use to the strange bed, he found that he actually liked it.

As the night went on the two enjoyed watching Pinkie Pie's maccob assortment of cheaply made B-horror movies. He found these flicks to be strangely charming in a way. Evil Dead was probably among his favorites. He liked the lead character's corny acting and the cheap stop-motion effects of the demons and zombies. These movies seemed to have a strange appeal to him that the newer, fancy, big-budgeted movies seemed to lack.

"What they obviously lacked in funding," Pinkie Pie would go on to say, "they were forced to make up for in creativity."

"Ah still think the whole thing about the director using real dead bodies is a rumor," Braeburn chuckled. "If he got arrested, why would they have released the movie in the first place?"

Pinkie Pie had a thoughtful look about her. "You have a point..."

"And ya know what else?"

Pinkie Pie looked at him. "Wha—mmff"

Breaburn had once again seized those lips of hers. Pinkie Pie had felt as if she'd never get use this whole kissing thing, but before long, she had began to grow bold. She removed his hat as he kissed her before dropping to the side of her bed as she kissed him back. The movie had ended, but they didn't seem to notice. What they did notice however, was a strange tapping sound that suddenly came from the window of Pinkie Pie's balcony.

Braeburn looked toward the glass door, swiping his hair back with his hoof.

"What was that?" Pinkie asked with unfocused eyes, her mane now ravaged and frazzled.

Braeburn shrugged before smiling back down at her. "Nothin', ah guess."

The two were just settling back into their little cuddle-session before hearing the noises again. This time the noise was louder, and it's rhythm more consistent.

"What the hay?" Braeburn looked back at the window, becoming annoyed. He rolled away from Pinkie Pie and touched his hoofs down on the floor, then approached the glass door that lead out to Pinkie's fourth story balcony.

"What if it's a pervert trying to peep on us?" Pinkie Pie's eyes swelled up before pulling her comforter up to her neck.

"Well, if that's the case," Braeburn scowled. "They'll be getting a bloody nose and a free trip to the police station for their trouble." He drew aside the curtain and pushed the door open. "Eh, Pokey?"

Braeburn saw nopony on the balcony. He stepped outside and looked from side-to-side before doing a quick patrol of the rounded deck before coming back to the doors. He pondered over the origins of the strange tapping sounds before a small stone hit him in the head, adding to the many lumps his scalp was now ridged with since he had come to Ponyville.

"What the hay?" He looked down from the balcony to see his cousin looking back up at him from the ground. Pinkie Pie's head soon stuck out from the railing beside Braeburn's to look down at Apple Jack.

"Hey, AJ!" Pinkie Pie greeted.

"Hey, cuz." Braeburn greeted as well, but not as happy about the interruption as Pinkie Pie seemed to be. "Might Ah say, you got great timing," he said, attempting to give his cousin a subtle hint without being rude.

"Ah'm sorry if Ah'm intruding on y'all's date, but Ah don't suppose Apple Bloom is up there with ya?"

"She ain't with us," Braeburn answered, forgetting his frustration. "Maybe she's out with her friends? They could be having one of their slumber parties in the treehouse."

Apple Jack shook her head before yelling back up at them. "She never told me she was doin' that tonight, and she's always been real good at letting me know if she was coming home or not. Besides, the treehouse was the first place Ah checked."

"Ah'm sure she's fine, cuz. I'll bet she's already back at home."

"Ah hope so." Apple Jack's concern in her voice was evident. "You two have fun, Ah'm heading back home. This ain't been the first time she's stayed out late without saying anything, but it's still very unusual."

"I hope Apple Bloom's okay." Pinkie said.

"Ah'm sure she's fine. She's probably with her little friends getting in all sorts of shenanigans right now. Ah wasn't very compliant about curfew when Ah was her age neither." Braeburn turned to see nothing but Pinkie's face an inch away from his. It was now her turn to suddenly seize him before dragging him back into her room. Some time went on and it was completely nightfall when the noise sounded again. Braeburn was now laying with his head propped up by pillows so he could see the projector screen while Pinkie laid her head on his chest. They both shared a glance before rolling their eyes and walking to the balcony. This time looking down, Rarity was the one who was standing there. Her ivory-white coat lit up as it reflected the light from the lanterns in the street.

"Darling," she said. "Could I perhaps convince you to come down here for a moment?" Braeburn looked to his side where PInkie Pie was, but she was no longer beside him. He looked down on the road to see her standing right in front of Rarity. "How in the world did she...?" he trailed off in his confusion before descending the stairs to join the two mares.

He clumsily made his way through the dark bakery to the entrance where he could now hear them conversing.

"She's usually home by now!"

"That's funny. Apple Jack was just here looking for Apple Bloom a while ago."

"Rainbow Dash is looking for Scootaloo. She usually takes her back home to cloudsdale because the poor dear isn't able to fly, but she can't find her anywhere."

That's when Braeburn came walking out from the darkness of the bakery. "Miss Rarity." he dipped his head chivalrously.

"Oh my!" Rarity did a double take. "Breaburn?! I didn't even know you were in town! Why are you with Pinkie Pie, if you don't me asking?"

Braeburn and Pinkie Pie gave each other an affectionate look as if to negotiate who'd break the news, but their faces were all the explanation Rarity needed.

"That's not fair!" Rarity stamped her hoof dramatically. "Why is it that Pinkie Pie finds a nice stallion, but every guy I like turns out to be a self-obsessed jerk?!"

"City boys just don't seem to know how to treat a lady right these days," Breaburn laughed.

"Sorry Darling, I could just never get into the whole...'rustic' thing." Rarity retorted, carefully choosing her words so as to not offend Pinkie Pie's boyfriend.

"Well, anytime you feel like changing your mind, just let me know. Ah got some friends back home that'd die for the chance to take a pretty little thing like you out on the town."

Rarity blushed as she was taken aback by Braeburn's compliment. "Well, maybe if they're as handsome and well mannered as you, I could probably be swayed."

Pinkie Pie cleared her throat loudly. "So!" she said with a harsh tone. "You were saying something about Sweetie Belle?"

Rarity's eyes widened, looking slightly ashamed that Braeburn surprising her could throw her off of her train of thought so easily. "Oh! Oh my, yes! Have you seen her?"

"Not since noon." Braeburn answered.

"Where has that little filly gone? She knows how I worry!"

Breaburn smiled at her reassuringly. "Well, look at this way: All three of them are gone, so they must be together. Safety in numbers, right?"

"I know, I'm probably just being paranoid, but that little filly is becoming harder and harder to manage. Not at all like me when I was growing up." Rarity then flicked and adjusted her mane, a gesture that Braeburn could have sworn he'd seen Sweetie Belle imitate.

Breaburn suppressed a chuckle before he spoke again. "Do you remember her saying anything to you the last time you saw her?"

"The last thing Sweetie Belle told me today was that she was going out and coming back with a surprise for me. I didn't really think much of it at the time. I thought that meant she was going to go draw me a picture to stick on the fridge, or something. She's developing into quite the little artist, you know."

Braeburn's blood suddenly ran cold. "A surprise?" he asked.

"A surprise." Rarity repeated.

Braeburn suddenly grabbed Pinkie Pie, kissed her, and said, "No time to explain, but I'll make this up to you." Then he let her go and ran in the direction of the Everfree forest with as much speed as he could muster.

"Braeburn!" Pinkie Pie futilely reached toward him while stumbling over her hoofs. "Come back! Where are you going?" She looked up at Rarity as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Did he just ditch me?"

"I don't think so, darling." Rarity said soothingly. "If he did, that was the oddest ditch-tactic I have ever seen."

"I knew it!' A male voice suddenly thundered from behind them before Mr. Cake came stumbling out from the darkness of the bakery. "Loves em then leaves em. I thought so!"

Pinkie Pie gazed back at him. "But we didn't—"

"I knew he was no good!" Mr Cake said triumphantly. "This is why you need to listen to me, Pinkie. I can spot a dirtbag from miles away!"

Pinkie Pie looked back at him with an expression of hurt on her face. "Have you been eavesdropping on us?"

Mrs. Cake suddenly shot out form the bakery like a bat out of hell, socked Mr. Cake over the head with a rolling pin, then dragged him back inside. "Stop being so insensitive!"

Pinkie Pie just sat there on her haunches with her mane now strait and dangling toward the ground as her lower lip protruded. Rarity set her hoof on her back. "Darling, it's okay. I'm sure whatever Braeburn just did, he had a good reason for it."

"I think I know the reason." Pinkie said somberly.

"And what's that?"

"He doesn't like me!" The neurotic mare suddenly wailed before fainting backwards. Rarity somehow pulled her Fainting couch from out of nowhere in an attempt to catch her with it, but Pinkie, once again, broke the rules of gravity as she fell the other direction, recovering instantly from a fifty five degree angle and landing hard on the ground in a fetal position.

An ogre with skulls from numerous species of animals strung around his neck like a ghastly fashion statement had been chasing the three crusaders throughout the forest of Everfree for what seemed like hours now. He howled and laughed with twisted pleasure, knowing they they were frightened of him. "I love little fillies! Love them, love them, love them! The younger the meat, the more tender the treat!" He howled like a mad man as he ran on his feet and knuckles with his back arched.

"I can't run anymore!" Sweetie Belle panted between her panicked breaths.

"Don't talk!" Apple Bloom yelled. "Just run!"

"Up that tree! It's probably to fat to be climb!" Scootaloo ran toward the trunk of the tree of which she was speaking, leaped at it, then took several agile steps up the base, riding her momentum all the way up and grabbing a branch.

Apple Bloom followed soon after. Her powerful legs were able to get her just a bit higher than scootaloo's jump, but instead of utilizing agility to run up the tree, she grabbed the branch and pulled herself up with one powerful pull. The two young fillies were now looking down at Sweetie Belle expectantly.

"What makes you think I'm capable of something like that?!" she yelled up at them before looking back at the ogre that was now smiling at her, a row of razor sharp pointed teeth protruding from his twisted smirk and overlapping it's bottom lip. It then slowly approached her, dragging his knuckles along the way. That's when the the ogre could be seen clearly under the beams of moon light that pierced through the canopy of the forest. Sweetie Belle's heart sank even deeper soon after being able to see it's grotesque necklace with more clarity. One of the skulls around it's neck looked as if it's had belonged to a young pony at one time.

"G-girls, help!" Sweetie Belle reached toward them, her voice shrinking.

Without thinking of her own safety, Scootaloo jumped down from the tree and boosted Sweetie Belle up just high enough to where Apple Bloom could snare her leg and pull her up on the branch. She then bent down as if to prepare to jump but the goblin yanked her by her tail and pulled her under him.

"The meat in the legs are always the tastiest." He hissed as he pinched a muscle in her hind leg.

"Don't touch me, you creep!" The terrified pegasus kicked him as hard as she could in his face, but it seemed to have no effect.

The creature let out a vulgar laugh. "I haven't had me a filly in so long! I'll be sure to slow cook the meat. I can't let you dry out, now can I?"

"You let her go!" Apple Bloom demanded. "I'll tell mah big cousin on you, and if he comes down here, he'll—"

The ogre cut her off with chorus of shrill laughter. "He'll what? Kill me? Better ponies than your cousin have tried, I can guarantee you of that." The ogre could not have predicted Scootaloo's next move as she painfully dangled from his hand by her tail. She hooked a stick she found on the ground, broke it off at the tip with her mouth, and hid it behind her back as the ogre raised her to his face to sniff at her. Just as he did this, the orange pegasus stabbed the ogre through his eye, taking him by surprise as he let her go and doubled backwards with his hands over his face.

Scoots retreated and made another bounding leap up the tree to join her friends.

"I should have never dragged you guys here," Sweetie Belle sobbed. "I'm so sorry for those things I said to Breaburn!" she wiped the tears of panic from her eyes.

"Crying isn't going to get us out of this situation," Said Scootaloo as she watched the ogre down below thrashing about with it's hands still over it's face, feeling a small sense of triumph.

The monster then rubbed his gouged eye for a moment before looking up at the three fillies who had no where to go. "You think i can't reach you up there?" He said with an enraged teeth-baring frown. "I'll cleave the living flesh from your bones, little fillies! You'll scream, and scream, and scream! You'll beg me to stop, but I wont! You, little orange one. I'll hang you from a meat hook over a bucket before I tear your wings off. I'll laugh as your face twists in agony!"

All three fillies' faces went pale as the creature began to scale the tree to reach for them. Sweetie Belle was nearly within his reach but Apple Bloom pulled her away and lifted her to a higher branch.

The ogre punched the trunk of the tree in frustration. "Delay the inevitable all you want!"

The crusaders had played this game of cat and mouse for nearly thirty minutes until they were at the very highest branch of the tree. They scooted up close to each other, holding each other in terror as the ogre slowly made it's way toward them.

"O-only one thing we can do." Sweetie Belle Whimpered.

"I don't like it, but there's nothing else." Scootaloo agreed.

"Alright, then." Apple Bloom said. "One, two, and.."

All three off the fillies drew in as deep a breath as their little lungs could handle before throwing back their heads and screaming as loud as they possibly could.

Braeburn studied the bends of the hoof prints in the grass closely. The bruising where the grass was bent was at a slightly lighter color, indicating that whoever made them was there only recently. He paused and closed his eyes, listening to the owls, the crickets, all the wildlife around him that sang their songs at night that would give away the position of anypony, or anything else that may be near. He noticed that the insects were silent going on north, but every other location around him, they chirped. He proceeded on through the path of broken twigs and hoof prints before stopping to examine a new pair of prints. They were large, deep, and whatever it was, it had feet instead of hoofs. The deepness of them were an indication of it's heavy weight. His ears twitched when he suddenly heard multiple shrill screams northbound.  He tore through the vines, jumped over fallen logs, and pounded the ground at a quick pace. He could here the screams again, but this time they sounded more like howls of agony than terrified cries like the first time. His mane and tail whipped and flowed through the wind as he picked up his pace.

He was suddenly blocked off from his path by a group of three timber wolves that turned and snarled upon noticing him. "Ah don't have time for this!"

He wasted absolutely no time in putting them down. Before they could even think to attack he was upon them. He jumped and landed hard dead-center in the middles of the center one's back, making it's spine crumble with a thick snapping sound. Another one lunged, but Braeburn spun around and clothes lined it, knocking it's head off. The other one surprised him by leaping on his and driving it's fangs into the back of his neck. Pained, but not even close to giving up, the stallion leaped and fell backwards. He then rolled to his hoofs, grabbed it, then threw it hard into a nearby tree. Splinters and broken timber flew in every direction trailed by an eerie green light. Braeburn made note of the fallen wolves that were already beginning to put themselves back together before he retreated to the sounds of the screams again, so as to not return to the location. He knew that just like regular wolves, these ones would howl once they amalgamated, and it would summon more of them.

"Now, you're mine!" The ogre reached out and finally managed to snatch Scootaloo from the branch upon which she was perched.

"Don't lift us up by our tails!" Apple Bloom screamed. "It hurts!"

"Oh, this will seem like a vacation when you're roasting over a fire, little fillies," he cackled just before leaping from the top of the tree, all three fillies in hand by their tails screamed as they plummeted. The ogre landed hard on the ground, causing deep imprints of his feet to be left behind in the earth as it quaked under him. He then looked up and sniffed the air. "Who goes?!" he yelled just before Braeburn slid into a view.

"Braeburb!" The three fillies exclaimed, desperately reaching out to him.

The ogre's upper lip curled into a sneer. "Leave me be, or I'll kill you, too."

"Drop them fillies, and Ah'll be on mah way, partner."

"These three?" The ogre smiled cruelly while he held them up. "You can have what ever's left. I'm not particularly fond of eyeballs, bladders, or livers, so I just may be willing to share."

"No deal."

"You're kidding, right?" The creature laughed. "I just wanted to eat these three young ones. Children are such tender little morsels. Adults are fine, but their muscles are tough. But I digress: I'm offering you one more chance to leave - I suggest you take it."

Without another word, Braeburn charged forth, leaped, and drop kicked the creature directly in it's groin and struck his intended target under the ogre's loin cloth. The monster instantly let the three fillies go who dropped to the ground, scrambled to their hoofs, and ran behind Braeburn for protection.

"Please don't tell me that was the extent of your attack strategy!" Scootaloo stammered in panic.

"Makin' it up as Ah go along, little darlin." Braeburn chuckled in a carefree manner.

"If it's a fight you want, then!" The ogre looked back up, and his one good eye that Scootaloo had left him with was glowing red with fury. Without another word he lunged forward at a speed that contradicted his massive size, then grabbed the stallion before he could have a chance to react. He held his face close to his, flashing those brown, jagged teeth of his.

"You misunderstand mah intentions. Ah ain't gonna fight you. Ah'm just gonna completely wreck you." Braeburn bent his legs up to his chest and kicked the ogre square in his mouth with all his might, knocking several teeth out. The ogre dropped the stallion as he fell backwards. He quickly got back to his feet and bent down to spit out a mouthful of blood before he threw his head back and roared furiously.

"Years of apple buckin'" Braeburn chortled before swiping the three terrified fillies off the ground and retreating with them on his back. The ogre followed Braeburn in a state of blind fury, unaware of the stallion's cunning plan.

"When I catch you, I'm going to grind you into paste!"

"Paste would be convenient since Ah knocked them teeth out of your skull," Braeburn taunted with an insufferable laugh as he quickened his pace.

"Are you mad?" Apple Bloom cried. "You're making it angrier!"

Braeburn laughed confidently. "He who is quick to fury is slow to be tactful. Seek to exploit his ire, for he is a fool, and a fool's greatest weakness is his own foolishness."

Braeburn recognized the location he was now it as the place where he had fought the timberwolves. He looked off into the darkness of the forest and noticed several pairs of green eyes that were leering back at him. "Perfect."

Braeburn dug his knife out of his vest with his mouth and turned around.

"What are you doing?" Scootaloo cried. "You gained some distance on him, you can get away. I know you're tough, but you don't stand a chance against that thing!"

Grasping his knife firmly in his mouth, Braeburn completely shut out every sounds that would be a distraction to him. He utilized every sense he could to focus himself. He looked back to see the group of timberwolves amassing behind him, then he looked in front of him again. He quickly concluded that he could have escaped the ogre, only to run into a nasty ambush by those wolves. He would have no way to protect the fillies from such a group. He had one shot, and only one plan. He waited.

The three fillies' eyes were wide as they came to understand their situation, knowing that without a doubt they were doomed. Sweetie Belle slowly lowered herself to Braeburn's cheek and kissed him.

"I'm so sorry..."

Braeburn smiled back at her. "Hold your kisses, apologies, and your applause for the end of the show, little darlin'."

"You can't sugar coat this, Braeburn," Sweetie Belle said. "Please don't treat me like an ignorant little child. I know this is going to be the end of us, and I just want to spend my last moments telling you how sorry I am, and how I wish I..." She was no longer able to continue. She just buried her face into the back of his mane and broke down.

The ogre was nearly upon them. Everything was as if it was moving in slow motion. Taking a deep breath, Braeburn spun around, and let loose his bowie knife.

Sweetie Belle's tear stricken face peeked up from the stallion's mane. Apple Bloom closed her eyes, and Scootaloo held on for dear life, content to squeeze onto Braeburn until she drew her last breath.

The stallion watched as the knife flew directly into it's target. The ogre stood dumbly for a moment, his vision absolutely black. He could no longer see, and a horrible pain assaulted him all the way from his eyeball all the way into the center of his skull. It's hands groped around it's head for a moment in disbelief before feeling the large knife embedded in it's face.

When he realized what had just happened to him, he stumbled down to one knee in a state of shock.

"I'm blind!" it howled before pulling the knife out, which caused it to howl even louder. He threw the knife in what he hoped would be Breaburn's direction, but it hit a tree branch at an odd angle and it ricocheted before the blade landed near the stallion instead of in him. He picked it up and sheathed it before watching the creature roll about with it's hands over it's face. "I'm blind!" he howled again. "I'll kill you all! I'll find out where you live, and I'll eat your family's right in front of you! I don't care how long it takes for me to find you!" He tried to get back up, but he stumbled over in his state of literal blind fury.

"Braeburn!" Sweetie Belle whimpered.  "Timberwolves!"

Braeburn looked back, and sure enough, he saw a large pack of at least a dozen timberwolves behind him. The largest of them, he assumed was the pack leader, slowly made his way to the stallion and sniffed at him for a moment. He then growled something unintelligible to the rest of pack before looking at the thrashing ogre behind them.

"Ah'm gonna teach you a little something about carnivores, ladies." Braeburn stated. "Given the choice, they'll always go for the easier meal."

The pack leader looked back at Breaburn with those eerie green eyes of his before letting out a whimpering sound as if to say, "You gonna eat that?"

Braeburn smiled. "He's all yours."

The pack leader barred his wooden teeth in a non-aggressive manner, almost as if it was a sign of  thanks for the stallion's generosity before throwing his head back, howling, then rushing toward the downed ogre. The pack of a dozen soon were in a blood-crazed frenzy of gnashing teeth as they proceeded to tear the ogre to pieces, intent on consuming every last bit of him until nothing but bones remained.

The three fillies buried their heads into Breaburn's back, unable to watch. "Don't look, ladies." said Braeburn. "Let's just go home."

Braeburn turned around as the three fillies stayed mounted to his back. All three of them had their hooves clamped tightly over their ears so they wouldn't have to hear the tormented howls of the ogre being ripped apart behind them.

"Braeburn?" Sweetie Belle sniffled.

"You're sorry - Ah know. We all make mistakes, sweet heart."

"Well, yeah, I am really, really, sorry, and no amount of apologizing could ever pay you back in full for the risk you took in rescuing us, but I was going to say something else."

"What's that, darlin?"

"Ogres..."

"Yeah?"

"Ogres are jerks!" She squeaked with genuine disgust.

Braeburn could only throw his head back and laugh in response that level of adorableness.

.