Some Apples Shine Differently

Shining Armor is sitting is his Sedan driving towards Canterlot. He is on his way to visit his sister Twilight, who is about to graduate in two days. Luckily, he could use three days of his vacations from the military academy to get there on Wednesday already. Shining still remembers his own graduation, and the hustle that came with it. There was hardly time to talk with anyone.

He had already wrote lots of mails back and forth with Twilight, passing on what he remembered about organizing everything. But there was something he didn't tell Twilight yet. It's nothing new, but he just feels like now is the time to finally tell her. He just doesn't know how to. And how she and the rest of the family will take it.

His eyes wander over to the GPS. He is only 12 more miles from home. Getting closer, Shining lets out a sigh of relief. He has been driving since early in the morning, and it is almost noon. With a bit luck, he'll arrive there in time for lunch. Stretching behind the wheel, he continues his ride home.

Even with the dense traffic at this time, it doesn't take him more than 15 minutes to reach the small detached house he grew up in. Turning the ignition off, the front door bursts open. Out runs a girl, a good head shorter than him. Her dark blue hair waves as she runs towards her big brother. By the time he left the car, she is already there, throwing him into a hug.

"I missed you big brother!" Twilight squeals in Shining's ears.

"Whoa there Twily," he manages to get out, "I haven't been gone for that long,"

"I know," she says, "But I I'm still happy to see you again,"

Twilight finally lets go of her brother again. Shining Armor takes his suitcase out of the trunk and follows her inside. Putting it down beside the staircase, he enters the kitchen where their mother is standing at the stove. She turn to her son and welcomes him home with a warm hug.

"It's good to see you again Shining," Twilight Velvet says, "And you came just in time for lunch,"

"Good to be back, mom," he replies with the same joy in his voice, "Wouldn't want to miss this for the world,"

"Did your sister tell you about your father yet?" she asks, while taking the pot of the stove and going over to the dinner table.

"Yes, too bad they didn't let him come home for the weekend," Shining answers, taking bowls from the cupboard as he speaks.

Twilight is getting spoons and a ladle from the drawer. Together they all sit down at the table. After giving her mother and brother their spoons, Twilight fills each a bowl of soup. Shining takes a takes a deep nose of the soup. It's his favorite kind: Hungarian goulash.

During the meal, they eventually start talking about Twilight's graduation. He already knew that she was the valedictorian. She mailed him her speech a week ago, only one day after she was given the honor.

"Do you want to come with me to Sweet Apple Acres after lunch?" Twilight asks her brother, "We are doing some preparations for the party there,"

"But what about the preparations for the ceremony?" Shining asks back, "Aren't you the supervisor for those?"

"I am," Twilight answers, "But we had the gym done the first day we were allowed to start decorating,"

"How did you manage to do that? Our organizers couldn't agree on a theme until the last minute,"

"You remember the fall formal from last year?" Twilight asks.

"Sure, you wrote me an entire novel about it," Shining replies jokingly.

"Everyone just worked together like then," she explains, "We only have to check back at the day to get the chairs set up,"

"Well," Shining replies, "If you can wait after I took a shower and changed clothes, I can drive us to Sweet Apple Acres,"

Twilight agrees and they finish lunch, catching up with some of Shining Armor's stories. After they are done, Shining leave for the bathroom upstairs. Taking his suitcase with him, he feels a warmth in his body that only home can create.

Twilight Velvet and her daughter are clearing the table in the meantime. Since Twilight still wears her school clothes, she decides to change as well. Going upstairs to her room, she crosses her brother in the hallway. Holding the towel around his lower body with one hand and carrying the suitcase with the other, he smirk at her as he enters his room. Twilight can't help but notice that the academy had shaped her brothers body even more than what she remembered.

She goes on in her room, picking out something more casual for the preparations on the farm. In the next room, her brother is doing the same. Shining Armor is looking through his clothes. Aside from his military uniform for the formal event, he had also packed academy t-shirts and some other items for the party. For now he chooses to go with the white t-shirts with the academy logo.

Looking into the mirror over the dresser, he fixes his hair before he is finally satisfied with his looks. Stepping out of his room, he sees that Twilight had gone for a similar approach, wearing a Canterlot High blouse. Going downstairs together they say goodbye to their mother and go to Shining's car.

While driving to the farm, Twilight quickly briefs him on today’s plans. They decided to not only set up a stage for a live band, but also planned on practically redecorating entire Sweet Apple Acres. He is a bit doubtful that all those things can be done until Friday. It doesn't take long until they arrive at the farm.

There, three girls are getting boxes from the barn and are stacking them the on empty area in front of the porch. Shining knows them all by their names, but aside from that he didn't have much to with them in the past. He mainly saw them when they were hanging out with Twilight.

There is Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity. Shutting off the engine, they both get out of the car. Walking over to the girls, they are already greets by them.

"Howdy there," Applejack says, putting another box on the ground.

"Hey Girls," Twilight greets them back, "Are those the decorations?"

Rarity is putting down her box and lifts the cover.

"They seem to have a certain charm to them," she says, pulling out some ribbons.

"How many more are there?" Shining asks, looking concerned about the already large amount of boxes.

"Fluttershy is getting the last one," Applejack answers him.

"At least we have a strong guy helping us out," Rarity says with a coquettish smile.

The girls giggle as Shining gets a little red from the comment.

"Where is Pinkie?" Twilight asks, looking around to find her friend.

"Ah' have no idea," Applejack shrugs, "She was supposed to be here already with the stage parts,"

"Let's just start anyways," Twilight says with a little sigh, "The stage wasn't supposed to be assembled before tomorrow anyways,"

"Alright everyone," Applejack says with her hands on her hips, "Fluttershy, you take can take those boxes over there and put the garlands on the fences along the road,"

Fluttershy immediately picks up the box and goes towards the road with a smile on her face.

"But don't get caught up on the horses too much, Fluttershy!" Rarity calls after her.

"You three can take these and spread those ribbons and banners over the trees around the square," she continues to instruct everyone, "Ah'll get the picnic tables set up in the meantime,"

Twilight opens one of the boxes and inspects its content. Inside are drapes in different colors. The bark traces on one side are indicating that they are used to decorate the trunks of the trees. Rarity opens another box and finds different ribbons and other smaller decorations. From what Applejack said, those are supposed to be put into the crowns.

"There's a ladder in the barn for those," Applejack says to Rarity.

"I don't think we'll need a ladder, right darling?" she says to Shining.

"Those trees look pretty tall," he throws in, "We will see,"

"Why don't you start on the other end Twilight?" Rarity suggests, "That way we don't get into the way of each other,"

Twilight nods in agreement and takes the box with her to the other end of the square. Rarity presses the box into Shining's arms before leading him towards the trees surrounding the place. Looking up to the branches, he is already about to turn around and get the ladder Applejack mentioned. But Rarity holds him back.

"Take me on your shoulders," Rarity says to him "So I can reach up there,"

Shining looks at her questioning. He didn't know much about this girl, but he remembered her as a little less enthusiastic when it came to manual labor.

"I could just get the ladder," he retorts.

"Don't be silly," Rarity says with a smile, "This is much faster with you as my human ladder,"

"If you say so," Shining replies and goes down on one knee.

Rarity goes around him and awkwardly climbs on his shoulders. It is a little tricky with the skirt she is wearing. Shining Armor holds her legs tight before slowly standing up. Rarity tucks her feet behind his back and balances herself on his shoulders with that.

She extends her arm to the tree and reaches the branches with ease now. Shining squats to pick up the box with the decorations. Holding them close to his chest, Rarity is able to reach down and grab them. With skilled fingers, she quickly attaches them to the tree.

Shining turns his head and looks over to Twilight on the other side of the square. She seems to have a hard time getting the drapes untangled and tied to the trunks. On the place itself, Applejack had already brought out two picnic tables into the center. Suddenly he feels something warm and squishy pressing against his head. Rarity is bending over him to reach inside the box.

Shining awkwardly pulls his head in like tortoise and lifts the box a bit higher. Despite being able to reach the contents now fairly easy, Rarity's breasts remain on his head longer than necessary. This whole situation suddenly feels very awkward for him.

He tries to focus on the decoration itself and is quick to move to a new spot for Rarity to place ribbons. Every other time she picks something from the box or ties a knot, Rarity leans forward more than she would have to or presses herself against his neck stronger than necessary. Shining does his best to ignore those movements by her until she decides to make it even more awkward for him.

"We should meet on a glass of wine after we are done today," Rarity casually says while rubbing over his back with her foot.

Shining gulps a little, he is not really fond of that idea. On the one hand, he doesn't want to rudely turn Rarity down. But on the other, he has no interest in her advances.

"I'm sure everyone would love to do that," he tries to avoid her actual intent.

He can feel her stiffening up a little on his shoulders.

"Sure," she says, disappointment clearly audible in her voice, "I'll ask the other girl later,"

Rarity continues to pretty up the trees like nothing happened. But she is a lot more reserved now. Focusing more on their work, they soon cross Twilight who finally got all her drapes untangled. She smiles at her brother but raises an eyebrow when she looks up to her friend. She doesn't say something though and just continues with her task.

All in all, it is not very interesting work. It starts to get boring, until a truck honks its horn, driving onto the farm. Everyone turns around to see who is coming. Through the windshield, Shining recognizes another friend of Twilight. Pinkie Pie is parking the truck at the side of the square, jumping out of the cabin in a swift motion.

"Hiya everyone!" she calls, waving her arm towards her friends.

Everyone gathers around her and inspects the load of the truck. In the back are several bars, metal and wooden squares. It looks a lot like the parts for a scaffold.

"What took so long?" Applejack is asks her.

"Principal Celestia was in a conference and I had to wait for her to get out and hand me the key," Pinkie explains.

"Well," Shining Armor says, "Key thing is that you got them at all,"

"Key thing," Pinkie repeats giggling, "I like you brother Twilight. We should keep him around,"

Shining chuckles as well, only now realizing the unintended pun. Twilight looks at her watch.

"I didn't even realize how much time has already passed," she says surprised, "We should come to an end soon,"

"Ah reckon' we can still lay the tables," Applejack suggests, "Decorations look fine to me. The tablecloths are out over there,"

Applejack points to a stack of colorful plastic sheets.

"Ya'll need to do this together," she explains, "they are a bit froward,"

"Will you lend me your hand, Fluttershy?" Rarity immediately asks her friend.

"Sure, Rarity," Fluttershy says with her little voice.

Pinkie Pie grabs herself Applejack and pulls her over to the stack as well. Twilight and Shining are going as too, when suddenly Twilights phone rings. She answers it promptly. Shining can hear that it’s their mother calling. Suddenly, Twilights mood drops. She looks sad and a little disappointed when finally hanging up.

"What did mom want?" Shining asks her carefully.

"She got called in from her office," Twilight sighs, "She has to drive to a client and fix their software,"

"That's not so bad," he tries to cheer her up, "She'll be back in time for your graduation,"

"I don't think so, the client is in Baltimare," Twilight says with a sad smile, "She won't even arrive there before Friday,"

"At least I'm still here," says Shining, taking her into a hug, "Let's just finish our work here for now,"

Twilight nods and they follow the other girls with laying the tables. The plastic covers are putting up some resistance, but with the metal clips, they are finally held in place. While they are working in pairs, Twilight addresses something she noticed earlier.

"What happened with Rarity?" she asks her brother.

"What do you mean?"

"She looked distressed when you were decorating the trees," Twilight says, "Did you say something to her?"

"I don't remember saying anything," Shining lies, avoiding having to explain the situation.

"Huh," Twilight remarks, "weird..."

Since there are not many picnic tables, they are all set up in a timely manner. In the meantime, Big Macintosh had come from orchards, bringing in his daily harvest. The sun is about to go down when they all gather again in the middle of the square. Twilight lists all the things they wanted to prepare. As it turns out, there is only two things left. The stage still needs assembly, together with the setup of the audio system.

"Braeburn arrives with the train tomorrow," Applejack says, addressing Shining, "It would be mighty fine if you could pick him up at eleven,"

"Sure, I can do that," Shining accepts, "then I at least have something to do while Twilight is in school,"

"Perfect! Anyone want to grab a drink?" Applejack asks the girls.

They seem fond of that idea, but can't really decide on a place to go. After a lot of back and forth, Shining suggest taking it to Twilights home and they are able to agree on that. Apparently, Rarity is the only one who came with a car, so they split up in two groups. Twilight, Pinkie and Applejack are riding with Shining Armor, while Applejack goes with Rarity. They get in the car, and Shining starts the engine. They pass the two girl walking towards the exit of Sweet Apple Acres.

"Why didn't Rarity drive up to here as well?" Shining asks a little bit confused.

"Don't be silly, Shiny," Pinkie answers, "The road is waaaay to bumpy for her Bentley,"

That moment, they are passing said car on the road. He looks at it in disbelief. He will never understand how someone could give a teenager such a car. During the ride, the girls are discussing the following day. They are just as nervous as they are excited.

While driving through the empty streets, Shining feels the fatigue grabbing a hold of him and yawns. He can't wait to finally catch a bit sleep. When they arrive at Twilights home, Rarity and Applejack had already caught up to them. Together, they enter the house. Twilight gets her friends some drinks and snack from the kitchen and they all gather in her room.

Shining decides to spend some time with them to get them to know a bit better. But it doesn't take long until he almost falls asleep sitting. Twilight is practically shoving him out of her room, ordering him to get some sleep. Willingly, he complies but can't get around smiling at the fact that it used to be the other way around.

"And don't think of coming back before you got some sleep," Twilight tries to sound commanding.

Holding up his hands while leaving, he plays along. Feeling a little thirsty, he goes back down in kitchen to grab a glass of water. On his way back up, he can hear the girls talking through the door. Unintentionally, he eavesdrops on their conversation.

"...of course Rarity was on him from the first second," he hears Applejack say teasingly.

"And if so?" Rarity answers almost snippy, "He isn't interested anyways,"

"Why do you think so?" Twilight obliviously asks her friend.

"Well," she says with a pause, "I might have asked him to grab a drink with me,"

"I kneeeeww it," Pinkie sings victorious.

"Oh leave it be Pinkie Pie," Rarity replies snappishly.

Shining, shaking his head, is about to move on and finally go to bed when he hears Twilights voice.

"Well, now that you mention it," she begins, "Shining never had a girlfriend before,"

"I saw him with this one girl all the time," Pinkie throws in, "What about her?"

"Do you mean Cadence?" Twilight asks her back, "They were best friends through High School, nothing more"

"Maybe they didn't tell you," Fluttershy chimes into the conversation.

"I think that would've been awkward for Buck," Twilight responds.

Shining Armor thinks back to his time in High School. She was right, he and Cadence never were in love with each other. Not that she wasn't a beautiful girl. But she didn't quite match his likings. The reason they were such good friends might have been their shared interest. For now, he had heard enough. It didn't really feel right to spy on Twilight and her friends that way. He enters his old room and goes to bed. Tired from the long day, he falls asleep almost instantly.

The next day, he awakes at eight am. An unusual time for him ever since he started at the academy. Going down into the kitchen, he finds that Twilight had already left for school. Thinking about what to do all day, he goes back into his room with a pot of steaming coffee.

There was still a paper he had to write for the advanced weaponry class. The 6 page essay on the advantages of different cadences in mounted system would surely keep him busy for a few hours. To not miss picking up Applejacks relative from the train station, he sets an alarm on his phone and starts writing.

Hours pass, before he is stopped by the melody coming from his phone. He puts his papers away and grabs the keys. The train station wasn't that far away, but in the opposite direction of Sweet Apple Acres. On his arrival there, the train did already enter the station early. He had thought about how to recognize the guy he is supposed to pick up without anything but his name.

But now the platform is almost empty again and one passenger stands out from the others. It isn't just his rural clothing that makes him bound to be the person Shining is looking for. There was something else about him. His wild orange and amber hair, the worn out leather vest over the checkered shirt and the hearty smile that was just sitting around on his face.

Shining Armor can feel something on his inside. He had felt similar before, but not as intense as this. He remembers talking with Cadence, and how she described her feelings for Buck. Shining now understands what she tried to wrap into words so many times. And how she couldn't really describe it accurately.

But his feelings are set back a notch when he remembers one crucial thing. Most boys are unlike himself. The chances that Braeburn would ever think of Shining like he does now, are pretty low. For the time being, he decides to just act normally. The moment he starts walking towards the platform, he stumbles into someone. Being so lost in feelings and thoughts, he didn't even notice that Braeburn had come towards him.

"Howdy partner," Braeburn has a thick southern accent, paired with a light baritone voice.

"Uh, Hi" Shining is clearly brought out of his composure, "You're Braeburn? Right?"

"I am," he says enthusiastically, "at least the last time I checked,"

"Applejack sent me to pick you up," Shining mutters out.

"Ya'll need to find your tongue again," Braeburn says, prodding him into the shoulder like an old friend.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Braeburn picks up his luggage.

"Sure," Shining responds, feeling awkward in his presence.

After they load his things into the car, he drives them to Sweet Apple Acres. Braeburn tries to engage in a conversation during the ride, but Shining doesn't really participate. Not because he doesn't want to, but he feels a little shy towards him. As they roll onto the sandy path that leads to the house, they can already see 6 people waiting for them.

The girls from yesterday are joined by another one today. Shining does remember her from his time in High School. She was so engaged in sports that she got onto the nerves of a lot of people during practices. Shining Armor and Braeburn are getting out and join the girls who were just waiting for them to start. Twilight came here with her bike today, directly after school.

Braeburn continues to be the happy nature he had been so far, despite Shining's awkwardness. As it turns out, the girls already know him from a previous get-togethers of the Apple family.

"Your brother here is more the silent type," He says to Twilight with a laugh, "barely got a word out of him,"

"Yeah," Twilight looks at her brother.

She doesn't know him as a shy or quiet nature. Twilight raises an eyebrow at him to which he just responds with a forced smile. She turns to the others again who discuss the placement of the stage already. Listening to their plans, the roles are quickly distributed. They are about to start when a car drives up and honks its horn.

Turning around, they find themselves facing a heavily decaled car with a trailer. A girl with spiky blue hair gets out. She introduces herself as Vinyl and brought the music equipment. Quickly, the roles are updated. Applejack, Rainbow, Shining and Braeburn are left to build the stage while the rest helps with the audio setup.

The four are unloading the truck towards the place where they want to erect the construction. With strong hands, they are quick at work. Applejack and Braeburn are exchanging themselves, and Shining uses it to get to know more about him. With the time, he starts to feel more comfortable around him. His initial shyness is wearing off and he starts to engage into conversation with the boy he so easily fell for.

"Say Braeburn," Shining asks him, "Do you come to Canterlot often, or just to visit sometimes?"

"Hey, it can talk!" Braeburn says, playing overly surprised, "No, I just come here for family events like AJ's Graduation,"

"Only then are we worth a visit," Applejack comments sarcastically while passing with set of bars over her shoulder.

They share a laugh before continuing. As soon as everything is unloaded, they take a closer look at the parts. There are bars and metal squares as well as the floor panels to be laid on top. They are quick to figure out the assembling process and are starting to build the stage, bit by bit.

While they work, Braeburn asks Shining some questions about the academy. He seems to be pretty interested into that topic, despite stating that he would never want to leave his current work. Getting caught up on that part, Shining Armor returns the questions about his background by asking Braeburn on his own.

He take a deep breath before starting to tell about his life in Appleloosa. He goes into a lot of details, really liking to talk about what he does. By the time they are done setting up the stage, Braeburn still didn't finish his stories. Shining doesn't mind though, he feels like he could listen to this smooth voice all day.

Braeburn puts the last floor plate in place, together with Applejacks help. Dash climbs on top of the construction and does a few cartwheels on it to test the stability. Apparently, they did a good job, as nothing falls apart under her athletic moves.

Looking over to the others, they find them to be at a similar state. There is only one set of boxes left with them. Shining guesses that those are the parts that belong on the stage.

Applejack, Rainbow, Braeburn and Shining are sitting down on the edge of the stage. Now that Shining is no longer distracted by the work. His feelings are starting to become more present again. It's not quite like at the train station, but they still confirm his first feelings.

The only thing that is making him worry is if there is even a chance of Braeburn being from the same side of the pond. Shining doesn't really have any experience with men. He never felt like this for someone and didn't engage with anyone either. At this point, he has no idea how to get any further.

He decides to get some advice later. But Cadence is not an option at the moment. She is on a travel to a foreign country and calling her would cost a fortune. His only other option requires him to do something that he probably should have done years ago. He decides to ask Twilight tonight.

The other girls are coming over to them. They have set up speakers and several lights around the square. Vinyl goes over to the box and takes the top off. Under it is an, already set up, DJ desk. She signals Shining Armor and Braeburn to help her with it. Together they heave it up on the platform.

Vinyl takes the cables lying around and plugs them into the setup. It doesn't take long, and everything is finally set up. Applejack rises to speak.

"Ah' really don't want to sound like kickn' ya'll out," she says, "But we have to get done with some farm work today."

"Don't worry darling," Rarity answers, "I'm sure we all have to make some preparations for tomorrow,"

The other girls agree with Rarity, everybody wants to put some final touches on themselves. They say goodbye to each other and get on their way home. Twilight is riding home with her brother, leaving her bike at the farm.

During the ride, she is surprisingly quiet. Shining can sense that there is something going on with his little Sister. She doesn't say anything during the ride, and not even when they are at home. Twilight decides to go and try her robe on again for tomorrow. Shining follows her to her room, standing in the door frame.

"Twily, can I talk with you about something?" he asks her, deciding to no longer push it anymore.

"You mean about Braeburn?" she catches him off guard with her response, going through her clothes.

"No, well, yes - sorta," he tries to find the right words, "How did you figure?"

"Shiny," she turns to him, putting the robe she just picked up aside, "Cadence was my best friend as well,"

"I guess that makes sense," he says more to himself.

"Come one now," Twilight gets back on topic with him, "There is nothing wrong with being gay,"

"You don't mind it?" Shining asks her again.

"I have known this for over 6 years now," Twilight explains to him, "I'm totally okay with that,"

Shining never expected her to be against his choice, but the fear had always been there. Now that he knows her position, a stone is falling from his heart. Now that this got out of the way so easily, he can ask her the real question. But Twilight, once again, is faster than him.

"Let me take a guess," she says, "You want to know if you have any chance with him?"

"You mean he is gay?" Shining sounds hopeful.

"I actually don't know that much of him," Twilight answers honestly, "But I wouldn't get my hopes too high,"

"Do you think I should talk to him?" Shining continues to bombard her with his questions.

"You really have crush on him that hard?"

"I guess,"

"Well, you could just ask him tomorrow at the party," Twilight suggests, "Look at it like this: if he says no, you can still ditch from the party and don't have to see him again,"

"Do you think that's a good idea? I don't want to ruin the party of your graduation."

"You'll be fine. Braeburn seemed to like you as a person,"

Encouraged by her words, Shining decides to take her words to heart and give it a try. Twilight returns to trying on her robe, and Shining goes into his room to put on his uniform. When he returns to Twilight, he finds her in front of the mirror, adjusting her graduate cap.

"Never been prouder of you," Shining compliments her.

"Thanks," Twilight turns around to him, "And look at you! You look slim in that uniform,"

"Thanks," he replies, blushing a little.

Both satisfied with their looks, they change back again. Shining goes back into his room, stopping in front of his suitcase. He goes through the things he packed for the party. In light of the new situation, all of what he packed looks only mediocre to him. Twilight in her room hears her brother sigh. Once again this evening, she goes to help him. Shining was hoping that he could adjust his looks a bit and go for a more country-style approach. But Twilight quickly talks him out of that.

"Do you really want to dress completely different?" she asks him, "Wouldn't you feel weird if he decided to dress in your style?"

"I suppose you're right," he bows to her arguments, "Where did you learn that much about all this anyways?"

"Rarity talks about those things a lot," Twilight explains with a smile.

Shining somehow feels like this is not the whole truth. But after keeping his secret for as long as he did, he figures she deserves to have her own. Even if she knew it all along. After all these discussions, Shining feels the need for a change of topic.

He excuses himself to continue his work on the paper. Twilight decides to do something similar and goes over her speech another time. They both are getting so lost in their works, that it's their hunger that brings them to a stop after several hours.

They eat dinner together, and agree to hit the hay early. Tomorrow is going to be an exhausting day for both of them. Shining lies awake in his bed for several minutes, his thought revolving around the handsome guy, he so easily caught a crush on. A smile is on his face when he finally falls asleep.