Some Apples Shine Differently

Shining Armor wakes up the next morning to the smell of coffee. His sister is down in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Looking at the clock, he finds that its only five am. Twilight must be super nervous if she woke up this early. Shining finally overcomes himself and gets out of bed. Still in his pajama, he enters the kitchen. To his surprise, he finds Twilight with her own cup of coffee in her hands. Usually, she prefers to stay with water.

"Morning," she greets him.

"Morning Twily," he replies before pouring himself a cup as well.

Shining sits down at the table with her.

"How are you doing?" he asks her, "Are you ready for your big day?"

"I think I am," Twilight says with a nervous smile.

"I'm sure everything will go fine," he ensures her, "After all, it was you who planned it."

Twilight chuckles and smiles on his comment.

"Let's hope that accounts for something," she says, taking another sip of her coffee.

Twilight silently spreads some butter on her bread. Eating the slice with only a little salt on top, she tries to silence the numb feeling in her stomach that she had since she woke up. Shining urges her to eat a bit more. He knows the feeling just to well. And being nervous on an empty stomach would not benefit Twilight later on. After they both finished with their meals, Twilight had eaten a bit more. Lazily, she just dump the dishes in the sink.

"Couldn't you sleep?" Shining asks.

"Its not that," she answers with a tired smile, "We girls need a little more time to get ready,"

"We?" he replies.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," she explains, "Rarity and Fluttershy are coming over in a few minutes,"

Shining Armor rolls his eyes ironically.

"I'll be in my room then," he says.

Twilight laughs lightly.

"You don't have to, we're just going to make hair and makeup,"

"I still have my paper to finish," he says, rubbing his chin.

Like on cue, the doorbell rings. Opening the door for his sister, Shining finds the two girls announced in front of it. He greets them friendly before directing them towards Twilight.

"I'm in my room if you girls need me," Shining says while climbing the stairs.

Back in his room, the paper finishes faster than he thought. Leaning back in his chair, he takes a look at the clock. There is about an hour left until they have to leave. Going over to his sisters room, he knocks on the door.

"Come in," Twilight responds.

"I was just wondering if you need the bathroom, or if I can take a shower," Shining asks, poking his head in though the door.

"We're fine," Rarity answers.

Pulling his head out of the room, he fetches his uniform from his room. After taking the hot shower, he makes himself chic. As he puts on his uniform and straightens the tie, hes starts to feel a nervous about the upcoming party. Thoughts about Braeburn are flooding his mind again. Nervously fumbling with his suit, someone knocks on the door.

"Are you ready yet?" Twilight asks, "We should be leaving in 5 minutes,"

Glancing at his watch in confusion, he checks back with the mirror one last time before joining Twilight downstairs.

"Where are Fluttershy and Rarity?" he asks, looking for them.

"They already left in Rarity's car to pick up Pinkie," Twilight explains, "You look slim big brother,"

"Thanks," he says looking down himself again, "You look stunning as well,"

Twilight looks in her purse one last time, confirming that she's got everything on her.

"Ready to go, Twily?"

Twilight takes a deep breath and straightens her back before answering with a confident yes. Though both are nervous for their very own reasons, the ride goes quietly. Driving up to the building, Shining looks up to the statue in front on, the memories of his schooldays are coming back to his mind. The strolls through the halls, classes with his favorite teacher, making and meeting friends, and also his graduation. But he cant dwell there much longer as Twilight sighs. Looking over to her, he sees Twilight nibbling at her lower lip.

"You can do this," he says patting her leg, "Mom and dad would be so proud if they were here right now,"

"You're right," she forces a smile, "There is nothing to worry about,"

"That's my little sister," Shining cheers at her, "Now lets get you graduated,"

They get out of the car and walk over to the main entrance where Twilights friends are already waiting. Shining Armor looks at Twilight again, and there is no more sign of her nervousness. Looking around the bunch, everyone had put a lot of effort into their looks. Even Rainbow Dash had weaved her hair into a plait.

Unfortunately, Shining and Twilight now have to part ways. While she, together with the others, goes into the building to join the other students, Shining goes around and enters the gym through the visitor entrance. Lots of parents are already there, and with the constant stream of new arrivals, the gym becomes crowded quickly. He has to wait about an hour before finally the procession music starts playing. Everybody stands up while the graduands are entering.

He tries to find his sister in amongst them, but doesn't manage to do so until Principal Celestia calls her on stage to hold her speech. Though he has already read it, he can't help but get emotional at it. Wiping away a tear when she finishes, the crowd applauds her while she goes back to her classmates. Slowly, the ceremony proceeds and one after another, the students get handed their degree by the Principal.

Reaching the letter S, Twilight gets called on stage again. Celestia hands her the scroll and shakes hands with her. Like everyone else, she receives a round of applause. As she walks back, Shining can see a smile on her face, the pressure finally relieved. Getting to the end of the alphabet, the ceremony comes to an end. The national anthem starts playing and the visitors are standing up again while the graduates are leaving in a procession.

The Visitors are leaving shortly after into the court where the graduates are already waiting for them. Twilight is running towards her brother, throwing him into a hug.

"Congratulations!"

"Thanks," she squeals.

A look on his watch reveals that it is already 4 pm.

"Holy moly!" Shining exclaims, "I didn't even realize that it took this long,"

He had planned on taking Twilight for a dinner, but with this little time left to the party there is no way to make both.

"It's okay Shining," Twilight throws in, "We can have the dinner another time with mom and dad,"

"I guess theres that," he says with a sigh.

"Come on," Twilight takes him by his hand, "We should get home and eat something. I'm starving,"

He follows her to his car, and drives them home. They have a simple meal together. Shining is about as nervous as Twilight is happy when she mentions Braeburn again.

"How do you think I should ask him?"

"Good question," she scratches her chin, "Maybe try to catch him alone and test the waters first,"

"I reckon that would be a good idea," he nods, "Shouldn't be too hard to catch a minute with him,"

This time it is him who just stirs around in his food and Twilight convinces him to take a few more bites to gather strength. Complying like she did, he finishes off his plate before putting it with the others in the sink.

"We should get ourselves dressed," Twilight claps her hands enthusiastically.

"Allright,"

They go upstairs and Shining once again looks through the things he has packed. Following Twilight's advice from yesterday, he picks out a turquoise tee and white shirt to openly wear on top, paired with blue jeans. He tries it on and asks Twilight for her opinion.

She approves of it, whilst showing him her lovely blue shaded dress. Shining being done with his attire, goes downstairs to watch some telly while Twilights puts on some final makeup. When she comes downstairs, Shining compliments her on the outcome. They drive over to Sweet Apple Acres.

On their arrival, they see the place already swarmed with people and music is playing calmly in the background. Shining is looking around to see if he can already spot Braeburn. He is bummed to see that he is not around yet. For now they walk over to the table where the drinks are set up.

Twilight picks herself a coke and Shining goes for a beer. Looking at the other tables next to them, they find them stacked with loads of food and snacks. With their drinks in hand, they go over to the picnic tables to sit down for a bit. This is the first real rest they've got since the morning. Collectively, they let out a sigh of relief.

"How does it feel being a graduate?" Shining asks her.

"I don't know," she says, taking a big gulp from her coke, "It feels great to have all this behind me now,"

"The feeling of freedom," he chuckles before taking a sip.

"And what about you?"

"What about me?" Shining puts the bottle down.

"I mean with Braeburn,"

Shining sighs.

"I tried to not think about it too much," He takes a big swig. "But I admit that I'm a bit nervous,"

"A bit?" Twilight asks, raising an eyebrow at him. "Your leg's been shaking more than a jackhammer."

He puts a hand on his leg, stopping it from doing so any further. He smiles back a Twilight, trying to look as confident as possible.

"I'm fine, trust me. Just enjoy yourself today. This day isn't about me, but you."

While they were sitting there, the place had become filled with more and more people, and the music got turned up. All around are happy faces of graduates celebrating themselves. Shining gazes over the crowd and quickly manages to find the one person he was looking for. Braeburn leans on the side of the barn, and with a beer in his hands, he talks to his cousin. He looks around while Applejack is telling him something, nodding towards Shining as they make a short eye contact.

He laughs at something she says, whereupon Applejack turns around, stomping away angrily. Braeburn shrugs, takes a swig, and looks over the crowd again. Shining tries to look away in time, realizing that he had been staring at him this entire time. But before he manges to do so, Braeburn has already caught him and starts walking over. Taking a deep breath, Shining tries to gather some strength for the upcoming conversation.

"Hey," Braeburn says, sitting down across him. "How do you like the party so far?"

"I like it. The music is great," He replies.

"Not really my style if you ask me,"

"How does Applejack enjoy her new 'freedom'?" Shining asks to keep the conversation alive.

"She's loving it," he says, sounding a bit ironic. "More time for her to work on the farm."

"Sorry if it's inappropriate to ask, but what was she so upset about?"

"Oh, you saw that? It was nothing, she just likes to question my life choices whenever she gets the chance to. But mostly she just upsets herself with it."

"You life choices?" Shining asks confused. "Do you want to stop being a farmer?"

Braeburn laughs at his his assumption, shaking his head to answer the question with a no.

"I love my job," He replies verbally. "It's just she can't accept what else I love."

Shining freezes in his spot. There is a chance, a small but existent chance that it means what he hopes it does. The glimmer of hope he had this morning is rising to a fire. He can feel his leg starting shake again as he decides to further test the waters.

"And by that you mean --" He begins asking, before being interrupted by him.

"Men," Braeburn says.

Shining's leg freezes in place again. Not because of relief, but because the first question has been replace by another one. Does he also like him? He feels like sitting in a roller coaster that is about to drop.

"Twilight was really okay with it when she found out," Shining says, pushing the cart a bit further.

"It's not everyday that I meet someone like me," Braeburn responds with an elevated interest in his voice. "When did you find out about yourself?"

"It was in school, when we had sex ed," Shining starts to tell. "I didn't really feel anything when I looked at the vaginas in the books. But the penises made me feel weird. My best friend really helped me a lot when I discovered that side on myself."

"Going into it with full speed, eh?" Braeburn winks at him.

"No, not helped like that. My best friend was a girl,"

"When did you have your first boyfriend then?" Braeburn asks, getting more and more curious.

"I never came across someone," Shining admits, still hesitant to fully commit.

"Never?" He raises an eyebrow at him. "Not once?"

Braeburn reaches for Shining's fingers. They twitch on contact with his warm hands. Braeburn's palms are running over the back of his hands. His smooth and soft skin is slowly working its way down to his wrists. Goosebumps form on his forearm. The warmth Shining feels not only comes from his hands themselves, but from within. Turning his hands, Shining grabs Braeburn's before looking up to him.

"I was a little dishonest with you," He says to him. "I did come across someone, but I never asked that person. I thought maybe he wouldn't like me,"

"Well that explains your behaviour on the train station," Braeburn laughs lightly. "It makes so much more sense now."

"It feels so weird to sit here with you and actually talk about it,"

Braeburn massages his hands, rubbing his thumbs over the backs of them.

"How does this make you feel?" He asks with a sheepish smile.

"Good," Shining unconsciously bites his lower lip.

"Why don't you come inside with me," Braeburn says in a salacious tone. "And I'll show you some other feelings too."

Shining thinks about it for a second. It's all going a nudge too fast for him to fully comprehend the moment. But since this practically what he wanted to happen, he chooses to go with him. Before leaving the table, he looks around to see if he can find Twilight. Quickly, he spots her over with her friends, whose backs are turned towards Shining and Braeburn.

If she would look back at him, she'd see a broad smile on his face. But Twilight isn't his main concern now. Getting lead by Braeburn's hand, he ends up in one of the bedrooms on the first floor with him. They sit down on the edge of the bed.

"How many boyfriends did you have?" Shining asks a bit nervous.

"Not that many," He replies. "They are not exactly easy to come by as you know."

"What was it that you wanted to show me?"

Instead of answering him, Braeburn moves himself closer to him before taking Shining's head into his hands. His warm palms are burning on his cheeks, but it's getting overwhelmed quickly by Braeburn's lips pressing against his own. Their soft texture is molding against his own while he release his breath that he didn't realize he was holding.

The feeling is nothing like he imagined. Not dry and bland, but salty and exciting. Shining's excitement turns into lust as he answers the kiss by wrapping his hands around Braeburn's back. After remaining in this position for a moment, Braeburn is the one to disconnect from the kiss and take his hands off Shining.

"How is this for a start?" Braeburn asks teasingly.

"I want more,"

He smiles. This was the answer he had hoped for. While moving in for another kiss, he places a hand on Shining's chest. Moving his hand to explore what lingers beneath the cloth, he finds the toned body of the cadet. Shining notices something wet pressing against his lips.

Following the example, he answers with his own tongue, letting them play with each other. While they're kissing, Shining starts to explore Braeburn's body as well. Moving his hand down from his head over his shoulders and onto his chest, he finds the results of years of hard work on the fields.

When their heads finally part, there is a string of saliva connecting them. Braeburn reaches down to the hem of his shirt and removes it while Shining does the same. Admiring each others body, it is Braeburn again who makes the next move. He places his hands on Shining's hips an brings his body closer to him. Their bodies are rubbing against each other, only separated by Braeburn's hand.

Shining starts to pant against his ear as the warm body of his lover grinds against his own. Braeburn's hand starts to move again, this time downwards. It rests on the bulge in Shining's jeans, gently stroking over his still hidden member. Shining inhales sharply and can feel his length twitching inside his pants, begging to be freed.

Braeburn answers it by unbuttoning Shining's pants and sliding the zipper down. Being limited by Shining's sitting position, he leans forward and presses him onto the sheets. Quickly, he lets his hand slide into his boxers, looking into Shining's face to see every reaction. Shining, lying with his eyes closed, enjoys every touch of the Adonis next to him. Shining's breath quickens as Braeburn fumbles with his length, pulling it out of his underwear.

He soon succeeds and Braeburn turn his head to inspect Shining's member. It lies there thick and slightly reddened from excitement and lust, the tip peeking out of the foreskin, and just begging to be taken care of. Braeburn lets his hand slide along the it, letting the foreskin slide off and on his glans. A drop of pre-cum forms at the tip, sparkling like a diamond in the dim light of the room.

Shining opens his eyes again, looking at Braeburn moving his body off the bed. Supporting himself on his elbows, he follows his movement with his eyes. Braeburn kneels down in front of the bed, reaching down to Shining's feet. After untying his shoes, he takes them off together with Shining's pants and underwear. Shining is now lying there only with his socks on.

Moving between Shining's legs, Braeburn's length is still lying on his belly. He takes it in his hands again, gently stroking along the smooth skin. Shining looks up from his own member, into Braeburn's face. He finds him lustfully gazing at his length, licking over his lips in anticipation of his next move.

Braeburn brings his head down and forward and licks over Shining's glans, collecting the droplet like a prize. Tasting it for a moment, he licks his lips once more before using them to surround the tip. Shining throws his head back, moaning from the sudden sensation that is tingling through his body.

His member throbs under the caressing, asking Braeburn to go further. He follows the unspoken request and lowers his head a bit more. The entire tip is now in his mouth and he lets his tongue dance around it in circles. The feeling robs Shining of all his power to support himself and he falls back into the sheets. Braeburn looks up to him, pleased with this positive response. Deciding to up the ante, he bobs his head a little while continuously stroking the lower half.

His saliva is lubing his hands to make the strokes even more pleasant. Shining can hardly contain himself anymore. The feelings are overwhelming and every new move of Braeburn pushes him even further. Braeburn can see the pearls of sweat forming on Shining's naked body as his back arches from pleasure. To give him a moment to catch his breath, Braeburn takes his length out of his mouth.

"How are you liking it so far?" He asks him with a cheeky smile.

"Indescribable," He manages to get out between breaths.

"Let's not waste any time than,"

Instead of going back for the tip, Braeburn licks down his length, all they way down to his balls. Taking them into his mouth, he gently suckles at them. Shining, who is able to support himself again, is looking down himself, watching Braeburn's actions. All this time, Braeburn hadn't stopped stroking him with his hand, only slowed a little.

Now he picks up the pace again, pressing his thump against the shaft to create a more intense feeling. Blood is pumping more and more wildly through Shining's member, making it throb in Braeburn's hand. Letting go of his balls, Braeburn licks up the length again, his tongue swirling around the tip. He flicks over it a few times before letting Shining's length slide into his mouth. Trying to to take as much as possible, he finds himself unable to take it as a whole.

Feeling his member rubbing against the back of his throat, Shining grunts as he gets closer and closer to the edge. He would love for this to go on forever, but Braeburn thinks otherwise as he starts sucking while pulling his head back up a bit. With the glans now in reach for his tongue again, Braeburn lets it dance around it in a fast manner while stroking the lower part with his hand.

The warmth and texture of his tongue, rubbing vigorously over every spot on his member, his soft fingers, wrapped around his shaft. All this is going through Shining's mind. Suddenly, an electric spark is running through his body while his back arches. Unwillingly thrusting his member deeper into Braeburn's mouth, he cums intensely.

The semen is shooting down his throat and Braeburn doing his best to swallow as much as he can. Shining collapses back onto the sheets once again, letting out a long sigh of relief. It completely exhausted him, and he can barely keep his eyes open as Braeburn lies down next to him again.

A broad smile is on his face, having caused his friend such a pleasure was a huge experience for himself as well. Not many had reacted to him in that way and it makes him feel a warmth inside that only the right partner can invoke. He would have loved for Shining to return the favor, but his eyes are now fully closed as he fell asleep from exhaustion.

Putting Shining's legs onto the bed and managing to pull out the blanket from beneath him, he snuggles up to his side. With the blanket lying lightly over their bodies, they are in for a sound sleep.

Waking up the next morning, Shining finds himself in the arms of Braeburn. The memories of the past night are coming back to his mind and a warm feeling is spreading in his body again. Looking over his shoulder to see his face again, he wakes Braeburn up with his movement.

"Good Morning," Braeburn greets him smiling.

"Hi," Shining replies, turning towards him, "Sorry I couldn't repay you yesterday, you just blew me away."

"I must say, I've never had someone react like you did," Braeburn says, "Maybe tonight you can show me your skills."

"I'd love to, but I have to leave today and drive back to the academy," Shining says with sadness in his voice, "They only gave me these few days off."

"Oh Bummer. But then we should make the best out of the rest of our time, eh?" He replies, jumping out of the bed and throwing Shining his clothes.

They both are getting dressed and Braeburn is already leaving the room when Shining remembers his sister.

"Do you know if Twilight stayed here?" He asks.

"I don't, but if she did, she's probably sleeping in AJ's room," Braeburn points with his finger to the door across the room.

Shining goes over and knock, while Braeburn already makes his way downstairs. No one answered after several knocks, so Shining carefully opens the door a bit to see if Twilight is in there. He doesn't see her inside, but what he sees is astonishing him. Carefully not to be noticed, he closes the door again and joins Braeburn downstairs. After grabbing a quick breakfast, they take Shining's car and drive to a spot Braeburn remembered from an earlier visit. They spend the day there, talking with each other about themselves and how they could meet again.

"Maybe after the summer? That's when out academy is having giving us holidays," Shining proposes.

"That's a long time..." Braeburn throws in. "But maybe I can squeeze in a visit to your boot camp."

"We'll see..." Shining gazes into the distance. "I think we need to go. It's getting late and I need pack some things."

"Do you think you could drop me off at the train station?" Braeburn asks. "I might as well leave now and spare the drama with Applejack."

"Sure. Do you think she knows about it?"

"She is a clever girl, you know. Such a pity that she's so close minded." Braeburn gets up from the bench they were sitting on.

"Maybe, we'll see," Shining follows him to the car.

They drive off and only make a short stop at Sweet Apple Acres. Braeburn tries to grab his suitcase without being noticed, but Applejack catches him as he walks out the front door.

"Heya, ya'll didn't wanna leave without sayin' goodbye?" She asks her cousin.

"Thought you were still asleep, Cousin," Braeburn explains.

"Mind if I come with you to the station?" She them him.

"Shining is driving me there, so you would be stuck there," He replies

"Granny and Applebloom are there," Applejack says. "There's a market nearby where we're selling apples today."

"Well hop in then," Braeburn offers, but not without a slight undertone in his voice.

The ride to the station goes quiet. It seems like she is hungover from yesterday, which would explain what Shining saw earlier in her room. Soon they arrive at the train station, and get out of the car. Looking at the timetable, they find that Braeburn's train is the one in already in the station and will leave in about 7 minutes.

He takes his suitcase out of the trunk and moves over to the platform. Applejack hugs him before he enters the wagon and after putting his case down inside, he leans outside again and pulls Shining to him by the shirt and presses his lips against his. Receiving a French kiss for a solid 10 seconds, Shining can feel the disgruntlement of Applejack next to him and as soon as they part, she bursts.

"Really Braeburn?" She almost fully yells at him. "Just to piss me off?"

"You don't understand it do you?" He asks before looking Shining into the eyes. "I really like this guy."

Shining turns to Applejack with a smirk grin.

"Are you really in the position to say that?" He asks her.

"What do you mean?" Applejack asks him nervously.

"I'm talking about you and Rainbow cuddling naked,"

Applejack's face turns beet red.

"I, we--" Without finishing, she turns around and storms off.

"Really?" Braeburn asks Shining with disbelief in his voice, barely containing a giggle.

"I accidentally walked into them this morning," He explains. "I guess they drank a little too much yesterday,"

The train toots is horn and the doors are about to close. Braeburn manages to give Shining a last peck before he has to step into the wagon. The doors are closing and shortly after, the train starts rolling out of the station. Shining waves from the platform while Braeburn leaves him for an uncertain time.

Looking after the train and the trail of smoke it leaves, a certain sadness overcomes him. Turning around to leave, a tear runs down his cheek from having to part with Braeburn and being along again after two days of happiness. But there is still the future he can look forward to. And that is what he is holding on as he gets into his car and drives off to return home.

The end.