Deep in His Eyes

Obligatory Content Warning: This story contains mature content and coltcuddleing, if you don’t have the stomach for it or just don’t want to read it here’s a little shortcut Alt + F4. Enjoy!

Deep in His Eyes: Chapter 1

The warm spring breeze blew back Braeburn’s mane as he bucked at an apple tree looking out over the orchard and grumbling to himself "Gosh darn it, all those lazy good for nothing ponies I told 'em that work weren’t canceled today, not on account of some fancy flying show." He dragged a bucket half filled with apples up a small hill to the next tree, and looked out over the orchard "We'll be so far behind; we might not even get to the south field before the crop goes bad at this rate." He grumbled some more and adjusted his hat, a streak of blue catching his attention off in the distance and squinted at it trying to make out what it was. The streak darted across the sky, its darker shade clashing against the early purple of evening. In the distance, the earth pony could hear the faint cheers and woops of a crowd, and it hit him, "A'course..." he muttered, frowning. “Can't jus' leave me be, they gotta put the show right in mah eyeline."

Braeburn shook his head and forced himself back to his work, lashing out at the tree behind him and collecting the fallen apples as he continued to grumble under his breath. The feeling of his hooves meeting the tree trunk was the only thing keeping his temper under control as the early flashes of a headache were forming in his skull. He was trying as hard as he could to maintain a cheery, relaxed outlook so as not to worsen it. Suddenly, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He flicked his head round, brushing a thick clump of his flowing blonde mane from his eyes and tipping his hat back in order to make sense of what he was seeing. The streak of blue from before was getting rapidly larger and larger, the sound of wind through pegasus feathers reaching a deafening cacophony.

"OH Y'ALL HAVE GOT TE BE KIDDIN ME!" the Country Stallion yelled in frustration, as a member of The Wonderbolts, Equestria's finest fliers and aerial acrobats, hurtled over head and rose high into the air, spinning and cart wheeling as they did so.

"GET YER OWN AIRSPACE, YA ATTENTION SEEKER!" Braeburn shook a hoof at the sky, but huffed in resignation and turned back to the job at hoof. His headache had, after all his best efforts, worsened. The young stallion continued onto the next tree, ignoring the showy and flamboyant activity in the sky directly above him. He came to the trunk of the next tree, kicked a basket underneath the branches and raised a rear hoof to buck.

"AND NOW, FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS-" came the tinny, megaphone enhanced voice of a commentator from the distance, "Soarin' of the Wonderbolts will now perform his patented signature move, The Soarin' Showdive!"

Braeburn's ears perked up. Something about the announcement, and the suddenly very noticeable increase in sound was making him very uneasy. He glanced upwards, squinting in the early evening sun, and saw the streak of blue diving straight down towards the ground.

"... Ahh, horsefeathers..." He managed, just as the blue pegasus pulled up at the very last second, cutting the air with a clap similar to thunder and forcing the blades of grass around the orchard to blast backwards underneath his speed. The earth pony felt the wind speed and scrunched his eyes to protect them from the stinging air.

"WHOAWATCHOUTYACRAZY-" was all he heard. The next thing he knew, something very fast and very strongly built had collided with him, and he was spinning through the air, dazed and confused. Braeburn laid there on the grass a tangle of limbs, his vision completely obscured by blue as he felt a weight on top of him.

"Uuuuuurgh... Wow, wipeout, huh?" came a groan of pain from the mass of blue on top of him.

Knocked out of his confused stupor by the words of the Wonderbolt, Braeburn focused on regaining the wind that had been knocked out of him and with a loud grunt attempted to push the pegasus off of him. The blue mass rolled aside, pushing himself up so that he was sitting on his haunches, his hooves rubbing his shoulders steadily. Braeburn forced himself to his hooves, counting himself lucky that no bones had been broken. He then turned quickly and severely, and scowled at the pegasus intently.

"What the HAY did ya’ think you we're doin, you could a killed somepony!" Braeburn shouted as he moved closer to the Wonderbolt in front of him. The earth pony looked up to survey the damage, only a few broken tree limbs, one of which had a piece of blue fabric impaled on it, waving in the breeze like a flag. Of course it had to be Bloomburg, he thought, good thing his cousin wasn't around to see it no telling what she would have done in his place.

"Hey! It's called SHOWMANSHIP, its somethin' us performers do!" the pegasus snapped, still rubbing his shoulders with his hooves. Braeburn sneered, and was about to let this idiot have it, when he noticed the Wonderbolt’s uniform. It was skintight, to maximize aerodynamics, blue and yellow combined to make a suit that was both efficient and flashy, but not indestructible. A sizeable hole had been ripped from this one's uniform, stretching from his hip around his stomach and all the way to his -

"Oh mah..." Braeburn gasped, his eyes widening.

As the Pegasus massaged his aching muscles, moving to his hind legs, Braeburn stared at the rip in the uniform. Through it, the pegasus's fur could be very clearly seen, but even more clearly was the bulging package between his hind legs. Braeburn gulped. Brae, stop lookin! He thought to himself, feeling a pressure building in his own groin. Dern it Brae! What are you, a coltcuddler?!

But of course he knew the answer. Ever since he could remember being old enough to be interested in subjects of sex and love, he had known. He had looked at his male farmhands admiringly while they worked up a sweat harvesting wheat and hay, he had on more than one occasion taken considerable notice of the strong muscular flanks of his chief applebucker, and one time he had even managed to sneak away late at night to the house of ill repute in Appleloosia’s town center to ease his guilty urges. But mares just didn’t do it for him. And now he was confronted with this, although infuriating; muscular, athletic pegasus stallion, his - impressively sized, he noticed - member on display.

"Oh my Celestia!" the Pegasus yelped, clapping his hooves over the rip and blushing brightly. "How did... Oh, wow, that's embarassin..."

"Ah wussn't lookin'!" Braeburn shouted, flicking his head away and glaring off into the distance a little bit too quickly.

"Oh Celestia, I can't do the show like this!!" the Pegasus groaned, standing up and crossing his hind legs. "This is all your fault! If it hadn't been for you standing right in the way of my trick…"

"MAH FAULT!? I was workin’ here minding mah own business when YOU crashed into ME."

"How could you NOT see me?! I was flying at Luna knows how fast, how was I meant to see you, huh?! Besides I... Wait... Were... Were you..."

Braeburn looked into the Pegasus' face, scowling and impudent, but suddenly realized what he was being asked.

"Whut?! Ah never - no ah was not!" he stammered, leaving the Pegasus to hobble over to the tree they had crashed under and fiddle with the tear in the uniform.

"Listen I... I gotta get back to the show, just watch it next time, huh?" the Wonderbolt said, his voice calmer now and more collected. As Braeburn listened to his words, the harsh, brash accent seemed to disappear and instead became smooth, quiet and almost effeminate. He glanced at the stallion and for the first time of the night he took in everything. He was taken aback by his physique. The skin tight Wonderbolts costume hugged the muscular stomach and chest, tight, sculpted flanks and handsome shoulders. And his face; the green, shining eyes, mane spiked up and dramatically dark blue. He was very handsome, and Braeburn found himself staring again. the Wonderbolt turned back and Braeburn noticed the rip had, disappointingly, been repaired temporarily with a makeshift knot.

"You know, you should come to the show." The pegasus said, his powder blue wings unfolding and letting him soar into the sky, "Save you getting in the way again..." he said, before jetting off into the distance once more, leaving an annoyed, sore and strangely aroused Braeburn marveling in his wake.

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Braeburn sighed, allowing the warm embrace of tired relaxation to wash over his sore muscles as he slumped down in the red, cushioned armchair, the fire crackling away in front of him and bathing the room in a mellow orange glow. The dark night outside was not welcome here, this was his respite, his well earned rest from the days labors.

He breathed in deeply, knocking his hat from his head and letting it drift to the floor as he kicked his legs up onto the footstool near the chair. At last he could calm down. But try as he might, the memories of the day just wouldn’t leave him; the original frustrated anger and annoyance at his workforce's refusal to work, the tiring stress of doing it all himself, and of course; him. The blue Wonderbolt who had so perfectly added the cherry on top of the farm pony's cake of a day.

But, it hadn't been all bad, he assumed. After all, the pegasus may have almost broken his neck, but at least he gave him an eyeful, albeit unknowingly. His emerald eyes flickered open and glanced around the room. He lived alone, in his small wooden cottage overlooking the Orchard. The views he received every morning upon opening his curtains were astounding, and made the loneliness almost worthwhile. Although, loneliness had its upsides, the earth pony closed his eyes once again letting images of The Wonderbolt from before dance across his vision. He imagined the stallion in all of his glory, the tight uniform, flowing mane, beautiful eyes, and of course the revealing tear.

He tried to push the thoughts from his head. It was bad enough that the idiot had collided with him, now he was thinking about the showoff? He shouldn't be thinking about the pegasus like this, he should by all rights be furious. But the image of the rip, the tear in that form hugging flightsuit, the exposed, proud stallionhood bulging out of the gap. Braeburn allowed his eyes to close again, and once more he felt a discomfort; a pressure building in his groin. "Aw, dangit..!" he hissed to himself, as his erection began to show, "Go away you, ah don't need this right now..!" But he did. Deep down he knew, deeper than he was willing to admit to himself, that despite the skyward stallion's klutzy and moronic mistake and selfish, egotistical manner, he had certainly been a sight for sore eyes. Reluctantly at first, the apple farmer took one last guilty glance around the room, before stroking a hoof down his bare front to his crotch.

With a gasp of a mix of surprise and excitement, he clasped his firm, stiff member with his hoof and gently began to stroke, feeling a shiver through his body at his own touch. He hadn't enjoyed himself for a while, if anything, he'd earned this. Opening his eyes, his blond mane waft in front of his brow, he admired his stallionhood. The one thing despite his work ethic that he genuinely was proud of himself for was his size. Sure, maybe not the biggest stallion, but it certainly got the job done. He began to speed up, his strokes becoming fast paced pumping, and he allowed himself to let out a short, high "ah!" in his moment of pleasure. He was nearing the point of no return; he could feel the pressure building and the sparks of ecstasy building, ready to ignite into a full blown fireworks display. When there was a knock at his door. "SWEET MERCIFUL-" he yelped, almost falling back off of his chair and clutching at his chest. Through the short, soft fur he could feel his heart beating; no longer from passion, but from embarrassment, shock and dread.

"Hello?? Anypony home??" Came a voice from the other side of the door.

Braeburn recognized it, soft, smooth, almost unnoticeably effeminate… oh no. "Jus' a second!!" The tan earth pony shouted back, then immediately cursed himself. Why didn't he just keep his mouth shut? Then the bucker would have probably flown away. Hastily scampering to his hooves, the apple farmer darted to his washroom and grabbed a towel. Flinging it around himself, he tied a taught knot so as to hide his - stubbornly erect - member, and then cantered over to the front door, dreading the upcoming confrontation. "Y'just had to go an' clop to this motherbucker, d'in't ya?" he muttered to himself, and swung the door open rapidly.
“What are you of all ponies doin' at mah front door?!" The earth pony glared at the startled pegasus standing on his door mat.

"Whoa... That how you greet all your guests, country boy?" the pegasus smirked, his cocky attitude shining through in spades. Despite this, he respectfully, almost subconsciously, took a step back. "I... Why are you wearing a towel?"

"It's how I address those that decide to almost kill me with their flyin." He continued glaring and quickly thought up an excuse, "Well ah was just finishin' gettin' cleaned up from workin' all day, if you must know." He rolled his eyes along with that last statement trying to give off a convincing air of annoyance, as he silently prayed to Luna that either the stallion would leave soon or his hardon would go down.

"... Kay..." the Pegasus said, taking the hint of annoyance better than Braeburn had expected before continuing, "Actually, that’s kinda what I'm here for... I’ve been thinking and I uh... Shucks, I feel terrible about that whole crash thing earlier and how I acted and... Well, I just wanted to say sorry, I guess..." he looked down, kicking his front hooves like a schoolcolt who's just been reprimanded by the headmaster.

The apple farmer cocked his head for a moment confused, was that an apology? He continued staring forward blankly and took in the sight before him. The pegasus wasn't wearing his trademark Wonderbolt uniform, his powder blue coat a striking contrast from his darker mane and bright green eyes. Braeburn felt a new stirring in his loins. Aw, Consarn it! He thought.

"..so uh... Anyway, what would an apology be without a celebration..? That is, if you accept my apology of course." The pegasus grinned, and Braeburn felt a small twinge in his stomach; that was a cute smile. "Oh, Luna, where are my manners?!" the Pegasus clopped a hoof to his forhead and then offered it to the Earth Pony. "The name’s Soarin’, Soarin’ the Wonderbolt... Unless you already knew that in which case forget I said anything... Uh..."

Braeburn blinked and shook his head back and forth rapidly to bring his attention back to the present conversation, kicking himself and wondering just how long he had been staring. "...Um name's Braeburn... Braeburn Apple, and uh I guess its okay... Ah mean nopony got hurt and all." He accepted the Wonderbolt's hoof and shook it firmly with the strength of an apple bucker.

"Wow, mighty fine hoofshake you got. Firm, I like a colt with a firm hoofshake, shows you can trust them." Soarin smiled again, and again Braeburn felt the twinge, "So, now all that unpleasantness is behind us, it’s time for that celebration!"

The earth pony attempted to hide a blush at the comment on his hoofshake and said, "Er sure, why not, I wern't doin' anything tonight anyways... Lemme jus’ go get mah hat... Be right back." The earth pony slowly shut the door behind him dropping the towel and thanking Celestia that his stallionhood had gone down. He quickly moved into his living room putting on both his hat and his vest and returned to the front door opening it once again.

Soarin’ still stood there, greeting the return of the earth pony with a raised eyebrow. "You're gonna wear that hat?"

"Ah course ah'm gonna' wear this hat!" He stated very matter-of-factly half-way glaring at the other stallion daring him to tell him why he shouldn't, an annoyed edge slipping into his statement.

The Pegasus widened his eyes, those shimmering, light green eyes, and let out a short chuckle. "Alright then, Cowpony. C'mon, I'm sure you know all the best spots in this little town, right?"

The earth pony snorted at Soarin’s comment. "This... little town here, has some ah' the best Cider in Equestria as ah matter of fact, follow me." He put extra emphasis on the word little in an attempt to reprimand the Wonderbolt for the condescending remark about his beloved Appleloosia.

The Wonderbolt sniggered to himself and motioned to Braeburn to lead the way. "You're pretty proud of this place, huh? I don't blame you. Back home in Cloudsdale is the most beautiful place I've ever seen... Course I guess it changes from pony to pony. Somepony's brought up in Phillydelphia they'll think Phillydelphia is the best place in Equestria..." he suddenly went quiet, "I'm talking too much... Heh, sorry..."

Braeburn waved a hoof in the air. "Nah ya ain't... But you're right, I am a 'might proud of this here city, it's just so gratificatein' to see the results of something ya' build with your own two forehooves." He stopped for a moment to admire the shops around him, just a few years ago this had been nothing but a desert wasteland, and sure they had had the run in with the buffalo, droughts, and the like. They had their fare share of problems, but it was just such a beautiful city on such breathtakingly scenic land.

"Whoa... You helped build this place?" Soarin’ gasped, genuinely in awe at the humble apple farmer’s last statement, "That’s... That’s..."

Still lost in looking out at it, "Mhm, boggles the mind, we settler ponies built all this in just the past two years, don't it?"

"It does... It really..." Soarin’ spoke, awe hanging heavily in his voice. Hastily, he shook himself out of it and a jokey tone returned to his voice, "And here I was thinkin' all you settler ponies did was sit around playin' banjos!"

"Hey! If'n you remember I'm still an apple-bucker wouldn't want nopony tah get a facefull of hoof now would we?" Braeburn said this jokingly over his shoulder at the pegasus's statement smiling a bit at Soarin's admiration of his town.

The blue pegasus grinned, and chuckled slightly. “If you could catch me, you could buck me!" He paused, an awkward silence falling between the two before he realized his mistake, "KICK me! I MEANT KICK ME! Ah, horsefeathers, that was embarassin'!"

The blond maned earth pony broke his stride for a second at the remark catching himself and continuing on as he trotted in front of the Wonderbolt silently thanking Celestia that Soarin' couldn’t see the deep blush on his face and simply gave a hardy laugh as a response. The two of them continued into the Appleloosian night, the blue pegasus following Braeburn closely as he was lead to the towns most prestigious bar: ‘The Salt Lick’.

"Now 'ah told yah that we're famous for cider, and this place serves the best!"

"I've tried the stuff in Ponyville... You sure this place is better than Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Heh Heh So you tried mah cuz's cider huh? Well it's the same Apple Family recipe, but the acres ain't got our trees. No sir.” As Braeburn spoke he walked with the pegasus through the swinging doors of the bar and smiled at the barkeep who waved back at him.

"Everypony's so friendly round here..." Soarin' smiled, as a small, smartly dressed filly and - presumably her father - came over to him.

"Excuse me, sir," the colt said, an air of reverence in his voice, "Are you Soarin’ the Wonderbolt?"

The Pegasus glanced over at Braeburn, who was peering over the stallion's shoulder at the unfolding scene.

"Uh... Yeah, that’s me..."

Braeburn watched as the young filly approached Soarin’, asked for a hoofprint and photograph, and her father did the same. A feeling of distaste crossed his mind as the winged pony finished up and trotted over to his side once more.

"...what’s that look for?"

"Eh nothin' I'd just almost forgotten that you're a celebrity... Now how bout that cider?" Braeburn trotted over to the bar and ordered two apple ciders reaching into a pocket in his vest to pull out a few bits.

The blue colt tilted his head slightly and stepped up to the bar. "What’s uh... What’s up Brae?" he said. Braeburn started, that was the first time Soarin had used his name at all that evening, and it sounded amazing coming from his voice.

The earth pony slid the bits across the counter, picking up his own cider and sliding Soarin's down the bar. "Why don' we go find ah seat?" His voice had lost a bit of his trademark charisma as the thought that he was pining away after a superstar who could have any mare he wanted entered his head. At this Braeburn walked over to a booth in the back corner sliding onto one of the benches and ignoring the pegasus's question.

Soarin’ watched him, then clasped the mug in his hoof and steadily made his way over to the booth. Gingerly, he sat down opposite the apple farmer and grinned.

"This place sure does have a nice vibe to it, huh??" he said, but Braeburn seemed preoccupied.

He simply nodded at this as he sipped at his cider gingerly and pulled his hat off setting it on the table next to him, he set his cider down on the table and looked across it at the pegasus staring back at him with those beautiful green eyes. "... Uh... You alright buddy..?" The green eyes spoke, no, it wasn't his eyes. Damn it, Brae, get a hold of' yourself! The earth pony scolded himself and nodded.

“... Brae? Are you sure you're okay? You seem a bit..." he trailed off, and for the first time that night met Braeburn’s emerald eyes with his own. "Whoa..." He didn’t know why he said it. He didn’t know exactly what it meant, but it felt right.

"What... What d'you mean, whoa?" He stammered, coming back to reality.

"Uh... Nothin!" Soarin’ said, a little too quickly. "Hey, uh... How about we drink our cider, huh? Y'know, to new friendships."

As the pegasus raised his mug, Braeburn smiled and clinked his own against it. As the wooden vessels made contact, the apple farmer caught sight of Soarin's slim smile, relaxed eyes; dark blue mane gelled into its trademark spiked quaff. And as the two ponies drank, he could have sworn the Pegasus never took those glowing eyes off of him.

No, it must have been his imagination... Soarin couldnt... He didnt seem...

Or maybe...

"I really hope you're okay about that whole 'crashing into you' thing earlier..." the pegasus said, quietly, placing the half finished cider onto the table.

"Yeah," Braeburn smiled softly, "Ah was pretty ticked off... But Ah'm okay now. Ah'm just glad nopony got hurt."

Soarin nodded, before taking another swig of his cider.

"Tastes harder than the stuff in Ponyville... If I didn't know better I’d say you were trying to get me drunk!" he giggled, as Braeburn laughed gently along with him.

Again, silence fell onto the table, a silence that lasted, until Soarin spoke up again.

"So you uh... You noticed the hole in my suit then..."

Braeburn blushed and averted his eyes "y-yeah" he stammered quietly.
Soarin’ was quiet for a while, shuffling his drink across the table. "Anyway, um... On a lighter note, what were you doing' in that field? Didn't you come to the show?"

Braeburn finally looked back at Soarin’ with a slightly perturbed look on his face, "Yah know some of us actually have to work for ah living. Everypony don't get’ah prance around in the sky to the sound of adorin’ fans all day."

The pegasus was taken aback, but started laughing to himself, "Y'know, that's actually pretty funny. Everypony thinks that we're so amazing' and spectacular. We aren’t even the best fliers in Equestria, we just put on a good show. Trust me, we ... Well, I don't anyway; think we're better than anypony. It's just... You play the hoof you're dealt, right?"

“Hmph I guess thats the truth but the hoof ah’ve been dealt sure as sugar ain't as glamorous as ya'lls." He scrunched up his face looking down at the table and taking another swig of his drink.

Soarin’ watched him, a raised eyebrow and look of concern across his face. "Is something wrong?"

Looking back up at The Wonderbolt, he reached a hoof round the back of his head and scratched it. "Yeah all my orchard hands decided tah skip work 'n go to your show today and ‘ah was out there working by my lonesome all day... 'n then you have the audacity to come crashing into me. But ah guess yah didn't mean no harm by it." He kept scratching his head, awkwardly ruffling his mane.

Soarin’ chuckled a little and attempted to emulate Braeburn’s accent. "Ah certainly di'n't mah good colt, ah were jes' puttin' on a show for the lil fillies an' colts’in th'audience!" Giggling to himself, "I'm sorry, that's just an awesome accent... That sucks that you had to stay and work though... Couldn't you have had the day off?"

The blond maned stallion glared daggers back at Soarin' suppressing his own laughter at the imitation, "Apple season don't stop for nopony no-how and apples need buckin’ or the town don't eat."

The blue coated pegasus sat and once again raised an eyebrow. "That's fair enough... If a job needs doing, it needs doing. But surely one day wouldn't have hurt?" He smiled, then leaned forwards on his hooves. "Tell ya what. I cost you your workforce, and I don’t have another show till next week, so how about I help you out at the orchard tomorrow? As an apology for making little old you work so hard?" He chuckled again.

Braeburn rolled his eyes leaning forward on his own hooves "Ya think a fancy flyer like yourself could handle ah day of honest farm work do yah?"

Soarin’ grinned widely and narrowed his eyes. "How hard can it be if a young country buck like you can do it?" He proceeded to stick his tongue out and then down his drink in one gulp.

The earth pony finished his own glass and picked his hat up off the table putting it back on "We'll see tomorrow now won't we."

"It's a deal." The Wonderbolt smirked and offered his hoof to shake.

Braeburn stuck out his own hoof and shook with the pegasus. “A deal it is”.