Chapter 8: End Credits

“So this is how it goes, the end credits they roll…”

Braeburn lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The room was illuminated by a flickering candle, the sky outside his window dark and dreary. He swung his legs off the bed, trotting over to a drawer on the other side of the room. He removed a box, taking it back to his bed. Inside were several photos, some of ponies, others of the landscape. He sighed as he removed the first few photos. “Huh. Ah remember it bein’ so much better than this,” he muttered. He removed one picture of himself standing next to a mare. “Ah thought Ah got rid of all of these.” Rolling his eyes, he held the photo to the candle, watching as it caught fire.

As the photo burned, Braeburn stared down at it. Tiny embers fell to the wooden floor, like tiny wildfires burning in a forest of brown. Holes began forming in the photo, burning with a bright orange. In his mind, the holes became dots in his memory, flashes against his dark and depressing past. Through the holes were tiny pricks of light, hope for whatever the future held.

There was a tapping on the window. Startled, Braeburn turned and stared out into the darkness. Trotting over, he nosed it open and stepped back as an ever familiar pegasus flew into the room. “Daring… what-”

The pegasus seemed to be bursting in excitement. She was laden down with saddlebags, filled to the brim with papers and equipment. Braeburn took a step back, noticing the crazed look in her eyes. “Uh, Daring… could this maybe wait until mornin’?”

“No time!” exclaimed the pegasus. She pulled out a weathered map and spread it on Braeburn’s desk, scattering some loose papers and a pencil. “I’ve been doing some research lately, and I made a discovery. You hear of the lost treasure of Canterlot? Rumors say the bandits buried their treasure somewhere in the desert. Countless others have searched for it, but it's nowhere to be found. I believe it’s because it's not in Equestria anymore. I was reading a journal recovered from one of the bandit’s lookouts, and I found references to locations I’ve never heard of.”

Daring’s eyes gleamed as they settled on Braeburn. “Brae, this could be a monumental discovery.”

“Glad you’ve found it,” chuckled Braeburn.

“Brae… I want you to come with me.”

The stallion froze. “...What?”

“It’ll be an adventure, Brae!”

The stallion sighed. “Darin’, Ah… Ah can’t.”

Daring paused for a moment and glanced at him. “You know… I was kind of expecting you to say that. Why not?”

“Ah… Ah don’t know… it’s just… well, Ah don’t heal very well. Ah’ve still got some open wounds and scars that haven’t faded. Every time someone lies to me, Ah just slip further an’ further. It doesn’t hurt me as much as Ah used to, but Ah’m still gettin’ used to it. An’ Ah’ve been stayin’ up for nights, tryin’ to think of how to change myself, but Ah’ve still got nothin’. The future’s scarin’ me. That’s why Ah’m always talkin’ about slowin’ down.”

He sat on the bed, glancing at the candle. The photo he burned was a smoldering pile of ashes now, sitting near the base. “Ah never wanted much from life. Don’t want fame, fortune, or any of that. Ah just want truth and light. Ah don’t want to dream about better times, Ah want ‘em to happen.”

“I get that, Brae,” replied Daring. “So why not come with me? You could run, escape all the problems you have here.” She sat down next to him. “Hay, we might even get a shot to live like those storybook characters.”

“Ah don’t need a storybook endin’. Ah just want to be there for someone, listen to whatever they have to say. An’ if one day they decided they didn’t need me, then Ah’d be fine. Ah wouldn’t mind that it was over. Least Ah didn’t think for a while. First thin’ Ah learned was not to drag out friendships. Livin’ a fake life doesn’t mean a thing. To answer your question… Ah guess Ah’m too scared.”

Daring reached out and grabbed his hoof. “Listen, Braeburn. It’s fine to be scared. I was scared when I first left. My first expedition was out to jungle in Southern Equestria. It felt amazing to get away from all the chaos and pressure of my life. It’s a sort of escape that you can’t get anywhere else. So come on, Brae. We can run from the lies. Make our escape, our getaway. It doesn’t matter who we are, we could be anyone, all we would need is tomorrow. We could slow down like you always wanted. Tomorrow’s going to come, but it's miles away, we don’t have to worry. Please. Come with me. We could live like shooting stars, burn as bright as we want.” She sighed, looking away. “Happy endings are the hardest to fake, after all.”

Braeburn chuckled. “Why would you ever want to fake a happy endin’?”

“To make sure nobody worries. So that everyone thinks you’re fine. Look, I know how much you hate lying to yourself and everyone around you. Please, come with me.” The two stared at each other for a long time.

“Darin’... the sun’s been settin’ for me for a while now. There ain’t much color left. An’ Ah’ve been tryin’ to break out, reach the other side. But… Maybe it’s better if Ah showed you.”

Sliding his hoof out of Daring’s, Braeburn pulled out the box filled with photos. Reaching in, Braeburn pulled out a Polaroid of himself with Applejack, a hammer, and nails in his mouth. “Us Apples… We’ve always been about family. That ain’t going to change anytime soon. My Granny told me she’d rather Ah burn out young than grow up and regret everythin’. She was the first one Ah went after Ah my first heartbreak. So all of these plans… well, they’re great, but Ah don’t think Ah could ever leave everyone behind. Not after what they’ve done for me.”

Daring Do gave a frustrated sigh. “Well… this treasure… this is all conjecture anyway. There’s probably no gold out there.”

Braeburn narrowed his eyes. “Daring, listen to me. Ah don’t want to be the reason you give up.” He rolled up the map and shoved it into her hooves. “Get out there and find yourself that treasure. There’s so much out there, and it takes ponies like you to go and find it.”

“Well what about you? I’m not going to leave if you need help,” Daring countered. “That gold will be there for Celestia knows how long. It can wait.”

“Time waits for nopony, Darin’. One of these days, Ah’ll get over myself. Ah’ll make sure my family will do fine without me, then we can run off. Make our escape, like you said.”

Daring gave a small smile. “Yeah… running through the dark, forgetting who we are.”

“An’ live like shootin’ stars,” Braeburn said, returning the smile. The next minutes passed in silence. Despite Braeburn’s claim that he didn’t mind when friendships ended, he couldn’t bring himself to let her go.

“So this is how it goes, huh,” he said to himself. “The end of this story?”

“No. I’ll come back, I swear it.”

“Darin’, it’s fine. This bridge is burnin’ down. You don’t have to come back.” The candle flickered for a moment.

“We’ll watch it burn together then.” She sighed as she folded up the map and stuck it back in her saddlebags. “Sure, I want good times, but you helped me realize there’s more than having a good time. It’s about having the right ponies to spend it with.” She stuck out her hoof, and Braeburn shook it. “I wish this could have gone differently.”

“You could wish your life away, but you can’t find anythin’ like today.” Daring chuckled, and turned to the window. “You could leave through the door, you know.”

“True, but this is more fun. See you around.”

“See you.” Braeburn turned away from the window, listening to the sound of beating wings. He gathered up his photos, putting them back in the box. Reaching under his bed, he pulled out a bottle of liquor. He set it on the desk, relit the candle, and sat in his chair. He stared at the bottle for the rest of the night.