"So you need to find your true love and perform a ritual with them to be able to finally go home?"

"That's the short of it, yeah."

"Well were you going to tell me before you go?" The hurt in Brae's voice was pretty evident. There was a sting right behind my eyes.

"Oh of course!" I leaned across the table in the Appaloosa tavern, laying my hand gently on his hoof. "I wasn't planning on leaving everypony high and dry. No." I moved my thumb a bit, lighting petting his hoof as he peered up at me, his deep green eyes pulling my focus away from his grin.

"You know everypony would be mighty sad to see you go, right?" There was a little bit of pain behind his grin. His voice wavered.

"And I would be sad to go, honestly." I paused, fumbling for the words to try and explain.

"I know why you wanna go back." Brae wormed his hoof out from under my hand, reversing the motion and bringing both of his hooves down on my hand. The tavern felt more quiet than it had been. Maybe patrons were milling out, spilling into the main road of the town underneath the night sky, and maybe the sound of the room was just being eaten, consumed by the raw magnetic pull that Brae's eyes seemed to have in the moment. I didn't think to look around and actually see what the other ponies were up to around us, for all I cared right then they could all be staring directly at us.

He drew his hooves back, bringing the world back into focus around him. His voice seemed so quiet, not barely piercing the din of our surroundings, "It's a shame, Anon, it really is. Makin' your heart have to choose like that." It wasn't just the noise, he was speaking more quietly. I felt tight in my chest, knowing that I made one of my oldest friends in Equestria sad like that.

"So who is the lucky mare you're gonna ask, then?" Just like that he snapped back to his cheery self, his higher voice seemed to dance above the room.

"Well that's just it, It doesn't seem likely that it's gonna be a mare," I flounced my hand a bit, the flamboyancy of the action seemed to bounce off of Brae.

"You sayin' your barn door's swingin' the other way now?" Brae mirrored my little hand motion with his hoof.

"I mean. It's been swung that way for quite a bit, I'd say. I'm sure Big Mac has told you about that." I gave a knowing glance to Brae, who seemed to have absolutely no idea what I was talking about. "Well that's a story for another time, I figure. Either way, I just never really focused on dating stallions while I was here."

"So how can you be sure it isn't a mare you'd end up in love with?" Brae slumped back in his chair, taking another swig from his cider.

"There's a little ritual that you can do with the crystal heart," I started, trying to remember how Cadance phrased it, "where you can check to see if you have latent feelings for someone you've dated before. It doesn't do much more than tell you if you're wasting your time trying to fall in love with somepony, but we tried it for aaaaaalll the mares I've gone out with in the past. Nothing. Obviously I still get along well with all of them, but according to the Crystal Heart there probably isn't anything deeper there." I looked back at Braeburn, seeing him take one last swig from his mug, clanking it down on the table with a contented sigh. He looked dead at me, a little froth mustache coating his top lip. With a smirk he darted his eyes down to my drink.

Are you done? His eyes spoke for him just as the room was overpowered with the sound of the player piano kicking off.

I nodded, yeah. I flicked my head to the side towards the door, we can get out of here, then I shifted, raising my eyebrows, if you want?

He jimmied his eyebrows a bit, and I wasn't quite sure what to make of that. Maybe, come with me, and maybe...something else.

I did want to ask Brae out. He was one of the most natural places to start. He was one of the first ponies I met when I ended up here. We were pretty close. It was almost like a childhood friend situation. I nodded and got up, fishing a few bits out of my pocket to pay for our drinks. As we walked to the exit, nodding to a few of the regulars that knew Braeburn, I could've sworn that I heard him say something to the effect of, "such a gentleman, buyin' me drinks." Shoot. It looked like Brae might've clocked the situation before I even had the chance to escalate.

The night air was cool in the desert. Braeburn, being a bit more weather resistant. hunched up his vest and grabbed his hat off of the side of it, taking it from his teeth into his hoof and placing it on his head, once again hiding his deep blonde mane. It's odd, my confidence with mares has been pretty tempered at this point, years of dating, years of successful nights that ended in the new beginning of a short but fun relationship, years of nights simply ending in pleasant goodbye's. I felt like it was six years ago. Like I was back to asking out Pinkie Pie, the first Mare I dated.

I was aware of everything. Aware of how much taller I was than him, barely coming up to my navel; aware of how cold the night was as I pulled my jacket a little tighter; aware of the size of my feet, stepping in his hoofprints as I followed him; aware of the size of his hips, of the redness of the apple on his flank, of the sway of his tail. We were standing in the center of the main road. He turned to face me.

"So to be clear, you were gonna ask me out, right?" There was a faux confidence in his voice, one that deflated my nerves just a bit.

"Well... You are... We have..." I didn't want to be too forward. Stars, what was with me? I'd seen colts that were better at making a move.

"Then I'll ask you out, if you're still not sure. It is proper for the colt to be the one to ask." There was a little trill in his voice. Playfulness. "Anon, would you like to go stargazing with me tonight, as a date?" He bounced his shoulders from side to side as he spoke, flamboyantly exaggerating the motion for those last three words.

I stood in silence, watching the warm light of the street lamp mold itself around his cheeks, giving him a soft halo.

"Ya have to meet me at least some of the way here, unless I'm just that charmin'." He giggled to himself.

"You are." I said with no hesitation. He drew his lips in tight and blushed, looking at me. "I accept."

And so there we were, me standing, looking down at the stallion who just asked me on a date.

***

Stallions were pretty. Or handsome, I suppose. They always were. It really was just an arbitrary decision to not pursue them more. Like I had hinted to Brae, I had even dated Big Mac back in the day, along with a tight handful of stallions. Most of them were married now, so hopefully it wasn't any of them that I had feelings for. Hmm. Something about bridges and the proper time to cross them, I guess.

However, even if the decision was arbitrary, it was still important. I hadn't pined over stallions, fawned over pony boys, or stared into a male's eyes thinking about wanting to kiss them, really. At least not until now. It's like a seal had been broken in my mind, and as the floodgates opened, in flooded Braeburn.

I felt like a mare, laying on my stomach, head in my hands, gazing up at Braeburn's frame, silhouetted against the prismatic night sky. This was how mares acted in the movies at least. Smitten. That was the word for it. I think I was smitten. It was a simple date. Impromptu.

Going back a bit, I waited at the edge of town while he trotted back home and got some stuff to picnic. I noticed when he came back that his mane was brushed and he switched his hat to one with a very nice slight silver lining in the brim. Cute. It really did make me blush to think that he got dolled up for me. Brae was never the more confident of the two of us, but it was noted and appreciated that he seemed to take the mantle of leading this whole ordeal in earnest. With equal parts trepidation and authority he met back with me and told me where we were going to go, he brought a blanket for me to walk in since it was getting cold, and we set off.

The walk had been simple and easy. The land was flat and the town was so small it only took a few minutes of walking to lose it completely. The lights, the sounds, the player piano in the tavern, it all melted into the distance and was replaced by shrubs and crickets and the stretch of mesas that stabbed their way up into the sky.

He brought his guitar. It was cute. I waited patiently for him to tune it. I knew that he really didn't know how to play, but he was going to try, and that's the important thing. His hooves moved deftly, manipulating each string somehow in a way I had learned not to question, as he turned the pegs with his teeth. A small fire crackled in front of him, and in the darkness we sat on an island of orange glow amidst a sea of black.

He started to strum lightly. It was a simple chord progression. I was never much into music, but it's not hard to tell when something is, at the very least, simple. If I wanted to be a little picky I could even comment that his rhythm was dragging during his chord changes sometimes. It didn't seem like he was shooting for a song, just a few chords he felt confident switching between. The sound of each strum seemed to drift only to my ears, the rest of it being lost in the night air.

He looked at me nervously every now and again. I only smiled like an idiot, not even trying to hide my interest in him anymore. Each time he would look over and see my stupid grin he would smile nervously, maybe even mess up a chord, and press on. He took a deep breath, losing some of speed with his strums, and began to let out a low howl in tune with his playing.

"awOOoooooooOOOooooooOOOOooooooOoo"

"awooOOOooOOOoooooooooOOoooOOOOooo"

The second time he tried to howl along he had a voice crack near the end. He stammered for a moment. I could see from his hoof movements that he almost stopped playing there, but he waited a few rests as he regained some composure and took another deep breath. This time I surprised him by joining in. Together the two of us belted out another few howls, gaining some confidence as we found an uneasy harmony, his strumming falling apart as it was just the two of our voices ringing out into the night.

There was a silence dripping in at the end of our shared note, and as our voices started to fade I rolled on my back, staring straight up into the sky. So many stars, a bright moon, and just the crackle of the fire. I heard a gentle thump as the guitar was sat down followed by the taps of hooves as Braeburn walked over.

He harumphed as he laid himself down next to me, his side just barely touching against mine. I breathed out heavily, my breath just hot enough to let some steam out into the air. He did the same.

"I do have to tell you something." His body was tense against mine as he spoke. I didn't want to push the contact further, it felt like there was too much air to cut through between us. He went on, speaking up into the air. "I really don't know if I like stallions. Or men, I guess for you. Males."

"Really?" I didn't mean to sound as surprised as I was. Rude in retrospect.

"I really never found myself fancied by them. I guess I did want to try going out with you as a spur of the moment thing cuz, well, if there were one fella I could see myself swinging that way for, it might be you." He shifted to the side, probing the side of his body against mine. I brought my arm down, bumping it against the top of his hat. I looked down to my side, catching his eyes, the fire and stars reflected in them, as he lifted his head, letting me slide my arm under his head, his hat gently falling to the side.

Keeping my eye contact with him, I turned myself on my side, some natural instinct taking a hold of me, and brought my other arm over. I took a careful, trembling hand and swept a lock of his mane to the side, tracing my fingers so lightly against the soft fur of his forehead. My hand drifted down slowly. I pressed my cold palm against his cheek, feeling the heat of his blush. He nestled into me a little bit more.

I moved my head down, tapping my forehead against the top of his head. I took a light breath in through my nose, smelling his mane. Not an scent I knew, as far as I could even identify pony shampoo, but it was nice to see him having put in even more effort on my behalf. We stayed there a while, cuddled against each other on the dirt, the fire starting to die out slowly.

He curled to the side and so did I, his smaller body being cradled in mine. I drew my breaths from his soft mane as he drew his from where he was nuzzled in my chest. There was still a tightness about him, his joints still stiff, his breathing a bit too measured. He was still nervous.

I could feel his breath quicken. His snout, pressed against the side of my chest, wrinkled in a bit before it all happened at once. He shifted suddenly, craning his head upward and resting it on my shoulder, staring up at me, our faces inches from each other.

It was nature at that point, a raw attraction of two forces, almost chemical. I brought my head down as he seemed to float up just a little further to meet me. My lips were loose and so were his as we merely made contact at first. Eyes still open, we touched our faces to each other more than kissed, the softness of the motion compounded by feeling and tasting his warm breath on his lips in the cold night air.

We spaced away from each other just a bit. The look on Braeburn's face was one of almost hypnotic bewilderment. I stared down at him compassionately. The embers of the fire were stoked by a small gust of wind.

He pursed his lips and came in much harder this time, curling his bottom lip up as soon as we made contact, wetting my dry mouth with his. He didn't linger.

Pulling back with a small smooch sound, his eyes narrowed a bit and he licked his lips. Tilting his head to the side this time he left his mouth slightly open, and as soon as our lips met again he sank his tongue out, licking my lips, hardly parting them with how soft he was. He didn't pull back this time as much as tilt his head for a breath. As he did so I poked my tongue out and managed to just catch the tip of his. This motion drew him back in, still barely hovering our lips against each other, and we took turns lightly kissing and licking at each other, keeping our eyes locked on one another the entire time.

I slid my tongue across his lips, and in turn he jabbed his out to force mine back into my mouth. He chased it, closing his eyes he came in hard once more and smushed his snout against my face. I purred into the advance as his wide, flat tongue forced mine back down. He then swabbed it to the side and I moved my own tongue to the side, happy to accommodate and let him explore my mouth to his content.

The night around us was so empty; my back was so cold compared to my front with this stallion nuzzled into it. He had probed slowly along the bottom of my mouth, and as he started to pull back I reengaged him, pressing my head forward and starting to wrestle with him in my mouth. It was a fight he would clearly win, his tongue being much larger than mine, but the careful and playful way he wormed it around left me plenty of leeway. I began to move my lips around and dart my tongue under his, trying to push it back into his mouth. He drew in a sharp breath as I finally succeeded in the reversal.

Before I could really explore much further his hoof pressed lightly on my chest, pushing me away. I broke the kiss, a wet sound leaving the space between us empty except for the tendril of saliva that struggled not to fall into the wind. I opened my eyes to see him looking at me with worry.

I noticed it. The stiffness still in his back, the way he had curled his legs in, the way his shoulders were poised up; he was even more tense.

I cut in, "So do you think this isn't for you?"

He looked like he might cry.

I rolled to the side and sat up, breaking most of the contact between us. I didn't leave him alone on the ground for long. reaching a hand down to take him by the hoof, I hoisted him up onto his haunches, laying a hand on his shoulder and rubbing it comfortingly. He seemed to be trying to avoid eye contact.

"Hey."

He looked up, worry in his eyes.

"It's okay. You know how skeevy I'd have to be to guilt you for not wanting to do something like this? I'm touched that you felt comfortable enough to want to try kissing me, if anything." I tried to keep my voice warm, not hard considering how flustered I was.

"I'm so sorry for leading you on. I should've...I don't know. I shouldn't've-"

A boop silenced him.

"Thanks for a great night out, friend. You don't have anything to be sorry for. Hopefully next time I'm in town we can double date; you and your marefriend and me and my coltfriend." I smiled.

He frowned, remembering this was all so I could leave him, I bet. My throat tightened.

"That would be nice, Anon. Good luck on finding yourself a good stallion. Sorry it couldn't be me."

"Pshh. What kind of a quest would this be if it were that easy. I guess I can only keep trying."

Author's Note

Who will Anon turn to on his journey for love next? Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed