Braeburn slammed open the door to his one bedroom domicile in Appleloosa. He released a tired sigh as he kicked the front door closed behind him and hung his vest and hat on a nearby rack.
He trotted forward to his living room couch and flopped belly down onto the worn down plush piece of furniture hoofed down by several generations of family members.
Surrounding him were large shelves of books and knickknacks. Small mementos from various past trips and complicated texts on the history of Equestria and its surrounding territories. The stacks continued in tall piles of old tomes around him.
Braeburn maneuvered himself onto his back and brushed up against a cloth shawl draped over the back of the couch. A dark blue throw over patterned with lighter blue stars.
He pulled the shawl down, clutched it tightly to his chest, and took a deep whiff. It smelled of old parchment and dried ink.
His love was gone. Lost alongside the Crystal Empire that had recently been taken by massive clusters of crystals. He had gone up North himself to see his beloved Sunburst suspended in gemstone. He had been in mid gallop, panic in his eyes and crying out behind him, presumably galloping away from the encroaching growths.
Braeburn released pained sobs into the shawl. He sniffled, and took the time to compose himself.
There was no use crying over what had already come to pass.
He looked out a nearby window. The sun was well on its way down over the badlands and that meant he needed to turn on some lights before he was stuck stumbling around in the dark of the night.
With an immense amount of effort, he pulled himself off the couch and trotted about turning on various lights throughout his home. He closed any open window shutters and went to his bedroom that was adjacent to the living room.
He turned on the topaz gemstone light on his bedside table.
As it doused the room in a soft orange glow, he stared longingly at the photos plastered to the walls just above it.
He touched one photo gently with a hoof. It depicted an orange pony with a messy orange beard and matching mane blushing furiously next to an over enthusiastic Braeburn.
It had been their second year anniversary trip to Coney Island in Manehattan.
Braeburn had begged Sunburst to take him there.
It was the last trip they had shared with each other before he had...
Things needed to be done. Chores to finish, food to cook, and tasks to complete for the next day. He should do those.
But he didn’t rightly feel like dealing with them at that moment. He wanted to just curl up in bed and hope the full ache in his heart would fade away.
Braeburn trotted to the left side of the bed — Sunburst’s spot — and laid down on the soft mattress.
The last thing Braeburn thought as he drifted off to sleep was how much it still smelled like his beloved.
Braeburn was startled awake by a nuzzle to the back of his neck.
“Braeburn,” a voice softly whispered in his ear.
Braeburn’s eyes shot open and he leapt out of bed. His head whipped towards the source of the voice, but was met only with an empty room and the constant glow of his bedside lamp.
“Who’s there?” he shouted.
No one answered.
He sank to the floor with a hoof to his chest as he took deep breaths to calm his erratic breathing.
It was probably just a dream. Nothing of concern.
He needed water.
Braeburn trotted out of his bedroom, through the living room and into the connected kitchen.
He stopped at the door’s threshold.
On the far side of the room, where the open entryway to the dining room was located, was a wall of pitch black.
The shadows seemed to writh and pulsate to an unknown rhythm as Braeburn watched. He was certain that the dining room shouldn’t be dark like that as he had lit candles in there earlier before he had fallen asleep.
He shook his head. It was entirely possible he was misremembering as he had been more scatterbrained than usual recently and he was in a half awake state.
Ponies made mistakes. Especially grief stricken ones.
A quick jaunt to the sink put him in reach of his usual drinking glass on the counter. He plopped it under the brass faucet and pulled the tap with his teeth.
The faucet shook once, twice before sputtering to a stop.
Braeburn growled at the thing, and smacked it with a hoof in frustration.
All at once, a massive torrent of water spewed forth quickly filling up the glass and sink basin.
He reeled back with a yelp and landed rump first on the tiled floors. He scooted back to the opposing wall and watched in fascination as the water began to glow.
It pulsated and shimmered a soft ethereal orange as it poured over the edge of the counter. He was utterly mesmerized by the soft, inviting light emitted by the water and reached out a hoof to touch it.
“Braeburn,” a voice whispered teasingly.
Braeburn was startled out of his prior fascination and whipped his head towards the dining room from whence the voice had spoken from.
From the shadows, two big sapphire gemstone eyes and a grin of crystalline teeth appeared. They gnashed together in a predatory grin that relayed ill intent.
It set off Braeburn’s every instinct to run away.
“What in tarnation?!” He shouted as he scrambled backwards towards the living room, keeping his eyes fixed on the creature within the darkness.
“Now, now, Braeburn, that’s no way to treat a guest.” The shadows surged forward across the kitchen tile towards him. “Where’s your famous Appleloosan hospitality?”
Braeburn raced out of the room, his heart pounding in his chest.
The shadows followed.
He dove over the edge of the couch, and turned back towards the kitchen. The darkness from before now blocked entry.
The monster was nowhere to be seen within its expanse.
A knock came from the living room window, closed tight by two latched wooden shutters.
In a show of quick wit and bravery, he threw a nearby book on sarcasm at it.
“Get lost, you varmint!” He shouted.
“But, you seem so lonely,” The monster called out to him from beyond the closed window. “Wouldn’t you prefer some company?”
“Not from you!” Braeburn threw another book at it.
It flew through the air and hit the latch, breaking it.
“Ah, dangit,” Braeburn cursed.
The shutters blew open as more of the glowing water from before poured through flooding the living room floor.
“But don’t you miss having your beloved Sunshine in your life?”
Braeburn turned towards the front door from where the voice now spoke from.
“Yes! I mean no!” he growled. “And don’t use that nickname!”
“A sore spot then?” The voice chuckled.
Braeburn chose to throw another book in response.
The book created a dull thud on impact. A moment later, the door slid open allowing shadows to pour through the widening cracks. The same bright sapphire eyes and grinning crystalline teeth peered out.
Several more volumes of historical tomes followed the first. It proved to be an ineffective deterrent as the shadows continued to encroach on his home.
Braeburn caught the open door of his bedroom from the corner of his eye. Seeing the darkness gain traction, he galloped to his last safe haven with the shadows hot on his trail.
He slammed the door behind him and pressed his body against it hoping his earth pony strength would keep it at bay. A force pushed against the wood of the door. Shimmering water flooded underneath and pooled at his hooves.
Braeburn felt hot tears flow down his face in panic and frustration.
“Why are you doing this?” He sobbed out.
All at once, a powerful force burst against the door shattering the wood. Braeburn was flung through the air and onto the safety of his bed as the wreckage of his final barricade lay scattered on the ground.
He turned himself around to orient himself to the encroaching shadows and face of the monster that stalked him.
“Come now, Braebie, don’t be like that,” it said.
“Brae-Braebie?!” Braeburn sputtered. “T-that’s not for you to use! That’s only for-”
“Sunburst?” The monster chuckled.
“Yes! And you’re not-”
“Are you so sure of that?” the monster interrupted.
“What? You’re not him! How do you even know-”
“He called you Braebie for the first time on your two year anniversary trip to Coney Island.” Cold dread gripped Braeburn’s insides. “You were having a bad morning, and he wanted you to feel better, so he used the nickname in a cheesy pick up line to invite you onto the ferris wheel. You took the picture you’re so fond of shortly after that.”
“Only he and I could know that! You’re a monster. Y-you couldn’t-” Braeburn shook as dread turned to terror.
“It’s okay, Brae, just relax.” the voice soothed. “I’m not here to hurt you. I could never hurt you.”
The monster stepped forward out of the shadows.
First to emerge was an equine leg made of pure topaz with the bottom half covered in glittering opal dust. Next came a slim chest and finally a head. A narrow muzzle framed by a fiery mane of amber with a matching scruffy beard.
From its sapphire gemstone eyes so reminiscent of his lost love, a torrent of shimmering water fell.
“Sunburst?” Braeburn whispered.
The monster, no Sunburst, stepped towards him with a warm smile. “Yes, Brae. I’ve missed you.”
“No.” Braeburn pressed up against the headboard of his bed. “This isn’t possible. I saw you encased in crystal. You were dead.”
“Please, Brae. Stop doubting it. It’s me. I’m here. You’re beloved bookworm,” Sunburst said as tears fell down Braeburn’s face. “I’m here to bring you back with me.”
“I-I don’t understand Sunny. How are you here? Where do you want to take me?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Sunburst took a few more soft steps towards him as the darkness clung to his hooves. “What matters is we can be together again. Weren’t you lonely without me? Lost?”
“I… I...” Braeburn felt his body relax. “I missed you so much, Sunny. I’m a wreck without you.”
“I know, I know.” Sunburst stopped just short of Braeburn, leaning his muzzle forward while he continued to speak in that same soothing tone. “Everything will be okay. I’m here now.” He opened up his forelegs to him. “Come here, Braebie.”
Braeburn felt the last of his reservations melt away as he charged forward into Sunburst’s embrace. He was hard to the touch, but it didn’t matter.
He had his sunshine back.
Sunburst rubbed Braeburn’s back softly with a hoof. “There, there, Brae. It’s going to be okay. We’ll always be together from now on.”
The monster slowly unhinged its jaw revealing a gaping maw of pointed Crystalline teeth dripping shimmering saliva from each point. It opened further down the creature’s chest stopping just past the breast.
It encircled around Braeburn’s head as the pony in question smiled through the tears flowing freely down his face.
A single drop of saliva dripped onto Braeburn’s face as the creature loomed over him and readied to snap.
“Of course, Sun. Together forever.”
Sheriff Silverstar kicked open the door to Braeburn’s home. The farmer had not been seen for several days since his return from the Crystal Empire and the townsfolk were worried.
Silverstar expected to find the worst.
He trotted into the abode and was drawn towards the partially closed door on his left. A soft orange glow was emanating from the room.
Silverstar moved toward the door and frowned when he stepped in a puddle of water. He continued onwards and entered.
The sight he saw caused him to drop back onto his rump and shake uncontrollably in fear.
Inside, Braeburn was lying down on his side with a mass of topaz grafted to the back of his skull. The growth was attached to a column of crystal that had grown in the corner of the room from the bedside table.
The bedroom was flooded with shimmering orange water that was brightest from where it flowed unending from Braeburn’s closed eyes.
The final most disturbing detail was the expression on his face.
A blissful smile.
