Entangled Pathways Chapter 7

OMIGOSH I'M ALIVE.

It has been some damn time hasn't it?  I have had the worst possible writers block, and today I decided to squeeze out 3000 words out of nowhere to top off the 1000 I wrote yesterday.  Can I call myself lazy now without people yelling at me for it?  No?  Ok… sad face…

ONWARD TO THE SOARBURN… FINALLY!

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It belongs to The Hub, Hasbro, Studio B, and Lauren Faust. I do not own any of these characters in any way or how, nor do I claim ownership to the pony franchise. These characters are simply my toys.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I'm not alone anymore... right?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Winding Roads
Chapter 7: The Next Chapter

As the train's rumbling dragged on and on, day in and day out, Soarin began to stop noticing it all together, the only reminder that he was in fact racing through the land was the few times a day the entire train stopped to pick up and drop off new passengers.  The past few days had been the only easy ones in quite a long time, his chest didn't hurt from his lover's pain, and he indeed felt happy for a change.  Their time apart to Soarin seemed to strengthen their bond, learning about each other through the countless letters sent back and forth week after week, and right now Soarin was content with staying like this until he died.  This bed they had stayed in for the majority of three days was starting to even become comfortable.

Braeburn had indeed slept most of these three days.  Considering the fact that the stallion wasn't able to get a good night's rest because of the pain or the simple fear of the ponies who hurt him coming back without Soarin near him, the pegasus couldn't bring himself to do anything other than lay with his lover most of the time, no matter how much he wanted to spread his own wings.  The time now when they were finally alone was something that hadn't come in quite a long time, and Soarin planned to cherish every moment of it.

The shifting body clinging to the pegasi's side forced him to smile as he buried his face into the golden mane on top of Braeburn's head, his cheeks blushing pink as he squeezed the other's body tighter, the worn vest rubbing against his upper legs.  Peaceful would be the correct word to describe the past three days for the pegasus.  "Almost there buddy..." He let the words slip through his mouth as he began slowly stroking Braeburn's

"What are they like?" Braeburn suddenly asked as he glanced up at Soarin from the chest he was lying on.  "Yer... yer squad ah mean... h-how nice are they... will t-they even like... somepony like me?"

Soarin rolled his eyes.  "Man, how many times have I told you this?" He asked, rubbing his head with a free hoof as he squirmed to sit up, Braeburn still clinging to his side, therefore being brought up with him.  "They will love you." Soarin said as clearly as possible, taking Braeburn's face in his hands and saying it into his face.

"But... what are they like?" Braeburn asked, squirming his head away from Soarin's hooves.  "Ah mean... there's a whole bunch isn't there?  Like, ten or twenty?"

"Sure..." Soarin said, reaching his hoof behind his head and rubbing the back of his spiky mane.  "But... you see... it's a little complicated.  There really are only three you should know about..."

"Why's in the name of Betsy do I only need ta know three?" Braeburn asked "It's a little rude if ah don't know them all by name at least!"

"To tell you the truth... I'm not even sure I know them by name..." Soarin mumbled, chuckling awkwardly.  He saw Braeburn cock up an eyebrow, so he decided to explain.  "You see, since me and Spitty are the highest rank, her Captain, and me vice-captain, I'm supposed to lead the stallions while she leads the mares.  But we each have our own vice captains for our teams as well, mine is a pony named Rapidfire, and Spitty has Fleetfoot.  You can say that they are the real vice captains, since me and Spitty are really equal rank, she just does all the talking and such.  But all of us do the main planning and organizing for the rest of the team, and I don't really get close to the lower ranks since... since sometimes they get kinda cocky that they're on the team in the first place..."  Soarin shook his head "Some of them are real loudmouths too, but most of them are tolerable..."

Braeburn nodded with a small look of determination on his face as he looked down.  "Rapidfire... Fleetfoot... Spitty..." He mumbled, trying to memorize the names before encountering the three.

"Ehh, I wouldn't call Spitfire, Spitty." Soarin said, chuckling gently as he ruffled his lover's mane "She'll hit anyone who calls her that except for me."

"Why you?" Braeburn asked, curiosity seeping through his tone.  

"Because I know her better than anyone.  And sometimes she still gets mad when I call her that now that we're in the big time and..." Soarin paused for a moment before lifting up both hooves and making quotation marks in the air with them "We should be acting professional." He said in a sarcastic tone.

"Shouldn't you be acting professional?" Braeburn asked.

"Shouldn't you not be a coltcuddler?" Soarin asked in a teasing manor, watching Braeburn's ears droop as he looked down before a sigh escaped the pegasi's throat.  "Look buddy, it just is too boring to follow the rules, that's all I mean."  He began rubbing Braeburn's belly, hearing him chuckle and feel him squirm.

"What if their mad at me... for making you stay away so long?" Braeburn asked.

Soarin thought a moment.  "Rapidfire won't care, Fleetfoot'll be disappointed in me, and Spitty'll throw a fit and hit me a few times, but won't touch you since it isn't your gosh darn fault!" Soarin said, poking Braeburn in the belly rather roughly on the last part, he growled out those last few words with his teeth gritted shut, as if he was getting upset Braeburn was positive that he would be hurt or yelled at for something.  

"But... But what if..." Braeburn began.

"Shut up." Soarin said, plopping his hoof over Braeburn's mouth as he wrapped his upper leg around the earth pony's front side, his eyes closed as he calmed himself down.  Braeburn was just making excuses to be afraid now.  "Does it really matter if they don't like you that much, which they won't," He added the last part quickly as he slowly let his hoof out of the earth pony's mouth.  "Because I'm going to be there almost all the time and I can kick their plots if they say anything bad about you."  Soarin mumbled.  "I know you're a nervous wreck half the time, but now you're just being silly."

"Ah ain't... ah ain't a nervous wreck..." Braeburn mumbled, looking down at the ugly designed blanket.  "Ah just..." He paused.  Soarin let himself remember all the times Braeburn became scared in the short time he spent with him, all the times he looked so scared until Soarin wrapped his wings around him.  

Soarin paused before wrapping both legs around Braeburn's body along with his wings, slowly rocking back and forth.  "I love you, so shut the buck up." He mumbled, his teeth grazing one of Braeburn's ears.  He felt the stallion's body both tense and relax.  He felt one of his hooves be grazed upon by one of Braeburn's own, and he kept it there for quite some time as one of his ears was nibbled and kissed.

"Thanks Soar." Braeburn mumbled, his body falling back against Soarin's, the warmth bringing a smile to his face, his worries fading into the back of his mind for the moment.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's so… big…" Braeburn found himself murmur as he craned his neck up at the tall buildings that stretched from three stories to ten.  "How do ponies live here, it's so… crowded…" He asked, turning his head toward the pegasus who currently was stretching his wings next to the earth pony, letting out a few groans from finally being able to move around.

"That's right," Soarin said through a yawn as he gave his wings a few flaps "You've never been into a real city, huh?" He asked, giving the other a cocky smile.

"Ah… it ain't my fault!" Braeburn protested.  "B-But how did ponies manage to build things so… so big!" He asked, limping forward through the sidewalk right outside of the train station.

Soarin chuckled as he followed the yellow earth pony, bag in hoof.  "Well, I suppose mostly pegasus ponies would have worked on these things, but unicorns would be useful too." He said, pointing his hoof to several different ponies.  "But trust me, this town is small compared to Canterlot."

Braeburn blinked his emerald eyes as he saw a mixing of earth, unicorn, and pegasus ponies all around, walking through the street together.  It was so much different from Appleloosa, where the only residents were earth ponies and earth ponies alone.  This town had to be smack in the middle of the three major parts of Equestria, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and the south where Appleloosa lay.  His cousin, Applejack, lived in a similar, smaller town if he remembered her words correctly.  "I feel a little…" He glanced down to the old vest he was wearing, and his eyes rolled up to see the cowpony hat atop his head.  "Out of place…"

Soarin could sense the nervous feeling in Braeburn's voice.  He smirked and slapped his upper leg over Braeburn's neck, leaning on him and giving him a smirk before using his other hoof to lift the yellow pony's chin.  "Welcome to the big times, country colt." He teased before nibbling on the other's lips, feeling Braeburn squirm as he moved his head away.

"S-Soar, we're out in pu…" Braeburn paused, looking around and realizing that nopony was giving him a death glare, nopony was looking to intervene them, and nopony was judging him… not even a stray glance that seemed uncomfortable.  "Public…" He finished, a little speechless that he wasn't being tormented for Soarin's behavior.

"Like I said." Soarin hissed playfully "Welcome to the big, better times." The pegasus gave his lover a quick peck on the cheek before backing off, knowing how uncomfortable he was.  He snagged the cowpony hat from Braeburn's head and let it land on his own.  "Now let's get er selves some place to stay, eh partner?" He asked in a teasing manor with a horrible accent to top it all off.  A warm feeling grew in his chest as he watched Braeburn attempt not to laugh, and then fail miserably.

Braeburn trotted the best he could, limping the way, to catch up to the pegasus who began walking with the large bag now in his mouth.  Soarin truly felt happy, for the first time in what seemed like forever.  All the times Spitfire or Rapidfire made fun of him for choosing to stay with a pony he knew for two weeks almost made him question where on earth his sanity was, why he wasn't acting like his normal self to Braeburn, or why he simply didn't leave him after the two weeks was up.

For some strange reason, the thought of abandoning Braeburn in that town after confessing he liked stallions, and clung to Soarin because the pegasus gave him the love he needed to live, brought about deep guilt deep in the pegasi's chest.

Soarin glanced over to Braeburn, at his legs that limped in the back.  Those legs looked hideous, as if they didn't belong on such a perfect, cute, sexy body like Braeburn's.  Along with the scars on both his body and mind.  

"Let's find someplace to stay, I can bring around the squad later to meet you.  I still want you to rest some just to be on the safe side, I know you're still sore from all those surgeries." Soarin sounded muffled through the bag in his mouth.  Braeburn just nodded and continued to look around the new world.

"Stupid sexy Braeburn." Soarin spat out at the earth pony's wide eyed expression at everything.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was as Soarin found himself lying on the ground with comedic tears in his eyes and blood dribbling down from his temple that he realized he had been gone for almost a month.  The world began to go dark as he began to gasp for his last few breaths, knowing his time was near, and that he would soon go onto the next life and join friends and family on the other side.

"Dammit Soar, get your ass up!" Spitfire growled as she snatched Soarin by one of his wings and yanked him up off the ground, the expression on her face could be described as none other than purely pissed off.

"Owowowow." Soarin whined "I'm up, I'm up!" He cried out before Spitfire finally released her hoof, to which Soarin began gently stroking his ruffled feathers, wincing as he felt the spot she grabbed.  "I knew you would be upset when you saw me, but did you have to hit me?" He asked.

Just as the words left his mouth, another hoof slammed into his face, however this time he was ready and didn't fall to the ground.  "Stop that!" He cried out in half annoyance, half fear.  Spitfire was a beast when angry, to put it bluntly.

"Spitfire, I think you should…" Fleetfoot began, however the yellow pegasus whipped her head around with a glare, forcing the cyan mare to shut her mouth.  She looked at Rapidfire, who was simply chuckling at Soarin's misery.  Soarin began to wonder why he was friends with the gray pegasus before Spitfire began to yell.

"Where the hell have you been?" She cried out, her eyes burning with anger, a spark that could set all of Equestria of fire.  Soarin had forgotten the last time he had seen his captain this angry.  "I had to come up with this lame excuse that you had some disease that forced you to stay in quarantine, Rapidfire had to take control and almost brought us all down, he isn't used to being in the lead!  And we almost crash landed at the end, all because you wanted to spend some time with your coltfriend!"

Soarin blinked several times before letting out a sigh.  "Spitty… it isn't like that…" He tried to reason with the golden coated mare, tried to hide the anger in his voice.  He wished he had only extended the visit, and that he just spent the extra time convincing Braeburn to come see the world with him.  But no, Spitfire didn't understand.  She growled softly and the pegasus bit his tongue before shaking his head.  "Spitfire…" He began.

"What?" She asked "Want to tell us how much fun you had with your little whirlwind romance lover, did you plow him every night perhaps?  Did you and him watch the stars every night and make out every chance you got?" Spitfire's eyes were still glowing in that same kindle of fire from before "I bet that you're happy you stayed so long, even with how angry I am." She growled.

"Will you shut the buck up?" Soarin spat out.  He watched the shock appear on Spitfire's face.  He had never raised his voice like that to her, he sounded angry, and her attitude wasn't helping him in the slightest.  "If you decide to shut the buck up for five bucking seconds you might know why I stayed so long!" He yelled, his mane somehow looking frizzier than usual, his eyes had dark bags under them.  His joy from being with Braeburn earlier had been replaced in the blink of an eye.

"Soar… did something happen?" Spitfire asked.

"No, nothing at all." Soarin said in a sarcastic tone.  "I just haven't slept in the past three weeks more than five damn minutes because my lover kept whimpering out in pain and screamed like he was dying sometimes."  That was the truth, he had hardly slept the past three days simply because of how much he was scared Braeburn would wake up with a nightmare of those damn stallions again and be too shy to wake him up.  "I haven't been able to hold him or make him feel better until these past few days because he couldn't even leave that damn bed, and now he can hardly walk much less run even after all that torture he went through in that bucking physical therapy!"  

Soarin's breath became heavy as he let out all the feelings that he hadn't been able to express for Braeburn's sake.  "I haven't been able to make him feel loved like before because it hurts whenever somebody touches him, and to top it all the buck off, I can't do anything to help him other than be next to him!" Soarin trailed off.  "I mean… he just… Brae has been so…

"Soarin, what the hell happened in Appleloosa?" Rapidfire asked "C'mon dude, tell us."

Soarin bit his lip and lifted his leg to wipe his eyes in anger.  He sniffled a few times.  "D-Dammit…" He whimpered out "I'm… I'm supposed to be strong right now…" He whispered "It's over now, isn't it… he's getting better…"  His anger was replaced by sorrow, as if a blanket was ripped from over him to show his true emotions.

It wasn't over however… not really… Braeburn would limp forever, the scars on his body would remain, whenever he so much and looked at himself that horrible night would return to his mind.  The worst night in his entire life would haunt him forever, always in the back of his mind, making him wish he was dead instead.  

"Even if… even if he heals physically, what about him mind, he was already hurt from his parents, now you need me to top it off with this?" Soarin cried out.  "Why the buck wasn't I there to help him when he needed me?" The pegasus cried out.  He felt the tears roll down his eyes as his vision became blurry.  He landed on his rump and swore quietly.  He had felt happy earlier, but now he was being forced to relieve all of these thoughts.  

Soarin wanted Braeburn at his side, he would act stronger then, because he knew the earth pony would feel it was his fault if Soarin began to sob.

"If I… I-If I was there more… if I made an effort to try and see him every couple of months… would this have happened?" He asked, ignoring his friends around him "C-Could I have tried to make him come with me, would any of this have happened to him?"  He let the tears run freely.  He wasn't sure who to blame any more other than himself, even the ponies that did it seemed to be let off the hook.  He was supposed to love Braeburn… wasn't he?

Things in his head began to hurt as the tears flowed down his cheeks and dripped down.  He felt his wing be tugged at.  He winced and looked up, seeing Spitfire glare at him, however it was approximately one hundred times less intense than the one before.  "Idiot, why didn't you tell us in the letter…" She sighed, shaking her head before grabbing something grabbed his hoof.  He glanced to his side to see Rapidfire, with Fleetfoot behind him.

"Tell us what happened dummy, we'll get you through this." Rapidfire said.  Soarin became shocked he didn't add a joke in there.

Soarin sniffled loudly before getting to his feet.  "F-Fine…" He managed to say "If you keep beggin'… I guess I have to."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The hotel Soarin had chosen for Braeburn to rest in was a simple one, not too high class, yet not poor as dirt.  It was a nice for the both of them at the very least.  Braeburn knew he had been told to rest quietly and get some sleep.  The fact that he was on the second floor was reason enough to believe nopony would break in and hurt him again.  The door was locked, the windows out of reach from those strange ponies that chose to put him in the hospital.

Braeburn wasn't able to close his eyes for even a moment.  He began to feel selfish, because he knew that he kept worrying Soarin by asking to be cuddled so much from the nightmares.  He knew his tears only brought more pain to Soarin than himself, and he felt like a stupid foal for his constant fear.

The yellow pony lay with eyes that wouldn't close as he stared at the wall in front of him, in the large bed.  Every little crap or noise made him jump.  He was an idiot… he needed to think about something else, anything else would be better than all of this crap that kept coming to mind that made him want to cry.

It was at this exact moment that it came across his mind that he still hadn't made that apple pie for Soarin.  He felt like he owed the pegasus at least that much.  When or where he was going to be able to find apples to his liking was still questionable.  Winter was approaching quickly, they might go bad and out of stock soon enough.

The sound of a latch unlocking was like heavenly music to the stallion's ears.  He let out a sigh as a giant lump stuck in the back of his throat seemed to vanish.  "Thank Celestia…" He mumbled.  As he sat up and turned to the door, the light that poured in confused him a moment as he saw four shadows.  "Soarin?" He asked, his eyes attempting to adjust.

Just as the name exited the hole called his mouth, something as hard as a rock slammed into his body.  It seemed to be a pony who proceeded to hold him down by wrapping his upper legs around him.  The scent wasn't Soarin, this pony wasn't Soarin.  His first instinct was to tighten his body up as his eyes watered, memories filling his mind of that night.

"S-S-S-Soarin…" He whimpered out.

"Rapidfire, I told you to be gentle with him!" The voice of Soarin entered his ears as the body on top of him loosened its grip.  He lifted his head to see an annoyed looking pale blue pegasus stand on the other side of the bed.  Braeburn turned his body around to see a gray pony on top of his, the mane was in the same, wind-blown style as Soarin's.

"C'mon Soar, just look at him, he's a little cutie!"  Rapidfire whined.  He blinked several times as Braeburn felt his body be lifted up like a ragdoll, and be held against the strange chest in a half hug.  The feeling of a stranger hugging him was bittersweet, and the fact that another pony besides Soarin was referring to him as a cutie made him blush.

"Yeah, and he's my cutie." Soarin growled.  "You don't even like colts, get off him!" He spat.

"I'm allowed to cuddle him, manly stallions can cuddle other stallions!" Rapidfire protested.  His hoof ran across Braeburn's chest, and Braeburn felt the sensitive scars as a hoof ran over them.  He was squeezed the tiniest bit tighter, as if in comfort, the moment he felt it.

"What the buck is goin' on?" Braeburn asked in a whiny voice, his head spinning.

"A bucker is cuddling my coltfriend, welcome to the squad." Soarin said in a half annoyed voice as he chuckled.

"Boy's, please calm down." Braeburn recognized the voice to be Spitfire, he had met her once before, only for a moment.  Her tone was in a teasing manor as she entered the room "Give the country colt some room, we all get to talk to him later tonight." She said.

"T-Tonight?" Braeburn asked, feeling the legs around him loosen as he squirmed freely from Rapidfire's grip.  "W-Wait, what's happening tonight?"

Soarin smirked and flapped his wings, floating in the air near Braeburn.  "Your welcoming party, dummy!" He said, ruffling the other's mane.

Braeburn blinked several time, looking into Soarin's eyes.  "Soar… your eyes are… red…" He mumbled.  For a brief moment, a state of shock and fear entered the pegasi's face.  However the moment didn't last long as he was pulled away by Rapidfire.

"C'mon buddy, let's get everything set up!  Fleetfoot, come and introduce yourself!" Rapidfire called.

"W-Wait, here?" Braeburn asked.  "W-Wait, you don't need to…"  A strange feeling of acceptance was in his chest, Braeburn wasn't sure he had ever felt it on this level.  Sure, to some degree Soarin was the same… but with so many ponies.  Another pony was calling him buddy, one who he didn't cuddle or kiss.  He wasn't sure how he felt right now.

"What the buck just happened?" Braeburn whined out, his head spinning.