Author's Notes:

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“So, you have no idea why Sunburst isn’t joining us today?”

Starlight Glimmer sighed and shook her head, not able to come up with any suitable answer to her Mentor’s question. When she tried to wake him up earlier, the stallion was huddled in a tight cocoon while laying in a fetal position in the middle of the mattress. Even when she tried to get Twilight and Spike to help pull him out of bed, it proved to be a fruitless endeavor. Since neither of them were aware of what happened with Sunburst the previous night, there was nothing they could do to help with the unicorn’s unwavering dread over what he had to witness. Fortunately, the pony’s near catatonic state was severe enough for Starlight to suggest leaving him alone for the day. Since she had seen enough bad-days from Twilight first-hoof, she figured that Sunburst might need a personal day as well.

“Honestly,” said Starlight after she and Twilight re-entered the Surveillance Room together, “given how freaked-out he looked this morning, I really don’t think he can do much to help us today. It would be like when you all tried to help Pinkie after that Yovidaphone thing.”

Twilight winced as she looked away from Starlight, and reluctantly nodded in understanding. Even though she felt unsure about the severity of Sunburst’s afflictions, she remembered Pinkie Pie’s bout of depression vividly enough to avoid repeating it. So instead of trying to press the matter any further, the Alicorn sighed before glancing back at her friend. “Well, hopefully he’ll be in better spirits by this evening, at least. I found some texts in his collection about alternate universe theory, and I was wanting to ask for his input about implementing it for this.”
While Twilight motioned towards the ever-hovering orb of magic, Starlight’s brows raised in a mix of surprise and worry. “Uhhh… are you sure you want to try altering the Surveillance thing again? Because I’m pretty sure we couldn’t if we tried.”

“Well, it’s not like we haven’t peered into alternate dimensions before,” noted Twilight with a more astute tone of voice. “You remember when we saw that scene from Sunset Shimmer in the Mirror World, right?”

“Ohhhhhhh, right!” Starlight looked like she had completely forgotten about that viewing, and nodded with a hoof under hr chin as she recalled that moment. “Yeah, that was for that whole… sex-text-reader thing?”

Twilight giggled with an affirming nod, but narrowed her eyes on her protègè as she asked, “Wait, so you can say ‘Yovidaphone’ without any issue, but you can’t remember a term as simple as ‘Sexting’? Even I knew that term~”

Even though she understood Twilight’s point enough to chuckle to herself, Starlight still rolled her eyes away from her Mentor’s jeering gaze. “Well, excuse me, Miss ‘I Traveled To An Alternate Universe Of Bipeds Multiple Times’!”

“Hey, don’t act like you wouldn’t go back if you had the opportunity,” noted Twilight with a snarky smirk back at her. “Sunset wrote some interesting notes about your visit to me.”

“Oh, I bet she did~” remarked Starlight with another sharp sigh, and a dismissive shake of her head while smiling. “Although I should say in my defense, I was not prepared to be in a world like that off the bat.”

“Hey, I was on the exact same boat as you were once.” Twilight gave a warmer smile towards Starlight, and took a second before saying assuredly, “Don’t worry, I completely understand what that must’ve been like. If anything, you should be grateful your first encounter with Sunset happened after her reformation.”

Starlight giggled with another affirming nod. “Oh, definitely! I remember her saying how much she regretted her past behavior. I think she compared herself to some figure from that world. Uhhh… Reggie Gorge or something?”

“I think you mean Regina George,” corrected the Princess. “She’s apparently a character from one of the Mirror World’s movies, ummm… Bad Girls, I think? I haven’t seen the movie myself, but all the girls from that world compared Sunset to her.”

“Well, so does Sunset herself,” said Starlight in agreement, before both of the mares giggled together in the Surveillance room. After the laughter died down, Starlight glanced over at the orb in the room and asked, “So… were you hoping to see more scenes from the Mirror World or something?”

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to learn about friendship outside of our own dimension,” admitted Twilight as she shrugged her shoulders. “Not to mention, I’m curious whether or not we can be able to view more alternate universes apart from our own. I mean, the only experience we have with that are from our Mirror World visits, and… ummm… you know…”

After that awkward pause, Starlight Glimmer looked away from Twilight with a silent wince on her muzzle. Even with all that was said about Sunset Shimmer, Starlight knew that her own past would’ve warranted a ‘Pot to the Kettle’ analogy in comparison. Fortunately, even with how upset the pink mare looked as she stood in reflection, Twilight was quick to walk up and place a hoof on her shoulder. “Starlight, I’m sorry. I swear I wasn’t trying to bring up anything--”

“I know, I know…” Starlight pulled her Mentor’s hoof away and took a couple steps from her. She closed her eyes before sighing to herself, needing a moment to properly respond. While Twilight stood with a regretful look on her face, Starlight waited a moment before she said, “It’s just… It’s just kinda scary knowing how many universes I may have screwed up that day…”

Twilight closed her eyes and exhaled heavily, knowing that she couldn’t easily console Starlight for that upsetting fact. Despite knowing that there was likely an infinite number of universes out there, with each one crafted from the most miniscule changes, she couldn’t necessarily ignore Starlight’s contributions towards a few of them. Nevertheless, the Alicorn still tried to remain optimistic as she looked back at the hovering orb, and said out-loud to herself, “Well… If the whole ‘Infinite Universe’ theory carries enough merit, then… There’s likely a good chance that somewhere out there, our positions were somehow reversed, and I was the one to enact those changes to other worlds myself…”

Even though that theory wasn’t the most comforting, it was truthful enough to make Starlight breathe out softly through her nostrils. She eventually shrugged her shoulders after a moment of thought, and she replied with a brief hum. “Hmmmmm… I… I suppose I can’t really refute that sort of claim, can I?”

“Not without verified proof, you can’t,” remarked Twilight as she turned her head back around, and shot Starlight a friendly smirk with a wink. “Just like how neither of us can prove those world you affected were permanently destroyed. For all we know, they could’ve all been saved while the two of us were gone.”

Starlight tried not to skew her muzzle too obviously at that theory, since she recalled just how devastated Equestria looked in the one alternate timeline she stumbled upon herself. But alas, the mare was able to close her eyes and settle down, not wanting to get too overwhelmed about the ramifications of her actions. Even if she did commit some atrocious crimes -- including some that rivaled the foes she and the Elements faced themselves -- Starlight knew that there was no use in dwelling too hard over her indiscretions. She was able to learn from Twilight how the past should remain in the past, and that there was basically nothing either of them could do after everything they did in their foolish duel.

“You know what?” Starlight said after taking a quick moment to reflect, and looking back towards Twilight with a more content smile. “For the sake of my conscience, I’ll try my hardest to think about those facts if my mind dwells on that stuff again, alright?”

“That’s a perfectly fine answer in my book,” said Twilight with a warm smile of her own, which was followed by the two mares giving each other a friendly hoof-bump. As soon as Starlight sighed again with a more natural-looking smile of her own, Twilight motioned over towards the couch and asked, “So… are you okay with trying to watch something again?”

Starlight nodded her head as she sat down on the couch first, and gave that floating orb a quick zap with her horn. “Eh, why not? I doubt whatever we see will be even nearly as wild as that Luna one~”

Twilight sat herself down beside Starlight, and tried her hardest not to shiver at the reminder of that scene. Even though she had the recording in a safe place, Twilight could barely sleep the previous night due to how tempted she was to watch it privately. But in an effort to avoid Sunburst’s mistakes, the Alicorn kept herself civil as the orb began to activate in front of them. “Honestly, I’d rather not jinx our chances with statements like that~” noted the Princess with a coy-looking smirk.

Starlight giggled with a quick, “Touchè,” before the mares saw a new screen take shape within the magic sphere…

The magic feed slowly revealed a familiar setting, which looked to be on the streets of Ponyville right outside Sugar Cube Corner. Due to the pleasant weather the region was experiencing recently, there were a few tables and chairs perched outside the bakery for customers who wanted a change of scenery. Fortunately, since it was about an hour after the business’ lunch rush, only two stallions were seated at a table outside. But as Sugar Belle came out from the inside of Sugar Cube Corner to hand the ponies their baked goods, there was a distinct blush radiating across her cheeks when she placed a thick slice of cherry pie in front of the blue pegasus.

“Here you go, Mister Soarin,” she said in a downright giddy tone, even though she was trying not to look too starstruck by the Wonderbolt’s presence. Luckily for Sugar Belle, Soarin seemed more attentive of the server’s pie than he was with her gushing smile. Meanwhile, the golden Apploosan seated across from him noticed enough to smirk wide beneath his Stetson.

“And here’s your Everything Bagel with cream cheese, Mister… Brightburn, is it?” she asked with an unsure tone as she handed the other stallion his item.

“Uhhh, it’s actually Braeburn, Ma’am,” the pony said in correction, while still keeping a thankful smile and tipping his hat to her. “But it’s alright. Thank ya kindly~”

Sugar Belle nodded to both of the ponies with a smile, and quickly made her leave after refilling both of their coffee cups. While Soarin helped himself to a generous serving of pie with his fork (which he had to hold somewhat awkwardly in his hoof), Braeburn opened a couple of sugar packets to add to his still-steaming brew. As he stirred his coffee with a small plastic spoon, Braeburn couldn’t help smiling when he saw how blissful Soarin reacted to his pie. The Apploosan may have been more akin to apple pie due to his background, but the sounds of Soarin’s content hums between chews made that cherry pie seem pretty darn good.

“Oh, man!~” cooed Soarin with high praise as soon as he swallowed that first mouthful. He pointed to his pie with his fork while saying to Braeburn, “Dude, you have to try one of these pies here! This cherry pie is legitimately better than anything I had in Cloudsdale!”

Braeburn tilted his head with an amused whistle, and replied with, “Well, shoot! I didn’t think you’d get that strong of a reaction from this place~ I only knew about it ‘cause my cousin’s girlfriend works here.”

“You mean the one who just served us?” asked Soarin as he motioned back towards the bakery’s entrance. After Braeburn gave an affirming nod, Soarin scoffed with a shake of his head and said, “Well, you better tell your cousin to keep an eye on her sometime. Because it seemed like she was gonna go all ‘fan-girl’ on me for a sec~”

Braeburn playfully scoffed to that remark, and was quick to say back at Soarin, “Well, can ya really blame her?~ I mean, I ain’t too worried about her and Mac, but it ain’t like she was eyein’ ya for no reason. I was kinda like that with you too, remember?”

“Yeah, that’s true,” said Soarin with a light chuckle while nodding to Brae’s point. “Of course, I think your interactions with us were a little less… casual than the server’s was~”

Braeburn sheepishly lowered his head as he tried not to blush too profusely, but it was evident enough to make Soarin snicker across the table from him. The golden stallion tried to cover his flustered expression with a sip from his coffee, but that only exassivated the moment as he quickly spat the still piping-hot brew back into the cup. That caused Soarin to start laughing even louder, before he said with a shake of his head, “Jeeze, Brae! I think this is the first time I haven’t seen you acting so confident about yourself~”

The blushed and embarrassed pony put down his cup with a pert sigh, and looked around as he replied with, “Hey, it ain’t about that! I just don’t want nopony eavesdroppin’ on us if the topic gets too, errr… inappropriate for this time of day.”

“Aaaaahhhhh…” Soarin nodded in immediate understanding, and took note of the Ponyville street they were still right beside. Since it was the middle of the day, there were a lot of families and kids running about without much supervision. And considering how easily recognizable Soarin usually was -- even without his trademark Wonderbolt uniform on -- he knew that it might not be the wisest move to talk about anything too risquè.

After an awkward moment of silence, Braeburn was the first to bring back some discussion as he leaned back in his chair, and gave his friend a more casual smile. “I will say though, I’m really glad I got to meet y’all the way I did~”

“Hey, the feeling’s mutual, cowboy~” Soarin put out his cup of coffee, and Braeburn did the same as they clinked their porcelain mugs with knowing smirks. After they put their drinks down, Soarin decided to add with a more suggestive tone of voice, “And just think, if Thunderlane didn’t see you enjoying that popsicle so much, there may have been a chance we never met up~”

Even though that incident wasn’t too long ago, Braeburn still chuckled with a nod of his head. “Yeah, I reckon that’s true. Y’all should thank Burnt Oak for givin’ me the incentive to do that.”

“What, are you forgetting how much fun he had with us too?~” noted Soarin with a sharp perk of his brows. “Thunderlane was worried he gave him a heart attack at one point!”

That recollection instantly caused Braeburn to cackle with a hoof over his chest. “Oh Gods, yeah! Hooooooo, boy~ He had a heckuva fun evenin’ with all of us~”

“Yeah, both of you did!” exclaimed Soarin with a giggle of his own. He paused briefly enough to take a sip from his coffee, which he preferred black. After sighing with a satisfied smile upon tasting that bitter brew, the pegasus decided to say towards Braeburn, “You know, I was honestly a little surprised that you two were, like… a thing, you know? I mean, I kinda figured he was your uncle or something. No offense.”

“None taken,” said Brae with a reassuring wave of his hoof. “I mean, to be fair, Burnt Oak is pretty close to bein’ family. He was actually a close friend of my uncle Bright Mac, may he rest in peace.” Braeburn gave a quick pat to his chest with a hoof after that last part, before he sighed and continued his response. “Of course, I didn’t know that at all when we first got together. The two of us actually met through one of them letter-datin’ services.”

“Wait, those services actually work?” asked Soarin, as one of his brows raised in surprise. “I always thought those things were a scam or something.”

“Hey, when you’re the only gay colt in Apploosa, you gotta take what you can get.” Braeburn finally took a bite from his bagel, and paused for a moment to appreciate the well-seasoned pastry. He had to lick some cream cheese off his hoof before placing the bagel back on his plate, and then said, “Besides, it ain’t like I was gonna find many open-minded guys in my region to help me be more… friendly~ Especially one who was old enough for my preferences.”

“Yeah, I was wondering about that,” pondered Soarin as he grew more intrigued with Braeburn’s explanation. “So you… have a thing for older guys, I take it?”

“Guilty~” noted Brae with a more bashful shrug that matched his blush. “Although, it ain’t like I only go after stallions like that. It’s just somethin’ I have an appreciation for.”

“Hey, I’m not judging,” said Soarin with great insistence, while still carrying a friendly smile across from the Apploosan. “It is pretty interesting to see a young gun like you liking that sort of thing, though. If I may ask, is… Burnt Oak the only older guy you’ve been with?”

“Pbbt! You kiddin’ me?~” asked Brae with a playful smirk back at Soarin. “Dude, you wouldn’t believe how many ‘Infinite Bachelors’ Burnt Oak knew of in secret! I mean, I can’t really blame ‘em for hidin’, since a lot of them would’ve dealt with some serious backlash in earlier years for bein’ out and everything. But, man!~ As soon as those guys saw me walkin’ around lookin’ for some company, I was like prime real estate!~”

Soarin cackled with another understanding nod of his head. “Hey, I totally get it. And honestly, it’s pretty cool that you found somepony like Burnt Oak to help you in that department.”

“Yeah, he really is a great guy,” said Braeburn with a genuinely happy expression, and a slow nod of his head while he paused to reminisce about him. He took a few seconds before he sighed to himself, and then added with a shrug, “I will say though, I’ve met some mighty interestin’ stallions on my own without his assistance~”

“Oh, really?” asked Soarin as he leaned forward in his seat, and took another bite from his pie. “Do tell, Braeburn~”

“Weeeeeelllllll…” Braeburn took a moment to adjust himself in his chair, and he kicked his hind-legs a little like he was a happy school-colt. All the while, the stallion’s eyes narrowed on Soarin while his smile turned more suggestive. “I won’t get too graphic or nuthin’, but I remember one specific guy I met while I was visitin’ family in Manehattan.”

“Oooohhh…” Soarin’s face lit up upon hearing that specific city mentioned, and was quick to interject with, “Where did this actually happen at? I grew up in Manehattan, so you got me interested.”

“Shoot, really?” asked Brae with a more excited-looking smile. “Well, alright then! I’ll admit, I don’t know the city that well myself. The only family I really talk to up there are the Oranges and Babs Seed, so I was pretty much like a tourist when this happened. I will say that I met this dude somewhere around… The Hamlet District, I think?”

“DUDE! I lived there as a colt!” Soarin was growing more excited after hearing that detail of Brae’s story, and asked, “Okay, was this around the park region, or near the market district? Because I heard some crazy stories about guys getting some action around the park at night.”

“Nah, nah. It wasn’t nuthin’ like that,” assured Braeburn with a shake of his hoof. “I was actually headin’ back to the Oranges to spend an extra night, since I accidentally missed my train. But luckily, I got to talkin’ with this guy while I was pickin’ up some snacks at this store. Ummmm.... I think it was called the ‘Single Stop?’”

“Ohmigosh, I practically lived in that store when I was a kid!” Soarin’s smile was growing especially wide, not expecting his friend to have visited a place so familiar to him. “Hey, do you know if they still have that Daring Do pinball machine in the back?”

“Eh, sorry. I can’t really recall seein’ that,” noted Braeburn with an apologetic shrug. “But, I did end up havin’ a really nice chat with this guy that lasted like, fifteen minutes without even buyin’ nuthin’! And I ain’t gonna lie, I would’ve never thought he’d be interested in somepony like me. I mean, he was this big dude! He had like, shoulders that went out this wide!” the stallion threw his hooves out wide to emphasize his comparison. “Heck, he probably would’ve been able to lift you up with his teeth if he wanted to.”

Soarin snickered to the mental image running through his head, and jokingly said with a shrug, “Heh~ That kinda sounds like my Dad.”

“But the weirdest thing, though?” continued Brae as he got further along into his story. “Despite how big the dude was, he was quite the flirter when I tried to walk around him through one of the aisles~ I remember him sayin’ he liked my hat and vest, and at first I was worried he was gonna add somethin’ mean to follow that up. But instead, he just straight-up asked me if I was headin’ to some leather bar uptown!”

“Really?” asked Soarin with a curious gaze. “He wasn’t asking that as a joke or anything?”

“No!” said Brae with a tone of voice as pleasantly surprised as Soarin’s. “He even asked me using the name of the place, uhhh… The Sweaty Boar! I ended up askin’ him about it, and he knew that place like the back of his hoof! Apparently from what he told me, he goes there all the time. I guess that was why he thought I was a patron too.”

“Hmmmm…” Soarin took a moment to scan Braeburn’s rustic attire, and eventually shrugged his head with a respectful pout. “Yeah, I can see that being a leather bar getup.”

“Yeah, I suppose so. But man!” Braeburn chuckled with a shake of his head, and his cheeks grew rosier as the details became more saucy. “By the time we both realized we were battin’ for the same team, he was on me like honey on a biscuit, I’ll tell you what~ He even asked if I had a thing for older guys, and I just slipped my hoof under his wing before sayin’ back to him, ‘What do you think, big guy?~’”

“Ooooohhhh~ Somepony was feeling brave on his own~” jeered Soarin teasingly.

“Hey, what could I say? He was like, really dang hot!” Upon recalling how that pegasus looked, Braeburn looked up briefly and sighed to himself with a dreamy smile. “Mmmmm… I can still remember how good his cologne smelled~ It was one of those vintage brands they don’t sell no more. Ummm… I think he called it… ‘Rhapsody’ or somethin’ like that?”

Soarin may have looked fairly carefree near the beginning of Braeburn’s story, but that name instantly made his smile lessen tremendously. His eyes began to narrow on the stallion as he blinked a couple times, and asked in clarification, “Uhhhh… ‘Rhapsody’ cologne?”

“Yeah, I think that was what he said,” Brae answered with an affirming nod. “I think he told me the stuff was discontinued before his kid was born, so he had a lot of it stocked up in his attic.”

Soarin’s eyes grew even wider, and his smile dissipated completely from his muzzle. “What?”

“Yeah, I think he was one of those ‘Down-Low’ types, if you know what I mean.” Braeburn snickered a little as he shook his head in recollection, and continued to talk despite Soarin’s increasingly wary stare on him. “Like, I get that sometimes a ‘straight’ guy would wanna venture elsewhere sometimes, but this dude was a straight-up closet case! Like, he had a ton of leather gear stored up above his closet, but he was also hidin’ all of his family photos after he invited me back to his place! I mean, I ain’t one to intrude on somepony’s privacy like that, but it was so hard not to joke around with him about it~”

Even though Brae was still acting cheerful about his story, Soarin was starting to look downright distraught while seated across from him. Before the Apploosan could take notice of his friend’s wide-eyed look, Soarin stared at him intensely before he asked, “What was his cutie mark?”

“Hmm?” Braeburn finally paused his story long enough to catch Soarin’s tone, and began to grow a little uneasy himself. “Uhhhh… his cutie mark?”

“What was it?” repeated the Wonderbolt, his tone of voice noticeably firmer than before. Braeburn wasn’t sure what the relevance of that detail was, but he was able to recognize enough of Soarin’s expression to know he wasn’t screwing around. So despite how worried he was starting to feel, Braeburn looked around as he tried to recall the stallion’s mark.

“Uhhhh… I think it was somethin’ like a… an axe? Like… a fire axe, but it was in front of a storm cloud or somethin?”

Even though Soarin didn’t say anything following his friend’s answer, the long, pregnant bout of silence that came between them was enough to make Braeburn’s blood run cold. The golden stallion’s eyes started to grow as wide as frisbees, but still weren’t nearly as wide as the Wonderbolt’s. Soarin’s face grew a deathly shade of pale, and his unblinking stare on Braeburn carried no visible emotion aside from pure shock. The Apploosan’s ears sunk downward as well, and his blonde mane lost all of its luster as his face dropped from the same realization. “... oh no… oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no…”

Despite how many times Braeburn muttered those two words to himself with increasing distress in his voice, it didn’t stop Soarin’s stunned glare from intensifying as he asked in a grave tone, “Braeburn… did you have sex with my Dad?”

Once again, the silence following that question said more than any audible response ever could’ve. All that the wide-eyed and petrified-looking Braeburn did was sit in a frozen state, and blinked a couple times in surmounting dread. Just as Soarin’s head tilted to the other side, and his widened eyes refused to even blink, the stallion across from him suddenly gasped before pointing a hoof towards the bakery door. “G-Guys, Soarin ain’t wantin’ any autographs right now!!”

“Wait, what?!” Soarin whipped his head around to see who Braeburn was pointing at. However, instead of seeing any rabid fans or paparazzi, all that the Wonderbolt saw was an empty doorway with nopony in sight. Fortunately for his friend (if he still was Soarin’s friend), that distraction gave Braeburn just enough time to toss some bits on the table, and run away from Sugar Cube Corner like a bat out of Tartarus.

“HEY!!!”

By the time the screen on the magic dome finally went away to conclude the scene, Twilight Sparkle and her protègè were still laughing uncontrollably on the couch.