Author's Note

A majority of this chapter will be done in a back and forth dialogue.

Dinner Date

After being given the rest of the day off, while he did love taking care of Flurry Heart, Sunburst couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. He felt like nopony truly understood how he felt when it came to being rejected by Starlight. As he headed out the door it was time for the changing of the guard and we wound up bumping into one of the guards as he was leaving.

After falling to the ground Sunburst said, "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

The guard helped him up and replied, "It's alright, ponies bump into me all the time." He figured that it would be best if he introduced himself, "Hi, my name is Flash Sentry."

Sunburst replied, "My name is Sunburst."

He saw Sunburst's eyes were red and asked, "Sunburst, are you alright? Your eyes are awfully red."

There was something about the guard that made Sunburst feel comfortable enough that he could tell him about what was going on. He replied, "Yeah, there is but I really don't want to talk about this while you're on the job."

Flash said, "Well I'm just getting off of my shift." His stomach began to growl and he continued, "Well you seem like a nice fellow and I could always use somepony to talk to. How about after I get out of my armor we go out to supper." Sunburst had an unsure look on his face as he didn't have that much money at the moment. Flash continued, "It's on me."

Sunburst replied, "Thanks, I don't have a lot of many right now so I appreciate this."

Flash said, "You wait here while I go get out of my armor, I'll be right back."

Sunburst replied, "Alright, will do."

While Flash was off getting out of his armor, the new guards couldn't help but give Sunburst curious looks but didn't say anything. Sunburst noticed this but didn't feel comfortable saying anything. Ten minutes later Flash returned and asked, "Well shall we?"

Sunburst followed Flash and while their walk to the local cafe was rather quiet, once they got inside they would begin to talk. Flash noticed that when Sunburst left the castle his eyes were red. He asked, "Sunburst, I don't mean to pry or anything but when you left the castle, your eyes were really red. Why was that?"

Sunburst replied, "Well I had my heart broken today, or should I say absolutely crushed."

Flash commented, "That's odd, I had my heart broken today too."

Sunburst became curious and asked, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to but what happened?"

Flash began, "Well Princess Twilight was in town today......"

Flash would be interrupted when the waiter showed up. He brought them menus and asked, "May I start you two off with something to drink?"

Flash replied, "I'd like a hard cider."

Sunburst added, "I'd like a regular cider."

The waiter nodded and headed back to get their drinks. Flash continued, "Where was I? Well, Twilight was in town today and I had met her before so I thought her and I could talk for a bit."

Sunburst asked, "When did you two first meet?"

Flash replied, "Now before you say anything, let me tell you the whole story." Sunburst nodded and Flash continued, "Well this was a while back, right after she was crowned princess. You see, there is this enchanted mirror that leads to some other world and one of Celestia's former proteges had ran through it the last time it was open. Apparently she knew about Twilight because she came and stole her crown."

Sunburst gave him an odd look and said, "Alright."

Flash continued, "Well Twilight had to go through and retrieve it. What happened while she was in that other world I'm not sure but when she returned, she bumped into me like you did. Well she fell down and I helped her up. She blushed at me but after that, I had only seen her a couple times and not even talked to her."

Sunburst simply nodded and Flash continued, "I thought today would be a good day to catch up with her so I asked her if we could go behind the castle and talk. She reluctantly agreed and once we got back there, I shared my feelings with her."

Sunburst asked, "And what are your feelings?"

Flash blushed, "Well I told her that I thought she was beautiful and asked her if she would be my marefriend."

Sunburst's eyes grew wide over this. He thought Flash was crazy for asking Twilight something like that given he barely knew her but didn't say anything. He asked, "And what did she say?"

Flash began to cry, "She said no and she accused me of only wanting to have her as my marefriend because she is a princess and after that, she stormed off in anger."

Sunburst gave him a smile and said, "Well I think it may have been early for you to ask her that but in the end it is her loss, not yours."

Flash replied, "I know it was early to ask her about that given that we hardly know one another but it still hurts."

Sunburst reached his hoof across the table and said, "Well if you need anypony to talk to, I'm here."

Before they could say anything further the waiter arrived with their drinks. He asked, "Have you stallions made a decision on what you want?"

Flash replied, "Yeah I'd like your hay steak with three eggs and hash browns."

Sunburst added, "I'd like a daffodil and daisy sandwich with hay fries."

The waiter nodded and took their order back to the kitchen. Flash gave Sunburst a curious look given that what he ordered is something that normally only mares order but didn't say anything. He asked, "So what happened today that hurt you so much?"

Sunburst replied, "Well an old friend of mine, my best friend from when I was a colt came into town with Twilight today. Her name is Starlight Glimmer."

Flash asked, "Alright, what happened to hurt you?"

Sunburst replied, "Well this pony named Trixie came with her and from what I learned her and this Trixie pony are very close."

Flash interrupted, "Oh, Trixie. Yeah I met her and it was actually her who suggested that Twilight and I go and talk while she headed off to get cinnamon nuts, well after she ran back in and used the restroom."

Sunburst's eyes grew wide, "What? She lied to Twilight and claimed she needed to use the restroom?"

Flash asked, "What happened that would cause her to lie?"

Sunburst replied, "Let me tell you something first before I get to that. Well I started talking to Starlight and every time I would approach her, she would step back."

Flash asked, "I take it that bothered you?"

Sunburst replied, "It kind of did. I know she always liked her personal space but still, it bothered me. I know I shouldn't have but I pretty much told her about my feelings and she came right out and told me that she only likes mares! That doesn't make sense to me, mares liking other mares. It can't be very common."

Flash commented, "It's way more common than you think. I remember when I was stationed in Canterlot I couldn't help but notice that there were quite a few mare/mare relationships and it seemed like all of Celestia's students were lesbians. I remember this blue one, I think her name was Minuette, telling this yellow one, I think her name was Lemon Hearts, that they should 'get all the girls together for sexy times.'" He shook his head and continued, "I thought it was really odd but I didn't judge them over it."

Sunburst sighed, "I guess you're right but it still hurts....."

Before he could say anything the waiter returned with their meals. Flash licked his chops and said, "This looks so tasty, tasty enough to make me forget about today's problems."

Sunburst too licked his chops over the meal that sat in front of him but was more concerned about telling Flash what happened. He continued, "Ok, back to Trixie. She must have been waiting outside the door to the dining hall because the moment Starlight said she loved Trixie and said something about them being the second pair of lesbians in Ponyville, she ran in and quickly embraced Starlight."

Flash had a feeling as to where this was headed but asked, "And what happened next?"

Sunburst did his best to remain calm given they were in a public setting but was unable to do so. He began to cry, "Well she asked Trixie to be her marefriend right in front of me and of she said yes." His cries became louder, "And then they had the audacity to kiss right in front of me. It was like Starlight was rubbing it in my face that she loves....."

Before he could finish he was nudged by the waiter, "Excuse me sir but could you keep it down? I doubt the other customers don't want to hear about your personal life."

Sunburst calmed down and simply shook his head. He turned back to Flash and continued, "Well, I think you get the rest."

Flash replied, "I do and I'm sorry she did that to you. If you need to talk to anypony, just know I'm here."

It wasn't much longer until the bill arrived and they had finished their meal. When Flash took a look at it, he was surprised that it was as high as it was but he didn't want to hurt Sunburst's feelings so he didn't say anything. When he paid their bill and headed out the exit, Sunburst asked, "Flash, could you walk home with me? I really want to talk to you about something."

This kind of made Flash wonder what was going on because never has he heard of a stallion asking another stallion to walk him home. To him that is what teenage fillies ask their coltfriends to do but he agreed to do so. Once they arrived at Sunburst's house he stepped up close to Flash and said, "Thanks for the supper and thanks for letting me talk to you about my problems."

Flash added, "Well thanks for listening to me and my problems as well."

Sunburst began to act strangely and said, "Well Flash, I know y-you're probably going to find this odd but I have a quesiton."

Flash gave him a half-smile and replied, "Yeah, you can."

Sunburst asked, "Flash, I know we just barely met and you're probably going to find this flat out gross but I was wondering if you'd be my coltfriend?"

Flash's mouth dropped open, "Well, I certainly didn't expect this."

Sunburst continued, "The one mare I loved shot me down and I know no other mare is going to want to hook up with me and you seem really sweet so I thought I would ask."

Flash replied, "I'm going to be honest, I didn't expect this and given that the one mare I loved shot me down, yeah, I guess we could give it a chance."

This was Sunburst's dream come true. Finally he had somepony who saw him as more than a friend. While he wasn't sure if he should, he pulled Flash in for a kiss. While Flash wasn't sure if he should do this or not, he allowed this. Just as his lips were mere millimeters away from Sunburst's, Flash pulled back.

Sunburst was disappointed and asked, "Flash, what's wrong? Don't you want to kiss me?"

Flash had his own reasons but lied, "Sunburst, I think we should wait until the next date. It might be bad karma to kiss on the first date."

Sunburst held his head low and replied, "Ok, I understand."

Flash said, "Sunburst don't worry, we'll kiss on the next date." He looked around and said, "Well I probably better get back to the barracks, I don't want Shining Armor thinking I've gone AWOL."

Sunburst asked, "Alright, shall we do this again next week?"

Flash asked in return, "Sure, how does Friday at 1900 sound to you?"

Sunburst replied, "Sounds good....love you Flash."

Flash wasn't expecting Sunburst to use that word, love. He had grown to really like Flash since they started talking earlier in the day but it hadn't grown into love yet. He didn't want to hurt Sunburst's feelings though so he said, "Love you too Sunburst."

Flash headed back to the base and Sunburst headed in his house. Inside his house, Sunburst was jumping up and down cheering as he finally had somepony who loved him. He had not felt that happy since the day he got his cutie mark. Flash on the other hoof, headed back to the barracks carrying some doubt. He did want to get to know Sunburst more and hoped that he would fall in love with him but a sudden fear hit him. He thought to himself, "What would Shining Armor think of this? What would he think if I was in a relationship with another stallion? Would he kick me out of the guard?"

Once Flash Sentry arrived at the barracks he headed in and went to bed. As hard as he tried though, he simply could not get to sleep. His thoughts were consumed with more than just thoughts of what might happen if he got into a relationship with Sunburst. He couldn't help but wonder, "What if somepony saw him almost kiss Sunburst? What if they reported it to Shining Armor and he got kicked out of the guard?" One thing Flash knew that was for sure, is that he would likely have a sleepless night and even worse, he had guard duty at 0800.