Seeing the Light

Chapters

A Magical Mishap
A Curious Case
A Difficult Date
A Troubling Train Trip
A Frightening Feeling
A Lonely Library
A Surprising Situation
A Weary Walk
A Nervous Night
A Complicated Conversation
A Muddled Morning
A Peculiar Plan
A Puzzling Predicament

A Magical Mishap

Drapes had been placed covering all of the entrances to the small courtyard underneath the Crystal Palace.

They were not there to hide anything per se, instead it was a safety precaution. The work being done there was an experiment and, therefore, potentially dangerous, so nopony was allowed inside with the exception of Sunburst, Starswirl the Bearded, and their patron, Princess Cadence.

At the center of everything was the Crystal Heart, floating gently between the twin spikes that held it in place. Beside that was a simple three-legged stool holding a somewhat withered potted plant. Everything else was safety precautions and housekeeping. Two wooden barriers had been set up about 10 paces away, one for Sunburst and one for Starswirl. A yellow sticker had been placed on the ground next to Starswirl's barrier to show him where he needed to stand so that the angle of his spell was just right.

And that was it. A whole history changing experiment simple enough to appear unremarkable.

"So how is this going to work, exactly?" asked the Princess, looking at the rather simple setup.

"If I'm correct," said Starswirl, "the Crystal Heart's magic holds the key to showing a pony the power of love and joy. I'll fire a spell at the Heart. After a few moments of drawing magic from it, the spell will ricochet off and hit the pony allowing her to see what her life would be like if she reformed her behavior."

"Have you made any more progress in finding out details for what the spell will do?" asked Cadence.

"Not much," admitted Sunburst. "As far as I can tell, nothing like this has ever been attempted before. That's why we're starting with a plant; we need to figure out what happens to a living thing when the spell hits it."

"This is an ambitious endeavor," said Starswirl. "However, I think the benefits are worth the long process. We will be performing the first test here in a few minutes. If all goes according to plan, this plant should change its behavior following the experiment. If that is successful, we can begin more detailed calculations to determine what exactly happened to it and move on to higher levels of testing."

"Well, if you need anything else from me, don't hesitate to ask," said Cadence.

Starswirl shook his head, a few of his bells gently jingling on his hat. "You have given me more than enough, Princess. The use of your palace, permission to conduct an experiment with the Heart and, of course, the help of your Royal Crystaller, whose impressive knowledge of magic has been invaluable to this project. I sincerely believe I could not have done it without him."

Cadence smiled. "I'm so glad to hear that!"

Sunburst shook his head. "It's nothing, really, I'm just assisting."

"Nonsense!" Starswirl said. "It would have taken me months to gather up as much information on modern magical theory as you have provided in the last few days."

"Oh, that hasn't been that important," said Sunburst. "Modern theory is only... tangentially related. The basis for this spell was sitting in a book in the Crystal Library for a thousand years."

"But it was you who recommended that I read that particular book because of your modern knowledge. I would never have considered using thaumaturgy in this manner."

"I'm sure you would have figured it out. Besides, it's not--" Before Sunburst could continue, Cadence put a hoof on his shoulder, causing him to look up at her.

"Sunburst, don't sell yourself short. You're doing a great job."

Blushing, Sunburst cleared his throat and said to Starswirl, "Uh, you're welcome. I'm glad I could help."

In response, Starswirl gave a light bow to Sunburst, then looked back to the Princess. "Princess Cadence, would you like to be here to witness the first test?"

"I would, but I actually need to get back inside. I put Flurry down for her nap about an hour ago and she usually wakes up with a lot of energy. I'd better go check on her. But good luck!" With that, Cadence gave a wave to the two stallions and made her way back to the doorway into the castle.

Sunburst smiled looking around at the experiment. It looked so easy that a little colt could set it up, but the theory behind it had already filled pages of notes. And putting that theory into practice was surely going to fill many more.

"Are we ready to perform the first test?" asked Starswirl as he approached his mark.

"Ready," said Sunburst, moving to stand safely behind the barrier.

"Alright. I'm firing the spell in 3... 2... 1..." Starswirl's horn ignited as magic surged into its tip. "Firing." A beam of white magic blasted forth and into the Crystal Heart, causing it to spin rapidly and glow in a multitude of colors. Starswirl then moved himself to stand behind his own safety shield.

Sunburst waited patiently. He knew he could probably look at the Heart during the test without any problems, but it was better to be safe than sorry. After all, he wasn't just being safe for himself anymore. He had responsibilities now, like being the Royal Crystaller and helping to look after Flurryheart. That reality brought a smile to his face. He could practically hear her giggling voice now.

No. He could literally hear her giggling voice now.

Looking toward the Heart from behind the barrier, Sunburst's eyes bulged at the sight. Flurryheart had somehow made her way into their experiment. The baby alicorn gave a soft "woo!" as she gleefully flew circles around the Crystal Heart.

Immediately, Sunburst leapt around the wooden barrier. The colors around the Heart began to pulse now. The beam could fire again at any moment and Flurryheart could end up directly between the Crystal Heart and their test subject.

There was no time to do anything else.

"Flurry, no!" shouted Sunburst. Diving forward, he pushed the baby alicorn out of the way of the plant - just in time for the beam to release and strike him instead.

Sunburst blinked several times as he looked around the throne room. It wasn't that he didn't know where he was, it was that there was no reason to believe he was really there. This throne room was not the one in the Crystal Palace. It was Twilight's throne room in Ponyville. And it was decorated quite elaborately.

A huge purple cloth was draped over the table. The centerpiece was a golden version of the Crystal Heart. Each place at the table was set with fancy china dishes and napkins folded into swans. Intricate sun-catchers had been placed on the high windows, half displaying Twilight's cutie mark... and half his own. Ribbons colored in saffron and lavender spiraled around every column. Sunburst couldn't help but notice that the tone of saffron perfectly matched his coat.

When Sunburst moved, he felt something on his chest and looked down. He saw that he no longer wore his robe, but instead a suit-coat and dress shirt. The coat was, indeed, the dark cornflower blue of his usual attire, and the shirt the cyan of its designs, but he had never seen this outfit before, much less worn it.

That spell definitely did something, but what? Sunburst wondered to himself as he lifted a hoof to examine his suit. It certainly felt real enough, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Illusions were certainly possible and...

"What do you think, Sweetie?" came a voice from behind him.

Sunburst turned around and saw Princess Twilight approaching him. Though the primary color was more a dark navy, Twilight was also wearing blue. She wore a blue dress with light blue accents along with her crown and a broad smile.

"Twilight," said Sunburst. "What is this?"

The alicorn gave a light laugh. "I know it's a bit much for a planning dinner," she said. "I told Rarity she didn't have to, but she wanted us to feel inspired." When she reached Sunburst, Twilight planted a kiss on his cheek and pulled him into a hug.

Now the stallion was doubly confused. All he knew at this point was that he, well, didn't know anything about what was going on here. A part of him doubted if any of this was even real, but the mare pressing herself into his body certainly felt real. If this is an illusion, it is a very convincing one. Pulling himself out of the hug, Sunburst cleared his throat. "Twilight, listen. I... I don't know how to tell you this, but I have no idea what's happening right now."

Twilight looked directly into Sunburst's eyes. "Sunny, that's okay. Nopony is saying you have to be totally prepared right now. That's what tonight is all about; we're going to figure this out together."

"No, no, no. You don't understand, I'm saying I--"

At that moment Sunburst was cut off by a kiss from Twilight, causing him to freeze. The stallion couldn't even think. He had never been kissed before and the sensation of her soft lips first pressing into his and then gently shifting to close around his lower lip was draining all of his brain power. When the mare pulled away, all he could do was take in a deep breath as he gaped at her.

"Sunny, you don't need to worry." Twilight smiled against the confused expression on Sunburst's face. "It'll be fine. Even if you don't figure it all out, you'll have me with you every step of the way. Don't forget: your fiancée is the most organized mare in Ponyville."

"Fiancée?!"

A Curious Case

The hugging ponies both looked over at the new arrival. Starlight was not dressed up like they were. Instead of formal, she looked quite relaxed and pleased with herself. It took Sunburst a moment to register what Starlight was talking about, but he soon realized that she had to be talking about his—no, the other Starburst's—reaction to the upcoming wedding.

That said, he still didn't like the idea that his best friend thought he wasn't emotionally capable of handling the situation. Even if by "he" he meant a different version of himself. So he asked, defensively, "What made you think I would need a pep-talk?"

"Don't seem so surprised," Starlight said. "Sure, we all knew Twilight was gonna have a big freak out at some point, but she's been excited about this planning dinner for weeks. Planning keeps her calm, so I figured you were gonna be nervous now and she wasn't gonna go all cray-cray until the night before."

"I am not gonna go 'cray-cray' the night before!" said Twilight, pulling herself away from Sunburst. "I mean, sure, that was my modus operandi for a while there, but you know I've been getting better about that."

"Oh really? Then how do you explain rushing into your fiancé's embrace to have him console you?" Starlight asked, smugly leaning against the doorway of the room.

"This isn't about pre-wedding jitters," said Sunburst. "We've got a bigger problem on our hooves."

Starlight's expression immediately shifted from condescension to concern. "What's going on?"

"You see, Sunburst here—" Twilight stopped, now looking back at the stallion. "Hold up. Before we try to explain everything to Starlight, first thing's first: do you know who she is?"

Sunburst nodded. "I do. We were childhood friends in the other universe."

"Good. That's the same. And the brainwashing a whole village thing?"

"Also the same," said Sunburst. "So far, the only difference here seems to be with our relationship. I'll let you know if we run into anything else that I'm not familiar with."

"Please do," said Twilight. "Any little detail could prove important in figuring out how we get you back home."

"Did Sunburst just say something about another universe?" Starlight fully entered the room, trotting forward until she was standing just a few paces from the pair.

"Yes. This Sunburst is not the Sunburst you and I know. Or, he sort of is? Not exactly... The long-story-short version is that a magical accident sent him to our universe and our Sunburst—" Twilight stopped again. Her eyes clamped shut and she shivered.

Sunburst put a hoof on Twilight's withers. When he did so, she turned to him and put her muzzle into his shoulder. Sunburst then continued for her, "The Sunburst from this universe is missing now. Because the spell involved was experimental, I have no idea what happened to him. We might have switched places or maybe he's stuck in some sort of limbo. We don't have enough information to figure that out yet."

Then Sunburst proceeded to explain what had happened to him. He tried to keep in all of the most important details, but also not drag things out. He had a feeling that he was going to be telling this story a lot over the next few days, so it was probably best to try to pare things down where possible, lest he spend more time telling people about his problem than actually working to solve it.

As he explained, Sunburst tried to use Starlight's expression as a guide for how much information he should be providing, but he found that this wasn't very helpful. The confusion on her face was unwavering. No matter what details he gave, her brow remained knit. She also didn't make much eye contact with him, nodding along while looking at his suit or even looking at Twilight instead.

Sunburst was starting to get annoyed, thinking that she wasn't listening, but when he finished, Starlight immediately said, "So it sounds like what we need to do is get to the Crystal Empire to examine the Heart and look into the books you used to make the spell. We should probably also have Spike send a letter to Starswirl to see if he can meet us there."

Twilight pulled herself from Sunburst's shoulder and said, "I think you're right. We won't solve this problem from here. If the Crystal Heart is the source of this magic, it has to offer a solution too." She then said to Starlight, "Head down to the train station and get us three tickets to the Crystal Empire. Sunburst and I will go find Spike."

Nodding, Starlight blinked away in a flash of teleportation. Twilight ran out of the throne room shouting "Spike!" and Sunburst ran after her. A little ways down the hall, the two found the dragon walking out of the kitchen, wearing his apron and carrying a mixing bowl.

"What is it?" he asked, still stirring the contents of the bowl. "Need something else for your planning dinner?"

"That's not important right now," said Twilight

"Yikes!" Spike stopped stirring. "If planning isn't important to you, then obviously we're talking about something big. What happened?"

Twilight pointed at Sunburst, "This Sunburst is a version of himself from a parallel reality sent here via an experimental spell designed by Starswirl and using the power of the Crystal Heart. We need to travel to the Crystal Empire to see if we can send him back and you need to send a letter to Starswirl asking him to meet us there."

Setting down his bowl on a nearby table, Spike gave a salute. "On it! I'll let Starswirl know what happened and I'll explain everything to the girls when they come for the dinner."

Trotting forward, Twilight threw her forelimbs around her Number One Assistant. "Thank you, Spike."

Sunburst, on the other hoof, was dumbfounded. It was like all of the careful thought that he put into explaining things first to Twilight and then to Starlight was for nothing. When the pair broke apart he asked, "Spike, how were you able to process all that so quickly?"

The dragon chuckled. "Do you realize how many comic books I read? Alternate universes are a bit a bushel in those. Besides, compared to everything else we've been through, this isn't that big of a deal. Even including breaks, I'm sure you guys'll probably have it figured out in, like, 30 minutes."

"Huh. Guess you gotta know your audience," said Sunburst.

At that moment, Starlight reappeared, three tickets held in her magic. "Okay, good news bad news: There's a train leaving shortly, but by shortly I mean, right now!"

"Then we don't have a choice," said Twilight.

The two mares looked at Sunburst with worried expressions.

He looked back and forth between the pair. "What?"

Immediately, Twilight put a hoof around Sunburst. "Sorry, Sunny. I know you hate this." Then there was a bright magenta flash.

Suddenly finding himself on Ponyville's train platform, Sunburst wobbled as he took a step forward, almost falling over if not for Twilight and Starlight holding him up. His ears rang with a high pitch whine. His insides churned and he tasted gastric acid in the back of his throat. He clamped shut his eyes, both in the hopes of calming his stomach and to keep out the sunlight that was both blinding him and giving him a headache.

"Come on, the train is this way," one of the others said. Sunburst felt a hoof press into his side and he began to move in the opposite direction. He dared to open one eye, but even then, everything before him was a blur. Sunburst put a hoof to his muzzle to confirm that he was still wearing his glasses. He saw a group of multi-colored blobs, mostly pink, and figured that that was the train. The fact that there were no voices telling him to change direction confirmed this.

"Okay, big step up," said Twilight as they crossed onto the train car. Sunburst was quickly pushed onto one of the seats and Twilight sat next to him.

Starlight took a seat opposite the pair. "Hold him steady," she said. "The train's about to start moving."

Sunburst felt forelimbs around him again. He was about to say that he was starting to feel better, but when the train began its acceleration, all of the sickness he was feeling a moment before returned with a vengeance. Instead of saying anything, he moaned his displeasure.

"I'm so sorry," said Twilight, gently rubbing his back. "I know you get really bad teleportation sickness."

Well I didn't know that, Sunburst thought. As far as he could remember, he had never teleported before, having never mastered the spell himself. Apparently, in this reality, Twilight occasionally felt the need to bring him along for the ride, leading to the discomfort he was currently feeling. That meant that Sunburst had another difference with this reality to report. Once he didn't feel like the train car was doing loops anymore, of course.

A Difficult Date

Thankfully, Sunburst didn't vomit. He thought for sure he was going to several times, but as the train moved beyond the fields of Ponyville and towards the mountains holding up Canterlot, his stomach settled. He was able to look out the windows and take in the sunshine and clouds and sky. It was beautiful, all things considered. At least this world he found himself in didn't seem to be out to harm him. Teleportation sickness aside...

Seeing him sitting up again, Twilight asked, "You feeling better now, Sunny? Er—Sunburst?" She took her hoof away from his withers.

"Yeah, I'm fine now," he said. "I can tell you that I've never experienced that before. But since I've never managed to use a teleportation spell, I don't know whether that's because of my physiology here or if that would happen to me in the other universe too."

"You never mastered the technique here either," said Twilight. "I always have to take you with me when I teleport, although I obviously don't do it unless it's necessary."

"Then it still seems like all of the differences so far have to do with your relationship," said Sunburst.

"Hmm..." Twilight scratched at her chin with a hoof. "You said the spell used the magic from the Crystal Heart. Since it draws power from the light and love inside of ponies, I suppose it's possible that it sent you here specifically because of our relationship."

Starlight nodded. "Then I guess that's our starting point for finding out how this universe is different from Sunburst's."

"We should probably start at the beginning," said Sunburst. He turned to Twilight. "How did you two end up together?"

Twilight smiled. "Well, it really started with a visit you made to Ponyville when we went antiquing together. We had so much fun going through old relics and books and maps. I'm not even joking when I say that I'm usually the only one in that store. To meet somepony else who shares that with me was amazing. And then to find out that you also spoke Olde Ponish on top of that! I mean, it should've been obvious to me right then and there that we had a special bond between us.

"But that was just the beginning. After that, we became pen pals using some of the old antiques to exchange letters back and forth. You were still living in the Crystal Empire. We wrote to each other about magic and Flurry Heart and Equestrian history and..." Noticing Sunburst's look of total bafflement, Twilight stopped her story. "By the look on your face, I'm guessing that none of that sounds familiar to you."

Sunburst shook his head. "Exactly the opposite. I'm so confused because that's exactly what happened in my universe. So far, nothing you told me is any different from what I remember."

Now it was Twilight's turn for befuddlement. "What? That was how you brought us together! After several weeks of letters, you asked me to come to the Crystal Empire's Northern Lights Festival with you. Of course, I thought you meant as some sort of dignitary, but after a couple hours—" Twilight facehoofed. "Sweet Celestia, that's what's different isn't it? In your universe, I never took the hint! You spent the whole night with me at the Festival, holding out chairs and complimenting me, and I never put two and two together because I was such a naïve, socially inept pony."

"No, that's not what happened," said Sunburst. "I never invited you to that Festival."

"Really?" said Starlight.

Sunburst and Twilight immediately looked over at the other mare. Starlight looked back at Twilight and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I just think it's sort of weird. I mean, why would Sunburst send you all of those letters if he wasn't planning on doing something about it?"

"Well, who's to say he didn't?" said Twilight. She looked back at Sunburst. "Did you try to do something else to win me over in your universe?"

At that question, Sunburst noted that Starlight leaned forward and Twilight's gaze was fixed tightly on his face. This was why he tried to never get involved in relationship talk with mares. The stallion suddenly felt like he was being interrogated. "Uh..."

Before Sunburst completed his thought however, he was struck with the strange feeling that he shouldn't just blurt out his answer. However, that couldn't be right. Time was of the essence, and lying certainly wouldn't help him get back home. So what if talking about his love life was a bit uncomfortable?

He quickly brushed the thought aside and continued, "I didn't do anything, actually. I was happy to just keep it at letters. The thought of us being more than friends honestly never even occurred to me."

Starlight put a hoof to her muzzle in shock. And Twilight's expression melted. Her mouth hung open and her eyes lost all of their glimmer. Her shoulders sank. It was as if Sunburst's words had physically hurt her. Sunburst's subconscious was now kicking him in the gut for not listening to his instincts. However, he still didn't understand what he'd done wrong.

"What?"

"I see," said Twilight, looking away from the stallion. "So you've never found me attractive."

Oh, that's how I bucked up... I'm just like her Sunburst in almost every way, so she thinks because I didn't fall for her, then he probably doesn't think she's good looking.

"No no, that's not what I meant!" Sunburst said. Give her an excuse. Any excuse. "I just felt so lucky that I got to talk magic with the pony who fixed Starswirl's unfinished masterpiece and discovered the Elements of Harmony. I'd never considered that you'd be interested in a magic school drop-out like me."

Twilight continued to stare at the floor in front of her. "It's okay, Sunburst. I know most ponies think I look plain. Let's be honest, I'm no Rarity. You don't need to pretend."

"I'm not pretending," he said. "You're a Princess for pony's sake! Who doesn't think you're beautiful?" Twilight finally looked back at him. Now give her something specific. "For instance, I really like your... mane! It's so nicely styled no matter what happens. I've always got these stray hairs poking out at weird angles like a disheveled vagabond."

At that, Twilight actually laughed. "And I find it quite endearing." She reached up a hoof and gently tousled Sunburst's bangs. "You know, the first compliment you gave me that night was about my mane. I wore my crown because I assumed I was there in an official capacity. When I first saw you, I asked if it needed adjusting because I hadn't found a mirror yet. Then you said, 'Even if all you had was that mane on your head, nopony would doubt for a second that you are a Princess of Equestria.'"

I really said that? Thankfully, Sunburst was savvy enough not to say that part out loud. Instead, he pushed her to share more. "What else happened that night?"

Sunburst expected Twilight to smile again. To his surprise the mare's cheeks turned red and she said, "Hoo boy, I usually don't like going into details about that night. I just tell ponies that it was our first date."

"What went wrong? Was it something I did?"

"Not at all!" Twilight shook her head. "You were a perfect gentlecolt and the Festival went off without a single problem. At the time, the evening was fantastic. It was only in retrospect that I started to feel embarrassed by how I acted." Twilight bit her lip and bobbed her head a bit from side-to-side as she thought about what she wanted to say. "Let's just put it this way: I'm glad you, personally, didn't have to go through it.

"After we entered the Festival grounds, I asked you where Cadence and Shining were at. You took me up to the Palace and I got to talking with them. At that point, it was like you weren't even there. You tried to come into the conversation a few times, but then Flurry started to cry and I actually asked you if you could go take care of her. Of course, being the kind-hearted stallion that you are, you started to leave. Cadence immediately said, 'No, I've got it' and told you to stay. Then, after I talked to Shining a bit more, he said he was going to help Cadence and told us to go enjoy the Festival and that he would catch up with us later. That should've been my first clue."

Twilight sighed. "You had talked to Shining beforehoof to make sure he was okay with you asking me out. He'd talked to Cadence, who was thrilled with the idea of me finally having a coltfriend, and the two were trying to get us back to our date."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," said Sunburst. "I'm guessing my letter just didn't make it clear."

Suddenly, Starlight burst out laughing. Sunburst looked at her and she said, "I'm sorry, but it's just too funny. That's exactly what our Sunburst said to Twilight to make her feel better after the fact. I looked at the letter with her when she got back and trust me, you made it Crystal Pony clear. You started the letter off with some stuff about how nice it was to get to know Twilight over the past two months, and how great you thought she was, and then you wrote something along the lines of 'I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the Northern Lights Festival.' The only thing you didn't do was put 'PS: Just so we're clear: I, Sunburst, am asking you, Twilight Sparkle, to go on a date. PPS: Yes, I mean a date date' in bright red ink at the bottom."

"Alright then," said Sunburst. "Well, maybe I could've at least bought her flowers or something to bring it home."

To that, Starlight actually fell out of her seat and Twilight facehoofed. "Horseapples, you really do think just like my Sunny," said Twilight. She took a deep breath and continued, "So, we go back outside and there's this flower stand selling crystal roses. I pointed it out because we had talked a bit about agriculture in the frozen north in our letters. You immediately walked over to the vendor and bought a couple of them. Then, you came back and said, 'For you, Miss Sparkle' and I proceeded to take one—just one—of the two flowers."

Starlight's laughing redoubled at this. Sunburst couldn't hide the look of total bewilderment on his face.

"Yes, yes, I know it's ridiculous," Twilight said. "At the time, I thought you bought two flowers so that we could each have one as a souvenir. But it only got worse from there."

"It got worse?" Sunburst found it challenging to envision how things could get worse than that. He could hardly fathom how hard this must have been on his other self.

From the floor of the train car, Starlight held up a hoof, "Oh, oh! Tell him about the restaurant next!"

Shaking her head, Twilight first asked, "I'm guessing your universe also has La Gemme en Cristal, right?"

Sunburst blinked. "Uh, yeah. It's the nicest place in the Empire. Are you saying I took you there for a first date?"

"With reservations and everything," Twilight said. "After a short wait, we go to sit down and, as I approach my chair, I see it light up with your magic and slide out. So, like any reasonable mare, I say 'Oh, sorry. I didn't realize you wanted that one.' Then I turn around and sit down on the other side of the table."

"You thought I pulled out the chair... because I wanted to take it?" Sunburst certainly wasn't one to talk, but even he could hardly imagine how Twilight could be so utterly clueless.

"Look, I didn't get out much back then, okay? Until we started dating, I pretty much never went to fancy restaurants. Half the time, by myself, I'd just go down to The Hay Burger. Remember: I thought I was there in an official capacity. The idea that this was a date didn't occur to me. But you kept trying to get things back on track...

"The waiter comes over and you ask, 'What sort of wine would you recommend for two ponies on a date?' Now, in my defense, my first thought was that I might unknowingly be on a date, but for some reason—and, Celestia help me, I don't know why!—it occurred to me that it might be a trick you use to get the best wine. You know, a fancy restaurant might reserve the best wine for ponies on dates to build its reputation. Therefore, if you imply to the waiter that you're on a date, you get better wine."

"I guess that sort of makes sense..." said Sunburst, scratching at his goatee.

"Sunburst, you're being too nice," said Starlight, standing back up. "When she said that to our Sunburst, he literally bashed his head on the table. I understand that you want to be understanding, but come on. At a certain point, Twilight was just being blind."

Twilight came back with, "Well thankfully, I wasn't blind the whole night." She looked at Sunburst. "After dinner, we went to the Aurora Launch. When we got there, Cadence and Shining were already standing on the balcony of the Palace holding Flurry and ready to announce the auroras. At that point, I started to freak out a bit. I thought I missed my cue or something. But then it occurred to me that nopony had told me anything about what I was supposed to do. Shining knows I'm not a fan of impromptu speeches. If I was supposed to say something, he would've told me about it.

"When the auroras began to fan out from the peak of the castle, all the pieces started to fall together. I realized that you hadn't invited me there to be some kind of celebrity guest. I was there to be your guest... And you were an excellent host."

The tendrils of light now dominated the evening sky in every direction. Ponies all around gave ohs and ahs in response to the spectacle. The auroras were beautiful in ways both obvious and subtle. The colors were bold. The shifts in position were elegant. Their majesty totally eclipsed the moon and stars.

Twilight tore her eyes away and looked over at Sunburst. The stallion was only half watching the sky. His ears were down. He was both deep in thought and at a loss for words. Twilight moved closer to him and the act drew his eyes to her.

"Sunburst, this was supposed to be a date, wasn't it?"

Relief washed over Sunburst's face and he shouted, "Yes! I mean..." The stallion re-composed himself. "Yeah, that was the idea."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I thought you invited me here to take part in the Festival as a dignitary."

"I see," Sunburst said. "Well, I guess my letter could've been a bit clearer. It's no big deal."

"But it is a big deal," said Twilight. "You obviously put a lot of effort into tonight, and you didn't get to enjoy any of it."

"Did you have a good time?" Sunburst asked.

"I... Yes, I did, but I should've—"

Sunburst cut Twilight off by putting a hoof on her shoulder. "If you had a good time, then I'm happy."

Twilight shook her head. "But Sunburst, I screwed up. Going on a date is supposed to be exciting and fun. I ruined it."

"If one of your friends made a mistake like that, would you hold it against her?"

"No, I suppose not," she said. "But there has to be something I can do. This is like a friendship problem. I have to fix this." Twilight looked around. Beyond the ponies gaping up at the sky, she could see the vendors each quietly packing away their wares. "Oh, great! The Festival is wrapping up. We don't have enough time to do anything else."

"Well, there were two more things I was considering," said Sunburst. From inside his cloak, he pulled out a small parchment.

"You made a date checklist?"

"It might seem a little silly, but I like using lists. It makes it easy to keep your thoughts organized. It also made the whole thing seem a lot less intimidating when I could see it all written out."

Always intrigued by organization, Twilight peaked at the list's contents. At first, she didn't understand what it said, but then it became clearer. "It's in Olde Ponish," she said.

Sunburst nodded. "That way, if anypony else found it, they probably wouldn't know what it said."

Turning on the Olde Ponish part of her brain, Twilight worked her way through their evening. From picking her up at the train to being right here in time for the auroras, it was all there. That made her smile again, to realize that, even if she might have frustrated him, at least Sunburst got to do everything he'd planned so far. The next item, number six, was to go on a walk to a gazebo a few streets over.

"Well, we can certainly go for..." Twilight stopped. She had noticed the last thing on the list.

It was a simple word, but it seemed to fill the page once she saw it:

ᛕᛟᚢᛋᛋᛖ

A kiss.

All of Twilight froze. Her hooves were rooted to the ground. Her mind came to a halt. Her mouth was locked slightly open.

Sunburst looked at her, confused. Then he looked back at the sheet in front of himself and realized what had happened. He quickly pocketed it again.

"That last one was totally optional! I just put it there in case... Well, in case the night seemed to go really well and you seemed to like me. We can just go for a walk."

Twilight thought back on their evening again. Her mind wanted to focus on the mishaps she had generated, but through the forest of faux pas she saw something more important: At every step along the way, Sunburst had been totally genuine. She'd had a few suitors since her ascension and half had been pompous and unbearably vain. The other half was dreadfully boring, just wanting to talk about banal nothings like how much they enjoyed craft ciders and buckball. And afterwards, she'd caught wind that a few had used the one date she'd given them to brag to everypony they met that they went out with a Princess. The stallion standing in front of her now seemed different.

"Sunburst," said Twilight. "You met me when I got here. You bought me a rose. You took me to a nice restaurant." She looked skyward. "And this whole event is very romantic. The northern lights are truly gorgeous this year. Any mare would love a first date like this." She turned back to Sunburst. "Why did you ask me out?"

At first, Sunburst was taken aback at the question, but he quickly formulated his thoughts. "Because we seemed to have a lot in common, and I really enjoyed getting to know you through our letters. But just as important, I asked you out because I wanted to show you a good time."

Sunburst moved closer to Twilight. She could see the greens and blues of the auroras glinting in his glasses. "Twilight, you work so hard. In every one of your letters, you talked about something that you were doing for your friends or for Ponyville or for Equestria. I wanted to give you a night where you could be as happy as you make all the ponies around you."

Yeah, this one's different. Twilight smiled. "Could I see that checklist again?"

After a moment's hesitation, Sunburst pulled the list back out and watched as it was taken up by the magenta of Twilight's magic. She looked it over, then said, "You know, whenever something I put on a checklist has conditions, I always add them as subpoints. That way, I know when the conditions have been met." Her horn glowed with a flash. "There." She glided the list back to Sunburst, who took it in a hoof and read what she added:

✓ The night goes really well
✓ She seems to like me

Upon seeing the checkmarks beside each point, Sunburst's cheeks flared red. He lifted his eyes from the page and found that Twilight was now even closer to him. He swallowed the spit that had begun building up in his mouth. He felt his neck moving his head forward. In that moment, he wasn't sure if it was happening voluntarily or if some sort of force was compelling him forward.

Very quietly, he said, "You know, you didn't write it in Olde Ponish. Now anypony can probably guess what the list is about."

Whispering back, Twilight said, "They're about to see this. I think the secret's out."

Like gravity, as they grew closer, they accelerated until the moment of contact. And then the light show overhead no longer seemed like the most spectacular thing going on at the moment. Their lips met closed, then began to open slightly. Twilight felt Sunburst's lower lip fall between hers and carefully clamped down on it. The pair breathed in simultaneously and each felt the breeze generated by the other's nostrils. Both brought a hoof behind the other's head and gently encouraged each other to let the moment last.

When it ended, the two ponies rested their heads on each other's necks and continued their embrace. The lights up above continued to dance, yet neither saw them, as their eyes were still closed.

"I always love completing a checklist," Twilight said, rubbing a hoof back and forth from the middle of his back up to his withers.

Sunburst laughed. "Well, technically, to finish the list, we also need to go for our walk."

Twilight laughed, too. "You're right." She pulled back and the two looked into each other's eyes again. Then, Twilight's smile grew bigger. "And also technically, the checklist was ordered. So really, we can't check off that last one until the one before is complete."

Sunburst's head tilted slightly in confusion. "Okay, but if we do it that way, then in order to complete the list, after we get to the gazebo..." The red in Sunburst's cheeks began to spread to the rest of his face.

"Yep," said Twilight, taking the stallions hoof in hers and guiding him down the street. "Sometimes a pony has to make sacrifices for the sake of organization."

Author's Note

Sorry this chapter took me so long. For reasons that I think should be obvious, I just had to get this one right. I won't promise that the next ones will come out any faster, but at least I'm not going to feel as strong of a need to slave over every single word choice and structure decision like I did here. I hope you feel the final product was worth the additional effort.

A Troubling Train Trip

Upon finishing her story, Twilight was smiling again. "After that," she said, "we started dating. It was a little tough since it was long-distance, but Cadence helped a lot. She kept finding any excuse to send you on trips to Ponyville. I remember one time she had you come to town to help me pick out a new high chair for Flurry Heart because she outgrew the old one I'd bought her."

"Well, I do take my responsibilities as Flurry's crystaller pretty seriously, so Cadence is often willing to ask for help with things that other ponies might find strange," Sunburst said. "But yeah, it seems like she probably had ulterior motives in that case."

"Maybe you really thought it was for Flurry at first, but it became pretty obvious to both of us what her true motives were," Twilight said. "Has your Cadence ever sent you on official crystaller business as a way of encouraging you to get a marefriend?"

"Not that I'm aware of," said Sunburst, tapping at his goatee. "However, I might have to think back on some things. Like, there were a couple of weeks there where she insisted I go buy Flurry something new every day from this one particular toy shop run by a mare about my age. And then she invited that mare to some royal functions to perform 'on-site quality assurance' and told me to work with her on checking Flurry's toys. At the time, I thought she was being an overprotective parent, but now..."

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like my sister-in-law. If she thinks she sees the possibility of a connection between two ponies, she'll go out of her way to make something happen. Apparently that trait crosses universes, too."

After having been silent for a while, Starlight joined back in the conversation. "Gosh, how crazy is this? Alternate universes. Alternate versions of ourselves. Similar, and yet still distinct."

Before Sunburst could say something in response, his stomach gave a low rumble. "Oh," he said, looking down at his torso. "I guess one of the differences is that this version of myself hasn't eaten in a while."

"We were both waiting so we didn't spoil our appetite for the planning dinner," said Twilight, standing up and moving into the aisle of the train car. "I'm actually feeling a little peckish myself. I'll go to the snack car and get us something to eat. Do you want anything, Starlight?"

"I'm good, actually, but thanks," said Starlight.

At that, Twilight was gone in a flash of teleportation. This left Sunburst and Starlight alone and the two looked at each other for a few moments. Again, Sunburst tried to gauge Starlight's expression to judge how to proceed and, again, he found it to be basically impenetrable. Her forehead was wrinkled. Her brows were raised, Her lips were pursed in a soft frown. And she still seemed more interested in looking at his suit than his eyes. Sunburst didn't know what to make of it all.

Before he could say something, Starlight spoke first. "So when you became pen pals with Twilight, you really weren't trying to start anything romantic?"

It took Sunburst a moment to think of how he wanted to phrase his response. He understood what she was asking, but he didn't understand why she was asking him about something like that. He certainly didn't have any insight into what his other self might've wanted from being pen pals.

"I mean, I can't speak to what your Sunburst was thinking. Maybe romantic interest was his reasoning all along or maybe he only decided to take a shot at Twilight after a few letters. Obviously, he and I differ somewhere in between that trip to Ponyville and his letter asking Twilight to the Northern Lights Festival. For me, personally, romance was never part of the equation. I thought it was nice to have a friend to talk to about history and stuff. Nopony else ever cares about arcane magic and Olde Ponish."

"Oh, okay." Starlight looked out the window. The train had made it past Canterlot and was now heading northwest across the plains beneath Cloudsdale. Outside, the rainbows gently falling from the clouds gave a nice splash of color to a scene that would've been otherwise rather dull. Instead, it was one of the best vistas on the ride between Ponyville and the Empire. In spite of that, Sunburst was fairly certain that Starlight wasn't admiring the view.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

Starlight kept looking at the rainbows, but asked, "In your universe, if you aren't with Twilight or some toy shop owner, who did you end up with?"

Once more, Sunburst had the suspicion that he shouldn't just blurt out his answer. He decided to take a page out of one of the political lessons Shining had given him on how to talk to the press. "I'm really happy with what my life in the Empire has given me. I have a respected position that also gives me time for my academic pursuits. What more could a pony want?"

"What?" Starlight brought her eyes back to Sunburst. "Are you telling me you aren't even dating anypony?"

Not able to think of another way to give a diplomatic response, Sunburst simply said, "Pretty much. My mom set me up on a blind date about a year ago and I don't think I've been on a date since."

"But why?!" Starlight's expression had changed somewhat. Her eyes had widened and her mouth showed some of her teeth. Irritation now tinged the words she spoke. "You have everything going for you. You said it yourself: you have a respected position that gives you plenty of free time. Your patron is literally the Princess of Love! You're smart and interesting. You helped save the Crystal Empire when the Heart shattered and then you helped save all of Equestria from the Pony of Shadows. In this universe, you're getting ready to marry a Princess. In yours, you could easily get any mare to go for coffee with you, at least."

"I'm more of a tea stallion, personally," said Sunburst, smiling a bit.

However, Starlight's mood didn't lighten at the joke. "You know what I'm saying. Why don't you have a marefriend?"

Sunburst was perplexed at the gravity behind Starlight's question. This did not seem like simple "mare talk" about romance. Starlight sounded exasperated. Her words weren't gently probing for insight. They were clawing at his chest in an effort to excavate his heart. As the muscles in his torso tightened, Sunburst couldn't help but feel a bit defensive.

"Why do I need one? I mean, I have nothing against getting a marefriend, but I'm not in any rush to find somepony and start a life together. I really am happy being a researcher and Flurry's crystaller. Plus, relationships are a lot of work.

"There was a time a couple years ago when it looked like my life wasn't going anywhere, but now I'm getting my life on track and I don't want to complicate things. I know for my mom—and I guess Cadence, too—me ending up with somepony might seem really urgent. To me, it just isn't."

"But once things stabilize," Starlight said, "you're gonna start trying to pursue a relationship, right?"

Where is this coming from? In his universe, Starlight and Sunburst never talked about such things. Therefore, he couldn't tell if this was unusual behavior. Starlight could certainly be intense when she wanted something, but Sunburst had no idea what she wanted from him.

"I hadn't really thought about it, to tell you the truth. Maybe I'll find somepony, maybe I won't. It really isn't a priority for me."

"Alright, whatever." Starlight went back to looking out the window. She framed herself so that her back was firmly facing Sunburst and her shoulders sank with a huff.

Bafflement returned to Sunburst's face. He never felt particularly comfortable interacting with other ponies. He preferred his solitude and the company of books written by those who'd been dead for centuries, but today he really seemed to be striking out over and over again. He let out a sigh.

In a magenta flash, Twilight suddenly appeared between the two. She had a couple bags of goodies in her magic and a smile across her muzzle. She turned to Sunburst, presenting him a brown paper bag. "I've got some good news from the snack car: they had lemon cinnamon rolls!"

Sunburst immediately brightened. "What? That's crazy! No place ever has those." He happily snagged the bag from Twilight. When it was near his muzzle, he could smell the spicy aroma through the paper. "How did you know lemon cinnamon rolls are my favorite food?"

Before Twilight could answer, Starlight piped up from her window with, "How do you think?"

It took a second, but Sunburst quickly realized that his question was indeed superfluous. He was going to have to get used to the idea that the Twilight in this universe probably knew a lot more about him than most ponies. In fact, she might know more about me than anypony in my universe too...

"We'll call it an educated guess," said Twilight, sitting down next to Sunburst again. "Besides, even if your favorite food was something else, I could always blink back over to the snack car."

Sunburst thanked Twilight. He began to open the packaging, but then a thought occurred to him. "You know," he said, "in my universe, you teleport all the time. Blinking in and out of places with magic is like a thing with you. Doesn't it bug you that the other me is holding you back?"

"Please, don't think like that," Twilight said, scooching closer to Sunburst so that their shoulders touched and their muzzles were only a hoof-width apart. "I've told you before that you never hold me back. You push me to be the best pony I can be."

"Uh, we only just met," Sunburst said, moving a bit away from the Princess. "I think you mean that your Sunburst pushes you to be the best pony you can be."

"Of course!" said Twilight, blushing. "Yes, I mean the other you does that. My Sunburst pushes me." Twilight also moved herself so that she was facing forward again instead of looking right at Sunburst. "I'm sorry. I'm still a bit confused is all. It's just, you're so much like Sunny."

Sunburst nodded. "I understand. Anypony would be confused and stressed out if she were you. It's not every day the pony you love goes missing into another reality."

"Not gonna lie," said Starlight, turning back to the pair. "I was actually worried Sunburst might disappear before the wedding. However, I was thinking nerves and cold hooves, not universe hopping."

Sunburst raised an eyebrow at the lack of tact and Twilight let out a whimper.

Realizing what she'd just said to Twilight, Starlight quickly moved to rectify her mistake. She got out of her seat and came over to the pair, putting a forelimb around the Princess' shoulder. "But we'll get through this! Don't worry, Twilight. Us three are gonna figure this out. You'll be saying your 'I dos' with Sunburst at the altar in no time flat... Or, you know, at the scheduled time you'd planned on."

Author's Note

I'd like to give a special thanks to My Little Pastafarian for input and help with editing this chapter.

A Frightening Feeling

With a metallic whine and a steamy hiss, the train came to a halt at the station just outside the Crystal Empire. When Sunburst looked out the window toward the crystalline cityscape, he felt a rather bizarre sensation of déjà vu. It was strange to be arriving someplace that he had no memory of leaving. In the past, whenever he was away from the Empire, he had taken the train and left. To arrive again without doing so felt wrong somehow. It was like walking out the front door and finding that the door lead back into his own house.

The three ponies stood and prepared to disembark from the train. Before they left, however, Starlight pointed out a slight problem.

"So, I'm just realizing something..." she said. "What's our game plan? Are we supposed to be going somewhere to meet up with Starswirl?"

Twilight's eyes went wide. "Oh, shoot! I didn't tell Spike where Starswirl should meet us. I just said 'the Crystal Empire.' That could be anywhere."

"I'm sure Spike would've told him to meet us at the Palace," said Sunburst. "That would make sense. It's where the Heart is, after all."

"Probably," said Starlight. "Although, knowing Spike knowing Twilight, he might think the first place we'd want to go would be the library."

"Good point," said Sunburst. "And I guess waiting here at the station could be logical. Spike knew we were taking the train, and this is going to be where Starswirl arrives, too."

"Then we'll have to split up," said Twilight. "Starlight can wait here at the station for when Starswirl arrives. I can go to the Palace to explain what's happening to Shining and Cadence. And Sunburst can get started on researching at the library since he knows the most about the spell."

The trio nodded to each other, then left the train car. As usual, the air this close to the Empire was perfectly warm despite being so far north. The station had an inviting atmosphere, but the blues, pinks, and purples of the crystal platform weren't the only things there to meet them. Upon exiting the train, a familiar voice shouted out, and a familiar stallion waved a hoof to get their attention.

"Twily!"

"Shining!" Twilight rushed into her brother's embrace. "I'm so glad to see you." After a brief hug, she pulled back a bit and looked into his eyes. "Something terrible happened."

"I know," said Shining Armor. "Spike sent a letter to Cadence and I. Starswirl is already on his way; he should be on the next train. We're supposed to meet him at the library in a few hours."

"Called it!" Starlight declared. She and Sunburst had moved next to the pair.

Shining Armor glanced at the mare and raised an eyebrow. He looked back to Twilight and continued, "How are you doing with all this?"

Twilight's shoulders hunched and she looked down. "Honestly, I feel scared," she said. "I know I've faced worse before, but knowing that isn't helping me. I think I've grown used to having somepony I can turn to when I'm feeling like this. Now that pony is the one pony I can't go to for help, and I don't know what to do."

"I know exactly how you're feeling," said Shining. "My experience was obviously different, but when Queen Chrysalis traded places with Cadence, I also lost that.

"Cadence was the pony I could go to for anything, but Chrysalis was cold and distant. I think it was part of the reason my headaches became so bad: the stress never stopped. I didn't have somepony to support me. The mind altering spell she kept using on me meant I couldn't see it, but after the fact, it was obvious she was nothing like the mare I'd decided to marry.

"Still, I kept going back to her anyway. Some deeper part of me was missing Cadence."

The stallion stepped forward and gave his sister another hug. "I'm here for you, Twily. I know it isn't the same, but I promise I'll be with you every step of the way."

Twilight pressed into the hug. "Thanks BBBFF."

After holding his sister a moment longer, Shining Armor let go and looked over at Sunburst. "And how are you feeling?"

"Me?" Sunburst was taken aback. "Well... I know I want to get home, and I want Princess Twilight to have her fiancé back. I guess I feel like I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to put things right."

Shining chuckled. "You really are just like our Sunburst. When push comes to shove, you're always ready to get down to work! I like that about you."

"Hold on," said Twilight. She stepped away from her brother and towards Sunburst. "Sunny, if anypony here should be feeling scared or lost, it's you. Sure, I've lost the pony I care about most in the world, but you've lost your whole world."

The Princess was now right next to the stallion and was looking him dead in the eye. "You're analytical like me. There's nothing wrong with that, but how you're feeling matters. If you're nervous or angry or sad about what's happened, don't be afraid to feel that way."

"I'm not afraid of that," said Sunburst. "I just know I did the right thing. My circumstances are bad, but I couldn't have lived with myself if I hadn't stepped in. Flurry would be experiencing this right now!"

Twilight nodded. "You're right, and we all appreciate that sacrifice. I'd be horrified if I knew my little niece was lost in another universe. You absolutely did the right thing." Twilight touched a hoof to Sunburst's cheek. "But that doesn't change what happened to you.

"Sunburst, how are you feeling right now?"

Sunburst looked away from Twilight. From the moment he saw Flurry Heart in danger, Sunburst had been going through the motions. He hadn't stopped to honestly think about how he felt in these circumstances. A part of him felt like he shouldn't. What good was it to dwell on this situation? Dwelling wouldn't solve anything. But maybe the Princess had a point.

He had lost everything. This Twilight, this train platform, even the particles of air he was breathing were all foreign to him. And sure, he trusted Twilight and Starswirl to make things right, but how long would that take? Days? Weeks? In the meantime, was time passing in his universe? It was certainly passing here. What if he missed important milestones, like Flurry's birthday? What if this Twilight missed her own wedding?

What if it took years? Sunburst would be like one of those ponies stranded on a deserted island, found years later, after being presumed dead. His friends could've moved on. His family could've sold all of his possessions. Everything he'd built over the past few years would be gone. How old might he be by that point? Would he even have time to restart his life?

Then again, if the other Sunburst and he had switched places, what if that Sunburst simply replaced him? Sure, the other Sunburst undoubtedly wanted to get home, too, but if that took too long, maybe he'd give up. Maybe the other Sunburst and everypony else would come to terms with this arrangement, so Sunburst would get back home, only to find everypony annoyed that he made the switch so late.

But then, there was the real kicker: what if he couldn't make it back home?

What if this was permanent and Twilight and Starswirl just couldn't fix it? Could Sunburst make a life here? Would Cadence and Shining accept him as a new crystaller for Flurry? Could he legally have the other Sunburst's house to live in? What would the other Sunburst's mother think of him? And what of this Twilight? Would she even be able to look at him anymore, knowing that, because of him, she'd lost somepony she cared so much about?

Each of these questions branched endlessly in Sunburst's mind. In that moment, it became clearer how he was really feeling.

"I feel overwhelmed, like I'm up against something so much bigger than myself that I have no hope of fighting it." Sunburst shook his head. "I feel totally powerless."

Twilight embraced him tightly. With his front hooves still on the platform, it felt less like a hug and more like someone was holding him. Sunburst's eyes shut and he leaned his head against Twilight's. Her mane caressed his cheek as one of her hooves began to caress his back. The warmth of her chest pressing against his seemed to loosen muscles he hadn't even realized were tensed.

He let himself get lost in that moment, and when he found himself again, he was surprised by the fact that he was crying. It had been so long. Of course, now certainly wasn't the best time for that. There were things to do. A problem to solve. He shook himself a bit and opened his eyes. He began to take a deep breath in.

Then Twilight said, "You don't have to cry if you don't want to."

His throat tightened. His in-breath caught with a snort. When his eyelids fell, tears dropped with them. His body began to shake. Out of his mouth came a series of six short sobs. Without Twilight holding him, he would surely have fallen over.

Oh, Celestia! Why is this happening? Sunburst felt the weight of his circumstances crashing in. It felt horrible. This was why he hadn't wanted to stop working. What good was it to dredge up this much pain? Did this Twilight just like making him suffer?

But as he cried, he realized that he had already been bearing that weight. Twilight was helping him to acknowledge that fact. He was in pain. Like blood running from a wound, his tears were not there to hurt him. They were a symptom of the underlying problem.

Twilight said nothing, but with everything in her being, she was declaring to Sunburst that he was not alone in this place. This was not something he had to face by himself. Twilight was here for him.

A little ways away on the platform, Starlight and Shining Armor were standing next to one another, watching Twilight cradling Sunburst as he broke down. Both of them wanted to do something—Starlight for her friend and Shining for his daughter's crystaller—but the situation didn't seem to call for either of them. They were stuck on the sidelines.

After a minute or so, Starlight said, "I had no idea Sunburst was feeling like this."

"Neither did I," said Shining Armor.

"But even on the train, he was staying so composed. He didn't seem unsure or anxious at all. What made Twilight press in like that?"

"When you spend a lot of time with somepony, you start to pick up on stuff," Shining said. "Sometimes even stuff that the other pony doesn't know for himself yet. Cadence can do the same thing with me."

Starlight looked on as Sunburst leaned into Twilight more, pushing his glasses askew as he buried his muzzle into her neck as tears gently streamed from his eyes.

"I see."

Author's Note

Anyone else ever feel like Spock from Star Trek IV when you're just trying to get through the day, but someone suddenly asks you how you're feeling?

A Lonely Library

At the entrance to the Crystal Empire's library, Sunburst was caught by how familiar the place felt. The seafoam green crystal griffons on either side of the staircase were totally identical to the ones he'd grown used to walking past every morning. As the group ascended, he counted 14 steps leading to the arched doorway, same as always. And upon opening the doors, the inside was just as magnificent, with its impressive staircases pointing the way to floors upon floors of ancient knowledge.

While the four walked though the Empire together, Twilight had kept close to Sunburst. The stallion was actually feeling a bit better now. Of all things, he had noticed it in his walk. Before he had admitted how he was feeling, it had been like he was walking through water without knowing it. Every step was marred by extra drag. It wasn't that he felt totally free now, but at least the weight of his circumstances were clear to him. And he knew he had somepony else in this with him.

Both Sunburst and Twilight paused for a moment at the entrance to the library, looking around at the seemingly limitless supply of books. Eventually, their gazes panned enough that the two met each other's eyes. They both smiled.

"It really is amazing," said Twilight.

"I'm glad to know I'm not the only pony who thinks this library is beautiful," said Sunburst.

"I was speechless the first time I came in," Twilight said. "We had some of our best dates here, too."

"Uh, so are we supposed to just stand here and wait for Starswirl?" Starlight said. "'Cause if we're gonna do some research, we should probably split up. This place is the biggest library I've ever been in."

"I know," Sunburst and Twilight dreamily said in unison.

"What sections should we be looking in?" asked Shining Armor.

Sunburst looked to Twilight, who also immediately looked to him. The pair's expressions then abruptly changed to confusion.

"You're the research expert," said Sunburst. "I figured you'd know where we should start."

"Sunburst, I don't know the first thing about this spell," said Twilight. "You're the one who designed it."

"Well, the real credit goes to Starswirl," he said. "All I did was help him find some books."

"I highly doubt that," said Twilight.

"No, really! I didn't do anything. All I did w—" Sunburst was silenced by Twilight pressing a hoof against his lips.

"Sunburst. Stop selling yourself short," said Twilight. "You may not think this applies to you, but like you said, our relationship status seems to be the only meaningful change in this world. You and my Sunburst are basically the same pony. You're humble, and I love that about you, but you really are capable of so much.

"You're the sort of pony who would never blame anypony else for his failures. You also need to stop blaming everypony else for your accomplishments."

Upon hearing those words, Sunburst felt a twinge in his chest. He was reminded of what Cadence had said about not selling himself short right before the accident. He knew he didn't exactly have high self-esteem, but having two ponies in one day tell him basically the same thing gave him pause. Then again, it wasn't like he didn't have good reasons to be skeptical of himself.

Ever since he had dropped out of Celestia's school, the stallion felt like he would never accomplish anything. After failing again and again at any advanced spell he ever tried, Sunburst had given up on any dreams of greatness. All he was good at was studying, all he enjoyed was studying, and so all he ever did was study. Of course, Celestia hadn't wanted him to leave her school, and then his mother complained about it endlessly. So, when the Crystal Empire reappeared, it had seemed like the perfect place for him. He could study away from any of the ponies that he was so constantly disappointing.

But had that changed? Was he still the same colt who had failed everypony who'd ever believed in him?

Either way, now wasn't the time for arguing with Twilight about if he was a capable pony or not. He needed to help her get her fiancé back as quickly as possible. And, to be fair, he probably did know more about the spell that brought him here than any pony in this universe.

"Well, the most important element of the spell was a book about thaumaturgy I found in the oldest section of the library."

"What's thaumaturgy?" asked Shining Armor.

"It means 'miracle working,'" said Twilight. "It's a rare form of magic that requires a sort of spiritual connection to be performed. To work a miracle requires a pony to put her trust in something beyond herself; it isn't a miracle if it's just something any old unicorn can do."

"But why would Sunburst's spell need some obscure type of magic to work?" Shining asked.

"The spell is intended to be used with the Crystal Heart," said Sunburst. "It's an object that was forged out of thaumaturgy in the first place. They don't call it a 'relic' for nothing. The Heart and the Crystal Ponies share a deep, spiritual connection. It's why the Crystal Heart was the only thing that could restore them when the Empire and Sombra returned."

Twilight nodded. "Then we'll want to gather some historical information on the Crystal Heart, too. I know Sombra got rid of most of the information on it, but I'm sure we can find some hints around here somewhere."

"Then let's split up," said Starlight. "We can meet back at the table down there afterwards." She pointed to the large table in the center of the library on the lower floor. "I'll go with Sunburst and look for books on magic. You and Shining can go to the history section and see what you can find about the Heart."

All four nodded and split into their separate pairs. Twilight and Shining heading to the right and down a flight of stairs, Sunburst and Starlight to the left and up one.

The library was quiet today. That wasn't out of the ordinary for a library, of course, but there were hardly any other ponies walking around. The section that Starlight and Sunburst were headed towards was likely to be totally barren. Few ponies needed to look up information on peculiar and odd types of magic, which is why such books were tucked away in an old, poorly lit wing of the library.

Of course, for Sunburst, that section was one of his favorites. He had spent hours upon hours digging through the books there and learning about all sorts of strange magical techniques. Which was why, when Starswirl and he were working together, he soon brought the venerable wizard to that place. Then, before either of them could've expected it, one of the books there had lead to the breakthrough needed for Starswirl's spell.

After Starlight and Sunburst had walked for a bit, and it was clear that the two were quite alone, Starlight said, "Sunburst, could we talk?"

"Uh, sure. What about?" Sunburst continued to make his way toward the oldest section of the library, but soon realized that Starlight had stopped moving. He looked back and saw her standing quietly, looking at the floor. Sunburst walked back toward her and asked, "What's wrong?"

The pair stood in the middle of a row of bookshelves. Their voices were well muffled by the books on either side of them.

Starlight took in a deep breath. "I want to apologize. I think I was a little... let's say 'ill-mannered' toward you on the train trip. I think I misread your emotions about this situation."

"It's okay," said Sunburst. "Even I misread my emotions about this situation. It's hard on all of us."

"Well, I'm still sorry," said Starlight. "I know things have been weird between us—well, between me and the other Sunburst, but by extension with you—since that conversation we had in Ponyville."

"You mean during my visit when I met all your friends?"

Starlight blushed. She again stopped looking Sunburst in the eye in favor of looking down at his suit. "I know we haven't even mentioned it since then. Like, at all. And believe me, I'm not blaming you for that. I didn't want to talk about it either. But now, seeing as... well... I don't really know how you feel about it."

Thinking back, Sunburst remembered how he'd blown up at Starlight when she'd cast her spell to turn the pair of them into foals again. While he may have been justified in being upset, he could see how he may have really hurt Starlight's feelings. And, in retrospect, it had been a harmless experience.

"Well, I do forgive you for that," he said. "If I never expressed that clearly then, I'll say now: I'm not mad about what you did. Not anymore, at least. I know you just wanted to make it easier for us to be friends again. Your methods were a bit too extreme, but I know you had good intentions. I don't have any hard feelings about it."

Starlight's eyebrow rose. "That's... good to know..." Starlight looked Sunburst in the eye again. After a short pause, she continued, "Sunburst, I think there's another difference in your timeline. Something about that conversation we had when you came to Ponyville might have gone differently."

"Really?" Sunburst hadn't considered that possibility. Everything different so far had involved Twilight, but while Twilight had been indirectly involved in that situation, she wasn't even present when it happened. "Well, in my universe, you tried to have us bond over our shared passion for magic. Then you turned me into a foal out of nowhere, just so that we could play Dragon Pit like when we were little!"

"Uh... that actually went the same." Starlight's gaze fell down to Sunburst's hooves. "I was talking about the other conversation. The one we had after the full-sized game of Dragon Pit."

"Which one?" Sunburst asked.

"The one where you asked if we should try dating instead of just restarting our friendship."

The stallion's eyes went wide. "Then that's definitely a difference. I never even had that conversation with you."

Starlight's pink face became totally red and she put a hoof to her forehead. "Oh, wow, then I was totally out of line on the train! Sweet Celestia, from your perspective, I was a total bi—totally ill-mannered pony." Starlight shook her head and looked back at Sunburst's face. "I thought you were acting like that conversation never happened because you were mad at me about it. Like you blamed me for the fact that you didn't end up with somepony in your universe."

"So you rejected me? Eh... I mean, the other Sunburst?"

"It's not like that. There's nothing wrong with you, or the other Sunburst. You're both great." Starlight shook her head and shut her eyes. A pair of small tears became visible at the edges. "It's because there's something wrong with me."

Sunburst moved closer to Starlight and put a hoof on her shoulder. "What is it? Is it a health problem? Have you gotten a second opinion?"

"No, it's nothing like that! It's a problem with who I am as a pony."

Starlight pulled herself away from Sunburst and leaned against a nearby shelf. She ran a hoof along some of the books there. Her eyes were closed. She said, "It was a decision I made a while ago. After everything that happened with my village, I realized that I should never be in a committed relationship. I know it might not make sense to you, but I can't trust myself not to take advantage of whoever I end up with.

"If I were in a relationship, how would I make sure that I didn't turn into the same sort of manipulative tyrant that I was with the ponies in my village? Because you know, on some level, I actually cared about them. I thought I was helping them. I thought I was their friend, not just their leader.

"Who's to say the same thing wouldn't happen with a coltfriend or a husband—dear Celestia!—what if I did that to my own foals?! Turned them into my own little micro-village of whatever twisted ideology I happen to pick up in the next ten years?"

"Starlight, there's no guarantee that you'd do that."

Starlight turned back to him. Her muzzle was now soaked with tears. "But there's no guarantee I wouldn't! And there's plenty of evidence that I would. It'd be irresponsible to put myself in that position."

"Even with everything you've done since then? Saving Equestria from Chrysalis, saving Stygian, becoming a school counselor. How can you do all that and not think you've changed since you reformed?"

"But since my reform I also brainwashed Twilight's friends with a Fiducia Compelus spell and nearly got Trixie killed when the anger I'd literally bottled up about her got out and infected other ponies." Starlight shook her head. "If I'm so careless that I can put my best friend in that sort of danger, I have no business looking for a husband."

"That's ridiculous!"

The mare snorted. "Forget it. You don't understand." Starlight started walking again. "Let's just grab those books you were looking for and get to work..."

Sunburst opened his mouth to voice further objections, but quickly realized that Starlight was in no mind to debate the matter. When she rounded the corner ahead of him without even looking back, Sunburst simply sighed and followed her.

Author's Note

This took longer to get out than I had expected. Firstly, I didn't do any work on it until the start of January to give me time to work on a non-MLP writing project. The other reason was that I just wasn't happy with how this chapter first turned out, so I needed to make serious modifications to it. I was done with the first version by January 31st, as I'd hoped, but I couldn't bring myself to hit "Publish."

On the plus side, I ended up splitting this chapter into two parts, so the next chapter should be out soon.

Thank you readers for your patience. I think the overall story will be stronger for the changes, even if it meant a delay in releasing this part of it.

A Surprising Situation

After collecting several books that seemed relevant, Starlight and Sunburst returned to the table they'd agreed to meet at. Unfortunately for them, Shining and Twilight still hadn't come back yet, which left the two sitting in silence, browsing through theory books on thaumaturgy, enchantments, and relics. Sunburst had gotten some parchment and a quill for taking notes from the librarian. Whenever he found something interesting, he jotted it down. Occasionally, Starlight would say something, but always curtly and without showing any enthusiasm or interest.

"In 'Enchanted Gemworks' on page 164 there's an anecdote about a pony who used a gemstone to suppress negative impulses," Starlight said, continuing to flip pages and without looking up at Sunburst. The stallion shook his head and noted the reference.

"That sounds like a possible lead," said Twilight. The two looked up as Twilight and Shining came into view from behind some shelves. Each was carrying dozens of books in their magic. The quantity easily dwarfed the small collection that Starlight and Sunburst had scrounged together. Twilight neatly stacked all of the books she'd brought onto the table. The tower swiftly reached above the height of the next floor.

"That's an awful lot of history books," said Sunburst, raising an eyebrow at the stack.

"Oh, it's not just history books. On the way there, Shining and I passed by a section on ethics. I figured some of the magical work done on reforming spells and the like might be related enough to include in our search. And we may have made a couple of other detours..."

Shining dropped his books in a rough pile next to the table. Even with his impressive magical strength, the stallion appeared winded by the shear mass of material he'd been carrying around. "She had us stop by the mathematics, psychology, natural sciences, and criminology sections."

"I just wanted to make sure we didn't miss anything," said Twilight, matter-of-factly.

"But it'll take us days to go through this many books," said Starlight. "Shouldn't we start with more related subjects and branch out from there?"

"Not necessarily," said Sunburst. "We do still have over an hour before the next train arrives. Starting big may be a good tactic. We can do a broad sweep of these books and narrow down the focus into the most important ones by the time Starswirl gets here."

"Fine! Take her side!" Starlight shook her head, turned away, and walked toward the stairs. "I'm gonna go get a drink from the drinking fountain. Let me know just how many dozens of books I need to dig through when I get back."

The exit left an uncomfortable silence. Sunburst thought about going after her, but decided it would be best to let her cool off a bit. She clearly didn't want to talk to him right now.

"Is something the matter?" asked Shining.

"I'm not sure," said Twilight. She looked to Sunburst. "Do you know what's bothering Starlight?"

Before he answered, Sunburst thought about what Starlight had said. It was clear that the reason was something Starlight had never told anypony else before. This was a secret. Sure, sharing it would help Twilight and Shining understand what was wrong, but it was obviously not the sort of thing he should spread around willy-nilly.

Think Sunburst, how do you spin this...

"Maybe the stress is really getting to her," said Sunburst. "After all, your Sunburst is her oldest friend. This can't be easy for her either."

Twilight's expression became a calculating one. Her head tilted down slightly and her eyes began to shift gently back and forth. After a moment, she nodded. "You're right. This is my fault."

"What do you mean it's your fault?" asked Shining.

The stack of books in front of Twilight lit up with her magic. One by one, the books descended down. Twilight looked at each one in turn, splitting them into two stacks.

"This whole time, I've been making this all about Sunburst and myself. I wasn't even thinking about how hard this would be on Starlight." As Twilight spoke, she continued to sort through books. After her stack was sorted, Twilight took the books that Shining had brought and began to sort them as well.

Sunburst bit his lip. Now he felt guilty for lying. The last thing he wanted to do was make Twilight feel responsible for Starlight's outburst. She doesn't have anything to do with this.

"Twilight, you shouldn't blame yourself."

"I'm the Princess of Friendship. It's my duty to be a good friend. And Starlight needs to see that we care about how she's feeling right now." Soon, Twilight was done with her work. In the end, there were just 10 books on the table and the rest stacked in neat towers off to the side.

Around the time Twilight got done sorting, Starlight came back. When she returned, Twilight immediately walked over and gave the other mare a hug.

The sudden embrace totally threw Starlight for a loop. She looked from Sunburst to Shining, hoping for some kind of an explanation. When none became immediately apparent, she awkwardly returned the hug, patting Twilight on the back.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Twilight continued to hug her "We're going with your idea," she said. "I picked out the most relevant books to start with. After that, if we don't find what we need, we can move on to the rest of the books."

Starlight blinked. "I don't understand."

Twilight let go and took a step back. She looked Starlight in the eyes and put a hoof on her shoulder. "I want you to know that I value you, both as a part of this team and, more importantly, as my friend."

Glancing over at Sunburst, Starlight's eyes narrowed. Sunburst discretely shook his head, letting her know that he didn't say anything to Twilight. Starlight let out a breath in relief, looked back at Twilight, and actually smiled.

"Thanks, Twilight. That means a lot to me."

The four worked diligently together. All of them skimmed through chapters. Sunburst and Twilight wrote out notes, Starlight and Shining called them out as they made discoveries. Before long, the group had amassed an impressive list of references and leads. Even Starlight was beginning to become optimistic.

As Sunburst rolled up another piece of parchment to grab a fresh one, Starlight said, "We're making great progress, guys."

"You're right," said Twilight, smiling. "Between these notes and the books we've found, I'm sure Starswirl will have some ideas for how to get Sunburst back home in no time."

"Now we just need him to get here to take a look at our work," said Sunburst. "It feels like we've been here for a while."

Shining Armor glanced up at the window overhead. "Actually, given the angle of the sunlight, he should be here any minute."

"Should one of us go meet him at the station?" asked Starlight.

Shining shook his head. "No need. I sent some of the Crystal Guard to the station. When he arrives, they'll escort him here."

As if on cue, the door to the library opened and a guardspony came galloping inside. The four all looked up and watched the stallion run forward. His head darted left and right, clearly looking around for somepony who could tell him where the Prince was.

"Bronze Buckler, down here!" Shining called and waved a hoof.

The guard looked and saw the ponies around the table on the lower floor. He swiftly charged down the stairs to meet them.

"Shining Armor," The guard gave a curt bow. His voice sounded somewhat winded. "I have come to inform you that the train has arrived. However, Starswirl the Bearded was not on board."

"What?!" Sunburst and Twilight both shouted.

"Are you sure?" asked Shining.

"Yes, sir," Bronze said. "We asked the train's staff and gave every car a thorough search. Nopony has seen him and he was not on any of the cars."

Both Sunburst and Twilight's jaws had dropped and the pair had horror in their eyes. Starlight, seeing this, quickly said, "Let's not panic yet. He probably just missed the train. After all, we almost missed ours."

Twilight took a deep breath while Sunburst gave a gulp. In unison, the pair nodded.

"Starlight's right," said Shining. "I'm sure Starswirl will be here on the next train." He looked to Bronze. "Do you know when that train is going to arrive?"

Bronze Buckler paused before giving his answer. Never a good sign from a servant of royalty. Sunburst recognized it immediately, and knew that what came next was going to be bad news.

"The next train is due to arrive tomorrow morning, sir."

Sunburst's glasses fell off of his muzzle and onto the table. Twilight began to repeatedly do the breathing exercise that Cadence had taught her. Starlight bit her lip.

"So, uh, Twilight," said Starlight. "You wanna bring over a few more of those books..."

A Weary Walk

The head librarian made her way over to the four ponies that had been pouring over books the whole afternoon on the lower level of the library. Amethyst Maresbury wasn't entirely sure what they had been looking for, but if Princess Twilight and Prince Shining were both involved, it was clearly important. To this point, she hadn't wanted to disturb them, and was more than willing to allow them to remain after hours. However, as the sun began to sink below the horizon outside, the light coming in through the windows of the library became less and less viable for reading.

"Prince Shining Armor," she said with a light bow. "Can I get you some candles to read by?"

The Prince shook his head. "Thank you for the offer, but I think we should get going soon."

The other three nodded in agreement.

"You're probably right," said Twilight. "We're not going to be able to make much more progress now, not with how tired we're getting."

"I think I read that last paragraph five times," said Starlight, putting her hooves over her eyes and rubbing them gently.

Sunburst looked over at the librarian. "Amethyst, would it be okay if we borrowed a library cart so we can come back to these books tomorrow?"

"Of course, Sunbust. I'll be right back with one." The librarian walked off to go find a cart.

"That's a good idea," said Shining, looking over at the other stallion. "I miss having you around to help out at the Palace." He gently tousled his little sister's mane. "I just keep reminding myself that you're making Twily happy, so I can't be too upset about you leaving."

Sunburst took a breath in, preparing to remind Shining that it was the other Sunburst who had left, and that he wasn't the one marrying Twilight, but he decided against it and just nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, Sunburst noted Starlight, who was again frowning and looking down at his suit attentively.

He recalled a few other occasions today—on the train, back at Twilight's castle, on the upper floor of the library—when she'd done that. In those moments, he'd assumed she just didn't want to look him in the eye. Now, he glanced over at her, and Starlight's gaze drifted up to his eyes immediately.

"How are you feeling about our progress so far?" she asked.

"Pretty good," said Sunburst. "I think we've got some leads. Hopefully, Starswirl can help us separate the wheat from the chaff."

"I'm sure he'll be here tomorrow," said Twilight. "Like Starlight said, he probably just missed the train."

"In the meantime, you're all invited to the Palace for the night," said Shining.

At that, a question arose in Sunburst's mind, and he voiced it to the room. "Do I still have my house in this universe since I've been living at Twilight's?"

Twilight answered with a nod. "You do. We've been talking on and off about selling it. Obviously, we can stay with Shining and Cadence when we come to the Empire, but it could be nice to have someplace quieter than the Palace. Plus, the housing market's not great right now, and your mortgage rate was pretty good, so it might be a decent investment if we hang onto it for a few more years."

Sunburst smiled and had to fight back a laugh. In his mind, he was picturing himself and Twilight holding each other by a roaring fire and whispering sweet financial tips into each other's ears. He imagined Twilight looking deep into his eyes as she listed the pros and cons of selling and reinvesting the money into a retirement account. It seemed the farthest thing from romantic.

After a moment, though, he frowned.

Having a joint investment portfolio was probably the last thing somepony would call "sexy," but it was something that Sunburst would only consider having with somepony very close to him. The fact that the other Sunburst had disclosed how much he spent on his house showed him how serious their relationship was in a way that everything else so far couldn't. He hadn't even told his own mother. Although she'd dug into public records to find out on her own, but that was besides the point...

With that extra piece of information—as mundane as it might seem to somepony else—Sunburst now couldn't have any doubt in his mind about Twilight being his fiancée in this version of reality.

"Are you thinking you'd rather go back to your place tonight?" asked Shining.

"No, no. The Palace is good."

It had been a long time since Sunburst had actually looked up and gazed at the Crystal Palace in all its glory; normally, he just walked to it like it was nothing. Often, his head was buried in a book, and on days when the roads were busy, he would be apologizing to random ponies he bumped into. Today, as he approached, he stared at the white spires as if he was seeing this all for the first time, and had to apologize when he bumped into Starlight.

"Sorry," he said, looking at his friend.

"Is everything okay?" she asked. Before Sunburst could respond, she added, "Like, 'right now' okay, not 'generally' okay. I know this whole situation isn't okay." Sunburst nodded and opened his mouth, but Starlight continued, "Not that you have to tell me if something's wrong, of course. But even if you are from another universe, I'd like to think that we're sort of friends. So, I'm more trying to say that if you feel comfortable telling me what's wrong, I'm happy to hear it."

This time, Sunburst waited a moment, and when Starlight didn't keep talking, he said, "I was just admiring the Palace and got a bit distracted."

"Okay, cool. Just distracted. That's alright." Starlight turned and continued towards the Palace.

Walking forward again himself, Sunburst looked down at the shimmering street beneath him. He could see the faint white-gray of his hooves reflecting in the deep purple. For a moment, he was surprised by how he had never noticed how the iridescent surface behaved. It looked like his hoof was connected to a ghost; at the point his leg became orange, there was no reflection above that. It made sense: orange and purple were almost contrasting colors, and the surface of the road wasn't exactly a perfect mirror to begin with.

This time, because he was looking down instead of up, Sunburst noticed Twilight before he collided with her. He broke from his reverie and moved, coming abreast with her instead of slamming into her.

The alicorn looked at him and smiled slightly. "Let me guess: you're thinking about the architecture," she said.

Sunburst looked back and raised an eyebrow. "Close enough. How can you tell?"

"Whenever you get really tired, you start making observations about anything around you," said Twilight. "It's like you can't focus anymore, but your brain is still galloping as fast as ever, so everything becomes interesting."

He nodded. "That sounds about right." To his left, Sunburst faintly heard Starlight let out a sigh. It was probably just that she was tired herself, but he couldn't help the feeling that it was in reference to what he'd just said.

"We're all really tired," said Shining. "If anypony wants something to eat, you're more than free to use the kitchens, but I think I'm just gonna go right to bed."

"Me too," said Twilight.

"Same," said Starlight.

Sunburst was about to answer like the others, but he felt his empty stomach give him a nice growl in protest. "Actually, a quick snack sounds good to me."

It was about that time that they reached the Palace. The four all turned to face each other and said their "good nights." Sunburst separated from the group there. The other three entered through the door that lead to the sleeping chambers, while he took the door directly across that would take him to the kitchens.

By then, the sun had totally sunk below the horizon. Still there were ponies milling about the streets a block or two away in the civil twilight of the early night. Those ponies were mostly heading home themselves. The day was over; it was time to rest.

After a few moments, however, one of the doors beneath the Palace opened up again. Out of the door came Starlight Glimmer. The mare looked back and forth as if expecting somepony to be walking by, or perhaps watching her. She took a deep breath and bit her lower lip. Then, quietly, she made her way across the small courtyard, and entered through the door that Sunburst had taken.

Author's Note

I went back and forth on whether I should split this chapter in half. I decided that I should. So good news is that this chapter came out now, the bad news is that it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. I apparently have a habit of breaking up chapters and releasing them in two chapter bursts for my longer stories... On the bright side, I should be able to get that second half out fairly soon. My plan is next week.

My apologizes for the unintended hiatus. It's been a long few months for me, but I'm really glad to be writing again. :twilightsmile:

A Nervous Night

Sunburst actually found himself smiling as he collected the ingredients to make himself a sandwich. It felt normal, coming into the Palace's kitchens late at night after the staff had left and whipping himself up something at the end of the day. Typically, the circumstance was being kept up late looking after a Flurry Heart who refused to go to bed, but at this point, he'd take any form of normalcy.

He set out daffodils, lettuce, and a tomato, and then went to get the bread. A traditional DLT was made on white. Having made that selection, he considered if he wanted to mix things up. Setting down the bread, he went over to the refrigerator and looked around. Soon, he spotted a bowl of sliced lemons. He took out one of the slices and closed the fridge, still smiling.

The simplicity of this was relaxing in just the right way.

As Sunburst prepared his snack, he heard a voice behind him say, "You do know the 'L' doesn't stand for 'lemon,' right?"

He looked around and saw Starlight standing in the doorway. The mare had a nervous expression on her face. It certainly wasn't the look he'd expected from somepony who had just made a casual joke.

"Hey, Starlight. Did you decide you wanted something to eat, too?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess I could eat something. I'll use up the rest of your tomato there so it doesn't go bad."

The mare cantered over and lit her own horn. She prepared herself a sandwich like Sunburst's, but sans lemon. As she worked she asked, "How are you feeling after today?"

Sunburst thought for a moment, then said, "Pretty good, all things considered. I think we made decent progress towards figuring out how the spell sent me here. Hopefully, Starswirl will be able to put everything together when he gets here tomorrow."

"Hopefully," said Starlight. "Starswirl is certainly an impressive wizard, but I think you and Twilight are quite capable yourselves. I think there's a good chance one of you two will figure it out first."

"That's nice of you to say," said Sunburst. "But having worked with Starswirl so much recently, I can tell you that his knowledge is beyond impressive. He occasionally makes me feel like I'm learning about magic for the first time."

Starlight capped off her sandwich. Then, "Have you and Starswirl grown close since you've been working together?"

"I'd like to think he and I are friends now," he said. "Although I guess in this universe that wouldn't be the case." Sunburst frowned thinking about that. "He and I barely knew each other before we started on that project. It'll almost be like starting our friendship all over again."

"Yeah, there's those relationship differences again..." said Starlight, once more directing her gaze at Sunburst's chest. Her brow furrowed and she gently bit her lower lip.

Sunburst wasn't sure why, but it was beginning to irk him. It wasn't like he always gave great eye contact whenever he was talking to somepony else, but this behavior seemed off. So this time, the stallion decided not to ignore it.

"Why do you keep doing that?" he finally asked.

Quickly, Starlight looked him in the eye. "Doing what?"

"Looking down at my suit."

The mare flinched and blood began to build on her face. She looked like a filly with her hoof caught in a cookie jar, the red on her cheeks standing in for streaks of chocolate.

"Starlight, what's going on?"

"Oh, sweet Celestia." Starlight began to pace back and forth. "This is exactly what I was trying to avoid."

"What were you avoiding?"

"Talking about this. I really don't want to... except I do. Like, I feel like I need to, but I couldn't! And that was the plan: I could find out from you without talking about it. The whole idea was that then I wouldn't have to have this conversation, but I'd still know how you felt. Only now, you aren't you anymore.

"And that's the thing I've really been trying to work out all day. It's like I have a free pass to talk to you about this. But you're still Sunburst, so it's hard, and I'm having second thoughts now. Besides, you aren't my Sunburst, so you probably can't give me any real insight." Starlight continued pacing, but looked at Sunburst again. "Am I making any sense?"

"Uh... I feel like I'm supposed to say 'yes,' but to be honest... no. You're not making sense."

"Yeah, I was afraid of that." Starlight stopped pacing and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm just gonna explain and deal with the consequences later. A few days ago, I was at Rarity's..."

Rarity's bedroom/workroom on the upper level of the Carousel Boutique was in its usual state of organized chaos. Starlight paced back and forth on the far side of the room as Rarity worked on the suit-coat for Sunburst's planning dinner. The fashionista was looking back and forth between the design on her desk and the mannequin.

"So, what do you think? Should I add the lapel pin or leave it off?" Rarity floated an off-white, carved pearl pin in the shape of Sunburst's cutie mark in front of the suit she was designing.

"I don't know. You're the fashion expert," said Starlight.

"Come now, Starlight," said Rarity, setting the lapel pin aside and picking up a needle and thread. "You yourself said that you wanted to be a part of this."

"But it's pointless! Why am I even here?"

"Well, I'd like to think it's because you trust me as a friend and value my insights into the world of romance," said Rarity. She paused for a moment to carefully put thread through the eye of the needle. "But I'm afraid a more likely explanation is that Applejack's extra hard cider lives up to its name and I happened to be the pony tasked with taking you back to your room after Twilight and Sunburst's engagement party..."

"No, I mean why did I come over to look at that suit?" Starlight threw herself onto Rarity's bed and put her hooves over her eyes. "Why would I think that seeing you make this would bring me any closer to accepting Sunburst's wedding? I should've known it wouldn't help. It was a stupid idea."

Rarity stopped what she was doing when she heard the springs on her bed. Turning around, she walked toward her friend. "Starlight, I think it's great that you're trying to move on with your feelings. The fact that you want to accept what's happening is a good sign. And I think your idea to help me make Sunburst's suit was a good one. But..."

Starlight waited for a moment for Rarity to continue, her hooves still covering her face. However, when Rarity didn't say anything, she put them down and looked over at the other mare. Rarity was standing right next to her. The fashionista's expression was a sad one.

"Darling, I don't think you're there yet. Emotionally. You have to understand that what you're feeling now started just a few months ago. That might seem like a long time, but compared to how long you've had feelings for Sunburst, it really isn't."

"Rarity, their wedding is only a few weeks away. What if I haven't come to terms with it by then?"

"Well, Dear, that's why ponies invented ice cream, isn't it?"

Starlight rolled her eyes and hopped out of the bed, resuming her pacing. "I'm being serious, Rarity."

"So was I..." Rarity said under her breath.

"I think the problem is that conversation I had with Sunburst. He said he was interested in dating me back then and now this part of me is wondering if he still has feelings. Like, is he settling for Twilight or has he moved on?"

"The two seem quite genuinely in love, Darling. Honestly, even I get jealous sometimes for what those two have."

"But can we be sure? What if he's just putting up appearances?"

Rarity sighed. "I'm afraid he's not, Dear. Let me tell you a little story:

"A few weeks ago, I went to see Twilight. She'd been worried about some event that Celestia had asked her to oversee—I don't remember exactly what. I had finished my work for the day and was planning to stop by and make her some tea. When she gets worked up about a project, I've found that can help.

"I walked into her library and, instead of finding a stressed and worn out Twilight, I saw the last thing I'd ever expected: She was sleeping! Sound asleep on the sofa, tucked in under Sunburst's cloak. And there was Sunburst, sitting at a table right next to her, calmly going through the paperwork on her behalf. Every now and then, Sunburst would glance over at her and get this adorable grin. It's like helping her through a tough time was all he ever wanted out of life..."

Starlight winced. "Okay, I get it! You don't need to convince me any further. He's not settling. He loves her... But that doesn't mean he's moved on from how he felt about me. You can love two ponies at once, you know."

"That may be possible," said Rarity. "But let's be honest, I don't think Sunburst would ever give up what he has with Twilight."

"I know you're right. He's probably moved on and doesn't even think about me that way. I just wish I could hear it from him."

Rarity thought for a moment, then gave a gasp. Her voice sang out, "Ideaaa!"

"What is it?"

The fashionista beamed. "Perhaps we could get Sunburst to tell you how he really feels, but without him even realizing that he told you? Then you could have your closure, but wouldn't need to have a hard conversation with him."

"You mean, like, a memory erasing spell? Talk to him and then wipe his memory so he doesn't remember?"

Rarity's expression changed from excitement to terror. "Celestia, no! That's utterly horrifying. Is... is that even possible?"

Starlight shrugged. "In theory, yes, but long-story-short it's impractical to perform and you'd need to encase the spell in some sort of object. Then anypony who got her hooves on it could just start erasing memories, so it'd be incredibly dangerous even if you did succeed. Indoctrination is a much easier way to get ponies to give up their pasts."

For a moment, Rarity considered continuing that line of discussion, but if she had learned anything in all her years of sewing, it was when to not to pull on a particular thread. She went back to her original point. "What I mean is: I could talk to Sunburst about this and then put something on his suit that would signify his answer. That way, you would feel like it was actually Sunburst telling you, but he would never know."

Starlight's eyes lit up. "The lapel pin! You could decide to use it based on whether or not Sunburst has gotten over me."

"A perfect idea," said Rarity. "Once you see him wearing that pin, it'll be like a message right from him to you that he's moved on and now, you can too. Plus, it also solves my problem; I was totally on the fence about it."

"Everypony wins," said Starlight, now smiling. "You finish designing Sunburst's suit, he looks great in it, and I can finally move on with my life and stop worrying about 'what-ifs' and 'maybes' for whether Sunburst could still be in love with me."

When Starlight finished her story, she sighed and shook her head. Sunburst looked down at his suit himself. He noticed a distinct lack of a lapel pin. He raised a hoof and patted where one would go, as if touching the location would somehow magically make one appear.

Sunburst fought to find something to say. "Starlight, I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

"How I'm feeling right now is my own fault," said Starlight, looking at the floor. "I was so stupid this morning. I saw you when you came into Twilight's Castle. Well, you were my Sunburst at the time, but this is hard enough to talk about without going into multiverse stuff.

"I saw that you didn't have the pin and there was this part of me that got so excited. Just knowing that you still had feelings for me made me feel special. Even if you wanted to be with Twilight, I was still a factor. But once I found out that I wasn't dealing with my Sunburst anymore, everything got so complicated."

Sunburst began to re-evaluate everything Starlight had done that day through this new lens. The constantly looking at his chest was obvious, but other things began to make more sense as well. Her good mood while expecting him to be nervous back at Twilight's, the conversation they had at the library, and of course, her frustration on the train ride here.

"On the train," said Sunburst, "You thought I was gonna tell you that you and I were together in my universe, didn't you?"

"It made sense to me at the time," said Starlight. "You said yourself the only difference was your relationship with Twilight. So I figured that, in your universe, I said 'yes.' And that was hard for me, because I still think I made the right decision, but this stubborn part of me wants to be with you. It was nice to think that, somewhere, that part of me might have gotten her wish. And then..."

Starlight bit her lip hard as she looked back at Sunburst. She opened her mouth and shut it again.

"What is it?" asked Sunburst, taking a few steps closer.

"I shouldn't ask this question, but I've come this far and I just have to know." She took a deep breath, shuddering as it came out.

Sunburst shook his head. "If you're asking how your Sunburst feels about you. I have no idea."

"I know, but there's something you can tell me." She looked Sunburst dead in the eye. Her own eyes beginning to water. "Is there any chance, in your universe, that the other Starlight might get to know what it's like to be more than just friends?"

Author's Note

Did I say next week? I meant "by the end of the year," of course. :twilightblush:

I don't think it's a secret that it takes me longer than expected to continue a story. In any case, thanks for sticking with me! I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

No more promises about when upcoming chapters will appear, but here's hoping that 2022 is an easier year for writing than 2021!

A Complicated Conversation

The gears in Sunburst's head couldn't decide if they needed to grind to a halt or kick into overdrive as he attempted to process Starlight's question.

Of course, the prospect of being with Starlight as "more than just friends" was something that had been brought up multiple times in his life. A young colt and filly playing together all the time always sparked comments about how they were destined to be together, and even later in life, some who remembered that the two spent so much time together in their youth would note that.

In particular, there was Sunburst's mother. When trying to meddle in her son's dating life, she would make comments like, "Well, what about that little pink unicorn you used to do everything with when you were a foal?" His mother didn't even care about the fact that this little pink unicorn was the daughter of her old rival - the potential for grandfoals easily trumped that.

And it wasn't like Sunburst hadn't considered the idea himself. In fact, the conversation he'd evidently had in this universe about that subject was something that sounded vaguely familiar, in a sense.

After trying to bond with Starlight in Ponyville, Sunburst had clearly recognized the fact that the two of them weren't going to be able to be friends the same way they were when they were foals. And for a brief moment, he'd thought about the possibility of a more intimate relationship. It sort of made sense: the two did have plenty in common—at least at one point—but they had also changed a lot as they grew up. Trying to restart that friendship was always going to be a rocky road, as each of them tried to figure out how the other had changed. Dating would be an opportunity to get to know each other in a new context, free from the history of their foalhood friendship.

But when Sunburst had looked at his own life, he realized that he was in no position to be dating anypony—especially somepony from all the way in Ponyville. Long distance relationships were hard, and he was still trying to figure out what sort of role he would play in the Crystal Empire. Plus, it wasn't like he was a particularly successful stallion. Yes, he had a home, but it was hardly a place where he could raise a family.

Now just isn't the right time, he'd told himself. It was the same line he always said to his mother.

However, Starlight's question wasn't exactly asking about now. She was asking if he could ever see himself as more than just friends with her.

In his mind's eye, he saw the two of them walking together in Canterlot. He and Starlight wandered about and not caring where their hooves took them. The air grew cold, and he surrendered his cloak to her so she could stay warm. The pair then stepped down an empty side-street, and Starlight suddenly stole a kiss when she saw they were alone—a smile shone on her face, a blush grew on his cheeks. Sunburst reached out toward her, and toward the idea of his oldest friend becoming his best friend all over again as the two fell in love.

And in that moment, he realized how easy it was to get lost in such a daydream. It felt so simple in the now, but real life was so much more complicated than moonlight kisses on secluded sidewalks. Relationships came with so many challenges. He wasn't exactly husband material at this stage in his life, and if he was honest with himself, he wasn't sure how long it would take to get there.

He looked at Starlight. The mare was gently biting her lower lip and a bead of sweat was visible just to the left of her horn. She was hardly breathing. She was clearly even more anxious for Sunburst's answer than he was about giving it.

With a sigh, he answered honestly: "Maybe," he said.

Starlight's reaction was sudden. The look of anticipation on her face shifted to a muted one. Her withers fell. Her breath released. But her cheeks held onto their hint of red. "Oh... okay..." She mumbled her response.

Seeing that something was clearly wrong, Sunburst moved closer. He reached out a hoof toward her shoulder, but Starlight countered by taking a step back.

"I just don't feel that hungry anymore," she said. Starlight levitated her sandwich into the trash can at the end of the counter. "Have a good night."

Before Sunburst could react again, Starlight teleported out of the sight. He shook his head in disbelief. If the lessons earlier in the day hadn't been clear enough, this one proved it: honesty was not always the best policy.

After finishing his sandwich alone, Sunburst made his way back to his usual guest room. He was easily able to navigate in the dim, nighttime lights of the Palace. He had nodded to the couple of guards he saw with clear signs of recognition, and they did likewise to him. He and those particular guards had obviously never met before, and Sunburst knew that, but the guards didn't. And it was easy for Sunburst to pretend for those brief moments that he belonged here.

Between those experiences and his late night snack, Sunburst was beginning to feel almost at home here. It was only in brief stabs of guilt that he remembered he had stolen this Sunburst's life. He imagined what would happen if he convinced himself that nothing was amiss. What if he just believed that this was his universe, that he was the other Sunburst, and that he hadn't been banished here?

He knew that it would be hard for him, with how much he overthought things, but maybe it wouldn't. If the last few minutes were any indication, there was little here that would be able to rip him out of that delusion. Opening the door to his room, though, he saw the one thing that certainly would.

Twilight Sparkle was standing in front of his dresser, and looking into the mirror above it. When she turned at the sound of the door opening, Sunburst saw that her face was streaked with tears. Then, her eyes lit up, and a broad smile came upon her face. Twilight began to rush toward him, but after a few steps, she froze. The smile evaporated and she shook her head. "Right, sorry, I wasn't thinking. This was your room," Twilight wiped her eyes and started to approach the door again, this time quite slowly. "I'll go see if my old guest room is free."

However, instead of letting a mare that he had apparently upset just leave on him again, Sunburst moved to meet Twilight before she left the room. He reached out and put a hoof on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

She shivered at his touch, but didn't back away. Twilight looked Sunburst in the eyes for a moment, then looked around the room and said, "This is our guest room. It's been that way for a while. And I've been so used to coming here at the end of the day when we visit my brother that I didn't remember it was my Sunburst's room first. Which obviously means that you were going to come here, so I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for," said Sunburst. "Everything you did makes sense. I just wanted to know why you were crying."

Twilight glanced back at the mirror. Sunburst followed her gaze and saw three pictures stuck to the mirror's edge. He had never put pictures there before, but it only took a moment for him to realize why the other version of himself had done so.

The first was a picture of he and Twilight, smiling together at an ancient looking library that he didn't recognize. The second, he and Twilight at what appeared to be the Grand Galloping Gala, dancing together. The third was clearly taken from behind some bushes, as blurry leaves framed the outside of the picture, but it was of Sunburst down on one knee, holding up a ring with his magic, and Twilight looking incredibly excited.

"Oh," was all Sunburst could say. He looked back at Twilight, who had started crying again.

"I know we're doing everything we can, but I'm so scared. What if we fail? What if my Sunburst is gone forever and I never have moments like those ever again?"

Sunburst wanted to assure Twilight that they were going to succeed. That in no time, she would have her Sunburst back, and that the two would get married and have foals and make so many memories together that Twilight could fill a library with all the photo albums. That everything would be right with the world by the time Celestia rose the sun again.

But he knew that wasn't a guarantee, and being honest kept getting him in trouble. Perhaps there was another way?

So Sunburst said, "Twilight, you are the most resourceful and magically gifted pony in Equestria. You rescued your friends from Tirek, you chased Starlight across time to save Equestria and reform her, and I saw you bring Stygian out of the Pony of Shadows with my own eyes. Every time the odds seemed insurmountable, and every time, you came through with flying colors. That first one, literally."

Twilight chuckled lightly at that. She stepped forward and gave Sunburst a hug. Sunburst returned it, and the two stood there for a while, resting in each other's arms.

"I know you can do this," he said, with far more confidence than he felt. He could feel Twilight nod, brushing her mane against his neck.

After a moment, Twilight straightened up and looked at him. "I'd better go get some sleep."

She moved to leave, but Sunburst held up a hoof.

"I'll go," he said. "This is your room. I can find someplace else."

Twilight opened her mouth to object, but stopped and nodded, gently smiling. Sunburst smiled back and turned to leave. But as he opened the door, he felt Twilight quickly lean in and plant a kiss on his cheek. Mouth agape, he looked back at her, and she said, simply, "Thanks."

"No problem," Sunburst said.

The two stood there for a few dozen heartbeats. Sunburst rubbed his cheek. Twilight smiled. Their eyes locked. Twilight bit her lip. Sunburst sighed.

"Good night."

"Sleep tight."

And Sunburst left.

Author's Note

So 2022 has not been an easier year for writing than 2021. Apart from writing, my personal life has been doing well. I do want to write more, though.

I got out 4 chapters in 2021. There are still 4 more months to go in 2022. Let's see if I can finish the year strong. :rainbowdetermined2:

A Muddled Morning

Sunburst awoke the next morning in a small guest room down the hall. He could tell that the sun was already up outside from how bright the walls of this room were, but he couldn't make out any details without his glasses. After stretching, he rolled out of bed and onto the floor. Igniting his horn, he pulled his glasses to his face and then pushed them up the bridge of his muzzle with a hoof.

In the morning's light, the meagerness of the room became more apparent. It wasn't as nice as the one Princess Cadence and Shining Armor had given him to use when staying over looking after Flurry Heart, but it was perfectly serviceable. Sunburst went over to the small dresser upon which he had tossed his cloak and grabbed it, only to realize that something was off. This wasn't his cloak. It was a suit coat.

The realization that he didn't have his cloak made Sunburst feel naked. Of course, he was literally naked save for his glasses, and for most of pony society that was the norm anyway, but Sunburst had grown so used to wearing that cloak. It was like a part of him.

With a sigh, he put on the outfit from yesterday before leaving the room.

Down in the dining hall, Sunburst found exactly who he was expecting to find. Cadence, Shining, Flurry, and Twilight were all sitting together at the head of the table, their dirty plates stacked and ready to be taken away. Starlight was there, too, although she was sitting half a dozen seats away, looking down at a barely eaten plate.

It was actually Flurry who noticed Sunburst first. The foal's face lit up and she flew toward him. She quickly landed on his back and wrapped her forelimbs around his neck in a warm hug. Sunburst smiled and reached a hoof behind him, patting her on the head.

"It's good to see you, too," he said.

"Sunburst, come join us," said Princess Cadence, gesturing him over. As he approached, she continued, "Did you find some place to sleep last night?"

Flurry hopped off his back and into her high chair, and sitting down next to Twilight, Sunburst said, "I did. I hope you don't mind me using one of your rooms without permission."

"Please, Sunburst. You can use any room in the Palace that you wish," said Cadence. "Given what you've done for Flurry Heart, we owe you a debt far beyond lending you a place to sleep."

To that, Sunburst shook his head. "Being Flurry's Crystaller has been a great honor, and I'm grateful that you appreciate what I've done for her, but you've given me plenty in return already."

"We aren't talking about that," said Shining. "We're talking about how you ended up here."

Cadence nodded. "You sacrificed yourself to prevent my daughter from being struck by that spell. If it weren't for you, my Flurry Heart might have been replaced with yours. Imagine how scared and confused she would've been! We should be thanking you."

Sunburst prepared to explain how he couldn't have done anything else. That anypony in his place would have done the same thing. That he didn't need any thanks. But when he saw that genuine looks of gratitude on the Princess and Prince's faces, he decided that this was not a moment for that sort of humility.

"You're welcome," he said, finally.

Twilight smiled at him and gently rubbed his shoulder.

After giving her a quick smile back, Sunburst looked down at his empty plate. "Do I need to go to the kitchen to give them my order?" Sunburst had expected a member of the Palace staff to come ask him what he wanted for breakfast.

"No need," said Twilight. "I ordered for you. Cinnamon Prench toast."

Having learned from experience, Sunburst didn't question how Twilight knew his favorite breakfast option, and instead gave a simple "thank you."

"We'll head out as soon as I've had something to eat." Sunburst looked toward the doors to the kitchen, hoping that his food wouldn't take too long.

"You know, getting there early won't make the train arrive here any faster," said Starlight from her seat down the table.

"And besides," said Twilight. "There's one other thing you have to do first."

Sunburst looked over at Twilight in confusion. She wore an impressively large grin on her face. "I think you might want to change," she said. Her horn lit up and, in an instant, a dark blue cloak with cyan stars on it appeared next to her.

At the sight of his cloak, Sunburst gaped. He couldn't figure out how that was possible. He'd assumed that, surely, his cloak was all the way back in Ponyville. Was the other Sunburst keeping his cloak here for some reason?

In explanation, Twilight said, "I had Spike send it over this morning. I know how much it means to you, and I figured you'd want to wear it today." She looked down at what he was wearing. "Although, I will admit, you look quite dapper in that suit."

Suddenly, there was a loud clang.

The Sparkles and Sunburst looked over at Starlight. The mare blushed at them and quickly said, "Just dropped my fork. Silly me." Starlight gave a light laugh. Her horn lit up and she raised the fallen fork back off her plate. "Sorry."

"That's quite alright," said Cadence, an eyebrow raised.

Sunburst turned back to Twilight. "Thank you so much," he said. "I'll go change into it before we go."

Twilight frowned at that, then she shook her head and nodded.

"What?" he said.

"It's nothing," Twilight said. "It's just that you had Rarity teach you her clothes changing spell a few months ago. We talked about how you'll have to wear dress clothes for state functions, and then you decided to streamline the process."

"Oh, right," said Sunburst. "I hadn't thought about the fact that marrying you means becoming a prince."

Twilight gave a hearty laugh. When Sunburst looked confused, Twilight said, "That's what my Sunburst said, verbatim. You two really are the same stallion."

Starlight let out an audible sigh that again made the group look her way. She looked back and said, "Speaking of getting ready, I should go do my hair before we go." In a flash of teal light, Starlight was gone from the table.

In response to the sudden departure, Princess Cadence said, "Is everything okay with Starlight?"

Shining Armor and Twilight both shrugged. Luckily, at that moment, the waitress returned with Sunburst's Prench toast, so he masked his lack of an answer by thanking her. Now did not seem like a good time to go into Starlight's complex feelings about him and this whole situation. It really didn't feel like his place.

A short while later, Sunburst, Twilight, Starlight, and Shining Armor made their way onto the train platform accompanied by a couple of guards. A decent crowd of ponies already stood there, some with bags waiting to depart, and some with none waiting for others to arrive. Sunburst wasn't surprised; the morning's first train was often a busy one.

During the lull as the group waited, Sunburst considered what meeting with this version of Starswirl would be like. As he'd mentioned to Starlight last night, this would almost be like starting over again with the old wizard. Sure, this Starswirl would've gone on their adventure to stop the Pony of Shadows together, but apart from that, they had hardly spoken.

A big difference this time was the nature of the upcoming project. In his world, Starswirl had come to him seeking his help. Now, Sunburst was hoping that Starswirl could help him. The dynamics were reversed and it made the difference in knowledge and skill all the more apparent. Would he be able to forge the same bond a second time?

The whistle of the approaching train sounded in the distance, and the four ponies turned to see a few puffs of smoke rising from the horizon. In that moment, Twilight reached out and grabbed Sunburst's hoof.

Sunburst looked over at her and said, "Is everything okay?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, then took back her hoof and blushed. "Yes, everything's fine. Sorry."

In short order, the train arrived and the wheels lightly squealed as it came to a halt. The doors opened and ponies of all colors filed out. Sunburst wasn't really looking around the crowd, however, he was instead listening. He had learned that that was a better indication of Starswirl's approach.

Sure enough, a light jingling of bells could be heard coming from a car to his left. Sunburst smiled. "There he is."

"Where?" said the other three, looking around.

Sunburst pointed to the car just as Starswirl the Bearded emerged onto the platform.

"Starswirl," he said, waving a hoof in the air.

The old stallion turned his head and gave a warm smile as he approached. When he reached the group, he quickly gave each of them a hug. "Twilight. Sunburst. Shining Armor. Starlight. How good to see you all. I only wish the circumstances were better."

This warm greeting immediately helped to calm Sunburst's concerns over this meeting. This version of Starswirl was treating him with the same level of kindness he'd come to expect from their time working together. It seemed his initial fears had been totally unfounded.

"Likewise," said Shining Armor. "Thank you for coming."

"Come, let's get started at once," he said. "You can explain to me the complete situation on our way to the Palace."

"The Palace?" Twilight said. "Don't you want to go to the library?"

"The Crystal Heart was the cause of this all, was it not?" Starswirl asked.

"It was," said Shining Armor.

"Then that is where we should begin our work."

Author's Note

I'm sure any other writers here can understand the sense of "this isn't quite good enough" that has been plaguing me for the past couple of chapters. However, I need to keep reminding myself that while an unwritten story has infinite potential, a written story is infinitely more valuable and useful. And so, here is the latest chapter. I hope it was worth the wait. :twilightsmile:

A Peculiar Plan

When the group arrived at the Crystal Palace, they all gathered around the Crystal Heart. Starswirl stood back farther than the rest, gazing upon the Heart from a distance and taking in the entirety of the area beneath the palace. He put a hoof to his chin and stroked his beard. Then, he broke the silence.

"Are there any protections for the Crystal Heart that we need to disable in order to examine it, or is it simply protected by its own magic?"

Shining answered, "There aren't any spells or other protections in place at the moment. The Heart is generally able to protect itself, with some notable exceptions."

"For example," Sunburst said. "King Sombra was able to incapacitate it using his dark magic when he took over the Empire a millennia ago."

"It's also particularly vulnerable to alicorn magic, as we discovered at Flurry Heart's crystalling," Twilight added.

"An interesting note, for sure, but as your letter implied, it appears that unicorn magic is sufficient to manipulate the Heart, even if it cannot harm it." Starswirl slowly approached the Heart, looking at it from several angles. "The question is: was the other Starswirl's manipulation the sole reason Sunburst was sent here, or was another factor at play?" Starswirl and the others looked at Sunburst.

"Well, the original target of the spell was a slightly withered houseplant," he said. "It wasn't like my Starswirl was working hard to achieve a particular result. My ending up here is probably a random accident."

"Almost certainly not," said Starswirl. "The Crystal Heart's power is exceeded only by the Elements of Harmony themselves. It is not something that can be tamed at a whim. The magic of love is as complex and organic as the feeling itself."

"You're suggesting," said Twilight, "that like the Elements and the Tree, the love magic concentrated inside may have given the Heart a degree of sentience."

Starswirl nodded. "I have studied this relic extensively. Although it is potentially vulnerable to certain types of alicorn magic—as you three discovered not too long ago, King Sombra himself failed to destroy it, despite his best efforts, and had to hide it away instead. Few ponies throughout history have managed to successfully manipulate it. This implies that it may have a degree of free will. Or at least, that it operates on a complex system of rules."

"So, it may have actually sent Sunburst here on purpose," said Starlight. "When it came time for the spell you did in the other universe to activate, it might have picked Sunburst over Flurry and the plant."

When he first heard it, the idea perplexed Sunbust. To this point, he hadn't considered the possibility that the Crystal Heart itself may have wanted to send him here. He had assumed he was taking a hit for Flurry, not that he had been chosen. He and Starswirl, the one from his universe, had been working on the assumption that the spell itself was simply using the Crystal Heart like a fuel source, but perhaps it was a more equal relationship between the spell and the Heart, or perhaps they had the relationship completely backwards.

The Crystal Heart may have wanted to send him here. And not in the way that a chemical reaction "wants" to achieve a lower energy state, but in the way a pony wants a particular food at a restaurant. In that case, the spell hitting him over Flurry wasn't an accident, but a deliberate act.

Is this all happening for a reason? The thought caused Sunburst to scratch at his goatee. The follow-up thought made him open his eyes in wonder. "Did the Crystal Heart want to reform something about me?"

"Perhaps," Starswirl said. "The source and focus of the Heart's magic is love. As a result, I believe we may safely assume that it is also motivated to spread and foster love."

Starswirl walked around the Crystal Heart. His eyes were like daggers. It was as if he was stabbing into the Heart's essence and hungered for it to divulge its meaning. After the fourth or fifth circuit, the unicorn halted and nodded to himself.

"I believe that we may need to help the Heart's magic run its course," he said. "I fear its will in this may be too important for us to attempt to override the spell directly."

"What would that look like?" asked Shining Armor.

"What do you mean?" Starswirl said. He stopped and looked around at the other ponies, finding that they all held equally blank expressions. "Based on your letter, I thought it was obvious what the Heart wanted to happen."

Starlight shook her head. "It's not obvious to us. Maybe your outside perspective on this makes it more clear, but we've been pretty stumped until now."

"How do we help the Heart's magic run its course?" Twilight asked.

In a matter-of-fact tone, Starswirl said, "Princess Twilight should go on some dates with Sunburst."

"What?!?" All the other ponies said in unison.

Starswirl gave a light laugh. "I don't see why you're so surprised. If Sunburst was sent here by the Crystal Heart because he needs to reform his behavior in regards to love, then what better way is there for him to discover that part of himself?"

The other four ponies stood in silence. Starlight looked at Sunburst. Sunburst looked at Twilight. Twilight looked at the ground. Shining Armor was the first one to speak.

"That makes sense, but isn't there another way?" Shining asked. He moved to stand right next to his sister.

"Why do we need another...?" Starswirl paused. He looked at Twilight, and found that she appeared far from happy about this plan.

Sunburst could see what was going through Twilight's head. The way she held herself was similar to how she looked when she first learned that her Sunbust had been taken away from her. He couldn't imagine what it would be like if the pony he loved was lost, and he were desperately trying to get her back, and then to be told that now was the time to go on a date with somepony else.

"I see." Starswirl walked over to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Twilight Sparkle, I have seen you face difficult challenges, and I've heard stories of the great things you have done. I didn't consider the weight that this would put upon you."

Twilight looked up at Starswirl. "There's a part of me that feels like this is wrong. My Sunny is lost somewhere else and I need to help get him home. The idea of going on a date with somepony else is like betrayal. Even if it is with another Sunbrust..."

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to, Twily," said Shining Armor. "We can find another way."

"But it makes sense," Twilight said. She moved away from Shining and Starswirl and began to pace back and forth. "The logic is there. If the Crystal Heart sent this Sunburst to our universe in particular, the fact that we're in a relationship together is likely a key factor. And since the Heart is powered by love, it makes perfect sense that it would see his lack of desire for a relationship as a flaw—something to be reformed."

"Maybe we should think about this more," Starlight suggested. "There's no need to put yourself through that emotional trial if we have other options."

Twilight shook her head. "The longer we wait, the longer Sunny is trapped another universe or in limbo or wherever he is. If the situation were reversed, he would do everything he could to get me back as quickly as possible." Then, she turned to Sunburst. "What do you think?"

Suddenly, all eyes were on him. Sunburst backed up slightly. This was exactly the sort of situation he did not want to find himself in. He could tell how fragile Twilight's emotions were. But he could see the logic in Starswirl's idea. And then he was fighting with his own feelings. He also wanted to get back home as quickly as possible. And his reasoning for that wasn't entirely selfish. He was sure that in his universe, Starswirl and Princess Cadence were trying everything they could to get him back. The sooner he succeeded here, the sooner they could stop worrying. And of course, the sooner this Twilight could have her Sunburst.

When he looked at Shining Armor and Starlight, he could understand where they were coming from as well. Shining was worried about his little sister. Of course, knowing what he did, he couldn't be entirely sure that Starlight's motivations were pure, but the idea of stopping to think this through wasn't unreasonable. He could certainly use some time to work through this.

"I think we should wait a bit. Not days or anything, but at least a few hours to consider what this would mean." At that, Twilight nodded, but started to pace again. It was obvious that she was becoming stressed.

"Twilight," Sunburst walked over to her and made her look him in the eye. "I'm as eager to get home as you are to have your fiancé back. But I don't want you to jump this without taking a look at the implications. The last thing I want to do is hurt you while we're trying to help me."

Upon hearing that, Twilight actually smiled. She put her hooves around Sunburst in a hug.

As he held her, Sunburst happened to catch Shining Armor's eye. The stallion mouthed a "thank you" to him.

Starswirl went over to Twilight and Sunburst as they broke apart. "I think that was a wise choice, Sunburst. Patience is a virtue. And that fact is even more critical when you are in a committed relationship."

"I'd like some time alone until this evening," said Twilight. "I want to think some things through."

"Of course," said Starswirl. "Take your time. Let's plan on meeting back here for dinner to discuss this and make a decision."

Author's Note

To come back after a time, only to end the chapter on a cliffhanger, isn't what I wanted. But, as they say, "The show must go on." That was always how this chapter was going to end. I just wish I'd gotten it out long before now. And here's hoping the next one comes much quicker.

A Puzzling Predicament

The outburst from Sunburst caused Twilight to take a few steps back. Her smile and playfully comforting attitude were replaced by a frown and a look that bordered dangerously close to fear. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyes gazed unblinkingly back at Sunburst.

The stallion bit his lip. It was the shock about his circumstances that made him yell. Now that he saw the result, Sunburst felt remorse. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt somepony.

"Twilight, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." Sunburst said, trying to collect his thoughts. Thankfully, Twilight did not interrupt again. Mercifully, her expression had softened slightly. Unfortunately, Sunburst had a feeling that what he said next would upset his friend—his fiancée apparently!—more than before. That idea made him look down at the floor, but he had to explain himself.

"I don't know where I am, Twilight," Sunburst said. "Or... well, okay, I know where I am, but I don't know how I got here—and I mean here physically, not metaphorically or something. I don't know how I ended up in your castle, in this suit, being uh... affectionate with you."

"Sunburst, you've been living in the castle for weeks. Rarity made you that suit last Tuesday. And we've been together for over a year now." Twilight approached Sunburst again and put a hoof on his shoulder, making him look up into her violet eyes once more. "What's going on?"

"Listen, Twilight," said Sunburst, not breaking eye contact with her. "I was accidentally hit with a spell. An experimental spell. I don't know exactly what it did. It could be any number of things! This could all be an illusion, although I'm starting to doubt that. I could be experiencing a sort of vision, like a very realistic daydream. I might even have been sent to some kind of a parallel universe or alternate timeline."

The confusion on Twilight's face grew. "Sunburst, are you being serious?"

"Yes," he said. "I was working on a new spell with Starswirl in the Crystal Empire. It was supposed to use the power of the Crystal Heart to let a bad pony see what her life would be like if she reformed her behavior."

Sunburst then described the nature of the spell and the accident that caused it to strike him.

"So from my perspective," he continued, "I haven't been living in this castle for weeks. I just got here a minute ago. For the last week I've been in the Crystal Empire researching spells with Starswirl. We've been in the Crystal Library every single day for hours. The two of us finally had a breakthrough a couple days ago and we spent all yesterday afternoon working on the first test spell."

With that statement, Twilight began to pace, her eyes now looking at the floor in front of her hooves. After a few times back and forth, Twilight stopped and looked back at Sunburst. "Sunny... er... Sunburst, I'm sorry, but this is a lot to take in. From my perspective, this is crazy. I have memories of our life together. You've been here helping to get things ready for our wedding. Yesterday afternoon we were at Sugarcube Corner talking to the Cakes about what sort of dessert options we want to have at the reception. I certainly don't think I'm an illusion or a dream! Yet that last option...

"I've experienced other timelines and realities personally, so I know what you're saying is possible. But that means the you I was with yesterday isn't you. And that that you..." Twilight closed her eyes and shook her head. "This can't be happening."

Sunburst glanced down at the clothes he had found himself in. He reached up a hoof and ran it along the lapel. If he was wearing this in some alternate reality, then it stood to reason that, not only had he entered that reality, but he had replaced an alternate version of himself in these clothes. Somepony was obviously wearing this suit before he arrived. So where had he gone?

As Sunburst pondered the possibilities, suddenly Twilight shouted, "Why is it that every time my life seems like it's coming together, I have to solve another crisis?!"

That outburst made Sunburst look back at her and what he saw shocked him. She was crying. Not just one or two tears, either. The fur on her muzzle was damp. Her nose was starting to run. Her limbs shook slightly.

It shouldn't have surprised Sunburst; it was a totally natural reaction. But a part of him never expected to see a Princess of Equestria cry and shout so openly. He'd seen Princess Cadence exhausted by her daughter on many occasions. He'd seen all of Equestria's princesses show visible concern for their subjects' safety when the frozen north threatened them. But to see a princess upset like that...

His whole life, from attending Celestia's school until today, he'd always viewed a princess as somepony in control of herself. If one could command a nation, surely one could command oneself. To see the illusion shattered, however foalish it might have been, was hard to take in.

She's just a pony, he thought.

"Twilight," Sunburst said, causing the Princess to look at him again. "I don't know exactly what happened, but the spell that did this came from the Crystal Heart. Its magic is powered by love and hope. I'm sure that, whatever happened to your Sunburst, it didn't hurt him. The Crystal Heart would never harm an innocent pony."

To that, Twilight actually smiled. "You're right." She reached up and wiped at her face, sniffing as she rubbed her nose. "And I'm sorry, I shouldn't make this about me," she said. "You're the one who's displaced from your reality. It would be selfish of me to—"

"And you just lost your fiancé," said Sunburst, not even considering the fact that he'd just cut off a member of royalty mid-sentence. He took a step toward her. "This is about you, too. It's not selfish to be upset about it."

Twilight smiled and took a step toward Sunburst, only to stop and shake her head. "Sorry, normally I'd give you—well, the other you—a hug in this kind of circumstance. I'm just not sure that's appropriate."

"I understand," said Sunburst. However, he noticed the expression on Twilight's face. It was subtle, but the way she looked at him with her lips slightly pursed made him realize just how much that hug meant to her. He'd never been that big on hugs, but he wasn't afraid of them or anything.

"You know," he said. "We're not getting married in my universe, that's true, but we're still friends. If you need a hug, I don't see a probl—"

In an instant, Twilight rushed Sunburst and threw her hooves around him. Smiling, he returned the gesture and patted her on the back. "Don't worry," he said. "I have complete faith in you. You've saved Equestria again and again. You brought the Six Pillars back from limbo. If anypony can handle this, it's you, Twilight."

At that moment, another voice spoke up. "Wow," said Starlight Glimmer, who had just entered the room. "And here I thought it was gonna be you who needed the pep-talk!"

Author's Note

I was hoping for an every-other-week release schedule but then IRL stuff happened so this was pushed back a bit. Hopefully the next one will come out before the end of May, but I learned a long time ago not to make any promises about that.