Author's Note

Summary: Their parents are driving them crazy as usual, but Starlight knows a place where they can relax, a place away from prying eyes, if Sunburst is willing to follow, of course...

Warnings: Takes place during the "Parent Map". Includes sneaking around, vanilla sex, StarBurst shenanigans, and one nosey parent.

Notes: Requested by superfun. Sorry for the delay, but I hope you like it!

A Place to Unwind

All it took was a glance, a discreet tilt of her head, and Sunburst was trailing behind her without question.

Like most homes in Sire’s Hollow, Firelight’s house didn’t have a fence surrounding it, so all they had to do was step over some bushes and the pair slipped to the backyard with ease. But despite the lack of security Sunburst minded his step, avoiding any hedges or anything that made too much noise, looking over his shoulder every so often as he followed Starlight deeper into the property.

When they were foals, Firelight’s backyard seemed like a jungle to them, the plants tall enough for two kids to get lost in and pretend they were on some quest through an enchanted forest. Now it was just a big and overgrown garden, the innocence of foalhood gone as he frowned. He wondered why he hadn’t contracted a gardener or something to fix this place, but part of him was glad that he hadn’t, the bushes and trees provided excellent cover from prying eyes. Starlight was short enough that sneaking around the overgrown hedges wasn’t a problem for her, but Sunburst had to crouch and duck on multiple occasions, worried that his messy orange hair would give him away.

Starlight reassured him that Firelight wasn’t home, and Sunburst managed to shake off his mother minutes earlier, but Sire’s Hollow was a small town, a small town with nosy neighbors and blabbermouths. If any of them saw them sneaking off like this, they were done for―Sunburst more than Starlight. Sunburst was sure that her father held no animosity towards him, but he couldn’t imagine that Firelight would be too thrilled if he found out that he was screwing his daughter without putting a ring on her horn first. Heck, they weren’t even officially dating.

Starlight still introduced him as her friend, she never asked him to take her out on dates or do anything special besides the occasional “stress relief”, as she liked to call it. And Sunburst felt he was in too deep to ask for clarification, fearing he would ruin whatever it was they had going on, but lately he couldn’t help but wonder...

He vaguely remembered where this path led too, despite how things had changed around it, and his suspicions were confirmed when they turned a corner and an old little shack came into view.

“Hey, it’s the old clubhouse!” Sunburst said. He wasn’t one to delve too much into nostalgia, but the feeling appeared as he stared at the old building. “I can’t believe it’s still here.”

It was actually just an old shed, a storage space filled with the things that Starlight’s father was unwilling to throw out, which were a lot. Back in the day, they would use whatever junk they could find for their games, building forts, ships, and castles out of boxes and old furniture. Sunburst didn’t think it changed that much, except that it looked a little more weathered and it was a heck of a lot smaller than he remembered.

“I’m not,” Starlight answered with a shrug. “The only way my dad will ever get rid of this place is if a storm blows it away for him.”

Judging by the old stallion’s refusal to let go of the past, the complete opposite of Stellar Flare’s need for change, Sunburst was inclined to agree.

The shed’s door creaked on its hinges when Starlight pushed it open, the door unlocked and unprotected. Sunburst would have questioned this if this weren’t Sire’s Hollow―that was the beauty of small towns, he supposed, when every pony knew every pony it was hard to do much crime. Starlight stepped in first and Sunburst closed the door behind him when he followed her in. It was cramped and dusty, but there was more than enough room for two grown ponies to move around.

“Hmm, just as I thought,” Starlight said and turned to the only window in the shed, it was grimy from years of disuse, and the light poured in like a beacon when she opened it. “Dad hasn’t stepped a hoof here since I left.”

It definitely smelled and looked like it, he thought as he sneezed. The room was warm, almost uncomfortably so, and smelled of humidity, the dust dancing in the sunlight and coating every surface. Boxes lined the walls and were stacked together in high towers, covered in spiderwebs and grime, untouched since they were placed here. White sheets covered bigger objects, which he assumed were furniture, but even the covers looked yellow and old in the sunlight.

His sense for antiquing wanted to peek inside the boxes and underneath the sheets, briefly wondering if Starlight would mind if Firelight would be willing to part with his treasures for the right price. But then Starlight walked past him, her tail flicking and hitting him gently on the chest, reminding him of what he was here for, which had nothing to do with shopping.

“What did you use this place for?” He asked, trying to hide his eagerness with a little small talk.

“To practice my guitar, it became like my second room after the neighbors complained that my music was too loud. Once I came here, they stopped complaining.” Starlight took off the sheet over one of the boxy shapes, revealing an old, beat-up couch, big enough for two. “Which is why it is the perfect place to...unwind without being overheard.”

Sunburst didn’t have to be a genius to know what she meant.

Her head turned, her indigo eyes shining with a light that had his insides burning. Her tail lifted and flicked enticingly and, despite his best efforts to keep his eyes on hers, they followed the motions of her tail, towards the place that was usually hidden. His mouth watered and he swallowed the excess before he got closer, his eyes tracing the curves of her body, her bewitching smile, and her dark blue eyes that followed his every move. Sunburst didn’t fully understand how she did it, how she could turn him on with just a look and a few words, sometimes without even meaning to, but she did and he didn’t mind it too much, because Starlight always took care of him.

The couch creaked and moaned with their combined weight which they barely heard, too busy falling into each other. Starlight sat on his lap and wrapped her hooves behind his head, bringing him closer to her chest. Sunburst wasted no time and planted kisses underneath her jaw, licking every little inch of skin he could reach, dragging his goatee up and down her neck as he went.

“It tickles,” she giggled, scooching closer to him.

Sunburst wrapped his white hooves around her waist and mumbled into her skin. “Maybe you could play the guitar for me sometime?”

Starlight hummed, he wasn’t sure if it was because she was thinking about his request or enjoying the way he was nibbling her neck. “I haven’t played that thing in ages…”

“I still want to hear it.” His hooves trailed down her hips, caressing the purple fur and tracing her cutie mark before going back up.

“Later,” she sighed, grinding her hips against his lap and messing with his mane. “We got a friendship problem to solve.”

“After we relax and unwind?”

“After we relax and unwind.”

Sunburst couldn’t resist and covered her naughty smile with his lips in a kiss. The sweet and lazy pecks escalate into something more passionate. It had been a while since they’d been together like this, and though they usually took it slow and enjoyed themselves, they were aware that their time here was limited―their parents were probably aware that they were missing, and it wouldn't be long before they came looking. Starlight licked his bottom lip and Sunburst didn’t hesitate to let her in, their tongues met and her flavor inundated his tongue...along with the taste of the smoothie she had earlier.

They broke the kiss with a grimace. “Ugh, what was in those smoothies anyway?”

“I don’t know, but I doubt it was fruit,” Sunburst huffed. “Don’t you have a mint or something?”

“No...but I got something better.” She got off his lap and laid on the couch, spreading her legs and he had an unobstructed view of her pussy. She rubbed her winking clit in lazy circles. “Come and get your palette cleanser.”

The drool collected in his mouth the longer he stared, but despite the time limit, he decided to enjoy this. He told himself that the point was to relax, to clear their minds to better solve this friendship problem, not because he missed her, not because his excitement in being summoned by the map doubled when he realized she was called to, not because the only highlight of this trip so far was getting to spend time with her. No, not at all, of course not, why would he have such ridiculous ideas?

He crawled over her and placed kisses on her chest, leaving a trail of them down her barrel, past her stomach, stopping for a moment to lick at her belly button―making her giggle as his tongue dipped into it―and reached her teats. They were small, the nipples are hidden underneath her fur and barely noticeable, but Sunburst latched to them like a hungry foal. She gasped when he bit down slightly, her hooves reaching for his messy mop of orange hair, pressing his face against her as he soothed the bite with gentle licks.

“What is it with stallions and teats?” Starlight mused out loud, her back arching when he suckled on the other teat. “Not that I’m complaining…”

Sunburst gave a nonchalant hum, the vibrations traveling down the nooks and crannies of her body that usually went unnoticed, making her shiver. He could think of a thousand reasons why he was fixated on Starlight’s teats, but his mouth was currently occupied with them, and he hated to part with them too soon for no good reason.

That reason came in the form of a smell that was far sweeter than anything else, a scent that he knew well and yet never failed to excite him. He could feel his cock unsheathing from its hiding place, responding to her scent, his tail flicking with anticipation, but he ignored his need for the time being. He let go of her teats with a wet pop, kissing each mound one last time before he dived lower, towards the place of greatest pleasure.

She sighed as he spread her lips and licked deeper, her legs hooking behind his head and keeping him in place. He teased her entrance with his tongue, getting a taste of a flavor that was so uniquely Starlight that there was nothing he could compare it to, it wasn’t sweet like candy or any other food, but it was musky, heady and Sunburst couldn’t get enough. He made his way upwards with slow, teasing licks, soaking everything he could reach with his tongue. Once he reached her clit he licked it more forcefully, coaxing it out of its hiding place for a bit, until he got tired of waiting and wrapped his lips around it and gave a hard suck.

Starlight moaned, rotating her hips against his face, her forelegs grasping the armrest of the couch to keep herself steady. His ears perked at the noises she was making, and he peered at her from the rim of his glasses, never once stopping the motions of his tongue. She was a sight for sore eyes, with her dark mane spilling from the couch, her rosy cheeks, and her plump lips mouthing her pleasure for his ears alone; he was mesmerized the first time he saw her like this, and he was mesmerized by her even now.

He was so hideously nervous and awkward when they started this...arrangement, for a lack of a better term, all those months. But Starlight had been patient with him and taught him what she knew, which combined with a little side reading took him to the point that he was now, to the point that he was no longer so nervous and scared of messing up, to the point that he trusts her enough to tell him what he needed to do. Not that she has to give him much direction these days now that he knew all her cues, in fact, he could see one coming.

Starlight dug her hooves into the plastic of the armrest, which squeaked in protest and was ignored in favor of her loud panting and moaning. The grinding of her hips grew more frantic and Sunburst kept going, licking and sucking without mercy, her clit hard enough that he had no trouble finding and holding on to it with his lips, playing with it with his tongue. She grew louder at this.

“Yes! Keep going, I’m almost―!”

Her knees locked behind his head, her hips stilled and her back arched as she gasped. Sunburst moaned as well, her nectar flowing into his mouth in time with her orgasm, and though he tried his best to catch it all some of it dribbled down his chin. She tasted way better than the smoothie. His frantic licking turned more soothing as she rode the waves of her pleasure, and he helped her prolong it for as long as he could. Her grinding slowly turned more languid, her back relaxing on the couch and she sighed, her legs falling away from his shoulders.

That was another cue. He gave her pussy one last kiss before rising, his erection more than obvious, bumping against his stomach and dribbling a bit of precum. Starlight smiled when he met her eyes, but her grin was far from innocent, especially when she lowered her gaze to the part of him that was desperate for her attention. She sat up and reached for his shaft, her hoof just about grazing the sensitive skin when he stopped her.

“As much as I would like you to return the favor, I don’t think we have that much time,” Sunburst said, taking her hoof in his.

“We have more than enough time,” she leaned over and kissed his pouted mouth. “Don’t be such a worrywart.”

Sunburst didn’t look convinced. “But if we stall too much some pony is bound to notice that we’re missing.”

Starlight looked at the window for a moment, the sunlight that poured on the dusty floorboards had moved slightly since they got here, and Sunburst could practically hear the gears turning in her head. In the end, his reasoning had won and she conceded with a sigh, but it quickly turned into a smile as she climbed on his lap and motioned for him to lay down. “I guess it’s time for the main event.”

It took a little maneuvering since the couch wasn’t all that big. His back legs dangled on the edge of the armrest, but he was comfortable enough when Starlight sat on his lap. Sunburst couldn’t fight the stupid smile that formed on his face as he watched her. Taking in the long purple hair that framed her face, her slightly mused fur, the light highlighting her body from behind, and the small, slightly bashful smile she was so desperate to hide behind the curtain of her hair as she positioned herself.

Sunburst wasn’t a stallion that paid much attention to details, but with this, he paid attention to every minute detail.

By his count, they have done this eleven times, this one being number twelve, but each time never failed to take his breath away. The feeling of her walls parting and wrapping around him with just the right grip, moist and warm and very much alive, was a feeling that he would never tire of, that and the expressions that she made when she sank into him were things he would treasure for the rest of his days. He groaned, his hips rising to meet hers, jostling her slightly from her place above him.

Starlight’s long eyelashes fluttered as she lowered herself, throwing her head back with a moan so sensual that it made his cock twitch inside her. She wiggled her hips, working around his medial ring, and pushed through the last hurdle with his help, and they both shuddered when she sheathed herself fully on his shaft. Now it was his turn to moan, gripping her generous hips to keep her in place.

“Starlight,” he gasped when she began to move.

She started slow, lifting her hips forward and then back in fluid motions, resting her hooves on his chest as she grinds. She looked down at him with half-lidded eyes, slowly withdrawing from his dick until his medial ring was at her entrance before she pushed it back in with equal slowness. It felt wonderful, he couldn’t deny it, but he was starting to get impatient, which he showed by thrusting his hips into her every time she retreated.

“What’s wrong?” She asked with mock concern, her hips stopping entirely. “Don’t you like it?”

He tried driving his hips into her, but she sat on top of him, pinning him to the couch with her weight, and sheathed herself on his member, and his desperation only grew when she didn’t move. “Stop teasing me,” he said through gritted teeth, “and just g-get on with it!”

“Oh, you think this is teasing?” She asked, smiling in a way that made him pause and reconsider his choices. “I’ll show you teasing.”

He cried in dismay as she slipped from his cock entirely, thinking for a moment that she was leaving, but she didn’t. Instead, he felt her magic wrapping around his legs, pulling his forelegs over his head and keeping his back legs still. He tried to struggle his way out of his bonds, and though he knew how to break this spell, he lacked the magical talent to do so, so all he could do was wiggle uselessly underneath her.

“Starlight!” He said as he pulled at his bonds. “W-What are you doing? Cut it out!”

She didn’t say anything as she lowered herself over his cock, pressing it against his stomach and rubbing her soaking pussy over the heated skin. Sunburst groaned, pushing his hips into her in a useless attempt to get back inside her, but the angle wouldn’t allow it. Starlight, still sensitive from earlier, rubbed her clit against his member, moving her hips in short but hard movements, essentially using him for her own pleasure.

Sunburst slammed his eyes shut, and tried to erase the image of her riding him from his mind. The tension on his hips was building and he did all he could to stop from releasing too soon. If they had more time and a friendship problem wasn’t hanging over their heads, Sunburst would’ve let her get away with this, since he would have time to prepare himself for round two. But they didn’t, and he was desperate to bury his cock deep inside her. After the morning he had, he wanted nothing more than to rut inside of her and forget his troubles.

Even if she was one of them.

“Starlight, please!”

By some miracle, Starlight’s hips stopped moving. After a few deep breaths, he opened his eyes, meeting Starlight’s gaze. Her hair was a mess of purple framing her flushed face, and she looked down at him with an expression he couldn’t quite name, but his heart still pounded by the intensity he found there.

“How bad do you want to fuck me?” She finally asked, her hips pressing over his quivering member for emphasis.

His hips bucked. “B-Bad. Very, very, badly.”

Her expression didn’t change, but she seemed to reach a conclusion when he saw a glint of determination on her face. “Then show me,” Starlight broke the spell and lifted her hips. “Show me how badly you want me.”

Sunburst watched, his mouth slightly agape when she turned around on the couch and lifted her tail, presenting herself. It was the first time she put herself in such a submissive position, she usually preferred to be on top, leading him and setting the pace. He couldn’t help but wonder about her change of attitude. But his doubt was quickly overshadowed by his desire, a feeling that Starlight had inadvertently awoken in him when they started this facet of their relationship.

It was a little tricky at first, since the couch was small and old, creaking with their combined weight as it might break at any minute, but they pressed on. Starlight laid on the couch with her stomach down, her hips raised and gripping the armrest for support, Sunburst stood above her, one of his legs on the floor for balance, his forelegs resting on either side of her, caging her under him.

Sunburst swallowed, nervous as he was by taking the lead, but he couldn’t deny that having Starlight underneath him sent a dark thrill down his spine.

“Ready?” He asked, his voice soft with concern.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye and nodded, pressing her hips against him.

He didn’t think he'd ever been this hard before, but it worked to his advantage, making it easier to guide his member to where it needed to go. The flat head of his cock pressed against her entrance, and since he was so hard and she was so wet, it was a simple matter of sinking his hips into her until he hilted.

Starlight shuddered and let out a little sound, somewhere between a moan and a gasp, her hips surging to meet his. “Sunburst...”

He almost didn’t hear her, his mind clouded by the pleasure and the instincts that drove him to buck into her. He started slowly, looking for a rhythm, testing the limits of what this position offered, before he increased the speed, the couch groaning and rocking in time with his movements.

“W-when did you get so bo-oh-old!?” Starlight squealed, holding on to the couch for dear life as he plowed into her.

Sunburst only grunted and kept going, leaning into her and pinning her down with his weight as he rutted into her. The feeling of her silken walls wrapped around him was familiar to him, but now that he was the one marking the pace he found that he liked the freedom, he liked to hear what noises she could make, and it spurred him on like nothing else. He paused only to toss his cloak to the side, the sweat collecting on his forehead and back, though the room was warm Sunburst shivered as the air hit his exposed skin.

Now completely unhindered Sunburst moved into her with short but hard strokes, the sound of skin against skin as loud as their panting and moaning. Starlight basked in the attention, lifting her head to nuzzle him as his neck curved to meet her.

“See? I knew you had it in you,” she giggled. “I was tired of doing all the heavy lifting.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled and pressed his snout into her hair, smelling the lavender from her shampoo mixed with her sweat. “I’ll be more proactive...starting now.”

His horn glowed and Starlight gasped as he started to play with her clit and nipples. He might not be as powerful as her, but he made up for it by the finesse in which he used his magic. His aura was gentle and firm, the warm, tingly sensation of his magic sent shivers down her spine—and Starlight loved every second of it. She wiggled beneath him, as much as she could with Sunburst on top of her, soaking in the feeling of him all over her and inside her.

Her pussy clenched around him and the feeling tore a curse from his mouth, closing his eyes in pure bliss as he used more force to drive his cock inside her, pushing the couch further against the wall.

The heat was unbearable at this point and yet the thought of pulling away was the furthest thing on their minds. Sweat glistened their coats, Starlight’s long mane sticking to her neck and face in messy waves. She looked beautiful like this, disheveled, her cheeks red and the lust shining in her eyes like precious stones, unlike him, who just looked like a mess, his face scrunched and twisted with the effort of not coming too soon, to keep going until Starlight went over the edge.

It was a skill he hadn’t completely mastered yet, that’s why he always made sure she came first.

Starlight was practically singing underneath him, saying his name brokenly, again and again, encouraging him to keep going. With his eyes closed, Sunburst was truly lost in her, his whole world had shrunken down to the movements of his hips, the feeling of her pussy around him, and her voice, and he couldn’t be happier. He wished he could stay like this forever if only his stamina allowed for it—if only life and destiny didn’t intervene so often to keep them apart.

Sunburst could feel the heat building in his lower stomach, turning into a burn that threatened to erupt at any moment, and Sunburst pushed through it, pushing his hips to go faster and harder as he made the desperate climb towards nirvana. Underneath him, Starlight took the onslaught like a champ, her backside moving into him in near-perfect synchronicity, her grip on the couch so tight that she almost ripped through the plastic and the stuffing, but it held.

She cried out as he pistoned into her, using his weight to pin her against the couch and leave her helpless, since she could no longer even move her hips. Sunburst groaned, his breathing a harsh sound in her ears, nearly drowning out the lewd sounds of her juices dripping down her thighs, the harsh slap of his hips against her.

“Starlight, I-I’m almost…” he said through gritted teeth, trying to warn her. “I can’t hold back.”

“Me neither,” she answered between moans, “do it inside, it’s okay.”

What little self-control he had snapped at her words. He stopped thinking altogether, his hips moving of their own volition with a need so animalistic that it would have scared him if he weren’t so far gone in the pleasure. His cries of gratification were mingled with Starlight’s and the couch hitting the thin wood of the shed until—

“Sunburst!”

Her hips stilled and Starlight’s back arched as she came, letting out a whine of pure pleasure. Her pussy tightened around him, which combined with the sounds she was making was what finally shoved him over the edge.

Sunburst pushed his hips into her hard enough that it tore a gasp out of Starlight, burying his cock inside her as deep as he could possibly go, and exploded inside her, filling her in the most biological, primal way, and the satisfaction leaves him weak in the knees. He closed his eyes so tightly that stars exploded and burned behind his eyelids, his body wrecked by the tide of sensations that he thought that he might drown and disappear altogether, if not for Starlight’s body and voice anchoring him to reality.

Dimly, he realized that, when the world was falling apart and all seemed lost, she had always been the one constant. He could always count on her to make things right.

The tide receded and Sunburst collapsed on top of her in a quivering, sweaty pile of skin and nerves. Starlight grunted but otherwise didn’t complain, still coming down from her own high to pay him much thought. Sunburst would have laid there for all eternity, but he thought that this couldn’t be comfortable for her, crushed between his gangly body and the old beat-up couch, and sure enough, Starlight wriggled underneath him a minute later.

He pulled out from her, both of them flinching from the sudden loss of connection, and the two best friends find a more comfortable position where they could still be close.

It took some maneuvering, but they eventually ended up tangled in each other, pressed closed together so Starlight wouldn’t fall off the couch, even though Sunburst had wrapped his hooves tightly around her. Starlight was still underneath him, but laying on her back, her head resting on the armrest, while Sunburst lay on his side, caught between the backrest and Starlight’s body. His head came to rest on her fluffy chest, listening as her heartbeat and breathing slowed, his eyelids growing heavy when Starlight began playing with his messy mane.

“If I'd known you like being on top so much...I would’ve let you do it much sooner…”

“Hmm?” Sunburst mumbled, blinking the sleep from his eyes. “Oh, well, at least I understand why you like being on top so much…”

He could hear the smile in her voice. “It has its advantages.”

Sunburst grinned and nuzzled her chest, making her giggle, the hooves around him pulling him closer into her embrace. It was moments like these that he treasured the most, when they’re both relaxed and unguarded, where touch and laughter came so easy to them that he could almost believe that they were something more...and it confused him immensely.

Awkward as he was when it came to relationships, even he could tell that something else was going on here, between them, something more than just casual sex. He caught glimpses of it when he stared into her eyes, felt it in his skin when she touched ever so casually, and the way his heart rate picked up whenever she was around. If he didn’t know any better he could’ve sworn that it was magic, but Sunburst ate and breathed magic ever since he learned how to walk, and he was certain that this wasn’t a spell, it was something deeper and equally powerful...could it be that he―

“Sunburst?” Starlight’s voice, soft as it was, broke through his thoughts like a baseball through a glass window, making him jump. “What’s wrong? You got quiet all of the sudden...”

He looked up, his throat suddenly tight with the things he wanted to say, but didn’t know how to word them properly. He met her eyes and his mouth opened, prompted by her concerned gaze, and the feelings that he was too scared to name poured from his mouth.

“I was thinking about...I meant to ask, what are…what is this to―?”

“Silly Filly? Is that you?”

Sunburst's legs scrambled on the couch, heart on his throat, and hyperventilating when he practically jumped from the sofa to reach his cloak, sending Starlight rolling to the floor where she landed on her rear with a thump and an undignified yelp.

He was dead, he was so, so dead, Firelight was going to kill him, probably strangle him on the spot, (once he took in their messed up appearance and the smell of sex in the air) and send his body to the glue factory to hide the evidence, chopped him into tiny bits and throw the pieces into the lake. Or worse, he was going to tell his mother what happened, and she would start pushing and demanding and prodding about his plans with Starlight, how long they’ve been dating? Had he proposed yet? Was he moving to Ponyville? How many kids were they having? She probably had a list somewhere for baby names as long as Sire’s Hollow was wide―

Before he could scream, or even think beyond the feeling of pure dread and the image of his mother’s manic grin on his mind, Sunburst found himself face-first on the floor, squished between the wall and the back of the couch. He coughed as he inhaled a mouthful of dust bunnies, slapping his hooves over his mouth to stop himself from making too much noise. Something fell on top of him―his cloak, he realized a second later―just as the door squeaked open.

“There you are!” Firelight said, all cheeriness and parental pride in his voice. “But what are you doing here―oh! Is that your old guitar!? I haven’t seen that thing in ages!”

The soft strumming of acoustic strings filled the air. It desperately needed a tuning.

“Yeah, I found it here as I was going through my old stuff.”

Starlight sounded so innocent that even Sunburst would have believed her if he weren’t hiding behind the couch and trying not to cough the dust out of his lungs.

“Aw! You know I would never throw away the things that made you happy! I remember when we bought that guitar, your face just lit up like a heart’s warming tree! And the way you took to it, well, I was sure my pumpkin-wumpkin was going to be a big―ACHOO!”

“Dad! Your allergies!” Starlight berated, the couch creaked and he heard hoof steps on the floor. “Go back outside before it gets worse.”

“Sorry honey!” Firelight’s voice was nasally and slightly muffled. “Finish what you were doing, your papa will take care of your friendship problem for you!”

Sunburst heard the stallion retreating and his shoulders relaxed. That was close...

“No dad, I’ll take care―”

“Oh! Speaking of which: have you seen Sunburst?” Sunburst resisted the urge to yelp when he heard his name. “Stellar Flare’s been looking for him, something about a plan she’s working on.”

“N-No, of course not! What am I, his foalsitter?” Starlight’s panicky tone made his own anxiety rise.

There was a pause, a short one, but it dragged on long enough for Sunburst to fear the worse. He wondered if his punishment would be worse if he remained hidden until Firelight found him or if he stood up and accepted his fate. Thankfully, before he could decide, Firelight sneezed again and his voice sounded further away.

“Just wondering honey, you know how Stellar gets when Sunburst is out of her sight for a minute,” Firelight said with a chuckle. “But I understand her concern, colts get into way more trouble than fillies, not all children are as well behaved as my silly filly!”

Sunburst rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to snort.

Starlight didn’t respond to the comment, but he heard the exasperation in her words as she finally ushered her father out of the shed, closing the door with a bang and a relieved sigh.

The couch moved and Starlight stood over him, her coat cleaned and not a hair out of place. Unlike him with his sweaty coat covered in dust and his mane messier than usual, his glasses crooked on his nose, and his cloak wrinkled and dirty beyond recognition. Starlight took one look at him and snorted, her hoof coming over her mouth as she burst into a fit of giggles, which grew louder when he shot her an unamused glare.

“Yeah, real funny Starlight,” Sunburst grumbled as he stood up. “Almost died of a heart attack back there, or by your father’s horn, but at least my misery is amusing to you.”

“Come one, don't be like that,” Starlight said and wiped the tears from her eyes. “My dad wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Unless that fly touched his precious little pumpkin-wumpkin.”

She cringed and shuddered. “Ugh, don’t call me that, it’s bad enough when my dad says it, you make it sound worse.”

Sunburst chuckled and wiped the dirt on his chest, but only made a bigger mess. He felt the tingle of Starlight’s magic, a flash of turquoise blinding him for a moment, and when he looked down he was as good as new.

“Don’t get too comfortable: this is an illusion spell that’ll wear off in about an hour or so, you might want to take a shower as soon as you can,” Starlight explained. She paused for a moment, her hooves crossing awkwardly and biting her lip before she asked. “So...what were you saying earlier?”

Sunburst blinked. “Earlier?”

“Yeah, before my dad barged in…”

“Oh...Oh! That, I was just...” Sunburst trailed off, his eyes darting around the room for an excuse. His earlier courage had left him and now he was fumbling with his words. “I, huh, I was thinking we should t-talk to the others! To figure out if maybe the friendship problem is with them, not us―I mean them! Our parents! Like what the baker pony suggested!”

Starlight’s face was unreadable and Sunburst wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole. He has never been a good liar, especially under Starlight’s steady gaze, but he was good at playing stupid when it suited him, and he would stick to his story no matter how many holes it had. He was stubborn in that way, and he was willing to use that stubbornness because this wasn’t the time (much less the place) for this.

Maybe later, when there wasn’t a friendship problem hanging over their heads and they weren’t hiding from their parents in a musty, old shed, would he open up to her. Celestia knew he would need the time to gather the courage he needed.

In the end, Starlight relented. His heart sank when he saw the flash of hurt in her eyes, but it was gone before he could do anything about it.

“Alright,” Starlight nodded, a small smile on her face as she opened the door. “I’ll go ahead and gather the others, meet you at the bookstore in half an hour.”

She gave him a friendly wave before she closed the door behind her, leaving him alone in the dusty shed. His stomach twisted with the feeling that he had missed something, and more than aware of his social ineptitude, he probably had.

Sunburst sighed.

He hoped this didn’t turn into another friendship problem.