Some time ago...
Firelight paced anxiously in the waiting area of the Sire Hollow Hospital maternity wing. It was middle of the night, he was the only one here, and the glasses of water the nurse had brought him weren't doing a very good job of helping his nerves. It had been a very, very long night so far, and unfortunately, the doctors weren't able to give him updates very frequently, which was only worrying him more.
The wide double doors to the labor and delivery area swung open, and a single doctor in surgical scrubs walked out into the waiting room. Firelight stopped in his tracks, his heart pounding against his chest. He could tell it wasn't good from his expression. He'd been fooling himself that everything was going to be okay for the last three hours.
"Firelight... I'm afraid we can't stop your wife's internal bleeding without serious risk to the baby. The best chance is to induce labor within the next 15 minutes." The doctor told him. Firelight felt his mouth go dry.
"But... But that's six weeks preterm..." He replied, worry filling his voice. The doctor nodded.
"It's the best chance the baby has. Starshine has instructed us to begin immediately. You have a few moments to talk with her while we prepare."
The purple unicorn's heart crept up in his throat.
"Starshine doesn't have much chance, does she?" He asked, swallowing the lump in his throat.
"The blood loss is only going to vastly increase during birth. I'm afraid there's very little we can do for her, except make it as painless as possible. I'm very, very sorry." The doctor replied, as sympathetically as he could.
Firelight took a shuddering breath, and let it out, trying his very best to prepare for the inevitable.
"Take me to her." He told him, and he managed to keep it together as he was led through the doors and down the hall to the delivery room.
"You have a few minutes while we make our last preparations." The doctor told Firelight, holding the door open for him. He nodded, and stepped inside, looking at his wife.
The pink unicorn looked positively tired. She was attached to a heart monitor next to the bed, and she wore a simple hospital gown. She locked eyes with her husband and smiled weakly at him.
"Hey, love."
Firelight walked up to Starshine's bedside, and took her left hoof in his.
"I... I know what you're gonna say..." She continued.
"You do? B-Because I don't. It's an impossible choice, Starshine, and it's not my call. You're absolutely everything to me, and I know this baby is absolutely everything to you." Firelight stammered, tears spilling over.
"This baby is everything to us. I know you'll be a wonderful father, Firelight. I know you and I had all these plans... All the way back from college... Our first house here in Sire's Hollow... And... And you're gonna have to find a way to carry on without me. You've always managed to persevere. Our child couldn't be in better hooves." Starshine said, squeezing his hoof.
The stallion leaned down, and kissed his wife softly on the forehead.
"I swear I'll love and raise them with all my heart. I give you my word." He cried softly.
The doctor returned with a nurse and an orderly.
"Alright, we have to begin. Mrs. Starshine, we're going to let you know when it's time to push. Try to save your energy until then." The doctor told her, his horn lighting up. Starshine felt the first contraction start to hit as the doctor began to induce labor.
"Right now I want you to focus on your breathing. Slow, deep breaths. Can you do that for me?"
She nodded, and began to slow her breathing, taking as deep breaths as she could, barely able to see the doctor over her protruding belly. The contractions slowly got more frequent and stronger, and she squeezed her husband's hoof tighter in response, and he sat there and squeezed back. He used his other hoof to stroke her aquamarine bangs away from her face.
"I love you, Firelight..." She gasped, taking another deep breath as another contraction came.
"I love you, Starshine. M-More than anything."
"Alright, Starshine, it's time to push. Ready? One... Two... Three." The doctor instructed. The unicorn mare cried out in pain, gritted her teeth, and clenched onto Firelight's hoof for dear life.
For Firelight, everything became a blur. The doctor's loud voice gave his screaming and crying wife instructions as clearly and as calmly as he could.Thirty seconds passed, then a minute. All the while he held Starshine's hoof.
"I see the head, push Starshine!"
She gritted her teeth again, and with another scream, put all her strength into one final push. Firelight, who had been feeling lightheaded throughout the ordeal, was brought back to clarity as he heard the crying of a foal.
"It's a girl!" The doctor announced as the nurse approached with clean cloths and towels.
"Did you hear that Starshine? It's a baby girl. We have a baby girl." He said, turning back to her. When she didn't reply, he saw that she was no longer breathing.
"Starshine...?"
He realized that he was still gripping her left hoof, but she wasn't. Although it was the last thing he wanted to do, he looked up at the heart monitor, and now heard the flat tone it was generating for the last several seconds, the flat line traversing the screen from left to right, not moving a pixel from the middle. He gently laid her hoof down on the bed, and leaned over and kissed her cheek. He reached up with his shaking hoof and muted the heart monitor, and sat next to her and cried softly.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but the doctor and nurse came over to him with the crying foal, wrapped in a soft white blanket, and offered her to him. He accepted the infant unicorn in his arms, who began to immediately calm down. She had a heliotrope-colored coat, and the short start of her mane was a mix of moderate and light purple, with aquamarine highlights from her mother.
"I'm very sorry for your loss, Firelight," the doctor offered, putting a hoof on his shoulder. "We've started on the birth certificate. Did the two of you discuss a name?"
Firelight looked over at his wife, who was now at peace, and then back down to the foal cradled in his hooves.
"Starlight. Starlight Glimmer."
Author's Note
Not quite sure where this one is going, and the rest isn't ready. But I've always been something of an infuriating tease around here, so enjoy!
Sunburst had to admit, since he had moved to Ponyville, this was the most he was looking forward to visiting home in some time. Since his visit with Starlight over a year ago, he had kept in touch with his mom, Stellar Flare, who still showed some concern over what he was going to do once Flurry Heart got older, but wasn't as in his face about it as she used to be. She was also, reluctantly, starting to get used to his beard.
She was simply ecstatic when he had revealed that he and Starlight had started dating. She wanted to give him all sorts of pointers for maintaining a long distance relationship, and he had accepted a small amount of it, knowing that Firelight was definitely doing the same to Starlight. She was even happier when she had received his letter saying that he was leaving the Crystal Empire and moving to Ponyville, where he had accepted the position of Vice Headstallion for the School of Friendship, Equestria's newest international campuses. With what he was coming to them with today, however, made him want to have a shield spell on standby, in the likely event that his mother would explode from happiness twice.
Sunburst and Starlight had grown up as neighbors together. He never knew the details, but Firelight was a widowed father, and Sunburst's family was always more than happy to babysit when his workload became overwhelming. He never minded; Starlight was a great friend and playmate, and was an excellent spellcaster when they became old enough to start performing magic. When he had gotten his cutie mark before her, however, they had whisked him away to Canterlot. His sheer knowledge of nearly all matters surrounding Aetherius was probably the only reason he managed to pass the entrance exam for Celestia's School of Magic. His written and oral reports had managed to keep his academic performance afloat for six years. But as his class continued delving into the more advanced subjects and applied spellcasting, he was no longer able to keep up. He formally dropped out near the end of his thirteenth semester, and with Celestia's help, he landed a job maintaining the Arcane section at the National Archives in Canterlot.
When the Crystal Empire returned in the far north, he was part of the small team of scholars that had moved up there to study the tomes that had been thought forever lost when the city had disappeared a millennium ago. From there, he had become the Crystaller to the royal daughter Flurry Heart. Being the magic advisor to a natural-born alicorn and her parents provided its own set of challenges, but now that Flurry had gotten older and her magic got much more stable, he had largely been reduced to a ceremonial role. Figuring that this latest chapter of his life was coming to an end, he wondered what was in store for him next. He didn't have to wonder long after he got a letter from Trixie, and Starlight offered him the position of Vice Headstallion at the School of Friendship, though the new Student Counselor wanted to jokingly keep the job listed as Vice Headmare. His mom was thrilled, believing that this was at last, a career defining move.
Their hometown of Sires Hollow was one of Equestria's older villages, nestled in the forests between Bitsburgh and Fillydelphia. It had experienced a population boom when the railroad was built through town on its way northeast towards Manehattan, Bostrot, and Rainbow Falls. The village's economy was largely supported by timber export. Shelterwood cutting methods had ensured that the beautiful forests in the area were carefully maintained. For a few months, their parents had a feud on what direction the town as a whole should take; Stellar Flare wanted to modernize the town to attract business and tourism, and Firelight believed that preserving the town's history was more important. With the help of their children, they set aside their differences and approached both tasks together. Now Firelight's preservation efforts tied into attracting tourists, and Stellar Flare made sure her efforts included maintaining the town's historical architecture.
Sunburst stepped off the train as it stopped at the Sires Hollow platform, and headed towards town. The wrought iron gate was still there, thankfully with the audio welcome system removed. Passing through them into the town square, he took in what had changed since his last visit. The smoothie vendor was still there, but now with a large offering of fresh, unprocessed fruit. The 'Essences of the Hollow' kiosk had been renovated into a full-on beauty parlor that was attracting modest business.
He spotted Firelight and his mom waving him down from the outdoor dining area at the coffee shop next to the bakery, which had also seen incredible improvement after the "original" recipe had been overhauled.
"Hello, dear. How's life in Ponyville?" Stellar asked, getting up for a hug.
"A bit hectic." Sunburst began, returning the hug before he took his own seat across from the two of them. "We're getting everything ready for the next school year, and still getting Twilight's castle re-purposed."
"It's a shame both of you couldn't come down. I'm sure Starlight would have loved to see some of the changes the town has made since she was last here." Firelight added.
"Yeah, I don't think there's going to be many opportunities for both the Headmare and Vice Headstallion to leave the school at the same time." Sunburst said. True, it would make travelling abroad require much more planning, but for their parents it wasn't as big of an issue because of how often they were now making the trip to Ponyville to visit.
"So, what's new son? You said you had something to tell us?" Stellar asked, taking a sip of her tea.
"Well, I'm just here for the day. I'm actually here mostly to talk to Firelight, but I knew I'd never hear the end of it from you if you weren't here for this." Sunburst replied, smirking at his mom. He reached into his teal star-patterned cloak, came back out with a small felt box, and slid it across the table to the stallion, whose eyes had widened already.
"Firelight, I'd like your permission to propose to Starlight. Your daughter is amazing, and I'd like to spend the rest of my life with her." He said, sitting up as straight as he could.
As Sunburst was paying more attention to Firelight opening the box and looking at the diamond engagement ring, he didn't notice his mom very quickly slide around the round table and nearly tackle him in an excited hug.
"Ooh, congratulations, honey!" Stellar told her son.
"Thanks mom." He replied as he struggled to breathe.
"Sunburst," Firelight finally began as Sunburst waited all of three seconds for a reaction. "I'm flattered, but you of course know that you hardly need my permission, right?" Firelight asked as he closed the box and slid it back over to him.
"Well, I've always considered myself something of an old-fashioned stallion, what can I say?" Sunburst replied, returning the small box to his cloak's inside pocket.
"Well, then I suppose I'll humor you. Sunburst, you and Starlight have known each other since you were foals. Your family constantly volunteered to help care for her while I worked to put a roof over her head, because of how well the two of you got along. There was a considerable gap where you lost track of each other, and then you found each other again and your relationship has just become closer and stronger. When it comes to magic, you're the knowledge to her ability. I would be honored to have you as a son-in-law." Firelight said, pressing a hoof to his chest.
Sunburst smiled proudly.
"So any idea of how you're going to go about it?" Stellar asked, returning to her cup of tea.
"Yes, actually, and this idea isn't quite as old fashioned. Do you two think you could get down to Ponyville on Friday night?"
Headmare Starlight Glimmer flipped through midterm papers that her professors had dropped off on her desk earlier that day. She glanced behind her out the window and saw that the sun was beginning its final descent towards the horizon. She was looking forward to the weekend, as always, but even more so since she had taken over as the School of Friendship's Headmare six months ago. The job was a demanding, fulfilling position, but time off was always nice. It had gotten even more fulfilling, and the time off even nicer, since she had immediately decided to split the responsibilities with her lifelong friend and boyfriend Sunburst, who had apparently been planning another one of his special dates tonight. One time it would be a dinner featuring an exquisitely exotic food, the next time it would be sightseeing at some lovely getaway for a weekend, or even just a nice nostalgic full-size game of Dragon Pit; Sunburst had managed to keep things fresh and exciting even through moving to Ponyville, which was why she was currently endeavoring to finish sorting these midterms and get out of her office. She hadn't seen him since lunch six hours ago, and she was very much looking forward to whatever surprise Trixie had popped in and told her that he had in store for tonight, and to meet him in the foyer of the castle when she was done for the evening.
If she was honest with herself, she was wondering if one of these surprises was eventually going to turn into him popping the question. They seemed to be in a stable enough place in their lives and careers now, and their relationship was stronger than ever since they were now living and working together. Then, there were times that she couldn't help but wonder if Sunburst was waiting for her to propose to him. Both of them had come quite a long way from her fainting in the castle's east wing hallway the first time he had asked her out to dinner.
Coming to the last paper in the stack, and seeing that it was properly marked and graded like all the others, she got up, trotted to the back corner of her office, and deposited them in the middle drawer of a filing cabinet for this year's class. With her last task of the day done, she quickly glanced over her office, saw that everything was in order, and turned to leave. Shutting off the light and closing the door behind her, she saw that the hallway was completely empty. She was sometimes the last one to leave for the day, true, but this time of day, there would almost certainly be students going to and from the dorms and the cafeteria. But there wasn't a single step or whisper as far as she could hear. She shrugged her shoulders, maybe there was a party or event in town that she had forgotten about; the big ones on Friday nights usually drew the crowds.
But as she made the journey from her second floor office to the front door without seeing a single creature, she was beginning to think something was up. She came out of the front doors, and saw the Castle of Friendship's exterior shine brilliantly against the setting sun. There were more lights on than she thought there would be at this time of evening; since Twilight's departure for Canterlot, castle activity had dropped considerably. Town events were still split fairly evenly between it and Town Hall, and there were still the "Friendship Feasts" held on the first of every month, but without Twilight and Spike, and the others going to and from, the Castle of Friendship had become a bit more empty.
Despite being right next to the Castle that had magically sprouted out of the ground on the far north side of Ponyville, compliments of the Tree of Harmony, the School of Friendship had been constructed from the ground up over a period of months. Considerable landscaping had been done as the structure had been built into the tallest hills in town. Starlight crossed the limestone bridge and made her way down the short cobblestone path around the southeast corner of the castle to the main entrance. She could have sworn she heard shushing noises as she trotted up the steps. She pushed the doors open, and her breath left her with a gasp as she looked at the current state and occupancy of the Castle of Friendship's foyer.
There were nearly one hundred ponies lined up on both sides of the red carpet going down the center of the foyer; townsponies and students she had become familiar with, turning and smiling at her. She immediately recognized some of her first villagers from Our Town; Party Favor, Sugar Belle, Nightglider, and Double Diamond. She saw her dad, and all of Sunburst's immediate family. She saw up farther along in front of the stairs, was much of the school's first class; Gallus, Sandbar, Yona, Ocellus, Silverstream, and Smolder stood with the Council of Friendship in front of them in the front row; Pinkie Pie was visibly vibrating, this had no doubt been another challenging secret to keep. Even Celestia and Luna had made a surprise trip from Silver Shoals. Princess Cadance stood in the front row next to Twilight.
And there, at the very top of the stairs, stood Sunburst, smiling down at her.
All eyes were on her as she made her way down the foyer and up the stairs to her boyfriend.
"I don't even want to know how you were able to put something like this together without any suspicion from me." Starlight teased him. "What's going on?"
Sunburst offered her a hoof, and lead her up the last of the stairs to stand beside him at the top of the first flight, before it split off to the east and west wings.
"Starlight, when you came back into my life, things immediately started looking up, for both of us. From that day forth, you and I have helped each other grow, our friendship has blossomed into something much deeper; to the point where I am absolutely certain that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Starlight Glimmer..."
Sunburst's horn lit up, and the felt-covered jewelry box was levitated out from under his cloak, opened, and presented to her.
"Will you marry me?" He asked, dropping to a front knee.
Starlight bit her lip as tears quickly threatened her eyelids. Sunburst removed the ring from the inside, and began to rotate it.
"And I don't mean in awhile, after weeks and months of stressful wedding-planning, in between running an entire school..." He continued. There was a mechanical click, and the ring, expertly crafted and seamlessly put together, smoothly split off into two separate rings.
"...I mean right now, tonight, surrounded by all of our family and friends."
The unicorn mare sniffled, and looked down at Sunburst, smiling widely.
"You always knew how to surprise me in unexpected and amazing ways. Yes, yes of course I will!"
Sunburst got to his hooves and the duo embraced, with stomping hooves from the crowd in front of them.
"Now," Sunburst began, releasing her from the hug, "I know you don't want anything particularly flashy, but Trixie is waiting for you in your bedroom with a little something. Meet back here in twenty?" Sunburst asked, as he floated the rings down to Twilight in the front row. Starlight nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. With that, Starlight excitedly trotted up the stairs to the second floor of the west wing, followed by Firelight moments later.
"Don't think she's the only one that's going to look stunning," Princess Cadance told him, coming up the stairs. "My husband is waiting for you in the East Study." She told him as conversations started to break out in the crowd to pass the time. Smiling at her, he gave a bow, then headed up the opposite staircase from Starlight, his mom in quick tow.
"I know you traditionally choose your Mare of Honor, but there was no other way to keep this a surprise." Trixie told Starlight, smirking as she stood in a purple silk gown, similarly colored to her magician's cloak, watching as Firelight helped his daughter get properly fitted into a magnificent white bride's dress. Starlight had quickly deduced that this was the result of Rarity wanting to get Starlight re-measured and fitted for a new Headmare's uniform.
"Like I would have chosen anypony else." Starlight replied to her best friend, with just as much playful snark. "I can't believe all of you were able to keep this a surprise. Especially with Pinkie around."
"Apparently there was a baby announcement a couple years back that gave her plenty of practice." Firelight told her as he made some adjustments to the wedding veil. With that complete, she stood in front of the triple-paneled full length mirror, and looked at herself with her dad and best friend at either side.
"I can't believe this. Just an hour ago I was grading midterm papers, and now..." She trailed off, sniffling.
"You look absolutely beautiful, sweetheart. If only your mom could see you..." Firelight said, tearing up a bit himself.
Sunburst's fitting was considerably less complicated. It consisted of a teal formal dress shirt, a vermilion bow tie that matched his mane perfectly, and speaking of his mane, he didn't object in the slightest when his mom took to it and his beard with a comb and can of hairspray. It was better than coming at him with scissors, he had to admit.
"Well Sunburst, I have to admit, I'm impressed. You're about to pull this off without a hitch." Stellar complimented, as she ran the comb through the front of his mane. Shining quickly and expertly removed the unicorn's glasses and cleaned the lenses and polished the frame, before returning them to his snout.
"Can't have my daughter's Crystaller looking unpresentable now, can we?" Shining Armor commented. The Crystal Prince was also in his own dress uniform that was reserved for the most important of occasions, such as this.
"Thanks for your help with everything, Shining." Sunburst said as his bow tie was straightened.
"Don't mention it, Sunburst. You made my daughter's first years so much less stressful than you know, and it's about time we were able to return just a little bit of the favor. You and Starlight are perfect for each other. I know that because she was proposed to and agreed to get married in 20 minutes notice. This isn't exactly a Las Pegasus trot-thru wedding, but you're right, running the School of Friendship while planning something much bigger would have been a considerable strain."
With a final run through with the comb, Stellar nodded satisfyingly at her son, tearing up a bit.
"Well, shall we?" Shining asked, ushering the groom to the door out to the hall.
Sunburst walked out to the east hallway, and started back towards the foyer, with Shining and Stellar at his sides. He came to the stairs, and all eyes were on him only for a moment, before shifting to the other side, where Starlight came out, and the stallion's lips couldn't help but tremble when he looked at how absolutely beautiful she looked. As was tradition, he descended first to the first flight, where Twilight and Spike were waiting with a proud smile as well. Shining stood back towards the second set of stairs while Stellar descended to her seat in the front row. Then, Starlight came down, also nearly overwhelmed with emotion. Trixie remained at the bottom of the second set of stairs, as Firelight gently lifted his daughter's veil with his magic, then kissed her on the cheek before returning to the seats on the ground floor, as she stepped up to Twilight with Sunburst. Tears pricked her eyes as she looked at her fiance.
"Beloved family and friends, we are gathered here today to unite the two heads of Ponyville's School of Friendship; Starlight Glimmer, and Sunburst. The commitment of these two longtime friends to each other is clear and undeniable. Spike, the rings please?"
Spike came forward with the two rings that were once wholly one piece, and Twilight took them in her magic's grasp, and offered each to the unicorns in front of her, who each took them in with their horns.
"Sunburst, do you take this mare, to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; until death do you part?"
Sunburst swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked at how lovely his fiance looked.
"I do."
"And do you, Starlight, take this stallion to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?"
Starlight couldn't hold the tears back, and as they streamed down her cheeks, she smiled at him.
"I do."
The two of them took their rings and together, placed them around each other's horns.
"By the power vested in me by the sovereign nation of Equestria, I now pronounce you husband and wife."
Sunburst took a single step forward, and touched his lips to Starlight's, and took her in his front hooves as the crowd in front of them cheered.
"May I present, for the very first time, newlyweds Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer!" Princess Twilight announced.
Sunburst and Starlight turned to the cheering crowd and waved to their family and friends.
"Now, I hope everypony's hungry, because the reception starts right now in the dining room, and we've got quite the spread. Let's go dig in!"
Author's Note
This may be this story's last update for awhile, if it sees any at all.
I've got a very, very rough idea of where it could go, but as is my usual flaw, fluff is non existent right now. I've also got other stories to progress and finish.
Regardless, thank you for reading. If you've got any ideas, don't hesitate to sound off in the comments!
