Sunburst was just as surprised when he got a kiss back. Passionate but tender, longing, the feeling of two magnets, held apart, finally coming together in climax. She smelled like lilac. Not strong, it didn't smell like a perfume. Maybe it was just the product that she used for her mane. Maybe it as her aura, even. Sunburst barely moved. He didn't expect it to work.

***

A few hours earlier he had been getting ready for his date. It really was a date too, that's the part that shocked him. Starlight had come to meet him the day after the party, him hungover and her tired from her journey. They had a breathless conversation that he couldn't quite remember a play-by-play of no matter how hard he tried, but the short of it was him saying he had wanted to take her on a date and her doing something to the effect of emphatically agreeing to it.

Simplicity was key. A nice meal out, a show, it would all go well. He would be in.

***

He was in. She was kissing him. The show was fun, he couldn't remember most of it. The meal was good. He couldn't remember what he ate. He was kissing a mare for the first time in his life.

"This was really fun, Sunburst," she had said to him.

"I've always liked you too," she had responded.

"I think your cute and dorky and funny. After all this time I can't help but still admire you," she had admitted.

There they were, kissing outside her room in the castle. replaying the night in his head brought him a rush of confidence. He Pressed forward, bringing a hoof up to her shoulder to stabilize her. She tilted her head in response. Twenty-eight and a half seconds. Not the most intense kiss but certainly a good one. She pulled away and batted her eyes. The way she looked up at him, he felt like he must look dreamy to her. He probably did. She had always liked him after all.

A short goodnight, a promise to go out again next week before she left, and a short walk home later--

***

Sunburst was cumming. Well Cadance was cumming as Sunburst. This was her second time of the night and she was heartily spent, but with what strength she could muster from her shorter orange haunches she slammed her hips into Shining's rear one last time, huffing and groaning as she released another thick volume of seed into her husband's ass. Shining gritted his teeth, taking his second load in a row without stopping, and furiously worked his aura around his cock. Sweat dripped from his chin as his shallow, quick breath shuddered. Finally, after being rutted more deeply and thoroughly than Cadance had ever tried with a strapon, he emptied his balls in a virtual torrent onto the shower floor.

The two of them stayed put a long while. No motion or grinding or teasing, just breathing. The water had been shut off for a while, and both of them had starchy fur, almost dried from the water but replastered with sweat. Each movement brought the sound of wet hair on wet hair. Cadance shakily squeezed her front hooves on the sides of Shining's barrel and started so shimmy herself back. Little step by little step, she moved back just enough to pop her medial ring out of Shining.

He shook a bit but made no noise as he felt the cock being taken out of his ass. It was a deflating feeling. He clenched up as he felt the soft head slip out, but stopped himself, letting himself relax and feel the cum seep out. He closed his eyes and bowed his head down, focusing on controlling his breathing. He didn't even react as he felt the tongue slither into his ponut. Cadance wearily lapped away at Shining's filled rump as he turned the water on again. The hot shower was just as good as the tongue exploring his tired, pounded ass. He watched the puddle of seed on the floor swirl around the drain.

His eyes had to readjust to the bright white crystals that made up the bathroom walls. The steam in the air of the shower. He looked back to see Cadance, back in her normal form, happily attending to his asshole. Her alicorn tongue was quite the utensil.

Things were back to normal. At least they were to a new normal. Cadance knew that Sunburst had drunkenly kissed Shining. They had talked. It was all swept under the rug, nothing but a misfire of emotions, a false climax. This was the first time in nearly a week that Shining had felt the mood strike him to try cock again, to which Cadance happily obliged. He hadn't felt particularly strongly about Sunburst in a while. Not since the kiss.

Shining had simply brought him home that night, telling Cadance the exact story the next day. She was disappointed in Sunburst, but the two had talked alone and cleared the air and that was...it.

Shining hung out with him just as much as ever. He helped gas his friend up for his date with Starlight, which should be concluding now, as Shining stood in the shower with his own wife servicing him.

The two of them had felt a spark, and they had almost followed it, they had played with fire and lit both of their emotions aflame. It was so fleeting in hindsight, almost ridiculous. It was hollowing, Shining thought, that something that feels so real can be gone so quickly. It made him feel old, frail.

It wasn't truly gone though. Cadance sidled up next to Shining and began to wash her mane. Shining just came to his senses. Sunburst did too. Shining knew himself well enough to know that his fancy had simply overtaken him. He was getting older, and he wanted a glimpse into a life that could have been. However, you can't just peer into what you've missed out on that easily. There may have been some timeline where he met Sunburst, or some other colt, and had led a very different life, but he would never know.

Meanwhile, for Sunburst he couldn't really say. Maybe it was for confidence. Maybe he wanted to feel wanted, to feel attractive, to feel like he commanded something. Shining could already tell the ordeal had made him far less anxious and far more assertive. It even led to him finally asking Starlight out. Maybe Shining was overthinking things, and all Sunburst had really needed from all this was to figure out how to get a marefriend...in a roundabout way.

***

Shining and Cadance lay in a calm slumber, ordeal behind them, while Sunburst stayed awake, peering into the stars in the courtyard. Under a million stars he realized how hard it was to feel alone in this moment and he let a tear gently roll down his cheek.

For the first time in his life, Sunburst fell asleep that night not feeling alone.

Author's Note

When I said I would finish things by new years I meant new years 2023 clearly. Either way here it is, a short, simple ending, the one I planned for nearly a year and a half ago when i started this fic, and the one I finally found the impetus to make. It's been a long, raunchy retelling of one dramatic, emotional week for our 3 main characters, but its over. Thank you all for reading along, and I hope you check out the other works I have on here, with more coming soon as part of my return, including the start of another long form romance in the next month or so. Cya.