“Sunburst!” Shining had to be conscious of his space, he almost jumped back, startled at the pony who seemed to have snuck up behind him. Doing so would’ve been bad though, plunging a hundred feet off of the inner wall would certainly make the night worse.

“Sorry, sorry, I really didn't want to scare you. Sorry.” Sunburst shrank his slight form into his burly cloak, the wind on top of the wall whipping his mane to the side.

Shining put himself at ease. Apart from the pale light of the odd illuminating crystal, he now stood in the orange glow from the tip of Sunburst’s horn. The night sky was brilliantly painted behind him as the natural northern borealis stained the atmosphere. The lights of the city splattered below, the greens and blues and purples of crystals lighting up the porches and windows of the crystal ponies. In between both of these veritable light shows, the streak of the horizon battled free with the natural beauty of the sky, the piercing dark of empty space drawing an odd amount of attention to the negative space, liminal between the bustle below and the quiet brilliance dancing in the sky above.

“What are you doing up here?” Shining’s voice was quiet, morose, and in the open air of the wall, cool wind around them, Sunburst had to strain himself to hear.

“I followed you.” Sunburst started, shocked at how little his own voice seemed to be carrying. Even when it was with his best friend, he could still be too nervous to talk sometimes. “Well, I saw you walking outside from my hut, so I followed you, and then I saw you sitting here sky-watching, so I ran back and got some things to come out here and sit with you.” He hitched up his saddle bags, letting Shining hear the contents rattle. Shining smirked.

“That’s...that’s really sweet. Thank you.” Shining scooted to the side, leaving some room to look out of the low embrasure he was peering over. Sunburst’s horn shimmered a moment before another light appeared, this time at his hip. It was a stocky lantern with a grated face. He took the handle in his teeth and sat it against the wall in front of Shining before beginning to take off his saddle bags.

“It’s a heater too. It’s pretty cold tonight.” Sunburst spoke into the air as he unloaded. It was a chilly night. Shining could already feel the warmth of the lantern start to radiate onto the cold crystal under his hooves. “Stand up real quick.” Shining did as Sunburts ordered, and his friend laid a quilt down on the smooth crystal where he had been sitting. He set the rest of his bags against the wall and took a seat, wrapping himself in his cloak and and gazing wearily into the light of the lantern, letting his horn flicker out.

“You have an early day tomorrow. I can help you bring all this back.” Shining stood on the blanket, looking down at Sunburst. His friend looked up to meet his gaze and gave a weak smile.

“So what’s wrong?” Sunburst had taken a page out of Shining’s own playbook. He sidestepped Shining’s own worries entirely. Shining let out a breath, half expecting it to make fumes in the cold air, but it wasn’t quite that cold. A gust of air felt as though it whipped him forward, his mane falling in his eyes as he sat next to his friend on the blanket, both of them facing the open sky through the gap in the parapet.

Shining didn’t say anything, he just half-lidded his eyes and let the warmth from the heater hit his hooves. Sunburst didn’t pry. He pulled another blanket out from his bags and offered it quietly to Shining, who took it in his own aura and draped it over his shoulders. He hunkered over and rubbed his cheek on the material of the blanket, smelling the light cinnamon of Sunburst’s magic on it.

“Do you want any green tea?” Shining looked over to see Sunburst already pouring himself a cup from his thermos.

“Sure. Thanks.” Shining waited, watching the steam dissipate over the cup as Sunburst poured some for him. Shining took it in his aura carefully, a habit most unicorns had, even though it couldn’t burn their magic aura they would still treat hot cups and platters as though they could, and set it aside to cool a bit before taking a sip. “Is it historical tea?”

“No, but it was made in a 400 year old tea kettle.” Sunburst took a sip as he sat with his friend.

“I hope you washed it first.” Shining looked back out into the open air and listening as Sunburst took another sip. They were both tired, but there was a comfort in their presence that seemed to make silence into a preferable alternative to speaking. At least for a moment. A few sips of his own drink later, Sunburst clearly wanted to get the caffeine out of his tea, he fished a container out of his bag. He opened it to reveal a small but surprisingly robust charcuterie board’s worth of snacks having been packed away. Veggies, some cheeses and crackers (including a few chunks of that old cheese Shining liked) and some olives and dates. Sunburst set the open container between them and pulled out a smaller tin of hummus, opening it and setting it down too.

“How did you have time to make this?” Shining was in awe.

“It’s my lunch tomorrow. It’s fine though, I’ll catch something from the mess hall from the guards. Can you write me a note or something so they don’t give me flak?” Sunburst spoke so calmly and kindly, dipping a slice of cucumber in the hummus and taking a bite as soon as he finished.

Shining turned to look back out to the sky, aware of how wet his eyes were. What was with him lately? Why did Sunburst have to go out of his way to do something so cute, so kind, so caring? “Of course,” Shining responded simply. He took a sip of his tea and ate a date. The wind bounced off of the keep behind them, making a low hum, before whistling its way through the arrow loops of the parapet. In the distance the bells rang over the city 12 times.

“Happy birthday,” Sunburst said quietly. The final bell rang. After a moment he added, “sorry you feel bad for it.”

Shining swallowed his food. He waited a moment, not turning to meet Sunburst’s gaze, but instead swallowing again. He spoke, “I’ve never been too big on my own birthdays.”

“Why not?” Sunburst took a hearty gulp of his green tea now that it was cold.

“For the past few years at least, I watch these ageless empires and ponies all around me, I see ancient evils that have persisted for thousands of years, and then I have a birthday and suddenly I’m older. If that makes sense.” Shining took a chunk of cheese, ditching the formality of a cracker entirely and just taking a bite.

“It makes sense. I look at things from the past all the time. Take classical Ponish history for example. It’s a span of 700 years. The rise and fall of empire after empire around Equestria, the rise and fall of several political dynasties in the higher court, all of that, and Equestria itself simply stays still in time. Without the rest of the politics of the country, without the rest of the world as a measuring stick, it seems like time stands still, but then we get older. When you look at all of history like I do, it starts to seem a little unfair that we only get such a small slice of it to ourselves.”

“A very small slice.” Shining echoed the sentiment. “I first realized that when Twilight turned 12. She was so excited. She wanted to act like a big girl, read big girl books, act more ‘proper for her age’,” Shining giggled to himself, “and I was excited for her. For a day I was at least. Then the next day I asked her if she wanted to go play in the runoff—there was a drainage ditch by our house that overflowed when it rained—and she said ‘that’s for little ponies. I’m not a foal anymore.’” Shining could feel a tightness in the back of his throat.

“It’s how I feel every time Flurry makes a big milestone. I’m just aware of the fact that she will never be that young again. We miss out on so much as we age, and sometimes we don’t even know what we are missing out on.” Shining locked his eyes on the moon, using it as an anchor to focus on, to keep his thoughts from spiraling.

They sat in silence again. Sunburst finished his tea. Shining finished his hunk of cheese and gulped more of his tea down.

“I wrote a letter to Starlight,” Sunburst spoke.

“Really!?” Shining didn’t even pretend the that the change in topic wasn’t appreciated

“Well we write all the time. Twilight likes to make her write letters. I write back obviously, but this time I sent my own letter.” Sunburst was blushing. Shining took in the bashful way he batted his eyes as he spoke, his pupils almost invisible under the reflections of all the light in the sky.

“And…” Shining made a gesture with his hoof.

“I just asked her if she had time to stay an extra day after your party this weekend; if she wanted to hang out. I told her I had something I wanted to talk to her about. I don’t know, we’ll see how it goes.” Sunburst looked up to see Shining beaming at him.

“You’re already in, bud, I’m telling you,” Shining spoke like an old master imparting wisdom. “She already likes you a lot. Even if she only likes you as a friend right now, which I think she likes you more than that, but even if that’s all she feels you’re still a horseshoe in.”

“You think?”

“For sure. You have a lot of attractive qualities.”

“You seem to think so.”

Both of them chuckled at Sunburst’s joke.

“But really,” Shining went on, “I think she already likes you. I just think you are bad at seeing when people are in love with you.” Shining felt a pinch in his stomach.

“I try not to be down on myself often, but I really don't know what you’re talking about when you say I have ‘attractive qualities.’” Sunburst opened up a water bottle from his bag and took a drink.

“If you want me to compliment you, you need to just learn to ask,” Shining sneered jokingly.

“I’m not just fishing for compliments. I just want to know.” Sunburst pitched his voice up indignantly.

“So what would you want me to say? Give me an example of a quality you would want me to point out?” Shining smugly looked to his friend and took a sip of his own tea.

A guard on patrol clopped by, saluting briefly to Shining. Sunburst thought for a moment.

“Well you say that me being smart and dorky is good,” Sunburst pontificated.

“Ponies are drawn to passion. It’s clear that you are passionate about a lot of things,” Shining agreed.

“So you could say that.” Sunburst looked at his friend, proud to have argued his point.

“That’s really only one thing. ‘Qualities’ is plural. What else were you thinking I could say?”

“Well,” Sunburst began, “you say I actually carry a conversation pretty well. I am clueless, but in a cute way, you’ve told me. Also, apparently I’m doing something right with physical attractiveness, or at least I’ll infer that’s what you think for obvious reasons...and…” Sunburst looked at Shining, the smug look on his face giving up his ruse.

“Oh stars,” Sunburst giggled and blushed, “I’ve been hanging around you too much, I’m developing an ego.”

“You’re getting confidence. Nothing you said there was wrong.” Shining scooted in and laid a reassuring hoof on his friend’s shoulder. Sunburst looked to him again.

In his left eye were all the lights in the world. The crystal city shined like a flame and the northern lights shimmered like embers. In his right eye, as he faced Shining, there was only the gentle glow of the lantern, a pearl amidst the ocean of black and blue. Somehow that eye was just as mesmerizing. Bleary eyed, Sunburst’s look carried with it a natural pause in the conversation. Shining moved his hoof just a bit on his shoulder. Sunburst leaned in slowly, the whistling wind around them seeming to slow to syrup, his already tired eyes closing slowly.

Shining held his breath, waiting for the two to come into contact. His heart fluttered as he felt the warmth from Sunburst’s breath tickle the wispy hair on his chin. His lips parted just a bit. He tilted his head back, expecting to feel the tickle of his friend’s goatee. He felt Sunburst’s cheek rub against his as he leaned in all the way, wrapping Shining in a calm and sleepy hug.

The earth still spinning slowly, Shining opened his eyes. Heat in the back of his throat, he brought his own larger hooves up and rubbed the back of Sunburst’s cloak. The smaller pony simply relaxed his forelegs over Shining. A gentle murmur of thanks came from just behind Shining’s head. He rested his chin on Sunburst’s withers, swallowing his complex mix of shame and disappointment and enjoying the hug. Wrapped in blankets, near the heat of the lamp, the cool night around them, Shining stopped himself from spiraling again and focused only on the niceness of the situation.

Soon enough however he began to notice something. Sunburst’s breathing had eased into something calm and rhythmic. He had fallen asleep. Shining chuckled to himself. He had been working hard this week.

Using his aura and his dexterity, Shining lowered the smaller pony down onto the blanket. He poured out the rest of his tea, closed the snack container and packed everything away into Sunburst’s bags, loading them up over his back. He looked over the lump of fabric that was his sleeping friend, taking the smaller pony up in his aura and draping him gently over his back, eliciting only a few errant mutters from him in the process, but not waking him up.

He folded the blanket, turned off the lamp, and hitched them both to Sunburst’s saddlebags on his back. Double checking that everything was packed, he took one final look at the city and the sky and the moon before carefully trotting off.

It was a long walk down through the ramparts and across the courtyard, one filled with whispering to guards that he was only delivering his friend home, no one was hurt. As he finally made it back outside, only a foray across the grounds from reaching his destination, a sharp sweet voice carried itself through the wind to him.

“Shining?” Cadance spoke gently, tired enough herself. “I woke up and you were out of bed.”

“I went for a night walk and this one came out to cheer me up,” Shining nodded back to Sunburst, who had begun to snore lightly,” but he was more tired than he let on and fell asleep.”

“That was very kind of him,” Cadance closed the gap between them as she spoke, “I know how you get about birthdays.” A slender hoof came up under Shining’s chin, tilting his head up to meet a flurry of short kisses. Shining noticed the empty hiss of the baby monitor crystal Cadance had tucked under her wing, broadcasting the comfortable silence inside of Flurry Heart’s room. “Let’s get him to bed.”

Cadance and Shining drifted across the grounds, making the short walk to Sunburst’s house together. Cadance fished his keys from out of the bags on Shining’s side, and the two of them simply lifted Sunburst off of Shining’s back and laid him on his bed, blankets and all, before closing the door. Both of them politely pretended not to notice the object suction cupped to Sunburst’s wall, though Shining thought it looked oddly familiar.

Once outside, Cadance tugged at the blanket Shining had still left draped across his back. “You know,” she began with a yawn, “I have the baby monitor with me. How do you feel about sleeping under the stars tonight, honey? The sky is so pretty.”

Shining called a guard over and asked that somepony keep watch over the princess and him while they slept, and Cadance teleported back into the castle to get another blanket. They found a nice spot to the side of the main courtyard, where the crickets weren’t too noisy and the wind was blocked off by some bushes.

Cadance folded her legs under her body gracefully, and Shining did the same right next to her, the two of them lying so close on their blanket that their flanks were touching. “Happy birthday, sweetheart,” and again Cadance gave him a series of short kisses on the cheek and lips. She ended the combo with a longer kiss, not anything fancy, just the two of them sharing the moment with each other. She broke the kiss, her eyes having gone from a sultry-half-closed to a tired-barely-open. She pressed her head against his, the base of their horns rubbing against each other as they held this pose for a while. Shining could feel her breath hit his chest.

She shimmied herself a bit, letting her head slide down the back of his neck until she had folded herself like a swan, resting her chin on his withers. Shining folded his own head down, bringing himself to rest on her folded forelegs, his cheek against her chest. The both listening to the crickets and the wind and each other’s breathing for a while, their heart’s slowly matching each other in rhythm. Cadance fell asleep first and Shining listened to her lethargic inhales and exhales. The hiss of the baby monitor crystal still carried from under her wing. Even though he knew it couldn’t pick up a sound that small, Shining convinced himself that he could hear Flurry Heart’s breaths too, and he finally let his own eyelids droop to that sound as it played in his head.

“Oh. Luna. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Author's Note

Just when I admit this is a bimonthly series, I finally release a weekly chapter. Expect another week or two before the next one, and thank you for everyone that returns to this series dedicatedly, I’ve never written for an audience before, so thank you so much for all of your time. Also, thanks to Awni for continuing to provide proofreading help as this series goes on.