Two Burning Stars Chasing The Day

Chapters

1. keep getting closer
2. why do you compromise?
3. paint them red, those things you said
4. nothing to lose, but losing anyways
5. a half-hearted excuse
6. we live in black and white
7. we dream in color
8. one wish that wont come true
9. release and let go
10. glory and us come together

1. keep getting closer

Just because you were friends with someone doesn’t mean that they couldn’t get on your last nerve. And Lord help him, Starlight Glimmer was one of those friends, she knew exactly what buttons to push to turn him into a nervous wreck, it made him want to grab her shoulders and shake her until she learned some sense.

But instead, Sunburst Zenith shook his head at her, the girl that was trouble with a capital ‘T’, taking in her dark purple hair and dark blue eyes that he could never get enough of. She was beautiful, in a broken sort of way, she was a dangerous girl, the bad girl that broke all the rules.

There was absolutely no reason for him to love her. He did though, and it made things all the more complicated. Sunburst chalked it up on the fact that he was a teenage boy, and falling in love with a girl was like falling in love with a new toy—the instant draw to it, the need to have it, to play with it and be entertained…until he grew tired and moved on. There were a lot of things in life that were like that.

Starlight turned her head, eyes focusing on him like she just knew that he had been staring. The little grin she gave him was like watching the sun break from the clouds. Sunburst knew he was horribly stupid with a healthy side of idiotic, but he blamed romance movies and music that put those notions in his head.

Love was never, ever that simple.

“So, what do you think?” she asked, tilting her head, purple tresses escaping from the confines of her beanie hat.

Sunburst frowned. “You’re serious about this?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she countered, pursing her lips. “Sunburst, I need…you know…”

Help. Of course she did. Stealing from the store and then getting sentenced with only community service hours was a blessing, all things considered.

But he would help, just like he always did. “Sure.”

Just because you were friends with someone didn’t mean that you wanted to remain just friends with them. Sunburst Zenith was one of those friends because if anyone deserved better than what she had to offer, it was him.

Starlight Glimmer’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Really?” she asked, almost scared. She didn’t let it show, because someone like her could never afford to be vulnerable. She could never let her guard down.

Being a foster child did things to you. It wasn’t like that for everyone, she knew. Some kids get lucky and are taken to loving homes, going on to do great things. Others managed to stay floating among the water’s surface, balanced, neither sinking nor swimming. And then there were kids like her, those with anchors wrapped around their waist and concrete blocks for shoes that dragged them down no matter how hard they swam.

She stole from the convenience store only because she had been so hungry—because her foster father was a violent drunk and her foster mother was as spineless as a wet tissue paper, choosing to run and hide whenever the man got too drunk, leaving Starlight to fend for herself. That night Starlight didn’t feel like being a punching bag. Didn’t feel like waiting until two a.m. to sneak downstairs for some food when she was sure that the bastard was out cold from the alcohol.

So she stole what little food she could fit in her jacket. Well, she tried to. It was her rotten luck that a cop was dropping by around the time she tried to make her escape. It didn’t help that the entirety of the tiny town of Sire’s Hollow thought she was the girl from hell, with the screwed-up past and behavioral problems that only heavy medication could fix. It didn’t help that she had one, maybe two, friends that would vouch for her when the rest would turn their backs.

But Sunburst was different—kind, caring, gentle. Everything she ever wanted and nothing she could have.

He smiled and Starlight wished he’d never stop.

“What are friends for?”

What are friends for?

The phrase echoed in his head for a moment. None of what he was doing was purely out of friendship. No. A part of him (and he feared that it was a big part of him) was drawn to her, like a moth to a flame. He knew that it would all end in pain and disaster, and yet he couldn’t part from her.

“I’ll try, and I’m sure Fluttershy will be willing, but you have to promise me that, whatever hours you get, are the hours you work,” Sunburst warned, taking a moment to be serious, making sure that she understood what was at stake. “It doesn’t matter if I’m there or not…just, promise me you’ll finish these hours and be done with it?”

He watched her face, always impassive, always guarded except for the light in her eyes. She was thinking, calculating like the smart individual she was. No one really knew how smart Starlight could be, not when she was deemed troubled and automatically thrown into the waste category. Sunburst could also see a small sliver of anger, of something she kept hidden and he was always desperate to see.

Starlight kept her emotions bottled up most of the time. Sunburst learned to deal with it, to take what he could get when they were alone and away from prying eyes. When they were in their own world.

“What more do you want me to do?” she asked, oddly calm and stoic. “I pleaded guilty and I’m going to do my hours, I can’t turn back time and undo what I did, Sunburst.”

Starlight was too serious, too dangerous.

Sunburst fidgeted on the bench they were seated. “That’s not what I mean; you know that.”

“Yeah, like you didn’t mean to forget to pick me up from the courthouse.”

It was a low blow and Sunburst felt the air leave his lungs. It wasn’t true—it couldn’t be the farthest thing from the truth. He hadn’t forgotten, not for a second. His mother demanding that he didn’t see that no good girl had stopped him from getting the car keys and leaving. Starlight had been all he could think about. He couldn’t get to her, he failed to protect her from a world that didn’t understand her.

“My mom,” he pleaded, wondering if getting down on his knees would help. “She didn’t…”

Stellar Flare, widowed and tired, had shaken her head. “She’s trouble.” Her words were short and not entirely incorrect.

Sunburst wished the rain would stop falling outside.

Starlight regretted her words the moment they left her mouth. She felt like an idiot. She knew that Sunburst’s mother didn’t like her. Not that she blamed her. She was a foster kid living in a bad home that only provided shelter and the occasional meal. The part-time job she had held on to for a month had ended the moment the charges were laid on her. She had nothing. It was unfair, but it was how the world worked, she supposed that was just another link in the chain dragging her down some more.

She wanted to apologize, to open her mouth and tell him she was sorry. The last thing she needed was to destroy the only healthy friendship she had, but the words echoed in her head, words that didn’t sound certain of where her priorities lay. All that Starlight knew was that she wanted out of this town, needed a way out of this life. Every penny that she had worked for since she was fifteen went into a savings account so that in a year she could get her own place the day she turned eighteen and was legally an adult.

Sunburst couldn’t question her priorities—he knew them up, down, and sideways.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, she stood up from the park bench they always meet up after school and started to walk away, feeling heavier with each step. Ten steps later and she stopped, turned around, and looked at him.

She always thought that he was handsome, but now that he was in his final stages of puberty, he seemed even more attractive in her eyes. He was like her guardian angel, always there, always looking out for her. He hadn’t moved from the bench, lip curled under the pressure of his teeth. It was the picture of innocence and sin wrapped into one.

“Are you coming or what?” Starlight yelled, crossing her arms and ignoring all the stares and the whispers from the other students in the park. No one seemed to get her relationship with Sunburst. Everyone liked him, thought that he was a sweet boy with a bright future ahead of him.

Not even Starlight understood why he stuck around.

When Sunburst got her meaning, he smiled and stood up, grabbing his backpack and running up to meet her. She rolled her eyes with fondness, stuffing her hands into her jacket so she wouldn’t do something stupid—like hug him.

“My shift at the shelter starts at five,” he said, “but I told mom that I’d stop by first.”

Starlight grinned, knowing what he was getting at. She played along anyways. “Is that so?”

“My bedroom window is open.”

Before Starlight came along, Sunburst had been somewhat popular, or privileged, depending on who you asked. He lived in a good home, with a supportive mother, an annoying and overachieving older sister, and a silly grandfather that told stories from back in the day. He knew most of the students in the school, mostly because he’d never been one to shy away from a stranger. Sometimes people just needed a little help. Sometimes people were just a little lost.

So the day Starlight walked into his high school, Sunburst didn’t even think about it, he just went for it.

“Hello, I’m Sunburst,” he introduced himself, holding out his hand.

Starlight, wearing a black t-shirt and worn-out jeans, looked at him like she would rather spit in his face than take his hand. “Does it look like I care?”

He dropped his hand and shrugged. “I just wanted to say hi, and if you ever need help, just ask, it’s nice to meet you,” Sunburst admitted that her answer had stung, just a little. Rarely was anyone that rude in Sire’s Hollow, mostly because everyone knew everyone. This girl was obviously new and rougher around the edges.

That happened two years ago, now they were in their last year of high school, and they got to know each other well during that time. Starlight had been in his English class and since she couldn’t string a sentence together without being sarcastic and/or offensive, the teacher had paired them because he volunteered to help her. It had been a rocky start at first, but when Sunburst helped her cram for the finals, she was grateful enough to let him hang out with her from then on.

When Sunburst looked back, he realized that he had loved her even before then. It was impossible, but he imagined that he had loved her from the moment he introduced himself.

“I’m home!” Sunburst shouted, kicking off his muddy shoes, and walked into the kitchen. His mother was checking her emails, humming something cheerful when he walked in.

“How was school?” Stellar Flare asked, smiling kindly. “Did anything exciting happened today?”

Rolling his eyes, Sunburst grabbed a bowl and helped himself to some left-over spaghetti and a big glass of milk. “Nah, nothing exciting ever happens at school.”

Stellar Flare sighed, eyeing the food. “I don’t know how you manage to eat so much and yet stay so skinny,” she murmured, gently teasing. “Are the sandwiches and snacks you take to school not enough?”

“What can I say? I’m a growing boy and I need all the energy I can get,” Sunburst pointed out. “Boys need more calories than girls, is a fact.”

His mother shook her head, laughing lightly. “Oh, alright I believe you. Are you going to do your homework?”

Sunburst nodded. “I have tons of it today, so I’ll be busy. I have to be at the shelter by five so I’ll be late for dinner.” With that, he kissed his mother’s cheek. She might not agree with his choice of friends but she was still his mother.

“You’re so good, Sunburst.”

Starlight was dozing on his bed when Sunburst walked in. She didn’t bother opening her eyes, but her lips twitched with a barely contained smile. “Did you bring food?”

“What kind of friend do you think I am?” Sunburst answered, placing the food and the glass of milk on his nightstand before going to his desk. “Eat while I do homework, it shouldn’t take too long, and then we can do whatever.”

Snorting a little, Starlight rolled over and cracked one lazy eye open. “Today was Sunset’s turn to cook lunch I see.” She sat up and took the plate and the fork in her hands. “She must be in a hurry if all she could do was spaghetti.”

“That internship is driving her up the wall, poor thing,” Sunburst mumbled and opened his calculus book.

Starlight didn’t mind. Food was food, and she never took this generous aspect of Sunburst for granted. She never asked for it, never questioned him about it. She tried once, a long time ago, when Sunburst had found out what little she actually ate regularly. The resulting fight had been terrible, with Sunburst practically going bald with the amount of hair-pulling he was doing and her in tears. The only time she mentioned it was when she heard him coming down the hall, when she could hear the difference in his footsteps, it meant that he was being careful with whatever he was holding—like a glass full of milk.

She remained quiet like she was told, only the light scrape of metal and porcelain could be heard. Sunburst did his homework like it was nothing, hardly stopping to question himself on anything. Starlight always admired that in him. She did her homework at the foster house, using it as an excuse to stay in her room and away from the family she couldn’t escape just yet.

When Sunburst finished, she was lying on her side with her back to him, slightly curled in on herself. “Are you sleeping?” he asked quietly, his heavy textbook making a thud as it closed.

“As if,” she murmured, opening her eyes and staring out the window. She had too much on her mind to go to sleep. But the most prominent one was the thought of all the community hours she had to do.

The judge had gone easy on her, giving her only one hundred hours of community service to complete by a certain date. While most people could do that time in just a few weeks with no trouble, Starlight knew she would have a harder time, not many people in this town trusted the rebel orphan. It made her want to run away every day, until she saw Sunburst’s smile and thought, rather stupidly, I can stay just a little a longer.

But if she knew Sunburst, she knew that he would help her get something at the animal shelter at the edge of town. An older woman named Fluttershy ran it, barely getting by with the lack of funds, but somehow managing to keep it open year after year. Sunburst had volunteered there since he was old enough to do so, and a peer from their school named Flash Sentry—one of her maybe friends—volunteered there as well.

“Stop thinking about it,” the whispered words were light, just loud enough for her to hear and Starlight shifted on the bed, finding Sunburst lying on his side beside her. “I can see the wheels turning in your head, and it’s never a good sign.”

“Shut up, four eyes. I can think about whatever I want.”

“A very bad idea for sure,” he pointed out with a chuckle.

Starlight wanted to roll her eyes but found his laughter too endearing to be annoyed with him. “I don’t know how I put up with you.”

“I wonder the same thing too,” he shook his head with mock sadness.

Starlight tilted her head, face inches away from his. It’s the other way around, she thought. They were lying so close together that she could kiss him if she wanted to, if she just leaned forward an inch, her lips would brush his and things would irrevocably be changed.

Sunburst didn’t move, just smiled in a sad, muted sort of way.

Starlight looked away instead.

Author's Note

Is this story cliché? For sure. Has it been done with this pairing before? Not that I could find. So, it balances out in the end, I guess? Either way, I'm hoping to do more with this storyline, try to make it a little more unique compared to what is out there.

Feedback is always appreciated :heart:

2. why do you compromise?

School had never been easy for Starlight—and she never held hope that it would get better any time soon.

Kids found their friends and stuck together like herds of scared sheep. Teachers couldn’t care less about you or were stricter the moment you stepped out of line. The only thing that changed was the amount of homework that each teacher dished out, so much that it took over weeknights and weekends, making it impossible to balance a healthy social life and good grades at the same time.

Not that that had ever been a problem for her.

She didn’t have a reputation to worry about. She couldn’t care less about what her teachers thought of her, making the feelings mutual in that regard. She didn’t mind doing her homework for as long as she had to, even if it took all night. It gave her the excuse to hide away from the drunk in the living room. Starlight was strong, she knew this, but that man was stronger. Starlight just counted down the days until her birthday.

She couldn’t wait for the day to come, but she also dreaded it. The freedom of finally being of age also meant the possibility of saying goodbye to Sunburst. For good.

“You look more morose than usual,” Sunburst pointed out dryly, leaning against the brick wall of the building just outside the main entrance. The first bell had gone off, the second one yet to ring. They shared first period—the only class they had together—and Sunburst always waited for her, ever since the tenth grade when she finally let him consider them to be more than just friendly acquaintances.

“What else is new?” she replied, sarcastic as usual, but she plastered a grin to appease him. “Why are you so chipper this morning?”

Sunburst shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe I just realized how awesome I truly am.”

She nodded with slight resignation. It was going to be one of those days. “What made you so delusional?”

“You got the job.”

Sunburst couldn’t help but beam, hands automatically grabbing her forearms and squeezing gently. He knew that Starlight had an aversion to being touched. He also knew that she was very much touch starved as well, but she had to be the one to initiate it, so he never made a big deal out of it when she would casually lean on him or sit a little too close. It was just Starlight being…well, Starlight.

“You talked to Fluttershy already?” She sounded shocked, her eyebrows lowering into a slight frown. “I thought you were going to wait for the right moment.”

He let her go with a shrug, hefting his bag on his shoulder some more and walking into the school towards their Media class. He nodded politely to the teacher as he and Starlight made their way to their seats all the way in the back, they sat there because she had a phobia of sitting in the front row and the teacher didn’t care where you were seated as long as you were quiet.

“I figured that it was better to get started as soon as possible, to finish those hundred hours before finals and stuff…but only if you want to,” he added quickly, not wanting to sound too controlling. “It’s just an option, it’s up to you.”

He couldn’t figure out what her expression meant, the utter blankness and stillness of it, but he knew Starlight, and more often than not she needed time to process her emotions before expressing them. When the girl finally came back to herself, finally got a grasp, a small smile toyed at her lips.

“You’re amazing.”

And Sunburst felt like he was melting into a puddle. Her blue eyes were trained on him, happy and open and so vulnerable that it was almost painful to witness. The smile was more restrained than usual, but it was probably because she wanted to actually smile. And he was happy because she was happy.

…He honestly needed to get a better grip on himself.

Starlight looked away; gaze trained on the blackboard where the teacher was writing something down. The final bell went off and the last of the students walked in. Notebooks and pens were pulled out, phones were hidden in laps, and everyone settled into their seats without incident. The teacher turned around, giving a plain smile before starting her lecture.

“So…what the hell should I do?” Starlight whispered. It just dawned on her that she had a chance. Sunburst had made it possible, had gone through all that trouble for her, and she didn’t want to screw it up. She probably would, but she would try her best not to. Every day was a struggle against the metaphorical anchor tied around her waist. “What do I say? When do I come in? What will I be doing?”

Sunburst shrugged, smiling a little. “You can come with me today if you like,” he whispered back. He looked at the teacher, acting like the goody-two-shoes that she knew he was. “Today is a four-hour shift, so I can introduce you.”

She nodded, their eyes meeting briefly before he turned towards the lesson at hand. She pouted a little but followed suit, only because she needed to pass this course and get a move on with her life as soon as possible. Whether Sunburst would be in the picture or not…remained to be seen. She wanted him there, of course, more than anything.

But the thing about Sunburst was that he was too good. He let people take advantage of him. He let others walk all over him, he put his feelings second for the sake of others. It was something she loved and hated about him.

She knew that if she asked, he would follow her anywhere, she wanted to tell him to come with her, and at the same time, she didn’t. It sounded nice in theory, the two of them against the world, but the world was big and cruel, what chances would they really have? All the things holding her back wouldn’t magically disappear the day she turned eighteen, and she would hate herself forever if she dragged him down any further than she already had.

Sunburst never complained, never uttered a word of disdain towards their friendship, when he set his mind on something he would see to it to the end. Which was why, on the day of her sentencing, she had waited for hours for him to pick her up, because he had promised, and Sunburst never went back on his promises.

It had been pouring rain all day, buckets and buckets of it falling from the sky, which didn’t lessen as the sun disappeared behind the buildings, as the streetlights flickered on one by one, but she waited because he had promised.

Starlight had thought that she would be used to it, the bitter taste of disappointment, as she walked for two hours in the storm to get back to her foster home.

Her foster mother had scolded her for wetting the carpet with her soaked shoes. Her foster father decided that a scolding was not enough punishment.

She flipped the page of her notebook and took some more notes. It didn’t matter now, it was water under the bridge, Sunburst would have been there if he could have; if only his mother hadn’t stopped him, she knew that now. She didn’t blame him, she didn’t even hate Stellar for what she did, in fact, she envied him.

At least he had an adult looking out for him.

They say that the mind of a woman was a mystery, and no one encapsulated that more than Starlight—to him, at least. More often than not she’d be completely out of it, lost in some thought that seemed to haunt her. Which was why, for the rest of the day, he tried to cheer her up, hoping to distract her from what was bothering her.

Some days it didn’t work, and those were the days that Starlight usually got into trouble. Even after two years, Starlight was still the new kid, the odd one out, the fact that she was different made her a prime target for the school bullies, making her life difficult if not impossible at every turn. Sunburst hated it, hated the stupid hierarchy that high school created. It was a waste of time, a pathetic excuse to fight for a title that wouldn’t last. He didn’t care if he was resting somewhere in the middle—he would throw it away in a heartbeat.

He found Starlight sitting on their usual spot, waiting for him now that school was over. As he got closer, he noticed that she was applying makeup to her face, trying to cover up the bruise growing on the right side of her jaw. Sunburst couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped his lips. “What happened?”

He flinched the moment he uttered the question, only because the answer would always be the same anytime he asked. It would either be a shrug, an exasperated sigh, a roll of her eyes, or—if her day had been especially bad—she would just stand up and leave without a word. It was why when she didn’t move, Sunburst got more worried.

“Bullshit,” Starlight muttered darkly under her breath. The intensity of her glare left him frozen, even if it wasn’t pointed directly at him, but at some invisible point from across the field. He hated that she had to deal with this, he hated that the school always turned a blind eye towards her, and he hated himself for not being able to help her. “Just everyday bullshit.”

Sunburst reached out to her, closing the space between them with a few more steps, and place his hand on her shoulder. “Explain it to me,” he murmured, taking a seat next to her.

Starlight shifted on the bench, lips forming a thin line and pointedly avoiding his eyes. Sunburst wished she would look up; wish he could do something to erase the sadness on her face. He didn’t know everything—Starlight made sure of that—but he knew enough to put some pieces together to get a picture of what her life was like when he wasn’t around. Her foster father was unpleasant to be around, and he heard rumors that he was an alcoholic, which probably made it worse. And on top of it, she had to deal with the school bullies and an uncaring town. He wanted nothing more than to save her, but…

But he was just one boy, what could he really do?

Sometimes the urge to blurt out everything was overwhelming, especially when Sunburst was always there, so eager to take on her burden and ready to listen. It was a struggle to remind herself to keep her mouth shut, to walk slower in the halls, and take her time in class to avoid him a little longer. She loved Sunburst, couldn’t get him out of her mind, she loved him enough to protect him from the ugliness that surrounded her.

And the ugliest part was her foster home. Some days weren’t so bad, her foster mother was nice enough and would get her anything she wanted, be it clothes or books, or just straight up give her as much money as she needed. Her foster father, when sober, was sullen and quiet until he found the bottle, in which case the woman would flee and leave Starlight to take the brunt of his anger.

Sometimes she thought that the reason they took her in was to have someone to push around, and the money and the gifts were her foster mother’s way of thanking her.

And school? Well, school was the cherry on the top of her pile of problems. Everyone distrusted her on principal—she was the bad girl, the problem child—to associate with her was akin to social suicide. And she had been perfectly fine with this until the fighting started.

Kids were cruel, Starlight knew this, they would pick on her so they wouldn’t turn into a target, she understood it with every fiber of her being, but she never fought back. Don’t get her wrong, she could fight, she knew where to hit and where it hurt the most, how to fight dirty and really make those pansies suffer and Lord knew how much she wanted to do that. But she didn’t for one simple reason: Sunburst.

As long as she didn’t make a big scene, the school wouldn’t call her foster house. No calls home meant less tension, less attention from authorities, and fewer possibilities of someone snooping around and finding out about her situation, which meant she could stay a little longer in her terrible home in this crappy town with its horrid residents.

But it’s the town that Sunburst lived in, and that was all the reason she needed to stay.

She just couldn’t bring herself to leave him.

She swore that the moment she turned eighteen and got her diploma, she would take all the money she had and buy a house that was furthest away from here as possible. She couldn’t ask Sunburst to come with her…but maybe she could follow him instead? He would surely leave to some prestigious university, and with his smarts, he could easily get a full scholarship and with the money she had saved…

“You don’t have to tell me,” Sunburst murmured beside her, interrupting her fantasies and bringing her back to reality. She didn’t like reality too much, if at all. “I’m here for you if you need me.”

Sunburst was always there. That was the problem.

But it was also the solution.

Starlight stood up from the bench and held out her hand towards him. “Didn’t you promise that you would introduce me?”

“I did,” Sunburst agreed, giving her a small but worried smile. Starlight would have done anything to wipe it off his face, to make him see that she wasn’t a delicate rose that needed to be saved.

If anything, she was more like a weed that survived out of spite for the world and the warmth of his smiles.

Sunburst had to go back home to get the car before they could head out. Starlight waited for him a block down, despite his insistence that she didn’t have to. She gave him a pointed look and Sunburst understood why.

He closed his eyes and sighed, taking a moment to compose himself before he turned the knob on the door and entered the house. “Mom, I’m grabbing the car keys, I’ll be home by seven!”

“Have a good day!” His mom called from the other room, most likely the living room.

Sunburst hesitated, staring at the car keys in his hand as he stood by the door. Hey, guess what? Starlight is helping out at the shelter from now on and I’m giving her a ride today! See you later! It was what he wanted to say, but the fear of repercussion kept his mouth shut. His mother was a kind woman, she just…didn’t understand Starlight. She had a reputation—a bad one—even though Sunburst could see past it and appreciate the real her, no one else bothered to do so.

If he told his mom…, would she let him continue volunteering at the shelter? Would it send her into hysterics, and start a fight? Could he stand his mother’s look of disappointment for being friends with a girl like her? What about all the questioning, the distrust that would follow? She probably wouldn’t let him out of her sight again, thinking the worse, questioning every little thing he did, was he smoking? Drinking? Had his grades been failing?

Was all of that worth it?

…It should be.

But in Sunburst’s mind, the door was already beginning to close. Now wasn’t the time to come clean to his mother. One day he would. But today he’d just get in the car and drive away like nothing was amiss.

Starlight was leaning against the bus stop when he pulled up, the distant expression still on her face. Today, his mission was to get rid of it, at least for what was left of the day. She got in and they drove away, heading for the edge of town, where the houses were few and far in between and the trees took up more space than the buildings.

“How’s your jaw?” Sunburst asked, sparing a glance in her direction before looking back to the road. Her bruise was on the other side of her face, where he couldn’t see, but Starlight had done a good job with her makeup and she didn’t look any different.

She pulled down the car mirror and inspected her face. “I think it’s fine, it’s not swelling at least.”

“Does it hurt?”

“No.”

Sunburst knew it was a lie, not that it mattered, the fact that he could tell was enough. “There are some aspirins in the glove compartment,” he said instead. He had no water to offer her, but she swallowed the pills dry with little trouble.

A comfortable silence filled the cabin. Sunburst tapped the steering wheel to a nonsensical tune as he drove while Starlight leaned back against the passenger seat with her eyes close. She always looked so tired, no matter how many times she said that she slept enough at home. It made him wonder what else was she hiding from him.

Then again, it was Starlight. She didn’t lie to be mean, she did it because she thought she was protecting those around her by doing so. Sunburst didn’t like it, it made him feel like she didn’t trust him even after all this time.

“Does Fluttershy know I’m coming?”

“Yeah, I told her.” They came to a stoplight and Sunburst grinned, nudging her on the shoulder. “She’s going to put you to work, so be warned.”

“I figured that was the point,” she said with a grin, cracking one blue eye open to stare at him. “She must need the muscle since you are as strong as a beanpole.”

She was joking, but it poked at his earlier insecurity, so he hid his grimace behind a smile. “Hey, are you suggesting that I’m weak?”

“I’m sorry Iron Man, might want to add more oil to that tin can of yours,” Starlight giggled, relaxing against the car seat as she stared at the road ahead of them. “…but, really, you saved my butt once again, so…thank you.”

For what? He wanted to ask, so badly that it hurt. For the job? For always being there? For making you smile?

Not that he would get the answers he was looking for, with Starlight being so tightlipped about everything and anything. He would just have to wear her down so she would open up to him eventually. Sunburst had to believe that he could do that, otherwise, he would drive himself crazy with his powerlessness.

He slowed down and pulled into the parking lot of a brick building just on the right side of the road, a colorful sign—that seriously needed a new paint job—bolstered the words Animal Shelter to the world.

Starlight stared at it as she let out a heavy sigh. “We’re here.”

“We’re here,” Sunburst echoed, but neither of them moved to leave the car. They turned to look at each other instead, her blue eyes were smoldering, drawing him in and he had to wonder if maybe—just maybe—she felt the same way he did. “Are you ready?”

She blinked and nodded, looking away as she opened the door and stepped out into the humid summer day.

3. paint them red, those things you said

Fluttershy was an older woman, probably in her late fifties or early sixties, with long (and Sunburst meant long) pink hair that was greying at the roots, wrapped in a bun on top of her head, with kind green eyes and even kinder smile. Sunburst liked her from the start, surprised by her knowledge about many things (not just animals) and inspired by the way she held her own despite the many difficulties that the shelter faced, a living proof that kindness and strength could go hand in hand.

Sunburst wasn’t always proud of what was in his life—his closed-minded mother, his distant sister—but working here was something he was definitely proud of.

The animal shelter was housed in a very old building, with a leaky roof, cracked drywall, and furniture that had seen better days. But for Sunburst it had turned into a second home.

He walked into Fluttershy’s office with the same ease he walked into the living room of his own house, with Starlight closed at his heels. He knocked on the heavy wooden door and grabbed the girl’s wrist. His touch had been gentle, but she flinched all the same, and Sunburst wondered why she did that at times when he took her by surprise, but he forgot about it the moment Fluttershy greeted them.

“Ah, hello Sunburst, I’m assuming this is Starlight?”

Tugging her a little, he let Starlight introduce herself, smiling encouragingly all the while. His friend brushed her bangs out of her face, tucking them behind her ear, swallowing thickly before she spoke, and part of him was sure she was blushing underneath the makeup.

Starlight had perfected the art of stoicism (or resting bitch face, as she liked to call it) but Sunburst learned to pick up on the little things, the little tics and cues that slipped every once in a while, and boy was she full of them. From how she furrowed her brow when something intrigued her, to the way her lips thinned when she held back a smile, to how peaceful she looked when she was sleeping in his bed, as she would never get a chance to relax like this again. It always made him pause and wonder why that was. Starlight was his best friend and he was hers but…

But there were things he didn’t know, things she refused to tell him, which turned into cracks in the foundation of their otherwise solid friendship. More often than not, he felt ashamed of his ignorance.

She didn’t know how, but Starlight managed to choke the words out of her mouth and answer the questions given to her. The old woman smiled gently, but she could tell that she was searching, probing her for something that she wasn’t sure she had. When the woman smiled, the relief Starlight felt was instant and huge.

The warmth on her wrist tightened—Sunburst’s hand—and she grinned up at him, thanking him with her eyes because she couldn’t say it out loud at the moment.

Fluttershy showed them around, Sunburst’s hand still holding on to her wrist as if she was going to bolt at any moment. She wouldn’t, of course, but the pressure was comforting in a way Starlight refused to look at too closely. Sunburst’s presence was a constant and reliable one, she could always count on him, just as she could count that the sun would rise tomorrow. They were opposite in almost every single way—looks, personality, tastes, background—and yet they were so incredibly intertwined that Starlight wondered if the day she left him would be the day she didn’t survive.

Sunburst had to let her go to start his own work, and Starlight rubbed her wrist gently as she spoke to Fluttershy, nodding and paying close attention as Fluttershy explained how the shelter worked. Suddenly, the one hundred hours she had to do didn’t seem so daunting now that she had a chance to make things right.

She promised Sunburst that she’d make it right.

“Sunburst speaks highly of you,” Fluttershy said, her voice gentle and soft as she signed the forms Starlight needed to show to her probation officer that she was working here now. “He trusts you a great deal…and I’ve heard things about you—many things about you,” before Starlight could panic, the older woman smiled. “But I trust his word more than what the townsfolk have to say, I rather not waste my time on petty gossip.”

Starlight couldn’t help but smile a little. “You won’t regret this ma’am, I promise.”

Watching her was like watching the moon rise in the night sky: weak at first but slowly growing stronger and brighter until it outshined everything.

Starlight ran back and forth around the shelter, organizing, cleaning, and doing the occasional heavy lifting. The shelter hosted many animals, mostly cats and dogs, plus the occasional abandoned rabbit and hamster, and Sunburst had to bite his knuckles to stop himself from laughing at the sight of Starlight cooing and smiling at the animals in their cages.

She had the warmest smile he had ever seen her give, her features soft and youthful as she took a moment to play with the animals in their cages. There was something funny about seeing tough-as-nails Starlight melt at the sight of puppies and kittens vying for her attention, but also heartwarming to witness.

He glanced at the clock and realized that Starlight hadn’t taken a single break in the past three hours. He bent over the desk, pulled out two water bottles from the fridge, and went looking for her. He found her in the kitchen, organizing bags of dog food into neat piles. Her long hair was tied into a messy ponytail at the top of her head, she had taken off her jacket and her dark green shirt was stained with sweat, sticking to her body, the skin flushed where it wasn’t covered, a shade of red that made her look more energized, livelier.

Sunburst licked his lips, taking a moment to shove those thoughts back before he approached her.

He had gotten good at that.

“Hey there,” he said, laughing when Starlight spun around and nearly dropped a bag of food. Her blue eyes were wide, shoulders sagging when she realized who it was. A small smile broke out, flashing her teeth briefly before she hid them behind her full lips. “I thought you’d be thirsty,” he continued, steering away from dangerous thoughts.

“My hero,” she muttered, taking the water and gulping down a good half before taking a breath. Her chest heaved in and out with the working of her lungs, a bead of sweat rolling from her temple down her neck with painful slowness. “What’s wrong?”

It took him a moment to realize she was talking about his staring. Sunburst took a step back, leaning against the doorframe to stop himself from making a bigger fool of himself. Of all the things he could do, ruining her chances by distracting her was not on the list.

And who says you’re going to distract her?

But Sunburst knew. He had an inkling at least, pieced together from the many lingering looks and half-smiles she threw his way, only because he did the same thing. It didn’t mean that she was as far gone as he was; Sunburst knew that it would only lead to heartbreak if they went any further.

Still, he didn’t think that she’d be repulsed that she’d say no, and the knowledge alone made his chest ache with longing.

“Nothing,” Sunburst said, pushing his large glasses over his blue eyes. “You, on the other hand, look disgusting.”

Starlight rolled her eyes, turning away so that she could ignore the fact that he had lied to her. He was definitely thinking about something, she knew him too well. The way his eyes would glaze over, when he fidgeted with his glasses, his gaze roaming a bit too much was a dead giveaway. He wasn't overly expressive, but he did little things—tiny things that no one else would notice.

But she did. “Yeah, well, maybe if there were proper ventilation in this room, I would look more presentable, not like I’m dying.”

He shook his head, blue eyes shooting up towards the ceiling.

“You can complain about everything and anything,” he mumbled, but there was no anger in his tone. Her attitude is a thing he learned to accept a long time ago, among other things. She wondered if she should feel guilty about that. A tiny part of her did, recalling the many things she forced Sunburst to do against his will. “But we won’t be here much longer; I head home in about an hour.”

Starlight nodded, taking another sip of her water. It cooled her throat and made her body breathe a little easier. “I’m leaving with you?” She knew the answer, but it had more to do with her desire to add to the conversation. Starlight didn’t always know what to say.

Sunburst laughed. “Why? Do you want to join the cats in their cages? I’m sure they’ll appreciate the company.”

“Well, for one, they are cuddlier than you,” she pointed out, grinning at the indignant pout on his mouth. Sunburst was a force to be reckoned with when he was angry, or even just a bit ticked off. It was a rare thing to witness, and she was a bit smug to be one of the few to have seen it. It made her feel…special like she was the closest one to him.

“And how would you know?” he demanded, raising an eyebrow.

Starlight stared at her best friend, the one she was maybe a little in love with, and turned around. “When you nap after homework, you practically cling to me.”

And if she was lying, well, he didn’t have to know.

And if it was maybe the other way around, her clinging to him, well…it was probably better that he didn’t find out.

The horror fell on him like a bucket of ice water. No, it wasn’t possible. He never woke up with her in his arms so when…?

She was turned away from him, messing with something on the table. Then it clicked and Sunburst couldn’t help but laugh. “You liar, you almost gave me a heart attack!” He walked up to her and nudged her gently on the shoulder, chuckling when she looked at him with a raised brow.

“Aha,” Starlight scoffed. “As if I would lie about something so serious,” she grinned though, lips tilted crookedly as she turned back to her task.

Sunburst watched as her hands moved over the wood, sliding along the surface to gather the spare croquettes left behind.

“We should talk to Fluttershy before we go,” Sunburst said. The implication was clear. She should talk to the older woman before they left. Not that many people took chances on a bad girl like Starlight, a girl who wasn’t really that bad, she just…did things that didn’t make sense to others.

No one knew of her secrets, not even Sunburst.

“I know, I know,” she replied, with slight exasperation, clearly getting his message. “What are you doing tonight, anyway?”

“I’ll have dinner and then do homework, like always, what about you?” Sunburst shrugged, leaving the open invitation for her to take. He knew Starlight never liked to stay at her foster home, although she never explained the reason why. Giving her the option to stay with him wasn’t entirely selfless though, if he was being honest, “My mom is making stew tonight.”

“You can’t keep stealing food for me Sunburst, I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not stealing, they’re giving it to me and I choose to give it to you,” Sunburst pointed out, trying to hide the hurt from his voice. They had this conversation a thousand times already, it always left him feeling awkward and nervous like they were toeing the edge of something they weren’t ready to face.

“Your mom is giving it to you, thinking that it’s you that’s eating it,” Starlight went on. “She would have a fit if she found out the truth.”

“Maybe she wouldn’t…” But he trailed off because Sunburst knew that his words would just be wishful thinking. His mother didn’t like Starlight, she was right, his mother didn’t understand them at all. “Do you want me to tell her then?”

Starlight laughed, but it lacked humor and it broke his heart. “No, because you and I know that it would end poorly.” She gave him a small smile, putting her hands on his shoulders, looking up at him with her unflinching gaze.

Sunburst gulped, not entirely trusting himself to speak. “B-But—”

“And you couldn’t do it,” she pointed softly, gently. “You love her too much.”

The torn expression was back, and Starlight squeezed his shoulders gently to get his attention. “And it’s not a bad thing, she’s your mother, of course you love her.”

“You make it sound like I’m choosing her over you,” Sunburst whispered back. “And I’m not.”

Starlight didn’t say it, but she knew that everyone did in the end. There was always a hierarchy, whether he was conscious of it or not, and she never begrudged him that. It was just life. “Family is family,” she said and stepped back, letting him go. “But…if you could get me some stew tonight, I would make you my official Super BBF for the rest of my days.”

It worked, Sunburst rolled his eyes and smiled with a fondness that was almost too much to bear as he waved for her to get back to work. She still had a list of things to do, so long that she was sure she needed an extra one hundred hours of service to complete. But since Fluttershy gave her a chance when no one else would, she would stay later and longer if it meant crossing every task from the list.

When it was time to go Starlight made Sunburst smile by talking to Fluttershy and thanking her for the opportunity. They made their way home, and as Sunburst parked, Starlight hopped out of the car and snuck through his bedroom window while Sunburst entered through the front.

After talking to his mother and biding her goodnight, he went to his room and shared his stew with Starlight. They talked quietly while he did his homework—she always did hers at night in her foster house. When she was tired of talking, she settled down on his bed and closed her eyes, giving herself the luxury of rest for the time being.

Rarely did she ever sleep at her foster house. She wouldn’t risk it.

“Didn’t you say that Flash would be there?” Starlight asked, looking at his white ceiling and counting the tiny little cracks on the plaster.

“Maybe he switched, I’ll ask him at school tomorrow,” Sunburst replied, glancing at the clock. “Do you want something? A drink maybe?”

Starlight raised an eyebrow, wondering where his sudden hospitality came from. He was super aware of those around him, it was probably the reason he came up to her in the first place.

“I’m fine, I should head back anyway,” she too looked at the clock, marking the time as nine o’clock. She usually stayed longer, but Sunburst seemed tired and he had finished his homework for the night.

“Starlight, why don’t you ever say home?”

The words were like a shock to her system, running through her veins and making her freeze on the bed. Her eyes remained fixed on the ceiling above her as she spoke. “I hadn’t noticed.”

She hated lying to him, she never wanted to, but it was the only way to protect him from…well, the truth.

“Oh,” he sounded unsure, like maybe he crossed some imaginary line, which was absurd, if she were to tell anyone anything, it would be Sunburst. The problem was that she didn’t want him to get involved, not now, not ever. The less he knew, the better.

Getting up from the bed, Starlight hugged him, letting out a breath as he wrapped his arms around her. She usually didn’t allow this, but he had sounded so lost and sad that she couldn’t help herself, deciding that she should be the one to offer him comfort for once.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asked quietly, holding on to him for longer than what was normal between friends. When she pulled back to look at him, Sunburst had a small and soft smile on his face.

“Of course you will, you big dummy.”

“Always with the name-calling,” Starlight sighed dramatically. “Very mature of you, goodnight, Sunburst.”

Sunburst reached out and, for a second, she thought he would reach out and touch her, close the gap between them just a little more. But the moment passed and he dropped his hand as if nothing had happened. “Night, Starlight.”

Grinning at him, she jumped out the window and raced out the backyard. Luckily, Sunburst’s home was a one-story house, making it easier to sneak around like this, but she was careful to avoid the windows, even if Stellar Flare was probably watching TV, it never hurt to be too careful. She didn’t want to ruin the one good thing she had.

The moment she was off the property she slowed down, letting her sprint turn into a walk. The longer she took to get back the better because nothing good happened at this hour, but even with her unhurried pace, she got there sooner than she wanted to. Her house wasn’t far from Sunburst’s place, and even though he didn’t live in a bad neighborhood, the difference between them was staggering.

Her foster house was a two-story building, with a sprawling front yard and an even bigger backyard, a huge garage for at least three cars, and other amenities Starlight never used or cared to know. Despite how nice it looked on the outside, Starlight knew that a hell waited for her inside.

She thought about turning around and walking around the block to kill time, so as to come back much later, but when the man called her name she knew it was too late. His shadow appeared by the living room’s window and stayed there, watching her.

Starlight swallowed, leaving Sunburst’s home a half-hour earlier meant coming home a half-hour earlier too. It meant that the old man was still awake and just as dangerous as ever, maybe even more so. But there was nothing she could do now, and she looked at her shoes as she stepped onto the porch.

The house was nice, clean, and elegantly decorated. There were pictures on the walls depicting happier times, most of them of her foster parents, smiling at each other and looking very much in love. Maybe they still were, if they were together after all this time. It was just when the bottle came between them—turning him into an angry monster and her into a simpering coward—that love was forgotten.

No one could’ve guessed it by looking at the pictures.

“You back early, huh girl?” Her foster father called, words loud and slurred. He stood in the hallway when Starlight stepped in, accosting her slowly like he was approaching a spooked horse. When she shut the door, she did so as gently as possible—in case the noise set him off.

“Yes, I am,” Starlight replied, keeping her eyes to the ground.

“Why don’t you watch the game with me? Grab me a beer while you’re at it.” The man grinned unkindly and Starlight fought down the urge to run.

She tried to once. She never would again.

Starlight was only vaguely surprised that the old man’s interest held for as long as five minutes before he got bored. He started asking questions, speaking too quickly for her to follow, his words slurred beyond comprehension. Even if she understood a question or two, she never had the right answers, and it only incensed him further.

She was scared, but not surprised when the man finally snapped, eyes flashing with anger and veins bulging around his neck as he yelled at her.

When the first punch came to her stomach, Starlight barely made a sound, only a gasp as the air left her lungs. It didn’t hurt so much as startle her, there was no blood, no cuts, no broken bones.

Those appeared an hour later.

4. nothing to lose, but losing anyways

Starlight flinched as she shifted the backpack on her shoulders, leaning against the wall next to the front door. Some students gave her funny looks as they walked past, but she really couldn’t care less. It’s not like anything they could do to her was worse than what she already experienced. She focused on breathing instead, even if it hurt to do so.

She waited for Sunburst to catch up to her, his bag bouncing against his hip as he walked. He greeted her with a smile that she returned. It was for the best that he didn’t know how much pain she was in.

“Morning, Starlight,” Sunburst greeted, his orange hair as messy as always, the sun hitting the top and making it glow golden.

“Morning,” she said, gesturing with her head to get inside. It was better if he walked in first so that he wouldn’t notice the slight limp in her step. She’d done this before, but making sure Sunburst didn’t notice her odd behavior was always a chore. They didn’t have class together today, something that she took as a small blessing, so they stopped at her classroom first to chat, which was a few doors down from Sunburst’s class.

“See you at lunch?” He asked gently, tilting his head at the question.

And for the life of her, Starlight never understood why he always asked. It wasn’t like she would say no, as if she had anywhere else to be. What would she do without him? Still, she nodded and told him to save her a seat, before they parted ways with the sound of the final ring of the bell.

Her ribs hurt, and she wondered if one of them was cracked. She prayed to whoever cared for that to not be the case, so far, she had been able to hide it and bear with the pain.

If she made it through the day without fainting, it would be a miracle.

Sunburst’s least favorite subjects were algebra and science because neither of them made sense to him. These were his first two classes for the day, and the fact that he had them so early in the morning made them feel never-ending. Today especially felt like the teachers had decided to make each slide twice as boring and twice as long, and as the teachers' drone on about their subjects, Sunburst found himself staring out the window in a daydream.

Yesterday had been amazing. Fluttershy took a shine to Starlight, he could tell. The old woman was kind, but very few people gave her credit for being smart as well. She cared for people and took in any stray animal that came through her door, such kindness was what his best friend needed, if only because she was a little lost too.

But there was still something that Starlight was hiding. Sunburst could never put his finger on it, all he knew was that it was there and Starlight refused to tell him for some reason. He saw it only when Starlight was at her most unguarded, her most vulnerable, when she would fall asleep in his bed and Sunburst woke her with a gentle murmur that she had to leave before his mother showed up, or when she walked up to school before she saw him, her face would be withdrawn, pained. Sunburst never asked, never comment on it, she just…needed to get through whatever was bothering her.

He believed that if it was truly important, Starlight would tell him.

Class finally ended and Sunburst gathered his things before he headed for the hall. He left in a hurry, so the hallways weren’t as crowded as they could be, but there were a few students running towards something around the corner, the noise growing louder as he drew closer…

His stomach turned; his heart stopped before it restarted with double the speed, something in him knew before he even saw it.

Sunburst ran towards the growing, rowdy crowd.

It was things like these that pissed off Starlight to no end.

She was known as the bad girl, the girl that plagued the quaint town of Sire’s Hollow. People avoided her out of principal, and if they talked about her, it was always behind her back. So what? They can say and believe whatever they wanted because she wouldn’t be here for much longer. She only had a few months left until she was free, until her eighteen birthday and graduation when she was finally old enough to live on her own.

But this was different, something that Starlight couldn’t run away from or ignore.

She ducked her head as a fist whizzed past her and smashed into the locker behind her. Starlight whirled, elbowing another attacker in the stomach hard enough to make the girl fall to her knees, and stepped back towards the edge of the circle of bystanders.

Adagio Dazzle, the biggest bitch the school had ever seen, swore and shook her hand, ignoring the moan of pain coming from Gilda still kneeling on the floor and clutching her stomach. She shot Starlight a look of pure hatred. “What, are you going to run away now?”

For a moment, Starlight wondered if she could. Even with her busted ribs, she could push past the crowd and escape, but the last time she tried, the principal sternly reprimanded her for supposedly attacking other students. It didn’t matter what she did—fighting bystanders to break free or beat on Adagio until she was black and blue—she was screwed, especially when the blame of the fight would be placed on her shoulders no matter what she said.

“And miss the opportunity to rip off those fake-ass extensions from your head? Not a chance.” Starlight shot back.

This was ridiculous, the history between her and Adagio was so convoluted that Starlight had given up trying to make sense of it. All that mattered was that Adagio hated her guts and picked on her on a regular basis, she was the only one that dared to do so, she was the only one with a group of friends stupid enough to do whatever she said.

Adagio screamed and lunged at her. Her hands gripped Starlight’s throat and she used the momentum to throw her to the floor. The breath was knocked out of her, the pain in her ribs almost making her blackout, but still, she struggled against Adagio’s hold. Going against her instinct to cradle her aching ribs, she twisted and managed to toss Adagio to the side, standing up as quickly as she could. The pain nearly made her puke, but she ignored it and backed up against the lockers, waiting.

Adagio was so predictable that she would have laughed if she could, instead, Starlight ducked just in time to avoid a punch to the face, throwing her fist to uppercut Adagio in the jaw. The blonde stumbled, dazed, and Starlight slammed into her and pushed her against the lockers on the opposite wall.

The resounding sound of crashing metal drowned out the jeers of the crowd and Sunburst’s screams for her to stop.

“Stop! Break it up! Stop this now!”

Sunburst watched as Starlight let go of Adagio immediately. The girl’s face was contorted in what looked like pain. He didn’t see any blood or bruises, but Sunburst hadn’t been there for the whole fight.

“What are you fighting about this time?” Mrs. Mi Amore Cadenza said, standing in the middle as she looked between Adagio and Starlight, the two girls eerily quiet now. “Well? I’m waiting.”

“As if you would believe me,” Starlight muttered, leaning against the wall and glaring at Adagio. Sunburst pushed through the crowd, trying to get to her. Her breathing was ragged, chest rising in and out in staccato bursts, her face pale and sweating despite the fight. She was really hurt. “She and Gilda walked out of class the same time I did and attacked me.”

“She’s lying Mrs. Mi Amore,” Adagio spat back, cradling her head. “I don’t give a shit about her, she punched me first!”

Sunburst felt his anger bubble up because this happened every time. With one final shove, he pushed through the barrier of students and got to Starlight, standing by her side and glaring. “This is not the first time you ganged up on her,” he said firmly, ignoring the judging eyes of his classmates and Starlight’s surprised expression.

He had seen it before, last month actually, Adagio and her posey attacked Starlight right in front of his eyes. Luckily, he had been there to get her out before things escalated, but who knew how many times they cornered her and assaulted her with no one stepping in to help her.

Adagio rolled her eyes. “Oh goody, your boyfriend has come to save you.”

“He’s not my—!"

“Enough,” Mrs. Mi Amore said, glowering at the two girls. “Adagio, take Gilda to the nurse’s office, Starlight, come with me.”

“What?” Sunburst yelled, stomping his foot as he slid in front of her. He was stupid to think that he could protect her, but he’d be damned if the teacher blamed his best friend for something she didn’t do. “That’s not fair—!"

“You too, Sunburst,” the teacher said, giving them both stern looks before glaring at the crowd. No one had to be told twice and soon the students dispersed, with Starlight and Sunburst following her to the principal’s office.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Starlight hissed. “Now you’re going to get in trouble and your mom—”

“Will understand.” Sunburst interrupted, even though he knew that the opposite was true. His mother never seemed to be reasonable when Starlight was concerned—the only point of contention between them that Sunburst couldn’t mend.

Starlight scoffed. Stellar Flare would be just as understanding as the previous times, which hadn’t ended well. She turned her attention from her friend to the teacher walking only a few steps ahead.

Mrs. Mi Amore Cadenza was a new teacher, having only started earlier this year. Starlight had her for English class, though she had said no more than five words to her during all this time. She was one of the younger teachers, a bit more fresh-faced and easier to deal with than the others. However, she was more than familiar with the scuffles between her and Adagio so there was no getting away from this.

When the teacher turned towards an empty classroom, flicking the lights on and halting the journey to the principal’s office, Starlight frowned and stopped, forcing Sunburst to do the same. Mrs. Mi Amore looked at them expectantly, light purple eyes matching her pale features perfectly. “Come on in, the principal’s office is always busy at this hour, so let's talk first.”

“We didn’t do anything,” Sunburst mumbled, protesting even as he entered the room. He was too much of a goody-two-shoes to disobey orders from an authority figure, even with Starlight at his side. She was glad about it all the same.

“Starlight,” the teacher warned, and with great reluctance Starlight stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Mrs. Mi Amore took a seat in one of the student’s chairs, avoiding the teacher’s desk entirely, gesturing with her hand to take a seat as well. “This will go by a lot faster if you just listen.”

Starlight clenched her jaw but did as she was told, afraid that if she caused more trouble, Sunburst would be blamed as well. Usually, the young teacher only witnessed the fights, letting the other teachers handle the mess that Starlight made as they dragged her to the principal’s office. Never had she taken such a direct approach, and Starlight was wary, unsure of what the teacher had planned. Her priority now was to make sure that Sunburst got out of this scot-free. Not that he would let her.

“Want to tell me what happened back there?” Mrs. Mi Amore said, staring directly at Starlight.

Starlight scowled. “As if you didn’t hear me the first time.”

“Tell me again.”

If Starlight clenched her jaw any harder, she was sure that her teeth would shatter. She felt Sunburst nudge her gently, his big blue eyes giving her a worried look. Sunburst rarely worried about himself, the thought made her head hurt a little, so she opened her mouth to say the only thing that would let Sunburst get out of here.

“Fine. I punched Adagio first and then Gilda retaliated, is that what you want to hear? Then yes, I started it, but Sunburst had nothing to do with it.”

The words tasted sour in her mouth but she would say them if she had to, if it let Sunburst free of the hook. Mrs. Mi Amore had no right to drag him into this mess just because he stood up for her. She’d make sure that he was spared of any punishment she’d got.

She wouldn’t take any chances. Sunburst was too important.

Sunburst couldn’t believe what he just heard. He nudged her even harder, wanting to grab her shoulders and shake her as hard as possible. She always made things harder for herself, he knew that, but this was an entirely new level and he refused to let her sink that low for something so trivial.

“Are you stupid?! You did no such thing! I know you didn’t!” He turned towards the teacher. “Adagio does this all the time, she’s done this ever since the ninth grade, it’s not Starlight’s fault, she—"

Mrs. Mi Amore put her hand up, cutting Sunburst off with a wave. “I know she didn’t start it,” she said, purple eyes fixed on Starlight’s face.

Sunburst watched the exchange quietly, all of the sudden wondering what the teacher was seeing. Not many people paid attention to Starlight, so this was…different. He wanted to say something, to break the tense silence that had taken over the classroom, so when the teacher spoke up, he listened, trying to understand something that was just out of his reach.

“I know you’re lying Starlight, and it’s not the wisest choice,” the teacher commented lightly, clasping her hands together. “I’d rather hear the actual truth, but if it helps, you and Sunburst aren’t in trouble, per se.”

Starlight scowled. “Per se? Want to add any more fancy words to twist everything around? Look, let Sunburst go and I’ll tell you what you want to know. I don’t give a shit anymore.”

“I’m not leaving,” Sunburst blurted out, gripping the bottom of his chair tightly as if they would pull him out at any moment. “Starlight, don’t make this any harder—”

“Harder?” Starlight snapped, her blue eyes blazing and focused on him. He has never seen her so upset, so closed in on herself, something must have happened with Adagio earlier, or had this been going on since earlier this morning? He noticed that she seemed a little off today, but he never suspected that it was this bad. She must have seen the shock and worry in his face since her voice softened as she spoke. “I just don’t want you to get in trouble.”

Mrs. Mi Amore sighed. “Neither of you are getting into any trouble if you would just let me explain,” she stated, a little exasperated. “If Miss Dazzle is really such an issue in this school, I’d like to see that something is done about it.”

Sunburst stopped, turning to the teacher. “Then why did you bring me here instead of Adagio?”

The teacher smiled, looking far too young for her age. “You think that anything would get done if I did?”

She had a point. He turned to Starlight, watching the anger simmer in those blue orbs. He desperately wanted to know what she was thinking, what was going on inside her head, but her mask was on, he could tell by the way her face was smoothed out of any emotion. Though he wondered if she was surprised by this turn of events—people didn’t do things for her just because, didn’t go out of their way to help her, she was probably wary of the teacher’s intentions.

“No,” Starlight said with finality. “There’s nothing you can do, Adagio is pissed about something that happened years ago, something that’s no one’s fault. She’s just being a bitch; I can deal with it.”

Mrs. Mi Amore’s smile fell considerably, changing into a questioning frown that did little to hide her confusion. The two stared at each other, bright purple against stormy blue, until the teacher finally stood up. “Go to the nurse’s station, Starlight.”

“I don’t—”

“And I’ll come with you to make sure that you do,” her tone left little room for argument, and Sunburst wondered what this teacher saw in Starlight that the others didn’t. Sunburst knew that there was more to Starlight than what met the eye, but no one bothered to look closer.

Mrs. Mi Amore felt otherwise, apparently.

“But it’s lunchtime,” Starlight tried to argue, looking at Sunburst with a desperation he couldn’t understand. “I’ll go after school is over.”

“I’m sure Sunburst can handle himself for the rest of the day,” the teacher said gently, turning sympathetic eyes to them. “Please, stop fighting me on this, or I’ll have to take this meeting to the principal’s office.”

Sunburst could see that she was telling the truth, even if it kind of sounded like blackmail. He lightly touched the back of Starlight’s hand, getting the girl’s attention. “I’ll see you after school, alright?” he assured her, trying to get Starlight to cooperate with the teacher. Starlight might not trust her, but Sunburst could tell that she was on his side—their side. It would be for her benefit if Starlight didn’t turn down every person that tried to help her.

“…Fine,” Starlight mumbled with a roll of her eyes. “I’ll see you later.”

She reached out and touched his hand, just lightly, the touch barely noticeable, but Sunburst felt the light warmth of her skin anyway, felt the hesitation. It looked like she wanted to say more, to do something, but couldn’t.

“Later,” he whispered. Mrs. Mi Amore was there, and though she was not openly staring, he could tell that the exchange didn’t go unnoticed.

Starlight sighed and walked out of the classroom with the teacher escorting her. Sunburst stood alone in the empty room, taking a moment to breathe deeply in and out, reeling in his anxiety and the adrenaline still coursing through his veins. He had a feeling that if he moved right now, he would run after Starlight and do something stupid.

Once he had control of his senses again, he turned off the lights and left the classroom. He only had a few more minutes before class resumed.

5. a half-hearted excuse

The pet shelter was more than a place he volunteered at for Sunburst, these days, it had become a haven from the outside world.

On the surface, his life was normal enough. He had a mother, an older sister, and a grandfather that came to tend the backyard every Saturday. He was a straight-A student, had a fair number of friends, and one close friend that was closer to him than anyone else in his circle. The best thing in his life was this close friend—Starlight Glimmer, the bad girl of Sire’s Hollow.

She was also the source of most of his problems. Not that he would give her up for anything in the world; Starlight was dear to him, he loved her, the thing was that the only troubles that Sunburst had in his life usually…involved her somehow.

When he got in trouble at school, it was usually because he had stood up for Starlight, who never fought back as well as she could. Sunburst understood her reason: Starlight just wanted to get by until graduation, keep her head down until she was old enough to live on her own, something that would be easier if she had her high school diploma and no criminal record to her name. He got that. Even respected her for that.

He just wished that it didn’t have to be this way.

The only fights he had with his mom were because of Starlight, arguments that started because he wanted to do something with her, be it go to the movies or drive her somewhere. His mother refused to see things his way, never gave him leeway when Starlight was concerned, and he knew why. His mother believed in the town’s gossip, the terrifying picture they painted of his friend, rumors that made his blood boil and sick to his stomach. He had given up trying to clear Starlight’s name, learned that he couldn’t change anyone’s mind, his mother’s especially, and Sunburst simply refused to talk to her about it anymore, opting for lying instead.

He didn’t want to. He hated it. But if he had to choose between the peaceful life he had and Starlight…

Sunburst grunted as he and Starlight lugged a heavy sack of dog food to the other room, Fluttershy watching with worried eyes as the two teenagers struggled. Starlight scowled, complaining about the inconsiderate people who donated the food for dropping it through the lobby instead of the backdoor.

Sunburst smiled. It wasn’t even a contest, Starlight needed him more.

The shelter was old, musty, and smelled generally bad. The animals were nothing if not playful in the mud—or whatever dirty substance they could find—and loved to gang up on her to lick her face and fingers. More often than not she was bend over cleaning something or fixing something, and the old woman that owned the place would always give her this strange look that made her uncomfortable enough to leave the room to do other tasks.

And somehow, she felt more at home here than anywhere else she had been in her entire life.

The hours turned to minutes and the weeks flew by as she settled into a routine. She and Sunburst worked for the shelter three times a week, generally Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays after school. He would always give her a ride to and from the shelter, in which then he would take her to his house so they could hang out as always.

After that near disaster with Mrs. Mi Amore, Starlight was more careful, spending as much time as she could in the warmth of Sunburst’s room before heading back to her foster house. Even then, she took the long way round, stopping at a nearby park to kill the time before she finally arrived at the house. By then the drunk was passed out on the couch and never noticed her coming in, giving her the chance to sneak some food to her room and work on her homework until the early morning hours.

Sometimes she was lucky enough to finish early, giving her enough time to sneak in a nap before she had to get ready for school. She slept lightly though, and at the first sign that the man was awake, she made sure to leave as quickly as possible, breakfast be damned.

Flash came into the shelter the other days, much to Sunburst’s chagrin, but Fluttershy needed as many extra hands as she could get. Starlight had seen him once or twice at school. He seemed quiet and nice enough, maybe a bit shy, but she had never gone out of her way to talk to him.

That was why, when she finally had the chance to meet him for the first time, she was a bit shocked.

“Hi, you’re Starlight right?” Flash asked, giving her a winning smile as he struck out his hand. “I’m Flash Sentry, but everyone calls me Flash. I’ve seen you around the school.”

“Ah, yeah,” Starlight said, taking his hand and shaking it lightly. “I thought you didn’t work Tuesdays.”

“Not usually, but my girlfriend had to switch work hours, so I’m switching this week to see her. You know, so we can have some quality time,” he winked at her as if Starlight knew what kind of ‘quality time’ he was talking about. “I have to talk to Sunburst, but maybe we can hang out later after we are finished here?”

Starlight nodded, still a little confused.

He was…loud.

“Hey, you made it!” Sunburst said, taking Flash’s hand and bringing him into a one-arm hug.

Flash laughed, clapping Sunburst on the shoulder. “Twilight had to change hours this week and I wanted to see her so…” he shrugged. “I thought I make an appearance and help you guys out.” Looking around, he peeked his head out the doorway where he came from, turning back just as fast. “Speaking of which, I can’t believe Starlight actually works here.”

Sunburst crossed his arms. “She does.”

“Good for her,” Flash said, his easy-going smile never once faltering. “I don’t know what’s going on but…I heard she got into some trouble, so I was a little worried…”

Taking a breath, Sunburst did his best to reel in his anger. Of course he had heard—the whole town had heard. Sire’s Hollow was a place that was filled to the brim with gossip, but when Starlight was concerned, the rumors turned even wilder.

“She’s doing good work here, and Fluttershy trusts her.” He said, unable to hide the defensiveness in his voice.

“Hey, I don’t know her that well, so it’s not my place to make any judgments.” Flash raised his hands slightly as if to soothe him. “But if Fluttershy trusts her, then that’s good enough for me.”

His shoulders slumped slightly. Just like everyone else, Flash had his own secrets. His were more in the form of his personality—he was quiet as a mouse, and just as meek when he was in class, but once he was out of the schoolyard, he was someone else entirely. Sunburst didn’t understand why he hid his true self in this way, and he didn’t know Flash that well to ask, but he was glad that Flash wasn’t the judgmental type.

Sunburst looked out the door, he could see Starlight at the other end of the building, her purple hair making her stand out against the wash-out white walls of the shop. She wasn’t in earshot so he turned to Flash and spoke seriously.

“She needs someone to believe in her, you know? Fluttershy taught me that, and I figured that if anyone could help, it would be her,” he shrugged and leaned on a nearby table. “You’re different too, or at least, you act differently here than at school, and I think that’s what she needs: a different environment, a place where she can be herself…but more than anything she needs someone that can give her a chance.”

Flash was quiet for a moment, thinking. He followed Sunburst’s eyes, watching the girl as she worked. “That’s why she has you.”

Starlight balanced the dog bowls in her arms as she waded her way into the dog pen. She tried not to smile at the dogs—at their big playful eyes and lolling tongues—but despite her best efforts, she winced when she smiled a little too widely.

Adagio and her gang had cornered her earlier that day, just after school when the final bell rang and they were all outside. With no teachers or witnesses to stop them, Starlight had finally managed to break Adagio’s nose, while she was suffering from a very sore jaw.

When all the bowls had been filled, Starlight sat down on a nearby chair, listening to the sounds of kibble crunching and licking tongues. She lightly pressed her fingers over her makeup-covered bruise, probably a nasty shade of purple underneath her foundation, perhaps it didn’t help that her dear old foster father had punched her in that same spot two months ago.

She felt something warm and heavy settle on her lap, she looked down and suppressed her smile, staring into the warm eyes of a grey pitbull, who whined softly as she begged for her attention.

“Hey Phyllis,” Starlight said, petting the dog between her short ears. This earned her a butt wiggle, her short tail wagging against the concrete. “Finish eating already? Good girl.”

Starlight liked animals just fine, but this battle-scarred pitbull was quickly turning into her favorite. According to Fluttershy, Phyllis had been in the shelter the longest, since most people were wary due to her breed and turned off by her scars. No one knew where she came from before she was dropped on Fluttershy’s doorstep, but it was easy to tell that it had not been a good place, whatever she went through it made Phyllis into a shy and withdrawn dog that liked to hang around Starlight for some reason.

“At least you got out,” Starlight mumbled, tracing a faded scar over the dog’s eyebrow. “I still have to wait for my turn.”

Phyllis whined and pawed at her leg. Starlight learned a while back that this was her way of asking for more attention, and Starlight more often than not obliged to her demands. The girl sighed and sat on the floor, much to the dog’s delight, and Phyllis started licking her face, her short tail wagging as fast as it could. Starlight tried to halfheartedly push her away, but she kept petting and doting on the dog all the same. She wished she could take Phyllis with her if only her situation wasn’t what it was, but it made her more determined to leave this town and stand on her own two feet, she swore to herself that once she was settled, she would only come back to this place to get Phyllis and never look back.

“Hey,” a familiar voice said softly, drawing Starlight’s attention away from Phyllis. Sunburst leaned against the frame of the door, watching them with a small smile. “Fluttershy doesn’t need us for much today, so I thought we could head out in a few minutes. Is that alright? Or do you have more things to do?”

Starlight shook her head, turning her attention back on Phyllis. “Nah, I’m pretty much done here.” She scratched Phyllis under the chin and the dog’s back leg thumped against the floor. “I’m just hanging out with my favorite girl.”

Sunburst’s smile widened and he walked into the dog pen, approaching the pair slowly, when he was close enough, he kneeled and held out his hand for Phyllis to sniff, speaking softly to encourage her. The dog sniffed the offered hand and bump her head against his fingers, much to Sunburst’s delight.

“Oh my gosh,” he whispered, looking at Starlight with awe, “this is the first time she’s let me pet her!”

Drawing her legs to her chest, she rested her chin on her knees and watched the pair play, her heart feeling full and content. This. This was all she ever wanted. This peace, this tranquility, was worth all the trouble, to see him smile so wide that his dimples showed, at ease with her beside him, the girl with no future. It didn’t matter that they were both sitting on dirty concrete surrounded by dogs that nobody wanted, or that her jaw throbbed with pain from wounds new and old. She would have given anything for this moment to last forever.

Phyllis eventually grew tired of the attention and walked away, leaving the pair alone. Sunburst sighed, leaning back on his arms as he tilted his head to the ceiling, watching the old fans spin lazily overhead.

“You’ve done in a few months what I couldn’t do in two years,” Sunburst said. “I knew bringing you to the shelter was a good idea.”

Starlight turned to face him better, sitting with her legs crossed. “Excuse me? I think it was my idea to come here in the first place.”

He turned, his mouth hanging open with the beginnings of a joke on his lips, his blue eyes traced her face…and his smile faded. She tensed when his large, warm hand reached out towards the bruise on her face, and she realized belatedly that Phyllis must’ve licked her makeup away. She didn’t move, didn’t say a word as his fingers lightly brushed against the green and purple mark. Behind his glasses, his eyes were wide, but his expression was strangely blank, and that worried her more than anything. He rarely shut down like that.

“I’m okay,” she murmured but it was no use, he was lost in his own thoughts. “Sunburst, really, I’ve had a lot worse.”

She realized her mistake the moment the words left her mouth. Sunburst had never seen her at her worst, never saw her past whatever little scratches Adagio could dish out every couple of weeks or so. He didn’t know about all the broken bones, the cracks, the sprains, and twists. Her bastard foster father always hit her in places that could easily be covered by clothes and makeup, it was the reason she wore dark and baggy clothing, it was easier to hide the bandages that way.

She leaned back, leaving his fingers dangling in the air, her eyes darting to the concrete floor. “Are you done with work?” She asked quickly.

Sunburst’s expression was unreadable as he nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

The way Starlight spoke to him sometimes made him feel…incompetent. Unworthy almost. It always came back to that secret, that little thing she refused to share with him. He had no idea what it was, but despite her efforts to hide it from him, Starlight’s mask had its cracks.

The times she walked up to school before she saw him, the nights when she woke up from a nap…it was during those times she showed him what she was feeling, pain, trepidation, fear. But this, this was the strongest clue he had received so far.

I’ve had a lot worse.

It wasn’t a dismissive ‘oh I’ve had worse, don’t worry’. It was ‘I’ve had a lot worse’, and the way she said it made him even more agitated. Sunburst knew when she was lying, he might not call her out on it every time she did, but Sunburst always knew. And this wasn’t one of those times.

It was why he was so desperate to leave the shelter. He waved goodbye to Fluttershy as he and Starlight headed for the exit, and he was in such a hurry to be gone that he almost forgot his winter jacket. Their jackets hung on the coat rack, and he forced himself to take his time as he wrapped his scarf around his neck before checking on Starlight. Her purple hair was standing up on end, the cold and her jacket always had a static effect on her hair.

If he weren’t so worried, he would have laughed at her appearance.

The past few months hadn’t been so bad. Starlight and Adagio only fought twice since the last time Mrs. Mi Amore stepped in. So far, the teacher hadn’t said or done anything to them, but Sunburst noticed that Starlight came out of her class later than the rest of the kids. Again, he said nothing. Sunburst believed that if it were important, Starlight would tell him without hesitation, she just needed to jump a few mental hurdles until she could find the words to express herself.

I’ve had a lot worse.

What did that mean? Had she been in any more fights that he wasn’t aware of? It couldn’t be, since Adagio and her group were the only ones that dared to touch her. Maybe there was more going on there, more than he realized. Did Adagio know where Starlight lived? Was she taking their fights outside of the school now that a teacher was keeping an eye on her?

He zipped his jacket with determination; whether she was ready or not, Starlight was going to talk.

A cold breeze blew when they stepped out, shaking the trees and making them release what few leaves still clung to their branches, the fallen leaves crunched under their feet as they made their way to Sunburst’s car. Sire’s Hollow was a picturesque town during this time of the year, the trees turning red and gold with the change of the seasons, and sometimes, if they were lucky, they were blessed with snow during Christmas time.

Sunburst unlocked the car and got in, barely waiting for Starlight to get in before driving out of the lot.

Starlight stared at him; her blue eyes serious, she knew that something was up, not that Sunburst was trying to hide his apprehension now that they were alone. But he refused to talk about here, in the car, instead, he drove as fast as he could towards his house, the sooner he got there, the sooner he could get answers out of her. Because Sunburst would get answers. It didn’t matter that his mother was difficult, that the teachers didn’t care or that Starlight was as stubborn as a mule—Sunburst would protect her, always.

Love made smart people act out.

Starlight waited by his bedroom window, pressed against the wall of the house and hands deep in the pockets of her sweater as the day grew darker and the wind howled around her. It always took Sunburst a few minutes to say hello to his mother and discuss his day; but today his window was locked, forcing her to wait outside. It made her realize that, in the time she had known him, she’d never used his front door to get in the house, never seen the inside of his home beyond his bedroom and the bathroom down the hall. Starlight didn’t mind. She would rather deal with the sneaking around than not having Sunburst in her life at all.

When Sunburst finally opened the window, Starlight jumped in with practiced ease, latching onto the edge and crawling through with little thought. She closed the window behind her and ditched her coat at a corner of his room, where his mother was less likely to notice any wet stains from the cold. She rubbed her hands together, heaving a relief sigh, but froze when Sunburst’s blue eyes glared at her.

“I’m going to get dinner,” he declared, crossing his arms, “and when I come back, you are going to tell me what’s going on.”

Starlight stood frozen on the spot, despite the warmth of his room chasing away the chill from the outside. Sunburst gave her one last meaningful look before he left the room, closing the door behind with a soft click, and Starlight sank onto the bed and cursed.

She couldn’t tell him the truth. She refused to drag him into the mess that was her life. It would only hurt him if he knew just how fucked up everything was. She thought back to the look in his eyes and his attitude, it was obvious that he suspected that something was going on, had he figure it out? What if he told his mother? Or one of the teachers? Would they believe him?

She stood up from the bed and started pacing. No, he wouldn’t. He was pragmatic in that sense, he wouldn’t sound the alarm unless he confirmed with her that his suspicions were true. She still had a chance to lie and wiggle herself out of this. Starlight had been able to do it before so this shouldn’t be any different.

Then she thought back to the look he had given her in the shelter, blank, but so focused that it made her freeze on her spot…and she instantly felt guilty.

She stopped pacing, looking at her crumpled jacket, wondering if running away was an option.

The room was quiet, quiet enough that she heard his footsteps coming down the hall. She had no idea what he was bringing for dinner, but given the situation, she didn’t feel particularly hungry. She would eat of course, not doing so would only stress Sunburst further. It was all about doing damage control and keeping him calm and in the dark.

When he walked in, he was clearly pleased with tonight’s dinner, grinning as he closed the door behind him. He grabbed a paper plate and a plastic fork from his closet, the ones he bought for these occasions, and transferred more than half of what was on the plate to hers.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, grabbing the cutlery and digging in.

Sunburst nodded and took a bite of his food. The silence settled around them and for a moment, Starlight thought the conversation had been postponed indefinitely, but once his plate was clean, he pointed his fork at her with a firm look. “Spill.”

Starlight froze, looking down at her plate, her hopes dashed. “About what?”

He sighed, setting his plate aside to really look at her. Starlight felt trapped again, it was the feeling she usually got when Sunburst stared at her too intently. It was like he was studying her, searching for something deep within her soul, seeing right through her façade and her tricks. She hated it just as much she loved it.

“Has Adagio been bothering you more outside of school—when I’m not around?”

She paused, trying to fit together the pieces he had let go. He had seen her hurt and he instantly thought that Adagio was responsible, which was partially true, but it barely scratched the surface of the real problem. She let out a breath, partly relieved and partly disappointed that he hadn’t figure it out. Sometimes she wondered if her life would be better if he just…knew. If somebody knew.

“You should talk to Mrs. Mi Amore about it,” Sunburst urged. “If you can’t tell me…” He shrugged and Starlight could see the hurt he was trying to conceal.

“Adagio hasn’t done more than usual, Sunburst,” she said, trying to keep her voice even. “She just got lucky today. If things escalate, I’ll tell you, okay?”

Sunburst nodded but didn’t look convinced.

She bit her lip, realizing that she had to give him more, something that would stop this line of questioning. Just because he hadn’t guessed correctly, didn’t mean that he wasn’t on the right track to finding out. She had to throw him off with something else.

“There’s a reason Adagio singles me out,” she whispered, letting go of one of the many things she never told anyone.

“She’s a bitch?” Sunburst rolled his eyes and took a sip of his water.

“No,” Starlight said, trying her best not to smile. “Adagio is like me, she’s an orphan, we even lived in the same house for a time before she got adopted.”

Sunburst nearly spat his drink, but he swallowed it awkwardly and he started coughing instead. Starlight patted his back as he caught his breath. “She’s adopted? But she said—And the others think—”

“They adopted her for her talent,” Starlight explained, cutting off his stutters of incredulity. “The social worker rounded up the kids with any kind of artistic talent and narrowed it down to the two of us…and they almost chose me, but Adagio interfered.” Starlight shrugged and took another bite of her food before continuing. “I don’t know what she did or said, but it worked and Adagio was chosen, and I stayed in that foster house until I was too old to live there.”

“But she succeeded, she got out, she’s popular and all that, why does she attack you?”

“If I had to guess, it’s because I’m the only one who knows her secret, and I’m the one she can direct her anger towards—from one orphan to another.”

“Then why don’t you say something?” Sunburst asked, his blue eyes narrowed with confusion, and maybe a bit of anger. “Why haven’t you told the world, get back at her with this?”

“Even if I did, would anyone believe me?” Starlight started, tossing her paper plate in the trash. “I don’t have any evidence, no pictures, no videos from that time, only my word, and you’ve seen how much it’s worth in this town. It could backfire and make my life harder, or it could work and make Adagio’s life harder, and give her more excuses to antagonize me...it’s better not to risk it.”

Sure, Starlight hated her with every fiber of her being. Adagio made her life just that bit more difficult than it should be, and part of her was envious of her undeserved good fortune—but deep down, she couldn’t blame Adagio for her attitude.

If she were in Adagio’s place, she probably would’ve done the same thing.

Author's Note

Alternative title: the bombshell chapter. This is the longest chapter to date, only because we are at the halfway point and I'm trying to wrap up things as they come, but there's room for a surprise or two in the coming chapters. There are still some ways to go anyway, so hang on to your seats, the ride ain't over yet. :pinkiecrazy:

6. we live in black and white

The final bell rang and Starlight walked as quickly as she could without running. Starlight would have made it to her class if she hadn’t waited for Sunburst and stayed to joked around with him, missing the warning bell, and if Mrs. Mi Amore hadn’t appeared from around the corner and stopped her.

“Starlight,” Mrs. Mi Amore said, her soft voice firm. “What happened to your arm?”

Oh, crap. Starlight looked down at herself, seeing the drops of blood running down her left arm. Her bandage must have slipped off, or maybe it bled through, she hadn’t had time to fix it this morning or put it on properly in her hurry to get to school on time. Trying not to groan out loud, Starlight shrugged. “I cut myself on the way to school.”

Mi Amore narrowed her eyes. “How?”

“I fell.” Starlight looked up at her, and she could see the challenge in her teacher’s eyes. There was only one question on her mind—one that was pertinent. Why do you care? “I have to get to class.”

“You’re late anyway,” Mrs. Mi Amore said, raising an eyebrow. “Come to my office at lunch and I’ll write you a note for now.”

“At lunch?” Starlight asked, skeptical. “I’d rather not.”

“Right,” Mrs. Mi Amore laughed, shaking her head. “That’s time with Sunburst, isn’t it?”

“What the hell is it to you?” Starlight demanded, glaring. “It’s my only break from this hellhole, so why would I give it up?”

The teacher’s calm expression never faltered. Why did she care so much? Starlight couldn’t fathom the reason for her sudden interest in her when she had been perfectly fine watching her getting picked on, even if she did give her knowing looks. Like she understood.

“Fine then,” Mi Amore taunted, shrugging. “Come with me right now. What do you have?”

“History.” Starlight said, her face full of disbelief.

“Stygian is boring anyways. I’ll talk to him later.”

“You’ll…” Starlight frowned, shifting and tugging at her sleeve to try and hide the bloody bandage on her arm.

Mrs. Mi Amore rolled her eyes. “Would you stop being so difficult and just let me help you?”

He woke up earlier than usual that day, early enough to catch Sunset before she left for her internship. They spoke for a while before she had to go and Sunburst made breakfast, his mother walking in to greet him soon after. It would have been a peaceful, forgettable morning if his mother hadn’t asked what his plans were for the day.

Now, as he sat in his first-period class, bored out of his mind, Sunburst tried his best to pay attention and take as many notes as possible, but his mind wandered no matter how hard he tried. He knew that he would have to study this unit extra hard to make up for the time lost, but this morning’s events simply wouldn’t vanish.

“I’m, huh,” Sunburst murmured, trying to think. “Well, I’m not scheduled to work at the shelter today, so I was wondering if I could go out tonight.”

“With who?” His mother asked, face looking a little more tight than usual. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes anymore.

Starlight. “Probably with Flash and the guys, but I’d need the car. We’ll probably go to the mall or something. I’d be home after dinner.”

Stellar Flare stared at her son, her gaze disbelieving and a little hard. “What about Starlight? Would she be going to?”

“No,” Sunburst replied, laughing a little despite the tense air in the kitchen. “Starlight wouldn’t come within fifty feet of the mall.”

His mother turned around, showing her back to him, reaching for the coffee on the counter as she mumbled something, something that he heard perfectly in the otherwise silent room.

“She shouldn’t come within fifty feet of you.”

Now, there were two things Sunburst could have done in this situation. He always went for option one: simply ignore his mother’s comments, fighting with his mother just wasn’t worth most of the time, especially on this subject. But that morning, he simply couldn’t do that, maybe it was too early for him to ignore the disdain in his mother’s voice, maybe it was because he had bandaged Starlight’s arm the night before and the sad, tired look on her face was still fresh in his mind. Either way, something in him snapped and he glared at his mother’s back.

For the first time in a long time, he went for option two: he talked back.

“Difficult?” Starlight stared at the teacher. “You’re the one that’s not letting me go to class.”

“Like you actually want to go,” Mrs. Mi Amore pointed out with a knowing smile. “Come on, Stygian won’t care that you’re not there, and I’ll make sure you get all of today's notes by tomorrow, even though that’s probably more notes than you have ever taken in your entire life.”

Starlight looked around the hall, wondering if this was some sort of trick. Finding no cameras or giggling students, her gaze fell on Mrs. Mi Amore, looking unsure. “I take notes,” she protested weakly.

The teacher giggled and headed towards her unoccupied office, Starlight followed behind, though she did so reluctantly. The lights were on in the empty office, a cup of steaming coffee perched on the desk. Mrs. Mi Amore sat down in her chair and gestured to Starlight to take the empty one across the desk. She sat down slowly, still waiting for the principal to come bursting in and suspend her for skipping class.

“Before we start, please call me Cadance,” Mrs. Mi Amore said, her gaze serious despite the light smile on her face. “Not in class or in the halls during school hours, but otherwise it’s fine. Like right now, you can relax.”

Starlight sat perfectly still, her backpack on her lap, tense and ready to flee at any given moment because she simply could not believe what was going on. Cadance sighed.

“Alright, you’re about as relaxed as a spooked horse. Seriously, chill out.” The teacher said with a sigh, wrapping her hands around her mug of coffee and taking a sip.

Starlight blinked. “…I really hope you didn’t just tell me to chill out. What time period did you crawl out from?”

Laughing, Cadance shrugged. “I’m not that much older than you, just old enough to…know more about things.” Her purple eyes darted down to Starlight’s arm. “You don’t have to tell me anything, I know you probably won’t anyway, but I want to tell you just one thing: you’re not completely as alone as you think you are. There are…options for you, if you want them.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms defensively over her backpack, hugging her bag closer to her. “You’re right about one thing: I'm not telling you anything.”

Not about the broken bottles being thrown at my face, or the fact that my foster father likes to use me for target practice. The cuts on her face had been minor, but the cut on her arm had been the deepest one by far. Thankfully, the broken bottle hadn’t cut anything vital in her arm, but it definitely needed some stitches.

Not that she would tell Cadance that. No one could help.

“Starlight isn’t what you think she is,” Sunburst said, and although his voice was weak, he had spoken without hesitation.

“Excuse me?” Stellar Flare said. “That girl is nothing but trouble, I talked to—”

The lid he kept on his emotions finally popped. He had had it with the hatefulness of this town. “That’s the problem!” He screamed, slamming a hand on the kitchen table. “You talk to everyone except her, and I know you’d understand if you just—!”

“Don’t speak to me like that, Sunburst.” Stellar Flare yelled back, pointing an accusing finger at him. “I am your mother and Starlight is some girl that’s awfully messed up! As long as you live under my roof you will not see her again!”

Her words felt like a slap to the face and Sunburst sat there in stunned silence, staring at his mother’s angry gaze—and for the life of him, he couldn’t remember the last time he had seen her so livid—wondering how things escalated to this point.

“You’re forbidding me from seeing her?” He uttered the words in a daze, unbelieving, and like a dam the words tumbled out, uncaring of forming any kind of resolution. “N-No, you can’t do that!” He snapped. “I’m Starlight’s friend and you can’t end our friendship no matter what you do or say!” And I love her, you can’t change that.

Stellar Flare took a deep breath and went back to the counter, getting a bowl and preparing her own breakfast. She was silent, moving almost mechanically.

“What I’m saying,” Stellar said softly as if she were whispering a secret rather than an order, “is that you will not be spending any time outside of this house besides school and the pet shelter. You may not like it and you may be mad at me, but I can’t have you ruining your life for a girl who will take everything you’ve built and leave you in the dust.”

“So you’re going to regulate my life now?” Sunburst shook his head, standing up from his chair and grabbing his bag. “You know what, never mind…I won’t go out tonight, I’ll be back after class.”

“I’m driving you to school,” Stellar Flare said, her voice still soft. “I’ll be driving you everywhere from now on.”

Sunburst stood frozen in the hallway, staring at the wall where the keys usually hang, noticing that his set was missing. “Mom—”

“I’m doing this to protect you,” his mother said firmly, leaving no room for discussion.

“Figures you’d still be difficult,” Cadance murmured, turning around to one of the drawers in her desk. She pulled out a first aid kit and handed it over. “At least patch yourself up.”

Starlight took the white box, staring at it like it was about to explode. She couldn’t help the burst of emotion that surged inside her, the curiosity, the distrust, the confusion. Her hands shook a little as she flipped the lock, opening the kit and taking out some ointment and bandages. “Why?” She rolled the sleeve of her shirt, not looking at the teacher in the eye, no wanting to see what the teacher thought of her.

“Why what? Why I don’t want you running around with blood gushing down your arm? One, it’s a health and sanity issue, and two, you might get into another fight over nothing…Then again, I don’t really have to say anything either, do I?”

Starlight looked up, surprised. “You’re mocking me?”

“With age doesn’t come the loss of sarcasm,” Cadance said dryly. “If anything, it gets worse.”

“Good to know.” Starlight got back to work, realizing that she had come to a certain…understanding with her teacher, she was the only adult so far that had even tried to get to know her. “I have a question.”

Cadance nodded. “Go on.”

“As a teacher, aren’t you required to report…you know…?” Starlight let the sentence hang, knowing the answer to her own question, but wanting to see what Cadance would say.

“We are state-mandated reporters,” Cadance said.

Starlight heard the blood rushing to her ears, even as she applied the last of the ointment and wiped her hands. “So then…” she prompted.

“As far as I’m concerned, you fell,” Cadance kept her eyes focused on Starlight, and the girl couldn’t even look away if she tried. “I don’t know much about you, but I hear the talk. I know you’re a foster kid and believe it or not, I know what it’s like to be one.”

Starlight listened; she understood her words but her mind couldn’t wrap itself around them. She stared at the teacher’s pretty face, her nice makeup, her perfectly curled hair, her professional outfit, and the diamond ring on her finger. It was mind-boggling to think she had once been in her shoes and made it through to the other side, but it also made a crazy amount of sense in a way Starlight hadn’t been able to justify before.

“Now, my case was undoubtedly better than yours,” she continued. “But I know how these things work, and if I were to report the results of your ‘fall’, you’d most likely be taken away fairly quickly to a place that’s nowhere near here.” Cadance sighed. “And you only have five months left. I’m not asking or telling, but it’s up to you. You have a choice and my support.”

For the first time in her life, Starlight was given the luxury of choice. Maybe…maybe she wasn’t as alone as she thought, trapped in a little world of her own design—a world that consisted of her and Sunburst, and maybe Phyllis and Fluttershy back at the shelter. Still, Starlight hadn’t earned anything in her life without a fight, so she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “So, I have a choice,” she said, slowly, “and you might…understand.”

Cadance looked a little amused, even though the situation was anything but. “I might,” she replied after a while, taking a sip of her coffee.

Starlight let out a breath, relaxing in her chair for the first time.

“Mr. Zenith, do you think you could pay attention?” The teacher said, standing only a few feet away from Sunburst’s desk with a stern look.

He nearly jumped out of his seat, snapping out of his daydreaming and memories of this morning. Trying his hardest to look apologetic, he watched as the teacher finally turned away and went back to the lesson.

Sunburst paid attention this time, actively listening even though he was lost. When the bell rang and the class was over, he booked it out of there, avoiding the teacher’s worried gaze as he jogged out of the classroom. Sunburst knew that he was viewed as the model student; his attitude had probably made warning bells go off in the teacher’s head for no good reason.

The whole day seemed to go like that, he simply couldn’t find the will to care for his classes. His only relief was lunchtime when he met Starlight and they sat inside the cafeteria because it was too cold to sit comfortably outside. She seemed to be in a better mood than him, smiling more than he had seen her do at school in all the time he’d known her. He didn’t question it, merely soaked it up like a sponge and tried his best to keep his own dark mood from ruining it.

Even if things with his mom were rough, he still had Starlight. The bad girl needed him more than anyone else. His mother didn’t understand, didn’t see what he saw when he looked at Starlight. She didn’t see the way Starlight’s small smiles could light up a room, or how her dark eyes were too expressive for her own good. Sunburst knew, deep down, that no matter what happened at home, he would always have this. Starlight would be there for him, even when he went to school, or let her down, or didn’t give her as much as she deserved.

But he couldn’t leave his home. Sunburst couldn’t say goodbye to his mother with the promise of never coming back. He didn’t want to do that, to remove himself from his otherwise loving family…at least not yet. Starlight wasn’t the only one looking forward to graduation, once he was settled, once he could stand on his own two feet, they could be together—if Starlight wanted to, of course. He prayed for that to be the case, anyway.

When school was over, he waited for Starlight at their usual bench outside. The wind was cold, and the forecast predicted the possibility of frost later tonight, but otherwise, it was a normal day. Sunburst tugged his scarf closer to his neck, spotting the girl he knew so well walking up to him with a bright smile on her face. He felt guilty when it dampened once she saw him, she must have figured out that something was wrong.

“What’s the matter?” She asked, trying to be subtle and failing at it. Tactfulness had never been her strong suit.

“Nothing…that’s bad,” Sunburst answered, deciding that being truthful was the best he could do. “I just have a situation at home, so things aren’t going well.”

“What happened?” Starlight looked slightly horrified, the calm she had held on to the whole day disappearing entirely, looking around the lot as if Stellar would come marching down any minute. “Did she find out I was there?”

Sunburst shook his head quickly, putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her from doing something stupid. “No, no, she just…put her foot down on a number of things I don’t agree with. She’s driving me everywhere as punishment from now on.”

Starlight glanced at the parking lot for a moment before she turned back to him. “Then…why are you still here?” She said carefully as if something would break if she pushed too hard. Sunburst didn’t understand why she did that at all.

“What do you mean why I’m still here?” He scoffed at her. “I always meet you here.”

“To drive me over to your place,” Starlight insisted, giving him another look. “But that obviously can’t happen.”

“I couldn’t just leave without telling you. Look, this is only temporary, sooner or later my mom won’t have the time to drive me around like this and things can go back to normal.” Sunburst said. “Besides, you remember the shortcut we used to take after school? You can get there faster than I can. The window's open.”

Starlight hesitated, licking her lips against the cold. “I don’t want to get you in any more trouble.”

“I got myself in trouble,” Sunburst argued, shaking his head. “Starlight, I want you there, please?”

For a moment, it looked like she would say no. Sunburst wasn’t sure what he would do if she said no. She was the only rock he had right now, the only person he could turn to about this. He would keep his mouth shut around his mom for now on if that’s what it took. Once this blew over, he’d figure out a way to make things better with Starlight.

“Fine, I’ll see you there,” Starlight whispered and Sunburst couldn’t help but smile.

7. we dream in color

The ride home was strangely serene, with his mother smiling and asking about his day and avoiding any mention of Starlight. Like nothing had changed between them, and his mother was just picking him up for the heck of it. A part of Sunburst realized that he should fight this, he should say something, anything. They couldn’t avoid the topic and pretend that nothing was the matter. It wasn’t right, it wouldn’t solve anything.

But Sunburst would be lying if he said he would rather stand up and fight. This was his mother, and while she was wrong about Starlight, she had his best interest at heart. Of course, Sunburst was mad at her, but maybe…maybe it wasn’t the time to bring it up. Starlight would be there and if he started a fight, who was to say that it would stop in the car? It could continue inside the house, where Starlight would undoubtedly hear.

So, in the end, Sunburst said nothing. He took what he could get and listened to his mother. Though his mind was only focused on getting to his room as quickly as possible, feigning tons of homework like he usually did. Stellar Flare never questioned it, and Sunburst was grateful for it. Starlight would be waiting for him in his room, and then they could relax. Maybe then he could figure out why she was in such a good mood.

Getting out of the car when they pulled up, Sunburst ran inside and into his room. Starlight was lying on his bed, stomach down and legs crossed behind her, idly reading one of his books, sparing him only a glance before returning to her reading.

Sunburst rolled his eyes. “What if it was my mom coming up?”

The girl smirked. “Your mom walks pretty quietly, and she shuffles more than steps. You, on the other hand, sound like an elephant.”

Starlight couldn’t help the tease, grinning as the redhead gave a long-suffering sigh and tossed his bag to the floor. She waited for him to join her, trying not to move while he crawled on the bed and lay on his side, facing her.

Sunburst had soft lips, lightly pink, and Starlight had to make a physical effort to look away. Doing rash things like that wouldn’t get her anywhere, she treasured her friendship with him too much to risk it. A part of her, a tiny, small part, knew that Sunburst loved her, just like she loved him. But that assuredness was smothered by mountains of fear and doubt, as the nature of her situation hovered around her like a storm cloud threatening to pour on her at any moment. And with Sunburst’s mother added to the mix…

Starlight smiled when he raised a brow.

“An elephant, huh? So you’re calling me fat now?”

“You sound like an elephant, not weigh like one,” Starlight countered. “Besides, what would you do without me?”

Sunburst narrowed his eyes, slowly rolling onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. There was a moment of silence, comfortable and relaxed. “You’re in a good mood today.”

Starlight only shrugged and turned the page of the book. Despite the fact that their teacher had given her a sort of lifeline, Cadance had pulled her aside to talk about her home issue, she downplayed it of course and the teacher had let her go, but Sunburst didn’t need to know about that. “It was just a good day. Why is that so bad? Must you always be the reason I’m in a good mood?”

“Aha!” Sunburst reached over and flicked her arm. “I put you in a good mood? Since when?”

Starlight flinched involuntarily. His hand landed right where the cut was, and though it was perfectly bandaged now, it still hurt a lot.

And of course, Sunburst saw it.

“I’m sorry.” His smile vanished and he rolled back to his side. His hand hovered over her arm for a moment before he dragged his fingers along her sleeve. When he felt the bandage he frowned, sitting up. “Let me check on it.”

“No, Sunburst, it’s fine.” Starlight replied, her hand tugging her sleeve down.

“Then roll up your sleeve.” With all the turmoil of this morning, he had forgotten about Starlight’s wound. She was the strongest person he knew, and the fact that she flinched meant she was really hurt. “I cleaned it as best as I could, but I want to make sure…” he paused looking at her with a pointed look. “You know, you never told me how you got that wound.”

When Starlight didn’t move, only stared at him with her cerulean gaze, he let out a sound of frustration before grabbing her arm.

“Hey, wait.” Before Sunburst could process it, Starlight was on top of him, her injured arm holding down his shoulder while the rest of him was pinned down by her weight. Sunburst laid sideways on the bed, his heels dangling off the queen size mattress. Her body was warm, and her face was so close that he held his breath. But the torn look in Starlight’s eyes stopped him from getting any ideas. “I’ll show you, okay? Just don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Sunburst wanted to say that he couldn’t make any promises, but the way she looked at him kept him quiet. Slowly she slid off, rolling up the left sleeve and showing off a few gauze pads that held traces of blood. It wasn’t the bandages he used last night to heal her, and now in the bright daylight of his room, he could see how truly bad it was. He gasped and tried to sit up, but Starlight pushed him down again.

“See? That’s making a big deal out of it.” Starlight said. “I just fell, cut myself on a branch on my way to see you. It’s not that deep, it just looks bad. The blood is from this morning.”

“Did you see the nurse?” Sunburst frowned. “Why didn’t you? That doesn’t look like a professional bandaged it.”

“Because it’s not that bad,” Starlight countered. “Mrs. Mi Amore saw and took me to her office so I could patch it properly.”

The way she was looking at him was sincere enough, but her statement didn’t make any sense to him. Sunburst paused. “Why didn’t she take you to see the nurse?”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Why must you ask a million questions? Seriously Sunburst, I’m fine.”

He wasn’t convinced, not one bit, but when Starlight flopped down beside him, far too close for simple friends, Sunburst lost his train of thought. He reached up, running his fingers through her hair, combing the strands gently in the soft patterns she liked so much.

Starlight buried her face in his shoulder. “Really, right now?”

But she moved closer, so yeah, he did.

The closer Starlight got to graduation, the faster the days went by. A part of her was glad—the day she could escape this shithole town was short on hand. Then again, she’d have to leave Sunburst, and that eventuality was both difficult to imagine and the source of her heartache. It plagued her mind when winter began to fade, as the cold nights turned lukewarm. The monotony of her life continued. High school was still high school. Her foster father was still her foster father.

The pet shelter was different.

Every time she went, something always changed. The work she did was menial, but the animals were always excited to see her, and they always had a trick up their furry sleeves. More often than not Starlight was caught in a tug of war with them, where the puppies would bite her jeans and try to drag her away, while the kittens climbed her like a tree and meowed insistently for her attention.

“Hey Starlight, how’s it going?”

And then there was Twilight.

She’d met her a couple of times when Flash was getting picked up on yet another switched day. The girl was pretty and exceedingly smart, even smarter than Sunburst, stating facts and knowledge with the precision of an encyclopedia. If no one interrupted her she could go on for hours, but Flash didn’t seem to mind, watching her with an enamored look on his face whenever she went off on a tangent.

“Hey, how's it going?” Starlight said, turning around to wave at the girl with long hair and dark purple eyes. She always dressed formally, with her long-pleated skirt, blue blouse, and black mary janes, she looked like the perfect model student.

“Oh, fine, just came to drop off Flash,” Twilight replied, walking up to her before tucking her hands behind her back. “And to ask if you would like to go to the movies with us tonight? Sunburst is invited of course.”

Twilight gave her a knowing wink and Starlight rolled her eyes. Twilight's insistence on playing matchmaker was quickly getting on her nerves. “Sorry, I can’t, I’m trying to save as much money as I can right now.”

“For what?” Twilight looked interested, even if Starlight’s response was less than desired.

It wasn’t like she didn’t like her, but she never felt comfortable talking about herself to people she just met. But Twilight’s stare was intense, and there was something about her that inspired some modicum of trust, so Starlight found herself speaking before she knew it. “I’m turning eighteen soon, and I want to get my own place when I do.”

“Really?” Twilight looked almost awed. “Where?”

Somewhere far from here. Starlight shrugged. There was so much to figure out, and so little time to do so.

“So, you think she’s not telling you something?”

Sunburst sighed, scrubbing the inside of the dog cage with more ferocity than necessary. “Yeah, but…I don’t know. She tells me everything, or at least I think she does.”

“Huh.” Flash was cleaning another cage, spraying some more chemicals with a spray bottle before passing a cloth over the metal. “Well, everyone’s got secrets, but it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t trust you.”

Flash’s advice wasn’t what he was looking for, but having someone he could talk to about his Starlight problem was refreshing. Flash wasn’t one of his closest friends, but ironically, he was the only one he could turn to when Starlight was concerned. His other friends tolerated Starlight, but they were obviously uncomfortable with her presence, if they saw him with her, they were quick to turn away and avoid him altogether until Starlight left. His family wasn’t any better. His sister was away more often than not, his grandfather had an old fashion way of seeing things, and his mother had made it pretty clear how she felt about the whole situation.

It was depressing, but Sunburst was thankful to have at least one friendly ear in this town that could understand him. Or at least try to.

“I know, she must have her reasons,” Sunburst said, “but I can’t help but worry about her.”

“Just give her time,” Flash shrugged as he moved on to the next cage. “The more you push someone the worse it can be, and a girl like Starlight is probably used to moving at her own pace, she doesn’t seem to like authority that much. Have you tried asking her about it?”

Sunburst took a moment to scrub a particularly tough stain before eventually giving up. “Yeah, but maybe…not as directly as I should, I never get answers anyway or…”

“Or…?

“She changes the subject, or I do, but something always gets in the way.” Sunburst groaned, shaking his head. “She’s a lot chipper these days, so the subject hasn’t come up lately but…Sometimes I think I’m missing something and Starlight is purposely letting it stay that way.”

“As you said, she probably has her reasons,” Flash pointed out. “But if she’s hiding something on purpose…well, unless you learn how to read minds, there’s nothing you can do. If you ask me, I think you’re doing as much as you can giving the situation.”

Sunburst nodded and got back to work. Even if the world around them was as chaotic as ever, things between him and Starlight remained the same—calm, supportive and riveting, for him at least. His mother still refused to let Sunburst drive or go out, forcing Starlight to take the bus to and from the shelter. He was thankful he never told his mother that she was volunteering here, she would probably force him to leave this place as well if she knew.

“Hey, I know it’s none of my business,” Flash spoke up suddenly, his eyes focused on his task, trying to sound nonchalant. “But I was wondering…what do you think of Starlight?”

Sunburst frowned, turning to face his friend. “What?”

“You know, do you like her?”

“Those are two different questions,” but Sunburst understood the meaning. A warmth started from his stomach and spread across his body, burning his cheeks softly. “But…yeah.”

Flash nodded; eyes still focused on his task. “So, how come you haven’t made a move on her?”

There were so many factors, some more complicated than others that required lengthy explanations that Sunburst didn’t feel like giving, but he went for the most obvious one, and probably his biggest obstacle. “My mom. She doesn’t let me see her and she thinks we are just friends; she would send me to another country if she knew how serious I am about Starlight.”

“Wait, you’re not allowed to see her?” Flash stopped what he was doing, eyeing the boy beside him carefully. “But you said that you see each other every day after school. How do you keep it from your mom?”

Sunburst sighed, he didn’t want to talk about it at first, but when Flash insisted, he caved. “My house it’s a one-floor building, she can jump through my window. My mom doesn’t know about it.”

“Wow.”

“Wow?”

Flash shrugged. “I wish Twilight could do that; but she’s not very athletic and my house has two floors, we have to wait until nobody’s home before we can make out.”

“Twilight, you’re still here?” The old woman said the moment she walked into the room; her gaze gentle as always. “If you’re going to be here, might as well pick up a broom.”

“Right,” Twilight smiled at Starlight and shrugged. “I’ll see you around, okay? We should hang out sometime, you know, just us girls.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Go, before I make you do it.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Twilight wave them both goodbye and grinned at Starlight. “And remember: better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

The moment she was out the door, Starlight turned wide eyes to Fluttershy. “I swear, I have no idea what she’s talking about.”

“I bet you don’t,” the woman responded, her lips curved with a slight smile. “I’ve come to talk to you, about your time here.”

The girl waited, her body thrumming with nervous energy. Normally, when adults wanted to talk to her, it was never a good thing. Cadance had been the exception so far, who kept an eye on her and made sure that the time she had left in school was a peaceful one when she was around. She wasn’t sure if Fluttershy would prove to be another exception or not.

“You probably noticed, but you’ve long surpassed your one hundred hours here,” Fluttershy explained. Her face lightened with her smile. “You’ve finished your community service, and I’ve signed all the papers to prove so, of course, you have to submit them yourself.” She shrugged. “But you do good work here, Starlight, and I appreciate all you have done here. Would you consider staying here for a while longer?”

Starlight blinked, tilting her head with confusion. “Well, yes, of course,” she replied, “but I thought I was doing that already?”

Fluttershy turned around, surveying the pet shelter with the eyes that had seen it change through the years—more years than Starlight had been alive. “Yes, you are.” She ran a weathered hand on an old wooden countertop. “I’ve always loved animals, even when I was a little girl. Back then I would find strays and take care of them. My parents never let me keep them though, so I would hide them in the backyard—in the garden shed. I gave them food, water, and a place to sleep, when my parents were at work, I’d let them out to play in the yard. Most of them belonged to someone, they were just lost.”

Starlight followed her around the room, Fluttershy moved with a familiarity only gained from years of walking the same path. Though she didn’t understand what she was getting at, Starlight listened intently, if only because she owned the woman that much, it was thanks to her that she was able to keep her head above water and make this far.

“You were too, you know,” Fluttershy continued, her green eyes still not looking at her. “Lost, in a way. I saw it in you the moment you walked in, just like I see it in the animals that live here, but as with everything, we eventually find our way.” She smiled. “I hope I haven’t offended you, but you do look better these days when compared to when you first came here. You’ve upheld your responsibilities, even went above and beyond them, and I want to reward your hard work.”

She pulled a small yellow envelope from her pocket and handed it to her. Starlight took it and opened it, her eyes widening when she saw the money inside.

“That’s for the extra hours you’ve worked here.” Fluttershy continued. “And there’s more if you decide to stay here and I hope…I hope that soon you won’t be searching anymore, that you follow through with whatever path you’re on and settle down somewhere, somewhere that makes you happy. You’re on your way, I can see that, but you’re not quite there yet, hopefully, this will make things easier.”

Starlight’s throat felt tight, her eyes darting between the envelope clutch in her shaky hands and Fluttershy’s wrinkly face. The money wasn’t much, but it was more than Starlight expected; more than she ever hoped for. She swallowed with some difficulty and spoke. “Are…Are you sure about this?” It was such a stupid question, if only because chances like these rarely came along. Asking the woman to second guess herself was just asking for it.

But Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “We can discuss the finer details later, but it’s not important right now.”

The girl took a shaky breath, blinking her eyes rapidly so as not to cry. She rarely allowed herself to cry, not even when her foster father was violent with her, she let herself shed a tear—crying was a weakness, something she couldn’t afford. She swallowed and reeled in her emotions, managing to give the old woman a shaky smile. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Fluttershy murmured kindly. The old woman gestured with her head towards the hall, where Sunburst and Flash were working. “You should tell him the good news.” She didn’t have to specify which boy she was talking about.

“Okay,” Starlight said, unable to decide if she should laugh or cry, still trying to process that this wasn’t a dream. Her mind was racing, the idea that she could definitely afford her own place with the new money coming in. That things will be easier now, she could breathe better, and Sunburst…

She left the room, Fluttershy giggling gently behind her. She found the part of the building where Sunburst was and stood by the doorway, he didn’t see her at first, too busy trying to clean a thousand things at once, but Flash did and he opened his mouth to greet her but stopped when he saw the expression on her face.

“I’m going to the bathroom, be right back,” he said, nodding at her as he walked by. “Hey Starlight.”

Starlight took a deep breath. “Hi.”

The redhead turned to face her so fast she feared he got whiplash, his big blue eyes calm behind his glasses. He grinned. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, what happened?”

It wasn’t ghosts, but a miracle she had just witnessed, the envelope in her hand proof that it wasn’t a dream. She licked her lips, staring into his eyes and finding her place in them. She knew without a doubt that this would work. Things had to get better from here, right? And with Sunburst there, encouraging her every step of the way, smiling and offering his hand anytime she tripped, she could surely do it.

Starlight told him the news.

8. one wish that wont come true

Author's Note

Warning: Graphic depiction of domestic violence and injury in this chapter. Reader discretion is advised.

8. one wish that wont come true

One month. That was all she could think about. She had one more month, one more month of school, one more month of here.

She barely felt the cold tile of the kitchen against her cheek before her stepfather yanked her by the hair. He yelled something at her as he dragged her across the room, but Starlight didn’t listen, it all sounded like loud white noise to her by now. She could smell the alcohol in his breath, feel the heat and his spit hitting her cheek as he screamed. She flinched, beyond disgusted as her legs kicked out underneath her, trying to find purchase on the kitchen tile. She reached out and grasp his arm, digging her nails into his skin, trying to make him release her. This only incensed him further and he shook her, throwing her to the ground and aiming a kick to her face. Starlight turned to avoided it in time and he hit her between the shoulder blades instead.

Sometimes it didn’t hurt so much. Sometimes she could float away, think about things that were within her control, within her reach. That way the hits weren’t so bad, then she could ignore all the cuts and scratches and wait for it to be over.

This time though, Starlight felt like she was being attacked from the inside as well.

The kick sent Starlight rolling across the floor, stopping only when her head smashed into the corner of the kitchen’s island. Stars danced in her vision, slowly taking over as she felt the skin split open. There was blood, far too much of it, pouring down her back.

She never screamed; her foster father did all the yelling for her. She couldn't talk her way out of this when he was like this, not that it mattered what she did or said. Starlight had tried everything through the years. If she yelled back, he would punch her until her stomach was black and blue for daring to talk back at him, if she was quiet, he would scream and hit her for being such a spineless bitch. There was nothing she could, she was always destined to lose.

His wife was there for a change, huddled in the corner and crying, begging for him to stop. Her face was swollen from where her husband had struck her earlier, hard enough to fall at Starlight’s feet, who ran in when she heard the commotion. Starlight's first instinct had been to run away, but the pleading look in her foster mother’s eyes glued her to the spot, long enough for her foster father to target the teenager instead. That's what she got for playing hero, she thought she had learned that by now.

Now that Starlight was cornered, he started attacking her without mercy, aiming kick after kick on every inch of her he could reach, sending Starlight into a coughing fit and she curled in on herself. Her head was pounding and she struggled to open her eyes, to see what was coming next, but all she saw were murky colors. Her leg throbbed; it was surely bleeding. Then again, everything hurt too much to be certain. Her legs, her stomach, her lungs, her head, it was hard to choose on what area she should focus on when everything hurt at once.

Someone screamed, her foster father continued his beating and Starlight let go.

Her memories were the only thing he could never take from her, where he could never reach her. She started to go back, to things she hadn’t thought about for a while. When she was smaller and the touch of strong hands didn’t make her flinch, when it meant safety and warmth instead of pain. It hadn’t always been this way with her foster parents, there was a time when it had been peaceful, almost boring, that was the period when she was getting to know Sunburst, and her mind jumped on that memory.

It was spring and the air smelled of freshly cut grass, sunlight poured from the windows as she kicked her locker close and walked away, just as Sunburst rounded the corner and bumped into her. His eyes widened when he saw her.

“I’m so sorry!” He said, looking guilty.

“Huh—”

“Really, really sorry. Can I buy you lunch? Please?”

Starlight stared at him, dumbfounded. She hadn’t even dropped what she was carrying, like in those romcoms, and she had barely felt him colliding with her. “But…I’m fine.”

He insisted and Starlight accepted, more interested in him than the food he offered. He followed her around ever since, and Starlight soon stopped pretending that it bothered her.

Starlight's lips twitched into a smile, that turned into a grimace when the man kicked her hip bone. Such a mundane, meaningless moment in their lives for sure; there were more important moments, much happier memories she could cling to, but she clung to this one for some reason. But then again, that’s how life worked, right? It was a recollection of ordinary moments and hidden in them, like little gems in the soil, were the most important people that made life worth living. And they don’t come in with much fanfare, they simply walked in one day and stayed forever.

Sunburst had always been a light sleeper, so when he heard a slight crack in his silent room, he was wide awake. He looked around his dark bedroom, but there was no one there, no one hiding in the shadows.

Then he heard it again, another tap, this time coming from his window, too deliberate to be a branch blown by the wind. He slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, the clock on his table marking the time as two in the morning. There was only one person he knew that would come at this hour. Kicking the sheets, he looked out the window and saw in the dim light of the moon a girl with familiar long, dark hair. He removed the locks, slide the window open, and stepped back.

Starlight came in, more slowly and clumsier than usual, and Sunburst frowned at the sound of harsh breathing. He couldn’t see her properly, not in the darkness of his room and without his glasses. He moved to his nightstand, grabbed his glasses, and turned on the bedside lamp.

“Starlight, what are you—?”

The sight of her bloody face made the words turn to ash in his mouth. He gasped, slapping a hand over his mouth so as not to scream, though a part of him wanted to because the more he looked at her, the worse her wounds seem. Her long hair was a mess of tangles, some of the strands sticking to the cuts on her face, it was hard to tell what was a bruise and what was just a shadow since she refused to raise her head to look at him. There was blood everywhere, but the worse seemed to be on her right shoulder and leg, staining her already dark clothes even further.

Starlight simply stood there, her arms crossed under her chest like she was cradling herself, her blue eyes dull and unfocused as she spoke. “I don’t…have anywhere else…” She said, her words slurred.

He went to his closet and pulled out an extra blanket, throwing it over his bed. He reached out for her, unsure of where to touch her until he settled on her seemingly uninjured shoulder, and gently guided her to sit down. “Come on, just relax, okay? I’ll be right back, promise.”

His hands were shaking, his mind racing as he went to the bathroom and ransack the medicine cabinet. Bandages, band-aids, antiseptic, towels, medicine bottles he didn’t have the time to read, he took it all. Something had to be useful. With his arms full of medicine and towels, he ran back to her side, closing the door to his room and getting to work.

“What happened?” He asked, his voice shaky. He felt the tears streaming down his face, and he wiped them hastily, feeling ashamed. He wasn’t the one covered in bruises and bleeding all over the blankets.

She didn’t say anything at first, and he wondered if she heard him. He opened his mouth to repeat the question, but she spoke up, using the smallest, most defeated voice he ever heard.

“I…I lied. Parents…”

She was tired.

It hurt to breathe and talking was a chore, she just wanted to lay down and never wake up. Starlight wasn’t even sure how she got here. At most, she remembered screaming, her stepfather suddenly stopping his assault, and Starlight running down the dark streets. A prevailing darkness that kept her blind and fumbling until she reached the familiar house.

Then there was Sunburst. He was upset, crying, horrified by her appearance. All this time trying to keep him in the dark about her situation, the roundabout answers, the white lies—wasted, gone in an instant. If only she could have held on for a month, just one more month, then he never would have seen her like this. But the choice had been taken from her, just another of the many things her foster father took from her.

But to say those things out loud was harder than she ever imagined.

“Your parents? What did they do?” Sunburst asked shakily. He was focused on something, sitting next to her, and Starlight didn’t have the strength to look at him, let alone see what he was doing.

Then there was pain.

She gasped and Sunburst bit back a cry. “I’m sorry, but I have to apply pressure on your shoulder, it’s not deep but it’s bleeding too—” he stopped and she felt as he leaned back and parted her hair, “my god, and there’s a cut back here too, we have to go—”

Starlight shook her head before he could utter the word hospital. If she went there, it would all be over. Her foster father would have to come. It would only make things worse.

“Why not?” Sunburst demanded. “This is serious—”

“He did this.” The words came in a rush of breath, barely audible.

Sunburst stopped, his blue eyes searching. “Who?”

“Cobalt.” Her foster father. “It’s not the first time.”

She lifted her head slowly, staring into his wide eyes. He was shocked for sure, and she wondered if maybe he was wishing she never told him at all. She wished she could apologize, to take it back somehow, she never wanted to dump this problem on him. He didn’t deserve this. No one did.

“When did this…started?”

Starlight stayed silent. Partly due to the pain, and partly because she didn’t want to answer.

“That cut on your arm, was it then? Or was it…” Sunburst stopped abruptly, turning back to her shoulder and cleaning it. She could see the gears turning in his head, probably recalling the many cuts, scrapes, and bruises he had seen on her skin over the years.

“Before.” Starlight whispered. It hurt to even say it. There was no relief in the admission, none at all, all she felt was a twinge of fear that Sunburst might act out and do something stupid. She only had a month left. She’d been suffering for years, so this was the final homestretch for her if she could just hold on for a little longer…

“How long, Starlight?”

Starlight looked away.

“How long? Dammit, just tell me!” He didn’t shout but the words didn’t lose their forcefulness even as he hissed them. He slapped some ointment on her shoulder and it stung.

“A month after I met you.” It all sounded worse out loud than in her head.

His hands stilled. Sunburst didn’t bother to wipe his tears this time.

Starlight felt the same.

It was all obvious in hindsight—the bruises, the secrets, her aloofness—and yet he couldn’t believe that something so horrible had been going on under his nose, to one of the most important people in his life, and he hadn’t even suspected it. Sunburst sat frozen on his bed, feeling cold and powerless.

“This is why—”

“This is why what?” Sunburst snapped, his voice barely above a whisper. “Why you never told me? Why didn’t you? Don’t you trust me? Did you think I would turn you away or…or—” His words broke off as he tried to contain his tears, his harsh breathing echoed in the otherwise quiet room. “Why?”

Starlight took a deep breath and Sunburst bit down on his lower lip to stop from yelling. “I didn’t want you…to get involved.” She whispered; he never heard her sound so broken before. “I didn’t want to burden you with this…problem.”

Problem? It was such an understatement that Sunburst would’ve laughed if he could. But instead, he went back to work, wiping and sterilizing, making sure that the gauze and tape on her shoulder would hold. “Lay down,” he said softly. “I need to check on your leg.”

Starlight grunted, looking half asleep and half in pain. “It’s fine.”

“Don’t you dare say that to me again,” Sunburst hissed. “Lay down.”

She met his eyes with a glare of her own. The cuts and bruises on her face made her seemed more dangerous, but Sunburst wasn’t intimidated and he frowned right back, his fear and worry morphing into righteous anger. She could hate him later; his priority now was to fix her up to the best of his ability and convince her to go to the hospital. Eventually, he won, and Starlight lowered herself on his bed, lying flat on her back.

The cut was on her thigh, and he realized that to get to it, he would have to get rid of her pants. He hesitated before deciding to cut a hole around the wound instead of pulling her pants down. There was a pair of scissors in his drawer, and his hands trembled as he held them and carefully cut the stained jeans. Sunburst wondered if they’d ever stop.

Carefully cutting the material wide enough for him to survey the damage, he tossed the bloody piece of fabric aside and stared at a long-jagged slice that marred her skin. “My God,” he whispered, horrified. “He did this?”

“Yeah,” Starlight murmured, sounding tired.

“We need to call the police,” Sunburst said firmly, already wiping the blood away. He sprayed antiseptic on the wound, cringing at the pathetic noise that his friend made.

“No, no,” Starlight said. “We can’t.”

“We have to! If this has gone on for as long as you said it has, then he won’t stop anytime soon!”

Starlight sat up and her hand shot out to grabbed him by the front of his shirt. Sunburst flinched but could do nothing as she pulled him in, paralyzed by the fury burning in her eyes. “Don’t you think I know that! But if I do then I lose you!”

Starlight let him go and all he could do was watch her as she collapsed back down.

The moment the words left her mouth, she felt like she'd been gutted wide open, exposed in a way she'd never been before. Starlight closed her eyes with a shaky sigh, letting the rest of her sink into the bed, letting the tears flow freely. Sunburst was silent as his hands were all over her, skittering across her thighs and hips as he fixed her up.

She could never repay him for this.

It felt like an eternity had passed, but it was probably only a few minutes when Sunburst announced that he was done. Starlight felt drained, dizzy, unable to move as Sunburst got off the bed and touched her cheek.

“Come on,” he whispered. “Your hair is covered in blood and you need to change clothes.”

Starlight blinked slowly. It was impossible, she simply couldn’t move. Starlight waited while Sunburst’s arms snaked under her back and helped her sit. She stood up slowly, clinging to him as he pulled her off the bed, leaning heavily on the tallboy as they gingerly made their way to the bathroom.

The light of the bathroom was harsher when compared to the soft glow of his bedside lamp and she closed her eyes, letting Sunburst guide her to sit on the toilet. “Drink this,” Sunburst urged her, and wondered when he got a glass of water and two painkillers, but she took them anyway, swallowing the pills and chasing them down with the water.

“I have to wash your hair, okay?” He murmured, his gentle hand brushing a few strands away from her face. “But you have to be quiet.”

She didn’t think she'd been making any real noise so far, but she nodded anyway. Sunburst used a wet towel to gently wipe her hair down, mindful of the cut on the back of her head.

Sunburst sighed, his hand sure and strong as they ran through her purple and green locks. His motions were steady, soothing, and Starlight drifted in and out of consciousness despite the uncomfortable position. His voice brought her back. “Why would you lose me?”

Starlight swallowed, licking her lips out of habit. “It’s…complicated.”

Sunburst snorted, turning off the tap and ringing out her hair. He carefully dried it with another towel, trying to get as much moisture out of the way so it wouldn’t leak on her bandage shoulder. “Right.” He hanged the towel on a rack, the other one he threw away since it was hopelessly stained with her blood. “Put these on.”

Starlight was slow to react, reaching out to the bundle he held out to her, realizing belatedly that it was clothes. “Huh?”

“Your clothes are covered in blood,” Sunburst explained. For a moment, Starlight thought he sounded like a parent—a real, caring one—who was trying to calm his child from a nightmare.

She hesitated for a moment before she complied, ignoring the twinge of pain on her shoulder as she slipped off her ruined shirt. She felt funny, buzzed with an energy she didn’t know she had. She stood up slowly, her hands sliding to her jeans, one pant leg with an asymmetrical hole in the center, and undid the button. Her gaze never left Sunburst as she let the garment fall to the ground.

Sunburst’s eyes were fixed on her face, ignoring the rest.

Starlight suddenly felt more awake.

Sunburst hurriedly took the discarded clothing, putting them in the garbage to get rid of later. He took it as a good sign when Starlight had no trouble dressing, and he tentatively discarded the possibility that she might have a concussion, but he was still wary and she still needed to go to the hospital, whether she liked it or not.

He didn’t waste time admiring her body as she changed, looking at her face or away when he could, even though this was the first time he has seen a girl undress. She was horribly injured, and his need for answers crushed any desire he might have felt for her.

“Come on,” he whispered and took her hand, checking the hall before they stepped out and headed for his bedroom.

He was thankful that he never returned this set of clothes to her. A long time ago, they were caught in a storm and arrived drenched at his house, forcing Starlight to changed into her gym uniform while her clothes dried. She left without them and he never returned them for some reason. At least now they had some sort of use.

He guided her to his bed and helped her lay down, tucking her in, a glance at his clock showed him that it was half-past three in the morning. He was thankful that tomorrow (or was it today?) was the weekend, or he’d have a hard time getting up. He sat on the mattress, leaning against the wall, Starlight laying down beside him, he felt exhausted but the lamp was still on and Starlight was injured and he couldn’t just—

“Sunburst?”

He blinked, looking down at the girl next to him. She looked back at him, seemingly lost. They never had a problem sharing a bed before, then again, she had never slept over either. She could barely keep her eyes open, and Sunburst would have bet that she was so tired that she didn’t realize what she was doing. He made a move to stand up, planning to sit on the floor so she could have the bed for herself, but her hand grasped him, stopping him.

“Get in here,” Starlight whispered, turning on her side to face her best friend. “And turn off the lamp.”

“No, I’ll—”

Her grip on his hand tightened and he found that he couldn’t refuse her when she gave him a pleading look. He crawled into bed but didn’t get under the covers, trying and failing to give her as much room as possible. The bed simply wasn’t big enough.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Sunburst asked as Starlight closed the space between them, her hand coming to rest over his chest. It looked tiny and pale against his dark shirt.

The girl sighed, clearly unhappy that he was still talking. It served her right for keeping this from him for so long. “Because no one can help Sunburst, if I told anyone, the police and CPS would get involved and I’d be taken away.” Her blue eyes found his, her gaze deep and searching even in the darkness. “They take me somewhere far from here, most likely.”

He didn’t understand at first. It was a slow realization that seeped into his mind like molasses rolling down a hill. There was a moment, right before he fully processed everything, where he was horribly confused. None of what she said sounded bad. None of it sounded like a good reason to stop her from doing the right thing and calling the cops, from sending that man to jail, for her to go to a safer place—

But then he realized.

“There aren’t any orphanages or domestic violence shelters in this town,” Sunburst whispered, “they’d have to take you to the nearest one, and who knows where that is, but you’d be gone and…you’d lose me.” He swallowed thickly, finally understanding. “You’re staying here—enduring this—for me?”

Starlight looked away, scrunching her nose. “It sounds different when you say it.”

“Bad or good?”

She shrugged and winced when she jostled her shoulder. “Can I have a rain check on that?”

Sunburst wanted to say yes, of course, she could, but the more he looked at her, the less he wanted to give it. “I can’t…you can’t stay here for me Starlight! What were you thinking?! He almost—he could’ve killed you! You were…” He bit his lip, tears gathering in his eyes and he tried his best to contain them. “Oh my god, no, I can’t let you stay here. That’s not fair.”

“No, no, Sunburst, please—please don’t cry.” Starlight whispered, almost pleading. “It’s one month, okay? I’ve been through this for so long and…I’d rather stay.”

Starlight patted his chest, and he tried his best to stop his tears from falling. It was hard because the reason she was suffering so much was because of him. He didn’t ask for this, and he knew that in the end Starlight stayed based on her own choices, but it was still a hard pill to swallow.

Maybe if he didn’t feel so strongly about her, and if there wasn’t this thing between them, she would leave.

“Oh god, you’re starting to think,” Starlight groaned. Reaching up with both of her hands, she cupped his cheeks and pulled him towards her. Bringing their foreheads pressed together in the darkness, nose to nose, breathing each other’s air. “Stop doing that,” she murmured. “I’m not leaving and you can’t make me leave. Got it?”

Despite the situation Sunburst laughed, some tears spilling down his cheeks. Her thumbs swept them away and she sighed. “Come one, let’s get some sleep. Please?”

“Yeah, okay…”

Gently he pulled away, lying down on his side beside her, one arm under his pillow while the other pulled her close, his hand lying flat on her back. Her hand found its place over his chest and stayed there.

If he weren’t so tired, he would’ve realized that her hand was resting over his heart.

9. release and let go

It was quiet. If Sunburst had been paying attention, he might have realized that it was too quiet. Like the calm before the storm, the tense stillness that comes first before hell breaks loose.

Then again, he probably shouldn’t worry. It was early and they were sleeping—his arm pillowing Starlight’s head, her hand somewhere between his neck and jaw—but it didn’t mean that everything was peaceful. Starlight was in danger and Sunburst had questions, he wanted to help her, to give her an option besides suffering in silence but didn’t know where to even begin.

Starlight would be impossible if nothing else, and Sunburst knew it was going to be an uphill battle. She said she was staying…for him. He couldn’t understand it—or maybe he did, a part of it anyway. He didn’t want her to go, couldn’t imagine not having her around, but to endure the abuse just for that? It was simply out of the question. It brought a whole new level of guilt for the selfish feelings he had for her.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinking against the light from his window. It was open and the room was freezing cold, but Sunburst couldn’t bring himself to care, not with Starlight’s warm body pressed up against him. He closed his eyes and snuggled closer to her. It was still early and a Saturday to boot, a day in which he generally slept in until around noon. It was one of the advantages of being a teenager, his mother being aware of this habit and never bothering him until the sun was on the other side of the sky.

Lulled by this false sense of security, he never suspected that today would be the day where things didn’t go as usual. Looking back, he believed that it was probably fate, or karma catching up to them that finally pushed them over the edge and marked the end of this chapter of their lives.

Not that it mattered. Whatever the reason, it didn’t change the fact that Stellar Flare decided to walk in.

It felt like waking from a very painful, very confusing nightmare. Everything was hazy, heavy in a way that made her head pound before she was even fully awake. Consciousness overtook her slowly, and even then, it still felt like an eternity had passed before she was fully aware of her surroundings. It wasn’t until she heard Sunburst’s audible gasp, followed by his quickly retreating warmth, that she forced her eyes to open, blue irises taking in the room.

Fuck.

Standing in all of her no-nonsense motherliness was Stellar Flare, and she looked about ready to kill someone. Starlight suspected it was probably her she wanted to strangle. She shifted, staring at the woman with the same weariness of a cornered animal, putting space between her and Sunburst.

“Mom, this is not what it looks like—"

“What is going on?” Stellar Flare screeched, in outrage or horror, Starlight couldn’t tell. She tried to stand, but the moment she put weight on her leg she doubled over in pain, she groaned and ducked her head down as the pain of her injuries made itself known.

“Starlight, don’t move, okay? You’re still injured.” He sounded panicked. Hell, she could hear him hyperventilating—she knew he was panicking.

She shouldn’t have come here. It didn’t matter that she had come here in a haze of pain and terror, she should’ve known better. The last thing she wanted was for Sunburst to get in trouble. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. It wasn’t going to fix things, but what else could she say? She took a harsh breath as she gathered her balance and stood up, this time succeeding in pushing past the pain.

Stellar Flare didn’t stay quiet for long. Breaking from her stunned stupor, she reached blindly for her son’s bookshelf, her hand closing in on a heavy tome that she sent flying across the room. The book missed her completely by a wide margin, but Starlight flinched regardless, the threat still present. “What are you doing here? Get out!”

Starlight knew that there was nothing she could say that would calm her down.

Sunburst could barely breathe, let alone speak.

He watched as his best friend faced his mother, meeting the older woman’s gaze before she was forced to drop it. There was only so much she could take and Stellar Flare’s disdain was too much to bear in her current state. “I…I got hurt last night, I had nowhere else to go—”

“How did you even get in?” His mother interrupted, breathing fast, standing by the door and looking ready to shut the door with all of them inside or flee. Sunburst wished it was the second option.

Stellar took a step towards Starlight and Sunburst finally reacted. He jumped out of bed and stood between them, his arms rising as if to block her. “I let her in. She’s hurt, don’t you see the bandages? Her foster father, Mr. Cobalt he—”

“Then she should’ve gone to the hospital! What is she doing in your room and sleeping in your bed!? Tell me the truth! Did she steal something? Got in a fight with a gang?”

Sunburst swallowed harshly, feeling his hands shake with rage. “She didn’t do anything! How could—Mom, she’s hurt!”

But his mom wasn’t listening, choosing to act based on what she saw and what she believed. His words would never reach her. The only thing that mattered was Starlight’s presence in his room, and Sunburst realized he had to get her out of here or things would get worse. He ran to her side, shielding her with his body as best as he could, taking advantage of his height to tower over his mother.

“Sunburst get away from her!”

More nonsense, more things Sunburst couldn’t fix or even hope to mend. He snatched his sweater from the floor and gave it to Starlight, tensing when his mother’s footsteps drew nearer. It was all happening too fast, there was no time to meditate or think through his decisions. He had just woken up, Starlight was injured and his mother was caught in a panicked rage, seeing red and not listening to a word he had to say.

But he had to try.

Turning around, he let Starlight struggle with the sweater and her shoulder and faced his mother. He spoke up, using a tone he never used before, a voice powered from years of bottled-up anger and frustration, turning his raised voice into a shout that ranged in his ears.

“Don’t you dare touch her! Haven’t you done enough damage already!?”

It worked, Stellar Flare stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide. “What are you talking about?”

He didn’t answer, he didn’t need to, not when his ploy had paid off.

Starlight jumped out of the window.

Sunburst ran past his shellshock mother towards the front door, snatching the car keys along the way.

Starlight crashed in a heap on the ground, the grass and dirt barely cushioning her fall, knocking all the breath out of her. She laid there for a few seconds, trying to swim past her pain as the stars exploded in her vision, forcing herself to stand even as every muscle protested her decision. She'd been hurt before—many times before, but this was a new level of pain she was experiencing. The girl tried not to think about it, thinking about it just made it worse, made her slow and stupid, and focused instead of making her way to the street.

She barely made out into the sidewalk when a car pulled up in front of her. She stopped herself just in time to avoid colliding with the vehicle, her hands clutching the door handle and yanking the back passenger door open. “What are you doing?” She yelled into the car.

Behind her Stellar Flare was screaming, shouting about cops and a whole bunch of things she didn’t want to think about. The boy behind the steering wheel took up all of her thoughts, making her head spin.

“Come on!” Sunburst said, staring anxiously at her from the rearview mirror. “Get in!”

Starlight knew this was a bad idea. She knew that nothing good would come out of this. Her life had always been a revolving door of disappointment; she was used to the feeling, expected it even. But for some reason, Starlight couldn’t bring herself to stop him, at least not yet. She got in the car, Sunburst stepped on the gas and they left his home and his mother behind with a squeal of tires against the pavement.

They rode in silence for about twenty minutes, Starlight’s labored breathing almost a wheeze, the pain of her injuries coming back as the adrenaline receded. She recognized this part of town, an industrial zone that looked like a ghost town during the weekend, the streets empty, the shops closed, and windows dark, not even a stray dog or cat in sight, just the wind blowing paper and junk around. He kept driving until they reached an area filled with large warehouses and buildings that loomed over them like silent giants, the overcast sky bathing everything in a mute grey glow that made the shadows darker.

Finally, Sunburst slowed down and parked the car in an empty alleyway between two warehouses, and turned around to look at her. “Are you alright?”

Starlight leaned in and smacked him on the side of his head. “What the hell were you thinking?” She asked fiercely. “Why did you do that?”

Sunburst let out a breathless chuckle—or maybe it was a sob, she couldn’t tell. He turned to face her as much as he could with the car seat between them, red-rimmed eyes not shedding any tears as he took her hand and squeezed. “That’s the stupidest question I ever heard.”

There was a part of her that wanted to laugh. This entire morning was unbelievable—what time was it anyway? Definitely too early for all this melodrama. The other part of her wanted to scream at him for pulling such a stupid and dangerous stunt. “Your mom is going to raise hell Sunburst. She won’t stop until she finds you.”

“No, she won’t, she…” Sunburst took a deep breath and this time a tear did fall. He wiped it away hastily, looking down at the floor. “I can’t stay there, not with her like that. Starlight, you’re hurt and she…she didn’t even blink. She wants to pretend that what we share doesn’t exist, that you’re just there to…to, to take advantage of me.”

Starlight sighed and nodded. “I know.”

“And she’s wrong!” Sunburst cried. More tears spilled down his cheeks. “She’s wrong Starlight, and I don’t think I can ignore her anymore and her stupid blind ways!”

Starlight took a deep breath, slowly moving closer until she was leaning against the back of the passenger seat, her grip on his hand tightening. His blue gaze, so different from her own, was forced to meet hers as she spoke the hardest words that she ever had to utter. “But you have to.”

“What? No!” Sunburst felt the panic clawing at his throat all over again, the overwhelming feeling making him want to throw up. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that you can’t leave them,” Starlight whispered. Her voice was soft but firm like she knew exactly what she was talking about. “Your family loves you—they care about you; I won’t let you throw that away.”

Sunburst’s face was full of disbelief. “But they don’t care about you!”

“I’m not their family,” Starlight answered sharply. “I’m the bad guy, remember? I’m the one with the record and the reputation.”

“You’re being abused—”

“It doesn’t matter.” She swallowed and Sunburst watched as the line of her throat jolted. She looked so sure of herself, but there was sadness and fear in her eyes. “You have to stay with your family, don’t abandon them because of me. What about your sister, your grandfather? What about school and your other friends? They would all be sad if you suddenly disappeared.”

“I don’t really see them anyways, I've been so busy…” Sunburst felt a sob choke within him, forcing him to trail off and pause. “Does this mean that you don’t…you don’t want me?”

He hated the way his voice sounded, so small and unsure, pathetic. He knew that he lacked a lot of things, that he wasn't the strongest or the bravest guy around, much less the most desirable, and sometimes he wondered if Starlight would have even looked twice at him if their circumstances weren't what they were. He felt terrible to bring this up now, but he was left with little choice.

“That’s—” Starlight let out a humorless giggle. “I swear if you actually think that I…I wouldn’t even know what I’d do.”

Sunburst couldn’t follow what she was saying, what was going through her head. Her body contradicted her words and it was messing with his head and heart. “Then what?” He asked. “What do you want?”

“You,” she whispered softly, a hand lifting to cup his jaw, sliding her thumb to wipe his tears. “It’s always you, Sunburst. Nothing is going to change that.”

“Then why don’t we run away?” Sunburst blurted out, breathing hard. “We have the car; we can go somewhere where they don’t know us and—”

“And what? Beg on the streets? Who would hire a pair of runaway teenagers with no IDs or fixed address?” Starlight asked. “We wouldn’t make it. I don’t want to drag us down with my problems. Sunburst, I know you want to take care of me but I can’t let you do that right now.”

Even though it was early morning, the sky darkened considerably as heavy storm clouds rolled in. They seemed to come out of nowhere to Sunburst, or maybe they had been there all along and he just never noticed. Water droplets fell from the sky, and even though they were safe and dry inside the car, he shivered. Of course it was raining. Moments like this thrived off in the rain.

“I won’t let you go without me,” Sunburst said, making a fist and hitting the steering wheel in frustration. More tears spilled down his cheeks, or maybe it was the shadow of the rain playing tricks on his face. “I just won’t, okay? I love you and you are not leaving me behind!”

The words flowed so naturally from him that he didn’t even want to take them back. It was the truth. They’ve been dancing around it for years, always knowing in the back of their minds but neither of them doing anything about it. There were too many problems, too many risks. And now, in the face of Starlight possibly leaving forever, he wondered why he never said it before. Now that it was too late.

The rain continued to fall.

Starlight’s eyes softened and she lowered her head, resting her forehead against the backseat as her hair curtained her face from his view. “Ah, shit.”

“Don’t pull that on me,” Sunburst murmured, nearly pleading. “It’s not like you didn’t know.”

Starlight looked up at him, wondering how things got this convoluted this quickly. But just like everything, this too would pass, like the rain clouds above them, moving in and out by their own will. The good times, the bad, things would come and go. Starlight believed that the sadness she felt right now wouldn’t last forever and that a brighter day was waiting for her on the other side. It was how she survived all these years. It was how she knew that, no matter what, she would find her way back to him, fighting through storms and doubt just so she could hold his hand again for she knew that Sunburst would do the same for her.

“Say something.”

She leaned back in her seat and pulled him along. Sunburst took the hint, climbing to the backseat with her, and once he settled, Starlight held him tight because it was the only thing she could think of that made sense. Starlight closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest, wishing—not for the first time—for things to be different. “You know I love you,” she whispered. “And I don’t want to go…but I have to.”

“Yes, we have to leave!” Sunburst said, speaking frantically as he held her tight. “As long as we are together, we can figure this out and then—”

“I won’t let you give up your family.” Starlight knew that this conversation would go on in circles if she didn’t stop it somehow.

Sunburst sighed shakily, his arms tightened around her, his fingers digging slightly into the material of her clothes. “Then we're stuck. You either leave without me or stay with me. And really, staying shouldn’t even be an option.”

“There’s always another way,” Starlight whispered. “We can do this, but it’s going to be hard.”

“Right,” Sunburst mumbled, his laugh bitter. “What’s going to be harder than right now? Your wounds reopen, didn’t they? I can see the blood on your shoulder. We need to patch you up again.”

“No, we need to figure this out right now,” Starlight corrected. “We need to come up with a plan or we’ll never have a chance. Do you understand?” Their eyes met and Starlight silently begged for him to just listen to her for once in his life. She had always come up with contingency plans on the fly, ways of getting him out or keeping him around. None of them had worked so far, but now was not the time to dwell on things that seemed impossible.

“Okay,” Sunburst said, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. His hair frizzing up due to the humidity. “What’s the plan?”

Starlight took a deep breath, or as deep as she could take with the ache in her ribs. The pain was too terrible to ignore, even for someone as stubborn as her, and knew that she could not sit this one out—she needed to go to the hospital. All that running and jumping hadn’t done her any favors, but she was thankful for it, in a way, if the pain weren’t so pervasive, she would’ve probably accepted Sunburst's proposal to run away. She was selfish like that.

“You take me to the hospital…and we stop being friends,” she plunged ahead when his blues went flat. “Listen to me! After this stunt we pulled, there’s no way your family will be okay with us still being friends, even at a distance. But it won’t be forever—there’s only one month left of high school, and then one summer, after that you’re going to university.”

Sunburst opened his mouth because they hadn’t really talked about it. She knew that he had been accepted to almost all of the schools he applied to, but he hadn’t made up his mind. “I still don’t know where—”

“You’re going to figure it out soon,” Starlight cut him off, brushing his messy bangs aside so she could see his eyes more clearly. “You’re going to figure it out and start planning to move as far away as you can from here, or as far as you want to go, okay? And when you do, I will find a way to follow you. I will follow you and we can be together, there and then.”

“But what about now?” That thought was the most heartbreaking, while her suggestion made sense in the long run, it made the present all the more painful. “It doesn’t matter where CPS sends you, we can send messages, or emails or whatever! Why can’t we remain friends?”

Starlight shook her head. “You think your mom is going to let you go to a school far away if she knew we were still a thing? If she so much as suspects that you’re still in contact with me, she would make your life a living hell. Everyone has to believe we cut ties, Sunburst. Everyone.”

A whirlwind of emotions crossed his face. It was easy to tell that he didn’t want to accept this, she didn’t want to accept this either, but there was no other way. Sunburst shook his head. “Then how will I know that you’re okay? How will you find me?”

“The shelter,” Starlight said. “Once you decide which school you want to go to, tell Flash, I’m sure he will convince Twilight to talk to Cadance for us. I have her number, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get in contact with her…but until then, you’re just going to have to trust me, can you do that?”

Seeing him nod so dejectedly tore her apart, even when he crashed back into her and held her tight. She didn’t know how long it would take for her wounds to heal, or how much her stepfather’s trial would hinder her, but it couldn’t be for long. Whether the old man got time or not for what he did to her and his wife, by the time it would be over, Starlight would be eighteen and free.

This would be the ultimate test of their love for each other. She would have to blindly believe that he would be there, waiting for her, and Sunburst would have to have faith that she would find him somehow.

“If you don’t come back, I won’t forgive you,” Sunburst mumbled into her shoulder. “I’ll come and find you and give you a piece of my mind for making me wait.”

“It’ll be alright Sunburst, I promise,” she whispered the little white lie into his ear, hugging him tightly despite the pain in her body, wishing she could hold him like this forever. Because she would be tossed into the eye of the storm and taken away from the only place she ever felt safe. Once she was at the hospital, anything could happen, the only thing she was certain of was that Sunburst would not be there to comfort her.

She would have to face this battle all on her own.

They eventually release the other from the embrace, and Sunburst climbed back to the driver’s seat, his face still drenched in tears but his expression stony and determined. Starlight hid her face in her hands as he turned on the car and drove silently into the storm.

Author's Note

They were supposed to kiss in this chapter, but apparently, they didn't want to.

Next chapter is the last chapter, though I'm taking my time with it so I can wrap up everything as nicely as I can, so no update next week, sorry.

10. glory and us come together

Monday was weird.

The last of the straggling students walked by without sparing him a glance, and when Sunburst looked up, there was no one waiting for him by the school’s gate, no girl with dark clothes and a sharp smile to greet him, just a bare brick wall. Sunburst swallowed with difficulty and climbed the steps to the entrance, his head hanging low.

He knew that Starlight wouldn’t be there, but to see it…it drove in the fact that she was gone.

The warning bell went off, but Sunburst didn’t hurry his pace. He didn’t want to come at all, but he also didn’t want to stay at home, where the atmosphere was still tense and he still couldn’t bear to look at his mother. He didn’t want to be anywhere, he just wanted to disappear.

“Hey.” A soft voice, barely audible, greeted him. Sunburst stopped, the voice familiar and foreign at the same time.

He turned, frowning when he saw Flash standing there, looking far more awkward than usual, his confident posture and easygoing smile missing. “How are you feeling?”

When Sunburst shrugged, Flash smiled a little before dropping it. He walked with him, matching Sunburst’s unhurried pace as he leaned in to speak in a low tone. “I…I heard the news, the whole school has, I just wanted to give you a heads-up.”

Sunburst nodded but wasn’t surprised by the update. He knew this would happen the moment the local news covered the story of the arrest of Mr. Cobalt, informing anyone that hadn’t known by then, which probably weren’t that many, Sire’s Hollow being as small as it was. The news anchor only spent a minute on the story, of how Mrs. Cobalt called 911 and pleaded for help, the police arriving shortly after to arrest a highly inebriated and violent man who attacked the officers that arrived at the scene while Mrs. Cobalt was taken into custody for questioning.

Less than five seconds were allotted to inform the public that their daughter was receiving treatment at the hospital. Sunburst watched the evening news and stayed up late to watch the repeat, hoping against hope that there would be an update on her condition, but it was all the same: she was being treated at the hospital.

What made it more maddening was the fact that he knew that already, even before the story was picked up by the news. He had been the one to drive Starlight to the hospital, he had been the one to open the door and help her out, he had been forced to stay behind and watch her walk in through the emergency room alone. He stayed there watching the door, in case she walked out, for at least fifteen minutes before he went back to the car, and stayed there for a long time, shivering slightly in his damp clothes. When the rain cleared and the sun beamed down on the peaceful town, he finally turned the engine and went back home.

He’s been fighting the urge to run back there and check on her ever since. The only thing holding him back was his promise to her.

He blinked when he entered the school’s hallway, the chatter of students and the dim neon lights snapped him out of his thoughts. Flash was still there and he wished he would go away—he instantly felt bad about that. “So, um, where’s Twilight?” He mumbled.

“At school,” Flash replied, brows slightly raised. “She doesn’t go here.”

Sunburst knew that, he did. He had just forgotten with everything else on his mind. He nodded and headed for class, giving Flash a half-hearted wave as he left, ignoring the stares of the students.

News traveled like wildfire around the school, and by lunchtime, everyone was talking about what happened to Starlight. He heard the whispers, the questions, and the speculations, each story wilder than the last, but no one dared to ask him what he knew, not even Flash, and Sunburst was grateful for that small mercy.

The days rolled by and blurred; the world turning into a murky picture of black and white. Sunburst’s mother wasn’t of any help, not with the way she smiled and hugged her son, like she was relieved. He told his mother that he and Starlight had gotten into a fight after he figured out the truth—Starlight had been using him, she had been right all along and he was sorry.

The words were bitter on his tongue.

His mother didn’t believe him at first, he wasn’t surprised, as he spoke the words sounded flat, uttered in such a way that sounded rehearsed even though he came up with the story on the fly. But it didn’t matter, what mattered was that when the gossip reached Stellar Flare’s ears a few days later, she had finally bought his story, and the poor woman’s heart could rest knowing that the troublemaker girl was finally out of her son’s life for good.

She was so happy that she couldn’t see her son’s melancholia or tell that his smiles were fake. No one could tell, not even his friends. The only one that seemed to have an inkling was Flash. He never commented on it, but he kept him company when he could, giving him an encouraging smile at lunch before sitting next to him or inviting him to hang out at his place.

But even Flash’s company couldn’t fill the hole that Starlight left behind, and he felt it more keenly when he volunteered at the shelter. Fluttershy gave him pitying looks when he recounted what had happened that day—he kept the gruesome details out, to spare the gentlewoman of such knowledge, but the weathered look in her green eyes told him that she knew. Working in this place for as long as she had, she has probably seen what the worst of humanity could do to those that couldn’t fight back and could understand what had happened to Starlight that drove her away.

He wasn’t the only that missed her, Phyllis would sniff around the dog pen and look at the door, waiting for her favorite person to come through and refusing to eat. Sunburst would sit with her and pet her, trying to bribe her with soothing words and treats. The dog accepted his attention but didn’t display the same amount of enthusiasm she did for Starlight.

“I know, girl,” Sunburst said, scratching the pitbull between her ears and making the decision not to leave her behind. Phyllis had been here long enough; it was time for her to find a home and he had the feeling he could give her one. “But we’ll see her soon, okay?”

Soon. Sunburst clung to that word for all he was worth.

She hated this.

It was like a dam, filling and flooding with water that threatened to overflow at any minute. Starlight desperately wondered how much longer she could hold off, how much longer she could keep herself together without falling apart. Starlight was at the mercy of the system again, and the uncertainty of her future kept her up most nights, questions upon questions that she could not answer filled her brain and made her want to throw up with anxiety, and there was little she could do but wait.

The days didn’t go by fast enough.

Unlike her inner turmoil, the hospital was peaceful. The food was awful and the doctors were condescending, but the nurses were nice and chatted with her from time to time, even though Starlight knew that their kindness was born out of pity. There wasn’t much to do except watch TV and wait for her wounds to heal: a concussion, two cracked ribs, a fractured leg, multiple bruises and cuts that needed stitching, making her feel like a patchwork doll—or a scarecrow that lost all of its straw. She was thankful that there weren’t any mirrors in the room, or that she didn’t have that many visitors.

The police came to question her a few days after she was admitted, much to Starlight’s dread, but she did her best to not let it show, putting on the blankest and blandest expression she could muster as the nurse knocked on her door and let two people in.

A woman with black hair tied in a bun walked into her room, dressed in a white blouse and black suit pants, the only dash of color on her was the red tie hanging from her neck. Following her was a man dressed in the town’s police uniform, a hefty guy with beady blue eyes that panted heavily as he walked in, probably winded from walking the halls of the hospital. His face was not one she would soon forget, for he was the officer who arrested her for shoplifting all those months ago.

Starlight couldn’t help it. She glared at the man as she gave him the middle finger.

The woman’s eyebrows rosed to her hairline while the policeman glared back. “Hello, Miss Glimmer, I’m detective Raven Inkwell…and I guess you know who Officer Chuleta is.”

Starlight scoffed and dropped her hand, looking out the window instead.

“I see,” the detective said, turning to the officer. “Thanks, Officer, I’ll take it from here, could you wait outside?”

Starlight turned her head towards the TV in front of her when she heard the officer leave, but refused to give the woman proper attention. She was still a police officer after all and she didn’t trust any of them.

The detective pulled out a smartphone from her pocket. “Mind if I ask you a few questions? I’m going to record our conversation if you don’t mind, it’s for the purposes of our investigation.”

“Suit yourself,” Starlight said and turned up the volume of the TV.

Starlight hid her shaking hands underneath the blanket, trying her best not to fidget and look like she didn't care when in reality she just wanted to run as fast as possible. There was so much she had to figure out and dealing with her foster father was the last thing she wanted to do. She was more concerned about her situation since CPS hadn’t shown up yet to question her or inform her what was going to happen to her now, and that’s what she hated the most—the waiting, the not knowing. If she didn’t know, she couldn’t plan, each minute she sat there and let the adults scratch their asses as they figured out what do to with her was another minute wasted where she could be doing something. It let her mind wander and come up with terrible scenarios, each one worse than the last, slowly driving her insane.

“My daughter loves that show,” Inkwell said after a while, leaning back in the visitor’s chair with ease. “Though she watches it on the computer more often than not, says that the new episodes come quicker there—”

“Your kid has shit taste.”

The detective said nothing, but she didn’t seem bothered, watching the screen with interest. They were quiet for a few minutes before Starlight’s patience wore thin. “Don’t you have something else to do?”

“Yeah, but it’s nice to wind down in between jobs, makes this more bearable.”

Starlight turned off the TV and crossed her arms slowly, mindful of her cracked ribs. “What do you want to know?”

“Whatever you want to tell me.”

“What? Do you want my whole sob story?”

“If it helps me understand what happened on the night of the fourth of June, then yes.”

Starlight sighed, but relented, uttering the story she had so carefully put together in her head. Despite her earlier jab, she spoked little of her time before she came to live with the Cobalt’s, there wasn’t that much to say, just jumbled memories of crowded houses with kids that came and went as CPS shuffled them around—after a while all those memories blurred into one miserable picture.

“I was excited at first when I saw the Cobalt’s big house.” Starlight said, picking at the loose thread on the hospital blanket. “The big yard, the pool on the back, my own bedroom and bathroom, I thought I finally made it, that life was finally throwing me a bone…I should’ve known that everything came at a price.”

“And that price was the abuse?”

Starlight nodded.

“Why didn’t you call CPS the moment it started?”

“Because I didn’t have much of a choice, it was either staying there or going back to crowded foster houses.” And because I finally had friend, a true friend, so maybe life did throw me a bone after all, she thought, but didn’t say out loud.“And I was getting older, the older you are, the more limited your options, fewer people willing to foster you…sort of like with a dog, people want nothing to do with it when it’s no longer a cute puppy.”

She closed her eyes for a moment as the image of a happy Phyllis crossed her mind, followed by a wave of nostalgia. She never thought of herself as an animal person, but that battled-scar dog stole her heart without her realizing it. She missed her happy barks, her goofy dance whenever she saw her. She missed the shelter, she missed Fluttershy, she missed Sunburst. Not for the first time, she wondered what Sunburst was up to, was he still looking for a university to attend? Had he decided on one yet? Was he waiting for her as she asked?

Starlight continued. “Mr. Cobalt wasn’t so bad at first, he drank a lot, sure, but his wife could handle him and I could ignore him, but before I knew it, he was throwing punches at the both of us, screaming and raving like a mad man, and it became a fight for survival…sometimes he would attack her, sometimes it was me, it was hard to tell who he would target when he got drunk.”

Inkwell leaned forward, her expression was serious but surprisingly gentle, her voice low as she spoke. “Did he target you that night?”

The girl took a deep breath, her hands fisting the blankets. Trying to piece together what had happened, trying to get a coherent picture, figuring out what was real and what was a product of her nightmares took her many sleepless nights. The doctors warned her that the trauma she suffered to the head might have jumbled her memories, though there was no permanent damage, they told her that it would all come with time, but she was perfectly happy not remembering. The only clear memory was Sunburst’s arms around her and the sound of the rain falling around them.

It’ll be alright Sunburst, I promise. She’d sounded so sure at the moment, brave when Sunburst was beside her. Now she felt like a hypocrite, feeling her tough act crumble around her that she was truly alone, doubting her ability to keep her promise.

“No, not at first,” Starlight said through clenched teeth. “He…He was arguing with Mrs. Cobalt, I heard a scream and then something hit the wall, I ran in and she was on the floor, cradling her face, I wanted to run but she…she looked so scared, I couldn’t just leave her.” Starlight swallowed. “And then he attacked me and it’s all a blur from there…”

The woman nodded. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Waking up in the park,” Starlight lied. The less they knew about Sunburst, the better. “The rain woke me up, and I was in so much pain that I knew that I had to go to the hospital, so I came here.”

Starlight didn’t look at the woman, fearful that she would see through her bluff, or ask more questions, and she tried not to sigh too loudly when the detective stood, “That’s enough questions for now.”

Starlight slumped on the bed, closing her eyes as she asked. “Do I have to testify?”

The detective paused. “Probably, but it’s up to you if you want to go through with it. If Mrs. Cobalt presses charges on her husband, she might ask you to testify in court as a witness.”

“What happens now?” Starlight winced when the words left her mouth. She didn’t mean to sound as desperate as she did. So much for staying cool…

“Right now, your job is to get better,” before Starlight could scoff at the noncommittal answer, she continued, “luckily CPS found someone willing to look after you as you heal.”

There was a knock on the door and it swung open, a woman with long pink hair walked in. Starlight didn’t recognize her at first, seeing that she was wearing such casual and baggy clothing as opposed to her usual formal suit and pencil skirt. Cadance smiled as she walked in, though her expression was gentler and more sympathetic than Starlight expected.

“Mrs. Mi Amore here offered to foster you for the time being.”

“Unless you have any objections,” Cadance said as she sat down, Starlight noticing the particular way she folded her hands underneath her stomach.

Starlight blinked, frowning a bit in thought before her eyes widened. “But Mrs. Mi Amore, you’re pregnant! Aren’t you suppose to avoid stress at all costs? I still have a lot to figure out—”

“It would cause me more stress not knowing where you were or how you were doing, and it would be easier if you stayed here in this town, for the time being, that way we can figure things as they come,” Cadance said. “I can help you Starlight, I want to help you, but only if you let me.”

Starlight stared at the older woman, old instincts kicking in as she looked for the trap, the voice in her head telling her to be wary—she'd been burned so many times, she couldn’t afford to be hurt again. But Cadance’s smile wasn’t one filled with confidence and jest like the ones she gave at school, she looked a little sad, almost apologetic. When Starlight thought about it, Cadance was the first one to know about her situation, even before Sunburst. Did she feel guilty for what happened to her? Even though Starlight had twisted the facts to minimize the abuse she suffered, it didn’t deny the fact that the teacher should have reported it the moment she suspected that something was up.

But she didn’t and Starlight wasn’t sure if it was because she’d begged her not to, or because Cadance understood what it’s like to have no control over one’s life.

Starlight met the older woman’s eyes, smiled a little before looking away. “Do whatever you want.”

Sunburst stood in his graduation gown, smiling and taking photos with people he would never see again. He was fine with this; he knew that it had to happen. He had chosen his path and didn’t think that it would cross with theirs any time soon.

His mother was waving, walking away with the other families towards the rows of seats on the back of the auditorium. Sunburst smiled and waved back, even as he sighed. Though there were times he wished he never listened to Starlight, there were moments like this in which he was glad he had someone there who was proud of him, looking out for him.

Just because his mother made mistakes, it didn’t mean that Stellar Flare didn’t love her son. And just because Sunburst loved his mother, didn’t mean that he forgave her for what she did.

He followed his class to their seats near the front of the stage. The teachers stood on top of it, behind a long table covered in a green cloth and a banner that said “Congratulations Class of 2021!” The principal stood front and center in the podium, waiting for everyone to settle before he began his speech. Most of the students were chatting, using their caps or the show’s program as fans to mitigate the heat, even though the sun had set a few minutes ago. His last name put him near the back and Sunburst settled in his chair, his class was huge and he knew all too well that it would be a while before he was called.

Graduation wasn’t a massive fanfare, and Sunburst found it mostly boring. He tried to listen to the Principal’s vaguely motivational speech, but even with the booming speakers projecting the man’s voice to the crowd, the words failed to stick to him and he only clapped out of obligation. He sighed with relief when they proceeded with the final roll call.

Each student was called one by one, ascending the stage with a round of applause as they took their diploma and shook hands with the teachers before going back to their seats. After a while, his hands grew tired from clapping and he wondered what Starlight was doing, especially when the announcer got to the G’s and Starlight’s name was not mentioned. Out of everyone present, she was probably the one who had been looking forward to this the most, and he found it unfair that she was missing out.

How would she’d have felt if she had been there? Would she have been happy, relieved, maybe a little sad? Would she have put any effort into her appearance like the rest of the girls present? Or just show up in her casual clothes and toga? But more than that, he was anxious for her future, no one knew where Starlight was or what her situation was at the moment—he suspected the school knew something but were in no position to tell anyone about it. Some of the more curious students approached Sunburst during the last month of school to ask about her, but he was just as lost as they were.

He just hoped that she was okay.

The person sitting next to him nudged his shoulder, snapping him out of his daze and realizing that his name was being called. Sunburst stumbled out of his chair and smiled bashfully as he reached the stage. He shook hands with the right people, accepted the envelope and scroll handed to him, and gave a small wave at the crowd as he exited, smiling a little when he saw his sister and mother jumping up and down from the stands.

And just like that, he was officially graduated.

The ceremony went by quickly after that, and while most students lingered around the auditorium for more tearful goodbyes and pictures and hugs, Sunburst made a beeline for his family.

Only to be stopped by Flash and Twilight.

“You thought you could leave without saying goodbye first?” Flash said with a grin.

Sunburst smiled sheepishly. “Sorry…”

Flash pretended to be miffed for a second before he clapped Sunburst on the shoulder with a grin. “Nah man, don’t sweat it, I know you got a lot on your plate now, preparing for Crystal U can’t be easy.”

“It’s not, but it’s worth it.” Sunburst shrugged. “And the scholarship helps.”

“Their curriculum is something else,” Twilight agreed. “But if there’s anyone who can handle it, it’s probably you.”

“And you as well,” Flash wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her on the top of her head. “But I guess you were going after prestige when you chose Equestria University instead?”

“I wanted to be closer to my family, Crystal U is too far and too expensive for me,” Twilight said, her smile growing wide. “Besides, Cadance and Shining Armor are having a baby! And I want to be close by for when she comes.”

“Mrs. Mi Amore is pregnant?” Sunburst asked and looked around the crowd as if the teacher would suddenly appear, even Flash was surprised by the news. “She didn’t look, well, you know…”

“Fat?” Twilight giggled at Sunburst’s embarrassed expression. “She’s only like, a month along, still a long while before she starts showing.”

“Now I feel bad for not congratulating her.”

“I don’t think she’ll mind—but I’m not here to talk about that,” Twilight said, her smile growing wider. “Starlight is staying with them!”

Sunburst blinked, shaking his head slightly as if to clear his head. “I’m sorry, what?”

“CPS didn’t send her away,” Twilight said, smiling wide. “Cadance convinced them to let Starlight stay with them, so she can finish high school here—her grades weren’t bad and almost all the teachers agreed to give her an extension, she missed the ceremony because she hasn’t technically finished. But she’s been in town this whole time, isn’t it great!”

The longer Sunburst stood there, emotionless, the faster Twilight’s smile faded. She exchanged a look with Flash, who only shrugged helplessly. They expected for him to jump with joy at the news, maybe even running out of the auditorium to go see Starlight, but he just stood there, staring blankly at them for a moment too long before finally, his shoulders slumped, like a weight had been lifted and he could relax at last, and he smiled gently. “I’m glad.”

The couple exchanged another confused look before Twilight tentatively offered. “I could give you the address if you like, or come with you.”

“No,” Sunburst said, his voice surprisingly firm. “Thanks, but no, I’m glad she’s safe.”

“You don’t want to see her?” Flash asked.

Sunburst laughed. “Trust me, I want to see her, but…”

He was suddenly thankful for his toga, that way no one could see how badly his knees were shaking with the urge to run, he folded his arms behind his back so they wouldn’t see how bad his hands were trembling, clutching his papers hard enough to permanently wrinkle them. All this time, he had thought that Starlight had been sent to the other side of the country, he had nightmares of her being sent to some awful place, failed yet again by an overworked and underfunded system to procure her safety, that her stubbornness and impatience would cause to do something stupid or worse. And he would have no way of knowing, sitting there and wondering where she was.

While knowing that she was safe and close by put those fears at ease, the wave of longing that washed over almost send him to his knees. His mind was running through plans to go see her somehow, even as he stood there talking, he could picture himself making excuses to use the car that night and driving over to see her, knocking on the door or maybe even climbing up her window to see her and—

Sunburst shook his head, he could not do any of those things unless he had the address, giving him a good reason not to ask for it. The temptation would just be too great if he had it, and he knew himself, he was weak when it came to her. And right now, with his mother still watching over him like a hawk, made it too dangerous to risk it.

“But I made a promise, and I intend to keep it,” Sunburst said ignoring the strange looks the couple gave him. “Thank you for telling me though, you have no idea how much I needed to hear that she was okay.”

Sunburst had a lot of questions—How was she? Was she studying hard? What were her plans? Had she asked about him? Did she miss him as much as he missed her?—but he swallowed them, forcing himself to change the topic to something lighter and after a few more minutes of chatter, he hugged Flash and Twilight one last time, wished them the best, and turned to meet his family.

This time, when he smiled and greeted them, his smile was the most genuine one he had shown them in weeks.

No matter how many times she came here, Starlight never found comfort in the courthouse.

She leaned against the wall outside of the main building, tilting her head back as a July breeze blew past her. Even in the shade, the heat was uncomfortable and she felt the sweat rolling down her back the longer she stood there, but she preferred this to be confined in that miserable place any longer, even though it was air-conditioned. She didn’t want to see Mr. Cobalt for longer than she had to.

She hadn’t realized just how old he was until the officers brought him to the courtroom, handcuffed and dressed in a grey jumpsuit. The lights of the room did little to hide the wrinkles on his face, the dark circles under his eyes, looking quite small and pathetic next to the burly officer that brought him in. The withdrawal must’ve hit him hard, for he looked dazed and sullen as he sat there next to his lawyer while she testified.

Starlight tried not to look at him while she answered the prosecutors, she kept her eyes on the podium she was forced to sit in front of, speaking into the microphone so that her answers could be heard. Sometimes she would sneak glances at the far wall, or at Cadance and Shining Armor sitting in the audience, who were watching her and smiled encouragingly whenever she caught their eyes.

Starlight sunk to the floor and hid her face in her knees, trying to make sense of the whirlwind of emotions inside of her. She just wanted to run, to get away from here, she wanted to see Sunburst so badly—

A gentle hand on her shoulder made her look up, thinking, for one heart-stopping moment, that it was Sunburst's hand, but when she turned it was only Cadance smiling gently down at her.

“You did great up there,” Cadance said, sitting down next to the wayward teenager, her arm wrapping around Starlight’s shoulder and drawing her close. “I’m so proud of you.”

Starlight snorted, trying to ignore the warm feeling tingling her gut. When was the last time someone had sincerely praised her? “I deserve a fucking medal for putting up with all this.”

She thought telling the detective what had happened to her was hard—telling it to a room of strangers was even harder. Her stomach twisted and turned as she recounted all the times he laid his hands on her, the words he said that cut her deeper than knives, and the invasive questions that the lawyers asked her and she was forced to answer. Mr. Cobalt’s lawyer had no mercy on her, bringing her troubled past and her criminal record to the forefront because why would they trust the word of a criminal? A troubled girl that got into school fights? There were many, many things she wanted to say to the money-grubbing lawyer, but knew better than to speak up, no matter how hot her anger bubbled underneath her skin. Raven Inkwell had warned her that he would bait her somehow, get her to act out to make her seem bad in the eyes of the jury and judge. The hour she sat there felt like pure torture and she nearly jumped out of her seat when the judge let her go.

She didn’t spare a glance to Mr. Cobalt. She never wanted to see him again.

“I don’t have one at hand, sorry,” Cadance said, patting Starlight’s head gently. “But tomorrow we can go to the Department of Education to pick up your diploma.”

“It’s here already?” Starlight said, sitting up and leaning away from the older woman.

Cadance laughed. “It wasn’t easy to get it, but I pulled a few strings and got it underway faster than normal, that way we can look into college options—”

“Wow, wow, hold on, who said anything about college,” Starlight said, frowning. “I can barely afford to live on my own with what I have saved up, much less pay college tuition.”

“I just thought it would be worth looking into it, seeing as you were looking for housing in Crystal City, around their university campus if I remember correctly.” Cadance gave her a knowing smile, and Starlight fought to keep her blank expression in place. “And you’re right, Crystal U is expensive, but surely there are some community colleges you can look into, maybe you even qualify for some financial aid.”

When Starlight still looked unsure, Cadance continued. “You don’t have to make a decision right now, but promise me you’ll think about it? Having a degree is more useful than you think, it could make all the difference somewhere down the line.”

Starlight stood up and helped Cadance to her feet, feeling a little bad for making a pregnant woman sit on the concrete with her, but she didn’t seem to mind, simply dusting the back of her pants before she walked down the steps of the courthouse to the street, Starlight close behind.

“Cadance.” The woman turned around and Starlight looked at the hedges lining the garden of the courthouse. “Thank you.”

“It’s the least I can do,” she said, her smile wide as she made her way to the car, where her husband was waiting for them.

Starlight moved to follow her but stopped, turning her head to the side when something caught her eye. She found Mrs. Cobalt at the far end of the parking lot, staring at her with tired eyes, her hand gripping the door handle of her car but making no motion to open it. Starlight had mixed feelings for the woman, but she didn’t hate her, and this was enough for Starlight to smile shakily at her, though it felt more like a grimace. The woman didn’t approach but she managed an equally awkward smile, mouthing a ‘thank you’ before she entered the car.

At last, they were both free.

It was early August when Sunburst finally convinced his mother to let him move into his new apartment.

It took some time because, surely, a student didn’t have to move in so early just to prep books. But Sunburst used the excuse that, since he insisted on taking Phyllis with him, he'd been forced to look for an apartment that accepted animals instead of staying on-campus as he planned earlier, so he needed to learn the layout of the city, figure out his options for transit and his classes among other things. The move-in itself went smoothly enough, all of his things were packed away and placed in neatly labeled boxes that his mother helped him move to his new place.

Stellar Flare stood by the door, having spent the past two days helping her son with the furniture and doing last-minute grocery shopping with him. There were tiny tears in her eyes, and her bottom lip trembled a little.

“Don’t do that, you’ll make me cry,” Sunburst murmured, hugging his mother.

“You’re just…on your own,” Stellar Flare sniffled, smiling. “I know you’ll be fine, but…”

The redhead young man nodded. “I’ll be safe, and I’m not alone, Phyllis will keep me company.”

“She’s a good dog,” the woman smiled and patted the pitbull on the head, finally letting go of her weariness towards the animal. “But lock the door behind me anyway, okay? And call me every night.”

“Really, mom?”

Stellar Flare laughed a little. “Okay, maybe not every night, but keep me posted, please?” She reached out, hugging her son one more time. Sunburst let it happen, let the moment be made so it could pass. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks,” he whispered as he hugged her back.

Stellar Flare pulled back, giving one last watery smile before heading out the door. Sunburst closed it behind her and locked it, knowing his mother would wait outside until she heard the click. He stood in front of it and heard the click of her heels growing fainter, and once they disappeared, he turned around. He put his hands on his hips as he took in the sparsely furnished apartment, the light clutter that made up some areas he had yet to conquer, and the empty boxes piled carelessly in the corners.

He sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly before running his hand over his face. He felt the beginnings of his beard on his chin and thought absentmindedly if he should shave, he had to back in high school since beards were against the dress code, plus his mother never approved of them, but now that he was on his own maybe he should let it grow…

Phyllis's shrill bark snapped him out of his thoughts. She was pawing at the door and whining, staring at Sunburst with imploring eyes.

“Do you have to go girl?” Sunburst said, unhooking her leash from the wall. “Okay, okay, just hold on.”

It took a moment to properly harness the overexcited pitbull, and she nearly dragged him away when they stepped out into the street. It took all of Sunburst’s strength to keep the dog in check, but it was a struggle that he was slowly losing. If he had time to think, he would find the dog’s behavior unusual, she was usually so calm and obedient, never straying from him when he took her out, mindful of her strength, she never tugged on her leash like this. She dragged him away from their usual route, towards a street he hadn’t had a chance to explore yet and the leash slipped from his grasp.

“Phyllis, no!”

Phyllis shot ahead like a rocket, leaving Sunburst chasing after her, running as fast as his long legs could carry him. His heart nearly stopped when he saw the busy avenue up ahead, fearing the worst, but the dog turned left, towards a quiet street, disappearing from his sight around the corner. There was a crash, followed by a yelp and Sunburst skidded to a stop.

“I’m so sorry! She’s a good dog, I swear! She didn’t mean to—!”

A girl was sitting on the sidewalk, and Phyllis licked her face like there was no tomorrow, her tail wagging a mile a minute. To his surprise the girl was laughing, not screaming or cursing him for letting go of the leash, petting the dog with such familiarity that it made Sunburst pause. And then the girl looked up.

Time didn’t stop, but he swore that his heart did.

Bright blue eyes stared at him, reflecting his surprise, then they softened as she smiled, the gesture so familiar to him that it vanished whatever doubt he had. It was a little shy at the edges as she stood up and shifted from foot to foot, fiddling with the leash of a panting, but now calm, Phyllis.

“Hi.” Starlight said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I, huh, is Phyllis yours now?”

Sunburst took in her face, a little thinner now, but perfectly normal. The light grey shirt she had on looked soft, ideal for the slowly changing weather, along with the ripped jeans and black converse. Her hair was short but long enough to brush her shoulders whenever she tilted her head, and her bangs were replaced with a simple swoop style that brushed to the side, revealing more of her face.

Overall, she looked the same, but…different, happier even, and Sunburst could see it in her eyes as she watched him just as closely.

“Are you…?” Starlight frowned, taking a step closer. “Okay? I saw your car earlier today, but I had work so I couldn't come and see you, I was on my way to your place, I promised that I—”

Sunburst laughed, closing the distance in a few steps and throwing his arms around her in a tight hug. Starlight hugged him back, her arms sliding up his back and her hands fisting in his shirt. She fit snugly in his embrace, his arms low on her back as he hefted her up and hugged her tightly.

“You actually came.” He said, a little disbelieving.

“What?” Starlight looked at him like he was crazy, and maybe he was, just a little. “You didn’t think I would?”

“Well, it’s been—” He stopped, shrugging. Saying it out loud made it all too real, the days that passed with no one climbing through his window, no one to pester at school other than people he didn’t care about, the weeks that passed with no one keeping him company at the shelter. The last time they held each other like this they were crying instead of smiling, making the last few months feel like a bad dream.

“Two months,” Starlight filled the blank for him. “I promised that I would find you, and I would have come to you sooner but I had to get my own things in order and—”

“I understand,” Sunburst looked down at her. “I still missed you.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, hiding her face on his shoulder. “Me too.”

It was quiet, tense in a way that shouldn’t be happening even as the seconds ticked on. They knew that the moment they pulled away; things would start crashing around them. They would have to talk, explain what had been going on the past two months, talk about their future and make plans. It all sounded exhausting.

Sunburst didn’t want to talk, not yet anyway. They had forever to talk. They had each other now and no one could interfere, her foster father would never lay a finger on her ever again, and his mother wasn’t there to control him. Maybe one day he could convince his mother to remove the blinders from her eyes and see Starlight for who she was. Until then, they had a lot to figure out. But he was confident that they would make it, they come this far, and something had to give.

“Starlight,” Sunburst whispered, afraid to move, to break the silence. “I’m glad you’re here.” He leaned in, just a little to the side so that his forehead could rest against hers. Starlight didn’t move, didn’t make a sound. He could hear the traffic speeding by behind him, Phyllis’s quiet panting, the sun warming his neck, and the breeze blowing through the quiet street. He was aware that there was a world beyond this, but it felt far away, minuscule, and he couldn’t care less about it if he tried.

His lips pressed lightly against warm skin, barely there, as light as the brush of butterfly wings. He waited, didn’t feel or hear a hitch in her breath as her heart stuttered. He simply waited.

Just like he’d always been waiting.

Sunburst opened his eyes slowly. Let her hands go from his back to his neck. He didn’t stop her from tilting his chin, her blue eyes searching, asking for some sort of permission that he couldn’t fathom as to why. Because after all this time—after all this waiting and wondering and hoping—Starlight was still cautious, still making sure that, above all else, he wanted this as well.

His own hands, still resting around her waist, tugged her closer, feeling the soft cotton tingle the tips of his fingers until the redhead finally had enough and met her halfway.

The kiss was quiet, sweet, like two old souls finally meeting for the first time in years. It was familiar and foreign at the same time, the smell and feel of her against him tugging at his memory while the press of her lips was something he couldn’t have even dreamed of properly, no matter how many times he imagined it. It was way better than any fantasy he could’ve conjured, and Sunburst smiled as Starlight deepened the kiss. They were closer than ever before, not even a breath apart as her hands cupped his face and kept him there, never to part again.

It was hard to tell how long they stayed like this, but when they pulled away, they were both breathing heavily. Her hands tangled in his hair at some point, and she loosened her grip with an apologetic smile, her cheeks pink.

“Do you want to come to my place?” He asked.

Starlight laughed, still a little breathless herself. “By this point, I thought you’d never ask.”

In one hand, she had a good hold of Phyllis’s leash (who was calm and happy to have her favorite human back) while in the other she laced her fingers in Sunburst’s warm hand as he guided them back to his apartment.

With time, he learned what she'd been up to the months they'd been apart, she was planning on going to a community college in the area and she got another job, since the shelter was no longer an option, being so far away. According to her, it had been surprisingly easy to get a job in a big city such as this one, since troubled pasts could easily be left behind and go unquestioned.

Little by little he figured out everything that happened between her and her foster parents—all the pain, the quiet suffering, and even beyond that. The many foster homes she lived in, the constant moving, the vague memories of her real father, a man who loved her but tragically died when she was young. The ghost of all that unhappiness haunted her still, and would probably never fade away, but he would kiss her and promise her that he would be there every step of the way, so she could look forward to a bright future.

A few months passed before he learned that Mrs. Mi Amore (or Cadance, she would insist he called her since she was no longer their teacher) checked on Starlight from time to time and that the two would talk regularly. Apparently, they enjoyed arguing about music and movies, and when Starlight was stuck or unsure about something, Cadance would call and set her straight.

Starlight liked to pretend that she didn’t care for the woman, but he caught the look of pure relief when Cadance’s husband called to tell them that she, as well as their newborn daughter Flurry Heart, were fine.

They moved in together after his first year in university, settling into a routine that involved stealing kisses in the evening between late-night studying and caffeine-induced breakdowns. When they had free time, they would go out to bars with their new friends or curl up on the couch together and make fun of really bad movies. Sometimes with Phyllis sleeping between them, sometimes holding hands.

A lot of things came later—good, bad, ugly, and breathtaking. There were times where Starlight’s fear and anger would get the best of her and she would yell hurtful things, and there were times Sunburst would wonder if this was worth it and if they should go their separate ways. But the doubt and anger never lingered, and once they passed, the two would hold each other and talk things out, like the team they were. As long as they had each other, they could pull through.

And on those rainy nights, when the water poured from the skies like it would never end and the stars disappeared behind a thick cover of storm clouds and thunder, they would hide under the covers and learn about the rest of each other, with kisses and tender touches until the morning light.

They aren’t sure what life would throw at them next, or how long they would be together, but at least they were together, finally free to just…be. Not hiding. Not merely surviving. But finally living.

And that, above all, made it worthwhile.

Author's Note

Mistakes were made, lessons were learned, and this story is imperfect, but it's done! I think that deserves its own round of celebration.

I know some of you won't agree with the choices I made or even how I decided to end this, but I always intended for it to end like this. I know I can be romantic and sappy with my writing at times, but truly, how romantic and sappy can I really get about a story of two teenagers with messed-up lives? Anything more that I could've written wouldn't have been realistic...I mean, there are parts in this story that feel a little too unrealistic, but I didn't want to push it to the point where it would feel disingenuous and phony, like a music video or a feel-good Hallmark movie.

I hope you enjoyed this, thanks for reading this far.