Old Friends

Starlight knocked somewhat modestly on Sunburst's door. The only other sound in the haunting early hours of the snow-dampened morning was her own dire breath. She waited anxiously for a while and was about to knock again when she heard the lock click. She swallowed as the door cracked open and a spectacleless Sunburst squinted groggily through the gap.

"Starlight?"

"Yeah, remember me?" she smiled weakly. "Sorry I didn't get to see you yesterday or really at all during your trip. I just stopped by to see if you'd want to play Dragon Pit, just like we used to." She floated the board game box in front of him.

"But it's four o'clock in the morning," he mumbled.

"I know, but I have time right now before I go to work."

He sighed. "I would like to but you know, we could just play after you get off from work with Trixie. It's better with more-"

"Sometimes it's best with just two players," she argued desperately.

Sunburst bit his lip in hesitation and for a heart stopping moment, Starlight considered the possibility that Trixie was actually in his bed as they spoke.

"Um… O-okay," he finally agreed, pulling open the door for her.

Starlight entered, allowing herself a premature sigh of relief. “Thanks.” She pulled the little table out from the wall, placing it between the only chair and the edge of the bed, all the while telling herself that this was an acceptable thing to do and only borderline crazy and desperate.

Starlight sat in the chair while Sunburst took the bed after lighting a lamp.

"You can go fir- What happened to your goatee?" she gasped, looking at Sunburst's abnormally naked chin.

"I-I just shaved it," he replied, touching the spot with one hoof.

"Why?" she frowned.

"No… no particular reason, just trying something different… Like it?"

"Yeah but… I liked it the way it was."

"Oh,” he muttered sadly. “I'll roll." He took the die and dropped it on the table, then moved his marker accordingly. Starlight did the same for her turn.

"It's really nice to have you here. I hope you're enjoying… everything."

"It's been very nice,” he agreed. “Thank you for showing me how nice it is."

Starlight smiled at him though he was unaware, gazing absently into the little volcano. "Remember when we were playing this when we were little and I tried to act out falling in the pit and broke my mom's decorative plate? Then we replaced it with a round piece of wood and hoped that she wouldn't look too close before we figured out how to do a restoration spell?"

Sunburst laughed as he moved his pawn. "Yeah. Then we finally put it back together but it looked kind of weird."

"I don't think she ever figured it out though," giggled Starlight. She rolled again and fell into the pit. "I miss those days," she continued in a suddenly somber tone. "They were… simple. You were my only real friend back then."

"Starlight?" he murmured, noticing her sudden shift in mood.

"Back then, did you ever wonder where we'd be at this point in our lives?"

"Of course. Doesn't everypony do that?"

Starlight nodded. "I think so. When you're that little, just starting out, it's like the entire world is open to you. There are so many paths you can take, so many futures you can have.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Did any of your futures… have… me in them?"

He looked straight into her. It felt like all the oxygen had been sucked from the room. He didn’t have to ask what she meant. Her eyes and her quivering lips said it all.

"I'd be lying if I said 'no,'" he replied with quiet conviction. "Is that… how you feel?"

"Yes," she nodded.

He looked back down at the volcano, dispirited. "How long?"

"It's hard to say. I knew for sure when I saw you again in the Crystal Empire, but it feels like it's always been there. Even when I was… gone, I never stopped thinking about you."

"It was the same for me," he replied, rubbing his face with one hoof. He shook his head. "I had no idea… Why now?"

"Because now was the right time for me. I've been a mess for so long and then I got it all together and I invited you here and it was going to be amazing… and then it was torture."

"I never thought you were a mess," he breathed.

"You haven't seen me at my worst. You hadn't seen me since high school."

"I wouldn't have said no," he argued.

"I felt like I owed it to you," she cried, knowing that that sort of mindset was unhealthy, something she'd steer a student away from.

"I never said anything either though,” he conceded. “I thought you viewed me as a brother and it would just make things weird."

She shook her head. "It doesn't even matter now, does it? None of this."

His apprehensive pause was the answer she feared more than anything.

Starlight was entitled to this relationship. She had history and seniority. Trixie was a usurper, a parasite. She was imperfect like her too, but the fact that she could just drop in and catch his eye in a matter of days was infuriating to no end and it highlighted just how stunted and dysfunctional Starlight was that she’d had to work her way up so far just to reach the bottom rung of the ladder.

"It still matters, Starlight, but… We can't be together like that now."

Before he could utter another word, Starlight grabbed his head with her magic and pulled him close to her. Over the game board, she pressed her lips to his.

When she released him, Sunburst fell back to the bed, eyes huge with shock.

"I'm- I'm sorry," she stammered. "That was way out of line. I still have trouble respecting everyone's free will." She stumbled out of her chair and began stuffing the game back in the box, fighting back tears. "I shouldn't even be here," she choked. "It's inappropriate now. I'm sorry."

Starlight put the lid on and vanished in a burst of magic.