Sunburst sighed when he woke up, he groaned at the pain his back felt. The sleep he had hadn't been the best of his life, and how could it have been anyways. He barely slept, only getting to close his eyes after Celestia had begun raising the sun.

He had a lot in his head, distress that forced him into being wide awake when he initially laid on bed, only able to sleep once the sun was preparing to rise that morning. Now he remained bothered, with the added flavor of tiredness as he couldn't get himself up.

Moving hastily around the bed, he remained there, changing position to rest sideways, and then changing again to face the mattress, moving once more a couple of seconds later.

Giving up, a long sigh left his mouth as he looked at the ceiling, the sheets now a mess after the struggling he had pulled up with.

"Maybe I should just face it." He let out, finally sitting up on the bed, before leaving it a few seconds later, back pain and all.

It was still morning when Sunburst got up, the sun shining bright through the window, casting light onto his coat and mane, and the sky was clear with few clouds to be seen.

He walked downstairs to collect himself, preparing coffee while his cape dragged behind his back. Walking back to his room, now with the levitating cup behind, he placed the cup down on his desk, next to a couple books that already rested there.

Morning reading, it was something he had gotten used to for a long time since then, he took a sip of his coffee, before dropping one of the books onto the center of the desk, staring at the pages as he opened it.

He quickly sidetracked, the words starting to fade away on his own mind. Not focusing, he started thinking to himself for a moment, his cup was about half empty by that moment.

Last week was unusual for Sunburst, an understatement at the very least, he felt his heart speed up from even thinking about how much had happened.

That day had excited him, it allowed him to escape that routine he had become accustomed to in the empire, leaving town for just an afternoon had made it clear to him how much he was missing out on stuff. It wasn't that he didn't want to, far from it. But he had his own work to worry about in the Crystal empire, he had to take care of the young Flurry Heart for most of the week, he had his own set of hobbies, those that not many around him seemed interested in, so he stayed alone.
That rush of adrenaline he felt that day, it left an aftertaste that only made him wish for another hit even more. Unfortunately for Sunburst, he couldn't fool himself, he wasn't that excited because of the research, no. He was excited because of everything else that happened.

Looking at the wood desk, he drew circles with his hooves as he spoke out loud.

"Maybe I should've asked him out for another time that day."

He, inevitably, was the only pony Sunburst could think about.

"Sunburst, you had a date with a dude you met that same day, maybe that should've gone slower. Or maybe he didn't even see it as anything more than just friends getting together. Celestia, I may as well be the one overthinking it now…" Sunburst, really now? It took you that long to realize?

"He wrapped his arm around me though, but that was just him trying to be nice. After all, I was the one who rambled to him in tears!" Sunburst kept talking, finding comfort in his own words.

Unlike his books –most of which he had read multiple times already– he didn't know the ending, he didn't know how things would turn out, and that scared him. The question of whether or not his feelings would be reciprocated.

And it was in that moment, surrounded by his own doubts and uncertainty, that he fell asleep on the desk.

“Ah already told ya, Ah don’t know!” Applejack let out in distress. At the apple barn, Big Mac and her had been moving around hay and cleaning up to prepare for their harvest of the day. Admittedly, her brother was the cause of her annoyance, Big Mac had been asking her one singular question since they woke up. Is he coming today?

He sighed at Applejack’s response, having been told the same thing multiple times since, the repetition of those words not making them any easier to swallow.

You don’t know, the uncertainty in that statement left a sour taste in Big Mac’s mouth.

Of course, he would have to come back, right? But Big Mac didn’t know for certain, for all he knows something may have changed in their plans without him being aware of that. Something that would frustrate his thoughts, the idea of asking him out once more, to get to know him further. The mere idea of that was enough to make Big Mac’s chest feel warm, so he instead grabbed onto that warmth for as long as he could. For as long as he had to before seeing Sunburst again.

“Big Mac, ya helping or what?” Applejack raised her eyebrow, leaning against hay. Big Mac's eyes widened and he soon remembered the situation he was in before he decided to overthink.

“Eh… Eyup.” He replied. He thought to himself while he got to work, time would eventually give him an answer.

“E-Excuse me!” Sunburst said as he ran through the streets of the Crystal empire, trying his best to not bump into anypony, Books swinging in the air as he tried to keep them floating under his magic. The accidental nap he had taken left him awake in the beginning of the afternoon, still somewhat tired, the idea of missing the train was enough to cause Sunburst to jump out of his house and towards the castle.

He came rushing through the door, unsurprisingly exhausted as he plummeted onto the floor.

“Tough day?” asked Shining Armor with a smirk, as he walked towards Sunburst, looking down at the mess that barely held together in one piece.

“You could say so.” Sunburst huffed, as he tried to recover his breath.

"Let me guess, Ponyville trip?" Shining added with a hint of smugness in his grin, bringing saddlebags towards Sunburst, while he looked down at him.

Sunburst nodded, finally building the strength to set himself back up, walking towards the library as he continued to talk with Shining.

"Try not to forget your things this time, Sunny."

"Yeah yeah, I'll make sure of that, Shining." Sunburst huffed, slight sarcasm emanating in his tone. He placed the books he had brought with him inside the saddlebags, soon putting them on his back.

And so like that, Sunburst was back on track to what would soon become a routine, as he prepared to go back to Ponyville once more, a lot more nervous than excited.

Of course, he was still kind of excited, no doubt. Helping Twilight in her research had broken up part of his monotonous daily life, but after last week, things were a bit different.

His thrill for script reading was interrupted from that day on, while his head played the events of that day on loop, the words and laughs he had shared with Big Mac filling his heart with joy. It felt good, and he wanted more, he needed more, yet that idea scared him.

Because he wouldn't be able to predict the outcome of his actions, unlike in his mind fortress and –regrettably– his own fantasies, he couldn't be certain, and uncertainty was his greatest enemy.

"What if", two words that would drive Sunburst near insanity, the amount of outcomes one interaction could bring, it was too much to handle, having to step back and out of it to remind himself.

If he was going to see him that day, he needed to let himself enjoy that. Share those moments with Big Mac, embrace that time. Care for it as much as he could, because he didn't know when it would end, and he wasn't going to let the crawling fear weigh him down on the opportunity to be happy.

He had walked past Shining Armor, past the royal guards in the castle's entry, and he did so with a slight smile, because everything would've been worth it.

Yeah, it would've been worth it when he saw those pretty green eyes of his again.

Walking out of the train, he stretched his forelegs in relief, back hurting from sitting in the train. It's not like it was anything new to him, he did sit like a shrimp when reading.

He saw Twilight sitting on a bench at the train stop. She smiled once her eyes lifted from the book she was reading.

"You've been here an hour ago, I'll presume."
Sunburst chuckled to himself as he gave Twilight a grin, before all that cockiness in his eyes went away when they widened at the view of who else was also awaiting his arrival.

"Well, no, actually. I was gonna, but a certain pony pushed me to be here two hours ago."
Twilight pointed at the stallion next to her with her gaze, all the while Sunburst was trying to pick himself up from the shock that such revelation had caused him. He waited for him? And he waited two hours?

"O-Oh! Hi there." Sunburst let out a nervous yet bright smile formed on his face, the warmth he had felt before once again showing up in his cheeks, as Big Mac nodded in return with a smile

"Now that you're here, can we finally go to the castle?" Twilight witted, causing both stallions to chuckle, soon departing towards their new destination.

"So, how was your day? Both of your days?" Sunburst asked while the trio galloped.

"Oh, it's been alright, I'm so excited to show you my discoveries!" Twilight's voice gave emphasis to that last part, squealing excitedly. Sunburst's own gaze tried to make eye contact with her, before quickly falling right back onto Big Mac.

“Was yours good too, Big Mac?”

"E-Eyup." He replied with a low chuckle, making Sunburst's smile grow wider with his reaction.

"Are you sure?” Twilight interrupted, making the two ponies behind her raise their ears, “Applejack told me how you wouldn't stop asking her when Sunburst was coming!" She turned to look at the stallions as she said this, chuckling to herself before looking up front once again, leaving the stallions burning red behind her.

"R-Really?" Sunburst whispered in disbelief. The desire of seeing the other was mutual for both stallions, and that hint caused Sunburst to feel somewhat validated, making his cheeks turn an even warmer tint.

"Eeyup…" Big Mac replied, looking down while clearly being embarrassed at how Twilight had outed him so easily like that.

Sunburst exhaled, looking at his hooves when he walked besides Big Mac, he nodded to himself before getting his sight up again, and he broke the silence with a small but needed reminder.

“Let's… let's make today count, then.” He let out. His eyes met Big Mac’s with caution, his look now reflected surprise, his eyes wide and his cheeks just as red as Sunburst.

“Eyup… “ He replied, his voice trembling when he did.

The usual confidence was absent from his tone, and it was instead replaced with uncertainty, the kind Sunburst was very familiar with. He seemed unsure, Sunburst observed, like he was still processing those words. Did he want to say something?

Sunburst didn't know, once more he was hindered by questions he didn't have answers to. It was almost as if the world made fun of him for even stopping to think so carefully about what was going on around him, but he couldn't stop. Analyzing such feelings was complicated, and it felt like it just kept getting harder, but he hoped eventually, time would bring him answers.

But, at that moment, he had a task in mind, when they arrived at the castle.

Papers, they filled the center table of their study room at the castle, Sunburst’s cheeks reddened at the sight, such hefty research, he had barely anything up to that scale! Now defeated, he stretched his hooves and sat down at the now titled ‘exposition table’ (working name), sighing, he soon saw Twilight sat beside him, Big Mac doing much the same.

From Twilight's perspective, it must've been a weird sight —Sunburst imagined— having this dorky stallion wish to join you in your nerd cave probably wasn't something she experienced often, if ever. Not like Sunburst would know what it's like, the only stallion he ever invited to his home was in his junior years, and all he did was beg him to open a portal to another realm, something Sunburst had already tried, and failed miserably the year prior.

Nevertheless, now that their group was ready, Twilight cheered before setting her hooves down.

"Alright, let's get this finally started!" She shouted with a little too much excitement, grabbing a few of the scripts, Sunburst following behind.

They got their hooves to work, pushing through high and low. Referencing, backtracking, discarding, narrowing their searches as the piles of paper soon lowered in size. Big Mac could only watch in deep concern at Twilight and Sunburst exhausting themselves at such speed, he could've sworn he saw sweat coming from their foreheads, and their horns sparked bright while they read through documents at unimaginable speed.

There was nothing, like, at all.

They both groaned at the minimal clues they could gather from all that, it felt like they had just wasted their time trying to get new information. While both of them knew they had to search around Ponyville's cozy library, they found nothing that could facilitate that task. What part of the library should they start looking through? How were the books even organized? Rainbow Dash had crashed there at least 3 times in the winter.

"I know it’s looking pretty dull right now, b-but that just means we need to work harder!” Twilight’s distress showed, “We'll look around the entire library if needed.” she added, before getting up from her chair.

"Y-You think we can do that?" Sunburst stuttered in disbelief.

"I'm sure of it! Are you coming as well, Big Mac?” Twilight asked.

"Eyup!" Big Mac replied near instantly, even before fully taking the words, he knew he wanted to help, he needed to help, he had the chance and he was gonna make something of it.

"Let's get going then, I'll just go tell Spike before we go." Twilight said as she walked out of the room.

She was gone, leaving the two, now puzzled stallions alone in the room, their eyes wandered around, but never once they rested on each other's face. Unable to make eye contact between the two, Sunburst gritted his teeth in annoyance.

Sunburst was, to his dismay, wordless. He simply didn't know what to say, but the voice inside him kept begging for him to do so. Say something, ANYTHING to him for Celestia's sake.

That silence, it was asphyxiating him, it felt infuriating, he needed to push himself to do something. It's your chance.

Sunburst breathed, that's it. It's now or never.

"Hey… so uhm…"

"Okay! I'm back, let's get going now!" Twilight said as she walked through the door.

Are you kidding me? Sunburst thought, his face wrinkled in unfiltered annoyance, he turned red as it looked like he was about to steam. Keep calm, Sunburst, you'll get the chance eventually.

Big Mac couldn't help but notice the failed attempt Sunburst made at that moment. His eyes moved to look directly at Sunburst's face, smiling at him. The brightness of his emerald eyes shone through with his soft smile providing comfort and warmth to the heart, it was enough to make Sunburst melt on the spot. Behave, control yourself Sunburst.

You'll get the chance.

The three ponies left the castle, their goal was to research Ponyville's library, if there was any information about Apple Tea, it had to be kept there. Their research was scarce, but from what they had gathered: Apple Tea was an old time inventor, she was responsible for multiple tools used in the daily lives of the old ponies of Equestria, alongside working on other various artifacts lost to history. She lived in Ponyville, having written a journey of her own research while working on her projects.

They knew the journey had to be left at the library, but not exactly where it would be, or if it would even be intact once they found it, but they had to try that day.

Another long afternoon awaited Sunburst, and he was not ready for it.

They trotted down the dirt path, Twilight took the lead, being the one at the front. Sunburst and Big Mac more than comfortable to follow behind her hoofsteps, the two looking at one another with a smile.

"Are you sure this won't be boring to you?" Sunburst asked somewhat teasingly towards the stallion, he chuckled.

"Eeyup." Big Mac replied with a smirk, showing much of the same attitude as Sunburst. He was more than happy to get the chance to help Sunburst that day, both of them knew so.

"If you say so. Happy to get a day off of the farm?” Sunburst asked, getting closer to Big Mac's side while he did, causing his heart to jump slightly in surprise.

"E-Eyup!" Big Mac replied nervously. He couldn't help but hum at just how close they were, his chest vibrated peacefully, and that warmth tinted his face without him realizing.

"When did you two get so close, did I miss a chapter?" Twilight asked, turning her face to look at the stallions behind.

"Nope." Both let out at the same time, their blush growing stronger as a reaction. Sunburst moved away slightly, causing Big Mac to frown audibly, making Sunburst laugh under his breath. He really wanted to get closer, but maybe he should've done that while no other pony was with them, it would make things a lot less awkward.

Walking towards the library wasn't a long way, but it certainly felt longer to Sunburst, the small town being the scenery to his daydreaming, as he lost himself in Big Mac's eyes. They had been staring at each other in silence for a while, both easily seeing through each other's facade. Big Mac knew Sunburst wanted to say something, Sunburst knew Big Mac wanted to say something, yet neither of them could gather the courage or words to speak out loud to the other.

The desire, the need Sunburst felt to bring up the past week, to acknowledge the closeness both of them had experienced, to test the waters and see if Big Mac thought as fondly of him as Sunburst did of him. The idea of building new memories like those with him, it was gut wrenching to be so close yet so far, to be in front of the one he needed to talk the most to, yet feel so distant as the two walked together. He felt limited to the context of their situation, going to the library while Twilight led their way, it would be awkward to bring something like that in front of her, for now at least. He desperately needed to talk, let those feelings out, free himself from the weight of his own thoughts upon him, he was spiraling.

"Did ya eat anything on yer way here?" Big Mac asked.

Sunburst jumped, snapping out of his own head while he turned to look at him, "W-Well, not really I-"

"I think we're here boys!" Twilight smiled at the stallions.

I'm going insane. He thought, gritting his teeth in an attempt to stop himself from screaming his rage out, nevertheless, he breathed. You have this under your hoof, it's alright.

You'll get the chance.

Twilight trotted into the library, opening the large wooden door with her magic, she jumped and squealed at the sight, at the smell of books that soon surrounded them.

She had only visited the local Ponyville library a handful of times, admittedly. She never had the need to, her own personal library was far bigger than that of the small town, but staying at her castle for so long had made her forget how comfortable the environment of a cozy library could be.

The smell of paper from the large bookshelves around the place, the sounds of the oak floor creaking and the light of the sun casting through the windows. Lamps illuminating the inside and velvet laces decorating the walls around them. Sunburst looked all over the place with a sense of curiosity, he was so used to the clean cut look of the Crystal Empire that he too had forgotten how comfortable rustic could be.

"I'll go ask the librarian if she knows anything about the diary." Twilight replied, causing Sunburst to refrain from getting too distracted by the architecture.

“G-Good idea! I would like to take a peek myself, check if there's anything interesting to see.” He replied back, before moving his eyes towards Big Mac's direction, “Would you uh, want to go with me, Big Mac?” he stuttered. It seemed like a good opportunity in his head, it was a small gap, but it was enough time for him to keep himself sane for a little longer.

"Eyup!" Big Mac replied glistening with a bright smile that only made Sunburst's heart flutter. Soon the two stallions went towards the back of the library, Sunburst using his magic to scrounge the shelf up and down.

"You… really waited two hours there?" Sunburst let out with a hint of a sigh, keeping his focus mostly on the books in front of him to avoid eye contact.

"E-Eyup." He admitted, his cheeks turning red once more, as he too looked around the shelf with his hoof.

“I… wanted to see you too, actually…” He made an admission of his own.

Big Mac's eyes went wide, his eyes looking all around while he made sense of his new found thoughts.

"I just hope you don't get bored while we're here.” Sunburst added, another sigh escaping his lips.

"Nope!" Big Mac replied near instantly, with a security in his voice and an honest smile that caused relief in Sunburst, as he too smiled.

"Say, have you… ever read any farming books or something?” Sunburst asked lightheartedly.

"Nope!" Big Mac replied, looking around the books while doing so.

“Family knowledge then?”

“Eyup, practice too.” He chuckled, having recalled a couple experiences of his own working at the farm, memories that brought some comfort to him.

“I would like to hear more of that… when we get the chance that is!” He giggled back, returning the book to the shelf and turning to look at the stallion.

Big Mac blushed at the comment, but he nodded in response, both excited at the prospect of meeting together again.

"Are you two having fun?" Twilight asked while she approached them, catching Sunburst off guard.

“Y-Yeah! I'd say so.” He replied back with a laugh.

"That’s good to hear, I'll need your help here, both of you.” She said back, before continuing, “This diary has to be somewhere in here, but I don't know where, nopony does.” She rolls her eyes in a bit of frustration.

“Guess we’ll have to search all this place afterall, let’s divide then?” Sunburst asked.

“I’ll stay here, could you search the second floor?” Twilight asked, the two stallions rushing to agree, both walking up the stairs together.

The steps led both stallions into the second floor of the library, it was packed with a lot more shelves than the first one, a large rug resting on the floor of the place, covering most of it. Flower pots adorned the window stools, the sun rays making themself clear once more. There were fewer tables, whoever.

"Would ya… mind havin’ to read on the ground?" Big Mac asked, placing his foreleg on the back of his neck

"Nope! Not at all, really." Sunburst said, Big Mac was unable to hold back a smile as he heard that.

Sitting down on the library floor, both of the stallions picked up their own set of books to gaze upon, dividing the workflow would've been the fastest method of research, it seemed like a great idea on paper. But a word came out, then another. Suddenly, their pace haltered when they began talking, and they lost in each other's words.

"Would you teach me how to bake, I uh… promise I'll try not to burn anything." Sunburst said while passing the pages of a book.

Big Mac let out a chuckle, "Eeyup, Ah'm sure Applejack would give you a hoof on that."

"I can't wait then." Sunburst let out with a sigh, his own cheeks turning red once he did. He felt content, both stallions enjoying each other's company, it was a feeling Sunburst needed to have again, and more of. His anxiety dissipated as he took a breath, and kept looking at Big Mac's eyes.

It didn't matter he was at the library, sitting on the floor with a pile of books next to him, Big Mac smiled, he read through the pages, and eventually he would look at Sunburst's face again, wanting to reassure himself that he wasn't imagining the whole thing. He would look at his messy mane, his blue eyes and his orange coat, seeing him there made his chest burn. Warm and nervous, he would look at the book again, before failing to remain focused, his eyes moving to look at Sunburst yet again.

They had been on the second floor for more than an hour by that point, just reading books while trying to find the journal they came for in the first place. It was a calming time between the two stallions, Sunburst didn't want to admit it, but he wished they didn't find the journal that day. If it would mean more time with Big Mac, the same way they were just now, then maybe it was worth it.

“Ya look darn cute when reading’.” Big Mac spoke out loud, the weight of those words quickly falling on his shoulders. He scratched his back as he hastily tried to hide his now flustered expression, fueled even more by Sunburst's own blushing at his words.

“Y-You think so?” Sunburst said in disbelief, playing with his mane while doing so, “I mean, y-you look great too! When reading, I mean. N-NOT TO SAY YOU DON'T WHEN YOU AREN'T-" he hid himself behind his own book once he said that, his face red and his body shivering in embarrassment. And then he froze, when he heard Big Mac's calming chuckle.

Calm down your horses, both of you.

He stood there for a moment, hidden behind the book -and still red as a tomato- he took another breath before changing topic.

“Do you think Twilight is doing better than us?” Sunburst asked, his eyes briefly looking at Mac before going back to his book.

“Doubt it, she’d probably have come runnin’ up here if she had.” He replied, Sunburst nodded in response.

“You're right, yeah. She wouldn’t be able to hold back her excitement, she did want something to do for the spring, after all.”

“Hmm?” Big Mac asked, Sunburst stopping his reading to look at him.

“Well, she felt really bored, so when Celestia asked her to do this she immediately jumped at the opportunity.” Sunburst paused for a moment, Big Mac only showing an expression of surprise in his face.

Sunburst continued, “I don’t think anyone knows, really, so it’d be best if we keep this between us.” Sunburst said, a slight smile on his face as he did.

“Eeyup, mouth shut." Big Mac agreed.

Sunburst’s smile grew a little as he went back to his book. He looked up after a moment, his gaze sat in Big Mac's figure, robust but not intimidating, not now that he knows how soft he truly is. He blushed without realizing, before glancing at his book again.

“Did… anything interesting happen last week, while I was gone?” Sunburst felt like asking, the two losing each other in their continuous chatter once more.

Starlight groaned, laying in bed with an aching back, she had overslept. She had been with Trixie the previous night, spending time watching her practice new tricks for her show, and having to help her out more than once.

It took a lot of willpower, but eventually, Starlight stood up and out of the bed. She walked down the halls of the friendship castle towards the kitchen, it was mostly quiet, which surprised her. The castle usually had at least some noise, if it wasn’t Twilight herself, it’d be her friends. But at that moment, it was all quiet for the exception of her own hoofsteps.

Once she arrived in the room, the silence got interrupted by Spike, who was baking at that moment.

“Spike? What are you doing?”

“Since Twilight isn't here, I decided to bake some muffins! Want one?” He held out a pantry, before setting it down on the counter.

“Maybe later… Where is she?”

“She said she was leaving with Sunburst to visit the library. Big Mac was there too, I think.” He answered, going back to his baking routine.

Starlight wondered to herself, before she was interrupted by something, it was a sound. A loud, grotesque and horrifying noise, the roaring of an Ursa minor paled in comparison to it.

It was her stomach.

"Maybe I do want that muffin."

After eating with Spike, she directed towards the library, she thought of paying Twilight a visit, the day not as young anymore, as she walked down the dirt path.

After eating with Spike, she directed towards the library, walking down the path while the sun casted light onto her. The sky seemed to be getting darker, an orange and purple gradient in the horizon. It was clear to her that night was soon approaching, and she had to speed up her pace if she wished for a chance to catch up to them.

I wonder how they're doing. She thought to herself.

Twilight's groan could be heard in the first floor of the ponyville library, her neck hurt from the posture she had now been in for two three, stuck reading books over and over, with no results in sight.

It felt like she was going in circles, like the end was on the tip of her hoof, yet she couldn't reach it. She was hoping for a mission, but this was getting on her nerves. You’re the princess of friendship and you can’t find a book? She was being too harsh on herself, reaching her limit as she sighed at the sight of all the books lying around her.

“I just need to try harder! You can do this Twilight!” she told herself out loud, causing ponies to take their attention towards her direction. Embarrassed, she continued to read.

Open, read, close. It was as monotonous as it could get, but she pushed herself to it, even if it would cost her her sanity.

She was hoping Sunburst and Big Mac were having better luck at finding the journal, because she certainly wasn’t having it, and she needed to get that journal, for the sake of the mission.

Sunburst and Big Mac were laughing in the upper floor of the library, books were surrounding them, going through them was slow, and it was obvious to both of them why that was.

The comfortable ambient of the wood tones, the lamps emitting a soft light, the breeze coming from the windows, it was calming to Sunburst. Chatting with Big Mac, sitting on the floor. Just the two of them, no pony else mattered in that moment.

“This is fun, but maybe we should start reading through these quicker, I don’t think there’s much afternoon left.” Sunburst said, his eyes looking at the bookshelves that were in front. Big Mac nodded, moving his hoof towards one pile of books Sunburst had next to him. He pulled them closer to his own side, causing Sunburst’s view to move towards him.

“Are you sure you can take those?”

"Eyup." Big Mac replied, moving the books slightly more to his side.

"Y-You're really sure? I can take them, really."

"Eeyup!" Big Mac held the books firmly, slightly upset at the questioning.

Sunburst noticed it easily, he reached towards the books, attempting to move them to his own side.

"I will just take them for a second." Sunburst said teasingly, a small grin forming on his face.

"Nope!" Big Mac shouted, now both of his hooves on the pile of books.

They fought for the pile of books at that moment, each of them trying to take them over to their side. Big Mac was too stubborn to let Sunburst have them, while Sunburst enjoyed seeing him like that.

He struggled to keep up with Big Mac's own strength, the conflict ending with the pile collapsing, as it fell on top of Sunburst.

He burst out laughing, and was now lying on the floor, the books all scattered around the floor. Big Mac laughing out loud shortly after.

"You know what? maybe you can have them." Sunburst said between laughs.

The two shared a couple of chuckles afterwards, but silence came in soon when they once again continued to search around the books, glancing at each other with a smile every now and then. Sunburst's own heart pumped faster than before after that.

Starlight's horn lit up while she opened the door to the library, she felt the touch of the wooden planks on her hooves when she quickly noticed Twilight in the crowd of ponies, she walked over her, Twilight hadn't reacted at all when she opened the door, focused in reading when Starlight touched her shoulder, causing her to jump and finally notice her presence.

"Starlight! I wasn't expecting to see you here." Twilight said with surprise, yet a smile showed on her face.

"Me neither, really. I just felt like giving a visit to you guys." Starlight responded.

"Are you sure you don't want help?" Starlight asked, Twilight strongly opposed to the idea.

"I appreciate the offer, but I think I have this under my hoof." She lied, trying to shove her stress under the rug.

"Yeah, surely." Starlight smirked at her, looking at the multitude of books Twilight was surrounded in.

"Buuut, you could help Sunburst and Big Mac! They're on the second floor." Twilight moved the focus out of her shoulders.

Starlight nodded, “Yeah I can do that.” She left Twilight's side and trotted towards the wooden stairs towards the second floor.

Twilight sighed after she saw Starlight leave, she opened up another book from the ones that were piled up around her, before falling asleep from exhaustion.

The calm breeze that passed through the windows gave a nice feeling to both ponies, the oak wood creaking gently everytime one of them moved. Sunburst read through pages of yet another book from the shelves. Big Mac doing just about the same, the ambient comfortable to both of them.

Sunburst moved his head up, his ears perked up as soon as he heard a voice, one he very easily recognized.

"Hey guys!" Starlight said as her eyes fell on the stallions.

"S-Starlight? Why didn't you tell me you were coming!" Sunburst replied in excitement.

"Well, I wasn't exactly going to, but I still wanted to see how your mission was doing." Starlight said, as she walked closer towards them.

"You're trying to find a journal, right?" Starlight asked, recalling what Twilight had told her about their research the week prior.

"Eyup." Big Mac replied.

"Did you have any luck yet?" She asked with a slight smile.

"Nope." He huffed back.

"You know, it sounded easier to do when Twilight said it…" Sunburst added while he stretched his body.

"Hey, I could help!” Starlight's smile grew once she said that.

"You think so? Twilight probably needs more help than us." Sunburst replied, Big Mac nodded to reaffirm him.

"She'll be fine, besides, we have something to our advantage…" Starlight said, walking closer to the bookshelves in front of the three, her horn lit up as she stood looking directly at the books, "Magic!"

"W-Wait! Are you sure about this?" Sunburst asked worryingly, afraid when he saw Starlight readying up.

"Oh I'm so sure. You remember that spell I talked about to you last time I visited the empire?" Starlight asked, her horn's light became stronger with the effort she was putting.

"The Lost and Found Gleam?"

"Exactly, I've been trying to find an excuse to try it out for a while." Starlight sighed, closing her eyes and focusing her strength on her own magic, the entire room's light shifting to a turquoise tone, that being her magic’s color. Sunburst watched in fear as Big Mac stood beside him in uncertainty.

"Starlight!" Sunburst ran towards her side as he tried to warn her, but it was too late.

Starlight's magic wrapped around all the books kept in the shelves, they moved towards her direction and floated in front. She opened her eyes to find the books were getting out of her control. Their movements unbalanced, their speed adding up as they soon rotated around, forming a tornado of books upon Starlight’s eyes, causing her to back away.

"That wasn't supposed to happen!" Starlight moved towards the two other ponies, her own magic turning against her.

"You forgot a small detail, the spell only works if you have previously seen the object you're looking for!" Sunburst explained with fear, the tornado upon the three of them taking in other objects into it, tables and lamps now moving as well.

"I-I can fix this. Hold tight everypony!" Starlight warned, as she tried a counterspell on the uncontrollable mess.

Sunburst was about to protect himself with his hooves, before Big Mac jumped towards him, covering him with his own hooves instead, shielding Sunburst with his body.

Starlight struggled to keep strong, she gritted her teeth as she pushed herself even more, and her horn lit up again.

A bright shimmer soon covered the room, and when it cleared, the tornado was now gone, but the mess that it had caused remained.

Big Mac released his grasp on Sunburst, both of them opening their eyes to see the storm they had witnessed had vanished, Starlight's exhausted self on the library floor.

"Starlight! Are you okay?!" Sunburst ran to assist Starlight while she tried to stand up again.

Big Mac remained on the floor, stunted by the previous chaos, he scratched his head as he looked at the floor, but when his vision cleared up, he gasped.

"S-See, I told you I could fix it." Starlight laughed towards Sunburst, who stood next to her. He let out a sigh of relief once she got up on her hooves again.

"You should've let me warn you!" Sunburst shouted.

"I'm sorry, I got a bit too excited…" Starlight replied, trying to recover her breath.

"Uh, guys…"

"Never do that spell again." Sunburst demanded, fixing his glasses while doing so.

"Guys…"

"Why? I'm sure it would be helpful in any other instance!" Starlight complained while rolling her eyes.

"I don't–" Sunburst stopped his dialogue when he felt a hoof on his shoulder. He turned around to see Big Mac standing behind, he tilted his head, his eyes directing Sunburst to look somewhere else in specific

The two walked a few steps, and Big Mac pointed his hoof at a book on the floor, one that he found around the mess caused by the spell.

"I-Is that…" Sunburst asked in disbelief.

"Eyup!" Big Mac nodded with a wide smile on his face.

The book had a green cover, it was slim in weight, but even then, Sunburst gasped at the sigh.

It was Apple Tea's journal.

"YOU FOUND IT!" Sunburst shouted, unable to hold back his excitement as he quickly jumped to hug Big Mac. Big Mac wrapped his hooves around him while trying to stay balanced while standing. He laughed at the warm hug and his face reddened, Sunburst's face blushing as well.

"Guess my spell helped afterwards." Starlight chuckled to herself. She picked the book up with her magic, and levitated it while she walked towards the stallions.

Sunburst let go of the hug, he blushed even more when he was able to see Big Mac's face again, his own body shaking.

"How about we tell Twilight about the book now?" Starlight asked, Big Mac and Sunburst agreed, preparing to go downstairs.

Starlight turned to see the room, the mess they left immediately obvious to anypony with eyes.

"If anyone asks, Rainbow Dash crashed here again." Starlight said.

"Definitely." Sunburst nodded.

"Eeyup." Big Mac replied.

"I wasn't asleep! I was just… reading very close to the paper." Twilight said in embarrassment.

"As you say, at least we got the book!" Starlight chuckled while holding the book up in the air.

"I'm proud of all three of you. This is a big resource for our research!" Twilight said with a joyful grin, unable to hide her massive excitement.

"It only took us all afternoon… '' Starlight sighed, groaning while stretching her back.

Starlight's words made Sunburst stop for a moment, he gasped and his eyes widened, and he began to run through the dirt path, Big Mac followed him as soon as he noticed.

"Where are they going?" Twilight asked in confusion.

"I'm not sure either, come on." Starlight said and the two of them soon enough also ran behind them.

Sunburst trotted as fast as he could, he was exhausted but that didn't stop him, the worry was more than clear in his face while he ran through Ponyville, and then he reached the train station.

He stopped walking, and he stood there to find the train had already left without him, it was the last one scheduled to the crystal empire on that day.

Sunburst turned around to see Big Mac reaching him, stopping to breathe.

"Oh Celestia! Are you okay?" Sunburst walked towards the now tired Big Mac, who was breathing heavily, soon composing himself.

"Eyup… W-What about ya? Why’d ya run off like that?" Big Mac asked in confusion.

"I was worried I wouldn't get here in time, and I didn't. The train is gone.”

Big Mac's eyes widened and he moved closer to Sunburst, his worry made clear.

"Is there really no other train?" He asked.

"Not until tomorrow morning," Sunburst replied back with a sigh, grunting in frustration.

"Guys!" Twilight shouted from behind, her and Starlight rushing closer to them.

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked with concern in her voice.

"I lost the last train of the day." Sunburst explained again, his voice only getting more tired once he did.

"Hey, don't worry, you can stay at the castl–"

“Ya can stay at my house.” Big Mac shouted, causing Sunburst's eyes to widen, his gaze moving up to look at him.”

"W-What?!” He said in disbelief, his cheeks turning a pink tone at the idea. “A-Are you sure? I wouldn't want to be a bother to you or your family.”

"Eeyup. Ah'm sure of it." Big Mac wrapped his hoof around Sunburst again, causing him to burn red once more.

"O-Okay then…" Sunburst obliged, and Big Mac smiled back at him.

"I guess it's settled then, good luck to you two." Twilight said, Starlight and her saw Big Mac and Sunburst go, and they both wondered the same thing.

"Do you know when they got this close?" Twilight asked once the two walked out of hearing range.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Starlight replied with a slight smirk.

Author's Note

...I really shouldn't have said this was going to be done by december now, did I? Apologies for that. I've learned my lesson (to never say anything regarding dates).

Moving away from my horrible predictions, I hope the wait shows in the quality of this chapter, I'd regard it as an improvement overall in comparison to chapter 1. Part 2's draft is half-way through for the most part, but knowing me, my procrastination will probably delay it for some more time. Hopefully not nearly as bad as with this chapter, whoever.

As closing thoughts, I just want to say thanks for the support, seeing the reception to chapter 1 was really heartwarming for me, and it has made me more confident in my own skills, I wish I can meet the expectations.

Thanks for reading.