She Who Controls the Past, Guides the Future
Drawing out a long and tepid sigh, Starlight Glimmer stared mindlessly onto the frozen plains of the Crystal Empire, watching the occasional wisp of snow flit around in the distance. Their closer brethren were undetectable, given that the express train to the Crystal City was barreling down its tracks toward the northern metropolis. Starlight had remained glued to the window for the last half-hour, listlessly trailing her eyes across the horizon as her heartbeat remained fluttery at the very thought of her final destination.
Back again to see him, she mused to herself as she caught one of her two fellow passengers, Princess Twilight, move closer. Glancing over her shoulder, she gave an awkward smile to Twilight as the young alicorn rested a hoof on her shoulder and stared earnestly at her.
“Are you all right, Starlight?” Twilight inquired.
Starlight tittered uncomfortably. She waved dismissively as a soft giggle and snort escaped her throat. “Why wouldn't I be? Absolutely no problems here! Just a normal, everyday pony who likes to enslave ponies. What's odd about that?!” By the end, her voice cracked and she shot a rictus grin at Twilight. One of her eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
Twilight pulled back. “Okay,” she drawled as she pulled her ears against her skull. Plastering her own reassuring smile on her lips, she declared, “You know that you can tell me what's bothering you, Starlight. I'm the Princess of Friendship, after all.” She smirked confidently. “It's kinda my thing.”
“Except when you act all Twilighty,” Spike interjected as he munched on a gem that he had packed with him. It crunched deafeningly in the soundproofed compartment, making both Starlight and Twilight cringe at the noise.
“What did I say about that word, Spike?” griped Twilight, leveling him with a miffed glower.
“Uh, I dunno,” he replied with a shrug. From behind the comic book that blocked his features, a small laugh emanated out. “Probably something about how it's not nice or the like. I just think it describes you pretty good.”
Starlight giggled. Pressing a hoof to her mouth, she added, “He's right. 'Twilighty' does describe you pretty well when you... you know.” She rotated one of her fetlocks as she struggled for a word that wasn't “go crazy,” “get obsessive,” or “act nuts.” Finally, she nickered, “Fixate on things?”
“I do not fixate on things!” Twilight retorted with a huff. “I simply make sure they're done to perfection.” She jutted out her chin defiantly.
“Right, Twi,” Spike chuckled before Twilight grabbed his comic, rolled it into a loose tube shape, and bonked him lightly on the head.
At the levity, Starlight couldn't help but laugh, but with them calming down again, the gnawing worry that was settling into her stomach returned, which caused her to nibble on a hoof before she faced the window again. Every reminder of Twilight's strong bonds with her friends only served to tighten the vice that was constricting her gut. Every few minutes, it'd change to feeling like her insides were run through a blender, as she tried to keep from thinking about what Twilight was having her do.
Since the disaster—at least to her—of Flurry Heart's Crystalling a couple of months ago, she had tried to keep herself from thinking of the next time she would have to meet with Sunburst. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him again, but every time she considered it, her anxiety skyrocketed. Despite her promises to Twilight that she'd keep in touch with him, her actual follow through was lacking.
Making friends with Trixie was a small confidence boost, although parts of her felt guilty that she had brought a former... rival? Enemy? Antagonistic hobo? One of those things, back into Twilight's life. As much as Twilight said that she could look past Trixie's many, myriad, unadmitted failings, Starlight could sense that Twilight had been strained by the two unicorns' budding friendship.
Which didn't help her feel any more confident in turning a new page when Trixie had to leave and could only occasionally keep in touch during her latest tour.
When Twilight had suggested visiting Sunburst again for an ego boost, to say she had leapt at the opportunity would have been a lie. Even if she had described herself as crawling, it would have been a fib of the highest degree.
“Still nervous to see him again?” Twilight asked as she interrupted Starlight's reverie.
“Pfft, n-no! Why would I be nervous?!” exclaimed a clearly nervous Starlight. Fidgeting in her seat, she bit on her lip. “Why would I be afraid of seeing my one friend who I threw to the gutter?” Softly, she added, “And who turned out to be cute.”
A knowing, lopsided grin formed on Twilight's muzzle, and she shifted closer to Starlight. “He's going to be excited to see you. Unless, of course, you were exaggerating his reaction to you leaving with us after the Crystalling.” She winked, which caused Starlight's face to flush noticeably.
Tittering lightly and placing a hoof over her mouth, Twilight added, “Starlight, I might not be an expert—”
“No, you don't say?” Spike quipped, earning him another bonk with the comic book.
“—but I can tell when one of my friends might... see more in a pony than friendship.” She nudged Starlight in the ribs, which earned a pained groan from her student as Starlight sunk down in the train's cushions in defeat. Smiling reassuringly, Twilight wrapped a wing around Starlight. “I mean, why wouldn't a mare be? He's clearly smart, thoughtful, well-learned, and has a strokable beard, and—”
“Twi,” Spike chirped, a hint of mirth in his voice. “You're drooling.”
Twilight nickered. As she whipped her head around to face him, she furrowed her brow and hissed, “This is a friendship moment! Don't ruin it aga—”
“You kinda are drooling, to be honest,” Starlight pointed out as she indicated Twilight's chin. At that, Twilight wiped her hoof against it and then nickered in surprise. Hastily pulling back, she dried her fetlock and struggled to regain a composed stance. As she did, the whistle to signal their impending arrival to the Crystal City blared overhead, sounding like a muffled foghorn through the soundproofed materials.
“Oh, goody!” Twilight proclaimed, her ears perking higher as she nervously tittered and ruffled her feathers a few times. “Crystal Empire, dead ahead!” She snorted. “Well, obviously we're already in the Crystal Empire, but ponies tend to call the Crystal City the same name and, well, it's a long and—” She cut herself off at Starlight's glassy-eyed stare.
Coughing a couple of times, she swished her tail and whistled innocently. After a second or two, she started up and declared, “I'm sure that Sunburst will be a nice change of pace from me or my friends. Which are your friends, too.” Under her breath, she told herself, “Good save.” However, the comment didn't really brighten Starlight's already dour mood.
Listlessly, Starlight traced a hoof on her seat as she was lightly jostled by the train as it slowed down. Twilight quipped, “Starlight, I know that you're still feeling like nopony should give you a second chance. But that's wrong. You've earned that with what you did here with Flurry's Crystalling. I'm sure that Sunburst will say the same thing.” She placed a hoof on Starlight's back, and Starlight flinched but was able to meet Twilight's gaze. “You two can catch up, and you can see that Sunburst really is sincere about staying as your friend.”
“Right,” Starlight sighed with a slow nod.
“You'll at least have something to do together!” proclaimed Twilight, a bright and cheerful smile forming on her muzzle. “Cadance told me when I asked for her to give him a few days off that he had found some ancient artifact in the Crystal Palace's library.” At that, Twilight's eyes sparkled with excitement, and Starlight could swear that she heard a soft “squee” come from Twilight's lips. “I'm sure that you two could spend time studying it in his lab or at the library. Ooo, shared research! Sounds like such fun!”
As one of Twilight's wings extended and whacked Starlight on the nose, Starlight huffed and pulled the wing down and stared tiredly at Twilight. “That sounds more like something you'd enjoy more, Twilight.” She frowned. “I'm just... boring. Or a nervous wreck. Or both.”
“Okay, okay,” Twilight giggled as she waved a hoof dismissively. “You got me there, but that doesn't mean you don't have interests, Starlight.” Leaning in with a knowing air to her, Twilight smirked and caused Starlight to cringe away. Some of the light reflecting off the first apartments in the Crystal City highlighted the smug grin on Twilight's mug, which only spiked Starlight's heartrate.
“I-I don't know what you're talking about,” she stuttered as she started to look away. Twilight must have been Twilighting again, or something.
“You could always write to him about kites. Maybe offload a few of yours before I call an intervention,” Twilight muttered teasingly.
Whipping her head around, Starlight bared her teeth and snarled, “Why you sneaky little b—”
***
BAP BAP BAP!
Starlight's hoof rapped a few times on Sunburst's door, although her mind still whirled from Twilight's little revelation that she knew Starlight's deepest, darkest, most embarrassing secret. Not even Trixie, who had plainly admitted to all kinds of vices like they were nothing, had dared to probe the infinite depths that was Starlight's love of kites.
For a brief second, Starlight considered whether hanging a princess by kite tail was too obvious, and if it'd land her in hot water again, but she quickly put the thought aside when there was some loud crashing from within Sunburst's house. Glancing over at Twilight with concern, Starlight raised her eyebrows and flicked her head toward the noise a couple of times.
In the late afternoon sun of the Crystal City, everything looked like it was on fire with Celestia's brilliant globe of orange. Even the crystal ponies walking around had a nice sheen to them, which made her, Twilight, and Spike, stand out all the more like a sore hoof.
Spike signed autographs while he rested on Twilight's back, while Twilight simply shot Starlight an exaggerated hooves up, which left Starlight all the more bemused. Since Twilight was little help, Starlight listened for any more activity within the house, and glanced across the street at the multiple different houses and apartments. A few flakes of snow drifted through the sky, but despite that the Crystal City was quite comfortable.
Although not very visible from Sunburst's home, Starlight could also make out the tip of the Crystal Palace standing taller than any other structure in the metropolis. For a moment, given that she had still not roused Sunburst from his house, she contemplated going over to the palace. Perhaps he had simply spent the day there, not getting fried by a goblin of an alicorn foal.
Plus, if she missed him, she could simply say she tried and then leave.
However, that thought was dashed when she heard a sudden racket inside the house. Almost as soon as it appeared, it went quiet. Then there was a loud shriek and the noise ratcheted up a few notches. Soon, she made out the patter of some hooves as they staggered toward the door.
After a few seconds, it creaked open to reveal Sunburst, not noticeably worse for wear. His eyes lit up excitedly when he saw her, and he exclaimed, “Starlight! U-uh, could you just wait—” Before he could finish, he gagged as something grabbed him and slammed the door.
Starlight blinked and caught him struggling to gurgle a few incantations before the writhing ceased.
Everything was silent for a moment, and she gently tried the door handle, only to find it locked. Her nerves growing more frazzled, she lowered her head to blast open the door when there was a click in the lock and Sunburst flung it wide, barely a second before a beam shot past his head.
After a series of ricochets that clanged off some different mirrors, the burst of magic zipped by the other side of his head and sheared one of the lampposts in half across the street. Sunburst simply stared at Starlight for a second with Starlight doing the same. Ignoring the sputtering magical energy that had been cut off in the lamp, Starlight tittered, “Uh, sorry?”
“Well!” Twilight interjected, causing both of them to jerk to look in her direction. As she swung a foreleg across her chest in an exaggerated manner, she stated, “I hope you have fun!” She glanced at Sunburst for a second, biting her lip and flushing ever so faintly. “You two lovebirds don't go too nuts, all right?”
She spun around to leave, but Starlight cried, “Hang on! 'Lovebirds?'” She exchanged a flustered grin with Sunburst.
“Did I say 'lovebirds?'” Twilight whinnied as she hastily, erratically, twirled back and gazed directly into Starlight's soul. A few lengths of hair had started to curl in random directions, and Twilight's left eye infrequently twitched at random. Bemused, Spike poked his head over her shoulder and shook his head.
“I meant dove birds!” Twilight nearly shouted, a small titter escaping her throat. “I saw some... dove birds over there, and they looked like they were having fun!” She pointed in a random direction, which didn't distract Starlight enough to keep her from tiredly staring at Twilight. “Coo, coo,” Twilight tried to softly project to another location nearby, although Starlight could see her lips moving quite visibly.
“Oh, look! I need to see if those are the fabled, uh, doves of Chaoticus!” Twilight proclaimed before she darted off, a veritable cloud of dust left in her wake. As her hoofbeats faded away, they suddenly disappeared after a loud “pompf”. It only left Starlight and Sunburst further befuddled, although Sunburst eventually shrugged and stated, “Well, she's being weird.”
“Yeah...” Starlight mused as she scratched her chin thoughtfully while peering at her friend. At that, she fell silent and softly scuffed a hoof on the doorstep to Sunburst's home. Internally, she was replaying the first time that she was here, and how it was just as uncomfortable waiting for him.
And then even more uneasy talking with him. Like now.
Scrunching her eyes shut, she muttered quietly to herself, “Don't. Don't repeat it!” She relaxed, if just barely, and then returned to staring at Sunburst, a much wider grin on her face appearing.
They both gazed at each other.
Starlight coughed.
Blinking a few times in thought, Sunburst stuttered, “O-oh, right! U-uh, would you like to come in, Starlight?” He stepped aside and motioned her inside with a warm, sweeping gesture. He bowed slightly. As he did, a few flecks of dandruff sprinkled like snow out of his mane, and he pulled off his glasses to wipe them off.
Clearing his throat, he tittered and uncomfortably scratched the back of his neck and stated, “B-been just, uh, well, a bit busy the last few days.” As he rubbing his hooves together in excitement, Starlight swore that he had some of Pinkie's electric energy by how much he jittered and jiggled in anticipation.
“J-just a lot of new things to do, things to read and uh, study, and well, been keeping busy!” He shuddered. “But, well, probably you should come in, right? That's what friends do, I guess?”
Already some of her nervousness had been washed away, although her mind was still nailing her with every reminder about how it was her fault that she never kept in touch. Either before or after they reunited. Adding insult to injury, she spotted as she stepped into his disheveled hall a small pile of mail that was sitting on his kitchen table, from the left of the entryway.
One was open, and she could see that it was something he was starting to write. When he noticed her interest, he quipped, “Oh! S-since you hadn't sent me anything for a bit, I thought that, well, I-I'd send one to you!” He chuckled. “Of course, all my years of writing essays at Celestia's school didn't help on how to start one.” Sighing and hanging his head dejectedly, he kicked at a small box of dried octopus tentacles by the door and mumbled, “Seems like I'm repeating my own mistakes again.”
Scrunching her muzzle in thought, Starlight finally whispered, “It's okay. Not anything as bad as I've done.”
Sunburst clearly didn't catch her comment, although he brightened up soon enough as he cracked his neck and stated, “A-anyway, are you hungry? It's a long trip from Ponyville to the Crystal City.” Ushering her into his kitchen, he closed the door to the house after her and then stated, “I-I know that things are a bit, well, messy right now.”
She flatly stared at him. Arching a brow, she snorted, “I wouldn't say that your house was neat the last time.”
“W-Well, I knew where things were! Still know where they are, too!” Sunburst beamed as he patted a chair for Starlight to sit down in, which she obliged him. With a start, she pulled out of the chair a small, glowing gem that had pricked her in her flank. He grabbed that from her and clicked his tongue a couple of times before setting that elsewhere on the counter.
“Forgot that was there,” he mused before facing Starlight again. “So, uh, yeah. Hungry?”
“N-Not really,” stammered Starlight as she did her best to keep her gaze on him instead of drifting to his wonderful beard.
“Oh,” he replied in a slightly deflated tone. Peering at the floor for a second, he coughed and then wiped his glasses again before trotting a bit closer to her. Pulling out another chair, he asked, “Is everything okay, Starlight?” Sunburst rested his hooves on the table's surface and knocked a few of the letters off.
Briefly darting her attention around the kitchen, Starlight whimpered. There was nothing that she could use as a distraction from the question. At least, nothing that wouldn't be absurd. She cursed inwardly that she didn't push to head to his lab right away. At least then she could deflect to whatever he was studying.
Sighing and looking to the ground, she halfheartedly replied, “Yeah? What could possibly be wrong?”
“W-well, it's just that you seem a little...” Sunburst trailed off as he wrinkled his features in thought. Soon, she began to internally try to finish the sentence for him, although every single option that came to mind tended to be rather disparaging of her actions. With a small nicker, he exclaimed, “A little unsure!” He nodded in rapid succession. “Y-yes, that!”
Whimsically smiling, Starlight stared deeply at him, although soon her faint wisp of joy faded away. “Thanks, Sunburst. But you can be honest. I look like somepony who should be—”
“Don't even finish that,” he interrupted, tapping a hoof on the table loudly and causing her to jolt herself from her guilt.
“How about we actually focus on, well, catching up with each other? There's still a lot that we never said when you were here last.” At that, he dabbed at his forehead and stammered, “I mean, we both had a lot of t-topics to cover. N-not super important things to say. Not at all!”
Starlight furrowed her brow and peered at him. Flicking an ear, she flared her nostrils and stated, “Right.” At his faked smile, she shook her head and dully inquired, “What did you want to talk about? I-I still don't know why Twilight thought we should meet up again so soon.” She sighed. “Not like my life's very exciting after you left.”
“Still like kites?” he asked with a smarmy grin, ignoring her halfhearted jab toward him with a hoof.
Squeaking guiltily, she puffed out her cheeks and mumbled, “Maybe.” She flattened her ears when he giggled.
“At least one thing hasn't changed,” he verbally poked. Starlight just groaned. Was it Twilight's plan for her to be tortured by him?
Instead, she shook her head and grumbled, “Hopefully you never blab to Trixie about this.” She gulped when she could tell that he noticed her mumbling, and she flashed him a wide smile.
“Who's Trixie?” he asked, slightly confused.
“Uh, well, I have made some progress, I suppose.” Starlight tapped both her front hooves together. “She's a new friend of mine! When she isn't off on grand adventures in stage magic or something.”
“Oh! You mean Trixie Lulamoon?!” he inquired, leaning forward a bit in interest. “H-How'd that happen? Last I heard, she was wanted for bringing an Ursa Minor within twenty miles of Canterlot!” Tapping his chin, he mused, “Or was it by turning Princess Celestia's drink at a show into prune juice?”
Uncomfortably shifting in her seat, Starlight interjected, “Uh, trade secret?”
Sunburst shrugged.
She pointed at him. “What about you? What was that, that thing back there?”
“Oh? That?” He puffed out his chest for a second. “That was a new summoning spell I was trying to learn. Neighvard's Black Tentacles. Can work wonders to give you more limbs to manipulate things.” He sighed. “Just didn't quite get the freewill of them ironed out yet.”
“It almost strangled you.”
Blowing a raspberry and waving a hoof dismissively, he declared, “O-Oh! Well, I knew the kill word for the spell. Besides, it was just angry. Everything is fine. Perfectly fine!” When Starlight narrowed her eyes to glower at him, he forced a smile onto his face, and he chuckled. She simply “humphed” in thought.
Afterwards, they both went quiet, Starlight listening intently to the ticking of the clock over the entrance to Sunburst's hallway. With each passing second, more sweat began to trickle down her forehead. Inching an ever-bigger grin onto her face, she drawled, “So...”
“Yeah...” Sunburst replied, darting his eyes around to look for something.
“We're... talking. Being... friends!” she stuttered cautiously. She resisted the urge to start whistling to break the uneasy lull in the conversation.
“Y-Yes!” he cried, fumbling with his glasses and clearing his throat. “Um, actually, I-I was wanting to ask, and well” —he coughed, clearly growing flustered as he twiddled with his beard— “I-I was thinking about what you said, about that village, and being bitter and, well, I was—”
“No!” Starlight snapped, causing him to rear back in surprise as she suddenly covered her muzzle with a hoof and looked at him pleadingly. When her own heartbeat had settled down, she breathed in deeply and replied in a calm, cool voice, “No. I-I don't want—I already said too much last time, and I—I'm just not—” She never finished. Instead, her shoulders slumped and she rested her chin on the table to stare pathetically over his shoulder.
With a small whimper, he frowned when a few tears slid down her muzzle and pooled on the wood. Carefully getting to his hooves, he cantered over to her and paused, a foreleg wide and ready to embrace her. After thinking for a second, he instead just rested a forehoof on one of hers, and he stated, “I-I understand. W-Whenever you feel like you can, though...” He smirked. “I think I can handle it.”
Starlight flared her nostrils.
“H-How about I show you what I've been researching for the last few days?” he inquired, earning a tired, disinterested nod from Starlight. With a grunt, he gently hauled her out of her chair and led her through the hall into his study, where they had first both admitted to not telling the whole truth about their pasts.
Centered on a pedestal surrounded by various magically-carved runestones and a couple of microscopes, vials, and other doodads, was an ancient-looking page made from parchment. Starlight simply glanced over at Sunburst, an eyebrow arched high in disbelief, as he motioned for her to go forward.
“Paper?” she asked incredulously. She sniffed. Over the faint odor of his unwashed body, she could make out the musk of really, really old paper. “Ancient paper?”
“N-Not just any piece of paper, though!” Sunburst exclaimed with barely contained glee. Like a foal in a candy shop, he practically bounced around the pedestal and Starlight swore there was a beam of pure light that descended from on high to illuminate the page.
Almost tripping on some books that were strewn about, Starlight wandered closer and she asked, “All right then, Bookbrain, what is it?”
Mockingly appearing hurt by the nickname, Sunburst puffed out his cheeks before he muttered, “Well, maybe I won't tell you now.” She bopped him lightly over the head with one of his books, and he exclaimed, “Ow! Fine! I was j-joking!” After straightening his mane, he stated, “I-I'm not exactly sure what it is. J-Just that it's powerful.”
“Well, that isn't ominous or anything,” snarked Starlight.
Continuing despite the comment, Sunburst cantered around to her again and gazed deeply into her eyes. “I-I was researching some of Cadance's family tree when that page fell out of an old tome. At first, I thought it was used as an ancient bookmark, but then Clear Quartz, one of the librarians there, her ladder lost its balance and she” —He inhaled sharply— “she died!”
A pinch in her gut caused Starlight to whine automatically, but Sunburst continued before she could interrupt. Pointing over at the page, he cried, “A-And I was just so upset and kept thinking how if I wasn't distracted by that page, I could have saved her and then, POOF!” He mimed an explosion. “T-That page glittered and then a portal opened and engulfed Clear.” Taking a second to breathe, he finished rapidly, “And then she came back out fine, like it never happened!”
“Never happened?” Starlight echoed as a niggling thought wormed its way into her head.
“Y-Yes.” Bobbing his head up and down, Sunburst carried on. “I-I had to test it some more, and so I, well, tried changing the climate a bit.” He snickered. “Some ponies were surprised by the abrupt sandstorm here, and you should have seen the look on Cadance's face when Flurry suddenly had normal wings and horn for a foal her age.”
Squirming for a second, he finally added, “And speaking of Cadance, she's, uh, quiet at night now.” A faint flush formed on his cheeks, and he scratched the back of his head. “I-If you know what I mean.”
Too much information, Sunburst. Too much. As images of... that filled her head for a second, she shuddered and focused her attention on the paper instead. Soon, scenes from the last couple of years played through her mind instead. First stumbling upon the “Staff of Sameness,” converting Double Diamond and Sugar Belle, forcing them all to... work endlessly on the town, it was enough to make her almost collapse to her knees.
Shakily remaining upright, she stuttered, “S-So, you're saying... that thing can change events?”
“I don't think just change them, but completely rewrite them!” Sunburst exclaimed in excitement, laying eyes on the page again. As his blue orbs glittered with glee, he added, “It's, it's just so thrilling!”
Starlight scratched her chin, the seed of an idea having fully been planted and now bearing fruit. Glancing back at the kitchen, she mused to herself, It could work. Verbally, she probed, “So it could rewrite anything?”
“W-Well, probably. I'm really just spitballing here,” he admitted with a shrug. “I-I think that we should get Princess Twilight to study this more. Truthfully, even I'm out of my element with this.” Scrunching up his muzzle and staring at the ceiling, he asked to nopony in particular, “Or maybe I should have her get Princess Celestia and Luna to look at it? Maybe all three?”
As he continued to mutter to himself, Starlight began to ponder. Hard. Since the revelation of its power, her brain had been formulating something, something a bit devious, if she had to be truthful. Staring at the page again, she felt her heart lurch and her stomach twist as those memories resurfaced. It was like the artifact could draw out every single memory, every single tale, and reflect it back at her.
But it also promised something more. An ability. To fix things. For good. Revert the wrongs, and finally make her life right. She'd just need a distraction to spring her plan.
Sneering maniacally to herself, she giggled and rubbed her hooves together before she noticed Sunburst staring at her. With a small cough, she quickly tittered and stated, “Uh, I think that Twilight would really appreciate it, but maybe we should both go over it, first?” She innocently blinked at him.
“Oh, sure! I have a lot—”
“And before that,” she interrupted with a loud, suddenly raspy voice. Grasping at her throat, she declared, “I'm a bit thirsty. Could you maybe grab us some water before we go too crazy?” Since she could tell that he wanted to make her visit a good one, she added a bit of a playful flutter of her eyelashes. “Please?”
Perking up, Sunburst whinnied and cried, “You bet! Be right back!” At that, he dashed past her, almost tripping on a book, and stumbled into the kitchen. After a couple of crashes, he exclaimed, “I'm okay! I have a second cloak!”
Starlight grimaced. As she heard him rummaging around for water, she inched nearer to the page. Every foot that she approached, the air seemed to grow more electrifying as the page practically crackled with power. Her pupils dilated, and she gasped in awe as her magic reached out and snatched the page, and she pulled it forward to read the script.
Although it was written in probably a long-dead dialect of Ponish, she felt that she could understand every word. Closing her eyes and letting slip a few tears, she sniffed and poured all her concentration into her imagination. A glimpse of what could have been.
Suddenly, there was a gust of wind and she flinched as it whipped past her. Before her was a bright portal, simply a wall of pure white, that illuminated the room. Long shadows were cast by the bookshelves, and she was sure that ponies would have to have seen it from the street.
Still, there was no going back.
“Hey, Starlight, I came back wi—” she heard Sunbusrt begin before he squeaked and dropped their glasses to the floor. As they shattered, he demanded, “What did you do?!”
Without paying him heed, she walked forward and pushed one forehoof through the portal. Already, her mind felt at ease as she sensed the possibilities before her. Wordlessly, she stepped through; the last thing she remembered hearing was Sunburst's cry.
***
“Starlight!” Sunburst bellowed as his friend solemnly stepped through the portal created by the page without a second thought. She didn't even look back at him. When she disappeared, his mind whirled as the portal started to constrict, and he grunted, “Oh, l-look, I w-wasn't meant for this!”
Still, he couldn't let her disappear. He had to do something!
With only seconds left before the portal closed, and potentially leaving her gone forever, he did the only thing he could think of. “Starlight!” he called again, diving through the portal. At the last second, his one hind hoof caught on the lip of the portal, and he stumbled forward. “Starli—oof!”
With a heavy thud, his jaw impacted the wooden floor of his room. Dazedly groaning, he adjusted his glasses, which had loosened on the bridge of his nose, and he peered around. Yep. It was his room. A couple of plushies of his favorite comic series were on his dresser, the poster of Rage Against the Magic's final tour clung to his wall, and the socks he was going to give Starlight as a surprise were resting on the chair near his study table.
“Bursty!” he heard his mother cry. “Are you all right? Don't wake your sister! She had a long day in Canterlot!”
“Mom?” he mumbled to himself, his mind a bit hazy.
Shifting, he felt that his rear half was still stuck in his sheets. How had he fallen out of bed? It wasn't like he was a restless sleeper. Especially since he had the first good snooze in forever since he finished Celestia's school's courses. He was finally free to sleep in and—
Wait, he told himself. Where's Starlight? What am I doing back here?! His eyes widened as he realized he was back in Sire's Hollow.
And then he screamed.
* * *
“Sunburst, breathe,” Stellar Flare said, rubbing her temples with her front hooves as Sunburst continued to shriek almost deafeningly at the kitchen table. Flattening her ears against her head, she grumbled, “Ugh, I swear you're making me question birthing you.”
“Now, Stelly,” Sunburst's father, Sunspot, chided dotingly as he finished eating a bit of his haybacon. Patting her on the shoulder and planting a kiss on her cheek, he quipped, “That would mean you'd only have one successful child, not two.” He winked when she shot him a rueful glower and then played a bit with the end of her mane.
Polishing her large pearl necklace, she scoffed and muttered, “Oh, fine, Sunny. I couldn't have that, could I?” As Sunburst continued to scream, somehow without needing to inhale at all, she stared at him with concern. Since he had come down for breakfast ten minutes ago, he had been keeping up the racket constantly. How he hadn't woken his sister yet was beyond her, but Sunset always did sleep in late when she visited Sire's Hollow.
Sunspot simply took another nibble of his food, arching a brow when Stellar switched her attention to him instead.
With the seconds ticking onward, Stellar finally rubbed her muzzle and asked under her breath, just barely audible to Sunspot, “I wonder if that list of 'first postgraduate activities' was too soon?” She huffed. “But seriously, he's out of school. Why isn't he married yet?”
Sunspot rolled his eyes and held back a snicker before he interjected, “You know, Stelly, he's an avid—what do you call them? Gamer?” She shrugged. Looking back at Sunburst, he added, “He probably just had too much M-Fuel last night. It'll work its way out of him.”
As soon as Sunspot finished, Sunburst finally stopped, like a light switching off, and he simply changed his gaze between both of his parents. His breakfast, sugar wheats and a glass of orange juice, with some strawberries on the bowl of cereal in the shape of a happy face, remained untouched. By now, one of the strawberry eyes had sunken underneath the milk, and the “mouth” had turned into a frown.
Panting heavily, Sunburst finally stuttered, “N-No, no, no, no!” He gingerly raised one forehoof to point at his parents. “T-This isn't happening! This isn't real!”
Peering at his sweaty, panicked expression, Stellar sighed and looked back at her husband. A knowing smirk started to spread across his muzzle, and Stellar groaned before she admitted, “You're probably right.” She frowned. “And maybe the five-page list was a bit much. Four pages would have sufficed.” She nodded confidently.
Thankfully, there was silence for a couple of minutes as Sunburst simply continued to point accusingly at both his parents. From upstairs, she heard the tired creaks of some floorboards, and she sighed softly. It appeared that Sunset had finally woken. Hopefully she was in a good mood after being disrupted.
As if speaking of Nightmare Moon herself, Sunset Shimmer soon drudgingly cantered down the stairs and muttered a greeting. When Sunburst saw her, his jaw dropped and he gawked at his sister like she was a walking skeleton. Sunset glanced at him for all of two seconds, poured half a bag of cereal, and then emptied the orange juice into the bowl.
“Morning,” she grunted. Since Sunburst was still gazing at her, she huffed, “What, 'Burst?”
He remained quiet.
“Whatever,” she grumbled with a shrug, and trudged off into the living room.
Clearly shocked, Sunburst continued to follow where his sister had disappeared for a moment before he whirled back and glared at his parents. “HER?!” he demanded. “HERE?!” At the dumbfounded looks he received, he breathed long, hard, and deep. Stroking at his beard to try and calm down a bit, he instead asked, “H-How long has... Sunset been here?”
Both Sunspot and Stellar exchanged confused glances. With pursed lips, Stellar inquired, “Honey, are you feeling okay? You were so excited to see your sister when she took the week off from Celestia's court.”
“C-Celestia's court?!”
“Something you'll never get into if you scream like that, 'Burst!” Sunset snarked from the living room. A few seconds later there was a string of curses after the characteristic death noise of Super Mareio came from the room.
Furrowing his brow, Sunburst snorted and flared his nostrils before he jabbed a hoof toward Sunset's abode. “She's not supposed to be here!” Then he thrust it in Sunspot's direction instead. “A-And you! D-Dad! You l-left Mom a decade ago!”
“Sunburst!” Stellar snapped, throwing down her spoon and standing up in a huff. Her face flushed, Stellar gritted her teeth before she finally spat out, “Do not speak to your father like that!”
Compared to Stellar's reaction, Sunspot's was rather subdued. Although he cringed at Sunburst's accusation, he remained calm enough and simply arched a brow in confusion instead. He stared at Sunburst. After a few seconds, the whistle of a kettle caused him to swivel his ears and listen toward the stove.
At that, he hopped off his chair, which scraped on the floor, and he quipped, “Well, I'll just... get that.” He grumbled quietly, “You really had too many energy drinks, Sunburst.” For just a moment, he shared a plaintive, pained look with Stellar, and then trotted toward the tea kettle.
All this time, Sunburst continued to point at Sunspot, although his arm was growing tender and sore from remaining in an elevated position for so long. Gasping through clenched teeth, he ignored the growling of his stomach and emphatically declared to Stellar, “I-I don't know what's happening, Mom! B-But this isn't right! S-Sunset disappeared and Dad l-left shortly after that!”
When he saw his mother's face, he winced and his ears wilted and his throat tightened. Whatever had happened when he went through that portal, that still didn't change the fact that Stellar was his mom and he was clearly hurting her. If she wasn't such a strong-willed pony, she would have given in to the tears that were streaming down her face as she gazed in shock at his words.
Gulping, Sunburst stammered incoherently for a moment as he recollected his words. If this was a different world, then his memories from that other Equestria, the events there, would have sounded insane. But that didn't mean they weren't real. He just had to find—
“Starlight!” he whispered worriedly, his eyes growing wide with fear.
At that, he pushed back from his seat, which caused his bowl of cereal to crash to the floor from the sudden movement. Stellar nearly shrieked in surprise from his actions, and he declared, “I have to find Starlight!”
“Oh no! You're staying right here and apologizing to your father and your sister, and then to me!” Stellar snapped as she powered her horn and tried to grab his ear. However, years of expert training allowed him to dodge her spell casting. Granted, he didn't know when that happened, but he felt that the years were true. Maybe in this other world he had that time to practice?
Darting toward the exit of his house, he quipped, “S-Sorry, Mom! B-But I have to find Starlight! S-She'll—” He mentally paused. She would do what? That was going to be something he'd have to figure out on the run, he supposed.
He ignored one final call from Stellar as he grabbed his cloak from the rack near the door, and then bolted outside. As he slammed the front door behind him, Stellar Flare wiped her eyes and looked over at Sunspot, who was cleaning up the mess that Sunburst caused. Sunset trotted out of the living room, her head tilted in confusion. She asked, “Did that last exam break him, or something? Didn't think Celestia was that hard.”
“Sunspot, sweety,” Stellar asked. Sunspot hummed and looked up. “Do you think that a plan for what to do when one's son is institutionalized is too much?
***
With every step that Sunburst took after he evacuated from his house, he felt like he was in some strange, twisted version of the Sire's Hollow in which he had spent his first seven or eight years. While the town was never ramshackle, it was far from a hot destination for tourists, and therefore had a sleepy, tranquil, and sometimes poorly maintained appearance to it. Yet to see it so revitalized and alive left him discomforted.
Normally the clocktower was permanently stuck at seven minutes to three, and it was something that nopony had ever bothered to fix, since time was never that important. It had caused his mother frustration to no end, but given that she wasn't the mayor, nor did she ever want to be, strangely enough, it had never been tended to.
However, it wasn't the only thing that stuck out to him. Between the modernized front faces of a few of the shops in the middle of town, or the long, restored streets near the town center, it was like all of Sire's Hollow received a facelift. Even the ponies there seemed happier and more energetic than usual.
Every few ponies he ran across took a moment to greet him, some more cheerily than others.
“How's it going, Sunburst?” “What's up, Sunburst? Heard Sunset was visiting.” “You and your sister have made Sire's Hollow proud, Sunburst!” “If only you could have convinced Starlight to go with you after she got her cutie mark.”
Without fail, they all sang his praises, which only left his heartrate a beating, thudding mess as the pressure of living up to his apparent successes tried to worm their way into his skull. Whoever these ponies thought he was, he was anything but that. Definitely not a successful graduate of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, that was for sure. Couldn't even turn a block of wood into a teacup, which was such a simple spell!
For roughly the next ten minutes, he wandered around the square of Sire's Hollow, surrounded by ponies all going about their business. Occasionally, one would say hi or bump into him by accident, and each time, he'd ask if they'd seen Starlight, and likewise, the answer he received was “no.”
Not good, he fretted internally. Not good not good not good!
Already old memories of his that he knew he didn't experience were beginning to infiltrate his brain. At his twelfth birthday, Sunset had shown up and given him a small firestone as a gift, which ended up shattering and burning down an entire wing of Celestia's school. Apparently she had planned that.
But Sunburst knew that never happened. Not in his world. Not in his past.
Tapping on his forehead a couple of times, he whined and chased the false memories from his mind and then looked up. Over the clock tower, in the distance at Peach Hill, a pair of kites flew in the air, one similar to Starlight's coat, one like Sunburst's.
With nothing else to go on, Sunburst grunted and sprinted past a couple of ponies, nudging one forward to knock into the other. “Sorry!” he cried as he galloped away, soon weaving through the few streets leading to the village outskirts.
Within moments, he'd reached the base of Peach Hill and saw her. Starlight's back was to him, and she was simply staring up to the sky as she guided her two kites this way and that. Gulping and wiping some sweat from his brow, Sunburst ascended the grassy knoll and reached out with a hoof.
“Starlight!” he exclaimed, grabbing her shoulder gently and causing her to yelp in surprise. Her twin pigtails, exactly how she had them as a foal but larger, bounced with the movement and nearly brushed his nose to make him sneeze. As she turned around, a slightly forced smile on her face, Sunburst's heart sank and he let go before backing away.
“S-Starlight?” he asked again, this time less confidently than before.
For only a brief moment, there played some spark of worry within her eyes, but her facial expression didn't change a bit. In fact, if anything, the grin only grew wider as her posture straightened and she chirped happily, “Sunbursty!” Sunburst nearly gagged. Her voice was overly exaggerated, leaning too much on foallike innocence and joy, and he could only wonder what the artifact could have done to her.
Or what she chose to do to herself.
Without really paying attention to her kites, she fastened their strings to a stake in the ground and sprang up. In an astounding burst of speed, she gave him a quick, strong hug, and giggled when he nickered and tried to squeeze out of her grasp. It didn't help that she smelled... nice.
Her twin pigtails bounced lightly as she plodded back, and she looked him up and down. Quickly flashing across her features, concern appeared for naught but a moment before it disappeared into a playful smirk instead. “What happened, Sunburst? Did you stay up too late partying because you finished your exams?”
“You know I don't do that,” Sunburst flatly replied.
Sniggering and snorting, Starlight bopped him on the shoulder and exclaimed, “Unless you want to rub it into Sunset after you win your fifth rematch, right?” Sunburst continued to stare at her. As his reaction remained placid, she rolled her eyes and quipped, “You don't have to be such a killjoy, Sunbursty.” She snickered at her nickname. “Gonna burn yourself.”
“Not funny,” he deadpanned.
At that, they fell quiet for a moment before Starlight kicked at the ground and stated, “Uh, well, uh, it's good that you found me. I-I was just thinking about what we should do for the day! You know, since we're the best of friends and best friends do everything together.” She smiled, her teeth glinting in the late morning sun. “Especially when they're done with their school courses!”
“Starlight,” he huffed, stepping a couple of paces closer and then staring deeply into her very soul. “What did you do?”
Another flash. Was it his imagination, or was she purposefully pretending to be ignorant?
As a couple of birds soared overhead, drawing Starlight's attention upward, she let out a foallike gasp of wonder. Sunburst merely flattened his ears against his head and listened to a few other ponies chatting further down the hill. Warm grass ruffled against his hooves, tickling his skin. When a bit of pollen worked its way up his nose, he sneezed and then stepped back.
Starlight had tilted her head, slightly, and she quipped, “At least Celestia could offer those remote training courses. Still hanging out with you when we could was the best!” She giggled again, which only made his worry for her skyrocket further, as it was like she had regressed or remained stuck in her late foalhood.
Putting on an uneasy smile, Sunburst stuttered, “Y-Yeah, that was just the g-grandest time, right, Starlight?” His unease continued to escalate as she nodded enthusiastically.
As she pulled him into another hug, which caused him to gag, she exclaimed, “And now my best friend will be off to Canterlot to be an important wizard!” She moaned softly. “A happily ever after, right?”
“R-Right.”
“But, that doesn't mean we can't do something fun while we can!” proclaimed Starlight as she squeezed him a bit tighter. Tapping a hoof to her chin, she muttered, “Maybe we could do some kite flying, or puzzle solving, or Dragon Pit, or maybe—”
Slipping out of her grasp, Sunburst listened for a few seconds as she continued to prattle about what activities they could do together. Ideas became more whimsical as Starlight theorized further, and Sunburst finally rested a hoof on her shoulder, which caused her to pause in surprise.
“Starlight!” he insisted, glancing around as he realized he had barked that a bit too loudly. Thankfully, nopony seemed to be paying attention. “W-What's going on? What did you do? T-This isn't you! T-This world isn't ours!”
Longer than he expected, Starlight peered at him, the edges of her eyes falling as she let out a long sigh, and a small glimmer of recognition reflected in her pupils. Faintly, a grimace appeared along her muzzle as she looked away, and he thought he noticed her shiver in fear.
For the first time in minutes, the two of them sat in tense silence as Starlight fiddled with her kites and the wind played with her twin pigtails. Some bits of loose grass and leaves had gotten stuck in them, their haggard appearance starting to match her slumping posture. When she finished toying with the kites, she faced him again, the same, unnerving smile on her lips, although much of the happiness in her eyes was missing.
“I-I don't know what you're talking about, Bursty,” she quipped. “D-Did you spend all night awake or—”
“No!” he interjected, which caused her to flinch away. “Well, okay, yes, but not here!” Realizing that he sounded like he was a raving madpony, he quickly followed that up with: “Well, in the other world, anyway.” That sounded just as insane, he had to admit.
Clicking her tongue, Starlight chided him and condescendingly patted his shoulder. “Don't worry, we can just take it easy and—”
He brushed away her hoof. Furrowing his brow and squinting as some of the sun's rays blinded him, he huffed, “Starlight, I know you're lying. W-We might not have seen each other for a long time, but you always rambled when you were—”
“Pumpkin Cheeks!” The pandering voice of Firelight traveled up the hill to them. Both Sunburst and Starlight winced, although Starlight attempted to mask it. Shortly, Starlight's father trundled up from the hill's base and he chirped, “Oh, Sunburst! Congratulations on graduating. So proud that my Pudgy-Wudgy knows a wizard like you!” He pinched Starlight and Sunburst's cheeks.
Wiping his hooves down his face afterwards, Sunburst coughed and refrained from sticking out his tongue as Firelight continued to dote over Starlight. Firelight was fussing over her taking off the shawl that he gave her and was hurriedly tying it back over her head to keep her “complexion safe from Celestia's sun.”
After he was satisfied, Firelight left a small paper bag next to Starlight and declared, “A healthy lunch of a hay salad and an apple!” Sunburst nearly retched. Facing Sunburst, Firelight smiled and fawned, “She has to be in top shape for the South-Eastern Equestrian Kite Competition next week!” As he gazed at the sky whimsically, he sighed, “She could meet the Princesses there! My Chipmunk Wudgin could be famous!”
Before Sunburst could say anything, Firelight poked him in the ribs and smarmily stated, “But not as famous as Stellar Flare's foals, right?” He winked and added in a whisper, “And maybe a future son-in-law?” Sunburst held back a shudder.
With the conversation truly killed for the moment, Firelight nuzzled Starlight, who nickered and grinned at the affection, and then quipped, “Well, you know where I am, Honey-bun! Let Daddy know if you need anything!” At that, he trotted off as Starlight mimed a kiss toward him, but as soon as he was down the hill, she gagged and stuck out her tongue.
Freezing, she noticed the knowing grin that Sunburst flashed her, and she groaned. “Starlight, please,” he asked calmly but sincerely. “What's wrong?”
She pursed her lips. Watching briefly the few ponies that were gathering in the square for a magician that had rolled into town, Starlight eventually exhaled and took off the ties on her mane. Within seconds, the pigtails disappeared and left behind only a mess of straight, stringy mane. She lazily picked at the bits of tree and grass that were still stuck.
“I just wanted a world that was made right,” she whimpered, drawing her forelegs closer to herself as she looked at the ground. Most of her face was hidden behind her mane, and she appeared to shrink and meld into the grass. For once, she seemed nothing more than a big, frightened filly. From what little of her eyes that he could see, he could discern a haunted, pained look in them. A specter that followed her wherever she went.
Drawing a deep breath, he asked, “What do you mean?”
“Do you have to ask?!” Starlight snapped at him before flinching at her outburst. Her pathetic appearance stung more than the words, even if they did cut a bit.
“Yes.”
“Great,” Starlight grunted. Chewing on her tongue momentarily, she whined, “I only wanted a world where things were right. W-Where you could still become an amazing wizard, in knowledge and in power; and I could just, you know, not be...”
She sighed. “Me.”
Stunned, Sunburst moved a bit closer, although he refrained from touching her as she cringed reflexively. She pulled out the old page she had taken from him from one of the coverings for her kites, and she sniffled and held it out. “Here,” she griped. “Take it.” She looked away. “I-I messed up. Again.”
Crystally tears trickled down her muzzle as she started to turn away from him, but she stopped when he inquired, “Why? What... made you do this?”
Stiffening for a second, she pawed at the ground and growled, “I-I didn't know what else we could talk about in the Crystal Empire! It'd all revolve back to me and what I did, or how you flunked, or—” She cut herself off. “It, it just wasn't going to work out! I-I didn't want you to be driven away again, just because I'm boring and, well, evil.
“If I could fix my mistakes, prevent yours, maybe we could have been happy.” At that, she smacked the grass with both her hooves. “But that still hasn't changed what I've done.”
Soon, the trickles became small waterfalls, and she whimpered and snuffled as she rested her head on her front hooves. Racking whines soon shook her body, and she hid her face as best she could from Sunburst. Occasional, soft sobs came up from her huddled form.
“I-I didn't realize that...” he began. Trailing off and looking at her, his heart was pricked and he leaned down. As she yelped in surprise, he pulled her up into a tight embrace and shushed her. He could smell the faintest whiffs of lavender and honey in her mane.
As her heart thrashed against her chest and vibrated against his own, he muttered, “I-I'm sorry if I was still pushing you too quickly. It was probably really awkward, and, you know, it's me. I, uh, can make things awkward by being there.” He chuckled, although Starlight barely laughed. He could feel her tears on his right shoulder as she held onto him. “But this world, it's not really, well, real. It's just what you wanted to be true, and didn't think about how it'd affect things.”
Releasing her, he wiped a tear from her eye and he stated, “It's okay if we still have tense moments. We haven't seen each other for over a decade, you know!” He smirked, and she returned it. “But we have a lot to learn about each other again. It's exciting!”
“I suppose,” she admitted with a small whimper.
“Besides, you can't fix your mistakes, even with a world-rewriting artifact!” Tapping a hoof against his forehead, he stated, “The memories stay up here.” He nudged her, and she pushed him back with a giggle. “It's not going to fix you feeling guilty. But I, and Princess Twilight, and other ponies, can all help with that.”
Weakly smiling and brushing aside a bit of her mane, Starlight mumbled, “Thanks, Sunburst.” She sighed. “I... don't deserve a friend like you.”
With another squeeze, he let her go and whispered, “That's what I love about you: you're humble.”
Starlight stared at him, her face slightly flushed. At her expression, he gulped and pulled at his cloak and stuttered, “I-I mean, I, uh—”
“I heard what you said,” Starlight interjected, a bit of jubilance back in her voice. A faint, teasing spark danced in her eyes as she gently tapped his muzzle with a front hoof. They both grew red.
Coughing into a forearm, Starlight then quickly followed up with, “M-Maybe I should revert this, in case this becomes permanent or something.” She shuddered. “Have been having awful ghost memories all day.”
Sunburst nodded in agreement.
“I get what you're saying, though.” Arching her back and whinnying, she cracked her neck before she floated the page up next to her. Concentrating on it, she added, “I-I think I might need to apologize to Twilight again, for using world-altering artifacts without her oversight.”
“You think?” Sunburst snarked as he moved next to her.
“Listen, you may be cute, but don't push it, Bursty,” she giggled as he blushed again at her quip.
At that, she finished envisioning where the two had been before all this madness, and a bright portal opened up, looking right into Sunburst's lab, like nothing had changed at all. Wrapping Sunburst in a hug, she nuzzled his neck before she stated confidently, “Allow me.” She quickly pecked him on the cheek before she cantered in, and he quickly followed her.
When the portal sealed, gusts of wind soon snapped the lines of the two kites Starlight had left there. “Starlight!” Firelight called as he came up the incline of the hill, although he scratched his head confoundedly as he looked around. “Where... why was I looking for her? She left years ago.”
He shrugged. He'd had the strangest recollection that she had been there with kites, but there was nothing there at all. Strange, but no stranger than the day she left, promising to become a great mage and to right the world.
Wherever she was, hopefully she'd write to him some day, to show that his Pumpkin Cheeks was in service to Celestia or something.
Shrugging, he declared, “Well, I know that I raised her properly. She wouldn't let something get into her head, would she?” He shuddered and trotted off, knowing that whatever mistakes she might have made, she'd be with friends who could help her through them.
***
“Well,” Starlight muttered as she stared at Sunburst, “here we are...” She heaved a soft sigh and kicked a front hoof against the train platform that she and him were standing on. Currently they were being peppered by a few soft snowflakes from some clouds that had been allowed to form within the Crystal City. The ticklish sensation as the flakes plopped on her fur made her shudder.
“Yeah...” Sunburst murmured, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “We're definitely here.”
“Yep... At the train station...” She coughed. When an uneasy silence settled between the two, she swished her tail ever so slightly to clear a bit of snow off of it.
Smiling, she stepped a bit closer and softly told him, “T-Thanks for everything, Sunburst.” She leaned in for a nuzzle, which he returned.
Holding back another sigh, she felt her heart sink at the realization that she'd have to leave again. Even though they had spent the last few days together, catching up further, apologizing over each other for their various social faux paus, and her helping him finalize that summoning spell he was fiddling with, it was like she had had barely any time at all to spend with him.
“You know,” Sunburst quipped as he pulled out of the embrace, “you could always stick around for a while longer. I-I mean, it's not like you have to go back with Twilight right now.” A faint blush formed on his cheeks. “Plus, well, Flurry might find having an assistant Crystaller fun.”
At that, Starlight quickly envisioned herself receiving the figurative blunt end of one of Flurry's magical mishaps. Not that she was averse to new experiences, but the idea of either spending a week in hospital after a “minor” magic meltdown or being turned into a flower pot for the following month wasn't very appealing. If she was turned into a kite, on the other hoof…
Broken from her reverie by Twilight trotting by, Starlight simply shook her head as she glanced at her teacher, who was buried nose-first into a book. In a sealed bag, the strange artifact that Sunburst had found floated in Twilight's telekinetic grip. For the briefest moment, Starlight yearned to reach out and grab it, to tear the page apart completely.
The memories that had started to infect her mind from that alternate world still haunted her, and the depths of her desperation frightened her. Still, she shrugged off the weight of the guilt of her new misstep, and simply replied with a chuckle, “Sorry, but I don't think Princess Cadance would appreciate the, uh, honest language I'd have around Flurry. Besides, you remember me when I was young, I was never big into foals.”
Sunburst shrugged. “It was an offer.”
“Yeah...”
Biting her lip, Starlight held back a couple of tears as she met his gaze. A memory flickered into her mind of her filly self, both her pigtails undone and her mane frazzled, giving Sunburst a strong, sad hug as he left for Canterlot with his parents. It was the last time that she had seen him, until Twilight had originally brought her to the Crystal Empire. For some reason, she couldn't help but smirk at the inverted roles they were now in.
Noticing her teary eyes, Sunburst gently brushed one of her cheeks. “H-Hey.” He grinned a bittersweet smile. “Maybe I can visit Ponyville sometime soon? Princess Cadance could probably find somepony else to be Flurry's Crystaller, for a short while, anyway.” His own eyes were looking a bit wet now.
“Ha!” Starlight exclaimed, sniffling and wiping her nose. She took a couple of steps back, toward the train. “I can just imagine the stream of foalsitters running away from the Empire right now!” Sharing in a giggle with him, she pursed her lips and mumbled, “That'd be nice, though.”
“Then let's make it a date!”
At that, Starlight flushed a smidgen, although it remained hidden against her fur. She smirked. “Sure! I'll let you choose the details, Bursty.” She winked and felt her heart flutter at his flustered nicker.
Checking behind her, she heard the conductor bellow, “Last call for Ponyville!” She hesitated, then rushed to give Sunburst another hug, resting her head on his chest for a moment.
“Okay, if you lovebirds would hurry up, don't want Twilight to be late to—Ow!” She heard Spike yelp in pain, along with an audible slap from a feathered limb. Releasing Sunburst, she spun around with beet-red cheeks to see Twilight in the last motions of yanking Spike back into the passenger car.
“Twilight! You ruined my perfectly inopportune, horrific timing!” Spike moaned.
“And if you keep it up, Spike, no more comics for a week!” Twilight huffed as she disappeared with him into the train.
Starlight chuckled uncomfortably, and a small snort escaped her nose. She gave Sunburst a shrug as if to say, “What can you do?” Trotting slowly toward the train, she paused in the entrance and called back, “I'll make sure to write this time, Bursty!” She swished her tail and then cantered into Twilight's private passenger compartment.
With a blaring scream, the train crept from the station, the great engines chugging and coughing as the engineers fed it fuel. Blasts of steam began to shroud the platform in a thick mist and obscured many of the details of other ponies. Thankfully, Sunburst was one of the last to be hidden by the clouds, and even when he was, she still stared out the window at his silhouette until it finally faded from view.
As it did, she moaned tiredly and slumped into her seat.
“I think that things went pretty well, from what I can see,” Twilight tittered as she flashed Starlight a knowing look. Spike crossed his arms and huffed, grumbling under his breath about how she could tease Starlight, but not him. At that, Twilight merely shot him a warning stare. She levitated the page in front of her. “But you can fill me in on what you learned about friendship later. I have something new to study!”
Whinnying excitedly, she conjured about half a dozen different spell matrix crystals, which all began to glow as she used them to analyze the page through its protective bag. Starlight simply sighed and shared a bemused look with Spike.
Soon, she settled down on her seat properly. She pawed at the upholstery.
While she might have made another mistake by abusing that artifact Sunburst found, maybe in the end, it was one more thing in her long, long list of blunders that would help shape who she was. After all, it had gotten the two of them closer— significantly closer—than before. Maybe she'd have to live with her past, but that was probably something all ponies had to do. It wasn't unique to her.
I suppose it went pretty good, she mused to herself as she closed her eyes. Perhaps I should come back before he visits Ponyville, just to see if he found anything else in the Empire's library. She blushed faintly. And to stroke his beard. His cute beard.
At that, she yawned before sleep finally engulfed her.
FIN
Author's Note
Well, that was an experience, was it not? 
This would be part of the reason why I've been pretty quiet the last while since I posted the story for EaW's writing contest, as I was helping with PVCF's theme for this year ~~along with my own work submodding EaW~~. It was a blast working with everyone there, and I'm proud that we were able to pull it off! 
Anyway, I want to thank sonicsuns for his editing assistance, especially since I had to leave for a vacation shortly before everything had to be sent to the publishers for the compilation this book was in. He was also excellent to work with.
I hope you enjoyed! Check out the other stories in our group. Also keep an eye out for the stories I created for the app used during the con. They should be out within the next week or two.
Until the next fic!
T4E
