//------------------------------// // A Surprise Visit // Story: Sunburst's Weekend Off // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// Sunburst, the Royal Crystaller and Magic Advisor to the infant Princess Flurry Heart had just finished putting his charge to bed for the evening, quietly closing the door to her nursery. A guard outside was waiting for him. "Pardon me, Crystaller Sunburst," the Crystal Guard began, keeping his voice down just outside the nursery. "But Princess Cadance requested a brief audience with you before you retired for the night. She's waiting for you in the throne room." "Thank you, sir." Sunburst replied. The guard departed with a nod, and Sunburst made his way down the corridor, glancing out the arched windows at the setting sun; the last rays of light glistening off of the dwellings of the Crystal Empire. Approaching the throne room doors, he gave two knocks, then saw himself in. Cadance was standing in the middle of the room. "Good evening, Sunburst. I trust Flurry Heart didn't give you too much trouble while you put her down for the night?" "Not at all. What can I do for you, your highness?" "Well, as you know, Sunburst, things have gotten a bit... Exciting around here recently, what with the changeling attack and all. I've decided that Shining Armor and I could use a weekend off, and we're going down to Ponyville in the morning, and taking Flurry Heart with us. We were wondering if you'd like to come along too. I don't think you've had any time off recently, either. You have been absolutely integral with our recovery efforts here, even as we spent a day in Our Town with Starlight, because, well, that's where Discord transported all of us to. I thought it'd be nice to give you the opportunity to visit with Starlight Glimmer." "How kind! Yes, I'd love to accompany you down to Ponyville. I haven't seen Princess Twilight's castle yet either." "Sounds great. The train leaves at seven o'clock tomorrow morning." Cadance informed him. "I'll be there!" Sunburst said, bidding the Princess of Love good night with a bow, and exited the throne room to retire to his quarters for the night. He hoped to get a good night's sleep now, it would be an early start; and that was if Flurry Heart didn't need attention in the middle of the night. The castle had been quite the step up from his house in the western suburbs of the empire, but it was essential. If there were any issues or emergencies with Flurry Heart, he very well couldn't be across town if and when he was needed. The room that had been assigned as the Crystaller's Personal Quarters was in the same corridor as Flurry Heart's nursery, two doors down. His home was now almost entirely barren, for he had moved his entire collection of books and spell tomes to his quarters here; what didn't fit on the numerous shelves in his room supplemented the already impressive castle library. His bed was simple, with a small night stand and lamp next to it. Next to the lamp on the stand was a picture of himself and Starlight, taken from her last visit to the Crystal Empire, when Thorax made his appearance. Speaking of him, things were bound to get even more interesting, now that the Changeling Kingdom was going to soon be entering into diplomatic relations with Equestria, thanks to Starlight and her group of friends. He was glad Thorax was able to get to her, as he was the ultimate key to his own unwitting coup which saw Queen Chrysalis removed from power. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a bit... Insulted. For when the royal family along with Flurry Heart was captured, the changelings hadn't considered him much of a threat, and had left him incapacitated in the castle. 'Probably because they thought I didn't have a lot of love to feed off of.' He thought to himself. But when he looked at the picture of him and Starlight, his heart skipped a beat. Could... Could he use this opportunity? These feelings had erupted out of nowhere in the last few days. Would bringing them up be wise? Climbing into bed and shutting off the light, he decided he'd sleep on it. Starlight looked at herself in the mirror and quickly ran a brush through her mane. Celestia had barely risen the sun, and she had hardly gotten up in time to greet their company for the weekend. It had already been an exciting few days; she really hadn't expected the warm welcome back by her former village. Even though animosity was cast aside when she first returned with Twilight some months ago, to want her input on, well, virtually every aspect of the Sunset Festival... It was a bit unnerving. But with the changeling invasion, she found it inside herself to be a positive and effective leader, even without her magic. Upon victory, they returned to the Sunset Festival, where she found herself much more willing to give her input. She still wasn't sure if she'd be welcome back permanently; her house at the far center of town had been replaced by a rather impressive looking tree in the time she had been gone. At first she wasn't sure how to feel about that, but didn't take too long to figure it was better than letting her cottage sit there and rot. Besides, when her tutelage with Twilight was done; if life did lead her back to Our Town, the last place she'd want to be is the center. She finished brushing her mane and looked at the clock. "Nuts, I'm late!" She dropped her brush on her armoire and rushed out of her room into the western corridor. She turned the first corner to the foyer and had to immediately skid to a halt to avoid colliding with a familiar old friend. "Whoa!" Sunburst exclaimed as his trip to greet his friend came to a sooner-than-expected end. Quickly composing herself, Starlight's eyes widened at the surprise visitor, and greeted him with a smile. "Sunburst! Isn't this a surprise! Twilight didn't tell me you were coming!" Starlight exclaimed happily, rushing forward and throwing her hooves around her oldest friend. Sunburst returned the embrace, blushing lightly at the cheeks. "Yeah, this was spur of the moment. Things have been a bit hectic up in the Empire, and Cadance invited me just last night. She's right, I could really could use some time off too." "So you're down here for the weekend? That's great! So what should we do first?" Starlight asked. "Well, actually Starlight, there's something I should probably say... If I don't do it now, my fears are going to get the best of me so just... Bear with me." Starlight nodded immediately. "No worries, what's up?" The blush in Sunburst's cheeks started to deepen. "W-Well... The changeling attack made me realize that life can get a bit unexpected, and at any point, anything and everything could change. We don't have all the time in the world, so we shouldn't put off telling ponies we care about how... How we really feel. Feel about them..." Starlight slowly nodded, showing that she was listening, as her friend was currently failing to maintain eye contact. "What, what I'm trying to say is... Ugh..." Sunburst continued, only to stumble with his words. "Just take a deep breath, Sunburst." The crystaller did just that, and managed to look Starlight in the eyes again while he rubbed the back of his head with his hoof. "Starlight... I... I like you. A-A lot. Could I... Could I take you out to dinner?" Starlight was 99.9% sure she hadn't accidentally cast Tempus Praevaricator, but it certainly seemed that time had instantly slowed down to a crawl. She began to feel light headed, her ears started to ring, and the standing figure of Sunburst in front of her began to blur and lean to the left, along with the hallway. The last thing she heard was her friend's panicked voice. "Starlight!"