Starlight stirred slightly as her eyes slowly opened. The world around her felt warm, very warm, and soft too. One thing was bugging her though, why did her blanket feel so heavy? Starlight turned her head to see a familiar orange coat and scarlet mane. Starlight's eyes widened as her half-asleep brain pieced together who this was.
Why is Sunburst in my bed? Starlight thought. She looked around to notice that she was, in fact, not in her bedroom, but still in the library. It wasn't until now that Starlight noticed that she was laying on the ground, yet she was, oddly, still very comfortable.
Sunburst, in his sleep, had wrapped his front hooves around Starlight, and was resting his chin on her mane. A small blanket was placed on top of the two ponies. I guess that spider wore us out more than I thought.
Starlight looked back at the sleeping stallion next to her. She couldn't help but blush a little at the situation. Starlight, in the embrace of a sleeping Sunburst. For some reason, Starlight really liked being this close to him. She could never get away with this if he was awake. He'd just get embarrassed and run. But that was part of the fun.
Starlight started to turn around in his hooves. For some reason, she really wanted to snuggle up to Sunburst more. So she buried her head into Sunburst's chest and got comfortable. Starlight really enjoyed the feeling of Sunburst's chest rise and sink every time he breathed. It seemed alien to feel like this, being so close to another living being.
I haven't felt this relaxed since- her thoughts stopped as she remembered the last time she felt like this. It was back when she was still just a filly.
Starlight decided that it was a good idea to go exploring the forest near town. She didn't get too far before she heard a colt yelling out to her. Sunburst followed her, and wanted to try to convince her that the forest was dangerous, but Starlight didn't listen. Starlight ran off into the forest, with Sunburst trailing behind her.
After a while, Starlight got bored and decided that it was time to go home. Unfortunately, Starlight didn't know the way back, so the two foals spent the rest of the day wondering aimlessly. When night fell, the two foals were no closer to home than they were before, so they decided to sleep for the night.
After a while, it was clear that neither of them were getting any sleep. The forest was really cold at night so they had to huddle for warmth. It didn't make sense, but Starlight felt oddly relaxed as the shy colt wrapped his hooves around her. She never felt so warm; it wasn't long before they fell asleep. Thinking back, the only times she felt this relaxed were back then and right now.
Starlight was a little upset when she woke up to find that Sunburst was gone, leaving her lying on the cold grass. She started to wipe her eyes clear, when she noticed a large shadow towering over her from behind. Starlight froze, as she heard a deep rumbling.
"Ugh." Sunburst groaned, bringing Starlight back to reality. "Oh, what time is it? And why am I so warm?" Sunburst looked down to see the purple and blue mane of Starlight Glimmer, wrapped in his hooves, incredibly close.
Starlight looked up to face Sunburst, beet red and frozen in place. Starlight felt her face burn up as well, as she noticed that their snouts were barely an inch apart. She then suddenly remembered how close she had gotten and froze in place.
They stared at each other for a while before Starlight spoke up, "Morning..." Her voice was slow and careful.
Sunburst tried to open his mouth but all that came out was a light squeak. He decided to go with the much easier nod.
Starlight found herself at a loss for words, which was strange. She never had a problem with intimacy before, but now that Starlight looked up into those bright blue eyes, she couldn't get her mouth to work.
Sunburst was in full panic mode, his mind going a hundred miles per hour. But, he took a deep breath, gulped down the lump in his throat and finally spoke, "Starlight." He looked away, unable to look her in the eyes. He slowly released his grip on her.
Starlight was so confused. Why won't my mouth work? Why is my heart racing like this? I don't get it! What changed? Starlight slowly stood up from her position on the ground. All she could do is look off into space and question what was wrong.
"Starlight? Starlight?! Are you okay?!" Sunburst asked, waving a hoof in front of Starlight's face. She was able to snap out of her trance to see Sunburst's eyes, looking deep into hers. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, we can just forget this happened." Sunburst's face was still pretty red, but showed a lot less panic.
Starlight stepped back a little to catch her breath. "No, no, I just, need some time to think. Okay?"
"Uh, yeah, sure. That's fine. Take all the time you need. I- Woah!" Sunburst tried to play it cool, but ended up slipping on the blanket on his way to the table.
They both laughed lightly, before Starlight slowly turned around and headed down the hallway.
* * *
Sunburst gave a small smile as he watched Starlight leave the room. "That went better than expected," he said to himself.
"You bet it did!" came a familiar voice from behind Sunburst.
Sunburst turned to see Spike jogging up to him. "Spike? How much of that did you see?" Sunburst asked, scratching the back of his head.
"All of it!" Spike replied, cheerfully. "You did a lot better than usual. Honestly, I thought you were going to explode when you saw her that close."
"Thanks... I guess." Sunburst said, making a confused look. "Wait, 'better than usual?' How long have you been watching me and Starlight?"
"Oh, since you got here, but that's not important right now. I've got to get you ready for the next step."
Sunburst was a little upset to find out that he was being monitored, but didn't really want to argue how weird that is. "What do you mean 'get me ready?'"
"Well I need you to rehearse your lines," Spike replied. "Now, repeat after me, 'Hey, Starlight. I wanted to ask you if we could go out to dinner tonight? There's something I've been meaning to tell you.'"
Sunburst's face grew red. "You want me to ask her on a date?! I can't do that! I can't even look her in the eyes without getting tongue-tied."
"That's why we have to practice. If you ever want things to move forward with Starlight, then you need to make the first move."
"But I-"
"No buts! Do you want to be with Starlight, or let somepony else have her and live in regret?" Spike scolded.
Sunburst thought for a second. Do I really want this? Am I willing to risk my friendship with Starlight to take this first step? Sunburst remembered how happy he felt whenever she smiled. He remembered how good it felt to be near her, and how she would always brighten up his day. She was so warm and soft in my hooves. I felt like I could stay that way forever. He thought about never feeling that warmth again.
"Yes. This is what I want. " Sunburst stated, confidently.
"Then let's get back to work. Once you have this down, we're going to find Starlight and tell her immediately." Spike replied. "Now, repeat after me..."
* * *
The rapid beating of Starlight's heart had finally started to slow down by the time she was able to find Twilight. Twilight was sitting in the throne room with a colorful new Daring Do book, levitating in front of her.
Twilight turned her head and gave a slight wave. "Hey Starlight. How are your studies with Sunburst going?" she asked, lowering the book slightly.
"Oh, they're going great," Starlight said, with just the slightest sense of hesitation.
"Huh? Starlight, your face is all red. Are you okay?" Twilight placed the book down on the table.
"Actually, that's what I'm here to talk about." Starlight moved forward and took a seat in the throne next to Twilight. "Well, ever since Sunburst got here a while back, him and I have been getting a lot closer. At first, I thought it was just because we were old friends, but recently, I've started to see Sunburst very differently. "
"What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked, adjusting herself so she could better focus on Starlight.
"Well, up until a few days ago, I just liked hanging out with him, but now, I feel like I want to spend all of my time with him. But, I've also started to get a little nervous around him. That doesn't make sense right? Why would I get nervous around a person I want to be around?"
"Hmm. Okay, how did you feel when you last talked to him?" Twilight asked, scratching her chin.
"Well, um, earlier this morning, I sort of... woke up in his hooves. I felt so relaxed and calm, but when he woke up, my body went crazy. I couldn't think straight, my heart was beating so fast it felt like it would burst, and I couldn't get my mouth to work. I just- I don't know what this feeling is."
"Well, from the way you're describing it, it sounds to me like you might've fallen for Sunburst. Maybe it had something to do with how he saved you from that spider last night."
"You think I'm in love with Sunburst?" The idea rolled around in her head. It's not like she knew what love felt like. She spent most of her time all by herself. She never really had anyone to turn to growing up.
"That's what it sounds like to me." Twilight told her.
"Do you have any personal experience with this type of thing?" Starlight asked.
Twilight's face turned pink and she seemed to get a little nervous. "Well, no, uh. Not really..." Twilight went silent. "Look, what's important here is, now that you have an idea of what you're feeling, what are you going to do with it?"
That particular question, was a really good one, What should I do? I don't even know if that really is what I'm feeling. Love. It didn't seem wrong to her, it just felt strange to say. Starlight had never really thought of love before. "I don't know."
"Well, whatever it is you decide to do, I'm here to help." Twilight said, smiling at Starlight.
"Thanks, Twilight. I think I just need some time to think things through." Starlight stood up from her seat and smiled back at Twilight.
"I'm happy to help."
"I'll see you around, Twi," Starlight said, before turning to head out the door.
"See you later." Twilight called out before the door closed behind Starlight.