"Come back here, Flurry Heart! It's not safe to teleport around like that!" Sunburst shouted, as he looked around for the young foal. "You don't want your parents to start worrying about you again, right?!" he called, in an empty plea. Turned out that after the Crystalling, the Crystaller becomes a glorified babysitter.
Suddenly, Flurry poofed back in, right above Sunburst. She let herself fall onto Sunburst's back and he scrambled slightly to keep standing. Sunburst was able to keep his balance, then tried to grab the little filly with his magic. Flurry stopped this by puling on Sunbursts trademark cloak, slightly choking him.
When will I learn not to wear this thing around the baby? "Flurry, I told you, don't pull on that," Sunburst choked out. Flurry just laughed at the struggling Stallion below her. "That spell after the Crystalling was supposed to limit her magic. I guess that didn't work," Sunburst mumbled to himself.
"Looks like you're having fun with the baby," Cadence commented, with a small laugh as she trotted into the room.
"Oh! Princess!" Sunburst bowed on instinct. The filly just looked up at the pink Alicorn and giggled.
"I've told you Sunburst, you don't need to bow with me," Cadence said, soothingly. As Sunburst stood back up, Cadence put a hoof on Sunburst's shoulder. "You're practically family by now."
Cadence gave Sunburst one of her usual calming smiles and Sunburst couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks Princess," he said, softly. Suddenly, Flurry started pulling on Sunburst's cape again, causing him to gag. "Flurry please!"
Cadence laughed again and lifted the young filly with her magic. "Okay, Flurry. That's enough torturing Sunburst. It's only funny for so long," she said, putting Flurry on her back.
Flurry gladly grabbed onto her mother's neck and hugged her. "Momma!" she shouted out.
"Thanks for that," Sunburst said, getting a fresh breath of air. "Sometimes, I feel like the kid's trying to give me a heart attack." Despite his statement, Sunburst looked at Flurry with a smile. Sure, Flurry had made Sunburst angry and tired before, but he still loved her. Sort of makes me want my own kid... but not anytime soon.
"It's good to have you back, Sunburst. Flurry here, was asking about you," Cadence said, smiling at the filly on her back.
"She was? Did she say my name?" Sunburst asked, with hope in his eyes.
"No. But she kept teleporting to your room and pointing to your bed. It was really cute," Cadence replied.
"I wasn't sure if Flurry even cared about me. She's always waking me up in the middle of the night with her teleportation and won't eat for me," Sunburst said, slightly embarrassed.
"Of course she cares about you. Honestly, you probably see Flurry Heart more than Shining and I," Cadence admitted, with slight sadness in her voice.
Sunburst noticed the sadness in her words and got closer. "Well, that's not your fault. I mean, you have all of the Crystal Empire to run. Besides, it's pretty common for monarchs to have others raise their children," he told her. Cadence looked at him with a smile, and Sunburst smiled right back. "That's why I'm so happy you let me go to Ponyville on such short notice. I really thought you'd be mad when I didn't come back for two months."
"Well, there's a reason for that," Cadence told him. Sunburst looked at her, confusion in his face. "Come, follow me. It's time for Flurry's nap." Cadence turned around and headed out of the room with Sunburst close behind.
"What do you mean by that, princess?" Sunburst asked, trotting quietly next to Cadence.
"I knew exactly what the 'Friendship Problem' was for," Cadence told him, as she trotted on.
"Wait, how? I thought that it was Spike's plan?"
"Do you really think Spike was the one who noticed the spark between you two? I'm the Princess of Love, I noticed your feeling the moment I saw you with Starlight," Cadence explained, calmly. "However, I wanted to try my hand at matchmaking without spells. So I suggested that Spike try to get you two together."
Sunburst was dumbstruck. Sunburst could've asked any number of questions but he decided to go with the obvious one. "Why would you do that for me...?" Sunburst asked.
"Well, you've been a huge help with Flurry lately and I wanted to return the favor."
She did that for me? This was a weird feeling for Sunburst. No one had ever cared about him enough, except maybe Starlight, to do something like that for him. "Then... why didn't Spike say anything about you?" Sunburst asked, trying to focus his mind.
"I'm a lot more subtle than you think," Cadence replied, with a smirk. "He still thinks it was all his idea. I knew all you needed was a little time to spend with Starlight and it would eventually happen. So, I convinced Spike that you two liked each other and had him take care of it."
"I think you might be my favorite Princess now," he said, quietly. Cadence just gave him another smirk and continued walking toward Flurry's room. Cadence is a secret mastermind! That's both intriguing and disturbing.
By the time the two ponies got to Flurry's room, Flurry was already asleep on her mothers back.
"Oh, you've gotten so big, Flurry," Cadence whispered, as she looked back at her filly. "I'm not sure you'll fit in your crib anymore," she continued, looking at the small crib in front of her.
Sunburst looked at the small crib and back at Flurry. Now that he thought about it, the crib definitely was going to be too small for the rapidly growing filly. I guess you can't really expect a crib to last forever. Sure, it fit her last year when she was born, but Alicorns grow a lot faster than regular ponies.
Then, Sunburst got an idea. Sunburst's horn started to glow yellow as he readied a spell. He aimed at the crib and let the spell go, as it made the crib grow to the perfect size for Flurry.
"Oh, well that sure is useful. Thank you, Sunburst," Cadence said, before placing the sleeping filly in the crib. Cadence could see Sunburst trying to hold back his excitement, and smiled. "The better magic is definitely a welcomed side effect of your new relationship."
"You'll have to thank Twilight for that one. She's the one who thought that would work," Sunburst admitted, still brimming from the successful spell.
Cadence smiled. "Yeah, she's great," she told him. "Well, I've got to go find Shiny. He's got to help me out with a few things. I'll talk to you later, Sunburst." And with that Cadence walked out the door and down the hallway.
Sunburst watched her walk away, then turned to the sleeping filly. She was just about the cutest thing he'd ever seen, all curled up in a ball and sucking on her hoof. "I missed you too, Flurry," he said, lowering his head to give Flurry a kiss on the head.
* * *
Starlight stood in awe at the giant crystal castle in front of her. Sure, Starlight had been here before,but it still caught her off guard. She slowly raised a hoof to the door, and was about to knock. The door swung open, just in time for Starlight to jump out of the way of an orange projectile being flung out the door.
The object hit a wall and fell to the ground. Then it started moving. It groaned in a familiar voice.
"Sunburst?" Starlight asked, looking at the orange unicorn. Just then, she noticed a small pink blob cradled in Sunburst's hooves.
"Got you, Flurry!" he said, confidently. "Now, no more gravity spells!" Sunburst looked up to see Starlight, standing over him.
"That's not a very nice way to greet your new marefriend," Starlight said, jokingly. "I'd much prefer a simple 'hello' as opposed to you flying into my face through a door."
"Oh, um, hi Starlight. Wh-what are you doing here?" Sunburst asked, standing up with Flurry in his magical hold. "And why do you have so many bags with you?" Sunburst looked at the half a dozen bags Starlight was floating with her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were moving in."
"Oh, I am." Starlight replied, matter-of-factly.
"Oh, okay, that explains the- WAIT WHAT?!"
"Yeah, Twilight said something about moving to the Crystal Empire and studying the magic of love." Starlight explained. She put her hoof up to her chin. "I'm pretty sure she just likes the idea of us as a couple."
"But-but where are you gonna sleep?" Sunburst weakly argued.
Starlight gave raised her eyebrow at him. "Sunny, it's a castle, there's tons of rooms," she pointed out. "So of course I'll be sleeping in your room! Okay bye!" she said, quickly, after planting a fast kiss on Sunburst's cheek and running into the castle.
Sunburst was stunned for a second before he realized what she said. He shouted and chased after her, still using his magic to hold Flurry. "I don't think that's such a good idea!" he shouted from behind Starlight, face deep red.
Starlight eventually lost Sunburst and ran into a certain pink Alicorn.
"Oh, hello Starlight. Twilight told me you were coming, but I didn't think you'd be here so soon," Cadence said, looking down at the unicorn.
"Hello Princess," Starlight said, with a short bow. "I was just looking for Sunburst's bedroom. Could you help me find it?"
"Oh, but don't you want to set down your bags somewhere before you talk to Sunburst?" Cadence asked.
Starlight was about to speak up, when Sunburst came bursting down the hallway. "Princess Cadence, tell Starlight she can't stay in my room!"
Cadence looked back at Sunburst, as a mischievous grin crept onto her face. "That's a wonderful idea, Sunburst. I think you two should share a room. It'll help you two get closer as a couple," Cadence said, turning back towards Starlight. "Here, I'll take Flurry with me, and you show Starlight to her new room." Cadence grabbed Flurry with her magic and floated the baby onto her back.
Sunburst was as red as Big Mac by now; as Starlight could practically see all the lewd and embarrassing thoughts running through his head.
Starlight walked over to Sunburst's side and wrapped one hoof around his neck. "Come on, Sunburst! Let's go to our new room," she whispered in Sunburst's ear, somehow making him even redder.
Sunburst gave a tiny squeak, but didn't move. Starlight looked into his eyes. Sunburst was completely petrified.
"I think I broke him," Starlight said, with a laugh. "Unfortunately, I think I'm gonna have to push you to our new room now. Oh well! I'll find it eventually. Let's go, Sunburst!" Starlight pushed her new coltfriend statue down the hallway, in search of her new room and new life in the Crystal Empire. Her happy, and awkward, new life with her best friend.