Stamp! Slap! Pssshhhh… Stamp! Slap! Pssshhhh… Stamp! Slap! Pssshhhh…
Sigh
Stamp! Slap! Pssshhhh… Stamp! Slap! Pssshhhh...
Knock knock knock!
“Hello, come in!” called Cadence from her office desk, throwing the papers she was stamping into the desk with joyous gusto. “Please… come in. I’m dying here…” she added quietly, burying her face in her hooves. The second she spotted the orange and white foreleg step through the door she knew exactly who was arriving.
“Sunburst! Good morning. How is our favourite Crystaller?” she exclaimed as he trudged through the door.
“Heya Cadence, uhh, yeah… good…” he trailed off, clearly not reflecting his half hearted statement.
“Regardless of your wellness, we’re going to talk because I am ready to use my forehead as the official stamp if I have to do any more of this evil, grease infested, city-orientation and development paperwork.”
“What does that even mean?” Sunburst asked, slightly thrown off course.
“I don’t even know! Honestly, I just read it and stamp it if it goes through the legal pipeline. Oh, I need a coffee.”
“Sleeping problems?” Sunburst asked.
“Well, it seems as if our darling Flurry Heart is a high achiever,” she said in a very as-a-matter-of-fact tone. “It seems as if she has started her terrible two’s at one-and-a-half…” Cadence sighed. “Shining has the morning shift with her in his office, you don’t suppose you could maybe kinda sorta start her one hour session an hour early? So I can get this stupid paperwork done? And then… sorta kinda make that one hour session turn into a two?” She grinned weakly.
“So… like every Monday morning,” Sunburst sighed back.
“Well, it sounds like someone has received as much sleep as I have… that being twenty minutes and twenty one coffees. Speaking of which you are going to have to invite that coltfriend of yours over to the castle to teach the castle barista how to do a latte properly,” Cadence grinned.
Yet at the mention of Ristretto, Sunburst slumped harder, his eyes getting slightly puffy, it didn’t take long for the Princess of Love to see a stallion in distress.
“Sunburst? Oh gosh, it’s about him, isn’t it, whatever it is, I know that look from a mile away,” She used her magic to quickly scrape a chair over to the front of the desk. “Sunburst, I want you to tell me everything alright?”
He quickly shook his head. “No, no, honestly,” he sniffled, “it’s fine, I’ll, I’ll be fine,” he looked up from his staring contest from the floor, “it’s nothing, it’s stupid.” He looked away to hide the tear drop sliding down his face. Quickly using her magic, Cadence gently tilted his head back towards her seeing the fresh trail of a tear.
“Sunburst, listen to me, whatever is happening to you, it clearly isn’t stupid and it most certainly isn’t nothing. Yet sadly, while I sit in this chair, I am your employer and Equestrian employment law grants you the right to your privacy,” she got up and walked around the desk to give him a warm hug, letting him bury his face in her chest, “but as a friend, I deserve to know, regardless of how stupid it is.”
Taking in a deep breath, Sunburst whimpered a bit before beginning to talk, “His little brother got a scholarship for a p-prestigious school in Canterlot and-” a sob lurched forward in his chest choking his words, “I..I’m sorry.” Taking a deep breath he carried on, “Ristretto got a promotion there too and… I-I should be happy for him, but…”
“He has to leave you, doesn’t he?” Cadence winced.
His head firmly tucked into Cadence’s chest, he tried to speak without having any tears escape his shut eyes.
“I...I...I didn’t want it to end like this…” he whispered.
“What’s stopping you?” Cadence whispered back.
Sunburst looked up at the princess, his head tilt in confusion at her question. “I...I don’t understand?”
“Sit down Sunburst, I want to tell you a story.” Cadence broke her hug with a small squeeze and returned to her side of the desk.
“Sunburst… look, while the situation looks unique, to say the least, would it surprise you to hear that the exact same thing happened to me?”
Sunburst thought about this for a moment, still not catching on. “Well, yeah, it would actually. Have you really?”
“Well yes, Sunburst. I didn’t always live here in the Crystal Empire. When I was Celestia’s student I fell in love with the most amazing, sweetest colt I had ever met, Shining. We were in love and before we knew it… well, after a rocky start, with the help of Twilight, we got married.” Cadence smiled. “But not long after, the Crystal Empire returned, plagued by King returned also we were immediately assigned to protecting the kingdom… and well, you can guess what happened after that.”
Sunburst nodded. Cadence’s stare gained emptiness, her smile fading as she looked back to Sunburst.
“While we may have defeated King Sombra, the empire needed a ruler. As you can imagine Princess Celestia came to us first, while our coronation was celebrated as us throwing ourselves at the throne and accepting such an honourable title, the truth… the truth is that Shining and I initially declined the offer.”
“What? B-b-but why? Ruling over a nation,” Sunburst asked, stunned at the revelation.
“A kingdom far away from our friends, from Shining’s guard and away from my mentor. A kingdom far away from our families, the ones we always hoped we would live amongst. We always had this fantasy of raising our future foal around our parents and other family. Not to mention the fact that Shining’s sister lives in a town even further away than Canterlot. He loves Twilight to death and, at the time, it just seemed unthinkable to move such a distance away.
“But the main reason we moved away, I was a princess of Canterlot; if my duties were not going to be carried out in the Crystal Empire, I would have to relocate to the palace. Not to mention that Shining, as a captain of the guard, might have long periods where he would be away. It was very hard to choose. I had to move away from friends and family and the city, but here, Shining and I get to love each other, and no duties remove me from always being there for him. But the main reason we moved away… I was a princess of Canterlot; my duties were final. So, we moved here, where we could be together.” Cadence smiled and looked out the window.
“It seems to me you have a decision to make. I’m not going to be able to give you an an answer, this is one you need to make, but just know that I think I might be able to find a researcher in the field of historical magical culture and artifacts in the Canterlot research centre, if the occasion calls for it.”
“But… s-seriously? But what about Flurry Heart?” Sunburst’s jaw lay agape at the offer.
“My dear Flurry will be in perfectly capable hooves. Although not as skilled as yours, we will find her somepony who will teach her and help her magic grow.” Cadence smiled a little bit, looking up at the door. “Speaking of it should be my turn with her in an hour or so. She may drive me absolutely up the wall, but I love her to death.”
“Well.. it seems as if I have a lot of thinking to do. Thank you once again princess, this means so much to me, all of this.” Sunburst smiled back. “You want me in by twelve for Flurry’s session?”
“Twelve thirty?” Cadence guiltily smiled, looking down at the empty cot next to the desk. “I think her and I might need a bit of quality time together.”
“Excellent, I’ll see you then, Princess!” Sunburst replied, beginning to leave the office.
“Okay. Oh, and Sunburst, I wanted to say something.” Sunburst turned around, taking his hoof off the doorknob. “I just wanted to tell you that if you do decide to move to Canterlot, just know I will literally teleport you into my office if you don’t visit me… that and I hope you become a dad one day.”
Sunburst tilted his head in confusion. “Why? I’m not much of the fatherly type,” Sunburst replied adamantly.
“Sunburst, seriously? You are amazing around Flurry, and take it from the princess of freaking love Sunburst, take it from the mother of the child you foalsit and teach. I can feel the love you have for kids, for Ristretto too. Stallion or no, you have an instinct some mothers would envy.”
Sunburst stood there for a moment, thinking about this. “I, I actually have a bit of a personal question to ask… may I?”
“Of course, Sunburst! Nothing is ever too personal around me.” Cadence smiled.
“How did you even ask Shining to have a foal with him? It seems like such a crazy question to put into words,” Sunburst asked.
“Like any other wife really; we were in bed, cuddling and it just sort of came out. I just,” at this moment Shining burst into the room in a frantic state, the sound of a filly bawling her eyes out from in the hall, “said, ‘I love you so much, do you think it’s time we had a foal?’.”
The second after what she had said, fire filled Cadence’s eyes. “CAN’T YOU SEE I AM BUSY, SHINING!” she shouted, sending Shining reeling backwards.
“You can have Flurry now!” Shining quickly replied pulling the pram into the room with a smile wider than the cheshire cat.
“I’m just gonna make my way out.” Sunburst smiled and rushed out the room.
Cadence looked relieved as she levitated Flurry into her calming hooves. “Thank Celestia, Shining, I swear we need attached offices, I nearly got detachment sickness.”
Shining looked around nervously, before closing the door slowly. “Listen, honey, can we talk about those conversations you are having with Sunburst?”
…
Gentle hoofsteps tapped lightly on the wet cobblestones of a rainy Canterlot evening. The methodic, even steps only just audible over the light pitter-patter of a late night shower. Owning such steps was the only pony in the quiet street. Ristretto walked slowly through upper-class district of Canterlot on his way to his small house near the city’s outer edge, barely a short walk from one of the most beautiful views this side of Equestria.
It didn’t take long for Ristretto to make it to his house, the sunken stallion’s lip quivered slightly as he reached the front porch. The lights were on inside waiting for his return even though Hazel had long since gone to bed, after his day getting settled in.
Ristretto walked on, trotting through the small puddles through the cracks in the soaked road. Everything about Canterlot was vibrant, even the rainy days. He kept walking until the end of the road was in sight. With the end of the road came the edge of Canterlot, the lights of Ponyville lay below across a dark, barely visible landscape. Giving a long sigh Ristretto put his hooves over the railing, paying little attention to his saturated coat. Looking outwards he saw the lights of the train heading away from Canterlot towards Ponyville, after that it would go east to Fillydelphia, the last run of the night.
Looking past Ponyville, there was a vast, empty countryside, dotted with forests, and black rivers, but mostly fields, oceans really, extending to the horizon and beyond. On the other side of the mountain, far over the horizon, he knew the Crystal Empire was at sleep, including a certain orange unicorn., Sighing again, he looked on, holding back the tear that were starting to well up in his eyes.
“Why is this so much harder than I thought?” he asked himself as he rested his head on the railing and looking down in defeat. A shiver ran up his back as the wet cold finally found it’s way through his coat. Suddenly the rain started to fall a bit harder, Ristretto could certainly feel it at this stage.
“Hey, you there,” Ristretto heard a voice coming from nearby, looking around he noticed a small bistro bar on the corner of the street’s end. Within the limits of the small venue’s patio was a burly shop keeper looking right at him. Ristretto looked around, pointing his hoof to himself, confused. “Yeah! You! Didn’t you get the forecast? It’s gonna start hailing soon! You should get under shelter quick!” the shopkeeper shouted.
Coming to his senses, Ristretto looked up and noticed the rain getting very heavy. Rushing forward he made his way under the patio, earning a much closer view of the shopkeep. The stallion was stocky, making his white shop uniform almost comically tight around his build. Looking into his shop it was a very clean, neat bistro, yet nearly all of the confectionaries, hot and cold, were doughnuts.
“The name’s Doughnut Joe, but most just call me Joe.” Joe looked out and back at his cafe. “It’s getting mighty harsh out there, you might want to stay here until that weather there dies down.”
Looking out Ristretto had managed to get under just in time before the hail started to pour, shaking off his coat he began to shiver.
“Cold? I got some towels in the back, come on in.” Joe walked into the shop, holding the door open for Ristretto.
Hesitating Ristretto looked back at Joe. “I have a colt at home, I-I really should head back”
“Not to put it bluntly or anything, but you wouldn’t do any good to your colt knocked out from a buckball-sized hailstone on your run back home,” Joe replied, opening the door a bit wider. Looking along the dark street Ristretto hesitated once again. Letting down his head in defeat, he made his way into the coffee shop.
“Thanks, Joe. My name’s Ristretto, by the way.” Ristretto gave a weak smile and made his way inside. Looking down Ristretto froze. His wet coat was quickly soaking the floor, sending him diving for the welcome mat. “Sorry! Oh gosh, do you have a towel or something?”
Putting his hoof up Joe quickly silenced the panicking stallion. “It’s fine, you ain’t the first and won’t be the last pony to walk into this place wet. I’ll just go get some towels.”
Standing awkwardly on the mat Ristretto realised how cold he actually was. As he took in the shop he stood, shivering. It was a pretty stock standard confectionary store and cafe. Polished black and white tiled floor, booths and seating arranged around the place and a clean front counter, littered with things ready for the purchase. It was quite a nice place, yet Ristretto was the only pony about, aside from Joe.
“Here ya’ go.” Joe floated a towel to Ristretto, letting him dry himself off as he dried the floor using a rag. “Alright, now why don’t ya’ sit down at the front here and have a cup o’ somethin’ hot.” Joe grabbed the towels in his aura and sent them back to where he had come from. Heading around the counter he fired up the barista machine he had there.
“Could I grab a long black and maybe one of those savoury doughnuts you have over there?” Ristretto gestured towards the doughnut warmer.
Doughnut Joe raised an eyebrow. “Long black, huh, based on that and your cutie mark I’d say you’re a stallion of the coffee industry,” Joe replied, getting to work on the long black. “By the way those doughnuts over there are rosemary, garlic and thyme stuffed with mozzarella and some secret herbs and spices on the outside. A little creation of mine.”
Putting his hooves out and slumping on the counter Ristretto looked on half heartedly. “Sounds perfect.”
Joe plonked a fresh made long black on the table, Ristretto perked up a bit, looking down into the elegant dark liquid. Giving it a sniff and a sip, Ristretto looked on at the Joe now getting his doughnut. “You really know your stuff don’t you.” Ristretto looked back down at the coffee impressed.
“I learnt from a barista travelling through Canterlot. Took one sip of my coffee and taught me how to do it the right way. Speaking of travelling, I can tell by that accent and the fact I haven’t seen you ‘round here before that you’re fresh to Canterlot yourself,” Joe replied, beginning to wipe some glassware behind the counter.
“You’re good, Joe. I’m from the Crystal Empire, I’ve just moved up here for a promotion.” Ristretto took a bite from the doughnut, looking down in surprise at the taste.
“That’s good, if it’s a promotion. At least you know you’re doing what you do the best it can be done. So tell me, Ristretto, what compels a pony to walk around like a sad sack at one in the morning on a Sunday night, in the middle of a hailstorm?” Joe asked, returning to his glassware.
“Just thinking, I guess, I mean, at first moving to Canterlot seemed like a dream come true, it should be; this place is amazing and so is my job, but… I left somepony behind and things got complicated, I guess.” Ristretto looked down and took another swig of his coffee.
“Wow, that sounds… rough. If I am picking up what you’re putting down, correctly, it sounds real rough.”
“It was fun, but it ended so quickly. I don’t think I will ever be able to completely forget that pony.” Ristretto finished off his coffee, much to the amazement of Joe.
“Well, it may seem hard at first, but they’ll be plenty of mares around Canterlot that will go for a stallion in a uniform,” Joe added.
Ristretto nodded looking down at the half eaten doughnut. “His name was Sunburst.”
Doughnut Joe raised an eyebrow for a second before understanding. “Ah, apologies for making presumptions, sadly I am not too experienced in the Canterlot community of stallions that take particular liking to stallions, I hope you find that special somepony though.”
Ristretto looked up with a faint smile. “Thanks Joe, I thought I did, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be, huh?”
“Well, if that stallion really did feel the same, you might be seeing him sooner than you probably think.” Joe finished the glassware and took away the cup and plate from Ristretto.
“Unno, I really hope you are right on the inside.” Ristretto smiled to Joe, and plopped five bits on the table.
“Uhh, the meal was four.” Joe walked over to the counter and pushed a bit back at Ristretto.
“And the talk was one, thanks for listening.” Ristretto smiled and pushed the bit back into the pile.
“I do appreciate it, mister Ristretto. I hope everything goes well for you, it looks to be clearing a bit out there. Just one thing though…”
Ristretto looked back at Joe before heading out the shop. “Yeah?”
“I have a feeling it won’t be hard for you to find somepony, but just know that I have a feeling you will see this Sunburst character sooner than you think.”
“Thanks Joe! Have a good night, you’ll be seeing me again in any case.”
“Seeya Ristretto.”