Will There Ever Be An Us
Gameshark007
It was a sunny day in the Crystal Empire, and for once, Sunburst was running late.
The amber unicorn weaved through the streets like a cheetah, dodging each passerby, granted, not as gracefully. “Late, late, late, late. Why in the world of Celestia did I have to pick THIS time to be late!” Sunburst hammered himself in his mind. Even though his legs ached he really wanted to keep to his promise. “Of all the times not to be punctual, you sure pick the dumbest times.” he gritted his teeth.
The pony had eyebags, his mane was frazzled and he had a tired look in hie eyes, obviously a side effect of all the work he’s been doing. After the longest time of not being so, he was happy.
Nothing matched his surprise when he saw Starlight’s letter on his desk last week. “You should have next weekend of, you obviously had a little too much work these past few months.” He remember Cadence saying to him when he told her about it. “Besides, spending time with your oldest friend will do you good.”
And did him good it did. He wrote back immediately, promising her he’ll be the one to pick her up from the train station. His mind raced with ideas of what to do, though he felt a little unsure. Unsure because he wanted to tell her for the longest time one simple thing.
He remembers back when he saw Starlight that faithful morning that his heart skipped a beat. The pony he’s been thinking about, the one that never left his mind, was suddenly there, right in front of his house, wanting to be friends again. He felt awkward at first, but they worked it out, and even got him a job as the crystaller of Princess Cadence.
It’s funny he thought, how fate weaves itself, how in the weirdest pieces of circumstance could he ever be given a second chance. He won’t mess up this time, he was sure of it.
He remembers his heart skipping a beat when he saw her for the first time in many years. She was still as beautiful as he found her when they were young kids. He remember him getting sweaty and nauseous at first, but eventually that feeling went away the more time he spent with her. It’s weird what love can do to you.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he finally reached the train station. To his dismay, the train was already parked at the drop off station. “You're so stupid Sunburst, I just hope she’s not upset.” He smirked a moseyed up to the station itself.
He carefully scanned the crowd for her, looking out for her purple mane and coat. After looking for a few minutes, he started to worry. Had she decided not to come?
Then in the middle of the crowd, he saw her.
She was as beautiful as ever. Her purple mane was combed and her matching coat was brushed to a shine. On her was a simple saddlebag, adorned with the Seal of the Friendship Castle.
Sunburst gritted his teeth, he started shaking a bit as well. “No, I won’t get my nerves in the way of enjoying this weekend!” He said with a thought, and slowly got her attention.
When she saw him, her face lit up into a wide grin and she dashed towards him, wrapping her arms around him with a big hug. “Sunburst! It’s so nice to see you again!” she said happily. Well at least she’s not upset he thought as he wrapped his hoof around her. This close, he could smell the lavender oil in her mane, which for some other reason, he really liked.
“Uh, hey Starlight! It’s nice to see you to.” He said as they let go of each other. She looked at him up and down, and smirked.
“Wow, you look-”
“Overworked? I know.” he said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, Cadence is really working your gears isn’t she?” she said with a smile. Oh Goddess that smile. He had to look a way a bit.
“You could say that…” He brushed the back of his head. “You look great by the way.”
Starlight giggled. Okay, now he was convinced she was playing with him.
“Thanks, Sunburst. Shall we be on our way?”
With that they set off towards the castle, and all he could think about is what he has ahead of him.
“So yeah, Twilight has been teaching me a lot of stuff lately, I like how she’s pushing my boundaries every lesson.” She ended as they sat at the lounge of the castle, coffee cup in hooves. Sunburst nodded, looked down and took a sip of coffee. He hated that feeling of having a lump in his throat.
“You haven’t been talking much, you okay?” She looked at him with concern.
Sunburst locked eyes with her. Is this the right time?
“Uh yeah. I am. I’m just thinking.” he stared into the abyss of his coffee.
“About?”
“I can’t tell you yet.”
“Is it secret?”
“Yes.”
“Is this a project your working on or…”
“Not really.”
“Is this like a mission that your going on?”
“No, not really. Please stop.”
“Why can’t you tell me then?”
“STARLIGHT, PLEASE STOP.” He snapped at her. She looked at him with a stunned expression. He slowly realized what he just did, and he recoiled back in horror.
“... I’m sorry Sunburst, I didn’t mean to push your button. I’m still learning how to talk to ponies…” she whispered after a long period of silence.
“No, don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have gotten angry. It’s just that it’s a secret and I don’t want anyone to find out.” He said with a sigh. Starlight still had a pained look in her eyes but she simply said “Okay.”
For the next few hours, they walked around town and did some small talk, while all this time he still felt his nerves getting to him. He tried smiling and tried to be a bit more upbeat, but Starlight seemed to grow more and more pained.
It hurt him to see her like this. He thought of what she said to him that day they reconnected. He felt so sorry, so sorry for what he didn’t do. But his nerves made his head ache even more. He cursed a little in his head. If only I were stronger he thought.
Eventually they found their way back to the castle, after Starlight suggesting that they play their favorite board game together. All the more did he feel more pained.
“Okay, if I move here then I’ll get to attack! Roll the dice!” She tossed the polysided die in the air and it landed on the table with a small tap. “Dang it! Missed the roll by 3!” She said, her voice strained and shrill. “Your turn Sunburst. Hope you can beat my cavalry!” He felt that lump in his throat again, and started to feel a little hazy. After a while of her looking at him she appeared to get more and more agitated, where finally she burst.
“Okay! I’ve had enough! I came here to the Crystal Empire to spend time with you and you didn’t even pay the slightest bit of attention to me! Do you even like me Sunburst? What do I have to do to earn your love?” Starlight exploded in anger and Sunburst reeled back in surprise.
“I’ve come all this way to make this one thing work in my life, with someone who I love very much and he doesn’t even take the slightest bit of time to help me! AM I WORKING AT NOTHING SUNBURST? AM I REALLY NOTHING TO YOU-”
“NO STARLIGHT! YOUR NOT NOTHING TO ME! YOU’VE NEVER BEEN NOTHING TO ME!” Sunburst finally shouted. Starlight stared at him in the eyes, then she started to slump and she suddenly burst out crying.
“I’m so sorry Sunburst! It’s just that I wanted to come here to be with you because I thought I was losing you! I thought I was gonna lose my best friend! I’ve lost you once and I don’t want to lose you again, please don’t hate me, please I beg you!” she started sobbing, tears flowing down her face and dripping on to the ground.
This shook Sunburst and he took a deep breath. “Starlight, I don’t hate you, I never hated you. In fact it’s the opposite. The thing is Starlight...” He said. It’s now or never.
“I love you! I loved you for a long time. It’s just that my stupid brain kept on telling me that it wouldn’t work, that you don’t love me the way I love you. I was so sure of it that I let my brain get the best of me and I knew it was never gonna work out! I’m sorry I hurt you Starlight, you mean the world to me. You really do.”
He took a deep breath and sat down, wiping a tear from his eye. All the while, Starlight looked at him with sad eyes with a hint of surprise.
“What makes you think it won’t work?” She asked.
“What wouldn’t work?”
“Us.”
Sunburst was taken aback at what he just heard. Starlight walked up to him and got very close, her face almost touching his. He looked at her sad red eyes and saw the stars in it, those stars that mesmerized him the day they first met.
And then their lips connected. It was only for a small moment, but it seemed like forever to the two. He felt a mix of surprise and happiness, happiness that he never experienced before.
Just as he thought it would last forever, their lips parted and there was silence. They simply stared at each other, taken in that moment they shared.
“The thing is Sunburst…” Starlight broke the silence with a scratch of her hoof. “I love you, I love you to.”
Reality hit him like a brick. For once, he didn’t think of anything. All that inhabited his head was silence. Silence for once, he thought was necessary.
Then all of a sudden, Starlight stood up, shaking Sunburst out of his stupor. “W-where are you going?” he asked absentmindedly.
“To my room, I need to be alone for a while.” she said walking towards the door. “Goodnight Sunburst.” She said, with a pained look in her eyes.
And before he could say anything, he saw the door close and he was all alone once again.
That night Sunburst tossed and turned in bed, trying to wave off the events of that night away. He felt a mix of shock, anger, sadness, and weirdly enough, happiness. He felt so conflicted. “She likes me? She actually liked me all this time? After all that happened? Why am I feeling like this?” He put his head under his pillow, trying to drown out the thoughts.
Then after a while, it hit him. It didn’t matter what he felt. She actually wanted something to happen, and all he was doing right now is lying in bed feeling conflicted. He stood up. No, he was going to be brave at least once in his life, he was gonna actually do something to fix things. And with that, he walked out the door and towards Starlight’s room.
He walked up to the door and he took a deep breath. His braveness faltered for a split second, the he shook it out of him. No there’s no turning back. He was going to do it.
When he knocked on the door, it swung open, reveling the dark room inside. He closed his eyes for just a moment and swung open the door. “Starlight? Starlight, are you awake?” He whispered as he entered.
Then she saw her lying next to her bed, fast asleep. “I guess not.” he said. He smiled and picked her up with his magic and put her on the bed, making sure to cover her with a blanket.
He walked up to the bed and looked at her, her chest heaving up and down with a gentle snore coming from her mouth.
“Goodnight, Starlight.” he said.
Starlight woke up with a start. Light poured in through the crystal glass, illuminating the room in a yellow glow. She yawned and sat up. Hazily, she put a hoof off the bed and then tripped on a sleeping Sunburst that was on the floor next to her bed.
“OUCH! I know we had a rough yesterday but you didn’t have to step on me.” he sat up and yawned.
“Sunburst? What are you doing in my room?” she asked, standing up with a surprised look.
“I just didn’t want last night to end on a heavy note. I came here to apologize and I saw you sleeping on the floor. I guess my smart idea was to sleep when you were sleeping and apologize once it was morning.” he brushed the back of his head.
Starlight looked at him and smiled and most sincere smile he ever saw. She slowly walked up to him and wrapped him in her hooves. He wrapped his hooves in kind and kissed her head lovingly. They shared this moment, hugging like there was no urgency in the world, or problems to solve. For once it was just them, and nothing else.
“Sunburst? Will there ever be an us? Tell me the truth.” She whispered while in his arms. There was a moment of silence, and then he whispered back “I really want there to be. I really do.”
Sunburst and Starlight stood at the train terminal as the train heading to Ponyville rolled into the station. As the train moved to rest, ponies started gathering and entering the holding cars. Starlight and Sunburst locked eyes with a mix of sadness, and happiness from what they’ve been through.
“You promise to write? I think you’ll be seeing a lot of letters from me.” Starlight said with a smile. Sunburst replied with a chuckle “I did agree to that didn’t I? Yeah, I guess it’ll give me something to do before bed.”
“TRAIN LEAVING IN FIVE MINUTES.” the conductor yelled.
“So I guess this is goodbye, huh?” He whispered. Starlight smiled brightly “It’s a see you later dummy, I think we’ll be seeing each other plenty in the future.” she scratched the floor with her hoof.
“I really enjoyed myself this weekend Sunburst.” She gushed. “Me too, me too.” He replied. They stared at each other for a moment until the Conductor yelled a three minute warning. “Shoot I gotta go Sunburst, let’s keep in touch!” Starlight and Sunburst glanced at the train.
“Oh, and Sunburst?” She said, catching his attention. And for a moment their lips met for a brief moment. “We’ll see each other soon okay, there’s plenty more where that came from.” she whispered with smitten eyes. He looked at her with a dazed look and smiled. “Yeah, see you soon.”
Starlight ran up to the train and waved a final goodbye. Before he knew it the train whizzed past and he watched it go into the horizon. As he watched the train disappear he smiled and thought “Yes, there will be an us.”.