//------------------------------// // 11 - Class is in Session // Story: Sunburst to the Rescue // by David Silver //------------------------------// Stellar sat, towering over the little ones of different species around her. A pad floated beside her, taking notes as Applejack spoke. She nodded lightly as the farmer went on and on about the importance of teamwork, then raised a hoof to be called on. Applejack hesitated a moment. "Oh, um, yes, Stellar Flare was it?" "That it is," She smiled in her easy way, surveying Applejack in a calculating fashion. "I just wanted to say that I really admire a good work ethic. A team that works together, as friends, can get so much accomplished." Applejack blinked in pleased surprise. "Yes! Exactly right. Have you done a lot of work on teams then?" Stellar put a hoof to her chest. "One of my specialties. I was, and still am, the lead of The Sire's Hollow Development Committee. It is only through teamwork that we move forward." Applejack considered with a tap of her chin. "Well, we'll have to see about getting you in another class if you've got this one figured out n' all, but fer now, how about ya give a hand. Occellus, Yona, and Smolder, you're with her. The rest of you, with me. Today's project will be..." Twilight sat beside Sunburst. The tome was set between them, and they were reading, but Sunburst kept glancing over at her instead of reading at his usual pace, and it was slowing them down. "Are you alright?" She cocked a brow at him. "Need some water, tea? A snack?" Sunburst let out a nervous laugh. "W-what? Oh, um..." He glanced away. "Sorry, just... thinking about something Starlight said." Twilight's magic gently nudged the book and its support away across the table as she turned to look at Sunburst directly. "It's clearly affected you. Are you two having a fight? Can I help?" Sunburst smiled thinly. "You are very nice. I mean, thank you... But no, we're not fighting, promise." He adjusted his glasses despite them being on his face just fine. "It's silly anyway..." "Share." She smiled much more naturally, unaware of the cause of Sunburst's nervousness. "As friends, we should be open with our problems and feelings and work through them together." "A-are we... Well..." Twilight cocked a brow. "Are we friends? Of course we are. That feels like a silly question." She waved at him and herself. "We're sitting here, working on an exciting project, together. I care about you, and I hope you care about me. We're both passionate antiquers and, if this goes well, maybe we'll become eager spellcasters together as well. Even not, your knowledge of the field is considerable." She rose up to her hooves, stretching in place from her long time of sitting. Sunburst watched her with a soft shake of his head. Why had Starlight corrupted him? He couldn't help but watch her. Her every motion stood out to him even as he catalogued what muscles were involved out of nervousness. "I think... maybe I should recuse myself from this project." Twilight suddenly staggered. "What?! This isn't even a case, how can you recuse yourself from it?" Sunburst fiddled with his glasses. "Well, maybe not, but we are arguing each side, like, um, lawyers. Um, it's just..." Twilight set a hoof on his shoulder. "Tell me the truth." Sunburst smiled nervously. "I am... no longer unbiased." "About what?" she asked, hiking a brow. "Your horn is the matter of research. I dare say you weren't unbiased from the start. You're not being logical, which isn't very like you." Sunburst fell back onto his haunches. Not logical. He wasn't being very logical, was he? "You're right. Let's approach this with clear heads. The draw of attraction in two compatible creatures--" he waggled one hoof closer to the other in the air. "Is the result of a natural prerogative to continue the species. Each looks for qualities in the other that signify a quality partner, with traits that would benefit the species and are worthy of passing on." Twilight blinked softly, her head tilting at Sunburst. "While fascinating, I have no clue how that relates to anything we were just talking about." "And you!--" He didn't stop his rambling, caught up in his own spoken thoughts. "You're a princess, powerful, smart, magic, kind... You have just about every desirable trait a mare could have. I mean, you're not as physically powerful as Applejack or as aesthetically sculpted as Fluttershy--" "Hey!" cut in Twilight, starting to color. "But the overall package is magnificent," he concluded with a nervous smile. "Any male of your species would... see the appeal, I'm certain. You've probably had to ward away their interest before." "No?" said Twilight in a small and uncertain tone, starting to sink to her own haunches, staring at Sunburst with wide eyes. "Do you... really think all that?" Sunburst broke into nervous laughter, running a hoof through his frazzled mane. "And then you have me. Unkempt, with a crippling horn dysfunction that could be passed on to any foal he sired." He nudged at his glasses. "Suboptimal vision and--" Twilight suddenly swatted his hoof away, sending his glasses sliding across the floor with the violence. "Stop! Just... Stop." She rose to her hooves. "I had no idea you felt that way about me and... I'm flattered... but..." She took a slow breath. "What you need is not a marefriend." He shrank in place, his ears sagging. "What you need is a friend." He perked up a little, looking uncertain. "You should be able to see what makes you special, and there are many things." She pointed a hoof at his nose. "Locked in that head of yours is a brain of incalculable strength." "Um." "Don't interrupt," she chastised, shaking her head as she turned in place. "You have a keen eye, despite your phrasing, for the important things. You can spy value in a pile of debris and are willing and able to dig out that value." She turned sharply, pointing at the heavy tome. "That's why you're here! You've cracked open this puzzle that I was just about ready to give up on. You have no idea how desperate I was, how close I was to throwing in the towel and screaming until my voice gave out." "Well, yes, but--" "You saved the entirety of the Crystal Empire." She drove down a hoof with a resounding clop. "They may never erect a statue for it, but you deserve one. If you weren't there, using that mind of yours, where would we be? Doesn't have qualities of note..." She marched directly up to him. "Go ahead and call me a liar." "No! No..." He shook his head furiously as he stood up. "Never! I mean... Do... You... I mean..." He took a slow breath, reaching for his discarded glasses and gently setting them back on his nose. "Do you mean all that?" "Of... course I do." The adrenaline rush of her admission was fading, leaving Twilight blushing softly. "Now then... shall we continue?" She pulled the book back over with her magic but the support stubbornly clung to the table. Just as the tome began to fold open dangerously wide, Sunburst's magic grabbed onto it, lifting it and pulling the support over to keep it upright. "Oops! Let's not break anything's spine today." Twilight laughed a little. "Let's not. Now..." She glanced up at a clock that ticked quietly. "In half an hour, I need to get to a class. You can't help with this one, alas. It's not a lecture. It will be much more hooves on and we didn't go over this together, so it wouldn't work out very well." "Right," he said in easy agreement, tapping at the book gently. It was easier to think about work and the tome than the things they had just confessed to one another. "As we were saying--" Twilight sat down in front of her class. There were many bright-eyed and ready students, and one middle-aged mare. Stellar was watching her and had a notebook ready. Twilight couldn't fault her for looking ill-prepared. "Class, today we're going over the importance, and challenge, of remaining in contact with your friends. It can be easy, with life being what it is, for ponies, griffons, or any other creature to forget the special bonds that brought them together in the first place." A pegasus raised a wing and flapped it wildly, making a breeze through the manes of other students. "Yes?" "I don't get it." She screwed up her face a little. "Why would anyone not talk to their friends? They're my friends! I'd never stop talking to them." Twilight raised a hoof as she stood up on her hind legs. "That is an excellent question. Most of the time--" she turned towards the chalkboard. "--you don't do it on purpose. They are your friends, are they not, why wouldn't you speak to them? But that also becomes an assumption." Her magic swirled the chalk as she made notes on the board, drawing pictures as she went. "With homework, jobs, parties, holidays, and other things, you think, 'Well, they know we're friends, I can talk to them later." But too many of those, and you lose track of who they are, and it works both ways." Stellar raised a hoof, remaining seated. "Yes?" "What are good ways of re-affirming one's connections?" asked Stellar, looking interested. "If one has allowed it to degrade, that is." Twilight's ears lifted as she tapped on the board. "An excellent question, Miss Flare, but not one we're covering today. The first step is to try to avoid that in the first place." She smiled at Stellar. "But don't think I'm disregarding it. It really is a good question, and we will get to it." She tapped at the board. "For now, let's pretend you're in school, which most of you are so that shouldn't be difficult." She drew a picture of a school loosely. "Your friend is not in the school." She drew a pony to the side of the school. "You're quite busy getting good grades and doing your assignments, and you don't have much time in the day to spend with your friend." She circled the pony and drew an unhappy face over them. "How can you address this without slouching on your responsibilities?" Yona waved a hoof wildly. "Oh Oh! Talk during lunch!" Gallus shrugged softly. "Write them a letter?" Silverstream giggled as she answered, "Go for a swim after school. We can work on my assignment underwater!" The rest of the class peered. That was not an answer most of them could try to replicate. "Ah, yes, all possible answers." She set her chalk down. "It's important to realize that there are many answers, and to not assume the other person will think of them, or that it's alright to let that precious bond fade. Friendships are built on mutual wish for it, but can be lost when either side lets it. Don't let that be you." Stellar flinched softly, glancing around at the younger students as they quickly exchanged babbles about the notion. She timidly raised a hoof. "Miss Sparkle, pardon me... but if you're worried you may be doing that... what should one do? Just theoretically." Twilight directed her ears at Stellar, surprised, but not unpleasantly so, by her oldest's student's interest. "I would suggest you reach out to the other party and spend some quality time to avoid further harm. I'm certain they'll be delighted to hear from you." She smiled brightly, looking so very hopeful. "Of course. It's... so obvious in hindsight, but aren't most things? Thank you, Miss Sparkle. I'll do just that." "Your friend will," said Twilight with a little tease in her voice. "Do tell me how it goes, consider it extra credit." She turned to face the rest of the class. "Now, for our next example, a friend has been unavailable. When you try to contact them, they're always busy, running off to something or another. What do you do?" Answers rang out from one raised arm to the next. There were friendship lessons to learn.