Taking a deep breath, Starburst walked into the living room.
Her parents and little brother, who had been sitting comfortably and watching television, turned to look at her. “Ugh, finally,” Nighty commented before anypony else could speak, rolling his eyes as he groaned. “What took you so long? Were you making yourself all pretty for your coltfriend?” he added, looking at her with mixture of disbelief and mocking.
Great, Starburst thought, deadpanning at her brother, thanks to Star’s ridiculous idea I have to deal with this now…
Of course, she knew that she was partially to blame for that, as she had agreed to take a bath together, but that wasn’t important.
“Not dignifying that,” Starburst told her brother, trotting past him to sit on the couch.
“Nighty, don’t tease your sister,” their mom, sitting beside their dad on an armchair, said.
Starburst couldn’t help but think that she sounded more bored than annoyed as she usually would when she’d reprimand either of them. Frowning a little, she wondered what could they have been talking about while she and Starfall were away; Starburst had a very probable suspicion than they’ve been talking about them, and her brother had uttered several comments throughout that talk that made their mom chastise him a few times already.
“To be fair, she was taking an awfully long time,” her dad spoke up, causing an unpleasant shiver to go down her spine. “And so is Starfall, for that matter.”
Her eyes traveled to look upwards, knowing that it would look as if she was praying for patience. Instead, though, Starburst had quickly gone over the excuse she had thought up before.
“Not that it’s anypony’s business,” she began, “but since this current situation is a bit stressful to me, I wanted to relax with a bath before I had to deal with it.”
“Oh Star, honestly-” her mom began to say, rolling her eyes, but Starburst had no intention of letting her finish saying that she doesn’t understand why would she be stressed by her coltfriend and her spending time with her family.
“And as for Starfall, as I told mom, he mentioned that he would take a while, as it’s not often he has a chance to take a shower in a normal bathroom. Since, you know, he lives on his own, so you guys should drop this subject?” she added, hoping that bringing up how her coltfriend didn’t have a home would make them uncomfortable enough to stop talking about why both of them had taken such a long time and why she had taken a bath instead of shower.
Her tactic had turned out to work only partially. While her parents had exchanged a glance, looking a bit troubled, her brother on the other hoof frowned and asked: “Wait, if he doesn’t shower, how come he doesn’t stink?”
“I don’t know, I stopped asking him about stuff he does or doesn’t weeks ago,” Starburst snorted, rolling her eyes. “And that one wouldn’t even make it into the top ten anyway.”
“Really?” Nighty asked, his ears perking up with interest. “What kind of-”
“More importantly,” Twilight spoke up, cutting her son off, “I thought I asked you to gather Starfall on your way back, Star.”
Yes, you did, Starburst thought, resisting an urge to groan, but my coltfriend has a really weird sense of humor…
“Yes, but I wanted to... check something,” Starburst said, reciting what she and Starfall had agreed she would say (after he convinced her to this dumb idea), before bringing a hoof to her lips and whistling.
Instantly, Starfall appeared right next to her on the couch. “I was about to come back, you know,” he said, a little faked pretense in his voice, as he absentmindedly brushed his mane. Although Starburst considered the joke (that she could just whistle and he would appear, which she wasn’t sure if that was a joke or not) to be stupid, she had to admit that the surprised expressions on her family’s faces were amusing. She had to bit her lips to stop herself from snorting with laughter as Starfall looked around, blinking, his brow furrowing a little with worry. “Oh dear, I sincerely hope you all haven’t been waiting for me too long?”
Yeah, sincerely, right, Starburst thought, rolling her eyes.
“No, I was taking a long time too,” she said out loud, before anypony else could speak; she didn’t want the joke to drag on too long.
“Really?” Starfall turned to her, perfectly faking a surprise. “So if I had returned earlier, I would have to face your family alone?”
Starburst glared at him, irritated by the remark (especially since it was his fault to begin with that she had taken such a long time getting cleaned), but her mother spared her from replying (which would have been something along the lines of “I’m going to remember this one”, or something).
“Oh honestly, Starfall, you make it sound like a… terrifying ordeal,” Twilight said, her voice strangely faltering a little at the end.
Starburst frowned, confused by her mother’s behaviour, but as she glanced at her and saw where she was looking, she understood. Having gotten used to the sight of Starfall’s scars, she hadn’t thought that nopony else in the room beside her had even seen them. And now he was sitting beside her, not only without his cape, but also without his bandana, exposing the scars left by chains around his neck.
Well, at least we won’t be the only ones here that will be uncomfortable, Starburst thought, a moment before she realized something else: Starfall was also not wearing his dream charm.
“Ah, right,” he spoke up at the same time, lifting the forehoof where he normally wore it. “You’re probably wondering why I’m not wearing my dream charm.”
You know damn well that’s not what they were focusing on, she couldn’t help but think as Starfall continued.
“It was, unsurprisingly, soaking wet, and for it to work properly the feathers need to be at least somewhat dry, so I left it by a radiator. I hope that’s okay.”
“Oh, of course,” Twilight said, regaining her composure. “It’s not a problem at all. Anyway, since you finally joined us, dinner is ready. We were just waiting for you to sit down and eat.”
“Ah, sorry to make you wait,” Starfall replied, sounding a bit sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
“It’s nothing,” Twilight assured him, smiling, as she and Flash rose. “I hope you’ll enjoy the meal.”
Considering how often he gets to eat a decent meal, how can he not? Starburst thought, suppressing the desire to roll her eyes.
As she, Starfall and Nighty jumped down from the couch and followed after Twilight and Flash towards the dining room, her little brother walked around her to talk with Starfall. “How did you know she had whistled for you?” he asked him, tilting his head questioningly.
“Oh, it’s a nifty little trick,” Starfall replied casually. “Maybe I’ll teach you when you get a bit older kid-”
“What happened to you!?” Nighty interrupted him; only now, after leaving the couch, he was able to get a good look at Starfall’s not-covered body, and was staring wide-eyed at his scars.
Starburst’s eyes widened in alarm, remembering that her brother knew nothing about her coltfriend’s past. Intending to keep it that way, she exclaimed before Starfall had a chance to open his mouth, “Shaving accident!”
“‘Shaving accident’?” Nighty asked, turning to look at her with one eyebrow raised. “What, was he shaving his back?”
“Star did say it was an accident, didn’t she?” Starfall replied without missing a beat, sparing Starburst from having to come up with an answer herself. “Reeeeeally embarrassing one I might add.”
Nighty blinked, looking from him back to Starburst. “Okay…” he said, sounding unconvinced, as he looked them before resuming walking towards the dining room.
Starburst uttered a soft sigh of relief as her brother dropped the subject. “Sorry about that,” she whispered to Starfall as they followed after Nighty. “My brother gets scared super easily; he probably wouldn’t be able to fall asleep for a month if you’d tell him how you really got your scars.”
“Ah, I see; I thought it odd that you decided to joke about it all of a sudden,” Starfall replied, causing Starburst to glance at him suspiciously; did it really crossed his mind that she could be trying to joke about his scars? “For the record,” he added, winking, “I was about to say the same thing. Well, either that or that I was juggling knives,” he amended when she gave him the same suspicious gaze again. “It’s funnier that way.”
She continued to stare at him for about a second longer, before giving up and rolling her eyes. Trust him to be Starfall, she summed up in her thoughts as they joined her family around a table and sat down to eat.
“Thank you for the dinner, Your Highnesses,” Starfall said, bowing his head slightly to Starburst’s parents as everypony finished eating. “It was delicious.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Starfall,” Twilight said, smiling. “I was worried if you’d enjoy rice with apples.”
Okay, who wouldn’t? Starburst wondered sarcastically.
Starfall had probably thought something along those lines, as she noticed him make a very brief eyeroll before replying to her mother. “Honestly, Princess Twilight, considering some of the stuff I had to live on, you could probably put anything on a plate before me and I would still enjoy it. So, you know, you don’t have to worry about that,” he added as they all began to rise from the table.
“Oh, right…” Twilight replied, a bit uncomfortably, then cleared her throat and continued. “I will keep that in mind. And honestly, Starfall, you don’t have to address me or Flash by our titles all the time.”
“I will keep that in mind, Your Highness,” Starfall replied, almost casually. “Now, changing the subject, I’m curious; what exactly do you do during family time?”
“Oh, lots of things!” Nighty quickly said as they sat down at the living room again. “We watch movies, play games, sometimes sing karaoke-”
Great... Starburst couldn’t help but sigh mentally as her brother mentioned an activity that she wasn’t - delicately speaking - a fan of, knowing only too well where this would to.
As on cue, Starfall’s ears perked the very moment. “Sing karaoke?” he asked, intrigued.
“No,” she told him plainly before he could go anywhere with that thought.
Her coltfriend’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but as he turned to her, she noticed a spark of amusement in them. “Beg your pardon?”
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’d sing about,” Starburst said, her cheeks feeling warm from the embarrassment as she imagined Starfall singing some weird romantic serenade that would center about her being ‘the Most Beautiful Pony Ever’, as he apparently thought of her. It didn’t help that she could feel her family’s gazes on her as she argued with Starfall. “And on that note, karaoke is about singing along with recorded music of already existing songs, not making them up like you do.”
“I wouldn’t say ‘make up’,” Starfall replied, rolling his eyes, “buuut fine, I suppose I can spare you the embarrassment. Besides,” he added, smirking, “I was going to save this one song - which I think I’d like to call ‘Shine’, by the way - for a more… grandeur occasion.”
“‘Grandeur’?” Starburst repeated, cringing a little. “‘Shine’?... Do I even want to know?” she finally groaned, facehoofing.
When Starfall didn’t reply immediately, she took her hoof off her face, just in time to see him looking away to the side, pondering her question, before turning to her and shrugging. “Probably not. And besides, even if you would want to know, I wouldn’t tell you.” Unexpectedly leaning closer, he smirked and added, “You know how I enjoy surprises.”
“Only too well,” Starburst replied, smirking as well… before she remembered that her family was standing right next to her and Starfall while they’ve just started flirting with each other. She coughed and cleared her throat before turning to her parents (while doing her best to ignore the fact that her cheeks were slightly burning, or that they appeared to be amused; her mother was even giggling), “Anyway, weren’t we going to watch movies?”
It was her brother who replied, however, “You mean before you two took forever getting back? We’ve already watched something,” Nighty said, rolling his eyes. “Oh, I know!” he exclaimed, his eyes lidding up. “Why not have Starfall show us some more magic tricks?”
“Nighty,” Twilight began, looking at her son with slight reproach, “Starfall is here as our guest, not an entertainer. And besides, I’m sure he’s is in no mood to put up a magic show after narrowly escaping a storm.”
Starburst couldn’t help but snort hearing that. “Are you kidding Mom? Everything is a big magic show to him. He can’t go five minutes without doing any tricks.”
“Hey, that’s not true,” Starfall exclaimed, frowning at her. Starburst merely lifted her eyebrow.
She didn’t have to wait long; almost immediately, her coltfriend turned his head away and sneezed out several colourful bubbles.
“Bless you,” she told him in an uninterested voice, completely unfazed.
“Thanks,” Starfall replied, brushing his snout, before frowning in concentration. “What were we talking about?”
Knowing very well that Starfall could drag out a conversation like this for hours, Starburst turned back to her family again. “Okay, board games then?” she asked as their attention shifted from the bubbles and her coltfriend’s comical display.
Her ear twitched in annoyance as her mother uttered another giggle. “Sounds like a good idea to me. Which game should we play? Starfall, since you’re our guest, why don’t you choose?” she added as they all rose from the table and headed back to the living room.
“Anything other than Monopoly will be fine by me,” he replied, shrugging. Starburst blinked in surprise and gave him a inquiring look (and she wasn’t the only one), prompting him to elaborate. “Don’t act surprised that I don’t like the game where you can pick a card that literally sends you to jail.”
Huh, that makes sense I guess…
“Not to mention that I would definitely get it at the first opportunity,” Starfall continued, rolling his eyes. “The irony would almost make it funny… besides,” he added, flicking his hoof nonchalantly, “as a pony with no bits or source of income and with very little material possessions, I find that game to be slightly offensive.”
Starburst snorted. “Right, because you totally don’t have a pile of pirate treasure just laying on your island.”
“That doesn’t count, I’m keeping it there to look cool,” Starfall replied, flicking his hoof again. “It’s purely decorative. Besides, technically, I don’t own either that treasure or the island. Though since you brought it up,” he added, bringing his forehoof to his chin and rubbing it thoughtfully, “maybe I should move it to my Fortress of Starfallitude…”
“You don’t own that either,” Starburst pointed out, deadpanning at her coltfriend.
“What was that about pirate treasure?”
Starburst’s ears twitched. Engrossed in their argument, she had forgotten - again - that they weren’t alone. Starfall must have too, considering the surprised stare he gave her mother after she asked her question.
First flirting, now blurting about his island and the pirate treasure. Is being around him make me dumber or something? Starburst berated herself. Or... more relaxed I suppose…
Her train of thought dispersed as she watched the scarred unicorn continue to stare at her mother for a few more seconds, blinking, then turn to her. “Can I get into trouble for that one?”
Starburst hesitated before answering, her eyes darting upwards as she considered his question. “Well… it is illegal to keep any archeological find instead of reporting them, buuut since time was four hours ahead of Equestria on that island, that would mean it’s somewhere between three to four thousand miles - seeing how it must have been closer to equator - away from Equestria’s east coast, which means Equestrian law doesn’t extend to it so technically you’re fine,” she finished and nodded, only to find everypony staring at her. “What? I want to be a royal guard, of course I know stuff like this,” Starburst explained, a little self-consciously.
“Doesn’t mean we can’t all be impressed,” her mother pointed out with a smile, causing Starburst to become even more self-conscious. “And surprised,” she added, looking at Starfall. “I thought you were making it up about going to a small island in the middle of nowhere for your first date.”
“Why would I make up something like that?” Starburst deadpanned, recalling the strange expression her mother had made when she was all but forced to tell her about their date; back then she had been too embarrassed and annoyed to pay attention to it, but now she realized that it had been disbelief.
“Fair point,” Twilight admitted. “Just like Starburst said, you won’t get into trouble for… keeping a pile of pirate treasure on that island,” she told Starfall, after hesitating a moment about how to best call this ridiculous matter. Starburst had a strong suspicion that her mother was resisting an urge to facehoof. “Although it would be best if it ended up in a museum, but let’s talk about it some other time. For now, let’s all continue to have a fun day. I think we have a board game somewhere we all will enjoy,” she said, raising from her seat. “It will just take a moment to find it… Flash,” she called to her husband just as she was about to leave the living room, “could you come with me?”
“Hm? Sure, but why do you need my help finding it?” Starburst’s father asked, a little surprised, as he too rose.
“Oh, I don’t, I just don’t want you to joke around by giving Starfall a death glare while I’m gone,” Twilight replied casually as she left the living room.
Flash deadpanned after her. “You’re no fun,” he said before following after her. However, he stopped just as he was about to leave the living room. “You really took Starburst to a small island for your first date?”
“Flash!”
“What? I’m actually impressed by the colt,” Flash called back as he walked out of the room, leaving without his question answered.
Starburst groaned and brought her forehooves up to her head to rub her temples, glad to have a momentary reprieve from her parents after that last exchange. Of course, her coltfriend had to interrupt this moment with the typical-for-him humor.
“I am so happy that your parents are borderline unsettlingly okay with a pony with my past taking their daughter to a faraway island in the middle of nowhere.”
Sighing, she turned to Starfall. “Maybe you’ll finally get it through that skull of yours that my parents actually like you and don’t think you would wanna hurt me or anything?”
The scarred unicorn leaned his head against his forehoof on the couch’s arm. “I dunno, seems pretty weird to me,” he said, the corner of his mouth curling up into a smirk. “You know, considering.”
Despite knowing that he was now just trying to joke, Starburst deadpanned at him. “‘Weird’? Really? You’re gonna start analyzing things now?” When Starfall continue to give her that bare smirk, she decided to counter it instead. “Fine, how about this then: they know that if you’d try to hurt me then I would just kick your tail again.”
Starfall snorted with good-humored laughter hearing this. “Yep, that makes way more sense. Although I wonder…” he trailed off and before Starburst knew it, he had his forehooves around her and pulled her closer, so their chests and muzzles touched. “Do you think it would be this easy the next time around?” he asked her, his red eyes giving her a half-lidded stare.
Starburst hesitated, her ears splaying against the sides of her head as she felt warmth spread through her under her coltfriend’s gaze, touch and breath. It took a bit of willpower for her to slip a forehoof between them and push Starfall slightly away. “Star, my brother is still here,” she reminded him.
“Oh, right,” Starfall replied, pulling away and glancing the Nighty, who was sitting on Starburst’s other side. “Sorry kid, you were so quiet for a moment that I forgot about you.”
Nighty, who - as Starburst noticed when she looked at him, embarrassed - was staring at them with a mixture of shock, embarrassment and curiosity, replied, “Um, it’s alright… wow, you really are together huh?” he asked, tilting his head in disbelief.
“I thought that was already established,” Starburst retorted, deadpanning at her little brother. As her attention shifted to him, Starfall - who still held her in embrace - used the opportunity to confirm Nighty’s assessment in his own way, by kissing her on the cheek. Though a pleasant shudder went down her spine at the affectionate gesture, her embarrassment caused by her brother witnessing that took over. She pushed Starfall again, this time harder, making him release her. “You know, sometimes I find it hard to believe you’re as afraid of my parents as you say when you start acting like this the very second they leave the room,” she told amused Starfall.
Starfall chuckled and laid more comfortably on the couch. “Hey, you’re the one that keeps saying that I’m insane,” he pointed out.
Rolling her eyes and sighing, Starburst gave up. “Fair enough,” was all she said, once again rubbing her temples.
“I mean, what I meant was,” Nighty resumed after a second, “it’s a bit hard to belief. I mean,” he added when Starburst deadpanned at him again, “you two are sorta… completely different, and besides, well, you did hurt our dad,” he told Starfall, a bit uncomfortably. “I-I mean,” Nighty quickly added, “I know he and Mom forgave you and you apologized and everything, but I would have thought you would hold some… resentment,” he said to Starburst.
Starburst thought a moment before replying, unsure how to best explain why she forgave Starfall without revealing that he was terrified of being chained (and, by extension, arrested or even just caught, which was what their dad was about to do) and why that was.
Starfall, in the meantime, had rolled his eyes and muttered, “Spirit of Chaos tried to turn the world upside-down and was here for dinner two days ago, but sure, this is weird…” Starburst glared at him, making him shudder and smile sheepishly. “Um, I mean,” he quickly said, turning to Nighty, “that’s a very good point kid, what I did was very bad. And apparently it’s going to be continually reminded to me for a very long time…” he added, frowning at letting his ears drop.
“Knowing our dad, yeah,” Starburst told him; despite her brief annoyance, she felt for him. After all, this was something affecting both of them. Turning to her brother she said, “Nighty, it’s… complicated. I was very angry with Starfall, but we’ve, well, talked through it and I forgave him before we started dating.”
“I see,” Nighty said, frowning a little. “So how did you two start, you know, dating?”
“I just asked her out,” Starfall replied, shrugging.
Starburst turned to him, eyebrow raised. “‘Asked her out’?” she repeated, unable to keep amusement from her voice. “I seem to recall you telling me about a ‘secluded place to train’ before I pressed you.”
“I would have tell you that I meant it to be a date,” Starfall replied, rolling his eyes. Starburst just continued to stare at him with a single eyebrow raised, prompting her coltfriend to reluctantly amend after a moment. “You know, eventually.”
While Starburst snorted and shook her head, her brother asked: “So you just asked her out, just like that?”
“What, are you taking notes?” Starburst teased him.
To her surprise, Nighty blushed a little. “Um, n-no, I’m just curious.”
Starburst stared at him skeptically as she hummed; his reaction was a bit suspicious to her. Was her little brother becoming interested in fillies? She was about to ask him if that was the case - mostly because she felt that she deserved to tease him about this subject for a change - but he was spared that by Starfall speaking up.
“Well, if you were taking notes kid, let me warn you that I’m not a pony you should be taking notes from. About this or pretty any other matter, really,” he added, rolling his eyes. When both Starburst and Nighty looked at him, he added: “Just because I’m amazing it doesn’t mean I don’t realize that I am not a pony to emulate. Especially by a prince for crying out loud…”
… At least he’s aware of that, Starburst commented, suppressing an urge to roll her eyes after hearing the ‘I’m amazing’ part.
“Really?” Nighty asked, looking at him with mild disbelief. “I mean, you are a bit… quirky, sure, but you’re really, really cool! And hey, you’d be a prince too if you two will get married, so-”
“Ma- what?!” Starburst exclaimed as she caught on what her brother just said. She stared at him, speechless and with eyes wide in shock… as her coltfriend burst with laughter. Glaring at him angrily as she burned with embarrassment, Starburst turned to her brother, causing him to cringe from fear. “Nighty, Star and I just started dating, we’re not talking about stuff like marriage!”
Liar, she thought, recalling their conversation from just two days ago. Although it was more of a joke than conversation… Also keep your voice down! Mom and Dad could be right back!
Hearing her parents say the word “marriage” being thrown out was about the last thing Starburst wanted, especially after the whole “love” thing. Fortunately, with how loud Starfall was laughing, she doubted they would hear what she had said even if they were right outside the living room.
“I said ‘if’,” Nighty explained himself. Recovering a little from his fright, he looked at Starfall. “Why is he laughing so much about it?”
He’s not laughing at what you said, he’s laughing at my reaction, Starburst thought, once again turning her glare back onto her coltfriend. Unfortunatelly, he had his eyes closed as he continued to laugh, so he couldn’t see it, although it wouldn’t make him stop. If anything, it would make him laugh even more, assuming that it was possible; just then he slid from the couch and fell down to the floor from laughter. Annoying little…
And of course, this was the moment her parents picked to return. “What are you kids doing?” Flash asked as they walked into the living room.
Nighty opened his mouth to reply, but before that could happen Starburst shoved her wing against it. “Nothing,” she quickly said, shooting her brother a warning glare.
He frowned at her as he pushed her wing away; for a moment Starburst was certain that she would have to use her talent for intimidation to keep him quiet. She would get into trouble for that, her parents told her plenty of times to not do that to her brother, but she honestly preferred another lecture rather than risk them thinking that Starfall and her were thinking about marriage… or worse, start to tease her about it.
Fortunately, it seemed that Nighty wasn’t in a mood to make things difficult, as he rolled his eyes and told their parents, “Yep, nothing.”
Barely holding back the sigh of relief, Starburst turned her attention to her coltfriend. Starfall was still lying on the floor - becoming the center of her parents attention - but his laughter had by then reduced to mere chuckling into his hoof. As she watched him, he got up into a sitting position, opening his mouth to say something.
“Don’t you dare,” she told him before he could utter a word.
Starburst doubted that he was insane enough to explain to them the situation, but she knew he was about to make some sort of joke alluding to that (Probably something like “Oh, we were discussing some plans for the next weekend, but Star’s really not married into them”.), and she was really not in the mood for that right now.
Of course, her coltfriend only chuckled louder after hearing that, but to his credit brought his forehoof across his muzzle as he looked at her as if he was zipping it close, before returning back to the couch.
Her parents exchanged a glance, but after a brief moment both just shrugged, probably thinking something along the lines of “Kids.”
“Ookay,” her mother said dismisively, “now that the three of you had some - albeit confusing - fun,” she commented, her eyes darting to the side briefly, then she laid down a board game on the table and added, “how about we all have some?”
Glad that the subject was dropped and curious as to what board game her parents her went for, Starburst leaned closer. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise as she recognized it; it’s been quite a while since they last played it. In fact, she was certain that they’ve lost it somewhere.
She wasn’t the only pony to recognize it thought. “Dragon Pit!” Starfall exclaimed, smiling. Starburst looked in mild surprise at him as he continued: “Oh, I love this one. I used to play it all the time with…”
Starburst surprise gave way to worry as Starfall unexpectedly trailed off, his expression becoming vacant as his stared at the board game. It lasted no more than a second or two, then he closed his eyes and shook his head.
“Are you alright?” she asked him as he brought a hoof up to his temple.
“Yeah, just had an odd flashback,” Starfall replied; already he had a familiar smirk on his muzzle. He waved his hoof dismissively and added, “You know, something about me losing a game. Just plain odd.”
Starburst raised her eyebrow. Although given his ego he might have been telling the truth, the strange expression he had made bothered her. He was saying that he used to play it with somepony… did he mean his mom? she wondered. Maybe he had a flashback to that, but since he doesn’t like to talk about it he came up with this excuse. She glanced at her parents; even though they barely knew Starfall, it wouldn’t be a stretch for them to come to the same conclusion. Which could lead to a talk about it later. I guess I’ll better play along.
“I will be happy to give you a reminder of how that feels then,” Starburst told him, smirking at her coltfriend. “When I beat you that is. Again,” she added playfully.
For a brief moment she was sure she saw Starfall flash her a grateful look before his smirk widened. “Oh, you’re on.”
“Wow,” Starburst exclaimed, barely containing her amusement, “the only thing odd about this is how oddly bad you are at this game.”
Despite her words (and the truth of them; they’ve been playing for a while now, and Starfall’s dragon was dead last and about to get trapped), her coltfriend seemed completely unfazed. “Well, this game does operate on luck, and I think it’s clear that Lady Luck hates my guts,” Starfall remarked jokingly in reply.
“Hardly seems to bother you,” Starburst commented, feeling a little annoyed that he was taking his inevitable loss so well… and growing more than a little suspicious.
The scarred unicorn merely shrugged. “Well, you know what they say Star: ‘unlucky in games, amazing in tons of other stuff.”
Yeah, you’re the best, Starburst remarked sarcastically.
“You know that’s not how that expression goes,” she told him, then added as she frowned: “And in the first place it’s ‘cards’, not ‘games’.”
“Yeah, but I always win with those,” Starfall replied nonchalantly, taking the dice from Nighty as his turn came. “Probably because I always cheat but still...”
“Cheat?” Starburst repeated, lifting an eyebrow.
“Card tricks are like stage magician 101, don’t be surprised,” Starfall said, rolling his eyes, but Starburst wasn’t concerned about him cheating when playing cards (although she did make a mental note of that for future reference).
“Are you cheating right now?” she asked him, gazing at the dice suspiciously as he was about to roll it.
“Cheating in order to lose?” Starfall asked, blinking at her in surprise. “Why would I do that?”
“Because you’re you,” she flatly replied.
“Besides,” Starfall continued, ignoring her reply; he dropped the dice from his magical hold and let it land on his outstretched forehoof, “how exactly does one cheat in a game where you can only roll a dice?”
Starburst was certain that it was possible to cheat in a game like that, but before she could start to search for a reply Starfall threw that dice into the air, surprising everypony. The dice almost went up into the ceiling before falling back, landing right back on Starfall’s hoof, with one on top.
And at the same time the dice touched his hoof, Starfall, with eyes locked with Starburst, had moved his dragon by precisely one.
“You are cheating,” she told her smirking coltfriend.
“Only now, to prove my point,” he replied, sticking his tongue out playfully.
She was forced to admit that he was right in this regard. “Fine, point proven, now move your dragon back and roll it again.”
“Are you seriously making me roll again even though I threw one and I’m still the last?”
“Yes,” Starburst told him, deadpanning.
Starburst smirked and leaning a bit closer to her. “And you say I’m the crazy one?” he asked, his red eyes still locked with hers
Her eyes narrowed at him as she repeated, “Yes.”
A giggle caught her by surprise. “Do you remember how we used to tease each other like that?” her mother asked asked her father, who also appeared to be amused.
“We’re not teasing,” Starburst replied, trying to speak calmly despite blushing with embarrassment (and trying to not hit her brother as he started chuckling).
“Well, I am,” Starfall said in turn. As she glanced at him he added, “It’s borderline treason otherwise.”
Uttering a tired sigh, Starburst merely rolled her eyes and gave up.
“See?” Nighty said in a hushed tone. “Even your coltfriend thinks it’s boring.”
Starburst looked at him, unamused. It’s been about two hours since they’d finished playing Dragon Pit. After that they’ve played charades for a bit, and now they were watching a movie again, the documentary about the Royal Legion her dad her mentioned earlier.
And a few moments ago her coltfriend had fallen asleep.
At first, she had been a little annoyed when she had realized that Starfall was sleeping. Even if they had different interests it wasn’t exactly nice to fall asleep while watching something your significant other found interesting. However, her annoyance quickly faded as he moved his head in his sleep so that it partially rested against her foreleg, feeling affection spread through her for that dumb colt. Shaking her head and lying on the couch beside him so that they would be both more comfortable (and ignoring how embarrassing it must have looked; fortunately her mother spared her from her giggling this time), she had resumed watching the documentary.
While at the same she tried to think up ways to get back at him for that.
She was about to retort to Nighty’s remark, having thought up a good counter in the time she stared at him coldly, but just at that moment on the documentary they started showing a recreation of one of the battles the Royal Legion had partaken in, with the camera closing up on some more violent scenes, causing her little brother to cringe in fear.
Scaredy cat, Starburst thought dismissively, shaking her head and losing interest.
Resuming watching the documentary, she continued to ignore her brother’s occasionals whimpers of fear, while at the same time glancing at the sleeping Starfall from time to time and considered whether or not to drape her wing around him. It would make him more cosy and it would feel quite nice for her too, to feel his body’s heat under her feathers and feel his chest rise and fall as he breathed… but Starburst was reluctant to show that much affection right next to her family. Letting him nap while leaning his head against her leg was already pushing it.
I’ve had about enough of mom’s giggles that I can take for today, she thought, adding, albeit reluctantly, It’s not like Star would complain anyway…
Another whimper stopped her train of thoughts. Annoyed, she sighed and turned to look at her brother. “Seriously? They’re not showing anything scary right now,” she pointed out, trying to keep her voice neutral while nodding at the television, which was displaying now a diagram explaining various tactical formations of the Royal Legion.
However, Nighty looked at her with confusion. “Um… that wasn’t me,” he said.
Starburst blinked, surprised. Wait-
Starfall, his head still partially rested against her foreleg, shuddered.
“No…”
She quickly turned back to him as she heard the quiet whimper, and saw that her coltfriend was still asleep. However, instead of sleeping peacefully like he was mere moments ago, now he was breathing faster, twitching, and she could see his pupils moving around under his closed eyelids.
“No…” he repeated in his sleep, his voice a little louder this time. “Please stop…”
Starburst finally snapped out of her surprise and quickly nudged him. “Star?” she called out, hoping to wake him up from whatever nightmare he was having right away.
The effect was immediate. Starfall rose to a sitting position, breathing heavily and staring in front of himself with eyes open wide… and glowing with red and green magic that emitted purple smoke.
Oh… crap… Starburst thought, knowing that this bode poorly on so many levels.
Without even glancing at her family to check how they reacted - and taking solace in the fact that she could hear no alarming sounds from any of them - she hurried to do some damage control first. She cleared her throat and called to Starfall again, “Star?”
At the sound of her voice his ears twitched. He turned his head to her, closing his mouth as his breathing calmed (which, considering that the sight of his fangs at full display did not help exactly sooth anypony in this situation, was a good thing), and looked at her questioningly, his eyes still glowing with dark magic.
Slightly unsettled to look at him in this state, she simply pointed at her eyes.
Starfall’s eyes darted to her forehoof, then to her eyes… then they widened slightly as the comprehension dawned on him. He closed his eyes shut immediately after, and after a heartbeat the purple smoke disappeared.
Starburst wasn’t exactly given time to sigh with relief though, as the very next thing Starfall did was… laugh. Nervously at that.
“Sorry about that,” he quickly said, sounding sheepish, as he put his foreleg behind his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “I, um, had a nightmare, about… a dragon,” he added as his eyes rolled around the room, stopping briefly on a picture of Starburst’s mom and Uncle Spike, before moving to the big chandelier under the ceiling, “dropping a chandelier on me… and stuff…”
… And the award for worst ad-lib ever goes to… Starburst couldn’t help but think. Mentally shaking her head, she considered the current situation. Okay, let's think… I have to talk to my parents about the dark magic thing… She risked a glance at them. To her relief, they were looking more concerned than angry that Starfall had just been about to use dark magic upon waking up in the middle of their living room. … not to mention dissuade them from trying to talk about this with Starfall themselves… probably talk with Nighty so he won’t bother Star… and talk with Star about his nightmare. Starburst wanted to groan thinking about how difficult it would be to salvage this situation. Well, dīvide et vincet, I guess…
Clearing her throat again, she decided to deal with the important matter first. “You know, I’m thirsty,” she said, not even bothering to sound like she meant it; she doubted anypony would really believe her even if she gave an award-winning performance there. “I’m gonna go get something to drink from the kitchen. Star, can you come with me?” she asked as she jumped down from the couch.
“Yeah, sure,” he replied at once, following after her.
As soon as they made it to the corridor, Starburst exhaled; she had been holding her breath, expecting her parents to stop them. Fortunately, it seemed that they were giving them privacy… for now.
Slightly relaxed, she continued to lead Starfall towards the kitchen in silence, intending to speak to him there so that nopony could overhear them. And because she needed the time to think about what exactly she was going to say to him.
“Sorry…”
Starburst stopped and looked back; throughout their trot, Starfall hang slightly behind her, and now that they were more or less out of her parents’ earshot he decided to speak while not looking at her.
“About using dark magic,” he explained, stopping as well, and continuing to apparently talk to the floor instead of her. “I didn’t mean to…”
Rolling her eyes and sighing, Starburst walked over to him and nuzzled his cheek. “I’m not mad at you, dummy,” she told him. “I know you didn’t mean to. You were sleeping for crying out loud,” she said, rolling her eyes again. Hoping a little joke would brighten him up, Starburst then added: “If you want to apologize for anything, then it should be about falling asleep while watching the documentary about Royal Legion.”
Starfall looked her, blinking rapidly. “Oh… Um, sorry about that,” he said after a second, smiling sheepishly, his earlier mood gone.
“Apology not excepted,” she told him, shrugging as she turned away and resumed trotting towards the kitchen. “You’ll just have to make it up to me.”
She was relieved to hear him chuckle behind her. “I am sorry,” he said again, this time more confidently as he caught up to her. “I was just tired and must have dozed off.”
“I figured,” Starburst said, entering the kitchen. “And I also figure you will think of a way to make it up to me later, anyway,” she added, rolling her eyes. A brief smirk crossed her muzzle as Starfall chuckled again, but she quickly pushed down any distracting thoughts this could cause. Starburst waited for him to enter the kitchen as well, the closed the door behind him and looked at him seriously. “So… um, you don’t wear this charm just so Princess Luna wouldn’t be able to enter your dreams, huh?”
“It can do that?” Starfall asked in turn, blinking in surprise. “Huh, didn’t know that…”
Starburst frowned, feeling impatient and annoyed, although the latter mostly at herself. ‘You don’t wear this charm just so Princess Luna wouldn’t be able to enter your dreams’; way to state the obvious! she berated herself.
Shaking the thought off and clearing her throat, she started again. “What I meant to say, do you always have nightmares like this if you’re not wearing it?” she asked, looking her coltfriend in the eyes.
“It’s been a few years since the last time I tried sleeping without it,” Starfall confessed, clearly reluctantly. His eyes darted to the side as he added: “But… yeah, that’s pretty much the case.”
Already expecting such answer, Starburst bit her lip, thinking what to say next. “I’m assuming you don’t want to talk about what the nightmare was about?”
Now even more uncomfortable, Starfall turned his head away and flickered with his tail. “Not really,” he said, sitting down on the floor.
Starburst sighed. Perhaps she needed to push him more to open up (she made a mental note to take up on Annie’s offer for help with serious problems and try and ask one of the girls what they would do), but she was almost certain that this would lead to an argument. She remembered how he had almost snapped at her during the camping trip when she tried to ask about his deceased friend. Pressing on the subject of his nightmares seemed like it would lead to exact same thing, and an argument was about the last thing she wanted.
Or needed, she added in her thoughts, knowing that her family were just a few rooms away.
So instead, she trotted over to Starfall and sat down as she hugged him. “You know you can tell me if you want to, right?” she asked him.
For a brief moment Starfall felt tense in her embrace, but he soon relaxed and returned the hug. “I know,” he said in a quiet voice. He buried his face in her shoulder and added, “It’s not that I… I just really don’t like talking about all that stuff.”
“I know. One of these days we should talk about some of said stuff though,” Starburst pointed out.
Starfall sighed. “I know, I know… thinking about using it as an excuse next time we’re invited to a dinner by your parents or something?” he asked, humor creeping to his voice. “That we’re too busy discussing my tortured psyche?”
“Be serious,” she told him, rolling her eyes. Relaxing her hug a little so that she could pull her head back and look him in the eyes, she said: “I want to talk about it because I love you and want to help you, you big dummy. And in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not exactly good with stuff like this, so I’m not looking forward to that either.”
A half-smile appeared on his muzzle. “You’re better at it than you think, Lil’Lioness,” he told her, leaning closer to the point their noses touched.
“Oh, shut-” Starburst managed to say before their lips met.
Humming happily, she returned the kiss, her hooves tightening her hold around Starfall. It was good to forget for a few moments about her parents and nightmares and just enjoy being with her coltfriend. But like all good things, the kiss came to an end, and they eventually pulled apart, breathing heavily and gazing into each other’s eyes… before Starfall looked up at something behind her, his eyes widening in dread and his ears dropping.
“What?” Starburst asked, alarmed… and then she realized what ‘what’ it could only be. “The door is open behind me and somepony is standing there?” she asked Starfall, deadpanning.
Her coltfriend nodded.
Starburst uttered a brief groan. “Is it my mother?” she asked, hoping for the slightly better option.
Starfall shook his head.
She groaned again, this time louder, and slammed her forehead against Starfall’s chest. “Did you need something from the kitchen Dad?” she asked weekly, certain that even though she had her back turned to him her father could see her radiating blush.
Flash Sentry’s voice sounded surprisingly calm considering that he had just walked in on his daughter making out with her coltfriend. “Actually, I was wondering if I could talk with Starfall a moment? Alone?”
Her ears perked up out of surprise. “Wait, what?” she asked, pulling away from Starfall to look at her dad.
Flash appeared to be amused by her reaction; he was looking at them with a smile, and she couldn’t detect anything betraying annoyance or anger in his behaviour. It looked as if he decided to pretend that he hadn’t seen what he had seen. Which was fine by Starburst, of course, but…
“Why?” she asked frowning at her father suspiciously.
He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Because I think it might do him good to talk to another stallion. And it is about time that we talked stallion-to-stallion, anyway, so…” Flash added, casually trailing off.
Yeah, that did not put me on ease Dad…
“Why exactly is it ‘about time’?” Starburst asked, her body almost moving on its own slightly to the side so that she would be directly between her father and Starfall.
“Because I’ve been preparing a little speech for about fifteen years and I really want to use it?” Flash replied, raising an eyebrow and smirking in amusement.
Deadpanning at her father’s display of humor, Starburst said: “Yeah, well, Star’s-”
“-capable of speaking for himself?” a humorous comment said from right beside her ear had almost startled her. She leaned to the side to look back at her coltfriend in surprise. Starfall winked at her playfully before growing more serious as he turned to her father. “If all you want is to speak with me, sir, then by all means, let's speak.”
Starburst jaw hung open. She blinked several times out of surprise, then unfolded her wings and pressed the end of one to Starfall’s forehead while the end of second one to her own.
“I’m pretty sure you’d have already noticed if I had a fever,” Starfall pointed out, rolling his eyes, while her father uttered a brief chuckle.
“And I’m pretty sure I must have misheard you,” she retorted as she finished checking his temperature; it seemed indeed normal. “Because it sounded like you’d agreed to talk with my dad alone. Which means staying in the same room with him by yourself,” she elaborated, deadpanning.
Starfall sighed. “Star, honestly, there is no way this current situation could become any worse, so…” he trailed off as Starburst just continued to deadpan at him silently. “Okay, good point, but still, I think I can handle a simple talk with your father. And, well, if not, there’s a window,” he added, pointing at the closed window behind him.
Yeah, and it’s still stormy outside, Starburst thought, knowing full well that if he had to run away he could just teleport.
Sighing, she gave up. After all, there was no logical reason as to why they couldn’t talk alone. “Fine, I’ll leave you two alone to talk ‘stallion-to-stallion’,” she said, shaking her head at the stupid name. She rose to her hooves and walked past her father to the exit. “Just try not to kill each other,” she said, just as she was about to leave, half-joking.
“We’ll try,” Flash replied, amused. Starburst rolled her eyes, and was relieved to notice Starfall doing the same. “Oh, and Star? Do me a favor and tell your mom that you looked really cute when you were protective of Starfall,” he added, grinning.
Starburst blushed in embarrassment at the comment, but before she could reply Starfall added, “I know, right?”
I suppose it’s good that they’re bonding… Starburst remarked sourly as she facehoofed. Sighing, she left the kitchen and closed the door. However, she didn't head back to the living room. ‘Tell your mom’, right, because I’m totally not going to stay and make sure you don’t traumatize my coltfriend, she thought, placing an ear to the door… right before purple light flashed around her, and she found herself back on the cough in the living room and about to fall down due to the loss of balance.
Spreading her wings and flapping them to avoid falling, Starburst steadied herself on the couch and looked at her mother, annoyed. Twilight thought seemed completely unfazed by it.
“You were about to eavesdrop,” she pointed out. “Your father wanted to talk with Starfall alone.”
Starburst grunted, unable to counter her argument. Giving up, she sat down and sighed, worried what could be happening in the kitchen.
“Is Starfall alright?” she heard her mother ask, worry in her voice.
Despite her annoyance, Starburst knew that her parents were concerned about Starfall in general, so after witnessing him wake up from a traumatic nightmare she figured they were a bit worried. “About as alright as he ever is,” she confessed reluctantly, sighing. She briefly considered to use the opportunity to confide about how he practically refused talking about his nightmare or certain details of his past and how she was unsure how to handle that, but even if she wasn’t uncomfortable talking about stuff like this in the first place, her brother was still here. “But yeah, he’s fine. Or at least he was when I left him,” she murmured, glancing anxiously.
“Star, you know your father wouldn’t hurt Starfall,” Twilight sighed. “He went to talk with him because we thought that maybe it would be a good chance for… an adult to talk with him.”
Starburst glanced at her angrily, but didn’t reply. She knew that her mother had a point, and by Celestia, Starfall needed to talk to some adult pony (probably a trained psychiatrist). Admitting that, however, was a bit harder though, so instead she focused on another pony in the room.
“I’m surprised you’re not asking what was that all about,” she told Nighty, surprised by his silence.
Her brother looked at her uncomfortably before replying, “Mom and Dad told me to not bother you or Starfall with questions about this and stuff.”
“Oh…” Starburst exclaimed, surprised. She glanced at her mother, who in turn looked at her kindly, before turning back to Nighty. “Yeah, that’s probably for the best… it’s just,” knowing she owed her brother at least some explanation, she added, “Starfall has been through some things, and he doesn’t really like talking about them even with me.”
And said things would probably traumatize you upon hearing about them, she added in her thoughts.
“He might talk about it more if he feels more comfortable around others, but for now it’s best if you wouldn’t bother.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Nighty replied, a little sullenly. “Those scars… h-he didn’t get them from a ‘’shaving accident’, right? I mean, that’s obvious,” he added, a bit nervously, as she rolled his eyes. “But still…”
Sighing, she nodded. “Yeah… should have let him joke that it’s from juggling knives,” she said, snorting.
Nighty snorted as well hearing that, and thankfully he didn’t ask anything after that. Her mother also didn’t pressure her about Starfall, for which she was thankful; instead, she turned the TV back on as they waited for Flash and Stafall to get back.
They’ve been talking for some time now… Starburst remarked, about ten minutes later, her attention constantly shifting from the TV (where a trailer for cinematic release of Fallout: Equestria was currently playing) back to the door. Maybe I should check on them…
“Say, Starburst?” he mom unexpectedly spoke up. Reluctantly, Starburst shifted her attention to her. “Your father and I have been wondering about something.”
I’m already dreading what it is, Starburst thought, only half-sarcastically.
Noticing that her mother appeared to be a bit uncomfortable, she felt a pang of worry. For a blissful moment, she expected to be asked about Starfall’s dark magic or something.
What she was asked instead was much, much worse.
“We’ve been wondering if maybe Starfall could come live here.”
The sheer absurdity of that question had rendered Starburst unable to do anything but stare at her mother.
Twilight had clearly expected a reaction along those lines from her, as she sighed and rolled her eyes before adding, “It’s just an idea we wanted to throw by you, Star.”
Yeah, well, then pull it back ‘cause I’m not catching this idea!
Feeling her speech returning, Starburst swallowed and asked, “W-where did that even come from?!”
“Gee, I wonder,” her mother replied sarcastically, looking over to the window and raging storm outside, “at what point did we start to think that maybe a teenage colt shouldn’t be living without a home…”
Starburst groaned and facehoofed, unable to actually counter this argument. “Alright, fine, it sounds good on paper, but did you forget that he’s kinda paranoid and uncomfortable around other ponies?”
“He seemed completely fine throughout this entire day,” she pointed out. “It was even Starfall himself who asked if he could stay and spend this day with us. Maybe he’s dealing with his anxieties better than you give him credit for?”
That comment caused a pang of anger in Starburst. Was her mother really suggesting that she didn’t know her coltfriend enough?! She was just worried about him, for crying out loud! Taking a deep breath, Starburst tried to calm down and think about what she had just said: that Starfall had seemed fine spending time with her family. That was true. The entire day went off better than she had expected, aside from Starfall’s nightmare of course. Maybe her mother had a point?
However, even overlooking that, there was still one huge problem with this idea.
“So you seriously want my coltfriend to move in here,” she stated the matter, deadpanning (and blushing a little). “That we would be living together after dating for about two weeks.”
“We had thought that considering the speed at which your relationship seems to progress you wouldn’t have minded,” Twilight replied, shrugging.
“I’m pretty sure that’s not something that should be encouraged!” Starburst exclaimed, embarrassed, knowing that her mother must have been referring to what Starfall had blurted during the dinner with Celestia.
Privately, though, she wondered: would she actually mind having Starfall live together with her? Obviously, he would be staying in one of the spare rooms (not that it would stop him from sneaking in to her room whenever they wanted), but still, he would be always close by. Would that be bad, just because it would seem that their relationship is moving even faster and society says that’s bad?
Or was this just about how merciless her friends’ reaction would be?
Twilight once again sighed, then looked at her with a small smile. “Star, it’s just an idea. An idea that even your father and I are not sure if it would be good. We’d just like to know what you two think about it, and if you were interested, well, we’d go from there.”
Go past an edge of a cliff apparently, Starburst thought sarcastically as she groaned, but she didn’t voice he annoyance.
“Okay, I will mention this to Star when I get a chance,” she said instead, hoping this would bring this discussion to a close. “Which means ‘when I get a chance’,” she stressed. “I have some things I want to talk with Star already, and asking him if he wants to come live with me isn’t going to be on top of that list.”
“That’s fair,” her mother said, smiling as she nodded in agreement, then turned her head back to the television, apparently considering this matter to be closed.
However, as much as Starburst wanted it to be over, there was one more matter that she felt she needed to address. She stared at her mother for a few seconds, battling her thoughts, before finally speaking up. “Mom? Just one more thing,” she said as Twilight turned back to her. “I just want you to know that all those things you guys are offering to Star - dinners, education, and even home - are nice and all, and he might agree to some of that. However,” Starburst added, hardening her glare just as her mother was about to brighten up, “I would like to stress out the fact that if you try to freakin’ adopt him, we’ll both draw the line there.”
Her mom blinked in surprise, then she rolled her eyes and sighed. “Oh Star, honestly…” she began, shaking her head. “Do you think we have nothing better to do in our spare time than thinking up the ways to complicate your life?”
Apparently you do, she thought but didn’t say out loud.
Instead of replying, she turned her attention back to the TV. It seemed to be good enough of an answer for Twilight, as she merely sighed and shook her head and emulated her.
With this matter finally over, Starburst allowed herself to relax. However, just then she noticed in the corner of her eye that Nighty, who had - wisely - remained quiet throughout their conversation, was now looking from her to their mother and back. “So…” he began after a few seconds of silence. “Am I the only one who thinks it would be awesome if Starfall lived here?”
Starburst facehoofed. Hard.
“And even more awesome…” her brother began to add, but Starburst reached out quickly with her wing and pressed it against his mouth to stop him.
“I sincerely hope you weren’t about to say what I think you were about to say,” she told him, glaring at her younger brother.
Nighty pushed her wing away and glared at her angrily. “I was joking, geez!”
That did nothing to placate Starburst; if anything, she was now even more annoyed that he wanted to joke about that. However, before she could retort, she heard hoofsteps coming from the hallway. Immediately turning around, she saw her dad and Starfall enter the living room.
Almost the instant the saw him, though, he disappeared, appearing right beside her on the couch. “Missed anything interesting?” he asked, sounding… way happier than she would have expected him to be. In fact, he was almost cheerful.
“Um… not really…” Starburst said slowly, looking at her dad, who also seemed quite calm and relaxed as he joined her mother. Turning back to Starfall, then to her father and back again, Starburst realized that… apparently they had a civil talk that they both were satisfied about. “I am so conflicted about this,” she groaned, facehoofing.
The chuckles both Starfall and her dad had uttered did not help.
“I told you, I can’t talk about it,” Starfall told her a few hours later as she walked him off to the guest room he was staying at.
Starburst sighed, annoyed. She still had no idea what exactly he and her dad talked about, and although she was really curious, she began to wonder if she shouldn’t just count her blessings and be glad that whatever it was, it seemed to help Starfall calm down after that nightmare instead of traumatizing him, and that the rest of the day had been really enjoyable after that.
She probably would have let go of that matter hours ago if Starfall hadn’t been taking such amusement in her interest.
Shaking her head, she decided to give up. “Okay, let’s change the subject. How did you enjoy spending time with my family?” she asked, curious if he really enjoyed it as much as he seemed to.
“It was quite fun, actually,” Starfall replied, sounding a bit sheepish. “More than I expected… I mean, things like that aren’t exactly… things I had many opportunities to do over the last years,” he explained, his ears dropping for a moment as he grew somber, but he quickly brightened up. “You know, I think I might get used to being around your family after today.”
Starburst hummed happily as she leaned in and brushed against his side. “That’s great… although after some of the things today, a part of me would like to keep you as far away from my family as possible,” she added in quieter, annoyed tone. When Starfall gave her questioning - and amused - look, she shook her head and said, “Nevermind. I’m happy you had fun and that you’re getting along with my family.”
Her coltfriend chuckled and leaned his head against hers affectionately. After they parted, they walked a bit in silence, until Starfall broke it by saying, “It was about my mother.”
Starburst blinked and looked at him, confused.
“That nightmare I had,” Starfall explained. “It was about her dying, and me being unable to do anything.”
Starburst eyes gradually widened as he talked. By the time he finished, she was already pressing her body against his and wrapped her wing over him gently. She didn’t say anything; what could she say to that? All she could think of doing at this point was to offert Starfall some silent comfort.
He seemed to appreciate it, as he smiled and nuzzled her cheek. “Thanks.”
Starburst tightened her wing hug in response. “Anytime. I thought you didn’t want to talk about it,” she added after staying silent for a bit.
“Yeah, but you dad told me that it helps talking about stuff like that and that you’re strong enough to listen to it,” he told her, smiling.
Starburst eyes widened in surprise. That’s what Dad wanted to talk to him about? she thought. Despite her surprise, she felt warmth spreading through her that her father offered her coltfriend advice about how to deal with his trauma.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to talk about what the two of you have been talking about?” she asked him after a moment, smirking.
“Only in detail,” Starfall replied, winking. “Like, you know, the list of things your dad will do to me if I ever hurt you.”
“... he has a list?” Starburst asked, deadpanning. As Starfall chuckled at her reaction, she sighed, wondering whether he was joking; or if her father had been joining. “Is it very long?”
“Yeah, but I told him that more than half of them won’t be physically possible to do after you’d be done with me,” he told her, sticking his tongue out playfully.
Starburst broke her embrace and punched him in the shoulder. “You’re damn right about that!” she said, smirking.
Starfall laughed and she quickly joined him. She was happy to see him laugh after he recalled that nightmare, however briefly.
“Well, that’s it I guess,” he said a few moments later when they reached the guest room. He leaned closer and kissed her on the cheek. “Have a good night, Lil’Lioness.”
Yeah, right, Starburst thought, rolling his eyes at him. Like you’re not going to sneak to my room.
Her coltfriend smirked and winked at her, clearly able to tell what she was thinking about.
“Goodnight,” she told him, kissing him on the cheek as well.
“You know,” she said as she entered her room, “I don’t even know why did you bother saying goodnight.”
Starfall, who was sitting on her bed, grinned. “Felt appropriate. Also, there was this off chance your mom was spying on us through some spell, so…” he trailed off, the implications clear.
“And what makes you think she’s no longer spying on us?” Starburst questioned, raising her eyebrow as she joined him on the bed.
“The fact that I am not being thrusted back to that guest room by your mom’s magic or that neither of your parents is bursting through this door?”
“Okay, those are some convincing proofs,” she agreed, although slightly reluctantly. “Still, this is pretty risky.”
Starfall just smirked. “I can go away if you want…”
“I didn’t say that,” she quickly said.
Geez, calling my bluff…
Despite it being obvious that she wanted him to stay, Starfall brightened up. “Good! Because I have thought of a way to repay you for falling asleep during the documentary,” he added, narrowing his eyes and smirking again.
Feeling very hot under his gaze, Starburst shuddered a little before replying. “Oh, really?” she asked, smirking as well. “What do you have in mind?”
Starfall chuckled, then patted the spot on the bed before him. “Turn around and sit down here.”
Feeling a pleasant feeling spread down her spine and curious about what exactly he was planning, Starburst did as he asked. She trotted closer on the bed and turned around as she sat before him.
Starfall’s forelegs embraced her from behind and pulled her closer, causing her to lean against him. Starburst shuddered again as she felt his body pressed against her back and his breath against her cheek. “Now, my Beloved Nemesis, close your eyes,” he whispered to her ear, gently rubbing his nose against it.
Starburst glanced over her shoulder at him suspiciously, curious why he wanted that, but after a second she gave in, having complete trust in him. Turning her head back, she closed her eyes and almost immediately felt Starfall’s muzzle move along the edge of her ear as he opened his mouth and pressed the tip of his fang against the base of her ear.
A moan escaped her as Starfall proceeded to scratch her in her sweet spot. She arched her back, lost in pleasure. Well, I suppose I can forgive him for falling asleep now… Starburst thought, forgetting about everything around her and just enjoying the treatment…
And that was when a pair of lips pressed against hers.
The shock was powerful enough to startle her even from her ear-scratching induced trance. She opened her eyes… and to her increasing confusion saw that it was Starfall who was kissing her.
“W-wait…” she stammered when he pulled his head back, moving down to kiss her neck. Not understanding what the hell was happening, she glanced back over her shoulder, looking at Starfall who was still behind her.
As he grinned, her mind went back to the previous day, to Amber’s and Annie’s reaction upon seeing Starfall’s ability to create duplicates.
“Oh…” was what all she was able to say upon the realization. As her brain scrambled for a more coherent response, Starfall (the one behind) turned his muzzle back towards her ear. Starburst eyes widened and she tried to say, “W-”
She wanted to say “Wait”. That she needed a bit more to process this, that it was weird, and she wasn’t sure what to think of this. But she didn’t make it in time. Starfall’s fang resumed scratching against her ear, and whatever resistance she could muster against it evaporated. At the same time the Starfall from her front pressed his body closer to her, kissing her again passionately as he gently pushed both her and other Starfall to the bed.
Oh, crap… Starburst thought weekly as she made out with two Starfalls on her bed.
She wasn’t sure how long did that last. Her pleasure-clouded brain had found it difficult to focus on kissing with two Starfalls in turns and feeling what the other was doing, let alone to keep track of the time. All Starburst knew was that she was lying on her back, her head turned to the left as she and Starfall were kissing, her hooves brushing brushing his side as he caressed his chest while the other would either plant kisses on her neck or scratch her ears (or both at the same time; being scratched by a hoof instead of a fang was also quite pleasurable) while also caressing her body. Then she would feel the Starfall on her right’s breath on her cheek as he would lean closer to her mouth, and she would break the kiss to turn to him and start kissing him, sometimes taking her hooves to him or leaving them on the other, and the she would switch again and again…
This is so weird… finally a piece of her mind managed to put together a thought. But it feels soo good…
For whatever reason, an image of Annie appeared in her mind, whispering, Yes, give in…
Starburst’s eyes snapped open. Okay, that’s it, she thought, pulling away from the two Starfalls and raising to a sitting position, shaking her head.
“Okay, Star? I need a moment,” she told him, closing her eyes as she brushed her face. “This… this is a bit weird, and…” she started, opening her eyes to look back at him/them… and then froze upon seeing what was before her.
Four more Starfalls, all standing in attention before the bed.
“... oh…” she exclaimed once again, her mind blank… except for the part that imagined what those four could be doing, on top of the first two, causing her wings to spread wide open.
She was barely aware of the warm chuckle that came from behind her as Starfalls crawled under her wings to sit by her sides. “I thought you might enjoy this,” both of them whispered to her ears, leaning closer so that their coats touched. “Well, Lil’Lioness? What are your orders?” The four Starfalls before the bed saluted. “We’ll do whatever you wish for…” the two Starfalls trailed off, nuzzling both of her cheeks.
“W-whatever I wish for…” Starburst repeated, finding it difficult to formulate thoughts. “W-well…”
Creak.
“Starburst,” her mother began, walking in, “I wanted-”
Time froze. At least, that’s how it seemed to Starburst, except if that would happen she wouldn’t be able to hear her heart beating in her ears. But how else to explain the fact that when her mom walked into the room through half-opened door she froze, staring at the scene before her with eyes wider than Starburst had ever remembered seeing, and at the same time everypony else in the room (her and six Starfalls) stared back with the exact same expression?
The seconds dragged mercilessly on in silence until finally Twilight took a step back outside of the room without saying another words and closed the door.
It took Starburst a few more moments to unfreeze, and when she did, she brought her forehooves to her face. “Oh, merciful Celestia…” she whined, absolutely horrified.
She could practically feel Starfall’s horror on her either side, but before either one of him could voice it, a strange noise emanating from above them. Starburst tried to look up, but at the same time some objects fell on both (or three) of them. They were light, but it still startled her and she tried to shield herself, so when she finally looked up, all she managed to see was a small purple portal closing.
Wait, purple? D-did Mom… Starburst thought, realizing that only her mother could have been the one to open that portal that she had used to apparently send them-
“What is it?” she asked in a small voice, dreading the answer.
One of the Starfalls picked up one of the small objects. It was a small package, but Starburst couldn’t make out what was written on it from the angle she was sitting. But she had a pretty good guess after seeing Starfall’s eyes widen as he read it.
“Condoms,” he said in an equally weak voice when he finally turned to her.
Despite already expecting that, Starburst still felt her eyelid twitch out of horror, anger, embarrassment, shame, and all kinds of emotions that were currently swarming through her. With great effort she pressed her forehooves against her temples as she wrapped her wings around her and slightly rocked her body back and forth on the bed, trying to process this.
I’ve got to start locking the damn door.