//------------------------------// // 28 - The Final Contest // Story: Sunburst to the Rescue // by David Silver //------------------------------// Sunburst was free to do as he pleased. With the pins turned in, there was nothing in his way from visiting the rest of the panels he had an eye on. Some were nice, some were bland. All had Star Catcher, eagerly moving with him. The only times he got away from her side was when he made a stop at the little colt's room, or the one time he was called up to the stage to give a word about the crystal heart he had once helped repair. "I'm sorry to ask this," she said, looking away awkwardly. "But I need a favor and I'm hoping an important pony like you could maybe spare it?" Sunburst tilted his head with confusion. "Want some backup getting a hoofprint?" "No! No, nothing like that." She waved her own hoof before coughing. "I messed up my reservation... Since Twilight's already gone off to do important business, you must have some extra room. Can I... borrow it?" She grinned widely enough for her cheeks to squeak softly. "Please?" Sunburst inclined his head the other way. "Oh! Well, that won't do..." He thought back to his overly-spacious hotel room. "Yeah, sure, what's the big deal? Plenty of room." "You're the best!" She pounced at him, hugging him around the neck and casually sniffing him since she was so close. "You really are a good pony, so important, and still so giving." Sunburst laughed a little nervously, backing away from the eager mare. "What else would I do, leave you on the streets? Besides, um, we're like treasure buddies or whatever you'd call that." "Exactly!" She bounced in place eagerly. "You're out of panels you wanted to go to, where to now?" Sunburst floated out the brochure and checked the schedule, eyes scanning methodically. "Let's see, mmm, no, mmm... Like you said, I've really gotten to all the ones I wanted to get to today." He considered visiting the game hall, but that was more fun with Twilight around. "Maybe we should retire? You have to bring your things over, right?" "Oh yeah. I'll meet you at your hotel in the lobby." She dashed off suddenly, vanishing into the crowd. Sunburst was left blinking. "I never told her where that was." She likely knew it, he decided after a moment, shaking his head. He wasn't sure where she got half the information she did, but he got moving back for the hotel. Twilight ran a hoof slowly down the window beside herself. "I can't take this..." Waiting on a train was boring enough on its own. Usually she had company. One of the girls, Spike, Sunburst, anyone. Then there was the fact she knew Sunburst was off having an exciting time. One she told him to have! "Think...." Her glowing horn yanked out her suitcase from the above compartment and it landed beside her, still glowing with her magic. "While trains are convenient and safe, they don't have to be the only way to travel." She glanced back at her spreading wings. That was an option... She could go straight there without bending and winding and stopping. Her eyes crossed a little as she looked up at her horn. She could teleport, but there was a limit on how far that went. She knew it was possible to hop further, with practice. She was proud of how far she had honed her ability since her first awkward jump with Spike what felt like a lifetime ago. They had arrived, sizzling and burnt, but largely intact. She could make the same jump without effort. What if she pushed herself to that point again? She'd be a little crispy, but she'd also be there faster... She hopped up to her hooves, wings wide. "Next stop, Princesses and Wizards!" She vanished in a sphere of lavender magic, gone along with her suitcase with the faint smell of something burnt being left behind. She materialized with a shower of sparkles, her wings catching the air just as she began to fall. She could smell cooking pony, but it was far more mild than her first awkward teleport. Her suitcase floated beside her. "Yes!" She pumped a hoof victoriously, knowing she was already ahead of the train, and moving directly for Ponyville instead of the meandering path the train took. "I only need to do that a few... dozen more times." With a soft sigh, she vanished. Sunburst waited in the lobby, tapping a hoof softly. "Over here," called a familiar female voice. Star was hurrying towards him, two large suitcases attached to her sides, rolling along with her energetic trot. "Right here. Thank you again." He waved it away. "Not even a problem." He turned for the elevator, waving at the pony behind the desk. "She'll be with me the last day." That pony nodded softly, silently reminding herself that it was none of her business that a guest was staying with a different mare than he had started with. The room was paid for and wasn't being made a mess of. That was all that mattered in the end. Sunburst was first into the elevator and put a hoof out to discourage the doors from closing as Star Catcher wriggled in with her attached luggage. "Did I mention you're the best?" "Once or twice." He awkwardly smiled as he pulled his hoof back, allowing it to close and start its journey towards their floor. "Now, uh, the room's kinda..." "Don't even worry about it." She shook her head violently. "Even if it's a hole in the wall, the fact that you're willing to share it means so much to me!" Sunburst chuckled nervously as he crossed over to his door and floated the key into the door. "That's not exactly what I meant." With a soft click and a turn, he bid the door open. "Here we are." Her jaw fell open. "Oh... Oh." She took a few stiff steps forward. "My research implied this was... I hadn't... you're sure I can stay here?" She turned in place slowly, her luggage squeaking as it moved with her. "Is that a pool?" "More of a tub, a, uh, hot tub." He willed the door closed behind them and moved for the big heart-shaped bed. "Oh, right, uh... we only have... one bed." He began to color. She joined in his coloring, tittering with an energetic sort of nervousness. "Oh, um, that's fine! You were planning on using it with your important friend, Twilight. You two are... a thing, right?" "Yes, a thing!" he almost shouted before he got control of himself. "We are boy and girlfriends, yes." "How romantic!" She started to wriggle free of her suitcase. "I am so jealous... The entire convention was a romantic getaway, and her duty interrupted? That is a shame and a half..." She sighed out and slumped to the floor suddenly. "And now I feel awful." Sunburst blinked at that, tilting his head. "What's wrong?" "I... may have lied a little bit." She smiled nervously at him. He hiked a brow at her. "About what?" "There... promise you won't hate me forever!" Sunburst blinked at that. "It can't be that bad, can it?" "Maybe," she squeaked softly. "There was no reservation mixup... I just wanted to... be with you, one night, you know..." She put a fetlock over her head as she shook it. "I'm such a silly mare. I'm so sorry! It's just... It's nice being around you. If you want me to go, I will." Sunburst looked her over. She looked pained and miserable. He felt sure she would leave if he asked, but would be sad about it for basically ever. "Um, so long as we have clear boundaries, it's really not a problem." He looked across the room before willing his own suitcase open, pulling out some tape. He quickly had it laid out, taping a line right down the center of the bed. "Here we go. You get that side. I get this side." Star clopped her hooves with a rebounded joy. "Deal! Now, um, I want to enjoy this tub." She divested herself of her vest quickly and set it aside as she mosied up to it. "I never got to try a real hot tub before. I bet you have tons of times." "Um, just a few times," he admitted as he watched her. "It's nice though." "Why aren't you getting in?" She stepped down into the water and shivered as the heat poured into her. "Ooo." She took another step, sinking in right up to her neck. "Lovely... It's like the tensions of the day, pfft, gone, like that." He made no move to join her, instead grabbing for the hotel menu, perusing it as he heard the soft splashing of his guest enjoying the tub. "Want anything in particular to eat?" "What do they have?" she called out curiously. He looked up to see her rubbing some kind of shampoo into her mane vigorously. "Do they have a big hayburger?" "Um, yeah." He tapped at it. Most places had some variety of it, so far he could tell. "Want some hay fries with it?" "Please! Did I mention you're the absolute best?" He wryly smiled at that. "Just... a few times." He felt like he had repeated that line before. "Let me put in the call." Stellar sat with a content smile on her face. The class was going on around her, but they were going over remedial things a foal needed to learn, so she tuned it out without remorse. She was a happy mare. And why shouldn't she be? She imagined her love-dumb son off at that conference with his lady friend, together, in that romantic, and expensive, room. They would find love even if they had to trip over it. One thing would lead to another... She sighed softly at the thought, her smile only deepening. Perhaps she would become a grandmother before she got all wrinkled. That would be nice. They would move on from courtship to... Applejack raised a brow. "Something funny, Stellar?" She had tittered without thinking about it. "My apologies, teacher, please, proceed." "Thanks kindly." She rolled her eyes and resumed her lecture. Yes, they could get married, and then she would have a new daughter. What would being the mother in law to a princess be like? She tilted her head as she thought about it. Not that different from how things already were. She doubted Twilight would invite her to royal matters. She just might get to visit royal dinners more often and be expected to play the part. She saw no problems there. Dressing properly and acting with decorum were both things she knew how to do, and if it meant her little boy would be happily involved with Twilight while pursuing real work with real consequences? She couldn't think of a much happier ending than that. "Stellar Flare," pointedly stated Applejack. "Since you seem to be so intently focused, perhaps you'd care to answer this question?" She pointed up to the backboard. Stellar's eyes refocused on the board, where a problem involving apple trading was laid out. "Oh, yes, of course." Her horn glowed as she grabbed the chalk from across the room. "If Little Shine gives 2 apples to..." Twilight snapped back into existence in a shower of sparkles. "Finally!" she cried, Ponyville visible in the distance. She let her wings work, carrying her forward rather than immediately teleport again. That was tiring and she was feeling frazzled from all the jumping she had been doing. The gentle brushing of the evening air against her fur felt refreshing in comparison. The small bits of frizzled fur were washed away as she flew, as if the air itself were grooming her. She allowed her eyes to close, flying forward with a happy smile. "Soon." She would be at the table and see where her talents were needed. She wondered a moment if any others of her friends had been called as well.