The food arrived with a little extra. The serving stallion set down a bottle, an ornate glass affair, on their endtable. "Compliments of the house. Congratulations and thanks for staying with us." With it came two equally fancy-looking wine-glasses and a gesture towards the stocked fridge that held accessories for it. "Enjoy."
Sunburst waved softly as he left before shrugging. "We already have a fridge full of drinks, why this?"
It floated up in Twilight's grip as she pulled it over for a look. "Mmm, I'm no expert in alcohols, but it looks... special. Maybe they heard we won?"
"That's nice of them." He floated up the two glasses and held them near the bottle. "It couldn't hurt to try them with the food."
With a loud pop, Twilight had the cork free and turned the bottle carefully, half-filling each glass with the dark reddish fluid. "I don't drink very often, but this is a special day."
He nodded in quick agreement. "I normally limit myself to tea or maybe coffee, but today is special." The colors around the glasses shifted as she took one and he took the other. "To, uh, successful teamwork." He raised his a little higher.
She raised her own. "To successful teams." They met with a soft melodic tink of glass on glass, both vibrating in a way that would have been hard to accomplish if they were physically holding the glass. The meal began properly then, chomping on fish and its bed of greens and washing it down with the wine.
Sunburst softly mmmed in approval as he ate. "Funny thing."
"Hm?"
"I read somewhere you're supposed to pair white wine with fish. Why red?" He shrugged softly, taking another bite. "Not that it doesn't taste good."
"Huh, maybe salmon's an exception?" She shrugged as she took a sip from her glass. "Seems to work together nicely to me." She looked up, feeling something close to her face. It was a glass, but it was not her's. "Sunburst?"
"Just offering a drink." He adjusted his glasses, cheeks mildly blushed.
"Only if it works both ways." She floated over her own glass towards him.
Both glasses raised, the two drinking from one another's glasses, little giggles escaping them as they did so. The glasses quickly swapped back into place. Sunburst gestured for the wine bottle as it lifted. "That little trick emptied us. Easily remedied." Soon their glasses were refilled.
Her meal vanished into tasty memories, demolished by the hunger she had built up through the day. For all of Twilight's frazzles, her long distance jumping had left in her a powerful hunger. She had finished first, and was soon sitting in front of Sunburst, watching him eat more sedately. "Um, hi?" But she didn't respond, just watching him.
He cut off some fish and scooped it up with some greens on a fork before making a big show of opening his snout wide, but the fork never arrived at his own mouth, instead drifting towards Twilight. She squealed with joy and opened her snout to receive it, giving an appreciative mmm as she chewed and swallowed. "I really worked up a hunger today, sorry."
"What did you do? How did you get there and back so quickly? Did you fly as fast as Rainbow Dash the entire way?" He got another serving of food for her. "You alright?"
"I'm fine, promise." She opened wide to receive the next offering to her magical altar of power. "It's just, you know, I didn't fly that far and fast, I teleported, constantly."
His fork dropped, clattering on the plate. Thankfully it didn't have food on it at that point. "Twilight! That's dangerous."
"Maybe a little." She wobbled a hoof. "I've had a lot of practice, and I made it, as you can see." She gestured over herself with a hoof. "All in one piece, and no fifth leg that I can determine."
He plucked up his fork in his magic, working on the next serving. "You didn't have to."
"On the contrary, I barely arrived in time as it was." She gave a soft flap with her ragged wings. "Now, please... can we just not argue about that?"
"I'm sorry..." He offered up another snoutfull of deliciousness. "I just worry about you, for you. You... I wouldn't want you to be hurt."
She suddenly leaned forward, their foreheads bumping together, horns side-by-side touching. "What kind of boyfriend would want to see their girlfriend hurt? That's only natural," she rolled her eyes, perhaps a bit tipsy from too much of the celebration wine. "But this girlfriend happens to be a hero." She rubbed her forehead on his. "So I'll be the one rescuing you, Mister, and you'll look cute while I do it."
Sunburst felt his cheeks warming at the proximity. It was kind of nice having Twilight that close, but maybe a little intimidating too. He wasn't sure how to react but to get more food into her. "I may have to rescue you sometime..."
"Would you?" Her stance shifted subtly. "I mean... would you? When I'm scared and the odds seem piled against me, would you come then?" She drew back a little, a few tears leaking from her eyes. "When I'm not even sure the girls can pull it through, will you?"
"Of course!" he quickly blurted out, lowering his fork back towards the plate. She didn't look like she wanted to eat at that moment. "I don't care what's standing in the way." He leaned forward to try to bump heads, but found his head never reached anything. Instead, his lips did as she moved to catch them with her own. They were kissing in an awkward angle that slowly evened out as he realized what had happened.
She pushed him over, tipping him backwards as she advanced over him. With a mental shove, she sent the plate sliding across the room and she climbed up on top of him, still kissing.
Sunburst was shocked, but...
They had a very pleasant evening.
The next morning, Twilight woke up, putting a hoof to her head. She felt bleary and wobbly, but the sleep had helped. "Sunburst?"
"Mmm?"
"It's morning." She gestured at the windows, welcoming light into the room. "Time to rise and shine."
He sat up with a wide stretch, yawning explosively. "Oh, alright. Our train's at two." He rolled/fell from bed to his hooves and began stretching out. "Thanks, um, for the weekend. It was really fun."
She reached down from the bed and bonked him on the nose lightly. "It's not entirely over."
"Well, I mean..." He rubbed behind his head. "It technically is, being Monday and all."
"Oh yeah." She hopped down beside him and started for the bath. "Let's wash up and get packed."
As they bathed, Sunburst kept glancing towards her when he thought she wasn't looking. At least, until she was staring at him just as he glanced. He jumped back in the water, sending it sloshing.
"What's wrong?" She shook her head. "You're acting peculiarly."
"No, I mean, yes, a little?" He smiled nervously and half-sank into the water. "I mean... haven't things, you know, changed a little?"
She canted her head left, then right. "Not the way I see it. We are girlfriend and, you know, boyfriend. It's not like we..." she trailed off, remembering how the night had ended. "Oh." Her cheeks began to warm brightly. "Oh..."
He shrank a little. "Should I have said no?"
"No!" She blurted, jumping for him, though the water made it a slow and ponderous movement that didn't carry her to his side as she had planned. "I mean... we had... a good time... and... I don't think... I'm not going to regret it..." She leaned in and bumped her nose against his. "And I don't want you regretting it either, alright?"
He smiled a little, nervous though it was. "It was a special weekend, and one I won't forget..." He raised his hoof from the water to brush her wet cheek. "Thank you for it."
She moved closer, but did not go for a hug or a kiss, instead squeezing a dallop of shampoo on his mane and raising her hooves to work it in vigorously. "Now, about this mane. We're going to tame it, you and I. You looked really nice yesterday."
He laughed, looking up at the sudsy mess she was making of his mane. "Under your hooves, I can believe it. I'm, uh, glad you liked it..." It had been a gamble, but one that had paid off. "Since we're conditioning..." He returned the favor to Twilight's mane, lathering it with his glowing horn. "We'll both look nice on our way back home."
"The two prettiest ponies on the train car," she agreed in a sing song, snickering. "Well, provided Rarity doesn't suddenly show up. I imagine she'd laugh at the both of us, thinking we know a thing compared to her about how to treat a mane." She pulled over the faucet on its hose, starting to rinse Sunburst clean of his suds. "I'm perfectly happy with my working knowledge. Not all of us need to be runway ready at any given moment."
Sunburst waited for her to be done, grabbing the spout with his magic the moment she released it to get her mane clean of soap and conditioner. "As if you need it. You're plenty... You're beautiful, you know that, right?"
Her cheeks lit back up. "Sunburst!"
"I'm only speaking the truth." He put a wet hoof over his submerged chest.
"I'm a nerd," she spat out. "An egghead, as Rainbow Dash likes to point out."
"Lucky for you, that's exactly my type." He kissed her on the nose gently. "Let's nerd it up, together."
"It's a date," she agreed in a soft sigh. She pulled herself free of the tub, shaking herself free of water and sending it everywhere. A towel floated over to finish the job, rubbing vigorously at her pelt before working more carefully at her mane and tail. "What do we have to pack?"
"Not much." He emerged after her but resisted the urge to shake, lest he get her wet just after she dried herself. He stepped away to make some room before letting it loose. "We've really been fairly tidy. If we take the treasure chest as it is, well, then it's already packed, so that's convenient. Let's just get the little things." He pointed at a few things scattered about the room that they had brought with them. "I already packed my spare capes."
"Good stallion." She trotted off, her magic grabbing the stray things to tuck them away in their suitcases. "Remind me to thank your mother."
"Mmm? Oh yeah! This... was kind of her idea, and treat. We owe her a thank you."
Twilight put a hoof to her cheek. "If this is how she acts as a mother-in-law, I don't see why ponies speak badly of them."
Sunburst went still.
"What?" She turned to face him, only processing what she had said a moment later. "Oh! I mean, oh... I mean, we're not, uh... there... yet..." She shook her head vigorously. "That does remind me though, you need to really meet my parents, and I need to reintroduce you to Shining Armor."
"Uh, I know Shining Armor, fairly well in fact." He tilted his head. "Introductions aren't needed."
"Sunburst, the nice and smart stallion that saved the day, is not the same pony as Sunburst, the pony that is involved with your sister." She gestured to the left, then the right. "I may not be an expert on how brothers think, but I feel certain this is worth a reintroduction and formal announcement." She huffed suddenly. "Would you believe I didn't know he and Cadance were getting married until the last second?! Hmmph, I'll show him how it's done. You tell your family about these things, it's just the way it's done."