Many Happy Reunions

by EchoWing


Chapter One - Together in Laughter

“Hey Quivs. Long time no see.”

Quiver Quill stood for what felt like an eternity in disbelief. Despite his eyes and heart and every instinct screaming at him that what he was seeing was true, it still felt like it wasn’t. And yet, it was. Right before him, hardly any different from the last time he’d seen her, was Sunrunner.

His shock passed as a faint smile formed on his face, and hints of tears formed at the corners of his eyes, and he rushed forward and took the mare into a tight embrace. “Hey, careful!” Despite her shock, she laughed in pleased surprise as she returned the embrace, then playfully asked, “How do you know I’m not a changeling?”

“Like a changeling would know that stupid poem I wrote!” He released her, then wiped away his tears before smirking at the mare before him. “But how do you know I’m not a changeling?”

She returned the smirk. “What did Scorpan say to Star Swirl on the eve of his departure?”

Quiver shook his head but kept his expression. “Nopony knows the answer to that question.”

“True.” She raised an eyebrow. “But who did I learn it from?”

His smirk turned into a grin. “Me.” He laughed. “I’ve missed you, Runnie.”

She smiled back at him, now totally at ease. “Same here, Quivs. You look good.”

“Thanks. So do you.” Now it was his turn to be nervous as he admitted, “Granted, that’s not a hard thing for you, but…”

“Hey Quiver, you mind not leaving the door open?” Quiver turned back to see his housemate approach from the kitchen. “I don’t want flies buzzing around while we’re…” Sour Sweet stopped, and a grim expression settled onto her face.

That suddenly got the stallion worried again as he turned around and saw a similar expression on the face of his guest. “Okay, before anypony jumps to any conclusions…” He was silenced by the pegasus’s raised wing, and she gently moved him aside.

“Two-Face.”

“Warbler.” Sour stepped towards the mare before her, never once breaking eye contact.

“Care to explain what you’re doing here?”

“I live here. Care to explain why you took so damn long getting back in touch with my cousin?”

Sunrunner’s grim stare broke into wide-eyed surprise, while Sour’s turned into a pleased grin. The former looked between the two cousins, then turned thoughtful. “Okay, I can believe the two of you are related. I’ve seen Quiver when he’s angry.” She shook her head and sighed. “I guess I’ve got some catching up to do.”

“You both do, and you can do it over breakfast.” Sour gestured for the two to come back inside. “The four of us, together.”

Before Sunrunner could inquire about that statement, she was answered as a raven perched himself upon her head and gently rubbed his beak against her right ear. “Hello!”

“Yeah, that’s Edgar.” Quiver smiled. “Don’t worry, he’s friendly.”

The pegasus smiled. “So I’ve noticed.” She stepped inside and allowed Quiver to close the door behind her as she admitted, “And breakfast sounds great.”

-

Pinkie Pie hummed happily to herself as she carried out another batch of baked goods ready for purchase. “Did we just have our first customer of the day?”

Mrs. Cake nodded. “And right after I unlocked the door, too. A pegasus came in, asked for directions, and bought a bagel. Whoever her parents were, they did a good job of raising her.” The portly mare went about her work setting up for the day as she continued, “You’d be surprised how often somepony comes into a place like this and loiters around without even buying anything. I’ve got nothing against ponies coming into the shop mind you, but I would prefer that they buy something.” She sighed. “It doesn’t even have to be expensive, just something small.”

“Aww! That’s good!” Pinkie finished setting things up and asked, “So where was she trying to get directions to? Twilight’s library?”

“Strangely enough, they were asking for directions to your friend Quiver Quill’s place.” She smiled and leaned in. “Between you and me, I think she might be somepony special to him…” She then noticed the strange look on Pinkie’s face and asked, “Pinkie, dear, are you alright?”

The party planner looked far more serious than she’d ever been as she asked, “What did this mare look like, Mrs. Cake?”

A question like that got her attention as she answered. “Well, she was about your age, maybe a little older. Pegasus, amber coat, red and yellow mane, eyes colored like Princess Luna’s…”

Pinkie gasped as the picture formed in her mind and she realized just who had stepped into the shop. “Missed her by that much!” She then bolted to the door, then briefly turned back. “I gotta go, Mrs. Cake! I’ll be back in a half-hour! I gotta get Twilight and then take her to Quiver’s place!”

“Alright, but why…?!”

“Because somepony important just came to town, and it’s about darn time, too!” She then flung open the door and bolted out of it before it could even close behind her, blowing away the mane of the next pony to enter.

Mrs. Cake watched dumbstruck, then shook her head and hoped for an explanation later as her next customer came up. “What can I get ya?”

-

With a terrific yawn, Spike stretched out and rose from his bed in Golden Oak Library. The previous evening had a bit more exhausting than he liked, given all the excitement, and he suspected that today would be just as crazy, if not moreso. That tended to be the way things went in Ponyville – as dull as things could be sometimes, when they got exciting, they got really exciting, and tended to stay that way for a couple days at a time. Thankfully, that excitement was never anything that they couldn’t handle.

That bit of reflection done, he then climbed out of bed to grab some breakfast, hopeful that he still had some emeralds squirreled away somewhere to nibble on while he fixed something a bit heavier up for himself and Twilight. The alicorn, unsurprisingly, was already up, and no doubt at work on something downstairs. She’d probably grabbed something for herself, but depending on what she’d gotten into, she might well have forgotten to eat. Good thing she had her Number One and Number Two Assistants, then.

Without further ado, Spike made his way down to the main floor of the library. Sure enough, he found Twilight sitting at a table, hard at work on a letter with a mug of coffee at her side. “Hey Twilight. You had any breakfast yet?”

“Fixed up a little toast, but other than that, just some juice and coffee.” She put aside her quill and reviewed the letter before her. “Wanted to get this done before anything else.”

Spike approached and glanced over her shoulder. “Another letter to the personnel offices of the Royal Guard? Twilight, this’ll be your, what, seventh one since we found out Sunrunner was part of it?”

“I know, but I’m not sure what else I can do. Silver Bullet and Pixie Dust are caught up in their duties here liaising between me, the Mayor and the Royal Corps of Engineers, so I can’t ask them to make a special trip to Canterlot just to try and get in touch with her. There are procedures keeping me or Celestia from going to her directly, and asking Shining Armor to step in and do something would be overkill. Going through proper channels is the best I can do.”

“Yeah, I get that, but if proper channels were going to work, they would’ve after the first or second letter.” The dragon gave her a comforting look as he noted, “Twi, I get why you’re in such a rush over this. First you promised Sunset that you’d try to track her down, now you find out that she’s got a connection to Quiver. And after last night, I can’t blame you for putting in a little extra effort. I’m just saying that maybe it’s time to change your approach.”

“What, like charge into the personnel offices and directly request her current assignment and address and ruffle the feathers of every civil servant involved in the process? If this was something which the fate of Equestria depended upon, I’d do it in a heartbeat, but…” Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. “…but compared to that, this is small potatoes, and all I can do is disappoint two of my friends and feel lower than dirt.”

Spike flashed a hopeful smile. “Well, maybe you’ll get lucky somehow?”

“That would be nice, but it’s not like she’s just going to drop in on us out of the blue.”

The door to the library swung open, and the pony responsible rushed in so quickly that she blew Twilight’s mane around. “Twilight, you and Spike gotta come with me now!”

“Pinkie, wha…?” The alicorn shook her mane back into place. “What’s going on that’s got you this excited?!”

“It’s Sunrunner!” The party pony beamed happily as she explained, “She came into Sugarcube Corner earlier today, bought a bagel and asked Mrs. Cake for directions to Quiver’s place! She’s probably there right now!”

Spike allowed himself a smug look before Twilight asked, “Did you see her yourself?”

“Nope, I missed her by a hair, but can we really ignore this chance?”

“No, no we can’t!” Twilight grasped the party pony and her assistant in her magic and pulled them close. “Owlowiscious! Hold the library while we’re gone, and fetch the message journal just in case!” The owl barely had time to acknowledge before the alicorn hugged the pair close and teleported out of the library as if lives depended on it.

-

“…And that’s the short version.” As breakfast was portioned out, Quiver smiled. “I’ve had a little more excitement than I’d like since I arrived in town, but then again, it’s Ponyville.”

“No kidding. This place has seen more surprises in the last eighteen months than Indy ever did.” Sunrunner smirked at one of her hosts. “And speaking of surprises, I’m amazed that you can actually cook, Two-Face.”

Sour returned the smirk. “Don’t give me too much credit. It’s hard to screw up oatmeal and hay bacon.”

Quiver rolled his eyes as he mixed some brown sugar into his oatmeal. “If the two of you are going to keep competing with each other, this is going to be a very unpleasant meal.”

The two mares sighed as the pegasus gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry Quivs. A little friendly competitiveness is encouraged in our line of work.” She added some chunks of apple to her oatmeal and changed the subject. “Still, I’m a little surprised to find you rooming with your cousin. How’d that happen?”

“That’s another story.” Quiver gave his cousin a proud smile. “I’ll leave her to explain. I refuse to have loose lips.”

“Sink ships!” Edgar cawed before returning to his own breakfast of dried mealworms and fish.

The three ponies shared a chuckle at that before Sunrunner continued. “Okay, fine, let me guess.” She gave the unicorn a curious look. “You snagged protection detail for Princess Twilight?”

Sour raised an eyebrow. “Jealous?”

“Very. That’s a choice assignment.” Sunrunner bowed her head. “And something tells me one of those won’t be coming for me again very soon.”

A knock sounded at the door, and Sour got to her hooves. “Let’s table that, huh? You two have bigger things to talk about.” She then made her way out of the room, leaving the reunited couple to themselves.

“Well anyway, I’m impressed, Quivs. You hang out with one of Equestria’s princesses! If our classmates could see you now, they’d be stumbling all over themselves trying to take advantage of that.” She rolled her eyes. “Most of them, anyway.”

“Like that would do any good. Twilight’s set a precedence against nepotism.”

That prompted a smile from the pegasus. “Good for her.” Sunrunner took a breath and managed a rueful smile. “I guess we need to address the elephant in the room, don’t we?”

“Ideally before he draws attention to himself.” Quiver put down his spoon and turned to face her. “What happened, Runnie? I mean, I get it, you leaving wasn’t my fault, and I shouldn’t feel guilty about it. You being here is proof enough for that. But…”

She raised a wing to his lips. “But you still deserve answers.” She pulled back her wing and explained, “You’re right, it wasn’t your fault. I wouldn’t have memorized that poem if it didn’t matter to me. And I’ve felt miserable about leaving you behind in that Tartarus pit with Primrose and High Note and the rest of those plotholes.” She slumped slightly as she explained, “I left because of family stuff. I had…I have a cousin. Her name’s Sunset Shimmer. My parents took her in after her mom and dad, my aunt and uncle, died. You never met her because she was in Canterlot, attending Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

Quiver grew worried. “What happened to her?”

The mare bowed her head. “That’s the worst part. I don’t know. It’s like she just dropped off the face of the planet that fall. Mom whisked us off to Canterlot and transferred me to another school after she vanished, and aside from some lingering resentment against Princess Celestia, that was that.” She offered the stallion an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry I never told you about her, Quivs.”

He returned the smile. “Hey, you’re under no obligation to tell me about your relatives. I never told you about Sour.” His expression turned regretful as he amended, “Or my brother.”

That got her attention. “You have a brother?”

Had. Long, sad story.”

Before Quiver could elaborate, Sour cleared her throat. The two looked up as the unicorn explained, “Sorry to interrupt, but we have company.” The unicorn stepped aside to reveal their guests. “I don’t believe they need any introduction.”

Sunrunner rose from her seat and stood at attention at the sight of the alicorn mare before her. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, ma’am! First Lieutenant Sunrunner, Equestrian Royal Guard! It’s an honor and a privilege to meet you!” She turned to the pony and dragon beside the princess and added, “And of course the two of you as well, Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie and Sir Spike.”

Twilight gave a nervous smile. “The honor’s mine, and you don’t need to be that formal. Just Twilight is fine.”

Pinkie simply rushed forward and took her into a joyful hug. “And just call me Pinkie! The more I hear that name, the more I think my mane’s gone flat!”

The dragon beside her smirked and noted, “I dunno, I could stand a little more of being called ‘Sir Spike’.”

Quiver rolled his eyes. “Careful Spike, you’ll get in trouble saying things like that.” He then turned to Twilight and asked, “To what do we owe this? You weren’t that worried about me, were you?”

“Well, I was planning on stopping in to see you later today, but circumstances got me to hurry things up a little.” She turned to Sunrunner and explained, “Specifically, you being here, Lieutenant. I’ve actually been trying to get in touch with you for months now.”

That took the pegasus mare by surprise. “Me? Really? What’s so special about me?”

“You mean besides being the only friend Quiver had when he had to deal with bullies and meanies and lousy teachers and his dad making him feel lousy and miserable, and the fact that you’re friends with Twilight’s coltfriend, and the fact that you’re a really nice pony and you look exactly the way we always pictured you’d look?” Pinkie blinked as she paused and considered her statement. “Okay, that last one is a little bit of a stretch.”

Quiver looked a little embarrassed as he admitted, “Well, I might’ve talked about you in very positive terms. And made clear how much I missed you.”

Sour snorted. “There’s an understatement.”

“Well regardless, Pinkie’s not far off.” Twilight smiled as she turned her attention back towards Sunrunner and noted, “Still, this was amazing timing. What are you doing here in Ponyville? And how did you know Quiver was living here?”

Sunrunner laughed. “There’s actually not much of a story there.” She turned to Quiver and asked, “You’ve been getting invitations to that upcoming class reunion, right?”

“Yeah, but I’ve been pitching them after the first one.” He frowned. “Like you said, Tartarus pit.”

“Well, me being overly optimistic, I got roped into helping put the thing together, only to overhear that Primrose had a cruel prank planned. Don’t know the details, but knowing her, it’ll be like something out of Monarch Crown, only worse.”

Quiver raised an eyebrow. “Involving High Note?”

The pegasus nodded. “The one good thing that came out of it was that I got your current address. Never had much luck with your old one.”

“That’s nice and all, but if you had his old address, when what took you so long to try and get in touch?” Sour gave her comrade a critical glare. “We both know there was a short gap between graduating from the regular courses in the Academy and that first assignment you had.”

“Yeah, and I tried visiting there in pony, but all I got for my trouble was a bitter old stallion raging at me for wasting his time with a survey and threatening to call the police if I didn’t get off his property.”

Quiver raised a hoof to just above his head. “Little taller than me?” He gestured towards his muzzle and added, “Beard?” At the mare’s nod, he grumbled, “That would be my father.”

Sour shook her head and groaned. “Yep, that sounds like Uncle Bits.”

“The annoying thing is that he probably had me doing yard work or something that day. You practically missed me by a hair or so.”

“Well regardless, the two of you have found each other now.” Twilight beamed at the pair. “And from the looks of things, you’re having a much better reunion than I did when I reunited with some old friends.” She then turned to Sunrunner and asked, “Anyway, any plans now that you’re here?”

She shrugged. “Nothing specific.” She turned to Quiver and explained, “I mean, I hoped that I’d meet Quiver, get caught up over a few, give him my current address and maybe plan for getting together again. I’ve gotten one of my best friends back, and I’m not about to lose him again.”

Quiver considered that. “Well, maybe we can do a little more than that.” He turned to Sour and explained, “Sour still needs to get the lay of the land, and there’s plenty of other ponies here in town that I know you’d love to meet. Maybe I can show the two of you around and make some introductions.”

“Other…?” Sunrunner glanced between the princess and her friend and almost exclaimed, “Don’t tell me…!”

“Yes, Runnie, I know the other Bearers!” He gave her a teasing grin. “Don’t be too shocked.”

“I’m not shocked, Quivs, I’m impressed! And proud!” She laughed and turned to Twilight and Pinkie as she admitted, “And a little envious. The closest I’ve come to meeting any of you before today was having a record I set at Wonderbolt Academy get beaten by Rainbow Dash.” She extended one wing and held two feathers apart by a hair. “Just by a hair, though.”

“Well be careful bringing that up with her, or she’ll want to see what you’ve got.”

The pegasus smirked at the dragon’s warning. “Well she won’t find me lacking when she does.” She then turned back to Quiver and asked, “So where do we start?”

“Well, if I could make a suggestion?” Attention turned back to Twilight as she explained, “If you could, try to end it with a visit to Golden Oak Library. I have something that I’d like to share with the three of you, but I need a little time to prepare for it.”

“And before that, you guys have got to come to Sugarcube Corner again!” Pinkie smiled gleefully as she declared, “I can’t just let Quiver’s best friend visiting town happen without her getting an extra special treat to celebrate the reunion, or without properly meeting the Cakes! Pound and Pumpkin are gonna love you!”

Quiver grinned at that. “As if that wasn’t on the list, but we’ll work up to it. As for where to go first…” The grin faded as the first place he thought of was instantly ruled out. “It’s definitely not going to be Carousel Boutique.” As his marefriend looked at him in surprise, he explained, “Primrose is going to be in town today visiting there. She commissioned Rarity to make her a dress, probably for the reunion.”

The mare made a disappointed sigh. “Why am I not surprised? If the elites are talking about it, Primrose is definitely going to want a part of the attention.” She turned apologetic as she explained, “Sorry, but I’ve seen Rarity’s designs in Canterlot at Hoity Toity’s boutique. A part of me’s always wanted one, but they’re way too pricy for my pay grade. Just meeting her would be enough though, for obvious reasons.”

Quiver smiled hopefully. “Well maybe you’ll still get the chance. Plenty of time in the day.” He gestured back to their meal and said, “First, though, let’s not leave that unfinished.”

Twilight suddenly turned apologetic. “Ooh, sorry Quiver. We’ll leave so the three of you can finish your breakfast in peace.” She ushered Pinkie and Spike out and concluded, “Anyway, I’m glad to have met you Sunrunner, and I’m looking forward to seeing you again later today.”

The pegasus gave a polite nod. “And you as well, Princess Twilight.” As the alicorn closed the door behind her, Sunrunner turned back to her coltfriend and smiled. “I can’t believe how casual you are with her.”

Quiver shrugged. “She’s my friend. Not a lot of reason to be crazy on the formalities.”

“Well, good for you.” She reclaimed her seat and got back to her meal. “Anyway, if you’re up for it, I’d like to hear about your brother.”

“You sure?” At her nod, Quiver relented. “Alright, but be warned, his story won’t paint him or me in a positive light.”

She gave him an encouraging smile. “Nopony’s perfect, Quivs. I’m not gonna pretend otherwise. And the sooner I hear everything from you, the sooner you can show me around town, and something tells me we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”

Quiver grinned. “Well, hopefully there won’t be too many more surprises on the way.”

-

Twilight sighed as she gained more and more distance from Quiver’s home. “Thank you, Pinkie.”

The party planner looked at her in surprise. “What for?”

“For not saying anything about Sunset Shimmer in front of Sunrunner.” The princess smiled. “I mean, I know you take secrets seriously, but no one swore you to secrecy about this.”

“And that’s exactly why I didn’t say anything about Sunset! It wasn’t my place to talk about her, and you obviously had a plan to do it!” Pinkie then took her friend into a warm hug and assured her, “And you’re gonna be great, Twilight! I know it!” With that, she turned and skipped off back to Sugar Cube Corner.

As they watched her go, Spike looked up at Twilight and asked, “So, do you have a plan?”

The alicorn smiled. “I do. Come on, we need to get back to the library. I’ve got a message to write.”