//------------------------------//
// 52 - Good Luck 
// Story: Sunburst to the Rescue 
// by David Silver 
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Shining and Cadance stood before the new crouple. They glanced at one another, and a soft nod from Cadance prompted Shining to continue, "We're both excited to hear how things go. So long as you two are honest with each other and yourselves, we don't see there being too many problems you can't face."

"Exactly so." Cadance reached out a hoof to Sunburst's chin, raising it a little. "I know you are nervous, and let me tell you a secret. I was just as nervous, when I realized Shining and I were becoming a 'thing' more than just two young ponies enjoying a few dates."

Twilight seemed to be less nervous, smiling easily even. "I got this."

Shining cocked a brow. "One day you won't get this. It happens to us all, but when that happens, don't panic. You're both great ponies, and I'm sure you'll figure it out, so long as you don't convince yourself nothing can ever go wrong."

Soft hugs and goodbyes were shared. Sunburst became redder by the moment, not used to receiving that sort of attention from either of the royal couple, and instead he got it from both of them. "Thank you, um... We'll take some of my books with me, but we'll be back for the rest."

"Of course, let me know when, and if, you wish to surrender that house." Cadance looked in that direction. "It's sad to think you won't be in it, but this ending is also the start of a wonderful thing."

Shining nodded towards Sunburst while looking at Twilight. "You're taking away our foalsitter and one of my players."

"And I provided a way for him to continue being at least one of those things." Twilight stuck out her tongue softly. "I will not be made to feel guilty about it. Come on, Sun, we have one more set of ponies to visit before we go home." She began to walk away at a firm stride.

Sun waved one last time before hurrying to catch up with Twilight. "Do we? I thought we were done with this trip."

"Technically, sure, we could call it quits there, but that went so well, why not go while we have the tempo down?"

"Go where?"

Twilight looked over her shoulder at him. "My parents' house, of course. I already met your mom, only fair you meet mine."

"Oh..." They went back to his house and collected many books in neat floating piles, then to a wagon. With a great haul of literature, they moved to the station. "We got almost everything." The idea that all his books could fit in the wagon, even if it was a nice-sized wagon, was somehow humbling to him. "I thought it'd be more..."

Twilight twisted an ear towards him. "The ones you left behind are not even yours. You can--"

"--no! No... I do have some things back there that aren't books that I would..."

"Are you alright?" Twilight stopped drawing the wagon along and turned towards him. "You sound... off?"

"It's just... weird... I haven't had a move like this before... When I went off to school, I had nothing with me but a few things, and I remember just... hoping Mom would take care of the rest. When I moved out of college, I barely had anything, and took it all with me..." He tapped his forehooves together, sitting on the ground. Each pony that passed him felt like a silent accusation. "Now I've built up a life, with stuff, and..."

"Sunburst..." She moved around the wagon and pressed her nose to his cheek. "I know exactly how you feel."

"You do?" He quirked an ear at her, watching her intently.

"I will remind that I didn't even get the pleasure of 'moving in' to the castle I now live in. My... old home was obliterated, with many of my precious keepsakes still inside... That was a rough day. When your life is... changed... like that, it feels, well, just plain bad." She touched her nose to him in the exact same spot. "I felt bad... The girls were there for me though. They helped me get through it, and I hope I can help you get through this too. At least your stuff is all... intact, but I know feelings don't always work that way."

"Yeah..." He forced a little smile. "I have a really great pony to mope next to."

"The best." She went to bump him, but he turned his head as she came in, and their lips met, turning it into a soft kiss instead. She drew back with a bright blush, glancing nervously at all the other ponies in the street that had witnessed it.

"You're an item, Twilight." He took the wagon's handle in his teeth and resumed tugging it towards the train. "Get used to random kisses."

"Ha, yeah..." She sounded far from convinced as she began to follow along. "You seem to be in better spirits all of a sudden."

"Good company helps." Not that he actually felt entirely better, but knowing Twilight was there, and a part of his life, was certainly a positive factor.





The train chugged along the tracks peacefully. Sunburst's considerable load was parked in a cargo train, to be dropped off in Ponyville even as they continued past it. The girls would come and get it and whisk it away to the castle by the time they actually returned to Ponyville for real.

But he wouldn't be there for the first part, no, he had to go on to Canterlot, a city where he had come as a foal, only to crash and burn. "This is where I first learned of my limitations," he sighed out, watching what passed the windows. "I wonder how things might have played out, if I had passed the tests. If I had become a wizard instead of... just a scholar of magic..."

"We can't really know that." Twilight was across from him, looking out the same window. "We can only guess and wonder, and that mostly just makes you sad, unless you decide that alternative present is completely worse than this one. Like if I hadn't passed my test, I... wouldn't be who I am. I would never have come to Ponyville, or met my dearest friends. I'd never have become a princess. I probably... would never meet you." She shook her head softly. "Nope, I'm pretty happy things went exactly the way they did."

Sunburst rolled his hooves around one another. "Well, when you put it that way... If I had stayed in school, I wouldn't have met Cadance and Shining like I did. If I did meet you, it would have likely been in a professional capacity, brief and done... I would have had basically no reason to go to Ponyville, so I wouldn't have met anyone there either." He closed his eyes for a time. "I might have made new, different, friends, or not, but I wouldn't want to trade away the ones I have now for 'maybe' friends."

Twilight bobbed her head. "Exactly right. You are living a life that is worth living, Sunburst. Never forget that."

"I'm still saying bye to a lot of people."

Twilight hopped down and right back up again, joining Sunburst at his side. "That can be hard. Just don't make the mistake I did." She rolled her eyes.

"What mistake was that?" Distracted from his own thought he looked towards her with curiosity.

"Basically I forgot all my old acquaintances. I got so swept up in new friends and a new life and... You're already avoiding that." She set a hoof on his shoulder. "I was really glad to help you keep in contact with them, and continue your game. It's about more than the game itself, of course. Those are your friends, Sunburst."

"Yeah..." He thought back to the roughhousing he had received when he physically showed up. "They really do care about me... I'm glad I'll be there. I mean... the game's good, for sure, but we do more than just... game." He tapped the edges of his hooves together. "We talk, a lot. Whenever one of us is having a problem, it always comes out eventually, and we're friends, so we, you know, work it out."

"I had to rebuild those bridges... Some at great expense to the ponies I had abandoned." She lowered her ears for a moment before they sprang back up. "Which is why I'm glad we're not repeating mistakes. By the way, Spike plays O&O with Big Mac and Discord, if you're ever looking for another game that's a little closer than the Crystal Empire."

"Spike... and... wow, that has to be interesting." He shook his head at the scenarios that played in his head. "Is Discord like a super powerful wizard or something?"

"Archer, last I heard."

Sunburst blinked softly, struggling to process how that worked. "Not what I would have guessed... Spike... a brave and valorous knight?"

"Wizard."

Sunburst put a hoof to his face. "That's O for Two. Hm... Big Mac... Well, if Spike didn't take up the knight mantle, and Discord's playing an archer... is he the knight?"

Twilight clopped her hooves together in a smart clap. "You got it! I'm sure they'd accept a new player, especially one already versed in the game."

"I'll consider it, but no promises... It's not like I don't already have a game to be in." He leaned over against her suddenly. "It's nice having you next to me instead of across from me.

The conversation died companionably there, the two leaning against one another and enjoying the ride.





They arrived in Canterlot with the soft jolts of the stopping train. "Canterlot!" A moustached pony wandered down the aisle, announcing the arrival. "Please disembark in an orderly fashion if you're stopping here."

Twilight bounced to the floor. "Now, I know this city has different feelings for you, but this is where I'm from, originally. I was born here, and my parents still live here."

Sunburst stepped down more sedately. "So you know where all the fun places are."

"I sure..." She trailed off with a little frown. "I mean... Hm. Come to think of it..." She began wandering towards the exit with a thoughtful expression.

"You spent all the time with your cute nose in a book, didn't you?"

Her cheeks lit up a little as she thumped her side against his. "Maybe! A little... I know where the good libraries are, and a few fantastic bookstores come to mind." She raised a hoof to her chin. "Actually, and the movie theatre. My BBBFF loved taking me there when he could, and we'd watch all kinds of things."

She suddenly perked up. "And my friends! The ponies I told you I made contact with again. We should meet them, and they'll want to know about... this too. You'll love Moon Dancer. She's as huge of a nerd as we are."

His ears perked up at the idea. "Does she enjoy studying magic?"

"Loves it." Twilight grinned triumphantly, having found something she could surely offer. "Now let's go. We have parents to surprise."

"Oh, right. Are you sure this is a good idea?" They had given no warning of any kind. "I mean, this is kind of sudden."

"Well, yes, it is... Father will be a bit annoyed, he loves his schedules more than I do, but Mother, on the other hoof, will be delighted. Nothing like a good surprise to get her heart pumping, which is exactly what she wants. Let's go make a happy mother."

He couldn't think of a good counter argument to that, so he trotted at her side, winding through the streets of Canterlot. His eyes wandered over the stately buildings as they went and the ponies that belonged in them. It was a place he had belonged, once, long ago.

That time had passed. Perhaps it was for the best. He smiled a little, choosing to believe it was.