Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto


Burst

Sunburst walked through the store, a basket held in his magic, passing through the shelves and pondering what else he might buy. He looked a few oranges over in his magic, then chose one and placed it in the basket. Setting the rest down, he turned a corner.
"Hello," said an oddly familiar voice.
The unicorn was confused for a moment, seeing no one around. Then his eyes moved up, and he noticed a mare lying prone on top of a shelf, looking down at him. Her coat was a deep, near-blue purple, and her horn jutted out on her forehead framed by her wild, short and messy dark orange mane. "Hello?" Sunburst tentatively replied, still confused if for different reasons.
The female unicorn jumped down to land in front of him. "I'm Starshine Flicker," she said, posing to show off her cutie mark. It was a spiraling pattern of white stars, with five distinct arms all converging towards the centre.
It took Sunburst a moment to realise why the name sounded familiar. Then he remembered the mare on the train, days before. The pony in front of him did have her exact same cutie mark, and the same voice as well as far as his memory told him. Still, she was unmistakably different. "Starshine?" he asked, perplexed.
"It's me! Don't you remember, the train and the book?" She walked up to him with cheery steps and had a look inside the basket at his side.
"I do," Sunburst replied. Suddenly growing suspicious, he added, "I remember you appeared out of nowhere and then disappeared into thin air. And your coat and mane didn't look like that."
"Oh, right, I'm sorry about the whole disappearing thing." She turned back towards him. "Want me to help you carry this?" she asked, tapping the basket.
Sunburst tilted his head to the side. "Um... Sure? Sure." He studied the unicorn as she took hold of the basket in her own magic and had a look around the place. "What exactly do you want?" he asked her.
"Oh, I just want to help you. You know, spend some time together, have fun, enjoy ourselves. I think you deserve some relaxation." She turned around, basket held in her magic, tail hiked up and to a side, and looked left and right again. "Where are we going next? Is there anything else you need to buy?"
Sunburst was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "No, nothing more. I was just having one last look around, but I've got everything I need and some more. I was about to go to the cashier."
"Very well then." Starshine began to walk, rocking her hips as she did, while Sunburst walked behind her. But she stopped as she passed beside a shelf, glancing at the contents of the basket. "Do you want some chocolate?" she asked, turning her neck to look at Sunburst. "I'll pay for it. Consider it a present, and an apology for last time."
Sunburst looked at her for a moment, his mouth half open, unsure of what to say. "Okay," he finally answered. "Thank you."
Smiling, Starshine added a chocolate bar from the shelf to the basket, then went back to walking towards check-out, tail still hiked and moved to the side, hips still rocking and swishing with each step.