Sunburst thought nothing out of the ordinary when he heard a knock at his office door within the School of Friendship. Fully expecting it to be another student coming to him for help with something, he gingerly and lovingly called. "Come in."
The door was opened by a bright yellow glow cast from a horn. Sunburst smiled when he saw it, he was quite certain he knew who it was that was visiting him on this day. And his suspicions were proven correct when in stepped a tall, slender alicorn with a coat as white as snow. Her eyes sparkled, reflecting that light opal color of playfulness and innocence. Her mane and tail were shades of lavender and a crystal blue done up in beautiful, long and flowing locks. The alicorn's cutie mark proudly displayed a heart of pure crystal.
In short, the pony now standing before Sunburst was none other than Princess Flurry Heart: The ruler of the Crystal Empire, and its youngest to date (younger even than her parents had been when they had taken the throne). He rose from his desk to greet the crystal princess, his smile growing brighter by the second. "Flurry Heart!" He exclaimed and happily embraced her in a warm hug.
"Hello, Mr. Sunburst," Flurry Heart greeted in a somewhat sheepish tone of voice. "It's... good to see you again after all these years."
Sunburst nodded his head. "Same to you, Flurry Heart. My, just look how big you've grown! Why, when I last saw you, you were still in diapers!" He stepped back and wiped a tear from his eyes. "It's true: They do grow up so fast."
Flurry flushed with embarrassment. "Mr. Sunburst, please! I get enough of that from my Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna every time they come to see me, or every time I visit them," She fanned her wings across her face to hide her shame. "Obviously, I'm not the same little filly I was when you left me. I mean, I have my cutie mark, for one thing."
Sunburst adjusted his glasses and took notice of the aforementioned cutie mark. "It looks just like your mom's. Fitting for a pony who succeeded her mom to the crystal throne," Now it was his turn to blush. "I... would've come to attend your coronation, but... well... when you're the vice headstallion at a school like this, things sometimes get away from you. It happens more than I'd like for my age."
"Oh come now, Mr. Sunburst," Flurry teased. "You're not that old," Then she giggled. "Although, I must admit it's weird to see you with a beard."
The stallion smiled. "Well, I figured it'd look nice. Starlight didn't really agree at first, but she came around eventually. If she hadn't," He said with a glint in his eyes. "Do you think she would've married me?"
At that the alicorn's wings folded out to either side! As much as she probably would've anticipated such news, it still took her by surprise! "You and Miss. Starlight?!"
Sunburst firmly nodded. "Yup. Happened just a few years after we'd been running the school together. Being able to see each other whenever we want certainly helps us maintain a healthy relationship. And don't worry about Trixie, she was the best mare at the wedding. Starlight couldn't have picked a better pony, and Trixie's still our friend. She's matured a lot, she's nowhere near as jealous or obsessive as she used to be."
Flurry put a hoof to her chin. "Wasn't she that magician that my mom took me to see with Auntie Twily once? I don't really remember her all that well."
The glasses wearing stallion simply replied. "She doesn't do a lot of magician work anymore. She's found her true calling in life. Believe me, I'm just as shocked as you are that she turned out to be a great and powerful guidance counselor. Just ask the students, they'll vouch for her," Then he let out a gasp! "Have you come here to enroll in the school by any chance? There's technically no age limit for students, nopony's ever too old to learn about friendship."
But Flurry Heart shook her head from side to side. "No, I'm pretty much up to date on friendship. Auntie Twily made sure to share all the stories about her and her friendship council. And I'm not here to spy on her student, Luster Dawn, either. Auntie Twily and I both agree that Luster needs to be her own pony if she's going to understand friendship."
"Well you'll be happy to know that she's doing very well for herself," Sunburst pointed out, before strolling back to his desk. "But if you didn't come for her or for yourself, I'm guessing that means only one thing."
The crystal princess firmly nodded. "Yes, Mr. Sunburst. I came here because I wanted to see you again. I... really didn't mean to wait so long to do it."
"Hey, we were both busy. Sometimes, that's life," Sunburst informed his former charge. He proceeded to motion for her to approach his desk. "But it's okay, I have time for you now. Whatever you wanna tell me, I'll listen." For good measure, he used his horn to close the door of his office behind him and cast a silencing spell to ensure that he and the princess would not be overheard.
Sunburst leaned back in his office chair, stroking his beard with a hoof as he waited for Flurry to speak up. He felt it only fair to let her do the talking and he the listening.
After quickly glancing around the office with her eyes and convinced that she was indeed alone with him, Flurry Heart swallowed hard as she adopted a guilty look. "I'm sorry, Mr. Sunburst."
At that the former crystaller blinked slowly. "For what? I wasn't aware you'd done anything wrong," Nervously, he questioned. "Did something happen to you in the empire?"
"It's not that," Flurry insisted even as the shameful look in her eyes wouldn't go away. "I just wanted to apologize. I know why it is that you left me when you did and came here, why you agreed to become Miss. Starlight's vice headstallion."
"Oh, is that what this is about?" Sunburst inquired in a sincere tone of voice. "Flurry, you mustn't blame yourself for that. There was nothing you did or didn't do that made me leave you. You gave me a fresh start, an opportunity to regain confidence in myself. If I hadn't been your crystaller, even if it was only for about two years or so, I never would've had the courage to accept Starlight's offer."
Flurry wasn't convinced. "You're just saying that to make me feel better, Mr. Sunburst. I know you probably got fed up with always having to take care of me, when I'm sure all you really wanted was peace and quiet. That's why, after Mistmane started helping out, I saw you less and less often. And then one day, you were gone. You left for Ponyville, and you never came back."
Sunburst stood up, looking the young princess deep in the eyes. "Flurry Heart, I assure you that you were not a factor in any way when it came to me coming here. I meant every word of what I said. You helped me in ways you could've never imagined. Caring for you helped me turn the corner, put my failures behind me. I learned a lot just by making sure you stayed out of trouble," He added. "Sure, maybe sometimes it felt like a chore. Maybe sometimes you could be a real hoofful, intentionally or unintentionally. But there were moments that made it all worthwhile, moments with you I wouldn't have traded for anything in Equestria."
Hesitantly, the alicorn questioned. "Then why did you leave? Why didn't you stay my crystaller forever? Or at least, until I no longer needed a crystaller?"
The glasses wearing unicorn replied. "Because, Flurry, you were getting to the point where my services were no longer required. Your parents were getting good at learning how to control your magic, and Mistmane and Starswirl alone were much better teachers than I could ever hope to be in regards to how to perform magic properly. Even now, most of the spells I can do are spells that took me forever to learn. Spells that you and Starlight could do in a heartbeat."
Flurry Heart was most surprised! "Really?! You always seemed to know so much about magic. I even heard about how you helped Auntie Twily free the pillars from limbo. So what if you had help? It was your discovery that made the rescue possible in the first place."
Sunburst felt his cheeks grow warm. "As flattered as I am that you think so highly of me, Flurry Heart, I really can't take all the credit. A lot of my greatest accomplishments as your crystaller were spur of the moment thinking. It was just luck that I knew all the spells or knew what the right decision for the situation was. And in the case of the pillars," He let out a deep sigh. "I let myself get wrapped up in ambition and idol worship, to the point where I didn't stick up for the friend who I knew I meant everything to. Nothing hurt worse than fearing I had lost her trust forever because of that."
"But Miss. Starlight forgave you, and the pillars were able to rescue Stygian, so it all worked out in the end, right?" Flurry asked in a hopeful tone of voice.
Sunburst nodded quite slowly. "I suppose it did. Even so, Flurry, it was a wake up call that my pursuits and studies could be a danger. If all I ever cared about was them, I could lose track of what was right in front of me. Books and scrolls could only take me so far. That's when I started realizing that sooner or later, I'd have to get back out into the real world again," A smile returned to his face as he added. "So when Starlight gave me an opportunity to try something new, I knew I had to take it, even if it meant I wouldn't get to see you grow up. But clearly, everything worked out for you as well."
"Yes," Flurry acknowledged. "Although being ruler of an entire empire can be very demanding, and kind of lonely too without Mistmane and Starswirl," Her wings folded back to her sides. "I miss them a lot. I wish I'd have had more time to get to know them, and tell them what they really meant to me."
"Their passings were hard on us all, Flurry," Sunburst somberly acknowledged. "I'm sure they're both watching over you from the afterlife. And they're proud of the pony you've become. You honor their teachings and their legacy every day by continuing to maintain the Crystal Empire as a vital part of Equestria," He then told the alicorn. "If you ever truly feel alone, you're always welcome to come and see me if our schedules allow. I'll always try to make time for you. No matter what, you'll always be a student of mine."
"And you'll always be my favorite crystaller!" Flurry Heart eagerly proclaimed as she unfolded her wings and leaned forward, hugging Sunburst again! "Oh, you're the best, Mr. Sunburst! Who would I be without you?!"
The stallion with a lovely orange coat just rubbed the whiskers under his chin. "I don't know, Flurry. You truly are your own pony, now. I feel honored to have cared for you, and to know you on a personal basis."