It was finally the day, that day in which Sunburst would set his hoof in Ponyville. He was rather nervous, the castle’s library became a mess as he quickly tried to pack as many books and quills as possible. He kept talking to himself while reciting the list of objects he needed to pack, trying to make sure all of them were ready.
“Let’s see: quills, notes, books, extra glasses…”' Sunburst looked around his desk, neatly putting every item into its place, hearing hooves approaching as he did so, and when he turned his head to look at the library’s entrance, he was there.
“So what’s up with all the packing, Sunburst?” said Shining Armor, the stallion that was now standing right there in the entrance. Looking at Sunny, whose rush for getting the saddlebags ready was rather noticeable, even if his plans were to just stay for the afternoon.
“Oh! Shining, don’t you remember? I’m going on a mission today, and the train is just a few minutes from coming.”
“The quest with my sister?” Shining asked, Sunburst only responded with a nod for a few seconds, before speaking up again.
“Yeah, that’s the one, I’m very nervous right now, if you couldn’t tell.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine, besides, it’s just an afternoon, isn’t it?” Shining continued, walking closer to Sunburst, “Twilight asked for your help after all, I think you got this.”
“Right, yeah, maybe I don’t really have to worry as much…” Sunburst continued to pack, slightly calmer this time around, however.
“Oh, by the way,” Shining spoke once again, “say hi to Twily for me, it’d be nice if she stopped by more often.”
Sunburst nodded, before saying goodbye to Shining, and galloping towards his destiny.
While a little nervous, Sunburst couldn't help but feel relieved after what Shining said. He didn't want to admit it, but the responsibility of such a task, brought to him by none other than the princess of friendship herself, made him afraid of failing at his job.
He sighed, after which he found himself in front of the train station. He quickly went inside the train and searched around for a seat, and when he finally found it, it felt like the trip would be a breeze from there on.
Still as nervous as before he boarded the train, the comfort of the seat did wonders to make him feel better. Watching over the landscape while the train moved towards Ponyville made him realize just how little he traveled, the closest to it being his daily walk towards the castle library.
“It'll be fine, there's nothing to worry about,” he told himself, his eyes still looking over the mountains, the clouds and the animals that passed through the window.
“It's just an afternoon, yeah…”
He spent the rest of the trip reading the findings he had made prior to taking the train, wanting to make sure they were all ready for when he had to hand it to Twilight. Unfortunately, the poor sleep he had the day before ended up causing him to fall asleep on his seat, the journal he had with him being left open as a result.
He arrived at Ponyville shortly after, or at least it felt like he did, the nap he took helping to make it seem shorter than it actually was.
Setting all his things ready, he took a long breath before deciding to leave the train.
“There you are!” he heard, turning his head towards where the voice was coming from, he found Twilight Sparkle, who had been waiting for him in anticipation.
“For how long have you been here?” Sunburst asked, walking over to Twilight.
“Oh you know, just…an hour or so.”
“An hour?!”
“Yeah, don't worry about it, we should get going by now, this is going to be a long afternoon for us”
“Right, still though, an hour…?”
Brushing their conversation aside, the two ponies made their way towards the friendship castle. Sunburst looked all around while they did so. Ponyville was certainly a pretty town, he thought, his eyes almost sparkling while his gaze was lost on the buildings and ponies around them.
“You have a nice town…” Sunburst commented vocally, Twilight giving him a smile in response.
“You think so?” Twilight said, turning to look at Sunburst, “We try our best to make Ponyville great; all of us do, really.” she added, before continuing to look forward as the two got to their destination.
“And here we are!” Twilight couldn't hold a bit of that excitement she had, quickly opening the door, the two entering the tall castle upon them.
“You have a beautiful castle, Twilight…” Sunburst said, his eyes looking at the crystal columns that filled the walls, decorated with flower pots and other plants, alongside laces around them.
“Oh thank you, it wouldn't be as pretty if it weren't for my friends, I'll tell you that!” Twilight replied, chuckling at the thought.
Her friends truly made her life in the castle one she could enjoy, once empty and dull, it had been filled with decorations from all of them trying to make her feel at home, and reminding her of the beloved memories that connected all of them.
“Where are they, by the way?” Sunburst asked, while Twilight opened the door to one of the rooms, a long table and a couple of chairs filling the space, laces wrapped around the columns, with pots on top of said columns. The Crystal Empire's castle could use some renovations. He thought.
“Oh, Pinkie Pie is hosting a party today, she thought it might cheer us up for the spring. I told them I'd be heading there after I'm done organizing what information we had so far, so let's be quick!” she said with a bright smile, her tone confident and upbeat as she guided Sunburst towards the table. As the two proceeded to look over all of the research they had garnered together.
On Sunburst's side of the search, he had stumbled upon newspapers that narrated a couple of discoveries at Canterlot, brought to light by a certain inventor. While the important details were lost to time—some parts of the papers having been eaten by mice—there were still things he could gather from them, like their resident town being Ponyville. While looking through the rest of the notes Sunburst took from the newspaper, Twilight realized something, and she began to speak while holding a map.
“It seems a lot of this information loops back to a certain place in Ponyville…” Twilight looked around the map, setting her hoof on a spot, “...here!”
Sunburst looked over the map, the spot Twilight had marked being the area of Sweet Apple Acres.
“Sweet Apple Acres? Do you think that's the next place we should research?”
“I'd say so. Thinking about it, it makes a lot of sense, the Apple family has a long running legacy, maybe Granny Smith knows something we may want to hear.”
“It's settled then; let's take a visit and see what we find.” Sunburst said, as the two went to their next clue on the map.
On their walk towards the place, Twilight briefly described the location to Sunburst, who was following behind her.
“It's really pretty, trust me, all the apple trees you can think of!” said Twilight, smiling as she did.
Twilight, the princess of friendship, walked with such serenity and joy, finally being able to leave the castle, which while certainly pretty in its own way, started to feel big and lonely on days like those. It was her and the silence of the empty halls and rooms, Spike having left a while ago to accompany the rest of her friends to Sugarcube Corner.
“I never expected our search to get us here, y'know? It's a farm you said? I'm not so sure if we'll get something out of it…” Sunburst said, snapping Twilight out of her own thoughts.
“Oh trust me, I'm sure we're on the right track! We'll just see what we can find, piece of cake!” she replied, confident in her plan, until they finally saw it, they had both arrived at their destination.
Sweet Apple Acres was more colorful than Sunburst could have imagined, all the landscape filled with trees of various apples, just like Twilight had described to him. While Sunburst wasn't expecting them to go to a place like this, he certainly couldn't deny the beauty right before his eyes.
“Told you it was pretty.” Twilight chuckled, and Sunburst did so as well shortly after, as the two walked towards the red barn in front of them.
Sunburst then found himself with a group of 3 ponies, those of whom Twilight seemed to already be familiar with, she said hi to them, before shortly looking towards Sunburst.
“Everypony, I'd like to introduce you all to Sunburst, he's the unicorn that will be helping me out on my mission.” Twilight said, as Sunburst then quickly waved at the others, remaining behind Twilight for the moment, his eyes moving around the place.
“These here are the Apple family, Sunburst,” Twilight pointed her hoof at the ponies as she talked, “This is Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, and finally, Big—” Twilight's speech got interrupted by another pony.
“What in tarnation is going on?” said the mysterious pony, walking out of the barn as they did so.
“Applejack? I thought you were at Pinkie's party!” Twilight said, surprised to see her friend.
“Well, Ah was going to, but things came up in the farm, ya know? And why are ya here?”
“Oh, well that's a long story, let me explain everything to you…” Twilight replied, and as she walked towards Applejack, the two went inside the barn, and shortly after, Apple Bloom and granny Smith did the same.
Sunburst didn't realize, but soon enough he ended up alone with the red-coated stallion, whose name he didn't get to know before Twilight had left his sight.
He stayed still in front of the male, a little worried about how to begin talking with him, rubbing one of his hooves out of embarrassment in the current situation.
It was an awkward silence between the two stallions for a while, that is until the other began to speak.
“Seems Ah'll have to introduce myself, mah name is Big Macintosh, it's really nice to meet ya, Sunburst.” He said with a slight chuckle, his voice deep, with a prominent accent. His long mane of a dark blonde, even if he gave the idea of a hard-working earth pony, Sunburst thought his mane still looked bright and soft.
“Yeah, nice to meet you too!” Sunburst hoped his anxiety wasn't so obvious, the whole thing reminding him of why meeting new people could be so stressful for him.
“Hope ya like the view, Sweet Apple Acres is a really nice place, Ah'd say.” Big Mac said, Sunburst nodding at him while he continued to spark conversation. Thank Celestia Sunburst didn't have to be the one to do that.
Sunburst listened, although he quickly lost track of the conversation as Big Mac continued to speak, giving Sunburst a moment to lose himself in his own thoughts. Bad idea.
He seems like a good stallion, wish I didn't have such a hard time understanding his accent sometimes. I wonder if he combs his mane often, it looks a bit messy, but I think it's… charming? Sunburst thought more and more, the noise of the real world slipping out of Sunburst's mind, Big Mac didn't seem to notice, however, as he continued to speak.
“Ya know, Granny Smith was here when they founded this place! She knows a lot of tales 'bout Ponyville, let me tell ya. One time-”
“Wow, he's really big…” Sunburst let out, before realizing he had just said his thoughts out loud, his anxiety spiked up as he did. He remained silent for a second right after.
“…Eeyup?” Big Mac replied, he was a little confused as to what Sunburst even meant by that. It was in his name after all wasn't it, right?
“Oh Celestia, I-I didn't mean to say that I-”
Sunburst began to struggle finding the words, his heart felt like it was going to jump out, and his hooves trembled all over the place, his cheeks red. He had just embarrassed himself in front of somepony, and on his first time even interacting with him. His speech quickly became nothing but a half-finished mess, until he gave up and stopped talking at all.
Why do you have to be like this, Sunburst? He must think you're weird now and it's all your fault, good job. Sunburst thought to himself, Big Mac became worried at the sight, starting to think he had just done something wrong.
“Are ya okay? It was nothin', really…” Big Mac said, looking at the smaller male
“Y-Yeah, I'm… fine.” replied Sunburst, trying to pull off a smile that just exposed his true feelings even more.
“Ya sure? Ya look more red than Ah do.” Big Mac pushed, visibly worried about Sunny, locking his eyes on him.
He looked back at Big Mac, both of their eyes now stared at one another,and he gulped. Big Mac's eyes, a shade of green that resembled that of an emerald, made Sunburst begin to panic even more.
“I-I'm fine! I promise…” He replied yet again, his face looking somewhere else, avoiding eye contact at all costs.
“If ya say so…” Big Mac let it slide, while still very much worried for Sunburst, the interaction had just shown him that he felt uncomfortable and anxious at the interrogation.
Sunburst sighed, he just needed some time to forget about his massive slip up, he thought. Trying to make an excuse to leave the scene, rushing, he went inside with the others, as Big Mac let him be.
Phew, now you just have to avoid him for the rest of the day! Sunburst thought, already knowing how hard that'd have truly been.
"Seems like that's it for today! We'll have to check the Ponyville library next time you're here, Sunburst," said Twilight, her voice once more full of energy.
The trip to Sweet Apple Acres had brought them new clues to search for, the bright inventor they had heard of now had a name they could search for, Apple Tea, and she was in the long running family tree of the Apples. Sunburst was excited, however that feeling went to the back of his head as he kept thinking of the interaction he had with Big Mac a few moments prior.
"Now that we're done here, I think I'll be going to Sugarcube Corner to see what they're up to. Are you coming, Applejack?"
"Ah sure am!" Applejack replied, the two finally heading off for the day, leaving Sunburst behind, outside of the barn.
They had done a good job for the day, Sunburst thought, while galloping towards the dirt path back to Ponyville, he found himself changing direction back towards the farm, as he approached Big Mac, who was bucking apple trees. He didn't know why he suddenly felt the need to do so, or maybe he just didn't want to admit why he did. All he knew is he couldn't let himself just outright ignore the stallion, especially after his trip to the farm had resulted in new information for Twilight and him to research.
"H-Hey there…I'm still sorry for what happened before, I didn't mean to sour the whole thing, y'know?" Sunburst heard himself say, trying to be sincere for once.
"Eeyup." Big Mac replied, his focus still on the trees he had in front.
"Is it hard bucking all those trees? I'd assume you're used to it by now, but still." Would you look at that, Sunburst was trying to start the conversations for once.
"Nope!" Big Mac said, his focus briefly changing from the trees to Sunburst himself, who remained behind him.
"You are doing a great job taking care of these, or well, I think so, I honestly don't know anything about farming, I'm too weak to even dare try my hoof at a job like yours."
Big Mac chuckled, his head turning to look at Sunburst for a moment, while he held a slight smile on his face.
"Wait," Sunburst approached Big Mac while talking, "you have a wood stick in your mane, let me—uhm…" Sunburst reached towards Big Mac's mane, his hooves moving through it slowly, while Big Mac remained still, looking at Sunburst's face.
"I think that should be good now!" Sunburst said, as he finally got the stick out of the stallion's long mane. He looked at Big Mac when he did, their eyes meeting once more, it was a warm feeling, the anxiety Sunburst held for so long finally taking a back seat as he just talked with him.
"Eeyup!" Big Mac said, his smile getting more prominent as he did, Sunburst himself smiling in response.
"Man, this sun is getting on my nerves, y’know?" Sunburst said while the thought passed through his head.
"Well, maybe if ya weren't wearing that big cape, It'd be less annoying." Big Mac chuckled at the sight, Sunburst's forehead starting to sweat noticeably.
"Are you telling me to stop wearing it? Never!" Sunburst exclaimed in a slightly playful tone towards Big Mac.
"Ya can always hide under the trees, ya know?" He pointed Sunburst towards one of the nearby trees.
"Oh, right." Sunburst trotted towards a nearby tree, and as soon as Big Mac was done apple bucking, he approached Sunburst and sat down next to him.
"I could get used to a place like Ponyville. I like the Crystal Empire, don't get me wrong, but there's quite a charm to how free it feels around here." Sunburst looked at the grass as he did, then looked at the trees, the sky and the mountains, the view causing him to remain calm.
"Eeyup!" Big Mac let out, as he stretched his forelegs.
"I think I could stay like this for a while." Sunburst said, his eyes slowly moving through his surroundings, Big Mac included.
His head turned towards the stallion, who looked pleased to have a small break from the farm job, his back against the tree, as his front hooves were on the back of his head.
"You sure needed that break." Sunburst said as he continued to look at Big Mac.
"Eeyup." Big Mac sighed, "Say, would ya like an apple, Sunny?" He asked, his eyes now looking towards Sunburst's direction.
"Oh, sure, yeah." Sunburst replied, then saw Big Mac get up briefly, grabbing an apple from the basket near the tree he was bucking earlier.
He quickly handed Sunburst the fresh apple, and waiting no more, Sunburst bit onto it, and as soon as he did, his cheeks reddened in a burst of joy. It was sweet, soft, like nothing he had ever tried before, he released a sound that reflected obvious pleasure, making Big Mac smile.
"Ah'll assume it was good." Big Mac said cheekily, Sunburst nodded, as he saw Big Mac lay down against the tree once again.
"Hey, Ah never asked, why the cape?" Big Mac said, his voice flustering Sunburst as soon as it reached his ears.
"O-Oh? This thing, well it was actually a gift from back when I was a little colt."
"And it still fits ya?" Big Mac asked with both curiosity and shock.
"Oh, that, it was way too big for me at that age, didn't stop me from wearing it all the time, though." He couldn't help but chuckle while saying it out loud, and Big Mac joined him afterwards. The two slowly lost track of time while talking, laughing and smiling all the way through.
Their chat came to an end, however, when Granny Smith called Big Mac to bring the apples he was meant to buck.
"Seems like Ah'm needed," Big Mac reached closer to Sunburst, "but ya ain't leaving for a while, right? Would ya want to come with me to Hay Burger? To talk a bit more."
"Oh? Like a date?" Sunburst said, unable to hold a chuckle as he did so, but even if he tried to portray it as a joke, the question he brought was in part genuine.
Sunburst thought the idea was dumb, Of course it wasn't one, you two just met. He thought, but even so, he couldn't help himself but think about it.
"Ya could say so." Big Mac said with a smirk, quickly brushing it off with a laugh of his own. Now Sunburst really was confused.
"Oh, h-he was just kidding…I think." Sunburst told himself, becoming nervous once again, but it was too late by then.
He really wasn't ready, he already knew that, but he accepted nonetheless. He couldn't just back out of it now, so he needed to do it right, for him, for Big Mac.
Sunburst walked back towards Twilight's castle, all the way back thinking about how he was meant to plan his dine out with Big Mac, surely he needed a plan, else he'll make a mess of himself once more.
"C'mon now Sunburst, you just need an overly complex and foalproof plan for a successful date, piece of cake!" Said a now anxious Sunburst, trying to cheer himself up wasn't gonna work at this pace.
He opened the door to Twilight's castle, as he saw her quickly departing towards Sugarcube Corner, he faked up a smile as he waved her goodbye.
"Ok, you're alone now, time to panic." Sunburst galloped towards one of the rooms, that one Twilight and him had previously been that day. The papers and documents all remained where he left them, and without hesitation, he dropped his head against the table.
"Ouch! What was I even thinking about doing that…" Sunburst rubbed his eyes with his hoof, as he stared down at the papers in front of him, he grabbed a notebook and a quill, as he tried to write down a plan.
"Why did I have to accept? Celestia, I'm barely capable of having a conversation. I'm doomed… "Sunburst took a deep breath, his face still against the table wood, that is until he thought of an idea.
"Maybe I could try to research Twilight's library! She probably has some socializing books, I'll write down every detail, yeah! I'm sure it'll be-" Sunburst's monologue got interrupted by a knock at the entrance of the castle. He got up and went towards the noise that was coming, wondering who it could be, he sighed, and when he opened that door.
Hey Twilight, do you have that potion making book? I was thinking I could-" The mare in front of him stopped talking, as she realized who was just in front of her.
"S-Sunny? What are you doing here! and why didn't you tell me you were visiting Ponyville." said Starlight Glimmer, that being the mare who had knocked the door, Sunburst smiled as quickly as he saw her, ecstatic to see his friend after so long.
"Starlight! I would've never expected to find you like this." Sunburst smiled at the presence of his friend.
"I should be the one saying that, why are you here?"
"Twilight didn't tell you? We're on a research quest." Sunburst said, as he let Starlight inside the building.
"Oh, right, I entirely forgot about it, really. I've been busy trying to research potions like Twilight asked. She uh, though it could help me stay busy for the spring." Starlight said while she looked at Sunburst, definitely still as messy as last time she saw him.
"You're getting into potions? Do you have one to get rid of my anxiety?" he asked, half serious, half joking, something like that really would help him out that day.
"Uh, no, I… don't think that's how it works? But I know a breathing technique Twilight taught me." Starlight replied, slightly confused at Sunburst's sudden question.
"Oh, right…" Sunburst's stare slowly moved to look towards the castle floor in obvious disappointment.
"So why are you so anxious?" Starlight asked, as she moved towards Sunburst, the question causing Sunburst's demeanor to shift entirely.
"Me? What do you mean? I'm perfectly fine!" Sunburst beamed a big, shining smile towards Starlight, one that was so obviously fake, it just hurt to watch.
"Yeah, likely story," Starlight rolled her eyes in response, "c'mon now Sunny, I know you since you were a colt, you can't lie to me."
"Dammit… " Sunburst sighed, fixing his glasses afterwards.
"Look, if you need to talk, today's the day." Starlight said to her friend, with a small, sincere smile.
"You wouldn't by chance… want to go to Hay Burger? To uh, catch up?" Sunburst asked, thinking of a new plan while doing so.
"Hay Burger? How do you know about that place?" Starlight questioned.
"Well, I just heard of it, yeah, and I'm really hungry right now…" Sunburst lied, he definitely wasn't hungry, how could he be with the rising fear that drowned his thoughts at that moment. He just knew he needed to try out his plan, even if it may end up in failure.
"I mean, sure! I needed a break from all these potions anyways." Starlight said, smiling towards Sunny.
"Yeap! Let's go-" Sunburst stopped dead on his track, while stepping out of the castle, he quickly realized he simply didn't know where to go.
"Do you want me to take you there?" Starlight asked, smirking at Sunburst.
"Uhm, yeah…" Sunburst replied in embarrassment.
The afternoon felt young, yet Sunburst very well knew he had been wandering around town for more time than he had anticipated. "It's just an afternoon, isn't it?" The words resonated in Sunburst's head, "yeah sure, Shining, if only you knew what I've gotten into." Sunburst thought.
Oh, if only he knew.
Sunburst gently opened the door to the restaurant, Starlight and him both deciding to sit down on one of the tables near the windows.
"Shining must've tried his hardest at stopping you from eating fast food by how rushed you seem to be." Starlight said with a slight smirk.
"Well, he does worry about how often I eat junk, just, don't tell him I secretly order it anyways." Sunburst replied, causing Starlight to chuckle in response, while he pulled out a small notebook.
"You're taking notes? Of what exactly? Starlight questioned.
"What? Oh- well of course, I wouldn't want to forget anything. What has living with Twilight been like?" Sunburst decided to start by asking that, definitely will keep her occupied.
"Oh well, you see…" Starlight quickly drifted on, commenting on her life at the friendship castle, hoping Sunburst was listening; it was only a matter of time before she questioned his attention on the matter.
"Are you sure you're listening?" Starlight found herself saying after a couple of minutes of uninterrupted rambling.
"Me? O-Oh don't be silly, of course I am!" Sunburst said, obviously lying, Starlight frowned a little. Seeing him stare back and forth around the whole place, from the empty and dirty tables to the cashier desk.
"...Really?" Starlight questioned once more, she wasn't really mad at her friend not listening, but it felt like there was another reason for her being invited by him.
"Starlie, I promise I want to hear you."
"You want to, but I don't think you really are doing so."
"What? What would even make you think I'm not listening!" Starlight rolled her eyes at the response, and Sunburst knew very well she could see through his poor lies.
He sighed, setting aside his notebook while placing his front hooves on the table.
"Eugh, fine, maybe I didn't invite you because of that…" Sunburst let out.
"Why was it then?"
Sunburst inhaled deeply, before letting out his words,
"Ok so I may have just accidentally screwed up my introduction to somepony and I felt bad about it so I went and talked with them to try and fix it but then they asked if I wanted to go out with them and I said yes but I actually have no idea what to do and I'm TERRIFIED."
"HUH?" Starlight shouted while she kept processing Sunburst's words, "Let me get this straight, you invited me because…?"
"Because I thought if I came here before, I could get to know the place and then I wouldn't accidentally screw things up again." Sunburst sucked in air after finishing.
"Well now I feel dumb for not figuring it out a while ago." Starlight said, as she continued, "You know, I too was scared of things like these. I thought I needed to be perfect, else others would think I wasn't good enough to be around, but I learned that really didn't matter."
Starlight held Sunburst's hooves while she let out a breath, before resuming her speech.
"You just have to be yourself, Sunburst, ponies would rather have a sincere connection to one another than to be shown an Ideal version of yourself," Starlight sighed, "I would know… " She added.
"Right… Be myself, yeah, I guess I can do that." Sunburst replied, as he too left out a breath, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.
"So what pony are you talking about?"
"Oh no no no, you aren't getting that from me Starlight, not in a hundred moons" Sunburst said, chuckling towards the end.
"We'll see about that, but for now, want to finally order something?"
"Wow, the food is actually really good here." Sunburst exclaimed to Starlight, his focus remaining on the burger that was in front of him, feasting on it as if he hadn't eaten in months.
"Yeah, maybe if someone wasn't so stubborn we could've eaten way sooner." Starlight replied, causing Sunburst to release a growl in slight annoyance, causing her to laugh.
"Yeah yeah, I get it, I'm way too conscious for my own good sometimes." Sunburst replied, rolling his eyes while he did.
"Sometimes? Now that's an understatement." Starlight teased her friend further.
"Okay, fine, I'm like that all the time, you already know that." He admitted.
"And that's exactly why I know you don't need to worry, Sunny," Starlight paused for a moment, "listen, if somepony asked you out, they probably already like you, you don't have to make yourself seem perfect for them."
"Well, yeah I know that, but what if I still somehow ruin everything for myself." Sunburst asked.
"Both of us know that's just your paranoia getting the best of you, Sunny, you'll be fine." Starlight reaffirmed, "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, I swear it'll be alright."
"Fine, you got me… " Sunburst sighed, finally giving up on his never ending questioning.
"Phew, I thought you'd never stop." Said Starlight with a smirk.
"Oh shut up." Sunburst huffed, to which Starlight couldn't help but laugh, followed by Sunburst himself.
The two continued eating their meal, while Sunburst remained thoughtful of the situation.
Starlight was, to his dismay, right about this. He's being way too paranoid, inevitably sabotaging himself in the act. She has known him since they were fillies, she knew what to say to make him reconsider his train of thought. You'll be fine, everything will be fine. he repeated himself internally.
"Hey, are you finishing that burger?" Starlight said, causing Sunburst's thought bubble to pop.
"Oh, don't even think about it!" And so he quickly shoved the rest of the burger inside his mouth, causing Starlight to burst out laughing.
"So, do you want me to repeat it a third time?" Starlight said, as the two ponies were sitting down outside the restaurant, having been there for a few minutes by then.
"No no, I think I'm fine." Sunburst looked around the dirt path, then the bushes, then the sky, the knowledge of how much time had truly passed did nothing but make him wonder.
Did the day really go by that fast? It certainly didn't feel like much time had passed for him, but the view did little to affirm that idea, the orange sky his eyes were witnessing, alongside the sun, starting to go down. The afternoon was coming to an end, no, it wasn't, not for him at least, he still needed to face that date of his, or "Dine out" as he was determined to call it. Oh well, if it works for him.
"I'll be heading off then, good luck, Sunny." Starlight said before getting up, as she trotted towards Twilight's castle, Sunburst left alone, momentarily, at least.
When Sunburst decided to stand up as well, he quickly found himself sitting back again, when his eyes noticed a blonde mane in the horizon, one he instantly recognized. His thoughts got nothing but confirmed when he was able to see the stallion under said mane, and the red coat that covered his body, it was none other than Big Mac.
He sat there as the stallion galloped closer, until he was only a few meters away from Sunburst.
"Sorry for being late, hope Ah didn't leave ya waitin' for so long." Big Mac said, looking down at Sunburst, as he attempted to clean off the sweat drops from his forehead.
"You don't have to worry, I… Arrived here just a few minutes ago." Sunburst let out a lie on his end, but explaining his shenanigans to Big Mac wasn't something he was planning to do anytime soon.
He stood up, as Big Mac decided to open the door with his hoof, letting the both of them enter, for what seemingly was the first time that day.
"Why don't we sit there?" Sunburst pointed his hoof towards a table near the cashier.
"Eyup." Big Mac responded, which was enough to make Sunburst quickly walk towards the table, letting Big Mac sit first before he sat as well.
"Ah think this is fine by me" Big Mac said, Sunburst looked over his menu, seeing he was pointing at one of the bigger burger choices the restaurant had to offer.
"I think I'm just alright with a salad." Sunburst said. It was out of his plans to take in another burger, not after he had just eaten with Starlight.
"Ya on a diet or something?" Big Mac asked, making Sunburst nervous at the question.
"Oh pfft, I don't think I'd even be able to, I'm just, not really hungry, y'know?" Sunburst replied, leaving out the context as to why he wasn't hungry in the process.
"Eyup, Ah get ya." Big Mac let out, and the two decided to order.
After a moment of silence, both needed to bring some conversation.
Just as Sunburst raised his hoof and opened his mouth, so did Big Mac, both ending in an awkward stalemate.
"So uhm..-"
Those were their last words before both of them fell silent again, staring at each other, waiting for someone to make the first move.
Sunburst sat there, still, looking at the wood of the table, while his mind began to fill again with anxiety, If this goes wrong, I'm never forgiving Starlight. He thought, but quickly tried to brush them off. It was gonna be fine.
"Hey, Uhm… " He heard Big Mac say again, all his thoughts getting put on the back of his mind, as his eyes moved to look at the stallion.
"What is the crystal empire like?" Big Mac asked, Sunburst felt as if his own eyes were glowing when he heard that question.
"Oh! W-Well, It's very pretty, different from Ponyville, but pretty in its own way," Sunburst kept talking as if out of instinct, "there's a lot of tourists recently coming, actually. It's pretty busy for princess Cadance and Shining Armor, but I think they manage, somehow."
"And what about ya?" Big Mac added, and Sunburst took a second before responding.
"M-Me? It's not that interesting, really, I have been staying at the castle these past few days, while I'm foalsitting Flurry Heart." He replied, with a slight smile on his face as he did so.
Big Mac only nodded in response, with a smile of his own.
"You should go one day, bet it'd be fun, if you get free time at least."
"Eyup!" Big Mac chuckled, making Sunburst's smile even brighter.
The silence between the two continued afterwards, but the small talk they had alleviated the tension between the two, Sunburst tried to think of something to say, however.
"Maybe if I say this it'd be okay, but what if that makes things just awkward, I should think of something else," Sunburst had yet again spiraled inside his own mind, thinking of what to say just wasn't something he was able to do at that point, that is until something hit him.
"So… May be a dumb thing to ask but," It's out there now, can't back out, "Is there anything embarrassing you have ever done?" Sunburst let out, causing Big Mac to break into laughter, it seemed he already thought of something.
"Ah think Ah have a good story for ya," Big Mac said, causing Sunburst's ears to go up, as he placed his hooves on the table, and listened.
"A turkey call?" Sunburst asked with surprise in his eyes.
"Eyup! Ya had to be there, Ah lost mah voice because of that." Big Mac replied with a big smile, as the two continued to chuckle at the story, he then continued.
"Ah didn't even win! But I ain't letting Pinkie take first place this year." He said with bright determination.
"Now that's something I wouldn't want to miss, but are you really that good?" Sunburst questioned half teasingly towards him.
"Wanna find out?" Big Mac asked with a cheeky smile.
"Well, maybe." Sunburst's smirk grew larger as he said that, causing Big Mac to chuckle
Sunburst then watched in anticipation, as he heard Big Mac prepare his voice, before letting out the best impression of a turkey call he could have made, making everypony around them turn around to look, and simultaneously making the two of them burst out laughing once more.
"Told ya." Big Mac said with slight pride in his voice.
"Yeah, I'm never underestimating you again." Sunburst said, unable to hold back his laughter while doing so.
"Maybe now I want to participate in the turkey call contest." Sunburst said jokingly, he would've never found himself interested in such a concept, but the way Big Mac seemed so happy to share it with him, made him, if only a little, interested in it.
Sunburst let out a turkey call of his own, not as good as Big Mac himself, but good enough to cause them to laugh out loud once more.
"Ya did good! but ya better not be plannin' on competing against me this year, cuz ah' would not go easy on ya." As soon as Big Mac said those words, Sunburst's inner world came crumbling down
"Not go easy on ya" the words reverberated inside Sunburst's mind, his forelegs shaking and his face turning red, he didn't want to think about it like that, but his mind was too fast for him to prevent it, no matter in what context those words were said to him, he didn't mind them in the slightest, when it was Big Mac the one saying them.
Celestia, give him strength.
Calm your horses down, Sunburst, why are you acting like this to begin with? Sunburst judged himself on the matter, the answer was so obvious, those words, but they weren't the only reason, it was Big Macintosh himself.
Sunburst's cheeks reddened even further after the realization truly hit him, he was going red over the stallion sitting in front of him, but he just couldn't help himself. "Celestia, he's just really cute not to!" Sunburst admitted to his inner self.
"Do Ah have something in mah face?" Big Mac asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Oh, no no no!" Sunburst replied, unable to completely hide his flustered expression, he attempted to look somewhere else, the window to the side of him. Sweet Celestia, he really is so obvious.
Big Mac sighed, both of the stallions trying to brush off the awkward scene that was beginning to form around the two once again.
"So, what about ya?" Sunburst's face immediately turned to look at Big Mac when he heard his voice.
"Huh? W-What do you mean?"
"Ya know, anything embarrassing ya have experienced?" Big Mac asked further, Sunburst's eyes widened as he did.
"Oh, well I… " Sunburst sighed, he let the feeling sink in before looking for the right words. Still unsure as to what to respond with exactly, he spoke.
"I, well it's complicated…"
Silence surrounded the two stallions at that moment, the other ponies at the restaurant having left by that point, leaving them alone, while Sunburst kept talking. Talking about his experience back at Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, it wasn't appropriate for him to do so, but he couldn't stop now, so he kept going.
His eyes stuck looking down at the table, while he described the pain and anger he felt towards himself those years, it really wasn't the moment to do so, but he kept going.
He kept going, as Big Mac remained silent throughout, he kept going as his eyes felt ready to let out tears, he kept going as his hooves shaked, and he kept going until a tear finally dropped down his face.
"I-It was, awful, I was so… dumb to even think I'd do well, I just couldn't keep up, I-"
Sunburst stopped, feeling a weight on his shoulder. Looking towards it, he found Big Mac had set a hoof on it, Sunburst's eyes finally moved to look at Big Mac, he sobbed, the emotions he had were sinking in at that moment.
"Sorry, I-I really shouldn't have brought that up… "
Sunburst shrunk on his seat as Big Mac stood up, he reached towards Sunburst's chair. Eyes staring at each other, he hugged him, causing shock in Sunburst as he did, but even so, he returned the hug, crying even more.
"Ah didn't know ya went through such things, Ah'm sorry ya had to." Big Mac tightened his hug slightly, causing Sunburst to sob a little more, his eyes becoming sore.
The two remained hugged for a moment, as Sunburst calmed, Big Mac's embrace causing his cheeks to blush once more, he felt safe in his arms, even if he was still touched emotionally at that moment, he breathed heavily on Big Mac's back, and he closed his eyes as the two kept still.
It took both of them time to finally release the hug, the two were still silent, but they smiled at each other, those being the sign that they were ready to leave that moment in the past.
It was done, Sunburst, it was done.
The two left the restaurant behind, Big Mac's hoof wrapped around Sunburst, they were still close to one another, asserting Sunburst that he didn't need to worry about what the other stallion thought of him.
"Do you, uhm, want to accompany me to the station?" Sunburst heard himself saying, in hindsight, it was a dumb thing to ask in his opinion, but he did nonetheless.
Big Mac nodded in response, and Sunburst found comfort in the warmth of his coat as the two walked towards their destination.
Their walk to the train station wasn't filled with any dialogue between them, in fact it was rather quiet, the two preferring to remain that way, it was a comforting type of silence, one Sunburst knew very well. He watched as the Sun was setting down, the sky orange In color, breeze getting on his fur as they kept walking down Ponyville, smiling.
"I think you can leave me here now, I'm sure you have work at the farm to do anyways."
"Ya don't have to worry 'bout me, Ah'll be fine."
"If you say so, but really, thanks for taking me here."
"Eyup, no need to say so."
Sunburst waved goodbye to Big Mac, whose smile persisted while Sunburst boarded the train.
Sitting down at his seat, Sunburst looked through the window, finding Big Mac still in the station, and as the train began to move, the two waved goodbye once more.
Sunburst breathed deeply again once the train was on its way to the Crystal Empire, his thoughts were a mess, his heart was racing, he felt as if he was sweating, but above all else, he felt unable to stop thinking about Big Mac.
The stallion just couldn't leave his head, stuck there as Sunburst hid his face on his hooves while the thoughts kept flooding him. Next week was gonna be a long one, but he would count the days until he saw him again.
"I forgot my things at Twilight's castle… '' Sunburst suddenly realized as he looked around his seat, he groaned.
It was really gonna be a long week.