//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15: Friends Secondly 
// Story: Chronicles of the Reformed 
// by The_Darker_Fonts 
//------------------------------//

Starlight wasn’t quite in tears as she sat on the couch in the living room of the mansion.  It was dark, only a few candles glowing dimly in the chandelier she had bothered to light.  It was chilly inside, considering she hadn’t lit a hearth and the crisp autumn air was beginning to turn to winter.  Her coat had begun to thicken, but it was an early onset this year, and a cold front carrying the sprinkling rain the past few days meant she had to huddle into the soft sofa to retain some warmth.  Sunburst quietly walked into the room from the bathroom, giving Starlight a concerned glance, frowning.  
The mare looked away, trying and failing to hide her watery eyes from him, but it was already far too late.  With a sigh, the orange unicorn plopped on the couch right next to her, resting a hoof on her shoulder gently.  Her face instantly flushed bright red, in embarrassment and- for some reason she still didn’t want to come to terms with- flustered.  
“You did well today, Starlight, no matter what you think,” he reassured her.  She could hear the hopeful smile in his voice, so, reluctantly, she faced him, though she couldn’t quite meet his eyes.  
“Did I, though,” she couldn’t help but ask.  “I mean, it feels like Cozy just ran circles around me to get whatever she wanted while making me the bad guy.  And, to be fair, we kinda were the bad guys tonight.  Your spell didn’t hurt Cozy at all, but it was certainly scary not knowing that.  That colt also… well, he certainly put me in my place.”
“Well, you did get that meeting every two weeks with her, right,” he questioned.
“Yeah,” she replied after a moment of hesitation.
“And Cozy’s going to be happier with that colt and his family, right?”
“That’s what she implied.”
“Then I say it’s a win-win situation, even if it doesn’t feel like it,” Sunburst encouraged her.  Noting the disappointed expression on her face, he told her, “Cozy will come to appreciate what you're trying to do for her when she’s older.  Right now, everything’s probably scary in her eyes.  She’s gotta be worried that she’s one wrong move away from being turned to stone again, which can’t be a healthy foundation for a friendship.  She needs ponies who aren’t so closely connected with the ones who put her in stone before she forgives those who punished her.  It’s a lot like when I have to put Flurry in timeout for breaking something.  For a few hours, she’s upset that I punished her for doing something bad and wants to hang out with her playmates, but soon enough she’ll come back around.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” Starlight permissed, her heart growing a little lighter.  Meeting Sunburst’s eyes, she commented, “You’re a good babysitter, aren’t you?”
“Well babysitter isn’t the official term, but yeah,” Sunburst replied with a nervous chuckle, his eyes flitting away momentarily.  “I’d say you’re pretty good at negotiating as well, all things considered.  After I flubbed everything up, I thought we were done for.  You managed to get everything we needed out of it, though.”
“Thanks,” Starlight shyly accepted, looking away thoughtfully.  “You didn’t mess up that bad, and it turned out to work right for us.  I mean, we got to see what kind of ponies Cozy had been staying with.  Without knowing what she was to them, there was no way I’d be comfortable with leaving Cozy Glow to them.  Then again, I guess I’m still not comfortable with her remaining with them, just in a different way.”
Just as she finished talking, there was a bright flash of purple as suddenly Twilight appeared in the middle of the room, looking slightly bewildered.  Both unicorns leapt off the couch at the sudden appearance of the alicorn, though it took her a hot second to finally see them.  With a huff, Twilight asked, “Starlight, why is Vice Principal Sunburst here?  I thought we had him as a replacement specifically so the School of Friendship wouldn’t go a single day without leadership.”
“What happened,” Sunburst questioned, prompting another short sigh from Twilight.
“Two changeling pranksters went around the school disguised as the Blue Knight, scaring a number of the students,” she explained briefly.  “They came forward, but only after the entire school was put onto lockdown for safety concerns.  Unfortunately, since there was no principal or real creature of authority present, nopony investigated the matter and instead Spike sent me a message concerning the sightings to get some help.  It was a whole debacle made even worse by the absence of not just the dean, but the vice principal as well.  You should be thankful Trixie took matters into her own hoof, managing to keep the students relatively calm.  Now, why in the hay are both of you here?”
“It was important, I swear,” Starlight promised quickly.  Then, realizing what she had to tell Twilight, she fell silent for a fearful moment.  Finally, she summoned the courage to admit, “Well, um, I may have made a bit of a mistake with Cozy…”
“Sweet Celestia,” Twilight sighed, putting a hoof to her head.  
“Everything turned out well, Starlight just needed my help for it,” Sunburst interjected defensively.  Then, after a second of deliberation, he softly added, “Though I suppose she didn’t really need me…”
“Well, Cozy and I got into an argument because she was feeling trapped and would never truthfully changed if she was kept as a prisoner, so I told her she could go,” Starlight admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head as she actively avoided Twilight’s gaze.
“What,” the alicorn exclaimed, standing in surprise.
“I thought she would go a ways into the woods then return once she had cooled off, sometime a little after dark,” the mare replied fervently.  “I figured she would see I’m not trying to keep her hostage and that I really am just trying to help her.  However, it kept getting later and later, and the excuses I made for it were less and less sensible, until at last I couldn’t deny she had run off.  So, I kinda sorta panicked a lot and went to Sunburst as somepony to help and who would keep the secret of Cozy Glow being back.”
“Wait, he didn’t know before,” Twilight paused, looking slightly confused.
“I thought we weren’t supposed to tell anypony,” Starlight stated, her confidence waning even more.
“Well, don’t tell too many, but I told Spike and the Princesses right away,” the Princess of Friendship explained.  “And Discord could sense the magical binding over her break so he knew as soon as she was released as well.  They all can keep a secret, as I am certain Sunburst and even Trixie can.  Something like this isn’t really something you should hide from your friends.”
“Oh,” the mare answered simply, grateful telling Sunburst about Cozy wasn’t going to put either of them in more trouble.  However… “Cozy Glow ended up running into a colt in the middle of the woods, and as I understand it, he basically foalnapped her back to his family’s hotel and forced her to stay the night.  He was the only one who recognized her and the hotel was empty, so no news got out during her time there before we found her.  She was there all day the next day and apparently spent most of it talking with the colt-”
“Star Scout,” Sunburst jumped in.
“-Star Scout,” the unicorn mare repeated.  “We found her, and then talked to the parents.  They were actually very interested in her safety, and were quite agreeable in helping us make sure Cozy didn’t slip away.  Long story short, she and Star returned for dinner and we clumsily confronted them.  However, before we could really press Cozy too much, Star was getting very defensive of Cozy Glow and actually called us out for our mistakes.  He’s a very fierce advocate of her being much different from before she was put in stone.  I went and talked with Cozy and the parents about what to do next, and the three of them came to an agreement that Cozy would actually… stay at the hotel.”
“Wait, she’s not back here,” Twilight questioned hushly, a look of disbelief on her face.  
“No, she’s at the hotel and presumably getting kept in place,” Starlight confirmed.  Well, now wasn’t a time to back down.  “I trust the parents to have the situation under their control, and Star is a very intelligent and convincing colt.  He seems to be trying to befriend Cozy naturally, and as far as we’ve seen, he’s the real reason she wanted to remain.  It seems she’s found herself a friend when she took her change into her own hooves.  Like I did…”
Twilight had opened her mouth to protest, but then, at the mention of Starlight’s reformation, it slowly closed.  She stood there thoughtfully for a long moment, her eyes slowly tracing shapes in the carpet as she contemplated.  Finally, she looked back up and met her pupil’s eyes, declaring, “If you think this will help Cozy, then I trust you.”
“Thank you, Twilight,” Starlight breathed, feeling a massive weight removed from her at the Princess’ approval. 
“You’ll keep her in sight still,” the alicorn questioned.
“Yes, every two weeks I’ll visit her, see how she’s doing, and get opinions or thoughts from the family,” the unicorn confirmed hastily.
With a final nod, Twilight smiled and stated, “It sounds like you could return to your duty as Dean of the School of Friendship!  The students will be glad to see you return.”
“Oh, I guess I could,” Starlight agreed pleasantly.  It’d be amazing to get back to helping students at the School of Friendship after such a stressful couple of weeks.  A welcome distraction, to say the least.  
“Then I’ll be looking forward to your return after the weekend,” Twilight told her, lighting her horn to teleport.
“Wait, it’s the weekend,” Starlight questioned, realizing how quickly she had lost track of time.
“Time flies when you’re running your tail off, doesn’t it,” the alicorn joked with a knowing smirk.  Glancing at Sunburst, she nodded slightly and said, “Sunburst.”
“Princess,” he goodbyed with a bow.  Then, like that, her magic flashed brightly in the dark room and she was gone, leaving the two unicorns to stand awkwardly.  After a long, silent moment, the orange stallion turned and hesitantly began, “I guess it’s getting kinda late, so maybe I should, y’know, leave you alone and get to bed…”
“No,” Starlight stated a bit too quickly, before taking a breath and nervously saying, “Um, please don’t.  I’m still… Well, I’m nervous about Cozy still and really don’t want to be alone.  You could stay in one of the rooms!  I’ll have it set up in no time and you can get to bed quickly.”
“Oh, sure,” Sunburst agreed with a small smile.  “It’s been a few years since I’ve had a sleepover that hasn’t been with a filly.”  The stallion paused and visibly winced at the statement, muttering, “That came out so wrong…”
Starlight giggled at the terrible slip up, coyly telling the stallion, “Well you can tell all the cool colts that you had a sleepover with a mare instead.  I’m sure they won’t believe you, but you know it’ll be true.  Come on, the guest rooms are over here.”
She led him through the dark, wide hall of her grandmother’s mansion, though that strange silence quickly overtook them again.  Horsefeathers, why did it always happen nowadays?  When they were young this sort of thing never happened, but ever since they had begun seeing each other more often, it happened whenever there was downtime between them.  It was almost as if being adults had made them far more aware that she was a mare and he was a colt.  Other foals at school had always teased them about being a couple, but that had never gotten under their skin.  Now she couldn’t help but hear those old taunts in the back of her head now, wondering how true they rung today.
“What do you think about Star,” she forced herself to ask, not wanting to leave herself alone with her thoughts and silence.  “I didn’t get a good read of him except for when he was defending Cozy.”
“Well, he’s probably more intelligent than any of our pupils at the School of Friendship,” Sunburst replied after a moment of thought.  “That’s not a slight at anycreature there at all either.  I mean, Amber, Gallus, Ocellus, Tiara, and Copper are all very bright pupils that have a great academic career ahead of them, but they wouldn’t stand a chance against him.  He’s also a very humble pony, mature for his age, and most definitely one of the kindest souls I’ve met.  He yelled at us and was angry, but it was because he thought we were being unjust, and as soon as I apologized, he just… let it go.  No grudge.”
“Sounds almost perfect,” Starlight commented, opening a closet as they passed it to pull out fresh blankets and pillows.  “How many blankets do you want?”
“It’s pretty chilly,” Sunburst noted, momentarily pulled from his thoughts.  “Eh, three oughta do it.  Anyways, Star seems to genuinely care about things coming out right for Cozy.  After you, I think he’s the biggest proponent for Cozy’s rehabilitation, and he’s certainly taking a stand to help her on her way.”
“Well, I think he’s got me beat there,” the mare sulked slightly, pulling open a door.  This room would do.  It was close to Starlight’s, but would give the both of them room for… whatever purpose they needed space for.  
“Why do you always do that, Starlight,” Sunburst questioned, a tinge of disappointment in his voice.
“What,” she asked naively, earning a frown from the stallion as she set his pillows and blankets on the bed.  
“You’re always dragging yourself down and diminishing your achievements,” Sunburst explained.  “Whenever I or anypony else points out what you do well, you dismiss it like it isn’t something important but then act like a failure at the slightest problem when it isn’t even your fault!  Like, I’m sure you would have handle situation today much better without me, considering your disaster management after I screwed up like that.”
“Hypocrite,” Starlight pointed out, making both of them crack a small smile.  However, what Sunburst had said was true.  With sigh, she sat down on the bed, before saying, “I guess I just don’t know, Sunburst.  I’m scared that I’m going to do something wrong and then it’ll get Cozy stuck back in that stone again.  I’m worried that even though I’ve learned so much and am trying to be better, some part of me will fall back to those bad habits.”
“Well I think that’s poppycock,” Sunburst replied confidently, eliciting a small gasp from Starlight.  “You’ve done so good for so many years now.  I mean, look at you now compared to five years ago: you’re a whole new mare!  You kept everything good about you from our childhood and learned how to deal with those not-so-good parts of you.  You’re Dean of the School of Friendship, friends with the Princess, and overall one of the greatest mares I know.”
“Can I kiss you,” Starlight asked, the words slipping out of her mouth before her brain gave them permission.  Sunburst’s eyes widened at the question as a slowly growing blush shot straight to beet red, and the mare felt her own cheeks blazing at a thousand degrees.  
“Sure,” came the response, Sunburst’s voice tight and nervous.  It took a second, but suddenly she was moving her muzzle to his, and his towards her.  They met gently, soft flesh on soft flesh as their blushes blazed to an alltime bright.  After the briefest moment, they both swiftly pulled away, their eyes not meeting.  
“That was my first kiss,” Starlight admitted, gaining some sensibility over her mind.
“Same,” Sunburst replied.  After a few seconds of silence, he added, “That was pretty great though.”
“It was,” she found herself agreeing, unable to help a growing grin on her face.  
“Starlight, I think I like you way more than as just friends,” the stallion stated, growing bold through his blushing.  “Like… I’m pretty sure I might be in love with you.”
“Oh, well, I um… I think I reciprocate,” Starlight forced herself to say, refusing to let her nerves get in the way this time.  This time, Sunburst wasn’t so slow, as suddenly his lips were pressing on hers yet again, emboldened.  He was just as gentle as before, and feeling that primordial prompting from within, she was the first to part her lips and play her tongue across his soft lips.  He hummed in surprise, though it didn’t take him long to catch on.  Soon enough, they were making out on the bed, Sunburst slowly beginning to willingly overpower her.  
It wasn’t until she found herself on her back, hooves wrapping around his neck to bring him that much closer in that she realized how intense everything was getting.  Her tail was swishing rapidly, whacking his hind legs as she felt a growing warmth all over her.  She knew she was having the same effect he was having on her as Sunburst began pressing himself that much closer to her.  It was only once they both came up for air, however, that the problem was addressed.
“I want to keep going,” she told him, surprised by how throaty her voice had become.  She was panting as if they had just run a marathon and felt her tension building even more.  Sunburst, however, gave her a completely baffled expression, prompting her to practically shout, “I want to have sex with you, dummy!”
“Oh,” the stallion sheepishly realized, before his eyes once again widened, a much softer, understanding “Oh” escaping him.  Before either of them could say anything, Starlight pressed a reassuring kiss onto him, making him buckle onto her, now pressing his body completely down on hers.  
“I don’t have anything though,” Sunburst quickly warned her, before noting the determination in Starlight’s eyes.  She wanted him and he wanted her, and that was more than enough motivation.  
“I know a spell,” was Starlight’s only reply before she pulled the stallion once again for a deep, lasting kiss.