//------------------------------// // The Stars Align // Story: When the Stars Align // by Borsuq //------------------------------// “STAAAAR!” Starburst shook her head, startled, and noticed the blue-gray hoof waving frantically right before her face. “What do you want, Candy?” she asked, pushing the hoof away angrily; the earth pony mare had yelled right into her ear. They were at Sweet Apple Acres, though when Candy had exactly arrived escaped Starburst’s notice. She herself had come here for the usual reason: working out. Almost as soon as school was over, Starburst, taking advantage of the fact that the pink-maned menace had to help her mom at home with something, had flown straight here. Today she’s been strengthening her hind legs by bucking the trees, then she would pull all the apples she’d gathered on a cart back to the barn. At least, that was the plan. Starburst had a strange feeling that now it would change. Candy took a step back and looked at her with pretense, “Well, for one thing: to get your attention. I’ve been standing here for a while now.” Starburst did her best to not look her in the eye. “I was concentrating on working out,” she said, bucking the tree again. “Yeah, I noticed. That’s another thing.” Candy pointed at something behind Starburst. “I think you got them all about ten kicks ago.” Starburst followed her hoof and frowned. Indeed, all the baskets she had laid down under the tree were full, and there were also plenty of apples on the ground around them. She looked up at the tree if she had really took them all. “Huh, didn’t notice,” Starburst said, trying to sound casual, as she began picking up the apples that landed on the ground and putting them into the baskets. “Mhm…” Candy mused, and was giving her a look that told her plainly that she didn’t believe her. After a second, she sighed: “Star, what’s wrong?” Starburst stifled a growl. “Nothing is wrong,” she said through clenched teeth. She didn’t want to talk about this. She didn’t know how to talk about this. Starburst herself had no idea what it was that was bothering her, how was she supposed to talk to anypony about this constant… feeling as if she needed to punch somepony, but at the same time... Starburst wanted to curl up in bed and just lay in it. Doing her best to avoid looking at Candy, she began to carry the full baskets to the cart. Starburst hoped that the earth pony would take the clue and leave her alone. Of course, as the years of experience knowing her were telling Starburst, that wasn’t going to happen. “C’moooon Star, something is obviously wrong!” Candy continued to pester her. She followed after her. “You’ve been all mopey ever since your mom and others brought you back from the forest. What happened there?” Starburst, ignoring her, flew above the cart to put the harness on. The earth pony mare trotted over to stand by her. She looked at her with worry. “Star, c’mon… it’s been six days. Can’t you tell me what’s wrong?” Six days… Starburst repeated, grinding her teeth as she began to pull the cart. Starburst could barely notice what was happening around her after she had woken up. She was vaguely aware of being teleported back to her room, where Nurse Redheart - also brought in by her mother’s teleportation, if Starburst knew her - quickly examined her for any injuries. “She’s medically fine, Your Highness,” Starburst heard her assure Princess Twilight. “The swollen bruise on her head is nothing serious… though seeing how she is in shock, the impact might have caused a concussion, but-” “I’m not in shock.” Those were the first words she had spoken since she had realized that Starfall left. Starburst didn’t need to see the other two ponies to know that both of them were startled. Her mom however must have quickly recovered, because she heard her say: “Thank you Nurse Redheart, this will be all.” The nurse told her that it was her pleasure while Princess Twilight apologized for bringing her in such a manner (and thus confirming Starburst’s guess) and sending her back. Starburst, however, wasn’t paying attention. Her eyes were glued to a little thing that Nurse Redheart had placed on her bedside table. Starfall’s bandanna. He left it with her, along with the cloak that she clenched tighter around herself… he left her and didn’t even say goodbye… She dimly noticed that her mom walked over and sat next to her. “Star, look at me.” With great difficulty Starburst turned her gaze away from the bandanna to look into the violet eyes of her mother, the same as hers. Everything about them spoke of worry and concern. Twilight continued to stare into her daughter's eyes for a little longer before she asked the question Starburst had expected. “Star, what happened in there?” Starburst’s eyes fell down. How was she supposed to tell her mom about everything that had transpired? That Starfall’s mom was dead alone would be hard enough for her to say, but all the rest… the enslavement, the torture, the… the… A hoof touched her cheek. “Star, I need you to tell me,” her mom said very gently. “If we are to find Star-” “You won’t.” Starburst cut her in mid-sentence. “What?” Twilight, taken aback, inquired. “You won’t find Starfall unless he will want to,” Starburst elaborated. Her eyes returned to the bandanna on their own accord. “And he will certainly not want any royal guard around him after what happened yesterday.” She wasn’t certain that Starfall hadn’t yet regained the control over his magic. If he had, it would explain how was he able to disappear seemingly just before Mom and the others found her. However, she was certain that even with his magic to give him confidence he would need a few days to be fully back to his old self. “You mean after you made him unable to use magic,” her mom stated warmly. Starburst, who noticed the shift in her tone, looked up. Her mom was smiling with pride at her. “That was a really clever plan.” Her mom had just praised her for making Starfall’s worst fear imaginable alive. Being helpless. She nearly broke down then. Only her aversion to cry in front of her mother stopped Starburst from starting to wail again. Her hooves shook under her as her eyes began to well up. She started convulsing as her mom, alarmed, took her into her forelegs and began asking what was wrong. “N-nothing…” Starburst managed to lie, feelings as if she was going vomit. Her breathing became irregular; was this how Starfall had felt? “J-just… mom, he saved my life,” she confessed, looking into her mother’s eyes. “A rock hit me in the head and I fell into a river unconscious. He dragged me out of it and… gave me CPR… and then carried me to that cave where you found me. Can you… can you give him a pardon for his crimes?” Starburst pleaded, her voice trembling. “Please… he didn’t mean to hurt Dad, he was just defending himself, I promise… please...” Twilight’s eyes widened as she spoke, both due to shock as to how close she had been to losing her daughter, as well as due to confusion at her behaviour. “Of course, Starburst,” she said gently, delicately brushing her head. “I’m surprised that this means this much to you, though.” There was a certain note in her mom’s voice as she had said that, a note that made Starburst somewhat calm down and focus. Twilight was looking at her with a funny expression… “Oh Celestia, you talked with Annie and Candy,” Starburst realized, burying her face in hooves. “I’ve talked with all your friends briefly when Princess Luna organized search party,” her mom admitted, sounding amused. “Forgive me Starburst, but when Annie said that they ‘were forced to leave those two loverbirds behind’, I just had to inquire what she meant.” Twilight paused before she continued, her voice, though still gentle, becoming more serious. “Starburst, what happened between the two of you in that cave?” “Nothing of that sort!” she quickly assured her mother, blushing. “But… what happened there?” Starburst chuckled sadly. “Mom… I think that in that cave I saw the most miserable pony there ever was.” She didn’t tell her everything. Starburst couldn’t bring herself to describe what Starfall had been through while under “Master’s” control. Nor could she tell her mother just what exactly happened to the real Ripper the Jackal, even though Twilight must have figured it out. Her mom had been deeply saddened to hear about Starfall’s mom. When Starburst told her what had happened to her, she hugged her daughter tightly, and the pegasus was certain that Twilight uttered a few tears. Of what had happened to Starfall afterwards, she only had said that he was scared and ran away and ended up in a very bad company. How his life was hell for four years. She refused to tell her mother anything more, but Twilight hadn’t persisted. What she heard was enough. The very next day, the unicorn known as Starfall had been officially pardoned for all the crimes he had committed against Equestria, both known and unknown to the crown. In Trottingham, an investigation had begun. The case of “Ripper the Jackal” had been reopened. Officially, there was some new evidence that caused the crown to doubt official version of the events that led to death of the royal guard Feathery Apron. Unofficially, there was already dynamite under Feathery Apron’s statue, ready to blow it up. As for Starburst, she spent the rest of the day laying in her bed, resting. When her friends came to see here, she had to excuse herself. Starburst didn’t feel strong enough to be with them, knowing that they would bombard her with questions. She had also known for certain that Annie and Candy would not be able to not joke about her and Starfall. She wasn’t sure how she would have reacted if they were to say anything about bondage or whips. Thankfully, her friends understood, so that day Starburst had to deal only with her family. Much to her joy, her father had made a complete recovery by the end of the day. Starburst recalled how much she had been looking forward to telling him that she had beaten the one who hospitalized him. Now, after she had done so, though… That happened six days ago. Since then, Starburst had seen her friends multiple times. However, whenever they tried to ask her about what had happened in the forest, she gave them evasive answers. Not only because she didn’t want to talk about Starfall’s past, but also that she really, really didn’t want them to know that they were in the same cave, which would lead them to figure out that they slept together. And… every time she thought about how Starfall had left her, she felt a weird gnawing sensation in her chest. Even when she wasn’t thinking about it, Starburst found her thoughts wandering around the subject. She would often caught herself staring at something and not hearing what her friends were saying to her until they shook her or something. Her exercises hadn’t suffered, thankfully, she was still breaking a sweat. Unfortunately, what Candy just saw wasn’t a sole instance. Returning to the present moment with her thoughts, Starburst turned to Candy. “I already said, I am not speaking of what happened there,” she told her while pulling the cart. She felt her muscles protest as she exerted them. It felt good. “But something has obviously been bugging you ever since you came back,” Candy didn’t let go. “C’mon Star, friends are supposed to tell each other everything. Why won’t you let us help you?” “I don’t need help, I’m perfectly fine,” Starburst retorted, beginning to get annoyed. “Why don’t you go make out with Del or something? He’s at the north orchard,” she said, hoping the other mare would get the hint and leave her alone. Not such luck. Candy, though blushing at the mention of Del and making out, waved off her words. “Nah, I already did that. And don’t say you’re perfectly fine!” she added accusingly. “I have a proof that you are not, quote, ‘fine’, unquote!” “What are you talking about?” Starburst asked, confused. “I heard that you had skipped supper yesterday. And the day before.” There was only one explanation how Candy could know that. Apparently, Nighty shared some gossip with her sisters. That little… Starburst thought angrily. “That doesn’t prove anything,” she said out-loud as the barn came into her view. “Maybe I am just on a diet.” She fought down the urge to strangle something at the sound of the snort of disbelief Candy had uttered. “Why won’t you just admit that something is wrong with you?” she asked as they swiftly crossed the distance between them and the barn. “This will be much easier for you if you would.” “What would be much easier?” Starburst asked with disinterest as she pushed open the doors to the barn… and stared with wide eyes at what she saw inside. “Please tell me I passed out and I’m in a delusional coma.” “Nope!” Candy called from behind her cheerfully. Starburst sighed as she pulled the cart inside. In the barn was… everypony. 'Everypony' consisted of Annie, T, Claire, June, Del, Prism, Whirlwind, Nidra, and even Illusion. Starburst eyes briefly rested at the half-draconequus, who stood next to Claire. Since they were inside of the barn, safe from prying eyes, he was in his true shape (that of a white stallion with black mane and fur around his chest with a red reptilian-like tail) instead of his earth pony disguise. There was one more thing worth catching attention in the barn. A big white banner, hung by the walls, that bore a single word: INTERVENTION. “What the hell do you guys want?” she greeted them as she led the cart to the side of the barn. “Charming as always,” she heard Illusion chuckle as others either sighed or scowled. “Well, dear,” Claire began, but Starburst quickly interrupted her. “Before you start, let me say that when I find out who’s the brain behind all of this, their corpse will never be identified as a corpse.” “It’s Princey!” Prism quickly said, while at the same time Illusion said: “It’s Prism!” They both glared at each other, Illusion with amused smirk while Prims with annoyance. Claire, on the other hoof, glared angrily at both of them, before she turned back to Starburst. “As I was saying… to put it simply, we are worried about you.” “I. Am. Fine,” Starburst said, barely containing her anger. She released herself from the harness and began to trot towards her saddlebags that she left there when she arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. It was clear that she wasn’t going to train today anymore. “Would you guys drop it?” “We might if ya would admit that ya’re not ‘fine’,” June retorted. “Ya’ve been mopin’ around ever since that night.” “And it’s a no brainer that this has something to do with that little dipshit,” Prism added. Starburst bristled. “I swear, if he as much as touched you, I will hunt him down as kick his sorry ass sol-” “You will do no such thing!” Starburst shouted without thinking, turning around to glare at the pegasus… only to see him, and everypony else, grin. “Well, darling,” Claire said with a triumphant expression, “you certainly seem protective of Starfall.” Starburst groaned and turned back to her saddlebags. She reached out to her head and untied her lucky ribbon that she used to keep her bangs out of her eyes while training. “Which seems rather odd,” Claire continued. “A couple of days ago you wanted nothing more than apprehend him. He had hospitalized you father and nearly blew up your brother. Now he somehow got a royal pardon for everything and you, dear, are jumping into his defense. Forgive us, Starburst, but taking all that into account we’re… worried. Just what could have happened between the two of you?” “Yeah, give us the juicy bits!” Starburst heard Annie add as she hid her ribbon into her bag. “Oh, for the… NOTHING happened in that cave!” she shouted. Why did her friends have to- “What cave?” Nidra asked, raising an eyebrow. Starburst eyes widened as she realized just what she had said. She groaned again as she buried her face into her hooves. “Hate you. Hate you all,” she murmured while her friends shared a laugh. “Come now, Star, just tell us what happened,” Nidra said, her wing idly brushing Prism back. Starburst recalled hearing from Annie that those two started dating, and oddly, she found herself caring about it even less than about Candy and Del. Same couldn’t be said about Whirlwind, though, if the quick glance she just gave the two was of any indication. “Now we know that the two of you were in a ‘cave’,” Nidra continued, smirking. “Will we hear next that the two of you kissed?” “No, because that didn’t happen!” Starburst snapped. Well, it almost did… “Was that…” Annie spoke up, pulling her away from her thoughts before she could really process the unexpected thought. The blind pony had her head slightly turned to the side and her ear was perked up. “a regret I heard?” Starburst glared at her with such intensity that she was sure Annie must have felt it. However, instead of amused or scared expression, the blind pony looked at her with worry and compassion. “Star, admit it,” Claire took over the conversation. “Something had happened between the two of you there, and now you have a broken heart.” “WHAT?!” Starburst exclaimed in shock. “That’s about the stupidest thing you said so far!” “Really?” Claire asked, raising an eyebrow. “Then why won’t you tell us what did happen?” “Because if I did, you would start looking for a ‘deeper meaning’,” Starburst snorted. “And why have you been moping ever since then?” Claire continued, ignoring her. “Not talking to anypony, lack of eating (only small in this case, but this is you after all), lack of focus… I don’t think I saw you smile once in the last few days...” Starburst rolled her eyes and turned away while Candy added: “Not that she smiles often anyway.” “I’ll say.” Her entire body went rigid. This voice… “You really need to start smiling more, my Nemesis.” “Star!” Starburst exclaimed happily, raising into the air and turning around. Her ears hadn’t failed her. Starfall was really there! He half-laid at the edge of the loft, with his back and head supported against one of the pillars. Starfall was turned to her and everypony else with his right side, giving them all a clear sight on his burned-off flank. His hooves were placed casually behind his head, and his long tail hang over the edge. But Starburst wasn't looking on any of that. Her eyes laid on his beautiful ruby ones, and on the smile that his face bore. He closed his eyes and waved his hoof after she called his name. “Hi!” he greeted her as she flew towards him. “How you’ve been?” The casual greeting, as if nothing had happened, took Starburst aback. She stopped before him in the air, stunned, and her happiness at seeing him quickly gave wave to annoyance. “‘Hi’?” she asked, crossing her forelegs. “That’s all you have to say?” Starfall blinked in surprise, but as he opened his mouth to reply, the voice of Nidra sounded from below: “And she said that we were wrong.” Only then did Starburst remember that there were others with them. She realized that they had just seen how she reacted to Starfall’s presence. However, instead of embarrassment, she felt pissed. “One obnoxiously annoying conversation at the time!” she snapped at them all before she turned back to Starfall. “Well?” “Well… ‘what’?” he asked her, titling his head. “Uw, bad move,” Illusion commented from below. “I was under the impression that we became friends!” Starburst hissed, ignoring the fact that her friends were commenting over this conversation. Starfall, much to her annoyance, rolled his eyes. “I hadn’t had a real friend in over five years, Star. You’ve got to be more specific if you want me to figure out what I did wrong.” “Friends don’t leave without saying a word after they had nearly suffered a hypothermia, you idiot!” she shouted. “I was w- wait,” she paused, taking a step back (figuratively, she was still in the air). “Five years ago? But weren’t you, um-” Thankfully, she didn’t have to finish that sentence. Starfall interrupted her with a smirk: “What, thought a kid couldn’t make a friend there?” He quickly grew more serious, though. “And as for me leaving, I panicked! I left the cave at morning to stretch my legs, and I saw your mother, Princess Luna, the dragon and the guards approach. My mind conjured up a bunch of disturbing images as to what they would do to me if they would find me with you bandaged and seemingly unconscious… so I bolted,” he finished, smiling awkwardly. Starburst continued to glare at him while she processed that. Well, that does seem excusable, I suppose, she thought, but before she could pass her judgement, somepony commented from below: “Wooow, how brave.” Both her and Starfall glared at the mocking Prism. “Why, hello Damsel, good to see you’re in good shape,” Starfall retorted, his eyes narrowing as he regarded the pegasus. “Haven’t dropped the ball yet?” Prism expression immediately darkened at the remark. A few (his new marefriend included) tried to stifle their giggles as they caught the meaning behind Starfall’s joke. Illusion, on the other hoof, uttered a laugh and turned to Claire: “I think I like him.” “Wait, I don’t know this one,” Starfall observed, pointing at Illusion. “Who are you?” Illusion blinked in surprise. “I’m Prince Illusion, son of Princess Celestia and Discord. I’ve thought I’m rather recognizable,” he added, explaining his surprise. “Eh, I’ve got bad memory with pictures I see on the newspapers,” Starfall replied nonchalantly, waving a hoof. The next second, though, his eyes snapped wide. “Wait! You said Discord!? The draconequus?” “Eee… yes?” Illusion replied, lifting an eyebrow. Starburst too looked at Starfall with surprise. For the first time he seemed… plainly nervous. Not afraid - she had seen him afraid - but just nervous. “You wouldn’t happen to know anybody by the name Eris, wouldn’t you?” he asked Illusion, brushing the back of his head. “No, why?” “No reason,” Starfall immediately replied, turning back to Starburst. He was visibly relieved. “Sorry about leaving like that,” he quickly said before she get a chance to question him. “Also, it’s great to see you again. Now!” Starfall clasped his hoofs. “On to the second of the three things I came here for!” “Wha-” Starburst began, but he silenced her with a wink. He took a deep breath, and spoke: “I would like to apologize to all of you for acting so assholishly in our previous encounters.” That managed to surprise Starburst. She quickly glanced at her friends to see that they were even more taken aback than her. “I shouldn’t have stolen,” Starfall began to count, gazing up, “I shouldn’t have made fun of you, I shouldn’t have offended you, be it intentionally or unintentionally, harmed you physically, I shouldn’t have hospitalized your family members, and generally be a jerk I suppose,” he said, looking away. At first, Starburst was about to point out to him that his facial expressions suggest that he didn’t mean this apology honestly. However, she quickly remembered that this was a relationally scarred pony with a lot of issues, so apologies must have come really hard for him. Her friends, though, weren’t so unforgiving. “Hardly seems ya’ve ment those apologizes,” June noted, frowning. Starburst briefly recalled how pissed of the older mare was at something Starfall’s water duplicate had said. What was it… “Well, I meant them,” Starfall’s voice snapped her out of her reverie. “Excuse me if it didn’t seem such, but the last time I apologized for something honestly was about ten years ago. And, since it went along the lines of: ‘I’m sorry I ate cookies before dinner, Mom’, I doubt that I actually was honest. Plus,” he added, pointing over his back, “I have this unexplained fear that if I do something wrong I’m gonna get whipped. So, I try to never think I did something wrong, so I never feel the need to apologize for something.” “Odd,” came Annie’s amused comment from below. “I would have thought that whipping would be amongst yours and Starburst favorite pastimes.” While her friends shared an amused chuckle, Starburst gasped and looked at Annie with eyes wide open. She could not believe that out of all jokes she could possibly say the blind pony had to pick that one. Her friends, who noticed her reaction, stopped laughing, but she didn’t care. She turned to Starfall, worried how he was going to react. While doing so, it just hit her that from their angle, her friends could not see the chain burns around his neck, let along the scars on his back. However, all her worries evaporated once she noticed the expression on Starfall’s face. The blue unicorn, although at first he looked at Annie with eyes wide in surprise, had now a very wide smile on his face. “Oh, this is going to be rich,” he chuckled, sounding almost cliché evil-like. He turned to her, still smiling. “You haven’t told them, I take?” “How was I supposed to tell them something like this?!” Starburst exclaimed, throwing her forelegs. “I have enough of a problem thinking about it!” “Wait, hang on dear,” Claire interrupted them. She was looking at them with confusion, probably having realized that whatever they were talking about wasn’t a joking matter. “Tell us about what?” Starburst opened her mouth, but Starfall had quickly replied: “That I was enslaved, beaten, chained, whipped, abused, and forced to perform for the amusement and profit of others for nearly a third of my life,” he said almost nonchalantly. She looked at him with disbelief that he had just blurted all that, then quickly glanced at her friends. Everypony was stunned and still trying to process what they heard. Surprisingly, Prism was the first one to recover. “You’re bluff-” he began to say, but a flash of light from beside Starburst interrupted him. Starfall had used a teleportation spell to appear right in front of her friends. “Ta-daa!” he exclaimed cheerfully, standing up on a hind leg and doing a pirouette, giving all of them a good look on his scarred back. As her friends all began to gasp in shock and horror (and Annie had asked T what just happened), Starburst flew to Starfall. “What was that?” she hissed to his ear. “Well, they would notice my appearance sooner or later,” he replied, raising a hoof to cover his mouth. “I hoped that revealing this in a comical manner would let me avoid having the repeat of your reaction.” “‘Comical manner’?!” Starburst blurted loudly. “There’s nothing funny about this!” “Well, their shock was amusing,” Starfall disagreed, smirking. “Also, this happened to me, so I am allowed to laugh. It’s called a coping mechanism, deal with it.” Starburst groaned and was about to chasten him again, but as she looked at him, she saw one aspect of his appearance that so far had evaded her eyes. His cutie mark. Although the one on his right flank was lost forever, Starfall retained the other. It was just like Starburst’s mother had guessed: it bore all the colors of the rainbow, intervening with each other that it was hard to tell where one color ended and where the other began. It was even harder to tell when Starfall moved; it looked then as if the colors moved, too. And it’s shape… Starfall’s cutie mark appeared as a bunch of stars, falling, with two bigger than others, on the crescent moon. Together, they looked like a smiling face. Some part of her mind was thankfully aware that her friends were still watching them. She tore her eyes away from Starfall’s cutie mark and managed to say: “Nice cutie mark.” She hoped she didn’t blush. Starfall smiled warmly, without any hint of smirk whatsoever. “Thanks,” he said, before looking away. Starburst blinked. For a second, she could have sworn that she saw Starfall blush… “Oi, no crying!” She shook her head, certain that she had imagined that. She concentrated on Starfall, who was pointing at Annie. The blind pony had just finished hearing T’s description (said in a shaking voice) of Starfall’s back. There were signs of tears in her eyes. And she isn’t the only one, Starburst noticed, taking a look at her friends. Candy also had tears ready to burst out of her eyes. The other mares all had their mouths covered while they looked in horror, while guys just stared with wide eyes at him “I get it, you’re sorry about that comment earlier,” he continued, “now stop with the tears.” “B-but…” Annie tried to say, her voice breaking as she had realized what she had said earlier. “No ‘buts’. I hate seeing ponies cry,” he whined, dropping his stern tone. “If you start crying, I will have no choice but to unleash the full array of magic tricks and jokes even I know to be over the top to make you stop, and I will have no energy left for tomorrow’s show. And you wouldn’t want that, would-” “Wait, hold up!” Starburst interrupted him. She flew to stand between him and Annie. “What show?” Starfall’s gaze briefly turned once more to Annie, who was trying to get a hold of herself. She noticed the slight, nervous frown on his face. He really hated seeing ponies cry. Starburst was surprised that he hadn’t started making a fool out of himself like he did when she started to cry, but she quickly understood why he hadn’t. He was too nervous to try and do that... yet. Even with his ability to use magic back, Starfall was still afraid; probably always was. Just as Starburst had figured out in the cave, he hid his fear really well under the mask of confidence and jokester, but it was still there. Being around this many ponies, almost all of which had tried to harm him (including her, even if they were now friends) must be hard for him. Starfall’s attention turned back to her and he smiled. “Why, the magic show I am throwing for Ponyville as my way of saying: ‘sorry I blow up your town a bit and stole from some of you’,” the unicorn said with a smirk. “I had discussed this with Mayor Mare a few minutes ago, she said it was a great idea. Of course,” he added, looking to the side and rolling his eyes, “the sight of a teenage colt with a back that you could play Xs and Os on could have affected her decision to let me do this…” “Wait, you’re putting on a magic show in Ponyville?” Starburst asked to be certain, trying to not think how the old mayor must have felt like when she saw him. “Yep!” he said cheerfully. “Tomorrow at nightfall, at the town’s square. Admission is free of charge, so all of you, feel free to drop by!” “That’s not some sort of scheme, isn’t it?” Prism asked suspiciously, glaring at the colt. Starfall replied with a glare of his own. “I do not plan to humiliate any of you, but I make no promises,” he said, narrowing his eyes on Prism. “The admission is free of charge?” Starburst asked, not interested in the colt’s pissing contest, looking Starfall up and down. “Yeah, it is an apology show.” “Since you obviously stopped stealing for living,” she began; now that she took a better look at Starfall’s body as a whole, not just at the scarred or shining parts, it was clear that he hadn’t eaten properly in a while. He was thinner than the last time they saw each other, “I would have thought that you would try to make a living out of putting shows like this.” “Yes, I stopped stealing, thanks for noticing. I heard that I had apparently gotten a royal pardon, and I figured that I would have to be an idiot to not change my life a bit. But… take money from ponies for showing them how much of an amazing god I am while making them happy?” he asked, confused. “Why would I do that?” “Cause I can see your freaking ribs, idiot!” Starburst shouted, pointing at his almost protruding rib. “Have you eaten anything since the ca-” as soon as she said it she facehoofed. “You haven’t eaten anything when we were in the cave, haven’t you?” Please, tell me I am wrong... “I figured that since unlike me you weren’t used to going on for days without food-” She wasn’t. “You were cold, exhausted, and on the edge of mental collapse, and hadn’t eaten a thing?! Are you a complete idiot?!” she shouted right at his face, advancing at him. To his credit, Starfall seemed unfazed by her outburst, mostly. “I’ve eaten something since then, relax! I won some bits at a faire in Vanhoover at this ridiculously easy game... Long story short, I got enough to keep me fed for a while.” She facehoofed again. “Please tell me you’re kidding…” she groaned. “You seriously plan to live on what you win in games?!” “Phi, materialists,” he snorted, though he winked and stick his tongue at her. “Anyway, I need to go now, got to practice a bit.” “Wait!” Starburst quickly shouted. She knew that he could be gone in an instant. “Hope you guys will make it for the show!” he called out to her friends, though his eyes were on her. He winked one last time and vanished. Starburst let out and irritated groan. Why do I have to be friends with such an annoying character?! He didn’t even give me a chance to give him his things back! The sound of clearing throat came from behind her. Reluctantly, Starburst turned around to face Claire and the rest. “Are we to assume that your reluctance to talk about what had happened in the forest was due to Starfall’s…” the dragon-pony hybrid trailed off, looking for the right words. “Past so disturbing that they could make a PG-16 movie about it?” Starburst hinted. “Pretty much.” “It’s horrible,” Annie added. She was no longer on the verge of tears, but she was still saddened. “How could something like that happen to anypony?” “It’s a long story, and I don’t even know the most of it,” Starburst said, shrugging. In her mind, she was already wondering if she should prepare Starfall’s bandanna and cloak to give him after the show… “Still,” her ears perked up as she heard Annie say, “that doesn’t quite explain your behaviour.” Starburst stared at her. “What are you-” she started, but she trailed off when she noticed the grin on her friend’s face… as well as everypony’s else, for that matter. “You cheered right up once you heard his voice!” Candy said, jumping up. “And then you proceeded to have conversation like an old couple,” Claire added, smirking. Starburst facehoofed. She had a few minutes of peace… “Forget it, I don’t need to deal with this,” she said out-loud, flying over to her saddlebags and, before anypony could stop her, she quickly flew away towards her house. With a loud sigh, Starburst slapped her head against her bed. After she got back to her family’s house, she became immediately restless. A big part of her wanted to return to Sweet Apple Acres to continue her training, but her friends had infested that place. Now that they were convinced that there was something between her and Starfall they would not stop joking about it. Starburst knew them well enough to know that. Until she was certain that her friends had left the farm, she wasn’t going to go there. As such, she spent the few hours until supper in her room, mostly brooding. Starburst tried doing some push-ups, but her heart wasn’t really into it. Not even her secret passion, dancing (a secret that she intended to keep hidden from her friends at all cost), had managed to take her mind off today’s events. She constantly found her thoughts returning to Starfall. She was happy to see him, she was glad that he had decided to change, and even came to apologize to her and her friends, but… Starburst couldn’t decide what it was, but something about the conversation they had just bothered her for some reason. The supper did little to improve her mood. While their parents were, thankfully, out, and wouldn’t be back until late at night, Nighty had already heard about what happened in the barn. He joked about her and Starfall and her seemingly returned appetite, and conjuring up a connection between the two. Luckily for him, taking a step towards him had reminded him that pissing off Starburst when their parents were miles away was not the best idea, so he dropped the subject. Instead, Nighty asked her if she knew what sort of trick he was going to perform on the tomorrow’s magic show, which, by now, all the town talked about. Starburst was very careful while talking about Starfall, not wanting to give her brother an opportunity to resume his stupid suggestions. She had enough of that from her friends. It seemed, though, that Nighty was much more interested in her description of all the magic spells and tricks she had seen Starfall perform so far. That was several hours ago, though. Once Starburst had finished her supper - which took her a while, after all she had skipped some meals in the previous days - she went back to her room and tried to force herself to do anything. She managed to do her homework, and snuck in a few wing ups, but she found herself once again laying in her bed thinking about Starfall. I didn’t even have a chance to give his stuff back to him, she thought, glancing at her drawer. Inside of it rested Starfall’s washed bandanna and cloak. She sighed. Maybe I’ll catch him before his show… it would probably for the best if I do, can’t imagine how what sort of panic he would cause if he would do it without them. Starburst snorted with amusement. Knowing him, there will be a lot of dramatic turns he will do during his performance- Tack! Alarmed, Starburst shoot upright and scanned her room for the strange noise. Where- Tack! came again, and this time she managed to place its source. It came from the window. Her eyes widened as her mind began to wonder what was going on… until the very next second she facehoofed and smirked. There was only one explanation as to what might be causing it. Tack! Stifling a chuckle, Starburst rose from her bed and - thanking Celestia that he hadn’t come back when she was practicing her dancing moves - hastened to the window. She quickly opened it… .. and had to immediately raise her hoof to catch the incoming pebble. Before she could grasp the small rock in her hoof, it stopped in mid-air, surrounded by a multi-colored aura. “I see you’re quick as ever,” Starburst commented, looking the garden beyond her window. “Same can be said about you,” Starfall commented from between the bushes, grinning. Pleased with his comment, Starburst leaned over the window sill. “Most ponies use doors, you know.” “Use the door and risk facing you parents? I may be throwing apologies left and right, but I don’t feel confident about approaching those that can easily capture me if I am not careful.” “They wouldn’t try to do that, idiot. My mom was the one that had pardoned you,” she told him, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, did you want something?” She had a fairly good idea as to what that something could be. He must have come for his things… To her surprise, Starfall looked at her uncertainly before he asked: “Can we talk?” “Um, sure,” Starburst replied, slightly taken aback. She took a step back and opened the window wider. “Come on in.” With one swift jump Starfall landed in her room. Starburst closed the window, not wanting to risk some guard on a patrol noticing anything, as unlikely as that was. She turned back to her guest to see him looking around her room. “I would have thought a princess would have a bigger room,” he commented, his voice bearing no sign of ill-meaning. “Like with a pool or something.” “Why would I need a bigger room?” she asked, feeling oddly hot on her cheeks. She did not bother to add ‘and why I would need a pool in here’. “I have enough space. So what did you want to talk about?” The unicorn turned to her. Once again a look of uncertainty adorned his face. “I… didn’t annoy you too much earlier?” Her eyes grew wide. “I’m sorry... what?” she asked, confused. “I...” Starfall started, rubbing the back of his head. He stopped and sighed. “I wanted to talk with you like a normal pony, like in the cave, but… I just got nervous with all your friends in there, and I sorta panicked… sorry...” “Oh,” Starburst exclaimed. She was surprised that he was apologizing for it… though it did feel nice to know that he hadn’t plan to annoy her. “don’t worry about it. My friends had actually annoyed me far more than you had.” “Really?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “I noticed that ‘intervention’ banner… what was that about?” “Oh, um…” she stuttered. “W-well… I was sorta... sad and worried about how you left without saying goodbye and all, but I hadn’t told them anything, so they wanted me to explain what had happened.” Despite what she thought - that he would be amused by it - Starfall once again looked at her apologetically. “Right, sorry… I didn’t think that would upset you so much.” This is starting to get a bit annoying. He’s starting to sound like Annie’s mom. “You know, you don’t really have to apologize all the time,” she said, frowning slightly. He grimaced, and sighed again. “I haven’t had a friend in a long time,” he said, looking down at the floor. “I haven’t had anypony that I would care what they would think of me, so… I’m just not sure how to act.” Starburst, not knowing what to say, just followed his gaze. She wished there was something she could do to help him… “Well… stick around and you will find that out,” she finally said awkwardly. “I’m sure after tomorrow’s show you will grow on ponies here.” “Thanks,” he smiled with gratitude. “Will you come to see it, too?” “Are you kidding? Of course!” she immediately replied, smiling. “Even if I didn’t want to, I would still go, seeing how I won’t have anything to do…” “What do you mean?” “I usually spend my free time training physically, so that I could become a royal guard,” she told him, smiling with pride. However, she quickly lost her spark. “But with my friends apparently trying to ambush me, I think I should wait another day or two before I would go there again.” “Oh…” Starfall hummed, and then smiled. “You know… I know of a secluded place that I think would be good for working out.” “Really?!” she asked, becoming excited. “Where?!” “A magician never reveals his secrets,” he replied, sticking his tongue. “But I have no problem showing them off. I can take you there on Saturday… if you want?” he added, oddly nervously. Starburst didn’t pay his weird attitude any mind. A secluded place for her to train! Without anypony to preach to her about pushing yourself too hard! And without any friends trying to kidnap her to go hang out or make fun of her and Starfall being... together… “Wait, are you asking me on a date!?” she exclaimed loudly, her eyes wide as plates. “Um…” Starfall stammered, scratching his head. “Maybe?” ... Starburst was speechless. All this time Candy and Annie and the others joked about it, and he just… he just… “I know what you are going to say,” he continued to speak while Starburst tried to reboot her mind. “No. I remember how you reacted all the time your friends alluded to something along those lines. I would still prefer if they weren’t so specified at the time, though. To make this situation right now even more ridiculous, I had reacted exactly like you. But… that was then, and now… you know how I am afraid of being touched by a pony,” he said, looking down again. “You… you are the first pony in years that doesn’t make me feel like that. Other than you, there were two others that I felt no fear… well, one, the other is sorta my stalker,” he chuckled before he looked at her seriously. “But there is more to you… I feel safe around you. I… I don’t remember how long it’s been since I just could lay and think ‘everything is great’. In that cave, when you slept - I have a bizarre sleeping pattern - I just… it hit me that I wasn’t afraid of anything at the moment. Maybe it was what you said, that you would protect me, or maybe because of what you said, that we once played together as foals, or… maybe it was just you? I… I like you. “Heck, I liked you already when we were fighting. I mean, I was scared of you and what you could do to me, but I liked your passion and your skills… and that we apparently had the same opinion on your friends’ sense of humor. But in that cave, when I listened to you breathing through sleep, lying so close to me without any fear, and thought about the two of us… I just thought that maybe we could possibly try to be more than just friends. “Of course, I immediately found this ridiculous,” he quickly added. “You are a princess; I am - was, I mean - a thief, and outlaw. You are beautiful; I, without my cloak and bandanna, look short of being a Palasso’s painting. You are brave and serious; I live in constant fear that I try to hide with goofiness… I’m not sure even what my personality is, I can add that to the list of my problems,” he muttered, looking to the side. “I like joking around, so it is probably close to who I really am… but I figured that that isn’t exactly good enough to hope that you would just say ‘yes’ if I would ask you out. So I am trying to change a bit. That’s why I stopped stealing and I try to apologize to the town and your friends, but-” As Starfall talked, Starburst was going over the idea of them going on a date in her head. And while he kept on naming many reasons why he asked her out, and why he felt like this shouldn’t work, she realized something: that while she was going over many weird emotions right now, there was only one problem that her mind saw. How would her friends react? Ashamed she even considered it and just it, while Starfall was going over many other issues, Starburst pressed her hoof against his lips, stopping his monologue. She looked into his eyes, feeling her cheeks blush, as she sighed and said: “If I lose it and kill my friends, will you help me hide the bodies?” She took her hooves away. “Um…” Starfall stammered, raising an eyebrow. “is that a…?” “W-well,” she stuttered. “I suppose it would be nice to go on a date… with you.” Despite all her battle reflexes, honed over many hours of training, Starburst was surprised by the sudden hug she had suddenly found herself in… and even more so by the pair of lips pressed against hers. Starfall was kissing her. It felt… odd. It wasn’t a kiss like those in movies, sloppy with a lot of tongue being shoved into another’s mouth (meaning: like the one Annie had suggested). It was just a pair of lips, touching. And yet it felt… good. Like, really good. Starburst could feel goosebumps going all over her body, and she found herself wrapping her forelegs and wings around Starfall without even thinking about it. When he pulled away, she did too. She breathed heavily and looked at him. “W-what the hell do you plan to do on the date?” she asked, vaguely aware that she was smiling. “S-sorry, I got excited,” Starfall replied, lowering his head to touch her nose. “I promise, this will be the best date ever.” Starburst looked into those gorgeous ruby eyes, not afraid at all of those narrow pupils. “I don’t doubt that. Just... be yourself. Even if you think you will do something that will annoy me… I kinda grown to like it,” she confessed, smiling. Starfall smiled back. “I will try. As for what I plan to do on our date,” he added, letting go of her and pulling away, “I thought about helping you with your training. You know, target practice, sparring, wrestling…” She raised an eyebrow and smirked. “You want to tickle me again, don’t you?” He flushed and chuckled. “Well, how else could I win against you?” Looking deep into her eyes, he added tenderly: “My Beloved Nemesis…” Whether it was in the name or in the way he said it, hearing those words stirred every fiber of Starburst’s being. They stayed like that for a couple of more seconds, lost in each other eyes, before Starfall sighed. “I think I should be going now. I have to wake up tomorrow to prepare everything for the show.” Shaking off the effect of whatever spell she was under, Starburst nodded. “Yeah, and I have school tomorrow.” She looked at him. There was something- “Where do you sleep?” she realized. “Um…” Starfall, slightly confused, pondered a moment, “Around?” Starburst facehoofed. “You know, on trees and such, rooftops-” “Alright, that’s it,” she said and pointed out with her hoof. “Get into bed.” She was rewarded with a sight of a completely abashed magician. “I, um, a, w-wha-” he stammered, his cheeks becoming more red than blue. Starburst - realizing now just how it sounded and was mentally bashing her head against the wall - explained. “We already slept together, so stop acting like that. I am not having you sleep on a tree or ground or whatever when I sleep in a comfortable bed. Please,” she added, looking at him, “just this one night.” His embarrassment and confusion quickly melted away under her gaze. “How could I deny your wish, my Beloved Nemesis?” As they lay together in bed, Starburst tried to not think about how Candy and Annie would have a field day with this… and it was surprisingly easy. She found little worry in her mind as they mimicked their position from the cave, with her muzzle buried against his neck and their forelegs wrapped around each other. She breathed in the now-familiar scent, feeling better than she could ever remember feeling. “Star?” she called quietly, looking up. “Hmm?” Starfall replied, moving his head down a bit to look at her. “I’m really glad that I met you,” she said, blushing. In reply, Starfall leaned closer and kissed her again. This time Starburst was prepared and she moved her lips closer for him, and even hummed a little. “Not as much as I,” Starfall said once they again parted, brushing the side of her face gently. Starburst giggled and returned to rest her muzzle against his neck. She was happy. Though she knew that starting with tomorrow she would feel repercussion from her decision, at that moment, Starburst didn’t care. She didn’t care about Annie, Candy, or any of her friends. Even her mom and dad didn’t matter at that moment. She had found her Star. TO BE CONTINUED