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// Starburst <3 
// Story: StarBurst <3 
// by TheOneAJ 
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“Do we have to?" Starlight asked, walking head down next to Twilight as they passed through the halls of Canterlot castle.
 
Twilight assured her new friend with a soft nudge. "It will be fine. Celestia assured me that you are in no trouble since I've already passed judgment. She just like wants to meet you and see if you'd be willing to lend you magic to the school." Twilight scratched her neck. "More so for better defense and all."
 
Starlight rolled her eyes. "Sure."
 
It had been nearly a month since Starlight's reformation, and things hadn't seemed to improve for her. They had visited her village, and while some of the town’s ponies welcomed her, most still looked away. She tried to stay at Double Diamond’s house for a while, but it eventually became too much and had to take shelter at Twilight's Castle. There, she had spent most of her time without seeing anypony,save for a visit from one of Twilight's friends.
 
A week into her stay, Twilight had written to Celestia about Starlight's deterring mood, and suggest that she meet Starlight in person.
 
It hadn't been easy to convince Starlight, but in the end, she had agreed to go to Canterlot with Twilight.
 
When they made it to the royal chambers, a guard told them they would have to wait for a while, and they ended up sitting outside for a good long hour.
 
"She said this was the time," Twilight said, starting to get antsy, "oh! What if she forgot? Or what if she didn't care?! What if—"
 
"Um, Twilight," Starlight interjected, nodding to the ponies starting to stare.
 
Twilight giggled. “Sorry."
 
Most of them shrugged it off, except for one stallion, who blinked at them a few time, before advancing forward, saying, "Starlight?"
 
Starlight grunted, "What do you—" she trailed off, eyes widened as she recognized the stallion. He was orange with a red mane, that sunlight cutie mark.
 
"Star!" He exclaimed, dropping the books he had held in his magic. "I can't... Oh wow, I can't believe it, it's been so long!"
 
Starlight flinched in response, head turned, tears already forming.
 
“Star…”
 
“I…” she muttered, “um…”
 
“Pardon me, princess” one of the guards said addressing Twilight, “but Celestia will be unable to see you both today. Although, she has prepared a room in the castle for the night.”
 
“Oh, Sunburst said, “you here to try and get into Celestia's school for gifted unicorns?”
 
“Um…”
 
“We were,” Twilight added as the guard left, “but it looks like we have to wait.”
 
There was a silence in the air, till Sunburst lifted up his books. “Well, we should hang out, Starlight. I’d love to hear about what you been up to. I just need to get these books delivered and I’ll be free in an hour. Want to meet back here and… catch up?”
 
“Um…” Twilight gave the stuttering Starlight a nudge. “Su… Sure.”
 
Sunburst gleamed. “Great, I’ll see you then, Star.”
 
He walked off, leaving the fast breathing Starlight in the hooves of princess Twilight.
 
*****  
 
“I CAN'T DO IT!”
 
“Starlight,” Twilight address the pacing pony as Starlight walked around the room.
 
“NO! You don’t understand, Twi, I just can’t!” Her emotions shifted from fear, to rage, to panic, and then found a new emotion all at once. “He left me! He was my best friend, and only now does he talk to me!” She slumped to the floor. “And what am I supposed to say to him? ‘Oh hi, how have I been and how has my life gone? Oh, I’ve only just been living in pain my whole life while I assaulted a princess and tried to take away all of her friends cutie marks while nearly destroying Equestria in the process!” Her breathing picked up. “You know what? I’m not going to do this. I’m going—”
 
“STARLIGHT!” Twilight echoed in the Canterlot voice, submitting her friend. “Sorry but we are not going home.”
 
“Watch me!” Starlight challenged as her horn glowed up, followed by a bright burst of light. Once the glow cleared, she beamed, only to gasp when she saw she hadn’t gone anywhere.
 
“You can’t run from this, he was your best friend, and might still be.”
 
“How did you…” Starlight began, before her horn glowed again, only to end up in the same spot, over and over again. “What?!” her eye began to twitch. “How—”
 
“Anti-teleportation spell,” Twilight said with pride. “A new security feature Celestia recently let me help set up to keep ponies from teleporting into any important parts of the castle. Works within a five mile radius of the throne room. Why else do you think we took a train instead?”
 
Teeth grinding, Starlight declared, “Fine, then I’ll just get away from the castle by hooves.”
 
Starlight raced to the door, but Twilight beat her to it and blocked her path. “Please, this might be what you need.”
 
Fresh tears in her eyes, Starlight sighed and said, “What… What would I even say?”
 
“I… I don’t know, Starlight. I guess… Don’t focus on the bad, just let him know the new you. If you need subject material, talk about all the other spells you’ve learned, and your time in Ponyville.”
 
With a sigh, Starlight said, “Fine.”
 
Twilight clapped her hooves together. “That a girl.” She wrapped a hoof around Starlight. “You’re going to have a fun time.”
 
Starlight rolled her eyes. “I’m sure. Wait, aren’t you going to come with me.”
 
Twilight nervously looked around. “I’d rather not. He’s your friend, but I’ll keep a close eye on your da—play date if you like.”
 
Starlight narrowed her eyes, cheeks blushing. “Shut up.”
 
Twilight looked shocked, but it was short lived as she started to grin. “Um, I didn’t mean… Oh!”
 
Starlight held up a hoof. “Not another word!”
 
Twilight crossed her heart. “Pinkie promise.”
 
**** 
 
An hour later, Starlight sat by herself outside the throne room, wondering where Sunburst was. She didn’t want to do this, but she still wanted him to show up. Though, where was he? Did he realize that she wasn’t worth it after all? He didn’t have any problem with leaving her before, what made this—
 
“Hey there.”
 
Starlight jumped to attention as she heard Sunburst approaching, she swallowed before she spoke “Um… Hi.”
 
He smiled at her, and for a moment, Starlight felt warm inside.
 
“So,” he said offering up a hoof, “you up to get something for dinner? I was recommended a great place just a few blocks from the castle.”
 
Starlight deadpanned. “You don’t say.” She had hoped it would have been someplace far from the castle so she could teleport out if she ended up needing to. “Well it…” She gave him a smile, “It sounds fine, your city and all.”
 
“Right,” he said, scratching his neck, “let’s get going.”
 
***** 
 
They made their way to a fancy little restaurant called Maison Canterlot, which was no more than 200 steps from the castle grounds. Once inside, taking their seats after Sunburst pulled out Starlight’s chair for her to sit down, they ordered their meal and, then began to talk.
 
“So,” he asked, “what have you been up to all these years?”
 
Starlight clicked her tongue. “Oh… Um, What about… You Mr… Magic student.” She gulped. “I mean… You’re the one who went to,” she sipped on her water, “Canterlot.”
 
Sunburst hesitated for a moment, before he said, “Oh, well, I spent my first years just gawking at the city. Seriously, remind me some other time just to show you around, it’s everything we were told as children.”
 
“I bet,” Starlight said, looking down, wrinkling the table cloth.
 
“Yeah. Though it took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to be.” He chuckled. “You know me, never able to make up my mind.”
 
Starlight smiled. “Yeah, it was always annoying when our parents would ask what we wanted for dinner, I’d say I didn’t care, whatever you wanted—”
 
“And I’d say two things I wanted but could never decide between.”
 
Starlight looked at him, his warm blue eyes and smiled. She smiled more than she even had in the past few days.
 
“Let me tell ya, it would drive my teachers and friends nuts. Though, when I met Celestia, Celestia, Star!” Sunburst clapped his hooves together. “She thought it was cute.”
 
All her feelings of joy diminished as she went back to her drink. “New friends, huh?”
 
“Well, yeah. You should met them. They’ve always been there for me since I started out. One of them is even a daughter of nobility who’s really been helpful—”
 
Slamming her hoof on the table, Starlight stood up, breathing heavy, and with tears in her eyes. “I’m… I’m sorry, I can’t.” She dashed off, nearly knocking over the waiter who had been carrying their meal.
 
Starlight raced out into the night, wanting nothing more than to put as much distance between her and her former best friend.
 
“Starlight!” Sunburst cried, racing to keep up. “Wait! Did I say something wrong?”
 
Not evening looking back, she said, “No just… Just leave me alone, Sunburst!”
 
She was brought to a halt as his magic forced her to look right at him. “What is wrong? I thought we were the best of friends—’
 
“WERE!” Starlight screamed, crying harder than she had all week.
 
Sunburst stared at her, mouth agasp.
 
Breathe heavy, Starlight continued. “You want to know what I’ve been up to all this time? While you got to go live in Canterlot, being praised by ponies while forgetting about me, I’ve been unable to make any more friends because I was afraid they would leave me like you did!” She closed her eyes to let her tears flowed down for a moment before she continued. “I did, horrible, horrible things because I was angry, dark things. I—”
 
Sunbrust put a hoof to her mouth.
 
“I…” he blinked. “I didn’t know. I mean, why didn’t you never write to me—”                
 
She pushed his hoof away. “Why didn’t you ever write to me? You never even talked to me after you got that stupid cutie mark. I tried to talk to you, but you never noticed me.”
 
Sunburst lowered her head.
 
“So if you just asked me out because you felt bad, then just forget it.”
 
Starlight began to walk away, before Sunburst said, “I didn't.”
 
Eyes wide, she slowly looked back towards him.
 
“I…” he sighed. “I wanted to share my moment of glory with you after I got it. Though, when you never showed up to my cutsinera, I felt devastated. I wanted to ask you if you were alright, but I couldn’t find you anywhere. Then when I left for Canterlot…” He began to cry. “I should have tried harder to find you. I guess I thought you’d come to see me off. I tried writing once or twice, but when I never got a reply, I thought you moved on.”
 
“I… I never, I never got…” she sighed. “No, I got them, I remember now. I just… I was just mad at you for leaving me.” She sniffled. “We were the best of friends, and you just left me to rot and forgot about me!”
 
Sunburst placed a hoof on Starlight’s. “I never did. To be honest, once the attention died down, I didn’t even want to come to Canterlot. I wanted to stay in town.”
 
Starlight huffed. “Then why didn’t you come back?”
 
He looked away. “I thought my only friend and childhood crush didn’t want me anymore, so I didn’t think I had a reason to stay.”
 
Starlight eyebrows peaked. “Crush? You never mentioned anything about a filly you… Liked.” Her pupils shrank. “Wait… me?”
 
“Well, yeah, Starlight.”
 
Starlight tried to pull her hoof away. “What, you didn’t find someone else in the city?”
 
He laughed. “Oh, Minuete? She’s nice, but to be honest, I only loved you. Hopping you’d one day want to talk to me.” He ran a hoof through her hair. “I have to say, I love the new hair. Not to say the pigtails weren’t cute.”
 
Face burning red, Starlight said, “Oh why don’t you shut up and just kiss me—” she didn’t mean it seriously, but she found his lips locked to hers.
 
At first, she wanted to push him away. He didn’t deserve this, not after all those years… She found her mind unable to complain, as she thought back to the foalhood crush she had on him before he left. She always thought that they would have a golden wedding one day.
 
Eventually, they pulled away. “Sorr… Sorry, too soon?”
 
Starlight held his face in her hoofs. “I…” shesmiled, “I guess I’m just, getting thing together. Though, if you really want me, I’d be happy to.” She smiled. “I had a foalhood crush on you two. I guess I—”
 
They spoke no more that evening, taking their dinner home to eat in Sunburst’s dorm room.
 
*****
 
Back in the castle of Canterlot, Celestia beamed proudly as she watched Starlight and Sunburst sharing their first kiss.
 
Next to her, Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I still can’t believe this worked so well.”
 
Celestia chuckled. “Oh when I heard you found Starlight, it was all I could think about. Poor Sunburst, he was never happy when he was here. Always drawing pictures of Starlight in his books, talking to me, wondering what he did wrong.” She sighed dreamily. “So happy to see two ponies meant to be together.” She eyed to Twilight. “You know, that one guard—”
 
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Did I mention how honored I was to help with the new security spells! Oh, I think there were some bugs in it, I got to go fix them, bye!” and with that she ran off.
 
Celestia shook her head. “One day my faithful student.”