Sunburst to the Rescue

by David Silver

29 - One Day Remains

Sunburst awakened to find Star Catcher right there. She was asleep, on her side of the bed, drooling a little. She seemed far less worrisome in her current state. He smiled at her sleeping form and slid carefully to his hooves. Since she was asleep, he decided that would be a fine time to get his turn in the tub over with.

With a glowing horn, he set his glasses and robe aside carefully, then descended into the water. It was just as nice as he remembered it. Thinking of Twilight, he reached for the shampoo and began working it into his unkempt mane, trying to care for it like he imagined she would have.

He wondered if any sign of it would remain when they got back together. Would she be surprised, in a good way? He had a girlfriend, a thought that brought a nervous smile to his face. Maybe looking a little nicer wasn't... entirely a waste of time? If it made her happier, that would, in turn, make him happier, would it not?

He took the time to care for his mane, trying to ease out those frazzled edges. It wasn't perfect, but his mane wasn't used to it.

"Huh." At some point, Star had woken up, and was watching him. To his surprise, after the fact that he realized he was being watched, she hadn't tried to join him. She was watching quietly from the bed, yawning into a hoof. "I didn't think you'd spend much time with your mane."

He blushed a bright red. "I don't, normally... uh..."

She burst into soft giggles. "Are you doing it for Twilight? That's so sweet! You are too good!" She hopped down from the bed, stretching out. "And you've ruined everything."

He blinked at that softly. "Pardon?"

She shook her head. "It's alright. As ways of being foiled go... I'm pretty happy. Thank you, again."

"P... pardon?" He pulled himself free of the water, wetly dripping onto the ground in a great rush. He stepped on a button and hot air began blowing over him, forcing the water to flee faster. "You can't just say something like that without explanation. What other secrets are you hiding?"

She put a hoof to her chest. "I am Star Catcher."

"I knew that part."

She snorted softly. "I'm working towards it. I... catch great ponies doing not nice things... prove they don't live up to the pedestal we put them on." She thrust a hoof at Sunburst. "But you never did a not nice thing. You were nice and sweet the whole time, even to someone who just admitted they lied to you. You're loyal and gracious. When they said you might not get the treasure, you didn't try to pull rank and yell and scream."

Sunburst adjusted his glasses, getting them back in place. "I, um... you're welcome?"

She waved it away. "You gave away the pins rather than let any ponies get hurt. She ran off to save Equestria rather than enjoy her weekend with her wildly loving boyfriend. You two are just so..." She sank to her belly on the bed. "Thank you."

He pulled his robe over his 99% dry form and approached her. "So, um, now that you know this... What do you plan to do?"

"Hang out with you?" She smiled nervously. "If you'll let me... I won't get any dirt, but that's alright. Being with someone popular who actually deserves to be popular, that's special..." Her smile turned into a grin. "Besides, we have a chest to win for your busy girlfriend."

---

Twilight's head made a nice thump as she let it smack down onto the magic map she had come from.

"Now you know how it feels," taunted Rainbow Dash. "Seriously though, you better go back."

With a cry of frustration, she vanished.

Rarity shook her head. "We really need to get with the times. A phone or two in Ponyville would save so much trouble, really."

Pinkie lifted her shoulders. "Unless that's part of the plan?" The other girls and Spike looked at her oddly. "What? What if the map takes into account how long it takes her to get here, so she had to leave for it to work right?" She shrugged a little. "I've heard stranger things."

Spike joined in her shrug. "I mean, could be? Well, she's off." He waved at the floating cutie mark. "Back to Baltimare."

---

Sunburst sat down with others. The room was packed with ponies, their eyes on the stage ahead of them. It would soon be time for closing ceremonies. With it, they'd find out who got all the pins and would be taking home the prize chest.

"Are you ready for adventure!" asked one of the mascot cosplayers, waving a hoof over the crowd.

"Well too bad," retorted the female mascot, sticking out her tongue. "It's over."

"Not so fast!" He held up his hooves at her. "We have one bit to go before it's done."

She clopped a hoof against her head. "Oh, right! The chest! How silly of me."

They both waved to the back as the chest descended from the sky in a spotlight all of its own, coming to a rest on a dark pedestal. "Here it is," they both cried.

The male waved over the crowd. "But only one of you can go home with it."

"Who will it be?!" exclaimed the female, bouncing in place. "Will the ribbon holders please advance."

Sunburst hopped up to his feet and nodded at his companion. She grinned and followed after him, advancing onto the stage. "Thanks again," she whispered as they went.

There were six groups in total. They were not the only to show up there with more than one pony with one ribbon, acting as a team. The male mascot reared up, hooves cycling in the air. "Looks like we have some competition! Are they trying to take our jobs?"

"Don't be silly," scoffed the mare of the two. "They're inspired by us. Alright. These lucky and clever ponies found all the pins. They're going home with a prize, but will they go home with the prize? Let's find out!"

The crowd clopped and stomped in applause for those who had reached the final step. The male gently waved them down. "Alright alright, let's get this started. The first element of a good hunter is..."

"Luck!" The mare twisted her head, sending a six-sided die tumbling across the floor.

It landed on a 3, and the stallion pointed at one of the groups towards the middle. "And you're out, but you'll get a prize. Go on into the back." He pointed the way. "You're a great hunter for getting this far.

The pony pointed out sagged in defeat. Done in by a roll of a die. Sunburst swallowed nervously, standing just beside that eliminated pony. "I hope that's the only time it's just luck."

"Just down to five," cried the stallion excitedly. "Next up, knowledge." He went to to the start of the line, asking a challenging historical question. The mare followed him but asked the next group, the two alternating down the line.

"This pony was so pedantic, he literally wrote two books about it and managed that while teaching historically clever ponies how to be clever."

Sunburst jumped, realizing the question was directed at him and Star. "O-oh, well, pedant, hmm..."

"Clover the Clever?" asked Star, tilting her head. "Is that the clever one?"

"Exactly right." The mare clopped her hooves happily. "But we need to know the other pony."

Sunburst leaned forward. "Oh, then I know! Star Swirl the Bearded! Um, nice guy, if you can--"

The mare raised a brow at Sunburst. "You know him? Um, correct! You pass to the next round!"

As the mare wandered off, Star leaned in. "Seriously, you know him? I'd love to meet him! How do you meet ancient ponies?"

By the time the questioning round was over, the teams had been winnowed down to three.

"Wait!" One of the double-doors leading outside burst inwards, admitting one frazzled and heaving Twilight Sparkle. Her wings were not properly folded, shaking as they seemed to try to tuck in place, but simply failed to do so, remaining 80% curled. "Wait..."

The two mascots looked over at Twilight with equal surprise, with the stallion recovering faster. "Look here, one of the members of our teams is rushing to support their friends."

"Isn't that nice?!" The mare gestured at Twilight, prompting another round of stomping from the crowd.

Twilight smiled nervously as she hurried up the aisle and hopped up beside Sunburst and Star.

Sunburst tilted his head in confusion. "You already fixed the map problem?"

"It's here," she hissed. "I rushed back. Hey, nice mane." She reached up and touched his unusually straight mane, which was about when she noticed her own was a mess of frizzles. "We've swapped places."

"The next rite you've all done already," noted the mare mascot. All three teams looked confused. "The escape room! You've all done it. Slowest team is out." She pointed for the rightmost team, sinking their ears and tails. "Sorry."

That left only two teams remaining. One of them, Sunburst recognized. It was the pegasus he had worked with to get a few pins. The pegasus waved at him and he returned the wave.

"All in good spirit, right?" asked the pegasus with a smile. "Whoever wins, we'll let the other have a peek."

Twilight returned the wave, thinking she was involved. "They seem nice."

The mascots met their hooves with a loud clop. "Our last two teams," they said in eery sync. "Have good spirit."

The stallion nodded. "Always nice to see two treasure hunters remembering the first rule." He pointed at Sunburst. "Willing to sacrifice the chance to get a pin for the safety of others."

The mare pointed at the pegasus. "Ready to give a competitor a lift when they were in trouble and give a clue to put a smile on a pony's face."

The crowd clopped in approval of the good deeds of the two ponies. Twilight tilted her head. "Who was in trouble?"

Sunburst blushed at that. "I would have made it, slowly... Um, thanks, again."

"No problem." The pegasus saluted before turning to the mascots. "What's the last trial?"

"A fine question." The stallion bounced back and gestured as a table rose up from below. "What we have here are some treasures."

"And some fakes," noted the mare. "Your job is to pick three things."

"Two real, one fake." The stallion nodded severely.

"And knowing which is which is important!" The mare bounced in place. "Come forward and start examining."

The room grew quiet as both teams advanced on the table and began looking over the trinkets and googaws there. Twilight gestured at a teacup that lifted with her magic. "Doesn't this look familiar?"

Sunburst tilted his head before blinking. "It's the one I repaired!"

Star shrugged. "So it's real, right?"

Twilight waggled a hoof. "Look closer." She leaned in and sniffed a little. "They bought a cheap one for their demonstration. Not a crime. Sensible, really."

Sunburst took it in his own magic and set it aside. "Well, we have our fake then. We just need two real ones."

"Got one," claimed the other team, a unicorn setting aside a golden ring.

Star gasped loudly, reaching out and putting her hooves on either side of a horseshoe. "This one! This one this one!" She pulled it close. "I met the guy that wore this one, he was like you guys. As big and great as they made him out to be."

It was quite a large horseshoe, too large for the average pony. Twilight lifted her shoulders. "I don't see any obvious problems. Sun?"

Sunburst squinted at it carefully before it clicked. "Is that one of Rockhoof's? That would qualify as historically important... provided it belonged to him in the past, and isn't one he was recently wearing."

Author's Note:

The pillars sure do make antiquing trickier, don't they? This isn't the time for typos! Twilight gets there just in time to take part in the final contest, yay! This chapter done on behest of a cheering pony on the patreon!

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Comments

[Emtu]

We really get with the times.

Methinks this sentence needs to have a 'need to'.

[Crystal Treasure]

Ah, so that was her angle. I... suppose I can give her a pass, for doing her job. I don't think I'll ever like somepony like that, though. Also, poor Twilight! I totally called that, though xD

Sunburst adjusts his glasses

adjusted

We really get with the times.

need to get with

[David Silver]

9238936

9239156
Typos taken out back.

[TheBBofC]

I saw Twilight going back to Baltimare coming a mile away.

[David Silver]

9239819
You are in good company. Fortunately, Twilight is pretty horrible at guessing the plot of her life.

[lordelliott]

So she's like TMZ?

[FanOfMostEverything]

Oh, she's a scandalmonger. That's much less sinister than what I was thinking.

He waved at the floating cutie mark. "Back to Baltimare."

Heh. Called it.
And I'm pretty sure Pinkie has it right. Trees of Harmony have excellent senses of timing.

And yeah, legends returning to the present leads to all kinds of wrinkles in antiquing and other historical hobbies. At least Equestria's been through this before with Luna.