• Published 16th May 2018
  • 2,514 Views, 649 Comments

Sunburst to the Rescue - David Silver



Twilight's met her match, a tome so dense and arcane that even her considerable intellect couldn't penetrate it. Just before she gave up in a tizzy, Starlight suggested a pony that could help; a good friend, Sunburst.

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43 - Bridging Gaps

The dragon lands were very geologically active. With volcanoes dotted around, belching gasses into the air where magma wasn't flowing free, Sunburst kept close to his draconic friends. "Pity I'm not so... heat resistant." He was a pony, covered in too-flammable fur. He veered well away from any strong source of heat they happened on.

Ember snorted a little smoke. "You'll never know the pleasure of a lava bath, pity. That's our target." She hiked a thumb at a crooked caldera. "Time to start using your eyes. The gem likes to hide in little rock pockets. Like..." She looked around with a little frown before she almost tripped over a little hard stoney rock. "This!" She grabbed it up and smashed it against the hard ground.

Inside was the yellow stone, already broken from her savage smash.

Spike shook his head "Alright, so... next one, we give to Sunburst so he can maybe open it more carefully. I'll take that one though!"

"Yeah, sure." She tossed both halves to Spike, forcing him to juggle them a moment before they were back under control. "Go easy on that. It has... interesting effects on dragons."

Spike hiked a brow at that, holding the rocks but not chomping into them just yet. "Yeah? Anything I should be... worried about?"

She lifted her shoulders, advancing onto the caldera proper. "If you like being loopy and silly, eat up. Pretty popular with some dragons, but know your limit."

Spike did not know his limit. He didn't even know what it was until shortly before. "Yeah..." He sank his teeth into it just close to the edge, breaking off a little bit to try. "Tastes funny." He chewed musingly.

Sunburst raised a hoof cautiously. "Maybe keep it to that little bit and see how it, uh, goes down?" His eyes turned to look across the caldera. "So... is this a volcano we're next to?"

"Usually yes, around here." She shrugged softly. "This is a spot where eruptions land. We should maybe finish and get out of here. Pretty sure at least a third of us would be really unhappy if the lava began to fall."

Sunburst cringed at the mental image of being in a sudden bath of molten rock. "Yes please!" He snatched for a little rocky ball. "Is this one of them?"

"Nah." Ember pointed to the one Spike was holding. "More grey, less black."

"Right..." If only Maud were there, he mused. Surely she would have spotted it instantly. He snatched another rock up, but it was more brown. He tossed it aside and scrambled up a small incline. "Oh..." Just past it it seemed like an entire field of the little rock balls. "I think I found them."

Ember took flight, landing just next to him. "Ah, yeah, here we are." She reached down and picked up one about the size of Sunburst's head. "This enough?"

Sunburst's horn glowed as he took hold of it. "Perfect. We can cut it down to what we need, I'm sure. For now, let's keep it safely inside the rock." It was not as light as one might have hoped, but he was fairly sure he could handle it. He tucked it into a saddlebag rather than float the considerable object along. "Now we just need to get you something in return."

Ember hiked a thumb towards Equestria to the west. "Spike knows what's around there. It better be tasty, and rare."

Spike blinked. "Oh hey, how common are fire rubies around here?"

Ember arched a brow. "Why, you got one?"

"I could maybe get one...?"

"I'd take one of those..." Ember cracked a little smile. "If you can get one."

Spike nodded firmly. The action sent him off balance and he collapsed against Sunburst with a worried gasp. "Woah, uh... my balance just kinda went off."

Sunburst gently hefted Spike up to ride him. "I think you're feeling that gemstone."

"Oh yeah..." Spike rubbed behind his head. "I do feel... relaxed."

"Yep, that's what it does. Makes you relaxed and dumb. Some dragons can't get enough; don't be one of those. They're no fun to be around." Ember snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah, and no flying. Until you feel 100%, stay out of the air, unless you like crashing head first into things. You've been warned."

Sunburst smiled gently, glancing back at his passenger. "You just relax and let me carry you. You may want to get rid of the rest of that stuff though."

"Yeah..." Spike tossed a half of a sphere away. "I don't need to be like this. Hey, Ember, thanks. You're... awesome."

Ember smirked at that, starting to make the trip back to where they had started. "I'd be more flattered if you didn't sound like a dragon that barely knows their tail from their horns. Went right through you, I see." She didn't sound overly surprised at that. "Take care of him," she fired in Sunburst's direction.

"Yes'm!"


"They must think me an uncouth bore..."

Twilight was standing near the wilted Platinum. She shook her head at the defeated royalty. "They're concerned, not making fun of you, I assure."

"This was a festival, in my honor." She put a hoof to her chest. "And how did I spend it? Asking awkward questions and not engendering any contacts; save the ones I already had. I completely failed on every level..."

Twilight rolled a hoof. "Well, maybe a little--"

Platinum groaned, planting her face in a cushion.

"--but, you are not the first historical pony they've ever met. You're going through a rough period, and that's understandable. You can make this better."

"I attacked her!" Platinum thumped a pillow. "Whatever my opinions of her breeding, I assaulted her. That's... just not forgivable. I panicked and I wanted to escape and I... attacked her."

Twilight settled down next to Platinum. "And you know how we can fix that?"

Platinum lifted an ear. "Is it time to be jailed and/or banished? You are my princess, I am ready to accept what discipline you have ready to give me."

Twilight smiled a little. "I've been in that position... almost exactly. I was ready for my princess to give me what I deserved... and she brushed it all away. I was... happy, but I think that wasn't exactly what was needed." She stood up. "You do need discipline."

"I am ready," squeaked Platinum, her ears folded back. "To what dark corner are you sending me?"

"You are Pinkie's for exactly one week, to be extended if needed."

Platinum blinked softly at that. "Pardon, dear... what do you... mean?"

"You will be her assistant. You will help with her chores and remain at her side. You will learn from her and further your study of the modern pony by taking direct part." She held up a hoof. "For the duration, you are not Princess Platinum. You're just Platinum, a unicorn of no special note, here because Pinkie, in her kindness, offered you a room."

Platinum sat up slowly. "What a terrible punishment," she barely whispered out. "Devious and cruel..." She reached up and gently took off her crown. "I will do my best, and that will suffice." She set the crown, herself, on the ground before herself. "I... hope I am still welcome here? Pinkie cannot sustain me."

"Of course." Twilight reached for Platinum, gently drawing the royal close. "I'm not banishing you, Platinum. In fact, I hope you learn a few things and come back better than before. You should still seek me out when you feel drained, but you can get help from other unicorns if you make friends." She lifted her shoulders. "We're working on the more long term solution. Hopefully Sunburst will be back soon."

"I can feel him, distantly. We are still bound, until you tell me not to be. He is alive, which is good. I can say little more than that. He is dreadfully far away... Are you alright with your lover being so far removed?"

Twilight pointed at the quieter Platinum. "He's only off on that trip for your sake. An arcane battery that will perform as well as we need it to is not easy to come by. But, I have faith in him."

"Faith." Her ears fell a moment before perking up. "Yes, well... I should begin my punishment. Is she at her bakery?"

"She usually is." Twilight smiled gently. "She doesn't hold grudges, just be kind to her and she will return the favor gladly. You may even have some fun if you allow yourself to."

"I offer no assurances of the likelihood of that..." She started for the door with a soft sigh, ready to assume the role of a common pony.


Pinkie bounced in place. "This is fantastic! We're gonna have so much fun!" She threw a leg over Platinum, drawing her tight. "Do you know how to cook?"

"I'm afraid not." She cocked a brow. "I... had servants to tend to those things."

"No time like the present to learn. Follow me!" She began pronking towards the kitchen. "We'll start with simple stuff. We'll use alchemy to turn liquid into a solid."

Platinum blinked at that. "I thought you said we were cooking?" She followed after Pinkie, starting to appear curious.

"Cooking is alchemy. Tasty alchemy!" Pinkie clopped her forehooves excitedly before she grabbed a pot and set it under the water faucet. "First we add water, a vital ingredient for many alchemies. Water has many amazing properties that makes it great for this."

"Such as?"

"Well, for one, it doesn't burn." She tapped her hooves. "For two, things dissolve in it." She tapped her hooves again. "For three, heat spreads in it instead of collecting in one spot. You put a fire under a pony and you don't end up with a warm pony, do you?"

Platinum stuck out her tongue at the mental image. "You get a burnt bottom, I should imagine."

"Exactly, but if that pony was water, you'd get a warm pony instead." She took the pot, half-filled with water, and placed it on the stovetop. "Begin the heating!" She turned the knob and got a fire going cheerfully under the pot.

"Pardon... teacher... but what exact alchemy are we performing?" She cocked a brow, curious and doubtful at once.

"Easy peasy." Pinkie grabbed an egg and set it on the counter. "That is an egg. It's filled with goop."

"I know what an egg is filled with." Platinum reached for the egg with her magic, making it spin gently a moment as she inspected it. "What are you proposing?"

"Without touching the goop, we'll turn it from a liquid to a solid, pfft, just like that." She clip-clopped her forehooves excitedly. "Like magic!"

"Oh! We're making hard boiled eggs... I've had those before." Platinum relaxed a little, but then she tilted her head. "Wait, but this has a hard shell. and feels... wrong." The hard boiled eggs she had experienced were usually very warm, and the eggs were fragile and... "The inside should not be goop."

"And they won't stay that way." Pinkie snatched the egg with her strangely prehensile mane and plunked it in the boiling water. "With the hot water all around it, it begins to transform."

Platinum leaned over the top of the stove, looking down into the bubbling water and the egg that wobbled and danced, trying to avoid those bubbles. "Do we have to do something? Some sort of arcane spell to complete the ritual?"

"I love you," burst Pinkie in a fit of giggles. "Nope! We just have to wait... This is one of the simpler alchemies, but stick with me." She thumped herself with a hoof. "I'll show you how to do all kinds of... delicious... magic."

Platinum dared a little smile. "Thank you... So... you forgive me?"

"You didn't apologize."

Platinum blinked at that. "This is true. You would accept me, and begin teaching me, despite that?"

"You need a friend. Lucky I like being a friend." She smiled brightly at Platinum.

"Yes... well... I apologize. It was unforgivable to attack a pony with magic. You did nothing to deserve that."

"Forgiven," she sang joyfully. "Now...." she snatched the egg free of the water with a deft splash of a hoof, somehow not burning herself. "Let's see what our alchemy has produced!"

Author's Note:

Gem get!

Twilight levies a cruel punishment on Platinum. Too harsh?

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