Sunburst to the Rescue

by David Silver

54 - Old Friends Are Gold

Twilight rapped her hoof against the door. "Minuette is a little--"

"Twilight!" cried the mare, her door swinging open quickly to reveal her brilliant smile. "And a... no, wait, I remember this one..." She stroked her chin as she looked over Sunburst intently. "You are that stallion that Twilight mentioned... From that crystal place, right?"

"Good memory." Seeing as he had never actually spoken to Minuette, but... "I think I've seen you visiting before?"

"She gets everywhere," easily agreed Twilight with a nod. "Minuette, this is Sunburst, my boyfriend."

"Hush your mouth! Oh. My. Celestia." A camera floated out of the house and began blinding them with shots of the two of them. "Time to gather the girls!" With a shrill squeal, she fled back into her house in a stampede of hooves.

Sunburst looked across to Twilight, blinking away the afterimage of the flash. "So, uh... She seemed happy for you."

"She's an excitable pony, usually in a good way." Twilight rubbed over her eyes with a fetlock. "And she tends to know where everyone else is, so I figured we'd start here."

The squeal returned with a doppler effect, raised as it approached until it just stopped, Minuette standing in front of them. "Let's go!" She threw an arm over each of them. "Oh wow. I want to hear every little thing, but save it until we have everyone here. Why repeat yourself, you know?"

She was leading the way a moment later, trotting with the same smile, apparently full of joy. It did not take her long to take them to each of the 'old squad'; Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and lastly, Moon Dancer.

The last was not at home. She was at the nearest library. Minuette rolled her eyes when the group bounced off her house. "She's gotten better, really, but she's still pretty into her books. That's just her, you know? We understand. We can pry her away from her studies once in a while and she really has fun."

Twinkleshine trotted up next to Sunburst as they approached the library. "You look like the kind of stallion that'd enjoy this place."

"I've been here before..." It wasn't the school's primary library, but he'd been there. "She was a student of Celestia's school too, right?"

"Graduated with good grades," answered Lemon Hearts. "Pity she likes reading and theory over, you know, actually using what she's learned."

Twilight put a hoof forward as she walked. "Don't be like that. She enjoys what she does and there's nothing wrong with theoretical research. It takes all kinds to advance magic. Oh, I should mention that we were all students. It's how we met."

Minuette bobbed her head eagerly. "We're all magic ponies, it's what we do. I mean, mine's no big deal, but it was good enough I guess."

Twinkleshine rolled her eyes. "You control time, Minny. How you keep seeing that as nothing is beyond me."

"You have tons of magic of your own, missy." Minuette rolled her eyes but was still all smiles. "Here we are." She waved inside the library. "Begin extraction." The three friends nodded in familiarity, advancing with purpose.

That left Twilight next to Sunburst. "They seem to know what they're doing..."

Sunburst nodded softly. "Huh, guess they've had to pull her away from her books more than once. Should we help?"

Moon Dancer appeared a moment later, huffing for breath, her eyes on Sunburst. "You!" She was pointing at him with a shaking hoof. "Crystaller... Flurry Heart... Senior!"

"Uh..." Sunburst tilted his head at the heaving Moon Dancer. "I was that, yes. Hello."

"Yes, hello." Moon Dancer approached him directly, just shy of touching noses. "Your rapid recollection of the appropriate sorcery is matched only by your reported lack of skill. I hoped to meet you someday. We have much to discuss."

The other girls came trailing out after Moon Dancer. Minuette was laughing at the whole thing. "We mentioned Sunburst was here and she took off running like she forgot her oven was left on. You shoulda seen it!"

Sunburst was blushing terrible, shying away from Moon Dancer. "Oh, um... nice to... meet--"

"You are Moon Dancer, I am Sunburst." Her shaggy brows went down. "Reverse that. Now we have met, again. I saw you in school. You were my senior. I wanted to talk to you, but I never thought of a good time to approach you. Besides, you were my senior, so..."

Twilight gestured at her flustered boyfriend. "As you seem to know, this is Sunburst, my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" One brow went up as she looked at Twilight with the same eye, then it went down and the other perked as she looked over Sunburst. "Boyfriend... I..."

Minuette suddenly threw an arm over Moon Dancer. "Remember what we told you."

"Are you certain?"

"Absolutely!"

Moon Dancer took a slow breath. "Alright, speak my feelings, even when I'm not sure..." She pointed at Twilight. "I used to love you." She lowered the hoof and pointed the other at Sunburst. "I used to love you. This is awkward, very awkward."

Sunburst crashed back on his haunches, blinking rapidly. "Uh, we... uh... never met?"

Twilight flopped down in much the same reaction, left in the same daze. "Oh... this is... quite an admission..."

"You drove me to desperation!" she suddenly cried. "I mean... you don't cry like that over a... just friend... You were my best friend, and... I was young and stupid and... I thought we'd be together forever... get old, together, read, together..." She tapped her chin softly before raising the hoof to adjust her broken glasses. "And you, even worse. I was just a filly, and stupid, so stupid. I... had a good imagination, too good."

Sunburst was just darkening right alongside Twilight, both imagining what Moon Dancer's fillyhood imaginations had envisioned for the both of them without their knowledge.

Lemonhearts shook her head slowly. "Awkward..."

Minuette strode past the knot of tense emotions. "C'mon! It's time to celebrate and catch up!"

Twinkleshine nudged against Minuette from the side. "Minny, let them be. They need to work this out. We can party about them later."

"But..."

Lemonhearts came in from the other side. "They have feelings to work out." With the two mares pressed against Minuette, they led the cheerful mare away despite her protests, leaving the three nerds alone to sort their emotional books.

Moon Dancer was the first to move, starting a light walk. "This way. We should... go somewhere more private."

The other two trailed after her, glancing at one another as they went. Words were scarce, but they went, retreating to Moon Dancer's dilapidated home. She waved them in, then closed the door behind them with a heavy sigh. "This is a complete mess. I'd rather just... forget I said anything, but the others wouldn't forgive me if I did that. It's your fault, by the way. You made me remember I like being around other ponies, sometimes."

Twilight pointed at herself with a wry half-smile. "Princess of friendship, it's in the job description. Seriously though... Moon Dancer, I had no idea... Are you... alright?"

"No." She trotted up towards them. "I am burning bright with extremely uncomfortable amounts of jealousy right now, for both of you, and it loops around, right around, to self-loathing, since the pony I can most easily blame is myself. I didn't even dare approaching you." She turned to Sunburst. "And you, I had you, and I let you go, then I cried myself to sleep instead of chasing you." She turned to Twilight. "I could have... I could have run after you, but I didn't, and I can't take that back. I was too busy being angry and hurt. Hay..."

"Hay... The other girls got to you before me, and they... They never had these feelings." She sagged in place. "I am a failure at emotions, Celestia take it all. No wonder I'll die alone."

Sunburst pulled at his collar. "Well, uh... It's... nice to meet you?"

"Moon Dancer..." Twilight reached out a hoof and Moon flinched away, but only so far. She touched the hurting mare on the shoulder. "I didn't come here to hurt you, ugh, again."

"You're good at that." Moon smiled a little awkwardly. "Have you begun reproduction?"

Both blinked emptily. Sunburst recovered first with a laugh. "Everypony keeps asking that! We... aren't aiming for a foal right now."

"Oh..." Moon tapped her chin softly. "Have you discovered any new magical practices?"

"Actually--" Twilight sat up with a prideful smile. "--we have uncovered a medical procedure that could save countless future unicorn foals from a life of magical restriction."

Moon brought her hooves together in a single little clap. "Congratulations. I wish I could have been there... Share the details? Does it involve cranial vessel reformation?"

Sunburst shook his head quickly. "Thankfully nothing related to bloodflow. It's a less invasive but still delicate procedure on corrupted horn growths." He pointed up at his own horn. "The treatment is safest on younger unicorn foals, making it of questionable use to me specific--"

Moon suddenly grabbed his collar and yanked him forward and down. Her eye was dangerously close to his horn, her own glowing softly. He could feel her magic push into his horn without a moment's delay, prodding and feeling around. "Fascinating... So this is why your practice levels did not match your considerable research talents. I was always curious..."

Twilight separated the two with a glowing horn and spreading hooves, floating them apart a few feet. "Ask before you start throwing magic at a pony, Moon."

"Ah, yes, of course." She adjusted her glasses, glancing at Twilight. "Your horn grew in quite well, and has only improved with your princess status. Very long, very straight."

Sunburst laughed awkwardly. "Your horn is, uh, nice too."

"My horn is acceptably average," countered Moon. "It serves me well enough." She took a step towards Twilight. "So... it's over then?"

"What is?" Twilight tilted her head at her friend, eyes wandering over her.

"My fantasies." She put a hoof to her woolen covering. "They're officially weird now. I have to stop thinking about you, and him, that way. You two are a thing, so I would... be a bad pony to think about that."

Sunburst cleared his throat suddenly. "I mean... uh, yeah, kinda..."

"We could herd," suddenly blurted Moon Dancer. "I'll be the omega female. Twilight can be the alpha. I'd be alright with that. I'll study how to do it, promise. I know it's... barely done these days at all and ponies will talk, but who cares about them? We can study, together, and be together, just us and our books."

Twilight took half a step back away from her unraveling friend. Moon's eyes were trembling along with the rest of her. She was desperate, and Twilight could see that easily enough. But what could she say to deflate that awkward moment without further bashing Moon's delicate mental state. "Well, you see..."

Sunburst suddenly put a hoof on Moon's shoulder, looking her in the eye. "I know how you feel."

"How?! I very much doubt that." She frowned at the male she both hated and desperately wanted all at once, her emotions knotting tighter and tighter. "Please tell me how..."

"I regret my past quite a bit at times..." Sunburst hung his head a little, but kept his eyes on Moon Dancer. "I wondered how things might have gone, if I hadn't given up, run away from school. I wonder what life would have been if I had been born with a working horn... I... wondered so many things." He pointed his other hoof at Twilight. "But she told me something important."

Her eyes darted to Twilight and back to him. "What was that?"

"The life you have is worth holding on to. You can always make it better, but we can't walk backwards on life."

Moon Dancer nodded with painful stiffness. "Of course... I... Consider it? That would make life better, I think... Or not... Just tell me, or walk away, I guess... You could do that..."

Author's Note:

Moon Dancer dumps a big knot of regret all over the new couple. Thanks Moon Dancer! I feel bad for her.

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Heloooo Williams Syndrome.

[Fluxxdog]

Well THAT went sideways real fast! img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/enhanced/webdr01/2013/3/14/10/anigif_enhanced-buzz-22071-1363272622-8.gif

[Mythic Night]

"Actually--" Twilight sat up with a prideful smile. "--we have uncovered a medical procedure that could save countless future unicorn colts from a life of magical restriction."

You mean foals, not colts.

Also, ooooooh! Twilight and Sunburst might try for a herd? Makes me wonder if Starlight might try getting in on that too!

[David Silver]

9544798
Fixed!

[David Silver]

9544738
I'm not sure you're using the right syndrome?

[zimmerwald1915]

9545044
Pretty sure we're meant to take Moondancer's proposal as pathetic, not as a prediction of what will actually happen.

[Daremo]

counted Moon - countered Moon

---

They can still be close friends/study buddies without being a herd... but Moondancer is grasping at straws, which is understandable. She's in the bargaining phase.

Now if they can avoid anger and move on to acceptance they might be able to help her as good friends.

[David Silver]

9546016
Fixity. Poor Moon. She needs more hugs.

[Daremo]

9546047
Or a Prince lined in silver... or just Prince Silver Lining?

[David Silver]

9546055
Not sure we can trust that jerk.

[Dan]

"Notice me, senpai!"

It seems the author and I are on the same wavelength.

I didn't even dare approaching you. I had you, and I let you go, then I cried myself to sleep instead of chasing you.

That certainly hits close to home for me.

[Crystal Treasure]

Oh, poor Moondancer. I hope they can help her.

[howard035]

I love your Moondancer, as always. Poor gal.

[ibanix]

Holy moly, Moon Dancer is a hot mess.