Seeing the Light

by SilverStar7

A Muddled Morning

Sunburst awoke the next morning in a small guest room down the hall. He could tell that the sun was already up outside from how bright the walls of this room were, but he couldn't make out any details without his glasses. After stretching, he rolled out of bed and onto the floor. Igniting his horn, he pulled his glasses to his face and then pushed them up the bridge of his muzzle with a hoof.

In the morning's light, the meagerness of the room became more apparent. It wasn't as nice as the one Princess Cadence and Shining Armor had given him to use when staying over looking after Flurry Heart, but it was perfectly serviceable. Sunburst went over to the small dresser upon which he had tossed his cloak and grabbed it, only to realize that something was off. This wasn't his cloak. It was a suit coat.

The realization that he didn't have his cloak made Sunburst feel naked. Of course, he was literally naked save for his glasses, and for most of pony society that was the norm anyway, but Sunburst had grown so used to wearing that cloak. It was like a part of him.

With a sigh, he put on the outfit from yesterday before leaving the room.

---

Down in the dining hall, Sunburst found exactly who he was expecting to find. Cadence, Shining, Flurry, and Twilight were all sitting together at the head of the table, their dirty plates stacked and ready to be taken away. Starlight was there, too, although she was sitting half a dozen seats away, looking down at a barely eaten plate.

It was actually Flurry who noticed Sunburst first. The foal's face lit up and she flew toward him. She quickly landed on his back and wrapped her forelimbs around his neck in a warm hug. Sunburst smiled and reached a hoof behind him, patting her on the head.

"It's good to see you, too," he said.

"Sunburst, come join us," said Princess Cadence, gesturing him over. As he approached, she continued, "Did you find some place to sleep last night?"

Flurry hopped off his back and into her high chair, and sitting down next to Twilight, Sunburst said, "I did. I hope you don't mind me using one of your rooms without permission."

"Please, Sunburst. You can use any room in the Palace that you wish," said Cadence. "Given what you've done for Flurry Heart, we owe you a debt far beyond lending you a place to sleep."

To that, Sunburst shook his head. "Being Flurry's Crystaller has been a great honor, and I'm grateful that you appreciate what I've done for her, but you've given me plenty in return already."

"We aren't talking about that," said Shining. "We're talking about how you ended up here."

Cadence nodded. "You sacrificed yourself to prevent my daughter from being struck by that spell. If it weren't for you, my Flurry Heart might have been replaced with yours. Imagine how scared and confused she would've been! We should be thanking you."

Sunburst prepared to explain how he couldn't have done anything else. That anypony in his place would have done the same thing. That he didn't need any thanks. But when he saw that genuine looks of gratitude on the Princess and Prince's faces, he decided that this was not a moment for that sort of humility.

"You're welcome," he said, finally.

Twilight smiled at him and gently rubbed his shoulder.

After giving her a quick smile back, Sunburst looked down at his empty plate. "Do I need to go to the kitchen to give them my order?" Sunburst had expected a member of the Palace staff to come ask him what he wanted for breakfast.

"No need," said Twilight. "I ordered for you. Cinnamon Prench toast."

Having learned from experience, Sunburst didn't question how Twilight knew his favorite breakfast option, and instead gave a simple "thank you."

"We'll head out as soon as I've had something to eat." Sunburst looked toward the doors to the kitchen, hoping that his food wouldn't take too long.

"You know, getting there early won't make the train arrive here any faster," said Starlight from her seat down the table.

"And besides," said Twilight. "There's one other thing you have to do first."

Sunburst looked over at Twilight in confusion. She wore an impressively large grin on her face. "I think you might want to change," she said. Her horn lit up and, in an instant, a dark blue cloak with cyan stars on it appeared next to her.

At the sight of his cloak, Sunburst gaped. He couldn't figure out how that was possible. He'd assumed that, surely, his cloak was all the way back in Ponyville. Was the other Sunburst keeping his cloak here for some reason?

In explanation, Twilight said, "I had Spike send it over this morning. I know how much it means to you, and I figured you'd want to wear it today." She looked down at what he was wearing. "Although, I will admit, you look quite dapper in that suit."

Suddenly, there was a loud clang.

The Sparkles and Sunburst looked over at Starlight. The mare blushed at them and quickly said, "Just dropped my fork. Silly me." Starlight gave a light laugh. Her horn lit up and she raised the fallen fork back off her plate. "Sorry."

"That's quite alright," said Cadence, an eyebrow raised.

Sunburst turned back to Twilight. "Thank you so much," he said. "I'll go change into it before we go."

Twilight frowned at that, then she shook her head and nodded.

"What?" he said.

"It's nothing," Twilight said. "It's just that you had Rarity teach you her clothes changing spell a few months ago. We talked about how you'll have to wear dress clothes for state functions, and then you decided to streamline the process."

"Oh, right," said Sunburst. "I hadn't thought about the fact that marrying you means becoming a prince."

Twilight gave a hearty laugh. When Sunburst looked confused, Twilight said, "That's what my Sunburst said, verbatim. You two really are the same stallion."

Starlight let out an audible sigh that again made the group look her way. She looked back and said, "Speaking of getting ready, I should go do my hair before we go." In a flash of teal light, Starlight was gone from the table.

In response to the sudden departure, Princess Cadence said, "Is everything okay with Starlight?"

Shining Armor and Twilight both shrugged. Luckily, at that moment, the waitress returned with Sunburst's Prench toast, so he masked his lack of an answer by thanking her. Now did not seem like a good time to go into Starlight's complex feelings about him and this whole situation. It really didn't feel like his place.

---

A short while later, Sunburst, Twilight, Starlight, and Shining Armor made their way onto the train platform accompanied by a couple of guards. A decent crowd of ponies already stood there, some with bags waiting to depart, and some with none waiting for others to arrive. Sunburst wasn't surprised; the morning's first train was often a busy one.

During the lull as the group waited, Sunburst considered what meeting with this version of Starswirl would be like. As he'd mentioned to Starlight last night, this would almost be like starting over again with the old wizard. Sure, this Starswirl would've gone on their adventure to stop the Pony of Shadows together, but apart from that, they had hardly spoken.

A big difference this time was the nature of the upcoming project. In his world, Starswirl had come to him seeking his help. Now, Sunburst was hoping that Starswirl could help him. The dynamics were reversed and it made the difference in knowledge and skill all the more apparent. Would he be able to forge the same bond a second time?

The whistle of the approaching train sounded in the distance, and the four ponies turned to see a few puffs of smoke rising from the horizon. In that moment, Twilight reached out and grabbed Sunburst's hoof.

Sunburst looked over at her and said, "Is everything okay?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, then took back her hoof and blushed. "Yes, everything's fine. Sorry."

In short order, the train arrived and the wheels lightly squealed as it came to a halt. The doors opened and ponies of all colors filed out. Sunburst wasn't really looking around the crowd, however, he was instead listening. He had learned that that was a better indication of Starswirl's approach.

Sure enough, a light jingling of bells could be heard coming from a car to his left. Sunburst smiled. "There he is."

"Where?" said the other three, looking around.

Sunburst pointed to the car just as Starswirl the Bearded emerged onto the platform.

"Starswirl," he said, waving a hoof in the air.

The old stallion turned his head and gave a warm smile as he approached. When he reached the group, he quickly gave each of them a hug. "Twilight. Sunburst. Shining Armor. Starlight. How good to see you all. I only wish the circumstances were better."

This warm greeting immediately helped to calm Sunburst's concerns over this meeting. This version of Starswirl was treating him with the same level of kindness he'd come to expect from their time working together. It seemed his initial fears had been totally unfounded.

"Likewise," said Shining Armor. "Thank you for coming."

"Come, let's get started at once," he said. "You can explain to me the complete situation on our way to the Palace."

"The Palace?" Twilight said. "Don't you want to go to the library?"

"The Crystal Heart was the cause of this all, was it not?" Starswirl asked.

"It was," said Shining Armor.

"Then that is where we should begin our work."

Author's Note:

I'm sure any other writers here can understand the sense of "this isn't quite good enough" that has been plaguing me for the past couple of chapters. However, I need to keep reminding myself that while an unwritten story has infinite potential, a written story is infinitely more valuable and useful. And so, here is the latest chapter. I hope it was worth the wait.

Comments

[Arcticlizard52]

Just do your best, that's all I can ask

[Comickook]

Another great job on this chapter. Certainly appreciated the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up. Really respected Sunburst's reflections on assorted things both before and during Starswirl's arrival. And, yeah, definitely liked how the family was understanding enough to provide the cloak he was more used to wearing and I can understand why he would be so reluctant to explain how awkward things have been with Starlight. And now Starswirl has arrived and the gang is going to inspect the Crystal Heart.

REALLY looking forward to more of this.

[Thyrrnatf]

woop woop more chapters xD

i dont think this is gonna end well if the situation with Starlight doesnt get solved
i do think Sunburst should mention it to Twilight but not go into details about it, so that Twilight and Starlight can talk about it before everything goes wrong.
but at the same time i do understand why Sunburst doesnt wanna bring it up in respect for Starlight

[Fluffy_Wing]

Oh my effin god, is what I'm seeing really true?! An update?! Pinch me I might be dreaming! I absolutely love this story so thanks for the updates!