Bits, Pieces and other Scrapped Ideas

by FoolAmongTheStars

In Which Friendship is Discussed

Author's Note:

Summary: Starlight isn't the only one who learns about friendship.

Warnings: None

A/N: Alright, these family one-shots are getting out of hand, I might as well make a separate story...if only I could think of a plot..._{sorry for the sudden silence, I just don't have much time to write these days, thanks for your patience}

"You're my best friend, you know that, right?" Starlight's voice was soft but carried far in the room. Sunburst had his eyes closed against the glittering light of the fire heating up the small home, but opened them when she spoke.

Starlight was laying on her side, hooves tucked up by her face and knees crooked. She was relaxed and comfortable, her face holding a gentle look as she watched the stallion across from her.

They were laying on their relatively new bed, enjoying the gentle, cooling breeze of an early spring night. Starlight had just moved in, ready to start her life again in the Crystal Empire a few weeks prior, so their home was bare and filled with minimal items. This didn't bother them, though. They knew that soon enough it would be filled with goods and food, and memories would quickly follow.

Sunburst had hung his robe in the small closet and he didn't bother to put on his pajamas. It was much too warm for that anyways. Starlight hadn't bothered either, and her mane flowed freely around her pillow, it didn't matter that it would be messy in the morning, she would always brush it to perfection.

In the morning, they would head to the store and get everything they needed, and some of Starlight’s items would arrive during the course of the days. But for now, they were as comfortable as they could be.

Sunburst watched Starlight carefully for a long while, the light dancing across her soft features. He could tell the years separated had rounded her body and her looks as she became more and more of a mare than a filly.

But the beauty she had was still her most prominent feature.

He considered her words carefully. He had never considered what they were. They had fallen naturally into a relationship with no definitions nor titles. Over time it had just become 'Sunburst and Starlight', and everyone saw them as a duo. Sometimes their friends and family would pry and ask questions, but mostly they were left to their own devices. Now that they were sharing a home, it was known they were to be married soon, although it was just a formality at this point.

Sunburst turned from laying on his back to face Starlight on his side as well. "Yeah?" he asked her. "Your best friend?"

Starlight nodded, her eyes sparkling, sensing the tease.

"Not your lover?"

Starlight smiled and coyly tucked her face into the bedding, peeking only one eye at Sunburst. "You're both." Her voice was soft and muffled but he heard her.

Sunburst placed his face down on the bedding right next to hers and blew air into her face. "I thought I was annoying." He smiled at her crinkled face. "Worse than Trixie ever was."

"Oh," Starlight said lifting her face to rest back on her hooves, "you are."

She blew air up to his ears, causing them to wiggle from the sensation. "But you're still my best friend."

Sunburst didn't respond at first. The room was filled with quiet peace as the two of them lay in silence. Sunburst looked at her, seeing the rosy cheeks and striking eyes of the mare who had knocked on his door all those years ago. He could still see the stubborn mare who had fallen from grace but picked herself up piece by piece and became stronger because of it. He saw the mare who cried for him, and never stopped believing in him even when he had given up on himself.

He saw the mare who paid no mind to what others thought if it meant doing the right thing. The same mare who had helped him build a family with strangers who welcome him with open hooves and saw his worth. The mare would proudly announce she was his best friend, so no one should mess with him.

He saw the mare who reached out for him when no one else would and asked for nothing in return.

It felt like an insult to her to call her his best friend. She was so much more than that to him. It was an oversimplification of their relationship. But he didn't know how to put into words what she was to him, so he went with it.

"You're my best friend, too." His voice was just as soft as hers had been, as if afraid to disturb their newfound peace.

---

"Daddy," little hooves pressed hard on Sunburst's cheeks as his daughter spoke with an absolute tone inherited from her mother, "you're my best friend."

Sunburst's eyebrows rose slightly, but he knew better than to laugh or questioned his little filly. At three –almost four– years old she was resolute in her knowledge of the world and very convinced she was right. Any questioning of her authority would be an unforgivable crime. So, he kept his face as straight as he could.

He had been picking vegetables from the store, along with other groceries he needed for dinner that night. Starlight, heavily pregnant with their second child, was on bed rest until the baby arrived, so Sunburst had taken their daughter outside to help him.

She had been happy with helping with the shopping but was now wanting a change of pace and conversation it appeared.

Sunburst put the checklist he was reading back into his saddlebag along with the other vegetables before placing his hooves on his daughter's cheeks, mimicking the hold she had on him. "Oh yeah?" he asked her. "I'm your best friend? I thought Flurry Heart was."

Patting her father's cheek, in a child's way of miming a parent's comfort, his daughter tutted at him. "No, Daddy." She pressed her forehead against his. "You're my bestest friend."

"What about Mommy?"

"Daddy!" his daughter exclaimed, tossing her hooves up in the air in exasperation. "Everybody knows that Daddies are their daughter's bestest friend! It's law of the land!"

Sunburst held back a snort at her comment and her outburst, dropping his hooves to the ground. She had the same fire that he and Starlight had acted on in their youth, but bottled up in a smaller form. Her new favorite phrase to use was 'it's law of the land!' having heard it from some of the town's ponies when discussing planting for the season. Starlight thought they should perhaps curb that phrase, but it amused Sunburst too much for him to make an actual effort to stop her.

"Law of the land, huh?" Sunburst stopped his snort, but he couldn't stop his smile. "Well then, can't argue with that."

His daughter nodded, planting her hooves on the ground and lifting her chin proudly. "Don't you forget, daddy. You're my bestest friend."

Sunburst responded, "You're my bestest friend too, sweetheart."

She looked at him, beaming from his statement. Sunburst opened his hooves to give her a hug, which she gladly took and ran into his embrace, giggling from excitement. Sunburst planted a kiss on the top of her head, right in between her yellow ears that marked her as her father's daughter. He cherished this moment with her, just as he did with every moment that he had with her.

Much like the conversation he had with Starlight years prior, when they were new to building their family and new to living together, it all felt like it barely scratched the surface of how he felt.

He could still vividly remember the first time he held her, so tiny and squirmy in his hooves. She had cried and screamed for the first months so much that Sunburst was convinced she already hated him. Starlight had soothed away his fears by assuring him that she was a baby and that babies cried. She didn't hate him; she was just a baby.

He could still remember the day she got her hooves under her and ran. She was fast, faster than he had expected, and took off with an alarming speed before he caught her. He was scared, but her giggles and laughs eased his worried mind and he laughed with her.

She was the most precious thing in his life, and so much more than words could describe. When he had found out he was going to be a father, Shining Armor had warned him that it would change his world forever, and the two stallions loved to regale stories of their daughters' antics to each other.

Sunburst stored this moment away in the back of his mind, wanting to tell Shining Armor about the law of the land that a father is his daughter's best friend. He was sure that Shining Armor would ask his own daughter about this 'law of the land', and would most likely be told she liked her mother much more.

Sunburst's daughter may be stubborn and unwavering in her stances on life, but Shining Armor's daughter had his mischievous streak that bested her father most days.

But for now, he would just live in the moment that his daughter loved him and he was her best friend.

---

Sunburst picked up the large stone pot from the fire and moved it so Stellar Flare could add the final touches to the soup. Starlight was bouncing their little boy with her hooves, listening with great amusement to the story their daughter was weaving about her afternoon with the princess.

Stellar Flare had invited the family over for dinner a few weeks prior, wanting to celebrate the birth of their healthy little boy. Starlight swore up and down that the second time around was so much easier than the first, but Sunburst still thought the whole process was a lot for one pony to endure. But they had a child from it, so he couldn't fuss too much.

Their son was a much happier baby than their daughter had been. He didn't cry nearly as much and was beginning to figure out how to smile much faster than his sister had, although it was still funny facial expressions and snorts.

Stellar Flare had showered both of their children in affection as soon as they stepped into her home, feeling great grandmotherly love for them.

As Sunburst put the pot before Stellar Flare, Stellar Flare touched his shoulder and told him, "You're a great stallion, Sunburst. I am grateful to have you as a son and a friend."

Sunburst blinked a few times, trying to figure out the meaning of her statement. Once again, he realized he had never really put much thought into his relationship with Stellar Flare. It just was what it was. But now that she had said something, he realized that she wasn't only his mother, but had become one of his friends, just as much as the others.

"What? Are you getting mushy in your old age?" Sunburst couldn't help himself from taking a light-hearted jab at her, but his smile was bigger than his bite.

Fatherhood had given him a bit of an edge.

Stellar Flare returned his smile and tossed the last remaining ingredients into the boiling soup before stirring it to cool it down before serving. "Maybe I am," she responded to his jab, "or maybe you don't give yourself enough credit."

"She's right, Sunburst," Starlight called from across the room, her daughter now preoccupied with entertaining her little brother who was screaming in glee at the attention.

Sunburst looked over at her, questions dancing across his face.

Starlight answered those questions, "You don't give yourself enough credit. You're a great friend."

Sunburst thought about what they were saying and looked at his children. They were the light of his life and more. He hoped they would always stay close to each other, and want for nothing.

He had never considered what he wanted most of his life. Chasing the wrong dreams, blind to his real talents and potential. Now that he was here, thinking about his life and what he wanted, he knew that there was only one thing he had ever wanted.

To have a friend and to be a friend.

Now, here he was, years later, surrounded by friends.

It was a great place to be.

Comments

[Jedi Wolf]

Great chapter.

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

Awww.

[DarthSylar12]

So cute. My heart! You are the best Sunburst and Starlight writer ever!

[InfernalGuacamolePony]

"Daddy!" his daughter exclaimed, tossing her hooves up in the air in exasperation. "Everybody knows that Daddies are their daughter's bestest friend! It's law of the land!"

Daddy's girl and Momma's boy as they say