Head Over Heels

by FoolAmongTheStars

vii. Diplomacy

During Starlight's tenth summer, Sunburst Zenith returned to Sire’s Hollow for summer camp and renewed his friendship with Sunset Shimmer. The two cousins were inseparable, and since the wizard-in-training stayed at the house next door to the Glimmer household, it was almost like having another playmate or brother. Except... it wasn't. Starlight loved them both, but her feelings were as different as the ponies themselves. Sunset was strong, confident, and definitely your best ally when you found yourself in a pinch. Sunburst was clumsy, unsure of himself, and likely to forget where the line between friend and foe was traditionally drawn.

A case in point occurred just a week into the summer, right after the much-anticipated arrival of some deer nobility. When his presence in the delegation was confirmed, the village was abuzz; one name was on everyone's lips—Prince Bramble. This would be his first public appearance and everyone was curious to see how the next leader of the deer was like. Most assumed he would be like the rest of his tribe: proud, standoffish with a general dislike for pony kind, though a few had the hope that maybe he would be more like his father, who had more sympathy for ponies than most magical creatures.

In any case, her father had pulled her aside and reminded her to be on her best behavior. It had been more than a decade since the deer clan had approached them, and it was essential to making a good impression. Though Starlight didn’t completely understand what the big deal was, she made a promise to be as welcoming as possible.

It happened in the large pavilion where joint meals were served thrice daily. As usual, Sunburst was late for breakfast, and after he rushed through the serving line, he turned and nearly collided with Bramble. "Whoops! Sorry about that!" A few gasps could be heard as the twelve-year-old wizard-in-training blinked down into the deer’s startled face. Then, instead of bowing and scraping as any normal pony would, he blossomed into a smile and said, "You must be new! Are you as nervous as I was?"

A brow arched, and Starlight tensed. Glancing around the room for any sign of her father, the mare came up empty and decided to act in his place. Abandoning her tray, she strode purposefully towards the pair, determined to intervene before Bramble took offense where none was intended. Sunburst chatted on, apparently ignorant of the attention he was drawing from the rest of the campers. "This is my second year, and I'm so glad to be back!"

In passing, Starlight overheard a dragon mutter, "What an idiot."

One of the other wizard’s cattily whispered, "What a show-off!”

Meanwhile, the unicorn continued to try to coax the silent deer into the conversation. "My name's Sunburst, by the way. What's yours?"

Starlight had no idea what it was like to be outgoing, but he sure made it look easy. So far, there wasn't a problem, but she was worried. When Sunburst was excited about something, he stopped thinking, and when he didn't stop to think, he did spectacularly stupid things. Like reaching out to touch a magical creature. They'd had to remind him more than once because he did it to Spike all the time. The dragon wasn't bothered by his innocent indiscretions, but most creatures were reluctant to make contact with ponies, especially unicorns. Sunburst's friendly impulses could rightly be misconstrued as acts of aggression by anyone who didn't know him. And Bramble didn't.

To be honest, Starlight liked the way Sunburst forgot himself. Creatures were just creatures to him, no matter their species. As the future headpony of Sire’s Hollow, she was learning all the ways to make sure that ponies and creatures got along, but it seemed to her that all of their promoting peace and fostering understanding was just making sure that everyone knew where the lines were drawn. For Sunburst, those lines blurred... and though Starlight felt a little guilty about it, she thought that maybe his way was better.

Still, it was her duty to uphold the peace, and her gut told her Sunburst was about to cause a diplomatic crisis. The unicorn bit her lip and quickened her pace, and as confused golden eyes noted her approach, Starlight silently pleaded with Bramble to ignore the threat Sunburst conceivably represented. He needs to learn, but don't make him learn the hard way!

She made it to his side in the nick of time, gently snatching his hoof just as he reached to touch the young lord’s shoulder. "No, Sunburst," Starlight said solemnly. Though she kept her voice low, there was no mistaking the censure in her tone. Turning to the royal deer, she bowed low and said, "On behalf of Sire’s Hollow, I apologize for this colt's ignorance."

It was a customary plea, regularly used in situations when a newcomer inadvertently breached protocol. The unicorn’s custom of taking immediate responsibility for any infractions went a long way towards preventing their repetition. Sunburst stiffened, and with a stricken expression he exclaimed, "I'm so sorry! I didn’t notice!"

"Dad told you yesterday," Starlight said exasperatedly.

"No, I know that!" he protested, glancing sheepishly at the young lord. "I just didn’t notice that you weren’t a pony."

Starlight stiffened. The whole pavilion went deadly quiet. No worst insult could be given to a deer or most creatures for that matter, but deer’s especially thought themselves as better than ponies, to be called a pony was very disrespectful indeed. As endearing as Sunburst’s quirks were, they couldn’t have manifested at the worst time! Her mind raced for an excuse and at the same time readying herself to push herself between Sunburst and Bramble if worst came to worst.

But the Prince just laughed.

“You ponies are so funny!” He said with a grin. “Once I get my horns, I won’t look so much like a pony!”

Starlight let out a breath of relief.

"Yeah," Sunburst said, giving an awkward little laugh. "If anything, your picks for breakfast should have tipped me off."

The deer blinked and looked at his tray, on which a selection of very much uncooked herbs and plants had been arranged. "Huh."

Starlight looked incredulously at the foal. Many creatures could be mistaken for a pony at a glance, but the young lord's eyes, hoofs, hair, markings... everything declared his un-pony nature. Only Sunburst would pay more attention to a creature's choices than a creature's appearance. In spite of the gravity of the situation, the filly smiled softly.

For his part, Sunburst eagerly moved on to making introductions. "Starlight, this is... erm... what was your name?"

With a sigh, the filly took the lead. "Prince Bramble, this is Sunburst Zenith, a summer resident training under Sire’s Hollow current wizard, Master Stygian." The deer smiled and nodded in understanding at Starlight's words. Turning to Sunburst, she continued, "This is Prince Bramble, and I was just about to show him around."

"That's great!" With a hopeful smile, he asked, "So where should we sit?"

Bramble turned and motioned with his hoof to follow him. Starlight hesitated, unsure what to do, but Sunburst simply followed the young lord's lead... right into the heart of the deer section of the pavilion. There were no actual restrictions on seating in the dining area, but creatures usually gravitated to their own kind. In the end, Starlight trailed after Sunburst, unwilling to leave him to his own devices.

He sat right across from Prince Bramble, and Starlight sat beside him. Noticing that she had no tray, he asked, "Aren't you hungry? Here, I'll share!" Sunburst pressed a sandwich into her hoof, then turned back to Prince Bramble, who stared at the pair with barely concealed amusement, clearly interested with his tagalongs. Starlight didn't know what to do to improve the situation, and then it took a plunge for the worse. In spite of everything that had just happened, he caught the eye of the tall deer seated beside the young prince; offering his hoof to King Aspen, he said, "Hi, I'm Sunburst. Are you Prince Bramble’s dad?"

For an instant, Starlight and Bramble wore matching expressions of bewilderment. A deer of considerable power, a noble of unrivaled influence, a driving force behind the peace—the Heart of the Forest was... great. Having a twelve-year-old colt offer an Equestrian style greeting was inappropriate on many levels. Starlight drew breath to apologize, but the King accepted his hoof and gravely shook it. "A wizard?" he inquired in a deep voice.

"Yep," he cheerfully replied. "I'm not very good at it yet, but I'm learning."

"That is the correct course for foals to take," he offered, amusement lurking in bronze-gold eyes.

"Where do you live?" he asked curiously.

"We live in a place called The Thicket, deep in the Everfree Forest," he answered patiently, pride ringing through his tones.

"Oh! We learned about the Everfree in class!" Sunburst rejoined excitedly. "Is it true that you control the forest?"

The deer dipped his head and lowered his voice as if sharing a great secret. "We don’t control it, more like direct it in favorable directions."

Sunburst looked impressed. Leaning closer, he asked, "Then, what I want to know is...how do the plants taste there?"

A smile graced the Heart of the Forest austere countenance, crinkling the edges of the jagged golden lines emblazoning his cheekbones. "They are quite refreshing." The weight of his gaze then shifted to Starlight. "You are the headpony’s daughter?"

"Yes, your highness. I'm Starlight Glimmer."

The Great Deer King cocked a brow at his own son, who clearly understood some unspoken nuance in his sire's gaze. With a barely concealed grin, Bramble turned to Sunburst. With highly restrained courtesy, he said, "Thank you for your warm welcome." Then, his eyes locked onto Starlight, and a trace of interest glimmered within their depths. "You have my attention, Starlight Glimmer."

The filly froze, then scrambled to respond in kind. Bobbing her head, she murmured, "I will be mindful of your attention, Prince Bramble"

---

As soon as the meal was over, Starlight slipped away for a private word with her father, but she was followed. Sunburst hurried after her, bristling with curiosity, and Spike was close on her heels. "I heard!" the dragon exclaimed, green eyes sparkling. "I wondered if it would happen with this generation or we would have to wait a few more decades. He must have seen something he liked!"

"I don't understand!" Sunburst exclaimed, looking between the two of them. "I could tell something happened. Bramble’s dad was all smug and stuff."

Spike perked up and asked, "How did you gather that, Mr. Sunburst?"

He scrunched up his face and waved his hoof vaguely. "His magic was doing this... thing. All pleased and prancing."

The dragon laughed at the description, his tail swaying. "You are very sensitive to pick up on something he was very careful to conceal."

"But what's the big deal?" he pressed impatiently.

Spike grinned and explained, "Within certain clans, especially the ruling clans, the creatures will choose a single pony as their point of contact. It hasn’t happened in quite some time. Young Bramble has initiated the first stage of the process. He has his eye on our Starlight!"

"I'm not sure why," the mare said, blushing.

Dropping his arms over both kids' shoulders, Spike said, "It's because Bramble is also picking up on something few creatures notice."

"What?" Sunburst asked.

"Nuh-uh," the dragon replied with a mischievous smile. "You'll have to sort that one out on your own!"

Author's Note:

The deer make some cameos in the show, but in this case I took them straight from the IDW comics and make them an active part of this world, but compared to the comics I took some liberties with their characters to better fit the story. I wish the show proper would introduce them, they're really cool.

Comments

[TheHardie-Boy]

I said it once, I’ll say it again: so cute

[FoolAmongTheStars]

9669974
I'm glad you think so!