The Sun, Moon & their Stars.
“I’m telling you! Romeo and Juliet is grossly over-hyped and Othello is a much more compelling story.”
Moondancer rolled her eyes, almost too intensely, accompanying the motion with a loud and exaggerated scoff. “Look. We’ve had this conversation a hundred times. Stories can’t be ‘over-hyped’. They’re popular for a reason, and it just so happens that Romeo and Juliet is a classic because it appeals to a wide audience and tugs at heartstrings. You can’t get anymore romantic than star crossed lovers. Am I right, Sunset?”
The girl in question adjusted herself on her stool and flipped through her textbook, taking down notes and pressing the blunt end of her pencil against her lower lip with a hum. “Mmmmh, I’m staying out of this one. Don’t drag me into your arguments.”
Sunburst’s scowl widened into a pleased grin. “See! Even your own sister won’t back you up!” He stuck out his tongue and ripped open a sachet of sugar before stirring it into his blackened coffee cup. You know I’m right, right Starlight?”
“I’m with Sunset.” Starlight said, “I’m not getting involved.”
Both English students shook their heads in disappointment. “Science students,” Moondancer mumbled in fake disappointment, “I thought you guys were supposed to be smart.”
“We are,” Sunset snatched her sister’s eraser from the table with a narrowed glare, “that’s exactly why we’re not getting involved.”
Moondancer and Sunburst brushed off her dismissal with a wave of their hands before turning back to their debate, Shakespearean literature littering the coffee shop’s tabletop between the small collection of cups and saucers the four teens had accumulated over time. Sunset grunted and pulled back from her notebook to rub at her eyes, blinking away the strain a bit before running a hand through her messy tresses.
“You okay there?” Starlight smiled politely from across the table, lifting her shoulders slightly as she clasped her hands. “What’re you studying?”
The red-head tensed and fixed her posture once she remembered that she was actually in public, rather than holed up in her room like she usually would have been on a Wednesday afternoon. “Oh, uhm-” she fumbled with her pencil and banged her elbow against the edge of the table, letting out a sharp curse under her breath. Starlight instinctively reached for Sunset’s mug of hot chocolate to save it from spilling all over the other girl’s work space and sucked in a relieved breath of air. “Careful,” she chuckled, “I know it’s starting to get chilly outside but you wouldn’t want to take a bath in that.”
“Haha!” The red-head’s laugh was painfully overzealous. She clapped a hand over her mouth as her cheeks warmed. “Sorry, uhm,” Sunset shook her head in an attempt to calm herself down. “Thanks. I’m uh- looking over the theory of dissolution. Like, what minerals dissolve most effectively in which acidic and alkaline solutions.”
“That sounds… fun.” Starlight smiled again and leaned forward to get a better look at the textbook before settling back onto her stool. “Do you want a kiss?”
Sunset felt her heart leap as her eyes widened, brows straining as they knitted into a twitching line. She could only stare at the other girl in sheer bewilderment as she opened her mouth to speak, however Starlight turned to rifle through her backpack and pulled out a smaller bag of chocolates. “I picked them up from this little candy store in town,” she pulled one out and plopped it down on Sunset’s notebook. “They’re so cute, and they taste really good.”
“Oh!” Sunset half-yelled, blinking furiously in relief, letting out a large puff of breath and allowing her brain to cool down. “You meant— right. Right.”
“Hm?” Starlight’s brow arched as she took her own chocolate into her mouth, after peeling off the silver wrapping. “What did you think I meant?”
Moondancer leaned over and dug into the bag of chocolates, taking a couple and scattering them about the table in front of her. “Aw man, I haven’t had these in years! They sell them here?”
The other scientist brightened up again. “Yeah! Canterlot mall has a ton of really cute stores. There’s this little candy shop near the food court that sells them in bulk for pretty cheap.”
“That’s awesome,” Moondancer tucked the small treat into her cheek and nudged Sunset’s shoulder. “We have to head into town and pick up some. We haven’t actually been off-campus yet, have we?”
“Wait… Seriously?” Sunburst’s face twisted. “I don’t know how you two have survived, living strictly on-campus. It’s been almost two months. Where do you two shop for food? There aren't exactly a lot of good grocery stores around here.”
“Uhhhh…” Sunset rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, eyeing Moondancer with the subtlety of a brick. “We usually just order take out.”
“For two months?!” The other two teens almost shrieked, garnering the attention of more-than-a-few other cafe patrons. After a sheepish wave of apology they both exchanged a look and stared down the pair of sister’s with sheer, unwavering conviction.
“That’s it,” Sunburst began.
“We’re cooking for you two tonight.” Starlight concluded.
Sunset put her hands up in defense. “No, no, you both really don’t need to do that. We can just hit up a supermarket or something and—”
Moondancer clamped a hand over Sunset’s mouth and held her in a head-lock, to which the red-head struggled against furiously. “That would be great! We’d spot you for the groceries, obviously. What can you guys cook?”
“I,” Sunburst smirked as he adjusted his glasses against the bridge of his nose, “can make a real mean casserole.” The purple-haired girl beside him nudged him with a snort.
“I can make soup and tacos.”
“Oh,” Moondancer grinned, “you like tacos?”
Sunset bit down on Moondancer’s hand. The older girl yelped and pulled back immediately. “You both honestly really don’t need to.”
The older boy reached across the table to set his hand atop Sunset’s reassuringly, fixing her with a determined stare. “Honey, you have the diet of an Ommatokoita.”
“A what—”
“So it’s settled!” Moondancer beamed, cutting her off with a satisfied stretch. “We can head back to the dorm and clean up a bit, while you two hit up some stores and pick up stuff for dinner?”
“That sounds like fun,” Starlight smiled again, “we could maybe even pick up some dessert and make a whole thing of it. Do you guys have any good movies?”
“Uhm,” Sunset mumbled gingerly, “we don’t really—”
“I have a laptop and a long, long list of streaming sites in my bookmarks. We can just connect it to the TV and have a field day.”
Sunset pursed her lips as the other three excitedly talked amongst themselves about movie nights, food, and other shenanigans they could get up to after a bottle of wine. She wrung her hands beneath the table and wiped off the sweat that clung to her palms against her jeans. The voices muffled as Sunset allowed her thoughts to wander, focusing more on the rhythmic clinking of spoons against porcelain throughout the small cafe. She could count, almost perfectly, the timing between each sound. The whirring of the coffee machine; the dinging of the register as the curly-haired barista politely accepted copper-coined handfuls of loose change. She swallowed and hummed as she shook her head to ground herself, chiming back into the conversation only as Starlight and Sunburst stood up to leave.
“We’ll see you two disasters later then,” the much taller boy gave a salute and collected his coat from the free chair beside him.
“Text us when you’re on your way?”
“Sure thing,” Starlight nodded. She turned to flash Sunset a look and gave a small, polite wave, followed by an even smaller, politer, smile. “See you soon.”
“Yeah. Uhm,” Sunset cleared her throat, “see you soon.”
Sunset held her crooked smile and kept waving until Starlight and Sunburst were out of her line of sight. Once she was certain they were both far gone from the coffee shop, she swatted Moondancer on the arm with a growl. “Are you insane?!”
“Ouch-!” The older girl rubbed her arm, “what the hell was that for?”
“Inviting them over for dinner? I was fine with meeting up and having coffee— but dinner and a movie? What the hell are you trying to do here?” Sunset’s glare was unwavering, even as Moondancer began piling empty cups into each other and settling them onto the stack of saucers.
“Chill out Shim,” her sister rolled her eyes, “think of it as like…” Moondancer puckered her cheek, searching for the words, “exposure therapy.” The taller girl clicked her fingers and shot Sunset a finger gun and a wink. “The more time you spend around Starlight, the less nervous you’ll be.”
“I’m not nervous.”
Moondancer shot her a look, “That’s a nice looking bruise on your elbow.” She gathered up her manuscripts and tucked her laptop into her satchel before pulling the strap over her shoulder and adjusting her blouse, “regardless: they’re right. I’m starting to gain weight from eating chinese three nights a week and the dorm reeks of pizza. We’re in University, Sunset. At least try to have some fun.”
As much as she wanted to argue, she knew Moondancer was right. She fished for rebuffels in her mind but only came up short as she accepted her now-packed bag from her sister and slid her arms through the straps. Sunset sighed. “Fine. But that’s only because I’m sick of eating leftovers for breakfast.” She paused for a moment and bit her lip, giving her straps a little squeeze as she followed the older girl over to the tip jar. “And I guess you’re also right about having fun. I need to… loosen up, I guess.”
Moondancer grinned and tucked her wallet into her skirt pocket before giving Sunset a firm nudge with her own shoulder, the other girl almost toppling over as she stumbled off of the curb outside. “That’s the spirit! I’m sure even Einstein knew how to have fun.”
“Yeah, I’m sure when he discovered the theory of relativity he had a piña colada right there, beside his abacus.”
“Well, you know what they say,” Moondancer slung an arm around Sunset’s shoulder roughly, “Fun = u and i paired!”
Sunset narrowed her eyes and scrunched up her nose. “Please literally never say that again.”
“Regretted it the moment it left my mouth.”
“Can you— argh!” Sunset yelped, shoving Moondancer’s weight from her torso in order to climb off the sofa. Well, wriggle off the sofa and onto the floor, really. Starlight Glimmer stifled a laugh behind her hand as she watched the red-head furiously fix her mess of hair, face beaming just as bright. “Can you be any more annoying?”
Moondancer flashed her a grin and arched her eyebrow, as if in challenge. “Oh, you know I can.”
Sunset rolled her eyes with a grumble and fetched the pile of dirty plates from the coffee table as Moondancer adjusted herself across the length of the couch. Sunburst went to work, pushing stray locks of hair from where they had fallen loose from Moondancer’s bun and into her face after practically launching herself onto the couch and, ultimately, he and Sunset. “There you go.”
“Keep acting like that and I might just fuck around and fall for you,” the older girl winked.
Sunburst snorted and pinched her nose, causing her to exhale from her mouth. “Keep dreaming, sweet cheeks.”
“Get a room you two,” Starlight whistled, giggling from where she was tucked up on the recliner. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say I was third wheeling.”
Sunset grumbled all the way to the kitchen, dumping the plates into the sink with a resounding clatter. She winced.
“You okay in there, Shim?” Moondancer called.
“Yeah! Didn’t mean to drop them so hard.”
After a few moments of quiet mumbling, Starlight rounded into the kitchen with a gentle smile. “You want some help cleaning up?”
Sunset tensed and pulled her lips into a tight line. With her shoulders squared, she resolved to stare into the basin. “No, thanks. I’m, uh,” she pushed up her non-existent sleeves— out of habit— “fine.”
She could feel Starlight’s watchful stare as she began to fill up the sink with water. She kept her eyes low. Her jaw clenched. Was it always this hot in here?
Starlight let out a breathy chuckle and reached toward the other girl to fix a curled lock that had fallen out of place from her squabble on the couch and Sunset instinctively flinched. Maybe a little too hard.
“Oh— sorry. I was just—” Starlight twirled her own hair, “your hair wasn’t sitting right.”
Sunset blinked and flattened out her hair again; however, seeing Starlight so antsy, sighed in defeat. “Could you?”
“Oh, thank you so much.” The other girl beamed and reached both hands up over Sunset’s shoulders to adjust the back of her hair, her tongue ever-so-slightly poking out from the corner of her lips. Sunset stared between their shoes, determined to keep her cheeks from warming any further. “Much better,” Starlight breathed. Sunset breathed. Starlight smelled of mint, underneath the wafting smell of gravy and stock-pot.
There was a moment’s pause before the taller girl scratched the base of her head and stepped back, all too aware of their closeness. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s… cool,” Sunset smiled. She turned back to the now-filled basin and reached for the dish soap, squeezing in a few droplets before scrubbing at the first plate with a sponge. Starlight hopped up onto the kitchen counter in one swift motion, kicking her legs slightly as she peered over Sunset’s work.
She hummed. “Mmmmh… Lemon scented. You have taste.”
Sunset scoffed. “Is there really any point in buying anything other than lemon scented?”
“Sunburst buys cherry.” Starlight grimaced.
“Sunburst is currently flirting with my sister in our living room. That alone should tell you that he doesn’t have any taste.”
Starlight snorted and laughed, heartily, wrapping an arm over her stomach as she tried to stifle it behind her hand. Sunset perked up and let her shoulders relax a bit. She did her best to fight off her own grin.
“Why’re you hiding your smile? You have a pretty laugh.”
Starlight wiped a tear from her eye and sighed. “Nah,” she said with a shrug, “my laugh’s really goofy.” Sunset felt her chest tighten and she turned back to the sink, ready to rinse off the first plate. “Mh!” Starlight hummed as she hopped down, pulling a dish towel from where it hung over the handle to a kitchen drawer. “I’ll help dry. I feel bad about making a mess and then having you be the one to clean it up.”
Sunset leaned closer to the counter as Starlight brushed past to fetch the first plate. “You’re our guests. Plus, you made dinner. I think the least we could do is clean up after ourselves.” The taller girl stuck out her tongue teasingly and turned over the dish in her hand before setting it down on the counter, now freshly dried.
A loud cackle from the living room pierced the calm and Sunset rolled her eyes again. “Can you two chill out for like, five minutes?” She let out a frustrated huff, mumbling under her breath as she raised a brow, rolling her jaw and squaring her shoulders. “Although, it sure would be nice if Moondancer were the one in here helping.”
Sunburst shimmied round the corner and danced into the kitchen, taking Sunset’s wet wrist to forcefully twirl her around with a light hum. “Where’s your glasses?” He sing-songed, letting her go only to rummage through the cabinets at the opposite end of the kitchen. The red-head bumped into Starlight, both dizzy and slipping on the water that dripped from her hands. She scowled and let out a flustered huff.
Once Starlight had helped her find her footing Sunset stomped over to the fridge and pulled open the cabinet to the right of it, before returning to the sink. She didn’t spare a glance as Sunburst rifled, only pressing a damp finger to the centre of her forehead as she heard the glasses clinking and the cabinet closing once more.
“You’re a gem, Shim,” the taller boy winked as he danced back to the living room. Moondancer cheered out of sight. Sunset went back to scrubbing the dishes.
Starlight teetered on her heels and pursed her lips a bit. “Sorry… about— well, him.”
Sunset’s frame was tense once more— agitated. She clenched and unclenched her teeth, digging crescent moons into her palms below the surface of the frothing water, grateful that Starlight couldn’t notice.
‘Hydrogen, lithium, beryllium, sodium, magnesium…’ she recited in her mind, allowing herself to cool down enough to speak. She let out an uneasy breath. “It’s fine,” Sunset sighed with a shrug. “I’m just not much of a people-person. But I mean, you kinda already knew that,” she chuckled sarcastically, raising her brows and shaking her head. She glanced over at the other girl and back as she rinsed the second plate. “Sorry about getting your shirt wet.”
Starlight smiled. “Meh, it’s fine. Sorry about getting your floor wet.”
Sunset handed her a plate.
Starlight rubbed it dry.
“Your sister’s kind of a live-wire, huh?” The taller girl chuckled.
Sunset groaned and wiped along her brow with the back of her forearm. “That’s putting it nicely. She’s a pain in the ass.” Starlight smirked.
“I know how that is. I don’t really know if you’ve noticed, but Sunburst is kind of a drama queen.”
“What?” Sunset fake-gasped, sparing a glance in Starlight’s direction for a moment, “I never would have guessed.”
Starlight turned a bit to lean against the counter as Sunset handed her the plate, “It’s cute though. How close you guys are, I mean. I haven’t ever seen siblings that like each other enough to be roommates.”
Sunset tightened her lips against her teeth and clicked her tongue. “I mean…” she shrugged, “Moondancer’s a pain in the ass, but she’s still my bestfriend. She’s my sister. I know she’s always got my back.” She paused, memories flickering through her mind. A fight; a bathroom stall; and a small girl in horn-rimmed glasses telling her that things were going to be okay. She shook her head.
Starlight smiled and set the plate atop the other, peeking around the corner at the other two teens who were currently fighting over which movie they should watch. After coming back down onto the flat of her feet, the taller girl let out a wistful sigh. “Yeah. That must be nice…”
“Hm?”
“Oh- uhm,” she snapped to attention, dropping the dish towel to adjust her ponytail. Or to find an excuse to avoid Sunset’s stare. Quid pro quo. “Nothing. Just thinking out-loud.”
Sunset nodded, not wanting to press further and make the other girl uncomfortable. She always thought herself to be nice in that way. Never digging for other people’s secrets. If people wanted to spend their time making shallow conversation over a couple of glasses of rosé, who was she to dampen their fun.
She remembered one angst-stricken night, curled up with one of Moondancer’s books by some Victorian romantic, where she found herself teetering on the idea of her own identity. Maybe one of the real reasons she hadn’t ever been big on parties was because life itself was one big masquerade: people wearing masks and dancing around as if nothing were ever wrong. She never read another one of Moondancer’s books again, after that.
“So... “ Starlight mused mused, drying once more, “any reason in particular?”
“Huh?”
“You know, like… do you just not really get along with people or do you just have anxiety, or something like that?”
“Oh.” Sunset paused and let the plate she was washing slide, back into the suds. She shrugged and pulled it back out to start again. “I mean, not really. I mean,” she puckered her cheek a bit and frowned, narrowing her brows in contemplation. “I guess that’s part of it, maybe? I just didn’t have a lot of friends growing up.” Starlight nodded with a blink, listening intently as she set the next plate down on the pile. “I was pretty much alone until Moondancer came along, and after that I just didn’t really see a point in looking for other friends, so.”
Starlight blinked again. Then again. She narrowed her eyes. “Wait. I thought Moondancer was the older one— and even then, you two don’t look that far apart in age.”
Sunset forced a small chuckle and began draining the sink after handing off the last plate to Starlight. She plucked another towel from one of the other drawers and wrung her hands dry. “We’re the same age. Well, she always holds it over me that she’s a couple of months older, but still.” Sunset smiled, “I’m adopted.”
“Oh my g—” Starlight’s eyes widened and she clasped her hands over her mouth. “I’m so sorry I— that was out of line—” she fumbled out an apology. Sunset found her smile falter a bit as she gently waved her off.
“It’s fine. It doesn’t really come up in conversation so I’m not surprised you didn’t know. We don’t really talk about it.”
Starlight set the last dish down and twirled a lock of hair around her finger, folding an arm over her stomach as she dropped her eyes. “I’m… really sorry.” She paused and looked askance before sheepishly peeking up at Sunset through her bangs. “Were you parents… Did they…?”
Sunset didn’t let the question hang in the air for very long as she let out a choked laugh. “Die?”
Starlight stiffened and pursed her lips.
“No, no. At least, I don’t know.” Sunset shrugged. “They gave me up when I was a baby. I didn’t know them at all.”
“O-oh…” The taller girl shrunk in on herself a bit and kept her eyes low— in embarrassment or remorse Sunset wasn’t sure. She just knew there was some kind of sadness to it. Her stomach started to churn.
She was glad Starlight couldn’t look her in the eye. She didn’t want her pity. She didn’t want to taste venom.
The purple haired girl opened her mouth to speak and in a quiet, gentle voice she said “My, uhm… My mom died when I was really young and my dad wasn’t ever really around, so…”
The sentence caught Sunset off-guard. She had prepared herself to respond with the same, lame, explanations she’d rehearsed time after time. She’d prepared herself to deflect Starlight’s sympathy; to wave-off her shallow reassurances. What she hadn’t prepared for was for the other girl to share her own pain. She wanted to comfort her; to tell her that things were okay; but she knew that would just be hypocritical; she just couldn’t find the words. Only after a few moments of silence did Starlight raise her eyes and Sunset could see the sadness there, flickering beneath the violet. “It’s not the same but, I know how it can hurt. Not having your parents around, I mean.”
Moondancer and Sunburst hollered from the living room, slurred jeers at some movie the two had finally picked out. Sunset bit back the urge to yell at them, to quieten down. Instead, she gave Starlight’s arm a gentle squeeze. It was wordless— the exchange between the two. They each shared a gaze that only a few would ever have the displeasure of understanding.
It wasn’t quite pity and it wasn’t quite remorse. It was a sharing of wounds and bandaging them back up. A silent, motionless embrace. Both girls sighed, allowing their mutual pain to seep through until their chests were empty; and they could breathe again.
“So… that ice cream you guys brought for dessert?”
Starlight brightened. “I’ll get the spoons.”
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Starliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight >:D
10210113
im so happy to finally be writing for her aoufjamof shes one of my favorite characters in this au
10210115
yes same more more mooore :<3
please and thank u
Also
Sunburst i swear if u steal moondancer's heart and dont turn out to be bi .. :V
I don’t get it.
10210960
it was supposed to be a pun about e = mc^2 because they were talking about einstein
10217245
Ohhhh.