Starlit Romance

by Test4Echo

Panic in the House

Twilight groaned contentedly as she stretched on her throne. Being Princess of Equestria and Princess of Friendship was no easy task, especially given that there were so many noble ponies already trying to vie for her favor. She grunted, and scratched her chin. Did Celestia have to put up with this all the time?

Laughing, Twilight hopped off the throne and observed a couple of the stained glass windows on the left. At least half a dozen nobles tried to woo her today. Didn’t they know that all she needed was her friends? And maybe a good book, too.

The throne room of Canterlot Palace was awash in many red-hued colors as the sun neared the horizon. Soon, Twilight would have to lower it and raise the moon in its place. She tried her best. After all, she did have big shoes to fill, literally and figuratively. Apparently both Celestia and Luna found minor faults in how she performed their duties. It was not uncommon to see a few panicking ponies of Canterlot point to one of the bodies as it suddenly moved position in the sky to better fit its respective princess' whims.

No matter, so long as it didn't cause actual harm to the ponies of Equestria, Twilight didn't care. Every time she saw it, it warmed her heart to know that her former mentor and her sister still cared so much about their former subjects that they ensured that their day and night was perfect.

With another stretch of her back, eliciting a few pops, she trotted out of the throne room, the evening sun creating a kaleidoscope of red-hued colors on her fur as it shone through the stained glass. As she cantered down the halls of the castle, she passed several guards along the way—a few pegasi and unicorns, but most were being relieved by their thestral counterparts as evening approached—the soldiers nodded in respect for the princess.

Clopping hooves echoing in the hallway, she soon reached Princess Celestia’s room. Mentally she corrected herself. It wasn’t Celestia’s room anymore. It was her room. She paused at the door and let the thought permeate.

A few images flashed before her of times she entered the room to speak with Celestia. Frequently, the monarch would be reading the latest report from one of the nobles of her court, but she’d always put her work aside to assist or comfort her.

Returning to the present, Twilight stretched out a hoof and pushed the door open. “Some day,” she hoped to herself, “I’ll be that mentor. Hopefully I’ll be ready.”

After entering the room, she walked through the disheveled stacks of boxes of personal items. Although she’d been in Canterlot for a few months now, everything had been so hectic that she hadn’t had a chance to fully set up her things in the room. Piles of books were scattered about, and a few packages of papers were sitting squarely in the middle of the room. How she or Spike hadn’t collided with it during the night was beyond her.

Her telescope was still in its constituent pieces and propped up against the far left wall. In the corner near the balcony, there was a large unopened box for one of the bookcases she had requested. In the opposite corner was a grandfather clock that she had found at the Ponyville antique store a few days before departing to Canterlot.

On top of all this, she had to spend time digging through some of the items that Celestia had left behind. A few were things that she knew she wanted to keep: a painting that Celestia had commissioned after Twilight had graduated from her first year at Magic School, a few old books from before the Equestrian diarchy even began, and some other knickknacks.

On a small coffee table, a letter from Celestia was held open by a used mug. She’d read the contents a few times. Celestia was requesting that Twilight send her everything she didn’t want from the room in a “timely fashion.” That letter had arrived three months ago.

As she passed the table on her way to the balcony, she groaned when she realized that she was no closer to fulfilling Celestia’s desire than she was when the letter arrived. Some ruler she was.

She trotted out to the balcony and looked at the city below. The lights of Canterlot twinkled and appeared as small pins of light in contrast to the deep orange and red horizon. Small clouds of smoke puffed up from the occasional house. Along the edges of the city, skeletal frames of future buildings blotted out some of the clouds in the sky.

Canterlot was changing, as was much of Equestria, now that Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow were no longer threats. Ponies were working hard to usher in a new era of prosperity for the nation. Some of the construction sites were new industrial complexes.

Breathing in and out deeply for a few seconds, she charged her horn and stretched her magic toward the sun. Shortly, she felt its mass and began dragging it slowly, smoothly down under the horizon. She did the same with the moon, pushing it up and beginning its trek across the sky.

Flicking a few beads of sweat away, she went back into her room. Now she had a couple of hours to relax, read a book, sleep, or whatever else she felt like doing before she began monitoring ponies' dreams.

However, that would not be the case, as suddenly, in a flash of cyan magic, Starlight Glimmer appeared in the middle of her room. Her face was alternating between a manic grin and despairing frown. For a few seconds, she stared right through Twilight, her breathing rapid and her eyes the size of pins.

Finally getting her bearings, the light purple unicorn noticed Twilight and dashed toward her, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her incessantly. Between bouts of frenzied laughter and despondent sobbing, Twilight managed to make out "Sunburst. Date. Royally screwed. Dead."

With an annoyed purse of her lips, she broke a forearm free and reached out to Starlight to rest a hoof reassuringly on her friend’s shoulder. Flushing her annoyance away, Twilight smiled and said, "Starlight. It's okay."

To Starlight, it wasn’t okay. While Twilight might have stopped herself from being jostled, Starlight was still blubbering away and trying to shake the alicorn. Her expression was now firmly fixed in the despair camp and her mane was beginning to fray along the edges. "I don't know what I'm going to do! I've never been on a date before!" she exclaimed, a few tears streaming down her face.

"Starlight," Twilight repeated, putting a bit more pressure on her friend's shoulder. "It's okay, just tell me what happened."

"What if I mess it up? What if I say the wrong thing? Can I use a memory wipe spell? Maybe I should use a memory wipe spell and pretend this never happened," Starlight continued, her breathing slowing a bit and instead turning into ragged gasps for air. She let go of Twilight and held them to her own head instead as she continued rambling.

"Starlight!" Twilight cried, finally snapping the unicorn out of her adrenaline-fueled panic.

With a blank stare, Starlight answered, "Yes, Twilight?"

"Let's have some tea."

Soon, the two ponies sat across from each other at a marble table. Starlight was mumbling to herself again. Twilight crinkled her brow and observed her friend as Starlight took a bit of her mane and began to twist it around her hoof.

Undeniably, Starlight was a mess. She was shivering as she continued to mutter to herself, and occasionally she’d cackle softly and say something about “her precious.” A few hairs of her mane had been pulled out as she continued to twirl it. More hairs had become undone from her usual style and were bouncing around as she quaked.

Behind Twilight, the doors to her kitchenette blew open and Spike stepped out, a tray of tea held in clawed grip. A steaming pot of tea, freshly prepared by him, was placed between them. He gave Starlight a concerned look. "Is everything going to be all right?"

"It'll be fine, Spike," Twilight responded, pouring some tea with her magic and levitating a cup over to Starlight. With a thankful nod, the haggard unicorn took a sip and sighed, relaxing slightly. "It's some grown mare stuff, nothing that'll interest you."

Flatly, Spike looked between the two ponies. “Sure, right.” Unconvinced, he crossed his arms and took a seat on Twilight’s bed. As the seconds dragged into minutes, he began to impatiently tap his fingers on her bed and huffed a small puff of smoke. He hunched over and watched the two as they slowly sipped their drink. Finally, he grunted and hopped off. “You know where to find me. Bye, Starlight.” He waved at the unicorn, although she barely nodded in return, still too shaken to fully comprehend what was going on.

At first, neither spoke. The only sound in the room was the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner by the balcony. Every second or so, Twilight could faintly observe Starlight's left eye twitching in sync with the clock. Something was eating her former student. “It’d be nice if I could get details without it being a jumbled mess.”

She continued to watch Starlight for another minute, taking a sip of her tea. Hopefully the silence was helping Starlight calm down a bit more. Whatever it was, it involved Sunburst, and it didn’t sound good. Had he been seriously hurt? No, Starlight had said something about a date.

Rubbing her chin, Twilight pondered further. It was pretty obvious to everypony around Starlight that she had strong feelings for Sunburst. In fact, the only pony who probably didn't know was Sunburst himself. Rainbow Dash had even started a betting pool with everycreature in the School of Friendship on who'd finally snap and kiss the other first, although Twilight despised the idea and refused to participate.

Wait, did Sunburst go on a date with somepony else? That would explain why Starlight was so distressed. Twilight gulped. Ideally, Starlight hadn't done anything rash yet. The last thing Twilight needed was the optics of pardoning her friend for making somepony permanently disappear, or worse, become a living vegetable.

With a shake of her head, Twilight cleared her thoughts. She wasn't going to get an answer to this mystery unless she asked Starlight herself. Since said unicorn was still busy drinking her tea between the occasional breathing episode, she was going to have to ask instead of waiting for an explanation.

She made a mental note to teach Starlight the breathing techniques that Cadance showed her all those moons ago. If Starlight was to stay headmare, she’d need all the tools she could get.

Clearing her throat loudly, which snapped Starlight's gaze toward her, Twilight prodded, "Soooo?" She observed that Starlight's eyes had again returned to near pinpricks, although she managed to retain a calmer appearance otherwise.

After a few nervous glances, Starlight finally spoke, "I guess I had a massive freak-out moment, didn't I?" She bowed her head a bit, a frown beginning to form.

From the kitchenette, Spike's muffled voice came through, "You could say that again. You went past Twily-nanas levels of freak-out."

"Spike! What did I say about eavesdropping?" Twilight called back, eyeing the kitchenette sternly.

"Sorry!" Spike replied. A few seconds later, faint paw-patters headed off from the door. They were alone. Again.

Groaning, Starlight rested her head on the table, poking her teacup on occasion.

"Why don't you start again? From the top?" Twilight suggested, taking another sip of tea and feeling its warmth flow through her.

"Ugh! I feel so stupid now!" Starlight replied, planting her face right into the marble. "Ow," she muttered seconds later, rubbing her muzzle with her hoof.

With a chuckle, Twilight continued, "You've heard all the seemingly stupid things I've said. I don't think you'll be topping many of them." She smirked knowingly.

"R-right. Okay, sure," Starlight stammered. She turned her gaze to the ceiling for a moment before she started.

"Well, uh, I may have asked Sunburst out on a date. Okay, maybe not asked, but more so demanded, but, those are, you know, minor details." She nervously snort-laughed. Cooing a bit to herself, she turned her attention to Twilight and chortled, "Although, his expression was dreamy."

She sighed, a lovestruck smile forming on her features. Resting her chin on her right fetlock, she sighed again and stared out the balcony behind Twilight. Her cheeks grew a bright shade of pink.

After patiently waiting for a good three minutes, Twilight finally got up, walked over to Starlight, and waved a hoof in front of her. "Equestria to Starlight. You there?" she asked, rousing Starlight from her daydream.

Starlight laughed nervously and gave a toothy grin.

Sitting back, Twilight asked, "So he said no, I take it?"

Sputtering a bit, Starlight exclaimed, "No! No, he didn't! He said yes, I think. It was kind of hard to tell. He was kind of quiet..." She trailed off again, the same daydreamy look forming in her eyes as she mumbled, "He's so cute when he gets flustered."

"Yeah, you're two peas in a pod," Twilight snarked.

"What?"

"What?"

Choosing to forget asking Twilight about her comment any further, Starlight continued, "So, yeah, I think we're going on a date. Although I don't know when. Sometime before he leaves for the Crystal Empire, I guess."

Quickly, Twilight left her seat and trotted to Starlight, giving her a strong hug. "I'm so happy for you," she declared, nuzzling her face into Starlight's. "Sunburst is a wonderful pony, I'm sure things will go great when you meet up."

"He-he, yeah." Starlight chuckled, squirming out of her friend's overly tight embrace. Twilight never used to be that powerful. As she caught her breath, Starlight pondered what the underlying cause could be. Alicorns did have traits of all three races, so it could be innate earth pony strength. Twilight also commanded the sun and moon, so maybe that gave her an extra dose of magic?

"But why are you freaking out over something going right?" Twilight asked, sitting down next to Starlight and staring in her indigo eyes. In an attempt to ease her friend’s mind, she gave a warm smile, although it did nothing to soften the expression of worry on Starlight’s face. The two held their gaze for a few more seconds before Starlight looked away.

"Well... it may be because it went right? I don't know, I was just so prepared for rejection that I have no clue what I'm going to do now!" She threw her arms up in the air in exasperation, barely avoiding knocking Twilight in the head.

Twilight gave her a slightly smug look. Starlight was definitely not prepared for rejection. In fact, she had an emergency number set up for just such a case. Sure, Twilight may not have thought gambling on her two friends' love lives was a good thing to do, but who would she be if she wasn't prepared for horrible outcomes? At least she could now tell the hazmat teams, unicorn slayers, and firefighters that they didn't need to be ready at a moment's notice.

"All right," she began, giving Starlight a reassuring pat on the back, "what do you think he would like to do?"

A growing frown on her face, Starlight groaned and smacked it into the table again. "I don't—Ow—know! We do so many things together already! There's nothing really that special that we could do for a first date."

Whipping her head up, Starlight gasped. "Twilight, what if he expects a first kiss on this date? What if, what if, what if we can't control ourselves after we kiss? I don't think I'm ready to handle foals yet, Twilight!" Starlight sprang up from her seat and began shaking her friend again.

A blasé look forming on Twilight’s face, the alicorn sighed and pushed Starlight away again. "I'm quite confident that Sunburst can handle himself and will respect whatever boundaries you set. For Celestia's sake, you've been his friend longer than I have, you should know him better than this!"

"Oh, you're right," Starlight humbly replied, freezing in place. She stared at Twilight briefly, then dropped to all four hooves. Nervously, she began pacing around the room, almost tripping up on the rug as she passed Twilight's bed.

"Well, okay, what if he doesn't like the date? I want this to go great! But I have no ideas! Agh!" Starlight picked up her pace, the clip clop of her hooves on the marble floors resonating slightly. "What if I say the wrong thing? I already bucked up royally when I asked him out. What if we begin to hate each other because I bucked up?"

Resisting the urge to scold Starlight on her language, Twilight began to say something before she was interrupted by Starlight.

"Would using a mind control spell so he doesn't hate me be unethical?" Starlight stopped in her tracks and rubbed her chin, scrunching her muzzle in thought.

"Yeah, that might not be a good idea," Twilight deadpanned, lowering her head in exasperation.

Before Starlight could start up again, Twilight continued, "If you'll let me finish, I was going to say that things will go fine. This may sound boring, but if you two just go to a nice restaurant for a meal, see a movie or play, stuff like that, you'll be fine. In fact, he might appreciate it for it not being anything unique; he's definitely had enough of those with Flurry Heart."

"Heh, yeah," Starlight agreed, slowly trotting over to Twilight and giving her a warm hug. Twilight nickered slightly in response before returning the embrace. She draped a wing around her friend. It barely wrapped around Starlight.

The unicorn whimpered a bit and leaned into Twilight. The princess felt a few tears warm her coat, and she used her other wing to lift Starlight’s chin. Smiling, Twilight said, “You’ll do fine, Starlight. Everypony gets some jitters on a first date.”

“B-but what if it goes horribly?” Starlight yanked her face away and looked out one of the windows of Twilight’s room. A soft shiver went through her. “I don’t want to mess this up, Twilight. What if... if we’re not meant for each other?”

Rolling her eyes, Twilight quipped back, “You’ve been through how much together? I don’t think much can separate you two.” She snickered and lightly jabbed Starlight with an elbow. “You’ll do great. Nothing will go wrong, and the date will be amazing!”

Pulling away from Twilight, Starlight turned to look at her friend, a few tears glistening in her own eyes. "Thanks for being such a good friend, Twilight." She leaned back into the hug.

"Pfft, it's not like I'm the Princess of Friendship or anything," Twilight replied, waving her hoof dismissively.

"Knowing Sunburst..." Starlight continued, levitating over the rest of her tea and taking a long gulp. Her confidence had begun to slowly return, and she began powering up her horn to teleport back to Ponyville. "He's probably already planned out the entire date."

***

"At last," Trixie exhaled, sitting back in her office's chair and resting her hind hooves on the table. "Trixie can finally relax." She levitated over a box of donuts that she kept for the students who came in and grabbed one, munching on its slightly dry, crunchy exterior.

No more school. No more students needing counselling. Sure, she enjoyed helping ponies out, brightening their day with a few magic tricks, that sort of thing, but she still needed her alone time. While school had finished a couple of weeks ago, there were some students that had to spend time arranging transport back home and lodging there as well. During that time, she had to keep her counselling office open in case the students needed support in handling the transition.

But now she could relax. Maybe she could take that vacation she totally deserved after spending a whole month working full time. Or, she could work on a few new magic tricks, hopefully ones that didn't potentially cause old ponies' homes to catch on fire through spontaneous combustion of water. She still had to lay low from time to time to avoid the authorities catching on to her from that one.

Her office was nice, she had to admit. It could even function as a second home. Bumming it was her style, after all. Who said that ponies needed to live in normal homes? Her trailer did all the work for her, but, well, it did get a bit cramped occasionally.

Besides, between the plush couches, the ornate crystal, and the locking door—those were luxuries you could never take for granted—this was like living as one of the princesses.

Tilting her magician's hat downward, she closed her eyes and gave out a long, loud yawn. Starlight was busy with Sunburst anyway, playing that stupid Trivia Quest game or whatever. She finally had a bit of peace and quiet.

Shortly, some soft snores rumbled up from under her hat. Her chest rose and fell rhythmically, and she slowly started leaning back in her chair more and more. Alas, gravity is a cruel mistress, and the chair soon toppled over, sending Trixie sprawling to the floor and landing harshly on her rump.

Reflexively, she cried, "Trixie meant to do that!" She quickly sprang up, chuckling to herself as she realized that nopony was around to see her gaff. Instead of getting back on the chair, she moved to one of the couches and used her cape as a blanket.

Once again, she soon fell asleep, dreaming of her favorite thing: herself, and Starlight, of course. All was quiet, for about thirty or so seconds before the door to the office slammed open, Sunburst running through.

Screaming, Trixie fell to the floor again, squeezing her eyes shut and holding up a hoof to protect her against the perceived threat. "Please, not Trixie's beautiful face! She will go quietly now. The Remorseful and Penitent Trixie hopes that the law will find mercy for her misdeeds at the Ponyville Old Ponies' home!"

After a few seconds of silence punctuated only by Sunburst's heavy breathing, Trixie cracked an eye open and took in the scene before her. Sunburst was heaving, like he had run a marathon in five minutes, although for him, a marathon was probably going twenty feet. Trickles of sweat flowed down his face and streaked his spectacles, and his mane was more frazzled than usual.

"Trixie!" he exclaimed, finally turning sideways to face his victim.

Before she had a chance to react beyond muttering, "Oh buck," Sunburst was violently shaking her, spluttering incoherent nonsense. Between his wheezing gasps for air, she managed to make out "Starlight. Date. Don't know what to do. I'm so bucked!"

"Sunburst," Trixie deadpanned, flopping around as he continued to shake her. Her face held a very unamused expression.

"What am I going to do? I-I've never been on a date before! What if I screw up, and she tries to use a mind control spell on me?" Sunburst babbled, more sweat pouring down his face and into Trixie's coat. Now she'd need to get a shower. A very, long, cold, cleansing shower to get the smell of him out of her coat.

Although, to be fair, he did have a nice flank. And cute eyes.

"Sunburst," Trixie groaned again. The shaking had become a bit less intense now, as Sunburst had begun running out of breath.

"I just don't know what to do!" he cried again, now a few tears mixing in with the sweat.

Actually, hold the thought of her needing a shower. He needed a shower first. Sweet Celestia, what did Starlight see behind the overly stereotypical nerd exterior? Well, again, he did have a nice flank. Maybe she should just go out and give a light smack?

Chasing the notion from her mind, she shouted, "Sunburst!" The shaking immediately stopped, although her vision certainly didn't stop shaking for a few seconds afterward.

Staring blankly at her, Sunburst asked, "Uh, yes, Trixie?"

"Why don't we grab a donut?" she suggested.

A few moments later, after Trixie had composed herself, she flicked the specks of dandruff from Sunburst's mane off her immaculate blue fur, and then subsequently grabbed a half-eaten box of donuts. She led Sunburst to one of the couches and set the box down on the coffee table. Grabbing a donut in her magic, she flopped onto the other couch and took a bite of the pastry.

Technically, Sunburst was her boss, so Trixie tried to avoid asking any probing questions too early, especially since he was still in a distraught state. The lamp on her desk cast some eerie shadows across his face, which danced and contorted as he mumbled a few words to himself. Occasionally, his features contorted in a spasm, creating deep ravines on his forehead and cheeks.

Trixie grabbed another donut from the box and munched on it loudly, eliciting a few eye twitches from Sunburst. What exactly got him in such an uppity manner? Something about Starlight, right? Whatever it was, it definitely spooked him. Still, it was odd he went to her first, maybe nopony else was around to talk to?

She finished her donut and felt her mouth was rather dry from the sugar. Thinking for a moment, she asked, "Want something to drink?"

The only response she got was a half-audible mutter of agreement. Sunburst was still slightly sweating, the neck of his cloak at this point soaked. It would need a wash. As Trixie walked past him to get to the small vending machine, which she still had to pay bits for, cheapskate Twilight, she observed that maybe she'd also need to get a new couch.

Reaching the machine, she dropped in a couple of bits and pressed the button for hot chocolate. This was at least one trick she had picked up from Starlight: empathy cocoa never got turned down by her students, so why should it be any different if it was one of the headmares?

After the machine burbled and chugged for a couple of minutes, dispensing both her and Sunburst's hot chocolates, she turned back around and levitated over the two cups. She placed one on the crystal coffee table between the couches near Sunburst and then sat back down across on the other couch. She stretched herself out. Just because she was here to help a friend didn't mean she had to be uncomfortable.

Sunburst was still mumbling under his breath, interrupted only by occasionally taking a bite from a donut—his fourth, which finished the box, much to Trixie's chagrin. Eventually, he registered that the hot chocolate was left for him and took a long gulp.

Trixie reached out a hoof to try and warn him, but it was too late, and he screamed as the still scalding liquid went down his throat. So much for empathy cocoa helping.

Between his pleas, Trixie managed to lead him to a nearby water fountain outside her office. As soon as Sunburst saw the fountain, he dived for it and held his mouth over the faucet and flicked it on. A content groan emanated from him as the water began to cool his mouth and throat.

Silent seconds passed by. Trixie glanced hesitantly left and right down the halls and started grinning sheepishly as Sunburst continued guzzling the water. Finally, he turned off the fountain and faced her. "Thanks," he muttered. Gasping, he cried, “W-wait! She really asked me out?!” His eyes grew wide and his knees wobbled before they gave out and he crumpled to the floor.

Trixie huffed. Without a word, she tried helping him up, although it became quite obvious that he fainted. Growling a bit, she tried pushing him up over onto her back, but he was deceptively heavy. Finally, she gave in and instead just grabbed the tail of his cloak and dragged him back into her office.

With a surge of magic, she levitated him onto the couch he was on before, his head lolling over to the side. His eyes were glazed a bit and he began muttering again about not being ready and what would Starlight do.

Sighing, Trixie went back out into the hallway after guzzling her cup of cocoa. She filled it with water from the fountain. In a few seconds, she returned into the office again and set the mug down.

"Sunburst," she said, lightly smacking his cheek with a hoof.

"Wha?" he muttered, not registering her actions.

"Oh, sweet Celestia," she groused. With a frown, she picked up the mug of water, levitated it over Sunburst's head, and flipped it over. She had to hold back a slight giggle as he shrieked like a little filly from the sudden wetness of his face.

"Wh-what'd you do that, that for?!" he demanded, wiping off his spectacles before placing them on his nose. He tried blowing his wet mane out of his right eye, to no real effect.

"Trixie had been patient long enough. Plus, you were getting my couch dirty." She eyed said couch, which now had a growing splotch of water. "Well, maybe not just you, but still."

"Oh, yeah, I guess y-you're right," he stuttered, slowly getting back up into a sitting position, a faint blush forming on his cheeks.

Sighing again, Trixie went back over to her couch and rested her haunches on it. Since Sunburst wasn't interested in his hot chocolate and there was no point in wasting two bits, she levitated it over to her lips and took a sip. It was the perfect temperature, and besides, Sunburst owed her for having to dump her own empathy cocoa.

"All right," she flatly stated, "let's take it from the top." She rotated her hoof around loosely to emphasize before pointing it at Sunburst. "Care to tell Trixie why you came into her office—which was closed, she might add—and explain your incessant panicking?" She took a sip of her cocoa and raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, uh," he stammered, shifting in his seat a bit before gulping, "well, Starlight may have asked me on a date."

Snorting, Trixie spat out her cocoa, managing to barely miss Sunburst and instead hitting one of the potted plants in the room. Wiping her muzzle, she asked, "She what now?"

She did her best to hide any kind of emotion, especially considering it was rather conflicted right now. When Rainbow Dash had informed everypony of the betting pool on who'd kiss who first, she took the risk and betted on Sunburst. Didn't look like she'd be getting those bits now. However, Starlight was her friend, and what made her happy made Trixie happy. At least, that's what she was telling herself.

Wait, Sunburst was freaking out when he came in, saying he was... what was the word? Bucked? Maybe he said no? Shuddering, Trixie suppressed the thought of what that would do to Starlight. Unfortunately, images of Starlight setting Ponyville on fire whilst simultaneously gorging herself on ice cream managed to surface and Trixie realized she'd need therapy for months now.

She broke from her reverie to notice that Sunburst was staring at her with pleading eyes. A few tears were beginning to form on the edges of his eyes and drip down his face. "You said no, didn't you?" she inquired, glaring at the orange unicorn as he had now sealed Ponyville to destruction.

"N-no!" he emphatically responded, waving his hooves about in panic. "That's just it! I said, I said yes!" Lowering his voice, he muttered, "Although I wasn't quite sure what I, you know, said yes to at first."

Instantly, worries about having to evacuate Ponyville and deny any association with Starlight were driven from Trixie's mind. With a soft smile, she said, "That's good, right? By the way you stare at her when she passes by in the hallways, Trixie would say that's good." Her expression fell in line with his. "But what is wrong about something going right?"

Some sweat began to trickle down his muzzle again, and he squeaked, "Well, you see, I don't really know what to do on, well, you know, a date." He glanced nervously around the room as Trixie shot him a stare that would have given Starlight a run for her money in a "Are you serious?" stare contest.

He continued, "We, we just do so much stuff together already! It's not like, it's not like there's anything special we can do for one."

Gasping, he wiped a bit more sweat from his brow and brushed one of his white hooves against the couch, which definitely, definitely needed replacing now. "What if things go too far! I've never done, you know, you know! Anypony before! What if she has foals? I don't want to be a dad yet!" He sprung up, ran over to Trixie again and began shaking her, spilling the last bits of hot chocolate over her coat and her couch.

Trixie huffed.

"I'm not ready to be a dad yet, Trixie! I still have responsibilities for Flurry Heart! I can't be a dad to her and a dad to my own foals!"

"Sunburst!" Trixie bellowed, pushing him back onto his haunches. His admittedly cute haunches. He also had an adorable, dumbstruck expression on his face. "Take a deep breath," she began, following her own advice, "and breathe it out slowly."

Nodding, he quickly fell onto his back. "Okay, calm now," he said from his position. "I think, I think I'll just lie here for a bit, if you don't mind."

With a shake of her head, Trixie replied, "Whatever." Getting up, she walked around so her face was above Sunburst's. "How long have you been friends with Starlight?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well, uh, since foalhood," he answered, a hint of confusion in his voice.

"Exactly," Trixie smirked, "you've already done so much together, I don't think that Starlight would care what you did, so long as you did it together." She poked his chest. "As colt and marefriend."

Rolling around, he got up on his hooves and looked Trixie eye-to-eye. "You really think so?"

"Mhmm." Trixie nodded earnestly.

"Well, I guess you're right. I suppose it doesn't have to be anything, well, fancy." He fiddled with his spectacles a bit before going back to sit down on his couch.

Chuckling and looking out the window in Trixie's office, he said whimsically, "She does get so cute when she's flustered, I mean, that laugh, you know?" He pulled a fairly accurate imitation of the nervous snort-laugh that Starlight frequently did and then just stared out the window.

He kept staring, humming to himself, and smiling. Trixie raised an eyebrow. He kept staring. She softly coughed. He kept staring. Finally, she had enough and threw the empty donut box at him.

"O-oh, right," Sunburst murmured sheepishly, turning his attention back to Trixie. However, his eyes widened again and sweat started to break out.

Trixie cursed under her breath, preparing for another shake-fest that never came. Instead Sunburst just threw his hooves to his agape mouth.

"But how much will it cost? I had to spend quite a bit to ship all my belongings back to the Crystal Empire! What if I mess something up and she never wants to see me again? What if she finds someone else to be her vice-headmare? I couldn't handle that, Trixie!" He began to rock back and forth.

Trixie mused why the mental damage started now, instead of after the break-up? Crying his name again, she grabbed his attention and said, "Just show up, be your dorky self, and let Starlight handle the date details." She smiled. "Don't thank Trixie now, she already knows she's that awesome."

Almost instantly, Sunburst was hugging her, squeezing the air slowly out of her lungs. "Okay," she wheezed, pushing against the stallion, "you can let Trixie go now."

"Thanks, Trixie," Sunburst stated, still holding on to her for dear life. "You're a great friend."

"Trixie knows. Now let her go so her Crushed and Damaged lungs may recover," she said, pushing even harder out of the embrace.

"R-right," he answered, suddenly releasing her and causing her to gasp for air on the floor. As he prepared to leave the room, he bumped into the coffee table and fell to the ground. After fumbling for his spectacles, he got up and noticed a piece of paper on the table.

Levitating it over, he saw it was a poster for an event happening the night before he had to leave. His eyes grew wide as he read the event's name. A Midsummer Kite’s Dream read the poster.

He squealed in excitement, bending down to Trixie and waving it in her face. "Trixie! I have an idea for something Starlight and I can do!"

"That's great, just let Trixie get some air," she breathed, almost done wheezing on the floor. Unfortunately, her wish wasn't answered and she was gathered in another strong hug from Sunburst.

"Oh, buck me."

***

The next morning, Starlight was wandering the halls of Twilight's castle. It had been a fitful sleep, but she managed to get a few hours of R&R after she returned. Every so often, she'd dream of waking up and in it she swore she saw Sunburst beside her. When she rolled around to look at him, she was instead greeted with one of her friends instead.

"My brain really likes playing tricks on me, doesn't it?" she mused as she made her way down another hallway, passing the main kitchen.

Halting, she turned around and smelt what was cooking. Investigating, she saw Sunburst baking some fresh pancakes and humming to himself. "Sunburst?" she asked, causing the pony to jump up in surprise.

"O-oh, Starlight!" he said, a faint blush forming on his face. "You weren't supposed to see this yet."

She only paid half attention, her mind wandering. "Sweet princesses above, he's cute in that apron." Shaking herself, she muttered, "Uh, what?"

"Oh, uh, well, you see, uh, I don't think you ever suggested a, well, a time for the..." he trailed off before coughing and muttering under his breath, "...the date." He quickly regained his composure and flipped a couple of pancakes with his magic. "So I thought I'd save you the time figuring it out and suggest it instead. Oh,and make breakfast! Because I'm famished and I thought you might be, too."

Her eyes glistening a bit, Starlight was about to say something, but was interrupted by Trixie, who slammed open one of the other doors leading into the kitchen and yawned. The blue unicorn firmly sat herself down at the kitchen table and grumbled, "Trixie's hungry. Pancakes. Plate. Now."

"Really?" Starlight grumped at Trixie's sudden intrusion. Resisting the urge to "ugh," she sat down next to Trixie and waited for Sunburst to finish making the pancakes.

Soon enough, two giant specimens of the pastries were in front of Starlight, two slices of strawberries and some dabs of whipped cream forming smiling faces that stared back at her. Beside her, Trixie was already digging into her food, taking a moment to gulp down some orange juice that Sunburst had also poured.

To Starlight's surprise, the kitchen was not a complete mess. In fact, it was in an orderly state, unlike after her baking adventures. Usually it looked like a bomb had been detonated in the kitchen. At least her baking was good, according to Twilight and Spike. Outside of a few dirty dishes used to make the pancakes, and maybe a few motes of flour still hovering in the beams of sunlight coming in through the window, she wouldn't have been able to tell that it was used.

She always assumed that Sunburst wasn't much of a cook, as he always seemed to be ordering takeout whenever she walked past his own office in the School of Friendship. At first, she thought it was cute, but as she bit into her own pancake, eliciting a slight moan of enjoyment, her thoughts soon soured as she realized that the baking was far better than hers. "Is there anything he can't do better than me?"

Forgetting her annoyance for the moment, she eyed Sunburst, who wasn't fully paying attention, reading something in the Ponyville Express and occasionally cutting and eating a piece of pancake. Absentmindedly, she took another bite of her breakfast and sighed, watching Sunburst as he continued reading the newspaper.

A few minutes went by, not that it was noticed by Starlight, and she felt a hoof poking her ribs. "Starlight," she heard Trixie whisper. "If you're not hungry, could you give Trixie your other pancake before you drool on it?"

Closing her mouth and wiping her muzzle, she whipped her gaze over to Trixie, who was already going ahead and getting ready to grab the whole pancake. The magician gave a tiny wave, as she saw Starlight's glare harden on her, and a slow growl rise from the purple unicorn's throat.

"Ugh, fine." Starlight grabbed the pancake with her magic and tossed it over onto Trixie's plate. Trixie grinned with excitement and tore into the pancake, viciously defacing the face Sunburst had made.

"Trixie," Sunburst began, lowering the newspaper and raising an eyebrow. "You could have, you know, just grabbed another one from the counter, right?" He pointed to the large stack of pancakes that were backlit by the sunlight.

"Trixie needs to conserve her energy," she responded between bites, spitting a bit of pancake onto the table.

"For what?" Starlight incredulously asked, turning to face her other friend.

"Well, Trixie has to spend lots of energy figuring out new magic tricks." Trixie finished her plate with a content sigh and pushed her chair back, resting her hind legs on the table. Quickly, Starlight smacked them off, eliciting an annoyed sidelong look from Trixie.

"Trixie, you spend maybe five minutes cooking up new tricks. That's why so many of them flop," Starlight stated, completely deadpan. She stared at Trixie, who returned it with an earnest smile.

Slowly, Trixie’s smile began to fade and she diverted her gaze from Starlight. "Okay, fine, you got me." She shrugged. "Still, you don't know how hard it is to spend time relaxing."

Snorting, Starlight said, "Yeah, guess not." She shot an annoyed scowl at Trixie, who was avoiding looking in Starlight’s direction.

A few seconds of silence passed before Trixie noticed the growing glower coming from Starlight. Finally, she got the hint and said, "Okay, okay. Trixie will leave. No need to be a tough crowd." With that, she quickly pushed herself back and trotted out of the room.

Almost instantly, Starlight turned around to face Sunburst, lowering her eyelids a bit enticingly. "So," she said, biting her lower lip, "what were you going to tell me?" Her heart froze momentarily as Sunburst held up a hoof as he took the last bite of his breakfast.

After finishing his food with a final swig of orange juice, he began, "Well, I was going to say that since you didn't suggest a time for, uh, well, hanging out. That I'd save you the, the trouble."

Starlight's expression fell a bit at him calling their date a "hang out."

"Oh, sorry!" Sunburst smacked his hoof to his forehead. After readjusting his spectacles, he said, "It just feels so, you know, weird to say." His cheeks turned a slight shade of pink as he went on, "So anyway, how about we plan it for the night before I leave? Give us a bit more time to, well, prepare?"

With a sigh, Starlight slumped her shoulders. "Yeah, yeah, that sounds swell." Putting on a forced grin, she said through gritted teeth, "It's not like I haven't been waiting weeks or anything."

Sunburst cleared his throat. A yellow field of magic surrounded the copy of the Ponyville Express he had finished. Slipping from between the pages, he levitated an advertisement and tapped it on his muzzle. "Well... I w-was going to keep this a surprise, but I guess I can show you this now." He floated the paper over to Starlight, who hastily grabbed it in her own magic and read it.

Too busy in her reading, she failed to notice Sunburst watching her, a dopey smile on his features. After reading through it once, she read it quickly again. By the time she rotated it so she could point with a hoof, she exclaimed, "For real?! I didn't know this was happening!"

"Uh-huh," he replied, nodding his head, a smile growing on his face. "I-I know you like kite flying, and well, I saw this last night. They have, well, hundreds, if not thousands of different kites that they fly over their destinations. I didn't know there were so many!"

Starlight barely heard his explanation. Instead, she was switching her gaze between the advertisement and Sunburst, a blush and a content smile forming on her face. "Oh Celestia, he's so sexy when he talks kites."

Broken from her thoughts, she heard Sunburst explain the rest of the date. Six o'clock, at that new Prench restaurant that opened. It wasn't too snooty or expensive, but it definitely beat eating hayburgers for a meal. And then, oh and then it'd be kite time!

Thinking about it more, she lost her grip on the table and fell face first onto the crystal floor. "Ow." She stayed where she was, taking a minute to process everything.

"Starlight!" she heard Sunburst cry and gallop over to her. "Are you all right?" She felt one of his hooves reach down and lock with her own.

"I'm okay. I think I'll just stay here for a bit. I always wanted to get more acquainted with the crystal here in the castle."

Comments

[FoolAmongTheStars]

These two will be the death of me I swear! They're such dorks that I was giggling and grinning the whole time I was reading. I honestly wasn't expecting Trixie to be thrown into the mix but I'm not complaining (but Trixie, c'mon, you knew better than to bet against Starlight, honestly she's your best friend!) it wouldn't be StarBurst if their friends weren't putting their nose where it didn't belong.

[The_Darker_Fonts]

If there isn't further mention of Starlight's friendship with the crystal floor, I might be upset...