Starlit Romance

by Test4Echo

More Food, More Show, More Panic

The pair approached the hill outside of Ponyville. In the sky, moonlight shone down and illuminated their path as they began their trek to the summit. Soon, the path was lit with the occasional lantern, providing more light to travel on the small, winding path. The gravel crunched underneath, and they passed a group of foals who were giggling as they threw a ball back and forth. One of the fillies groaned as she dropped the ball and the others teased her for her fumble.

A few trees dotted the path, rustling in the wind as it blew. The breeze was growing stronger as they climbed the hill. Overhead, the occasional weather pony kicked at some wayward clouds to keep the sky clear for the event. Along with those duties, they were providing a bit of extra power to keep the gusts constant for the kites.

A few kites were already dotting the skies, although none from the official show. Starlight and Sunburst passed a few families that were enjoying the kite weather ahead of the show. Pausing for a minute, Starlight watched as one filly struggled hard to keep her kite under control in a gust of wind.

Sunburst walked a bit further before he realized his plus one was missing. He turned around and saw Starlight offer to show the filly a couple of tricks with the kite, which was readily accepted by the struggling child.

Quickly taking the line in her magic, Starlight spread her legs to plant herself firmly on the ground. She loosened the line just a little and then gave a strong yank, jerking the kite further into the wind. After a few seconds, the kite stabilized and Starlight smirked. Sticking out her tongue in concentration, she gave a slight twist to the line and caused the kite to do a complete roll in the sky, earning the filly's cheers.

After spending a few more minutes with the filly and quickly chatting up her parents, Starlight floated the kite string back over to the child, who grabbed it in her teeth and pranced off. The filly tried doing the same tricks that Starlight had shown, but only caused the kite to fall to the ground. However, she then started a full gallop, catching the kite in the breeze again and sending it soaring into the air.

A satisfied smile on her face, Starlight turned back to the path and noticed Sunburst watching her happily. "What?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Oh, nothing," Sunburst replied, wiping the goofy smile from his face and walking back over to her. "I just, you know, see why Twilight chose you to be headmare, that's all."

"Oh, uh, heh, yeah, sure," Starlight sputtered back, scratching the back of her head. Rubbing her mane caused her to smell a bit of her perfume, or, the smell of it mixed with the food from Sunburst's mane. "Rarity's going to kill me if she learns what happened to her perm job," she thought, wincing a bit.

"It was just, uh, you know, kites. Needed to show somepony how to do better with them, heh." She laughed awkwardly as Sunburst raised an eyebrow in a mirthful expression. He didn't say anything, however. He just held out his hoof, and she linked hers with his.

The two set out to climb the rest of the hill. Soon enough, they heard the sounds of ponies chattering away mixed with some electronic dings and whistles. Over the crest of the hill, they could see the glow of lights signaling the end to their trek.

As they reached the top, Starlight felt her mouth fall agape as the hill she saw so many times travelling around Ponyville had been transformed into a menagerie of ponies, tents, stalls, and magical generators and machines. On the far left of the hill were a series of food stalls, ranging from caramel apples, to popcorn, ice cream, pies, and other confections. On the right was a small, fenced area with a couple of magical generators. The sound of arcade machines and pinball tables echoed out of there, and an electronic sign advertising Flim & Flam's Electronic Extravaganza! gaudily illuminated the grass around the entrance.

"Hey, Starlight! Hey, Sunburst!" Starlight heard the drawl of Applejack's voice call to them. Turning around, the pair saw said pony waving to them from one of the closer food stalls. Unsurprisingly, her stall sold all things apple-related.

Behind Applejack, Big Mac was busy stomping away inside a large press bowl, sending guts of apples flying every so often. Next to him, Sugar Belle was frantically preparing different baked apple goods. She alternated between fritters, pies, cakes, crisps, and other apple concoctions that Starlight couldn't even name.

Trotting up to her friend's stall, Starlight greeted the farm pony. "I thought you'd be busy helping Twilight transition to Canterlot," Starlight stated, watching the rest of the Apple family working behind Applejack. She got a quick wave from both Big Mac and Sugar Belle. Briefly, Apple Bloom popped her head out of the juice bottler and waved, too.

"Are you kiddin'?" Applejack declared, guffawing a little. "Twilight can handle herself for a few days with the others. This here show hasn't come around since Ah was a little filly! It used to come every year, but then the ponies who ran it got too old, and nopony wanted to fill their shoes." She cleared her throat and turned her attention to a potential buyer.

The pony soon left a satisfied customer of Apple family tradition, and Applejack turned back to Starlight. "But, now that Twilight's helped bring around a lack of, well, baddies, some ponies got to thinking about bringing back some old traditions."

Apple Bloom bounced up next to her sister and cried, "Ah finished bottlin' all the juice! Can ah go find Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo now? A don't want to miss the show!" Bouncing up and down, she waited expectantly for Applejack's answer, flashing her sister a pair of begging eyes.

Chuckling, Applejack rubbed Apple Bloom’s mane and said, "Yeah, yer done for tonight. Go have fun!" As the filly took off, Applejack yelled after her, "Now don't wander too far, ya hear?"

The pale-yellow filly just waved and galloped away, looking for her friends.

Now that there were no more distractions, Applejack turned her attention to Starlight. The farmpony smiled and continued, "Ah used to remember when the entire summer sky was filled with lights from these kites. Big Mac and Ah used to watch them and guess which kite would stay up last. That's the thing with this here show: they put candles in 'em and send 'em up until they burn out."

Sighing, she added, "Mom and Dad would always take us out to see them and we'd watch as one after 'nother, they lit up and burnt out." She paused as Big Mac sniffed behind her. Turning around, she patted her brother on the back as a few tears slid down his snout.

"And then, after Dad passed, Mom still took us out there, even when she was sick. Reminded us that, in a way, ponies are just like them kites. We don't know when our time is up: all we can do is do our best and make the best impact on the ponies 'round us." She took off her stetson and wiped a tear or two from her eyes.

For her part, Starlight had also begun to tear up, and she could hear Sunburst sniffling a bit beside her. Quietly, she said, "That's sweet, Applejack. I'm... I'm sorry for your loss."

"Aw, ain't your fault, Starlight. Mac and Ah made peace with that years ago. 'Sides, we haven't been able to share that story with anypony in ages. Thanks for listenin'." Applejack glanced between the two ponies and narrowed her eyes. "Say..." she muttered, wrinkling her brow in thought. "You two aren't on a date, are ya?"

Blushing and scrunching her face, Starlight looked away, although she briefly stopped her gaze on Sunburst. She laughed, her voice cracking a bit and said, “Whatever gave you that idea, Applejack?” She avoided the farmpony’s smug gaze. Slowly, Starlight grinned, a few nervous whimpers escaping her throat.

“Oh, tweren’t nothin’ much,” Applejack smirked and swiftly exchanged glances with the two unicorns. “It’s not like you’ve been making googly eyes at each other the entire time you’ve been at mah stall.” The statement hit home, and Starlight and Sunburst’s faces both turned a bright shade of pink.

Sighing, Starlight stammered, “I-I just don’t want anypony at the school to find out yet. I’d just feel weird if the students knew their headmares were an item.” She looked to the ground and kicked her hoof a bit at the base of Applejack’s stall. She muttered, “Of course, probably half the town knows by now. I wonder if a mass memory wipe spell is in order?”

Applejack just laughed and slapped the wooden counter of the stall. "Sure, sure. Don't worry." She winked. "I won't say nuthin'. And Big Mac and Sugar Belle didn't see anything either, right?" She shot a sisterly glare at her brother and sister-in-law.

"Eeenope," the muscular red pony replied. His wife echoed his sentiments.

Another chuckle, and Applejack hopped down from her perch at the stall and walked to the large cabinet set up. She opened it and grabbed a couple of glass bottles. Walking over to Sugar Belle, she took two freshly baked fritters and made her way to Starlight and Sunburst.

Flashing the pair a smile, she held the fritters and fresh apple juice out for them, saying, "Here. Compliments of the house!" After Starlight and Sunburst each took a fritter and bottle, she pulled them in for a group hug and wished them well. She trotted back behind the stall and waved them off.

A smile on her face, Starlight took a bite of the fritter. Despite being full from the restaurant, she still somehow managed to find room for Sugar Belle's baking. "Mmph," she mumbled mid-bite, "thif if rearry good!" She took another bite of the fritter and then sipped on the apple juice.

Taking a piece of his own fritter, Sunburst nodded in reply and quickly finished. Drinking his own juice, he looked around the hill and then brought out his pocket watch and checked the time. A quarter to eight. "Well," he said, putting the watch back into his cloak, "the show should be starting shortly."

At that, some speakers hooked up to a large tree in the center of the hill squawked to life. "Attention everypony," a calm masculine voice said. "Due to unexpected delays, A Midsummer's Kite Dream show will be postponed until nine-thirty. We apologize for the inconvenience." The speakers gave an ear-splitting squeal and then went silent.

Embarrassedly grinning, Sunburst corrected himself, "Or maybe we'll be here a bit longer."

Finishing her apple juice, Starlight gave a slight burp and then blushed. She threw away the bottle into the nearest recycling bin and turned to Sunburst. "So, since we still have time, how about we try that arcade?" She pointed to the ramshackle fenced area behind him.

"Oh. Uh, sure," Sunburst conceded, finishing his juice likewise and putting it away. He took one final bite of his fritter and followed Starlight into Flim & Flam's Electronic Extravaganza!.

Inside, the arcade was filled with electronic beeps, whizzes, and plings. Underneath the noise, the rumbling of multiple magical generators could be barely heard, but definitely felt as it vibrated the ground around them. Harsh neon lights flooded the hastily-constructed building in an otherworldly glow, and the area was mostly filled with younger ponies, eagerly spending their hard-earned bits to beat their friends' high score.

One unfortunate colt was being observed by the proprietors of the establishment. The two older stallions were watching the young, brown colt suspiciously as he played on one of the arcade machines. Without noticing his observers, the colt wiped sweat from his orange mane. Despite the wind being blocked by one of the proprietors, his propeller beanie twirled seemingly on its own accord.

As Starlight and Sunburst wandered by, they heard one of the stallions ask the other, "What you do think, Flam? Is this fine gentlecolt endowed with gifts of arcade prowess?" They turned around to see what the two stallions were talking about.

At the statement, said colt jumped, pushing the stick of the arcade machine far forward and sending his onscreen avatar flying into the abyss of space. Game Over, the screen read. For a few seconds, he stared at the words in disbelief before breaking out into tears.

"Waa-ha-ha!" he sobbed nasally. "I spent all day on this thiiing!" Briefly looking up, he reached out his hoof at a light brown mare who was busy talking with another mare and cried, "Moooom!" Said mare flattened her ears against her head and made a cutting motion with her hoof as she looked back.

"All right there, sport," Flam said, swooping his head in front of the screen. "I think you've had enough time on that machine."

"But I haven't finished it ye-he-he-et!" the colt whined, snot running down his nose and mixing with his tears. "Moooom!" he cried again, desperately trying to grab his mother's attention.

"Tell ya what, kid." Flim slid into the conversation, a greasy smile on his face. "You run along to your mother, and we'll give you this free, one-of-a-kind action figure!" He held up a cheap-looking doll of Rainbow Dash.

Curiously, the colt raised an eyebrow. His tears had stopped, for the moment. "But I already have a Rainbow Dash action figure," he stated, crossing his hooves over his chest. "I wanna beat this game! It's cool!"

While Starlight and Sunburst couldn't see both brothers' faces, they could tell from their shared posture that both had said, "We are absolutely done with you."

The colt looked between Flim and Flam briefly and nervously laughed, hopping off the stool to the arcade machine and galloping to his mother, nearly crashing into Starlight and Sunburst as he tried to squeeze between them. "Excuse me! Coming through!" he cried as he dived between their legs.

He tugged at his mother's leg and whined, "Mooom! They won't let me play on the Galaxy Babe Destroyer machine anymore!" Pulling on the mare's leg harder, he said, "Can you talk to them? Please?!"

"Ugh, Button," the mare said, shaking her son off her leg and turning to glare at him. "If you get banned from one more arcade, I swear I'll ban you from video games for six months!"

Button lowered his gaze and muttered something in an incoherent language. He paled when his mother cried, "Button! Watch your language, young colt!"

Protesting, he struggled to get away from her as she grabbed him in her teeth by the scruff of his neck and walked out. "Just wait until your father hears what you just said to me," she threatened. Button continued to scream in desperation as the two left the arcade.

Before Starlight and Sunburst could fully react, Flim and Flam popped up behind them. "Ah, fresh pock—Er, new guests!" they exclaimed in perfect unison. Sliding around, they took off their showpony hats and bowed. Flam pointed to Flim and Flim pointed to Flam, stating who the other was.

"Be sure to ask myself or my esteemed brother of mine any questions you may have during the operation of our high quality, one hundred percent legally obtained arcade and pinball machines!" Flam stated, his bushy red moustache wiggling slightly.

"Enjoy yourself!" Flim decreed as Starlight and Sunburst left to wander the arcade area. "Flim and Flam's patented electronic extravaganza machines are now fifty-five percent less like to randomly explode in somepony's face!"

The brothers' waved as Starlight and Sunburst continued to explore. Out of earshot, Flim whispered to Flam, "What's the Princess' student doing here?"

Flam shrugged and whispered back, "I don't know, oh brother of mine, but we need to make sure we burn everything before she starts snooping around. Can’t be too trusting of these royalty types."

With that, the two of them rushed to the back room. Soon, a soft "fwoomph" left the office and a burst of orange flashed underneath the crack of the door. The noise was drowned out in the sea of sound effects from the arcade machines.

Above the many neon lights, Starlight could just barely make out the moon in the sky. It was fast approaching a third of the way through the sky, meaning that there was probably about forty-five minutes left before the main event started. Turning her attention back to the rows of machines in the arcade, she found one that looked interesting.

Instantly, she realized she had no bits on her and huffed. Scanning the arcade, she soon found Sunburst busy working on one of the many pinball machines near the back fence. She sauntered over and tapped him on the back, causing him to start in surprise, although he managed to keep his ball from falling through.

"What?" he asked absentmindedly. He stuck out his tongue in concentration.

Starlight coughed apprehensively and said, "Bits?"

At last, Sunburst missed hitting his last pinball, the machine sputtering a series of pathetic toots at his loss. Groaning, he looked over and raised an eyebrow. “Really?” he asked.

“Okay, I may have forgotten in the excitement of checking this out that I left my own bit purse at the castle. Happy?” Starlight groused. Her face was beet red and her stomach was beginning to twist itself silly. “Good job, Starlight,” she muttered silently. She chuckled meekly as Sunburst stared at her.

Finally, he sighed and pulled out the significantly lighter sack of bits he brought with him. "All right, good luck. I have..." he trailed off and checked his sack of bits. "About thirty bits left, so uh, try not to lose too much?" He frowned as he tossed her a few bits.

Wiping a few beads of sweat from her forehead, Starlight replied, "Will do."

And like that, she was off. Past the back fence she could barely make out the faint view of Ponyville, but what she saw was impressive nonetheless. The lights of the town twinkled through the holes in the chain-link and glowed prettily.

She made her way back to the machine that looked interesting. Jump or Die! was its title. A "platformer", if she remembered correctly. With a shrug, she dropped a bit into the slot and waited for the game to start.

When she was a filly, she was never one to pay attention to things like video games. Besides, they were just coming out when she was growing up, and they didn't look nearly as impressive as the one before her. Most were just moving beams around or shooting little circles with some triangle that you could control.

But this! This actually had fully discernable characters. There was even a story! She watched with wide-eyed amazement as the first scene of the game, almost like a movie played out before her eyes. Her character was a stereotypically buff pony, with muscles of steel and a gaze just as hard.

Within the first thirty seconds of the scene, he had dispatched over three dozen bandits who tried to ambush him as he was delivering some ancient artifact from the Griffonian continent. The movie ended with him jumping off the ship he was taking back to Equestria, looking back at the camera with a gaze hardened by years of tough trekking through jungles, deserts, and mountains.

Play! the letters that flashed on the screen said along with a muffled, barely masculine-sounding electronic voice. Her character landed on a floating piece of wood, which began sinking immediately.

"Buck! How do you play this?!" She frantically tried pressing buttons and switches. Instead of going where she wanted the character to go, it instead decided to jump straight up, hover for a few seconds, then move five feet to the right and dive straight into the water, drowning in seconds.

"What?!" she screamed in her mind, a faint scowl forming on her features.

A few seconds later, her character fell from the sky of the level and landed back on the piece of wood. Text flashed across her screen informing her that she had two more "lives" left in this run.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at her options. There were two large buttons for hooves, and one stick that could be maneuvered with her right hoof. Gingerly, she tried pushing the stick with her hoof to the right. She squeaked as her avatar moved a few paces to the right of the driftwood, teetering on the edge of the water.

"Okay, that controls walking," she deduced, looking back down at the two buttons on the machine. She pressed the left one first and watched as her character jumped into the air. Putting two and two together, she made her character move all the way to the other end of the still sinking wood and then jumped when she reached the other edge.

She laughed as the pony went flying into the air and started coming back down toward another piece of wood nearby. She groaned as her pony overshot and splashed down again in the water. Too much momentum.

On her last life, she got farther, knowing now to jump before she reached the edge of the platforms. Soon, her character reached dry land, and she took a deep breath to ease some pent up tension. She felt her back pop as her surprisingly tight muscles relaxed.

At the edge of the screen was a large snake, its form plastered with a huge smile. She started her character walking again, and it approached the snake. As soon as her avatar touched it, he spun around a few times before falling flat on his face, cartoonish x's over his eyes and text reading Game Over! flashed up.

"What?!" she exclaimed to herself, slamming her hoof onto the arcade cabinet. "Since when do snakes instantly kill you?!" Huffing, she dropped another bit into the machine and started over. This time, she tested the other button, which caused her character to leap forward and punch whatever was in front of it. This earned her another death. Starlight grunted as the punch left the avatar over open water. It hung in mid-air for a second before plummeting to the ocean below.

Over the next fifteen minutes of trial and error, she managed to lose the rest of her bits, but reached the third level on her last life. Beads of sweat coated her forehead, and she was staring intently at the screen. Suddenly, before she could react, a spike came out from the floor beneath her character and impaled it with a cartoony squishing sound.

"Oh, for buck's sake!" Starlight cursed, slamming her hooves again on the cabinet, which jostled the frame.

After a few seconds of staring at the Game Over screen, she noticed that the avatar pony was back at the start of the level. Humming to herself, she checked around and then looked behind at the back of the machine. It was a relatively simple setup of spell matrices which were then used to take input from the player and translate that into data that could be interpreted by the arcade game.

With a little fiddling and perhaps a bit of luck, she believed that her magic could tamper with the matrix controlling the death counter and rid herself of the Game Over screen and its control lock.

She whipped her head up to scan the area again and found nopony was paying attention to her, so she ducked back down and ignited her horn. The matrices glowed indigo as she began visualizing the spells she'd need to alter the incantations.

So concentrated in her work, she failed to notice Sunburst trotting up to her. "Starlight? Uh, what are you, what are you doing?" he inquired, poking her hind leg with a hoof.

Crying in surprise, Starlight whacked her head against the enclosed space behind the arcade machine and pulled back. She smiled widely, her eyes pinpricks and her voice higher-pitched. "Sunburst!" she exclaimed, moving back to the front of the machine.

"I was just trying to figure out a little, er, problem this machine had." She solidly thumped a hoof against the cabinet, and it made a dull hum before the screen went dark.

Whirling around at the dead machine, she gulped. "That wasn't supposed to happen." She looked back to Sunburst and winced, a high-pitched laugh escaping her lips.

At once, the two realized that they had just killed one of the arcade machines and quickly scanned their surroundings. Flim and Flam were nowhere to be seen, and none of the other ponies in the arcade paid them any mind.

"How, uh, how about we leave? Before, you know, they come after us?" Sunburst suggested, getting a slow, empty nod from Starlight.

The two dashed for the exit, gasping for air as they slowed their pace when they reached a safe distance. After catching his breath, Sunburst checked his pocket watch again. Twenty minutes until the show started.

Starlight flopped onto the ground, groaning as she thought about her mistake. Finally, she asked, "Do you think we should go back in and let them know?"

Shaking his head, Sunburst replied, "I get the feeling they didn't buy that machine anyway..."

Starlight groaned again and placed her face down into the ground.

With a sigh, Sunburst sat next to her and awkwardly eyed the area. Starlight didn't move. At last, he shakily lifted a hoof and slowly started rubbing it back and forth over her back in a reassuring manner.

Soon, he spied a photo booth which had a small line of paired ponies waiting in front of it. Getting an idea, he patted Starlight and caused her to lift her face to look at him. "Why don't we wait in line there?" he suggested, pointing at the photo booth.

"Sure. Beats sitting here and potentially being hauled off to where they haul off ponies that break arcade machines," Starlight griped, getting back to her hooves and following Sunburst to the line of ponies.

Eventually, the pair of fillies before them entered and they heard a few "fwoomphs" as pictures were taken. After a minute, the two young ponies grabbed the string of pictures that were ejected from the side of the booth and giggled at the faces they had made for the camera.

"See?" Sunburst said, pointing at the two fillies that took off. "Doesn't that look fun?"

"Hmm?" Starlight muttered. "Oh, yeah, sure. Fun."

Pulling Starlight into the booth, Sunburst closed the curtain and inserted a bit. A small timer began ticking and the first flash of light exploded into their eyes, catching both by surprise. Shortly, the two exited the booth, slightly disoriented, but otherwise no worse for wear.

Sunburst went ahead to grab a spot in the line for popcorn and Starlight went around the side to inspect the string of pictures that had been taken. The first couple were garbage, as both of them were unprepared for the pictures being snapped. The next one was okay, as they managed to both smile for the camera. "Maybe send that one to Twilight," she thought as she went on to the next picture.

The second-last picture was also pretty bad. Sunburst was in the middle of blinking, and Starlight had a blank expression on her face. Freezing, she looked at the last picture and contemplated burning the pictures right there. The last picture was a nice one of Sunburst, sure, but he was completely unaware of the sultry look that Starlight was giving him.

For a few seconds, she stared at the picture. Her horn briefly lit up, ready to ignite the pictures, but she decided against it. Ultimately, she determined to teleport it to her room where she could clean things up as she wished.

She slid her way through the line of ponies that had formed after Sunburst and soon was standing beside him. The orange unicorn was tugging at his goatee in thought, observing the sign above the stall which advertised the different sizes of popcorn that could be purchased.

"How hungry are you?" he inquired after he noticed she had arrived by his side.

"Honestly, I don't know how you can think about food after dinner and Applejack's treats," she groaned, rubbing her stomach for emphasis. "But," she continued, "I suppose I could split something with you if you want." She smiled at him in return.

"O-oh, great! I'll just get the large then!" he stated, pulling out the last few bits he had.

"No!" she cried, placing a hoof on the bit bag.

"But large is the best deal," he said, confused by her outburst.

"I feel like I'll explode if I eat much more. Just, buy a small, please?" She flashed him some puppy dog eyes and he began to stutter a bit.

Flattening his ears against his head, he grumbled, "Oh fine."

As they waited in line, Starlight watched a couple of young ponies, obviously on a date themselves, hug and nuzzle each other before finding a spot to sit down to watch the show. Sighing, Starlight said, "When did we get old?"

"Wh-what?" Sunburst exclaimed. He turned to look down at Starlight and then noticed the couple that she was watching. "Starlight," he began, observing the young ponies lie down on the grass and watch the sky. "W-we aren't o-old! We have at least another forty years left in our lives! That's over half our lifespan, you know."

"Well, I certainly feel old," Starlight replied, not bothering to look back at her date. She sighed again.

Giggling, she asked, "Remember when you tried to rescue me from the 'Block Monster'?" A faint blush was beginning to form on her face, and she rested her back against his. Closing her eyes, she sighed. Ahead, she heard the ring of a cash register and felt Sunburst give her a light tap on the shoulder. Quickly jumping to her hooves, she moved with Sunburst as a couple more ponies received their popcorn and left the line.

It took a moment, but he finally responded while fiddling with his spectacles a bit. "O-oh yes. I remember now." He didn't say anything further, but a faint blush of his own was beginning to spread.

"You said," she began, looking up at him, "that you'd always be my knight in shining armor." She paused to realize that it sounded weird, knowing that Twilight's brother's name was literally that. Whatever, it was time to tease him some more with old memories.

"I guess, I really took that to heart. Deep down, I think, that day I saw us together." She smiled. "Like this." With that, she hugged him and giggled as his blush flared even redder.

Soon, they got their popcorn, despite all the grumbling from Sunburst about the price of a small size and left the line. They wandered for a few minutes, idly popping a few pieces of the snack into their mouths and searching for a spot to sit down. They passed the Apple's stall again, although it was now empty. Probably the entire ensemble was at their own spot to watch the show.

Minutes later, they found a relatively empty area and stretched out on the grass. There were a few families along their peripheral vision, and the foals of the groups were running around. They appeared to keep their distance, though, so the two hoped to remain undisturbed.

Silently, the two munched on the popcorn. Starlight stuck her tongue out, as she finally concentrated on the taste. Under-buttered, overly salty and way too dry. She spat a few kernel fragments from her mouth and then took another piece.

The two unicorns didn't say anything at first. Instead, they simply took in the cool night air and the view of Ponyville. The breeze from the weather ponies was still going strong, and it was set to be perfect kite weather. Along the river, Starlight spied a few small lights appear. Barely, she made out the silhouettes of some ponies that she assumed were just too lazy to climb the hill. Shortly the ponies on the river let their kites fly, the reflections mixing with those of the houses of Ponyville.

All this was cast in a pale shade of light blue as the moon illuminated the townscape. "Why did anypony ever reject Luna's night?" Starlight mused as she looked up and saw a myriad of stars in the sky.

After taking a few more bits of popcorn, she bit her lip and looked to Sunburst, who was contentedly munching on the popcorn and watching the night sky. "So," she said, breaking him from whatever contemplation he was having. "You wanted to know what I was doing when Luna returned, right?" A few tears began to well in her eyes and she blinked them away.

"You don't have to tell me tonight if you don't want—" Sunburst began before Starlight cut him off.

"No!" She sighed and slumped her shoulders. "You should know. For Celestia's sake, not even Twilight knows." Gulping, she began. "When Nightmare, uh, Luna, returned, I was living in Trotsin. It was about fifty or so miles from where I set up Our Town."

Even in the moonlight, Sunburst's face grew a tad paler.

Giving another sigh, Starlight continued, "I wasn’t leading my group yet. I mean, I knew a couple of my eventual... followers, but I guess it doesn't matter." She paused for a moment, grimacing as she recalled a few unpleasant memories.

"The town was in a panic when Luna returned. It was then, well, I thought was the right time to start my plan rolling. I could feel that they’d listen to anyone who projected authority. So, I, I, I..." She blinked away a few tears before continuing, "I broke into the mayor's house, knocked him out, and then painted a cutie mark on him. You know, one that looks like the Lunar Guard’s emblem? Half moon with pegasus wings and a unicorn horn in the shape of a wand?” She tried to draw it out with a hoof, and Sunburst nodded as he visualized the insignia.

"I then trotted him out and showed him to the rest of the ponies. They were surprised, for sure." Wincing, she took a moment to compose herself and then added, "I said that Luna could corrupt anypony's cutie mark and turn them into her slave. Then, I provided an escape. I showed them my staff and said that I could take the risk away by removing their cutie marks. Make everyone equal. Luna would have no use for ponies that were all equal."

Sniffling, she choked, "And they fell for it. All of them. The whole town willingly agreed." More tears began falling from her eyes and onto the grass below. "I tricked them all, and they believed me. So, that's what I was doing. I, I didn't deserve your thoughts then and—"

Sunburst placed a hoof over her mouth and shushed her. Withdrawing it momentarily once she ceased her attempts at speaking, he said, "I-I wasn't entirely honest with you in the park. Uh, well, you see, when Luna returned, that was the first time I had thought about you since I left for Canterlot."

Sadly, he drew a long breath and continued, "I was just so, well, focused on my studies for years, and then my first job after I flunked out, that, well, I just didn't think about you."

A few tears of his own glistened in the moonlight. "I knew you were hurt when I left for Celestia's school, and I did intend to write at first, but I, you know, got busy and, and then I thought you would have gotten over it, and, well, forgotten about me." Looking down to the grass, he took a few deep breaths and then looked back at her. This time, even more tears were shining in his eyes, and a few streaked down his cheeks to create what appeared to be silver rivers in his fur. "Will you forgive me? I wasn't a very good friend for a lot of those years."

Casting her forearms around Sunburst in a big hug, she cried, "Yes, I forgive you." She held on for a few more seconds, her tears streaming down her face and dampening the back of his cloak. Releasing him, she sniffed and wiped her muzzle, the tears beginning to fade.

The announcement speaker barked that the show would begin in five minutes, and the two ponies wordlessly waited for it.

Lying down on her back, Starlight watched the night sky. Stars twinkled in the deep black of space, mostly concentrated above her. When she looked near the moon, all she could see was pitch black sky. The moon was too bright to allow any stars near it to shine through.

Shortly, out of the corner her vision, she spotted a warm light begin to rise from the bottom of the hill. She propped herself up to check, and saw a few ponies releasing kites into the sky and tying them down to stakes planted on the hill. A smile spread across her face and her eyes opened wide as more and more kites were released to join their brethren.

Within minutes, the entire sky was filled with kites, alight with candles in their center. The soft rustle of the fabric of the kites mingled together with collective ooh’s and ahhh’s from the ponies gathered. In the distance, Starlight could spot a few ponies releasing their own kites to fly with the official event.

Flopping back down, she looked at the sky for another minute and then turned to face Sunburst. "He really is the one, isn't he?" she mused, smiling dreamily at him when he noticed her watching.

She scooted a bit closer to Sunburst and tried to wrap a forehoof around his back. Failing this, she instead opted to rest her head against his chest. Sighing and listening to his heartbeat, she felt her own heart begin to match its speed to his. As she watched more kites ascend, she faintly heard his breath, inhaling and exhaling in steady rhythm. For a few minutes, all was right, then she heard screams of fillies and the galloping of hooves headed her way.

Before she or Sunburst could react, the group of fillies that had been playing earlier zoomed by their spot. One was holding a large bottle of pop from the popcorn stand. She stumbled as she passed the pair.

"Buck." Starlight managed to think to herself as she watched the pop fly toward her in slow motion. In an instant, she was soaked in the sticky, sugary substance. It dripped down her mane and pooled on her nose before sliding down her now-open mouth.

She blinked. "What in Celestia's sweet name just happened?" She blinked again. Sluggishly, her mind caught up to the moment, and her face reddened. A few veins bulged around her neck as she pulled her chin back into a scowl. A low growl left her mouth, and she prepared to get up and tell those foals a piece of her mind.

However, she then realized that Sunburst had also been caught dead in the blast of the pop bombing, and she turned around to look at him. His face was fine, aside from the few crumbs of food from earlier that hadn't left his mane. The fur around his chest, however, was now a sickly shade of brown-yellow as the pop mixed with his coat.

The two blinked at each other.

"Do you want to keep watching?"

"Yeah, no."

Furiously, Starlight stomped off toward the main concession area. Off to one corner of the event, she spied a few portable restrooms. Hopefully there'd be a mirror or working faucet—or Luna hope both—that she could use to fix her mane and get the pop out of it.

As she entered, she failed to notice the flies and other insects hovering around the stalls. Opening the door, she was hit with a wall of stench. Gagging, she stuck her head out and took a long breath before ducking into the stall. Desperate times and all that.

She hastily looked around the stall, which was dimly lit with a weak bulb. On the grimy far wall there was a small, cracked mirror, but unfortunately no faucet. "Great," she grumped, shaking her head back and forth and slinging the liquid from her mane. "This is going to be one big pain to fix tomorrow."

Momentarily, she left the restroom, her face mildly green and gasping for air. She tasted the smell. She tasted. The. Smell! Holding back an urge to vomit, she shakily made her way to Sunburst, who was watching her from the center of the stall area.

Growling as she approached him, she grabbed his right forehoof and yanked him. "Come on," she grunted, managing to move him a few inches before he started up pace behind her. "Let's go home."

The walk back down the hill and to Twilight's castle was done in tense silence. Ponies that passed the two by quickly made way to avoid the supreme, fully armed and operational death glares Starlight was giving to any of those who dared approach.

Her fur was matted. Her mane was a mess, flopping down her face and getting in her eyes. The back half of her mane was plastered to her neck, and she was convinced that it would take a crowbar to remove it from there when she cleaned herself the next morning. With every step, she felt like she was going to collapse from exhaustion. On top of all that, she stank. Despite only spending at most a minute in that restroom to attempt to improve her appearance, the noxious odors of that horrible restroom had sunk deep into her mane and fur. Her perfume managed to mix with the pop and the restroom smell to create a truly wonderful aromatic musk. To a fly, anyway.

Said fly buzzed around her head and tried to land on her nose before she swatted it away with a hoof, managing to clip herself in the muzzle in the process. "Ow."

Sighing, she slowed her pace and hovered her head above the ground. The cobblestones were extremely interesting this time of night, after all. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she thought. "Why did you think it'd go well tonight?"

"Hey," Sunburst said, walking up beside her and poking her side, "are, are you going to be okay?"

Casting him a sidelong glance, she silently shook her head. Some barely audible sniffles were heard by Sunburst, who tilted his head slightly in concern. He trotted around and faced her. She continued walking, staring at the cobblestones beneath her hooves. Reaching out a hoof and placing it on her shoulder, he gave her a sad smile.

"W-why not?"

Starlight stopped. She looked at him for a moment, taking in his own disheveled appearance. Dishevelled more than usual, anyway. He had multiple scrapes over his face where he fell in the park and a big splotch of his coat was darkened and starting to mat where the pop had landed on his chest. What used to be his fresh and clean cloak was a bit tattered and had a dark ring on the tail from the spill.

Also, even from her distance, she could smell the pop mix with the Prench food, and probably a bit of his own mane's smell. That, or she was still smelling her own stench. Either way, it wasn't pretty.

Choking up, she cried, "Because everything went wrong!" She fell to the ground and covered her eyes with her hooves as tears started flowing freely again. "T-Tonight was supposed to be, supposed to be a fun night out!” She slammed a hoof to the ground, wailing as she felt her stomach churn. “We, we, we were supposed to have a n-nice quiet evening at, at a restaurant, and then whatever that k-kite thing was!" Burying herself in her hooves again, she quivered as sobs wracked her body.

She snorted a bit as more tears came, creating puddles on the cold cobblestone. "A-And this was my only chance!" Laughing maniacally, she began to blather, "Wait! Maybe I can fix this!" She hopped to her hooves, a mad light in her eyes. "Yes! I can just go back in time, smack my old self on the head and—what?"

She squealed in surprise as Sunburst pulled her into a tight hug. Holding her there for a good solid minute, he finally said, "You know, I, I, uh, had a great night. I mean, I hoped there wouldn't be anything that came up, but you know, things not going as planned seems to be a running thing with the two of us." He still held her in his grasp.

At first, Starlight tried to struggle out of the grip, her heart racing. As she tried to escape, Sunburst instead hardened his embrace even more. She felt herself get pressed into his chest, and she began to cry some more.

Hot tears streamed down her cheeks and into Sunburst’s coat. A few whimpers escaped her mouth and she hid her face in his torso. Gently, she felt him pat her back and make a few soothing noises. For a few seconds, she continued to sob, but eventually the crying began to subside. As her breathing steadied, she gulped for air.

A couple of hiccups racked her body, and she stayed buried in Sunburst’s chest. She felt his heart thumping against his ribs. It was remarkably calm. In time, she felt her own heartbeat begin to slow, the intense drumming in her ears quieting.

Soon, he released her enough so she could see him face to face. Warmly smiling, he looked at her for a few seconds, maybe a minute and asked, "Maybe we can do this again soon? I should be able to get a weekend off next month."

Blinking, she looked at him. Gears turning in her head, she thought, "Did he just say what I think he said?" A rising pit in her stomach shot itself into orbit in her throat, and she fully fixed her gaze on his face. "Oh buck it, things can't get any more awkward."

To Sunburst's surprise, she surged forward for a kiss, planting her muzzle square on his. At first, he struggled a bit, a few muffled noises escaping the sides of his mouth, but he soon returned it and leaned into her.

Softly, Starlight moaned before releasing for a breath. She watched his expressionless face for a solid half-minute. "Crap, I just screwed things up, didn't I?"

"Wow," was Sunburst's response.

Fluttering her eyelids at him, she said, "I'd love that. But this time, I plan the surprise." She giggled warmly.

Suddenly, the two heard some stomping of hooves around them and they finally noticed that a small crowd had gathered to observe the two lovers.

With an abashed look on her face, Starlight released herself from Sunburst's grasp and used her magic to tug on his cloak. Mutely, he followed her back to Twilight's castle.

When they reached the doorstep of the castle, they shared another quick kiss before bidding each other goodnight. To Starlight's chagrin, Sunburst had to be up early for the train to the Crystal Empire tomorrow, and she herself was just plain tuckered out from the whole ordeal of the night.

In a lovestruck daze, Starlight trudged her way through Twilight's castle. Her hoofsteps echoed loudly in the empty corridors as she turned corner after corner on her way back. She passed the library, the game of Knowledge Hunt still where they left it after she proposed the date. She passed the kitchen, the second library, and even the Emergency Starlight Freakout Room.

Stepping back, she looked at the last room she passed. She swore that she never saw that one before. On its door was plastered a picture of her face underneath a circle with a backslash and another one that said in crudely written hoofwriting, Break in case of world-ending Starlight apocalypse.

"Twilight," Starlight concluded. That was all that needed to be said. Hopefully her friend had decided to deprecate the idea, and she would never need to find out what was behind that door.

Soon, she reached her bedroom. Yawning, she readied herself to just flop into bed. Matted fur and messy mane be damned: that was a "Tomorrow-Starlight" problem. Right now, her only problem was her body not connecting with her plush pillows.

Before she could do just that, a light flicked on beside her bed and Trixie whirled around in a swivel chair. Starlight didn't have a swivel chair in her room. Trixie must have brought it with her.

"Well, at least she's dedicated," Starlight mused, an annoyed expression on her face.

"Trixie sees that you are late," the blue unicorn stated, looking Starlight up and down. She sniffed the air and scrunched her nose. "What is that smell?"

Getting up from her chair, she moved closer to Starlight and took a whiff of her mane. Gagging and stepping back, she observed her friend again. "And you look horrible, like somepony really took you for a... rough ride," she said, spitting out the last couple of words.

Glowering, Starlight prepared to speak, but Trixie managed to continue first. With a sinister smile, she said, "Oh Starlight, you naughty mare. Sunburst must have had a big surprise tonight." She gave a slight, suggestive growl. Suddenly, her expression lit up and she laughed happily at her friend and punched her lightly in the shoulder.

"I—Wha—You—" Starlight sputtered as Trixie continued to laugh.

"Oh, it's okay, Starlight. Trixie remembers her first time fondly." With that, she jumped on Starlight's pristinely made bed, creasing the duvet. Flailing her hind legs in the air and propping her head up with her fetlocks, she asked, "Soooo, how did it go?"

Her vision growing slightly red, Starlight burst, "Trixie! That!" She punched the air to try and emphasize what she was talking about. "Didn't happen!"

"Ooooohhhh, okay. Trixie understands. Take your time, Starlight. Trixie knows it’s been a long time since you let loose. "

"No!" Starlight retorted, growing more irate by the minute while Trixie still stared at her innocently. "Nothing that you are insinuating happened! All right?!"

"Don't worry, Starlight. Your secret is safe with me. Wink." Trixie winked. She flashed Starlight a massive grin.

Facehoofing, Starlight groaned. "Ugh! Trixie, I look like this because somepony spilled pop all over me at the kite show."

Trixie stared at her emptily for a few seconds. "Wait," she said, pushing herself up on the bed and making Starlight whine because she couldn't get into her bed yet. "You're saying you didn't actually do it?"

Sighing, Starlight replied, "Yes, Trixie. We didn't 'do it.'" She flexed her hooves as air quotes.

"Oh."

"And Sunburst and I, well, we're dating now." On the turn of a dime, Starlight was staring off again into space. For a few seconds, she was allowed this reverie of daydreaming about future dates, but was soon broken by Trixie cursing aloud.

"Celestia damn it! Now I owe Rainbow Dash a hundred bits! Pleeeeease tell the Broke and Penniless Trixie that Sunburst kissed you first!" Trixie was on her hind hooves, pleadingly looking into Starlight's eyes.

Confused, Starlight answered, "Uh, no.

"Oh, this is horrible!" Trixie wailed, burying her head in her hooves. "Now Trixie owes Rainbow Dash three hundred bits!"

Narrowing her eyes, Starlight asked, "Trixie, why do you owe Rainbow Dash money?"

Realizing her slip-up, Trixie scrambled to her hooves and tried to make for the door, which slammed right in her face as Starlight flung it wide with her magic. Rubbing her head, Trixie laughed, and turned to face Starlight, whose horn was now charged, a bright cyan shine lighting the floor around the unicorn.

"Uh, well, you see," Trixie stammered, pulling at a non-existent collar. Sweat started to break out along her forehead, and she backed slowly into the door as Starlight approached her.

"Choose your next words very, very carefully." Starlight snarled.

"Uh, uh," Trixie squeaked, stuck against the door and with only one avenue of escape. She began to charge her horn, but felt the energy fly away as Starlight’s horn grew brighter. Gulping as she figured out that Starlight was using a magic absorption spell, she blurted out, "Well, Trixie needed the money at the time, and Rainbow Dash was starting a betting pool with everypony at the school on whether you or Sunburst would kiss the other first!" she quickly spat out, gulping as Starlight's horn grew brighter.

"Rainbow Dash," Starlight grunted, shifting her gaze to look out the window.

"Can Trixie leave now?" the blue unicorn asked, relaxing a bit when Starlight began to calm down.

"Fine." Starlight sighed, powering down her horn and releasing the door to her room. "I'll have to 'talk' with Dash tomorrow."

Exhaling loudly, Trixie blew a quick "phew!" and prepared to head out. As she entered the hallway, she muttered, "But I was hoping to date Sunburst."

"What?!"

"Nothing!"

Comments

[FoolAmongTheStars]

Okay you two, I don't care how late it is. go. take. a. shower! Nobody likes the smell of stinky pony, ew!

Honestly, this is how I imagine their first date to be like, maybe not as messy, but still pretty awkward. I laughed aloud at various points of the story and may have screamed "FINALLY" when they kissed. Either Trixie is very stupid or has a death wish to utter the last part aloud. Great chapter, I'm loving this story to pieces!

[Autistic Retard]

Exhaling loudly, Trixie blew a quick "phew!" and prepared to head out. As she entered the hallway, she muttered, "But I was hoping to date Sunburst."

Surely didn’t expect that

[Test4Echo]

10811046
Ha! Nopony expects the Trixie flirtations. Perhaps Sunburst just is attractive to all the mares.