Panic presents
Sunburst often found himself struggling to find free time for the past twelve month. Not that he minded much, for if anypony was to take away what would usually be spent reading his collection in the comfort of his own home, he was glad it was Ristretto. Between taking care of Hazel, his new job, and spending time with the very pony who changed his entire life around, Sunburst had to make many changes in his life.
Regardless of his new habits, Sunburst’s life had already taken many twists and turns throughout the years. Whatever was to happen in his life, however, he wouldn’t let it take him away from a good book every once in a while.
With Hazel in school and Ristretto slogging it out as one of Canterlot’s star baristas, Sunburst had finally found the most opportune moment to be able to sit down and relax.
With all the housework done, everypony out of the house and the world temporarily in no need of him, Sunburst selected some dull non-fiction novel from his vastly reduced collection upon arrival in Canterlot, much to his own dismay, and Ristretto’s delight. His coltfriend had been trying more than usual to try to get Sunburst out of the house more often, yet that request often came second fiddle on days where he wasn’t there to monitor it.
Yet, something was different this time.
He went to sit down in his plush reading chair as he had thousands of times prior but a difference was immediately present as he leaned into the seat. Something different from all the times he had sat in the seat before. Much to his own amazement, his own bones ached as he settled into a very sparsely-used position as of recent. It had been almost an entire week since he had last been able to pick up a book, a considerable feat for a stallion as scholarly as himself.
“Sweet Celestia” he groaned as he adjusted his position and prepared to be lost into the book of whatever his half-asleep intuition chose at random. Exhaustion had plagued him ever since his schedule had evolved from get up, read, coffee shop, work, go home, read, bed, to a vast array of new responsibilities and friends. Family, however, remained the most significant change in his newfound relatively active active lifestyle was filled with love and care from Ristretto, both of them making time whenever they could. And while his relationship with Hazel was still slightly awkward and fledgling, Sunburst felt like he was breaking ground. Moving quickly hadn’t been easy on any of them; within two years and plenty of adversity, Sunburst had placed himself in the middle of an already very cemented family dynamic. Finding a comfortable slot in their life had not been easy, but Sunburst was determined to make it work.
Despite this, Sunburst couldn’t be happier with the situation he had found himself in. Canterlot was a busy city, and he wasn’t minding the change of pace. Yet, as fun as it could be being an important wizard in a city for the wizardly, Sunburst was feeling worn out by it all. Unfortunately for him, he was getting a little too used to the once unfamiliar feeling of exhaustion. Barely being able to sit still was not uncommon, his mind always planning and readying the next big activity. His newfound lack of an ability to settle down caused a foreign level of recklessness and stress, carving a very important, unhappy wizard.
His attention from the book wavered, much to his dismay. The room was too hot, he was sitting in a bad spot, this thing and that around the house were not done, the kitchen wasn’t quite spotless, and they had run out of a few assorted spices. His wandering mind managed to go all the way over to the calendar sitting idly in the kitchen around the corner.
Turning back to the book, he managed to read approximately five words before his eyes and attention were drawn back to the black, messy hoofwriting, unreadable from his current position. The more he tried to escape it’s attentive grasp, the more he was drawn to it. After another couple of seconds of intense battling between the book and the marking on the calendar, the calendar came out triumphant. Sunburst got up from his moderately comfortable position to check whatever date had sprung from the dark depths of the back of his mind.
Meandering over to the offending object in mild annoyance at his own inability to simply ignore it, Sunburst’s eyes widened as he saw what was on the calendar. Months ago, when the three of them had been preparing to place the new year’s calendar upon the wall, they wrote in important dates. Hazel had been so excited about his birthday that he wanted to write the date in himself…
That date was tomorrow and Sunburst hadn’t paid it a single thought, let alone a present.
…
Frantic: the perfect adjective to describe Sunburst’s desperate analysis of the shop windows he raced across in order to find the perfect gift for Hazel. The birthday colt coming home from school in half an hour fueled his haste, for what loving and thoughtful family member would have forgotten his pseudo little brother’s birthday?
Shop window after shop window...what newly appointed twelve-year-old would wantreal estate or coffee or home hardware or linen supplies or groceries or designer… dresses? No no no, that wouldn’t do. Shop after shop was deemed unsuitable for finding a gift for to a colt. Yet, among the busy Canterlot shopping precinct, a single golden solace appeared from the end of the lane.
“A toy shop!” Sunburst beamed, picking up his already power-trotting pace to a genuine canter, desperate to seek out that perfect present, get back to the house and wrap it… in half an hour…
The toy shop rapidly came into view, Sunburst’s heart picking up speed as the adrenaline kicked in. The door closed right as he approached, narrowly avoiding crashing into a wall of glass.He waited as patiently as a stallion on the edge could for the doors to open.
He waited…
And waited…
His shaking slowly faded, confusion and then panic taking its place as he looked at the shop’s closure notice due to renovation. Sunburst circled around in sheer panic, looking like a mad-pony from the outside as he desperately sought out a second alternative. Something further down the boulevard caught his attention, causing him to double-time towards it..Pricking his ears, he stopping dead in his tracks as the display window of a travel agent turned that ever so present panic into interest.
Trotting through the glass door, Sunburst was immediately greeted by a generic welcome bell and an invisible wall of scent, cleaning agent and industrial carpeting from what he could guess. The sound of quill against paper filled the room as a team of ponies diligently wrote itineraries and processed paperwork behind a pair of travel agents who gave the appearance that their smiles could reach over their faces. Uncertainty on the brink of nervousness filled Sunburst’s body as one of the travel agents looked up to greet him.
“Good afternoon sir! How can I help you?” she asked, using her magic to pull up a seat on Sunburst’s side of the countertop.
Tentatively, Sunburst stepped forward and sat himself down. “Hi, uhh. My name is Sunburst and well…” He shrugged. “I’m looking for a holiday, plain and simple I guess.”
She smiled back, somehow managing to make her monstrously large grin even larger. “Well, you’ve come to the right place. What sort of holiday are you looking for, any specifications?”
Sunburst thought for a moment, “The biggest thing of all, peaceful and relaxing, yet good for kids.”
…
“Heya Sunny,” Ristretto smiled as he walked through the door and into the living room, his exasperated sigh filling the room as he dumped his heavy saddle bags next to the door. He tiredly stumbled into Sunburst’s embrace, who had gotten up from the couch and walked over to the tired barista.
“Hey Retto, how was work?” he asked, giving his smaller coltfriend a peck on the head.
“It was alright, even better now that I finally get to come to see you after work rather than vice versa. I’m glad they finally gave you a day off.” He went in for an embrace, happily receiving it from his wizardly partner.
Sunburst wrapped his hooves around Ristretto tighter, looking over his back and at the saddle bags laying at the door. “Hmmm, I see something bulky in that saddle bag of yours, mister.”
Ristretto chuckled, “I can’t sneak anything by you, can I?” he smiled, nuzzling into Sunburst’s soft, orange coat, something he had notably kept far softer since being in a relationship with Ristretto. “It’s actually…” Ristretto leaned in close and crept up to Sunburst’s much higher ear. “Is Hazel here?”
“He’s at a friend’s place. I’m assuming that is what you got him for his birthday?” Sunburst asked, breaking the hug and giving his attention to the saddle bags Ristretto seemed to have forgotten. The barista whinnied in excitement and bounced over to his bags, eager to show Sunburst what he had gotten for his little brother.
“Well, someone didn’t forget clearly, you sound almost as excited as he is. In fact, I think he has been very quiet about his birthday. But regardless, I got him this,” Ristretto had an excited grin plastered on his face as he showed his coltfriend what lay ahead for the small colt.
“Jeez, a professional ink and quill set and a new travel bag for his scooter? I wish you were my brother, you have a knack for gift giving,” Sunburst replied, turning over the objects in his hooves and putting them back into the sack, away from the eyes of a prying soon-to-be-home birthday colt.
Ristretto reached up and gave him a peck on the cheek and a goofy smile. “I’m your coltfriend! You got special privledge,” he replied, slinging an arm around Sunburst and walking with him into the living room. Both of them fell onto the couch together and snuggled close, their hooves intertwining as they wound down for the day.
“So, Mr. Best Big Brother in the world,” Ristretto began, resting his head on Sunburst’s shoulders, “what have you gotten for the birthday boy?”
“You’ll just have to find out in the morning.” He smirked, “But I can promise it’s gonna be huge.”
After a moment of silence, Ristretto broke their embrace and pointed his hoof threateningly at Sunburst. “I swear to Celestia, if you got him an antique like you did me, I’m gonna send you back to Ponyville where you can do all the antiquing in the world.”
Sunburst grabbed his hoof and pulled him back onto the couch “Nooo!” he whined, pulling Ristretto back into his hooves. “I didn’t. I promise you’re going to love it, you and Hazel both,.” Sunburst reassured him. The two remained there, Ristretto out of tiredness, Sunburst out of boredom and a lack of willingness to break his grasp.
After a long bout of relaxing, something finally clicked in Ristretto’s head. “Wait… why will I love it?” he asked turning around to face Sunburst.
With a smile and a wink, Sunburst used his hoof to mimic him zipping up his lips, eliciting an annoyed scoff from the other stallion’s lips. “You are such a romantic, aren’t you?” Ristretto smiled, settling into the new position.
“You can fucking count on it,” he purred, sending shivers down Ristretto’s spine. Sunburst slowly grabbed Ristretto and lied down on his back on the couch, the smaller of the two on top.
“Do you kiss your coltfriend with that mouth?” Ristretto rested his head on Sunburst’s puffed out chest, burying his face into the wizard’s very wizardly beard, making him giggle. Ristretto’s head bounced along with the laughing, causing a goofy grin to break out.
“Watch me.”