> Brilliant Sunburst
>  by David Silver
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1 - With But a Coo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunburst waved at the departing princess. "Have fun." 

Sunburst's horn glowed as he turned away, closing the door behind the royal couple. "Just us now." 

He turned to see Flurry Heart watching him intently. "Yes, I do mean you." 

He came to the filly and gently nuzzled her, ruffling her mane to her clear delight and bright smile. "As the crystaler, I am your foalsitter. You know that."

She giggled with joy, grabbing his snout and gently taking hold of it. He laughed, sitting with her perched on him at that curious attachment point. "Feeling playful. Well, fine then. Let's see how you deal with... this!" 

He tickled her with gentle touches of his magic, getting her to squeal and struggle, but it was in good fun, and he was careful to always back off the moment she seemed to be approaching her limits. She was still smiling when the tickling stopped, babbling with joy.

"Liked that, huh?" But she was reaching at him, wanting something? "Are you..." It clicked. "Oh." He went to fetch the bottle. Cadance had only left him the one bottle, but that was likely enough for their time away. "Here you are." 

With his magic, he warmed the milk gently as he brought the floating bottle over. "Hope you're ready." Flurry took a solid grasp, her snout seeking the teat of the bottle and gulping it down quickly. She was a growing filly, and she needed her fuel.

Sunburst chuckled softly, settling down next to her. "And now we relax until they get home." He half curled around her. Usually, after she had a bottle, she fell right to sleep. Napping with her was generally a great way to make the time go flying past. He'd wake up to find the royal couple returned, and his duty complete. Yes, that felt like a great idea. He slipped into dreams, curled around Flurry protectively.

Sunburst was startled awake by a strange sensation. As his eyes fluttered open, he realized with a shock that Flurry Heart was nuzzling against his underbelly. But something was very wrong - he had teats!

Sunburst leapt to his hooves and rushed to the nearest mirror, gasping as he saw his reflection. His muscular stallion body had been replaced by the slimmer, curvier form of a mare. His mane was longer, his voice higher-pitched. "Wha-what happened?!" he, she? squeaked out.

Behind him... her? Flurry Heart cooed happily. Sunburst realized with embarrassment that she must have accidentally transformed him with a surge of her unstable alicorn magic while trying to get his attention.

"Oh dear, they aren't going to like this," Sunburst fretted. He focused, trying to cast a counter spell, but nothing happened. His own magic had always been weak, but now he found even simple spells were beyond his new mare body's abilities. A different horn he wasn't practiced with didn't lend itself to his magic.

Flurry Heart crawled up to him, looking pleased with her work. She nuzzled against his underbelly again, searching.

"No, no, none of that now," Sunburst admonished gently, but couldn't help blushing brightly. This was going to be difficult to explain when Cadance and Shining Armor returned!

"What am I going to do?" Sunburst sighed, cradling his head in his hooves. This had to be fixed before the royal couple came home! But how? He went still, entire body going rigid as a new sensation ran over him... no, that was 100% a female sensation. No stallion had any reason to know that one.

Stallions did not have teats. Mares did. She had a little filly nursing eagerly at her. "N-not... Now..." Her complaints felt weak even to herself. Why did it have to feel so good? It wasn't an exciting good. It was like everything was just... so... perfect. She felt like her entire world was just in the right order. She was feeding this child, and there was no better place for her to be.

Sunburst sank with a sigh, the fight beaten out of her with the flood of strange chemistry, insisting she was doing things right. "Flurry," she complained without bite. "I'm you're foalsitter, not your wet nurse..."

Flurry had no compassion, only hunger. For better or worse, she gorged to fullness and rolled over, going right back to sleep.

"Really?" Sunburst sat up, running a hoof through her longer, but still frizzy, mane. "Now's the time you sleep..." Still, at least she wasn't paralyzed anymore. She could consider what had happened and why. Surely it wasn't just a random... event... "Right?"

Sunburst paced back and forth, mind racing as she tried to make sense of the bizarre situation. There must be an explanation for why she was suddenly a mare - magic as powerful as this doesn't just happen randomly. 

She thought back to everything that had transpired before the incident. Cadance and Shining Armor had left her in charge of babysitting Flurry Heart. The young alicorn had accidentally unleashed her magic before, but never anything this drastic. Still, it stood to reason her developing abilities were involved. 

Sunburst's own magical talent had always been lacking. But now, she could feel something new flowing within her changed body. An unfamiliar power that tingled through her horn. Was that even related, or just a coincidence? She was lacking in information.

"Okay, logic." She clopped her hooves together with an unsure smile. "I fed you." She pointed at the slumbering filly. "But you were hungry when I woke up. So we know you were still hungry..." She reached down and poked at her new udders, slender, but present. Those were not a thing a stallion should ever have!

"You were hungry... And you fixed it." She laughed deliriously. "You fixed it. You fixed me. You fixed me." She shook her head. "Calm down!" She took several deep breaths. "Calm... down. Okay. You ..." She looked to Flurry, who had no direct answers to offer. "You made me a mare. You wanted milk, you made me a mare." She laughed tensely. "I didn't know you could do that. I bet you didn't know you could do that... But you did."

She flagged her tail and curled for a peek. Yep. Mare. She was a mare in every way one could be a mare. "Yep... Oh... Is Cadance going to yell at me, or laugh at me?" Was both an option?

Sunburst paced anxiously, thinking through the implications of her transformation.  The true conundrum was why Sunburst's magic had failed to revert the change. Perhaps there was more at play than just Flurry's random whims. Sunburst concentrated, horn glowing as she tried to analyze the magical energies woven through her new form. To her surprise, the spell came easily, power flowing smoothly.

There - she could detect the remnants of Flurry Heart's power, but intertwined was an older enchantment. Something deep within Sunburst had been unlocked when she took on the role of a nurturing mare. This dormant magic had been drawn out and magnified.

Sunburst bit her lip. Cadance would surely be shocked, but may also have insight into this phenomenon. She was Flurry's mother, after all. Who else would know how to deal with her wild magic?

Sunburst perked with an idea. "I never could get that spell right!" But she had a new horn, and new power? She focused on it, playing the magical song with her horn. Her old self draped over her new self. Sure, it was entirely an illusion, but she was back to looking like a he. It was a fake. She knew that.

Anypony that touched her would know that. She was still a mare. She was a mare in every way that counted. She tucked her tail just thinking about it. "Easy. We wait for them to come home." She went to the window and peeked out across the Crystal Empire. Somewhere out there, Shining and Cadance were having a wonderful evening out.

She thought of Shining and felt heat grow. He was a dork, but she liked dorks. He was fit, strong, powerful... He was everything she wanted.

Sunburst shook her head rapidly. "Whoa there!" Sunburst was a stallion that preferred mares, um, comparatively.

But she wasn't a stallion. She was a mare. She was a mare thinking about how she was kinda attracted to Shining Armor. "He's taken!" she wailed to nopony there. "And he's a... he." Her body didn't care. Her inner self somehow didn't care. He was a fine potential mate, and worthy of consideration.

"Fine, considering. He's taken. End consideration." Sunburst drove a hoof down with a loud clop.

The door suddenly opened. "We're home," called Cadance, Shining a step behind her.

Sunburst froze, her illusion faltering as Cadance and Shining Armor entered. She quickly strengthened it again, hoping they hadn't noticed anything amiss yet. 

"Oh, you're back earlier than I expected!" Sunburst said, trying to sound casual. 

"We finished up our dinner and came home." Shining frowned slightly. "Are you feeling alright, Sunburst? You look...off, somehow."

Cadance glanced at him curiously. "Is everything okay? Where's Flurry?"

"Flurry's sleeping just fine!" Sunburst said quickly. Too quickly. "I, uh, was trying out a new spell earlier. It must be making me seem a little strange." She laughed nervously.

Cadance's eyes narrowed, and Sunburst gulped. The alicorn's horn glowed as she focused her magic senses on Sunburst. Within moments, the illusion vanished completely. 

"Sunburst! You're...you're a mare!" Cadance exclaimed in surprise. 

Shining Armor's jaw dropped. "What in Equestria happened?!"

Sunburst blushed deeply, rubbing her legs together anxiously. No hiding it now. "Well, it's kind of a funny story actually..." she started explaining weakly, expecting the worse.

A sudden happy squeal drew their attention. Flurry was making her way across the floor towards her mother. Cadance rushed to close the distance, the two meeting in a firm hug. "There you are, and looking just fine." She nestled Flurry close. "Unlike you." She regarded Sunburst curiously, one ear perked, the other flattened back.

Sunburst rubbed at her cheek. "So... turns out Flurry's having a growth spurt."

Shining hiked a brow, ears flattening back. "What does that have to do with..." He waved over Sunburst's new form. "This."

Sunburst sighed, deflating with defeat. "She finished the milk you left me with and apparently wanted more. She made me into a source of more milk."

Cadance blinked with wide eyes. "Oh.... Oh! Oh." She inclined her head slowly. "I would, if we're being honest, expect you to be panicking a lot more than you are, considering."

Shining tucked his tail. "I would not be happy."

"I'm not happy." Sunburst clopped the floor. "But panicking won't help. Cadance, ma'am... Do you know how to fix this?"

Cadance looked Sunburst over with an intense gaze, horn glowing with subtle magic. "Mmmm... No... I'm afraid Flurry did something a little deeper than just flipping that switch. I presume you already tried to reverse it?"

"I didn't work," groaned out Sunburst, heavy with defeat. "Do you know why?"

"Because of your magic." Cadance waved over Sunburst with a metal clad hoof. "It's changed. You were given a new form, and your magic rushed to fill in the gaps. I can't say for certain, but I feel something like the Crystal Heart... Flurry is already tied to it, so that isn't as surprising as it could be."

Sunburst's eyes widened in surprise. "The Crystal Heart? You really think Flurry's magic drew on its power to transform me?" 

Cadance nodded thoughtfully. "It's possible. The Heart has ancient magic tied to it. If Flurry unconsciously tapped into that and directed it towards you, it could explain the...depth of the changes."

Shining Armor looked between them in confusion. "Is somepony going to explain what exactly is going on here? Sunburst is a mare now, and my daughter did it because she was hungry?"

Sunburst blushed again. "It's true, I'm afraid. I was watching Flurry while you were gone. She wanted more milk, and suddenly I was...able to provide it." 

Cadance gave Sunburst a sympathetic smile. "It sounds like Flurry's magic responded to her needs, and she must see you as a caregiver figure."  

"But why not turn Sunburst back right away after?" Shining asked.

"The magic affected more than just Sunburst's body," Cadance explained. "It tapped into something deeper too."

Sunburst nodded. "I can feel it - my own magic has changed as well. It's like who I am shifted when I became a mare."

Cadance put a reassuring hoof on Sunburst's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll figure this out. For now, why don't you two catch up while I see about getting Flurry settled back in for the evening?"

Sunburst felt a wave of relief. At least Cadance was being so understanding about such a bizarre situation! Now she just hoped her magic could be restored to normal in time...

One could hope?
> 2 - Sympathetic Ears
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunburst went home. Where else could he... she? Go? The royal couple had come home, and thus they didn't need company anymore.

Sunburst opened the door to their cluttered little abode. Something about it bothered them. "Hm..."

They took a few moments cleaning up, putting things away. "I really should..."

She let a book drop from her numb magic. "That isn't like me."

"But I refuse!" They clopped in place. "Being clean isn't just a mare thing! But it isn't, um, hasn't... been a 'me' thing... very highly."

The universe didn't care.

With a sigh, they got back to at least doing a basic tidy, with books out of the way and up on shelves. "Better."

They had taken a nap just before things happened. They didn't feel tired as a result. So they had little to do but ponder their situation.

They curled on themselves, looking over their altered form. "Why did I..." They colored a little. They were a pretty, if somewhat disheveled, mare. Then again, they never had a very strong filter.

They had always assumed about any more would have no interest in them, no matter what interest they held for the mare.

Ta da, a mare that couldn't help but echo their feelings. "Thanks, I hate it," they grumbled out at the unfeeling universe.

But did they hate it? Their body, as unusual as it was, seemed to be in good working order. It was pleasing to the eyes and even the voice was... It was nice.

They ran their hooves over their face. "Aw." They had lost their beard. Okay, they missed that a little. But it was so smooth, the fur there. That was... It had its own appeal.

Sunburst pondered her unfamiliar form, conflicted emotions swirling. In many ways, this new mare body didn't feel bad - it was sleek, graceful, pleasing to the senses. Her magic practically sung with accessible power then, too.

Yet a sense of loss persevered. They missed the familiar weight of their beard, the build of masculinity that had felt like home. And they couldn't shake the uncertainty over why all this had happened in the first place. There were still more questions than answers.

Rising with a sigh, Sunburst decided some tea might help settle their nerves. As the kettle heated, they found their gaze lingering on her reflection in the kitchen window. Rounder features, elegant neck, stylish mane...this mare was beautiful, no use denying it. A blush colored Sunburst's cheeks. Was a little vanity really so bad?

The kettle whistled, breaking Sunburst's reverie. As they prepared the soothing chamomile blend, determination solidified. Whatever mysteries still shrouded this transformation, one truth was clear - their skills, their mind, her very identity remained unchanged. Mare or stallion, they was still Sunburst. 

With the first calming sip, tension eased from Sunburst's shoulders. Answers could wait until tomorrow. Tonight, they would indulge in self care - mind, body and spirit. They had earned that much. Curled on the couch with their book and tea, Sunburst felt contentment creeping back in. Everything would look brighter in the morning.





Sunburst sat with a cautious smile. They had been invited to the royal breakfast. A spread of delightful foods and drinks teased at their senses. They had been invited to such breakfasts before, but it hit them differently... It was like they could smell it.

That was silly, they could always smell the wonderfully prepared offerings. But, that day, they could smell it even more. Did mares have better scent? Sunburst swelled as they took a deep inhale, only to release it with a soft woosh. "Compliments to the chef... This smells fantastic."

Cadance smiled from a few seats around the round table. "I'll be certain to pass that along. Are you feeling better? You seem calmer."

Shining lifted an ear at Sunburst. "You were already pretty calm, relatively. I'd be beside myself right now."

Sunburst took a plate and began to serve themselves. "I keep my emotions on the inside, um, when I can... This new... body comes with a steep learning curve.  Cadance, ma'am, Highness... Um... can I ask questions..." They rolled their hooves over one another. "About the mare condition."

Cadance inclined her head. "I'll certainly try to help. It would be  unkind to leave you on your own after my own daughter did this to you."

Sunburst gave Cadance a grateful smile as she nibbled at a dainty cucumber sandwich. Already her new form seemed inclined towards lighter fare compared to her previous appetite. Just another adjustment on the list.

“Well, primarily...” Sunburst cleared her throat, fighting back a blush. “How do you manage...cycles?” She folded her ears back, the biological realities suddenly feeling much more imminent. “I read about such things, but living them may prove...challenging.”  

Cadance nodded in understanding while Shining Armor focused intently on his plate. “There are some methods and medications that can help regulate cycles,” she explained. “But often it does require adjusting routines and mindsets when needed. Listen to what your body tells you it needs in the moment.”

Sunburst absorbed this with a slow exhale. She had a hundred academic questions, but perhaps she was better off learning by experience for such intimate matters. Still, broaching awkward topics seemed wise while she had an expert on hoof.  

“And...relationships?” Sunburst ventured hesitantly. “Courting, marriage - do the expectations change?” She thought of her reflexive evaluation of Shining Armor’s appeal and flushed again. Cadance merely gave a gentle laugh.  

“At the core, what you want and need from a partner should remain the same, regardless of your own gender.” She smiled at her husband warmly. “But navigating social dynamics can add complications.”  

Sunburst bit her lip considering past crushes through fresh perspective. She had much to ponder and explore regarding this new incarnation of herself. But surrounded by sympathy and wisdom, she felt the future steadily brightening.

Shining coughed into a hoof. "Of all the things you could ask,you start with cycles and dating tips? Are you sure you're alright?"

Sunburst's color grew over their entire face. "I..."

"Just saying..." Shining pointed at Sunburst. "But I get the feeling maybe this isn't as bad as you thought it was, to start."

"Shining!" Cadance gently bonked him with a floating ladel. "You're being rude. Now, just to be clear." She cleared her throat, just to be extra clear. "If you are comfortable as a mare, then we welcome you, as a mare. If you still wish to explore ways to return to being a stallion, then our efforts will continue to find that answer. You, Sunburst, are a valued and beloved pony of ours. That hasn't changed."

Sunburst felt twin surges of embarrassment and relief at the royals' words. She offered Cadance a timid but grateful smile.

"I admit, it may sound odd, but being a mare hasn't been entirely unpleasant so far," she acknowledged, blushing. "It will undoubtedly pose unique challenges I've yet to discover. But thus far, I can't claim to hate it."

She bit her lip. "Yet at the same time, the thought of remaining changed forever feels...daunting. I don't wish to make any permanent decisions prematurely before I've fully grasped what path is best. Does that make sense?" 

Cadance nodded. "Of course! This is a major adjustment. Take all the time you need to process it without pressure. Just know we support you either way."

Sunburst returned the smile more readily. It was reassuring to have such open-minded ponies in her corner rather than facing the situation alone. She spared a wry glance for Shining Armor but found only sincerity in his gaze. Her nerves settled - with true friends around her, she could handle whatever came next, stallion or mare.

"Now!" Cadance gestured to the laden table. "I insist you try the potato frittata muffins. The chef outdid herself today..."

The conversation turned to lighter topics, and Sunburst found her appetite returning. Today was the start of a journey, but the first steps were looking brighter and easier than she had dared hope yesterday. But questions lingered...

"Ma'am?"

Cadance patted Sunburst's shoulders. "You know us more than that. You can call me Cadance."

"Cadance... ma'am..." Sunburst worried her hooves fretfully. "When... Flurry availed herself to the milk, yesterday... I felt... very good. Is that normal? Um... I mean this without prurience..."

Cadance hiked a brow at the question. "Shining, dear... Are you done with breakfast?"

"Huh? Mostly Why?" He sipped from a tall glass of juice, looking between the two of them. "Oh... See you later, okay?" He put the cup down, kissed Cadance's cheek, and made himself scarce.

Cadance leaned forward, hooves clasped under her chin. "Such contact, by its nature, is a very intimate connection. It isn't the lewd thing I think you're worried about."

"Um, good...." Sunburst tapped their... her... hooves. "But I mean it... It felt like, uh... Like everything was right?"

Cadance inclined  her head slowly. "It sounds like you had a very strong reaction. I feel satisfied... happy, when I know I'm feeding Flurry..."

She glanced at where Shining had been. "This could just be you feeling such a new part in such a strong way. Or more... I wouldn't rush to decide so quickly."

Sunburst absorbed Cadance's words with a slow exhale, both reassured and slightly unnerved by the intensity of what she had experienced. To feel such an innate sense of rightness and satisfaction over something so new and foreign...it hinted at changes running deeper than she had grasped.

"I suppose such a fundamental alteration courtesy of Flurry Heart was bound to impact me significantly across the board, emotions included," she mused. "Even if the means were quite unconventional."  

She let out a small, self-conscious laugh. "Forgive my candid curiosity. As a stallion, the workings of the female form were purely academic. Living them has been quite the education thus far."

Cadance smiled warmly. "It's perfectly understandable! I'm happy to answer any questions I can. And I have resources we can review as needed to fill in gaps."  

She gave Sunburst an appraising look. "For now, just focus on tuning into what your body and instincts tell you, without shame. The rest can come in time. And if anything gives you real concern, my door is always open."

Sunburst nodded, some tension leaving her shoulders. She had not expected to find such immediate acceptance and support. But trusting Cadance's guidance would make walking this strange path much smoother.  

"Thank you, Ca...Aunt Cadance," she corrected with a small smile. "I'm lucky my circumstances led me here, however unexpectedly. Now...I don't suppose the chef could be persuaded to share her scone recipe?"

Cadance burst into light laughter. "Aunt? Me? You silly dear..." But still, she didn't fight the title being given. "Aunt..." It was like she was tasting the word, and she didn't seem to mind it. "Now, magic. Your magic. I'd like to know how yours is feeling. Is it better today?"

The recipe would have to wait... "Um... I confess, I've been distracted." Sunburst lit her horn with the most basic light spell. The room was bathed with the light of that glow, far brighter than she had planned. "Oh!"

"Impressive." Cadance leaned back away from the luminous display. "How hard are you trying?"

"Not very..." Sunburst cut the light. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to blind you."

"You'll have to try harder than that." Cadance winked. "Why don't you try experimenting? See if you can get a hoof on things and use all the spells you knew before, gracefully?"

Sunburst perked up at the thought of experimenting with her enhanced abilities, scholar's curiosity rising to the fore.

"An excellent suggestion!" she declared. Focusing, her horn lit up once more as she conjured several illusory duplicates of herself, each one moving about the room independently. The spell had only worn Sunburst out when she attempted it as a novice. Now it scarcely took any effort.

"Fascinating!" Sunburst grinned at her handiwork, each illusion mimicking her expressions. With a wink, one duplicate briefly took on Shining Armor's appearance before reverting back.

Cadance broke into fresh giggles at the harmless trick. "It seems your skills have grown exponentially. But do take care not to overwhelm yourself as you explore the limits," she advised warmly.

Sunburst dispersed her magical copies with a nod. "Of course, pacing myself would be wise," she agreed, still alight with scholarly fascination over this whole affair. She had much yet to learn about her transformation in all regards. But some parts were proving most intriguing indeed!
> 3 - Friend in Need
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunburst jumped with surprise, sloshing the water in her tub. She hadn't expected that sharp knocking. "Who is it?"

"Wow," came a familiar, if muffled, voice. "Is that really you, Sun?"

Sunburst clambered up out of the tub, her magic grabbing some towels to rub herself dry. "S-star?!"

The door swung open, glowing with Starlight's magic. "One and the... wow..." She got a chance to see Sunburst fully, still damp. "Wow... Wow! Seriously... Wow." Starlight entered and bumped the door shut behind her. "Look at you."

Sunburst shrank back, unsure how to feel, or how they were feeling with or without prompting. "Um, hi?"

"Hey yourself." Starlight closed the distance and orbited Sunburst to get a full look. Her magic casually flipped Sunburst's tail on the way. "Yep... mare. All mare. Every angle, mare.  I heard you had a bit of an 'accident' and came at a gallop to offer a hoof."

Sunburst tucked her tail in tight after the flip, colored darkly across her face. "All mare," she squeaked out. "Like you."

"Not like me." Starlight rolled her eyes. "I was born a mare. You became one. That isn't me coming down on you, but I've had moons of experience with the mare thing. You haven't even had one, but you're an adult. There's gonna be differences, Sun."

"Y-yeah... I can't exactly argue that...." She stood up and turned in place. "So... how do I look?"

Starlight let out a sharp whistle. "Girl! If I was hunting, I'd tackle you right now."

Sunburst blinked rapidly, reaching up to adjust her glasses. "R-really? Are you just saying that?"

Starlight smirked at her transormed friend. "I try not to 'just say' things. You're part of the pretty mare club. We meet on the weekends. Bring a dessert."

Sunburst laughed at the invitation. "You're joking."

"I am." Starlight bumped sidelong into Sunburst. "Seriously, you're alright with this? No flack. I'll love my Sunburst mare just like I loved my Sunburst stallion. But I want to hear it from you. How are you feeling?"

Sunburst's ears folded down as she considered Starlight's earnest query. How was she feeling? Her oldest friend deserved an honest response.

"Honestly? Still quite bewildered...and overwhelmed at times," she acknowledged. "My body seems very pleased with these changes, but my brain is struggling to catch up."

She gestured at her sleeker physique, flushing slightly. "I can scarcely walk down the street without attracting shocked gazes or...appreciative ones. But everypony who knows me has accepted the new look, at least."

Starlight nodded. "It's a lot to handle. But hey, might be fun to experience being the pretty girl every colt crushes on for awhile!" Her smile faded to concern. "...This isn't permanent though, right Sunny? Please say Twilight's got a reversal spell or something in the works."

Sunburst bit her lip. They hadn't discovered a means to undo Flurry Heart's wayward wish yet. And with each passing day, part of her wondered if that was for the best...

But Starlight deserved the full truth. Steeling herself, Sunburst met her friend's sympathetic gaze. "It seems reversing this will be...complicated magic. But we have our best minds on it." She prayed that would be enough...

Starlight cocked a brow. "I'm sure they're working on it, but what do you want? Let's pretend I can fix it." Her horn glowed with potential. "Just a little zap, back to stallion. You want it?"

Sunburst tensed with the blunt question. "Well, um..."

"Too late." Starlight brushed past Sunburst. "Your delay says everything. You're liking it, at least enough to want to see more. That's alright. You goofball!" She swatted at Sunburst. "Stop being shy about it. You want to try the mare thing? You already have a hoof in it, lean into it."

"W-what would that entail, exactly?" Sunburst rubbed along her neck. "Trying perfume?"

Starlight regarded Sunburst with a playful gleam in her eyes. "Oh it entails way more than perfume, girl! We're gonna have some real fun helping you embrace your feminine side."

She began eagerly rummaging through Sunburst's closet, levitating out anything dimly feminine. "First, we meet Rarity for a makeover - I'm thinking flowing locks, maybe some highlights..."

Sunburst's eyes widened as items went flying. "Goodness, I don't know about all that!"

Starlight paused, an array of scarves and dresses floating around her. "You're right, my bad. I got overeager playing dress up." Her expression softened. "This is your gender journey Sunny. We'll take it at your pace. But the offer stands - I'm here whenever you want to explore the mare mysteries." 

She nuzzled against Sunburst's cheek affectionately. "However it shakes out, you'll always be my best friend."

Sunburst hugged her tight, tension easing. With Starlight lighting her way, this unfamiliar path suddenly seemed less intimidating. Maybe a few careful first steps wouldn't hurt...

"Well I did think that lilac scarf was rather fetching," she murmured, smiling shyly. "Would you show me how best to style it?"

Starlight grinned, eyes shining. "It would be my pleasure!"

She levitated out the scarf and wrapped it around Sunburst's neck, arranging it just so. "Hang it like... this. There we are, putting a good hoof forward."

Sunburst turned to consider herself in a mirror. "Neat..."

"It's more than 'neat', Sun." She slid in at Sunburst's side. "Look, some stallions get it, but about 80% of mares do. Showing off is fun."

"Showing off to other ponies?"

"Sure." Starlight shrugged at that. "But it doesn't have to be. Showing off just to yourself counts, and it's fun, and it feels good." She waved at Sunburst's reflection. "Look at yourself, clean, with a slick scarf... How do you feel?"

"I feel..." She turned left and right, eyes locked on the mirror. "I feel good..."

"And you aren't showing off to anypony but yourself." Starlight snorted gently. "The only pony that really matters. You do this for you. If you weren't feeling it, then you just don't do it."

Sunburst's smile grew warmer as Starlight's wisdom sank in. She had been so focused on what anypony else thought of her changed form. The possibility of indulging simply because she wanted to, with no other motive, was oddly freeing.

"You know, I never considered it that way," she mused. "As a studious sort, I'm rather unused to doing things purely for my own gratification." Sunburst leaned closer to her reflection, letting her longer locks tumble over her shoulders. There was an elegant charm to it all.

"No time like the present to start!" Starlight declared brightly. "What's something you've secretly wanted to experience but felt too reserved or proper to try before?"

Sunburst tapped her chin thoughtfully. Tea parties and makeovers held little allure. But the grace and poise of dance had always intrigued her from afar. Flowing fabrics, glittering lights, being whisked around a ballroom...

"Well there are waltzing classes held at the dance hall on weekends," she ventured hesitantly. Watching the dancers had been a simple pleasure during her solitary years. 

Starlight's grin was all the encouragement she needed. "Then tonight, we're going dancing!" Her eyes softened fondly. "It's perfect Sunny."

Heart suddenly fluttering with anticipation, Sunburst had to agree. With a confident friend beside her, feminine explorations seemed far less intimidating. In truth, they were starting to feel wonderfully, indulgently exciting!

Starlight smooched Sunburst on the cheek. "See you tonight. Be ready!" She marched right out of Sunburst's house, looking quite certain about her plans for the evening.

Sunburst rubbed at her cheek, a new thought coming. She had been kissed by a mare, as a mare.

She was alright with that...

But she wasn't a mare that only wanted the company of other mares. Her cheeks warmed, thinking of how it felt, thinking about the forbidden fruit that was Shining Armor.

Was she just a depraved pony that loved anything that moved? She shuddered with hesitant fear. "Is that normal?" she asked herself, voice full of doubt.

She bit her lip, heart racing as she considered ponies like Shining Armor in new context. No, surely plenty of mares balanced interest in multiple partners over time. These feelings weren't some sinister loss of self, no matter how new and overwhelming.

Still, uncertainty plagued her, this emerging sense of self frighteningly unmoored. She longed to confide her worries in somepony safe and wise. But the words tangled in her throat at the thought, shame burning her cheeks.

With a sigh, Sunburst brushed aside anxious what-ifs for now. She focused on what she knew for certain - that her closest friend cared deeply, no matter her form.

Thinking of Starlight brought a smile to Sun's face. "It's good to have friends." She circled in place. "Okay, finishing this."

She put her effort into cleaning, making sure everything was put in its place. "This is the same thing..." It wasn't clean for anypony but herself. But who else counted for more to her? She was showing off, for herself. "Brilliant..."

She sighed with satisfaction, looking over her cleaned house. "Good." It wasn't good for anypony else, just her. But that was good enough.

Feeling confident, she stepped outside and headed down the street at a lively trot. That was when she could remember the looks. She was, to any given pony, a new pony, or a confusing thing happened to a pony they knew. Some of them seemed to recognize her as one, and others the other.

Their reactions ranged wildly from interest to confusion to a few looks of concern or disapproval. "Sun!" called out a sudden voice, a crystal mare trotting to intercept Sunburst. "What happened? I thought the crystaler was a stallion..." She looked Sunburst over curiously. "But you aren't."

"I'm not." Admitting it felt... odd, but powerful. "Hello. I'm still Sunburst." She turned in place. "A mare."

"Hello, Sunburst the mare." The crystal mare giggled at the introduction. "Nice to meet you, again. I'm Amber Laurel. I was at that crystaling. What a show that was. But I saw you then, and I see you now..." She cycled her hooves slowly. "So I can see the difference... You okay?"

Sunburst considered the mare. She had soft blue-purple fur for a coat with a bright orange-red for her mane and tail. "Oh, I think I remember you."

Amber snorted with a smile. "I wasn't the start of the show, like you. Seriously, you alright?"

"I think I am. Um, getting used to things..."

"I can imagine!" She threw a hoof at that. "That's quite a change. Was it a magic accident? Were you researching some ancient spell and accidentally cast it?"

Sunburst considered that. Was saying the truth the right thing? She hadn't been asked to keep it a secret... "You know Flurry, right?"

"Princess Cadance's daughter, of course." Amber nudged Sunburst with an elbow. "The other star of that crystaling. Of course I know her. What about her?"

Sunburst shuffled a hoof, weighing how much to share. But Amber gazed back earnestly, non-judgement shining in her eyes. Trust grew in Sunburst - this compassionate stranger had known her before the change too.

"Well...I was foalsitting Flurry when she worked some very inventive magic," Sunburst explained simply, letting the implications speak for themselves.

Amber blinked once then nodded in understanding. "Wild magic mishap from an impressionable little alicorn. Completely understandable!" She smiled kindly in a way that eased Sunburst's lingering tension. "Well, if we're being frank, you make quite a lovely mare, Sunburst."

Sunburst blushed, murmuring thanks. Amber laughed brightly. "Oh, I mean it sincerely! But I can also see this is still fresh and startling. If you ever want to talk it out or even just distract yourself with a pastry, let me know?"

She gestured over her shoulder. "My café's just around the corner - friends and quality conversations are always welcome!"

Sunburst's smile came easier, comforted by such gentle openness from a near stranger. Perhaps each small connection could buoy her up, step by step.

"I...may take you up on that offer soon," Sunburst replied, waving a warm farewell as they parted ways. Her pace felt lighter now. Even unexpected ripples could reveal kind hearts if you let them.
> 4 - Crystaler
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm so glad you could make this." Cadance was hurrying around, checking herself in a small mirror and primping herself. "We shouldn't be gone long."

Shining chuckled as he slid up next to Sunburst. "You sure you're up for this? Last time you watched her..."

Sunburst huffed, stepping away from Shining. "I am still her crystaler... It's my fault for falling asleep around a foal like that. She could have hurt herself... I'm glad that didn't happen..."

Cadance swept Sunburst into a sudden hug. "You are the best pony ever!" She squeezed Sunburst warmly. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that, even if I'm still sorry... about that... I left two bottles of milk." She inclined her head towards the kitchen. "In case she gets hungry."

Shining snickered softly. "Are you sure you have to worry about that? Sunny here has all she could want."

Sunburst colored at the implication as Cadance began striking him with a scepter. "You are lucky I already made those reservations or I'd consider cancelling the whole thing," she boomed, half-chasing him from the house.

Shining's teasing words echoed in Sunburst's mind even after the rulers had departed. Was she truly so well-equipped now if Flurry grew hungry again? The notion left her blushing faintly as she straightened her glasses.

"Well, no use fretting about hypotheticals," Sunburst murmured, making her way toward the nursery. "I'm sure Flurry will be on her best behavior this..."

Her voice trailed off as she entered the nurstery. Toys were scattered everywhere, books yanked from shelves, and in the midst of the miniature disaster zone sat Flurry, chewing contentedly on her crib bars.

Sunburst sighed, magic lighting to begin repairs as she glanced wryly at her charge. "Then again, I suppose expecting 'best behavior' is rather optimistic given past precedent, hm?"

Flurry blinked innocently around her mouthful of wood. But her eyes shown with precocious alertness...and was that a hint of mischief? Sunburst had a distinct notion this would be anything but an uneventful evening. 

"Hey there, kiddo." Sunburst sat just in front of the crib and reached over the top of it, horn glowing to help scoop Flurry into her arms. "You're looking ready for some fun."

Flurry babbled, the words lacking meaning, but her joy clear enough. She grabbed one of Sunburst's arms and snuggled against it with the pure happiness only a child could have.

Sunburst smiled, the tension of the day melting at the display. "Happy to see you too..." Whatever worries had been there just faded away as she hugged Flurry back carefully. "Such a good little filly you are."

But her mood was anything but stable. Wanting to play, she wriggled from Sunburst's grip, landing with her wings out to catch herself on a smooth trip to the ground. With an adventurous squeal, she began powering out of the room.

"Woah, hold up there," laughed out Sunburst, following right after her. "We can't have you getting hurt."

Sunburst trotted after the exuberant Flurry as she zipped through Cadance and Shining's royal apartments. The filly nearly upended an end table in her quest for adventure. Sunburst swiftly caught the wobbling artifacts with her magic.

"Careful through here, Flurry! We mustn't damage your mother's things."

Spying a flash of gossamer wings up ahead, Sunburst entered the sitting room after her young charge. She found Flurry already attempting to scale the tall curtains framing a wide window overlooking the glittering city.

"Oh goodness, let's leave those be," Sunburst gently levitated Flurry into her forelegs instead, summoning over the toy cloth ball she'd spotted earlier to distract the rambunctious filly.

As Flurry romped after her bouncy new playmate, Sunburst relaxed onto the plush couch with a small sigh, keeping a watchful eye on the energetic little princess. The city lights outside the window beckoned dreamily...so much activity out there while they enjoyed a quiet evening in.

Flurry displayed her growing flying and magical abilities with equal measure, testing Sunburst's ability to keep up as she squealed and played. Young unicorns, alicorn or not, were potent in their barely controlled magic. 

Sunburst had to duck an incoming bolt and navigate a room that was chocolate sauce for a fleeting moment or two. Such were the hazards of minding such a magically skilled, but unrefined, little future wizard. "I'm looking forward to showing you so many things."

Sunburst rubbed her hooves together. "You're going to learn so many spells!" She pounced Flurry with a happy cry from both of them, wrestling on the ground in an end to the spirited chase. She hugged Flurry close and warmly, happily almost purring at her captured filly.

She was not expecting Flurry's nuzzle that made Sunburst jump. "Hey." It was a reminder that she was a she. "Your mother left some for you."

But the child didn't care about that. There was a source there, and she casually made herself welcome.

Sunburst flicked her tail, but settled in place. Fighting the child away from their supper felt... wrong.

It didn't help that it still felt... She spent some time considering it. It...

It wasn't the best thing ever. It wasn't even especially super amazing. It was just... good. Good. Good like eating a nice bit of food or figuring out a hard arcane puzzle, or... Just good.

She was satisfied. She liked it...

And that was not a thing a stallion should ever do. Stallions did not have those. Stalllions did not do that.

But there she was, being alright with it. "Maybe... I'm alright with this." She reached to ruffle Flurry gently, turning into a hug. "I swear... I feel certain the role of a crystaler did not originally include these duties."

On the positive, Flurry rolled over and fell asleep the moment she had enough, satisfied with things completely.

Sunburst gazed out the window as Flurry napped in her forelegs, crystal buildings glinting under the stars. She felt settled in a way her old self never quite achieved - an anchor to this now slumbering filly lending weight and purpose.

"Is this what it means to be maternal?" she murmured. "Finding a part of oneself in another's joy?" Nuzzling Flurry's downy fur, she pondered her own mentor. If she could nurture others even a fraction as well as Cadance had nurtured her...

The sparkling vista held no answers, yet somehow, Sunburst didn't feel she needed them just now. She brushed a feather-soft kiss over Flurry's horn, heart full to brimming.

"Sleep well, little light of mine," she whispered through a smile. "The future looks bright enough for us both."

Her thoughts wandered along towards other parenting figures. The image of Stellar Flare popped up. "Mom..." She hadn't been the most maternal figure...

Imagining her just doing that felt... alien.

Surely that mare would have popped a bottle in Sunburst's tiny snout and went on to other business. She had no time for fussing.

She only missed Sunburst after Sunburst moved away.

"Hmm..." What would she think of Sunburst now? Would she be upset? Angry?

She swayed an ear to the side. Would she be happy? Maybe she had always wanted a daughter... That might explain a few things...

Sunburst shook those thoughts free of her head. "I'm being uncharitable... She is a mare of tomorrow. She'll probably be alright. She'll probably parade me around town, crooning about how progressive she is." She chuckled at the mental image of it. "Mom..."

A sharp cry jolted Sunburst from her reverie. Flurry it seemed had enjoyed quite enough rest and was eagerly ready to resume play. Sunburst swiftly conjured a few miniature illusory butterflies to dance around the room, delighting the awakened filly.

"Ah ah, do be gentle dear," Sunburst chuckled as Flurry flapped after the shimmering insects. A lesson on compassion was perhaps in order. Settling Flurry onto the plush rug, Sunburst summoned a menagerie of fuzzy creatures to march and frolic about.

"Even little ones need care," she explained, letting Flurry curiously handle a tiny bunny. The alicorn nestled it to her chest with instinctive concern, eliciting Sunburst's smile. Nuzzling her student playfully, the two laughed as stuffing scattered during an unfortunate squeaky manticore mauling. Some wisdom came slowly, but the seed was there.

Later, with a soft knock, Cadance peeked in to find Sunburst reading, and Flurry between her legs in as close to a lap as a pony was likely to have outside of poorly designed chairs. "Aw..." She scooted in, Shining trailing after her. "You two are so cute... No problems this time, I hope?"

Shining walked past into the kitchen. "Hey."

Cadance frowned at the shout. "She's sleeping."

"She's hungry." He popped his head out from the kitchen. "Looks like the bottles weren't touched."

Sunburst colored at that. "Um, she ate..."

Cadance coughed into a hoof. "I see... If you're going to put a hoof on those duties as a habit, we really should give you a little more for it."

Sunburst smirked at that, hovering Flurry gently into Cadance's grasp. "You already don't pay me."

Cadance rolled her eyes at that. "I could make an exception for my child's wet nurse and favorite foalsitter. Surely there are things you might want?"

Sunburst tapped at her chin. "Um... There are a few books I wouldn't mind..."

"Nerd." Shining came out fully into the room. "Not an insult. I'm one too." The two shared a chuckle at that. "Alright, a book or two. Anything less nerdy?"

Sunburst perked. "Oh! A train ticket to and from Sire's Hollow. I really should tell my mom about this."

Cadance's eyes widened. "That is both a great and possibly worrying idea." She excused herself to put Flurry safely away.

Shining nodded. "Not sure how my parents would take me coming home looking more like Twilie, and being alright with it. I might make poor dad pass out."

As Sunburst made her goodbyes for the evening, Shining lingered by the door. "Seriously though, Sunny, you're taking this tremendously well. Here's hoping I roll with the punches that gracefully if life tosses me any curveballs."

He gave her an earnest smile filled with admiration. Sunburst found herself blushing, though with less flusterment than once she might have.

"I simply take things as they come," she replied. "But know I couldn't manage it without supportive loved ones around me." With an affectionate bump to Shining's shoulder, she headed off into the night.

The future remained uncertain, her transformation still leaving ripples of change to navigate. But surrounded by caring allies, Sunburst felt able to face whatever arose with optimism. The rails were being laid with each new day. All she need do was enjoy the ride.

She walked down the evening road, the stars twinkling overhead as she walked. It was peaceful and a little chilly. That made her all the happier to get into her own home and its warmth. "This is nice..."

Having things straight made getting around so much easier. She didn't have to bob around obstacles, making her way to the bathroom and throwing off her cloak. "Bath time!"

She hadn't always bathed every day, and coming home late at night would have been a great excuse to put it off, maybe for the next morning... or longer...

Becoming a mare, it just... felt natural? "No." She refused to blame that on being a mare. There were clean mares and messy mares.

Mare Sunburst was cleaner. She made that choice, as Sunburst. She nodded firmly as she slid into the warm water and let out a happy sigh. "Mare Sunburst is happy with a bath." She sank into the suds with a smile.
> 5 - I Put on My Robe and Wizard Hat
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunburst considered herself, adjusting her cloak as she turned. "Like this..." Yes, the cloak was fine.

She raised her eyes towards her mane. "But this is missing something..."

She tapped at her chin. "All good wizards... They have a hat!" Sure, Twilight didn't have a hat, or a robe, but she could be forgiven for discovering Friendship as a magic type.

Sunburst didn't have that to fall back on. "Hat time!" she sang out as she cantered out her front door, magic pulling the door shut behind her. "With a nice tip."

Ears perked, Sunburst made her way through the glittering crystal bazaar. An astonishing array of hats rested on display, from simple woven caps to towering exotic confections sporting gaudy fake gems and feathers.

"Can I assist you, miss?" An elder crystal shopkeeper noted her intrigued glances.

"Oh I'm just...browsing options," Sunburst offered a slightly self-conscious smile. Declaring outright her newfound wish to adorn herself felt oddly vulnerable before a stranger.

"Well, there's no rush dear! Try some on - a lovely mare deserves to treat herself." The pony returned Sunburst's hesitant grin with kind encouragement.

With slightly more confidence, Sunburst began selecting various styles, giggling at herself in a dangling mirror. A smart navy and silver trimmed tricorn felt fitting her bookish personality.

"Ooh, I quite like this dashing look actually!" Sunburst declared. In the reflection she spied passing crystal ponies doing surprised double takes. While she flushed, warmth also bloomed in her chest. Let others see the spring in her step today!

She paid a few bits to the shopkeeper. "Thank you."

"You're quite welcome." The shopkeep tucked the coins away. "Now, don't mean to pry... But I thought you were a stallion?"

"Yeah...." Sunburst struggled to think of a retort to that. "I did too!" Honest! "We were both wrong."

The shopkeep laughed at that, slapping the top of the table with her hoof. "I suppose we were. You look like you're having a nice day, so enjoy that hat."

New hat perched proudly atop her head, Sunburst set out for the gleaming crystal train station, saddlebags swaying. She'd packed lightly for this trip down memory lane - only change of clothes, some snacks Cadence had foisted upon her, and a few books to pass the time.

The ticket agent did a brief double take at first but recovered smoothly. As Sunburst settled into her seat, snippets of the mare helping other passengers flickered over.

"Come right this way sir! Yes, the crystal mage turned crystaler. Foalsits Princess Flurry now! Can you imagine? Though I guess stranger things happen..."

Sunburst hid her smirk behind a hoof as the train glided out towards Sire's Hollow. Whatever rumors floated around the Empire these days, she felt only eagerness to share her discoveries with Mom. Surprising the unflappable Stellar Flare might finally be possible!

She tried her best to balance her giddy little motions of how it'd play out with actually reading the books she brought. Magic brougth a whole new level of excitement.

Not only could she read and understand them, she could do that already. But she felt increasingly confident she could, with practice, actually cast those spells. Her horn had never been happier since her change. She was a wizard.

A wizard with a fine hat. She giggled anew, reaching up to feel along her new pointed hat with a satisfied smile.

The time flew past, the trip feeling like it was just starting when they pulled up at Sire's Hollow. "Home." She bounced up to her hooves, tucking her things away. "Ready or not, here I come."

But was Stellar Flare ready? Sunburst's next step was hesitant. What if she reacted badly?

She stepped off the train, nodding to the conductor on the way. She had arrived. There was Sire's Hollow. She walked up and opened the gate.

"Welcome to Sire's Hollow," pleasantly greeted the recorded line.

Sunburst snorted at that. "I thought she changed that." She went past it and closed the gate behind her. "Loses its charm so fast." But she wasn't focused on that, instead advancing into the town.

Sunburst's pace slowed taking in shopfronts and houses of her youth. How small it all seemed now, quaint and sleepy under the valley's embrace. Had the buildings shrunk or had she simply outgrown the confines that once defined her world?

"Well split my stones! If it isn't little Sunny?" A teal earth mare waved eagerly from her garden.

"Auntie Azure!" Sunburst trotted over to accept the hair mussing and hearty hug. "Still tending your famous petunias I see!"

"Never too old for my beauties here." Azure held Sunburst at hoof's length. "Let me look at ya...yer all grown up!" If she noted Sunburst's altered look, she politely didn't let on. "Yer mom know you're visiting?"

"Heading there now actually," Sunburst smiled, warmth swelling at this uncomplicated affection. "Any new town gossip you can prep me with on the way?"

Auntie Azure laughed heartily. "Always got the inside scoop for my godfilly..." 

Auntie Azure cleared her throat. "Well, since the last time you visited, those two have calmed down. I'd hesitate to say they're best friends, but they stopped arguing on the road, so I'll take that."

Sunburst flashed a bright smile. "That's really great to hear." Her parent and Starlight's had been arguing quite a bit last time they visited. "Oh... Maybe I shoulda brought Starlight along..." It was too late for that.

Azure waved along. "Your mother will never forgive me if I hold you up even a moment longer. Off with ya!"

"Yes, yes." That didn't stop her from smooching Auntie Azure's cheek one last time in fare well before she sped her way home. "Here we... are."

There was that door, crisp, clean, and solidly in the way. "Just a little knock."

She glanced around, but no help was coming. She had to do it herself... "Come on..." She raised a hoof and knocked firmly, hoof shaking the whole time.

"Who is it?" came form deep within. Steps came closer. "Coming." Stellar opened the door. "Hello, how... Who?" She inclined her head, mystery playing on her face before a frown came in, driving it away. "Sunburst...?"

That had not been the joyful sighting Sunburst had hoped for. "Um, hi? Yep, it's me." Sunburst turned slowly. "Ta da...?"

Stellar's horn glew brightly as she yanked Sunburst inside and slammed the door shut behind her. "No."

"No?"

Stellar drove a hoof down. "No. No. No! No...."

Sunburst crashed to her haunches, ears going limp. "Mom?"

"I have a son." She glared at Sunburst with fire in her eyes. "I paid good bits to see to that."

Sunburst flinched, ears wilting under her mother's glare. Expectations between them suddenly clearer, less rosy.

"I didn't know my changes would cause such distress..." she managed. "Believe me, becoming a mare wasn't planned. But I've been trying to embrace-"

"Embrace?" Stellar cut her off sharply. "Have you heard nothing I ever told you of propriety? Of everything opportunity demands sacrificing?" She paced, tail lashing. "First you refuse career options to hide away studying, now this! Why must you fight me at every turn?"

Sunburst risked lifting her gaze, mind still reeling. Coverups and costs to make her a son? This truth jostled inside her uncertain insides. "I'm not fighting you, Mom. I'm just uncovering who I-"

"Who you were molded to be was for your own good!" Stellar snapped. "Now here we stand thanks to your impulsive whimsy!"

She turned aside, hiding suddenly wet eyes. They had always quarreled yet still she had missed her foal so...why must she go making trouble? Didn't she know best for her beloved's prosperity? Where had she gone so wrong?

"Mom... Tell me what happened." Sunburst stood up on shaking legs. "What did you pay for? What did you... do to me? If it was for my... good or not, I need to know. I need to know it all, please..."

Stellar fitfully danced from hoof to hoof, breathing hard a moment, but no shouts came, instead defeat. "I... Fine! Fine... I guess... you deserve at least that." She slumped and turned for the dining room. "Let's go sit down. Maybe some tea? Let's pretend we're not savages."

She led the way into the sunny dining room, even if she went and drew all the blinds, darkening the space. "Have a seat... I'll... tell you the story."

"Please." Sunburst could see a kettle there with some glasses. She poured herself some and took a sip. The flavor brought back memories. As much as her mother had changed with the times, her taste in tea hadn't shifted. "What happened?"

Stellar rubbed her face a moment, seated on her haunches and massaging her stabbing headache with firm presses of her hooves. "When you were born... You were not entirely a stallion, nor entirely a mare." She turned to Sunburst. "You were caught in the middle, an entirely unacceptable place to be. Now... Don't get me wrong. I love a new thing, you know that... But this was a step too far. My own foal, a freak..."

"To stand apart is no curse, Mom," Sunburst offered quietly. "Discovery and community grow richer through diversity."

Stellar flinched subtly hearing her own words thrown back so politely. She had preached such ideals often enough. But applying them closer to home had meant overturning everything she built as foundation. Easier to rationalize greater goods through small sacrifices.

"I acted in fear and frustration." Stellar sighed, gaze lowered in rare vulnerability. "You deserved better counsel than reactionary ultimatums."

Sunburst bit her lip as her own pain echoed under the words. But beneath the layers of hurt, patterns shreds of kinship still lingered. However haltingly, they were communicating now not as intractable opposites, but two seeking souls who wished better understanding between them. Perhaps that could be enough to stitch this rupture.

"We both made choices from love, however flawed," Sunburst offered gently. "Where we travel from here is what matters now..."

Stellar lifted her eyes with a wistful sheen. "Ever my compassionate conscience, my Sunbeam..." Navigating reconciliation would be slow and awkward. But seeing the depth of grace and wisdom her beloved child offered, Stellar felt the first fragile desire to try.

Sunburst shrank back. "Mom... You ruined... a lot of my life."

"I did no such thing," she hotly denied. "You're doing quite well for yourself, last I heard. Treasured caretaker of the royal foal, and arcane consultant for their family? You're not doing badly, Sunburst."

Sunburst clopped on the ground. "You... Mom. I'm..." She waved at herself. "You changed what I was, without changing who I was. I was an awkward pony... because of you. My magic didn't work right, because of you. And now... Now I wonder."

She looked back at herself. "I'm closer now, I can feel that with every hair on my body. I'm so closer... I feel like I was wearing a jacket that was too tight for all my life and somepony went and yanked it off." Sunburst chuckled tensely. "A little filly that wasn't thinking of anypony but herself... Bless her... She yanked that jacket off and I can breathe..."

Sunburst waved a hoof at her back end. "But maybe I'm not even there! You say I was something else. You paid to kill my true body... and... Mom..."

"Sunny..." Stellar rubbed one arm awkwardly with the other hoof. "Yes... You were not that." She pointed at Sunburst with the hoof that had been rubbing. "You were... Mostly a mare. The doctor said you could be a mare, mostly... But you had enough stallion to make you in the middle..."

She sighed softly. "The doctor asked which way to push you, so you wouldn't be a... So you wouldn't be strange... I picked a side." She stood up firmly. "I picked. I had to. You weren't going to, that young. I didn't want you being raised as a strange pony. I didn't want your friends, if you ever had any, looking at you strangely."

"I picked, Sunburst. I had to."
> 6 - What am I?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunburst sat in front of her foalhood home. She had learned the truth, but had it set her free?

She looked back at herself. "I was... born a mutant."

She didn't mean mutant in an entirely bad way. Ponies were born with aberrant features at times, sometimes grand and wonderful.

Limbs that could bend in certain ways other ponies couldn't, for example, or mismatched colored eyes. Mutations, but not at all bad. They all worked together to make ponies, as a whole, an even greater thing. Something to be embraced.

Except hers. Her mother had decided that was a step too far, and she had acted...

"Mom..." Sunburst stood just to pace. "Mom..." She felt a confusing knot of things.

She was not born a stallion. She was not born a mare. She had been both. Was that... "Was that bad?" She snorted softly. "Was that bad?"

It was like she was requesting the universe to answer, but it had none to give her.

"Was I so wrong to be as I was born?" Sunburst whispered. She thought of Flurry Heart's delighted smile those many nights ago, granting her blessing through magic's chaos. What was normal but the spectrum they emerged as under moon and stars?

She touched a hoof above her heart, feeling the jewel's steady rhythmic pulse there. "I am not a... problem, or a blessing. I simply am."

The truth rang through her, the declaration a cool stream overflowing rigid dams erected without consent. "And I have to finish." She turned back to that house and opened it without knocking. "Mom?"

"Sun?" She looked up where she had been seated in the living room they had been sharing tea a short time ago. Her face was stained with tears, but she quickly got to wiping them away. "I'm in no shape to be seen..."

"Mom..." She internally chastised herself. She was saying that word a lot that day. "You're fine."

"I'm not fine." Stellar slid to her hooves off the chair. "I hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you... my precious little foal. I didn't want to hurt you..."

"I know." Sunburst closed with Stellar and took her in a one-armed hug. "I know that... But I'm an adult now."

Stellar shuddered at the announcement. "And what does the adult I helped make think now?"

Sunburst touched her cheek to Stellar's. "First, I still love you. Second... I don't agree with the choice you made..." She snorted suddenly. "Starlight still would have been my friend..."

Stellar rolled her eyes at that, a tense laugh escaping her. "You two were destined to be best of friends..." She hiked a sudden brow. "Part of me hoped it'd be a little more than friends..."

"Mom!" Sunburst swatted at her. "Now is hardly the time." But both were smiling. Teasing about mate partners was such a lighter topic. "Three... I want to be what I started as."

Stellar blinked back fresh tears even as she smiled. Her Sunbeam, always determined to shine. "I should have trusted you enough to blaze your own trail."

She exhaled shakily, moving to gather woolen shawls and sturdy boots with quavering magic. "I'll get some things. We have to go out of town on this journey."

Sunburst's brow furrowed as she accepted the practical offerings. "Journey? To where?"

Stellar glanced up, eyes grave yet glimmering with new possibility. "To the Glade of First Bloom, hidden in the southern pine barrens. Where those who helped me will still live."

She set her jaw, pacing to the door with Sunburst hurrying behind. "If my beloved wishes to retrace the past, we will together. Come - there is no time to waste!"

Sunburst's ears danced atop her head. "Wait... This wasn't just..." She made a snipping motion with both her hooves. "A doctor?"

Stellar stared a moment before it clicked. "Celestia, no... So crude. Not for my child. You were more male than just a sliced mare. You had the body, you know this... I brought you to a far more delicate and specialized place. Magic was involved... You were given an entirely male form."

"Oh..." On one hoof, that made sense, on the other, she felt a chill run through her. She had been laboring for her entire life under some unknown spell. Flurry hadn't transformed her at all! She had just knocked a spell free. "That... makes sense..."

With some parts of her world coming together, Sunburst accompanied Stellar out of the house and they set out from town side by side. "How far is it? You didn't go too far with a newborn foal,  I imagine?"

"Not that far." The path Stellar led Sunburst down trails Sunburst had never been down, the town lost to sight. "You were a little thing, so delicate and wonderful in my arms..." She looked back over her shoulder at Sunburst. "Are you sure? Is this what you really want?"

Sunburst paused amidst the fragrant pines, unexpected doubt creeping upon her determination. Did she truly wish to solve this puzzle started with her first breaths? Once glimpsed, there would be no going back.

"I wonder sometimes..." she murmured. "Had you allowed me to just grow my own way, would we still have come to walk these very steps someday?"

Stellar glanced away and back, but her steps pressed on. "I know you too well... You would have come here, eventually, sniffing out an arcane secret, no doubt."

Sunburst burst into laughter at that. "That sounds right." The tension lightened and they made it into a little clearing. "Here? I don't see anypony."

"They aren't ponies." Stellar sat near the center of the clearing. "Watchers of the glade, I request you."

A snout poked free of the bushes, long antlers spreading out and long ears twitching. The deer looked at Stellar curiously. "You return." Their eyes slid to Sunburst. "The spell is in tatters. Did you come to ask us to weave it again?"

Sunburst cringed at that, stepping away. "N-no! No... Please don't..."

The lead deer blinked slowly as Sunburst's reaction, head tilting in wordless query toward Stellar Flare. The mare flicked her tail in mounting agitation under that patient gaze. A few others peeked from hiding, but were more visible with their motions.

"We won't be needing any further magical meddling today, thank you." Stellar steadied herself before continuing. "I've brought my daughter to...better understand her origins, if you would be so kind as to indulge her questioning."

The deer inclined their graceful neck in acquiescence. "We remember well the small foal delivered into our care those years prior. An uncommon case of in-betweenness...yet still aglow with destiny."

They peered closer at Sunburst, who shrank from their inspection until finding courage to meet the eyes directly. "Yes, glimmers yet remain now unlocked...you have chosen to bloom as destiny saw long ago, unfettered. Would you have your words with us, little seedling?"

Sunburst dared a step forward, adjusting her glasses nervously as she went. "Y-yes, I would. Your spell was broken, by happenchance, really... Um... And I think I like the result..." She looked back at her body. "Why did you? Why bind a foal like that, even if Mother, Stellar, asked?"

The deer nodded slowly. "A fine question. You had in you such magic. Dangerous magic. Enough to reshape these lands, given time... It is rare a pony presents us with the opportunity to intercede with such things before they finish growing." The deer presented a cloven hoof. "We took our opportunity."

Sunburst flattened her ears. "You did that to stop me from... You are the reason, on purpose, I was always so terrible with magic?!"

Stellar scowled. "You didn't mention that. This was not supposed to hurt Sunburst. This was to help them."

"What is done, is done." Several deers nodded with their elder's words. "If you do not wish us to reseal them, what have you come for? Just questions?"

"Free me." Sunburst took a firm step forward, stomping the ground in the motion. "Remove it, entirely. I want to be what I should have been from the start!"

The deer elders exchanged solemn looks before nodding in acquiescence. "Very well, wild one now returned. Let our arts return innate channels kept hidden."

They arranged themselves in a circle around Sunburst, horns beginning to shimmer as they intoned in their melodic tongue. Stellar watched anxiously as swirling motes coalesced around her daughter, weaving glowing strands over her poised form.

Sunburst's eyes drifted closed, senses turning inward as magic older than pony civilization worked through her. She saw without seeing - the vibrant markings coating the elders in testimony to their oneness with forces beyond the mundane. Felt without feeling the heated crackle of power racing down antlers to discharge skyward in branching arcs. Heard without hearing the chorus of stone, stream and star welcoming her home.

There came a resonant thrum as bonds unseen unraveled from her spirit. Sunburst drew breath swelling with the scents of promise. Something unlocked within and she knew at last herself unbarred. Whole.

She also felt a strange new, and yet familiar, presence. She was no longer entirely a she. She shook herself with a bit of a blush. She was a little of a he, but she was a she. She felt sure of that. She was a she... with a little extra? But it was part of her, and, whole, she could feel her magic flowing through her.

It wasn't just a strong flow. It was smooth and orderly. Everything was going through the spaces it should. She was whole... "Am I... Was..." She crashed to her haunches.

"Was Starlight and I... Were we meant to be magic peers?" Her arms shivered, thinking of that alternative history.

The elder inclined his head softly. "I cannot see through the mists of time to what might have been, but never was. I also have not met this Starlight. Our spell is undone, your questions answered. Have you come for anything else?"

Sunburst gazed at her hooves still tingling with unleashed possibility. Joint magic destiny or no, this freedom alone was gift enough. She offered the awaiting elders a deep bow.

"I came seeking truths hidden to me, and through fated threads or fortune's winds, I am blessed to leave better than I could have hoped for." She smiled gently Stellar's way, her magic adjusting her glasses anew. "And with, um, old mistakes put right between me and her."

The deer herded closer, antlers lowered in procession around Sunburst before they stamped down delicately one by one signalling oaths sealed. Their leader met her eyes, tone grave yet warmed by dawning respect.

"Long have we stood sentinel for ripples through the tapestry mortal hooves weave lightly. Never have we faced one granted our arts stand humbled requesting naught but knowledge and concord restored." The elder smiled briefly. "You and your bonded may walk this glade without invocation henceforth. Go well, little catalyst who moves the immovable."

Stellar approached as the assembly retreated, stars in her eyes and heart full to bursting with pride in the gracious wisdom this soul had cultivated. She had erred greatly, yet somehow born light enough to illuminate the shadows clinging between them still.

"Shall we go, my Sunbeam?" Stellar offered softly, joy and melancholy embracing. "I would so like to get to know the mare standing before me now." Linking shoulders, the pair made their way home.

"Let's." Sunburst threw an arm over Stellar, walking on the other three legs. "Thank you."

"Thank me?" Stellar turned an ear to Sunburst. "What did I do? We already established I messed this up quite... a bit..."

"And you fixed it." She nudged against her mother, keeping her held close. "I forgive you."

"But... What about the time?" Stellar wrinkled her nose. "You and Starlight, magical peers, all that? Years wasted..."

"If you taught me anything." Sunburst pulled her in, hugging as they walked. "We have to roll with the times. I can figure out how to be my brilliant self today and tomorrow. No point worrying about yesterday."

Stellar smiled gently. "I knew I raised you right."

Together, they returned to Sire's Hollow.
> 7 - Look at You
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

But nopony was. They didn't see what had happened to her. Sunburst strode through her town to the same smiling faces. Some were surprised to see he as a she, but none knew the next step, or seemed to intuit it. Such things were generally private things.

To be worried about between two ponies that had already passed a few barriers into intimacy.

Of course they didn't notice. That would have been rude. And yet... Sunburst found herself wanting to talk about it, to talk about her complete status. A shame there was nopony to do that with. Only her mother knew it happened, in either direction.

She was not the one to discuss that with... "Mom."

"Hm?" Stellar looked up from the magazine floating in her magic. "Everything alright?"

"Better." Sunburst came closer to touch noses. "But, since I'm here... I feel like this might be kinda related... Whatever happened to--"

Stellar put a hoof over Sunburst's mouth. "We've been through a lot. Can you ask that next time, if you have to ask it at all. Little Sunbeam... I like looking forward, to the future. The past has been nothing but a complete pain to me, especially these last few days."

Sunburst took a calming breath. "Mother,  I must... insist."

Stellar deflated with a sigh. "I had a feeling you might. Is this about him?"

"Tell me about them. Where were they when this was happening?"

Stellar neatly folded her magazine and poured herself a refill of coffee, abandoning her cup of tea. "He is at least one reason I made the choices I made... Sunburst, I don't want him to darken my door again. I made some poor choices. I don't regret you, even for a second, but if I could yank you... Pull you out of his grip and somehow live my life without him in it, ever, that is a choice I'd make."

Sunburst flipped an ear back. "That bad, huh? Um, but... So... What happened?"

Stellar massaged her stinging temples, trying to abate the returning pounding. "He left the very moment he learned I wasn't just a mare to have fun with. Abandoned and alone, you entered my life. You and all your little imperfections. I did my best, by you, by myself... I made mistakes... There was nopony there for me, Sunburst. I don't say that asking you to forgive me--"

"--I already did."

Stellar raised a hoof. "I'm just explaining it. Alone, with a... unique child, I made my choice."

Sunburst touched his nose to her snout, where a few tears were leaking, but nowhere as strongly as before. "I see... Thank you. That... helps, I think." She worked her hooves in the air as if packing a snowball. "It comes together."

A stillness settled between mother and daughter, words heavy yet souls lighter having carved some mutual ground across years of tangled emotions.

Sunburst ran a hoof idly through her starburst locks, blinking back the sting of unshed tears. She glimpsed her reflection - blended slopes declaring her complex history plainly for all to interpret as they would.

Stellar managed a tight smile, voice still unsteady. "Regardless what any foalish gossip might claim, my Sunbeam, remember that your comfort in your own coat is all that should ever matter."

She gave Sunburst's cheek an affectionate pat. "Now! This dreary little whistle-stop has had quite enough upheaval. What say we blow this ice cream stand and let the rest sort itself?"

Sunburst snorted at the sharp turn. "Yeah... Enough for now." They hugged gently and walked out of that house and its heavy emotions.

"We flavor tested some new amazing varieties!" Bouncing back, Stellar took Sunburst to her drink stand to try her newest varieties. Some of them were even good.

Sunburst licked her lips of the flavors. "One last thing, one last, I swear, then I'll get out of your mane."

Stellar snorted at that, nose wriggling.

"I'm assuming that story... was my birth-dad, but what about Sunspot?"

Stellar blinked gently. "O-oh... That... Is, in some ways, less... troubling. Time comes for us all, eventually. Sunspot remained a lovely stallion." She huffed exasperatedly. "Please tell me you feel the same. This is not the day I want to hear he was secretely doing something awful."

"No!" Sunburst hopped back at the very idea. "Dad, Sunspot, was great... He just... kinda vanished, and you never said why." She rubbed her cheek. "I see.... Wow, I learned a lot today."

"At the price of my tears." Stellar rolled her eyes. "I love you, but I've had enough of you for today." She pushed at Sunburst. "Go explode at somepony else." She was smiling despite that. "Come visit again, with less drama, kindly."

Sunburst didn't argue that dismissal. "Take care then. I'll write."

"You always do." She smooched Sunburst's cheek gently. "On with you."

"Going." Sunburst trotted firmly to the train station, buying a ticket to the Crystal Empire even as a train pulled in with a hiss of its brakes.

He turned towards the train to see the ponies coming and going from it.

He didn't expect Starlight to be among them.

"Sunburst!" Starlight hurried towards Sunburst. "There you are. Why did you come here, and why..." She clopped a hoof to her face. "Am I here just in time for you to head back?"

Sunburst felt her face heating. An old friend, just the one to maybe discuss things with. "I am... so happy to see you. You don't even... Starlight, can you come with me? I want to talk."

Starlight inclined her head. "Here we are?"

Sunburst pointed at the train. "I'm headed back to the Crystal Empire. Come with me?"

Starlight nudged at Sunburst. "Wicked thing, dragging me all over Equestria! I came here when I heard you came. There was no way you came here without a very good reason." She prodded at Sunburst's chest. "The kind you might need a friend for?"

"And I need a freind." He looped an arm around her, drawing her back to the ticket stand to buy her a ticket. "Please?"

"I can't say no to you, Sunburst." Starlight huffed gently. "Is it good news or bad?"

"Good, mostly, I think? I'd say good." She floated the new ticket to Starlight's arcane grip and both headed for the train headed Northwards. "I have so much to talk to you about."

Sunburst settled with a grateful sigh into plush velvet seats as the train glided out from Sire's Hollow, Starlight cheerily bumping shoulders with her. Home was still hours ahead, but with this treasured companion surprises were undoubtedly in store sooner.

"Sooo..." Starlight drew out slyly once they pulled smoothly onto straightaways. "Gonna finally tell me what in Tartarus was worth the hike out to our mildly accursed foalhoof home or do I need to ply you with enough of these cute little biscuits first?"

She brandished a flower-etched tin, eyes twinkling. "Because I'm fully prepared to sacrifice tastebuds for gossip gold if need be!"

Sunburst bit back an amused grin even as her cheeks colored slightly. Some things never changed - Starlight's incurable audaciousness chief among them. Still, somber tones crept in as the true gravity of recent days' events loomed thoughtfully under her smile...

"I uncovered my origins at last, Star...who and why I am was long obscured." She exhaled slowly. "I've much yet to process myself regarding it all."

Starlight looked Sunburst over from the side. "Origins? Stellar Flare and a stallion, Sunspot was it? They loved each other very much..." She touched her hooves together. "And a Sunburst happened, yay."

Sunburst let out a tense laugh. She was wrong about most of that... "Let's start from the start. When I took my first breath, I wasn't a stallion."

"Y... what?" Starlight looked even harder, as if peering would pull back the confusion. "You were a colt when I met you and a stallion after that. Boy. Girl now, sure, but you were a boy before."

"Sure sure." She put a hoof over Starlight's. "I was, at that point... But first,  I wasn't either. I wasn't a filly or a colt. I was kinda in the middle, where I... am now."

She rubbed at her cheek and noticed something. "Oh, look who's back." She trailed along her returned little beard. "I missed you."

Starlight focused on that beard. It was smaller than it had been, but then it had been nothing at all for a short time. "I'm getting confused, Sunny, but also very interested. Please tell me more."

Starlight chewed her lip, eyebrows knitting together. Her usually quick wit stalled, grasping for the right words. She shook herself then refocused on her oldest, dearest companion with a sympathetic half-smile.

"I wish I could say I completely get all that from just that quick overview...but I think I understand enough to know this is big for you." She gave Sunburst's hoof a bolstering squeeze. "How about we start simpler - what feels right to be called now? Are we at Sunburst the stallion or...?"

She let the question hang, an open door awaiting Sunburst's guide. The passing scenery and biscuit tin sat forgotten as the mares sank into the here and now - a friendship weathering life's unexpected storms as it had many times before.

Sunburst touched noses with Starlight. "How about just Sunburst?" She chortled like an evil madmare. "I've evolved beyond your paltry pronouns! Mua ha ha ha."

Starlight swatted at her, laughing. "Oh no, what will we do! Alright, Sunburst, they/them, got it."

"That works." Sunburst leaned back with a smile. "You're so easy to get along with, Starlight."

Starlight peeked behind herself at the other ponies riding along, then pointed at herself. "Me? Seriously. Now you're just lying. Still... glad you're feeling better, and glad you're alright with you, whatever you looks like lately."

Buoyed by her dearest friend's breezy acceptance, words began to flow more freely from Sunburst as the train rambled on. Stories of childhood now viewed through an adjusted lens, ponderings on how differently things might have blossomed had nature run its course.

Starlight listened thoughtfully, curiosity kindling as Sunburst described their newly balanced mix of masculine and feminine aspects with almost academically detached fascination. This was the pony who had rambled for hours about magical theory's impacts on Equestrian infrastructure when they were foals. Some scholarly tendencies endured.

"So yeah, I kinda have the best of both now I think?" Sunburst concluded their latest magical hypothesis with a self-conscious chuckle.

Starlight simply nodded along sagely. "Well I'm no gender scholar, but so long as you're at home in your skin, I'm happy." She nudged Sunburst playfully. "Though fair warning I reserve rights to give you the ol' 'I told you so' if any handsome suitors come begging for dates!"

Sunburst colored at that. "I doubt that... I'm no classic vision of mare, or stallion..." She waved over her delicately balanced middle of a form. "Just a pony."

"You're underselling yourself. Now... I need to know. Curiosity is eating me alive." She raised her brows together. "I know what a mare has back there, and what a stallion has back there. What does a Sunburst have back there? You don't need to go showing it off." She laughed tensely. "We are in public and all... but you can tell me, quietly...?"

Sunburst's blush grew to a fiery color. "I'll... show... you when we're not on this train..."

"Okay." She had the feelings to imitate Sunburst's coloring, dropping that topic for the time. "So, Crystal Empire! I sure seem to be visiting there a lot lately. Oh, and do I have permission to tell other ponies about you?"

"It's not a secret." Sunburst rubbed awkwardly at her cheek. "I'm a public pony. So, uh, go ahead."

"I'm holding you to that!" Starlight had other friends to share such news with, and already she was planning it out. "And you get to tell your bosses."

"Bosses?" Oh, right. She had forgotten, for a moment, about the royal couple.
> 8 - Welcome Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They arrived at the Crystal Empire stop and both walked off the train. Starlight got off first and offered some supportive magic to Sun as she got off.

Sunburst snorted at the unasked for assistance. "What is that for? Neither of us are hurt, or tired." She stepped down under her own power. "I can manage that."

"Sorry." She slid in at Sunburst's side. "You've felt fragile. Just... caring, is all."

"Um." Sunburst looked to the sky a moment. "Thank you..." They took a deep breath. "Alright. We're here... I've been feel-- We're in everypony's way." They moved quickly off the platform with Starlight trailing behind. "Right."

Standing down at street level, with far less traffic being blocked, Sunburst nodded at Starlight. "I want to show you."

"I want to see it... even if just a peek. The curiosity is burning over here." She waggled her brows. "Nothing untoward, I just want to know."

Sunburst scuffed a hoof, suddenly self-conscious under Starlight's earnest gaze.... They led the way swiftly to their home and opened the door for both to head inside.

Halting in the cleaned living room, Sunburst inhaled slowly then lifted their tail, angling hindquarters to reveal subtle udders despite lacking a true mare's robustness. Starlight's eyes rounded further noting the sheath yet absence of any testicles.

Sunburst flushed. "I-I don't know quite what you pictured with me being intersex." They bit their lip shyly.  "Externally I have this delicate balance, but I suspect deeper complexity internally regarding, um...plumbing?"

"Sunburst, hush, it's ok!" Starlight touched their shoulder, smiling in solidarity if still processing. "You're wonderful no matter what parts or pieces make up the whole, alright?"

Starlight reached out a hoof, then hesitated. "I'm being rude. Look, no touching without permission, duh Starlight."

Sunburst snickered at her self admonishment. "Um, so, speaking of looking. How do I... look?" Sunburst turned in place, making it all that easier to see all the parts of them. "I feel... great, but also strange? Strange, as in... most ponies are not this."

"No, they are not." Starlight nodded with stiff muscles. "But you're still you, which means you're still my friend." She went in to bump heads, angling her horn to not poke Sunburst along the way. "So, stallion and mare. Best of both worlds, huh?"

"Or worst. Depends on which way you look at it." Sunburst shook themselves out gently. "I... mentioned I was 'above' pronouns... But I think that's not entirely true."

Starlight parked an ear and stepped back. "Oh, well, tell me. Which should I be using?"

Sunburst waved over themselves. "I'm neither, both, but like being a mare casually I think... So She, or they?"

Starlight lifted her shoulders. "Works for me. So I can call you a sister?"

Sunburst snorted softly. "Technically correct... Um..." They cleared their throat. "Starlight."

"Yeah?" She angled her head, hearing that thick question. "What's up?"

Sunburst danced in place. "I feel like I'm making up for lost time. I feel alive in a way I hadn't been."

"Great." Starlight sat down. "But I have no idea what you mean. Use your words, Sunny."

"I have a drive."

Starlight blinked at the admission. "A drive for...?"

"I lived my entire life not caring, but now I do... Um... That's normal, right?" Sunburst rubbed behind their head awkwardly. "You care, right?"

"Sunburst, you are being super vague right now." Starlight stood up. "I'm an adult! If you trust me, go ahead and say what you mean, bluntly. Be as blunt as you want."

"Part of me is imagining what it'd be like to try all my parts on ponies I see." They let out a tired sigh. "I had been living an asexual life until now, and... now not. It's... I feel like a pervert."

"Oh!" Starlight swatted at them with a smirk. "I thought it was way worse than that."

"Um?"

"Not putting you down." She touched her nose to Starlight's tense cheek. "That is a normal pony thing. So is not thinking about it. You got yourself put back together, and, well... A pony that was missing a leg that got their leg back, might take off running if they suddenly could, right?"

Sunburst exhaled in palpable relief. "So you're really not disgusted or judgmental here?"

Starlight gently punched their shoulder with a smirk. "Sunny, when Pinkie and I gave Discord that truly terrifying makeover, did you react in disgust or judgment?"

"I bolted for the hills," Sunburst snickered, imagining the collaborative chaos.

"Exactly! Yet here I still stand with you." Starlight gestured broadly. "Point is, I've faced a lot weirder in stride. And this..." She patted their shoulder tenderly. "Is just my friend embracing the whole beautiful spectrum of who they are at last. What's to judge in that?"

Tears pricked Sunburst's eyes as she wordlessly squeezed Starlight close. Almost instinctively the hug lingered to a compelling extent before they gently disengaged.

Starlight cleared her throat, grinning. "Besides, if anything that drive will be a bonus getting all the cute ponies now!" Her laughter lifted them further as Sunburst relaxed fully.

Sunburst cocked a brow. "Star."

"Yeah?"

Sunburst pointed at her. "You're a cute pony."

Starlight blinked, red creeping out from her nose outwards across her face. "Oh... Sun..." She turned away, hiding her radiating heat. "Thank you?"

Sunburst took an awkward step back. "Too strong? Sorry! I just meant... You're an attractive mare with an appealing mind, body, and magical abilities." With each word, Starlight's blush only got worse. "By the way, my magic got better! With my insides put back together, the block's gone! I can cast spells properly. Maybe as good as you?"

Starlight's blush faded instantly as she whirled on Sunburst, doubting brow high. "Big words. Are you ready to stand behind them?"

Sunburst advanced towards the door. "Gladly, and I could use some magic pointers. I just... couldn't before, and now I can."

"Well, those urges I'm ready to face." Starlight's horn glowed dangerously as she followed Sunburst out of their house. "I'll beat you up and show you how to fight better and we'll keep on doing that until one of us gives up."

Sunburst laughed tensely. "Yeah, fun... I was more hoping you'd spend time showing me practical magic?"

Star lowered both of her brows. "Are you implying combat isn't practical? One of the most practical out there... But fine, tell me what kind of magic you want to practice first."

Sunburst led the way to the stadium where the Equestria Games had been held. "Good, not too many around." They took a firm spot. "I'm going to show you spells I know. I know, um... a lot of them, but I never got to cast most of them."

Starlight sat a short distance away. "Show me what you have. You made it sound like this was a night and day thing, so... wow me."

Sunburst settled into a power stance, inhaling slowly. This would be her first real test actually harnessing the arcane torrents now coursing freely within since her vision's clearing. But under Starlight's expectant gaze, nerves settled into assurance.

Her horn lit, casting pairs of the little illusory assistants she'd struggled so painfully to manifest before. Now six clustered around her, waving cheerily before merging into a sizable simulacrum of Spike. It flexed and posed dramatically, eliciting Starlight's laughter.

Grinning herself, Sunburst dismissed it then lit up attempting spellwork once completely beyond her. The air rippled as she strained to open a small, unstable portal through which bewildered crystal palace staff could be glimpsed. Starlight's eyes rounded, impressed. She was really putting these new magical muscles through their paces!

Panting lightly from the exertions but floating with accomplishment, Sunburst trotted over. "Well...how'd I do for a new pony?"

"Not bad... But you already wrote to me about the illusionary doubles. Let's see something else." Starlight nodded, self-pleased at her logic. "Sparring is still an option."

Sunburst laughed tensely, thinking something else up. "How about... this!" they launched a new spell, horn glowing brilliantly with new runes as they gave Starlight much the same beard Sunburst had.

"What'd you do? I don't see anything?" Starlight looked around for the result of the magic. "Did it fail?"

Sunburst pulled out a mirror with their magic, hovering it over for Starlight to see.

She turned and jumped at the strange face she saw. No, that was her own face, bearded. "Sunburst!" She raised a hoof to feel the extra fuzz. "Not my style. Still, impressive. Adjusting pony fur patterns can be very tricky at the best of times." She wiped the beard away as if her hoof were simply absorbing the magic, if one ignored her glowing horn.

"Can you do something physical? Make something with real mass or shove something with the same?" Starlight clapped her hooves. "Get down and dirty with it."

Sunburst grinned and swept a hoof across the open field with a burst of arcing luminosity. In her wake sprouted towering jagged walls of scintillating opalescent crystal. The barriers curved as they rose, interweaving together into a passable scaled down replica of the palace itself jutting fiercely into a twilight sky.

"That...is damn impressive," Starlight admitted staring at the quintessentially crystal pony magic pulled off. "Just don't get too ambitious or we'll have Cadance throwing us into a lake or something for messing with her views."

She trotted along the sparkling effigy, rapping it with a hoof. Eerie resonances echoed back, hinting at an almost eerily convincing echo of the real deal somehow immortalized here now at Sunburst's whim. "This has to go." With a firm toss of her head, she banished it away into so much shattered glass fragments that faded away moments later. "Still, great! That was way more... Love it."

Sunburst smiled with blushing pride. "Thank you. So, how can I be better?"

"Great question." Starlight came in with a wry smirk on her face. "You're leaking." She reached up a hoof to tap at Sunburst's horn. "You're not used to that much throughput, and it shows. I can feel it leaking out the sides. You have to practice going high-output without letting a drop get out except where you're aiming."

Sunburst pinned her ears back. "I hadn't even noticed."

"A lot easier to see from the outside." Starlight nudged against Sunburst. "Good thing you have a magic buddy, huh?"

"Yeah." Starlight leaned back against her. "It is, um... But how long can you stay." They grabbed Starlight from the side. "Please stay."

Starlight squeaked at the grab, but it turned into a warm laugh. "How do I say no to that? I'll write Twilight, letting her know what's going on. I doubt she'll be too mad with me giving magic lessons to a friend."

So the magic lessons came to an end. Starlight stifled a yawn as the two ambled back the darkened streets toward Sunburst's cottage. Eventful days were clearly catching up now that exhilaration ebbed. Still, she nudged her companion playfully.

"So roomie, know any good late night diners around here? All that magic really works an appetite up!"

As they rounded the last corner though, she backpedaled slightly, struck by suddenly presuming sleepover arrangements.

"That is uh, if you don't mind a houseguest for my stay? I can always get a room too, no pressure!" She waved a hoof, feeling oddly flustered again under starlight alone with this newly intensified version of her oldest friend.

Sunburst simply shouldered the door open with a knowing beam. "Oh, I'd never abandon my guest to some stuffy hotel! Now, let me regale you with a grand tour of my luxurious abode, darling!"

Laughing, Starlight let herself be ushered playfully forth, lingering tension dissipating under familiar antics. "I didn't notice before..." She poked around Sunburst's home. "You've cleaned up." She sniffed the air. "You've really cleaned up."

Sunburst darkened mildly. "Um, why did you sniff like that?"

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Look, there was a smell before. Now there isn't." She hopped up onto a chair and sank to her haunches. "This is really working out for you."
> 9 - Master of Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mornin'!" Starlight pounced atop Sunburst, awakening them swiftly. "So, I hear somepony wants to learn some spells?"

"I know spells." Sunburst fought Starlight off with laughs. "Cut that out."

Starlight let Sunburst push her free to her hooves, off their bed. "You know them, but you haven't cast half of them, which is a lousy kind of knowing. You say that changed, and I'm all for that! Time to practice."

Sunburst flicked an ear back. "I'm... interested, but I thought I'd check in with Cadance and Shining?"

"They can wait a little longer." Starlight rolled her eyes, glowing horn grabbing Sunburst's magic book. "Seperate out which ones you've already actually cast. It's time to be serious about you. You couldn't be a wizard before, now you can. No more waiting."

Sunburst rolled her eyes in mock exacerbation even as she levitated several texts over with a grin. Trust Starlight not to let rigid restraints like breakfast or business stand in the way of priorities when there was explosive magical potential to unleash!

Selecting an intermediate spell volume, Starlight bounced eagerly on her hooves, practically vibrating. "Ooo what about that wicked cool self-duplication trick? I wanna see a dozen of my bestie dazzling me at once!"

"That's a good one." Sunburst's horn glowed with potential power.

Starlight emphasized her plea with a dramatic flop across Sunburst's bed, tongue lolling out exaggeratedly. "Wait." Her joy fractured a little. "the way you're saying that... You cast this already, didn't you?" She swatted a hoof at Sunburst. "The whole point is to try new things out! Are you scared? Don't be. Your body is, at your own words, finally listening."

Starlight tapped at her horn. "Yours is listening. Time to stretch it."

Sunburst bit her lip, eyebrows knitting. She couldn't deny feeling inexplicable intimidation tugging her from within to stick with safe sure bets rather than risk overextending boundaries so recently expanded...

Seeing the uneasy shift in confidence, Starlight gentled further, squeezing Sunburst's hoof between both her own. "Hey...wasn't trying to shame you into anything, Sunny. I just...know how much brilliance is in here-" she tapped the horn lightly- "and in here." She rested a hoof over Sunburst's heart.

"I'll never force it. But neither will I stop believing you can grab destiny with both hooves...and one hell of a spell," she finished with a tentative smile.

Exhaling tension slowly, Sunburst leaned into her oldest friend, confidence stabilizing again. "Well said as always...how about we start with something flashy yet gentle? Aurora projections can be delicate work but may make for inspiring practice."

Starlight's grin returned in force. "Now that sounds beautiful! Floor's all yours Maestra - wow me!"

Sunburst didn't read the book. They knew the spell. They just couldn't cast it before. "One two, one three," she sung to herself, testing her internal horn muscles and their control. Yes, they were listening to her. "And..." She opened the paths, allowing magic to flow. With them, she began the song of music, filling the room with bright colors that swirled and flowed as she created her own aurora.

Starlight clapped with naked joy. "Love it. Love every single bit of it... But..." She leaned in with a smirk. "How about something solid and heavy? You love avoiding those. Light shows are so... light. It's in the name." She hopped in place. "Throw me."

"Pardon?" Sunburst cocked a brow.

"Throw. Me." Starlight turned away and pointed at her bottom. "Send me flying across the room. Time for revenge for the last time I annoyed you."

Sunburst blinked rapidly, mind briefly short circuiting at the concept suddenly presented in such alarmingly casual tones.

"I...you...that's...." She stalled out entirely, sputtering. Did Starlight comprehend the sheer forces involved tossing an entire pony body - bones and organs and barely restrained magical chaos - through the air??

As her friend continued staring impatiently over her shoulder, haunch extended awaiting action, Sunburst veered between hysterical laughter at the utter ridiculousness and faint nausea picturing this ending very poorly.

A wiser voice cut through the turmoil, one she was still learning to heed within. Her magic flowed with purpose now yes, but care and conscience must coach its course. She need bend to no reckless whims, only her own discretion's steady guidance. Centering peace returned on the next measured breath.

"While I admit some past...perturbances might seem to excuse your peculiar request..." she began gently. Starlight started indignantly. Sunburst simply continued, tone final yet fond:

"I must decline catapulting my dear friend through my lovely home today."

"Coward." Blunt, cold. Starlight's horn, and the rest of her body, glowed with her magic as she lifted into the air several inches. "I can throw myself just fine. You've seen it."

She soared around the room, snickering. "What's magically flying if not throwing yourself, constantly? Throw me. Do it. When you get good at it, then you can throw yourself."

She came down right in front of Sunburst. "I'm tired of being the only unicorn flyer, and I know you have the power hiding in there. I know you know how to do this. You just have to do it. If it makes you feel better, throwing somepony else is a lot easier than doing yourself. It's really easy to lose track of everything when you grab yourself and give a good toss."

Sunburst's eye twitched watching her impossibly bullheaded friend literally diving around the room as makeshift ammunition. How any finite store of magic could possibly keep a whole airborne pony continuously aloft was beyond her. Clearly Starlight embraced the impossible then proceeded to gallop recklessly past it daily.

Sighing, Sunburst lifted the gently protesting Starlight back to solid ground with her own violet shimmer. "My dove, if you truly have your heart set on being callously flung about like common luggage, perhaps we start small?"

Her horn glow intensified around Starlight, encapsulating her within several smoothly spherical bands of light until she resembled a levitating pony-shaped pearl. With an apologetic grin, Sunburst lightly tossed the glowing sphere up and down like a hoofball.

"Oh ha ha, very funny," Starlight's muted voice echoed from within her radiant prison. "Though I will admit the acoustics in here are kinda wild..." She tested a few echoing shouts and laughed. "Now seriously, put some force into it!"

She knocked on the edge of the bubble she was in. "And what's with the bubble? Just grab me. You won't hurt me, and I asked you to do it. If it hurts, I'll say so and we can back off. Now come on!"

"You are really pushy." Sunburst kicked the ball, sending it rolling away, Starlight with it. "You know that?"

"Yes, yes I do." Starlight crossed her arms, staring even as she went around and around. "You know what'll shut me up. Angry? Good. Throw me."

Sunburst huffed with annoyance. "I really don't want to hurt you..."

"You already are." She touched her face to the side of the bubble. "Every time I have to ask, you're admitting that you don't trust me. You don't trust me to catch myself if something goes wrong. You don't trust yourself to not go wrong in the first place, but you are for sure not trusting me to handle myself. I'm a wizard." She rolled her eyes. "The best you know this side of Twilight."

"Did you just admit Twilight is better?"

Starlight scowled. "Throw me. Then it's my turn for that statement."

Sunburst bit her lip another long moment before finally conceding with a huff. This reckless rollercoaster clearly would not be deterred, but she could at least take some basic precautions first. A quick flash manifested protective barriers around anything fragile.

"Very well, if you insist..." Her horn flared brighter, Starlight's bubble popping with a shimmer. Before the other mare could celebrate, bands of light swirled swiftly around her torso and limbs, conjuring a lightly padded suit in chromatic hues. "Safety first though!"

Starlight blinked down at her new attire then dissolved into laughter. "What in Tartarus?? I look like a toddler dressed for playtime!"

She flapped her sleeved forelegs demonstratively. "I'm not made of glass, Sunburst! Now quit your fussing and chuck me already!"

Grinning despite lingering reluctance, Sunburst lit her horn and wrapped Starlight in the amethyst glow of her magic. "Brace yourself then!" She cocked a brow. "I'll try to be gentle..."

Swinging her head in a swift arc, she sent Starlight soaring with a sharp cry across the room to land unceremoniously upside down against a heap of pillows, hindlegs dangling comedically in defeat. 

That defeat faded away almost instantly, turning into laughter. "You wonderful creature! That was fun." She rolled over to her belly and hopped up to her hooves. "See, not so bad. I didn't even break any bones I care about."

"Uh..."

"I didn't break any bones, Sun." Star huffed at the missed joke. "Now, your turn." She wrapped Sunburst in magic glow. "I'm going to throw you. Want to stop, catch yourself. That's the other half of magic flight. Throw yourself, catch yourself. When you can play catch with yourself, you're flying. Easy!" She lowered her brows. "It isn't easy. It took a lot of practice. Let's start."

She waved a hoof around the room. "On the other hoof, I do want to say I'm impressed. This many barriers, at once? Girl, you got magic going on, and it's making me excited seeing it. Sister of magic, show me you're my peer."

Before giving Sunburst a chance to reply, she flung the new potential wizard across the room. There was no sound, just a silent launch of her magic. "Catch!"

Sunburst's startled shriek dopplered past as she hurtled weightlessly across the room. Bewildered eyes met Starlight's challenging grin the instant before impact.

Then violet flames erupted around Sunburst's form, her trajectory sharply shifting to skid along the wall scattering sparks behind her. Hind hooves found improbable purchase there as if gravity suddenly remembered itself. Crouched against the vertical surface, she panted lightly from the surge of power responding inside.

"See?? Was that so hard?" Starlight crowed triumphantly. "And what an entrance! Very dynamic."

Shakily, Sunburst pulled herself fully upright, still maglocked in place several feet off the floor. She broke into disbelieving giggles. "Good goddess...how are you not constantly concussed careening about like that?"

Starlight smirked conspiratorially. "Oh I definitely was at first! But hey, only so many intact bones to break before you figure things out." She winked playfully. "Now let's get you airborne for real!"

Sunburst thrust up her hooves. "Wait!"

Starlight turned a hoof at herself. "You want a turn tossing? Sure." She chuckled darkly. "Taking turns is fun. By the way, nice catch, seriously. I was ready to... Nevermind, you didn't need my help. You're an adult." She crossed her arms. "I did this when I was a stupid teenager that didn't know better. Wow, did that hurt..."

"But you kept going?" Sunburst closed to paw at Starlight as if they'd find some new injury. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"I'm sorry you weren't there too..." An awkward silence passed before Starlight grabbed Sunburst, hugging them. "But you are here now. Throw me."

Sunburst clung tight, the decades between them falling away until they were awkward teens once more seeking solace no other could fully provide during storms no other completely understood brewing within.

Time hadn't healed all, but it had honed two tempered souls now able to name pains in hopes of preventing perpetuation. What was learning's purpose if insight gained couldn't enlighten younger versions once stumbling blindly down identical roads?

Starlight gave a watery chuckle, pulling back to nudge Sunburst's chin up with a hoof. "Hey now, enough gloom - Your turn."

Sunburst nodded, blinking fiercely.

"Then c'mon dazzle pony..." Starlight pranced back eyes aglow with fresh mischief. "Show me how the next generation surpasses ours with even bigger magic and even bigger hearts!"

She pointed expectantly down at herself with a playful smirk. "I'm still waiting over here! Or does my greatness intimidate after all?"

The training continued, with the two taking turns sending the other into the air. Sunburst didn't learn how to fly that day, but some practice was made towards that eventual goal.
> 10 - Royal Reception
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Woog?" Flurry was looking at her foalsitter as if amazed at what she saw. She crawled around Sunburst, examining them.

Sunburst reached for Flurry and drew her into a hug. "Hello there."

Cadance smiled at the exchange. "How do you... feel, Sunburst? You've been through... a lot."

Shining rubbed behind his head. "I thought, if you were changing at all, it was probably back to your old self."

"This is my oldest self." Sunburst nuzzled Flurry's top quietly a moment. "So old, I never got to know them. Um... You're not mad, I hope?"

"No!" blurt out Cadance, perhaps too forcefully. "No... You are still our precious friend, and crystaler. This is quite a change. I hope you'll forgive our adjusting... You would be caught off-guard if I approached you as a stallion, hm?"

Sunburst went distant, imagining the stallion Cadance.

Cadance clopped her hooves. "That is quite enough of that... I'm happy as I am...  Hm, since that came up... What are you, exactly? Besides Sunburst, who we love regardless."

Sunburst smiled softly disentangling Flurry Heart's inquisitive hooves from exploring the new textures of her belly coat. However fascinating, some areas deserved gentle restraint!

"I suppose the truest explanation is I was born intersex - neither wholly stallion nor mare as society defines such things." She exhaled, tension easing to share that truth with ponies so dear. Cadance and Shining listened earnestly.

"As for manners of address however..." Sunburst rolled a hoof expansively. "I respond warmly to either, both or any. He, she or they all ring harmoniously to me." She winked down at a now distracted Flurry rearranging apile of blocks. "I'm yours to call as feels most fitting, little one."

Shining snorted. "Come on... If you were picking, which would you pick."

"If I had to..." Sunburst worked his hooves together. "She probably, but they works? I feel a lot like a she."

She jumped as Flurry confirmed she still had the best parts for a tiny foal to care about. Sunburst pried Flurry free with the greatest of care. "Ask first. Good manners." That got a pout, but there wasn't any big arguments. "Besides, your mom is right there. Don't make her jealous."

Cadance warmed in her cheeks. "I thought... you might not... Only mares have those, you realize."

"One reason maybe I'm okay with she?" Sunburst got to their hooves, returning a floating Flurry to Cadance's arcane grip. "Oh! With my body put right, magic is... It's wonderful! The spells I had read about, now I can cast them."

Shining chuckled at the bubbling energy there. "Been practicing?"

Shining traded a knowing glance with Cadance as their friend practically vibrated sharing magical escapades with her teaching compatriot. "Been dabbling with a certain chaos buddy perhaps? Rainbow mentioned strange scorch marks around the practice field..."

He waved a hoof airily, tone dripping faux gravitas. "As if royals never discretely vet palace applicants with a friendly informal skills showcase now and again themselves!" He mimed locking his lips as his wife snorted.

Snickering herself at memories of the crashing create-and-catch debacles with Starlight, Sunburst shrugged. "My methods may be unorthodox but we can't all receive classically formal Princess Twilight regimens, now can we?"

She inclined her head curiously. "Is having a renegade wizard cause for concern though or..."

"Sunburst please, after all our years together do you truly think your happiness not cause enough for celebration? Questions of propriety be damned?" Cadance gently squeezed Sunburst's shoulder, smiling radiantly.

"Now come - a welcome feast awaits. We've much to celebrate with Equestria's newest and brightest magical maverick!" She led the way, floating her child with her. "We missed you terribly while you were gone."

"It was..." Sunburst went quiet.

Shining bumped sidelong into Sunburst. "Hard?"

"Hard..."

Shining seemed to notice the hesitance in that word. "Want to... talk about it?"

Cadance slowed to be on the other side of Sunburst. "We are friends, Sunburst. Please, if you want to talk, talk. We want to hear, and help."

Sunburst's steps became stiffer with each step. "On one hoof, I'm very happy to really... be exploring being a wizard... On the other..." They colored rapidly, darkening from the tip of the nose on back. "I think I like Starlight."

Shining burst into laughter, at least for the moment before Cadance slapped him with a rolled paper. "Shining!"

Cadance snorted softly. "What about that is so funny?"

"Sorry..." Shining regained control, heaving in aborted guffaws. "It's just... We thought you two were already a thing. Just waiting for one or the other to go on and ask. We have a betting pool!"

Cadance sighed loudly. "It's hardly a betting pool with two ponies, Shining..."

"You two were already conspiring about my non-existent lovelife? Truly I can keep no secrets here!" Sunburst's blush intensified even as she dissolved into snickers hearing such candor regarding perceptions of her bond with the unicorn who knew her best.

Still, an undeniable warmth kindled within imagining what developments might yet bloom between herself and Starlight as understanding blossomed deeper. The thought of seeing one another through newly appreciative eyes as their own self-revelations distilled carried profound appeal.

"I suppose subtlety never was my strong suit, was it?" She conceded with a rueful chuckle. "Trust my closest companions to read emotions woven plain as day from me like favorite tomes memorized long ago."

"Oh pish posh, don't act as if your little herd of confidants didn't tell the future before you did!" Cadance tutted playfully. "We simply know our Sunburst. Though for the record, my prediction won on timeline..."

Shining rolled his eyes in mock exasperation as Sunburst's laughter echoed through the sunlit halls. Some melodies needed only the right moment to resound sweetest.

Cadance casually circled in front of Sunburst. "There is one important thing. Two, technically. One, have you two made it official? If yes, permission to make a really big deal about it?"

Shining cantered to Cadance's side. "Yes! Say yes! We can invite the girls up. Shoot, I bet Pinkie would die if we asked her to plan it."

Cadance let out a little laugh at that. "She would... I would gladly cede that task to her, if she accepted. But none of that will happen unless you wish it, Sunburst. This is your event."

"Um..." Sunburst turned their ears down and back. "It's not...official... I'm just... I just feel things... I don't even know how to tell her!" She sank to her haunches. "What do you say?!"

Cadance waved a graceful hoof through the air, weaving illustrative illusions in violet light. "What does any soul yearn for most but to feel seen for everything held within?"

The visions danced, resolving into familiar profiles - two mares laughing joyously. With a spark, the scene shifted to depict them gazing into a starlit pond, hooves gently intertwined at its mossy banks before fading.

Sunburst stared after the fading sparks, heart suddenly galloping. She knew just such a pond, secluded yet rich with memory...

"Darling, no grand words or fanfare need adorn realizations finding their moment at long last." Cadance's smile glowed with quiet understanding. "Just be present with what you discover side by side - that shall say more than poetry ever could."

Shining swatted Sunburst's back. "So go tackle her and tell her you like her."

Sunburst coughed, despite not drinking anything. "Shining!"

Cadance rolled her eyes. "You made much more of a show, Shining. I was there when you finally worked up the courage... My little shy Shining... What a day that was..."

Shining rubbed an arm, looking quite called out. "Yeah... Um, but really... Even I had to just say it. Say it... She likes you. Say it."

"That much I agree with." She leaned in, kissing Sunburst's forehead. "Just tell her, even if it feels like your heart may explode. It'll be worth it when it's done. I promise that."

"Thank..." The rest didn't come right away, with Sunburst following the couple towards the throne room.

"I need to get to work." Cadance hugged Sunburst, then Shining. "You two have things of your own to do. I hope to hear it went well." With a loving smile, she parted for her royal duties.

"You know..." Shining caught her hoof as Sunburst turned hesitantly towards the guest wing housing visiting Starlight. "If poetry feels hollow... you don't need to swear forever love right away.."

He winked conspiratorially. "We save such expectations for second dates after all! But just admitting you have those kind of feelings means the world." Gripping firmer at Sunburst's lingering reluctance, he offered a final encouraging nod.

Sunburst gulped, pulse racing as she stared down the empty hall where awaited unknown outcomes and uncharted potentials...as well as the dearest friend she had ever known. Her breath came more and more forcefully. At least there was Shining, smiling encouragingly.

She could do this - or so she urged herself. "Y-yeah... Okay."

Sunburst staggered from the palace, trying her very best to hold her head up high. It was such a simple thing.

Barely anything! They already liked each other. They'd been friends forever...

Was it even news, if she said she liked Starlight? Was it even news?

Maybe it wasn't. Maybe Starlight would just laugh at Sunburst for even thinking it was something that needed saying.

Sunburst smiled at the idea, some tension ebbing as she nodded at passing ponies. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe Starlight was already several steps ahead.

That did sound like her.





Starlight fussed about. She felt like cleaning everything. Unfortunately, Sunburst had already cleaned their living area fairly well. "Damn you and your newfound cleanliness..." A pity it was also a bit... She liked it.

"You went from... an eight... to a ten..." She clopped her hooves against either side of her head. "Curse you... You did it on purpose." She envisioned a wildly laughing Sunburst doing every single step with borrowed knowledge, somehow knowing exactly what Starlight had dreamed of.

"Are you a changeling?" Her mental image of Sunburst burst into green flames, becoming an unreformed changeling. "Here to capture me and steal away my love..." She groaned, falling on Sunburst's bed. "Is it wrong some part of me feels like letting them do that?"

She beat on the bed savagely, as if it had somehow been involved. "They're not a changeling..." She sat up, huffing softly. "They're Sunburst... My forever friend. My foal friend... The very pony that sent me down a downwards spiral when they moved away."

Starlight listed to the side against a wall. "I missed you so much, I lost myself... I helped a whole town get lost, just wishing I had you... Moron..." She punched a pillow. "And now this!"

A vision came of Sunburst heading out that morning. Did they even know their rump was perfect? "Probably not. Not everypony is a lecher like you, Starlight." She rubbed firmly at her temples. "And when they find out, they will kick me out. That bookworm? They'll panic, then I'll be outside, and they won't want to talk to me ever again."

Starlight moved to a window, watching ponies walking past outside. Many of them had a second pony. "They make it look so easy," she muttered, glaring at each couple with a burning rage. "Surrender your secrets, crystal ponies!" Not that un-crystal ponies were any faster to give her advice on relationships. "Not fair. Not fair..."

She took a slow breath, forcing herself to calm. "Relax... All I have to do is... Keep it cool. I'm a friend. Don't make this creepy. Just a friend! Magic pal! A gal pal." She nodded with greater strength with each term she thought up. "Foal friends, not more than that."

She hurried to a mirror and straightened out her mane from her fits. "Keep it even, and there won't be any problems. Sunburst needs a friend, not some creepy pony leering at them like their new body is some toy they won in a box..."
> 11 - Will They, Won't They?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starlight was facing the door when it opened. She was smiling. It was a forced smile, her cheeks aching from the effort. "Sunburst! Good to see you back."

"Good to be back." She looked Starlight over curiously. "Is something wrong?" Their eyes darted over the area. "Did something break? We can fix it."

Starlight's smile eased a little towards natural. There was Sunburst, just being... a peach. "Nothing broke." But that they were eager to fix whatever was bothering Starlight meant something. "Where did you go?"

"The palace." Sunburst pointed the way. "Um..." She fidgeted with her hooves. "Um, can we... talk?"

Starlight hiked a brow. "Aren't we doing that right now?"

"Yeah... Yeah... Technically, I guess, that is right." They laughed nervously. "Technically. Um... Starlight, I realized something."

Starlight leaned in curiously. "Something good?"

"Something good, I think, um..." Sunburst buffed at their chest with a hoof. "Something good... Um, looking good today."

Starlight recoiled at that, glancing in the mirror. She had done her best to straighten herself, but she felt like a mess. "Thanks!"

Sunburst rubbed behind their head. "Um... I'm no... good at this... So I'm just going to say it and then you can tell me if I sound very dumb."

Starlight blinked, focusing on Sunburst with new intensity. "You, dumb? Doubt it." That was her job. "You go on. I'm listening."

"Alright... Don't be mad..." Sunburst shuffled in place. "But... I like you."

Starlight skewed an ear off. "I like you too? Sunny, we're friends. Good friends, I hope. BFFs!" She offered a hoof and soon they were hugging gently. "Thank you for reminding me, but was that the big reveal?"

Sunburst laughed nervously. "I like like you, Starlight. I, um, would like... to court you."

Starlight hopped backwards as if Sunburst were living up to their name, hot as a sunburst. "What?! I..."

"If you're mad and want to leave, I under--"

Starlight popped a hoof in Sunburst's mouth. "You shut up."

She drew the hoof back just to replace it with her snout, touching nose to nose, staring into Sunburst's idea. "Damn you... I've been... thinking stupid thoughts, thinking you'd hate me forever, just to come home and tell me that? That you feel the same? No fair! Not even a little fair. Shut up and kiss me."

But neither was entirely sure how to proceed. They gazed at one another longingly, but no lips touched.

Sunburst let out a nervous laugh. "Go on."

Starlight raised a brow. "Same to you."

Sunbust poked her in the chest. "Is this... your first time?"

Starlight colored savagely across her face, heart pounding. "Y-yes, okay? I never kissed a pony like that..."

"What a releif."

Starlight blinked, stunned a moment. "Why are you happy about that?"

"Means I'm not alone." She grabbed Starlight and drew them closer. "So let's start with easy things." She smooched Starlight's cheek, then again, on her snout. "I like you, Starlight."

"That word feels wrong." She returned fire, kissing Sunburst on their nose, then on their throat. "I don't like you, Sunburst. I love you. I've loved you as a friend. I pined for you. Like is too weak of a word, Sunburst. Do you love me?"

Sunburst pinned their ears back. "On the spot..." But they kissed Starlight on the shoulder, nipping and working along towards their neck. "I... love you. I love the pony you are, were, and will become. I love your magic. I love how you share it. I love... you."

Their lips met in their exploration, and they didn't fight it. That was a pitfall they were ready to fall into, each other. Their forms melted as their nostrils softly flared, taking in each other's scents as they nestled closer and closer.

Sunburst sighed shakily, drawing back just enough to rest her forehead against Starlight's. This close she glimpsed entire galaxies swirling within those stunning purple eyes. How had it taken this long to fall headlong into wonder this world held?

"I can scarcely believe this is real..." she murmured. "After the chaos of everything lately, I assumed any deeper desire was just a one-sided fantasy."

Starlight answered by claiming her lips fiercely once more. Sunburst yielded blissfully to fate's sweet assertion. This mare would accept no dismissal of her feelings. They had wasted enough seasons questioning the rays shining plain between them.

When they finally parted again, Starlight kept determined hold, refusing to relinquish the miracle she had seized. "You underestimate your radiance, my heart. Never again, okay?"

Sunburst's answering smile glowed through lingering tears. "O... okay..." She let out a tired sigh. "Okay... Wow..." She felt over Starlight with questing hooves. "Is this what it's like? This is... new, but not in a bad way."

Starlight snickered. "Seriously?" She smooched Sun's cheek. "Seriously? This isn't a magic experiment. We're not taking notes here." She leaned back a little. "Since we're already hip-deep in confessions... Can I make another?"

"Yeah?" Sunburst struggled to imagine what Starlight had left to say. "Um... Whatever you have in mind. Whatever it is... Tell me."

Starlight leaned in, eyes smoldering. "I think your new, old, form is sexy as hell and I want it to myself forever. Nopony else can have this. It's mine."

"Oh." Sunburst froze as if their operating system had just run aground, locked in processing what Starlight had just said.

Starlight bit her lip as seconds stretched on, smile turning sheepish. "Er...too strong out the gate there? Didn't mean to short circuit your brain..."

She backpedaled a few steps, cheeks flaming. "Let's just pretend I didn't go all possessive cavemare there! Got a little overwhelmed in the moment, heh..."

When Sunburst still stared mute, something protective flared in Starlight afresh. She swept back in, cupping Sunburst's face resolutely between both hooves.

"Look, the only claim I'm staking here is to be whatever you need, however this works out..." Her voice softened fervently. "Someone to walk each discovery with wonder hoof in hoof, for as long as you'll have me. However much or little that means is your call, Sunbeam. Your trust is sacred."

She gently bumped their foreheads together with an affectionate nuzzle. "So take all the time you require to set the pace shining truest for your spirit, and I shall weather every tempest raging around us in guarding that radiance dear one."

Sunburst rubbed at their cheek a moment. "So..." She curled a hoof at herself. "You... like this? I mean, I like this, a lot... But it's kind of... strange."

Starlight cocked a brow, backing up to look over all of Sunburst. "I see a mare with a little extra." She reached out, batting at Sunburst's beard. "This doesn't scare me. A mare could grow one if she had her heart set on it." She rubbed the soft fur covering her own chin. "I like mine where it is though."

Sunburst smiled gently. "I like yours where it is too... Um, but..." She threw a hoof towards her back end. "It's not a normal arrangement, is it? You're okay with that?"

"You seem to be more worried what I think about you back there, instead of up here." She grabbed Sunburst by the cheeks, rubbing them between her hooves. "Because I love this, and that, and everything in the middle, so there."

Sunburst exhaled deeply, tension releasing its grip further as Starlight patiently made space for emotions unfolding. However she now presented, at least one pony cherished the full picture gazing back appreciatively.

"I suppose old doubts sting sharply as, um, new things start..." She winked playfully. "Shall we drown them under some offensive magical splendor then?"

Starlight's eyes lit up as Sunburst strode purposefully to fling the front door open, beckoning her partner to the crystalline countryside beyond.

"Oooh yes please! I want to see what you can do when you're going all out!" She practically pranced after her love. "Bring on the magic!"

Laughing, their horns ignited in tandem, joyful brilliance wreathing the peaceful city. They trotted as one to the arena to at least make that a touch less peaceful. Bursts of magic brilliantly lit the horizon as they tried new spells, eagerly putting to practice arts that Sunburst had only read of before then.

"Sunburst!" Shining strode onto the field, deflecting an errant shot with his trademarked shield. "Starlight!"

Both stopped to look at him. He sighed with some relief. "Good... Are you trying to scare everypony? I had no less than a dozen reports of strange things going on..."

It was at that moment he took a real look around. Flowers more than four times their usual size, mushrooms big enough to maybe take a nap in, and butterflies with pony faces... "You two... have been busy..."

Starlight flashed a bright smile. "It's been fun!" She raised her hooves to clap. "If you don't like it, give us something to do. Something magic. We're both ready to spread our arcane wings and fly." She lifted into the air, held up by her own magic.

Shining shook his head slowly, then focused on Sunburst. "Are you flying too these days?"

Sunburst shrugged, not even winded from their magical escapades. "No personal flight yet... but Starlight's working hard to fix that."

She playfully hip-checked her partner, eliciting a yelp as Starlight's concentration broke. Shining swiftly caught the cursing mare in his telekinetic grip before she crashed down through the mushroom patch.

"What in Tartarus is even happening here??" An aggrieved voice carried over swelling crowds of puzzled onlookers roused by the light show. Through the throng strode an imposing long-coated mare scowling at the chaotic scene.

"Ah, Inspector Vex!" Shining waved a hoof in greeting. "Just an, er...impromptu skills assessment by our arcane specialists - no trouble!"

The inspector eyed him flatly. Starlight gave a weak chuckle. "We, um...might have gotten a bit carried away. Our bad?"

Sunburst sighed, lighting her horn to begin damage control under Vex's unrelenting stare. "Sorry, um, sir."

Vex glared at Sunburst specifically. "You are well known. Crystaler, scholar... prized for both." His tone did not sound complimenting. "But now you turn your knowledge to this?" She waved at the slowly receding chaos that Sunburst and Starlight were cleaning. "I expected better of you, sir."

Starlight slid between them. "They aren't a sir anymore."

Vex cocked a brow. "I don't care what they are. I meant that as a generic term of respect. Something I owe you none at all."

Shining laughed tensely. "Let's not get into any fights over--"

"I am a wizard!" Starlight stomped a glowing hoof on the ground. "You don't have to like me, Vex, but I won't be casually dissed like that."

Sunburst slid past Starlight, trying to take the spot ahead of Starlight. "We'll be better, promise."

Vex rolled her eyes. "See that this is true." she turned to Shining. "Sir. I'll keep an eye on them."

Shining laughed awkwardly. "They are friends. Let's not get too--"

"Sir." Vex leaned forward. "Practicing magicians represent an inherent risk." The crystal mare buffed her chest. "Friends or not, they will be watched. The Crystal Empire deserves safety, and that means we do not allow rogue magicians to do as they wish."

Vex watched the subdued group a lingering moment more before turning sharply to address murmuring crowds, voice crackling with authority's cold command.

"Street entertainment is concluded, citizens! Resume your business in orderly fashion." Her sharp nod set guards briskly herding puzzled ponies along. Authority shifted realities casually it seemed - no matter what fantastical feats one might achieve, bureaucracy churned on.

Soon the arena showed little signs of the previous magical mayhem unleashed save a few errant wild daisies stubbornly cheerily sprouting. The same might not be said for memories imprinted or tensions planted...

Inspector Vex eyed the cowed companions sidelong, words clipped and precise: "Quaint light shows are one matter friends, but I trust we understand implications if less...whimsical applications arose?"

Without awaiting reply, she strode off, crystal guards sliding neatly into watchful formation flanking her exit. The Empire stood guarded first and foremost, brilliance be damned...
> 12 - Awkwardly Together
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunburst awakened with a slow yawn, only to be grabbed. Starlight had slept there, with them. She was hugging Sunburst right back down into her grasp. "Oh, um, good morning?"

"It is now." Starlight kissed under Sunburst's chin and nibbled there. "I can see why ponies sleep together now. This is... so comfortable." She squeezed Sunburst close. "But getting up is a lot harder."

Sunburst's horn glowed, to no effect for just a moment. Starlight perked an ear confusedly until the tickles came. She burst into laughter as Sunburst's magic poked and ran over her body in every sensitive place. "N-no! I give, stop!" She fell from the bed, scrambling to her hooves. "Cut that out!"

With a little smile, Sunburst hopped free of the bed and started into the modest kitchen. "We're awake now."

"Foul play." But Starlight didn't argue it, giggling as she went to help in the morning activities. "So what's on the plan today?"

Starlight leaned casually on the kitchen counter watching Sunburst preparing a simple breakfast, chin propped cozily in both hooves. "Sooo...think we'll manage actual responsible agendas today or inevitably devolve into further impromptu magical chaos bringing authority pounding on our door?"

She winked playfully as Sunburst shot her a wry glance. "Not that I'm complaining either way, mind! Though, fair warning, Cadance invited us both to dinner tonight so some restraint might be wise beforehoof."

Sunburst merely arced a brow skeptically.

"What! I can be perfectly behaved given sufficient incentive," Starlight protested around a mouthful of daisy omelette. After a thoughtful moment she amended "- for up to twenty minutes at least. But hey, I promise to shield you from any flying soup tureens if it gets too stuffy."

Laughing, Sunburst floated their dishes over to wash up. "Far be it from me to curb your spirited self-expression dearheart...but let's calm down on that." Sunburst leaned over to touch nose to cheek. "You're a little drunk."

Starlight recoiled. "Drunk? I don't touch the stuff."

Sunburst curled a hoof at themselves. "You're drunk on me, and you look very silly. I know you can be a perfectly reasonable mare, but you're a mare in love, and it's, um... showing."

Starlight colored at that, called out so bluntly. "Hey, um... It's... new."

"And I'm ready to explore it, with you." Sunburst sat next to her and drew her close. "But let's not make the world suffer for our joy, okay?"

Starlight smirked softly. "The world suffered for the lack of it... I guess we can give it a break now..." She nuzzled under Sunburst's cheek. "This all feels like a dream." Starlight smiled sheepishly under piercing yet gentle wisdom proffered by her dearest confidante. Trust Sunburst to consider runaway reactions objectively despite being swept up in them herself.

"You have the right of things as always, my sunlight..." She leaned into Sunburst's flank appreciatively. "I suppose near lifelong... want has left  me a bit overeager now this dream just kinda burst in. I'll calm down, promise."

She turned a sincere smile up to her love, all manic energy flowed to warmed glow. "I'm just a bit, what, overwhelmed? Having this actually happen instead of hazy dreams of mine? It's nuts, and in the best sorts of ways."

They leaned together in the lingering hush. Sunburst perked her ears suddenly. "Oh. Um, we do have to decide where we're going to live... You live in Ponyville, and here I am." Sunburst waved about her small house. "All the way up here in the Crystal Empire... Is... Is one of us moving?"

Starlight chewed her lip, eyebrows knitting. In truth the implications of maintaining such distance long term were only just dawning now that breathless euphoria had eased.

"I can't claim I have solutions handy," she began, "But surely we can work it out...somehow." Even voicing that half-hearted assurance aloud rang lamely hopeful.

"We'll make it work!" The rejoinder came fiercer than her own sinking conviction. This wouldn't be the first love left languishing without nourishment thanks to demanding rival priorities. But before old griefs choked optimism anew, Sunburst was already pacing, scheme glimmering hastily.

"The train exists, yes? We budget visits whenever able - maybe I petition royalty for concrete concessions given services rendered?" Those beautiful eyes turned Starlight's way kindled with fiery determination no void would undermine. "We've faced worse odds. I'm not surrendering this without a fight!"

Starlight smiled at that bold look. "I love it when you decide something has to get done." She let out a soft sigh. "It makes me hope, and I think I needed that." She rose to her hooves and approached the sink, her glowing horn already working to wash the dishes in it. "Seriously,  I hate this. I want my Sunny!"

Sunburst smiled from where she took a seat by her books. "Don't sound like we're already far apart."

"It just feels like it..." Starlight rubbed at the sides of her head, though her magic kept right on cleaning dishes. "On one hoof, I abandon Twilight and everything she's doing. She's working so hard... Abandoning her school feels awful, to say nothing of the friends I have. None of them are.... this... But they're still friends. I have no friends up here."

Sunburst considered that with slow taps of her hooves. "Well... I have friends here, um. Mostly, Cadance and Shining, but they are very good friends, um, and employers? It's murky, but we are friends."

Starlight rolled a hoof. "Then I'm going to just flat out sound selfish here, but it's sounding like you could afford to leave way more than I could! Cadance and Shining are the rulers of the city! They can find another foalsitter. They're far from alone. They may get sad, but they'll get over it."

Sunburst laid their ears flat to the left and right. "It's not that easy. Flurry is who... made this possible." She waved over her form. "They made the first pull, um, to let me see what had been hiding under it all. Without them, I'd still be the old Sunburst."

Starlight wrinkled her nose. "The old Sunburst was pretty good too, but..." She danced in place, almost dropping a dish from her unfocused magic. "This is unfair... If I had known, I would have ripped it off you years ago."

Sunburst smiled at that whimsical thought. "I imagine you would have... But you didn't. We didn't know." She rubbed her cheek softly. "We can't change the past." She saw Starlight looking pondering. "We won't change the past," they rephrased more firmly.

"Fine," she sighed out, abandoning thoughts of altering history's flow. "It'd be worth it, if it meant I got you."

Sunburst went in to kiss Starlight's cheek. "That's a very nice thought. Look... I'll talk with the royal couple and see what they think, alright? Maybe I'm worried about nothing. I won't know until I ask."

"Fine." Starlight turned away from the sink, emptied of dirty dishes. "Then you do that."

"We're meeting them for dinner, remember?" Sunburst grabbed her fancy wizard had with her magic and plonked it on her head. "You never said if you like this, by the way?" She soon donned her robe to go with it, completing her wizardly appearance. "Ta da."

Starlight laughed at the display. "Love it. Like a modern Starswirl, long beard included." She went in for a fresh smooch. "Way less grouchy..."

Sunburst sighed, feeling the tension finally easing off some as their eyes met again. Starlight still looked freaked out, but less than before at least. No way would either of them be okay saying goodbye for good. Somehow they'd figure out a way to make this work.

"Hey, you ever feel just so dang lucky ending up with your oldest best friend when you look back?" She gave Starlight a little smile and bumped their heads together. "Feels kinda like fate crossed our paths for a reason even before we understood it, you know?"

She scuffed a hoof self-consciously but kept the contact between them steady. "I just know I'll always be there for you 'til the end of our ride, however we get there."

Starlight exhaled, matching her softer tone as she leaned into Sunburst's shoulder. "But I do like it."

Sunburst cracked into laughter at that. "Glad to hear it. Now that I'm dressed, I'm heading out."

Starlight stepped with Sunburst. "Where to? Can I help?"

Sunburst gently nudged Starlight back. "Thank you, but I can take care of this one on my own, promise." She planted a gentle kiss on Starlight's nose. "Love is letting the other pony go on a walk on their own sometimes, okay?"

Starlight huffed at that, but let Sunburst make their departure. "No fun..."

Alone in the house, she considered what to do next. "What if... Yes." She turned her mind to the first thing that ran across it. "My little wizard wants new magic,  I know it. Let's make their dreams come true." With deep chortles, she left the house as well, eyes searching for magical tomes to offer her newfound romantic target.





"I'm worried."

Shining turned an ear at Cadance as he sat at the dinner table, there in the crystal palace. "What about? The guards are in order. Nothing unusual to report in the city..."

Cadance rolled a hoof. "The city's fine, thankfully. I'm worried about Sunburst. They're going through such a change... It's not just their... body, but their outlook. They're becoming a new pony, inside and out."

Shining mused that with a chinrub. "Well, yes... I never thought 'he' would become a 'she' and sometimes 'they?'. I don't get that part. Um, but they seem to be the same Sunburst, under it all?" Shining frowned, eyebrows knitting together. "I don't follow...they seem their same quirky scholarly self to me, if more openly fancying our visiting magician these days."

He shrugged amicably. "We all have our schoolfilly crushes I suppose, however those play out across the years."

Cadance simply gazed at him patiently another long moment until epiphany sparked at last within her husband's eyes.

"Oh...OH!" Shining reared back, sputtering. "Wait, you don't simply mean partner preference flipping here, do you? Is Sunburst truly embracing...?"

He trailed off, looking both enlightened yet somehow more like he was struggling to get some idea under control. However many quests one undertook with close companions, entire inward odysseys could yet unfold covertly all the while.

Cadance smiled, reaching across the table to squeeze his hoof supportively. "Shift sits hard, whether you're the one doing the shift or not." She winked playfully firelight dancing across thoughtful features. "Perhaps some fresh perspective may illuminate our next right steps?"

She gestured to the empty seats. "That's why I invited them, both of them. Let's stop guessing and start asking them directly. Nopony knows better what a pony is going through than the pony themself, hm?"

"Yeah! Yeah. Good idea." He waved for a servant to come into the room. "Can you get a little something?" He ordered Sunburst's favorite to be set on their plate, waiting for them to arrive. "He, um, she loves this. They used to? Their taste didn't change, I think. They'll love it."

Cadance wrinkled her nose with a little smile. "That you're thinking of them means more than the food will, Shiny. Stop being nervous. They still adore us, even if things are changing."

Cadance smiled affectionately at her husband's diversionary dining fussing before turning introspective eyes to the horizon visible through towering crystalline windows. She suspected status symbols meant little to one continuously redefining self so profoundly as their dear Sunburst presently walked. 

Cadance nodded firmly to herself just as approaching hoofsteps echoed down decorated hallways towards their private supper nook. She turned a radiant smile towards the arched entryway where questions awaited from the mouths of those directly involved.

"We are so happy to have you, Sunburst, Starlight." She waved towards their seats at the table. "Heroes of the city, both of you, and..." She could see the bright line between them. "Much more than that."
> 13 - Dinner in Crystal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunburst slid up onto a chair, Starlight just behind. "Oh." She spotted his favorite waiting of them. "How nice of you." They sniffed gently, taking in the sweet and savory hints. "Smells like they went all out on it too."

Starlight hopped up onto hers, looking over the table that promised more of a buffet selection of things. "Why did Sunny get their own?"

Shining laughed nervously. "They're the, uh... star of tonight. Sunburst's been through a lot, thought I'd give them a treat."

Cadance reached with magic for some of her own. "We don't know what your favorite is, Starlight. I apologize for that. But you are just as welcome here. We have things to discuss." Her vision was just a little off, examining that glittering thread. The two were fiercely connected.

It wasn't just a thread of enduring warmth of a foalhood friend. It burned hot, quite hot. The two were in love, romantic love. They were in that first phase, where everything probably felt perfect, and all they needed was to be with one another. Cadance could see all of that, as obvious as their swaying tails.

Cadance inclined her head thoughtfully as the group began filling plates, questions warming in her mind even as aromas of roasted vegetables and laden breads filled the cozy nook.

"So, has our visiting magician uncovered more of the Empire's hidden wonders while hosted here or do obligations in Ponyville still beckon before long?" She kept her tone light addressing Starlight while loading a crisp salad.

The aforementioned mare nearly fumbled her levitated spoon mid-dish. "Oh! Well, I admit I hadn't made concrete plans just yet..." She recovered aplomb swiftly, nudging a blushing Sunburst. "Hard to leave such pleasant new company after all!"

Shining perked up through chewing a hearty spinach tartlet. "Oh, I do hope you'll stay on with us for a good long visit at least! It makes me happy seeing Sunny with their smile back." He grinned affably Starlight's way. "Any friend of our Court Wizard is most welcome!"

Cadance nodded with a sip of her crystal goblet. "That ignoring that said friend is also an ally of the kingdom. You'd be welcome here in either event."

Starlight lifted a hoof flat with the two rulers. "Cut it out." Her words sliced through the thinly veiled buttering attempts. "You two are not very subtle. What are you trying to ask? Be straight."

Shining looked to Cadance for support.

She sighed. "You two are..." She glanced between them. "So..."

Sunburst swallowed heavily. "Are we in trouble?"

"No! No..." Cadance reached to pat Sunburst gently. "Quite the opposite. I can see you two are wildly in love. I'm almost jealous."

"Hey."

Cadance nuzzled her bristled husband gently. "We've moved on from that hot spike that starts romance. That isn't a bad thing, but seeing that bright bolt is... It reminds me, is all."

Starlight rubbed at the side of her head. "I forgot you could do that. A little creepy, but alright." She shrugged. "We're in love, not arguing it." She threw an arm over Sunburst, drawing them closer, chair sliding with the motion. "I love this pony."

Sunburst laughed nervously, words failing her entirely.

Shining smiled in what he hoped was a genuine way. "Um, good to... hear it. You two have been friends for many moons now." He turned his gaze to Cadance. "So were we, before we took that next step. She was Twili's foalsitter for years before I said a thing... I, uh... had to work up the courage."

"And it's a good thing he did." Cadance sliced a bit of cake to nibble on. "Or things would have been quite different." She looked between the two new coupled ponies. "Now, I am the princess of love. I'm going to ask some awkward questions, but know that I mean them only with fond support."

"Of course!" Sunburst broke her silence in an outburst. "I mean... yeah. You're our friend, Cadance."

"Glad to hear that." Her eyes went to Starlight. "You're claiming them quite possessively. Do you plan to take this new treasure back with you?"

Starlight shuffled as all eyes turned her way, feeling put on the spot by gentle questions hinting at huge unknowns she was still privately wrestling to reconcile. She took Sunburst's hoof reflexively while gathering scrambled thoughts.

Part of her had to marvel - who figured the fiery Ponyville rabble-rouser would clam up when crystal royalty gave her full attention? 

"Um, I guess the truth is, we only just confessed having deeper feelings at all..." She managed finally. "I don't have a clue what future looks like yet through all this. It's kinda scary if I'm honest! But I know I can't lose what we found together now."

She cringed, remembering that time so long ago when she lost Sunburst off to school. "Never again."

Shining smiled. "Well! Then you could move here. We'd be glad to help Sunny get a bigger house, big enough for a new family?"

Cadance relaxed at the idea. "That would be lovely. I'd--"

"--No." Starlight leaned in towards the table with a frown. "I have too much in Ponyville. Twilight would... fall apart, to say nothing of my other friends... That isn't really an option."

Sunburst looked between the two warring sides of that battle. "T-then... I have to make a choice." She tapped her hooves fretfully. "I... I... promise... I'll visit, often..." She leaned closer to Starlight. "But I won't leave her behind, again."

A pensive hush fell around the table as each pony turned inward, visions of roads diverging through memory's mirrored lenses.

An awkward silence fell over the table as everypony turned sorta inward, all clearly thinking over how tricky this whole thing seemed the more they talked it out.

Cadance couldn't help but feel real sad taking in how dead set Sunburst looked on not bailing from Starlight's life again. Made sense they'd still feel messed up leaving such a close friend high and dry way back when. Some scars don't like risking getting torn open again no matter what good might wait on the other side.

And Shining saw plain as day this was eating at Starlight too behind that stare off into space. Whole lotta stuff back in Ponyville probably needed her bad that she couldn't just turn her back on. Even for a real special new romance. He could feel the tough calls like that - duty was duty.

They all slowly picked at the feast spread out without much being said. But hovering silently somewhere in this whole messy situation maybe some kinda hope still squeaked through. Sure their paths got briars whichever way you swung right now, but love found its stubborn way sometimes if you just gave it some patience. Had to believe that, right? Even when the next steps felt tangled as a tumbleweed trap.

Yeah...the crystals shining on the walls couldn't exactly share their wisdom on that tonight though. So the four sat tight letting unspoken questions and compromises simmer slowly.

A little concerned coo emerged from a crystal carriage nearby.

Sunburst hopped to her hooves and hurried over, smiling down at Flurry there, reaching up for them. "Well, hello there. We boring adults are talking big things." She grasped Flurry in her magic, drawing them up for a nuzzle. "But we love you, promise that."

Ignorant of what was being discussed, Flurry hugged Sun's snout with a joyous cry.

Starlight smiled at the two. "Sorry... kiddo. I'm stealing your foalsitter."

Cadance snorted, looking conflicted a moment. "You aren't... We'll have to adapt, but we can, and we will." She sat up, letting out a sigh. "It isn't as if Flurry never had other foalsitters. Sunburst was just... our favorite. Which just hammers in the point you made."

She sipped from a thick coffee. "We can afford to lose Sunburst, as cherished as they are. Twilight can't afford to lose you, and I'd be a terrible sister if I made the choice any other way."

Shining rubbed behind his head. "Yeah, point... As her brother, I have to let you go. I can't leave poor Twi flapping in the breeze without her... you're the counselor, right?"

Starlight beamed. "Yep! I'm the counselor of the school. It's a lot of work, but so worth it. Little kids need somepony to set them straight."

Sunburst sighed, putting on a smile for little Flurry while feeling pretty mixed up inside about everything being discussed. But some stuff was steady dealbreakers regardless - no way was she gonna ditch this kiddo without Cadance naming another good fill-in caretaker. Part of signing on loving this family was committing to this baby's wellbeing.

Cadance gave a little nod, clearly also wanting to be real sure Sunburst didn't feel pressured giving up caring for Flurry to chase other relationships. No reason old bonds breaking needed to mean new ones forming.

"You've always stepped up when life got hairy." She offered Sunburst a kind grin over her coffee mug rim. "However your adventure goes next, we'll get inventive making sure no kid catches the storm."

Shining bumped his wife appreciatively. They bounced ideas on logistics and such while Sunburst and Starlight chatted soft about what pull north versus south meant for them. It was heavy stuff but having things in the open mattered. They ate on slowly hashing details out bit by bit.

Starlight suddenly nipped Sunburst's closer ear. "I told you."

"What'd you tell me?" Sunburst rubbed their mildly throbbing ear.

"They're literally the head ponies around here." She snorted softly. "They can find foalsitters. They won't be you, but they'll get the job done." She pushed away from the table. "Thank you both. It was tasty."

Cadance put out a hoof. "Don't be too hasty. We have other things we could discuss, hopefully lighter things." She smiled gently. "I didn't even finish my awkward love questions. Now that I know your plans, a dozen more come to mind. Indulge me?"

Sunburst looked to Starlight. Starlight pulled herself closer with her magic. "Hit us."

"Lovely." Cadance brought her hooves together silently. "Since you're going to Ponyville together, will you be staying in Twilight's castle, or getting a home of your own there?"

Sunburst blinked at that. "I actually imagined Twilight's castle could use a few more ponies."

"Seriously," gusted out Starlight. "So much space, so few ponies. We have more than enough room to put Sunburst in there." She colored faintly. "With me."

Cadance smiled over interlaced hooves, not missing the hastily covered meaning but letting it lie gracefully. "Well I've no doubt you'll make our dear Sunburst feel wonderfully at home."

Shining stretched with a chuckle. "Yeah, castle life took some adjusting for me too back in the day. But you get used to all the enchanted suits of armor eventually!" He winked playfully at Sunburst. "Though Twilight's place rarely sees the chaos ours hosted regularly in its heyday!"

"I'd hope your school's a bit more orderly than that madhouse!" Sunburst returned volley with a matching smirk. She rather suspected crossed magical currents had catalyzed more palace misadventures than any admitted.

"My kids? Orderly?" Starlight burst out laughing. "I love them but it's a regular crusade keeping their chaos safely contained!" Her eyes softened sharing a smile with Sunburst. "Something tells me this professor will make an expert wrangler though when sparks start flying..."

Sunburst laughed nervously. "Actually... I don't think Twilight has a single enchanted suit of armor."

Shining blinked at that. "Seriously? I thought she was hiding them away when I visited... Not even one?"

Cadance gently set out a hoof ahead of Shining. "Putting that aside, it sounds like there's more than enough room for you both, which is lovely. Now... To the future." Her eyes pierced them both with her gaze. "Do you have any plans for foals? To be fair, we didn't at first, so..."

Starlight went from zero to full-faced red instantly. "H-hey! Um... We haven't talked about... that..." She glanced along at Shining. "I'm not even sure if that's an option? I mean..."

It was Shining's turn to gently wave Cadance back. "That's between you two. You have our full support either way. Be sure to invite us to any foal showers that are coming up."

"And weddings." Cadance smiled at the two increasingly uncomfortable ponies. "We wouldn't miss it."
> 14 - A Quick Move
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Held aloft in a swirling of their magical auras, Sunburst and Starlight wrestled a great collection of most of Sunburst's possessions outside into a waiting cart, which creaked under the new weight.

Starlight nodded with satisfaction. "You were living light. When we get back, we're going to work on fixing that."

Sunburst looked over the burdened wagon. "That looks filled to me. Why buy things if I'm not using them?"

Starlight slid up against Sunburst. "It's not about buying things. It's about just a little collecting because things are happening. Your life's been almost paused for too long. I feel awful about that, but excited too. We can fix that." She nuzzled into Sunburst's cheek. "Time to live."

Sunburst smiled hesitantly as they went inside to collect the things that hadn't made it in the first trip. "It... feels odd, having everything in one place." She put the very last book on the pile. "There it is... I guess I can leave the cauldron. It's not a special cauldron, just a pot, really... I can get a new one."

Starlight offered an encouraging nuzzle seeing Sunburst hesitate over something as minor as replacing a cooking pot. She could sense old habits grasping familiar totems reflexively against rising tides carrying them irrevocably onward now.

"Hey, think of it as a great excuse to pick your perfect new wizardly cauldron!" She mimed an exaggeratedly creepy stance. "Ominous bubbling brews demand only the finest construction!"

Her theatrics won a small chuckle in reward as intended. Silly or sincere, Starlight followed sunshine smiling Sunburst's way.

"Alright, perhaps some upgrade indulgences won't go fully amiss..." Sunburst eyed the groaning cart outside dubiously. "We're traveling quite overloaded as is so minimalism may serve us best today."

She swept a final surveying glance around the now emptied cottage, exhaling hard. Then determined eyes fixed ahead. "Very well - onwards then, my dear!"

They pulled the wagon together, horns glowing as they set off for the train station.

"Two for Ponyville, kindly." Starlight slapped down a few bits on the counter. "When's the next one?"

The attendant turned his eyes upwards to the schedule, squinting a moment. "Hm." He looked to the clock, then back to the schedule. "Hm. Looks like... a minute ago."

Starlight blinked. "Wait, we missed it?"

"No." He turned back, arms on the countertop. "I didn't see a train, so it's probably due any moment now." He looked past Starlight to the burdened wagon. "Cargo?"

Sunburst bobbed his head. "This is all of it." They waved over the whole thing. "Everything." It felt odd saying that. It was everything...

"I'll get an attendant." He blew a whistle and the luggage was rolled away. "It'll get on the first train to Ponyville, which you'll hopefully be on too."

Starlight exhaled stiffly and managed to smooth her tense shoulders somewhat hearing the reassurance. This wasn't some solo journey into the unknown after all...and when had outrageous odds ever daunted her besides?

She bumped Sunburst's shoulder affectionately as the shrill whistle announced their ride's arrival. "Whatdya say Sunbeam? Up for a nice scenic trip to take in the sights together?"

Mindful of boarding passengers impatient to embark around them, she still stole a swift smooch before floating the tickets their way teasingly. "Stick with me kiddo - I know all the best caboose cars for discreet cuddle sessions..."

Sunburst raised a doubting brow. "Who were you cuddling?"

"Nopony," Starlight admitted, colored with a nervous laugh. "I was just joking... But I can think of a few spots." She got a scheming look. "That's a challenge I'm up for. Twilight showed me one that'd give us privacy almost anywhere."

Sunburst stepped with the crowd onto the train properly. "I dare to ask, what kind of spell is that?"

"It's meant to let you read a book from the inside." She waggled both brows with a lash of her tail. "But if you're inside  a book, nopony can watch you, hm?" She sank onto a bench, waving for Sunburst to take up the one spot aside her. She glared cooly at another pony considering the spot, scaring them away.

"Sorry." Sunburst nodded at the frightened pony and moved to take up the guarded spot. "That sounds dangerous, right now. If we aren't here, just a book on the bench, somepony may just throw out the book."

Starlight clopped a hoof to her forehead. "Point... No intensive bookreading right now, I guess."

With a soft bump, the train started forward under them. "To Ponyville! Woo! Ponyville with my Sunny." She grabbed Sunburst, hugging them with a giggle. "I know you... may be a little scared, but I'm super excited right now."

"Scared? Psh, nah..." Sunburst waved a dismissive hoof watching familiar scenery glide past their window. If clinging just a little too tightly to Starlight belied her breezy denial, neither pointed it out.

"I mean change itself rarely stops being scary, right?" she amended, exhaling slowly. "But having your hoof to hold helps more than I can say."

Starlight gifted her a little nuzzle. "I've got you, and I mean that in a supportive way. I'm right behind you, cheering you every step."

Sunburst melted against their new special somepony. "So... am I going to get involved?"

"Involved in what?" Starlight perked an ear, sitting up a little.

"The school." Sunburst pointed ahead of them in the direction the train was going. "You're a counselor...  Will I help too?"

"Sunny!" Starlight smooched her cheek, snout and ear in a sudden bout of pecks. "I'd love that, but working and loving together can get awkward. Let's just settle you in and we can explore all that. What's the rush?"

"What's the rush..." But that came easily. "We already wasted so much time... How long have we known each other, and... Um... let's be honest... loved each other, but did nothing about it?"

Starlight tapped at her chin lightly. "Point... Still, rushing won't get us anywhere. We're together now, and I plan to enjoy that."

"True... True..." Sunburst fell against her and they settled companionably as the train carried them off to warmer climates.

Both started when a conductor called out for ponies looking to get off in Ponyville to get ready to disembark. As the din of disembarking passengers slowly filtered away, she blinked surprised finding the car practically empty and Starlight's grinning face filling her vision.

"Hey sleepyhead, looks like it's our stop!" Her eager companion pressed an offkilter wizard's hat firmly atop Sunburst's rumpled mane. "Let the grand tour commence!"

Starlight fetched the cart from the cargo being unloaded from the train and began pulling it into Ponyville properly, humming joyfully.

Trailing after the bubbly Starlight, Sunburst shook off remaining grogginess and allowed the expectant atmosphere enveloping them wash over her senses. The very air seemed saturated in vibrant energy there quite distinct from crystalline radiance back home.

"So...this is Ponyville proper huh?" She surveyed rustic buildings and colorful characters milling about the modest station. "Quainter than I pictured from your stories, but I admit it has undeniable rural charm!"

Starlight beamed proudly. "Just wait 'til you've seen the best spots! Plus Twi seriously souped areas up lately - especially that school you already brought up." She nudged against Sunburst. "And there's where we'll live." She pointed ahead at Twilight's towering castle. "Right there."

Sunburst craned their head back to take in the whole of that crystal tower. "Wow. It's... actually like a bit of home. It's all... crystally." He wobbled hooves, trying to capture that essence of crystal. "I... actually... I'm kinda happy."

"Only kinda?" Starlighttouched her nose to his cheek, just to whirl in place. "Pinkie!"

"Star!" The two crashed in a warm hug. "Ooo, and a Sunburst." She grabbed Sunburst with a flailing hoof and hauled them into the group hug. "You don't come here often, what brings ya by?!"

Starlight backed a step and pointed at herself. "I brought them by. Say hello to my special somepony." She tossed her head at Sunburst with a triumphant grin.

Pinkie gasped loudly. "Wow! Really? Neat!" She bounced around Sunburst with a great grin. "That's amazing! Is that why you look a little different now? You were a he, but now you're more of a shi, I think."

"Shi?" Sunburst inclined her head. "What's that?"

"Shi, Hir." Pinkie waved at Starlight's general frame. "You are right in the middle. Neat! I never thought I'd get to use those." She whirled on Starlight. "Do they have everything?"

Sunburst blinked owlishly, cheeks darkening as Pinkie's questions hit unexpectedly close to personal places transitional vocabulary still struggled encapsulating. But any fumbling found itself preempted by her simply grabbing them in another hug.

"Whoopsie, looks like I mis-stepped there!" She chuckled. "No biggie! However the whole you feels comfiest being addressed is a-okay by me!"

Sunburst exhaled, tension easing at the breezy acceptance rolling on. "I suppose 'they' suits me fine generally Pinkie Pie. I appreciate you asking actually - means more than you know being seen wholly." She rubbed her cheek. "Or she, um... I never heard of those other ones."

Starlight swooped back in judiciously as Pinkie finally released the slightly smooshed newcomer. "And we can catch up on the finer physiology points later when these tired travelers have rested some!" She steered them towards the towering crystal palace nearby.

"Right now though, how about helping get Sunny acquainted with the castle while I track down our wayward hostess??"

They didn't run into her until they were safely inside, and they didn't even see her first. Spike was there to see them, walking past the entryway. "Oh, woah."

He hurried over to help pull the cart up that last step. "Wow! Look at that. You'd think somepony was moving in with all of that."

Sunburst tensed. "Um, does he not know?"

Starlight laughed a little hysterically. "Spike! Buddy!" She waved at Sunburst. "I went to the Crystal Empire and... you remember Sunburst, don't you?"

Spike looked Sunburst over curiously. "They look a little different. You alright?"

"I'm better than alright." Sunburst smiled at the little dragon. "But I have been through a few changes."

"Cool." But his attention was on Starlight. "So what's up with this?" He pointed at the filled cart.

Starlight rubbed behind her head. "Sunburst is my special somepony now... I brought them back with me."

"Oh." Spike was still a moment. "Wait... Twilight didn't mention that. Did you talk with her?"

"Not exactly..."

Sunburst swallowed heavily. "We came all the way from the Crystal Empire and you didn't talk to her?!"

Starlight crashed to her haunches. "I was focused on getting you here! It'll be okay. This castle has tons of room, waiting for a pony or two."

"Not cool." Spike shook his head, walking away. "Twilight hates sudden change, especially where she lives."

Sunburst met Starlight's cringing gaze with exasperation plain across her face. For all the meticulous overplanning her friend could commit towards improbable schemes, glaring logistic holes somehow persisted plaguing practical partnerships puzzlingly often.

"In all our moons together have you ever just...talked things out fully beforehand versus plunging in hooves first?" Sunburst sighed fondly, nudging the sheepish unicorn sprawled awkwardly over their luggage cart.

Rubbing the back of her neck self-consciously, Starlight never got a chance to reply as distant hoofsteps rapidly closed in...

"Spike, what's all this I hear about some ponies trying to move into...my...castle..." Twilight's incredulous tone registered fully before the scene itself struck her stunned eyes: friend and former student beaming excitedly, A familiar pony far out of place, grimacing with apology, and heaped household items implying permanence poignantly evident.

Silence stretched taut.

"Starlight Glimmer, what in Equestria have you done now?!"
> 15 - Welcome
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight let out a slow sigh, then forced herself to her full height, her smile equally as forced. "Welcome!" She was looking at Sunburst. "Welcome... I don't know what Starlight... Is that yours?" She pointed at the collection, just for her hoof to fall.

"The Seven Lost Fauna of Sallyworth?" She rushed up to the cart, eyes on the book. "That's very rare! The only pony I knew that had one of those was--"

"It's me," squeaked out Sunburst. "Hi..."

Twilight whirled on Sunburst. "It's... How? What?" She closed with her transformed friend. "You..." She reached up to run a hoof through Sunburst's mane. "Wow... Are you... okay? Did you come for assistance with a curse?! You know I'd be glad to help."

"I broke the curse..." Sunburst sank to their haunches. "That's what did this."

Twilight rubbed her cheek a moment, eyes wandering over Sunburst's curious form. "I... see? I don't see. Please explain this, Sunburst. Let's start with this, are you alright?"

Starlight slid in front of Sunburst. "She's fine. Perfectly fine, and she even has a special somepony now."

Twilight took a step back as Starlight shoved in. "Oh? Um, congratulations? Is it alright if I admit... I didn't see that coming either?"

Sunburst went to their things, hiding their face conveniently behind a pile of boxes.

Starlight lashed her tail. "Twilight, they're mine." She tapped her chest. "And I brought them here to live, with me."

"Without asking me." Twilight tapped Starlight on the chest. "Still quite inappropriate, even if  I do know the pony you're inviting."

"Sorry..." Starlight danced nervously a moment. "It was me moving to the Crystal Empire or she came here! This is a way better option."

Twilight booped Starlight on her nose. "And you could have sent me a message of warning. That's all It'd take. I wouldn't say no to Sunburst."

"Then no problem!" Starlight started to march past, just to glow with Twilight's magic, stopped. "Right?"

"No." Twilight pulled Starlight back in front of herself. "You got in a spot and acted impulsively, again." She huffed lightly. "That is a habit we need to work on, yesterday." She turned her head sharply to Sunburst. "Go ahead and settle in. Spike! Please show Sunburst to Starlight's room. We'll be busy." She got to tugging Starlight away for a friendship lesson, asked for or not.

Spike grimaced sympathetically as he emerged, watching his flustered friend get towed off by the ear for another of Twilight's infamous intensive crash course corrections.

"Yikes, special someponie's moving in overnight kinda pushes her buttons, but don't sweat it!" He waved for the wilting newcomer to follow. "Gotta warn ya though Starlight's room is kinda...chaotically colorful. Do you like kites?"

Sunburst managed a tremulous chuckle picturing the space soon to be theirs. "If its occupant reflects any decor sensibility, I wholly expect assaulted senses on all fronts!" Quieter she added: "I wonder what tomes she's collected."

Mounting crystal stairs, she bit her lip anxiously realizing this palace poised to become her full-time home, without the years of familiarity that her old home had anchored her so comfortably within crystalline walls back home. Far fewer friendships braced to steady her steps here if stumbling over change's uneven terrain. At least one precious pony paved the path ahead though whatever this new kingdom held...

"Here we go - cue potential sensory overload!" Spike swung an ornate door open as Sunburst inhaled deeply.

Sunburst pressed in, blinking. "Were you playing a joke?" The room was... normal. There were a few kites tucked away. There was a poster of a butterfly, and a bed. It was a perfectly normal room. "Where are the colors?"

"What? Plenty of colors." He snickered softly, grabbing Sunburst's stuff to draw the cart into the room. "Let's get you settled in."

Sunburst huffed. "Not a nice joke..." Still, she got to work with Spike getting her things out of the cart and tucked away.

Spike had to bring a new bookcase, but that wasn't something they were short on in the castle, so they were able to get everything put away fairly quickly. He clapped his hands with a smug smile. "They call me the #1 assistant for a reason. Everything put away.  I'll take this." He grabbed the bar of the cart and wheeled it out. "By the way."

"Hm?" Sunburst turned as Spike walked past. "What?"

"What's it like?" Spike leaned against the cart. "Being a mare that is? You weren't before, which makes you the best pony around to ask."

Sunburst blinked at that. "Why not... ask Twilight? She's been one far longer than I have."

"Which is the problem." He fired a fingergun at Sunburst. "She has no idea what being a guy is like. What can she compare it to? Being a mare is just being, for her."

Sunburst managed an awkward chuckle rubbing her neck at the blunt curiosity. Heck she was still getting used to this whole gender swap shakeup herself! Hard to neatly summarize stuff even you can barely wrap your brain around personally when it clashes with norms. But Spike sure seemed to be trying his best to take her shifted identity in stride however foreign it clearly still struck him. She could appreciate attempts to hear her out and understand better for sure.

"Well dang, you got me there - anypony in my horseshoes is definitely still figuring out how to even explain differences distinctly..." She shrugged, offering the waiting dragon a wistful smile. "Always kinda felt I walked between stallion and mare trails internally I guess? Though kept caged up 'til random chance recently cracked that seal...Now I'm just embracing both in all sorts of awkward glory."

Spike nodded along earnestly though she suspected subtle stuff still slipped his grasping. But she gave him props for making space and listening. "Hey, however your new form settles is awesome! I got your back, Sunny! Now c'mon - let's go make sure your impulsive squeeze hasn't spun herself up into knots for Twilight to untangle...again!"

He fired two fingerguns. "But, seriously. I'm not asking how you're sorting 'you' out. I mean physically. You were one, now you're something else. That's gotta feel different, right?" He reached out an arm. "I know what a dragon is, but it's all I know, so that isn't changing, oh, except these." He spread his wings out. "These are new, so I can definately tell you what wings are like."

"Physically ya mean?" Sunburst echoed. "Well shoot, you got me there kiddo - things got...a good bit different downstairs plumbing-wise once my rare condition stretched hooves back out."

"Right, that!" Spike brightened. "That's what I'm asking. You're being evasive..."

"You're still a kid, Spike." Sunburst rubbed at their cheek. "Not sure what I can tell you without Twilight getting angry at me."

"Boo." Still, he rolled the cart away, abandoning grilling Sunburst on the topic.

Sunburst turned slowly in place in the room. "Huh..." It was a new room. A single room, but more spacious in many ways than her old home, which had been narrow, tucked between two buildings.

She had a whole castle to roam. When she felt up to that. She hopped, coming down with a flop on Starlight's bed. She colored, realizing where she was sprawled. "Don't be mad..." She didn't get off, instead rolling onto her back. A scent teased at her.

It was Starlight. Her scent of her space. Sunburst was still a moment, just soaking in that a moment. "I like it." She decided that was good. It'd be awkward to have a special somepony she didn't like being around.

A knock came from the door. "Sun?" Twilight poked her head in, just to start, seeing Sunburst sprawled on the bed. "Excuse me!" She yanked her head free. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything!"

Sunburst sat up, chuckling. "Twilight, I was just relaxing." She slid to the floor, shaking herself out. "Everything alright?"

"Everything is fine." Twilight dared to enter anew. "I came to check on you. That was a stormy welcome, but I wanted to be sure you knew none of that was directed at you." She raised a brow suddenly. "Unless this was your idea?"

"N-no! I thought I'd get a home of my own, but Starlight insisted we could live in the castle." Sunburst rubbed one leg with a nervous hoof. "I hope we're not in the way."

Starlight nosed nervously into the room again just catching her name from Twilight's lips. She couldn't seem to stop reflexively hovering wherever her friend suddenly wound up. "There you are."

Twilight gave her former pupil a sympathetic glance. She could easily read nerves under all the bluster. She touched each friend gently, nodding in reassurance. "Whatever happens between you next, please know I support your happiness most as priority." Pausing at the door she continued kindly. "We'll figure us all out better soon, I promise."

With that she took her leave again, smiling faintly hearing them already buzzing with chatter and questions in her wake.

Starlight reared up just to flop atop Sunburst. "Welcome to my room," she sang out. "Like it? I see you got your stuff in here, good good."

"Good, yeah." Sunburst turned to face her, causing her to slip to her own hooves, which was good for hugging. Sunburst took Starlight into a gentle embrace. "I'm sorry you got in trouble."

"Oh, wow, no." Starlight nuzzled into Sunburst's neck. "I brought that on myself. You owe no apologies, silly thing." She hopped back. "But you're here, with me." She giggled breathlessly. "I can't even wait to introduce you to everypony." She paused. "Actually, you know them. You get along with them! This'll be great."

Sunburst considered. "Trixie?" Starlight nodded. "Maud?" Starlight nodded harder. "Last time we did get along well." Sunburst colored faintly. "Too well... I remember you getting a bit jealous."

"Jealous? Me?!" Starlight curled both hooves at  herself. "I would never!" She laughed in denial. "Okay... Maybe a little... Look, you can hang out with them, but you sleep here, with me." She nodded firmly at the boundaries set. "You're mine, and I'm yours."

Sunburst touched her nose to Starlight's cheek. "You sound nervous about that. I'm not going anywhere." She colored faintly. "And I'm not... interested in any of 'that' with any... other ponies."

She snorted softly. "Besides... Trixie seems like a genuinely unwise partner. Maud is taken. Neither presents much of a risk if you think about it."

Starlight let out a wheeze of a breath. "Of course, you're right... Of course... But logic and emotions." She weighed the two concepts on wobbling hooves. "They're not the same thing. I'm not trying to rain on your parade. I'm just... nervous is all... I just got my Sunny."

She fell against Sunburst. "I don't want to lose her."

Sunburst rubbed the side of their body against Starlight's. "I don't plan to go anywhere. How can I help make you feel a little better?"

"Sit with me?"

"I can do that." She hugged Starlight closer and the room being quiet, the two gently breathing and hugging. For that moment, there was nothing else, and that was fine.

Starlight took a trembling breath, sitting up. "I needed that... So... Seriously, welcome." She waved over the room. "It's not my room anymore."

"It isn't?" Sunburst looked around for what had gone wrong.

"Obviously not." Starlight nudged Sunburst at the shoulder. "It's our room now." She hopped to her hooves. "Let's be good roomies."

Sunburst chuckled as he got the joke, rising to his own hooves. "Good roomies, of course. Do you have a mirror?"

Starlight blinked at that. "Actually, no, but there are plenty." She pointed out of the room. "There's a restroom right there, mirror included. That's the one I usually use."

Sunburst leaned past Starlight to see the door. "Ah! Thanks." He smooched Starlight on the cheek. "It's good to be home."

"It's... good." She sniffed, fighting a tear. "Come here, you!" She tackled Sunburst to the ground, her magic slapping the door shut. Some celebrations weren't for company.
> 16 - Welcome Welcome Welcome
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Welcome welcome welcome." Pinkie was dancing and gavoling about to the tune of her loud music machine.

"To Ponyville today!" She slid on her knees, not the usual mode of transport for anypony. "Wait for it..."

"Um." Sunburst inclined their head about in time for confetti to explode at them. Unlike a particular donkey, they laughed at the absurdity of it. "Pinkie... You already know me."

"Well, yeah." She picked herself up with a giggle. "But now you're living here. Way different." She threw her arms around Sunburst. "Also you're a mare this time. Bold."

"Um." Sunburst rubbed behind their head awkwardly a moment. "Not technically a mare, or a stallion. A bit of both?"

"Oooo!" Pinkie only seemed all the more impressed. "Neat! I bet Starlight's happy to hear that."

Sunburst colored sharply at that. "Um..."

"Sorry." Pinkie waved it away. "Got carried away in the moment. I'm just happy a pony working off the usual path is already being so super duper welcomed!" She turned a hoof at herself. "We Pie sisters have our own oddities. Shhh, tell nopony."

Sunburst considered Pinkie, the very obviously nay, renowned oddball. "Really? Well, I'm certainly grateful getting, er...wrapped up in your outgoing style, Pinkie Pie!" They waved a hoof through clouds of just-settled glitter with a wry smirk. "Crystal Empire pageantry has nothing on you, I'd wager!"

"Oh, I just lent a hoof with this party personally - you should see what Maud can do with some basic baking soda and vinegar!" Pinkie executed a quick twirl laughing. "But this shindig is small spuds welcoming such a super special somepony to Ponyville proper!"

She pulled the wizardly newcomer into an impromptu hoof-flailing jig. "Consider yourself with friends already whenever in need Sunny! That's the way we roll around here!"

Sunburst pinned one ear back. "Wow..."

Pinkie's energetic movements slowed. "Wow? That feels like a pony seeing a water fountain after hiking through the biggest desert." She mimed dry lips and a rasping wheeze. "Was it that bad?"

"It wasn't... bad." Sunburst curled back awkwardly. "The Crystal Empire is a city. It has city things and perks, but also not everypony knows everypony else. You have a small clique of friends, and you stick to them. Most everypony else, you kinda... ignore."

Pinkie shook her head. "No way! That is not the Pinkie way." She tackled Sunburst to the ground. "And you're in my territory, which means I claim you, as a friend."

But she felt hugged but also bit? The biting had no teeth. She raised her tail, looking over her shoulder to see a tiny alligator had somehow gotten attached to it.

"See? Gummy agrees." Pinkie grabbed her little pet and snuggled them. "You're ours now! And all of Ponyville welcomes you." She waved broadly, even if she was the only one there, at that moment, cheering for Sunburst. "So if you see a pony, say hi! Or howdy, or a how do you do, if you feel like it." She tossed Gummy up onto her mane.

"Well consider me caught forever in this loopy little orbit then!" Sunburst finally managed when her chortles calmed. "Though I warn that scholars cling complications like cat hair on robes so don't say I didn't tell you so someday!"

"Pffbt complications, schmomplications!" Pinkie gave an exaggerated raspberry then bumped their hips buddyfully. "We'll leave the big brainy thinking stuff to you - I just make sure everypony gets their fair share smiles in the sunshine between storms!" She winked playfully offering a fresh baked cupcake from seemingly nowhere. "Science types gotta fuel up too after all!"

"I eat adequat..." She didn't get to finish, Pinkie folding up her cart and bouncing away with it. "Bye?"

"Bye!" sang out Pinkie. "Oh! Your birthday was already written down, so I stole it, so expect a birthday bash!" She vanished behind a building with a giggle.

Sunburst nervously paced with a little chuckle. "Pinkie..." She shook her head advanced into the town, but didn't get far before another Pie interrupted them. "Hello."

"Hi." Maud inclined her head softly. "I heard you were here."

"I am." Sunburst smiled at his rock-loving friend. "Nice to see you."

"Hi." She pointed off. "Would you like to go prospecting?"

"On one hoof... sure..." She raised a brow. "On the other, aren't you... surprised?"

"Should I be?" Maud looked Sunburst over with her monotone intensity. "Pinkie told me you were here."

"I meant..." She lashed her tail. "I've changed since last we met."

"Did you?" She circled around Sunburst. "Oh. Nice hat."

Sunburst broke into laughter. "Thank you... But I meant more than the hat."

"Want to go prospecting?"

She chuckled softly, bumping shoulders companionably as they ambled on. "Well I suppose I could use some balancing natural wonders to remedy restlessness. Lead on!"

Maud gifted a hint of smile twitching her impassive features briefly. They walked awhile in reflective quiet before she spoke again tilting her head contemplatively Sunburst's way, "So...is feeling more whole with yourself feel like finding a rare gem?"

Sunburst blinked at the abrupt question. "Oh, um... Yes, actually. I think it's just like that..." She pawed at the air as if digging with that one hoof. "You see a little hint of a shine, and you get excited. You dig harder, and may have to work really hard to get it out... But then you're holding it."

Maud nodded as they walked. "I can understand that." She inclined her head. "So you're the gem?"

Sunburst colored. "Oh, uh... I.... guess I am? Maud, that was poetic of you."

"I try." That she tried she made little hint of generally. "You are a rare gem. I've never seen one like that. Breathtaking." Despite her words, her tone was flat, as if she was just speaking facts off a paper. "Do you like being a gem? I'm a rock. A plain rock."

Sunburst gave her friend a little smile as they walked on. "I mean, seems weird wanting ponies ranked by how special they come across, you know? We're all just living our lives best we're able out here."

She skipped a small stone idly across a crystalline creek they were passing. "Sure I got my rare traits revealed finally, but you stay steady as the boulders you admire! Both seem pretty great gifts if you ask me."

Sunburst exhaled slowly, feeling bold enough to open up a bit after the comfortable quiet together. "I guess we all hide little gems of self away too scared to show whatever we learn others might mock as junk or plain stones..."

She winked Maud's way with gathering confidence however unlikely the source. "But the ponies worth listening ain't judging books by covers. They care who wrote the words inside."

"And what words are waiting to be read," finished Maud, faint smile returned. "Do you want to read me?"

Sunburst blinked softly. "Um. As a friend?"

"As a friend," she echoed. "What other way were you thinking?"

Sunburst laughed nervously. "Just that... Um... So! You have a boyfriend, I hear. Is he nice?"

"He is very... precise." She nodded, sure of that. "But he is nice. Some ponies don't get him. I get him." She pushed open the door leading to her cave. "He is a gem, still covered in hard rocks."

Sunburst waved at Maud as they walked into the depths of the earth. "And what makes you think you aren't a gem? The rocks that cover you, um..." Sunburst tapped a chin. "Are smooth and wonderful, but gems hide inside. Your boyfriend must have seen them and he's just as patient as you are."

Maud paused in her advance, turning to Sunburst squarely. "I missed you." She turned back to continue her trek. "Today's target, there." She pointed to a particular wall, then grabbed a pickaxe close to it. "Here."

They would dig for a while.





Later, Sunburst emerged, dusty, but smiling. "Phew... Maud..." With a chuckle, she headed for the castle she started from. The sun was heavy in the sky and she was hungry. Yep, plenty of reasons to get to her new home.

She ambled up to the door and reached to knock, only to hesitate. She lived there, right? Knocking wasn't, technically, required, right? She nosed the door open gently, peeking for any upset faces.

And she got bowled over backwards with Starlight straddling her from above. "There you are." Starlight looked Sunburst over a moment. "You are really dirty." She hopped off Sunburst and grabbed them with her magic. "Easy fix." She plucked off the wizard hat and robe without a pause. "These go in the laundry."

Sunburst cycled in the air impotently. "W-wait. Star? What are you doing?"

"Cleaning your everything." Starlight strode inside, tossing the clothes as she went into a hamper. "Off to the bath! What were you doing that got you so dirty in the first place?"

"I ran into Maud." Sunburst reached for their hat on their head, but it wasn't there. "I can walk... on my own."

"But you don't have to." She leaned in and nuzzled the floating Sunburst. "If you don't like it, make me. Miss magician, show off your arcane might."

"If you... insist!" With the last word, she exploded in a ball that cut Starlight's connection, causing Sunburst to fall to her hooves. "That's better! Now, um, which bathroom were you trying to carry me towards?"

Starlight laughed, showing no hint of being upset her grasp had been fought off. "Love it. Here." She directed Sunburst to one on the second floor and threw open the door for him. "The only question is if I'm helping or not." She got a devious look in her eyes. "I stand ready to help my Sunny be sparkling clean."

Sunburst closed, touching her nose to Star's cheek. "We're both adults. We can clean ourselves. Um... but what's for dinner?"

"Twilight's making it today, so whatever she feels like." Starlight waved away. "We have a schedule for who does dinner when. Oh! Did you want to be added to it?"

Sunburst closed the door gently and made her way to the tub. "Oh, warm water." There were two knobs, one summmoning warmed water. "How nice."

Starlight snorted at that, though barred by the door from seeing it. "You lived in a city, they didn't have hot and cold water?"

"All the cold water you could want." She played with the warm water, letting it splash over her hooves with little giggles. "This is nice..."

Starlight rolled her eyes. "I hear you splashing like a little foal in there. Get cleaned up!"

The audible splashing slowed a bit as Sunburst paused thoughtfully. "I suppose I am still adjusting. I think only Cadance has hot water." 

"Yeah yeah, it's nice. I like it..." A playful beat passed. "Now hurry up already! Don't go prune-hoofed on me first night here!"

Sunburst chuckled laying back into the pleasant depths now she was present enough to properly enjoy them. She turned her attention to the bar of soap and ran it over her pelt busily, cleaning away the dirt of the day. "Maud says hi."

"That sounds like her," snorted out Starlight. "Was Mudbriar with her?"

"Just us." Sunburst shook out in the water, the tub darkening with all the dirt. "Digging."

"She does like doing that." Starlight cocked an ear at the door. "Are you done in there?"

"Um, almost." She stepped out, looking at the tub with some worry. "Let's try... that." She had a cleaning spell she had never been very good at, but she was a new pony! She channeled the arcane might in a flash, and the tub was left sparkling clean. "I should have just used that in the first place."

She imagined herself becoming clean in an instant. "Convenient... But then I wouldn't get any warm water..." She dried herself with a towel busy. "Done."

That declaration got the door swung open by Starlight. "Finally! Dinner time."
> 17 - Girl or Boy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A feast was spread before them on round wooden table. Twilight waved over it as Starlight and Sunburst sat down. "I made this to welcome our new resident. I would have planned more if I had warning." She shot Starlight a cross look, but her smile was quick in returning. "It'll be nice having a little wizarding stallion energy around here."

Sunburst blinked softly. "Oh, um, thanks... But I'm not a stallion." She reached for a carafe with her magic and poured herself a drink, sniffing at the potent stuff as she reached for food. "Just me."

Twilight inclined her head. "Yes... but what is 'you'?" Her eyes dipped down and back up. "You look like a stallion from here."

Sunburst colored. "I do... have..."

Spike buried his face beneath his hands. "Twi! Sweet Celestia, I don't have what you just looked at, at least looking like that, and you still call me a guy."

Twilight rubbed awkwardly at her cheek. "Well, no, but you're a dragon. There are different expectations for a dragon. To assume you adhere to pony anatomical expectations would be quite foalish."

Starlight threw a hoof over Sunburt's tense shoulders. "Twilight, she is both. She has a bit of everything, because she's just that amazing."

"Oh..." Twilight took a gentle nibble of a crusted lasagne like dish. "Mmm... Wait." She sat up sharply, slapping her hooves on the table. "Both?! Is that even possible?!"

Sunburst tapped her hooves nervously. "Not everything... Um... This..."

Spike shook his head. "Twi, dinner. Eat first, ask nerdy questions maybe later, if Sunburst feels like it?"

So Twilight went quiet, at least for a few minutes of eating. "So... What inspired this?"

Sunburst smiled. "Actually, that is an interesting story." They showed no hesitation there, even releived that the conversation had taken a turn.

Twilight leaned forward eagerly at Sunburst's openness to share their intriguing genesis tale. Sensing the palpable tension easing around the table, she opted for an encouraging smile over another outburst of academic curiosity - there would be time for unraveling physiological mysteries later. 

Starlight possessively gripped her girlfriend's hoof, throwing a subtle warning glare Twilight's way over her plate of hay fries. But the princess waved a wing placatingly in silent assurance questioning would remain respectful, not invasive. Spike eyed the silent posturing warily through mouthfuls of gem salad, ready to intervene again if needed between his adoptive sister and the prickly sorceress.

Sunburst took a fortifying sip from her goblet, crystal courage glinting. "I mentioned having a rare inborn intersex condition, yes? Well it seems certain genetic quirks lingered obscured just awaiting a catalyst..."

She shared a meaningfully tender glance with Starlight. "My, um, mother. She decided, when I was a foal, that I would not be in the middle. She picked a side, and that is the stallion you knew." She chewed softly on a roast veggie a moment. "But then, Flurry, you remember her?"

"Of course." Twilight clapped her hooves together. "She is my niece. What about her?"

"She pulled the spell free, not entirely, but enough that I learned I wasn't a stallion... I could suddenly breathe." She took a steadying breath, for emphasis? Or just because she needed one. She didn't say. "And I had a lot to learn, about me... Um, but... to make a long story shorter... I went and got the rest of the spell removed, and here I am."

Twilight's eyes shone with scholarly fascination as Sunburst shared their remarkable account. This glimpse behind the curtain at such rare magic cast on a young foal raised urgent ethical questions - had denying Sunburst self-knowledge been justified in seeking normalcy? 

But she restrained her brimming scholarly zeal sensing her transformed friend was in an awkward place. There would be time to explore the intricacies of such spellcraft another day if Sunburst felt inclined. The gift of this truth alone at their table tonight was privilege enough not to be prodded further now.

Starlight nuzzled against her girlfriend comfortingly, a subtle protective barrier shielding deeper waters than the casual upstairs-downstairs gossip circulating the palace halls revealed. But Sunburst's flowing account showed less of tension's bite and more quiet pride glowing through, a testament to inner strength thriving as fierce as Starlight's around the table.

"I cannot envision how disorienting such fundamental self-revelations must feel," Twilight offered gently once the poignant tale concluded. "But I can say with utmost certainty that your courage revealing this long-shrouded corner of your spirit only magnifies the beauty I see before me now." 

She raised her goblet in a toast, mane catching candlelight. "To embracing destiny's diverse blooms however they unfold before our eyes, even from humble seeds long planted in shadow. The most radiant gardens begin tilling soil in darkness before thorns give way to roses."

The table of creatures raised goblets and cups in time, clinking them together.

Spike was giggling though. "Did you just call Sunburst pretty?"

Twilight blinked, playing back the words in her mind. "I was... just trying to be supportive." Her cheeks darkened at how it could be taken. "Sunburst, um, I'm sorry..."

Sunburst laughed nervously. "I, uh... Thank you?"

Starlight pointed to her eyes, then at Twilight. "I have my eyes on you. You appreciate her from over there. She's mine." She hugged closer to Sunburst, nuzzling a cheek. "We are a thing, officially."

Twilight waved her hooves frantically, cheeks flaming purple as she backpedaled from her unintentional complement. "Oh goodness no, I didn't mean to imply...not that you aren't lovely Sunburst, but just as a friend..." 

Spike dissolved into further cackles seeing his normally articulate sister so flustered. "Aw c'mon Twilight, no need to get your wings in a twist! I think it's sweet you wanna show Sunny she's welcome here with us."

Starlight possessively gripped her very own stunning girlfriend closer, but her jealous pouting held a playful glint Sunburst knew well. "Can't blame a girl guarding such a catch, can you though?" She winked slyly Sunburst's way. 

Sunburst gently booped Starlight's nose in return, both chortling together. "I assure you no guest compliments can sway me from the company I already keep, my dear." Still flushed pleasantly from Twilight's kindly toast, she felt no offense at its effusive phraseology either accidental or no. "T-twilight."

Twilight perked at her name. "Yes, Sunburst? How can I help?" She took her turn with some hay fries with a content noise. "Always a favorite..."

Sunburst smiled nervously as she sat up. "I would like you to study me."

Starlight dropped her fork with a clatter.

Twilight hadn't been holding one, and instead dropped a hayfry from her magic. "Um?"

Spike hiked a scaled brow. "Wow. I did not see that coming."

Sunburst waved over herself. "I mean it. Ponies have been quick to, um, point out how... unique... my, uh, anatomy is. It'd be a crime to not study it and learn from it." She cleared her throat into a hoof softly. "So I'd like to enlist one of the smartest and talented wizardly scholars I know to take up that task."

Starlight snorted, leaning in. "I'm right here!"

"Y-yes, you are." Sunburst inclined her head at the angry-looking Starlight. "But you're also my girlfriend. Um, you're... biased. Studying your own girlfriend is a big ask."

Twilight slowly swallowed what was in her mouth, quiet a moment. She understood Sunburst's scholarly motivations in seeking greater understanding, but hesitated given the uncharted personal dynamics clearly still adjusting around the table.

"I'm...honored you would consider me for such a monumental research undertaking," she began delicately. "And you raise an excellent point - scientifically documenting such a rare biological variation could expand medical knowledge helpfully."

She took a judicious sip of juice under Starlight's laser glare before continuing.

"However, we must be extraordinarily sensitive in handling intimate matters of identity and consent. I would only participate with your enthusiastic blessing at every step after thorough consultations gauging readiness."

Twilight maintained earnest eye contact with Sunburst directly. "I apologize if previous clumsy comments pushed you towards unwanted vulnerability. Please know our care for your whole being always outranks academic curiosity in my eyes."

She offered a supportive smile Sunburst's way. "Consider my library and I resources to aid your self-discovery however you prefer utilizing without pressure. And thank you for your courage just in bringing this to the table tonight."

Twilight lifted her goblet in salute toward the couple. "Now then, who saved room for dessert? Spike's chocolate souffles await!"

Spike raised a hand. "Me, and I'll take a cup of 'What was that?' to go with it." With a grin on his face, he flopped his chin on cupped hands. "You're all being such foals! And you, Twi, are getting super complicated in a defense. It's cute, but cut it out. We're all friends here. Just talk normally."

Twilight flushed, chagrined at her verbose formalities slipping back in witnessing Spike's easy candor nudging them back towards equilibrium. However unintended, her scholar's instinct to arm herself in careful phrases and qualifications clearly saturated the suddenly charged air more than connecting organically.

With an abashed chuckle, Twilight nodded to her number one assistant sharing wisdom as always grounding restless academic tendencies. "You're absolutely right, Spike. I'm sorry - overthinking things instead of just being real." 

She turned a more relaxed smile Sunburst's way, hoping to recapture their initial mood before she stuck her hoof in it overanalyzing everything. "I think what I meant to say is I care about you, strange questions or no, and just want you comfortable however I can help." 

Twilight shrugged, nerves settling into her natural open warmth. "Besides, souffles wait for no scientist pony! Sis could use an extra hoof plating up though if you're so inclined?" She gestured welcomingly towards the kitchen. "But in all seriousness, thank you for trusting me enough to talk about all this. Means a lot having you here."

They both headed off to grab dessert, leaving the two girlfriends behind. Starlight huffed softly. "Are you alright with her poking and prodding at you?"

"If it advances our understanding, yes." Sunburst shuffled a bit, straightening back up. "If it means even one other little pony like me might be left alone instead of what I got... worth it."

Starlight winced back. "Oh... Shoot, now I feel bad." She rubbed behind her head a moment. "What are you hoping she'll find, best case scenario?"

The two returned with trays and plates. Spike took to wings to get the plates where they needed to be as Twilight set the desert in the center and worked on clearing off the dinner trays.

Sunburst continued despite that, "Well, best case scenario... I show a useful middle point." She brought her hooves together. "Understanding that may make it easier to get ponies to it, and past it. Ponies who want to cross the boundary I'm now sitting on may, one day, do it easier."

Twilight hopped up into her seat. "Fascinating! Now, I can't say what may come, or not, of study that hasn't been done." She inclined her head at the dessert. "But I can say, with confidence, that Spike outdid himself with a tasty little morsel right here."

Sunburst laughed at that. "Hint received. Let's enjoy and think about scholarly things later."

With that, they enjoyed the sweet offerings Spike had prepared for them. "Very good, Spike." Sunburst smiled gently. "This is... nice. Do you eat together every day?"

"Every single one." Spike nodded at Sunburst. "Unless Twilight gets caught up in something, then I bring her some food and it's just me and Starlight."

Starlight huffed at that. "I swear, Twi, you are such a character sometimes. You will not keep Sunburst through dinner, ever. Got it?"

"I wasn't planning on it," she murmured defensively. "In any event! Welcome, Sunburst. Here's to a lovely little family we have going, and to future knowledge we can unveil, together."

"I'll drink to that." They met their cups together in a second toast of the evening.
> 18 - Master of Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunburst's eyes flit left and right as she examined the dusty tome before her. "I'm ready..." It was as much to convince herself as anything else. "I can do this." She sat up, horn glowing as she fixed a normal-seeming rock a few feet away. "Alright..."

She wove the delicate magic in her horn, that wonderful horn that seemed to be cooperating with her, unlike how most of her life prior to that had gone. "Let's do this..." With a thin ray that exploded against the rock, the rock shuddered and exploded in magic.

A rabbit landed where the rock had been, at first trying its best to imitate a rock before it seemed to recognize that it was no longer a rock. It looked around, baffled, little button nose twitching.

It looked up at Sunburst with a little squeak.

Sunburst reached for the rabbit, and was soon gently petting it. "You, little rock, make for a curious rabbit." It was a very rock-like rabbit, which meant it seemed to have very little survival instinct. On the positive, it seemed to be content being pet and curling in Sunburst's grasp. "But.... I did it..."

"What did you do?" Starlight was looking from the open door, casting light into the gloomy room. "And why are the lights off?" She waved at a few of them, prompting them to gentle brilliance. "That's better, and is that a bunny? Why do you have a bunny?"

Sunburst lifted her cooperative lapine in her magic. "They were a stone. Now they're a rabbit. Considering, they're adjusting well."

Starlight approached with a lifted ear. "Wow, also kinda neat, but mostly... That means your magic is really cooking." She clapped her hooves with a big smile. "Which is great! So... When do we get to duel? Twilight's fun and all, but a little variety in the duels would be really great."

Sunburst flipped both ears back. "Um... What if I don't want to really... do that?"

Starlight sank next to him. "Then I'll be sad. Also, if you never do that, you can't help when things get really thorny, and, sorry to inform, but things will get that way. Welcome to Equestria."

Sunburst cuddled the transmuted bunny closer, biting her lip anxiously at the thought of flinging destructive magic Starlight's way, playful duel or no. Her talents had always leaned more protective than combative in nature - the notion of training to battle sat poorly in her scholar's heart.

"I take your point..." Sunburst sighed, letting the snuggling bunny hop down to explore its new mobility. She raised resolute eyes to meet Starlight's patient gaze. "Very well - I shall strive to marshal what offensive aptitudes I possess should crisis arise in our lands." She managed a wan chuckle. "Though I make no guarantees on dueling finesse. My talents trend more...esoteric perhaps."

Starlight waved at the sleepy former rock as the beast it was nudged along into the kitchen for some fresh fruit and water. "You made a living thing out of... stone... That's not nothing." She let the bunny hop away to explore in its sedate way.

She turned back to Sunburst. "I'll teach you real magic if you're willing to learn, but we'll discover your talents along the way. I am... actually relieved, you don't want to turn your horn on me... or anypony." She leaned in to smooch Sunburst's cheek. "You'll do what you need to, I know that... But I don't think you have a mean hair anywhere on you."

Sunburst blushed at that declaration. "I'll take the compliment. Now, um, I know spells..." She rubbed her hooves together. "It's just, before things changed, I couldn't be the one casting them, and now... I can." She glanced where the bunny had gone. "And part of me wonders if I should."

Starlight half-fell onto Sunburst. "Just because you can doesn't always mean you should, sure. You made a bunny! Very cute, by the way. You can either return it to being a rock, which I don't think it'd mind all that much, or you get to adopt it and give it the best little life you can."

Sunburst chuckled at either thought. Returned to stone, it'd be a rabbit-shaped rock, but it would be a rock. It was still, mostly, a rock, with increasing rabbit tendencies. "Part of me... is curious." She wandered the same path the rabbit had gone, following it. "Your friends have pets, don't they?"

"Most of them, yeah?" Starlight followed Sunburst instead, far more interested in them than any rabbit. "If you want pet tips, I suggest Fluttershy. She can't shut up about them. Seriously, this is a rock. Don't feel bad making it a rock again, that is an option." She bumped into Sunburst from the side. "But if you want a rock-bunny, well, whatever. I'll do my best to help."

Sunburst followed the bunny's faint hopping trail towards the dining hall contemplatively, Starlight trotting in easy support beside. As unusual a creature to add to their household as it may seem, something about the ambling former stone tugged her scholar's heartstrings already.

"You know, it's peculiar..." She smiled musingly stroking her beard. "I had considered 'creature transfiguration' strictly theoretically to date - at least in terms of my actually doing it.."

She watched the wobble-hipped bunny sniff curiously at the grand hall's entrance as if scarcely fathoming finding itself within such splendor. At a small comforting noise from Sunburst though it began lapping happily from a saucer of water set out for it. Rivulets coursed down gray stony fur as it soon sat contentedly mopping itself with familiar mannerisms that made her heart melt. That wasn't a stone anymore.

"But now with more magical control thanks to my 'liberation', such arcane arts respond in reality," Sunburst marveled softly. "Glimpsing life's delicate balance anew, I feel compelled towards compassion for all critters great and small... Especially where my magic touched"

She smiled decisively meeting Starlight's patient gaze. "In the end, I'd rather be nice than just pretend nothing's happened. So be it!" She scooped up her new ward, resolve glinting brighter than quartz. "Let's give this bunny the happiest home possible!"

Starlight let off a happy squeal and crushed Sunburst into a hug that left all three of them smooshed together in a giggling ball. "Love it! Love you! Love everything that led us here!"

She let Sunburst breathe, the two parting. She leaned in with a smirk. "So what are we going to name our new... pet rock with a brain?"

Sunburst rubbed their chin as Starlight mentioned names, considering. "They come from stone... so perhaps a nice solid name? Like Flint? Or Chip?"

Starlight wrinkled her nose. "Those are pretty boring...oh! What about Pebble! That's solid but also kinda cute."

She scritched under the bunny's fuzzy chin enthusiastically. "Do you like Pebble, lil hopper?"

The rabbit snuggled into Sunburst's embrace contentedly, not disputing its christening one way or another. Sunburst chuckled giving their unexpected new roommate an affectionate nuzzle.

"Pebble it is then! Welcome to the family, darling." A grumbling in multiple bellies reminded her of their original dinner intentions. "Now then, I believe some salad greens are likely eagerly awaiting downstairs..."

Spike proved to be the most curious. "Cool. It's, uh... like Angel, with way less attitude." He picked up Pebble carefully, petting with one hand in slow long motions. "An improvement, if you ask me. He.... Wait..." Spike angled the bunny left and right. "Are they are a he or a she?"

Twilight laughed tensely. "I have no idea... That sounds like a grand question for Fluttershy, who you should see in any event if you want to raise a new pet correctly."

They each enjoyed their dinner. Fortunately, bunnies and ponies largely shared their diets. One little curious thing came up though. As Spike dashed his food with gem flakes, Pebble hopped up and leaned in, getting a lick of the stone.

Spike blinked at the action. "Hey, you're not..." But the bunny took another lick, thumping its leg with satisfaction. "Huh..." Spike shook the shaker firmly, making a little pile of garnet. "Here?"

Sunburst inclined his head, watching the interaction as Pebble nibbled eagerly at the pile. "Amazing. I suppose he remains a little rock, on the inside." He gently pet down the back of their new pet. "Eat up."

Twilight shook her head slowly. "I can't give much advice on this. I confess, the life I've created, I allowed nature to take its course. I never adopted it."

Starlight snorted as she threw an arm around Sunburst. "And that's one more thing that makes Sunny awesome! She's a wizard that cares."

"Hey!" Twilight scowled. "I care! Caring is... half my job..."

Sunburst pinned her ears back. "Sorry. Star, don't be like that..."

A contrite hush fell around the table as Twilight ducked her head, looking a bit hurt.

Spike cleared his throat diplomatically. "We all care in our own ways, I'm sure Starlight didn't mean anything deeper." He raised his glass Pebble's way in wry salute. "I mean hey, now we got a bunny with a mineral deficiency on our hands! Important thing is we figure out how to help the little guy together."

That elicited a round of chuckles lightening the atmosphere once more. Starlight gently bumped her humbled girlfriend's shoulder, communicating wordless apology as Sunburst returned a reassuring nuzzle. Twilight offered up a faint smile as well before returning attention to her salad with a hint more vigor than strictly necessary. 

Delicately changing tacks to steer them fully back on course, Sunburst turned an inquisitive smile Spike's way. "So, what can you tell us about proper bunny care then since you've experience with certain privileged palace pets?"

Spike eagerly seized the olive branch, regaling the table with Owli's many exploits and opinions (mostly complaints) on ideal accommodations. By the time the plates cleared, grim clouds had lifted from all gathered there. 

Sunburst cradled drowsy Pebble indulgently, curiosity kindling regarding his unique needs. "They ate the rocks, and the greens. They are a rabbit, and more." She nosed gently at her new pet. "And now you're tired."

Pebble let out a little squeak and rolled over, closing their eyes.

Starlight laughed at that exchange. "Now, I'm no rabbit expert, but that sure looked like they trust you, a lot. Congratulations, you're a bunny mom."

"Bunny mom." Sunburst gently rocked her new pet. "I like that... Let's go see Fluttershy right away. I don't want to make any mistakes."

Starlight's grin broadened as she witnesses Sunburst readily embracing this impromptu bunny parenting role with all the studious devotion of any research project. "Fluttershy it is then! We can see if any of her critter pals want a nice playdate with our little Pebbly too." She gently scritched behind the snoozing bunny's fuzzy ear then practically skipped ahead to the door for the brief jaunt over.

Sunburst trailed after her vibrant partner, excitement kindling from Starlight's infectious enthusiasm despite the new worries needling her scholar's practical mind. She parked Pebble on her head, smooshing her poor hat, but seemingly making a happy rabbit.

Twilight and Spike waved them off, the dragon already scribbling a list of insightful tips relayed over dinner for later reference.

They didn't make it through town, at least not without being spotted.

"Aw, look at you." Lyra bounced over to examine the bunny on Sunburst's head. "So cute! Can I pet him?"

Starlight perked an ear at that. "You know if they're a boy or girl?"

"Duh?" Lyra looked baffled at the idea. "That is a boy bunny, a sleepy boy bunny who is so cute!" With no objections given, she grabbed the rabbit in her magic, floating them the brief distance for nuzzles and happy noises. "What's their name?"

"Pebble." Sunburst smiled at the exchange, tail wagging. "We're going to Fluttershy for tips."

"Ooo, good idea." Lyra gave Pebble back. "But, after that, I'll be by to nuzzle a good little bun bun!"

With gentle waves, Sun and Star left Lyra behind, their eyes ahead towards Fluttershy's cottage.
> 19 - Pebble Inspection
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They found Fluttershy on her front lawn. She was guiding an entire flock of blue jays to sing a song that sent wonderful warbling notes towards them as they approached.

Sunburst smiled at the melody, keeping quiet until it seemed to be over. Cradling Pebble close felt like a fine way to pass the time.

Starlight was a little less patient, clearing her throat.

That sent the birds scattering into the evening sky. Fluttershy jumped. "Oh, hello." She smiled at the two of them, plus their new pet. "Hm? What's that?" She stepped in, attention locking onto Pebbles securely. "A little bunny? What did they come from?"

Sunburst shot Starlight a reproaching glance before extending their arms towards Fluttershy, brining Pebbles with it. "This is Pebbles, and they already like you."

Pebbles looked a bit more neutral on that front, examining Fluttershy and sniffing as her hoof came close, but in no hurry to leave Sunburst's safe proximity.

Fluttershy snuffled and reached for the bunny. It didn't object, so she scooped them up slowly. "Are they a new pet? They seem remarkably attached to you already." She tested how far away she could draw Pebbles, but could feel the little bunny's stress raising the further from Sunburst she went.

Starlight offered Sunburst a sheepish apologetic glance for her impatience spooking the pleasant avian choir practice. But her partner simply smiled indulgently in return.

Instead, Sunburst stepped nearer to help reassure tentative Pebble as Fluttershy continued gently gauging the young bunny's temperament and health. "We only just welcomed little Pebbly into our rather ramshackle household today," she explained fondly. "But it seems we made quite the impression!"

She chuckled softly scritching Pebble's downy ears eliciting the beginnings of a purr. "As for where this affectionate little darling emerged, well...that's a rather unique situation we were hoping you might have insight on as the resident critter care expert." 

Sunburst shared a meaningful look with openly curious Fluttershy as Pebble snuggled back into her embrace. "You see, mere hours ago our new friend here was in fact...a simple rock."

She nodded letting those implications sink in before continuing more softly. "Which is why guidance from one so attuned to creature needs as yourself felt essential acclimating a bunny with such unusual origins warmly into the family."  Sunburst met earnest turquoise eyes with her own vulnerable rose quartz gaze. "I want to give Pebble the happiest home imaginable no matter their quirks inherited or no. Will you help me learn, Fluttershy dear?"

Fluttershy's gaze flit between Sunburst, Pebble, and the eager Starlight thoughtfully processing this remarkable revelation before resolute compassion shone through initial startlement.  "Of course I'll help anyway I can! Oh goodness, what a massive life change for the poor little dear..." She gently cuddled Pebble who arched under her soft ministrations. "But it sounds like there's no safer place to explore all that newness now than caring hooves like yours."

Fluttershy considered a moment. "Also, they are a boy bunny."

Starlight glanced back where they had come from. "Huh, Lyra did know something here. So... How bunny are they? I mean, they were a rock. Anything odd you can see?"

Fluttershy fell over, rolling really with Pebble balanced on all four hooves, elvated above her for inspection. "Mmm... I think their source shines through a little. This is a very sedate rabbit. If you let it go, it might get--" She paused for a heavy swallow. "--eaten very quickly. Fortunately, they're in your loving arms instead. It being this way may make it quite an excellent pet!"

Angel casually kicked Fluttershy in the side. "I didn't mean to imply Pebble here is the best kind of pet, or the only kind," she hastily ammended. "Angel has many lovely features that Pebble will probably never have."

Sunburst smiled gently. "So, he's healthy?"

"Oh, yes." Fluttershy sat up carefully, moving Pebble into her forehooves and arms. "Quite healthy, and happy, so long as they're near you." She gently nuzzled the new rabbit. "Aren't you--" She paused, noticing Angel thumping a foot impatiently. "Right, back to care instructions." She passed Pebble into the loving grasp of Sunburst.

Sunburst sighed audibly with relief accepting squirming blissful Pebble back into her embrace as Fluttershy affirmed the transmuted bunny's hearty constitution despite his unconventional origins. She nuzzled his downy fur indulgently eliciting an echoing coo.

"I'm so thankful he wasn't hurt by my rather, er...drastic magic." She blushed faintly at the memory of how off-hoofedly Pebble sprung into being. But with her powers stabilizing happily and an expert like Fluttershy guiding responsible caretaking steps going forward, confidence swelled they'd manage whatever unique needs arose in this pet project together!

Starlight leaned in tickling Pebble's twitchy nose playfully. "So then, what's the day-to-day care plan here teach? Our little stoneturned cottontail got some tricky dietary guidelines or emotional needs being magically awakened versus born that way?" 

She glanced between the serene bunny and Angel thumping his foot, eyebrow quirked. "Cause I gotta say, he seems waaay more chill than a certain jealous somecritter already..."

Fluttershy waved her hoof placatingly Angel's way as she considered Starlight's queries thoughtfully. "I doubt emotional needs will prove too troublesome - his affectionate bond forming so readily with Sunburst hints he'll thrive off consistency and gentle attention." 

She smiled Sunburst's way. "As for physical welfare, do monitor appetite and digestion closely. A gradual diet balancing greens with occasional small gems should suffice... But vet visits at the first sign of ill health, promise?"

Hearing Sunburst's earnest assent, Fluttershy nodded firmly before softening further. "Beyond that...just give him your open heart knowing you two were brought together through magical fate!" She sighed happily as Pebble nestled under Sunburst's loving chin. "However unexpectedly, this little dear found his perfect place to call home."

Sunburst nodded, heart warming as she played with Pebble with little happy noises from both sides.

Fluttershy smiled gently as Sunburst hugged happy Pebble closer, the bond clearly robust between creator and magical creation. 

Starlight leaned in tickling the bunny's twitchy nose playfully again as she refocused questions regarding caretaking this unusual pet. "So, gonna need some tips here on ideal home setup too, Flutters! What's the creature comfort checklist for our gemstone cottonball beyond dietary stuff?"

She nodded thoughtfully as Fluttershy described ideal habitat temperature, nesting materials, amounts of freeroaming and exercise needed, as well as importance of a clean habitat and gentle but regular grooming. "Now, being a little stoney, Pebble likely can tolerate a little more or less, but keep those things in mind, and watch him for what makes him comfy cozy."

Sunburst listened intently with eager little nods. "I truly can't fully express my gratitude for so patiently talking us through proper protocols." Sunburst dipped her head respectfully Fluttershy's way. "You have lifted a huge worry off my mind that my lapse in judgement permanently affected this innocent creature, for the worse."

She cuddled sleepy Pebble closer as his nose nestled under her chin with a contented sniff. "Rest assured I intend to provide the absolute best life possible for this dear one who trusts me so fully." Her smile glowed softly down at him dozing against her chest. "However he came into being, Pebble deserves that much and more after the surprise I sprang on him!"

Fluttershy hummed gently. "Being born is quite the biggest surprise one might experience, but, if it helps, it is also the one we're most likely to forget, buried under so many other lovely moments." She reached out her hooves only a little. "I think they'll be far more happy with such a loving pet parent."

Starlight slid between the two. "We'd better get that bunny play-place started. Thanks, Flutter. You're the best with this stuff, and pretty great in general." She offered a hug, and the two met with a soft squeeze. "Good luck with that musical number we kinda interrupted."

Fluttershy waved at one blue jay that had landed on the roof, watching her. "Call the others, please. Let's start again, um, please." The bird took off. "They'll be back soon. Good luck with Pebble."

They took their leave, Starlight leaned gently against Sunburst. "To be honest, I never saw myself joining the 'Pet Squad', but here we are." She nosed Pebble gently. "But I feel alright with it." The bunny barely reacted, mostly asleep. "And this guy's tuckered out from an exciting first day."

Sunburst floated the snoozing bunny safely onto her back. "There you go." She nosed Starlight gently then. "Let's."

Together, they trotted back to the castle and got to work making a basic safe space for Pebble to finish their nap. "Now, you just call for me if you wake up and I'm not here." Sunburst stroked over her sleeping new pet. "But sleep."

Starlight huffed gently. "One thing. If you're going to adopt this because you made it, grand and all, kindly don't make a bunch of other stuff. One pet is the limit, you. I will not be buried in exotic critters because you felt like practicing."

"Alright alright, dearheart." Sunburst met Starlight, nose to nose. "Pebble will be my one and only creation, promise. At least for the remainder of their hopefully long and wonderful life."

"Deal." Starlight nipped at Sunburst and went for her books. "Now, I'm curious." She waved over the many tomes. "How many of these do you know, and don't know?"

Sunburst joined her to examine them. "Hm! Well." She reached up and brushed a hoof along their spines. "Read it. Read it. Read it. Ooo." She plucked one with magic free. Going along, she soon had a stack of about six books. "I haven't read these, but I want to."

"And you should," sang Starlight with a big smile. "To be honest, I'm surprised you already read so many of the others. My little Sunburst, you do love cuddling a new book, don't you?"

Sunburst colored at that. "I'm not that different from your mentor that way. Put a new book in front of me and I'm likely to read it."

Starlight burst into laughter. "Sunburst trap, new book just under a box, waiting for you."

"I'd be caught, at least until I finished the book." Sunburst rolled her eyes, imagining such a silly trap. "Now." She threw an arm over Starlight. "As fascinating as these books you've tempted me with are, I'd rather be working on something else."

Starlight darkened at the sudden intimate closeness and suggestive phrasing. "What would--" She leaned against Sunburst gently. "--that be?"

"Group spells!" As if ignorant of the expectations she had just risen, and burst, Sunburst giggled with magical joy. "Let's cast something together. I've always wanted to, with you especially. Let's me magical partners!"

Starlight flopped with a laugh. "Oh! Oh. Well, actually, that does sound pretty fun." She nipped at Sunburst's cheek. "And sweet. I'd love to be magical partners."

Sunburst crashed against her, cheek to cheek. "Partners of every variety."

"Yeah..." Starlight's eyes drifted half-closed before they snapped right open. "Wait?"

"Hm?"

Starlight backed away from Sunburst, slipping free of their hug. "Sunny, I'm--" She took a slow breath. "--pretty sure you just proposed to me. I'm pretty sure you just did that, entirely on accident. Tell me it was an accident, or that you mean it. The not knowing is ripping me apart right now, so I really need to know, now."

Sunburst worried her hooves together, caught with her own words and with Starlight looking at her with such energy. "Well, um." She leaned in a little. "What would you say?"

"Not a fair question." Starlight prodded Sunburst in the chest. "You have to actually ask!" She stormed off with an angry huff and a parting flick of her tail.

"Oh." Sunburst sank in place. "I messed that up." She glanced to where Pebbles was napping. "You have the best idea." Sleeping felt better than facing what she had done. "Blast it all." But she stood to follow after Starlight. "I made the mess, time to fix."
> 20 - Mighty Steps
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunburst found Starlight in the kitchen, nibbling on a few things. She looked up, frowning. "What?" She tossed a carrot aside. "You're going to tell me you didn't mean it, aren't you?"

Sunburst shied back, unsure how to approach the sullen fire before her. "Starlight, first, you are and always be one of the most important ponies in the entire world."

Starlight pinned her ears to her hear. "That's nice." She let out a sudden sigh. "But you don't know you, so how do I fit in that? Maybe I'm the one being unfair right now."

Sunburst stepped forward, her hooves meeting Starlight's. "I'm sorry. I'm not used to having a girlfriend. I'm not used to being a girl. I'm not used to anything. But I'm trying, and I want to try with you." She lifted Starlight's hooves. "So, I'm going to ask."

Starlight nodded, letting Sunburst speak, running her tongue across suddenly dry lips.

"Starlight--" Sunburst went in, touching horns with her. "Let's go steady."

Starlight blinked, stunned. "I--Sure? Sunny!" She swatted at Sunburst. "I appreciate the step, but you teased me with a big leap. You horrible thing." She gently nuzzled against her friend. "Horrible."

Sunburst chuckled, holding Starlight close. "Well, I'll make it up to you."

Starlight snorted. "You better."

Sunburst held Starlight's hooves. She backed up a step, shaking herself. "I have been a terrible romantic partner."

Starlight perked her ears. "How?"

Sunburst pointed up the stairs they had just come down. "Starlight, I want to invite you back upstairs, and I will hold you, hug you, and do everything in my power to make you happy you picked to be around me, for some reason."

Starlight felt her cheeks burn with a new heat. "I--Yes! Yes, that sounds great, actually." She shoved the food she had been chewing on away with her magic, suddenly in the way. "Let's do that."

Sunburst nodded, leading Starlight back to her room. "I don't know if I'll ever be good at this, but I'm going to try."

Starlight shook her head. "Please." She nipped gently at Sunburst. "You'll be fine, and I'll tell you if you mess up."

The two vanished into their shared room and they shared many other things together with an abundance of passion and understanding.





The sun was streaming in gently through the window and a soft squeak conspired to awaken Sunburst. She sat up and slid from bed as the squeak repeated. "Hm?" She found the source, at the edge of their pen. Pebble was looking at her and trying to get her attention. "Oh, hey, little guy." She scooped up the bunny. "How are you?"

Pebble sniffed at her, then started licking. He settled into her forelegs, his nose twitching.

Sunburst felt her  heart melt at the affectionate greeting, snuggling with Pebble eagerly. "And a good morning to you too." She got to cleaning up Pebble's area with her magic, refilling her water bottle and setting some comfy hay down to play with, or chew, as her rabbit desired. "So, I guess we're keeping you, huh?"

Pebble hopped from her arms and into the hay, flopping down. He rolled over, exposing his belly for rubs.

Sunburst laughed at the display. She reached a hoof to gently rub the rabbit's belly. "I don't think most rabbits want anything touching their bellies." But she had an odd bunny, and she only felt her love swelling the more she knew Pebble. "I made you, and I love that I did, and you." She leaned in for a little nuzzle. "I hope you like me too."

Pebble squeaked, wiggling happily under her touch. His ears flopped back, and he looked content.

Sunburst smiled at the sight as she sat up. "Now, I'm going to do some reading. You happy here?" Taking the lack of distressed motions as consent, Sunburst moved from the pen towards one of the bookshelves. "Starlight, you awake?"

Starlight groaned from the bed. "No." She rolled over, her eyes opening. "I'm awake, and you're cute." She yawned. "Morning, dear."

Sunburst's heart fluttered at the sleepy compliment. "T-thanks, um, you too?" She knew it was awkward the moment she said it. "Sorry. Morning."

Starlight slipped from the bed, trotting over to wrap Sunburst in a hug. "It's fine. You're doing great." She gave her a kiss. "Now, I'm going to go get some breakfast. You want anything?"

Sunburst blushed at the kiss, her mind whirling. "Um, no. I'm fine. Thank you."

Starlight laughed. "Okay, see you soon." She trotted from the room, vanishing from sight.

Sunburst considered the new day before her even as she grabbed a magic book that looked worth reviewing. "A whole new day, hm. Today I should probably start thinking about what to do with myself." She settled down to read, Pebble snuggled up beside her. "A new life..."

She read a few pages, finding them fascinating. "So, there's a spell that can turn a pony into a dragon..." She shook her head. "That's a bit much."

Pebble rolled onto his back, exposing his belly for rubs. Sunburst laughed gently. "You like your belly rubs." She wasn't going to deny him, rubbing as she read onwards. "I remember Starlight mentioning a few other transformation spells being used. I just weathered one myself, technically."

She thought back to her previous form, the stallion she had been just so short ago, that felt like a lifetime ago. "Magic can do a lot." And she was a wizard, a wielder of such tremendous powers. "Mmm." She set the book aside, having read enough. "I wonder..."

She focused her horn, feeling the magic within her. She was aware of it, now, and how it flowed. She could feel it. "Maybe..." She let it flow, focusing on Pebble. She felt it course through her, and into the rabbit.

Pebble blinked, sitting up. He looked down at himself, wiggling his hooves. "Bun bun?"

Sunburst stared. "You're a pony." She had turned Pebble into a pony. "I didn't know I could do that."

Pebble hopped up, excited. "I am a pony," he excited with the newfound ability to speak. "I am a pony, and you are my mom." Pebble was colored the same, easily identified as the same creature, just a pony with a curiously short tail that looked more like a rabbit tail. "I love you."

Sunburst hugged her adopted colt close even as the magic faded and Pebble returned to being a rabbit in her arms, unable to speak further. "I love you too." She nuzzled her little pet, wondering if she should tell Starlight. "I think I'll keep this one to myself for now."

She returned to reading, and Pebble returned to snuggling, and the two enjoyed their morning.





"Sunny!" called Starlight up the stairs. "I have to go to work."

Sunburst came down with Pebble on her head. "Work?"

Starlight cocked a brow. "I help Twilight at her school, remember? I'm a counselor, for the students. They have problems, I fix them, you know?"

Sunburst nodded. "Oh, right. Well, I'll see you later then."

Starlight smiled, leaning in for a kiss. "I'll be back tonight. You two behave."

As she turned to go, she felt magic flow over her, stopping her progress. "Sun?"

Sunburst descended the stairs behind her. "I don't want you to go, at least not alone. Can I help?"

Starlight laughed. "Sure, I guess. I mean, you could be a teacher, but I'm not sure you'd like it."

Sunburst shrugged. "I don't know either, but I want to be with you."

Starlight turned and they nuzzled gently. "But you need to talk to Twilight, not me. She is the headmare and all. I'm a counselor, so unless you're a student with a problem, I can't help you. Now, love you, but let go of me. I take my job seriously."

Sunburst released the magic, letting Starlight go. "I'll see you later."

Starlight waved as she left, leaving Sunburst and Pebble behind.

Sunburst sighed, watching her leave. "Twilight it is." He went to her room and knocked, but no answer came. "Hello?" Nobody answered the call, or any other in the house. She was entirely alone.

"Sunburst?" Except for Spike, who peeked out of his room. "Who are you calling for?"

"I thought I was alone a moment." Sunburst trotted up to Spike with a smile. "Hiya. Any idea where Twilight's hiding?"

"Hey." Spike angled his head. "Probably at the school if I had to guess. Where else would she be this time of day?"

Sunburst shrugged. "I don't know, I'm new here." She smiled at Spike. "But thanks."

Spike shrugged. "Sure. If you're looking for her, you might want to hurry. It's almost lunch time, and she likes to eat with her friends."

Sunburst nodded. "Thanks, again." She turned and headed out, Pebble still on her head. "Well, we're going to the school."

She closed the door behind her and trotted out to look around. The school was in sight of Twilight's castle, so she turned for it and hastily marched up to the bridge leading into the school over a flowing river. "Nice." She nodded to the pleasant sight as she walked over it and into the school proper.

The halls were quiet, the students in their classes. She could distantly hear different teachers giving their lectures. "Hm." She wandered down the hall, looking for signs of life.

"Sunburst?" A voice called from behind her. "What are you doing here?"

Sunburst turned to see a familiar face. "Oh, hi, Rarity. I'm looking for Twilight."

Rarity nodded. "She's in her office, I believe." She stepped closer. "Are you thinking of becoming a teacher, darling?"

Sunburst perked. "Um, maybe? I'm not sure, to be perfectly honest." She rubbed one leg with the other hoof. "I do want to help."

Rarity smiled. "Well, I'm sure we can find a place for you." She waved for Sunburst to follow. "Come along, I'll take you to Twilight."

Sunburst followed after Rarity, looking around the school as she went. She could see student projects on the walls, lockers, any many doors on the way. The school was alive with the impressions of its students. "It's nice around here. Do they learn magic at all?"

"Only the magic of friendship, dear, as a rule." Rarity stopped before a door, waving at it. "And this is Twilight's office, as promised."

Sunburst nodded. "Thanks, Rarity. I'll see you around."

Rarity smiled. "I'm sure you will, dear." She turned and trotted off. "Have a good day."

That left Sunburst at the door. She raised a hoof and knocked on it firmly on the wood. "Twilight?"

"Sunburst?" The door glowed, opening with Twilight's magic. "I didn't expect you to visit. Come inside." She waved for him to enter, seated behind a desk laden with papers. "What can I do for you?"

Sunburst stepped in, looking around the room. There were shelves full of books, a few chairs, and a large window that let in the sunlight. "I wanted to talk about working here."

Twilight pointed to Pebble, resting on Sunburst's head. "Are they going to work here too?" she asked with laughter in her voice.

"N-no." Sunburst pulled Pebble free with her magic and set them down to explore the room with little hops. "I don't think your students want to sit in front of a rabbit, no matter how cute they are."

Twilight nodded. "That's true. So, what did you have in mind?"

Sunburst took a seat. "I don't know, but I want to help. I'm a wizard, I'm good at magic, and I'm pretty sure I can teach it."

Twilight tapped at her chin gently. "This is a school of friendship. Many, most I dare say, of our students aren't unicorns, so teaching them unicorn magic isn't going to help them. What talents do you have outside of magic? I'm certain you have some."

Sunburst frowned, watching Pebble's explorations for a quiet moment. "I have other talents, yes. Um, I've been a royal foalsitter for some time, and I know about magic, beyond unicorn magic. In fact, I've taken quite a liking to many kinds of magic, since I was pretty awful at unicorn magic, until, um, recently."
> 21 - Hi, Mom
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight leaned forward on her desk. "You've had some experience with younger ponies, good. That's a step. The truth is—" She leaned back in her chair with a thump. "None of us knew what we were doing when we started. We're all learning a lot as we go. I feel guilty slamming the door shut in your face if you're ready and willing."

Sunburst perked. "Does that mean you'll--"

"--That means you get a chance. You mentioned liking all forms of magic." She raised a brow at Sunburst. "What other forms of magic do you regularly encounter outside of enchanted items that aren't unicorn magic?"

Sunburst sat on her haunches, one hoof stroking Pebble as the rock rabbit returned to her side. "Changeling magic is subtly different from unicorn magic, though they share a lot of properties. Then there's zebra magic; I could spend a decade there and still be digging at the surface of that."

Twilight tapped at her chin. "That I failed to attract a zebra student still bothers a little."

"Aw." Sunburst gathered Pebble up for a nuzzle. "They are fascinating, but, of course, there are magical items, as you mentioned. Ignoring them would be foalish."

Twilight nodded. "Very good. This is a place where we must acknowledge some wish to learn of all magic. How ponies use magic, but also, how we might emulate, interact, and cooperate with other styles. Do you think you could teach such a class?" She inclined her head. "And, sorry to ask, but why did you bring a rabbit? You don't talk to animals, last I knew."

"This is Pebble." Sunburst cradled them tenderly. "They are special, and I kinda created them."

"Created them?" Twilight hopped to the ground, circling her desk to get closer. "Out of nothing?"

"I was trying a spell." Sunburst laughed nervously, rocking in place. "It could transform a slab of rock into other shapes and configurations. My mind wandered, and I ended up--" She pointed at the rabbit, the result of her spell. "And they were alive, and cute, and--" Sunburst hugged Pebble close. "Sending them back into being a rock felt wrong."

"Of course!" Twilight smiled, but it vanished after a moment. "But, did you learn anything about turning a rock into a pet from this?"

"N-no." Sunburst bit at her lip. "I wasn't even trying to do that."

"And yet, here you are." With a glowing horn, Twilight took Pebble from Sunburst, hovering the placid rabbit up and slowly turning them in a circle in front of herself. "They smell of magic, recent magic. How recently did you make them?"

"Yesterday?" Sunburst shrugged, thinking back. "It's been a busy day, but I've been learning how to take care of him and--"

Twilight thrust a hoof at Pebble. "But there are marks of something far more recent." She put Pebble down, allowing the rabbit to bounce back towards Sunburst. "Did you cast another spell?"

Sunburst ruffled the top of her returned pet. "Just a brief one. Um—" She colored, thinking back on it. "I wanted to talk to them, and I'm not Fluttershy."

"Most of us aren't," laughed Twilight. "So you gave him speech?"

"Y-yes, but, um. I turned him into a filly, briefly. Long enough for a few words, and a hug, and they were back to being a rabbit."

Twilight inclined her head faintly. "Oh. Oh. Hm." She floated over a book suddenly and flipped through it. "You've fallen for a classic moral quandary."

"I have?" Sunburst sat up. "I didn't break a law, did I?"

"No, no." She waved that away. "You didn't hurt anypony, or anypony's property. Most magical laws involve one or the other, as I feel you're aware. But, that doesn't mean magic isn't fraught with ethical and moral issues at times. Most are up to the casting pony to consider, or not. We wield great power." She pointed up at her horn. "And can shape the world. Will we do it gently, or be forces of chaos, more like Discord?"

Sunburst felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle at that name. "Discord, yeah, I met him once. But, um, Pebble. He's a pet, right?"

"Is he?" Twilight leaned in closer to the bunny. "You lifted them out of that state, if briefly. Technically, they could be called a pony now. Would a pony that was petrified stop being a pony? Would a pony that was polymorphed into a rabbit, even? They would be a pony suffering a curse, would they not?"

Sunburst blinked. "I hadn't thought of it like that. I—I just wanted to play with my friend, and, and I talked to them for a moment."

"I'm not condemning you." Twilight reached to pat Sunburst on the shoulder. "But we should consider this from Pebble's side too. He was lifted from being a rock, into a whole new world of motion and life. It seems he's adjusted to that quite well." She gently pet over the back of the rabbit, to their apparent satisfaction. "

Sunburst considered Pebble a moment. "Um, can you understand me?"

Pebble turned to face Sunburst, watching her.

"And then." Twilight made a lifting motion with a hoof. "You took them further, to full sapience. For just a moment, they thought. If you don't mind my asking, what did they say?"

"They, um, said they loved me, and I was their mom." Sunburst blushed, remembering the brief interaction. "Then they were a bunny again, and didn't understand."

"That sounds very sweet." Twilight smiled, but the expression softened. "But we can't call him a rabbit, can we? That was very clever of them, knowing you are their creator. They clearly don't regret that. But--"

"Yeah," sighed out Sunburst, sinking under the ethical weight made clear to her. "I messed up."

"We," corrected Twilight gently. "We made a mistake. One that may be irreversible without dire consequences. I'll help you weigh this one. Don't try to do this alone, please."

Sunburst blinked. "I was the one doing the spells. How is this your mess up?"

"My house, my rules, my responsibility." Twilight nodded with firmness. "Besides, you're a friend, Sunburst. Friends don't let friends suffer through arcane ethical quandaries alone."

Sunburst burst into laughter at that. "First time I heard that, but, thank you all the same."

Twilight nodded. "Of course, now. Let's tackle this logically. Pebble, are you listening?"

The rabbit watched her, eyes alert.

"Good, the question is simple." She pointed at Pebble. "Would you prefer to remain a rabbit, or would you wish to be a pony again? Being a pony can be a complicated existence, but a satisfying one, but that's the opinion of somepony who's always been a pony."

Sunburst rubbed behind her head. "Um, this is my fault." She laughed tensely. "Not many other ponies involved. If you want to be a pony, I'll try to be the best mom I can be."

Pebble hopped over to Sunburst, touching a paw to her hoof. They nodded. "Mom."

Sunburst scooped Pebble up, holding them close. "Okay. We got an answer."

"We did." Twilight nodded to her own confirmation. "And to a question I had been wondering." She leaned in at Pebble. "You never stopped being a pony." She raised her eyes to Sunburst. "What do we need to make that spell you cast permanent?"

Sunburst considered with a frown. "That was not a small spell. Even casting it to last the moment I did was taxing. The supporting materials to make it last indefinitely will not come easily."

Twilight folded her arms. "Well, now we have a pony in need. Rescuing ponies in need is something we do around here. I'll talk with the other teachers." She floated Pebble up to rest atop Sunburst's back. "For now, keep Pebble close and continue being a loving caretaker. Which book, exactly, did this spell come from?"

Sunburst rattled off the obscure title. "Um, sorry for changing topics, but what should I be doing, around here?"

"Right." Twilight hopped up into her chair. "For now, why don't you write about what you've learned. This could be a valuable lesson to maturing spellcasters. If we can help them navigate these tricky waters, then we're doing our job as educators." With a twinkle, she summoned a parchment and a quill, scribbling words out. "Hm, ethics of spellcasting, how to make friends the responsible way. That could be a new course."

Sunburst considered, glancing to Pebble. "Do you think you'd enjoy that?"

Pebble sat atop her, watching with stoic silence.

Twilight smiled at the two. "For now, shoo." she waved both out of her office. "I'll talk to the others after school."

"Okay." Sunburst turned for the door. "Thank you, Twilight. I really appreciate your help."

"Any time, Sunburst." Twilight shooed Sunburst out the door. Glowing with her magic, she shut the door behind them with a soft click.

That left Sunburst in the hallway with Pebble on her back. She looked back to her rabbit, who was maybe a pony? "Do you like—" She aborted the question with a scowl. "You are Pebble."

Pebble hopped up once along Sunburst's back to rest against her neck from behind, a warm presence.

Sunburst smiled, walking along. "Answer enough. Let's get you home."

Sunburst nodded with a smile as she left the school, heading back for the castle. She needed time to think, and process. "I'm not sure what I expected coming here, but this wasn't it." She glanced over her shoulder. "But I did become a teacher, so there is that."

"Pebble!" There was Lyra, trotting up towards them. "How'd the visit with Fluttershy go?" She grabbed Pebble with her magic, horn glowing as she brought Pebble in for affectionate nuzzles. "Oh, you're so fluffy today."

"They are." Sunburst felt a small flash of pride in that, even if it was the rabbit being complimented. "Thanks for the suggestion, it paid off."

Lyra grinned as she cuddled with the rabbit. "Who's a good little bunbun? Is it you? It is!" She smooched Pebble's quivering nose. "So cute! And so chill. Pebble's such a relaxed bunny. I feel like I could snuggle them all day and they'd be alright with that." She rolled her eyes back to Sunburst. "How'd you manage that?"

Sunburst blushed at the scrutiny. "Uh, I kinda turned Pebble into a pony, just for a second." She gave an apologetic shrug to Pebble as Lyra paused in her attentions to stare.

"What? What?!" Lyra held Pebble back away from herself, examining the rabbit with whole new eyes. "Can you understand me?"

Pebble squeaked, and this was answer enough. Lyra backed a step, eyes wide.

"So, um, how are you and Bonbon, by the way?" Sunburst felt the need to change the topic, quickly.

"What?" Lyra looked to Sunburst, then down at the rabbit still in her magical grasp. "Oh, sorry." She lowered Pebble down, her magical hold easing up. "You're still my bunny, okay?"

Pebble hopped up to nestle against Lyra. Lyra sank to her haunches. "This is heavy. They were just fine as a rabbit, why'd you go and do that?"

Sunburst shrugged. "I got carried away. I'm sorry. I didn't expect things to escalate that much."

"Yeah." Lyra snuggled the bunny close, petting him gently. "I dunno. Maybe I shouldn't have asked, but--" She sighed. "Look, they didn't, you know, ask for this. They never did. Just us ponies pulling them along." She nosed at Pebble gently. "You are an innocent little thing. We're here for you, okay?"

Sunburst smiled at that. "Um, since we're talking about it. If they did become a pony, you know, long-term, would you—"

"Be their aunt? Yes!" Lyra flashed a big smile. "With pleasure."

"I was going to ask about being their friend," laughed out Sunburst. "But an aunt is good too."

Lyra laughed, nuzzling at Pebble. "Oh, we can do both, right, buddy?" She got a soft squeak in response. "Good. I'm glad."

Sunburst leaned in gently. "He's lucky to have you."
> 22 - All In
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunburst found Starlight already in their room. She waved from her place at the desk, books spread out before her. "Hi, I'm home, I'm not dead. Guess what?"

Sunburst gently set Pebble down in their pen. "I'm glad you're not dead, but I wasn't expecting that? What's up?"

"I was searching for you. I went to the castle and you weren't there. Spike was. I asked him and he said you went to the school. I was so worried." Starlight hurried over to give Sunburst a hug. "Why were you at school? You're not thinking of applying, are you?" She looked Sunburst up and down. "You want friendship lessons?"

Sunburst laughed at that, a gentle airy sound. "No, I was actually thinking of giving lessons. I was talking to—"

Starlight jumped on Sunburst, hooves on their shoulders. "You what?! Seriously? What as?" She tapped at her chin thoughtfully, still leaning against Sunburst. "Seriously."

Sunburst tried to lean back from Starlight's zealous embrace. "Um, a morals of magic class? As a kind of ethics course." She waggled her hooves at Starlight, a gesture that served little purpose, other than to make a silly motion. "I might have done something a little overboard. I can at least turn it into a positive, for future spellcasters."

Starlight inclined her head. "I enslaved an entire town. I broke timelines! Why am I not teaching this class?!" She threw her hoof with each statement. "Twilight picks you, and you just messed up once? Also, what mistake did you make? I didn't see any."

Sunburst managed to ease Starlight from herself. "I'll explain in a little. For now, you wanna eat together?"

"I'd love to." Starlight curled her tail to brush against Sunburst. "Sorry, I'm not mad at you, just surprised, you know?" She pointed towards Pebble. "They have enough food too?"

Sunburst's horn glowed as she gently hefted up her rockbunny, that might also be a pony, and set them on her back. "They can eat with us. It's about them."

"About them?" Starlight walked along with Sunburst, examining Pebble for any hints of dangerous magic. "They look alright?"

"We'll get to that. Come on." Sunburst led Starlight along through the castle and to the dining room.

"So, what happened?" Starlight took a seat, waiting on Sunburst. "You are murdering me with suspense, and I don't think murder is very ethical. Not a good start to your career."

"Ha." Sunburst set Pebble on the table, then trotted off to get some food going. "Pebble was a pony, briefly. It left a mark on him."

Starlight looked at Pebble in a whole new way. "I see. Was this accidental or intentional?"

Sunburst glanced over her shoulder as she trotted. "Well, I was practicing a spell, and—"

Starlight's ears perked. "Intentional. Hence the ethical use of magic. I get that. Still, what's so ethical about it one way or the other? Pebble looks fine."

Pebble hopped up before Starlight, prompting a gentle hug from the unicorn.

Starlight nuzzled the agreeable rabbit. "I can see why everypony loves this little fuzzball, so cute."

Sunburst returned to the room, floating over a tray of a salad to place in the center of the table. "Pebble was a pony. They understand what we're saying. They can even force a word or two out, but don't seem to do it often. By some measures, they still are a pony, trapped in the body of a rabbit." She slid the bowl of salad into the table for Pebble.

Starlight picked up her fork, jabbing a few lettuce leaves for herself. "But, um, this feels like a minor problem." She chomped her greens and pointed her fork at Pebble. "Go ahead and make them all the way pony."

Sunburst flicked one ear back. "That you jumped straight to that without a bit of reservation is why, perhaps, you weren't picked for this teaching role, um, Starlight. No offense" She reached with her magic, petting Pebble gently down their back. "But you're not wrong, Pebble seems to like being a pony more than being a rabbit. The trick is actually doing it."

"Well, I have magic, you have magic, Twilight has magic. Magic-having ponies are kinda abundant. Surely, with a few spells, you could have done it already, if we had all the spells and stuff?" Starlight poked at a few vegetables. "Unless the magic is the problem?"

"Kinda." Sunburst held out a cherry tomato for Pebble, smiling as the rabbit nibbled away at it. "It needs a bit more 'oomph' to last forever. We all could turn Pebble into a pony, but just for as long as we focused on it. That's hardly a life."

Starlight looked Pebble over with new eyes. "Wait. You know, maybe we shouldn't." She leaned in. "If you can't fix this, it wouldn't be right to leave them as a pony either, would it?"

Sunburst drew her fork away, the tomato secured in Pebble's nibbling teeth. "Now you're thinking ethically, but we really only have two choices. Leave them as a rabbit, or pull them the rest of the way to being a pony. We asked them, and they voted pony. I'm just glad they understood us, or that would have been hard." She rubbed behind her head. "One other complication. If they become a pony, they will be just as young. They already want me to be their mother."

Starlight touched hooves to her cheeks. "Aww." She leaned in on the rabbit. "Oh, Sun, you gotta."

Sunburst smiled at that. "You're okay with that? I mean, we are a couple. I can't go adopting a colt without you being involved. Do you want to be their mother too? Or just a sister?"

Starlight gripped her hooves together. "Oh, that's so sweet. I haven't been a mother ever, so maybe I'm not fit, but, I can try, right? I mean, how different could it be to just caring for them as a bunny?"

"Well, now I feel a little better." Sunburst sat back. "But, did you just compare caring for a foal with caring for a bunny?" Using her magic, she bopped Starlight gently. "Stop that! Foals need different things. They need love, love that comes with words. They need to go to school and make friends, and to cry once in a while when it goes wrong. It's a lot more complicated than a bunny."

Starlight sank in place. "I--uh. I see." She waved her hooves defensively. "But, I want to try. I mean, if they're a bunny, and a pony, and a child, they still need love and attention, don't they? We just do that and they're happy, right? We're helping them be themselves! That's the most important thing, I bet."

Sunburst frowned. "You have a point, but this is a big project, even putting aside any decisions. Starlight." Starlight looked up. "Will you help me, with this spell?"

"Duh." Starlight reached to prod her partner. "We're girlfriends. If you couldn't trust on me to help with a magical ritual or three, that wouldn't be a very good relationship, I say." She winked at Sunburst. "I know I'm new to dating, but that's pretty important."

"You're not wrong. Thank you, for that. I mean, this is going to be a lot of work." Sunburst let out a slow breath. "I'll work on a list. We'll need to gather the components."

"Hit me up!" Starlight slid to her hooves, just to jump as Pebble landed on her back. "Oh, looks like I get a passenger. Guess I'll take our little bunny for a walk."

Sunburst slid down to her own hooves. "I'll get to work. Expect that list by the time you get back. Enjoy your walk!"

Starlight held a hoof up in salute. "I'll try!" She walked out of the room with Pebble riding on her back. "Okay, little guy, time for a fun jaunt."

With a smile, Sunburst watched them go before trotting off to her room. "Let's make this happen." She floated over a quill and a selection of books to get her research done. "We're making a pony! Wow, that sounds a little odd." She hook her head and got to work, determined to help Pebble as best she could.





Sunburst was pleased to see Twilight again at the school. "This is going to be my first real staff meeting." She watched Twilight as she unlocked the door to her office, the pair alone. "How many other teachers am I going to meet?"

Twilight pushed open the door to her office, unleashing a verbal storm.

"Surprise," shouted every teacher in the school, clearly having waited for Sunburst to arrive. Pinkie's party cannon blasted confetti everywhere as she giggled and cheered.

The other teachers were closing to greet the newest member of their team. Rarity brushed off a few confetti flakes as she came in. "Darling, this is so very exciting. Really, ethics in magic? I wouldn't have thought of that. So very clever of you."

Sunburst smiled, but edged back a step as Applejack came in close, picking flicks of color from her mane. "Guess the cat's outta the bag. Nice to see ya again." She nodded at Sunburst. "It'll be great havin' you 'round! I teach classes too, just so you know, in case you're a little nervous. You'll pick it up right fast, I'm sure."

Apple Bloom gave her a little wave. "Hiya."

Sunburst blinked at the little voice, looking down at the filly. "You work here too?!"

"Only as a helper sometimes." Apple Bloom giggled as she bounced in place. "I get to do lots of little jobs around the school, to help out, and make things easier."

"Welcome aboard, Sunburst." Twilight strode past to her desk, where Pebble rested, glowing with Twilight's magic. "Apple Bloom and the other Crusaders are mostly cutie mark specialists, and their talents come in handy sometimes. This little guy is going to be our subject. He'll be Pebble for a little longer, but I was thinking of a name change for him. He does seem to want to be a pony, and their current form doesn't seem to let them speak much."

Pebble squeaked as if in reply to that, but there were no words in there.

Sunburst rubbed at her cheek. "Let's wait on that. We can ask him after he has his voice, instead of pushing another name on him."

Twilight blinked, startled, but she recovered quickly. She threw a leg over Sunburst, hugging them close. "That sounds very ethical, if you don't mind my saying. Very well! Let's get Pebble on their hooves, then we can ask them how they want to be identified."

Sunburst nodded, and Twilight released her from the hug. Sunburst moved over to examine Pebble with her magic, feeling the flows of energy within the rabbit. "Interesting."

"What's that, darling?" Rarity slid in next to Sunburst. "That is a very cute bunny." She reached out to pet Pebble, seduced by the rabbit's relaxed acceptance of affection. "And your first project, I hear, dear? I do hope you'll keep up the excellent work."

"I'm doing my best." Sunburst reached under Pebble, hefting them up gently with her magic. "Pebble's a good bun-colt. Oh! Twilight, ma'am." She drew out a slip of paper and pressed it against Twilight, its glow shifting from Sunburst's color to Twilight's as they passed it. "Here's the list of things we need. Um, thank you."

Twilight tucked the list into her side. "Thanks, but no 'ma'am'. Just Twilight."

"Right, Twilight." Sunburst took a step back, adjusting Pebble in her magic. "But, since you are my boss, and I am your employee, I think that might be a little forward of me."

"Tweety, then," interrupted Pinkie as she joined in, pressing into Sunburst's side. "That's a good title."

Sunburst blinked, stunned.

Pinkie tilted her head. "Fine, go with Twilight then."

"I think I will," Sunburst laughed out. "Thank you, all of you." She turned to face as much of the faculty as she could at once. "I will do my best to enrich the students, right alongside you all. I will need your help, and make myself available if any of you need a hoof in return." She dipped her head as they began to clap. "Thank you."

"Woohoo," cheered Rainbow Dash, breaking up the moment. "I know somepony else who did a whole speech like that. Welcome aboard!" She spun around Sunburst, flying loops as she celebrated the new addition to the school.

Fluttershy smiled. "I'm glad we have a new teacher. We have been a little short handed, and the students do need someone to talk to about magic." She tapped at her chest. "Not just the unicorns. The other creatures have magical questions too. The hippogriffs all wear magic and changelings can do spells, um, for example."

Sunburst looked to Pebble. "I'm honored. Now, let's get to work on the magic part." She rubbed Pebble's head with a hoof. "Are you ready to become a pony?"

Pebble squeaked and nosed against Sunburst's hoof, appearing pleased if nothing else.

"That looks like a yes." Sunburst set their hooves back down. "Thank you all, again. See you in the halls."
> 23 - My Son
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"All of it?" Twilight touched her hoof to the ingredients lined up along a lab table. "What was your original plan, anyway? Did you need all of this?"

Sunburst smiled to herself. "I wanted to be prepared for any eventuality. I was expecting to work with the spell for a lot longer to fine tune the outcome, but now, with you, and the others, we can go directly to the final step." She waved her hoof over the assembled material. "Let's finish turning a rabbit into a pony."

Starlight dropped a hoof on Sunburt's shoulder. "Doesn't it bother you a little?"

Sunburst flicked an ear at Starlight, turning to her. "What? We're fixing my mistake, right now."

Starlight waved at the table of ingredients. "I more meant, you're doing what your mom did to you. You made a rock have to worry about breathing and eating, and then you showed it the pony life. Fortunately, they seem to want to go ahead, now, but this is all asking after the fact. You were happy going on being a stallion for a long time, I remind."

Sunburst nodded. "This is different. It wasn't until recently that I really got to know Pebble. I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty sure they understand what's happening to them, even if they don't say much." Sunburst sank to her haunches heavily. "I want to help her."

Starlight lifted her shoulders gently. "Your mom thought she was helping you. Look, I know it's not exactly the same." She cycled her hooves in the air over one another. "But at the least, you owe her a bit of an apology. You two are cut off the same tree."

Sunburst colored at that. "I am aware. It's not an easy thought to live with."

Twilight leaned in closer to the table. "Well, I think we've dawdled long enough." She touched a hoof to the largest ingredient, a crystal flower that glowed with the collected potential of all the smaller stones around it. "This is what holds the spell, yes?"

Sunburst took a deep breath. "That is the central ingredient, yes. Let me get the subject. Pebbles!" She trotted off in search of her pet that would be her son. "Pebbles?"

Starlight lifted her hoof. "I'll help." She hurried after Sunburst with the other mares. "Where would he be?"

Sunburst considered with a frown. "Let's start with the obvious." She led them upstairs to the penned area, but there was no stone rabbit there. "Hm. Who took them out?" She trotted back to the lab, stopping at the table. "Hey, the flowers are missing."

Twilight pointed at the ceiling. "Follow the sparkles, I'd say. I'm pretty sure I know what's going on here." She turned and trotted along the hall with a smirk.

Starlight followed after Twilight. "Uh, okay. Lead the way, I guess."

Sunburst trotted after, eyes scanning for hints of Pebbles. "What left that trail? On the ceiling no less."

Twilight giggled to herself. "They call themselves the Sparkle Census, I think, but I usually call them the pixies."

Sunburst tipped her head back, following the glints up to the rafters. "Pixies? I haven't seen one of those in, um, ever? You have pixies?"

"I didn't, until somepony gathered so many sparkly magic things in one place." Her smirk didn't ease, looking far more amused than actually annoyed. "They adore that. I've seen them sitting around and polishing up rocks, just to drop glitter everywhere. But this? This is something more." Twilight shook her head as she approached the door to the outside. "It was probably our dear Pebble who was the catalyst."

Sunburst blinked at the thought. "Why? Wait—" She stopped near the door, staring up at the trailing gleams of light. It led away from the castle towards the forest, easily seen from there. "The Everfree?!"

Twilight turned back. "Trust me. Just follow." She walked on out the door with a swish of her tail, leaving the other two unicorns to follow after.

Sunburst hesitated, glancing back at Starlight. Starlight gently shrugged and nudged Sunburst into motion, the two following after Twilight.

Fortunately, they didn't have to go far into the foreboding forest, coming on a clearing of sparkles in the trees and grass. The glimmer of stars painted the landscape, fading in and out of being.

The three unicorns emerged in the field, walking among the flashing lights of the pixie colony.

"What do you want?" demanded a creature, so small as to be barely visible. Male, female? It was hard to tell from the squeaky voice. "We're busy, so if you can't see, that's our business!"

"I know, I know." Twilight swept her gaze over the tiny bodies of the pixies. "And you stole one of my subjects. Where is he?"

"Don't know what you're talking about, horsie." The voice didn't seem to be the same one as before. "Go away."

Sunburst sat, spreading her forehooves. "Please. Pebbles doesn't just 'belong' to me, but I care about him a lot. He's a living creature."

"So?" This seemed to be a new pixie. "They wanted to be a pony. We heard. We granted a wish!"

Starlight stared down at the swirling mass of colors around their hooves. "You did?" She leaned in closer to Sunburst. "Did they do our work for us? Can Pixies do that?"

Twilight smiled, reaching her hooves out. "Do you mind? We're here to collect our friend."

A multitude of voices sounded out, most shouting to get out of the way.

Sunburst pinned her ears. "Foalnapping somecreature isn't very nice. Please, let me see Pebbles."

The crowd of pixies parted, revealing Pebble, no longer a rabbit, but a healthy pony colt. They were curled up under the protective hold of several pixies, all clustered in to give Pebble warmth and company.

Sunburst blinked in amazement. "Pebbles? Pebbles!" She set her hooves down and hurried towards them, only to be blocked by a cloud of pixies. "Let me past!"

"Mine," chirped a pixie, apparently ready to fight over this.

Starlight touched Sunburst on the shoulder. "He doesn't belong to just you, remember?" She smiled faintly, eyes flicking to Pebble. "Pixies, wake Pebbles up and let them decide where they want to be."

There was a chittering from the pixies.

Twilight sighed. "Please."

In unison, the pixies rolled their eyes. A number of them went over to Pebble, nosing them until the foal stirred, rising to a stand. He rubbed at one eye with a forehoof before opening his mouth wide in a yawn.

Sunburst smiled radiantly at each motion. "Pebbles," she barely breathed out, amazed at the presence of her new son. "Mommy's here."

Pebble looked up at the word, eyes sweeping the scene. They locked eyes with Sunburst. "Mom?"

"Yes," whispered Sunburst, leaning forward to touch hooves with Pebbles. The pixies swept out of the way as the two came together in a warm hug  of love and family.

One pixie sighed. "Fine, you keep him. We keep other shinies."

"They're not alive," added another. "So ours now."

"Good day," finished a third tiny pixie.

Twilight stepped to Sunburst and Pebbles, gently tapping the colt on the shoulder. "How are you feeling? Are you alright?"

"Hungry," said Pebbles softly, as if still unused to speaking.

Sunburst grabbed Pebbles in her magic, gently lifting the colt onto her back as she turned back towards the castle. "Let's go home and we can have some tasty food. Mmm, how old are you?"

Starlight made an unsure noise. "As a rock, he was centuries old at least! As a rabbit, a moon at most, and as a pony, newborn." She reached up to stroke Pebbles. "Old enough to talk."

Pebbles hummed in thought, rocking a bit on Sunburst's back as they trotted on back to the castle. "Rabbit? No, I don't like rabbits. Ponies."

Sunburst laughed at that. "We won't make you a rabbit again, I promise."

"You still have a mark." Sunburst gently pet Pebble's rabbit-like tail and worked through the glittering parts of his pelt, where some stone and crystal remained despite everything. "But that's okay. You're a special pony, a magical pony."

Starlight crept in closer. "I never heard of a rock rabbit becoming a pony. Did you, Sunburst?"

Sunburst laughed at that. "I did not, but I am the one that made it happen, so I can't pretend to be surprised." She turned to Twilight. "Thank you, even if we didn't get to cast the spell ourselves."

"You did something far more magical today." Twilight smiled at the new family. "You have a new life, and a new beginning, together. " She nuzzled Pebbles as they passed. "As their aunt, of sorts, you can call on me if anything comes up."

Starlight leaned on Sunburst's shoulder, keeping close. "I'm Aunt Starlight, got that? Just don't go and start calling Twilight mom." She giggled at that thought.

Sunburst pet over Pebbles with her magic, getting happy murmurs in reply. They slipped into the castle and Twilight trotted off to make breakfast. Sunburst moved Pebbles into her hooves, hugging and nuzzling her new child. "You are not my pet anymore, just so we're, um, clear. You are my son. You are her son too." She pointed at Starlight. "We're a couple, so if one of us has a child, we both do."

Pebble hugged Sunburst. "Happy."

"Me too." Sunburst gently set Pebble down, touching their muzzle together. "I'll never hurt you, Pebbles. I know I messed up a little, but I'll do better." She turned to Starlight. "I messed up with you too, Starlight, I'm sorry."

Starlight inclined her head. "I already forgave you for that." She pet her new child. "Hey, kid. Looks like you get me for a mom. Lucky you, huh?" She laughed a little tensely. "Is it alright if I admit I'm not entirely sure how to do the mom thing?"

"Join the club," giggled Sunburst, slipping in to hug her girlfriend. "I'm excited, even if it's scary, and new."

Starlight nodded with a little laugh.

Sunburst jumped with surprise. Pebble had needs, and wasn't shy fulfilling them,  attached as he was to Sunburst's teat, filling himself. "Oh." Sunburst laughed at the sight. "Guess Flurry kept that going. Um..." She felt the urge to watch her foal and another that insisted staring in that direction was wrong, warring in her.

Starlight nudged Sunburst's shoulder. "How's it feel?" She gently eased Sunburst over to a nearby bench, just to sit down together. "You got a little buddy there, mom."

Sunburst wrapped her arms around Pebble, keeping them close and welcoming them to stave off their hunger. "It's new, but not bad. I've fed a foal before." She shivered gently. "Is it supposed to feel so—" She struggled for words a moment. "Right?"

Starlight shrugged gently. "I've never fed a foal before, and I doubt I could start now. Maybe you just, you know, want to be a mom? Enjoy it." She nestled in against Sunburst's side. "I'll be the dad of this relationship."

Sunburst laughed at that, rocking slightly. "Sounds like a good plan." She lowered her head to nuzzle Pebble, who was now full. "Let's go explore the town together. Maybe get you some new toys, how does that sound?"

Starlight snorted gently. "He's fed, but us adults need food too, and Twilight's already making breakfast, remember? You'll hurt her feelings if you vanish while she's doing that."

"Oh." Sunburst blushed gently. "We can eat, then explore. Hm. Maybe we can find you a room that you feel is right for you. Your own bedroom, as part of your house?"

Pebbles shook gently, shaking his head after a moment. "Mom." He hugged tight against Sunburst.

Starlight snorted gently. "They're a newborn. They don't want their own room yet." She smiled at the two. "When they can talk a little better, we'll start working on that, right now? I think we should focus on letting them talk to us, and explore. They spent all that time as a rabbit. Being a pony is new to them."

Sunburst nodded. "You're right, thank you. I'll try to be more patient." She gave a little giggle. "We can figure this out together, but I'm going to do my best to be the best I can, for the both of you."

Starlight wrapped an arm gently around Sunburst. "I never really expected to have a family." She was quiet a long moment. "But I'm with you. I'll be doing my best too."

Pebble hummed gently and closed their eyes, going to sleep on Sunburst.

Twilight laughed to herself from the kitchen, watching the adorable trio. "Ahh, to be a student again." She emerged with a tray of pancakes and eggs, steaming with delicious smells. "Now, our new parents deserve some food, mm?" She levitated some utensils over to the threesome. "Come on, get to eating. You've got a long day ahead of you, and this is just the morning."

Sunburst smiled, taking up her fork and gently transferring it to her magic. "You are a wonderful friend, Twilight. Thank you."

Happy noises of three ponies enjoying their breakfast filled the entry hallway until new steps came from the stairs. Spike hopped down the last. "Why are you all eating out here?" He hiked a thumb towards the dining room. "Better seats over there and all?"

"Spike!" Starlight gestured wildly to Pebble. "Meet Pebble! Sunburst's son."

Spike tilted his head. "...That rabbit?"

Twilight shook her head and giggled. "Not anymore."

Spike closed the distance to peek at the sleeping colt. "This is Pebbles?" That is when he noticed the colt had a rabbit's tail. "Woah!" Not to mention the glittering bits in their fur. "This really is Pebbles!"

"The same." Sunburst used her magic to brush Pebbles' hair into place. "I don't suppose you know what happened to my other stuff? I've lost track of where it ended up."

Twilight huffed gently. "The pixies are unlikely to give back any of the other ingredients. But they did do the spell for us. That feels like a fair trade."

Pebble roused a little, their nose twitching as the smell of food met them. "Pancakes?"

"Sure, just a minute." Twilight slipped back into the kitchen, returning with a smaller plate for Pebble.

Pebble snuffed curiously at the plate before daring to try a little, only to turn up their nose and flop against Sunburst instead.

Sunburst gently hugged him. "Not ready for solid food yet? It's okay. When you're ready." Her words were gentle and loving, rocking with her child.