Seeing the Light
by SilverStar7
First published
After a magical accident, Sunburst is in a parallel universe where he is betrothed to Twilight.
During a magic experiment involving the Crystal Heart, an accident caused Sunburst to enter a parallel universe. In this reality, Sunburst is recently engaged to Princess Sparkle. As he works to return home, the situation causes the stallion to consider some of his choices and what he truly values in life.
A Magical Mishap
Drapes had been placed covering all of the entrances to the small courtyard underneath the Crystal Palace.
They were not there to hide anything per se, instead it was a safety precaution. The work being done there was an experiment and, therefore, potentially dangerous, so nopony was allowed inside with the exception of Sunburst, Starswirl the Bearded, and their patron, Princess Cadence.
At the center of everything was the Crystal Heart, floating gently between the twin spikes that held it in place. Beside that was a simple three-legged stool holding a somewhat withered potted plant. Everything else was safety precautions and housekeeping. Two wooden barriers had been set up about 10 paces away, one for Sunburst and one for Starswirl. A yellow sticker had been placed on the ground next to Starswirl's barrier to show him where he needed to stand so that the angle of his spell was just right.
And that was it. A whole history changing experiment simple enough to appear unremarkable.
"So how is this going to work, exactly?" asked the Princess, looking at the rather simple setup.
"If I'm correct," said Starswirl, "the Crystal Heart's magic holds the key to showing a pony the power of love and joy. I'll fire a spell at the Heart. After a few moments of drawing magic from it, the spell will ricochet off and hit the pony allowing her to see what her life would be like if she reformed her behavior."
"Have you made any more progress in finding out details for what the spell will do?" asked Cadence.
"Not much," admitted Sunburst. "As far as I can tell, nothing like this has ever been attempted before. That's why we're starting with a plant; we need to figure out what happens to a living thing when the spell hits it."
"This is an ambitious endeavor," said Starswirl. "However, I think the benefits are worth the long process. We will be performing the first test here in a few minutes. If all goes according to plan, this plant should change its behavior following the experiment. If that is successful, we can begin more detailed calculations to determine what exactly happened to it and move on to higher levels of testing."
"Well, if you need anything else from me, don't hesitate to ask," said Cadence.
Starswirl shook his head, a few of his bells gently jingling on his hat. "You have given me more than enough, Princess. The use of your palace, permission to conduct an experiment with the Heart and, of course, the help of your Royal Crystaller, whose impressive knowledge of magic has been invaluable to this project. I sincerely believe I could not have done it without him."
Cadence smiled. "I'm so glad to hear that!"
Sunburst shook his head. "It's nothing, really, I'm just assisting."
"Nonsense!" Starswirl said. "It would have taken me months to gather up as much information on modern magical theory as you have provided in the last few days."
"Oh, that hasn't been that important," said Sunburst. "Modern theory is only... tangentially related. The basis for this spell was sitting in a book in the Crystal Library for a thousand years."
"But it was you who recommended that I read that particular book because of your modern knowledge. I would never have considered using thaumaturgy in this manner."
"I'm sure you would have figured it out. Besides, it's not--" Before Sunburst could continue, Cadence put a hoof on his shoulder, causing him to look up at her.
"Sunburst, don't sell yourself short. You're doing a great job."
Blushing, Sunburst cleared his throat and said to Starswirl, "Uh, you're welcome. I'm glad I could help."
In response, Starswirl gave a light bow to Sunburst, then looked back to the Princess. "Princess Cadence, would you like to be here to witness the first test?"
"I would, but I actually need to get back inside. I put Flurry down for her nap about an hour ago and she usually wakes up with a lot of energy. I'd better go check on her. But good luck!" With that, Cadence gave a wave to the two stallions and made her way back to the doorway into the castle.
Sunburst smiled looking around at the experiment. It looked so easy that a little colt could set it up, but the theory behind it had already filled pages of notes. And putting that theory into practice was surely going to fill many more.
"Are we ready to perform the first test?" asked Starswirl as he approached his mark.
"Ready," said Sunburst, moving to stand safely behind the barrier.
"Alright. I'm firing the spell in 3... 2... 1..." Starswirl's horn ignited as magic surged into its tip. "Firing." A beam of white magic blasted forth and into the Crystal Heart, causing it to spin rapidly and glow in a multitude of colors. Starswirl then moved himself to stand behind his own safety shield.
Sunburst waited patiently. He knew he could probably look at the Heart during the test without any problems, but it was better to be safe than sorry. After all, he wasn't just being safe for himself anymore. He had responsibilities now, like being the Royal Crystaller and helping to look after Flurryheart. That reality brought a smile to his face. He could practically hear her giggling voice now.
No. He could literally hear her giggling voice now.
Looking toward the Heart from behind the barrier, Sunburst's eyes bulged at the sight. Flurryheart had somehow made her way into their experiment. The baby alicorn gave a soft "woo!" as she gleefully flew circles around the Crystal Heart.
Immediately, Sunburst leapt around the wooden barrier. The colors around the Heart began to pulse now. The beam could fire again at any moment and Flurryheart could end up directly between the Crystal Heart and their test subject.
There was no time to do anything else.
"Flurry, no!" shouted Sunburst. Diving forward, he pushed the baby alicorn out of the way of the plant - just in time for the beam to release and strike him instead.
Sunburst blinked several times as he looked around the throne room. It wasn't that he didn't know where he was, it was that there was no reason to believe he was really there. This throne room was not the one in the Crystal Palace. It was Twilight's throne room in Ponyville. And it was decorated quite elaborately.
A huge purple cloth was draped over the table. The centerpiece was a golden version of the Crystal Heart. Each place at the table was set with fancy china dishes and napkins folded into swans. Intricate sun-catchers had been placed on the high windows, half displaying Twilight's cutie mark... and half his own. Ribbons colored in saffron and lavender spiraled around every column. Sunburst couldn't help but notice that the tone of saffron perfectly matched his coat.
When Sunburst moved, he felt something on his chest and looked down. He saw that he no longer wore his robe, but instead a suit-coat and dress shirt. The coat was, indeed, the dark cornflower blue of his usual attire, and the shirt the cyan of its designs, but he had never seen this outfit before, much less worn it.
That spell definitely did something, but what? Sunburst wondered to himself as he lifted a hoof to examine his suit. It certainly felt real enough, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Illusions were certainly possible and...
"What do you think, Sweetie?" came a voice from behind him.
Sunburst turned around and saw Princess Twilight approaching him. Though the primary color was more a dark navy, Twilight was also wearing blue. She wore a blue dress with light blue accents along with her crown and a broad smile.
"Twilight," said Sunburst. "What is this?"
The alicorn gave a light laugh. "I know it's a bit much for a planning dinner," she said. "I told Rarity she didn't have to, but she wanted us to feel inspired." When she reached Sunburst, Twilight planted a kiss on his cheek and pulled him into a hug.
Now the stallion was doubly confused. All he knew at this point was that he, well, didn't know anything about what was going on here. A part of him doubted if any of this was even real, but the mare pressing herself into his body certainly felt real. If this is an illusion, it is a very convincing one. Pulling himself out of the hug, Sunburst cleared his throat. "Twilight, listen. I... I don't know how to tell you this, but I have no idea what's happening right now."
Twilight looked directly into Sunburst's eyes. "Sunny, that's okay. Nopony is saying you have to be totally prepared right now. That's what tonight is all about; we're going to figure this out together."
"No, no, no. You don't understand, I'm saying I--"
At that moment Sunburst was cut off by a kiss from Twilight, causing him to freeze. The stallion couldn't even think. He had never been kissed before and the sensation of her soft lips first pressing into his and then gently shifting to close around his lower lip was draining all of his brain power. When the mare pulled away, all he could do was take in a deep breath as he gaped at her.
"Sunny, you don't need to worry." Twilight smiled against the confused expression on Sunburst's face. "It'll be fine. Even if you don't figure it all out, you'll have me with you every step of the way. Don't forget: your fiancée is the most organized mare in Ponyville."
"Fiancée?!"
A Puzzling Predicament
The outburst from Sunburst caused Twilight to take a few steps back. Her smile and playfully comforting attitude were replaced by a frown and a look that bordered dangerously close to fear. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyes gazed unblinkingly back at Sunburst.
The stallion bit his lip. It was the shock about his circumstances that made him yell. Now that he saw the result, Sunburst felt remorse. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt somepony.
"Twilight, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." Sunburst said, trying to collect his thoughts. Thankfully, Twilight did not interrupt again. Mercifully, her expression had softened slightly. Unfortunately, Sunburst had a feeling that what he said next would upset his friend—his fiancée apparently!—more than before. That idea made him look down at the floor, but he had to explain himself.
"I don't know where I am, Twilight," Sunburst said. "Or... well, okay, I know where I am, but I don't know how I got here—and I mean here physically, not metaphorically or something. I don't know how I ended up in your castle, in this suit, being uh... affectionate with you."
"Sunburst, you've been living in the castle for weeks. Rarity made you that suit last Tuesday. And we've been together for over a year now." Twilight approached Sunburst again and put a hoof on his shoulder, making him look up into her violet eyes once more. "What's going on?"
"Listen, Twilight," said Sunburst, not breaking eye contact with her. "I was accidentally hit with a spell. An experimental spell. I don't know exactly what it did. It could be any number of things! This could all be an illusion, although I'm starting to doubt that. I could be experiencing a sort of vision, like a very realistic daydream. I might even have been sent to some kind of a parallel universe or alternate timeline."
The confusion on Twilight's face grew. "Sunburst, are you being serious?"
"Yes," he said. "I was working on a new spell with Starswirl in the Crystal Empire. It was supposed to use the power of the Crystal Heart to let a bad pony see what her life would be like if she reformed her behavior."
Sunburst then described the nature of the spell and the accident that caused it to strike him.
"So from my perspective," he continued, "I haven't been living in this castle for weeks. I just got here a minute ago. For the last week I've been in the Crystal Empire researching spells with Starswirl. We've been in the Crystal Library every single day for hours. The two of us finally had a breakthrough a couple days ago and we spent all yesterday afternoon working on the first test spell."
With that statement, Twilight began to pace, her eyes now looking at the floor in front of her hooves. After a few times back and forth, Twilight stopped and looked back at Sunburst. "Sunny... er... Sunburst, I'm sorry, but this is a lot to take in. From my perspective, this is crazy. I have memories of our life together. You've been here helping to get things ready for our wedding. Yesterday afternoon we were at Sugarcube Corner talking to the Cakes about what sort of dessert options we want to have at the reception. I certainly don't think I'm an illusion or a dream! Yet that last option...
"I've experienced other timelines and realities personally, so I know what you're saying is possible. But that means the you I was with yesterday isn't you. And that that you..." Twilight closed her eyes and shook her head. "This can't be happening."
Sunburst glanced down at the clothes he had found himself in. He reached up a hoof and ran it along the lapel. If he was wearing this in some alternate reality, then it stood to reason that, not only had he entered that reality, but he had replaced an alternate version of himself in these clothes. Somepony was obviously wearing this suit before he arrived. So where had he gone?
As Sunburst pondered the possibilities, suddenly Twilight shouted, "Why is it that every time my life seems like it's coming together, I have to solve another crisis?!"
That outburst made Sunburst look back at her and what he saw shocked him. She was crying. Not just one or two tears, either. The fur on her muzzle was damp. Her nose was starting to run. Her limbs shook slightly.
It shouldn't have surprised Sunburst; it was a totally natural reaction. But a part of him never expected to see a Princess of Equestria cry and shout so openly. He'd seen Princess Cadence exhausted by her daughter on many occasions. He'd seen all of Equestria's princesses show visible concern for their subjects' safety when the frozen north threatened them. But to see a princess upset like that...
His whole life, from attending Celestia's school until today, he'd always viewed a princess as somepony in control of herself. If one could command a nation, surely one could command oneself. To see the illusion shattered, however foalish it might have been, was hard to take in.
She's just a pony, he thought.
"Twilight," Sunburst said, causing the Princess to look at him again. "I don't know exactly what happened, but the spell that did this came from the Crystal Heart. Its magic is powered by love and hope. I'm sure that, whatever happened to your Sunburst, it didn't hurt him. The Crystal Heart would never harm an innocent pony."
To that, Twilight actually smiled. "You're right." She reached up and wiped at her face, sniffing as she rubbed her nose. "And I'm sorry, I shouldn't make this about me," she said. "You're the one who's displaced from your reality. It would be selfish of me to—"
"And you just lost your fiancé," said Sunburst, not even considering the fact that he'd just cut off a member of royalty mid-sentence. He took a step toward her. "This is about you, too. It's not selfish to be upset about it."
Twilight smiled and took a step toward Sunburst, only to stop and shake her head. "Sorry, normally I'd give you—well, the other you—a hug in this kind of circumstance. I'm just not sure that's appropriate."
"I understand," said Sunburst. However, he noticed the expression on Twilight's face. It was subtle, but the way she looked at him with her lips slightly pursed made him realize just how much that hug meant to her. He'd never been that big on hugs, but he wasn't afraid of them or anything.
"You know," he said. "We're not getting married in my universe, that's true, but we're still friends. If you need a hug, I don't see a probl—"
In an instant, Twilight rushed Sunburst and threw her hooves around him. Smiling, he returned the gesture and patted her on the back. "Don't worry," he said. "I have complete faith in you. You've saved Equestria again and again. You brought the Six Pillars back from limbo. If anypony can handle this, it's you, Twilight."
At that moment, another voice spoke up. "Wow," said Starlight Glimmer, who had just entered the room. "And here I thought it was gonna be you who needed the pep-talk!"
Author's Notes:
I was hoping for an every-other-week release schedule but then IRL stuff happened so this was pushed back a bit. Hopefully the next one will come out before the end of May, but I learned a long time ago not to make any promises about that.
A Curious Case
The hugging ponies both looked over at the new arrival. Starlight was not dressed up like they were. Instead of formal, she looked quite relaxed and pleased with herself. It took Sunburst a moment to register what Starlight was talking about, but he soon realized that she had to be talking about his—no, the other Starburst's—reaction to the upcoming wedding.
That said, he still didn't like the idea that his best friend thought he wasn't emotionally capable of handling the situation. Even if by "he" he meant a different version of himself. So he asked, defensively, "What made you think I would need a pep-talk?"
"Don't seem so surprised," Starlight said. "Sure, we all knew Twilight was gonna have a big freak out at some point, but she's been excited about this planning dinner for weeks. Planning keeps her calm, so I figured you were gonna be nervous now and she wasn't gonna go all cray-cray until the night before."
"I am not gonna go 'cray-cray' the night before!" said Twilight, pulling herself away from Sunburst. "I mean, sure, that was my modus operandi for a while there, but you know I've been getting better about that."
"Oh really? Then how do you explain rushing into your fiancé's embrace to have him console you?" Starlight asked, smugly leaning against the doorway of the room.
"This isn't about pre-wedding jitters," said Sunburst. "We've got a bigger problem on our hooves."
Starlight's expression immediately shifted from condescension to concern. "What's going on?"
"You see, Sunburst here—" Twilight stopped, now looking back at the stallion. "Hold up. Before we try to explain everything to Starlight, first thing's first: do you know who she is?"
Sunburst nodded. "I do. We were childhood friends in the other universe."
"Good. That's the same. And the brainwashing a whole village thing?"
"Also the same," said Sunburst. "So far, the only difference here seems to be with our relationship. I'll let you know if we run into anything else that I'm not familiar with."
"Please do," said Twilight. "Any little detail could prove important in figuring out how we get you back home."
"Did Sunburst just say something about another universe?" Starlight fully entered the room, trotting forward until she was standing just a few paces from the pair.
"Yes. This Sunburst is not the Sunburst you and I know. Or, he sort of is? Not exactly... The long-story-short version is that a magical accident sent him to our universe and our Sunburst—" Twilight stopped again. Her eyes clamped shut and she shivered.
Sunburst put a hoof on Twilight's withers. When he did so, she turned to him and put her muzzle into his shoulder. Sunburst then continued for her, "The Sunburst from this universe is missing now. Because the spell involved was experimental, I have no idea what happened to him. We might have switched places or maybe he's stuck in some sort of limbo. We don't have enough information to figure that out yet."
Then Sunburst proceeded to explain what had happened to him. He tried to keep in all of the most important details, but also not drag things out. He had a feeling that he was going to be telling this story a lot over the next few days, so it was probably best to try to pare things down where possible, lest he spend more time telling people about his problem than actually working to solve it.
As he explained, Sunburst tried to use Starlight's expression as a guide for how much information he should be providing, but he found that this wasn't very helpful. The confusion on her face was unwavering. No matter what details he gave, her brow remained knit. She also didn't make much eye contact with him, nodding along while looking at his suit or even looking at Twilight instead.
Sunburst was starting to get annoyed, thinking that she wasn't listening, but when he finished, Starlight immediately said, "So it sounds like what we need to do is get to the Crystal Empire to examine the Heart and look into the books you used to make the spell. We should probably also have Spike send a letter to Starswirl to see if he can meet us there."
Twilight pulled herself from Sunburst's shoulder and said, "I think you're right. We won't solve this problem from here. If the Crystal Heart is the source of this magic, it has to offer a solution too." She then said to Starlight, "Head down to the train station and get us three tickets to the Crystal Empire. Sunburst and I will go find Spike."
Nodding, Starlight blinked away in a flash of teleportation. Twilight ran out of the throne room shouting "Spike!" and Sunburst ran after her. A little ways down the hall, the two found the dragon walking out of the kitchen, wearing his apron and carrying a mixing bowl.
"What is it?" he asked, still stirring the contents of the bowl. "Need something else for your planning dinner?"
"That's not important right now," said Twilight
"Yikes!" Spike stopped stirring. "If planning isn't important to you, then obviously we're talking about something big. What happened?"
Twilight pointed at Sunburst, "This Sunburst is a version of himself from a parallel reality sent here via an experimental spell designed by Starswirl and using the power of the Crystal Heart. We need to travel to the Crystal Empire to see if we can send him back and you need to send a letter to Starswirl asking him to meet us there."
Setting down his bowl on a nearby table, Spike gave a salute. "On it! I'll let Starswirl know what happened and I'll explain everything to the girls when they come for the dinner."
Trotting forward, Twilight threw her forelimbs around her Number One Assistant. "Thank you, Spike."
Sunburst, on the other hoof, was dumbfounded. It was like all of the careful thought that he put into explaining things first to Twilight and then to Starlight was for nothing. When the pair broke apart he asked, "Spike, how were you able to process all that so quickly?"
The dragon chuckled. "Do you realize how many comic books I read? Alternate universes are a bit a bushel in those. Besides, compared to everything else we've been through, this isn't that big of a deal. Even including breaks, I'm sure you guys'll probably have it figured out in, like, 30 minutes."
"Huh. Guess you gotta know your audience," said Sunburst.
At that moment, Starlight reappeared, three tickets held in her magic. "Okay, good news bad news: There's a train leaving shortly, but by shortly I mean, right now!"
"Then we don't have a choice," said Twilight.
The two mares looked at Sunburst with worried expressions.
He looked back and forth between the pair. "What?"
Immediately, Twilight put a hoof around Sunburst. "Sorry, Sunny. I know you hate this." Then there was a bright magenta flash.
Suddenly finding himself on Ponyville's train platform, Sunburst wobbled as he took a step forward, almost falling over if not for Twilight and Starlight holding him up. His ears rang with a high pitch whine. His insides churned and he tasted gastric acid in the back of his throat. He clamped shut his eyes, both in the hopes of calming his stomach and to keep out the sunlight that was both blinding him and giving him a headache.
"Come on, the train is this way," one of the others said. Sunburst felt a hoof press into his side and he began to move in the opposite direction. He dared to open one eye, but even then, everything before him was a blur. Sunburst put a hoof to his muzzle to confirm that he was still wearing his glasses. He saw a group of multi-colored blobs, mostly pink, and figured that that was the train. The fact that there were no voices telling him to change direction confirmed this.
"Okay, big step up," said Twilight as they crossed onto the train car. Sunburst was quickly pushed onto one of the seats and Twilight sat next to him.
Starlight took a seat opposite the pair. "Hold him steady," she said. "The train's about to start moving."
Sunburst felt forelimbs around him again. He was about to say that he was starting to feel better, but when the train began its acceleration, all of the sickness he was feeling a moment before returned with a vengeance. Instead of saying anything, he moaned his displeasure.
"I'm so sorry," said Twilight, gently rubbing his back. "I know you get really bad teleportation sickness."
Well I didn't know that, Sunburst thought. As far as he could remember, he had never teleported before, having never mastered the spell himself. Apparently, in this reality, Twilight occasionally felt the need to bring him along for the ride, leading to the discomfort he was currently feeling. That meant that Sunburst had another difference with this reality to report. Once he didn't feel like the train car was doing loops anymore, of course.
A Difficult Date
Thankfully, Sunburst didn't vomit. He thought for sure he was going to several times, but as the train moved beyond the fields of Ponyville and towards the mountains holding up Canterlot, his stomach settled. He was able to look out the windows and take in the sunshine and clouds and sky. It was beautiful, all things considered. At least this world he found himself in didn't seem to be out to harm him. Teleportation sickness aside...
Seeing him sitting up again, Twilight asked, "You feeling better now, Sunny? Er—Sunburst?" She took her hoof away from his withers.
"Yeah, I'm fine now," he said. "I can tell you that I've never experienced that before. But since I've never managed to use a teleportation spell, I don't know whether that's because of my physiology here or if that would happen to me in the other universe too."
"You never mastered the technique here either," said Twilight. "I always have to take you with me when I teleport, although I obviously don't do it unless it's necessary."
"Then it still seems like all of the differences so far have to do with your relationship," said Sunburst.
"Hmm..." Twilight scratched at her chin with a hoof. "You said the spell used the magic from the Crystal Heart. Since it draws power from the light and love inside of ponies, I suppose it's possible that it sent you here specifically because of our relationship."
Starlight nodded. "Then I guess that's our starting point for finding out how this universe is different from Sunburst's."
"We should probably start at the beginning," said Sunburst. He turned to Twilight. "How did you two end up together?"
Twilight smiled. "Well, it really started with a visit you made to Ponyville when we went antiquing together. We had so much fun going through old relics and books and maps. I'm not even joking when I say that I'm usually the only one in that store. To meet somepony else who shares that with me was amazing. And then to find out that you also spoke Olde Ponish on top of that! I mean, it should've been obvious to me right then and there that we had a special bond between us.
"But that was just the beginning. After that, we became pen pals using some of the old antiques to exchange letters back and forth. You were still living in the Crystal Empire. We wrote to each other about magic and Flurry Heart and Equestrian history and..." Noticing Sunburst's look of total bafflement, Twilight stopped her story. "By the look on your face, I'm guessing that none of that sounds familiar to you."
Sunburst shook his head. "Exactly the opposite. I'm so confused because that's exactly what happened in my universe. So far, nothing you told me is any different from what I remember."
Now it was Twilight's turn for befuddlement. "What? That was how you brought us together! After several weeks of letters, you asked me to come to the Crystal Empire's Northern Lights Festival with you. Of course, I thought you meant as some sort of dignitary, but after a couple hours—" Twilight facehoofed. "Sweet Celestia, that's what's different isn't it? In your universe, I never took the hint! You spent the whole night with me at the Festival, holding out chairs and complimenting me, and I never put two and two together because I was such a naïve, socially inept pony."
"No, that's not what happened," said Sunburst. "I never invited you to that Festival."
"Really?" said Starlight.
Sunburst and Twilight immediately looked over at the other mare. Starlight looked back at Twilight and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I just think it's sort of weird. I mean, why would Sunburst send you all of those letters if he wasn't planning on doing something about it?"
"Well, who's to say he didn't?" said Twilight. She looked back at Sunburst. "Did you try to do something else to win me over in your universe?"
At that question, Sunburst noted that Starlight leaned forward and Twilight's gaze was fixed tightly on his face. This was why he tried to never get involved in relationship talk with mares. The stallion suddenly felt like he was being interrogated. "Uh..."
Before Sunburst completed his thought however, he was struck with the strange feeling that he shouldn't just blurt out his answer. However, that couldn't be right. Time was of the essence, and lying certainly wouldn't help him get back home. So what if talking about his love life was a bit uncomfortable?
He quickly brushed the thought aside and continued, "I didn't do anything, actually. I was happy to just keep it at letters. The thought of us being more than friends honestly never even occurred to me."
Starlight put a hoof to her muzzle in shock. And Twilight's expression melted. Her mouth hung open and her eyes lost all of their glimmer. Her shoulders sank. It was as if Sunburst's words had physically hurt her. Sunburst's subconscious was now kicking him in the gut for not listening to his instincts. However, he still didn't understand what he'd done wrong.
"What?"
"I see," said Twilight, looking away from the stallion. "So you've never found me attractive."
Oh, that's how I bucked up... I'm just like her Sunburst in almost every way, so she thinks because I didn't fall for her, then he probably doesn't think she's good looking.
"No no, that's not what I meant!" Sunburst said. Give her an excuse. Any excuse. "I just felt so lucky that I got to talk magic with the pony who fixed Starswirl's unfinished masterpiece and discovered the Elements of Harmony. I'd never considered that you'd be interested in a magic school drop-out like me."
Twilight continued to stare at the floor in front of her. "It's okay, Sunburst. I know most ponies think I look plain. Let's be honest, I'm no Rarity. You don't need to pretend."
"I'm not pretending," he said. "You're a Princess for pony's sake! Who doesn't think you're beautiful?" Twilight finally looked back at him. Now give her something specific. "For instance, I really like your... mane! It's so nicely styled no matter what happens. I've always got these stray hairs poking out at weird angles like a disheveled vagabond."
At that, Twilight actually laughed. "And I find it quite endearing." She reached up a hoof and gently tousled Sunburst's bangs. "You know, the first compliment you gave me that night was about my mane. I wore my crown because I assumed I was there in an official capacity. When I first saw you, I asked if it needed adjusting because I hadn't found a mirror yet. Then you said, 'Even if all you had was that mane on your head, nopony would doubt for a second that you are a Princess of Equestria.'"
I really said that? Thankfully, Sunburst was savvy enough not to say that part out loud. Instead, he pushed her to share more. "What else happened that night?"
Sunburst expected Twilight to smile again. To his surprise the mare's cheeks turned red and she said, "Hoo boy, I usually don't like going into details about that night. I just tell ponies that it was our first date."
"What went wrong? Was it something I did?"
"Not at all!" Twilight shook her head. "You were a perfect gentlecolt and the Festival went off without a single problem. At the time, the evening was fantastic. It was only in retrospect that I started to feel embarrassed by how I acted." Twilight bit her lip and bobbed her head a bit from side-to-side as she thought about what she wanted to say. "Let's just put it this way: I'm glad you, personally, didn't have to go through it.
"After we entered the Festival grounds, I asked you where Cadence and Shining were at. You took me up to the Palace and I got to talking with them. At that point, it was like you weren't even there. You tried to come into the conversation a few times, but then Flurry started to cry and I actually asked you if you could go take care of her. Of course, being the kind-hearted stallion that you are, you started to leave. Cadence immediately said, 'No, I've got it' and told you to stay. Then, after I talked to Shining a bit more, he said he was going to help Cadence and told us to go enjoy the Festival and that he would catch up with us later. That should've been my first clue."
Twilight sighed. "You had talked to Shining beforehoof to make sure he was okay with you asking me out. He'd talked to Cadence, who was thrilled with the idea of me finally having a coltfriend, and the two were trying to get us back to our date."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," said Sunburst. "I'm guessing my letter just didn't make it clear."
Suddenly, Starlight burst out laughing. Sunburst looked at her and she said, "I'm sorry, but it's just too funny. That's exactly what our Sunburst said to Twilight to make her feel better after the fact. I looked at the letter with her when she got back and trust me, you made it Crystal Pony clear. You started the letter off with some stuff about how nice it was to get to know Twilight over the past two months, and how great you thought she was, and then you wrote something along the lines of 'I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the Northern Lights Festival.' The only thing you didn't do was put 'PS: Just so we're clear: I, Sunburst, am asking you, Twilight Sparkle, to go on a date. PPS: Yes, I mean a date date' in bright red ink at the bottom."
"Alright then," said Sunburst. "Well, maybe I could've at least bought her flowers or something to bring it home."
To that, Starlight actually fell out of her seat and Twilight facehoofed. "Horseapples, you really do think just like my Sunny," said Twilight. She took a deep breath and continued, "So, we go back outside and there's this flower stand selling crystal roses. I pointed it out because we had talked a bit about agriculture in the frozen north in our letters. You immediately walked over to the vendor and bought a couple of them. Then, you came back and said, 'For you, Miss Sparkle' and I proceeded to take one—just one—of the two flowers."
Starlight's laughing redoubled at this. Sunburst couldn't hide the look of total bewilderment on his face.
"Yes, yes, I know it's ridiculous," Twilight said. "At the time, I thought you bought two flowers so that we could each have one as a souvenir. But it only got worse from there."
"It got worse?" Sunburst found it challenging to envision how things could get worse than that. He could hardly fathom how hard this must have been on his other self.
From the floor of the train car, Starlight held up a hoof, "Oh, oh! Tell him about the restaurant next!"
Shaking her head, Twilight first asked, "I'm guessing your universe also has La Gemme en Cristal, right?"
Sunburst blinked. "Uh, yeah. It's the nicest place in the Empire. Are you saying I took you there for a first date?"
"With reservations and everything," Twilight said. "After a short wait, we go to sit down and, as I approach my chair, I see it light up with your magic and slide out. So, like any reasonable mare, I say 'Oh, sorry. I didn't realize you wanted that one.' Then I turn around and sit down on the other side of the table."
"You thought I pulled out the chair... because I wanted to take it?" Sunburst certainly wasn't one to talk, but even he could hardly imagine how Twilight could be so utterly clueless.
"Look, I didn't get out much back then, okay? Until we started dating, I pretty much never went to fancy restaurants. Half the time, by myself, I'd just go down to The Hay Burger. Remember: I thought I was there in an official capacity. The idea that this was a date didn't occur to me. But you kept trying to get things back on track...
"The waiter comes over and you ask, 'What sort of wine would you recommend for two ponies on a date?' Now, in my defense, my first thought was that I might unknowingly be on a date, but for some reason—and, Celestia help me, I don't know why!—it occurred to me that it might be a trick you use to get the best wine. You know, a fancy restaurant might reserve the best wine for ponies on dates to build its reputation. Therefore, if you imply to the waiter that you're on a date, you get better wine."
"I guess that sort of makes sense..." said Sunburst, scratching at his goatee.
"Sunburst, you're being too nice," said Starlight, standing back up. "When she said that to our Sunburst, he literally bashed his head on the table. I understand that you want to be understanding, but come on. At a certain point, Twilight was just being blind."
Twilight came back with, "Well thankfully, I wasn't blind the whole night." She looked at Sunburst. "After dinner, we went to the Aurora Launch. When we got there, Cadence and Shining were already standing on the balcony of the Palace holding Flurry and ready to announce the auroras. At that point, I started to freak out a bit. I thought I missed my cue or something. But then it occurred to me that nopony had told me anything about what I was supposed to do. Shining knows I'm not a fan of impromptu speeches. If I was supposed to say something, he would've told me about it.
"When the auroras began to fan out from the peak of the castle, all the pieces started to fall together. I realized that you hadn't invited me there to be some kind of celebrity guest. I was there to be your guest... And you were an excellent host."
The tendrils of light now dominated the evening sky in every direction. Ponies all around gave ohs and ahs in response to the spectacle. The auroras were beautiful in ways both obvious and subtle. The colors were bold. The shifts in position were elegant. Their majesty totally eclipsed the moon and stars.
Twilight tore her eyes away and looked over at Sunburst. The stallion was only half watching the sky. His ears were down. He was both deep in thought and at a loss for words. Twilight moved closer to him and the act drew his eyes to her.
"Sunburst, this was supposed to be a date, wasn't it?"
Relief washed over Sunburst's face and he shouted, "Yes! I mean..." The stallion re-composed himself. "Yeah, that was the idea."
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I thought you invited me here to take part in the Festival as a dignitary."
"I see," Sunburst said. "Well, I guess my letter could've been a bit clearer. It's no big deal."
"But it is a big deal," said Twilight. "You obviously put a lot of effort into tonight, and you didn't get to enjoy any of it."
"Did you have a good time?" Sunburst asked.
"I... Yes, I did, but I should've—"
Sunburst cut Twilight off by putting a hoof on her shoulder. "If you had a good time, then I'm happy."
Twilight shook her head. "But Sunburst, I screwed up. Going on a date is supposed to be exciting and fun. I ruined it."
"If one of your friends made a mistake like that, would you hold it against her?"
"No, I suppose not," she said. "But there has to be something I can do. This is like a friendship problem. I have to fix this." Twilight looked around. Beyond the ponies gaping up at the sky, she could see the vendors each quietly packing away their wares. "Oh, great! The Festival is wrapping up. We don't have enough time to do anything else."
"Well, there were two more things I was considering," said Sunburst. From inside his cloak, he pulled out a small parchment.
"You made a date checklist?"
"It might seem a little silly, but I like using lists. It makes it easy to keep your thoughts organized. It also made the whole thing seem a lot less intimidating when I could see it all written out."
Always intrigued by organization, Twilight peaked at the list's contents. At first, she didn't understand what it said, but then it became clearer. "It's in Olde Ponish," she said.
Sunburst nodded. "That way, if anypony else found it, they probably wouldn't know what it said."
Turning on the Olde Ponish part of her brain, Twilight worked her way through their evening. From picking her up at the train to being right here in time for the auroras, it was all there. That made her smile again, to realize that, even if she might have frustrated him, at least Sunburst got to do everything he'd planned so far. The next item, number six, was to go on a walk to a gazebo a few streets over.
"Well, we can certainly go for..." Twilight stopped. She had noticed the last thing on the list.
It was a simple word, but it seemed to fill the page once she saw it:
ᛕᛟᚢᛋᛋᛖ
A kiss.
All of Twilight froze. Her hooves were rooted to the ground. Her mind came to a halt. Her mouth was locked slightly open.
Sunburst looked at her, confused. Then he looked back at the sheet in front of himself and realized what had happened. He quickly pocketed it again.
"That last one was totally optional! I just put it there in case... Well, in case the night seemed to go really well and you seemed to like me. We can just go for a walk."
Twilight thought back on their evening again. Her mind wanted to focus on the mishaps she had generated, but through the forest of faux pas she saw something more important: At every step along the way, Sunburst had been totally genuine. She'd had a few suitors since her ascension and half had been pompous and unbearably vain. The other half was dreadfully boring, just wanting to talk about banal nothings like how much they enjoyed craft ciders and buckball. And afterwards, she'd caught wind that a few had used the one date she'd given them to brag to everypony they met that they went out with a Princess. The stallion standing in front of her now seemed different.
"Sunburst," said Twilight. "You met me when I got here. You bought me a rose. You took me to a nice restaurant." She looked skyward. "And this whole event is very romantic. The northern lights are truly gorgeous this year. Any mare would love a first date like this." She turned back to Sunburst. "Why did you ask me out?"
At first, Sunburst was taken aback at the question, but he quickly formulated his thoughts. "Because we seemed to have a lot in common, and I really enjoyed getting to know you through our letters. But just as important, I asked you out because I wanted to show you a good time."
Sunburst moved closer to Twilight. She could see the greens and blues of the auroras glinting in his glasses. "Twilight, you work so hard. In every one of your letters, you talked about something that you were doing for your friends or for Ponyville or for Equestria. I wanted to give you a night where you could be as happy as you make all the ponies around you."
Yeah, this one's different. Twilight smiled. "Could I see that checklist again?"
After a moment's hesitation, Sunburst pulled the list back out and watched as it was taken up by the magenta of Twilight's magic. She looked it over, then said, "You know, whenever something I put on a checklist has conditions, I always add them as subpoints. That way, I know when the conditions have been met." Her horn glowed with a flash. "There." She glided the list back to Sunburst, who took it in a hoof and read what she added:
✓ The night goes really well
✓ She seems to like me
Upon seeing the checkmarks beside each point, Sunburst's cheeks flared red. He lifted his eyes from the page and found that Twilight was now even closer to him. He swallowed the spit that had begun building up in his mouth. He felt his neck moving his head forward. In that moment, he wasn't sure if it was happening voluntarily or if some sort of force was compelling him forward.
Very quietly, he said, "You know, you didn't write it in Olde Ponish. Now anypony can probably guess what the list is about."
Whispering back, Twilight said, "They're about to see this. I think the secret's out."
Like gravity, as they grew closer, they accelerated until the moment of contact. And then the light show overhead no longer seemed like the most spectacular thing going on at the moment. Their lips met closed, then began to open slightly. Twilight felt Sunburst's lower lip fall between hers and carefully clamped down on it. The pair breathed in simultaneously and each felt the breeze generated by the other's nostrils. Both brought a hoof behind the other's head and gently encouraged each other to let the moment last.
When it ended, the two ponies rested their heads on each other's necks and continued their embrace. The lights up above continued to dance, yet neither saw them, as their eyes were still closed.
"I always love completing a checklist," Twilight said, rubbing a hoof back and forth from the middle of his back up to his withers.
Sunburst laughed. "Well, technically, to finish the list, we also need to go for our walk."
Twilight laughed, too. "You're right." She pulled back and the two looked into each other's eyes again. Then, Twilight's smile grew bigger. "And also technically, the checklist was ordered. So really, we can't check off that last one until the one before is complete."
Sunburst's head tilted slightly in confusion. "Okay, but if we do it that way, then in order to complete the list, after we get to the gazebo..." The red in Sunburst's cheeks began to spread to the rest of his face.
"Yep," said Twilight, taking the stallions hoof in hers and guiding him down the street. "Sometimes a pony has to make sacrifices for the sake of organization."
Author's Notes:
Sorry this chapter took me so long. For reasons that I think should be obvious, I just had to get this one right. I won't promise that the next ones will come out any faster, but at least I'm not going to feel as strong of a need to slave over every single word choice and structure decision like I did here. I hope you feel the final product was worth the additional effort.
A Troubling Train Trip
Upon finishing her story, Twilight was smiling again. "After that," she said, "we started dating. It was a little tough since it was long-distance, but Cadence helped a lot. She kept finding any excuse to send you on trips to Ponyville. I remember one time she had you come to town to help me pick out a new high chair for Flurry Heart because she outgrew the old one I'd bought her."
"Well, I do take my responsibilities as Flurry's crystaller pretty seriously, so Cadence is often willing to ask for help with things that other ponies might find strange," Sunburst said. "But yeah, it seems like she probably had ulterior motives in that case."
"Maybe you really thought it was for Flurry at first, but it became pretty obvious to both of us what her true motives were," Twilight said. "Has your Cadence ever sent you on official crystaller business as a way of encouraging you to get a marefriend?"
"Not that I'm aware of," said Sunburst, tapping at his goatee. "However, I might have to think back on some things. Like, there were a couple of weeks there where she insisted I go buy Flurry something new every day from this one particular toy shop run by a mare about my age. And then she invited that mare to some royal functions to perform 'on-site quality assurance' and told me to work with her on checking Flurry's toys. At the time, I thought she was being an overprotective parent, but now..."
Twilight nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like my sister-in-law. If she thinks she sees the possibility of a connection between two ponies, she'll go out of her way to make something happen. Apparently that trait crosses universes, too."
After having been silent for a while, Starlight joined back in the conversation. "Gosh, how crazy is this? Alternate universes. Alternate versions of ourselves. Similar, and yet still distinct."
Before Sunburst could say something in response, his stomach gave a low rumble. "Oh," he said, looking down at his torso. "I guess one of the differences is that this version of myself hasn't eaten in a while."
"We were both waiting so we didn't spoil our appetite for the planning dinner," said Twilight, standing up and moving into the aisle of the train car. "I'm actually feeling a little peckish myself. I'll go to the snack car and get us something to eat. Do you want anything, Starlight?"
"I'm good, actually, but thanks," said Starlight.
At that, Twilight was gone in a flash of teleportation. This left Sunburst and Starlight alone and the two looked at each other for a few moments. Again, Sunburst tried to gauge Starlight's expression to judge how to proceed and, again, he found it to be basically impenetrable. Her forehead was wrinkled. Her brows were raised, Her lips were pursed in a soft frown. And she still seemed more interested in looking at his suit than his eyes. Sunburst didn't know what to make of it all.
Before he could say something, Starlight spoke first. "So when you became pen pals with Twilight, you really weren't trying to start anything romantic?"
It took Sunburst a moment to think of how he wanted to phrase his response. He understood what she was asking, but he didn't understand why she was asking him about something like that. He certainly didn't have any insight into what his other self might've wanted from being pen pals.
"I mean, I can't speak to what your Sunburst was thinking. Maybe romantic interest was his reasoning all along or maybe he only decided to take a shot at Twilight after a few letters. Obviously, he and I differ somewhere in between that trip to Ponyville and his letter asking Twilight to the Northern Lights Festival. For me, personally, romance was never part of the equation. I thought it was nice to have a friend to talk to about history and stuff. Nopony else ever cares about arcane magic and Olde Ponish."
"Oh, okay." Starlight looked out the window. The train had made it past Canterlot and was now heading northwest across the plains beneath Cloudsdale. Outside, the rainbows gently falling from the clouds gave a nice splash of color to a scene that would've been otherwise rather dull. Instead, it was one of the best vistas on the ride between Ponyville and the Empire. In spite of that, Sunburst was fairly certain that Starlight wasn't admiring the view.
"Is everything alright?" he asked.
Starlight kept looking at the rainbows, but asked, "In your universe, if you aren't with Twilight or some toy shop owner, who did you end up with?"
Once more, Sunburst had the suspicion that he shouldn't just blurt out his answer. He decided to take a page out of one of the political lessons Shining had given him on how to talk to the press. "I'm really happy with what my life in the Empire has given me. I have a respected position that also gives me time for my academic pursuits. What more could a pony want?"
"What?" Starlight brought her eyes back to Sunburst. "Are you telling me you aren't even dating anypony?"
Not able to think of another way to give a diplomatic response, Sunburst simply said, "Pretty much. My mom set me up on a blind date about a year ago and I don't think I've been on a date since."
"But why?!" Starlight's expression had changed somewhat. Her eyes had widened and her mouth showed some of her teeth. Irritation now tinged the words she spoke. "You have everything going for you. You said it yourself: you have a respected position that gives you plenty of free time. Your patron is literally the Princess of Love! You're smart and interesting. You helped save the Crystal Empire when the Heart shattered and then you helped save all of Equestria from the Pony of Shadows. In this universe, you're getting ready to marry a Princess. In yours, you could easily get any mare to go for coffee with you, at least."
"I'm more of a tea stallion, personally," said Sunburst, smiling a bit.
However, Starlight's mood didn't lighten at the joke. "You know what I'm saying. Why don't you have a marefriend?"
Sunburst was perplexed at the gravity behind Starlight's question. This did not seem like simple "mare talk" about romance. Starlight sounded exasperated. Her words weren't gently probing for insight. They were clawing at his chest in an effort to excavate his heart. As the muscles in his torso tightened, Sunburst couldn't help but feel a bit defensive.
"Why do I need one? I mean, I have nothing against getting a marefriend, but I'm not in any rush to find somepony and start a life together. I really am happy being a researcher and Flurry's crystaller. Plus, relationships are a lot of work.
"There was a time a couple years ago when it looked like my life wasn't going anywhere, but now I'm getting my life on track and I don't want to complicate things. I know for my mom—and I guess Cadence, too—me ending up with somepony might seem really urgent. To me, it just isn't."
"But once things stabilize," Starlight said, "you're gonna start trying to pursue a relationship, right?"
Where is this coming from? In his universe, Starlight and Sunburst never talked about such things. Therefore, he couldn't tell if this was unusual behavior. Starlight could certainly be intense when she wanted something, but Sunburst had no idea what she wanted from him.
"I hadn't really thought about it, to tell you the truth. Maybe I'll find somepony, maybe I won't. It really isn't a priority for me."
"Alright, whatever." Starlight went back to looking out the window. She framed herself so that her back was firmly facing Sunburst and her shoulders sank with a huff.
Bafflement returned to Sunburst's face. He never felt particularly comfortable interacting with other ponies. He preferred his solitude and the company of books written by those who'd been dead for centuries, but today he really seemed to be striking out over and over again. He let out a sigh.
In a magenta flash, Twilight suddenly appeared between the two. She had a couple bags of goodies in her magic and a smile across her muzzle. She turned to Sunburst, presenting him a brown paper bag. "I've got some good news from the snack car: they had lemon cinnamon rolls!"
Sunburst immediately brightened. "What? That's crazy! No place ever has those." He happily snagged the bag from Twilight. When it was near his muzzle, he could smell the spicy aroma through the paper. "How did you know lemon cinnamon rolls are my favorite food?"
Before Twilight could answer, Starlight piped up from her window with, "How do you think?"
It took a second, but Sunburst quickly realized that his question was indeed superfluous. He was going to have to get used to the idea that the Twilight in this universe probably knew a lot more about him than most ponies. In fact, she might know more about me than anypony in my universe too...
"We'll call it an educated guess," said Twilight, sitting down next to Sunburst again. "Besides, even if your favorite food was something else, I could always blink back over to the snack car."
Sunburst thanked Twilight. He began to open the packaging, but then a thought occurred to him. "You know," he said, "in my universe, you teleport all the time. Blinking in and out of places with magic is like a thing with you. Doesn't it bug you that the other me is holding you back?"
"Please, don't think like that," Twilight said, scooching closer to Sunburst so that their shoulders touched and their muzzles were only a hoof-width apart. "I've told you before that you never hold me back. You push me to be the best pony I can be."
"Uh, we only just met," Sunburst said, moving a bit away from the Princess. "I think you mean that your Sunburst pushes you to be the best pony you can be."
"Of course!" said Twilight, blushing. "Yes, I mean the other you does that. My Sunburst pushes me." Twilight also moved herself so that she was facing forward again instead of looking right at Sunburst. "I'm sorry. I'm still a bit confused is all. It's just, you're so much like Sunny."
Sunburst nodded. "I understand. Anypony would be confused and stressed out if she were you. It's not every day the pony you love goes missing into another reality."
"Not gonna lie," said Starlight, turning back to the pair. "I was actually worried Sunburst might disappear before the wedding. However, I was thinking nerves and cold hooves, not universe hopping."
Sunburst raised an eyebrow at the lack of tact and Twilight let out a whimper.
Realizing what she'd just said to Twilight, Starlight quickly moved to rectify her mistake. She got out of her seat and came over to the pair, putting a forelimb around the Princess' shoulder. "But we'll get through this! Don't worry, Twilight. Us three are gonna figure this out. You'll be saying your 'I dos' with Sunburst at the altar in no time flat... Or, you know, at the scheduled time you'd planned on."
Author's Notes:
I'd like to give a special thanks to My Little Pastafarian for input and help with editing this chapter.
A Frightening Feeling
With a metallic whine and a steamy hiss, the train came to a halt at the station just outside the Crystal Empire. When Sunburst looked out the window toward the crystalline cityscape, he felt a rather bizarre sensation of déjà vu. It was strange to be arriving someplace that he had no memory of leaving. In the past, whenever he was away from the Empire, he had taken the train and left. To arrive again without doing so felt wrong somehow. It was like walking out the front door and finding that the door lead back into his own house.
The three ponies stood and prepared to disembark from the train. Before they left, however, Starlight pointed out a slight problem.
"So, I'm just realizing something..." she said. "What's our game plan? Are we supposed to be going somewhere to meet up with Starswirl?"
Twilight's eyes went wide. "Oh, shoot! I didn't tell Spike where Starswirl should meet us. I just said 'the Crystal Empire.' That could be anywhere."
"I'm sure Spike would've told him to meet us at the Palace," said Sunburst. "That would make sense. It's where the Heart is, after all."
"Probably," said Starlight. "Although, knowing Spike knowing Twilight, he might think the first place we'd want to go would be the library."
"Good point," said Sunburst. "And I guess waiting here at the station could be logical. Spike knew we were taking the train, and this is going to be where Starswirl arrives, too."
"Then we'll have to split up," said Twilight. "Starlight can wait here at the station for when Starswirl arrives. I can go to the Palace to explain what's happening to Shining and Cadence. And Sunburst can get started on researching at the library since he knows the most about the spell."
The trio nodded to each other, then left the train car. As usual, the air this close to the Empire was perfectly warm despite being so far north. The station had an inviting atmosphere, but the blues, pinks, and purples of the crystal platform weren't the only things there to meet them. Upon exiting the train, a familiar voice shouted out, and a familiar stallion waved a hoof to get their attention.
"Twily!"
"Shining!" Twilight rushed into her brother's embrace. "I'm so glad to see you." After a brief hug, she pulled back a bit and looked into his eyes. "Something terrible happened."
"I know," said Shining Armor. "Spike sent a letter to Cadence and I. Starswirl is already on his way; he should be on the next train. We're supposed to meet him at the library in a few hours."
"Called it!" Starlight declared. She and Sunburst had moved next to the pair.
Shining Armor glanced at the mare and raised an eyebrow. He looked back to Twilight and continued, "How are you doing with all this?"
Twilight's shoulders hunched and she looked down. "Honestly, I feel scared," she said. "I know I've faced worse before, but knowing that isn't helping me. I think I've grown used to having somepony I can turn to when I'm feeling like this. Now that pony is the one pony I can't go to for help, and I don't know what to do."
"I know exactly how you're feeling," said Shining. "My experience was obviously different, but when Queen Chrysalis traded places with Cadence, I also lost that.
"Cadence was the pony I could go to for anything, but Chrysalis was cold and distant. I think it was part of the reason my headaches became so bad: the stress never stopped. I didn't have somepony to support me. The mind altering spell she kept using on me meant I couldn't see it, but after the fact, it was obvious she was nothing like the mare I'd decided to marry.
"Still, I kept going back to her anyway. Some deeper part of me was missing Cadence."
The stallion stepped forward and gave his sister another hug. "I'm here for you, Twily. I know it isn't the same, but I promise I'll be with you every step of the way."
Twilight pressed into the hug. "Thanks BBBFF."
After holding his sister a moment longer, Shining Armor let go and looked over at Sunburst. "And how are you feeling?"
"Me?" Sunburst was taken aback. "Well... I know I want to get home, and I want Princess Twilight to have her fiancé back. I guess I feel like I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to put things right."
Shining chuckled. "You really are just like our Sunburst. When push comes to shove, you're always ready to get down to work! I like that about you."
"Hold on," said Twilight. She stepped away from her brother and towards Sunburst. "Sunny, if anypony here should be feeling scared or lost, it's you. Sure, I've lost the pony I care about most in the world, but you've lost your whole world."
The Princess was now right next to the stallion and was looking him dead in the eye. "You're analytical like me. There's nothing wrong with that, but how you're feeling matters. If you're nervous or angry or sad about what's happened, don't be afraid to feel that way."
"I'm not afraid of that," said Sunburst. "I just know I did the right thing. My circumstances are bad, but I couldn't have lived with myself if I hadn't stepped in. Flurry would be experiencing this right now!"
Twilight nodded. "You're right, and we all appreciate that sacrifice. I'd be horrified if I knew my little niece was lost in another universe. You absolutely did the right thing." Twilight touched a hoof to Sunburst's cheek. "But that doesn't change what happened to you.
"Sunburst, how are you feeling right now?"
Sunburst looked away from Twilight. From the moment he saw Flurry Heart in danger, Sunburst had been going through the motions. He hadn't stopped to honestly think about how he felt in these circumstances. A part of him felt like he shouldn't. What good was it to dwell on this situation? Dwelling wouldn't solve anything. But maybe the Princess had a point.
He had lost everything. This Twilight, this train platform, even the particles of air he was breathing were all foreign to him. And sure, he trusted Twilight and Starswirl to make things right, but how long would that take? Days? Weeks? In the meantime, was time passing in his universe? It was certainly passing here. What if he missed important milestones, like Flurry's birthday? What if this Twilight missed her own wedding?
What if it took years? Sunburst would be like one of those ponies stranded on a deserted island, found years later, after being presumed dead. His friends could've moved on. His family could've sold all of his possessions. Everything he'd built over the past few years would be gone. How old might he be by that point? Would he even have time to restart his life?
Then again, if the other Sunburst and he had switched places, what if that Sunburst simply replaced him? Sure, the other Sunburst undoubtedly wanted to get home, too, but if that took too long, maybe he'd give up. Maybe the other Sunburst and everypony else would come to terms with this arrangement, so Sunburst would get back home, only to find everypony annoyed that he made the switch so late.
But then, there was the real kicker: what if he couldn't make it back home?
What if this was permanent and Twilight and Starswirl just couldn't fix it? Could Sunburst make a life here? Would Cadence and Shining accept him as a new crystaller for Flurry? Could he legally have the other Sunburst's house to live in? What would the other Sunburst's mother think of him? And what of this Twilight? Would she even be able to look at him anymore, knowing that, because of him, she'd lost somepony she cared so much about?
Each of these questions branched endlessly in Sunburst's mind. In that moment, it became clearer how he was really feeling.
"I feel overwhelmed, like I'm up against something so much bigger than myself that I have no hope of fighting it." Sunburst shook his head. "I feel totally powerless."
Twilight embraced him tightly. With his front hooves still on the platform, it felt less like a hug and more like someone was holding him. Sunburst's eyes shut and he leaned his head against Twilight's. Her mane caressed his cheek as one of her hooves began to caress his back. The warmth of her chest pressing against his seemed to loosen muscles he hadn't even realized were tensed.
He let himself get lost in that moment, and when he found himself again, he was surprised by the fact that he was crying. It had been so long. Of course, now certainly wasn't the best time for that. There were things to do. A problem to solve. He shook himself a bit and opened his eyes. He began to take a deep breath in.
Then Twilight said, "You don't have to cry if you don't want to."
His throat tightened. His in-breath caught with a snort. When his eyelids fell, tears dropped with them. His body began to shake. Out of his mouth came a series of six short sobs. Without Twilight holding him, he would surely have fallen over.
Oh, Celestia! Why is this happening? Sunburst felt the weight of his circumstances crashing in. It felt horrible. This was why he hadn't wanted to stop working. What good was it to dredge up this much pain? Did this Twilight just like making him suffer?
But as he cried, he realized that he had already been bearing that weight. Twilight was helping him to acknowledge that fact. He was in pain. Like blood running from a wound, his tears were not there to hurt him. They were a symptom of the underlying problem.
Twilight said nothing, but with everything in her being, she was declaring to Sunburst that he was not alone in this place. This was not something he had to face by himself. Twilight was here for him.
A little ways away on the platform, Starlight and Shining Armor were standing next to one another, watching Twilight cradling Sunburst as he broke down. Both of them wanted to do something—Starlight for her friend and Shining for his daughter's crystaller—but the situation didn't seem to call for either of them. They were stuck on the sidelines.
After a minute or so, Starlight said, "I had no idea Sunburst was feeling like this."
"Neither did I," said Shining Armor.
"But even on the train, he was staying so composed. He didn't seem unsure or anxious at all. What made Twilight press in like that?"
"When you spend a lot of time with somepony, you start to pick up on stuff," Shining said. "Sometimes even stuff that the other pony doesn't know for himself yet. Cadence can do the same thing with me."
Starlight looked on as Sunburst leaned into Twilight more, pushing his glasses askew as he buried his muzzle into her neck as tears gently streamed from his eyes.
"I see."
Author's Notes:
Anyone else ever feel like Spock from Star Trek IV when you're just trying to get through the day, but someone suddenly asks you how you're feeling?