Chapter 23: Uncommon Bond
On the next day, Starlight was waiting at the Ponyville Train Station as she was walking around excitedly like something's coming here for a visit. She jumped and galloped happily. And at the same time, she took a peek on the train's tracks. But so far, the train hasn't arrived.
"Oooh!" Starlight said happily. She turned to the train station counter and asked the receptionist, "Excuse me. When does the noon train from the Crystal Empire arrive?"
"Uh... noon?" All Aboard answered in confusion.
"Heh. Right. Sorry." Starlight apologized. She then explained to some ponies about her excitement, "I'm just a little excited because my friend Sunburst is coming. He's my oldest friend. I mean, we've known each other practically forever. We have tons in common. We both love magic and games and jokes – everything, really. Now that I think about it, there isn't a pony in all of Equestria I have more in common with."
Suddenly, the train's whistle blew and sounded, alerting Starlight to turn her attention to the train track, where the train had arrived at the station. As the train halted, it opened its gate and let the Crystal Ponies out. Starlight waited for Sunburst to come out from it as well. However, she didn't see him. She suspected that he either missed the train or was unable to come at all.
And just before Starlight could leave, she heard a pony's familiar voice.
"Starlight?" Sunburst asked, making Starlight turn around and found Sunburst standing before her. He even levitated three suitcases.
"Sunburst!" Starlight shouted excitedly, and hugged her childhood friend, "Sunburst! You made it!"
"Of course!" Sunburst said as they broke the hug. "I've been looking forward to this visit for a long time."
Sunburst and Starlight levitated and moved some luggage to the wagon. And to her surprise, she accidentally dropped one of them on the wagon and revealed itself some couple of books.
"Whoa. How long are you staying?" Starlight asked curiously.
"Uh, just a... little reading for the train." Sunburst said uneasily and embarrassingly.
Starlight chuckled a bit.
"Same old Sunburst." Starlight said in amusement. She levitated and packed some books into the suitcase. She continued, "It's going to be so great spending time together. Just like old times. You and me doing the stuff we like – games, magic..."
"Antiquing." Sunburst cut in excitedly.
"What?" Starlight asked confusingly.
"Antiquing. You know I like antiquing." Sunburst said happily. Starlight looked confused and uncertain. He smiled and continued, " Historical knickknacks, ancient relics... Oh! You are so lucky! Ponyville is antique central!"
"It is?" Starlight asked in surprise.
"How have we never talked about this? We are going antiquing, and you are gonna love it!" Sunburst replied excitedly.
"Okay. Let's drop your stuff off at the castle first." Starlight suggested with a smile.
"Sure. Only... we may need to make a few trips." Sunburst said, gesturing to the tall mountain of suitcases as he chuckled sheepishly.
Starlight just smiled.
*Main theme*
A little while later, the two entered the antique shop.
"This is so great!" Sunburst said happily. He continued while looking at the ancient relics and antiques. He smiled, "Who knew I'd be the one showing you the cool sights of Ponyville?"
"I'm a little surprised myself." Starlight admitted in surprise.
While looking around the antique's shelves, Sunburst came across a box of bricks. He levitated and showed them before Starlight.
"Wow! What a difference between the hoof-molded bricks and the extruded ones, right?" Sunburst asked happily and excitedly. Starlight smiled nervously. He then looked up and gasped as he was looking az, "Oooh! Check out all these chandeliers! Sometimes, the crystals have magical properties."
Starlight cleared her throat.
"Oh. Oh, that's cool. How do you—?" Starlight was about to say something when a voice cut her off.
"Sunburst!" Twilight's voice called, attracting both Sunburst and Starlight to turn their back. They found Twilight approaching them. She smiled, "I'm so glad you're here!"
"In the antique store?" Sunburst asked.
"In Ponyville! Starlight's really been looking forward to your visit." Twilight complimented. She sighed, "Though I'm glad you're in the antique store, too. I'm usually the only one."
"That's crazy!" Sunburst exclaimed happily, "Who doesn't like antiquing, right?"
"Right." Starlight chuckled nervously.
That's when Starlight noticed something.
"Wait, where's Chase and his family?" Starlight asked confusingly.
"Oh, they're at Pakku's ninja training grounds." Twilight responded back. "He's requested some help from Chase so that some of Pakku's students can focus on the way of chi."
"Well, he has always been the strict one in your big family, Twilight." Sunburst said with a chuckle as Starlight and Twilight giggled in agreement.
Twilight gasped as she came across the large ancient map on a glass case.
"Oooh, look! An ancient map of Equestria made by the Mighty Helm." Twilight said, pointing at the map.
"Without the help of unicorn magic or pegasus flight, the Earth ponies of the Mighty Helm were able to map the entire coast of Equestria." Sunburst nodded in agreement.
"Coooool..." Starlight remarked uneasily.
Montage music starts to play in the background as trio of unicorns continued their tour and looked around the antique shop, they come across to several ancient artifacts such as hat rack stand, a seashell necklace, and the artistic filly iron statue. Both Twilight and Sunburst were excited and happy to look and check on the antiques while Starlight wasn't. She was there to support and be happy for her old friend.
(Scene changes)
As the unicorn trio moved to the cornered shelf, Sunburst noticed Starlight's uninterested and disappointed looks. He can tell that she doesn't like it.
"You don't have to pretend to like all this stuff." Sunburst said calmly.
"What? No!" Starlight protested in concern, "I do like it. I mean, if you like it, I like it. Besides, we've almost looked at everything, right?"
"Oh, wow! You have got to see this Saddle Arabian vanity!" Twilight called out to her friends.
Sunburst made the horse's noise as he galloped towards Twilight. Both of them checked and looked at the Saddle Arabian's antiques. They then complimented it.
Starlight hummed in concern while looking at the shop's interior design.
"This shop looked a lot smaller from the outside." Starlight said with a bored look on her face.
(Scene changes)
Twilight, Starlight and Sunburst made their way back to the Castle of Friendship, where they can check out more about the antiques.
They were inside the library going over the stuff they had collected. Only Twilight and Sunburst were excited and happy that they wanted to checked and analyzed more on various antiques for both studies and fun. Starlight only sat down to watch them both doing it. The lilac unicorn was unhappy and bored that her best friend spent more time with the princess.
(Scene changes)
After various items have passed, both Twilight and Sunburst came across to ancient greenish colored letter opener.
"Did you see this Palominian letter opener?" Sunburst asked happily.
"Wow!" Twilight exclaimed in amazement. She then showed an ancient quill with feather, "That goes well with this ancient phoenix feather quill! We could write to each other!"
"Pen pals!" Twilight and Sunburst exclaimed and laughed happily.
That's when the doors opened as they turned to see Chase, Jade, Sunray, Trini, and Antonio enter the scene.
"Hey, guys!" Chase said as he and the rest of his family entered. "We're back from Pakku's training camp."
"Hi, honey!" Twilight said excitedly as she trotted towards her husband and they shared a loving hug with each other.
"Hey, sweetie." Chase said as they kissed each other on the lips and shared a loving nuzzle. They broke it as he turned his attention to Sunburst. "Hey, Sunburst. I thought you might not make it to Ponyville, but I guess you were quite punctual."
"Yes, Chase." Sunburst said with a smile. "I've been meaning to be punctual more than ever."
"So how was the shopping?" Chase asked Twilight as she turned to her husband excitedly.
"Quite fun! Too bad, you missed it a lot." Twilight said amusingly. "We've bought lots of them."
"We've bought lots of them." Jade said with a smirk.
"Well, why don't we gather around the table and check them out then?" Trini suggested excitedly as she turned to Starlight, who was still bored and annoyed. "You up for it, Starlight?"
Starlight flinched before she forced a smile on her face.
"Uh, yeah, Trini!" Starlight replied back nervously. "Totally up for it."
Chase noticed the look in Starlight's eyes. He could tell something was wrong.
They gathered around the table as Chase sat next to Twilight, who cuddled up next to her husband.
"So, what's special with this old-timey barrel?" Starlight asked as she noticed the barrel.
"The stuff I bought is inside the barrel. But I can't wait to see what it is!" Sunburst said happily, making both Chase and Starlight surprised. He continued, "It's a blind buy. Sometimes shops get too busy to go through everything, so they load up a box or barrel and sell it without knowing what's inside."
"Buying one is sort of like a treasure hunt." Twilight explained happily.
Sunburst nodded in agreement.
"Once I found a first edition History of Equestria in the original Olde Ponish." Sunburst explained excitedly.
Sunray looked a little annoyed at that.
"Yeah, I don't think so." Sunray said with a blunt look, making Sunburst turn to him.
"What?" Sunburst asked offendedly. "Sunray, why can't learn about old ponish? Everypony knows it's fun to learn from ancient history."
"You're wasting your time, Sunburst." Sunray answered with a smirk. "Old ponish stuff is lame. Everypony knows the future ponish's where it's at."
"WHAT?!" Sunburst exclaimed angrily, making the others flinch as he immediately settled down as he turned to them with a nervous laugh. "That's not true. Don't mind him, guys. Starswirl The Bearded knows that old ponish stuff is, what the kids say, cool."
"Ha!" Sunray exclaimed hotly. "No he doesn't."
"Yes he does." Sunburst replied back mockingly.
"No." Sunray retorted, making Sunburst annoyed.
"He most certainly does." Sunburst said irritatingly.
"No he doesn't." Sunray retorted again.
"Yes he does." Sunburst said frustratingly.
"No." Sunray retorted with a smirk, making Sunburst more angrier than ever.
"I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT HE DOES!" Sunburst shouted angrily.
"Not." Sunray said with a smirk.
"GRRRROOOH!" Sunburst grunted angrily as he was losing the fight.
"Oh boy. Looks like they're gonna be arguing like this all day." Twilight said to her family and Starlight.
"And Sunray appears to be winning." Starlight said with a snicker.
"Does." Sunburst shouted since he and Sunray had their backs turned to each other with their hooves crossed.
"Doesn't." Sunray retorted.
"Does." Sunburst said.
"Doesn't." Sunray retorted.
"Does." Sunburst said.
"Doesn't." Sunray retorted.
"Does!" Sunburst snapped angrily before he turned his attention back to the others with a fake smile on his face to show he was trying to contain his frustration. "Look, while we're arguing, why don't guys check out the stuff we bought." He turns his attention back to Sunray. "Does."
"Doesn't." Sunray retorted with a teasing smirk on his face.
Sunburst fumes angrily while Chase rolled his eyes with a smirk. Then he turns his attention back to the stuff Sunburst and Twilight found.
"So how does the old ponish go with in any, honey?" Chase asked Twilight curiously.
"Hliet foresettan pliht!" Twilight said happily, confusing Starlight while Chase and his family gazed at the artifacts. "It's an Olde Ponish saying. 'Reward prefers risk!"
"Uh. I'm not sure that's the right one." Jade said with a smirk as Sunburst approached the group with Sunray.
"So who won?" Chase asked amusingly to his brother.
"I did." Sunray said with a smirk as Sunburst looked annoyed from being outsmarted.
Soon, Sunburst immediately calmed down and joined them as Sunray sat next to Starlight.
"You know, speaking of ponish, Chase." Sunburst said as he turned to the alicorn stallion. "Maybe you can translate it for us. After all you've been studying this in Celestia's school before."
"That may be true, but I haven't been able to understand all of them, Sunburst." Chase replied back with an uneasy look. "I only know local and Japonese languages thanks to Grandpa's years of studying."
"Yeah, even we have done that with the rest of our family, but we have no idea how to translate them." Jade added.
Sunburst looked surprised and shocked.
"Right." Sunburst said embarrassingly before he turned to see Starlight being bored. He cleared his throat as he moved and packed up the antique in the box, "Why don't we look through this stuff later?" He looked at the hopeful and happy Starlight. He asked, "What do you want to do, Starlight?"
"Well, I don't know if you're gonna remember this, but..." Starlight said slyly as she brought the board game box out. It surprised and shocked Sunburst to look at her. She smiled, "Dragon Pit!"
Trini and Jade gasped in surprise.
"We used to play that game with some kids." Trini said as she and Jade smiled with each other.
"Oh no, not another board game." Chase said with an annoyed look as Sunray agreed with him.
"You gotta be kidding me." Sunray said irritatingly.
"Oh come on, guys!" Starlight said while glaring at the two as Sunburst also shot them a dirty glare. "What is it with you two not liking board games?!"
"Cheating is the answer." Sunray replied back. "And we don't do board games anymore since the last time when we were kids, Spike, Clay, and Antonio tried to disqualify Ogres and Oubliettes."
"But you guys did like it when they were easy on you since Discord invented a different version of it, right?" Twilight asked her husband and brother-in-law with a teasing smile.
"Do we look like idiots to you?" Chase asked sternly, making Twilight drop her smirk and became scared by her husband.
"Sorry. Love you, honey." Twilight said sheepishly as Chase smirked.
Then Twilight turned her attention to Sunburst and Starlight.
"I remember that game. You two used to play it?" Twilight asked in surprise.
Sunburst nodded.
"Pretty much any time we weren't working on magic. I can't believe you found a copy!" Sunburst said with an excited smile.
Starlight smiled happily that she finally got the perfect time to play the board game with Sunburst now.
(Scene changes)
Twilight, Jade, Trini, Starlight, and Sunburst played the board game by rolling the die for their own dragon chess pieaces to march on its square boxes while evading from getting trapped. The five ponies have done theirs, Twilight did with hers by moving her purple dragon chess for one space.
Chase, Sunray, and Antonio watched them play.
"Sunburst would get so excited whenever his dragon got trapped," Starlight said amusingly, "he knocked the whole board over."
"That's adorable." Twilight commented playfully.
"Uh, well, it's an exciting game." Sunburst said embarrassingly, "But I have a little more control over my horn now."
"Try and impress us." Jade gestured with a smirk.
"Okay, Jade." Sunburst said teasingly.
Sunburst levitated and rolled his die. It landed on two, allowing his orange dragon chess piece to move two spaces. Starlight looked at the board game as she noticed it was shaking wildly.
"Uh-oh! Somepony's dragon's gonna get trapped!" Starlight commented playfully.
POP!
The crystal crimson ball popped out from the volcano. It rolled down its hill as it was heading straight at Twilight's dragon piece. And nothing happens to hers.
Twilight sighed.
"Doesn't seem so exciting to m-" Twilight was about to finish when.
POP!
The trap door activated and her purple dragon piece fell into the hole. Seeing her piece got trapped in the hole has surprised Twilight. It even made her laugh.
Chase chuckled in amusement with his family.
"Well, looks like you managed to impress us, honey." Chase said to Twilight as his wife smiled in reply.
"Huh. I guess it is adorable." Sunburst commented.
"Eeyup. It is." Starlight laughed amusingly.
(Scene changes)
In the late evening, everyone turned in for some goodnight sleep. Starlight helped by guiding and leading Sunburst to his guestroom, where he unpacked his clothes and books on the table and closet. She also helped him out.
"I hope you're enjoying your visit so far." Starlight said calmly.
"Are you kidding?" Sunburst asked in surprise, "I mean, first antiquing, then next was spending time with Twilight, Chase, Jade, Sunray, Trini, and Antonio?"
"Oh. Yeah. They're pretty great." Starlight said with a smile.
"Right? I mean, I know Twilight's a princess and Chase is a prince, especially since he's the alicorn jiu jitsu master and the leader of the Elite Ninja, but I never thought they'd be so fun to just hang out with." Sunburst
"Well, Twilight and Chase are the Princess and Prince of Friendship." Starlight joked, making Sunburst laugh and nod. She continued to ask, "So tomorrow I thought-"
Sunburst interrupted.
"I suppose I'm just surprised at how well we get along." Sunburst said and sighed, "I don't have much in common with most ponies."
"You three are pretty similar. I don't know many ponies who are fluent in Olde Ponish. But Sunray has been bored of it for a while just to annoy other ponies for his own amusement." Starlight said before she added the last part with an annoyed look.
"Yeah, you're right." Sunburst said with an annoyed sigh before he perked up a bit. "But probably have more in common with Twilight and Chase than any pony in Equestria." Starlight gave uneasily nod about what he has said. He then yawned, "Anyway, I better get some sleep. Ponyville might be small, but there's a lot to do. Maybe we should ask Twilight what she recommends we see!"
"Um... sure." Starlight said uneasily.
"Great!" Sunburst said happily as he gave Starlight a gentle kiss by cheek. It surprised her. He then guided her outside. He smiled, "Good night, Starlight."
Just before Starlight could say anything, Sunburst shut the door at once. Though annoyed and upset that Sunburst didn't give her a chance to talk, she smiled happily while touching her left cheek, where Sunburst landed a kiss. She might have the chance to spend more time with him if she gets the right idea to take him away from Twilight and Chase.
"...Good night." Starlight sighed happily.
(Scene changes)
The next day, Sunburst was just sleeping soundly when suddenly a familiar lilac unicorn opened the door loudly, causing him to wake up with a startle.
"Knock, knock!" Starlight greeted in a singing voice.
Sunburst grabbed his glasses and put them on, only for him yelp in surprise after Starlight stood in front of him with a huge smile.
"Oh. hi, Starlight." Sunburst greeted tiredly as he yawned. "Is it morning already?"
He looks out the window to find it still dark and turned back to Starlight sleepily.
"Yup!" Starlight said, still smiling over the top. "Maybe a bit early, but like you said, there's a lot to see in Ponyville."
Sunburst smiled sheepishly.
"Uh... Right. Okay." Sunburst replied back nervously while smiling.
Starlight chuckled a bit.
"Plus, I couldn't really sleep. I just kept thinking about all the stuff we have in common and how much fun we'll have today." Starlight said giddily.
"Great. Uh, are Twilight and Chase up yet?" Sunburst asked with a smile.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure Twilight's busy with princess stuff today." Starlight answered. "And I think Chase may be out with Jade, Sunray, Trini, and Antonio for an early morning exercise."
Starlight didn't want to tell Sunburst the truth since the royal couple and their family were still actually asleep. But the orange unicorn stallion bought it.
"Oh." Sunburst said as he yawned a bit while putting his glasses down and went back to sleep, making Starlight worried.
"But I've got a full day of stuff planned. Just you and me." Starlight said, smiling again.
"Uh, great." Sunburst said, using his magic to pick up his glasses and wore them again. "Um, would you mind turning around or preferably... leaving the room so I could get changed?"
Starlight realized it and became embarrassed.
"Oh! Right! Sorry." Starlight said with a nervous laugh as she left the room completely.
(Scene changes)
A little while later after Sunburst got dressed, Starlight led Sunburst to Sweet Apple Acres for their hangout now.
While Sunburst was excited and happy to visit and check out more places of Ponyville, he was annoyed by mosquitoes and insects' bites on him.
"One genuine Sweet Apple Acres apple tree!" Starlight said happily, confusing Sunburst. She continued, "Because we used to drink so much apple juice as foals?"
"Uh, I don't remember that." Sunburst said with confusion, surprising Starlight in the process.
"Really? I mean, it was all we drank. Here. Try an apple. I bet that'll jog your memory."
Starlight approached to the tree as she gave it a hard kick, causing the apples to fall. And at the same time, one of the apples hit on somepeony's head, making her yelp in pain. Both Starlight and Sunburst looked to the back of tree. They found Trixie was looking dizzy and has the apple stuck on her horn.
"Trixie? What are you doing here?" Starlight asked in surprise.
Trixie groaned a bit as she recovered from a minor headache.
"Huh. I often seek the privacy of the orchard-" Trixi explained as she levitated and transformed the apple into a teacup. "-to practice new feats of amazement." She groaned as she made it disappear, "And also, I fell asleep."
And just before Starlight could explain why she and Sunburst were here, Trixie gasped in realization.
"I don't suppose the two of you want to see a never-before-witnessed magical marvel?" Trixie exclaimed,
Sensing that Sunburst might want to check it out, Starlight tried to decline the offer. But not for Sunburst.
"Sure!" Sunburst shouted happily.
"Why not?" Starlight sighed in defeat.
(Scene changes)
Trixie guided and led both Starlight and Sunburst to the backyard of Castle of Friendship. She was about to perform her new magic tricks for them to watch.
"Behold, visiting friend from Starlight's past, and be amazed by the Great and Powerful – and current best friend of Starlight – Trixie!" Trixie introduced proudly and happily, with the help of her fireworks.
Sunburst was impressed while Starlight was amused. Trixie cleared her throat as she levitated some chains and padlock to tied and locked her up like a prisoner.
"I give you... the Unicorn Escape!" Trixie exclaimed as she summoned the curtains for magic tricks. Starlight and Sunburst waited as she struggled to break free from the chains for the moment. She groaned in anger, "The Great and Powerful Trixie requires a little assistance."
Starlight and Sunburst yelped in concern. They climbed up the stage while removed the curtains aside. They found Trixie tangled up with the chains. She got herself trapped. Sunburst approached and looked at the magician's situation.
Sunburst hummed thoughtfully.
"I know this trick." Sunburst said. "There's a special link, but I could never hold the chain up long enough to find it."
Sunburst began pulling out the chains as he tried to untangle and remove them. But unfortunately, that only made Trixie painful and difficult to get out of the chains as it became tighter. Both of them struggled to get out of the situation. It almost annoyed Starlight. The lilac unicorn used her magic spells to teleport Trixie out of the chains. She put her best friend down at once.
"Well, if I could do magic like that, I'd have a whole slew of new tricks at my disposal." Trixie said with a relief sigh.
"I always liked close-up magic because I knew I could do it if I just practiced enough." Sunburst commented.
Sunburst approached Trixie as he pulled the tangled cloth out of her mane. This made the magician giggled happily, but also annoyed Starlight.
Both Sunburst and Trixie worked and hangout together of performing magic tricks such as levitating and making the tangles cloths disappeared before reappeared from his fake hoof, shredding newspapers into pieces before putting back into one piece, shuffling and guessing the right card and finding one of three cup that hid the red ball. They enjoyed it very much, but not for Starlight. Once again, she felt left out and unable to spend her time with him.
"Starlight, why didn't you tell me how much Sunburst and I had in common?" Trixie asked happily.
"Gee. I don't know." Starlight remarked sarcastically.
(Scene changes)
After Starlight and Sunburst left Trixie, they ventured into the Everfree Forest for some exploring. Starlight led Sunburst straight down to the familiar area, that hasn't been seen or sued since the incident of 'Too Many Pinkie Pies'.
"I know Trixie's "magic" is, you know, fun. But the Mirror Pool is actual magic." Starlight happily explained while showing the pond to her childhood friend.
"Whoa. This place is pure pony lore." Sunburst said in amazement.
"Yup. I mean, it's supposed to be all dangerous, and I guess I shouldn't have broken the seal to get in, but you wanted to see the sights of Ponyville, right?" Starlight said with a smirk on her face as the two unicorns stood near the water of the pond.
"So, Pinkie Pie just dove in and made copies of herself?" Sunburst asked Starlight with a curious look on his face.
"Mm-hmm." Starlight replied back with a nod. "If we made copies of ourselves, we could get a year's worth of hanging out over in one day." Sunburst looked a little disturbed by that, causing Starlight to drop her smile. "Uh, not that we would."
Suddenly, the two unicorns heard some tapping noise, which came from another long cavern. They headed inside as they were looking and checking around their surroundings to find the source of noise. They arrived at the forked road, where they found Maud was lighting and tapping on the walls.
"Maud! How did you get in here?" Starlight asked in surprise.
Maud turned to them.
"This cavern's actually connected to mine." Maud answered in her usual deadpan tone while she pointed at the right route.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Sunburst asked.
"Tapping." Maud answered in deadpan, which made Sunburst look surprised and confused.
"Maud isn't super chatty." Starlight spoke up with a smile. "I mean, you and I could sit around and talk all day, but she looks pretty busy."
Sunburst ignored Starlight as he approached.
"Are you taking some kind of core sample?" Sunburst asked Maud.
"Not exactly." Maud answered in deadpan while tapping on the walls, "I'm uncovering this section of strata for closer study. You might want to step back."
Sunburst did what he was told as Maud gave a few more firm taps on the cave wall. The wall crumbled and dropped to the ground. Maud, Sunburst and Starlight looked at the newly lavender colored large crystals on the walls.
Maud looked at the crystal.
"I'm studying this area's metamorphic…" Maud was about to comment, only for Sunburst to interrupt her.
"... foliation. Is this gneiss, phyllite, or slate? Wow. The pressure above must be pretty uniform to get the planar fabric to be this consistent." Sunburst asked in amazement and interest.
"You know about geology?" Maud asked bluntly.
"Eh, I dabble. For example, by the speleothems in this cave, I kind of figured there was another way out." Sunburst answered with a bashful smile.
"Because of the calcite deposits." Maud replied back deadpanned.
As Sunburst and Maud headed to another area for studying and analyzing new materials, Starlight sighed in defeat, knowing that her old friend has once again got common with her best friend.
She decided to leave the area. Both of them looked around and dug out some new crystals and gems for them to study on. They enjoyed it very much.
(Scene changes)
Starlight was now at the Castle of Friendship's library as she was levitating and rotating the dragon chess pieces. She looked upset and disappointed. Twilight and Chase noticed her inside. They approached and checked on their student.
"Starlight? Where's Sunburst?" Twilight asked.
"Aren't you guys having fun with each other?" Chase asked as well with a confused look.
Starlight shrugged and mumbled 'I don't know' gesture, but Chase was not buying it as he gave her a firm look.
"Come on, Starlight. Tell us what happened." Chase said firmly.
"Okay, okay, Chase." Starlight said bluntly as she held the game pieces with a bitter look on her face. "Doing stage magic with Trixie? Studying new rocks with Maud? You're here, so I guess you two aren't off translating some ancient Olde Ponish text."
"What are you talking about? Why would Sunburst be doing any of that? I thought he came to Ponyville to see you." Twilight said with a concern look on his face.
"I think that might be the opposite of what he's doing, honey." Chase said to his wife and turned his attention to Starlight. "You sure he's not seriously ignoring you from time to time?"
"I thought so, too, Chase. But it hasn't worked out that way. When we were foals, we had more in common than any two ponies in Equestria. But now, it seems like he's got more in common with my friends than he does with me." Starlight responded back with a bitter and sad look as she dropped the pieces.
Then one of them drops through the trap door.
Twilight shook her head in disagreement.
"Oh. Everypony changes, but that doesn't mean there aren't still things you both like. You both love magic, right?" Twilight said as Starlight looked at her.
"Magic?" Starlight asked in interest.
"Sure." Twilight smiled and continued. " You're really good at it, and Sunburst practically knows every spell that ever was."
"And if you just show it to him how it would work, maybe you guys won't have to have any uncommon things with each other." Chase said with a smile, but deep down he felt something that might change them.
Starlight gave some thoughts of what Twilight and Chase had said.
The lilac unicorn gasped.
"You're right! Thanks, Twilight and Chase!" Starlight said as she hugged Twilight and Chase, "You're the best!""
Starlight then left the library.
"Heh. I try." Twilight said with a smug smile.
Chase, however, changed his smile to a concerned look on his face.
"I don't know, Twilight." Chase said, gaining his wife's attention as she turned to her husband. "I'm starting to feel like that Sunburst might do something that will literally hurt Starlight's feelings."
"Like what?" Twilight asked with a confused look.
"If Sunburst is uncomfortable with what Starlight has in mind, he might get a little angry with her and it could tear their friendship apart." Chase answered.
Twilight followed in on what her husband said and realized it.
"You mean like after Sunburst got his cutie mark when they were foals and Starlight didn't? And she turned to the side of Zhao and his Quinkan army?" Twilight asked with concern.
"Yup." Chase answered worriedly.
"You think we should try to stop her?" Twilight asked worriedly.
"No. If we do that, she might not believe us." Chase said. "We better just listen and stay out of it while we still can."
Twilight nodded as she and Chase left the library to find Starlight and Sunburst.
(Scene changes)
In the throne room, Starlight was writing down on the scroll as she was working on new magic. Sunburst arrived and entered the chamber. He looked worried and concerned. He approached Starlight.
"Starlight, what happened? Maud and I found some fascinating sedimentary stratum, but when I turned to show you, you were gone." Sunburst asked with concern.
"Maud does have a way of making rocks really interesting, but I wanted to work on something a little more 'us'." Starlight said calmly and happily. Sunburst looked surprised as he took and looked at the scroll. She continued, "Just a little something I made up."
Sunburst gasped in surprise and smiled.
"Whoa! You made up this spell? Just now?" Sunburst asked his childhood friend.
Starlight nodded. She levitated the scroll on midair before firing her magic blast, hitting it. It launched its magical powers in changing and turning the whole throne room into a familiar living chamber - Starlight and Sunburst's childhood home.
Sunburst was amazed by its changes. Starlight fired the magic powers on it again as it turned both her and him into their young foals. It shocked and concerned him a lot.
"Cool, right?!" Young Starlight asked happily as she pushed and moved Sunburst to the small table. She showed the Dragon Pit board on the table. She smiled, "Now we can play Dragon Pit! Just like we used to!"
"Actually, I thought we could go with Maud and-" Sunburst said as he looked uneasy and worried, but he was cut off.
"I mean, nothing was better than just you and me playing this game when we were foals, right?" Young Starlight interrupted him.
"Starlight." Young Sunburst asked in concern.
Young Starlight, ignoring his concerns, showed the red and blue dragon chess piece.
"Do you want to be red or blue?" Young Starlight asked.
Young Sunburst became annoyed and angered by Starlight's childish behavior and obsessed with playing Dragon Pit.
"Starlight! I don't want to play the game at all!" Young Sunburst snapped in anger.
Hurt and upset by Sunburst's outburst, Starlight nodded in understanding as she fired her magical spells on the scroll. It transformed everything and even themselves to normal. Twilight, Chase, Jade, Sunray, Trini, and Antonio entered the throne room after hearing Sunburst's yelling.
"What's going on here?" Chase demanded.
"Nothing." Starlight answered tearfully while glaring at Sunburst, "I was trying to have fun doing the one thing I thought we still had in common, but I guess we don't even have that anymore."
And just before Sunburst could ask, Starlight ran off at once tearfully. Twilight, Chase, Jade, Sunray, Trini, and Antonio turned and looked at Sunburst. He looked confused and concerned as well.
"I don't understand." Sunburst said in concern, "Starlight and I have known each other since we were foals, but that doesn't mean we have to be foals to hang out."
"Maybe it's because you're still interested in old ponish rather than hanging out with her." Sunray replied back with a glare, making Sunburst stop and had enough of being told old ponish was lame.
"Sunray, do we have to go over this again?!" Sunburst asked in annoyance.
"Not the time, Sunburst." Jade said with a stern look. "Sunray is right. You've been ignoring Starlight from time to time. All she wanted was to have fun with you, but all you've been doing was ignoring her."
"What?!" Sunburst asked in surprise. "B-b-but I didn't mean to I just-"
Sunburst couldn't finish as he sighed in defeat and ashamed of what he did to Starlight.
"Have been an awful friend to her?" Sunburst asked guilty.
"It's not your fault, Sunburst." Twilight said as she looked at the scroll, "Uh. Starlight does have a tendency to overdo."
"I mean, it is surprising how well I get along with all of her friends," Sunburst said calmly, "but she and I still have tons in common."
"Probably. That could be a problem," Chase said in suspect. Sunburst looked at him. He continued, "She doesn't have anything common with your interests, like us. I suspect that she must have felt left out and alone that you spent more time with other ponies than her."
"Just like me, right?" Twilight asked curiously, "I used to worry about Shining Armor spent less time with him because he's gonna have a new family. But I realized that just because he moved out, doesn't mean that we don't get to spend some time together, whether we have something in common or not."
"And besides, she hasn't seen you for a long time since you left for Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns." Trini added. "So, she wouldn't know what you want or like. You should spend some time with her before us."
"And maybe you just need to remind her what those things are." Antonio said in agreement with a smile.
Sunburst gasped in realization.
"That's it! That's exactly what I'll do!" Sunburst said until he became worried. "Uh, right after I think of them."
"Uh oh." Twilight said with worry.
"But first we've gotta find her." Chase said and turned to Sunray and Jade. "Can you guys go find Starlight?"
"We've got you covered, big bro." Jade said as she and Sunray ran off to find Starlight.
(Scene changes)
While Sunray and Jade were looking for Starlight, Sunburst went over to Trixie and talked with her for advice to apologize to his old childhood friend.
"Obviously you and I hit it off. I am quite impressive. And we share a love for prestidigitation." Trixie said as she stood near a large case with wheels.
Trixie waves her left hoof around a bit before a bouquet of flowers appears as she holds them.
"Right. And Starlight and I share a lot of things, too. I just need to think of them. What else do you guys have in common?" Sunburst asked.
"Well, we've both made not-so-great choices in the past. Also there was the part where we never liked Chase Young at all." Trixie said bluntly as she entered her magic case, made a pair of plush hind legs appear on the end as they popped out and her head popped out at the opposite end as well. "And we're self-conscious about everypony judging us, even though we've both changed and are trying hard to be better."
She uses her magic to bring out a saw and cuts the case in half as Sunburst looks away.
"Yeah, we don't really have that." Sunburst said honestly while scratching his head a bit and Trixie pulled the case away in half.
Trixie was then annoyed at Sunburst for not paying attention to her and he clapped sheepishly in reply.
"Hmph! I can think of something you have in common. You're both poor practice audiences." Trixie said in annoyance.
(Scene changes)
Then he went back to Maud as she was cleaning off a rock sample she found with a cloth.
"Starlight and I don't really have a lot in common. Other than feeling different from most ponies. And comedy." Maud said in deadpan.
"Comedy?" Sunburst as Maud places the rock sample on an old antique weighing scale.
"I'm very funny." Maud said.
"Was that a joke?" Sunburst asked curiously.
"No." Maud said bluntly.
"Oh. Well, that's more than I can think of that she and I have in common." Sunburst said as he looked down at the mirror pond.
"We don't really spend that much time talking about that, though. Mostly we're just comfortable around each other." Maud said while cleaning off another rock sample with her cloth. "But Chase understands how I feel."
Sunburst sighed.
"Well, lucky him." Sunburst said in jealousy of the alicorn stallion before he recomposed himself as he became concerned. "We used to be. We did everything together. But now I'm wondering if we've spent so much time apart that we don't connect over anything anymore. And if we can't connect over anything, then maybe we're not even friends!"
"Well, at least it's not serious." Maud said deadpan, making Sunburst turn to her. "That was a joke."
(Scene changes)
Outside of the Castle of Friendship, Starlight was still moping around as she sat on the steps.
"Now, I know how Pinkie feels when she's like this." Starlight said with a said look when the doors opened as Jade and Sunray came out to greet her.
"Why the long face?" Sunray asked her with a smile.
"Jade, Sunray, you know perfectly well." Starlight said angrily as she turned to them. "All I wanted was to show Sunburst how great it would be to have fun again. But all I got was a nasty fight with him."
She turns her head away from the two unicorns, who keep smiling at her.
"Come back inside, Starlight. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised." Jade said, gaining Starlight's attention.
(Scene changes)
It wasn't long before the three unicorns met up with Chase, Twilight, Trini, and Antonio as the seven walked down the hallway.
"I appreciate you trying to help, guys." Starlight said with a sigh. "But it seems pretty clear that Sunburst and I have grown apart."
"We understand." Twilight said with a smile. "But we feel like that only happens if you both let it. You still want to be friends, right?"
They made it to the door leading inside to the library, but Starlight was still unhappy.
"I created a spell so we could relive playing a game in our childhood home... and bodies." Starlight replied back bluntly and sadly.
"Right…" Twilight and Chase said uncomfortably.
"Starlight, I'm sure Sunburst will understand why you did it if you just explain to him." Jade said with an assuring smile.
"Thanks, Jade." Starlight said somberly. "I'm just not sure Sunburst wants to stay friends, too."
"We think you might be surprised." Twilight said as she moved out of the way from the door and used her magic to open it.
There standing in the library were Maud and Trixie as a large purple curtain with golden parts was behind them.
"Prepare yourself..." Maud began in her usual deadpan tone.
"...for the new and improved Dragon Pit!" Trixie concluded excitedly as she used her magic to open the curtain to reveal a new version of Dragon Pit, making Starlight surprised by this.
(Scene changes)
Later on, the ten ponies each wore a dragon costume of different colors. Dark blue for Maud, olive green for Sunburst, purplish red for Twilight, black for Chase, pink for Jade, yellow for Trini, silver for Antonio, orange for Trixie, dark gray for Sunray, and light blue for Starlight.
"We had to take out a few spaces to get it to fit, but you hardly miss them. Maud made the dice." Sunburst explained as he rolled the big rocky dice on a few books before it stopped next to Maud and he moved a few paces.
"Pumice is the lightest igneous rock. It seemed the best choice." Maud explained bluntly as she rolled the dice and moved one space.
"And I added the special effects. There's nothing like a little well-placed magic smoke." Trixie said as she used her magic to make the large version of the volcano erupt some smoke and out came a red ball as it rolled down near Starlight.
"We got the ball for that." Chase said while gesturing to him and his family.
"Looks like somepony's dragon is going to get trapped." Twilight said happily.
"You better hurry, Starlight." Sunray said with a teasing smirk.
"I thought you didn't want to play this game." Starlight said to Sunburst not understanding.
"Well, I didn't want to pretend to be a foal, but I know you wanted to play." Sunburst answered with a smile. "I thought it'd be fun to play a version big enough for full-grown ponies. What do you think? Fun, right?"
Starlight looked around as the others, minus Maud, were giving her smiles.
"Well, Starlight. What do you think?" Chase asked Starlight.
"Actually, it's missing something." Starlight said with a smirk as she used her magic to zap at ground that had the book Sunburst was on.
Then it cracked a hole and Sunburst dropped through it.
"Aaaah!" Sunburst yelped in surprise and then grunted.
Starlight approached the hole as Sunburst walked up to her with a smile as the lilac unicorn giggled. Starlight was even wearing her dragon costume.
"Now it's fun." Starlight said as the others gathered around her while laughing, except for Maud.
"Come on, Sunburst. Let me help you up." Chase said as he used his magic to bring Sunburst up.
"Thanks, Chase." Sunburst said to the alicorn master. Then he turned his attention to Sunray. "By the way, Sunray. I'm sorry for being a little excited about old ponish. I guess you were right. The future ponish is cool."
"Don't worry about it, Sunburst." Sunray said with a smile. "Just to show you there's no hard feelings. I got you a present I created with my magic."
"Oh, what is it?" Sunburst asked excitedly. "A new yak viking cloth?"
"No." Sunray said with a devious smirk while Sunburst didn't notice it.
"An old spear from a thousand years in the White Lotus clan?" Sunburst asked again while benign excited.
"Nope." Sunray said as he walked over to a door.
"Oh, what is it?" Sunburst begged excitedly.
Sunray opens the door, revealing a large dark blue scaled dragon as it growled at Sunburst.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAUGGGH!" Sunburst screamed as his eyes bugged out as Chase, Jade, Trini, Starlight, Antonio, Twilight, and Trixie were surprised by the dragon as it roared at Sunburst, who ran out the door as he left his costume behind.
The others watched as the dragon chased after Sunburst.
"SUNRAY!" Sunburst shouted in anger before he screamed for his very life as the dragon still chased him around the castle.
Chase, Jade, Sunray, Trini, Antonio, Starlight, Twilight, Trixie, and Maud were watching this without their costumes with some popcorn and soda.
"Haha! This is great." Antonio said as he munched on popcorn while the others, minus Maud, laughed in amusement of Sunburst being chased by the dragon.
(Scene changes)
Later that day at the train station, and after the dragon got tired of chasing Sunburst, the others guided him back for his trip to the Crystal Empire. Starlight and Sunburst used their magic to put down his luggage in one of the coaches.
"I don't know why I got so worried about us not having anything in common." Starlight said with an uneasy smile on her face since she did make a few mess of things.
"Yeah. I kind of think it doesn't matter as long as we enjoy each other's company." Sunburst admitted with a smile he shared with Starlight.
"And that game was certainly enjoyable." Trixie said as she, Chase, Twilight, Trini, Antonio, Sunray, and Jade used their magic to load the luggage into the coach.
"Jeez, Sunburst." Chase said with a grunt. "How much of this stuff did you bring with you?"
"Oh, um, just for the trip back home, Chase." Sunburst said with a nervous chuckle.
"What made it even better was getting to play it with all my friends." Starlight said as she and the others gathered around Sunburst for a group hug.
Trixie then pulled Maud in for the hug. Sunburst then trotted to the opening of the coach as Starlight approached him.
"See you soon?" Sunburst asked with a smile.
"You bet. I want to hear if you find anything interesting in that barrel." Starlight replied back.
"Trust me, Starlight. You'll be the first to know." Sunburst said.
"Great. Oh and one more thing, Sunburst." Starlight said as she approached him.
"What?" Sunburst asked when…
SMOOCH!
Sunburst froze in place with a stunned look after Starlight kissed him on the cheek.
"Thanks for coming over." Starlight said gratefully as Sunburst smiled with blush on his cheeks while Jade, Twilight, Trini, and Trixie cooed at the sight.
Chase, Sunray, and Antonio smiled proudly.
"Anytime, Starlight." Sunburst said as he went to take his seat.
Then the train began to leave as the others, minus Maud, waved to him.
In the train, Sunburst sat comfortably on one of the seats and opened the barrel that had all of the stuff he bought at the antique store.
Unknown to him, Star Swirl's journal was in there as it shined a bit.
(Scene changes)
Watching everything from his orb, Zhao smirked sinisterly.
"Finally." Zhao said sinisterly as his orb changed it to Chase walking back to the castle with his family and friends by his side. "Prepare yourself for your final battle you will face, Chase Young. Once the Pillars return to this world, so will Stygian in his monster form after I turned him into the Pony of Shadows for my agenda to steal the artifacts for me before those fools ruined everything. And soon your world will belong to me."
Zhao laughed evilly as his eyes glowed bright orange before the screen died down as his eyes were only seen glowing. Then they died down.
Author's note: Hey, guys.
I'm back. I know I said to return from my vacation, which I still am. But I thought I might get a head start on this. Here's the 23rd chapter of this story. I'll be concluding this story soon enough by the end of this week. Hope you all will enjoy this chapter.
Peace out!