Name: TF
DW username: teeff
E-Mail: tfwelshwerecat@gmail.com
IM: teefflady#2361 on Discord
Plurk: teeff

Other Characters: N/A

Character Name: Sunburst
Series: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Timeline: Season 7: Episode 26 - Shadow Play: Part 2 - At the end of the episode.
Canon Resource Link: Here

Character History:

A note here: an episode of season 8 got leaked, giving bits of information about Sunburst's past- though I won't be taking him from this episode (he's coming from the previous AIRED season) some things brought up from his foalhood are important to note. I'll be differentiating them with red text - just in case there's issue with using this info.

"Sunburst and I did everything together. In fact, I don't remember us ever being apart. Until today."

Sunburst's story began in a small village called Sire's Hollow in Equestria (the oh-so-witty name of the kingdom filled with pastel coloured talking tiny ponies) . Here, he spent his days with his best and only friend, Starlight Glimmer, another unicorn. They were exceptionally close, almost never apart. Starlight was the more gifted of the pair, always able to expand on any magic given to her, casting magic far more complex than she should have been able to at her age. Sunburst was the more studious of the two, and it was his ability to read and understand the theory behind magic that allowed Starlight to excel as she did. He never seemed to mind helping her shine, or dealing with her much more outgoing personality; quite content to be her back up in everything.

They didn't spend all their time studying magic, though that was a key part of their friendship. They also enjoyed playing games together- including a board game called Dragon Pit, a firm favourite for the two of them (look out for that later, it's important). It was during a different game that fate stepped in and changed everything for the friends. They were playing a game of Jenga with a pile of books, using telekinesis to each take a book from the pile and add it to the top. Starlight picked the wrong book and disturbed the huge pile, bringing the stack tumbling down towards her. Acting out of instinct, Sunburst had a burst of magical energy, grabbing all the books with his telekinesis, spinning them, and himself up into the air, before magically hurling them back into the bookcase. It was this action that earned him his cutie mark - the marking that appears on all young ponies' flanks when they discover their destiny- their true purpose in life. His parents (wrongly) interpreted this to mean that he was destined to be a great wizard- a pony exceptionally gifted in magic. They immediately packed him off to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns - a school run by the ruler of Equestria herself. He never even had a chance to say goodbye to his dearest friend, leaving Starlight alone.

"Reading about magic is one thing, but you don't know what it was like at magic school! To know so much and not be able to do any of it!"

This action turned out to be catastrophic for the both of them. Alone, Starlight became bitter against friendship and cutie marks in general and made a lot of really bad life choices - creating a brainwashed cutie-mark-less cult, and then going back in time for revenge against the ponies who took that away from her and nearly destroying the entire world. I won't go deeper into that; because it's a LOT and it's about Starlight's personality, rather than Sunburst's, but it is something important to note, because their inseparable foalhood meant their complete cut-off from one another did almost irreparable damage on BOTH sides as they grew up.

Starlight had it terrible, but Sunburst's life in school wasn't pleasant by any stretch. His parents had grossly misinterpreted his cutie mark- he wasn't gifted in spell-casting at all. Worse, he was actually sub-par, absolutely not the level expected of unicorns who attended the prestigious school. Frustrated and disappointed in himself, Sunburst sequestered himself from other ponies, afraid even to send a letter back to Starlight to admit his failure. He took to reading, learning and understanding every spell book he could get his hooves on. He was met with continued frustration, however, gaining knowledge in magic, but never having the power to cast the spells he knew by heart. At some point, he flunked school in shame and avoided going back home- especially avoiding contact with his overbearing mother who was trying to get him to create a back-up plan so he could still make something impressive out of his life. He eventually found himself in the Crystal Empire - a kingdom within a kingdom- where he locked himself in his house and collected books, becoming a complete shut in. There, he could just read alone and not have to deal with the pressure of anyone's high expectations of him.

"I know it's hard for you to understand, but not all of us end up achieving greatness."

A few years after that, a reformed Starlight showed up at his door and all those high expectations came crashing down on his shoulders all over again. She had been sent to him by Princess Twilight Sparkle, her new mentor and the Princess of Friendship. Twilight was sure that rekindling the torn relationship Starlight had with Sunburst would help in Starlight's recovery from major villain to functioning member of society.

Starlight came to him certain that he had achieved great things since magic school, convinced he was an "important wizard". Ashamed of his failures, and not willing to admit to them in front of his oldest friend, Sunburst agreed with her. He lied, going along with the Important Wizard shtick- pretending he was a valued member of the Crystal Empire. In turn, she remained untruthful about her own dark past. The friends made awkward small talk, struggling to reconnect after such a long time, not helped by their mutual deceptions towards one another. Starlight eventually left, deciding that there was nothing left to salvage, no matter how much she wanted it.

She wasn't gone long. While they'd been talking, the rulers of the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor- had been showing Twilight (Shining Armor's sister) their newborn foal, Princess Flurry Heart- the first born alicorn Equestria had ever seen. Flurry's raw magic had accidentally broken the Crystal Heart - the magical artefact which protected the Empire from the frozen wasteland it was situated in. With the Heart shattered, the Frozen North was creeping into the Empire, threatening to engulf everything and everyone in a deadly blizzard. They needed someone with a great magical ability to fix it- and so Starlight had come to Sunburst, the 'Important Wizard' for help.

Sunburst attempted to dissuade Starlight, claiming he was 'too busy' to help. Horrified that her old friend would be so dismissive of lives being on the line, Starlight sharply admonished him. Backed into a corner, Sunburst had to tearfully admit to Starlight that he wasn't a wizard, that he wasn't the big shot magic user everyone had assumed he would be, that he was a failure. Even when Starlight pointed out that didn't matter to her, he unhappily told her she was someone important, the protegee of the Princess of Friendship- that she'd achieved greatness. Starlight angrily spilled the beans on her own past, which Sunburst listened to in shock. Of course, Sunburst was ever the scholar, so the part he found most important was not the fact his old friend had caused so much destruction- but that she'd managed to travel through time to do it. He's got some interesting priorities. They talked it out, he apologised for losing touch with her, for being too ashamed of his own failings to reach out- that if he had, he might have been able to prevent her from "going completely evil" (her words, not his) Starlight admitted she had kept in touch too, so that he would have felt less alone in magic school. The two hugged it out, their friendship finally being rekindled.

It turned out that going to Sunburst was the answer that was needed to save the day. While Starlight was explaining the situation to him (and desperately trying to get him to evacuate the doomed city) Sunburst realised there was, in fact, a way to restore the Crystal Heart. He joined in with the rescue team, offering a Frankenstein-esque mixture of various spells, which when used together were enough to fix everything and prevent a repeat of the incident. He passed on these spells to more capable unicorns- who could cast the spells he couldn't. Cadence and Shining Armor, thankful for the chance to save their kingdom- asked Sunburst to be Flurry Heart's Crystaler (something of a lifelong mentor/godparent) a position Sunburst took with honour. His plan put into action, everyone was able to restore the Crystal Heart and save the damn day. Sunburst found his true destiny wasn't to be some great spell caster- that his "greatness" lay in his ability to learn and understand magic like no unicorn could before him. Starlight and he parted on good terms, promising to stay in touch while he looked forward to a new challenge as the Royal Crystaler of the newborn princess.

He took his job seriously- when he was seen again, he was continually at Flurry's side as a the Empire feared a Changeling (an insectoid/cervidae species who had attacked Cadence once before) attack. Sunburst feared that the Changeling had come to take Flurry, for the creatures feed on love, and the baby had made the empire overflow with it. It turned out the Changeling in question, Thorax, actually wanted to be a legitimate member of pony society- though it took Princess Cadence welcoming Thorax into the Empire for Sunburst to finally let his guard down. He wasn't about to let anyone harm the baby if he could help it.

Much later, he dispatched Thorax to Twilight- when the Changeling Queen sent sleeper agents to take the positions of important ponies in Equestria, including the rulers of the Empire. How he worked out they were impostors and how he evaded capture himself was never shown, but he somehow manged it. It would not have been easy at all, but chances are he used that big old noggin of his to outwit them. He was proudly at the celebration after the Queen had been defeated, to congratulate Starlight on her victory against the evil plot- stepping up when Twilight could not. Twilight herself considered sending Starlight to live with Sunburst, deciding that her student had learned all she needed to from her- but dismissed it, realising that though together they "could challenge each other into becoming the most talented unicorns Equestria had ever seen"- that both tended to be overly ambitious and could probably overstep the line into actual, dangerous magic, without thinking of the consequences first. She kept Starlight with her, and Sunburst returned to the Empire and his duties.

"I always liked close-up magic because I knew I could do it if I just practiced enough."

Sunburst eventually made a journey to Ponyville, in order to spend a couple of days with Starlight, just to relax and reconnect as friends without some dangerous world-threatening emergency going on in the background. Sunburst was looking forward to spending time with her very much, and excitedly over-packed and headed to the castle. Unfortunately, things very quickly took a different turn. They, as people often do with time and distance, had gained different interests. Something neither were really expecting.

The first of these was antiquing, Sunburst excitedly pointing out that Ponyville was covered in little antique shops- making short work of dragging a much less enthused Starlight around one. There, he ran into Twlight, and the two spent the vast majority of the day nerding out over various Equestrian artefacts, while Starlight was left as a third wheel. As much fun as he was having, however, Sunburst wasn't completely oblivious to Starlight's unhappiness. He took her to one side, gently reminding her that she didn't need to pretend she "liked all that stuff". He wanted her to genuinely enjoy herself, and not be miserable on his account. Starlight brushed him off, promising she liked it, and as such endured even more of the day antiquing.

When they finally got to the castle, it was late- Sunburst happily and excitedly talking about the "blind buy" barrel he bought, full of who knew what (spoilers: it was plot) but noticing Starlight's continued unhappiness, he and Twilight suggested doing something Starlight wanted to do. Starlight happily brought out a game of Dragon Pit (told you it would come back) and the three played a game, reminiscing about Sunburst's excitement and clumsy magic at the time over it. Sunburst cockily pointed out his magic had improved a little since then, a little embarrassed at losing face in front of the Princess. The game was cut short by Twilight's excitement, as she accidentally broke the game. That done, the trio headed to bed. Before bed, Sunburst excitedly gushed about how much he had in common with Twilight, something he did not share with most ponies, a reminder to himself of what a social outcast he tended to be. He went as far to say he thought he had more in common with Twilight than any other pony in Equestria- oblivious to how much that actually hurt Starlight. He nudged her out as he headed to bed, still talking about how much he wanted to spend time with Twilight, much to Starlight's disappointment.

Starlight woke him up early the next morning, in an effort to get him out of the Castle of Friendship before Twilight rose, to try and keep Sunburst to himself. He was less than enthused about missing out on time with Twilight, but when Starlight promised they would have a lot of fun, Sunburst sleepily agreed and followed her out to the local apple farm- confused to the tenuous link Starlight was trying to make between their foalhood of "drinking apple juice all the time" and spending time in the apple orchard then. Unfortunately, there was more to get in their way of reconnecting, as Trixie, one of Starlight's other friends was napping in the orchard at the time. Always the show-off, she was happy to treat them to a preview of her latest stage-magic trick, which went wrong. While trying to rescue her from herself, Sunburst happily talked about how he enjoyed close up stage magic, because unlike real magic, it did not rely on a natural talent- he could always do it if he put enough practise in. It was something he could do that didn't end in frustration and disappointment. And so Starlight faced another half day of Sunburst getting along well with one of her friends while inadvertently pushing Starlight to the sidelines. Starlight continued to pretend to enjoy herself, and Sunburst took it as face value, not reading between the lines.

Starlight managed to get away from Trixie, taking Sunburst down to a mystical Mirror Pool - which could create copies of a pony if they dove in after an incantation. It was blocked by Twilight, but Sunburst did not seem to mind that Starlight had essentially broken in (and broken the law) to show him this marvel of Ponyville. Always one for ancient magic, he wanted to know more about it, though was sceptical of Starlight's idea to create their own copies of themselves to get more "hanging out" done. Their bonding was once again interrupted by, you guessed it, ANOTHER friend of Starlight's- Maud. She was working on taking rock samples in the next cavern- and, ever the jack-of-all-trades, Sunburst admitted he "dabbled" in geology. Unsurprisingly, he spent the rest of the day with Maud, not even noticing when Starlight left to go back to the castle, so engrossed was he in bonding with another new friend with a shared connection.

When he eventually went to find her, Starlight had already concocted a new bonding experience with something they both enjoyed- magic. He poured over the spell she had created "just now", impressed with her skill- and did not worry for a second at her using it on them. Big mistake. The spell reverted them both to Sunburst's foalhood home- and then put them in their foal bodies. All so they could play Dragon Pit exactly how they used to. Distinctly unhappy with the forced age degeneration (having finally made some degree of peace with the adult life he currently led) Sunburst snapped at Starlight that he didn't want to play the game at all. Hurt, Starlight reversed the spell, admitting she was only trying to do the one thing they still had in common, before running out.

Finally realising how much he had hurt her feelings and ignored her needs, Sunburst went into a state of worried despair. He went to each of her friends he had met, trying to learn what they had in common with Starlight in order to discover what he still had in common with her. From admitting awkwardly that he and Starlight didn't share the past of badly made decisions as she did with Trixie- nor the quiet moments of reflection she did with Maud, he slowly started to realise that they had grown apart, and he began to panic. He was truly distressed at the thought that if they had nothing in common any more, that perhaps they weren't even friends at all at that point. Desperate to reach out to her again, he went back to the castle, gathering all of Starlight's friends as he did. Together, they recreated a giant version of Dragon Pit, much to the surprise and delight of Starlight. He admitted he still wanted to spend time with her- and that perhaps a game big enough for full grown ponies would end up being a better option for them. They happily played the game as a group, silly dragon costumes and all.

When he left again for the Crystal Empire, he and Starlight took a moment- Sunburst promising her that so long as they still enjoyed one another's company, that it didn't matter how much they still had in common, that their friendship would remain strong. Twilight, Trixie and Maud came to see him off, and Sunburst left three friends richer than when he arrived.

"Solving a thousands-year-old mystery could take forever! Think of the research! The re-reading! The re-re-reading!"

It wasn't long until he was back in Starlight's company. His blind buy barrel had contained a lost journal of Starswirl the Bearded- a unicorn of legendary fame in Equestria (something of a pony equivalent to Merlin). The journal was Starswirl's final entry- speaking of him and the Pillars of Equestria (legendary heroes of ancient times) fighting a great evil called the Pony of Shadows- a former ally of them. Sunburst happily joined in on the quest to learn more- and try to uncover exactly what happened to Starswirl and the other Pillars. He wanted to learn MORE about the ancient history of their world.

His previous experiences had absolutely made an improvement on the way he interacted with others. Where he was once standing on the sidelines, he started to actively interact with ponies outside his usual social circle. From invading Applejack's personal space to gush about the research he was about to do, to giving an enthusiastic hoof-bump to an unenthusiastic Spike- he was finally starting to really come out of his shell.

After three days reading (and some help reading some very messy horn-writing from Starlight) he and the others learned that the answers they sought were at an ancient ruin known as Ponehenge (the puns will never stop) so they headed off to see what they could find. Sunburst excitedly wandered around the ruins, finding runes even he couldn't decipher (much to his delight). What he and the girls DID find was a magic spell, which replayed the last actions of the Pillars - using relics imbued with their own power in order to banish the Pony of Shadows to Limbo- taking themselves with him. Sunburst theorised the magic was so powerful- it left an echo of what caused it, hence why they could see the vision.

Back in Ponyville, Sunburst was glad to know what exactly happened to the Pillars, but still knew there was much more of the mystery to solve- something he doubted they would be able to do in quite some time. Of course, Twilight being Twilight feverishly had stayed up and obsessed over it and found an answer. More to the point, she discovered a way to bring the Pillars back from Limbo. Sunburst was very excited about this, despite Starlight's hesitation seen as playing with dangerous magic didn't go as well for her. Twilight suggested they find the magically imbued items that each Pillar held and bring them to Ponehenge- the girls went off on the task, while Twilight, Starlight and Sunburst went to the ruins to prepare.

Starlight continued to have her doubts- something both Sunburst and Twilight dismissed. Sunburst testily pointed out there was nothing wrong with "saving the most legendary ponies of all time from a thousands year old prison". Starlight pointed out the Pillars probably intended it that way and they shouldn't mess with it. Sunburst countered, a little more gently, that magic had moved on since then- that times were different and the Pillars could only work with what they had at the time. Starlight remained unconvinced, but it was too late, the others had brought the Pillar's items back to the ruin. They set up the spell, Twilight, Sunburst and an unenthusiastic Starlight powering it. And lo and behold, the Pillars were returned from Limbo to the realm of the living.

...Unfortunately it turned out Starlight was right. The Pillars came back, but also the Pony of Shadows. Sunburst desperately searched for a way to undo the spell, but it was too late. The Pony of Shadows attacked, but was fended off by Twilight and Starlight- he swore he would swallow the world in darkness and vanished away. The now larger group headed back to Ponyville to figure out a way to defeat the villain. Starswirl continued to be dismissive of Twilight and her abilities, something Sunburst watched with some discomfort, but didn't actually speak up against. Likely unwilling to cross a pony he respected greatly.

They learned the Pillars were, in fact, connected to the Elements of Harmony, and as such Twilight and her close friends. By combining their magic, they could find a way to banish the Pony of Shadows into Limbo without locking themselves there too. It would cost them the Elements, though, something none of the modern-day ponies wanted- as it would leave the realm without a final fail-safe of protection. The Elements had been a mainstay of protecting Equestria for a long time.

As Sunburst, Twilight and Starswirl searched for a possible solution- Starlight took the time to find out more about the Pony of Shadows. She learned the truth that he was once a dear friend of the Pillars, and suggested talking to him might be a better solution to banishing him at all. Starswirl snubbed her idea, Twilight and Sunburst unenthusiastically taking his side, not seeing a conversation as a viable option. They needed a quick answer to save the world- not take a chance on something that could backfire terribly.

Despite being more of a scholar than an adventurer, Sunburst joined everyone else in the Hollow Shades for the final showdown against the Pony of Shadows. The plan remained the same- to use up the Elements power and banish the Pony of Shadows to Limbo for good. The Pony of Shadows laid a trap for them, but was ultimately unprepared for the power of the Elements. Sunburst lent his own magic (with no small degree of exertion, a powerful spellcaster he still was not) and the portal to Limbo reopened. Twilight was about to use her own magic to push the Pony of Shadows inside, until she saw a living pony trying to break free. Without thinking, she dove into the darkness and spoke to the unicorn inside- Stygian - the Pillar's old friend who was mistaken for stealing his friends' power and had allowed himself to be consumed by the shadows when they had cast him out for the crime he did not commit. Twilight, along with Starlight, tried to talk him down, and then eventually called on the others, including Sunburst, to help drag him out of the shadows he was trapped in. They succeed, and only the shadow was sent into limbo, leaving the unicorn inside unharmed. More lucky, the Elements also remained unharmed, for they were used for healing, rather than banishing.

Sunburst and the others went to Canterlot to tell Celestia and Luna of what happened- with the Pillars now free to go off into Equestria and live their lives once again. Sunburst remained on the sidelines, quite happily watching the exchange. It's at this point he is pulled into Wonderland.

Abilities/Special Powers:

Unicorn magic - Unicorns are a race of ponies in Equestria with the ability to consciously cast spells. Spells are wide and varied- something a unicorn learns with study and a great deal of practise. Very few are able to cast complex spells without learning them first. It should be noted here that Sunburst knows "practically every spell that was ever written" BUT how well a spell is cast really depends on the unicorn in question. Some are exceptionally powerful, some are very poor, and most are somewhere in-between. Sunburst a very poor spell caster at all- any complex spells he uses tend to have to be used in conjunction with other unicorns to make any difference- and it strains him considerably to do so. He might know all the spells, but he sure as heck can't cast them all. As a result, I'll just add the basic ones which he'll generally be able to do here:

Telekinesis - this is Unicorn 101, even the weakest of unicorns can manage it. This is the moving and manipulation of objects without touching them. The object in question is surrounded by the unicorns personal magical aura (Sunburst's is yellow) and can be moved however the unicorn sees fit. They need the object to be in their line of sight, and if an object is heavy, it takes a little more concentration to lift/move it. There are limitations, they can't lift anything too heavy. Anything above their body weight tends to be a no-no.

Rope spell - A slight upgrade to the telekinesis, this sends a magical rope (again, the colour of the unicorns magical aura) to grab and pull at something. Things like size and weight still pay a part in how much effort the unicorn needs to expend in keeping the spell stable.

Magical blast - A blast of magic- much like a telekinetic force, small and sharp. Not especially powerful, just enough to fight back if attacked.

Magical barrier - A magical barrier (much like an igloo) is created around the pony and anyone close to them, as a protection against an outside attacker- I doubt Sunburst could keep one functioning for very long, and if it took a few hits it would absolutely disintegrate very quickly.

Illumination - The tip of the unicorn's horn glows, illuminating the area around them. It's not especially bright- it has pretty much the same effect as a regular hand-held torch or a cigarette lighter.

Special talent - Knowledge - All Equestrian ponies are born to a destiny, a single thing they will excel at. Sunburst's is knowledge. He reads a lot and absorbs everything he does read like a sponge. He specialises in magic, but he's able to learn just about anything with relative ease, so long as he's given the time to read and study the material. He might not be able to put much of his knowledge into practise, but boy, does he know things.

Third-Person Sample:

Sunburst had spent the vast majority of his life surrounded by books. He devoured every one he came to, and never found himself satiated. The written word was, quite frankly, the greatest pleasure he could think of. If he could get away without sleeping or eating, he was sure all he'd ever do was read- he was never sure how anypony could feel any different.

And so, when he learned of Wonderland's library, he was there as quickly as his hooves could carry him. He wandered around the stacks, eyes wide, grin crossing his muzzle as he looked around in sheer wonder. Every book. From every world. EVER. He'd had dreams about this kind of thing. He might have been stolen to another world, far away from everything familiar- but this...this made it more than bearable.

He plucked a few books off the shelves, the tomes glowing with his yellow magical aura as they floated alongside him. More and more books joined his pile, before he finally sat down at a table, placing them beside him. He opened one and put his muzzle right in, getting to the very important task of reading. He glanced up as someone passed by, offering a delighted smile.

"Can you believe how many books there are here? How does anypony- er anyperson manage to get anything else done here?"

He didn't wait for a response- it was more of a rhetorical question anyway. Instead, he burrowed back into his book, where he planned to remain for the rest of the day at least.

First-Person Sample:

[Sunburst is still getting used to the strange communicators of this world. In Equestria, if you want to talk to someone, you need to send them a letter- or, of course, go to speak to them face to face. Here, he could speak to anyone in the mansion at any time, in just a moment. Without even leaving the comfort of his room. Things really were astounding in his strange new world.

He raised the communicator a little, it hovering mid-air as he tried to find a good angle where he could see- much like a confused tech-ignorant grandparent would try and tilt a tablet as if it would change the view on their end at all. Eventually satisfied, he cleared his throat]

Um. Hello. [Wow, he was never very good at making new friends in the first place, why did he think casual conversation with a bunch of strangers was a good idea? None of them were even the same species as him. He hadn't thought this through AT ALL.]

I was wondering if you have any interesting stories from your worlds? Myths, legends, that sort of thing. I'm something of a...connoisseur, and I would really love to learn more, if you're willing to share it! I...err I guess I can share some from Equestria, in exchange. If you'd like, that is.