The cheer of Hearthswarming Eve had filled Starlight Glimmer with a rosy warm feeling, which was not something she experienced often. Actually, that should be amended. Starlight had memories of many Hearthswarming Eves back in her hometown, before the whole fiasco with Sunburst.
Currently, Twilight's pupil was engaged in a conversation with a fuschia pony who had down fifteen glasses of eggnog.
"Are you sure you're alright, Berry Punch?" Starlight asked the mare cautiously.
Berry took a swig. "Never been better!" She hiccuped. "Hearthswarming is such a great holiday!"
"It just doesn't seem healthy-" Starlight started. However, Berry promptly vomited all over Twilight's expensive carpet.
"-to drink that much eggnog," Starlight finished, flattening her ears against her head. "I'll get a mop."
"T-thanks," Berry stuttered before she gulped down another frothy helping of eggnog. Starlight pried the mug away from her and left to find a mop.
As she cleaned up Berry Punch's bile, Starlight's thoughts flew to the story Twilight had narrated to her earlier. Interesting that Snowfall Frost was described as a gifted wizard, yet I've never read about her in the textbooks. And her assistant was a Pegasus, not a Unicorn. Wouldn't the latter be more useful as an assistant in the field of magical study?
Starlight, having mopped up the mess as best as possible, went to go fetch Spike. He would probably know better where to put the mop. She found him chatting with Fluttershy, and politely asked him to help her find the laundry room.
"Spike," Starlight remarked as they walked down the corridor on the opposite end of the castle, "did anything seem strange to you about A Hearthswarming Tail?"
"Uh, no?" Spike shrugged and sucked on the candy cane he was holding. "Twilight's read it to me every year since we moved to Ponyville. It sounded the same as usual. Why?"
"I was thinking about it," Starlight answered, pushing open the laundry room door, "and don't you think the characters' named are a little similar to our friends' names? Snowdash and Flutterholly, for instance, are Rainbow and Fluttershy, though Merry and Rarity are a bit of a stretch."
"Probably just a coincidence," Spike chuckled as he wrung out the mop. "Hey, do you think Twi needs to know about the carpet?"
"I'll tell her tomorrow, when the festivities are over," Starlight assured him.
"And another thing!" Starlight added as they returned to the main hall. "The descriptions of the spirits! 'A transparent Earth pony sporting pigtails and a country accent?' 'A pink-coated pony with fuzzy hair and a cheerful grin'? That sounds like Applejack and Pinkie Pie to me."
"What's your point, Starlight?" Spike asked, leaning against the door. "Are you trying to say that our friends are characters in books? What's next, they're in a movie?"
"That's ridiculous," Starlight answered, "any movie made about you guys would be met with negative reception until the sequel justified it. And they'd get half the details wrong. Probably they'd make Applejack a Unicorn by accident. Anyways," Starlight sighed and offered Spike a sheepish smile, "i guess I'm just being a little critical. A smidgen too much eggnog."
Spike chuckled. "Ah, I see. See ya later, Starlight!" With a final wave, the little dragon disappeared into the crowd of party guests.
Starlight chuckled to herself. By tomorrow, she'd have this all figured out. She always did.
The next morning, Starlight crept out of her room and through the castle. The vicinity's silence unsettled her, since mere hours before ponies had been celebrating loudly. Starlight yawned as she walked into the library. A certain purple pony was already inside.
"Good morning, Starlight!" Twilight looked up from the book she was reading. "Happy day-after-Hearthswarming!"
"Thanks, Twilight." Starlight smiled amiably. "You too." She sat herself down in a chair. "Whatcha reading?"
"Hm? Oh, nothing." Twilight casually tucked a bookmark in to hold her place and closed her book, backside up. "Is there anything I can do for you, Starlight? Spike hasn't burnt the toast again, has he?"
"No, the kitchen's safe," Starlight answered, brushing her mane out of her eye. "I was thinking about A Hearthswarming Tail last night, and I wondered if you could tell me a bit about it?"'
"What do you want to know?" Twilight asked, her ears flicking curiously.
"Well, who's the author, for one," Starlight said, shifting in her seat. "And why are all the characters reminiscent of ponies I know in real life? Snowdash- Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy- Flutterholy. Me-"
"I get it," Twilight interrupted, grinning so widely Double Diamond would've been jealous. "The author is listed an esteemed pony named, er, Sunset Shimmer. As for the characters-" Twilight chuckled "-that's just a coincidence. Never really struck me as odd. Anything else?" The last sentence came out too fast.
"Uuuuh Berry Punch threw up on your carpet yesterday," Starlight finished.
"What?!" Twilight was thrown into full panic mode. "Why didn't anypony tell me yesterday? What if Princess Celestia stops by for a surprise visit?!" In a burst of sparkles, Twilight left the library in a frantic dash to the foyer.
"Detective time," Starlight muttered. She scanned the bookshelf and, too her delight, found the book of her interest. Starlight snatched it off the bookshelf and flipped it open to the first page.
"A Hearthswarming Tail by... Twilight Sparkle?!" Starlight's eyebrows shot up. "Twilight wrote this?" Knowing Twilight could come back at any moment, Starlight began flipping through the pages frantically. A sentence towards the end caught her eye.
"'Snowfall Frost ran a hoof through her straight indigo mane,'" Starlight murmured. "Snowfall is Twilight, then. That cleans this all up." She read through the rest of the page, which Twilight had neglected to include the previous night. "'Snowfall felt ecstatic that even after she had been such a jerk, Snowdash would let her into her house- and her heart.'" Starlight's cheeks colored. "'That night she discovered one of the best Hearthswarming gifts is a good kiss."
"Starlight, I cleaned up-" Twilight appeared in the doorway.
Starlight looked up like a foal caught stealing cookies.
"You're rereading that?" Twilight bit her lip. "Um..."
"The gig's up, Twilight!" Starlight exclaimed, pointing an accusatory hoof towards her mentor. "You wrote this! Not Sunset Glimmer or whoever!"
"W-well," Twilight stuttered. "I'm a very gifted writer-"
"Most normal ponies don't write fanfiction of their friends-"
"Actually, a lot of ponies do-"
"-and publish that fanfiction!" Starlight finished.
"Touche," Twilight answered. "In fairness, it was only published for a couple years before I became a princess. Then I pulled all the books of the shelves because my name was too well-known."
"And it didn't occur to you that your friends might buy these books?" Starlight queried.
Twilight shrugged helplessly. "I happen to know that none of my friends read the genre I specialize in... sci-fi parodies. This is just a holiday special."
"Dear Celestia, you mean there's more?!" Starlight nearly dropped the book.
Twilight held up the book she had been reading when Starlight walked in. "I have the suviving copies of all my works."
"Fluttering and Sparkling Hearts." Starlight rolled her eyes. "Real original, Twilight."
"I'll let you read some if you don't tell the others," Twilight offered.
Starlight blanched. Then she leaned in and murmured, "I'll take all the Twijack fics you have."
