Like An Angel On A Candy Cane

by PRlNCESS CADENCE

Rating: everyone
Tags: Feather Bangs, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Starlight Glimmer
Length: 5492

The story of Starlight Glimmer's first Hearth's Warming with Feather Bangs.

Last Day of the 12 Days of Feather Bangs! Happy Hearth's Warming!

Starlight Glimmer gave up so much when she decided to leave her village forever to become Twilight's friendship student. This meant giving up most of the friends she had in her old village, including one stallion that often gets overlooked.

This Hearth's Warming, Twilight asks Starlight to spend the season with old friends so that she can reconnect with those she may have harmed. What she finds, though, is that sometimes the holidays have a way of turning your life around in ways you wouldn't expect.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me during the 12 Day of Feather Bangs! I truly appreciate all the love and support! Happy Holidays!

Published 2018-12-25 18:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-12-25 18:40:01 UTC

Or The Sunlight Shining Through A Drain...

Hearth’s Warming Eve is here once again. As ponies gather from all across Equestria to celebrate the founding of their nation, unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies alike all congregate to sing together in absolute harmony. Even despite all the troubles and problems that still persist during the holidays, it seems as if ponies near and far put their worries behind them and bring joy to each other’s lives whenever the holidays come around. It only happens once a year, but even with such a short time frame to celebrate, the world is put on hold for everypony to commemorate family, love and friendship.

This story does not take place on Hearth’s Warming Eve, however. It was just one year ago when Starlight Glimmer had learned how valuable the holiday was and how much it meant to be a part of it, and the unicorn mare had been waiting for two whole months to finally be able to celebrate the momentous occasion with her friends in Ponyville. The only problem was that one pony, a pony she may have even considered her best friend, had different plans for her.

“I’m not invited to Hearth’s Warming Eve?!” she shouted for the whole town to hear.

“Now calm down, Starlight,” Twilight said, holding up her hoof to soothe the panicking mare heaving to catch her breath. “It’s not what it sounds like.”

“What do you mean it’s not what it sounds like? Because to me, it sounds to me like I’m not invited to the most important holiday of the entire Equestrian year!”

Spike couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony. “Yup. She pretty much nailed it on the head there,” he said with a shrug. “Wasn’t it just last year when we were telling her why it was such a big deal in the first place? Man, that really backfired quick.”

Twilight glared at her assistant before turning her sympathetic gaze back towards her star pupil. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want you here for Hearth’s Warming, Starlight. Honestly I don’t! I’ve just been thinking, and I’ve decided that it would be best for you to spend Hearth’s Warming this year with somepony else.”

“Why, though?” Starlight asked with despair in her eyes. “You know how important this is to me. Why can’t I be with the ponies who matter most to me just like everypony else?”

“It’s not that I don’t want you here with me during the holidays, really! It’s just… I feel like we might be keeping you from reconnecting with ponies that really matter. You know… like ones from your old village?”

Starlight winced upon being reminded about her past, but there was no doubt that she had been ignoring spending time with them so that she could stay within her comfort zone in Ponyville. “Is that really such a good idea? I mean, stopping by to visit every once in a while is no big deal, but actually spending Hearth’s Warming there with the history I have there… I just think that I might ruin it for them if I go.”

“Starlight, have I ever lead you down the wrong path?”

With a sigh, the unicorn hung her head and replied, “Not that I can think of. Still, though, are you sure that this is the right thing to do?”

“I’m positive,” Twilight said with a reassuring smile, putting a hoof around her shoulders. “How about this? There are exactly thirteen days left until Hearth’s Warming. You can spend a week there starting tomorrow, and if doesn’t seem like they want you there after that, you can come back to Ponyville and spend Hearth’s Warming here. Does that work for you?”

Starlight smiled, wrapping her own hoof around the alicorn’s shoulder. “Alright, Twilight. You’ve got yourself a deal!”

The next morning was one of the most nerve-wracking mornings she had experienced in Ponyville, overshadowed only by a hooffull of times when she had to reconnect with ponies from her past. Only this time, she was reconnecting with ponies from her past while spending the most important holiday of the year with them. If she screwed up, it would mean Hearth’s Warming would be ruined for everypony, and the last thing she wanted was to come back early telling Twilight that things hadn’t worked out.

“All aboard!” the conductor shouted, pulling Starlight out of her frame of mind as she gathered her luggage and boarded the train. Unfortunately, she would have a looooong trip to go over all the possibilities in her mind. Even with the train taking her half of the way there, she still had a couples miles of trekking through harsh wilderness environments before she arrived at the hill overlooking the small town. The entire time, she continually came up with possibilities of how things could go wrong or ways she could mess up, even though she was desperately trying to imagine everything going smoothly with everypony accepting her.

With a deep breath, Starlight made her way down the hill, reaching the central road of the village, and immediately upon arrival, everypony stopped what they were doing to stare at the familiar pony. “Umm…” Starlight began, still feeling awkward about her reunion. “Hey, everypony! It’s good to see you again.”

“Starlight?” a voice called out from the crowd of surrounding ponies. Then, turning her head, she met eyes with a magenta unicorn with a fluffy mane, trotting her way over with a bright smile on her face like the two had been friends forever. “It’s so good to see you!”

A wave of comfort immediately soothed her heart, causing her to exhale deeply. “Hey, Sugar Belle!” Starlight replied, somewhat relieved that she had at least one pony who was excited to see her. “How are things?”

“Oh, you have no idea! A lot has happened since the last time you came to visit! Why don’t you come to my shop so we can talk some more? I’d love for you to try out one of my new recipes!”

Finally, Starlight could sigh a breath of relief. Even if things didn’t turn out well with the other members of the village (which was just in a worst case scenario), she would still be able to talk with Sugar Belle, it seemed. The magenta unicorn had plenty of stories to tell, from the excitement of her small bakery beginning to take off to the romance she was starting up with a resident of Ponyville. Most importantly, though, Starlight was getting the chance to connect with her old friend in a way that she never had when she was the ruler of the village, not that she needed anypony reminding her of that old version of herself.

“How about you?” Sugar Belle asked, pulling out some of her delicious muffins that weren’t even a comparison to the muffins Starlight ate when Sugar Belle had lost her cutie mark. “What have things been like in Ponyville? It seems like you’re much happier than the last time I saw you.”

“Actually, I’ve had my fair share of troubles since moving to Ponyville. A changeling invasion, banishing a shadow pony to a realm of darkness, having the school I work at nearly get destroyed twice, once by a student and another time by a spirit of chaos.”

Sugar Belle’s eyebrows rose in interest, placing her muffins down as quickly as she could to return to her friend’s story. “You didn’t tell me about that! What happened?”

“Well, first of all, my friends were kidnapped during a changeling invasion, leaving me and a couple others to invade their hive directly and--”

“SUGAR BEEEEYEYEEYEAYEAYEEEEEELLE!”

The two mares jumped from the unexpected surprise, quickly looking out the window to see a stallion on his knees and serenading from outside Sugar Belle’s bakery. “Oh, I’m sorry, Starlight,” Sugar Belle said sympathetically. “Some ponies just don’t know when to quit.”

“Is that… Feather Bangs?” Starlight asked. Of course, the majority of the time she had known Feather Bangs, he wasn’t the romantic, mane-flipping stallion she saw from Sugar Belle’s window as he sang loudly for the whole town to hear. The Feather Bangs she had known was always in line, doing whatever he was told without bringing any attention to himself, just like the rest of the village at the time, but this was an extreme no other pony in the village had flipped to.

“Yes, unfortunately,” Sugar Belle lamented, walking over to open up the bakery window. “How many times do I have to tell you I’m not interested, Feather Bangs?”

“Yo, Sugar Belle!” Feather Bangs exclaimed, getting back up to his hooves. “What you doin’ for Hearth’s Warmin’, girl?”

The magenta mare scoffed. “I’m spending it with Big Mac! You know, my boyfriend!”

“Wait, you are?” Starlight asked with concern.

“Yeah!” she beamed. “I’m going to Ponyville to spend the holidays with Big Mac and his family down in Ponyville. Why do you ask?”

Of course, the one pony who she knew she could count on in the village was heading to Ponyville, the one place she had specifically traveled to get away from. With an awkward smile that she hoped would hide the disappointment she was truly feeling, she said, “Oh, no reason. I’m just happy that you get to spend the holidays with the pony you care about most.”

“Yeah, I’m really excited to--”

“Sugar Belle! Don’t go leavin’ my heart to freeze in the snow while it’s out here waitin’ for you to warm it up.”

“Feather Bangs! I told you--”

“Hang on a second,” Starlight said with a smile, making her way towards the door. “I think I can take it from here.” As Starlight exited the bakery and walked up to the hopeless romantic, Feather Bangs turned his attention away from Sugar Belle, staring at Starlight like there was a question mark above his head. “Hey, Feather! Long time no see!”

“For real,” Feather Bangs replied. “What you been up to?”

“Oh, you know. This and that. By the way, did you wanna spend Hearth’s Warming Eve together?”

Suddenly, both Sugar Belle’s and Feather Bangs’s jaws dropped in shock as Starlight held an almost smug confidence asking her question. The two ponies then looked at each other before staring at Starlight again, both under the impression that she was asking him out, which even she wasn’t sure she was doing.

“Uh… Yeah!” Feather Bangs said, trying not to let his confusion show. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, though. The last time we talked, you were--”

“A dictator? Yeah, I hear that a lot.”

Feather Bangs chuckled awkwardly. “I was gonna say my hero, but now I’ll actually get to talk to you without being scared anymore. Ha ha.”

Starlight blushed, raising an eyebrow as her mind raced to put the pieces together. “Wait… I was your hero? Even when I was a tyrant who didn’t think about anypony but herself?"

“That’s not true! You thought of yourself less than anypony in the village! Everything you did was to make us feel like we belonged, like we were one big family where we didn’t need to compete with each other to feel special. In your eyes, we were all special, even though we were all the same, and I really admired that about you.”

Starlight’s face was now a bright red, her heart racing while her mind tried to make sense of the contrary information in her mind, but before she could let it sink in too much, she saw Sugar Belle sneaking out the door before Feather Bangs could notice. Then, she suddenly realized that the two of them were having a pretty personal conversation in the middle of the street, which also happened to be the city center of the small village. As she saw everypony’s eyes looking at her with intrigue, she smiled awkwardly and said only for Feather Bangs to hear, “Maaaaaybe we should talk about this somewhere else.”

“Girl, just say the word and I’m there.”

Six Days Before Hearth’s Warming…

Starlight’s visit her first couple of days had so far turned out to be a massive success, connecting on a deeper level with all the ponies in the village, despite their differences. Double Diamond, for instance, had managed to become a big name in the skiing world, inspiring ponies all over Equestria to pick up a pair of skis and take to the slopes. She had always believed that if he continued to use his talent to compete with other ponies, all he would do is make those around him feel upset and bitter with jealousy, but so far, he had managed to use his talent to make new friends and give a deeper purpose to other ponies’ lives.

“Wow, Double Diamond!” Starlight exclaimed as she and Feather Bangs had lunch with some of Starlight’s old friends. “I never knew you were good enough to compete in the Equestria Games!”

“Oh, trust me, it wasn’t easy!” he exclaimed. “I spent practically all winter on my skis while everypony else was building snowponies or drinking hot chocolate.”

Then, with a smile on her face, she turned to the stallion beside her and asked, “How about you, Feather Bangs? What have you used your cutie mark for since getting it back?”

“Me?” he asked as his eyes went wide and his forehead began to sweat. “Oh, you know, livin’ the dream. Ha ha.”

Double Diamond and Starlight looked to each other in confusion, but with neither of them understanding Feather Bangs’s message, Starlight turned back to him and asked, “Which is…?”

“You know what, Feather Bangs?” Double Diamond began. “I’m not sure what your cutie mark even means. What exactly is your special talent?”

“Poetry,” Feather Bangs said, grinning wide and hoping that his answer would suffice, but unfortunately for him, though, Starlight Glimmer was not a pony to settle with vague answers.

“Soooo how’s that going for you?” she asked with a genuine smile. “I know Sugar Belle may not be too interested, but I bet lots of other mares would love hearing something you’ve written.”

“Oh, sure!” Double Diamond chimed in. “You should see it in action! There are three mares in town who are obsessed with it! He’s actually quite the ladies’ man.”

Feather Bangs’s grin began to grow uncomfortable, much like the situation he was in as well as the feeling of being there. “Actually,” the stallion said, getting up from the table they were all sitting down at, “I had something I needed to take care of back at my place. I’ll catch you two later.”

As Feather Bangs quickly got up from the table and made his way back to his house, Starlight and Double Diamond stared at each other in confusion again before Starlight quickly excused herself to chase after her friend. Feather Bangs had made it halfway inside by the time that Starlight caught up with him, but once he saw Starlight tilting her head in confusion, he knew he wouldn’t be able to make it all the way inside.

“Sooo, you gonna tell me what happened back there?” Starlight asked sternly, eliciting a depressed sigh from the tan earth pony.

“Yeah… Come on inside. I’ll tell you everything.” As Starlight walked inside and Feather Bangs closed the door behind her, he immediately pressed his back against the door and slid down to his haunches, showing an uncharacteristically downhearted version of himself that most ponies didn’t get to see. “A’ight, so I’ll tell you what’s going on, but you’re not allowed to laugh.”

Starlight snorted, already breaking the one rule. “Why would I laugh?”

“For real, girl! You’ve gotta promise me!”

“OK! OK! I promise I won’t laugh. Now can you tell me why you left so suddenly back there?”

Feather Bangs sat silently for several more moments before sighing loudly, knocking his head back on the door while staring at the floor by Starlight’s hooves. “The truth is…” he began, searching for the confidence to complete his statement. “...I don’t think my cutie mark is all that special.”

“What? Why would you think that?”

“Because what’s the point of writing poetry if nopony appreciates it?”

Starlight’s eyes narrowed in on Feather Bangs as her brain tried to make sense of the sudden contradiction in logic. “Wait a second. Didn’t Double Diamond just say that there were three mares who were basically obsessed with your poetry?”

“Yeah, I guess… They’re just… not the pony who I wish would really appreciate it.”

As the wheels in her head finally began to turn, Starlight took a seat down next to Feather Bangs on the floor. “Let me guess. Sugar Belle?” Sadly, Feather Bangs nodded his head. “You know there are ponies besides her in Equestria, right?”

“Yeah, but they’re not the same.”

“That’s true, I guess, but how would you feel living in a village where everypony was the same?”

Feather Bangs took a long time to think of what he was going to say next, but then, looking into Starlight’s eyes, he said, “Honestly, I miss the way things used to be sometimes.”

“...OK, that took a turn I wasn’t expecting.”

“Are there ever times when you wish you could go back to the village we used to have, where nopony had to compete with each other, where we could be ourselves without some special talent predicting our future?”

At this point, Starlight broke her promise and began laughing, quickly covering her mouth with her hooves as soon as Feather Bangs gave her his unhappy stare. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry. It’s just… Yeah, I think about that all the time! I mean, it was my life’s mission to create a town just like that, but looking back on it, I wouldn’t change the outcome for the world! I love my special talent--which I admit, I never gave up, so that makes me a little biased--as well as the talents of others!”

Feather Bangs scoffed, dipping his head between his knees. “Easy for you to say. Your talent is magic. Mine is making two words rhyme.”

“Alright! Let’s hear it, then!” Feather Bangs slowly lifted his head to give Starlight a face that communicated how much he didn’t want to, but Starlight’s giddy smile soon became too much for him to resist. “Pleeeease, Feather Bangs?”

“There comes a time in every stallion’s life,
Where he makes a decision of who will be his wife,
Where he finds that one mare who fills him with glee,
And he asks her the question…”

Feather Bangs then made direct eye contact with Starlight, whose face had become lost in the poem as she eagerly awaited for the final words.

“...Will you marry me?”

Neither of them spoke for several moments, even though Feather Bangs was now feeling an overwhelming self-consciousness from Starlight not telling him what she thought of his poem. Finally, though, Starlight snapped herself out of whatever trance she was in and said, “Wow! I mean--” Starlight then began to laugh, but this time she was laughing at her own awkward reaction. “I mean--*ahem*--I mean wow.”

“See what I mean?” Feather Bangs said, receiving what he believed to be confirmation of his terrible poetic skills.

“I loved it.” Feather Bangs then looked up expecting to see her face discrediting what she said, but rather than that, he saw Starlight’s eyes communicating her sincere honesty, something he had never seen from Sugar Belle, something he had never seen from anypony… “I don’t understand you, Feather Bangs. Why would you hide a talent like that?”

“Come on, girl. Don’t play like that.”

With a smug grin, Starlight quickly pushed Feather Bangs away from the front door, opening it wide so that everypony in the street could see as she shouted, “Hey, everypony! Feather Bangs said that he really wants to recite some poetry for all of you! Who wants to hear?” As soon as Feather Bangs had risen to his hooves, however, the entire town was beginning to crowd in a semicircle around his doorstep, and as he looked up at Starlight to communicate his nervousness, she smiled wide, pointing outside the door. “Your crowd awaits, Feather Bangs.”

The stallion then quickly looked out the door to see how many ponies had gathered, and almost immediately, his heart fell into his stomach. He knew he didn’t have a way to back out now, but he still had enough time to sneak in a quick “You’re the worst” to Starlight Glimmer.

“I know,” she said as her face reached a level of smug never before seen by ponykind. “It’s my special talent.”

Three Days Before Hearth’s Warming…

“Dear Twilight,
I’m starting to believe that maybe you were right about me coming back to the village to meet some old friends. It turns out that I didn’t really realize how much I missed them, and it’s especially nice getting to see them as they truly are instead of what I made them become. I will always be amazed that they could ever forgive me for lying to them about my cutie mark, not that I’m complaining or anything. I’m learning so much about friendship that I don’t think I ever would have discovered if I had stayed in my comfort zone back in Ponyville.

So, needless to say, it looks like I won’t be coming back for Hearth’s Warming, but that was all part of the plan, right? I mean, sure, I’ll miss seeing Spike falling into the punch bowl again (please get a picture of it if you can), but this just means I’ll get to make new memories with my new friends. Well, I mean, they’re not new friends, but the experience is new, so I’m saying it like they’re new friends. I’m going to stop rambling now.

So anyway, here’s a little update on what’s going on over here. You remember Double Diamond, right? The one who was spying on you when we first met? (Again, really sorry about that) Well, as it turns out, he’s going to be competing in the Winter Equestria Games for skiing! Oh, and of course you already know how Sugar Belle is doing. In fact, she’ll probably be there by the time you get this. Hi, Sugar Belle! Be sure to keep Big Mac out of trouble while you’re over there, OK? Party Favor is also doing well, but he’s mainly just here for the holidays like me. He spends the rest of his time travelling Equestria as a party pony, and if Pinkie doesn’t watch out, she could end up with a new rival, not that anypony could ever compete with her key lime pies, though.

Also, there’s this one pony that I don’t think I’ve told you about yet. His name is Feather Bangs, and he’s the pony I’m going to be spending Hearth’s Warming with. I mean, I’m going to be spending it with everypony, but the two of us are going to check out the Hearth’s Warming Tree in the center of the village before anypony gets there to see it when it first lights up. It was his idea, but then again, I don’t think he’ll be accepting many of my ideas after the last one where I made him recite poetry in front of the whole town. I swear it wasn’t as mean as it sounds! OK, it may have been a little mean, but he was good! He got applause! Can’t a mare get a little recognition for that? Sorry. Rambling again.

You know, Feather Bangs is a little bit different than the other ponies around here. I don’t think he’s fully transitioned from being equal to using his talents as much as he can. Most of the time, he’s using his poetry talent to try to impress Sugar Belle (yes, that Sugar Belle), even though she’s obviously not interested. Does he not realize that there are other mares in Equestria that might like him? Is it so hard to understand that even though his mane-flipping and juggling talents don’t work on Sugar Belle, she’s crazy for not seeing how sweet and charming and funny he is? It’s like his whole life is dependent on making her love him, and the more she pushes away, the more he latches onto her. What would a mare that isn’t Sugar Belle have to do to get him to notice her? Would she have to take the streets and shout, “Feather Bangs, you doofus, can’t you see that I’m in love with you?!” before he finally starts to take her seriously? Pssh. Good luck finding a mare who’s willing to have the attention of the entire town watching her as she recites her feelings of lov--Ohhhhh, I’m starting to see why he’s mad at me now. Maybe it was really mean of me to do make him do that.

But it’s not like he was reciting his feelings of love toward me in that poem! He’s crazy about Sugar Belle. The entire town knows it, so I don’t see what the big fuss is about. That’s the real question that I wonder about. How can he so openly admit that he’s in love with somepony? Doesn’t it scare him to open himself up and leave himself vulnerable like that? Well, I guess this is Feather Bangs we’re talking about. He has no shame in getting rejected over and over again without giving up. Even though it’s killing him on the inside to see Sugar Belle dating somepony else, he’s still putting himself out there, getting rejected over and over again. Seriously, what does Sugar Belle not see in him? I mean, no offense to Big Mac, but Feather Bangs is literally the stallion that every filly dreams of marrying when they grow up. You should hear him sing. It’s like his voice was carved by angels, and when he sings, it’s like he’s singing to me and only me, like I’m the only pony in the world who matters to him, like he’s going to pull me off my hooves to marry me right then and there.

OK, I’ve now mentioned marriage twice in this letter already, so I’m going to let you go before I say anything else that might embarrass me. Please remember to help Fluttershy set up the ornaments before the party, and don’t let Pinkie Pie find out where you put the tapioca. Trust me on that one. Hopefully my night with Feather Bangs ends up being as magical as I hope it’ll be. You know, magical as in… friendship… Because friendship is magic. I’m going to stop writing now.

Your faithful student,
Starlight Glimmer”

Hearth’s Warming Eve…

Starlight Glimmer frantically ran across the room, tossing outfits aside and putting on new ones before going back to whatever she picked four options ago. “How do I look, Night Glider? Do you think this looks cute?”

“Uhh… Since when have you cared about what looks cute?”

“I don’t! I mean, I was just wondering in case you thought it looked cute, ‘cause you know us girls! We’ve always gotta wear something cute!”

Night Glider scratched her head. “Yeah… This doesn’t have anything to do with Feather Bangs, does it?”

“Feather Bangs?" she asked with a chuckle. "Why would I dress up to impress Feather Bangs? He’s got a crush on Sugar Belle. It’s not like he has a crush on me! Actually, I think I’m just going to go naked.”

“Gross.”

“Night Glider, we’re always naked.”

“No, I mean it’s gross that you have a crush on Feather Bangs.”

Starlight’s face was beginning to turn red, but when she looked back in the mirror, it was almost indiscernible with the red hat and white scarf that she was wearing. Sure, wearing it made her look like a candy cane, but if it kept her warm, that’s what was really important… and also that it looked cute, but Starlight didn’t care about that.

“You know what?” Starlight said matter-of-factly. “I bet you’re trying to get me to admit that I do have a crush on Feather Bangs, but it’s not going to work. In fact, I have a crush on somepony else.”

“Oh, yeah? Who?”

“Umm…” Starlight glanced around the room, darting her eyes while she tried to quell the pressure from Night Glider’s fiery gaze. “Chair… Window.”

“Chair Window? That’s the name of the pony you like? Chair Window?”

“Yes. He’s a doctor and I love him.”

“...Whatever you say, Starlight, but just to let you know, that should be Feather Bangs at the door.”

“What?” As soon as the words escaped her lips, she heard a loud knock on the door, making her jump and turn towards her mirror one more time before making her way towards the entrance. Then, as she opened the door, she was met with Feather Bangs’s bright green eyes staring back at her, complemented by the red scarf and green hat that seemed to almost match Starlight’s own outfit. “F-Feather! Hi!”

“Wassup, girl?” he said with a smile that melted her heart. “You ready to head down to the town center?”

“You mean the whole five steps it’ll take to get there?” Starlight asked with a sarcastic smile.

“We could take a walk around the town a couple times if you wanted.”

Starlight’s eyes began to glow at the thought, but then, shaking her head, she calmly said, “Nah. I wanted to be the first one there to see the tree right as soon as it’s lit up!”

“Then we’d better hurry,” he said, holding out his hoof, and as soon as Starlight placed her own hoof to his, he quickly pulled her forward, racing down the street until the two of them were right next to the biggest Hearth’s Warming tree the village had ever seen.

Decorations covered the tree from its base all the way to the star at the top, making this the most festive event that the town had had since it was introduced the year before. The tree towered above the houses, casting a long shadow across half the village as the sun began to set in the background until it was nothing more than an outline in the horizon. Suddenly, the entire town was dark, reaching the point of night where the sun had fallen but the moon was not quite in the air, but just as soon as the sky had reached its darkest, the tree began to illuminate in a rainbow of colors, making Starlight and Feather Bangs gasp in awe.

“Wow!” Starlight exclaimed. “Not even Ponyville has something this beautiful!”

“Sure they do,” Feather Bangs said, making Starlight raise a curious eyebrow. “They have you.”

Starlight’s face was now so red that her hat appeared pink by comparison. “Weeeeelll, technically I’m not in Ponyville right now.”

Then suddenly, Feather Bangs grabbed hold of Starlight’s hoof and looked into her eyes. “Does that mean I can keep you?”

“W-what,” Starlight stammered, her mouth shaking as she tried to make words come out of her mouth. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I want you as close to me as possible.”

“B-but what about Sugar Belle?”

Feather Bangs chuckled, taking his scarf off and wrapping it around Starlight’s muzzle, making her shiver in warmth. “I think I’m gonna be a little too preoccupied to pay much attention to Sugar Belle.”

Starlight giggled. “Oh, yeah? Too busy doing what?”

“This.”

Then, without warning, Feather Bangs pulled both layers of scarf down from Starlight’s mouth and placed a gentle kiss across her lips, making her freeze despite the boiling temperature in her body. Once the initial shock had finally worn off, however, Starlight leisurely closed her eyes and brought her hoof up to Feather Bangs’s cheek, holding him right where she wanted him. As their kiss broke, however, Starlight quickly hid her face back into Feather Bangs's scarf, getting a nose full of his intoxicating scent before Feather Bangs could make fun of her ridiculous smile.

“I’m glad you came back, girl.”

“Yeah,” Starlight said, finally showing him the smile that he had given her. “I’m glad I came home.” Then, with Starlight standing up on the tips of her hooves, Feather Bangs leaned down and pressed one more kiss across her lips, holding her close and never letting go. “Thank you, Twilight.”

Author's Note

On the 12th day of Feather Bangs, Princess Cadence gave to me:

Twelve days of romance, eleven sexy nightmares, ten teacher lessons, nine famous actors, eight days in prison, seven shots of vodka, six skills for flirting, five game night pranks, four Fluttershies, three terrors, two different ends, and a Spike slice of life comedy..

Thank you so much to everyone who gave me their support during the 12 Days of Feather Bangs! Happy Hearth's Warming!