It Was a Magical Time

Chapters

Twas the Eve of Hearth's Warming Eve
A Chill to the Air
Into the Cold
Fashionably Late Shopping
Of Hearth's Warming Past
Starlit Reprise
To Hearth's Warming Future

Twas the Eve of Hearth's Warming Eve

“And then Clover the Clever begat Luxurious the Lusty,” Starlight flatly stated, rapping her hoof against the wooden surface of her desk. Around the classroom, some of the students jumped at the sudden noise. She sighed. They were obviously falling asleep.

Scrunching her forehead, she gazed around the room at the attendees. Most of the creatures were staring at her, their eyes devoid of any life. At least two were completely passed out, quiet snores escaping their muzzles. One of the students, a griffon, had a trail of drool trickling down his desk.

It was the last day of school before the Hearth’s Warming break, and she’d be damned if her students wouldn’t learn at least something. Even if she had to drill it into their heads. She even had a spell for it.

She shuddered. No, that wouldn’t be a good idea. After all, the last time she tried to make sure her classrooms actually gained some education, Twilight had swiftly put an end to it. By the time she had gotten there, however, the school contained a few literal fires. About the only thing that Twilight wasn’t upset about was Trixie’s room going up in flames.

Instead of keeping knowledge in, it turned them into mindless vegetables, barely able to hold a conversation. Cooking skills and sports skills were also victims of the malfunctioning spell. For instance, one yak student stared at a tennis ball for roughly ten minutes during PE. After he had finally figured out how to use his hoof to grasp it, he chucked it wildly and smacked his opponent in the face.

One short rebound later, the ball ended up puncturing a ceiling tile and breaking one of the spell matrices that powered the lights of the auditorium. Crystal liked to burn, apparently. At least with arcane energy fueling the reaction.

While it appeared that the struck student was woozy at first, he was okay aside from a few missing teeth. Apparently the spell hardened their craniums.

After Twilight had arrived and finally restored order, she spoke with Starlight one-on-one. Something about them being over it once before, and that she couldn’t use spells to force creatures into anything. She wasn’t entirely paying attention near the end, as Twilight started to grow pedantic. If she heard the lecture on “don’t brainwash creatures to do what you want” one more time, she’d probably run out the door of the school screaming.

True, she’d only gotten that reprimand once. It was still more than enough to keep her from doing it again. Unless she did it with a different spell.

Shaking her head, she flinched when there was a sudden scream from one of the mares near the front of the class. Behind her, a yak was snoring loudly, and his latest inhale had sucked her mane back and into his mouth.

With a yank, she managed to pull the majority of her hair out, which made the yak cough at the ticklish sensation. Still, he stayed drowsy and started to bow his head forward before his chin slipped off his forehooves.

Slamming to the floor, he grunted and stared up at the ceiling, rubbing his head with a hoof. A small chorus of chuckles escaped the student body. The mare he accidentally startled brushed down her mane before glaring at him, a faint blush on her cheeks.

After a couple of seconds, the class returned to staring at Starlight. Some of the students at the back gazed at her with glazed eyes over, and another portion doodled around in their notebooks, and one shared her latest artistic masterpiece with her friend. Starlight couldn’t make it out, but given the snickering, she could take a guess.

Another idea flashed through her mind. Maybe instead of burning facts and logic into their heads, she could at least use a spell of compliance. Of course, even if it wasn’t the same spell, it’d probably get Twilight to go after her.

After all, she could get the meaning of Twilight’s last letter she received. It was just after she had paid the reparations demanded by the parents of her classes. “I’m not mad, Starlight. Just extremely, extremely, disappointed.” She could feel the frustration rolling off the pages when it arrived.

Roused from her thoughts, she made out a growing murmur among the students. Now that the yak was once again on his seat, he had muttered a few words to the mare in front of him before facing the pony beside him.

From what Starlight made out, it seemed to spark a fire of conversation about Hearth’s Warming plans. She checked the clock behind her. It was still about half an hour before they could officially be let go.

Perhaps they thought they could mentally skip class, but they would have another thing coming. They would learn the lineage of Clover the Clever, and they would like it.

With a snort, she stepped from behind her desk and trotted forward. Furrowing her brow, she stopped a few steps shy of the first row of desks. One or two students halted their conversation, their mouths frozen mid-speech.

Saying nothing, she let her presence slow the chatter. After those who had noticed her had finished their piece, she cleared her throat and snapped, “Quiet!” She stomped a hoof and thrashed her tail.

Veins throbbing along her neck, she leveled them all with a furious glower. Outside of the front row, most of the students ignored her. Buried in their discussions, they prattled on about Hearth’s Warming plans, or trips they were expecting to take before the start of the new school semester in the new year.

Groaning, Starlight pinched the bridge of her nose and grumbled to herself, “Why am I cursed to have the rowdy ones?” She sighed and stared at the ceiling. “Why does Trixie always have the good students? Does she bribe them with candy or something?”

A pair of students near the back were snickering at their friend. The blue unicorn between them blushed and scrunched her muzzle. She sullenly crossed her forearms and glanced away. Although the topic was unheard, Starlight could make out some chortles about a date, or at least a stallion.

Suddenly, she snarled after her one friend, a white unicorn with a dull orange and golden-brown mane, jabbed her one too many times. She hopped from her desk and lowered her posture, igniting her horn with blue fire.

In response, the other unicorn cringed back before she rolled off her own chair and shot a jet of orange flame toward it. The two pillars clashed and splashed sparks in all directions.

A nearby kirin whooped, exclaiming, “Aw yeah! Mare fight!”

While not everycreature, most partook in the cheering of the two mares. Both were focused on keeping the two pyres locked together. Some sweat started to pour down the back of the blue unicorn, and her one remaining friend, a dark purple unicorn, glanced nervously between the two.

Rushing forward, Starlight powered her magic and pulled the two mares apart. “Enough!” she cried, flaring more energy into her horn to suck the oxygen from around the fires. The lapping tongues of flame from their horns died in an instant, and she glared at both of them.

Briefly, the two unicorns continued to glare at each other before Starlight positioned herself between them. Staring at the blue unicorn, she sighed, “See me after class. That is not a reaction to some teasing.”

Blushing and whimpering, the mare nodded her head and scraped her hoof along the ground. She sighed and trudged slowly back to her seat, grumbling under her breath, “It’s not like I think Amour’s cute or anything.” As she sat down, the purple unicorn gave her a single rub on her back before returning to her notes.

Innocently whistling to herself, she flipped through a few pages and tried not to pay attention to the reaming out Starlight was giving her other friend.

Shooting the white unicorn a withering glower, Starlight mumbled to herself, “I swear these are happening every day right now.” She shivered once and sighed. The student took a couple of steps back, squeaking when her rump bumped against the windowsill.

She glanced from side to side before flashing Starlight a weak grin, and Starlight exhaled audibly. The air flapping her lips, she mused, “I could just let them skip class. They’re just antsy from it being so close to Hearth’s Warming.”

She banished the thought with a shake of her head. As much as she could see reason to let them out early, she didn’t need a “class attendance quota” meeting again from Twilight.

“They need to be learning, Starlight,” she could almost hear Twilight say. “If they aren’t in class, they aren’t learning! Imagine if too many were… tardy?!”

In her head, she could see Twilight giving her one final lesson as a former student. The “I have to be firm sometimes,” lesson. For whatever reason, it was just her writing thousands of lines of, “I will not let my students skip classes.”

Snickering, Starlight shook her head before she grimaced. Of course, Neighsay would probably not be as lenient. And if he came at the same time as Twilight, she would have two headaches to deal with.

As much as it would probably be better for her to let them off the hook, she would need to hold on to them for the rest of class time. It wasn’t going to be much longer anyway, there were just twenty-five minutes left in class.

Turning her attention back to the unicorn, Starlight pawed at the floor and stated, “Well?”

“Uh…” the mare in front of her mumbled, shrinking back and brushing aside some of her mane. She chuckled and sputtered a few times before she glanced away.

Behind her, a few flakes of snow had begun to fall from the sky. The sunlight was beginning to disappear, as pegasi zipped around to place clouds in a tight grid pattern. Soon enough, there would be nothing but sheets of white descending from the heavens.

Given that Hearth’s Warming was only two days away, they were working overtime to make sure that there was plenty of fresh snow for the holiday. If Starlight remembered right, they were due for a strong, but short, blizzard. Why it had to be as school ended, she wasn’t sure. All she received from the local weather team was a short note that said, “Reasons.”

Opening her mouth, Starlight started to say something, but the words died in her throat. More flakes were falling from the sky, and she felt her stomach suddenly turn inside out. In it, a pit formed rapidly, making her croak in surprise as she fell on her haunches.

Her brain buzzed. Peripheral vision fading, she whimpered softly as she continued to watch the weather. In seconds, it seemed to grow darker, and there was a slow ringing sound in her ears as she suddenly heard a single cry of anguish.

For a short time, she sat motionless, just gazing out the window, her eyes shrunken in fear. The white unicorn tilted her head in confusion, taking a couple of steps forward.

As she reached out, she asked, “Uh, Headmare Glimmer?” She tapped Starlight on the shoulder, getting only a single shiver in response. Some of the other students also started to watch Starlight, some growing nervous as she remained effectively catatonic.

Before anycreature could say anything else, Starlight shook herself and blinked. Already she felt normal again, save for a bit of a residual lump in her throat. She coughed a couple of times and stared at her hooves. Arching a brow, she muttered to herself, “Okay. Sitting down now.”

She quickly tugged at the hem of her dress that Rarity had made for her. Along with Starlight, Trixie had also received a new set of clothes, mostly to appear more professional. If anything, they made Starlight feel just a tad older, but they definitely helped keep her warmer in the colder months.

Her matching purple overcoat and cyan blouse did make her seem more like a headmare. At the same time, she wondered if it kept her from being as approachable. It wasn’t like she was prone to trying to solve issues with magic. At least not anymore.

After she had flicked the dust off her outfit, Starlight turned to look again at the unicorn. Laced with concern, the unicorn’s face was crinkled into a wince. When she saw that Starlight was standing again, she asked, “Are you okay?”

“Uh, yes?” Starlight stated, shaking her head and sighing. “Don’t think that you can get out of a reprimand either. I was just about to get to you.” She scowled and prepared to speak further.

“You just conked out there,” the mare stated, making Starlight halt in her mental tracks.

For a second, Starlight stared emptily at the student. Fluttering her eyes rapidly, she finally asked, “What?” She licked her lips. “No, I remember coming up here, then you asked me if I was all right.”

“You were there for over a minute, Headmare Glimmer,” the unicorn replied, scrunching her muzzle worriedly and giving her a miffed expression. She took another step forward and tried to place a hoof on Starlight’s back, which was quickly shaken off.

“Okay, maybe I blanked out for a second,” Starlight admitted with a faint blush. There was a small gap in her memory. Whatever had triggered it was probably something inconsequential. That, or she was experiencing horn rot or something. All manners of disease could affect a unicorn’s mind.

“No, think happy thoughts, Starlight,” Starlight told herself as she tuned out the next thing her student was saying. “Go to your happy place. Kites, empathy cocoa, a whole room of statues and posters of Sunburst—” She paused for a second to let her mind catch up.

Sunburst had left for the Crystal Empire at least a month or so ago. After the first few days, he had told her to stop sending him so many letters. Honestly, it wasn’t that many, although the mailmare always looked like she was going to bolt when Starlight came out to give her mail to deliver.

To be fair, Sunburst probably didn’t need that collection of homemade kites she put together in her free time. And they didn’t have to interlock to form her face. That was just an added feature. Trixie grumbled about not thinking of that idea first.

Starlight blinked. “Okay, maybe getting a bit desperate to see Sunburst again.”

Shaking her head, she frowned and replied, “Whatever the case, don’t think you’re getting off without seeing me.” She turned around to glare at the blue unicorn again. “Both of you, see me after class. I’ll have to talk with you about your fiery tempers.”

With that, she huffed and rotated on her hooves. Illuminated in the dwindling daylight from outside, motes of dust floated lazily through the air. She sneezed as a couple of flakes floated into her nostrils. Wiping a couple of tears from her eye, she furrowed her brow.

They would need to get better cleaning staff come in over the holidays. Maybe actual professionals, instead of just whoever they could volunteer from the classrooms. She would have to do her own research, as anypony Trixie ever found was far too expensive.

That, or they basically sat on their haunches all night and just reported that they were doing things. Also, Trixie’s one affordable suggestion, Manic Mania’s Midnight Cleaner was a bust. While they never saw the ponies at work, they somehow ended up with more dirt than before.

Also, half their classrooms were in other dimensions, and at least three flying pigs had taken up roost in the auditorium. To that day, Starlight told Trixie that she was bamboozled by Discord, but Trixie insisted that she talked to a pony. Of course Discord wouldn’t comment, although he did send his regards by way of singing eggplant.

Trixie’s next suggestion was even worse, somehow. They charged an arm and a leg and did a lousy job. It was as if Trixie couldn’t care less about how many bits were spent. Probably thought that they grew on trees, since Twilight was technically the one funding the school.

Of course, given that she also was the pony who proposed the “charisma wing.” From all the vagaries she could muster, she basically asked to be made a dean of a section of the school. According to her, most of the students were “too geeky” to effectively learn to be friends with others.

Also, the pitch was partly to make “the Patient and Dutiful Trixie earn her keep.” By getting a thirty percent pay raise. For effectively doing the same job she was now. It wasn’t like she lived in Twilight’s old castle with Starlight or anything.

When Starlight had told her no, then Trixie took it to Twilight. It was a big deal in her day court, for all of five seconds before she laughed it out. Trixie hadn’t come home until the next day, and she was covered in doughnut crumbs.

Plopping herself back down on her seat, she sighed and took a fresh headcount of the ponies in the classroom. Furrowing her brow, she snarled when she counted at least half a dozen less students than before. Suppressing her panic, she instead grumbled internally, “Guess they’ll be getting Fs on their report cards. Again.”

For a second, she prepared to teleport out and drag the missing students back to their class. However, she breathed a sigh and shook her head. As much as she could easily track them while they were in the school, there was no point. They’d probably just mentally check out anyway.

Flicking an ear, she furrowed her brow as she spotted a few students still murmuring between each other. She cleared her throat and smacked a hoof on the desk, shooting them all a glare. When they finally stopped, she sighed and nodded her head.

She flashed them a slightly manic grin. “Okay! If we’re done talking when we should be learning—” She felt her jugular throb as she gritted her teeth. “We can get back to the lecture.”

Breathing in, she shut her eyes and waited for the chorus of agreement that would surely come her way. She stayed quiet. Surely, it would be arriving any second. It didn’t.

Instead, she raised her eyelids partway. Flicking one of her ears, she huffed and rolled her eyes. They acted like she wasn’t even there, like she wasn’t implying detention if they didn’t comply.

She wouldn’t, obviously. That was for actually serious matters. Although, she had wanted to try some of her old techniques from Our Town again. She had yet to install the speakers she had ordered from Amneighzon in the detention room, and she still needed to install a recorded message, but that could be whipped up fast.

She could already imagine the statements she’d use. “I will not beat up my fellow student for staring at me.” “Friendship involves sacrifice of the self.” “Lunch money will not be needed in a friendship society, so stop forcing ponies to give them to you.” “Embrace friendship, it is inevitable.”

It was better than Trixie’s suggestion, though. Playing on repeat the Telebuddies’ music for the duration of a student’s stay was too much, even for her. Trixie wasn’t forthcoming on why she chose it, aside from citing that the “purple one taunted her in her dreams.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed as the students continued to jabber amongst themselves. In her chest, she could feel her frustration starting to mount, bashing itself against the lump in her throat.

Briefly she tried to push it back down. Her left eye twitched. “You can handle this, Starlight. You are calm. You are the epitome of calm.” She was far from calm. As her breathing started to grow flighty, she internally muttered to herself, “It’s just the end of school year excitement. Nothing to worry about.”

Stomping a hoof on her desk, Starlight attempted to get the class’s attention yet again. However, it was barely heard over the noise of conversation. Most of the students barely paid her any mind, and the buzz of their discussions reached a near fever pitch.

She whacked her hoof again, and she could hardly hear it. Slivers of pain shot up her fetlock and forearm. She winced as she pulled it back. Breathing deeply, she told herself, “You. Are. Calm.” She rubbed her temples.

Huffing, she gritted her teeth and complained internally, “Why, Twilight? Why did you only get me three substitute teachers? Could you not get the rest of the Pillars to fill in? Was Star Swirl too busy sniffing up a resurrection spell or something?” She groaned. If this kept up much longer, she’d get a headache in no time.

While Starlight was thankful that Twilight had convinced some of the Pillars of Equestria to help, she was still short-staffed. Plus, the Pillars weren’t ideal.

Mistmane spent much of her time napping instead of teaching. Despite being young in mind, her old body demanded rest.

Flash ran his classes usually like ancient military drills. More than once ponies or other creatures ran out screaming when they were done. If they could move at all, that was. That also relied on Flash not ogling Somnambula, since they frequently taught together.

It didn’t help that the students also found her distracting. With all the random nosebleeds, Starlight had to scrounge around for extra tissues or handkerchiefs for most of the school.

For a few weeks, it was a tad awkward after Starlight asked Twilight if she could use a blood transfusion spell. When asked why, Starlight explained it was a new disorder, “AMT Syndrome.” Attractive Mare Teacher. Twilight didn’t need to know the last part.

Scrunching her muzzle, Starlight furrowed her brow and glared into the class. Her patience worn thin, she powered her horn, feeding energy into it to create a high-pitched whine. Some sparks flew from the tip, landing on the floor and fizzling out.

At first, the students didn’t notice, but eventually one of the mares that was in front of the sleeping yak blinked and pointed at Starlight. Her eyes growing wide, she screamed, “She’s going to brainwash us all!” At that, she ducked and held her hooves over her head.

Instantly the entire body went silent and gasped, with some of them hunching down in their seats or even knocking their desks over for protection. Paper spilled around the floor, and Starlight internally groaned. Apparently she had not outlived her reputation after the first “magic incident.”

With a huff, Starlight blew a strand of her mane out of her face and righted the desks and students. In a flash, she placed their notes back where they should have been, and she mused “Yes, I’m definitely going to brainwash you. It’s not like the audio frequency of an amplification spell is the exact same as one for Mind Enslavement.”

It looked like her class’s unicorns would need to be taken to Magic 101 again. Hopefully she could instruct it better than Twilight or Celestia could in Canterlot. If they couldn’t tell the difference between two trivial spells, then how could they effectively do anything in the real world?

“Are we done?” Starlight snapped as she let her horn continue its whine for a few more seconds.

“Can we just—” one student squeaked out before Starlight leveled a glare at her.

As she whimpered, Starlight fed the energy she was building into her vocal cords, and she boomed, “I said: are we done?!” Due to the amplification, she managed to blast some of the returned notes off the first row of desks and also blew straight the manes of a few of the mares there.

It was loud enough that the two desks directly in front of her squeaked a few inches back, and their occupants blinked in surprise. They slowly returned their manes back to their original shape.

She had probably topped Luna’s Royal Canterlot Voice.

For a second, Starlight felt a slight bit of pride well up in her chest. Perhaps she could challenge Luna to see who could deafen a pony first.

Finally the room had fallen into a still quietness. A pin could drop, and everycreature could probably hear it. Some bits of dust and dirt floated in the air, stirred up by Starlight’s exclamation. Starlight stared at her students, who stared back, their eyes the size of mere pinpricks.

Weakly, Starlight began to chuckle to herself as the assembled students continued to watch her. Some started to sweat, nervously glancing between themselves before shifting in their seats. One or two eventually turned to their notes, pretending to be deep in their work. These were the ones that were most guilty of chattering while in class.

Blushing faintly, Starlight tittered nervously and scratched the back of her mane. The numerous eyes on her started to feel like they were judging her. On top of that, her stomach was still roiling from whatever had made her blank out earlier. Together, the sensations started to make her feel nauseous, and she groaned to herself.

Taking a few deep breaths, she closed her eyes and opened her mouth. “Now—” she began, before she was cut off by raucous cheers.

Blinking, Starlight gazed at her class as they started to applaud in whatever way they could. Talons clapped together, hooves thudded on the ground. Outside of the occasional outlier that was too embarrassed to look at her, the entire student body was celebrating.

It was the last reaction she was expecting, especially when one kirin exclaimed, “Yeah! That was totally awesome, Headmare Glimmer!” he whooped and punched another student in the shoulder, who glowered back in response.

Groaning, Starlight smacked her forehead into her desk and whined under her breath, “Why me? Why. Me?” She wasn’t expecting an answer, she just wanted to vent. Better to get angry at nothing than to blast her students. Or brainwash them. For real.

For a short while, the students continued to applaud, but as they started to notice her tired expression, slowly quieted down. A couple coughed into their forehooves before they meekly stared at her. A griffon scratched behind his head nervously.

Switching her gaze from one student to the next, Starlight grunted out, “Now, if we’re finally done, can we get back to Clover the Clever?” A round of exasperated sighs met her. She smirked. That was more or less what she was expecting.

“Excellent!” she declared as she perked up her ears and clopped her forehooves together. Straightening out her blouse and adjusting the golden pin on her chest, she cleared her throat and stated, “Also we can hopefully get to how Clover’s work in fundamental harmony resonances paved the way for modern Equestria.”

Anxiously, the students glanced around, and one raised their forehoof. Before they could say anything, Starlight blinked and mentally smacked herself. Chuckling nervously, she hastily added, “Oh, and of course, friendship. Can’t forget that.” She scratched her head and snickered again.

One or two of the students in the back furrowed their brows and stuck out their tongues. Starlight could guess exactly what they were thinking. Why should they be cooped up and listen to a pony drone about another dead pony when they could be playing in the snow or something?

It was simple: because she said so. She snarled and tapped a hoof on her desk. “Unless anycreature would rather learn what happens when they fail my classes?” As a chorus of denials and uneasy responses came back, she chortled and stated brightly, “Good! Because I’d hate to hold any of you back a semester.”

With that, she coughed into her hoof before she grabbed a small pointer on her desk and smacked it onto the blackboard. She breathed deeply. Glancing back, she waited to make sure they were all paying attention before she continued on.

On the blackboard, a few scribbles of a city were drawn. It was fairly crude, but it would suffice. After all, she wasn’t an artist.

Snatching a piece of chalk, she scrawled a basic stick figure of a pony in front of the city. It screeched and scratched against the blackboard, causing both her and her students to cringe at the noise. Plastering her ears against her head, she winced as she tried to finish the drawing.

Humming softly, she dabbed the chalk twice on the circle that was the head, then scraped a small, curved line into a smile. It cheesily grinned at her.

With that, she nodded and turned around. Smacking the drawing a couple of times with her pointer, she sat up on the desk and flicked her tail from side to side. Smiling, she asked, “Now, who can tell me what was the greatest contribution of Clover?”

There were a few murmurs amongst the learners. Most of the ponies looked bored, but some of the other creatures were at least attempting to appear interested. After a few seconds, a hippogriff raised her talon and asked, “The founding of Equestria, Headmare Glimmer?”

When Starlight huffed, she weakly grinned and brushed back some of her rose-colored mane. Blowing a streak of her hair out of her face, Starlight muttered internally, “Observant.” She shook her head. “No, outside of founding Equestria.”

Holding up a hoof, Starlight blurted out, “Of course, don’t forget she didn’t technically found it. She only helped the three pony tribe leaders forge a new alliance. Equestria would come later.” She glanced up as wind rattled on the window.

It was slowly picking up in intensity, and she spotted some weather ponies flitter about. In the middle of the fluttering pegasi, one mare was directing them to fill gaps or to kick some clouds harder. With each command, the snow grew thicker, and soon enough it would be a proper blizzard outside.

For a second, Starlight paused and watched the activity. A single shiver ran down her back before she broke her gaze from outside and returned to her class.

A soft cough echoed through the room as the assembled creatures stared at her. Awkwardly, she chuckled and stated, “Of course, that tidbit isn’t really relevant. Okay! Rephrasing!” She hopped off the desk and tapped the pointer on the blackboard.

“After Equestria was founded, what was Clover’s greatest accomplishment?” Her students stared at her, perplexed expressions on their faces. She sighed and repeated slowly, “Anycreature? Anycreature?” She trotted forward to drum a hoof on her desk before she nickered, “It isn’t that hard.”

Thinking for a moment, she realized that probably most ponies didn’t care for history like she did. Other creatures were possibly even less interested. However, these seemed like they couldn’t care less at all. If they could tell the difference between an event that had happened two years ago versus two hundred years ago, it would be a bit surprising.

And, given that for a while it was practically every week Twilight dealt with a life-threatening issue, it didn’t help matters. Some of those problems might have been from Starlight, but that was coincidental. It wasn’t like Twilight had a room dedicated to stopping her in case she had a nervous breakdown and decided to summon a black hole in the middle of Equestria.

That would never happen. Never.

Through her musing, the ticking of the clock caused her left eye to twitch. Shooting it a glance, she sighed when she saw they only had about ten minutes remaining. Aside from it, the room was silent, and she slowly furrowed her brow.

After a solid thirty seconds of waiting, she finally switched her gaze back to the hippogriff, who just shrugged and gave her a nervous wince. Starlight could make out a few beads of sweat on the hippogriff’s forehead.

Groaning, Starlight smacked a hoof to her forehead before she grumbled, “Okay, so, in 744 BLB—”

A single yak student raised her hoof.

“Before Luna’s Banishment,” Starlight snapped back. She growled and shot the student a glare. The yak shortly lowered her hoof.

Huffing, she trotted back and forth behind her desk. Her hoofbeats clopped loudly on the stone floor and reverberated through the classroom. She looked for a second in each student’s eye.

“In 744 BLB, Clover established the Council of Unicorns to provide oversight and guidance on new spell creation.” Starlight rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. Hopefully that tidbit would jog a student’s memory. After another beat, she tried to keep from screaming from all the blank expressions she received.

Rotating her hoof at the fetlock, she leaned in a bit and drawled, “And, after the creation of the council, Clover began to research—?” She shot her gaze amongst the crowd. “Anycreature? Anycreature?” Internally shrieking to herself, she focused on keeping her face as deadpan as possible.

Occasionally, her left eye twitched, but aside from that, she held it well.

Grumbling under her breath, she finally huffed out, “The Leighsian Process of Magical Theory.” She scratched the words above the crude city drawing. After she finished, she whirled on her hooves and beamed at the students. In response, she received silence.

They were effectively catatonic, as they simply stared at her, devoid of all emotion. Wherever that energy they had to cheer her on had gone, she had no clue.

Some sweat trickling down the back of her neck, she prodded, “And after she established the new processes, Clover—?” Whipping her forearm around, she tried to get somecreature to answer her. Her heart beating slightly faster, she moaned internally, “Anycreature, please!”

Coughing into her shoulder, she asked, “Anycreature? Anycreature?” When she received no response, she bemoaned to herself, “Why the buck are you even here, then?! Didn’t you come to learn friendship principles?”

Letting her mane flop in front of her face as she growled and lowered her posture, she finally spat out, “Clover discovered the Harmonious Web spell.” Without waiting for a response, she scribbled the name of the spell onto the chalkboard.

For emphasis, she scribbled a cheesy-looking heart with a small hole through it, like it was run through with an arrow. A few dribbles of blood she added at the last second, a faint glimmer going across her eyes as she did so. She jabbed the chalk on the last drop, and she coughed into a hoof.

“These students are going to be the death of me, I swear.” She furrowed her brow and gazed back at them.

One dragon was blowing a giant bubble with some gum. The pink substance was expanding rapidly, and it appeared that he was dozing off. As his head lolled back, he snorted, which sent another blast of air into the bubble.

It burst, loudly. The pop caused about half the class to dive under their desks, while the other half either readied for fisticuffs or powered their horns. Blinking, the dragon wiped his face down and blushed before trying to get the sticky substance off his claws.

It only managed to get it buried further into his scales, and he glanced at Starlight, panic starting to form on his face. Starlight groaned as she used a quick cleaning spell to vaporize the gum. “Case in point,” she grumbled to herself.

Without skipping a beat, Starlight closed her eyes and returned to her lecture. “And after she discovered that spell, she used it to—anycreature? Anycreature?” With no response, she sighed. “I guess I’ll just have to choose one.”

She swiftly darted her gaze around the room, eventually landing on a pony near the front, who glanced side to side when Starlight jabbed a hoof at him. Anxiously pressing a forehoof against his chest, he arched a brow, and she nodded frantically.

In her head, she bellowed, “Just answer the bucking question!”

Nervously dabbing at his brow, the stallion coughed lightly and chuckled. A faint blush started to form on his face before he started to zoom through his notebook.

Starlight sighed.

After a couple of seconds, he shot his head up and held up a hoof. Stammering, he declared, “Oh, uh, Clover used it to bond all of Equestria to each other, so they could use the warmth of love and friendship to create magic never achieved!” He smirked and slammed his notebook shut. Snarkily, he added, “And Clover is a he.”

It was a start, at least. Either way, he answered the question, and Starlight whooped internally at finally receiving an answer. It was a simple response, and he should have had it memorized, but a win was a win. “Class participation! Whoo!”

Grinning from ear to ear, Starlight bobbed her head up and down and declared, “Exactly! It only lasted for Clover’s generation, but it formed the bonds ponies still have with each other to this day.” Chuckling under her breath, she added, “Of course, it did have other… unintended consequences.”

As Starlight received a few murmured questions, she smirked and chortled to herself, “This will be good.” She rested her pointer and snatched the chalk again. Sticking out her tongue, she returned to the drawing of Clover the Clever and erased it with a quick spell.

In its place, she started to draw two ponies. The first, while difficult to make due to the unwieldy nature of drawing details with chalk, was clearly Star Swirl. Even with the basic definitions, it was impossible to mistake his long, scraggly beard.

Next to him, she drew Clover, this time with the pony’s hood removed. From underneath the cloth, a flowing mane blustered about in a non-existent wind. Additionally, Starlight rounded Clover’s chest slightly and made the unicorn’s face slimmer.

In the end, what was depicted before the student body was Star Swirl and Clover. Most of the new Clover’s proportions were the same. However, there was just enough curves to indicate that it was a mare. A bulky, stallion-like mare, but a mare nonetheless.

Observing her work for a second, Starlight nodded. Just to make sure, she added a few hearts above Star Swirl and Clover’s heads. A couple of students chuckled as she finished.

Rotating on her hooves, she smiled at those assembled and asked, “Now, you’re probably wondering, ‘Starlight, all the history books say Clover was a stallion. Why are you calling him a she?’” She resisted the urge to throw a snide nasal pitch into her voice. Every time she mentioned Clover’s gender, it got ponies irritated. Twilight had yet to accept it, either.

Sneering, she stomped a hoof on her desk and declared, “History got it wrong. I have it on reliable authority.” Trudging a few steps closer, she leaned back on her desk. Smugly, she placed a hoof on her chest and proclaimed, “I have it from Star Swirl himself that Clover was a mare.”

A yak scratched her head. “But smart, glowy unicorn always shown as stallion!” she protested, getting a chorus of agreement from the students. Giving herself a shake, which jangled some of her jewelry, she added, “Puny ponies even make paintings of him after he died!”

“Oh, I know.” Starlight held up both her hooves to attempt to calm the growing consternation in her students. As the murmur died, she stated, “Clover was just… hefty. She was built like a stallion.” Pressing a hoof to her muzzle, she chortled. “When you were the gofer for Princess Platinum and Star Swirl, you ran quite a bit.”

One of the changelings near the back chittered, a slightly dopey expression coming over their face. Their eyes reflected the snow from outside, and Starlight arched a brow. When they stayed silent, she continued.

“Getting back to my point: the spell amplified the love bonds between ponies.” She blushed faintly. “It was enough to push Star Swirl and her to get a bit… romantic.” Coughing into a hoof, she brushed aside her mane.

“Imagine all the love to feed on!” the changeling muttered, catching Starlight’s attention.

Furrowing her brow, Starlight sighed. Despite the slight mirth in her voice, she glowered and grunted out, “Antenna, are you planning anything?”

“No!” the changeling yelped in surprise. Buzzing her wings, she chittered, “I was just, uh, imagining the gloves I could use with my seeds to plant in my pond!” She chuckled and scratched the back of her neck.

Starlight arched her brow. “Just like when you checked Silverstream and Gallus for ‘nits’ at lunch?”

“Yes!” Antenna replied with a vigorous nod of her head. Rotating her head to the side, she tried to face away from Starlight. “They weren’t traumatized for more than a day!”

“Gallus couldn’t be near a changeling for a week, and Silverstream claimed the ‘bugs were coming for her’ for a month,” Starlight deadpanned back. She shook her head. “That’s hardly a day.”

Shrugging, Antenna peeped back, “Okay, then they only screamed for a day.” She chuckled nervously before tapping her hooves on her desk, whistling softly under her breath. She shot Starlight an innocent grin.

A few flecks of spit flying from Starlight’s mouth, she contorted her face into a furious grimace before she sighed. In an instant, her expression stuck with just mild frustration, and she grunted, “I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that.”

Rolling her eyes, she cried, “Anyway! The spell caused Star Swirl and Clover to fall desperately in love with one another. It didn’t last long, but, well… Luxurious was the result.” She snickered and blushed a bit more.

“Please!” a griffon declared as he brushed down some of his brown-speckled features. It almost looked like he was splashed with mud. “Like that is a believable story. Luxurious wasn’t even born until after the Pillars disappeared!”

Flexing a hoof from side to side disapprovingly, Starlight declared, “True, but it was only a few months later. Plenty of time for them to get frisky, as it were.” She paused and clicked her tongue. An idea had popped into her head.

Cackling under her breath, she grinned and sneered. It would be a perfect way to close out the school semester. Plus, it’d be something she could lord over Twilight’s head.

Muzzle curling into a sneer, she stated, “How about I ask Star Swirl? He’s just a letter away.” Without waiting, she trotted behind her desk, scribbled a quick paragraph about Luxurious’ parentage, and sent it off in a burst of cyan magic.

She rested her forehooves on the desktop and gently placed her chin on top. Swishing her tail eagerly, she stated, “And now we wait.” Before even a single murmur could be heard, there was a loud flash of magic and a bright burst of grey.

A single letter plunked onto the desk, and she quickly grabbed it. With a yelp, she rubbed her nose as another letter slapped her in the muzzle. Growling, she unfurled the first and sighed. It was just a bunch of scribbles and streaks of ink. Also, there was a giant hole through one portion of the paper, where it appeared a pen stabbed it.

Taking the second letter, she quickly scanned its contents and smirked. Holding back a snicker, she stated as she rotated the letter to face the students, “As you can see, Star Swirl is very… passionate about this subject.” She wiggled the paper and sent a few specks of ink in all directions.

She huffed when some splashed on her desk. It would be impossible to clean. Magical, impervious to fire ink was effectively unremovable. She double-checked to make sure none landed on her uniform.

After she was satisfied, she cleared her throat and began to read aloud. “Miss Glimmer,” she said, imitating Star Swirl’s gruff demeanor as best she could. She sounded like she swallowed a dozen rocks. “I know that you enjoy asking myself and the other Pillars about this rumor that I had an ‘interaction’ with Clover.” She paused and waited for her students’ response.

Some snickers softly echoed through the room, and she smirked as she started to pace behind her desk. “I assure you, however, that these baseless accusations purporting that I sired Luxurious the Lusty are just that: foundationless and without proof.”

Inwardly she chortled and muttered internally, “Tell yourself that all you want, Star Swirl.” As her hooves beat heavily on the classroom floor, she cleared her throat and went on, “The fact that Luxurious shared a nearly identical coat as I is merely coincidence. After all, many ponies of my time shared attractive veneers like myself.”

Her voice hitching, Starlight read ahead and gulped. The next few sentences were a tad… worrying. For her health, anyway. “Moreover, that all the ponies close to Clover who claimed to have intimate knowledge of a scandalous act such as that wound up banished or otherwise indisposed is merely happenstance.”

Pausing, Starlight wiped her brow and brushed her sweaty forehoof along the back of her dress. Now it was getting more interesting. “Therefore, I wholeheartedly deny any statements that I am in any way, shape, or form, related to Luxurious, and that I would form a consensual relationship with my former student, Celestia bless her soul.

“If you do not retract such statements, then I may have to inform Twilight of some irregularities I discovered in the school funds—” Starlight wrapped the scroll tightly in her magic. “Okay, I think that’s enough!” She summoned a large pillar of fire that engulfed it. There was a loud fwoosh sound as it turned to ash, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully Star Swirl used a one-way transportation spell. Her fire would be sending it nowhere.

Briefly the blackened remnants of the letter held stiff before collapsing into a pile on the floor. Stomping a hoof on it, Starlight coughed loudly a few times before she ignited her horn. A giant pillar of blue flame, at least five feet high, shot into the air.

“Sorry,” Starlight declared as she coughed into a fetlock, “I had a tickle in my throat.” She blushed nervously and glanced at her students.

Most just stared at her, and one or two eyed the clock anxiously. There were only a couple minutes left in class, so she decided she would just wrap things up.

Trotting behind her desk, she snatched a large pile of papers and let them thump unceremoniously on the surface. A chorus of groans reached her ears, and she smirked.

With a withering stare, she poked her head from behind the pile of papers and stated, “Now, I know not many of you want to do homework over Hearth’s Warming, but this will be a fun exercise!” She flicked an ear as the room remained deathly quiet.

“It’s simple!” She chortled and some of the students started to murmur quietly. “You just need to list five Hearth’s Warming traditions that bring ponies and other creatures closer together.”

She floated the papers around, each being a bundle of five pages. As Antenna got hers, she asked with a low buzz, “Isn’t that really easy? Why are there so many pages?”

“Oh, because you’ll be writing a one-page essay on each point,” Starlight quipped back nonchalantly. In return, she received a growing number of protests. Huffing, she let them whine and grumbled softly, “You’ll thank me later, especially when you have to write reports on how the magic of friendship grows.”

Holding up a hoof, Starlight declared, “Okay, you’ve made your point. You can make two, two-page essays instead.” It didn’t really calm down the crowd, but she didn’t give them a chance to speak further.

As she opened her mouth, the bell for the half-hour mark before the end of the day rang. The mass of students instantly bolted from their seats and out the door.

Author's Note

This is a bit late for both dates for Christmas, but Hearth's Warming is a generic winter holiday that has no specific date, right? :twilightsheepish:

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys. :twilightsmile:

A Chill to the Air

At the incessant clanging of the school bell, Starlight sprang up, stretched out a hoof, and frantically called after her departing students, “Wait! I need—Oh, what’s the point?” She snorted. They had already fled. What point was there in chasing them? She could just assign them the history lessons when they got back. After all, who didn’t like digging into family trees?

With a sigh, she rested on her seat as she watched a few more students saunter out of the room. All in all, there were about half a dozen left that were cleaning out their desks and neatly packing away their books.

She huffed. The fiery troublemakers from earlier had managed to bolt in the initial rush. There’d be no way she’d get them now. Of course, it would probably be a nice gift to those three unicorns to let them off the hook. In the New Year, she could get a bit more strict.

Suddenly, her chest tightened, and she glanced around at the empty desks. Pangs of pain ran up and down her sternum, and she heaved a couple of times as the edges of her vision grew black. She rested her gaze at the window, which showcased steady snow falling from the sky.

The sunlight had grown dark, and while there were still a few pegasi darting about, they were less than before. Most were just checking on the state of the weather before they dove for the ground to find shelter.

For a brief moment, Starlight felt her brain buzz. The sound of crashing snow reached her ears. Clumps of white smacked against the window, and she blinked. As her vision cleared, she saw that it was her imagination. There was no overwhelming pile of snow headed toward her.

Afterwards, she started to breathe again. Her breaths came in short gasps, and there was still some ringing in her ears. A deep pit formed in her stomach, and another lump grew in her throat. Was she getting sick?

Blinking, Starlight shook her head. It wasn’t that. Now she remembered. Inwardly she punched herself a few times. How could she have forgotten? Was she just too busy? Did she think she’d be happy and ignore it all?

A single sniff escaping her muzzle, she choked out, “Mom…”

Some tears started to trickle down her nose, smearing a few bits of mascara into her fur. She snatched a handkerchief from her desk and dabbed at her eyes.

Pulling the handkerchief back, she sniffed and sighed. Some of the make-up had smudged into her hoof, but thankfully it didn’t smear into her uniform. For a second she stared at it, then she muttered, “I suppose I could just dunk it in snow…”

She sighed. Another cough racked her body as she sniffled and soaked up more of her tears. Slowly they started to dry up, and she whimpered to herself. “How could I almost forget, after twenty-three years?”

Heaving a couple of times, she rummaged through one of the drawers in the desk. Glancing from left to right, she didn’t spot any other students, and she groaned. She pulled out a small bottle of cider, which she had found Trixie stashing for “emergency purposes.”

There were even a couple of glasses in there, which she clinked onto the desk.

Before she could pour, she jumped when she heard a voice ask, “Sorry! I forgot a book in here!” Starlight squeaked and slid the bottle and shot glasses back into the drawer, then she glanced up.

A charcoal-colored mare with a faded cyan and blue mane was standing there, blushing profusely. She slid her glasses up her nose to rest in front of her deep red eyes.

They locked gazes for a second, and the student finally asked as she tilted her head, “Are you okay, Headmare Glimmer?” She arched a brow and bit her lip. “Shouldn’t you, uh, be cleaning the chalkboard, or something?”

Slamming the desk drawer shut, Starlight winced when she heard some clinks of glass. With a nervous chuckle, she started to wave a forehoof back and forth. “Just, uh, having, uh, hot flashes! No alcohol consumption here!” She tittered again when the student stared at her.

“Hot flashes?” the mare asked, turning her head even further to the side. She nickered and started to trot toward a desk near the front. With a swish of her tail, she bent down and snatched a book with her magic.

“Yep! Hot flashes!” Starlight replied with a nod. She avoided the student’s stare. “Good lie, Starlight. Definitely doesn’t sound weird!”

“Hot flashes?” was the deadpan inquiry.

“Uh-huh!” An awkward beat permeated the room, and Starlight winced internally as she blurted out, “Hot flashes!”

Slowly spreading her muzzle into a worried grin, the mare stated, “Uh, I’m not an expert on biology, but aren’t you twenty-seven? Sorry! I heard Counselor Lulamoon mention your birthday a while ago and—” She squeaked when Starlight glared at her.

Slamming a hoof on the desk, and a vein bulging in her neck, Starlight snapped, “Hot flashes!” For a second, she shot her a razor-thin, maniacal sneer. She cackled under her breath.

With a shake, she grunted and steadied herself. She nodded one last time and asked, “So, if you’ve, uh, gotten your book, then I guess I’ll see you in the New Year?”

Ignoring her change of subject, the mare asked again, “Are you sure you’re okay? You seemed kinda, well, sad.” She pouted, and her eyes dilated a bit.

“Yep, completely fine,” Starlight replied in an overly chipper tone. Just to make sure, she swung a hoof in front of her chest, to make it appear she was happy as could be. Inwardly, her stomach was doing somersaults.

“Well, it’s just that you taught us to try and be everycreature’s friend, so I thought that’d mean you too?” the mare brushed back some of her unkempt mane, and she chuckled nervously to herself.

Starlight smiled. A faint warmth filled her chest, shooing away much of the sadness that had taken hold. It was still there, but for the moment the pride of a student actually taking initiative like that overwhelmed her.

Sighing, she pressed a hoof against her temple and admitted, “You’re right. Thanks for asking me.” She gazed at the pony, a slightly morose grin on her muzzle. “I’m fine, thanks for asking…?” She arched a brow.

Blinking once, the pony declared, “Oh, I’m Nebula Flare!” She waved awkwardly. “That’s introductions, right?”

With a chuckle, Starlight nodded her head before she stated, “Well, thanks for asking me, Nebula. I won’t keep you.” She motioned with a flick of her tail for the door.

Getting the hint, Nebula winced a bit and readjusted her glasses before she strode toward the exit. She paused in the doorframe, giving Starlight one final look before she stated, “Happy Hearth’s Warming, Headmare Glimmer!”

Starlight smirked. “Happy Hearth’s Warming.” With that, she watched as Nebula trotted out of the classroom. Hanging her head, Starlight sighed and pushed back on her desk. She grabbed the chalk eraser and hastily cleaned off the blackboard.

Giving the room a onceover, she snatched her keys from inside her blouse’s pocket and made for the exit. As she approached the door, she stopped and stared at the glass. It wasn’t an overly good mirror, but it did allow for some reflection of her visage.

From what she could see, she was clearly frazzled. Some strands of her mane were bouncing around lazily, and she could see a couple of faint streaks of mascara. However, the former wasn’t anything that couldn’t be fixed with a quick brush of a hoof. And the latter was barely noticeable.

About the only thing that was obvious were the two large bags under her eyes. She looked like she had aged thirty years.

Furrowing her brow, she huffed and shook herself. While the bags were still there, she thought she didn’t look quite as haggard. Just tired, more than anything. To be fair, she probably was.

With a final inspection, she jangled her keys, snatched the door with her magic, and trotted out into the hallway. She hastily locked the door with a click and sighed. No more school—for her students, anyway—until the beginning of January. In 1010 ALB, no less! A whole new decade!

The slight excitement soon faded as she moaned to herself. In her gut, the pit had returned. It felt like her throat was swelling, and a thick, tacky ball of phlegm lodged itself in her trachea. Gulping it down, she tried to breathe, and the sensation slowly faded. A soft whimper escaped her throat before she turned around and grunted. It appeared she’d have a new problem to solve.

The hallways themselves were already a mass of students. That much she was prepared for. Her class wasn’t the only one that let out a half-hour before the end of the school day. While it was already packed, there were still small gaps in the sea of bodies that a pony could thread through.

What caught her attention, and her ire, were a pair of yaks that were currently climbing on top of the lockers along the right wall. The metal shivered and rattled as their weight compressed it.

Furrowing her brow, Starlight momentarily ignored the storm in her gut and bared her teeth. Some of the students in the passageway were cheering the two on. Others, probably the ones that actually had their possessions in the lockers, stared with wide-eyed horror.

When the first yak reached the top of his locker, he roared an incoherent cry before he screamed, “Yak! Smash!” With that, he hopped high, nearly impaling his horns on the ceiling, and then shot down with all his bulk.

There was a loud crunch as the first locker bent inwards, and Starlight held back a wince. Almost immediately, she powered her horn and snatched the second yak before he could even land.

Grinding to a halt mere inches from the top of the locker, he looked around as her electric-blue magic formed around his fur. He struggled to free himself, paddling his arms as if he was swimming mid-air.

Starlight didn’t manage to catch the first yak before he bounced again on the locker, which caused it to start to tilt. With a creaking groan, the locker teetered forward, and Starlight sighed as she sent more energy through her horn.

A few screams from the students were silenced when her magic solidified around the locker, stopping it from flattening them. For a few seconds, the entire hallway grew quiet as Starlight righted the locker and held the two perpetrators in her grip.

Slowly, she trotted forward and glared at the yaks. Some decorations from the rafters fluttered down, sending a few bits of glitter onto the floor. There were a couple of coughs, and the tension in the air could have been cut with a knife.

Her eye twitching, Starlight glanced from student to student before she tapped her forehoof on the ground. The clicking sound caused a pony near the back to nicker and flick her ears before galloping off. In her wake, more started to dissipate.

Soon the only students left were the yaks, who both shot Starlight uneasy grins. The slightly older one on the left pressed his bangs back and gazed at her. His pupils were nearly the size of pinpricks.

Quivering, the other yak whimpered as Starlight continued to approach. He didn’t dare to look her in the eye, and she did her best to refrain from snarling too loudly.

Starlight clicked her tongue. “What were you thinking?” she inquired, fixing both of them with a stern glare. A bit of her mane flopped in front of her face, which she quickly brushed back. While she loved her swoop, there were times it irritated her. Her old style from Our Town was admittedly much more practical. Made her look more intimidating, to boot.

Both yaks stammered, pointing forehooves at the other. For a second, they attempted to form plausible sentences before they fell back on, “Other yak’s idea!”

Starlight sighed. Resisting the urge to facehoof, she shook her head and started to trot back and forth. As more classes released their students, she and the yaks were given a wide berth. The only ones that dared approach hastily dug in their lockers before bolting.

“I understand that smashing is a wonderful—” Starlight winced. It was wonderful to nobody but the yaks, if one were to ask her. “A wonderful tradition that Yakyakistan follows. In fact, I heard you have special smashing trees for Hearth’s Warming.” She leveled both of them with another glower.

“But this is not Yakyakistan.” Her statement got a couple of nods from them. It was obvious, but apparently not incredibly obvious to them. “This is Equestria. We don’t smash random objects.” Pursing her lips, she snapped,” Understand?”

“Scary boss pony make her point,” the first yak declared, rapidly bobbing his head up and down. His helmet jostled a bit before falling off and going through Starlight’s magic field.

Clattering on the ground, it rolled to Starlight’s hoof. She swiftly snatched it and inspected her reflection in the iron. Floating it over to the yak, she snugly fit it on his head before she released the duo.

The yaks slammed onto the ground with heavy thuds, staggering to keep themselves upright. Fixating them with a hard stare, she crinkled her brow and stated, “Good. I’d hate to hold you back over Hearth’s Warming. Just imagine all the smashing and food, and family you’d be missing.” She blinked and perked her ears forward. In a sing-song voice, she added, “Oh, and I’d have you write a hundred thousand times about smashing school property, and just to be safe, you’d be a part of Counsellor Trixie’s selflessness course, where you get to listen to her brag about herself and not talk about you.”

Fluttering her eyelashes, she giggled. “So, it’s really good you stopped.” She flicked her gaze momentarily to the lockers. There was a large dent on the top of one, and part of the second was crumpled in at the side.

With a sigh, she quipped, “Oh, and the lockers are being added to your tuition.” She tapped a forehoof on her chin. Softly humming, she tittered, “It’s only a few hundred bits to get new ones. You shouldn’t have any problem paying it off.”

One of the yaks dabbed at his forehead, soaking his fetlock with sweat. A small, uneasy smile grew on his muzzle, and he whined, “Boss teacher pony is too kind!”

“I know,” Starlight declared. She smirked and stated, “This is one of my better days.”

Glancing between each other, the two yaks grunted and hastily took off, their trundling gait vibrating the entire way down the hall. A few streamers from the walls flapped after them, and as the second turned the corner, he nearly slid into the wall. He shook his head and galloped after his friend.

Starlight sighed, lowering her shoulders and glancing to the floor. The initial rush of adrenaline had shoved it from her mind, but now the unease and pit in her stomach had come zooming back.

With little else to do, she started to trot after the fleeing yaks. She could still barely make out the sound of their hooves thundering on the floor. Coughing out a sad chuckle, she weaved her way through the crowd of students.

The hallway itself was filled with life. Almost instantly the student body returned to their chatter like nothing had happened. Griffons, pegasi, changelings, and dragons all soared around in the air.

On the ground, the terrestrial species flocked and mingled, eventually forming their friendship circles. Although Starlight couldn’t make out any one conversation, the gist that she could pick up were the plans for Hearth’s Warming.

To that end, the hallways themselves were decorated with various ornaments, banners, and other things. Glimmering orbs of glass and crystal were suspended from the rafters. Some of the corridor’s lights twinkled and bounced through them in a dazzling display. They almost looked like stars..

Occasional banners of cloth or plastic dangled from every few girders. The plastic ones were cut and sliced into various shapes, some appearing like streams of snowflakes strung together. Still others were shaped into tiny Hearth’s Warming trees, with tiny, iridescent dots for ornaments and duller spots of color for sugarplums and other fruits of the season. Fake snow, mostly made out of cotton balls or other similarly fluffy items, was splattered here and there.

Every so often, there would be a mural painted along a blank section of wall, usually above a classroom. They depicted various parts of the Equestrian Hearth’s Warming tale.

As she walked, Starlight paused to gaze at one of them: Clover the Clever and the other ponies fighting off the Windigos. Clover was in the center, along with Private Pansy and Smart Cookie, all huddled together. A long beam of energy shot out from their midst and impaled one of the Windigos.

The other two were rearing on their hind legs, clearly panicked at their compatriot’s demise. Vicious winds whipped trails of snow around the group, but the sun had started to poke through. As the storm was dying, the Windigos, too, were clinging to dear life. One was in the midst of galloping away in fear as it faded out of existence.

For a few seconds, she stared directly into Clover’s eyes and smirked. She knew, along with a few others, Clover’s secret. Perhaps she’d get next year’s students to paint Clover as a mare. Or she’d let it stay. Better to keep tradition, even if it wasn’t accurate.

She shivered as she turned back into the crowd, nearly bumping into a couple of students. A low blast of cold air shot underneath the bodies and tickled at her hooves. Whatever creature had left in a blizzard was a bit crazy. She paused for a second. It could have been those two yaks. Perhaps she had instilled a bit too much fear into them.

Whatever the case, she sighed and pushed on, her chest slowly tightening as the lump in her throat grew larger. In her ears, the din of the halls began to evaporate and a faint ringing started instead. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, sniffling and wiping at her face before she exclaimed in surprise as she bumped into a student.

Both clattered to the floor, and Starlight blinked. Splattered on the floor, there were different utensils that a griffon was hastily scooping back in. Groggily, Starlight got to her hooves and tilted her head, as the black griffon with orange speckles chittered something under her breath before taking off.

She let out a single cackle. “You’ll never get my precious!”

Starlight huffed. There had been a utensil thief as of late. It appeared she found them. Of course it had to be while she was dazed.

Shrugging, Starlight sighed and shook her head. It wouldn’t be hard to remember a griffon like that. She’d turn up again, sooner or later. She made a mental note to leave some time-freeze spell matrices around the kitchen in the new year. They would snatch the culprit real quick.

Starlight brushed down her blouse and skirt before she gave a single snort. There was a faint creak and slam as the utensil thief took off into the courtyard. Why the griffon thought she needed all those, who knew. Probably because she couldn’t hoard gold or bits instead.

Whatever the case, she strutted forward, nearly slamming into a door that swung open at the last second. She jumped and halted, furrowing her brow as another throng of students emptied into the hallway. They chortled and laughed, occasionally elbowing one another.

Some were dressed in traditional garb for Hearth’s Warming, others just wore warm clothing. In all, they were a menagerie of assorted shades of greens, reds, and golds.

Tapping her hoof against the floor, Starlight blew back some of her mane and waited. In the back of her mind, she felt like she was being watched. It was a soft, tingly sensation. It was a bit like she sensed somepony watching her, but she knew it was impossible. A weak humming in her ears grew a bit louder, and she strained when she thought she heard a mare’s voice in the crowd.

She jerked her head left and right, trying to pinpoint the noise. However, it soon drifted away, leaving her feeling more uneasy than before. Her stomach roiled and gurgled once, which made her a tad queasy.

She bit her lip. With a sniff, she wiped at her nose and coughed into a hoof as the last few students filtered out of the classroom. She snatched the door with her magic and swung it shut, a dull thud reaching her ears.

Grimacing, she trotted forward a couple of steps and spotted one of her teachers splayed on the floor. It was Mistmane. Momentarily freezing, she gulped as she saw the old unicorn twitch a few times. She breathed an inward sigh as Mismane rubbed her head and got to her hooves, wobbling slightly.

With a shake of her head, she glanced around and muttered something, although Starlight couldn’t hear it. “At least she’s okay,” Starlight mused as she pulled back before Mistmane could spot her.

Blushing faintly, Starlight scratched the back of her head before she slipped away from the door. Some of the students parted when they saw her, and she trotted away, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow.

She shot one pony a faint smile as he trudged back. In return, she got a nod and a soft happy Hearth’s Warming from him. His sentiments were echoed by the rest of his friend group, who in one way or another all paid their respect to their headmare.

Very briefly, Starlight felt a bit of pride swell up. These were her students, and they were going to turn out to be the best of their generation. With the teachings of harmony and friendship in their heads, they could accomplish anything.

She sighed. That was, of course, if they finished. Some days it felt like they did everything in their power to not learn. The thought caused her expression to sour, and she lowered her shoulders to push through the rest of the group.

As she walked, the cacophony of random conversations filled her hearing. It was hard to make out a single topic, but the general energy was abuzz with excitement.

Overhead, the decorations on the rafters transitioned from banners depicting Hearth’s Warming scenes to fake snowflakes. Every so often, some crystal bulbs in the shapes of fruits or stars gently rocked from side to side. Buried in nooks between lockers, green shrubs decked out in tinsel and lights glittered like they were covered in a thin sheet of ice. Small toppers in the shape of stars refracted lights from the classrooms. The multicolored reflections played off some of the students, painting their faces in reds, greens, and golds.

Starlight frowned. Why they had those, she never quite knew. It wasn’t like they had any particular reason to have them. If it was a sun, it’d make more sense, but even then, neither Celestia or Luna were involved with the original Hearth’s Warming.

Maybe the star signified their birth, all those millennia ago?

A weak chuckle escaped Starlight’s lips. Perhaps they were born in some barn or something, like in that one holiday tale that Sunset had told her about. Christmas, if she remembered the name correctly. From what Sunset described, it was a nice time, just as friendly, if not more so, than Hearth’s Warming.

As she thought about it, she envisioned Celestia and Luna in a cow trough, like Sunset said the human’s Jesus was. That, or in another animal feeding device. Probably the animals would be just as confused as the newborn Celestia and Luna.

With that, she trundled along, her mane bobbing with her light prance. Perhaps next year she’d visit Sunset in the human world. It’d be a nice change of pace. She groaned. As soon as her mind even drifted toward spending time alone at Hearth’s Warming, the lump in her throat returned.

If she visited Sunset for Christmas, then she’d maybe be distracted long enough to not think about everything else. Or, at least, only ponder it in passing.

She winced and wiped a tear that formed near the rim of her eye. She sniffed. “Why of all years has it hit me this hard?” she murmured internally. It wasn’t like she had an answer, all she had was the growing sinking feeling in her stomach.

Approaching the corner of the hall, Starlight stopped when she spotted out of her periphery a dark grey puff of smoke. It blasted against the classroom door’s window.

Although she was still learning all the intricate details, she could at least recognize that one kind of smoke. It was from only one dragon she knew: Smolder.

As it cleared, she snickered and cantered closer to the window. She peeked in, spotting that the room was far fuller than hers before she ended the lesson. Her eyelids drooped, forming a half-lidded glare. “Of course, Flash can keep them there. But will they stick around for their headmare? No!” She snorted.

From what she could see, Flash was currently reaming out Smolder—or one of her friends. While he was still behind his desk, he was beginning to grow a bit flushed as he barked an order. Behind him, his co-teacher, Somnambula, entered from the neighboring classroom and shook her head. She heaved a sigh and blushed slightly, her Neighgyptian garb fluttering lightly with her movement.

Momentarily all of the students in the classroom stared between each other, then back at Flash. After a second, a single griffon hopped up and shouted something back at him. The griffon beamed triumphantly as Flash furrowed his brow and smacked his face into his desk. He rubbed his forehead before taking off and flitting between the desks.

Observing it all, Somnambula pouted as Flash shouted something else, and she sashayed up behind him. She reached up, rubbed him on the back, and muttered something that made the rest of the class snicker. At that, Flash settled onto the ground and crossed his forehooves, a light blush on his cheeks. Somnambula just made a more playful, petulant look.

She stared at him for a few seconds, and although Starlight couldn’t make out the full expression, she could assume that she was flashing him with the biggest puppy dog eyes she could muster. As time passed, Flash grew more flustered.

Rustling his wings, he nickered and reared back. With a grimace, he removed his helmet and rested it on Smolder’s desk. He rubbed at his temples and snarled wider.

He darted his gaze between Somnambula and the students, finally shouting, “Class! Dismissed!” loud enough for even Starlight to hear.

At that, the mass of creatures sprung to their hooves or talons and rapidly grabbed their things. As a wave, they moved toward the door.

That was Starlight’s cue to leave. Taking a small gulp, she backpedaled and slammed into a yak, who didn’t even notice the sudden impact. She gagged. The yak stunk, to say the least.

Between the stench of unwashed fur and the grease from the said dirty hair, the smell of extra-digested wheat rose into her nostrils. She coughed and held her breath, quickly breaking away and readjusting her mane. She shuddered and heaved once she was far enough away. At least the rancid smell wouldn’t stay much longer in her nose. Hopefully.

She stuck out her tongue, blowing a faint raspberry as she shook herself and tried to remain steady. The aroma of the yak caused her head to buzz a bit, and she wobbled on her hooves as the door to the classroom opened.

In a flash, the students were figuratively and literally flying out into the hallway. Starlight yelped when a griffon, not watching where they were running, smacked into her and made her stagger a couple of feet forward.

Before she had time to react, another student bumped into her and nearly fell to the floor. Both of them gave a quick apology, and Starlight felt her face grow a bit warmer. She was going to be trampled at the rate the bodies were filling the passage.

There was thankfully a small break in the crowd, and she was able to dive through and breathe a sigh. She wiped at her forehead, getting a few beads of sweat off. In an instant, however, she was pushed forward by a couple of yaks that were chatting between each other, and she nearly collided with a group of kirin ahead.

As she bounced off the male kirin in front of her, she chuckled and called out, “Sorry! Uh, lots of traffic!” She glanced behind her and huffed when she saw the yaks were loitering near a pair of lockers. Of course they would bump into her at the last second of their trip.

In response, the kirin turned and flashed Starlight a sultry smile, a loud purr coming from his throat. “Of course,” she huffed to herself as she pushed him tiredly out of the way and powered her horn. She disappeared a second later in a flash of cyan.

Seconds later, she teleported closer to the turn in the hall, exhaling loudly as she shot her gaze around. She nearly landed on a changeling, but he hopped out of her way in the nick of time. His buzzing wings and clicking mandibles indicated his irritation.

Weakly firing him a grin, Starlight laughed softly and scratched the back of her neck before she trotted forward. Ahead of her, a large mural along the wall was painted. It was just before the last stretch toward the exit of the school into the courtyard.

Beams of muted sunlight shone through the corners of the windows around the doors. Sheets of snow, almost like a flowing blanket at points, fell from the grey sky and smacked against the glass. They quickly melted into streaks of water and dribbled down, forming pools at the base of the window sills. A couple of dragons stared in awe at the weather display.

The mural itself was a combination of various creatures’ Hearth’s Warming celebrations and traditions. Most of it was dedicated to the Equestrian holiday, but each country represented by the student body had something, too.

In the center of the mural, the depictions of the founding members of Equestria were drawn. Unsurprisingly, they were huddled in a group and a trio of Windigos swirled above. To round out the motif of the first Hearth’s Warming, Clover’s eyes glowed bright white as light began to pour out from the three ponies.

All in all, that section was most professionally done, and the piercing gaze of the ethereal Windigos bore right into Starlight’s soul. She shuddered as she locked eyes for a second with one of the painted creatures, its dead expression filling her with dread. The mere thought of the founders standing up to a creature like that was still impressive.

Additionally there were more scenes from beyond Equestria. Two pieces were from the hippogriffs, depicting how they celebrated the holiday in and out of water. The first was of Hippogriffia, where Queen Novo and the rest of the royal family were holding a feast. Hippogriffs danced and soared through the air, throwing ribbons and other decorations around in the shadow of Mount Aris.

Conversely, the Seaquestrian one was more thoughtful and reserved. Families were in their individual hovels, and the ornate palace of Queen Novo was decked in a few extra baubles. Nothing grand beyond its original design, but enough to indicate it was still celebrating Hearth’s Warming.

Alongside that, there were scenes from Yakyakistan and Griffonia. Compared to the artistry of the Equestrian and Hippogriffian contributions, the yaks were rather primitive. With simple, flat scenes, they showed their favorite pastime for every holiday: smashing things. What was special for them were the Hearth’s Warming trees. In the background, some of the older cows were stirring pots of food with help from younger calves.

And then the griffon section. It was blank, aside from a large sign that read, “Griffon holiday here.” Underneath that, in smaller text, it added, “Make sure to steal it from the ponies.”

Starlight blinked and chuckled morosely. She could spot Gallus’ snark from anywhere. Near the bottom corner of the griffon section, a crude depiction of a fat griff in a top hat was snatching tiny bags from another griffon. The small money symbols swiftly indicated what was being grabbed.

As the other griffon was reaching out, the fat griffon was taking off. In a small speech bubble next to it, it exclaimed, “Thanks for the donation!”

Starlight sighed and frowned. The image was clearly done by a different griffon, as Gallus really didn’t have the artistic skill even for that, but the sass in the text was all him. It worried her some days. What would he look forward to when he was done with school? More oppression from the Griffonian Empire’s elite?

Before she trotted off, she spotted one more mural. She frowned when she saw the familiar deep purple top hat and suit jacket of Snowfall Frost from that fable that Twilight told her years ago. Snowfall was in the middle of throwing some different elixirs into a bubbling pot, her mouth spread wide in an evil sneer.

In the light of the cauldron, her eyes sparkled with pure hatred, however, Starlight almost felt a bit of pain hidden beneath it. Whoever did up the painting of the unicorn captured the essence of her character perfectly.

Starlight held back a small shudder. While the depiction of Snowfall didn’t look exactly like her, the mural artist had decided to paint Snowfall in the same shade of purple as her own fur. Perhaps she was projecting, but it was like the anger and hurt in Snowfall’s eyes bore into her soul.

Starlight sighed and flattened her ears against her skull. At least Snowfall and she shared one trait at the moment.

Taking one final glance at Snowfall, Starlight shivered at the doppelganger’s appearance before hastily clopping down the hallway. A couple of yaks were in the middle of an official “friend-make,” bashing their heads together and stomping on the ground.

Small jets of dust and dirt shot up, and Starlight sighed as she saw bit signs floating away. Also, she could already hear Twilight’s protests. Starlight would have to expense things at some point, and Twilight would hound her for all of it.

“If only you knew, Twilight, if only you knew,” she huffed to herself and trotted through the hall. In front of her, over the crowd of students, she could make out the large courtyard doors.

For some reason, she felt the urge to leave. The lump in her throat was returning, and her legs wobbled a bit as tears formed in her eyes. The sound of the crowds was starting to get overwhelming, and she whimpered when she was bumped by a student.

Stumbling forward, she reached out a hoof and stopped herself before tiredly leaning against one of the windows. For a second, she gathered her breath and gazed out into the harsh conditions.

The blizzard had begun in force, with snow whipping around and trees bending in the gale. Splatters of white powder hit the window, occasionally obscuring her view and providing a better reflection of herself.

Tears trickled down her face, and she sniffled before taking a few quivering breaths. She winced as a soft ringing slowly built in her ears. A gust of wind blasted against the glass, startling her and making her stumble back into another student.

Before they could react, she yelped and galloped forward, bashing through some of the other creatures there. Without thinking, she barreled through the courtyard doors and out into the freezing cold.

Into the Cold

With a sigh, Starlight began to trudge back down the hallway. Every couple of doors, she stopped and looked at the name that was plastered on it. Softly, she smirked and gave a final nod toward Smolder and her friends’ doors. A small swell in her chest made her sigh. “Soon my best students will be gone,” she muttered internally. A tiny frown formed on her muzzle.

Before she went down the stairs, she turned around and looked back at the hallway, observing the different decorations strung about. A few doors had wreaths or fake reindeer antlers—where ponies got that tradition, she couldn't say. One even had lights strung up and blinking in a gaudy pattern. And finally, as sunlight began to pour through the window behind her, a small wreath over the staircase glittered and sparkled. Light bounced from it in all directions.

Halting in her descent, she looked at a picture or two that were hanging on the walls. During the school year, the students had set up special events for themselves and the faculty. She sighed, her mind flashing back to the first image.

The students had held a carriage washing fundraiser. Silverstream proposed it, as she wanted to support the “Adorable Kittens and Fork Repair” charity.

In the picture, Gallus was mid-air, tumbling head over heels since he had tripped on a bucket. The owner of the carriage held her hooves up to save herself from getting soaked with sudsy water. Smolder was just pointing and laughing, and, barely visible in the background, Starlight facehoofed.

Another picture was of the latest Nightmare Night party, which Trixie had put on as another return to magic performances. Celestia and Luna were posing in front of the stage, both disguised as their corrupted counterparts. Both were unaware of a growing fire near Celestia’s mane.

She chuckled to herself. In the back of her mind, she determined that events like these would need to become school tradition. They were the ideal friendship-building opportunities.

She trotted down the main hall of the dorm and walked out into the courtyard, which was now sparkling in the late afternoon sun. Unfortunately, the wind had not died down yet, and blew into Starlight's face as she entered the yard, knocking her mane around and ripping through her jacket and skirt.

Hoovefsteps crunching in the fresh show, she cantered to the hallway entrance and opened the doors. Soft waves of heat hit her face as she did so. She lightly tapped her hooves to knock the snow off and used her magic to readjust her mane.

She sniffed a few times and started up her trot again. The hallway was mostly empty now, save for a few students still lingering around lockers or hanging final decorations for Hearth's Warming. As she passed some of the classrooms, she saw a few of her faculty cleaning their desks and wiping down chalkboards before they left for the holiday, too.

Waving to them as she trotted by, she thanked her luck that she was able to find so many willing teachers before the school year. A certain princess failed to mention exactly all the responsibilities of the office of headmare. "Twilight still hasn't replied to my letter about that," Starlight grumped to herself as she walked the halls.

Soon, she approached her office. The door was decorated with a few small Hearth's Warming items: an ornament or two and a hoofful of snowflakes. Nothing special. She sighed, turned around, and looked up and down the now empty halls. This was it. This was the first time the School of Friendship was empty when it was completely under her watch.

She felt her stomach gurgle and grow heavy. It was like a whirlpool had formed inside, and was chaotically bashing the rest of her organs. To call it butterflies would have been an understatement. A couple of tears welled in her eyes, but she wiped them away and turned to the door.

Headmare Starlight Glimmer, read the small plaque displayed for all to see. With a sad smirk, she opened the door and walked into her office. The sight of her room helped to shoo away some of the flightiness in her gut. However, her mind was still racing at the thought of an empty school. She frowned.

The room was fairly sparse. Aside from her desk, which had a few books, a calendar, and of course Phyllis II, there were a couple of plush sofas set up in front of the entrance, about halfway into the room. A small crystal coffee table sat between them, and a tiny fake Hearth's Warming tree rested on it. It was a hot pink, and its lights were different shades of neon yellow, green, and blue. Shaking her head, she lit her horn and gave the tree a bit of magical juice, which kicked the lights on.

That tree was Trixie's idea, of course. Only she'd have the taste for it, but admittedly, it was beginning to grow on Starlight a bit.

She trotted to the far-right side of the room and took off her purple jacket, which was still soaked, and set it on a small coat rack that was hanging off the wall. After she checked her blouse to make sure it wasn't wet, she took a glance out the window and saw more weather ponies flying about. One zoomed by, carrying one of the clouds that had been set up earlier. It was far lighter now, its load of snow emptied.

From there, she walked behind her desk and sat down, groaning a bit as the plush leather conformed around her, and she sunk into it. She sat there for a bit before she grunted as she felt a dampness begin to make its way up her tail. She got up and looked back to see that her skirt still had a large dark splotch where snow had accumulated and then melted.

Muttering to herself, she used her magic to quickly take it off before it made her tail or fur any wetter. After hanging it next to her jacket, she sat down again and observed the room. The clock above the door struck five in the afternoon, and she groaned when she realized that she still had at least an hour and a half of paperwork to do before the school closed for the holidays.

On her desk, next to Phyllis, were a couple of picture frames. Grabbing one in her magic, she levitated it up and sighed, placing her chin on a fetlock. It was a series of pictures that were taken in the summer. She chuckled, pressing a hoof to her muzzle. “Good thing Trixie and Sunburst were able to talk me out of burning these.”

The last in the series was of her and Sunburst in a photo booth. Starlight was gazing at him lustfully, a slight blush on her face. Biting her lip, she was barely containing her urge to tackle him to the ground then and there. Sunburst, on the other hoof, was blissfully unaware, a toothy grin on his undeniably adorable mug.

Putting the picture back, she grabbed a small watering can from underneath her desk and cantered to the far right side of the room. As she hummed to herself, she filled the can from the cooler. She tapped a hoof impatiently as the water slowly trickled out. Looking up at the wall, she briefly cast her gaze at the pictures that were scattered along it, eventually settling on a picture taken at the start of the school year with her, Sunburst, Trixie, and Twilight after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Beside it, there was another picture of the ensuing celebration at Donut Joe’s latest Ponyville subsidiary. Crowds of students were crammed into booths, although she and her friends were given space. Smolder and her friends were chatting away around a table, Gallus in the midst of devouring a stack of donuts and turnovers.

In another booth, Starlight was snuggled into Sunburst, who in turn was gently resting a hoof on her mane. Trixie had her forearms crossed eyed them with what looked to be a hint of jealousy. Twilight, oblivious as ever, was in the middle of some statement about something, and her face was scrunched as she talked.

Squeaking in surprise, she pulled her front hooves back and turned off the flow of water from the cooler. Water was flowing over the sides of the can and onto the crystal floor. Nickering to herself, she gently levitated the watering can to her desk and then used a teleportation spell to grab a towel from her bathroom back in Twilight's old castle.

With a grunt, she bent down and began wiping up the water. After a minute or two, she managed to soak all of it up with the towel, opened the top of the cooler, and wrung as much of it as she could back into the container. Phyllis didn't mind recycled water.

After slinging the towel over the last hook on the coat rack, she trotted back to her desk and grabbed the watering can. She tipped it slightly and water began to flow through its spout and onto the overly leafy plant.

Clicking her tongue, Starlight watched as the water knocked the withering tendril-like leaves of the plant around. "Looks like Phyllis III will be replacing you," she mused as the water continued to pour into the pot.

When she felt enough time had passed, she stopped her pouring and looked at how much water was left in the can. With a shrug, she poured the rest back into the water cooler and set the can underneath her desk again. Sighing, she sat down in her chair and folded her arms before grabbing a quill and dipping it in ink. She quickly moved over a pile of papers, namely progress reports, and began to sign them.

For a few minutes, she buried herself in her work, but eventually her mind began to wander again, and she looked up at the wall above the water cooler. Groaning despondently, she left her gaze on an old, slightly faded picture of her and her parents, years before she ever decided to run away to plot her revenge on friendship.

Wordlessly, she mouthed, "I miss you, Mom," when she looked at the bright pink mare in the photo. She and Starlight shared the same eye color, along with similar streaking in their manes. All three ponies were beaming for the camerapony. Briefly her mind flashed back to that day, and she remembered her mother ruffling her pigtails after they finally had a successful photo. How many years ago had that been? Twenty at least. She had to have been no more than four in that picture.

Sadly smirking, she looked at her younger self's goofy smile. Multiple gaps were in her teeth, as they were still growing in, and her eyes were closed in contentment. If only she could have been able to tell the future or figure out time travel then.

She looked back to her desk and gently took a picture that was lying on the corner. It was faded further than her family picture and was of her father and mother on their wedding night. Softly whimpering with a few tears falling from her face, she touched her hoof to the picture and then put it down, taking another look at the letter she received from her father, Firelight.

To my dear Starlight,

I hope you have a Happy Hearth's Warming in Ponyville! Sire's Hollow just doesn't feel the same without you, but, oh, I'm rambling a bit already, aren't I? Sorry, Pumpkin, it's still a hard habit to break.

Did you know that this year would be the 500th anniversary of Sire's Hollow's founding? We were planning to hold a play portraying the first Hearth's Warming held here! Oh, Stellar Flare and I are just having a blast planning everything together. It will hopefully bring in business for everypony when tourists come to see the history here!

And, well, speaking of history, I finally managed to clean your room. It was very messy, Pumpkin-Cheeks! I can't believe how bad you let it get before you left. Do you know how many kites with skulls I had to sort through? I don't think it was "just a phase" like you kept telling me.

It's so much cleaner in there now, honey. Will you be able to visit soon? I know that you're busy with being the big headmare at Princess Twilight's school, but don't forget about dear ol' Dad and Stellar Flare!

When I was going through your drawers, I found this picture. I couldn't believe that I lost the picture of Shimmer Shine's and my wedding! How did you end up with it? Well, I guess since it was in your room, you'd like to keep it, so I thought I'd include it in my letter. I know that it was so difficult for you, and I wish I was there for you more back then. But I'm here now, my little Starshine! If you ever need help, just let Daddy know!

Stellar and I are so proud of you and Sunburst for the ponies you've become. Heads of Princess Twilight's School of Friendship? Oh! It's so exciting for both of us! We know you'll do a great job.

Have a Happy Hearth's Warming, Pumpkin! Daddy loves you!

P.S. Maybe come to see Sire's Hollow's 501st anniversary next year, okay? Daddy misses seeing his big, grown-up daughter.

P.P.S. Tell Sunburst that if he ever does anything to hurt my little Chipmunk that he'll have hell to pay. Stellar says that she'll make him wish he'd never been born.

Starlight sniffed and put the letter back down. A tightness in her throat made it difficult to swallow. A couple of tears rolled down her cheeks and scattered a bit more mascara around. After taking another look at her parents' wedding photo, she composed herself, wiping her face and streaking the makeup across her hoof.

It seemed like her dad was getting along fine, especially with the way he wrote about Sunburst's mom. Pondering for a minute, Starlight wondered if she'd be heading to a new wedding within the next year. From rivals to lovers. She shook her head. That only happened in the books she occasionally read, right?

She heard hoofsteps approach her door, and it opened to reveal a somewhat disheveled Trixie. Her mane was frizzy, and there were a few scuffs on her face. Heaving a few deep breaths, Trixie walked into the office, glaring at Starlight. "Well, it's about time Trixie found you," she said, her voice icy cold.

"What's wrong, Trixie?" Starlight asked, sliding open a drawer in her desk and putting the picture and letter inside.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?!" Trixie cried, her eyes shrinking to the size of pinpricks. She huffed and stomped up to the desk. "Do you know how long Trixie was trying to reach you?! She had an emergency with fighting students that required assistance!"

Shifting her gaze around the room, Starlight stuttered, "Well, I, uh, was, well, um, busy! You know, headmare stuff!" Some sweat began to trickle down the back of her neck as Trixie snarled gutturally. "Yep, definitely headmare stuff. Really boring, but super important! I, uh, hope that you were able to handle things."

Trixie blew a bit of her mane out of her face. "You could say that. Trixie says that she barely got out with her life after a stupid yak and dragon got into another spat after she sent them away." She slammed a hoof on the desk. "Five minutes, Starlight! It took five minutes for Trixie to get them off each other. And now look! Her beautiful features are going to be marred for days because of this!"

"S-sorry, Trixie. I-I really was, well, busy." Starlight sunk into her seat a bit as her friend continued to glower at her.

Raising an eyebrow, Trixie demanded, "Busy with what?!"

"I already told you! Headmare stuff!" Starlight grunted and got up from her chair to try and make Trixie back off a bit.

"Please, Starlight. Trixie knows that you're lying. You have an obvious tell," the blue unicorn stated, her face softening a bit, but still shooting daggers at Starlight.

"I-I do not!" Starlight gasped, a faint blush forming on her cheeks. Nervously laughing, she said, "W-what, I, I'd never lie about things like that!"

"You did it just there," Trixie deadpanned.

Groaning and beginning to pace around the room, Trixie groused, "Honestly, Starlight, you've been acting strange all week! What is wrong with you? Do you need to spend some time with Sunburst or something?" At the last statement, Trixie raised her eyebrows knowingly.

"Trixie!" Starlight exclaimed, her face growing a brighter shade of red.

"Ha! Trixie knew it. You, Starlight Glimmer, need some coltfriend time." Trixie trotted up and jabbed Starlight in the ribs with an elbow. "Trixie will keep your secret. Wink." She winked.

"Trixie," Starlight muttered, smacking a hoof to her face. "No. It's not that."

"Fine. Be a prude, Trixie doesn't care." Trixie shrugged and stepped back from Starlight.

"O-okay, I know that I wasn't around as much as I said I would be, Trixie." Starlight sighed and looked to the ground. "Just, stuff has been going on this week, and it's been eating up my time. I promise I'll be better with helping you out when you need it in the new year. Will you forgive me?"

At her friend's sad look, Trixie nodded. However, she sensed that something was still bothering Starlight. Smiling, she wrapped a forearm around her and pulled her in for a hug. "It's okay, Starlight," she said as she held her. "Trixie forgives you."

Releasing Starlight, she took a step back and held her smile. "But Trixie recommends, in her humble opinion, to spend some time away from here. Maybe a nice romantic weekend in the Crystal Empire?" She smirked.

Starlight chuckled a bit and rolled her eyes. Slowly, she sat down on one of the couches and teleported in two mugs and a steaming kettle. Two packages of cocoa appeared, and she ripped them open before pouring in the boiling water. She offered a mug to Trixie, who took it in her magic and sat down on the other couch.

Taking a sip and sighing as the hot chocolate warmed her, Starlight began to relax a little. She asked, "So, what are you planning for Hearth's Warming?"

"Oh, right!" Trixie exclaimed, taking a sip of her own hot chocolate. "Trixie wanted to tell you that she'll be on vacation in Las Pegasus!" She squealed a bit. "Trixie hasn't been there since she was a filly! It'll be great seeing Da–Uh, Jackpot's show!" She chuckled and took a sip of her hot chocolate to hide a growing blush on her face.

Sadly smiling, Starlight replied, "That's... great, Trixie. Hope you have a fun time." She slurped at her drink and grimaced.

The pair sat in silence for a few minutes. The only break was the sound of the clock ticking and the faint gusts of wind blowing through the barren trees outside.

Finally, Trixie finished her mug and looked at Starlight. A small frown grew on her face as she observed her friend's limp posture. Starlight was stirring the last bits of her hot chocolate with a spoon and aimlessly clinking it against the porcelain. Her face was pulled into a tight expression, and her eyes glimmered slightly with tears.

"Starlight," Trixie said, getting up from her couch and sitting down next to her friend, who scooched closer to the end of her seat. "Tri– I may not be the most observant some days, but something isn't right."

With a quivering breath, Starlight answered, "N-no, things are fine, Trixie. I just have a lot on my mind, with, you know, all the students being gone, faculty taking a vacation, plans for the new year for the school, all kinds of stuff." She took the last sip of her mug and said, "Though thanks for your concern."

"Well," Trixie began, nudging Starlight a bit and grinning warmly, "you know where to find me. What would you do without Trixie, right?" Her eyes sparkled as she waited for Starlight's response.

Humming to herself, Starlight replied, "Yep. The two of us. Inseparable." Before Trixie could react, Starlight pulled her in for a hug and said, "Thanks, Trixie. You're a good friend. Have a Happy Hearth's Warming in Las Pegasus."

"Well, Trixie isn't leaving yet." Trixie got up from the couch and trotted toward the door and opened it. As she stood in the doorway, she continued, "It's a bit of a trip, so she'll be leaving tomorrow. See you later tonight, Starlight." With that, she gave a quick wave and closed the door behind her.

Once again, Starlight was alone. For a few more minutes, she lay on her couch and just stared at the crystal ceiling of her office. The late afternoon rays of the sun highlighted some of the pictures on the opposite wall, painting them in an orange glow.

Outside, a few stray flakes were beginning to fall from the sky again, and the sun was slowly obscured by fresh clouds from one of the nearby weather factories. A gust of wind rattled the window, and Starlight got up from the couch to return to her paperwork.

"Where's Sunburst when you need him?" she grumbled to herself as she began signing more progress reports. She looked at the pictures from their first date again and sighed. "Hopefully he's having fun in the Crystal Empire. Flurry was being a royal pain, last I knew."

Slowly, the pile of paperwork began to shrink, and Starlight got lost in the rhythm of taking a paper, signing her name, and stacking it in another pile. Occasionally, she might have had the exciting activity of dipping her quill in the inkwell for more ink. Eventually, she finished the stack and set her quill down.

Four hundred students. Four hundred progress reports. Finally completed and ready to send out with everycreature before they left for Hearth's Warming. But that could be left for one of the secretarial staff. It wasn’t like they had that much on their plate, anyway. If any parents complained about their precious child’s report, they could be directed to her. Sometimes it was a tad satisfying to tell the gripers that their little filly was not actually a savant, and was just allowed to coast through before they reached her school. The reactions were priceless.

There were a few more pieces of paper that she would have to fill out, mainly for administrative work, but she decided against it for the time being. The EEA could wait, as it wasn't like they'd reply to her before the new year anyway. Additionally, according to the clock, it was almost six thirty, and she needed to get some final shopping in before things closed for the holidays.

Grabbing her skirt and jacket, she quickly dressed herself for outside and then left her office, switching off the magical lamps. Before she closed the door, she briefly thought about a spell to keep Phyllis II hydrated while she was gone, but decided against it. The philodendron was on its last legs, so it'd be better to let it pass quietly than extend its suffering. Phyllis III would be a suitable replacement in the new year.

Locking her office door, she trotted down the halls, which were now devoid of all activity, save for a couple of janitorial staff, whom she greeted and wished a happy Hearth's Warming. She passed a couple of pegasi who were beginning to take down the decorations. Since nocreature would be back before the first week of the new year, there was no point in keeping the decorations up.

As she reached the expansive entrance to the school, she lit her horn and pushed open the two doors, which sent a rush of cold air into her face and whipped her mane around. Shivering a bit, she stepped out onto the freshly cleared pathway and began making her way toward Twilight's old castle.

The two pools on either side of the path were completely frozen, and a few students were enjoying themselves, skating on the ice and twirling around the fountains. When they saw their headmare pass by, they waved and wished her a happy Hearth's Warming.

Returning the greeting, Starlight smiled and watched them for a minute before continuing her trek. After reaching the end of the pathway, she winced as her hooves touched the fresh snow which sent shooting tendrils of cold up her legs.

Gingerly, she began trudging through the snow, which crunched underneath her tread. A few students were building some snow figures, and a couple others were flopped on their backs, making their best snow angels. Unsurprisingly, the pegasus of the group won, since she had wings.

"Look out!" Starlight heard a voice cry. She barely had enough time to duck as a snowball whizzed right where her head was seconds before. The snowball clipped the tip of her horn and caused a fresh set of shivers. Glancing over to where the snowball came from, she glared at the three fillies who were before her. The Cutie Mark Crusaders. Their cloaks were covered in snow, and they wore sheepish grins.

"Sorry, Miss Stahlight," Apple Bloom mumbled, scuffing a hoof in the snow.

Sighing, Starlight replied, "It's okay, just be more careful next time."

As Starlight left the trio, Scootaloo piped up, "Oh, Happy Hearth's Warming! Hopefully Sunburst gets you a nice gift!"

"Uh-huh, Happy Hearth's Warming." Starlight nodded, flicking her tail and sending a bit of snow flying in both directions.

Soon, she reached the entrance to Twilight's castle and looked at the barren front. "Yeah, this could use a bit of decorating," she mused as she began visualizing different possibilities for the doorway.

Opening the doors, she sighed as she walked in, and the heat penetrated her fur. She shivered a couple of times and sent clumps of snow to the floor. Tiny pinpricks poked at her ears as blood slowly began to flow through them again.

To the side of the entrance was a small closet with a full-length mirror. Pulling the closet door open, she took off her still slightly wet jacket and hung it on a coat hanger. She pushed aside the rest of the winter clothing and observed her headmare outfit.

"I don't know," she thought to herself as she straightened the shirt underneath her blouse. "Is this too much? Sure, Trixie needed something that was more professional than her magician's hat and cape, but maybe I went overboard?"

She turned around and looked at the dark purple skirt that she wore. In her opinion, she felt that she carried more authority if she were dressed in a uniform of some kind, but she couldn't shake the feeling it just made her look old. There was still a light outline where the snow had melted and soaked the skirt. Starlight huffed. "This will need a good while to dry."

She closed the door, wiped her hooves on the entrance mat, and started walking down the halls. The clopping of her hooves on the crystal floor echoed through the castle. On the walls between the doors, wreaths occasionally broke the pattern of monotony. Every so often, a small tree or fake gift was arranged on the floor.

Shaking her head, Starlight smiled at the amount of decoration that Trixie had already done. She swore that her friend was like a foal when it came to the holiday.

Some days, Starlight wondered why Twilight left her to live in the castle. With just she and Trixie, and Sunburst when he was actually in Ponyville, it was eerily empty. Then again, it was eerily empty when Twilight and Spike lived there, too, so it was probably just her nerves acting up that made her question things.

Eventually, she reached her room. A sign hung on the door that read, Trixie, stay out! Yes, even if there is a teacup emergency. I will handle it when I'm actually awake. She grabbed the handle in her magic and opened the door.

Her room was just slightly disorganized. Clutters of paper were on her desk, and a couple of pictures poked out between the piles. Another pair of images of her with Sunburst rested on her nightstand. In the far-left corner, boxes of textbooks that she was researching for the next school year were stacked in boxes. There was only a single holiday decoration in her room: a lone tree. The few ornaments that adorned it glittered softly. It was devoid of any presents.

About the one thing that wasn't disorganized was her bed, which was neatly made and deftly decorated with a few throw pillows. She could make out a few faint crinkles to the sheets, and she furrowed her brow. “Trixie,” she grumbled.

She kicked the doorframe and a few magical lights sputtered to life. The castle was one of the first to be hooked up to the new magical grid, which provided magical power to her room, however the generators in Ponyville were still a bit spotty.

The lights flickered again, and she kicked the wall harder. Grunting, she closed the door and bent down to the nearby magical outlet. Briefly igniting her horn, she sent a small amount of magic into the outlet, which let out a soft buzz and started smoking. "Crap, overloaded it." Her face drooped as the lights went out permanently.

She created a small matrix around the lights to provide power for the next few hours at least, and looked back down at the outlet, which had stopped smoking, but sported a very visible scorch mark. "Well, that won't be getting fixed until the new year," she thought as she straightened up again.

She opened the blinds on her windows to let in a bit more natural light and observed that the sky was once again covered with clouds, though the snow was kept to a very light flurry. The dull gray of the obscured light mixed with the reds and yellows of Starlight's lights and created a warm tone and made Starlight feel almost normal for once; a feeling she hadn't had in over a week.

Making her way to her bed, she sat down and pulled off her blouse, throwing it into a small clothes hamper by her desk. After unfastening her necklace, she took off her undershirt and left it in the hamper as well. Lastly, she unclipped her skirt and took a look at the water stain that was on it. Looking at it for a few seconds and holding it up to the light coming in from the window, she determined that it was salvageable and put it in with the rest of her clothes.

She sat on her bed for a few more minutes, feeling the plush mattress absorb her weight. She briefly considered lying back on the bed and getting underneath the warm duvet, but ultimately decided that she'd probably be out like a light if she did that.

Getting up, she waded through a few notebooks scattered on the floor to the mirror above her small drawer. She winced as she saw the streaks of mascara and her ragged mane. Why Trixie didn't mention it, she wasn't sure.

After looking at her reflection for another few seconds, Starlight grabbed a washcloth from the dresser and trotted into the attached bathroom. Igniting her horn, she powered the magical light there and began to wet the washcloth.

She let the water from the tap run over it for a bit longer and then wrung it with her magic. The drain gurgled a bit as the excess water flowed down, and she unceremoniously smacked the cloth to her face and began to scrub. Waves of warmth spread through her face as she continued to get at the encrusted makeup and dried tears.

Finally, she stopped scrubbing and pulled the cloth back. It had splotches of black all over, but now her face was much more presentable for going back outside. After washing out the washcloth, she watched the inky black water go down the drain, and then left the cloth on the side of the sink to dry.

Opening the cabinet behind the bathroom mirror, she grabbed a hairbrush and began to go through her mane. Hissing, she pulled a few knotted hairs out and started to give her mane its typical swoop. After another couple of minutes, she was back, at least physically, to normal.

She observed her reflection. Softly, she wished aloud that Sunburst were in Ponyville for Hearth's Warming, but he was too far away in the Crystal Empire. Hopefully Flurry Heart appreciated her Crystaller's assistance. Starlight glowered a bit. Flurry had been soaking up all of Sunburst's time. The menace had gone through another “magic growth spurt” as it were. Outbursts of an order of magnitude more powerful than her first Crystalling were commonplace. Apparently the other week a massive hole was blown into the side of the Crystal Palace.

She left the bathroom with a sigh and glanced around her bedroom. Somewhere, in the stacks of school-related things, some of her winter gear had been strewn around. After a series of exhausting days, she had dragged herself into bed without even removing them. Lighting her horn, she began to levitate boxes and stacks of papers off the floor and started searching for the wayward attire.

After sweeping the entire floor, she grunted and got on her stomach and checked under her bed. Sure enough, a fuchsia toque and scarf were lying carelessly underneath. They were a gift from Rarity before she finished at the school. Now they were gathering dust and who knows what else.

Horn glowing a bright cyan, she grabbed the toque and scarf and pulled them out. She gave them a quick shake, sending a few dust bunnies to the floor, and then set them on her nightstand, next to a picture of she, Sunburst, and Trixie having a meal at the school.

Clothing acquired, she went to her dresser and started digging through the drawers. After a bit of rummaging, she managed to pull out a small sack of bits. She grabbed her saddlebags that were next to her bed and stuffed the bag of bits into it, the golden coins clinking together as they fit in.

Gently resting the bags on her haunches, she shimmied them a couple of times to get them just right on her back. With her magic, she stuffed the scarf and hat underneath one of the packs as she tightened the straps. A couple of twinges worked across her muzzle as the wool scratched her skin. She groaned and resisted the urge to itch.

She opened her door with a faint creak. As it swung wide, she poked her head out and glanced around. “Looks like Trixie hasn’t left any surprises yet,” she mused to herself. Looking to the left and to the right, she didn’t see hidden snow launchers like last Hearth’s Warming. According to Trixie, those two cannons had been waiting for her all day that year. How the snow stayed frozen was beyond her. Trixie claimed it was a trade secret.

Satisfied, she stepped into the hall and immediately slipped forward onto her face because of a throw rug that had been placed in front of the door. It slowly fell on her nose, and she saw the words Happy Hearth's Warming! written on it. "Ugh, Trixie! How does she always sneak by?" she muttered silently.

Rubbing her muzzle, she got up and started trotting down the decorated hallways. As she walked, she made note of a few blank areas on the walls or floor for decorations she could buy while she was out.

As she got closer to the entrance to the castle, she saw an orange glow come from one of the secondary living rooms. Faintly, she heard the crackling of firewood and some off-key humming of a holiday tune.

Stepping into the entryway to the room, Starlight watched as Trixie continued singing to herself. Beside her, Trixie had a box of ornaments and decorations open. Some of its contents spilled over the floor and couch. At the back of the room, above a fireplace was a small sculpture of a Windigo with six ponies huddled together underneath it.

Trixie had already placed some ribbons on the lamps on either side of the hearth, and a few wrapped gifts were glittering below the holiday tree. Said tree was mostly bare, save for another Windigo topper and a few bits of tinsel strewn about on its branches.

Heat radiated from the room. The small fire in the fireplace crackled and popped, sending a few sparks into the hearth. Some embers crumbled, scattering into ashes under the log. Faint puffs of smoke wafted up the chimney, releasing a soothing, woody smell. Starlight breathed in and continued to watch as her friend tapped her chin and glanced around.

Scrunching her face, Trixie began to dig through the box, eventually burying her head in it and rummaging. After a few seconds and a bang as Trixie hit her head on the edge of the box, she came up with a small crystal ball ornament. As she rubbed her head, she levitated the ball to the tree and fastened it securely.

Starlight softly sighed and took in the scene. One of the windows above the sofas allowed in muted light from the cloudy sky. It mixed with the orange and red glow from the fire, creating shimmering pinpricks which pierced her vision.

Trixie stuck out her tongue and stretched into the box, then pulled out a small container of more tinsel. She sprinkled it on the tree with her magic. The silver tinsel caused the glow from the fireplace to sparkle across the room.

For a few more minutes, Starlight watched her friend decorate the Hearth's Warming tree. Trixie was oblivious to her observer, and busily made way on making the tree less a tree and more a giant pile of ornaments, tinsel, and lights. While she was silent at first, she began humming another song, which caused Starlight to wince, as she somehow managed to hit all the wrong notes.

The tune felt familiar, but Starlight hadn't heard it for at least two... decades. Gasping, her hind legs gave out, and she began to breathe rapidly. The saddlebags on her haunches slid off and caused her bag of bits to spill across the hallway floor.

Trixie paused, and her ear twitched. Tilting her head, she turned around and spotted Starlight. A smirk forming on her muzzle, she declared, “Oh! Starlight. Trixie didn’t hear you come in.” When Starlight remained silent, she continued, “Trixie was just getting to the best part of decorating: the mistletoe!”

She snatched a small branch with spindly green leaves with her magic and jangled it lightly. Giggling, she stated, “She knows that you and Sunburst will have lots of fun with it.” Pressing a hoof to her mouth, she coughed, “And maybe include Trixie.”

Starlight still sat on the floor, slowly heaving. Her eyes were miniscule, and she stared off into space. With a frown, Trixie asked, “Starlight?” She waved a hoof. “Trixie to Starlight!” At her friend’s faroff gaze, she shouted, “Starlight!” A soft whimper escaped her throat.

None of Trixie’s attempts reached Starlight. Only the rush of emotion filled Starlight's head as she placed where she had heard the song before. Her mother used to sing the song to her during the Hearth's Warming season. Worry not, little one, friendship is near. Do not let the frosty Windigos freeze your ears. Hark! Hear them cry as the magic of friendship spreads far and wide.

Barely, she felt a few tears slide down her muzzle as the memories came back to her. A growing pit in her stomach threatened to swallow her whole, and her head began to spin as she heard her rapid breathing echo in her ears. Through blurry vision, she saw a blue blob slide toward her.

Muffled words reached her ears through her breathing, and she saw it move toward her. Her chest felt like it was going to explode from the pressure of her rapidly beating heart. A few more memories flashed before her. She felt her mother's arms wrap around her chest and her soft, caring voice whisper something in her ear.

Fresh tears streamed down her face and dripped off her muzzle and to the floor below. Suddenly, she felt herself being rocked back and forth a bit, and her vision cleared. She saw Trixie, holding her tightly. Her heartbeat slowed and her vision cleared even more.

Finally, she began to make out what Trixie was asking. Her friend had pulled back when she felt Starlight relax and was now nervously eyeing at her.

"Are you all right?" Trixie asked, looking into Starlight's eyes with obvious worry. "Tri–er, I haven't seen you like this in forever!"

Nodding and taking a few deep breaths, Starlight said, "I'm fine, Trixie. Well, I'll be fine." She placed a hoof on Trixie's shoulder and smiled. "Thanks." She tried getting to her hooves, but they felt a bit too wobbly to trust.

Sitting back down with a soft thud, she exhaled loudly. "I, uh, think I'll just sit here for a minute or two more." She grimaced as another image of her mother flashed before her eyes.

Raising an eyebrow, Trixie asked, "Really? Starlight, you've been acting weird all week, as Trixie said, and now you have, well, what looked to be a panic attack." Hugging her friend again, she prodded, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Starlight nodded.

"You know you can trust Trixie." Leaning in, she whispered, "She can keep your darkest secrets, you know." After hanging next to Starlight's ear for a couple more seconds, she pulled back and smiled reassuringly.

Exasperated, Starlight deadpanned, "Trixie, you literally told the entire school that Sunburst and I were dating, when we expressly told you to keep it quiet for the time being."

Chuckling a bit, Trixie glanced away and said, "T-that was just one time! Trixie was just so excited for her friends." Under her breath, she added, "And a bit jealous. She hoped that maybe the embarrassment would break you two up."

"What was that?" Starlight inquired, lighting her horn.

"Nothing! Trixie swears. Please don’t zap Trixie’s beautiful features! She needs them for her trip to Las Pegasus!" Beads of sweat breaking out on her face, Trixie backpedalled a bit from her friend.

"Right." Starlight turned off her horn, and her expression fell a bit.

"Okay, Trixie knows that something isn't right, Starlight. You can't keep bottling this up! Remember what happened last time?" Trixie poked Starlight's chest with a hoof. "So please, let Counsellor Trixie help her best friend."

Sighing, Starlight looked at the hearth, which was still flaming away. Briefly, she glanced at Trixie, who smiled wider, and her eyes grew bigger in anticipation. "Well," she began, her gaze darting around the room. She trusted Trixie, yes, but she didn't feel ready to truly tell her everything.

"Yes?" Trixie drawled, batting her eyes at Starlight.

"Well, uh, this sounds stupid, but, uh..." Starlight trailed off, trying to think a reasonable excuse that would fool Trixie. "Well, I guess, since, you know, Sunburst is in the Crystal Empire, and you're now going to Las Pegasus, and there's not going to be any students at the school, I well, felt kinda lonely. And, well, it kinda just came to me now, and I had no idea what I could do and..."

Sinking to the floor, she sighed. "As I said, it's stupid, right?" She looked up at Trixie, who was staring at her.

Arching a brow, Trixie tilted her head and frowned. Starlight flashed her a weak smile, and she chuckled nervously. “I know I could have handled, well, that, better, but, you know me…” She briefly spun a hoof around her temple. Lips quivering, she shakily groaned and gave Trixie a thin smile. The edges of her muzzle trembled. “Crazy Starlight, freaking out about the dumbest things!” She chortled once, the noise dying in her throat.

Finally, Trixie broke the silence with a laugh. "No! That's not stupid, Starlight!" She gently rubbed a hoof on her friend's back. "Trixie understands that it's hard when somepony is all alone over Hearth's Warming. There were many times when she didn’t have any company for the holiday. Of course, it wasn’t quite like your empty nest." She winked at her friend.

"I-I don't feel like I have an empty nest, Trixie! I'm not even a mother, for Celestia's sake!" Starlight scowled a bit. Somehow, her friend had struck a nerve and called her out on an actual feeling she had. Friendship counsellor indeed.

"Oh, suuuurrreee you aren't. Wink." Trixie snickered as Starlight blushed. "And it's not like you don't want to be one, Starlight. Right now, the students fill that role, but Trixie knows one day you'll have a foal of your own." She got up and helped Starlight to her hooves.

Nuzzling her friend, Trixie continued, "Tell you what. Trixie will make sure to use this new spell you made for us so that we can catch up on Hearth's Warming." She pulled back as another idea struck her. "Also, Trixie thinks a couple of Princess Twilight's friends are here for family this Hearth's Warming, so you could always spend the day with them." She rubbed her chin and added, "If they'll have you."

"Thanks, Trixie, that makes me feel so welcomed," Starlight snarked as she put her saddlebags on her back and fastened them again.

"Starlight, you're their friend too. Trixie's sure that they'll be happy to have you!" Trixie beamed and patted Starlight on the shoulder. "You'll be all right. Trixie's sure of it."

"You don't know the half of it, Trixie," Starlight mused as she gave her a weak grin.

Giving Starlight one last hug, Trixie asked, "Are you sure there's nothing else bothering you? Trixie's rates are too expensive." She laughed a bit, but stopped when she saw Starlight wasn't joining her.

Starlight groaned and said, "No, Trixie. There's nothing else. If there's anything else that isn't headmare-only school stuff, I'll let you know." With that, she pulled out her toque and scarf from her saddlebag and put the former on her head, tightly packing her mane into it as best as she could.

"Oh, that really matches your eyes, Starlight," Trixie declared, a wide grin on her muzzle. Looking back into the living room, she said, "Well, if you're heading out, Trixie will wrap up here. Have to have everything ready for the big day."

"You do that, Trixie." Starlight finished getting her toque to fit and nodded. "I'll see you shortly with the rest of the decorations."

Squealing in delight, Trixie dashed back into the room. Almost instantly, there was a crash and Starlight peeked in to see that Trixie had tripped over the box of ornaments. Luckily none of them had broken, but a few were rolling toward the fire in the fireplace.

With a groan, Trixie woozily called back, "Trixie meant to do that!"

After helping Trixie get all the ornaments back in the box, Starlight cantered toward the main hall of the castle. Through the tall windows on either side of the door, she could see the sun was beginning to set. Clouds blocked parts of it, dimming some of the light.

Loosely wrapping her scarf around her neck, Starlight flung open the closet and snatched her jacket. After a few tugs, she managed to get it to fit snugly on her torso, and she finished tying the knot for the scarf. She briefly appraised herself in the mirror, then steeled for the cold weather.

Fashionably Late Shopping

As Starlight pushed open the doors with her magic, she was met with a gentle breeze. The wind had calmed down, and the snow had stopped altogether. From the castle, she could see the lights of Ponyville begin to turn on, casting glints of yellow across the fresh snow.

Checking her scarf and toque again, she stepped off the porch and onto the snow-covered gravel path, the stones and snow mixing together to create a unique crunching sound. Soon, she picked up her pace and headed towards Ponyville proper.

Puffs of breath floated in front of her vision as she tramped forward. Even though she was technically already in the town proper, there wasn’t much around Twilight’s castle. It and the school had a large swath of unused land around them.

Slowly, she began walking down one of the streets toward the town square. Houses along this road were decorated with all kinds of lights and ornaments. Some even had garlands stretched across from one home to another. In turn, the garlands were decorated with more wreaths, balls, or other ornaments.

Some of the lamp posts were also decorated with garlands wrapped around them or with the occasional topper on top. They showcased various scenes from the first Hearth’s Warming. One had some crude depictions of the founders of Equestria bickering away. Another was of a trio of Windigos, galloping on a storm cloud. Lastly, another that caught her eye was one depicting Clover the Clever, Smart Cookie, and Private Pansy embracing. A large heart rose above them, directly impacting the Windigos tormenting them.

Stopping in her tracks, Starlight watched as a couple of pegasi continued decorating the exterior of their home. A whizzing bolt of mint green and cyan flew around them, eventually stopping to reveal a young filly begging for anything she could do to aid her parents.

For a few more seconds, Starlight watched as the family put up some different sets of lights on their house. When she saw that they were having a bit of trouble, she offered to help and used her magic to grab hold of one side of the string of lights. Shortly, with her help, the family finished setting things up, and they landed on the ground.

Briefly thanking her, the family returned indoors to the comfort of their heated home and closed the door. A minute later the lights sputtered to life as magic flowed from inside the house to the exterior. However, it remained rather dim, and Starlight huffed. Lighting her horn, she concentrated on the spell matrix and imagined the magical contours. With a jolt, she shot a bit more energy into it. The lights soon brightened, and she felt her job was done.

As she continued on the street, she saw a few ponies gathered together, singing some of the traditional Hearth's Warming songs. A small crowd of ponies had congregated and were eagerly listening to the impromptu choir. Some of them flung a few bits into a small box next to the singing ponies, which clinked off other coins already inside.

She stopped as she heard the same tune that Trixie was humming only a few minutes earlier. “Why me?! Why this year of all years?” Steeling herself, she tried to keep her breathing under control, but a few tears did manage to slip their way out of her eyes and trickle down her cheeks. A couple froze before they fell, creating mini-icicles on her face.

Picking up her pace, she trotted past the choir and headed toward the square. After she was out of earshot, she released a breath she didn't realize she was holding and leaned against a house. Looking up, she saw a few tiny flakes of snow fall from the cloudy sky, the lights from Ponyville casting a faint brown and yellow glow on the bottom of the clouds.

When she felt that she had regained enough composure to continue on, she wiped her face with a forehoof to get the tears off her cheek and trotted on. Soon enough, she arrived in Ponyville Square and blinked at the glowing lights. Long strings of the large, white orbs were strung across the open space. More were cast between the houses on either side of the road.

She could hear the buzz of conversation and the clanging of a few bells as she entered the square. The square itself was alight with activity. Since it was only a couple of days before Hearth's Warming, the merchants and vendors who set up shop there were starting to wrap up. Although there was still about an hour left before they would be done for the night, they were giving some warnings about the impending closure. A couple were trying to finish early. One was lucky, but the other simply groaned and whacked his head on his counter as two mares hemmed and hawed over his range of eating utensils.

She could see a few families enjoying a stroll along the riverbank, and a couple of others skating on the frozen river.

Smells of different foods reached her nose. Not only did the holiday merchants sell items to purchase, but they also sold food. Lots of food. Her stomach rumbled as it reminded her that she hadn't eaten yet. However, she didn't feel like she could eat one of the many massive servings that was normally sold.

A family of pegasi were flapping around one of the houses across the square. All of them were singing away, but the filly especially was belting out the verse of the carol. She was off-tune, and Starlight flattened her ears against her head.

Fluttering to the ground, the mother snatched a few ornaments in her wing and passed them to her daughter. The filly cried in glee and hastily pinned them under the awnings of their house. After a couple more trips, the building was fully decorated, and the trio of pegasi wandered inside. A second later, their home was alight with multispectral glows from the tree in the window.

A small band of ponies were playing some songs at the request of a crowd in the middle of the market. Starlight spied one of the potential headmare candidates she interviewed months ago. It was good to see that she still had other avenues for work.

Contemplating heading over to the band to chat up the musician when she had finished, Starlight ultimately determined to not use up her time when the shops would soon be closing. However, she did decide to wait a few minutes to watch as the final bits of decoration were put on the Ponyville town hall.

This year, it was decided that it would be done up like a large Hearth's Warming tree, just in time for the holiday itself. She didn’t get why Mayor Mare wanted to keep it to the last minute, but it was her town to run, not Starlight’s.

Aside from a few missing fake branches and some patches of green wrap ripped off, it looked markedly like the actual thing. Strings of lights were wrapped around the bannisters of the two balconies, although they were not yet turned on.

Starlight noticed that there were a few scuffed and ripped decorations on the town hall. Also, a couple of windows were shattered. Confused, she watched as the pegasus team dedicated to finishing the decorations tried in vain to lift the large tree topper to the spindly roof of the town hall.

A gray pegasus with a yellow, unkempt mane tried futilely to instruct the others on how to lift it. "No! To the left! Which left?" She scratched her head momentarily. "Uh, just left! What do you mean it's my left or your left? Left!"

There was a deafening crash, and the topper smashed into the town hall again, leaving a fresh crack in the exterior wall, but otherwise being no worse for wear. A few of the pegasi glared irately at their coordinator, but went back to supporting the topper.

Slowly, they began to flap up toward the roof at the somewhat confused directions of the gray pegasus. "Hey guys!" she exclaimed with a gasp. "I think you'll get it this time!" Her posture slumped as the team overshot the roof and almost sent the topper tumbling to the ground far below.

Igniting her horn, Starlight prepared to grab the topper in case it slipped from their grasp, but thankfully they held on and began to fly up toward the roof again.

"Sorry guys, my bad. I thought the roof was to the right, but, uh, I guess it was to the left." When inquired again about the direction, she cried, "I don't know what you mean by that! It's just right or left, duh!"

After a few more failed attempts, one where Starlight was sure that it'd end up crushing somepony, a pegasus in the group smacked their face with a hoof and let go. The group managed to hold on as he flew up to the coordinating pegasus and had a few words with her.

Finally, the two switched places, and the new pegasus began barking orders and directions to follow. Moments later, the topper was placed nimbly on the top of the roof, sliding down until the spire of the roof was too wide for the base of the topper.

The show now over, Starlight sighed and began to walk through the square. Her target was the merchant row of Ponyville, which required going through the holiday market.

As she approached, the noise of conversation increased even more, and she had to squeeze through ponies waiting in line to see different ponies' wares. She spied a few familiar faces in the crowd and briefly watched a few demonstrations. All the products were of no use to her, as they were all focused on being quirky gifts rather than useful decorations.

One stall did grab her attention, as it advertised ornaments from all over Equestria. Unfortunately, the vendor turned her away when she reached him as the pony before her managed to clear out the rest of his stock. He wished her a happy Hearth's Warming, pulled down a blind, and placed a sign proclaiming he was out of stock.

"Awesome. Just awesome." Starlight grunted and continued toward the merchant row, briefly stopping at a couple of other stalls, but remaining unimpressed by anything they offered.

Finally, she got through the mass of ponies and took a deep breath of fresh, cold air. It stung her nostrils, but she didn't care. At last, she was free from the throngs. Her fur still tingled a bit where they pressed against her, and some smells still lingered in her nose. Thankfully another deep inhale got the last bits out and replaced them with bitter wind instead.

Shaking her head to clear it, she trotted down the street. Signs of all kinds advertised different holiday specials or the current hours of the businesses. A few were already closed for Hearth's Warming, but thankfully enough were open so that she could browse around to find the best decorations for the castle.

A few groups of ponies left some of the stores, laughing as they inspected their findings. Along the street, groups of shoppers peered into the window displays of the different stores. It was always confusing to Starlight. Ponyville seemed to have some of the strangest merchants she'd ever seen. Every day it seemed she could find a new market for niche interests. It didn’t matter how random the combinations seemed to be. They had a place for sofas and quills, for Celestia’s sake!

The snow scrunched underneath her hooves, and she meandered down the street, stopping every so often to look in a window. A couple of times she pressed her face against the glass to see into the store, her breath soon creating fog on the surface and leaving behind a short-lived imprint of her muzzle on the glass.

She grunted as a pony left the store she was inspecting and accidentally bumped into her. Steadying herself, she accepted the mumbled apology and went about her way. The cloud cover began to thin out, leaving clear patches of Twilight's night to send light blue rays of light to the surface.

Ahead of her, Starlight saw a pony dressed as Chancellor Puddinghead ringing a bell and wishing everypony a happy Hearth's Warming. She held a basket for donations, and ponies occasionally dropped a bit or two into it as they passed by.

Grabbing her bit bag and checking the contents, Starlight grabbed a couple and put them in the performing pony's basket. The pony tipped her hat and wished her a happy Hearth's Warming before going on her way further toward the square of Ponyville.

Soon, she approached a small jewelry store and took a second to look through the window display. She saw a few ponies milling about, looking at different bracelets or other assorted items. At the back, she spied a mare and stallion talking with the owner of the store. The stallion was nervously explaining something to the owner, while the unicorn mare just stood by, impatiently tapping a hoof.

The owner thought for a moment, then ducked behind the counter. A moment later, he popped up with an ornate horn ring and displayed it for the two to inspect. After briefly thinking, the stallion nodded and looked to his marefriend, fiancée, whatever, Starlight couldn't determine for sure. The mare nodded curtly, and the owner closed the ring box and took it to the bit register.

Sighing, Starlight stepped away from the window and looked around the street. "Maybe one day," she said to herself and began walking toward one of the shops across the street.

The sign above the entrance to the store advertised itself as Beds and Plates and now with Tree Ornaments, Too! As she entered, a bell chimed, and she was hit with a small hum of conversation. Over the foreground of noise, she heard a Hearth's Warming tune playing on a record player that was being broadcast throughout the store.

The floor was fairly open, so that families could test the beds in the store. On the far wall were different plate sets. A sign advertised that all Hearth's Warming sets were twenty-five percent off so that the stock could be emptied before the holiday.

To the left of the entrance, the owner and a couple of other staff ponies were swamped with paying customers. The one cashier was gazing with wide eyes as a portly couple trundled toward her. In the husband’s magic, he levitated a stack of at least a hundred dishes, all in varying garish hues and patterns. Starlight rubbed her eyes. About a dozen of them were garnered with pillows and mattresses. Who would buy a dozen plates with mattresses painted on them? There was even one with just a bed frame.

Starlight groaned. Her head was beginning to pound just trying to parse the concept. With a couple of blinks, she spotted another pony, this time a spindly earth pony, carefully meander her way through the crowd. In her grasp, somehow staying together, was a skeletal frame constructed out of feathers. She couldn’t tell if it were bird feathers or pegasi feathers.

The pony slinked past a pair of foals who were playing with pillows. As one was smacked in the head, there was a clattering noise, and a few pieces of plate flew from the pillowcase. Giggling, the hit foal shook the impact off, and she dove to smash her own pillow into her attacker.

At the last second, the young filly dodged, bumping into the pony and her bed frame. In an instant, the entire thing exploded into a cloud of feathers. Momentarily, the mare just stood there, her right eye twitching. Falling to her knees, she cried, “No! It was the last one!” She whacked a hoof to the floor in despair.

One of the other staff members managed to place a reassuring hoof on the customer’s back. With a yelp, she was pulled into a tight embrace as the hysteric mare wailed on about the bed frame.

“I think… I’ll just go over here.” Stepping to the side, Starlight ducked as another pillow was flung her way, then quickly glanced around to see what could be of use to her. Near the back of the store, she spotted containers of ornaments and began to trot toward there. She checked both ways as she reached an intersection in the aisle. Sure that she was clear, she took one step forward, then was slammed into by a small form. The little bundle of literal energy was off before she could get to her hooves.

Clearing her head, she glared at the small colt who had already taken off toward another area of the store. As she got up, she heard an irate voice snap at her, "Watch where you're going! You could have hurt my little pony!" Starlight turned around and eyed the pony who berated her.

"You've got to be kidding me, it's your son who needs to watch out!" Starlight retorted, smacking a hoof to her face. "If I ever have foals," she thought as she glared at angry mother, "they will not get away with stuff like that."

"My little angel would never do anything to hurt anypony!" The other mare gasped, pulling a hoof to her chest in shock and shooting daggers at Starlight. "Just be thankful that it's Hearth's Warming, or I may have had you sued for touching my poor baby."

The subject of the fight had come up behind his mother and begun crying, whining that one of the staff ponies wouldn't let him bounce on the beds. Pulling on her leg, he cried, "Please, mommy! Can you make them let me play on the beds?"

Clicking her tongue, his mother looked down and said, "Don't worry, honeybun. Mommy will make things all better." She rubbed his head affectionately and then shot another glare to Starlight before turning around and heading toward the counter. “Just wait until the manager hears about this! The nerve of ponies! They think they can just walk about willy-nilly?!” She huffed and brushed her bangs out of her eyes.

When his mother was no longer paying attention, the colt turned his head and stuck his tongue out at Starlight. At that, Starlight just groaned and smacked her face again.

Seconds later, the two were verbally assaulting one of the staff ponies, who held an unimpressed expression. When the mother didn't get her way, she began gesturing at the pony and raised her voice. Seconds later, a couple of other staff ponies arrived and began to drag the two out of the store.

Despite protesting and trying to grab onto anything they could to stay in the store, the two were thrown out the door, and a semblance of peace returned.

Sighing, Starlight turned back around to inspect the shelves and boxes of ornaments for potential purpose. Unfortunately, what was left was fairly sparse, leaving much to be desired in terms of selection. What was left was tacky. For instance, there was a crystal ornament of Celestia with giant eyes and miniscule wings. “How did they even mess that up?” she grumped to herself.

At the bottom of the shelves were a few boxes of discount ornaments, so she quickly rummaged through that. Between the different cheap plastic ornaments and broken glass balls, she came up empty-hoofed. She grunted. So much for making her shopping trip easy.

Turning around, she left the store and was back on the street. The clouds were steadily dissipating, leaving the cold winter night sky to display its myriad of stars. She took a few seconds to look up and down the street and then started to canter toward her next destination: the Paintbrush and Microscope store. Its holiday sign proclaimed that it was also selling lights for Hearth's Warming and other assorted baubles.

Inside was much the same story as the previous store. There were crowds of ponies going between aisles of paintbrushes and microscopes—she swore this was the weirdest combination—occasionally checking an item out or grabbing one from the shelf to purchase.

Along the back wall, numerous strings of lights were displayed, all lit to showcase their color combinations and attract as many ponies as possible. They looked like the latest type of matrices. Sure, the subsidies from Twilight helped Ponyville spruce up their decorations, but stores weren’t as lucky. Considering how expensive it was for Twilight to fund all of Ponyville and her castle, Starlight wondered just how much it cost the owners. They must have had a mage working around the clock just for food!

She chortled to herself and shook her head.

As the counter was fairly empty at the time, Starlight sauntered up to it and looked at the owner, a lanky tan stallion with deep lines in his face and a short afro mane. Said pony soon noticed the attention and looked up from his work. Smiling, he whacked a couple of old paint brushes against his easel.

Getting up from his seat, he approached Starlight and asked, "Is there anything I can help you with today?" His voice was soft and soothing, instantly putting Starlight at ease.

"Uh, well, maybe," she stuttered, returning his warm smile. Taking a couple of steps forward, she made sure nopony else could hear her. She muttered, "I'm, well, just wondering why you have such an odd selection of things. I mean, paintbrushes and other art supplies I could understand, but microscopes?” She took a glance around. “Who buys both of those?"

Chuckling, the pony softly replied, "Well, let's just say it was a happy little accident that I found out ponies here had a shortage of both." He winked at her and started to head back to the stack of old brushes. "Supply and demand, you know. Now, if you'll excuse me," he said, sitting back down on the stool and grabbing a brush in his magic. "I need to finish beating the Tartarus out of these paintbrushes."

Still confused, Starlight simply nodded and thanked him for the answer. She stepped back from the counter and weaved her way down the packed aisles. With a grunt, she shot a tired stare at a group of ponies chattering at the end of the corridor. After a couple of seconds, one turned to her and arched a brow.

Jerking her head to motion for them to move, Starlight huffed when they went right back to chatting. Nickering, Starlight powered her horn and reappeared behind them, almost colliding with a petite mare who was inspecting some bottles of paint. Both jumped in surprise, and the mare splashed herself with a blob of bright purple.

“Sorry!” Starlight exclaimed, wincing and using her magic to suck the paint off the mare’s face. She carefully dropped it inside the bottle and trotted away. The mare just blinked emptily.

With a sigh, Starlight reached the back and inspected the lights. Hopefully there would be something, anything, that could decorate the castle.

She clicked her tongue as she visualized the hallways of the castle and the empty porch. After a few seconds of thinking, she grabbed a couple of strings of white lights and headed back toward the counter. Sure, there was no exterior spell matrix plug, but if she and Trixie combined their magic, they should be able to power the lights for a day or two.

Seeing that she was back with some items to purchase, the owner got up from his work again and helped her with her order. "Now, did you find everything you were looking for today?" he asked her in a pleasant drawl.

Starlight nodded and hummed her agreement.

"Good." The pony went behind the bits register and plugged in the codes for the light strings. The register clanged as the price came up. "That'll be eighteen bits, please," he requested.

Starlight took out the requested bits and placed them in his hoof. With the transaction completed, he grabbed a small paper bag, placed the lights inside, and pushed them toward Starlight.

"Have yourself a Happy Hearth's Warming, you hear?" he called to her.

Starlight waved and left the store. She managed to compress the paper bag enough that she could fit it into her saddlebag and then checked the street for the next store she would visit. Mentally, she checked off some of the exterior decorations, but that still left her with a few more for the porch. On top of that, there would probably be enough to fill some of the gaps in the castle halls.

Her next stop was the Toilets and Perfume store, which was selling "assorted holiday trinkets." Starlight corrected herself. This was the strangest store in Ponyville, not the Paintbrush and Microscope store. At the very least, the proprietor of the latter was kind and gentle. Unlike him, the owner of this store was like a walking plumbing disaster. There always seemed to be clouds of dust in the store, and usually he was tinkering with some odd faucet or valve.

On top of that, he was about as unkempt as a pony could get. Usually there was a permanent five o’clock shadow on his chin, and he was never without a pair of soiled overalls. Still, from the couple of times she was in there, he always smelled of lavender.

Reaching the business, she stopped and gazed at the sign. It was a bit… crass. It looked like Luna, or maybe Cadance, sitting on a toilet, dressed as Princess Platinum. While doing their… business, they were also spraying themselves with a bottle of perfume.

“Well, at least Rachet Petal is straight to the point,” she grumbled under her breath. She grunted and pushed open the door. On cue, a poof of dust hit her in the face, and she coughed.

Waving her hoof, she managed to get her hacking under control and blinked to clear her vision. She gasped. He had actually managed to clean the place up. Aside from the aerosolized dirt.

As with the other stores, the Toilets and Perfume store was filled with ponies doing last-minute shopping. Toilets of all kinds lined walls and shelves in most of the store, with a small, ornately decorated section dedicated to perfumes at the far-right side. In the very far corner, past an aisle of rust-scented vials, there was a cheap neon sign flashing on and off to show where they kept the Hearth's Warming things.

Resigning herself, Starlight pushed through the crowds and toward the holiday items. She didn't spend even ten seconds taking a look through the junk that was left on the shelving. If there was such a thing as a decoration monster, this was it. All it needed was a spell to give it life.

Her expression falling flat, she headed back toward the entrance, walking through the perfume section. As she passed one of the displays, a hint of the perfumes caught her nose, and she turned to look at them. A small mare came around and inquired if she could help Starlight find anything.

"N-no, I'm just, you know, looking," Starlight answered nervously. Her nose twitched. Taking another whiff, she perused the bottles. In their varied shapes, different liquids of various hues sparkled in dimmer light. Letting her brain process the aroma for a moment, she tried to place it.

It felt familiar, but it didn’t immediately click. Behind her, the mare peered over her shoulder to try and make out what she was doing. “Are you sure there isn’t anything?” she asked, a bit of eagerness in her voice.

“Well, okay, maybe there’s something after all,” Starlight replied with an awkward chortle. There was a hint of something spicy in the smell, but it also carried a sweetness to it. Some of the other tangy aromas gave it a slightly homey feel. Almost like she was traveling back to… Sire’s Hollow.

She blinked. Suddenly, everything clicked. The concoction carried a fragrance awfully similar to the smell of Sunburst’s family home. A few images of her and him frolicking in the sandbox in Stellar Flare’s back yard flashed in front of her. She sighed.

When Sunburst and her had visited to solve their parental issues, it had been in the summer. Those flowers were not in season when they were there, so her memory wasn’t as fresh. Wherever the perfume was hiding, its intriguing aroma beckoned her closer to the bottles.

“Which perfume smells like, well, spring? It reminds me of something.” Starlight bit her lip and glanced back at the mare. A faint blush formed on her face. “Maybe it could be a little surprise for Sunburst? It isn’t weird to get a perfume that smells of home, right?”

Tapping her chin, the mare peered at the shelves. A small bit of her silvery mane flopped in front of her face, and she blew it away. She ran her hoof across the bottles and arched a brow. “That describes a lot of our selection.” She rotated a hoof. “Is there something more pungent that you can make out?”

“A lot of your selection?” Starlight echoed, giving her a flat stare. “I see at least a dozen bottles dedicated to different plumbing scents.” She jabbed toward a bottle labeled Rust in Musk. “Who the hay wants that?”

“You’d be surprised,” the mare grunted, giving a slight wince.

“Ehuh.” Starlight scrunched her muzzle and shot her a miffed frown. After a few seconds, she cleared her throat, and she went on. “Anyway, uh, it smells like there’s some… ginger in it? Also—” she inhaled deeply “—saffron?”

"Oh! You describe one of our most popular perfumes at the moment!” the mare declared, flashing Starlight a wide grin. She reached over and snatched a bottle from a group of about half a dozen, and she passed it to Starlight.

Dimples forming, the mare giggled and explained, "Along with the saffron and ginger, it is mixed with four other spring flowers, and has a drop of honey! Also, we managed to capture the enticing scent of late-night dew! Only fifty bits!"

Gagging, Starlight looked at the tiny bottle and then back at the mare. "F-fifty bits for this?!" she cried. At the mare's nod, Starlight groaned and looked at the bottle. Would it be worthwhile? Celestia knew when Sunburst would be back next, and Luna knew when he'd actually be free, so would it be worth the investment?

After pondering for a minute, Starlight groaned and nodded. Putting on a forced smile, she said, "Thanks for the info." Before the employee could say anything else, she trotted off and waited in line for her purchase. Soon enough, she was fifty bits lighter and gently placed the perfume into her saddlebags next to the lights already in them.

Before she closed her saddlebags, she gave it a quick shake and watched the liquid inside slosh around. Its light yellow color shimmered in the lights from outside, making the entire bottle appear like it was made of crystal.

She exited the store and walked toward her last target for the evening: the Quills and Sofas store, which was advertising its sale on all Hearth's Warming decorations. Opening the door to the store, she heard another bell chime, and a classily dressed tan stallion approached her.

"Good evening, miss," he said, bowing slightly. The store was mostly empty, save for a few ponies milling about some of the sofas. "Is there anything I can help you with tonight?"

"Well, I was wondering what kind of things you had for Hearth's Warming," Starlight answered. Suddenly, her head began to itch like crazy. With a wince, she scratched under her toque. The wool was starting to stick to her mane, and, as it moved, it yanked a few stray hairs out by the root. "You wouldn't believe all the junk I had to look at tonight."

Chuckling slightly, the pony replied, "Yes, quite." Perking up, he continued, "If you'll follow me to the back here, I can show you some of the decorations that are currently on sale." He spread a hoof wide and motioned for Starlight to accompany him.

Soon, the two reached the back of the floor, and before Starlight were a few shelves of different holiday items, ranging from ornaments, to lawn decorations, to lights, to tree toppers. The stallion briefly discussed a few of the sales that were currently being held for Hearth's Warming items and then departed, leaving her to ponder what she would buy, if anything.

Looking over the different items, she levitated a few ball ornaments over and checked them out. They all appeared to be made of durable crystal which had been infused with different impurities to give them different colors. She set them down for the moment and inspected her bit bag.

She drew a sharp breath as she counted what she had left, but determined that she could afford the exterior ornaments. Grabbing them, she walked toward the counter and soon paid for them. The stallion clacked a few keys on the register, which dinged loudly through the store.

“Here you are, have a Happy Hearth’s Warming!” he declared as he passed her the bags. As Starlight departed, he gave a small wave before another customer charged up to the counter. With a groan, he rested a hoof on his fetlock as they started barking at him about one of the sofas pricking them in the rump.

The door chimed, and Starlight shivered. In the evening air, her breath quickly turned into clouds of vapor, and she watched as ponies continued milling about in the streets, going into stores, or heading back to their homes.

Beginning to canter toward the castle, she looked up into the sky to see that the clouds were now completely gone, leaving a deep blue sky with pinpricks of light from the many stars. If it was any other season, it would have felt magical, staring into the deep abyss of the night sky, but to Starlight, it just felt empty.

Sighing, she walked through the town square again, crossing one of the bridges over the river and stopping to look at a few of the ponies still skating on the river. She hummed to herself as she propped her head on her right fetlock, and mused to herself, "I wonder what Sunburst is doing right now?"

As she headed to the castle, her mind began to wander as she pondered what the situation in the Crystal Empire was like.

***

Clopping hooves echoed down the hallways of Princess Twilight's old castle. Starlight pranced through the corridor, heading toward Sunburst's room. In her stomach, a slow gnawing feeling was growing into a dense lump of stress as she approached his room.

Beams of light radiated through the crystal walls of the castle, bouncing off the floor and sparkling through the passageway. Its orange hue painted some of the opposing wall, almost appearing like shafts of fire. The occasional breeze blew a few loose leaves past a window which scraped and scratched on the glass. A few shadows darted across the carpeting, casting bolts of black on the shining surface.

Sunburst’s door was mostly open. Approaching it, Starlight softly knocked on the doorframe and peered inside. Sunburst was hunched over his bed, grabbing items he'd need for the weekend. At first, he didn't notice her, so she knocked again and cleared her throat expectantly.

Surprised, Sunburst turned around and smiled warmly. "O-oh! Come in, Starlight." He turned back to his suitcase to continue packing.

A frown on her face, Starlight waded through stacks of papers and random bits of clothing. Eventually, she made her way to her coltfriend's side and sighed. She breathed in the smell of his mane and felt a bit of her tension ease.

"You, you know, you don't have to knock," he stuttered. He tried closing the suitcase, but it bounced back open, spraying books, papers, and a couple of spare capes everywhere.

A piece of paper landing on his face, Sunburst grunted, "Oh great, just great!" He huffed and began stuffing the suitcase again.

As he continued to try and fill the luggage bag, Starlight instead cast her gaze around the bedroom. She sighed inwardly and looked at the various papers, books, and other things scattered around. On his desk was a massive stack of papers, mostly scholarly theses, with another, smaller stack of blank paper beside it. On a small empty space, there were a few sheets strewn about, scribbled with notes or half-written sentences.

She grabbed one of the sheets in her magic and read the opening for Sunburst's thesis on the applications of mass regeneration spells. According to the hypothesis, combining magical crystals akin to the Crystal Heart, healing spells could be amplified to heal entire armies in case of war, or to quickly repair environment damage caused by fire, flood, or any number of other catastrophes.

"Is this what you've been working on?" she asked, floating the paper in front of his face. While she was glad that he had started back on getting his magical doctorate, the fact that it took so much time was disheartening.

Brushing the paper out of the way, he answered, "Yes. I'm, well, sorry that things have been taking up so much of my, my time." He sighed and tried closing the suitcase again with little success. "But you don't know how important getting that doctorate is! It could open up so many more possibilities for the school!" Turning around, he solemnly smiled at her. "I-It should be finished in the next couple of weeks, I hope."

Sighing, Starlight nodded. "I know, I know, it's just not the same writing to you when you're in the Crystal Empire." She sniffled a bit and put the sheet of paper back on the desk. A hollow feeling had begun to permeate through her body, and she shuddered a bit.

"Yes, I know." Sunburst went back to packing, this time taking out one of the spare cloaks and throwing it into a pile of other used ones. "I don't, I don't enjoy it either, but Cadance has been desperate for the help."

After digging around in the suitcase a bit more and pulling out a couple of textbooks, he added, "Besides, it's better than not talking at all, right?" He grabbed a checklist that was next to his bed and stroked off a couple of lines, a frown on his features.

He tugged at his beard momentarily with a hoof and then went back to organizing his luggage. He jumped when Starlight wrapped her forehooves around his neck and whimpered a bit. He relaxed and rested his head on hers.

"Flurry can't be that much trouble, can she?" Starlight asked, pouting a bit even though from where she was holding him, he couldn't see her face. "Can't Cadance and the other mages in the Crystal Empire handle her on the weekends?"

Sighing and turning around, Sunburst nuzzled Starlight and said, "Unfortunately not. I mean, Flurry is starting to learn how to speak, and well, with her magic and temper, she can get a bit explosive when she doesn't get a word right.” He blinked, and pulled his jaw tight. “You don’t, uh, want to know what happens when she gets really mad.”

For a brief moment, Starlight sensed his heartbeat grow faster, but he swiftly calmed himself by taking a sniff of her mane. She cooed softly and closed her eyes.

With a light cough, he pulled back, turned around, and cantered over to his suitcase. He snatched a couple more items out and scratched his chin. “Now, do I really, really need the anti-alicorn spray again?” he pondered aloud. He hefted a dinged up bottle with some tape holding a nozzle onto it. There was a small scribble of Flurry’s face on it, and she was blowing a raspberry.

Starlight grimaced and looked over the room again. She spied a small kettle and a bag of coffee, along with a few used mugs lying on Sunburst's nightstand. Next to the mugs was a picture of she and him on a train going to Vanhoover. She smiled and levitated the picture over.

"Was it only last month we did this?" she pondered, putting it back on the nightstand. To her, it felt like ages. Aside from that one date, the pair had barely spent time together outside of work at the School of Friendship. Every weekend, he had to go up to the Crystal Empire to be with Flurry. From the occasional letter that she saw from Cadance or Shining Armor, Flurry was causing headache after headache. Still, it was not like Sunburst should be the parent of Flurry! Cadance and Shining needed to take some responsibility.

When he heard Starlight put the picture down on the nightstand, Sunburst stated, "I-I know, it's been a long time. Or, well, it felt like it." He adjusted his spectacles and tried pushing the suitcase lid down. With a loud click, the latches closed and stayed shut. Only a couple of tremors went through it before it finally settled. Pumping his forehoof in the air, Sunburst proclaimed, "Yes! I think I'm finally getting the hang of packing!"

Starlight smiled and thought, "He's such a dork. A big, soft, loveable dork."

After double-checking that the suitcase would stay closed, Sunburst turned around and gave Starlight a hug, pulling her into his chest. The two stayed pressed against each other for a moment, both basking in the tiny amount of alone time they managed to have.

Starlight sighed and closed her eyes, thinking back to their first date back in early summer. She wished she could go back there. Technically, she could. It's not like she didn't know a time travel spell or anything, but it wouldn't be the same. That, and Twilight would probably lock her up for messing with time again, but those were minor details.

Once more she breathed in the smell of his mane and smiled. For the moment, she was content, and it felt like the problems of dealing with a new school year vanished as she stayed in his embrace.

Eventually, Sunburst broke the silence by softly stating, "I hope that, you know, things will calm down soon." He let go of her, and she stepped back to look him in his cyan eyes. "I mean, Flurry is getting a better handle on her magic, so hopefully, maybe, possibly, she'll stop blasting holes through the Crystal Palace's roof or walls."

He winced and pawed at the floor nervously. "She barely missed hitting one of the servants last weekend." He coughed and said, "But, I know that she'll be better this time!"

Raising an eyebrow, Starlight just stared at Sunburst. She couldn't stay incredulous for long, however, and instead asked, "Are you sure things will be okay? Flurry seems, well, pretty unstable again."

"Oh, most definitely!" Sunburst nodded rapidly, almost sending his spectacles off his nose. "She'd never hurt her Crystaller! Well, on purpose, anyway." Scratching his chin, he muttered, "Or maybe she would?

"Anyway..." He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I need to finish up here. My train leaves in an hour, and I have to find the perfect book to read while I travel there." With that statement, he grabbed a few books from the bookshelf on the other side of his bed and began to inspect the titles.

Sighing again, Starlight stepped forward and placed a hoof on his back. When he put down the books to look at her, she quickly hugged him and whispered, "I'll miss you."

Returning the hug, he answered, "D'oh, it won't be long. Just, you know, another weekend." He pulled back and smiled at her. "Besides, it's not like you don't have lots of work to keep you busy, too. If anything, I should be the one complaining. I mean, you have to deal with the EEA all the time. That takes patience!"

Starlight chuckled. "You're right." She snuggled into his neck momentarily before she heard a few joking growls from the door.

Whipping her head around, Starlight saw Trixie standing in the doorway, a sleazy grin on her face. "Well," she began, "Trixie was going to ask if you wanted to go see a new show that came into town, but she sees that you're... busy." She wiggled her eyebrows and winked. "Wink."

"Oh, not this again," Starlight muttered, smacking a hoof to her forehead.

"Trixie would tell you two lovebirds to get a room, but, well, she sees you already have one." Trixie snickered and covered her mouth with a hoof. Lightly, she added, "So, instead, she'll just recommend you get a bed." Failing to hold back laughter, she started to make her way down the hall.

"Trixie!" Starlight cried, dashing out of the bedroom and into the hallway. "When I get my hooves on you!" She didn't get a chance to finish.

"Trixie thinks not!" Trixie called back, ducking into another hallway.

"Ugh!"

Of Hearth's Warming Past

"Oof!" Starlight grunted as she collided with a pony-sized obstruction. She fell to her rump and rubbed her head to clear her vision.

In front of her was a large pile of wrapped boxes, occasionally dotted with a bow. A shape moved underneath the boxes, and a refined voice complained about ponies not watching where they were going. A moment later, a couple of boxes were grabbed in light blue magic and Rarity popped her head through.

"When I find whoever had the nerve to hit me, I'll... Oh, hello, Starlight!" Moving the rest of the boxes, she soon got to her hooves and helped Starlight up. "It's been ages, darling. How have you been?" She pulled Starlight in for a tight embrace.

A few bits of snow from Rarity's mane fell onto Starlight's, and she felt herself be squished further into the unicorn's chest. As always, Rarity was dressed for the occasion, and was wearing a bright purple scarf and dainty earmuffs along with light blue boots.

Breathing and catching a whiff of the unicorn's expensive perfume, she tried to push back. "Need to breathe!" she croaked. "Nice to see you, too, Rarity!" With a final shove, she got free of her friend's hug and gasped for air. She brushed the snow from her mane and swished her tail to get the clumps from her fall off as best she could.

Rarity's mane was a bit less than its usual perfect self after being buried underneath stacks of presents. A few loose hairs had sprung up here and there, giving her a bit of a manic look, which matched perfectly with her wide smile. When she realized her mistake, Rarity chuckled a bit and said, "Oh, right, sorry. I just haven't seen you in forever! When was the last time we talked?"

Thinking for a moment, Starlight finally stated, "Probably before you left for Canterlot to help Coco with her shop. Geez, that's been at least three months, hasn't it?" She shook her head. "S-sorry, Rarity. You know, it's just been, busy, busy, busy. New school year, figuring out replacements for you guys, dealing with student problems, you know." Chuckling, she scuffed a hoof in the snow.

"Hmmm, quite," Rarity hummed, a knowing smirk growing on her face.

Arching an eyebrow, Starlight shot back, "What?" She began to blush a bit and fiddle with her mane. "Is, is there something stuck in there?" She quickly took off her toque and shook her mane. When Rarity's expression didn't change, Starlight began to laugh uncomfortably.

Suddenly, Rarity laughed, her voice like tinkling wind chimes. "Oh, I know all about you and Sunburst," she said, lightly waving a hoof. "Rarity always is up on the latest news about her friends." She smiled in reassurance.

"Wh-what? We'd, we'd never! No!" Starlight laughed, a bit of wind catching in her nose and making her snort. "N-no! Definitely not!" Her cheeks grew a brighter shade of red, and she avoided Rarity's gaze.

Rarity tsked. "Honestly, Starlight, you really don't have to hide it." She stepped in front of the light purple unicorn and smiled again. "It's wonderful news. Twilight told me when I left for Canterlot." Her eyes went up and down her friend for a moment, before sparkling in delight. "And I'm so glad to see you are using my toque!" She chortled a bit. "It really does bring out your eyes. I trust Sunburst has seen it?"

Sighing, Starlight replied, "No, no, he hasn't."

The pair went quiet for a moment. Out of respect, Rarity didn't pry. Instead, she walked over to the bundle of gifts and began stacking them into a much more organized pile. Mumbling to herself, she sorted things based on shape, size, and color.

Regaining her composure, Starlight walked beside her and said, "Sorry for ramming into you. I guess I got lost in thought." She looked at the half-assembled pile of presents. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Rarity shook her head and continued stacking the boxes. At Starlight's silent demeanor, she soon stopped and turned her head. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "Starlight, is something the matter?"

Her mind beginning to race, Starlight took a step back and stuttered, "N-no! Everything's fine. We're fine. All's good." She cracked a toothy grin and stepped back a bit more. She felt her heartbeat begin to increase again.

Narrowing her eyes, Rarity uttered, "Uh-huh." When Starlight didn't offer anything further, she sighed and went back to stacking the boxes. The lights from Ponyville reflected off the shiny paper and danced on the snow below, which in turn reflected some of the light back and made it appear like tiny embers.

Slowly, Starlight's heartbeat returned to normal, and her chest no longer felt like it was going to burst. She watched Rarity. She bit her lip and finally said, "W-well, okay, maybe there's one thing."

Instantly, Rarity zipped up to Starlight and exclaimed, "Anything for a friend!"

Sighing, Starlight lowered her head and looked back to Ponyville. "It's, well, Sunburst."

Rarity hummed, a look of concern spreading across her face. She remained silent.

Afraid that she gave the wrong idea to Rarity, Starlight quickly backpedalled and stated, "I-it's not bad, or anything! Well, maybe it's bad, I don't know." With a light thud, she flopped down on her rump. Her saddlebags jittered, and she loosened the straps to let them slowly slide off. "We're not like, having fights or anything! Things are going great!"

"Then what's the real problem, Starlight?" Rarity trotted up beside her and sat down, ignoring the cold snow. "Darling, we've spent too long together. I know when you're trying to avoid a topic."

"You don't know the half of it," Starlight mused. After spending a few seconds of thinking on how she'd explain it, she went for the simple answer of, "It's complicated." Starlight mentally kicked herself. "That really helps, stupid!"

"Hmm, yes, that's quite the explanation," Rarity replied, a small smile forming. She rubbed on a booted forehoof on Starlight's back. Her eyes glowing in the evening light, she gently prodded "What makes it 'complicated?'"

"Well, I don't know, it just feels like it!" Starlight whipped her forehooves into the air in frustration, showering the two of them in some snow powder. "Ugh! I'm horrible at this!" Pouting, she hunkered down a bit and started at the ground.

"Starlight, take it from me. Relationships are complicated. Doubly so when you're dating, but I think you know this." Rarity chuckled and held a hoof to her mouth. "Twilight may be amazing with normal friendships, but, well, she's a bit unexperienced when it comes to having a special somepony."

"No, you think?" Starlight snarked back, looking into Rarity's eyes.

"I know." Snickering a bit more, Rarity, said, "If you need relationship advice, you've come to the right place. Now, please, tell me what's on your mind."

"Maybe it's nothing important, but, well, I feel, I don't know, lonely!" Starlight sighed, looking up into the night sky. "Sunburst, well, he's away every weekend to the Crystal Empire to help look after Flurry. This week he had to leave early because Cadance said that Flurry was causing even more problems than normal. And on top of that, he has his magical studies, and then dealing with lesser issues with the school!"

Looking over at Rarity, who was shivering a bit because of the snow seeping into her fur, she continued, "And now Trixie is going to Las Pegasus tomorrow morning! It's like nopony actually wants to be with me over Hearth's Warming." A few tears began to trickle down her cheeks.

"Starlight," Rarity sternly began, her face hardening. She got up from her position and got in front of Starlight, staring down at the sitting unicorn. "That is not true. You're a wonderful mare, and your friends and Sunburst, love you deeply. Sometimes, plans change."

Offering a hoof, she helped Starlight get back up and pulled her into another quick hug. After exiting the embrace, she continued, "You and Sunburst spent years without talking to each other, and how quickly did you rekindle your friendship?"

Bashfully, Starlight stated, "A few days."

Nodding, Rarity answered, "Exactly. It may be tough right now. Believe me, I've been there, but Sunburst will be back one day, and he'll have more free time someday, too." She walked back toward the stack of presents that she was carrying and said, "Having a coltfriend is hard work, and sometimes it feels like nothing you do helps, but this isn't the end of the world, Starlight. You'll see."

After lighting her horn, which cast a pale blue glow over the snow, she picked up the stack of presents and turned to face Starlight. "You and Sunburst were best friends well before you began to date. Sometimes you went months without speaking to each other, and you were fine." Chuckling, she said, "Besides, it's still a couple of days before Hearth's Warming. There may be a surprise waiting for you. Only Celestia knows."

Smiling, Starlight answered, "Thanks, Rarity. Also, probably we should start saying 'Twilight' now."

They shared a laugh. If only Starlight could be there to see Twilight’s reaction when she would first hear somepony curse, “Twilight damn it!” Although, that’d be far from the worst one ponies would come up with.

Curious, Starlight asked, "Who are all those gifts for? It can't be all for one pony, can it?"

Giggling a bit, Rarity replied, "Oh these? They're for Sweetie Belle." At Starlight's obvious surprise, Rarity asked, "What? You think it's a bit much? My poor Sweetie Belle hasn't seen her big sister Rarity in a couple of months."

"How much did that cost you?" Starlight questioned, grabbing her saddlebags and placing them on her back. She quickly checked the one bag to make sure that the perfume bottle hadn’t gotten too cold while it sat on the ground. For extra security, she ignited her horn to warm it a bit before closing the bag.

"Oh, just a few hundred bits. It's not the most I've spent on her." Rarity raised an eyebrow as Starlight stared at her incredulously. "What?"

Shaking her head, Starlight said nothing. Suddenly, a thought came to her mind. She gasped. "I haven’t gotten Sunburst a gift yet! Oh! I meant to last week, then everything got crazy and…" Nervously, she began prancing in place. "Oh, crap, crap, crap, crap!" She looked to the sky and then at Rarity. "What time is it?"

"Starlight," Rarity said flatly, her face growing more tired by the second.

"Oh, what am I going to do? No stores will be open tomorrow!" Now pacing in a small circle, Starlight was running through possible scenarios in her head. "Will, will he break up with me if I don't get him a present? I can't believe I forgot to get him one!"

"Starlight."

"Maybe, maybe, I can break into one of the stores tonight? I know how to remove glass with magic! They'd never see it coming."

"Starlight!" Rarity screamed, shaking the gifts suspended in her magic.

Stopping in her tracks, Starlight looked over to her and asked, "Yes, Rarity?"

"It's only seven-thirty. Davenport's Quills and Sofas is open until ten, and I believe the tome stores and antique store is open until nine." Rarity smiled. "You have all the time in the world, darling."

Taking a deep breath, Starlight blew it out and then replied, "Thanks, Rarity." A few seconds later, she remembered to add, "Oh, and happy Hearth's Warming."

"Mhmm." Rarity nodded and began trotting toward the School of Friendship.

"Wait!" Starlight called, causing Rarity to stop and look back. "You can't get in there! It's locked."

With a slight laugh, Rarity produced a set of keys from under her scarf and wiggled them in the air. Apparently, she still had her set of keys from when she taught at the school.

“Can’t be too careful. Sweetie likes to ‘inspect’ her presents before Hearth’s Warming!” She tittered softly. Before she started back toward the school, she exclaimed, "You're welcome to visit the Boutique on Hearth's Warming. So long as nopony else is spending time with you! Oh, and I’ll be putting these in Sunburst’s office. It used to be mine. He wouldn’t mind, would he?"

“Uh, I guess not,” Starlight replied, shaking her head as Rarity lightly giggled. With that, Rarity trotted off again, humming a tune that Starlight briefly heard before she went out of earshot.

Watching her friend for a few more seconds, Starlight sighed. Admittedly, it did feel better to get that bit off her chest, but it still didn't fully ease her mind. She turned around and looked at Ponyville.

The town hall was now fully decorated, lit up like a Hearth's Warming tree and shining for all to see. Even from her distance to the square, she could hear the sound of the holiday market mixing with seasonal music. A few pegasi flew over the square, carrying lanterns to hang on the town hall.

She grabbed the bag of bits from her saddlebag and weighed it. The few remaining coins clinked inside, and she opened it to check the exact amount. Twenty bits. Hopefully that would be enough to find something of value for Sunburst. As she put the bag away, she pondered what exactly she could get.

History might have been an area of interest, but it was mostly the sociological end. Sunburst was the one who actually had any interest in the old stuff itself. Maybe there'd be something at Davenport's or the modern tome shop?

"Well, only one way to find out," she resolved, making sure her toque fit snugly on her mane again and trotting back toward the merchant street of Ponyville.

Shortly, she arrived at her destination. Since she knew the way to avoid hoof traffic, she only took a few minutes to get from the road to the castle to the merchant street. Unsure of where to start, she went back to the Quills and Sofas shop, where she was quickly greeted again by Davenport.

When the tan pony saw a return customer, he quickly stepped out from behind the counter and asked, "I trust everything was satisfactory? Was there something else that I could help you find?"

Humming to herself for a second, Starlight finally replied, "Y-yes. I, uh, am looking for a gift for, you know, my, uh, coltfriend." She squeaked out the final part, as it was still a bit hard to admit that to the public. "He's, uh, very knowledgeable, so I thought I'd try here, since, you know, quills, and stuff."

"Yes, and 'stuff,'" Davenport echoed. Adjusting his suit jacket, he said, "Follow me, I believe I know something your special somepony will like." He walked back behind the counter and cantered over to a display case. When he saw that Starlight was still in the entrance, he waved her over with a hoof.

Weaving her way through the line to the bit register, which was being staffed by a young, tired-looking stallion no more than fifteen, she reached the display case and took a look through the glass. Before her were all manners of different quills, pristinely presented on plush cushions. The selection ranged from standard bird feathers to more exotic options.

Davenport unlocked the back of the glass case and took out an exquisite example, finely oiled and sharpened. "This," he said, taking the quill gently in a hoof and holding it before Starlight. "Is a quill fashioned from the rare Pingland Kingdom's own ice albatross!" Gently, he placed it back on its cushion and took out another one. "And this is a quill fashioned from one of Princess, er, former Princess Celestia's left wing!"

Starlight barely heard the sales pitch, looking for herself at the different quills on display. Finally, a golden-hued quill caught her eye and she inquired about it.

In an instant, Davenport bent down, taking the other two quills back, and grabbed the quill in question. Setting it down on the display case, he said, "You have a fine eye. This one is exceedingly rare, coming from the Griffonian continent. When their old Emperor died, in honor of his academic achievements, they took the primary feathers of his wings and fashioned them into quills. This is one of two in existence!"

When Starlight heard the rarity of her choice, her stomach began to sink. A few beads of sweat forming on the back of her neck, she asked, "And, uh, how much?" Nervously, she chuckled and eyed Davenport pleadingly.

"Three thousand bits," he replied flatly. With a condescending smile, he said, "Really, if you knew how hard it was to get this, you'd know it was a steal!"

Pupils shrinking, Starlight stammered for a few seconds, trying to wrap her head around the price. Finally, words managed to form coherent, or mostly coherent sentences, and she cried, "Three thousand bits?! For a bucking feather?!"

Expression falling flat, Davenport replied, "Miss, please keep your voice down, you're disrupting the rest of the customers." With that, he put away the golden quill and locked the display case. "If nothing suits your fancy, then I shall bid you a good evening and happy Hearth's Warming." Straightening his suit jacket again, he left the display case and walked to a new customer who had just entered.

Heaving for a few seconds, Starlight finally managed to calm down and looked at the quills again. No way in Tartarus was Sunburst worth that much to drop three thousand bits on a feather. If it came from Discord himself, she wouldn't have cared, although, admittedly, it'd probably have interesting effects.

Grumbling under her breath, she stomped out of the store and into the street, taking a look around as the evening went on. A few puffs of vapor left her nostrils as she breathed out, matching her demeanor by making it appear she was exhaling smoke clouds.

However, Rarity had mentioned two other stores. One for ancient and one for modern tomes of all kinds. Frowning slightly, she trudged through the street. Soon enough, she found the modern tomes store and entered, a bell chiming and soft, relaxing music reaching her ears. It was mostly devoid of customers, save a couple of young mares with braces and glasses. They were chortling together as they flipped through a book on dark rituals.

Staring at them, Starlight determined that she was out of touch with the younger generation if that's what they found humorous. Her attention turned to the pony behind the counter, who greeted her cordially. While polite, she had a slightly clipped undertone to her voice, like she was always busy.

"Welcome to the Modern Tomes away from Tome," she stated, sliding from behind the counter to shake Starlight's hoof. "If there's anything you need help finding, let me know." With that, she went over to the two young mares and glowered at them.

The two teens winced and put the tome back on the shelf before dashing past the owner and out into the street, nearly knocking Starlight over in the process.

Shaking her head, she began to explore the aisles upon aisles of tomes. Ponyville never ceased to surprise her. Who would have believed that tomes could be modern? When she thought "tome", she pictured an old, decaying rawhide book with faded parchment from which some evil necromancer was reading indications to summon the dead or the like.

Though, looking at the shelves, she found examples of rewritten ancient tomes, tomes on modern, "ethical" necromancy, tomes for dabbling in recreational alchemy, tomes on crystal magic, written by Sombrero Rex, and many other topics that she thought were only discussed as magical history.

Although she found the wide array of options interesting, the prices she saw were not. When she grabbed one of the tomes on crystal magic, she gulped and felt her heart drop a bit when she read the price of seventy bits. Groaning, she put the tome back on the shelf and thought, "So much for helping with Flurry."

She spent a few more minutes perusing the store, but ultimately found nothing worthwhile. Wishing the owner a happy Hearth's Warming, she stepped back out into the street and then entered the store directly next to the modern tome shop.

Inside, she was blasted with heavy rock music and saw multiple ponies dressed in leather jackets and spiky manes checking out some of the ancient tomes for sale. Behind its cluttered counter, a bored stallion dressed in the same attire noticed her and slowly turned to face her.

"Hey," he said, giving her a curt nod. He looked at the group of ponies who were having fun reciting some different spells from whatever tome they were reading. "Don't mind them."

He leaned forward. Pointing to the partly hidden speakers around the store, he cried, “And hope you like metal! It helps keep the spirits at bay!” With a sudden push back on the counter, he relaxed in his chair and started nodding his head to the music.

Covering her ears, Starlight began to wander through the cramped aisles, surprised at the complete reversal of appearance compared to the modern tomes shop. A few skull-like decorations hung from the ceiling, and a fake fireplace was blazing with a blue flame at the back of the aisle.

All the tomes in the store were in ancient Equestrian, Griffonian, or some other dead language, so it took a bit of time to decipher exactly what they were about. After translating the seventh tome title to be dealing with necromancy, Starlight made the executive decision to leave and hastily retreated back outside.

For a few minutes, she caught her breath and then made as much distance between that shop as she could. Soon, the ringing in her ears from the loud music settled down, and she trotted down the street toward the last shop. Sending a silent prayer to Celestia, Luna, or whoever, she entered the store and was greeted by a scholarly-looking pony sitting behind a small table.

The pony looked up from his book that he was reading and smiled. "Welcome!" he said, walking up to Starlight and shaking her hoof. His eyes glowed as he recognized her. "You're Princess Twilight's friend, aren't you? Er, Starlight Glimmer, right?"

"Yep, that's me." Starlight chuckled a bit. Slowly, she cast her gaze around the store. From the ceiling, old ornaments dangled and bounced light around the store. Some old cabinets were against the wall, holding different Hearth's Warming plate sets from decades ago.

Also suspended from the ceiling, multiple chandeliers sparkled as the candles inside slowly burned away, filling the store with a slight smokey smell. On the right side of the store, aisles of bookcases lined the floor, overflowing with antique books and other baubles. There were even stacks of books on the floor, covered in thin layers of dust.

Retracting her hoof, Starlight smiled nervously at the pony and said, "I guess my reputation around here is known?"

"Oh, no! I remember when you visited with the Princess and your other friend." The older pony coughed and grabbed his glasses. He breathed on them and rubbed them with a hoof before placing them back on his muzzle. "It's not everyday that a store gets royalty, after all. Plus, you've helped save the world multiple times, too!"

"No, definitely not." Starlight's ears flattened, and she looked ahead at the store, over the pony, and toward the back. Along the back wall were some old paintings and sculptures. Cool, but well out of her price range. She didn't need to ask about that one.

"Is there anything I can help you find?" the owner asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling.

"I think I'll just look around for a while," Starlight answered, plastering a forced smile on her face and trotting down into the store. At first, she took a look at the cabinets holding the plates. Interesting, but not really a good fit. A few of the plates depicted the Windigos being banished, but most were more commercialized holiday scenes, such as the tribe members spending time singing Hearth's Warming carols or making desserts.

In the distance, Starlight heard the clock tower of Ponyville strike eight. She fiddled with her mane a bit. Trixie would probably be curious what was taking her so long, but getting something for Sunburst was more important. "Hopefully she hasn't gotten into any trouble after setting up the decorations," she thought to herself.

After a bit more browsing of the antique plates and cabinets, she went to a nearby jewelry case and eyed some of the objects there. Most of the jewelry were different rings for horns, but a few bracelets and necklaces were dotted amongst them as well. Sighing, she looked at a couple of the more expensive rings. Wistfully, she placed her hoof on her head and envisioned Sunburst appearing next to her opening a ring box, floating one onto her horn, and pulling her close.

The image was over in a moment, though, as she came back to reality and realized that he was hundreds of miles away in the Crystal Empire. After looking at the jewelry a bit more, a couple of rings with turquoise gems catching her eye, she stepped away from the display case and trotted toward the aisles of bookcases.

As soon as she stepped into the first aisle, her nose was hit with a light, woody smell. It wasn’t so much musty as it was aged. Around her, stacks upon stacks of books lined the shelves of the bookcases, occasionally broken by some old toy or other antique. Wrinkling her nose at the smell, Starlight continued to investigate the aisles, pulling on a book or two with her magic to check the titles.

Briefly, she had a flashback to when Twilight and Sunburst dragged her in here the first time. If she protested any more, she would have literally been kicking and screaming. Now she willingly came in here to find something for Sunburst. She chuckled a bit. "How love changes things," she mused and read one of the book titles.

The aisles were dimly lit, as the light from the chandeliers was partly blocked by the towering bookcases and also one of the support pillars of the store. Turning on her horn, Starlight walked a bit deeper into the growing darkness of the aisle.

Cast in an eerie cyan light, long, thick shadows from the books’ spines played across the shelves. As they were different lengths, some made giant blocks of shade, others only thin tendrils. Most of these books were similar in style to the ancient tomes that she had skipped over in the other store, so she soon backed out and then went down the second aisle of bookcases.

This aisle faced the window of the store. Stopping her search, she took a minute to glance out the window. She saw a few families heading into the few remaining shops to purchase something.

A few foals were running around the street, trying desperately to deck each other with snowballs. Smiling, she watched the group play, one of them managing to catch the other in the back of the neck with a snowball and laughing as their victim went tumbling to the ground and getting a mouthful of snow.

For a few seconds, the foal lay on the ground. When her friends came close, she sprang up and showered them all with snow. The group laughed and began the high-speed chase again.

Sighing, Starlight dropped back to all fours and resumed her search for something that could be of interest to Sunburst. For minutes, she combed through the bookcases for anything that could possibly be used as a gift. Beads of sweat dripping down her forehead, she stuck out her tongue as she dug around, finding that the bookcases were deep enough to hold, in some instances, two rows of books.

Finally, she pulled out an old book that had to be at least fifty to sixty years in age. Blowing a bit of dust off the cover, she read the title. The History of Equestrian Entertainment. On its cover, a small set of board games were displayed in a haphazard pile. Pressed up next to them, there were some different toys for foals. One was a pair of Celestia and Luna dolls. Their slightly dead-looking eyes bore into her soul. Along with that, a single painting of a trio of ponies on a stage was in the background. One was holding a skull of a griffon, and was waving an arm around dramatically.

Determining that she would probably not be lucky enough to find anything else, Starlight kept the book in her magical grip and then trotted around to the front, where the owner looked up again from his book and smiled. A smile creeping on her features, she placed the book down on the table.

"Ah, I see somepony is interested in vintage toys." He got up and inspected the book. Flipping through its pages, he found no price sticker. After scratching his chin for a moment, he said, "Well, normally I'd charge at least thirty bits for something like this, but since you're a friend of the princess, I'll give you a discount." He tapped his chin. "How does half price sound?"

Grinning at her luck, Starlight quickly opened her saddlebag and pulled out her bit bag. With a glow of her horn, she hastily slipped the requested bits out. "Sounds like a deal!" she replied, floating them over and placing them on the table. In return, she grabbed the book for Sunburst and began to head toward the exit.

Before she left, the owner called to her, "Happy Hearth's Warming, er, I hope your other friend likes the book!"

Blushing, Starlight didn't look back, but she did answer by saying, "Thanks. Oh, and happy Hearth's Warming to you." She stepped outside and felt the snow crunch underneath her hooves. Slipping the book into her right saddlebag with the nearly empty bag of bits, she began to walk back toward Twilight's castle.

For once, she had a spring in her step, and her tail swished lightly as she pranced across the now mostly devoid of activity town square. The market vendors had closed early for the night. A few had signs promising to return for the morning of Hearth's Warming Eve, others instead wishing ponies a happy Hearth's Warming.

In the back of her mind, she thought, "Hopefully he doesn't have this. Antiques were always his thing." Soon, she slowed her pace to a more thoughtful trot as she began to make her way over the bridge leading to the castle. She eyed her saddlebag and fussed to herself, "Oh, I really hope I didn't mess up!"

Her mind once again racing, she failed to notice when she almost collided with a tree, only dodging out of the way of its trunk because of the face full of pine needles she received. Spitting out the needles, she got back on the path to the castle and soon climbed the porch.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door to the castle and saw that, thankfully, Trixie had not completely demolished the interior. In fact, she spied the warm glow of a fire coming from the living room that she had spoken to her in earlier in the evening.

After closing the doors to the castle, she took off her toque and trotted up the staircase toward the living room. Her hoofsteps left small bits of snow on the crystal floor, which soon melted into puddles. Eventually, after most of the snow had either melted onto her hooves or fallen off, her steps began to squeak as she approached the living room.

"Trixie," she called, peeking around the corner and looking for her friend. Before she could continue her thought, she froze and soon smiled as she saw Trixie passed out on the couch, her magician's cape used as a blanket. A few soft snores escaped her friend's lips, and she rolled over, facing closer to the half-lit fire in the fireplace.

Ducking back, Starlight checked the time on a clock on the opposite wall. It was only ten after eight, but Trixie had been going since early in the morning and then she put up the decorations on the tree. Starlight shrugged. Trixie deserved a bit of a rest.

When she poked her head through the doorway again, she looked at the now fully decorated tree. The topper was reflecting the light of the fireplace and sending it sparkling across the room. Garlands of tinsel adorned every few branches and added to the beauty of the tree. Additionally, the ornaments were neatly spaced every few inches to provide a symmetrical appearance.

Suddenly, two violet eyes were in her face, and she heard Trixie cry, "Hi, Starlight!"

Screaming in surprise, Starlight fell back onto her rump, a soft crack reverberating through the hallway. Rubbing her rear, Starlight hissed, "Ow." She looked up at Trixie, who was looking excitedly at her. "Trixie!" she exclaimed. "What? How?"

"Ah ah!" Trixie placed a hoof on Starlight's muzzle to silence her. "Trixie may have been having a small nap, but she could hear your hooves a mile away." Chuckling, she continued, "You really need to work on your sneaking skills, Starlight."

Grumbling, Starlight got to her hooves and set down her saddlebags. From the bags, she grabbed the lights and ornaments that she had bought earlier. She watched as Trixie's eyes widened and sparkled with excitement.

"Which do you want to do first? The outside, or the halls?" Starlight offered, raising the lights for the first question and the balls for the second.

Like a foal in a candy store, Trixie couldn't decide between which to do first. "Um, well, Trixie isn't sure," she finally admitted with a shrug.

At that, Starlight said, "All right, then we'll do the outside decorations first." She put the bag of ornaments next to her saddlebags and then slid her toque back on. Motioning for Trixie to follow, she headed back down the hallway and then out the doors of the castle.

While she was busy getting the boxes of lights open, she looked up into the sky and watched the stars twinkle. There was no moon tonight, giving her a perfect opportunity to observe the stars if she wanted. If only it was a bit warmer.

After a couple more minutes, Trixie stepped out onto the porch, too. She wore a light pink sweater with matching boots and toque. The toque didn't quite fit and kept sliding down her face and sticking on her horn. In a fit of anger, she grabbed it with her magic and threw it back into the castle. She turned to Starlight and said, "Trixie didn't need the warmth anyway."

Laughing a bit, Starlight offered Trixie one side of the light string and used her magic to lift hers. Gingerly, the two unicorns straightened out the lights and found spots on the trunk of the castle to hook them into. Once they were finished with that set of lights, Trixie asked, "Um, Starlight. As much as Trixie loves these new magical lights, they do require, you know, connection to the magic grid."

"Already thought of that, Trixie," Starlight said with a small grin. She grabbed the next set of lights and lifted them in her magic, Trixie grabbing hold with hers and helping her.

Soon, both sets of lights were strung up on the castle, looking at the moment like giant, stretched out spiderwebs.

Standing back to observe their work, Starlight nodded and looked to Trixie. "Okay," she began, lighting her horn and focusing on the plugs of the lights. Normally the plugs would connect to the socket that led to the spell matrix grid, but since there were no plugs on the outside of the castle, she had to improvise. "We're going to work together to power these things."

She squeezed her eyes shut and reached out with her magic to feel where the plug was. "Just, do what I do. Feel for the plug. When you find it, send a bit of juice its way. They don't require much."

Soon, she felt Trixie's magic reach out with her own, and the two fed some magical energy through the plugs and into the lights. Opening her eyes, she saw the lights slowly blink on. If the lights were powered normally, their glow would have been a pearly white. However, the bulbs were figuratively bursting with energy from the two unicorns. Most glimmered an electric cyan, but a few sparkled bright pink. Occasionally the lights would switch colors as they tapped into either Starlight’s or Trixie’s magic.

Taking a step back, Trixie smirked and observed the lights before glancing to Starlight. Her face fell when she spotted Starlight's own slightly dower expression. Arching an eyebrow, Trixie asked, "I-I know that there's something else bugging you, Starlight. Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

Growling, Starlight shot a glare at Trixie and said, "Just drop it. Please?"

"Okay, okay. Tell you what? Trixie will make dinner tonight." At her friend's sudden paling, Trixie hastily added, "Trixie has been practicing her cooking more. She's mostly confident nothing bad will happen."

"Mostly?" Starlight echoed, a bored expression replacing her glare.

The two walked into the castle and put away their winter gear for the night. After Trixie closed the closet door, she turned to face Starlight again and nodded. "How does a nice spaghetti and tomato sauce sound? Trixie has been wanting to try that one for ages." Sauntering up to Starlight, she poked her in the chest with a cold hoof. "Besides, Trixie knows that you got something for Sunburst. You can go wrap it up while she makes dinner."

At her statement, Starlight's stomach let loose a loud growl, reminding her again that she hadn't eaten since lunchtime that day. Sighing, she lowered her head and said, "All right, Trixie. I'll do that. But what about the interior decorations?"

"Oh, Trixie can handle that, too." Trixie waved a hoof dismissively. "Multitasking. She's great at it. Had to do it all the time on her magic shows."

"Right," Starlight flatly answered. She looked at Trixie for a minute, her friend chuckling nervously and avoiding her gaze. Finally, she turned to go up the stairs and trotted toward her saddlebags.

Grabbing the bags in her magic, she pulled out the book she had bought and made her way down the hall toward one of the supply cabinets. After spending a few minutes wandering, passing a couple of war rooms—whatever the tree of Harmony needed those for—and yet another pool that decided to appear, she found a storage closet and opened it. Inside, she managed to find a few different styles of wrapping paper and scissors.

Items in magical grip, she smiled and trotted back to the living room, passing the two-level carriage garage and indoor theatre. She did a double take and looked again into the theatre. She swore the door before had led to the pool. Some days it seemed like the castle liked to play tricks on her.

Eventually, she got back to the living room, sat down on the floor, and dropped the rolls of paper next to her. The crackling fireplace provided a soothing background noise. Placing the book on the floor, she inspected the different types of wrapping paper at her disposal. There were a couple of different reflective options, along with one that was covered in different seasonal baked goods.

Before she could make a decision, she smelled the aroma of pasta cooking in the kitchen and a hint of garlic and other herbs. She licked her lips. Was Trixie throwing the garlic into the spaghetti sauce or making garlic bread?

Turning her attention back to the gift for Sunburst, she grabbed the blue reflective paper and the scissors and began to measure out the book. She placed it along the center of a wide sheet and then sliced through the paper with her scissors, leaving a clean cut to deal with.

Her tongue sticking out as she concentrated, she brushed a bit of her mane out of her face as she attempted to get the paper to wrap around the book. Fiddling for a few more minutes, she let go of the paper with her magic and checked the results. Before her was a book-sized, blue, reflective rectangle. Nodding to herself, she realized that she didn't have a ribbon and quickly teleported back to where she believed the supply closet was.

A moment later, she reappeared in a flash of cyan. Groaning, she spotted that the gust from her teleportation had pushed the book a short distance. It managed to scrape along the scissors, ripping most of her wrapping job to shreds.

Smacking a hoof to her face, she sat down again and grabbed a different roll of paper. This time, she chose the magenta reflective paper, as it went better with the yellow bow that she had found. Repeating her steps, she soon had the book wrapped again. This time, she held a hoof on the paper and began to measure the ribbon of the bow around it.

When she felt that the length was right, she quickly snipped the ribbon with her scissors and used her magic to tie it around the book. After a few more seconds, she lifted the book up to inspect it. Satisfied at her work, she grabbed the loose paper and rolls and stacked them to the side of the living room. She took the book and teleported it to her room, where she could then take it tomorrow to send to Sunburst.

As she set it down on her nightstand, she looked at one of the pictures of she and Sunburst and sighed. "Hopefully this doesn't arrive too late," she thought, and then teleported back to the living room.

Seconds after she reappeared in the living room, she heard a shriek come from the kitchen. "Starlight!" she heard Trixie scream, voice in full-blown panic.

Heart racing, Starlight dashed toward the kitchen. She galloped down the staircase to the main entrance and rushed across the floor. After nearly sliding into a wall as she turned, she soon reached the kitchen and froze in place.

The kitchen was on fire. Figuratively and somewhat literally. Trixie was pressed against a cabinet in the far corner of the room. Shakily, she was using a frying pan as a makeshift weapon to ward off giant eggs. Starlight blinked. What magic was Trixie trying to do to cause that?

Trixie squealed again as one of the eggs, feet sprouting through the shell, attempted to bash its way toward her. A couple of its brethren also attempted a pincer maneuver to get around her improvised sword.

Heaving a sigh, Starlight ducked and put up a shield spell as a group of flying measuring cups tried to bomb her with different ingredients, ranging from flour to milk. Aside from the chaos of the magically enhanced ingredients or utensils, the sink was on fire. It wasn’t something in the sink. It was the sink itself. How Trixie had managed that, Starlight didn't want to know.

Lighting her horn, Starlight charged a quick spell and shot at the giant eggs, which soon froze in place and shrunk down to normal. Next, she grabbed the measuring cups in her magic and chanted a few quick spells, which quickly turned them back into the inanimate objects they should have been.

For the fire in the sink, she just summoned a massive cube of ice and let it drop. A loud sizzle rose from the sink, and she turned to glare at Trixie.

Chuckling nervously, Trixie said, "Oops."

"I don't even want to know." Starlight smacked a hoof to her face and turned to look at the stove, which had somehow managed to not be damaged in the chaos. Needless to say, however, the spaghetti was ruined, and smoke was beginning to billow from the oven.

As Trixie slowly got down from the cabinet above the counter, Starlight said, "How about I cook us dinner?"

"Trixie likes that idea." Trixie enthusiastically nodded and avoided Starlight's lingering gaze.

Sighing, Starlight turned away and began rummaging through the cabinets for something that she could whip together. To her chagrin, most of the cabinets were empty, save for the occasional ingredient or two. After scraping through them all, she managed to find ingredients for a green bean casserole and went to work on preparing the food.

As she was cutting the beans for the dish, she turned her head and asked Trixie, "So, what are your plans for Las Pegasus?" With little attention paid to the knife, it slashed a bit higher than it should. Its tip pricked Starlight in the fetlock, and she yelped at the pinch of pain. Sucking on the small cut, she furrowed her brow and grunted.

"Well..." Trixie drawled, thinking of the words to say. She watched as Starlight went back to cutting the vegetables. "Well, uh, Trixie did already say that she was seeing Jack Pot's Hearth's Warming show. Uh, I may have been given a VIP ticket."

"Right, but what else–Wait, a VIP ticket? How in Celestia's name did you pull that off?" Stopping her preparation, Starlight faced Trixie and arched an eyebrow.

"Well, Trixie may have a few connections, if you catch her drift," Trixie admitted, a few nervous laughs escaping her mouth.

Humming to herself in thought, Starlight didn't answer and went back to cutting the food. Soon, she dropped the vegetables in the casserole dish and began slicing some cheese to melt on top of it. While she did that, she also mixed together the wet ingredients for the dish, pouring that on top of the vegetables before sprinkling the shredded cheese on the mixture.

She inspected her work and then nodded in satisfaction. Opening the oven, she coughed as a plume of black smoke hit her directly in the face. Gagging, she pulled back and heaved while she waited for the smoke to waft away. After she caught her breath, she glared at Trixie. Her eyes stung, and some trickles of water inched down her cheeks.

After the smoke had sufficiently cleared, she bent down to investigate the oven. In the center of the racks were two shriveled, black husks of what used to be garlic bread. With a grunt, she grabbed them with her magic and quickly dumped them into the garbage bin underneath the sink.

Now that the oven was cleared, she grabbed the casserole dish and placed it inside. Closing the door, she turned a couple of dials and set the dish to cook for the next twenty minutes.

Finished for the moment, she sat down at one of the chairs around the kitchen table and motioned for Trixie to follow. When her friend had sat down, eyebrow raised in curiosity, Starlight continued, "Surely you have other plans, right? How long are you staying there again?"

"O-oh, Trixie isn't sure, exactly," Trixie answered, clopping her forehooves together anxiously. A bit of sweat began to form on her forehead as she chuckled a bit. "The invitat–Er, ticket arrived last minute, so she hasn't fully thought it out. Yet."

Narrowing her eyes, Starlight said, "Trixie, there's nothing you're trying to hide from me, is there?" As soon as she said the words, her own stomach sank a bit. Here she was interrogating her best friend while she herself was keeping secrets.

"N-no!" Trixie stammered, avoiding Starlight's look. "Well, maybe Trixie might try some of the casino games later. She did get a holiday bonus, right, Starlight?" Quickly changing expressions, she blinked sultrily at Starlight, who groaned.

"Yeah, sure, Trixie. After you get back." Starlight groaned and made a mental note to pay Trixie extra the next time she got paid.

"And, well, Trixie may check out some of the sights. It's not every day that a unicorn can visit a cloud city," Trixie added, staring out into the hallway. She sighed and rested her chin on her hoof.

In the silence that followed, Starlight pondered her friend's nervousness. Before she could come to any final conclusions, the oven dinged, and she got up and trotted over. Opening the oven door, she pulled out the casserole and placed it on the stovetop.

Wisps of steam rose from the bubbling cheese, and she breathed in the aroma of the green beans and spices. "Not so bad, if I do say so myself," she mused. Another thought coming to mind, she frowned. "Of course, Sunburst would probably do it better."

Sadly sighing, she grabbed a couple of plates from another cabinet and served two portions of the casserole. She placed a plate and cutlery in front of her friend and then walked around to her seat.

After Trixie took a bite, she groaned a bit in pleasure and began to dig in to her serving. Starlight watched as the blue unicorn quickly ate the rest of her food, beating her in record time. Trixie grabbed a napkin and wiped her muzzle before going for a second serving.

When she had sat down, before she took another bite, she looked up quizzically at Starlight and asked, "What?"

Shaking her head, Starlight took a bite of food and said, "Nothing." Admittedly, the casserole was really good. Delectable, she could say. It could also just have been the fact that she was starving and anything short of rotten food would have tasted amazing.

The two ate in silence for a few minutes aside from the occasional clink of a fork on a plate as one took a bite of food. Eventually, Starlight finished her meal and looked on as Trixie finished her seconds. Tapping her hoof to her chin, she began pondering Trixie's trip to Las Pegasus again. Almost instantly, an idea hit her brain on why her friend was potentially so nervous.

"So, you said you got an invitation to Jack Pot's show, right?" she asked, trying to see if Trixie would react.

Instinctively, Trixie nodded and said, "Yep. Trixie was invited by Jack Pot to..." She covered her mouth, blushing as she realized her slip. At her friend's knowing grin, Trixie begged, "Please, Starlight! Don't share this with anypony. I-I haven't seen Jack Pot in years, I don't know how this will go."

"So, would it be too far to hazard a guess that he's your dad?" Starlight inquired, leaning over the table and placing a hoof on one of Trixie's. When her friend looked into her eyes, she smiled reassuringly.

With a sigh, Trixie nodded.

"I don't know what's so bad about that. Don't you want to spend time with him?" Starlight raised an eyebrow in confusion, pulled her hoof back, and got up and went around to Trixie. She nuzzled her friend affectionately.

Whinnying softly, Trixie got up and backed away from Starlight. She shrunk down a bit and muttered, "No, not really." When Starlight looked at her in surprise, Trixie added, "Jack, uh, Trixie's dad was always a bit... well, pushy."

Starlight scoffed. "Yeah, don't see the resemblance."

Growling, Trixie snapped, "Starlight!"

"Sorry, I shouldn't joke." Starlight held up her hooves apologetically.

After waiting a few seconds, Trixie continued, "Trixie, well, Trixie hasn't seen him, oh, for at least seven years? It was just before she finished magician's school, and he tried to hold a show there for him and celebrate his success at raising a second generation of magicians." She stomped a hoof on the kitchen floor and began to pace around the room.

"Oh," Starlight said. She tried thinking of anything else to add, but her mind came up blank.

"And then, and then!" Waving her forehooves in the air, Trixie grunted in disgust. "He sends me a letter out of the blue with a VIP ticket! He said that there was something important to tell Trixie!" She stopped and glowered at Starlight, as if she'd have the answer. "What does he want? To get Trixie to see how amazing of a magician he is compared to her? To gloat how he's living the life and she's 'stuck' in Ponyville as a counsellor?!"

Falling down on her rump, she covered her face in her hooves and moaned, "Why, why did Trixie agree to go? Oh, this will be a horrible time!" A few faint sobs came from Trixie as she sat on the floor.

Rushing to her friend's side, Starlight gave her a hug and whispered, "It'll be okay. What did the letter say?"

Shakily taking a few breaths, Trixie stammered, "I-it said that he had something important to tell Tri–me, and he hoped to see me soon. It had the ticket, that's all."

"And is that how he'd normally write to you?" Starlight continued, tightening her grip a bit.

"No, normally he'd begin with gloating about his latest show." Trixie sighed. "Now Trixie knows where she got the attitude from." A few weak laughs went through her frame, and Starlight released her from the hug.

Getting up, Trixie wiped a couple of tears from her eyes and resolved, "Trixie will still go. Maybe... maybe he deserves a second chance like she did." Smiling, she looked to Starlight and said, "Thank you."

"It's what I'm here for!" Starlight answered, swinging a hoof across her chest in an arcing motion. "Yep, what would you do with me?" As Trixie turned to put her plate in the sink, Starlight sighed and looked to the floor.

"Trixie will let you know how it goes," Trixie stated, turning around and flashing Starlight a weak smile. As Starlight stood up, she glanced away and bit her lip. Stifling a yawn, she said, "But now, Trixie needs her beauty sleep. She has to get up early for her train to Las Pegasus."

Slowly, she cantered out of the kitchen and into the hallway. Looking back, she grinned and nodded. "Happy Hearth's Warming, Starlight. Trixie wishes you the best for the new year." Before she left, her eyes lit up and she coyly added, "And try to relax, if you know what Trixie means. Wink." She winked and trotted out of sight.

Blushing profusely, Starlight listened as Trixie's hooves echoed down the hall and up the staircase. Soon, her friend's hoofbeats were out of earshot, and she was alone in the kitchen. With a sigh, she looked around the messy room and grimaced. Muttering to herself, she said, "And I'm alone now. Again. Also I’m stuck doing dishes. Again."

She grabbed her own plate in her magic and placed it in the sink. Although the metal was a bit slagged, it still was functional enough. As much as she was tempted to make Trixie responsible for the cost, she grunted and decided to fix it later. It wasn’t like she was going to have much company over Hearth’s Warming.

Turning the tap, she let the water warm before putting in the soap. There was still a small amount already in the sink from her emergency fire extinguishing measures. Tiredly, she cleaned the dishes she and Trixie used for dinner before hastily scrubbing the counter and putting the kitchen back together as best she could. Cracking her back, she trotted around to behind the table and looked at her work.

"You'd swear that nothing happened in here, well, aside from the giant scorch mark in the sink," she mused to herself. Suddenly, she yawned and stretched her whole body. As she arched her back, a couple of pops resounded, and she felt something loosen. Wincing, she rubbed her back a bit and decided, "I should probably head to bed, too."

Another yawn escaping her lips, she trotted out of the kitchen, extinguishing the lights before she left. As she entered the main hallway, she noticed a stack of gifts near the entrance that wasn't there when she passed by before. Resolving to investigate in the morning, she climbed the staircase and walked past the now dark living room.

She grabbed her saddlebags in her magic and made her way down the dark hallway toward her room. Slowly, her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, and she stopped to look at the pale light from the stars filter through the windows and crystal of the castle.

Despite being in the warmth of the castle, she shivered as she pictured how cold the air outside must be. Already, a few tendrils of ice were beginning to grow on the windows of the castle, and she took a minute to look out one and observe Ponyville.

Plumes of woodsmoke or steam rose from the houses in town, as families spent the night before Hearth's Warming Eve gathered together. With that thought, she whimpered a bit and looked to the floor. A lump began to form in her throat, but she managed to push it and the tears threatening to well up in her eyes down.

Starting up her trot again, she soon reached her room and used her magic to open the door. Once again, the holiday lights were dark, so she tried kicking the wall, this time to no avail. Grunting, she flicked the lamp beside her nightstand on and exhaled. Gently, she set her saddlebags down near the entrance and then pulled out the perfume bottle. The liquid inside glittered.

She inspected the small, contoured star-shaped bottle. Screwing the top off, she took another sniff of the fragrant liquid and sighed. She twisted it back on and then took a look at the label. Midnight Essence, it read.

Avoiding the piles of paper and other things on the floor, she made her way to the bathroom and put the bottle in the mirror cabinet. Stepping back out into her room, she eyed the mess of things and resisted the urge to send them all away. Where exactly that would be, she had no clue, but the copious stacks of paper, books, boxes, and other things were beginning to drive her up the wall.

Her head throbbed, and she felt like her hooves were nothing but lead weights. She treaded her way to bed, she flopped face-first into the soft mattress. Letting out a content sigh, she rolled over and stared at the ceiling for a couple of minutes. Finally, she lolled her head to the side and looked at one of the pictures of she and Sunburst.

Expression falling, she levitated it over and stared deeply into Sunburst's eyes. The two of them were leaning against each other, in front of the cafeteria of the school the day before classes started. Starlight's face was beaming, and she proudly wore her new headmare uniform. Conversely, Sunburst was smiling serenely at the camera, a slight blush on his features.

Sliding a hoof down the frame, Starlight put it back on the nightstand and looked at the gift that she had wrapped. It reflected the light around the room, making it appear that there were a few stars on the ceiling.

Starlight readjusted herself on the bed and kicked off a couple of the throw pillows. Normally, she'd do a bit more to prepare for bed, but she felt like she could pass out any minute. Scooching herself underneath the duvet, she sighed again as she felt the heavy covers squish lightly on her, making her feel safe and secure.

Turning her head to the side, she looked at a pile of boxes near the far-left corner of the room. They had arrived a few days ago, also from her dad. Probably her stuff that he had cleared out of her old room. Curious, she decided to open the top box and grab the first thing that was inside. A few seconds later, a worn photo album was floating in front of her face.

Resisting the urge to yawn, she opened the album and whined when the first picture was of her mom and dad. A few tears began to well up, and she briefly looked through the next few pages, all of pictures of her parents before she was born, potentially before they were even married.

Her heart rate increasing, she closed the book and shut her eyes tight. Willing to purge the images from her mind, she curled into a fetal position and softly cried. The last few thoughts before she slept were of Sunburst. "Where is that dork when I need him?" she groused to herself, a few tears falling from her muzzle and soaking into the pillow underneath her head.

Fitfully, she fell into the dark abyss of sleep.

Starlit Reprise

"Mom!" Starlight bellowed, jumping awake in her bed and springing upright. Heaving deep breaths, she shook herself and noticed that she was lying in a pool of sweat and tears.

Groaning, she leaned forward and rested her face in her hooves. She struggled to remember what her dream was about. A few images flashed before her eyes.

She was a filly, playing with a few blocks when her dad came home. She didn't notice at first, but tears were streaming down his face as he hugged her. When he finally found the words to speak, he explained what had happened. Starlight just stared at him, eyes wide and mouth agape. Soon, she began balling and hugged her father's leg.

Slowly, Starlight sunk further forward as the images of the dream faded away. It wasn't just a dream, it was a memory. Looking over, she saw that the photo album she looked at the night before was sitting on the end of her bed. Lamenting her decision to look at it, she grabbed it with her magic and floated it over to her dresser.

With that, she flopped back onto her pillows and looked at the ceiling. It was still dark outside, she could tell. Maybe about an hour before sunrise, which put things at around seven in the morning. She looked to her left and stared at the pictures on her nightstand for several minutes. "Hearth's Warming Eve. All alone. Go me," she thought.

The one that caught her attention was of she and Trixie teaching the first class of students for the school year. In it, Starlight had messed something up and Trixie was holding back tears of laughter. Starlight's ears were flattened, and a blush was growing on her face.

After pondering why she kept the picture, Starlight kicked her duvet off and rolled off her bed and onto the floor. She winced as her hooves touched the cold crystal and she gently began to make her way through the things on her floor to the bathroom.

Turning on the light, she inspected herself in the mirror. "Definitely could look worse," she thought as she poked at a couple of small wrinkles beneath her eyes. Morning face was always so much fun. After a few more seconds of looking at herself, she grabbed a washcloth and quickly cleaned her face from the sweat and tears of the night.

Already looking more refreshed, she adjusted her mane slightly and then left the bathroom. As she got ready to depart, she kicked the wall by the lights, and they blinked on. Nodding, she opened the door and went into the dark hallway.

From the hallway, she could see that a fresh layer of snow had fallen during the night. The night crew of weather ponies must have been given some new orders from Cloudsdale. The window facing outside showed a world covered in a fine dusting of white snow, which sparkled in the early morning starlight. A few houses already had lights on, which cast some orange spots on the river going through Ponyville.

Taking in the sight, Starlight began to make her way down the hall. After a few minutes, she realized that she forgot to grab Sunburst's gift and hastily trotted back to her room. Snatching it in her magic, she closed the door softly and continued on her way.

Hooves clopping on the crystal, Starlight listened to her steps echoing in the halls. Every now and then, she swore that the castle was bigger on the inside, given how long it sometimes took her to get from her room to the entrance. Other times it matched what she envisioned it would take her based on the exterior dimensions.

Soon, she passed the living room which Trixie had decorated the previous night, and she stopped to look into it. Light from outside reflected off the tree's tinsel, making it appear to be covered with icicles. Using her horn, she turned the tree's lights on and then left for the entrance.

When she reached it, she noticed a note on the floor from Trixie. Picking it up, she read, Starlight. Thank you again for your words to Trixie last night. Hopefully this trip will be the start of something new with Jack Pot Dad. I'll contact you tomorrow. Happy Hearth's Warming! Your friend, Trixie Lulamoon, Friendship Counsellor.

Sighing, Starlight crumpled the paper and threw it to the floor. She missed her chance to see Trixie off. Now she was truly alone for Hearth's Warming. After moping for minute, she brought Sunburst's gift forward and looked at it. Its paper warped her reflection a bit, and made her purple eyes appear pink. The reflection was slightly warped, making her frown appear more like a sneer.

Concentrating, she charged her horn and prepared to teleport his gift to the Crystal Empire. In her mind, she visualized the distance between Ponyville and the Crystal Empire, navigating the streets mentally and seeing the gift planted square in the middle of the throne room.

Abruptly, her concentration was broken by the faint aroma of cooking food. She sniffed. It smelled like someone baking with fruit. Despite her mouth watering, she felt her mind start to race. Wiping a bit of sweat from her brow, she looked back to the kitchen and saw that the light was on. Who could be here? Why were they here this early?

Slowly, she tiphoofed toward the kitchen and peeked around the doorframe. When she took in the room, her heart skipped a couple of beats. Inside, his back facing the entrance, was Sunburst! For a few seconds, she could only stare in surprise as he went about working the stove, something sizzling in the pan he was using.

He was humming something to himself, occasionally flipping whatever was in the pan. Instead of his normal cape, he wore an apron, and a few bits of flour were stuck to his coat, obstructing his cutie mark.

Pulling back from the doorway, Starlight held back a girlish squeal. She looked down at the gift, then up into the sky, or in this case, the bottom of the balcony in the entryway. "Thank you, TwilightCadance. Thank you!" she thought.

She realized that the present wouldn't need to be sent anywhere now. Getting up from the floor, she clopped back toward the stairs to the second floor and climbed them. A few seconds later, she reached the top and then approached the living room with the Hearth's Warming tree. Her eyes closed in delight, she placed the present underneath the tree, bumping against a couple of other small packages that appeared overnight. “Trixie loves leaving the actual presents to the last moment.”

Leaving the living room, she slunk down the staircase and went back toward the kitchen. She eyed her target, who was still blissfully unaware of the danger he was in. Slowly, she crept into the kitchen. When she was a couple of feet from Sunburst, she crouched down and swayed her hips back and forth a bit.

Chuckling to herself, she inched a bit closer and then stood up. From her point behind Sunburst, she could see he was making more of his signature giant pancakes. A few were already stacked on the counter. Against her will, her stomach growled. Sunburst straightened.

"What?" he said, turning around.

Before he could react, Starlight pulled him in for a tight hug and planted a kiss square on his lips. A low growl came from her throat as Sunburst at first struggled, but soon returned the kiss. Finally, she pulled back and said, "Welcome home."

"Uh, uh, yeah, uh, thanks," he stammered, readjusting his spectacles. His face began to turn a bright red. When he was released from Starlight's hug, he slowly wobbled on his hooves and smiled weakly. "G-good to see you too, Starlight."

Laughing, Starlight lightly jabbed him in one of his forearms and said, "You thought you could surprise me, didn't you?"

"Well, you see, I, uh, didn't get here early this morning." To emphasize, he yawned, and she noticed that there were dark circles under his eyes. "I think it might have been... four? Those seats aren't very comfortable for sleeping." He jumped when one of the pancakes began to sizzle loudly on the pan. "D'oh! I need to finish this first!"

Starlight watched as he deftly used a spatula to pry the overcooking pancake off the pan and flip it. After it had begun cooking on the other side, she smiled as Sunburst turned back to face her. "You know," she said to herself, "he really is cute when he bakes." She looked him up and down. "And that apron is so sexy."

Blushing a bit at Starlight's look, Sunburst scratched the back of his neck and stated, "Sorry for, you know, not being around much. I, uh, I wanted to be back sooner, but, well, Flurry Heart..." His eyes took on a thousand-yard stare.

"Say no more," Starlight replied, putting a hoof over his muzzle. Leaning in, she smiled, her eyes half-lidded. "I'm hungry. Cook." After that, she stepped back and chuckled a bit, some air catching in her nose and making her snort.

As Sunburst turned back to watch breakfast, Starlight sat down on a chair and gazed longingly at him. She eyed his flank as he trotted back and forth, pouring a bit more batter onto the pan after he pulled the latest cake off. Wistfully, she sighed and rested her chin on her right fetlock.

Noticing her gaze, Sunburst briefly looked up from his work and grinned. He went over to the fridge and pulled out a half-used container of whipped cream and a few strawberries. Grabbing a knife and spoon from one of the drawers, he sliced up the strawberries and put them on a pancake, acting as the eyes of the food. After that, he put some dabs of whipped cream on the confection in the shape of a pointed hat and beard.

Repeating this for three more pancakes, he took a couple of knives and forks from the drawers and floated a plate over to Starlight. Before she could dig in, he checked the fridge and managed to find a small container of syrup, which he placed down between his spot and hers. Finally, he got two glasses and filled them with Sweet Apple Acres apple juice.

At the meal, Starlight smiled and grabbed the syrup container. After sufficiently covering the pancakes with the viscous liquid, she took a sip of juice and then carved up the first pancake with her cutlery. For once, her thoughts were filled with joy as she bit down on a piece and tasted the sugary batter and syrup. After chewing her bite for a few seconds, she swallowed and asked, "How did you get away from the Crystal Empire? I-I mean, I'm excited you're here, but what about Cadance and Flurry Heart?"

Clearing his throat, Sunburst lightly drank some of his juice and answered, "Well, you see, I explained to Cadance that this would be our first Hearth's Warming as, well, a couple." He pulled slightly at his beard and continued. "You should have seen her face, Starlight! She was grinning from ear to ear for hours! If, well, I didn't know better, I would have thought that, that she would be stuck in that expression."

In her mind, Starlight envisioned Cadance dancing around like a little filly in a candy store. Warmly, she smiled and thanked Cadance for being understanding. Then again, Princess of Love, so it made sense.

For a few minutes, the two ate in silence, just enjoying each other's presence. As time went on, Starlight began to slow down her eating. A nagging feeling at the back of her mind kept coming up. When Sunburst was looking at an article in yesterday's newspaper, she observed him. "Do I really deserve him?" she thought as the feeling came back again.

Finally, Sunburst broke the silence, startling Starlight from her reverie. "So, what's happened since I left last week?" He took another bite of his remaining pancake.

"Oh, nothing much. Just, well, students leaving." Starlight poked at her food. Her fork speared the eye of her last pancake, and she listlessly chewed on the strawberry. "Well, I guess Trixie did her best to try and break up a fight yesterday." She winced. "Emphasis on tried. I, uh, was busy and couldn't help."

Sunburst arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. After taking another bite of food, he muttered, "I see. Anything else?" He sipped on his juice and looked at Starlight expectantly.

"Rarity's back in town," Starlight added, scratching her chin to see if she could think of anything more. "Uh... Trixie left for Las Pegasus. Personal business. She can tell you later if she wants."

"Oh?" Sunburst replied, finishing his juice and then floating the glass over to the sink.

For the next few minutes, they quietly finished their food. Occasionally, Starlight would look at Sunburst while he was reading before looking at her food. The last few bites for her felt extra heavy and filling, yet she barely tasted the sugar. Inwardly, she cursed herself for not sharing what was on her mind, but she had no words to describe it to him.

At last, when both had finished and Sunburst stopped reading the paper, he took his plate and Starlight's and put it in the sink. Briefly, he wiped down the counter and used the washcloth to get most of the flour off his fur. Turning around and taking off his apron, he said, "So, I, uh, didn't really have any plans for today, so, what would you like to do?"

"I don't know." Starlight shrugged, apathy beginning to overwhelm her.

"Uh..." Sunburst stammered, put off by her sudden change in demeanor.

Starlight, for her part, didn't feel much better. The pancakes were beginning to sit like a lump in her stomach, and she felt a few tears pooling in her eyes. She turned away before Sunburst could see her face.

Uncomfortably shifting on his hooves, Sunburst suggested, "Well, we could always play a board game or two. There, uh, there really isn't much else that we could probably do today." His eyes lit up as he continued. "We could play Knowledge Quest! We haven't done that in forever!"

Quizzically, he began to trot toward Starlight. "Would, would you be okay with that?"

As she sensed Sunburst approach, Starlight perked up and said, "Oh, yeah! Sounds great!" Under her breath, she muttered, "Just so much fun."

His fears put at ease, Sunburst clopped his front hooves together and cried, "Oh! Awesome! I've been studying some more on the history of hoofball. This'll be a great chance to see if I remembered everything." Teleporting his cape from somewhere, he attached it around his neck and grinned smugly. "Prepare for another crippling defeat, Starlight Glimmer."

"Heh, yeah. Yay me." Starlight groaned and got up from the table. She followed Sunburst from the kitchen and up the staircase. Soon, the two reached the library, and Sunburst trotted over to a small case holding different card and board games.

After digging around a bit, he pulled out Knowledge Quest and walked over to the small wooden table that Starlight had dragged from a corner of the library. Smiling in delight, he set the box down and opened it, setting up the board and then organizing the different colored wedges to be placed in the player pieces.

As he finished shuffling the cards, Starlight cast her gaze around the library. A few decorations hung here and there, but she and Trixie never had enough time to properly deck it out for Hearth's Warming. A bit of the early morning sun was beginning to come in through the high windows of the room and cast beams of orange light onto the floor.

"You go first," Sunburst said, placing the two dice in front of Starlight.

Rolling her eyes, Starlight grabbed them in her magic and gave them a strong toss. To the surprise of no-one, she rolled a two. Sighing, she moved her piece two squares and landed on the sports section. "Oh, this is just going swimmingly," she grumped, huffing as Sunburst grabbed the first card from the deck.

"Which pony in 974 was awarded the Ridged Horns in recognition for his outstanding performance against the Olenian puckball team?" At Starlight's confused face, Sunburst gave her a hint. "He was the only pony to score five goals against the deer team," he whispered, his spectacles catching the early morning light. "Those deer are nasty players."

With a shrug, Starlight lazily answered, "I don't know. Neighn Fetchsky?" She knew from Sunburst's flat expression that she answered wrong, but what did he expect? Had she taken the time to memorize all the ins and outs of sports? Even after the consistent schooling she got from this game, she still couldn’t tell the difference between a touchdown, a shortstop, and a goal, or whatever they called them.

She snorted softly. That was a bit much.

"No," was the only answer she received.

"Yep. Just going amazingly."

"I-I suppose it's my turn," Sunburst muttered, taking the dice from Starlight and rolling an eight. From his starting position, he already landed on one of the squares for receiving a wedge. Looking up, he raised his eyebrows, sending another smug grin toward Starlight.

"He may be cute, but he feels a bit punchable right now," she groused as she pulled a card from her end of the deck. Sighing, she read through the question once. She smacked a hoof to her forehead. "Seriously? He'll get this one in two seconds."

Listlessly, she read, "Who, in 1002, returned from her banishment on the moo–"

"Princess Luna," Sunburst answered, quickly taking the history wedge and placing it in his player piece.

"Yep," Starlight sighed, placing the card back in the middle of the deck and waiting for Sunburst to roll again.

For the next hour or so, they went through the game. Sunburst quickly got two more wedges, while Starlight remained at zero. Soon after, she finally received her first wedge and thrust a hoof into the air. She whooped excitedly. "I'm catching up!" she cried, but Sunburst just chuckled softly.

As they settled into the game more, Starlight asked, "So, what was happening in the Crystal Empire before you left?" She rolled her dice and cursed that she rolled a three. "Buck me!" she thought.

Adjusting his spectacles, Sunburst replied, "W-well, I was mostly helping with Flurry Heart. She's really improved since I was there last." After reading Starlight her next question, which, unsurprisingly, she got wrong, he continued, "A week may not seem like a big difference, but she now has about, well, three hundred words memorized." Frowning, he added, "Though she has trouble saying words like, well, trouble, or trolley. Anything with ‘r’, really."

Color drained from his face as he thought back to a few days ago. "S-she can get pretty upset when she doesn't get a word right. And to top that off, her magical studies are going well. Too well." He pulled a bit at the collar of his cloak and continued. "She, uh, may have blasted a hole the size of this room out of the palace after she kept saying 'daddy' wrong." He gulped.

"Oh." Starlight merely nodded. In the silence that followed, she read Sunburst's next question and groaned when he answered correctly.

"Though," Sunburst added, moving his piece three more tiles and landing on the square for the chemistry wedge, "she's improving a lot. I only had to replace all the lamps in her room after she discharged a bit of magic during a tantrum." He wiped his brow and sighed. "Let me tell you, it's worth getting your mane singed if it means that she won't blow a hole through the roof."

After Starlight read him the question, she perked up when he answered incorrectly. Hoping to land on another wedge square, she groaned when she did indeed land on one. Except it was the sports wedge. "Well, time to embarrass myself further," she figured, motioning for Sunburst to read her the question.

Sunburst coughed a bit and read, "What sport was invented in 703 as a way for rivaling towns to settle disputes without resorting to all-out warfare?" He put the card down and smiled at her. "I know you have this one, Starlight."

Stammering, Starlight began searching her mind to figure out the answer. After spending a solid minute thinking, she took a wild guess. "Would that be, uh, touchball?" When Sunburst stared at her without answering, she winced and muttered, "That's a no, isn't it?" She prepared to give him back the dice.

He shook his head. "Nope. You're right!" He floated the sports wedge over to Starlight, and she placed it in her piece. "Two teams fighting over a tiny ball and slamming into each other to see who's the best? That sounds like safe warfare to me."

Blinking momentarily, Starlight said, "What? I got a sports question right?!" She jumped on top of her chair and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Yeah! Starlight Glimmer got a sports question right!" When she saw Sunburst staring at her concernedly, she got back down and chuckled. "Sorry."

She rolled her dice and landed again on a sports square. "Buck you, Twilight. Buck you."

Her answer wrong, Sunburst then took the dice from her and rolled. For a few more minutes, the two played quietly aside from asking and answering questions. Finally, Sunburst was able to head back to the center and go for the win.

Before he began his turn, Starlight asked, "So, what's the Crystal Empire like up there during Hearth's Warming?"

"Oh!" Sunburst exclaimed, realizing he failed to talk about it earlier. "Well, uh, it's not much different really. The Crystal Ponies already lived in the cold when the three tribes were fighting against each other, so they didn't really notice when the Windigos were banished."

Humming to himself, he pulled at his beard and said, "Aside from the palace, not too many ponies decorate up there. I mean, there are few stores that have wreaths or trees or the like, but, well, it’s still yet to take off." He smiled and added, "Though the Crystal Heart is going into overdrive this time of year. There's so much extra love and compassion for fellow ponies."

After rolling his dice, he continued, "It actually is able to expand the heat barrier of the city, so that most of the plains around the city are green this time of year." As he moved his piece, he finished, "And, and the Crystal Palace is still decorated for the season. That's, uh, part of the reason why I was so concerned for Flurry, because ponies had to keep repairing the palace and replacing decorations."

Smiling, he waited for Starlight to read him his question. While she pulled out the card from the deck, he remembered one more thing. "Oh, and she loves the Hearth's Warming trees. I think it's mostly because of the presents, heh." He pulled out a picture from his cloak and showed it to Starlight.

Setting the question card face down, she looked at the picture. It was of Sunburst holding a struggling Flurry Heart, who was desperately trying to get at the decorations of a Hearth's Warming tree. She chuckled and gave it back to Sunburst. "She's a cute devil, isn't she?"

With a sigh, Sunburst replied, "Yep."

For a few seconds, the two basked in each other's company, then Starlight read him his question. He got it right, and won the game.

"Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Twilight dammit!" she cursed and huffed, crossing her forearms and pouting. After Sunburst began setting the game up for another round, she said sullenly, "Well, maybe I can go to the Crystal Empire next year?"

"That'd be awesome!" Sunburst replied, finishing the setup process. Spinning the board around with a flick of his hoof, he inquired, "Play again?" He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.

Sighing, Starlight huffed, "Fine. Just for you." She felt a slowly growing pit in her stomach, and a few beads of sweat broke out on the back of her neck as Sunburst began the next game. Once again, she was allowed to go first, and she landed, again, on a sports square. Without even bothering with the question, she handed the dice to Sunburst and huffed.

He read the question anyway, and she got it wrong.

Taking the dice, he rolled his turn, and the game was underway.

As the game continued, Starlight became more uneasy. The pit in her stomach continued to grow, and she felt like she was going to vomit her breakfast all over the table if the game continued for much longer. Her mind wandered to the photo album that was in her room, and a few images of her parents splashed before her eyes.

Shaking her head, she continued on, nervously laughing when Sunburst raised an eyebrow in concern. Settling down, she tried to bury herself in the game, however, wrong answer after wrong answer began to pile on her and only caused the nausea to increase.

At last, Sunburst won again, and Starlight drew a deep breath. She checked the clock that she and Trixie recently put up on the doorway and saw that it was almost one in the afternoon. Since her stomach was still acting up, she pushed back from the table and said, "I'm going to lie down for a while. I'm not feeling so hot."

Getting up from his chair, Sunburst trotted over and placed a comforting hoof on her back. "Are you okay?" he asked, concern showing in his eyes.

Slowly nodding, Starlight replied, "Yeah, yeah. I, I am just feeling tired. Didn't sleep good last night." She hoped her half-truth would satisfy him.

Pulling her in for a quick hug, which really didn't help with the nausea, Sunburst said, "If you're sure about that. Uh, hey, if you're up to it, how about we order some food for tonight? Save either of us having to cook."

"Yeah, that sounds swell," Starlight answered half-heartedly. She looked down to her hooves and then back into the concerned face of Sunburst. Mentally, she was kicking herself for not saying more.

She opened her mouth and was prepared to spill her story, but instead she heard herself say, "I'll just head to my room. Let me know when dinner is here." With that, she trotted off before Sunburst could reply.

The walk back to her room was fast, and she felt her hooves begin to wobble. More memories flashed before her as she entered her room and flopped onto her bed. A couple of tears trailing down her cheeks, she grabbed the photo album and began flipping through the pages.

Briefly, she looked at some of the photos of her parents. Her mother was beautiful. The page she was currently looking at was from a holiday that her parents took before they were married, if the scribbles underneath the photos were anything to go by. One picture she took from the page and looked at more closely.

In it, her parents were standing in front of a waterfall, dressed in adventuring gear. She laughed a bit to herself, a few more tears rolling down her cheeks as she imagined her dad of all ponies being adventurous. She put the picture back on the page and then flipped to the next set.

She heard the clock on her wall strike one-thirty, and she looked up briefly as it gave a single clang. Looking back down at the album, she sighed. This page was more of her parents' holiday. From the brief descriptions and a couple of souvenir stickers, she gathered that they had traveled to Baltimare, then got a tour of the nearby jungles.

She squinted, trying to read the hornwriting. It appeared that her dad had written in the book. Given how some of the descriptions sounded, it looked like the album was made quite a few years after the holiday. She noticed a couple of dry smudges on the page, like a tear or two had spread the ink of the quill around when it was being written.

Wiping her muzzle, she sniffed and looked at another picture. This one was only of her mother. She held it to her chest for a moment and thought back. Shimmer Shine. Such a simple name. With another glance, she briefly rubbed the edge of the frame. From the picture, she concurred that it was a perfect match.

In the picture, her mother had a huge smile plastered on her face. She was leaning back on a railing, her dark purple mane blowing in the wind. Behind her, a deep canyon filled with jungle trees threatened to engulf her if she slipped. Her pink eyes were afire with excitement, that much was evident. The inscription underneath the photo described the leg of the journey the two were on.

According to it, they had just passed some ancient ruins, and the tour was taking a brief pit stop for ponies to rest. Since the two of them were still itching to explore, they went up ahead and Firelight took the picture of his fiancée.

Sighing, Starlight looked for another minute at the photo before turning the page. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the next few pages were of her parents' wedding. Swiftly, she went through the pages, noticing her grandparents and a couple of family friends that had until now disappeared from memory.

She held up a picture of her mother and father at the altar. Firelight was dressed in a snazzy suit jacket, and her mother wore a simple veil and wedding dress. The white of the dress made her mother's pink coat stand out all the more, and she read the description of the ceremony.

Turning soon to the next page, she looked at the photos of their old home in Sire's Hollow. The two were dressed in overalls. Firelight, who was covered in paint splatters, was spreading some paint on the walls. Shine also had speckles of paint, but she smirked and held the bucket in her mouth. Given her horn was lit, but wasn’t visibly carrying anything, she was the camerapony. She glanced to the side at Firelight’s flank, a flash of lust in her eyes.

The inscription from her father discussed how the two had always found the history of Sire's Hollow intriguing and now that Shimmer Shine was gone, he was going to do his best to preserve it for future generations.

Starlight closed the photo album. She sat back on the bed for a moment and looked at the ceiling. Sniffing, she wiped a couple more tears from her cheeks and rolled over, visually searching the mess on her desk for a free piece of paper. After a moment of rummaging with her magic, she pulled free a piece and floated a quill and inkwell over.

Thinking for a moment, she scribbled a few lines down on the paper. A few tears trickled down her muzzle as she wrote. Shortly, she finished writing and re-read the letter. Satisfied that it didn't sound too distressed, she lit her horn and the letter ignited in a bright green flame.

With that done, she lay back on the bed and grabbed the photo album again. She opened it and started looking from the very beginning, which included a few pictures of Firelight and Shimmer Shine from before they were even dating.

She buried herself in her blankets and immersed herself in the photo album. For some time, she remained fixated on the different pictures, every so often clearing her throat a little and sniffing. Sporadically, she'd wipe away a few tears before they landed on the pages of the album.

Startling her, she heard a roar of flame and a letter landed on her head, bouncing off her horn and onto the bed. After putting the book down, Starlight opened the letter from Twilight. In it, Twilight apologized for the short reply, but explained that she was busy with setting up Canterlot Castle's Hearth's Warming dinner. She expressed concern for the content of Starlight's letter and said that if she needed to talk more, she'd be available later. She wished Starlight a happy Hearth's Warming, and to relax with Sunburst.

Starlight groaned. "So much for the help, Twilight," she grumbled to herself. After sitting for a few moments in silence, save the ticking clock, she grabbed the photo album again and went back to immersing herself in her parents' early lives.

Suddenly, she heard Sunburst clear his throat. She jumped and squeaked in surprise. He was standing in the doorway, a concerned frown on his features. "May, may I come in?" he stuttered.

Quickly closing the photo album and sliding it under her bed, Starlight said, "O-oh! Yes, of course!" She glanced to the clock. Somehow it had already become six in the evening. Had she really spent four hours looking through one photo album?

Stepping inside, Sunburst navigated his way to her bed. He sat down on the end of the bed and looked her in the eyes, his concern not fully going away. At last, he said, "I, uh, checked around for any restaurants that were open on Hearth's Warming, and, well, there was only one Neighponese restaurant." He grimaced. "I didn't realize that so many people closed this early."

"Oh, that's fine." Starlight waved a hoof dismissively. "It doesn't have to be anything fancy, you know." She snorted a bit and laughed. "I mean, it can just be fried noodles and it'd still be a great treat," she cooed, staring into Sunburst's eyes dreamily.

While this caused Sunburst to smile, his eyes betrayed his continued concern for Starlight. He got off the bed and took the photo album that she had put away. Floating over to her, he asked, "What's this?"

Sweat breaking out on her forehead, Starlight shifted her gaze away from Sunburst to anywhere else in the room. "Uh, well, those were just a few, uh, family memories from Hearth's Warming," she lied, hoping that he'd accept it. Fortunately for her, he did.

"Oh! Really? Did you have any cool traditions?" he inquired, setting back down on the end of the bed. Before she could answer, he continued, "The first Hearth's Warming I can remember, I was, oh, I don't know, five, I think, and Mom and Dad said that I had to wait until they were up before we could open presents, otherwise the Windigos would steal them all."

Tapping his chin, he added, "I-I saw through that right away, so, I got up super early." He chuckled and got up and walked over to Starlight. "How can you keep a colt from checking out the cool things under the tree? Well, anyway, Mom and Dad heard me get up, and Dad decided to pretend he was a Windigo."

He scratched the back of his mane and looked out the window beside him. "Well, that scared, that scared the Tartarus out of me! I went so fast up the stairs I didn't even see Mom and Dad coming down. When I got up later that morning, they explained things to me, and, well, ever since, we pretended every morning that Windigos were going to take the presents, and we had to fight them off."

Weakly, he smiled as the story ended. He shook his head. "I guess that sounds pretty dumb, huh?"

Laughing, Starlight got up from her bed and went up to Sunburst. She buried her head in his neck and gave him a long nuzzle, breathing in the smell of his mane. "Oh, Cadance, don't ever take this away from me," she thought as she left the embrace.

Smirking, she said, "It's cute. Just like you."

His cheeks turning a bright pink, Sunburst replied, "D'oh, uh, thanks." Panicking, he added, "Uh, you know, just like you, too!"

"Pfft. Dork." Starlight lightly smacked him on the shoulder with her hoof. Briefly, her sadness was washed away as she chuckled again at Sunburst's story. Blinking her eyes sultrily, she asked, "When will the food be here?"

"Oh, in the next fifteen or so minutes," Sunburst answered, turning away from Starlight and looking out her bedroom door.

"Then I'll get ready for our incredibly high-class date," she snickered, giving him a quick hug and then sashaying her way to the bathroom. She heard him slowly leave the bedroom, and she turned her attention to her appearance.

Admittedly, she didn't look too bad. Sure, she hadn't fully cleaned herself that morning, but her mane was mostly still in place and all she needed to do was wash her face again. She opened the cabinet and pulled out a mane brush, the perfume she had purchased, and a small bottle of aquamarine mane highlight.

Quickly wetting a cloth, she scrubbed her face and got any dried tears out. After inspecting her face and combing the ruffled fur down, she grabbed the mane brush and began to smooth out her mane. Hissing, she pulled out a few straggly hairs and went about finishing the brush job.

Soon, her mane was ready for the highlights. Sticking out her tongue, she peered closer into the mirror and held down her bangs. After making it as flat as possible, she ignited her horn and covered the aquamarine section with a thin sheen of magic. It glittered for a second or two, and the streak intensified. Soon, the stripe brightened to a level she hadn’t seen in years. Yes, her mane’s hue was naturally that color, but magic never hurt anything.

Primping her mane a bit more, she gave it a slight bounce before checking the final vibrancy. With a smirk, she nodded as she gave one final brush along her mane. She tested it with a hoof, and it stayed in a near-perfect swoop. She quickly plopped the brush away and departed.

Briefly, she paused and stared at the photo album that she left on her bed. With a bit of hesitation, she trotted over and stared at the images. A picture of her mother, happily spreading her forehooves wide to showcase their new house, gazed back at her. For a second, it was almost like Starlight could hear the conversation they were having.

Sighing, she felt a small lump form in her throat before she glanced away and faced her nightstand. Softly smiling, she trotted over and picked up one. It was of her, Sunburst, and Trixie, celebrating their first successful month of the new school year. Trixie was trying to get Sunburst to participate in a trick for Starlight. He just sat on the chair and glared at her. Of course, given the box that Trixie was wanting him to go in had a sign that said “Definitely not a dangerous casket” written on it, it was understandable why.

Grinning, Starlight suppressed a giggle and mused, "Going to need a photo album at some point, too." She gently placed the frame next to the others, and she cantered out.

Trotting down the hallway, she spied that Sunburst had lit a fire in the fireplace of the main living room. Its orange glow cast shadows along the walls and illuminated a new gift that was sitting next to the one she got for Sunburst. Before she could take in the scene any more, she heard a knock on the door to the castle and began to head toward the foyer.

"I'll get it!" she heard Sunburst call. From her vantage point on the second floor, she saw him open the door and greet the delivery pony. Although the pony was partly obstructed, she swore it was the same mare from last night that was "helping" with the town hall decorations.

As she made her way down the staircase and toward Sunburst, she saw him give the pony a handsome tip and wish her a happy Hearth's Warming. When Sunburst turned around, she gave him a curious expression.

"I-I learned from last time. You don't think it was too much, do you?" he asked, taking his spectacles and rubbing them against his fur to get the condensation off.

"Maybe just a bit," Starlight stated. She eyed the two bags of food. "What'd you get?"

"Oh, uh, I can't remember how they pronounced it, but some vegetable fried rice, and, uh..." He looked into one of the bags and then popped his head back up. "Some tofu, beans, and broccoli, and then uh, a dish of mixed vegetables with soy sauce." He smiled weakly and asked, "I hope that's, well, good?"

"Can't wait to try it," Starlight answered, taking one of the bags in her magic and trotting toward the kitchen.

Setting the paper bag on the counter, she tore it open and then grabbed the container of rice. She popped open its lid and then served some of it on plates for the two of them. Likewise, Sunburst opened his bag and dished up some of the different entrees. After loading both of their plates, they plopped down at the table.

Powering his horn, Sunburst twiddled with the lights a bit. While he couldn’t do much, given his weaker magic, he did lower the overall illumination in the room. As Starlight glanced up at the ceiling, he grinned and hastily opened a drawer behind him. He pulled out a small candle and grimaced as he formed a faint field around the wick.

After finishing inspecting the glowing spell matrices above her, she returned to peek at Sunburst. She blinked. With a bright spark, he ignited the field around the candle, and a quivering flame began to rise. The scent of cinnamon filled the room.

With a soft chuckle, Starlight grinned back at Sunburst. He beamed at her, adjusting his spectacles to keep them on his nose. Although it wasn’t much, he attempted to set a romantic mood for the meal. As romantic as eating Neighponese food on Hearth's Warming Eve could be, anyway.

For a few minutes, the two enjoyed their meals in silence. Starlight speared a bit of the rice and mixed vegetables with a fork and took a bite, letting a slight groan of pleasure as she tasted the different flavors. "Maybe it's not a traditional Hearth's Warming meal," she thought as she chewed the food, "but at least it's still tasty."

The dim light of the kitchen cast the two in shadows. Sunburst's orange coat glowed eerily in the low glow, but Starlight smiled as she watched her coltfriend enjoy his food.

Soon, however, her stomach began to feel full, although she knew she could and should eat more. It gurgled a bit in protest, and she felt a wave of unease settle over her as the date went on.

Eventually, Sunburst said, "So, I told you about one of my family's traditions for Hearth's Warming, what about you? What did your parents do?" He took a bite of food and questioningly looked at Starlight. The low lighting made his spectacles hide his eyes somewhat.

Sighing, Starlight put down her bite of food and replied, "Oh, it's nothing very interesting. I mean, well, we had a few, but none were very special." Slowly, she raised her fork again and took a bite. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Are you sure?" Sunburst asked, voice raising an octave in concern. "Most of my family's traditions are pretty dull, too, but, well, I told you, didn't I?"

"Fine," Starlight huffed, slamming her fork down on her plate, making Sunburst flinch in surprise. When she saw that she had scared him, she grinned nervously and chuckled a bit. "S-sorry for that." He remained silent.

"Okay, uh, okay." Searching her memories, she tried to find any semblance of a tradition that could answer his question. Finally, she settled on one. "So, Dad and I used to bake cookies. I know! Not very interesting. Well, these cookies were made specially for Mom. They were a special recipe that she used to bake for her parents, and I guess Dad wanted to carry on the tradition." She sighed and took another bite of food. "But, we eventually stopped. It's what happens when you get older." She poked around with her fork. “And when you get to your ‘rebellious phase.’” With a huff, she added, “Of course, you could say I was more insubordinate than most teens.”

After that, she stayed quiet, avoiding Sunburst's gaze.

Sunburst just stared at her for a few moments. Soon, he took a bite of food and after finishing, he said, "Oh? What happened to your mom? You, uh, never really spoke about her.” Peering at her, the corners of his eyes drooped as he frowned lightly. His fork hovered outside his mouth.

Starlight didn't answer. Instead, she just sighed again and began picking at what was left on her plate. As Sunburst continued to eat his food, she rested a forehoof on the table and propped her chin up. Lazily, she played with the food on her plate and rarely took a bite.

Uneasily, Sunburst shifted in his seat as Starlight continued to mope and stare at her meal. A light breeze rattled the window over the sink, making her swivel an ear toward it. It was the only indication she wasn’t catatonic.

Starlight whimpered. She finally rested her chin on a fetlock as she used her fork to softly spear a piece of pepper. Rotating it around, some of the steel glinted the candlelight into her eyes. She blinked rapidly before letting it fall back onto her plate. She sighed as she went back to observing her food.

Glancing to the side, Sunburst put down his fork and gently brushed some of his mane back. As always, some flakes of dandruff fell from his scalp. He grunted as he watched them descend onto the table. With a cough, he tried to get Starlight’s attention, but she simply stared at the countertop.

With a frown, he shook his head and speared the last few bites rapidly with his fork. Soon, he finished his food and watched Starlight pick at hers. Worry growing on his face, he asked, "Is everything all right, Starlight?"

"Hmm?" she answered, looking up from her food at him. "Oh, yeah. Just not hungry."

Arching an eyebrow, Sunburst said nothing. He got up, took his empty plate, and put the rest of the food into the fridge. When he turned around, Starlight offered him her plate of food, and he grimaced as he emptied it into a garbage bag underneath the sink.

Placing her plate on top of his own, he quickly cleaned the dishes and then turned the lights on to their normal brightness. With a quivering whinny, he cantered toward Starlight when he saw the scowl on her face.

She was absentmindedly twirling her hoof on the table, and her cheek was resting on its surface. She looked up at him, a few tears sparkling in her eyes. Slowly, she sat up and gave a soft smile.

The two looked at each other for a minute, Sunburst convinced that something else was wrong, although he knew not what. When Starlight refused to add anything more to the conversation, he sighed and said, "Do you want to go for a walk?"

Raising an eyebrow, Starlight answered, "It's a bit cold to do that now, isn't it?" She looked out the window above the kitchen sink and saw that it was another clear night.

"Well," Sunburst began, walking a bit closer to Starlight and lightly tapping her on the nose. "While you were in your room, a fresh inch of snow fell. In, in the starlight it looks beautiful." He winked and blushed a bit. "Just like you."

Blushing herself, Starlight slowly nodded her head. She hopped off her seat and trotted out to the front hall. As she walked toward the entrance and opened the closet door, she spied the bundle of gifts that were still sitting near the entrance. She quickly took a look and saw that they were from Twilight, and one or two from Trixie.

With her magic, she pulled on her jacket and tightened her scarf. As she saw Sunburst come up behind her, she floated out from the closet a dark blue jacket and scarf was a light peach-cream in color. It accented the orange of his fur. He beamed as she passed the items to him.

"I wondered where I placed those!" he exclaimed as he put the jacket over his cloak. It fit perfectly, the neck of the cloak popping over the jacket's neck and its gem gleaming in the light of the entrance.

After putting on her toque, Starlight waited for Sunburst to tie his scarf. With a bit of trouble, he managed to mostly get it on, before she sighed to herself and helped him do it. He blushed a bit, and she managed a sad smile.

Lightly coughing into his hoof, he pressed forward and opened the doors to the castle. Giving a slight bow, he declared in a horribly nasally aristocratic accent, "After you, Starlight Glimmer. May we enjoy the night air as much as we enjoy each other's company. The starlight really is... is, well, uh, beautiful." He snickered a bit as he ran out of ideas for his posh voice and lightly kissed her on the forehead.

Giggling, Starlight leaned into Sunburst, and the two left the castle.

The cold Hearth's Warming Eve air stung a bit as she breathed in. White puffs of vapor trailed from her mouth, and she watched as the wisps faded into the night sky. She stared into the deep black, watching the stars twinkle faintly. It was almost like they were blinking on and off.

Pressing herself a bit further into Sunset’s torso, she cooed to herself as she barely heard his heart beating. Its steady rhythm fluttered as she shifted, and he got a light whiff of her mane. Nuzzling him, she glanced up and saw his jaw outlined in the night light. The fringes of his beard glowed a silvery-orange from the moonlight. A few clouds of his own breath slowly floated up until it dissipated.

She sighed and rubbed her chin on his neck before pulling back slightly. He smirked at her and turned around to grab the door handle.

The light from the stars did indeed glitter off the fresh snow. For once, the moon was a thin sliver in the sky. To herself, Starlight mused that it looked markedly similar to Luna’s cutie mark. Beams of silvery light bounced off the snow, which sparkled like the entire ground was made of a fine crystal.

On the trees, icicles hung down, refracting the tiny amount of light from the stars and the moon. A few trees were covered in ice from a quick bout of freezing rain that occurred a couple of weeks prior. The weather had stayed conducive afterward for the ice to stay stuck on the branches, which caused the trees to bow slightly closer to the ground.

After shutting the door behind them, the yellow light of the entrance going dark, Sunburst wrapped his left forearm around Starlight's right and they made their way toward Ponyville. Underneath their hooves, gravel and snow scrunched and crunched, sending cold tingles up their legs.

Slowly, they approached Ponyville. A few skeletal house frames passed her vision as they walked closer to one of the main streets of the city. Entering the square, they wandered about and took in the sight of the decorated town hall, fully lit up and on display.

Starlight had to admit that it was impressive in person. While it may have looked dopey when she was buying decorations yesterday, the pegasi in charge of setting it up did an excellent job of repairs and making the hall look presentable again.

Between a couple of the streets heading further into Ponyville, a small cart had set itself up, advertising that it was selling hot chocolate. Sunburst led Starlight toward the cart, and the two waited in line. Soon enough, they were at the vendor and Sunburst ordered two cups of hot chocolate. After paying for their treat, the two began to wander about the square a bit more.

As Starlight sipped on her hot chocolate, which sent waves of warmth through her body and counteracted the snow's influence, she watched as a few pegasus fillies flew through the air playing a game of chase. Every so often, one would dive down to make a snowball and try to hit one of her opponents. None of the balls ever connected.

The lights of the houses of Ponyville reflected off the trodden snow of the square, making it appear that there was a rink filled with ice.

Taking another sip of her hot chocolate, Starlight sighed and flattened her ears against her head. The walk was nice. It was a way to break the drudgery of her last few weeks. With Sunburst only inches away, she felt like no matter what happened, she would turn out okay. As an additional bonus, she got to absorb a bit of his body heat. Something like that could never be understated.

As they did a lap through the square, Starlight sighed and glanced at her cup. Trails of steam lazily rose from its surface. Some of the lights from the town hall reflected off the hot chocolate, looking like brownish stars. A couple of stray snowflakes landed on it, although they instantly melted. She sneezed when one landed on her nose.

Despite everything, there was still a lingering pit in her stomach. Whenever she tried to have a sip, it made her stomach churn as she swallowed. A couple of times it almost felt like some bile would make its way up. In the back of her head, she sensed a ticklish sensation. It was like something was poking her, and she could do nothing to stop it.

As they looped around for a second time, she spotted the movement of the group of fillies. They were still fluttering through the air, chortling and weaving through different obstacles in the square. She sighed and gazed at the white, shiny ground. If only she could be as carefree as them.

Sunburst ducked as a random snowball from the fillies nearly slammed into his head. With a grin, he bent down and rolled some snow into a ball. After making sure it was compressed enough, he took aim with his magic. Although the ball jittered in his grip, he let loose, and it nearly struck one of the fillies. She gasped as it exploded near her head on the wall behind her.

From her reaction, it appeared that she thought one of her playmates had chucked it, and she growled and dove for one of them. Both landed in a heap on the snow, and soon were covered in the white powder.

Starlight’s mind was racing. When Sunburst turned to grin at her, she gave a weak smile back, and they went back to enjoying their drink. Still, her legs started to grow a tad wobbly as a sudden thought came to her. “Do I really deserve this? After everything I’ve done?” She frowned and looked at Sunburst.

As he was a little ahead of her, he didn’t notice her expression, and he gave a wave to one of the locals. Dimples formed on his cheeks as he beamed at them before halting to let Starlight catch up.

She trotted next to him. Behind his glasses, his eyes sparkled with joy. Pulling her into a small hug, he rested his chin on her head, and she sighed. While the thoughts didn’t go away, she did have one other come to her. “Maybe I don’t deserve it, but it’s still mine. I suppose I still haven’t fully grasped all the grace and mercy I received from Twilight and the princesses.”.

She nuzzled into his neck briefly.

After breaking out of the embrace, Sunburst took them closer to the river, where they had gone months ago on their first date. Unlike before, where the water gurgled and lapped at the banks, the river was now frozen solid. A few families were enjoying the evening by skating on the ice, and the two ponies found a place to stop and watch.

"Before you say it," Sunburst began, taking a sip of his chocolate and then looking at Starlight, "we are not. We did not become old." He winked at her. "I know, I know that you were going to say that."

Shaking her head, Starlight remained silent. A soft wind blew through her mane, and she observed a group of foals skating in a small line. Soon, they grabbed every young pony on the river and began to wind their way back and forth. The lead filly soon took a sharp turn, and the line of ponies broke apart, flying off in all directions on the ice. A few of the foals laughed and started to form another whip.

Starlight turned her attention to the sky and watched with wide eyes as the clear sky twinkled with stars. Some days, it was hard to believe how expansive the night sky was, and how Luna and then Twilight controlled it.

For a few more minutes, she observed the sky while Sunburst watched the skating ponies. During that time, she managed to drink most of her hot chocolate. Slowly, vapor rose from her mouth as she exhaled. As it drifted upwards, it gradually turned into mist, before finally mixing with the icy air. Sunburst felt warm, perfect to snuggle into.

Breaking the silence, Sunburst said, "How about we head toward Fluttershy's? I think there's a few, you know, trails there."

Without protesting, she let Sunburst lead her away from the river and toward the countryside of Ponyville. They soon passed most of the older houses of the town and walked through a few of the student housing areas. She tried to stop and look at the place where they first ate together, but Sunburst pulled her along.

Soon, they were on the outskirts of Ponyville and trotting toward Fluttershy's cabin. The plains around Ponyville were windswept and devoid of activity. A few banks of snow were built by the wind, looking like tiny waves on a frozen sea.

The two walked a bit further down the trail before Sunburst took a left, yanking Starlight to follow. The poorly marked trail that they were taking was a long lap around Ponyville. Eventually, it would loop back to near the castle, but for now, it kept them near the edges of the Everfree Forest.

The dark shape of snow-covered trees loomed ahead as Sunburst continued to lead Starlight down the trail. Their hooves left deep prints in the snow, which crunched and cracked as they broke a thin layer of ice on its surface.

Starlight took another sip of her hot chocolate and tried to slow down a bit. "So much for a romantic walk," she thought, huffing a bit, which sent a puff of vapor into the air. Her pulling managed to get Sunburst to halt his trot.

Finally, he stopped and turned to face Ponyville.

Following his gaze, Starlight turned to see that they had a perfect view of the town. The clock tower, town hall, and Twilight's castle and School of Friendship were all in view, lit up and decorated for Hearth's Warming. A veritable halo of yellow and orange surrounded the skyline of the town. As they were still expensive, not many houses could afford the spell matrix-powered lights. Of those that could, their strings of bulbs appeared like shining stars. Their glow mixed with the flickering candles, lamps, and other light pieces. Together, they formed a radiance that rose from the town and blotted out many of the stars nearby.

On the plains, the decorations glittered and sparkled, making the entire area appear like it was afire with different hues of red and orange. There was a faint glow on Sunburst’s face from it all, making his glasses shimmer. All in all, it was beautiful. Briefly, Starlight felt a tear come to her eye as she smiled.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew across the trail, sending snow spraying into their faces. As another gale ripped through the valley, Starlight buried her head into Sunburst’s side. Some of the tendrils poked at the fringes of her toque. Her ears tingled slightly at the tips.

With a whimper, she pulled her tail closer to her body to shield her legs, and she felt Sunburst curl into her slightly. Even through his winter jacket, she could hear his steady breathing steadily rise and fall. It was a calming noise, compared to the roar of the wind. At last, it stopped, but she stayed pressed into Sunburst's side.

Letting go of her forehoof, Sunburst walked in front of her and shook his hoof before using it to raise her chin. He looked into her indigo eyes and said, "Something's wrong. Don't hide it from me, Starlight. I know when you're not yourself."

Closing her eyes, she willed herself to not cry, but to no avail. A few tears streaked down her cheeks before freezing or falling to the ground. She avoided his gaze and looked back at Ponyville. Swishing her tail, she replied, "It-it's nothing. It's stupid."

Sunburst sighed and pulled her in for a quick hug. He whispered, "It's okay. You can tell me what's wrong."

"No." Starlight began to panic a bit. As her breathing started to grow shallow, her hind hooves wobbled and threatened to give out. Faintly at first, a ringing built in her ears, its pitch rising and overwhelming all other noise. Her vision began to blur. Tears streamed down her muzzle, and along her periphery, tendrils of darkness rippled in. Her heart pounded against her chest. She swore it was going to rip itself out.

Suddenly, she felt Sunburst hold her tight, and the feelings of panic eased, if only barely. While her heart still beat rapidly, she took a couple of deep, ragged breaths, and the growing black in the corner of her eyes receded. Her ear twitched when he spoke into it, "I love you, Starlight. What's the matter?"

She looked back at him and felt a few more tears fall to the ground. In an instant, she flopped back, her rump becoming soaked from the snow, and causing her to shiver. Tears began to flow freely, and she sensed Sunburst sit down beside her. Once more, he whispered in her ear while rubbing her back, "You know, good friends, and, well, lovers, shouldn't hide things from each other."

Groaning, Starlight looked over at Sunburst through tear-filled eyes. After taking a few deep breaths, she shakily replied, "Okay, you want to know?" Heaving a few times, she felt fresh tears roll down her cheeks.

Sunburst was crying now as well, and he pulled her a bit closer as he saw her shiver again.

"Well, uh, I, uh..." Starlight trailed off, more tears falling and her mind frantically searching for the words to say. She growled, and glanced to the ground. “She’s dead, all right?” she snapped, whipping her head at Sunburst, who winced in return.

Blinking, Starlight sighed and muttered, “Sorry. It’s… it’s not your fault.” She frowned. She felt nothing. Her body was numb. It was as if there was only a hole in her chest absorbing any emotion.

At last, with a single tremor in her voice, she moaned, “And of course, it was on Hearth’s Warming Eve.” She stared at Sunburst for a second, before she sniffed once. With that, the dam burst, and more tears flowed freely. She buried her head in Sunburst's shoulder, and she felt a few tears of his own wet her mane.

Sobbing, she choked out, "A-and, w-we don't know what happened... happened to her!" She coughed as a bit of spit caught in the back of her throat. Heaving a few more sobs, she recounted, "D-dad came home one day, a-and said th-that she was j-just missing!"

Sunburst began rubbing Starlight's back, muttering his sympathies for her. For a few minutes, the two sat in silence save for Starlight's continued weeping. Her chest burned. Choking coughs racked her body as she sobbed into Sunburst’s shoulder. Sniffling, her mind flashed to an early memory. It was only partial, and she willed for it to leave her head.

She was five, maybe four, at most. During the night, an unplanned storm had woken her up, and the incessant lightning kept her up. As hail clattered against her window, she screamed for help. To her filly mind, it was like the weather was trying to smash her.

Shimmer Shine was the first to burst in. Her features, though tired, were alight with concern. When she saw Starlight, huddling under her covers, she said something, although what was lost to time. The next image Starlight had, Shimmer was cuddled under the covers with her, gently petting her messy mane.

Shimmer’s lips pursed in a shushing expression, and she nuzzled Starlight’s head.

Then, the next memory rushed in. Starlight was a year older, standing in front of a small casket. Dressed in black, she stared emptily at it, barely aware of the ponies around her comforting Firelight.

At this, Starlight whined and she choked on some spit. As she gagged on it, Sunburst paused to see if she needed help recovering. After a couple of seconds, she recovered enough to take a breath. Her chest and throat were still on fire, however.

"S-she was h-helping with some, uh..." Starlight hiccupped, wiping her nose and beginning to regain some composure. "She was helping with, with repairs. T-there was an avalanche that y-year, and she volunteered to help dig out the snow and repair any, any d-damage."

Tears slowing, but still flowing down her cheeks, she continued, "A-after Mom disappeared, D-Dad changed. He started treating me like, like I was something th-that could break by just looking at it." Smiling, she added, "And then you and your family moved there, and, well, we became friends."

Looking to the ground, she said, "And, and then you left for Celestia's school, and, and, and..." She shut her eyes, trying desperately not to begin crying again. She was unsuccessful. "And then I felt abandoned! Alone! Nopony understood me! D-Dad just, well, spoiled me! H-he didn't try and help me. So, well, that's when I decided that friendship failed me, and, I guess the rest is history." She frowned and looked away from Sunburst.

Sunburst remained quiet for a moment.

In surprise, Starlight squeaked as she felt herself pulled tightly into an embrace. She groaned a bit in contentment as Sunburst held her close, her head resting under his chin. Her rear was soaked through from the snow, and she occasionally shivered as the water slowly made its way up her coat.

For once, she felt normal during Hearth's Warming. The tightness in her chest had disappeared, and the pit in her stomach had subsided. A few more tears fell freely from her eyes, but she wasn't sure if they were tears of sadness, or joy.

Sunburst finally broke the silence and said, "I, I don't know what to tell you, Starlight. It, it must have been so hard." He let go of her, and she leaned back, looking into his eyes. "I never knew. It's been so long. I can only ever remember you and your dad. If, if it happened, I don't remember it, and Mom never mentioned it. I..." He sighed and hung his head." I'm sorry, I feel horrible that I never kept in touch with you."

Humming a bit, Starlight raised a hoof and tapped his nose, leaving a bit of snow on the bridge of his muzzle. "You already apologized for that, don't do it again." She looked up at him, a soft smile on her face. "That's an order from the headmare."

Shakily, she took another breath and said, "I-I don't think this solved anything, but it felt good to tell somepony else." She leaned in again and buried herself into Sunburst's chest, listening to the steady beating of his heart.

For the next few minutes, they sat in silence, enjoying the other's warmth as they rested in the snow, ice-cold but content. Behind them, in the distance, Starlight could hear the sounds of a choir singing some traditional carols for Hearth's Warming. She sighed.

Soon, Sunburst stated, "As much as I'd love to stay here all night, we might catch a cold."

Starlight laughed and agreed with his statement. Getting up from her hooves, she helped him to his feet and gave him a quick nuzzle. "You're right," she said, looking to the town before them. "Plus..." She yawned, shaking her head. She drained the rest of her hot chocolate and said, "It's getting late out."

Brushing his cloak off, Sunburst suggested, "How about we go to the square and see if there's a place to warm up? They'll probably be singing carols for another hour or two, so there's got to be something to help."

With a suggestive chuckle, Starlight countered, "Or, there's another place that we could warm up." She lowered her eyelids.

"O-oh!" Sunburst began blushing profusely, avoiding Starlight's half-lidded gaze. He rocked back and forth on his hooves for a moment before he answered, "T-that is a possibility, I suppose." He stammered a bit more, "I-if there's nothing else, that is."

A blush beginning to grow on her face, Starlight cooed, "Oh, there's nothing else." With that, she charged her horn, and the two disappeared in a flash of cyan magic.

To Hearth's Warming Future

Sunlight broke through the curtains in Starlight's bedroom, landing squarely on the unicorn's face. Groaning, she tried covering her eyes with a hoof and rolled over. Whatever time it was, it was too early.

She was sore all over. Whatever she dreamt, it must have been something horrible for her to act out so much of it in her sleep. Slowly, she began counting the seconds as the clock in her room ticked away. As time passed, her eye slowly began to twitch in sync with the clock. She wasn't getting back to sleep.

"Buck me," she thought as she tried rolling around in her bed again to get more comfortable. At last, she found something mildly comfortable and wrapped her hooves around it. It felt warm. Very warm. She sighed and tried snuggling into whatever it was.

A familiar scent entered her nose, but she couldn't quite place it through the haze of her early morning brain. She groaned and tried to get as comfortable as she could.

For a few minutes, she stayed curled around whatever the object was. She felt safe, secure. Between whatever she was cuddling and the warm blankets on top of her, she was ready to sleep once more.

Suddenly, a loud snore resounded in her ear, and she jumped fully awake. It took her a few seconds to process the visuals around her. Her room was a mess, well, more of a mess than it already was. Also, more concernedly, there was somepony in her bed. Repeat, there was somepony in her bed!

Screaming, she pulled the covers off and revealed Sunburst, who was still snoring away. A dreamy look was on his face as he rolled over and began to paw at Starlight, mumbling a few words in his sleep. At her continued screaming, he began to awaken, grumbling about the new alarm he had set.

His eyes shot open when he saw Starlight across from him, and he soon joined in her screaming. The two backpedalled off Starlight's bed and onto the floor, both saying "Ow," at the same time.

Popping her head above the bed, a stray paper impaled on her horn, she pointed at Sunburst, who also had just looked over the bed. "What were you doing in my bed?!" she demanded, her horn charging.

"Uh, uh, uh," Sunburst stammered, scratching his neck with a hoof. Bashfully, a blush began to cross his face, and he looked away from Starlight.

Woozily at first, Starlight tried to parse the events of the night before. It was hazy, as she could only place herself to teleporting to this room, and then… She blinked. “Did we...?” She glanced at Sunburst. “And he…?” As her body protested some more, she stretched her hind legs and her mind started to pick up the pace. “And then we…” Staring emptily at the wall across from her bed, she swore she saw Trixie’s face form in the blue crystal. It smirked at her, chortling, "Oh Starlight, you naughty mare. Sunburst must have had a big surprise tonight. Rawr."

It winked at her. “Hope you two lovebirds have more fun! Wink.”

Groaning, Starlight thought to herself, "Well, you were right, Trixie, just a few months late."

As reality began to sink in more, Starlight said, "Uh, want to get back into bed?"

Emptily, Sunburst nodded and slowly climbed back onto Starlight's bed. He groaned in pain and stretched out on the bed. When she climbed on too, he asked, "Did somepony get the number on that yak? I feel like I broke every bone in my body."

"I know what you mean," Starlight replied. She looked at the chaos of her room. Somehow, it looked like a hurricane ripped through and an entire crate of Trixie’s smoke bombs had gone off at once. The desk had all its paper knocked off, which were now scattered all across the floor and somehow also on her dresser and stuck in the door of her bathroom.

Looking to her right, she saw that the boxes in the corner were toppled over and different things from her old bedroom in Sire's Hollow were scattered everywhere. A few kites were hanging from the ceiling. Lastly, and this made her whine in despair, her headmare's uniform was ripped open. It was unrepairable, and she'd have to go to Rarity to get a new one.

She rolled back and looked at Sunburst. He was disheveled, to say the least. His mane was far more unkempt than usual, and a bit of his beard was missing. Blinking slowly, he patted the bridge of his nose. His eyes shot open as he cried, “My glasses!”

For a second, they whipped their gazes around, attempting to catch sight of the pair of spectacles. Of course, Sunburst wasn’t much help, given his current predicament.

Out of the corner of her eye, Starlight caught a glint of light and spotted the glasses on the nightstand. One of the hinges was slightly bent, but aside from that, it appeared fine enough.

Craning her neck, she looked at the nightstand and saw that it was empty aside from the spectacles. She changed position to poke her head higher and saw that the pictures were knocked to the floor, a couple frames broken.

With a faint hum, her horn sputtered to life, and she gently picked up the spectacles and placed them on his muzzle. She lightly tapped him on the edge of his nose, before awkwardly glancing away. She sat straight for a minute, before she sighed and leaned back.

Settling down, she eyed Sunburst again. Given his expression, she could assume that she looked no better. They stared at each other for a good half-minute, faint blushes both coming to their cheeks. Finally, Starlight muttered, "So..."

"Yep..." Sunburst nodded, wincing a bit as he moved his neck.

"So, you." She pointed to Sunburst and then tapped her chest. "And me. We did..."

Interrupting her, Sunburst nodded again, a stronger shade of red on his cheeks. "Yep. It appears we, uh, we did."

Smacking her lips, which she realized were rather dry, Starlight quickly teleported from the room and into the kitchen. She grabbed a glass of water and quickly chugged it down, ridding her mouth of a rather bad aftertaste. After that, she teleported back into the exact same position she was in moments ago.

She smiled beckoningly. "Want to do it again?" she purred, flicking her tail back and forth slightly.

"You bet!" Sunburst answered, diving on top of Starlight. The two laughed as they rolled around, and Starlight soon closed the door to her room, not that anypony else was around to see them.

***

Moaning, Starlight watched as Sunburst prepared breakfast for the two of them. Once again, he was making his famous—at least to Trixie and her—giant pancakes, and she watched as he cooked the pastries.

From the angle of the sun, she guessed that it was at least eleven in the morning. But who cared? It was Hearth's Warming. The only pony neurotic enough to get up early on Hearth's Warming was Twilight, and she had the excuse of being the ruler of Equestria.

Sunburst juked and jived with the pancakes, flipping one high in the air and catching it in the frying pan. As he caught it, he flashed Starlight an unusually cocky grin and returned the frying pan to the stove. The uncooked batter sizzled as the pan touched the element.

Smiling, Starlight sipped on some much-needed coffee. Normally, she didn't touch the stuff, but after the... enjoyable time last night and earlier this morning, she needed all the energy she could muster. She blinked her eyes as the sun moved a bit higher and shone right in her face. Covering her eyes, she stepped back from the table and out into the hallway. It'd be a few minutes anyway before Sunburst was finished making enough for the two of them.

Limping slightly, she shook her rear hoof and began to trot toward the entrance of the castle. There was still the issue of that massive stack of presents that was left there. Twilight and Trixie had left some, but there had to be more than just them.

She approached the stack and began to dig through the pile. Most were indeed from Twilight and Trixie. Strangely enough, some of Twilight's were for Sunburst. Maybe Cadance let her know? Speaking of Cadance, a few gifts were from her, for the both of them. Her wrapping was easy to spot as it was usually either doves or hearts in different patterns.

After a bit more digging, she managed to organize the stack based on gift giver and gift recipient. Surprisingly, Cadance had given the most gifts, although they were evenly distributed between herself and Sunburst. Narrowing her eyes and scratching her chin, she wondered, "Does Cadance know something I don't?"

Either way, she shrugged and grabbed the gifts in her magic. The massive pile floating in front of her, she began to climb the stairs, groaning a bit as her knees complained about moving in such a wide angle. Soon, she reached the living room, which still had a few embers from the fire last night smoldering away.

After placing the gifts either under the tree or beside it, Starlight bent down, grimacing in pain, and grabbed a small log from the nearby stack. She placed it in the fireplace and used her horn to create a few sparks, igniting the log. She blew on it to feed the fire, and soon a crackling, popping fire was blazing in the fireplace.

Nodding at her work, she raised the small guard rail from the hearth and left the living room. Turning around, she plugged in the Hearth's Warming tree before heading down the stairs and back toward the kitchen.

When she entered, she breathed in the smell of coffee, juice, butter, and batter, and saw that Sunburst was already sitting at the table, waiting patiently for Starlight to arrive. He raised an eyebrow silently, but didn't say anything. He levitated two plates over and poured syrup on his plate.

With no newspaper to read, Sunburst instead slowly ate his pancakes, dreamily looking at Starlight. A faint blush was on his features, and his face glowed with satisfaction. Sighing, he took another bite of his pancake and smiled goofily when Starlight looked at him.

Basking in her coltfriend's love, Starlight smiled herself and took a big bite of her food. The sweet taste of syrup mixed with the salty butter and tart strawberries to create a cacophony of flavors in her mouth, each vying to be heard, but all working together to create a truly wonderful combination.

Like Sunburst, she stared at her special somepony and breathed deeply. He was dressed in a robe decorated just like his normal capes, and wore dainty slippers that were a light pink. It was the best that Starlight could find in the castle.

She herself was dressed in her own plush, dark fuchsia robe, and she had her normal happy bunny rabbit slippers on her hooves. When she had stepped in front of a mirror, she did a small start when she saw her mane was unkempt. It had lost its characteristic swoop and instead ballooned out into a large ball of purple and cyan puff. Even after she had tried to tame it, it still had remained fairly springy and straight.

Neither said anything, instead opting to continue to enjoy each other's presence.

Starlight looked around the kitchen, and saw a few motes of flour floating in the rays of sun. Overall, the kitchen was a far cry from the disaster it was a couple of days ago with Trixie. Amazing what a competent cook could do. Grimacing, she instantly regretted criticizing Trixie, but it was true. "I think Sunburst needs to show her a thing or two about cooking when they both have free time," she mused, looking at her coltfriend, who was busy chewing a piece of toast and jam.

Shortly, they finished their breakfast, and Starlight led Sunburst up the staircase to the living room. The stacks of presents reflected the sun coming from the window, which mixed with the orange and red glow of the fireplace. Ripples of heat pressed against their bodies as they entered, the fireplace doing its job of warming the room.

Sitting down on the floor, Sunburst grabbed a present from Twilight and read the label. He passed it to Starlight, who smiled and opened it with her magic. After ripping apart the paper, she was greeted with a small crystal shaped like her cutie mark and a note.

To my dearest friend, Starlight, it began.

As she read the letter, Starlight began to tear up.

I'm sorry that this letter finds you alone on Hearth's Warming. If I were able to escape my princessly duties, I would make sure Spike and I could deliver this gift to you in person. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

In this box you will find a lavender crystal from the deepest mountains of Griffonia. It is said that these bring good luck, but they undoubtedly amplify the magical strength of the user. I took the liberty to fashion this one after your cutie mark.

You were never one of the official Elements of Harmony, Starlight, but you've done just as much, if not more work than some of us, and that deserves recognition. Wear this crystal pendant with pride, for no matter where we are, my friends and I will remember you fondly as the seventh Element: Redemption.

Wishing you a happy Hearth's Warming,

Your friend, mentor, and confidant,

Twilight

Putting the letter down, Starlight gazed at the marvelously crafted crystal with sparkling eyes. Gently taking it in her magic, she watched as the light played through the crystal, refracting through and sending rays of light everywhere.

Sunburst watched with wide eyes as Starlight began laughing a bit in delight, fastening the choker around her neck and looking down at the small crystal.

Starlight tapped the crystal, which echoed with a soft pinging noise, and felt waves of magical energy ripple through her body. Suddenly, a few sparks fell from her horn as it discharged the excess energy. The sparks crackled for a few seconds before dying on the floor.

"What is it?" Sunburst inquired, a mixture of emotions on his face as he watched his marefriend begin to cry.

Between sobs of joy, Starlight replied, "Magic." She cried for a few more minutes as she sat on the couch, but soon she composed herself. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed one of Cadance's gifts for Sunburst and passed it over to him.

As he took it, Starlight had an idea, and began rummaging through one of the cabinets in the room. Shortly, she found the object she was looking for and produced a large camera. She set it on its stand and said, "Smile!"

Sunburst looked up in surprise, half open present in hoof, and stared like a deer in the headlights at the camera. There was a brilliant flash, and he closed his eyes in pain after the picture was taken.

Laughing, Starlight showed him the result, and he began to chuckle.

With that, the present war was soon underway, and the two exchanged gifts with each other, seeing who got the most interesting one. Starlight was winning by a clear margin, as nothing else she or Sunburst received topped Twilight's first gift.

After unwrapping everything, save for the gifts from each other, Starlight sighed and leaned back on the couch. She stared at Sunburst, who wordlessly motioned for her to open her gift first. Smiling, she did as instructed and tore open the yellow reflective paper.

Inside was a small box. After she opened it, her mouth hung wide as she pulled out a silver necklace with a bright electric blue gem. She blinked when there was a bright flash as Sunburst quickly took a picture. She snickered a bit when the image showed her shocked expression.

"Well, try it!" Sunburst exclaimed, eagerly prancing in place.

Fastening the necklace around her, Starlight felt the gem rest comfortably on her chest, just below the choker that Twilight gave her. She looked down and smiled as the electric blue gem stuck out against her fur. Returning her gaze up, she smiled at Sunburst.

Exhaling a bit, Sunburst stated, "It really brings out your eyes, just, just like I hoped!" He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

"Well, don't make me wait, you dork," Starlight demanded, crossing her arms in jest and smiling at Sunburst. "I want to see what you think."

Complying, Sunburst sat back down and opened his gift. His eyes widened when he saw the book on old toys and board games. "No way!" he cried, flipping through the pages. "It's nearly in mint condition, too! Where did you find this?"

A few chortles escaping her lips, Starlight said, "It's a secret."

"Wow!" Sunburst exclaimed, turning back to look at the book. He looked through a few pages and then turned to Starlight, pointing at a toy on the page. "D-d-do you know that they only made one thousand of these things? It's crazy!" He went back to searching for the book.

"Yeah, crazy," Starlight thought, watching contentedly as Sunburst flipped through the book. Smacking her forehooves together, she said, "Hey! I thought of something! We need a picture to show our first Hearth's Warming!"

"Oh, right!" Sunburst cried, looking up at Starlight. He frowned. "Uh, now? We’re still a bit messy… and, uh, you know, we could look better.” He coughed into a hoof. “What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, I have an idea," Starlight hummed. She patted the seat next to her on the couch and stretched out. Beckoning with her eyes, she motioned for Sunburst to lie next to her.

After taking a glance between the couch and the camera, Sunburst followed and lay next to her.

In a flash, Starlight teleported a mistletoe from somewhere and held it over their heads. She blushed when Sunburst realized what she was going to do. She grabbed one of the boxes in her magic and held it over the shutter of the camera.

"Happy Hearth's Warming, Sunburst." She leaned down toward him.

Moving closer, he replied, "Happy Hearth's Warming, Starlight."

As the two locked lips, Starlight pressed the shutter with the box, and their world turned white.

FIN

Author's Note

Well, this took far, far long than I originally planned for it to take. For reference, this was written... one year ago from when I'm writing this author's note (July 14th). This was a passion project after I returned to writing with Starlit Romance, hence its sequel status. I hope that it was enjoyed as being read as much as it was to write (and then later edit).

Through all this, I want to thank EverfreePony for their many, many contributions to editing. They slapped me up when I needed it, and made me do a rewrite of a significant portion of the story.

And hey, I've now officially written a novel-length story, so woot! :pinkiecrazy: I do have more stories on the backburner that have been written. They need to be edited, but they are in the works. Can't say what the gap will be in terms of publishing time, but they'll happen eventually.

Thanks again to all who read!

T4E