Starlight perched in her chair, poring over the last few documents that were passing across her desk before the school shut for the holidays. It still felt strange being in Twilight's old office, even if she'd been put in here on a temporary basis often enough when the alicorn was away on princess business.
The space felt too big for her and the responsibility still weighed heavily on Starlight's mind. She often longed for her simpler counsellor's office back, but knew deep down that this is where she was needed and could do the most good.
Starlight finished the last item with a flourish of a levitated quill before stacking it away neatly with the rest of the paperwork. She leaned back with a satisfied sigh, a smile coming to her face at the faint sounds of of a group of excited students leaving for Hearths' Warming drifting into the room.
Cutting through the atmosphere came a sudden buzzing as a book started to glow and vibrate on the desk. Starlight beamed and snapped the tome up with her magic. The unicorn eagerly flipped through the pages, ending on part of a page that had been blank the last time she laid eyes on it.
"All ready to go out, I'll be with you in half an hour!"
Starlight immediately whipped out a quill and penned a hasty reply, before snapping the volume shut and standing up, quickly donning a woolly hat and scarf from hooks near the door. Starlight quickly made her way out of the school, exchanging a few brief farewells with the last of the departing students. She trotted out into the cold air of Ponyville, her breath turning to fog the instant she stepped hoof outside.
"Brr, the weather team weren't kidding when they said it'd be cold today!" muttered Starlight, shivering a little in the frigid air.
"Hey, Starlight!" A voice still inside the school made her pause and look back. An orange coated unicorn stallion was hurrying to catch up.
"Sunburst!" exclaimed Starlight, smiling, "I didn't think you were going to make it."
The stallion looked a little flustered as he caught up with Starlight.
"Well, you know what they say," he said, "If something's important, you make the time."
"I'm glad," Starlight smiled, feeling a warmth flush through her, chasing away the cold. "It's great you see spending time with friends is important. I was worried you'd spend the whole break cooped up in your office poring over reports!"
Sunburst coughed and kicked a hoof, looking away.
"W-well, this is a friendship school," he stammered, "What kind of example would I be setting our students?"
Starlight giggled.
"You have a good point there," she said, before giving a particularly violent shiver. "But let's get in out of this weather; it's freezing!"
"Oh, sorry!" Sunburst apologized. "I enchanted my cloak to keep warm and I hadn't noticed."
Starlight nudged the stallion with a hip and started back on her way to the castle.
"That's a neat trick, you'll have to show me how to cast it sometime. Now come on, let's get going!"
With that, the pair scurried off towards the nearby castle, a towering crystalline edifice resembling some sort of enormous tree. Pausing at the threshold to shake the freshly fallen snow from their coats. Their destination was a cosy private room in the expansive library, where a mirror sat wreathed in a garland of cables attached to a variety of softly humming arcane machinery.
"Shouldn't be long now," Starlight murmured.
"Yeah," Sunburst agreed. "She's a pretty punctual creature."
Almost as if on cue, the electromagical machinery around the room began to stir with a deep, throbbing hum. Power arced along the thick cables and made lights around the rim of the mirror spring to life one by one with a loud thrumming noise. One all were glowing brilliantly the glass surface of the mirror began to distort as if somepony had dropped a pebble into a millpond.
After only a few moments a figure burst through the surface. An amber unicorn came flying out of the portal, landing neatly on all fours and grinning.
"I always enjoy that," she remarked. "Launching myself head first feels really wrong in the other world but ends up so natural coming out the other side."
She stopped and frowned a moment. "But the other way I still end up on my hands and knees. Haven't found a great way to do that yet."
"Sunset!" Starlight exclaimed, rushing up to embrace the new arrival.
"Hey, it's good to see you too." Sunset Shimmer replied, returning the hug. "And Sunburst as well, I see."
The other orange unicorn in the room gave a sheepish wave.
"Hi Sunset," he ventured. "I'm not intruding on anything, am I?
"Oh, nonsense!" sunset said, breaking away from Starlight and giving Sunburst a rogueish grin. "It was my idea to see if Starlight would bring you along this year!"
Sunburst locked eyes with Starlight briefly, who looked away and flushed a little.
"Oh, really?" He said. "Well, I'm glad you did. I'm really looking forwards to it. Been too long since I've been to a Hearth's Warming play, let alone in Canterlot."
"Well, let's not keep standing around here." Starlight declared, breaking the awkward silence. "We don't want to miss the train!"
"Brr!" Sunset shivered, stomping her hooves against the chill and trying to adjust her scarf. "Every time it catches me out. I'm all buttoned up with lots of warm clothes one minute and the next all I've got is a scarf!"
"Ha, sounds like you're going native if you can't handle a little chill without being wrapped in half a dozen layers of fabric!" Starlight playfully ribbed.
"Well, easy for you to say; you've actually grown a winter coat." Sunset retorted.
"Don't you know any spells that might help?" Sunburst ventured. "You're a talented pyromancer."
Sunset sighed.
"Technically, yes," she admitted. "But any wind would cut through it like a knife and make it worthless. Unless I set things on fire. I don't think I'd be popular if I made the platform burst into flames."
"Well, you'd be warm at least" Starlight chuckled. "Still, the train should be here any minute and it'll be nice and warm aboard.
As promised, before long a piercing whistle announced the arrival of the Friendship Express, destination plates proudly displaying "Canterlot". When it finally steamed to a halt at the platform, only a few creatures got off; most of the press was in ponies getting aboard to head to the capital.
Finding an empty booth, the three unicorns sat down with Sunset sitting by herself opposite Sunburst and Starlight.
The conductor passed them quickly just as the train started to move off, checking their tickets and giving a brief apology.
"I'm terribly sorry, but the heating's broken down on the train today, so it'll be colder than usual on this trip."
Starlight sighed as the conductor moved on. "Typical. I thought it wasn't as warm in here as trains normally are."
"Well, good for me I have this trick," Sunset smirked, lighting her horn and creating an invisible layer of warmth trapped in her fur. "I'll be snug as a bug in a rug."
"Like Sunburst as well," Starlight grumbled, shooting the stallion a look. "It's a good look for the Headmare of the Friendship School isn't it? Being woefully unprepared."
Sunburst shuffled awkwardly and looked down at the boards on the floor.
"Well, we could share my cloak if you'd like," he offered.
"Wait, what?" Starlight started. "Really?"
"Well, yeah, but it isn't that big. We'd have to sit really close to each other," Sunburst said, blushing under his spectacles.
"Oh, I see." Starlight was taken off balance herself, before composing herself. "Well, okay then."
Starlight shuffled on the bench until she was pressed up against Sunburst's side, the warmth radiating from his core immediately contracting with the frigid air. both ponies could feel the other subtly moving as they breathed and neither dared move for a few seconds. Eventually, Starlight turned to face Sunburst, realising their faces were now just inches apart and she flushed.
"Uh, you can move the cloak now," she offered.
"Oh right!" Sunburst suddenly exclaimed, lighting his horn and blushing furiously. He unclasped the cloak from his neck and tried to cover them both with the garment as best he could. True to his word, the thin fabric radiated an unusual warmth which started to seep into Starlight. Along with the feeling of Sunburst pressed in close to her side she felt herself began to relax as she warmed up.
"Cosy?" Asked Sunset, grinning like a cat.
"Oh, shush you," Starlight retorted, her eyes snapping open to shoot the smug unicorn a look.
"Very fancy!" Sunset whistled. "The Royal Box. I didn't know you had this kind of budget."
"It's very nice. You really shouldn't have gone to all this effort," Starlight said.
Sunburst fidgeted in place a little.
"Well, you see. I might have mentioned it a couple of weeks ago to Princess Cadence and things might have gotten a little out of hoof," the stallion said sheepishly, his ears pinned back.
"Well that explains the carriage from the station too I guess." Starlight said, looking out over the railing to the crowd below. "Still, it's very thoughtful of you to ask her for all this, Sunburst."
"I-I mean," Sunburst stammered. "It was all-"
Sunburst was cut off by a swift kick from Sunset, who made an exaggerated "Cut" motion with a hoof across her neck.
"Hmm?" Starlight murmured, turning back around.
"I mean it was a good idea, yes." Sunburst came up with.
"Just look out there, it's packed," Starlight said, gesturing to the amphitheatre.
Indeed, every seat in the space was filled by a colourful assortment of ponies and smattering of other creatures. The atmosphere was charged with the excitement of hundreds of creatures all waiting for the event to start.
"Hey, those are some of our students down in the audience as well!" Sunburst exclaimed, pointing with a hoof.
Starlight followed Sunburst's direction and spied an eclectic group of six creatures all sitting together. she also couldn't help but notice a green pony snuggling up to a yak and a pink hippogryph leaning into blue plumage. Starlight smiled.
"So they are. Well, they look like they're enjoying themselves, which is the main thing," Starlight said.
The lights started to dim and the three unicorns rushed to their seats to catch the start of the show.
"Well, this is some rotten luck," murmured Starlight. "What are the chances that we'd be on the same faulty train for the trip back down to Ponyville?"
"Well, I guess I'd say about a hundred percent," said Sunset, idly looking out of the window at the lights of Canterlot roll past in the darkness of a late Hearthswarming Eve.
Starlight grumbled but didn't say anything, instead pressing more firmly to Sunburst's side. She paused to reflect on the day's events. After the play they'd been whisked off to a restaurant, apparently another one of Sunburst's ideas that he'd planned out in advance. Starlight smiled, if she concentrated she could feel the rhythm of the stallion's heart giving a gentle drumbeat against her side. His warmth, his presence, even the faint smell from his cloak was comforting somehow.
"Sunburst?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you," Starlight said. "For all the effort today. I had a wonderful time and it was made all the better thanks to you."
"Aww, thanks Starlight," Sunburst said, starting to squirm. Starlight felt the soft hairs of his coat tickle against her and she giggled, blushing.
"You know, with all the Hearthswarming traditions we've gone through today, we're missing one," Sunset announced.
"Oh yes, what?" Sunburst said, eager to be thrown a lifeline.
The sound of magic filled the small cabin and a sprig of mistletoe floated into view held aloft in a blue aura.
Sunburst's mouth went agape, his eyes narrowing to pinpricks and ears folding back. His heart started to race with nerves and he turned his head to look at Starlight. Whatever words he was forming were cut off when Starlight darted forwards and captured him in a kiss. Sunburst reciprocated, melting into the other unicorn.
"And that's the magic of Hearthswarming," Sunset said, ignored by her fellow passengers who only had eyes for each other.
Author's Note
Thanks for reading and Happy Hearthswarming to all!
The original prompt:
I am interested in a romance story about either Sunset Shimmer or Starlight Glimmer (or both). Either EQG or horses are just fine.
Unfortunately much shorter than what I was aiming for; I've had an extremely hectic month since getting the prompt and only really had time to actually sit down and write within 24 hours of publishing time. Also budding romance is a new area for me, so I thought I'd stretch myself a bit. But I hope it was enjoyable nonetheless!
