Just a Kiss
Starlight walked through the hallways of Canterlot High, watching the stares from all around her. She knew that a lot of people didn't care for her, but that didn't really matter. Starlight had only one person on her mind. That auburn, almost fiery hair. The bright contrast between the streaks of yellow and the deeper orange. Those eyes that shimmered, that black jacket that let everyone know she was not to be messed with. Starlight could practically see hearts swirling above herself.
"She's so beautiful, amazing, and smoking. I want to... I want to kiss her," Starlight mumbled under her breath, quickly looking back and forth between the lockers and the onslaught of students heading to their classes, making sure no one had overheard her.
Starlight sighed a breath of relief.On her way to her first class of the day, however, she couldn't help but notice Flash Sentry in the hallway atop a ladder, putting up some mistletoe.
"Hey, Flash. How's it going?" she asked, waving at him and trying to sound casual.
Flash Sentry had been whistling a Hearth's Warming song while decorating the school. He hadn't noticed Starlight at first, and jumped when she spoke. His ladder rattled, but he quickly stabilized himself after a few moments, looking down at Starlight.
"Phew, that was a close call,” he said once he’d gotten a firm grip on the ladder again Hey there, Starlight. Are you enjoying the decorations? I always love this time of year. Isn’t it beautiful?"
"Yeah, she really is beautiful," Starlight immediately replied, then shook her head ..
"Looks like someone has the case of Hearth's Warming love. So, who is it? Who's the lucky one?"
"Like I'd tell you! A lady doesn’t kiss and tell, you know?”" she said, sticking her head up, crossing her arms and walking away from Flash. She didn't need Sunset’s ex-boyfriend getting involved. She was going to kiss Sunset, and no one was gonna stop her.
All she had to do now was figure out the perfect moment to get Sunset under the mistletoe. Every year, people who liked one another would try to get the target of their affection under the strange piece of mistletoe, and then the two would have to kiss. It was brilliant! There was no way she was going to let anyone in on her plan. Now, all she had to do was wait for the perfect opportunity.
She heard the bell ring for the first class and, with a sinking feeling, realized she was late. She hurried off to find her room.
"Sorry for running late, Miss Cheerilee," she apologized, hurrying to her seat.
"Thank you for actually joining us, Starlight. Now, if that is everyone, allow me to begin today's lesson."
Starlight opened her notebook and began to draw scribbles to make it look like she was taking notes. However, her mind was in a haze. She couldn't get Sunset out of her head, and she started daydreaming about the different ways she might actually get to kiss her.
The class bell rang, and, without really meaning to, Starlight shouted out loud."I want to kiss her!"
Quickly she realized that she had just announced it to the entire class. Her cheeks burned a bright cherry red. She tried to sink under her desk as Cheerilee called her forward. Everyone else was leaving for their next class.
"Starlight, I hope you have a good explanation for this," Cheerilee informed her, tapping her foot ever so slightly.
Starlight narrowed her eyes, rubbing her arm up and down. "Um, I'm really sorry Miss Cheerilee, I just can't stop thinking about her. I promise I'll do better to pay attention in class next time."
"You'd better get whoever it is off your mind and remember how important these lessons are. You have a test at the end of the week, and I'd hate for one of my best students to not pass. You're highly bright, Starlight, but you're distracted and that will cost you in the long run. So, for both our sakes, do something about it,” Cheerilee instructed, wagging her finger in slight disapproval.
Starlight wanted to go hide in one of the janitor's closets right about then. Feeling the tint of pink still warm on her cheeks, she shuffled her feet out of the classroom and continued on her way to her other classes, but the rest of the day had very similar results.
The bell for lunch rang, and all the students, minus herself, dashed for the door as fast as they could.
"Wonder what the cafeteria is having today? Must be really something special." Starlight said.
Sunset had been idling in the doorway, and Starlight hadn’t even noticed her, until she spoke up.
"Hey, Starlight, are you coming?" asked Sunset, extending a hand towards her.
Starlight blushed. "Yeah… you wanna sit together?" she asked, trying to sound casual again and keep her intentions to herself. She pulled at her shirt collar, feeling as warm as a fireplace under Sunset’s gaze.
"Are you alright? Your cheeks are red," Sunset pointed out, as if she didn't know.
"Um… I'm fine,” Starlight lied. “Fine, absolutely nothing is wrong with me. Why don't we hurry down to the cafeteria and see what the hustle and bustle is about?”
"Sure, I'd like that," Sunset said, smiling. The two of them walked together.
Starlight kept looking up at the ceiling, looking for any signs of mistletoe. Soon, she'd have a valid excuse to kiss this fiery temptress. Her mind was burning with all the different ways it might go, and felt her whole body heating up at the very thought.
When Starlight saw some mistletoe just ahead, she was pulled back out of her thoughts.
"Look, Sunset! We're underneath some mistletoe."
"Why, indeed we are. I guess that means you want a kiss," Sunset said, chuckling.
Starlight barely stopped herself from blurting out the thoughts going through her head, simply nodding. She didn't want to come off as a creep or a stalker.
“Watch out!” cried Derpy, dashing through the hallway as fast as her legs could carry her.
Starlight blinked, her eyes darting around rapidly, but then she saw chemicals coming from the chemistry lab, the bubbles oozing and drizzling down the hallway. Starlight wanted to question how in the world this had happened, but she didn’t have time to worry about that right now.
“Oh, Derpy, what happened now??” asked Sunset, shaking her head and chuckling at the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
“Um, worry about that later, just run!” Derpy pleaded with the two of them, reaching back to grab each of them by the hand.
Starlight didn’t want to be dragged away from the mistletoe. It had been so perfect, Sunset wouldn't have suspected a thing, and now Derpy just had to show up and ruin her moment. Sighing heavily, she allowed herself to be dragged towards the building’s exit. Many of the other students were also heading for the doors or already outside.
“I’m really, really sorry, Sunset. I just don't know what went wrong," Derpy tried to explain while the back ofhead and staring down at the stone pathway.
Sunset put a hand on Derpy’s shoulder, smiling softly. The sunlight shone directly against Sunset's jacket, angelic warmth within and without. Starlight felt her heart skip a beat, just thinking about how pure Sunset was, and almost forgot about Derpy and her little mishap.
“It’s okay, Derpy. I’m just glad you're not hurt,” Sunset replied, patting the top of her blonde hair and looking over at Starlight. “Sorry, Starlight. I know you were really looking forward to lunch, but I think we’ll be ordering pizza instead.”
Starlight blinked, furrowing her brow and tensing up just a bit. Her perfect opportunity to kiss Sunset had just been snatched away.
“Oh, pfft.” She tried to shrug it off, looking dismissive. “The cafeteria food isn’t that good anyways. Pizza sounds great.”
Even so, she couldn’t help but sigh heavily.
“You okay? That was quite the chemical reaction. I wonder what the teacher was having them make…” Sunset said, trying to console her. She didn’t know what Starlight had really wanted.
Just a kiss. How hard could it be?
Starlight couldn’t let this get to her. She was going to kiss Sunset by the end of the day, or her name wasn’t Starlight Glimmer. She let out a determined huff.
They ended up ordering a Caprice pizza to share. It wasn’t that it wasn’t delicious;l it was just that no matter how good the pie tasted, this wasn’t what she wanted.
Starlight had to come up with a new plan of action. Sitting there with Sunset was the perfect time to do so; she allowed her mind to wander. All she had to do was get Sunset under some mistletoe. There was nothing saying she couldn’t just get a piece of holly and plan for the perfect moment, and this time there’d be no “accidents”.
Starlight would kiss Sunset.
Just a kiss.
By the time they were allowed back into the building, the sun was beginning to sink toward the horizon.
Starlight walked back inside, waving goodbye to Sunset for now and heading on her way to her next class, which just happened to be Chemistry. It was like the world had this odd sense of irony. She groaned and sat down next to her chem partner, Trixie.
“Hey Starlight, what’s got you so… frustrated?” Trixie asked, opening her book and staring at Starlight.
“Oh, it’s Sunset,” Starlight admitted, sighing. She slouched in her seat, opening her own book and trying to pay attention to the class and not continue thinking about the girl of her dreams.
“Yeah? What about her?” Trixie asked Without really waiting for a response, she turned her head and blatantly staring at the chalkboard. “Trixie really dislikes this class, but at least Trixie is in good company.”
Starlight sighed. She appreciated that Trixie was trying, but it was hard not to think about how things could have gone differently. Then, she had an idea. Trixie was a magician, so she was sure to have lots of props. Maybe she had a piece of holly?
“Hey, Trixie, would you happen to have a mistletoe prop?” asked Starlight, a hopeful grin rising up on her cheeks.
“Mistletoe? That’s an odd one, but I’m sure I could find one easily enough. Why? What do you need with a bunch of mistletoe?”
“I need it for a special project. And it’s kinda short notice, but I’m really depending on you, Trixie. Please help me out.”
“Trixie supposes she can get Starlight her mistletoe, but in return, Starlight has to do Trixie’s Chemistry homework.”
“Deal,” Starlight replied immediately.
The bell rang, and they were dismissed, Starlight followed Trixie back to the theater area, where Trixie gave her a piece of holly. It looked just like mistletoe, despite being fake. This was perfect. Now all she had to do was wait for the right moment.
Starlight went to her locker afterwards to get books for a different class.
Standing at her locker further down the hallway was none other than Sunset Shimmer. It was just before the last class. Starlight would certainly be late for class if she tried anything now.
“Being late is so worth it,” she mumbled aloud.
“Hey, Starlight!” Sunset waved over towards her. “Sorry again, about the whole ordeal earlier. Maybe we can eat lunch together tomorrow?”
“I’d love that,” Starlight said, smiling. She approached Sunset carefully, one step at a time. Sunset wasn’t even looking at her, busy fiddling around with her own books. Starlight held the holly up and waited for Sunset to pop her head back out. Nothing would interrupt them this time.
Sunset popped her head out of the locker and looked directly at her.
Starlight tried her best not to panic. Deep breath.
“Oh, Starlight, look there’s a piece of holly above your head. I guess that means I have to kiss you. It is a tradition after all.” Sunset said, giggling and rolling her eyes.
Inwardly, Starlight’s heart was racing and her head was screaming yes, yes, yes! But right now, all she could do was nod and try not to confess to Sunset that this had been her plan since homeroom this morning.
Sunset began leaning forward, putting a hand on her cheek.Starlight felt the world stand still for a few seconds, and then, just when everything felt perfect, something had to interrupt them again.
Scootaloo was dashing recklessly down the hallways on her scooter, letting out a shout as she approached. “Watch out!”
Behind her, Starlight saw Applebloom and Sweetie Belle running, trying to keep up. “Wait up, Scoots!” Applebloom cried out, panting.
“Yeah, wait for us!” Sweetie Belle chimed in, keeping pace with Applebloom as the two awkwardly smiled and waved at Sunset and Starlight.
Starlight hurried to push Sunset against the locker, trying to keep her safe from from the reckless younger students In the process, the mistletoe slipped from her hand, and afterward, she sighed as she turned to see the propon the ground, all smashed to tiny little pieces from being run over by Scootaloo’s scooter.
Sunset Shimmer sighed and gently dusted herself off. “Well, that was quite the hustle and bustle. I wonder if something happened.” She looked at Starlight and followed her gaze to the floor. “Oh, I’m sorry Starlight.”
“It’s okay, it’s just a piece of mistletoe. There’s plenty of those around the holidays,” Starlight said, shuffling her feet and kicking a bit of the debris around.
“Well, I think that’s enough commotion for one day. I’ll see you tomorrow, Starlight,” Sunset said, waving goodbye, picking up her book. Starlight could only watch as the sunlight began to fade from her view.
Starlight sighed, still looking at what was left of the prop she had borrowed from Trixie.
“She’s not gonna like this,” Starlight told herself as she carefully tried to pick up the broken prop and put it in a ziplock bag. She didn’t want to just throw it away, but there was no way she could use it now, not after that trampling..
Hurrying to her last class of the day, she found it difficult to focus on whatever the subject was. All she could think about was that moment. The moment right before the Cutie Mark Crusaders had come into the picture.
Just a kiss. That was all she wanted.
The last bell of the day rang, and Starlight was free to go home. But she was leaving without a kiss, and that was a very hard feeling to ignore. Her lips curled downwards. She clutched the straps of her backpack tightly and just stared at her feet as she walked.
Tomorrow was a new day, new opportunities, and maybe, just maybe, she’d finally get that kiss.
Starlight got up in the morning, brushed her teeth after finishing breakfast, and got dressed for another day of school. She stopped short of the door, staring at the handle. Sighing heavily, she pushed through the door and headed out. After all, today was a new day, and that meant new opportunities to kiss Sunset.
The sunlight was shining down, and Starlight quickly covered her eyes with her arm, walking over towards the bus stop. The other students all huddled around the dirt pathway, waiting. Starlight joined up with them, givingTrixie a pout.
“I’m sorry, Trixie,” Starlight began as she opened her backpack and handed her the now-broken pieces of the mistletoe concealed in the ziplock bag.
“Trixie is appalled that you would be so reckless with one of Trixie’s props!” Trixie declared, taking the bag from her hands. “However, Trixie is still grateful to Starlight for doing her homework. If there is anything Trixie hates, it is homework!”
Starlight chuckled. “I’m just glad you aren’t angry.”
“Oh, Trixie is furious! However, you are one of Trixie’s few friends, so Trixie will forgive you.”
Starlight put up a finger, about to say something when the bus showed up, and Trixie immediately hurried onto the bus without saying another word to her. Starlight sighed slightly. Sometimes Trixie could be so difficult, but Starlight would have to worry about that later.
She had a mission to kiss Sunset.
Taking her seat on the bus, she looked out the window. She watched as the buildings faded from view as the bus started rolling down the street. She leaned against the windowsill, the slight chill of the plastic covering making her shiver. She looked up towards the sky, doing her best not to look directly at the sunlight, and wished upon the sun for her success. Today would be the day. If not today, then when?
Hearth’s Warming was only a few days away, and then all the students would be on break. She didn’t have time for failure. She didn’t have time for interruptions; it had to be now or never.
Finally, the school pulled into view. Starlight kept watching out the window, and to her surprise, she saw thatSunset was waving to her from the sidewalk. Starlight smiled and hurried off the bus, walking over to meet her friend.
“Hey, I’m really sorry that things keep happening to us whenever you want to hang out.”
“Oh no, it’s not your fault at all. I’m the one with poor timing.” Starlight waved both of her hands in the air idly. She didn’t want Sunset to blame herself. She was an angel, and Starlight, well, Starlightwas not even close to angelic. Starlight was considered a bad girl by some; not that she really cared what anyone thought of her.
“Starlight?” Sunset said, poking her shoulder. “Anyone home?”
Starlight shook her head and looked right into Sunset’s gaze. It was hypnotic, the way her eyes practically shimmered with fire and passion. Starlight suddenly found herself frozen. She tried to literally shake herself out of it, trying to force herself to move and close the distance between them; then she remembered that she had no mistletoe.
If she kissed Sunset now, she would know. She didn’t even know if Sunset liked her the same way, and she was terrified to take that chance. She remembered how well that had gone with Sunburst many years ago, when the two were just kids. She wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.
“Yeah, I’m here. Sorry, I was just lost in thought,” Starlight finally replied, hearing the bell for homeroom go off, and for the first time in a while she was grateful for being interrupted. She hurried off to her first class of the day.
Sunset couldn’t know, not until Starlight succeeded. Only then would she be able to confess how she truly felt inside. Her gut wrenched at the guilt. She didn’t want to hide anything from Sunset. She was so kind to everyone, even to people like her.
Sitting in her seat, she tried to make a plan of attack. She scribbled into her notebook to make it appear she was taking notes as the teacher took attendance. She didn't even register once all the other students had left for first period; she was still there, taking notes.
"Starlight, you may leave now. You don't want to be late again, do you?" asked Mr. Birch Tree.
"Cheerilee told you?" she asked, inhaling a sigh.
"Of course she did. We care about you, Starlight. We care about all our students. Here, since it's so close to break, I'll give you a pass to give to your teacher," Birch offered, handing her a card.
"Thanks, Mr. Birch, I really needed this. I admit I have been a bit distracted by stuff."
"Well, hopefully whatever that stuff, is you can get it resolved before the break."
"Yeah, I hope so." Starlight said, picking up her notebook and the pass, hurrying towards her next classes.
There wasn't much learning around the holidays; most of the teachers, unlike Cheerilee, just let them relax and watch movies.
The bell rang for lunch, and Starlight hurried to her locker, hoping to catch Sunset by hers. Sure enough,standing there in the center of the hallway was Sunset. She looked so magical, like she herself was her own illuminating light. Starlight felt her heart racing.
"I should just tell her how I feel…" she whispered under her breath. Taking a deep breath, Starlight approached her.
"Hey, Sunset, I know things have been kinda hectic lately, but I need to confess something." Starlight felt the entire world freeze in that moment. Her mind already played out all the ways it could go wrong, and for once she wanted someone to interrupt her.
"I… I like you a lot. And I have been trying to use the mistletoe as an excuse to kiss you. I understand if you don't feel the same, but I can't keep hiding it. I really really want to kiss you, Sunset."
Silence.
Anxiety mounting, Starlight waited for what felt like forever, when suddenly a big poof of pink hair appeared behind Sunset.
"Oh hey, Starlight! I see you have met my prop Sunset. She's totally just like the real person!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, hugging the cardboard cutout.
"She isn't real?!?" Starlight asked, a slight murmur of annoyance rising in her throat. She facepalmed and stared at Pinkie.
"You really thought she was real? Then it's working right as intended!" Pinkie Pie said, grinning. She blinked, finally seeming to note Starlight's annoyance.
"I'm sorry, Starlight. I'm working on a super-duper secret Hearth's Warming gift, and I needed a real-life looking Sunset," Pinkie explained quickly. "I sure hope you weren't confessing a super-duper important secret. That would just be the worst!"
"Pinkie Pie!" Starlight shouted. Without thinking she just pushed Pinkie Pie away from her. "Just go away, leave me alone!"
"Okay, I'm going. I'm going, totally gone."
Starlight hated herself at that very moment. She hit her locker, and just wanted the day to be over.
"I'm never gonna get that kiss, who am I even fooling?" she asked herself.
Sunset was an angel, and she might as well be the devil in comparison. Starlight knew she wasn't a great person, knew she had a lot to work on to better herself, but deep within, she had hoped for success.
She wanted to kiss her. Just a kiss, just one…
That was her Hearth's Warming wish.
Starlight went to lunch, having given up on trying to fool herself. She was shocked when Sunset sat down at lunch with her.
"Hey, Starlight," she said, waving as she put her backpack in the seat and got in line for her own tray of whatever the cafeteria lady was calling food today.
Starlight blinked, having forgotten she promised to eat lunch with her. It wasn't over…
She shook her head. "Sunset is too good for you, just accept it," she muttered to herself.
Starlight didn't realize she was talking aloud, nor that Sunset heard every word.
Sunset put her tray down next to Starlight's. One hand rested on the table, she cupped Starlight's cheek with her free hand, leaning in…
Starlight was hallucinating, there was no way this was happening.
But then she felt Sunset's lips upon hers. The feeling wasn't fake. Starlight almost pulled away, feeling like Sunset was just putting her, but then she felt Sunset deepen the kiss.
Starlight's mouth opened in awe, perhaps a bit of shock, as she leaned into the kiss, returning it.
The two kissed for an entire minute, before Starlight pulled back, and just looked at Sunset with curiosity and hope.
"Do you like me, Sunset?" she asked nervously.
"Starlight, I've always admired you. I must confess, I've had a big crush on you for a while, but I wasn't sure you felt the same until now."
"How did you figure out I liked you?"
"You weren't exactly subtle, sweetie~" Sunset replied, and before Starlight could reply with her own snarky retort, Sunset kissed her again.
Just a kiss.
The end! Happy Hearth's Warming!
