None of her ideas were good enough. They were all stupid, or too cheesy and tacky, lacking in thoughtfulness.
But she had to try. Only a week until Hearth’s Warming, after all.
Starlight had bought books for him in the past, and though he liked them well enough, Starlight still felt that they hadn’t been enough. She vowed to do better than ever before this year as she walked through the double doors of Ponyville’s Bookstore.
How about a book titled “Understanding Magic”? Maybe…but no. He said a few times that magic was an ever-evolving discipline, but this was a little too on the nose. Not thoughtful enough. Besides, a small part of her worried that he might take it as an insult.
That snowy day, Starlight Glimmer spent more time in the bookstore than she initially predicted. She looked through novels, classic and contemporary. She looked through reference books, art books, puzzle books, calendars, stationery, books about science, and books about history. But nothing really inspired her or struck her as something that Sunburst would like.
Crestfallen, she slowly made her way out of the bookstore but stopped when a poster caught her eye.
She recognized the name on the poster. The most recent addition to the “Sunburst’s favorite authors that he won’t stop telling me about” list. A new book would be coming out in January, and a copy could be reserved now. Starlight spent a few moments trying to recall if Sunburst mentioned something about this, and decided that he didn’t know and thus, hadn’t reserved a copy yet. He usually didn’t spend a lot of money on himself around the holidays.
Starlight went to the counter and reserved a copy for Sunburst. As the cashier handed her a receipt, he said, “We’re still giving out tickets for the signing. Do you want one?”
Starlight blinked. “The signing?”
“Oh, you didn’t know?” The cashier raised his eyebrows. “We’re a small store, so we’re limiting the number of ponies who can come to the release by selling tickets to those that preorder the book. Do you want to buy one?”
It didn’t take her long to consider. “Sure. When’s the signing?” she asked as she took out her coin purse.
“January 15th, starting at 10 am, it’s the first day of its release.”
Starlight paused for a moment, that was the day and time of the kite show. The biggest kite show in the country. The kite show she'd been planning to buy tickets for this afternoon.
…Oh, well.
“Could I get two, please?”
“Hmm, the thing is, we are limiting it to one per preorder,” the cashier said, looking shiftily around before leaning in. “But…depending on what it’s for maybe I could help you out…?”
Starlight made a face, blushed, and checked to see that no pony was in earshot. “Yes, it’s uh, for a guy. A date,” she mumbled, her cheeks growing hot. The cashier winked and added another ticket to the order. Starlight packed the two tickets in her saddlebag and left, strangely at peace with the kite show she was going to miss.
Sunburst’s Gift Part II came to Starlight more easily. She noticed the “book-scented” candles on display on the store across the street and knew they were a gimmick that he would appreciate.
Unbeknownst to Starlight, Sunburst was having just as much—if not more—trouble finding a suitable gift for her.
He wasn’t the best when it came to giving gifts, or finding thoughtful presents for ponies, and it didn’t help that he wanted this particular gift to be special.
He wanted to give her something that made her feel understood. He had to admit, his friend could still be a bit of a mystery to him at times (a lot of the time, actually), but he wanted to think that he understood her enough to make her feel comfortable around him. At home. Completely accepted. He wanted for her to feel appreciated, too. He was certain that he’d stumbled upon the best friend a pony could ask for; if only he could find a gift that properly convey that. Overall, he wanted her to feel loved, but not pressured when she opened…whatever it was he was going to get her.
The thing was, Starlight didn’t seem to want a lot of things. If there was something she wanted, she would quietly go out of her way and get it herself. Sunburst supposed this would give him free rein to just have fun and be creative, but it irked him to no end not knowing what she really wanted—about not having “the answer” at hoof.
Sunburst felt completely out of his element in all the stores relevant to Starlight’s interests. But after some walking around he ended up buying a new saddlebag for her. She’d been carrying around the same one for years now, and while she never complained about it, he noticed signs of wear and tear here and there. Besides, he thought as he watched the cashier ring it out, this would look really good on her…
He shook his head and then reminded himself that his gift was, in fact, for her, not him.
Then, like a ray of sunshine shining down from the heavens, he found something that she would absolutely love. He didn’t quite share the same love for kites as she did, but he was more than aware of her hobby to know that this was a once in a lifetime event, and the poster said that it would take place on that day and that day only, so he absolutely had to get her tickets to see that. Two tickets, because who wants to go to a show alone? He reread the poster.
January 15th, 10 AM to 10 PM.
Sunburst groaned inwardly. If he went with her, he couldn’t attend the book signing. There was no guarantee that she’d want him to come, he reminded himself sadly, but what kind of Hearth’s Warming gift would it be if he didn’t at least make himself available to go? He took a deep breath and approached the counter, pushing his misgivings aside.
Oddly enough, by the time he had the tickets in his possession, Sunburst was feeling excited. He was going to tell her the other ticket was for anypony she wanted to bring along, but he really hoped she would ask him to come—regardless of the release party for the new book.
A week passed, and soon it was the night before Hearth’s Warming.
The two arrived at Applejack’s farm separately for the Hearth’s Warming-founding-party-after-party. Starlight noticed that things were a lot more festive than usual, everything decked out in red and green and white and gold, along with as many decorative pine trees they could fit in the barn; it seemed like Pinkie had been given free rein to do whatever she pleased with the space.
Sunburst and Starlight found each other in the crowd and began a lively discussion about Hearth’s Warming past. They also whispered in hushed tones about what they’d bought for their friends and speculated on what others had bought for them.
Their conversation was interrupted by a chipper “Hey look!” Both glanced over at Pinkie Pie, who was pointing enthusiastically at the ceiling directly above them. “Somepony finally went under the mistletoe and it’s Starlight and Sunburst!”
Much to the pair’s chagrin, they now had a highly amused audience, consisting (at first glance) of close friends that had been invited, and a few other ponies that they didn’t really know. There was a changeling that might have been watching carefully from her corner of the room, although considering her pupil-less eyes, it was kind of hard to tell.
“Uhh…” Sunburst looked awkwardly up at the large bundle of mistletoe, which was indeed poised perfectly above himself and his friend. “How did we not notice that?”
No doubt about it, this would be the time to kiss her—with everypony watching to see him fail if Starlight was unreceptive to his advances.
“Oh, finally,” Trixie grinned widely, she looked almost predatory. “You know the rules, pucker up, both of you!”
Sunburst risked a glance at Starlight’s face. She was bright red and carefully studying anything in the room that was not watching the two of them. Her eyes flickered to his face, and then quickly to the floor.
“N-No! No way!” he said emphatically.
“You can’t chicken out of this one,” Rainbow Dash grinned, teeth gleaming brightly in the room’s light. “You have to. It’s tradition.”
“I’m not going to kiss her,” Sunburst shot back as he looked around the room. “No,” he repeated loudly to everypony and to no one in particular.
“Well, as the host, I reckon that—” Applejack began.
“Traditions can be broken,” Starlight snapped abruptly. “Sorry to disappoint you all, but I don’t want to kiss him or anypony tonight, thank you very much. Let’s go, Sunburst.” And with that, she put her foreleg around his withers and dragged him away, back into the disappointed crowd, away from the mistletoe.
Feeling the warmth of her body so close to him only accentuated the weight of the regret that nested in his heart.
Once they were back at the refreshment table, Starlight sighed in frustration and let go of Sunburst. “Ponies should learn to mind their own business,” she huffed, still a bright shade of pink.
Sunburst liked to think he’d been getting better at reading Starlight’s not-so-carefully disguised emotions over the years. One of them was that whenever she was getting defensive, she blushed and refused to look at him in the eyes.
“Oh, you gossip about other ponies all the time,” Sunburst tried teasingly, hoping to lift the mood. “You never mind your own business.”
“Shut up,” she snapped again. He grew quiet.
“Sorry,” Starlight added after a moment. “I didn’t mean that, I guess I’m just tense today. And those idiots are making it worse.”
“It’s fine,” he mumbled.
They only stayed for another couple of hours before leaving. Starlight still feeling rather shaken and wishing she could just relax and enjoy the rest of the night.
His refusal to kiss her didn’t really mean anything, right? Well…maybe it did? Maybe he was too shy to do it in front of others. After all, there were quite a few gawkers around—even she had refused; she would have said ‘no’ if he hadn’t done it first.
Or maybe he just didn’t feel that way about her.
Either way, it shouldn’t have ruined her evening. She should have been able to brush it off and enjoy the company of her friends, and look forward to Hearth’s Warming morning, and attend another party later in the day. Still, she realized just how much she’d been hoping for something to happen this year—with all the mistletoe hanging around—and then the perfect opportunity had presented itself and just…passed by.
It had been her fault for not taking it. She’d been so flustered and embarrassed upon noting Sunburst’s refusal that she shut everypony down, which may have been the right thing to do, but in retrospect, maybe she shouldn’t have said she didn’t want to kiss him. It wasn’t true, not when she was clinging to hope like a castaway in a storm.
Unable to sleep in her bed, Starlight gathered the gifts she had for Sunburst—unsatisfying though they were, a little box of candles and two preorder tickets inside a pretty envelope—and brought them out to the living room. She wanted to sit on the couch in front of the glowing Hearth’s Warming tree, the way she did as a filly. Even if she wouldn’t be earning her friend’s affections this year, she could at least enjoy the ethereal feeling of Hearth’s Warming before dawn.
Neither of the gifts was good enough. He was ashamed of them, lying there on his bed, new saddlebag and tickets wrapped up as though they were rare and wonderful treasures. Any idiot could have picked them out.
Sunburst hadn’t been able to sleep peacefully. He kept waking up and thinking about Starlight’s words, “I don’t even want to kiss him.” He admitted that her words had hurt him at first, making him think about everything little thing about himself that made him unattractive and undesirable. But the more he thought about it, the more he felt that she was just being defensive, that what she said was a response to hurt feelings instead of disgust, but he couldn’t know for sure.
He tried to read, but he was just too restless to lay still. Maybe he’d be less restless if he got up and walked around for a little while.
Sunburst walked to the living room to find something unexpected: a sleepy mare dozing on the couch in front of the lit Hearth’s Warming tree, a hoof dangling from the edge of the cushion. She didn’t even have a blanket. Just looking at her made him feel cold, so he put down the presents he had been holding and grabbed a blanket from the closet, throwing it over her with care and trying to ignore the sappiness of the gesture.
Blue eyes opened slowly. “Hmm?”
“Shh, go back to sleep.”
Starlight grinned sleepily. “Too late. I’m wide awake now. Happy Hearth’s Warming, Sunburst.” Starlight stretched under the blanket in a way that made him wish they had this conversation before he put it on her.
“Ah, horseapples,” he said, but he was grinning as she sat up and he sat down next to her. Her smile relaxed him a little.
She noticed it, as soon as she woke up, the mistletoe hanging on the ceiling. She decided not to say anything, considering the event of last night. It would ruin the moment.
“What’s going on?” she asked instead. “You’re never up at…” She checked the clock. “Five in the morning.”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Sunburst answered. Then he looked around the room. It was dark, lit only by the multicolored Hearth’s Warming lights on the tree, and he saw the gifts that Starlight had brought from her room. Gesturing toward the packages he had brought, he suggested, “Let’s exchange presents.”
“Now? Don’t you want to wait for the others?”
Sunburst shrugged. “If you want to. But I want to hurry up and open my presents,” he grinned.
“Pfft, you’re like a little colt,” Starlight sniffed indignantly. How could a pony like him be so absurdly cute?
“Here.” He levitated his present right next to her on the couch, between the two of them, and then reached out for the two she’d given him. “Open yours first,” he said expectantly.
Starlight rolled her eyes. “Okay,” she sighed in mock-derision, but then she smiled and quickly tore the wrapping paper from a rectangular package. Something fell out, and she studied it for a moment before saying, “Sunburst! I’ve had my eye on this saddlebag for a long time! Thank you so much!” Starlight grinned as she inspected the bag, the soft leather of the straps, and the cotton that lines the sides. She looked him straight in the eyes and hoped he could feel how much she genuinely appreciated it.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d like it since you never complained about your current bag. But I noticed that yours is getting pretty beat up, it seemed like it was worth a shot.”
“I’m glad you did.” Starlight smiled and was about to put the bag away when he stopped her.
“There’s more inside the bag, you know,” Sunburst said, gesturing to the zipper on the side.
“I’ll look at it later, open yours now,” Starlight insisted, handing him the package that contained the scented candles. She watched his expression carefully as he unwrapped it, and his face broke into a massive grin.
“Cool! How did you know that I like these?”
“Lucky guess, but I know that you’re such a book lover that I figured you’d appreciate them.” Starlight paused. “Hmm, you do like them, do you?”
“Are you kidding? I love them! I’m going to light them up right now!” A minute later he had lit one on each end of the coffee table. They added to the warm glow of the room, their odd scent blending seamlessly with the pine scent from the tree.
Starlight took a moment to look around the room before she turned to him with a grin. “Now, open this,” she handed him the envelope.
Sunburst eyed her suspiciously.
“What? I want to open mine last.” She shrugged.
Sunburst carefully open the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper. It was a receipt for a brand-new book, his eyes widening when he recognized the title. He grinned, about to say something, but noticed two other pieces of paper in there. He lifted them up and read one aloud.
“Ponyville’s Book Trade, Admit One,” he read out slowly. “Limited-Release Book Signing, January 15th…why are there two?”
Starlight shrugged again. “I figured you could bring a friend with you. I can go if you want, but if you have somepony else in mind that’s fine too.”
He burst out laughing.
“What?!” Starlight asked in alarm. He could see the panic in her eyes, so he bit his lip and shook his head, trying to calm down.
“No! No, it’s okay! It’s more than okay it’s…amazing, Starlight. I love it. Thank you. But you might want to open yours now, though.” He tried to keep his laughter to a snicker.
Starlight opened the saddlebag and found a similar envelope, her eyes comically wide when she pulled out two tickets.
“You can bring somepony with you too,” Sunburst said. “I would go, but…whatever you want.”
“Sunburst!” she said, beaming brighter than the decorated pine tree in the room. “Don’t be silly, of course you can come. I still need to teach how to fly a kite half-decently. But…what about the book signing?” She asked, worried. “We can’t be in two places at once…I mean, we could, but similo duplexus is an exhausting spell and we wouldn’t enjoy either event…but you don’t have to come with me, you shouldn’t feel obligated…”
He put a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s okay, we’ll figure something out.”
She leaned back into the couch with a sigh. “I can’t believe we did that.”
Sunburst sat back and chuckled, and Starlight smiled back widely, still wearing that goofy grin when she remarked that this moment called for some sympathy cocoa for the both of them.
The warm, happy glow of realizing her best friend would rather give her a great present than attend a book signing made Starlight consider mentioning the mistletoe that had hung over their heads the entire time.
But no. It would be too strange.
When Starlight left, Sunburst glanced up at the little plant dangling from the ceiling.
Yep, that definitely was a mistletoe—must have been Trixie’s handiwork—hanging in a way that said “The Great and Powerful Trixie knows that her roommates will sit right underneath this and Trixie thinks they should kiss each other right now!”
Something in him wanted a second chance. Now they were alone. Now she could change his mind if she wanted to. With his heart beating a little too fast, he sat up and tried to act casual, natural, bringing up the subject in a joking matter.
“Looks like Trixie’s been trying to prank us again,” he sighed with what he hoped was exasperation, pointing at the ceiling when Starlight walked in. She looked up and immediately turned bright red again, standing there with two steaming mugs of hot cocoa in her magical grasp.
“Y-Yeah, I noticed…I wasn’t going to say anything though,” she said quietly.
“Why not?” It tumbled out of his mouth before he realized.
“Well, because I didn’t want to make things weird. Because of what you said last night, I mean. You wouldn’t want to do stupid stuff like—like kiss me anyway, it would be weird, right? So, I thought it would be better to just not say anything.”
She looked so dejected as she said it. He wasn’t stupid, he knew there had been a misunderstanding.
“Starlight. I can’t believe that’s what you thought. Because it wasn’t what I meant at all. I said no because all those ponies were watching and they were all being jerks about it, I didn’t know how you’d react and it caught me by surprise. Starlight…I didn’t say no because I didn’t want to kiss you…I actually really want to—” he put a hoof over his mouth and trailed off, realizing that he essentially just confessed.
Starlight studied his face, eyebrows progressively climbing further into her thick bangs. And then she smiled. The smile lit her face slowly and shyly, making her look so adorable that he resisted the urge to get up and hug her. “Sunburst…” she breathed.
“So…you didn’t mean anything by it when you said you didn’t want to either?” he asked carefully.
“I only said that because I was mad at what you said.”
“Oh,” Sunburst deflated.
“It’s okay. Stop worrying about it.” Starlight continued to hold eye contact, even as she levitated the cups over to the coffee table.
He glanced up at the mistletoe. “Uh. Well, no pony is watching us now…”
“Do you want to try it?” she asked breathlessly.
Sunburst swallowed thickly before nodding. “Yeah, I do.”
Starlight approached him slowly like she might spook him if she walked too fast, and sat on the couch with equal carefulness. Sunburst tried to be a gentlecolt and kept his eyes on hers, but it was harder to do the closer her lips got to his. They never knew who leaned toward the other first. They probably leaned in at the same time, but before they knew it, his lips were on hers, soft and hesitant, and she didn’t quite know what to do except push a little closer to him—each afraid of overstaying their welcome on the other’s mouth—and they both pulled away around the same time as well.
“T-That was…nice?” Sunburst tried awkwardly.
Nice? It was better than nice. This thing. This kissing thing. He never gave it much thought until now. That little moment hadn’t been nearly enough, and Sunburst licked his lips absentmindedly, wishing for more. Starlight didn’t even try to hide the fact that she was staring at his lips, and she took his longing look as an invitation to continue.
This time, she angled her head more comfortably and brought her hoof to his neck to pull him closer. He wrapped his forelegs around her waist, which caught Starlight by surprise, and she smiled before they kissed again.
They held it for longer this time, long enough to tighten their embrace and for her to wrap her forelegs around his neck and for him to run his hooves up and down her back. He felt butterflies in his stomach all take off at once when her tongue gingerly lapped against his lips. He touched it with his own, and soon their mouths were locked together perfectly.
Pine and the scent of books tangled with the smell of Starlight’s shampoo and the clean detergent on Sunburst’s cloak. They were closer than they had ever been, and yet it wasn’t enough. They tightened their grips on each other, and Sunburst finally leaned back and pulled Starlight up so she could settle on top of him more comfortably. They weren’t apart for even a minute, and yet, they fell back into each other with impatience, snuggling together as close as they could. His hooves caressed her back and Starlight tugged at his cape.
And finally, Starlight managed to slip his cloak off. The shock of cold air brought him back to his senses with a shiver, and he fought against the fog of desire filling his brain. But it was hard, especially when Starlight sighed his name in a way that sent his heart into overdrive.
“Starlight,” Sunburst whispered urgently against her lips.
“Hmm?” she looked curiously into his blue eyes.
“I don’t…I don’t want to go farther than you’re comfortable with,” he said nervously.
Instead of answering right away, she leaned up and kissed him on the forehead, right next to his horn. “You’re the sweetest stallion I ever met; you know that?” she said huskily in his ear.
Sunburst grinned and nuzzled her neck. “I think you bring it out of me,” he answered, voice deep and low.
“Let’s just stay like this for a little while longer,” Starlight continued. She closed her eyes and hugged him close. “But not for too long, because I want to go as far as you want to go.”
They held each other for a long while after that. The lights of the tree and the warm glow of the book-scented candles blended with the light of dawn.