Starlight Glimmer traversed the streets of Ponyville on her way to Friendship Castle. A thick blanket of snow covered the ground, and all around Hearth’s Warming decorations adorned every streetlamp and building. The smell of gingerbread permeated the air, invading Starlight's nostrils and making her crave the delicious holiday treat.

But she hadn’t the time, a fact she was reminded of whenever she thought back to the letter Princess Twilight had sent her the other day, telling her to visit her castle for what she only described as ‘a holiday surprise’. What it could be, she hadn’t a clue, but it warmed her heart to know that the princess truly and honestly held nothing against her after their altercation involving the Map and her time travel revenge scheme.

It also warmed her heart to know that Twilight had done such a good job of keeping said incident a secret to the general public. Walking along the road toward the castle, nopony so much as cast a furtive glance at her. They were all completely unaware of the despair she had caused them in several alternate futures, and that’s how she liked it.

At last, she reached Friendship Castle. The only Hearth’s Warming decoration to adorn the place was a simple wreath hung on the front door.

Guess she’s too busy to do anything more elaborate. She knocked twice on the door. A minute later, the door opened to reveal Twilight’s beaming face.

“I’m so glad you could make it, Starlight!” she exclaimed, before stepping aside and bading her to enter. “Come in, please.”

“Thanks for inviting me, Twilight–er, I mean, Princess.” A small blush formed across her cheeks as she entered. “Sorry, which do you prefer, again?” she asked.

“Whatever you prefer is fine,” she replied, and closed the door. “Thanks for coming, Starlight. You have no idea how worried I was you wouldn’t, after all the work I put into your surprise.”

“You were really vague in your letter,” Starlight noted, an eyebrow raised. “What kind of surprise could you possibly have worked so hard to prepare for me?”

“Come with me and I’ll show you.” Twilight began heading down the foyer, Starlight following after her, her curiosity piqued.

They made their way through the castle, silent except for their hoofsteps on the crystal floor, echoing throughout the vast halls. All the while, Starlight pondered what Twilight’s surprise could possibly be. Nothing she could think of seemed to warrant so much build up and secrecy, which got her both curious and excited as to what Princess Twilight had for her.

Eventually, Twilight stopped in a lounging area that Starlight hadn’t seen when she broke into the castle for her revenge plot. A couple of couches on either side, each accompanied by a lamp, and a coffee table in the middle. Standard fare. Nothing overly fancy, aside from everything being made of crystals.

“Why have we stopped?” Starlight asked, inspecting the room. “I don’t see anything that surprises me.”

Twilight turned to her, and Starlight took notice of the princess’ wistful smile. “I had to pull some strings to get your Hearth’s Warming present, but it was worth it.”

Now Starlight was just plain confused. “What do you mean?” she asked.

Suddenly, a red mane peeked over the closest couch, followed by a unicorn horn protruding from an orange coat. Next came a pair of black-rimmed eyeglasses, behind which sat a pair of blue eyes with a white splotch of fur on the muzzle. It all added up to make a face that made Starlight’s jaw drop.

“Long time no see, Starlight,” Sunburst said, waving at her with a slightly sheepish grin.

The resulting silence was deafening. A pin could be heard dropping anywhere within a mile wide radius. Starlight just stood in place, eyes wide and body tense as she stared at a pony she’d never expected to hear hide nor hair from ever again, while he merely retained his sheepish grin, never breaking eye contact from her. Twilight glanced back and forth between them, waiting for either one to say something. When she made to break the silence herself, Starlight beat her to it.

“Why did you bring him here, Twilight?” she asked, her brow furrowing a little.

“Because I wanted to give you the chance to rekindle your lost friendship,” Twilight replied, and smiled wistfully. “Or, at the very least, properly tie up the remaining loose ends.”

“I’m sure you never expected to see me ever again, Starlight,” Sunburst spoke up. Activating his horn, he levitated a small white box tied with a red ribbon from behind the couch and over to Starlight. “First of all, here’s my own Hearth’s Warming present. I hope you like it.”

Starlight took the box in her own magic, eyeing it curiously. She untied the ribbon and lifted the lid off, revealing the brown stuffing paper inside. Shifting through it, she pulled out Sunburst’s present. It was a snow globe, but closer inspection revealed little miniature figurines of both Starlight and Sunburst as foals, building a snowpony together in front of a miniature replica of Starlight’s childhood home.

“Sunburst, I… I…” Her eyes welled up. She clutched the snowglobe close to her chest, smiling warmly and sniffling. “Thank you so much.”

Sunburst smiled. “I had that custom made in Trottingham. Cost me quite a bit, too, but it was well worth it.” His smile faltered for a moment. “I don’t know if you can forgive me for essentially abandoning you way back then. I was a stupid foal, after all.” His smile changed entirely into a frown. “Princess Twilight tells me you’ve been heavily distraught because of what I did.”

That gave Starlight pause again. She turned to Twilight, wide-eyed.

“That’s all I told him,” Twilight clarified, quick to diffuse Starlight’s fear.

“I won’t ask anything about what you did as a result,” Sunburst said. He climbed over the couch and walked over to Starlight, his smile having returned. He held out a hoof. “I’ll be your friend again if you want. But I’ll be fine either way, as long as you’re happy.”

Starlight looked at the proffered hoof as the surrealness of the situation finally settled into her mind. Never did she think she’d meet Sunburst again, much less as a Hearth’s Warming present from Princess Twilight herself. That he was apologizing for abandoning her was nice, but deep down, she knew she was just as much to blame for holding it against him instead of attempting to reconnect with him.

She was a stupid foal too, after all.

But now she was given a chance to make up for that mistake, and she had no intention of throwing it away.

She wiped the tears from her eyes, and set down the snowglobe. “I’d love for us to be friends again,” she answered, and wrapped her hooves around him.

“Merry Hearth’s Warming, Starlight,” Sunburst replied, and hugged her back.

The two of them then felt a pair of wings wrap around them.

“Thank you, Princess Twilight,” they said in unison.

Next Chapter: The Holiday At The End Of The World (for Aragon) Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 9 Minutes