It was a bright fall morning. An overnight frost clung to the leaves as dew. While the rest of Ponyville hummed to life, the Castle of Friendship remained quiet and dark, all except for the sound of furiously turning pages and the light snoring of a unicorn mare.
With a frustrated grumble, Twilight Sparkle slammed another book shut. Even the latest editions didn't have any advice. Forging a new path in magic was much harder than it looked and more than she expected. She had long since forgotten Starlight Glimmer was in the room.
Starlight had stayed up most of the night with Twilight practicing new spells and bouncing ideas back and forth. But she was exhausted compared to the alicorn. Becoming Twilight's pupil was the most challenging thing she had done for herself. Her studies on friendship were paying off and it was starting to show.
She had learned to compromise when she disagreed with somepony and how to stand her ground . It was still frightening to her when she was tasked with befriending and resolving problems with ponies she had never met before. But she had learned to trust herself.
In all the time she lived in Ponyville, the only pony she felt completely comfortable with was Trixie Lulamoon. It wasn't that she didn't like Twilight or didn't trust her. But Twilight constantly worrying about her and hovering over her shoulder at every turn was getting aggravating.
Recently, Twilight began reading the Friendship journal she had created with her friends. Something felt like it was missing. The spell from Star Swirl the Bearded she had finished had only brought her studies together. Despite the appearance of the castle and cutie mark map, there was no crowning jewel among her letters or spells that would survive the test of time.
She had assembled the mane six the day before to brainstorm ideas and combine the magic of friendship in new ways. But something was still missing and she couldn't put a hoof on it.
She even asked her own student for help but Starlight just didn't have as much knowledge of friendship or magic as she did. Nopony did. But Starlight suggested looking for new books to add to her library to calm her down. It had worked for most of the afternoon but the excitement of new books slowly gave way to fixation on absorbing new information. Twilight hardly touched her dinner despite Spike's hard work and encouragement.
Starlight began worrying about her mentor and offered to search the books with her in the evening. But she had no idea what she was looking for. There was no direction or clues to help her. But Twilight seemed to relax with the offer. During their breaks, they tried combining spells or rewriting some of them but to no avail. It was hard on Starlight and very taxing. She only meant to rest her eyes. Twilight was so focused on her books now that she hardly noticed the snoozing mare or her own exhaustion.
When Twilight looked up, she squinted at the morning light beaming in. "Oh... I didn't realize how late it had gotten. I'm sorry Starlight. I..." She turned to Starlight who was sleeping across from her own reading spot. She smiled sleepily and looked to the corner of the room where some blankets were folded neatly. Choosing a soft blue one, she covered Starlight gently, tucking her in, closed the curtains and started walking toward the door.
"Trixie..." she overheard Starlight mumble. Twilight looked at her and blinked, wondering what she was dreaming about, smiled at her sleeping student and quietly left the library, closing the door behind her. Yawning loudly she sleepily wandered off to the kitchen to make breakfast. She wanted to continue reading over a warm plate of food and let her worn out student sleep in peace.