When Twilight opened her eyes the next day the first thing she saw was her pillow. Lifting her head up, she could feel the dried tears on her face from her crying last night. Getting out of bed, she silently made her way to the bathroom to wash up before tiptoeing her way over to Spike’s room. Taking a peek inside, she saw that it looked empty. His bed was missing the blanket and pillows that he had taken with him. There were a few gaps on the bookshelf in his room where he kept his collection of comics. Twilight noticed the issue numbers were out of order and couldn’t resist swapping them around till she fixed it.
Continuing to look around, Twilight couldn’t help spot all the things that were no longer in his room, the most important one of all, Spike sound asleep in his bed and ready to sleep half the day away if she let him.
“Oh, Spike,” she said sadly and then retreated to the map room. Taking a seat on her throne, she looked upon the map and saw nothing had changed from the day before. “I guess this means none of them have finished either.”
“Oh, hey, Twilight,” greeted Starlight as she saw Twilight looking at the map. “Getting a little nervous about losing our bet?”
“Huh, sure,” she replied half listening to her.
“Is something wrong?” asked Starlight. “You look depressed. Did you sleep well?”
“It was a bit of a rough night,” admitted Twilight. “Mostly because I was just thinking about Spike. How much he’s grown up. All the things he’s accomplished and even how he’s helped save Equestria. He’s so grown up now, he doesn’t even need me mothering over him anymore.”
“Is this about what I said yesterday?” asked Starlight. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“No, I’m actually glad you did,” Twilight told her. “I never really considered not having Spike or any of my friends in my life like I do now. I remember when I was worried about having to send you away. I thought you might get lynched due to the deceptions of a rogue changeling or fall into a pit of lava or even take your studies in magic too far and end all life in Equestria as we know it.”
“...Seriously?” asked Starlight raising an eyebrow. “I almost destroy Equestria one time and-”
“That was just me being paranoid,” she explained. “I know that you are more than capable of taking care of yourself no matter what you do or where you go and I have the same confidence for all my friends. But it’s that same confidence that makes me a bit sad too. Just thinking about it feels like there’s a big gaping hole in my chest. Is that how it felt when Sunburst left?”
“Pretty much,” she answered thinking back. “And just recalling it, I can still feel it sting a little, but thanks to you and everypony else I’ve been able to move past that and even reunite with him. And though we might still not see one another all the time I’m just glad we’re friends again.”
“I hope it’ll be that simple for me,” spoke Twilight.
“But none of your friends are leaving you,” Starlight reminded her.
“I know, but a day might come when that does happen and I don’t know what I might do when that happens,” admitted Twilight. “Now I don’t even know why the map decided to call on me to fix this friendship problem. You would have made more sense. I didn’t even know how it feels to have a friend leave me.”
“I think you’ve helped me out quite a bit already,” April spoke entering the room. “Just by being my friend you’ve help me out. If your friends can help my friends just like you’ve done for me then I know that we’ll be okay. That even if we aren’t together we can still be friends and that there are other ponies out there who would want to be our friends. This isn’t the end for us. It’s just the start of new chapter that I think I’m finally ready to begin.”
“That’s really great to hear,” replied Twilight with a little smile as she began to feel better herself. “Then I guess that means this friendship mission is over… but…”
“Your Cutie Mark isn’t shining,” observed Starlight. “Do you think the others are having trouble?”
“No, I don’t,” replied Twilight. “I’m certain they should also be finished by now or at least close, but perhaps there’s still something we’re missing, something we still have to do.”
“It feels like you’ve done all you could already,” Starlight told her. “Maybe just give it a bit more time.”
“I guess I’ve got no other choice,” agreed Twilight. “Anyone have any ideas what to do to pass the time?” Twilight’s stomach growled to answer her question.
“How about breakfast for starters,” suggested Starlight.
“And maybe I could go over to see that pony I met the other day,” asked April. “I think her name was Rarity.”
“Why do you want to see her?” asked Twilight.
“She told me she ran a boutique in town and I was hoping that she could teach me a few things,” she explained. “I am good at sewing and making clothes so I was thinking that maybe that’s what I should do. I was just thinking that she could give me a few pointers.”
“That is a great idea,” agreed Twilight. “But I think Rarity was going to Canterlot today to check in on the boutique she has over there. She probably left on the first train this morning too.”
“Oh, well, I could always wait till she gets back,” April figured.
“It might be a good idea to make something new to show her too when she gets back,” suggested Twilight. “So, why don’t we go into town and-” Twilight was interrupted by another grumble in her gut. “Uh, why don’t we fix breakfast before we get involved in all that.” The three of them laughed and then made their way into the kitchen to fix breakfast.