//------------------------------//
// 10 
// Story: The Blessed 
// by RarityEQM 
//------------------------------//

"Hey," 

Twilight jerked her head up, tearing her eyes from the words that were beginning to blur together and groaned. She blinked, twice, and rubbed the bridge of her muzzle with a hoof, forcing the double image of the floating blue blur in front of her into focus. 

"Ugh. Sorry, hey Rainbow. Did you, ugh, did you find her? Any sign of her? Anything?" Twilight groaned. She peered around the room, squinting at the light. Right. Right. She was in the library. She leaned back stiffy, listening to her bones crack. Idly, she wondered how long Rainbow had been there letting her sleep. Watching her sleep. 

"Sorry. No sign of her. I dropped by Sugar Cube Corner, but Mrs. Cake hasn't seen her at all. She didn't go home last night after you guys had that chat.  I asked Applejack to keep a lookout for her around the sticks, and Rarity is tapping her resources in town but she hasn't cropped up. Fluttershy sent her birds out to search from the air, but none of them have spotted her. Were you up all night?" Rainbow asked gently, hovering around the side of the table where Twilight was sitting. 

"MMmmph, most of it, what time is it?" she mumbled. Rainbow nodded her head and fluttered to Twilight's other side, peering over her shoulder at the open book she'd been sleeping on. 

"'Bout nine in the morning. Find anything?" she asked. The unicorn sighed. 

"Nothing really useful. Caffeine is a stimulant. It can be addictive. If taken intravenously it can kill you. Blah blah blah. Nothing really helpful. Nothing I didn't already know," Twilight mumbled, sliding the book away from her with a frustrated groan. "All the chocolate she's been eating can have an effect as a mood-altering substance, but it wouldn't lead to the way she's been acting," Twilight huffed. Rainbow bit at her lower lip, gazing over the haggard unicorn and resisted the urge to argue with her about going to bed No. Once Twilight put her mind to something it was nearly impossible to talk her out of it. If she wanted to stay up all night, trying to find a way to help Pinkie Pie, that's what she was going to do. Rainbow admired her for that and worried about her in equal measure.  Twilight had spent the entire evening going through books on dreams, caffeine, and addictions and certainly looked the part with a ragged mane, and bloodshot eyes. 

"Did Celestia write yo-"

"No, she's busy. That's the only reason she wouldn't,"   Twilight sputtered quickly, but not so quickly that Rainbow couldn't detect the frustration hiding under her tone. 

"Well, the Sun Celebration is coming up soon so she probably is,"  Rainbow murmured, watching Twilight's ears perk with awareness. 

"...You forgot about the Sun Celebration, didn't you?" said Rainbow. Twilight groaned and rubbed a hoof over her nose. 

"I've been a little busy, but, yeah. Yeah, the sun. Right. Yeah," Twilight groaned. Her horn sparked to life. The book began to slide back across the table towards her. It stopped when Rainbow Dash pressed a hoof against it. 

"Get some rest," she said quietly. Twilight frowned. 

"Rainbow, I'm not-"

"Gonna be any good to anypony tired. We can find Pinkie Pie, or don't you have faith in us to take care of our friends?" Rainbow asked snidely, regardless of the ghost of a smirk tugging at her lips. Twilight frowned, sitting up straight. 

"It's not tha-" she began, but Rainbow cut her off instantly. 

"Then go to bed. Easy. I'm gonna take another lap around the town, to see if I spot her. I'll letcha know if I find anything!" Rainbow exclaimed, and like that, she was gone. Out of the library before Twilight could get another word in. Clever pegasus. Twilight gave an angry snort and tugged herself to her hooves, the book floating into the air with an irritated pull of magic. Sure, she'd go to bed. A nap wouldn't kill her, and neither would another chapter.