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  For magical Mary-Kate,

  who always has the missing

  piece to my spells

  Over Booked

  The sound of Starlight Glimmer’s hoofsteps echoed through the cavernous hallways of the Castle of Friendship. As she wandered the endless corridors, gliding from room to room, she was amazed that even after all this time living within its confines that there were still new areas to explore. Starlight was not used to having this much space—especially living with Twilight. It almost felt eerie, like she might be lurking around a corner waiting to jump out and surprise her at any moment.

  Not that she was afraid. Starlight Glimmer was one of the most powerful magicians in Equestria! She had proven that her natural skills were a force to be reckoned with, but unfortunately her intentions were what needed some work. Starlight Glimmer needed to learn that magic wasn’t supposed to be a means of controlling other ponies. Which was precisely why she had come here to Ponyville—to learn about the properties of friendship’s powerful magic from Princess Twilight Sparkle. Also, to make new friends. Starlight struggled a little more with that one.

  “What’s this?” Starlight muttered to herself. The lavender Unicorn pony stopped in front of a mysterious door. She narrowed her eyes. It was different from the other shimmering golden doors in this wing. This one was a drab brown. Starlight looked to her left, then her right, before using her magic to crack the door open. From the ceiling to the floor, from the back to the door—books everywhere!

  “Great Griffon’s beak!” Starlight said, rolling her eyes and chuckling. “Another room of books? I’m beginning to think this is all an elaborate practical joke!”

  “No, no,” Twilight called out, popping her head over Starlight’s shoulder. She laughed nervously. “I just use this room as storage for the books I’m gathering for the new library at Mythica University! Since they’ve invited me to come dedicate it, I thought it would only be proper to come bearing gifts.” Twilight trotted inside, eyes full of stars. She grinned at the stacks like a dragon guarding its pile of treasure and gems. “It sure is something, isn’t it?”

  Starlight suppressed a smile as her eyes scanned the titles up to the top of a stack. “Definitely something.” She wondered if the new librarians at the University planned on stocking any books of their own. At this rate, there might not be any room left on the shelves!

  “Oh, there it is!” Twilight said, magically plucking a title from the bottom of the stack. She made sure to gently lift the others up so they didn’t come tumbling down. “Mooncurve’s Guide to Interval Incantations. I’ve been looking for this everywhere. It relates to your next friendship assignment—making time spent with your friends count!”

  Starlight raised her brow. “Oh really?”

  “Yes, I’ve got it all planned out for later this evening.” Twilight said, a grin forming on her muzzle.

  “Another lesson today?” Starlight tried not to appear upset.

  “When you’re done doing whatever it is you were doing.” Twilight frowned. “It wasn’t important, was it?”

  “No, not really…”

  “Great! See you in the throne room in fifteen minutes,” Twilight replied. “I’m going to make us some healthy snacks. It could be a looong night of learning!” She giggled happily and trotted back to the door with a renewed pep in her step. The Alicorn looked back over her shoulder. “I know I say it all the time, Starlight, but I just love having you here in the castle so much. Having friends near just makes everything better, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah.” Starlight sighed with a smile. “So much better.”

  Starlight did mean what she said, but Twilight Sparkle’s genuine excitement for teaching Starlight Glimmer always threw her off. Since Starlight had been so untrustworthy herself in her past life, she was still learning to accept other ponies’ intentions. The old Starlight Glimmer (the one who’d controlled an entire town by stealing their cutie marks) would have been suspicious that all of this nice behavior was just in service of a plan to trick her. But it wasn’t. The princess truly wanted to help her. It was kind.

  But there was also a major problem with Twilight’s unrelenting dedication to Starlight’s friendship education—it was extremely exhausting.

  Starlight yawned and snuggled against a pile of books and rested her head on the top one, entitled Weather Formations: Meanings and Significance in Pegasus Culture. A cloudy thought crossed her mind before she fell fast asleep. If Starlight could find a way to carve out a little time for just herself, she thought, she just might absorb the lessons of how to be around other ponies much better. She was used to working alone. Maybe Starlight would dream up a solution.

  There’s a Friendship Lesson in Everything

  The throne room table was covered with pages of notes and diagrams, with half-nibbled carrot sticks and cupcake wrappers littered amongst them. The old spell book lay open in the center of the mess, though it was practically present only for show at this point. The two ponies had read it so many times since last night that Starlight could recite it verbatim. But Twilight was still hyper-focused.

  The Alicorn leaned in close to her scroll, scribbling furiously and biting her lip as she cross-checked it with the book. Starlight sat across from her, idly twirling a quill from hoof to hoof and staring at the wall. The words of the spell kept repeating in her head. It was starting to drive her mad.

  “Aha!” Twilight exclaimed, causing Starlight to jump. “If we add a phrase to the second verse of Mooncurve’s Minutiae spell, by literally stretching it, we can achieve our desired effect! Minutes will feel longer, but the actual time will be unaffected. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before.” Twilight shook her head in amazement without tearing her eyes off the page. “And if we get it right in the next three days, we’ll be able to use it on one of the most fun nights of the year—Ponyville Game Night! What do you say, Starlight? Want to give it a try right now?”

  “Not really,” Starlight admitted with a nervous laugh. “The minutes have felt pretty long as it is, you know?”

  “What?” Twilight looked up and the study haze lifted. “After all our work you don’t even want to give it a try?” Twilight chuckled. “That’s just silly.”

  “Totally joking.” Starlight looked down, feeling sheepish. Twilight could tell that she was holding back her opinion. The last thing Twilight wanted was for her student to feel like she couldn’t speak her mind. When Twilight had something more to say, Princess Celestia always knew.

  Twilight bit her lip hesitantly. “Is everything okay?”

  “Well…” Starlight met her eyes. “Can I be honest?”

  “Of course!” Twilight exclaimed. “Honesty and communication are cornerstones of friendship. Just ask Applejack or Pinkie. She named the actual cornerstones of this castle ‘Honesty’ and ‘Communication’! But she also named one of them ‘Sea Otter,’ so maybe I shouldn’t mention it—”

  “I just need some alone time!” Starlight blurted out. Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment as Twilight’s face fell. She hadn’t meant it to sound so rude.

  “Just to… take a nap,” Starlight assured. She po
inted her hoof at the piles of work on the table. “All this studying has made me really tired. I don’t know where you get your energy, Twilight.”

  “Of course it has.” Twilight nodded, her frizzy mane swaying gently. “I’m sorry.” She looked like she could use some sleep, too. Twilight sighed. “Sometimes I get so excited about studying that I forget to pace myself. Go take all the rest time you need.” Twilight laughed. “Besides, it will be here when you get back!”

  “Not unless you solve it first!” Starlight encouraged with a wink.

  “Mmm hmm,” Twilight mumbled back, already buried in her book again. Starlight had barely stood up from the table before Twilight was once more mouthing the words to the spell she was trying to alter.

  Starlight had spent a mere twenty minutes in her room before she’d grown restless. Flopping onto the cozy four-poster bed and burrowing into the covers wasn’t enough to center her—the truth was that she wasn’t actually tired. All the hours that Starlight Glimmer had spent with Twilight staring at spells in books, trying to decipher meanings, had given her a sense of deep fatigue and mental fogginess. She was used to working by herself, and all of the studying would have wiped her out as it was, but the collaboration was extra draining. After staring at the pattern of ceiling tiles for far too long, Starlight decided that perhaps a trot was all she needed to get her brain working again.

  The pony hoisted herself up, touched her hooves to the ground, and set off for another jaunt around the castle. Starlight hummed a tune as she took a familiar route, turning left instead of right, traveling away from the wing where she had been the day prior.

  Suddenly, Starlight came to a halt as she noticed the same brown door from before—the one that led to Twilight’s room of books for the University.

  “That’s odd,” she said aloud. “I could have sworn this room was in the opposite wing…” There were no others like it in the castle; she was positive. Starlight shook her head as if to clear the confusion. Her mental map of the space must have gotten all mixed up since she’d been working so hard.

  Might as well go look through the books, Starlight thought. There might be something to help us finish this spell.

  Twilight must have left a light on inside. There was a faint glow around the edges of the doorframe. As Starlight treaded closer, the light seemed to brighten. That wasn’t normal. Starlight paused. She was about to open the door with her Unicorn magic when a voice startled her.

  “Hey, Starlight!”

  “Spike!” Starlight laughed. “It’s just you. Good.” She was embarrassed that she’d been so caught off guard that her heart had started beating faster, even though there was no way for the young dragon to know it.

  Spike shrugged, popped a piece of emerald into his mouth, and crunched. “Who else would it be?” he said in between the loud bites.

  “Twilight.” Starlight looked around quickly and leaned in to whisper. “She’s seriously so focused on the idea of us solving Mooncurve’s time spell that we’ve been working nonstop together. If she knows I’m not actually in my room, she’ll probably want my help again, but I think I’m more helpful on my own for a little bit.” Starlight cocked her head. Her lavender and aqua mane fell to the side. “So don’t tell her where I am, ’kay?”

  “No problem, Star.” Spike popped another gem into his mouth. He laughed and shook his head. “But if you want to be alone, you should probably just try and solve the spell yourself. That way it will be done!” Then Spike turned on his scaly foot and left in the direction he’d come with a wave. “Just a suggestion though!” he called out.

  Even though Starlight knew Spike was joking, she couldn’t help but think he might be onto something. But where to go? Not her room or the library—that was for sure. If she wanted to complete the spell quickly, Starlight Glimmer needed to be somewhere in the castle where there would be no chance of Twilight finding her. The faint glowing from the book storage room caught her eye once more.

  “A great place for a little time and space,” Starlight mumbled aloud to herself. She reached out her hoof to shove the heavy brown door open, but it wouldn’t budge. It had opened so easily the day before! Starlight frowned. Had Twilight locked it? Either way, Starlight now wanted to get inside the room even more desperately. She conjured up the turquoise magic aura from her horn and used it to thrust the door open.

  A blast of rainbow light whooshed past her, blowing her mane back with the wind! Finally, when Starlight blinked the blindness away, the room before her was nothing like it had been before. Every single book was gone, and in its place was something far better. Starlight smiled as her head began to flood with a million ideas, scheming. “This will be my little secret,” she giggled deviously as the door clicked shut.

  The turquoise energy shot from her horn, formed into a heavy lock, and secured itself to the door handle. Little did she know, outside, the door sealed into itself as well, blending into the wall without a single seam to give it away. Starlight Glimmer had found her space, and now she was going to whip up some time. On her own.

  Starlight’s Suite

  Starlight Glimmer still wasn’t sure how it had happened, but the room had completely transformed from the packed book storage room she’d encountered yesterday. Twilight must have moved the donations for the University in the middle of the night! Or perhaps a pony had come to pick them up early this morning? Whatever the case, this room was now a beautiful suite filled with all of Starlight’s favorite elements.

  “Where did all of this come from?” Starlight wondered.

  As she trotted around, it occurred to her that she had been mistaken. There was no way this was the book storage room. It couldn’t be. The structure of it was similar, but there was no way even Twilight could have changed all of this so quickly even with magic. This was a hidden room in the castle and Starlight had found it. All that exploring had paid off.

  From the light sky-blue color of the walls to the soft carpet covered in pinprick stars that actually glowed when Starlight’s hooves touched them, each detail of the den was tailored to her tastes. There was a pedestal for spell books and a velvet sofa for languidly lounging between conjures. There were swaths of gauzy fabric filled with tiny twinkling lights, and a small mirror pool in the center for reflecting. It was as if it had come from her mind, or maybe even an illustration from the biography of Star Swirl the Bearded!

  “Am I imagining this right now?” Starlight reached out her hoof to the gilded spell pedestal. She gave it a light shove. It was solid. She smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. It was a real secret hideout, just for her! A rush of excitement flushed through her, thinking of all the things she might be able to cook up for Twilight. Now when the two of them met, Starlight would have some new ideas to bring to the table. She couldn’t wait to get started.

  A stack of blank scrolls on a large circular table beckoned to her. Starlight chose a quill from a wooden box filled with a selection of writing instruments and got right to it. Mooncurve’s Minutiae, she scribbled at the top. Below, she filled in all the words she could remember from the book. She bit her lip in concentration as she began to alter the sayings and soon, time began to melt away.

  Starlight awoke with a jolt. The surface of the mirror pool shivered. The golden sand in the hourglass floated inside. The scroll with the spell on the sofa next to her lay unfurled, shaking as if a breeze blew through the air, when in fact, there was nothing of the sort. The room was windowless. Starlight had clearly lost track of how long she’d been working in here. Starlight mumbled the last line of the spell to herself, slowly remembering where she was and what she had been doing. “From here to there… when transforms, then… the seconds to share… shall feel well spent.”

  She rubbed her eyes and looked again. The sands began to sift through the glass once more and the pool was calm. She yawned. It was time to go find Twilight Sparkle and spend some time with her. After all of her relaxing solo study time, Starlight actually felt a twinge of excitement a
bout seeing her new friend again. She was refreshed. And she actually had taken a nap, so she wouldn’t have to lie to Twilight! She just might… omit some things.

  As the pony crept out of the door of her hideout, she sealed it again with her magic energy lock. The turquoise light pulsated around it. It was so huge and bright that it lit up the whole hallway. Maybe it was too conspicuous. “I know!” Starlight removed the lock. “This will do the trick to keep my little room just for me.” She conjured up some energy, shot it at the brown door, and watched as it became an identical gold color to the others in the hall. “Works for me.” She nodded. Then the well-rested pony headed off to find her mentor for some new lessons in friendship.

  “There you are, Starlight!” Twilight called out, her brow furrowed in concern. “Come sit down with us.”

  Instead of being greeted by just Twilight Sparkle in the throne room, Starlight was met by five more ponies. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity all sat in their respective thrones. But not one of them was smiling—not even Pinkie Pie. Starlight felt a pit of dread in her stomach.

  The Hyper Boost

  “Are you sure?” Twilight Sparkle paced the floor anxiously. “The entire town experienced a hyper time boost except me?” The princess shook her head in confusion as she tried to make sense of things. It had to be an effect of the spell she’d been working on, but that was supposed to slow things down.

  “I can only speak for mahself,” Applejack replied. “But there I was, standin’ in the orchard and the feeling came rushin’ over me. Soon I was kickin’ my hooves faster than a greased jalopy on an ice luge. I couldn’t stop!” Applejack smirked. “Not that I’m complainin’, really. All my chores are finished early, I guess…”