Twilight woke to the sound of birds outside her window and yawned. She snorted and ruffled her mane lazily as she kicked her sheets off of her and got up. Another day, another round of royal duties. Her bedroom was dim and messy from a late night study session. Books were open and sprawled all over the floor. Ink wells sat on her desk tipped over and dripping droplets of the black liquid on the wodden surface. Quills seemed to have drifted and landed wherever they pleased. the mare shufled through all this carelessly and made her way to the dresser. Using her magic, she opened the curtains and sunlight flooded the room.

Twilight squinted and shielded her eyes from the sudden brightness and glanced at herself in the mirror. She had bags under her eyes and an unruly mane; the pink, purple, and dark blue strands intertwined and tangled together. She sighed and let a brush float over to her and comb out her hair.

Glancing at the books on the floor via reflection made Twilight groan. The night before, she had a bunch of research to do to get ready for an important meeting today. And she was leading that meeting as Regal Advisor.

It had been a year since she was promoted to Regal Advisor. And her job sure was demanding. She constantly was being dragged into meetings that lasted all day long. People were forever asking her for her advice. Twilight listened to the same questions she was pretty sure to have answered them right before they said anything be asked of her and she would respond with the same answer she gave them moments before. When she wasn't in a meeting, she was in her private study filling out official documents and filing through paperwork. Ponies of lowe status would come to her with work for her to look over and would always have to be told what to do next.

Being the boss of stuff was stressful. Sometimes Twilight wished she was just a regular unicorn living a normal life. Twilight flinched when she hit a snag in her tangled mane. She carefully combed it out and yawned. Once her hair was situated she gathered all her books up off the floor and organized them. She checked that she had all the papers she needed for the meeting. Glancing at the time, she saw that she had a good twenty minutes before the meeting was scheduled to start. Twilight walked toward the curtains and stood in the warm light of the sun. She smiled as she looked out across Equestria.

It was a wonderful country, full of ponies whose lives are happy and cheerful; all of them blissfully unaware of anything that could change their lives for the worse. Everyone, except Twilight. Just as Celestia had said, the whole kingdom went into hysterics over the death of their ruler. To all who heard, it made no sense. Wasn't Celestia practically invincible? Wasn't she a goddess of sorts? Wasn't she immortal?? All these were questions that Twilight had been asked, but no real answer was given. All she said to them was that everything would be fine as it had always been. She herself wasn't sure how the ruler died. It seemed...random.

Seeing the morning sun rise in the air was a reminder of the mystery. Celestia was gone, yet the sun still rose. Naturally, because Luna took over her job of raising the sun. Just like how the former ruler took responsibility for the moon nearly a decade ago. Twilight spied some happy ponies trotting along the streets of Canterlot, walking to their destinations. At least she got everything under control and everyone was back to their usual schedules...

Without warning, Twilight heard a loud bang and jumped up. She whipped around in alarm. Near her bed, the books that had been stacked up neatly not too long ago had fallen to the floor in a massive pile all over again. She rolled her eyes and walked over to it as she used her magic to pick up the books and reorganize them. One of the books, she noticed, had gone under her bed. Twilight ducked her head under the bed and used her hoof to scoot the book back to her so she could put it back in place. While doing so she saw a large brown book all the way far back and paused. That book was awfully dusty and rather old looking. It looked familiar as well...

Her horn lit up as a pink flow enveloped the book and shifted it toward her. Twilight coughed as a screen of dust was kicked up by the book being dragged across the floor. She brushed the cover with her hoof and her eyes lit up. On the cover was a sun.

"The friendship journal!"

Twilight was sure she lost it a long time ago. How had she not known it was under her bed?! Twilight opened the book and read the words hungrily. The journal entries in the beginning of the book were from her as she talked about friendship and its struggles. As she read more, entries by her friends began showing up and she smiled. Their unique handwriting danced across the pages...But Rainbow Dash's writing was very illegible. It was chicken scratch for all she knew. Memories of their adventure filled her head and she grinned wider and wider.

She hadn't felt this happy in a while. With this Regal Advisor position, she barely had time to be with her friends. She was too busy with work. As she read, she was reminded of Celestia's response letters to her reports. Good memories of the former ruler filled her mind. But the feeling of happiness suddenly crashed when she saw the small and elegant cursive handwriting of Sunset Shimmer. An overwhelming sense of longing came over her and she immediately shoved the book close to her face as she read every word they exchanged.

All of it was friendship related along with the occasional gossip. But the last words that were ever exchanged by Sunset got to her. They were actually the last words anyone exchanged with her in the friendship book.

Miss you, baby.

Twilight smiled as a tear trailed down her cheek. For most of the year they were apart, Twilight had made it appoint to place her feelings for Sunset in the back of her mind. Not to forget, but to avoid pain. But surprisingly, Twilight had come to accept that they might not see each other again. Twilight knew Sunset thought about her and might have come to the same conclusion. Either way, she would still love her.

A knock interrupted her thoughts.

It was a hard knock too. Someone yelled from the other side of the door.

"Your majesty!!! All of the members of your council are waiting for the meeting to be started! Is it, by any chance, cancelled?"

Twilight's eyes went wide. She shot a glance at the time. Fifteen minutes late! In a hurry, she gathered up all her papers and zipped out the door past the messenger. The friendship journal lay open on the floor face up with Sunset's words and warmed by Celestia's sunlight.

Author's Notes:

Hope you enjoyed this.