"Starlight? Starlight!" a loud shout tore the unicorn out of her dream.

Oh, no! They have found me! She kicked the covers away, jumping to her hooves. She has found me! All my plans for Equestria… the affair I had behind her back... Even in the darkness of her room, Starlight could see her mentor and Princess breathing heavily in the doorway — her mane was messy, her feathers ruffled, and the expression on her face expressed disappointment verging on disbelief.

"Twilight, it's not what you think!" Starlight moved back. "I was just giving Starburst mouth to mouth because he had trouble breathing." Well, he does have allergies. Maybe she'll fall for it? "And the Equestria Reformation Program is totally not as bad as the name—"

"She's going to jump off the chandelier!" Twilight shouted, her entire body trembling with every word.

"Huh?" Jump? Chandelier? Starlight had no idea what was going on. She glanced towards her bed in search of Sunburst, only to remember that it had been a dream. At least that was a relief, although it might lead to another talk with Princess Luna. Ever since the "time incident" Starlight's dreams had been carefully monitored. At the first sign of something alarming, Luna would summon her to Canterlot and advise her on the consequences, should the dreams continue. Very scary, very unpleasant… Still, that was for later. For the moment dealing with one maniacal princess was enough.

"A caller on the hotline." Twilight took hold of Starlight with her magic. "Quickly! We must get to her before she hurts herself!" The Princess galloped through the hallway, dragging Starlight behind her. "I've left Spike to buy us some time, but I really don't think he can handle something this serious."

"Twi... Ouch!" Starlight bumped into the doorframe. That was one of the inevitable hazards of living with Twilight: work often proved to be hazardous to one's health. "I really... Ooph!" Who placed this potted plant here?! I bet it was Spike! Rarity makes one suggestion that plants show one's sensitive side and the little guy turns the castle into a menagerie! Thank the stars he didn't fill it with cacti.

The trip to the hotline room took another three bruises. If Starlight had been fully awake, she probably would have diminished the number by half. Being literally dragged out of bed had removed that option. All discomfort aside, though, she was very much eager to help. Even lacking context, ponies jumping from chandeliers sounded dangerous. Who would even do such a thing? At two in the morning no less!

Maybe I'll have a word with Twilight about closing the hotline during the night, Starlight thought. The moment she entered the room, however, she quickly changed her mind. Stacks of coffee mugs cluttered the desk, the shelves, and most of the floor. And that was not all. A large filing cabinet that definitely hadn't been there before was squeezed in behind the desk, its open drawers displaying dozens of folders.

"Be careful not to step on the coffee machine," Twilight whispered, as she released her magic hold. "And mind the cups. Some of them are still full."

Starlight looked at the floor. She had never seen so many cups in one place outside of Sugarcube Corner. Careful not to step in any, she made her way to Spike.

"So you're sure it has one hundred sixty-eight shards?" he asked. "And all of them are the same colour?"

Starlight looked at him with the amount of disapproval she reserved for door to door salesponies. Either this was a dream, or he really wasn't suited for this line of work.

"What are they talking about?" she whispered to Twilight, careful not to be heard over the voice crystal.

"I don't know," Twilight whispered back. "I just told him to keep the caller occupied."

"Ahem!" Spike glared at each of them in turn. "We happen to be discussing the make and model of the chandelier!" He crossed his arms. His expression screamed Can't you two be professional about this? "Sorry, please go on. I needed to have a few words with... the technical support ponies here."

"Technical support?!" Starlight couldn't keep herself from saying. I'm no technical support! For one thing I have far more experience in this than you! Plus, I am an expert at magic and a pony! I'd like to see your credentials, buster!

"Is that Miss Starlight?" An intrigued voice came from the voice crystal. "Miss Starlight, are you there?"

"Toffee?" Starlight blinked. "Why are you on chandelier?" I never thought I'd ask such a question, regardless of the circumstances.

"I'm following your advice!" Toffee said joyfully, earning Starlight a pair of angry glances from the others in the room. "You told me to catch a wind to help me levitate better and that's what I'm about to do! Don't worry, I've taken care of everything."

From the corner of her eye Starlight could see Twilight turn a shade paler. 'Taken care of everything' was a phrase linked to inevitable disaster.

"I went to the second floor," Toffee continued, "and opened the window." Twilight's eyes widened in terror. "The chandelier is a bit away, but if I swing strong enough I'll manage to reach the window and leap outside." Twilight's head began to wobble. This doesn't look good. Starlight gently reached towards the alicorn. "From there I'll go straight down the mountainside and—"

Starlight watched as the tension proved too much for the Princess. Twilight's eyes rolled, as she started to fall unconscious to the floor. Damn it! Starlight moved forward to grab her, but in doing so stepped into one of the coffee mugs on the floor. Her hoof stuck, Starlight lost her balance. Her free foreleg instinctively reached to grab hold of the nearest object. Fortunately, the filing cabinet proved to be within reach. Unfortunately, it wasn't at all stable and came falling down, spilling folders and smashing vast amounts of cups, as it crashed onto the two mares. The sound of a broken dishes filled the room, followed by deathly silence.

"Miss Starlight?" Toffee asked. "What happened?"

"Err, we seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties," Spike said as annoyed groaning sounded in the background. "Now about that chandelier..."

"Umm, maybe this isn’t a good time." Toffee hesitated. "It's getting late, and my sister will be upset if I make too much noise. Thanks anyway, Spike. Was nice talking to you."

"I know, right?" The dragon beamed. "Take care, Toffee! Hear you again soon!" He tapped the crystal.

"Spike! That's the worst thing to say!" Starlight grumbled as she levitated the filing cabinet off her. If you weren't Twilight's assistant you'd never get this job! I mean, you are helpful and sweet, and a really good cook, but... Well, not everything is for everypony!

"Why not?" The dragon arched a brow.

"The whole idea of this is to solve problems," she explained patiently. "Asking them to call again is the same as asking them to have more problems."

"Oh." Spike looked to the side.

"Well, that was just Toffee, so no big deal, but in future please leave this to the professionals." Damn it! That word again! I'm going to find Diamond Tiara and transmorph her into a frog! "Now help me get Twilight back up."

It didn't take much to bring Twilight to. Starlight strongly wanted to splash her with a bucket of ice water, yet was convinced to let Spike to take care of it while she tidied the room. Well, at least that takes care of the cup problem. It wasn't like all of them were necessary. The cleaning lasted about ten seconds — enough to make the room look like new and Starlight to feel both annoyed and guilty at the same time. Annoyed, because she wanted to go back to sleep; guilty because she had caused the mess to begin with.

"Spike?" Starlight heard the Princess say. Okay, she's coming to. "What happened?"

"Well, Toffee said she was busy and she won't jump tonight," Spike explained helpfully. Behind him, Starlight facehoofed. "But I told her to call again later."

"Good thinking." Twilight got back to her hooves. She still seemed a bit wobbly.

"Err, Twilight?" Starlight started cautiously. "How many cups of coffee have you had?"

"Two," the alicorn looked at the ceiling, "dozen. Maybe a bit more. Why?"

Two dozen?! Are you insane? "No reason," Starlight backed away.

"I have to if I want to stay up all night. You never know if somepony will need friendship advice. To be honest, things have been a bit slow so far."

"Maybe because most ponies are asleep?" As I should be!

"Probably, but what if somepony isn't?" Twilight said almost gasping at the thought. "Imagine how you'd feel if you were alone, in need of advice, incapable of falling asleep and there's nopony to give it to you. The whole point of the hotline was to provide help, and it will night or day!"

"Ooo-kay then." It was clear that there was no point arguing. "I'll be going back to bed. I see you and Spike have a lid on things. Just wake me up in the afternoon and I'll be ready to take over."

Twilight nodded, then summoned a new jug of coffee and placed it on the desk. Apparently, some things never changed. There was no question she would be up the entire night. Well, maybe it's not so bad. I finally get to rest, and Twilight seems to enjoy this stuff. It was a win-win situation.

"Goodnight, Twilight. Good luck." Starlight went into the corridor, closing the door behind her. With a yawn and a trot she went to her room and immediately flopped onto the bed. Now I just have to close my eyes. Sleep did not come. Thoughts of Twilight messing up sneaked into her mind. What if somepony other than Toffee called? How would Twilight deal with it then?

I'm being stupid! Twilight can handle it. By all logic the alicorn was perfect for the job. She was, after all, the Princess of Friendship. The whole idea of the hotline was hers! Surely she could handle a few calls. Still, the tiny part in Starlight's brain was not convinced. She had panicked way to much when dealing with Toffee. The whole situation could have been approached far better. Not to mention all the coffee she had consumed! Over twenty-four cups and it wasn't even past three o'clock!

"No! Nope! I'm not getting involved in this!" Starlight turned to the other side. She tried to think of happy things — friends, Sunburst, governing Equestria. There was no reason for her to take on Twilight's troubles. She had enough of her own to deal with. She deserved some happiness, at least when asleep!

Minutes passed, minutes of her staring into the darkness trying to find excuses not to check on her mentor. At one point the excuses ran out. Oh, damn it! She slid a hoof down her face and got out of bed. I might as well check on her. I need a good laugh anyway. Suppressing a yawn, Starlight teleported in front of the hotline room and extremely quietly cracked the door open.

"No, that's perfectly normal." She heard Twilight say. So somepony had called after all. "There are times when we feel like our friends have betrayed us. We feel hurt and want to lash out at them for all the wrongs we think they've done. Even I have have gone through the same."

"Even you, Princess?" a shocked male voice asked. It sounded like it belonged to a colt.

"Yes, even me," Twilight said warmly. "Don't tell anypony, but at one point I almost left because of what a close friend did to me. Yet, I didn't! Instead we talked. I won't lie, it was difficult and awkward, but after a few minutes we went through our differences. A bit later we were laughing and enjoying cupcakes at Sugarcube corner."

"And you think if I talk with my friend things will get better?" the caller asked, his voice full of hope, but also fear. Now, Twilight, Starlight thought. You're almost there. Just a few more words...

"I know they will." The Princess replied. "I know it sounds scary, but I also know that you are strong enough to go through with it."

Heh. Looks I was worried for nothing. Twilight not be able a Friendship problem. Pfft! What was I thinking? With extreme care Starlight started closing the door. Now she could really use some sleep. Dream-Equestria wasn't going to get organized on its own. And there was also the matter of S—

"Oh, and another thing," Twilight added. "Tell your friend she is completely wrong! No way in Tartarus is Hoof Hoof Dancing better than Pegasus Adventure III! She must be crazy to say that! The single player campaign has serious depth, not to mention that the Hoofstation graphics are way better than anything on the market!"