Starlight Glimmer walked the halls of the Castle of Friendship in high spirits. The day had gone well so far—she'd spent some time with Maud, she'd sat in on one of Rarity's fashion design sessions, and she'd helped out at Fluttershy's animal reserve.

Who knew animals loved kites so much? Especially the bear. It was a good thing Starlight always had spares on hoof.

However, even with several shredded kites to the day's name, nothing had happened that Starlight could categorize as "having gone wrong." Starlight had known exactly what to do during everything that had come up. She'd been in complete control of every situation, in control of her emotions, and in control of her ability to solve problems that popped up around her.

All without falling to pieces even once. Without rushing straight to magic in order to try and fix everything.

For the first time in as long as she could remember—heck, possibly ever—she felt in control of her ability to just be... herself.

It was a good feeling.

She could get used to it.

She walked down the steps of the castle, to the ground floor. Maybe she'd take a look at the expanded Cutie Map while she was down there. Just looking at it always relaxed her. Especially the floating bits. The newly added pirate ship was always fun to just stare at as it sailed, seemingly randomly, around Equestria. Who knew what its crew was doing now that the Storm King was gone? Having nothing but fun via all that random sailing, no doubt. She didn't blame them one bit.

She cleared her mind, and opened the door to the main hall, only to discover that somepony had beaten her to her planned activity—to say nothing of having cluttered the whole map full of folders and parchments. Twilight Sparkle sat in her seat, poring over documents by floating them over to her line of sight with her magic, scanning through them with her record-setting reading speed, then grabbing another piece of parchment and doing it all over again.

"Hey, Twilight. Working hard?" Starlight pointed a hoof at Twilight and clicked her teeth. "'Cause if you are, you know you're doing it wrong."

"Oh! Hi, Starlight." Twilight looked over and giggled. "You're certainly in a good mood."

"Eh." Starlight shrugged, sitting in the chair next to Twilight. "I just feel good."

"Well, that's wonderful," Twilight said. "It's great to see you in high spirits. Any particular reason?"

Starlight smiled. "I just... feel good about myself, you know? And it's been happening more and more lately. Back when I was your student, you told me lots of times that eventually, I'd start feeling as good about myself as a pony as you did about me, the day you took me under your wing." Starlight sighed and laid back in her seat. "It was hard for me to believe back then, but I think it's finally happening. And it feels great."

Twilight giggled. "Well, look what you've done since then! You've learned about friendship, saved a world, saved a city in another dimension... I always told myself, 'Starlight Glimmer has the goods. She wants to be a good pony, and a good friend. She just needs to be shown the right path, since she was turned away from it as a filly.'"

Starlight nodded, and the two looked at each other with wide eye and mutual smiles. "And that's all I did," Twilight added. "Everything else... was you."

As Starlight felt her face flush, she cleared her throat and cast her gaze towards the cluttered Cutie Map. "So, uh, anyway, what's going on here? Why is the Cutie Map completely covered in parchments?" Starlight peered closer at select sheets and started reading words. "'School Curriculum Outline, Based on the Principles of the Elements of Harmony, Proposed Faculty—'" She stopped and gasped. "Twilight, is this what I think it is?"

"Yep!" Twilight beamed. "You were out today, so I didn't get to tell you, but I got provisional EEA approval to start the School of Friendship! So, I'm officially in construction mode. Well, pre-construction. Actual construction begins next week."

"Oh, Twilight, that's wonderful," Starlight said. "Congratulations!"

Twilight clapped her hooves and squealed. "Thank you! I've here all evening doing one last check through all my filed notes, to make sure this school fits my vision while staying within the EEA's guidelines." She floated a blue roll of parchment over to herself and Starlight, and unrolled it, revealing plans for a grand boarding schoolhouse, not much smaller than the Friendship Castle itself. "This is my blueprint for the campus."

"Wow." Starlight looked at it. "Waterfront property, rooms for all the students, huge classrooms..." She looked closer. "Wait, right across from the Castle? Won't it get noisy? And what about zoning laws and property values? I already know some ponies complaining about rent."

Twilight tilted her head. "Except for the Cakes with Pinkie, nopony charges rent in Ponyville."

"Exactly." Starlight grinned. "They're afraid other ponies might start."

Twilight chuckled and waved a dismissive hoof. "That's silly. Besides, even if that does happen, that's exactly why the school is here! I'll need paid staff to help me and my other girlfriends run the place." She gestured across the table. "Which is where these other documents come in. As you've already noticed, I've already drawn up my proposals for class subjects, staff ponies, and faculty."

Twilight turned to face her girlfriend. "And on that note, Starlight, I'd like to ask you an important question."

"What is it?" Starlight asked.

"Would you like to be Guidance Counselor for the School of Friendship?" Twilight asked with a wide, toothy smile.

Starlight sat in her chair, blinking.

Twilight's smile disappeared. "Starlight?"

"Oh, uh, sorry," Starlight said, as she came out of her thoughtful trance. "What was that, again?"

"Would you like to be the school's Guidance Counselor—"

Starlight disappeared in a turquoise flash and a shower of sparkles.

Starlight reappeared in the castle library.

It was vast, with huge shelves of countless books all around her—enough to intimidate a normal pony, but not Starlight, naturally. Much like Twilight, she already knew the layout and stock like the back of her hoof. She darted towards one of the shelves on the eastern side of the literary complex.

"Sailboarding, Salamanders, Schistosomiasis..." Starlight recoiled and stuck out her tongue, then lit up as she found what she was looking for. "Here we are: 'A Brief History of Equestrian Schooling'." She opened it up and riled through its pages. "Guidance Counselor, Guidance Counselor, Guidance—here we are. Aaaaand..."

She read the entry.

Her eyebrows shot up.

She teleported back out of the library.

Starlight reappeared back in front of Twilight. She held the book out to her girlfriend, opened to the entry she'd found.

"Let me get this straight," she said. "You want me to be... this?"

"That's right," Twilight said with a brand new wide smile, and a confident nod. "We think you'd be a great fit."

Starlight blinked again.

Twice.