While mother dearest Twilight is the main teacher Dawn Star looks to, Starlight Glimmer is an important figure in the young unicorn's life. Being the Princess of Friendship's royal adviser (later alongside Spike, of course), as well as one of the most powerful unicorns known, has taken a very empathetic approach to helping try to refine Dawn's sketchy and raw magic. She and royal wizard/former crystaller/husband Sunburst help Dawn feel better about her slow magical development, and provide all the little tips and tricks for steady improvement they've picked up over the years.
Starlight, coming from a similar situation, understands why Dawn sometimes feels left behind, not as powerful as she should be, and doesn't feel like she exactly fits into her place in the world. The young princess does like having a different perspective from a somepony who took awhile to master her craft — as opposed to her mom, who's been blowing creatures away since day one. Funnily enough, it was Starlight who introduced Dawn to plant-keeping and the two share a passion for various ferns and succulents and ficuses and whatnot. Dawn Star takes pride in her plants — they don't take magic to make beautiful. However, she has tried to learn elemental magic, and sometimes it doesn't quite go exactly as she want's…