Twilight Sparkle woke up from her dream. It was something beautiful, calculated and salient and entirely ephemeral- She always resorted to the stranger half of her vocabulary when she hit on something odd. This dream was unlike any other she had experienced before, and it told her one simple thing: Exactly what to do. Not prophecy, or anything like that. It was just... An extremely precise and sensible plan of action. Like she had dreamed out this day in advance. Celestia stood beside the bed, and she smiled up at the Princess.
"Good morning."

"Mmh. We did not get very much sleep, in the end."

"Well, I'm prepared to see the Rising- We could always get some more rest later, right?"

Celestia nodded, and they went out onto the balcony together. The Mare of the Sun closed her eyes and began the spell, and this time, Twilight watched with her newfound knowledge. It was still precisely as beautiful and stunning, but now, she understood it more. The delicate touch of each thread in the spell, the twisting light, all provided a clearer picture. It was still intense, and she still felt faint, but she didn't. Faint, that is. She watched, and smiled, and basked in the glow of the newly-risen sun. Saturday morning’s sun, to be specific. She would return to Ponyville in a day and change. And that meant her plan had to start sooner than later. It was a rush, but... It would work. She could feel it.

"Celestia?"

"Yes, Twilight?"

"I... I wanted to thank you for these new lessons, and so I had a surprise planned. Buuut it’s going to take some time. May I be excused for a short while?"

"Of course! Although you don't really need to get me anything."

"I can get somepony a gift just for the sake of it, right?"

"Right."

Celestia chuckled as Twilight went running out of the building. If only she knew how urgent the plan was-- She'd barely have time to get it done, even if she pushed it. Her mental checklist (no time to make a paper one) unfolded and she went down the rows as she worked.

Step 1: Celestia Can't See This: Go somewhere else for a while.

Well, that one was already taken care of- It was simple. The same could not be said for the third step. She quickly trotted away from the castle, putting as much distance between the structure and herself as possible-- She knew Celestia would never spy on her, but it was entirely possible she might accidentally find Twilight during a routine sweep of magical scanning, or looking out from her balcony, or some such thing. Better safe than sorry.

Step 2: The Paranoid Win the Race: Find a magically-shielded building to do Step 3 in.

Again, simple enough in practice. They had just spent most of the afternoon in just such a place, yesterday-- Matte and Nickle’s shop. The owners seemed nice, so she’d ask their help.

“Somewhere private to ‘cast a spell’, huh? Yeah, feel free-- My office is over this way.”

Matte quickly moved towards a plain section of wall, putting himself between Twilight and it. She couldn’t see what he did, but the door-- Because that is what it actually was-- swung open and admitted her. It was a cozy little office, although something about it seemed... Sterile. Almost like a fake, or a decoy. Well, she wouldn’t be surprised if he kept a “public” office for the general populace to see, and did his actual work elsewhere. She sometimes did the same- It was just silly how much of a mess she could make during a really crazy study session.

Step 3: Putting Education to Practice: Use newest spell in repertoire.

This was the hard part. She had only just learned it yesterday, practiced it precisely zero times, and it was a doozy. Thankfully, not only was the target location familiar to her, but she teleported so often that this somewhat-similar spell should be a breeze. Concentrate, find the image, tug the threads... Draw the aura over yourself and then POOF. Well, more of a kerzap really, relatively quiet and more electrical than smoky. But that’s just sound-effect semantics.

The end result was precisely what she hoped for-- Spike screaming in terror as what looked for all Equestria like Twilight’s ghost popped up in front of him. Wait, no, that wasn’t her goal. But at least she knows the spell worked.
“Spike, calm down! This is just a projection.”

He sputtered for a moment, looking at the scrolls he had scattered in his shock. Then he sighed.
“Wuh- buh- ...Oh. Oh, trying out some fancy new spell?”

She grinned with pride. Two-way communication spell: Success!
“Of course! Now Spike: Take a letter.”

Step 4: Same Schtick, Different Day: Dictate an off-schedule letter to Spike.

She gets to the end of the letter, the last line, when Spike suddenly has a massive freakout, apparently choking on the amethyst sucker he had been eating.
“You what?”

“Spike, now is not the time to question what I’m telling you to write. Yes, I do, and you just need to write that down. We can talk about this later.”

He groaned-- This was clearly going to be one of those days.
“Well, don’t blame me if you get banished to some random corner of the world, alright?”

“Promise.”

Step 5: Timed Release for Maximum Effect: Have Spike send the letter in about an hour.

“Why not now?”

“What did I just say about questions?”

“Siiigh... Yes, ma’am.”

With that, she lets the projection collapse-- No more need for it. Spike has the letter, sealed and ready. Now she just needs to hope the timing on the next bit is perfect. But for that, she has to take matters into her own hooves...

Step 6: Sometimes You Just Need Donuts: Fetch breakfast for two before going back.

Relying on the Canterlot court chefs was risky business-- they were amazingly good at what they did. And that was the problem- Have you ever tried to get a meal from a perfectionist? It takes hours! Hence why Celestia and her tended to just sneak out to Pony Joe’s when they were in a rush.

Pick up the usual order, pay, tip, run.

Step 7: Weekend at Celestia’s: Get back and have a totally normal, casual breakfast.

Her teacher looked up from a book, muzzle wrinkled in confusion at Twilight's swift return.
“Twilight! I didn’t expect you to come back with food. Was this the surprise?”

She giggled and tried to hide her fear.
“Eheh- Nope. I figured we could use a meal after yesterday. The surprise will be later.”

Celestia just nodded sagely in response, and the two of them sat down to eat.

Step 8: Ohdear Ohdear Ohdear Ohdear: Manage to hide an epic-level freakout over how easily this could go wrong.

Check... She hoped.

Step 9: The Weight of Waiting: Wait for the other horseshoe to drop.

Well, since it’s just a one-objective plan, it’s kinda the only horseshoe to drop, but... Semantics again. OK Twilight: You can do this. Well, Spike can do this. Right? He definitely won’t mess this up. And she wouldn't either. She just needed to relax and wait for...

A green curl of smoke floated in through the window, just as they were finishing up. Celestia turned towards her with a look of confusion, and then laughed.
“I don’t know how you arranged it, but I’m interested to see what you’ve sent me.”

Here it is. Make or break.

--------

There was a burst of green flame as she polished off the last cruller, and she heard Twilight sigh in relief. Ah ha-- the surprise was a scroll... from... Ponyville. Hmmph.
“I don’t know how you arranged it, but I’m interested to see what you’ve sent me.”

Twilight didn’t respond, looking extremely nervous for reasons she couldn’t place. Well, it was reasonable enough- There were plenty of horror stories about royalty responding poorly to a gift that was perceived as insulting or demeaning. But she was not that kind of royal, and even if she were, had a particularly lenient soft spot for her protege. She opened the letter and began to read.

Dearest Princess Celestia,
Today I learned that, sometimes, a pony you admire, respect, and truly care for isn't your friend. Sometimes, they're more than that, they matter to you in a deeper, more special way. And I also learned that sometimes, in friendship, and all of life, you have to take risks. And if you fail... You just brush yourself off, stand up, and trot along to the future. You can't stop just because it might be a mistake, you just have to risk it. Life goes on. And friendship endures.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

P.S. - I am in love with you.

She leaned back in her throne, smiling.
“Well, it’s good to see my favorite student has-”
She re-read the end of the letter. She paused. She stopped.
The scroll unfolded a tiny bit further, revealing more text.

P.P.S. - I told you I was taking a risk, didn’t I?

For the first time in possibly hundreds of years, Princess Celestia had nothing to say.

--------

Celestia wasn’t saying anything. Oh no oh no. She was not saying a word. She didn’t look at Twilight, she didn’t speak, she didn’t move. This was the end. She had managed to disrespect Celestia so thoroughly that she was going to be banished, or worse. And even if she wasn’t, she could already hear the gentle voice, the cold sting of rejection, the almost motherly way in which her mentor would shut her down before she could even-

“Twilight.”

She couldn’t open her mouth, so she made what she hoped was an affirmative-sounding noise.
“Mmf?”

The expression on Celestia’s face was unreadable, but her voice actually faltered for a moment.
“Is... Is what you said in this postscript sincere? Do you mean it?”

For a minute, she couldn’t respond. She didn’t dare. But Celestia was looking at her in a way she’d never seen before, and eventually, Twilight caved.
“Yes. Absolutely, yes, without any que-”

She was interrupted by the sound of a letter hitting the floor and her vision filling with white. She felt, but couldn’t believe she felt, two strong forelegs wrap around her. There was heat, almost unbearable, searing every inch of her, and it was amazing. Celestia leaned back, looked down, and with a very slow and cautious motion, kissed her. Just once. It could have been the only one, ever, and Twilight would have been happy with it. She fell forward into her mentor’s embrace, not entirely sure what was happening, not quite able to believe it. Celestia nuzzled her and spoke.
“Twilight... Nopony has given me that particular gift in quite a long time. And I promise you, I will cherish it. But for now... let’s catch up on our sleep. When we wake, we can... discuss this. And what comes of it.”

Twilight didn’t answer. She just curled up on the ground and made room for Celestia to lie next to her, bodies pressed together. They fell asleep quickly, almost instantly, and if anypony came into the throne room to see them wrapped around one another, they never said a thing about it.

--------

Twilight Sparkle was waking up slowly, fitfully, dreaming of Celestia again. Her blanket kept twitching and moving in waves- Spike must be trying to wake her up. So with a yawn and a stretch, she... Why did her leg hit somepony? And why had her blanket been replaced with a mane of... many... colors...

Oh.

Oh yes.

She remembered. She was curled up against Princess Celestia, sleeping softly with her in the throne room of the Canterlot Royal Palace. Her lips still tingled a bit from that first, tentative kiss, and her cheeks were so flushed she was honestly overheating. But that was alright, because everything was amazing forever. She could really have happily never done another thing, just stayed here without moving again. She was certain she looked ridiculous, her bed-mane was always atrocious. Celestia, on the other hand, looked nothing but radiant, shining, and beautiful. The Princess stood, and Twilight followed. Celestia turned, eyes closed, and Twilight listened raptly.

“Twilight, before anything else, I think we need to realize-”

“Celestia, don’t worry. I... I understand. I know that we’ll have to be secretive, and limit our time together to our breaks in these weekend lessons. I figured as much coming into this.”

Celestia looked at her as if she had sprouted a third eye or a second horn.
“What? Whatever made you think that?”

“Well, you’re Princess Celestia, and-”

Her mentor laughed.
“Twilight. I plan to be nothing but entirely committed to this relationship. Yes, I have royal duties, but Luna and I have gone out of our way to make sure Equestria can run just fine without either of us, much less both. And where secrecy is concerned... I spend every waking hour of every single day doing everything I can to help this country. If somepony chooses to question my taste in romantic partners, that’s their business. And my taste in romantic partners? Is none of theirs. So I don’t personally feel any need for privacy, beyond the ‘plain old decency’ kind of privacy. I would never hide my love for somepony, especially not you.”

Twilight didn’t really have a response. She could barely even process that Celestia was using terms like romance in relation to her, much less the idea that they might actually be able to go on dates or even kiss in public or... Oh. This was going to be a lot of getting used to. In a good way. Probably.

“But-”

“No buts, young miss... Well, that sounded entirely too much like a ‘teacher’ statement, but you know what I intend by it.”
That broke the ice, the rigid and formal air of the moment shattering to reveal that, on the whole, very little had changed. She loved Celestia, Celestia knew and accepted this, and it seemed like... She had succeeded. She had done it.

“...Celestia?”

“Yes?”

“May I be excused for just a moment?”

“I see no reason why not.”

And thus, verily, did a Yes Dance occur of such joy and volume that it went down in the history books.

----

“...Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes...”

----

Celestia finally stopped laughing and brought out a hoof, gently placing it on Twilight’s chest to stop her hopping.
“Are you quite finished?”

“Aheheheh... Yes.”

“Then I do believe it’s time for us to get ready.”

Twilight looked at her quizzically.
“Ready for what? More studying? More, um... romantic things? Did I forget something?”

“My letter?”

“Your... Oh! Oh shoot! I totally forgot! There’s a formal... a formal... You know, I don’t think you ever told me exactly what it was.”

Her mentor (friend? lover? study-buddy-with-benefits? Twilight had no clue what title to use anymore) walked over to a table and removed a large letter from the table-- What looked to be a royal address, a message sent from the palace to many other cities and locales within Equestria and beyond.
“It is, actually, a formal party for the various senators, contacts, ambassadors, and so forth that serve Equestria from abroad-- As well as any date they choose to bring.”

“D-date?”

Celestia shifted her glance from side to side, seemingly a bit nervous now that the topic was breeched.
“Well, yes. We are closing in on Hearts and Hooves, after all, and I would have felt rather silly appearing alone- But as the host, I couldn’t back out. I had originally planned to bring you as my date, both as a sign of our close mentor-student relationship, and maybe to use it as an opportunity to mess about a bit, tease you like at the shop yesterday. Now, however, I can bring you as my date truthfully, with everything that implies.”

Twilight had no clue what that implied, but from the look in Celestia’s eyes, she was going to find it very enjoyable. She thought for a moment- If she had been told a month ago that Celestia was planning on bringing her to an event purely to tease her, she might have been confused, even hurt. But now she realized that Luna was right: The Princess of the Sun was a joker at heart, even if she did have the bearing of a royal goddess and the image of something even greater. As fun as that ‘teasing’ the previous day had been, she was willing to bet that actually being Celestia’s date was bett... wait.

“Wait. When you say “truthfully”, does that mean publicly, as well? IE, are you going to be...”

“Going to be what? Announcing you? Hanging off of you? Feeding you hors d'oeuvres?”

Twilight blushed.
“I hope you don’t mean physically hanging off of me. I’m not that strong... OH GOSH! Well, that is, I mean... Not that you’re too heavy! Or even heavy at all! It’s more an issue of scale... Gah, now I made it sound like you’re too big! I... oh I really put my hoof in my mouth. All four, even.”

Before she could beat herself up for managing to botch a relationship in what was likely a record time, Celestia laughed and walked over, gently nuzzling her before backing away to look into her eyes.
“Twilight. Don’t assume that I would take offense to something like that, and remember: I’ve been around a long time. There have been more awkward conversations in my lifespan than most ponies have conversations period.”

“...Alright. But, um, you didn’t mean physically, right? It was more in the “on your every word” sense?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

Twilight had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

Celestia turned towards her again.
“Speaking of not deciding, you have chosen your attire, correct?”

“Oh yes! Rarity picked something out for me.”

“Well then! Shall we go get you dressed?”

“...We?”

“Twilight, I don’t have any preparations of my own to do- It is traditional for me to wear my regalia alone at such functions. Did you honestly think I would leave you to your own devices? I know how boring getting ready for things like this can be. Allow me to help!”

On second thought, Twilight had a feeling it was either going to be a very long night or she was not actually going to survive to even get to the party. A toss-up at this point, honestly.