Walking the streets of Canterlot in the high sunlight of the afternoon was refreshing- She had honestly missed the place, as bustling and arch as it could be. It was still her and Spike's first home, after all. Lots of memories here. A quick swing by Pony Joe's for the requisite order ("The usual?", because Joe still recognized her on sight), a run down to the shop that makes those delightful little smoothies, and then she could stop off at her favorite plaza.

A dozen little benches, a few chairs and tables, all arrayed around a large ornate fountain-- A bit like the central square in Ponyville, come to think of it. Instead of being an open expanse leading to other buildings, however, it was the center of an eight-way intersection, buildings surrounding it on every side, alleyways leading across catty-corners and connecting the paths. It was like the axle on a huge wheel, and she always loved to stay here when she ate out- It was like being at the centre of the district, like the heart of the place. And all the shops were familiar sights- There was the dress shop (she keeps meaning to show it to Rarity), the sweets store (Pinkie Pie would love it), and...

That was new.

A shop, dimly-lit, well-kept though, with the windows (which held no glass- Not boarded up, but the frames filled with solid wood) showing absolutely no products at all. Tasteful black shades kept the lack of real windows from being too obvious, and the door was utterly solid- Not even a peephole. But to to top it all off, there was no sign, no marker, nothing to say what it was. Well, nopony could ever say she wasn't curious, nor could they fault her for wasting food-- She wolfed down the rest of her meal and quickly disposed of the wrappers and papers. A quick jaunt into a nearby restroom to clean her hooves and forelegs- Her own fault for liking such sticky donuts, really- and then she was off to visit the odd little shop.

No bell rang when she entered the front door, but then she realized she was in a little antechamber between the street and the interior- The door in front of her was, just like the front, totally solid. She let the first door close behind her with a click, trying not to be nervous- This was a bit odd. A small shuttered window next to the door opened, and a dark purple unicorn colt looked through it at her.

"Sorry for the wait, madam, but we have to confirm that all ponies entering this establishment are of-age and not magically disguised."

"Oh! That's a pretty interesting precaution, but it makes sense- I suppose you sell some kind of sensitive material?"

"Ahehe, you could say that, you really could... Ms. Sparkle, right?"

She blushed a little- It was odd being recognized by strangers, but between her studies with Celestia, and her escapades with the Elements, it was getting more and more common.

"Yes, that's me."

"Then come on inside- I'd hate to turn away Her personal student."
The door in front of her unlocked, and the window shut. She opened the door and stepped into... ah.

She had absolutely never thought about coming into this kind of place. Honestly. Not even after she finished reading that book the other day. Nope. And now that she was here, it was... daunting. Velvet's shop was mostly outfits, with a small selection of crops and such. But this... No doubts, no questions, this was the kind of store where you need to make sure foals don't see inside. Shelf upon shelf of books akin to the KaMare Sutra (and a few copies of that very book, for good measure), a wide selection of magazines, many of them much more lewd, racks of toys and whips and crops and paddles and gags, simulated sex organs, vibrating toys powered by mechanical parts or stored magic, and all kinds of things she had only ever heard of, if even that. Yes. Heard of. She was not the kind of pony who went home from the Boutique a few days ago and started researching this kind of thing, or looking into mail-order options and discrete custom craftsmen. Nope. Not her.

"Welcome to... OK, well, actually, our shop doesn't have a name, come to think of it- Never really needed it. We get all our business by word-of-mouth. But welcome regardless."

"I can imagine! I mean, ah, hehe... I didn't catch your name, actually."

The stallion offered a hoof, and they shook. He pointed to one side, pointing at his cutie mark-- Two squares of black, arranged in a double-diamond pattern like an eight laid on its side.
"Matte Finish! Creator and purveyor of all varieties of crafted goods, but especially... Well, it should be pretty clear from our stock. My wife's in the back inventorying our specialty items, but she should be out any minute now."

He stepped back to give her a little space, and she breathed a bit easier. He seemed like a very nice colt- A mane of short-cut black hair, and a tail to match, both that ragged short riff that's been popular as of late. His horn seemed quite well-cared for, and he kept himself well-groomed. She sighed in relief- She had been worried that places like this would be... well, seedy, but he seemed like the very picture of a gentlepony.

Slowly, and with some pretty obvious worry on her face, she began to walk the aisles, looking at the things available. She did have an hour or two before her lesson, and a pretty hefty supply of bits. It couldn't hurt to look either way, right? So she browsed the aisles, Matte pleasantly chattering about this or that product behind her, occasionally showing off a particularly 'nice' piece, which, to be utterly honest, she did like the looks of many of them- He seemed to almost unerringly pass over the things she would find odd or too much at the moment, narrowing it down to the one that looked just right, got stuck in her head- Not literally. That would be gross.

It wasn't long before she'd found one or two things that caught her eye. The shop-pony mentioned that they liked to throw together little "combo packs" for beginners and the uninformed, which fit her to a T right now. She just... didn't have experience in this field, even with what she had read (voraciously (obsessively)) over the last few days. So in the end, she went up to the till with a very nice, subtle, bag- Sheer black cloth. Inside was one of the aforementioned combo packs, whose contents she had found... enticing. And it did not hurt in the slightest that a certain item in there had a color scheme that made her blush- Pearl white and metallic gold. She was quickly met at the register by a stunning mare with a pale violet coat and an almost purely white mane, long and worn in a braid. She bowed, shortly, and then stepped past the counter to display her mark- A pair of silver coins, arranged together to make a sort of figure-8 pattern, much like her husband's.

"Nickle 'n' Dime, at your service! I run the shop here with my husband, who you've met. Feel free to just call me Nicky- Everpony does."

"Oh, well thank you Nicky, but, um... There's no need to bow."

"Nonsense! You're the talk of the town, you know? Canterlot may be big, but hearing about your exploits is pretty hard not to do. If anypony deserves a bow, it's you, Ms. Sparkle. And please, accept this complimentary addition from my husband and I."

Nickle slipped an additional box, too fast for Twilight to see what it was, into the bag. Twilight blushed at the compliment, but decided not to argue-- If somepony wanted to pay respects to her, she certainly wouldn't stop them, even if she did worry it might be a bit boastful. And as for gifts... Well, nothing wrong with it.

A few dozen bits and change out from the little purse in her saddlebags, and then that pouch full of books and toys and other things was all hers. She really wanted to try things out, but knew she couldn't risk it before her lesson. So a quick flare of the horn, and she teleported the incriminating evidence home, to the Library, in a private little wooden box under her bed. She figured that she might want to start keeping a diary about these kinds of things, and so she prepared the hiding place ahead of time, knowing Spike would never clean under there. Turning to leave, she stopped when Matte walked up from across the store.

"Oh! Thank you again for all of the recommendations Mr. Finish... Actually, come to think of it, are you any relation to Photo Finish?"

"Eenope. Met her once though. Very high-energy mare, that one."

"Heehee, you've got that right. Well, I'm very glad I found your store, and... I might be back, in the future."

"Ohho! Well, if you ever are? Feel free to recommend us to a friend. Or even better? Bring a friend. It helps ease those first-time worries."

"I... Hmm. I never actually thought about that."

"Either way, have a phenomenal evening Ms. Sparkle."

"Yeah..."

She wandered her way out of the store, deep in thought. Her friends? Out of them, who would be... Well, Rarity or Applejack, quite possibly. She didn't know if either Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash had anypony in their lives, and Fluttershy... was in the same predicament as her. That's it! She could show the place to Fluttershy, maybe find something to help her out on the road to making this crazy plan of theirs work. If all else failed, it would help keep the yellow pegasus calm, or at least relaxed. And then it would be easy to set up inconspicuous trips to Canterlot, which would make it easier to speak to Her, and...

Half-distracted, she didn't even realize that she had managed to wander her way all through Canterlot, to the Royal Palace, right into the front gates (the guards opening the way, expecting her, and the captain remembering her absent-minded wandering habits), and up the stairs to the library. Which was ludicrous- She hadn't been that lost in thought. Had she? Well, either way, she was here now, so she might as well find a way to pass the last... Hour and change she had left.

She cracked her neck and bee-lined to the reference desk, where she could swear she heard the clacking of... an abacus?

--------

It had been educational, that last hour. Sent careening from one librarian to another, receiving such-and-such permission to go see so-and-so, before eventually, almost half of her time used up, she got to where she was going. In front of her, foreboding and dark, was the one place in the library she had never been-- The Red Room. A private library and reading room that existed within the library, in the very walls, cleverly concealed beneath the bulk of staircases and supporting struts. Only those with the most stringent clearances and restrictions could enter. The door creaked, the various seals and spells receding in response to the completely-filled form she held-- A temporary allowance, but she only need a little time. Maybe if she was lucky, Celestia would give her full clearance later.

The smell of grass, vanilla, and smoke filled her nostrils as she stepped in. This place was old, older than some parts of Equestria, she was willing to bet. The normal smell of aging books, lingin and binding glues and aged book-covers, was absent. Instead, the scent was... wild, ancient, and comforting. She had sometimes picked it up on Celestia's mane, during a study session, but never knew why. Now she could place it, and she liked it. She stepped, slowly, from shelf to shelf, looking at the tomes. There was no index in this place- Anypony who could get in was expected to find their own way. And true enough, it was only a scant minute before she found the book. Bound in the same lavender shade as her own coat, it bore the sun, the moon, the earth, and a six-rayed star upon the cover. The title was written cleanly and crisply in jet black:

The Nature of The Planes and The Heavenly Bodies

She settled down at one of the large, plush chairs, cracked the cover, and began to read as fast as she could. Understanding could come later- Right now, she just needed to absorb quite a lot of information in quite a little time. There was nopony there to notice when she levitated a second book into place and began reading it at the same time, nor could anypony see the point where her eyes faded to a pale shade, almost white, and the speed of flipping pages nearly tripled.

The Red Room was graced with a flood of purple and white light as she did what she did best.

--------

When the little timer-spell she had set went off, she closed her eyes, and opened them again- Clear and unchanged, the same color as usual. The two books in front of her were closed, and the air was full of the wild scent of these ancient tomes- They had been read in quite the hurry, after all, fanning the air the whole time. She felt massively refreshed (but knew she would be paying for it later), and somewhat more enlightened. She returned the books, stretched her legs, and stepped outside. As soon as the door shut, the permission slip burst into heatless flame, collapsing into useless dust which collapsed further into nothing at all. Good security, all told. Now she just needed to find the way out to the place Celestia had said they would meet.

It was a long walk, the place in question a balcony placed far upon the Eastern towers, facing the horizon. Getting there wasn't too hard- She was still riding the wave of borrowed power from before, a process she now understood much better- Those tomes had been informative, about many things.

And there she was, standing on the furthest edge, where there was no railing. Tall, regal, her perfect white coat shimmering in the moonlight, her mane flowing of its own accord. Gold and gems adorned her, and Twilight turned her eyes down to try and avoid the quickly-spreading blush. Celestia of Equestria, the Alicorn Princess, the Sun Herself, smiled wide and bent down, nuzzling her charge for a moment.
"Twilight Sparkle! My most faithful student."

"I'm sorry if I’m late, Princess."

"Not in the slightest. In fact, you are a touch early."

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..."

Celestia chuckled and shook her head.
"Twilight. You had been apologizing for being late, and now you apologize for being early? You must remember that I trust you, and asked you to come- And on very short notice, at that."

"I... Of course, Princess."

The alicorn mare stretched her wings to their fullest extent, and Twilight shivered for a moment, before a spell caused the entire balcony to be flooded with a gentle heat. Celestia smiled again, and this time she could smile back, nervousness (mostly) banished.

"M... may I ask what my lesson will be?"

"You may."

A moment of silence, and Celestia held back a laugh when Twilight finally got the joke. Hiding a smile, she asked:
"What is my lesson this evening, Princess Celestia?"

"I will be demonstrating to you the Rite of Raising The Sun."

"...Am I really deserving of that honor?"

"Moreso than any other pony I could name, and I can name quite a few."
They both shared a laugh and a smile, and then returned to somber tones- This was big. Important. A step forward on her paths, both the public, surface path of advancing her knowledge of magic, and the private one, in her heart.

"I am ready to watch and learn."

"Very good- For that is precisely what you will be doing."
And on the far horizon, the moon dipped low, and began to drift out of sight.
"Brace yourself well, my faithful student. It begins."

--------

This was it. One of the most complex and potent magical workings in the history of Equestria. The Nature of Planes had said that before the first Alicorn was born, it took thirteen of the world's most powerful unicorns working in perfect concert to perform it. And right now, she was watching one single mare, her entire body bathed in golden light, focusing every inch of her absolutely staggering power into the spell. Twilight could feel the heat of the sun in that light, and see the weight of years on Celestia's brow-- She had been doing this every day for most of recorded history, and she was graceful in her long-practiced expertise, her eyes closed against the light. Somewhere else in Equestria, her sister was performing the opposite rite, bringing low the moon to make way for the sun. And Twilight... She was profaning this beautiful, sacred thing, because the sight of Celestia using that much power left her weak in the knees and hazy in thought- She wanted to bow, to kneel, to submit, to let this golden shining force overtake her and use her, but she absolutely would not dare to break Her concentration.

So she sat, calmly, and absorbed every single iota of the ritual, studied her mentor and ruler as thoroughly as she could have ever hoped to. From the burning light of her power to the pale unbreakable sheen of her coat, from her glorious mane to the flow of the spell itself. And when the rite was finished, the sun fully visible in the East, Twilight simply and without a word swooned into unconsciousness, overwhelmed with information and magic and that burning tingling need. She dreamed of golden flames and an endless flowing mane of many colors.