It was a day like any other in the small town of Ponyville. Ponies of all shapes and sizes were going about their day, happy and content with their lives and how things were generally going for them. And yet, there was one place here where smiles were not present, and that was at the palace of friendship, a magnificent castle rising up from the ground on the outskirts of the town. It was a beautiful sight, especially today with how the light of the sun reflected off its crystalline features. There, standing at the open gates of the palace, was its main occupant, Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. Although she had come a long way from the introverted bookworm she was once known for being, there were still times when her nerves got the better of her, and today was one such time, as she kept trying her best to breathe in an attempt to calm herself down. It was clear to anypony watching that something big was happening, and that she was concerned about it, and before long, this behaviour drew attention. Spike, Twilight's "number one assistant", walked beside her and looked to her with concern in his expression. Reaching up with a single clawed hand, he placed it upon her shoulder, gaining her attention. Seeing the look on his face, Twilight seemed to calm herself down somewhat, offering him a silent smile.

Although the moment was pleasant, it was nevertheless interrupted soon afterwards, as Spike turned from her and looked to the skies above. Shock crossed his face as he pointed upwards, with Twilight turning to see where he was looking. Sure enough, there she was, the one she'd been expecting for such a long time; Princess Celestia. Her old mentor was, as was customary, riding in a golden carriage, pulled by a pair of bright white pegasi guards, as well as being flanked by two others, who flew alongside her as she approached the castle. In a last-minute motion, Twilight made sure she was presentable before trotting over to where the chariot was landing, which it did in a smooth and flawless manner. As Celestia disembarked from the transport, both Twilight and Spike gave sweeping bows to the diarch of the sun.

"Princess Celestia. We are honoured to have you visit us."

But the princess merely chuckled at this.

"Oh, my dear Twilight. How many times must I tell you that you no longer need to behave in such ways towards me?"

Nervously, Twilight looked up to her teacher before standing upright again, as did Spike, before giving a smile as she spoke.

"Sorry. But frankly I don't think I’ll ever get used to talking to you any other way."

Celestia smiled back and nodded in an understanding manner, before silently raising a hoof and gesturing to the open palace behind Twilight. The young alicorn got the message and nodded back, turning and walking alongside her elder as the two of them and Spike made their way back towards the castle. The guards followed close behind, but halted as soon as they reached the gates, taking up defensive positions there as the other three entered the place. Using her magic, Twilight closed the great doors behind her, after which she led Celestia to the large map-table at the centre of the main chamber. The older alicorn looked down to it, having never really seen it before, and seemed impressed, much like Twilight had when she first looked upon it. But, moments later, they moved past that and towards a smaller table, already set up near one of the chamber's windows. As the two alicorns took their place there, Twilight turned to Spike and spoke softly.

"Would you be so kind as to bring the princess some tea, Spike?"

The young dragon gave an instinctive salute to that.

"Will do, Twilight!"

And with that, he was off, leaving the two mares stifling a giggle at the youth's enthusiastic behaviour. Now alone, Celestia looked to her student with pride in her expression.

"My dearest Twilight. It pleases me to see that you have become comfortable here. How are your friends?"

Twilight smiled to her before answering.

"They're all great. How's Canterlot?"

A brief chortle escaped Celestia before giving an answer to that.

"Oh, same as always. The nobles never give me a moment's rest. If it's not one problem, it's another. Sometimes, I really do envy your position here, my student. Ponyville must be quite serene when compared to the hustle and bustle of a city like Canterlot."

To that, Twilight gave a small smirk.

"You'd be surprised. Honestly, there are days when I'd prefer hearing squabbling nobles over an attack by some age-old monster any day of the week."

Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Spend a thousand years doing it and you probably wouldn't be so eager."

Together, the two mares laughed at that remark, just as Spike was bringing in a tray filled with tea cups, which he gently placed on the table between them. After taking his place beside his lifelong friend, Spike, as well as the other two, partook of the hot tea in their respective cups. After a few minutes of simply enjoying this, Celestia looked to her student, and for a second, there was a flash of concern in the elder alicorn's eyes. Though Twilight was far from being the expert reader-of-ponies that Celestia was, she nevertheless picked up on it, and gave her mentor a look of confusion. After some time, Celestia let out a sigh, lowering her cup back to the table before speaking in a somewhat sombre tone.

"Twilight...you should know that...my visit here today is not simply to catch up."

Naturally, words like that caught Twilight's attention immediately, as well as Spike's, and they both looked to the white mare, silently urging her to continue. It took a while, but eventually, she did just that.

"My student...what do you know of the ancient traditions regarding alicorn princesses?"

Although at first taken aback by such a question, Twilight leaned back into her chair and began wracking her brain for possible answers.

"Well...I know it's our duty to safeguard the ponies of Equestria. We each have important functions to uphold, like you and Luna raising the sun and moon. And I know it's required that we make a number of public appearances for various ceremonies, like the summer sun celebration."

Celestia nodded several times during her student's words before eventually speaking up again.

"All true. However...there are certain...older laws about us that are still in effect, though few of our people actually know of them."

Upon hearing that, Twilight raised her eyebrow, feeling somewhat nervous about the tone in which Celestia had been speaking.

"What...what kind of laws?"

Celestia looked away, a look of slight guilt crossing her face.

"Well...one law in particular is why I'm here today. A law that states that alicorn princesses must, after having reigned for two or more years...find for themselves...well...somepony to share their life with."

Twilight looked at her mentor, silently hoping that what she'd just heard was a jest of some sort. But, when the elder alicorn turned to look at her once more, the young mare saw that there was no lie there in her eyes, only truth. She shook her head slightly, backing up into her chair somewhat.

"No...you...you can't possibly mean that...?"

But, before she had the chance to finish that sentence, the elder princess gave a nod of confirmation.

"Yes, Twilight. You are to obtain a consort for yourself. You must...marry."

Silence hung in the air for a good long while, during which time Spike looked as if he was on the verge of spitting out his tea. As for Twilight, a hundred different thought were racing through her mind at this time, culminating in her getting out a somewhat coherent sentence.

"But...but...but...can't you just overturn that law?"

Celestia hung her head and shook it in response.

"I fear not. This law was put into place long before Luna or I ascended to the throne. For all our power, centuries-old bureaucracy is a foe that even we cannot vanquish."

Twilight looked down to the table, despair now prevalent in her expression. She didn't feel she was ready for marriage, that much was clear to anypony who saw her right now. Spike looked from her to Celestia and then back again, hoping that he could offer some words of comfort, but knew that he had none to give. But, it turns out that he didn't need to, for Twilight rose her head up again and looked to Celestia with confusion.

"Wait...aren't you and Luna still single?"

Celestia was, naturally, taken aback by such a question, but given her student's current position, she soon understood the meaning behind it, and so gave her a smile and a nod.

"Indeed we are, Twilight. Though, in accordance with the law, both my sister and I were indeed wedded to stallions, though the marriage was long before any surviving documents of the period were written."

Twilight looked at her with an intrigued expression.

"But...where are they? Your husbands, I mean?"

Celestia looked down and let out a sigh.

"We...outlived them."

Yet again, silence fell between them, and it wasn't long before Spike, turning his head away from the two, spoke the words that all three of them were thinking right now.

"Well...this is awkward."

Moments afterwards, Twilight looked to her mentor with sympathy.

"I'm...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

But Celestia raised a hoof, stopping her and giving a reassuring smile.

"Its fine, Twilight. Their parting from this world took place many centuries ago. And while I still bear love for my own consort, I have since moved on. You need not worry about me."

Twilight sighed, relieved that she had not offended her mentor in any way because of that question. However, it wasn't long before a look of curiosity returned to her.

"So...is that the reason my brother and Cadence married?"

Hearing that question, Celestia shook her head.

"No. My dear niece was quite fortunate to have a consort she had actually fallen in love with beforehand. And because the two of them were already involved with each other, their marriage was, legally, allowed to be postponed until after they were older."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, displaying confusion at that, to which Celestia noted it and gave another sigh.

"Legal stuff. Don't even try to understand it."

Twilight looked down for a moment to get her thoughts in order, and after a few minutes of silence, she spoke up, looking less terrified of the whole situation.

"So...are there any rules regarding who I'm supposed to marry?"

Again, Celestia shook her head.

"Thankfully, no. While the law states that you must marry, it's technically possible for any stallion to fill that role for you. In the truly ancient times of our world, only nobles would have sufficed, but after a...shall we say "passionate" encounter between a princess and a stable-stallion some ten thousand years ago, the law was made to be more inclusive."

At first, Twilight was curious to learn more about that ancient and romantic encounter, but decided against it as she shook her head.

"Okay...and you're sure that there's no way to get out of this law?"

The elder princess sighed and shook her head.

"Well...to overturn a law like this you'd probably have to spend the next hundred years gathering every document about it from across Equestria, cross-reference historic examples of overturned laws from ancient times, read through all of the papers that have been half-lost, partially burned, and mistranslated over the years, before finally going before a tribunal of nobles and providing an adequate explanation that they'll inevitably reject because your forgot to put a comma on one lousy sentence of your carefully-made thousand-page presentation!"

Twilight looked at her mentor as she grew increasingly enraged as she spoke, before clearing her throat in a nervous manner and getting back into her chair before speaking in a softer tone.

"Um...let's just say you're not the first to try and get out of it."

The young mare stared at her teacher for a few moments before speaking up again.

"So...how do I go about finding a stallion for this job?"

At that, Celestia regained her earlier look of guilt, her eyes shifting from left to right in an effort to avoid her student's gaze. In the end, she spoke to her in a somewhat nervous manner.

"Um...about that. You see...I may have...kind of...accidentally...let slip that this was happening and the news spread to all of Canterlot which would have inevitably gone beyond its borders so that every stallion in Equestria now knows that you're in the position of needing a consort."

When that was all said and done, Twilight stared at Celestia with her face as white as a sheet. After much silence, the elder princess giggled nervously and shrugged her shoulders a little.

"Um...surprise?"