Things had been pretty calm in the royal palace for some time now, which, for those in the know, always meant one thing; Celestia was bored. She could handle many things, from invasions, to even the tedious complaints by the many nobles in the city, but the sheer lack of activity that had been going on as of late was just getting to her. And so it was that she did what she could to pass the time, sitting in her chambers, reading a book, while sipping some of her favourite blend of tea. It was a pleasant enough moment, though the sun princess would have wanted nothing more than for something big and unexpected to happen.

Sure enough, something big and unexpected suddenly happened, as the doors of her chamber burst open, causing her to snap her head in its direction. There, entering her room, was Luna, panting heavily as if she'd just come running a long way. With a look of concern upon her face, Celestia put her book aside and rose to all fours.

"Luna? What's wrong?"

Entering the room in earnest, the moon princess gave her sister a look of shock before giving her answer.

"It's Twilight. She...she's found somepony!"

It took a few moments for Celestia to truly understand what was being said, but when she did, her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"You mean...she's found a suitor? But...I kept hearing that she had nothing but bad luck with every male that’s come her way?"

Luna nodded.

"I heard the same, but it seems she still found one. In fact, she's waiting downstairs for you."

At that, Celestia looked past her and towards the door.

"She's here? Now?"

Luna nodded again, prompting Celestia to start charging out of her room, with her sister close behind. The two made their way with all haste down the halls of the palace, being saluted by every guard they passed, and soon enough, they made their way to the great hall that would have eventually led to the exit of the place. There, just as Luna had said, was Twilight. She stood there with a look of confidence upon her face, surrounded by all of her friends, who seemed to have come along for the trip. Celestia slowed down as she approached, very much eager to learn of this mystery stallion that had so quickly entered her student's life. And then, as she got close, she saw him. There was indeed a stallion at Twilight's side, lavender like her. An earth pony from the looks of it, with a spikey green mane and tail, bearing a cutie mark of what looked like a green flame. Celestia swore that she'd never seen this pony before, and yet, for whatever reason, there was something undoubtedly familiar about him. Even so, she put on a smile as she finally reached her former student.

"Twilight. It is good to see you again."

The young alicorn smiled and nodded at that, prompting Celestia to turn fully to the stallion beside her.

"And this must be your new beau. I must say, Sir, it's a pleasure to meet with you."

The stallion opened his mouth to speak, only to be stopped as Twilight covered that mouth with her hoof, speaking in his stead.

"His name is...er...Lee. We've actually known each other for some time now."

Celestia raised an eyebrow at that.

"You have? I don’t recall you speaking about him."

But Twilight nodded afterwards.

"Oh, I'm sure I have. Anyway...let's get on with it."

Celestia blinked for a moment.

"Um...forgive me, Twilight, but...get on with what?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"The marriage of course. As princess, you have the authority to minister at any time and place, yes?"

At that, Celestia looked utterly aghast.

"You mean...here? Now? Just like that?"

Twilight nodded in response, prompting her mentor to continue.

"But...but...don't you want a proper wedding, with all your family and other guests and...?"

"Nope. We can just have it now. I don't like to do this that often, but as a princess myself, I do have the right to ask this of you, do I not?"

Celestia considered that for a moment.

"Well...I suppose that's true, but..."

Twilight, not giving Celestia a chance to finish, instead grabbed onto "Lee's" hoof, holding him close.

"Alright then, let’s get this show on the road."

One look at Twilight's face made it clear that she was not going to budge from this matter, and as Celestia turned to her sister, who promptly gave her a shrug of her shoulders, it was also clear that there wasn't anything technically wrong with what was being asked here. As such, and after much silence, the elder alicorn let out a sigh before clearing her throat and standing in a dignified manner.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Princess Twilight Sparkle and...Lee. I’ve had the honour of ministering many marriages over my life, and in my experience I..."

But, Celestia saw that Twilight had a look of slight annoyance on her face, twirling her hoof in a "please hurry it along" manner. Although taken aback by this, Celestia knew from her own marriage experience all those centuries ago that, sometimes, it was best just to get it over and done with. So, after coughing a little, she continued.

“Anyway...do you, Twilight Sparkle, take this stallion to be your lawfully wedded husband, through sickness and in health, through good and bad, so long as you both shall live?"

Twilight nodded.

"I do."

Celestia then turned to Lee.

"And do you, Lee, take Twilight to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and..."

Yet again, Celestia was interrupted, as Lee simply nodded his head enthusiastically in response to her unfinished question. Raising an eyebrow at this, Celestia nevertheless continued,

"Very well, then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Lee turned to his new wife and, rather quickly, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, eliciting a slight blush from himself in doing so. Seeing that, Celestia gained a look of confusion, but Twilight, noticing this, began to explain herself.

"Well...the tradition doesn't say the kiss had to be on my lips, does it?"

Thinking on that, Celestia eventually just sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"I...I guess not, no."

Twilight then took on a wide smile.

"So...that's it? We're officially married? I don't need to have stallions knocking on my door anymore?"

Celestia nodded.

"No. Your obligation in this matter is quite definitely over, my student."

Twilight looked practically giddy at that, then turning to Lee and just staring at him, as if waiting for something. Many of Twilight's other friends also did this, leading to Celestia being quite confused for some time. Then, before she had a chance to say anything, she watched as something began to happen to Lee. There was a faint glow all around him, as if some kind of magic were awakening. Then, to Celestia's shock, she saw that the stallion actually began to change before her very eyes. His fur was shrivelling up, becoming, of all things, scales. His hooves were beginning to grow what looked like claws, his mouth was starting to grow sharp-looking teeth, and all over he seemed to be reducing in size considerably. Celestia watched, flabbergasted as this continued, until finally, the changes ended. And when they did, the figure before her was not Twilight's newfound stallion, Lee, but rather her lifelong friend and number one assistant, Spike. The young dragon, getting to his feet after his change, looked to the alicorn looking down on him, and shrugged his shoulders with a nervous look.

"Um...hi?"

Slowly, Celestia looked form Spike to Twilight, with the latter starting to explain things.

"Transformation magic. The same kind I used to turn my friends and me into Breezies not so long ago."

Celestia stood there, with her mouth hanging open, for several minutes, and only after that time had passed did she finally get any words out.

"You...you did all this...to get out of your obligations?"

Twilight nodded.

"I did. I was never happy with any of the stallions who came to me, and I knew I wouldn't be satisfied with a marriage that existed just to satisfy some old law. So, I thought of an...alternative solution. The law specifically stated that only stallions could marry me, and, as you just saw, I did marry a stallion, thanks to you."

Celestia raised a hoof and pointed it to Spike.

"But...Spike isn't a stallion!"

Twilight nodded.

"You're right, he isn't. At least, not now. But at the time I married him, he was. And that, by those ancient laws, is all that was needed. Plus, as he is now no longer a stallion, then the marriage itself has come to an end, with me still being free of having to go through another one. Much like you and Luna no longer had to marry a second time after your first husbands died all those centuries ago."

Celestia remained silent for some time, turning to look at Luna yet again. There was a nod between the two sisters, after which, Celestia lit up her horn, causing an object to suddenly teleport in from out of nowhere. Twilight recognised it immediately as the parchment from which the ancient alicorn marriage laws were written. The two elder alicorns unrolled it and began pouring through it, reading line after line for some time. In the end, they stopped and looked at each other, with Luna speaking up with shock in her voice.

"By all the stars, sister...she's right!"

Celestia then turned to look at Twilight once more, and for the first time, began to frown.

"Twilight...not only have you deceived me here today, but you did so to completely undermine and mock one of our nation’s most ancient laws. You were devious and conniving in a way that I never thought you capable of being."

An uncomfortable silence filled the air, and many of Twilight's friends, especially Spike, began to feel worried about where this was heading. But, to the surprise of manty, Celestia simply broke into a massive smile and let out a hearty chuckle.

"Well done, my student! I'm honestly a little ashamed that I never thought of doing something like this myself back in the day!"

Twilight giggled slightly before responding.

"Thank you, princess. Believe me, it took meeting a few pretty terrible suitors for me to start considering something like this."

Celestia nodded.

"I can't wait to hear all about it. Although...I must ask...where did you learn to be this underhanded and sneaky?"

Twilight looked to her with an "are you kidding me" look and raised an eyebrow.

"Gee, princess, I don't know where I could have learned all that stuff from."

As expected, there was a general round of giggles all around at that, though Celestia had, admittedly, been the tiniest bit irritated at it. But, during it all, Spike, looked up to Twilight, gaining her attention.

"Um...Twilight? You're sure this marriage thing between you and me is over?"

Twilight smiled at him, giving him a reassuring pat on the head.

"It is, Spike. The stallion you were at the time of the marriage is gone now thanks to that transformation, which means the union couldn't remain. It's really old Equestrian law stuff."

Spike breathed a sigh of relief at that, only to look worried again soon afterwards.

"Um...what do you think your Mom, Dad and brother are going to think when they hear about this?"

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, only to shut it tight and gain a look of fear as her assistant's words sank in.

"Oh...dear."