"Don't worry, Twilight," Shining Armor assured his sister, "Luna offered to explain everything to your friends."

"If I had known that her see-in-the-dark spell had given me glowing cat eyes, I would have asked her to dispel it before I landed. The bat wings are bad enough," Twilight grumbled.

Two silent guards flanked Twilight Sparkle as her brother led the way through the palace to the chamber where Princess Celestia awaited them. Protocol dictated that guards should be of the same type as the prisoners they accompanied. Given the circumstances, Shining Armor had chosen one pegasus and one unicorn.

They passed the throne room and continued along the hall toward the smaller chambers. Twilight took it as a good sign. The last thing she wanted was to have the princess towering over her from the top of the great dais. It was too much to hope that they were headed to the princess's private apartments, which would indicate that their meeting would have the tone of a cozy chat.

Shining Armor stopped before the double doors of a small audience chamber and turned to his sister. "Don't worry, Twily," he said, forcing a grin. "The princess will get everything sorted out. It'll be okay. You'll be just fine."

It sounded to Twilight as if he was trying to convince himself. She tried to smile back but just couldn't manage it. She wanted to say something but couldn't come up with anything that didn't feel trite or false so she settled for a nod.

Shining Armor turned away and knocked on the doors.

"Send her in," came the princess's muffled voice.

Shining Armor hesitated ever so slightly and then opened the door for his sister to enter the room alone.

Princess Celestia sat on a slightly raised platform at the far end of the room. Behind her was a large tapestry depicting dozens of ponies, happily engaged in work and play, beneath a giant sun whose rays extended across the whole of the sky. The "beneficent sun" was a common theme in Canterlot civic artwork. Twilight suspected that the tapestry's presence was a not-so-subtle message.

Twilight bowed, straightened, and waited for her princess to speak. It seemed as if Celestia was calm, but Twilight couldn't help noticing that the very ends of her tail and mane snapped with more energy than usual. She kept her lowered gaze firmly fixed on the golden peytral that covered the princess's chest.

"As an exercise in logical thinking," Celestia began, in the even tone she had often adopted in their private tutorials, "I ask you to put yourself in my position, Twilight Sparkle. What would you have done from this afternoon onwards?"

Twilight thought she had rid herself of her anger, but Celestia's words brought a fresh flush of heat to her cheeks. "I'm sure Your Majesty knows that Princess Luna had a little talk with me." Twilight ruffled her leathery wings for unnecessary emphasis. "Now that I see things from a more historical perspective, I understand that exile wouldn't be enough to protect the kingdom from a pony like me. So... I suppose I should be sealed away somewhere or turned to stone or... whatever it takes to stop me from rebelling against you and bringing harm to all ponykind."

Twilight immediately regretted her blunt words, and the tone she had uttered them in, but she didn't think her evaluation was far from the truth.

"Yes," said Celestia quietly. "Perhaps that would be for the best. I could put you in the sculpture garden and visit you there when I want to remember happier days."

Twilight looked up to discover tears streaming down her teacher's face, and her heart twisted in her chest. "Oh, princess! No... no... please, don't cry! I'm not worth it!"

Celestia bowed her head, and great, racking sobs began to shake her body.

"Please... please..." Twilight's own tears began to fall. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" The little unicorn threw herself at her teacher's hooves and pressed her face against them, sobbing, "I was wrong! Everything I did was wrong... everything I thought was wrong. Please don't cry!"

"I... I am as much to blame as you, my faithful student," Celestia whispered hoarsely. "You believed in me too much, and I trusted you too little. Which is the greater crime?"

"Theft," Twilight sobbed, "black magic, treason... all of it is worse! I deserve whatever punishment you give me."

Celestia lowered her head and nuzzled Twilight. Their tears mingled between their cheeks. "No, my dear, I will not punish you. Punishment is a harsh tool to correct a pony's course in life. You need only a gentle nudge, I think."

Twilight sighed in relief. "You're being so nice about all this. I'm so ashamed about the way I behaved toward you."

"If you weren't regretful," the Princess said quietly, "I wouldn't be inclined to be quite so forgiving. Here..." Two large, linen serviettes floated over from a low table. "...let us dry our tears. I will order some tea and sandwiches and we will continue our conversation."

"I... I still think something had to be done about the changelings but I can see that I should have talked with you first. I shouldn't have taken such drastic action on my own. We do better together... I mean, all ponies do... when we share our troubles as well as our joys."

"That is true, Twilight, but don't forget your own convictions merely to be in harmony with others. You are a brilliant mare and..." Celestia lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I will deny saying this if you ever quote me... many of my little ponies have the mental capacity of goldfish!"

Twilight laughed out loud and then caught herself, somewhat appalled that she would laugh at such a statement. But when she exchanged glances with the princess, they both burst out laughing and kept laughing for a long while.

Later, after a relieved looking Shining Armor had personally delivered their meal, Celestia lifted another object off of the low table and presented it to Twilight. It was a scroll of dark, bitter-smelling material. "As for your actions today, they may have had more far-reaching consequences than you intended. I received this letter this evening from Queen Chrysalis. Please read it."

Twilight took the scroll from her and read.

Unto Princess Celestia of Equestria,

I am writing to assure you that the recent incursion of changelings into Equestria was the work of a few disaffected and rebellious members of my hive and in no way was condoned or ordered by myself. I hope our relationship can remain peaceful, and I assure you that I have no further designs against your kingdom. There is no need at all to further employ whatever weapon it was that you used against the changelings in Ponyville.

Very Sincerely,

Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings

"But that's a lie!" Twilight stomped a hoof. "I did my research! Those drones are incapable of acting independently. Their minds are just reflections of the Queen's will. Without her mental influence, they're just animals... even less than that, they're..."

"Yes, Twilight, I know," Princess Celestia interrupted gently, "but I will accept the Queen's non-apology as if I believed her, and there will be peace between us."

"But that’s..."

"That's politics, Twilight."

"Well..." Twilight paused and stood for a few moments, thinking. After a while Celestia looked at her quizzically and the unicorn sighed and said, quietly, "Politics suck."

"That depends, like so much in life, on how one does it. As I believe I have already said once this evening, I prefer peace and harmony to punishment." They were both silent for a moment and then Celestia added, "And speaking of doing things badly, I still regret not trusting you, even though you..."

"No, you've forgiven me for... well... everything. Let's call it even."

"Oh, that was more for my own sake than yours," Celestia said, calmly taking a sip from her tea cup.

Twilight frowned. "How so?"

"Well, if you were... banished, for instance, I would have felt it my duty to visit you, and the moon is so cold and dusty."

Twilight half-choked on the bite of watercress sandwich she was eating.

"For reasons I can't fathom, Luna seems to like it, though." Celestia continued, studying the ripples in her tea. "She sleeps up there, so you'd have had a bit of company. Unfortunately, she snores."

Twilight managed to swallow her bite of sandwich. "You're awful!" she accused through a wide grin. And then, thoughtfully, "Luna doesn't really sleep on the moon, does she?"

"Oh yes, most days. How else do you think she managed to miss an entire army of changelings invading Canterlot?"

Twilight gave it some thought. "I bet the stargazing is great from up there."

"Ask her sometime; I'm sure she'd be delighted to take you up for a sleepover. Dress warmly."

Twilight looked at the gently teasing expression on her teacher's face and was nearly overcome with a powerful surge of emotion. "I love you, princess, and I promise I'm going to do my best to be a better pony for you."

Celestia enfolded her student in a gentle hug and said, "I love you, too, Twilight Sparkle, and I will do my best to be a better princess for you... and for all of my little ponies."

When they parted, Twilight nearly upset the tea service with one of her wings. "Dumb things," she grumbled. "Well, at least I know what my 'costume' is going to be for next Nightmare Night."

The Princess chuckled and offered her student more tea.