"This tea is particularly excellent," says Twilight, sipping slowly. They are on a palace balcony on a warm, sunny afternoon. Birds are chirping in the gardens below, and no hint of the bustle of Canterlot reaches where the palace perches high up the slope of the Canterhorn. Everything is still and calm.
Celestia smiles. "I think I've got a fairly good handle on your tastes after all these years."
"So, I assume you wanted to talk to me about yesterday's... incident."
"Yes. I did give you my approval at the time, but I'm afraid I need to make it clear that it was unofficial, personal approval. I understand why you did what you did, and I appreciate that you restricted yourself to merely causing property damage. Well, and one dislocated shoulder and two sprained ankles. But given the situation, I can hardly blame you for that. Alas, officially, Princess Celestia cannot approve of ponies going on destructive rampages, even given the worst possible provocations."
"I'm sorry. I take it there will be charges brought against me, then?"
Celestia sighs softly, but nods. "Yes."
Twilight inhales, then exhales. "Well, I'll do my time and consider it worth it, then."
At that the elder alicorn chuckles. "Oh no, jail time would be quite unlikely for a little minor vandalism." Twilight's eyebrows rise at the notion that the damage she had caused might be considered "minor", but Celestia continues. "Your duties make it highly disadvantageous for the crown. No, there will simply be fines and damages to be paid."
"Ah. I see." Twilight's smile is a little wry. "I guess it's a good thing that being a princess comes with a generous stipend, then. I may have to cut down on my book purchases for a while, I suppose."
"A tragic sacrifice," says Celestia, smiling back at Twilight.
There was a pause, and both alicorns sip their tea. At length Twilight says, "I suppose my reaction really was a little bit excessive."
"It was understandable. Academic misconduct is a serious issue. Add that to the fact that this particular instance affected you in a very personal way, and I can see why you reacted as you did. I also am very proud of you for maintaining the self control to not actually harm anypony, and to keep the fire confined to your specific target. I can recall several instances of losing my temper in the distant past that were rather more destructive. And you don't want to know what happened the first time Luna really lost it post-ascension."
"Oh dear. Well, I feel a little better about that. I'm still disappointed, though. I've revolutionized harmonic magic, and nopony has noticed!"
Celestia chuckles warmly. "Oh, I wouldn't say nopony. In fact there's another reason I asked you here to today." She reaches over and pulls a sheaf of papers from a cubby. "Here, have a look."
"'Meditations on the New Harmonics,'" reads Twilight, her brow faintly furrowed. Her eyes scan down the page and slowly widen. "This is..."
"A monogram on the subject of your new theories and they way they interface with my own centuries of magical experience, yes."
"I... I hardly know what to say."
"I had actually written it before your incident yesterday, but the realization that your amazing work had not yet been cited in any of the major journals prompted me to pull a few strings this morning. This will be published in the next issue of The Royal Academic Journal."
"Wow." The RAJ is incredibly prestigious, and incredibly widely read. It is less focused than Mathemagica, but as Twilight flips through the pages she realizes that Celestia has, in the process of relating Twilight's theory to her own experiences, managed to put the theory into layman's terms in an astonishingly elegant way. Even non-mathematicians might be able to grasp the basic principles. That is even better than the fact that this monogram would give her a citation in Equestria's most prestigious journal.
Twilight looks up at Celestia with shining eyes. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," says Celestia warmly, and takes another sip of her tea.
Twilight follows suit, and friendly, peaceful silence enfolds the two alicorns.