How Celestia's night went...
Luna got up abruptly and levitated her seat back under the table. "I am going to retire for the night, if you need me you know where I will be." She left the dining hall in a dignified but rushed manner that Celestia had never seen in her sister and as Luna left the room she thought she had a tear in her eye.
Celestia sat in shock at the scene that had just played out before her. "What's wrong with Luna, I've never seen her like this. She's the most level headed pony I know, only one thing has ever caused her to behave out of character and that was a little over 1000 years ago with the rise of nightmare moon."
She was shaken out of her reverie when one her royal guard burst in unannounced.
"Your highness, somepony is here to see you, we told her that you were eating but has insisted that her being here is of great importance." He bowed low as he said this, hoping that this sudden intrusion would be forgiven.
"Do not worry soldier, but might I ask who it was who wished for an audience with me?"
"Of course princess, the mare was a blue unicorn who goes by the name of-"
"Trixie is here now to speak with you Princess Celestia." She took off her hat and held it to her chest as she bowed her head.
Celestia turned to the guard and addressed him, "Thank you Sargent, you may leave now, any thing that she brought with her should be taken to guest suite number 6."
He bowed low and exited the room backwards, closing the grand doors magically behind him.
"So Trixie, you have quite the nerve showing up here after what you did in Ponyville, you know."
"That was part of the reason for my visit, you see princess, the gracious and humble Trixie has come here in order to... Apologise." She'd lost much of her earlier charisma and was now sounding very much like a naughty little filly. Trixie the decided that once she was in the company of the Princess, she would have to drop the showmare attitude, even if it left her without the emotional protection it offered.
Celestia's eyes shot wide in shock; not once had Trixie apologized for anything the entire time that she had been at the same school for gifted unicorns as Twilight had been. Even then she had been almost as arrogant as normal, and for good reason! Twilight was the only pony in Canterlot who outperformed her at magic.
Whilst Celestia's mind reeled at this uncharacteristic behaviour of Trixie's, the unicorn in question had begun to feel very emotional at seeing her old teacher and dealt with these feelings the only was she knew, by suppressing them.
The uncomfortable silence had left Trixie feebly digging at the floor with her front hoof and silently wishing that she had perhaps written a letter for Celestia instead. At last the white coated mare spoke up and after a false start spoke to Trixie.
"Trixie, of course I forgive you." The motherly streak once again shining through in to Celestia's gentle tones. "The Alicorn amulet was never meant to be used by anypony, not even me. You couldn't control the power and it all but consumed you. I know that whilst you might have made a bad decision but you never wanted to hurt Ponyville." She finished and walked over to Trixie, sitting down next to her and wrapping a great wing around her weakened Trixie's resolve.
"Thank you Celestia I...I only wanted Twilight to know I was as good as her at magic. She was always your favourite and it hurt so much when she became your private student and I was forgotten." Sobs emanated from Trixie Lulamoon for the next few minutes whilst all of the sadness from the past; being second best to Twilight in school, being humiliated in Ponyville with the Ursa minor disaster and finally how she was consumed by the amulet.
After Trixie's sobs had died down Celestia spoke to the younger mare.
"Trixie I never forgot about you or stopped caring, just because I spent time with Twilight didn't mean I preferred her to you. I'm so proud of you Trixie, just in a different way to Twilight."
"Really?!?! But she's your prized student, the best you've ever had. I don't understand..." She hung her head in confusion and flattened her ears. Trixie quickly regained her posture and stood ready to challenge Celestia once more. "But why didn't you ever try to stop me from leaving the school? If you hadn't always been so busy with your precious Twilight Sparkle, then maybe Tri - I would have become better than Twilight, good enough to be your student." She hung her head in shame and embarrassment at allowing herself to reveal this part of her.
Celestia was taken aback by this, even if a small part of her expected that Trixie wouldn't fold and crumple at her carefully chosen words. the thousands of years that she had spent as a ruler had left her with a gift of knowing just how to placate most ponies. The great white Alicorn however did not let this surprise show and instead decided that a new angle of approach might be called for. "Trixie, on your travels I have no doubt that you have heard of the elements of harmony?" A nod. "And do you know that the bearers of these elements have been found?" a slow shake of the head confirmed Celestia's words. "Well a group of friends in a small town called Ponyville happen to have been chosen by the elements themselves to wield them, a feat that nopony but me and my dearest sister have managed throughout history. Do you see where this is going Trixie?" Celestia realised that she must spell it out for the magician. "Twilight is the element of magic and is made stronger by the friendship she has with those five mares."
With a wavering voice Trixie replied, "I - I think I understand, and sorry for doubting your reasons Princess." A bow followed and Trixie used it to hid the tears on her face.
Celestia's smile widened and she held up Trixie's head with her foreleg and began to speak once more. "Twilight might be the better magician an Element bearer after all, but you, Trixie Lulamoon, have something that Twilight has never learned: independence. You never have to rely on anyone else to do something for you, you've always been a solo act." She took Trixie's hooves in her own and as Trixie raised her head she planted a soft kiss on her head. Not a kiss of a lover but that of a mother caring for a child.
Trixie's eyes shot open, her pupils dilated to twice their normal size. A second later and Celestia pulled away to see the full reaction of her ex student.
Already Trixie was recovering and wasn't nearly as flustered as was to be expected and if you had looked deep in to her eyes you would have seen a spark. A spark of determination, courage and above all more mischief than even Discord. With out a word, or thought, Trixie's head leaned back and shot up to catch Celestia's lips with her own.
Now the ruler of Equestria was on the back foot for once, kissing a mare in this way was a new experience for her, naturally she had been with a few stallions in her time, after all she was thousands of years old. Not once in that time had she even thought of engaging in a little fillyfooling unlike her younger sister, as she knew all too well.
It took Celestia a few seconds but she pulled back after the realisation of what his mare had just done and her ever calm face had a look of absolute surprise on her face. Trixie's trademark smirk had returned by the time Celestia had stopped reeling.
She collected her hat with a small burst of telekinesis.
"Thank you for agreeing to talk with me, most benevolent Celestia. If you don't mind I would like to retire to my room for the evening, I fear that the journey here pulling my cart has left me most tired."
"Oh um yes Trixie please do," Celestia replied, her thoughts momentarily elsewhere. "And if you're still around tomorrow, would you care to join us at breakfast tomorrow?"
"Of course Princess, I shall be there. Goodnight." She left the room with far more sway in her hips than was truly necessary, and a fresh spring if her steps, trotting out of the room and all with such a wide smile on her lips that it could rival Pinkie's.
"Goodnight Miss Lulamoon," Celestia called after her quietly.
The ruler of Equestria stood for a moment before returning to her seat, sitting and failing to remember quite what it was she had been doing before that intrusion. At a loss Celestia shook her head and she too decided to go to her room, after all, the sun won't raise itself in the morning, she reasoned to herself. She slept the most comfortable for over a thousand years, her dreams filled by stars and moons on a sea of velvet.