Twilight rubbed her hooves together, her expression a crazed smile, as she read over the letter, and began talking to herself.
"Good... good... all of the pieces have come together. We may have done some crazy things lately, but this latest scheme is the boldest yet!"
At that moment, Rainbow Dash wandered into the room – specifically, the conference hall in Twilight's crystal castle – wearing a disappointed frown.
"Hey, I told you I like the crazy-scheming part!"
"It's not my fault! You were off pranking with Luna and Pinkie Pie!"
Rainbow Dash sighed, a small grin forming.
"Yeah, okay. Do I at least have a part in the plan?"
"I'm sorry, Rainbow. You won't be available... because the plan takes place..."
Twilight drew herself up onto her hind legs, breathing in deeply and putting on her most imperious voice while gazing at the ceiling.
"... Tomorrow!"
"Oh. Yeah, I'll be busy then. Wait, how did you know that?!"
Twilight sat back down on her throne as she winked slyly at Rainbow Dash.
"Because it's all a part of my plan!"
"... Huh? You planned for me to help Luna tomorrow?"
"Of course! And since you cannot help in my scheme tomorrow, you must help today..."
And with that, Twilight beckoned Rainbow Dash over to her, and began whispering her part in the scheme into her ear, even though no one was listening in anyway.
~
Rainbow Dash paced the conference room, frowning.
"Are you really sure this is a good idea, Twilight?"
"Not exactly... but, hey, what's the worst that could happen? Besides, it was you that inspired the idea – deal with problems directly, right?"
"Heh, yeah, okay, but like... I don't think it's exactly the same. I mean, is this even, like... legal?"
Twilight made a sort of vague gesture and some awkward hoof motions. Dash facehoofed and continued.
"Okay, look... I'll back you up, but you should assume the worst, and like... set up some kind of backup plan, y'know? Don't try a crazy stunt without a cloud to crash into."
Twilight beamed at her friend. Dash had demonstrated a thoughtful and strategic mind that Twilight had hardly suspected in their weeks scheming together; Twilight had begun respecting her friend in an entirely new light as a result, and she began to wonder if, perhaps, the pegasus was far more mature than she had ever realized. Perhaps, under all of that competitiveness and energy, there was a mind Twilight could find kinship with...
"You know, Dash, you're right. That's a really good point. I'll go ahe—"
"YES!"
Dash flew into the air and hoof-pumped, a huge grin forming. Twilight just tilted her head slightly, confused.
"What?"
"You said it was a good point! By my count, that makes twenty-six 'good' points and ten 'fair' points for me! You've only had twenty-five 'good' points and eleven 'fair' points this week, so I'm ahead now!"
Or perhaps not.
"Dash, you really shouldn't be... keeping score like that. I mean, I'm glad that you're trying to be a more considerate speaker, but it's not a competition. I mean, if anything, when you set the other pony up for a 'good point', that's even better than making one yourself!"
Dash sank to the floor, frowning.
"Aww... that's a really good point."
Twilight facehoofed.
~
Twilight silently flew down to the balcony. It was early morning – precisely a half-hour before the sun was scheduled to rise. Everypony else had done their parts, and Dash was with Luna preparing for the day, so that just left Twilight's part to be done. The hard part. The dangerous part. Twilight snickered to herself, gently pulling her cloak's hood over her head.
Alright. Time to put these new spells to use!
Twilight unlocked the balcony door using an unlocking spell she had mastered just for the occasion, and quietly crept into the bedroom. She gently fluttered her wings, suspending her just an inch over the floor, and glided over to the large bed. There, Celestia slept peacefully, unaware of the danger lurking above her. Twilight grinned manically, and began to concentrate on her next spell.
"Muuuh...?"
Celestia's eyes fluttered open. Twilight felt like her heart stopped. Celestia gently tilted her head up to look at her, and Twilight froze her movements completely, though the spell she had been preparing stayed charged on the end of her horn. She expected that Celestia would freak out on seeing a stranger in her bedroom, prepared herself for violence. Instead, Celestia just blinked a couple of times at her, and then nuzzled into her pillow a bit, her muffled voice floating up to Twilight.
"Twilight? What are you doing here?"
"Uhh... abducting you."
Celestia snorted, and began snickering. Twilight frowned contentiously and finished charging her spell, and then tapped Celestia with a hoof. With a brilliant flash of purple light, they were gone, re-appearing in a specially-prepared carriage on the outskirts of Canterlot. Twilight's eyes bobbled around for a few seconds from the exertion, while Celestia jumped in surprise, bumping against the top of the carriage. Celestia settled into the cushioned seat, rubbing her horn, while she gave Twilight an incredulous look.
"Twilight?! What's going on?"
"I told you! I am abducting you! At least, sort of. Here, hold on a second."
Twilight leaned out of the carriage door, glancing around. She sighed, and then turned back to Celestia.
"One second, it looks like the others are having trouble."
Twilight concentrated, closing her eyes, her horn lighting up in a shimmer of light, before igniting into a purple flame for a few seconds. As the glow died down, the sun began to rise. Twilight opened her eyes and rubbed her head a bit, while Celestia just chuckled.
"I thought I felt someone trying to raise the sun. That was what woke me up."
"Seriously? Aww... I didn't plan for that."
Celestia smirked at Twilight's somewhat pouty expression.
"The best plans are flexible, Twilight."
"Oh, I know! This one's flexible!"
Celestia slowly raised an eyebrow. It seemed to her that Twilight was a bit out of sorts after helping the 'others' – Celestia assumed Cadance and Luna – raise the sun.
"And... what is the plan?"
"Oh, right! Well, uh, you know how you rarely have time off?"
"... Yes?"
"We arranged a vacation for you today!"
"Ah! I see. And who's 'we'?"
"Luna, Cadance, Pinkie Pie and I! Oh, and Rainbow Dash; she's helping Luna carry out your duties for the day!"
Twilight smiled at Celestia expectantly; this was the part where Celestia would try to turn down the generous offer, and Twilight had a speech prepared just for that occasion.
"Well, that sounds lovely. I'm very touched by the gesture, Twilight."
Twilight smirked, and made a small circular gesture with her hoof.
"But...?"
Celestia laid her head down on the cushion, closing her eyes.
"But nothing! Thank you very much."
Twilight sat there, confused for a few moments, before she remembered to signal the carriage driver. She rapped on the side of the carriage, and it took off. She found herself staring at Celestia, who was quickly settling in under the blanket Twilight had left there in case Celestia needed to get a little more sleep.
"So... that's it? You don't even want to know where we're going?"
"I think I'd prefer to be surprised."
"But... you really don't mind?"
Celestia cracked open an eye, grinning at Twilight.
"I figured you all must have had a pretty good reason to work together on something like this. If you think it's what's best, a day off couldn't hurt things too much."
"Aww... I had a speech and everything! I was going to threaten you with a paperwork nightmare if you decided to work today!"
"Ooh, foalnapping and extortion? My, my. Whatever has become of my innocent student?"
"She realized that princesses can grant royal pardons!"
Celestia smirked, but then frowned. Twilight caught her thought process, and grinned, nodding enthusiastically and giving voice to it.
"Ah, you get it! The law states that a princess can't pardon her own crimes, but it says nothing about pardoning another princess!"
"Those laws weren't written with multiple reigning princesses in mind..."
"I know! Don't worry, Luna's supposed to fix that today."
Celestia laughed faintly as she buried her face into her pillow. Twilight laughed a bit, too, as the carriage soared through the air. Celestia was missing one heck of a view out of the carriage window, but Twilight quietly drew the curtains closed, rendering the inside of the carriage dark enough to be more comfortable for Celestia's nap; she could catch the view on their way back, anyway.
"Hey, Celestia?"
"Mm?"
"You forgot high treason, since the crimes were committed against a princess."
Celestia snorted.