  We present an approach to single-shot high-fidelity preparation of an
$n$-qubit state based on neighboring optimal control theory. This represents a
new application of the neighboring optimal control formalism which was
originally developed to produce single-shot high-fidelity quantum gates. To
illustrate the approach, and to provide a proof-of-principle, we use it to
prepare the two qubit Bell state $|\beta_{01}\rangle = (1/\sqrt{2})\left[\,
|01\rangle + |10\rangle\,\right]$ with an error probability $\epsilon\sim
10^{-6}$ ($10^{-5}$) for ideal (non-ideal) control. Using standard methods in
the literature, these high-fidelity Bell states can be leveraged to
fault-tolerantly prepare the logical state $|\overline{\beta}_{01}\rangle$.
