***
Celestia held for a moment. "I apologize, Twilight. I was...afraid when I saw what that...that creature did to you." Her tender face grew several shades darker at the memory, a clench in her tone. "I was afraid you had been hurt far more than you were. I am relieved that you are well physically. However..."
Twilight blinked, her exhausted mind doing its best to decipher Celestia's behaviour. "However...?" She rubbed her eyes, then sat back in bed.
"However, psychologically I cannot help but feel that anypony would be very much unwell in your position, and while you have shown inspiring inner strength on many occasions, I cannot help but hope that you might share your feelings with me."
Twilight looked at her, biting her lips. "I think there might be a better time for this, heh." She pointed at her head, bringing special emphasis to the gauze that had been wrapped around it. "But, uh, I'd love it if you could just stay."
Celestia gave a faint sigh, her smile becoming slightly weaker. "I think now would be for the best, Twilight. But, if you feel pressured, I would never dream of forcing a painful truth out of you." She moved to the foot of the bed, sitting so that she was able to look Twilight in the eye. "However, if you would be willing to hear it, I feel there is something which I truly must talk about with you."
Twilight looked up, her eyes wide with guilt. "What? Yes! Of course, I--you can say whatever you need to say to me, Princess. I wouldn't want it any other way."
Celestia gave a pained smile, an ironic curl coming to the edge of her lips. "That is precisely what I need to talk about, Twilight. I am free to speak my mind, yet you are unable to speak yours." Twilight opened her mouth, her head titled and her lips already beginning to form a word, but Celestia pressed on. "My mistakes before you are trifles, but yours before me are disasters that damn you as the worst of pony kind. My beliefs are unshakable, but yours are nothing before my own, even when I am wrong."
"But that's--"
"Does this seem like a healthy teaching relationship to you, Twilight?"
"Yes! You deserve--"
"Do you think I like it?" There was a bite in Celestia's voice, but it was framed around a look of pain. Her mask had fallen away, and underneath there was a look of sadness that Twilight had only seen on herself, and only when thinking about her brother.
"Princess..." She said, a gasp entering her tone.
"Do you truly think, Twilight, that I am happy to watch you endure all kinds of self-inflicted sufferings for my sake? Do you, in your heart of hearts, think I see you as my inferior in every way, and so much so that I would be happy with this set of double standards you hoist upon yourself every time I enter a room? Is that what you see in me, Twilight? A creature so cruel and so vain she would think that the only way anypony could ever be worthy of even speaking with her was through espousing their great weakness before her and filling their lives with pain for her sake?"
Twilight stared at her bedsheets, tears running from her eyes. She tried to speak, but only ended up bowing her head and giving a sob. It was then that a wing draped around her, the tip pushing her chin up.
"Twilight Sparkle." Celestia said, her voice a gentle scold. "You are a wonderful pony. When I am angry with you, or I have hurt you, know that it passes. I am a silly pony sometimes, like any other, and I made a mistake today. Not you, me. And because of that mistake, I almost paid for it with all the things in this world I love. My kingdom, my family, my subjects...and you."
Twilight blinked away her tears, disbelief edging into her voice. "What?"
"Is that really so hard to believe, Twilight?" She pulled the smaller pony into a hug, wings encircling her. "Yes, I love you. I think, Twilight, you must believe I have some strange mindset if you feel I have no reason to."
Twilight stirred on this for a while, enjoying the feeling of the gigantic, soft and warm body that was embracing her. "I don't understand, Princess. What are your reasons?" This time, there was no certainty of an established inferiority in her voice. No accusations of her own lack of worth. In its place, there was a simple curiosity.
"I think you could guess if you were only to put yourself in my position. And Twilight? That is the best way to understand my behaviour. My heart is much the same as yours, and so too are my thoughts. You saved my sister. Imagine the pain of exiling Shining Armor for years on end, surrendering the idea of ever seeing him again. Would you not love whoever set him free? And if they offer you their adoration, see the very best in you, would that not move you? If they saved your home from your enemies, enemies they had never met but would battle for sheer love of you, would you hold a heart of stone?"
Twilight looked up into Celestia's eyes, searching for some sign of falsehood. She found none. It was a moment later that she realized she was tearing up once again, and then she truly and earnestly draped herself around Celestia, crying out a decade of emotions she had never grappled with, and a very painful day's worth of fears that came out to nothing.
Celestia danced on air out of the room. Twilight--her Twilight, sweet, insecure Twilight, finally knew the depth of their bond ran just as far into Celestia's soul as her own. The sight of her collapsing back into a well earned sleep, eyes wet with happy tears and lips pulled back in a full smile swam in her vision. She was only vaguely aware of what she had said to Twilight once they had broken apart, but she knew for very certain that she did not regret it. Nothing could compare with pouring out her heart to her closest and greatest friend, who had filled her life with joy a hundred times over in ways she had not even dreamed possible. She left Twilight to her sleep with her happiness at the forefront of her thoughts. She would make sure that the next time they met, it was on far better terms than ever before.