//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8 
// Story: Perihelion 
// by InTheStands 
//------------------------------//

	Comet Tail started to breathe heavier than usual after running so far and so fast. He paused to look around and get his bearings. He was certain Twilight ran through here. He just hoped he could get to her before she ran off into the Everfree Forest, or do something else irrational.
Suddenly, he heard it. His ears perked up, searching for the source of the sound. He followed it until it grew slightly louder and louder. Finally, and to his relief, he found her.
She was on a bridge, sitting and watching the moon. At the angle he was viewing her at, her back was turned to him. She was still crying, though not as loud as her sobbing at the library. He hesitated before taking several more steps further.
Twilight gasped, hearing the hoofsteps. She turned sharply to see her unwanted visitor. In the soft moonlight glow, Comet could see the wet lines where the tears fell. She quickly realized he wasn't going to leave easily, so she shook her head and looked back to the moon.
"Why are you still looking for me?" Twilight finally asked. "After what I've done to you...all you did to apologize..."
"Twilight, please," Comet Tail tried to get her to stop, but it proved fruitless. She wiped her face with a hoof.
"I should've read the letter. I should've been more open-minded. Instead I just tossed half of your apology into the fire and the rest onto Spike's dessert plate."
Comet sighed. Silence fell between them for a moment until he spoke up, walking towards her as he did. "It could've been another insult, for all you knew. If it wasn't my gift, it could've been another foal who actually meant to hurt your feelings."
Twilight turned to him again. She realized he was now on the bridge with her. She stared into his sky blue eyes, noticing the concern radiating from them. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why did you do all of this? Going so far out of your way just to apologize to me?"
Comet gulped. He knew this question would arise. "Because I knew you deserved it. After all we did to you, one of us had to stand up and say 'sorry'." He went quiet as he thought out his next sentences. "And, to be honest? I saw a bit of myself in you. How you were all by yourself in school. How ponies picked on you for no good reason other than you being different."
Twilight stared at him as he spoke, then flatly asked, "There was more to it, wasn't there?"
Comet grew nervous at this point. "I, uh...I...guess wanting to apologize wasn't the only reason you were all I could think of. It's just...all the other fillies seemed to be dumb as rocks compared to you. And maybe once I could have made you laugh instead of cry." He looked down at the wood of the bridge before looking up to her, a bashful smile forming. "You were...kind of pretty. And you still are. I thought...maybe...we could've been together."
Twilight gasped slightly, stepping back. "Is...is that what it was about? You...you wanted to be my...coltfriend?"
Comet frowned, looking down again. "I had a bit of hope. But I started admitting to myself how you being with me would be like a snowball lasting a second in Tartarus." He chuckled. "Even if I did find you, and wanted to see how it worked out, I honestly wouldn't have held it against you if you kicked me in the face for what I did."
Twilight shook her head slightly, watching as he continued to stare down at the bridge. She inched closer to him, her movements forcing him to look up at her. She looked at him for a moment before smiling. "I guess we both screwed up, huh?"
Comet Tail smiled back at her. "Yeah, looks like it."
All of a sudden, Comet Tail's horn began to glow its usual green aura. Twilight gasped at the sudden flash of magic, while Comet turned up to the sky and darted his head this way and that. He let an open-mouted smile appear on his face as he pointed with a hoof. "LOOK!"
Twilight was amazed. It was the brightest comet she had ever seen. The actual meteor was rather tiny, but the tail was absolutely brilliant, giving off the whitest light. She looked to Comet. "Your talent...Rarity can detect gems. You can...detect astronomic phenomena?"
Comet nodded. "Only if I don't know about them beforehoof. That's why you didn't see me glow when we met at the meteor shower."
Twilight slowly smiled at him. "When we met AGAIN, you mean."
He turned back to her, his brow furrowed. She walked up even closer to him until they were at least four inches apart. She sighed. "You spent so long just to apologize to me. Not only did I wave it off as an insult, but I kept waving you off whenever you tried to explain." She frowned. "Do you still want to...?"
"Try?" Comet finished her question. She nodded, looking at him nervously. She knew it was now up to him if he still wanted to try a relationship. But she expected to dismiss her, like she had done him. To her shock, this wasn't the case. He smiled, and answered, "Yes."
"...Really?" Twilight asked. "After what I put you through?"
"I put you through worse. Instead of going my own way, I fell in with bad apples and tagged along just to feel like I had friends. I just sat like a dog and took orders. I missed those opportunities to make you happy." They found themselves looking into each other's eyes as he said, "But now I'm not missing a single one again."
She tried to fight back the returning tears, but she couldn't. She let her heart do her thinking now, and wrapped her forelegs around the sulfur-yellow unicorn stallion. Feeling his eyes growing misty himself, he returned the gesture. He waited so long to able to hug the book-smart unicorn.
And the wait was absolutely worth it.
Breaking away from the hug, they looked into each other's eyes again before turning to watch the comet. All the while, a group of eight figures watched in the distance.
"Now ain't that a beautiful sight," Applejack muttered. Pinkie Pie was close to crying a fountain, while Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity simply watched with a 'that's so sweet' look on their faces.
Shining looked to his wife. "Don't you think Twilight will find out? She's known you long enough."
Cadance simply smiled and shook her head. "It won't matter anyway. My powers don't create love, remember? They only amplify the love that already exists. I only sped up the process."
"Okay..." Dash nodded. "That still doesn't explain the comet."
"That's why Spike and I were the last to leave the library," The pink alicorn looked down at the dragon. "I had a request sent by rush delivery."
Shining simply hugged her in return. "You're something else, Cadance. I honestly haven't seen her this happy since we were married."
She smirked at him. "After all she's done for us? You can't tell me she doesn't deserve it."
The eight of them looked at the two unicorns on the bridge, one leaning against the other, before the group turned to return to the library, deciding it would be best to leave them alone.
Twilight would certainly be filling them in on the details when she got back. And they would give her their unidivided attention.