Twilight was up early the next morning, just before dawn, making her way over to Princess Celestia’s castle. She had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, staying up the whole night thinking about just what she was about to do the previous day. There was no way she could get around it. She screwed up. More than screwed up. She might have killed somepony who might not have deserved it. She almost guiltily hoped he would be trying to escape now, just to have confirmation that she truly made the right decision. Actually, no. Even if Sombra were taking over Canterlot as she walked, it still wouldn’t have made her decision right. He would still have deserved a chance to prove his claim true.
She spent the night thinking, trying to figure out how to handle what she was about to do to the stallion, but came up empty. There was not much she could do, except perhaps apologize. However, she wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t forgive her. Or any of her friends for that matter, save for Fluttershy. She wouldn't be surprised if Fluttershy didn't forgive her.
But she wasn’t walking towards Canterlot to apologize quite yet. She would try and do that later, after she thought about what she wanted to say to him. Right now, she was going to meet the princess to discuss her future. She had originally wanted to send a letter to her, but felt it would be better to say what she needed to tell her in person.
Before long, she was walking up to the castle where the two sisters lived, watching as one slowly raised the sun and the other slowly lowered the moon. The Princess of Friendship watched them silently for a little while, before the white alicorn greeted her.
“Good morning, Twilight Sparkle,” she told her, keeping her focus on the sun. “I can sense you’re feeling tired. I apologize for forgetting to lower the sun last night.”
“I am,” the purple mare told her, rubbing her eyes with a hoof, "but that's not the reason why."
“Is it about what happened yesterday in the Crystal Empire?”
She sighed. “Yes,” she admitted. “I actually wanted to talk to you about that.”
“What is it?” Celestia asked, turning toward her former student, having just finished her sunrise.
"Um, how is he doing?" she asked her tentatively, finding herself still hoping he was trying to do something.
Celestia gave her a calm expression. "He is currently securely under our guard in the castle."
"Has he tried to escape?"
She paused at that, debating how much to tell Twilight, then answered, "He hasn't yet tried to make a move, and is continuing to say he isn't himself."
"Oh..."
"Is something wrong?" she asked her quizzically.
"No," her student said quickly. "Of course not. It's good that he hasn't tried anything, right?"
"Yes, it is," she said in faux agreement. "Was that all you came here to ask?"
"Um," Twilight started, slightly nervous, "I actually came to tell you..."
"Yes?" she asked curiously, tilting her head slightly.
The purple princess sighed. “Well,” she started, “I don’t think I want to be the ruler of Equestria anymore.”
Celestia gave her a confused look. “Why do you say that?” she asked, concerned.
“Well, you put the choice about what to do with Sombra in my hooves, and I screwed it up. I made a choice that might have killed some creature just looking for a second chance. Or even worse, some creature who might have done nothing at all.”
Twilight could see the concern her former teacher had for her, but none of the hate she held for the pony staying in her castle. Regardless of whether or not the creature in her castle was Sombra or not, at the very least, he was making her look like a bitter fool in front of her sister, and hurting her former student’s psyche. If he was Sombra, however, he was lying to her and taking advantage of her, even after he…
“Twilight,” the alicorn tried to tell her as she watched her student start to cry, “everypony makes mistakes-”
“This wasn’t just some mistake! I nearly let some creature die for what might have been no reason! Even if that still is Sombra, even if he is still evil, I should have listened to him! He was so afraid of me!”
Celestia looked at Twilight sadly, giving her a moment to calm down. Once she did, she told her, “I know it was a tough choice, and I will admit, I would have made the same choice as you. However, that is why you have your friends to help guide you, just as I do my sister. Nopony can rule alone. Not even I was able to when my sister was gone. I don’t rule alone, and neither shall you.”
The princess thought about that. What she said might have been true. Celestia had Luna. Cadance had her brother, Shining Armor. And she would have her friends. No one pony could possibly make every decision, which was why you needed others to help you, just like Fluttershy did for her. But still…
“There will be other difficult decisions, but your friends will always be there to help you and guide you. Just as they will always be able to count on you, you’ll always be able to count on them to help you when you’re faced with a difficult decision.”
Celestia gave her a smile as Twilight thought about what she was told. Everything her former teacher told her was true. Her friends would always be there to help her. No matter how badly she messed up, her friends would always see to it that no innocent creature saw harm.
“I understand,” Twilight said.
“I’m glad,” Celestia beamed.
“But I still wouldn’t like to be ruler anymore.”
Celestia’s smile quickly turned into a frown at that. “Oh,” she said sadly, wrapping a hoof around Twilight. “I’m sorry he’s made you feel that way.”
Luna looked on, having finished lowering the moon, casting an expression of disdain and frustration at both what her sister was telling the princess and what she had done to her.