Twilight took a deep breath in, she had spent time recovering with her family. Mending the relationship she had broken, it went very well. Then she had spent time with her friends, installing a sort of group therapy in addition to repairing their friendship. Once a week they grabbed a bottle of wine, sat in a circle, and talked about what they wanted to. No pony was allowed to speak until they were done. Nothing was unimportant, nothing was too small of an issue. The wine helped it to be less awkward overall. Twilight was hoping to get Discord and Sombra in on that action but not today. Twilight took another breath, today she was seeing Celestia who allowed her to recover, and rebuild her relationships but who she had not yet conversed with, just sending letters to her.
So she was very nervous as she approached the throne room doors that she had passed through so many times before. She remembered what her doctor had told her and breathed, if Celestia was that angry with her she would have done something already. She was most likely not angry, but Twilight still expected some form of punishment. Maybe a demotion, could you even un-alicorn a pony? Well, it didn't matter to Twilight, she believed that she shouldn't be ruling anyway, so maybe it would be for the best. Twilight slowly pushed open the throne doors to see Celestia and Luna sitting on the floor with.....Starlight?
"Hello, Twilight," Celestia said she looked upon a creature she called her daughter in her head so many times, if she only said it out loud. "I see you're doing better."
"Much, thank you," Twilight confirmed as she sat down on the floor. The two rulers looked tired, concerned. Twilight took another breath, everything would be alright, hopefully, maybe. "I don't think I should rule anymore Celestia. I don't deserve it after what I did. I'm just not fit to rule, I don't think I was ever meant to."
"Twilight, you are going to rule," Celestia stated before being interrupted.
"but-"
"Twilight, I got your letter. I know you have some doubts and you wish to resign. I even got your paperwork, but I threw it away. I have seen you as my daughter ever since you started magic school. I still believe in you. I believe you have the power to one day rule this country. This is the main reason I still insist on you ruling Twilight, but I have to be completely honest with you, Twilight, Luna and I don't have any backup plans for our retirement. Twilight, it is with a heavy heart that I tell you something that is to never leave this room. I'm starting to resent the people I rule. I get treated as a goddess day in and day out. I expect you to understand the pressure of creatures assuming and hoping for you to be perfect, a goddess. I don't want feel this way about ponies I care about, but ruling has taken its toll on me. I can't keep going, for the good of my people, even though I desperately wish to stay and rule myself. Sometimes Twilight, you have to do things that you don't want to, or that hurt you. For the good of the ones you love. You're going to have to rule but you don't have to rule alone."
"You may have noticed we brought Starlight, after a lot of discussions we decided on a plan. Luna and I are switching places, we don't know how long for. We don't know what it'll do. No one has ever sported a cutie mark of another pony for long periods of time. Which is why Starlight will only flip ours back when needed. That way she can still be the new head mare of the School of Friendship. I still get rule, get the break I need and hopefully I fall from the pedestal that I have been put on. I'm still responsible for my people in a way that won't make me miserable or worse. This will make sure my resentment doesn't come out on any creature, my biggest fear. Luna gets to rule full time instead of part-time, something she always wanted to do, but she has to leave the dream world. Something I know she doesn't want to do. You will rule which is something I know you don't want to, but it is alongside many creatures who love you. It won't be alone which I know you want, this is the best compromise we could come to."
"Twilight Sparkle thou are a strong mare a real ruler learns from their mistakes and improves the lives around them. That's what it means to rule. Something thy do all the time and continue to do. Just look at all thy have done since thy experience." Luna said, stopping her silence.
"But what if-" Twilight said before Luna interrupted her.
"When we stepped up we were nervous too, who knew how it was going to go. It didn't go perfectly. I turned evil, my sister had to rule both day and night. She didn't want to, but she did, for her ponies, for her friends, for her family. We can't promise thou rule will be perfect, but it will at the very least be better than ours. We believe that from thy very core. If we are wrong and thou mess up. Thou have thy friends to help catch thou and we promise. We pinkie pie promise that if this gets to be too much and thou can't handle it. We'll think of something else. We're asking that with thy new-found knowledge thou compromise with us Twilight, please. For us, for thy friends, for equestria."
Twilight breathed in and out, she wasn't the only one who had to do something she didn't want to. So she thought about it, if she did fall, her friends were there and her family promised they would find something else. More importantly, they promised to catch her. All she had to do was give it another shot, until a different plan could be formed. She had to rule, for now, but now wasn't forever. "I love you, I love my friends, I love my country. For the good of them all, I'll give it another shot. I will rule but only until we find a different pony to take my place."
"That is fair, thank you Twilight. I promise we will think of something." Celestia said, but she had no idea what that something was. Twilight went through years of training, and Celestia still believed she could do it, she could do this. Responsibly is something you have to take, whether you liked it or not. It comes at you hard, fast, and unexpected. Celestia understood this and who knows maybe one day, Twilight would come around to the idea. Regardless if she did or not she would have to be a princess, that was something that she could not avoid.