//------------------------------//
// Parting of One 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

Twilight felt she wasn't needed there anymore, and yet she didn't feel it in herself to walk away. She just sat down, dismissing Sunburst with a nod, quietly implying that she'd rather not be swarmed by all the others.
"Is it over?" Fluttershy asked to the stallion as he approached the group, peeking out from behind Celestia.
Sunburst stopped his step and hesitated, then he nodded quietly. "It is. We'll have to keep everyone inside and without magic a little longer, but it is." As he spoke, a kind of resignation settled on his face, his gaze distant for a moment. He walked away, followed shortly after by Starlight and Trixie.
His words untied the tension that was knotting the room, and who more who less all those present relaxed to a degree. Some began to head away, others sat there, wanting to know more but not wanting to intrude. Celestia began to approach Twilight, but she slowed her step slightly to allow another to precede her there.
Pinkie stood at Twilight's side a moment later, more preoccupied with extracting her possession from the hole in the wall than with looking at her friend. "I didn't even get to give her a cake," she muttered quietly, as she finally pulled the cannon back into the hallway. She stared at the squared opening left on the wall, and wondered if she should do anything to fix it. She decided she'd worry about it later, if it didn't fix itself. Finally she turned to Twilight, and slowly raised a hoof to rest on the alicorn's shoulder. "I'll be around if you need me," she said, then she left, hauling her cannon along the way.
The hallway had emptied at that point. Those few who had questions had figured it would he too awkward to stick around so long, and they could just ask them later. As Pinkie walked out a door and closed it behind herself, only Twilight and Celestia were left there, the latter slowly approaching the former and then sitting down at her side.
Silence stretched for close to a minute, and it ended when Twilight leaned to the side into Celestia's body. "I should not be resting here," she said. "I should not be resting at all," she added.
"You just went through a battle. You're owed a little rest." Celestia stretched out her wing, sliding it out from beneath Twilight and then draping it around the mare. "Especially after one like this."
"The ponies will want answers."
"They'll have them. In due time."
"Their suffering isn't worth the lack of my own."
"It is only mild."
"It is a bad habit."
"You should get used to wearing those on occasion. The work of a princess calls for it from time to time. Formalities can be a pain."
"No amount of overseeing meetings and balls will bring back a city. No amount of work will bring back a life."
"You did your best. We'll have to live with it."