"I think... I think we made a mistake."
Celestia, mercifully, had broken the ice. Nothing is worse than sitting awkwardly in the same room as a significant other that you've recently had a fight with, both silent. Then again, nothing was harder than breaking that silence...
Twilight shook her head, clearing her thoughts. A mistake. The relationship was a mistake.
Well, her heart was broken anyway. A bit more damage couldn't really do that much, could it?
"I- It went too fast. We were both so excited that we... Jumped in, and, uh..."
Celestia's voice died. Articulating this was a herculean feat, seemingly infinitely difficult. Raising the sun was easier.
"I understand."
Twilight's voice was near silence, thickly spoken behind a wall of suppressed tears.
"So... Back to student-teacher? Or should we just split?" Twilight asked.
Celestia was startled. That wasn't what she meant at all.
"No! No, a thousand times no. I just... The mistake was the speed at which we undertook this, not the journey itself."
Twilight's eyes widened. She hadn't meant--
The singing of her heart was drowned out by doubt. She had jumped to the breakup conclusion a bit fast. What if Celestia thought...
"But, if you want to... Uh- Break-"
Celestia stopped talking, looking down at the floor. Her eyes were tightly shut, trying to keep a thousand emotions in.
"No!"
Twilight's voice was loud now, unsuppressed.
"No, I- That's the absolute last thing I want."
Celestia looked up. For a moment, their eyes met.
"You'll stay?"
"I- Yes. Yes, of course. I wouldn't want anything else."
"Even if we do... Take things a bit slower?"
"I- Yes. Please. Yes."
Celestia blinked. This was going much better than expected. Maybe Luna had been right when she screamed (multiple times) to "Just talk to her!"
"But- I thought you were angry at the fact that it was still... y'know... Secret."
So, of course, her stupid mouth had to go and ruin it. Now the fight would start again, and they would separate, and that horrible feeling of-
"I was angry. But not... Not angry enough to get rid of this. Get rid of, uh... Us, I guess."
Twilight shuffled her legs awkwardly. This wasn't something either of them were experienced at.
After several seconds of silence, Celestia spoke again. "Do you still want to talk about it?"
Twilight paused, considered the question, and nodded.
"Alright. Now?"
"Might as well get it over with."
Celestia nodded in return. Now Twilight had the floor. Hopefully this conversation went as well as the last...
"I just... I don't want to keep running. I want to let the world know that we're together, because, I, uh, I guess I just... I love you so much, and I hate having to hide it. You are far too amazing and wonderful, too..."
Twilight shook her head.
"I can't hide this."
Celestia remained silent. She was afraid of what being in a relationship would do to her public image. She was worried about panic, and riots, and ponies whispering things about her... But, then again, she had no reason to believe this would happen. She had just assumed it would be so, assumed that things would end badly.
But... Why? Why would she assume that?
She was afraid to tell people. But maybe it wasn't their reactions. Maybe it was internal, not external, some fear of... Judgement? That was obviously a part of it, but it still felt like an excuse.
Maybe it was something to do with the future. If everypony knew, then it would be more public. Harder to handle. Less... Simple. Simplicity was good.
But it wasn't how things worked. She couldn't just lock the doors, continue with Twilight in secret. Her friends were probably already starting to wonder why she was gone so much. If they didn't figure it out, they would probably assume Twilight cared less for them, and turn their thoughts away. It certainly wouldn't have any good effects.
"I'm just... I'm scared, Twilight."
Twilight took a step towards the white alicorn, bringing their faces within inches. She nuzzled up against her neck, and Celestia could feel her warmth. It was comforting.
"I'm... I'm afraid too. My parents, and my friends, and my brother... They're not as scary as the whole world, of course, but they do frighten me. But I- I know we need to face it eventually. And I know that we won't lose our faith in each other, even if... Even if external forces act upon us."
"We certainly let this fight affect us..." Celestia murmured, her voice not angry, but uncertain.
"Yes, but- Well, we're fine now, right?"
"Right."
Silence ruled the room for a few seconds.
"You- You're right," Celestia began, "We need to tell people. Not the world at first, just... Just the people we care about. Your parents, friends... Then, after some time, we can announce whatever this is. Better than a reporter finding out, right?"
"Thank you," Twilight softly spoke.
Celestia slowly sat down on the floor, Twilight following her, still close together.
Both of them felt ecstatic, amazing at a level they hadn't previously thought possible. They were back together. It was the kind of feeling that songs are written about, ballads performed in honor of, immortalized in the words of thousands of poets.
But the purest expression of it was just them, together, on the palace floor. Not kissing, not talking, not anything obvious. Just them, together at last.
* * *
Luna drew the cup away from the door.
Technically, it was wrong to spy on her sister. That was a private moment. But, considering how stupid their last fight had been, she felt like they needed some insurance.
So, they were back together. Thank the gods. If they had actually broken up Luna would have probably cried almost as much as Celestia. Now all they had to do was tell the world.
Hopefully, that would go as well as their talk did...