//------------------------------// // 75. Because by Knight of Cerebus // Story: The Sun and the Stars: A Twilestia Prompt Collab // by Fuzzyfurvert //------------------------------// by Knight of Cerebus *** Twilight looked at her hooves again. Celestia bit her lip. They were close enough that the thunder of Twilight's heart against her ribs was audible, but far enough away that the urge to embrace her confessed love was fought off by the fear that said beloved would cower from the touch. "For how long?" Twilight asked, her voice coming out in a strangled yelp-squeak that made Celestia internally cringe. Despite this, the Princess answered with her trademark serenity. "Since Chrysalis, I think. It had been a long time since anypony had held me that tightly, and it was..." Celestia gave a blush at this. "It certainly made the situation far less to shoulder for me. I must confess I spent a good deal of time in that abominable cocoon contrasting its embrace with your hooves." She suppressed a chuckle at the blush that spread on the unicorn's cheeks at that. "But, but why?" Celestia saw the terror in Twilight's eyes, and her heart wilted. Despite herself, she stood from her cushion. Twilight's face fell with that, and so Celestia looked at her for a moment. "I'm sorry, Twilight. It was terribly selfish of me to impose these...feelings upon you. I merely wished to share them that you might understand when you asked why I have withheld contact from you recently. I must confess that it was in fear of this very conversation." Celestia closed her eyes, fully expecting what came next to be the last thing she would ever say to her pupil. "You may go." "I...Princess? Are you okay?" A very bland, very wise and very motherly smile met Twilight's shining eyes. "I'm always okay, Twilight." This was met with silence. To her surprise, Twilight didn't slink back or turn away. Instead, she looked at her hooves again. "It's not...look, I...I just...okay. This is...You never answered my question, you know." Celestia folded her legs, returning to her seat. "Do you want to hear it?" "Yes!" The words escaped Twilight's throat as if breaking from an iceberg, crackling and rough in their tumbling eviction. "I-I. I need to." She squeezed her eyes shut, cringing as she did so. The last words came out as a haunted whisper "Because I don't, I don't believe you." She looked up at Celestia, her eyes trembling under the strain to keep herself dignified in the face of her new reality. "Is this another test? Do-do you want me to say no?" Celestia's eyes softened. "Do you love me, Twilight?" Twilight squeezed her eyes shut. If this was a test, it was the cruelest that Celestia had ever given her. "Yes! I've loved you since the first day I met you! I've wanted to be more than just your student half my life. You make me happier than any other thing or pony in the world." The words came tumbling from her mouth, a cascade of anguish. She glared up at her tormentor, angry tears running from her face. "There! Are you happy now!? You can fail me now. Now that you k-know just h-how sick I really--" Her outburst was cut short by the sensation of her face being pressed into her mentor's chest. Her eyes widened, then closed as she felt a light kiss ghost across her scalp. Powerful wings swung around her, supporting and massaging her back. A light muzzle, wet with tears now, pressed itself against the other mare's shoulder. Twilight gave in, her sobs breaking into laughter as her mind at last let go of the paranoia and doubt and gave in to the happy reality. "Oh, Twilight. My dearest Twilight. You asked me why I loved you. I can only answer that I could never do anything but."