//------------------------------//
// 244. Second Chances: Stable by ArguingPizza 
// Story: The Sun and the Stars: A Twilestia Prompt Collab 
// by Fuzzyfurvert 
//------------------------------//


by ArguingPizza


***



The argument with Cadence fresh in her mind, Celestia wandered the halls of Canterlot Castle on autopilot. She cursed herself for snapping at Cadence as she had, and even further for striking her. The blow was not severe, certainly not enough to cause serious physical harm, but she was a Princess of Equestria. It was her duty to be above such petty acts of violence, even if in her heart she felt them entirely justified.

Indeed, while intellectually Celestia disagreed with her actions, her heart begged her to turn around and reduce Cadence to cinders. She wondered how much of the impulse was anger, and how much was jealousy. She vowed not to dwell on it and tried to dismiss the thought, but the execution proved more difficult than she wished.

In seemingly no time at all, Celestia found herself in front of her chamber doors. The door guards, along with most of the Palace staff, were absent, and would be until the next day. She had sent them away for their safety, but now that the immediate danger had passed she elected not to recall them immediately. It would give Twilight a brief grace period before rumors began circulating in full swing, though undoubtedly the process had already begun.

Gently, so as to not wake Twilight if she was still asleep, Celestia cracked open her doors. She pushed them open slowly, avoiding the creek that often annoyed her at the beginning and end of her day.

Inside, she saw Twilight laying on her bed with a book opened across her forelegs. Confident she wasn’t waking her, Celestia pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped inside. Twilight caught her entrance from the corner of her eye and looked up from her book.

“H-hi, Princess,” she croaked. Celestia winced internally at the sound of Twilight’s voice, which was hoarse from dehydration, crying, and yelling.

With a gentle smile, Celestia filled a glass from her chilled water cooler and levitated it over to her. Twilight accepted the water with a grateful smile and emptied it eagerly. Celestia refilled it and climbed up beside her on the bed. Twilight leaned against her side and tried to push the book aside, but before she could Celestia managed to catch a glance.

“A photo album?” she asked, unable to mask her surprise.

Twilight looked down at the open book, the current page showing a collection of photographs of her and Cadence together at her parent’s house, enjoying a summer cookout. Both of them were wearing wide grins. The last picture on the page showed the two of them sitting against one another as they watched the annual Canterlot fireworks display.

Celestia glanced at Twilight and saw her wearing a bittersweet smile. Fresh tears were gathering in her eyes, and she held back a sniffle. Carefully, to not seem as if she was forcing Twilight’s hoof, Celestia reached over and quietly closed the album. Twilight offered no resistance, even pressing even further against her.

For what seemed like hours, Twilight was quiet, seemingly lost in her own head. Twilight had not yet had time to truly process everything that had happened to her. She had gone from heartbreak, to rage, back to heartbreak until collapsing from exhaustion. There simply hadn’t been time to sit and think.

“She’s asked to see you,” Celestia said eventually, breaking the silence. She felt Twilight tense against her side.

In a tense, careful tone Twilight asked, “What did you tell her?”

For a moment, Celestia felt a pang of hurt at the suspicion and guardedness in Twilight’s question. She understood the reason, Twilight had few ponies left to turn to, and had just been betrayed by the pony closest to her heart. It hurt all the same.

“I told her that she had no right to make demands, and that you would see her if an when you chose. Not a moment sooner.” Celestia coughed and looked down at her hooves. “Then I…may have slapped her and stormed off.”

Twilight started and whipped her head around. Her mouth hung open with disbelief, and Celestia’s cheeks reddened at her admission. An entire lifetime of instruction on how to handle conflict, on how physical violence was to be abhorred unless absolutely necessary, and how to control her emotions thrown out the window in a single sentence. It was one of the more shameful and embarrassing confessions of Celestia’s life.

And then, Twilight laughed.

It started as a single chuckle, and quickly rose to a fit of giggles. In seconds Twilight consumed by deep, wild laughter. The seed of a smile took root and blossomed on Celestia’s face as well, and it was not long before both of them were rolling across her bed, holding their aching sides and helpless as they were blinded by mirthful tears. Celestia’s laugh hitched when she tumbled off the bed, having forgotten in the midst of her fit where exactly the massive mattress ended. The inevitable result was an instant redoubling of their tittering as they laughed at their own absurdity: two Equestrian Princesses unable to even lay on a bed properly for their own giggles.

Slowly, as a fire in the night, their guffaws subsided. On shaky, unsteady limbs Celestia clawed her way back onto her bed, falling limp beside Twilight. Once again they leaned against each other, though this time more for lack of energy to move than any sense of comfort. As the embers of their laughter cooled, occasionally stoked by a single giggle or chuckle, the heavy cloud of reality returned.

“What will you do now?” Celestia eventually asked, when her curiosity at last overwhelmed her urge to simply bask in the afterglow of their shared laughter.

Twilight stared at her ceiling, contemplating the cards life had dealt her, both the good and the bad.

“I think,” she began at last, with Celestia paying rapt attention, “I think I’d like to go home.”