Almost a week later, a guard pony informed her of guests in the gardens. She hadn’t heard from any of her friends, and she had expected that she’d ruined everything, but there they were, all stood there smiling at her. It was Applejack that spoke first: “We love you too.”
Twilight had spent the year leading up to her departure struggling with feelings towards her friends that she didn’t quite know what to do with. She theorised that it was just something to do with their connection through the Elements, plus Pinkie Pie had come out as poly-amorous so it had been on her mind, that’s all. But then it didn’t go away, and she was about to. She had been so frightened of losing them that Spike had to work overtime on keep her calm and organised.
After she had confessed, everyone had been hit with quite a lot of confusion. They spent most of the day discussing it, and how they would respond. The first conclusion they came to was that they didn’t want to cut her off, whatever they came to she would be their best friend. And a couple days later they came to the conclusion that they cared for her, loved her in one way or another, and that they wanted to try.
And try they did.
Rainbow Dash was the first to officially move into the castle with Twilight. She was already in Canterlot a lot for Wonderbolt’s performances, as almost every event required them, either that or Cloudsdale for training, it just seemed sensible. Eventually she had left so much of her stuff in the Castle that she only had furniture to move out of her home in Ponyville.
After that was Rarity. Sweetie Belle had gone off to uni and her boutique seemed too empty for her. Under the disguise of wanting to spend more time in the heart of Equestria, she moved her stuff in.
Pinkie Pie followed almost immediately. No excuses, she just wanted to be with her girlfriends. She had the most stuff to move over due to her emptying out her party planning room.
Applejack took some time to move in, not wanting to leave Sweet Apple Acres or her family, but after some bullying and the news that both Twilight and Pinkie Pie had become pregnant within a couple of months of each other. She realised that this too was her family, and one that needed her more than her adult siblings.
Fluttershy had the most anxiety about leaving her Animal Sanctuary, but her two volunteers (Kettle Corn and Sandbar) had her firmly assured that they would be fine taking care of the daily needs of the animals. Even with the reassurance she was hesitant, but when Pinkie became ill while pregnant with Blueberry she dropped all her anxieties and got on the first train.
They all got married after Scattered Light was born.