As the doors closed, Celestia wasn't sure what to expect. DIO had been taught the power of friendship, but he still wasn't all that forgiving. Considering what happened last time, as well as his newfound knowledge of the Equestrian world, it was quite possible that he would go rogue and attempt to kill her again, or perhaps succeed. She wasn't sure which she preferred most, yet she kept attention to whatever he was going to say.
"You've done something good," he said. Celestia showed a tremendous amount of confusion. Was he so morally-deranged that he thought lying to an entire population of equines for thousands of years was good? Did he truly believe they were just animals and that it was okay anyway? Or was she the morally-deranged one for actually having lied to them for all that time?
"What do you mean by that?" the princess asked, voicing confusion in her tone, "how could that be good in any way? I lied to them, I. . .I. . ."
"No," DIO corrected, "You lied and that was wrong. Evil, even. But then, you told the truth. That was good."
The princess lowered her head. This being who came from a world of hatred and warfare was somehow more capable of moral understanding than she was.
"What am I to do?" she asked quietly, "how am I to fix the trust that I've just severed with them? I can't simply make them forget, then go back to lying again for a thousand more years. I can't just—"
"Don't focus on what you can't do," DIO said, "focus on what you can do."
"What would that be?"
"You can lead them again, under truth. You can allow their minds to adapt, slowly withdrawing the power of your stand to allow them to figure things out on their own. Your world will perhaps be more chaotic, there will be conflict, but in the end you will have a race that you can rule without force. A race with loyalty towards you that is genuine."
Celestia thought about that for a moment. She had lied for thousands of years, a bit of conflict is the least she felt she would have to pay for it, but would the three of the Mane six who knew forgive her for it? It didn't matter, she would have to face the consequences regardless.
"You're right," she said, "I can't lie any longer. Equestria must know what has happened, and they must learn from my mistakes, even if it costs me."
DIO smiled.
"But for now, that is not our worry," he said, "we need to take out a threat that is much larger than anything we have ever fought."
Meanwhile, inside, Luna and the others were speaking amongst themselves. Fluttershy was relatively quiet, and Twilight was stuck in thought while Rainbow Dash was battling a small amount of anger towards both princesses. Josuke, being somewhat of a peacekeeping type, decided to offer his say.
"She might have made a mistake," he started, "but maybe that's all she knew. She wasn't a long-living princess all of her life, surely. She had to have made some mistakes, and being so powerful those mistakes would inevitably be massive."
"It's still terrible to think about," Dash retorted, "the princesses we trusted lying to us for that long, to the entire world?"
There was a moment of silence.
"Josuke is right," Fluttershy said, breaking the silence, "they might be princesses, but they're not perfect. It's hard to keep a bunch of ponies like us in order without some kind of power like that."
"That's not the point," Twilight said, looking at both of her closest friends, "it's not like the princesses hid anything from us, and it's not even their fault. It's just the fact that without those abilities, we're just animals. We don't even have the ability to consciously think for ourselves. Was anything true to begin with? Our friendships, our conflicts, our thoughts, our sorrows, our joy. . ."
Tears began to flood Twilight's eyes as she pondered the implications. It was the existential nightmare nopony expected. A harsh reality that stood in the face of everything they believed in. Friendship, magic, harmony. All of it was simulated.
Josuke wasn't sure what to say, as he was not facing the same problem whatsoever. He looked at Jotaro for input, but noticed he was at the window listening. The expression on Jotaro's face was. . .odd. Something Josuke had never seen before. Jotaro was a very calm, and very stern man. He never beat around the bush, and he was straightforward with anything he dealt with. Someone who wasn't afraid to kill a man, either. Had Josuke not dealt with the conflicts he had to with other Stand users, he probably would have felt fear from that fact. Deep down, however, Josuke was capable of that to.
That aside, to see such a ponderous expression on such a man, it confused Josuke. He was almost scared to ask why. Fortunately, he didn't have to, as Jotaro turned around to face him and the equines.
"You're wrong, Twilight," he said bluntly. Twilight looked up at him, wiping her tears away.
"Wh-what?" she uttered.
"From being in this universe, from seeing whatever you taught him," Jotaro said, "DIO, a heartless, menacing vampire who knew nothing but conquest, murder, manipulation, and cruelty. . .has turned into someone more human than I could ever be. Something about this world is more powerful than whatever ability your princesses have. To some point, it wasn't just them making the decisions. It was you."
The insight was very soothing to the equines, as it offered some hope that their lives were not as fake as they had assumed. Shortly after, DIO entered in the room with Celestia. Celestia hadn't a clue what to say to them, thinking they were just as angry as before, but to her surprise she was greeted with a hug from all three of the present element bearers.
"It's okay Celestia," Fluttershy said, "we forgive you, no matter what."
"You're still our princess," Twilight said, "even if you made some mistakes, you still tried to do what was best for us."
"Our friendship is more than stand power," Dash finished, as the three let go. Celestia was still taken aback, with no words to say. DIO gave her a friendly pat on the back.
"Not as hard as you thought," he said, "now lets deal with this threat before it's too late."
The group shortly got back to friendly conversation, getting along once more as if nothing had happened. DIO, while happy that everything had worked out, was still confused by how easily the conflict was resolved. He turned to face Jotaro, who was staring at him. Seeing that he was apart from the crowd, DIO approached him.
"I don't understand it," DIO said, "it's like they have an innate sense of care and compassion that our world lacks."
"Yeah," Jotaro said, "one I thought someone like you could never have."
DIO quirked a brow.
"But it appears I was wrong," Jotaro continued, "maybe you're not innately evil. Maybe it's all you knew, and no one had the time to show you otherwise."
"Are you apologizing?" DIO asked with a smirk. Jotaro frowned.
"We're not there yet," he said with a grunt. DIO laughed, and, strangely enough, Jotaro did as well.
What a bizarre story, but there is still one last fight to be fought. One last test of friendship. While the group were sorting out their differences, and celebrating the unnatural perseverance of friendship against all odds, Lyra was plotting something catastrophic.