Twilight, Celestia and Luna were sitting around a large round table. Celestia had called for a large afternoon tea set and was inhaling some cake. Luna was eating a small brownie. But Twilight only had tea, she was busy looking out the window. She did not have food on her mind. No her time at Celestium and Lunarium were on her mind.
All this time, Twilight was busy focusing on cooking in an attempt to get away from the mistake that she made all those years ago. Today was different. Today she only had the disaster on her mind. She was preparing herself for the information bomb that was Celestia. And for the inevitable loss of her career.
However Twilight didn't care about her career. Regardless of the end result of Celestia's speech, Twilight would continue to cook, with or without a proper career. Ponies would get some closure and she too would get some closure. Right now it feels as if Twilight has anvils on her back, but soon she will be freed of this lying prison.
Celestia and Luna looked at Twilight with a sad smile. They knew that Twilight wouldn't be able to get away from the truth, they just wished that they never started this. All of this happened because Celestia wanted Twilight to be her personal student. And in Luna's case, she wanted her big sister back. Never did they think that their attempts to bring in the prosperous future would be this heart breaking.
But just like their mother always said, "Every action has a proper reaction. Whether good or bad, it is always meant to happen. By either fate or destiny. Someone's future is always on the line." their mother said.
'In this case, it would be Twilight's future.' Celestia thought disappointed.
"So, when is the proper truth speech?" Twilight asked.
"In a few hours. I am still formulating in my head about the things I am about to say." Celestia admitted.
"Yes. And to honor the truth. Me and my sister are both going to level the sun in the sky. And using my magic I am also going to project her face all over Equestria." Luna explained.
"Please let me be on stage. I may not talk about anything. I am just going to stand witness of the truth." Twilight asked.
"Very well." Celestia said nodding.
"That is fine, Twilight." Luna said smiling, "No time like the present to speak a proper truth."
"And to go full circle." Twilight added.
"Exactly. Twilight, do me a favor and dress up in all black. After you are done, go on stage and just stand in place. No moving in honor of the dead," Celestia instructs.
Twilight nodded, "Well I am off. See you on stage." she said. Her face has become totally neutral without even a single emotion on it. She placed a mental mask on her face. As she dresses up in all black after dressing up, she walked onto the stage and stood on the right side of the podium. She noticed some ponies waving at her, she didn't respond. Not even batting an eye at their waves. Much to the confusion of those standing close to the podium
"The truth will be revealed in an hour!" Twilight boomed in a professional and monotone voice.
After an hour passed, an empty hologram appeared above the podium. And both the sun and moon stood next to each other on the horizon. The ponies knew that something big was going to explained. Big enough that both monarchs were going to stand on stage. They saw as Twilight's eyes was turned off-stage and as she did a small nod.
Then in black clothing, both Celestia and Luna walked on stage. Their regalia all but forgotten. Luna lit her horn and the hologram turned into Celestia. Celestia walked up to the microphone and awaited for everything to be ready. Luna turned on the lights and turned on the speakers on every hologram across Equestria. There was one in Manehattan, Ponyville, Appleloosa and Canterlot.
"Everything is set." Twilight said in a monotone voice.
Celestia nodded at Twilight as the hologram copied her motion.
"A few years ago, on this very day. A massive disaster rocked the foundations of Canterlot." Celestia boomed in a sad tone.
"A disaster so big it killed thousands. And injured millions." Luna added in a sad tone.
"This much is known thus far. But who was behind this?" Celestia asked.
"Many factors. Or so we said." Luna admitted.
"The truth? Two ponies. And a single accident." Celestia admitted. She saw as the crowd near the podium gasped.
"First what is the accident? Well the first pony casted a powerful magic bolt spell that was bound to gravity due to the lack of skill of the caster. The second spell caster casted a spell that warped gravity. They stood too close to each other. With the initial spell being half way down the spell casting range, the second spell's gravity side of the spell activated." Luna explained.
"This caused the spell to veer off the initial target in towards the slums. But the second spell was still attached to the first spell. The second spell also contained a distortion side of it. Distorting the initial spell making it faster and it's power increase." Celestia added to the explanation.
"The following thing the happened was utter destruction and chaos. The spell slammed into the slums and into a massive explosion. And with the lack of good construction, many slum houses were destroyed or fell into themself. Trapping thousands." Luna explained. The recollection of it all, shocked Equestria.
"After the explosion happened. Me and thousands of guards and civilians attempted to do the biggest rescue known to Equestria. Sadly many died regardless. I counted a total of 500 thousand deaths and double that amount in injured. Crippling every graveyard and hospital known to Canterlot. We had to go into a state of total emergency and had to also summon the Cloudsdale rescue wing. The largest rescue group in the world." Celestia explained as small tear was released from her eye.
Twilight inspected the crowd. They were shocked and deadly silent. It was clear that the princesses also suffered, but Canterlot suffered perhaps even more. Diplomats from around the world were shocked at the revelation. As the world looked down upon this disaster, they didn't realize that this was one of the most deadliest pony made disaster on the planet. If not the deadliest. That they looked down upon.
"In the end. Thanks to the help of my dear friend, Twilight Sparkle. And the inhabitant of Canterlot to reconstruct and improve the slums to their current looking state." Celestia ended.
"However." Twilight boomed from behind. Causing Celestia to look sad at her.
"That is not all there is to it." Twilight boomed.
"Exactly. We now know what truly happened. But the two ponies behind this are true criminals right?" Luna asked the world.
Twilight was about to nod when Celestia cut her off.
"Wrong. Like we stated before. This was a disaster that was avoidable. Yet why did it truly happen?" Celestia asked the world.
"It's simple. We never thought a disaster of this scale was going to be possible in current times." Luna answered.
"On top of that. The duo ponies that were behind is, Pride Keeper, our previous captain of the guard and Twilight Sparkle. The one that is standing behind us right now." Celestia boomed, she was crying that she spoke the truth.
"But at the time. Twilight Sparkle was a six year old child. A filly. Would you dare call a child a murderer?" Luna asked the crowd.
"To begin with, there was nothing inherently wrong with the spell the child casted. Only due to Pride standing too close and her lack of control thanks to her age caused this disaster." Celestia added for good measure.
"At the same time. We never made any official rules about standing too close to each other, when using ring magic." Luna added.
"If you can blame anyone, then blame the many factors that caused this. Lack of control, standing too close, young age, lack of rules and the fact that a child was standing on the training ground meant for guards and adults. These are those factors. We decided that Twilight is too young to be called a murderer, especially since she took this extra hard. Pride Keeper already stepped down, but he did nothing inherently wrong here. He also helped the thousands of injured at the disaster scene." Celestia decided.
"Instead of focusing on how it happened. We focused on how to prevent it. We now have made all the training facilities meant for guards, off-limits to anyone that isn't a guard. We created rules to not allow anyone to cast too close to each other. Circle magic can now only be taught at the age of ten. And finally we are teaching and training anyone in the art of rescuing another and surviving a deadly encounter." Luna explained.
"We have decided to drop all the actions of Twilight Sparkle and Pride Keeper in favor of improving the future instead. These two ponies are determined to help anyone in that is in pain. After Pride discovered the truth, he has become a doctor in an attempt to heal those he wronged. And Twilight has decided to cook to try and bring a smile upon those she has wronged. They haven't forgotten, nor should they." Celestia finished with a smile.
"Instead, they choose to improve the future. This disaster has taught us many things. We will continue to improve and prevent another disaster of such a kind. All we ask you, is to forgive these two ponies. They can't bring back the dead, all they can do, is to change their route and hope and pray to every gravestone that we had to build for the deaths. We are sorry." Luna also finishes.
Twilight in the background was having trouble keeping herself from crying. The truth has been revealed. Now it is only a matter of time until she will lose her career. Or so she thought. Twilight looked over to the crowd and saw that many were crying. Most looks were emphatic towards Twilight. This surprised Twilight, she thought that many were angry at her. This was not the case.
"As a pony in charge of representing the many ponies of Canterlot, My I say something?" The Canterlot Representative asked.
"Go ahead. Luna please shift the hologram." Celestia said. Luna immediately shifted.
"I got a letter from the slums. It reads as following.
For a while now, we have known that Twilight was behind it. However we can't forgive her.
Instead we have chosen to accept her. Every pony makes mistakes. No one is perfect. We slum dwellers know that better than most. We either were born into the slums or became one ourself. Most of us would have been very angry at her, if it wasn't for one thing.
She changed herself, to change our future. She changed the slums into a small community. She never forgave herself, but she did ask those around her this one thing. "I am sorry. I am behind this. Can you forgive me?" she asked.
We smiled and said, "We can't. But we accept your apology, please never do such thing again."
That will be our answer. Whether now or the past. We have forgiven you.
Is their letter. And honestly? My people have long since forgiven her. She is trying to be big, and trying to change the world for the better. Several times. And that makes her no murderer. Nor a hero. But that makes her special. We the people of Canterlot you have apparently wronged, have chosen to forgive instead." The Canterlot Representative said while he and many around him smiled.
Twilight's mask broke, as she cried hard. She was forgiven by those she wronged. She was no longer bound on this disaster. Nor will she forget. But it is now the truth and a fact. For as long as she cooked, she was improving everyone's lives. That was the best case scenario for Twilight. A scenario she never thought was possible.
"Disable the hologram. We are done." Celestia said. Luna disabled it.
Luna proceeded to grab the mess that is Twilight and move her inside. At the same time the crowd dispersed.
At the backstage, Celestia grabs Twilight with her magic and moves her to a more secluded area. As the area they were in suddenly became busy. After Equestria heard and understood the situation, it did something surprising.
For starters, the diplomats from all over the world that looked down on this disaster, decided to go home. To explain the truth to their people. And to prevent such a disaster in their own country. They visited Luna to explain the situation, meanwhile Luna simply nodded. She didn't mind and would totally understand the reasoning.
On the Manehattan side of Equestria, people had an explosive desire to improve fire safety in their skyscrapers and the people want a rescue team of their own in Manehattan. The mayoral office was totally okay with such a proposal, although it would require going to Canterlot to get the license. They sent those people over as fast as possible.
Appleloosa didn't really do much, the farms improved the standard for keep their crops. But there simply wasn't any other thing they were able to do.
Ponyville also didn't do much, they were decently close to Cloudsdale which meant that they didn't need another rescue team, however the people wanted a fire station badly. There were none in the area which meant that a fire could be catastrophic for the citizens. Not to mention that being next to a forest didn't improve the odds. But the mayor was hesitant and eventually refused it. Much to the chagrin of the citizens.
This caused Ponyville to experience several cases of people lighting fires in an attempt to force the mayor. Which did eventually work, after someone set the mayor on fire at broad daylight and in front of a few hundred ponies. The trauma that those received were bad, but the mayor herself was stuck in the hospital the following week. While in the hospital she installed a fire station AND a sheriff's office.
Celestia would eventually catch those pyromaniacs, but that would be story for another time. No back in Canterlot, Twilight was sleeping on Celestia's bed, while she was busy with the paperwork that the many overwhelmed organizations sent in.
Celestia grimaced at the large amount that was still coming in. But when she turns her head towards Twilight, a small smile gets plastered on her face. 'Although the direct accident was bad. It would seem that Equestria is learning from it. These papers all talk about safety and health in one way or another. I know this sounds bad, but I must thank you Twilight. Thanks to you Equestria will not experience anything bad for a while. And if it does happen, then we are prepared this time.' Celestia thought to herself.
Celestia stood up from her desk and slowly walked over to Twilight. "Good Night, my little chef." Celestia quietly said, while giving her a kiss on the forehead.