Silence. It can be uncomfortable, tense, and unbearable. Sometimes, it weighs heavily upon the guilty, or even the innocent. It's objective, really. No one can determine if it's good or if it's evil. In truth, it is neither. It just is there. No one put it there, or even decided to make it happen there. Silence is just there.
Within the silence was the entirety of Equestria's citizens. Every last pony who loved their home was gathered in a small space. There were no seats, but no one said they could not sit. There were no rules for them to gather, yet here they were. There was no need for the silence, yet here it hung. There was a podium upon a stage that was surrounded by the huddled masses. Each Equestrian stood shoulder to shoulder with their neighbor. No one shoved or complained. All eyes were trained upon the stage, waiting for some kind of sign. Silence yet dominated. Pure silence. In the heavens, the bodies of night and day shared the sky equally. On one side, the dark starry night. On the other, the auburn sky and the single sol.
It was time.
With an echoing flap, down descended the messenger, the sign everyone gathered had waited for. Despite the obvious change, none moved or even breathed. Down towards the podium the messenger came, every second lasting almost a minute. The deliverer landed with respectful and humble grace. There was no grandeur to her. She was the mare that every citizen was represented by. She represented each one equally. She carried but a simple, unornamented satchel, for which she pulled the message out of. She laid it on the stand and scanned it, her posture and her gaze concentrated. The silence grew heavier it seemed, as every citizen held their breath, and waited for what seemed like an age.
"Dearly Beloved..." she spoke clearly and concisely. Her voice carried for miles upon miles, so that each citizen could hear, shattering the silence. "We are gathered here today, not out of regret nor out of mourning, but in remembrance of those who gave there lives. Remember them not for the ideals or truths, but for their ignorance which caused their own end."
"We cannot forget what happened today, the worst day of all days. We cannot forget what had transpired upon this very ground ages before our time. We cannot forget for this day shall forever live on in infamy and disgrace."
"Remember the fathers, the mothers, the sons, the daughters and all who died of their own intolerance and ignorance. Remember the blood spilled upon this soil, tainting it forever. Remember the lust, the greed, the failure, the rage, the envy and the pride that has corrupted those who fell and the land we stand upon today."
"Remember and forget. Forget the foolish ideals, and the vacuous truth. Forget the banners held high in the sky, but remember the hooves that held them. Remember the ones who threw themselves blindly at the cause, but forget the justifications. As it was said so many years before, so shall it be said again, and again lest we forget ourselves and what our home is."
"The Solar Empire. The New Lunar Republic. These truths we all hold self-evident: No cause is right or wrong; there is no black and white; there is no caste; there is no evil greater than ourselves. Thus, we forget the banners, and the ideals, and the truths just as we have forgotten the prejudice and the pride t call ourselves one word: ponies. We do not stand upon a kingdom of unicorns, we do not stand upon a kingdom of pegasi, and we do not stand upon the kingdom of earth ponies. We stand upon Equestria. We stand upon the unity that washed away the seeds of dissent and discontent."
"Yet, we do not rejoice. We cannot just as we cannot forget to remember or remember to forget. Hearth's Warming is a celebration for how we put aside the judgments and simply warmed our hearts with the hearth of friendship. Today, we do not. Today, we remember and forget to learn."
"We may not grow unless we remember the mistakes made here. Two warring factions here on this spot fought, and did not give a single inch to the other side. For a century this war of ideals and truths waged, their leaders not giving so much as a moment to breath for their zealots. They called them soldiers, but those who preach and do not repent cannot be called that. Today, we learned that a home divided cannot stand. We learned it all but too late."
"We must not mourn the dead. It was their choice to die here. We cannot ask why they wanted it. They knew what they wanted. It is not our right to know. We cannot mourn their own futility."
"We must grow. Each of us, through each twist and turn that we struggle out the ever-spinning drill of time, must go further than before. That is how a drill works. We cannot get lost in the nightmare labyrinths of what-if's , should've been's, and never were's. If we even take a step back to there, then all is lost. We must keep moving forward, and yet look back, and remember."
"Remember today... Today, we take another step towards a better tomorrow... Today, we shall remember in silence..."
Every soul gathered there bowed there head, not in prayer or in sadness. They bowed there heads in shame and remembered the day where two sisters wanted power that would be greater than the other. It never did occur to them upon what end they would stop the war until the day it happened. This day, the two sisters saw the darkness in their pursuits... This very day centuries ago, the sisters walked through the blood, the ash, and the shadows... This day, they met each other face to face in what could have been bloody and unending conflict. They could have destroyed themselves much like the bodies around them did... Yet this day, the worst of all days, the sisters of moon and sun stood by and did nothing. No words of the conflicts end was heard nor were there any words passed between the two. They did absolutely nothing...
...and silence reigned.
From within the castle of Canterlot, there were no ponies rushing about their duties, nor were there the sounds of hooves upon the marble floors. There were no ponies save for two. These two ponies did not allow themselves to go the ceremony. These two ponies were Celestia and Luna. Some say that both monarchs banned the other from going to the ceremony. The more romantic heart would say that each alicorn banned themselves from going out of the shame and despair they had caused to Equestria.
The truth or ideal that was the matter was that they did nothing. The two stood in the same room, not giving the other so much as a cursory glance or even a single smidge of recognition. These two royals did nothing and, as it is said through their manners and their actions, felt nothing. The felt no remorse, or shame, or pain from remembering this day.
Celestia, once a great and hailed leader within the Solar Empire felt absolutely nothing. In her own mind, she believed that she held the absolute truth. Despite the years passed that had passed between the final day of the war, she still held her truths to be right. She remembered the day quite well. She herself saw from her high palace the endless massacre of ponies upon the soil. It was raining, and for perhaps the first time in years, the monarch saw the world turn grey. She stood staring blankly out the window, not breathing a single word.
Luna, a once great and powerful revolutionist felt nothing. She too believed that her ideals were right and justified even though she too knew that it was a futile effort. She remembered the final day. The blood, the shouts, the endless struggle. She stood upon a barrack, overseeing the fight, her posture stoic. The world, for that seemingly endless and bloody battle, turned colorless and meaningless. She sat upon the chair facing a tall painting of the Equestrian Flag.
These two warlords sat in the same room together, not even breathing a single word. On any other day, they would go about their duties, but today was not a day for that. Today, for a day and night, they would sit within the room doing absolutely nothing. Would they admit to themselves that they were wrong after today? No. They could never do that. It would not be the truth and it would do no good to bring those emotions to today. What did they both agree on is that Equestria shall forever be united and strong.
In truth, this battle was the cause for the Elements of Harmony to disconnect with the sisters. Each alicorn had hoped and prayed that one day, the elements would find themselves a new bearer. A bearer that would bring everyone n the nation closer, and perhaps fix their mistakes. They received six bearers. Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Kindness, and Magic. The sisters could not be more thankful. The alicorns still yet fear that the bearers could become corrupt with power just as they were. The moon and sun could do nothing about it, except hope for a better tomorrow.
