“Sunrise Splendor? Come with us. Your day in court has come.”
That was what a certain yellow mare with light blue hair heard before being led to a barred carriage, and lifted into the sky by a group of pegasi guards. She had been waiting for this day for a long time. Far too long for a mare of her stature, but more than six months later, she was ready to depart from the cold, miserable city they called ‘Red Town’, leaving behind all the pathetic ponies that had been kept there with her.
Thank the goddesses, they finally got around to me. Now I can leave this horrific chapter of my life behind, and go back to being one of the elites.
This was what the mare thought as she fidgeted in her seat, alone, with only the view of Equestria from above to keep her company. It was aggravating, having to wait to be acquitted for as long as she had, for the simple crime of being a red collar.
Sunrise, like so many others who had obeyed the caribou during the time of the Fall, had been imprisoned by those who had risen up against their conquerors, sequestered away from other ponies until they could be properly sorted into those who had submitted to the caribou out of necessity, and those who were traitors to the kingdom, out for personal gain.
They will see that I’m part of the former, and when they do, it’ll be back to fashion shopping and socializing with rich, important ponies by the end of the week. I’m sure they’ll all welcome me back with open arms.
Sunrise had no doubt in her mind that she’d be found innocent, as the mare knew that she was innocent of everything one might be guilty of. Her only crime, if one could call it that, was that her master had given her a red collar, which to this day had yet to be removed from around her neck. All residents of Red Town had to wear them, to identify that they had not yet been processed by the new Equestrian justice system, and deter them from trying to flee. If they even could get past the guards and fences, where could they go when so clearly marked?
Her collar was special though, a bit different from all others, as it bore on it the runes her master had engraved on them, spelling in Caribraic the name he had forced on her - something that she would be just as happy to discard with the collar, when it was finally removed. Aside from the collar, the ponies of Red Town were given very little. A few sets of clothing, which were washed once a week, a small place of residence, which was to be shared by up to a dozen other mares or stallions, separated by sex, and three meals a day. The mare had become acquainted with nudity, substandard food, and using a pet bed as a sleeping space, but Red Town was in its own way a form of degradation.
Did I really have to stay in that squalor for so long? I can’t wait till I’m able to take a nice, warm bath in peace again.
The mare’s thoughts grew impatient, as she wanted to put this whole affair of the Fall behind her. Getting up from her seat, Sunrise went to the front of her transport, and spoke out the barred window at her escorts. “Excuse me, how long is the ride going to take?”
“Hours,” replied one of the guards, a female pegasus, “You might as well take the time to take a nap. We’ll wake you when we’re almost there.”
Hours?! Where exactly are they taking me?
Those within Red Town knew little about the process of acquittal, as well as anything that happened in the outside world. They knew that the caribou had been defeated and imprisoned, of course, that the princesses had been restored of mind via memory erasing spells, and that there was a new Committee of Ponies who decided how the country was run, but little more reached their ears. All they were ever told was that they would be given a day to explain how they earned their red collars, prove their innocence in the whole mess, and a chance to atone for any wrongs they might have done while wearing them.
And since I didn’t do anything, I should be able to skip the atonement part of the process. Then I’ll finally get back my life, and everything else they took.
Sunrise gazed out the window for a moment, unenthusiastically looking over the mountain tops, before parting the front of her mane to reveal a small stump hidden underneath. The Committee, whoever they were, had not seen it fit to restore the horns or wings of red collared unicorns or pegasi. A measure taken during the reclaiming of Equestria, to prevent them from aiding the caribou, and continued after as a precaution and punishment. From their perspective, red collars gave these things up willingly, so it wouldn’t be a problem if they weren’t given them back.
Just one of the many things to look forward to again.
Letting out a sigh, the unicorn finally decided to take up the pegasus’ suggestion, as time would only go by quicker asleep. She laid herself across the carriage seat, and closed her eyes, hoping to dream of all the things she’d do once released.
A knock sounded from the door of the carriage, and Sunrise Splendor’s eyes slowly opened to see a caribou peering in through its window.
“EEP!” the yellow mare yelled, pushing herself along her seat till she was as far away from it as she could get.
For a moment she thought that she was back in the Fall, and her time in Red Town had all been a dream, but looking down to her dress, seeing that it wasn’t some translucent piece of cloth that completely exposed her body, but the simple coverings given to her in to maintain her modesty, the unicorn could tell that she was still in the world she fell asleep in.
“We’re here,” said the pegasus guard, in the middle of undoing their pull harness from their body.
“We are?!” Sunrise said back, “But there’s a caribou here!”
“That’s Gunne,” the pegasus replied, “Honorary lieutenant of the Canterlot Guard.”
Sunrise’s fear slowly dispelled itself upon hearing that name, as it was one that she knew well. Most red collars had heard of it, and many of the ones loyal to the caribou despised it, seeing as he was the one who aided Big Macintosh and Applejack put an end to the caribou regime.
Oh… it’s him.
The caribou stag opened the door, standing to the side of it. “Sunrise Splendor, step out of the carriage.”
The unicorn did as instructed, moving herself across the seat, stepping out onto hardened cement. Standing on solid ground after being up in the air for who knew how long, the first thing she did was look at the caribou wearing traditional Equestrian guard armor, tailored to his size and without the helmet, who returned her gaze with a glare that shot right through her. Sunrise wilted under the weight of the stag looking down upon her, his unsmiling face looking at her with all the scrutiny a caribou male would give a mare during the Fall.
“Put your arms out in front of you,” Gunne commanded, further displaying that he was, in fact, a caribou.
Oh, what now?
Sunrise extended her arms in front of her, displeased that she had to take orders from this caribou. In return, Gunne placed a set of cuffs on her wrists, linked together by a small chain, which had connected to it a wire tether that led back to the caribou, coiled several times around his wrists.
“I’ll be escorting you to the Committee for your hearing.” Gunne explained, testing the cuffs to ensure they were in place, “Once there, they will ask you a series of questions, and bring up evidence against you. You are to answer them honestly, and to the best of your ability. Your behavior during this, and the testimony you give, will determine if you will be acquitted, or given a sentence.”
“There’s no jury?” Sunrise questioned, “Shouldn’t I get judged by a group of my peers?”
Gunne stayed silent for a moment, as if considering to disregard the mare’s question, but after giving a heavy exhale, said to her, “It has been deemed that there is no jury in Equestria who would be impartial enough to allow any red collar, innocent or not, walk free. Thus, the Committee of Ponies has taken it upon themselves to pass judgment on each red collar and potential traitor stallion personally. This is about as fair and impartial of a trial that you will get.”
“And what about a lawyer?” asked Sunrise, “I presume I still get one.”
“Only if you’d like to be found guilty,” Gunne replied, “It has been found several times that all Equestrian law ponies, or at least ones who were not traitors or ponies in your position, have a vendetta against those who submitted to my kind, to the point that they would sabotage their cases. As you might understand, this would lead to your conviction if they succeeded, thus in order to keep things fair for those on trial, the Committee is not allowing lawyers to be present.”
You’ve got to be kidding me… Is Equestria so biased against red collars now that they would send an innocent mare to jail?
“As much as I’d like to say otherwise, you have nothing to fear if you truly regret being a red collar.” Gunne assured, “The Committee has been very fair with mares, given the circumstances they had to endure. All you have to do is tell the truth.”
Sunrise couldn’t help but feel like this was all being stacked against her, and that there might have been no way that she could get out of this without receiving unjust punishment. News of the ponies who left Red Town never made it back there, but it was hard to believe that it might be because the Committee handed out unfair judgments.
“Do know that even if found guilty, you can still be given a light sentence, based on the severity of your crimes. Likewise, an innocent verdict might not come without some caveat.” As he said this, Gunne undid the coiled tether on his arm, “Wait here momentarily. I have business with the other guards before I see you to where your hearing will take place.”
The caribou went over to the two pegasi, who by now were completely detached from the carriage, speaking about something that didn’t concern Sunrise - at least not when she had something she deemed more important to take in. As from the moment she stepped outside the cart, she knew exactly where she was.
I’m back in Canterlot! In the courtyard of the royal palace!
Canterlot. Sunrise had always considered it her home away from home, until it finally was. It took her a long time to become the elite mare she always dreamed of being as a foal, but hard work and sucking up to the right people eventually earned her the status she rightfully deserved, only to have it torn away in the blink of an eye.
I can’t believe that they changed everything back so quickly.
The courtyard before Sunrise’s eyes was one fully restored, filled with nicely kept flower gardens, statues of mares and stallions in respectable poses and cheerful smiles on their faces, and a flowing fountain as the centerpiece of this beautiful space.
When the caribou were in charge, those statues were replaced with depictions of mares in submissive positions, exposing their bodies in provocative display that showed off the space between their legs and the assets they bore on their chests, while the fountain had been converted to one of the four alicorns kneeling with their legs spread, chests pushed out, and hands behind their heads, water pouring perpetually from their slits and nipples, their sculpted faces in an image of frozen euphoria.
She still remembered when the gardens had been converted for spaces where living, breathing slave mares would be bound, for the visual enjoyment and use of any guard or guest on the premises. Sunrise had never been put into that position herself, but she had seen many a maid mare publicly rutted while stuck in a pillory, and at the time ex-guardmares bound to X-racks so they could do nothing to prevent their former squadmates from using them as the caribou intended.
“So if you hear any disturbances,” Gunne said, addressing the two pegasus guards, Sunrise shifting her ear to catch the tail end of whatever the caribou needed to tell them, “Inform the council immediately. We don’t expect them to be here, but everyone is to be on high alert until they are found.”
“Right,” the ponies said with the coordination one would expect from the royal guard.
With that, Gunne returned to the unicorn, “I will take you to see the Committee now. Follow me, and don’t fall behind. They will want to see you as soon as the trial they are attending is done.”
“Of course, lead the way.” Sunrise replied, her initial shock of the caribou subsiding.
With the mare’s agreed compliance, the two went through the front doors of the palace, into the main hall. Sunrise couldn’t help but notice that it too had been completely reverted, or at the very least no caribou inspired decor remained. Shackles that had been bolted on locations of the wall had been removed, the holes they left behind plastered over. Paintings of male domination, either of the caribou king and his council, or of historical pony figures in re-imagined depictions, were removed, and in their stead were ones of more traditional pony history. It might have all been the originals, reclaimed from corrupt art collectors who took them as payment from Dainn for their part in the takeover of Equestria, or for perpetuating their propaganda. Sunrise knew of one stallion who had forged fake findings of artifacts, in order to make it seem like ancient Equestria shared the same values as the caribou, who’s payment was only in such artworks, worthless to the caribou, but priceless to a pony.
The two ascended the center steps of the main hall to the second floor, and it was at this time that Sunrise noticed that despite being reverted back to its former glory, the palace was amazingly devoid of life. No servants, no guards, and no aristocracy or dignitaries wandering the halls.
I guess not everything has returned to the way it was. Most ponies must still be dealing with the aftermath. Shame, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of some of my old associates.
While it was disappointing that there was no sign of any ponies, this did make for a unique opportunity that she didn’t want to pass up.
“Mister caribou, is it possible that I could ask you a question?” she asked, displaying a bit of coy playfulness in her curiosity.
“I will have no answers for you that the Committee cannot provide.” the stag replied, keeping his eyes forward.
“I don’t think that’s true,” she followed up, “Tell me… Did it trouble you to betray your brethren.”
Gunne’s stoic demeanor broke, his head twisting to look at a now smirking yellow unicorn who mocked him with such a question. While caught off guard by the mare’s accusatory question, he was not entirely unprepared when it came to a retort. “Did it trouble you when you ordered mares into the re-education facilities?”
“So you do remember me,” Sunrise said, pleased to see a stag of his infamy had not forgotten her, “I was almost worried the poor state of my appearance was too much to be recognized.”
“I don’t remember you,” replied Gunne, clearly annoyed that a mare had pried an emotion out of him, “I remembered that collar. Few slaves were rewarded with something so ornate. In fact, if my recollection is correct, you were the only one.”
“My master did have a special place for me in his heart,” said Sunrise Splendor, “And the authority to get me this unique collar - though don’t mistake that to mean I didn’t hate what he did to me.”
“Oh, I’m sure you despised the times he punished you,” said Gunne, “Treated you as ‘less than’, gave you what a female deserves, and nothing more.”
“Careful there,” Sunrise said, “Project anymore, and I might think you were jealous of a mare like me, who was treated better by a stag than you ever had.” Gunne paused, making the mare believe she had struck her target. “Did I upset you?”
“No,” Gunne said, pointing to a door, “You were about to pass by the trial room.”
Sunrise gave to the door a cursory glance, before widening her eyes in surprise. “This is the door to the hallway that leads to the throne room.”
“Throne rooms are for monarchs and kings,” Gunne said, leaving out the gender opposed versions of these rulers, “Equestria no longer operates under the absolute rule of a single leader, and thus, it was changed. Now take a seat and wait your turn.”
Sunrise had to look around, but there were several cushioned, wooden chairs opposite the door. Having taunted the caribou to her satisfaction. As she took her seat though, Gunne added one final comment of his own. “And realize this, mare. Just because your master held you in higher regard than me, despite you being a female and I being a male, it doesn’t mean he saw any value in you either. It merely proves that he did a terrible job as your master.”
“Sour grapes,” Sunrise said, seeing herself the victor in this exchange. She was certain that many other ponies would have loved to see her outwit a caribou, and once she got back to civilization, she would gladly recount this tale to all her esteemed colleagues.
If this whole thing isn’t rigged against me.
At that moment, the door the unicorn was facing opened wide, and out of it came a small contingent of guards, bringing with them a pastel green mare, who was strangely facing the other direction.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!” the mare was yelling back down the hall, tears flooring profusely from her eyes. “I will never forget the mercy you have given me this day!”
“Please miss, this way” a guard said, before gently directing the mare to turn around, revealing this mare to be a unicorn, one with a horn atop her head. Not just any unicorn, but one that, even through the tears, Sunrise recognized.
“Spring Flower?” Sunrise said, seeing a mare from her past. One she knew to be a red collar, but now without a collar around her neck.
The mare didn’t notice her in return, too caught up in her own affairs to see the other unicorn as the two guards guided her down the path that Sunrise had just come from, meaning she was being led out of the castle.
So it’s not rigged against truly innocent red collars. If anything, the Committee is very lenient on who they release of their crimes against other ponies. I will get this stupid collar off my neck!
The yellow unicorn was ecstatic now, knowing that soon she’d be like a phoenix burning bright in the sky, flying away from the ashes of the Fall unschathed. If Sunrise wasn’t the dignified and refined mare she was, then she might have got up and did a little dance.
“Is this the next one?” one of the guards said, speaking to Gunne.
“Indeed,” he said in return, uncoiling the tether from his arm completely, to hand it off, “And Sunrise… When you see me again, I hope for your sake that you are a better mare than you were on the way here.”
I must have gotten to him good. The unicorn thought as Gunne took his leave. But even he expects me to come out of this uncollared.
“Sunrise Splendor,” said the guard that was holding her lead.
“Yes sir?” Sunrise responded, though knowing she was next in line to get an audience with the Committee of ponies.
“Stand up, and follow us into the trial room. From there, the Committee will see you, and you will be asked a series of questions.”
“Yes, yes, the caribou already told me,” Sunrise said, wanting to get inside as quickly as she could. The sooner she was in, the sooner she would return to the streets of Canterlot.
“So long as you are aware of the process,” said the guard, doing an about face to lead her into the former throne room.
The length of the hallway seemed doubled, due to the anticipation Sunrise was feeling. It was almost arousing, this feeling filling her being. She equated it to the excitement one got when sharing a bed with a lover the first time, which she had only done four times in her life, or three if not counting her former master.
The yellow mare had to pass through one more set of doors at the end of the hall, but once she was able to see them, she was able to see what they had done with the once majestic throne room, where kings and princesses had dictated their word as law.
The room was a bit dark, with all the stained glass windows covered by thick drapes that shrouded the imagery usually depicted on them. To make up for this, several light orbs produced by magic were placed around the chamber, giving off enough dim light for the occupants to see everything. The throne itself had been removed completely, though the platform that held and its steps had not. In the place of the regal seat was a long, wooden structure, akin to what a judge would sit behind, but big with enough room to fit seven ponies, who were all present. Sunrise found herself in awe of the ponies behind this bench, recognizing most as she was brought to a podium at the center of the room.
By the goddesses, it’s… the goddesses!
At the center of the seven pony group, sat the two alicorn sisters, Luna and Celestia, though the princess of night was sitting at the very center, while sun princess sat to her right, both returned the regal visages they were known for prior to the Fall, with unbroken horns and fully feathered wings. It had been some time since Sunrise had seen them like this.
To the right of Celestia was another recognizable and important face, as the Wonderbolt Captain, Spitfire, sat, accompanied by… an earth mare. A purple mare that Sunrise believed she recognized, but didn’t know.
Was she a red collar?
Sunrise really wasn’t sure, as it was hard to keep track of every pony, seeing how many red and black collars she had encountered while enslaved.
Guess they don’t have any qualms in letting a mare like her into a position of power.
On the other side, left of Luna, was another familiar face, Prince Shining Armor. While the unicorn mare was happy to see him, his expression didn’t seem to share the sentiment, as he wore a scowl that looked like it had been there for some time.
He probably doesn’t remember me, now that he’s free from the Crystal Cock’s spell and sees me as just another red collar.
Beyond him were two others, a pegasus in guard armor, and an earth pony stallion who looked better fit on picking carrots from the dirt than in the position of power he was in.
They must be important if they are in those seats though. Must have been something I missed while I was in Red Town. I have a lot to catch up on.
Once settled into her place, the guard that brought Sunrise in undid her cuffs and took a place against the wall furthest from the bench, the others that had guided the mare in joining them. It was at this time that Princess Luna leaned forward ever so slightly, having to look down at the red collared mare standing before her.
“Will the pony at the podium please state their name?” she said.
“I am Sunrise Splendor, your highness.” the mare answered, grabbing the sides of her skirt, performing a small curtsy for the court.
Luna closed her eyes for a moment, looking like she was mentally preparing herself for what was ahead, acting as speaker for the Committee for this hearing. “Sunrise Splendor, are you aware why you are here today?”
“To help clear my name of any misdeeds I’m believed to have done during my time as a red collar.” she stated, truthful in the reasons she believed she was there.
“It’s more to give testimony about your activities during the Fall, which will include clarifying and confirming certain details we believe we know.” Luna said, which to Sunrise sounded like a different way to say the same thing she had said. “For starters, would you be so kind as to name the creature, or creatures, who owned you.”
You know damn well who owned me.
There was no way they didn’t know who Sunrise belonged to, but she saw what this was. A simple question to see if she was dishonest. “My master was Vestri, second in command to Dainn, and his tactical advisor.”
No one was surprised to hear the name of the caribou, as they were, indeed, aware who held Surise’s leash when enslaved.
“As part of my duties though,” Sunrise added, “I had to serve as a sex slave to all of Dainn’s council.”
“That does match the evidence and testimony that we have acquired.” Luna replied, proving Sunrise’s assumptions.
“Your majesty, if I may. What exactly is this evidence and who gave this testimony?” If there was any form of due process left in this legal system, then she had the right to know these things.
“We were going to get to that,” Luna said, “We just wanted to make sure we were dealing with the right pony first. Cheerilee, would you please relay what evidence we have found on Sunrise Splendor.”
The purple mare leaned over to her side, and then lifted two books up into view, ones with covers that Sunrise recognized on the spot - namely because they both had her image upon them.
“We have acquired these two books, printed and published during the Fall, with you credited as the author.” announced the earth mare.
Sunrise was a little surprised to see these two books, ones that she did indeed write. Most items created during the Fall had been destroyed, the enraged citizens of Equestria wanting to get rid of anything related to the caribou. Sunrise had expected copies to still exist, in the private collection of a pony who could see their value, but she would not have expected to see these novels here.
“The first book,” Cheerilee explained, “Is titled ‘Sun’s Setting’, and it is a story of how you were visiting your parents in the city of Lindisbarne during a celebration, and how that led to your capture, enslavement, and eventually becoming the first of all red collar mares. It also goes into some details that we, The Committee of Ponies, were not aware of prior to reading. This includes how the caribou took over the town of Lindisbarne, how the mayor of the city conspired with them to aid in their takeover, how they came up with their collar system, and the existence of an experimental caribou rune that was used on you, having mind-controlling properties.”
Sunrise listened carefully to the purple mare’s summary, and while it left out certain details, she figured that these were the details most important for this trial.
“The second book,” Cheerilee continued, “Is titled ‘A Change of Events’, depicting you well within the events of the Fall. It starts off with a day in your life, in which you have a surprising amount of liberty to do as you wish, a privilege no doubt bestowed on you by your master, Vestri. This includes being given free time to walk around the seized city of Canterlot unchaperoned, the ability to hold and spend money, and the ability to arrange deals with males without consulting your master first. It also reveals that you took up a role as a mare who would convince and train other females to become red collars.”
“This subject in particular we would like to discuss at some point of this hearing,” said Luna, “Seeing that by your account in this book, this job was one that held a lot of authority over the fates of those you evaluated. You also claimed that you were very successful in converting many mares into Red Collars, all of which either have or will be standing in the very spot you are now, which some may or might not receive a favorable verdict from us.”
Yeah… I can see how they might have a problem with all those success stories I had.
“The second part of the book,” Cheerilee went on to say, “Shows you being punished by Vestri by sending you to a facility for a week or so where state owned mares were forced to fill out and file paperwork that the caribou felt was beneath a male to do, while living in the subpar conditions that these work mares were subjected to. Both of these things were, if your writing accurately conveyed your feelings, considered unbearable by you.”
“I believe we can all agree that what the caribou put females through was far from enjoyable.” Sunrise replied.
“Along with these two books, we have acquired a number of the testimonies from mares who interacted with you during that time.” Cheerilee continued, “Too many to relay at once, though we will inform you who made what testimony as it becomes relevant. We also have a witness in waiting, but on the chance that their in-person testimony not be needed, we will keep their identity anonymous until we have no other option but to bring them forward.”
That might have been a problem for the yellow mare, as despite all her good intentions as a red, there were a few who held a resentment towards her due to her being Vestri’s personal pony pet. Sunrise was wondering who this mystery pony was as well, and what they could say against her, but it was likely just some Black Collar that she had sent to a re-education facility, saved before the caribou could finish their retraining properly.
“Each of these testimonies, both written and in person, are from ponies you have named in your books, since we had confirmation from your own account that they had contact with you personally, or from reliable sources who we assume have no reason to lie about what you have done.” Cheeliree finished, explaining the details about how the Committee obtained their evidence the best she could.
“That is generally what we have to work with,” said Luna, “Though before we begin, we wish to state that the Committee of Ponies is very aware that most Fall published books have embellished accounts of what happened, caused by extreme censorship and scrutiny that the caribou put on all works created during their rule, which often led to events in them not being told how they really happened. Thus, we will give you the option right now to have these books tossed out completely if you feel they would be an unfair or non-authentic depiction of how you acted during the Fall. This would, however, leave us with only the testimonies and your service to Vestri as key points to base your evaluation on.”
I’m glad that being Vestri’s pet granted me some creative license when it came to what got published. I know the books were printed with the exact content I meant to have in it. It might show some bad points, but there are far more times that show the better side of me.
“I don’t want the books to be left out,” Sunrise replied, “I’ve read them after printing, and they depict what happened very well, with only a few exaggerations here or there to appease the caribou. If there is anything that’s off, I’ll be more than happy to explain why it's that way.”
The Committee looked to one another, and exchanged a series of nods with Princess Luna. Once they all seemed in agreement, they returned their attention to the unicorn. “Then allow us to say that we too have taken it upon ourselves to read these books, and have pieced together some questions we feel are important to ask, based on what they had to tell.”
“Of course,” answered Sunrise to the statement, “That’s why we’re here.”
“But before we proceed,” said Celestia, speaking for the first time since the start of the proceedings, “There is something that Luna and I feel we need to clarify to you first.”
“What’s that, your majesties?” Sunrise asked, as the details thus far had been laid out fairly well thus far.
“While reading your stories,” the white alicorn continued, “We found that you placed an alarming amount of importance on both me and Princess Luna - referring to us on multiple occasions as ‘goddesses’, and going so far as to pray to us to save you from the caribou.”
“Unless this is one of the embellishments,” Luna added, “Which we assume not, seeing how the caribou would never purposefully allow a female to be spoken of with such reverence - this is most disturbing.”
“Why is that?” Sunrise asked, not seeing the issue. The alicorns were the highest authority in the lands, with power far above normal ponies. That, and their long lives, implied some form of divinity.
“While you would not be the first to make that mistake,” Celestia said, “There is nothing godly about Luna and I. We both have great magic at our disposal, and have lived for over a thousand years, but we are as mortal as any other inhabitant of Equestria. That you would assume that we have some manner of divine authority, and that we could listen in on your prayers to be saved, puts a standard of expectation on us that we can’t possibly live up to.”
“We are curious what the title of ‘goddess’ even means to you,” Luna said, the slightest bit of annoyance leaking from her lips, “As in your second book, you are still calling us by that title, despite it being long into the Fall, and you wrote about us being bound together in a lewd depiction. Do you believe that ones so defeated match your ideal of a ‘goddess’, and if so, what did that make the caribou, our conquerors, in your eyes?”
Sunrise blanched at that explanation of why it was improper to address the two alicorns as goddesses, her skin growing a shade paler under her fur. “My apologies, your majesties. Now that you’ve put it like that, I can see how that could offend.”
Sheesh, try to complement a pony…
“Now that we have gotten that out of the way,” Luna said, her tone reverting to a more indifferent one, “We believe questioning can begin. I’m sure you have been informed, we expect you to be truthful at all times. If we catch you in a lie, it will only make us doubt the validity of any other answers you may provide.”
“I understand,” Sunrise replied, “I will be sure to answer with absolute honesty.”
“Very well,” said Luna, giving a nod as if to acknowledge Sunrise’s agreement to that term, “Then I have a question that has bothered me from the moment that I finished your books.” The alicorn leaned forward, slipping her fingers between one another as she clasped her hands together, “Who are you?”
Sunrise heard the three word question, and immediately became confused. Didn’t I already answer that question? The unicorn had already given her name. Was the alicorn senile?
“It’s Sunrise Splendor, your majesty.” she answered, just in case, “That was the first question you asked of me.”
“I remember what you said,” Princess Luna replied, “But we of the Committee have been questioning who ‘Sunrise Splendor’ is, as Sunrise Splendor doesn’t seem to exist before the Fall.”
Sunrise’s irises shrunk a minute amount upon hearing those words, her heart speeding up ever so slightly to match it. She had not anticipated a statement, one that should have been so absurd that no one would ever utter it, to be directed to her.
“What do you mean by that?” Sunrise said, keeping her cool when presented with this strange accusation, “Clearly I existed before the Fall, else I wouldn’t be here.”
“The princess didn’t say that you didn’t exist,” said Shining Armor, taking a turn to speak, “She said ‘Sunrise Splendor’ didn’t. It was really odd reading your story, and all the details you claimed about yourself. Frequently, you brought up how you lived in Canterlot.”
“Which I found strange,” Celestia interjected, “Because I’m the one who had approved all property acquisitions in Canterlot, and made efforts to know those who lived there on at least a casual level.”
“You also called yourself one of the ‘elites’,” Shining continued, “But for a pony that was supposed to have such notoriety, no pony had ever heard of you.”
“I certainly hadn’t,” Spitfire chimed in, as she could be classified as an ‘elite’ of the time herself “And while I didn’t really pay attention to what rich ponies were into, I did go to major social events, and I’ve never noticed somepony like you.”
Are you fucking serious!? Each of these ponies are insisting I wasn’t an elite!
“What’s more,” Shining said, taking over again, “You name-dropped a lot of ponies in your books, which gave us leads to try and confirm your identity. Fancy Pants was one of your more notable references, and you spoke of him as if you knew him personally. So we asked him, and he said that he was introduced to you by his, at the time, wife, Fleur de lis, but that this was only a few months prior to the Fall. He also mentioned that it was about this time that he and Fleur started shifting their lifestyle to one more attuned to that of a caribou, suggesting that you played a part in his corruption. I had a similar experience with you myself, only meeting you when you were already a caribou slave. I remember you trying to get in close with Princess Cadence back then, and I believe she was the one who introduced you to Fleur.”
“Then what are you trying to suggest?” Sunrise asked, her fingers tensing up as she gripped the top on her podium.
“We had several theories,” Cheerilee said, “The first was that you were a Blank. That you had been implanted with false memories by Vestri to see yourself as an elite mare, as we could see that he would only ever accept the best of the best being good enough for him, even if he had to craft it himself.”
“Seeing your reactions to the accusation,” Luna said, noticing the more visible twitches Sunrise made, “We can see that’s not the case, as Blanks tend to be less reactive to the things that should instill intense emotion in them. That you are showing such strong signs of emotion, unprompted, is enough to remove that from our list of theories.”
“But there were a few other clues in your books that allowed us to look at other avenues.” said Celestia, finishing her sister’s thought.
Impossible…
“The first was the most obvious approach. We looked for your parents, who you mentioned by name.” Celestia said, lifting up a small piece of paper to read off of, “Sun Streamer and Ocean Waves, mother and father respectively. We unfortunately couldn’t locate them, possibly because of how scattered across Equestria ponies have become in the aftermath of this national tragedy… At least we sincerely hope that’s the case.”
“However, we did have another lead on your origin,” said Luna, “As you mentioned that you originally lived in Fillydelphia. So we sent a representative to ask anypony who lived there pre-Fall, and we did find ponies who remembered your parents had lived there… along with a child named ‘Sunny’.”
Sunrise gritted her teeth at the mention of that name.
That name. I can’t believe that name follows me everywhere.
“This wasn’t really a revelation to us,” said Cheerilee, “In your book, not only do your parents call you this, but so did your aunt at the very start of the story, much to your displeasure. Even Vestri calls you this, unprompted, as if he just knew it. Supposedly, it’s also what the runes on your collar say in Caribraic. If you’d like, we could bring in Gunne to confirm this.”
“There is no need for that,” Sunrise said, “The runes do say ‘Sunny’, but if you read my books, you should already know that Sunny is a nickname my family called me by, and that he gave me that awful name after hearing my original name was Sunrise. It was meant to belittle me, take away my name, and give me one of his choosing.”
“It seems like a mighty big coincidence that he happened to pick that name out of a hat,” said the earth pony stallion, finally having something to say, “‘Specially when ya seem to hate it as much as ya do.”
“Braeburn is right,” said Spitfire, “For a simple nickname, you sure seem to think being called it was the worst thing the caribou could have done to you. That’s after he attacked you, stripped you of your clothes, and was shoving a buttplug into you.”
“It’s because I’ve been called that name by everypony since I was a foal.” Sunrise answered, “That’s probably why all the ponies who knew my parents brought it up in the first place. My name is Sunrise though. If you don’t believe me, then find a pony who knew me as an adult.”
“We don’t doubt that you called yourself Sunrise later on in your life,” said Celestia, “Which is fine, as ponies often change their names at important moments of their lives, and we will respect your choice to change it. The only question is how long it has been since that point. We do think this has solved the mystery of your origin though.”
Sunrise gave a hum of disapproval, “This really wasn’t some big secret. I grew up in Fillydelphia, and moved to Canterlot when I got older, after my parents moved to Lindisbarne. That you had to pry this deeply into my past, just to get something I could have told you.”
“Then why didn’t you just tell us?” said Shining Armor.
“Cause it’s personal,” Sunrise said, “And I really don’t see how this has anything to do with my time as a red collar.”
“We just found it strange,” Luna said, “That a mare who described themselves so highly couldn’t be remembered by anyone they claimed to know. That led to us delving deeper. However, while we now have a better idea of where you came from, this does not explain why no one knows about ‘Sunrise Splendor’ pre-Fall. We do have a theory on that matter as well, but you are right. This has little to do with what happened during the Fall.”
“Then with respect to the court, can we please stick to that?” Sunrise said, visibly irritated, though slowly returning to a more neutral state. “I want to be of help, but you’re accusing me of hiding my past, when that has nothing to do with the caribou or my involvement with the council.”
“We’ll set this aside, for now.” Luna said, “Though if the topic becomes relevant, we reserve the right to touch on it again.”
“It won’t,” Sunrise assured.
Not wanting to press further on the subject, the Committee prepared for the next line of questioning, this time only concerning events during the Fall.
Sunrise Splendor was allowed a minute to recompose herself, the question of her identity having set her off so much that the Committee thought that she deserved a small recess.
How frustrating. I thought this was about trying to explain what the caribou did to me, not about something so unrelated as where I was born, or who I was prior to them enslaving me. It’s ok though. Just ignore it and move on.
Forcing a smile, Sunrise faced the Committee, and announced, “I’m ready to continue, so long as we are done accusing me of faking my identity.”
“We’ll discuss other things,” Luna replied, “It’s about time we touched on your activities as a red collar. Before we go in depth though, we’d like to talk about a certain quality about yourself that you stated in your books. You seem to see yourself as a bit of a gossip, yes?”
“I did enjoy learning about the affairs of other ponies.” Sunrise answered, “There’s nothing wrong with a little gossip here and there, and the high class pony elite love hearing the latest news on one another.”
“And we take it that you still consider yourself a gossip,” Celestia said, “Since we have a bit of testimony from many a mare that you continued to spread rumors during the Fall.”
“Princess, the Fall never changed that aspect of myself,” Sunrise said with no shame, “I used to talk to as many ponies as I could about what was going on across Equestria. I made it a priority to know as much as I could. It was one of the few advantages of being Vestri’s personal pet, as he brought me into Dainn’s council meetings frequently, and I knew pretty much everything that went on all across the kingdom. I wouldn’t be surprised if I let slip important details about the caribou’s actions that eventually made their way to rebels, and let them succeed in their activities. Perhaps my loose lips are what helped Equestria survive their occupation, not that I’d claim that with any certainty.”
“Would you say that you ever did the opposite?” Spitfire asked, “Give out false information in the hopes that it would spread?”
Somepony doesn’t know how gossip works.
“If I ever spread false information,” Sunrise said, “Then it's only because I was drip-fed it from the caribou. Otherwise, everything I said was one-hundred percent true.”
“Including your various misdeeds?” Luna asked, the question creating a foreboding air in the chamber.
“... Come again?” Sunrise said, trying to think of what Luna meant by that.
“For instance,” Cheerilee said, flipping through some papers, until she found a particular one, “We have testimony from a particular mare that you claimed to be the reason the caribou’s takeover went so smoothly, talking about how you convinced a mare by the name of Rarity, who we all assume you know was a mare who wielded one of the Elements of Harmony, into working on a massive order for her boutique on the day of the caribou invasion. This prevented her from being present, and thus made it impossible to use the Elements against the caribou at the time. Is it true that you said this?”
Sunrise's skin blanched again, so deeply that one could see her turn white under her fur, as she realized that this particular bit of gossip was something that, while very impressive in a kingdom run by the caribou, massively hurt her in one where the caribou had been toppled.
Shoot! Who in Tartarus did I tell that to?!
The unicorn cycled through her mind about what bits of information she had told who, but she had gossiped so much during the Fall that there was no telling who or how many mares she had relayed this previously proud moment of hers to.
“I’m really not sure,” Sunrise replied, “I mean it sounds like something that could have been misconstrued from me saying that I knew Rarity.”
“Did you know Rarity before or after the caribou enslaved you?” Shining Armor asked, slipping in a question he felt was relevant.
“Um… Before, though not on a personal level. Just meeting her at parties held in Canterlot.” Sunrise said, trying to recall how she remembered it, “But wait, who even made this claim that I was the one who kept Rarity from the invasion? It could have been anyone saying anything to get me in trouble.”
“The one who gave this testimony was Applejack,” Cheerilee said, which seeing as the mare had played a direct part in bringing the Caribou’s reign to an end, needed no further explanation of who she was, “She said that Vestri conducted a surprise inspection of her behavior, and put you in charge of it, during which you went out of your way to tell her that you were the one responsible for not only deterring Rarity, but that by doing so, you ensured she became a red collar.”
Sunrise swallowed hard, as a testimony from Applejack was one that the Committee would take as truth, being the Element of Honesty or not. This was the first bit of evidence that was strictly against Sunrise’s character, and implicated her as the sole reason the caribou’s plan succeeded.
“Fortunately for you,” Celestia said, going over her own papers, “We have reason to believe that your participation in this matter, and many others, has been greatly exaggerated. Speaking to other ponies involved, Rarity stated that while she certainly remembers meeting you during the time she was given the order, it was Fleur who had placed the order, saying that it was for a group of ‘foriegn dignitaries with exotic tastes’, the clothing they requested she make being the erotic and exposing kind mares would be made to wear, if allowed any at all.”
This addendum to the facts was conflicting to Sunrise, as while it alleviated her involvement in the caribou’s victory in Canterlot, it also made her part in the whole affair much less important. In this particular moment, she had to allow it to be the case, since to do otherwise would be suicide for her case.
“Looking back, I suppose I did put more importance in the part I played,” Sunrise reluctantly confessed, “But seeing how I was the caribou’s connection to the high society of Equestria, my mind probably skipped a few steps, which led me to taking full credit.”
Shining made a disgruntled noise at the unicorn mare’s claim, but said nothing against it.
“To be honest,” Celestia said, “We don’t believe that Rarity being there or not would have made any difference, as another account from Applejack said that the element wielders were separated from one another almost immediately, as half of them were captured in the first moments of the invasion. To place so much importance, positive or negative, on Rarity being present was fairly ridiculous to begin with. This is something we’ve had to discuss with Rarity herself.”
“However…” Luna said, “What seems to also have come from this is that in the process of manipulating Rarity to not be at the event, you did play a part in another event.”
“This information came from Rarity herself,” said Cheerilee, “And seeing her own red collar status, we have to treat it with a bit of scrutiny, but apparently, after finalizing her deal with Fleur, you gave her a small crystal fragment as a gift, with the implication that she should give it to a dragon she knew, by the name of ‘Spike’.”
“Spike being a dragon that helped defeat Sombra, and that the residents of the Crystal Empire saw as a hero.” Shining Armor said, having some direct knowledge of the topic.
“She accepted it, not wanting to offend you,” Cheerilee continued, “But had no intention of giving it to Spike, as she felt something was off about it, and instead shoved it into a dresser for safekeeping. This, unfortunately, didn’t prevent Spike from finding it, and upon eating the gem, he became corrupted by the caribou’s ‘Crystal Cock Enchantment’, in a similar manner as the stallions.”
“Do you deny this accusation?” Luna asked.
I can’t believe that, after all this time, Rarity is still causing trouble for me.
“Of course I deny it.” Sunrise said in protest, “The whole thing is preposterous, and sounds like Rarity trying to shift blame onto another pony. There are far too many parts of this that don’t line up. She takes a crystal from me, which I supposedly told her specifically to feed to some random dragon, only to not do so herself, yet still keep the gem in a place where he could find it?”
“So you believe that Rarity told this story to remove herself of guilt?” Celestia asked.
“Of course. Why else would she pin her mistake on me, who was conveniently the sex slave of the caribou council, and would be seen as guilty by default.”
“Then it might surprise you to hear that Rarity has accepted all blame for the corruption of Spike the Dragon.” Celestia replied, causing Sunrise to do a double take as she didn’t believe her ears, “She admitted that she handled the situation inappropriately, and should have discarded the crystal, or refused it outright. These might be her thoughts in hindsight, but during her own trial, she seemed adamant on taking every bit of blame for her part in the Fall, despite much of it seeming like things beyond her control.”
Then… I’m off the hook for this too?
“Well then…” said Sunrise, “I’m glad that she could take responsibility for her actions. Perhaps she is a bigger mare than I believed.”
Upon hearing this from the unicorn mare, the entire Committee exchanged looks.
Oh come on, what did I say now?
It was at this time that Flash Sentry, the last member of the Committee to yet speak, asked a question. “Miss Splendor, are you aware of the ‘Red Collar Tenets’?”
“N-no…” Sunrise said, having never heard of such a phrase prior.
“They are a set of rules that a female must, presumably, believe if they are a red collar.” Flash explained, “A sort of unwritten agreement that a mare must understand when they submit to the caribou to receive the red collar.”
Flash took a moment to arrange his thoughts, before looking directly at the mare on trial before him.
“One: all females are universally inferior to males, no exceptions.
Two: a female only exists to grant pleasure to males.
Three: A female is entitled to nothing, not even their own body or mind.
Four: Males are entitled to anything a female believes they own, including their bodies and mind.
Five: Males have the right to discipline a female to any degree short of death, for any or no reason.
Six: The above terms apply to all females, willing or unwilling, regardless of species, age, or impairment.”
Where did all this come from?
Sunrise was amazed to hear these things that the pegasus was insisting she had to agree with since she was a red collar. “I beg your pardon, but I’ve never agreed to a single one of these things you’ve laid out.”
“Didn’t you?” Luna questioned, “You seemed to agree with a lot of these things in the part of the book where you were being given your red collar. If the words in it are to be believed, you denounced my sister and I, said you belonged to Vestri and supported caribou rule, and suggested that every mare do the same, no matter how little they get in return for their obedience.”
“But I was under the influence of an experimental collar!” Sunrise rebutted, remembering that she had written about a collar that had runes on it that compelled her to obey.
“You mean the collar that was discontinued because it could cause ‘neurological damage’?” asked the dark alicorn, “That only you ever wore, and only seems to exist in your story? Seeing how Purple Collars and Blanks exist, it is hard to believe that they’d not use an item because of something like brain damage.”
“Besides,” Shining Armor said, “Even your book states that the experimental collar ‘didn’t work on those who refuse it’, which I can only assume means that had you been against what the caribou were doing, you wouldn’t have gone along with any of it.”
Sunrise bit her lip, both Princess Luna and Shining Armor making logical arguments she couldn’t truly dispute.
“It’s difficult for me to accuse one of my ponies of this,” said Celestia, “But it really feels like you put that detail into your story to give yourself an excuse for your actions. Sun’s Setting really does seem to be you trying to depict yourself in the best light for both sides, showing that you are a willing mare who will obey your caribou master, both before and after the collar you say controlled your actions was swapped out for the red collar you still wear, while also painting yourself as a victim of circumstance.”
“But even if we believed that,” Shining Armor said, “The fact of the matter is that you knew what the caribou wanted, and you accepted the Red Collar anyways. You might have done so in order to spare yourself the worst punishments the caribou could dish out, but you can’t say you didn’t understand what the red collar meant.”
“You expected me to willfully subject myself to one of those painful collars?!” Sunrise questioned in full objection.
“Do ya know how many others did that?” replied Braeburn, “Maybe not every Black Collar, but plenty of them were mares who would rather suffer than to agree with those ideas.”
“And you also had to come to know over time that any perceived protections the red collar provided were a lie.” Shining Armor added, “As red collars underwent the same kinds of humilliations and tortures Black Collars did, up to being turned into purple collars. One could say they didn’t understand that at first, but as time went on, it should have become more and more clear that the only difference between a Red Collar and a Black Collar was that one presented themselves as accepting of the abuse that not only they were subjected to, but that others were as well. Yet, many Red Collars never turned against their masters. If you, Sunrise Splendor, had any second thoughts on the matter, if you disagreed with the Red Collar Tenents, you could have rebelled against your master at any time, and earned yourself a black collar instead.”
“B-b-but…” Sunrise, seeing how bad this looked on her, was actually starting to quiver in fear.
She had written all those words, never believing that they would be used against her. Only that the mares forced to read the book, which was little more than caribou propaganda when it came down to it, would see her in a positive light, no matter which collar they had taken up.
“Perhaps… Perhaps the books are more embellished than I originally let on.” Sunrise said, “I might have accepted the red collar, but some things might have been added to make me look better.”
“We already assumed that,” Luna said, stating the obvious at this point, “We came to that conclusion the moment you, in the story, started listing off the names and details of not only myself, Celestia, and Cadence, but the element wielders, Spike the Dragon, and implied that you knew of Sunset Shimmer, though strangely enough didn’t mention her name as well.”
“This part stood out to us in particular,” Celestia concurred, “Because we have it on good authority that the caribou landed in Lindisbarne only shortly after the Nightmare Moon incident, if not immediately so. This idea is only supported by your book, as Sindri brings up the longer night the incident caused, as if it had happened not too long prior. Seeing that as the case, it would have been impossible for you to know of the ponies who wielded the Elements of Harmony, because for some time after the Nightmare Moon incident, they were all fairly obscure in the eye of the general public.”
“I didn’t know about Rainbow Dash until she did the Sonic Rainboom,” said Spitfire.
“An’ I didn’t know about mah cousin’s friends til I met them in Appleloosa,” said Braeburn.
Cousin… Oh… Ooooooohhhh… That explains why he’s part of the Committee…
“I knew of all them,” said Cheerilee, “But that’s because I lived in the same town they all did. I don’t ever remember seeing you there.”
“I think it’s reasonable to say you knew basic information about me,” said Celestia, “As well as Princess Cadence, though you couldn’t have known about the Crystal Empire or the Crystal Heart, as they hadn’t reappeared yet. You could have heard of Sunset Shimmer, seeing as that was some time ago, and the papers spoke of how she fled Canterlot after a confrontation with me. With Luna, you might have heard of her return, but you couldn’t have known her dream-walking powers as you explained them in the book. Beyond that, I don’t believe in the slightest that you could have known anything about the element wielders, let alone the details about them you said you told the caribou, no matter how much of a gossip you claim to be.”
Sunrise stayed silent. She had already stated that the book was not accurate, so trying to defend this detail was a pointless endeavor.
“If I were to hazard a guess,” Celestia went on to say, “You learned all these details after the fact, perhaps from Cadence herself, while she was under the influence of the Corrupted Crystal Heart. Then, when creating your book, after the takeover of Equestria, you wrote it so that you were the one who told Dainn and the Caribou Council all these details, to inflate your importance to them in the eyes of anyone who might read it. A bit of revisionist history on your part.”
“Would it absolve me if I said yes to all this?” Sunrise said, willing to discard a bit of her pride. It wouldn’t have been the first time, “That I said everything you said was true, and that the book was all made up.”
“Not quite,” said Flash Sentry, “Because the problem never was that you had blatantly accepted the Red Collar Tenents. That’s not the point of them. If we could determine a Red Collar’s guilt based on who had openly agreed with them or not, there would be no ponies in Red Town at this moment.”
“The point of the Red Collar Tenets is,” Shining Armor followed up, “That wearing the collar itself is effectively agreeing to them, without needing them explained to you. At least, that’s what other enslaved ponies believe when looking at you, and they’re right to do so. If we were to give you every benefit of the doubt, and say that you were afraid for you well-being, and that you never figured out that a red collar was worthless in that regard, that wouldn’t remove the fact that you effectively endorsed the horrible things the caribou did by wearing a symbol that said you were an active participant in their regime.”
Celestia took a deep breath, and let out a deep sigh of exacerbation, “Personally, I would like to believe that every mare that took up a red collar didn’t agree with any of the Red Collar Tenents, that they were all trying to protect themselves. That’s why we have these trials, to give each mare the ability to prove that was the reason.”
“Princess Celestia,” Sunrise Splendor said, calming herself down a little, now that Celestia said didn’t want to believe any of her subjects agreed to what the caribou excepted of them, which meant that the unicorn was not yet abandoned, “I promise you, while I might have inflated the extent of what I did as Vestri’s slave, I was genuinely afraid of what he might do to me if I didn’t go along with him.”
“We will take your word for it,” said Luna, showing that she too was willing to give the mare another chance, “Especially since with your admittance, we have cleared up a few more discrepancies in this ‘historical record’ you created for the caribou.” Luna’s horn began to glow, and the copy of Sun’s Setting was removed from the bench entirely, “We do, however, have further questions about the details in this second book that we’d like to discuss further as well. We will allow for another small break for you to recuperate after that stressful line of questioning, before proceeding.”
“Yes, your majesty,” Sunrise replied, acknowledging that while she wasn’t yet in the fire, she was still dangling precariously over it.