“And that’s the situation we have to look forward to.” Celestia said, finishing up a report of the Las Pegasus event to half of the Committee of Ponies.
The alicorn had spoken to her sister the moment she made it back to Canterlot Castle, informing Luna that she had important information to share about Sunset Shimmer’s activities. The Following morning, Luna, Cheerilee, and Flash Sentry where there to listen to what she had to say, with the others busy with tasks all across Equestria, as Braeburn was looking into some of the Committee’s agricultural projects, Spitfire was in meetings with the gryphoness’ to negotiate extensions to their work contracts, and Shining Armor was helping Princess Cadence run things in the Crystal Empire.
The three present dwelled over everything Celestia had told them, which when the problem was put in front of them, it felt like the problem was that Sunset had built herself a cult. Not one built on religious belief, but political ideals. While never confirmed prior, it was fairly apparent that most in Sunset’s support group tended to harbor a similar mentality of how the kingdom should be run, and much of it tended to go against the grain of how the Committee was directing things. Now she was having stallions bind themselves in servitude to mares within the group, under the guise of repentance.
“So how are we supposed to deal with this infringement of pony rights?” Cheerilee asked, distraught that things had gotten this far, especially when she was one of the ones who had thought it might have been ok to let Sunset’s group run as it was, as up until now they weren’t doing anything that looked harmful.
“That’s the thing,” Flash Sentry replied, “This isn’t infringing on anypony’s rights.” While not a lawyer, Flash was a royal guard, and had a general idea of the legal system, “When it comes to the chastity belts, there is nothing stating that a pony can’t restrict themselves. Even if it was heavily suggested by Sunset, so long as they agreed to it, then there is nothing we can do to stop them from doing it.”
“What about placing a ban on these items?” Luna asked, trying to find ways to prevent Sunset from getting her way in this regard, “We have already made it illegal to possess caribou paraphernalia, like their bondage tools, so even if these are new, they should be close enough that we could have them all confiscated.”
“That’s an idea,” Cheerilee said, agreeing with the suggestion, “We could easily outlaw them. That way the stallions don’t have an option to use them.”
“There’s a problem with that,” Celestia warned, “Sunset is intending to use any banning of the chastity belts as political leverage. Their functions are depicted as being purely good by her group, and while we believe that they will lead to the mistreatment of stallions, there is nothing pointing to that outcome except our opinions. When it comes down to it, the fact that they are optional, easy to remove, and presented as an object of public safety will have more ponies siding for them than against them, and thus making us out to be the bad guys for trying to remove something that can be seen as purely positive.”
“Not to mention, this seems unenforceable,” Flash added, “Even if we did go through with banning their use, how are we going to prevent ponies from wearing them? Raid their facilities to confiscate what ones they have, go on a house to house search, and then do random pants checks on any stallion we think might have one on?”
“Flash is right,” Luna reluctantly agreed after hearing what the guard stallion had to say on the subject, “That’s a level of overreach that we would have no way of getting ponies to get behind. Even if we isolated searches only to the members of Sunset’s group, it would seem targeting her group because of our political differences.”
“Then what about her ‘ward program’?” Cheerilee asked, trying to find some kind of angle to attack this problem, “Surely we can do something to stop that, right?”
“Under what grounds?” Flash answered, showing his sympathy with the earth mare’s attempt with the tone of his voice, but knowing enough to see there was no way to put a stop to that either, “It’s the same problem. We can’t prevent anypony from offering their services to another pony. Even before the caribou, Equestria had laws that protected the act of indentured servitude, so long as both ponies were in agreement with the terms. When it comes down to it, those are just work contracts, and this ward program could be argued as volunteer work with room and board.”
“So we are just going to sit here and let Sunset do as she pleases?” Cheerilee said, hating that there was no way to fight what seemed like mass brainwashing and coercion of the stallions in Sunset’s group.
“Until they do something that is irrefutably harmful, we can’t do anything directly to Sunset Shimmer,” said Celestia, “But perhaps we can do something to make her group less appealing.”
“And what’s that?” Luna said, needing the wisdom of her sister in this matter, since her talents in diplomacy were lacking in comparison to the white alicorn.
“We need to make Sunset’s group unnecessary, or at least redundant, when compared to what we can give the citizens of Equestria,” Celestia answered, “As it stands, ponies are being drawn towards Sunset because she is offering them things that they want. Safety, purpose, and help for their current mental states. Her group is a beacon for those who have been victimized, feel guilt from the part they were forced to play, or simply have no direction due to the current policies on how the kingdom is being managed post Fall.”
“Then do you have a proposal on how to fix these issues?” Luna asked, unable to create a plan of action on the spot, but believing that Celestia would have been coming up with one from the moment she left Sunset’s side.
“I have a few,” Celestia said, knowing that bringing these problems up would mean little if she didn’t give the Committee a point to start from, “First we need to address the reason why ponies feel like their lives lack purpose, being that many have been barred from expressing their special talents.”
“We’ve done nothing that prevents a pony from expressing their talents,” Cheerilee said, knowing there were no laws put into place by the Committee of Ponies that barred ponies from doing any task they did prior to the Fall. Many ponies with talents that benefited the reconstruction of Equestria were greatly encouraged to do what they did best.
“This issue is not with the laws we’ve made,” Luna said, understanding this particular issue a little more than Cheerilee, “But the denial of resources they need to perform their special talents. We’ve been routing everything we have towards the restoration of Equestria, and even decreed that any business we deemed non-essential refrain from opening their doors until things got more stable. Before you dispute the reasons for that decision, I’m not saying that hasn’t made rebuilding go along more quickly than it would have otherwise, but it has left Equestria’s citizens wanting and listless.”
“As it stands,” said Celestia, following up on her sister’s words, “The rebuilding efforts are nearing completion, and there is little reason to keep hoarding resources once they are. We need to start giving back to those this government serves.”
“That’s… completely understandable,” Cheerilee said, agreeing with the points the two alicorns presented, “While we can’t make any decisions without all active members of the Committee present, we could start making plans to start donating any left over resources towards those who want to open up businesses around the kingdom.”
“What if some of those ponies are part of Sunset’s group?” Flash Sentry asked, “I’m worried we might end up funding her by proxy if those ponies start donating the resources we give to her cause.”
“That will be up to the Committee to decide,” Celestia said, “But I personally don’t think it would be wise to deny anypony the benefits of this once it’s started. While it might persuade some ponies to not associate with Sunset’s group, it could easily be mistaken as bribery or a punishment against an opposing political group.”
“And it would be, as Sunset is not the type to let something like that slide,” Luna said, “If we are looking at it from that perspective, it might even be good to offer this aid to Sunset’s group as well.”
“Excuse me princess,” said Flash, as both he and Cheerilee were confused why Luna would want to go so far just to avoid political backlash, “But wouldn’t it be counterproductive to give Sunset Shimmer more resources?”
“It would be, if she’d actually take them,” Luna said, “But Sunset has been openly against the Committee and our actions ever since she left it. I have no doubt that she would try to get extra support from donations from those within her group, but receiving contributions directly from us is something I don’t think she can do.”
“It would come off as hypocritical,” Celestia said, “Though I have a feeling that hypocrisy is not what would keep her from accepting our aid. Sunset, for as smart and cunning as she is, has an issue with her ego. To openly take a handout from us, especially after I rejected her ideology, might not sit well with her.”
“And if she calls our bluff?” Cheerilee asked, not as certain Sunset wouldn’t just take anything they are willing to give her.
“Then we use it to garner goodwill amongst those in her group,” Flash said, liking the direction this could go, “We could have the royal guard do the deliveries personally, and instruct them to be as hospitable as possible to anypony present. It would be good for public relations.”
Cheerilee gave a sigh, “This all seems a bit too underhanded for a group who are supposed to be focusing on making the lives of ponies better.”
“Believe me, if we could just ignore Sunset Shimmer, I would say we do that,” said Luna, “But she’s making it clear that she won’t let us do that.”
“Fine,” Cheerilee said, knowing Luna was right about this, “So we finish up the restoration efforts, and reallocate whatever materials we have left. What do we do after that?”
“Well I suppose we compensate the workers and lift the hold on non-essential work.” Flash suggested, “Have we reminted all the altered caribou coins yet?”
Cheerilee, as the recorder of the Committee’s actions, looked through her notes on the topic, “We started the process last week, but with the amount of coins the caribou defaced, it will take some time to melt the gold and recast them into Equestrian bits. Thankfully, not every coin in Dainn’s treasury had the lewd images of the princesses on them, as a lot of the coins were from the neighboring nations, hoarded from the tributes they paid to keep Dainn’s forces out of their territory.”
“Then I propose the following,” said Luna, “We use whatever usable coins we have on hand to pay those we contracted, or have helped in any of the restoration efforts. From there, we will send out an additional amount of money to each mare in Equestria to reimburse them for any possessions they had that the caribou destroyed, as well as the duress they suffered during that time. A flat payment of compensation to help them get back on their hooves, an amount that won’t suddenly make every pony rich, but enough that every mare will be able to restart their lives in a good position.”
“Can’t wait to see how Sunset will try to twist that.” Cheerilee said, knowing that it would be coming. “Also, I’m not an economics major, but won’t that sudden influx of bits, along with the sudden reopening of all businesses in Equestria lead some to overcharge and inflate the prices of their goods and services?”
Luna hummed to herself for a moment, “You’re probably right. We’ll have to come up with some way to keep that in check until everything can balance out on its own. It’s certainly something we should discuss with every Committee member present, and probably with several finance specialists.”
“That might help with giving ponies purpose,” Cheerilee said, “But what about the other two issues, safety and mental health?”
“Safety is a hard issue to tackle,” Luna answered, “Most ponies felt generally safe knowing that we had the caribou problem under control, but when news of a pony rapist popped up, some have begun to worry that more might follow.”
“That story was used by Sunset when bringing up the chastity belts,” Celestia said, “It’s amazing, though not surprising, how a single incident can easily sway a crowd.”
“Even when we have it under control and the perpetrator in custody.” Flash added, “From what we got out of him, it seems like he was acting alone, but strangely we can’t get much more information out of him than that. Mostly because he just keeps talking about how much he wants to use mares for… well you know… We’ve started to suspect he’s under a similar enchantment as the Crystal Heart.”
“If that’s the case, it would mean we have a bigger problem on our hands,” said Luna, “Cause it would mean that the caribou, or their followers, have found a way to corrupt ponies without the Crystal Heart, and in a way that is self-sustaining. I hate to put it this way, but it would put my mind more at ease if he was simply a rapist with a one-track mind. What’s worse is that this is another issue that we can’t just put a stop to, because we don’t even know if another attack like that will happen. The only thing we could do is place guards all around Equestria, and up their patrols.”
“Which wouldn’t be doable even before the caribou’s takeover,” said Flash Sentry.
The royal guard, while acting as peacekeepers, have always been as their namesake suggested, being the personal guard for royalty. Thus, there only ever needed to be an amount of active guard ponies to adequately protect the princesses, and the cities they resided in. While they were several hundred strong in number, they were seldom seen outside of cities like Canterlot or the Crystal Empire before the Fall, unless they were acting as an escort for an alicorn, even when something threatening appeared outside of them, and those events would more likely be dealt with by local law enforcement, the Wonderbolts, or more often than not, a ragtag band of concerned ponies. Equestria simply didn’t have an active military presence that could be used to monitor and protect every city within its borders.
“I don’t think we’d want to do that, even if we could,” Cheerilee said, remembering how the caribou had a much more strict guard force at their disposal, with many cities having one or more caribou officers stationed around to make sure any mare who stepped too far out of line was forcefully pushed back into it, “It would not be in our best interest to make Equestria feel more oppressive by making every pony think the guard is just waiting for them to make a wrong move.”
“That’s the delicate balance of security,” Celestia said, “The more safe you make a kingdom, the more restrictive it becomes.”
“Unfortunately, we can’t protect ponies from something that might not even exist,” Luna said, “We have done all we can to keep the caribou and their followers away from the rest of Equestria, and make it so they can’t harm anyone else - everything short of lining them up and executing them, which we have already decided is a step too far.”
That was one of the first topics the Committee addressed, with only Sunset Shimmer and Shining Armor voted in favor of. After all that had been done to them, the representatives of Equestria were not willing to stoop to levels as low as what the caribou had done, not even out of a desire for revenge.
“Ok, since we can’t do anything more in the line of safety,” Cheerilee said, “What about this issue of mental health?”
“I do have a plan of action for that,” Celestia said, “Seeing as there will soon be no more use for the mare shelters we had built, I suggest we have them converted into psychiatric centers, where we can provide the services Sunset’s group gives, but of a higher quality. We can get actual therapy ponies, have them do group meetings and one on one sessions, allowing for both in service if a mare or stallion thinks they need more consistent help, and out service for those who only need occasional support.”
“That wouldn’t be a bad idea,” said Cheerilee, “But I can foresee any qualified therapist pony also being in need of these kinds of services at the moment. It wouldn’t be good for morale if somepony went to talk about what happened to them during the Fall, only to have the professional assigned to them breakdown in tears due to being reminded of their own experiences.”
“Not necessarily,” Celestia replied, “It might actually be good for both participants if they could let out their feelings in an isolated environment where they can share their trauma with one another. I do agree that it might be a good idea to make sure the one who is supposed to be the therapist should be able to handle this as a professional though, so we might have to do some screening before opening up the shelters as a mental health facility.”
“All of this is going to take time to get together,” Flash said, realizing the Committee’s attention was already spread thin with the number of things they were already attending to.
“Then we will take that time,” Luna replied to his comment, “Pending approval of the Committee. Realize that while Sunset might treat this as a competition, that doesn’t mean that we have to rush our efforts to play catch up with her. If we chose to do this to counter her efforts in subverting Equestria towards her ideals, our main motivation for doing this should be to help ponies in this time of need, and that means taking the time to make sure we do this right.”
Cheerilee gave a nod of approval, as did Celestia. Flash was still concerned how Sunset Shimmer would take advantage of any delay they made, but in the end he couldn’t argue against making sure everything worked the way it was supposed to, with no corners cut.
“For now, this planning is all we can do.” Luna went on to say, “We still have to speak with the other members of the Committee before we can put any plans in motion. We’ll send them each a letter informing them of what’s happening ahead of time, and make this the first order of business at the next meeting.”
“Sounds good to me,” Cheerilee said, standing up from her seat, seeing that this was as far as the conversation could go at the moment.
Flash Sentry followed Cheerilee’s lead, debating in his head if he should inform the guards under his command of the current situation, as worthless as it might be to do so. At the very least it might have been a good idea to have them be aware that Sunset’s group was now a group of interest, but he also understood that might create unnecessary rise in tension between the royal guard and the ponies of the support group that could not be acted upon. It was a decision best left until the Committee made a vote of action, and even then it might be best to keep quiet about the whole affair.
Cheerilee and Flash left the Committee’s meeting room, leaving behind the two alicorns. After a small period of silence, Celestia made a move to leave the table as well, when Luna said to her, “Stay seated. That’s an order, as we have to talk.”
Celestia, hearing the command of the princess, and recognizing the authority she had given the moon princess, sat right back down.
Luna took a deep breath, not pleased by the conversation she and her sister were about to have. Still, it was one that needed to be had between the two alicorn sisters. “Celestia, while I am grateful for the information you provided to the Committee, I have to ask you why you didn’t tell anypony, especially me, that you were going to this event.”
Celestia had not kept secret the reason behind going to the event, telling all three ponies present that she was trying to get Sunset’s advice on how to fix Equestria, since her own efforts seemed to be going so well. It was one of the first things she had said, so Luna was very clear about why Celestia had gone, ill advised as her actions were. Why she did so without informing a soul, outside of royal guards that accompanied her to Las Pegasus, is what bothered the dark blue mare.
“I apologize, sister,” Celestia replied, “I know I should have said something, but had I done so, it would have defeated the purpose of going in the first place. As underhanded as it might sound, I know the only way any of the Committee members would have taken Sunset’s advice, no matter how good that advice might have been, was if you didn’t know it came from her. If I had been upfront that I was talking to Sunset for her opinions, anything I said would have been in question.”
“Rightfully so,” Luna said, “Sunset Shimmer gave up any authority to guide Equestria the moment she left the group. Any thoughts she has on the state of this kingdom are moot, and the Committee has enough level heads within it that we can handle what troubles we still have. This feels like you were trying to go over our heads by siding with your ex-student more than the very governing powers you put in place.”
“I know what it looks like,” Celestia answered, “And I cannot make excuses for my actions. What I did was not a proper way of dealing with this situation.”
“And what situation are you talking about?” Luna questioned, truly wondering what could have led Celestia to not trust any of the ponies within the Committee, especially herself.
“The sustained misery of the creatures of this land,” stated Celestia, “Perhaps I’m not used to a resolution that takes as long as this has, but it saddens me that it has been over half a year, and ponies are still as lost as when this began. Sunset Shimmer had seemed to have found a solution to this one issue we have yet to solve, and so I sought her insight on these manners.”
“Do you not trust us to fix the problems Equestria is facing?” Luna said, making it sound like she was talking about the Committee, but in honesty she was merely talking about herself.
“I had set up the Committee due to my belief in the abilities of each member,” Celestia explained, “I knew that Braeburn would know enough about agriculture to handle the food crisis. I knew Spitfire could mobilize those under her to take care of the rebuilding efforts. I knew Cheerilee understood the measures we had to take with the foals affected by the caribou’s rule. I knew Flash Sentry could maintain the peace and keep the caribou in check. I knew Shining Armor could continue to lead the Crystal Empire with Cadence. Lastly, I knew you would have the heir of authority to guide each of these ponies down the best path for Equestria.”
Luna’s eyes shut as she could see that what was omitted meant more than what was said, “And you could also see that Sunset Shimmer, with all her charisma, could help bring together the ponies of Equestria to a common goal. This was probably what you believed when you selected her, seeing that she had pulled together a group of ponies to effectively resist the caribou, and unlike the rest of our group, was never manipulated, enslaved, or forced to follow along with Dainn’s law.”
“That was my belief,” Celestia answered, “And the results of her actions made me believe that my assessment was true. The worst part is that I still believe I was right, but that Sunset understands far too well how capable she is at uniting ponies when she tries.”
“Celestia,” Luna said in a quiet, calm manner, understanding why it was the white alicorn seeked Sunset’s advice, but still not hearing what she truly wanted to hear, “I want to know why you are hiding these thoughts you’ve been harboring from me. When I was freed of the corruption that was Nightmare Moon, you put so much trust in me that you never questioned if I would relapse and go back to my evil ways. Now you cannot confide in me with your plans, even when I have given you that same trust you gave to me.”
Celestia was ashamed, as Luna spoke was right, though it wasn’t that she couldn’t trust her sister. She trusted her completely, and with that complete trust she knew that Luna would have stopped her from doing what was a foolish attempt to bring Sunset back towards the plan she envisioned for the group of seven ponies she hand picked to lead Equestria. It was her own desire to try that made her keep secrets, and that made her guilty.
“Sister,” Luna said, seeing that her words had upset the white alicorn, the weight of her secrecy pressing down on her, “You must have faith that we will be able to bring peace back to the kingdom, without Sunset’s help. You must also… not place such a large burden on yourself in these trying times. You are not the princess. It isn’t up to you to single handedly fix everything, nor set into place the pieces that will fix it in your stead.”
“You’re… right,” Celestia said, having no grounds to object, “I just feel so responsible about all this, I don’t know what to do at this point, and doing nothing only makes me anxious. This is the second time in my life that I questioned my actions so thoroughly, and I cannot bear another thousand years waiting for my mistakes to be rectified.”
“You won’t have to,” Luna said, catching what her sister was referring to, “As princess of Equestria, I promise that I will do everything in my power to bring peace back to these lands. Until then, you have to promise me that you will not do anything like this again, and that you will tell me if there is something that is bothering you. This is not an order from your princess, but a request, from your sister, who loves and cares for you more than anything.”
Celestia looked shocked for a split second, but gave a nod, having trouble finding her voice as tears welled up in her eyes. It was nice to hear Luna say that, as the dark mare was usually not so forthcoming with her feelings.
“Now please, get some rest.” Luna said, permitting Celestia’s leave, as she ended the conversation.
Celestia got up from her seat and went to the door, turning back to Luna before exiting. “I love you too, sister.” the white alicorn said as she exited, knowing that was the sentiment Luna wanted to express, though was not the type to just come out and say such things.
Luna was glad to have made Celestia happy, if only briefly, but from this and the conversation the two had prior to Sunset’s event, she could tell this would not last. Celestia would never truly get over the guilt she felt from being a red collar, despite Luna reassuring her that the caribou’s twisted version of the once proud matriarch held no similarities to how she was now, save for appearance. Celestia just couldn’t be convinced of that, and thus bore the full guilt of all the harm her red collared self had caused. It was a shame that there was no way to prove to the white alicorn that she was not responsible, but the only evidence of Celestia’s mentality at that time came from caribou sources, and while their truth was seldom the truth, there was nothing else to go off of. With nothing to contradict this presented ideal of what Celestia was during the Fall, which was easy to believe for those who had witnessed her in person, the alicorn would be doomed to bear the burden of her sins, perhaps for the rest of her life.