The worst part of this whole mess was that Sumac was unable to walk on his own. He could not put any of his weight on either foreleg, meaning he was dependent on somepony else for everything, including trips to the bathroom, which was embarrassing. There was no point in complaining about it though. As he had learned from Starlight, life was unfair, but at least he was lucky enough to have friends to get him through the rough spots.
He was feeling hungry, it was a persistent hunger that did not go away no matter how much he ate. His senses felt dulled, he was sleepy, but he also felt jittery in a strange way. He suspected it was the pain relieving medicine that was making him feel so peculiar.
Cinnamon was napping—no doubt, he was affected by the pain relieving drink as well—and the little colt drooled all over his forelegs, where his head rested. Trixie was sitting in a chair, reading a book about magic, lost in her own thoughts. Pebble too, was reading, as she was wont to do. Sumac wasn’t up for much and he just sort of stared at the wall, thinking about all of the things he wished he had said to Olive. He was far more clever in hindsight. He had all kinds of witty things to say, biting quips, and sarcastic jabs.
Sumac’s disconnected brain drifted and he found himself thinking of Pebble. She was nice, she smelled good, and something about her was… pretty. Yes, pretty. Pebble was pretty in a plain sort of way, sort of like how a carnation or a daisy was pretty in their own way, even though they were no rose. Pebble wore dresses to protect her sun sensitive skin and there was something about her dresses that Sumac liked. He wondered how much laundry had to be done because of her dress wearing. She was a pleasing chocolate brown colour, dark chocolate, dark, dark chocolate, the good stuff, the stuff that made you feel light headed when you peeled off the wrapper.
Yes indeed, Pebble looked good enough to eat.
Now disgusted with himself, Sumac tried to push the unwanted thoughts out of his brain as strong feelings of revulsion made him shudder. Another thought entered his brain unbidden—he had never seen Pebble’s cutie mark. He knew that she had one, but he had never seen it. It was always covered by her dress.
For a moment, his addled brain thought about asking Pebble to pull up her dress so he could check out her cutie mark, but then he thought better of it. He didn’t want to be slapped. No, asking a filly to pull up her dress so you could have a look at her cutie mark was something that you did later, when you were older. At some point, he was certain he would see her cutie mark, he just wasn’t sure when.
Three heavy thumps upon the door jolted Sumac from his thoughts and he realised that he had been staring at Pebble this whole time. He turned away, feeling guilty, and not knowing why. He heard the sound of hooves on the floor and saw that Trixie was about to answer the door. One ear drooped and the other just sort stayed where it was when Sumac tried to make his ears perk up.
When the door was pulled open, Sumac heard a familiar voice say, “I can’t stay long, I’m real busy, but I dropped by to have a word with Sumac.”
“Good… you should have a word with Sumac,” Trixie replied as Big Mac stepped through the door.
Big Mac was very, very big, and Sumac felt very, very small. Smaller than usual. As Big Mac approached, he found that he could not look the big stallion in the eye. Guilt and shame consumed him and he did not like the look of disapproval he saw on Big Mac’s face. Ears now drooping, he stared down at the floor.
“You a’right?” Big Mac asked.
When he tried to speak, Sumac’s throat went dry and his words came out in a squeak. “I’ve been better.”
“Word got to me about what you did,” Big Mac said in a soft voice that was almost a whisper. The big red pony paused for a moment and began to chew his lower lip as he blinked his green eyes. He appeared to be thinking.
“Quick, Sumac, look miserable,” Pebble whispered into Sumac’s ear.
He didn’t need to look miserable. He was miserable. He could feel it. Shame and misery burned through him and he felt his eyes watering as he stared down at the floor. He felt his barrel hitching and it made his shoulders ache. He didn’t want to cry—not in front of Big Mac. That would make everything worse. In fact, that would pretty much be the worst thing in the whole wide world, crying in front of Big Mac. Sumac sucked everything in and tried to hold it together.
“You did wrong.” Big Mac’s words made Sumac flinch. “You did wrong and I think you know it. I heard about what you did. Now, I know all about Olive. She’s a bad one. But she’s also a filly and you, you’re not just a colt, but you’re also an Apple. For shame, Sumac Apple.”
Stinging tears threatened to escape and Sumac squeezed his eyes shut.
“There is no excuse for what you did.” Big Mac’s voice softened a bit more and dropped in volume. “You’re little… I get that. But what we do when we’re little plants the seeds for how we grow. Do you really want to be known as a sarcastic smart mouth that treats the mare folk poorly?”
“No.” Sumac shook his head.
“Look me in the eye and say that,” Big Mac said.
It seemed impossible to lift his head and open his eyes. When he started to open his eyes, a few tears slipped out, and he squeezed his eyes closed right away. He drew in a deep, shuddering breath, licked the roof of his mouth with his tongue hoping to moisten his mouth a bit, and wondered how he was going to do this.
He felt a soft touch on his neck and he knew it was Pebble. He found his strength. He opened his eyes and allowed the tears to slip down his cheeks, and after a bit of a struggle, he managed to look up at Big Mac, who was looking down at him. He found it difficult to look into those green eyes that matched his own.
“I did wrong… it felt good to cut her down and say mean things, but it was wrong.”
“Is ya sorry?” Big Mac’s eyes narrowed and he lowered his head a bit.
“Yes I am,” Sumac replied.
“No matter how awful she is, she’s still a filly.” Big Mac’s stern expression became something a little softer, but not by much. “Be the good pony we all know you can be.”
“Okay.”
“Well then, I think this has been dealt with. There’s nothing left to say and I think you’ve been punished enough.” Big Mac glanced over at Trixie and waited for some sign of agreement. When Trixie nodded, he continued, “Remember who you are, Sumac Apple. Our name means something. Your father tarnished our good name. He dragged it through the mud and he made us all look bad. You don’t understand it yet, but if you go around with a smart mouth, other ponies are going to think that you’re turning out like your father, and you don’t want that. Hold yourself accountable. Do good.”
“Yes sir.” Sumac managed to nod his head. The tears flowing down his cheeks seemed to relieve some of the pressure and he felt better, even though it bothered him to be crying in front of Big Mac. It just felt wrong.
“Applejack wanted to give you a darn good hiding,” Big Mac said to Sumac. “It’s gonna take her a while to cool off. I promised to come over and give you a stern talking to. She’s gotta scratch her mad spot and get over it.”
“I won’t do it again,” Sumac promised.
“Good.” Big Mac gave the colt a half smile. “I need to be going. Next time, you treat a lady like a lady, even if she isn’t acting like one.”
“Okay.” Sumac sniffled and worried about the boogers now clogging up his nose.
“Goodbye, Sumac.” Big Mac turned his head. “Pebble, do try to keep him straightened out, okay?”
“I am trying,” Pebble replied.
“Well, just don’t give up. I need to be going.” And having said what needed to be said, Big Mac turned about, headed for the door, bowed his head to Trixie as he passed, flicked his tail, and then was gone, whistling as he walked out the door.
Trixie shut the door, turned her head, looked at Sumac, and then began to walk across the room. When she reached the couch, she lowered her head, kissed him on his ear, and then nosed him against the back of his head.
“I’ll get you some tissues,” she said.
Lost in his own thoughts, Sumac brooded in silence. Olive was going to be a lot more difficult to deal with if he couldn’t unleash his pent up snark against her. It was wrong, and he knew it. He felt better after having let it all out. Trixie had sat on the couch with him and he had himself a good cry.
“I feel like a dope,” Sumac said aloud, sharing how he felt about himself.
“Admitting to the problem is always a good first step,” Pebble replied.
In her chair, Trixie chortled.
Turning his head, he stared at his friend, trying to think of something to say, and then he thought better of it. Running his mouth wasn’t going to help anything. One ear twitched as he held back the sarcastic reply he longed to let go of. He didn’t want Applejack to give him a hiding or for Big Mac to have another talk with him. Truth be told, between the two options, he’d rather deal with Applejack than face a disappointed Big Mac again.
“I miss my parents,” Pebble said as she closed her eyes. “I miss my grandparents. All of them. I wish Pinny would come back to Ponyville.”
“Where is she?” Trixie asked.
“She’s off in Las Pegasus at some bowling tournament.” Pebble let out a sigh and opened her eyes. “I hope she wins. This is how she makes her bits. She has bills to pay. I don’t understand why she doesn’t take a more stable job.”
“Some ponies stick to doing what they love.” Trixie’s muzzle scrunched and the mare lost herself in contemplation. She sat, silent, her eyes far away and distant, and then after a long moment of silence, she said, “Just because a pony loves something, or is even good at something, it doesn’t mean that they’ll succeed at something or be able to make a living from it. If Pinny can make a living at bowling, if she can do what she loves, she’s very lucky.”
“I suppose she is.” Pebble glanced over at Sumac, then back at Trixie. “My parents love what they do. I guess they’re really lucky.”
“They are,” Trixie replied, “they’re very lucky.”
“Are you ever going to settle down and get married?” Pebble asked, being as blunt as her mother could be.
Trixie blinked in shock and stared at the filly, but made no reply. She sat in her chair, her eyes locked on Pebble, and one ear quivered. She lifted one foreleg, reached up, and scratched her chest, right on the front of her barrel, and the faint sound of her hoof sliding over her pelt could be heard.
“You’ve settled down,” Pebble said to Trixie, “the rest should be easy. Isn’t that what adults do when they’ve grown up and they settle down? Get married?”
“Some do.” Trixie squirmed in her seat, shifting from one side to another, then back again. “For others, marriage was never really part of their plans. Falling in love is complicated. Well, it can be. It’s easy to fall in love, ponies do it all the time, but getting somepony to love you back, that’s tricky.”
“My aunt Pinkie won’t settle down. She’s in love, and everypony talks about it, my grandmother Cloudy grumbles about it all the time, but Pinkie won’t settle down because she got hurt once. I really don’t understand what happened.”
Sumac took notice. For once, Pebble was clueless about something. For all of her seemingly adult ways, this was something she had nothing to say about, no smart know-it-all comment, she had nothing. His ears perked as he waited for more to be said.
“I don’t understand marriage,” Pebble said in a voice that held a hint of emotion. “Grandfather says that aunt Limestone is married to her job. Does she love her job? She always seems so stressed out about it. She gets mad sometimes and goes and smashes rocks. It doesn’t seem like a happy marriage.”
“Pebble, honey, sometimes, sometimes when a pony says something like being married to their job, it’s just a metaphor—”
“Why not speak plainly and just be done with it?” Pebble demanded. “It’s stupid.”
“It is what it is.” Trixie shrugged.
“But why do ponies do it?” Pebble asked. “Why can’t they just be in love or whatever and live together? Why marry?”
“Tax reasons,” Trixie sighed, not understanding the big deal herself. “Pebble, I don’t know why ponies get married. They just do. I don’t know how the whole tradition even started. It’s just there. We’ve been doing it for so long that we’ve sort of forgotten why we do it. It’s just something that happens.”
“But why so much pressure to do it?”
“I suppose ponies expect other ponies to do it.”
“That’s not a good reason to do anything.”
“I agree.”
Sumac waited for more to be said, but nothing seemed forthcoming. Pebble remained quiet and so did Trixie. After a few minutes, Trixie picked up her book and began reading. After a few more minutes, Pebble did the same, a scowl still on her face.
Bored, distracted, Sumac slipped off, his brain drifting to other subjects, like wondering what Pebble’s cutie mark looked like and what she might look like without her dress. He closed his eyes, tried to imagine it, and before he realised what was going on, he drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
Not too badly stoned from some videos I've seen his behavor is mild. I understand th e Apple name means something but sometimes letting someone constantly walk over you isn't the answer regardless of gender or 'proper behavior'.. Big Mac might not realize of accept it but I'm sure his size and known strength intimidates people
There ain't nothing worse than being stoned. No matter what you try, you've always got pebbles on your mind.
7344013 If I ever get slapped again(yes, it's happened before) I'd be well within my rights to slap the person right back. Man or woman, if you hit me, you WILL get hit back.
7344056 Of course once they touch or hit you then its self defense
This chapter. You took me back to Corinth Misissippi with my father talking to me like Big Mac was to sumac. I could feel the emotions running through and memories floating by. It just felt so real and I could see my self in it so much.
On another note, is sumac going to turn into Big Mac, only saying yes or no to avoid running his mouth? For some reason I feel like it might turn into a character analysis for Mac and why he talks, or rather, why he does not.
7344056
The point is that while you can hit them, you could also try to restrain, dodge, make a scene, and that while violence is sometimes the only answer, violence is a very big book, and borrows a few chapters from peace.
Dude I was lucky she had diamonds for cutie marks!
So that's why you bit her?
He said he was hungry...
But he wasn't...
Sumac Apple! I can tell you what her cutie mark looks like!
7344095 The option of resolving it peacefully goes out the window when they punch you in the face and break your Brand New $150 glasses.
EDIT: I feel I should Point out that I can't even see my face in a mirror without my glasses. My vision is just THAT bad.
Sorry I got a little pissed at Big Mac in this scene pretty much it came out "She's a filly she can do whatever she wants to you and you cant defend yourself"
There is a pretty good reason I 99% of the time cant stand the Apple Family too stubborn and proud of themselves
7344153
Well at that point you can take legal action.
7344167
You have to understand that this is a rural man with strong family values and his actions reflect that. If you view him through the lens of a Christian Country community, you can start to see things take shape through that prism. I could be wrong there. Feel free to prove me wrong Kudzu
I dunno, what he said was wrong, but what about what Olive has done to her parents? I am assuming that is being taken care of off screen since this is all from Sumac's pov.
7344198 Trust me I know where he's coming from and the type of thinking he has I grew up in Amish land Lancaster County couldn't get much more religious alot of the old Amish guys fit Big Mac to a T. I still dont like his way of thinking though
7344183 Legal action doesn't necessarily resolve the issue. I can win a suit and be owed the money but the court doesn't make them pay without additional action like liens or garnishments.
I understand about what you mean about the strong family values but there is a time for that.
7344175 This is one time I couldn't stand Big Mac either. I can't imagine he was a prefect angel as a foal either. Being mouthy once or twice won't be a problem constantly that would be a problem
7344206
Fair enough.
Ehh. Im iffy on this one.
Might just be that was and still am a smartass, my mouth was and still is my defense, and my parents got on me, but never that hard. Cursing someone out and that got me murdered, but just being a smartass, just slight glares and comments from teachers.
Im just suprised everyone is as mad as they are.
7344167 got that from it myself as well.
7344212
I always expected somebody to do the "I'm disappointed you put yourself in danger, and disappointed that you were so caustic, but, secretly, I'm glad you have that fire inside you and that you stuck up for yourself and Olive is probably the best target for this."
That sort of "we are both disappointed in your judgement and proud of you for standing up for yourself."
But, instead, we got "We have to be harsh on this boy."
Which might just mean he's going to have a complex about talking back to anyone for many years. Even if it would hurt him not to. You have to be clear because children won't read between the lines anywhere near an adult would, even a smart child.
7344013
And there is this, too. The amount of stuff you can get away with if you are physically intimidating is very different from the amount if you're not. If you can reasonably be sure you won't be pushed around then politeness is perfect. If you cannot... what do you do? Just be a doormat?
Edit: I wonder if, looking at this as if it's not just an old-timey moral, this kind of behavior is looked down upon because if your only reprieve is wit, that means you can't actually do anything about it. That you're too weak to actually change anything, so you pathetically just get sarcastic and insulting.
Not really liking Big Mac in this one, or the rest of their attitudes.
I understand the whole "we do not want you to turn out like your father," thing, but seriously this girl is bigger, stronger, and willing to hurt whoever she wants to get what she wants. Trying to pull the "she is a lady," card does not really work at that point.
Honestly if I was Sumac I would have told them that if they were doing their dang jobs as parents and protecting him then he would not need to protect himself...but no...instead the "lady" puts him in the hospital and he is the one who is in trouble...shoot let AppleJack try and tan his hide, and Trixie will knock her abusive flank out too. You do not punish the victim of a bully for finally standing up for themselves, and you sure as heck do not "tan their hides," for it.
The only oddness about the story was that little conversation about marriage at the end...it felt odd.
Who the hell tries to have a meaningful discussion with a stoned colt?
I have some mixed feelings about this chapter. On one hand, I was raised up to treat women right, like Big Mac says.
On the other hand, I knew several girls very much like older versions of Olive who were utterly terrible beings back in High School who really tested this particular value, and were only really toned down when one girl got fed up with their shit and had a massive shouting match that culminated in her swinging a chair at them. Sure, this girl got suspended (she got off lucky here), but she still made a notable difference and school was more pleasant for everyone afterward.
How is this relevant, you might ask? Well, while Big Mac probably doesn't intend to tell Sumac that he should never stand up to any female bullies, but I can very easily see this being the way Sumac ends up interpreting it or, perhaps even worse, that he shouldn't stand up to bullies at all. Maybe if Big Mac had admitted it's okay to stand up to bullies, but not in the way Sumac did it by antagonizing her- that could work.
I really hope the author writes their opinion of our responses I would be interested in what they have to say
7344499 Someone who doesn't realize just how stoned he is?
Hey, Big Mac? Please kill yourself. Thanks.
7344499 Someone that isn't thinking about that but rather their message as they are upset
Now all he needs to do is start saying 'indubitably' over and over again.
Really don't like Mac in this chapter, you have to respect ladies because..., well..... because they're ladies. Respect can be Given, Earned or Lost but the only person you owe respect is yourself, if you respect others before yourself your in for a pretty shitty life.
Hmm... I do agree with Big Mac's sentiment. Treating others with respect is the right and virtuous thing to do. However, doing it solely because of gender feels wrong to me. Plus, the snark did expose Olive's quiet tyranny to authorities she couldn't cow into submission, but there were better ways of doing so. Certainly less painful ones for Sumac. I guess I'm just not very chivalrous.
Still, I do agree with the central message. It's the lack of nuance that bothers me.
As for the rest, yeah, love and the social constructs that have built up around it are weird.
And they say Chivalry is dead!
Big Mac isn't completely wrong, but his assumptions about proper chivalrous behavior (which aren't bad, or wrong) are predicated on something he is forgetting. Something that is often forgotten.
Chivalry is a system. It is a system of rules and behaviors that encompasses everyone involved! Not just men. Women had rules for virtuous and chivalrous behavior as well. The system functions if everyone is playing by the same rules.
Olive manifestly isn't. She wants to act big and strong and cruel, so why should Big Mac chide Sumac for not treating her with respect when she had no intention of reciprocating?
It sort of like the logical inversion of the Golden Rule. Sure, I act kindly to encourage others to be kind in return....but if you act cruelly should your cruelty not be returned in kind to give you a forcible reminder of why not to be cruel?
After reading through a few responses about the whole respect thing, here's my take on it.
Big Mac is telling Sumac to be the better pony, who cares if Olive deserves diddly squat, other ponies wilk see that respect as taking the high road, who knows? Maybe one act of respect will get others to do the same?
Or maybe I shouldn't read stuff and try to make a meaningful comment at one in the morning.
I felt like I had to say something...
Kudz...I love your stories and your characters buuut methinks you have some rather toxic obsession with chivalry. As a "lady" who grew up in the south and a mother, Big Mac's reaction really bothers me...Trixie I get, "Sumac was wrong to antagonize Olive because it put him in danger" makes a lot more sense than "she's a terrible person but she has a vagina" sure chivalry seems good from a first glance but no, it is bad for everyone involved, it holds people to unrealistic outdated gender based standards and breeds resentment and often causes more problems than it suposedly solves. Big Mac's words had the unfortunate effect of reminding me of authority figures from my youth telling me that it was wrong to be so outspoken because I was 'a lady who should know better' and telling a dear friend that he was wrong for standing up to an abusive female bully and 'weak' for letting her get to him.
Kudz...I love your stories and your characters buuut methinks you have some rather toxic obsession with chivalry. As a "lady" who grew up in the south and a mother, Big Mac's reaction really bothers me...Trixie I get, "Sumac was wrong to antagonize Olive because it put him in danger" makes a lot more sense than "she's a terrible person but she has a vagina" sure chivalry seems good from a first glance but no, it is bad for everyone involved, it holds people to unrealistic outdated gender based standards and breeds resentment and often causes more problems than it suposedly solves. Big Mac's words had the unfortunate effect of reminding me of authority figures from my youth telling me that it was wrong to be so outspoken because I was 'a lady who should know better' and telling a dear friend that he was wrong for standing up to an abusive female bully and 'weak' for letting her get to him. It shouldnt matter that she's female, it should be more about how he should've gone to an adult instead of escalating the situation to the point of boiling over, it should be about how words hurt too, it should be about being the better person. Not toxic masculinity.
7344843 You are one of the guys who is making him not want to write >_<
Stop orjecting your youthful malice towards those asshole bullie who are probably dead in a ditch because of their own ignorance onto the story.
7345577 Wait -- we were supposed to *agree* with Big Mac? I thought he was being a rather excessively over-the-top villain, not an author's mouthpiece.
Who tracks down a victim in the hospital and makes them apologize for antagonizing their psychopathic attacker until they were forced to try to tear their limbs off? There's blaming the victim, which is already bad enough, and then there's... there's this. I don't even know what to call this.
Yeah, going with the rest of the 'Big Mac's message goes too far' crowd. As someone who's been the Sumac to Olive, being a girl should not give them carte blanc to treat let them treat you like dirt. I agree that Sumac was wrong to antagonize her, but Mac's message here makes it sound more like he should have just rolled over and been her homework bitch rather than stand up to her at all.
Heck, given that Olive has apparently been threatening her own parents into letting her get away with whatever, there's a good chance it wouldn't have mattered had Sumac escalated things or not, just refusing her would probably have still led to the same outcome. I wonder what the message would have been had he just refused her and she still hospitalized him?
I suppose the cycle has to end somewhere.
"An eye for an eye" has never worked, it still doesn't, and it won't in the future.
If I retaliated for every time I was wronged, I'd be a master criminal with a hit list.
Meekness is not weakness. It's an all-too-uncommon strength, a refusal to succumb to those dark, dismal impulses that we all struggle with.
It shows that the offender has no power over the recipient, and it shows the strength of mind of the recipient.
Like I tell everyone who askes; the pain and hurt stops with me, the cycle ends with me.
Still, it's our choice and our choice alone that determines who has power over us.
7345790
Everyone seems to get the meaning of this phrase wrong. Despite what everyone "knows" it means, it is not about revenge. It is, instead, about mitigation. More peoperly it should be read as "no more than an eye for an eye". At the time it was common to kill people for minor injuries or tresspasses.
With that bugaboo out of the way, the only thing I want to add here is that people are forgetting that Sumac is known as the son of Flam Apple. Fair or not, he has to struggle against that knowledge... the sins of the father arenthe sins of the son until he proves otherwise. Now, could Big Mac've phraed the whole thing better? Sure he could have. What we don't know is if this is how it was explained to him.
Mac was/is big and powerful. When similar things happened in his youth, I'm betting he was told the same thing he told Sumac... word for word. If that's how Mac knows to explain it, then it shouldn't surprise us he said what he said. I would also asd that, while Sumac isn't built like Mac, his unicorn magic could possibly be just as dangerous.
Lastly, for all we know Wormwood may have had a talk with Mac and AJ. If so, it might have been impressed on them to 'scare him straight'. Ultimately, if we are fortunate enough for Kudzu to keep working on this story, we should give him the benefit of the doubt on character motivations.
7345639 In this instance the victim really did antagonize the attacker. There's even a legal term for it: Aggravated Assault. It lessens the crime the attacker did.
You shouldn't apply it to a broad spectrum of instances. What Big Mac sad wasn't a lie about how Sumac would be perceived if he followed that path. Often victims just become future attackers when they do.
7345940 Um... that's not what aggravated assault means. Are you thinking of 'fighting words'?
Also... looking back at the actual incident... Olive even started the verbal part. They were exchanging insults until she flipped her lid and got, er, magical.
7345925
It still makes the whole world blind.
Mitigation is all well and good, but prevention is better, and it's best when there's nothing to mitigate or prevent in the first place.
7345962 This is true. Compromise is better than mitigation because mitigation can still breed vengeance.
Cause hitler probably felt he had been wronged when his entire governmetn was being destroyed during the war and would want mitigation.
Just as mitigation is the reason why hitler came to power.
7345956 I re-looked up the definition and you're right on that; I was thinking of something else from my highschool law class, but that was nearly two decades back. I got the wrong legal expression (can't remember what it was called now it seems).
Olive wasn't trying to encourage him to fight, just to do help her with her homework. Don't get me wrong--she did it in the most crass way possible (you don't ask for help by calling someone "loser").
I think that there's a lot wrong with responding to a situation in the way Big Mac did, but it feels in keeping with his character. You shouldn't instigate a fight, ever, unless you're defending someone else. Sumac started it, which was bad, but Olive SERIOUSLY hurt him, which is also bad. They were both wrong. Nobody gets to walk away with a clear conscience.
Trying to frame it with the idea that you should be kind to somebody simply because they are a woman muddied the real issue: Sumac's mouth got him into trouble. He aggravated somebody to the point where they attacked him. That's shameful. Big Mac should have focused on that, not the fact that Olive is a woman. But, again, the idea that Big Mac believes women are to be treated differently when it comes to things like this is in keeping with his character. It makes sense, and Big Mac trying to instill his noble ideals on Sumac makes sense. I'd bet that Apokejack's anger stems from a less chivalrous standpoint, and is closer to what I said above: Sumac was the antagonist in this case. He should have just walked away, or asked for help, instead of aggravating Olive.
I wasn't gonna comment until I saw the author update, so I figured I might as well throw in a quick point that chivalry is impossible to coincide with equality. Chivalry assumes weakness on the part of one person and strength on the part of the other. Treating someone with respect is not chivalry, and responding to threats through words is nothing like responding to someone with violence.
That the aggressor was a 'she' is in no way a blanket approval for violent actions, and that the victim was a 'he' makes it no more meaningful a statement that bullying can only be responded to with inaction.
In the author statement, kudzuhaiku apparently feels that many of the people disagreeing here are striking against the idea of peaceful resolution, but no one is really saying that, merely that the tone of the chapter seems to be that if Olive had been male, Sumac's actions would have been embraced, or at least far more accepted.
As for those equating snark with physical response, in no way is that a reasonable statement. Olive began a confrontation verbally, and Sumac responded verbally. Anyone who believes in the right of self-defense in the case of physical action cannot in good conscience ignore the right to self-defense in verbal action. I am a snarky person, a sarcastic and stubborn man who is more than willing to argue verbally for my beliefs. I never take the step from verbal to physical, but if the other party does, no matter the gender, age, or argument, I will defend myself as well as possible. No matter what the provocation, the onus of the blame for a physical escalation always rests on the escalator.
Sometimes, an escalation is warranted, sometimes it is not, and for those saying that Sumac is the antagonist in this situation, I cannot say anything but that disagree vehemently. Olive began the verbal confrontation and made it a physical confrontation. There are many people in the world who have caused great harm to others. The fact that extenuating circumstances in life caused those people to take the paths they took should engender pity, but not mercy, because the burden of any action being taken rests upon the one who took the action.
In the end, I would not feel nearly as involved in this chapter's controversy if it weren't for the blatant sexism of presuming women are inviolate and the fact that the chapter seems to write Big Mac's opinion as the 'proper' one. Perhaps the greatest reason this chapter has raised so many voices is that it brings in a conflict which seems artificially added to a setting with no hint of this sort of conflict. Equestria and the Apple family in particular do not hold the same values as are imbued into them by assumption that they are the conservative Southern evangelicals, and so part of this undoubtedly stems from differing headcanon in terms of gender roles and societal concerns in Equestria. Those like me, who hold Equestria as an idealistic society, a realization of the Platonic republic, would have issue with the blatant copy-paste nature of Big Mac's speech from the stereotypical southern white patriarch, speaking from a position of societal and physical superiority to one in a position of societal and physical inferiority.
Wow the comment section is really hot with this chapter. Right now I'm grasping at straws trying to come up with something good to say. I will say this I really have no problems with this chapter or any of your stories. I think this was a good chapter as well. I hope you don't quit on this story though.
Yeah, sorry, but you don't have to treat a bully "like a lady." He stood up for himself -- someone needs to tell him they're proud of him, rather than punish him like they are. They're all being really harsh, and it seems uncharacteristically heartless of them to tell him, more or less, that he is in the wrong just because she's female.
Man, good thing that Sumac was too stoned to articulate any of those ideas about Pebble. I mean, it would have been interesting to watch had he done so, but probably for the best that he didn't.
The ship is sailing, but it's going to take a while.
I can kinda sorta see why people are upset in the comments, and somewhat wonder if it would have gone over better if Mac hadn't focused so hard on how you treat mares in particular. But that said, this:
Is pretty inarguable. Treating everyone right should be the goal, regardless of gender roles.
Bwhahahahaha!
Random speculation, a Warden just retired to go into foal services. Can anyone think of a foal that needs some (possibly unofficial) Warden attention? It certainly isn't Sumac here, he's been taken well in hand.