The Doctor walked calmly down Town Square, towards the jail. He was off to visit Carmel, and while he didn't have the bits to post bail, he thought he would go talk to the fearless leader for at least a little bit. As he walked, the Doctor's brilliant mind was on full steam. He was planning. Thoughts of his (now postponed) wedding were behind him. All he could think about was the fight.
After we get our leader out of the jail, which should be in about a week, then we should probably have another rally. Talking points should include how we are gaining popularity and how we are being oppressed by the officia-
It was at this point that something caught his eye. That something was, in fact, a very large painted sign that read "Stallion's rights petition!" The first thing that would be obvious to the passerby is the fact that it was made in a hurry, resembling more a lemonade stand sign than a political one. Red paint marked on crudely-cut wood, and a pair of flimsy-looking posts holding it all up were more than enough to give away the amatuer-ness of the design. The second thing an observant observer would see is the pony underneath the sign, holding a paper and quill.
That pony was Twilight Sparkle.
It was agreed that while Carmel was in jail, The Doctor would be his eyes and ears on the outside, always watching for any new developments. This, the Doctor thought, was enough to merit being counted as a new development. He approached the crudely-built stand.
"Good morning, Miss Sparkle." He said, in his usual refined tone, that had a slight hint of a Trottingham accent. "I see you have been... busy."
"Well, sorta. I'm trying to get signers to this petition. If all goes correctly, the Mayor has promised to send a Stallion's Rights resolution to the voters if I can prove that it would pass. I figured the easiest way to go about it would be to get a representative petition. At first I was thinking a survey, but then I realized there would only be one question. So I decided to use this." She presented a small piece of paper with about 7 signatures affixed.
The Doctor furrowed his brow. "Miss Sparkle, I understand that you have the noblest of intentions, but honestly. This is the mayor we are talking about. Public opinion means everything to her."
Twilight nodded. "That is exactly why this would work! If we can prove the voters would be behind it-"
"Think this one through. If public opinion matters so much to the mayor, don't you think she would be keeping close tabs on what the population is "getting behind""?
"Well... Maybe-"
"The mayor is a smart pony, Miss Sparkle. If the public was truly behind this movement, she would have done something years ago. And, besides, four of these signatures are from the stallions themselves, who would not receive a vote on this resolution."
"I just thought..."
"Their opinions don't matter, not politically. None of ours do. Miss Sparkle, I am afraid you are wasting your time here." Doctor Whoves spoke with an air of confidence. "Trust me, we have exhausted this recourse already. I don't believe that any kind of continuation of this would be fruitful, not at the moment at least."
"But... We have to keep hope alive. It is our only source! I have to fight! This is the only way I know how. I will prove that the opinion has changed."
The Doctor shook his head. "Despite the passion you obviously bear for this, no amount of zeal can change the cold, hard fact: The Stallion's Rights movement is still accepted by a minority of Female Ponies."
Twilight looked down at the ground, seemingly lost in thought. "So, then, the challenge is not to prove that ponies would get behind this movement..."
"...The challenge is convincing them of it." The Doctor finished. "Most of the ponies here are good, honest folk. They honestly want what they feel is best for all of us, Stallion and Mare. We merely try our best to show that supporting Stallion's Rights is the correct course of action."
"But that is obvious to anyone! There is no logical reason to be opposed to such a movement..."
"You are correct. There is no 'logical' reason. Give me five minutes with the most vocal detractor, and they will be nothing more than a babbling fool that cannot accept the changing times." When The Doctor said that, Twilight's mind went to Applejack. She winced. Applejack... You don't exactly have very many friends on this side of the debate. "Nevertheless, ponies are vehemently against our cause. I think I have found the reason."
"And that is?"
"Pressure. Three out of the six Elements of Harmony are against the movement, as is the Mayor and several of the wealthiest ponies in town. We have the issue that because a few key ponies are fighting us at every step, the rest of the town feels railroaded into following them."
"So... what you are saying is..."
"You need to confront your friends. Make them see reason. I can't do it, they wouldn't listen to me. But you... you are bound to them in ways mystical, they will at least listen to you. And if you are smart and perceptive as I have been told, I expect great things." He smiled.
"But... I can't..."
"You have to. You are the only one who can get their ears on something this fundamental. Now, I must be off. Good luck, Miss Sparkle." As he said this, he turned to leave. Perhaps we can do something without the upcoming election, after all.
"T-thanks!" Twilight said, trying to sound upbeat. No longer was this assignment a research paper.
It was now a battle. A battle of minds.
3064562 Just did. ;)
Discord got your tongue
3065949
3065960 Like so:
You capitalized the "f"
Only the M needs capitalized
On a more important note, yay updates!
3065965
I can't even facehoof properly. It must be the time-zone change.
3065971 Can you tell this was written on a tablet?
2975764
To be brutally honest? Rainbow Dash's status as an Element of Harmony already pretty much torpedoed her chances of ever joining a group where one of the defining traits of members is being on tour much of the time. If the Changlings or Discord or Lord Smooze or whatever shows up next Tuesday, you don't want to have to race down to your office and drag out the Wonderbolt's schedule to find out where the the Element of Loyalty is, you want to know that you can get all six in Canterlot in an hour with a single letter to your student. And you definitely don't want to have to teleport over to Dash's trailer, walk through a minefield of beer cans, kick some groupies out of her bed, drag her into the shower, and sit on her while she wakes up to a massive hangover.
Heck, I've read a couple fics where Celestia basically had her blacklisted from the group behind Dash's back, solely because she's that vital to national defense. Then again I also read a story where the Wonderbolts participate in hazing, via kidnapping new recruits right out of their house and holding a fake sacrificial ritual, which shouts "Please sue me".
3066004
... A pony can dream, can't I?
3066010
Not since Princess Luna vs. the State of Slumberland.
3066027 Fixed. Thanx!
3066016
3066107 Cheerilee should watch what she says.
I'll ctrl-f that truly problem after church.
Since everyone else here seems to be pointing out typos I feel railroaded into joining them.
Now that I pointed out it's minor mistakes I would also like to point out that I am greatly enjoying this story.
and half the Elements of Harmony are for it, including one who has the ear of the ruler of the kingdom.
I don't feel lthis story holds water
3066004
I once read a story where Celestia and Spitfire were talking about Dash for the Bolts... and it was Celestia who was in favor of letting Dash pursue her dream
3066158
To be fair, I believe I remember something about the princess talking about Ponyville being a democracy.
3066636 Thank you for your honesty. I really appreciate it.
Now, to answer questions:
About the pace: This was the last "Groundplacing"chapter. From here on out, we are going to see progress. Ican promise you that. Twilight is about to confront her friends, Carrot Top is about to make a re-entrance, The Mayor will be fleshed out fully, and that conversation Big Macintosh is getting set up for will be glorious. Beleve you me.
Now, about the "Thumbs Up" Thing, I admit my writing is atrocious. Quite Frankly, Inever expected to hit the "Featured"box. I am a poor writer with below-average grammer and no spell-check. On top of that, I have never tried to learn classical writing. Somehow, something Iam doing is working. I don't understand it.
Quite Frankly, Iappreciate the bluntness. We need more of that.
I am leaving the Mayor nebulous for a reason. Not going to spoil it here.
Big Macintosh will have his day in glory, belive you me. Just... not yet.
Hope you can enjoy my story regardless of mu multiple shortcomings!
3066360 Sorry that you don't enjoy it.
3066139 I liked the idea, myself.
3066148
I'll fix it in a little. Thank you!
3066607 Glad to hear!
3066339 The violence (of action, not literal violence) cometh, my friend.
3066448
3066456
Is that a good thing?
Not advancing the story? I disagree! It seems to me that this chapter sets the stage perfectly for the next big plot section: Twilight's debates with her friends.
Based on the chapters I have seen so far, you could use a proofreader. Or, I suppose, another, if you have one already that is somehow missing all these typos and errors. But your story is great! I wouldn't mind proofreading. I don't know how good I am as an editor, but I can spot typographical and grammatical errors like nobody's business.
Looks like the above comment got slightly ninjad while I was offline (I had the episode cached and read it on a road trip) -- oh well.
It's always truck me as odd, how denying the right to vote on the basis of sex, location, vocation, economic status, etc. often boils down to the select few trying to keep that right under their rigid control only because losing makes them feel less special.
Or, to frame my argument using a poster:
demotivators.despair.com/demotivational/traditiondemotivator.jpg
Although I do feel that that law preventing stallions from leaving Ponyville has to run into problems concerning the common law of Equestria.
3067424 Happy to help, if you really did type this on a tablet you actually did pretty good. Glad you republished the chapter, I was wondering where it went.
3067412 For me personally, what drew me here was the premise. I find this idea of stallions having no rights whatsoever intriguing, since it was the opposite in our world a long time ago. As for Big Mac, I can't wait to see him give Applejack a "reason you suck" speech. It will be glorious!
Ah Twilight having to argue with friends over political beliefs is nothing new, heck in both the American Revolution and American Civil War, it was not uncommon for brothers and fathers to be fighting on opposite sides of the conflict... Be thankful you don't have to go that far, and don't have to have this argument with your own family...
one quesgen is where is Spike in all of this?
"Three out of the six Elements of Harmony are against the movement"
We know Applejack opposes Stallion Rights because of her grandmother being a founder. Of the other 5;
Rarity: Probably opposes out of spite, since she never gets to show off her seamstress skills on Stallions
Fluttershy: Won't say which side she supports because it would hurt the feelings of others
Pinkie: Supports the Stallion Rights cause and keeps track of how long Caramel gets busted for
Rainbow Dash: Has no overt views because "thinking's for eggheads and distracts me from my AWESOME skills"
Twilight: Supports the cause with the strength of a raging fire.
Bulk out the story more. You've left MASSIVE holes in your story (Applejack is really the only one you've explained her views, yet you keep saying that half of the Bearers oppose Stallion Rights) and the chapters are too short. Were you to cut the chapter count in half by conflating chapters, you'd probably have a properly sized story.
You know what could be the worst thing? You are probably basing this on American Democracy, where you don't HAVE to vote, even if you CAN, meaning that there are probably some mares (Fluttershy among them) who DON'T vote.
Don't get me started on what would happen if a m2f transgender pony DARED to attempt to vote!
^@#$^&# FiMFiction bug!
You know, that weird bug that pops up when your favorite story updates with a brand new chapter, but it doesn't even show up on the updated favorites list, so you have to keep going back to checking through all your favorites just to make sure the system didn't miss anything.
Otherwise: Finally, Twilight's going to confront her friends. I've been waiting for this.
Still need to hear how the stallions can guarantee that Carrot Top isn't about to turn around and do the same thing Mayor Mare did.
recently discovered story....liking story......currently waiting for next chapter of story
Hmm, I didn't notice this updated. Glad I saw it - refaved just to be sure cause I like where this is going.
3070000
I don't think Rarity is nearly petty enough to have that as a motive.
I would however list her as a candidate for somepony who's straight up prejudiced i.e. "stallions are just to stupid/brutish/simple-minded etc."
Similarly, while it's possible that Rainbow just does not care, I'm afraid it's more likely she'll turn out to be the mare equivalent of a misogynistic dudebro.
Misandronist? Yeah that works, not even gonna try to make a word for dudebro.
I thought I favorited the story. This time I made sure.
Now would you mind if I read this for some of my videos its brilliant!
I'm a little surprised that things are so...non-violent. Not that that's a bad thing at all, I am just shocked there isn't a minority of stallions who are angry enough to turn to violence.
3159253 The best cool rights movements are the nonviolent kind. And, with Equestria being all about the love and tolerance...
You do raise a good point, logically the cause should be a no brainer, but when you are in a traditionalist place with traditionalist values, and everything is going alright there, then change can be something few are willing to accept. To bring change to people/ponies like this is essentially trying to destroy the peaceful and beneficial order that the area is in. I can't wait for the next chapter, keep goin and stay golden^^
i hope twi took debate club!!!!
It might be good to have male as able to vote though different opinions can lead to bad endings (Hint: It rhymes with "shmovernment shmut shmown"
3066004
Fire and Rain by Rurik?
Breaking Barriers by Bronius Maximus?
3310505
I don't think I read Fire and Rain.... well beyond the first two chapters or so. This was a Twidash fic I'm thinking of.
But yeah the "Please Sue Us" Hazing Ritual is from Breaking Barriers.
3310652
Ah, well, just a guess. I got one!
3310652>>3310691 *Off to read it.*
3310709
Fire and Rain and Breaking Barriers are both great stories in my opinion and worth reading, Although Breaking Barriers is a sequel, so you may want to read the first one...
3146805 if you are willing, I could give you chapter edit privilages.
3303139 I'm sure she read a book on it somewhere.
3066004 On the other hand, crushing a pony's dreams just because she's friends with Twilight Sparkle is a surefire way to sour that friendship. I think it'd be a far bigger risk to Harmony to do that than to worry about the fact that sometimes Dash will be on tour and hard to find.
Heck, she's Rainbow Dash. Send word to her that Ponyville's being devoured by evil blobs of fruit jelly and she'll probably personally outrace any conventional form of transport getting back there to put a stop to it.
Or, now that Twilight's an alicorn, she could start looking into that epic-level teleport spell Celestia used to pop from Canterlot to Ponyville during the Smartypants Incident. That'll make gathering the party much easier as well.
3332697
Needs of the many outweigh the dreams of the one, etc.
IMHO, Celestia will do practically anything she feels she has to do in order to protect her subjects. And if one of the things she has to do is silently sabotage the chances of Rainbow getting into the Wonderbolts so Rainbow can be easily found in case of a End of the World Scenario? Done and dusted. Now if she wanted to be really mean about it there's probably a whole book full of mind control magic she could pull out to make Dash or any of the Elements completely forget about any inconvenient personal ambitions, but thats getting into the crazy Tyrantlestia/Average TCB Celestia region.