Rarity and AJ continued talking as they left. “Ah tell ya Rares, ah just… just don’t know what ta think. Even when ah voice ma concerns ma-self they sound wrong. Those stallions should be allowed ta speak, but you can just feel the tension rising.”
“I can feel it too,” Rarity said. “And I suppose I should point out that wendigoes still exist, I’m not certain how much of this would be necessary to call one but… we could be playing with fire in more ways than one.”
“Had ta mention that didn’t ya?”
“You’re not wrong AJ, that’s the point. I really think these ponies are going about things wrong, but whoever is in change is either rather immature or has a lot on their plate because they’re solutions seem either rushed or increasingly confrontational. A more clever campaign would have called for mares to stand by stallions and called for greater respect to stallions… maybe even showed examples of how a good mare acts. So far what I’m seeing casts mares as villains and stallions as crusading for their rights against them. Granted that message is subtle right now but… honestly I want to help but this group is operating all by itself and I’m afraid I’ll soon be the villain of its narrative just because of how I was born.”
“Well their message isn’t welcome, so they probably have ta operate alone,” AJ pointed out.
“In that case Celestia really needs to re-examine her free speech statues. Disasters like this are inevitable when ponies can’t talk out their differences.”
“She probably thinks she’s keeping tensions low by keepin’ certain things from bein’ talked about.”
“Well if that’s the case, maybe it explains how things got this bad in the first place. By silencing opposing views Celestia has put herself in an intellectual echo chamber. It makes her less likely to hear opposing ideas and therefore less able to understand when she’s made a mistake.”
“Don’t ya think that would have made other problems before?”
“So you’ve never had problems with Celestia’s orders and laws?”
“Well… a few… but they always seem ta turn out,” AJ acknowledged.
“Is that so? The griffin, dragon, yak and buffalo nations all seem to find her intolerable. Twilight has had to smooth relations with them on many occasions and the dragon nation still won’t speak to us. Things could be worse, but there are signs that things have gone wrong before aren’t there?”
“Ah suppose… but what does this mean? Revolution is around the corner?” Apple Jack said, eyes starting to widen.
“Well I certainly hope not, that would call the wendigoes. Truth is, I think the wendigoes have caused Celestia to need to do things she otherwise might not have. That’s what this could be about you know… I’ve tried to come up with explanations for why Celestia would take an approach like this towards stallions and that’s the most charitable explanation I can come up with.”
Twilight landed quietly beside the two of them. “Would have guessed that continues to be a source of conversation… you guys interested in what I have to say?”
“Marginally,” AJ commented with lowered eyebrows.
“Go ahead darling,” Rarity said in a manner as if to correct her.
“Look… I’ve never given this concept so much thought, alright? It’s always kinda been, stallion big, mare small, in my mind, so the idea of abusive mares really is kinda strange.”
“Is it really that strange?” AJ asked. “Half the bad ponies we faced have been mares.”
“I know that,” Twilight said. She sighed. “Look you two I’m starting to become more critical of what I was taught I just… I’m not ready to just assume she was wrong without at least talking to Celestia. I’ve sent a few letters to her about all this.”
“What did she say?” Rarity asked.
“She says if it means that much to me she’ll re-examine a few things. She however wants us to be careful and make sure the ponies around here keep open minds and most importantly calm minds. We can’t solve anything if we’re all angry and scared. Right now she’s worried we’re all forgetting how bad stallions can get.”
“I suppose that’s- what?” Rarity asked.
“That was my reaction… but let’s give her a chance okay?” Twilight said.
(***)
That evening Twilight was woken from immersing herself in an intense novel about a mare facing off against a monstrous squid on the high seas by a loud knock at the door.
She put the book down, growling. “It was right under the boat too!” She snapped. “This better be important. Bed time is in a few hours.” Spike had already been put to bed so she went to get the door herself. Opening the door she blinked a few times, met by two large white stallion guards standing at attention. One saluted her curtly. Twilight was startled but quickly regained her composure, pushing out her chest and saluting back. “Um-At ease gentlestallions, you’re here from Celestia I imagine, correct? I would have expected a few more letters…”
“Celestia says your letter indicated you felt there was a serious problem here.”
“I thought it was possible.”
“Nonetheless she believed it best to put your fears and any fears of the citizens of Ponyville at ease. Thus we and two legal representatives from the palace have been sent to assess any marriage situation where stallions feel themselves disadvantaged or in any way abused. As much as some seem to be recently doubting her, Celestia is concerned with the well being of all citizens of Equestria, both mare and stallion. If there is a significant problem, especially rooting in Equestrian law, we will ascertain it immediately.”
Twilight smiled. “Well this is certainly a direct approach. I knew I was right to trust Celestia,” she walked out of her home, “Lead the way, what exactly are we doing?”
“We’re holding an open forum on domestic abuse. Anyone who feels they are being taken advantage of is being welcomed to publicly air their grievances.” One of the stallions started leading Twilight to the town square. She followed.
“Um… I’m pretty sure most victims don’t like to air their issues in public, embarrassment, inferiority complex, fear of retaliation and… yea all that stuff,” Twilight pointed out.
“We’re not counting on getting everyone, but if enough stallions speak up along with the mares, Celestia will have reason to reconsider her assessment that most abuse is stallion driven.”
“I also asked Celestia about foal abuse. She acknowledges that it’s mostly mares that perpetrate it, yet we favor mares in custody battles. If we’re not afraid for stallions, shouldn’t we be afraid for their children and allow them to get help for them if nothing else?” Twilight asked.
“To be honest we’re not here about that,” The guard answered. “A mother is important to a foal’s life, that’s why their given priority.”
“Isn’t a father also? Besides I don’t see the value in an abusive mother, shouldn’t we be worried about that?” Twilight asked back.
“Stallions can lie.”
“Can’t mares?” The stallion speaking with her looked back at her. She saw he was a large unicorn, nearly the size of Celestia herself.
“You’re asking if there’s reason to favor mares right?”
Twilight nodded.
“When I was five, my father hit me breaking my nose and jaw. In night court he lied boldly that my mother had done it, citing statistics like you’re doing and giving false evidence, all to take me from my mother. When they were alone he even threatened to kill me if she fought. She took me to a shelter and had them protect me and her, luckily they automatically took her side. She was still nervous about that creep though and her defense was terrible. The trial was about to conclude, until my mother’s lawyer cited Celestia’s tender years doctrine, a legal precedent urging the importance of a mother in a child’s life. He plead for the court to take any and all chance that she was innocent. The guilty verdict was stayed. In just a few more days my father’s evidence was found to be false and the law finally caught up with him not giving him the same allowances. He’s safe behind bars now.” The stallion shook his head. “I suppose a mare could lie, but I’m living proof that the law works. No foal should be taken from his mother, if it’s at all possible to keep them together. If you ask me, a mother is far more important than a father.”
Twilight looked back and forth as the stallion continued to lead on. She slowly spoke up. “I’m… I’m sorry about what happened to you but… but…”
“But what?”
“That’s anecdotal. A case like that seems really unlikely to be honest. I’m sure it happened to you, not saying you’re lying, but the stars aligned for that.”
“I’m not here to debate you Twilight, I’m here to keep order during the proceedings. As resident princess and the pony who brought this all to Celestia’s attention you’re to oversee everything.” He motioned to the mayor’s podium at the government building. Ponies were gathering all around. Two brown stallions stood on either side of the podium. “Right is to represent mares, the left stallions.” Twilight nodded, flying over the crowd and leaving her escort.
Looking into the crowd, the left stallion spoke up. “Alright then, let’s hear from the first stallion with a complaint.”
A blue earth pony stallion came forward and stood in front of the podium. “Okay. You want to hear someone? I’ll start, my wife is a raging bitch. I’m sick of her and I want out.”
“Excuse me?” a yellow earth pony mare in the crowd yelled. “Full Bright, what… what are you doing?!!” she shouted. “You are embarrassing me!”
“See?” Full asked.
“Well that was an embarrassing thing to say about someone,” the left stallion said with a chuckled. Mr. Bright put his head on his hoof. “We’re listening, but perhaps you could give a specific complaint?”
“How about three times she’s said she wished she never married me? The feeling is mutual believe me but apparently only she is allowed to initiate divorce. I haven’t slept in a bed in more than a year and the couch is starting to kill my back.” The right stallion snickered. “You think it’s funny? The doctor bill isn’t and it’s not funny when I go to work and can barely stand from the pain. I’ve had a weak back since an accident when I was a child-an accident she witnessed I might add.”
“Ma’am, why can’t he sleep in the same bed as you?” asked the left stallion.
“I’m sorry, but my body is MY body. Just because we’re married doesn’t mean I want to cuddle and I should say when I do.” The mare said.
“What if I want to?” Mr. Bright asked.
“MY body.”
“Why are we married if you have this attitude? Why would you marry anyone if you have that attitude?” Full asked.
“Sir couldn’t you just buy another bed?” asked the left stallion.
“Whose side are you supposed to be on?” asked Full, giving him a lazy eye. “Yes, I could buy a new bed, with MY money because SHE has a problem, I suppose that’s a solution. I have sooo much money just lying around!... Who says I try to cuddle every time I’m in the bed anyway?”
“He lays against me to support his back and-“ the mare started but Twilight finally interrupted.
“Okay seriously, do you two have kids?” the princess asked.
“No,” Mr. Bright answered.
“Then why are you even here? You don’t like each other, why are you still married?” Twilight asked.
“Because she has to initiate,” Full answered.
“Are you serious?” his wife snapped. “I only have a part time job, I can’t keep the bills up with that!”
Twilight held her head. “Okay seriously, what is your name ma’am?”
“Star.”
“Okay Star Bright, you want him to get a new bed because you have a problem, or sleep on the couch, again, because you have a problem. He can’t leave the relationship, again because you have a problem.” She rolled her eyes. “Get a new job, get over your fear of being touched, buy a new bed with your money- do something for yourself! I don’t understand what the issue is or why you can’t lift a hoof for your own problems. But it all doesn’t matter because he’s a free citizen, you must initiate divorce or-“
“That’s not how the law works Twilight,” the stallion on the right interrupted.
“But she’s a raging bitch!” Twilight grunted. “They don’t even like each other!”
“The law is the law.” Said the stallion on the right.
“You’re forcing him to stay with her because she wants him to and that’s it,” again she grunted.
“Is this major abuse?” asked the stallion on the left.
“No, not really,” Twilight replied, her eye twitching.
“Then this isn’t what we’re here about anyway, your request to leave is denied sir, next complainant,” said the stallion on the left. Full Bright walked back into the crowd, snorting and swiping his tail at the judges.
“Sham.” He grumbled loudly.
“Say what you like sir. This is not an official trial anyway, had you brought up severe issues we would have provided real services right away.” said the stallion on the right.
“I’m not even going to try to dissect that BS for a response, if you’ll excuse me, I have a slave owner-I mean wife, to get back to,” Full replied.
Twilight sighed as a mare came forward. She had a small bruise under her right eye. She looked away at first, but then seemed to gather her resolve. “He hit me,” she said. “My name is Sunny Rays.”
“That mare yelled at me for a solid hour about the trash after I had already taken it out.” A stallion walked out of the crowd, “Twilight, seems you’re the only one who even cares to listen to stallions today-“
Twilight rolled her eyes, “Don’t even,” she said. “You don’t hit because someone is being annoying. You have to be kidding sir, she’s half your size.”
“Come up here with me young mare, we’ll get you to a shelter, he can’t hurt you now,” said the stallion on the right. The stallion in the crowd grunted and returned to the crowd. “We all know him now, don’t worry about him running.”
Another mare came up, “Do we have to wait our turn or…?”
“No, go ahead, by all means,” said the stallion on the right.
“I um… my husband hasn’t slept with me in years. He says my touch is revolting. He bought his own bed… I’ve forgotten why we’re even married. He yells at me all the time… I know he hasn’t hit me but… I don’t know, I don’t want to hurt him… it just seems that-“
“That’s enough ma’am,” said the stallion on the right. “Legally that’s defined as intimate partner neglect and it’s a form of serious emotional abuse. This stallion should be ashamed of himself, he pledged to have and to hold. Honestly you are a very good looking young mare, I can’t imagine what kind of a stallion would be so cold to you-“
“Fluttershy you’re not married,” Twilight finally interrupted, after recovering from her shock that her yellow friend had been so bold as to lie like that.
“N… no, I’m not. But... but I have heard enough.” Fluttershy walked back, then flew into the air above the crowd and flew away.
“What?” asked the stallion on the left, blinking in confusion.
Twilight shook her head. “Isn’t it obvious?... Do you two even know what consistency is?” she sighed. “Can we stop this charade?” she asked.
“Charade? We’ve already helped one mare, we should continue,” said the stallion on the right. “Since we’re already having results, it’s out of our hooves, we need to see the extent of a potential problem here.”
Twilight bit her lip. “Something tells me this isn’t going to end well.”
(***)
Twilight walked towards her castle with her head hanging.
Rarity joined her. Twilight stopped seeing her. “So… going say “I told you so?”” she asked.
Rarity shook her head.
“You seemed to understand more about this the whole time, what’s going on?” Twilight asked.
Rarity sighed and sat down. “Twilight, you’ve been taught about how the world shows its ugly side to us mares. The town cemetery has fifteen mares who have died of abuse in it this year from Ponyville, I’m guessing you already knew that though.”
“Just surprised you knew,” Twilight replied.
“Not a topic I normally look into,” Rarity admitted, “But recently I’m starting to have reason to. You’ll see just as many graves of stallions driven to kill themselves by awful mares I would wager, though tracing that would be far more difficult. With one hit, a stallion can kill a mare, and with one tear, a mare can ruin a stallion’s life. We don’t have the same sympathy for stallions as mares, and we mares don’t have the same strength as stallions, it’s just how things are.”
“Even if we know about this stuff, how do we fix it?”
Rarity shook her head. “You’re asking how we can rewrite biology. We can’t. Not entirely.”
“So we just give up? That’s what I should tell ponies around here as they get more and more upset? I counted at least ten stallions in that trial that had legitimate complaints, including the first one- ya know, “intimate partner neglect”? Or didn’t you catch what Fluttershy was doing?”
“I was surprised she did that, but I understood the point.” Rarity said. “There are solutions possible I suppose. Train stallions to better use their strength, offer the same services to stallions that we do to mares and, of course, fix that stupid divorce law. But the question is, how do we make all that happen?”
“I think the real question is, how do we make it all happen before tensions raise so high around here ponies riot?” Twilight asked. “Those two lawyers had to be the densest I’ve ever seen. All they did was justify the actions of one mare after another, even the one who practically made her husband deaf yelling in his ear. And then asking the mares to report as well, just to show they would listen to them… talk about salt in the wound...”
“I would suggest giving a full report to Celestia yourself, just so she gets a less biased presentation,” Rarity said. “Less biased than those two incompetents will give anyway.”
Twilight moved on and finally got to her home, looking into two furious velvet eyes as she got to the door. “Hey Rainbow… not a pony I wanted to talk to but-“
“What. The. Hell. Was. That?” the cyan pegasus asked.
Twilight cringed. “Would you believe I was hoping it would help?” she asked.
“You have no idea what you did do you?” Rainbow sighed. “How about you back off and do nothing? That would have been better.”
“Um… where’s the stallion you were with?” Rarity asked.
“He was a victim of abuse himself,” Rainbow said. “One lucky enough that the law listened to him. He watched that charade with me. He apparently had hopes something would happen… I guess his heart breaking was something right?”
“Rainbow I had no idea this would be so personal for you…” Twilight started to explain, actually not sure where she was going with that point.
“What difference would it make if it wasn’t?” she asked, tears starting to form in her eyes. “I’m going home. Home to teach my daughter to treat others as equals… apparently I’m the only one who believes in that…” Rainbow flew away.
Twilight looked at the ground. She spoke, knowing Rainbow wouldn’t hear. “I’m on your side Dash. I just don’t know what to do.”
(***)
Rainbow actually didn’t immediately go home. She wasn’t sure in her own mind why she even bothered talking to Twilight at all. She flew over the forest, over the desert and finally over the plains of Appaloosa. She landed, watching for Silent and his troops.
Three stallions quickly surrounded her. She hung her head down. “Fire Sky, Silent, Cloud… it’s okay you guys know me.”
“Yes we do,” Fire said. “And there are very few reasons for us to not kill you where you stand.”
“Fire stand down,” Silent said. “This is not a good time Rainbow.”
“I imagine not, look maybe it’s best you keep what happened to only a few ponies-“
“You mean that sham trail?” asked Cloud Strike.
“You… know?” Rainbow asked in surprise.
“I was in the crowd little girl,” the green pegasus said. He glared at her.
“Look it’s not my fault,” Rainbow said.
“Go away little girl,” said Cloud Strike. “This is not your world.”
“We have to work together guys-“
“Rainbow just go,” Silent said. “I have enough to deal with right now.”
“Let me help-“
“Just go,” Silent said.
“I-“
“GO!” Silent shouted.
“I’m not afraid of you!” Rainbow shouted back. “I know you would never hurt me, now work with me-“
“This isn’t a negotiation Rainbow. You don’t belong here, NOW GO!” Silent interrupted again. He glared at her as tears streamed down his face.
“When will I see you again…?”
“Just go.”
Rainbow Dash flew away, starting to cry.