//------------------------------//
// 18 Custodians of Silence 
// Story: Alternate Beginnings: Year Four 
// by Doug Graves 
//------------------------------//

June 17th, 996

The Rich mansion bustles with activity as Silver Set helps Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon get ready for school. The fillies trade excited banter about their homework assignments, their activities, and their friends. Spoiled Rich's ears perk as she hears the name of the Apple fillies repeated a few times, followed by a few sentences in more hushed tones. 

Silver Set says, "Now, girls, we don't use that kind of language. In the house or outside. It is insulting and derogatory."

"What language is that?" Spoiled Rich asks as she walks from the dining room to the kitchen, noting the angry look on Diamond Tiara's face while Silver Spoon seems more admonished. 

Silver Set fixes Silver Spoon with a hard glare. "Whorse."

Diamond Tiara's face curls up in a smirk, immediately disappearing as her dam turns and stares at her. Spoiled Rich curtly says, "We do not find that language funny, Diamond Tiara. We do not use it, except when absolutely necessary. It is unbecoming of a Rich mare, and I do not want to hear it casually uttered from your mouth." She turns to look at Silver Spoon, "Where did you hear this word?"

Silver Spoon starts softly sobbing, slow tears rolling down her cheeks, "I... I don't want to get them in trouble."

"Well, they should be in trouble if they thought to use that word around you. Was it one of your friends?"

Silver Spoon gives a slow nod, quivering under Spoiled Rich's gaze.

Spoiled Rich's eyebrows furrow, "Was it one of the Apple sp-... fillies?"

Silver Spoon nods again, hesitantly offering, "Apple Bloom asked Scootaloo what... whorse meant. When Scootaloo didn't know, she asked me and Diamond Tiara. Diamond Tiara told her it was a naughty word, but we didn't know what it meant."

Spoiled Rich's gaze softens. "And you did not use the word?"

Silver Spoon slowly shakes her head, "No; it doesn't sound like a nice word."

Spoiled Rich nods, "Very well, if it was innocent curiosity, then there will be no punishment. I will, however, need to have a talk with whoever uttered these words in front of you, or the Apple fillies for that matter. Did they say where they heard it?"

Diamond Tiara says, "Apple Bloom overheard Doug call Big Mac, and then Applejack asked about it too, but she didn't seem unhappy about it."

A smirk comes over Spoiled Rich's face, "Well, I may just need to have a discussion with one of them, then. You two run along, go get some breakfast." The two fillies comply, eager to escape any further recrimination. Spoiled Rich regards Silver Set; her junior mare had told her of the 'incident' between herself and Doug a month ago. Spoiled Rich had initially been quite perturbed; it would be quite the scandal, a Rich mare and the human, but she had heard nothing from any other ponies, not even whispered gossip or glances in her direction. And Silver Set had been careful not to repeat the encounter, citing his apparent discomfort with assisting. As he well should be.

But now, another opportunity to put the human to the test. He should most certainly not be using that kind of language around his fillies, much less at all, or using the epithet as a casual nickname. That the rest of his herd is so inured to his language speaks reams about his character, or lack thereof.

Several hours later, after school lets out, Spoiled Rich and Silver Set meet the young ponies as they stream out the front door of the school. Miss Cheerilee waves goodbye to the fillies, quite a number of the younger mares walking along the road towards the fields outside Sweet Apple Acres.

Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon are happily chatting, as well as Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara, but their conversation comes to a halt as the Rich fillies spot their dams. Their heads hang down, a quiet coming over the Apple fillies as they huddle back, unsure as to why both Rich mares would be there. The trio follows the four Rich ponies, silent glances back and forth only disturbed by the click clack of Scootaloo's scooter as they make their way to the field. They arrive after several minutes; many of the other mares have spread to the northeast, a large gathering of young ponies in the middle of the field, while Doug is sitting to the southwest in the shade of the trees, engrossed in a book. His two young foals are close by and attempting to push a blue ball around, mostly successful with the object that is larger than they are.

Snips and Snails are making foals of themselves, waving to the five fillies walking along the road, trying to get them to speed up to start their game. Spoiled Rich leads the fillies towards Doug while Silver Set walks up to the main group, saying, "Go ahead and start your game, they will be along shortly."

A few fillies grumble about the potentially uneven teams that will result, but they quickly back off, lining up and nominating two captains. It seems some of the older fillies have also gotten interested in the game, though none are quite large enough to completely dominate the younger ones.

Silver Set returns to Spoiled Rich; the mare is watching Doug from a few bodylengths away, not far enough to make conversation difficult, but awkward. Doug has lowered his book and is watching her; a few seconds pass before he says, "Good afternoon, Mrs. Rich, Silver Set."

Spoiled Rich stands up straighter, "I thought you knew the rules, Doug, as to when you are allowed to speak to ponies."

Confusion spreads on Doug's face, "Um, I guess I'm sorry, but I thought we were good enough friends to be past that."

Spoiled Rich cocks her head, continuing her glare, "Oh? And what other areas are you being lax in?"

Doug raises an eyebrow, "I'm... afraid that I don't really know what you're talking about."

"Well, then, let me inform you." Spoiled Rich shakes her head, "I cannot believe I need to say this, but I do not want you using foul language around your fillies, and I especially do not want you doing the same around ours."

Doug sets his book on the ground, "Okay, I think we may need to back up a little bit. What are you talking about?"

Spoiled Rich stamps a hoof on the ground, the five fillies looking awkwardly at each other. Silver Set quietly says, "It was your use of the word... whorse."

Doug turns his head to the side, looking at the fillies, then back to Silver Set and Spoiled Rich. "Really? I didn't realize it was inappropriate."

"Of course you didn't, it is likely the norm for where you came from." Spoiled Rich continues staring at Doug, her voice raising, "But in Ponyville, such a thing is unbecoming of a proper stallion or mare, and should not be spoken of in front of fillies!"

"But," Doug says, looking around, "Aren't you all little horses?"

Silver Set gasps as fury spreads over Spoiled Rich's face. The pink mare advances, cutting the distance between her and Doug in half. The human scrambles to a crouched position as Spoiled Rich raises a hoof, pointing it at Doug, "You, sir, are a foul mouthed brute! How dare you speak of your own foals in such a manner, much less the rest of us!"

Doug looks back at the fillies, confusion still on his face, before he glances at the soccer game; most of the ponies have stopped playing, watching the commotion. "Okay, I think we might have a misunderstanding here."

Spoiled Rich advances another step, "No, you are the one who does not understand. We are upstanding ponies, not... playthings for your vapid fantasies!"

"I don't see you that way, and I've always treated you all with respect!"

"YOU JUST CALLED ME A WHORSE!"

"Yes! And?"

Spoiled Rich turns, walking a few steps away and muttering in a loud voice, "I can't deal with this."

Doug looks at Silver Set, an exasperated, "Do you mind explaining what is going on?"

Silver Set moves a little closer, "Doug, a whorse is... a stallion of ill-repute, who... offers his body to mares, for bits. It is deeply insulting to use regarding a mare, for it asserts that her only worth is her bits. It is shameful for anypony to be called one. I cannot believe you called Spoiled Rich one; I thought you were better than that." She turns her head, unable to keep looking at him.

Doug looks at her blankly for a few seconds before sighing and sitting back down, putting his hands on his head. A few seconds later he says in a louder voice, "Spoiled Rich, I am sorry I called you a... whorse. The word means something different where I came from, and I honestly did not mean to imply anything improper about you."

The pink mare turns, giving Doug a hard look, "I'm afraid I'm going to need a little more of an explanation than that before I accept your apology."

"Well, a... horse is an animal back where I came from. Physically, it is a lot like a pony, just bigger; about as tall as me, maybe eight hundred pounds. And not sapient. Humans had domesticated them, lived and worked with them. I thought you all had some sort of, um, precursor species that you came from. A magicless variant of pony, from thousands of years ago or more. I didn't know that the word had a separate meaning, and I'm sorry I called you one; can you forgive me?"

Spoiled Rich looks around at the ponies, many of the fillies having moved closer to watch and listen while the mares have also gotten up, ready to call their young if needed. She sighs, turning back to Doug and walking forward, briefly nuzzling the human on the cheek. "Yes, Doug, I accept your apology, and you are forgiven." As she backs away, "You are correct about the... archaic usage of the word, but it is rarely used in that manner, outside of ancient history textbooks. And, it would be a little insulting even if you were using it with that context in mind. It would imply that one is an unthinking animal. Do try and watch your language, please. Though I suspect there will be many a conversation about language tonight."

Doug nods, a smirk slowly growing over his mouth, "Any other words I should worry about?"

"Oh, it won't be that easy for you to get me to call them out, Doug, you'll have to try a little harder in the future." Spoiled Rich returns the smirk as she slightly shifts her hips back and forth. "Though, I am curious; these... horses, you say. They are work animals?"

"Yup. Domesticated ones, at least, especially ones with a calm or friendly demeanor. Very strong, hardy, good at pulling things, or riding, rounding up cattle, whatever you need. Intelligent, for animals that is, and they make good companions."

Spoiled Rich cocks her head, "You... ride them?" She glances around at the fillies surrounding them, "Is that an... appropriate topic?"

"Oh, there's nothing... ahem, inappropriate about it. I mean, I could just about ride... oh jeez, this is harder than I thought. One would use a saddle, and... I did it again, didn't I?" Spoiled Rich and Silver Set both have a hoof against their face, the fillies looking on eagerly. Silver Set nods and Doug sighs, "Whatever, I guess there will be several conversations tonight. The saddle makes it more comfortable to ride the horse-"

"Okay, we should stop there," says Silver Set, "I do hope you don't try... riding any pony like that, at least not outside of the privacy of the bedroom."'

Doug slowly nods, "Right. I mean, you are a little small to attempt that, and I wouldn't want to hurt anypony."

Silver Set smirks, glancing down, "Oh, I don't think anypony would be hurt, Doug, not by your... size." She looks back up, "It's more, it would be a little demeaning to serve as a steed, especially if just for transportation where you can walk around yourself. But, as I haven't heard of you trying that, I don't think it is an issue."

"Right." Doug looks around at the ponies surrounding them, "So, um, anything else? Again, I'm sorry about the... misunderstanding."

Spoiled Rich shakes her head, "No, I believe that is all." She looks around at the various fillies, "Now, I believe you all were about to start a game, were you not?"

The various other fillies canter back to the soccer field while the Apple and Rich ponies remain. Apple Bloom looks up, hesitantly asking, "Daddy, why did you call Bic Mac a horse?"

Doug thinks for a second before saying, "I called Big Mac 'hoss', as a portmanteau, or a combination of words, between horse and boss." Apple Bloom mouths the words to herself as continues, "Partially to get under his coat, though I didn't know the less appropriate meaning. Mostly I used it because he is a enduring, dependable worker, the horse part, and he knows a lot more about farming than me, the boss part. I certainly didn't want to start anything like this."

The fillies nod before cantering off, eager to join the soccer game as it starts back up. Spoiled Rich nods at Doug before walking off, Silver Set laying down near him as the two foals start scampering around again, pushing the blue ball around.