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// "Cultural" Diversity Seminar 
// Story: Earning Freedom 
// by Daxisle 
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"Cultural" Diversity Seminar








Sitting amongst a growing crowd in the bright light of the early spring afternoon, Macintosh shifted his eyes around between his youngest sister, his younger sister, his wife, his dragon friend and the well sized crowd around him. He didn't like crowds, they always made him feel cornered and uptight, not like somepony was going to actually hurt him, but just the presence of others made him feel a slight sense of revolting discomfort.

Having Annabelle and his family around helped a bit, but it couldn't distract him from the gnawing feeling of nervousness and discomfort that all introverted ponies suffered while in the presence of a large number of ponies. His nerves were taxed even more for the reason of the gathering. This was the diversity seminar that Applebloom was mandated to attend, he hoped that things would remain civil here. If the ponies and zebra were really coming to talk about what they said they were going to talk about, the mares in the audience were going to be more than a little miffed.

"It'll be over soon." Annabelle said, placing a comforting hoof on her husbands back and smiling reassuringly. It was a nice attempt, and it did make the red pony feel better, but still, the nagging sense of impending doom only worsened with each passing second, as if counting down to the inevitable catastrophe the stallion could do nothign to prevent.

"Is this gonna start soon?" Applebloom asked impatiently.

Sweetie bell shrugged to her left with the filly known as Dinky wordlessly shifting her eyes to the stage and sighing. The seminar was supposed to have started five minutes ago, and the crowd was already getting anxious.

"Now girls, this is the first ever event of this kind in Ponyville." Rarity reminded from her place beside her younger sister. 

"Yea, N' we've gotta big day tommorah fer cleanin' out the pig pen n' gatherin' up the bad apples fer the cows." Applejack replied with a frown. With winter gone, the cows and bulls would be going back into their usual nomadic cycle and, like clock work, would arrive in Ponyville near the end of march like they always did. Nopony liked to think about how Ponyville got its milk, and even less cared to take on the task, but the Apple family had been collecting milk from cows in exchange for apples for generations, and the last thing anypony wanted was to have to go without baked goods because fresh milk wasn't available in a timely manner. Or worse, having to use a powdered substitute.

"Ugh, I simply cannot understand how those cows allow you to... do what you do, Applejack." Rarity commented with a slight shudder. 

"Cause it brings in money." Applejack said proudly. "Farm folk like us been doin' the dirty work fer years. Hay, if it weren't fer us discoverin' the over abundance o' milk cows produce, we'da never discovered how to make pies, n' cakes n' such."

"YEAH!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "And with the ban lifted on selling sweets to foals being lifted, Sugar Cube Corner is going to need all the milk we can get!"

They all turned to the sparatic pink mare, looking at her as if she was a grape growing on an apple tree. 

"Uh, Pinkie?" Applejack said tentitivly. "What are ya doin' here? You ain't gotta be her fer this."

Pinkie giggled. "Oh, I know that, silly. But after the Cakes got the news of what happened, they got really emotional. Like, really emotional. Like, they started hugging and crying, and then they started nuzzling and smiling, and then they started kissing each other and then they got really quiet and stared at each other, smiling. And then they kissed again, but it wasn't a quick kiss, I mean it was a really really deep kiss, like... super duper deep, and then they fell to the floor and Mr. Cake got ontop of Mrs. Cake and then he hmph!"

"That's quite enough, dear." Rarity interjected, her face slightly crimson as she held her hoof over Pinkie's mouth. "I think we can forgo the details, thank you.

Odd way of bringing it up as it was, If nothing else good came from today, it was that. Mask and Sock had revoked the ban on sweets to minors, citing individual integrity and the rights of children as their platform for redacting the bill, along with claim of over reaching of government policy and disenfranchize those overweight with something called "fat shaming". Macintosh wasn't sure what was meant by that, but if it allowed Sugar Cube Corner to stay open, he was all for it.

Finally, the stage was became occupied and Mask spoke out to the crowd. "Good afternoon, everypony." She greeted with a smile. "My name Is Masculism, but you may call me Mask, and I'd like to welcome you all the very first Ponyville Cultural Diversity Seminar!"

A few stomps of approval came from the crowd, the sound over powered by somepony's inability to hold in a cough.

"Alright, so then. I'd first like to say thank you to miss Cheerilee for allowing us to educate and introduce her class to the concepts and ideas of tollerance and understanding this seminar is ready to produce, giving not only the foals, but everypony present the skills and tools to make Ponyville a more divers and culturally accepting home for all of us!"

"Yea, more like indoctrination." Spike spat under his breath.

"Indoctrination?" Mac asked, ignoring Mask's continued speaking in favor of a private conversation. 

Spike gave his friend a side long look. "Yea dude, haven't you read the pamphlet?"

Macintosh grimaced nodding his head in a so-so fashion. "Kinda, but Ah couldn't understan' much of it."

Scoffing angrily, Spike recounted the time he'd spent with the crusaders in the Library to try and figure the rhetoric out. He'd gained some understanding during thier time together, but it really started to hit Spike just how they were doing things once the girls had left for home. It all felt really fishy to the dragon, yet also really familiar. The vocabulary was border line scholarly in it's complexity, the tactics used set up a dichotomy of oppressor and oppressed, leaving no room for opinion in between, declaring one class "privileged" and another class "disadvantaged" depending on: Race, national orientation, sexual orientation, social status, gender identification,-

"Wait, wait, hold up." Mac spat in disbelief. "Sexual oreientation? They was teachin' my sister 'bout sex?!"

Spike nodded his head. "And so much more. It's messed up stuff, Macintosh, messed up stuff. It was saying how there was inheirent inequalities in our socioty based off of the sole fact that this is Equestria, with Equestrian beliefs and cultures. Basically, because we believe in things that other cultures don't believe in, and because we're ponies, we're automatically bias, bigoted, racist, sexist, and xenophobic. No arguement, no legitimacy, no proof, just... You're Equestrian? You're racist and you should feel bad about it. But you can't change it, because you're a native Equestrian, and all native equines are racist."

"What?!" Macintosh asked incrudiously. He wasn't a sexist or racist! How could they declair him and all other Equestrians sexist and racist like that? By what right had anypony to cast such a disgusting aspersion onto, not only him, but the entirety of his countryponys? 

'Wait, isn't that kinda racist itself?'

Yea, hey it was wasn't it?

He told Spike of the contradiction in world view, but the drake pulled out the pamphlet and pointed to an entire section dedicated to "reverse racism" decrying the concept as non-existant since racism was "Prejudice plus Power" and since all Equestrians were privileged and dominearing in their own country, no other species or race could be racist against them.

'Dude, what the buck is this?' The inner voice asked in bewilderment. But it was no use, the words... they just didn't make sense to him outside of what little the apple pony could understand through his talks with Mask.

"... and now, I'd like to present our first speaker, here to speak of her experiences in Equestria as well as her home land of Zeborica. Please give a warm, friendly round of jazz hooves to Zecora!"

"Jazz hooves?" Rarity asked, looking to the rest of them for any confirmation, an ignorance that each and every one of them shared with her.

Zecora made her way up onto the stage, sporting her typical mowhawk and golden hooped rings around both her neck and through her ears. "Hello my pony friends, I'd like to thank you for the event you attend." She started, using the constant rhyme she always used when speaking. Zeborica, according to her, was a tropical and wild place, full of beauty and danger. 

Macintosh felt himself relax a little as the zebra's poem speak went on, he was afraid she was going to talk about how terrible and dangerous her home country was, since that's what the pamphlet hit on most, but she didn't. She mentioned how dangerous it was, but spent more time talking about the culture of the tribe in which she belonged. How the traditions of her family extended beyond countable generations, some of the customs like mask dancing and potion brewing for healing the sick, and how gaining a zebra cutie mark was acquired through a rite of passage instead of discovering a "special talent".

Her speech wasn't long, a good five minutes or so, to which her conclusion aroused a healthy and well meaning applause from the crowd. 

"I didn't know zebras got their cutie marks from taking tests." Sweetie Bell said thoughtfully.

"Yea, me neither." Applebloom agreed with a grin. "Guess what's why things like this presentation happen, so that we can learn 'bout it. Maybe we could do somethin' like that n' finally get our cutie marks!" 

A small smile crept onto Macintosh's face at the foalish display. It was pretty interesting, everypony knew who Zecora was before coming here, but nopony knew who she was. The stallion was actually a little saddened that her speech wasn't longer.

"Thank you for that display of bravery and assertion, Zecora. Our next speaker is a young pony of androgyny, that means they don't identify as either a mare or a stallion, please welcome: Banita StarKesian!"

As the... mare? It looked more feminine than masculine if he was being honest, Macintosh felt his stomach sink. 

'And here we go...'

"Hello, everypony and thank you all for coming." Banita said, her dry tone and slight grimace still keeping it's hold on her face. "My name is Banieta, and I run and chair an organization called Masculine Message. I started Masculine Message because I felt as if the ideas of masculism was trapped in intellectual spaces and politically radical spaces. We talked about systems of oppression and privledge, but it was in a language that was really difficult to understand, and I wanted to create a way to make masculism easy to engage with."

Spike broke out into quiet snickers, doing his best to keep his mirth quiet.

"To this end, we've theorycrafted a set of comprehensive vocabulary suited to the common laypony and for younger foals. During this segmant of the seminar, I'll be delving into the: Subject/object dichotomy and how it pertains to stallions within the cultural normalcy, and elaborating on the way society views and reinforces the notion that stallions are objects to be acted upon while mares are subjects whom may act."

Macintosh grimaced and shared a knowing look with Spike. 

This was supposed to be vocabulary suited to make understanding them easier? How in the name of Celstia was anypony supposed to understand a thing she was saying? Especially the young ones?

He stole a quick glance to Applebloom and Sweetie Bell to confirm his suspicions, both looked just as confused as he suspected most of the ponies in the audience did.

"How many stallions in the audience had made mistakes in the past two days, and had their wives or marefriends either verbally lecture them or give them a condescending look?" She asked.

A few hooves raised in response, with a few female murmurs justifying themselves quietly.

"This is what is refered to as the "stupid male/smart female dichotomy" a cultural inclination pervasive throughout Equestrian socioty." Banita continued in monotony. "Through the entitlement of privledge offered by matriarchal norms of female superiority, stallions are raised with an all too common sense of idiocy, where in mothers, sisters, aunts and females of authority come to accept and even except male foolishness as apart of being a stallion. The phrase "boys will be boys" lending evidence to this assertion. Fillies are taught that, by virtue of their gender, they must be the more responsible and appropriate sex, while stallion's are not educated, but excused for their own mistakes and shortcomings."

"In this attitude, stallions and males are continually bombarded with negative behaviors perpetrated by the mares within their lives. This can manifest observably where mares give stallions the "look" of consternation, or care for them like a mother might care for her child, subconsciously believing that stallions are inherently less able to care for themselves, and subsequently reinforcing the "male mother need" all to pervasive within our culture."

"I don't think males are stupid!" Cried a mare from the audience.

A ghost of a smile took Banita's face. "Of course, mares within such a spectrum as Equestria's, where tollerance and a notion of equality is primary inclination, feelings of hostility would be aroused against pointing out the aspects of our socioty that contradict the basis. However, just because it is painful to look at the reality of the values we hold as a socioty, it doesn't mean we need to be hostile towards them, if anything, accepting that these views are problematic is the first step necessary to take in order to rectif-"

"But we don't think stallion's are stupid!" Cried out the same mare again. Mac stood from his place to get a good look at who the pony was, the voice sounded familiar and now he could see why. 

"You can't just generalize all mares like that! I know plenty of mares who treat their husbands and coltfriends like adults!" Cried Lyra Heartstrings.

Banita's lip twisted in disgust as she caught sight of the upstart mint green unicorn. "I'm sure you do, however, you are a unicorn mare. You live within both the bubbles of unicorn privilege and mare privilege, and therefore, are unable to assess objectivly the struggles and oppressions of not only males, but earth ponies and ponies of difference. The fact you felt compeled to speak out against somepony trying to convey and advocate on part of stallions and other marginalized classes is an expression of sexism and racism."

Lyra stuttered for a response, but the gauntlet was cast. The assertions of racism and sexism, Macintosh didn't understand how Banita could toss those words around so flippantly and frivolously. Those were extremely bad accusations to face, that aroused strong feeling of shame and disapproval. The same shame and disapproval he felt yesterday must have been burning inside of Lyra right now as well.

'And it's a double wammy for her.' His inner voice declared. 'According to what Banita is saying, since Lyra is both a mare and unicorn, she's the most "oppressive" and "privileged" type of pony there is.'

It wasn't right. Macintosh knew it wasn't right, that Lyra, Rarity, Twilight, Uppity... they didn't "oppress" him just by being unicorns, and Anna, AJ, Pinkie, and the rest of them didn't make him feel lesser just for being mares. Well, he didn't feel beaten down anymore, anyways. Yea, sure, back before he left the family home, things weren't exactly great between all of them, especially a year ago when he'd first left and Applejack's friends all came over to try and figure things out. Still, it wasn't all that bad... right?

Well, he couldn't say that either. Applejack, Granny, and Applebloom did gang up and brow beat him alot, and he was treated differently by virtue of him being a stallion... So... and even now, Annabelle did mother him quite a bit, lecturing him at times and what not; which he'd be lying if he said he minded it all that much, but that was... that wasn't right, was it? He was a grown stallion, she was his wife, not his mother...

Lyra found her voice and tried to fight back. "I- it's not sexist to say I'm not sexist!"

"Actually, miss, yes it is." Banita countered. "As a unicorn mare, you have special rights granted to you by socioty. With mare's being the dominant gender in society, and female in group preference, mares are much more likely to advance in their careers and be included in boardroom meetings than stallions are. Mares are also given preferential treatment in political prospects than stallions are, take Ponyville politics, for example. The entirety of your political leaders were made up completely of mares, reinforcing the idea that mare's rightful place is head of the society instead of an equal show of both stallions and mares."

"Yea, well, that's because... umm..." Lyra began, only to have the words die in her throat.

Macintosh cringed, it was obvious she didn't have the mindset to argue against this, and she was only going to either embarass herself and strengthen Banita's position.

"But... but we have Filthy Rich!" Lyra declared, finding the richest pony in town standing besides her. "He's both an earth pony and a male, and he's the richest pony in town!"

Macintosh felt himself grow slightly hopeful, that was true, Mr. Rich had a few accounts with the Apple family. The small flame of hope wasn't to last, though. Banita pointed out that this was a small town, and one exception to the rule didn't disprove the rule, citing the numerous rich mares all throughout other areas of society. 

"Statistically speaking, mares outnumber stallions in terms of wealth in a ratio of seven out of eight. Mares are the dominant force of consumer power within society, spending 85% of overall consumer capital. As well as the overwhelming holders of political power, with mares making up 75% of those in political office at least in the past six decades, down from the 81% it was last year. Through the evidence presented, it is clear that there is an intrinsic bias against males in Equestrian society where pertinent power is concerned, with 100% of all cities and towns headed by ponies, with no power being given to ponies of difference."

"That's because those ponies were elected into office by a democratic process!" Spike shouted, no longer able to contain himself.

"Precisely." Banite replied with a triumphant smirk. "The mares were elected into political office and supported by capitalism into systems of power by a primarily female pony base. There by marginalizing stallions and ponies of difference. This inequality of representation is just that, evidence of inequality, and is in need of rectification. Equality is the hallmark of any great society, and the lack of effort put forward to bring equality to Equestria is an injustice that must be worked against. Misandry and racism are extremely pervasive within our society, perpetuated by our own intrinsic nature of bias and we must all work to deconstruct these structures."

"I'm a stallion, and I don't feel like things are unequal at all!"

"That's because of internalized misandry." Banita pointed out matter of factly. "Due to your conditioning to accept how mares treat you as being normalized and conforming, you've accepted things as "equal" because you're told their equal. How can there be equality when so much evidence points to the contrary?"

"How can acting motherly to my husband make me a sexist? That's how I show him I love and care about him!" Asked a another mare from the audience, her voice neutral and lacking hostility.

"Acting motherly towards your spouse or significant other, while not outwardly bad, is a micro-aggression. It gives him a sense of inferiority helplessness and foalishness." The earth pony mare answered quickly. "I'm betting that he doesn't speak out against this, despite the emasculation it does to his ego and sense of self worth. This is because of internalized misandry and it's pervasiveness through out all stallions, whom are, once again, taught that mares know best by our matriarchal society."

She paused, looking at the crowd with a serious and determined look. "This is why Masculinism is important for Equestrian society. To deconstruct the notions of traditional and toxic femininity, to liberate stallions from the belief that they are helpless children in need of female guidance, from the mayor of Ponyville to the Princess of Canterlot, and allow them their rightful place of social, political, and economic equality and representation. Stallions deserve equality, and it's time Equstria lived up to it's pride and gave it to them."

And with that, Banita began to walk off the stage. 

A few stomps of applause seeing her off. Macintosh looked around to try and find the ponies stomping, only finding a few stallions slowly being silenced by glares from more than one disapproving mare... completely reinforcing Banita's entire presentation.

"Inequality?" Applebloom said looking a little guilty. "Is... is that why we ain't got no colts in the cutie mark crusaders, cause we think colts 'r stupid?"

She turned her attention to Macintosh in inquary, but just as soon as the red head filly's eyes landed upon him, her gaze was averted in utter guilt and shame, her shoulder slumping and the bow attop her head falling along with her ears. Macintosh didn't need to ask, he knew exactly what she was feeling and why.

"Do you oppress Macintosh, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Rarity gasped in shock. "No! Of course I don't, Sweetie Bell! That... that mare didn't know what she was talking about... I mean, granted she made a few points about our political system, and how the country is ruled mostly by mares. But... that... that doesn't mean that I oppress him." 

She shared a brief look to Macintosh and then to Spike, her demeanor shifting from indignant to guilt for exactly the same reason Applebloom's had. The apple stallion looked over to find Applejack, who looked contemplative and thoughtful, and then to Spike who was merely shaking his head in disapproval. Pinkie was the only one who didn't show any expression what so ever, nothing but a vague and curious look, as if trying to piece together all she was hearing without casting any kind of moral judgement.

The third speaker came forward, the dark yellow pony Macintosh recognized as Bronze Star. He gave his own introduction and thanked Banita and Zecora for their presentations before delving into his own speech. He introduced himself as one of the organizers of the Earth Lives Matter movement up in Canterlot, a movement that had gained a lot of steam ever since the Communist protests had self destructed and involved the royal guard's "brutality".

"Earth ponies are a very important aspect to Equestrian socioty, yet they are also the single most marginalized group. Nowhere in all of Equestria has a male earth pony held office in the past two decades, despite the fact we are the primary workers on farms and production. Pegasus have also maintained their roles as the primary defenders, overseers and weather control operatives of all society, both have been confined to their tribal roles through the confinement of necessity of nature. Though, there is a single group that is no longer constrained, the unicorns."

Macintosh felt himself tense up, he knew the story all to well, and he could already see where this was going.

As expected, Bronze elaborated that Celestia and Luna had freed the unicorns from their responsibility of raising the sun and the moon. Liberating them from that which constrained their time and energy to be used for other pursuits. 

"Yea! But Unicorns have also used alot of that time to making life easier and safe for both pegasi and earth ponies!" Somepony, likely a unicorn, pointed out. "Great Innovator created both the anti-electricity suite and discovered steam power! Making it easier for earth ponies to work and safer for pegasi!"

"Yea!" Declared another pony. "And Star Swirl the bearded developed the methods for nitrogen rich fertilizer! Making crops growth much easier and efficient!"

That was true, and in that truth, Macintosh felt himself relax. Why were these guys trying to divide everypony? Well, they weren't really 'trying' to divide them, but they certainly used decisive and accusatory language. 

"Yes, but how many more innovations and theories could have been made if earth ponies and pegasi were released from their own roles?" Bronze countered with expert charisma. "How fair is it to give credit to the unicorns for theories and progress that could have easily come from earth ponies or pegasi if they had the time? It was only because unicorns were allowed out of their constraints and social roles that they were allowed the time to develop such skills and abilities. Unicorns are also given preferential treatment for special schools and have free reign with their magic, while pegasi and earth ponies require certificates and licences for flight and farm."

It was at this point Spike stood up and stormed past the crowd. Macintosh, was tempted to stand and walk after him, but everything that Bronze had said so far wasn't wrong. The Apples continually needed to renew their certificates and leases for farming like every other farmer, and pegasi did need to go to flight camp in order to get their fliers lisences... as far as he knew, unicorns were under no such constraint, save the restriction in Ponyville that Twilight had caused a while ago... And even that wasn't really enforced much.

That wasn't very fair... Why should he and Rainbow Dash be required to have a certificate and licence to utilize their abilities and purpose, and when Twilight and Rarity didn't? That wasn't equal nor fair.

'That's a government issue, though, Mac. That's not an issue of unicorns having privilege by intrinsic nature, but by government force.'

It's still not equal though, and they are right, Equestria does pride itself on equality and tollerance.

'Yes, Macintosh. Tollerance, that also means tollerating inequality and difference. Unicorns and Earth Ponies are different, neither should be constrained by government forces for thier abilities.'

No, we shouldn't, but we are.

'And that's an issue to take up with government, not to go against unicorns.'

Raising a hoof to his head, the apple pony struggled to make sense of everything he was hearing. 

What he was being told was true, there wasn't really anything wrong with what Bronze, Banita, and Mask had said so far, but it just didn't seem right either. Something was wrong with it, but he just couldn't find the words to figure out what. Yea, it was true that mares did have a tendency to look down on stallions and treat them like children, and yes, unicorns were let out of their tribal roles, but did that really make the rest of them less privileged? Did that make him oppressed? He didn't want to think so, but what if it was true? That it was just his internalized misandry making him think that way? Applejack and his family treated him better now, but there was still the subtle jabs of gender difference between them... was that a Micro-aggression?

Were micro-aggressions a form of aggression? Well, they were irritating and made him feel stress a little embarassed, but were they really that big of problems, or were they just differences that would need to be lived with? 

He looked over at his wife and Annabelle looked back at him with uncertainty and hope. She slowly reached a hoof out to his and grabbed his, her eyes brightening with love and encouragement.

Unable to keep the smile from his own face, Macintosh clenched his fetlock around Anna's own. The doubt was still there, the memories of what had been done to him, the treatment he and Spike had endured at the hooves of the mares in their lives, but that... that was a choice on his part. A choice he'd broken himself free of, a choice that had gotten him the mare beside him, and the foal in her belly now.

Mares and stallions were different, how they expressed their love was different, and even if it was a little embarrassing to deal with, the benefits of the relationships of love were well worth it as far as he was concerned. 









Frustrated beyond words, Spike slammed the door to the Library behind him sending Pee Wee squaking and flying upstairs in fright of the enraged drake. The look of shame on Sweetie Bell's innocent face was too much for him to bear. Why? Why did she need to feel shamed and blamed? It wasn't her fault, she didn't deserve to feel so miserable for the diatribe spouted by those idiots! Neither did Applebloom or Rarity, or Applejack.

Seething through clenched teeth, Spike sat down at the table and placed his clawed hands over his face. His mind raced all over the place, trying to put an arguement together as to why what they were saying was wrong. 

It was a difficult process, considering that what they were saying wasn't objectivly untrue. Yea, mares had a tendency to mother stallions and colts, and there was a higher percentage of mares in public office and who made the majority of money... but so what!? That didn't mean males and non-ponies were oppressed! It just meant that they weren't elected and didn't get the higher paying jobs! That wasn't "internalized misandry" or "ingroup preference to girls"... okay, maybe the electorate was, but so what?! If the citizens want a female representative, why shouldn't they be allowed to have one?! Maybe stallions weren't as fit to run in office! Maybe-

"Gah!" He grunted, fighting the anger induced cold stream from shooting through his blood, the cold that indicated his primitive inclinations. He couldn't deal with this right now, he knew plenty of males capable for serving in public office. Sin was in there for a while, not on city council, but still.

The drake pushed the thoughts from his mind and focused on his breathing. He needed to keep calm, he needed to focus on something else. Though, any time the words of Banita or Bronze, or the disappointed looks of the girls entered his mind, Spike would feel himself grow emotional and aggressive.

'Spike, you need to calm down!' The voice of reason soothed. But it was no use, Spike couldn't think straight, he couldn't think at all. He had to force his mind to be blank, nothing but the seething breaths that he pushed in and out through clenched teeth.

He wished Twilight was here, or Uppity or Sin, somepony who could help him explain to himself why they were wrong, to explain how they were blowing things out of proportion in a way that countered their words. He hated it, he hated seeing the effect of their words on others. How they morally condemned everypony, calling them  racists and sexists... it was crap, it was all absolute crape. They were the sexists and the racists! Didn't they see that? Didn't they see the very things that they were implying were racist and sexist itself?

With a deep and depressing sigh, Spike resigned himself to bafflement and tried not to think about it. 

They were wrong, he knew they were wrong, he didn't know how or why they were, but he knew they were, and when Twilight came back, he'd figure out how to articulate it and put an end to all of this madness.

He took a look up at the clock and pushed himself up from the chair, his shift in the warehouse district would start in a few hours, and he was going to need all the sleep he could get.