Short Shorts

by Coranth

181. "Human Pony."

It began with - of all things - a book of Equestrian History.

The newest Human Pony, David, had found the long-forgotten tome on a long-forgotten shelf in the darkest, dustiest corner of the Canterlot Library.

Though he was unable to read - since he'd not been taught yet (this would be an upcoming part of his reeducation and acclimatization to the new world in which he found himself) - he could at least look at the pictures within.

And look he did.

The book David had found, however, was not a book about Modern Equestrian History - as he had first thought - but was instead a book about Ancient Equestrian History.

What David found within horrified him beyond belief!

Stallions - of which he was thankfully still one - had been treated as second-class citizens at best, or sub-pony breeding slaves at worst.

Images of stallions with ears, wings, manes, and tails cut off. Thin, beaten, starved, dying, all for the pleasure of their cruel mare mistresses.

Stallions led about with leashes, treated as nothing less then slaves or property, with no rights what so ever or barely any at all, unable to own anything, or be anything other than, well, walking sperm donors to sire more mares.

Horror gripped the human pony's guts; was this to be his fate? He would not let it come to pass...

Before the kindly librarian could say or do anything to stop him, sick with fear, David fled the library; then he bolted from the Royal Palace itself.

He knew of one place that might be a bastion of safety: The Everfree Forest, the place that 'ran itself'; the only place even remotely like his Home World.

There he went. There he thrived, building a lean-to, which began a cabin, which became a small fortress.

Thereafter ponies began to hear of whispers of a Human Pony who had refused to stud for Equestria. A pony whom defied the Princesses. A Stallion who refused mares. One who would never submit to the 'mare-triarchy' as stallions called it.

Broken, beaten, with nothing to lose, others soon found their way to him, stallions and even a few mares; the battered, the broken, the meek, the markless, the poor and starving. A fortress soon became a city.

Unwilling to lose such a prize as a Human Pony, a massive marehunt was launched--with disastrous consequences!

Noblemares sent their stallion servants into the forest to find him. Those stallions never returned.

Then the Noblemares themselves dared to brave the forest. Those ponies returned horrified into silence, their wings, manes, and tails cut off; and in the worst of cases, with their very tongues cut out. Others whispered fearful tales of a thriving, advanced city led by a Human Pony King.

There, stallions were in charge whilst mares looked to them for guidance, but - though they were treated with great respect as near-equals to their partners - no mare held any position of power in the city.

Finally, Celestia herself went to the City in the Everfree.

The Human Pony, David, was waiting for her there.

Several hours later, the Alicorn of the Sun returned, her eyes and face wet with countless shed tears.

Some ponies say that the Ever Free King and Celestia engaged in a terrible battle, during which the city and its people were destroyed.

Some say that Celestia allowed her ears, mane, wings and tail to be cut off; but she magically healed herself upon her exit of the forest.

Some ponies even said that the several hours she spent in the City was in fact a lifetime; that she and the King fell in love and she bore him a foal.

Few know the truth of what happened that day... except Celestia herself.

Later, she confessed to her sister, as she wept into her coat:

Seeing him backed into the darkest corner, in a puddle of vomit and urine, begging, pleading with her for his life and freedom - when she had no intention of harming him at all - utterly broke her heart.

As he begged, pleaded, wept, David confessed that he had done those terrible things to the arrogant Nobleponies not out of malice, but out of fear, heart-wrenching terrible fear for his safety among her ponies.

When he saw that she wasn't going to harm him - that she was herself horrified by his unstable condition - David then flew into a furious rage as he showed her the book he'd stolen from the library oh-so-long ago. He thrust it into her face, slapped her repeatedly with its repulsive pages, demanded to know what it was. He howled, hollered, ranted, raved at her in a combination of English and broken equestrian.

Then he burst into tears as - ignoring the pain of what he'd done to her - she looked at the book's title... and wished she hadn't.

Malleus Equum Masculum.

The Hammer of Stallions.

Literally a guide to the breaking, humiliation, subjugation, and utter enslavement of Stallions; something written by a horrible mare from an even more horrible time.

Setting the repulsive tome aside, Celestia magically cleaned up the mess of urine and vomit then as David continued to cry she gathered him into a tangle of wings and forelegs, rocking him, singing to him gently, letting him weep into her coat as her own tears fell and fell.

In the end, Celestia pardoned David and freed him of any obligations to Equestria, declaring by Royal Decree that he and 'his' ponies were not to be bothered; any Noblemares who tried were to face harsh penalties.

Also, rather than having the last copy of the Malleus Equum Masculum destroyed, Celestia had the work reprinted again and again - unedited, unabridged, unaltered - but, moreso, expanded with extensive research and notes added in by her student, Twilight Sparkle, who became physically ill the more she worked on it.

The Malleus Equum became an educational text for the subject of History, mandatory reading for all mares who thought to abuse stallions--all were horrified by the expanded work. The work once detailing the enslavement of stallions now became the ultimate guide as to what NOT to do when it came to stallions. The book served as a grim reminder, a warning, something that made 'modern' mares burst into tears and gently hold their stallions close as they wept in horror at its brutal imagery and utterly cold instruction.

The book heralded sweeping change for Equestria itself--but what of the Human Pony, David, the so-called Ever Free King?

Well, it is whispered that he and Celestia grew very close with each other, their relationship transitioning from friendly at first to romantic...

When asked if they grew close enough that he sired within her a foal, Celestia shakes her head and denies it, of course.

In secret, however, she smiles gently, rubbing softly at her belly...

But that is another story for another time.

Author's Note:

Written after reading, "In Service to His Country" by Typist Grey.