[PROLOGUE] - The Equestrian Scourge
The Equestrian Scourge
~~Dear Diar~~
~~Hi, my name i~~
I… I don’t know what this is to be, honestly my crude penmanship isn’t likely to tempt anypony to read the scribbles that I write. I don’t see this as a diary, I think that sounds rather childish than what I would like my memoirs to be perceived as. Although that’s doubtful seeing as my life would seem pretty disinteresting to the common stallion wanting to laugh at my visions of grandeur.
I’m not sure who will read this, I’m not even sure why I’m writing this, all I know is that I want this, this could possibly be the only entry I make. What I do know, as I struggle to convey my emotions through poor expression, is that these papers will be personal to me and will, hopefully, contain everything that has come to pass since I began my residence in the Vino household.
Where should I start?
My name is Soft Harmony, I am a ~~family member of the~~ Mare of the Vino household of the ESM. I live in ‘Morgan County’, a seemingly peaceful and sleepy county present within Southern Equestria, just north of a ‘living hell’ and eastwards of ‘Get Me the Hell Out of Here!’. Some writers may put emphasis on romanticism here, describing their attachment to the area, what they love – not for me.
To be clear. I was not born in Morgan County. I have no attachment to this County other than ‘I live here’ and more importantly; I do not like this county. In my eyes, this county is an Equestrian scourge that is allowed to breed misogyny while the powers at be turn a blind eye.
My family – my biological family that include my mother and father – moved here out of my father’s lust for power and the want to access Morgan County’s success in both trade and economic stability while prospering in its wealth. Especially the wealth that is enjoyed by companies operating under the parent organisation of the ESM.
I’m not well-versed in every aspect of the systems in place that boost sales and revenue for those companies and I won’t pretend to. To be succinct, the ability to trade, buy and sell goods as an independent company in Morgan County is walled off from the masses and is heavily regulated by the ESM. To be even more succinct, if you’re run a business and are not in the ESM then you are seen as a nobody. But, I digress.
I can see that I’m going off on a tangent, I’ve just got a lot of pent up frustrations and there are a few items that I should clarify. First of all, what is the ESM?
The initials ‘ESM’ stand for the ‘Environment for Submissive Mares’ and from what I am aware was founded thirty-six years ago by the ‘Cotton’ household. It is known that their initial wealth was heavily attributed to the sharp rise in demand during Morgan County’s first population boom. By selling their harvest to the town of Nokota Valley, at rather inflated prices, not only gained wealth and fortune, but influence and power.
I should also inform you about the Cotton’s ideals and beliefs as they aren’t necessarily tradition… During the “boom”, the head of the household – Crop Tender – was becoming heavily influenced by a Germane Philosopher who went by the written alias of ‘Parx’ and quickly falling in love with the philosopher’s vision of a ‘Stallion Utopia’.
This ‘Utopia’ was envisioned be the foundations for a society whereby all mares in Equestria would openly submit themselves to their Stallion Masters that would “rule” them. Crop Tender was clever, he realised quickly that these ideals would be wholly rejected by the more liberal Capital of Canterlot but was well aware that many inside Morgan County either shared or empathised with them.
Using the family business’ influence, Crop Tender was able to fund and promote the young organisation and successfully set up the framework for the ‘Environment for Submissive Mares’. Gaining the signatures of three other households; he formed the original EESM, at the age of Fourty-three. The Original Committee held the signatures of the Households; Cotton; Marble; Ono and Silver and was quick to place the Cotton household and Crop Tender as the chairman and honorary leader of the organisation.
The combined wealth of the ESM allowed the organisation to flourish, slowly buying up land and businesses that granted them a monopoly on most of Morgan County’s agriculture market – the largest market at the time. Now, you may be wondering how the ESM went from a coalition of wealth to an organisation that can take away the freedom from Mare’s? The answer is quite simple.
Considering that you have to own land to vote in Morgan County, I doubt you’ll be surprised when I tell you that an ESM-sympathiser was eventually voted into the position of Mayor of Nokota Valley. A close Ally of Crop Tender, no less.
It’s with this instrumental power that ESM was allowed to expand, slowly incorporating more and more of the Cotton’s views on the relationships between mares and stallions as well as the position of mares within a household. Furthermore, with the Mayor’s willingness to turn a blind eye to these depraved ideas, the ESM became emboldened and set out the fundamentals of what the social hierarchy of a household should be.
To maintain their place within the ESM each it is compulsory for each Household to follow and comply with the rules set out by the committee. The ‘Environment for Submissive Mares’ is an incredibly strict society and any Household that are found to have broken the rules face harsh consequences. The rules are as followed:
The Fundamental Rules
·A Master is tasked with the ownership and unconditional submission of their Mare’s under the terms of the ESM contract.
·In the presence of a Master, a Mare may not speak unless they are spoken to.
·It is forbidden for Colts and Fillies to hold the titles of Master or Mare before the age of 18.
·A Master may only continue his bloodline through the appointment of a Breeder.
·A Master is permitted to take on an unlimited number of Mares, but only if their social security can be maintained, and that Mares are suitably provided for.
·A Master may only take one Mare as their Breeder. Illness or subsequent death of a Breeder will permit a Master to take another to further the bloodline.
·Mares are to carry out their Master’s tasks unconditionally.
·Mares are not permitted to hold places upon the ESM committee.
·A Master and Mare must consummate their contract within forty-eight hours.
·A failure to comply with ESM rules may result in severe consequences and may lead to subsequent fines and potential expulsion from the organisation.
The fundamentals of the ESM are simple, the rules are designed to give “Masters” instrumental power over the ‘submissive’ mares that they preside over. In a nutshell, it’s a society built by rich Stallions which make their own rules that ensure that we mares don’t step out of line.
To promote and encourage more households to join the ‘society’ it is encouraged that households ‘personalize’ the ‘environment’ to suit the tastes and needs of the household’s ‘master of the house’. However, while households can alter and change certain aspects of their ‘environment’ it is essential that all households devoutly follow rules of the ESM.
This consolidation aided in winning over many of the younger Households and even now, after thirty-six years since the ‘Environment’ was originally conceptualized, the ESM is still popular amongst the rich and wealthy. At my current age of seventeen, soon to be eighteen, twelve households continue to partake within this fraternity, with my former house - Alto - being the most recent.
And so, upon the night of my eighteenth birthday, I went to bed with a knot in my stomach unnerved by the prospect that by that time the next day I would cease to be filly of the Alto household and become a Mare of the ESM’s Vino household.
