POV Rio
As we arrived at our rooms, I noticed a new staff member. It was a very old stallion by the looks of it. The stallion was a unicorn with a well-groomed mustache, a small pair of glasses that rested on his snout, and a well-made suit.
"Hello, Your Highness, I am Kibitz. I will be in charge of your care while you reside in the palace," Kibitz said with a refined or proper accent.
"Nice to meet you, Kibitz," I reply.
"Now, her highness forgot to mention a few things during the audience, and I am to inform you of these things," Kibitz informed.
"Oh?" I say with a bit of surprise.
"Yes, the first and biggest thing that was failed to be mentioned was the need for your group to remain silent on their origins. There is a group that could make things quite complicated for us if they knew you were from the outside," Kibitz said calmly.
"Are they a danger to my companions?" I ask.
"Huh, oh heavens no! The group isn't violent. No, they call themselves the Explorers. They've existed in one form or another since the city's founding. Their founding philosophy is to return to the surface and reclaim the world. Monarchs throughout our history have given in to their demands in one way or another, such as organizing expeditions or instituting the Trial by Frost. But her highness has been... evasive with their group for a long time now, and if evidence were to be revealed that outsiders entered the city from the surface..." Kibitz said.
"Yeah, I could see how that could cause issues. But what is that Trial by Frost?" I ask.
"Ehem, well, while we have very few criminals, they do appear from time to time. A convicted criminal could choose to forgo their punishment in favor of the Trial by Frost. Which has them sent beyond the wall to scavenge materials and report what they find out there. Particularly heinous criminals could also be sent outside the walls, as execution is rarely accepted due to its unpleasant visuals. In either case, the survival rate for the Trial or for an expedition is less than 1%, which is why Her Highness has sought to avoid accepting such methods. Thus, the need for discretion," Kibitz explained.
"I see, I will make sure they are informed to keep things confidential. Will the guards following them be doing so openly or secretly?" I ask.
"They will have a guide, but the other guards will be following less obviously. They will be permitted to explore almost anywhere in the city, but there are some places that are not as friendly and will be avoided for their safety," Kibitz explains.
"Understood. Will I be permitted to explore the palace?" I ask.
Kibitz pauses for a moment and looks a bit uncomfortable, but responds regardless.
"I do humbly apologize, but due to your unique circumstances, we will require you to remain in your quarters for certain times based on our needs. Day Court will be held tomorrow morning and will last until as late as 3 pm. During said time, citizens from across the city will be in attendance, and for the safety of Her Highness, we humbly request you remain in your quarters until it is clear," Kibitz says in an apologetic tone.
"I understand. After Day Court, will I be permitted to explore?" I ask.
"Perhaps. It all depends on the circumstances. I assure you, I will inform you as soon as it is possible for you to walk the palace grounds. I am also certain that Her Highness will expedite such a request as soon as she can," Kibitz replies.
"No need to rush, I would only ask that I be given access to your library, or if you have any literature I could read, I would appreciate it," I ask.
"Of course! I will ask the staff to bring you a catalog of what our library contains. You but ask for it and it will be delivered post haste," Kibitz replies confidently.
"Thank you. Now, if it isn't too much trouble, may I ask if you are the only stallion working in the palace, and if so, why?" I ask.
"It's no trouble at all. The answer is quite simple. I am one of 2 staff members who work in or around the palace. Her Highness has put much effort into increasing the number of stallions in the workforce, but unfortunately, there is a large pushback from many angles. While stallions do not have fewer rights, they are also not as equal as mares. There is a strong push for stallions to stay at home and take care of the house and children. I mean, it was only 200 years ago that stallions were even permitted to have jobs outside the home. And that was thanks to many activists pushing for greater autonomy for stallions. And even now, many jobs are quietly forbidden to hire stallions," Kibitz explains while cleaning his glasses.
"Why? I know it may sound strange, but where I come from, it was technically the exact opposite, but more around 500 years ago," I ask.
"Well, there is some basis to the argument of why stallions were kept in the homestead for so long. For one, they are just less common. It heavily depends on the tribe, but for most tribes, stallions are just less common. Then culturally it's been that way since well, for as long as our records go. Many think that the original idea was that the stallion could defend the young at home while the mare went to gather food or fight wars. Then there is the fact that stallions are, on average, weaker than mares. Whether measured in magic, stamina, or strength, the mare wins in every category," Kibitz explains.
"How much rarer are stallions?" I ask.
"Well, as I said, it heavily depends on the tribe, but the numbers are generally believed to be similar to this. Kirins are at the top of the list with the most enviable ratio of close to 1:1.1. After them are the Griffons with a ratio of around 1:2. Then the Thestrals with a ratio of 1:2.5 or 1:3; the ratings are harder to pinpoint with them. After the Thestrals comes the Unicorns at 1:3. Then the Pegasi with 1:4. Then the last tribe is the Eath Ponies, which are the saddest group, as the ratio is not that clear. Historically, they had a rate of 1:4, but due to the problems they face nowadays, it is closer to 1:1000 or even worse," Kibitz says with a grim tone.
"How can the ratio be that skewed for Earth Ponies?" I ask.
"Well, there are many reasons, but it mainly comes down to the lack of births, and the births that do happen are lucky to live past a year. Then, even if they become adults, there is a high chance they will be sterile. Not to mention the various other medical issues they will suffer from. Which doesn't help their distrust of the government, as they see the deaths as the fault of the crown, as all medical facilities are generally funded or operated by the crown. Of course, they refuse to acknowledge that those who don't get medical care from the crown seldom survive. Sigh. It's honestly quite the deplorable situation," Kibitz says sadly.
"What is the population of the city?" I ask.
"200k nearly to the exact. While some variation is possible, we ensure that the population is kept safely in control. While the city could theoretically handle up to 300k, we have never gotten that high due to safety and quality of life concerns. And in case you were wondering we decide which tribe gets what population quotas, which are decided based on population losses for each tribe and the predicted losses they would suffer in the coming year. Each tribe can also request a higher quota for a given year with enough reasoning. Generally, nobody has ever had many issues following the quotas, and at most, perhaps there could be a few extra births in any given year, but that is easily resolved the next year," Kibitz explains.
"And you would be able to tell if someone was falsifying how many were born in a given year?" I ask.
"Hmm? Well, that's not my department, but I can't think of how they would do that. I mean, they would need food and space to house them, and while one or two could be missed, anything more than that would be found quite quickly," Kibitz responds.
"What about the Earth Ponies?" I ask.
"Hmm? Well, I suppose they could get the food easily enough, as they are the main producer. And they do keep to themselves, so learning that way might not be possible. But they couldn't get much space, and why would they falsely report they haven't had any births for 2 decades?" Kibitz asks.
"Wait 2 decades?" I say with a baffled tone and a confused look on my face.
"Yes, a really sad thing that. The poor things have run into a dry spell of sorts," Kibitz replies.
"What was the birth rate over 20 years ago?" I ask.
"Hmm? I think it was perhaps a hundred or so? I'm not fully sure, as that was some time ago," Kibitz replies.
"So let me get this straight. Their birthrate just stopped one year? And did you ever investigate?" I ask.
"Well, I'm sure someone investigated the cause of such a travesty, but non-Earth Ponies are rarely let into the Earth Ponies' tribal grounds," Kibitz explains calmly.
I just sat there for a second and then put my two hooves in front of my face and tried to contemplate the utter stupidity of that statement. And the fact that this stallion didn't see the issue at all.
"Would you kindly look for that investigation? I would love to read up on such a unique tragedy," I ask.
"Of course," Kibitz replied, as if what I asked for was not that big a deal.
An hour later, I was given the investigation report, and after reading the half-page paper that essentially stated they had gone there to talk with a few locals and left, I had only one thing to say.
'They are soooooo screwed.'
The number of issues this opened up was truly massive. I even gathered the reports of previous years of births to see if I could see any pattern, and what I found made the situation even worse. The Earth Ponies' reported births were pretty suspicious. The amount of miscarriages could be a result of inbreeding, but that seemed to be a bit unlikely, as we are talking about a rate of around 50% miscarriages. All of which were reported to be fillys. Never a colt. Not even once. Also, the miscarriages were only reported; there was no medical documentation with them, as they never went to the hospital. Now, combine this with a strange decrease in food exports from Earth Pony farms, and you get some really suspicious results.
'My god, this is really bad.'
We were talking about tens of thousands of falsified death reports. Crops labeled as stolen or rotted, preventing them from being sold or exported. A population that doesn't trust the government and is very isolationist. Stolen weapon shipments and materials that could be used for a rebellion. And most of the reports were done in a half-assed way, almost as if it were...
'On purpose.'
My entire body froze, and I started to wonder how deep this conspiracy went. And how dangerous it was to remain here. To put it bluntly, this government was so royally screwed six ways to Sunday it wasn't even funny. I wasn't even sure who I could bring this to without triggering a full-blown civil war. Heck, I wasn't even sure who I would side with, as I had no idea if the other side was actually the ones in the right.
'I need to do some investigations. See things from all sides and quickly, as I doubt this can of worms will stay contained for much longer.'
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Author's Note:
So Rio might have accidentally stumbled upon a massive conspiracy. If anyone is wondering how this wasn't discovered earlier, the answer is a bit complicated. But basically, nobody wants to question official reports. Laziness on the side of the government also played a role. Then you have corrupt/traitors in the government that make sure the reports or things that could reveal the mess are ignored or filed away, where no one would bother rechecking them. Lastly, if all that fails, and someone learns about the conspiracy, they can have an accident before they can report it to the right people. Not to mention, how would they know who to report it to? If they guess wrong, then they are dead. And lastly, sometimes you can't see something because you are too close to it and need someone else to point it out for you. Until next time, Ciao.