//------------------------------// // Chaotic Neutral // Story: Earning Freedom // by Daxisle //------------------------------// Chaotic Neutral Macintosh awoke before daybreak, with a satisfied smile he arose from his bed and cracked his neck. Two days in a row of of waking up and feeling incredible, it almost seemed to good to be true. He undertook his morning stretching and hygiene rituals before trotting downstairs. To his surprise nopony was up yet, or they were and were just to afraid to come out and meet him after his unearthly blow up last night. Mac smirked looking to where the yoke still lie, he noticed that part of the slave tool was damaged, and would need hefty repair. "If them mares wanna use tha' again, theh' best get someone to fix it." He whispered, a cynical smirk plastered on his face. As he thought on the farming tool, Macintosh became disturbed with himself. He used to like it, the way it hung around his neck made him feel like everypony could see the heavy burden he bore. But now that he had awakened to what life truly was, he didn't care what the other ponies saw. He would no longer subject himself to their desires simply to 'fit in' or be accepted by them any longer, and saw the equipment for what it was, a simple controlling mechanism. The darkness outside was giving way to twilight, and the stallion decided he would give the others a full day to decide what they wanted to do, before the next confrontation. He ventured out in to the farm, forgoing breakfast to get an early start. --- High noon finally came around, and Macintosh had bucked twice as many trees as he usually did by this time. If there was any proof that his new mindset was more of a benefit than a hindrance, this was it. Not only was he harvesting faster than he had ever done before, but he was genuinely happy with doing it. For the first time in a long time, it didn't just feel like a chore he was stuck with anymore. Mac loaded the last of the buckets onto the brown wagon he brought and started to pull it back to the farm. He supposed that the saying "a happy worker, is a more productive worker" held a bit more truth than he realized. He trudged up the last hill that obstructed him from the farmhouse, preparing himself mentally for when he saw Applejack and if she might be looking for an argument. To his surprise, the farm mare was no where to be seen. He pulled the cart along side the barn to store the apples away for later, and began to inspect the property for his sister, but she was nowhere to be found. "Tha's strange." He grumbled looking back to the newly harvested fruits, after musing it over in his head, Mac decided he would store them away later. He had already done twice his workload already; and felt himself entitled to a break. He decided he would go and talk to Pinkie Pie again and tell her about the attempt to get his family to listen to him. Though it wasn't overly successful, Mac felt it was the best he could do. After entering the town proper, Mac was greeted by some unwarranted stares by a few passing mares. He didn't think that A.J. and Rainbow would be to keen on the idea of gossiping about him, but his sister Applebloom, did pose as one of the biggest gossip columnists in Ponyville at some point. "ENOUGH ALREADY!" A young voice yelled. Mac looked over to see Spike stomping out of the tree house/ Ponyville library, his face contorted in an angry scowl. "I'm so sick of this!" Mac watched as the angry dragon crossed his path, his claws clenched as tightly as his jaw. "Ya alright there Spike?" He asked, a genuine look of concern on his face. Spike glared back at Big Mac with an angry distaste, but soon his anger dispersed upon discovering who it was. "Oh, hey Big Mac. What are you doing here?" "Just goin' to visit Pinkie Pie. Wha's eatin' at ya?" Mac asked. The dragon clenched his eyes shut in frustration, "I'm getting so sick of Twilight treating my like a baby." He seethed. Mac felt great sympathy for his purple friend. He knew exactly what he was going through. "Yea, tell me 'bout it. Applejack and them 'r starting to get on mah last nerve as well." "Spike, you have to clean the Library or no Gemstones." "Mac, you have to tell me what's goin' on, er' no breakfast." "Spike, clean the up the mess of books that YOU didn't make." "Mac, the leaves need rakin', even though that's not yer' job." The two continued in their mutual displeasure at others unfair commands. Verbally cursing the respective ponies responsible for their aggravation and malcontent. They pointed out various flaws of bossiness, insensitivity, overbearing and all around over control of the two male's lives. "I'm right there with ya, man." Spike sighed, a few moments later a sad smile creeping onto his face. "It's nice to have someone to talk to who actually gets it, ya know?" Mac proudly smiled. "Eyup." The two shared a few jokes about their agitators personalities, before both bursting out into laughter. Spike mentioning how a spot in the bathroom would prevent Twilight from taking a bath, and Mac telling the story of how when they were younger; Applejack would refuse to eat any apples that was already bitten into, and Mac took a bite out of every single apple that was in the house just to make her think she was going to starve. "Oh man, that's rich." Spike chuckled wiping a tear from his eye. "Oh man, I would have loved to seen the look on her face after that." He calmed his giggling and puffed out his chest as he spoke in a mocking accent. "Big Macintosh, Wh'dya take a bite from all tha' apples fer'? Now I'm gonna starve." Mac couldn't help but raise his hoof to cover the unjustifiable chuckle of the impersonation. It was one of the most cynical conversations he had taken part in, and at his sister expense no less. Spike regained control of his breathing and calmed himself once more. "Man, I haven't laughed like that in ages, we need to hang out some time Mac. It would be a nice change from the oversensitive and girly stuff we have to deal with all the time." "Ya know Spike, Ah think yer right." Mac agreed, "we 'r always stuck around mare's and their girl talk. A little time with just the guys sounds like just the thing to get our minds off all the crap they give us." Spike cringed at the curse, Twilight always berated him for using such language; as did any other pony he would use such foul words around. "Crap." he said covering his mouth, he darted his eyes left and right for Twilight, but to his relief, her scolding voice never came. "Crap." He said again, a little louder now. "What's?" Mac asked confused. "No, no. That word, Twilight would always get on my back if I used it." Spike explained. "But when you said it so freely and without any fear; it just looked like fun." He smiled, repeating the word a little louder again. Mac smirked at the relieved and proud smile the dragon made. Contrast to the prior anger the young reptile displayed earlier, it was quite a welcomed change. Macintosh felt the smile was oddly familiar to the smile he made when he first walked out of the jail, the smile of a free creature. Spikes smile soon faded, and he looked at the ground in disappointment. "Well Mac, i gotta say it was fun, but I need to get back to work." "Why were ya' put on this earth, Spike?" "Huh?" Macintosh smiled, the words he needed arranging themselves perfectly. "Why. Were You. Put on. This Earth?" Spike cocked an eyebrow at the question. "I don't follow." "Were y'all born simply to do wha' Twilight n' them told ya?" Mac elaborated, a smirk growing on his face. "Er' were ya put here to serve yer'self and live tha' life you wanna live?" The dragon opened his mouth to answer but cut himself short. He mused over the question like Macintosh did the first time he heard it. Spike recoiled from a thought he was having looked around in realization. "Ya know what?" Spike quipped, his thoughtful expression turning into a sly grin, "forget this." He kicked the door of the library in a show of spite for the unicorn. "Let's go do something else, Twilight can do the chores she wants done herself. I'm not her slave dragon." Macintosh beamed, he knew that it felt good to be liberated, but sharing the freedom brought a warm sensation to his heart. Having someone who understood what he did was nice for a change, instead of Sin knowing too much, and his family not understanding at all. The two walked away from the library and onward throughout the town. Mac had some spare bits saved from the free tea and sweets Pinkie gave him, and the two explored all the fun activities the town had to offer. After a few hours of food, watching ponies race, and a few stallion going at it in sparing sessions; Spike felt his testosterone levels rise. He felt like a man, not an adult keep in mind, but like he had finally found a longed after right of passage that gave him the masculine feeling that he just couldn't get around his other friends. They would have seen the thrills that competition; (displays of strength, speed, and power) as brutish and immature. But that was part of the fun of it all, it was brutish and immature. It didn't adhere to the desires of the prissy and girly rules that Twilight had made for him. "You know Mac, you probably could have beat all of those stallions if you entered the ring." Spike encouraged with a smile. "Nah, them boys would toss me if ah were ta go toe t' toe with'em." Mac replied humbly. His confidence did give him a feeling of liberation, but the humility he had was one of the traits he liked the most about himself. "Don't sell yourself short there," Spike retorted punching Mac's arm. "Bucking apples all day has got to have made you into pretty tough stuff." "Maybeh'," Mac thought over trying his luck at fighting. "Well, the suns going down." Spike said as he looked at the descending star. "I think I should get back to the Library, Twilight is going to be so furious with me." The dragons confidence didn't waver at the negative thought, but Mac could tell Spike was nervous at the scolding he would receive when he got home. "Ah wouldn't worry to much about it, but let's pal aroun' again tomorrow. There is somepony ah'd like ya to meet." Mac chimed as the two began their trek back to Twilight's. "Really? Who?" Spike asked looking up at Mac. Mac gave a small smile to his friend. "Y'all remember that question Ah asked ya? About why yer' put on this here earth?" "Yea?" "He's the one who ask'd me that." Spike rose his eyebrows, "Sounds like a smart guy, to be honest; at first I didn't know how to reply when you asked. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized; this is my life." Spike stretched his arms. "It's just something I never thought of before I guess." "That's exactly what ah' thought when asked me." Mac said. The rest of the trek was silence as the two thought about the question. Mac understood what it meant to be his own life, but he didn't understand what it meant to him. What would he do with his life? Was his purpose simply to buck apples as his cutie mark foretold? Or was that just his special talent? Finally the library came into view, and the two waved their goodbye before Mac began his one track home. Upon arriving at the farmhouse, he was surprised to see the apples he had harvested were unmoved. He looked to find that not a single light emulated from any of the windows. "That's strange." The red stallion mumbled. Upon entering the well kept building, his suspicions were confirmed. Nopony was home. He shrugged it off as them still avoiding and thinking about how to deal with him, so he made his way to bed. It felt good not having to argue with anypony for once, he locked his door and tossed himself on the bed to a happy and well deserved sleep. --- Mac awoke to a thud down stairs. He heard a dozen whispers creep up through the floor boards, he identified a few of them as: His younger sisters, Twilight, Rarity and Rainbowdash. He sat up on his bed shaking his head. HA! They are so scared of you, they had to bring in the cavalry to back them up? Cowards. Mac initially found the small voice in the back of his mind to be brutish and unnecessarily antagonizing, but this time it was absolutely right. The family had no reason to go and involve so many other ponies in this affair. He gave a heavy and disappointed sigh before he rolled out of bed and deceneded the stairs to face the group bellow. As expected: Applejack, Applebloom, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight were down waiting for him. What he didn't expect, was to see Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Sin standing down there with them. Most of them were staring skeptically at Sin before they noticed Big Mac descending the stairs. "Big Mac, we need to talk." Applejack called, her face down trodden. "Yea, ah think we do." (Not gonna lie, this chapter was a bit to much fun for me to make, though I think I might need to get an editor. Question of the chapter: Did I kinda rush Spike's acceptance to abandon Twilight's overbearing nature? Or did his level of anger an annoyance justify his leaving?) And thanks for reading.