Aftermath
Big Macintosh sat quietly, the music from the party had stopped and the voices outside began to die down. He was relieved at that, but the look Spike had given him was still of great concern. Why did he have to walk in at THAT point? First Granny, now this? There may have been no words spoken, but the look of shear disappointment was all that need be to show how he felt.
How could Mac face him again?
"Mac?" A feminine voice called, he didn't need to open his eyes to know the town librarian when he heard her. Instead he just beckoned her in with a word of affirmation.
"Hey, Spike told me you were in here." He could hear her hoof steps approaching. Before she could get to close, he motioned for her to stop. He'd already gotten in trouble with Rarity, there was no telling how the purple dragon would react if he saw Twilight in a compromising position too.
As expected, she wasn't all to shy to address the dragon's mood when she'd asked him where Mac was. Not that the stallion could blame him, well, in a sense anyway.
"So..." She said awkwardly. "Are you going with Sin to Canterlot?"
Mac opened his eyes and looked at the mare in confusion. "Canterlot?"
"Mhmm. Princess Celestia sent a message this morning from Spike," Twilight gave a small smile. "I've kinda missed the flames he'd belch when-" She shook her head. "Sorry, but yea, she sent Luna to find Sin and have him come back to the Capital for something."
"The letter wasn't specific, but it said he made a deal with her. That's actually something I was hoping you'd explain to me. Why did Sin come back here? He said he was stuck here by the princess's orders, but for what?"
The facts were simple enough, Luckily, he'd already explained the stallion's philosophies so that made it easier. He told her what he knew, Sin was pretty much her servant to quell any collectivist uprisings that may pop up through out the kingdom.
The look on Twilight's face over the revelation was a almost comical. "SERVANT!" She almost yelled in surprise. "But, I thought he hated all forms of government."
"Eyup, bu', he said he'd given her his word. No matter how much he don' like it. Think of it as a contract he made of his own free will." And despising himself for doing so.
The mare took a seat and began pondering the notion, however Mac had questions of his own. Like when Sin was set to leave? All things considered, leaving with him didn't seem like that bad an idea. Of course there may be Spike's scowling, but reasoning with a reasonable misunderstanding would be far easier than trying to convince Granny Smith about a complicated issue.
From what he gathered, Sin was to depart for the Capital at first light tomorrow morning. Which probably meant he was at the train station already. Funny, he'd just got back home yesterday and now he was going to take a train all the way back to Canterlot. There was some kind of irony in there some where, but he was to preoccupied with standing up and walking out of the room.
"Mac?"
"I"m goin' with 'em." He said calmly, before exiting. As expected, Applejack and Applebloom were still present, the latter being curled up on a chair and in a peaceful slumber. Wow, it was dark, how long had he been in that room?
"Applejack." He called to garner his sister's attention. "I'm headin' back to Canterlot."
"WHA'!" The blond exclaimed. "But, Y'all jes' got back! Why ya leavin' already?" The stallion nodded and made way for the bakery entrance, though his sister blocked his path, "Woah there big guy, why 'r ya goin' there?"
Judgement time came to early for his liking. He didn't want to tell his sister that he couldn't come home, but what was he supposed to say? She'd find out soon enough, there was only so long he would be in the capital again. "Sin's gotta 'nother job up there."
"Okay, 'n why do ya need to go?"
That... was a good question. Think emotionally, he wasn't dealing with Sin right now, he didn't need to be precise. "Just ta make sure nothin' bad happens to 'em." A bull faced lie, but one he could play on if AJ rebuked it. Which she did.
It was low of him, but taking a shot at her disinterest in his friend's well being.
To his surprise she waved his faux concerns off. "From wha' happened on the blimp, Ah'm sure he c'n take care o' himself." Ok, so she was playing that game.
"It ain't that simple here..." He tried to explain how Sin would be dealing with mobs of dozens of Equestrian ponies, and how that collective could turn violent on him. A crossbow for such a situation would make him lose favor in the eye of the general public, thus creating emotionally charged discredit for himself as a speaker. Big Macintosh was aptly named, he can only think of a few ponies he didn't have to look down to see, and even less to look up at. His presence should discourage any violent initiations from any single and most groups of stallions.
The debate wound on, but Mac knew he had control. Eventually, his sister conceded, but not with out condition. He had to check in at least once a week if he would be gone for longer. Chances were that Sin would just get on the Soap Box with the one rallying and end it there, so he wasn't worried about to long of a stay... But hopefully not too brief either.
With a quick nuzzle from his sibling, and a happily slumbering Applebloom, Mac was out the door and on his way to the train station. Hopefully his associate hadn't left yet.
It didn't take him long to arrive, but among the ponies scattered around the station, he was relieved two of the three expected departures.
"Good evening Mr. Macintosh." Sin greeted with a nod. Shade with a smile.
"Hey" Mac said before also taking a seat by his friends. He didn't want the silence to come, so he figured he'd just inquire as to what the four of them were leaving for.
"To be honest, I'm not completely sure."
The reply was unnerving, but still not worth worrying over. "Wha' 'sactly can ya tell me."
"From what Luna's told me, there's a protest over some Fancy Pants for his support of Celestial Incorporated." Sin droned. Celestial Inc was a known enterprise infamous for laundering charity money for it's own needs. Taking the guise of "Celestial" to appear government, it was only recently discovered to not be under Princess Celestia's control. Many had donated and supported it under the misconception, but now the ponies want retribution for the latent fabrication the name conveyed.
Outraged in his own right, the Apple family too had made donations to the business.
"So, why are we leavin' this early?"
Sin smirked as he heard the train approach. "I need to do some research." His black tint hidden eyes turning to the stallion. "I know next to nothing about Celestial. If I'm going to prepare a proper debate platform, I'll need to have a clue of what I'm talking about."
Sin admitting he didn't know something? Alert the bucking media.
Finally the train slowed to a crawl and the doors pushed open. A very small amount of ponies and griffans existed the cars, not surprising considering the late hour.
"ALL ABOARD!" The conductor proclaimed. That's when Mac's eyes widened in realization, Spike wasn't here and he hadn't purchased a ticket yet. Luckily, his friend had already anticipated his arival and handed Mac the needed stub, leaving only one spare in his pack.
"I suppose Spike isn't coming." Sin retrieved the spare. "A wasted pair of bits." He shook his head and boarded with Mac in tow. After a few minutes of waiting, the doors closed with no showing of the reptile and the train began to move.
Applejack let out a sigh as her brother walked out of Sugar Cube Corner. He'd changed. He'd changed alot more than she'd originally thought. He didn't know it, but She heard what Granny said to him, and the old mare would get a piece of her mind once she had her sister in bed. How could Granny say such a thing? Did she want to drive her grandson away again?!
But that was for after the blond mare helped clean the place up.
"Applejack?" She turned.
"Hey Twi'." She said with a sad smile. "Great party, huh?"
Twilight's confused manner gave way to sympathy. "Did Macintosh already leave?" Applejack's smile disappeared as quickly as it came and she nodded. She felt a comforting hoof place itself onto her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but he should be back soon. If Sin's as good as the princess says he-"
"Sin!" AJ seethed. This was all his fault! "Sin, Sin, Sin. Ah'm tired of hearin' about that pony!"
Twilight took a concerned step backwards, but the farmer didn't care. Ever since that stallion had come into the picture, life for her had gone from prosperous and peaceful to hecktic and stressful. The economic strain, the later work hours, the depressed mood around the house. She tried to keep spirits up, to convince the Family that everything would be ok, but how long would this last? She loved her brother, she wanted him home, but this coming into and out of her life thing was not ok.
"Applejack, dear." Rarity approached, a discarded streamer in hoof, "are you alright?"
"No, Rarity, Ah'm not alrigh'. Matter o' fact, none of us are." She looked to Twilight. "You 'n me least of all. Ever since that Sin character came 'n took Spike, how've things been at the library?"
The unicorn took recoil at the sudden question, but answered that the stress on her had been greatly intensified since her assistant wasn't there to keep the store maintained. Not only did she have to do her research on friendship and what ever else Celestia called on her for, she also had to: cook, clean, dust, re-shelf, take time to find research material, care for Pee Wee, and all else that the dragon had done before.
Now that the stresses were listed aloud, Twilight actually felt a bit of resentment for the unfairness she was left with. Spike and she were a team, 'were' being the operative word in that sentence.
"Yea!" AJ shot Rarity a look, "'N ya know 'bout the troubles on the farm." The alabaster unicorn thought it over than nodded in agreement. "Ah know Mac needed his space, Ah know Ah hadn't treated him the best all tha' time. But he had some mighty big horseshoes tah fill, least he could'a done was give us some notice."
"Yea." Twilight furrowed her brow. "Spike did kind of leave out of now where too. Come to think of it, I still can't figure out why he did."
"You still don't get it Twi?" The three mares looked to find the mentioned dragon with his arms folded and leaning against the door frame. His eyes were flat and his tone humorless. "After all this time, you still haven't figured it out?"
Applejack beat Twilight to the reply. "What's happened to you Spike? You never spoke that way to her before."
His lifeless eyes slowly locked on to her. "I've never been given the chance to grow up before either." That point could be debated with the Dragon Migration, though Spike mentioned how he wasn't trusted enough to handle the experience himself, and had Twi, Rarity, and Rainbow follow after and 'keep tabs' on him. He wasn't sure what part of the ordeal was real and what was Simplified for him. He didn't really win at tail wrestling, he didn't really do well in the king of the hill game... How much of it was a joke?
"Spike..." Twilight pleaded, though a lazy claw halted her words.
"I know you did it to protect me, and I am thankful for that. Just as I'm thankful for you raising me." He closed his eyes and refolded his arms. "But you also interfered with my growth. You ruined the mistakes that were mine to make. I left because I wanted to find myself and be free to live as my species was supposed to. With all the bumps, scares and scrapes that came with it, but you couldn't let me."
Noticing the near tearful eyes of her friend, Applejack spoke against him. "Because she cared about you Spike. What's so wron' with tha'?"
His gaze slowly turned again. "You mean the same way you cared about Mac?"
"Yea, not in the motherly way, but Ah do care about 'em."
The drake quirked a brow. "If you're way of showing you care about somepony is to disregard their opinions and treat them like foals, than... Wow."
"Wha'?" The farmer frowned and tilted her head. "What'er you talkin' about?"
Spike gave her a surprised look than shook his head. It really shouldn't be that surprising, if Twilight didn't get it, chances were slim that Applejack would.
"Spike, darling." Rarity chimed with a smile. 'Oh great, she wants to say something.' "While I'm inclined to agree that Twilight and I hadn't handled ourselves in the most trusting of manners, we only did so to ensure your well being."
"Yea, I've already covered that."
"What?"
" 'Let me make my own mistakes, all of the scares and scrapes that came with it'? "
Rarity pressed her lips together and looked around in thought. "Well, you can hardly blame her for-"
"This isn't about blame."
"But you said-"
"I gave an example." He kicked off from the door and dropped his arms. "But if I have to spell it out, what this is about is understanding and moving forward." And with that, the dragon marched out the door, leaving the mares speechless.
"What has that brute done to him?" Rarity gasped.
"Maybe he's right." Twilight said, her voice apparent to the tears she fought back.
"Dear, you can't be serious!" The seamstress moved so she was face to face with the librarian. "Listen to me Twilight, that is not the same Spike we know and love. That Sin character has done something to him. And we need to do something to bring our Spike back."
However, the lavender pony didn't know what to think right now. She never thought of anything the way her former assistant had explained it. Spike was always a smart kid for his age, perhaps she hadn't given him enough credit and respect for that. But did that change the fact that he was still so young? It certainly didn't change their relationship and her role as his guardian.
This was more complicated than she'd have liked it to be, hay, even the stallions around town were simpler to understand than he was right now.
"Um, I'm with Rarity on this one." Pipped a voice.
"Fluttershy? How long have you been here?" Seriously, the mare could be present at a mime demonstration and nopony would notice if she didn't want them to.
"I'm sorry." The pink maned pegasus apologized needlessly. "But, before the party, I met Sin, and he doesn't seem like a very nice pony at all."
"What did he say to you?" Twilight asked in angst.
Fluttershy thought the question over and informed the group that he didn't really say anything to her, but his lack of sensitivity to her quiet nature. Along with the rude dismissal he gave in favor of speaking with the reptile, something about meeting him in the forest tomorrow morning.
Twilight made a mental not to relay the information later.
"But, he just seemed so angry and mean. I don't think it's a good idea for Spike to be around him." The timid pony pawed at the hard wood floor. "His still so young, and very impressionable."
That much was true, all in all, the dragon was still very young, especially for his species. She decided to ask Applejack for her opinion on the matter, but the blond mare remained quiet, her face contorted in thought.
"Applejack?"
No response.
"Applejack!"
"Huh? Wha'?"
"Are you alright?"
The apple farmer shook her head. "Yea, yea. Jus' thinkin's all." Needless to say she needed to be brought up to speed, but all in all, none of them had any real ideas. Even just talking to Spike and Mac about distancing themselves from the stallion seemed to have counterproductive consequences.
"Look." AJ said. "It's gettin' late. We're all tired. We should talk about this when we got clear heads." She grabbed the forgotten filly and placed her sister onto her back. The others were quick to agree, Rarity had to check on Sweetie Bell, and Twilight on Spike.
"Wait a moment." Rarity exclaimed looking around. "Has anyone seen Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash?"