Occupy Canterlot
Sin sat quietly at a white, gold trimmed table with a modest tea cup in front of him, and Princess Celestia on the opposite side of the wooden construct.
The night before, whilst he and Macintosh were studding their respective interests, a very giddy Princess Luna had come to "speak" with the apple farmer. Sin didn't much care for what was said between the two, it was probably just another request for sexual intercourse. Not his business nor his problem.
Morning came after the all night cramming session and each and every piece of distributed information all had text informing the readers about Celestials lack of involvement with Celestia. His suspicions aroused, Sin ventured into the city and asked around to find this "Fancy Pants'" bank. Once there, he discovered that things were actually better and worse than he thought.
Better due to the fact that there were no where near the number of ponies and griffans he thought there would be; and worse because what few there were had set up tents or slept on the open ground. The few that were visible looking rugged and worked, as if they hadn't bathed in some time. It was an Occupation.
After that little revelation the stallion decided to return once their morning agendas began, there was defiantly more to this than some misunderstandings about a name. So, here he sat. Celestia insisting the matter be discussed over tea and him recapping everything he knew.
"I see." Celestia mused, taking a sip of her tea. "But, Luna's already told you everything we know. The protesters claim they want Celestial dismantled for it's misleading name."
Sin furrowed his brow. 'Disperse the organization? That was new. Now who would want that to happen? More importantly, who pointed these ponies in the direction of the bank?'
"And you have no indicator as to the leader or organizer of this little ordeal?" The alicorn shook her head. Great, a decentralized protest. Well, there were at least a few things he could do given the situation and circumstances, though those would probably shrink as well once he'd actually spoken to the protestors. It was a funny way of thinking individuals like them had: "First they ignore you, then they mock you, then they confront you, than you win."
All the while trying "fix" a system that was only doing what it was intended to do in the first place.
"Mmmm." Celestia's dreamy humming broke his train of thought. "I do love herbal tea, it helps calm my nerves and start the day on the right hoof."
Sin looked down at his drink, the stagnant greenish liquid had a minty like aroma to it, but the fact that a royal sister had personally prepared it for the two of them was a bit off setting for him. She had no shortage of servants willing to do pretty much anything she told them to, why go through the trouble of all this herself?
"Right, at any rate-"
"Aren't you going to drink some?"
"I'm sorry?"
Celestia elegantly motioned to his untouched cup. "I've made it myself, it's an old recipe, bit of a bitter taste at first but after the first few sips, it's quite addicting." She took another sip and smiled.
Sin quirked a brow, now even more paranoid of the drink. "Perhaps another time." He gave an empty smile. "I'm going to interview the protesters in an hour or so, and if your tea is as relaxing as you say it is, it mixed with my lack of sleep might make me too drowsy to be as retentive and coherent as I need to be."
"Lack of sleep?" The sun goddess tilted her head.
"It was a late night in the archives."
"How late?"
"Late enough." Sin had to refrain from snapping. He was already aggitated and he felt a head ache coming on. Now she wanted to waste more time with petty questions?
Calmly, Celestia placed the tea cup down onto it's place "You know staying up all night isn't good for you." She said with a bit of patronage.
'No shit, who told you that?'
"There's work to be done, if nipped early, it becomes considerably less work." Sin sighed. "Plus, having a little background of what I'm talking about is nice."
Celestia chuckled, causing him to stare expectantly. "I'm sorry, but you seemed to handle yourself well enough with that green stallion before."
The tan clad pony sneered, not at the princess's amusement, but at his own foolishness. He didn't know those ponies plights, who they were, their living conditions, or even who that "Hoity Toity" guy he was defending was. He'd lept before he looked. Luckily that populist pony had little real idea what he was talking about, that and the fact he was driven by more emotion than logic were the deciding factors on Sin's victory.
Still a stupid mistake on his part. Being angry over Luna's deception was, and is still, no excuse.
"Very well." His current superior stated solemnly. "I'll leave this matter in your hooves. If you need anything, please ask." With a sigh of disappointment for absolutely no information gained, he took that as his cue to leave. Sin stood from the cushion on which he sat and began making way for the exit, at least until he was stopped again. "Oh and do come and visit me tonight, I would like to hear more about your country."
Sin gave her a nod and pushed out passed the doors. His mind was a mix of blankness and overdrive, attempting to sort the facts he had into some kind of coherent conclusion he knew would never be found. It wasn't until he had reached the bottom of the velvet covered stairs that he noticed the white unicorn receptionist from before glaring at him wordlessly.
"Can I help you?"
The mare's brilliant hazel eyes only narrowed more. Apparently still peeved over his dismissal of his previous remark. "So." She said, her voice jeering. "You're the princesses new lap dog, huh?"
The Federalist didn't respond, causing the receptionist to chuckle.
"Oh yes, those goggles." Her smirk grew to a grin. "My brother said it was a pony with tinted lenses and a brown cape who down talked Mallet while he was trying to gain steam for the Equality movement."
Equality movement?'
"Did you know that what you did to him shamed him to the point he didn't even come out of his house?" Sin didn't reply. "That many of the ponies in his life began mocking him and demonizing his beliefs? Calling him mean names an-"
"As invigorating as this tale is, I don't see how his life is my problem." Sin began walking passed, he had more important matters to attend.
The smirk the receptionist wore disappeared, her eyes gaining an almost frightening amount of animosity. "Because he isn't alive anymore." She growled. "He killed himself."
A small amount of guilt did hit the stallion, but nothing overwhelming or impressionable. "He hung himself because of what you did to him."
Taking a breath, Sin looked at her expectantly. After moment of the two staring each other down, he finally broke current tension and brought about a new level of it. "So?"
The unicorn looked as if she'd been slapped in the face. Her eyes wide in disbelief and her mouth gaped large enough to drive a carriage through.
"He killed himself. I did not end his life, nor did I pressure him to do so, I feel no guilt."
Silence. Suicide was a hot topic, one he'd probably regret speaking on later, but right now, he just had to ask; why was it his concern? The stallion and he shared a debate, that was it. How exactly did that result in ponies ostracized him? Not to mention to the point of killing himself. All in all, he'd only debated a point, Mallet's actions passed that were none of his concern.
When the mare didn't reply, stuck in a state of shock, Sin shrugged and walked out.
He pushed the thoughts out of his mind along with the now creeping tiredness and ventured back to the occupied street way. As expected, locals took different routs to get to their destinations, the few souls brave enough to tread near the encampment -be it needing to get into the building for work or passing by- were either shouted at about the bank's dealings with Celestial or assaulted with pseudo-intellectual drivel that made the stallion want to vomit.
The building which they stood in front of was uniform in color with the white city, though, it wasn't that much bigger than other buildings on the street, but still noticeable. What really set it apart was the gold lined words: "Fancy Pants Bank" inscribed on the front.
"Alright, I think we should start the assembly." A slightly over-weight teal mare called. The twenty ponies and griffins agreed and stood down from the signs they held before gathering in a semi-circle around a larger white bored with the word "agenda" written at the top. "Alright, order!" She wined.
With the meeting about to begin, Sin decided to stand at the back and just observe. Marine, the speaking pony, adjusted her circular glasses and sniffled. She began speaking about food rations and how donations had stopped coming from ponies who were sympathetic to their cause. Some of the crowd actually held jobs in the city and offered to help subsidize the meals.
Some other topics were covered: Two members had left the movement yesterday, the mayor of Manehatten stood in solidarity with them, even Fancy Pants himself had actually tried addressed them. The usual rhetoric of the victim fighting back spewed forth, but if these ponies were anything like Mallet, he was certain that it was probably just an exaggeration to try to raise moral and public opinion
Finally the assembly dispersed with nothing of substance being accomplished and everyone went back to what they were doing before.
"Hi." greeted a younger yellow mare with an attentive smile. "Have you heard of Celestial?"
Sin kept his mouth shut, perhaps word of him hadn't spread as far as he initially thought. "I'm afraid I haven't, who are they?" He asked.
Her tired eyes grew with a new eagerness that somepony finally cared about what she had to say. "Well, the name isn't what it implies." The mare stated conversationally. "It's actually a private entity that just uses Princess Celestia's good name to play on public emotion..."
The conversation went as expected, Sin asking questions he already knew the answers to, and the protestor confirming. He tried to pressure her to give more details about how the movement started, but she knew just as much as she did. His first trace of any real research came when she mentioned how she had joined out of a conversation she had with one of its "paid volunteers". The mare she spoke to seemed rather sadistic about the ignorance of the public on the matter, and literally laughed at them for all the donations the received because of the misconception.
Sin made a mental note of the description of the volunteer pony. It was irrelevant information for the time being, but his gut told him that there was more here than a simple conversation gone gloating.
After she was through with her part, the stallion interviewed others of the protest. Some were more well spoken than the others, each one telling their reasons for attending and goals after Celestial was brought down, but one griffin in particular captured his interest. This hybrid was something else, he spoke with conviction and intelligence, passion and emotional logic. His business here wasn't really with Celestial at all, it was with the bank itself.
Sin had to literally bite his tongue in order to not argue. While griffin spoke with elegant fluency, his ideals were a great deal contradictory and maddeningly populist. Going into great detail about how every single solitary bit should be distributed evenly between every individual residing in Equestria, and any who reject should be made an example of.
Once Sin's eye began twitching out of unbridled anger, he quickly drew the conversation to a close, thanked the griffin for his time, and walked away from the congress of loud yelling.
As soon as he passed a street corner, he let out an aggravated sigh, internally demonizing the populist and his rhetoric. Though, a small smirk soon crept onto his muzzle as he realized the silver lining. Almost none of the protestors there wanted the same thing in the long term. Oh, they may have a vested interest in Celestial, but if he was crafty enough, he could push the process so that the differences in their beliefs would drive a wedge between them.
A small kick in his step, the former politician ventured back to the castle to make his plan. Most present were there for emotional reasons, that would defiantly play to his advantage, they didn't seem very bright but they were young; and impressionable.
He'd reached the palace entrance by what felt like noon and walked in, a few scenarios already played out in his mind. As he did, the tan clad pony was met by a different receptionist this time and informed him that Celestia had given him permission to attend lunch in the dining room.
He was about to decline, due to the fact he'd already eaten enough on the tax payers dime, but when she said that Macintosh was waiting for him, the stallion sighed and went on his way. As promised, there he was sitting with Princess Luna. For some reason, they were staring each other down.
"Everything alright?"
"I just wish to have foals of my own, Macintosh!"
Sin froze "Yea, screw this."
Quickly, Sin left the disturbing argument and made way back to the entryway.
"That was quick." The earth pony receptionist commented with a smile. "I assume everything is in order?"
Sin gave the pony a tired look. "Yea, order of reproduction." Before the receptionist could voice the confusion on his face, the Federalist took to castle courtyard, maybe Discord and Shade could give enough nonsensical babble to shut down his brain for a bit.