//------------------------------// // Preparations // Story: Earning Freedom // by Daxisle //------------------------------// Preparations "And that's how minotaurs came to be?" Shade asked in amazement. "Yup." Discord replied happily. "The rulers of all the nations, being the oh so sensitive souls, had any record of the event hidden away so that nopony would ever know the truth." Sin could only sit with a half disturbed look on his face. He'd never again look at a cow the same way again... "So Sin. How goes it in the realm of boringness?" "Aggravating." Sin seethed, his multiple plans of how to deal with the protesters quickly ending preliminaries to determine the best course of action. "Well, that's why it's boring. You should try just having fun with it! Take the pressure off, go out on a whim. What's the worst that can happen?" Discord said in a scheming tone. Shade nodded in agreement. Sin let out a sigh before looking directly to the statue's eyes. "Failure." "Oh no!" Discord gasped before weeping sarcastically. "Not Failure! Oh the horrors of making mistakes and proving that you're not perfect! Oh the humanity." The mock show ended with the draconequus bursting into roaring laughter The stallion growled, to which Shade responded by stepping forward, very uneasy about the perceived threat to his master. "Oh calm down you two. The statue tutted. "Really Sinbad, it's no wonder you're so stressed out all the time. You should relax, being all stuffy isn't good for your health." Instead of responding, Sin just stood from the ground where he sat and began walking to the castle proper. He'd listened to the supposed "god of chaos" tell stories of the time before Celestia and pony kind in general, for hours. He was tired, too tired to give any sarcasm and defiantly too tired to put up with that damn lawn ornament any longer. As he entered into the main hall of the castle, his stomach groaned, making it's desires for food no longer deniable. Thinking on how long it had been since he ate, he turned back to the door and began trying to remember where a good spot to find some potatos. "Sin?" A voice called. "Where are you going?" A bit surprised, the tan clad pony turned to find a mare he hadn't seen for weeks. It was Uppity, she stood with a look of half disinterest down at him from the top of the stair case that lead to the throne room. He answered her question truthfully. "Well if you're hungry, you could come to the dinning hall." Uppity offered. "Preparations for dinner should be almost done." The stallion declined the invitation. He felt bad enough about all the tax payer money he'd used already and proclaimed that he was capable of paying for his own food. "Do you truly think they care?" He stopped when he heard her chuckling behind him. "Equestria is a land of generosity and kindness. You may be a stallion of and for the individual, but rest assured, there is nopony here who would take offense to you eating a meal." Sin was about to give a retort, but as if it set out to conspire against him, his stomach growled in agreement. He didn't need to look back to know the mare was wearing a smug grin of victory. With as loud as it was, of course she'd hear it. Still, the fact remained that she was bluffing. The young prosecutor couldn't possible know that out of the millions of ponies in the country, there wasn't a single one of them who would mind if their hard earned money went to his eating a free meal. And if there was only one single coin of that individuals money in the tax collection, that was enough to keep him away from the whole pot all together. Polite as he was to point that out, he quickly walked out of the entryway before a rebuttal could be made. As he wondered down into the city, he thought about the humor of the encounter. First the mare tries to get him locked up, now she's trying to get him food. You'd think she'd hold a grudge against him for the way he'd humiliated her. Finally, he came across a reasonably priced stand of assorted vegetables and fruits. He took a few Apples, carrots and potatoes. After he paid his fair, the stallion looked for a place to eat. It was then, as he sat down on a bench overlooking the streets that he noticed his actions were being duplicated by Uppity before joining him on the bench. Her again? "For a stallion who presents himself sophisticated, you're rather rude." She chided taking a bite of recently purchased head of lettuce. Sin just shrugged off the comment and took a bite of his carrot. The two sat in silence for a bit, Sin finally narrowing down the last details of what he would do tomorrow and how he hoped things would play out, back up plans being made, and variables being taken into account. Most of them for the out spoken socialist he'd no doubt have to debate. No matter how he played out the scenarios, he always saw that particular griffin causing him grief, grief that would be a drawn out thing if he let it. He let out a small shiver, not only because of the cold wind chill that had struck, but of nervousness. He could handle the younger ones, they weren't too set in their ways. But the fact was the liberty pony was at a disadvantage. He was to dispurse the crowed who wanted to be there, while his opponent need only keep them there... And by what Sin judged, the griffin was no stranger to mob psychology. "Is it customary in your country to ignore ponies who join you for a meal?" Uppity said, breaking him from his train of thought. Sin turned his head, it may have been dark out now, but the light of the city was enough to illuminate the teasing stare of the mare before him. Even through his goggles. "Can I help you?" He stated flatly, still cautious of her intentions. "Help me?" She jested, acting as if she were putting some thought into it. "Well, from what I understand, Celestia had requested that you disband the occupation down at Fancypant's bank. You haven't done it yet." Unsure if the stated fact held a small insulting undertone or not, Sin just nodded and explained how he'd planned to have it dispersed by tomorrow morning. Noon at the latest. Uppity, showing more interest than indifference,then tried probing for details. But Sin's paranoia began kicking in. As far as he knew, this was still a mare he'd beaten in a debate; in front of her superior no less. And as years in life had shown him, there is no fury like a female's scorn. "Well, if you wont tell me what's on your mind, I'll tell you what's on mine." It was times like these that he remembered why he preferred to live in the forest. And so it was, for some reason or another, Uppity decided that ranting about her day was a good idea. Dealing with paperwork enough to make legislators cringe, talking to a family who's colt was the victim of a mugging and how guilty the mare looked who was the suspect of said crime. As the mare continued to talk, her features began to unwind. Uppity's vocabulary, while remaining relativity stand-able, degraded to a more average and insulting slur of complaints. It was simple enough to tune her out, but dammit if her voice didn't make Sin want to slam his into the side walk until he'd lost all ability to think. As the mare continued to babble her senseless drivel, he continued to eat and pieced together the absolute final touches of his arguments and counter arguments respectively. Taking all of the "but" and "what if's" that he could see his opposition throwing at him. Even going so far as to prolong a debate of two specific ideologies he remembered two of them having against each other if worse came to worse. After what couldn't have been less than twenty minutes, Sin decided to listen again. He had nothing better to do, his plan being thought out to the best of his ability, and his last potato in hoof. Uppity was actually thanking him for putting up with her words. Apparently the few she ever talked to in this way didn't much care for what she had to say. Sin just sat in silence, he didn't really care. Call him cold and heartless but he honestly could not have given a fuck less about this kid's feelings or struggles. Hell, the fact that she was now complaining about her life to a complete stranger was both annoying and kinda pathetic. Maybe that was just his bias against her for trying to get him put in a cage. Even so, he'd never consider going up to a random individual just to spill his guts to them. "... And I really appreciate you listening." She smiled Cracking his neck, the stallion responded with the best thing he could say to avoid any fall out. "Of course." Was it inviting another session of this? In a way, but he'd pushed his luck enough with suicide thing this morning, and with this mare's status and power directly under her royal pain in the ass, the last thing he needed was to make an enemy of her if he could help it. Another moment of silence, Uppity just sitting and looking up at the stars above while the bustle of Canterlot began to die down. Shops began closing, lights turned off, and the air grew colder. No more point in staying here. Sin stood from the bench and offered words of parting before making his way back up to the castle. "Hey Sin." "Hmm?" Uppity shifted nervously and bit her lip. "I uh..." She stopped and took a slow breath. "Um, good luck tomorrow." "Uh-" The stallion looked at her in confusion for a moment, he wasn't sure why she changed what she was going to say, but if it was important, she'd have said it, and he was too tired to care otherwise. "Thanks." Was all he had to say before continuing his trek to the palace and conversing with Princess Celestia before some well deserved rest.