//------------------------------// // Neo-Confrontations (III) // Story: Earning Freedom // by Daxisle //------------------------------// Neo-Confrontations III "You doing alright, Cranky?" Spike yelled over the roar of the engines as he set the umpteenth log on the conveyor. Cranky Donkey was an old timer, recently moved to Ponyville where he'd found the Love of his life, Matilda. Only thing of note about the ass was the fact his head was as bald as a cue ball that he constantly tried to cover up with a gaudy blond wig. Typically, Cranky was a good and hard worker, didn't complain and did his job right, today he was having a bit of trouble though. Between the three of them, Spike, Sin and Cranky were doing pretty well at their station. The third pair of legs made the work a lot easier, but with the brown pony absent for the day to take care of his parole officer business, that only left the other two. And boy, did it really dawn on Spike just how much weight Sin carried in this job. "I'm fine!" Cranky yelled back, nursing his right front knee for a second before working his way back to the next rack of logs. "Knee's jest actin' up. Nothing to worry about!" "Alright, if you say so." But that wasn't really an option. The job they were doing relied heavily on team work, and if his co-worker wasn't fit to help him push the logs in the first place, than the job would need to be put on hold. Either that, or Blade would need to abandon his station to help Spike out, which would not leave a good impression for the new guy on the rig. "Aw man, you've gotta be kidding me." There was an extremely long knot protruding from the next log, meaning that rolling it would be a great deal more difficult. Sighing, the two pushed the slab of wood from its place and grunted with effort to roll it to the conveyor. Celestia did Spike hate it when the lumber jacks delivered from Maple Forest, it was like they didn't even try to smooth the logs out. It took some effort, some words of aggressive encouragement from Blade and almost help from Chopper, but the donkey/dragon team eventually managed to get the log onto the track. Production took a time hit, but sometimes, pride just had to overcome. Before the two could grab the next log, Chopper gave them the signal to halt and pointed to his watch, signifying it was almost break time. Once the final log was completely through the milling process, the plaid shirted stallion descended from his crane and pulled the lever that sent the steam to a silenced relief valve and shut down the conveyor. "Man, I'm starving." "Ha! Too bad you don't have a wife who makes you decent lunches. Maybe if you weren't so ugly..." Spike shook his head as he followed the guys back to the break room. It was so strange how everypony insulted each other but didn't mean it here. They found fun and a type of friendship in saying, what some would call cruel and hurtful things to one another. It was like a game of who could say the worst insult and still be friends. It compounded when he considered that mares were the exact opposite, well outside of Ponyville anyways. Stallions insult each other and don't mean it, mares compliment each other and don't mean it. The world was a very confusing place sometimes. "Hey Cranky, you alright?" Chopper asked, retrieving a box from the fridge and sitting at the small table in the middle of the kitchen. "Looked like you were having some trouble today." "Trouble keeping his hair piece in place." Blade teased, electing a small chuckle from the group. Cranky just smirked wryly for a second. "Yea I'm fine. Knee's just acting up a bit is all." "I had a problem like that once, then I told the wife to sleep on the floor." Another burst of laughter. Spike was happy he was being honest about the issue, even if he was down playing it. He and his co worker grabbed their own lunch boxes from the cubbies above the sink and began to eat. "All joking aside, if you're having trouble Cranky, you can let us know and we'll give you some time off." Jacker offered as he chewed thoughtfully on his meal. "What? And leave Spike there alone?" Chopper asked, quirking a brow. "What? He can do it." Blade declared confidently before looking at the drake. "Unless he's gonna be a bitch, you ain't no bitch, are you?" When he first started here, words like that had cut the drake. He'd actually cried a few night when the guys, Blade mostly, said some scathing remarks. But Spike knew he didn't mean a word of it. Evidenced by a day where Cranky was a no show and Sin was having one of his off days. The light green stallion would see the two having trouble, run over to help them out really quickly than get back to his own job once they'd gotten it under control. He didn't make fun of them for it either, he just helped them out. He even taught Spike a little... minotaur vulgarity. A small hand gesture that was also used by griffons and any other species with fingers. A hand gesture the drake decided to display. "If I can handle your mom, I can handle this." The room went absolutly silent, every single eye was locked onto the dragon. Spike grew nervous as the seconds passed, he'd never returned their rude snark before, maybe it wasn't yet time? Maybe he hadn't been here long enough to- "Pft." It was a faint sound, but it was enough to draw his attention. There, Fiona, the pink earth pony was fighting with everything she had to stop herself from laughing, soon Jacker followed her example. In no time at all, the entire room was in an uproar of laughs. Even Ax and Cranky were busting up in a fit of giggles. "Oh my Luna, Oh sweet Celestia. Oh wow, that..." Chopper attempted, constantly loosing himself to laughing fits. "You... You never retaliate at all, and then the first time you do.. hahahah." It was a perfect delivery from the most unlikely of sources. For the first time in the entire month he'd worked here, Spike officially felt like he belonged. "SPIKE! Pack you're things!" Twilight commanded as she ran about the library, grabbing different books from here and there and placing them in a large brown suitcase. The drake watched her walk around in awkward silence, half out of silent protest against being told what to do and half out of waiting for an explanation. "What's going on?" Twilight stopped and looked at her son with a large, beaming smile. "Candance and Shining Armor are getting married in three days!" 'Eh? Three days? Wow, that's kinda short notice.' He voiced his complaint, but Twilight was too far gone in La La Land to concern herself with the logical intricacies of guest and attendance arrangements. Unlike the unicorn, he couldn't just drop everything and leave. "I can't go, Twilight, I have work." That got her attention. "What do you mean, Spike? This is my brother's wedding!" Spike proceeded to explain what had happened at the mill. Between Cranky's injury and Sin's no show, the mill needed him. Sin might have been able to cover him, but the if the donkey took time off like his boss suggested, that would leave the Federalist to handle the loading alone. He'd just felt like he was starting to belong there, Spike couldn't afford to tarnish that now by taking time off because Cadance and Shining couldn't be bothered to give proper warning. Twilight looked like she'd been blind sided by a train, like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. But what did she know? She didn't have a real job like Spike did. Her responsibilities could easily be shrugged off at a moments notice. Nopony really visited the library all that often, most the town probably wouldn't even notice if it shut down for the week. His co-workers would definitely notice if the logs weren't loaded on the conveyor belt. "Spike, please this is my brother and Cadance we're talking about. Both of them you've known for years." She said gently, giving the drake her full attention. "Surely you can take off work for them. They've helped me raise you, after all." 'Ouch, playing the guilt card.' A small pang of irritation followed the guilt. Was she really doing this? Was she really pushing him to set his life on hold for this? He knew the guys at work would understand if he left, but why should they be left high and dry? The door pushed open as he was just beginning to form his argument, the orange coated and purple mane'd pony he knew as Uppity walking in the door. "Twilight, I've got great news." Twilight gave her a forced smile and greeting. "Uppity, can this wait? I'm kind of in the middle of-" "He said yes! Sin said he's going to come to the wedding with me!" Twilight's smile turned awkward as she gave a half hearted congratulations. To Spike, after the shock of hearing his former mentor actually agreed to the invitation, his irritation compounded ten fold. He had no choice now, the mill would most likely be down the entire front line of loaders if he took time off for the wedding. Sin? Why was he going? Any time the royal wedding was spoken about in the break room, he always spoke down on it. Yet he was not only leaving for that exact reason, he was leaving at a time he was needed? The buck, dude? The District Attorney gave Twilight an excited hug and said she couldn't wait before departing again. Leaving the drake more than solidified in his decision to stay. Twilight, however, saw this as an opportunity. "See, if he's going, I don't see why you can't." The drake's head lowered and he gave Twilight a look, the kind of look a pony gave whenever they'd heard the something so unbelievably stupid, there were just no words for it. The type of look he knew Twilight hated more than anything. "Stop looking at me like that!" The librarian shouted, her anger igniting small slivers of flame from her horn. It was a dangerous game, but Spike really didn't care at this point. "Did you not hear a word I said? Now that Sin's gone, I have to go to work!" He bellowed back. Twilight wasn't about to let up though, she went into a tirade of pushing buttons now. How he'd changed since he'd gotten the job, how rude he'd become to her and her friends and how understanding she was trying to be of him. All of that only to have all of her lenience thrown back in her face. "I've tried to be reasonable, but all you want to do is work, eat and sleep! Every time I suggest something fun, you're too tired or you have to work that day or something else! I work, I have a job, but I still manage to make time for my friends and family, so why can't you!?" Spike's chuckled cruelly. "Oh, you want to talk about work huh? Guess what, Twilight? You don't understand real work. You know why you don't understand real work? Because you don't have a real job!" The librarian's eyes widened and her mouth gaped. "Oh what? You didn't think I'd say it? You think running a library is hard? What work do you really do here, Twi? I mean, really what work do you do here? No, I'd like to hear just how much effort you have to put into it." The drake could feel his anger bubbling. It wasn't just for Twilight, but she'd chosen the wrong time to pull this crap, and it was time a few truths came to light. "What? You have to take down a book from a shelf once every other day when somepony actually comes in. That's it. Oh, heh, no wait you have to put them back when they are dropped back in a week later. My mistake." He laughed sarcastically. "Let me tell you what the majority of your so called 'work day', is. You study, play with your friends, move some books around, cook and clean. That's it. Hay, if the library shut down for a week, no pony would notice." "Me? I've got ponies who count on me to do my job everyday! If my station isn't running, guess what? The entire operation doesn't run. Ponies don't get wood to build houses, floors, fences, and whatever else. I don't show up, my co-workers can't get work done and they don't get paid. You know what that means? Hungry foals and homeless ponies, Twi. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you? You're too busy being the personal student of Princess freaking Celestia. Privileged, able to live a life of comfort and luxury because you got lucky and were born with superior magic potential. Well let me tell you something, Twilight Sparkle, not everypony has the bucking privilege! Some of us have to work for a living, some of us have responsibilities that we can't just shrug off for a few days because we've got nobody who depends on our day to day grind." It was an ass chewing, it was an ass chewing a long time in the making, and a bleary eyed Twilight was the reward for all his troubles. He didn't have to work, but he wanted to. He didn't want to be a leech off of the Twilight and her own success, he'd learned what it meant to have pride in being his own dragon, and despite the ease and comfort of the life he could have, he valued his new found pride more. "I- I have responsibilities..." She whimpered, but Spike was too far along in his rampage to stop now. "Yea, you saved Equestria a few times. Well, Twilight, let me ask you this." He folded his arms. "If Nightmare Moon returned right before the wedding started, or Discord went on a rampage. Would you say 'Derr, chaotic creatures hell bent on the destruction of harmony can wait, I want to see my brother get married! derr'..." He waited for a response. "Well?" His words cut deep, his mocking voice exaggerated to sound as stupid as possible. He didn't want to have this conversation, Spike knew venting all of his feelings would make him feel better, but he didn't want to hurt Twilight. But the Unicorn brought this on herself, the dragon would have been content to just have his wishes not to go respected, but no. The librarian just had to make him out to be the bad guy. And as he watched his surgot mother hitch sniffle with tears, he thought that he might have been. But tears and feelings of sadness didn't add up to what logically happened here. "Y-y-you JERK!" The unicorn shrilled before breaking down into a sobbing mess. With a sigh, Spike felt his anger slowly dissipate. He wasn't sorry for what he'd said, but it did pain him to see Twilight in tears. Part of him wanted to throw himself over her and hold her tightly, to apologize for everything and tell her that it would all be alright. Another part of him, a stronger part, said that would do far more damage than good. What he said wasn't a lie and she should never have compared her job to his own, but still there was no more point in being cruel. "But it's apples to oranges, I guess. You've got a job that allows you to be flexible." It was a sound conclusion that made sense. Her primary job was to become more proficient in magical studies, not run the library. But her studies came at her leisure and convenience. Spike, and most every pony else who had a job, did not. They worked around their employers schedule, not the other way around. It was a cold feeling, keeping to the point he was trying to make and not be swayed by tears. Spike wasn't in the wrong, he knew that much, but neither was Twilight. It was a hard thing to face, but this was just one of those situations where opinions were painfully different and principals had to come before feelings. He loved Twilight, he really did, but he couldn't just drop everything for her convenience any more. His mind went over the relationship the two had ever since he'd gotten back. It was nothing but constant fighting and making up. They'd reconcile after this, there was no doubt in his mind about it, but Spike had had enough. This was the last straw. "I think it's time I moved out." Her crying ceased and Twilight slowly looked up to Spike, her face a mask of horror. "No, Spike... Please don't..." "I love you, Twilight." He croaked, fighting the urge to cry himself. "But I can't shrug off my responsibilities because your bother's getting married. If I had known in advance, I would have set something up with my boss. But as it stands right now, I've got to stand by where I'm needed." He slowly walked by her side and knelt down to place a comforting claw on Twilight's back. "And ever since I've gotten back, it's been constant fighting between us every other month and I'm tired of it." "I'm sorry!" Twilight cried, trembling. "You're right, I was being over bearing on you and pushing you. I'll stop! I promise! Just please," she put her hoof over Spikes claw and looked at him with pleading eyes. "please don't go." With a shake of his head and soft smile, Spike declined. If she was really as upset as she made herself out to be than him leaving was for the best. Not only for himself, but for her as well. She was too emotional to understand right now, but he knew she'd appreciate it once she calmed down. "It's not like I'm moving away." He said, wrapping his arms around her neck, pulling her into a hug. "I'll still be around town, we'll still see eachother and stuff. But staying her is becoming toxic, Twi. For the both of us." He felt her tremble, but also felt a weak foreleg pulling on his back. "I've got my own life now. I've got business that I have to take care of, and others who count on me too much to just up and leave them. I love you, Twilight, I really do. I hope you can understand what I'm saying." He couldn't tell if she could or not, she just continued to cry and he continued to hold her. As much pain as it caused, he knew him leaving was for the best for both of them. But right now, she needed comfort and as her friend, that's exactly what Spike planned to give her.