//------------------------------// // The Night Before (Pt. 1) // Story: Earning Freedom // by Daxisle //------------------------------// The Night Before Pt. 1 The day not yet over and both Sin and Uppity having skipped lunch, the two ponies decided to out to eat at a near by restaurant. Sin wasn't too thrilled about the promises of finding a fitting wedding garb, but if all else failed, he could just walk away. The two found themselves outside of a quaint restaurant on the tourist strip down from the main areas of Canterlot. The line didn't look too long and the decor was much more toned down from what Sin had been expecting. It still had the white and gold aesthetics that signified Canterlot, but the color scheme was a little darker and more subtle. "This is where I meet up with my co-workers for some down time after work." She explained as the two secured a booth and awaited the waitress. It was a nice place, one the Federalist could see himself visiting once in a while. The two made idle chit chat as they waited, revisiting the white unicorn pony mare from before. She'd done more than just one piece on the city wall, according to Uppity the defiler had been running around for weeks and tagging all over high traffic day time areas at night to get her message out. The message was muddled to say the least, but it was supposedly something to do with suicide and how those who drove ponies to commit it should be charged as murderers. What made it all click into place was who she was that the unicorn mare was a former receptionist at Canterlot castle who quit her job three months ago. She was the mare who'd informed and blamed Sin for the suicide of Mallet for his debate in front of the Equalists. Cupid Protector, her name was. She was using the dead pony and the laws of freedom of expression to fight her case. Calling anyone who dared question or condemn her as suicide apologists who didn't care about ponies killing themselves. And who would be seen as the biggest apologist besides the very mare who was prosecuting her? 'Wow, that's pretty heavy stuff.' "Yea, it's earned me a few jeers and mean words, but I'm a pony of justice. You know?" She said with a sigh. "I sympathize with her, I really do. I find it deplorable that someone she cared about killed himself, and I hate the pony that made him do it, but that doesn't give her a right to just go around and defame public and private property." You hate me? Sin thought about saying, but decided against it. Uppity was already upset enough, he didn't need to make it worse by exposing his part in her problems. Maybe later, but for now they were having a nice, relaxing- "Uppity!" -interrupted meeting with some of her friends now apparently... A couple of Unicorn mares came to greet the two with Uppity standing up to give each a friendly hug. Sin looked away, trying to make himself as invisible as possible. Please don't try and talk to me, please don't try and talk to me. "Who's the cute stallion over there." 'They're talking about you.' No they're not. "Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Quill Pusher, Velvet, this is my coltfriend, Sin Islander." Son of a- wait a minute, coltfriend? Sin turned to them and gave a small nod of acknowledgement but no words. "Don't mind him, he's kinda shy." Both Velvet and Quill's faces lit up. "No way! You've finally found a coltfriend?" The grey one asked, causing no end of embarrassment for Uppity for the unnecessarily loud announcement. The orange pony tried to calm her over enthusiastic friend down, who was hopping in place like an idiot. Pressing his lips, Sin silently wished the two would leave but held no false hope that they would when Uppity took her seat next to him and the other two across from them. It was a little weird that they'd be excited about it though, why friends were so interested in one anothers romantic lives was a universal fact he'd never understand. Regardless, if these two were friend's with Uppity, it would be in his interest to remain civil. He grabbed a menu and began scanning around, despite knowing exactly what he was getting. It was a fragile hope that they wouldn't bother him out of respect for his reading, but it was better than staring straight ahead like an idiot. That's when it began... the clucking. They talked in lower and booming octaves that scratched every single raw nerve he had. Gossip, gossip and work drama. He was partially glad the topic wasn't on him anymore, but who was screwing whom in the office was another subject that rubbed him the wrong way. The worst of it? He had to continually tune in just in case he was directly addressed for any reason. This was why he didn't go out with friends. Shit. Like. This. 'Oh my gods, it's like listening to a bunch of clucking hens!' If there was one sliver of solace Sin would get from this, it was that his inner critic was suffering with him. Oh? I thought you were all about me socializing more. 'Don't even try to twist this on me! This is not what I had in mind an- Oh no, you wanted it, you've got it. You're going to listen and suffer just like I am. No bitching or complaining. Finally there was a lul in the conversation as a waitress dropped by to take their orders. That done, the topic of conversation changed to something a little more interesting. "So, did you guys here what's up with all the guards? Apparently there's supposed to be some kind of attack." The mare known as Quill whispered. "I heard it was going to be an interruption, vowed by the Neo-Founders group." Velvet replied. "Ever since they escaped custody, there's been stories about them recruiting all around the country." Sin pressed his lips. He might have just ruined a royal wedding and set one of the ponies he detested most in Equestria on edge because he'd released ponies who were non-violent reactionaries... Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all, now if he could just find a way to pin it on Fatchitaz... "What do you think, Sin?" Shit, they were talking to him now. "No clue." He replied bluntly. Honestly he didn't know what to make of the overkill security. Celestia knew that Nightmare Moon was returning on some particular day, yet she didn't have much set up in the way of security then. So, if the Princess hadn't beefed up security for the threat of ever lasting night, than a trio of reactionary ponies would barely be blip on her radar. No, there was something else coming, he just wouldn't have enough time to dig around for it. A few more speculations were thrown around. Some about jealous ex boyfriends of Cadance coming to stop the wedding, which was laughable, a monster attack, another unlikely scenario and a subject Sin was a little disturbed he didn't know of. He'd thought everyone had forgotten about the small aerial battle that happened over Trottingham between the Judgment and Gonshinian. However, it appeared that the opposite was true and most of the major cities had taken stronger measures to pressure Celestia into securing Equestria's borders. The Triple M. agents who'd received medical treatment in Equestrian custody had followed protocol and given a complete alias organization as their employer. But the public was kept in the dark about what exactly happened to them after they were released or the reason for their presence in the country. As far as they were concerned, the battle was nothing more than a couple of sky pirate's settling an old grudge. Yet here they were, being spoken of as if they were planning on attacking the wedding for motives ranging from: Celestia's alleged involvement in the battle and choosing sides to if the entire official story about sky piracy was a cover up to hide the assasination of Trottingham's political figure head, Prince Blueblood. Sin knew had to admit, some of the conspiracy theories these two came up with were pretty creative. If he wasn't personally involved with the ordeal, he might have given some serious thought to the speculations. Still though, that left the question unanswered. What was the point of all the security? "That's enough of that, Quill. Uppity's finally found a stallion, we should grill him for all the juicy details!" I hate my life so hard right now. "C'mon you two, please don't-" "Well, we already know how you two met." The light grey unicorn continued, ignoring her friend's please. "But I'm dying to know, how did it go from Uppity trying to put you in the dungeons to becoming her coltfriend?" She finished wit ha slight smirk, much to Uppity's horror. "She said I had to or she'd revoke my parole." Sin stated bluntly. Hey, if he was going to be stuck here, might as well have some fun with it. As expected, Uppity went into a sputtering tirade and decried him as a liar telling falsehoods. It was fun watching her squirm for a change. Though, the delivery must have been a little too good, as both her friends looked on in abject horror. Of course, he told the truth, which was that she'd helped him out of some pretty bad situations, and the time they'd spent together in Ponyville exposed a small chemistry between them. Quill was happy enough to accept the answer, but Velvet didn't. The maroon coated unicorn pressed a hoof to her chin and studied him for a moment, her intense glare putting him more and more on edge. "And you just accepted that? Never asked why she had a thing for you and nopony else?" Truth be told, no, the Federalist had never really questioned it. The District Attorney had a thing for him because he was intelligent and not a completely manipulative jack off, he had a thing for her because she seemed honest, intelligent and caring; and he was willing to see where things went from there. Both of them had things going on in life, so maybe it was more the idea of spending time together that made them drawn to eachother rather than the time they really did interact that drew them to attraction. Aside from constantly clashing heads in debate in progressive vs libertarian philosophy and her playing psychologist nurse, the two had very little in terms interaction. Yea, he'd tease her with chauvinism to a point where it got under her skin, but never enough to where it genuinely upset her. Challenging her was probably a component in all of this, but besides talking and some one way affection, nothing between the two had ever really happened. It really called on the legitimacy of the relationship to all ponies present. Forced wasn't the right word, there was a mutual respect and admiration between both Sin and Uppity for the personalities and known character traits the two had exposed, though it all really came down to Sin's emotionally stunted world view. Emotional detachment made things simple, kept him calm and objective which lead to an easier and more efficient mindset to attain his goals. His goals had changed, however. Where once he'd only wanted an existence of solitude induced Anarchy in the middle of the woods out of a mix of his failures and being jaded, here he was now. Sitting at a table with three other ponies on what could have arguably been a date, going to a royal wedding, working as an imperial fund checker/woodmill laborer, owning an honest house, working to regulate the black market and on a project that would give dozens of non-taxpayer funded jobs and farther research on the Everfree forest. 'Isn't life weird?' Uppity, who had her own emotional shortcomings, was a personal prosecutor for Celestia. She was socially awkward, had few personal friends, was currently working on putting a mare who had it out for him behind bars, and was a strange mix between a silly foal at heart and a caring maternal figure. To answer Quills question, while not outloud, Sin figured it was his emotional grounding and snark that attracted Uppity the most. Anyone who knew the mare outside of her business persona would see just how easily off putting she was in her forwardness. Yes, he was a pony who liked both space and peace, he could always appreciate when an acquaintance was honest and forthcoming about both character and intent. While he could have done with Uppity being a little more subtle, such a thing would have taken away from the honest respect he had for her lack of social manipulation. She needed an emotional ground who accepted her for who she was. Someone who could put up with her constant need for intellectual stimulation and tolerate the real her until she grew comfortable enough to calm down; and somewhere along the way, despite the obvious clashing personality types, he'd not only come to make such an acceptation, but enjoyed it. It was difficult to put into words that were both honest and socially acceptable. Call things "complicated" would be an understatement. "I see, so have you two had sex yet?" Sin spit out the water he was drinking, was that real? Did she just ask that? Sin looked at Uppity for... anything, but she was too busy hiding behind her forelegs to be of use. Was this really happening right now? He knew mares could be blunt for their daily fix of gossip, but seriously? "Sir, sir! Please you're not allowed to-" "Quiet mare! If you keep talking, they'll find me." That voice, Sin had never been so happy to hear that voice. The stallion looked back to find Shade heckling one of the waitress while simultaneously pulling a table cloth over himself. The oaken pony excused himself from the trio of mares to see what all the fuss was about. "Dammit, I told you- SIN! Boy, am I both glad and livid to see you!" Shade greeted. Sin was about to give his questions before a black hoof grabbed his own, pulling him under the table and pushing the waitress away. "Shade, what's going on? Why are you here?" The batpony's golden eyes glowed faintly from the shadow of their hiding spot and they looked left and right before speaking. "Alright, so there were these guys, see? The came to Stripes' hut and were asking me all kinds of weird questions. They were trying to get me to smoke something, they said it was the same Ganga that Stripes was giving me, but Mac's the one who brought it over." Sin took a minute to reflect on just how full tonight was of his decisions in life coming back to bite him. "I know what they think, they think I'm crazy and that they're going to fix me. Well, I'll show them, I'll show them all just how not crazy I am!" He chuckled evilly and rubbed his hooves together. There was a brief, internal debate on how the Federalist wanted to handle the situation: On one hand he could try to talk the bat pony out of whatever he was about to do, convince him to go home and go back to the uncomfortable gossip grilling, or he could see where this went. He chose the path of least resistance and inquired to the bat pony's plan. "I'm going to expose it. I'm going to expose the foal factory beneath Canterlot!" That sounded eerily familiar for some reason, but the stallion couldn't quite figure out why until Shade made his next statement. "You were the only one who believed me, Sin. You were the one who said 'sure, why not?' when everypony else doubted me, and now that you're here, I want you to share in my revelation." Spike settled into the late night train bound for Canterlot from Ponyville. His eyes fixed firmly of the city's all too dim lights from the miles and miles away it was. His stomach was in knots, palms literally drenched with sweat. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and searched for what he was going to say to Twilight and her friends once he arrived. No doubt they knew by now, all five of them had a lecture line up for him most likely. He deserved it though, well partially anyways. As much as he wanted to stay and just wait for everything to blow over, he knew Cadance and Shining would be disappointed with his lack of attendance. He loved them and he loved Twi' he loved all of his friends really, it was just that he was growing up now. He hadn't meant to burry himself in work like he had, but it just kind a happened. His co-workers set him straight though and at the time he wasn't happy about it. Chopper and Blade were jumping down the dragon's throat hard core after work today. He tried to walk away, but baby dragon strength wasn't really much of a contest against two full grown earth ponies. Plus... part of him wanted to hear what they had to say. More of him wanted to just get away and stew in his bad decisions, but that small part was more than enough to make him put up no fight as they carried him to the break room. Sighing ,the purple dragon turned away from the window and placed a hand over his eyes. He was an idiot, an brash, overly irritable, workaholic, neglectful idiot. He still believed that moving out would was for the best, but he'd wished it would have been on better terms. Now he'd have less chance to spend time with Twilight, it was for the best and all, but the thought did creep dread into his thoughts. He could cook, clean and take care of himself, that was no problem, but the companionship Twilight offered was much more important than that. Knowing there was somepony home who cared about you, someone who'd ask you how your day was and offer to get you a drink or make you something to eat, and most importantly a warm smile. No matter how badly the two clashed heads, she'd always smile when he came back from the mill. It didn't hit him how much he'd taken her for granted until yesterday when she left. It felt like she was leaving his life for the final time. He felt tears begin to well in the corners of his eye as he remembered her walking out the door. Back then, he watched with stoic resignation, not wanting to show any weakness. But he was weak, he wanted her to come back and say she forgave him, that the two were still friends and that she loved him, but that didn't happen. How could it? He'd said some of the most hurtful things in the world to her, she called him a jerk for Celestia's sake. How fair would it have been to hope she'd come back after he'd pushed her so far? And after everything she'd done for him, no less? The eye appointment, feeding him, caring for him since he was young, saving him during the Dragon Migration, defending him after he'd wrecked the town twice when he'd he'd suffered his greed growth? Every thought, every memory of Twilight standing by his side made Spike feel lower and lower about himself. He was a terrible dragon, one of the lowest peices of scum the earth had to offer. 'Yea, you do kinda suck.' But despite his depression, he'd make it up to her. They'd been through some bad times before and gotten through it. This time, they'd just need to set up sound boundaries to have a more healthy relationship, he could make this right... At least he hoped he could.