//------------------------------// // Aftermath // Story: Earning Freedom // by Daxisle //------------------------------// Aftermath Two days had passed since Sombra was brought to Canterlot from the Crystal Empire. The fell king inspired shock and awe through out the palace guard, many of which tried to arrest him on the spot, despite Captain Shining Armor's official custody. The princess both greeted the fell king with a mix of apprehension and honest confusion, off put by his tale of isolated moral redemption. The story of the Empire's return, and Sombra's initial attack there on, had made Celestia and Luna doubt the claims of the stallion, and rightfully so. He'd made an official request for an exercise to be done, one that both sisters surprisingly agreed to. The exorcism required the full attention of the younger sister while the older continued overseeing repairs and the aftermath of the fallen protests. Luna entered the ponies mind through the dream scape and searched for the presence that she'd wrought onto him. Expelling the shadow and freeing Sombra of his ailment. He was to be kept within the castle for an undisclosed amount of time for observational purposes. His magical prowess was still a force to be reckoned with, arguably on par with Twilight Sparkle and her brother. If the stallion had indeed changed for the better, he'd be a powerful ally to the crown and would be offered a chance to indulge his wanderings as payment for services rendered. Big Macintosh would be discharged later today, a special visit paid by Annabelle to see him home. As expected, the butter milk earth pony mare was less than thrilled with his condition, as well as his absence without telling her. Though, through proper explanation and careful consideration, she came to understand his sense of duty and accepted what he'd done to be in the best interest of the nation. It didn't help with the guilt he felt for putting her through so much worry though. Alas, there was more than just scolding to be offered. She offered her condolences for the loss of his friend and promised to comfort him in any way he felt needed. There was enough grief, though. He had a wedding to plan and a mare to ask as his wife. Spike secluded himself in room for himself. Pondering and coming to terms with everything that had happened. Depression took the drake as he began to finally accept that he'd never see his friend again. He'd clung to the final letter and promised that he'd make the stallion proud, that he'd become the dragon he knew he could be. In those moments, Spike resolved himself to grow, to become older, to claim property as his own. Life would get better for him, but unlike Mac, his grieving was just beginning. Shade took the news as well as expected, his maintained blank stare became a ruffled frown for a while, as if trying to process what he'd been told. Eventually, the frown faded and the pony was as blank and emotionless as he was before. Twilight Sparkle and her friends had made great progress to restoring their friendship through out their adventure in the Crystal Empire. The planning and setting up of the fair forcing all of them to work side by side and together brought back feelings of comradary and unity that was lost. Rarity was still moody and brooding, but it was clear that the time she'd spent in working with her friends and her passion had healed part of her wound. Rainbow Dash was the final confrontation, and she vowed never again to allow emotional appeals to deter her from the loyalty her element pronounced her to be. As for the protesters. Cupid Protector was arrested and charged as the instigator of the brawl. Prince Platinum was taken to receive much needed medical treatment for a broken spine and major organ damage before he too would be judged. Many of the Trotski and Communist ponies escaped the authorities when they'd realized that they'd been surrounded, turning their anger and rage upon the guard. The majority were arrested and taken into custody, and charged with public disturbance, assault, property damage, and assault upon royal peace keepers. Captain Shining Armor over saw the processing and detainment of all involved. The story from multiple news papers had destroyed all credibility of either movement's desires for peaceful grievence, condemning both as violent extremists and using photos of both the hanging princess dolls and the brawl itself to destroy any public support they may have had. The repairs to Canterlot continued smoothly after the protests were disbanded, estimates suggest the repair efforts will be complete by mid to late April. Sickle's body was discovered in a closet of one of the palaces unused rooms after a very traumatized servant maid had come in to do a weekly cleaning. She noticed that one of the ropes that held the drapes to the window was missing and check the closet to see if someone had placed it there as a prank. She found the rope, made into a make shift noose that Sickle's decaying form hung by. Cause of death determined to be suicide. Chancellor Pudding head, and Commander Hurricane remain at large, though there were eye witness accounts of a mare meeting Hurricane's description floating down rive a few miles away. No body has officially been recovered. Macintosh walked with Spike while the girls walked on a head. Mac could see that dragon was still upset about what had happened, but understood that he'd need time to come to terms. So he gave him his space and would wait for the drake to come to him if he was so inclined. They borded the train and Spike sat down with the girls. The Applepony was about to sit down beside his sister, but Annabelle asked if the two might speak in private for a moment. Nodding, Mac followed his wife to be to the next cart, away from prying ears. Once situated the mare took a breath. "Mac, I ummm... there's something you should know, before we get back to the farm. I was meaning to tell you and your sister about it but..." Mac tilted his head, Anna looked unsure of herself, something he didn't see too often of her unless it was important. "What's goin' on?" The mare sighed and looked him in the eye, the sign of a blunt truth. "One of Applebloom's friends, Scootaloo, is staying at the farm right now." Mac quirked a brow, unsure of what the cause for concern was. Applebloom had friends over all the time, why should this be cause for such alarm? "She's... not there for a visit, hun." "Then what's she..." His eyes widened slightly, Anna didn't mean she was there to stay, did she? How could that be? Scootaloo had a home to go home to, fillies didn't just move out of their homes and leave their families behind. The apple pony was pretty sure there were some laws against that. Annabelle pressed her lips, her baby blue eyes trailing outside the window. "She wasn't living in a house. She was living alone out in Whitetail Wood." "Wha'?" Applebloom was meaning to talk to her brother about it the morning he'd left. Apparently she'd found out about Scootaloo's living conditions in the forest and urged her friend to return home, which the filly promised to do a good month ago. However, Applebloom followed her home yesterday and found her living in the exact same place. It was clear to see why the farm filly grew so concerned. Scootaloo was thinner than any foal Annabelle had ever seen and her wings were underdeveloped. It was a wonder the pegasus filly's well being wasn't called into question sooner. "When we found her, she was eating berries out of a broken cup." Anna said, her face turning downcast. "She looked so hungry and cold, dirty, she was living in a tent Macintosh. A tent that was crawling with bugs and tears all over." The revelation caused the stallion to grimace. He could remember a few accounts of bugs crawling on him waking him up and keeping him up through the night. Especially the ones who liked to bite. Though, that left one important question. "Why?" Anna shook her head. "She wont say, it took me and Applebloom a good two hours to convince her to come to the farm with us. We told her it was just for the night, but kept convincing her to stay just one more night." She sighed, rubbing her hooves together nervously. "She's proud, too proud for a filly her age." Proud? This was full on vanity! Mac had lived that way, he knew how tough living off the land was, and how he'd grown miserable after the first few days without his homey comforts like sturdy walls and indoor plumbing. He'd have been utterly lost without his friends to support and teach him, how a young foal did it all by herself was nothing short of insane. What on earth could make a foal run away from home to live out in the woods? 'Could you really think of no reasons?' None that he cared to dwell on, that kinda thing happened, that he knew, but in Ponyville? The town was full of great and kind hearted folk, surely even the worst would never hurt a foal like that, right? "Ah see." He nodded. "She can stay, right?" The question was an odd one to ask him. That was more Applejack and Granny's decision than his own. He told her as such and the mare sighed in relief. "That's good, Granny's already said she could, at least until we figure out why she doesn't want to go home to her folks and fix whatever problem there is." He didn't doubt Applejack would accept Scootaloo into the home, but she'd probably be more determined to get some answers than Annabelle was. "Speakin' o' which, we migh' wanna tell her 'for we get back home. AJ'll be sore enough that we didn't say nothin' sooner." He stood up and made way to the other cart to retrieve the apple mare. "Mac say's y'all got somethin' important tah tell me?" AJ asked. Annabelle recounted to her what she told Macintosh, including her plan to keep the filly at the farm until things were sorted out. Unlike her brother, she didn't take the news with a nature of laid back acceptance. Indignant and acutely perplexed were more suitable terms to describe her reaction, actually. "Wait, hold up, hold up. Yer sayin' ya don't know why Scootaloo ain't been livin' with her family?" Annabelle nodded. "How long she been stayin' at the farm nao?" "About three days?" The cow pony's brow furrowed even deeper and she demanded to know why Annabelle hadn't reported the problem to the proper authorities and givin' up custody of Scootaloo to them. Siting that harboring a lost child could get them all accused of foalnapping. "I did tell the police, Applejack." Anna replied, becoming defensive. "I know how they work, they'll try to take her home right away to figure things out with her parents. Once they do, she'll run away again, and this time, we might not know where she goes!" "No, if Scootaloo don't wanna go back, they wont force her to." Annabelle tilted her head, giving AJ the stink eye. "Oh? Because I've had many friends in these kinds of situations, and that's the first thing that always happens. How are you so sure it would be any different here?" "Ah... it... we... It ain't ouah place to make those kinda o' decisions!" AJ groaned and rubbed her head in frustration. She took a few calming breaths and addressed Anna in a more friendly tone. "Look, Ah get it, y'all wanna be there to help Scoots. But we've gotta be pragmatic 'bout this. We can't just take in a filly off the street, she needs professional help." Mac stood quietly as the two mares continued to debate the issue. His sister was always level headed and pragmatic, but her rejection of Scootaloo's refuge didn't seem right to him. Annabelle said she'd informed the authorities, so what was AJ so bent out of shape about? Was it the lack of permission? 'No, she'd have said as much if it was.' He listened more carefully to the conversation, but the blond mare was slowly crumbling under the logic Anna had presented. And by "crumbling", Mac meant her arguements were becoming weaker in terms of actual points. Her flame to have Scootaloo removed from the farm was still going strong. Finally, Applejack raised a hoof and said that she'd need time to calm down and think things over. Good decisions never came from hot heads. She walked back into the car with her friends, leaving Mac and Anna alone. "What was that about?" The earth mare asked indignantly. Macintosh wasn't sure, but he was going to make it a point to speak with her about it at a later time. Right now, the two had another matter to discuss... wedding plans. The train pulled up and everypony unloaded, each heading to their respective homes for the night with promises of future meetings for various activities. Spike walked with Twilight back to their neighborhood, it didn't hit him until he saw his house that he didn't want to stay there. Just looking at the place made him feel depressed. "Hey, umm, Twilight?" He asked, garnering the mare's attention. He wanted to ask to stay the night with her, but then he thought about the dream he had, about the Twilight there looking down from her window and asking if "baby come home". "What is it, Spike?" "Oh, uh, nothing, forget it. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" The two shared a hug and the dragon walked to his house, pushing the door open, turning on the light and closing the door behind him. He sighed, the place felt so alien now, like this was the first time he'd ever entered the home. He recognized everything, it was all in the proper places, but... it just didn't feel right. He looked around the walls, noticing that there were only a few pictures up. Twilight and her friends were on one, the same with another but adding in Celestia, Luna, and himself. But nothing of his now deceased friend. No mementos, no personal decorations, nothing to remember him by what so ever. For some reason, the drake felt sorry about that, and wished he capture a picture of the pony. Spike's stomach growled at him, reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything all day. He walked into the kitchen and opened one of the pantry doors to grab a plate, stopping as his claw pulled out a simple, brown, wooden food holder. It was Sin's personal plate, the only one he ever had need of. As he looked at the simple plate in his hands, Spike realized that this was the closest thing he had to the pony... a tattered and worn wooden dish. He lost his appetite and brought the kitchenware out to the living room, placing it on display over the mantle. It wasn't much, but at least it was something. Even so, it felt wrong. The Federalist had done so much for him and all he could do was offer respect to his memory with a stupid wooden food holder. 'It's fine, dude. Honestly, I don't think Sin would want anything more flashy than that.' Sighing again, the drake turned off the light and made way to his bed, content to sleep the rest of the early eavening away like a bad hangover. Macintosh and Annabelle sat in the living room with Applebloom and Scootaloo playing on the floor, coloring in books designed for it. Applebloom continually cast a worried and unsure look to Mac, but he'd give her a reassuring smile every time.The two had yet to ask the filly any questions, neither wanted to. She looked so happy, her smile and laughter bringing them false sense of comfort. When they'd gotten back, Applebloom had rushed forth to ask what had happened to her brother and why he'd come home in bandages, Granny Smith poking her head in from the kitchen to hear what all the racket was about. It was a long story, so he settled for the bare minimum that he knew his sister would understand. She had a few more questions, but nothing too much and settled for asking if he was alright, which he, of course, answered in the affirmative. Applejack turned in early, halting at the stop of the stairs and casting a look down at Scootaloo before shaking her head and wandering off to bed. Now it was almost time for bed and the two fillies were winding down for the day, enjoying a relaxing activity. "Alright, youngin's, is time fer bed." Granny announced, yawning from her rocking chair. The two fillies awwed in disappointment and began to scamper off up stairs to brush their teeth. "Ya sure yer alrigh' boy?" Granny asked. It wasn't malicious or mean spirited, just a question from a concerned grandmother. "Eyup." Mac replied. The elder mare walked forward, lifted a hoof and began tilting her grandson's head every which way, inspecting all she could before resigning herself to his word. "If'n ya say so." She turned to Annabelle, leaning in close to whisper, "Keep an eye on 'im fer me will ya? Stallions like him er too proud fer their own good." The two shared a giggle and Granny accompanied the foals to make sure they got to sleep. "How's your shoulder?" "It's fine." Anna leaned into his left side, smiling contently. "You wouldn't lie to me, to make yourself look proud and strong like you would your grandma, would you?" The apple pony pressed his lips. "N-Nope?" The mare shifted her head, placing her mouth upon the stallion's neck, her breath titillating his sensitive flesh with her warm breath. "So, if we went out to buck some apple right now, you would tell me if you were in any pain, right?" Mac froze, unsure if the double entandra was intended or not. Either way, he wasn't sure if he could honestly answer yes. Apple bucking season was coming up soon, things on the farm were behind already. Tax season was coming up too, and if they didn't sell enough apples, some equipment or land would need to be sold to compensate. His answer didn't come in time and Annabelle turned to face him, her hoof raising up and trailing over the bandages that encompassed his left eye. "Macintosh, I want you to promise me you wont push yourself this season, okay?" The pony sighed and nodded. His wounds looked much worse than they really were, the doctor said he'd be back to full in a week or two, but still... it was nice to feel like someone cared about him like this. Anna gently lead her stallionfriend's muzzle down and kissed him. Gentle at first, but growing with intensity, pushing into him slightly and deepening the kiss to indicate that she wanted something in specific, something that wouldn't be appropriate to give out in the living-room where anypony could walk in. "Hey, Scootaloo?" Applebloom asked, the dark of her room hiding her friend from the bed on which she lay. "You up?" "Yea." Came the orange fillies unsure reply. The earth filly softly sat up and looked down on the floot, seeing the spare matress and blanked lump there in. "Ah know ya don't like ta talk 'bout 'em, but what are yer folks like?" Scootaloo sighed. "I toldja already, I don't wanna talk about them." "Ah know, Ah jest said tha-" "So why are you bringing it up?" Scootaloo was short tempered when the subject of her parents came, always was, but still Applebloom was her friend, and friends tried to help each other when one of them had a problem. Even if that pony they tried to help was a stubborn mule, her behavior concerned Applebloom a lot. "Ah'm bringin' it up cause ya said ya'd go home, but ya didn't. How long was ya in the woods fer anyhow." The filly hissed, loosing her own patience. Scootaloo just groaned and told her friend to drop the subject and go to sleep. Applebloom wasn't having it though, not this time. She'd set aside the question for two nights now and let her friend's irritation dissuade her for the last two, but that was done. "Ugh, look, I told you, they're never around, okay? So can we just drop it?" "Nu-uh. There's gotta be somethin' else. If'n ya parents weren't around, why'd ya run out ta the woods to be alone 'steada stayin' home to be alone?" No reply. Applebloom hated when she did this. The filly could argue all she wanted, but if she ever pushed too hard, Scoots would simply refuse to speak to her. Of course, come morning, Scootaloo would wake up and act cheerful enough, as if the conversation had never taken place, but Applebloom knew it was an act. An act she was getting plum sick of. Though she didn't want to do anything just yet. Scootaloo was a pony she cared about as a friend, and as reclusive as she may be now, at least she was eating well again. Sweetie Bell had tried to interrogate her on multiple occasions as to why the orange filly had become so thin and irritated. Applebloom, dropped bits and pieces of what she could, but the promise she'd made to keep Scoots secret kept her from revealing much. That, in and of itself, cause a little bit of tension between the two fillies. Sweetie wanted to help out just as much as Applebloom did, but with as vague and unwilling to explain as the farm filly was, the lilac maned unicorn took it as a sign of mistrust from both her friends. Applebloom tried to convince the unicorn that such a thing wasn't the case, but Sweetie was convinced of it. Their three's friendship was being torn apart because of Scootaloo's selfishness. And as much as Applebloom wanted to get out of bed, crawl over to her and smack the pegasus silly, she knew it was a bad idea. Scootaloo had already demonstrated the ability to survive away from adults, away from civilization. The pegasus filly knew that Applebloom knew where her little hide out was, and if Scootaloo decided to run away because of her preassuring, who know where she'd end up this time? Reluctantly, Applebloom sighed and turned away from her friend. "Good nigh' Scootaloo." "Good night." Celestia paced around her throne room furiously, the guard had been dismissed for a time so she and her sister could speak in private. Luna had come forth and told her everything. About Macintosh's infiltration and his plan to disband the protesters in a more peaceful fashion in hopes of maintaining the crown's public image. The solar alicorn was furious, she'd specifically said to leave the protestors alone and wait out their will. And now there were multiple injured guards, jails were almost full, and tax money would need to be wasted processing a problem that would have sorted itself out if only Luna had stuck to the plan. "It wasn't my plan, sister." Luna countered. Celestia rolled her eyes. "Yes, it was the plan of Big Macintosh, a stallion you just so happened to have relations with." Luna scoffed indignantly. "That had nothing to do with it! You heard Sinbad when he was in your very chamber! Begging Macintosh and Uppity to disrupt the protesters!" The solar pony flinched and went back to pacing, grumbling about how unnecessary the whole thing was. She also had a few things to say about Sombra's return, but thought better of it. Sombra and Luna had a history that the princess wasn't to keen to revisit. Plus the two had already agreed to speak of the matter tomorrow with the pony present to set up an official plan for his release. Though, that did leave one matter left unattended. A matter Celestia begrudged herself for not taking action against sooner. "You've searched for him through the dream scape, correct?" Celestia asked, freezing in place. "We have." "And you haven't found him?" The lunar pony shook her head. She hadn't, she'd sent every agent she could into the dream scape to find him as soon as her sister told her about what she'd seen in his eyes. Alas, Sin's mind could not be located, despite sending every available dream walker she had to spare. "We believe that it is as the Trotski have said." Celestia's head lowered slightly. All little ponies were hers, like distant sons and daughters she rarely got to see, but she loved each of them. Sin was no different, despite his disposition against her. He still served her wishes, assisting her in matters that required tact, intelligence, and an understanding of necessary violence. She knew that sending him to disrupt the Trotski was dangerous, but he did so anyways, unknown to the both she and he about Luna's infiltrators in the organization. Even when faced with the Discordian Acolytes, he acted in the better interest of the country. Yea, Shining Armor accompanied him, but the pegasus seemed ready to go of his own accord anyway, without having to be asked or ordered. Fighting Chrysalis, the episode with Spike in Ponyville, the initial communist gatherings, he'd been an asset to the throne throughout all of these things. What was worse was that it was her own fault he was dead, Sin had warned her that they'd use his imprisonment against the government, she knew they would, but how could she foresee them killing him? How could she have failed t o protect her own so terribly? She felt her sister walk up beside her and place a comforting wing upon her back. "It's for the best, sister." Luna said, trying to offer support. "If what you say is true, than he is better off. You've seen the terrible power the Nightmare holds, how it can twist the mind and drive it's host to madness. I believe his death was an act of unintentional kindness." "Still..." Celestia whispered, leaning on her sister for support. "This is not how I wanted things to end for him. We shouldn't treat our allies as disposable objects to be used and discarded upon convenience..." Sighing to regain herself, Celestia stood from her sister and announced her retirement for the evening. Luna bid her sister good night and took her place on the throne. Luna, for her part, wasn't all too sad to see Sin go. He was the last thing in Equestria that bound her to Malich's will. Without the threat of the pony revealing their association, Luna was in the clear. Shade was no longer a problem, his mind was an untameable mess of madness and ruin, one she couldn't heal via dream walking, but with his current calm, she was able to undo the knowledge of her involvement with the Triple M. corporation. Though, with his new title as the hero of Canterlot, arresting him for their little scuffle back in Ponyville would be a grave mistake. The guard would never forgive her, and she did appreciate his service. She sat in silent contemplation, pondering about this and that before the doors to the throne room opened, revealing Captain Shining armor bringing in her nighttime guard change. "Good evening, Captain." Luna greeted. "Princess." Shining bowed. "Cadance is enrout back to the Crystal Empire to oversee the ponies and reestablish the matrix. I've sent a few of our own to see if we can harness it's power and explore alternative uses for it." Luna smiled, thanking Shining for his service, though the pony looked troubled by something. "Is there something else, Captain?" Shining took a breath and nodded. "I'm placing a request for a squad of scout pegasi to be taken off official duty." Luna tilted her head, wondering why on earth he'd ask for such a thing. The captain looked up at her, his eyes hard and unwavering. "To find Valiar."