//------------------------------//
// Tensions 
// Story: Earning Freedom 
// by Daxisle 
//------------------------------//

    






Tensions







Nodding off while walking wasn't something Spike thought possible. There was movement, the heart was beating faster, his mind had to work to coordinate his steps, one would think that falling asleep while doing it was all but absurd.

However, after spending the past few days playing sentinel to the warehouse district of Ponyville, and having that sickly feeling of falling out of no where hit him for the third time, he'd come to discover that reason and logic could go to the crows.

His eyes drooped again as he was walking to... somewhere to do... something?

Oh crap, what was I doing again?

'Taking a nap would be a good start.' His inner voice replied, giving a yawn of it's own. Which made absolutely no sense, considering it didn't have lungs.

Oh yea, a nap, a nap sounded good, but there was some reason he hadn't taken one during the day for so long. Something to the effect of some kind of tension in the town over... Oh for pete's sake, this was getting ridiculous.

'Dude, take a nap. You've been up for three days straight!' The voice scolded, but Spike had a deep knit feeling that he couldn't do that. There was something happening in town, something that had prompted him to disregard sleep. Something that had brought him to the... market district? Where the markets intersected with the town's park.

Through a bleary eye, the drake looked around and rubbed at his sole remaining orb. He looked around and took stock of the town to try to orient his thoughts. Immediately he saw that the usual, chipper atmosphere of the place was absent. The smiling and inviting faces of both and stall holders were strained and forced, the musicians who usually played in the park were far fewer than usual. Spike recognized one to be Lyra Heartstrings, her usual melody of deeper joy and minor sadness was flipped in favor of the depressions her instrument could offer, the sadness contrasting heavily to the untroubled and clear sky above.

The drake's stomach rumbled, pushing through the drowsiness to bring to mind of how hungry he was. 

Looking around, Spike felt himself smile as his eyes landed on Sugar Cube Corner. That's what he needed, a good, old fashioned, sugar rush.

He walked into the ginger bread like establishment and smiled at the returned life of the place. Sock and Mask had made good on their withdrawl of Colgate's regulations that barred underage ponies from purchasing sugary goods, and the small business was showing the benefit. 

As much as Spike didn't like them, at least they'd accomplished that.

"Morning Spike." Greeted Mrs. Cake from the counter. "Hope you're having a good Saturday."

Spike covered his mouth in a failed attempt to stiffle a yawn.

The blue earth mare chuckled. "Looks like you could use some energy, dear. What would you like?"

The drake looked at the display case and picked out a few cookies and piece of cake. Once his treats were collected, and the fare paid, the dragon was thanked for his patronage and was handed something he didn't expect.

A pamphlet, a pamphlet that served two purposes. One as a order menue for Sugar Cube Corner's budding delivery service as well as it's promotion for the lower glucose products. Spike took a seat at an empty table and opened the thing up for something to read while he ate.

He didn't like what he saw there in, but the drake would be lying if he said he wouldn't have expected it. The sugar free menu was full fruits and fruit salads, still holding sweetness in regard, but playing towards the healthy side to work around the regulations. The downside? The things were priced beyond reason! A one pony sized salad was priced almost as much as a four pony shared cake! 

Spike understood though, he'd talked with Macintosh about it when the Cakes had put in larger orders to the Apple farm for more fruit, which put more strain on the farm's production. The apples that Sweet Apple Acres produced already had places to be, mainly in Canterlot, Vanhoover, and a few of the smaller surrounding towns. 

While apples weren't as in demand as apple cider was, the orders in town jumped higher with the sugar ban. Apple's still had a quality of sweetness to them, and that put a strain on the apple stockpile that the earth pony farm had withheld for the soon to come apple cider season. Macintosh and Applejack always tried to keep their prices reasonable, but the fact of the matter was that if they'd maintained sales at the usual rate, they'd take a net loss come cider season. 

To keep up with this loss, the fruit sold had to be sold at a higher price, and the consumer passed prices of the fruit salads were showing the concept of supply and demand quite well.

'Good thing Sin taught you that, otherwise you'd have no idea why the prices were so high.'

True. The idea of scarcicty wasn't taken into account when the simplified version of supply and demand was observed. Most just thought "the higher the supply, the less the cost" and "the lower the supply, the higher the cost", which would, if the lack of anything not baked on the tables around, suggest that the prices would drop on the salads. However, that wasn't the case.

Spike looked around more closely and found that the only salad in site was on the plate of a rather irritated looking mother, watching her foals eat their less expensive sugary treats.

The demand was low for the salad, yet the prices were extremely high. The unspoken scarcity tax.

'Think they'll keep it on the menu long?'

Now that, Spike wasn't sure. It wouldn't make much sense, since this was a bakery and all, but he could see it catching on if there was demand enough for it. Everypony knew that the foods the establishment put forth weren't all that healthy, but ponies also valued convenience and professional creations. Adults also lost their sweet tooth in time, and to give them an option, as well as the younger ones, Spike could see the fruits working out. If marketed and campaigned properly, of course.

Spike tossed a cookie in the air, opened his mouth and chomped down as soon as it hit his tongue and frowned.

It wasn't his usual way of thinking, he realized. Sin, Macintosh and himself had discussed economics a few times on their travels. This was back before Spike had really gotten to know the red pony, and was flabbergasted to learn how knowledgeable Mac was about the concepts. He never talked, ever. Nothing but the occasional "Eyup" and "Nope".

To hear him answer Sin's questions about the economic side of running an apple farm? Sweet Celestia, the pony could go on for hours and hours! Which Spike didn't mind, of course. Apparently, he had handled all the money there. Purchasing all the fertilizer, the rejuvinizer, the taxes and sales prices. Apple farming was his life, so it made sense he knew almost every aspect of it.

'Dragon maturity is doing well for you.' His inner voice reasoned. 'Mind's becoming more analytical, like Brute said.'

Spike frowned and nodded, he was glad for that. Things in life were no where near as simple as most liked to think. Spike was young, and it felt good to know that he knew more than his peers in an immature and self gratifying kind of way. It wasn't a superiority complex, or he didn't think, but just a bit of due pride.

"Hey Spike." Greeted a raspy voice.

Spike turned and found a plate weilding Rainbow Dash behind him. She wasn't hovering in the air anymore, but standing behind him, both of her hind legs in casts.

"Hey Dash." Spike said, smiling tiredly. "How're your legs doing? C'mon, have a seat."

Rainbow set down her plate and slowly walked to the the chair opposite Spike, her hind legs not bending, he noted.

"Ugh, doctor said I'll be wearing these stupid things for another two months." She bemoaned, settling into her chair, carefully. "Said I shouldn't be walking on them too much, but you know me. I'll take what I can get. You alright? You're eye is bloodshot." The speedster commented.

Spike nodded and dismissed her concern, saying he hadn't slept well last night.

"Anyway, what's going on?" Spike asked, flipping another cookie into his mouth.

Rainbow looked around conspiratorially for a moment and asked. "Hey, um, okay so you're smart and stuff, right? Have you been... I mean, what those ponies said at that stupid "seminar" a week ago, you don't think that's actually true, is it?"

Spike groaned and placed the thumb and forefinger of his claw on the bridge of his nose. "Why?"

Rainbow mentioned something that Spike hadn't not noticed, but just didn't pay any mind to. He looked around the establishment of Sugar Cube Corner and observed how... segregated the ponies were being today. Oh, it wasn't full on tribalistic separation, but there were a lot more unicorns keeping with unicorns, same with pegasi and earth ponies. Also, aside from the colts, there were no males present in the establishment. 

Aside from Mr. Cake and Spike himself, of course.

Spike's eyebrows shot up when he saw a pair of ponies sitting apart that he knew held association. Sparkler, the town's former organization specialist, and Berry Punch, a mare who made excellent fruit punch by day, and was a suspected distiller by night. He knew, for a Celestia begotten fact, that both of them were in closer circles with Derpy Hooves, the town's mailmare, yet both were sitting with their own kind today.

Well, that wasn't good. Had Mask and Sock made more of an impact than he'd anticipated they would?

'Or the pony Sparkler is sitting with is, Ballad. A well known associate of Sparkler. And Berry Punch might just be having a business outing, judging by the papers and folders in front of her.'

Spike rubbed his eye and took a closer look. Sure enough, the lilac coated, straw maned pony Sparkler sat with was, infact, Ballad. Berry also had papers in front of her, showing them to her associate, the firm and confident smile of a business dealer on her face.

The logical side of his maturity may have been a good thing, but the cynicism was certainly something he needed to keep in check.

Just because the ponies appeared to be more segregated, didn't mean it was because of their likened tribes that they were hanging out together. There were still plenty of intermingled groupings, like the unicorn Fly Wishes was sitting with the pegasi sisters, Cloud Chaser and Flitter. Or Carrot Top and Blossomforth. And, of course, the school foals intermingled. Maybe not by sex, but that was to be expected, really.

Spike voiced the logical aspects, mentioning how it appeared the ponies were tribalized, but he didn't think it was due to anything the seminar had done.

"Yea, well..." Rainbow said, grimacing in thought. "Okay, maybe not here, but haven't you noticed around town? Ponies aren't talking to eachother as much anymore."

Spike quirked a brow. He wasn't sure if he bought that, or if Rainbow's paranoia in this building was just being projected outside. Honestly speaking, the flyer had a tendency to blow things out of proportion, kinda like Twilight did. Though, her neroticism was only triggered by the withdrawal of attention from her awesomeness, while the former's was triggered by distress.

"How do you mean?" The drake asked, keeping his mind open. 

"Okay, so, like, the earth pony stallions, right? They don't talk to anypony anymore. They talk to other stallions, but are starting to avoid talking to mares. I saw Carmel walking yesterday and decided to say hi, and the guy completely brushed me off. I said hi and, you know, tried to be friendly and ask how he was, right? And he said hi, and just kept walking!"

Spike looked at the mare for a moment, waiting for her to continue on. Though, it appeared that was where the story ended. 

"Well, have you, you know... talked to him before?" Spike asked awkwardly.

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to answer but then slowly closed it, donning a thoughtful expression.

Spike already knew she didn't. The orange earth pony and she had little interaction prior to this event taking place, as far as he knew. Surely she didn't find it so surprising that Carmel would be less than receptive to what was, for all intents and purposes, a random encounter.

"Okay, fine. I didn't talk to him before, but he didn't need to keep walking and acting like I was annoying him, though." Rainbow countered.

Now that, Spike could agree with. That might have been influenced slightly by the seminar. Still, it was anecdotal evidence at best, one unfortunately standoffish encounter was hardly indicative to a town wide problem.

The door to the establishment opened, and Pinkie entered, pulling a thoughtful looking Blade behind her. "Don't worry Bladey, all you need is some sugar in your tummy and you'll be right as rain. Oh! Look! It's Spike!" The pink mare declared.

The green earth pony looked up from his thoughts and gave Spike a light nod of the head, a gesture Spike returned. Blade was lead to the table and sat down by his... fillyfriend? Good acquaintance? Spike wasn't sure if the two were an item or not.

'Hehe, item? Don't you mean their going steady, dude?' His inner voice snarked.

"There. Just stay here, and I'll get you your favorite! Don't move!" Pinking said, giving the pony a quick peck on the cheek and disappearing behind the counter.

Well that... cleared it up?

The table was quiet for a moment, with Rainbow's skeptical look giving a slow to raise tension. Blade didn't say anything, he just sat in his place, eyes fixed firmly on the table below him.

"Careful Blade," the dragon commented, trying to lighten the mood. "Keep that face, and Pinkie will start throwing parties for you every other day."

Sad thing was that wasn't an improbably threat.

"Huh." Blade grunted. He nodded in comprehension, but the deep concentration spoke to his distracted dismissal. Rainbow cast a look to Spike and gestured to the pony with a hoof, as if her concerned had finally been vindicated. 

While the stallion's behavior was off from his typical sarcasm and feigned arrogance, Spike didn't see it as the begining of a town wide split between earth stallions and everypony else. Besides, anypony who was... romantically involved? With Pinkie Pie would likely be much more subdued and emotionally drained. 

Excusing herself to other obligations, Rainbow bid farewell to Spike and Blade before flapping her wings and making way out of Sugar Cube Corner. It was just as well, Spike suspected the following conversation would be better done in private.

"So, everything alright, buddy?" The drake asked.

Blade looked to where Rainbow was sitting and nodded. "Yea, fine, just thinking is all."

"Thinking about?" Spike asked.

Blade shrugged. "I guess I'm just thinking if stallions really are oppressed or not."

Spike pressed his lips and restrained a frustrated sigh. Of course, most of the guys down at the mill were earth stallions. Though, they weren't really the types to consider this kind of thing, especially Blade, the borderline mysoginistic bastard he was.

"How so?" 

Blade pressed his lips. "Well, I mean, like how nervous I was to ask Pinkie to be my date to the wedding or even approach her."

Again, Spike had to restrain himself from expressing his frustration. Really? He was considering approaching a mare and facing potential rejection to be "oppressive"? Seriously?

"I didn't say that was oppressive, just an expectation on stallions I've noticed. And it's not just that, dude." Blade said, seeing Spike's flat stare. "Stallions have to work, all the time. Eight hours a day at least to support themselves and their families. Mares have a choice not to work, if the stallion can support her. Stallions don't have the choice one way or the other. I mean, doesn't that sound pretty privileged to you?"

Now that, Spike didn't have an answer for. Yea, that did appear rather privileged, but that didn't mean it oppressed stallions... Well, he supposed it did come at the stallion's expense in the relationship. "Well, that's what stallions were supposed to do, husbands were supposed to be providers and protectors to mares and foals."

Blade nodded pensively. "That's what Fiona said. But why? I mean, if a mare's capable of working herself, than why should it be acceptable or even expected that a stallion should support her and her not have to carry her own financial weight? And as far as protection goes, you know the greatest defenders of the empire are all mares, same with the rulers. Soo..."

Again, Spike found he couldn't give an answer. Twilight and the Elements of Harmony had been evoked to save the realm more than once. The rulers being a diarchy between a pair of royal pony sisters.

"Not to mention," Blade continued, "all of the royal guard ponies are stallions, I haven't seen one female guard. Ever. I used to have a friend in the guard, a few years ago before I came here from Shady Hallows. Nice guy, but everypony just took him for granted. Like he was just supposed to protect them and receive no thanks for what he did."

"Well, that is kinda what the guard is supposed to do." Spike said simply.

Blade's eyes shot to the drake, a dangerous frown upon his muzzle. "He died there." Blade said quietly. "Feral lurkers."

Spike opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. Spike had read up on lurkers before, nasty and savage lizards who became more vicious the larger their prey or threat was, most as long as a pony, but substantially shorter. They usually didn't bother anything bigger than themselves, but it wasn't unheard of for lone lurkers to wonder into settlements. 

The large lizards were nothing to treat lightly, even alone. The book he'd read about them likened their brutal efficiency in killing up with timberwolves. The poor stallion's death must have been pretty gruesome and brutal.

Still, that's what the guard did, they risked themselves to protect others. That was, quite literally, their job.

"Sorry, to hear that." Spike settled.

Blade's eyes went back to the table. "Sorry... that's all that can be said for it, isn't it?" He mused darkly. "Sorry doesn't bring him back, he's still dead. Dead because he was expected to die to protect others, because that's what guard stallions do, isn't it?"

The drake's brow furrowed at the dark turn this was taking. Well... no... stallions weren't supposed to die to protect others, it would be better if nopony died at all, but if ponies are in trouble...

Spike eyed his friend warily. Where was all of this coming from? Ax, Spike could see this kind of talk from, but Blade? The stallion wasn't a deep thinker like this, not on this kind of dark stuff. It's not like guards dying is a common occurrence, right?

"You'd be surprised." Blade answered when Spike voiced his question. "Heard at least twenty guards are killed a year in Equestria. Each on of them stallions."

Again, stallions in the guard, but that did leave an opening. "Where did you hear that?"

The answer made Spike's claw clench. Mask was the one who'd told him, she'd also asked him if he thought it was worth it, pressuring the idea that most guards weren't honored long nor remembered for their sacrifices. That only a few passing words were given at a funeral service, a plot in the ground, and two weeks of gossip. Wives would move onto new stallions, children to step-parents, and they'd soon be forgotten as time moved onward.

Was it worth ones own life to protect others when it meant so little to them? When the consequences ultimately made it meaningless to the one who died? Oh yea, sure, the stallion would be called a "hero", but what was a hero? And what was such a title to a dead pony? If one critically analyzed it, the word "servant" would come up. A servant of greater accomplishment and prestige. A tool to be utilized and then discarded when the challenge proved too great.

Spike took the diatribe with growing contempt. 

This was wrong, this wasn't how he was supposed to think of any of this! Hero's were loved and revered by those they protected! Okay, fine, they were servants. Fine, fact was a fact. Twilight and her friends were, technically, serving the empire whenever they answered the call of her defense.

"Okay, hero's are servants." Spike acquiesced. "But to say that they go unappreciated isn't fair."

"Your mom and her friends have saved Equestria and liberated the Crystal Empire." Blade said solumnly before looking the dragon square in the eye. "What did they get as a reward for the risks they took?"

Spike smiled and opened his mouth, right up until his mind drew a blank. 

After taking on Nightmare Moon, Discord and assisting in the liberation of the Crystal Empire, what had they been given as a reward? 

"Um, well how about the fact we aren't living in permanent night." Spike answered.

Blade shook his head. "A selfish interest to them just as much as to the others, the desire to live. I'm talking about repayment? Where is their appreciation from everypony else?"

Spike saw the answer immediately, but took a few seconds to calm his frustrated thoughts. "They didn't do it for appreciation, Blade. They did it because it was the right thing to do, and Twilight and them knew that if they didn't, nopony else would or even could."

Blade's eyes trailed to the drake again, his gaze softening to accepting skepticism. It wasn't the look of acquiescence to another's argument, it was the look of disagreeing, but not knowing how to articulate the disagreement.

"I guess." The stallion shrugged, obviously not convinced.

The stallion's attitude bothered Spike greatly. With what he was doing at night lately, it didn't warrant any thanks, nor any material reward. Hay, alot of crap he put up with in life, especially when he lived with Twilight -Which he was not doing anymore- how much thanks did he get besides the occasional passing word? Late nights staying up with her because she needed a research partner, tolerating her treating him like a working child, left to do the heavy labor of cooking and cleaning.

'And those expectations bothered you to the point you were willing to leave town with a stallion you barely knew.' His inner voice pointed out. 'Same with Macintosh, if memory serves.'

Spike's brows furrowed. That was different.

'How so?'

Well, first of all: Lives weren't at stake in terms of me fulfilling my responsibilities.

'We both know that's not true. Since you're so closely linked to Twilight and her friends, who have saved the world twice now, including all the lives there in, I believe it fair to say that your works with them did help save quite a few lives. Your research within the Crystal Fair being the most prominent example.'

Yea? Well, that was a one time thing. Besides, it happened after I left, remember?

'True, but a minor and irrelevant detail, Spike.' The voice said before taking an edge. 'The reasons you left weren't all that different from the issues that Blade is talking about now. A lack of meaningful appreciation for hard born expectations. The major difference, if anything, is that you did abandon those responsibilities instead of just questioning them like he is. So I'd be cautious about casting stones from this glass house of yours.'

"Here you go! Sorry it took so long." Pinkie declared, popping up with a plate of freshly prepared caramel bites, breaking the dragon's inner debate.

Blade gave the mare a small and word of thanks before popping one of the treats into his mouth. Pinkie offered one to Spike and the three spent some time on more light hearted conversations. 

While Pinkie rambled about some party she had planned for somepony or another, Spike's mind was occupied with quiet rationalization.    The more he thought, the more angry he became. He didn't want to admit it, but then again, fact was fact. He had abandoned his responsibilities to Twilight and them... but how he was being treated felt unfair. He felt like they were taking advantage of him back then, he felt limited and bossed around. Told to clean up messes he didn't make, to do hours upon hours of research for topics that didn't interest him in the least, to do the dishes and... other mundane things that really couldn't hold a candle to the self sacrifices of ones own life.

What right did he have to criticize Blade's second guessing of such a thing? What right did he even have to criticize Mask? As sick as it made Spike to admit, he'd be a complete hypocrite to condemn her for what she was saying. 

Why was it okay for Spike himself to break away from his responsibilities, but demand others hold to theirs? The protection and preservation of life? Obviously that wasn't a good enough answer, not without setting up a double standard. So either they were all wrong for wanting out of the expectation, or Spike would find himself in the skin crawling position of agreeing with a pony he held in contempt...

Selfish though it may have been, Spike was happy Blade hadn't caught on to his hypocrisy. Consistency can be a real bitch sometimes, and he really needed a nap...