Illegal Heritage

by ZhaoZoharEX

File 04

Author's Note:

This chapter would have been more appropriate if it were posted around Christmas but oh well.

The next morning (Sunday, 9:01 AM)...

Pandora had woken up early that morning and came into her office. After removing unnecessary paperwork off her desk and organizing her “In” pile, she prepared a meeting with a member of the Equestrian royalty. After ten minutes of filling out reports, a knock at the office door notified her of their arrival.

“Come in,” she said without looking up.

A tall white unicorn stallion walked in, shutting the door behind him.

“You wanted to see me, ma’am?”

At this point, the mare stopped her scribbling and made eye contact.

“Well, well, well! If it isn’t our brilliant prince.”

The prince grinned proudly. "Heh, I wouldn't say brilliant."

Pandora’s face went from a smile to a scowl in less than a nanosecond.

"Neither would I.”

The prince gasped before biting his lip. He knew from that simple comment that she was NOT happy.

“Tell me something, prince,” the mare began nonchalantly, “What made you think it was a good idea to act the way you did at the other night's gala?"

"Ex… cuse me?"

"Let me reiterate. Your attitude at the gala was.... how to put this? Atrocious? Yeah that works."

"I... did nothing wrong."

"Oh really?! Very well then, enlighten me on your vast knowledge on proper royal etiquette of which is obviously superior to mine. Oh and while you’re at it, can you explain to me why you did not apply this during your evening with the Element of Generosity?"

"...."

"I asked you a question."

"I.... She wasn't even a noble."

"Oh and I suppose that makes it okay to use a national hero as a shield from a flying cake. I hope you are going to mend that mistake the next time you see her then? After what she has done for the nation-"

"Look, all I di-"

"HOLD YOUR TONGUE, PARASITE! Lest I rip it from your very jaw! Say something!"

"I-"

"Shut up!"

The prince found himself reeling from pain as Pandora backhoofed his face. Hard.

“OW! Y-you can't do that to a prince! It's so uncouth."

"Noooo, uncouth is when you fart in a bathtub. You’re a prince in name only. All you do is lounge around, drinking up in the wealth and fame- and I use that term loosely- while others do your work for you. You are the epitome of useless as far as I’m concerned, as is the case with all of the other royals in this forsaken city. You are GOING to be punished and NOPONY is going to care!” She was raising her voice gradually. “But you are right in a way. What does it mean when I have to resort to physical violence to keep my subordinates in line? Then again, WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN I HAVE TO CLEAN UP THAT SAME SUBORDINATE’S MESS?”

"I.... I didn't mean...." The prince was visibly intimidated at this point.

Taking notice of this, Pandora let out a drawn out sigh. “Tell you what. I will go easy on you this time since this is your first real offense. I expect you to help pay for the damage from the Gala out of your own pocket; not like you’re doing anything useful with it anyway. And you will be required to apologize to that mare you disrespected the next time you see her. I am putting you under probation for sixty days to monitor your actions. During that time, I EXPECT you to contribute to society; maybe you can fund an orphanage or something, I dunno. The punishment for your second offense will be more severe as you will spend another 60 days in solitary confinement, only being allowed to bathe and eat once a week. And should you fail to live up to my exceptions a third time...."

"A third time?"

"Well, you are so proud of your royal blood, right? Do you see that white wall over there?"

"Ye-yes?"

"Well, should you fail me again, your 'royal blood' will be all over that wall. I could use some new point for it, maybe you’ll live up to your namesake. And I will personally see to it that your organs, and... well, just about everything will be put to better use in donation banks. The hospitals I know could use them better than you. Do you understand?"

"Yes...."

"Speak up!"

"Yes!"

"Yes I....?"

"Yes I completely understand and promise to act better!"

"Good. Oh, and the next time you see your aunt, tell her I need to talk to her about the damages, among other things. Now then, make yourself scarce. I have an appointment in about twenty minutes to talk to my children. I don’t get to see them much anymore nowadays.”

“Y-y-yes ma’am.”

“Oh and before you go, Blueblood?”

“Y-yes?”

“Remember: Many eyes, many ears...”

“And many arms, yes. Good for silencing those who say too much. You won’t have to worry about a thing…”

“For your sake, you better be right.”

---

A few months later…

---

AUDIO SURVEILLANCE, [NAME CLASSIFIED] FILE 04 (THURSDAY, 4:17 PM)

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***

I want to start off by apologising in advance for any rude attitude or any curses that may slip during this interview. You kind of caught me in a bad mood today and I highly doubt you’ll see me giving a fuck otherwise. And I’m not exactly at my most sober right now.

“We could do this some other time if you want to. I have no problem putting this off.”

Nah, we’re here right now, so we might as well. I think this will help blow off some steam. I have had to deal with all kinds of crap during the Hearths Warming season and the months leading up to it, which is why it took a long time to set this meeting up. Gaaaaah! I hate the holidays. I really hate them. A stupid and incompetent worker got me pretty agitated this morning and it’s been going downhill ever since. I wish I’da just stayed in bed. At least there, I have a pony who I like.

“I see.”

As much as I love it here in Canterlot, I swear, the ponies here are insane around this time. It’s always “Hearth’s Warming Eve” this and “Hearth’s Warming Eve” that, presents, gingerbread, yada yada yada. UGH! I get it! And then we have to set up for the pageant. It’s times like these I enjoy the wine at our gatherings a little too much. My husband isn’t a fan of alcohol though. Anyway, what’s on today’s agenda? What do you have in mind to talk about? I just want to get this day over with and go home. My family is holding a gathering in a few days. I’m finally able to see my children since the Gala and my in-laws are dropping by as well. My husband’s parents and brother are ponies I don’t get to see often.

“How about we talk about your family then? Your family is practically legendary across Equestria. Your status says a lot. Considering you were a loner in your youth with no immediate family to speak of, how did you connect to your husband after you met him?”

Ah yes. I owe good old [NAME CLASSIFIED] a great deal of gratitude for everything he did for me. I love that stallion…. Well, where should I begin?

---

Each year, we hold gatherings about a week before the usual holiday parties; sort of a way of celebrating the Order’s founding along with the nation’s. It was at one of these gatherings where I truly met my husband again.

After Mentor died, I kind of barricaded myself from most forms of social contact, only coming out of it to eat, spar, and continue school. Needless to say, my friends caught on to this. Aperture was supportive all the way, but she always wanted me to reach out. She was starting a relationship herself with Spotlight who she got to know better after meeting him prior to the Gala. I kept to myself most of the time because I wanted her to be able to focus on said relationship. I was happy for her, yes, but I began to feel kind of empty whenever I saw how lovey dovey they always were.

Well, about four months had gone past since Mentor’s passing. I was in the last year of my high school studies and would be graduating soon. I made it quite clear though that I didn’t want to walk during the ceremony. I didn’t want the publicity and I certainly didn’t want the praise from my classmates or teachers. I know some would be disappointed from not seeing me there, but I didn’t fucking care. But then I started to rethink that when I went to a party.

One week before Hearth’s Warming Eve, I got a visit in the late evening from another pony who would become a close friend of mine. We will call her Serenade here, but I have a feeling you will be familiar with whom I’m talking about.

“Pandora, honey!” she said with such a friendly attitude.

“Hi Serenade. To what do I owe the visit?”

“Darling, our clan is holding this year’s celebration at the Cardinal House manor and the Head Mistress would just LOVE for you to show again this year. She just adores you, honey.”

I didn’t really want to go, so I tried to think up an excuse. Even though I was invited by the Head Mistress, I just didn’t feel like socializing. But Serenade has this way of making you smile no matter how hard you try not to. You could be a brick wall and you’d smile at her friendliness. I tried though, no matter how futile it would be, not to go.

“Uh, Sera? I just don’t think I can show up. I have a lot of studying I need to do for exams and-”

“Pandora dear, I know it’s been hard for you since your mentor died, but you can’t just become a recluse for your entire life. One of these days, you’re gonna want to find something or someone to fill that void. If you just stay inside all day, you won’t find it.”

I frowned at that. “I know, I know. But I just don’t feel like doing that. I don’t even like talking during lunch time, let alone going to a party.”

“I understand your situation better than you think.” She placed a hoof to my shoulder. “I lost my mother recently and it’s been very hard. But I had some great friends who helped me move on, you being one of them. That’s why I want to help you with your loss. I know this gathering isn’t your thing, but please give it a chance. You might just find something that will lift your spirits.”

I knew she was right but I still had this lingering doubt in the back of my mind. I sighed and simply accepted, not really wanting to linger further. She was an excellent singer and her voice had a way of cheering you up when you were at your lowest. I heard she was singing at the party so I figured I would go, if not to socialize then to at least be there for her performance. She gave me a warm hug, something she did a lot to other ponies but especially her friends, and left.

“What did you do next?”

I went to find a proper dress. This kind of gathering is semi-formal and I needed to wear something appropriate. Since I don’t like to go to these events, I didn’t own anything of the sort. I decided to wait for Aperture to come home so she would be able to help me; I knew that when she found out I would be going, she would get excited and help me without a second thought. Unfortunately, she was out for the night with Spotlight. I knew how far their relationship went and after glancing at the clock, I realized that knowing her, she would be sleeping with him at that point. I sighed and decided to take a walk through the city and see if I could maybe talk to my guard pony friend…. Okay, you know what, let’s just call him Mars from now on. The phrase “guard pony friend” is a little cumbersome to say.

I did manage to catch up with him. He had just clocked out for the evening and we went to our usual hang out at the donut shop. We talked a bit and he actually told me he had a fiance. I was surprised because the last time we really had a proper conversation was before I went to the Gala. I was happy for him, but now it felt like everypony I knew was finding love while I was just left in the dust. My mind started to drift to the stallion I met at the Gala. Even though I only talked to him for one moment at the there, I would see him from time to time when I was out and about. Everytime I saw him, he would try to get me to talk and carry a conversation, regardless of whether or not I would actually respond.

The next day, I met with Aperture after she got back from her coltfriend’s home and I told her about what I planned to do. Just as I thought, she was ecstatic. She was a fashion major so it was only natural she would design a dress for me. Heh heh, ooooh my was that a pleasant experience. Please note sarcasm.

“How bad was it?”

It really wasn’t bad per say, but she likes to experiment with different styles, different types of fabric, and so on. I was more annoyed with how much fun she was having using me as a test subject. I was annoyed because she had the audacity to make me laugh, hehe. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having fun with it myself. I’m not one for style as you can probably tell by looking at this simple scarf I’m wearing right now, so it wasn’t something I did very often.

“Did you do it again after that?”

Haha hell no! Well, okay that’s lie. I did it only once more, but that’s for another time. Anyway I’m getting off track here. We eventually settled on a dress that both of us were satisfied with: a rather simple, yet elegant, purple dress with white velvet trim and baby blue accents. On the day of the party, Aperture enlisted the help of Serenade’s sister- who is a stylist and would later be employed through her frequently- to help me with my mane. At the time, my mane was normally unkempt and curly. Not that I’m saying that’s bad, but the girls wanted me to at least look cleaned for the party, or as Aperture put it, “You absolutely MUST look dashing!”.

“Haha.”

Yeah, she’s hammy like that. Well, the result from their work is present in my mane to this very day.

“Really? What made you keep that style?”

My husband thought it looked nice and I decided to keep it. Well, it was time to go to the party. Serenade escorted me; it was her idea, so she felt it was only fair she kept me company. Aperture and Spotlight would meet with me at the party sometime after we arrived. Once there, Serenade and I talked with each other a bit before she was called to sing. For awhile, I pretty much desired to try out the food. Much of it was pretty high class and tasty, but I wanted to wait until I had somepony to enjoy it with. My wish was half granted when I saw Aperture walk in with two stallions; one was her lover Spotlight and the other was [NAME CLASSIFIED], the stallion I knew from the Gala. I was confused because I knew he wasn’t part of the Order, until I remembered that this social gathering wasn’t exclusive to the Order; the way Serenade worded it threw me off. There was an inner circle within the party yes, but I just wondered why him of all ponies showed up here. He walked in my direction as the couple stepped out for awhile and I learned later that Aperture and Spotlight went to talk to the Head Mistress about their engagement. I also realized that Aperture was working with Serenade to hook the two of us up.

With that said, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, just annoying that they had to keep me in the dark about it. But to be fair, I probably wouldn’t have gone if they did tell me. Anyway, I tried to act like I didn’t notice him. This kind of backfired because I lost sight of him in the crowd and I really DIDN’T notice him when he approached me.

“Well hello there, Pandora. I didn’t think I’d see you here,” he said with a smile.

“Um, hi.” I was starting to regret my new mane style because before, I could have just hidden my red face behind my hair. With new style, I couldn’t do that and my blush was on display for all to see. I didn’t know what was wrong with me but every time I saw him, I would always become meek and shy. Well, more shy.

“Are you here by yourself?”

“Kinda. I mean, I came here with a friend and I’m waiting for two more.” I tried not to make eye contact with him. It would have just made things awkward for me. Not that it wasn’t already.

The two of us just kind of stood there watching Serenade’s performance. I don’t think either of us knew what to say right there, or I didn’t at least. After Sera’s first song, he spoke up again.

“So… would you like a drink?”

“Uh sure.”

“Is wine alright with you? If not, I have seen some non-alcoholic cocktails being served as well..”

“No, wine is fine.”

I just want to point out that I was technically old enough to drink wine at that point, but I’ve never had it before in my life. I could have said no and I’m not really sure why I didn’t. The last thing I really needed was an alcoholic beverage. I suppose when you’re infatuated with someone, you just can’t help yourself sometimes. I know that kind of behavior can get a mare into messy situations, but I was lucky enough to get someone nice.

“Here you are milady. I hope this is alright.”

“This would be my first time trying wine actually.” I took a sip. My first impression was… interesting.

“How is it?”

“Oddly satisfying. It’s kind of sweet like a juice. I don’t really get to drink this stuff. I’ve been pretty buried into my studies.”

“Oh? What do you study?”

“Literature. I’m looking to be a writer sometime down the road, preferably in narrative fiction. Though to be honest, most of the books I’ve read at the school’s library are really boring. I get more satisfaction out of reading a textbook.”

“I’m not much of a reader myself. My major is in science and politics. My brother is in the royal guard and my father suggested I try it out for myself. I tried out in the academy for a week.”

“And?”

“It wasn’t for me. I took to pursuing a position in research.”

I kind of giggled there. I don’t know if it was from him or the wine- probably both -but I started feeling pretty relaxed. I was actually having fun and that was something I never thought I’d say at the time. We carried a conversation about ourselves when Serenade started her next song. Jeez, I felt like she picked that particular song on purpose.

“Would you like to dance?” he said offering his hoof.

Without really thinking, I accepted. I was very clumsy with my dancing, but he was a very patient stallion. We shared the dance floor with other couples, but the other dancers either didn’t notice or didn’t care. After the song ended, he accompanied me to the sidelines.

“I guess I’m not much of a dancer huh?”

“Your dancing is lovely, dear.”

“You wouldn’t mind walking with me, would you?”

“I would be honored.”

I was a bit tipsy from the wine, getting enraptured in the moment, and I was getting a headache from the noise of the party. So I figured some fresh air would help. We walked to the gardens outside and sat down in an area free from the snow, watching the stars.

“You know, when I was just a little filly, I used to lay under a clear night like this with Mentor after a hard days work.”

“Mentor?”

“Err, my father pretty much. I called him Mentor because he took the time to teach me many things, even when I didn’t know it at the time. By all accounts he is… or was my father.”

“Was?”

“He uh, passed away a few months ago. Actually about a week after I met you at the Gala.”

“Oooh… I’m sorry that had to happen. I’m sure he was a great stallion.”

“He was. I’m glad I was able to be there for his passing though. He had no regrets in knowing me and I have none with him.” I still had some pent up pain and it was starting to show. “I just miss him.”

Then to my surprise, he wrapped his hoof around me and pulled me close to him. I wanted to say it was because of the cold snow that was floating down, but I knew that wasn’t it.

“I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through right now, but if you ever want to talk about anything, I’m willing to listen.”

“...Why ARE you doing this?”

“Hm?”

“I mean, why me of all mares would you want to talk to? What makes ME so special to you? How do you tolerate me?”

“It’s because I care. I talked to your friend and she told me you were in a lot of emotional pain, but she never specified why. When I first talked to you at the Gala, I could just feel something mysterious about you. The way you kept to yourself most of the time, something just intrigued me. I wanted to see if I could make you happy or at least get you to come out of your shell. I don’t really know why, I just wanted to. But I had no idea how deep that pain went. I’m… I’m so sorry if I seemed insensitive or annoying.”

“Well… I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy you talking to me. I’ve never been one for socializing, so the fact that anypony was willing to talk to me, even though I would never respond, just made me nervous… To tell you the truth though, I uh… always really kinda… you know, liked you.”

“Oh? How so?”

“Are you really gonna make me say it?”

“Heh heh. Relax, I get what you’re saying.”

And like that, any tension that was between us just melted away. It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders as I rested my head against his. It was a feeling of warmth I hadn’t felt since, well, when I young and slept by Mentor’s side while he was working. I felt safe and secure. As much as I was content with it though, I could feel the eyes of my eager friends spying on me from afar. I just rolled my eyes before I trained them on Aperture who giggled as she left us be. I would have to talk to her later, but for now, I was lost in the moment with the gentle floating snow only adding to it. After a good twenty minutes of sharing this intimate moment though, we stood up and started to walk back..

“It’s starting to get a bit cold. What do you say we go back inside and warm up? I’m sure your friends will be looking for you by now.”

“Uh, yeah I suppose you’re right. But um..”

He stopped when he heard my hesitance.

“What is it, Pandora?”

My heart started to race and my face went red at the question I was about to ask.

“Well, I was wonder if… maybe I could possibly um… I don’t know... kiss you? You know, before we go inside.”

He smiled and took my hoof in his, which I took as a “yes”. As he leaned in for my request, I tightly shut my eyes out of embarrassment and puckered my lips. Then I felt it. The warmth of his breath before our lips made contact. I lost myself in this feeling and loosened the tension on my eyelids. I don’t know how long we spent like that, but it was official: we were a couple. He reluctantly pulled back, much to my disappointment.

“How was that?”

“Unbelievable,” I said in a lovestruck daze.

“First kiss, I take it?”

“Mhm.”

“I rather enjoyed it myself. I wouldn’t mind going on more dates like this with you.”

“Well, maybe we can arrange that,” I said with a coy expression.

“I do hope it won’t be that long from now.” he said equally as coy. “Would you by any chance like me to escort you home?”

“If you insist.” I giggled softly. I wasn’t shocked at myself for saying that at this point. It just felt good being with him and I wanted to make it last. For the first time in my life, I could honestly say that I was in love.

---

“You seem quite happy now. And to think you started this an hour ago irritable and grouchy. Err, no offense, Miss Pandora.”

Ah, non taken. Recalling such a happy memory is kind of what I needed. He’s such a good stallion. It’s hard to believe I could find someone so passionate. He really turned my life around and made me feel special. I’ll have to make sure to give him an extra special Hearth’s Warming gift this year. Speaking of which, I better get my paperwork done before I go home and meet with the family, so I’m ending the session here.

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AUDIO RECORDING END (5:11 PM)

---

Thirty minutes later…

“Yeah, come on in.”

“Yo boss!”

“Oh it’s you. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re the last pony I expected to see right now. So what do you want?”

“I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I’d drop this off.”

“Oh wow! Is that what I think it is?”

“Eeyup. The one and only Snake. I found this during my trip down to the Badlands. Just so happen to run into a couple o' blokes who wanted me to give it to em'. So I did… I gave it to em' good alright.”

“You're one to talk, covered in bandages, Raptor. You really need to stop being so violent.”

“Oh hi Kettle! Name’s Pot, have we met?”

“I- Ugh, whatever. I’m in not really in the mood to argue right now. So, how much do I owe you today?”

“Oh, how does five-hundred sound this time?”

“Really? That’s half of your usual price. Why so little this time?”

“I may be a mercenary hired by you to search for these artifacts, willing to kill on a whim if needed, but that don’t mean I’m immune to that classic Hearth’s Warming spirit-”

“You’re working a side gig, aren’t you?”

“Well… yeah. But that don’t mean I haven't the spirit.”

“You are a very strange mare at times. Anyway, here’s your check. Try not to spend it all at once. Happy holidays.”

“To you as well, boss. After all, tis the season.”