//------------------------------//
// Episode 07: The Kindness of Others [9/9] 
// Story: Lost Legacies 
// by AkibaWhite 
//------------------------------//

[Night of Day 31]
Oblivious to the dire events that had taken place in the Everfree Forest earlier that day, the streets of Ponyville came alive once more as night descended, bathed in golden light and scored by the cheers of partygoers.

Twilight Sparkle groaned as she, Spike, and Derpy Hooves made their way back toward the library.  "I cannot believe Captain Soarin expanded the perimeter after we got word of the missing patrol."  Her expression took on an apologetic quality.  "I'm sorry, Derpy.  We should have been the ones to confront that awful thing, not you and Spike."

Derpy smiled back.  "That's okay."  She remembered the sorrowful face of Soarin as he'd picked up the armor of his fallen comrades.  Her smile lessened.  "I just wish we could've saved those knights too."

Twilight bit at her lower lip.  "We all wish that.""

Spike gave her a playful elbow to the shoulder.  "Hey, cheer up!  It is over, after all—we got rid of Screw Loose this time."  He mimicked Iron Will's final straight.  "Wham!  One harmonic fireball right to the kisser!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow as they trotted onward.  "It sure seems that way.  Liner and I took a look at the place where the knights confronted Screw Loose—no tracks leading away and no sulfur.  All that was left were bloodstains, a bunch of broken equipment, and her weird black cloak."  She nodded and offered a tiny smile.  "If you two saw Screw Loose burn up, then that was probably the last we'll see of her."

Derpy shivered.  "I sure hope so."

"Of course, it is a bit disappointing," said Twilight.  "Now that she's gone, we may never really understand what she was up to, or what in the world that 'Phage' monstrosity really was to begin with."  Upon noticing Spike's disapproving stare, Twilight let out a fake chuckle.  "Oh well.  Good riddance to bad rubbish, I guess.  I might just figure something out from those wall writings she left behind, and I know Liner's not leaving until he's got everything pinned down."  Her fake smile turned genuine at the thought.

"Hey," said Spike with a sly grin.  "When did you stop calling him 'Detective?'"

"Huh?" asked Twilight.

Spike made comical gesticulations with his claws.  "All I'm hearing now is 'Liner this' and 'Liner that.'"  He shrugged.  "I guess things get familiar pretty quick when you put two eggheads in a room together."

"Or in the woods," Derpy added helpfully.

Twilight blushed, but otherwise retained her composure.  "You know, Derpy, you're a lot tougher than I thought."

"I am?"

"Yeah," Twilight responded with an incredulous tone.  "You've been a part of two major brawls in less than forty-eight hours and here you are with a smile on your face and a spring in your step.  I guess my friends and I have gotten used to it after bearing the Elements for so long, but what about you?"  She turned about and blocked Derpy's path, the library standing tall behind her.  "Are you sure you don't have prior combat experience?"

Derpy swelled with pride, even as the events of the Dream World raced through her mind.  Twilight's words made her feel, for the very first time, as if the two of them were equals.  As she pondered how to answer the question while keeping her word to the phantom mare, she noticed a distant expression on Spike's face.  The dragon maintained an easy smile, but his eyes reminded Derpy of how he'd looked when Rarity chose not to return his efforts.  It dawned on her all of a sudden that the horseshoe was now on the other hoof.  What kind of pony do I want to be? she asked herself, and—in another historic first—the answer came quickly.  A pony who's not afraid to show gratitude.

"W-why ask me?" Derpy stuttered, pointing a hoof at Spike.  "You should have seen Spike out there—he was so cool!"

Spike's eyes widened for a moment, then he waved a dismissive claw.  "Nah, I was just protecting you like I said I would."

Derpy nodded hard enough to shake her ponytail about.  "He sure did!  He was like a . . . like a . . ."

"Knight in shining armor?" Twilight volunteered.

Derpy clicked her tongue and pointed at Twilight.  "Yeah, that's it!  Although . . ."  She put a hoof to her chin.  "Something's off about that."

"The 'knight' part?" Spike asked in self-abasing sarcasm.  "The 'shining' part?"

Derpy shook her head as her mind perused several stories on the subject.  "No, the other part."

Spike poked at his scales.  "Can't be the 'armor' part.  I've got plenty of that."

Derpy shook her head once more.  "No, the other other part."  Her brain finally locked on to what she was searching for:  the end of those stories.  "The 'reward' part!  Knights always get something in return when they . . ."  The fullness of the realization caused her to gulp audibly.  "Save a princess."

Twilight, sensing a strange atmosphere, coughed nervously.  "Um . . ."

Derpy stared at the bewildered Spike.  She thought about his selfless actions for her sake, even though all she'd ever done was cause him trouble, and her face grew hot.  What are you going to do about it now? she asked herself.

Derpy smiled through a face twitchy with excitement.  "I may not be a princess, but . . ."  Courage is the key, she thought.  Without one moment's hesitation, she stepped forward and pressed her lips to Spike's cheek.

Twilight's mouth fell open.  "Uh . . ."

Derpy put a bit of pressure behind the kiss, just enough to make sure that the young dragon could feel it through his scales, then pulled back to where their noses nearly touched.  She gave her best smile and an unintentional half-lidded gaze.  "Thank you, Spike."

Even Derpy could tell that she'd rendered her friends speechless.  She herself felt like a furnace ready to explode and knew with perfect clarity that she needed a quick exit.  A possibility occurred to her, though one tinged with regret.  She turned toward the shocked unicorn at her side.  "Hey, Twilight?"

"Y~eah?" responded the dumbfounded mare.

Derpy blushed furiously.  "I need to make out—"  She hit herself on the side of the head.  "Make a stop before we get back to the library."

Twilight pointed back over her shoulder.  "We're already there."

Derpy began to twitch.  "Please?  I'll just be ten, maybe fifteen minutes tops."

Twilight attempted a nod of cautious assent, though the motion sent Derpy dashing off toward the marketplace before she even finished it.  She looked to her draconic companion, who seemed ready to float off the ground at any moment.  As she examined his growing smile, her expression soured.  "Do we need to have a talk?"

The question hit Spike like a ton of bricks.  He gave her a blank stare, then frowned darkly.  "No," he grumbled.  The sword on his back felt heavy all of a sudden.  "I heard you the first time."  As they both turned to walk indoors, Spike voiced a question of his own.  "Doesn't it bother you, though?"

"Does what bother me?"

"You know, pretending to be her friend?


~


The familiar jingle that accompanied the opening of the front door sung its merry tune within the lush parlor of Carousel Boutique, followed shortly by an equally recognizable voice that sounded neither truly masculine nor feminine.

"Hi, Rarity!"

Rarity, with her back to the door, finished hanging her latest exercise in fabulosity on the appropriate rack and allowed herself a positively indecent frown.  Why do I even bother with the 'We're Closed' sign?  By the time she turned around to greet her guest, however, Rarity's dainty features showed nothing but a polite smile.  "Why hello there, Miss Hooves.  Now far be it from me to discourage your interest in my latest wares, but you'll have to wait until morning like everypony else."  The smile remained fixed in place as she nodded toward the door.  "Go on, then.  I'm sure Twilight has—"

Derpy interrupted the icy mare by kneeling and lowering her head.

Rarity lifted a single hoof in apprehension.  "Miss Hooves?"

"I'm sorry," Derpy blurted out, still facing the floor.

"W-whatever for?" Rarity asked, though she knew perfectly well.

"I said a lot of mean things to you," Derpy replied.  "I even made it sound like you were going out with Prissypants—or whatever his name is—and I'm really sorry for it.  I wasn't thinking at all back then; I just felt bad for Spike and took it out on you."  She looked up, but averted her gaze.  "I didn't think about your feelings until just a little while ago—about how much it must have hurt for you to tell the truth.  I still don't like the way you did it, but . . ."  One of her eyes met with both of Rarity's.  "I do feel like I understand now.  Telling Spike the truth was actually pretty brave, and I think that makes you a good pony either way."

The profuse apology demolished Rarity's defenses.  She blushed and tried to maintain composure, but her face only partially cooperated.  "Darling, why would this ever occur to you after that awful business in the Everfree Forest?"

Derpy stood up, shuffling her wings as she flashed an awkward smile.  "'Cause Iron Will asked me what kind of pony I want to be, and I don't wanna be a pony who holds grudges."  She blushed a bit herself.  "Actually, I really wanna be your friend too, if that's okay."

Oh good, thought Rarity.  Familiar territory.  She placed a comforting hoof on Derpy's shoulder and offered a demure grin.  "Derpy, you've got nothing but friends in Ponyville.  Haven't you realized that by now?"  The pegasus mare's brilliant smile shamed Rarity a bit, and she almost regretted using the canned line.  Still, 'twould just rot in the pantry if I never used it.  She gave Derpy a good-natured push, making sure to keep her tone as reassuring as possible.  "Now run along home, dear.  I wouldn't dare keep you from one of Spike's home-cooked meals."

"Okay, Rarity," Derpy replied.  She backed away toward the door, bumped into it, blushed, then reached for the door handle.  "So I'll see you soon?"

Rarity waved goodbye, though her eyes were on the clock above the door.  "Yes of course, darling."  She breathed a sigh of relief as Derpy slid out the open entryway only to nearly jump out of her skin when the pegasus mare's head popped back in.

"We're really okay?" Derpy asked in a plaintive voice.

Rarity waved goodbye more emphatically this time.  "Yes, we're right as rain, dear.  Go on now, shoo."

Derpy gave her one last sugary-sweet smile before departing at last, and Rarity found herself playing host to a confounding mixture of emotions.  The fashionista pondered it for a moment, wondering whether to side with her annoyance at having to deal with the bothersome pegasus off-schedule or to give in to the heartwarming appeal of a well-orchestrated apology when the door opened once more.  This time, it was not Derpy Hooves.

"Fancypants!" Rarity exclaimed.  Her eyes roved to the clock, then returned to the unicorn stallion at her doorstep.  "You're late."

"Quite so," responded Fancypants as he brought himself fully indoors and brushed at his dinner jacket.  "Thanks in no small part to a giddy wall-eyed pegasus mare charging forth from your very abode."  He raised an eyebrow and displayed a debonair grin beneath his well-groomed mustache.  "Somepony I should be familiar with, love?"

Rarity sighed, masking her anticipation with practiced ease.  "Not unless you enjoy headaches, darling."

"Hmm," mused Fancypants as he strode up beside her.  "Not my particular cup of tea."  His horn shone with a golden aura.  "I'm more partial to pleasant sensations myself."

Rarity felt the ghostly touch of his magic on her belly and shivered.  Fancypants had never been so straightforward in their previous encounters, but the destination was a familiar one by now, as was what he expected of her.  She did her level best to maintain poise as the smooth, probing aura drew back toward more sensitive places with agonizing slowness.

Fancypants nibbled at her ear and whispered into it.  "And you, my dear?"

The experienced ministrations of his well-honed magic cut off Rarity's intended reply, eliciting a powerful moan instead.

"That poor girl," Fancypants commented in cavalier fashion as he removed his coat, simultaneously turning his projected aura to purposes most indecent.  "Got no idea what she's missing, does she?"

Rarity, unable to maintain composure for one moment longer, allowed the fullness of her lust to enter her gasping voice.  "Not a clue."


~E07 End~


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