Rekindled Embers

by applezombi

Interlude: What Heartwing Saw

Interlude: What Heartwing Saw

“I have to say, I didn’t see this coming.” Heartwing’s sardonic drawl filled the twilight void about him. He glanced down at the path of stars, jumping with shock when he saw his own limbs. “Hmm. We’re going for a more classic look in this little head trip, it seems.” Indeed, he was back in his own body, with mismatched limbs, a serpentine form, and even the same mismatched horns. “I wonder…” he snapped the fingers of his lion’s paw. Nothing happened. “Oh, poo. Ah well. Rainbow Dash, I assume you’re present somewhere?”

“Psht. Of course you would spoil a decent entrance,” the figure was up above him, hovering as was usual, her very posture betraying her contempt for hooves, walking, and all things ground based. Heartwing smirked up at her. “I mean, it’s almost like you have no sense of theatre. What happened to you, Discord?”

“Another few hundred years in stone?” Heartwing shot back. “Thousands of regrets? The blood of ponies on my claws or hooves or whatever?” He shook his head, very unused to his old, elongated muzzle. It felt weird to be out of place in his own body, the one he’d lived in for centuries. He must have been becoming more of a pony than he thought.

“None of that matters, you know,” Rainbow said dismissively, swooping down suddenly to bop him on the muzzle with one hoof. “You need to stop beating yourself up and come to terms with reality.”

“But Flurry and Spike…”

“Don’t matter. They’re wrong about you. You need to start listening to that coltfriend of yours.” Rainbow scoffed loudly. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders, and a fair amount of awesome himself. I don’t know how you bagged a stallion like that. He’s got brains and looks, and he’s nice, too.”

“I don’t deserve him,” Heartwing whispered, and Rainbow rolled her eyes.

“Wrong, wrong, wrong,” she declared, smacking him on the head for emphasis with each repetition. “You’re so wrong, you idiot. Look around you.”

There were images. Visions of the past. Most were from the last few hundred years, of course, but there were a scattered few from the distant past, as well. Heartwing, weeping in front of a statue of Fluttershy. Heartwing, refusing to disappear when the ponies he’d never wanted to lead put their faith in him. Heartwing personally delivering the news of each casualty to their heartbroken families, ignoring his own pain, ignoring his own hurt, to try and bring them the smallest bit of comfort. Heartwing, offering himself to Mlinzi so his friends could take the Element.

“I gotta say, I never thought it’d be you,” Rainbow said, as the two of them, side by side, watched some of Heartwing’s darkest and most triumphant moments. “But if you really think about it, it makes complete sense.”

“Not really.” Heartwing shook his head in denial, though it was hard to shut out the images around him. “All of this… this isn’t the whole story. This doesn’t show what I’ve done wrong. What I’ve screwed up. The lives I’ve ruined.”

“You know,” Rainbow mused, “sometimes ya gotta remember that the effort is just as important as the result. Think about it, dummy. You’re one of the most loyal ponies alive. Maybe you screwed up here or there, but you’ve done the very best you can for the ponies around you on the way.”

She waved a hoof dramatically. “For three centuries everything you’ve done has been dedicated to your friends who have passed. To fix their legacy. You’ve been fighting all this time for Twilight, for me and AJ and Pinkie and Rarity. And for Fluttershy. If that’s not loyalty, then I don’t know what is!” She patted him hard on the back. “It’s about time you start taking credit for just how awesome you are, Heartwing.”

“You…” he stammered, unsure. “You’re calling me by the name I chose. Not the one I was born with.”

“Well, duh,” Rainbow swooped around so she was in front of him once more, her face right on his, her eyes intense. A small smirk twisted her mouth. “It’s because you’re not the same as you were before. You’re not Discord any longer, no matter what Spike or Flurry might say. You’re Heartwing. And Discord was kinda cool, I guess,” she rolled her eyes and tossed her mane dismissively, “but Heartwing is AWESOME! Maybe about twenty percent less awesome than me, but that’s still pretty awesome!”

Heartwing looked down at himself. His draconequus form was gone, replaced by his now more familiar unicorn body. For a moment he marveled at his hooves, and reached out to touch his horn.

“Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow muttered. “There’s some kinda metaphor here. I’m not an egghead, so I don’t know what all this means, okay? But it’s about time you get your rump in gear and stop punishing yourself for stuff you did hundreds of years ago. You’re the oldest out of all the Elements, and that means they’re gonna need your experience and wisdom. Keep ‘em safe, okay? And when things get hard for Rarity, you stand right by her side like the good friend I know you can be.”

Heartwing knew a cheesy pep talk when he heard one, but for some reason he couldn’t help but feel inspired. With a smirk of his own, he held a hoof out for Rainbow to bump.

“I promise,” he said, as the two of them struck hooves together.

Comments

[applezombi]

Short update tonight!

Sorry I've been a little 'silent-mode' recently. The last chapter before this one was brutal to get done, and I've been on vacation for a week!

I'm back now, and hard at work on the next chapter, which might take two weeks and might not (probably gonna split it in two, because it's long).

Hmm... not much else to say here, except that it's been a rough month for me with writer's block, but I'm back at it now!

[Thought Prism]

Your RD is on point.

[Backlash91]

LOVED IT!

PERFECT RAINBOW DASH!

[PropMaster]

Still going strong. This fic continues to be excellent!

[Ad2018]

Oh no. I'm all caught up. Nooooooooooo

[mestreJ]

currently in chapter 19, impressive how his story is good enough for us to get this far even often rooting for the protagonist and her friends being defeated by heretics, pirates and so on.

[mestreJ]

going into chapter 32 now, i'm curious about what's going on in the crystal empire, what is that knight ambassador doing?

[FOXTrot2]

“I promise,” he said, as the two of them struck hooves together.

Awesome

[Boopers]

Amazing!

[AverageSMILEnjoyer]

Welp, that's all of them!

Honesty: Emberglow
Laughter: Topaz
Generosity: That other guy
Kindness: Terminus
Loyalty: Heartwing



Magic: If Starlight doesn't say "Must go back, back to the past, Samurai Jack." I'll be disappointed.

[MatTheBook]

10930655

“Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow muttered. “There’s some kinda metaphor here. I’m not an egghead, so I don’t know what all this means, okay? But it’s about time you get your rump in gear and stop punishing yourself for stuff you did hundreds of years ago. You’re the oldest out of all the Elements, and that means they’re gonna need your experience and wisdom. Keep ‘em safe, okay? And when things get hard for Rarity, you stand right by her side like the good friend I know you can be.”

Heartwing knew a cheesy pep talk when he heard one, but for some reason he couldn’t help but feel inspired. With a smirk of his own, he held a hoof out for Rainbow to bump.

“I promise,” he said, as the two of them struck hooves together.

Hoof to Heart