//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: What is the heart? // by Skiddlez //------------------------------// Ulquiorra was feeling… strange. Not bad strange, like ‘pod people’ strange, whatever that was, but ‘good’ strange. He couldn’t identify what this feeling was. Something to do with the heart, then. Ulquiorra hadn’t used his afterlife as well as other beings had- he’d never felt emotion before, and had denounced them. Now, he was feeling emotions in this world, and minimizing his power because he didn’t want to kill the ponies. Now, he didn’t know what to make of these strange new feelings. He decided to consult his one ‘expert’, Grimmjow. “Well, Grimmjow, thank ya for doin’ the pickin’! It means less bruises in the fruit, and no pony likes bruised apples!” “You do know that you can say ‘nobody’, right?” Despite his ritual bickering, Grimmjow felt cheerful. He liked the apples, and Sweetie Belle, and the CMC. He especially loved these apples. When you mixed them with liquid toast, they tasted exactly like bananas. He didn’t know why, the combination just tasted like bananas, and he wasn’t going to argue. Then a familiar spiritual pressure came near. Oh, it’s Emo-clown. “Grimmjow, I need your help.” “What the f-“ Applejack shook her head at him, indicating Applebloom nearby. Grimmjow just sighed. “What the… HELL do you want?” ‘I need to know what this feeling is. I feel… strange, like everything is alright, even thought logically, that is not the case.” “That’s called contentment, you asshole.” “Now I feel different again. I feel like I should be stabbing you. Violently. Do you know what that is?” “It’s called anger. Hell, I’m angry all the time!” Ulquiorra just stared at Grimmjow for a few seconds blankly. “There, it’s fixed.” “What is?” “I’ve just shut off my feelings of anger.” “You CAN’T just shut off an emotion like that?” “I’ve already shut off sadness and regret.” “That’s a heart you’ve got now, it shouldn’t work like that. Even if you shut it off, it’ll still work- your heart’s not some kind of switch you can just flick willy-nilly.” “Really? Clearly that’s a design glitch.” “Only you, Ulquiorra, would think of emotion objectively.” Ulquiorra just sonido’d off. Grimmjow shook his head and turned to Applejack. “Hey, I did my picking, so what do I do now?” Applejack grinned at him nastily. Grimmjow felt like he should be a little more wary, but not swearing made a man incautious. “Grimmjow, ya can look after the Cutie Mark Crusaders for this afternoon.” “Cutie Mark Crusaders? Oh, those three? They’re cool.” “YAY!” Ulquiorra was calmly drinking tea when he felt the combined weight of three little fillies on his back. “Please get off.” ‘Aw, you’re no fun Ulqui.” “Yeah, lighten up, Emo-clown.” Grimmjow was with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He was also holding some Zap Apple jam in his stomach cavity. “Grimmjow, what did you do.” ‘MAN, the Cutie Mark Crusaders wanna see your full power. I know you’ve been showing restraint with your powers, but it’s time you really went and blew up stuff.” “I don’t want to hurt them.” “Well, you’re forgetting that with my AWESOME power, that won’t be a problem.” Ulquiorra sighed. “No.” “Please, Ulqui?” “I said no.” Grimmjow grabbed Ulquiorra. “Come on, Emo-clown. I know you want to, really.” “Twilight, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are here.” From the distance, Twilight simply cast a spell at the three fillies and their guardian. “Well, girls, Ah’m hungry.” “Yeah.” “Maybe we should eat the jam.” “What jam?” “Or we could go for donuts.” “Yeah! Donuts are delicious!” “What’s a ‘donut’? Is it good?” “Of COURSE it’s good! Its only rivals in deliciousness are cake and pie!” Grimmjow looked thoughtful. Food almost as good as cake and pie? Seemed legitimate. “Let’s go get some donuts then!” As one, the three fillies and their caretaker shouted out, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS DONUT GATHERERS YAY!” Lyra bolted upright. “Something wrong with you, Lyra?” “HUMAN SENSE TINGLING!” “Not this again.” Grimmjow and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were quickly getting the attention of the villagers- then again, when a six-foot tall creature with a hole in its stomach and three hyperactive fillies charge through your town looking for donuts, you’d better pay attention. “Applebloom let me get his straight. Y’all are goin’ ta Canterlot… fer donuts.” Nod. “An’ y’all don’t wanta give trouble ta Pinkie.” Another nod. Applejack sighed, but she knew that this was an uphill battle. “Fine. As long as Grimmjow looks after y’all, ya hear me?” “YAY!” “So, Scoots… this your house?” It was a fairly nice looking house in the clouds- an exclusive little flat with easy access to the ground. “Yeah… I should tell you that my dad’s a little… eccentric.” As Scootaloo opened the door, she dodged a hug from a pony that they could only assume was her father with a bored expression on her face. Her dad had the same bright purple hair, sticking up in an almost conical spike over his head. His coat, however, was a surprisingly bright day glow yellow, and he even had the same purple eyes. He was wearing what looked like a corduroy jacket over a magenta shirt with lime palm trees. His Cutie Mark was a stethoscope over what looked like a quill pen. “OH, MY DARLING DAUGHTER IS SAFE!” “Dad, I’m always safe. Quit worrying.” Her dad just sparkled. “I get it, your dads just been so busy with work that he’s had no time for you, so you get into danger and don’t come home for a few days out of anger! Well, Scootaloo, I forgive you. Now how about a hug for your dear old dad?” Scootaloo simply forehoofed him in the muzzle. As he rolled on the ground trying to conceal his pain, Scootaloo turned to her friends. “This is why I never take you home to meet my dad.” Her dad finally noticed that she had friends over. “Hey, hey, HEY! Look at that guy! He doesn’t look safe, but MAN! Where’d he get that shirt?” He turned to the fillies. “I’m a small medical practitioner for pegasi, called Doctor Tom-“ “Our last name is embarrassing, don’t say it!” “What’s wrong with our family name? Be proud of it! Our family name is Swift! My full last name is Swift Diagnosis, because I got my Cutie Mark for my legendary medical intuition!” “Yeah, whatever. That’s an old story dad, and it’s all mushy! Can we go to Canterlot for donuts?” “Sure thing!” “Your dad’s a bit… random.” Scootaloo just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, he wasn’t so bad until Mom died.” “Your mom died? How did that happen?” Scootaloo just looked away. “She died in a freak flying accident- a dragon burned her right out of the sky. After that, Dad started acting all goofy- maybe to make us forget about it or something. I’m over it now; it’s in the past. NOW WHO WANTS DONUTS?” “YAY!” Ulquiorra had noticed that Twilight had cast some sort of barrier around the house. ‘What’s the matter?” For answer, Pinkie Pie jumped out of his Hollow hole. As he tried to fathom the impossibilities this presented, she started talking. “Silly Ulqui, the ‘Cutie-Mark-Crusaders-are-doing-something’ sense is tingling!” ‘I don’t think that it could be that bad.” Walking over to the window, he was treated to the sight of Grimmjow, with the CMC in tow, running through the air in the direction of the castle in the distance. ‘Well?” Ulquiorra decided to ignore what was happening outside. “Nothing,” he said, with an air of grave finality about him, “is happening.” Thanks for reading! please leave a comment as to what you think, criticism helps!