//------------------------------// // Morgue Stories // Story: The Alleys of Ponyville: Short Stories from the Noireverse // by PonyJosiah13 //------------------------------// “And there we go,” Vitae Mortis stated, reverently sliding the body on the slab back into the freezer. “You just rest in there, friend. You’ll have your day in court soon enough.” She closed the door with a final smile, then removed her gloves and facemask, tossing them both into the trash bag with the biological warning symbol. With a sigh, she walked over to the desk in the corner and sat down, pulling the lamp down to light up her typewriter. With a magical tug, she pulled the wheeled table carrying her tape recorder over next to her desk and rewound the tape with her findings. Reaching the beginning of the tape, she pressed the play button and placed her hooves on the two rotating dials of the typewriter. “The victim is positively identified by cutie mark as Hailstorm, a fifty-year old male pegasus,” her own voice repeated back to her, and Mortis began to transcribe her notes on the typewriter. “Exterior examination: the most notable injury is a collection of bruises around the neck. The bruises are…” There was a knock at the door of the morgue and Mortis looked up, pausing the tape. Twilight Sparkle stood at the doorway, her lab coat smooth as always and a stack of papers in her magic. “Doctor, here’s the analysis of the stomach contents for Honey Bun that you asked from,” Twilight stated, walking into the room. “Thank you, Twilight,” Mortis smiled, taking the files and flipping through them. “Ah, good, I thought so. Last meal was about eight hours before death and...yup. Shrimp.” “What does that mean?” Twilight asked, studying the papers over Mortis’ shoulder. “There was an empty bag for shrimp in the kitchen trash can,” Mortis explained, placing the files down and pushing her chair over to the filing cabinet in the corner. “Opened that morning, based on the looks of it.” “What made you think to double check that?” Twilight asked. “Well, during my initial autopsy, I noticed that she’d vomited repeatedly before death, and had some very nasty diarrhea,” Mortis explained. “They initially thought it was symptoms of a drug overdose and were willing to write that off, but I found no other signs of recent drug use: no needle pricks, no irritation in the nostrils, nothing of the sort. So I thought of the other option: food poisoning. That’s why I wanted you to check the stomach contents, and why I checked the scene again.” She clicked her tongue as she pulled the drawer open and plucked out the folder. "Red Cholera bacteria, I presume. Poor Honey. If Gustav’s Seafood packaged their shrimp properly, she might be alive. And now, because of her, the company is going to get covered in lawsuits.” “I should hope so; ponies shouldn’t die because of a company’s incompetence,” Twilight nodded. She watched Mortis scribbling down her findings on Honey Bun’s file, then cleared her throat. “So, what made you want to become a mortician?” Mortis looked at her over her shoulder, her pen pausing over the paper. “Um...well, if I tell you, do you promise not to think I’m a freak?” she asked, forcing a small smile. “Why would I think you were a freak?” Twilight asked. Mortis cleared her throat. “Well, it started when I was six years old. My family had a dog that I adored. His name was Letizia; I loved taking him for walks and playing with him. But then one day, he got really sick and died.” “Oh, I’m sorry,” Twilight said. Mortis nodded. “I was super upset; bawled for hours. My parents buried him in the backyard, but I was so upset, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. So, being the silly six-year-old I was, decided to dig him up again and spend some time with him. “So, one night, I snuck out back with a shovel and dug up Letizia,” she continued. “But when I finally got to him...well, I’m pretty sure you know what happens to a body after about five days.” Twilight slowly nodded. “But when I saw him in there, I was...fascinated,” Mortis continued. “I wanted to know what had happened to Letizia, why he’d gotten so green and bloated…” She paused and looked at Twilight. “Does that make me a freak?” she asked. Twilight stared at Mortis for a beat, then smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “No, not at all,” she replied. “It just makes you curious and inquisitive.” Mortis smiled at her. "I'm glad you think so." She frowned and looked down, rubbing her foreleg. "My mom and dad didn't think that way. They sent me to a therapist. I wound up seeing more of the therapist than my father." She scoffed. "They wanted me to become an apothecarist like mom or a Crystal Priest like dad, but nope. Neither of them made much effort to hide how much of a shame to my ancestors I was and all that." "That sounds awful," Twilight frowned, patting Mortis on the back. "Well..." Mortis mused. "I suppose it was kind of justified. Especially after that time I ate a tarantula." Twilight stared for several seconds. "You did what?" she asked. "Um..." Mortis said slowly, rubbing the back of her head. "I read in a book on survivor skills about how to cook and eat insects, and I wanted to try it, so I bought a tarantula and cooked it and ate it.." She looked up at Twilight, who was know staring at her with an expression of complete confusion. "I...think you know why ponies call me a freak," Mortis shrugged, giving a weak laugh. Twilight stared for a beat more, then smiled and patted Mortis' back. "Oh, I can understand being curious," she said. "I once tried a spell I read in an advanced magical book. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite ready for it, and I wound up..." She chuckled quietly, her face reddening. "I wound up turning my parents and my brother into coconuts." Mortis blinked, then laughed loudly. "Wow! I don't think a therapist would help with that!" Twilight laughed along. "No, I don't think so," she agreed. “So, yeah. That’s how I got interested in forensic science,” Mortis stated. “Twenty-six years and lots of student debt later, here I am.” “I’m sure you’ve got a lot of interesting stories to tell,” Twilight said. “I could learn so much from you!” "Like what tarantula tastes like?" Mortis asked. "Er...no, I think I'd rather not know that," Twilight admitted. Mortis’ smile broadened. “Hey, you think maybe we could get lunch somewhere sometime?” “As long as it's not tarantula!” Twilight nodded. “My friend Applejack runs the Apple Pie in Your Eye, we can drop by there and exchange theories sometime after work!” “That sounds great,” Mortis replied, smiling up at her new friend.