//------------------------------// // Chaptre Three // Story: Heartbeat // by Vietmane Veteran //------------------------------// Heartbeat awoke to voices. She slowly shook her head. She opened her eyes. As usual, Little Cheese was already awake, but instead of moving, her ears were perked. "I think it's a rescue team," she loudly whispered. Huh? Rescue team? Honestly, are you just lazy? You take so long to wake up all the way. Shhhhhhh. Heartbeat yawned and got onto her hooves. "Is the ember still in fire burning?" You could of let me ask that. It would of sounded coherent. "No, you ate them last night. I think I hear dad, the Cake twins, and Rainbow Dash. And her wife might be near. If so, we'll prob-o-la-ery need to run. Did I say that right?" Her wife? HER WIFE? Disgusting! It kind of is. New day and age. We don't have to be accepting about it, but if we meet her, no being rude. Is Flaps smiling? Maybe. . . NO. JUST NO. GET THOSE DISGUSTING THOUGHTS OUR OF YOUR HEAD! Well, it would be up to him and her. Er, us and her? Are you suggesting we side with his taboo thoughts? I think yes, if she likes him back. NO! I FORBID YOU! "Hey, Heartbeat? Time to run! Let's go!" Little Cheese grabbed Heartbeat by the hoof and took off towards the noises. Shouldn't we have our hood up? We can't even reach it on our own! Why is Little Cheese running so fast? Uh, oh! That's one of the kinfolk from before! Wait, we're running past the search party? "Thanks for showing us the path back to town!" "You're welcome Lil' Cheese. See if you convince her to let us throw her a bash!" "Wait, come back! That thang is a dangerous creature!" "Was that a zompony? Sweet! I mean, not sweet, but you gotta admit that it is just a little bit cool! Hey, why are you running? There's. . ." was all Heartbeat could hear before they passed out of hearing range. The odd pair ran and ran, staying ahead of the hoofbeats following behind them. After an hour or such of running, they reached the edge. Waiting for them they was a yellow pegasus with a pink mane, and the Brother! "Discord! Stahp them!" He looked up from his knitting as if surprised. "But why would I do that? They are running to Yona's to get some better clothes made! Why would I deprive them of looking-" He paused to cast a spell, making a red dress and blond mane appear on him, "Fabulous! Applejack, darling. Pay attenion to your hooves! Your not even moving!" "Wha- HEY! Let me go! Fluttershy, stahp them!" "No. Discord already has been watching them for a while. He says that they are good for each other. Swell friends and great chums, as he said. And before you go on about her being a monster, may I remind you of Discord?" "Discord cahn be fooled!" "Only when I'm being serious! Go on, dears. Go to the boutique! Oh, wait, Yona is gone. Well, Rarity is a kind, understanding soul, who has seen the greatest villains of Equestria reform. I'm sure that a good zombie won't be too much to believe. Ta, ta. Oh, Fluttershy. Don't we have a campaign to get back to? I believe it was my turn to roll." Little Cheese giggled as the shorter of the two odd pairs continued their running. They were too caught up in the moment and the thrill of running to hear the screams around them. They chased each other, both only knowing their general direction. They arrived at the boutique out of breath and exhausted. Then, Little Cheese shook her head and started jumping with energy! She knocked on the door. "Rarity, oh, Rarity let down your mane! You have a customer, and I'm going to pay! But don't scream when you see her face!" The door opened, the white Unicorn behind it with a smile on her face. She opened her mouth to speak, and then noticed Heartbeat. Little Cheese jumped and covered Rarity's mouth as Heartbeat cast her gaze around herself in pursuit of an escape route. "This is my very best friend. You will make her some pretty clothes, and I will pay you my upcoming allowances. Please, no screaming. Please?" Rarity gave a slow nod. "Yay! Thank you! Com'n, Heartbeat!" Inside was beautiful! And that was the building on its own! The dresses inside were absolutely stunning. Now, that, I think we can all agree on. Wait, we're going to wear one of those? How about a coat like I saw some others wearing? Let's try on whatever outfits Rarity gives us. Whichever we like best, we get. Ooh, mirrors. Heartbeat walked around admiring everything. She spotted a small, silver hoof mirror. "Miss Rarity the Unicorn, did you know of Miss RazzleBerry the Second? I believe that this is her Cutie Mark." "Oh, yes, it is. She was Princess Platinum's little sister. Poor thing died of hunger. And to think she got her Cutie Mark for growing berries in that freezing cold. Best not to think of things so dreary though. Now, which of these would help you look. . . Is there a nice way of putting it?" Heartbeat flipped over the mirror and saw RazzleBerry's face. Her ash grey coat had little flecks of red where the blood was not cleaned up properly. Her silver mane curled and covered both of her icy blue eyes, but it was stringy. "What ya got there, Heartbeat? Ooh, so you used to be Miss RassleBear the Second?" Heartbeat quickly turned towards Little Cheese and glared. "That's Miss RazzleBerry the Second, peasant Earth Pony!" She turned her snoot up and turned her head. Her head jerked down. "Why did you do that? We agreed not to be rude! She insulted my name! That doesn't matter! Apologize! No. Why not? We're speaking out loud." Heartbeat turned around to look at Little Cheese. She had tears in her eyes! "No jokes on any of your names, got it. I'm sorry, friend." She slung her hooves around Heartbeat in a hug. "Forgives?" "Ye- Yes. O- O- O- Of course we forgive you. And we're sorry that we yelled at you. Forgives us?" "Of course silly. Now, please don't start crying. I don't wanna see you sad, and Rarity won't like bloodstains on her floor. Now, I think I found a dress you might like." She stepped back and gave her eyes a final swipe. She led Heartbeat to a dress her size. It was a deep red with white spirels ordaining the edges. "This will be a good outfit for special events. Oh, and I found some of Yona's fashions! She made very cozy hoodie's! You want one?" "Sure." She was led to a pile of cloths. Little Cheese pulled out a dark red version of the coat that Flaps mentioned before. "You like? And I'll get one too! Matchies!I" she exclaimed as she pulled out a dark yellow 'hoodie'. What is Rarity doing? She is getting a silver plate. "Do you think you remember what your Cutie Marks look like? Perhaps we could see your other selves. Er, how does that work? Souls or memories or. . . what?" "The more important question is this: How many of my weekly allowances will these cost?" "Oh, er. . . It's on the house. But just this once." "Sweet! Here, sit down! I’ll get it on you!” Heartbeat sat and allowed herself to be changed. Afterwards, Heartbeat reviewed herself in the full body mirrors. Wait, that was wrong. "Isn't natural magic supposed to hiding that spot? Then again, we're dead, so we may have lost some of our natural magic." "Well, I would think that it would take a bit to get used to, but there are creatures that don't use that magic. All the same, maybe a skirt? Now, there really isn't anything that goes with your coat, so we will have to pair up with your, erm, 'hoodie'." "How about we get her something pink!" "Er, pink?" "Red and pink! To show what she's like on the inside on the outside!" "That's a bit. . . morbid sounding." "No, I mean like Hearts and Hooves day! To show that she is loving on the inside, despite that she looks like Miss BogeyMare's skin!" "Oh, that reminds me. Have you seen her lately? Apparently, she ran off with half the spools of thread from the shop. With the bad reception she got from the rest of the town, I shudder to think what her revenge plan will be." "I'm not telling. I Pinkie Promised not to!" "Er, Pinkie Promised whom?" Rarity asked, a worried look crossing her face. "Miss BogeyMare. Ey, that skirt looks her size! Stay still, Heartbeat. There we go! Another spin!" Heartbeat obliged. If she tried hard enough, she could mentally picture the clothes on her old bodies. This caused a small bit of giggling when Flaps did the same, having been caught up in the moment. "Ooh! Could we have the mirror as well? Pretty please?" "I don't see why not. I can always have Hefty Hoof forge me another one. I swear, sometimes I think he's a Unicorn in disguise with how graceful his works come out." "Thenk yuu! Let's go!" Little Cheese grabbed Heartbeat's hoof again for who knew which number of times that day. Once again, the odd pair took off, leaving a very worried Unicorn behind. They ran to Sugar Cube Corner, where Pinkie and the Cake Twins sat inside, waiting. "Wow! Uh, I mean, welcome to Sugar Cube Corner! This is my sister, Pumpkin," said the pale brown colt with the thick brown mane and tail. "And that is my brother, Pound." Pumpkin Cake was light orange with an pumpkin orange mane and tail. "And together, we are the cake twins!" the two of them exclaimed together. "Welcome back, Heartbeat! I'm Pinkie, and you're always welcome here at Sugar Cube Corner! Here in Ponyville, we have a very mixed viriaty of species. But you may still wanna be careful. Tarturas Blooded have been trying to integrate with. . . weeeeellllll, mixed results. So, be careful when you head out again. So, what did you two do in the Everfree for 3 days?" Little Cheese's eyes seemed to glow in excitement. "You wanna tell, or can I?" Heartbeat nodded her head towards Little Cheese. "Oh, okay, so we camped out all that time, we had S'mores, had a Sum'Yum apeice because we managed to find two pears, Heartbeat ate fire, we made beds out of leaves, we made a fort, we played in mud, we found a stream, and OH! So much fun! Could we do it again?" "Hmmmmmm. Not today, Lil' Cheese. We gotta get ready to go to Canterlot. It's that time of month! [After rereading this, I realized that many will misinterprit that sentence] And Twilight can meet your friend! We leave tommarow, so you should pack. Love your hoodies by the way. Where'd you get them?" "From Miss Rarity. We even got a dress from her as well! I didn't bring it though." "From Rarity? Is it Yak wool? The hoodies, I mean," Pumpkin Cake asked, tilting her head slightly. "Probally. Cozy enough to be. Com'n, Heartbeat, let's go pack!" "Hold on, Lil' Cheese! Heartbeat will have to check in with their Necromancer before hoof. Go check with them to see if it's okay. If not, see if they will foal sit for a week." "Father is not a Necromancer! He is kind! He pieced us together! He brought us back, he gave us renewed life! And he- and he. . . and he ran off when we rose. He ran off." Heartbeat's sight became blurry and red. She tried to hold it back, but couldn't. Her defenses down, she started to sob. Shaky breaths shook her body, hurting her ribs, which in turn hurt her hearts. She kept trying to hold it back in. Then, she felt a hug. "S'okay. S'okay. Alright? It is okay. Let it out. Just cry your tears. We can give you oranges after you cry. Won't that be nice? Nice, t'ropical, orange oranges." Heartbeat was immensely glad for the hug. It reminded Coal Pie of when the family did group hugs. Nice, comforting, so cozy. "Do you have anybody to call your caretaker?" "You're the closest thing to one so far," Heartbeat said. This felt like a Pie hug. How does a hug feel like Pie? "In that case, welcome to the Pies and Cakes. Apples, too, but they aren't here right now." Wait! She's a Pie?! EEEEEEEE! We are among part of our family! "Back among the Pies! Wait, Pinkie and Little Cheese don't sound like Pie names." "Oh, my full name is Pinkamena Diana Pie! Little Cheese here was named after my husband, whose name is Cheese Sandwich! Alright, do you need to pack anything from anywhere else?" "Nah, we just got hoodies, skirt, and the little red dress from Rarity's. I'm already packed for this trip! Just gotta grab the case!" "That's my Cheese! Head on to Lil' Cheese's room, you two! It's getting late, and we have a great day ahead of us!" Before they could procede, a tall, ashen mare appeared in the room. Her coat seemed to still be burning. Her long black mane covered her pure red globes that she had for eyes. She terrified Heartbeat just with her presence. "Can I have 3 cupcakes to go?" was said by a voice that sounding like the pony was choking on smoke. "First, take down the Nightmare Filter, BogeyMare," Pinkie said, looking at the ceiling. Suddenly, BogeyMare was replaced by a filly Earth Pony. Her coat was a candy pink, a white cotton lined blue saddle on her back. Her mane and tail were fluffed, like Pinkamena's, but not as fluffed. They were cloud-like in appearance and color. But her eyes still carried that horrible look. They were no longer red; they were a brilliant blue of a healthy creature. But they hid something behind them. No, they showed what was under the skin. Then suddenly, the feeling was gone, but the look still remained in her eyes. "HAH! Thine face was truly humorous! When mine eldest brother comes for you in the end, I shall scare you again! Now, cupcakes. Oh, deadly deer. The twins have fainted. Thou needst better servants. In the meanwhile, thou shalt act as my slave. Prepare me mine meal of sweets!" "And this is part of why you couldn't make friends. What did you to with the thread?" "I'm working on that. Give your master cupcakes." "Alright, but only two. We don't want you going crazy on sugar again." Pinkie ducked behind the counter and came back up with 2 chocolate cupcakes. BogeyMare grabbed them and literally disappeared. "If only she followed the clawsteps of her second brother. Oh, well. Now, get to sleep, you two! Big day!" They went to a room that was yellow on the inside. Models of cheese hung from ceiling, and pictures and graphs were on the walls. Little Cheese went to a bookshelf and pulled out a thick book. Wait, do any of us know how to read? I do! Cream Scoop! Journalist. What's the book Little Cheese has? Oh, it's called 'Tales of Stories and Events of Equestria'. What's the page she's flipping to? How does RazzleBerry not know how to read? I died before I was old enough to begin properly learning! "Tada! A bedtime story! Here, you can sleep in the log-bed; I'll take the cushion." "What's the story?" Heartbeat asked, trying to see the the page. Little Cheese pulled the book close to herself. "No. You get in bed first. I'm going to read you to sleep. 'Kay?" Heartbeat nodded. She climbed into the bed, neatly pulling the blanket up to her chin. She couldn't help but wonder if this is what sleeping in an actual cheese-log would feel like. "Yay. Now, the story I am about to read is called '3 Odd Souls. "Long before Eqester- Equestria, perhaps even before the days of Grogar, there were three sibe-lings. I mean siblings. They had no names. They didn't need them. They watched the land before them age." The picture showed three odd silhouettes. "The eldest was a minotuar of bones. His part of the story is sad, so brace yourself. He watched as ponies died among loved ones, but he also saw many die alone. He saw many unknowingly walk to their death through various means. He watched until he started to wepep. Weep? Yeah, I think that's said 'weep'. He had grown weary of these things, so he declared himself the caretaker of death. But his appearance only caused fear to those he went to visit, so he wore a cloak to make himself more friendly looking." The image hear showed the REAPER floating over an Earth Pony, who was backing away. "He soon realized that nothing he did would make ponies less frightened of him, so he started to use his frightsome appearance to scare creatures away from danger. He would appear in front of a house that would collapse, or a broken bridge in the dark of night. But some creatures would fear him and try to attack, running to their deaths in an attempt to save their lives. So the minotaur of bones gave himself a name to inspire fear in almost all. The REAPER of life. But it is said that the REAPER will appear to those that are used to the unusual or the presense of the dead." The image for this was the same as the last, but lightning illuminated the background, showing that the REAPER was blocking the edge of a cliff. "The second eldest was a horrifying creature, who could be described as a griffon at best. He flew across the dark skies, and hated how still they were. He was inspired by the setting sun on the beach to create dreams. Dreams already existed, but as did Nightmares. He wanted to make sure that Nightmares couldn't come. He would make dreams and send them into the minds of foals and other creatures inncocent enough to not fear his look. Some could even see the energy of the dreams, and have descibed it as 'sun-sand'." The picture for this showed a shadow flying across the sky the moon, golden dust floating down to the huts below. "The next one, you just met. Ready? The youngest has very little truly known about their appearance. She saw the works of her elder bretheren, and decided she would take a different path. She would strike fear into the hearts of living things, spreading panic in her path for her own enjoyment. Some say that she is even more frightsome than either of her brothers, and some say that she is like an angel, spreading fear in the shadow of her soft smile. Personly, I say we need to be wary of strings. Night' night!"