//------------------------------// // The Heart // Story: The Rat Assassin // by Corvo //------------------------------// The Heart Spike watched intently as Rarity worked, stitching fabric together and bejeweling everything in one smooth movement. He continued to watch, entranced by the graceful movement of the thread and needle. Suddenly, his trance was broken, “Spike! Will you be a dear and fetch that ribbon over there?” Giving a stupefied smile, Spike stood up and walked over to the shelf of ribbons. Picking up the roll of thin fabric, he gave a content sigh as he remembered the last week. Twilight had just gotten a new book and, because of it, she’d been doing research into magical frequencies which gave Spike a lot of spare time, most of which he spent here. Some, however, was spent with Fluttershy helping her feed the animals. ‘Man, this has been great! With Twilight sitting around reading that HUGE book, I’ve had so much time to do what I want.’ As he continued to think of his friends, a warm feeling welled up in his chest. Everything was better with them. He felt the warm feeling expand into burning flame... As he continued to explore his feelings, Spike quickly realized the flame wasn’t because of his friends, not entirely anyways. Much of the flame was due to the fact he was getting an incoming message from the Princess. Quickly warning the mare next to him, he prepared for said message. Before the tailor could reply, the sound of a loud belch filled the room and a burst of emerald green fire came from Spike’s mouth. She watched as the flames from the dragon’s gullet dissipated into smoke and then promptly transfigured into a scroll. Patting his chest with a fist to make the fluttering feeling of the letter go away, he waddled over to the scroll and unfurled it. Quickly, his eyes scanned the page. “Oh no... Rarity, I think you need to see this.” A bit annoyed at having her work interrupted, she frowned. “Can it wait Spike? I am about to have a brilliant moment!” The Dragon shook his head and turned the scroll toward the mare. He watched as she read, how her expression went from slightly annoyed to worried. “We best go find Twilight, darling...” _____________________________________________________________________________ Corvo walked along the path aimlessly, giving a frustrated sigh. This was horrible. He had no idea where he was going, or what this ‘enemy’ even was. The Outsider was so vague about it, he wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be a giant flaming rat! To top it all off, there was nothing but trees in every direction so he had no sense of where he was going other than the path, which could just be leading him in circles. ‘Outsider, what were you thinking?’ Not only had he just randomly decided to drop Corvo in this dimension, he had given no indication as to what he was supposed to do other than ‘end it’ which could mean a million different things, coming from him anyway. ‘That wasn’t like him. He normally calculates every little detail. It’s like he’s making this up as he goes... or is that just what he wants me to think? Damn him...’ ’ As Corvo continued attempting to make sense of his situation, he began thinking that maybe the Outsider wasn’t on his side this time... But, then again, when had he been? The whole fiasco back home didn’t have anything to do personally with himself. It had simply sparked his interest. That was the only reason he had paid any attention to the assassin. For all he knew, this was simply the Outsider attempting to have a little fun. Following his thoughts, he arrived back at square one. ‘This ‘enemy‘... What is it? Why does the Outsider need me to take care of it? I thought he was a god, why can’t he handle this? Maybe he just doesn’t want to miss any of my ‘story’...’ Considering his options he sighed, there was nothing he could do to get a grip on this situation... ‘Except use... it.’ He hated using it. Whenever he did, thoughts hurtled through his mind, and it hurt. But, he couldn’t afford to be picky now. If he wanted to get back home any time soon, he had to do something. Slowly he reached into his pack and pulled “it” out. The Heart of a living thing, crafted by the Outsider himself. ‘Or so he says.’ Looking at the magical object, he shivered. He poured the smallest amount of power he could into strange organ. Nothing. Keeping up the stream of power, he began walking further down the path, steadily increasing the amount of energy going into the object from a trickle to a steady stream until he suddenly felt very dizzy. There was a sharp pain in his mind and, quite suddenly, he was thrown back to the day the Empress had been killed. She was lying in his arms, bleeding. So much blood. She coughed. “Corvo, find Emily. Protect her. You’re the only one who knows what to do. Won’t you? Won’t you, Corvo?” Her eyes slowly closed, they didn’t open again. Her chest stopped its rising and falling. Corvo’s eyes sprung open and he screamed. He didn’t want the empress to die! His head felt as though it had been slammed into the side of a whaling trawler. His vision blurred. Stealing a glance at the Heart, he saw it was glowing and beating wildly. Giving an agonized moan, he dropped it, and fell to his knees. As soon as the heart left his hand, the pain stopped. Breathing heavily, his vision soon faded. Once more, he was unconscious. ______________________________________________________________________________ The library was an utter wreck. Books littered the floor and table, a half eaten daisy sandwich rested on top of a volume of “History of Equestria” rather than its plate, which was currently sitting on the floor upside down. Among the mess sat a frazzled looking Twilight Sparkle. Her mane was a mess, with flyaway hairs sticking up in every direction. Her coat was in a similar condition, dusty and matted in some places. She was frantically searching through a massive book titled “Magical Frequencies and Alternate Dimensions” as though her life depended on it. As the purple mare reached the back of the book, she gave an angry groan. ‘What? That can’t be it! There has to be something explaining the magic from the forest. Magic in that frequency can’t be achieved by anypony. I mean, it was just like Discord’s magic, but he’s sealed away in stone!’’ She tossed the book she had been reading behind her, then promptly began sifting through one of the many piles of tomes on the floor for another book to research out of. ‘If only Spike were here, he’d know where else to look.’ Looking around, she sighed. ‘Speaking of him...he’s going to have a fit when he sees this mess.’ Slowly she walked up to her study table, abandoning her search for knowledge and began levitating the various books, trinkets and food scraps off it. As she lifted the garbage over with magic to the trash can, there was a sharp knocking and the door burst open to reveal a winded Spike and Rarity. Rarity gracefully sauntered in. Then, after giving Twilight a warm hug, she looked around and gasped. “Twilight, dear, what happened in here? It looks as though a twister passed by here!” Twilight laughed embarrassedly and scuffed at the floor. “Yeah, umm, heh, funny story. I was just working on a research project and made a little mess in the process. Sorry.” Looking up, she gave Rarity a sheepish smile. Spike stumbled into the house still breathing heavily. Looking around, his jaw dropped. All his work had been undone, and it was barely past noon! The flabbergasted dragon gave Twilight an angry stare. “A little mess? This... is a little mess? Dear Celestia! I’d hate to see what a big mess looks like.” Now breathing slightly easier, the dragon fell on his rump and attempted to catch his breath. Blushing, Twilight quickly changed the subject to avoid more lectures from her winded baby dragon. A bit odd, since it was usually she that lectured him. “So, what are you two doing here? I thought you were working on a new dress?” “Not anymore, I’m afraid. Princess Celestia sent a letter about matters of utmost importance in the Everfree Forest! You simply must read it! Equestria could be in danger!” Hearing the words ‘Princess Celestia’, ‘letter’ and ‘Everfree Forest” had sent Twilight’s mind into a flurry of questions before Rarity had gotten a chance to finish. “The Everfree! Did she say anything about the magic? Is there some sort of monster? Has Discord been freed again? Oh no, no, no this is horrible!” Finally catching his breath, Spike stood up from his resting spot and stared critically at the mare. Quickly, he produced a scroll with Celestia’s royal seal printed on it. Waddling over, Spike handed the rolled up parchment to the paranoid unicorn, who began levitating it (and Spike) before he could let it go. “Quick Spike, pack my bags! Rarity and I will get the rest of the girls. Then, we’re going to the Everfree!” “Uh... Could you set me down first?” ______________________________________________________________________________ Corvo felt terrible. His body was aching all over from lying uncomfortably and unconsciously on the ground. The worst, however, was his head. It throbbed and ached, but the pain was manageable, especially compared to the psychological torture of having to re-live that day. ‘What happened?’ Slowly, he lifted himself up and clutched his head. As he took a deep breath, he felt just how dry his mouth was. Coughing, Corvo pulled out a health elixir. It wasn’t water but it would have to do for now. Pulling the top open, he moved his mask and took a sip. ‘It hasn’t even been a day and I’ve already fallen on my face! Twice! This... This is going great.’ Feeling the pain in his head numb, he let out a breath he didn’t know he was been holding. Looking around, he saw the Heart lying on the floor near his feet. Bending over, he picked it up gingerly, as though it were a bomb waiting to go off. Stowing it away, Corvo took another sip of the elixir, and slumped against a tree. ‘This is just getting worse by the second. Now not only do I have no idea what to do, but I can’t use the heart to figure it out either.’ Looking around, Corvo attempted to get his bearings. That’s when he saw the smoke. A thin layer of the stuff, rising up from the east. There were only two things that could have meant. Either there was a big forest fire, or civilization. ‘Considering my luck these past few days, it’s probably the former... But, even if the chance that I’ll find people is small... I’ll take it.’ It was a start. Not a great one, but one all the same. He took another swig from the potion. Feeling the rest of the pain ebb away, he closed the now half full bottle and set off towards the smoke, mentally preparing for the worst.