Dead Heart

by Leila Drake

Level 12 - Cutting and Mending

A grating, scratching sound assaulted Priest's ears, the signals in his brain causing him to clench his teeth and groan with annoyance. He lazily opened his eyes and looked around to determine the source of the noise that had disturbed his sleep.

Twilight was sitting at the round table of the library's main room. Her horn glowed and so did the quill that hovered above a piece of parchment which the alicorn had spread out next to the pile of books from yesterday. She raised her head as she heard him shifting on the couch. "Good morning, Priest!"

"Ungh, if you say so", he grunted and squeezed his eyes shut again. "Bright", he added.

"It's called the sun", commented Twilight.

Priest sighed and convinced his body to sit up and rise from the couch.

Spike stood at a bookshelf close to him, holding a book in his claw. "This one, Twilight?", he asked, getting an affirmative nod from her. He went over to her with the tome and added it to the pile on the table. Then the dragon picked up three books from the floor pile and returned them to their respective places. "Morning, Priest."

"Morn'g." The undead turned his head to look outside. The sun really was pretty high in the sky. "How long was I out?"

Twilight's quill stopped moving. "Well", said Twilight with her head tilted to the side, "it's ten in the morning. To be honest, I am surprised our moving around and talking didn't wake you up earlier. You must have been terribly exhausted."

"Huh, not that much really. I was just tired, I guess."

"I hope you slept well", said Twilight.

"Meh, coulda been better. Woke up in the middle of the night. I'm way out of practice."

Twilight giggled. "It's the second night in a row that you have been sleeping", she observed, getting serious again. "Are you sure you're okay?"

He shrugged and stretched, then decided to go and look for some food in the kitchen. "Yeah, feeling better than yesterday evening... I think I even dreamt something", he added thoughtfully.

"Spike and I have been collecting more information about ghosts. If you join us, we could continue our research on Light magic. I also got this really interesting book from Princess Celestia that's about ghosts among other things... What do you think?"

"You know", said Priest through the kitchen door as he took a bowl from the counter, "once I'm awake, I'm gonna do that. Just please, have a little mercy with the newly awakened dead."

"Take your time." She grinned, shaking her head, and resumed reading.

- - -

The doorbell of Carousel Boutique rang again.

"I'll be with you in a moment", promised Rarity as she took one last measurement, then declared, "That's all I need for now, my dear, you can come and get the costume at four o'clock."

"Thanks, Rarity! I already got the wig and stuff, but the Cutie Mark would have been way too hard to get right. I can't wait! See ya later!"

"Bye, Rainbow, have fun! Now what can I do for you, Mara and Dinky?" She gave both customers a wide smile as she floated her measuring tape back to its place on the counter. Rainbow Dash zoomed out through the still open door, making the exhibits rustle in a gust of wind.

Dinky jumped with joy as Mara nodded to greet Rarity. "You see, I promised to take care of Dinky here today and we figured we could get her a costume for Nightmare Night."

"Yeah, this year, I wanna be a zombie!", declared the filly happily.

"A-are you sure? You didn't say you wanted to be that", asked Mara, taken aback. Was Dinky up to something? Did she know about Priest?

"Why not? It's scary and fun and I thought we could get a messy wig and a tattered dress and stuff. And we can paint my muzzle with ketchup!"

The earth pony pondered that for a moment. Dinky had no idea of what was going on with the human after all. She couldn't blame her if she wanted to go as a zombie pony.

Besides, he said himself that he's not a zombie. Twilight told me the other day. Ugh, I hope I'm not getting into trouble for this. I hope he doesn't get into trouble.

Rarity, still keeping her smile on even though it appeared slightly more forced than a moment ago, tapped her chin.

"Hm, well, in that case let's see what we have here, shall we?" She led Dinky over to a rack in the back of the room. It lacked its fourth wheel and was supported by a makeshift crutch, namely a brick wrapped in rough linen. Several dresses hung there, some had strange color combinations, others seemed worn out. All in all it seemed that Rarity had been hiding the rack in the back of the boutique for a reason.

"These are the, er, older ensembles that I don't normally sell", explained Rarity. "Sometimes I get the shape wrong or I look at them a day later, thinking, 'Rarity, you fool, how could you have come up with something as horrid as this?' Then there are ponies who wish to sell their dresses for a discount. I keep them in the back for occasions such as this one. I would never consider presenting them to anypony who has... taste."

Dinky frowned, sightly confused. "What do you mean? That I'm tasteless?"

Rarity gasped. "Why, I wouldn't dream of it! No, I was simply assuming... let me put it like this: Dinky, do you want a scary zombie costume?"

"Yeah, definitely!"

"Then trust me when I say this: Nothing is scarier than these." She shuddered.

Mara grimaced. "Is that really okay with you? You seem kinda busy."

"Don't worry about it. I'll just have to," she swallowed, "tear one of them into shreds and it's the perfect zombie dress. It won't cost much; as I said, I would not sell these under normal circumstances."

"All right then, let's do that. Go ahead, Dinky, pick one."

The purple filly nodded, then scrunched up her nose in concentration as she used her magic to shakily pull some dresses closer. She inspected them, then pointed at one of them with her hoof, determination on her face. "That one!"

Rarity floated it off the rack and examined it. "Good choice", she complimented Dinky. "It is rather despicable. I think I won't have any second thoughts destroying this mess of a dress." She winked and opened a drawer with her magic, floating a pair of scissors over to the rack. "Before I begin, would you like to try it on first?"

Mara gave a nod behind Dinky's back. Rarity nodded back and helped Dinky to put the dress on. Its shrill blue color and the orange-brownish ribbons clashed terribly with Dinky's purple coat and yellow mane. The filly turned around, looking at her reflection in the nearby mirror. "Wow, it really is pretty ugly when I wear it, too."

"Agreed", snorted Mara and grinned at Rarity.

The seamstress helped Dinky out of the dress again and floated it over to her sewing table, readying her scissors. "I am enjoying this far too much", she mumbled to herself.

- - -

The marketplace was as busy as always, today probably even more. Nightmare Night was only one day away and everypony went about buying sweets, costumes and the last parts for the booths that would be set up the next day. The air was filled with cheerful anticipation.

Spirit Rez cantered over to a small stall next to Sugarcube Corner. The shop always put it up to attract and accomodate more customers the days before Nightmare Night. Mrs Cake was occupied selling an enormous bag of sweets and baked goods to a pale yellow pegasus – Fluttershy, he remembered – while Pinkie Pie bounced happily below the pink and blue canopy, occasionally zooming into the Corner to restock the stall or get a special order. Fluttershy nodded at her with a small smile as she added an extra cupcake to the bag, probably free of charge. Spirit knew that the two mares were close friends despite being so different and smiled as he witnessed the kindness with which they treated each other.

He nodded at Fluttershy as he passed her and stepped over to the stall to buy some muffins.

- - -

Fluttershy nodded kindly at the yellow unicorn that approached Mrs Cake and Pinkie Pie. She tried to remember his name but it had escaped her. Didn't he work at that little café in Willow Road? She couldn't put her hoof on it but he seemed to remember her.

Fluttershy felt uncomfortable with so many ponies knowing her. She didn't mind being known in general but when they greeted her and she could not tell their names it was sort of embarrassing. After her short-lived model career this had happened quite often.

She greeted Applejack who was selling apples next to the pumpkin stall and followed the street to the library. Hopefully both Priest and Twilight would be there.

- - -

"Um... hello?" Nopony was in immediate sight. "I can come back later if this is a bad time..."

"Fluttershy!" Spike stepped away from a shelf, grinning at the pegasus. "Nice to see you here! Everypony was pretty worried about you."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry. I was just... scared." She looked at the floor, ashamed.

"Sorry, what?"

Fluttershy cleared her throat. "I was s-scared of Priest. I came to apologize. Have you seen him? It's okay if you haven't, I was just wondering-"

The baby dragon smirked and pointed at the door that led to the basement. "They've been down there for hours now. Some experimenting, Twilight says. I dunno what about exactly but I think it's got something to do with his magic being blocked."

As if on cue, a sharp hiss could be heard through the closed door, followed by a muffled, "ow."

Fluttershy cringed, her eyes darted to the door, then back to Spike. "Are they okay?"

"Yeah, yeah", he waved dismissively. "Twilight said she'd call me if anything bad happens."

"Oh, okay then. Thank you, Spike." She picked up her paper bag and went through the door that Spike had opened for her.

Fluttershy followed the staircase that wound down into the ground below the oaken tree. The cave-like hallway reminded her pleasantly of some critter homes and she took a deep breath through her nose, trying to calm herself.

You have to be brave, she told herself. You can do this. He may be different but you have to give him a chance. Rainbow Dash said he's all right, Rarity likes him and Twilight trusts him enough to keep him under her roof. That counts for something. So I can talk to him, too. Who knows, we might even become friends.

She didn't manage to completely convince herself but it was enough to keep her going. That would have to do for now.

- - -

"Aw man! Light dammit!"

Twilight sighed and shrugged. "It had to be expected, wouldn't it?"

"Well, I'm glad you just agreed to a small cut", admitted Priest. "But still... it seems I can't even heal myself anymore. Look, it's not closing at all!"

The purple alicorn curiously eyed the shallow cut on Priest's outstretched left arm, notepad and quill floating next to her as well as the short kitchen knife she had just used to break his skin. Priest had taken off his armguards and turned up his left sleeve for the experiment. He rummaged in his bag with his right hand, producing a small bit of cloth which he used to wipe off the few drops of blood that trickled down from the wound.

"Self-healing test result: Negative", stated Twilight, making a note. Then she put down the utensils on a small table that stood nearby and sighed. "I'm sorry, Priest, I'm out of ideas. We tried everything we could imagine but all the results are negative. I don't have the means to measure the output of your magical aura since it is not arcane magic. We are left to guessing here. It's so frustrating!"

Priest dabbed at the wound once more. No more dark grey slime oozed from it so he put the cloth away and shrugged. "Yeah. But it seems we can't do anything about it."

"How can you be so calm about this?!", demanded Twilight.

"I'm not. I'm just stating the facts", said Priest, his voice getting sharper. "It's obvious we don't have any influence on the situation. So the only logical solution would be to avoid injury. I'm not going to spend the rest of my time in this basement trying to figure the whole thing out. Using the Light hurts a lot, you know."

"What? Is that normal? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Priest crossed his arms. "It's normal for somebody who's cursed. I just forgot to mention it. Not that it has any influence on the result... it just hurts like a bitch."

Of course I didn't forget to mention it. Ignorance is bliss, little purple alicorn, especially for small innocent ponies.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! And here I am asking you to use it on yourself... How does it feel, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Um... how do I put it? At first it just feels warm but when I start channeling it, it stings in the hands. Then the burning spreads to the entire body. It's a bit like hot iron pokers piercing your insides and a rockslide crushing your skull at the same time. It also feels as if you're gonna barf lava any moment. Oh, and the subsiding tension is what makes my hands shake afterwards."

Twilight exhaled slowly and massaged her temples. After some moments, she said, "Fine. Let's leave it at this for now. It's your choice after all, not mine."

He nodded, smiling sadly. "Thanks. I'm just glad I'm done with the fighting. The risk of, er, becoming dust would be way to high for my tastes."

A small voice interrupted them. "Um, excuse me? Twilight? Priest? Are you there?"

"Oh, that sounds like Fluttershy!" Twilight smiled and went to the door. It was half open, with the timid pegasus hiding behind it. Only her pink mane was visible. "Come in, you're always welcome", said Twilight, using her magic to swing the door open.

Fluttershy entered, her face hiding behind her mane. She was carrying a paper bag in her mouth which she put down next to Priest. He quickly rolled his sleeve down to hide the cut on his arm.

Priest could not help but stare at her. Wasn't she afraid of him? Why would she show up like this? Maybe Twilight asked her to bring something.

Yes, that was probably it. Hence the paper bag-

"P-Priest, can I talk to you for a moment? If you're not busy, that is..."

"Er, sure." He exchanged a look with Twilight. A mysterious smile was on the alicorn's face, reminding him faintly of Princess Celestia.

"Should I leave?", asked Twilight.

"N-no, it's okay if you're staying. I think I'd prefer it if you..." Fluttershy's voice died and she let out a little squeak.

Priest's heart melted. That pony was the cutest thing he had ever seen. In fact, this was the first time he was using the word "cute" in his mind at all. He frowned as he realized that Fluttershy was shivering violently.

"Fluttershy, are you okay?", asked Twilight.

"Y-yes." She trembled even more, staring at the frowning human. "I'm okay, really."

"So...", said Priest, helplessly fiddling with his left sleeve. "You wanted to talk about something?"

"Yes." The word was barely audible.

"Okay?"

Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry I sent you away. I was very scared and became awfully rude." With her eyes wide open and teary, she continued, "I didn't know what to do. I made a bad decision. I-" She looked at the floor. "Can you forgive me?", she mumbled, back to her usual quiet volume.

Priest's eyes widened. "Wow. I honestly wasn't expecting that."

Fluttershy looked at him.

"Thanks for coming, Fluttershy. You have no idea how much this means to me. If anything, I should apologize to you! Gotta admit I didn't want to, um, scare you again so I didn't come over..." He grimaced, his insides contracting at the sight of the shivering pony.

The corners of Twilight's mouth twitched but she still said nothing.

A small smile crept onto Fluttershy's lips. "Does that mean...?"

"Yeah", said Priest. "I'm not holding a grudge or anything. I'd like to have a talk with that Discord guy, though. Leaving you like that, what kind of a friend does he think he is?"

Fluttershy nodded. "I understand. But please be patient with him, he is the spirit of Chaos. It's hard for him to behave normally, even though he is reformed."

That pony, still defending him after that. She is way too kind. Wait, didn't Twilight say something about her Element, Kindness of something? Whatever...

"It can wait." He smiled at Fluttershy. Her own smile grew wider as well.

She pushed the paper bag over to him with her hoof. "I brought you some cupcakes. Pinkie Pie said you liked them."

Priest laughed, picking up the bag and peering inside. "Ponies keep giving me those."

"I can get something else if you-"

"There's no need. They're great."

"Oh. All right."

There was an awkward pause.

"Thanks for forgiving me", said Fluttershy.

"Well, thank you for trusting me."

Twilight smiled. "There is a special book upstairs", she said carefully. "You can write something into it if you like."

Fluttershy let out a small giggle. "Oh, I know which book you're talking about. I'll be happy to explain it to Priest."

"You got me interested", he commented.

"Let's go upstairs", said Twilight. "We're probably done here anyway." She sighed and rolled her eyes to emphasize her disappointment with the experiment.

"Right", confirmed Priest, grabbing his armguards.

A newly formed dark smudge on his left arm caught Fluttershy's attention.

"Oh my, is that... blood? It's so... dark."

"Um", said Priest. "Nah, just some dirt." He smiled at her reassuringly.

The worried frown didn't entirely leave Fluttershy's face but she gave a small nod. "Okay."

"I'm doing some laundry today so if you want to add your pullover...", said Twilight as they made their way upstairs.

"Maybe I should", mused Priest. "My stuff is starting to smell a little."

Twilight frowned and sniffed at his sleeve. "It doesn't smell rotten, though, more like... I don't know..."

Fluttershy mumbled something.

"Sorry, did you say something, Fluttershy?", asked Twilight.

"Um, yes. I think I recognize that kind of smell", she said. "It's a bit like a... stallion's. It's a little different but not... really that bad."

Twilight shook her head. "No, it's not bad at all, but its - strange."

Priest, his head low to keep it from hitting the ceiling, hummed thoughtfully. He now recognized the smell as well. It was the same he had smelt in the bathroom.

Was it... his?

"Yeah", he said. "Strange."

Comments

[CoastalSarv]

WHAT is that smell?! (...sweat? Do the Forsaken normally sweat?)

[Leila Drake]

4583557 No, they don't. Their skin is rotten so no there's no functioning sweat glands... (this is my headcanon though) and Twilight cast a spell against the rotten smell if you remember back to "Twilight goes to Dalaran". So as you probably guessed it's the good old smell of a human male in his twenties...

[CoastalSarv]

4603131
Thanks for the info!