Heartbeat

by Vietmane Veteran

Chaptre Five

Heartbeat opened her eyes. Her dreams passed over everything. Where was Little Cheese? Wait, she might be on a higher bunk. Just stand and back up. Heartbeat threw the blankets off herself. She rolled out of bed, but before she could straigten up, something grabbed her hoof. Her breath caught within her throat.

"Sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry! You surprised me!" a voice spoke. The hoof released her.

Heartbeat's hearts slowed down to their normal speed. She tried to bend down, but her joints acted up, and she ended up collasping. She looked under the bed to see big, blue eyes staring back. "Why dost thou- Why-? Why are you under there?" Heartbeat asked, trying to stand back up.

"Well, BogeyMare sleeps under ponies' beds. I thought that if I slept under you, BogeyMare couldn't try to scare you. She'd have to go through me first. But when you're on the bottom bunk, the only place under that is, well, under the bottom bunk! Here, let me help you up!" She 'whoosh'ed out from under the bed and helped Heartbeat gain balance on the hard floor. "Com'n, I know where breakfast is being served!" She grabbed Heartbeat's hoof with a giggle.

They raced off, going down stretches of crystal corridors, rounding giant rooms, and swerving past stands with crystal ornements. Winter wasn't sure what the point of all the running was, but the others seemed to enjoy it. The odd pair eventually reached a set of doors, where sounds of eating could be heard. Little Cheese raised herself to push the doors wide open, but then she started fidgeting. That's the Pie sense! She landed back down on all four hooves, and opened the door by a crack. Voices drifted out.

"Well, we need to do something! Zomponies are mindless beings that only obey Dark beings like Grogar," a stallians voice said.

"But Twilight's letter's makes it sound like a normal Undead. The only thing that seems zombie to me are the eyes," a mare's voice spoke.

There was a sound of another door opening in the room. "Mum, Daddy, have you considered that Discord might have tampered with it? Er, you never actually said, but is it a boy or a girl?" a different mare asked.

"Twilight doesn't mention. So glad you could make it to breakfast, with how late you were up last night," the first mare said happily.

"You know her; always doing good for her subjects. Just like you, my precious honey," said the stallian.

"Bleagh. Don't start that in front of me again. And what about my idea of Discord?" Sounds of a chair being moved sounded after the second mare spoke.

"Well, it might be possible. But so far, Discord and Fluttershy have gone missing after their prank on Twilie. The mail pony has already gone searching through Discord's Dimension, but they aren't there," said the first mare.

"Wait, he did a sweep out of there already? That's crazy fast!" said the second.

"He's been delivering there for years. I'm suprised he doesn't look like a Farlander by now," said the first. What's a Farlander?

"Discord needs to make a rift for him. Wait, is there someone by the door?" said the stallian.

"Which door, dear?" asked the first mare.

"That one, over there," answered the stallion.

Little Cheese turned to look at Heartbeat. "We're gonna get a whole lotta exercise! Stick close behind me!" She pushed open the door and took off running, Heartbeat barely three stumbling steps behind. There was two female alicorns in the room, and a male white Unicorn. Little Cheese ran and jumped onto the table, and Heartbeat went on the underside. There were sounds of plates hitting each other, the table cloth sliding, and 'oof!' sound from the Unicorn. Little Cheese landed on the ground on the other side of the table, a plate of eggs and a plater of pancakes balanced on her back. In her hair were cups of orange juice. "Quick, that door, to the left!" The odd pair raced across the floor, sounds of confusion from two and a bit of laughter from one of the females behind them.

As the odd pair went through the doorway, they rounded corners and raced down halls once again. They reached a large room. Looks like King Sombra's throne room. I think it's been repaired. Repaired crystal? I mean, it looks like it's been purged.

Little Cheese came to a stop, the dishes sliding neatly to the ground."Eggs, pancakes, some syrup in my tail, pepper and salt; looks like we're ready for breakfast! Too bad we don't have a torch for you." She giggled as she set up the meal. From her tail, she pulled out a container of syrup, salt and pepper shakers, and three Earth Pony spoons. What makes them Earth Pony spoons? The handles are round and large, allowing your race to hold them with more ease. "Hmmmmm. Hey, you wanna try eating by yourself? Or do you think you need more time to get used to your limbs?"

Heartbeat tried to pick up one of the spoons, and ended up knocking it across the room. "Well, the answer to that is obvious," she groaned. She tilted her head, looking at her friend. "Is it just me, or are you more chipper than usual? Chipper? Happy."

Little Cheese giggled. "I'm happier! And for multiple reasons! I have a half day planned before us, then we continue with our tour across Equestria! Well, to the places that I think are the most important. Train comes by at two, so we have some hours to spare. And the crystal fair is today! The streets will literally be glowing! Open wide!"

Winter thought back to her past Crystal Fairs. She shared these memories with the others as they were fed. Hopefully, it wouldn't be as cold as it was in the castle. So cold. Then, they felt another mind waking up, taking a voice instead of being one of the many. Frazle Dazle shared her memories of living among the buffalo and thier tribes. She shared the warmth that she felt, letting Winter stay warm. They managed to pull up some other memories that they had gotten from the other minds that had faded.

After they had finished breakfast, the odd pair made thier way to the outside. Heartbeat blinked at the brightness of the outside and the crystal sheen everywhere.

They traveled among the stands, looking at the goods and playing games. Heartbeat tried a Flugle horn, but ended up sounding like a bunch of shards breaking. And not the melodious version of that sound. At the Nine-Pins, they managed to win third place, with Little Cheese winning first. At the strength test, neither got very far, but Heartbeat did well despite her bodily conditions. At the pie competition, Little Cheese got last out of the five foals in the contest, due to not liking the taste of the crystal berries. Heartbeat got fourth.

The two continued to have a fun day. Eventually, the events of the day lead up to the two sitting by each other, watching the other ponies play games and make hats. They eventually made thier way to the Joust, getting thier own seats in the top row. The train whistle blew, causing Heartbeat to sit straight up. "We've missed the train!" She exclaimed. She tried to get up, but Little Cheese pulled her back down.

"Relax. We aren't getting on the train! I don't have a watch, so I used the train to track the time." She pulled Heartbeat close. "Let's just enjoy this show."

Heartbeat blushed. Little Cheese was snuggling up to her. Heartbeat's attention turned towards Little Cheese's face. Little Cheese's eyes glanced up from the Joust and made contact with Heartbeat's gaze. Her smile turned from excitement to contentment. Then, she closed her eyes and leaned up to Heartbeat's lips. All of Heartbeat panicked. She pushed back with her arms, sending Little Cheese rolling back just as the Jouster's charged and the crowd cheered.

Little Cheese got back to her hooves. She rubbed one of her forearms with the other. "I'm sorry. I thought you liked me like that. With what you said last night. About me being the most important thing in thier lives. I thought you liked me like that."

"We do like you. We love you! Just not like that. I do. A part of us does, but the rest of us are... too firm in our mindsets. Wha- Wha- What they are try- trying to s- say is that- is that- they- they- they aren't into your gender li- li- li- li- li- like that." Heartbeat looked down as Flaps felt... defeated. He had wondered many times how the others would react if it was Little Cheese and not them that made the first move. At least they were apoligizing to him. Not that they needed to. Thier standards of society were so very different from his.

Little Cheese walked up to Heartbeat, head down. "We can still be friends, right?"

"Of course. I would never be able hate you. Er, again."

Little Cheese swept Heartbeat up in a hug. "Joy!" She set Heartbeat back down with a smile. "Come'n! I set things up ahead of time! Our winter supplies are at the station! Yakyakistahn, here we come!"

The odd pair made thier way down the steps. They rushed through the Empire, dodging stands and jesters. When they reached the station, there was an old pony sleeping on some cheese colored bags. Which were also shaped like a cheese slice, wedge, and wheel. Wasn't this a bit much, even for a pony with a Cutie Mark of cheese?

The old pony got up. Oh, by the Kingdom! It's a skeleton! The skeleton walked over. He wore a police pony's outfit from Flap's time. He walked close. He started to growl, deep and rumbling. He stopped, reached into his pocket, and took out a... What is that? It's an inhaler. The skeleton pointed it at his throat. The blast of air seemed to shift something in his throat. "Sorry about that. Are either of you Lil' Cheese?"

"That's me! And you know it isn't, silly! We haven't met before!" Little Cheese said with a wink.

The skeleton checked a paper. "Phrase is correct. Sorry, Lil' Cheese. Just had to check, with the changeling theif going about the train systems lately. I'll see you later." As he walked off, Heartbeat noticed the Cutie Mark of a clown horn on his thigh bone. Was his name 'Silly'?

Little Cheese threw the cases into the air, making them land on her back. "We need to make our way to the edge of the city. It would be silly to wear all this stuff in the warm."

The odd pair slowly made their way to the edge of the city. They got changed into the winter clothes; Heartbeat into a giant red parka and snowpants; Little Cheese into a heavy brown Yak cloak and hood.

Heartbeat gazed at the blizzard just outside the sheild. Looking up, she realized that the sun did not shine on the empire. No, the streets had such a powerful but subtle glow, it made everything bright. No shadows could exist, save for within a closed book. It was a beautiful sight. RazzleBerry felt a pang as she realized this moment was probably supposed to be romantic. Heartbeat heard a snap, and turned to see that Little Cheese was holding a camera. Another snap sound, then Little Cheese put the camera away.

As she tucked it into her cheese slice shaped case, Heartbeat caught sight of what was supposed to be a scrapbook. 'Our First Date Was Our Longest' was written in blue crayon on the yellow book. Little Cheese pulled out an eraser and erased most of the message. She pulled out a red crayon, and, alternating red and blue depending on the word, changed the title to 'Our Longest Vacation and Adventure!'

Heartbeat stared as Little Cheese packed up; her fractions were apoligizing once again to Flaps. Flaps just stared. Pies were known for being prepared, so Little Cheese probably had an alternitive route of activities planned. But he couldn't help but wonder, what might the trip of held if Little Cheese's love was accepted?

The odd pair stepped out in the blizzard, and Winter felt as if she lost her strength. When Heartbeat looked at her hooves, there was simply the dead looking body. "We're close to the path!" Little Cheese called out. "If we move fast, we're be out of the storm without even a snotty nose!" They pushed through the snow, making haste. They found the path, pushing through the deep snow. They reached a tram track, using that so they could walk in shallower snow. There was a spell that moved the snow away, but some still managed to land on the rails.

Heartbeat turned her head and watched as their hoofsteps were wiped away by the spell. Looking back forward, she saw a giant cave. In front, a small sign read 'Do Not Disturb'.

The odd pair continued walking. Heartbeat stared down at the snow, an idea forming in her mind. Her minds tried different methods of using magic, trying the most common forms. After more time passed, Heartbeat gave up. She started thinking of how fun it would be in a snowball fight if she could control her magic.

As she thought of the joy she and Little Cheese would have, her hearts began to beat harder, as if pumping something else with the blood. She felt a odd sensation, and her body felt warm, close to when she blushed, but all over. Her sight gained a pink tinge, and something else changed in her sight. Her horn felt... soft, or smooth, or something of the sort. She watched as a patch of snow lifted itself with a burning pink fire and started pressing itself together into a rough ball.

Little Cheese's ears flickered, and she turned her head. The ball flew towards her face and smacked against her nose. Little Cheese sneezed, bouncing to the left. She wriggled her muzzle, clearing the snow from it. She turned with a smile on her face. "Snow fight!" She reached down and grabbed a hoof's worth of snow. She threw it at Heartbeat. Heartbeat moved with a jerk and fell into the deeper snow. She laughed as she got back to her hooves, and continued to laugh as another snow clump hit her face.

The fire-like magic made another ball, throwing it at Little Cheese. It missed, but somecreature let out a grunt. Suddenly, a giant clump came flying their way. They ran from the clump, laughing. Heartbeat threw another ball in that direction, and heard another grunt. Five small yaks ran into sight from that direction. They pressed their heads to the snow and tossed them up, sending it in large clumps.

Little Cheese and Heartbeat dodged, giggling. They threw back snow clumps, running about. The two sides continued in this fun fashion of running, dodging, and throwing snow for what felt like hours.

Finally, as Heartbeat threw the last snowball, one of the yaks held up a small blue flag with a sun, the peace flag. The two sides aprouched each other, laughing and stumbling. One yak slung his arm around Little Cheese. "Small Yellow is so fun!" a light but gruff voice said.

"Ah, thanks, Yola. You great too! You strong female warrior!" Little Cheese said. Heartbeat's face flushed from embarassment as she realized she completly misjudged a creature's gender because of how they looked. How many of the other small yaks were fillies, and how many were colts? Or, whatever it's called for yaks.

"Getting close to sundown. We head back, you follow?" another yak asked.

"Yes! We follow! We follow!" Little Cheese said, bouncing to the tracks. She shrugged off the cases from her back, and Heartbeat realized that she had somehow kept those cases on her back for the duration of the snow fight. "Yola, Nola, Shola, can you girls carry our cases? And-"

"Nola no girl!" one of the yaks complained.

"Sorry, Nola! It's the braid style you have that keep getting me confused.Yaskav, can you carry Love Bear- I mean, Heartbeat! Can you carry Heatbeat here? It will make it easier on her."

"Yes, Yaskav can do that! Climb on!" Yaskav went over to Heartbeat and crouched down. Heartbeat clambered on and let herself drape across Yaskav's back. She felt Yaskav give a shudder. "You feel odd. Like limp, but solid, even through coat."

"What do you mean?" Heartbeat questioned.

Little Cheese quickly stepped close. "She means that it feels like your used to sleeping a lot. Which may or may not be true, but you certainly do need it to move in the morning!" She gave a laughing snort.

She followed the pack, bouncing and repeatedly glancing backwards in confusion. She bounced up to Yaskav, looking up at Heartbeat. "Hey, does 'Multi-Relay CB FM AM SAT GOV Hacking System mean anything to you?"

Heartbeat stared back in greater confusion. "I think that last bit was close to the shortened version of 'Government'. I have no idea about the rest. Why?"

"I'm not sure, but I feel like it's really important to someone else right now. Erge! That felt wierd. Oh, look, we're hear! I mean, here." She and Heartbeat giggled at her mistake. Heartbeat stopped and gazed in awe at the giant gates and walls. Off to either direction, the walls went, dissapearing into the blizzard. Yola, Shola, and Nola charged at the door. One, two, three, went the noise.

The door opened enough for the whole group to walk in, shoulder to shoulder, wither to wither, and still have room to move to side. Heartbeat gazed at what could be could the hinges of the gate, and the such small distance they had moved, speaking a silent testimony to the massiveness of the doors. An old yak had pushed open the door. He wore carved stones, and his horns had runes on them. "AH!" he exclaimed, pointing at Heartbeat, causing her to flinch. "A demon, you are not! You have body of dead thing, but your eyes have no life! But you not truly deadend; you were scared of shout! You body is horrid, but your souls are beautiful! Tell me, creature, what do you call you?"

"Uhm. We Heartbeat?" Heartbeat said, trying to rough up her voice to sound like a yak.

"Ah! Welcome, Heartbeat Deadrise! Welcome back, Small Yellow Pieson! Welcome back Yaskav Yiskivdaughter! Welcome back, Yola, Shona Karldaughters! Welcome back, Nola Shaskavson! Welcome back, Solas Norison!" The old yak stepped back, letting the group walk in.

Heartbeat's eyes gazed around, looking at all the large huts. It reminded RazzleBerry of the Earth Pony huts. Then, her eyes noticed the yaks, and RazzleBerry was surprised. She had only heard yaks talked about when a Unicorn was 'putting an Earth Pony in their place.' But here, she was seeing Yaks of all ages playing and laughing together. Some other creatures mingled, but they were so cloaked, even Winter could't tell what they were.

Several yaks started running over, shouting. Heartbeat gave a gurgle of surprise as Yaskav reared up and started charging. She saw the other four yaks charging as well. She went flying as Yaskav's head rammed into a large yak's head. She gave a shout of shock and pain as she hit a roof. She lay dazed, and heard commotion behind her. She started to slide off the roof, and she reached out with her hooves, slowing her descent. Flaps tried to use the wings and ended up speeding up the sliding.

Heartbeat closed her eyes as she lost her grip, but almost immedietly landed on the back on a yak. Opening her eyes, she watched as the yaks shortened the makeshift pile of yaks one by one, until she was safely on the ground. Yaskav and the large yak walked over, heads tilted so the bigger of their horns were dragging on the ground, making their heads jerk oddly. The larger yak gave a sigh. "Yelosiv Marxson is sorry. No mean for danger to you. Wanted to great daughter."

Yaskav nodded, which seemed very hard in the position her neck was in. "Yaskav wanted to greet father. Forgive us?"

Heartbeat slowed her heartbeats. She gave a nod. "Heartbeat forgive you. No worries."

Yaskav and Yelosiv lifted their heads with smiles. "Yaskav thankful. May your horns be long and your head be hard. Er, that no pony saying. How ponies say thanks?"

Little Cheese bounced over. "Well, it depends on the pony, but I usually say, 'Thank you! Have a wonderful day!' But what you said works great! Long horns are admired among unicorns, and Earth Ponies are usually strong all over!"

Yaskav gave a smile. She looked up at her father, and he gave a grunt. Wth a returning grunt, Yaskav ran over to where Nola, Shola, Yola, and Solas were waiting. "Ah, good! No wait for game! Sons versus daughters!"

Their group gave a cheer, but Nola raised his head and stamped with his hooves. "No even. Two sons, three daugters. One daughter need sit out."

Little Cheese quickly bounced over, Heartbeat following. "Me can play!"

Shola gave a look of confusion. "But, you pony."

"Earth Pony! Me strong! Have hard head!" She gave a grunt.

"You no look strong," Nola pointed out.

Little Cheese raised a hoof to her chest. "My mom and dad say I just look very cute and adorable. And I agree. But just because I'm a pretty boy doesn't mean I'm not strong!" She leapt up into the air and landed on her head. Her mane seemed to incredibly cushion the impact. Wait, what did she say? Did we all hear that?

"Yola say, let Small Yellow play me! Yola small. Is safest."

"Little Cheese, what didst thou call thineself?" Heartbeat asked, stepping closer.

"Small Yellow Pieson. Why?" Shona Karl-daughter. Solas Nori-son. Pie-son.

"No, just a few seconds ago."

"Pretty boy? Yeah, not the best nickname, but I like it! A changeling called me that at school because of how un-colt-like I look, and some kids joined in. I liked the sound of it, and-" Heartbeat pushed her lips to Little Cheese's "Hmph!" Heartbeat pulled away, her face pink and her ears red as Little Cheese's face showed both joy and confusion. Yola started stomping her forehooves, and the other yaks joined in. "But, you said that they didn't like my gender like that."

"Act- Act- Actually, we thought you- We apoligize, but we thought that thou wast a fellow filly. I still can't see her as anything besides that. Well, shush, then, Winter! So. What now?" *Snap* Heartbeat and Little turned their heads to look at Nola. *Snap*

Little Cheese gave a giggle. "Thank, Nola! May your horns be long and your head be hard! Oh, the scrap book!" He quickly went over to where the cases were stacked. Opening the cheese slice, he pulled out the scrapbook and what seemed to be a dustcover for the book. A dustcover? For books? Yes, that's a thing that was made. Little Cheese took the blue crayon and wrote 'Our First Date Was Our Longest' on the dustcover. He slipped it over the scrapbook's cover. "Tada! Now, our 'Our Longest Vacation and Adventure' is the events that happened in our date! You like? Oh, wait!" He then opened the book and set four blank photos in position. He went over to Nola and did something with the camera.

The camera released a small red light, going over the blank pictures one by one. Slowly, the images that were taken slowly appeared.

"So, we play now?" Shola asked.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"The Leo Mino-iris crashed through the lab as it ran from the Alchemist, finally settling down on a jar. The All-chemist quicly ran over, opening the lid to the jar and stuffing the Leo Mino-rese into the jar. He slammed the lid down, his chest heaving. The loor to the lab opened. The Alchemist slowly turned to see Professer Quark looking at the remains of his lab. And that's the end of that chapter. Good night, Heartbeat." Little Cheese closed the book.

"Before we go to sleep, I have *Yawn* one last queston. LoveBear?" Heartbeat asked, snuggling into the blanket.

"Well, the 'Love' part is because your name is Heartbeat. The 'Bear' is from when I said RassleBear. I understand if I'm not allowed to call you that-"

"No, no. We give thou permission. It's quite sweet, and it makes me feel special, to have such a special nickname."

"Alright then. Goodnight, LoveBear."

"Good. . . Night. . . Cheesie."