Zombie Love Story

by xscar10

If it has a pulse...

Shiver stood in the shadow, ready to run, but the burning only grew more intense as he waited. He knew that he couldn't wait any more. Shiver took a step forward, and pushed himself out into the light. His skin began to fester in the heat as his fur began to smoke. He ran as quickly as he could out through the broad dawn light.
Not ten yards out, he knew his fur was literally bursting into flames behind him. He howled in pain as he continued forward. He knew the light burned him, but he'd never been out in direct sunlight before. He felt the flames creeping up his sides, but dreaded to look back.
Twenty five yards, halfway there, and he was already enveloped in fire, and smoke. Never did he feel, or even imagine such pure pain. I will spare the details, but they say that being burned alive is the most painful thing any creature thing can ever endure. Shiver writhed with every step, and knew at any moment his legs could buckle out from beneath him.
Forty yards in, he was completely surrounded by fire, but was still not granted death. The flames licked at his eyes, and mouth as he stumbled ever closer to sanctuary. He moved slowly forward, but his legs faltered under is weight. Just feet from his goal, he knew the shadows were close, but he couldn't bring himself to his hooves. He stood, listening to the sounds of his own torment, and drug himself onward.
He felt the flames dissipate as he stepped out of the sun, and never did he want to breath more than he did then. He collapsed at the shadow's edge, his mind contorting as much if not more than his body. However, his torment was over. He had suffered the punishment for his negligence, and he needed to heal. So he began his trek on home. His flesh was scarred from the flames, and his limp made him slower than ever, but nothing a feeding couldn't fix.
He took a detour out into the dark wood, and searched for something to eat. a few hours past, and prey eluded him, but if anything he was patient. He lay in the bush, motionless, soundless, for hours until he heard something. A fox frolicking through the forest. Shiver remained absolutely still. The fox walked over to the base of a nearby tree and stopped. Shiver's eyes locked onto it, shifting from the usual yellow glow to that of a deep red. The fox came closer to the bush, sniffing at the air. Shiver quickly jumped forward with a surprising speed, catching it's neck in his teeth. There was no struggle it was over as quick as it started. He knelt down and slowly picked it apart until all but the bones were gone. As he fed, the flesh grew back onto his bone, and healed his wounds... or rather his new wounds.
Now to set a new goal. He needed a plan. " I'm risking my life just to see her; how am I going to get her to fall for me? Maybe I should find out more about what goes on in town. If I can find some events around town maybe I can come up with something. Yes, maybe." He speculated to himself, walking through the wood.
He made his way home, beaming brightly, without a care in the world. Odd considering he was burned alive just hours ago, but he honestly didn't care. To the best of his knowledge he was, for all intents and purposes, immortal. He never worried about his safety or health. If anything were to happen to him, he could be fixed right up with a bit of food.
Honestly, he was more concerned with Octavia. He knew he had a long road ahead of him, and a lot of work to do. He walked up into his room, thinking to himself, what to write next... when he stopped. His eyes widened in surprise. He saw in front of him, sitting at his desk... another... him.
"No... It's not fair... It's not... I tried so hard... Why?! What did I get? Nothing! Nothing but this pain, and this flower... This useless, ugly flower..." Said the other him, smashing the ghost of a vase before fading away.
What was that? A phantom of... himself? He walked over to his desk, and sat down. There was so much to think about. So many questions, but for now he had a letter to write.

Two months passed, and he sent Octavia letters daily. He would watch as she read them, the way she smiled. He would make the occasional joke just to hear her giggle. His heart would ache to hold her when she cried, to smile when she smiled, to just say hello. As did hers. She sat by every day, waiting for each letter, wishing she knew who he was. Each note he poured his soul into. Each word had heartfelt meaning.
Octavia was setting up decorations for the Hearth Warming Eve party her and Vinyl were throwing. Shiver was delivering his latest letter. He was growing more adept at moving stealthily through the town. It didn't take him long to get in and out anymore; in fact he'd even managed to memorize a few escape routes.
He made his way to Octavia's house, and as he came to the doorstep he saw a letter already rested there. There written across the face of the letter, it read: TO SHIVER. Surprised, he laid down his note, and trotted silently into the alley beside the house. He opened the letter, and it read:

My Dear Shiver:
I may not know what you look like, but I do know what you mean to me. You may be to shy, or to proud to show up, but I still want you to feel welcome to appear at our party. I invite you to join me the Hearth Warming Eve. I only ask one thing of you. I only ask that you wear the same type of flower you gave me with your first letter. It's not much, but all things considered it may be a lot to ask of you. So this is my request to you, my dear Shiver Spine.
With Love: Octavia Philharmonica

His heart (or lack there of) leaped in his chest and he smiled down at the letter... but wait... no... he can't. What would she think of a monster showing up to her party? Probably the same thing she thought when he showed up under the wheel of her cart. What to do? What to do? He rushed quickly home, and closed the door.
"Think, Shiver, think!" He said, pacing across the stone tile nervously. "There must be some way. Yes, some way." He said to himself, shaking his head. He smiled as a thought came to him.
"Yes... Yes, that's it!" He said dashing over to the curtains hung over the window pulling them down with a yank. He took them, cut, and sewed; he spent the entire day working. He drew drafts, cut, sew, trashed, started over. Over and over he tried to get it perfect.
"Finally my suit is ready. Now for the face. Yes, the face." He said, and walked outside, and grabbed an axe. He went out and found a tree that bent just right at the root, and hacked away. He brought the wood in and carved it into a mask that would fit perfectly over his face. Now to the onlooker he just seemed a well dressed stranger.
"Now... what to do about the smell? Yes, the smell." He said, and thought for a moment. "Wait... there was a pony that lived in the forest, she had all sorts of concoctions. But how do I get one I know will work? Oh! I can take the book, and make one myself! Yes! Perfect!" He said, and off he went toward the hut in the forest.

Earlier that morning; Octavia was siting in the kitchen, eating a sandwich, and thinking aloud to herself.
"Well if we set out the ranch out next to the guacamole it will be more aesthetically pleasing, but you'll have to walk all the way around the table to get any on your salad. I suppose I could always move the salad, but then I would have to rearrange the entire fruit section..." She said aloud to herself as Vinyl smirked from across the table.
"Octy you seriously need to stop stressing this party, it'll be fine. The two greatest musicians in Pineville are going to be there. Us. What's the worst that could happen?" She asked, and continued with her cereal.
"The worst?! I could make a complete fool of myself in front of everypony! I could trip and knock over the punchbowl, spilling it all over myself, and while I try to get up I pull the tablecloth pulling down all the food too, andwhiletheyalllaughatmeIlookupandseeShiverlaughingtooandI-" She started to panic, but vinyl covered her mouth.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa... calm down. You're stressing worse than the time we were lost on that island." She said, and Octavia started taking deep breaths.
"Yes... Yes you're right. I need to be optimistic. This party could be a rousing success if I simply take the time to enjoy it." She said and smiled nervously.
"See, good attitude makes all the difference. Look I'll worry about the party; you just get youself together." Vinyl said, and walked over to the refrigerator.
"Right... Well I guess I'll be off then. I need to go to pick up my cello from the shop." She said, finishing her sandwich, and walking toward the door.
"Kay see ya later Octy." Vinyl said, waving goodbye. Octavia waved back, stepping outside.
You know those little random thoughts that enter your mind in passing? A quick sentance ran through her mind, and she forgot it as quick as it came. An odd thing to come to her mind though. "Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved."
She shook her head and remembered her destination. Now headed down to the music shop, she stepped keenly on her way; a lively feel about her, as if her worries had all but vanished. Simply smiling had made her happy. She teotted along her way when along her way came a filly sitting looking at a flower stand.
"Hello little one, what're you doing sitting here? You should be off playing." She said, smiling as the filly looked up at her.
"I wanted to get my mamma a flower, but I don't know which one to get." Said the filly leaning on her hoof. Octavia looked at the flower stand, and just in front was a bright, yellow, sunflower. It was beautiful, especialy in a bouquet. Just behind it was lavender, less impressive to the eye, but the aroma was intoxicating. After a short delibetation she picked up the sunflowers.
"Here take these to her, I'm sure she'll love them." She said, and the filly nodded taking them in her teeth and running off. Octavia smiled and paid for the flowers, continuing on with her day. She went on to the store and smiled at the gray haired clerk.
"Good morning Octavia, I have your cello in the back." Said the clerk, smiling back as he closed a violin case.
"Thank you Frollo. By the way, you're looking rather dapper today." She said, and he smiled under his bushy moustach.
"Why thank you, you seem a might chipper today." He said, putting away the case.
"Oh, well I've beed fairly flustered lately over a party." She said walking up to the counter.
"Really? Well now, you must have been planning this for months, because you've been flustered every time I've seen you since, oh what was it; two months ago?" He said raising a brow, and Octavia mirrored him.
"What do you mean?" She asked, and he shook his head.
"Listen, I'm an old man, and I've seen that look many a few times in my life, but never over a party." He said, tilting his glasses down onto his snout.
"What look? I don't have a look." She said with a skeptical tone.
"Forgive my saying so but, you have the air about you of one who's been smitten." He said, taking off, and cleaning his glasses.
"Well I just don't know what you're talking about, I-" She started, but she was inturubted by his skeptical look, followed by a brief silence.
"It's none of my buissiness whis whome you have taken to; no my buisiness is selling instuments, but I'm old and nosey. So don't come in here if you don't want me asking questions." He said with a chuckle, and put on his glasses. Octavia giggled and shook her head.
"I'll keep that in mind." She said with a smile. With that he walked into the back and pulled out her cello.
"Clean, tuned, and ready to play." He said, pulling it over the counter. Octavia put her money on the counter, and grabbed the cello case.
"I'll make this one free if you tell me who he is." He offered as she turned toward the door.
"Goodbye Frollo." She yelled back as she walked away, hearing his chuckles as she left.

That night, as he made his way through the forest Shiver was smiling brightly and trotting along his way. He came up to the hutt near the forest's edge. He came up, looked in the window, and the black and white pony was either sleeping or out for the night. He stepped inside, and looked at the line of books on the shelf. He pulled them out and flipped through them until he found a solution that was used for masking skunk spray.
He took the book, in his teeth and headed for the door when it started to open. In she stepped, surprise on her face, and a thick tension in the air. There was a long tense silence with Shiver standing timidly frozen in place. The mare took a step back, and Shiver made a break for it.
He dashed forward, swinging his head to push her aside, and stumbled out into the darkness. He kept on running, though not very quickly, through the bushes and woods. He looked back, seeing the mare's flanks as she brought herself to her hooves. He made his way just out of sight, and hid behind a tree, looking back to see if she was following. Luckily she hadn't chased after him.
"That was close. I should have been more careful... or at least figured out where she was ahead of time. Well, no point in looking back now. Yes, no point." He said, and opened the book up in his lap. He sat reading the ingriedients and requirements. Luckily he recognized all the ingredients from around the forest. He ran around, finding things like tomatos, pine needles, katniss root, and venis lustrap petals.
It didn't take much time to gather them all, and carry them home, so he started cooking them up immediatly. He was cooking them up when somthing caught his ear. The sound of the front door opening. He stepped away and looked around the corner toward the door. He saw that same pony from the hutt had somehow found her way here.
"Hello? I don't mean to be rude, but I hope you don't mind if I intrude." She stated, walking inside and looking around. Shiver pulled back into the room, and started searching for a hiding place. He looked he saw a covered chair at the foot of the table. He hid under the chair, but when he he looked above him he saw there was no seat.
He heard the pony walking into the room; seeing the bubbling cauldron must have tipped her off about something. He heard her walking around the room, and coming closer. He heard her walk past the pot and toward the cabinets. There was the sound of opening cabinets, and the clacking of hooves on stone. She was walking closer, and closer. The hoofsteps were feet from the him, and growing closer. An abrubt weight came down on his shoulders, and he felt what was no oviously her sitting on his back. He sat trying to remain as still as possible.
Some time went on and he waited as the pressure of her flank bared down on his back. Eventually she got up and walked over to the pot. She stoped, turned, and walked toward the door. Shiver then took the opportunity to peek out from under the chair, and saw she had taken the book and left. He was lucky all he had left to do was let it simmer overnight.
He got out from under the chair, and walked over to the door, peeking around the corner. She was walking into the study. He followed behind her, and peeked around the corner. She was standing over the desk, and looking over his supplies. There wasn't much there, but he had obviously been there recently.
"There is powerful magic at work here, somthing dark and disturbing I fear." She said, and took a step back. As she did, she grabbed a handful of green dust from her bag. She tossed the dust over the desk, and there sitting in the chair was another ghost like one he'd seen before, but this one was a very different him. His face was not torn, his horn whole. This was him long before he could remember.
"No, no, no! Wrong again! The taste is all wrong. Perhapse strawberry... or peach. Yes, peach." He said scrawling notes down on a paper.
"Esmarelda! Take this to Donne and Hugo, have them make this, and send it up to me. Quickly! Please." He said giving the note to an unseen figure.
"I couldn't serve this at the festival. This is not fit for the lips of a princess... but I suppose it's more than enough for an old bitter stallion. Who am I kidding? I simply don't have the time to perfect this before the festival, my failure isn't possible, it's inevitable." He said taking a drink, and leaning on his elbow.
"Don't say that. You know very well you're the best at what you do. If anyone can do it it's you." Said a mare walking into view. "You shouldn't beat yourself up so much. Come on daddy, you need to get out of this office." She said, pulling him out of his chair, before disappearing.
"Some how I doubt he realized his goal. I feel so sorry for these poor souls." Said the mare turning and starting to head out. Shiver backed away from the door and hid behind a statue as she passed bye. She was walking toward the exit strangely fleetly. It seemed she didn't want to linger here any longer than she had to.
Shiver was both relieved and unnearved by her leaving... but then again they were always scared of him, why shouldn't they be scared of a few ghosts? He wasn't afraid of ghost. Especially ones of himself, or rather who he was. He dismissed the panic of normal ponies as nothing a long time ago. So he decided to move on, or at least to get back to what he was doing.

Vinyl was up late hooking up her sound system, while Octavia was all in bed trying to sleep. Trying being the key word. Vinyl was told to check for a letter of response from Shiver. As she turned to plug her amp in, out of the corner of her eye she saw a shimmer. She stood up, and looked over her shoulder. The shimmer had come from the window by the door. She walked over and opened the door, seeing the letter on the doorstep as usual.
Vinyl picked it up and stepped back, a cool breeze entering the house as the door shut. Walking into the kitchen, she set the letter down on the counter. She started to walk away when curiosity gripped her. Octavia didn't let her read the letters when they came in because she'd usually tease Octy about it. She sat looking back over her shoulder at the letter.
"Hey what could it hurt?" She said, and opened the letter.

My dear Octavia:
I would give a thousand years to spend but one night dancing with you.
As I would enjoy your company as I knew I would never meet your eyes again.
Would I dance with you, but not to be cast from the moons radiance to the orange hues on the east.
My last moments would be spent as we stepped elegantly across the stage.
Then I would become dust in your hooves as the night would end.
And this would be time well spent.
I eagerly await this Hearth Warming Eve.
Shiver Spine

"Whoa... Heavy stuff." Vinyl said, and looked it over again. "I guess that means he's coming." She said laying the letter on the counter. The sound of hooves on the stairs meant Octavia was awake and coming down. Vinyl levitated the note in front of her.
"Octy, lookie what I got." She held it up as Octavia appeared around the corner.
"What is it?..." She asked with a sigh, her eyes lighting up as the letter came into view. Vinyl smirked as she shook the page in place tauntingly. Octavia quickly skittered over and tried to grab it, but just as her hoof was about to reach she lifted it a little higher, allowing Octy to fly past. Just as Octy started to register what happened Vinyl laid a good smack on her flank.
"You-! You slaped my bum!" Octy turned around, surprised and flustered.
"Yes I did. By the way,you might want to lay off the sugary snacks, getting a little big back there." Vinyl turned, just as Octavia scoffed. "Now look, I'll give you the letter, but only if you promise not to giggle, or squee, or any of those other little girlfriend noises." She said, floating the letter just above her head.
"Yes, yes, fine. Now give it here!" Octavia said, grabbing it from above her head. "... And I'm not his girlfriend. He's my admirer, and I his admiree." Octavia said haughtily.
"Admiree?" Vinyl said to herself in confusion. Octavia read the letter silently a smile creeping across her face. As she neared the end of the letter her smile came to full fruition. She looked up from the letter and sighed.
"This is going to be the best party... ever!" Octavia held the letter tightly to her chest, giggling like a schoolgirl.
"Hey you promised no giggling." Said Vinyl, smiling and rolling her eyes.
"Right. Octavia, must keep yourself calm. Maintain your ladylike composure." Octavia said to herself, straightening up and taking a deep breath. "Vinyl we have a lot of work to do." She said, walking into the living room.
"Oh... Great..." Vinyl said, knowing she was going to have a long day ahead of her.

Shiver waited patiently through the night until he was sure the brew was ready. He scooped up some of the magenta liquid into a small jar, and dabbed it onto his hoof. He leaned in to smell for himself and not only did it work, it worked better than he even thought. The smell of corpse completely vanished and a light scent of pine and lavender was clear. However... He quickly realized he would need a lot more than one jar.
He debated with himself for a good while before deciding; he was going to have to be completely covered. He stepped up on a stool and hopped right in, completely submerging himself. He quickly surfaced, and climbed back out of the pot looking down at his hooves.
Luckily it only left a slight purple sheen on his fur, and didn't turn him pink. The air around him smelled of fresh pines and lavender, though it was a little strong, he would air out. Shiver set out the clothes he'd made himself, a suit made to fit his form perfectly, a tie to go around his collar and give the illusion of having a neck, a cape with high collar to hide that he actually doesn't have a neck, and his mask to cover his face.
He was quite proud of his work, sitting and looking at it as it was, he couldn't help but smile as he thought about the coming tonight. He was filled to the brim with humble pride. His sense of accomplishment seemed as thick as the stone walls of the castle, but that quickly faded as he realized he had forgotten something very important.
The flower.
He looked out his window seeing that noon was drawing near so his time was limited to find a flower. He knew just where they were, but the venture was long and he would have to hurry if he was to make it by tonight. It would have been faster by moonlight, but hindsight is twenty/twenty. He grabbed his new clothes knowing he wouldn't have the time to come back here for them.
Now dressed in his suit he set off into the forest, and down into the chasms. He had to make detours as noon approached, and the sun beaded down from above. The paths through the forest were either long or dangerous and he didn't have time so he took the riskier path. It was then that he realized he had soiled his new clothes with little bits of dirt and mud. It was a shame, but it didn't really matter right now.
He eventually came to the only place he knew they grow. Off a small ledge in a cave filled with luminescent mushrooms. Only problem being that over that ledge was a pit of infinite blackness. Couldn't have made it easy, huh narrator? The pit however since it was near pitch black could have been either a mile or thirty feet, there was no way to tell. He tried throwing a rock down once, but he never heard a noise so either the ground was pretty soft or there was no bottom. Point being, falling is bad.
Shiver came to the ledge where a very large patch of these flowers were growing just along the cave wall. He reached his head down over the ledge trying to catch one in his teeth, but he couldn't reach. So he inched forward, and pulled his hoof over the ledge, barely being able to grab one, he pulled it from the wall. Doing so he started to loose balance. He quickly pulled himself back with his back hooves, and onto the cave floor. With a sigh of relief and a nod of the head he turned and headed for the exit.
As he stepped out of the cave, he placed the flower on his jacket, seeing his clothing was slightly more disheveled than before. Mud was on his cuffs, and cape, not to mention the slight tears in the fabric. Still, he was fine with it, he won't look perfect, but it's not so noticeable... right?
He now had to make the climb and the journey to town which meant he has to either find a way to cross the river or search for shallow water. While fallowing the riverbank he did find a place where a tree had fallen, and with a group of vines growing off he had the idea to "lasso" his way across. He grabbed a vine and came to the end of the tree tossing the vine onto a branch across the way.
He checked to make sure the grip on the branch would hold, and took a leap of faith. His swing, though not very graceful was effective. He made it across the river... and right into a pack of timber wolves. He froze for a minute staring at the group of confused creatures before they realized they were staring at food. Just as one leaped forward, Shiver made a break for it.
Though not nearly as fast as them, he weaved through trees with relative skill, narrowly avoiding jaws snapping at his hooves. He remembered while he ran that there was more than one way to get away from timber wolves, and stopped dead in his tracks skidding to a left turn. As the wolves tried to adjust they met with a pair of rather forceful rear hooves. He then made a mad dash as the rest of them started to catch up, jumping over a log and quickly tucking allowing them to run past.
As the action subsided he went to doing what he was best at. Hiding. He shuffled through tall grass, and bushes, climbing trees, and the wolves were completely unaware. He left them in the dust as he headed for town. However During his chase, he seemed to have torn a few more holes in his cape, and cotton all sorts of filth gathered on his suit. He did his best to brush it off, but it still seemed pretty bad. This little oversight had cost him, it was nearing dark and he could hear people gathering for the party.
He swiftly made his way from shadow to shadow until his fleet hooves brought him to Octavia's house. The Party hadn't started yet. It seemed as though this day might just be changing for the better. He waited at the side of the house until a good number of guests had arrived, and decided it was time to join in on the party.

Comments

[Hoahdog]

I like this

[xscar10]

2634898
Tank you