Heartbeatby Vietmane VeteranChaptersChaptre OneChaptre TwoChaptre ThreeChaptre OneShe was so many places, so many. She was scattered so far, in so many things in the ground. She was so very cozy as she slept. She remembered so much as she slept in her eternal beds, wherever any of her was. Her parts were found by her new Father. A kind Father. Like all her Fathers, he lovingly caressed her as he carried her out of bed, each and every one of her. Eventually, he started to take parts of her, piecing them together for the best version of her. She was a donor. Well, most of her was donated while those parts of her had blood flowing. She had fallen deadly ill, and so most of her had volunteered to help somepony else get better. But now, she was still; the blood flowed no more. She breathed no more. But her new Father was going to change that. She heard from so many sets of ears that she was going to be made into life. A new life from old bodies. She was so happy, all her thoughts blurring together. Once again, they would feel the embrace of Father! Father was so happy, so happy, to beat Celestia at her own game! But what did Celestia play? Oh, so much of her was lost in the process. So many times, she thought she was ready, her new body full of spells, all the rest of her watching, listening, waiting to see their new body move! But the spells always failed, lost their spark, or BURNED her body! It always hurt so much! To feel life pumping through, to enter with such pain, only to feel an ever greater pain! Burning, frying, dying so painfully! She tried to hold on, but it only extended the pain. Oh, woe was her father, for he wept much after each failure. And so much of herself faded, as the pieces became cinders, or the spells preserving them wore off and they decayed, or they were stolen and torn by wild things. And as those pieces left, so did much of herself. She became scared. She was able to grasp some of those fading memories and meld them together, preserving some thoughts of the remaining. She had an grand idea! She would help Father! As he made bodies, she would too! When he finished with one, she could use the pieces not yet used. A part here, a piece there. But her work was so slow, and Father was so much faster! And his skill greatly exceeded hers! When she was piecing bone with bone with the passing hours, he made a skeleton come together at his will. While she struggled and failed to create a thin head of hair, he made such pretty manes and tails. She lacked so much knowledge, but he was able to make a heart beat without the body. She loved her Father so much, and just wanted him to be happy! So, she copied what he did. She could not activate the spells like he could, but she could piece together her body the way he did. She watched, and pieced so slowly. She didn't know why the parts went where they did, but she put them just like Father did. She added some things. A horn, just like her father. And two feather things. Like pony wings, but larger. She tried to make sure they stayed together, all for Father, but it was getting harder. There was less of her around now, just bits and pieces, snippets of thoughts. And now she was nearing just one voice, for the few that remained grouped together in a desperate attempt of self-preservation. All for Father. She just wanted to hug him, comfort him, let him know that she was nearby and that she LOVED him. One day, she observed that he had ran out of other parts, and he was prepared to go the way of the REAPER. The REAPER, who had WATCHED her for so long, who stayed back because she BEGGED the REAPER! And now Father wanted to go in her place! She cried, and her body shook from her grief. Her Father looked up. His complexion changed in a moment, the REAPER forgotten by him. He leapt forward in joy. He grabbed the body and thrust it into his work place. He started the spells once more. His magic flowed through her body like so many times before. She moved into the body, flowing to everything. Oh, how she loved Father and all he did for her! And now, she could give back! Entering the body always hurt so much, but it would be worth Father's happy face! Her body shook with pain as the spells flowed through. But these were the last parts; this just had to work! She hurt, oh, how everything hurt! But she braced through, she had to, she had to, she had to! Her body shook more than ever! Then, it laid still. Everything was focused into one form. Her eyes couldn't see the image, for she was used to seeing everything at once. Her ears, one on either side of her head, could only catch so much sound. So, she laid there. Father came near, his hoof steps slow. She yearned to turn to him, but she could only hear. She could not feel, she could not taste the air, she could not see. So, she waited. Father came near, walked around her. He spoke, but she knew not what he said. She waited, waited so long. She waited and waited and waited! She could not stand it any longer! These were the last parts, Father must be made happy! She focused, she felt through her interior, she concentrated on her body. She breathed! A deep, long breath as her lungs filled with air! She rolled towards the sound of movement. Father! She opened her eyes to see him. Oh, the joy on Father's face! Bu- but wha- what's that look? He looked scared! She raised a hoof towards Father, wanting to comfort him. He lept up and galloped for the window of the shed. Wa- wait! Why did he jump through? Where was he going? What about her? Was he leaving her? No, that could not be! She tumbled off the wooden table and onto the dirt floor. She raced for the window, stumbling as she moved. She raised her front to the window sill. He was leaving her! "Father!" she tried to call, but out came a scream of pain! Father galloped faster, leaving her behind in the shed. No, leaving for something. To get something? She would just wait for his return. She turned her head away from the sill and fell over as she lost her balance. Her head hit the ground with soft sound. Was her head soft? She got up and stumbled more. She forgot how to use a body. She searched for food as she stumbled, but there was nothing. Nothing but her that was edible, but she wasn't going to eat herself. But that wooden wolf might. She slowly looked back to the window. Yes, that was a wooden wolf. That's called a Timber Wolf. AND IT'S GETTING FURTHER IN. She had to get to the door. She slowly shuffled to the door as the wood wolf tried to force its way through a window that was narrower than it. She was almost to the door when it succeeded. She screamed, throwing open the door and hurting her arms in the process! She ran, oh, she ran! RUN RUN RUN, OR THE WOLF WILL GET YOU! RUN RUN RUN, THAT'S WHAT YOU HAFTA DO! She kept that silly rhyme in her head as she ran, ran this way and that, under roots and over stumps. She ran even when she didn't hear the growls anymore. She ran past the scary hut with the black and white pony by a pot. The pony was safe in that hut, she didn't want to bring danger to them, so she ran past. She ran until she realized she wasn't in the forest anymore. She stopped, surprised by what she saw. She took slow steps as she traveled onwards. There were so many animals! All sleeping so soundly. She wanted to pet them, but with the amount of control she had on her limbs, she would probably smack them instead. She stumbled through, step after step. She liked the one in the tree, with its red tail and brown body. So fascinating, the way his body had so many pieces that were not normally found together. Maybe he was a brother for her. She'd come back when it was day. But they were a long path that she wanted to follow first. She followed the path into a town. Everything looked so nice, so peaceful. Such a pretty shade of yellow coated the walls of the buildings. She stumbled her way through the streets, observing this night-time town. ... It was very quiet. She always imagined that there would be more activity at night in towns. Oh, well. Ooh, such a pretty building! The way it was built reminded her of a carousal. There was a light in one of the ground windows. Perhaps she could stay here tonight, and to the animal place later. She knocked on the door. Hoof steps came near. The sound of magic, and the door opened, spilling light upon her face. "Hello, latecomer, and welcome to- *Shriek!*" The white Unicorn fell back and crawled backwards in terror. She stepped in, fearing what was behind her that made the pony scream in such a way. But she found herself being lifted in a grip of magic, and forcefully flung out of the building. She hit the ground and the door slammed, the sounds of things being moved reaching her ears. She glanced all around but saw only herself. But that would mean that she was why the Unicorn screamed. She stumbled to the window, trying to peer in. But things had been put in front of them as well, creating a wooden-backed mirror of sorts. And what she saw made her understand why the Unicorn scream. She understood why Father left her. She was such a pale, pale color. Her eyes were glazed over, but they were also bloodshot. Some blood leaked from her ears. And her feathery things just lay limply down, dragging the ground. And her horn's rings had tints of red, blood. A sign of just how shoddy her work was. Which meant she was shoddy. A shoddy freaking freak. She stumbled off. She still couldn’t feel anything. Maybe she never would feel. She wouldn't even know if she was starving to death. Or if she swam, if she had been below the water for too long. Or if it was cold enough to freeze to death! She roughly shook her head to clear her mind of her past deaths. That brought individual memories, and they needed to stay as one being, or they may not be able to control this form. She stumbled until she found the dirt road. Maybe the animals could let her stay with them. If not, she would be condemned to stay in the forest. Why was it taking so much longer to reach the animal place from town than the other way around? And why were the trees different? And what was that building up ahead? Oh. Oh, dear. She took the wrong road. Maybe she could sleep in that barn up ahead. She increased her pace, tripping once or twice. Oh, there were some swine and sheep on the farm! Where was the shepherd? Probably watching from the distance with a slingshot ready. Well, maybe he might mistake her for a normal pony seeking shelter. Or not see her at all. That would be best. She reached the barn. With some difficulty, she opened the door. Inside, there weren’t any animals like she thought there would be. Weird. Were they sleeping elsewhere? She went behind some bales of hay. She laid down and pulled some loose hay over herself. This would do. She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep, letting her thoughts settle for the night. Author's Note Frankenstein is a beautiful creature. Chaptre TwoAuthor's Note *Unsquare noises followed by triangle shaped noises* What? Ignore that. How you folks like the story? I can't figure out how to use tags! Chaptre Two [Note: Ponyal = Personal] Voices drifted to her ears. She stirred. She tapped her horn. She still could not feel. She listened to what the voices were saying. ". . . And its eyes, Darling, they were the worst!" "Ah believe what yous saw, Rarity. Did yah tell anypony else?" "I'm not sure if anypony would believe that there are zomponies around now. *Ugh* Those eyes will haunt me forever." "We should get Twilight on this. She'll be able to find it and stop it before it does any harm." She felt like crying. She was going to be hunted. Red blurred her vision. She reached up and wiped her eyes. She realized that she was crying blood. Which would stain her light skin. Which would amplify her frightful appearance. The hay bale beside her moved up. Wait! She looked up to see the orange hooves of the shepherd. And beyond her was the Unicorn. The Unicorn pointed with her hoof and screamed! She quickly got up and ran for the door. She darted around the red horse and ran for the orchards. She had to get away. Barely a day into her new life, and she was despised. She supposed that this must of been what zebras felt when they came to Equestria. Now she felt guilty. Well, part of her. The part that owned a zebra. She stopped. Did she need to eat? She could eat some while she was here, but if she didn't need food, she'd unnecessarily weigh herself down. She turned to solve the problem to pick the apples, and saw another problem heading for her in the shape of the red horse. She turned and ran again. Run Run Run. Either she had unending endurance, or she was damaging her body without knowing. Run Run Run. Is that a- Yes, silly, it's a house in a tree, part of you had one. Up the ramp, through the door, past the ponies, into the upper area by using the ladder- and her path was blocked! She observed the distance from the window to the ground below. Unless she had full pony strength, she would break something. "What was that?" "What was what, Sweetie Belle?" "Something just went upstairs!" "*Gasp* *Buzz* A crusader visiting where it all started! Let's say hi!" "Hold on, Scootaloo. They ran past us without much noise, so they must be a foal, and something was chasing them. As adult ponies, it is our responsibility to see what was the problem, and try to solve it." "And if we cahn't?" "Well, then we hide up here." She moved her head through the hole in the ground and withdrew once she noted their appearance. Did they know not of what she was? Or did they not see her clearly when she entered? "Do not go searching for a monster that is not without this treehouse. The monster is within. Would you spare us your hateful stares? You! With the bow! Your kin are in pursuit of us. Can you calm them?" "What do y’all look like?" The ladder creaked. She was coming up! "No, no, no, no, no! Do not come up! You will see our face, and you will fear us at once! For we are a hideous thing, and we beg you not to gaze upon us!" The ladder creaked again, and the hoofsteps returned to the floor below. "Are you a colt or a filly? You sound like a colt." My face surely had heated in that moment. "As do you, Winged One! Don't be rude to a higher up!" No, we shouldn't be rude. "Sorry. I'm a filly. Do you know how to use these? I see that you use yours for flying, but I don't know how to work the muscles." With some difficulty, I lowered my right wing down the hole. "Um, wings should not be that floppy. You might have a broken shoulder." "Um, girls, why is her wing all bloody?" Truth or lie? Truth, we should always be honest! "I cry blood. And I've been crying a lot." . . . A lie would most likely of sounded more truthful. And saner. "Wait, y’all said my kin were after y’all? I'll get right on explaining to them!" Hoofsteps leaving the house. The white one and the orange one were left. "Pray tell, what is the purpose of these feathered wings? Surely, things our size should not be able to fly with them. Are they like our forelegs?" "Well, usually Pegasi can fly with their wings. Mine are a bit weird, so I use them to give me a wicked boost on my scooter! I can do all sorts of tricks, like-" "Scootaloo, don't get off track." Scooter? What is a scootaloo? Scooter seems to be an object, so is a scootaloo a skill or trick performed with one? "Whoops, sorry. Anyways, some Pegasi do use their wings in place of their forelegs. Um, you want me to see if I can set your shoulder, or whatever? Also, what kind of monster are you?" "Don't come up here with us! For we are the dead come alive." "Cool! Zomponies! Who's your necro?" "My . . . Necro?" "Necromancer! You know, the guy who used dark magic to forcefully bring you back from the dead. Oh! Or are you the infection type? You know, where it's a sickness that affects the brains of living things? Or are you- *Mph hmm Mph-* *Pleh* What?" "Does she sound like a Necromancer's servant to you?" Shouting from outside. The family. Fast hoofsteps up the ramp. "But she's not dangerous! Ah swear!" "It's just trying to trick y’all! Zomponies are servants of Dark beings! We have to destroy it!" "Eyup!" Time to jump. We sprung up from the hole. We didn't have much space, so we simply lept from the window. Down, down. "OW!" We could feel! We could feel the grass, the air, our hunger, our burning muscles, our body, the pounding behind our eyes! But the pain! We took off, stumbling, stumbling. Faster, faster! Use the wings like legs! Shouting behind us! In our defense and declaring our demise! Far enough now, hide behind the tree! We collapsed against the tree, our lungs burning! Need to relax, need to calm down! Deep breaths, deep breaths, deep. . . breaths. Okay. We need an apple. *Bonk* Oh, how chanceful was that event? We pick up the apple, mouth open to take a bite. A worm pops from the apple. Gross! No, awesome! Awesome? Which part of her liked a grimy thing such as a worm? Him. Him? Eww! There was a colt in her mind! Eww? Colts are yucky and muddy. All of us have played in mud! Well, then colts are stinky. Hey, I've wrestled with my pigs before! What's bad about being stinky? Who's talking? We lost track. We shouldn't even need to break apart our union. So what if one of us is a colt? This is the body of a filly! Sharing it with a colt seems . . . I don't wanna say the word. What word? Does it matter? We all have a common goal: find Father. But Father left us! So, now what? Find the Brother! Yeah, with all the fuzzy animals! I didn't know colts liked fuzzy animals. I didn't know that fillies liked playing in mud. STOP SEPERATING! We need to stay as one mind. One body, one mind, one voice. Alright, but if one of us want to be the leading mind for a short time, then we allow that. Agreed? Agreed. Now, we need to get to the road before the family finds us. We are a horrid thing, and thus we need to find a way to disguise ourselves. Or we play hide and seek with everypony in town. But should be show just our wings, just our horn, or cover them all? Why? Because we look like a nightmare alicorn. What's a alicorn? They are the Princesses of Equestria, the land we are in! I came from the Unicorn kingdom. UNION! Not Legion, united in thought! If we break apart, then we will never function! Maybe we should make our way to the cookie place. Why? I got a feeling that there is a kind baker there. How? Just a hunch. Or maybe an impression sent by Celestia! Who? One of the rulers of Equestria. No, she is the only ruler. What of Sombra? Who? What of Chrysalis? Again, who? We should stop this thinking! United! We're just chatting. And as long as we are one in purpose for the body, our minds can say what they want. What about that bit about who gets main control earlier? I meant as in, if one of us has an idea to share or wants to go swimming or something. FOCUS! SHUT UP! OUR HEAD! "Hello. Are you a collaboration of memories strung together and given a form to control? Oh, sorry. I should introduce myself. I am Maud. As you can see, I'm very excited to meet you." We look up to the face of a gray mare with a lovely mane. No, it's drab. She's drab. She looks like she might be a Pie! Pie? My family! "Can you help us get to town?" Wait, we didn't agree to speak! Don't matter does it? Yes, it does! "I'll let you finish your internal debate on ponyal politics first. After all, forms of government are very important, even if many creatures don't agree." "How did you know about us?" "Just a hunch." Yep, she is a Pie! The Pie Family is psychic? No, we have senses! You mean more than Sensation? How far are you in science? In what now? We will all talk later. For now, back to Maud. She may be our best chance of . . . I don't know, but she's not screaming and running away like the others. "Are you ready? I have an extra cloak you can wear. You may want to fold your wings." We attempted to. Our efforts resembled that of a chicken that had water poured on it. Why would you do that? Curiosity. "Hmmmm. Maybe Rarity can help with fixing your wings. Stay still." Maud draped a cloak over us. For an Earth Pony peasant, she certainly was skillful with the use of her hoofs. HEY! For an Earth Pony Peasant?! FOCUS! . . . Please stop yelling. Sorry. Maud started to walk off. She followed, stumbling after Maud. Hoof after hoof, trying to keep balance- Ow. She fell over onto her face, pinning her wings under her in the process. Maud turned around and opened her mouth to say something. "It's with Maud! Maud, don' let it get away!" WHAT?! How did they already find us? No, let us go! Maud grabbed her and lifted her up. Wait, what? Maud threw her up-and-over the trees! She readied herself for the pain of crashing into a tree, but somehow, she landed in one by the road without getting hurt! How? Pies can do many a great and marvelous works. More of that Pie Sense nonsense? Kinda. We are a line of Earth Ponies, so we have immense strength. FO- Focus, please. We need to decide now; do we travel to the bakery, or do we travel to the animal place? Bakery. Besides, we need food. Onwards! Onwards? Shut up, I'm trying to have fun here. So, she went 'onwards' to the town. She staggered through the streets, constantly worrying about the family from before. Two were driven by fear to capture her, and the third might of turned to see things their way. She hid whenever a new face popped up. It was just like hide'n'seek. But instead of hiding from her friends, she was hiding from a town's worth of potentially harmful ponies. And dragons. And dragon deers. And... Yaks? What? When most of her was alive, creatures didn't mingle much beyond their own tribe. How many moons had past her bye that bug-deer were a species? And something was also very familiar about them. . . Something about how their skin shone like shells. Something. . . awful. But no matter how awful those things might have been, she was probably much more frightsome. Ah! There's the bakery! She crept inside. Shouldn't we avoid going into spaces with only one exit? Not with this place. Ah, who?! A yellow filly with a pink mane bounced over from one of the tables. "Hiya! I'm Little Cheese! Nice to meet chya!" She stared into Little Cheese's face. Her cheeks flushed. WAIT, NO, NO, NO, NO! That's a fellow filly; that kind of thinking is taboo and disgusting! I'm sorry, I can't help it! She's cute! Stupid colt! "Hey, you all right? You must be hot under that cloak. Com'n, I got a soda we can share!" Little Cheese grabbed her hoof and pulled her into a booth seat. "Uh . . ." What do I say?! Hey, why do you think she's cute? Is it her mane? I don't know! We need to kick his mind from us, I can't even speak. Oi, emotions are a powerful thing! Especially love! That's not helping me become unflustered! "Com'n, have a sip. Please? Wait, can you drink soda, Miss BogeyMare?" Bogey? Yuck! No, BogeyMare. That's the name of the thing under the bed. We thought that was called a monster. "Why did you call me BogeyMare?" Ey, the confusion took away your being flustered! Shut it! "When I brought you to my seat, your hood slipped off. Wait, are you Miss BogeyMare's daughter? Or did you shrink since I last saw you? Or am I just getting you mixed up with her?" . . . She's seen the BogeyMare? Maybe? What is this filly? Pretty. I mean-! Shush. Just, shush. What do we say? "I'm not the BogeyMare, nor am I related to her. I am a monster, but you shy not from me. Tell me, where did you inherit such bravery?" "Huh? It's not bravery. You look nice!" STOP MAKING US BLUSH. I'm sorry! "Not used to complements? Wowzie. That's a first. Then again, I thought you were related to Miss BogeyMare, and many ponies are scared of her. . . Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Hey, what's your name?" Coal Pie. Miss RazzleBerry the Second. Flaps. Cream Scoop. Sandy - STOP! UNION! Stop screaming! We can't use all our personal names. What should our Unified name be? "I- I don- don't have one. Do you think you could help me find one?" Really? Stuttering? I do it when I get nervous! No, you don't. When I'm speaking and nervous! "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Oh, first, you should put up your hood. Here, I'll do it for you!" Little Cheese leaned across the table. Isn't Little Cheese leaning a bit far forward? Maybe? Uh, oh! Little Cheese somehow managed to lose her balance and fall flat across the table. With her face down, she moved her right hoof and pulled the hood up over the head her. Little Cheese then waved her arms around as she tried to get back up. Little Cheese's hooves came into contact with her torso. Then, somehow, in some way that she could not grasp, Little Cheese hopped from being flat on the table to sitting in the seat. "Hearts beating in your chest. Make you special from the rest. Hey, that rhymed! *Giggle*" Hearts? Check our internals. 2 hearts. Sorry, I put in the second one. That laugh . . . so beautiful. Laying down a line now; you will not flirt with her! I wasn't going to! "Hey, Heartbeat! That's a pretty name! How 'bout we make it yours?" "S- Sure! Heartbeat. Makes me feel pretty." . . . Did I really just make say that? Yep! Heartbeat heard hoofsteps come down the stairs. Do we run? No, kind baker, remember? A pink pony bounced down the stairs. "Hiya, Little Cheese! Who's your friend? Or did I just guess them?" "Her name's Heartbeat. Mom, don't throw her a party." "Whaaaaaaaat? Why?" "She looks like Miss BogeyMare. And things didn't go well with her party." "Hmmmmm. Okie Dokie Lokie! Mommy's gotta trot some errands! I'll be back!" She bounced out the door, tail waving up and down in farewell. "Oh, hi, Applejack, hi, Rarity! What brings you here? Uhuh. Okay. Alright. One seccooooond." The mother brought her head into the doorway. "Hey, Little Cheese, I wanna tell you something, and it's okay to be scared. Your friend there? Take her hoof and RUUUN!!!" Little Cheese was quick to obey. She grabbed Heartbeat by the hoof and galloped up the stairs. She headed for a window and dragged a confused Heartbeat behind her. She jumped out of the window! They landed on a pile of hay outside. How could that be set up in advance? Pies are known for being ready! Wait, that wasn't Coal. No, that was me, Flaps. As I said, Pies are known for being ready. And for being rock farmers. "Wahoo! Where should we run? Ooh, I know! Let's visit Gummy!" Little Cheese pulled Heartbeat beside her, giggling as the two of them moved quickly. STOP THINKING ABOUT HER THAT WAY! I'm sorry! I can't help it! Well, she is a pretty filly. Can you blame his colt mind for falling for her? . . . No. Who's Gummy? As the odd pair ran through town, creatures hardly batted on eye at them. Changelings! That's what they were! But they were prettier now. Awesome looking instead of their grotesque black shells. With all these different creatures, maybe Heartbeat could fit in. But the Changelings made themselves look friendly. Heartbeat doubted she could do that even with a dress and makeup. Makeup? What happened to being yourself? Makeup is gross anyways. What? Why? It's a fake face and it's sticky. The pair reached the animal place from before! Yes! Uh, oh. The animals all gazed with suspicion and fear. One rabbit even had hate in its eyes, and scampered off to a hut when Heartbeat looked at it. But where was the likely brother? "Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Huh, I guess she's not here today. Must be with Discord. Follow me, Gummy's in the lake!" Little Cheese exclaimed, her beautiful voice full of excitement. STOP IT! SHUT UP! "Where is she? Is she a fish?" Heartbeat asked. "Nooooo. But he is in the water! Try to spot him!" Heartbeat leaned closer to the water. Could she swim? Most of her knew how to swim, but parts of her had drowned. Where was Gummy? And what was the purpose of the green stones in the water? Oh, those were eyes. Big, pink eyes. A sense in her told her that behind those eyes laid a brilliant mind, perhaps even surpassing that of Father's. That's stupid! It's an alligator! What's that noise behind us? "NO! Don't hurt her, stay back! Please?" Heartbeat spun around to see what the commotion was. She saw all the animals running for her, and she could feel her fear rising, she could feel her hearts pumping so hard. Then the sound of a waterfall! The alligator landed in from of her, having lept from the water. Part of her was so scared, so scared, so scared, so scared! RUN!!!!!!!!!! She galloped for the edge of the forest. She was still being followed! Faster, legs, faster! They are still behind us! STOP! Calm down and think! CALM DOWN! Yelling isn't helping! "Stop, please! It's me! Gummy stopped them! Please, stop running!" Little Cheese is the one chasing us? Why? Because we ran off. That's it, slow down. Deep breaths, deep breaths, deep . . . breaths. Little Cheese bent down and scoop up some mud. "Sucking mud! Sucks up moisture. Draws prey to water, but also works for cuts and tears!" She gently put it on Heartbeat's face, dabbing it wherever the red tears had streaked. After she was done, she tossed the mud. She leaned towards Heartbeat and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "There. Feel better? Why's your face all red? Oh no! Is it allergies?" Inside Heartbeat's head was a torrent of thoughts. Why did she do that?! Does she like us?! What age have we woken to that filly foolers are this young?! Calm down, it was only a mother type kiss. 'Kiss and feel better', as the saying goes. Flaps isn't saying anything. Finally! Is he okay? "N- no. I m- mean- me- m- Beans! I mean, y- yes, I'm al- all right. Why- Why- Why- Why- Beans! Why did you kiss me?" Why are you taking over? Quiet, you. "It's what my mom and dad do to make me feel better. Kiss on the cheek, then rub it in!" Little Cheese reached over and rubbed Heartbeat's cheek, causing another flush of the face. "Ru- Ru- Rub it in?" "I used to try to rub away their kisses, so they told me that I was just rubbing them in. Let's ty to get to my home. Uh. . . DO you know where we are? It's getting late." Heartbeat gazed around. She had run far and fast. How much time actually passed? Is it nighttime already? No, the area just gets dark fast. "Camp out! I have no tent on me, but we can make mats using the leaves! We're not too far in, so this is a safe zone! Gather some sticks please! We're going to have a fire! I'll make our mats!" EEEEEE! <3 She is just so cute! Oh, no. That kiss just made you crush on her more, didn't it? Listen, brute; that kiss had no meaning beyond comforting us. Brute? Pegasi are brutes, Earth Ponies are ruffians, and Unicorns are perfection. Sticks! Gather sticks before we get into a fight with ourselves! "Um, I don't think we have enough balance to pick up sticks." Idiot! We have a horn. It's just like an Earth Pony to forget such an essential fact. Wow. You are a snob, RazzleBerry. Fun fact, if she is stupid, you are also stupid by extension. Heartbeat tried to use her horn. Nothing happened. Who is stopping us from using our magic? I demand to know! I think we all are trying different methods to use the magic. "I got the fire going! Com'n, let's have S'mores! I don't have any pears, so we can't do Sum'Yums. Com'n, sit by me!" By the Princesses, stop it already! Your emotions are very nauseating. SHUT. IT. Just let him have his crush. Are you okay with this sort of taboo?! Love is love, even if I don't approve of it. Plus, a satisfied group is a happy group. What? "S'more? Sum'Yums? What are those?" Oh, that fire is lovely! So delicious. Wait, delicious? Gah! The flames 0f the fire had drifted to Heartbeat, where they started to seep into the skin. Her blood felt hot and she felt just a tad stronger. She stopped trying to feel the heat flow through her, and the fire went back to normal. "Hey, don't fill up on the fire! S'mores, remember? Here, I got one ready for you, since your hooves are so shaky. Open wide!" Heartbeat obeyed, and in return a hard-bread sandwich with chocolate and melted sweet was put into her mouth. Oh, it was delicious. Not as filling as the fire, but tastier. Heartbeat and Little Cheese spent the evening eating S'mores and just enjoying each other's presence. Eventually, Heartbeat fell asleep. 3 more days passed in this manner of style as they tried to navigate the Everfree; with Little Cheese being an embodiment of joy and strength to Heartbeat, and Heartbeat enjoying every moment. Flaps took the main amount of control during these days, and despite what the others kept telling him, he kept his hopes up. Maybe, just maybe, this was an age of where radical ideas were a reality. Chaptre ThreeHeartbeat 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!"
Chaptre OneShe was so many places, so many. She was scattered so far, in so many things in the ground. She was so very cozy as she slept. She remembered so much as she slept in her eternal beds, wherever any of her was. Her parts were found by her new Father. A kind Father. Like all her Fathers, he lovingly caressed her as he carried her out of bed, each and every one of her. Eventually, he started to take parts of her, piecing them together for the best version of her. She was a donor. Well, most of her was donated while those parts of her had blood flowing. She had fallen deadly ill, and so most of her had volunteered to help somepony else get better. But now, she was still; the blood flowed no more. She breathed no more. But her new Father was going to change that. She heard from so many sets of ears that she was going to be made into life. A new life from old bodies. She was so happy, all her thoughts blurring together. Once again, they would feel the embrace of Father! Father was so happy, so happy, to beat Celestia at her own game! But what did Celestia play? Oh, so much of her was lost in the process. So many times, she thought she was ready, her new body full of spells, all the rest of her watching, listening, waiting to see their new body move! But the spells always failed, lost their spark, or BURNED her body! It always hurt so much! To feel life pumping through, to enter with such pain, only to feel an ever greater pain! Burning, frying, dying so painfully! She tried to hold on, but it only extended the pain. Oh, woe was her father, for he wept much after each failure. And so much of herself faded, as the pieces became cinders, or the spells preserving them wore off and they decayed, or they were stolen and torn by wild things. And as those pieces left, so did much of herself. She became scared. She was able to grasp some of those fading memories and meld them together, preserving some thoughts of the remaining. She had an grand idea! She would help Father! As he made bodies, she would too! When he finished with one, she could use the pieces not yet used. A part here, a piece there. But her work was so slow, and Father was so much faster! And his skill greatly exceeded hers! When she was piecing bone with bone with the passing hours, he made a skeleton come together at his will. While she struggled and failed to create a thin head of hair, he made such pretty manes and tails. She lacked so much knowledge, but he was able to make a heart beat without the body. She loved her Father so much, and just wanted him to be happy! So, she copied what he did. She could not activate the spells like he could, but she could piece together her body the way he did. She watched, and pieced so slowly. She didn't know why the parts went where they did, but she put them just like Father did. She added some things. A horn, just like her father. And two feather things. Like pony wings, but larger. She tried to make sure they stayed together, all for Father, but it was getting harder. There was less of her around now, just bits and pieces, snippets of thoughts. And now she was nearing just one voice, for the few that remained grouped together in a desperate attempt of self-preservation. All for Father. She just wanted to hug him, comfort him, let him know that she was nearby and that she LOVED him. One day, she observed that he had ran out of other parts, and he was prepared to go the way of the REAPER. The REAPER, who had WATCHED her for so long, who stayed back because she BEGGED the REAPER! And now Father wanted to go in her place! She cried, and her body shook from her grief. Her Father looked up. His complexion changed in a moment, the REAPER forgotten by him. He leapt forward in joy. He grabbed the body and thrust it into his work place. He started the spells once more. His magic flowed through her body like so many times before. She moved into the body, flowing to everything. Oh, how she loved Father and all he did for her! And now, she could give back! Entering the body always hurt so much, but it would be worth Father's happy face! Her body shook with pain as the spells flowed through. But these were the last parts; this just had to work! She hurt, oh, how everything hurt! But she braced through, she had to, she had to, she had to! Her body shook more than ever! Then, it laid still. Everything was focused into one form. Her eyes couldn't see the image, for she was used to seeing everything at once. Her ears, one on either side of her head, could only catch so much sound. So, she laid there. Father came near, his hoof steps slow. She yearned to turn to him, but she could only hear. She could not feel, she could not taste the air, she could not see. So, she waited. Father came near, walked around her. He spoke, but she knew not what he said. She waited, waited so long. She waited and waited and waited! She could not stand it any longer! These were the last parts, Father must be made happy! She focused, she felt through her interior, she concentrated on her body. She breathed! A deep, long breath as her lungs filled with air! She rolled towards the sound of movement. Father! She opened her eyes to see him. Oh, the joy on Father's face! Bu- but wha- what's that look? He looked scared! She raised a hoof towards Father, wanting to comfort him. He lept up and galloped for the window of the shed. Wa- wait! Why did he jump through? Where was he going? What about her? Was he leaving her? No, that could not be! She tumbled off the wooden table and onto the dirt floor. She raced for the window, stumbling as she moved. She raised her front to the window sill. He was leaving her! "Father!" she tried to call, but out came a scream of pain! Father galloped faster, leaving her behind in the shed. No, leaving for something. To get something? She would just wait for his return. She turned her head away from the sill and fell over as she lost her balance. Her head hit the ground with soft sound. Was her head soft? She got up and stumbled more. She forgot how to use a body. She searched for food as she stumbled, but there was nothing. Nothing but her that was edible, but she wasn't going to eat herself. But that wooden wolf might. She slowly looked back to the window. Yes, that was a wooden wolf. That's called a Timber Wolf. AND IT'S GETTING FURTHER IN. She had to get to the door. She slowly shuffled to the door as the wood wolf tried to force its way through a window that was narrower than it. She was almost to the door when it succeeded. She screamed, throwing open the door and hurting her arms in the process! She ran, oh, she ran! RUN RUN RUN, OR THE WOLF WILL GET YOU! RUN RUN RUN, THAT'S WHAT YOU HAFTA DO! She kept that silly rhyme in her head as she ran, ran this way and that, under roots and over stumps. She ran even when she didn't hear the growls anymore. She ran past the scary hut with the black and white pony by a pot. The pony was safe in that hut, she didn't want to bring danger to them, so she ran past. She ran until she realized she wasn't in the forest anymore. She stopped, surprised by what she saw. She took slow steps as she traveled onwards. There were so many animals! All sleeping so soundly. She wanted to pet them, but with the amount of control she had on her limbs, she would probably smack them instead. She stumbled through, step after step. She liked the one in the tree, with its red tail and brown body. So fascinating, the way his body had so many pieces that were not normally found together. Maybe he was a brother for her. She'd come back when it was day. But they were a long path that she wanted to follow first. She followed the path into a town. Everything looked so nice, so peaceful. Such a pretty shade of yellow coated the walls of the buildings. She stumbled her way through the streets, observing this night-time town. ... It was very quiet. She always imagined that there would be more activity at night in towns. Oh, well. Ooh, such a pretty building! The way it was built reminded her of a carousal. There was a light in one of the ground windows. Perhaps she could stay here tonight, and to the animal place later. She knocked on the door. Hoof steps came near. The sound of magic, and the door opened, spilling light upon her face. "Hello, latecomer, and welcome to- *Shriek!*" The white Unicorn fell back and crawled backwards in terror. She stepped in, fearing what was behind her that made the pony scream in such a way. But she found herself being lifted in a grip of magic, and forcefully flung out of the building. She hit the ground and the door slammed, the sounds of things being moved reaching her ears. She glanced all around but saw only herself. But that would mean that she was why the Unicorn screamed. She stumbled to the window, trying to peer in. But things had been put in front of them as well, creating a wooden-backed mirror of sorts. And what she saw made her understand why the Unicorn scream. She understood why Father left her. She was such a pale, pale color. Her eyes were glazed over, but they were also bloodshot. Some blood leaked from her ears. And her feathery things just lay limply down, dragging the ground. And her horn's rings had tints of red, blood. A sign of just how shoddy her work was. Which meant she was shoddy. A shoddy freaking freak. She stumbled off. She still couldn’t feel anything. Maybe she never would feel. She wouldn't even know if she was starving to death. Or if she swam, if she had been below the water for too long. Or if it was cold enough to freeze to death! She roughly shook her head to clear her mind of her past deaths. That brought individual memories, and they needed to stay as one being, or they may not be able to control this form. She stumbled until she found the dirt road. Maybe the animals could let her stay with them. If not, she would be condemned to stay in the forest. Why was it taking so much longer to reach the animal place from town than the other way around? And why were the trees different? And what was that building up ahead? Oh. Oh, dear. She took the wrong road. Maybe she could sleep in that barn up ahead. She increased her pace, tripping once or twice. Oh, there were some swine and sheep on the farm! Where was the shepherd? Probably watching from the distance with a slingshot ready. Well, maybe he might mistake her for a normal pony seeking shelter. Or not see her at all. That would be best. She reached the barn. With some difficulty, she opened the door. Inside, there weren’t any animals like she thought there would be. Weird. Were they sleeping elsewhere? She went behind some bales of hay. She laid down and pulled some loose hay over herself. This would do. She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep, letting her thoughts settle for the night. Author's Note Frankenstein is a beautiful creature.
Chaptre TwoAuthor's Note *Unsquare noises followed by triangle shaped noises* What? Ignore that. How you folks like the story? I can't figure out how to use tags! Chaptre Two [Note: Ponyal = Personal] Voices drifted to her ears. She stirred. She tapped her horn. She still could not feel. She listened to what the voices were saying. ". . . And its eyes, Darling, they were the worst!" "Ah believe what yous saw, Rarity. Did yah tell anypony else?" "I'm not sure if anypony would believe that there are zomponies around now. *Ugh* Those eyes will haunt me forever." "We should get Twilight on this. She'll be able to find it and stop it before it does any harm." She felt like crying. She was going to be hunted. Red blurred her vision. She reached up and wiped her eyes. She realized that she was crying blood. Which would stain her light skin. Which would amplify her frightful appearance. The hay bale beside her moved up. Wait! She looked up to see the orange hooves of the shepherd. And beyond her was the Unicorn. The Unicorn pointed with her hoof and screamed! She quickly got up and ran for the door. She darted around the red horse and ran for the orchards. She had to get away. Barely a day into her new life, and she was despised. She supposed that this must of been what zebras felt when they came to Equestria. Now she felt guilty. Well, part of her. The part that owned a zebra. She stopped. Did she need to eat? She could eat some while she was here, but if she didn't need food, she'd unnecessarily weigh herself down. She turned to solve the problem to pick the apples, and saw another problem heading for her in the shape of the red horse. She turned and ran again. Run Run Run. Either she had unending endurance, or she was damaging her body without knowing. Run Run Run. Is that a- Yes, silly, it's a house in a tree, part of you had one. Up the ramp, through the door, past the ponies, into the upper area by using the ladder- and her path was blocked! She observed the distance from the window to the ground below. Unless she had full pony strength, she would break something. "What was that?" "What was what, Sweetie Belle?" "Something just went upstairs!" "*Gasp* *Buzz* A crusader visiting where it all started! Let's say hi!" "Hold on, Scootaloo. They ran past us without much noise, so they must be a foal, and something was chasing them. As adult ponies, it is our responsibility to see what was the problem, and try to solve it." "And if we cahn't?" "Well, then we hide up here." She moved her head through the hole in the ground and withdrew once she noted their appearance. Did they know not of what she was? Or did they not see her clearly when she entered? "Do not go searching for a monster that is not without this treehouse. The monster is within. Would you spare us your hateful stares? You! With the bow! Your kin are in pursuit of us. Can you calm them?" "What do y’all look like?" The ladder creaked. She was coming up! "No, no, no, no, no! Do not come up! You will see our face, and you will fear us at once! For we are a hideous thing, and we beg you not to gaze upon us!" The ladder creaked again, and the hoofsteps returned to the floor below. "Are you a colt or a filly? You sound like a colt." My face surely had heated in that moment. "As do you, Winged One! Don't be rude to a higher up!" No, we shouldn't be rude. "Sorry. I'm a filly. Do you know how to use these? I see that you use yours for flying, but I don't know how to work the muscles." With some difficulty, I lowered my right wing down the hole. "Um, wings should not be that floppy. You might have a broken shoulder." "Um, girls, why is her wing all bloody?" Truth or lie? Truth, we should always be honest! "I cry blood. And I've been crying a lot." . . . A lie would most likely of sounded more truthful. And saner. "Wait, y’all said my kin were after y’all? I'll get right on explaining to them!" Hoofsteps leaving the house. The white one and the orange one were left. "Pray tell, what is the purpose of these feathered wings? Surely, things our size should not be able to fly with them. Are they like our forelegs?" "Well, usually Pegasi can fly with their wings. Mine are a bit weird, so I use them to give me a wicked boost on my scooter! I can do all sorts of tricks, like-" "Scootaloo, don't get off track." Scooter? What is a scootaloo? Scooter seems to be an object, so is a scootaloo a skill or trick performed with one? "Whoops, sorry. Anyways, some Pegasi do use their wings in place of their forelegs. Um, you want me to see if I can set your shoulder, or whatever? Also, what kind of monster are you?" "Don't come up here with us! For we are the dead come alive." "Cool! Zomponies! Who's your necro?" "My . . . Necro?" "Necromancer! You know, the guy who used dark magic to forcefully bring you back from the dead. Oh! Or are you the infection type? You know, where it's a sickness that affects the brains of living things? Or are you- *Mph hmm Mph-* *Pleh* What?" "Does she sound like a Necromancer's servant to you?" Shouting from outside. The family. Fast hoofsteps up the ramp. "But she's not dangerous! Ah swear!" "It's just trying to trick y’all! Zomponies are servants of Dark beings! We have to destroy it!" "Eyup!" Time to jump. We sprung up from the hole. We didn't have much space, so we simply lept from the window. Down, down. "OW!" We could feel! We could feel the grass, the air, our hunger, our burning muscles, our body, the pounding behind our eyes! But the pain! We took off, stumbling, stumbling. Faster, faster! Use the wings like legs! Shouting behind us! In our defense and declaring our demise! Far enough now, hide behind the tree! We collapsed against the tree, our lungs burning! Need to relax, need to calm down! Deep breaths, deep breaths, deep. . . breaths. Okay. We need an apple. *Bonk* Oh, how chanceful was that event? We pick up the apple, mouth open to take a bite. A worm pops from the apple. Gross! No, awesome! Awesome? Which part of her liked a grimy thing such as a worm? Him. Him? Eww! There was a colt in her mind! Eww? Colts are yucky and muddy. All of us have played in mud! Well, then colts are stinky. Hey, I've wrestled with my pigs before! What's bad about being stinky? Who's talking? We lost track. We shouldn't even need to break apart our union. So what if one of us is a colt? This is the body of a filly! Sharing it with a colt seems . . . I don't wanna say the word. What word? Does it matter? We all have a common goal: find Father. But Father left us! So, now what? Find the Brother! Yeah, with all the fuzzy animals! I didn't know colts liked fuzzy animals. I didn't know that fillies liked playing in mud. STOP SEPERATING! We need to stay as one mind. One body, one mind, one voice. Alright, but if one of us want to be the leading mind for a short time, then we allow that. Agreed? Agreed. Now, we need to get to the road before the family finds us. We are a horrid thing, and thus we need to find a way to disguise ourselves. Or we play hide and seek with everypony in town. But should be show just our wings, just our horn, or cover them all? Why? Because we look like a nightmare alicorn. What's a alicorn? They are the Princesses of Equestria, the land we are in! I came from the Unicorn kingdom. UNION! Not Legion, united in thought! If we break apart, then we will never function! Maybe we should make our way to the cookie place. Why? I got a feeling that there is a kind baker there. How? Just a hunch. Or maybe an impression sent by Celestia! Who? One of the rulers of Equestria. No, she is the only ruler. What of Sombra? Who? What of Chrysalis? Again, who? We should stop this thinking! United! We're just chatting. And as long as we are one in purpose for the body, our minds can say what they want. What about that bit about who gets main control earlier? I meant as in, if one of us has an idea to share or wants to go swimming or something. FOCUS! SHUT UP! OUR HEAD! "Hello. Are you a collaboration of memories strung together and given a form to control? Oh, sorry. I should introduce myself. I am Maud. As you can see, I'm very excited to meet you." We look up to the face of a gray mare with a lovely mane. No, it's drab. She's drab. She looks like she might be a Pie! Pie? My family! "Can you help us get to town?" Wait, we didn't agree to speak! Don't matter does it? Yes, it does! "I'll let you finish your internal debate on ponyal politics first. After all, forms of government are very important, even if many creatures don't agree." "How did you know about us?" "Just a hunch." Yep, she is a Pie! The Pie Family is psychic? No, we have senses! You mean more than Sensation? How far are you in science? In what now? We will all talk later. For now, back to Maud. She may be our best chance of . . . I don't know, but she's not screaming and running away like the others. "Are you ready? I have an extra cloak you can wear. You may want to fold your wings." We attempted to. Our efforts resembled that of a chicken that had water poured on it. Why would you do that? Curiosity. "Hmmmm. Maybe Rarity can help with fixing your wings. Stay still." Maud draped a cloak over us. For an Earth Pony peasant, she certainly was skillful with the use of her hoofs. HEY! For an Earth Pony Peasant?! FOCUS! . . . Please stop yelling. Sorry. Maud started to walk off. She followed, stumbling after Maud. Hoof after hoof, trying to keep balance- Ow. She fell over onto her face, pinning her wings under her in the process. Maud turned around and opened her mouth to say something. "It's with Maud! Maud, don' let it get away!" WHAT?! How did they already find us? No, let us go! Maud grabbed her and lifted her up. Wait, what? Maud threw her up-and-over the trees! She readied herself for the pain of crashing into a tree, but somehow, she landed in one by the road without getting hurt! How? Pies can do many a great and marvelous works. More of that Pie Sense nonsense? Kinda. We are a line of Earth Ponies, so we have immense strength. FO- Focus, please. We need to decide now; do we travel to the bakery, or do we travel to the animal place? Bakery. Besides, we need food. Onwards! Onwards? Shut up, I'm trying to have fun here. So, she went 'onwards' to the town. She staggered through the streets, constantly worrying about the family from before. Two were driven by fear to capture her, and the third might of turned to see things their way. She hid whenever a new face popped up. It was just like hide'n'seek. But instead of hiding from her friends, she was hiding from a town's worth of potentially harmful ponies. And dragons. And dragon deers. And... Yaks? What? When most of her was alive, creatures didn't mingle much beyond their own tribe. How many moons had past her bye that bug-deer were a species? And something was also very familiar about them. . . Something about how their skin shone like shells. Something. . . awful. But no matter how awful those things might have been, she was probably much more frightsome. Ah! There's the bakery! She crept inside. Shouldn't we avoid going into spaces with only one exit? Not with this place. Ah, who?! A yellow filly with a pink mane bounced over from one of the tables. "Hiya! I'm Little Cheese! Nice to meet chya!" She stared into Little Cheese's face. Her cheeks flushed. WAIT, NO, NO, NO, NO! That's a fellow filly; that kind of thinking is taboo and disgusting! I'm sorry, I can't help it! She's cute! Stupid colt! "Hey, you all right? You must be hot under that cloak. Com'n, I got a soda we can share!" Little Cheese grabbed her hoof and pulled her into a booth seat. "Uh . . ." What do I say?! Hey, why do you think she's cute? Is it her mane? I don't know! We need to kick his mind from us, I can't even speak. Oi, emotions are a powerful thing! Especially love! That's not helping me become unflustered! "Com'n, have a sip. Please? Wait, can you drink soda, Miss BogeyMare?" Bogey? Yuck! No, BogeyMare. That's the name of the thing under the bed. We thought that was called a monster. "Why did you call me BogeyMare?" Ey, the confusion took away your being flustered! Shut it! "When I brought you to my seat, your hood slipped off. Wait, are you Miss BogeyMare's daughter? Or did you shrink since I last saw you? Or am I just getting you mixed up with her?" . . . She's seen the BogeyMare? Maybe? What is this filly? Pretty. I mean-! Shush. Just, shush. What do we say? "I'm not the BogeyMare, nor am I related to her. I am a monster, but you shy not from me. Tell me, where did you inherit such bravery?" "Huh? It's not bravery. You look nice!" STOP MAKING US BLUSH. I'm sorry! "Not used to complements? Wowzie. That's a first. Then again, I thought you were related to Miss BogeyMare, and many ponies are scared of her. . . Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Hey, what's your name?" Coal Pie. Miss RazzleBerry the Second. Flaps. Cream Scoop. Sandy - STOP! UNION! Stop screaming! We can't use all our personal names. What should our Unified name be? "I- I don- don't have one. Do you think you could help me find one?" Really? Stuttering? I do it when I get nervous! No, you don't. When I'm speaking and nervous! "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Oh, first, you should put up your hood. Here, I'll do it for you!" Little Cheese leaned across the table. Isn't Little Cheese leaning a bit far forward? Maybe? Uh, oh! Little Cheese somehow managed to lose her balance and fall flat across the table. With her face down, she moved her right hoof and pulled the hood up over the head her. Little Cheese then waved her arms around as she tried to get back up. Little Cheese's hooves came into contact with her torso. Then, somehow, in some way that she could not grasp, Little Cheese hopped from being flat on the table to sitting in the seat. "Hearts beating in your chest. Make you special from the rest. Hey, that rhymed! *Giggle*" Hearts? Check our internals. 2 hearts. Sorry, I put in the second one. That laugh . . . so beautiful. Laying down a line now; you will not flirt with her! I wasn't going to! "Hey, Heartbeat! That's a pretty name! How 'bout we make it yours?" "S- Sure! Heartbeat. Makes me feel pretty." . . . Did I really just make say that? Yep! Heartbeat heard hoofsteps come down the stairs. Do we run? No, kind baker, remember? A pink pony bounced down the stairs. "Hiya, Little Cheese! Who's your friend? Or did I just guess them?" "Her name's Heartbeat. Mom, don't throw her a party." "Whaaaaaaaat? Why?" "She looks like Miss BogeyMare. And things didn't go well with her party." "Hmmmmm. Okie Dokie Lokie! Mommy's gotta trot some errands! I'll be back!" She bounced out the door, tail waving up and down in farewell. "Oh, hi, Applejack, hi, Rarity! What brings you here? Uhuh. Okay. Alright. One seccooooond." The mother brought her head into the doorway. "Hey, Little Cheese, I wanna tell you something, and it's okay to be scared. Your friend there? Take her hoof and RUUUN!!!" Little Cheese was quick to obey. She grabbed Heartbeat by the hoof and galloped up the stairs. She headed for a window and dragged a confused Heartbeat behind her. She jumped out of the window! They landed on a pile of hay outside. How could that be set up in advance? Pies are known for being ready! Wait, that wasn't Coal. No, that was me, Flaps. As I said, Pies are known for being ready. And for being rock farmers. "Wahoo! Where should we run? Ooh, I know! Let's visit Gummy!" Little Cheese pulled Heartbeat beside her, giggling as the two of them moved quickly. STOP THINKING ABOUT HER THAT WAY! I'm sorry! I can't help it! Well, she is a pretty filly. Can you blame his colt mind for falling for her? . . . No. Who's Gummy? As the odd pair ran through town, creatures hardly batted on eye at them. Changelings! That's what they were! But they were prettier now. Awesome looking instead of their grotesque black shells. With all these different creatures, maybe Heartbeat could fit in. But the Changelings made themselves look friendly. Heartbeat doubted she could do that even with a dress and makeup. Makeup? What happened to being yourself? Makeup is gross anyways. What? Why? It's a fake face and it's sticky. The pair reached the animal place from before! Yes! Uh, oh. The animals all gazed with suspicion and fear. One rabbit even had hate in its eyes, and scampered off to a hut when Heartbeat looked at it. But where was the likely brother? "Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Huh, I guess she's not here today. Must be with Discord. Follow me, Gummy's in the lake!" Little Cheese exclaimed, her beautiful voice full of excitement. STOP IT! SHUT UP! "Where is she? Is she a fish?" Heartbeat asked. "Nooooo. But he is in the water! Try to spot him!" Heartbeat leaned closer to the water. Could she swim? Most of her knew how to swim, but parts of her had drowned. Where was Gummy? And what was the purpose of the green stones in the water? Oh, those were eyes. Big, pink eyes. A sense in her told her that behind those eyes laid a brilliant mind, perhaps even surpassing that of Father's. That's stupid! It's an alligator! What's that noise behind us? "NO! Don't hurt her, stay back! Please?" Heartbeat spun around to see what the commotion was. She saw all the animals running for her, and she could feel her fear rising, she could feel her hearts pumping so hard. Then the sound of a waterfall! The alligator landed in from of her, having lept from the water. Part of her was so scared, so scared, so scared, so scared! RUN!!!!!!!!!! She galloped for the edge of the forest. She was still being followed! Faster, legs, faster! They are still behind us! STOP! Calm down and think! CALM DOWN! Yelling isn't helping! "Stop, please! It's me! Gummy stopped them! Please, stop running!" Little Cheese is the one chasing us? Why? Because we ran off. That's it, slow down. Deep breaths, deep breaths, deep . . . breaths. Little Cheese bent down and scoop up some mud. "Sucking mud! Sucks up moisture. Draws prey to water, but also works for cuts and tears!" She gently put it on Heartbeat's face, dabbing it wherever the red tears had streaked. After she was done, she tossed the mud. She leaned towards Heartbeat and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "There. Feel better? Why's your face all red? Oh no! Is it allergies?" Inside Heartbeat's head was a torrent of thoughts. Why did she do that?! Does she like us?! What age have we woken to that filly foolers are this young?! Calm down, it was only a mother type kiss. 'Kiss and feel better', as the saying goes. Flaps isn't saying anything. Finally! Is he okay? "N- no. I m- mean- me- m- Beans! I mean, y- yes, I'm al- all right. Why- Why- Why- Why- Beans! Why did you kiss me?" Why are you taking over? Quiet, you. "It's what my mom and dad do to make me feel better. Kiss on the cheek, then rub it in!" Little Cheese reached over and rubbed Heartbeat's cheek, causing another flush of the face. "Ru- Ru- Rub it in?" "I used to try to rub away their kisses, so they told me that I was just rubbing them in. Let's ty to get to my home. Uh. . . DO you know where we are? It's getting late." Heartbeat gazed around. She had run far and fast. How much time actually passed? Is it nighttime already? No, the area just gets dark fast. "Camp out! I have no tent on me, but we can make mats using the leaves! We're not too far in, so this is a safe zone! Gather some sticks please! We're going to have a fire! I'll make our mats!" EEEEEE! <3 She is just so cute! Oh, no. That kiss just made you crush on her more, didn't it? Listen, brute; that kiss had no meaning beyond comforting us. Brute? Pegasi are brutes, Earth Ponies are ruffians, and Unicorns are perfection. Sticks! Gather sticks before we get into a fight with ourselves! "Um, I don't think we have enough balance to pick up sticks." Idiot! We have a horn. It's just like an Earth Pony to forget such an essential fact. Wow. You are a snob, RazzleBerry. Fun fact, if she is stupid, you are also stupid by extension. Heartbeat tried to use her horn. Nothing happened. Who is stopping us from using our magic? I demand to know! I think we all are trying different methods to use the magic. "I got the fire going! Com'n, let's have S'mores! I don't have any pears, so we can't do Sum'Yums. Com'n, sit by me!" By the Princesses, stop it already! Your emotions are very nauseating. SHUT. IT. Just let him have his crush. Are you okay with this sort of taboo?! Love is love, even if I don't approve of it. Plus, a satisfied group is a happy group. What? "S'more? Sum'Yums? What are those?" Oh, that fire is lovely! So delicious. Wait, delicious? Gah! The flames 0f the fire had drifted to Heartbeat, where they started to seep into the skin. Her blood felt hot and she felt just a tad stronger. She stopped trying to feel the heat flow through her, and the fire went back to normal. "Hey, don't fill up on the fire! S'mores, remember? Here, I got one ready for you, since your hooves are so shaky. Open wide!" Heartbeat obeyed, and in return a hard-bread sandwich with chocolate and melted sweet was put into her mouth. Oh, it was delicious. Not as filling as the fire, but tastier. Heartbeat and Little Cheese spent the evening eating S'mores and just enjoying each other's presence. Eventually, Heartbeat fell asleep. 3 more days passed in this manner of style as they tried to navigate the Everfree; with Little Cheese being an embodiment of joy and strength to Heartbeat, and Heartbeat enjoying every moment. Flaps took the main amount of control during these days, and despite what the others kept telling him, he kept his hopes up. Maybe, just maybe, this was an age of where radical ideas were a reality.
Chaptre ThreeHeartbeat 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!"
