Chapter 3: Drums in the air.
In the pale moonlight of the early night, Demonheart’s ebony coat shone with a faint blue sheen. His eyes were lit up by the ambient pale light, and his now sleek wings with feathers as dark as his coat, shimmered as he moved them in his nervousness. His mane, once scruffy, tangled and practically in tatters, much like his tail, now sat straight and almost absurdly long, reaching down past his shoulders even from the highest point. The straight, almost surgically precise way it fell assured both of the mares who now stared at him it had been cut, probably to get rid of the split ends and such things. His tail was dragging across the ground. Both were a brilliant scarlet. And for the first time, his cutie mark could be seen.
A red heart was emblazoned upon his flank. Or rather, half of it was red. The other side was dark, a deep purple and spiked. The red half had a wing of pure white feathers flowing from it, the other the leathered wing of dragons. Beneath it rested three pristine feathers in the shape of a triangle. A breeze blew by and both Rarity and Fluttershy caught the distinct scent of peppermint and Lavender, the result of the oils (peppermint) and the shampoos (lavender) Aloe had chosen to use on the stallion.
He was also blushing heavily.
His fetlocks had been neatly trimmed and, although he had a small tuft of longer hair at each hoof, it was much more easy to look at now. It certainly incited questions concerning his heritage, whether or not he was a Clydesdale, or at least part Clydesdale, his size certainly reinforced it. Down either side of his neck was a slightly curved streak of red, identical patches of fur in identical shapes.
Birthmarks perhaps? Thought Rarity curiously
Either way, they did contrast strongly with the ebony coat. Rarity smiled at him bedazzlingly.
“Darling! You look amazing! Whyever did you let yourself get so filthy?”
No response but a mumble and looking at the floor. Aloe smiled, still next to him.
“He had a bit of a problem with water Miss Rarity. But it was nothing I couldn’t handle. Bath, preen, brushing, touch ups to the mane, fetlocks and tail, massage. The works. Oh, and I took the liberty of giving him something to fix his voice. The poor dear’s throat was red raw, so speech was actually hurting him. He should be okay in a day or two though.”
Fluttershy found herself blushing as the downturned eyes of Demonheart alighted upon hers. Almost instantly there was tension, but only for a split second as Demonheart swiftly looked away. She felt the slight stirring of butterflies in her stomach but dismissed it as nerves. He had just gone through a significant change after all.
Rarity and Aloe watched the exchange in mild interest and Rarity smiled.
“Fluttershy, why don’t you go tell Pinkie that Demonheart is presentable?”
For a moment, Fluttershy was confused, looking up at Rarity as though she’d gone utterly bonkers. It took her a moment to catch on and she excused herself with a stammered okay, blushing. Demonheart went to take a half step to follow but stopped, then retracted his hoof and remained seated. Rarity winked at Aloe.
“Don’t mind us dear. We have someplace to be now. See you next week? Same time?”
Aloe nodded.
“Of course Rarity. Do have a nice evening.”
~*~
Rarity walked through the darkened streets of Ponyville, unable to keep her eyes off of the fine specimen of a stallion beside her. Her gaze roamed over him curiously and admiringly. He was quite obviously well built, and his muscles weren’t underdeveloped. If anything, he looked like he’d gone to gym for the past several years without fail for at least once a week. They rippled as he moved. However they weren’t overdeveloped either. For example he didn’t look like Ponyville’s resident physical nut, affectionately named as ‘Flex’. One of the many who lived up to his name, Flex was a white Pegasus with red eyes and tiny, underdeveloped wings. That’s not to say he couldn’t fly. But his muscular structure was borderline absurd. This stallion before her was built, but he evidently never went overboard on it. She didn’t think she could see so much as a shred of fat on him.
As her gaze roamed from his shoulders to his sides, she couldn’t but help notice the way his feathers shone in the moonlight. The primary feathers on each wing were the same scarlet as his mane and tail were, and he had them folded as though he spent more time walking than he did flying, which was quite an odd thing for any Pegasus. Well, not Fluttershy. But she spent so much time on the ground that it was difficult for her to return to the air anyway. Every so often they fluffed up a little, mostly when a cold breeze rolled by. Rarity barely noticed any of them; she was too busy staring at him.
Now it should be said here and now that not many stallions ever caught Rarity’s eye. In fact, only two in Ponyville ever had, and one of them disgusted her. Filthy Rich was certainly not the apple of her eye in Ponyville. Big Mac had been but now…
Perhaps Big Macintosh is a little too sweaty… and Demon would make an excellent model.
She entertained thoughts of courting the big Pegasus for a while before noticing he was blushing intensely. Realising she was, as of now and for an undetermined amount of time, staring almost bewitched at his rump, she smiled at him.
“Sorry darling, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I was simply curious as to your Cutie mark.”
Nice save Rarity.
The Big stallion mumbled something softly and looked away, pausing in their walk. They were almost at their destination, so Rarity so no reason to rush and stopped with him.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to speak up darling, I can’t hear you.”
He spoke slightly louder. His voice had utterly, utterly changed. The normal gravelly rasp was gone, replaced by a tone so silky smooth it sent shivers up Rarity’s spine.
Oh my goodness…
She gasped in utter delight, not even allowing him to finish his first word.
“Oh my! Darling your voice is utterly entrancing! It’s so… so…”
Sexy.
“Velvety! Oh! At this rate I’ll go off on a big rant and we’ll never get to where we need to be. Come on! Let’s go!”
Confused, the big stallion followed her after a moment of remaining frozen. The outskirts of Ponyville were calm, beautifully green meadows of lush grasses and wildflowers.
Unless you counted tonight.
“SURPRISE!”
Demonheart scrabbled back as Pinkie Pie popped out of the grass with a yell and, out of the grass, she pulled out a cannon. She aimed it away from him, but not before unintentionally scaring the hell out of him, and fired.
Confetti, streamers and fireworks gave way to a semi-large stage coming out of the cannon and landing heavily, the entire town (minus Aloe, Lotus and Vera apparently) jumped out of cover, yelling the same thing Pinkie had.
Demonheart was overwhelmed and had, as usual, no words in which to speak.
~*~
Fluttershy. The shyest pony in Ponyville and six year champion of the national silent pony competition, She was in charge of looking after the animals that supplied Ponyville with resources, and any animals from the surrounds not including those from Sweet Apple Acres. She was also basically the town veterinarian. She was also afraid of heights. For a Pegasus, this is strange. But since she lives her life pretty much on the ground all the time, it didn’t really affect her life. She’d never been terribly good at party situations, and this was no exceptions. Due to the lateness of the hour, all the foals were in bed.
And since Pinkie IS the resident party animal…
The drinks were alcoholic, or at least some were. Due to this, Shy refused to drink any of them. She was quite a lightweight drinker in her opinion, so she tried to stay away from them if possible. Not to mention she had experienced some interesting… memories… the last time she drank. Or rather, lack of memories.
Tonight, it seemed, was no such night for avoidance.
“Come on Fluttershy! Have a drink!”
Rainbow Dash, her oldest friend, was poking and prodding at her to have at least one drink. She kept refusing, until eventually she got fed up with it and turned to Rainbow, fixing her with a look that could have frozen lava.
“Rainbow Dash. I am not drinking tonight! It’s unhealthy.”
Rainbow groaned, unfazed by the look.
“C’mon Shy! You know what’s unhealthy? Being shut up in that little cottage all the time. Have some fun! C’mon, one little drink. Just one?”
Resolutely, she shook her head again and Rainbow groaned again.
“What? It’s a party!”
“And I plan on remembering every second of it thank you.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes.
“Oh come on! You’re still going on about that? It was years ago! Besides, we were both drunk and let’s face it, it wasn’t that bad.”
Fluttershy fixed her with another deadly stare and this time it was as though the very skies themselves stopped, and Rainbow shied away.
“Rainbow, I’m not drinking.”
She nodded quickly.
“O..okay! I get it!”
The moment she was realeased from the glare Rainbow shot off, trying to find somepony else to hang with. Fluttershy sighed.
I’m not drinking tonight.
~*~
Two hours later
The party was still going on strong, and so, it seems, was Fluttershy.
Drink in hoof, she giggled softly on the outskirts of the party, her face flushed and her wings twitching as she considered if she should tickle somepony. Applejack looked over at her from afar, Rainbow next to her grinning.
“Rainbow, how many drinks did ya give her?”
The blue Pegasus smirked.
“I didn’t. Big Mac persuaded her to try the newest batch of cider. One mug and she was gone, wanted more.”
On the other side of the outskirts sat Demonheart, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Which was difficult considering he had every mare and her sister asking him for a dance. The party mixes going on were heavy techno, and Demonheart really didn’t like the electronic music. Not to mention he didn’t know the first thing to dancing to it. Although judging by the way the others were dancing, there wasn’t much to it. He watched curiously as Pinkie Pie and a mare he’d rejected a dance for earlier, mint green with a lyre in her hooves, trotted onto the stage and spoke to the unicorn mare manning the tables. She grumbled before turning off her equipment and Pinkie Pie took the microphone.
What came out of her mouth didn’t surprise the audience.
A happy song spewed forth from her, the minty unicorn mare accompanying with a gay tune from the lyre. Demonheart smiled softly. Pinkie did have a rather compelling singing voice, but he still had no intention to dance. He sat where he was, enjoying the music, being forced to refuse yet three more attempts from a trio of mares, each with a different flower on their flanks. The happy number went on for some time before a more somber tune hit the stage and, to his great surprise and delight, Fluttershy stepped up onto the stage.
~*~
Normally, Fluttershy wouldn’t ever dream of stepping out onto a stage in front of all these ponies. But alcohol isn’t called liquid courage for nothing. She had a pleasant buzzing feeling in the back of her skull. Unfortunately, the negative effects of the cider were memories and emotions she’d rather not feel. Sorrow at leaving everything behind in Cloudsdale the day she fell, all the times she’d let down her friends or animals.
There was a lot there.
And so the song was low, sombre and almost sad. Not quite there, closer to regretful really. So the mood around the party sight grew more serious with the introduction to the song and the dancing slowed, many ponies picking out partners to dance with. She saw Applejack dancing with Rainbow, both looking rather uncomfortable. Big Mac was on the sidelines, turning down request after request, chuckling at the sight of his sister looking so uncomfortable. Twilight was sitting out of the dancing. After the fiasco of her last attempt, it did sort of make sense. Pinkie was at the confectionary, effectively demolishing everything. She couldn’t find Rarity though. Suddenly a flash of purple on red and a surge of irrational jealousy as she found her. Seems somepony did find a way to get Big Mac to dance, and that somepony was Rarity.
~*~
There was something different about her, he wouldn’t deny it. Perhaps it was the way her mane fell over her face, much like his did. Perhaps it was the way her eyes hid great pain, of which he could understand. Perhaps it was that she was so quiet and he felt comfortable around her. Demonheart wasn’t sure, but he was quite positive he was enjoying the angelic voice of Fluttershy on stage. He was distracted, however, by a small chittering from behind him.
His head turned in mild surprise and he saw a small, white rabbit. Male in persuasion, and he looked annoyed. He was tapping his foot and looking up at Fluttershy irritably from his place.
“Little one, what are you doing here?”
The rabbit jumped and looked at the source of the answering chatter he’d received from his (Rather scathing) comment before. The big stallion smiled down at him and the rabbit gesticulated towards Fluttershy.
“Her. She’s my pony. But obviously she isn’t where she’s meant to be this time of night. Not only that, she’s been drinking.”
The smile was marred slightly by a twitch.
“How is it you know this?”
“She wouldn’t be up there otherwise.”
The bunny huffed irritably.
“I should get her down.”
Demonheart shook his head slowly.
“No, leave her be. She’s having fun little one.”
The bunny looked at him like he was insane.
“What? Leave her?”
Demon nodded.
“Yes little one, leave her be. Tell me, what is your name?”
The bunny huffed again.
“She calls me Angel. Been called that since birth.”
“You don’t like it?”
Angel shook his head.
“No, not really. Not my decision though. She feeds me.”
“You really care about her huh?”
Angel shook his head a little too quickly and looked away.
“No! It’s just that she’s the only one who feeds me.”
The big Pegasus chuckled softly.
“Of course. Go home little one. I will take care of her.”
~*~
Twilight watched the proceedings of the party with quiet satisfaction. It was going quite well, and she didn’t mind saying so. She’d have to compliment Pinkie on a job well done on this one, especially considering it was an impromptu party. Although she was surprised that Fluttershy had gotten up to sing. Pinkie wanted Twilight to sing that night as well, but after Fluttershy…
I’m not sure I can follow an act like that.
“Ya alright Miss Twilight?”
Looking to the left, she smiled at Big Mac, who had come up beside her and was now sitting quietly.
“I’m fine Big Mac. And please, Twilight is fine. I see you finally got away from Rarity.”
Big Mac nodded.
“Eeyup. Ain’t much for slow dancin’.”
Twilight couldn’t help but giggle.
“Not with Rarity anyway.”
Big Mac nodded. Just as Twilight went to speak once more, The big stallion spoke, almost seeming to read her mind.
“She’s nice enough. Ain’t really mah type.”
Twilight smiled. Rarity was quite clingy, and she was quite often very needy as well. She wasn’t surprised that the workhorse didn’t think of her as any sort of romantic option. Struck by an odd thought, a moment of curiosity, Twilight changed the subject.
“You made Fluttershy have a drink?”
“Uh… eeyup?”
Twi looked at him to find his face a slight shade darker red than normal.
“You wanted her to sing.”
The red darkened.
“Uh… eeyup.”
Twilight chuckled softly.
“I guess you missed it huh?”
Big Mac didn’t speak and Twilight felt her smile widen a little.
“Alright, I won’t say any more. But I think it’s cute.”
“Ah think it’s yer turn to sing Miss Twilight.”
The song had indeed ended, and that was a dismissal had Twilight ever heard one. Still smiling, she shook her head as she began to make her way up to the stage.
~*~
Happiness. Pure happiness. Euphoria. This was something Fluttershy was feeling. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy feeling like this. Unfortunately, she only really felt like this when she drank, and she didn’t like drinking. Too many variables. But she had had a drink that night, and the pleasant buzz in the back of her skull wasn’t going away, and her euphoria was something she was thoroughly enjoying too.
I wanna dance!
She vaguely remembered wanting to dance. She’d had three drinks, in point of fact. The first pony that struck her mind to dance with was Big Mac. But then she remembered that she’d seen him dancing with Rarity and didn’t want to dance with him anymore.
She heard Twilight start singing and started dancing. It was upbeat, relatively fast paced. Nothing too quick. She roamed through the crowd, changing dance partner from time to time. There were quite a few who tried to hang onto her a little longer, but she always pushed them away. She didn’t know who to dance with.
She remembered dancing with Rarity for a short time, Pinkie Pie for a while longer. She lost count of just how many she’d danced with when she met nose to nose with the guest of honour.
Almost instantly she was lost in his eyes.
~*~
In the middle of the field full of ponies, two pegasi stood stock still, both flushed but for different reasons. Fluttershy, drunk and still wanting to dance, could not tear herself away from the two purple eyes looking at her. Demonheart, who had promised Angel he’d look after Fluttershy, nervous and embarrassed, had brushed his mane from his eyes and worked up the courage to approach her. Up on the stage, another track was loaded into the electronic turntable guided by the ever well known DJ Pon-3.
Twilight was still singing.
Nervously, but determined to go further, Demonheart nosed under Fluttershy’s chin, pushing her up onto her hind legs, following her soon after, Right hoof holding her left, left around her waist. She smiled at him, eyelids half closed as she put a hoof on his shoulder. The sound of drums reverberated through the air as they started to dance, slowly at first. The crowd noticed the pair and stopped, clearing a berth and forming a wall around them. Slowly, they started clapping their hooves to the beat. The crowd could tell how the two felt from the look on their faces, spinning in circles with the moon in their eyes, no room left to move between them and looking each other in the eye. The tempo increased and so did their circling, the graceful dance speeding up a bit.
Big Mac looked on, squashing his jealousy.
Twilight’s voice rang out, like an angel singing praise to the night. The pair forgot where they were, lost track of time. Even after Twilight finished her song, the music continued, the two increasing the speed in time with the music. A smile tugged at Demonheart’s lips as his mane swirled around him and his partner, scarlet mixing with the light pink of his counterpart, tails spinning with them. His ears pinned back as she leaned against him, never slowing, though her breathing was markedly heavier now, rubbing her cheek against his chest. His wings shot open and, dragging her with him, he took to flight, a swirl of feathers marking their departure just as the music ceased, the crowd cheering at the cocky bows of the DJ, and the departing pegasi. Big Mac felt a smile tugging at his mouth.
“Well Ah’ll be.”
Authors note: HEY GUYS! GUYS LOOK! LOOK! DEVELOPMENT! Hehe, I'm rather happy with this piece of writing. Anyhow, if any of you guys can get the song reference here feel free to point it out, you'll get bonus points towards something I have no idea about.
*ahem*
Anyhow, I wanted to know what you guys thought so far, and I figured I'd ask you directly. What do you think? How can I improve what I'm writing? You guys are the readers of these tales, so I do hope you're enjoying it. Let me know!
~Valorousspectre~