//------------------------------// // Paraelemental // Story: My Little Pony: Return of the Primal Fear // by Lizardsareradical //------------------------------// Chapter 6: Paraelemental It has been about an hour since Twilight Sparkle left for Canterlot, and since she told Spike to keep an eye on the place, he couldn't even go anywhere. He was just lying on the ground of the library, reading the Book of Obscure Equestrian History Twilight gave him He was that bored. Just as he was about to pass out from chronic boredom, he heard a knocking at the door. He jumped right up, praying to Celestia it was Rarity. But when he finally got to the door, it turned out to be a mailpony. The pony was a teal pegasus stallion only a bit bigger than Twilight Sparkle. By the looks of it, he cut his mane to the point that it was only a navy blue line that went down his forehead and neck. His eyes were a maroon color of sorts. His cutie mark was two white exclamation marks, with a white question mark in the center. "Message for Twilight Sparkle. Oh hey Spike." The mailpony said at first monotone and then politely as he recognized the dragon. He handed a letter over to the baby dragon. How did this pony know his name? This guy didn't even ring a bell. Spike decided to find out slowly and hesitantly. "So uuuuuh? How do know my name?" Spike asked sort of weirded out. The pegasus just looked at him funny, then rolled his eyes. "Remember? Paramail? I was at Pinkie's party when you and Twilight first got here? Any of this ringing a bell?" The mailstallion asked trying to get Spike's gears in his head turning. Spike put his hand under his chin trying to remember this Paramail guy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- During Pinkie's "new residents" party, Spike drank way to much punch and went on a sugar rush of pure energy, to the point of putting a lamp shade on his head. As he was at the refreshments table, he heard a voice introducing himself as Paramail, but couldn't see him due to the lampshade. He was pretty sure they talked about the neighborhood and shortcuts and such, but Spike totally spaced out. He then remembered that when Nightmare Moon revealed herself to all of Ponyville, a couple of pegasus guards attacked her, but were easily sent flying by the corrupted princess. He recalled Paramail walking into the building oblivious to what was going on, saying "Sorry I'm late" before one of the pegasus knights crashed into him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Oh yeah! Now I remember! You're the guy from our first party here." Spike said happy to remember such a nice, if unfortunate pony. "Why don't you come around more often?" "Nice for you to remember me." Paramail congratulated the dragon with gusto, but then went deadpan. "But I was at half of Pinkie's parties since you were here." Spike just smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He didn't notice him at any of those parties. Paramail just sighed, looked down and shook his head. He then shrugged. "Anyways sir. Be sure to give that letter to Miss Twilight Sparkle." Paramail passively reminded Spike. "I'm off to Carousel Boutique." He then took a running start then began to fly. Spike shut the door, crossed his arms, and then huffed in jealousy. The mention of anything Rarity when he's forced to stay at home just hurt. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paramail flew from the library to Carousel Boutique with a letter in his hand. He landed straight in front of the Boutique and knocked on the door. A glamorous white, purple maned unicorn mare answered the door. "Greetings m'am! Letter for you!" Paramail said courteously to the owner of the house as he showed the letter to her. "How gentlemanly of you." The unicorn told him almost flattered as she used her magic to grab the letter. She then chuckled "But I insist, call me Rarity. What's yours?" "Sure thing Rarity. Name's Paramail." Paramail replied with the upmost respect bowing her head down. He knew her ladylike reputation and wanted to make her feel that way. Rarity was delighted to be the center of attention. She then saw the navy blue line of what was left of is mane. She gasped in horror, almost fainting. It was a fashion apocalypse. "What's the matter?" Paramail questioned the suddenly shocked Rarity. He then began to also panic. "Is there a spider on me? Get it off! Get it off!" He was trotting in circles in hysteria, his left hoof desperately looking for a non-existent spider. This was enough to get Rarity to stop and look in confusion. "There's no spider!" Rarity called out, causing him to stop in his tracks. She then took a breath of relief and continued to speak, choosing her words wisely. "I was startled by…your…mane." She then looked away awkwardly, hoping he hasn't upset the mailpony. He might just get his revenge by sabotaging packed fashion materials. Paramail just looked up, touched his "mane" with his left hoof. He then grinned as if he wasn't offended. "You mean this?" Paramail delightfully asked pointing at his head. "I got my mane shaved!" He then went closer to Rarity, lowering his voice and squinting his eyes. "It gets in the way of flying. One day, I could be flying. I my mane gets in my face." He then clapped his hooves together. He then shouted "BAM! I crash! Pain everywhere!" He then walked back to where he was, calming down. He then looked at Rarity, who was just staring at him weirdly. He just awkwardly chuckled. "S-sorry about the morbid imagery Rarity." He then turned away, getting ready to fly. "But anyways, I've got places to go!" He then took a running start and quickly flew away. After watching him leave, she just rolled her eyes and sighed. "Strange one isn't he?" She said to herself as she closed the door to get back to work. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paramail then went up into the clouds and found his next stop, a cloud house. He flew onto a tangible cumulus and knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again a little harder, but there was still no answer. He was about to look a mailbox when a rainbow colored bolt flew right in front of him. He shrieked like a little colt and jumped right into the air, thinking that it would hit him, but stopped right in front of him, revealing a female cyan colored pegasus with a multicolored mane. "Sweet! The mail's here! I wonder if that Wonderbolt's costume copy I order arrived!" The pegasus exclaimed to herself with great zeal as she looked at the mailman. She then took a closer look at the teal pegasus. Paramail looked back, recognizing her as Rainbow Dash from flight school and most of his academic classes as a colt. "Paramail?" Rainbow Dashed asked the stallion almost rhetorically. He slowly nodded, but then got to his senses and calmed down from his shock. Rainbow then walked up to him and gave him a hard pat on the back, causing him to wince a bit. "I knew it was you! Who else shaves their mane?" RD said full of the joy of reuniting with an old friend. Paramail on the other hand was glad to see an old friend, but was annoyed by how she recognized him. He took a breath and began to talk. "I told a hundred times at school. It gets in the way of flying. Remember Dumb Bell, Score and…" He pondered for a second. "The other one? They crashed all the time!" He then shuddered at the thought of the three stallions, remembering how they used to take him and his friend's lunch money and called him names like "Meganerd" and "Wussy". He was spacing out for so long, Rainbow Dash waved a hoof in front of him. "Hellooooooooo! Earth to Paramail!" The cyan mare called out to Paramail wondering what was going on in his mind. She then quickly stepped back as he got back into reality. He looked around confused, and then sighed in relief. "I thought I lost you for a minute Baldy." RD told her friend as she couldn't help but laugh. She knew it was mean, but she couldn't help it. "Baldy" described the stallion in front of her perfectly. "Baldy" just groaned in frustration, rubbing his forehead with a forehoof. He then smirked with triumph. "Ah c'mon! That stings Rainbow Craaaaaaaa…" Paramail told the cyan pony sarcastically, jokingly holding onto the last word. Rainbow Dash immediately stopped chuckling and went deadpan. "Don't finish it." Rainbow Dash told the teal pegasus not amused. Paramail stopped, not because of what sounded like a threat, but out of kindness. "Just joking around RD! Until I grow at an inch of a mane, you can call me that!" Paramail told his buddy while chuckling, which was enough to make Rainbow Dash loosen up again. "Besides, you could've called me "Parafail"!" Parafail was his most hated insult. He hated it as much as Rainbow Dash hated "Rainbow Crash", if not more. "It's okay bud!" RD said as she ruffled what would be his mane. "But don't you have places to be?" Paramail realized this and began to look into his mailbag. He got a letter from the bag which said "To Fluttershy". Rainbow Dash could already see him blush. "Looks like your crush is next in line huh Baldy?" RD teased the embarrassed stallion as she elbowed his shoulder. She knew he liked her friend since flight school. She didn't mind though, Fluttershy was her own pony and she could do what she wants. Paramail just rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled nervously. He has seen her around, but hasn't had the chance (or the courage) to talk to her since school. He gulped and looked at Rainbow Dash. "W-w-well…G-g-g-guess I-I should get…g-g-g-going then. Work and all that." "Baldy" said as he tripped on his own words. He then waved goodbye and flew off, covering his face in embarrassment. Rainbow Dash held in her laughter until he was completely gone. When he was nowhere in sight, she burst out laughing like crazy. This lasted for a good two minutes, and it only stopped because her sides started to hurt. "I wish him luck with Fluttershy!" She shouted hysterically wiping a tear from her eye. "He's gonna need it!" She then got up and went inside her house. She went into her closet and got a huge bag of tortoise food. She then whistled loudly. "Time for lunchie wunchie torty worty!" Rainbow Dash affectionately called out to Tank, sounding like a mother feeding her foal. The tortoise used the helicopter on his back to come downstairs and landed right in front of his bowl. "If anyone ever finds out I speak like that, they're goners." RD muttered to herself as she poured the food into the bowl. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Paramail looked at the letter for Fluttershy, looking at the address as he was flying towards her house. He sighed out of mixed feelings. He was glad that he will finally be able to talk to his long-time crush but at the same time, he had no idea what to say. He knew she was a little on the shy side. Okay, she was a lot on the shy side. How her parents just knew to name her that was beyond him. But when he thought about it, his parents named him Paramail, and he turned out to be a mailpony, and was a bit on the paranoid side. Some names just control your life. He the wondered what his life would be like if his name was Braveblade or Slickshadow or Gladius. He continued thinking about this for so long, that he almost missed the cottage at the edge of the forest below. He came to a screeching stop and descended onto the ground. As he was walking to the door of the house, he felt something breathe down his neck, causing him to stop dead in his tracks. He then heard a low growl from behind him, and from the sound of it, it was a lot bigger than him. His legs started to shake and Paramail could feel sweat going down his face. He took a deep breath and slowly turned around to face the beast. It was a large tiger at least twice his size and was ready to pounce, licking its lips. "Oh Celestia. I'm a goner." Paramail whimpered, almost crying. He closed his eyes in order not to see the beast that will eat him. He then felt the sheer force of the pounce and felt himself fall on his back. He expected to feel the claws and teeth but instead, he felt something wet feeling his face. He opened his eyes and realized that the tiger was actually licking him. Paramail had no idea what to think about his situation. He then heard the most innocent and serene voice he's ever heard. It was almost like a loud whisper, if that made sense. "Whiskers." Both the mailpony and the tiger looked at the cottage. Paramail then saw Fluttershy, who didn't have a worry in the world, despite being in front of a tiger. She was right at the door, with a small, fluffy rabbit on her back. She had her cute smile on and gestured the tiger to get off of the mailpony. The tiger then purred and went up to the yellow mare, allowing her to pet it. The tiger then ran off to play with a lion and bear. "Oh my." Was the only thing the awestruck stallion could mutter after watching the gentlest pony he's ever known just talk to a tiger as if it was a kitten. He then saw Fluttershy walking up to him. He took a breath to maintain his composure in front of the mare of his dreams. "Are…are you okay sir?" Fluttershy asked in concern as she looked down at the prone mailpony. Her voice was almost was whisper, but Paramail could decipher what she said. Paramail's eyes just gleamed as he got up, not even blinking. The rabbit on her back just rolled its eyes giving an "oh brother" look. "Why yes I am Fluttershy." Paramail answered her with as much confidence as he could muster. He then noticed that the mare in front of him looked relatively puzzled, as if she didn't recognize him. "Does the name Paramail ring any bells?" Paramail said with significantly less confidence. The mare was pondering about it. Paramail then decided to give her a final reminder. "Baldy." The mail stallion said as he rolled his eyes. "Oh I remember now." Fluttershy quietly exclaimed as she remembered the stallion in front of her. Paramail's heart dropped a bit at only being remembered by a harsh but true moniker. He then saw the rabbit snickering at where his mane should be. He felt better seeing Fluttershy's smile, his eyes gleaming once again as he made a small smile. The rabbit on her back stopped snickering and began to look jealous. "That's great Fluttershy. Sadly, we didn't share too many classes. Just flying class." Paramail congratulated his crush with his eyes still gleaming. He then got to his senses and decided to ask the first question that came into his mind. "So anyways…" The teal pegasus hesitated, rubbing the back of his almost hairless head while bashfully chuckling. "What have you been doing for all these years? I've been working at the Ponyville Mail Service. In fact, I just switched shift with Der-" He realized what he was going to say. "I mean Ditzy Doo." He knew it was wrong to say his co-worker's "other name". He then saw Fluttershy slightly chuckling, as if she was amused by him. The rabbit was just had his hand in his open mouth, making a gagging noise. "That's great of you Paramail." Fluttershy told "Baldy" warmly smiling and already comfortable with the new company. "I have been tending to animals as you can see." They both looked around, seeing a hawk, a hedgehog, and even a penguin. "I also have been a model, but that didn't end as well as I wanted." Fluttershy looked into space, as if ashamed of that experience. She then almost squeaked as she remembered one big detail. "Oh yeah. I'm also the Element of Kindness." Saying it as if it wasn't a big deal. Paramail's jaw just dropped. He couldn't believe what he just heard. He knew about the modeling career, seeing it on a magazine, but didn't buy one due to that just being a little on the creepy side. He even heard about a group of mares saving all of Equestria twice. But he had absolutely no idea it was her. This made his life look so much blander, which it kind of was. He then closed his mouth, shook his head and looked back at the yellow pegasus. "That's…" He paused to find the right word to say. "…amazing. You're a real hero." He said doing a friendly nudge to Fluttershy so softly it wouldn't even move an empty glass. Fluttershy tolerated the playful shove, almost flattered about his complement. The little rabbit on her back just rolled his eyes. Paramail then hesitated for a bit before saying anything. He liked her a lot and would love to meet her more. But he had no idea what to say. Should he just ask her out right then and there? Or should he just visit by often with her mail? He then looked around the area, seeing all of the animals. He then had an idea. "Um? Hey Fluttershy." Paramail spoke to Fluttershy still unsure of himself. She perked up to listen. "Yes Paramail?" Fluttershy asked as she looked at him intently, wondering what he was going to say. Paramail took a deep breath and then continued speaking, though still nervous. "I was just wondering. You have a lot of animals around here." They both saw a flamingo fly past them. "You think like, one day…I could come around and help you tend the animals? I got a B in biology so I know at least the basics. What do you say?" He then put his front hooves together and made a large smile. Fluttershy didn't even have to think about it. "Oh! Why yes you could help! I always could use a hand around here!" She said with quite a lot of excitement, even using her slightly louder voice. "And after that, we can go to lunch." She said thinking about what he can do around the farm. "That's great!" Paramail almost exclaimed, catching himself. "I'm off on the day after tomorrow. I could meet you then. It'll be great." He then began to sweat nervously. "You know? Friend stuff." He added the last part to make her comfortable. Fluttershy nodded in delight. The rabbit just gave the mailstallion the "Stink eye", making Paramail even more uncomfortable. "Oh yes! That would be lovely! See you then!" Fluttershy spoke out in such a warm manner, the teal stallion's heart almost melted. She then offered to shake hooves with "Baldy". Paramail, who was really nervous now, slowly gave out his hoof to shake. "Well then…" Paramail hesitated to find a way to exit before he loses his cool. "I got more mail to deliver. Here's your letter." He then flew up waving goodbye to the mare of his dreams. Fluttershy waved until she could no longer see him. She then looked at her rabbit friend. "I'm getting good at making friends Angel. That didn't take long at all." Fluttershy commented to the bunny. Angel just rolled his eyes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paramail soared over Sweet Apple Acres with great spirits after offering to help Fluttershy with her animals. He said that it was "friend stuff" but that was way better than nothing. In fact, many books he have read had the same thing. Friends turned to lovers. He lifted his right forehoof into the air and shouted at the top of this lungs in triumph. "YYYEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS! WHOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOO! BOOOOOOOOO-YAAAAAA!!" Then he had a horrid realization. "Wait! Did I just get friend-zoned?...ACK!!" He felt something fly down his throat as he was shouting in triumph. Baldy then began to gag and choke. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "That one was a wee bit too high Sis." Applebloom commented as she saw her older sister smack a rotten apple with her tail, trying to get it into the bucket the filly was next to. "My bad Sugarcube! I'll get it!" Applejack hollered in joy as she hurried to where the bad apple went. Her entire family loved making games out of work. As she was galloping, Paramail dropped down right in front of the orange mare, causing her to jump so high up, her hat almost fell off. "What in tarnation?" Applejack yelped in shock. She then took a closer look at the teal stallion. His eyes were wide open, his mouth was open, and his tongue was out. He was also choking, coughing, and gagging. Applebloom also saw this and rushed to the choking pegasus. "Stay back Applebloom!" Applejack said as she put a hoof in front of her little sister. She then went behind him and started to do the Heimlich maneuver. She can hear him gagging, but it wasn't budging as much as she wanted it to. She then placed him on the ground and started to press on his chest, still not working. "I know what to do" Applebloom hollered as she got a running start, jumped into the air, and elbowed Paramail in the chest, causing him to recoil in pain, but he managed to spit the rotten apple right out, creating a horrid taste in his mouth. "See! No problem at all!" Applebloom said with pride as she expected congratulations were in order. Applejack just scolded but Paramail weakly got up and ruffled her mane with a hoof. "Thank you so much." The mailpony said to Applebloom weakly. "But next time, can you choose a less…" He tried to find a suitable word a filly can understand. "Painful method?" He then made a weak grin as a put his left hoof on his aching chest. The filly was heavier than he thought, but he didn't dare say that out loud. He then realized why he was here and turned to Applejack. He went into his bag and took out a letter with her name on it. Applejack politely received the letter. Paramail nodded and soared off. Applejack then looked at Applebloom, who was looking for a CPR cutie mark. "I doubt elbowing a mailpony gonna get ya a cutie mark Sis." Applejack told Applebloom shaking her head. Applebloom stopped and sighed a sigh of disappointment. She then saw the gross, rotten, spat out apple in front of them. I had to be disposed of immediately. "Not it!" Applebloom shouted out as she pointed at the partly digested fruit. She then galloped off to find more apples to collect. Applejack just groaned and went up to the bad apple. She took a good look at it and winced in disgust. She was about to grab it with her teeth, but backed out at the last centimeter. "That one's for nature." Applejack commented to herself grossed out as she opened the letter. As she read, her eyes opened wide. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paramail had one last stop; Sugarcube Corner. He went there all the time, absolutely loving the cupcakes, cake and coffee. He even sometimes got a muffin for a certain co-worker. He flew to the ground and entered the bakery. As soon as he walked two steps, the pink employee of the sweet shop appeared right in front of him. He didn't even see it coming. He would have yelped in shock, but after going to the same place for so long, he got used to it. "Yay! Mailpony's here! Mailpony's here!" The pink mare cheered right in front of him, hurting his ears a bit. "Who has mail? Who has mail? Who has mail?" She was bouncing up and down in a giddy manner, like a filly getting a new doll. "Baldy" was a little startled at first, but got to his senses and got the last letter from his bag. "To a Pinkamena Diane Pie." The pegasus told the excitable earth pony trying to sound as professional as possible. Pinkamena just giggled in bliss. "It's Pinkie Pie silly!" Pinkie told the teal stallion as she slid close to his, rubbing where his mane would be with her hoof as if they were the closest of friends. She then grabbed the letter from the mailpony. Paramail was about to turn away and fly home when he heard a loud gasp. He turned back to see that Pinkie Pie opened the letter and already read what was inside it. He trotted up the mare. He was about to ask why she gasped, but Pinkie hugged him in her front hooves, shaking him as if he was a teddy bear. She was stronger than she looked. "I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE AN ELEMENT OF HARMONY! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO?" Pinkie Pie hyperactively and happily stated as she continued to embrace him as if she was a close buddy. "I didn't." Paramail weakly muttered as he was gasping for air. She was holding on a little too tight and didn't like gasping for air twice in one day. Pinkie then let go of the suffocating Element. Paramail took a couple of breaths and then looked back at Pinkie Pie. "So anyways, what Element am I?" Paramail asked barley holding his excitement. He hoped he had a cool element like Fire or Power or EPICNESS. "You…..Got….CARING!" Pinkie Pie shouted with glee as she bounced around the new Element of Caring. She then started talking about some sort of "We found a new element" party. Paramail thought about this Element for a bit, and then came to terms with it. I sort of matched him and his feelings for Fluttershy along with his devotion to his job. He then wondered if he got a cool sword for being an element. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Outside Sugarcube Corner, Twilight Sparkle teleported at the entrance, with Coocoodrill in tow. He wasn't used to teleportation and was wobbling about. "That was fun." Coocoodrill commented as he tried to balance himself. He then stumbled and fell over. Twilight Sparkle just nudged him and he jolted right up. The green stallion looked into the bakery and all her could say is "food" as if he received a present from a loved one. As they both entered, both ponies saw Pinkie Pie still rambling on about a "We found a new element" party. The two unicorns just looked at each other and simultaneously thought "that was easy". Pinkie reread the note. "Oh wait. A PARA-element of harmony. NOT a full element." Paramail just sighed in relief. "Well at least history hasn't completely changed for me and some other guys."