Paranoia

by Valorousspectre

Skuld

Chapter nine: Skuld.

“I’m not sure I can do this anymore Skuld… It’s getting worse and I don’t know what to do.”

A growl was the only answer the soft, silky voice received.

“I know… I know. I wouldn’t have left at all had I a choice.”

An almost gentle sound in return.

“You know I had to go. It’s never that easy.”

The snarl that came in response was aggressive and accusatory.

“Don’t you dare ever suggest that again! Ponies aren’t warlike like your species. I wasn’t about to let them be attacked.”

A sullen grumble was his reply.

“I’m sorry Skuld, but it wasn’t going to happen. If the apples you’d been taking weren’t stolen from a farmer I never would have had to leave. So in retrospect, it was quite significantly your fault. So stop trying to pass it off as coincidence. You knew those apples belonged to somepony. Theft is not the Manticore way and you know it.”

~*~

The darkness heralding the Everfree Forest was nothing that Fluttershy hadn’t seen before. In fact, she’d taken to making trips down to see the Zebra Zecora every so often. If not only to temper her mind against the natural fear of the Everfree, to visit her foreign friend. There was, of course, the path that led almost directly to the Zebra’s house, but even then ponies rarely went anywhere near the great forest. And how great it was. The Everfree forest stretched out so far it seemed eternal, even cartographers couldn’t put the entire thing upon a map. It simply was too large and too dangerous to fully circumnavigate or walk through.

It was commonly accepted however that the forest once held the seat of power in Equestria a good thousand or so years back when the alicorn sisters had once sat upon the undying thrones in the now ruined castle. Supposedly, it was once a place of great beauty and splendour when the pair had first taken up the mantle of rulers of Equestria, a utopia to all species. Then corruption upon half of the ruling body had occurred, and Celestia had banished her sister tearfully to the celestial body she had commanded. The castle had been all but obliterated in the fight and the remaining towers and what was left of the main hall had been abandoned, left to the elements. The corruption from Nightmare Moon’s need to dominate the land had turned the Everfree into a dangerous haven of predators, creatures and malicious spirits.

So understandably, Fluttershy was nervous as she walked. Whilst she was in no real danger from even the most vicious wildlife due to her way with animals and the formidably powerful look she called ‘The Stare’, she still intensely disliked the dark, the atmosphere and the way the trees themselves seemed to be reaching out to grab her, almost begging to gobble her up. It had been the fuel for many nightmares.

But nervous as the mare was, her mind was occupied with other thoughts. Namely concerning the ever curiously distant Demonheart.

The big stallion confused her. On one hoof, He was quiet, gentle, shy and very hesitant to do much with anypony at all. He seemed to almost implicitly trust Aloe and quite often poured his heart out to her, but could barely talk to Fluttershy herself. He was also, according to Applejack, immensely strong and had amazing stamina. On the other side of the coin however he was distant, nervous and almost never socialised beyond Applejack, Fluttershy and Aloe. He revealed almost nothing concerning why he’d left his former home in Cloudsdale and never ever told anypony how he’d managed to be wound up in the affairs of the aggressive Manticore species.

It’s all just so complicated…

She wasn’t stupid. She’d seen the way he looked at her and she knew the look of a creature in love. She’d long ago decided ponies weren’t that different from other beasts and was, as a result, actually quite adept at deciphering subtle signs others would miss. She knew the big stallion was very much attracted to her, and she figured so had Rarity. Rarity, she’d noted, had paid quite a lot of attention to him as well, bribing him with small trinkets that she’d ‘picked up’ around. He’d never accepted a single one of them however and Fluttershy had thought it quite amusing to watch Rarity struggle not to let her frustration out.

She also knew that every mare and her sister had their eye on him.

She’d often, during the time he’d visited the previous night, found her gaze resting on him. Whilst that was generally pretty normal, it was more the specific parts of the body she found herself admiring, especially when in consideration to his gentle nature. His muscled shoulders in particular had caught her eye more than once during his stay as well as, dare she admit it, his toned flanks, admiring the sheer power that was hidden away in them more than anything else. His cutie mark also intrigued her beyond pretty much any other bodily feature.

Aside from what she’d managed to pry from Twilight, she knew literally nothing about his cutie mark. It was intricate as well, which wasn’t normal on any sort of pony. Whilst she understood the two sided heart, the three feathers and the two separate wings puzzled her. Idly, she heard a twig snap beneath her hooves.

It’s such a chore… Trying to figure ponies out. But… he’s like the ultimate puzzle…

Her ruminations were interrupted by a short, animalistic growl and she looked up, now conscious she’d spent some time simply watching her hooves step forward. Before her was the dim shape of a Manticore, female or adolescent judging by its size. Seated before it was a pony. Normally, she wouldn’t be capable of recognizing him, but the dull scarlet of his mane and the purple of his eyes was hard to mistake. Demonheart was talking to a Manticore.

A f..friend of his maybe..?

“D..Demonheart?” She called hesitantly, “is… is that you?”

The Manticore’s head jerked at the sound of her voice, the pony’s moving much slower. With an angry roar the Manticore bounded forward. Fluttershy, too afraid to react in time, sat frozen in absolute shock and fear. The creature pounced, claws extended, mouth open. Fluttershy let out a squeak of fear before…

“ENOUGH SKULD!”

Demonheart came out of nowhere and smashed headfirst into the Manticore mid-pounce, driving it off course for Fluttershy, missing her by inches as it flailed in mid air. On his part, the big Pegasus hit the ground, rolled once and sprang back to his hooves before sitting back down again. The Manticore, whom Fluttershy was now capable of identifying positively as female since she had no lion mane around her neck, growled and twisted her way back to her feet, looking sullenly at Demon. A few brief growls passed between them before Demonheart looked at Fluttershy, puzzled.

“W..What are you doing here M..Miss Fluttershy..?”

~*~

“He’s alright Applejack. He may look a little worse for wear, but your brother is a very tough individual. He’ll be alright in a couple of weeks. He’ll have to stay off his hooves for that time though.”

Applejack sighed in relief. The hospital was the last place she wanted to be right now. But her brother factored much higher on her list of priorities, even over the farm so she had spent the past hour or so filling out paperwork at the Ponyville hospital. The nurse who had, until then, been in the room with him to make sure he was alright, was now speaking to Applejack. She was the well known and much loved Nurse Redheart and was one of the only mares in the entirety of Ponyville who had literally no intention of ever courting Big Macintosh. Her interests… well to be entirely honest it was as though he had no interests whatsoever.

“Ah’m glad to hear that Redheart. Any ideas what happened to him?”

Redheart frowned and shrugged.

“To be honest with you Applejack, I can’t tell. He has multiple different wounds from bruises to cuts and a broken rib or two. The most puzzling set has to be the punctures on his forehooves. The only thing I can accredit them to however are bites.”

Applejack frowned in puzzled shock.

“Bites? Ain’t nothing in the barn that could bite him an’ cause that much harm.”

Redheart shrugged uncertainly.

“I’m really not certain Applejack. They’re not really something I can identify. Although nothing from around Ponyville could have caused them. They look like they came from a vampone straight from the story books. It makes no sense.”

~*~

“I… I was visiting Z..Zecora… W…What a..are you doing here..?”

Demonheart hesitated, pausing for a long moment before he spoke.

“I… it’s a long story.”

The Manticore approached them slowly, cautiously, finally sitting next to Demonheart as she reached the pair. She was large, lithe and looked dangerous. But then, all Manticores looked dangerous. Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the presence, but she threw the creature a friendly smile anyway. It didn’t seem to have any effect whatsoever, the creature continuing to glare at the pony.

“Um.. w..who’s your friend..?”

Demonheart shot a sidelong, fond glance at the rather aggressive Manticore before smiling.

“This is Skuld. She was… is my best friend from my time with the Manticores.”

He caught Skuld’s attention and introduced Fluttershy to Skuld in the guttural language of the Manticores. Again Fluttershy caught herself marvelling at the ability and found herself envying him of it.

It’d make Angel so much easier to deal with…

Many believed that Fluttershy had the unique ability to understand what an animal was saying and then speak to them in a way they understood back. As much as she loathed admitting it, this simply wasn’t the case. Fluttershy certainly had a way with animals, this much was true. But she never really knew what the creatures were saying. She got the general idea of what they wanted or what they meant, but actual words themselves were beyond her grasp. And it all really depended on how she spoke to the creature as to if it would understand her. Animals, she had realised, responded well to soft spoken words and positive reinforcement.

Not to mention occasional outrageous amounts of affection.

But Demonheart’s skill was something else. The ability to literally naturally understand and speak the language of beasts was something Fluttershy could only hope to achieve after years of trying to learn them. It was the only thing Fluttershy really envied him for.

She was knocked out of her reverie by an aggressive snarl from Skuld and she cowered back. Demonheart hissed angrily at her and the sullen Manticore went quiet.

“I’m sorry M..Miss Fluttershy, I don’t know w..why she’s being so aggressive…”

The Manticore growled angrily and Demonheart instantly shot back with a snarl as the pair started fencing back and forth in the harshly ugly language that befit the Manticore.

Fluttershy could only wish she could understand as her eyes flicked between the pair.

~*~

“Do not lie to me! I know you seek her as a mate!”

“Don’t be absurd! What makes you think so?”

An angry growl that was just that, a growl, set Demonheart’s teeth on edge as Skuld answered vehemently back.

“The way you look at her is the first clue. I can smell it too. You wreak of longing! Have you forgotten your family so soon?”

Demonheart bared his teeth at the Manticore. Two of his teeth itched, but he resisted the urge to rub the gums with his tongue to sooth it.

“Do not presume to know my thoughts! I know my place in the family, do not seek to use it to your advantage! The chieftans daughter should know better.”

Skuld erupted into the dark, hacking laugh that was heard all too rarely in the Manticore circles.

“You still remember my status. But do not seek to use my father against me. He knows I am grown now and there is little more he can do.”

Demonheart’s snarl deepened and his lips pulled back part way over his gums. Skuld suddenly looked much more apprehensive. And warily took a few steps away from Fluttershy. Demonheart altered his position to continue glaring straight at the Manticore.

“Grown in body but not in mind. Maturity in Manticore culture might predominantly revolve around physical maturity, but you have a long way to go before you truly know what you are doing.”

The Manticore, heedless of the pony’s irritation now thanks to his blatant insult, snarled back at him and bared her large, wickedly sharp fangs, her claws sliding their way out of her paws.

“Your words are hollow and meaningless! I see the way you looked at her, the way you defended her! The scent of your desire is so strong it’s almost sickening!”

“Do not think me a fool Skuld! Your father didn’t need to tell me of your thoughts at all. I know you wish me as a mate.You want me as your own. But that will never happen and do you know why Skuld? Do you know why? Because you’re not of my kind. Even IF I still resided with the tribe, taking me as a mate would be pointless. My battle prowess could not be passed down the line, nor could my affliction. And I know you see it as an asset rather than the weakness it is. In short, I will not be your mate!”

Skuld recoiled almost fearfully not only at the rage in Demonheart’s voice, but the content of the rant as well. She looked at him like she was just stabbed in the back with a hook pointed knife, then had it slowly dragged out of her.

“This… This is because of her isn’t it?”

Demonheart’s brow knitted into a frown.

“What?”

“This is because of HER!”

~*~

Fluttershy found herself cowering behind Demonheart, comforted by his massive presence as the Manticore Skuld turned her aggression on her. This was perhaps the first creature Fluttershy had been unable to placate with a smile and a few soft words and it scared her. She’d even made a fully grown dragon back down to her voice, but this one Manticore seemed intent on hating her, even though she knew she’d done nothing wrong. Demonheart flared his wings as Skuld took a step forward, claws extended, teeth bared and he growled evilly. Skuld responded with a guttered snarl of her own before speaking rather ant length, seemingly pointing her words, whatever they were, at Fluttershy. Without knowing much else though, all Fluttershy picked up on was that it wasn’t good, and was very aggressive.

Demonheart flinched and was so surprised he spoke in Equestrian.

“What!? Are you insane!? That’s not necessary! You take that back!”

Skuld snarled angrily and spun around, then bounded away. Demonheart’s shoulders slowly slumped and his head fell. Fluttershy nuzzled between his shoulder blades timidly.

“D..Demon..? A…Are you okay? W..What’s wrong?”

“… I’m s..sorry Miss F..Fluttershy…”

Fluttershy felt fear hit her like a hammer stroke.

“F..For what..? What happened?”

He didn’t speak for some time, then his silky voice caressed its way into ears, broken with sorrow and regret.

“Skuld has… issued a challenge…”

Fluttershy’s heart sank.

“A ch..challenge for what?”

He looked back at her, profound self loathing in his eyes.

“Me.”

~*~

“Ah don’t get it. What were ya waitin’ fer Demon for?”

Big Macintosh looked down at his hooves. He was lying on his back in a hospital bed, AJ by the bedside. He’d had an hour or two, he couldn’t really remember, to think about anything that crossed his mind and, naturally, the first thing was the reason he was put here. His jealousy had gotten the better of him and he’d acted without thought. He’d let it cloud his mind and destroy his judgement. He’d done something really, really thoughtless, cruel and stupid.

And now he was paying the price.

He spent the next hour confessing to his sister exactly what had been going through his mind the past few weeks. The way he’d worked Demon almost to the bone, effectively causing the wounds on his legs, the way he’d tried to forbid him from seeing Fluttershy then spent the next several weeks making doubly sure the pair stayed away from each other. The way he’d seen Fluttershy embrace Demonheart in the small hours of the morning and his jealousy had finally come to a peak, the way he never really ever got over Fluttershy.

But most of all, the way he’d started assaulting Demonheart.

He didn’t remember much of what happened. His head had been hit much too hard much too many times for that. He didn’t know what hit him, and he was fairly positive he didn’t want to ever know.

The scolding he received from his sister was heard on the other side of Ponyville and went on for several long minutes. Whilst Big Mac never did like being yelled at, at this point he felt he deserved it. He’d acted without thought and let his jealousy rule him.

It was good to be reminded that he was still a pony, regardless of his reputation for being so perfect.

Tomorrow Ah’ll find Demonheart an’ go apologise. Ah should be makin’ sure she’s happy rather than makin’ her life miserable simply coz Ah’m jealous. Maybe Ah should tell him ‘bout her weakness fer white chocolate as a sign of good faith.

Despite the enraged ranting of his sister and the pain from the many bruises on his face, Big Mac found himself smiling softly.

Well, if they let me out of here.

Comments

[Flutters Glasses]

1019589 In my defense I hate the ending of every story (never want them to end). That being said, I loved Demon's rage, the ending wasn't bad by any means and I'm a selfish punk looking for a way that make any story that I love longer My last comment came out a little jerkish, my apologies.

[Nightsflash]

well.. now that i'm through this.. didnt read the first version of this story and dont know if i want to when theres an abrupt ending.. but whatever..
i really like what i read so far.. like i commented on xero tolerance, i love the characters you make and the setting of a not utopian equestria (but i think there wont really be crime and injuries on a larger scale in a kids show.. so whatever).. cant wait for the next chapter and eventually the rewritten versions of the other stories

keep up the amazing work

[Valorousspectre]

1061553
Ugh, I'll b honest. The ending wasn't nearly as 'abrupt' as people seem to think. I put a lot of thought into the ending of 'A Demon's Rage', despite what people think. It's just I was inexperienced.

The others are... It's a slow process. And Equestria is a country with societies just like ours, who is to say there wouldn't be crime? Maybe very little in Ponyville due to the small nature of the town where everypony knows everypony, but who is to say that crime rates aren't different in other places? And there hasn't really been any crime in this one bar the theft of apples and (I guess) Aggravated assault which COULD be put down as Self Defence.

Xero Tolerance is the Dark horse of the series really, and I have decided I will recreate it as well.

[Nightsflash]

1061632
well.. most stories have something like an utopian equestria where everything is nice and clean (most i read up to this point at least.. because you know perfect harmony and things like that) and even if that is only true to ponyville.. i cant see how it wont spread from the other communities
BUT all the REALLY good stories i read have an equestria with "normal" problems to which one can relate in one way or another.. and to be honest.. your stories count to the really good ones i read so far..

[Rainbowblitz]

so shy has a weakness for white chocolate