Paranoia

by Valorousspectre

Set in Stone

Chapter five: Set in stone.

He was nowhere to be found.

Applejack had searched near all day on the day she’d given Demonheart off for the stallion, but he’d seemed to have vanished off the face of Equestria. And now, two days later, he was still missing and Applejack was getting very worried. Whilst she hadn’t known the Pegasus for long, she had come to be thankful for his help. Because of him, this year’s crop was being harvested much, much more quickly.

Big Macintosh, it seemed, was as calm as always. Although he did seem a little annoyed at the fact that Demonheart had mysteriously gone missing.

“He’s still got work to do here. Ain’t meant to be leavin’ yet.” He’d said upon AJ asking him of it.

In a last ditch attempt to find him, AJ had finally relented and asked her friends. Fluttershy had not been present as she had too many things to take care of that couldn’t wait.

As a result, five ponies were now searching for the wayward Pegasus, Big Macintosh having stayed back at the farm to continue working. Five worried mares searching for one Pegasus.

Who didn’t want to be found.

~*~

Demonheart was sitting on a hill when Fluttershy found him. The hill overlooked the Everfree forest.

And he was far from alone.

Sitting around the large Pegasus were various creatures. Creatures that, quite honestly, shouldn’t be outside of the Everfree. A cockatrice sat under his right wing, a timberwolf sat almost protectively before him. On his head perched a strange, shadowy creature that resembled a miniature storm cloud. Fluttershy identified it as a Delgo, a creature that fed upon the negative emotions of memories that ponies experienced, forcing them to relive them as they fed. They weren’t malicious creatures, but they weren’t well liked for obvious reasons. It was also a common belief that Delgoes evolved from the ancient creature known as a Windigo. Sprawled across it’s back, playing happily with his tail wriggled a happy, cat like creature with larger than life ears with tufts on the top of them, a very fluffy tail and wide, inquisitive eyes of bright green. Its coat was of a pure white with sky blue paws tail tip. It had two long, wickedly sharp incisors.

Fluttershy approached cautiously, not certain as to how aggressive or not the creatures were. The cat almost instantly looked over at her, wide eyed and curious and mewled curiously. Fluttershy hid behind her mane fearfully as his head turned, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

“Miss Fluttershy..?”

All the animals that had gathered around him turned as one to look at the new arrival, although it was difficult to tell with the Delgo, having no real set form. The pink maned Pegasus nodded nervously.

“Um.. y..yes… What are you d..doing up here?”

The big stallion sighed and looked at the creatures around him with a faint smile.

“Visiting old friends… It’s been much too long since I spoke with them.”

Fluttershy nodded nervously.

“I… Do you mind if I… um… can I join you? If it’s okay… I mean…”

For a moment, nopony spoke. Then, still quiet, Demonheart nodded. Very quietly, she approached the group and sat tentatively to Demonheart’s left. The pair of ponies were silent for a while, preferring to simply keep each other company with their presence rather than words. The silence ended however when Fluttershy felt a tug on one of her wings and she squeaked, looking down in shock at the big eyes of the cat creature. He seemed to be smiling at her. His big green eyes seemed to shine with an inner light. She heard a soft chuckle and looked up to Demonheart, who was smiling.

“He likes you…”

Fluttershy blushed and pet the cat gently. A loud purr emanated from the cat and its eyes half closed and it rubbed its head against her hoof. No matter how hard Fluttershy strived to identify the feline, she simply didn’t recognize his species.

“He’s cute… What is he?”

The cat mewled softly. Demonheart spoke softly.

“He’s what is known as a Dum Kat.”

Fluttershy found herself frowning.

“D… Dum… Kat? I’ve never… “

“I’d be surprised… if you had…”

Fluttershy felt an irrational prick of annoyance.

“W..Why? I know m.. most everything in the forest…”

“The Dum Kat race isn’t native to the Everfree miss Fluttershy…”

He smiled and petted the little kitten gently.

“His race is ancient… They predate the sisters themselves… if one is t..to believe… the ancient legends…”

Again the pair sat in silence for a time before Fluttershy’s curiosity gave her the courage to ask a question.

“D..Demonheart? I don’t m..mean to pry but… is everything… is everything alright?”

The big stallion hesitated before stroking the Cockatrice gently.

“I… No, No I’m not… I… I raced your friend… t..the blue one with colourful hair…”

Fluttershy frowned.

“A…and y..you’re upset because you lost..?”

He shook his head slowly.

“W..Well no… I.. I guess I’m upset because I won.”

Fluttershy was struck silent. In the entire time she’d known Rainbow she’d never seen nor heard of her losing a race. She fondled the feline’s ears as she responded.

“She… lost?”

He nodded slowly and sighed.

“W..Yes. But… It wasn’t fair. I mean… I wasn’t.. it was…”

He went quiet, his expression pensive. Fluttershy felt a stab of concern at his sudden pensive look, however sensing this was a sensitive topic, she figured it was safer to let that subject lie.

“Um.. If… if you don’t mind.. I um… I’m um… curious…”

He looked up at her.

“Yes Miss Fluttershy..?”

“Um.. w..where did you grow up..?”

A pained look crossed his face, but he did respond softly.

“W..well, I was born in Cloudsdale… My mother and… well, My mother died giving birth to me. Father… I never knew father. N..Not t..that I particularly care. I wasn’t told that he… well, he left mother when he heard she was pregnant. I… I grew up with foster parents. Mother left me everything in her will but…”

He hesitated before sniffling.

“I had to be eighteen to obtain it… I left before I had the chance.”

Fluttershy frowned and scuffed her hoof against the ground.

“W..Why d.. why did you leave..?”

The response came swiftly.

“I was young… young and stupid. I did something s..stupid, and had to leave in… case…”

Once more silence. Persisting, Fluttershy dared ask again.

“W..What did you do..?”

He shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter… You can’t change the past… I wish I could but.. I…”

His face flushed heavily as he finally realised that he was talking to Fluttershy one on one and he fell silent and looked at his hooves, scratching at the ground in embarrassment. Once more the two sat in silence, both too shy to speak to one another, revelling in the company rather than the speech.

The cat, it seemed, had other plans.

For a while he seemed content to simply play with the two tails now lying on the ground, frequently getting them knotted and tangled. His dextrous paws however soon remedied that. It really was quite a marvel to watch. After which he ran circles around Fluttershy, earning giggles from her. But he declined each attempt to pet him. This confused both pegasi, but the cat continued doing so anyway. Unsatisfied with the results of his seeming random running around, the cat sat to the left of Fluttershy, who now sat between the cat and Demonheart and mewled. Fluttershy frowned, not understanding.

“I… I don’t understand…”

Out came the claws as the cat hissed angrily and swiped across Fluttershy’s flank. A frightened and pained squeak came from her mouth as she jumped violently in the opposite direction of the lateral swipe. Her sudden movement and sound scared the other creatures and in a flurry of movement the Timber wolf fled, as did the cockatrice. The Delgo merely floated calmly away. Surprised at the actions of the cat, Demonheart almost didn’t react when Fluttershy collided with him, folding a wing protectively over her and glaring at the cat, which looked rather smug as it strode away, tail held high.

“I.. I’m sorry… he’s normally much nicer… I’ve never seen him so nasty…”

Fluttershy turned to face him, nearly smacking her muzzle into his in the process. She blushed heavily as she realised just how close she was to him, a little relieved when she saw a similar blush appear on his cheeks. The pair were practically nose to nose, A large ebon wing curled around her torso. Demonheart found himself staring at possibly the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen. In turn, Fluttershy was looking at possibly the deepest set of eyes she’d ever seen.

“Y..You’re alright..?”

A slight, very slight nod, from Fluttershy answered his question. His head tilted ever so slightly to the left, hers to the right. His heart leapt to his throat before…

“There ya are.”

Almost instantly the pair separated, Demonheart’s wing retracting to his side, deep blushes on both ponies faces. Both of them turned to look at the voice, the heavy set frame of Big Macintosh looking over the pair seriously. There was a look in his eye Demonheart wasn’t sure he liked.

“Fluttershy, why don’t ya get home? Ah’ve got to get Demonheart back to the farm.”

Fluttershy nodded quickly and retreated, casting a quick glance at Demonheart, who watched her as she left almost regretfully. He looked back up at Big Mac and quickly averted his gaze.

“What is it ya think yer doin’?”

Demonheart looked up at him, almost flinching away instantly. The severe look of jealousy stung the Pegasus.

“I… N… She came to me.. w…we were just…”

“Ya were gettin’ damn close to her. Much too close fer just friends. Yer here to work, not court Shy, ya understand?”

“I wasn’t… we were just..”

Big Mac shook his head.

“Ain’t no excuse ya can use. Ya ain’t got the time. Ya been missin’ fer two days. That’s two days ya missed from workin’.”

His eyes hardened further than they already had.

“An’ Ah don’t want to see ya anywhere near Fluttershy whilst yer workin’ at the farm. Got it?”

Demonheart nodded miserably.

“Right. Let’s get back.”

---

Alright, just a short one this time. Sorry for the author note. Couple things. One: All credit for the creation of the 'Delgo' goes to a fanfic.net writer going by 'Basalisk120', writer of the Steelhoof Saga. Dum Kat is pronounced Dum (like Thu'um) Kat (Ka-rt) to those who find it difficult, which I honestly wouldn't be surprised. It's not exactly normal spelling. Thanks to all of you who've been reading, I do hope you're enjoying this. Eat lots of bacon aaaaaand don't ever let jealousy get the better of you kay?

Comments

[BobtheLurker]

That Jealous Mac.

And I happen to be enjoying this story while sitting in a tub full of bacon.