Chapter fourteen: Chorus of Angels.

Demonheart had left.

It was the talk of the town. Word had gotten around fast in the town where the most sought after stallion simply up and vanished, and many were disgruntled by the turn of events. Most, If not all of them, were of the female persuasion and were single. The big stallion had turned quite a few heads with his striking colours, great strength and quiet demeanour.
But none were more worried than Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie and Rainbow.

Fluttershy hadn’t been seen for a few days and she had refused to open the door until now. The group of ponies were in the great library that Twilight called home. Pinkie was slightly less poofy and energetic than usual, and the others were significantly more reserved. Only Rainbow seemed agitated rather than sombre and she was tapping her hoof impatiently.

“Oh COME ON!” She finally shouted, venting her frustration, “He’s been gone for two days! We can’t just sit here!”

AJ sighed and looked at her excitable friend.

“Rainbow, if ya know somethin’ we don’t, Ah’m sure we’d be glad to know it. All Ah know is that he took one of our packs and some of our food. He also left a note of apology for takin’ it.”

“Are you sure it didn’t say anything about where he was going?”

Rarity groaned.

“Oh will you two knock it off! You were arguing all day about this yesterday!”

Pinkie had said nothing the entire time and looked decidedly miserable. Twilight surveyed the scene with concern before speaking.

“Well, I think Rainbow’s right, we can’t simply sit here and do nothing. Whether we want to admit it or not, he is one of us now and he belongs in Ponyville.”

Unseen by Twilight, Fluttershy winced. Rainbow had started mouthing off again.

“Exactly! He doesn’t need to leave! He should stay here and find some place to stay so he can hang out with us!”

Rarity, having given up on listening to the repetitive conversation being thrown around the room and random speculations as to where he’d go, began to watch Fluttershy closely. She’d had her suspicions about her Pegasus friend since she’d stopped talking to him several weeks back, and she looked even more uncomfortable than normal now. Demonheart had been friendly to all of them, it was true, but he’d been much more affectionate around Fluttershy than he had with any of the others. That and the way Fluttershy had told them she hadn’t received a goodbye note just didn’t seem right to Rarity.

Of all the ponies he’d leave a note to, I still think that she is the most likely. In fact I’m certain of it! He wouldn’t simply leave town without at least leaving a note to Fluttershy… would he?

“Fluttershy, are you certain you didn’t receive anything from him?”

All conversation suddenly stopped as everypony in the room looked at Rarity in a mixture of curiosity and shock. Rarity was quite deliberately asking if Fluttershy had lied outright to her friends, which was unheard of masking the time she’d taken Celestia’s phoenix, Philomena, in an attempt to heal it. Fluttershy shuffled her hooves and shook her head, looking at her hooves. Rarity’s eyes glinted.

And that on its own is a confirmation of sorts.

“Darling, you’re not certain?”

Fluttershy didn’t answer, looking at the floor as though it was suddenly the most important thing in the world. For a long time there was silence before, finally, Fluttershy caved.

“I… I d-did g-get something… b…but I didn’t read it, I swear. I found it and… I just…”

There were tears in her eyes as she spoke. She hadn’t technically lied to them, since Twilight’s words at the start of the meeting was if anypony had read a note that Demon had left them, but the fact of the matter was that, in the two days he’d been missing, she had a potential clue that she hadn’t shared.

“I j-just left it o-on the table… I d-didn’t want to read it…”

The five ponies stared at their friend for a long time and Fluttershy barely squeaked out an “I’m sorry…” before Twilight spoke up, partly to lessen the load on Fluttershy, partly to get a move on.

“Alright then, Everypony to Fluttershy’s. We’ll see if this note has any clue as to where he went.”

Four of the six ponies left the library quickly. Inside, Rarity sat expectantly before Fluttershy, awaiting an explanation. Fluttershy resolutely held her head low, as though doing so would make her best friend disappear. Almost ten minutes later, Rarity sighed and stood up.

“I’m disappointed in you darling. Not wanting him to come back to the only home he’s had since Cloudsdale.”

And she left. Alone, Fluttershy, faced with the bitter resentment of her friends and disappointment from her closest friend, finally broke down and cried.

By the time Fluttershy returned to her cottage, the others were leaving. They looked at Fluttershy before resolutely turning to the West to chase after the wayward Pegasus. Only Twilight stayed behind. As Fluttershy approached, head low, Twilight spoke stiffly to her, still miffed at her ‘failure’ to share the rather critically important note.

“We are going to find him and bring him back,” she said to the depressed mare before her, “Should you decide to even be bothered to meet him, We have agreed to reconvene at the Library once we have found him.”

Her stern face softened a little at the sorrowful face of Fluttershy and she nuzzled her gently, her voice losing most of its stern note.

“You really should have helped us though, like it or not he is one of us now.”

And then she left, following the rest of the element bearers, but leaving the kindness behind. Fluttershy sniffled sadly and watched her friends leave before heading back into the house. Trudging up to her bedroom, she flopped herself down into her bed, pretty much ready to cry herself to sleep again, making sure her door was shut and locked.

“My my,” came a dry voice from within the room, making Fluttershy freeze, “Aren’t we all terribly sulky?”

She spun around, looking frantically for the voice’s origin. It was a velvety sort of voice, compellingly beautiful. Her eyes fell upon her chest of drawers where, against all sorts of laws, a unicorn sat, tapping his hind hooves against the wood. The scene would be forever etched into Fluttershy’s mind. He had a coat of deepest blue and a flank as blank as a newborn foal. His deep purple mane cascaded down his shoulders and his tail of the same colour fanned across the top of the drawers. Covering his face was, of all things, a bone white mask with splatters of red across it. Etched into it was a mural of three oblong shaped gems. And his eyes. They couldn’t seem to decide upon a colour to stay, constantly changing. His coat and fetlocks were meticulously tidy and his mane and tail seemed combed, probably almost compulsively.

“Don’t you think you’re being just a little selfish? Maybe a tiny bit?”

Fluttershy sat stock still. The mask was shaped like that of a pony’s skull, eye sockets and nostrils included. She was pretty certain she could still see a tooth or two on the leading edge as well. The stallion cleared his throat and spoke pleasantly.

“Fluttershy, once you’re quite finished.”

“W-who are you!? H-h-how did you get in here?”

The stallion shrugged nonchalantly and looked to the window. Fluttershy looked as well to find it wide open with no sign of forced entry. Considering it was on the sheer wall of her cottage, she wasn’t sure how he managed to get in through there, but she also really didn’t want to talk to this stallion. Something about him made her flesh crawl.

“Doors, dear Fluttershy, are for ponies with no imagination. As for who I am, you may call me Splintered Dreams.”

He leaned forward and, though she couldn’t see it, Fluttershy felt, know, she knew he was smiling at her under that hideous mask.

“I am here to talk to you. So you might as well get comfortable. I don’t know how long it will take.”

He talked for a good long time, or so it seemed. Shy was certain hours had passed, and yet the sun hadn’t even moved an inch across the sky. He spoke about but one topic.

Demonheart.

She found herself wondering how he knew about all these things that the pair had done together, the dance, the spa visits, the kisses they’d almost shared all three times the event had happened. She’d never seen him before, she knew not who he was. He simply was.

“So. He comes into your life, latches onto you as his rock and ends up being rejected by she of whom he saved?”

His latest sentence made her flinch back and he pressed his advantage with ruthless aggression.

“She who coaxed him out of his shell?”

Another flinch.

“He made friends with many. But you already knew that didn’t you? But it was you he was most afraid of losing.”

She looked at the ground, ashamed. She found it difficult, if not impossible, to ignore his voice. It seemed to coax her, slip its way in without difficulty and it stayed there.

“Do you know how he healed you Fluttershy?”

She shook her head. It was true. Aside from a vague explanation from Twilight, she didn’t know how.”

“The spell he used is dark magic. A very powerful spell. The barrier he used? Also dark magic. Dark Magic is extremely dangerous to everypony, especially the user.”

Fluttershy sat silently, listening to the creepy pony talking to her.

“That barrier was siphoning off small portions of your friend’s life forces to him. He siphoned most of his off into you.”

Her head was reefed up and she cringed away from him, but was unable to look away from his eyes. Those colour shifting, hypnotic eyes…

“He damn near killed himself to save you, after risking his entire being by releasing the only one who could allow him to save you in time. If he hadn’t been taking small amounts of life from your friends, he would have died himself. He almost killed himself to save you.”

If it was possible for Fluttershy to feel any smaller and ungrateful than she already did at that moment, that was the moment it happened. She burst into tears and Splintered Dreams released her head from his magical grip.

“He saved your life. And you threw him to the wolves. This is your last chance to fix things you know. And I believe, no, I know you’re the only one who can find him.”

He turned his back on her and took a step away before looking back over his shoulder at her.

“Stop wallowing in self pity and being so damnably selfish, read the damn note and, for the love of all things living, don’t fuck this up. He’s been through enough don’t you think?”

Before she could respond in any way, he took a step forward and, all at once, vanished. There was no rush of air, no flash of light. He simply vanished. Fluttershy stared at the empty space, a retort dying on her lips.

… Am I going crazy?

Dear Miss Fluttershy

I do not know what I have done to disappoint you nor what I have done to alienate myself from you but whatever it is I swear to you I never meant to do so. I understand that my condition is not one for a normal pony and I apologise for that. If I may speak bluntly, I have never met a mare quite like yourself. You and your friends have altered my perceptions of my own kind substantially. For the longest time, I was not accepted anywhere. I was a castaway, a vagabond. I have lived in the caves with the dragons, the dens with the foxes. I have resided within the den of a great woolly bear and the nest of the great horned birds of the far east.

Indeed, I have even been fortunate enough to run with the wild Diamond Dogs of the plains, hunting for gems with them as an honoured guest. Many would not see such a thing as a potential privilege, but I have seen many things. But my kind and the other ‘civilised’ cultures, Griffons, Changelings, Ponies, even the Sea Ponies shunned me, threw me out. Others threatened my life. I found Solace for a time with a small family of two Dum Kats. Young for their race. You have met one already, Paladin was the Kat you met all that time ago. His potential mate died from a disease for which I hadn’t had enough time to find a cure for. I am no scholar.

But you? You and your friends… They’re special. You’re special. Kind, compassionate, stunningly beautiful and so eternally graceful. No, in all my years which, admittedly, isn’t that many, I have never met a more intriguing creature, compelling animal or great pony such as yourself. You are possibly the most important and memorable thing that has ever happened to me.

You will be forever in my thoughts as I take flight to the West. Do not attempt to follow me, it is for the best. Perhaps Whitetail Woods will give me a home now that I have overstayed my welcome.

And I am sorry for Spectre. But had I not let him out, I do not believe I could have stopped Skuld from killing you.

Thinking of you always.
Demonheart.

Fluttershy looked at the words, trying to convince herself that it was hollow. But in the time she had gotten to know him, she’d never known him to say anything that he didn’t mean.

Do not attempt to follow me… It is for the best…

The words rang in her mind like a bell.

Do not attempt to follow me… For the best…

She frowned.

He doesn’t want us to follow him..? Of course not, he thinks we don’t want h… no, he thinks you don’t want him here. Is he right?

For a long time she considered this option before sighing sadly.

No, he’s not right. I guess I thought I wanted him gone. But… I don’t know, I feel so much safer when he’s around… Oh, what have I done? How could I have been so cruel to him…

For a long time she contemplated those words. For some reason, they were the only words that really caught her attention. Her eyes lit up and she smiled hopefully before practically bolting out of the door, her wings snapping open as she opened her wings and, totally disregarding his prior direction, flew out of the only other safe exit of Ponyville.

She headed north.

He was an easy pony to spot. The snow was thick and his coat was ebony. She knew it was him the moment she saw him, and Earth pony pack on his back, wings trapped by them. His legs up to his shoulders was covered in a fine layer of white powder and he was shivering as he walked. She followed him for most of the day, waiting for him to settle. It was about midday when he finally stopped in a place relatively clear of snow, or at least the thick blanket from before. He shrugged off the pack and yawned.

Before she could lose her nerve, Fluttershy glided down to him and, just before he could sit down, landed on his back. Not expecting the sudden weight and, therefore, taken off guard, Demonheart let out a surprised yelp as he tumbled head over hooves, Fluttershy with him. Instinctively, he flipped over once more, grabbing his assailant and planting them on the ground under his hooves where he could press his attack. He froze, however, when he was met with the shocked face of Fluttershy lying beneath his hooves.

“Miss… Fluttershy?”

She nodded wordlessly, beginning to blush.

“H.. How did you find me?”

She smiled shyly and spoke quietly.

“W..Well… I was… I read your note… and well… Y-you said not to follow you, so I didn’t… You said you were going west…”

Demonheart blinked owlishly and Shy rushed onward.

“And the only other safe exit from Ponyville was to the north!”

Demonheart and Fluttershy were both quiet for a moment and the yellow mare’s blush faded as it was replaced with concern.

“Am.. Am I that transparent?”

She smiled in relief as she answered.

“Well… no, the others went West…”

He blinked before sighing.

“You should not have come…”

He went to pull away, to let her up, and she lunged forward and took his ear in her mouth. He yelped as she fell back, dragging him with her. His head hit her chest and she enfolded him in her hooves and wings, her blush returning in full force.

“D..Don’t go… I don’t want you to leave… I.. I was just scared before…”

Demon felt his own face grow hot and he lay frozen despite the warm embrace.

“Y..You’re not now…?”

She giggled softly.

“No… Not really. I know why you did what you did… I had to think about it though…”

She frowned. She couldn’t remember how she came to the conclusion that he wasn’t dangerous, nor when or how she’d decided to read his note. She shrugged, sure it’d come back to her.

For a long while, several hours in point of fact, the pair lay there in the thin layer of snow whilst the sun began its inexorable path to the horizon. Eventually Fluttershy worked up the courage to speak and she looked down at the big stallion on her chest and swept his mane back over his ear, exposing all of his face. He looked momentarily startled and she giggled softly before whispering to him.

“Did I ever tell you… Did I ever tell you how beautiful y-your eyes are?”

To her great satisfaction, he blushed, seemingly as embarrassed as she was. He reached up and, very tentatively, brushed her mane, which had fallen over one side of her face at some point in time and was now covered in a fine layer of white snow, over her ear in a similar and much more shy mimic of her actions.

“Once… I think… I… I think you’re pretty too Miss Fluttershy…”

She blushed and shot him a shy smile.

“J..Just Fluttershy, or Shy please…”

He smiled at her just as shyly.

“J-Just Demon then please M… Fluttershy.”

The pair regarded each other for a long moment before leaning forward slightly, tentatively reaching for each other before, under the full glare of the rising moon in the east, lit up by the snow reflecting the rays of the softly glowing moon, Demonheart and Fluttershy’s lips came together in the gentle embrace of those in love.

“Ugh! What a waste of time! We didn’t even come CLOSE to finding him!”

Rainbow was still talking. She’d been complaining since they’d started returning home and the others were sick of it.

“Will you PLEASE shut up Rainbow Dash! I’m sure we’ve heard quite enough of your-“

“Shh.”

Rarity and the others looked at Twilight. She was frowning and looking at her home, of which they’d just reached.

“Why are the lights on in the library? Spike was staying with Applebloom and the other Crusaders at the clubhouse tonight.”

The five mares cautiously approached the library. The curtains were drawn across the windows, so Twilight cracked open the door and peeked inside just in time to see a freshly showered Demonheart step into the common room. By the fire lay Fluttershy, already asleep. Damp though he was, Demonheart seemed more than comfortable to lay next to Fluttershy, who yawned cutely and nuzzled into Demon’s chest as he draped one large, black and red wing over her. Twilight gently closed the door, a smile on her face.

“Applejack. Is your spare room available? I think I might need different accommodations tonight.”

AJ (and the others, except Pinkie Pie, who seemed happy again) looked confused for a moment before she smiled a relieved smile.

“Course it is Twi. Apple Family is always ready t’ put up a friend for the night.”

Inside the Library, Demonheart laid his head next to Fluttershy’s, gently nuzzling her cheek before tightening his wing around her slightly. He’d go to sleep soon, and then he’d find out if this was a dream he was having. But until then, he was quite content to listen to the sound of Fluttershy’s breathing next to him and feel her chest rising and falling under the sensitive nerves of his wings.

There were no whispers in his mind, there were no temptations.

For now at least, he was at peace.

And thus it is complete. Paranoia. I hope you all enjoyed reading it, I have tried my hardest to not screw it up XD. Keep watch for the next installment, Oneirophobia.

~Valorousspectre~