A/N: Fangz to mi frend Crimson 4 lendin meh moreal suport 4 da writign of dis chaptah. Yu rok, bich!1!

Chapter 11: My Sweet Horse Prince

Leaves and twigs crunched underfoot as Delores, her cat, and the spirit of Harambe walked through the Forbidden Forest. Ominous whinnies and howls carried over on the slight breeze, making Delores shiver, and her cat tense up: centaurs and... gulp, werewolves. She was not a dog person, and werewolves were essentially dogs, so she was not a werewolf person, either. She was a cat person, had always been a cat person, and would always be a cat person – no ifs, ands, or buts about it. And besides, dogs smelled, and Delores could only imagine how badly a werewolf would smell by comparison.

The pink and white mist of Delores's spell slithered just above the ground, winding around trees, through bushes, over rocks and babbling creeks, and went on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on until Delores lost track of just how far they'd come.

"How long until we reach Tom?" She asked Harambe.

Soon, my daughter, the gorilla reassured her. I can sense his devotion – he is nearby.

Hearing this gave Delores a new surge of energy. She sped up her pace, pink boots falling determinedly and viciously on the crunchy ground as she trudged on towards her love. She fancied she could smell the scent of his hair on the breeze, but that was likely just her matrixing from being in the woods for too long.

The trees grew sparser and sparser, and the trio soon entered an empty clearing. Moonlight spilled onto the grass, staining each frond silver. The pink trail led towards the very middle of the clearing, and just... stopped.

Delores jogged over to the spot where the pink mist halted, frowning.

Tom wasn't here.

"There's nothing here," she whined, pulling out her wand again to perform the spell again – perhaps it had worn off?

She felt a furry hand clamp down on her shoulder. No. He is here.

"How can he be here if he isn't here?" Delores back-talked her Creator, feeling a bit saucy.

He is here, Harambe clarified, only we cannot see him.

Very helpful, Delores thought sassily, about to voice her opinion on the matter when Mr. Cuddlesworth began to growl. His butt was raised in the air, and his tail was poofed out like when a person with very curly hair brushes their hair when it's dry, like a savage, instead of brushing it when it's wet, like a civilized human being.

Delores tensed up. If her cat was getting nervous, then there truly was something to get nervous about. He wasn't a skittish cat, but he was glaring in the direction from which they came. He began to hiss ferociously, and Delores brandished her wand threateningly as the leaves rustled.

"I know you're out there! Show yourself, you prep poser!" Her wand hand was trembling with fear, but she could hardly believe how brave she sounded.

The bushes rustled some more, then parted to reveal two gorgeous specimens: centaurs, built like bricks, if horses could be bricks without ceasing to be horses. Their bottom halves were horse, ink-black and shining in the moonlight, and their top halves were human, with six-packs and glistening pectorals. They were exquisite, in every sense of the word – not as exquisite as her Tom, but still, very exquisite indeed. Delores was enraptured as the two centaurs drew closer, close enough for her to see their twin black braids, chiseled faces, and obsidian eyes. Absolutely exquisite. Exquisite, exquisite, exquisite.

"Your Highness, it's only a girl and her cat," the centaur on the right said in a voice that sounded like Dark Molasses.

"Yeah, what he said," the other centaur added. His voice sounded like Lukewarm Vegemite. "Just a girl and her cat."

"A girl?" A deep chuckle emanated from the bushes from whence the two centaurs came. The bushes rustled again, and a centaur far more exquisite than the two standing before Delores stepped out from among the branches and leaves. His coat was a deep chestnut, and glistened like disco pants in the light of the moon. What set him apart from the other centaurs was his immense, regal height, and his lack of human torso – in fact, the only human thing about him was his... face. He had a horse body, a horse neck, and a human face...

...A human face that was so exquisite, so dashingly handsome, that Delores almost passed out on the spot. His emerald green eyes, so much like Tom's, pierced her like a knife, leaving her feeling vulnerable and weak in the knees. His chin was chiseled to a tapered, diamond-like point with which he could cut glass with ease, let alone room-temperature butter. His oaky-brown hair fell over his eyes, and he tossed his horse neck to free his exquisite face of the offending hairs.

"Hello," he spoke again, and Delores's heart flipped. Even though she was very much in love with Tom, she would be lying if she said she wasn't intensely attracted to this... horse-man. His voice was far more exquisite and deep than his friends' – it sounded like when you stir a pot of Wacky Mac macaroni and cheese, and you add too much milk to the powder. Exactly like that, only indescribably more exquisite.

"H-hi," she replied, meeting his emerald green eyes with her swamp-brown ones. She suddenly wished she were still wearing her pink ball gown and Vegan gorilla stole, but she dared not ask Harambe to redress her right now. She had no idea if these centaurs were believers in the true gospel of Harambe. And besides, she wasn't there to flirt.

"What are you doing out here, in the woods?" The first black-haired centaur, Dark Molasses asked.

"It's dangerous out here, you know," The second black-haired centaur, Lukewarm Vegemite, added.

Delores suddenly found her voice as she remembered why she entered the Forbidden Forest in the first place. "I'm looking for someone, a... friend." She didn't know why she felt the urge to lie about her relationship with Tom, but something about the handsome chestnut centaur made her fib. "He's been kidnapped by a horrible man with no nose. Have you seen him?"

The twin centaurs looked at one another, then at their leader, who was standing several feet behind them.

"I know this man with no nose well," the horse with the man face whinnied gravely. "He terrorizes my kingdom with his incessant time traveling. He came by this clearing not too long ago, but disappeared into a space-time pocket."

"A space-time pocket? Like a calzone?" Delores couldn't help it – she was hungry. Her stomach grumbled.

"Yes, like a calzone." The horse-man raised a hoof in an altogether anatomically incorrect and disturbing way to scratch his chin. "Come to think of it, he did have a man with him – a man with dark hair and a nose."

"Yes, that's him! That's Tom!" Delores cried out. Tom had been here – he wasn't here now, but he was nearby, in some space-time calzone. "You have to help me get him out. He means the world to me!" Her eyes began to brim over with tears.

Suddenly, the chestnut centaur was inches away from her face, wiping away her tears with a hoof. "Don't cry, my dear," he whinnied. "We will help you find your friend in the morning. In the meantime, please come with us. You must be hungry, and it is dangerous for a young girl and cat to be wandering around in the Forbidden Forest at night. There are werewolves out here, you know."

"But Prince Yuuma—" Dark Molasses protested. "Your father won't be pleased with you bringing a human girl to our camp."

"And a cat," Lukewarm Vegemite added rather uselessly, as everyone could see that Delores's cat would be accompanying her wherever she went.

"Silence!" The chestnut centaur, who Delores now identified as Prince Yuuma, bellowed. "My father can be displeased, for all I care. I will not have the death of this young beauty and her cat on my hooves. She and her cat are coming with us."

Dark Molasses and Lukewarm Vegemite shuffled awkwardly and bowed. "As you wish," they muttered in unison.

Prince Yuuma looked pleased. He bent down low to the ground beside Delores. "Climb on," he whinnied, and Delores complied. She watched her cat jump on top of Dark Molasses's back and begin batting at his braid as the centaur began walking back into the forest, followed by the Prince, then Lukewarm Vegemite taking up the rear.

"Why are you helping me?" Delores whispered to the horse Prince upon which she sat as they walked through the woods towards the centaurs' camp.

He chuckled, and Delores could feel his laughter beneath her, reverberating throughout her tired body. She hadn't realized how exhausted she was, until now. "It is my duty as the Prince of the Centaurs to tend to the needs of my people, whether they be centaur, cat, or human. The Forbidden Forest is my kingdom, which makes you one of my subjects that I swore to protect. What is your name, my dear?"

Delores blinked, feeling her mouth turn dry as sand. "D-Delores," she stuttered. "It means 'Snake' in Japanese." She silently pinched herself for saying something so stupid. What's gotten into you, Dee?! You're going with them to get help finding your boyfriend! You can't just fall in love with some centaur you just met! Keep it together and stop rambling!

"What a beautiful name," the Prince said, swinging around his grotesque horse neck in a way that was definitely not natural, nor was it healthy, and he flashed her a dashing, sparkling smile. His gorgeous green eyes were bright with some unknown emotion, and the intensity of his gaze made Delores's face turn cherry-red, and caused all of her thought processes to stop and melt away. "Delores means 'Sweet Horse Princess' in Centaur."

"Really?" Delores breathed. She had had no idea that her name had so many beautiful meanings. As a child, she had always been ashamed of having such a boring, plain name, but now, she was slowly growing to love it.

"Yes," the horse Prince nodded. "My name is Prince Yuuma, but you may call me Yuuma. It means 'Sweet Horse Prince' in Centaur. It also means 'Blessed By Harambe'."

"You believe in Harambe too?" Delores asked, completely dumfounded. She had no idea that Harambism was so widespread.

"Of course!" Yuuma whinnied. "We believe that Harambe formed this beautiful world and all within it. I believe that it was His Will that brought you to us tonight, and us to you. We were meant to meet, Sweet Horse Princess Delores." His voice was almost hypnotic, and Delores found herself clinging onto every word that left his human mouth, which was somehow attached to a horse neck and body. "It was written in the stars."