//------------------------------//
// Making Amends 
// Story: Fangs and Wings and other Things 
// by Kinetic Heat 
//------------------------------//

Twilight trotted before them, leading the way with sure steps and not a single look behind to her friends. There had been friendly chatter when they had begun their quest, but as the first week passed by, any conversation had died down quickly enough. The night had made them uneasy. It was  still hard to get used to the darkness, and the memory of a sunrise was drifting further and further away. Twilight and her comrades were slowly drained of their laughter, and sometimes one or the other caught themselves responding too sharply to a question, almost snapping at their friends.

It was getting to them more than they wanted to admit. The feeling of discomfort was also being increased by their lack of sleep they had to deal with. More sleep meant to travel by a slower rate, and Hazel wasn't somepony easy to get as it was. Especially not when he didn't want anypony to follow him. But they were getting closer.

Twilight shuffled her hooves over the bumpy, moss-grown path between sentinel trees and tried to keep her two followers confident. An effort that was ridiculed as she staggered over a root growing out of the ground, and fell on her belly. Cursing, she stood up again. ''Bloody root. Next I see, I burn it down.''

''Twi, ya alright?'' asked Applejack, coming closer and raising a hoof to support her. Twilight knocked it away and bit her lip. 

''Why yes, Applejack, I'm quite fine. No really, it couldn't be better. I mean, with the sun down, we don't have to care about sunburns anymore. Rainbow can fly without risking to get blinded by the morning sun and your coltfriend benefits of it the most. Why wouldn't I be alright?'' Twilight's voice almost toppled as she spat the words at Applejack.

At first, Applejack was surprised at the sudden verbal onslaught, but quickly, she went into the defense. ''Why looky here! Ah know there's hard times we're havin', but that ain't no reason to talk to your friend this way! Ah'm as tired as y'all are, and do ya see me complainin'?'' She was closing in on Twilight and soon their noses met. They glared at each other, showing their teeth and pressing their foreheads together.

Rainbow slipped her hooves in between them and shoved them off each other, not without earning herself a nasty look from Applejack. ''Now both of you calm down. Twilight, you've got no reason to nag at AJ. AJ, that could have been said better. Don't you guys see that this is slowing us down? I get that you're pissed, Twilight, but unless you got any miraculous plan on how we can stop Amaimon without Hazel's help, we gotta pull together on this one.''

Twilight grunted, but loosened up in time and let out an exhausted sigh. ''I can't believe I'm saying this. You are right, Rainbow. I'm sorry, Applejack, I shouldn't have flipped on you for no reason at all. Friends don't do that.'' She held out one hoof in an offer to hug her and Applejack willingly accepted the apology.

''It's quite alright, Twi, Ah ain't gonna blame you. Can we get this over with, though? Ah don't wanna waste any more time than we already have.'' She let go and smiled that almost motherly smile she had accustomed to lately. They walked on in silence once more. 

Apart from themselves, the only thing that kept them company was the monotone sound of their hooves on the grassy ground. It was then that Twilight was developing a bad headache. The impact of her hooves on the ground traveled up through her legs, into her chest, her neck and ended at her head. The concussion caused her brain to be in motion and touch the inside of her skull, hence the headache. Also, her back was starting to hurt because of similar reasons. It was one of the rare times she was annoyed of the lack of stamina she possessed. She envied her friends. 

With every step she took, the headache grew worse. It was like some smith had chosen her poor head as an anvil and was working with never ending eagerness to create a metal beauty as if his life depended on it. Needless to say, this wasn't much for Twilight's pleasure. Also did, every time she thought her body had accommodated to the pain, said pain increased. It was a vicious circle.

Step by step, she marched on, led her friends, ignored the hammering in her brain and kept sternly looking forward. Bunch of grass, rock, root, bunch of grass, rock, root, bunch of grass, rock, root. Twilight fell into a rhythm, repeating the five words over and over again like a dogma and tried to distract herself with it. 

Suddenly, she stopped. She could take no more step. It was too hard. The pain in her head had reached incomparable intensity. She felt like she had impaled herself headfirst. It was too much to bear. She couldn't go on anymore.

''Um, Twilight? What's up?'' Rainbow asked from behind, but she couldn't answer. Twilight had clenched her teeth shut, she almost feared they would break. The headache had taken on a pulsating manner, and with every wave, it was growing. Twilight collapsed. 

''Twilight!'' Rainbow and Applejack yelled in unison. 

White coat. Broad chest. Wide wings. Pitch black hair. A stallion straight from a dream, nightmare or not, strolled from behind of a tree on the border of the small tray they had been walking. As soon as the two standing ponies caught sight of him, they froze. ''Hazel,'' whispered Applejack.

''Hazel!'' shouted Rainbow Dash. She came rushing at his neck, trying to pull him into a hug, but Hazel avoided the contact and was behind Rainbow, facing Twilight, in a heartbeat, and left Rainbow with a dumbfounded smile on her face. 

He walked over to Twilight, looked down on her and shook his head. ''A tracking spell. I should have known.'' He knelt down and touched Twilight's horn with a hoof.

''Wha-'' grunted Twilight in a weak effort to form a question. It was immediately followed by a surprised yelp, as Hazel's hoof clicked against the bone on her forehead and a quick bolt shot through her body. A sensation of deep relaxation rolled from the tip of her horn over her whole body and took away all the unease and agony she had felt in the last days.

Hazel stood up and offered a hoof to help her up, and Twilight willingly accepted. He arched an eyebrow. ''I take it this was the first time you have ever used this spell?'' Hazel said in a calm tone. There always was something comforting in his voice. She nodded.

''Luna was the one to invent this specific tracking spell; a shame you had to pick it of all the others. It is true that it is the most precise, but it takes up far more energy, thus when you get near your target, the link kind of overloads your brain. You have had a strong headache, haven't you?'' Hazel looked at Twilight with a patronizing curl on his lips. Again she nodded.

With a turn, Hazel faced Applejack. She had advanced onto them as he had been speaking and stood now mere inches apart from him. Applejack looked at Hazel blankly. Hazel looked blankly at Applejack. Then, Applejack pulled one arm back and let it swing. Her hoof hit him straight in the face and made him avert his head. Silence. Another moment passed, then he looked up.

''I imagined you were angry. That one, I deserved.''

Another slap, now with the other hoof, let his head turn to one side.

''And this one probably too.'' He looked back at Applejack and tried to read her expression, but failed to do so. There simply was nothing that he could have possibly read.

''Whoa,'' shouted Rainbow, jumping quickly in between them. ''The hell, guys? AJ, first blood was mine! How could you? I was the one to get him his first bruise in a fight!'' She glared at her friend.

Applejack just stood there, looking past Rainbow at Hazel, still no movement in her expression. She nodded at Rainbow with her chin, gesturing him to tell Rainbow how things were standing. He pulled his lips up one side, looking sourly first at Applejack, then at his apprentice.

''There's that, Rainbow. I see, Applejack and Twilight have made you well aware that there has been events regarding my family, that escalated into a larger fight. As a consequence of which''- Hazel stopped and tilted his head apologetically- ''my brother hit me in the cheek. Technically, I'm unbeaten still, just not unwounded.'' He sighed.

Rainbow stood there, her mouth opening and closing, followed by a deep frown and finished up with an angry stomp on the ground. ''Celestia dang it! That bastard! Oh, he better watch his back,'' she grunted under her breath.

Hazel pulled up a hoof and waved it about. ''Rainbow, do remember that he is my very brother. He is in wrath, because he thinks that the extinction of all our races could have been averted, had I stood my ground and fought on. Of course, that is not so. The war was final. None could have survived,'' Hazel said, his voice trailing off the further the sentence went. ''And to be exact, in fact I am the bastard.''

Rainbow pouted and looked away. ''He's a foal of a nag nonetheless,'' she grunted, lowly under her breath. 

Hazel looked at her, one corner of his mouth up and an eyebrow arched. ''I heard that.''

He set his sight back on Applejack and politely gave Rainbow a push, so she may move. The three steps it took him to reach her felt long. Longer than they should have felt. 

Applejack still stood there, her face as blank as it had been the entire time. When Hazel reached her, she looked straight into his eyes, and turned around. ''We goin' home,'' was all she said. Her voice was just as monotone.

Hazel followed suit. It was better if he didn't ask any questions yet. An act of wisdom Twilight lacked.

''Wait, what? This is all you have to say?'' Her mouth gaped open and incomprehension was spread widely over her face. ''You were supposed to be a raging beast of a mare. You are supposed to yell at him! 'We goin' home' is all there is?''

Applejack spun around. The first emotion of this day -well, night- overtaking her in whole. Unfortunately for Twilight, it was anger. ''Oh really? Am Ah?  Y'all would like that, wouldn't yer, Twi? This a thing between him and me, get it into yer head! I won't discuss this in front of you all, and Ah have thought better of yer, Twilight, than being the same blabbermouth as Rarity!''

Twilight took a step back. She hadn't reckoned with the force of Applejack's onslaught. 

''Applejack, what is-''

''-the deal? Oh, Ah'll tell you what the deal is! It's that you-'' 

''Applejack!'' Hazel's booming yell rung their ear drums.

Applejack turned and looked startled at him.

Hazel walked over and pulled her in a tight embrace. ''Please,'' he said, laying his chin on her head. ''Don't say anything now you will regret later. Twilight is your friend. I know how angry you must be,'' Hazel spoke more quietly into her ear. He let go of her, but held one hoof still on her shoulder and his eyes gleamed wetly as he talked on. ''And you have every right to be angry, but only at me. They-'' Hazel waved his hoof at Twilight and Rainbow Dash ''-have taken it all on them as a matter of course to guide and protect you. I am the only one here who deserves being yelled at.''

Hazel kept his stand and waited for Applejack's response. When nothing followed, he inhaled deeply. ''See, the things I did are unforgivable. I lost control in order to save you, but ended up hurting you more than doing you any good. But I promise you, it will never happen again! I sealed it away to never return.''

Applejack pushed his hoof off. ''Ya think that's what Ah'm so mad about? This?'' She glared at him. ''Hazel Eyes, all the mares you've had in yer life and still, yer don't understand the littlest bit 'bout them. You didn't kill Granny Smith, Ah refuse to call that monster the same name as yours. The reason why Ah'm this mad is, 'cause you ran away!''

Hazel's mouth went dry. He opened and closed it a few times, seeking for words. ''But if I had not, I'd certainly hurt yo-''

''Ya hurt me way more by runnin' off with yer tail between yer legs. You are a coward! What's got a dead army to do with bravery, when you can't let me help you?'' Applejack stood there, tears already wallowing up, but she blinked and forced them away.

Hazel made a step towards her, but Applejack backed away from his touch.

''You left me. You ran away and hid, and that's far worse than any wound you or yer damn brother could have ever done to me.'' Again, she shied away from him, turning her back on him. Applejack stifled a sob and moved to walk. ''Let's go home.''



 

The dim light of the lantern, that stood as the lonely beacon in a dirty little alley somewhere in the lower ring of Canterlot, shone dully on the white unicorn mare with the electrifying blue mane. She walked as if she had had a good few too many shots, her front legs drawing a criss-cross on the cobblestone pavement. Her head hung low, she had lost her shades, and her eyes and throat burnt like hell, also was her back killing her.

It was already the third day after she had awoken, lacking the memory of the past five days before, and from there on it had gone from bad to worse. Vinyl was getting paranoid. She could hear every little sound around her, be it the buzzing of a mere bug, the gurgling sounds of the water in the pipes, or even Tavi's heart beat. 

Whenever she had tried to eat or drink something, her belly rebelled against her, and rejected the food, and she had had to spew it out. She was plagued with fatigue, hunger, and nausea. She had tried going back to her job as a DJ; once. The moment she had set step on the stage, the bright neon lights had made her eyes sting, her beloved bass had almost perforated her ear drums and the stink from the sweaty bodies of her customers had finally driven her from her spot and into her rest room.

Vinyl had no explanation why this was happening, only one hazy piece of memory drifted through the cloudy mess that was her mind, weakened by her hunger and sickness. The silhouette of a tall person, two gleaming red dots were she assumed his head to be. What had it said? there is a way... out of your dilemma?... exchange for my gift... drink whenever you feel like it... you awake, you shall be my child.

It made so few sense. After her disastrous attempt at resuming with her work, and the following fail of getting nourishment with her beloved can of Monster, which she had given into the toilet soon after, Vinyl had fled the club and wandered the street in search of-

What actually?

What had she hoped to find here anyway? The more time passed by, the worse her state grew, physically and mentally. Vinyl set one step after the other, kept walking, only forward. Every step she took, her hearing numbed a little more, until she could only hear her own heartbeat, how it boomed in her head like the bass in the club. Her legs felt sore and so did her throat, it was raw, and Vinyl needed food desperately. 

Suddenly, she collapsed and sunk to the ground.

Vinyl lay there, unable to move, unable to stand up, and listened to the ebb and flow of her breath. In and out the air went. In and out, in and out. At last, she closed her eyes and let her thoughts slip away, while the air went out of her lungs, but no fresh one filled them again. Her whole chest just felt too heavy, and actually, it felt better this way. The cobblestone floor somehow seemed so soft and cozy now, and her body was warm. She could nap for a while, and when Vinyl woke up, she would feel much better, she was sure. The light faded away, and darkness wrapped her in its arms, dragging Vinyl away from life, and she was fine with that.

With a burst, Vinyl's senses returned to her. Her lungs were burning, screaming for air. With a sharp gasp, Vinyl inhaled as much air as she could and her lungs inflated in a flash. She coughed heavily and sucked in more air, coughed again and then panted. When Vinyl's fit had resided to manageable degree, she looked up, her vision slowly returning to its former strength. 

In front of her stood Amaimon in his whole menacing glory, cape flattering softly in a light breeze, slim fit vest and pants, black boots. He smiled down on Vinyl, retreating his hand from her mouth. She licked her lips and tasted the metallic, salty flavor of blood. Immediately, all the memories came back to her, how she lay on the couch in her rest room, her chin on Octavia's belly, the interruption, and then... him.

Vinyl's throat was sore, and when she spoke it was nothing more than a dry craw. ''Amaimon, you- How did you...''

Amaimon lay a finger over her mouth and shushed Vinyl. ''Shhhhh, it's alright,'' he told her, soothing, charming, calming. ''You may call me master from now on. I allowed you to become one of my own, and I am sure you understand the honor of being chosen.''

Vinyl nodded, her eyes fixed on him.

''I have watched you these past three days. You seem to not entirely grasp the concept yet, so I will take you under my wing, and teach you everything you need to know. Questions so far??"

''What about Tavi? Can she-''

''This is entirely about you,'' Amaimon intercepted harshly. ''It is important that you take this journey with no one but me at your side. As soon as you are done, you have all the time there is to spend with her. Remember: you made this deal to help her, but for now, you have to be on your own.''

Vinyl shoved her concerns aside, better not to upset him. He was her master now. The scholar does as he is told. Even so, Vinyl hoped her training wouldn't take so long. If it did help her secure her and Octavia's income and the blooming of the club, then who was she to refuse?

She got on her hooves again and followed close to Amaimon as they walked up all the way to Canterlot Castle.