Fangs and Blood and other Things

by Kinetic Heat

What it really means

The beams of the morning sun fell through the red curtains with white squares on them and lay warm on Applejack's sleeping face. The warmth tickeled her freckles and she rubbed her still closed eyes. What a wonderful- Wait. Sunlight? Oh, buck! She had overslept! And just during the most important time of the year! This day would be a huge loss if she didn't get up right now and got bucking on the fields. She had already lost valuable hours and she had to work even harder today to make up for it. Quickly, she sat up and wanted to throw the blanket off of her but it was like she had hit her head on a wall of weakness. Stars danced before her vision and everything in her head felt numb.

A white hoof carefully lay on her shoulder and softly pushed her back into her pillow. As soon as she had recovered from the sudden swim, she looked to her side and saw a tall white pegasus smiling at her.

''It is alright. Stay still, you are still suffering a great loss of blood. Lay back and relax.''

He pushed her back, softly but with certainty, and pulled up her blanket again. He was right, but Applejack wouldn't give in without a fight.

''Ah can't! Ah'm already far behind mah schedule and Ah'll never be able to buck enough apples before they rot on the trees! I can do this, trust me!''

Applejack stared at him desperately. Her eyes were filled with determination. What she didn't understand was why he kept on smiling. He even chuckled! How could he dare to make fun of her situation! The existence of her home was depending on her work and just sat there, giggling like a foal!

Hazel just said, calm as ever: ''You do not need to worry about your work. I have made arrangements. Bic Mac is out, bucking the apples since sunrise. I even got your friends help here. I recommend strict bed rest for at least two days. At that point, your amount of blood should be restored.''

Again, he dragged up her blanket and just smiled. Applejack lay back, still in concern, but his words put her at ease.

''Very well then, Ah guess Ah- Wait!'' she shot up again but was immediately greeted with another dizzy spell and held a hoof before her face. Holding her head with one hoof, she looked to Hazel.
''Did ya just say that Mac was doin' mah work? How's that possible? He was nearly dead just yesterday!''

Hazels ears perked up and his smile grew even wider.
''Why do you not ask him yourself? He entered the house this very moment. Oh and as it seems, he is already approaching your room.''

The same moment Hazel had ended, a gentle knock was to be heard from the door. Applejack answered the call and Big Macintosh, glowing with glee, entered the room. He was sweating, but that didn't seem to bother him much as he roughly hugged Hazel. Blandly pushing him back, Hazel sat there with an awkward smile.

Applejack stared at Macs flank. Only a small spot of red skin where the fur hadn't grown back yet whitnessed that there once was a life-threatening wound. She couldn't believe it. Here he was standing, covered in sweat from the hard work in the fields and only little bit of lacking fur was left of the injury that almost killed him. And he smiled!

Hazel noticed her stare.
''I told you I have taken care of everything. Mac is fine,'' he looked at Big Mac, ''Are you not?''
Mac nodded more than enthusiastically.
''Eeyup.''

''But how?'' Applejack was still unable to comprehend what was happening and stared at Hazel.
''When I injected your blood into Big Mac, I did not only mix it up with my saliva, that negates any infection what so ever, I additionally let some drops of my blood slip in. That is the reason why his wound not only healed so fast, but it is also the source of his strength and stamina. As soon as he woke up this morning, he wanted to go out and continue your work. Do not worry, the effect will disappear in about a week. I even got Twilight, Rainbow and the others to help.'' He looked out of the window ''As it seems, they have done a pretty good job. I will finish tonight, what you do not get done today. Is this fine with you, Big Macintosh?''
A charming smile curled his lips as he looked at the crimson stallion before him.

Again, Mac just nodded.

Finally, the news had settled in for Applejack when a question popped up in her mind.

''Tonight? And what if Ah might ask, are you doing during the sun's up?'' a challenging look found it's way on her face.

''Well, since I know you good enough now, I was thinking about keeping you company. I know that you do not approve of being stuck in one place for too long, so I thought it would be a good idea to help you spend your time.'' He gave Mac a nod and the tall red stallion almost bounced out of the room.

He was right. She hated being put to doing nothing. She was a work horse and being useless made her go nuts. Only, how did he knew that? They hadn't seen each other much in the last few days and she certainly knew more about him from the memories he had shown her. But did she really? Those memories were from a long lost past and she didn't have any idea of what he had been doing in the last millenium. Maybe this was really a good way to get the time down.

''Well that is easy. Every time I drink somepony's blood, I automatically consume all their memories they had up to this point. I know about there character, their wishes, hopes and dreams, what the like, what the dislike, even their physical feelings; when they were in pain, love or when the were just bored. Everything flows into me. Does that answer your question?''

Applejack's eyes nearly rolled out of her head, her jaws dropped and she stared at Hazel in complete
incredulity.

''How- wha- why-'' Applejack was, again, startled to the core. Hazel, however, was in utterly amuse by her bafflement, as a growling laugh escaped his mouth.

''A little mind trick. I am able to read minds if the pony in question is not paying enough attention, or does not know how to counter it at all.'' again, he laughed.

Applejack shivered. This was getting creepy. Nopony should have such a power, except gods like Princess Luna or Celestia. But then again, he actually was older than both of them together! Ugh, she couldn't get a clear thought out of this whole thing.

Hazel noticed her struggle and knew in an instant, that he had gone too far.

His laugh disappeared and made way for an apologizing countenance. He let his ears drop and bowed slightly.

''Forgive me. I had no intention to make you feel uncomfortable, I was just used to it after all this time in the castle, standing at guard, watching over Celestia, listening to these annoying, never-changing anecdotes of the always same wealthy ponies, trying to get favors of having a little talk with the princess. I am truly sorry for my actions. It will never happen again, I promise.''

''Apology accepted, now get here and tell me a story.'' She looked at him with a demanding glow in her shiny, green eyes.

''Pardon me?''

''You said you would spend some time with me and I want you to tell me a story.''

He sat down on his haunches next to the bed and looked deliberately at the floor.
''What kind of story do you wish to hear? A romantic story, a horror story, maybe something funny? Or are you more into a much more mature kind of storytelling?''

Hazel smirked at her wryly, teasing her around, but that plan failed as she just shook her head and snickered at him.
''No, sugarcube, I wanna hear somethin' 'bout you. How life's been at the castle with the princesses, what you hadda do, maybe friends you've made. Ah'm curious, maybe not so about these fru-fru things Rarity wants to hear, but I certainly do appreciate a lil' gossip.''

A frown stole itself on Hazel's face as he cogitated about what he should tell her. The past millenium had gone by without much action, Luna's treason set aside, with him only supervising and training the royal guards, but when a certain blue maned unicorn entered the guard a while ago, he gave up on this job and returned to the exhausting practice of meditation and his usual duties of watching over the city, taking care of Celestia's needs and always keeping up on his combative skills.

Hazel cleared his throat and began to narrate.

''Life in the castle.... Well, you could compare it to golden cage. Sure, the sight is marvelous, the talks I had were with the highest intellectuals and the beds are very comfortable. But there is this nagging feeling of something that is missing. When Celestia woke me up, I swore an oath to do whatever was in my might to protect her. And so, I did. They began their regency around fifteen centuries ago and during that time, much had to be settled. There were different races like the griffons, the dragons and others. All of them did not want the ponies to settle in and steal away the land they had so long fought for. Celestia, however, needed the space to start a settlement for her little ponies. The debates lasted long, over two years and when nothing had happened, the griffons declared war on her. Of course this was a harsh insult, seeing as the griffon army counted half a million soldiers whereas Celestia only had a thousand. Still, we won.''
He took a moment to breathe. Applejack saw that this was way harder for him than it may seemed.

After he gazed around in the room, he went on.
''I vanquished all of them. There was not a single casualty on our side. The griffons... noone survived. If this had happened around three thousand years earlier, I would have doven into it and I would have laughed at their torn bodies, but the loss of my beloved had changed me more than I wanted to admit. I had become a tool in Celestias hooves and I did whatever she decided for me to do. Now do not think that the princess is a tyrant! She did what was necessary to give her ponies a living. The others got alerted by the clash and let her have the land that you now know as Equestria. She split the rulership between three ponies and their assistants, you know them as Princess Platinum and Clover the Clever, Commander Hurricane and Pansy and Major Puddinghead and Smart Cookie.''

''Wait, are you tellin' me, that ya know the founders of Equestria in person? How were they? Ah mean what were they like?''

''Let me see.... Princess Platinum was kind of missy, for example, she would shriek in horror if there was but single grain of dust on her crown. She was not all bad, though. She was very open-hearted and took all the time it needed when one of her subjects needed help on a emotional base. Then we have Clover; she actually was a lot like Twilight, pretty bitchy at first sight, but when you knew her better, she was always there for you. Furthermore, she was an excellent chess player. Then, Hurricane; he was strong, agile and the best fighter among ponies I have ever encountered since. We spent so many days fighting that I lost count. He was always good for a laugh and did not shy to make fun of others, but in away they could laugh, too. Pansy, hmmm let me see... Saying Pansy was shy would be an understatement. Everything Hurricane had in confidence he seemingly stole it from her. If I recall correctly they married sometime. My I should add that Pansy had a real dirty mind.'' he broke into a melancholic giggle.
''Aah, that mare. Scaring her was the best fun you could have, besides the sparring sessions with Hurricane or the chess parties with Clover. But we still have another two. Major Puddinghead was exactly that: A pony with absolutely no brains at all. If you had told him that there was a reservoir of Cupcakes deeply burried under Mount Unicornia, he would be digging there up to this very day. Oh right, he was a glutton as well. Not that I did not like him, he was funny to watch, but got on your nerves if you spent too much time with him. And last but certainly not least: Smart Cookie. I was always a great entertainment, seeing how she got mad over Puddinghead for almost everything he did. They were like a mother with he child, although I think to remember that Puddinghead was about ten years older than her. However, Smart Cookie was really born into that role. Always caring, always a smile on her lips and a great listener. We talked often about several things. I really enjoyed these little talks. She may was not as clever as Clover, or as beautiful as Platinum, but she had a charm that made you tell her about your worries and she always had a solution to whatever issue you may had.''

He sighed. Talking about his past was straining, but something felt right about it. Sure, he had had multiple conversations with the Princess, but they were more of the lord and vessel type.

Applejack smiled at him.
''Seems like ya got some pretty good friends back then. How about today? Ya got any ponies back at Canterlot you lookin' forward to seein' after your order?''

The smile vanished from his face. He looked into her emerald eyes and a deep sadness took ahold of him.
''No. Nopony, besides the princesses, is waiting for me. I am alone. I have the ability to manipulate others' minds. They could have met me and talked to me countless times, but they would neither remember my face, nor my name.''

Astonished by his sudden change of mood, Applejack put a hoof on his shoulder.
''Oh, sugarcube, Ah didn't mean to rip open any wounds. Isn't that a terribly lonely life?''

A ironic grin made his lips lift.

''Yes it is, but I would rather take the permanent feeling of being alone than always getting hit by the death of my friends. Immortality is not a blessing but a curse. There is one enemy you cannot defeat with fists or wings or hooves or fangs.'' his initially grin turned into a grim face that sent down shivers on Applejack's spine.
''I had friends once, but then, one by one, they died. It just does not end. I had to watch all of my friends being torn off my side by an invisible beast. No matter how many bones I crushed, how many skulls I cracked open or how much blood I spilled, I could never defeat death itself. All these things I did, it is like death is mocking me, laughing at me. Everywhere I am, death is all around. Forever, I am damned to reside in this world, watching the never-ending decay of the things around me.''

Hazel clenched his teeth and desperately tried to hold back the tears. He couldn't show his weakness in front of her. First, because she deserved a happy way of killing time and second, because he didn't want to be seen as a weakling that can't get over something so long ago.

He straightened up and took on his usual, kind smile. He saw that his sudden outburst had scared Applejack. He seeked for words to calm her down.

''You know, I cannot afford the luxury of having friends. Their life span is like a snap to me. I gave up on it. I have myself and that is all I need.''

He kept on talking but Applejack didn't pay much attention. It was now that she understood his behavior. He was kind, but always a bit distant. He feared the aching feeling of loss and so, he was avoiding it by never bonding to much to somepony. One door to this mysterious guy from another time had just opened, and she was definitely going to get to him completely and utterly.

''Yer name.'' It wasn't a question. Something made her wonder.

''What is wrong with my name?'' he looked at her in puzzlement.

''Of what Ah've seen in your memories, I was thinkin': All these fancy names ,like Hkn-whatsoever or Ama-something, how come you got a name like ours?''

Hazel smiled.
''That is a very good question. You are right, the name I have is not the same as the one I was born with. But in my slumber, I seem to have lost it in the eons that had passed by. When Celestia woke me up, I was not able to tell her who I was. So, after she had transformed me into a pony, she named me after the first thing that she noticed about me.''

''Now that's just cute, Ah like it.''
Applejack giggled. The gloomy mood from before had disappeared completely. The room was filled with happiness, that affected both of them. They kept on talking, chatting about all sorts of things and before they noticed, it had become dark outside.

''Hoowee, that was a mighty nice day! Ah still can't believe that somepony can kick the flanks of a bunch of dragons and at the same time write a symphony even Ah heard of!'' She snickered and slapped a hoof on his shoulder.

He smiled as well. But as nice as it was, she had to sleep now. The moon was already proceeding it's way over the firmament and he still had some work to do.

Hazel raised and walked to the door.

''Wait! Are you gonna here tomorrow, too?'' Applejack reached out a hoof and her eyes shimmered with anticipation.

''Of course I will. I promised, if you may recall. Now sleep tight, you are still pretty weak and need the rest. We shall see each other as soon as you wake up. Good night.'' he winked at her and stepped out.

What on earth am I doing? I never had such conversations with the Princesses, not with Luna and certainly not with Celestia. The only one I could be myself like this was with...... Victoria.
Can it be true? Am I...falling in love? I? Absurd.

Hazel stepped out into the orchard and began his work. Every apple that was still hanging in the trees was grapped and stowed in the baskets that lay around. Not a single ripe apple stayed on it's branch after he was done. Despite his speed, it was midnight by the time every basked was secured.

''Hazel.'' a melodic voice wafted over the fields and made said pegasus' ears perk. He knew this voice all too well. He hadn't heard it for a long time now, but never would he forge this symphony of beauty and grace. First she was only a silhouette against the full moon,but soon enough the curveous body of the princess of the night descended before him.

Slowly she walked over to him. They stared at each other, faces unreadable. Luna took another step towards him. Then another. And another. She closed her eyes and her face came ever closer to his. Under usual circumstances, Hazel would have taken her to place further away from the barn and made hear scream out his name to the stars in pleasure and euphoria right then and there. But these weren't usual circumstances and so, he turned away from her.

Luna was taken aback by his actions. Never had she been rejected. But then she noticed something. It was like a glow radiating from him, a heat that waved over her and made her feel ticklish all over her body. She knew in an instant what was going on. An impish smile raised the corners of her mouth. She put a hoof to his face and inspected it from all sides.

''Now what do we have here? Can it be? The great Hazel Eyes, breaker of hearts, conqueror of royal beds and stallion with the longest list of benefited mares in all of Equestria is now lovestruck himself?'' she laughed at his surprised look and almost rolled over the floor.

''What? How did you know? I have not given you access to my thoughts!''

''Oh, dear, you didn't have to, your face is all it needs! That little smile that you try to hide, the uncommon spring in your steps and most of all, that adorable blush on your cheeks!'' again, she fell into laughter.

After her paroxysm of laughter she stood up straight and took on a much softer face. She swayed her tail against his chest and spread her wings to take off but was held back as he called her name.

''Luna, wait! Why are you here? Besides making fun of me, you did not do anything, so what is it that brings you to me?''

''Well, in the first place: Sex.'' she giggled. ''But as things are looking now, I don't think I can get you to do that. It's alright, have your fun, I can wait, as I have proven enough, I think.'' she giggled again, but this time a certain dullness swung with it.

Hazel strolled beside her and pulled her into an embrace. No words were needed. Everything was said with this simple gesture. When they parted after some time, Luna was ready to take flight but was held back, again.

''One thing I beg you to do. Please, grant Applejack joyful dreams. That is all.''

Luna nodded and finally took off. Hazel watched her fading to where she came from and as she was out of sight, he himself spread his wings. He felt the hunger raising inside him, but feeding now would only leave a awful aftertaste. Maybe it was time for him to sleep as well.

As he lay in the bed the Apples had placed at his disposal, his last thought was about his his hopeless situation. Even if he admitted that he had fallen in love with that mare, what he still refused to believe, how could this possibly work? As he had told her , the time she was going to spend in this world would be a mere heartbeat to him. No, it was better to feel the constant sting of solitude than losing another beloved. There was one way to cheat on death, however. No, he was never going to do this. Never could he burden her with the curse of immortality. Even so, what if he turned her into one of his kind? Would she love him in return? He could always force her to do so, but that would be a hollow love. No, this was impossible and he knew it, the best way was to accept that he would never find a suitable partner.

Screw this! Why has love to be so complicated? All I ask for is someone I can truly trust, is that so much?

Soon a dreamless sleep took over him and the moon shone brightly onto his peaceful face.

Comments

[Kinetic Heat]

3706034
You're the second one who suggests to quit using buck as a censorship the more I think about it, the more I think you're right. I'll find a way to express vulgarities in a better way, thanks. That's what I call constructive criticism

[EastonDragon]

I just thought, "i will read the first chapter and i will come back to it" and now nine chapters later, I should really be doing some work and yet i am just wondering how regular updates are

[Kinetic Heat]

3728462
Can't really tell, the last two weeks I was on vacations, but from Monday on, school's going n and there's a ridiculous amount of exams coming towards me, so updates will be coming very delayed sorry