Fangs and Wings and other Things

by Kinetic Heat

There's more beneath the Surface

Luna lay on her silken cushion, white and purple embroideries adorning the borders, and gazed into the open night sky through the window, while an artificial, cool breeze let the curtains sway. She blinked and tried to stifle a yawn, as another moment of tiredness took over her. Another failure at keeping herself up and awake, but creating a steady wind seemed like a fine idea. How had Celestia ever been able to keep things up this way? Not even a whole month had passed since she was permanently holding the moon up high, and she could already feel how much it was draining her.

Bit by bit, her head was slowly coming down to lie on the heavenly soft pillow, soon going to dwell in sweet slumber, until she- No! She had to stay awake, she had only awoken five hours ago, it wasn't time for her to sleep again yet. She got up. Maybe a walk in the Canterlot Gardens would help her regain her spirits.

Luna stepped through the gate that led to the wide areas of the famous Canterlot Gardens, a conglomeration of all types of both flora and fauna that existed in Equestria. Little daisies as sunflowers hung their heads low, and even the trees seemed to be mourning.

Not a single sound could be heard from the acorns that usually raced from branch to branch, not from the colorful toucans or parrots, that should be showing off the skill of their singing, it was mating season after all, or the dull stamping of deers on the ground. Every single living thing seemed to be hiding, or sleeping, or whatever.

The sun was more important than she had thought. How could she have been so blind back in the day, when she was possessed by Nightmare Moon? Eternal night? What level of stupidity had she reached there?

A stiff wind blew into her face and made her shiver for a moment. Nothing like the real thing. She began to walk down the path, that marked the usual tour-route for visitors, and soon came to the imposing fountain in the center.

She remembered how she used to plash in there when she was much younger, not much to the delight of her older sister, but what did she care in those simple days? She was the princess, everypony had to bow to her will, and if she pleased, she could have taken a swim in the fountain whenever she wanted. Luna chuckled. More from melancholy than from actual amusement.

''Erm, uh, Princess Luna, I, uh, didn't know your highness was here, um...'' Luna turned her head and looked at one of her guards, a pitch black pegasus in just as dark armory, and tilted her head. ''At ease, soldier.'' She waved her hoof dismissively and settled down at the border of the fountain, signing the guard to do so as well.

The stallion did as told by his princess, although the awkwardness was making him more than insecure. Who gets to talk with royalty face to face everyday? With the grace of a seal, he slumped down next to Luna, making sure to keep a good arm's length distance.

Luna looked up in the sky. Had there always been so few stars? ''Say, Sir Guard,''- Luna kept her gaze up in the open, ''-what is your name?'' The guard looked blankly at her. ''Cirrus, Cirrus Feather, second lieutenant of the second brigade under General Bright Wing.'' Luna lay her eyes back on him. ''A nice name, I like it.'' She gave him the sweetest smile she was able to utter, in an attempt to ease him and help him relax in her presence. She had never liked her guards or other subjects to cringe and writhe before her; the formalities that were expected from royalty were strict enough.

Eventually, Cirrus loosened up, as it came clear to him that Luna wouldn't scold him for his nap, although he still kept a polite distance.

''Lieutenant, may I call you by your name?''

''Your highness, you may call me whatever you want, you are the co-ruler of this land after all.''

''I know, but I would rather not do so without your permission.'' Luna winked.

Cirrus gaped in little surprise at the princess, but then shut his mouth and nodded thankfully towards her. ''Cirrus, I want you to be completely honest with me. Understood?'' She raised an eyebrow at him and waited for his answer.

Cirrus hesitated for a short moment of deliberation, then looked Luna straight in the eye and answered with firm voice. ''Certainly, your majesty.''

Luna breathed deeply and gained her spirits, clearing her mind and bracing herself for any reply Cirrus would give her. Her sapphire eyes shot open and what came out of Luna's mouth almost sounded like a plea. ''Lieutenant Cirrus, am I a bad princess?''

Cirrus blinked. Was she being serious? Was this some strange kind of testing his loyalty to the crown? Why would she do that? The way he saw it, he couldn't answer this question in the right way: If he said yes, then what would she do with him? On the other hoof, if he replied with no, then in her eyes, that would presumably be just a weak attempt at toadyism from his side.

Cirrus rubbed his chin with one hoof and tried to avoid as much eye contact as possible. He needed more time to figure this one out, so a distraction would be rather convenient right now.

''Why are you asking this, your highness?'' Not the smoothest thing that had ever left his mouth, but it should do. Luna dropped her sight. ''Because-'' Now her gaze was flickering throughout the whole garden, skipping over the branches as if she was following the path of an imaginary squirrel, then racing between the bushes, now keeping track with an invisible herd of deer and then she glistened into the sky, where sparrows and blackbirds, that only she was able to see, glided over the firmament.

''Because I was not strong enough to prevent you from all of this; from Amaimon's reign, the constant darkness or the suffering you certainly are having to endure. I'm so sorry, I tell you, I was neither strong enough to defeat him, nor to rescue my sister. It has gone all wrong and I was nowhere near fulfilling my duties-''

The rest of Luna's speech went by mostly unheard as Cirrus desperately tried to weasel out of this hairy situation, though he kept up remembering every fifth word, to at least have a chance of improvising should she ask more questions, which she surely would.

An idea came to his mind. It was absurd, and he had rejected it, had he had another option. What if this wasn't a test, but a real plea for honest commentary from his side. Princess Luna was well known for cunning and often intriguing behavior among the guards, but her sorrow seemed too real to be just another of her antics.

''Excuse me, your highness, but did you say suffering?'' As Cirrus went through the last few scraps of the conversation, this was the last full sentence he could remember in entirety. Luna halted in her speech and looked at him.

''Of course. I mean, it must be terrible for you to serve under such a tyrant. I can only imagine what you have to go through.'' Luna reached out and stroked Cirrus' shoulder with a hoof.

Cirrus frowned. What was she talking about? ''Your majesty, I don't mean to undermine your authority, but what do you mean by 'suffering'?''

''Well, the way I see it-'' the princess spoke, a little surprised, ''-he must be punishing you for any little mistake of yours. I despise every bone in this rotten sack of meat and rest assured, I will not give up until I find a way to get rid of him.'' Determination let Luna's eyes sparkle in the moonlight.

''Your Highness...'' Cirrus brushed her hoof off his shoulder, an amused smirk on his lips, as he stood up and looked the princess straight in the eye. ''I ensure you, the only thing we are suffering from at the moment are the bruises we get when we stutter over some obstacle we aren't able to see in the dark.''

Luna was aghast. ''But Amaimon is the embodiment of tyranny, he-''

''Princess, believe me, nothing is as bad as you might think it is. Look, for example, the celibacy you and your sister set upon the guard?''

''Yes, I remember well.'' Luna said, curious with a good measure of suspicion. ''My sister and I agreed on this so the guard could focus on their task and would not have to worry about a family that could be hurt by a vengeful pony who has had trouble with a guard.'' She raised an eyebrow. ''What is with it?''

Cirrus shrugged apologetically. ''Well, Amaimon declared it invalid.''

''What?!''

''He explained to us that one could not forbid love if it happened and that love was free.''

Luna gaped at the young guard's member. What she had heard was naïve and romantic, a starry-eyed ideology of a green fool. Cirrus and the rest of the guard would have to understand that to this rule, as well as to many others, there was a story behind it.

Before she and Celestia had set up this decree, there had been an attack rate on the beloved ones of guard stallions they both hadn't been able to ignore. Luna had seen the faces of many fierce stallions overrun with tears at the graves of wives, daughters and sons.

''Tell me more, how is he treating you?''

''Well, he rules strictly but fair. Sure, he was quite harsh to the common soldiers when he had tested their skills, but we all are disappointed when something doesn't meet our expectations. To the commanding officers, me and the others too, he has never yelled or done something that way. He asks with assertiveness, though not rudely.

Hard, but heartly, if you wanna put it simply.''

Luna couldn't believe what she was hearing. The arrogant dictator she knew and the just regent this guard had told her about should be one and the same person?

The irritation and incredulity, that the princess' face displayed so clearly, stopped Cirrus in his admiration he had talked himself into. With the cold fingers of embarrassment clawing down his back, he took a shy glance at the lunar princess.

''Oh, um, your grace, please don't think the wrong things about me. If I had the chance to overthrow him and bring you and princess Celestia back into reign, I would do so without a moment of hesitation. My loyalty still binds me to you, but at the moment, what can we do but bide time and wait for the right moment?''

She looked at him with a blank face. He was right. There was nothing they could do but wait. The thought of it and the following feeling of helplessness drilled into her gut like an ice-cold dagger. Without a doubt, they were powerless, why not accept it and do everything they could possibly do? The devil is in the detail after all. Maybe they could manage something, no matter how small, that then could help bring Amaimon's fall.

There was one thing she could do. Keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer. If she wanted to defeat him, Luna had to find out everything there was about Amaimon. Eventually, she would find a weak point in his armor.

Luna stood up. ''Thank you, Officer Cirrus Feather, I shall keep your words and your name in mind.'' With that, she walked off, cantering lightly back towards the castle. Cirrus nodded, not knowing if he should be delighted or concerned.

''Your highness, maybe one last word.'' She only turned her head.

''It might not be of big importance, but when Amaimon annulled the celibacy, he vowed that if something was to happen to our families, us and you in particular, he would repay the guarantor tenfold.''

Luna nodded once again and finally trotted back inside the castle. Maybe Amaimon was more than what had met her eye; maybe he was not the villain she pictured him as.

And maybe she was becoming a greater fool than the one that could have held the speech about the celibacy. He had locked away her dear sister, hypnotized her and had burdened Equestria with never ending night. There was nothing good inside him and Luna better kept that in mind when thinking about him.

As she walked by the throne room, she could make out the feint sounds of music from the slightly opened door. She glanced through the slit and saw Amaimon with a violin clutched between his shoulder and chin, while his right drove the bow over the filigree cords of the instrument, once swift and strong and at other times delicate and tender, eliciting a bitter-sweet melody from it.

he tones that swathed around her spoke of grief, longing, desire and never dying hope. It touched a side in Luna she wasn't sure she had in her and for some reason, tears welled up at the corner of her eye sockets.

She turned away.

Perhaps, she had overlooked a side of him and there was more beneath the surface.

---

Leaning his back against the rough surface of a boulder in between a line of pine trees, Hazel sat on his haunches and looked up to the bright full moon. It never changed. The princess would keep the amount of light the moon spent at a maximum. An effort as kind-hearted as it was pathetic.

Not long, he swore to himself, then Hazel would march straight into Canterlot, call out Amaimon and grant him a quick, clean and painless death. He was his brother after all. He would restore order and peace in Equestria and, as soon as the deed was done, Hazel would go back to Ponyville and live with Applejack until-

Yeah, of course he would, why shouldn't he? There was a fat chance for it to happen like that.

Amaimon was incredibly strong, it already bordered to ridiculousness. Hazel would have to fight with more than all his strength if he wanted to survive the battle. But, like one of his mentors once had told him: ''Master yourself, master the enemy.''

And exactly that was what Hazel was currently up to. He wanted to find his inner beast, his hunger, his nemesis and he wanted to rip out its teeth and then lock it up in a cage, so that it might never harm anyone ever again.

Fighting against himself had always been a vain desire of his and when he had fought against the doppelgangers Luna had formed once upon a time, they had been just that: nothing but sound and smoke, vanishing into thin air at the lightest touch.

This time would be different. Hazel would have to face a side of himself he had denied with every inch of his body, until as of late. Since the moment he had fled from Sweet Apple Acres, the voice in his head had become louder, it had started to gain strength and the urging from his Rage, as he had named it for name-giving's sake, was wrecking his nerves. Rage seemed to be an appropriate name for it, since everything he could remember when it had occurred was this overwhelming feeling of all-consuming hatred. Hazel had to get rid of it once and for all.

He pressed his back harder against the rock, hesitating what was necessary for next step. Hazel had felt fear before, it would be foolish to daresay he hadn't, although when he was to face a promising opponent, he met him with respect. Fear put shackles on your limbs and froze you to the point where you couldn't move.

Respect, though, made you weary. Respect sharpened your senses, it let you see clearer, hear better, move swifter. Hazel could tell them apart with ease and what was letting beads of sweat form on his forehead was certainly not respect.

Damn it all! He had to put an end to this, else he would lose his sanity.

Taking another deep breath, Hazel tried to relax as much as he could and closed his eyes. The signals of his surroundings slowly blurred and ultimately vanished from his percipience. Almost imperceptibly, the clearing he sat on changed into the realm of his mind, into which he traveled ever so deep.

Swirls of magenta, cascades of copper and blurry stripes of wine through pitch black nothingness and the sound of wind howling made the inside of his most inner self. Hazel floated through the broken black and flew to where he supposed his enemy to be. Hazel could feel the Rage nearby and the dread he sensed only hardened his suspicions.

With a dull thud, he landed on nothing, bending his wings back to his body and looked around.
No trace so far.

Suddenly, the hairs on the outline of his ears caught a light breeze where none should be and Hazel turned his head. Not a moment too soon. When fangs like icicles snapped shut next to him, Hazel evaded the tips by the skin of his teeth. He rolled to the side and fastened his step, glaring at his opponent.

Hazel looked into a grimaced abomination of his own face, the spikes out the gums incredibly long elongated and eyes like drops of molten stone.

Dropping into a fighting stance, he mockingly raised a hoof and waved the Rage to try him. Only one blink and the beast was at him, fangs aiming at his throat. Hazel on his side reacted quickly and shot an uppercut at the Rage's chin, knocking its head back and bringing a few good steps of space between them.

The beast shook its head sideways and growled. It glared at Hazel and balanced again, its eyes scanning over him, trying to find a vulnerable point in Hazel's defense.

Again, the Rage rocketed forward, fangs bared and flying at Hazel's neck. Hazel, however, only raised a hoof and with a sickening wet clutch, the thing crashed into an invisible wall. Not a smile betrayed his grim mask as Hazel spoke down onto his enemy.

''My mind, my rules.''

The Rage got back to his hooves again, its snout awkwardly flat and a trickle of blood oozing from it. A heartbeat later, it appeared behind Hazel, arm ready to strike, only to crash into another wall, but instantly, the Rage redeemed itself. Starting a wild assault, it attacked him from all sides at once. At some point, Hazel trapped the beast against a wall and his hind leg, but this time, he added five other walls, setting the Rage into a cage.

It had scarcely enough room to breath, which wasn't actually a necessity, since they were inside Hazel's head. He stepped to eye's height, his expression cool and still like the surface of a mountain lake, set one leg back, gained drive with a spin of his arms and wings, spun twice around his axis and smacked the caged beast in its face.

The cage broke and the animal inside was sent flying over several meters, until it hit yet another wall, clinging to it and then slowly sliding off to the ground. Hazel watched idly as the thing that shared his every– now deformed- look got up again, its muzzle broken in several places, dented almost inward and a long bleeding gash on its cheek, right beneath the eye.

Like nothing had happened, the Rage stood up and its mouth began to shift a crackle, slowly forming back and the wound closing. It spat out.

''Weak!''

Its voice was a gnarl, a shout of white-hot rage, the elongated teeth a hindrance for its tongue, so that it also sounded like it was hissing.

Hazel just looked at the beast in cold apathy. He mustn't let himself get taunted, else this would become a disaster.

Then, he was gone. In what seemed like the fracture of a second, Hazel was gone, nonexistent, just not there. Seconds passed and nothing happened. Then with the sound of rolling thunder, Hazel's wings opened and his hoof struck the Rage's raised forearm with immense strength. Another blink and Hazel had vanished again, just to reappear in front of his opponent and letting the force of another collision between his leg and the Rage's trickle into nothingness, as it got blocked again.

Hazel hopped back a good leap away from the beast. Despite his effort, the Rage had seen its own blood a meek single time, when Hazel got him all caged up.

He was starting to sweat. He wasn't at the limits of his power yet, by far not, but closer than he had been in centuries.

If I had known, I would have come here ages ago. he thought with bitter amusement.

''Weak! Just like I said! Pitiful, insufficient, pathetic weakling!!'' Drool was flying off the lips and fangs of the Rage and it occurred to Hazel that it could not express itself in another way than yelling. It spat out.

Hazel kept his cool with an ease that came from centuries of practice. His eyes were half shut as he remained focused, knowing that his very sanity depended on it. Although, if he didn't finish it rather soon, all his concentration would be for nothing, as the Rage would adapt and grow in skill with every passing second. Maybe an adequate taunt could get things going.

''Weak you say, though I am the one that stands unharmed while you stain my brain with your blood.'' The Rage spat out another time. ''We can change that!''

Action was too much effort for Hazel to bear at the moment, so counter was the better option. He waited for his enemy to approach him and then knock it right in the weak spot. What he didn't reckon with was the unison of both strength and speed that the Rage displayed. Hazel had only time to raise another invisible wall as his arch enemy's front hoof struck it.

For a second, the two fighters made eye contact, Hazel seeing the hate, rage and fury in the Rage's blood-ruby like eyes and the Rage reading the stillness and absolute control of emotions in his cairngorm ones. Then, the eyelids of the Rage flickered and it increased the pressure on the wall. With horror did Hazel notice the small cracks that were forming mid air between them and the sound of glass cracking reverberated to his ears.

The second punch hit Hazel straight in the face, sending him flying a good set of steps away. He hit the ground; once, twice and lay still. His ear twitched and as he stood up, Hazel moved a hoof around his muzzle to see if any teeth got loose. To his relief, all of them were still in place. He spat out.

As Hazel got up, he was caught in the next barrage of hits. Three quick attacks that aimed at Hazel's muzzle were blocked by a shield that had been raised in the last second, only to be shattered as the fourth strike broke it and let Hazel cough. Next came a whirling kick at Hazel's back. This time, the shield didn't even protect him against the first hit. Hazel could feel his ribs crack and a moan of pain fled his mouth. The Rage wasted no time and slammed his shoulder into Hazel's face, knocking him up and finishing him off with a brutal kick with both hooves to the chest.

As he lay there, Hazel was sure now that at least a dozen ribs must have been broken, since he had difficulties to breath. He coughed and blood came flowing out his mouth. He couldn't move. He had lost.

Tack. Tack. Tack. Tack.

Hoofsteps were approaching at a steady pace, not fast, not slow, but energetic. ''See?'' The yell of the Rage reverberated through the black nothingness that was Hazel's mind. ''You are so weak. If you can't protect her from yourself, then how can you daresay acclaim yourself a protector against others?''

''I am-'' a fit of coughing intercepted with Hazel's attempt to form an answer. More blood seeped through his teeth. The pain was so bad. ''Because I love her.'' He managed to cough out. A small moment of reservation from the Rage made him look up.

For once, it seemed like calm had settled in with the Rage's expression. His lips tightened over his fangs, as much as they were able to, and the glowing of its eyes lessened. It stared at Hazel's broken figure, trying to make sense of it. In the next moment, however, the old habit was back and it snarled at him. ''I am part of you, your very being, your brain. Don't you think I hadn't figured out that much? Besides, we are one and you are obviously not fitting to take the spot of a protector. Any last words before I take control over our body?'' Its fangs lowered and came ever near Hazel's throat.

''Just,'' he spoke up, ''these ones: I'd rather rip out my own wings before I let a wicked abomination such as you take care of Applejack!''

Suddenly, the Rage shied away. Hazel recognized a dim light from behind him, but his spine was too severely damaged as he could try to turn his head. What he could do, though, was see the bafflement that displayed so openly on its face.

With the subtlety of a thunderstorm, the whole space of Hazel's mind was flooded in golden light that chased away even the last shadows that may had lingered within. Hazel painfully shut his eyes, but that only served little to ease the sting in them. The Rage, however, seemed to suffer more than him, judging from its roars and screams that now was everything Hazel could hear.

The Rage staggered and fell, still screeching like the beast it was and cowered low in a defensive stance, front legs crossed before its face and hind legs drawn tightly to its belly. The burning light faded soon after and left only a feint glow behind, but that glow seemed awfully lot like a form Hazel knew only too well.

Gleaming, shining, shimmering, like a goddess among the goddesses, she stood there bathed in the light of dawn and brighter than even Celestia might claim. There was no doubt. How could there? All these things Hazel saw as he lay his gaze upon the appearance that sent the Rage into cowering. The light had faded and the known darkness came prowling back into Hazel's minds, though not as deep as it had been before. It was like it too was aware of the power that mare in the middle of Hazel's mind emanated.

Frankly speaking, it was not exactly Applejack, easy telling from the brightly shining eyes and the gently twinkling mane and tail, but the whole thing was Applejack, like what made her stand out from others. This was what Hazel saw in her, and the Rage knew so too.

Calmly, almost casually, she strode forth until she stood right before it. The Rage looked up and was immediately greeted with a tender hoof to the nose. It stiffened, but didn't dare crouch away. Suddenly, the tip of its nose began to smolder and smoke was rising from the contact point. Surprisingly, even then it didn't back off, but rather showed an expression of comfort rather than pain. The glow that now ran from nose over face and then onwards soon covered its whole body in cold white light.

When Applejack's doppelganger removed her hoof, sadness straight down dripped off the Rage's face. It was floating now and expectantly waiting for her to continue, but Applejack just turned around towards Hazel and settled down in front of him. The lightning lowered her head and lay her lips tenderly onto Hazel's and he could feel how all his injuries vanished. Like warm water, all the pain was being washed away and replaced with relief.

Hazel stood up and so did Applejack and together they strode towards the Rage. She gestured and before it could do so much as raise an eyebrow, Hazel had built another cage and trapped it in there. Applejack touched the invisible walls and they turned white, sealing away the sight off the searing-with-anger demon inside as well as the look of betrayal in its blood-red eyes.

Hazel turned towards the spirit, but in just that moment, the figure vanished into the nothing where it had come from. He smiled.

There has been a time when I took care of my enemies myself. Good old times.

With a last look at the white cage, Hazel made a step and left the realm of his mind and back into the real world. His confidence was back. His strength was back. Hell, HE was back! With determination, Hazel flapped his wings and took off into the sky, his gaze already scanning the surrounding area for a multiprismatic trail.

He almost even didn't hear the thin voice saying You may have been weak, but without me, you are even weaker! This is far from over! You will come back to me, without me, you are nothing!

Author's Note:

Don't worry I'm not dead, I just lost my virginity. Yes, it's true, my first time happened. I now have had wrighter's block, everyone. So after the second artist has let me down, the cover art will still be delayed till somewhere in mid August or something.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Thanks for a new chapter. I wonder what is going to happen when Hazel has to fight. Good luck.

[Sea_Swirl]

Cool! I really like this story!

[Warrior Kitten]

Dat Author's note. TMI.

I was half expecting an Emotional Battle to go on, like, Rage would be glowering over Hazel. Then Love would fly down and crush Rage's head into the ground. Then an epic battle between Rage and Love would occur.

Meh, close enough.

Either way though, Hazel has lost. He shouldn't be holding Rage back, he should be controlling it!

[Kinetic Heat]

4787915
Oh, if only you knew I am far from done with Rage. Also, ''Applejack'' is love, violence is beneath her.
4785599
Thank you, I always seek to please
4785571
Thank you, too. As to the fighting; well, what happens when you cut a cat's claws?