• Published 9th Nov 2016
  • 3,376 Views, 138 Comments

Hazel Eyes in the Moonlight - Oddling



What would you do if you were born with a curse? Would you simply live with it? Or would you go to the ends of the earth to find a cure? What if that cure... was in another world? Follow Jim as he pursues the cure to his curse in a land beyond ours.

  • ...
14
 138
 3,376

2 - Curses...

Canterlot Castle was one of Equestria’s grandest accomplishments of architecture. The high, vaulted ceilings rose to remarkable heights and massive stained glass windows decorated most of the walls. Beautiful tapestries of deep blues and royal purples adorned the great halls of the castle as well, adding to the visually pleasing aesthetics.

The castle was filled with many large rooms, each one capable of holding hundreds of ponies. Jim found himself in the very center of one such room. Twenty-two royal guards surrounded him, ten of them being the bat-winged thestrals, all brandishing golden spears. He looked up to the top of a dais and beheld one of the rulers of the Equestrian kingdom.

Celestia stared down at the human, taking in every detail. Atop his head was a messy mass of course brown hair. His skin was slightly tanned which seemed to compliment his hazel colored eyes. He stood at just a little over six feet in height, making him just a pinch taller than she was, and had a very lean body. Even with his expectant expression, there was a predatory nature to everything he did. It was enough to make the sun princess feel slight caution around the human (even the guards around him were poised for anything that might happen).

She took in a calming breath and steeled her resolve. “Jim Douglas. You have been brought here, before my court, as per your own request. Your letter gave us very little, aside from informing us that you were potentially dangerous. Under normal circumstances, your words would have been seen as a threat, yet you begged us to stop you. Would you care to give me an explanation to your actions?” she said calmly.

Jim stared at her for a long moment before he sighed and slumped his shoulders. He held his gaze with her, unflinchingly. “I have… a rather peculiar problem that I need your help with,” he answered.

“What kind of problem?” asked Celestia.

“Before I go into greater detail, I must ask one thing. Are you familiar with curses?” Jim calmly replied.

Celestia’s brow lifted slightly. “They aren’t a common occurrence, but yes, I do know of them.”

“Good,” Jim nodded firmly, “because I’m under the influence of one. I’ve looked for many years, searched all over my world, and have found nothing that could lift it from me. I came here… to try one last time to free myself from it. Can you help me?”

Celestia eyed the human for a moment. He’s a bit rough around the edges, but there is a feeling of urgency to his request, she thought. “I may be able to aid you, but I’ll need to know more about this. What is the nature of your curse?”

Jim sighed quietly and looked toward one of the windows. From the lack of intensity of the light, he figured it was starting to get into the late afternoon. He turned his head back to the solar princess. “Not to be rude, but time is kind of against me. How specific are you expecting me to be?” he asked.

Celestia’s eyes narrowed as her expression turned slightly suspicious. “How is time against you? Though I do feel something coming off of you, it does not appear to be anything serious. You also said you’ve had this curse upon you for quite some time. Forgive me, but it seems as though you may be here to stir up trouble. If you are expecting my help, you must show some degree of trust.”

Jim sighed more noticeably and crossed his arms. His expression became one of slight annoyance, but there was a hint of understanding behind his eyes. “Sorry, Princess Celestia. I’ve had to live a life of secrecy for a long time. My curse… kind of has this effect of causing violent deaths and needless bloodshed. That kind of thing is highly frowned upon back on Earth… and I hate doing it. This isn’t an easy thing for me to talk about in the first place. Plus, my curse likes to trigger at night, so the sooner I find a solution, the better off we’ll all be,” he explained.

Celestia held him in her steady gaze, patiently waiting for him to get the hint and finish his explanation. Jim got the idea and his hands started to clench as he fought his nervousness. “Alright then,” he sighed, “I suppose I’ll start with the basics of what I’m going through,” he said and took in a deep breath. “This curse… I was born with it. I inherited it from my father. It heals my wounds with incredible speed, making it so that I can regenerate a limb in a mere half hour. The only thing that it can’t fix is decapitation. Outside of that, it doesn’t affect me… until nightfall. Specifically, it triggers on nights of a full moon…” he trailed off and paused as he thought about how he would explain the rest.

“That is quite interesting to hear,” came the new voice of a woman.

Jim’s eyes darted around the room. He was surprised that someone had managed to sneak up on him. It was very difficult to do with his senses of smell and hearing being quite good. He almost missed it, as he gazed about, but he eventually took notice of the swirling cloud of dark blue mist near the ceiling. The mist seemed to twitch, as if it was startled having been discovered, and then a lighthearted laugh echoed through the room. “How curious… usually no one notices me – they hardly ever think to look up when searching for something.”

Jim eyed the mist with slight caution. The hairs on his body lifted as he felt a strange shift in the air around him. The instant he took notice of the odd feeling, something in him made him dash to the side, swiftly avoiding the spearheads of the guards that reacted out of surprise. He looked back to where he had just been and noticed more of the mist that had been seeping up from the floor.

“Luna, stop that,” Celestia said firmly, “you’re startling him more than is necessary.”

Jim started at the mention of that name. His eyes darted back up to the cloud of mist and he tilted his head. “Wait… Luna? As in, Princess Luna, the Princess of the Night?” he asked.

The cloud laughed gently. “Aye, that is my name,” she said and the mist swiftly dropped to the ground. Within moments, the mass of vapor condensed and formed into the body of the dark blue Alicorn Princess. She looked at Jim with slight sympathy and tilted her head. “I hope you’ll forgive me. I merely wished to examine your body more closely. There was never any intention of harm or foul play,” she said apologetically.

Jim relaxed slightly at that. It was a small relief to know that it was only Luna’s magic that he had felt. For a moment, it almost resembled the same sensations he had when his curse began to stir within him. He brought a hand up and ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh. “If you would, please don’t do that again. You startled me, which isn’t a good thing to do.”

“I agree,” Luna replied with a small grin. “Your display of how quick and agile you are was most impressive. You easily slipped out of the confines of our royal guard’s spears.”

Jim cast his gaze to the side. One of the benefits of my curse, I suppose, he thought ruefully.

Celestia gently cleared her throat. “I do apologize for that, Jim Douglas. My sister is more of a hooves-on pony. Please continue with your explanation.”

“Oh, yeah, right…” Jim said and put his hand to his chin as he gathered his thoughts, picking out where he left off. “So, when the full moon rises, my curse takes control. It… changes me. I become a beast – a wolf of great speed, power, and an insatiable thirst for blood. I lose control of myself very quickly, usually when I’m angered or stressed – which happens every time. I… I wish there were enough words to describe how I feel about it, but to sum it up in one word, I loathe every part of this curse.”

Celestia eyed the human levelly, her expression difficult to read. Meanwhile, Luna stepped closer, slowly. The lunar princess stopped a few feet away from Jim, just outside of his comfort zone (as indicated by how tense he became as she neared the edge of it). Luna thought for a moment before she ventured to ask what was on her mind. “Jim… how long has this curse plagued you?” she asked.

Jim’s eyes darkened for a moment as his memory brought forth many unwelcome thoughts. He sighed, shaking his head and crossing his arms once more. “Like I said, I’ve had it since I was born. I’m almost eighty-seven years old.”

Celestia’s brow quirked up slightly. “That is interesting. You look no older than a man in his twenties. Are you, per chance, immortal?” she asked.

Jim shook his head. “No. The curse doesn’t make us ageless… though it does allow longer life spans. The oldest one of my kind, back in the village I was born in, was almost six hundred years old and he was nearing his last days,” he replied.

Luna inched closer and tilted her head slightly. “So, you spent many years in search of a cure back in your world?” Luna asked calmly.

“Yes,” Jim said, nodding his head, “I started my search shortly after I came of age. In over seventy years, I’ve found nothing that could even be considered a remedy for what runs in my blood.”

Luna nodded slowly and then looked to the ground for a brief moment before she gently glanced back into Jim’s eyes. “Jim…” she said softly, “I must ask you, why do you desire the curse to be removed?” she inquired delicately.

Jim’s eyes flared in anger for a moment before a wave of sadness washed over him. He clenched his hands and ground his teeth as he remembered another part of his past. His gaze dropped to the side as a sigh forced its way through the lump in his throat. “I have a few reasons, none of which I am willing to share… it’s too painful. All I can say is that this curse has taken away everything that should have been important in my life, and it has left me broken and scarred. I want my nightmare to end.”

Luna’s breath hitched as she heard those words leave his mouth. There was a great pain within Jim’s eyes, and she easily found herself reliving a past mistake of her own. The look on the human’s face was all too familiar for her. Luna looked up, pleadingly to her sister.

Celestia nodded gently, understanding what it was that her little sister wanted to convey. The solar princess slowly descended the stairs with regal poise. Despite their original purpose, keeping their princesses safe, the gold and ebon clad guards parted to let her pass (though a few were reluctant to do so). Celestia came to a stop just outside of the human’s personal bubble, or rather, when he started to back away from her. “Jim Douglas…” she said calmly.

Jim’s attention perked up and he tilted an ear toward her slightly. He eyed her with slight caution. “Yes, Princess Celestia?”

A smile spread over Celestia’s features. “Given the circumstances, we would normally have to turn you away, but I have come to an agreement with my sister,” she said warmly. “We will do what we can to aid you, but I must make sure you understand one very important thing.”

Jim nodded and closed his eyes. “I don’t expect you to have infinite knowledge. If nothing works, then I’ll just have to try again elsewhere,” he said. Jim’s expression shifted slightly and he opened his saddened hazel eyes, refusing to meet Celestia’s gaze. “Or it might be better if you exiled me.”

Jim’s senses twitched and he went to move away from the source of a quickly approaching rustling sound, but found himself wrapped in a fierce hug from his side. The warmth from the body that held him in its embrace was incredible. He had not felt such kindness and heartfelt emotion throughout his whole life. Part of him wanted to lash out at the being responsible for this new sensation. Yet, there was more of him that was just utterly helpless.

Hazel eyes soon registered, and Jim found himself staring at the kind face of Celestia. The next thing that he realized was that she was blurry and that there was an odd feeling of coolness trailing down his cheeks. He blinked and the blur cleared up, but another trail ran down his cheek. Jim looked down and found Luna hugging him. The tenseness in his body, that he had not realized, slowly started to melt away… as if she were a flame and he frost.

Luna gently pulled her head back and looked Jim in the eyes. It was then that he noticed how striking her turquoise gaze was. It was like looking into flawless gems with a backdrop of gorgeous night blue upon a canvas of starry night. Her smile made the last of his tension fade and he fully relaxed in her grasp.

“There, there…” Luna cooed softly as she gently wiped Jim’s cheeks with her hoof. “There’s no reason to fret now. I give you my word; we won’t resort to banishing you. We’ll do everything in our power to break your curse. Even if we cannot break it, there are ways of tweaking them. One way or another, we shall put an end to your suffering. All that we ask is that you trust us…”

Jim stiffened slightly, but soon found himself relax again. He closed his eyes and sighed. “I’ll trust you… for now,” he said quietly. “Trust isn’t something I can just give… I’ve never been able to trust anyone. Hell, this is the first time I’ve been hugged… and the first time I’ve felt so… calm. What did you do to me?” he said.

Luna giggled, but it was Celestia who answered. “Luna has always had a way with creatures of the night. In a sense, she understands them in a way that no other can.”

Jim glanced to Celestia for a moment, slightly annoyed at the usage of the word ‘creature,’ but he let it slide when he felt Luna’s hug tighten gently. A tiny smile creased his lips and he sighed with mild content as he looked back into the eyes of Luna. “I guess that makes sense,” he said gently.

Luna smiled at him and then nuzzled his cheek softly. “Worry not, Jim. You are in good hooves,” she said and pulled her head away. “Would you care to join us for a walk? Perhaps a late lunch?”

Jim smiled a little more noticeably and nodded. “That sounds nice, actually,” he said, then a thought occurred to him. “But do you mind if I eat… well, a meat dish? Do you even serve meat here?” he asked.

Celestia giggled gently, covering her mouth with a hoof. “There is no need to worry, Jim. Our kitchens are designed to appease many pallets. Human’s, though new to our world, are not the only guests we cater to that have an appetite for meat. I’m afraid that the griffons and dragons beat your race to that particular venue long ago,” she said and smiled warmly at the human’s lifted brow.

Luna noticed the curious look Jim had given and grinned jovially at him. “I take it that you were not aware of some of the other races in Equestria?” she asked.

Jim chuckled and gave a short shake of his head. “No. I had done a little research on this place, before I found a way here, but the little pamphlet they gave us in that teleportation chamber didn’t explain a lot,” he said as he gently coaxed Luna’s hug away so he could produce said pamphlet.

Luna laughed when she caught sight of it. “Oh, yes, that little thing. It’s given to the new arrivals as a means of helping them with the basics of our world,” she explained. “But in all honesty, it’s in dire need of revision.”

“Yeah,” Jim agreed, “it’s really bad at giving any useful information. It does, however, tell us a lot about what to do if we ever see either of you, the rulers of this world.”

Celestia sighed and shook her head. “I just wish they would have excluded the parts of bowing to us so much.”

Jim eyed Celestia curiously. “Why? You’re royalty. Doesn’t it come with bows as a mandatory gesture?” he queried.

Luna giggled behind her hoof. “Oh, in a way, yes. But you must understand, that little book you have says that one must bow after every sentence that passes between a subject and us. For us, that is highly excessive. It’s good for a few laughs, though,” she said and glanced mischievously in Celestia’s direction.

Celestia gave Luna a flat look. Jim glanced back and forth between them, starting to realize there was a fun little story behind that.

“In any case,” Celestia said, cutting off the subject before Luna had the chance to poke more fun at her, “I should head back to my royal duties. It was a pleasure meeting you, Jim, and I shall see you again tonight.”

Jim lifted a brow, slightly worried about that last part. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Shouldn’t we get started on lifting my curse as soon as possible?” he asked.

Luna placed a hoof to Jim’s chest comfortingly. “Do not worry. It is part of what is necessary. In order to get to the root of your curse, we’ll need to see it when it is active. Right now, all we can see is a faint trace of it. Should we try to analyze it now, it could make things worse. We must view it as we would a normal spell.”

Jim nodded, only slightly understanding what she meant. Magic was extremely rare back on Earth, but it was something that he had seen on three occasions – two of which were attempts to rid him of his curse. All he knew was that magic was highly precise in its nature, and needed specific conditions.

Luna smiled warmly and then gestured to the doors with her wing. “Let us enjoy some time together. As our good friend would say, ‘if you have any questions, I’m more than happy to help,’” she said teasingly.

Jim groaned under his breath as he remembered that purple Alicorn from earlier, but he could not help but grin at Luna’s imitation. He nodded once and gestured with his hand. “After you, your highness.”

Luna giggled and playfully bated her eyes. “Oh, such a gentleman,” she teased.

The two shared a quiet laugh and proceeded to leave the room while Celestia teleported away.

Meanwhile, the solar and lunar guards simply glanced at each other and shrugged. Such was the life of the guard to be so easily forgotten.

Author's Note:

Alrighty then, here's the second chapter. :pinkiesmile:

I literally just finished writing it a few hours ago... so not much time went into editing. :twilightblush:

Hope you like it. I was aiming for a different perspective (personality wise) with the royal pony sisters than I usually do, plus I'm still in the process of refining Jim's personality. This story won't have a real schedule, but look forward to the next release. :raritywink: