It had been an hour since he set forth on his personal charge. Having been told the reason for him being orphaned by his aunt, Azure Glide stormed to his mother, Celestia, as she sat on her throne. He yelled and cursed her name for failing to prevent the death of his parents before he ran off to prepare to satisfy his anger, leaving his mother crying. Having equipped himself with lightweight armor and as many weapons as he can carry, he flew off to find the stallion responsible, a businesspony named Harlock.
 
Finding his large manor, Azure took his time stealthily taking out his guards, one by one, under the cover of night. Once he was discovered and locked eyes with one he was there for, he didn’t let any of his guards stop him. He cut them all down with his simmering anger, intent on saving it for Harlock. When he cornered him in his room, there was nowhere for the old stallion to go.
 
“Who are you?” stammered Harlock before getting smacked by Azure’s hoof, “Are you some hitman hired by someone? I can pay double than whomever sent you.”
 
“I don’t give a damn about how much bits you have,” snarled Azure as he picked up Harlock by the neck, “I want you to remember something. Does the date ‘December 27th, 991 ESY’ mean anything? Huh?!”
 
“I-I remember.” chuckled Harlock, “A limp-hooved stallion and his whore of a wife wouldn’t agree to my proposal for a merger of our businesses. Thus, I had them killed. No trace, not even the hitpony who carried it out, exists anymore. Who were they to you?”
 
“They… were my parents.” shuddered Azure with tears running down his face, “You took them from me. Because of your greed, you took them from me!”
 
“Heh, never thought they introduced a brat into this world.” Harlock’s remark was met with a savage beating, “I… also remember you as one of the guards who escorted me years ago. Never did I think that their ill-gotten spawn would help me around.”
 
Azure growled and began hitting Harlock again. In the process, he broke the stallion’s right forehoof. He screamed in pain yet still wore the mischievous grin on his face.
 
“Because of you, I lost nine years of my life!” Azure drew his sword. His anger began to boil furiously, “Now, I’ll do want the princess failed to do.”
 
“Then do it!” said Harlock, “Run me through! Do with me as you will! Put your parents’ souls to rest. Make them proud.”
 
Azure slowly raised his sword with vengeance in his sight. All he had to do was on quick motion and his wrath would be quenched. Yet, a feeling in his heart stalled him. ‘Make them proud’ echoed in his mind and his face changed to a more mournful one. If his parents were watching, would they smile upon him for bloodshed?
 
With a nod, he turned around and sighed. Perhaps vengeance wasn’t in his heart. Though he took life, he did so in the defense of others. What he wanted was to kill, murder the one who robbed him of a life that could’ve been. As he began to walk away, he heard Harlock cackle.
 
“Looks like you were too much of a gutless coward, just like your father,” Harlock laughed, “If I’d known you were in the picture, I would’ve had you and that orphanage burned to the ground. A shame that Vanilla Swirl chose your pathetic father. In another life, I would’ve shown her untold pleasures.”
 
Azure, in a moment of rage that he couldn’t describe, let out a furious scream and charged at Harlock, pinning him to the wall. He didn’t think twice before piercing the stallion’s neck with his sword. The sight of Harlock thrashing about as his life faded away only added fuel to his wrath. Once he was sure that the elderly stallion was no more, he let go and his corpse hit the floor. Azur let out one last scream of rage into the night.
 
Hearing footsteps, Azure turned around, ready to meet the last guard. Instead, he found a sight that made him pause, his mother, Vanilla Swirl. It made no sense that he saw visions of her death yet she stood before him, unscathed. Confused, he reached out to touch her cheek and feel her warmth. He felt it but the sight fizzled away. There, he saw a pony that hours ago, he cursed the name of, Celestia. Looking around and his mind coming to his senses, he was overloaded by guilt. Then, as he backed away from his mother, Azure fainted, with the last words he heard were her reassurances.