19 Rage of the weak

He sat there for many minutes, not moving, just pondering what had just happened and what had almost happened. It began to rain. As his fur began to soak in the warm spring water, the rage began to take hold of him: Anger at Celestia for allowing the predators to get so numerous. Angry that she had been so small minded as to send her sister away as opposed to talking to her! Beta had read the history books in the Library, and many tomes on magic. The old magic. Blood and runic magic. The kind that didn't sap at his life force to use. Celestia's decision 1000 years ago does not paint her in a good light.

He was mad at the injustice that such a sweet, innocent pony like Fluttershy had to go through this at all! And mad, inconsolably furious... that he was never able to protect the ones he loved! 'Delta, Alpha, Gamma, Omega, Iota 1 and Iota-2, the crazy techno-twins..., Even that Alpha mk2... ALL of them died and I was powerless to stop it! And father...' That last one sparked a rage in him he had never felt. A rage that was driving him to destroy and murder... Beta intellectually knew he had to get away from there, NOW!

Apple Berry had decided to come out to check up on Beta. From the look Rainbow Dash had worn as she came in to look in on Fluttershy, She knew Beta needed her more than Fluttershy. She arrived just in time to see Beta's white tipped, blue tail disappear through the bushes in the direction of the Everfree forest. It wasn't a difficult decision. She took off after him.

Running down the path, Beta turned towards what looked like the darkest part of the forest. His being radiating violence and impending death for anything that confronted him. As such, most creatures avoided his path. Because Apple Berry was following him, she was safe even from some of the meaner nasties in the Everfree.

Past trees, through bushes, under roots and over trunks, Beta ran, anger surging through him. "It's unfair, so God DAMNED UNFAIR! I have all this power and I can't save the ones I love!" Leaping up, he performed a spin kick, his foot claws fully extended, leaving 4 deep gashes in the tree, so thick, that it began to fall over. When he landed, he continued on his aimless journey to find something to fight. Something to take his rage out upon. Something HE could hurt for once.

Beta was so sick of holding back. He was sick of being weak and hurt and in pain. All he wanted was the old feeling of combat. His life against something else. One on one. The adrenaline rush of fighting for his life. The thrill of survival! The blood lust in the middle of a fight as you begin to tear your opponent down! The rush! The need for more and More and MORE... "WHERE ARE YOU YOU BAD ASS MONSTER!?" he roared as he spun sliced another tree, spun again and landed on it on all 4's, projecting him self at yet another tree, shredding it's trunk with his fore claws, landing on it then hopping to the ground, pausing to catch his breath.

"COME ON!!!" he bellowed again, breathing heavily from all the running and attacking viciously the stationary trees, projecting unspeakable doom of evil, stationary trees of unspeakable doom. "FIGHT ME, YOU FUCKING FAIRY FOREST! How bad ass can you be if you're AFRAID OF A BUNNY RABBIT!!!!!" he roared the last part, tears beginning to form. "Once again" he said quietly and sadly "I can't out run my own grief and tears..."

Before he could start to properly feel sorry for himself, he heard a growling coming from the woods he had just attacked for no reason better than they were there. It was a low, deep rumbling. He saw what he thought were fireflies fly into the remains of the three trees. His eyes widening, he saw the destroyed trunks begin to warp and reform into what looked like giant wolves.

'Timber wolves' Apple Berry gasped. She'd stayed at a good distance to give Beta the room he desperately needed. She could feel his pain so strongly even from 20 feet away. 'They're violent forest spirits that can inhabit anything made of wood, usually naturally down trees or random pieces of lumber or bark... but I've never heard of entire TREES!' she thought to herself quietly. She definitely didn't want to get their attention but how to warn Beta that he'd just pissed off something very, VERY big and nasty.

Looking at Beta, Apple Berry suddenly realized... the trees were the ones in danger. That manic look in his eyes... it scared her. His pupils were fully dilated. 'He looks... insane... The way he's smiling. The way his arms are spread apart, palms up, fingers out stretched, wiggling, welcoming the monsters towards him' Apple Berry had never seen one of Beta's rages, and this one was one of his worst.

Beta had never felt this out of control of his life. This weak, this... sick. Even when he was at the lab he had 'my team mates, Alpha, my father...' Thinking of his father made Beta's rage burn white hot again. His eyes went pure black and his claws began to twitch. He was tired of waiting for these monsters to attack him, so he leaped at the first one.

The monster backed up and swatted at the blue creature with it's massive, barky paw. And hit. Beta flew a dozen feet until he hit a solid standing tree with a *CRACK*. Any lesser being would have been knocked out at the very least, but between his biomesh armor and his pure rage and need to kill, Beta was only worked into a darker place.

"YES" he said in a nearly inhuman (or inpony for that matter) voice, "YES!!!! Fight me you fucking toothpicks!" He roared in that monstrous voice. It made Apple Berry's very soul shiver. "SHOW ME YOUR FUCKING TEETH!!!"

'So this is him in full rage' she thought. She was scared. Her instincts were screaming at her to run away... but her heart told her to stand fast. That Beta would need her when he was finished.

She compromised and stepped back a few more feet behind a particularly large, thick tree. She wasn't sure what would happen if Beta saw her in this state. But until the battle with the extra sized timber wolves was finished, she didn't want to distract him. She also didn't want to be seen by those hungry trees. So Apple Berry did the only thing she could do. She sat down and watched her love loose his mind in grief.

Beta launched himself again towards the first tree, keeping an eye on the others. The second one swiped at him. He grabbed a hold of the wooden claw, perched atop it and leaped, continuing towards the first. The next one tried to bite at him. He twisted and brought his right paw and claws down cutting the wooden maw completely off, where it crashed to the ground in a pile of splinters.

"He's amazing isn't he?" a soft, sultry voice came from behind Apple Berry a moment before she felt something hard and very cold against her neck. "Don't turn around sweety... just... watch him." Her voice was like silk covering a granite. Soft but with an unmistakable hardness to it.

"You're her aren't you" Apple Berry asked, watching Beta loose himself in battle. The voice didn't answer, but Apple Berry was sure she heard a subtle nod.

Landing on the first wolf's back, Beta raked it with his long claws, digging deep into the thick trunk that made up the body of this timber wolf. As he tore into the back of the timber wolf he saw a strange green light shining through. Dodging two swipes from the other wolves by leaping up and then laying flat against the tree, Beta pulled on either side of the rent he's made, opening it wider.

"He's always been at his best when he rages... and his worst" the voice said. Apple Berry could hear admiration and a great deal of sadness in her. This was another vulpine, she was sure of it. She had the same accent as Beta did, that same way of pronouncing certain sounds.

"Why have you been hiding all this time? He's needed you!" Apple Berry said with more than a little incredulity and anger "How could you let him suffer!?"

Dodging another swipe by number two, Beta retaliated while on his back, dodging the great paw by swiping up with both of his, rending the wrist from the arm with 8 well placed claw marks. The dismembered paw flew off it's wrist and into number three's face, where it's maw and teeth should have been, driving it backwards. At that moment Beta launched himself at it number 3, raking at the already open wound of it's face, shredding the wood, sending a shower of splinters like a soft rain onto the floor of the forest.

"I... I didn't know he was back until very recently... please believe that" the voice said. Apple Berry could sense the tears.

"It's ok.. I'VE been taking care of him." Apple Berry said defensively. She didn't like being threatened, and she liked this one's return even less, if she had to be honest with herself.

"Do you love him?" the voice asked. Apple Berry had never been asked that so directly before. Her and Rainbow Dash had discussed their feelings about Beta and agreed to be happy for the other, whoever he choose. But even Rainbow Dash hadn't asked her so directly... to be honest...

"Yes." she said with no hesitation or quivering. She was stating a fact, cold and rational.

Beta began ripping and digging into the face-damaged timber wolf, trying to get at the glowing green light. He knew it was it's power source, its heart. If only he could get at it. There was much power there... and he was hungry. He hungered like he hadn't in a very long time. He missed meat. He missed killing, he missed his old life at times like this. 'That's the rage talking' a very small, rational part of his mind said. In truth, Beta loved the peace of Equestria. Yes, he missed steak, but he enjoyed fish here, so he was happy enough with that.

"You've done a great job of taking care of him I see" the voice said sharply.

'That hurt' Apple Berry thought. "You know how he is... do you honestly think I could stop him?" she asked.

Sighing, the voice responded "No... no I suppose not." then, she hesitated afraid to hear the answer "is... is he happy?"

"DOES HE LOOK! Happy!?" Apple Berry snapped, turning to face the female, anger overriding her good sense. She pushed aside what turned out to be a metal pipe. She pointed with a hoof at Beta as he struggled to rip open the mauled wolf's chest. "He's fighting 3 super huge ... tree... monsters..." she trailed off seeing her competition... she was beautiful. 'Damn...' Apple Berry thought miserably, her ears an tail falling limp.

'Almost to the center of this tootsie pop' Beta sprang up, twisted, grabbed a vine and swung to attack the second, paw-less timber wolf. It still had it's maw and the other paw to attack Beta with and he was going to try and change that. He realized they were protecting each other as best they could. They managed to keep him from getting to their bright green glowing centers so far, even though two of them had them very much exposed, pulsating their light, beating like hearts

Apple Berry knew beauty when she saw it, no matter the species... and this purple vixen before her was stunning. The majority of her fur was dark violet, her 'gloves' and 'socks' were royal purple, her chest was white, her breasts were full, pert and not too large. Apple Berry had seen breasts on other two-legged species and they were a feature she sometimes wished she had, in addition to walking on her hind legs like this one. She also knew from those same experiences that they were very pleasant to pay attention to.

Beta slashed at what appeared to be the eyes of the second timber wolf, blinding it for the time being, he hoped. He then leaped back and landed on the ground before all three very wounded wolves. He was huffing and breathing hard, but felt very triumphant so far. Then he saw something that made his heart sink, and the madness retreat a little. The wolves began to merge into one very, very large wolf. Their gashes overlapped as the wood melded together. The creaking and cracking of the wood paused the conversation between Apple Berry and the vixen.

"Uh-oh... He's in for it now" they both said at the same time, reaching to make sure their respective medical kits were ready. Each saw how the other reacted and started giggling. "He has good taste in females" they again said at once, and giggled more, despite the seriousness of the situation.

"I'm... I'm Apple Berry" Apple Berry said in greeting, feeling perhaps they could be friends.

"I know... er..." the vixen flushed. She didn't want to like Apple Berry... but she did anyway. This mare wasn't letting her fear of Beta's rage rule her. At the very least she respected her. "I'm..." and her eyes went wide and pointed "going to kill him!"

They both saw him leap INTO the mouth of the three -times- larger beast. Their hearts stopped beating, then they heard Beta's raging voice shout "NO MORE! NO MORE RUNNING I'm sick to DEATH of being scared, or running. NO FUCKING MORE!!!!" Beta ran down the wolf's throat. It was foolish, but his gamble was right. This was not a real wolf. This was a bunch of tinker toys that looked like a wolf. On the inside, it was hollow. If he followed the throat, it should... "Bingo was his name-o" he said quietly with cruel, vicious humor.

Beta had found it's hearts. He grabbed one and pulled as hard as he could. The wolf was screaming in agony and thrashing about on the ground rolling around, slamming claws into it's side and chest trying to get at the unexpected invader ripping it's heart out in a quite literal fashion. Beta wedged himself in the mostly empty chest cavity and pulled as hard as he could. One tough 'vein' slowly snapping, shooting glowing green blood everywhere. "Oh, to hell with it!" Beta said as he leaned forward and took a huge bite out of the heart. 'Hmmm it feels kind of like week old jello with fruit juice in the middle' he reflected.

The Wolf howled as its heart was actually being eaten out! Beta pulled on the rest of the heart, this time using one paw to swipe at the veins, cutting the heart loose. As soon as he did that, the tree that was controlled by that heart fell off the larger wolf, opening it's chest and dumping Beta out onto the floor. He held the still beating, half eaten heart in his paw and squeezed it. As he did so he could feel the power soaking into his paw and being. He had just taken power at the cost of another's life.

Apple Berry and the vixen could only stare at Beta in stunned, shocked silence. He was covered in what could only be called blood, despite it being fluorescent green and glowing. It was running down from the corners of his mouth... he must have eaten part of that... thing he held in his paw, which he was squeezing. They gasped as one...

"Oh, Beta" Apple Berry said.

"Oh Mike..." The vixen said.

Tears began to sting Beta's eyes. 'Why... WHY was it always life and death? Why must one HAVE to die for another to live?' he moaned silently. This new rage came from a similar, but different place. He enjoyed living here. He knew no one would begrudge him killing a timber wolf but... it still felt wrong. "Why.. WHY can I kill a monster but not protect even my FATHER!!!!!" he roared "WHY DOES EVERYBODY I LOVE DIE!?!?!?" he squeezed his eyes tight as the tears flowed, his paw squeezing the deflated heart into less than pulp, as the magic fed into his body. Then the Wolf lowered its mouth around him with a giant GULP.

The timber wolf had a look of great satisfaction on its maw as it held it still to the ground. 'Finally got the bastard' it thought.

The females gasped. Their hearts were torn at hearing Beta's cry. "He's in so much pain..." they both said at once.

"He said... father... Oh Mike, what happened to our father?" the vixen asked quietly. Before either one of them could begin to act, they felt the ground tremble...

Inside the maw, Beta had one last burst of rage. "I tried to let you go, let you live. I would have thought seeing me eat your comrade's heart would send you running... but THIS..." Beta began to glow with anger and outrage. He opened his eyes, gone were his dilated blue eyes; instead he bore the Tao. One fish swam with the black of rage, the other with the glowing purple of magic. Beta's body began to glow green with the borrowed power from the heart.

A tornado began to form around Beta. He raised his paws, palms up, claws out as he himself turned with the wind before twisting his wrists to send his claws lateral and to the sides....

"HURRICANE OF TEARS!"

The females saw a great blast of twisting wind move outward, blowing the wolf's maw apart in a spray of splinters that embedded themselves in the trunk mere inches from Apple Berry's head, who then, ducked behind it. "I.. I've never seen him do that before!" The vixen said in shocked awe of the growing destruction. It continued to widen, shredding trees, grass, roots, everything in its path, and at its center, Beta roaring sorrow and misery.

The vixen was frozen in fear. She'd never seen magic on this scale so close before. Apple Berry however was a little more used to the supernatural. Magic was everywhere. Her mother taught her something when she was a little foal. Backing up so she was standing next to the purple vixen, Apple Berry inhaled a deep calming breath, closed her eyes, released the breath and held up her hoof at the encroaching shredding storm of claws and wind, and began to mumble under her breath.

Her outstretched hoof began to glow as her chanting hit its crescendo. "I AM EARTH! I AM SOLID... ROCK SHIELD!!!" she roared as she ducked, slamming her outstretched hoof on the ground, her other foreleg pulling the vixen down to the ground as they were covered by a small rock dome that was impenetrable to the magic storm.

After a few minutes, Apple Berry pushed up, breaking the protective done. She was in awe at the destruction. It must be at least 40 feet across, 20 or more feet from Beta's position... "BETA!" she screamed, seeing him collapsed on the ground. The vixen followed close behind.

Beta was out cold. The magic was too much. Apple Berry noticed that his bandage was looking a little better. 'That must mean that it absorbed some of the magic Beta didn't use on this 'emo storm'.' she thought, smiling at the end thought. She looked to see the vixen kneeling at Beta's head, resting it on her thighs.

"Oh Mike" she said as she caressed his forehead and cheek. "Oh my sweet, wonderful Mike... How could you come to this... What did they do to you?" she asked, tears falling from her eyes. Her demeanor was totally different around Beta. 'Who is Mike?' Apple Berry wondered.

"His name is Beta" Apple Berry said, checking Beta's body for wounds. It would seem that he survived this battle, again, without any major injuries aside from some splinters that she picked out using her teeth.

"No... his DESIGNATION is Beta" the vixen said sourly. "His NAME... is Mike... Michael Tracker"