Alca Forte's Backstory

Equestria.

A land filled with ponies, lush forests, vicious creatures, and... I could go on and on.

Ruled by a tyrant.

Celestia ruled the lands with an iron hoof. What she had commanded, all ponies were to follow.

Of course, this was only for ponies.

Gryphons were free from her tyrannical rule. They ruled the skies, whereas Celestia ruled the land.

It was only inevitable that she addressed this fact.

Due to the nature of Gryphons, Pegasi gained much royal favor and were regarded superior to any other kind of pony, besides the rare Alicorn. Nobles would have their eldest son or daughter train in all arts of combat, including marksmanship, swordsmanship, and stealth.

But, only if they were pegasi. Unicorns had lost their value; their magic was not considered helpful enough in the war effort. Earth ponies were considered higher than unicorns as their strength would be useful for many things. Some had obtained jobs as train conductors, porters, and blacksmiths.

Unicorns and other 'useless' Earth ponies were both slaves for the pegasi.

Well, somepony had to mine, and the pegasi were certainly not going to 'stoop to that level.'

Until a Unicorn or Earth pony had discovered their talent, he or she was relatively free; perhaps even equal with pegasi foals. Once one had obtained a cutie mark, he or she would either be stuck in a mine, or doing work that would contribute to the country.

Basically, if you were not skilled in anything relevant to participating in a war or supporting a country, you were to mine.

And so I did.

Meet the Forte family.
A proud linage of pegasi, devoted to serving Celestia.
Everypony in this family was to die for the empire.

Nocer Forte was Celestia’s 2nd in command. He had almost the same power as her, and was every single bit as tyrannical as her. In fact, he was the one who had suggested forcing all 'useless' ponies to mine. Amongst the pegasi, he was considered a hero for his brilliant strategies. Despite his cunning tactics, he never wrote an instructive book or had a disciple. Thus, his strategies were impossible to match. Only his devious and shrewd mind could conceive such plans.

His only fault was he was all brains, but no brawn. He was assassinated quite easily.

Stre Forte was not as wise as his father, but he was said to be twice as ferocious and bloodthirsty. Nopony could speak of his real mane color because he was always covered from blood, head to hoof. Rumored to be faster than even light itself, he charged alone into gryphon invasions, armed with a knife. Observers supposedly saw him spin around a single gryphon, making a miniature tornado. When he had made a kill, it was obvious that it was him that had done so : cuts ranging from the head to the haunches with a final stab to the back of the neck.

Gryphons had sacrificed themselves to poison him with a toxic gas. He was bedridden for three months, until he had finally passed away.

Scild Forte was no warrior, nor tactical master. He was but a simple inventor. However, he had made guns that pegasi could fire. A gun would mounted below the right wing, and was triggered by a simple smack from the wing. The average flight pattern for a pegasi did not normally reach down that far, so very few accidental shots occurred. The guns devastated the gryphons once he had also invented explosive and homing rounds.

For a pegasi, Scild was abnormally caring for unicorns and earth ponies. Rumors had been around about he had fathered an illegitimate earth pony daughter. His compassion for “lesser” ponies led to one of his greatest projects of all : a pony-powered cannon which was designed to fire several explosive bombs to a maximum of two and a half kilometers.

It ended up in failure on the first test. The cannon had exploded, killing Scild and the earth ponies that were chosen to assist.

And then there was me.

The rumors were close. Scild did not father an earth pony, but rather a unicorn. I never really find out who was my mother was, but neither Celestia nor his wife’s family cared. The mare that married him was to inherit everything that the Forte family owned.

I was a unicorn. It was unlikely that I would inherit even a single bit.

Celestia did give me one chance though. I was of noble blood; I must of had a special skill or attribute that would help in the war.

When a pegasus begins learning combat, he or she is given three things. A mock-training gun, a wooden sword, and a dull wood dagger. With these, one was to learn stealth, swordsmanship, marksmanship, and the rest. Of course I was a unicorn, so I had received a old bow and iron arrows instead. Leftovers from when my kind was 'useful'.

As the months went by, it was clear to everypony. I was a unicorn, a pony imbued with the power of magic. I had no place in a society where agility marked your place.

As that fact became more and more apparent, I had began to differentiate myself as a unicorn, trying to use my unique qualities to improve other ponies’ opinions of me. In my free time, I would practice my magic. Reading from abandoned books, I followed their instruction to teach myself. I quickly learned that I had an aptitude for telekinesis and 'recalling'.

I'll try summarizing as best as I can. Recalling is summoning a familiar object. Its success depends on two things : the skill of the unicorn attempting to recall and the closeness the caster has towards the item being recalled. Besides that, the whole process was quite simple. One would focus on the item, and 'call' it back with magic. If a recalled item was recalled again, the first

I had grown quite fond of my bow and arrows, as it was a skill I was proud of. I eventually realized I could recall it, when I had found I had misplaced my bow one day.

Er. I’m sorry; I went a bit off-track there.

On the day of a training exam, I was confronted by a few of my peers before the test had started.

Now, I do not mean to brag, but I was one of the best of my class in marksmanship. Some pegasi had complained that it would be easier to aim with a bow than a gun. Others were upset with the fact that I was a unicorn, yet I was more skilled than pegasi. And the fact that I was constantly recalling my bow and arrows made the others think that I was showing off.

Perhaps a little.

In either case, the situation escalated to one that it should not have. One of my peers had managed to pilfer a steel dagger from his parents, and had pointed it at me. With no other choice, I had recalled my bow and raised it in self defence. The bold pegasus, full of haughty pride, laughed and began to fly in circles around me, taunting me into taking a shot against him. “You’re too much of a wimp to even try, unicorn!” he said with a sneer. Some pegasi were jeering at me too, shooting marker rounds at me with the mock guns. The other pegasi began to fly circles around me, hitting me with their wooden daggers from time to time.

Now, in my defense, I was young at the time. Not that I am old now, but I was much more naive than I am now. Even the most patient pony has to draw the line somewhere.

That’s all I can do is to retell and regret this.

With my bow, I killed him.

One by one, they pierced his flesh. With the first impact, he dropped the metal dagger; his face contorted with pain and surprise. As the fourth and fifth arrows flew, the second and third had already ripped off a wing, throwing blood-stained feathers into the air. His eyes were impaled, his wings torn away, his body nothing but a lifeless and cold pile of limbs.

It was the first time I had killed a pony. It’s no wonder I remember it so vividly.

I stood there, just stunned at my actions. I could not believe I had done that, but who else had arrows? Screams sounded off as the other pegasi stood dumbfounded.

“Y-you killed him!”
“How could you do that to him?!”
“You unicorn!”
“Why you...! He didn’t deserve that!”
“Yeah! You do!”
“Yeah, yeah! Get him!”

At his rally, the pegasi began to strike viciously . If anything was to be said, the trainers of these foals should be praised. I would probably be dead right now if I had not snapped at the first few shots and lunges.

Before I had realized what I had done, five of my pegasus peers were laying in the grass; red splattered all over the training ground, arrows laying at rest within corpses, and me, covered with their blood.

That was the day I got my Cutie Mark.

That was also the day I had lost my chance to redeem myself.

Once Celestia had heard, I was banished from Canterlot. Escorted by the Equestian Royal Guard, I slowly trotted off the train, staring at the surrounding cottages and flowers. I thought these would be the last things above ground I would see: an foreign and strange town, full of ponies I did not know, before I was sentenced for the rest of my life to mine in Blue Silver Mines.

When I had arrived, the guards had pointed to a hole to the right. Upon examination, its diameter was around the size of a small tent; its depth seemed to go forever.

As I peered down the hole, a sudden shove threw me inside.