Date Unknown
C-Day plus ?
ΣΠΙΤΙ ΤΟΥ ΠΟΝΟΥ Detention Center, Equestria
??:??:??
‘The Beast In Me’

Altair quietly sat in the dark confines of his cell, he wore only his fatigue pants and boots, the rest of his clothes having been confiscated when the shadowy ‘Solare Bureau’ had abducted him from his hospital room in the POW camp, at least that’s what he’d been told… He had been unconscious the entire time. He was wanted for special ‘interrogation’, that meant torture. His chest ached with every breath, the surgery to remove the arcane cysts had been a painful one, done with barely enough anesthesia, and no painkillers afterwards. Now he sat in a small cell with only some straw to sleep on, his entire body ached. His hair and beard had grown long and full, covering a good portion of his face, the parts that weren’t already covered in scars and healing cuts. His eyes were sunken and bloodshot from sleep deprivation, his chest and back scarred from the surgery that had removed the cysts.

The hardest thing about being imprisoned here wasn’t the torture, no, that title went to the soul crushing loneliness. There was no one else in the cell, not that there was room, Altair hadn’t spoken to anyone other than interrogators in so long he was beginning to wonder if he would ever be able to talk without feeling the compulsion to hide bits of himself away. Even Cassidy’s voice was a distant echo in his mind, he could hardly remember her face or how her skin felt against his. All he could think of was the pain and the constant questioning, and the monsters that lived inside his own mind. Each day it grew harder not to bash his head against the wall, each second felt like an eternity...

The man looked up as the door to his cell was pushed open, the bright light from the outside flooding the concrete room. The familiar figure of a mare appeared in the doorway, Major Sunset Shimmer of the Solare Bureau, or ‘Ol’ Bacon Head’ as Altair liked to call her.

“Major, so nice of you to stop by… I would’ve cleaned up, but I didn’t know you were coming.” Altair said as he sat on the floor, the mare strode into his cell and chuckled as if she found his joke funny.

“You Onorussians are so funny, you know?” She said as she stopped in front of him. “Stubborn too, I wish our soldiers could be half as stubborn as yours, but that’s what you get when you have someone like King Steven in charge of the military.”

“Trying to appeal to my hatred of your King? New strategy, or are you just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks?” Altair replied, the mare adjusted her well pressed uniform before she scowled and stepped out of the room. Altair stood up, knowing fully well what was coming next, a burly looking soldier stepped in with a stun baton. “Hey there, Bruiser. How’s the wife?” ‘Bruiser’ responded by jamming the stun baton into Altair’s side for several seconds, the man let out a cry of pain as he doubled over and gritted his teeth. “O-Oh, really? T-That’s too bad…”

“Take him.” The Major ordered, the stallion nodded and grabbed Altair by the shoulder, then he dragged him out of the cell and out into the corridor that was lined with other cells. The other inmates moved towards their doors and peeked out, there were diamond dogs, minotaurs, even several dragons, but Altair was the only human. The only one deemed ‘Dangerous’ enough to be locked in such a secure facility. They marched him down the corridor until he had reached the familiar interrogation room, the stallion shoved him through the door. As usual the chair was all set up, the tools were all shiny, it was all very impressive… At least, it had been the first time.

“Love what you’ve done with the place.” Altair grunted out as the stallion shoved him down into the seat and strapped his arms in place, Major Shimmer stood by the door as the stallion left and closed it behind him. Once he was gone, Shimmer walked towards Altair and gestured to a mirror near by.

“We have special guests today, they’re annoyed that you haven’t talked yet… They wanted to be sure my methods were thorough.” Shimmer said in a sinister tone, Altair turned and grinned at the mirror as he felt the familiar surge of adrenaline.

“Let’s do it! Come on!” He shouted, before turning back to Shimmer. “Come on, Bacon Head! Grab the knife! Cut me! Come on! Do it!” Sunset Shimmer paused, surprised by this new turn of behavior. “What? Does it take the enjoyment out of it for you if I want you to do it? Huh? Oh, sorry, should I be more scared?” The mare responded by walking over to a light switch and flicking it on, Altair screamed in pain as electricity from the seat jolted through his body. It was lower amperage, but higher voltage. “You fucking bitch! Come on! Is that all you’ve got! Come on! Lemme ride the lightning!” Shimmer flicked the switch, and again Altair began screaming as his body convulsed.

Shimmer stopped when she saw a light on the wall flash on, she turned off the switch and walked to the intercom next to the light. Altair panted and groaned as he heard someone speaking to her, afterwards she huffed and left the room, leaving Altair by himself. Minutes passed, at the eight minute mark the door opened again, only this time someone else entered the room. Altair recognized him vaguely, he’d seen him as an arcane puppet during the first attack… King Steven, in the flesh this time.

“So… You’re the infamous Altair Occisor…” He said as he closed the door. “Not as impressive as I’d imagined…”

“Take these restraints off… Then we’ll see who’s impressed…” Altair replied through gritted teeth as he continued sitting there. “Do you come to see all your little friends down here, or should I feel honored?” Steven scowled slightly as he walked forwards and looked down at Altair, he wore a clean uniform which contrasted heavily with Altair’s unkempt look.

“What frequency does the Onorussian Command Structure use to build their portals?” Steven asked flatly.

“Occisor, Altair… Sergeant… Onorussian Army… 137-29-0467…” Altair replied in a tired voice, Steven scowled even deeper. The man pulled his hand back and slapped Altair across the face with tremendous force, Altair spat a bit of blood out of his mouth and onto Steven’s uniform pants.“Occisor, Altair… Sergeant… Onorussian Army… 137-29-0467…”

“Did you enjoy killing my subjects? Hmm? We know you delighted in the destruction of the Apple Family’s life work!” Steven shouted as he grabbed Altair by the throat, the man glared right back at him coldly. “I won’t ask you about your military… I want to know what makes you tick… I’m going to show my people just how much of a miserable person you are… I’ll pick you apart until there’s nothing left!”

“Occisor, Altair… Sergeant… Onorussian Army… 137-29-0467…” Was Altair’s only reply before he spat in Steven’s eye, the King growled and wiped it away before he punched Altair in the face, causing the captive’s nose to bleed. “You’re really new to this whole interrogation thing, aren’t you? Hell, Bacon Head hits harder than you.”

“It’s almost like you enjoy being hurt. Is that it, huh? Are you into BDSM? Is that your deep dark secret?” Steven asked, Altair began laughing loudly, his voice echoing through the room.

“Never tried it, but who knows, my girlfriend might want to, which is fine with me.” Altair grinned widely at Steven. “You’re dumb too, huh. Don’t you realize Onorussians don’t care about sex scandals?” Steven slapped the man hard across the cheek. “Hey, keep working out, you might hit as hard as my mom eventually.”

“Your mom? Why don’t we talk about her?” Steven said in a sing song voice. “The sniper that all my men fear, you know, she reenlisted when they found out we’d captured you? It was all over the news.” Altair continued to sit there, not engaging the man in any way. “What if I told you we had captured her too?”

“I’d call you a liar.” Altair replied with a smirk, Steven raised an eyebrow at him. “My mother is a ghost, the only way you’d get close to her would be when she’s standing over your corpse, confirming the kill.” Steven let out a slight huff and turned to the side. “However long you’ve had me, you haven’t broken me. So either put one in my head or send me back to my cell.” Steven crossed his arms. “Oh wait, you can’t kill me… That would make me a martyr, wouldn’t it? I can think of the statue now, sure they’d make me look very heroic, don’tcha think?”

“What is wrong with you, huh? It’s like you want us to kill you!” Steven said, dropping the act of a big tough guy.

“Because I do!” Altair shouted back at him. “I’ve wanted to die since I was sixteen, but only now am I finally able to say it outloud!” The man almost seemed happy to admit he had a death wish, much to Steven’s shock, as well as the people watching from behind the glass. “I love my family, I love my country, but I don’t want to be around anymore. I just want to close my eyes and never open them again!” Altair chuckled as he hung his head, his fists clenching and unclenching. “You people haven’t held me captive… You’ve freed me! You’ve shown me that all the killing I’ve done, everything I’ve destroyed… I don’t have to fear the dark side anymore… I can embrace it.”

”Sir! Enemy helicopters and airships spotted!” A voice announced loudly through the intercom, Steven turned and looked at Altair with an uncertain expression. ”They’ve found the facility, sir! We need to evacuate!”

“Help me move him!” Steven shouted back at the intercom, Altair began laughing to himself. “We can’t let them set him free! We’ve turned him into even more of a monster!” The door was kicked open by Major Shimmer.

“We are leaving! Now! Don’t worry, we’ll have a guard posted to him, the Onorussians won’t get in here!” Shimmer grabbed Steven by the shoulder and dragged him out, Bruiser stepped in with an assault rifle in hand before the door was closed. Alarms began to blare throughout the complex, above him Altair could hear the sound of gunfire and explosions. Altair began to move his hands back and forth in his restraints, the metal clasps had been a little loose when Altair was first locked up. After however long he was held, he had loosened the screws even further, that added with metal fatigue told him that if he could get them a little weaker he could escape.

“Hey, Bruiser! Did they ever tell you why I’m in this place?” Altair asked when he felt the screws pop loose, he kept them in place for the moment. Bruiser turned and looked at Altair with a flat expression. “Apparently I’m a villain. Been called a lot of things before, never a villain.” Bruiser rolled his eyes.

“That’s why you’re locked in here with me.” The stallion said in his gruff tone, Altair chuckled and shook his head as he continued sitting there. “What’s so funny, hooman?”

“You.” Altair replied simply as he looked at Bruiser. “Because I’m not locked in here with you…” Bruiser gestured to the door, then his own gun. “No no no… You’re locked in here with me!” At that moment Altair sprung up from his chair and tackled Bruiser to the ground, he used the metal shackles attached to his wrist as a weapon, beating on the stallion’s head with it ruthlessly before he plunged one of the loose screws into the stallion’s throat, killing him. Altair smiled faintly as he stood up and undid the locks keeping him restrained, he then grabbed the assault rifle and pushed the door to the outside corridor open. The beast had been uncaged.

Meanwhile, Corporal Jay Bird stood in the control room of the detention center alone, all the other guards had been called away to fight off the Onorussian assault. He was a new hire, he’d never been in the control room alone, and now they were under attack on top of all that. More importantly, he had to make sure none of the prisoners escaped, after all, these prisoners were the most dangerous ones in Equestria or the entire world. Villains too powerful to be turned to stone or couldn’t be sent to tartarus for various reasons. All he had to keep them penned in was a handgun and a prayer that the power would hold out. The Earth Pony quietly paced back and forth with his gun in hand, his nervousness made it possible for him to hear the door as the door knob turned.

The stallion turned and looked over to see a human, but not one of the assaulters… No, this was the prisoner, the one they called ‘The Eagle’, the most dangerous inmate in the entire complex. What was worse, he was covered in blood and holding an assault rifle. Jay Bird tossed his gun aside and put his arms in the air.

“I surrend-” He was cut off as the human pulled the trigger, shooting him several times in the chest. The pony collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath as the human slowly stepped over his body and over to the control panel, ignoring the pained groans and begging for help on the floor. After several minutes of this, the man simply turned and put two in the stallion’s head before going back to the control panel. The man pushed a button on the control panel, and a loud ping echoed through the base.

“Greetings my fellow inmates! You may not know me, but that’s not important!” Altair said as he leaned his rifle against the panel. “What is important is that we have all been kept here for far too long. They call us monsters, freaks, killers… But what we really are is enlightened…” The man smiled slightly. “I give you now what these bloodsucking Equestrians have kept from us all for far too long! Freedom!” With that, Altair began pushing buttons on the keyboard, slowly the cell doors began to open. The other guards were being overrun on both sides now, but prisoners and Onorussian soldiers.

Altair felt the compulsion to begin laughing again, so he did. He watched as the Equestrians were slaughtered on the screens by both sides, they would eventually find him one way or another. For the first time, Altair truly felt what it meant to be in control. Not in control of a unit or a squad, but hundreds of people, watching them fight. Altair didn’t realize that this was how dictators were born, and that he was travelling down a path of darkness from which there was little chance of escaping. The most damning thing was that if Altair had known, he probably wouldn’t have done anything different.

“Gott mit uns.” He said as he sat down and closed his eyes, dreaming of getting to see Cassidy again. All of this, everything he had done here and in the past, had been for her. He resolved to himself then and there that this Equestria was a true enemy of not only Onorus but of Cassidy… And for that they would get no reprieve, no commuted sentence. And once Equestria and the rest of this world was under the Onorussian banner, only then would Cassidy be safe. It was for this purpose that Altair would propose a new division of the army, the Armed Onorussian Opposers. He continued to plan it all out in his head as the chaos raged on around him, the symphony of destruction playing as yet another bloody page was being written in the book of history. This new Division would be the elite of the elite, even better than the famed 88th Division. Of course, first he had to get out of the blasted prison and convince his father of its importance, but thinking big was important too.

Author's Note

Here's another one for you lovely dovelies! Not much to report at the moment.

Here's the video that inspired parts of this chapter, and also gave me the song choice for above.