Excerpt from Minotaurian History of the World Vol. 2, Chapter 4, Pg. 1342
Of the Heros found in history, most had their starts in Equestria. One of the many heroes of Olden Equestria was, in fact, a male Alicorn named Captain Nightshade. However he was by no means a natural Alicorn, as when he was abducted from the Lunar Guard (supposedly by Chaos cultists) and experimented on...or more accurately, taken apart and sewn back up again. His original Katakan(1) wings were removed and replaced with Pegasi wings, a horn was surgically attached to to his head, his fetlock and cannon bones had runes carved into them. Had the cultists not had a round the clock heal spell going on him, he would likely have died. Him living, however, was more pain to him than dying.
Cultist journal entry 7: ’when you attempt to ‘make’ an Alicorn...well the magics of the three tribes are not exactly easily harnessed, even less so when you attempt to mold them into one singular being...makes you wonder how Alicorns can even exist. His body was in constant warfare with itself, and as the magics fought for control his body began to mutate. His eyes became more reptilian, he grew to Luna’s height, his body temperature rivaled that of a volcano (which would kill any normal equine in milliseconds), and he became incandescent...like a firefly. A beautiful chaotic firefly. His mind hasn’t broken, which is slightly worrying as we need him broken mentally An Alicorn we don’t control with as much power as we gave him, well it might not end well for us.’
The worry this cultist expressed was well founded, as Alicorns are very strong when they first come into power, a week after this entry Nightshade would break free of the containment runes(2) and wrought iron chains(3) and would proceed to destroy everything within a 80 mile radius. Upon investigation from the Solar Legion(4) Nightshade was found and ‘rescued’. By rescued, we mean he was carted back in chains and brought before the princesses to be judged for the deaths of about sixty or seventy unidentifiable pony corpses. During the trip to what is now Old Canterlot he was unconscious, however once they arrived he was awoken by Luna and questioned who he was, he replied with repeating a single phrase. “Captain Nightshade, service tag 10784632, of the Lunar Knights.”
The phrase he uttered was, and still is, the standard non magic user training against mind altering/control magics. Repeating one singular fact, be it a good memory or a service tag. This shocked Celestia, however Luna reportedly rushed to his side, removing his chains, and started casting multiple different healing spells whilst repeatedly calling for a medic. When medics arrived they rushed him to the medical ward, and began yet another constant stream of spellwork. When the physical problems of being made into an Alicorn without Ascending(5) subsided, the psychological problems became more apparent. Paranoia, Anxiety, and PTSD and it took a Gryphon to identify them.
Even though treatment helped lessen the effects, they were still apparent. He was paranoid of anyone that wasn’t a guard. His trust was placed firmly in the guard forces, as well as three mares. These mares were the Princesses, and an unknown mare known only as Faust. It is assumed that Faust was his lover, but no records of any creature, pony or otherwise, exist of a female known as Faust. It could be that this Faust was a figment of his imagination, but there are other reports of her assisting others...it is a vexing mystery, one unlikely to be solved anytime soon. His appearance was marred with scars, and with training he was able to harness both Unicorn and Earth Pony Magics...thus he earned the nickname of the Makeshift Alicorn...however, this was never said to his face. He fought side by side with the princesses on several occasions, including the battle for the Valley of Peace (6) in which Emperor Strychnine was petrified with the Elements of Harmony. He held off the Scorpion Guard whilst they were doing so.
When Luna was corrupted by Sombra during the Battle of the Crystal Empire, he noted in a report that she seemed more distant. As time went on, he noted changes in his blood-brothers, and shield-sisters, such as eyes glowing, increased anger, and a general hate for the Solar Legion.
‘It is most unusual how angry my fellows have become. Normally we would celebrate, and rejoice with the Solar Guard, but now they hiss...and start brawls...it is most unusual and unsettling indeed.’
When she eventually turned into the Nightmare, she ordered him to exterminate #he disobeyed her orders.Before he was hit with a sealing spell, he carved a phrase into the wall using his magic.
Marerittet skal aldri være viktoriansk
This phrase is consistent with the Old Katakan Dialect, however it is as of now untranslatable. The language itself was only known by the Ancients(7) and it died with them during the Lunar Rebellion (8). Though many spectate that it has to do with Nightnare moon, we will never know for sure.
(1) Katakan - A subspecies of Pegasi known also as Bat Ponies.
(2) Containment Runes - A rune used in banishment, torture, or containment purposes during the first era of Equestria, it is a now banned practice.
(3) Wrought Iron - one of the only known substances that is heavily magic resistant.
(4) the Solar Legion - the were a group of heavily armed, masterfully trained Paladins who served Princess Celestia with every fiber of their being. The were disbanded shortly after Luna’s banishment...the reasoning behind this is still unknown.
(5) Acending - Term used for the pulse of magic that forms an Alicorn
(6) Valley of Peace - the Homeland of the Equines, lost to the ravages of the Wendigos.
(7) The Ancients - Elder Katakan, usually stronger and faster
(8) The Lunar Rebellion - Caused by the remainder of the Nightmare Cultists, one of the last bloody conflicts Equestria has ever known
Author's Note
Yes I know...I have other stories to write. But this one in particular has been put on the back burners for far too long. As of now, my other stories are on Hiatus till this stops popping up in my head, or the story finishes. Let’s do this folks.
Marerittet skal aldri være viktoriansk Roughly translates to “the Nightmare shall never be victorious” unless google translate says otherwise...which it does...meh. Hopefully y’all enjoyed it!
Chapter one: Return of an Emperor, and the releasing of a Hero
Pov: Strychnine
“Well Celly Belly, time to pull a me again.” I say to myself, giggling. “God I had no idea I could be that gorram cheesy.”
As I examined my surroundings, I noticed something very interesting among the debris of the now decrepit Nursery. There was a slightly collapsed tunnel, of equine make, with some runework giving off immense amounts of magical fallout.
'Oh, well now that's odd....wonder why Chrissie didn't open it.' I thought to myself. Upon closer inspection of the runes, it was clear to me that they were concealment runes...and they were disabled. 'Okay...so there is something giving off enough magic to power one of my colossi down this corridor. Not only that, but this appears to be the only corridor that I can traverse...gorramit. Well, here goes nothing.' I thought to myself as I began to walk down the corridor.
It was a really long, somewhat dark corridor, with only a few enchanted torches to light the way. At the end of the long corridor, the room opened up immensely, and what I saw was honestly shocking. A pit of unending darkness, with a cage suspended in the air above it. The magical signature, however, was coming from the being in the cage. A quick scanned confirmed what I was seeing...in the cage lay a male Alicorn, adorned in Lunar Knight armor. He was sleeping, or so I thought...he could easily be in a magical stasis, as I was. 'Bad decision time'
"Hey buddy....you alive in there?"
No response beyond the sound of breathing.
"So, possibly just normally sleeping...but with the amount of magic I'm feeling in the air around you, I'm thinking you are in a magically induced stasis." I said, talking to myself. "Well, the spell itself looks reversible, what say we wake you up?" Within a second of igniting my magic, the spell crumbled to bits.
After a few minutes of tense silence, the Stallion in the cage began stirring. He stood up, slow...agonizingly slow. He looked around, his limbs making very audible crack sounds every now and then as his muscles, bones, and tendons became used to moving again, His eyes blinking to adjust to the lighting, his head stopped on me.
"Good morning Lunar Knight, how are you feeling?"
"Tired...and confused...I feel like I should remember you, yet I don't." He replied
"You might have known of me, or at least the old me, when you stormed my keep. Anywho, let's get you out of that cage old chap. We have a lot of work ahead of us."
"What? What do you mean the 'old you'...what keep? Actually, you know what, one thing at a time. Where are we?"
"We are in some form of ruin trapped underneath the rubble of the hive of Queen Scarlet...may she rest in peace." I said, my head sagging a bit.
"Who are you?" He asked
"Strychnine." I replied
"Well then. It is good to re-meet you. I am Nightshade, Captain of the Lunar Knights." He said
"Ah...yes I do remember you. However, they are not fond memories...and we will need to work together to get out of here." I said
"How do we get out?" He asked
"Well, we have two options. We dig our way out...but with no food or tools it would take us a while. Alternatively we could teleport out...but...well..."
"What?"
"Can you use that?" I ask, gesturing to his horn with my tail
"Only for combat." He replied
"Well then, I expect I may pass out if I teleport us both out of here. Would you be willing to watch over me until I wake?" I ask
"I made a promise to protect those who could not protect themselves when I joined the Lunar Legion. I would happily keep watch over your body." He replied, straightening himself
"Well then. Brace yourself, this'll be bumpy." I said, Igniting my horn 'I wonder how Artemis is doing?'
Pop
Author's Note
Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter that took me way to long to finish. I'll see you in the next update. Adios!
