Name: Darkhorse
Age: Adult
Gender: Stallion
Breed: Earth Pony...?
Personality: Quiet and reserved, Darkhorse prefers to observe rather than interact. He spends much of his time in the background, blending into the crowds and trying not to draw attention to himself. Quite simply, he's just a drifter. And yet, he somehow manages to attract trouble like a magnet for some reason and is always compelled to help fix it.
Special talent(s): He has no real defining talents, oddly enough. He does, however, have a sixth sense for distinguishing truth from lies.
Appearance:
He has scars on his flanks, almost as if a pair of wings had once been there only to be ripped off.
Cutie Mark: A simple white thunderbolt, though something about seems off. As if it were incomplete.
History:
-1,000 Years Ago-
In the old court of Equidia, the Princess was on her throne as one of the messengers entered the room. The mare approached the throne with a somber expression, as if she had just committed an unsavory act. When she was before the throne, she bowed before the princess and with an ever so slightly quivering voice reported, "It... it is done, Your Majesty. As of now the Dark Ponies have been banished from Equidia.
The Princess closed her eyes and nodded somberly, "Good. You may go now." she replied, now wishing to be left alone with her thoughts. She tried very hard to wrap her head around how it had come to this. She tried her very best to make peace with the Dark Ponies, but their unruly behavior made that a very difficult thing to do. One top of that she discovered that one of her nieces had eloped with a Dark Pony, something the Princess knew would send her people into an uproar. That had left the Princess with one option and one option only. The Dark Ponies had to go.
The banishment wasn't an easy decision for her to make. She had tried her hardest to find another way. Anything that wouldn't potentially lead to a feud or even an outright war. But she had found none. Banishment was indeed the only way, and so the Princess reluctantly made the decree. All Dark Ponies were to remove themselves from Equidian land or be removed by force. As expected, only a small handful of Dark Ponies actually left peacefully. Most, rambunctious and ill-tempered as they typically were, tried to fight and were thrown out of the kingdom by force. It was not something the Princess was proud and would likely ever forgive herself for doing, but it had to be done for the good of her kingdom. That didn't stop her from feeling guilty, and responsible for whatever life of poverty she may have just thrown hundreds of ponies into. It would no doubt haunt her for the rest of her life.
"Your Majesty!" a servant mare's alarmed voice brought the Princess back to reality, "It's Marisa, she's... err..." the mare was clearly having trouble finding the right words, afraid of angering the Princess.
"What is it?" asked the Princess, staring at the mare expectantly, "Whatever it is can't be much worse than what has already transpired."
The mare trembled, still nervous about what she was about to say, "Her Highness is... she's pregnant, Your Majesty!"
The Princess blinked, clearly shocked by the news. She was wrong. It could be worse, and it was.
-Months Later-
Just hours ago, Princess Marisa had given birth to a colt. His fur was dark and his mane a stormy gray, just like his father. But he had Marisa's eyes, her kindness and her innocence. But it wasn't as picturesque as it sounded. There were complications with the birth, and Marisa unfortunately didn't make it. That left the question of what would become of the child.
The Princess was against raising the child at the beginning. Marisa's son though he may be, he was still his father's son, and would no doubt still inherit at least of the Dark Pony traits that led to their banishment in the first place. Also complicating matters, was that her fears of feuding and conflict were realized when the Dark Ponies began acting aggressively toward Equidia, and so her subjects would surely rebel against the idea of a Half-Dark Prince. And while Marisa was adamant about raising the child, the Princess did convince her to keep it a secret throughout the pregnancy until a final decision could be made later.
However, now Marisa was gone, and the Princess was left with a Half-Dark, Half-Equidian colt and was completely unsure what she would do with. On one hand, the colt was her grand-nephew, family after all. And that part of her wanted to raise the colt, to love him like any of her own daughters. But she had to make a decision as more than just a matriarch, but also as a ruler. And it was
that side of her that knew keeping the child was a very risky idea. Ultimately she was forced to make yet another hard decision. The child couldn't stay.
"What transpires here stays in this room." the Princess said. She was in a room with the colt, as well her most trusted adviser and the doctor who had delivered the child, "As much as it pains me to make this choice, the baby cannot remain in Equidia. It could cause too much conflict." as she said this, her face clearly conveyed her guilt and pain as she looked at the child with a heavy heart, tears coming to her eyes, "The colt will..." she paused, her words becoming increasingly painful to say, "The colt will be given up for adoption. Hopefully, he'll never have to know of the conflict that surrounded his birth. Doctor," she looked to the physician, "can his horn and wings be removed?"
The Doctor was hesitant but he replied, "Y-yes, Your Majesty, it can be done. I must warn you, that doing so will deny him the chance to ever use magic or any other power he would otherwise have developed..."
The Princess closed her eyes, tears now beginning to flow, "I know..." she said in a trembling voice, "...do it. And remember, the child's existence remains a secret, even from my own family."
The Doctor had a startles look on his face, as if he had hoped the Princess would change her mind and was shocked when she chose to go through with it. He slowly bowed his head and said quietly, "...Y-yes... Your Majesty."
And with that, the colt's horn and wings were surgically removed. All that remained of them were scars that would surely fade over time and become hardly noticeable. The Princess couldn't bare to watch the procedure, and cringed in heartbreak when the colt started crying. Before he was taken away, she let herself spend one last moment with the baby, and gave him one last loving nuzzle and whispered, "I'm so sorry... and though you probably won't, I hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me."
-1,000 Years Later-
Darkhorse had long since figured out that he was different. It became increasingly obvious that he was aging far more slowly than the parents who had raised him and the friends he had made as a colt. They all grew old and died, meanwhile commenting how Darkhorse never seemed to age a day every time they had seen him. For a while, Darkhorse believed this was some kind of gift, one that he should use for good or at least for the good of other people.
That sentiment, over the centuries, faded away into quiet resentment. Why had Darkhorse been made to live for such a long time? Why was he made to watch anyone and everyone he met and held dearly grow old and die while he lived on in agonizing loneliness? No, this seeming immortality was not a gift at all. It was a curse. One that Darkhorse became increasingly obsessed with breaking before he had to suffer through outliving any more friends and acquaintances than he already had.
He had let himself become a wandering drifter. No home, and no friends if he could help it. Just traveling from place to place, watching the world go by while he remained almost completely unchanged. Then he heard about it. There was to be a royal wedding in Equidia, one that would end the 1,000 year feud between Equidia and Ruffana. Intrigued, Darkhorse decided to see the wedding for himself. After all, he was born at roughly the time the feud began, he may as well see the end of it as well.
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Originally Posted by Hoofprint
