Night Terror

By Night Terror

• January 25, 2017




Age: Immortal, currently over 1000

Gender: Male

Species: Alicorn

Appearance: Original form/Normal:At first glance one would think he was a larger version of Nightmare Moon. Stands almost a head taller than the Nightmare herself. A closer inspection would reveal that his lithe body has the subtle contours of muscle, not unbalanced or ungainly like a body builder but more akin to a martial artists build, balanced and enables graceful movements. Were he to open his mouth then one would see sharp canines and fangs. His face almost always mask his emotions, giving the impression that he is carved from stone. His appearance can change to almost anything he wishes albeit made of shadows unless he is using a polymorphic spell although these are not within his affinity.<br />His magical aura is a sapphire blue when he casts normal spells but shifts to a smokey black when using shadow magic. His starry mane and tail ripple and project a shadow-like image of their normal selves. His wings are unique, they have the appearance of pegasi wings but are slightly different. His wings and feathers are the same color as his fur. His primary feathers are a little longer than average for an alicorn, which helps facilitate his channeling of pegasus magic. When he is actively channeling pegasus magic in large amounts ,generally in combat, there is a slight rippling of the air above and below his wings. Unless he is found sleeping or some other private matter, Night Terror will always be donning his chest plate, a reminder of his purpose on Equus. <br /><br />Guardian: His body appears much as it was when he was in normal form but he is often found wearing one of a multitude of sets of armor. Although outwardly he appears stoic, he loses his air of seriousness when in person, unless of course, he is dealing with a threat to Her Highness.<br /><br />Cursed: Wraith-like in appearance and only slightly resembling his original form. His body is seemingly intact and slightly transparent from the knees up but everything below is gone, replaced by a shadowy cloud. Although he can solidify, he rarely does. Also appears to be lost in thought and wanders aimlessly for the most part. He often mistakes other beings as threats but can be shown reason if one can apply it correctly to him.<br /><br />Banished: Much like his normal form,however, he is chained and shackled to the moon.<br />

Cutie Mark: Normal/Original form: The same cutie mark as Nightmare Moon,albeit with a different meaning, with an additional star above the moon.. His mark does not mean or have any association with the moon, at least not the astral body, but rather with the mare who controls it. His cutie mark is a eternal reminder of his mission, to bring the wayward daughter back from the darkness. <br /><br />Guardian: Upon completion of his original mission he was tasked with yet another, to protect the Princess of the Night. A kite shield with a crescent moon in the center. His pride is evident whenever he is inquired about his cutie mark.<br /><br />Cursed: His cutie mark is a Cracked Moon. The top left of the moon is shattered with pieces floating off it. A grave reminder of how he failed his duty.<br /><br />Banished: Also a Cracked moon that has the shatter pieces but it is also chained. A grave reminder of how he failed his duty.<br />

Personality: Normal form: Although he was essentially fashioned from Shadows he is nothing like what one would expect from a being such as him. He is very polite, but what else would one expect from an alicorn? He is intuitive and endlessly curious as he was only gifted with the knowledge that would help him in his mission. It should also be noted that he is rather stoic when out and about,however, when he let's that air fade then he is almost a different pony(We'll get back to this later). Another defining characteristic is how he does not trust new ponies in the slightest, he may give them the benefit of the doubt occasionally but still doesn't necessarily trust them. Although he may be cautious he is also sometimes arrogant because of his abilities and prowess. <br />When he is actively pursuing his "mission" he can be rather apathetic towards others. <br />He allows follows his own Code of Honor and takes this matter rather seriously. It is unwise to poke at his code or how he follows it lest one wises to upset him.<br /> He was imbued with the core of all the elements of harmony in order to complete his task. His kindness knows no bounds when he shows this side of him. Compassionate beyond belief for a being of his stature and appearance. His greatest gift though is his ability to "Feel" the emotions of others, those he cares about at any rate, to help him identify with those emotions others are experiencing. Although he extends his kindness outward his stoic mask makes it difficult for others to extend kindness to him. Honesty is something that comes easily to Night Terror although that does not stop him from lying through omission. He can be brutally honest at times with those he meets. He is Generous and does not value materialist things. Generous to the point he rarely gives a second thought to giving away things he deems unnecessary. Although Laughter is something he is imbued with he is not as attuned to it as the other elements. He prefers to be stoic around strangers as otherwise he often feels awkward otherwise. He can make witty remarks and crack rather humorous jokes with those that are close to him. His magical prowess is unrivaled for the most part, only immortal beings could hope to challenge him in a contest of raw magic. Which he sometimes unknowingly brags about but more often than not he is humble about it. Last and certainly not least is his affinity for the Element of Loyalty. He is unquestionably loyal to those he holds dear but completely loyal to his ward.<br /><br />IF one were to make a list of some strengths and weaknesses, then these would be it:<br /><br />Strengths: Highly analytical, Organized, professionalistic when actively pursing his mission, polite (mostly at any rate), Kind to those holds dear or to others when he isn't so mission oriented, humorous, honest, task orientated, not easily dissuaded, and loyal.<br /><br />Weaknesses: Stoic( sometimes too stoic), emotionally distant, can be apathetic, Has exceptionally high expectations for himself (ridiculously high to be truthful), and Loyal to a fault.<br /><br />Guardian: Almost exactly like his normal self with the added quality of being exceptionally protective of his ward (which to he chagrin at times). Although he is highly protective of his ward he can be made to see reason, to be less protective at any rate, but only his ward can convince him to do such a thing.<br /><br />Cursed: His normal personality is buried deep within the recesses of his mind. He is easy to irritate and his wrath is drawn on all creatures alike in equal manner. He views all as a threat except one, his ward. His ward is the only pony, or even being, he can readily identify. <br /><br />Banished: Retains all the traits of his normal self but is almost always in a dormant state. When he is not dormant then he is contemplating about his ward and her whereabouts and such.<br /><br />

Backstory: (Still compressing) (Back Story, emphasis on "Story")<br />Celestia and Luna are the children of the gods that made Equestria, the Pony Gods, The Mare Life and the Stallion Death. Death foretold a terribly calamity that would ensue if their Daughter, Luna, walked down the path of envy and darkness. Life could not bare to see such a fate fall upon her daughter nor did she wish to see the great lose of life and strife it would cause. Although all the gods of Equis are forbidden to interfere with their subjects directly, they could still send proxies. Life began to do what she did best, creating life. She thought it would be rather poetic to have something of the darkness to save their daughter from her own darkness, so she began weaving with shadows. First she gave it the form of an alicorn, the shadow was lifeless and devoid of motion. She added wings next, shaped to give her creation an edge over other flying creatures. She gave it the gift of magic and strength. She gave it the knowledge to complete its task. She toiled away until finally she believed that her creation was completed. Finally she breathe life into her creation and its eyes opened, thus The Shadow was born.<br />The Shadow's eyes were like that of a dragon, a nightmare. It bowed before his creator and she whispered his task in his mind. Then he was whisked away into the Shadow Realm. There he settled into his body. A full year after his creation he left the Shadow Realm, exiting in the heart of the Everfree at the dark of night. His body almost automatically began moving him towards the castle of the two sisters. <br />He morphed into a shadow that rushed at the castle from the ground. Before he knew it he was in the Castle, not just in the castle but in Luna's chambers. Luna was at the time preening her wings when she noticed that her shadow seemed larger than usual. Pausing she inspected it closer and realized it was not only larger but unmistakably masculine. She cautiously looked around, scanning her room for any signs of an intruder. Finding none she went back to preening and again realized that her shadow was different but more peculiarly, it wasn't moving with her. Lighting her horn she commanded "Show thyself intruder!" and The Shadow materialized himself before her, already bowing and still as a statue. She look at him with a look of awe as he was a darker and larger version of her. Luna bade him to tell her his name and he simply responded with "I am called The Shadow". Although Luna realized that may have been an alias she did not consider that a name but she didn't have any names at hoof at any rate. Deciding to come up with a name later, Luna began questions The Shadow. Strangely enough, at least to Luna, she felt safe around the mysterious being that called itself The Shadow. The next day, while she was attending to her royal duties, she noticed that her shadow was not her own again but rather that of The Shadow. Then when she retired to her chambers he would be waiting for her patiently. And so this ritual went on everyday for seasons, yet nopony not even Celestia noticed this Shadow of Luna.Luna and her Shadow were literally inseparable, not that anypony knew of him anyways. He became her confident when she needed it and a steadfast companion when needed. Eventually Celestia grew curious, a eventuality that was bound to be, as to the "why" of her sisters apparent interest in staying in her chamber so often. She was also immensely curious as to why Luna suddenly dropped the entire "Longer Night" debate with her and even adopted a more cheery mood. So she decided to sneak up to her sisters door and carefully open her door. Her jaw dropped at the sight of the male alicorn on her sisters bed, at her side, conversing as if everything were normal. Celestia wondered if she should announce herself or ask her sister later,though analytical she chose the latter. She pried the door open the rest of the way and slipped into the chamber and walked towards her sisters bed. In a flash, The Shadow was blocking Celestia's view of her sister. Celestia, more intrigued than insulted, simply lifted an eyebrow at him. Luna simply told him to relax and that this was her sister, at that his stance immediately relaxed and returned to Luna's side. "So...Who is this Luna?" inquired Celestia. "Oh him?, he is The Shadow, my Shadow" she replied nonchalantly. Celestia's eyebrow rose even higher, "Your Shadow?" she asked putting emphasis on the "your". Luna simply nodded and laid her head on his side and closed her eyes."So are you two...?" to which Luna simply shook her head once. Celestia was the only pony other than Luna who knew of The Shadows existance, although she found his appearance rather unnerving she found solace in the fact she knew her sister would be safe so long as this "Shadow" drew breath. Luna was inseparable from the Shadow and the Shadow from her, thankfully he only ever manifested into flesh only in the presences of the sisters and only them. And the cycled continued as it always did until one faithful day. Luna was out at night patrolling the Everfree and found a pack of timber wolves in a clearing that mustered the courage to attack a settlement. Luna's combat prowess allowed her to dispatch the wolves with graceful ease, but there were simply too many. Even though she had the endurance of an alicorn, she did not have the endurance to withstand the onslaught on this particular pack. As this was no normal pack, one alpha had managed to control many others and thus had a veritable army of timber wolves and the village was an apparent easy target for fresh food. As Luna fought the last of the pack the alpha was stalking her from the brushes, tensing for a pounce. The alpha pounced on Luna as she dispelled the magic holding the wood together on the last timberwolf. She was thoroughly pinned to the ground but the hulking mass of wood. The alpha growled at her, drool dripping onto her face as it opened it's maw. Right as the alpha's jaw lunged forward, the shadow beneath them erupted in a wave of spikes. The spikes curved around Luna's form while impaling the alpha from so many angles that it appeared that instead of magic holding the wolf together, it was spikes. As the aplha gave one last whimper of pain, the spikes ripped it apart and sundered the wood into so much dust and splinters. Although the pack's alpha was dead, that did not deter them from what they had come for, the craving for fresh meat was more than their fear at that moment. The wolves that still had the magic to animate them slowly rebuilt theirselves until most of the pack stood again. As one they turned towards the Princess in her cage of spikes, then howling as one they began to charge towards it. It was at his moment the cage exploded outward in what could only be described as a shroud of darkness, a shroud that covered the entire clearing. Everyone of the wolves immediately froze in place, their eyes dimming as their magic was channeling inward to see what was within. Then the horror show began, the wolves began to see what their greatest fears were and one by one succumbed to the fear. Some ran, scrambling over each other in an effort to escape and other simply collapsed as the magic that animated them dissipated. The darkness began to pool into one spot and grew until The Shadow emerged from it. Luna could only stare in awe at her companion, having never known he was capable of doing such feats. Then her mind when back to when the Alpha had almost ripped her throat out, it was at this memory that she burst into tears. The Shadow moved forward to draw her into a hug in an effort to comfort her but knew not what other than to remind her of his presence to alleviate her fear. Deciding upon that course of action, he leaned into her and whispered into her ear "I'm here, shhhh...". Her sobbing doubled almost instantaneously, The Shadow was confused as to why his words had caused such a reaction but was even more confused when Luna stepped back to wipe her tears away and smile at him. Then she began to laugh, it was a dry sound from her sobbing but laughing none the less. Luna looked at The Shadow and bade him to come closer. When he was within less than a hoofs length from her, she stretched her neck so she could speak directly into his ear. "Me'think a name for thou. My Shadow, ever constant like the night and embracing me just as gently as the night could. My steadfast guardian and loyal companion. A terror to those who wish ill upon us." Then she pulled her head back to look him dead in his eyes and said "I name thee! Thy name is Night Terror!" and for the first time in a long time he smiled. The name resonated within him and gave him this feeling of fulfillment. At long last he had a name, Night Terror.