//------------------------------// // The Legend of Hakumen // Story: Knightmares // by NerfedFalcon //------------------------------// The night before the Emperor’s arrival Skipper sighed loudly as he closed the door on the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ room, with all three of them inside at last. Mina had helped more than he’d care to admit, picking them up with her magic to stop them getting away, but it had only kept one of them down at a time. Still, he was glad they’d finally been herded back to their room so nothing could go wrong during the night. None of them seemed sleepy, though, and that was a problem. Even with the door bolted, they needed to be asleep before he could turn his back on the hyperactive fillies, and they’d need their rest for the big day tomorrow. He looked at Mina for a moment. “Dou suru?” he asked. “Komori uta?” Mina suggested. “Mata wa, shūshin-ji no monogatari. Tashika ni, Chikatetsu ga nai no monogatari wo shitteimasu.” Skipper thought to himself for a moment, recalling his time at Chikatetsu again. Mina was right; he didn’t want to talk about it to the CMC, but he didn’t know many other stories, or at least none about himself. All of a sudden, he perked up and called out, “Girls, settle down! I want to tell you a story.” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo didn’t seem to notice, being too busy chasing one another around and laughing about their exploits of the day, ‘Cutie Mark Crusader gourmet chefs’ or some such. Sweetie Belle heard it, though, and at a volume Skipper wouldn’t have thought possible from such a small filly, shouted “SKIPPER WANTS TO TELL US A STORY, SO LISTEN!!!!” That got the other two, who seemed affected far less than Skipper, to settle down and sit beside the Unicorn. After about half a minute rubbing his ears to get the ringing out, Skipper finally began, “For a while, when I was living in Neighpon, I went by the name ‘Hakumen’. It wasn’t until later in the visit that I found out what it meant. Hakumen was a legendary hero in their myths...” ~ About five hundred years ago, there was a village on the border between Equestria and the minotaurs’ kingdom. It was a small village, where everyone knew everyone else, and all the kids played together as though families meant nothing. It was to a normal family there that an extraordinary child was born one day. His name in the minotaurs’ language is lost to history, but he was remarkable at first for his white colouring. Most minotaurs are a dark blue, or some similarly dark colour, so an albino stood out, and not in a good way. The other children wouldn’t play with him, as their parents warned them against any number of diseases the albino could be carrying, and they whispered among themselves about how he was going to bring doom to the village. As he grew older, and the other children started to forcefully push him away, he learned how to fight from his father, one of only two in the village who cared about him at all. He could defend himself just fine, and for a while it was okay. But when he nearly killed one of the other children in a fight, even though he hadn’t meant to, the village elder told him to leave. He had nothing keeping him there anyway, so after a last goodbye to his parents, he headed south, towards Neighpon. At the time, they were still independent of Equestria, and a war was being fought to maintain their independence. Many of the villages were made much smaller by conscription, and there were many groups of bandits who took advantage, attacking and making off with whatever they could. Because of this, the minotaur was regarded with suspicion, and he was never able to stay in one village for very long. When he came to a certain village one day, though, he arrived during a bandit attack. Despite his rough upbringing, he still had a good sense of right and wrong, and since the villagers were unable to defend themselves, he fought off the bandits single-handedly, completely forcing them to leave without any spoils. The villagers were grateful, but feared that his actions would bring the wrath of the bandits’ leader, Hazama. Following the trail of the escaped bandits, he went to Hazama’s camp and called the self-styled Bandit King out to a challenge of single combat. They fought almost until sunrise, when a bandit took advantage of the minotaur’s weakened state and fired an arrow into his shoulder. Rather than making him easier to kill, however, this only enraged him, giving him the strength he needed to defeat Hazama once and for all. With their leader gone, the bandits scattered and the village was saved. The villagers allowed him to stay with them, accepting him into their clan. Because of his white coat, they called him Hakumen, meaning “white surface”. Hakumen stayed in the village for about a year before the Emperor heard of his exploits and called him to the royal court, where he served as a bodyguard for a long time. During this time, he came into the possession of a magic sword, called Murakumo, which means ‘gathering clouds’. Murakumo had the ability to seal the evil of any being, and Hakumen used it to reform many a would-be assassin. It was also instrumental in his final battle. A crazed pony had summoned a demon named Orochi from Tartarus. Orochi was a massive snake with eight heads, and Hakumen arrived too late to stop it from being summoned. With Murakumo in hand, he fought the beast bravely, but he could not even dent its scales. All of a sudden, the sun was covered by the moon above, and the gods Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi, of the sun and moon, came down to assist him. The trio fought together, weakening Orochi to the point where Murakumo could seal it. Because Orochi was a being of pure evil, it was entirely sent back to Tartarus, and Murakumo forced itself into the middle of the battlefield to maintain the seal. Hakumen was mortally wounded by the demon, however, and without the sword’s magic, he died that very night. Hakumen was given a hero’s funeral in the Imperial Palace’s own crematorium, and the Emperor himself held the vigil for him, along with Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi. Because of advice given by the gods, the Emperor declared peace that very morning, accepting the terms with Equestria: in terms of trade and taxation would submit to the Princesses’ rule, but otherwise they had complete autonomy, the Emperor remaining head of state, and their language and culture would remain. ~ “Because of an outsider, forced out by his own people, the end of the world was averted and two kingdoms were united. That is why, even if you seem to have nobody who cares about you, do not give up, for you may still change the world.” Skipper looked at the three fillies, who had all fallen asleep despite the story’s relatively short length. Mina applauded politely, offering to tuck them into bed and lock the room afterwards. “To be honest,” he admitted while the fillies were asleep, “I wasn’t always called Hakumen. Not until my coat turned white.” “Turned white, you say?” Mina asked. “Four years without any sunlight. I’m surprised I have any colour left. When they noticed I’d turned albino, I’d already built a reputation for being indomitable. That’s the only time they ever changed anypony’s arena name, so they could call me Hakumen.” “And if you continued after that, I suppose you do live up to the legend,” Mina said. “It’s been two years since you left, though. I hope you haven’t gotten soft.” “What are you suggesting?” “The Emperor and his guards may want a show put on. Perhaps a friendly duel between the two of us should entertain them.” “A duel, you say?” Skipper clarified. After a moment’s deliberation, he replied, “Alright, you’re on. It’s been a while since I fought a Unicorn. Considering that, you’ll have about one minute before I lay you out.” “One minute is all I’ll need,” Mina replied. “At noon, the day after they arrive, in your training ground. Don’t be late.” “I wouldn’t dream of it.” But knowing I said that, Nightmare Moon will probably force me to. She didn’t.