Nocturne stood in the middle of canterlot castle's throne room, laughing hysterically. His laughs were met only by the agonizing screams of the captain of the royal guard, who was currently covered in a black shroud, and was being transformed into.......something else. His hind legs grew longer as he stood on them, his torso lengthened and changed into a more human like shape. His fore legs took the form of arms and his hooves became hands and feet. After a few minutes of this terrifying process, the captain stopped screaming, and the shroud around him dissipated, revealing his new form.
He looked like a human from ancient myth. His bright white coat was replaced with dark colored skin. Not quite black but still rather dark. His armor reformed as well. It was a suit of mainly leather and chain-mail, with armor plating on his chest, arms, and legs. His armor was dark and looked old and worn. A few places had rust on them and were chipped or broken. His helmet was jagged and slightly resembled a crown of sorts.
The three remaining guards stared at their commander in shock and disbelief. The captain rose to his feet giving everyone a full view of his new body. He easily stood about 6 and a half feet tall, with height to rival Celestia herself. The captain, regaining his senses, examined his new form. He looked from his hands, down his arms, and to his feet. His expression was blank as he looked himself over.
"C-Captain, are you alright?" One of the guards behind him asked.
The captain was quite for a few seconds. "My body, it feels.......strange." His voice was no longer masculine and raspy like before. Now it was deep, sinister, and even seemed to have a bit of an echo despite the throne rooms lack of acoustics.
"Well captain?" Nocturne chuckled. "How do you feel?"
"Strange. But this body feels, strong. I feel power coursing through my veins as though it's my own blood. I feel as though i can conquer worlds." His voice became more powerful as he spoke.
"Do you like your gift captain?"
"I do. This power is unlike anything i have felt before. I-I want more."
"And you shall have it, if you follow me."
"Don't do it captain!" The earth pony behind him yelled.
"Remember who you really are!" Screamed the Pegasus guard.
"Remember your oath, your duty!" Begged the unicorn.
"My oath and duty are nothing now!" The captain boomed as he turned to his former comrades. "Who i once was is dead now. And you three will either follow your captain willingly, or i will force you to concede myself!"
Nocturne rested a hand on the captains shoulder. "Calm yourself captain. No need to get violent. I need all four of you in perfect health for my plan to continue."
"Then how do we change them as well?"
"We do the same thing i did to you." Nocturne covered the other three guards in the same shroud the consumed the captain we he was transformed. "We give them the gift without their consent."
As the guards screamed, and their bodies changed. Nocturne and the captain looked at them. While Nocturne began to laugh demonically, the captain simply smiled.
****************
Twilight moaned as she began to regain consciousness. Her head hurt a little and she felt weak. As she opened her eyes she heard the faint sound of a heart monitor beeping along to a steady rhythm. She tried to sit up on the bed she was resting on when a doctor soon rushed over and held her back down on the bed.
"Princess please stay down, your still very weak." Twilight recognized the doctor as a crystal pony. Despite having a good idea of where she was, she still asked the same cliche question that everyone asks when they wake up in the hospital.
"Where an I?"
"Your in the infirmary kiddo." Twilight turned her head to see her brother standing in the doorway.
"Shining." Twilight tried to sit up again as her brother approached, but he ran up and held her down just as the doctor had before.
"Whoa there kid. You need to rest."
Twilight sat back down and looked around the room. It was a long white room with rows of beds along each wall. There were curtains separating each bed station, and they were all open except for the one to twilight's left. twilight turned her attention back to her brother.
"How long have i been out?"
"Not long. About half an hour, forty-five minutes."
"How did i get here?"
"I was hoping you could tell me. My guards just found you and Flash in the middle of the hall. You appeared out of nowhere."
Twilight suddenly remembered that she had not seen her companion, and panic began to set it. "Flash! Where is he? Is he alright?"
"Shh, yes he is alright. He was pretty beat up when we found you, but we got him patched up and he is stable. Tell you what. You get some rest and relax for a bit. Once Flash wakes up, i want to ask you two some questions. Sound good?"
Twilight just nodded and laid her head back down to her pillow. Shining walked out the door and said something to ponies outside. It wasn't two seconds before Twilight's friends rushed in and bombarded her with questions ranging from 'Are you alright?' To 'What happened?'. Shining just took a look at the injured guard who was resting in the stall next to Twilight's.
"What did happen?" Shining looked out a nearby window. "And if you two are here, then where are Cadence and the others?"