Little defective colt doesn't know what comfort is. He sees nothing but the moonflower fall to rest on his father's corpse, but the wild hatred in the filly's eyes as she prepares to lunge towards Manhattan. His face, expressionless until this point, turns into a mask of rage as he lunges forward defensively. His teeth, ever tasting of the Sentinel's blood, snap at empty air, and he lets out an unearthly sound- the sound of man and eagle, of panther, otter, and stag. He feels his father's blood boil within him as the bridle constricts around his face and seems to darken even as it glows a bright, wicked green. The voices rise and turn into cries of terror, and he recalls a memory that is not his own.

In the darkness of the mansion three wicked beings had slumped across the arms of their thrones, picking apart each other's flesh with long claws that curled around themselves and were stained red with the blood of the stallion's brother, who lay torn and innocent upon the floor of the castle.

Knox's father had just been a small gray draft then, as he stood before the three.

The colt backs away, feeling the pain of an inherited curse tear at his chest as the magic in his bridle interferes with his reality. The voices turn into murmurs of approval, and he only has a second to glance at the filly with fear before he is flung once more into memory.

A smooth white bridle rests upon his brother's face, stained red from the attack, and the colt named Johnny lifts it easily off of the mangled face and places it with difficulty over his own features.

Three imps laugh like hyenas in their chairs, and motion to the colt to leave. He stays.

Knox feels pain rising within him, an indescribable emotion that he has never before encountered. The bridle across his nose fades for a second and then brightens once more as the memories of its previous owner return to haunt the living.

He knows that to leave is to face shut doors and certain death- he refuses to leave. He has promised his mother he will return with his brother's bridle and the taste of revenge hot on his lips. She didn't believe him.

The imps cease their cackling in unison as the colt steps forth. He has not done as they have asked, and they cannot resist the urge to tame the untamable.

The three resolve to steal his soul.

Knox shakes his head in fury and denial, and Manhattan come sout from behind him, her whimpers faint and concerned. The young colt's eyes twist shut and his head begins to pound as the voices chant together.

A blessing is given and the colt is enveloped in shadow. His coat shifts to black and the bridle does the same with it- he feels his body shift its form and sees the world clearer than ever before. He feels his name slip away and his heart darken.

The young dapple colt is now a monster of seventeen hands in height with pure golden eyes and an inclination to kill.

Knox sees nothing as he forces his eyes wide open and cries out again, creating a sound akin to a dying cry. His throat gurgles as the taste of blood is pushed back up it, and his body slowly begins to convulse as the bridle slides down and begins to choke him.

In a second he remembers everything. He sees his brother lying dead on the floor, having failed the test put in place by the imps. He sees his kin's flesh hanging from wicked nails, and he roars.

He leaps forward and strikes out at the frail ancient beings, clinging to the last scrap of his soul and the faint memory of his true purpose.

Knox falls to his knees and shudders, choking on a lack of air and an overwhelming taste of blood. The stuff dribbles from his open mouth, staining his teeth, but he fears it is not truly his own.

Shrieks and howls sound out from the manor and three sets of claws strike out at the monster of their own creation. There is a snap as they make contact and the bridle snaps. Blood flows from the colt's cheek from two wounds, and a strange chanting mixes with the cries.

He feels his soul grow stronger as he clings to the memory of his brother, but with each moment he retains himself the gashes upon his cheek burn with a ferocity he has never before experienced. The lights around him dim as he feels his vision fade, the sounds around him dull to muffled bumps and blows. The power he was briefly gifted is wrenched from him painfully, and the shadows that surrounded him with the intent of gifting him with the power to shapeshift dissipate.

Manhattan runs fearfully around her master, letting out pathetic yowls and cries as he falls upon his side and his eyes roll back into their sockets.

He is blind and deaf. He tries to cry out and finds his voice gone, replaced instead by a deep cough. He rears to shake a weight off of his back and turns to run, but cannot see his way. A torch falls and the ancient ruins set themselves aflame, surrounding him in heat and the scent of his own blood. He runs at a full gallop, leaving behind him three shrieking monsters and his brother's broken body. He does not stop running.

Johnny is Johnny no more. The ash chokes him as he gallops away from the scene of the crime, and he regains his hearing with each hoofbeat taken out of the Old Country where he was born. The Old Country where he lived alongside his brother until that fateful day when they both entered the manor to face their fate.

Knox loses all sense of being alive as he writhes upon the ground, and though the bridle loosens and the blood that has pooled beside his mouth stops its flow, he tastes ash and hears the heavy thud of hoofbeats.

He wanders for days, his hearing returning to him, his voice coming back in short bursts. He speaks and sounds a different stallion- he looks out into a great forest and sees only a blur. Within the gateway he meets a stranger and for the first time in seasons, he speaks his name. His tongue curls to form a J but instead creates a new identity as a part of a curse.

The young stallion named Roanne enters the land of Isilme.

Knox lies panting in a pool of his own blood beside the body of his father. Voices fade from his mind and the last of the great Sentinel's life flashes in his mind. His eyes open and he sees a familiar filly before him. Manhattan lies beside him, licking his face with concern. For the first time there is expression in his eyes, bright and alive. He coughs and his lips curl upwards to form the first smile he has ever expressed. Knox speaks with a clear and quiet mind no longer plagued by spectres of the past, acting as if nothing has just occurred.

"So you knew my pop, huh?"