If you know me, you know my story. If you know my friends, you know my story. If you know my family - you know my story. It's one of tragedy, comedy, joy and sorrow. It's one of friendship and family and foes. It's a story of cruelty, kindness and hatred. But most of all..it's a story of love.

I am older than what meets the eye, a spunky young stallion falling in love for the first time. I'm more than just your ordinary whack-job that loves to speak with a fake accent and pretend to protect a worthless volcano. I'm a father. I'm a lover. I'm a brother. I'm a son. I am the leader of my precious herd. I am Dark Kishou, Peophin of the Night!

Some may say I am ashamed of my past, but I have to disagree. Do I regret things I have done? Yes. Do I wish I had been different? Maybe. But there is no way that I can change that and I am not about to waste the rest of my life dwelling on it. Perhaps we should start at the beginning..

Two magical masks were hand-crafted by the Faerie Queen herself. They were quite plain to the untrained eye, with no intracate carving or decoration. Instead, she focused on putting intense magical power into each mask, and sealing them with an unbreakable spell. These masks would join forever to the forehead of the first creature they were placed upon, and these two chosen ones would be protected personally by Fyora. One mask was given to a very special peophin mare for her newborn son. Me. I was only a few days old when I received the special mask. Where the second one went I would find out much later to my misfortune.

My father was not around when I was born, and never came back in my childhood. My mother refused to tell me where he was - or maybe it was simply because she didn't know. I became resentful towards him - but she never seemed to be angry with him for being gone - she missed him sorely, but was not hurt or resentful for his absence.

There were several other children my age in my herd and I spent my days laughing and playing with them as a colt should. My best friend was a flotsam from a neighboring pod named CruiseMissle. He was always welcome in our herd as I was always welcome in his pod. For weeks we planned out crazy adventures and marvelled at what the sea had to offer us. Finally we decided we were going to actually see what was beyond our herdlands and go on our awesome adventure. Mom reluncantly let me go, knowing I was old enough to set out on my own but not quite ready to let go of her only son - and child - at that time. Cruiser and I packed up our few belongings and kissed our mothers goodbye as they waved silently as we left. Excitement rushed through both of us. We were finally going to explore.

I learned much later that if I had only stayed around for two more hours, I would have met the father I never knew. He had known about me, and made every attempt he could to leave his current line of duty to make it back to my mother and his new son. It seems the faeries had asked him to leave and take care of a problem in his childhood herd, and once he got there, the herd wouldn't let him leave. He finally snuck away from them - but by then, it was too late. I was gone, and I hated him.

Two years passed and Cruiser and I had toured the entire ocean. We had surfed the waves of Mystery Island, slid off icebergs into freezing water by Terror Mountain, visited the prehistoric waters of Tyrannia and swum through the rivers from Altador to Neopia Central. The Lost Desert, Meridell, Lutari Island, you name it, we went there. As long as it was underwater, at least. Finally, we were returning to Maraqua. I was as excited to be back as I was to leave. I couldn't wait to tell my mother about all the exciting things I had seen, and brag about my cool adventure to all my other friends that hadn't been allowed to accompany us. At first I noticed something didn't smell right. Whatever I thought. It has been two years! Somethings are bound to change. I didn't know how right I was. What happened next was the thing that changed me - how I went from a bright young adolescent colt to a young stallion, why I grew up so fast. Cruiser was farther behind me when I saw it - he couldn't see what I did.

First of all, there was an awful stench. I hadn't quite smelled anything like it before. Secondly, it was empty. Not a soul stirred, and the water seemed still. Too still. There was nothing. I carefully made my way farther into the herdlands, my heart sinking with each swish of my tail. "Mmph!" I bit back a scream, as my eyes had rested on a rotting corpse of a peophin. It wasn't one I knew - but was enough to set my heart racing. Looking up from the single body, I noticed several other fallen peophins - flotsams - other seadwellers - even the occasional jetsam. I hovered in shock. What had happened? What caused this awful massacre? I heard a sharp scream behind me - Cruiser had stumbled upon the awful scene. He managed to swim up beside me as I was frozen in shock. "Where..where're our families?" He asked, trembling. His words seemed to unstick all my joints. I rushed to my mother's den. Nothing. She was...gone. With this I learned the first special power to my mask. A large, golden horn sprouted from the brow of the mask. It would stay until my anger subsided.

A lot of creatures would blame my transformation on the tragedy I had seen. I let them believe it for a long time, though not conciously. I believed it too. Finally I realized why I was so angry. It was at my father. Mom had always spoken of him so fondly, and spoken of his awesome strength and wisdom. He was powerful and strong. His only flaw was that he was never there. That was the problem - if he had been there, he could have protected her. He could have protected everyone. From how she made him sound, he could have just flicked whatever caused this destruction away with his tail and not thought a second more of it. He would have saved all of them - but he just didn't care enough to be around. THAT is what caused my bitterness. Of course, I didn't know that he had returned so shortly after my departure, and that he really WAS around when Maraqua was attacked and destroyed. Well..sort of anyway.

Cruiser left the old herdlands in hope of finding his family - if any of them had survived. Unlike me, he had found some of his friends and family among the rubble, and was too hurt to stick around. I didn't stay in the exact area, but drifted more towards Mystery island where I found myself a new group of dens, perhaps inhabited by peophins or others long ago. The new herdlands was in a barren area halfway between the ruins of Maraqua and Mystery Island. To the west, there was a tall reef that breached the surface of the water. There were no holes or breaks in the reef, and to swim around it, one would have to swim east, around Mystery Island, and south, or go back through Maraqua to get to the north side of it. It was fine with me - I had nowhere to go, and it served as protection from the savage pod of jetsams that lived on the western side of it. That pod was particularly stupid, and while they were strong, they could be quickly outwitted. They had made a game out of their strength which included slamming each other against the reef. That's how I found out it was built of poisonous coral that would kill a creature as quickly as the poison reached their bloodstream. It was a general rule to stay as far away from it as possible.

It was my nightly practice to hoist myself up onto the beach of Mystery Island and go for a run. I didn't mind being above the surf and at the time, I was in no danger for showing my face above water. I was hurt, and running along such a different habitat helped me forget, at least for a while. The cool breeze would sift through my mane and I'd watch the stars twinkle in the sky as if everything were alright - but nothing was right.

One of these nights I noticed a strange faerie-like creature watching me. I'd never seen one before - this one didn't have wings, a weird hair color, and wasn't wearing a dress. I suppose she had been watching me before. We were united in a moment of harmony, not one of struggle. She became my sole friend and was registered as my caretaker so I could travel on land without being captured and dragged off to auction or the pound. I learned more about the surface life, and continued my nightly visit to the shore to visit her. She begun to draw me, entering me in one of the land contests.

I was walking on the beach in daylight for once, in the week I was entered in this "beauty contest," and I was approached by a beautiful shadow mare with a blood red mane and mask with a black gem. She introduced herself as Elinbia, and I fell quickly in love.

My Winnings in the "Beauty Contest

Love, Actually

Elin moved to the dens with me shortly after our first meeting. She too had a tragic story - but unlike me, her entire family had been massacred - by the very faeries sworn to protect me. We were a match made far from heaven and the faeries turned against me - even though I didn't know it.

Elin and I had twins, a colt with an ice blue mane and hooves, and a filly that looked just like her mother. I had discovered another power of my mask - both my children were granted elemental powers - Crypt, of ice, and Cleo, of fire. Cleo's power revealed itself underwater as jets of boiling water. We taught the twins to use their powers only in emergency, but they loved to ambush each other. We were a small herd of our family for quite a while. We were not bothered by the faeries or the jetsams as we stayed a small, uncharted herd. Our problems only grew as we did.

Peophins of the Night

I had met other peophins from the same area my herd had dwelled, that had lost their family in the attacks. I learned the attacks were a mix between pirates, faeries, and jetsams invading the territory, even some savage koi. I couldn't believe it. Our food attacked us. But the most unbelievable thing was that not a single one of my former herd had been subject to the attacks. In fact, the faeries had warned them previously of the attacks and gave them - but only them - time to pack up and leave. Upon hearing this information I began to hate the faries - and my former herd. I had always thought they were loving, caring creatures - enough to at least warn the neighboring herds, especially Cruiser's pod. They had been our best friends. Slowly the herd grew, just a few stragglers at a time. Some came and went, just passing through and needing a place to stay for the night. They were always welcome. The first one to stay is my oldest friend I'm still in contact with - a young, starry-tailed mare named Galaxia. Her mother had sealed her and her baby sister in a cave while she herself was brutally murdered by a jetsam. In a fury the young filly broke out of the cave, killing a jetsam or two herself, and leaving her baby sister to fend for herself. Later that very same filly came and found Galaxia in her new home at Peophins of the Night, just looking for some food inside her sister's cave. They were joyfully reunited, and Breephin became a member of the herd as well.

My children never stopped growing, and before I knew it, they were hormone-filled teenagers and I had no idea what to do with them. Crypt started drifting away from the herd and one day brought back a silver filly named Kalarque. They quickly hit it off and got right to it - soon after, a son was born to them. He was a dark grey colt named Xoaeir, just as troublesome and mischievous as both Crypt and I had been. More came and went, but the next permanent member of our herd was the most shocking. An winged island filly came to us, over the posion reef, and claimed to be my sister. My parents had survived. She and Breephin became fast friends, and they spent their days babysitting Xo. More came and went, and we ended up with a decent sized herd, full of love and friendship, and several families. However, with the herd came strict discipline as well, for we were then constantly under attack by faeries. They had learned of Elin's wherabouts, about our children, and about me. Cleo was brutally murdered before our eyes. It was then that I learned who the other magical mask belonged to. Flowlaki - Elin's own sister. Her mask broke when she betrayed the faeries and turned from them to help us. It's useless now. Elin and I had another daughter who I named after my Mother. We called her Lilly for short. More friends joined our herd - Cloud, Shadow, Rowdy, Cali, Sunny, Breeze - Enthon, Radesty - who I shamefully exiled on selfish impulse, when I talked about things I regret, this would be it - Guisanato, Darkness, Skye, Velo, Lakitano. We were strong when we were together - but the faeries did manage to break us apart.

Elin and I went to battle the faeries one last time after they attacked our youngest daughter - and failed. To this day I don't know what happened there. I blacked out and fell back into the ocean. I never saw Elin or Lilly again.

Heartbroken I returned to the herd, even crueller than usual. I banished Radesty, exiled Darkness, and turned from the only family I had left. He picked up my slack and managed to clean up the mess I had made. Cruiser returned and I left with him once more.

On our second journey around the sea I managed to heal, finally blaming the faeries more than my father for the horrible tragedy in Maraqua. I met a new "friend", a vampire named Tosaih with questionable intentions, and made it through the vigorous training of the Long Patrol. Speaking of the Long Patrol...

The Long Patrol

I joined th' Long Patrol after I met my ol' chap Shadow fr'm th' Peophins o' th' Night. He convinced me teh go throuh trainin' with tha' scary lass Eriblynn, th' head Patroller. When I was finished, he took me back teh his station, Mt. Aquaterria, an' me 'n him 'n Tosaih plus this lass called Shoun had a spot o' good times there. An' we shore did put away th' scoff! We didn't 'ave a real 'ard time pertectin' that volcaner, cuz it seemed our Orca lord 'ad little teh do with us an' nev'r gave us commands. I fancied Shoun a little, but flirtin' was as far as it got. I soon learned o' a new 'erd led my me son Cryptholder, and Tosaih, Shadow an' I made our way back teh wot Crypt called Peophin Song. It wasn't in th' same place as Peophins of th' Night 'ad been, but was between Mystery Island an' Krawk Island in a beautiful reef.

Peophin Song

Me oldest an' only son had created this 'erd fer th' victims o' Peophins of th' Night which I had chased out an' caused pain because o' me own 'eartbreak. He was pickin' up th' pieces I had left - an' even though he never woulda thunk it, I do appreciate it. Soon after th' 'erd was established an' I rejoined as a 'erd member, not a leader, me dear friend an' Shadow's sister's son was kidnapped by those bloody faeries. We made a short stop up teh faerieland an' blew up a castle, freein' Eclipse an' three others who came teh be a part o' th' 'erd, Crilton, Dreamer and Erravi. They were prisoners o' th' faes as well. A funny thing 'appened on th' trip up teh th' clouds though..Crypt an' I got inteh a heated argument, an' he said some things that really struck 'ome fer me. When I realized what 'e 'ad said was true, a silvery linin' seemed teh coat me, leavin' me with these silver markin's yeh see tadae. We made it back inteh th' sea, and I met up with a familiar face I 'ad only met a few times before, but my was she gorgeous. We swum along in harmony for only a few moments, b'fore she underwent a frightful transfermation. Knowin' that good friend was underneath th' monster, I made it my mission teh free her from her demon - literally. With th' 'elp o' me friends an' me cunnin' personality, th' 'erd managed teh free her an' trap her demon inside tha' diamond pendant she wears. I knew then I was in love - but she was taken an' I am not a mare-stealer. I left Peophin Song, returnin' teh th' Long Patrol as me duty said, an' continued flirtin' with Shoun, one more o' me regrets. Not tha' Shoun wasn't an attractive mare, but I believe I led her on an' caused her more pain than she deserved.

The Long Patrol Revisited

Us peophins in Th' Long Patrol serve an Orca lord. We've actually never seen th' fellow b'fore with our own peepers, but we've 'eard stories 'bout the chap. Anyways, we follow orders from this guy, and keep th' volcano safe from intruders. One o' those common pests would be th' neighboring jetsams, though we've 'ad prollems with flotsams too, wot! Ay, I ferget AGAIN what our volcano's called, eh, I never did 'ave a good memory! I'm not quite sure wot's special 'bout our volcano, just that I'm 'sposed to pertect th' thing, wot! Sometimes it seems we're all 'ere by mistake an' we're not really pertecting anythin'! Anyhow, let me introduce yeh ter th' other Long Patrol Peophins.

Shadow Of Eclipse

This 'ere's Shadow, me jolly good chap! We've been pertectin' this volcano fer th' longest, me an' 'im. 'E always remembers wot th' thing's actually called, eh, I should go ask 'im, but I'll wait 'til we're done 'ere. 'E's quite the amusement and a bloody good fighter, wot! 'E can go tussle with a mob o' jetsams an' come out unscathed!

Tosaih

Tosaih isn't quite like th' rest o' us. 'E's more concerned with speakin' proper and pertendin' the ladies love 'im. Ladies? Wot ladies?! We ain't got a lady 'round 'ere since Shoun and she'll kick yer tailfins right off! Toh always seems o' bit out o' place, I 'spose cuz he's got those bally fangs, wot! There just isn't a place fer a vampire 'round here anymore. Me an' 'im don't always get along, 'specially when it comes to Shoun. I KNOW she likes me more than 'im!!

Shounetsujigoku Sharpfin Sideswiper

Now, this Shounetsu-jokfin...ne'rmind..Shoun, cuz nobeast can pronounce THAT monstrosity, wot!! This Shoun is th' only girl o' us all! Such a shame, 'avin' all us fight o'er 'er! Shadow ne'r seems ter be too interested but Toh keeps tryin' ter woo 'er with 'is "vampirish charm" as 'e calls it..what a load! Anyway, Shoun can kick yer tailfins an' 'ave yeh wrapped in kelp an' stuffed in a deep-sea vent quicker then a hungry kougra after its prey if'n yeh rub 'er th' wrong way, if'n yeh know wot I mean! But other than that, she's th' best insult, th' best fighter, she's got 'erself some wicked battle equipment, those spikes an' prongs 'ave gotta hurt, wot! She's got th' rest o' us beat an' we know it!

Dark Kishou

Then o' course there's me, but since this happens ter be me page, I don't think I've got teh explain meself, wot! Howe'er I do happen ter be one o' the Long Patrol, so I might as well be added 'ere!!

If'n yer thinkin' bein' a Long Patrol Peophin is teh yore fancy, go ahead an' neomail mysticalhorsesguild! She'll tell yeh wot it's all 'bout an' yeh kin decide whether yeh want ter join or not. If'n yeh do, just let underwaterpatrol know an' she'll add yeh to a list with yore volcano and Orca lord, wot! If'n yeh wanna create yore own volcano and Orca lord, yore more than welcome teh! We can't 'ave too many volcanos bein' pertected, wot!

Kishou's Long Patrol

Mt. Aquaterria Dark Kishou
Shadow of Eclipse
Tosaih
Shounetsujigoku Sharpfin Sideswiper
Shaminsoka

On The Mend

One day as I was making my rounds about the Long Patrol, I met up with the same flame I had known and freed from her demons. I was simply swimming along the kelp forest and saw her basking in the open ocean. Not being able to resist, I gave her tailfin a soft tug and continued to poke her until she guessed who it was. We spent the day reconciling and I learned that she was alone - the stallion that she had known before had disappeared. We ended our perfect day on top of a small jetty by the bay, and spent our evening cliff-diving into the cooling waters. Finally, as the sun set, I revealed my true feelings for her, and in surprise, she returned them. I never thought the holes left by Elin could be mended, but it seems they hurt less and less with each passing day, especially when Falmarin is near. I can never forget my first love, the mother of my children, and I would still give anything for her - but I have met my soul mate.

Falmarin, no matter how long I have to wait for you, I will always be here, thinking of you, loving you, and wishing you the best. Someday, I promise we can be together forever..and never be apart again. Please come my love, I'm not the only one waiting..

Rebuilding

After Falmarin's and me night at the bay, I returned teh Mt. Aquaterria and sh' set off on a journey teh find 'er brother. I no longer flirted with Shoun, an' she dropped inteh despair knowing that I didn't love 'er th' way sh' did me. I tried me best to act stupid an' unnattractive so she wouldn't like me much longer, but me plan failed, an' sh' only grew more an' more depressed. I was goofin' off one day with Shadow an' Sham, an' drove me bally 'orn right inteh th' side o' th' mountain at a snide comment from th' ol' mope 'erself. In efforts teh get me unstuck, we upset th' pressure o' th' volcaner an' set it off explosive! We made a run fer it, but th' ol' sop wouldn't get outta there. She got hit on th' head by a bloody boulder an' got knocked unconcious, so Shadow an' I pulled her up outta th' firin' zone an' got 'er teh safety. We 'aven't been back teh see the damage yet, but the damage teh Shoun was more than we thought. I think it knocked 'er marbles loose, cuz th' next time we saw 'er, she was mighty loopy an' if not fer Tosaih, woulda died on account o' 'erself! Tosaih isn't always a compassionate beast, but his intentions are still unknown. At death's door he delivered th' bite o' life, an' freed Shoun from any attraction she had towards me, turnin' 'er inteh a blood-thirsty beast like himself. Two vampires on one patrol! Wot a load!

Shadow and I got into a bit of a fight over what had happened to Shoun, and I returned to my one place of solitude, the one place I can come and think about the past - the herdlands of Peophins of the Night. While there was so much turmoil there, it's calm and peaceful now. I can remember the young days, when my children laughed and played in the surf, engaging in a game of tag, Elin smiling warmly at me, knowing for at least that moment, everything was alright. I never went up on the beach anymore, not like I had in my youth. I longed for those days - I felt so old, but my body had not aged. I was a grandfather, but looked younger than my son. I had come across him making my way back to the old herdlands. He was outside of Meridell, and I've heard that he and Kala split up on account of me, Kala taking Xo and forbidding Crypt to see him. He didn't take that well, and ended up with Galaxia, after Enthon split and leaving her with Radesty, the very child I exiled. Crypt and Galaxia had a child of their own, a grandchild I have yet to see. His name is Zheyden, and I've heard he inherited this very mask, as Lilly had. Unfortunately I didn't get to talk to him. Crypt was already dead.

I found his body resting on the seafloor, without a scratch on him. I knew what had happened - the same faeries that killed Cleo had sought revenge on him. Anyone with Elin's blood would be a target. Xoaeir and Zheyden are the only ones left.

When I returned to the old herdlands, I was surprised to find there seemed to be some sort of life. I called out, and to my shock, the remainder of the herd - the ones that were still alive - came to reconcile at the one place they could call home. Kala, Galaxia, Enthon, Shadow, Cloud, Lakitano, even Falmarin were there. Eva, Breephin, Arsen, and Rebel - they had all returned. There were some additions, some subtractions - but we were together again. And hopefully - that is how we will stay.

Reunited, the Peophins of the Night!

Fanart

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