The Lion and the Wolf: Prologue: Destiny
Darksky stared into the depths of the catacombs, the young ash colored colt’s heart quivered as he stared into the abyss of darkness. If rumors proved true, this place wasn’t just littered with the dead but it also bore skeletons in each crevice. No foal nor pony had ventured into these dark depths, but yet here Darksky was. Dogged by his nemesis; Bubbly Luck and his foalhood sweetheart Seedling. Both of these two foals were earth-bound, Darksky however was born with the horn to which manipulated his powers.
His nemesis, the big bully Bubbly Luck prodded the unicorn forward towards the vine-draped gate. Only naturally Darksky could not fight. His magic was far too inadequate to beat an earth pony who not only had natural strength but also stamina. He was out classed.
And yet his heart still paned over towards the filly, young and innocent. The earth pony shone of a light yellow though she bore a naturally sickly colored mane. It was questionable to some how the sweet-hearted earth filly could obtain the attention of two colts in unison. Although Darksky had his ideas the young filly was always so pressured, obviously unused to such tension involving her. In fact, Darksky wasn’t even sure she noticed.
A clump choked its way down Darksky’s throat as he turned back towards Bubbly Luck, his deep blue eyes accepting the challenge that had been presented to him.
“So you do have an ounce of pride in you.” Bubbly Luck said snickering, swaying his way around the smaller unicorn to scrap a hoof at the vines that where the starting line.
With a light of his horn, blue aura swarmed and tucked its way into a much more malleable limb. It tore its way at the stringy vines prying them off of the gate and thus sealing his own fate. With a final tug and one last heavy heart beat he pulled the last of the vines off and the creakily gate was swung wide for Darksky by Bubbly Luck.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Seedling questioned, the frail and shy pony before had been very silent and accepting of the manner… did she really think Darksky wasn’t going to do it?
“Of course… “ Darksky pried up a smile from all the nervous anxiety,” I was dared after all.”
And with that the grey hoof of the young colt stepped forth. His hoof grasped at the uncultivated earth as it lapped its way around his hoof. He strode in cautiously continuing forth into the unknown. The little foal wanted to turn around but the presence of the larger earth pony behind him urged him forward. There was no way Bubbly Luck would let him leave now… the passageway was also too narrow to navigate around him.
He was screwed.
Splaying his head over his shoulder to look at the filly who was curiously shaking he stumbled in his step. Bubbly Luck pushed him forward making him nearly tumble his way down the stairs. He didn’t bother with arguing with the colt as he already knew that would be unbeneficial to his circumstance and probably only make him look more like a sissy in the eyes of Seedling… who herself seemed very afraid.
Darksky didn’t have time to comfort her as his eyes laid out upon a dusty old book that was left nuzzled in front of several or so caskets. The young colt’s ears pricked forward in curiosity as his nervousness eroded away into a bubbly curiosity. However, unlike him Bubbly Luck seemed to be giving vibed of mixed feeling about the circumstance.
Either way without attention to detail nor much precaution at all Darksky stepped forward towards the book, feeling a sort of alignment towards it. His eyes flickered over the dusty, untitled cover as he smiled.
“What are you doing?” Bubbly Luck questioned, a hoof stomping down almost aggressivly though Darksky knew this of being a cover-up now.
“Reading. I love reading, and no one has even seemed to-”
“Don’t be stupid!” The earth pony shouted, making the dead creak in their coffins.
“Ssshhh,” Seedling said from out of the corner she had recluded into,”Don’t disturb the dead… we shouldn’t even be down here this is an ancient burial ground! Haven’t you two ever heard of ghosts before? Or demons as a matter of fact?”
Darksky just looked at the book curiously, his gut told him to go for it… to flip open the pages and in an almost OCD manner read it. However, his brain kept hold of the reality. He was surrounded by the dead although he could not see he knew they where there. That took no convincing. But yet even his eyes could not be taken off of this dusty book.. oh how he wondered what laid inside.. maybe even just a peek?
No, he couldn’t. Holding his hoof back his mind seemed to consciously block out the bickering behind him as Bubbly Luck and Seedling alike joined in unison to try and stop him. However, there was a new purpose to coming down here. Although Seedling had not realized it yet this was more than just for her now. He felt fate-drawn to this book… and so he opened it.
In no time in doing so he read the first page, his mind blank as it only versed the words spoken in the book and only done the movement to flip the pages. He sped-read, as his body felt sly tingles of numbness as it washed its way over him. His ears began to come back in tune, however, and he heard the muffled murmuring of the two ponies who had accompanied him.
Even after that, however, it took a few more pages before in a jagged, rabid motion he about-faced to look at them. They seemed horrified, Darksky could only wonder why. His horn lit up emitting a greyish hue against the backdrop gathering around the book. Then eroded from the walls a creaky, coffin-opening sound and his heart beat messing up its rhythm. His fur prickled as his ears laid flat eyes and gut now remembering where they were.
First was Seedling to bail, running up the stairs and then quickly behind her was Bubbly Luck. With quick-paced hooves Darksky dared not to look behind him at what was surely a creaking skeleton and only ran. With a kick and a push he was running up the stairs his horn still scrambling to have the book keep up with the young colt’s pace.
As they neared the eye-burning light at the end of the perilous dark Seedling was nothing more than that of a moth. Swirling their way in hypnotized by the light’s embrace they don’t even notice that its a trap. Darksky stumbled as he saw the white light fade as he noticed something was coming at him from above.
His hissed as the two ponies slammed into his features with enough force to start a chain of rolling amongst the foals. Periodically a jagged edge of the stairs slammed into Darksky’s backside as his eyes grew ill of the constant swirling motion and he forced them to close. Feeling his companions hooves wrap around him before with the sharpest pull yet their spyral stopped and Darksky was flinged to the adjacent end of the room where his companions where.
“FUCK THIS SHIT.” Bubbly Luck said, not even bothering to conceal his fear from covering his curse.
Bubbly Luck didn’t even wait for his companions. He just got up and galloped out of the place as though it were an escape from tartarus itself. Darksky’s heart hollowed as he spied the damsel lying limply on the ground. His only guess was that the fragile earth pony had been the one the two colts had landed on. Scrambling over towards her crawling across the ground, darkness grabbing at his flanks as he could’ve sworn he felt boney fingers scrawling in his mane… but he had to be strong right now.
His head dipped under the young filly’s body that was just barely smaller than his own. Hoof by hoof he crawled up the stairs. The darkness crawled in after him but was not touching him. It only fondled his back and flanks and tail as he crawled up the stairs. He made sure to keep the book in hoof.
Darksky’s lungs heaved, weaving as he forced each hoof to accompany each step as he forced his magical hold of the book to remain stable. After some time when he nearly reached the exit he stopped running and limped his way along with the limp Seedling. The fact that the light seemed to of done that was revived her uplifted his spirit.
“Wh-wha..” She groaned as she fell against the dirt, and turned back towards Darksky.
She still seemed frightened though Darksky had followed the cliché example set by his stories as he panted heaving on his side, the sunlight basking itself against his grey-tanned flanks.
“Why did you do that?” She asked, stuttering as she crawled away.
Darksky’s triumph was darkened as he listened to his heart. The filly bore an unusual naturality to her at the moment. At first he thought it was because he wanted to save her so she could acknowledge and maybe even come to adore him… but now really listening to his heart and scanning her sickly green hair the only think he could think of was how ugly she was.
“I don’t know.” Darksky said, pratically speaking out loud. Now that he could see without the blind adoration he had always grown around her he could see her for her ugly self.
“Well… “ She scampered away against the gate, “Thanks I guess… “
As she scampered away, Darksky could now see her head was bleeding turning that sickly green hair into a slightly more appealing red. In a moment of realization he questioned not only why he did that but what had happened to him. When he read that book…
The sound of hooves stampeded their way over. Albeit only two worrisome mothers and a young colt that accompanied them. Both of the two mares parted ways mid-way through to go to their own foals. Darksky’s mother came to him and slid forth onto her knees as her neck coiled around her son.
“Why… “ Hot tears rolled down his shoulder,”Why the HELL DID YOU DO THAT?” Her voice entered that angered state he knew so well,”I was so scared when Bubbly Luck told me you whe-” She paused when her neck uncoiled around him and she could see his face.
“What?” He asked, Seedling and her mother still conversing in the background with occasional sobs.
His mother’s face stiffened, her eyes shutting as though accepting something. Darksky still understood not what this was. Getting to her hooves she urged him up and using her own magic took hold of the book that had fell to the ground next to him.
“Come with me, we’re going home… “
~*~*~*~
“I’m a.. a what?” Darksky asked, tears rolling down his face as the saddle bags purged their way across his backside.
“Dark-pony, evil pony… “ His mother’s face matched that of Darkskys yet bore some formality of understandance.
“I still don’t get it… what do you mean my eyes are black?!” Darksky’s voice grew frustraited and sad,”What do you mean I have to LEAVE?” He was about to fall to his knees and utterly cry.. he was only but a mere colt after all.
“Look at your flank.”
He looked towards his flank, which now bore a black star… he still understood not what it was though he knew it involved that book. Stars represented magic… his only guess was black magic. But black magic was used by evil ponies! He was not an evil pony!
“I told you, I’m not evil!” He swore to himself.
“I know, I know… “ His mother cooed as she lowered the miniature saddle-bags onto Darksky’s ribcage,”But you have to leave. You have the mark of a naevulus now.. the mark of a dark pony… “
Darksky thought about what his mother had told him. He now had a destiny ring and ring with evilness, and his eyes bore a naevulus. A naevulus was the birthmark of a pony destined for darkness and evil. His shone in his eyes, just as Sombra’s was that of his horn. Sombra’s infected his magic, Darksky infected his perception.
As he was prodded out he stared into the forest before him… the Everfree was about to get a new member. Behind him began that of yells and hollars, as ponies gathered around infront of the house eager to kill the witch and her necromancer of a foal.
“Please hurry.. “ His mother pleaded,”The town will have enough members soon… “
And with that, Darksky left all that he use to have. All that he use to love. All his old heartaches and troubles of an adolescent foal born of innocense. Darksky died that night in the Everfree, and a new pony was born. A pony none the less conflicted by his dead heart but also understanding of the gravity that was destiny. Especially his destiny… but no pony was born evil, right?