Lionel Hart, nearly ten years old, was an eerie black, with a flame of imperial red, and had not yet acquired his cutie mark. In all honesty, Lionel cared little about it; he was more concerned with myths, legends, mystery, and adventure. Having grown up on tales of Lord Smoke the Dragon Rider, Firehoof the Giant Toppler, and of course the Rise of the Mad King Scorch, Lionel was eager to have his exploits remembered through the ages.
When none of his classmates wanted to investigate the strange noise coming from behind the school house, it was Lionel who braved the task and discovered it to be Mr. Tutor having a nap; snoring something awful. It was Lionel that faced down the creepy shadow that stalked the edge of the Dark Marsh that threatened the foals and fillies, to find it only to be a bit of hanging moss swaying in the breeze.
Lionel wanted more though, not for fame or admiration, but the sheer thrill of facing the unknown. The world was now open to him, the chance of a life beyond the borders of the Ashen Fields, and it would begin tonight. The third full moon of the season was rising and Lionel was going to catch a glimpse of the Oblivion Pony.
For it was well known among all foals and fillies that the Oblivion Pony only preyed on those who had no friends but Lionel was well prepared.
"You're not really going to do this, are you Lionel?" A young filly asked nervously.
"Stop your worrying, Licorice, the Oblivion Pony only comes after ponies who don't have friends." Lionel insisted peeking around the corner of one of the stone huts.
Licorice Black was Lionel's side kick and quite possibly only real friend. Time after time dragging her on his quests and constantly getting them into trouble. Licorice was a very timid Flame Pony, nearly ten as well, she,of course, was the color of black licorice, with a very vibrant red flame and she too had no cutie mark. Her interests were far from Lionel's thrill seeking, she enjoyed studying and reading far more then living the adventures in her books.
"We're going to get caught again." Licorice warned him beginning to sound worried.
"Don't bail on me now, Licorice, the Oblivion Pony will get me for sure." Lionel whispered motioning for her to get down.
Two Royal Guard Ponies walked down the path, enjoying a conversation of the delicious bake goods that they had eaten before going on duty. Lionel and Licorice were successful in avoiding detection and darted across the path to other side of the street. Keeping close to the stone huts, Lionel peeked out from around the corner to get a better view of the Dark Marsh that stood silent in the distance.
"Lionel, we can still go back to my house and finish reading chapter seven for tomorrow." Licorice offered sounding very hopeful Lionel would agree.
"We have reading to do?" Lionel asked curiously looking back at her.
"Mr. Tutor is going to quiz us on it and you know how mad he gets when you don't do your assigned reading." Licorice reminded him.
"You win some, you lose some." Lionel mumbled peeking back around the corner.
"Mr. Tutor is going to make you stand outside again." Licorice warned.
"Jokes on him, I like being outside." Lionel mumbled.
"My mom just bought something called cupcakes today; we can go back to my place and try them." Licorice offered trying to convince Lionel to back out of his plan.
"Sounds gross." Lionel replied.
Licorice could feel her heart racing out of sheer anxiety. Going into the Dark Marsh when you were a foal and filly was not only dangerous, but also forbidden. Just getting caught trying to reach it would mean a month of grounding for her.
"Mr. Tutor is going to know you're up to no good when he sees you're not home tonight." Licorice whispered suddenly thinking of another way out of this.
"Ember is making arrangements with Fluttershy to take the class on a field trip to Ponyville tomorrow; they'll be at Castle Char for a while." Lionel replied watching a few Royal Guard Ponies check the perimeter of the Dark Marsh.
"But- wait, really? We get to go to Ponyville?" Licorice asked sounding very excited.
"Shush." Lionel hissed pointing at the guards.
"We're going to go and see all of the animals Fluttershy talked about today in class and meet some of the ponies in Ponyville." Lionel whispered to her.
"When did Mr. Tutor tell you this?" Licorice whispered back sounding very curious.
"He didn't, I eavesdropped on his conversation with Fluttershy before I snuck out." Lionel stated.
"Lionel, if we get caught, we might not be able to go on the field trip tomorrow." Licorice warned sounding very concerned.
"I can see Ponyville any old time, unlike the Oblivion Pony who only shows up during the Blue Moon." Lionel replied.
"The moon isn't blue." Licorice informed him pointing towards the moon.
"The Blue Moon is the third of four full moons in a season. Being blue has nothing to do with it." Lionel explained sounding very studious.
"How do you know that?" Licorice asked sounding impressed.
"I asked Ember about it a while ago." Lionel replied.
"Oh." Licorice said looking a little less impressed.
"Okay, the patrol is moving down to the southern end of the marsh. We're only going to have about ten minutes to cross the fields before we get caught when they start heading back." Lionel informed her as he watched the patrol of Royal Guard Ponies move further away.
"Mr. Tutor is going to be very angry with you if we get caught again, Lionel." Licorice warned him suddenly getting nervous again.
"He can make me sit outside." Lionel mumbled sarcastically.
Lionel lived with Mr. Tutor ever since Lionel's parents got really sick and never woke up; at least that's how Licorice's parents explained it to her. Lionel didn't like having to go home with Mr. Tutor after school every day, so Licorice invited him over after school one day and Lionel has been glued to her ever since.
"Alright, let's go!" Lionel hissed popping out from around the corner.
Reluctantly, Licorice followed Lionel out from around the corner and went dashing after him towards the Dark Marsh. The flames from their manes danced in the darkness as they sped across the fields. The Dark Marsh was quickly growing closer and closer and with no sign of Royal Guard Ponies they were home free.
Mere meters away from the edge of the Dark Marsh, Lionel looked over his shoulder to Licorice to throw her a wink, signaling that they had done it.
"Boo."
Lionel and Licorice shrieked together, tripping over their own hooves as Fluttershy's head suddenly popped out of the brush in front of them. The two young ponies toppled over one another as they came to a rest at Fluttershy's hooves.
"I hope I didn't over do it." Fluttershy said looking worried.
"You did wonderfully, Fluttershy." Mr. Tutor said stepping out from behind a tree off to the side.
Lionel quickly got to his hooves. He looked very confused and very annoyed at the same time. Licorice was silently thanking Celestia that fate intervened and stopped them from going into the Dark Marsh.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were going to Castle Char?" Lionel asked sounding annoyed.
"We did." Fluttershy replied.
"Then why are you here?" Lionel asked again looking very confused.
"Because, Lionel, you're not the only pony who eavesdrops on other ponies conversations." Mr. Tutor explained striding over to them.
"Mr. Tutor and I went to Castle Char to have the Royal Guard Ponies escort us to the edge of the Dark Marsh where we could stop you from going into this very dark and scary place." Fluttershy explained further.
"Just what did you hope to accomplish this time, Lionel? Steal some gems from a Diamond Dog? Bring back a spider's fang for show and tell?" Mr. Tutor asked looking suspicious.
"We were going to go see the Oblivion Pony." Licorice replied.
"Licorice!" Lionel hissed looking very betrayed.
"Oh sweet Celestia…" Mr. Tutor mumbled face hoofing himself.
"That would be a very dangerous thing to do, Lionel." Fluttershy told him.
"I'm not afraid!" Lionel said in protest.
"That's not the point, Lionel." Mr. Tutor said.
"Putting yourself in danger is a very reckless thing to do when it can be avoided. It's even more reckless to get your friend involved and put them in danger too." Fluttershy explained pointing to Licorice.
Lionel didn't protest this time, he looked rather guilty in having involved Licorice in this.
"Does this mean we can't go on the field trip tomorrow?" Licorice asked looking very disappointed.
Fluttershy glanced over at Mr. Tutor with a very warm smile, as if trying to have him go easy on them. Mr. Tutor sighed while rolling his eyes.
"Seeing as neither of you actually 'entered' the Dark Marsh, you didn't technically break any rules so I guess you can still go on our field trip tomorrow." Mr. Tutor said seeing the excitement grow in Licorice's face.
"As long as you promise not to go into these creepy Dark Mashes until you're old enough." Fluttershy added.
"I promise." Licorice said promptly.
Lionel just sat there making a rather annoyed face.
"Lionel…" Mr. Tutor said slowly glaring at him.
"I…pro(mish)." Lionel said throwing a cough in at the end.
"Lionel." Mr. Tutor said again but more stern.
"Fine, alright, I promise." Lionel mumbled looking defeated.
"There, now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Fluttershy asked softly.
"It's time to go home, every pony." Mr. Tutor said motioning for them to head back towards the Narrows.
"Can I stay at Licorice's place?" Lionel asked quickly.
"No, you've caused enough trouble for one night." Mr. Tutor replied watching Lionel pout.
There was an awkward tension that seemed to come around whenever Lionel and Mr. Tutor spoke to one another. It wasn't a very warm feeling between each other; they were bland and unfriendly with one another. It was obvious for any pony to see that Lionel and Mr. Tutor were not getting along very well but no pony really knew how to approach it. Mr. Tutor was, for all sense of the words, parental guardian but there wasn't much parenting going on. On the other hoof, it didn't seem like Lionel was looking to replace the ones he had lost.
From the southern-most part of the Dark Marsh, the group of ponies saw a sudden flash of light. It was quick, almost like a flash from a camera. Mr. Tutor stepped in front of every pony looking very unsure of what had just happened.
"Fluttershy, please escort Lionel and Licorice back to the Narrows. I'm going to see if everything is alright with the Royal Guards." Mr. Tutor requested.
"Are you sure that's safe?" Fluttershy asked sounding worried.
"I was once a soldier pony, I can handle myself. I won't be long." Mr. Tutor said confidently gesturing them to get a move on.
Mr. Tutor had headed off along the edge of the Dark Marsh towards the mysterious flash of light. The group of Royal Guard ponies that had escorted them earlier had continued their evening patrols right after leaving them by the edge of the Dark Marsh. The closer Mr. Tutor got to where the flash of light seem to originate, the more and more suspicious he became when he did not see any of the Royal Guard ponies making their way back.
Eventually, Mr. Tutor came to a halt where the ground beneath him seemed disturbed and uneven. Waving the flames from his hoof over the ground like a torch, Mr. Tutor tried to determine what had gone on.
"Did you find something?" Lionel whispered.
Mr. Tutor nearly jumped out of his hide. Whipping his head around to see Lionel standing behind him; waiting for an answer.
"What are you doing here? What happened to Fluttershy?" Mr. Tutor hissed.
"I gave her the slip. So what happened to the Royal Guard ponies?" Lionel asked excitedly looking around at the ground.
"How did-Why would-No. You're going home right this instant." Mr. Tutor said turning Lionel around on the spot and started to push him back towards the Narrows.
"Aren't you curious to know what happened to the patrol?" Lionel protested trying to dig his hooves into the ground to slow Mr. Tutor's relentless pushing.
"I am, but I've got a foal who won't listen to me to deal with first." Mr. Tutor replied still guiding him forward.
"But you're a soldier pony; Dad said you never leave a pony behind." Lionel insisted.
"Your Dad and I were soldier ponies, not you." Mr. Tutor explained.
Lionel wormed his way out of Mr. Tutor's grasp, leaping from side to side trying to get around him but Mr. Tutor blocked him.
"Lionel!" Mr. Tutor shouted in frustration trying to get a hold of him.
Lionel suddenly froze up, much to Mr. Tutor's surprise. Quickly noticing that Lionel's attention was focused on something behind him, Mr. Tutor turned on the spot to see what it was. Mr. Tutor's eyes fell upon a figure of a pony, standing motionless, staring at the two of them, the shadows of the Dark Marsh concealing it. Reaching behind him, Mr. Tutor moved Lionel behind his back leg to shield him as the Mystery Pony remained unmoved.
"Who are you?" Mr. Tutor demanded aloud.
The Mystery Pony remained silent. Mr. Tutor could feel Lionel pressing up against his leg, shaking from fright.
"It's the Oblivion Pony." Lionel whispered in horror.
The Mystery Pony suddenly charged them. Mr. Tutor kicked out his back leg, throwing Lionel a few feet behind him.
"Run, Lionel!" Mr. Tutor shouted flaring his mane at the Mystery Pony.
Lionel did not hesitate to do so. Scrambling to his hooves, Lionel took off down the edge of the Dark Marsh. There was a sudden gust of wind that ragef past him and lifting him up off his hooves before landing back down onto the ground; blacking out.
Lionel was slow to stir, slowly opening his eyes and feeling his head throb he noticed two hooves in front of him. He could hardly make it out, it seemed like smoke was streaming off the hooves of this pony, Lionel's heart started to race believing it was the Oblivion Pony standing before him. Closing his eyes tightly, Lionel quietly begged to be spared; shaking like a leaf. It was some time before Lionel dared to open his eyes again to see that the smoking hooves were no longer before him. Carefully raising his head, Lionel looked around to see Fluttershy and Licorice rushing towards him.
"Lionel! Lionel! Are you okay?" Licorice asked sounding extremely worried.
"I saw him, Licorice, I saw the Oblivion Pony." Lionel mumbled looking very pale.
"Lionel, where is Mr. Tutor?" Fluttershy asked looking around.
"Mr. Tutor… Ember!" Lionel shouted suddenly looking very worried.
Lionel took off again, stumbling a few times, trying to get his hooves under him as he raced back to where he had left Mr. Tutor with Fluttershy and Licorice following close behind. Up ahead, Lionel could see Ember lying on the ground, his flames just a flicker and not moving. Lionel slid to a stop, leaping over Mr. Tutor and rushing over to his face.
"Ember? Ember, are you okay?" Lionel asked nervously tapping him on the face with his hoof.
"Oh dear, is he alright?" Fluttershy asked with a gasp.
"What happened to him?" Licorice asked coming up alongside Lionel who was still trying to wake him.
"Come on Ember, wake up." Lionel pleaded looking very distressed.
"Wake up, Mr. Tutor." Licorice lent a hoof in trying to stir him.
"Don't stay asleep." Lionel begged nudging him more.
The flames on Mr. Tutor's mane increased, groaning and straining, he slowly started to lift himself up. Holding his head with his hoof, Mr. Tutor shut his eyes tightly, opening them, and stretching his neck.
"Are you alright, Mr. Tutor?" Fluttershy asked looking relieved.
"Yeah, I guess I must have passed out." Mr. Tutor replied blinking a few times.
Mr. Tutor looked down to see Licorice beaming up at him and Lionel trying desperately not to show close he came to crying. Mr. Tutor gave Lionel a playful shove as Lionel retaliated with a shove of his own.
"Do you remember what happened?" Fluttershy asked curiously.
"There was some mysterious pony that attacked us, there was rush of wind, and I blacked out after that." Mr. Tutor explained thinking back on it.
From the brush of the Dark Marsh several sounds of moaning were heard. Once more Mr. Tutor pulled Lionel behind him as Licorice and Fluttershy followed suit. Four Royal Guard ponies stumbled out of the marsh, looking very battered and dizzy.
"It's the missing patrol." Lionel stated looking surprised.
"Is every pony alright?" Mr. Tutor asked quickly approaching the closest Royal Guard pony.
"That remains to be seen." The Royal Guard pony mumbled massaging his jaw.
"Did the Oblivion Pony do this to you?" Lionel asked aloud.
"You saw it too?" A different Royal Guard asked.
"It attacked us as well." Lionel replied.
"Mr. Tutor, has anyone informed the Castle yet?" The jaw massaging guard asked urgently.
The Mystery Pony galloped silently across the fields, the smoke from its hooves, tail, and mane whipped in the wind. Leaping high onto the roof of the long stretch of stone huts of the Narrows it quickly raciled across the rooftops.
The two patrolling Royal Guards from earlier, who were still discussing about the bake goods, stood at the corner chatting things over. The mystery pony leapt from the rooftops, silhouetted by the moon for a brief moment before landing hard upon the two guards. Knocked to the ground, the unsuspecting guards were out cold from the impact and the Mystery Pony galloped on.
General Hearth steppEd out of the large stone doors of Castle Char, being greeted by the Royal Guards posted at the entrance.
"Heading home, sir?" The guard stationed at the left side of the entrance asked.
"Yes, my daughter has invited me over for dinner tonight. She says she's bought some pies from the new bakery earlier today." General Hearth replied.
"Have a good night, sir." The guard pony replied.
General Hearth headed down the path towards the Narrows when something out of the corner of his eye had him stop and turn. Not clearly able to make out what it was, General Hearth strained his eyes to try to make something out in the darkness but to no avail.
The Mystery Pony raced along the edge of the fields, it could see a small flame lingering on the main path and somehow knew it was watching it. After a few more moments the flame moved on and the Mystery Pony quickened its pace towards the back of Castle Char.
The courtyard of Castle Char was bustling with several Flame Ponies, being directed by Pinkie Pie, trying to get things ready for the coronation. Several stone tables were being lugged out, with even more stone chairs, statues from the dungeon were being used as decoration and a platform for which the band was to play from. The Mystery Pony leapt once more high into the air and landing onto the battlement surrounding the courtyard; void of any Royal Guard ponies. Silently racing along the edge of the battlement, the Mystery Pony leaped onto the side of the castle wall and took hold of a lipped edge. Swinging itself to the left onto an old sconce from years long past, the Mystery Pony looked towards the scaffolding covering the windows of a chamber high above.
"Hey you!" Pinkie Pie shouted aloud.
The Mystery Pony dropped its gaze to the ponies in the courtyard below.
"I said three by six by three by six! Not six by three by six by three!" Pinkie Pie hollered pointing at the Flame Pony's chair arrangement.
"Sorry, Ms. Pie." The Flame Pony said looking sheepish and quickly started to fix it.
The Mystery Pony looked towards the makeshift sheet metal platform that was the base of the scaffolding, with another incredible leap the Mystery Pony got a hoof on it and hung from it. With impressive strength the Mystery Pony lifted itself by one hoof up and climbed onto the metal sheet. Stepping very carefully the mystery pony stepped gingerly over the warping metal and headed towards the metal ramp leading up to the top portions of the scaffolding.
The Mystery Pony's climb up the scaffolding proved time consuming but effective in remaining undetected. Reaching the top metal platform of the structure, the Mystery Pony placed a hoof gingerly against the decorative round window glass of the Royal Chamber and let out a soft breath. The window suddenly became fogged by cold, shards of ice formed around the base of its hoof and with a simple tug the window popped out.
Carefully sliding itself through the now open window, the Mystery Pony let the window slide back into place before the frost from its hoof dissipated and let the Mystery Pony drop to the floor. The room was dark, no lights from any source, allowing the Mystery Pony ample time to hide.
"I'm sorry Alex had to take off in the middle of our presentation, who knew that Applejack and Mr. Tiff would also be the ones making archeological finds today." Twilight Sparkle said escorting Smolder down the hall.
"I don't mind it all, Twilight. You're presentation was very… in depth." I said trying to find the nicest way to put the four hour presentation she provided.
"I'm just glad you agreed to display the portraits of your father for the museum, I'm sure it must have been hard for you to do." Twilight replied sympathetically.
"Not as much as you would think. He wanted ponies to fear him, and remember him as this fierce ruler but now we can see that he was very much like any pony else at one point." I said reaching the doors to my room.
"I'll go meet up with Alex and see what all the fuss was about." Twilight said turning to me.
"I think I'll turn in for the night, I don't want to get Wingston mad by staying up all night again." I replied.
"Have a good night sleep, Smolder." Twilight said making her way back down the corridor.
"Twilight." I said before she got too far.
"Yes?" Twilight asked turning around.
"Thank you, for everything." I stated simply.
"What are friends for?" Twilight asked with a smile.
I opened the door to my chamber, my flames casting a light onto the walls and a glint from the mirror caught my eye. It didn't seem like it was in a talkative mood so I thought it best not to wake it, or at least get roped into another conversation. The light of my fire danced along the walls as I entered the chamber, closing the door with my back leg and lazily moving towards my slab of granite. I couldn't believe that I was actually yawning. Having slept for three days I felt I should have been able to stay up for at least a whole day but my body had other ideas.
The Mystery Pony clung to the ceiling, its hooves frozen to the stone, spots of water could be seen where the mystery pony had climbed up the side of the wall. Lifting its hoof, the ice breaking away very slowly to minimize the noise. The eyes of the mystery pony suddenly illuminated a bright icy blue, as it was prepared to strike.
"SMOLDER!" The voice from the mirror screamed.
I was taken aback by the sudden shout from the mirror, it sounded so sincere and full of fear that I immediately looked around. It must have startled the other pony in the room because a sudden loud crack from the ceiling drew my attention. The Mystery Pony broke free of the ice that kept it bound to the ceiling, twisting in mid-air, flaring out its wings, eyes burning blue, just as a blast of ice escaped its mouth.