//------------------------------//
// Welcome to Everfree 
// Story: Living Mark of Courage 
// by Moowell 
//------------------------------//

"Dude, I hate this job." 

"Shut up and focus. You never know when something will sneak up on you." 

"But that's just it! There's nothing there! There's never anything there! Heck, I'd settle for-" 

"I said shut up! We're here to make sure that there's never anything there! Besides, even if something were there, nothing's gonna come by anyways for being driven away by your jawing." 

Time passed in uncomfortable silence. The pair of gate guards returned to attention, facing the road which led into Ponyville, keeping on the alert for any sort of disturbance, including, but not limited to, monster attacks, rioting, foreigners coming down the road, children getting lost, cats getting stuck on the wall, or old mares crossing the street. Anything to relieve the boredom. Then something perked the first guard's ears. 

"Hey... Do you hear that?" 

"Hear what?" 

"That music..." To the astonishment of his comrade, the guard turned and walked away from his post. 

"Soldier! What the hay do you think you're-"

^(C)(A)(G)~, ^(C)(A)(G)~, ^(C)(A)(G), (A), (G)~~

"Hey, I hear it too... It's so..." The guard never finished his sentence. As if driven by some primal instinct, he turned toward the melody and began to walk. Nothing else mattered but finding the source of that song. That beautiful, compelling song. He followed the music over a nearby hill, where a little yellow filly with a red mane sat playing a small instrument. 

Then he fell in a hole. 

Epona stopped as she heard the startled cry of the guard. She trotted over to the hole and peered inside with a mischievous grin. "Hey, it worked!"

The guards shook their heads. How had they gotten trapped in a pit? One moment they were at their posts, and the next... One looked up at the filly at the entrance. "You there! Filly! Do you have any rope or something that can get us out of the hole? We're trapped!"

"Sorry, but Ah don't have any rope," Epona replied. 

"Then find us somepony who can get us out of here!" 

Epona trotted off with a spring in her step. Her test had gone off without a hitch, and she had finally gotten back at the guards for bullying her when she first arrived. It was a perfect way to start her day. As she made her way back to Sunset Manor, she saw several other ponies running toward the hill where she had been playing. Each of them had that same enthralled look as the guards. Epona snickered as she saw a few of them fall into the hole. 

"Well, at least there are more ponies to help. Kinda feel sorry for the guard on the bottom, though."

Epona crept inside and shut the door to the manor with a small click. When she turned around, she saw Trixie and Mirrors sitting at the dining room table, eating waffles with syrup. 

"Welcome back," Trixie commented. 

Epona hung her head sheepishly. She had thought she managed to sneak out of the house. Apparently her stealth could use a little work. "Er... Good morning, Miss Trixie."

"Good morning. Did you enjoy your little prank?" 

"Ya saw that?" 

"I didn't, but Mirror Child did. She was fighting tooth and claw to get to you when you started playing your song." The filly cringed a little. "There are better uses for your magic than making the guards fall into holes."

Epona's jaw dropped slightly. "Wait, ya heard me all the way out here?" 

Mirror Child grinned. "I've got a beast's ears, Epona. I can hear a of things."

Trixie rose from the table. "Now that that is out of the way, it's time to begin formal training. If you are to join Mirror Child at the academy, you will need to learn how best to utilize your skill. First and foremost, that means learning how to stay alive. The school is a dangerous place for those who aren't prepared, and the... activities, shall we say, are even more so." She walked to the South-side window at the end of the dining room and peered outside. "That is why you and Mirror Child will be spending some time in the Everfree Forest." 

"Th-the Everfree Forest?!" 

"Alright!" Mirrors cheered. "Finally, I can stretch my legs a little! Ponyville is way too quiet. This is gonna be great, Epona!" 

"Y-Yeah... Great..."

*****

"Here we are. Are you ready?"

"I'm ready! Time to find me some chow!" Mirror Child transformed into a wolf and bolted off into the forest. Epona, however, was less enthusiastic. 

"No! Ah already told ya, Ah'm not going in there!" she yelled. 

Trixie knelt down, looked Epona in the eyes, and smiled. "Epona..." Then her horn began to glow. "You don't have a choice."

Epona rose off the ground surrounded by a pink aura. "Let me go! Miss Trixie, let me go!" She struggled and fought, trying to regain purchase on the slowly distancing ground. 

"If you insist." Trixie pointed Epona toward the forest. 

"Wait, what're ya...? Oh no. No no no no! Ah take it back! Ah'll go in!" Trixie released her magic, and let go of the filly. "NOOOOOOOOOoooooo..." Trixie watched until Epona disappeared from sight. A couple moments later, Mirror Child returned. 

"Hey, Epona, I found us some... Where did she go?" She looked up at Trixie. Trixie brought her eyes down to her. She cocked her head to the side. Trixie smirked. "You didn't."

"Happy hunting, Mirrors." And Trixie trotted off. 

*****

Epona screamed as she flew and fell. Fortunately, Epona remembered that she had a leaf before she hit the canopy line and managed to find herself a nice little opening in the woods to glide her way down to the forest floor. 

The darkness was thick around her. The trees provided little room for the starlight of day, so she drew out her lantern and lit its flame to illuminate the area. 

"Well, that wasn't very nice of Trixie, now was it?" Wisp said as he floated out of Epona's mane. "I nearly lost my grip! And I had just started liking the mare, too." He looked around, examining their surroundings. "Nice place she picked out for us, though. Fresh air, plenty of food, and the service is excellent!" 

Just then a deep, gutteral growl and a disgusting stench bounced into Epona's senses. She looked and saw a pair of bright green eyes staring at her. 

"See? Swift and ready to please!" 

Epona raised her shield just in time to deflect the blow of a great paw. In the lantern's light, she could make out the form of a creature similar to Mirrors' wolf form, only completely made of wood and leaves. Nothing seemed to be holding it together. No skin, no muscle, not even a glow of magic. 

Epona drew out a bomb and pulled the string, then rolled it under the wolf. The creature stared down at blinking ball, unsure what to make of it. 

Then it exploded. 

Epona lowered her shield once the shards stopped flying. A couple claws were embedded into it, but she was unharmed. She walked up to a large chunk of its body and kicked it with her free forehoof. "Huh. Maybe Ah can survive out here," she thought aloud. 

The body began to glow a faint green, and she felt a tug at her shield. The embedded claws also glowed as they pulled toward the main body. Epona struggled to keep herself from being dragged until her shield finally let go, causing her to topple backward. When she looked back up, the wolf was completely reassembled, as though nothing had happened to it. 

"Epona, might I suggest running?"

"Good idea." She picked up her lantern and ran as fast as her legs would go. To her sides, she could see more and more sets of green eyes training on her. The heavy thudding of wooden paws continued to draw closer and closer. Epona drew out another bomb and let it go in the center of the pack behind her, but they had learned. The pack scattered into the trees, letting the detonation pass harmlessly by. She could hear the snapping of twigs beside her as the wolves approached again. 

A set of green eyes leapt out onto the path in front of her. Knowing she couldn't slow down, Epona threw a bomb out and kicked it at the beast. The wolf's eyes widened at the swiftly approaching projectile, then disappeared in a bright flash of blue. Epona ran by as green outlines of wooden shards began floating back onto the path. However, the momentary pause used to kick the bomb brought the wolves right beside Epona.

"Wisp, grab mah Ocarina and hold it for me!" Epona willed the instrument out in front of her, and Wisp grabbed it. She bit down onto the mouth piece and blew. 

^(C)(A)(G)~, ^(C)(A)(G)~, ^(C)(A)(G), (A), (G)~~

"And just what was that supposed to do?!" Wisp cried. Epona opened her mouth to answer, but it quickly slammed shut as a stray root sent her crashing to the ground. She rolled and tumbled for several paces before sliding to a stop. All around, she could hear the wolves growling menacingly at her. Green slits blinked at her from all directions, and the stench in the area became nearly overpowering. There was no way she could bomb them all before they got her. The pack howled as one, then charged her, leaping in for the kill. Epona desperately held up her shield, but she knew that her little slab of wood would never be able to stop them all. 

Just then, a great orange fist shattered through the pack, blasting them into the woods in pieces. Time seemed to slow as Epona looked up and saw a lone wolf. A lone wolf with lustrous black fur and white stripes on its legs. A lone wolf with a ridge of orange down its back. A lone wolf with brilliant cyan eyes staring at her. 

"Hop on, and hang on tight," it growled. The clatter of wood being pieced back together brought Epona back to reality, and she obeyed hurriedly. A moment after Mirror Child bounded off, howls were heard behind them. "There's a clearing a little ways ahead! If the wolves follow us, it'll be easier to fight them there!" The wolves did follow, and they were following closely. Mirrors was fast, but she was carrying Epona while the timberwolves were unhindered. Slowly, they began to gain on her. "Keep them off me until we reach the clearing!" 

"Got it!" Mirrors picked Epona up with her mane and placed her so she was facing backward toward the wolves. She threw a bomb, but again the wolves scattered. They returned to the path, however, as it was faster than trying to keep up through the underbrush. 

Still, Epona realized that bombs would be useless against them. She put them away, then drew out her slingshot and fired a seed. The seed struck its target, but to little effect. The wolf merely closed its eyes and dropped its head for a moment before returning to the chase. 

"DUCK!"

"Huh?" Epona turned her head back toward Mirrors. A low hanging branch smashed against her, snapping from the tree. Her grip on Mirrors slipped, and she began to fall. Mirrors quickly reached back with her mane and caught her, barely preventing her from falling completely off. "Thanks, Mirrors!"

"Idiot!" the wolf shot back. "If you don't get your head down the next time I say duck, I'm leaving you behind, understand?! We're about to hit a rough patch, so hang on tight and do as I say!" 

Mirror Child suddenly began swerving back and forth, nearly throwing Epona off. The filly held on as tightly as she could, but little by little she began losing her grip. She put her slingshot away to get a better hold, and for a few moments it helped. However, as Mirror Child's movements became more erratic, it became harder and harder to hang on. Epona searched through her inventory for anything that might help her hang on. A second later she donned the digging mitts, transforming her hooves into claws. She dug them into Mirrors' coat for a better grip. 

"Ow! What the hay, Epona?! What are you- Ouch! Epona, you're stabbing me! Ow, STOP!" 

"Sorry!" Her claws returned to being hooves, but the ride remained as treacherous as before, and she soon began to slip again. Then she saw Snowshoe.  

"LEFT!" Epona leaned to the left as Snowshoe formed around her leg. Immediately after, a branch snapped against the back of her head. She yelped. "I said left, not right!" 

"Ah went left!" 

"MY left!"

"Oh, now ya tell me! Thanks for-" 

"RIGHT!" Epona leaned to her left, or Mirrors' right. Another branch snapped against her and broke away from its tree. 

"OW! What the hay, Mirrors?! Ya said right that time!"

"Just making sure you were paying attention!"

"Why, you-!"

"DUCK!" Epona dropped down immediately as a thick branch flew overhead. Two of the timberwolves crashed into it and shattered to pieces, but four others made it past. Finally, Mirror Child stopped swerving. "Alright, we're past the rough spot! You alive back there?!"

"Ah'm still here!" Epona cried. 

"Good! I only heard a couple go down, so try to keep the rest off me until we reach the clearing!"

The wolves had gained on them in the rough and were now less than half a second behind. Epona could almost swear she felt their breath as they growled. She pulled out her slingshot again, but then she remembered that it had little effect, so she drew her boomerang instead. She aimed it at the far right wolf and threw. The boomerang hit the wolf, but merely bounced back and returned to her hoof without phasing it. 

"Consarn it... Ah need something more powerful, but Ah don't- actually..." With Mirror Child running straight again, Epona put Snowshoe away and equipped Rang 2. She aimed her boomerang once more... "Let's see if this works." She threw. 

The boomerang smashed through the wolf like a sledgehammer. Its pack-mates looked back at it as it returned to Epona, surprised by its sudden power. 

"Finally! Ah can beat them!" She aimed at the middle wolf of the three remaining and threw her boomerang again. This time, however, the wolf dodged. She threw a second and third time, but each wolf avoided the attack. They were wary of the curved weapon. Epona drew out her slingshot once more. She knocked one of her hard, golden seeds and aimed for the center wolf's eyes, but again the wolf simply closed them and deflected the blow. Immediately after, her boomerang smashed through it, scattering its pieces across the path. "Dodge that, ya dumb dog!"

"Oh, ponyfeathers! Epona!" Mirror Child called. 

"What is it?!"

"There's a large gap between us and the clearing!"

"Ya can still make it, right?!" At twenty feet across and fifty feet deep, with nothing but cliff faces and gravity leading to its base, the gap was a formidable barrier. It was simple enough for Mirror Child to cross without Epona on her back, but with her both adding weight and reducing speed...

"Not at this rate!" Epona fell silent. The last two wolves were almost within biting distance of Mirrors' hind legs. For a few seconds, the only sounds to be heard were they heavy breathing of ponies and dogs, and the loud thumping of paws striking the ground. "I'm sorry, Epona! We're gonna have to-"

"Jump it!" Epona shouted as she re-equipped Snowshoe. 

"Are you crazy?! I just said we won't be able to-"

"Yes, we will! Trust me!"

"Epona, If I make that jump-"

"DO IT!"

Mirror Child swore under her breath as she approached the gap. "I hope you know what you're doing!"

"Let me know when you're about to jump!"

"Alright!" Just a few more paces. She could hear the timberwolves' teeth behind her. Just a couple more seconds... "Ready? NOW!" As Mirrors leapt, she felt her speed suddenly burst, as though something had pushed her forward. But that little burst wouldn't be enough to... to... Why wasn't she falling? The timberwolves howled and crashed at the gap's base, but she was leisurely floating through the air! She floated all the way to the other side and several feet further, landing safely beyond the edge. 

"Ah told ya we'd make it!" Epona cried happily. She hugged Mirrors' scruffy neck and hopped down. 

"What did you do? There's no way we should've made that!" The braying of more wolves echoed over the gap. "Grr... Come on Epona. The clearing is right there. That's where we'll fight them!"

"Nope."

"What?!" Epona pointed her lantern over the gap. In the distance, she saw four green sets of eyes bounding toward them at high speed. When she could make out the shapes of their bodies, Epona took out a small green leaf. "What is that supposed to be?!" Epona lifted the leaf over her head and waited. Finally, the wolves reached the edge of the gap and leapt, fangs dripping, claws outsretched for the other side.

Epona brought the leaf down to the ground with all her might. Mirror Child watched in awe as it expanded to an enormous size and launched a blast of wind straight into the wooden dogs. The wind caught them and stalled the four of them mid-air, cancelling the full force of their jump. 

Epona grinned. Mirrors gaped. Gravity worked. 

"Alright," Epona said after several moments of silence. "Let's get to that clearing and rest."