Living Mark of Courage

by Moowell

Little Grey Filly

"Juniper! Twinkle!" Juniper and Twinkle Hooves paused and looked back to see Ivory waving at them. They waited for her to catch up, then all walked to school together. "Hey girls. How are you two doing?"

"I'm okay," said Juniper. "I mean, considering I was a prisoner just last week."

"What about you, Twinkle? How are you holding up?"

"I've never been so happy to see the stars..." the little Pegasus replied. "I never want to go underground again!"

"Don't worry. You won't have to, will she Juniper?" Ivory gave the purple filly a hard look.

"Hey, I'm sorry alright? I know it wasn't one of my better ideas." The school building approached as they came to the base of the hill. "I'm just glad somepony was able to find us."

"Yea, me too. Being in a cage was scary!" Twinkle agreed.

"Speaking of Epona, what happened to her?" Juniper asked. "I haven't seen her at school for a week."

"Well..."

*****

"Hey look! It's a letter from Obsidian!" Ivory exclaimed as she rushed over to Canvas. "Would you read it, please?"

"Why certainly!" Canvas opened the scroll.

Dear Sisters,

I've taken Epona for some quality time alone. We'll be back when I'm through beating the ever-liv soon.

-Obsidian

*****

"She's out with Obsidian." The school bell rang just as they arrived. They walked inside and took their seats.

"Good morning, everypony. It looks like everypony is here, except-" The door flew open. Epona stood at the entrance breathing as though she had run a marathon. "Welcome back to class, Epona."

"It's good to be here on time, Miss Jubilee," she said between short huffs. "Ah am on time, right?"

"Barely." Epona breathed a large sigh of relief and entered the building. "Take your seat please."

"Are you alright?" Ivory whispered. "What did she do to you?"

"Don't ask." The look in Epona's eyes was all Ivory needed to know not to question further.

"Now that everypony is here, I'd like to introduce a new student." A little grey filly with a flaming orange, yellow-tipped mane came from the teacher's office. She wore a strange mask that circled her head like a crown and covered one of her red eyes. There was also a strangely sharp tooth that stuck out from the upper corner of her mouth. "Why don't you introduce yourself?" She nodded and turned to face the class.

"Hello. I'm Mirror Child. I just moved here from Canterlot. I transferred here from the Empress' School for the Magically Gifted as part of a new exchange program."

"Aww... Looks like Ponyville got stuck with another weird one." Deku looked her over with an appraising eye. "What do you think, Scrubs? She look weird to you, too?"

"Looks like it, boss," Sticks and Seeds said dutifully.

A devilish grin spread across Mirror Child's face, emphasizing the lone fang. "I'm pretty sure ponies clean floors with scrubs back home. Did you name yourselves the Scrubs because ponies wipe the floor with you, too?" Deku and his flunkies stood up angrily.

"Sit back down!" Jubilee said sternly. "I will not tolerate bickering or fighting inside the school. If you want to rough house, you will have to wait until recess. Now, go and take your seat. It is next to Deku's, so try to get along." Mirror Child went and sat down.

"Listen, Broken Mirror. I run things here, so I suggest you watch your flank," Deku warned.

"How fearsome," she smirked. "I'll keep that in mind."

*****

The bell rang. In an instant, the room was empty except for two seats. "That was the lunch bell, Mirror Child. Why don't you go outside and sit in the circle with the rest of the foals? Get to know some of them better, and you'll make more friends."

"Okay." Mirror Child grabbed her lunch box then went and joined the other fillies and colts in their circle. "Mind if I sit here?" she asked.

"Yes. Go away, Broken Mirror," sneered Deku. Sticks and Seeds stood guard around him with their sandwiches in hoof. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't listen to him. You can sit next to us." Mirror Child looked to the side and saw an off-white Unicorn waving her over, along with a purple Earth Pony and a light grey Pegasus. She went and sat down. "Welcome to Ponyville, Mirror Child. I'm Ivory, and these are Juniper and Twinkle Hooves."

"Nice to meet you."

"Hey, nice doo." She looked around and saw a colt with flaming hair like hers wearing a pair of shades. "Name's Turntable. If you like music, I'm your buck!"

"And I am Truly. Truly Scrumptious." Sitting next to the colt was a pale pink Unicorn. "Expert on all things sugar. I can get you the best candies and baked goods in Ponyville."

"Good to know. I'll be talking to you later," Mirror Child replied with a fanged grin.

"And we're the Scrubs, but you already know that." Deku, Seeds and Sticks stood up and held their little wooden swords over their shoulders. "We're the bosses of this school. We do what we want, when we want, so don't make us mad!"

"Are you threatening me?" she asked coolly.

"I'm letting you know how things work. Don't forget it." The Scrubs returned to their seats and resumed eating.

Another filly appeared at the door to the school. It was a yellow Earth Pony with a red mane carrying a small sack lunch. She looked where the group was sitting, then turned the other direction and ended up under a tree.

"Who is that? And why is she eating alone?" asked Mirror Child.

"That's Epona. She's a monster," commented Deku.

"Would you just shut up? I'm tired of listening to you," she said, irritated.

"Actually, this time he's right," said Juniper. "She's brutal."

"Yea. If you make her mad, she'll beat the color out of your fur," said Turntable.

"Her?" Mirror Child pointed. "She doesn't have the face of a brutal pony."

"Remember that first day she was here?" Twinkle asked everypony. They all nodded.

"Don't remind me," grumbled Deku.

"What happened?" the dark grey filly asked as she munched on a sandwich.

"She walked right up to the Scrubs and beat them senseless with a stick."

"Hey! You don't have to say it like that!" Deku exclaimed.

"She was only trying to help..." said Ivory.

"That's not the only time I've seen her go nuts," Juniper announced. She looked around, making sure no adults were around. Then her voice went low. "Remember when I told you how me, Twinkle and Ivory were caught by the dogs in the ruins?" Mirror Child's ears perked up, her interest suddenly piqued. "Well, I kinda lied about our escape. Epona was there, too."

"What?! No Way!"

"Yea. Wanna hear about it?" Everypony scooted closer together and watched her with rapt attention. "It was like this. Me and Twinkle were captured by the dogs and put in the cage, like I said before. But I never kicked the door open. It was too strong for me..."

"Too strong even for 'Mighty Legs' Juniper?" Deku sneered. Juniper rolled her eyes and continued her story.

"We were trapped in that cage for what felt like forever. But then Epona showed up wearing a weird looking hat and a green shirt. I showed her where the switch was to lower us down, but then the dogs showed up!" The foals gasped.

"What happened next?" asked Mirror Child. Her eyes matched those of the foals around her: large and filled with wonder.

"There were three dogs: one was our size, one was bigger than Miss Jubilee, and the last was twice the size of both of them. They all charged her at the same time, but she was like a walking arsenal!" Juniper got up and began to act out what she had seen. "She blocked their punches with her shield, whirled around and smacked them in their ugly faces with a boomerang, cracked their heads with a wooden sword... I think it was the same one she used on you guys," Juniper said, pointing toward the Scrubs. "She even turned her hooves into claws and blew the little one away with a leaf as big as any of us!"

"I think you're making this up. Where would she carry all of this stuff?" asked Truly.

"I have no idea where she got it all from. They just appeared and disappeared as she needed them to. In no time at all, the dogs were digging away with their tails between their legs. You think the way she fought the Scrubs was scary? That was nothing compared to this!"

"Hmph. I don't believe it," Mirror Child announced. "Nopony just magically has a bunch of items that helps them beat up creatures that are many times stronger than a normal pony. And she's just a filly like us! There's no way this can be true."

"I can prove she's got them," Juniper said confidently. "But I'd really rather not."

"Do it!" the masked filly ordered, calling Juniper's bluff. "Do it, or you're a liar!"

"This is gonna suck... Ivory, can I borrow you for a minute?" Ivory looked at her curiously, then in comprehension. Her eyes became saucers.

"Are you crazy?! That's a bad idea even for you, and you've had some really bad ideas!"

"What exactly are you... Oh! Hehehe... I know where this is going," said Deku. "This I gotta see."

"Twinkle, would you go distract Miss Juniper?" She nodded and walked into the schoolhouse. As soon as she disappeared inside, Juniper turned back to the group. "Does Epona have anything with her right now? Other than lunch?" The group looked over and shook their heads.

"I'm waiting." Mirror Child sat with her hooves crossed in front of her. Juniper groaned. Then she punched Ivory in the nose.

"OUCH!" Ivory cried as she reeled backward. Juniper followed and bucked her in the chest, causing her to collapse to the ground. "Juniper," she wheezed. "Stop it. Stop it before-"

"Here she comes," Turntable said quietly. "She still doesn't have anything with her." Mirror Child took a glance to confirm, then returned her gaze to the fight at hand.

"Hey Deku!" Juniper called loudly enough for Epona to hear. "Toss me one of your sticks. I'm gonna pummel Ivory!" Deku laughed and threw her a sword.

"You're really getting into this," he smirked. "I never knew you had it in you!" Juniper raised her stick high over her head, then pulled her hooves toward Ivory's head.

She never moved. Epona had her hoof over the tip of the stick.

"Juniper, what are you doing?" she asked. Her voice was restrained, and her face was emotionless.

"Epona? You aren't going to hit me with your stick?"

"Nope." Epona yanked the sword from Juniper's hooves and smashed in into Juniper's side. The purple filly double over and howled in pain. "Don't do it again." She turned to Ivory. "Are ya alright?"

"Y-yea. I'm fine..." The Scrubs rolled in laughter, while Mirror Child, Turntable and Truly just stared at her with mouths agape.

"That really was brutal..." the newcomer muttered as Epona walked back to her tree.

"That's Epona for you," Ivory explained. "She's known for dealing swift and severe punishment when she sees something wrong."

"Particularly when it comes to Ivory," Truly commented.

"D-don't be silly!" Ivory exclaimed as her face glowed red.

"I see," Mirror Child mumbled, eying the off-white Unicorn. She turned her gaze to Epona with a new regard. "Still, even if she's a monster, I didn't see any weapons magically appearing from nowhere, like you said. Looks like you're a liar, Juniper."

"Shut up..." Juniper replied as she struggled back to her hooves. "I wasn't lying. I just can't prove it."

The school bell rang. "Alright, my little ponies. It's time for class to start!" The group stood up and went back to the school house. As she stepped through the door, Mirror Child looked back at Epona and paused. Were those tears in the so-called monster's eyes?

Comments

[Stoneificaunt]

Hmm is the masked pony majora.

[Arron_Starchanger]

Good chapter cant wait for the next one.

[GMZ_Casper]

I wonder what Obsidian did to poor 'Epony'. I feel sorry for the filly, she just seems to be life's punching bag. I mean, she lost her memory, marked as a monster, appear to have a lot of negative experiences with Obsidian, and getting disrespected. And, that is for right now...soon, she might have the Great and Powerful Empress coming down at her throat.

C&Cs:
I think it was the same one she used one you guys...
> Replace ‘one’ with ‘on’.
Were those tears in the so called monster's eyes?
> Put a dash between 'so called'.

[Quill Plus Ink]

IN THE NEXT EPISODE OF LIVING MARK OF COURAGE WILL APPLBLOOM FACE THE ALMIGHTY EMPEROR , WILL SHE REALIZE THE FATE OF EQUESTRIA FIND OUT IN THE NEXT EPISODE OF..

LIVING MARK OF COURAGE

[Xenotype]

2582471 Midna

[Stoneificaunt]

2585369 crap I forgot that she wore a mask. So let me guess moowell is she our NAVI for the story?

[Moowell]

2585393
As interesting as it would be, no. She has a different role to play. I'm still fine tuning Navi's entrance, but don't worry. It'll be here soon.