Living Mark of Courage

by Moowell

Bestial Magic

"Epoooooooonaaaaaaa!" a cheerful voice called operatically. Epona's door burst open, permitting a large white Unicorn to enter. "Good Moooooorning, Apple Blossoooooom!"

The little yellow filly groaned and rolled over. "But its the weekend, Canvas... Can't Ah have five more minutes?" she mumbled.

"NOPE!" A tendril of magic yanked the covers off of her, exposing her to the chilly morning air. "It's a new day, and your friend has come over to get you out of the house!"

"Huh? Whaddaya mean?"

"What do you think I mean, silly filly? Better not keep her waiting!" Epona watched with droopy eyes and sighed as Canvas walked out with her blanket. "She'll be right out."

"Oh, you didn't have to wake her up," said a much younger voice. "I just came over to see if she wanted to hang out."

"Are you kidding?! This is a momentous occasion! I couldn't possibly let Epona miss out on the first time a friend came to call." There was a pause. "SO IF YOU DON'T GET OUT HERE IN TEN SECONDS, I'M GOING TO GROUND YOU TO THE MOON!!"

Epona sighed and got out of bed. She knew Canvas was just being dramatic, but she also knew how Canvas was prone to overdoing it when she set her mind to something. It was better to be safe than sorry in situations like this.

"Ah, there she is!" Epona looked into the living room and saw Mirror Child sipping on some tea with Canvas. "I told you she would be right out."

"Ah didn't have much choice if Ah wanted to stay outta trouble," Epona retorted. Then she turned toward Mirror Child. "What're ya doin' here?"

"Well isn't that a fine way to greet somepony! I walked from my house all the way out here, and that's what I get?" Mirror Child snorted and crossed her hooves. "Fine. I can tell when I'm not wanted. Thank you, Miss Canvas, for the tea." Mirror Child got up to leave.

"No, wait!" Epona shouted quickly, causing the guest to pause. "Ah'm sorry. Ah just never expected anypony to come askin' fer me is all."

Mirror Child touched her hoof to her chin as though she were pondering whether or not to accept the apology. "Well, I suppose I can forgive you," she said. She put her hoof down. "That is, if you come and spend the day with me."

Epona looked over at Canvas. The white Unicorn was holding up a picture of Epona and Mirror Child with a big check mark in it. Then she held up a picture of Epona on the Moon. Her horn flashed menacingly. Epona sighed.

"A'right, a'right, an get it." She walked over to the door and opened it. Her head turned back toward Mirror Child. "So, what did ya have planned fer the day?"

*****

Epona stared opened mouthed at the build that stood before her. "Ya live here?" She asked.

"Yep. Welcome to Sunset Manor," replied Mirror Child. The build was a multi-story mansion, complete with a torch-lit pathway leading to the door, giving the multicolored building a unique glow. The door was a bright yellow. Immediately around it, oranges and reds washed and blended together, leading into pinks and purples until finally, at the top of the house, a dark blue matched the sky above.

The door opened as they approached. A blue, silver-maned Unicorn was standing there. "Welcome home, Mirrors. Who is your friend?"

"This is Epona. Epona, this is Trixie. She's my guardian while I'm here in Ponyville." Epona and Trixie shook hooves. "Now come on! There's something I want to show you. Try and keep up!" Mirror Child bolted through the door and up a stairwell.

"Better hurry if you don't want to lose her," said Trixie. Epona nodded and chased after her. By the time she reached the top of the stairs, Mirror Child was already disappearing inside a room at the end of a long hall. Epona ran to the room and entered. Mirror Child was holding a small stone which glowed enough to brighten the entire room.

"What's that, Mirrors?" Epona asked.

"Catch!" She suddenly saw the stone flying toward her. Instinctively, she threw up a hoof and caught the object. The object's glow flashed blindingly, then the stone exploded half a second later.

"Aww... Now I won't be able to log it." Mirror Child stepped out from a shadow on the other side of the room. She was grinning darkly. "Oh well. I know the truth, so I'll just get Trixie."

"Hold on just a minute. What's goin' on?" asked a confused Epona. "What was that all 'bout?"

"That was a sort of magic measurer. When a pony holds it, it glows from the magic inside the pony. The brighter it glows, the more magic a pony has."

"Oh. But that don't make any sense. Ah'm an Earth pony, so it shouldn'tve glowed fer me." Mirror Child shook her head. Then she lifted the mane away revealing a barren forehead. Epona's jaw dropped. "Yer an Earth Pony too!"

"Well, yea. We've known for a while now that Unicorns aren't the only ponies with magic. It's just the vast majority of ponies that have magic are Unicorns." Comprehension slowly crept over Epona.

"Ya knew Ah had magic. That's why ya tossed me the stone," she said nervously. Mirror Child nodded. "How did ya know?"

"I didn't, until now. Thanks for the confession, Epona," the grey filly smirked.

"But, that stone--"

"That was just a flash bomb, but you wouldn't know that. I timed it so it would flash as soon as it touched your hoof."

"Ya tricked me!" Epona cried.

"Yep!" Mirror child said with her impish grin. "Now that I have your confession, my mission is all but over. I'll be able to go back to the academy and get away from all these backwater losers."

"M-mission?"

She nodded. "I came here to find the pony responsible for attacking the Diamond Dogs and kill her." Epona felt like the wind had been knocked from her, and she fell to the floor.

"Ah thought ya were mah first real friend. Ah thought ya actually cared, but yer just here to kill me..."

Mirror Child scoffed. "Look at you. They told me it was probably somepony with expert skills in stealth, deception, and combat to both hide here and defeat the dogs. They said this would be the toughest assignment I'd ever received at the academy, that I'd be here for months. So, I enrolled in school. Imagine my surprise when I heard the story about how you fought the dogs from Juniper."

Epona blanched even more. Obsidian had told her never to let anypony know about her magic, but Juniper, Twinkle and Ivory already knew. They were there. They had seen her do everything, but they never got Obsidian's ultimatum. Now she was going to die for it.

"B-but that could've been a lie..." Epona said weakly.

"I know, but I couldn't take the chance. I followed you out to the hill and watched as you foolishly pulled out object after object from thin air for all the world to see. That was when I knew for certain it was you."

"Ya saw me?"

Mirrors nodded. "I saw you. Can you imagine how disappointed I felt? I was picked because they said it would take a hunter. Somepony with skills in tracking and the ability to see through lies. After all the hype that the teachers built up, it was just some stupid school filly! Do you understand, Epona? Where's the hunt in tracking a school filly for less than a week?!" Mirror Child's eyes shifted from their normal red to an almost luminescent blue as she crouched down and stared into Epona. Her orange mane began to move as though it were being blown in the wind. "Be afraid! Run away, and let me enjoy the hunt a little more!"

"Wh-what's goin' on?!" the yellow filly exclaimed.

"I've already seen your magic, so it's time you saw mine!"

The grey of her fur darkened to a lustrous black, except for a white stripe down her chest and belly. Her hind legs also had a stripe of white lining from her hoo-- paws up to her haunches. Her body thickened and grew until she was roughly twice her original size. Her legs became longer, stouter. Her face, longer and more pointed. Her eyes, smaller and more focused. Her wild mane had become a ridge of orange, reaching all the way from the scruff of her neck down to her bushy tail. The mask she had been wearing formed a ring around the middle of the orange ridge.

"How do you like it? This is my special magic: lycanthropy. You look good enough to eat, Epona!" Her voice was low and gravelly compared to it's usually impish sound. She grinned a truly fanged grin. Each and every one of her teeth were pointed and sharp. Then she growled a deep, guttural growl and looked at Epona as though she were a fresh meal. Her jaws opened wide, allowing a small string of saliva to form and fall. Then she crouched low and prepared to pounce. "Any last words?"

"Wow... Ya look beautiful..." Epona said quietly.

Comments

[Paaaad]

I got the feeling something was wrong as soon as Trixie showed up... She is almost never the good guy...

[Stoneificaunt]

Damn did not see this coming. And yes Trixie is not the Empress me thinks. Now I think Applebloom should dawn on the stone mask if she has it and just lay low. We can call the mask Tom's mask. lol. Any way hmmmm. We will need silver to kill her, what silver items do we have. SCREW IT just throw bombs at her and escape.

[Moowell]

2597594
This is generally a true statement.

2597605
Tom's mask? I might use that later. On a more serious note, the stone mask is in the second tier of masks, not the first /Spoilers. Also, the stone mask isn't infallible. I would think Mirror Child's senses are tuned well enough in her wolf form to see through the ruse.

[Stoneificaunt]

Well I'm gonna guess she has the bunny hood cause she's gonna need it to escape Mirror child.

[Telly Vision]

Play the song of time!

[Arron_Starchanger]

good chapter.

[Moowell]

2598406
Despite how iconic that song is, I'm loathe to have her learn it for several reasons.

First, how would she even learn the song? If she learned while training with Obsidian, then she would already have gone back in time. If not, then she'd either be playing random notes, hoping for a good outcome, or Courage (who is still blocked) would have to teach it to her.

Second, when would she reappear? The beginning of that day? If so, she's still stuck with Mirrors on penalty of a lunar landing. The day after finding the Element of Honesty? That might work. It doesn't change too much of her history, and armed with the knowledge of who Mirrors is and what she's after, Applebloom might be able to work around it.

What about when she stepped out of the crystal? That could potentially open up a huge can of worms, since she'd have to rebuild her connections and possibly go back through the ruins to get the Element. Would she have a home with Ivory, or would she end up someplace else? So many different things could happen that change many outcomes.

And What if she went back all the way to when she received the Triforce? She'd probably burn in the dragon attack.

[Starcat5]

"Wow... Ya look beautiful..." Epona said quietly.

Romance sidequest unlocked.