Living Mark of Courage

by Moowell

Organizing an Adventure

Epona dug. She dug as far away from the house as she could. She dug until she couldn't dig anymore. Then she curled into a ball and wept silently at the end of her tunnel.

Oh, come on! I'm sick of watching you throw a pity party! Epona jumped, hitting her head against the dirt. She drew out her lantern to see who was with her, but there was nopony there.

"Ah must be hearin' things..." she muttered.

Buck yea, you're hearing things! Epona jumped again. Isn't the sweet sound of my harmonious voice lovely?

"Quit hidin', whoever ya are!" Epona felt as though something were pulling away from her. It tugged harder and harder, then finally the strain released.

Just in front of her eyes was a black wisp of fog.

"You!"

"In the mist! Did you miss me?" the wisp asked playfully as it formed a '?' mid air.

"What are ya doin' here?!" Epona exclaimed.

"Obviously I'm trying to get you out of your funk. Listening to your boo-hooing about having no friends or family gets old in a hurry," it explained.

"Ah mean how are ya here? Ah got rid o' ya back in the caverns!"

"That is correct!" The wisp made a rigid check mark. "Well..." It fuzzed out into an X. "Mostly anyways."

"Whaddaya mean, mostly?" she probed.

"I'm here aren't I?" The wisp laughed. "Unfortunately, this is all that's is left of my once glorious cloud." Epona racked her brain. She destroyed the mist when she beat Ebony... didn't she? "I can tell you're trying to figure out how I got here by that wonderfully confused look on your face. It's quite simple, really. You brought me here." It formed an arrow pointing straight at her.

"Me?"

"Mhmmmmmmm. When you destroyed my old container, I began to lose power at an alarming rate. Then I saw the white pony I had merged with earlier and tried again, but you shoved her out of the way. What rotten luck, getting stuck with an expert in self-pity."

"But if ya've been with me this whole time, why haven't ya shown up before now?" Epona asked. The wisp hummed for a moment, as though it were thinking.

"You know what? I'm not exactly sure. There's probably some magic inside of you that's been keeping me at bay until now. Or maybe I just needed something to wake me up." The wisp looked around. "Can't imagine what did it though."

Epona groaned. "Now that yer awake, go away. Ah don't want anythin' to do with ya."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," it sighed in mock sadness, forming two orbs at its top and a stream of bulges flowing down from them. "I am limited to my host, and that just happens to be you."

"Ya've gotta be foalin' me..." The wisp hovered over Epona's back, then sank and rested there. "How long am Ah stuck with ya?"

"FOREVER!!" It suddenly laughed maniacally and a slight sound of thunder cracked through the tunnel. Epona hit it with her lantern, smacking it into the wall.

"Ah got ya out of Ivory, an' Ah'm gonna get ya outta me. An' yer gonna tell me how to do it, got it?" The wisp shook itself and floated back in front of Epona.

"Oh, very well. There are really only two ways for me to change hosts," it sighed. "The first is, as you well know, the destruction of my current host." It exploded.

"But ya just said Ah'm yer host," Epona stated. A slightly longish pause made her sufficiently uncomfortable before the wisp continued.

"The second is to purge me using the Elements of Harmony. Not exactly sure what would happen after that, but it doesn't matter. That would take an adventure of grander proportions than Equestria has seen since... Well, since the Elements disappeared."

"Ya've been around that long?"

"And longer. The Elements of Harmony have had several bearers, and each set has done something more incredible than the last. A pony who has all of them can do anything." Epona thought to herself. Maybe if she got the Elements of Harmony, she would finally be recognized as somepony worth something. Maybe Obsidian wouldn't hate her so much. Maybe the other foals at school would stop calling her 'monster' and start calling her 'friend'. "It truly is sad. There are no heroes left in Equestria. There's nopony left who is willing give up everything to do the impossible. Nopony left who--"

"Ah'll do it."

"...will take up the mantle of the gods and wield a power beyond imagining!" it continued. "For who in the world would be so--" Epona smacked the wisp with her lantern again.

"Ah just said Ah'll do it!" she said, irked at being ignored. The wisp shook itself.

"You? You would give up everything? Even family and friends to do something like this?" it asked as it became a heart with a tear through the middle.

"Ah don't have any family or friends to give up. There's nowhere else fer me to go, so why not?"

"This could be very dangerous. You could die."

"Then ya'd be free. 'Sides..." Her voice became soft. "It's not like anypony would miss a monster like me..." The wisp suddenly became a bundle of energy.

"Oh, the fun we'll have! Sight-seeing the world, having an adventure to find the most important relics of Equestria's history (possibly dying in the process), just a lone filly and her faithful companion cloud!" Epona sighed. "Er... But first, let's get above ground. I'll need to find my bearings if I'm going to point you the right way."

*****

Epona resurfaced and discovered she was remarkably close to the burnt cottage. Somehow, she always seemed to wind up here when she needed to get away.

"Alright, give me a moment. I've got to do a super-powerful detection spell if I'm going to locate the Elements." The wisp exploded dramatically and scattered into a fine, slightly swirling mist just over Epona's head. A few seconds later, small sections broke apart and hovered on their own. This happened four times. The fifth section landed on Epona. "I've foooound them! Wait, this can't be right."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Well, the way I feel it, there's one inside your head." Epona looked at the wisp curiously. "You didn't eat one, did you?"

"Ah don't think so..." she replied. "What do they look like?"

"The last bearers wore them as necklaces."

"A necklace?" Epona ruffled through her inventory and found the gold band with an apple on it. "Ya mean like this?"

"Now where did you get... Ah, yes. The Diamond Dogs had an Element in their possession." The fifth section diffused and joined the other four. "Well, that makes things 20% easier! Yes, they look almost exactly like that." Epona put it away.

"So, where're we goin'?" she asked.

"Judging by distance, direction, and magical interference, I'd say the other four Elements are hidden in different strongholds like the the one belonging to the Dogs." Epona groaned.

"Ya mean Ah'll have to fight them again?"

"Pshaw! That would be silly, considering the bases don't belong to them." The wisp became a wobbly X.

"Who do they belong to?"

"Well, each nation has a base here in Equestria. However, unlike the Diamond Dogs, they keep their Elements safe in their own countries. The Griffins keep their Element in Gryphona. The Dragons have their own mountain. The Zebras are across the sea in Zebrica, and the Changelings are hidden somewhere in the Badlands." Epona just stared at her wisp.

"So we can't get to any of'em."

"I guess this adventure's a bust, then," the wisp said dejectedly. "And I was so looking forward to it! Unless you just happen to have something that can help you fly, cross enormous volumes of water, withstands dragon fire, or detect hidden predators?"

Epona sighed. "Ah might, but Ah've got no idea what most of mah things even do. If Ah knew what Ah was capable of, maybe Ah'd know what to do next." The wisp perked up.

"Perhaps I can help with that."

Comments

[AxtontheMechanist]

Yay! A team up!

[OMJay]

HEY
HEY
HEY
LISTEN
HEY
WATCH OUT
HEY
LISTEN

[Hawkclaw]

Yay, smart ass comanion who somehow seems to be able to do anything!

[Shadowflame]

Hm, this wisp seems to be a mixture of Midna and Navi... I like it!

[JXWheeler]

First Mirror Child reminds me of Midna, now the wisp? Brilliant!

[Starcat5]

Well, my guess last chapter was wrong. On the plus side, Epona has been possessed by a Nightmare entity! Yay?