Making Preparations
"What about this?" Epona held up a brown nut. It was already splitting like it was ready to sprout, revealing a gold seed in the center. The wisp enveloped the nut, then began to chuckle.
"Oh, this is a fun one! Throw it at the ground." Epona threw the nut at her hooves. As soon as it struck, it burst and flashed brightly, catching her off guard and stunning her. "Wahahah! Your eyes are all wonky!" Epona shook her head after a few seconds of trying to keep her balance, then picked up her lantern and swung it at the wisp. It dodged playfully. "You could use that to stun other things too. Probably not something big like a dragon, but most things smaller than Cerberus. Anywho, what've you got left?"
"Just a couple more things, and we'll be done." The pair had spent the latter part of the morning going through all the items in Epona's inventory. With the wisp's ability to sense different forms of magic, they had successfully discovered and tested the nature of nearly everything she carried.
Each ring had its own set of magical effects. Steadfast made her balance better. Rang 2 helped her throw the boomerang twice as hard. Gold Joy made things stand out more. Like bits. In that field alone, she found 20 bits just sitting in the grass that she never would've found without the ring on. Snowshoe gave her hooves a lot of traction. Even on the dew-covered grass, her hooves didn't slip around when she ran. The one ring she couldn't test was Roc, which supposedly made it so that weak surfaces could support her weight.
The other items also had interesting effects. The blue, stringed balls were bombs that exploded after a few seconds whenever she pulled out the string. She could jump much higher than normal when she held the feather. The leather bracelet doubled her strength. The earrings that looked like flames supposedly raised her resistance to heat, but there was nothing around to test that theory. The fishing rod wasn't magical, and she already knew about the beetle. All that remained were two masks, some seeds and the instrument.
"Let's start with these seeds. Can ya tell me 'bout 'em?"
The wisp enveloped the small, golden seeds. "Well, there isn't much to tell about these, except they're harder than that head of yours. They'd work nicely as ammo for your slingshot if you ever needed to shoot something far away or kill a small animal." The wisp flew over to the top of the cottage. "Hey, see if you can shoot me!"
"Gladly," Epona muttered. She drew out her slingshot and knocked the small, hard seed and aimed it directly for the wisp. She fired, and the seed flew like a bullet. It barely missed her target.
"Phew, that was a close one! Er, Epona? What are you doing?" An instant later, she had already knocked another seed.
"Here's for prankin' me with mah items!"
"WAH!" The wisp darted about as the bullets flew like a torrent. The slingshot seemed to magically reload each time Epona pulled the sling back, making dodging increasingly difficult as her aim got better. Finally, a seed caught him square in the mist and punctured through. "OW, THAT... actually, that didn't hurt at all. I guess only magic things can affect a mist creature like me."
"Ponyfeathers..." Epona swore.
"If you're done shooting at me, can we get this over with?" Epona sighed and rummaged through her stuff. "What's next?"
"A couple masks. Ah wanna save this flute for last." Epona held up a dark, holed object which looked more like a torture device than a mask. "Ah can't imagine wantin' to put this on mah face fer any reason. What's it do?"
The wisp formed a series of Z's. "Don't worry, Epona. It doesn't do anything to you except keep you awake. No pain, no torture. No sleep." The Z's popped. Epona breathed more easily. "Of course, you're likely to scare the piss out of somepony if they see you wearing it." The filly giggled.
"I wonder what Obsidian would do if she saw me wearing it?" she mused as she pulled out the other mask. It was shaped like a bird, white with red eyes. "What about this one?"
"Somehow, wearing that ridiculous mask makes you a natural leader for small or domesticated animals," the wisp said incredulously.
"Really?" she asked.
"I can hardly believe it myself. I don't think even magic can make you a leader." Epona swung her lantern that the wisp, who dodged the expected attack. Then she put the masks away and drew out the final object.
"Last thing." Epona held up the blue, tear-shaped flute. "Ah think this is the most powerful thing Ah've got. What can ya tell me 'bout it?"
"Well, it's called an ocarina. Kind of a mix between a flute and a recorder. Other than that, it looks pretty normal to me. I can't feel any magic coming from it."
"Are ya kiddin' me? Even Ah can feel it, an' Ah'm an Earth Pony," Epona retorted. "If ya touched it, maybe ya'd feel the magic too." The wisp sighed and moved toward the ocarina.
"I don't how this is going to... change..." The wisp did the closest thing it could to losing its breath. "Wow... This thing..."
"What? What is it?"
The wisp struggled to find the correct words. "The ocarina itself doesn't have any magic, but it's got... It's almost like... I don't know. A soul, maybe?"
"A soul?"
"Not exactly, but something like it. It has emotions. Desires. Memories. It remembers the magic of the songs it played, and it longs to play them again. I've never seen anything like it, except the Elements of Harmony."
"Ah wish Ah knew the songs it played..." Epona said ruefully. "Fer some reason Ah wanna help it."
The wisp settled on Epona's head. "When the Elements were still with their bearers, they were connected by bonds that go beyond friendship. I think it's the same with this ocarina."
"So, Ah'll have to be its friend?"
"Something like that."
Epona closed her eyes and concentrated on connecting with the ocarina. She genuinely wanted to know what it knew. To play the songs it had played. She placed her lips over the mouthpiece.
Teach me the songs of your past.
(E)~, (G), (D)~~, (E)~, (G), (D)~~, (E)~, (G), ^(D)~, ^(C), (G)~, (F)(E)(D)~~
(E)~, (G), (D)~~, (E)~, (G), (D)~~, (E)~, (G), ^(D)~, ^(C), ^(G)~~...
^(G)~, ^(F)^(E)^(F)^(E)^(C)~~, ^(F)~, ^(E)^(D)^(E)^(D)(A)~~, ^(G)~, ^(F)^(E)^(F)^(E)^(C), ^(F), ^^(C)~~...
The air seemed to ripple as Epona played the song over and over again. Somehow, she just knew where to place her hoof, just how hard to blow, just how long to hold and just where to breath to make the music appear and flow. The music echoed across the field as the ocarina resonated. It gave off a slight blue glow and warmed in her hooves when she finished, and somehow, Epona felt as though she had just done something wonderful.
You have learned the Ocarina's Lullaby! The bond between a musician and her instrument goes beyond mere friendship. This song symbolizes that bond!
The ocarina has bonded with you and shared its melodies! You have learned: Epona's Song, Song of Storms, Sun's Song, Sonata of Awakening, Elegy of Emptiness, and Variations on Song of Time!
"Did it work?" asked the wisp. Epona looked down at her instrument.
"Yea," she said softly. "Yea, it did..."
"Great. Did you learn anything that can help us actually start our adventure?" Epona snapped abruptly out of her blissful reverie. "'Cause the way I see it, we're still stuck here with no real way of either getting to where we need to go or dealing with the dangers effectively."
After several long moments of thought, Epona disappeared her equipment and began to trot back toward Ponyville. "Are ya comin', Wisp?"
"Where are we going?"
"We're goin' back home."
"Why? What about our adventure?!"
"When Ah played the ocarina, it reminded me o' the bond Ah have with Ivory an' her sisters. Ah know they said Ah can't go with 'em, but at least Ah can say goodbye. Ah've got other ponies Ah already know at school, even if they think Ah'm a monster. Ah don't really need to go on an adventure just to prove mahself. 'Sides, Obsidian may want somepony to look after the house while they're gone."
*****
"So, about looking after the house while they're away... Got any other plans?" asked the wisp as Epona collapsed and wept in front of a massive pile of rubble.
*****
Epona knocked on the door. "Epona!" the filly who answered said, shocked to see her.
"Hey..." She held her head low.
"Who is it?" a mare called as she appeared at the door. "Oh! What are you doing here, Epona?"
"Um, er... A-ah know we haven't known each other that long, but, uh... can Ah live with y'all?" Epona asked, still with her head low.
"Don't be silly," the mare replied. "You should go home and be with your family."
"Ah can't..." she said softly.
"Why not? Won't they miss you?"
Epona visibly began to break down. "They're gone. The house is gone... Ah don't know where else to go..." The two tenants exchanged a glance.
"I don't know if we can take you, Epona," said the mare. Epona stared at the ground, droopy eared and saggy tailed.
"We can't just leave her behind! She has no home, no family, and she came to us for help!" the filly shouted at her guardian. Epona began to fear that this would end up exactly like it had earlier that morning. She would be forced to stay behind, and she would have nopony there for her. Nopony but her wisp.
"Even so, there are rules." The mare turned to Epona. "I really don't know how to make this sound any better, but you're just an earth pony. You can't live with us if you can't do magic."
"But..." But Obsidian said I'm not allowed to use magic without her permission, Epona thought to herself. But Obsidian isn't around anymore. "But Ah can use magic!" she said, determined. She refused to let herself be abandoned again.
"Oh really?" the mare asked with a raised eyebrow. Epona nodded. "Show me," she challenged. Epona withdrew her wooden sword. The mare looked down at Epona, appraising her. "May I see the stick?" Epona gave it to her. "This isn't an illusion. Really quite something, for an earth pony." She hoofed the stick back. "If it had been an illusion, I could teach you how to modify it into anything, but conjuring sticks isn't good enough for where we're going. I'm sorry, Epona." The mare began to close the door.
"Wait!" Epona cried. The mare paused. "Ya want more? I'll show ya more!" Epona backed away from the house. Then she moved her hooves to her chest and threw them outwards. Everything she owned suddenly appeared and scattered as if thrown across the yard. Both the mare and the filly gaped at the sight.
"That's not conjuration... That's dimensional magic..."
"Can she stay with us now?" asked the filly. Epona held her breath.
"Mirror Child is a student at the Empress' School for the Magically Gifted in Canterlot," the mare finally said. "It's too late for you to join this year..." Epona hung her head. "...But I would be honored if you stayed with us until the next semester." She slowly lifted her eyes.
"Does that mean..."
"Yes. Welcome to your new home, Epona." She closed her eyes and smiled in relief.
"Thank ya, Miss Trixie."
~~~~~~~~~~
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Yes the Bremen mask has been put in. Time to start marching a symphony.
times like these when i realise i do not have a touch screen laptop
How....how could you end it here?! Even with a second part, you can still continue it!
EDIT: Now that I think it over, it was actually nice to end this part like that. still, Know Your Mare has over 100 chapters so you could continue this on this story.
2647579
!! Thank you for making my day! I never expected that sort of response.
2648665
Based solely on the number of chapters FIMFic allows, I could easily have continued here. I've only seen one storyline (Austraeoh>Eljunbyro>Innavedr) that reached the chapter limit. Somehow though, this just felt like the proper breaking point.
First couple of chapters have finally been cleaned up. They were in desperate need of some TLC, but I was too focused on the later chapters to bother until now. To everyone who forced themselves through, I'm sorry for the wait
dunno if i'm dissipointed or glad she doesn't have the spell disks from link to the past (example ether)
WELL FCK
2655160 Im so honored to have been credited! You have satisfied many legend of zelda players by adding my suggestion of a navi type companion. So far im LOOOVING it!
It seems that I have spoken too soon. Epona has wandered right into the lion's den.
Anyway, time to go back to work. I probabbly won't get to the next chapter/arc until Monday. See you then!