Living Mark of Courage

by Moowell

Apple Bloom

"You haven't touched your food."

"Huh?" Epona's mind returned to her body to find it holding a spoon in her hoof and stirring a bowl of soup on the table. She made a face as she forced down a swallow of the now cold meal.

"You're not convincing anypony. Want to tell me what's on your mind?" She looked up and met Trixie's neutral gaze. Then she shook her head and went back to stirring. "Does it have to do with why you're back so early?"

"Ah don't wanna talk about it," she muttered.

Trixie appraised her for a moment before taking another swallow of her own food. "Very well. When you're ready, let me know. Sooner would be better, if it's going to affect your performance."

"Is that all ya care about? Mah performance?" Epona slammed a hoof on the table and glared at the mare. "Ah ain't some sorta machine, Miss Trixie! Ah'm a flesh'n'blood pony!"

"Stop shouting." Epona snorted and looked away. "Why are you so angry? Did something happen?"

The filly got up from the table and took her bowl to the kitchen before walking upstairs and slamming the hall to her room behind her. She walked over to her window and stared out at the forest.

"Miss Fluttershy, are ya alright?"

'I will be, after I've recovered.'

"Don't worry, Miss Fluttershy. Ah'll find all the changelings and-"

'It's not the burns, Epona. It's the loss of a friend.'

"Oh... Er, Ah didn't mean to--"

'I watched everything, Epona. You had no regard for his life, just because he made you a little angry.'

"Ah'm sorry..."

'Thank you for stopping the changelings from taking the Element, but I think you should leave the clearing now.'

...

"What are ya thinking, Wisp? Ya've been really quiet."

"I was thinking about Fluttershy. Why would she just let them burn her?"

"Maybe there were too many for her to handle?"

"That's just it, though. She only had a couple points of focus at any given time. Whenever another showed up, she would pin it with her Stare for the animals to corral, then she would Stare at the group as a whole. But suddenly, she just stopped Staring, like something else had caught her attention. I can't imagine what would be so important to distract a tree from a horde of flame-wielding changelings!"

"...Ah can..."

Epona sighed. "Why did Ah get so mad? If Ah hadn't, Ah wouldn't have killed that Manticore. If Ah hadn't, Fluttershy wouldn't have burned." Stray thoughts niggled into her head. "No, it doesn't take one to beat one." She turned to the bed and jumped in, burying her face into her pillow. "Ah'm just a pony, so why did Ah act like such a monster?"

"Because you have powers far beyond that of a normal pony?" Wisp offered as he popped out of her mane. "I mean, what kind of normal pony can do what you can do?"

"So what? Why can't Ah have this power and still be a normal pony? Just because Ah have these items doesn't mean Ah have to use them!" Epona straightened, her eyes wide. "Ah don't have to use them. Ah can be a normal pony."

"I hate to break it to you, but everypony you know already knows what you are capable of. They already see you as Epona the monster."

"Then Ah'll just have to stop being Epona," she replied with confidence. "Ah'll never use my powers again. Ah'll just be a regular pony, not the monster that Ah've been acting like before."

"And how, pray tell, are you going to manage that? If you can't be yourself, then who else could you possibly be?"

"Apple Bloom."

*****

The next morning, Epona snuck out of the manor and made her way into Ponyville to find Applejack. It didn't take her long to find out the old mare lived on the outskirts of town in a farm called Sweet Apple Acres. She reached the property before the moon reached its peak.

Sweet Apple Acres was made up of several buildings. There was a large house with a porch and cellar and two barns on either side. A short distance away stood a chicken coop with a small fence around it and a well in the front.

As she made her way up to the house, she spied a group of four ponies tending to the trees, bucking and shaking them to make the ripe apples fall into a number of buckets underneath. One of them spotted her and broke away from the rest, strafing her until she reached the gate leading into the property. Her fur was burgundy, and her mane and tail were bright yellow. She wore a large brown stetson that looked old and well worn, yet at the same time it was also rugged and tough.

"Well, howdy there, li'l filly! What kin Ah do fer ya?" the mare asked.

"Ah'm looking for Miss Applejack. Does she live here?"

"Maybe. What's yer name, lil'un?"

"Epona, Miss."

The mare raised an eyebrow and appraised Epona. "Ya'll sound like ya got a li'l Apple in ya. Who's yer Ma an' Pa?"

"Mah Ma an' Pa?"

"Raritan, if ya'll don't let that filly through the gate in five seconds, Ah'm gonna hogtie ya an' whoop yer hide from here ta Can'erlot an' back, ya'll hear me?!" Epona looked past the mare at the house. At the window stood Applejack, hollering and scowling and waving her hoof at the pair.

"Looks like the old mare's home. Come on in." Raritan opened the gate and allowed Epona to pass, then closed the gate behind her and led her to the porch where Applejack was waiting. "Mornin', Ma. This here's-"

"Epona. Don't worry, Tani, Ah already know'er. We met that day Ah went ta the school." She looked down at the filly. "Come inside and sit at the table, Epona. I'll get ya some coffee."

"A'right then. Ah'm gonna git back ta work. If ya'll need anythin', jes' holler." Raritan trotted back to the orchard, but snuck a glance back at the pair. There was something familiar about the filly, but she couldn't place her hoof on it.

"Now then," Applejack said, using proper Equish like she had used on the first day of school as she went back into the kitchen. "What brings you to Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Ya'll have the same accent Ah do..." Epona went and sat down at the dining room table.

"Yes, we do. I suppose that's part of the reason I thought..." The old mare glanced at the filly and sighed. "Nevermind."

"The reason for what?"

"Don't worry about it, little one."

"The reason ya thought Ah was Apple Bloom?" A long silence crept through the building. Epona held her breath. Applejack sighed.

"Yeah. Like I said, don't worry about it. I was just being an old mare with old memories."

"What if... What if you're right?"

She paused and stiffened, unable to process Epona's words. "What did you say?"

"What if Ah really am Apple Bloom?"

"It isn't right to play with an old mare's heart, filly," she replied as she stirred some cream into the coffee.

"Miss Applejack, Ah'm not-"

"Epona, stop. I could handle it when you just looked and sounded like her, but now you're saying you are her?" Epona got up and looked through the kitchen doorway. Applejack was stooped over the percolator with her eyes scrunched shut and a small droplet of water in each. "Let the dead rest in peace..."

Epona backed away and returned to the table with her head hanging low. She hadn't meant to hurt Applejack. When she sat down, she looked up and spied a picture on the mantle piece. It was as if something drew her toward it, captivating her. There was a brand-new barn standing behind a large group of ponies, all of them Earth Ponies. Most stood on the left side, while a few stood on the right, but it was the group in the center that caught her eye.

Directly in the center, a much younger Applejack was laid out on her side, wearing a hat much like Raritan's, only newer and less worn. Just above her was a large red stallion with a yoke around his neck standing beside an old green mare. To the left stood an exact copy of Epona wearing a large red ribbon in her mane, and just to her left stood a brown filly with a short red mane and tail.

"Applejack... Big Mac... Granny Smith... Babs..." Epona pointed to each pony as she muttered their names.

"How did you know those names?" an old voice whispered.

"Ah... Ah dunno... Ah just named'em as Ah saw'em. They feel so familiar, but Ah don't know why..." Epona stared at the picture, unable to take her eyes away.

Why is this happening? Who is this filly that's calling up ghosts from the past and tearing my heart out of my chest? Applejack thought as she looked at the filly standing before her. Next to the picture, the resemblance between Epona and her sister was identical, minus Apple Bloom's ribbon. Epona even recognized Apple Bloom's immediate family and called them by name. What if...

Applejack looked out the window. "Oh, would you look at that! It's almost time for lunch! I'd better call in the rest of the family." She walked out onto the porch and started ringing a bell. Epona followed her out and began to take the path back to the gate.

"Ah should get going, then. Ah'm sorry for bothering you, Miss Applejack."

"Hold it right there, filly," the old mare called. "You're not going anywhere until you've had some chow, and no buts!"

Comments

[OMJay]

Stop developing the plot, ya noob, don't you know you're supposed to draw stories out unbearably until everyone gets tired of them and leaves?

[Moowell]

3609493
I'm terribly sorry It's been so long since I've done extended writing that I've forgotten how things work!