//------------------------------// // Epona's Arrival // Story: Living Mark of Courage // by Moowell //------------------------------// The little filly awoke groggily. The dreams she had must have affect her sleep, because she still felt tired. She tried to remember, but it was vanishing too quickly. It was something about a giant pony and... and... And it's gone, lost forever in time. She gave up and started to get out of bed. Only to find herself not in a bed, but rather inside a large blue crystal. For some reason, she didn't feel afraid. Instead, she was curious. How did she get there? Who put her inside it, and how could she get out? She tried to think back... Nothing. Maybe her weird dream had something to do with it, but the dream was gone. She reached out to the crystal, and to her surprise, it shattered at the merest touch. With the crystal gone, she found herself in an open field. She looked around. Not far away from her was a ruined old building. Under the brilliantly starry sky, she could see everything about it. It stood on a hill near a bridge and path that led away from it. As she moved closer, she saw it was made of a giant slab of solid clay. It must have taken an enormous furnace to make it. Nopony could have lived here for a very long time, because the inside was a disaster area. Glass and wreckage was everywhere. The filly carefully tread the ground, making sure not to cut her hooves. Then she saw a picture that wasn't completely destroyed. She picked it up off the ground and looked. Only the bottom right corner was missing. In it, she saw five ponies all smiling. On the left, a pink earth pony stood on her hind legs, propped over a white unicorn with a fancy purple mane. In the middle, a blue pegasus with a confident smile was propped on a lavender unicorn sitting behind a very yellow pegasus with tender eyes. To the right... Nothing. All she could make out was the tip of a blonde mane before the picture singed. The filly set the picture back on the floor where she found it, then walked outside. The moon was shining brightly tonight, lighting her way as she went down the path in front of the cottage. Up ahead, she saw a crossroads. At its corner, there was a sign which read <-Canterlot||Ponyville->. Ponyville looked closer, so she made her way to the right. A few minutes later, she arrived at a large wooden gate with two guard towers on each side. As she approached, a guard stepped from one of the towers and blocked her path. "Halt!" he commanded. The filly stopped. "What is a filly like you doing out here all alone?" "Um... I, uh... Walking?" she said. "Smart Ass..." the guard muttered. "What's your name, filly?" "It's--" she started. "It's, uh... Mah name is..." "Well?" the guard asked impatiently. The filly struggled to find her name. "There you are, my little pony! I've been looking all over for you!" The filly and the guard looked toward the gate to see a mare's head poking over the top. "This filly belong to you?" the guard asked gruffly. "That's right! You shouldn't have gone outside, little one. I know we were playing Hide-and-Seek, but that's going a bit too far, don't you think?" "Uh... yea. Ah'm sorry." The filly played along. If it meant getting inside the gate, she was glad to do it. "We'll discuss your punishment as soon as we get home. Mr. Guard? Would you be a dear and let her back inside?" the mare called. The guard huffed and grumbled as he walked back into the guardhouse. A moment later, the gate opened up enough for the filly to squeeze through and enter the town. "Don't lose her again, got it? Next time I won't be so lenient." "Thank you, Mr. Guard! Now then. We're going to have strong words on our way to the park, young lady." The filly followed the mare further inside. Only when they were out of earshot did the mare release her stern face. "Are you alright, little one?" "Yea... Thank ya, ma'am. Ah dunno what Ah'd've if ya hadn't helped me," said the filly. "Why'd ya do it? "Well, I couldn't just let a filly be bullied, now could I?" replied the mare sweetly. "Those bat-winged brutes are mean if they think they can get away with it. What was he bothering you about? Tolls? Population limits? Your strange accent?" "Hey, what's wrong with mah accent?!" The mare backed down nervously. "I never said anything was wrong with it, only that it was strange. I don't know anypony who talks like you do." "Oh... sorry Ah snapped at ya, ma'am." "Please, call me Harmonica." The burgundy mare smiled at the filly. "What's your name?" "Ah, uh..." The filly hung her head in shame. "Ah dunno. Ah can't remember it fer the life o'me." "You can't remember your own name? Well that simply won't do!" Harmonica cried aloud. "You have to be called something. After all, you are a pony. And all ponies have names." "Ah know Ah'm a pony!" the filly huffed. Then she paused and thought back on what she just said. Ah'm a pony. Could that be mah name? Apony. No, Ah don't wanna be just a pony fer the rest o'mah life. Hmm... A-pon-y. Y-nop-a? No way, that sounds dumb! Y-pon-a? E-pon-a... Epona. "Epona." "Epona?" "Mah name. Ah just remembered it's Epona." The filly grinned nervously in hopes the mare would buy her story. "Epona... What a lovely name." Epona's fake smile became real. "I'm glad you finally decided to tell me." Epona realized the mare didn't believe she really couldn't remember. For some reason, this made her sad. The pair arrived at an open park filled with foals. "Well, here we are. It was good to meet you, Epona! Don't go running off again, ok?" And with that, Harmonica just suddenly up and left Epona by herself. Epona stared after the mare, wondering if she really cared at all, or if she was just talking to pass the time. "Hey, leave me alone!" somepony shouted behind her. Epona turned around. Not far away near a swing set, three older colts were surrounding another, younger filly. "Stop, I mean it!" she cried fearfully. Several groups of ponies stood by and watched as the filly backed away. None of them moved a hoof to help her. "Why, blank flank? What are you gonna do about it?" Something inside Epona burned. It was almost like she had seen this before, and she loathed it with every fiber of her being. As if by instinct, Epona drew a stick from her side and slowly made her way toward the group. "I'll... I'll... I'll scream!" she yelled back. "Ooooooo... I'm scaaared," sneered the leader. "Who cares if you scream? Look at everypony just standing around! It's play time, and nopony's going to--" Suddenly a stick slammed into the side of his face. He rolled across the ground ungracefully until he was finally stopped by a leg of the swings. "Boss!" the others cried as they ran over to help. The filly looked at her in terror, like she was an even bigger monster than the bullies themselves. "Are ya ok?" Epona asked the filly, not even regarding the other two bullies. In a sense, she was. "Please don't hurt me!" the filly begged. "Why would Ah do that? I was keepin' them from hurtin' ya," Epona replied. "Y-you aren't a bully?" "Only to other bullies." Epona surprised herself with her words, but somehow, they just seemed natural to her. "Why did you help me? You might get really hurt!" asked the filly. "Well, I couldn't just let a filly be bullied, now could I?" She turned to face the other foals. "Ya might wanna go play somewhere else fer a li'l bit." The filly scurried to her feet and ran off. "Thank you!" she called over her shoulder. Epona nodded, then returned her attention to the three. "Dude, you're face is all black!" exclaimed one of the flunkies. "And blue!" said the other. "His whole body is blue, stupid!" "Oh, right." "Schuh dab! I'm vine, ya guyzh! Qui' worryin abou' me an go deetch da' girl nod dah mesh wid de Shcrubsh!" The two flunkies turned toward Epona and glared. They each picked up their own sticks and charged. With a calm fury, she held her wooden sword firmly in her grip and waited. ~~~~~~~~~~ What are you doing, Apple Bloom? ... Apple Bloom? Apple Bloom, can you hear me? APPLE BLOOM! Courage watched as Apple Bloom tore into the Scrubs with her sword. With her experience fighting stronger enemies, the colts were beaten soundly. Courage could understand that she would move to protect ponies. It was in her nature to do so, and he was proud that she would have the courage to stand up when no one else would. What horrified him was that she didn't stop. He remembered back to when she defeated Cerberus, all those decades ago. She had wanted to finish them off as well, but he didn't allow it. But now, something was preventing him from reaching her. He had ingrained himself into her spirit, thinking it would prevent any separation. Unfortunately, he was right. When he was blocked, everything that made Apple Bloom who she was was blocked as well. Now she had his magic and everything he had accumulated from his travels, but no conscience. No guidance. Without anything to keep her in check... Perhaps the little filly was right when she looked upon Apple Bloom as a bigger monster than the colts.