You have probably had of Herd of many stories that have...
‘…The hero, who saves
a princess, who gets captured by
a demon, who tries to stops …’
in them, right?
Well, this story may start like that, but it was neither of those three that were the ones we will be talking about in this legend. It is about a companion of the hero in many reincarnations. In which there was one time she was reincarnated into a bird, maybe not with the same name as her usual name, but she never complained once, NO she soared! But lately, she has been reincarnated back into a horse this time.
Her name was Epona, and this is her legend…
The legend of Epona
The hero has arrived with Epona, at the mysterious place where you could hear the wise words of three goddesses of this world, were Din the goddesses of power, Nayru the goddesses of wisdom, Farore the goddesses of courage.
One of the goddesses Farore spoke to the hero with the sound of the wind. "Hero, you may be Link, but unfortunately this time it is your horse Epona that we need. Go to the temple of time after you talk to the horse Fairy." so they do just that.
The horse Fairy said weird and strange words then suddenly Epona began to talk "Wow that felt funny. Oh, my I have so much to ask... " Link looks at Epona like ‘don't you dare be like Navi!’ then went back to talking, "But I see Mr. Silent over on me does not want to hear it. So back a the temple right?"
They went to the temple of time, and a horseshoe-like door was there with a single word floating above it that only Epona could read, it said 'Equestria', but before Epona entered the door one of the goddess Furore in the wind gave her advice. "While the inhabitants are equine like you they can never be horses. While it is true they are horses still around, they are not true horses, and this is still your choice. But know this, once you go through the door, they are very few forces to bring you back here. And always remember that your actions will not only affect their world but yours as well. Do you understand, Epona?"
"I do," Epona said with the courage of all the Links combined.
"Then good luck, and may our goddesses and theirs be with you." the one goddess said as the wind died down.
Link looked very deeply at Epona's eyes and saw not that the noble steed that she once was, but instead looked at her as like a companion that he will miss forever.
Then he said, "Take these items and think of me." Link then handed her the Fierce Deity mask, the goron mask the Zora mask, the deku scrub mask, and Zelda’s Ocarina. Which now looked weirdly different, and more suited for Epona.
"Thanks, Link, I will always be your ride, no matter what," Epona said with once held-back tears that now has unleashed.
"And I will always be the hero this world needs." Link said awkwardly hugging Epona one last time as Epona entered the door.
Epona saw a nearby village and went towards it until she found a red barn slightly smaller than when she remembered a red barn in her mind.
Then a weird-looking pony about one-eighth her size made Epona jump when she spoke to her "Wow, ma’am I never seen an earth pony in your size. But it looks like you do not have a cutie mark, how old are you?"
"Ah! Sorry little one, you scared me. Now what is your name and what did you ask of me? My name is Epona." Epona said when she has seen the filly down below her Epona thought ‘This pony looked not normal’ to herself.
The filly in question had a big red bow in her red mane with yellowish fur. Which for Epona was an unusual fur color. But the most unusual thing for Epona was thispony eyes took over ten percent of the face, but decided to not questioned it nor commented it either.
"Apple Bloom, how old are you? And where is your cutie mark." Apple Bloom asked Epona with curious and filly-like wonder.
"Why I am about thirty-two, Apple Bloom, and I have never heard of a 'cutie mark'. So I do not know if I have one of them. Does that answer your question?" Epona said hoping that she could satisfy this pony's curiosity and wonder.
"You mean that you never heard of a cutie mark and are thirty-two, but that means I might never get my cutie mark." Apple Bloom started to cry.
"Why so distraught Bloom? Maybe if you tell me what is a ‘cutie mark’ I might know if I have one." Epona said trying to comfort the filly with a hug.
"After a certain age, a cutie mark will appear it is also your special talent, and it makes a picture on your flank that is unique to you, and you alone.” Apple Bloom said with sniffles between words.
“Well I might not have a unique picture on my flank, but I do have a special talent of being the noble steed that the hero of legends rides on,” Epona said with confidence.
“You mean that you let other ponies ride you?” Bloom questioned.
“Not exactly, Bloom. Where I am from there are two-legged beings with hands, pointed ears and opposable thumbs called Hylians who let me be their mount and let me carry heavy loads that they could not carry.” Epona said finally calming down the filly.
“I have never heard of a Hylian, but it sounds like you were mistreated,” Bloom said.
“But what you might not have known is that before I got to this place, I had no way to express myself I couldn‘t even speak to them. that is until now,” Epona said.
“Well, I have to go, my family, they might be upset. Don't forget that tomorrow it will be the summer solstice when Princess Celestia is coming here, see Yah!” Bloom said.
“Wait! Could you please tell me where I can sleep for the night?” Epona asked.
“Well, you could sleep in our barn follow me,” Bloom said. So Epona followed Bloom to the same barn she saw earlier. “Applejack! I have a new friend, her name is Epona, and she needs to sleep somewhere, could she use the barn?”
Applejack was walking towards Bloom's voice. “Apple Bloom, why can't she…” Applejack stopped talking when she saw a giant earth pony as tall as a princess, “Oh, that's why.”
“That is why what Miss Jack? Hi, I'm Epona.” Epona asked.
“I was wondering why Epona couldn't sleep in my home, and you are just too big for my home. Yeah, you can sleep in our barn.” Applejack said.
“Thanks. Good night everyone.” Epona said as her adventure would begin tomorrow.
To be continued…
Q-bee
*cockatrece or a rooster wake up noise*
"Rise and shine everypony! Time to farm. Epona! Since you are our guest, you can choose to help with chores or do something else.” Applejack said.
“I will help out, what do you need me to do Miss Jack?” Epona asked.
“You don't have to call me Miss, Applejack or Jack is fine. Anyway, I need you to help plow with my brother Big Mac. He is the one with the yoke. You can't miss him.” Applejack said.
So Epona walked towards a pony about one-fourth her size with red fur, a green apple on his flank, and a yoke on his neck. This must be Big Mac, Epona thought, “Are you, Big Mac?”
“Yep,” Mac said.
“so how I can help you plow?” Epona asked.
“Soups up everpony!” Applejack said in the distance.
“We got to go, somepony wants to see all the family,” Mac said.
So Epona followed Big Mac and went towards a unicorn who was levitating a small piece of paper which immediately froze when she saw Epona.
“...and this mare is Epona, she is staying with us for now,” Applejack said.
“Woah! But that is impossible! Earth ponies physically cannot get that big without support no offense to you, Epona.” Twilight Sparkle.
“None took, Miss...?” Epona questioned politely
“Twilight Sparkle, a protegee of Princess Celestia,” Twilight said.
Epona quickly bows at the royal noble “I am so sorry, I did not know of your lineage Royal protegee Twilight Sparkle, for that I am sorry, but I am not an Earth Pony I am a Hylian Horse.”
“Five things; one, You think I'm royalty? Well, I am a student of hers, not royalty. Two, I have seen pictures of horses in Saddle Arabia, and they are not like you. Third, what is a Hylian? Fourth, you should not be physically possible which hurts my brain cells and five, why don't you have a cutie mark.” Twilight said.
“If I answer your concerns, Royal protegee Twilight Sparkle, I come from a place where there are beings who walked on two legs and had hands they also had pointed ears, and they were the dominant race where I was a noble steed to help burdened the weight of my owner's…” Epona said before she was cut off by Twilight
“You were a slave? And stop saying ‘Royal protegee Twilight Sparkle’ just Twilight is fine” Twilight interrupted Epona
“You did not let me finish, royal… I mean Twilight Sparkle, I what was going to say…” Epona stops speaking to hear.
“HELP! Somepony!” a fainted voice screamed inside of Epona's ears she rushed towards the sound where Twilight and Applejack trailing very far behind.
“Anypony, help!” the voice was Apple Bloom, and she was surrounded by what looked like Wooden wolves.
Epona tries to ram them but when a few sticks are knocked out of them they return to normal undamaged, so Epona puts on a random mask out of her bag. Epona screams from the excruciating pain in her body, and her voice changes from normal to demonic. It hurts Epona so much that she almost wished for death's embrace, but when the screaming and pain were done, Epona now had a horn and wings. The horn itself looked like two separate horns fused at the bottom, and top one side of it was blueish-silver while the other side was steel grey. While the wings were steel grey appended with blueish-silver feathers her eyes were a bright soulless neon white, her mane was dark neon blue and flowing in a nonexistent wind. But only Apple Bloom saw this when Twilight and Applejack finally came they just saw what looked like a Princess unlike any they had seen.
“Hold on Bloom.” Epona said with a deity voice fused with her own while Twilight Sparkle confused ‘Who was this princess?’ Twilight thought as she just stood there when this mysterious princess used her horn as a blade stabbing the timberwolf and burning it from inside making the others run for their lives.
“Thanks, Epona!”
“Epona?!”
“Yes in this form you can call me Deity Epona” Deity Epona said.
“But how?! Wait! Did you say in this form? Are you a changeling?” Twilight asked.
“Hold that thought, I must take this off.” As she put her hooves towards her face Twilight and Applejack were mentally screaming ‘NO!’ when Epona was pulling off her face and demonic scream came out of Epona and Epona was back to her usual self. with a mask in a hoof.
"What the...?!" Twilight almost cursed but stopped herself.
"These are my... Friends masks there are four of them with strange properties. The one that you saw was the fierce deity mask. As you can see they change your form, but at the cost of being excruciatingly painful enough that you would wish for death's embrace. Only a strong will can overcome it. It's depressing, but the payoff could almost be worth it." Epona said showing the other three masks. Twilight Sparkle looked at all four masks. The 'fierce deity' mask had a pony's face with a blueish-silver mane on the forehead a two-sided horn and at the edges of the mask were wings. Another mask looked like a unicorn, but the face up to the horn was weirdly wooden. The brown mask looked like an earth pony, but the face was extremely rocky. The final mask was blue and had wings at the side, but the face up to the wings was strangely scaled.
"We need to talk, now!" Twilight said.
End of part one.
When we last left off Twilight Sparkle wanted to talk to Epona...
Without anypony knowing it, the Wooden unicorn mask and Apple Bloom disappeared. Applejack noticed that Apple Bloom was missing but was surprised along with Twilight sparkle but not Epona they a wooden unicorn filly the 'mane' was amber, green leaves with a familiar red bow in the mane and the wooden unicorn mask face was on her flank.
"Eeeeeeek! I finally have a cutie mark! Also, look, I'm a unicorn! I wonder if I can do magic now?" Woodle Bloom said as she teleported five hooves-steps away from where she was. That act left Twilight Sparkle frozen stiff and unresponsive almost like her brain shattered into many little bitty pieces. The only thing she could still do was breathe and listen notifying the others that she was still alive and could still hear around her.
"Apple Bloom, it would not wise to wear that mask for too long," Epona said with a firm voice with a hint of worry, for the filly.
"Bloom! What did I say to you, always ask before taking things that don't belong to you. Now take it off, please." Applejack said. As the mask was released from the filly's head by Epona's hoofs only.
When Apple Bloom was free, she was sad and happy at the same time. Sad because her cutie mark disappeared once the mask was off. While also worried that her knowledge of unicorns spells vanished with it, and happy because according to Apple Bloom's descriptions. 'that wooden mask was freaking weird and showed her the mask's previous life through creepy images in her mind and mentality 'just knew' how to do magic like she's known it all her life.'
Twilight Sparkle was now unfrozen but almost unwilling to speak until she had the confidence to say eight simple but powerful words, "We never speak of this to anypony understand?"
"Agreed." Apple Bloom and Applejack said together in unison.