LEGEND OF THE GODDESSES

deep southern jungle, 737 years ago

Sunlight filtered through the darkest greenery of the jungle. From underneath a bush, a pair of wide yellow eyes glanced around. Satisfied that it would be safe to move around in the open, Kopé crept out onto the forest floor.

She was about the size and shape of a young pony filly, but was in fact an okapi. She was mostly dark brown, with white stripes on her legs and face. A pair of tiny black horns sat upon her head, and her snout was a bit longer and sharper than a pony's. Beyond that, there was very little to distinguish her.

"We're clear," she whispered. "Come to me, Ngala."

Kopé's only friend began crawling down the trunk of a tree. Ngala had the overall appearance of a small lizard with a mouthful of sharp teeth, but was covered in vibrant blue feathers instead of scales. Her long and stiff tail ended in a fan of feathers; her arms and legs ended in scaly black claws, and most striking, all four limbs were also winged.

"There's my girl," Kopé said lovingly. She held out a hoof. "Come here."

Ngala fluttered over and perched on Kopé's arm.

"We'll have to find a new home soon, Ngala," Kopé muttered. "Oh, I know, there's no need to move when we still have such an abundance of food, and more safety and security than we've ever enjoyed before, but… agh, a creature can only live in one place for so long before her mind starts to fall apart." She rubbed her nose against Ngala's beak. "We'll have many adventures as we search for a new safe haven, I'm sure of it."

Ngala chirped and warbled, making her way from Kopé's arm to the top of her head. Kopé started walking out into the rainforest with a chipper smile on her face.

She had only been walking for a few seconds when she heard a rustling in a bush. Before she had even consciously registered the sound, she pounced upon the bush and pulled its branches aside.

Her threatening expression quickly turned into delight when she saw the bush's occupant, even though she didn't quite understand what she was looking at. It appeared to be a pony… a pony who stood barely six inches tall. He was a white stallion with a short and spiky silver mane and pale blue eyes. He had a unicorn horn as well as a pair of insectlike wings which were red, lined in purple, and each with a single bright blue eyespot. On his front left hoof, he wore a chain bracelet, its only charm a comparatively large, rectangular sapphire. This tiny pony cowered in fear at the sight of Kopé.

"Oh, hello!" she said with wonder. "I'm Kopé. What's your name?"

"Um… Fork," he said nervously.

She looked him over curiously. "What are you?"

"I'm… I'm a pixie pony," he said, his panic escalating.

"It's been so long since I met anyone in this jungle!" Kopé said eagerly. "What are you doing out here?"

Fork continued staring at her in fear, then turned around and flew off at breakneck speed.

"No! Wait!" Kopé called.

She raced after the tiny pixie, catching occasional glimpses of him through the trees.

"Please don't fly away!" she cried frantically. "I just wanted to talk to you! I need to! I need to talk to—"

She collided with something and fell to the ground. Ngala hopped off of her and onto a nearby tree.

"…someone," Kopé said feebly. "Anyone. Anyone who'll talk back…"

She looked up indignantly at what she had crashed into and gasped in shock. It was another pony, a full-sized unicorn stallion. He had an orange coat, a black mane with a dark blue streak, and wore a long leather robe. He had gray eyes—not only were his irises gray, but there was a gray spot in the center of each pupil—which stared down at Kopé in surprise.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked in a soft, deep voice.

Kopé looked around the pony. She saw Fork disappear into another bush. Her instincts told her that if he had truly been fleeing her at his top speed, he would not still be in sight. He was lingering for some reason.

"Oh… no one," she muttered. She looked up at the unicorn plaintively. "Can I talk to you?"

"Yes, I suppose you can," he said thoughtfully. "I admit that when I heard yelling, I thought I might find somepony civilized in this jungle… clearly, that's not what happened; I've only stumbled upon one of the savage natives. You're an okapi, aren't you?"

He had pronounced the name of her species with the emphasis on the first syllable. "Um… actually, I'm an 'o-KA-pi'," she muttered.

"A pre-adolescent female," the unicorn noted, rubbing his chin. "With horns, a trait usually reserved for adult males. That can't make you very alluring to your fellow okapi…"

"Okapi," she corrected again. "And I'll be honest… I've never really thought about my 'allure'. It's just not a part of my life."

"Is that right?" the unicorn whispered, leaning down toward her. "And what kind of life might that be?"

Kopé inhaled deeply and, for the first time, spoke words that had weighed her down for years: "My village was ravaged by disease. I ran away before I caught it. The village is empty now. I've been alone for… a very long time. Since I was eight years old. I think now I'm… twelve?"

The unicorn's eyes had glazed over. When he realized she had stopped talking, he jumped in surprise. "Oh… is that so?"

Kopé stared at him, starry-eyed. "You don't know how amazing it is to hear another voice besides my own. I have Ngala, of course, but she doesn't say much…"

She pointed to Ngala, where she still hung on the tree trunk. The unicorn's eyes widened, noticing the animal for the first time. "Is… is that a microraptor?"

"Um… maybe?" Kopé said sheepishly. Though she knew it didn't matter, she had never known what exactly Ngala was.

Ngala hopped over to Kopé's shoulder and hissed violently at the stranger. "Ngala!" Kopé exclaimed. "Don't do that. What's he ever done to you?"

Ngala calmed, but shot a meaningful glance at Kopé.

The stranger's horn glowed blue; from the depths of his robe, he produced a map and a pair of glasses. He scanned the map briefly, then pocketed the objects. "All right then… come with me." He walked past her.

"What?" Kopé said blankly.

"Come… with… me," he enunciated. "You've survived in this jungle as a child, you must be smarter than you look. I may or may not find use for you. Come with me."

"O-okay," Kopé stammered, but putting on an eager face. She followed him, a jovial spring in her step.

He didn't speak again, or even look at her—he just walked, straight as an arrow, through the jungle.

"What's your name?" Kopé asked.

"I'm called Bogglesby," he said. "Bogglesby the Scholar."

"Okay," she giggled. "I'm Kopé."

He smirked at her with derision. "Did I ask?"

"Um… no," she peeped.

There were a few more seconds of silence.

"So where are we going?" she asked.

"That's for me to know," Bogglesby said shortly. "You will stay out of my way, you will speak only when spoken to, you will do as I say. If you have a problem with that, feel free to return to whatever it is you were doing before. Is that understood?"

"…Y-yes?"

"Good."

Kopé trailed behind him a bit. She glanced at the bush where she had seen Fork disappear, then shrugged and pursued Bogglesby, much of her enthusiasm lost. Ngala chattered at her angrily.

"I know," she whispered. "I know, I know, we finally meet someone in the jungle and he's… pretty much horrible… but he's here. He wants me with him. He speaks to me, Ngala." She turned to her companion with teary eyes. "I can't live like I did before, without voices. I just can't take another minute of silence."

She stared after Bogglesby uncertainly. "He'll warm up to us," she said uncertainly. "He must. …Right?"