Not So Normal Beginnings *Revised*
Fluttershy’s house was, to say the least, crowded. When Rainbow’s keen eyes had spotted the brewing of a storm over Canterlot, the whole entourage had moved inside. It was good timing too, as light rain had started to spatter against the roof and windows soon after. It now ran in fat drops down the glass, leaving small droplet trails. Fluttershy, with the help from Twilight and Luna, had moved around the furniture in her living room to try and accommodate everyone. Her small end table and her couch had been magically pushed into the kitchen, along with her large cabinet. Mostly everyone now sat on the floor or stood in order to make room.
All of the Night Pegasi, including Dusk, stood near the door in a small clump. Luna was sitting to their left on her haunches, where the beginning of the couch used to rest. To her left in order were Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity, who was unhappily squished into one of the corners, hooves crossed over her chest. Discord had decided to claim most of the stairs as his own, and was now lounging on them like a bed, his form bending down the flight as if he were a liquid. The bag of popcorn was still in his hand as he munched on the kernels absently, a gleam in his eye.
Much to Discord’s amusement, Pinkie Pie sat to his left, across from Applejack. He had found that if he tossed a few pieces of popcorn into the air randomly, the happy pink mare would try to catch them all on her tongue, usually failing miserably as they landed in her mane or on her forehead. Twilight was sitting to Pinkie’s left, her eyes flicking as if she was reading invisible script in the air as she went over the last tweaks on her spell. Spike, who was usually next to her side, actually sat on the stairs with Discord. The chaos entity had, surprisingly, summoned him up a bag of jewels to much on as they shared their collective boredom.
Fluttershy and Link sat next to Twilight, in that order. Link, being bigger than most of the mares in the room, had been given the spot in the entrance to the kitchen, where he sprawled on his side lazily, his blue eyes taking in everything. Fluttershy sat in the alcove his body had made, examining his side that had miraculously healed no more than mere minutes ago. She frowned as she pulled more hair gently out of place, seeing the large scars underneath the fur. Apparently the slashes on his side had healed, but not without a trace. How they had appeared hidden below his fur, she would never know. But that wasn’t what had her worried. Link was covered in scars. Most were small cuts that had never healed right, deep enough to warrant a couple stitches but not much more. Some were deeper, and there was even a mottled patch of skin that looked as if it had been badly burned in the past, about the size of half of head on one side. The sacrs were everywhere under his fur, even up to underneath his neck scruff. As Fluttershy continued her worried examination, Rainbow broke the silence that had been abounding in the crowded room.
“Are we going to do anything?” She moaned theatrically. “Or just sit here and stare at each other?”
“Oh, yeah,” Twilight blushed slightly as her friend broke her concentration. “Sorry, just putting a few finishing touches on the spell. I had to be really, really sure.” “Okay, here is the plan.” Twilight cleared her throat, drawing attention to herself. “I am going to perform a memory spell on Link, one that I have approved with Princess Luna and that I have made sure is perfectly safe." She swallowed lightly. "It will show us where Link came from and what he is doing here. It will be easier than trying to breach the obvious language gap.” This seemed to draw Discord’s attention, as the god lifted his head off of the stair where it was lying disconnected from the rest his body. He smiled and reached over with a hand, sliding his head back onto his neck with a small pop. “Is that okay with you Link?” Twilight asked, turning to the wolf in question. There was a nod from him, and Twilight turned back to the group, more specifically, the Night Pegasi standing near the door. “I assume you will be opting out of the spell?” She asked. All but one of the Night Pegasi nodded stiffly. Dusk for his part, sent a glance over to the Lunar Princess. A wordless conversation passed between them, and Dusk spoke up after looking back at Twilight.
“I will be going, actually,” He said. Luna nodded slightly, as if in approval.
“I will need you to take off your armor, then. The metal and charms embedded into it would interfere with the spell.” Twilight answered.
“Are you sure?” The Night Pegasi looked nervous. “I’m not really comfortable without it on.” The other Night Pegasi nodded.
Twilight gave him a deadpan look anyway. “Would you rather kill everyone involved?” She asked bluntly.
Dusk shook his head quickly. He took off his helmet first, letting his black short mane show on the top of his head. The other Night Pegasi helped him out of his armor, efficiently undoing all of the magical clasps and hooks that held it in place. Within a matter of seconds, the armor was lying in a carefully ordered pile on the floor. Dusk did look unsettled without his armor on. He was used to its constant weight, and without it on he felt light, naked. He folded his bat wings over his sides, holding in a shiver at the feeling when they brushed on his fur. He was a very fit stallion, with lean and toned muscles, that didn’t quite match his young face. Twilight and her friends got their first look of Dusk’s cutie mark. It was of a half-moon shrouded in a black mist, shining a soft white. It actually appeared as if the moon had been broken in pieces, as small white chunks were floating off towards the front of his body.
Twilight nodded. “We should be all set then. I’m going to start the spell.If you lost your vision or feeling for a second, that’s normal. We will be seeing the most important details of Link’s journey here, from a perspective slightly above and behind him most of the time. Any questions?”
“How long will this take?” Spike asked from next to Discord.
“It depends,” Twilight shrugged, looking at the large wolf in question. Link was giving her a look that somehow read ‘longer than you might think.’ He flicked and ear once.
“Yes, let’s begin,” Twilight said, answering the question. “Link would you come stand right here?” She indicated the empty area right in front of her, in the center of the circle. The large wolf padded to the area, sitting back down on his haunches in front of Twilight.
The purple mare’s horn began to glow brightly, and she narrowed her eyes in concentration. The lights in the room began to darken, as Twilight’s magic became more intense, the purple aura waving and dancing. Twilight, her eyes clinched shut, began to lean forward. She touched the tip of her magic to Link’s head, and then there was nothing.
-----
The first thing that Twilight felt was the air. It was hot and swampy, almost shockingly so. She couldn’t feel any of her body, but she could imagine her fur matting up and her tail frizzing in the humidity. All she could see was blackness for a few seconds. Then a solitary shape began to come into focus. It was a few feet in front of her, and below her. The top of the blur reached almost to her sight line it was so tall. If she could estimate, she would only come up to its middle area if she were standing, though she had no exact frame of reference. The blur continued to slowly sharpen, solidifying into the shape of a bipedal creature. It had two long arms on each side, and two legs. Its body was bulgy and bumpy, with a long tail-like shape hanging from the top of its head. Confused, Twilight continued to watch the strange grey blob.
Then with a snap, colors appeared and the creature came into perfect focus. If Twilight had eyelids, she would have blinked in surprise. Like she had seen before, it was a bipedal creature, but now she could see that the numerous bulges were actually clothes. It was garbed in green, loose fitting fabric that hung from its shoulders, with light tan pants. Brown boots were on its feet, reaching up near its knees, and the wind sock-looking hat it wore hung down from its head to the middle of its back. From her position behind it, she could see long pointed ears, with familiar blue earrings. Locks of blond hair fell down onto its shoulders, mostly hidden beneath the strange hat. Its hands had brown gloves that did not reach to the end of his fingers, leaving them bare.
Was this Link? It had to be, it was the focus of the spell. But how had he changed so much? Link, in his new form, at least to Twilight, also held a long sword in his right hand. It was shining from an unseen light source, long and thin. Two curved rams’ horns curved from where they were engraved on the steel. Link had thick forearm guards that were covered in swirls on the outside. Twilight caught a glimpse of chainmail underneath the green tunic, flashing underneath the fabric. An engraved sheath was attached to his back, brown with simple silver patterns. Link had a large wooden shield on his other forearm, held out in front of him. A belt ran around his waist and across his shoulder, the one that held his scabbard in place on his back, along with many other pouches and pockets. He looked ready for battle.
And then the scene came into focus in an instant, and Twilight’s nonexistent eyes widened in fear. The room Link was standing in was large and circular, probably able to fit dozens of ponies inside it, and the ceiling so so far up ahead she could barely make it out. The walls were made out of living wood, covering in jutting vines and plants, even the odd flower. A circular hole in the ceiling let bright light shine in through green foliage high above. The floor looked like the inside of a tree trunk, with many dark rings going towards the center of the room.
The other half of the room, the one Link was facing, was a large swampy area, mostly covered in purple brackish water. And the thing occupying it was a gigantic creature, more horrifying than anything Twilight had ever seen. It was a giant plant. The bulbous mass sat in the center of the water, green and yellow, smelling of puss and rotten meat. Three long necks poked out of the top of the mass of flesh, spiraling high into the air. Huge plant heads sat on the end of the necks. The two on either side were blue, and the gaping mouths were dripping purple saliva. Huge white teeth, each the size of a pony, lined the huge mouths as they were opened hungrily. The third head, the one in the middle, was yellow with streaks of red, its mouth closed. It seemed to be smiling. One word whispered in Twilight’s mind. Diababa.
Link, seeming so small and insignificant compared to the sheer size of the monster in front of him, stared it down fearlessly. Twilight’s view point shifted, and after a moment of swirling vertigo, and she could see his face. It was young, with a sharp chin and sloped cheekbones. The eyes, however, were the same. Younger, less weary, but just as bright. The blue eyes, piercing and fierce, roared back a challenge at the monster.
The heads pulsated and stretched, and there was a gurgling sound, as if the large creature was laughing, a waterfall of saliva dripping from the mouths, splatting thickly onto the floor. Twilight recoiled more, drawing her view point farther away from the plant. One of the large heads reared back, and came speeding towards Link. With a spin and an exhale of breath, Link danced out of the way. The huge head impacted the floor where he had been standing with a tremendous crash, throwing splinters into the air. Link slashed at the creature with his sword, the cut drawing a line of black blood on the side of the head. The other two heads roared in pain so loud the whole room shook, and the head on the floor retracted.
Link once again faced down the three heads as they regarded him once again. Link twirled his sword in his hand, the steel flashing. Diababa took it as a challenge, and the middle mouth opened. To Twilight’s growing horror, a large red and yellow eye held on a thin stalk sat in the center of its gaping maw.
Another head came speeding down towards Link, this time from the other side. Link once again hopped away at the last second, his sword flashing. Diababa was smarter this time, and the head retracted fast as lighting, and Link’s sword thunked into the wooden ground, where it stuck slightly. Link’s eyes widened and he fought to free his weapon, jerking on the hilt. The head from the other side came down again, speed towards Link. Link ripped his sword out of the ground, but it was too late to dodge. He raised the shield, hiding his body behind it as a last resort.
The impact sent him spiraling yards away, tumbling Link through the air. He landed, scraping and rolling harshly on the wood. The large blue head lifted back into the air,and Diababa let out a tremendous roar at its successful strike. Link stood a little unsteadily, shaking his head to clear it. A thick line of red ran down one side of his neck, where a piece of wood had scratched. Link grabbed his now dented shield from where it had landed next to him, facing down again at the creature, steadying his grip on his sword. Another head was getting ready to come down, when there was a loud screech.
Link looked high on one wall for the origin on the noise. A large white monkey was sitting inside a small alcove, jumping up and down while clapping his hands to get Link’s attention. He lifted something black in one hand, and Link perked up a bit. The monkey gripped a thick vine that spanned the room with his hands, the black object being transferred to his agile feet. It jumped and started to slide down the wire, the black object flashing red.
“It’s a bomb!” Twilight realized, seeing the spark from the fuse on the top. Link seemed to come to the same conclusion at about the same time, his eyes widening. Diababa decided to strike again, and tried the same head smash technique as before. Link danced out of the way, doing a sideways roll. He stood, but instead of attacking with his sword, he sheathed it with a ring of steel. He snapped his fingers in front of him, and there was a small flash. Where Link’s hands had been empty, he now held a boomerang. It was large, with blue and gold swirled in beautiful designs all over it. The tips were white and curved, looking like a gust of wind. Link looked upwards, where the white monkey had made it hallway down the wire, and was now starting his journey upwards, the bomb still gripped in its feet.
Link aimed and cocked back his arm, hurling the boomerang in the monkey’s direction in a tight spiral with a shout. Twilight watched, amazed, as a small tornado began to form around the boomerang, swirling with a greenish light. Diababa watched it with his other two heads as the third began its ascent back upwards, confused. The boomerang hit the monkey, but instead of harming it like Twilight had been expecting, the bomb was swept from its grasp. The monkey finished the length of the wire, sliding into another alcove on the other side of the room, disappearing from view.
The boomerang started to curve towards Diababa, who still watched it without moving. The bomb that was held in the tornado began to blink red very rapidly, the fuse almost disappearing into the explosive. The boomerang impacted the left head squarely, the bomb exploding with a large crack and a rising fireball. Diababa roared in pain, the blackened head sinking down towards the water, limp. The eye in the middle head pulsed and grew even more crimson, staring down angrily at Link. The boomerang finished its journey, impacting Link’s hand with a loud smack. It disappeared with another flash of light, and Link reached up and unsheathed his word before him once again, smiling slightly. Twilight twitched as a small giggle could be heard, curiously enough, from Link’s feet.
Diababa’s remaining blue head started to shake madly as the single eye stared down at Link. Its neck grew and grew, still pulsating. A torrent of purple saliva dripped from its jaws, slashing into the water below. Link hesitated, watching warily. The head’s mouth closed, its cheeks beginning to swell. It opened its lips, and a huge stream of purple liquid shot out like a hose, straight for Link. Twilight wanted to gag as the bubbling and steaming liquid rushed towards Link, smelling of putrid rot worse than Diababa itself. Link’s eyes widened, and he turned and dashed towards the other wall. The liquid hissed as it made contact with the floor, steaming slightly. The blue head slowly turned, angling the stream in the running Link’s direction.
Link had touched the opposite wall when the stream started to sputter out. The head opened its mouth fully again, and the last of the liquid splashed onto the floor. It seemed disappointed that its attack hadn’t worked, so it settle for the familiar head smash, sending its head into the floor once again. Link danced away, avoiding the still bubbling wood where the liquid had splashed. There was another screech from above, and Link looked upward. The white monkey was once again on the wire, a bomb held in its feet. With another screech, it started its quick decent. Diababa had apparently learned its lesson, and instead of trying to smash Link, made a fast bite to try and eat the offending monkey. With a nimble flip over the wire, the attack was avoided, the bomb still safe and sound.
Link sheathed his sword once again, snapping to summon his boomerang. In \the blink of an eye, he had aimed and sent the boomerang flying into the air. Again, the tornado swirled around it, shining slightly green. The bomb was plucked from the monkey’s grip, who had started upwards onto the other side of the room. The flashing black sphere flew true, guided by the boomerang. It impacted Diababa’s orange middle head with a loud explosion and another gout of flame. The monster’s roar shook the room, Link stumbling a bit. The blackened head fell forward, hitting the wooden grounds in front of link with a smash. The other blue head fell limply into the water, vanishing from sight.
The red eye was hanging outside of the silent head’s jaws, resting on the floor. Its red iris stared up at Link, its hatred evident. Link walked forward smoothly, his sword twirling in his grip. He stopped in front of the eye, which only reached to the top of his foot. With a sharp motion, Link drove his blade through the eye and into the floor. Twilight’s view jerked in surprise at the brutality. She could only image what Fluttershy was thinking.
Instead of the spurt of blood Twilight was expecting, something completely different happened. The entire creature flashed black in an instant, turning into nothing but a silhouette. Link’s sword was still driven through the small black orb on the floor as he took a step backwards in surprise, looking up at Diababa. With an explosion and a rush of air that made Link cover his face, Diababa disappeared. Small black cubes flew in every direction, before quickly dissolving into the air. The room seemed to brighten, more light streaming in. Link’s sword now stood alone in the center of the room, driven into the wooden floor. Link grabbed it with one hand and pulled it outward. With a small smile and a twirl, he sheathed his sword, attaching his shield on top of it with a snap.
A small black object arched high into the air from the now empty space over the purple water. It spun as it came to rest behind Link, who turned slowly. Twilight curiously inspected the black object. It reached about to Link’s knees floating off of the floor. It was curved and shaped like a piece of clothing, but it was incomplete, as if it had been broken off from something.
Twilight heard another small giggle, still coming from Link’s direction. Then Link’s shadow seemed to stretch and warp, jumping off the ground. The shadow molded in midair, turning into another figure. This one was smaller, maybe only a couple of feet tall. Its limbs were completely black, but its stomach and chest were a more greyish color. Its long hair was glowing orange and yellow, in a large ponytail that floated instead of falling downwards. One side of the small creatures head seemed to be encased in stone, of a similar make of the black thing in front of Link. The one eye that could be seen was yellow with a red iris, which gleamed with mischief. The imp like creature reached out, and tapped the object. With a gut wrenching twist, Twilight was ripped from reality.
-----
Pain, fire, screams. Flashing beasts that tore though the village, blood in their wake. The sky turned black, and all hope had been lost once more. Captured, torn, chained again by a familiar enemy. The eyes of the being he thought had been defeated.
-----
The memory spell for Link was a completely different experience. As soon as Twilight tapped his forehead, time seemed to freeze. Every single pony in the room held their position like stone, and even Angel, who. was frozen mid hop as he came in from the kitchen. Link huffed in confusion, moving away from the frozen purple unicorn. He stood, looking around. He walked in a small circle around the room, looking everyone in the eyes curiously. None of them even registered his existence, staring blankly forward. Link could tell from his hearing and sight that they weren’t even breathing, an unnerving fact.
Link reached out and tapped one of the Night Pegasi with a claw, tilting his head. When nothing happened, he shrugged in his mind. Time spells were familiar to the large wolf, and he decided to make the most of it while he could, even if he had no idea why this was happening.
Making it out the door was a more difficult task. While the Night Pegasi, acting as a barricade, did not move to stop him, he couldn’t move them either, no matter how hard he pushed. Link huffed in annoyance, flicking an ear, his latest attempt at moving Dusk a failure. He settled for crawling over them.
Careful not to use his claws, Link scrambled onto the Night Pegasi, doing a precarious balancing act to make it over to the door. He was perched on top of the last pony’s back, looking at the door in a matter of minutes. Thankfully he discovered it had enough of a gap for him to open the portal and squeeze out. When he made it out onto the porch, he shook himself in relief. Looking outside, he discovered another obstacle. The rain, just like everything else, had frozen in place. The shining droplets hung in midair like a huge curtain, as far as the eye could see. Link craned his neck upwards, and saw that it reached all the way to the clouds. Link touched a drop of frozen water with his nose. He instantly recoiled, as the drop unfroze and slid down his face. Licking it off of his muzzle, Link looked around once more. Everything else was as it had been before, except for a small empty space where that one drop had been. With a heavy sigh, he set off.
Most ponies do not realize that water was one of the greatest substances for magic. It absorbed it easily, and retained it for a long period of time. The only thing required to move magic out of water was to put a small amount of physical force on it, break surface tension, and the magic flows easily. Even in, say, a time spell. For this reason, a very wet and grumpy Link slogged through the rain down the path, leaving an empty tunnel of air behind him. The droplets he touched all unfroze and soaked him almost effectively as the actual rain would have. Link’s fur was matted to his sides as he glared down the path. His plan to go explore the town while time was frozen still stood, but the prospect was much less appealing now that it had been a few minutes ago.
The first buildings had come into sight, and Link finally made his way into the streets of Ponyville. The brightly colored buildings stood on either side, with closed doors and shutters. Light streamed outward from most of the houses, lighting the street with thin lines that stretched across the dirt. Link tried to stick underneath awnings and such as he went, trying to stay as dry as possible. A map began to form in his mind as he continued, weaving his way through the quiet town, as the large wolf memorized its layout. Every now and then, a few ponies stood frozen in the rain, either small fillies or colts splashing in puddles, or a stallion running through the town, his coat turned up to protect his neck.
Link made his gradual way through the entire town. He was about to start his way back to the cottage, deciding that if this wore off and all of the ponies saw him missing it might be bad, when there was a rumble. Link froze, looking around. Everything was silent and still, yet something trembled at the edge of his mind. Sniffing around and perking his ears, Link turned in small circles, trying to locate the reason for his gut feeling. Still finding nothing to his frustration, Link stopped and closed his eyes.
With a slow exhale, Link opened his eyes, but the world had changed. Everything was black, but for a few feet circle around Link. The small circle was tinged a dark green, wavering like it was smoke. Link’s blue eyes blazed as strong as ever in this new world. Link looked around, still sensing nothing. He did a full circle again. He paused and looked over to his left, squinting. A small dot of light pierced the void from that direction, shining right into his eyes. The rumble grew in Link’s mind as he stared at the beam, turning from background noise to a full roar, drowning out any thoughts.
With a snap of pain and a shatter of his thoughts, Link was pulled from reality.
-----
With a gasp and a spike of pain, Twilight came back into the real world. Rubbing her now aching head with a hoof, she looked around. Fluttershy’s room was still the same, and the rain still pattered against the roof. Twilight had fallen backwards, the backlash of her breaking spell sending the back of head painfully into the wall. There were a few groans as the rest of the ponies in the room came back from the spell. The Night Pegasi, except Dusk, watched with curiosity. Link blinked heavily and shook his head, his blue eyes clouded. He looked around, as if confused with where he was.
“Twilight dear, what happened?” Rarity moaned from the opposite wall, rubbing her head with a hoof.
“My head feels like someone hit me with a bunch of hammers,” Rainbow agreed.
“I concur,” Luna said, though she was already shaking off the effects of the broken spell, the fastest of all of them.
“What happened?” Spike asked, unknowingly repeating Rarity. After his question, he looked to his side, and the small dragons eyes lit up at seeing his still full bag of snacks. He popped a sapphire into his mouth, instantly feeling better.
“I don’t know-” Twilight began, but was interrupted by a loud and furious knocking on the door. One of the Night Pegasi turned, looking through the peephole.
“Who is it?” Twilight asked.
“Sir Fact, ma’am,” The guard at the door answered. Twilight tilted her head at the unknown name.
“Oh!” Luna exclaimed, her eyes widening. “Let him in!” She stood. “He’s a good friend, though I don’t know what he is doing here. something must have happened.” She explained to Twilight. With a nod to Luna, the guard opened the door. The Night Pegasi parted to make a tunnel, if small, to let the unknown pony to get into the room. In walked (or rather, squeezed) a tall tan unicorn stallion. His brown mane was plastered to his face, and his fur was dripping from the rain. The glasses that were perched on his nose were fogged, so the stallion’s green eyes looked over the useless spectacles at the room. His cutie mark was that of a ruler and a piece of parchment, though both were oddly shaped.
“Sir Fact!” Luna greeted warmly, a large smile on her face as she greeted the stallion.
“Princess,” He answered, giving a slight bow, before pushing up his glasses on his nose with a hoof. He looked to the rest of the room. “Oh, I apologize!” he said, noting the number of occupants. “I did not realize I was interrupting a gathering,” His eyes alighted first on Discord and then on Link, where they stayed for a moment.
“It’s fine, the error was not yours,” Luna said, waving away his concern with a hoof. “Now, Sir Fact, why have you come? I assume it is for me.”
“Yes Princess,” He responded, his tone growing serious. “The Gates have been breached.” Luna stiffened in surprise, her eyes widening.
“And that is what happened, Twilight,” Luna said absently. She turned back to the tan stallion. “Tell me everything.” The newly introduced ‘Sir Fact’ took one look at him, and bustled all of the ponies, plus Spike, outside.
Link knew he was being left out. Frankly, he really didn’t mind. He could understand his own situation, and it suited him just fine. Link thought it was rude of him to make them stand outside in the rain just because they didn’t want him to hear, but that wasn't his problem. What was his problem, however, was the one occupant left with him. Discord.
The said god of chaos was sitting across from Link, actually being pretty calm for a moment. Link was still reclining in the entrance to the kitchen, with his eyes closed. He could still feel Discord’s eyes burning on his forehead, and he lifted his head with an annoyed huff. “Oh, I apologize,” Discord said, with no trace of sincerity in his tone or face. “But you are just so very intriguing,” A smile stretched across his face. “Vessel of Courage.” Link started, his eyes widening in surprise. “Oh yes,” A small cap appeared on Discord’s head, and a magnifying glass in one claw, which he leveled in Link’s direction. “I know. Much besides that,” He shrugged. “I don’t know.” Doing an impressive slithering motion, the god of chaos wormed his way over the large wolf. Discord lifted his left paw with a hand, tapping it with a finger. A trio of triangles started to glow a soft yellow on the top of his paw, and Link’s eyes narrowed at Discord dangerously. “How do I know about this?” Discord snapped his fingers, and with a small pop, he was back in his sitting position across from Link, the smile still on his face. “A magician never reveals his secrets.” the cap changed to a large and pointy wizards hat.
Link’s intense scrutiny of Discord was interrupted by the ponies emptying back into the room, most of them retaking their positions, and they were all curiously dry. Link chalked it up to magic, as most things had seemed to be that way recently. Luna addressed Link first. “I am sorry to cut our visit short,” She said curtly. “But I must be off. There are matters to attend to. I will let Twilight fill you in. It was nice meeting you, Link.” Link gave a nod, and Luna and her guards vanished out the door. All but one. Curiously, Dusk stayed behind, standing awkwardly near the door as it shut behind his comrades. He swallowed loudly.
“So,” Twilight took up the conversation from the quickly departed Luna. “Link, you will be staying with and around Fluttershy for at least the next little while.” What didn’t go spoken was the because we don’t trust you. Link agreed with another nod regardless. Twilight shifter her gaze. “Measured Fact will be living out of the Ponyville Hotel, under Princess Luna's orders.” The tan stallion yawned loudly from his sitting position on the floor. There were bags under his eyes, and his coat was still dripping. “And lastly, Dusk will be staying with Pinkie Pie, for similar reasons.” After hitting on everyone in the room that needed to have things arranged, Twilight allowed herself a yawn. “Anyway, it’s late. We should all get to bed. If anything is needed, I can call a meeting over here again. Until then, we meet tomorrow at the castle at noon. See you all then.” The other occupants in the room made noises of agreement, each feeling the effects of the long day. Various goodbyes were made, and the room started to empty. Discord was the last out, with a snap of the fingers and a bright white light.
And finally, after hours of madness, Fluttershy’s cottage was finally peaceful, and the silence was welcome for a while, but after several minutes of her and Link not looking at each other Fluttershy began to sweat. She had come upon an interesting predicament. Fluttershy wasn’t normally good at talking with other ponies. Ever since her childhood, except for the brief stint with a certain Iron Will, she had a hard time forcing words out of her mouth. Her animal friends had always been the exception, the outlet for all the words she wanted to say. The day she got her trio of butterfly’s as a cutie mark had been one of the happiest of her life. But . . . Link was an animal, at least in the physical sense. He moved like one, he looked and smelled like one, heck, even had the same body language as a few of her carnivore friends. But mentally, he was as smart as any other pony she knew. His eyes were highly alert, if a bit dulled by the late hour, as they regarded each other across the room. Fluttershy had suddenly found herself at a loss of words after the rest of her friends left.
The uncomfortable silence raged on, with Fluttershy as its only apparent victim. She shuffled her hooves on the ground, looking around everywhere but at Link’s eyes. She had had no problem talking to him before, yet now she couldn’t even put a coherent sentence together without it petering off in her mind. “Do you need anything?” She finally settled with, whispering the last word. She felt her face flush as one eyebrow slowly rose on Link’s face. Link didn’t feel like making the yellow pegasus suffer in the silence any longer, so he let out a large yawn, his teeth flashing. “It has been a long day, hasn’t it?” Fluttershy agreed, talking louder this time. Link gave a nod of agreement, and Fluttershy stood. Link followed suit, stretching a bit with another yawn. Fluttershy giggled at the pose he was striking, his rear end up in the air and his tongue hanging out. The large wolf shook himself briefly, looking to Fluttershy expectantly.
“I do have sleeping arrangements,” She started hesitantly. “Though, they were for when you were still injured, uh . . .” She swallowed. “I can move them around, if you want to, I mean . . .” Link rolled his eyes with a huff, and nudged her shoulder with his. “Well, alright then, if you think that it’s okay,” the mare responded, giving him a grateful look. “It’s just up here,” She said, trotting up the stairs. Link padded after her, leaving the bottom floor empty except for Angel. The white bunny looked around the room after entering through the flap on the door, noting the shift in furniture, before shrugging. The room Link followed Fluttershy into was, surprisingly enough, the same room he had woken up in, just this morning. The bed sheets had been changed, and the room no longer smelt of blood, but everything else was the same. Link noted the mat and blankets laid out of the floor next to the bed.
“Well, I’m sleeping here,” Fluttershy pointed to the before mentioned arrangements on the floor. “And you will have the bed. It was for when you will still injured, but your better now, and I haven’t had time to change them . . . and . . .” Fluttershy trailed off, looked up to Link for his opinion. The large wolf’s eyebrows were drawn together, and he looked at her accusingly. Fluttershy cocked her head to the side. “What? Is something wrong?” She asked hesitantly, not able to decipher his thoughts from his expression alone. Her next sentence was cut off by a squeak as Link’s nose pushed her towards the bed, the wolf’s blue eyes firm. Fluttershy got his meaning, and instantly began to protest.
“I can’t let you sleep on the floor! You are my guest, and should get the bed. I have to be a gracious host,” Fluttershy nodded, trying to project an air of finality. Link regarded her calmly, that one eyebrow hitched up again. Fluttershy reached over and flipped off the magical lights, looking away from the large wolf’s eyes, determined to settle down on the floor before Link could do anything.
With a smooth motion, almost too fast to see, Fluttershy was up in the air, lifted by Link’s nose and head underneath her stomach. With a smooth roll of his body and a fast jerk of his legs, Fluttershy was deposited on the bed in a tangle of limbs. The yellow mare was too shocked to say anything as the large wolf admired his work. Seeming satisfied, Link turned in a few circles on the pad, his tail swishing back and forth, before falling onto it with a huff and another yawn. His back paws were stretched out past the end of the blankets, but he was sleeping on top of them anyway, and didn’t mind.
Fluttershy untangled herself, her cheeks pink. She looked at the wolf on the floor, then climbed under the blankets, getting comfortable. She could barely see the rise and fall of Link’s body from her position. Apparently he was already asleep. Letting out a yawn, Fluttershy let herself succumb to the weariness that had plagued her all day. Link slipped into the darkness, and it seemed almost like only an instant before he was climbing back into wakefulness, his internal clock ringing.
Link had to give this new world some credit. His rise from sleep was the most peaceful he had enjoyed in months. He hadn’t been assaulted by nightmares and bad dreams, a rare and thankful occurrence. Sunlight fell in thin shafts onto Link’s face, and he blinked his eyes drowsily. He yawned and slowly got to his paws, glancing around the room sleepily. Fluttershy was still asleep, the rise and fall of her body the only indication that there was a pony under the lump in the blankets. Having been raised on a ranch all his childhood, Link’s body was accustomed to waking up at the crack of dawn, and the last year hadn’t helped that habit at all.
Link had enough practice with doors to get himself out of the bedroom without waking the yellow mare. Shaking himself to get rid of the rest of the cobwebs in his brain, he silently went downstairs, and outside. Angel, grumpy from being woken up by the large wolf brushing past his position in the main room, glared at his retreating form. Link paid it no mind, deciding to enjoy the morning while he could. The world was peaceful, the green leaves and grass waving in a small breeze. There were the sounds of the animal world awakening, numerous birds swooping and calling in the morning air, though most gave him a wide berth. The colors of the sunrise painted a mirage across the sky, a beautiful spectrum of yellows and reds. It was perfectly captured by the mountains, making it all seem almost like a painting. Link sat down on his haunches, closing his eyes, relishing the feel of the sun and wind on his face.
The large wolf had enjoyed it for only a minute, before he heard the buzzing noise. He frowned, and flicked his ears down in the direction of the path, opening his eyes. He could see a small speck in the distance, the source of the buzz, which was getting closer, fast.
-----
“Scootaloo! What the heck are we doing out here at 6 in the morning!” The whine was in a hushed voice, as Sweetie Belle tried to berate her friend without running the risk of waking her sister upstairs. “It’s way too early to be up!” There were bags under the white filly’s eyes, and her pink and purple mane, which was usually curly, was more of a vicious case of bedhead, stray hairs poking in every direction.
The orange filly smiled nervously, scuffing one foot at the carpet at her friend’s anger. “It’s not that early,” She protested. “Applebloom is just fine,” She pointed out. Said yellow filly looked her normal perky self, with no trace of the weariness displayed by Sweetie Belle as she smiled. She earned another glare from her tired friend.
“She’s raised on a farm, that doesn’t count,” Sweetie mumbled to herself. Shaking her head, she looked back to Scootaloo. “What do you want?” She asked bluntly, brushing a hoof over her eyes.
“Well,” Scootaloo began, “We haven’t used my scooter in a while, I thought you might want to come out and try it again, for old times’ sake,” The end morphed into a half question.
Sweetie Belle had the perfect expression of dull surprise. “That’s what you woke me up for? And we drove to school last week! She said, not believing the audacity of the orange filly. Scootaloo smiled, oblivious. “Fine,” Sweetie Belle sighed, giving in. “Let’s go. At least it’s a Saturday."
“That’s the spirit!” Scootaloo cheered, rushing out the front door, slamming it behind her. Sweetie Belle winced at the loud sound, hoping it hadn’t woken up her older sister. With another sigh, she followed Applebloom into the crisp morning air. The sun was rising just over the mountains, and Sweetie took a second to admire it before turning back to her friends.
The front yard was an obviously well used scooter. There were many nicks and dents in the frame, evidence of many, many crashes. Scootaloo was standing on the scooter now, her front hooves on the handle bars, while her back legs held her up in the position. She was slightly too tall for the thing, having to bend slightly down to reach the handle bars. Two ropes were attached to the back of the scooter, which led in turn to two different skateboards, old things they had purchased years ago. The point was to stand on the skateboard and hold the end of the rope in either the teeth or front hooves, whichever you would prefer. Applebloom was already on hers, the ropes gripped in her hooves. She jerked her head to Sweetie, to motion her over. Sweetie went over to the other side. “Let’s get this over with,” She thought. “Who knows? We might just have a normal ride,” She immediately scoffed.
That would never happen.
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Hope to hear them discuss what they saw of Link's memories.^^ But, glad to see this continued. Nicely done with the first of his big bosses.^^
Link, in his new form, at least to Twilight, also had a long sword in his right hand, had a long sword in his right hand, HIS RIGHT HAND! Link is left handed. Other than that little mix up I liked it alot.
5470557 He is right handed in the wii games okay?
Awesome update!
5470557
With that, in the Wii games, it depends on whether you select whether you are right handed or not. Right handed = sword in right hand, left hand = sword in left. Being right handed myself, I always put the sword in his right hand because that is the way I played it.
5473023 FFFFFFFFFFEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH! Cannon is Link is always left handed. Gamecube Twilight Princess has Link left handed, for the Wii they just switched shit around.
5473148
Yeah I know. I can go change the left handed thing if enough people want me to. It is cannon, I suppose.
5477479Ehhhh It's not a big enough thing to really matter it's just one of those little things that bugs the hell out of me.
5478014
To every pone his own, I suppose.
Can't wait for more.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
THIS CANNOT BE THE END!!!!! FOR BUCK'S SAKE I NEED AN ENDING!!!!!
5627686
This isn't the end, trust me. This story will continue on for many a chapter.
Ah yes, Tartarus, that's bad.
Yeesh, Cerberus SUCKS at his job
How strange. I was listening to the "Complete Twilight Symphony" on Youtube, and Diababa's music came up.
Its a while since this was posted but thought you would want to know. Found a small mistake
Sweetie Belle: "Please let this be a normal ride."
Apple Bloom: "With the Scoots? NO WAY!"