Next day arrived, and Link yawned as he felt the chill despite the enchantments keeping the heat from leaving the room.
Turning to face the clock, he saw that the time was five with fifty-five minutes… and groaned from having been woken up earlier than normal.
Hearing the sound of… something soft falling outside, Link rose with the blankets on him, where he moved the curtains away… and saw snow falling outside the window, giving the city a very particular look… as if it were made of candy, and the snow was in fact frosting covering the landscape.
“Nighttime and the time of winter have always been the most peaceful, even in a different world.” Link said softly to himself before smiling at the sight. A moment went by before he started fumbling around a little while keeping his blankets over him, placing his pouch on the bed where he pulled his cloak and hood and his tunic to get dressed.
Link made a mental note to try and get some warm clothing in case winter gets any colder as he felt another shiver running up his spine - thanking that his room had a bathroom to relieve himself before leaving. While making his way to Celestia’s quarters, he started humming a tone that fellow zelda fans would recognize as the Ice Cavern theme.
It took Link around ten minutes to reach Celestia’s private study after getting lost at two wrong turns - and asking the nearby guards for reference points to reach it - where he rapped the door once…
And a familiar, warm voice greeted him… one that wasn’t the property of the Princess, to Link’s surprise.
“Good morning, Mister Link!” chirped an earth pony maid that somehow felt like I had heard talking before as she came out of the room, with saddlebag and a cart with linen and sheets carefully folded down… and a cart full of laundry to be done chained to the first one.
“Oh! Good morning.” Link said back, taking a moment to try and remember her name, even going as to look at their cutie mark - as usually those tattoos hinted at their owner’s name… only to find that her frilly skirt covered it. Hazarding a guess, Link added, “How are you doing… uh… Serving Cup?” he said.
The mare brightened up as her name came out of Link’s lips, “Oh, you know, busy as a bee! The Princess is currently preoccupied with her morning care, but asked me to give you this slip of paper, as today’s assignments for you.” Serving Cup replied before hoofing over a parchment with a list of things to do to Link, who kneeled over to see what the paper had on it.
Today’s List of Duties:
Hello, Link, I hope you are in good spirits, since you’ll be accompanying my two nieces along with Brick Wall, Cadance’s bodyguard, to go to town for window-shopping.
Please Remind Miss Serving Cup here to pass on to you the bag of bits for today’s buying list for them.
Articles to be sought out as follows:
From the toy district, please seek the following:
Link had to reread a few parts of the list to make sure he understood it… and because of the shock value of the list. He couldn’t believe that some of them were eerily familiar.
“Either the multiverse likes to mock me, or this is an actually thing. What’s next, a build-a-pony workshop?” he joked privately, before asking the pony maid in front of him, “Is that all, Serving Cup?” he asked.
“Oh, certainly Mister Link!” Serving Cup chirped with a smile before asking with a smidge of insecurity, “When you return, I mean if you aren’t feeling too tired from going out… would you like to hang out?” As she said the last part, Link saw how she pawed softly on the floor with her forehoof, while giving Link a pout - the dreaded puppy look.
Link crossed his arms and gave her a look as if asking if she was serious with her giving him that look. She didn’t budge, and her eyes started to water… before Link replied neutrally, “Well, I don’t see why not, except maybe those moments that we don’t expect, like Celestia needing me for a reason.”
“Yay! It’s a da-” Serving Cup cheered as she jumped like a filly before stopping in mid-jump. As she sheepishly stood still and schooled herself back into an appearance of maturity… she replied daintily, “thank you, Mister Link, for granting me with some of your time. I hope we meet again, soon enough…” before her eyes turned to a side…
And gasped in panic at the hour portrayed at the nearby grandfather clock that she looked at. “Oh dear! I’m running late! See you later, mister Link!” she cheered before trotting at a speed, the two carts being dragged along as if they weighted nothing… leaving Link scratching his head in confusion at what had just happened.
From afar, Link could’ve sworn he heard an echo of someone saying, ‘I’ll be dating an apex predator, how exciting!’ but blamed it to the windy passages throughout the castle, as he went on a calm walk to wait for Trinity to come out of her room, so that them could have breakfast together in the private dining room with Cadance and Celestia.
Link was looking at the frosty street with his charge keeping her side on contact with him, while Cadance was showing a smile that would’ve made most ponies wary.
Brick Wall, her bodyguard, however… didn’t look as excited to be outside of the castle grounds, but kept a professional look regardless of what she thought of the matter at hand.
And Link suspected that this matter at hand had plenty to do with his presence in this chore, as the group started walking.
‘Hopefully the nice weather will last ‘till we get done’ while out loud he said to Cadance and Trinity as he waved the parchment with the shopping list: “I know your mother wrote this, but is there anything extra you’d like to add to it?” Link asked.
“Oh! I like the way you’re thinking, Link! ” Cadance chirped at Link, before turning to Trinity and whispering in a conspiratorial tone: “I say we take advantage of the opportunity given, Trinity. What do you say?”
“Hum… I’d really like to go and see the decorations for Hearth’s Warming, Cadance.” Trinity meekly replied as she eyed warily her surroundings and the influx of ponies coming and going.
“As much as I’d like for this trip to be for pleasantries, Mister Link … we should focus on what is written, lest we go out of budget.” Brick Wall stated in a cool tone, the brown unicorn jingling the bag of bits from Link’s side with her magic.
As they continued talking while going towards the shopping district - Link drawing looks from a variety of emotions as the ponies on the street took him in - they didn’t notice the figures keeping track of their movements as they moved along the sea of ponies.
The fact that the new guard towered over the ponies just made things easier for them as they moved, pretending to be windowshoppers and even interacting with the sellers while keeping them under watch.
Unknown to those figures, though… there was other group of figures keeping track of the tall biped and his charges from the sky, hiding in dark clouds that let out snow every now and then.
Link could only stare at the sight in front of him, once he lowered himself to enter the doorway to avoid knocking his head off… .
It was a mall pretty much - only one more… medieval in tone, and with ponies.
Lots and lots of ponies of all ages and types milling around, as he watched them move like a storm in the making.
Something pricked at his neck, and couldn’t help but feel off… as if something was out of place.
Brick Wall, on the other hand… kept her pace as she followed Cadance and Trinity going from one window to another, enjoying the sights as she kept her charge on sight.
Before she could say anything, Link approached the two wayward princesses and said to them: “Alright, before we do what we need to do, I suggest we keep within seeing distance, we don’t want to get lost, especially if it gets busy around here. Afterwards we get together and finish up.” Link suggested.
“If it isn’t much bother… can we stay together? I… I am still uncomfortable with crowds, Mister Link.” Trinity suggested as she gave him her weaponized ‘puppy-eyes’.
Cadance couldn’t help but titter at the sight, pulling Trinity into a hug while Link simply nodded to her, ignoring the ponies stopping by to see the show.
As Brick Wall saw this scene unfold, keeping an eye on the ponies showing hostility towards the Hylian and odd royal, she wondered…
‘Why did Princess Celestia insist on employing such an odd - and indiscreet - guard for her niece? A fellow unicorn from the Royal Guard Elites should have been enough.’ However, she could see that the reclusive princess and her cousin were bonding just fine with him.
‘I wonder what makes him so special to the royal house…’ but Brick Wall immediately shut down that train of thought. ‘Work first, observations and research come later.’
Out loud, she said to the three of them, “Mister Link, Your Highnesses… let us get the shopping out of the way, so that I can send a message to the palace for them to pick up the articles on the list.” Once she had their attention, she added, “Once that is out of the way, we can go to pick up the dresses and suit that are on the list, and enjoy the sights while we finish up our trip.”
“Can we go eat something afterwards?” Trinity asked her, causing her to blink only once.
‘... I must get my mind out of that place, to justify Princess Trinity as a niece of Princess Celestia herself…’
Link just stared as he held in one hand his new clothing - making a mental note to dress in warmer clothing as the snow began to fall in like powdered sugar, the chill passing through his tunic and causing his skin to get goosebumps from the cold.
‘I know I’m different from the rest, but I can’t be that different to the point that making me clothing would be this difficult…’ Link thought to himself. He has seen dragons and minotaurs in the books he read the castle, they weren’t that farfetched compared to his own body.
‘At least Trinity and Cadance didn’t have to wait as long…’ Link thought in a positive attitude as he saw the two royals almost prancing around, seemingly fulfilling the cliche: all females like new dresses.
He turned his sight to Brick Wall, who had pointedly avoided giving small talk to him while keeping the two royals on her sights, constantly on the lookout.
‘That mare bodyguard has been doing her job just fine, although a little bit impatient.’ Link commented to himself as he kept an eye on his charge and the path full of shoppers coming and going.
Until a mare passing through didn’t do as much bumping as she shoved Link out of the way with her body as she went through, forcing him to back away to the side. Link gave her a raised eyebrow at the mare’s action toward him as she kept her pace, getting stink-eyes from Cadance who noticed the rude mare. ‘Eventually I should get a uniform that’ll tell those be I’m a bodyguard.’ he thought with annoyance.
“How rude! Brick Wall! Did you see that rude pony shoving Link aside!?” Cadance demanded, annoyance in her tone as she glared at the retreating figure.
Her guard said nothing, except giving Link a blank look before saying “It is getting late, your Highness. We should get moving back to the palace.”
“But I wanted to look at the decorations at the park when the moon is raised!” Trinity whined in dismay.
Unknown to Link, the mare that had pushed him aside went past one of the ponies keeping his group under watch… who smirked as he sipped from a cup of tea from the shop close by, pretending to be just a pony enjoying the snowy sights as the group moved towards the park.
There was only one thought that crossed his mind: ‘Excellent. No one cares about him.’
Taking a moment to place his papercup on a bin close by, he dropped a bit colored red on the cobblestones close to him. The results were immediate, as the ones accompanying him began moving towards them as he went his own way.
‘This’ll be a piece of cake.’
As the day gave way to the night, Link’s eyes opened wide as the reason for Trinity’s desire to be there at that moment showed on to him.
While the park was mostly desolate at this hour, the snow falling now in a larger amount even if it was still like powdered sugar… the lights were activated as the night began, the moon rising at the horizon with the pony-shaped shade in its face.
Crystal lights feeding off the ambient magic gently shone in a myriad of colors, many placed on top of the fountain - giving it the look that it was a fountain of rainbow light contrasting with the coming gloom from the snow-bearing clouds.
As Link took this in, other discreet lightings shone from within the lake that laid frozen in the middle of winter, giving it a pearly green and blue shades coming from within.
Link couldn’t help but chuckle to himself of old memories resurfacing in his mind - a smile growing on his mouth as the holiday filled him in. It had been a long time since he had last experienced Christmas, even if there were some differences due to the change of universe, reality or world that he underwent.
Link set his sights toward the sky, the night-sky reminding him of a certain holiday in a game. “Reminds me a bit of the Carnival of Time” Link commented out loud with a small grin on his face.
“Is this Carnival of Time similar to Hearth’s Warming Eve, Mister Link?” Trinity asked him, ears twitching as she looked at him with a relaxed smile.
“Oh, well. The array of colors certainly matches it, the only things missing are peo-ponies wearing masks and fireworks being shot into the air.” Link explained as he turned toward the young wolf-filly.
“Really, they wear masks while partying? What does this carnival celebrate, Link?” Cadance asked him from his side, eyes filled with genuine curiosity as she placed a wing on Trinity’s back.
Link went into thought to recall his memories of such an old event. “Each year, the season of harmony begins when the sun and the moon are in alignment. Paying homage to the way so that both nature and time are tirelessly in the process of progress, the Carnival Of Time is when the people of the four worlds celebrate that harmony and request fruitfulness for the year. When I said four worlds, I mean the four lands in Termina of North, West, South, and East.” the hylian smiled while explaining to them, only to shake his head at the memories, giving special focus at how much hassle it was to get all the masks, complete all of the events while on a journey to stop a teeth-gritting moon from falling to the world because of some jealous skull kid… so, he saves that tidbit to himself.
“Hum… Mister Link? Didn’t you say you were from a place called Hyrule?” Trinity asked in childish curiosity, while Cadance eyed him with a small grin and Brick Wall looked really disinterested at the scene.
“Well, that's just one of many lands. Outside of Hyrule are many more, existing and spanning cross time, dreams, parallel realms, and even a world bathed in twilight.” Link explained with a smile of his own.
“Ohh” was all that Trinity said to him, face scrunching up in thought.
“My, that certainly sounds interesting, Link… to have a world with so many places to journey to.” Cadance commented to him with genuine interest.
“It’s a lot to remember, I...” Link stopped for a moment. “Did save those lands before.” he said. It wasn’t a lie, but not exactly the truth. ‘Well, certainly I could have told them the truth, but I think… perhaps telling them the original Link’s deeds and his past ancestors’ works would prove to them that he has what it takes to protect Trinity?’
“Look at that. A freak, a reject from a diamond dog mine, an alicorn and a unicorn walk into the park…” A feminine voice sneered at them from the darkness surrounding the decorated park.
“Who goes there!?” Brick Wall barked, horn glowing as she got in a defensive posture close to Cadance, whose horn also began glowing, while Trinity huddled closer to Link.
“The funny thing is, I cannot tell the difference between the reject and the freak, but that’s beneath me.” The same feminine voice mocked them in a falsely jovial tone.
Link looked around warily as he sensed hostility within the darkness. “We’re only here to enjoy the night..” he said.
“Too bad… so do we, isn’t that right, boys?” The female aggressor asked, only for several growls of contained mocking laughter to echo through the darkness… as the sound of a spring released itself...
And Link cried out in pain as something dug into his left arm, piercing pain shocking his brain from the surprise as he saw the shaft of an bolt sticking out of his arm as warm blood trickled out from the wound.
“Link!” Trinity screamed in fear as she huddled further into his boots.
“Kill them.” The female growled, as several shades began to pour out of the abnormal shadows surrounding them…
Shades which Link recognized as Stalfos, but three were wielding crossbows while the other three bore sword and shield.
A stream of fire sourced from the shadows, going straight towards Link -
Only to be blocked by a translucent red shield that diverted the flames away from him.
‘This snow is problematic, as we can’t run away.’ “Link…!” Brick Wall barked, “Get rid of the aggressors while I keep the royals safe! You’re the only one not completely hampered by the snow!” Before shielding away a stream of ice towards the fountain - the fountain becoming a block of ice in the process.
Link held out a hiss as he looked down at his arm. This was the first time he got shot with an arrow, thus has no idea how to take it out. And it hurt. Badly.
“I’m not gonna be able to pull out anything..” Link thought as he held out his good arm. Fire began to gather within the palm of his hand.
The other two Bowstalfos took aim at Link and opened fire while the third one was pulling the spring back into place, while the other three stalfos rushed towards them.
With a flick of his wrist, a snake spiraled up and curled around Link protectively. The arrows quickly turned to ash before they could reach the Hylian. As the snake spiraled around him, the hylian pointed toward his foes, ordering it to slither through the air and fly toward them.
The snake burned two of the Bowstalfos, and forced one of the stalfos to retreat as the other two rushed towards his position - their swords cracking the shield provided by Brick Wall with each impact.
A stream of fire got released from the darkness, being diverted with a strain by the bodyguard’s shield before it collapsed - only for a light-blue shield to appear, funneling the fire towards the third Bowstalfos, burning it to cinders in the process as it was taking aim towards him.
“Link! I’ll help Brick Wall to keep those streams of magic out of our way! Go deal with them!” Cadance exclaimed as she took place next to Trinity, who was crying from terror, body lying on the ground close to them in an attempt to hide from the monsters coming for them.
With his fiery snake still at his command, he ordered it to attack the other skeletons. As the Bombos spell launched itself at the remaining foes, Link was looking around frantically like a paranoid wolf - trying to spot other targets that might not be near.
A stream of ice magic sourced from the darkness - flowing towards the flaming snake as it approached its targets - forcing both spells to nullify one another.
“Forget the skanks! Kill the biped!” The female ordered in a shrill cry, as the Stalfos changed their focus on the ponies and started to move around, trying to find a way in towards Link… the snow crunching and slowing their movements.
Crouching against the ground, he started channeling a different spell. As he did so, sparks of lighting shot forth, focused solely in the front, he was straining in his concentration though as Ether usually prefers to travel around him.
The Stalfos were caught unaware by the lightning, it shocking them as frost began to condense around them, the sheer cold causing them to go on a full stop… and crash like glass when a gust of wind blew them sideways.
“Damn it all! Retreat! Retreat!” The boss of the assailants cried out as the dark cloud dispersed - and Link could see six pony-shaped figures going away and disappearing into the dimly lit streets - where several pegasi launched from the sky towards the runners, only to be received by magical streams of fire, ice and darkness that forced them to retreat hastily as they saw the beams too close to comfort.
Feeling the drain from two magically intensive spells, Link let out a relieved breath he didn’t realize he had held in, taking in that the only one injured was him and not Trinity nor Cadance. “Is everyone alright?” he asked as he got up from his position, letting out a strained hiss at the movement, being reminded of the arrow impaled in his left arm.
“We are fine, thank you.” Brick Wall cut him off curtly, briefly eyeing the shaft buried in his arm before barking, “Officer! Bring a medic! We have one injured here!”
“... That was awesome, Link… what kind of magic was it?” A teary-eyed filly asked him, her face and snout being the only thing visible from the pink fur embracing her with fierce determination.
“I know that isn’t a spell that a regular unicorn can wield to this effect, so… how did you do it?” Cadance asked Link, a grateful smile on her face as she added softly, “And thank you for saving us, mister knight, bodyguard sir.” A mischievous grin showing on her mouth as she said the last three words at Link.
“Those spells were Ether and Bombos, enchanted medallions I use to channel my magic...” Link explained as a pegasus guard rushed in towards him, and interrupted his explanation as he examined his wound - hooves moving his arm despite Link’s sharp intake of air as he choked a scream of both pain and indignation at the handling.
“Sir? It was a good thing you didn’t take the shaft out on your own - that would’ve been bad for you. Now… please join us as we treat your wound at the castle’s medical ward.” The pegasus guardsmare said to him as he tapped Link’s knee twice and gestured for him to follow.
As Link started to follow, he was soon joined by Trinity and Cadance with Brick Wall in tow - all of them surrounded by guards while more officers poured into the park to attempt to find evidence on who assaulted them and the guards that tried to capture the ponies running away.
As Hylian and Ponies headed towards Canterlot Castle, Link was thinking with worry about the Stalfos, he knew for a fact that they shouldn’t be in Equestria. Skeleton ponies, sure, but definitely not Stalfos...
‘What in the name of Nayru is going on here?’