Pain. That's all Link felt as he slowly swam his way back to consciousness. Then, he began to hear the voices.
"That's funny," he thought, slightly bemused. "Sounds pretty active for a so-called 'empty void'."
"He's coming to!" he heard a panicked voice cry. Link cracked his eyes open, only to immediately slam them shut. With a grunt of pain and surprise, he blocked out the bright and glaring light overhead.
"It's ok" he heard a voice say in a quiet, soothing whisper, though Link wondered on whether the comment was addressed to him or the panicked person he heard a moment ago. Link slowly attempted to raise himself but fell back upon the cushions with an anguished cry due to the extreme throbbing pain in his lower abdomen.
"Oh dear," he heard the ever-present voice say "Are you alright?" it asked hesitantly.
Link opened his eyes, slowly, so as to catch a glimpse of this disembodied voice, but what he saw was a strange and curious sight even to him. All around him, in the small room, were white walls and white floors and many rows of white, clean beds, some of which had others lying on them. Link was on top of three beds, but that was not the strangest part. All around him, walking around, and on the beds were PONIES! The ponies appeared to be of all shapes and sizes. Some had wings, others had horns, but a few had neither horns nor wings.
"For the love of Nayru, where am I?!" Link wondered.
"Oh, why, you are currently in the Ponyville Medical Facility." a nervous and subdued voice piped up from next to Link. Link turned to only be greeted by his disembodied voice: a nervous looking tan unicorn in white garb similar to those of the others walking around the room.
"Amazing," Link thought in awe. "This small pony can not only talk, but can also read my mind!"
"No, silly!" the unicorn said with a giggle. "You just keep speaking your thoughts out loud!" Link stopped at this, his eyes wide, feeling greatly puzzled.
"But-" he thought, his lips moving out of pure habit. "I never talk, not since I was a young child."
"Well," the unicorn countered. "You sure can talk now. So tell me, who are you and where are you from?"
"Well," Link replied awkwardly, trying to get a grasp on talking for once. "My name is Link, and I come from a land called Hyrule." Link finished, still marveling at his new found ability of speech.
"Hmm..." the unicorn pondered. "I have never heard of a land called Hyrule, but, then again, I mainly focus on medicine. However, I have a friend who may have heard of it. You stay here and rest while I go and get her." the unicorn said as she quickly exited the room. Link, with nothing else to do, and his wound still hurting him, laid back down upon the soft pillows and fell back into his dreams.
At the Ponyville Library, Twilight Sparkle and her assistant, Spike, were finishing breakfast when a rapid knocking began at the door. With a sigh, Spike got up to go and answer the door, since Twilight was lost in her book as usual. As Spike opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of a very nervous, tan unicorn. She was practically trotting in place. The unicorn, whom Spike had seen on occasion at the Ponyville Medical Facility, was good friends with Twilight.
"Twilight," she cried. "I need your help!"