Navi was quite agitated after hearing Epona's angry rant. With teary eyes, the little fairy flew straight ahead, as fast as her wings could carry her. As she didn't really pay any attention where she was going, she didn't see the object in her flight path until she collided with it.
"Ack!" a voice shouted. "There's something bright and shiny stuck on my horn. Bon Bon, quick! Get rid of it."
Confused and disoriented, Navi clung to the object which turned out to be the horn of a mint-colored unicorn pony. The unicorn shook her head violently, which disoriented the fairy even more and on top of that, made her feel dizzy and sick.
The earth pony mare standing next to the unicorn shook her hoof in Navi's direction. "Shoo! Get away from her, you stupid… thing. Lyra, it won't let go. Ugh, looks like some sort of glowing parasprite."
"A parasprite?" Lyra gasped. "Damn you greedy little buzzers… I won't let you eat my delicious cake this time. Feel the wrath of Lyra Heartstrings!"
"No, wait!" Navi shouted, but it was too late. One single, powerful blast of telekinetic energy from the unicorn's horn sent her flying in a wide arch over Ponyville's rooftops.
"It's gone," Lyra sighed. "Finally!"
Blinking, Bon Bon looked in the direction where the flying creature had disappeared. "Is it me or did that parasprite just talk?"
"Looked very strange for a parasprite," Lyra said. "Those appendages on her limbs… wait a minute…" Her eyes widened. "Were those… HANDS?"
Bon Bon facehoofed. "Here we go again…" she muttered.
'This day can't get any worse,' Navi thought to herself as she was flung through the air via Unicorn Magic Express. Fortunately, her flight was stopped by something big, soft and furry.
"That was close," she sighed. "How fortunate this thing was here to catch me… whatever it is." She looked up… and looked into the face of a gigantic bear. A bear whose stomach she was lying on.
"Me and my big mouth…" she whimpered. "Oh no! Where's Link when you need him? EEEEEEK!" She curled up in a tiny ball when the bear's massive maw came down on her.
But then she heard a very soft voice speaking: "Oh my. What is that you've got there, boy? Please, don't startle it. Whatever it is, the poor thing looks deathly afraid." Navi then felt herself being engulfed in the gentlest embrace she ever felt. When she opened her eyes, she saw nothing but curtains of yellow feathers, all around her. A pair of beautiful wings had scooped her up and carefully placed her on top of a small stool.
The yellow pegasus mare pulled back her wings and smiled down at the fairy. "There you go. Nothing to be afraid of, little one. Harry didn't mean to scare you. He's the friendliest bear you can find."
Navi took a deep breath. "Th… thank you. I thought that would be the end of me."
The pegasus let out a surprised gasp. "Y-you can talk? Oh, that's wonderful. I've never seen any creature like you before, what are you? Oh, pardon me… my name is Fluttershy. What's your name?"
"I'm Navi… I'm a fairy." Navi started to relax. The sweet and innocent behavior of the pony helped immensely to calm her nerves.
"A fairy? I've heard of many different creatures before, but never fairies," Fluttershy said. "Are you related to the Breezies?"
"Kind of," Navi nodded. "We live in the same world."
"How fascinating!" Fluttershy gushed. "I have a Breezy friend called Seabreeze. I'm sure the two of you would be the best of friends."
"Seabreeze?" Navi asked in surprise. "But he already is my friend. You know him?"
"Oh yes," Fluttershy nodded. "I met him and the other Breezies when they were passing through Ponyville on their way back to their home. But why don't you come inside? I've made some tea for my little animal friends and myself. Would you like to join us?"
"Excuse me, have you seen my friend?" Link asked. "She's blue, has dragonfly wings and glows all the time."
"Does she also have HANDS?" Lyra asked.
Link grimaced. That unicorn's grin was… unsettling. "Um, I better keep searching. Bye…" And he left.
Bon Bon sighed. "That is the third stallion you managed to scare off this week, Lyra. At this rate, neither of us is going to find a date anytime soon. You know ponies are starting to think we're filly-foolers, don't you?"
Meanwhile, Link realized he was slowly getting used to his new body. Running on four legs wasn't as complicated as he thought it would be. Just like when he had turned into a Deku, Goron or Zora for the first time, his body seemed to know what it was doing. As if the magic in the mask also gave him all the instincts that were natural to that race.
Being in a village full of creatures he never met before was also no problem. His biggest adventure had begun after he left the Kokiri village for the first time as a child. And during his journey, he had visited all kinds of different settlements inhabited by other races. That they they walked on all fours and were as colorful as a rainbow made these ponies no different. By now, the Hero of Time was used to all sorts of strangeness in his life.
Several minutes later, he decided to give up on his search for Navi for the time being. He didn't have a single clue where she could have disappeared to. On top of that, he didn't know where Epona went either. So he did what he did every time he entered a new village: Go sightseeing and talk to everybody! And as it turned out, the local ponies had a lot to say:
"Are you new in Ponyville? Make sure to visit our library some time."
"Rainbow Dash is our local weathermare, but she's soooo lazy. I wonder how she gets her job done when she sleeps half the time."
"Thank Celestia you didn't visit our little town last week, stranger. It was so awful. All those black, horrible thorns everywhere… the horror! The horror!"
"…do I know you?"
About half an hour later, Link was much more informed about Ponyville than before. Eeyup, talking to villagers always helped to be up to date.
What was next on his to-do list? Visiting all the different shops, of course. And since he was standing right in front of what looked like some sort of shop, he decided to start there.
A small bell jingled when he opened the door.
"Coming!" a melodic voice chanted. "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique and magnifique." The proprietor, a charming white unicorn, approached him with a smile. "I am Rarity. How can I help y… WAHAHAAAAHA!"
Link winced when the mare suddenly started running around, looking at him from every possible angle. "Sorry, but… what are you doing?" he asked.
"My stars!" she gasped. "Darling, where DID you get an outfit like that? The design… so simple, yet so dashing! I seldomly see a stallion wear a lot of things outside of formal attire, but this is such a brilliant design. Yet you wear it so naturally."
Link looked down. "You mean… my tunic?"
She nodded. "Oh yes! It makes you look so bold, so adventurous… almost like a courageous hero on an epic journey. Clothes make the stallion, as the old saying goes, and it's certainly true in your case. And that green nicely emphasizes your mane." She then wrinkled her nose. "But I must say, the hat seems a little… silly. I would advise you to go without it."
Now it was Link's time to frown. "But I like my hat."
"Are you sure? I mean, it's up to you, of course. But have you tried wearing a nice headband? Or maybe a hood?"
He shook his head. "The hat stays."
"If you insist," Rarity sighed. "But say, would you mind if I used your outfit as an inspiration? I just had a great idea for an all-new line of stallion's wear."
Link shrugged. "Sure, go ahead. So… this is a clothing store?"
"Why, certainly," Rarity said. "And while I can only praise you for your fashion sense, I understand that a good-looking stallion like yourself would try out something new now and then. So, do you see anything you like?"
'Was I just hit on by a pony?' Link wondered. Instead of pondering that question for too long, he replied: "I never really thought I had a good fashion sense… I usually don't wear anything besides this. To be honest, I can't remember if I've ever seen a boutique in Hyrule Castle Town…"
"Hyrule? I'm very sure I never heard that name before. Is that your hometown?"
"In a way, but I actually grew up in Kokiri Forest," Link said. "You know, right next to Lost Woods…" He stopped himself when he saw the confusion on the unicorn's face. He realized that she probably would have never heard of these names either. "Nevermind," he said. "Say, I'm new in town. Are there any places of interest I should visit while I'm here?"
A big grin then appeared in Rarity's face. "I just know the right place for you. And since you so generously allowed me to use your clothes as an inspiration, let me close the store early for today so I can take you there myself. Since I am a regular customer there, I'm sure they will give you some sort of discount. Come on, now… what was your name again?"
"It's Link."
"Let us go then, Link!" Rarity shouted as she dramatically raised her hoof up in the air. "To the Ponyville Day Spa!"
"Thank ya kindly for helping me deliver these pies to Goldie Delicious, Pinkie," Applejack said as she pulled the now empty cart along the pathway.
"No biggie," Pinkie Pie smiled while bouncing after her orange friend. "You know I love making my friends smile. And visiting a sweet old lady who lives with no pony but a huuuge amount of kitties while also bringing her lots and lots of yummy pies definitely counts as making somepony smile in my book."
"There you are, girls," Granny Smith greeted them as they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. "Did y'all run into any sort of trouble on your way to cousin Goldie?"
"Nopiedopie!" Pinkie said. "Nothing happened at all on the trip. It was kind of boring actually, if you ask me. I wanted to take the longer route through the scariest cave in Equestria and down that funneriffic waterfall, like last time, but Applejack didn't want to."
"Now Pinkie, I told you I'm very busy today," Applejack chuckled. "Taking the longer route takes too much time. Maybe next time, okay?"
"And you're totally not saying that because you're afraid of going through that cave again, right?" Pinkie asked.
Applejack gulped. "Nope… not one bit."
"Okay, just asking." Pinkie grinned.
"It sure is nice of you to offer your help, Pinkie," Granny Smith said. "Applejack probably would still be on her way to Goldie's hut if you hadn't helped her pull the jalopy."
"Hey, we're cousins now," Pinkie said. "I'm so happy to be part of this family. I'll always help if you need something done."
Applejack couldn't help but smile. It was still unclear if Pinkie really was their fourth cousin twice removed, but in the end, it didn't matter. Every time she came to help on the farm or to visit, it brought joy to everypony. She made the Apples laugh, and in turn, the Apples made her feel at home. Apple Bloom was overjoyed to have a new, second-favorite cousin (Babs was still her favorite) and they had already invited Pinkie to the next Apple family reunion.
"Where's Apple Bloom, Granny?" Applejack asked while putting the cart away.
"She's at Sugarcube Corner with her little friends," Granny said. "Oh, that reminds me: We had a couple of nice visitors on the farm today. A bunch of wanderers from another town. A young stallion, a mare and a little thing that looked like a Breezie…"
"Really? I'm sure Fluttershy would've loved to see that…"
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud gasp.
"There are NEW PONIES in town?" Pinkie shouted. "OHMYGOSH! I need to get everything ready for a welcoming party… seeyouguyslater!" And faster than you could say 'Filli-Second', she was off.
Applejack rolled her eyes in amusement. Typical Pinkie.
"Y'know, Applejack…" Granny said. "There's something about that mare I wanted to tell you…"
Applejack was taken aback. Granny was talking to her in a very calm and focussed voice, something you rarely hear from her nowadays. It always meant that she was about to talk about something serious. "…what is it, Granny?"
"Well, she looked very familiar. I'm not sure… but I'm having this nagging feeling I know her. And you as well. And Big Macintosh."
"Really?" Applejack was both surprised and intrigued. "What does she look like?"
"Brown coat, white mane… pretty normal, actually. Well, except for her cutie mark. I've never seen anything like it before. Three golden triangles put together…"
Applejack frowned. "That doesn't sound like anypony I know. Yer absolutely sure we know her?"
"Did ya listen to me at all? I just said I'm not sure!"
"Okay, okay, I got it. You wanna take a look at the old family album? Maybe she's in there somewhere."
"Not today," Granny yawned. "I'm getting a bit tired. I think I'll be taking a nap. You make sure Apple Bloom doesn't come home too late, will you?"
"Sure, Granny," the younger mare nodded. "Have a nice sleep."
Granny Smith's tale of the pony stranger had made Applejack unusually curious. If it wasn't for her remaining chores of the day, she would have started to do some research on the mare right away.
But that could wait. She could still take a look at the family album later. And maybe Twilight with her bookworm tactics could help her. And if Pinkie was planning a party for the newcomers (and knowing Pinkie, she would), Applejack would always be able to speak to the stranger herself at the party.
Maybe Granny was right. Maybe there was nothing to worry about. Maybe the mare was just a stranger neither of them had seen before. Maybe she just mistook her for another pony. There were a lot of brown ponies in the Apple family. And that weird triangle cutie mark? Nah, there was no way she would forget a cutie mark as strange as that.
It's not like meeting that pony would change everything in Applejack's life. Surely not…