Last Joint
It was another two and a half weeks after that before Hinka was able to walk on his own again. A day or two after they were all introduced to him for the first time, Fluttershy worked on getting him onto his feet again.
"I'm right here, Hinka. I won't let you get hurt. Lean on me for support."
The extra time he spent with her did wonders for the speech barrier. Whatever sorcery Fluttershy knew that allowed her to speak to him crumbled the barrier very fast.
He was extremely wobbly on his feet at first and every step with his wounded leg was brutally painful. His first attempt resulted in him yelping in pain and his knee buckling in surprise. Fluttershy, who had a wing over his shoulders for this very situation, tightened her grip on him and knelt with him.
"I know it hurts, but you need to be able to walk. We can't keep carrying you everywhere and I know you don't like us doing it either. It's going to get better, Hinka. The pain will go away."
He did not make a gesture to show his understanding. He got his feet back under him and stood once more, wincing at the ache in his mangled leg. Fluttershy smiled at him encouragingly.
"Tap my side when it gets to be too much and we will stop."
Link took his first four steps then with Fluttershy holding him. Though he did not cover much distance at all, it felt like he had scaled Death Mountain again and followed up with Snowhead. His leg was throbbing and he was panting.
When she was sure he was steady enough on his feet, Fluttershy slowly took her wing off his shoulders and took a few steps forward before turning around to face him. She beckoned him with one hoof towards her, and his determination shone brilliantly. His next steps were alone, though he did end up collapsing into her arms at the end, they were his and his alone.
It was the first day he really walked among ponies.
Slowly but surely his distance and endurance increased. When he started, Fluttershy was never far away to help him if he needed her. Towards the end, he was able to walk with her at the door to her home, though he did walk now with a noticeable hobble. He frowned. If he had a healing fairy that would not be an issue.
Fluttershy had told him what the plan was. Her friends had spent his next few weeks of recovery dropping by individually to speak with and get to know him better, though mainly through Fluttershy. Their language was tough to learn, and so far he only had a few words down.
Link learned much about the white unicorn, Rarity. He at first was not looking forward to talking to her. She was the one who cringed at him on their first real meeting. He quickly learned that she was quite finicky about clothing.
"That's what I was so deep in thought about, darling. Not your dashing good looks," she winked. "I was thinking of your hat. Your tunic was mostly in shreds after your... accident. I was not sure I would be able to do anything about any of it."
Link blinked. He liked that tunic, but it wasn't the end of the world to him if it was beyond repair.
"As of now, I am still working on your tunic itself. Your hat, however..."
Link watched in awe as her horn began to glow.
He couldn't stifle his gasp when she revealed his favorite hat. It was freshly laundered and looked as good as new! He swore he saw it shine.
"I do hope it is satisfactory."
He smiled and gave her a low "Thank you." She waved off his gratitude with a hoof.
"It's no trouble at all, darling. Just try not to let it get into such a dreadful state again, okay?"
Link almost said "No promises."
His meeting with Applejack was a bit more stilted at first. She spoke about a few simple topics like the weather, sleep, and comforts. Once the ice was well and truly broken, there was little else to say. Even Fluttershy was feeling kind of awkward.
Eventually, Link asked a question.
"Do you like apples?"
He was being a bit sarcastic when he said it, given the apple images on her flanks and the word being in her name, but apparently it was the right thing to ask, because suddenly Applejack had life again.
"Darn tootin' I do! We grow them over on our farm. We own the largest apple distributor in Equestria. Sweet Apple Acres."
Link blinked. Really? She was that passionate about apples? He decided to let it go. There were some Kokiri who were fascinated by dust, rocks, and watching grass grow. They weren't called the Know-It-All Brothers for nothing. If you had a question about the dust on your windowsill, the rocks in your yard, or how much your grass grew in the last few days, they were the ones to ask.
He smiled a bit to himself. Unbeknownst to the Know-It-All Brothers, there was an ongoing pot by the entire village save for them. Whenever they knocked you out with a lecture on any of those topics, you had to add a rupee to the pot. If you could make it through the entire lecture without falling asleep though, you would win the whole thing. Last Link checked, it sat at around 598 rupees. Link had been debating using the mask of an insomniac's torment to win the pot, but decided against it. Someone would sneak into his house and steal the winnings.
Applejack took his smile as genuine interest, and so she rambled more about the farm, how she got her "Cutie mark"- whatever the hell that was, and her little sister and big brother.
He did admire her passion, however. Link himself was fascinated by war stories after all, and he held no doubt that they would bore you to tears if you did not share that interest.
He was somewhat impressed, too. Applejack, at least from her comments, comes from the largest and most successful apple orchard this side of the Lost Woods (or the Everfree Forest, as Fluttershy called them). As a result, her family was also the wealthiest in the country. She claimed that they owned at least parts of most of the stores in every town, had schools opened in troubled towns at their own expense, and they even owned the train station.
Link's expression very quickly went from mild impression to complete neutrality again, and she spotted it. She chuckled in good nature.
"Shoot, I'm sorry. We're all really proud of the farm is all, and I'm always happy to shoot my jaw off about it."
She trailed off when she looked at Fluttershy, who, to her credit, had kept up with and recited everything Applejack had said to that point. She was now panting and reddened because of it. She did not often give her voice box such a work out.
She and Link both gave Fluttershy a much needed reprieve while Link tried to keep "train station" in mind. Did that mean you would be trained at the stations? What did they train you in? Cooking? Hunting? Survival? Combat? How would you find one? Where did Link go to get train stationed?
It was the first thing he asked when Fluttershy signaled she was ready again. Before Applejack could start talking again, he raised a hand slightly.
"What's a 'trame stashun'?"
Link's meeting with who he dubbed "Purple Book Horse" before he learned her name initially left something to be desired.
First of all, she got that nickname because the first thing she did on her first meeting with him alone (save for their translator) was drop five books on the coffee table, open one up, and ready a quill and some ink for herself. Without saying a word, she stared at him expectantly.
He blinked. She blinked back. Fluttershy blinked too, and somewhere in Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie blinked. Nopony else in existence did. That's how the story works.
Link simply looked up at Fluttershy questioningly. She looked equally confused.
"Umm, Twilight?"
Twilight blinked. In an alternate universe somewhere, TD Harrison Powell blinked too.
"Maybe you should ask him something? If you want to, I mean."
"Ah!" she nodded. "What are you called? I mean, what is your species?"
"Human," was the one word response.
"Do you have races? Like what we have: Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns?"
"Kokiri, Hylians, Gorons, Deku Scrubs, Zora, and Gerudo," should have been the response. Fluttershy attempted to use the words but she couldn't get them translated properly. Before Fluttershy could explain the problem, Twilight levitated a book over to him along with a quill.
"She would like you to write them down, Hinka. Can you do that?"
He began to scribble away on the page for her, not interested in answering what he felt was obvious. After a few moments, he handed the paper to Twilight. She grinned excitedly at him, though he did not share her enthusiasm.
The rest of her visit came and went in a flurry of questions directed at him and his home. He tried to be irritated with them but he simply couldn't maintain the focus of his frustration. She had something he admired: passion for what interested her. It was a love he desired himself, but he did not even recall what interested him anymore beyond war stories. It had been too long for him.
All in all, it was a productive meeting for Twilight Sparkle and one that made Link both jealous and happy for her. He would not be adverse to seeing her again.
Then came the pink. All at once. So much pink. She had big blue eyes and her mane looked like a candy Navi got him when he visited Castle Town for the first time- Cotton Candy. He didn't like it; too sweet.
She surprised him. Fluttershy had warned him before that the pink one was known for bouncing off walls and being a little bit clinically insane. She assured him that she would reign her in if things got nutty.
Instead of going out of her mind like he was warned, though, the pink mare without the horn or wings calmly sat down across from him, gave him a gentle wave and a smile, and her words translated to, "Hello, I'm Pinkamena. But you can call me Pinkie Pie."
Fluttershy was stunned too. You really never could tell just what was going through Pinkie's head.
When she got over her shock, she relayed the alien's name. She quickly learned that Hinka's refusal to speak much was not borne of weakness but from shyness. He simply did not like to talk much and would rely on Fluttershy to relay certain things about him. He would speak when he absolutely had to, but he clearly did not feel comfortable doing so. She wanted to break that habit of his too. Fluttershy was very soft spoken, sure, but she was no longer a selective mute like he seemed to be. Her friends helped her with that.
She smiled gently at him. Whenever she looked at Hinka she saw herself. He was a gentle soul from a faraway land and a young one at that. There was still much he had to learn and experience in life.
"My favorite thing to do is plan parties. Especially for all the new ponies in Ponyville! Or- or in this case new aliens! Because you're new, so you probably don't know anypony here, and that makes me super duper sad. So I like to make parties so then you know everypony in Ponyville and you have all the friends!"
She grinned excitedly at him. "And they're surprise parties. The bestest parties ever. You never know when they're going to strike like a bat!"
"Pinkie," Fluttershy warned. She did not want the pink menace getting out of sorts now and possibly making Hinka uncomfortable. Fortunately for her, he seemed to be doing alright.
For Link himself, he found himself admiring the pink. She was very bubbly, but also seemed to be very sweet. She reminded him of Fado, the eccentric Kokiri girl who seemed to know everything about the Lost Woods. Perhaps she too came here before and just never told anyone? She entered the woods not long ago and never came back out. If he found her here maybe he could escort her home, or she him.
It sounded a lot better in his head. Fado's disappearance was widely attributed to an old urban legend among the Kokiri: the myth of the charioteer. It was a far fetched tale told by the skull kids and carried on the winds of the mystical trees.
They would say that, on the nights where the moon was waning and half gone, anyone who wandered the trees may be offered a ride from a phantom guiding a chariot. His chariot would appear to be pulled by two horses, but nothing would be attached at the bridles. Those approached by him would find themselves trusting him as they would a close friend. He would make his offer to them and turn about such that the passenger side was available to them.
If you could resist the overwhelming temptation of accepting his offer, the shade would vanish and leave behind the chariot for you. If you accepted his offer, however, he would take you into the woods, never to be seen again. The next one to accept the ride, however, would find the phantom's likeness having some aspect that matched the previous victims.
Supposedly, nobody who was approached by the phantom managed to resist, so nobody got to take his carriage.
The pink waved a hoof in front of his face and he gave his head a shake. She gasped loudly.
"You- you don't like cake? How is that possible?"
He blinked. He had no issues with barleycakes. As a matter of fact he knew how to make a very good one. He swore by them. They were excellent at ridding the tongue of the taste of black broth1, a dish the Kokiri often lived off of during the winter months. It was far from a delicacy, but it was a hot meal and it gave you much needed energy.
Call him crazy, but Link found himself craving a bowl of the stuff now. It was absolutely rancid and there was a story of Ganondorf attempting to eat it as a show of "being for the working class," some time before he overthrew the Hylian Royal Family. The evil king very promptly threw it back up after a single spoonful, and the Great Deku Tree attributed it to his "having a taste nary at all different from a prissy missy." Link believed that was one of the things that enraged him, though how he could have heard it was anyone's guess.
Out of nowhere, Link found himself being shaken by the shoulders, causing immense pain to shoot through his body. Fluttershy stopped the pink from continuing quickly. She scolded the menace in a very un-Fluttershy like fashion too!
"Pinkie Pie! He's still recovering! How could you do that to him?"
Pinkie instantly removed her hooves from his shoulders and- did her mane just fall straight? It went from complete chaos to straightened and droopy.
"Apologize this instant, missy!"
She didn't apologize. Instead, her eyes welled up with tears and she began to sob loudly. Fluttershy all at once dropped whatever irritation she had and hugged the pink psycho. Pinkie's time became an impromptu therapy session.
So the meeting was going great.
Link was told a lot of nonsensical things about the pink one. He recalled her saying that she grew up on a rock farm, prompting him to stare blankly. He didn't even have to say anything for Fluttershy to know what he was wondering.
"What do you grow?" she asked for him.
"Rocks."
"What do you do with the rocks?"
"We push 'em."
There was silence after that, and soon enough the pink had to leave. Link did not mind.
The next one to visit with him was the ket maned one, and she was having a hard time suppressing a grin. Her eyes shot to his instruments, and then back to him. She said something in her language, and he looked to Fluttershy.
"Oh! Umm, she says 'so awesome.'"
He blinked. His favorite instrument was made of forest wood and broken, and the Ocarina of Time was just blue and shiny with the golden triangles at the mouth piece. What was so awesome about that?
She looked to his rucksack of masks, and to her credit, she didn't even flinch at the mask of Majora as it gazed at her from the top. Link entertained himself a bit by wondering if Majora would be puzzled by current events too. In reality, she would probably just kill everything in a ninety kilometer radius because she could before moving on to the rest of the world. Majora cared for nothing and saw mortal creatures as playthings meant to be discarded when they no longer amused her.
Link puffed himself up a bit. At least he was the one mortal who put her in her place.
Bet you'd like to stretch your legs, he thought to himself.
His eyes widened when he saw rainbow mane holding Majora's Mask in her forehooves and staring into the eyes. He heard Fluttershy pleading with her to put it down.
"That's Hinka's property, Rainbow. I don't think he wants you playing with it."
"Aww, relax. I won't break it. It's too small for me anyway. See?"
Rainbow turned the mask around and began to bring it closer to her face. Link could sense Majora's spirit beginning to stir.
"NO!" he screamed, slamming a hand on the couch. Pain raked his recovering body and he was pretty sure he re-opened a few injuries, but his outburst had the desired effect. Rainbow was surprised, and she dropped the mask to the floor.
Rainbow was about to respond in some fashion, but trailed off when she saw the panic on his face. For a few moments, all was silent. Somewhere, off in the distance, a dog barked.
Fluttershy was the first to recover. She moved to his side and wrapped a wing around him; he was shaking.
"Oh dear," she said softly. "Rainbow's sorry, Hinka. She didn't mean to upset you."
"Yeah, kid. I didn't mean anything by it. Just trying to make you smile. Wouldn't I look silly with such a tiny mask on?"
"Not Majora," he whispered. "Never that mask."
"What's wrong with it?" asked Rainbow.
He shook his head, but he said nothing else. Rainbow cautiously picked up the dreaded mask again, but this time she carefully set it on Link's lap.
"I'm sorry. I mean it. You don't like me touching that mask. That's cool. I don't like when anypony touches my flight suit. But what about..."
She trailed off again, and looked to his bag. She pointed a forehoof at another mask that was poking its way out. Link could recognize the rounded brown mask anywhere. He encouraged her to take it out with a nod, and she did so.
Fluttershy, meanwhile, continued holding him in her wing. Link could feel his heart rate slowly going back to normal.
Rainbow let out a laugh when she took the mask out, and to be fair, Link could picture how ridiculous she would look in it.
"What about this one? Can I try this one on?" she asked.
He gave a nod with a small smile. The spirits of the Goron, Deku, and Zora masks were bound to him and him alone. So long as someone else put them on, the spirits would continue to sleep. There would be no transformation. It was good too, because Link wasn't sure he would be able to unsee one of these enormous pegasi as gorons.
Sure enough, there was no magic surge or anything of the sort when Rainbow put the mask on. All there was was a large pegasus with a round Goron face partially obstructing her own.
She got a laugh out of the boy, which prompted Fluttershy to smile and giggle a bit too. Rainbow joined in.
"I am Dash! Here me roar!"
Dash? He thought her name was Rainbow.
"Rainbow Dash is silly, isn't she Hinka?"
...Oh.
Link's laughter died down and his smile left his face when he looked to his lap again. Majora stared up at him.
The last one to sit and have a frank discussion with him was Fluttershy. They did so over dinner that night.
"Hinka, I know you want to go home."
He looked to her in curiosity. Fluttershy was pushing a piece of broccoli around with a fork.
"I want you to know that I enjoyed having you here with me. You're a good colt. The Everfree, however, is dangerous. I don't want you going in there alone again."
He blinked, waiting for her to continue.
"I know you want to go home, and I know that you were in that crazy forest on your own. You know how that turned out."
He scowled a bit. Was she questioning his defensive abilities? Sure, he got his rear handed to him in the fight with the wooden wolves, but he still managed to inflict some considerable damage on their numbers before he went down!
She smiled gently at him. "So I want to help you. If you're going to go into the woods again, please come to me. I will help you get home. Do you know which way your home is?"
He shook his head. He had gotten himself lost because he was so sure he was in the Lost Woods. He knew now how wrong he was.
Fluttershy frowned. "Oh, dear. How do you plan on getting home, then?"
He pointed to his blue ocarina with a smile. Fluttershy eyed it curiously.
"Your instrument?"
He nodded.
"But how? What will that do?"
"Magic," was all he said.
Fluttershy smiled a bit, but it was chased from her face shortly.
"If you're leaving us so soon, please promise me one thing, Hinka."
He looked to her, awaiting her request. She smiled at him once more.
"Please, if you find your way home, don't shut yourself in. Make friends. Find family. Be a child again. Begin again."
She brushed his bangs out of his eyes.
"Whatever happens, you'll always be welcome here. The most important thing is, be safe."
She looked to his bandaged up leg. It was healing nicely, but still throbbed from time to time. The bandages, initially taking up the entire leg down to his foot, now only obstructed his thigh. Rarity had promised him socks as well. When he was lounging, he regularly had the blankets cocooned around his bare feet.
"I don't want this to happen to you again. Nopony does. So, please be safe."
He gave a nod and a smile. After supper, he decided.
The rest of it was eaten in relative silence.
He stopped her before she went to the kitchen with the dishes.
"What is it? Still hungry? I'll get you some dessert."
He shook his head, but held up the Ocarina of Time.
Fluttershy's expression, at first mildly confused, changed to a knowing smile. "You wish to play something for me?"
Link was a boy of action and as such, often liked to let his actions speak for him. He put the instrument to his lips, and he played the lively, upbeat melody carried on the winds in the Lost Woods. It was referred to by many a Kokiri as the "Soul of the Forest," but Link knew it as something else.
The song possessed a strange ability. It was perhaps the only song Link knew whose innate magic could be used only on Saria's ocarina. When played on that particular instrument, some kind of connection would open. Her voice would come through the instrument he held just as clearly as if they were standing next to each other.
When he played it on the Ocarina of Time, however, it never once worked. Link believed it was the connection she had to the other instrument. Nobody would deny the importance of the Ocarina of Time, but it did not have the same place in Saria's (or Link's) hearts as the simple ocarina made from forest wood.
He loved the song even without its magic. Whenever he played it he felt close to Saria. It was a song that kept him company on many a dark day in Termina.
When he played it, nothing else mattered. It was just him and his thoughts. The rest of the world could wait until he was done.
When he finished, Fluttershy applauded- by stomping her front hooves on the ground gently. He blushed a bit.
"You play very well, Hinka. What a beautiful song. Are there any words to it?"
He shook his head. She hummed thoughtfully, then smiled at him.
"Tell you what: Let me take care of these dishes, and when I get back we can brainstorm some lyrics too if you like, okay?"
Link smiled.
It was not long after that when Link saw the town Fluttershy lived on the outskirts of for the first time.
He hobbled along with the six horses. He had been told that they hated being called horses and preferred pony, so Link decided to compromise and call them horses. Ponies were small. Horses? Not so much. When he was chastised for referring to them as horses for the first time by Twilight Sparkle, he simply said "Stop being so tall."
He would be lying if he said he wasn't the least bit intimidated by the sheer size of the town. Even some of the foals were a head taller than he was.
Fluttershy was still the only effective way of understanding most of what the others were saying. By now, he knew a few more words and had enough experience to form simple sentences, but his lack of understanding of Equish sentence structures meant most of what he said was tough to get the gist of until it was decoded.
It also didn't help matters that Link plain didn't like speaking, be it in Hylian or Equish.
As it was, Pinkie Pie was hopping along nearest to him and yapping rapidly. The only things he managed to understand out of her were the words "party," "fun," "friends," "pink," and "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis."
Fluttershy was conversing with Twilight Sparkle about something or another. He picked up "Hinka" a few times in her soft conversation, which he had figured out a while ago was just how they said his name here. He had no issue with it. Just so long as they didn't call him Zelda.
Rarity was humming to herself, Rainbow Dash kept doing showoffy zigzags and flips in the air, and Applejack was just walking nonchalantly.
Link became acutely aware that the buzz the town had going about it had come to a standstill. When he looked at the other horses outside of the group he was with, he saw that they had stopped what they were doing as he drew nearer to stare at him. Not in his eyes necessarily; just his person. Some eyed him in confusion, others in distrust, and others still in disbelief.
The one thing they all had in common, however, was eyes as wide as saucepans. It would have made him feel self conscious if he hadn't stared down the undead before- and won.
To their credit, they did not panic outright. They just murmured in their bizarre language to one another and gave him plenty of space. Twilight Sparkle spoke to a few in passing, presumably about how he was either harmless to them, or was being marched to his execution and they all had tricked him.
The latter was somewhat less likely, though it did make him wonder where his weapons had disappeared to.
The group finally made it to their destination, and Link was put in awe. It was a large pearly white building with gorgeous pillars, armored horses outside, and strange black half-spheres placed sporadically around the ceiling.
Fluttershy gently nudged him with a wing, and he looked to her in curiosity.
"City Hall. We need to do some paperwork first, then we will go to Twilight's."
He blinked. Paperwork? He sincerely hoped they didn't expect him to do much writing. He could barely speak the language, never mind write in it!
Fluttershy smiled at him.
"I know what you're thinking. Do not worry. You need not sign anything."
Link gave her a small smile, and they entered the building.
Link was confused.
The others had been led away shortly after entering the building, which appeared to have flat horses inside glass screens. Fluttershy simply said "TV" before she was guided off with the others.
"Love this show!" chirped Pinkie. She was the one tasked with staying with Link. He eyed the strange device. It wasn't holding real horses. They were pictures. Moving pictures.
How did they make the pictures move? How did they make the pictures talk? He was confused. Was this magic? Why didn't they have it in Hyrule? Did Zelda have "TV" and just not tell anyone?
He was somewhat used to the candles housed overhead in rectangle ceiling tiles, and he could deal with doors that opened by themselves. Fluttershy did not have this strange thing, though. Link decided at that moment that he did not like TV. The pictures were too flashy and movey.
Pinkie nudged him gently with a foreleg and pointed at what looked like a stallion in a suit.
"He best pony. Good guy. Know how to beat all the bad."
Link blinked at her. He pointed at TV.
"How work?" he asked. Pinkie blinked, and shrugged.
"Twilight probably knows. What favorite show?"
He blinked. Show? He thought it was called TV. Did she mean play? He didn't really watch that many plays.
He shook his head and gave a shrug, earning a gasp from Pinkie.
"Need show you more. You like. TV fun! Not too much TV though."
Link frowned a bit. He'd only seen a bit of it so far and that was too much. Give him a dummy to train on, an ocarina to play, or a park to run around in any day.
He frowned at a dark image on the screen. The "best pony" according to Pinkie had been knocked unconscious and he awoke chained to a wall underground. Another pony was gradually covering the only exit with bricks, entombing best pony. It reminded Link of the torture chamber he found below Kakariko Village. He'd climbed into a dry well because he dropped an especially shiny rupee into it, and found a cavern that led to a dungeon of nightmares.
He recalled vividly. Kakariko Village was a beautiful hamlet. It stood just at the foot of Death Mountain and at the crack of dawn every day the morning sun would grant a halo to the towering volcano. The village almost seemed to glow in the early morning sun. There was work aplenty to be had and also much to be done for recreation. They had their own graveyard that was so famous a place for bones that the royal family entombed its elite there. It was the place Link too would be entombed upon his death.
Kakariko was a place of serenity. When Castle Town fell to Ganondorf, Kakariko took in refugees.
None of the people ever found reason to go to the bottom of the well. As it was, none of the people ever found what slept just below the village.
It was not Link's first encounter with the redeads. His first encounter with those creatures was in the Kakariko graveyard when he learned the Sun's Song. He still remembered the poem he found written on a stone within one of the plots. It was an amazing feat, considering that encounter left him clutching one side of his neck as it bled freely, courtesy of a bite from one of the redeads.
The rising sun will eventually set,
A newborn's life will fade.
From sun to moon,
Moon to sun,
Give peaceful rest to the living dead.
Link felt a smile pull at his lips. The Sun's Song possessed the ability to stun any redeads in the vicinity as well as control the sunrise and sunset. Without it, Link doubted he would have made it back out of the grave. He'd fainted after he crawled back out and awoke in a warm bed with his neck wound bandaged thanks to a kind woman named Anju.
Link's exploration of the bottom of the well did, however, introduce him to a different creature. It was the one that he feared more than anything else.
He would never forget. It started out as but a single long arm. It was standing straight up out of a collection of skulls. Link remembered. The entire room was just constructed by bones. He whispered the Kokirian prayer of the dead2 with each step he took.
The hand simply wavered slightly in the air, but it did not react as Link drew closer. His blade was in his hand and his shield was up too. This strange hand would not get the drop on him.
The one that jumped up behind him, however...
"Watch out, Link!" cried Navi. Before he could make a peep, his head was jerked back by a bony hand.
That was the same moment that the abomination appeared.
It appeared to once be a human. Its skin was leathery and pale white, and its neck was elongated. Its head faced the ceiling at nearly all times. It had two stumps where its hands should have been. The bones on them had been sharpened not unlike spear heads, and it appeared that decomposition left the corpse itself completely bloated.
It moved slowly but methodically as Link struggled to free himself from the death grip of the strange arm. When it was close enough, it slowly lowered its head, and Link saw its grotesque face for the first time.
The skin was tight on it and it did not possess eyes. The lips were gone and all Link could see were teeth. The creature made no noises except for the creaking of its jaw as it opened its maw.
Link's eyes widened. His neck was exposed. The creature was lined up to rip his throat out.
That's exactly what it would have done had Navi not interfered. She flew forward directly into the creature's maw.
It being blind, as soon as she was within its mouth, it believed it had gripped Link's throat. Its teeth clamped shut, and light began to erupt from its eye sockets and teeth. It moved back and began to shake violently. Its mouth slowly creaked open and the death grip it had on Link's head loosened enough for him to escape.
Navi was completely unharmed. She had been projecting her magic into a divine shield for herself. It was a legendary spell that fairies knew well and could teach some mortals of: Nayru's Love3.
Its divine nature shed the judgement of Nayru on the undead creature accosting them. Navi flew out of its mouth safe and sound, and it lowered its head as the current from Nayru's Love continued to deliver divine retribution.
Its lowered head was also the only mistake it needed to make for Link to gain the upper hand. He drove his Kokiri Sword up through its chin, pulled it free, and cut its head from its elongated neck.
A white limb waved before his eyes and the thousand yard stare left him with a shocked gasp. He took a step back as he returned from his memories. He wasn't in the well with Navi. He was in a large building with strange talking and moving
pictures and several slightly concerned looking equines staring at him.
They spoke amongst themselves, but Link could not make out their words. He gave his head a shake and put a hand to it.
"Hinka, are you alright?" asked Fluttershy. He nodded.
"Are you sure?" she asked. He nodded once more. She smiled softly.
"Come. We are done here. How is your leg? Do you need a rest?"
He shook his head. His leg throbbed, but Link was no stranger to pain. It mattered little to him. Fluttershy gave him an understanding nod. He liked her.
"If you need a break, one of us will carry you."
Link was about to respond when a cheery jingle began to echo through the streets. One of the other horses sans Pinkie covered his ears, and not a moment too soon, for the Pink chose that moment to scream at the top of her lungs. He was pretty sure she could be heard from Termina.
"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE CREEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!!!"
Without another word (thank Farore) the pink menace shot off in a random direction. The others remained silent for a moment, and Link's ears were uncovered again.
"Ice cream sounds good. Hinka like?"
Fluttershy hummed, and turned to him.
"Do you like ice cream?"
He blinked. What the hell was ice cream?
"I don't know what that is," he said cautiously. He flinched at the sound of his voice. The flashback had robbed his mouth of all fluids and the sour taste of adrenaline hung on his tongue.
"WHAT?!" shrieked Pinkie Pie from a distance. In a second she was in his face again.
"Who doesn't know what ice cream is?!"
He was pretty sure she just started speaking Hylian. He couldn't be certain, as the others erupted into a low chatter of which he could only catch a few words:
"Train" came from Applejack. He remembered how stunned she was when he asked his perfectly reasonable question about trame stashuns.
"Heaven" came from Rainbow Dash, prompting Link to wonder if ice cream was in heaven, or heaven was in bits of ice cream.
"Primitive" came from purple smart book horse AKA Twilight Sparkle. His little finger faced her.
"Amazing" was the word Rarity chose. Pinkie chose not to speak, and instead stared at Link in what appeared to be mute horror.
Fluttershy put a hoof on his shoulder, and he looked up at her.
"I think you will like it. We will get ice cream!"
Link said nothing. Pinkie was the one who did the cheering. Cheering was her favorite. Fluttershy told him she once cheered because she got bills in the mail.
Fluttershy beckoned him, and together they all walked.
They were right. Farore, they were right. Ice cream really was heavenly. Much more so than vodka, scotch, bourbon, beer, and whatever other vices Tatl enjoyed.
What? He could use the puppy dog eyes just as well as these horses could. Tatl let him have "just a sip" of those things when she ordered them and he hated every single one of them.
They took him to an especially cold shop (which was welcome, as it was a very hot day) and Fluttershy explained to the best of her abilities what each flavor was like while the others did their best to prevent the storeowner from having a panic attack at the mere sight of him.
Link found it somewhat amusing. He was tiny in comparison to the horses and also far more fragile, yet the ones that did not know him seemed to be frightened. He found the same occurance amusing at home. Many people were afraid of spiders, though few in Hyrule were venemous (he didn't count skulltulas, as they were mostly beings of dark magic). Link liked spiders!
The options were many, but Link chose vanilla. It prompted further questioning by Fluttershy, which required more explanation of ice cream and what it stood for.
Essentially she had to describe toppings for him while the others got whatever it was they wanted. Link did not understand what a lot of the toppings even were (what the hell was a gummy bear?), so he opted to just get whatever Fluttershy got on hers. As it was, she ordered chocolate sprinkles.
While the orders were prepared, Link dug into a pocket on his tunic. Rarity had completely overhauled it for him. It was all but sparkling like a new rupee and was very comfortable; far more than his old one was. He'd thanked her profusely but when he offered to pay her, she declined. Fluttershy later explained that Rarity bore the Element of Generosity.
She told him tales of what she called the "Elements of Harmony" late into the night before deciding it was time he went to bed. She reminded him a lot of Navi in the sense that she was constantly looking out for him and making sure he was getting what he needed.
He pulled his wallet out of his pocket. Surely an "ice cream" couldn't be more than 20 rupees, right? Maybe it was a priceless treat. He decided that one more blue rupee wouldn't hurt, and he approached the counter that towered over him with the two in hand.
The stallion behind the counter must have been too busy to notice him, but Rarity sure did. She let out a gasp, and he turned his head partially to acknowledge her.
"Qua brien! Po fine, Hinka?"4
He blinked at her, and she pointed a shaking forehoof at the rupees. He eyed them again.
"Un ri, un bea, na gorgea! La se?"5
Fluttershy smiled at Rarity, then at Link. She knew what rupees were, as he had told her a bit about them. She whispered something to Rarity, prompting the unicorn's eyes to widen and for her to blush.
"Mei ostan filé por mina,"6 she whispered in horror.
Fluttershy giggled, then approached Link. "Hinka, you don't have to worry. I'll be happy to pay for you."
He blinked. The way he saw it, he'd been intruding on her good nature for too long now and had hoped to repay the favor. He looked back at the counter, where the stallion was eyeing the rupees with confusion. He said something to the group, which Link managed to translate to "Bits only."
Fluttershy approached the counter and placed a few coins on it, and Link, still holding the rupees, felt heat around his cheeks. He hadn't had someone do this kind of thing for him since Navi. She would buy him stuff, be it necessities to survive or just things he liked (if he was good). Tatl never did that sort of thing save for once or twice after he saved Termina and her brother.
Part of Link's mind got to thinking about Navi's departure. Had she come here too? Maybe she became a giant horse? His eyes widened. Maybe she was...
Fluttershy offered him his treat with a sweet smile.
"Enjoy, Hinka."
He gave his head a shake. He knew Fluttershy wasn't really Navi. They were very similar but also very different. Fluttershy showed Link pictures of her with her family growing up, and he'd seen Navi in Kokiri Village many times before she became his fairy, down to his youngest memories. He knew she wasn't Navi.
She wasn't!
But... would it hurt to pretend she was? Navi didn't just fly out of his life. She took his childhood with her. And he knew that the current arrangements were for him to be moved to the care of Twilight Sparkle, but perhaps he could just use what was left of his imagination.
He gave a sad sigh. One way or another, it mattered little. When he was left alone at Twilight's, he planned to utilize the Ocarina of Time to go home. He knew Fluttershy couldn't be his Navi. Nobody could but the fairy in question. He opted to leave a thank you note for all these horses had done for him.
He looked to the group chattering away with no sign of hostility in their features. No. Not horses. Ponies. Friendly faces.
A smile pulled at his lips.
Link was not particularly easy to surprise. You could alarm him, sure. You could make him jump a bit. You could make him think twice about something. But outright surprising him? It took a lot. Link was annoyed when he was cursed by Majora.
He wasn't surprised. When he saw the disaster looming overhead for the first time, he grew angry.
He was surprised when he saw a group of redeads dancing with surprising grace for the first time.
He was also surprised by Pinkie Pie's antics at first too, not the least of which being his surprise party at the type of castle that would put Hyrule's to shame.
He knew it was a surprise party because what seemed to be an entire town was in the building, and they all yelled "Surpri" before trailing off to stare dumbly at him. Perhaps it was a "Surpri" party then?
Twilight, to his interest, was the one to set them right. He did not know for sure what she was saying to them, but she did seem to be upset with how they were acting around him. She was giving them what for in such a way that Link saw many a set of ears begin to droop.
It was also the first time he met what he at first assumed was a pet dragon. The creature was a little smaller than he was and also pudgy. It eyed him with what Link assumed was fascination. It didn't stick around for long though. All at once its cheeks swelled up, it murmured something, and bolted to parts unknown.
When Twilight finished lecturing the other ponies, they began to mingle. Off in a corner, a unicorn with dark glasses and a crazy blue mane was turning disc things and a band in her big box was making music. Link made a mental note to ask someone where the band inside went when they had to use the bathroom.
He saw many ponies from earlier throughout town, confetti and balloons were all over the place, and a table was stacked full of all sorts of food that Link had never seen before. Pinkie would not stop grinning at him. He gave her a smile.
Fluttershy gave him a gentle nudge, and he looked to her to see what she needed.
"She organized this whole party for you. What do you say, Hinka?"
He looked to Pinkie again, who was in the process of blowing up a balloon animal, presumably because she felt like it. He approached her, and bowed slightly.
"Thank you," he said in heavily accented Equish.
The party was a whirl of horses dancing, lots of food Link had never seen before, games he had been somewhat familiar with (he was excellent at darts), and some more games he had never played before. Why would you grab apples from a bucket of water with your mouth? He had hands!
Link found a taste for muffins, though he only had two. They were very sweet but not too much so, and he enjoyed the texture, but he could actually feel the sugar in them destroying his teeth. So two.
He did not do a whole lot of mingling though. He mostly just stayed close to the horses he knew. The dragon had gone upstairs for some rest; he was apparently coming off an illness, and Link saw little reason to talk to the others himself. He only had the barest grip on their language anyway.
That didn't stop some of them from approaching and talking to him, though. Those who approached him ranged from an ancient mare who looked like she had been born the year before the Golden Goddesses, to a trio of fillies only about a head taller than he was. Due to the language barrier and Fluttershy's inability to be in several places at once, introductions had to wait.
Once it became clear that Link and Equish did not yet mix very well (about as well as Link and just speaking), most of the horses let him take in the party. They didn't look at him with disappointment or impatience, either. They seemed to understand that he was new to their language and land itself. If he decided to approach them, that would be enough.
He didn't, but still.
The party went on for several hours, and Link would admit to having enjoyed it. The guests would file out and Link would find himself taken upstairs in the ornate castle to a spare room.
His belongings had been moved there somewhere along the way. He did not know when exactly, but he suspected it was Fluttershy. She neatly stacked everything on a desk that was made smaller for his needs.
He was then subject to how horses say goodbye, though they did promise to check on him the following morning. Pinkie Pie force fed him a hug, Applejack gave him a pat on the back and tilted her hat for him, Rainbow Dash ruffled his hair, Rarity then fixed his hair, and Twilight gave him a smile and held out a hoof, which he grasped uncertainly.
She giggled, and gave him a gentle shake with the promise of being up to check on him in the morning, and inviting him to call if he needs anything.
Fluttershy was the last to leave the room. She smiled gently at him while he took in his surroundings some more.
"This will be your new room, Hinka. We all would like you to decorate it however you wish."
She put a hoof on his shoulder.
"But I know you do not want to be here much longer. That is okay. I know that we will be friends no matter what. I want you to know that you will be welcome with me always too."
She kissed his forehead.
"You behave for Twilight, Hinka. I will be by tomorrow to see you too, if..."
She looked to one side.
"If you have not left by then."
Fluttershy smiled gently at him once more.
"Sweet dreams, Hinka."
One quick nuzzle, and she turned away to leave the room.
"Fluttershy."
She stopped a step away from the door, and turned her head to acknowledge him. She listened as his small footsteps approached her, and she turned slightly.
She was surprised when he wrapped his arms around her foreleg and rested his head against it. He'd never returned a hug before. The first time she gave him one she noticed his tensing up at the contact. It was almost as if he had little knowledge of what they were.
She smiled though, and returned the hug. Fluttershy was always available for such an embrace whenever anypony needed it. She suspected Hinka viewed this action as a fitting way to say goodbye.
She squeezed her eyes shut, and a tear slid down one cheek onto his hat.
It's okay, Hinka. I know we'll be friends forever!
It was late that evening when he decided. He listened as the crickets sang him their tunes and watched the full moon bathe the town in its beauty.
It truly was a nice town, and the horses he met here seemed to be very kind too. Especially Fluttershy. He really liked her.
Still, he knew. As nice as his time in this world was, Link knew he did not belong here. There was a reason he did not stay in Termina after concluding that Navi was not there. Though he may leave his home to search for his wayward mother fairy, he belonged in Hyrule first and foremost. It was where he was born and where he became the young man he was now.
He was not a citizen of this place, no matter what anyone said. It was the same logic he had regarding his roots: Link knew that he was not a real Kokiri. He was a Hylian who was taken to the Lost Woods by his mother before her passing, and he was raised there as a Kokiri. Still, though Hylian blood flowed through his veins and he had nothing but respect for those people, he was a Kokiri through and through.
He was a Hyrulian citizen through and through.
It didn't matter how comfy the bed they afforded him was, either. He may have taken a short nap on it before collecting his goods and preparing a thank you note, and it may have felt like he was sleeping on clouds. But still. Hyrule.
He brought the Ocarina to his lips with a sigh. It was time. The note was on the bed. He did not have his weapons and shield, but he knew he could get replacements. It mattered little.
Softly, he played the beautiful and mystical notes taught to him by a mysterious Sheikah . He could feel the magic within the melody envelope him in warmth. He was going home home home!
He felt a smile begin to tug at his lips. Already he could see Hyrule Castle Town in his mind's eye. It was as he had figured: the mysterious trees near Fluttershy had been interfering with his magic. He must have been far enough away--
Something was wrong. All at once the magic enveloping him dissipated and he let out a gasp. What happened? The ocarina failed. Perhaps in his over eagerness he hit a wrong note? He knew from experience one wrong note with these melodies was enough to screw the entire spell up.
So, he did the logical thing: he tried it again. And again he felt the spell begin to take hold, and again he felt the magic envelope him.
And again it failed.
It failed again when he tried it for a third time, and then again when he tried for the fourth time.
It didn't work. He was still stuck. He couldn't escape.
He felt his blood run cold. Did he perhaps need to get further from the trees? That couldn't be it, could it? To make sure, he tried a song he learned from a madman, then again from a poe in Termina.
Instantly, the rain came outside his window. Lightning struck. His blood became ice. If it was his proximity to the trees, that song should not have worked.
He barely registered when the Ocarina of Time clattered to the floor. Maybe it was this realm, then. Perhaps there was too much magic here? Then why did the Song of Storms work? He had no idea. All he knew for sure was he could not teleport. If he could not teleport, then he was going to be here for a long, long time.
That night was the first real night in months that Link truly broke down and cried.
Fluttershy was not there to comfort him. His crying did not awaken Twilight or the dragon. He was alone.
He was always alone. Some things never change.
Perhaps this could with time? As it stood, however, Link prepared to face one of his sleepless nights, the speechless angel.
Edn
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You couldn't refuse, could you? Anyway, looking forward to the sequel
Enjoyable, and I love the cluelessness you play with in Link’s chatter. Tv, trains, ice cream, all things one like him would be unfamiliar with i’ll Be watching for more.
I hope the sequel didn't take long.
8915857
No way was i missing that one.
8916237
The idea of a modern age Equestria being where Link wound up intrigues me. It gives a lot more to work with.
Holy shit I should write a chapter that's just describing Link using a light switch. I think it would make a better love story than Twilight, but what do I know? I'm no Star Fox expert.
8916796
I will be taking a short recess to
drink a lot of vodka and cryrest and refresh the creative juices. After that we will continue. Say two weeks or so? Just keep in mind that like this, it's going to be largely slice of life. Smallish chapters for the most part, but a LOT of them.ok, i'm gonna be watching for the sequel.
you did a good job conveying all of the feelings, and it's interesting how link zones out in his memories - most stories would go on those tangents but only have them take up a second or two somehow.
8920334
Thank you for all the comments!
I'm interested in covering a lot of his memories. It offers the chance to get away from Equestria a bit. Because Equestria doesn't have redeads and that's a huge oversight.
8921753
I bet on Nightmare Night, all he has to do to scare the crap out of everyone is draw pictures and tell stories of the shit he's seen. Dead Hand alone would give everyone nightmares for weeks. Add Redeads to the mix and everyone would be shitting their nonexistent pants.
Adding Bongo Bongo might creep folks out, but Pinkie might be somewhat less frightened by the musically-inclined monster.
Though I bet when he tells everyone the story of Majora's Mask, they finally understand why the fuck he was so terrified when Rainbow almost put it on. Rainbow herself would be horrified to find out she was literally inches away from turning herself into the next Nightmare-Moon-tier disaster - and with one of the elements out of commission on account of being possessed, Taste The Rainbow Mothafucka wouldn't be an option.
8923822
*takes notes*
If I'm being honest, Bongo Bongo always kind of reminded me of a turkey. Covering exactly what happened to Link in the past will take a while, mind you, but if I can actually not fuck that up, it might work well.
I wonder how Link himself would deal with a rainbow version of Majora. In this story given that he claims he only won because Majora was just freshly revived, how would he fare against a Majora that could tap into and corrupt one of the Elements of Harmony?
Huh. Maybe a Halloween one-shot there somewhere.
Why did you give every chapter such bizarre and random names?
11683139
Because I am bizarre and random.