Sleepless Nights And Speechless Angels

by thelegendarytoothpaste

Respite Fit For A Hero

Back home, Link did not often wake up to the smell of breakfast cooking. It was usually up to him to prepare it himself. It was also not often that he slept in a bed that felt like it was made of the finest clouds.

If someone were to wake him in Kokiri Village, it was often through a prank. He awoke many times out of a dead sleep to instruments, deku nuts, screaming in his ears, and the like. Once he found a dead bird in his bed, though the Kokiri insisted that they hadn't done that one, whereas they would wear the other pranks like badges of honor. So he sleep cuddled a dead pigeon that night.

He rarely awoke to a soft knock on his door. Mainly because he didn't have a door.

"Hinka? It's time to get up. Breakfast."

He'd grown used to Twilight's voice in the time he had been among the ponies, but he still wasn't certain why she always sounded so happy and energetic. Especially in the morning. Link hated mornings.

Grumbling softly to himself, he slipped out of bed and changed out of the pajamas Rarity had made for him. They were a cotton blend with icons of swords and bows adorning them. She had offered him a slumber hat as well, but he turned her down. He only needed his trusty green hat. Saria had made it for him.

Besides, why would he wear a hat while he slept? Swimming? Sure. Wandering through an active volcano? Okay. Going to the moon to do battle with an ancient malevolent goddess? No problem. But sleep-hatting? Utter nonsense.

As his bare feet hit the last step, he pondered to himself if there were many ponies so attached to head wear, save for perhaps Applejack. He'd never seen Twilight Sparkle wear hats. She wore glasses sometimes but that was it. Rainbow Dash fairly often wore a flight suit and goggles, presumably to show off. Rarity wore a hat that looked like something Ganondorf's mother would probably wear, and only fleetingly. Fluttershy? He managed to get her to try on his hat out of boredom one day. It was far too small and looked ridiculous. In other words, perfect.

Pinkie Pie? She had an extensive collection of head wear. From berets to hard hats, fedoras to a wooden bucket with wires prodding out of it and flashing lights on it with the words "THINKING CAP" written on it in white paint. She often went without a hat, but he swore she could just hat ex-machina whenever needed.

Orange scooter filly wore a helmet a lot of the time. But helmets don't count as hats. Everyone knows that.

A purple scaly hand waved in front of his face and he blinked. Twilight softly smacked Spike's head and chastised him, then smiled at Link and invited him to sit at the table with them. She had stacked a few books for him so he would be able to actually reach everything.

He smiled at the sight. An omelette. He loved omelettes. Next to it was his usual milk, and a small purple tablet of some kind. He looked curiously at her.

"It's a vitamin. Good for you. Please eat, Hinka."

Link eyed the tablet for a moment and even gave it a sniff. Spike, huffing, threw another such tablet in his own mouth. Link decided that if the dragon could take it, he could too. It tasted of grapes. Link liked grapes.

Twilight smiled at the two boys. At least they hadn't completely come to blows.

"So, Spike. Did you have good dreams last night?"

The drake smiled at his Mother. "Yep! I dreamt that I had the largest horde of all dragonkind. I was using it to help the young fillies and foals make arts and crafts, and Rarity was so impressed she decided to give me a chance!"

Twilight chuckled. Classic Spike.

"Oh? Did you make her some arts and/or crafts?"

He blushed a bit. "Well, I uhh... may have offered her some of the horde. And then it was gone and dream-Scootaloo told me I was going to end up suplexing ponies for food."

He looked to a now thoroughly confused Twilight. "Uhh, you wouldn't let me go homeless like that, would you Twi?"
She gave him a deadpan stare. "Spike, you know I would never let it come to that. I would smother you in your sleep first."
She gave him a grin, and he chuckled.

"How about you, Hinka? How did you sleep last night?"

Link, who had been absentmindedly moving a piece of egg around his plate, perked up at his name. Spike was actually eyeing him with interest instead of distrust. Twilight smiled again.

"Dreams?" she enunciated. He nodded to show his understanding.
"Sleep okay. No dreams. No remember."

Twilight frowned a bit. She knew that he no longer saw her as a simple stranger, but she must have still been a long way off of the kind of trust he had in Fluttershy. This was okay. Twilight was more than willing to earn that trust, no matter how long it took.

Hinka yawned.

---

A few weeks in saw Hinka's grasp of Equish improve slightly. He had a few more words in his arsenal and could hold small conversations if he wished. As if that would ever happen.

His relationship with Spike finally came to a head one day. It was when they were both assigned to dust the library. Spike was diligently cleaning one shelf while Hinka dealt with the one behind it.

The hero stumbled and gripped the sides of the shelf with a gasp. His stepping stool had wobbled as a small chunk of one of its legs broke. His movement resulted in a volley of books falling out of the shelf on both sides. The movement startled Spike into falling to his rear and being bonked on the head with a hardback black book that read "HOLY BIBLE."
As soon as he stopped seeing stars, he growled.

"You did that on purpose!" he accused Link, who had been trying to figure out the titles of the books on his side so he could replace them.

He didn't respond, not out of malice, but because he was too busy trying to decode horse words. How did so many books fit on that shelf?

Spike had no idea, though. He felt ignored, and it only enraged him. He stomped to Link's side of the bookshelf and knocked over the pile he was making. Link froze and looked up at the irate baby dragon.

"I'm telling Twilight on you!"

Link blinked. He stood up, assuming Spike wanted his company. Instead, the dragon shoved him.

"Say something!!!" he shouted. He was taken aback when he saw Link's pupils actually shrink. He growled again at the silence and attempted once more to shove the boy. This time, Link countered.

Spike had the advantage in physical strength. His claws and teeth allowed him to cause some serious damage if he was so inclined. As it was, however, he only wanted to beat up Hinka. Not really really hurt him.

He didn't expect Hinka to be able to counter a dragon, baby though he was. Upon the next shove, Hinka threw his arms up between Spike's and separated them, then sharply struck the inside of Spike's elbow with two fingers. Kun-So was apparently very effective against baby dragons too.

Spike's arm erupted into pain, but there was no bruising. He fought to keep his eyes from watering up as he clutched his arm, then looked at Link, who, shaking a finger at him, shook his head and went back to cleaning up his mess.

Spike saw red. Never turn your back on an irate baby dragon. As soon as his arm's pain settled to a dull numbness, he tackled Link and began swiping at him with his claws. He was satisfied when the boy began screaming in pain, but his satisfaction quickly went out the window when Link gripped one of Spike's claws and pinched the webbing between his thumb and index finger.

Spike let out a shout in pain. Why was it so painful? Suddenly his right hand was useless. He was able to battle through, however, upon seeing the scratches on Link's arms and face. He once more tried to swipe at Link, this time with his left arm.

Unfortunately for him, his quarry was prepared. Link quickly grabbed Spike's arm, and he wrapped his right leg around it and tucked it under Spike's chin. His other leg straight, he gripped Spike's head with both hands and began to pull Spike's throat onto his shin.

Suddenly Spike wasn't getting enough oxygen anymore. The gogoplata¹ was a devastating move in the arsenal of a well-trained kun-so expert. Link didn't fully lock it in, however. He only applied enough pressure to make it tougher for Spike to breathe, not enough to completely asphyxiate him.

It was more than enough for the situation. Spike began to flail about with his free arm while he tried to free the rest of his body. His fight soon left him. It was extraordinarily difficult to break out of the gogoplata choke hold.

"Uncle!" Spike choked out. Link didn't know that word. Tears began to well up in Spike's eyes.

"UNCLE!" he shouted with all his effort. No response. Link had no idea what he was saying.

Finally Spike frantically tapped at Link's left leg gently. He knew what that meant. It was a submission. As soon as he registered the surrender, Link released Spike from his hold, and the dragon, gasping for breath, fell to his tush, alternating between sobbing and breathing. Link knew the feeling. He'd lost consciousness a few times in that choke hold and had to submit to it on at least three occasions, too.

Twilight finally entered the room, visibly frantic.

"What in the world is going on here?" she asked, eyeing the mess. Her gaze trailed over Link's still bleeding scratches and the hysterical baby dragon who was holding his throat. She approached the two in record speed. Seeing that Link was not seemingly as bothered as Spike, she wrapped the drake up in her arms.

"Spike," she cooed. "What's wrong?"

Link gulped as Spike babbled through his hysterics. He pointed an accusing claw at Link and Twilight's eyes landed on him. Link all but shrunk under the glare she was giving him. It was the glare of a mother.

---

Link sat in the bathroom upon the sink while Twilight cleaned his wounds. She was visibly upset and Link didn't blame her. He just beat the hell out of her kid, after all. He resolved to retrieve his items and leave.

"Hinka, tell me why you did that."

It wasn't a request. Link's refusal to speak would not hold up here. It was an order. He gulped.

"I... accidentally fall into bookshelf. Knock over books. Scare Spike. He get mad at me and push me. I hit p- presh- p... pain point in his arm and warn him against pushing me again. He no listen."

"Did you tell him not to touch you?"

Link looked at his feet.
"Hinka," she said firmly.
"N- no. I... I should have."

She nodded. "Yes, you certainly should have. Then what happened?"
He sighed. "Spike knock me down and start scratching me. I shin choke him."
She blinked. So Spike attacked first? Then Hinka was just defending himself. Spike had suggested that Hinka attacked out of the blue. But... was Hinka telling the truth?

She sighed. "Okay, Hinka. Go to your room. Wait there. I am going to get to the bottom of this."
She nudged his knee with her hoof, and he uneasily looked up at her.
"Okay?" she pressed.
He nodded. Again, not a request. An order. "Yes'm."
She gave a thin and forced smile, prepped a teleportation spell, and off he went.

---

Applejack was plum confused.

She always loved having Twilight over. The alicorn had made it a habit of stopping by to either help her out or just to visit. Twilight was a great friend to her.

Today, however, she just teleported nose-to-nose with Applejack, who was in the middle of apple bucking. How she knew exactly which tree the farm pony was working on is unknown, but Applejack scowled anyway.

"Twi, how many times have I asked you not to do that? I swear you're going to teleport your head halfway down my throat one day."

Purple book horse chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry, AJ. Listen, can you come to the castle with me? It's urgent."
It was all she needed to say. The trees would just have to wait.

---

Applejack eyed the drake and the alien child in complete neutrality. The two were sitting next to each other in wooden chairs separated only by Twilight Sparkle.

Applejack heard the story from Twilight first. Being the lie detector she was, it would be no trouble for her to find who was telling the truth, or at least most of it.

Spike, now recovered and holding his tail in his hands, refused to make eye contact with anypony.

"Spike, you go first. Tell me what happened."
"I- We were cleaning like Twilight asked, and Hinka pushed the shelf. Books fell down and one hit me, and then he started attacking me."

Applejack shook her head. "Nope. Try again. The truth this time, Spike."

Twilight looked to Hinka, then back to Spike. The drake kept playing with his tail and didn't say anything else. Applejack looked to Hinka.

"Okay, you then. The truth. I'll know if you lie, little guy."

Link rubbed the scratch on his cheek.

"I fell into shelf. Knock over books. Maybe accidentally hit Spike with one as it fell. He come to me and start shouting. I try to fix. He shove me and start scratching me."

Applejack rolled a hoof in a "go on" gesture.
"I defend myself. Use shin-choke on him."
Applejack blinked. "Shin-choke?"

Hinka nodded. "Very powerful choke hold in my home. I only apply a little pressure. Not enough to cause bad injury. Just enough to stop him."
"Seems like you went overboard to me."

Link was quiet again, and nodded. Applejack looked to Twilight.

"Hinka's story has the most truth to it. He knocked books over, Spike got mad, and Spike got physical with him first. Hinka reacted in self-defense but went waaay too far doing it. I reckon both of them earned a punishment."

Twilight nodded, and softly cuffed the back of Spike's head with her wing. She did the same to Hinka.
"What kind of punishment do you see fit?"
"Since Spike was so upset with the books on the floor, how's about he picks them up?"
Twilight nodded.

"But he's the one who knocked them all down!" exclaimed the drake.
"And you're the one who devolved it into a childish scene," countered Twilight. "And for Hinka?"
"How about no television for a week?"
Twilight shook her head. "He doesn't watch TV anyway."

Applejack was surprised. Most kids were addicted to the TV! She all but had to peel Applebloom off the couch from time to time.

"Ehh, no video games?"
She shook her head. "He doesn't play video games."
"No radio?"
"I found him barricading the radio off with furniture and books the other day because he thought there was a ghost trapped in it."
"...no instrument?"
"He hasn't been playing it."

Applejack sighed, exasperated. "How about... How about double the chores, no dessert for a week, and no supper tonight?"
Twilight smiled. "Now that I can do!"

Link frowned. No desserts? He really was in Hell, wasn't he?

"That works too, actually," said Twilight. "He needs to fast tonight through tomorrow morning for a blood test and some shots."

Yep. Definitely Hell.

Author's Note:

1- Known by some as "Hell's Gate," the gogoplata is a choke hold that focuses primarily on the trachea. When fully locked in, can cause an opponent to pass out within seconds. Continued use can lead to death by oxygen deprivation. Link counted five victories against an attacking Mido with this move, and suffered eight losses of his own against it.

That was actually kind of fun to write. Spike makes a good punching bag. I need a punching bag.
Next chapter covers Link getting shot(s).

Comments

[Thewildwolflink]

Poor link I hate shots.😬