Legend of Zelda: The Equine Link

by CarmenColor

Apploosa

"Next stop, Apploosa!" The exclamation on woke Twilight from her rest. She looked around, and found her five closest friends rubbing he sleep from her eyes. She looked over at Link, who was alert and fully awake, and probably hadn't slept much, if any at all. Twilight wondered how he did what he did with so little sleep. Perhaps in his world, the days were different?

As their group trotted out onto the station, Applejack found herself looking around, searching for a certain familiar face. Upon not finding it, she sighed, relived, and trotted casually on with the others. She found however, that the familiar face did surface as they stepped off of the platform. "Howdy y'all! I never seen ponies dressed like you are!" Braeburn. Apparently, he had not recognized her yet, so Applejack didn't say anything. She knew however, that he was bound to notice eventually.

"Hi, Braeburn! Remember me? I'm Pinkie Pie!" Especially when a certain pink pony was in their midst.

"Miss Pie? What're y'all doin' dressed like that?" the stallion asked, "Well, while yer here, how's my cousin, Applejack?"

"Oh, Applejack's fine! But I don't know why you wanted me to tell you that, because Applejack's right here!" Pinkie was suddenly behind Applejack and shoved her forward towards her cousin. Braeburn stared at her fora moment.

"Cousin Applejack?" he asked, "What're you doing here?"

"It's complicated, Braeburn. Y'all wouldn't have happened to have seen anything out of the ordinary recently, would ya?"

"I don't think so...Oh, but there was that strange light that shot off towards the Orchard a few days ago. Is that 'out of the ordinary'?"

"That sounds like just the lead we need," Twilight said, and Braeburn jumped at her voice, surprised.

"Miss Twilight! I didn't know you were here too! Are all your friends here, coz?"

"Eeyup, they are, Braeburn. Now, if you'd excuse us, we need to go check out that light thingy y'all was talkin' about." Applejack started a brisk trot towards the Apple Orchard, and the others followed. Braeburn watched them for a minute then, with a devilish speed that would've made Pinkie proud, he appeared next to Applejack.

"Why don't I come with ya? Seeing as it was me who saw the light in the first place, and I know where it landed, thought never did find anything to suggest an impact."

Applejack sighed, "Alright, Braeburn, you can come." He smiled broadly at her. "Now, lead us to where ya saw the light go." The goofy smile still plastered to his face, Braeburn led them across town and through the Apple Orchard. He stopped very abruptly and Applejack tumbled into him, her friends soon following in her wake. Link however, managed to stay upright and trotted up to Braeburn.

"Is this the exact location of the light's impact?" he asked. Braeburn looked up at him, as if noticing him for the first time.

"As close as I can come," he said, "and, cousin Applejack seems to have forgot her manners again. Might I ask just who you are?"

"Link," the tan pony said, "The Hero of Time." Braeburn raised an eyebrow.

"Mighty important soundin'. Anyways, this is where the light landed. I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find any signs of the thing."

Applejack listened to her cousin's words, and found herself thinking that perhaps this was not the place they were looking our at all. However, after a second, she felt a surge of...something that reached into her very being. It was calling to her. She took a few steps forward, separating herself from the group, and closed her eyes, trying to figure out where the calling was coming from.

"Cousin Applejack...?" Braeburn asked slowly, raising a hoof towards Applejack. Link reached out a hoof to stop him before he could touch her.

"Don't," he warned, "She's trying to find the light." Braeburn looked hesitant, but he lowered his hoof.

Applejack could hear voices. I sounded like they were singing. But where were they coming from? She could hear it, but she couldn't see where it was coming from. She didn't know what to do. "Link?" she asked, "What do I do?"

"Um, I'm not quite sure. What are you doing?"

"I'm listenin'. I can hear it, and it's callin' me, but I can't find it."

"Open your eyes."

"A-alright," Appejack said, uncertainly. She opened her eyes, and something seemed very wrong with the world. Everything was dark. The shady outlines of trees were all she could see. She turned, trying to find a source of light.

And there it was! Bright as day! A light that seemed to be coming from on of the trees itself. She trotted forward and raised a hoof to touch the tree. As soon as he hoof touched the wood, she felt a strong force pushing her back. She closed her eye as her body was tossed backwards and she landed on the ground. When she opened her eyes again, everything seemed fine. Her vision was normal, and nothing seemed to have changed.

Except, of course, that now emblazoning the tree she had touched was a bright orange jewel shape. She gaped at it, before turning to the others. "What the buck did I just do?"

"Cousin Applejack, watch your language!" Braeburn scolded, but Applejack paid him no mind.

"You've found the entrance," Link said.

"Entrance? I thought I was lookin' fer an Element."

"Yes, well, it's never that simple," Link sighed, "I'm sure that we have a way to go before we actually find the Element. Not to mention that we still have to get in." He turned to Applejack. "Stab your sword into that mark."

Braeburn gasped, and Applejack recoiled, slightly alarmed. Braeburn howled, "But that's Bloomberg! It's Applejack's favorite tree!" Link nodded slowly.

"Yes, I suppose it would be. It would be natural for the Element to attach to something that Applejack feels so strongly about,but all the same, Applejack, I'm sure that you must do this."

Applejack raised her sword and prepared to strike the tree. Braeburn bit his lip and stared at her, whimpering slightly. Sweat trickled down her face as she tried to make herself drive the blade into the tree, but finally, she dropped the sword and sighed, defeated. "I can't." She galloped off.

"Why doesn't one of us do it for her?" Twilight asked.

"We can't," Link explained, "This is meant for Applejack alone, and only she can open it. Even if we used her sword, we could not make it work, and we would likely end up destroying the tree in the process." Link picked up the fallen sword and began to trot towards the town. "Come on. We should go back to the town and eat. We haven't eaten since before we got on the train, and I'm sure you're all hungry. We need to be able to get Applejack to do this. One of you must convince her."

"But what if we can't?" Fluttershy whispered. Link looked over at her.

"Then we are all doomed."

Comments

[lyrawantshands]

Such a cliff hanger