Flitter Flutter Pitter Patter

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Twilight loved her friends. To her, they were family. They were all a bit different but were bonded and inseparable. It was a happiness that she wished to share with all, and so she accepted the crown as the Princess of Friendship.

Her title also included a lesser known bit. In addition to being a Princess of Friendship, she was also a 'Princess of Fire-Because-My-Records-Are-Lit', because Rainbow Dash got to her paperwork and takes nothing seriously.

Even though they got into arguments from time to time and otherwise fought, their friendship was unbreakable. Not even Discord was able to keep them separated, after all. Her fear never was her friends dropping their ties to her. Rather, it was how well those who stayed with her got along with her friends.

Spike, fortunately, got on great with the girls. They were very good watching him when she was busy. Especially Rarity, because her mere presence was enough to devolve Spike into a mass of barely held together goo.

Hinka was a bit more of an enigma. He got on just fine with Fluttershy, though that in and of itself was not much of an accomplishment. Twilight wasn't aware of a pony that disliked Fluttershy. Everypony would joke that even Tirek liked Fluttershy.

Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and herself, however? They were all still more or less strangers to him. It didn't help that he barely uttered two words in most instances either.

As far as she was concerned, Hinka was an extremely shy child. She believed he would open up once he got to know everypony better.

Whatever negativity was eating away at him lately, however, did not let up. When the others came by to check on him after his first night with her, they each left without any response from him. Even Fluttershy. They decided to give him one more day, and if he did not improve, they would each work with him a bit to get him to open up.

So, that's exactly what Twilight did after Hinka failed to show any signs of life.

"...Daring paused with a hoof in midair. Years of exploring caves and tombs like this one had engrained a very important sense within her. She possessed the ability to just know when something was wrong, or a trap was just ahead. She called it her 'Daring Sense'."

Twilight smiled. Yearling got that idea off Pinkie Pie.

The smile ran away from her face quickly, however. Hinka was paying no attention and still seemed very much in a state of perpetual shock. She knew he would not understand her reading so well, but he could admire the pictures while listening to the language, and listening was the first step in remembering.

She put a hoof on his shoulder. "Hinka?"
His only response was a slight tensing of his arm.

"Talk?" she asked. It was a word he learned from Fluttershy, of all ponies when he was staying with her. He gave the shake of his head. Twilight's ears drooped, but she relented to his wishes. She shut the book, but remained with him for a while longer.

"I know you can't understand me, but it's going to be okay Hinka. You're safe, and we're all available for you when you need us."

He did something then. He reached a hand up and put it on Twilight's hoof, which was still on his shoulder. She smiled at him gently, and, without looking at her, he squeezed. It was as if he were saying thank you without words.

Twilight made the crack. It was up to the others to get him out of his shell now.

Link was never particularly interested in sports when he was little. Well, littler.

Most of them just bored him. He had his fun by playing instruments, reading with Saria, and playing in the woods. The sports his fellow Kokiri enjoyed were always played without him. He was never invited, and it suited him just fine. On those few days when he decided he did want to give them a try, he would step outside. Within two minutes the Kokiri that were at play would go back into their homes. It happened every time he went out. When he went back inside, though? They would come right back out again. Like cockroaches. He decided that whatever they were doing couldn't be much fun anyway and that they could all take their games and he'd show them where to shove them.

Now the rainbow mane was trying to make him play a weird horse sport of some kind. She kept babbling in her language and gesturing to a ball, four cones, and a board with what must have been two words on it with tally marks underneath. He couldn't read the language of course, but given the tally marks under one side and none under the other, he figured it was a score board. He wasn't very good at this game.

Then again, he wasn't exactly bothering, now was he?

Rainbow frowned. "C'mon kid, just kick the ball. You might have some fun!"
She kicked the ball towards him again, only for it to roll past. She had scored another point, but sighed.
"It's no fun when you don't try," she said to herself. She approached the alien, whose eyes were all but glued to the trees in the distance.

Feeling uneasy, Rainbow patted his shoulder gently, flinching somewhat when she felt him tense up.
"Maybe we can do this again another time when you're feeling better. In the meantime, how about you and I go get something to eat?"

Link responded with a well thought out silent stare. His stomach decided to add to his point by growling lowly.

She chuckled. "Come on, I know just the place."

Pinkie was doing her best impression of a tornado.

The alien! Rainbow brought him to Sugarcube Corner, and she didn't even have any treats ready for him! Curse her hunger. They just looked so good and she had to make sure they were tasty, so she ate them.

For the record, they were in fact tasty. She was pretty sure her baking would make Gordon Ramsay blush. Whoever that was.

But now she had nothing to feed Hinka! Unless he liked raw eggs, flour, milk, strawberries, blueberries, yeast, whipped cream, icing, cherries, chocolate, and brocolli.

Rainbow Dash might not have an issue eating raw eggs, flour, milk, strawberries, blueberries, yeast, whipped cream, icing, cherries, chocolate, and brocolli, but what about the alien?

The Cakes, meanwhile, were doing their best to get to know him more, but he seemed to be extra mute today. It disappointed them, because they had tried to speak to him at his welcome party but that just wasn't happening.

"Are you sure we can't get you anything to drink for now, dearie?"

"Uhh, Mrs. Cake? He doesn't speak Equish," replied Rainbow. "Or much at all for that matter," she muttered.

Mrs. Cake frowned. "Still, playing outside works up some thirst, especially in this weather. Water? Milk? Orange juice? What does he like, Rainbow Dash?"

She appeared deep in thought for a moment. "Pretty sure Fluttershy said he likes orange juice."

Link hated orange juice.

Applejack was the next one he would spend some time with. Pinkie decided to walk him there as Rainbow had work to catch up on.

She didn't let his sad frownies get to her and she kept the spring in her step. He may not have eaten much, broken a smile, or even said anything at Sugarcube Corner, but Pinkie knew that they were having some type of effect on him. She just knew.

The key word was much. He did not eat much. He did not smile, but there was something in his eyes now. When he was brought to Sugarcube Corner, he appeared dead inside, which prompted Pinkie to secure some holy water just in case. After he took a bite of one of her freshly baked red velvet muffins (all of her baked goods were amazing, but her red velvets were legendary), his eyebrows rose in admiration. He may not have finished it, but she had a feeling he would request another in the future.

Spoiler alert: She was correct.

When it was time to leave, she noticed a faint glimmer in his eyes; perhaps there was life yet in him after all. She debated putting him on her back and achieving maximum pinkness, but decided not to. He was not ready for that kind of power just yet.

"Hiya, Applejack!" she called out. The walk to the farm did not normally take long, but Hinka's limp slowed them down. She did not mind. She always enjoyed walking around Ponyville. On some days off, she would go all over town finding ponies who were having a bad day, and give them some sort of baked good in a bid to cheer them up. 60 percent of the time, it worked all the time.

Applejack smiled at her, sweat glistening on her face. It must have been break time for her. If only Pinkie had brought an emergency break time cupcake.

The farm mare's smile thinned a bit when she saw Hinka. He plain didn't look too good. Had Pinkie force fed him one too many pastries?

She squinted her eyes a bit. No, he didn't look pudgy or bloated. If she did force feed him, she did so like a ninja.

"Well, he's still in one piece. But why's he got that thousand yard stare on him? Did you try explaining pinklosophy to him? Quantum mechanics?"

Pinkie stared, wide eyed. "What are you, nuts? Pinklosophy is way too much for a colt to handle!"

Applejack gave her a deadpan stare. "It's way too much for anypony to handle, Pinkie."

Pinkie appeared deep in thought for a moment. "Maybe he's really just a cleverly disguised statue? Or- or maybe he's trying to wrap his mind around something really important, like whether it's possible to have your cake and eat it too. Or maybe he's a child soldier and he keeps reliving his war stories! We have to help him, Applejack!"

Applejack blinked. "I didn't catch a word you just said, Pinkie. You need to slow it down some."

Pinkie sighed. "I would love to debate politics with you, but I need to get back to the bakery. Could you maybe try to turn his frownies upside downie now? I didn't have much luck."

Applejack's eyes widened. "You didn't have much luck cheering somepony up? That's got to be a first."

Pinkie tapped her chin. "No, there was also that one time with the tragic clown."
She wiped an eye. "He's just so sad. Anyhoo, good luck silly filly!"

"Wait! I don't-"

With that, she all but vanished, leaving behind a still very emotionally distant alien child and a confused farm pony.
"...know how to entertain aliens."

Applejack stared at his eyes, to which his response was very limited. All he seemed to do was scowl when he took note and he held up the finger on one end of his hand. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Applebloom had shown her a few pictures on the family computer with text overlayed describing such scenarios, often in humor. She called them memes. It must have been what the kids these days were into. Why, when she was Applebloom's age-

You know what? There was time for that later. Right now an alien was staring at her and she had to think of something to do! On her farm. Where lots to do was.

Applejack eyed Hinka quietly, though her mind was aglow with whirling transient nodes of thought careening through a cosmic vapor of invention.

So, she decided to show him the farm. It should be easy. Kids love farms and are awed by them, after all.

Except for Scootaloo.

It wasn't going well.

After she bucked a tree as an example to him (which did manage to impress him somewhat), she showed him the barn, a corral for any cattle, and a cactus that had been growing in a random apple orchard for generations and nopony could figure out why.

He wasn't contributing much either, and there was no one there to take the attention away from her for a while. Granny Smith was out with some old friends playing Pay Me, Big Mac was in Manehattan for a vacation, and Applebloom was out with her friends crusading, or otherwise attempting to sow chaos and discontent among the populace.

Discord had once told Applejack that he was "so very very proud" of the CMC. It was then that she realized why Ponyville was so tolerant of Discord's antics. They'd been dealing with chaos gods since long before Discord had been unpetrified.

Applejack looked to a thoroughly disinterested looking Hinka. They had been walking in the heat for around 30 minutes. Last Applejack had checked, the day was supposed to peak at around 103 degrees. She frowned down at Hinka. His hat was not providing any shade from the sun. She didn't want him getting sunburned. She took her hat off and sighed. She'd been sweating bullets too, or else she would have given it to him to provide him some shade, at least.

"Hey, how about some apple juice? Freshly made, sugarcube." She gave him a pat on the shoulder, and walked him to the house.

Link was very impressed.

Rarity's shop was very very cool and refreshing. She had some kind of noisy machine in the window, which at first confused him. What was the point to putting a big box in the window?

He got his answer when he got blasted by a cool breeze. He gasped in surprise.

After they stopped for some cool drinks (Link loved apple juice), Applejack walked him to Rarity's shop. The fashionista had just finished a particularly large order and was about to take a break when company walked in.

Applejack chuckled at Link and Rarity, her horn glowing, turned her air conditioner up a bit more with a smile, earning a gasp from him as he stood right in front of it.
"I think he likes your AC," said Applejack.

Rarity giggled. "He and I both. 8,000 BTU and I got it for 120 bits. No joke, it was sitting right next to a few less powerful air conditioners with prices that would make Celestia blush."

"Are you sure you didn't steal it? 120 bits for that? Very nice."
"I believe the phrase is 'cool' darling. Now, how is Hinka doing today?"

Applejack frowned, and took her hat off. "Not too good, I reckon. He still seems right lost. I got him to drink something, but he hasn't said a word and he doesn't seem to be "here" mentally."

Rarity blinked. "Well, the not saying a word part is par for the course, isn't it?"

Applejack scoffed. "I'd say you should hope he didn't pick up on that, but..."

She gestured over to him a bit and Rarity frowned. His fascination with the greatest air conditioner known to ponykind had waned and now he was holding his hat in his hands and just staring at it.

"Oh my," said Rarity. "The negativity coming off him would knock Chrysalis out in seconds."

"You ain't kidding. Listen, I need to get back to the farm. Do you think you could keep him company for a bit? He's supposed to see Fluttershy in an hour or so."

Rarity smiled. "But of course. I'm glad to. Why, I could very well fit him for some new clothes while he's here."

"Not a good time, Rarity."

She chuckled a bit, but the smile she wore appeared to be hiding disappointment. "But of course. I'm only joking. A board game might be nice!"

Somewhere in the Castle of Friendship, Spike exclaimed, "Are you kidding me?!"

"Now, you just spin the dial, and you move your carriage however many spots you landed on."

She could tell by Hinka's expression that not much of what she was saying was getting through, so she opted to sit just behind him and help maneuver his arms while she explained.

"A five! Good. Now you have the choice to go to college or get a job. College means you go into debt but can get a better job and none of this is getting through to you, now is it?"

He seemed totally disinterested. Rarity frowned. The Game of Life was both hers and Sweetie Belle's favorite game.
Guilt struck her in the heart. Here they were doing something that she enjoyed doing. What about HInka? He was the newcomer to Equestria, not her. There would be time to play Life with him in the future.

So, she smiled at him gently.

"You know what? Let's not play this. Come, Hinka. I hear you're quite the musician. Do you know how to play piano?"
Hinka eyed her. She pointed to the instrument in the corner.

"Piano," she enunciated. She pointed at him. "You play?"

He shook his head slightly, but did not make eye contact with her. Fluttershy had told her that he considered eye contact a challenge, but there was something else hiding behind his lack of it. There was a sadness there too.
Rarity pulled him closer.

"How about I show you a thing or two about piano? Would you like that?"
He did not respond. She chuckled again. "Me. Piano. Teach you?"

He looked up at her, then back to his feet and shrugged. She knew how much he enjoyed his music, and so she sat him next to her on the piano, and played him a beautiful and upbeat melody made famous nearly a hundred years prior.

She smiled warmly as he seemed to slowly come back to life.

"I learned to play when I was younger than Sweetie Belle. Scott Trotlin's was the first song I ever learned. It's a shame you do not have your instrument too darling. This tune should be easy for you."

She grinned at him. "Because it's impossible."

Fluttershy waved one more time as Rarity began her trot back to the Botique. The sun was still high enough that night was not fast approaching, but low enough that the shadows of the trees behind her cottage cast over it, providing some cool shade. Not that her air conditioner wasn't helping too!

She frowned at Hinka. He'd been standing next to her facing Rarity, but his eyes were on the trees spread out behind them. He'd apparently shown some life upon hearing Rarity play the piano, but whatever was bothering him would not stay distracted for long. All too soon he was hiding within himself again.

When Rarity had gotten far enough into town, Fluttershy turned to Hinka. He had turned some so he could stare at the trees more. She could see the longing and sadness in his eyes. If it had been a foul beast, it would have had an embrace on him that just wasn't to be beaten with distractions alone. Sometimes you just needed to switch to something stronger- some good old TLC.

"Hinka?"

No response. He only continued to stare into the trees. He seemed so focused that Fluttershy had to double check and make sure there was nothing lurking that might bring harm to him or anyanimal in or around her home.
There was nothing. She sighed softly, and eyed him sadly. Poor dear.

"Hinka," she said again. This time, slowly, he turned to look up at her, but not without returning his gaze to the trees a few times first.

When he did, she pulled him into an embrace; an embrace that he did not realize the power of until he'd experienced it. She wrapped him in her wings and rested his head on her chest.

"Tell me what's wrong," she said, almost pleadingly.

Hinka did not say anything right then. Instead, he did what he'd been fighting to keep from doing for much longer than he even realized:

He collapsed into her hug and began to sob.

End of Chapter

The Screams of Lonely Souls

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Neither of them knew how long he had cried for, but there was much more to his tears than what had been eating him the past few days. He himself had never cried at such a magnitude before. He'd been borderline hysterical.

And Fluttershy, bless her heart, let him cry his eyes out for as long as he needed. She gently rocked him from side to side and hummed softly to him, stroking his head and simply being there for him. Of course, it got him to thinking about Navi again, and how, if he could not escape, he would not be finding her. Period.

The thoughts broke fresh tears out. It was all he could do. He barely even noticed when Fluttershy picked him up and walked into her home. She sat down on the couch with him in her lap and rocked him gently some more.

No words were needed. As he gradually calmed down, he began to just focus on her calm yet strong heartbeat. It almost made him drowsy.

When he had quieted down and all that was left of his break down was the stray sob here and there and some hiccups (Link always got hiccups whenever he cried), Fluttershy risked opening her wings and revealing him to the world again.

He looked up at her, his face still glistening and eyes still red. He felt mortified, emasculated, and like a helpless infant again. When he saw the tears soaked into her coat, he wanted to cry. But then that would add to the issue and he didn't want to completely soak her any more than he already had.

"I'm here," she whispered to him. "Tell me what's wrong, Hinka. What hurts?"
"Home," was his one word reply. It was the first time he'd spoken in several days.
"What about home?" she asked, rubbing the back of his head gently.
"Can't get back," he replied. "Ocarina won't work."

He wiped his eyes and hiccuped, a dry sob racking his chest again. "Can't find Navi. Can't find mom. Just want to find mom and be together again. Just want..."

His crying renewed itself for a few moments, but died down again.
"Just want to give up."

Fluttershy kissed his head. That's why he hadn't left? She thought he decided to stay for a little longer! "Oh, Hinka, I'm so sorry. I know how much you wanted to go home."

He shook his head slightly. "I just want Navi back. I want my mom."

Fluttershy held him a bit tighter in reflex and her heart shattered into a thousand pieces. He'd told her about Navi a little. Her kind, supportive smiles, her protectiveness, her tucking him in at night and telling him stories, her scolding him when he got out of line, and the praise she gave him when he did something to make her proud. She was just a fairy, and yet, she was so much more.

And she just walked out of his life one day without an explanation. It made Fluttershy very angry. Nopony has the right to walk out of their child's life like that. It mattered not if it was a child by birth, adoption, or anything in between. You don't get to walk out of the life of your young. If she could, she would have words for the fairy.

She decided then. So long as he was here, she would be his mom. If he would accept her, that is. And she had no doubt the others would come to a similar conclusion in time. In the place of one mother, he could have six.

She gave him a gentle smile. "How would you like some warm milk and cookies, Hinka?"

His only question was a vaguely disinterested, "What's cookies?" He'd seen them before but had not tried them, and in his current emotional state, had completely forgotten them.

Somewhere in the distance, Pinkie Pie fainted.

Link spent the rest of that day held close to Fluttershy, drinking warm milk and nibbling on cookies (he loved them). She drew with him and hummed more to him. He ended up falling asleep in her arms.

He felt awkward and embarrassed, but Fluttershy must have had mind reading capabilities, because when he awoke she told him he had nothing to be ashamed of and that he could always come to her when he felt sad.

It was not new to him. When he was sad when Saria was around, she would always be there for him. When he had Navi, she was always there for him. Even Tatl showed concern for him when he was especially sad, and she never liked to show emotion. She was the one who taught him the phrase, "When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging."

Fluttershy smiled at him, and he felt butterflies within.

"Hinka, what happened earlier was totally natural. It's okay to cry and be sad. But you don't have to do it alone. And I think that you need to hear this more than you even realize."

She nuzzled his cheeks and kissed his forehead.

"I am very, very proud of you."

They left for Twilight's after dark. Fluttershy had managed to help Hinka out of his funk. He did not walk with his head held high, but he did have life in his eyes once more. She knew he was still sad and it wasn't something that would go away out of the blue, but for now he was comfortable, and that was what was important.

"Hinka, you remember how to use the phone, right?"

He nodded slightly. While he was there, she told him that if he needed her he could call her at any time on the phone.

He shivered a bit as he recalled his first interaction with the infernal device. Why did this horses need all this fancy schmancy stuff? They could walk and they got mail too. Send a letter or go visit someone if you wanted a talk.

When he first heard the machine ring it sent him right back into his memories. For some reason his mind made the connection of the ringing to the screams of lonely souls.

He would never forget his first encounter with the redeads. His quest had left him in need of a mysterious melody by the famous composer brothers, Sharp and Flat. They had achieved such renown that even the reclusive Kokiri knew who they were.

He heard on the winds of a song that would prove vital to his quest. If he were to play it on the Royal Family's ocarina, time would pass in an instant. He could make day night and night day at his leisure. In addition, the melody was said to have another underlying power, though what it really was had been lost to time.

Naturally, his question was where to find the song. He was directed to Kakariko Graveyard, the plot in the very back. It was the tomb of the Royal Family.

It was strange. When he got to Kakariko that day the sun was shining and the birds were chirping. When he made it to the graveyard, the clouds rolled in. It took him no more than two minutes to get to the grave in the back, at which point thunder and a torrential downpour started.

That was the first time he ever saw the golden triangles on his right hand. The bottom right triangle glowed bright, and as if in response, a lightning bolt from the heavens came down to the tombstone, shattering it into a thousand pieces. The debris had caused him to stumble, and he slipped on the already slick mud back down the path some.

He looked back up the path at where the headstone had been moments before. It was almost as if nature itself was giving him a chance to leave now.

Link was not known for his cowardice, however. He chose to proceed, and carefully entered the hole in the ground.
He'd expected to find maybe a few skeletons here and there and then a slate with the melody he sought imprinted on it. He believed that it would be a small grave, just like those the Kokiri would build- when a person died among the Kokiri, they were buried in a grave just 6' by 3'. At the time he was very unfamiliar with the culture he was now exploring.

First, however, he needed to light his torch. Behind him the rain poured into the hole like a waterfall. His rucksack was water resistant, though, and so his firemaking materials and torch itself were safe.

As he set about lighting the torch (he was used to doing so without being able to see what he was up to), light suddenly flooded the small grave.

Torches along the walls suddenly lit up, and the grave wasn't so small anymore. The torches led him down a hall deeper into the Earth. Link slowly put his torch and firemaking materials away.

"Link, be very careful," whispered Navi. "I can sense the spirits of the dead lurking in this grave. They are warning you away."

He swallowed hard. Just because he was courageous and didn't shy away from danger did not mean he was immune to fear.

"Link, would you like to turn back? I think it would be for the best. We can find a way without this song."

He shook his head, and drew his blade. Funny, it had only been two days since he saved the Gorons of Death Mountain and he neglected to have it sharpened again. Still, it appeared to be ready for action. He would have to have it sharpened after he was done here regardless. The blacksmith was having a sale.

Navi stopped in front of him and cupped his cheeks. "Please be safe, Link. I'm here with you."

He smiled, and walked forward.

The first room was relatively easy to get through. It was full of mostly Keese, which Link had killing down to a science.

They were venemous bats, but so common in Kokiri Village that the Kokiri had built up an immunity to their poisons but for high doses. The venom, when it worked, robbed the victim of muscle control temporarily, though only around the bite.

When a Kokiri suffered just one or two bites, which was not uncommon, the poison would not work. Link was no exception. His home had been filled with the annoying flappy things as some sort of bizarre hazing ritual by his fellow Kokiri more times than he cared to admit. Mido even had a pet Keese he called Basil¹.

In a swarm of the creatures, though? If enough bit anyone, it would be a death sentence. As it was, Link suffered a multitude of bites in the tomb before he cleared the room of the Keese. At the end his shield arm hung limply by his side (he carried a heavy metal shield on his back and his trusty wooden shield on the arm), and he had difficulty moving the toes on his left foot anymore. He shuffled into the next room, and that was where the nightmare began.

It started out as just a low humming and a foul odor in the air that burned the eyes and sinuses. The door opened to another hallway that led down into a larger room. Link gagged on the stench at first and opted to crouch. He would have more air to breathe the lower he got.

Slowly he trudged into the room, and that was when his heart stopped.

The tomb was full of bones and corpses as expected, yes, but none of them were standing. The creatures in the room with him, however...

There were six of them standing around a large pool of what seemed to be tar. The remains of a few small animals were trapped within it, along with one or two skeletons of long dead foolish adventurers.

So going straight through the tar pit was out. It meant having to approach these standing corpses, which brought fear to him. Navi said nothing, though when he looked at her she appeared to be horrified; stunned speechless, even.

He noticed, however, that none of the corpses had moved towards him when he entered the room. They simply continued standing around the tar emitting that low hum of theirs.

He took a cautious step towards the nearest one to him, his blade held high. His shield arm was already recovering some of its feeling, but it wasn't enough yet.

Fortunately, he did not need it to be enough. The creature did not react to the step forward he took. To make sure it wasn't a fluke, Link stepped back again, and then forward once more. No response.

He looked to the tar pit again, and then the rest of the creatures. There was another door at the opposite end of the room.

Though he hadn't been attacked yet, Link was still very wary of the strange creatures. He decided that in order to get to the next room, he would move past them all as quickly as he could and recite the Kokirian Prayer of the Dead for them.

Perhaps it would put them at rest? All he knew for sure was, the sooner he got past them, the sooner he could get out of the tomb. He would have to run, which would not be easy with his leg under the effects of Keese venom.

He ran but two steps before his plan came crumbling down.

The one nearest to him emitted an ear piercing shriek, and Link was stopped in his tracks, as if an otherworldly force had gripped his legs.

He turned his head somewhat as he covered his ears, and to his alarm, the creature was slowly walking towards him. Its head remained low, and Link tried to ready his blade for a strike.

To his horror, he realized that he really had been stopped. His arms would only move so much and his legs were totally nonresponsive.

The remaining creatures, however, did not seem interested in joining the attack. Maybe it was a territory thing? He didn't know.

The large lanky frame seemed to wrap around him like a snake. One leathery hand covered his mouth and nose tight and his head was being pulled up some. He found it difficult to breathe. The legs were around his waist like he was giving it a piggy back ride, and the other hand was firmly on his chest, gripping, as if it would tear his heart from its cavity at any moment. He would receive a bruise from that grip alone.

All of a sudden there was a sharp pain in the left side of his neck, and then what sounded like a groan of absolute hunger.

Goddesses... it bit me!

Link's eyes widened and he rolled them to look to his side. Sure enough, the creature's head was at his neck. He could feel his warm blood flowing freely into its maw.

His blade arm was trapped by his side by the awkward angle that the creature had wrapped itself around him. It was so tight that he was actually able to release his blade without it falling to the floor. Moving his sword arm itself was nigh impossible. He was getting dizzy.

Navi began to fly into the creature's head repeatedly to no avail. She attempted to cast her holy shield again, but it failed. She later admitted to having panicked, for most considered redeads to be mythical creatures. She apologized profusely when he awoke and swore to be a better guardian. She redeemed herself during the incident with the Dead Hand.

She was hysterical. She was crying and begging it to free him. Link would have been touched had he not been slowly getting tired.

He was not through yet though. He was aware enough to know that his shield arm was still mostly free, though also still under the effects of the Keese bite. He began to clumsily smack it into the creature's head as hard as he could, which was not particularly hard at the moment. The monster did not react, and only continued to drink from him. He was growing desperate now as the vision began to blur somewhat. In a bid to free himself, he bit down hard on one of the monster's fingers. It came off in his mouth and tasted of the worst thing in the world, but the monster still did not slow down.

This was it. Now he was going to become one with the tomb. Would he become one of these monsters too now? He hoped not. He did not want his dead body doing to others what this one was doing to him.

His legs finally too weak to hold him up anymore, Link sank to his knees. The sudden jolt seemed to startle the monster enough that it stopped feeding and lost balance. Its grip loosened somewhat as it moved to re-adjust itself.

The opening was all Link needed. With his last burst of adrenaline, he grabbed his blade, turned about and buried it into the stomach of the monster. It made no noise, but the blood it had stolen from him began to seep out. He pulled the blade free, and then stabbed it again in the abdomen.

Then again in the leg.

Then again in the chest.

Finally, once under the chin.

It fell limp under him, and he put his hand to his bleeding wound. It was still bleeding heavily, and he was growing much more tired.

He heard a groan, and looked in horror at the monster he thought he felled. It was still down and unmoving. He looked to the others and terror filled his features once more. They were all on approach now.

His adrenaline beginning to wane, he opted to use whatever energy he had left to make it to the next room. The creatures seemed not to pay him mind now. They had all started to wander over to the one he felled. He would have found it touching if he weren't slowly dying.

As soon as he made it to the next room, he was relieved. There were no more monsters within it. He could be safe here for a while. Perhaps he could steal a nap, then?

He sank to his rear and shut his eyes. Navi would wake him if there was something wrong. Just a short nap. Just a little bit.

Just...

He was jolted back to consciousness by the fairy in question bopping him on the head. Repeatedly.

"Link!!! Do not even think about sleeping in here! You're hurt bad. Please, just get up and let's go."

He was surprised, but he could hear the intense, almost motherly worry carried within her words. Not that Link knew at the time what having a mother was like.

He did not know just how he managed to get his feet under him again, but he did. He spared a look behind him. The monsters had formed a semicircle around the one he fell. One appeared to be shaking it, trying to rouse it from its very long slumber.

It was just a few steps up to a plaque on the wall. Link did not initially recall everything it said. Navi memorized it. Kokirian guardian fairies were known to have eidetic memories.²
"There's a poem inscribed here...

'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.'

This is a pretty interesting poem, don't you think?" she asked him. He was too groggy to respond. She bopped him again to rouse him and flew over to a small carving at the bottom of the plaque.

"Look! This must be that song!"³

Link shakily brought his ocarina to his lips, the triangles on his hand glowing. He played the song softly, once to himself, and then louder for the tomb.

After the second playing, the moaning and humming behind him instantly ceased. He looked behind him. The monsters had completely frozen in place, enveloped in a holy light.

"Restless souls wander where they don't belong," read Navi. "Bring them calm with the Sun's Song."

That was coincidentally the first time Fluttershy saw fit to hug him. Until then she had settled for sitting with him if he needed her or putting a hoof on his shoulder to provide some support.

She had just walked into the house, presumably to do something about the ringing and found him cowering under a blanket. When she hugged him, he tensed up and his heart almost beat out of his chest. He thought it was a redead for a moment.

When she calmed him down and explained what the device was for, he felt really really dumb. A device that lets people talk at all distances triggered a flashback. He scoffed to himself a few times about it. When she asked what about it scared him so much, he declined to answer. He wasn't ready to talk about the things he'd seen and done yet.

He gave his head a shake and looked at her. She giggled into a hoof. "You didn't hear a thing I just said, did you?"

He blushed a bit.

"It's okay Hinka. All I was saying was to think about opening up to us. We'll all be glad to help you."

He smiled a bit. He trusted Fluttershy. One day he would tell her what happened in the past, but not today. His emotions were still frayed.

He was in better spirits when he returned to the library with Fluttershy. Twilight wondered for a moment if he simply missed her and developed some kind of separation anxiety. Spike had the same issue, though in regards to Twilight. He mostly grew out of it, but there were still some days when he insisted on sharing her bed with her. They were usually right after a night terror, of which Spike suffered many.

When Fluttershy explained that Hinka was feeling homesick and wasn't sure how to go about getting home now, Twilight knew. She could help him! She could teleport him back home. She could do it right now!

Images of burnt up letters, active volcanos and what she thought was tea but really wasn't flashed through her head. She gave a shudder. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to go about teleporting somepony yet. She'd also have to first locate where exactly his home was. Still, she gave him a smile, and Hinka gave a small smile and a wave in return.

Why did he have to be so darn cute? It seemed to be the popular opinion among the girls (except Rainbow Dash, who insisted that he was just 'leaking awesomeness'). Whether he was just drinking milk or giving a wave and a shy smile, or just existing, Hinka was downright adorable to them. She would have kept staring, but Fluttershy had warned them all against that. Hinka did not like being stared at.

Smiling at him was okay though!

Hinka looked down at his feet after a few moments, unknowingly increasing his cuteness levels as his bangs fell over his eyes. Twilight had to resist the urge to just tackle hug him.

"I told him he could call me whenever he needed to. Could you maybe go over how to use the phone with him, Twilight?"

The alicorn gave a nod. "Of course! We can go over it tomorrow. Fluttershy, I've been meaning to ask: did he ever make mention of any type of technology in his home? Any whatsoever?"

The pegasus thought for a moment, and looked to Hinka, who was staring at his wounded leg with poorly hidden irritation.

"Umm... I think he said he knew what drawbridges and moats were. His people seemed to be more in tune with nature than anything else."

They were interrupted by a soft yawn. His nap at Fluttershy's must have worn off.

"Hinka," asked Fluttershy softly. "Why don't you go lay down? Get some rest, okay?"

He nodded sleepily, and she smiled down at him. "I'll be up to tuck you in soon. Remember what I told you, okay?"

One more nod. Hinka began to trudge towards the stairs without a word, as was his wont. When he got further away, they resumed talking.

"Fluttershy, I think spending some time with you was just what the doctor ordered. He looks like he cheered up a lot."

Fluttershy blushed a bit. "I, umm... think the others helped a lot too. I didn't really do too much."

Twilight gave her a hug. "You're a good pony. We're all lucky to have you."

Fluttershy responded with a trademark "Eep."

Twilight's lips inched closer to hers.

"In fact, I think that you and I should celebrate. It's a beautiful night. We're both single mares. What would you say to..."

Twilight abruptly pulled away, and a board game came floating into the room courtesy of her magic.

"...A nice game of Life?"

Fluttershy sighed in relief.

Author's Notes:

1- Kokirian slang for 'Brave.'¹

1- Not to be confused with the shitty movie.¹

1- Not that I've seen it to judge for myself.

2- More commonly known as "Photographic memories", eidetic memories allow vivid recollection of instances only observed for a few moments. They are common traits in the fae but quite rare to the human races and unheard of among the Deku.

3- The last of the melodies by the famous composer brothers, the Sun's Song was originally an incantation to call forth the Sun. The undead fear its rays greatly and are brought to heel by the first light of the Sun itself. The song was hidden away when it was discovered that it could also call forth the moon, and as such, the undead once more.
--
This was the last one I had more or less complete for you guys. I say more or less because I was working with someone for the redead bit. He doesn't write here but I'll link his ff.net profile.

https://www.fanfiction.net/~seethatguy

Anyhoo, next chapter is underway, but not complete. So no more once a week updates unless I get my shit together, which is unlikely. Because I'm me. I don't do intelligent or efficient strategies.

Speaking of efficient, for whatever reason the formatting of this chapter looks perfect in the preview, but is all jacked in the final version. At least for me it is. Unless I fix it. That's going to bother me.

A Haggler, a Pegasus, and a Mute

View Online

Link was in better spirits. He was willing to leave his room now and would even eat sometimes. He wasn't a shell anymore, but he still had a lot of improvement to make before he could be considered all better.

The others all made sure to check in on him often over the next week to make sure he was not needing anything, and to see if he was struggling with his sadness again.

They did see sadness still present in his eyes, and after Fluttershy explained what was eating at him, they understood. He felt trapped and powerless and alone, so they resolved to eliminate what they believed was the worst feeling he might have.

So, he was very rarely ever alone now.

He spent a lot of time with Twilight, given his new housing arrangements. He felt awkward around her, as he was still little more than a stranger to her intruding on her good nature. Still, in the time he was there, he did find himself beginning to admire her. He may not have been as close with her as he was with Fluttershy, but he could see that changing with time.

He smiled when he thought of Fluttershy. She never ceased to amaze him. She was by far the kindest soul he had ever met and was a regular visitor for him. He grew genuinely excited when he saw her walking up the path from his window, or heard her soft voice talking to Twilight. She had a hug for him whenever she came by and always asked him how he was feeling.

Rainbow Dash was more closed off, but Link knew. Deep down she was a big softie too. She liked to talk, though Link could only make out so much of what she said. As his understanding of Equish improved, however, he began to notice something about her:

Rainbow Dash was funny. Really, really funny. She knew how to tell a story that was so engaging that, when she got to the punchline, you just couldn't help but laugh. She may have had to keep her words short and sweet for him when Fluttershy wasn't around, but Link found himself looking forward to whatever she wanted to tell him about next.

Rarity was very touchy-feely, which Link wasn't too fond of. He was only 100% okay with Fluttershy's contact; she had long proven that she was a trustworthy mare. He was even willing to let her stare into his soul¹. None of the others were allowed to do that.

However, barring Rarity's obsessive mussing with his hair to make him more presentable (even when he wasn't going out anywhere) and her attempts at brushing whatever lint or dust may have gotten to his tunic, she was good company. She began to teach him piano. The first song he learned was what she called a "naturalistic, if almost noir-esque ditty." Link was pretty sure she made up a few of those words, but it was a good song.

He never played it on his Ocarina, though. Come to think of it, he never even touched the Ocarina anymore. It remained where he dropped it his first night at Twilight's for days before someone had picked it up for him and set it on a shelf in his room. He placed a mask as plain as stone over it so as not to look at it anymore.

The Farmer, Applejack, was one he grew surprisingly close to with time. When he first met her, he found himself indifferent to her and he was in no terrible distress when the time came that she would have to leave for whatever reason. It by no means meant that he disliked her, he just didn't really feel they had much in common.

Until she mentioned her late parents. Her mother had died shortly after giving birth to her sister, and her father...

The way she put it, nobody knew for sure what happened to him. After her mother died, her father, Appleseed had moved away because he "could not bear his memories anymore." She believed it was hers and her sister's likeness to their Mom that brought him pain.

All anyone knew for sure was, one day, Appleseed stopped responding to any letters or phone calls. The others called for a welfare check on him, and they found his remains on his couch at home in front of his TV. It was still on. He had been there for quite a while.

It was a devastating blow to the Apples, especially Applebloom. She was still sore talking about it now, and it had been around 5 years. Nobody knew for sure how he died, but Applejack had a theory:

"Here's what I think happened. See, my Pa's side of the family has a history of heart problems. My Grandpa died of a heart attack, his Dad died of Congestive Heart Failure, his Dad died of an aortic aneurysm, and his Dad before him died of a twisted ankle²."

She looked to Fluttershy, who was helping relay the story to Hinka.

"I think my Dad got home one day and lay down on his couch to watch some TV. He fell asleep, and had a massive heart attack. I don't believe he felt a thing. Just something about the whole mess tells me that his death was painless and quick."

They were all silent then for a moment. What could be said?

"I..." croaked out Link. Fluttershy and Applejack looked to him, awaiting what he wished to say.

"I don't know how my Dad died. He fought in a war of some kind and was probably killed in battle. The war was a bad one that spread to all corners of Hyrule. The townsfolk were not safe."

He looked to Fluttershy, who was parroting what he was saying in her language. Her eyes were on him, as she had not heard what he was saying before yet either. Also his actually speaking more than three words at a time was new and exciting.

"At some point the fighting found its way to my hometown. I was just a baby. Mom took me and fled the chaos, but was wounded. She took me to the magical trees, the Lost Woods."

He licked his lips. Talking this much was working up a thirst. He'd have to ask for some water or milk afterwards.

"The Lost Woods are covered by a strong magic that repels outsiders by killing them or transforming them. My mother, already wounded, was both being slowly cursed and killed, but she continued on. I was not afflicted, being a small baby. The trees have a soft spot for newborns."

He had no tears for his birth mother as he did not remember her, but he did wonder what could have been had she only lived, or if the war did not break out. Would he be living at home with his Mom and Dad? Who would be the hero Hyrule needed then? How different would his life have been had he been raised as the Hylian he was instead of the Kokiri he wasn't?

"She managed to continue through the trees until she found the secretive and reclusive village of ageless forest nymphs, the Kokiri Village. Kokiri never grow up physically, but mentally they do. My Mom was directed to an audience with their patron deity, the Great Deku Tree, where she begged for my rescue. The Great Deku Tree accepted me, and from then on I no longer had any reason to fear the Lost Woods. I was safe. My mother, however..."

Link cleared his throat. "She passed away while being treated by the other Kokiri. Shortly thereafter, the curse place on her by the trees activated, and she became a monster. The Kokiri put her back down and she was buried with all necessary last rites. I was raised from that day on among the Kokiri. I was a misfit, but I made due."

He looked to the ponies, both eyeing him in amazement. He blushed a bit. "And now I'm done talking."

That was the day he began to bond with Applejack.

The pink took him more time to get closer to. It wasn't that he didn't like her; she seemed like a kind pony. It's just she was too wacky for him, and he swore she knew things about his home that he never told her.

One time, when he was to stay with her for a night to see how he would behave outside Twilight or Fluttershy's care, she was baking. He was in the kitchen with her and helping by washing dishes. It was very quiet, right up until she chose to chirp out:

"That Ganondorf seems like a real meany jelly beany."

He tensed up and dropped the utensils he had been washing into the sink with a clatter. Was she insinuating that Ganondorf had somehow found his way to this new world?

Before he could ask or respond, he had to look at her. She appeared to be deep in thought with a hoof to her chin.

"I mean, he could have been a super duper nice person, but instead he had to steal the crown, usurp the King's throne, and presumably steal candy from babies too. I bet he even kicked puppies! That meanie!"

The other thing that startled him about her was his lack of needing Fluttershy to understand what she was saying on occasion. He knew she was speaking Equish, but there was something about her that made it relatively easy to make out what she was yammering on about if she slowed down just a tad.

In poorly hidden panic, Link uttered, "Who is Ganondorf?" Perhaps it was someone else? Surely he couldn't have resurrected himself? He couldn't have followed Link this far, right?

He broke out in a cold sweat. If Ganondorf had really managed-

"I dunno!"

Link's brain stopped. He looked at the pink incredulously; she appeared to be in the process of juggling six knives. With her eyes closed.

"You don't know?"

"Nope! Hey, do you think you can toss me a spoon too? I want to break my record!"

He blinked again. So Ganondorf wasn't here then? How did she know who he was if she didn't know who he was? He would have to ask Twilight about it later. Certainly not the dragon. They weren't on speaking terms right now. Spike had accused Link of attempting to take the place of Twilight's "Number One Assistant" and Link couldn't have been more confused if he tried, so he responded with silence and that only made things worse.

He gave his head a shake. Was the Pink's off topic rambling contagious? He didn't want to go back to the castle sporting her mane or hyperactive tendencies.

If Ganondorf really had come here, then Link knew there would be some trouble. He didn't have access to the Master Sword here, and Ganon's heart was so dark that anything other than a holy weapon would not work.

Light arrows? They would help, but the only thing that would put Ganondorf down quick enough was the legendary blade of evil's bane. Even if he used the razor sharp blade granted to him by a Great Fairy in Termina, it could certainly hurt the evil King, but it wouldn't kill him.

Link found himself wondering if the Elements of Harmony Fluttershy had spoken to him about would work. From what he was told, they seemed to be this society's equivalent of the Master Sword, or as Tatl might have put things, "The Master Sword's gay cousins." They were not actual weapons, but when used together they were more than enough to deal with the threats posed to Equestrian society. They cleansed the darkness from a fallen Princess before, and even brought order to a mad god of chaos. Whose to say they wouldn't work on Ganondorf? They probably would.

Come to think of it, would they maybe work on Majora? Link doubted it, at least in her current state. The Elements seemed to specialize in turning evil inanimate or separating it from the physical realm. Given Majora's Mask was currently dormant and as such inanimate, the Elements would probably end up doing very little in the best case.

If they did the opposite and separated Majora's spirit from the mask? That would just doom the planet and possibly the rest of existence. Unless Majora was to awaken once more, Link would not let it be touched by the holy relics of this land.

The Fierce Deity? Absolutely not. Link did not completely understand how that particular mask worked. All he knew for sure was, when he wore it for his battle with Majora, he felt a darkness as malevolent as the Goddess he was battling awaken within him. It was hellbent on destroying Majora, yes, but Link had to give his all to drown out the dark voices in his skull telling him to do horrible things. The mask had on more than one occasion attempted to wrest control of his body away from him while he wore it. He could still feel the dark tendrils of the mask envelop his mind sometimes, and he would have an urge to put it back on. Whenever that happened he would utter a prayer to Farore. Upon whispering "Amen", the voices would retreat and he would be left in peace for a time. Link took to praying every night for that very reason. If he were to succumb and put on the mask again, he did not know if he would be able to hold off the dark spirit it contained again.

The only reason he even managed to the first time was due to his bearing the Triforce of Courage. That combined with his indomitable mindset gave him just enough inner strength to defeat the spirit attempting to invade his mind. He had no doubt that, should he wear it again, his ability to maintain self control would be severely tested and possibly beaten. He did not like the thought of what the Fierce Deity would do to the horses, especially Fluttershy. Even if they used their Elements of Harmony on him, he was unsure if they would be enough. If the Fierce Deity had been able to defeat a Goddess who once had infinite power...

The best idea therefore was to never put himself in the position where he may need to use the mask again.

"HINKA!!!!!!!!!!"

Link leapt back instinctively and shouted out in pain as he landed on his mangled leg. Pinkie gasped and dropped the cupcake she had been holding out to him. He had worked his little fingers to the bone cleaning those dishes and she wanted to repay him, but instead he had to be all quiet and staring into space. So she said his name and it didn't work and then she did it again and it didn't work and then again and it didn't work and again and again and again and again and again and again but this time in Prench and then...

"I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry!" she gasped out. Her mane had fallen over her eyes. "I just wanted you to eat! I didn't mean to-"

He held a hand up, stopping her tirade. He did not appear to be angry with her. He seemed confused, but that was just crazy. When has Pinkie Pie ever confused anypony?

She began to ramble urgently twice as quick, so any understanding just wasn't going to happen. Link wasn't even sure the ones who spoke in this language fluently would manage to get a word out of whatever she was saying.

It was ultimately up to him to calm her down, so he did so with simple hand gestures. He rose them in front of him and slowly lowered them repeatedly, taking a few deep breaths as he did so. The Pink took the hint and did the same, and her breathing began to regulate. Link never could say no to someone in need. Even the Kokiri who shunned him. If they really really needed something, he would assist. Not for the reward, but because it was the right thing to do.

Also it made things really awkward and glorious when those same Kokiri would later make fun of him. He'd just bring up whatever he did for them and then the entire conversation would just die. It was hilarious.

All in all his first night with Pinkie Pie was odd, but he wasn't so adverse to seeing her again in the future. She was a good pony. Kind of crazy, but well meaning. Her baked goods were absolutely breathtaking as well.

He and the dragon were at odds. Well, the dragon was at odds with him. He didn't really know why, but he was used to it. He wasn't exactly Mr. Popularity back home either if you weren't following along.

Other than trying to get them to bond, Twilight mostly focused on trying to teach him the language with flash cards. It was a slow process but was working well. She told him she would move him up to a language book she had imported a while back as he improved.

He did appreciate her help and hospitality. He would bond with her more in time. The dragon too, assuming he didn't burn him alive one day.

He remained excited whenever Fluttershy came for him, and he trusted her with small snippets of his life. He told her about Saria and how kind and protective she was of him growing up, and he told her about the Kokiri that ostracized him and bullied him.

She frowned when he brought up how the others would belittle him. Who could do something like that to such a good boy? She would have words with them too if she could.

She was initially surprised when he told her how he would respond. He didn't just curl up in a ball and cry. Whenever he was bullied he would stand up for himself, and when he was hit, he would hit back. Link was well-versed in Kun-So³ and wasn't afraid to show it.

The main issue was, Mido was excellent at it too. Link had a few wins against him, but Mido also bested Link quite a few times in the past as well.

Fluttershy was perplexed. He seemed to be longing for his home in spite of all that he dealt with there. When she was his age and was bullied, she could never stand up for herself. And Fluttershy had three black belts!

Still, she did feel a degree of pride. He had been confiding in her now with stories he told nopony else. And Fluttershy had been looking out for him too in return. Whether it meant shielding him from rain if they were out at night or just tucking him in when he was over some nights, she wanted to do whatever she could to make him know that he was among ponies who cared.

She cared for his well being. She cared for his happiness. She cared for his cleanliness. She cared for his requests.
One of his recent requests was to get his money valued. He was curious how much a rupee was worth in Equestria, and Twilight had asked her to write down what the values turned out to be.

Fluttershy hummed quietly to herself. Link could swear he heard what she was humming before. It sounded kind of like the lullaby he played for the obnoxious Goron child who refused to see reason, no matter how many times his fellow Gorons threatened to knock him to kingdom come. It took a song learned from his father to stop him from screaming.
Link smiled a bit to himself. Tatl believed that if they could trap Majora in a room with that kid, she would undo all the damage she caused just to shut him up.

Fluttershy took his smile as amusement, and blushed. "S-sorry, I just uhh... I like to hum."

He frowned and tilted his head.

She turned a bit redder. "I may have, umm... got carried away with singing once before. Too shy to sing in public, but not too shy to sing when hidden. Do you sing, Hinka?"

He shook his head. If Link were to sing, that would mean he had to use his voice, and he didn't dig that shit at all. Saria was a heart stopping singer. The other Kokiri called her the songbird of the generation. Indeed, there was not a single Kokiri that had one bad thing to say about her. Her influence was so great that the Kokiri would even sometimes be nice to Link when he was with her.

His thoughts took a dark turn. Shortly after he had saved her from the Forest Temple Ganondorf had imprisoned her in, she told him how gentle the evil king had ordered his minions to be with her. She did not know why, but believed it was due to her status as the Sage of the Forest. Had she been incapacitated, the Lost Woods would have grown out of control in recompense.

The more Link thought about it, the more he realized why Ganondorf was so gentle with the Sages when he captured them. Had Darunia been killed, Death Mountain would have begun to erupt constantly. If Ruto had died, It would never again rain in Hyrule. If Impa bought the farm, the dead would rise and take the land of the living. If Nabooru fell, the Haunted Wasteland would spread, and Hyrule would be covered completely by a desert.

Link felt a pang of sadness and envy as he compared his home to this place. Equestria, as they called it, was technologically advanced, possessed great magic and wealth, and children did not work.

In Hyrule, however, there was no power. Work could not be done automatically. You needed to light your lamps manually, not flip a switch. The magic blanketing Hyrule was a blend of dark and holy, and with the exception of Castle Town, was a very poor country. Children would begin to work at the age of 4 or 5 and would work 80 hours per week in the worst cases or just 60 on the norm.

In Kokiri Village, each of the children would take turns running the general store. There was a small bed in the back room where they would rest for about 4 hours and work the remaining 20. Each clerk would earn 4 rupees per day. The Kokiri were technically the most poverty stricken people in Hyrule, but their ability to rely more on hunting than funding was enough to keep them from collapsing. In most of Hyrule, people lined up waiting for bread. In Equestria, bread was lined up waiting for people.

Speaking of hunting, that was just what many people had to do. Link was not aware of more than five stores in Hyrule that sold food for semi-reasonable prices. It was a commodity turned luxury for them. The only reason Navi had ever managed to get sweets for him was because he was a small child and she was a smaller fairy. Shop owners would sometimes take pity on them.

There was one thing that Hyrule had over Equestria, though: the magical artifacts of Hyrule were far more powerful than those of Equestria. At least, from what Link was able to piece together so far. The Elements of Harmony were only as powerful as their wielders it seemed. The Triforce, when fully united, possessed the boundless power of the Golden Goddesses. One wish upon the Triforce would be enough to bring Hyrule the same fortunes as Equestria, and then some.
He looked down at the back of his right hand. The Triforce of Courage glowed dimly, as if staring back at him. He knew that bearing just that one piece had granted him many a blessing. It was why he did not bleed out after his first encounter with the Redeads. If it were to be taken from him, there would be trouble.

Link hadn't told any of the ponies about Hyrule's problems yet. Even hygiene was not common there. Link, during his recovery, had awoken to Fluttershy gently cleaning him with a sponge and some flowery smelling liquids. She eventually began to make him do it himself as he got his strength back.

He looked up at her again with admiration. He owed her a debt he doubted he could ever repay.

He hesitated for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her foreleg. She stopped moving with a soft 'Eep', and looked down to him before smiling and returning the gesture.

"We're almost there, Hinka. How is your leg? Do you need a rest?"

He shook his head with a small smile and she kissed his forehead.

"Come, let's go get your rupees valued!"

Link was angry and resigned.

The value of his rupees did not go so well. It turned out they were far less valuable here than he initially thought. The appraiser told them that the rupees were beautiful on the outside, but made of very common materials on the inside. A blue rupee, which was worth five green rupees was only worth 2 Equestrian bits. A red rupee, worth 20 green rupees? Oddly enough it was worth less; just a single penny⁴ in Equestrian currency. The only one that was worth anything at all was a silver rupee he carried that he had found in Termina. It alone was worth 100 green rupees and that amounted to approximately 21 bits.

He did not hold out hopes that he would be living in the lap of luxury with his money, but he would have liked to have at least a little spending money to throw around. As it stood, he left with 21 bits. He traded the silver rupee only that day.
Fluttershy was quiet, as was her wont, but she kept casting him a look, almost pleading for him to talk to her about how he felt. Link did not want to. She had done nothing wrong, but Link was in no mood to talk at all.

So, she decided to talk to him.

"You need not worry so much about money, Hinka. Twilight is a Princess. You're as rich as she is technically."

He blinked. Being rich never really crossed his mind. Link was not interested in nobility or high class. He just wanted to have a little money in his pocket to call his own.

He frowned down at the remaining rupees, and looked back at the appraiser's shop. Part of him wanted to toss them at the shop, but he didn't do so. They were still something from his home. Maybe he could just use them as mementos.

One penny. Bah.

Author's Notes:

1- Staring into the eyes of a Kokiri for too long is taboo, for it is believed that the eyes contain the soul. Kokiri only tend to allow a select few to look into their souls. It's a sign of absolute trust.

2- Great Great Great Grandpa Apple twisted his ankle attempting to escape a burning barn, fell, hit his head on a rock, and ultimately burned to death. He was known for beating his children and flirting with other mares as well as other less-than-reputable activities, and was far from missed by the Apple family.

3- Kokirian martial arts focused primarily on the pressure points of the body to take down opponents swiftly but non-lethally. Ineffective against Gorons and Deku Scrubs, but extremely potent against Hylians, Gerudo, and the Zora.

4- A recently minted extremely low value coin requested to bear the face of Nightmare Moon on the front by Princess Luna herself since, in her words, "They are both practically worthless."

Super Hinka Sunshine

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Link learned a lot more about the town he was in as he slowly grew acclimated to living with Twilight Sparkle.

After it became known that he wasn't super depressed anymore, Twilight began to give him small errands to do. His first day was difficult. Not because he did not want to help, but because he couldn't understand a single thing she was saying. She had to repeat herself four or five times for him to get the gist of what she was asking.

Other than a few errands here and there (some of which were run with the dragon), Link had most of his time to himself. By the end of his first week, Link had hung the masks he had collected on his travels upon one of the walls in his room. Majora's Mask was hung in the middle of a drawing of the Triforce Link had uttered many a prayer over. It was his attempt at preventing her power from leaking. The same was done to the Fierce Deity.

He did not worry too much of the adults entering and tampering with them. While he stayed with Fluttershy, he told her that those two masks were very important to him, and he did not want them to be touched. She told her friends, which prompted Rainbow Dash to apologize to him again for their first meeting.

He accepted the apology but gave a small shiver. How close had they come to Majora gaining a new vessel? He did not want to find out. Majora herself was probably stewing in fury ever since that chance slipped away.

As for Spike, he simply told him that the mask was evil and to touch it would bring misfortune upon the town. It was true, technically. If Majora were to awaken again the world would experience a genocide, and those were not very good for any towns really.

He was given a key to his room and whenever he wasn't there, it was locked up. Link had done the same thing in Kokiri Village, especially after his first quest. He'd come away from it with a decent sum of money, though he still was not wealthy.

He failed to lock up once and when he came home it was almost all missing. Whoever took it left him a red rupee and a note that read, "Sory I relli needed it!!!"

The poor spelling aside, Link took locking up very seriously because he was surrounded by a bunch of noxiis¹ At least in Kokiri Village he was.

So far here, though, he hadn't been ostracized too much. The ponies seemed to be very hospitable and kind to him. He wasn't hazed either and that was always nice.

It also helped that they seemed to take privacy very seriously. Almost all of them knocked whenever he was in his room and they needed to see him.

The dragon was the only one that didn't, but he did seem to realize he was screwing up and would mutter a half-hearted apology.

It was a very hot day when Twilight Sparkle knocked on his door. Usually it was followed by her chatter, but this time it was just more urgent knocking.

He scowled a little. He did what she asked him to do today. Where was the fire?

When he opened the door she smiled down at him and just chattered away again. He shrugged a bit.

The smile didn't leave her face though. She held up some strange colorful bottle and kept saying a few words to him. She'd been helping him learn the language through flash cards mostly, but he was still far from many coherent sentences.
It wasn't until she enunciated a few times that he got what she was saying.

"Sun. Screen. You."

He was confused. What was sun screen? Before he could ask, she put a hoof to her chin as if trying to figure out how to explain. She pointed to the bottle again, then at the shield Link hung on one of the walls.

He still didn't understand, but she did not lose patience with him. Rather, she pointed out the window at the sun, then at the bottle, and then the shield. So the bottle was a shield?

He leaned in a little to inspect it. No, it wouldn't do at all. Much too small, and very easy to strike around. He doubted it would even serve much good as an offensive weapon, and there were many in Hyrule who would use their shields as weapons just as often as they would use them for defense. He knew. He was one of them.

It didn't even look like it could stand up to a fist, much less a sword or a warhammer. No, it wouldn't do at all.
Why was Twilight giggling at him? He eyed her confusedly again, and her voice seemed to go up an octave for a second.

"Sa nete! Hinka saaaa neeeete!!!!!"²

She held a hoof out, inviting him to grab it. He did, and she began to take some good smelling gel out of the bottle so she could apply it to his arm.

He gasped at first. It was cold, but it caused him no discomfort. He was confused when it left no trace behind after being rubbed in. He looked up at her again.

She grinned, and pointed to the bottle, then at the window again, and said a few words he actually knew.

"Sun? Nooooo problem!"

She kept pointing at the window, though, and he eventually got the hint and went to investigate.

Outside was what reminded him a lot of the Carnival of Time. There were colorful tents all down the street, balloons, and lots of ponies seeming to be really enjoying themselves. There was also a lot of music, but Link had learned by now that music was very common in Ponyville. He felt silly, though. How hadn't he noticed what was going on out there?

His mind began to put things together. Twilight was beckoning him towards her and the bottle again. He wasn't worried that whatever it was would harm him. Twilight was housing him, and Fluttershy trusted her, so he trusted her too. Fluttershy wouldn't let her do anything to hurt him.

Also her food was really good so he was somewhat more inclined to trust her judgement. He shuffled towards her again and she smiled warmly at him.

Putting sunscreen on Hinka was not so difficult. Convincing him to come out for the Summer Sun Celebration was not very difficult either.

Getting him to loosen up and try to have some fun? That was downright impossible.

He didn't understand most of the games they had, the horses all towered over him, and he wasn't certain what treats were edible to him and what weren't.

The foods were all free, which only made things worse. He needed to find Twilight or Fluttershy. Either would be able to help him figure this place out.

"Hi!!!"

He jolted. Out of the chatter around him a high and sweet voice said a word he actually knew. Her voice cracked midway too.

Link turned around and only had to look up a little to meet her eyes. She was a small white unicorn filly with a purple mane like Rarity. He remembered her from the party. What was her name again? Sweet Tooth? No, Sweet Smell!
He gave her a small wave and she giggled, then babbled at him again in her tongue, of which he managed to pick up "any fun?"

He blinked, and gestured to the stands around him before shrugging. She stared blankly.

"Free."

He nodded, then pointed at them again and shrugged.

"Try hayburger!"

He sighed.

Sweetie walked beside Hinka. It took some convincing but she managed to get him to accompany her to find her other friends to hang out. Unbeknownst to him, they were well aware that he had no cutie mark- Fluttershy had let it slip in their presence, and so they had an emergency on their hooves. What better place to find your special talent than a festival?

"So, how is Twilight treating you?" she asked. "You learning more words?"
He didn't respond, but Sweetie wasn't discouraged.

"You'll like. She knows lot about magic and pretty much everything too."

He blinked. From what he then knew about purple book horse, she did seem to have a lot of knowledge. He once walked into a room and saw Spike scribbling away in a notebook while Twilight chattered and drew on a chalk board. She later told him that Spike was learning "how to calculate parallax arcseconds," whatever those were.

Part of him wondered if she would be able to out-magic Ganondorf³. It wasn't something that they would find out any time soon, on account of the evil tyrant already having been executed. He'd have to find out if she knew holy magic, because if she didn't, there was no chance.

He jolted and a dull ache shot through his wounded leg as a blur of orange and purple appeared to just come up in front of him. It was the orange pegasus. Uhh... Tootaloo? She was accompanied by horse-with-bow-in-mane.

Tootaloo said something in her language to Sweet Tooth, who gave a nod. They smiled at him simultaneously, prompting him to gulp.

Link didn't think much of tattoos.

They had a mixed reception among the Kokiri. Some believed they were a sign of strength, for most tattoos had a story behind them, and sharing your stories outwardly was a sign of inner peace and strength.

Others believed that they were a sign of insecurity, as only one who felt a need for approval would strut about with a story on the body. It mattered little if the tattoo was under clothing or not.

Link personally did not feel any way about them. He believed that it was up to you to get such things done. He had no intention of getting one himself, though.

A Cutie Mark? That's not a tattoo. Link learned the hard way.

He understood little of what they were nickering and chattering on about, but he kept hearing "Cutie Mark", which he had learned through Twilight was the markings on their flanks, and he happened to know the word "tattoo."

Based on their ramblings, they seemed adamant on getting him a Cutie Mark. They sounded horrified that he hadn't asked for their assistance yet.
"...Why is it such a big deal? It's just a tattoo."

He hadn't meant to utter the question in Equish; just did so without thinking. He didn't mean for them to hear him. It was more a question he was asking himself than anything, as he still did not know the significance of such a marking. He certainly didn't mean for them to eye him like he had just confessed to witchery. As courageous as Link was, even he shrunk back a bit under the combined gaze of the three filly Gods of Discontent.

"...Just," said Horse-With-Bow-In-Mane.

"...A," said Sweet Tooth.

"...TATTOO?!!?" finished an indignant Tootaloo.

"...Eep," said a visibly nervous human child doing his best impression of Fluttershy.

What resulted next was a cacophony of shouts in anger and confusion, all in Equish. Link could make out none of it, and he had the feeling that he wouldn't have been able to understand a damn thing they were saying even if he had been born and raised a pony himself.

All he knew was, three fillies were going off on him like he had covered his feet⁴ atop their Patron God while spitting on the graves of their long dead ancestors. He looked to passing ponies for help, most of which either bypassed completely, failed to see him, or noticed, but only eyed him with sympathy. Even the Pink Menace came bouncing by, was about to engage them in some conversation, saw the state the fillies were in, and backed away slowly.

When they had finally finished their tirade, they began to drag him to all sorts of horse-games around the festival in an attempt to get him "his Celestia forsaken tattoo."

He didn't bother asking how playing a game would get him a tattoo. He feared opening his mouth again. This kind of shit was exactly why he never spoke!

He spent hours doing everything from throwing perfectly good pies at a pony dressed as a clown with surprisingly great evasion skills, launching foods from a catapult great distances, playing a spontaneous game of freeze tag, which he stood no chance in, being gimped and bipedal among a world of quadrupeds, and refusing to sing into a strange metal object that everyone called a microphone.

Nothing he did earned him a cutie mark, and they tried and tried until the sun began to kiss the horizon.
Finally dejected, the trio looked to him sorrowfully.
"(I guess it's just not meant to be tonight for you, Hinka.)"
"(It would have been so awesome to get you your cutie mark during the Summer Sun Celebration.)"
"(It feels like we really let you down.)"

He wasn't making out too much of their words, but he did understand the simultaneous, "Sorry." As if they had practiced it, the trio also hung their heads in unison.

He was about to say they didn't need to be sorry, as he felt just fine without a cutie mark, when a voice came over the festival.

"(Mares and gentlecolts, if I may direct your attention skyward, the fireworks will begin in just a few minutes!)"

The Triforce of Courage chose that moment to shine upon his hand. He looked at it curiously. Why was it asserting itself now?

The trio gasped, and he looked up at them in confusion.
"...is that..."
"I think it is!"
He quickly covered his ears.

"ALIEN CUTIE MARK!!!!!"

He was going to correct them. Honest he was, but they looked too happy. He couldn't ruin it for them and tell them he'd had that mark for a long time.

They began to congratulate themselves and him, though they expressed wonder as to why it was on his hand, and only one of them. It made him wonder what they intended to do had they seen any evidence of his earning a mark while doing those activities.

He looked back down at the Triforce, puzzled. Being the piece that belonged to Farore, it left him more in tune to her than the other Golden Goddesses. He could almost hear her voice in his head telling him, "Be calm. It's going to be okay."
What was going to be--
CRACK!

He jumped, and looked up at the sky. A firework. Oh, Goddesses, he hated fireworks! They reminded him too much of the spells Ganondorf used and brought him many a flashback. He lost it when he first witnessed them in Termina and almost didn't manage to compose himself in time to reset the clock.

He gasped, and eyed them in mute terror as the sparks began to slowly fall out of the sky, so you'd think crisis averted, right? No! Apparently the ponies were so good at fireworking that they could fire off several dozen at a time! He watched, and felt himself drift away.

Suddenly he was standing before Castle Town. The rain was pouring down and he was using his shield to help keep himself a little dry. He had just retrieved the Spiritual Stone of Water from Zora's Domain and was quite thoroughly sick of the life giving liquid now.

He nearly fell backwards as mud came up at his front. He gasped. Princess Zelda was on a horse being ridden by her personal servant, Impa, and they were taking off out of Castle Town urgently. Zelda turned about some, having caught a glimpse of Link, and threw something small and blue back at him- it landed in Castle Town's moat. They disappeared in the distance quickly. Visibility was severely limited in the storm.

His eyes were pinpricks when he heard another horse behind him, this one slowing down to a stop. There was a low sigh, and he heard the voice of his mortal enemy for the first time.
"Drat! I lost her..."

Slowly, Link turned around to face the King of Thieves, Ganondorf.

The evil King's eyes locked onto his own, and this time, Link refused to look away.
"You there! Kid! Surely you saw a girl on a white horse pass by just now. Tell me, what direction did she run in? Answer me!"

Shakily, Link slowly drew the Kokiri sword from its sheath and squared up to Ganondorf. The evil one only chuckled darkly.

"Kid, I like you. You've got guts. But you're a fool to think you can challenge me."

Without even getting off his horse, Ganondorf readied a spell in his left palm, a glowing white orb, and loosed it just at the mud before young Link. It exploded outwards as if it were made of shadows, and the force was enough to send Link back ten feet into the mud.

He had to roll out of the way, and not a moment too soon, as Ganondorf's horse galloped over the spot he had landed in just a second after he vacated it.

Suddenly Link was back among the ponies, all of whom were staring up at the sky in fascination. He looked down at his quivering hand. The Triforce was glowing dimly and he had broken out in a cold sweat. Another flurry of fireworks went off, and he jolted and whimpered quietly. The others did not hear him. He wished Navi was there. Or Fluttershy.

He remained a quivering ball of nerves, but other than a few whimpers, he was silent. It was his cross to bear.
"Hinka?"
He looped up at Sweet Tooth with a gasp. She seemed concerned.
"You okay? You're shaking."
The other two snapped out of their reverie and looked at him.

"What's the matter?"
"Tell us."
"Cutie Mark overwhelming you?"

Link took a few steps back. The loudest firework yet was what sent him shuffling away as fast as he could manage. He had to hide! He had to get to cover! If one of those blasts hit him...

He swore he entered the castle, got to his room, and hid under the bed so fast tears actually flew out of his eyes. As soon as he was settled under the bed, however, the real tears fell.

Slow Turning

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He'd fallen asleep under his bed for a short while before the door opened, hitting the wall with a "thud." He awoke to purple hooves standing in the doorway.

"Hinka?"

Twilight's voice was out of breath, like she had run to get there. She didn't seem to see him under the bed. Outside, the fireworks had stopped.

"(The Crusaders told me you ran off in the direction of the castle. Are you in here, dear?)"

He was silent. Maybe she would give up and go away. He felt embarrassed by his reaction.

"(I'm not mad, Hinka. I just want to know what's bothering you.)"

He didn't respond. Twilight chuckled a little.

"(You know, when I was your age and something scared me, there were two different ways that I might react: The first involved galloping in circles and screaming until my big brother or parents calmed me down.)"

She took a few steps closer to his hiding spot. His heart thumped dully in his ears.

"(The other way I might react only happened when I was in my room. I never hid under my blankets, because that was just too obvious. I always hid...)"

She pulled the skirt of the bed up a little and he met her eyes; eyes full of compassion and understanding.

"...under the bed."

He saw her smile mournfully at him.

"You're a lot like me, Hinka. Please come out. Talk. I listen for you."

He didn't budge at first, but he eyed the hoof she was offering him. Slowly he reached for it, and began to pull himself out of his spot.

When he was clear of the bed, she wrapped him up in a hug. Link hesitated, then wrapped his arms around her too.

"Tell me why you ran."

He hesitated a moment, but relented. She was trusting him to lay his head in her home; in a castle no less and not do anything reprehensible. The least he could do would be tell her why he left the festival.

"Fireworks," he whispered. "Fireworks scare me."
Twilight was silent for a moment. She lifted him gently and set him on his bed, where she sat next to him.
"Why is that?"

His mouth was dry. He still hadn't eaten and did not have anything to drink recently either.

"Bad guy at home. Really strong wizard. Took throne by force. Beat any resistance with powerful magic."

She gasped. His home was ruled by an aggressive dictator? Once they found a way to send him back, they'd go with him, Elements and all. Perhaps they could pave the way for some sort of alliance between their nations?

"I- Someone beat him. Magic bad. Loud. Bright. Devastating. Fireworks loud. Bright. Fireworks magic. I don't like."

She rubbed his arm gently.

"Then you do not have to go out and watch the fireworks."

He looked up at her. She smiled at him.

"We want you happy. Not scared. You feel better away from fireworks, so you stay away from them. No problem."

Link smiled up at her, and she returned it. His stomach growled audibly.

"Did you not eat?"

He shook his head. Twilight looked about to ask something else, but her eyes widened.

"I should have told you who was serving good food for you. I'm sorry, Hinka."

She smiled at him again.

"Come, let me cook something for you! Old family recipe: Pickled dandelions with barnacles in a diesel marinade!"

That was the day that Link decided he liked Twilight. She was more than an acquaintance and caretaker to him. She was a friend.

Link very rarely awoke with a shout anymore.

That's not to say he did not suffer nightmares. He did, and very often too. He just trained himself to never make a peep. For them to draw a scream out of the boy, they had to be beyond horrendous.

He wasn't always so quiet. Even before he began his quest he was haunted by recurring nightmares, usually involving a stranger from the desert, a princess, and himself. He used to awaken with a yell or a scream of terror that would also awaken his neighbors. Well, most of them. Saria was a heavy sleeper and could probably sleep through the moon crashing.

One night, he was asleep and having one of his nightmares again. In it he was doing battle with a hydra, of all creatures. He was literally just about to defeat it when he was awoken by his blankets tightening over his body.
Instantly two Kokiri came up on each side of his bed with a pillow case full of bars of soap¹ They began to bring down the pillow cases onto his bound form just as another Kokiri covered his mouth.

His muffled shouts of pain echoed through his home but nowhere else. The Kokiri were taking turns whacking him repeatedly with the soap. The pain was immense and he could feel the wind get forced out of his lungs at one point. The Kokiri covering his mouth did not let him make a peep.

It was over in less than a minute and Link was groaning and crying in pain. Finally the one covering his mouth let him go, and grabbed his face with one hand before turning it to look at him.

"Remember, no-fairy," growled Mido. "It's just a bad dream."

He all but threw his head back to the pillow and the Kokiri filed out, leaving Link to himself. It took just one blanket party to cure him of his habit.

He sighed. Part of him knew Twilight wouldn't do that to him, nor would the other adults. They seemed far too kind to even think of it. Spike? Their relationship was currently as far south as it could possibly go, so he wasn't letting his guard down.

His dream that night was of one of his first hard fought battles against one of Ganondorf's minions; the parasitic arachnid that invaded the Great Deku Tree and was slowly killing him from within.

He'd been told the trials within the Great Deku Tree would be a test of merit and strength for him.
"If thou be a soul whose courage be unwavering, thou shalt find no difficulty. If thou possess a shred of self doubt, however..."

As it was, Link braved many insects and hostile Deku Scrubs within the Great Tree. None of the smaller creatures he fought, however, were a match for his sword and shield. The bugs, mostly large spider-like insects, were dispatched as easily as a slice to the legs, followed by the thrust of the sword through their awaiting carapace. The Deku Scrubs, notoriously cowardly fighters, could be beaten into submission by use of his favorite slingshot. He didn't kill them, mind you. They just would take one hit from the slingshot, and then hide in fear.

The leader of the creatures slowly killing the Great Deku Tree, however?

When Link had entered the room it dwelled in, it was dark. Only the innate magic of Navi granted him any semblance of light.

The room reeked of decay. It was the decay of wood. Link could feel the wood under his feet begin to squish under his weight, as if he were walking in mud. He cringed. Poor Deku Tree...

He did not have too much time to dwell on the Deku Tree's suffering. He happened to look up, and a glowing yellow eye returned his gaze. He let out a gasp and leapt back just in time for the monster it belonged to to leap down where he stood a moment ago.

It must have been the size of five Kokiri and it appeared to be a spider-like creature with one horrible eye and a carapace that looked like it would be work to just cut through. The floor beneath the beast bowed in under its weight.

Before Link could even maneuver to a proper fighting stance, one large leg swiped at him, sending him careening across the floor in a heap.

Navi, who was still very cold towards him, chose that moment to give him some helpful advice.

"You're going to want to watch out for that."

He didn't respond.

"...Does that hurt? Because it looks like it kinda hurts. Dude, are you dead?"

Link sat up, gave his head a shake, and shot the fairy a glare. He regained his feet, and with a yelp promptly dove out of the way. The giant creature had charged him.

It left him with an opening. He quickly pulled his sword and began to slice at the nearest leg to him, but the carapace was thick. He was barely managing to scratch it, and judging by the lack of pained yowls from the beast itself, he wasn't exactly doing a whole ton of damage.

To make matters worse even better, he took his attention off the creature's other legs. One flicked him away with great force, and his back smacked into the wall.

The shield absorbed a good amount of the impact, but at the cost of a hairline crack adorning it. He scowled. The fairy wasn't even offering advice. She was just sitting there- oh. Scratch that, she seemed to be examining the creature.

"'kay, so the legs are out. I mean, you can keep hitting them all you want but you're just going to tire yourself out. Try the joints. You know, where they meet the body."

He dove out of the way as the monster charged him again and leapt to his feet. There was an idea. He found his opening, readied his blade, and by Farore it... it... IT....

Did even less damage than his first attempt.

Still, the creature didn't kick him away again. Instead it proceeded up the wall and to the ceiling high above. Its single eye seemed to turn red, and Link heard a splat not far ahead of him.

"...okay, that's just disgusting. Wait, is that...?"

Link was bowled over by a still glistening creature just like the one he was battling, only far smaller. He instinctively kicked up at it, knocking it away just before its mandibles could get to his throat. They clacked together just inches away from his flesh before he freed himself. Dispatching it was far easier. Its armor had not hardened yet.

"Kid! Mind those things. They've the sting of a Tarantula Hawk² in their fangs scaled up to work on a human. You don't want to know what will happen if you are bitten."

Link gulped, but nodded. He looked up disdainfully at the beast he was supposed to be slaying. It was hiding on the ceiling, but no more eggs were falling.

He put away his blade and took out his slingshot instead and decided to try and startle it down. The first shot missed on of its legs by a foot, and it moved it a bit. The second shot failed to reach the ceiling, but the third?

The creature let out a shriek Link wasn't aware that insects could make as it plummeted to the ground below. Though Link was far enough away to avoid injury, he leapt backwards anyway. It was dumb luck. The seed he loosed had caught the monster in the eye.

The eye!

Link was kicking himself. Of course the eye wasn't armored. It would have been worth a try to strike at it earlier when he had a chance. No matter. He was being given another, and so he approached with caution, his blade and damaged deku shield in hand.

He was not careful enough. The beast quickly righted itself and in a charge, pinned Link by the abdomen against a wall. Link could feel his back bruising up already and he groaned in great pain. No amount of wiggling was going to free him. Had the monster felt the desire to, it could have crushed him against the wall.

It would have been ironic. An insect crushing a human? It was usually the other way around.

Yet, it did not do so. Instead, it bared its mandibles at him, but hesitated again. It had appeared to be aiming to bite him between his shoulder and neck. Such a wound would have probably killed him quickly. No, there was a better way to use the two-legger, and it needed to remain alive for as long as possible in order to serve its new purpose.

The arachnid lowered its head slightly to the area around Link's then somewhat pudgy belly. Then it struck...

...nothing but shield. Link managed to wedge the Deku Shield into its mandibles, and he struggled now to get his sword to the creature's eye level. He didn't have much time; he could hear the Deku Shield cracking and straining, and could see the mandibles slowly shutting as the shield gave way.

He had one shot. If he missed, he was as good as dead.

He managed to bury the Kokiri Sword within the eye of Gohma as the shield finally broke. She stopped biting just as the mandibles reached his skin, but did not break it.

All of a sudden Link was on his hands and knees, staring up at the creature, weapon still embedded in its eye. It shrieked and shrieked but could not remove the weapon. As its legs began to fall out from under it, it lowered its gaze to Link, sword and all.

As was his wont, Link then awoke with a gasp but without a peep. It was still pitch black outside the window. He turned over in the bed afforded to him. It may have been the most comfortable bed he ever had the pleasure of sleeping in, but he knew that his sleep would be avoiding him once more. At least he didn't awaken Twilight or dragon.

Link swatted at a mosquito that had infiltrated his room and landed on his neck.

Stupid bugs.

Author's Notes:

1- Soaps made by the Kokiri were known for their good scent and were typically used for fragrance and because the Kokiri liked to carve it into the shapes of animals. It was used for its intended purpose only fleetingly, as most of Hyrule believed chronic bathing was actually bad for you.

2- Known for their unsettling appearance, Tarantula Hawks sting their prey (usually Tarantulas), injecting them with a paralytic venom, trapping the prey item within itself. It then drags the Tarantula back down its own burrow, lays an egg on its abdomen, and upon hatching, the larvae proceeds to eat the Tarantula from the inside out, keeping it alive for as long as possible. While frightening to many, a standard Tarantula Hawk's sting is non-lethal to humans.

You guys remember that one time where we played chess and you forgot the-

Next chapter covers some bullshit happening somewhere.

Respite Fit For A Hero

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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.

Hinka Gets Shot By The Sheriff (Or, The Doctor Vs. Alien Kid)

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Link did as he was told and went to his room without supper that night. He apologized to Spike who, in turn, was made to apologize back to him. Neither boy looked at each other.

He eyed his items and wondered if he should leave. He started to think of Fluttershy. If he left he would leave her behind too in favor of being alone once more. At least if he found Navi there would be some closure.

His stomach growled, but he remained stoic. It was not his first time going to bed without supper. He once went a week and a half with virtually no food. Then there were all the times he went through the same three days in Termina without eating. Enough was enough when Tatl took note of how much weight he had dropped in his time there. She made him stop and take a three day cycle to rest, eat, and refresh himself.

He knew it would never be that bad here. His not eating in Termina was more due to how badly he wanted to fix everything there. He simply kept forgetting to eat. The week and a half without eating was due to a famine in Kokiri Forest. In a rare show of kindness, Mido, known for having an extensive storage of preserved meats, invited the village to take some. Even Link.

The famine ultimately ended following a deluge of cleansing rain from the heavens that may or may not have been brought forth by a certain ocarina after it had been recovered from a particularly excellent hiding spot.

There was a knock on the door. He frowned. Had Fluttershy heard? She wasn't going to tell him she was disappointed in him, was she? Sue him. When Spike attacked him, he suddenly found himself in a fight with Mido again. It wasn't until Spike surrendered that he fully understood what he was doing. Until then, he had just been reacting.

"Hinka?" asked a certain baby dragon through the door. "Can I come in a sec?"
Link was surprised. It was one of the first times Spike actually knocked on the door.
"Yes," he replied. The doorknob turned, and in came the drake. He shut the door behind him and looked around nervously.

Under one arm was a yellow box of some kind.

"Hey," said Spike. "I uhh... figured you might be hungry. I brought some cookies. Don't tell Twilight."

Link eyed the box dubiously. He and the dragon had just gotten into a fight. He wasn't exactly in a blind trust type of mood yet.

Things eased somewhat when Spike grabbed a few bite sized cookies from the box and tossed them into his mouth. He offered the box itself to Link, who took it with a smile and nod.

Spike rubbed the back of his neck.

"So, uhh... sorry for lying earlier. You know, about our whole fight. It was messed up of me. And also the fight itself. I should have tried to help you pick the books up, not jump to conclusions. Twi raised me better than that."

Link listened quietly while he munched on one of the cookies.
"I uhh... was hoping to ask about how you hurt me in the fight."
Link cringed.

Spike waved his claws at Link and shook his head. "No! I'm not fishing for an apology or anything. I mean seriously. It was like you just poked me and suddenly my arm was asleep. How did you do that?"
Link looked at his hands.

"Pressure points," he said. Spike stared blankly. Link did not know the Equish words yet.
He cleared his voice, and tried again to clarify:

"Pain spots. Bad hurt when struck. No lot of force needed. Part of my home combat."

"And the thing with your leg?" asked Spike. "That was scary. How did you do that?"
Link smiled mournfully.

"I know. Bad one. I been in it before. Know by my people as Gate of Tartarus¹
"It's really that bad?" gasped the drake. Hinka nodded.

"It painful. Fully stop everything. No breathing. No swallowing. Make bleed from mouth. Not you. I no lock in all the way. You pass out if I do. Very very difficult to escape if not know what doing."
Spike blinked.
"Do you know more moves?"
L
ink nodded. "Many. Gate of Tartarus not as reliable as it is dangerous."
"Can you show me the move again?"

There was a question. Link could absolutely show him. But he wasn't sure he wanted to trust Spike with that move. Unlike some of the other grappling holds Link was familiar with, the Gogoplata/Hell's Gate did not have a specific reversal that he was aware of. A battle-savy opponent could try to move their head to relieve some of the pressure, but that was always hit and miss. If the move wasn't locked in properly against a well-trained opponent, it was useless. Once it was properly locked in, you usually had to fight out with force, and that is extremely difficult to do when you're slowly suffocating.

Then again, Spike's legs were pretty stubby.
Link shrugged. "Dangerous move. Can kill. I faint in it a few times."

Spike's eyes widened. So, it was true. Hinka knew how to kill. He heard Rainbow mutter about it to Fluttershy back when Hinka was still very new and very unknown to most of them. Dash was concerned that he would harm somepony, but Fluttershy suggested that he wasn't the type to do so without just cause.
"Have you ever killed anypony?" asked Spike.

A silence stretched between them. Link offered Spike one of the cookies and then took one for himself. He gave a nod of approval at it.
"Good cookies," he said.

He and Spike ended their little conversation on better terms than they had been since really meeting. They weren't buddy-buddy, but Spike actually seemed impressed that Link won the fight. You earn the respect of a dragon, you've got an ally for life.

When Link beat Mido for the first time, the cocky little tool came up with every excuse in the book as to why he lost. Oh, he cheated! The sun was in my eyes! He used a low blow!

Meanwhile Link had won with a much more reliable move: the triangle choke². Mido passed out.

The others had come to visit early that morning, and when Fluttershy heard what happened she was predictably upset. She gave Link a frown that just made him wilt and the shake of her head, but she didn't raise her voice at him. Instead, she just told him exactly what he was hoping she wouldn't: "Hinka, I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed in you."

That hurt so much worse.

When Rarity found out, she was quick to chew both of them out.

"Shame on you, Hinka! Honestly, performing such a barbaric act on our little Spikey wikey! And shame on you too Spike for acting like such a foal!"

"Hey, at least I didn't make him bleed," Link almost retorted. He probably would have had he not been half wordless. It was an unfortunate side effect of the gogoplata. When using the proper amount of pressure, the move can cause some internal bleeding, as well as bleeding from the mouth. It was not always serious, but it could alarm the most steadfast of opponent.

Something told him mentioning that would not bode well for his continued good health. Especially not in front of almighty fashion horse.

Pinkie Pie seemed really sad. She had brought pastries with her to the castle and now was withholding them from both Hinka and Spike. Twilight told her it was no trouble, as Hinka needed to go to the doctor soon anyway for a fast test. She honestly seemed more upset that she couldn't feed them sweets.

Rainbow Dash was the only one that was actually a little impressed with Hinka's move. She put on a mask of disapproval with the others, but when she got to Hinka, she nudged him with an arm and whispered, "That move sounds awesome. You have to show me some time."

Link didn't share her excitement. It was a painful choke hold that made him cough up blood on two occasions and killed one of Ganondorf's mothers³. There was nothing awesome about it.

It wasn't even his preferred choke. Link much preferred the triangle choke or the rear naked choke. Both invoked the cutting off of blood as well as air, allowing for a quicker victory. At least, when your opponent had the proper neck. Spike's was too small for a proper triangle, for instance, so he went with the gogoplata instead, which, in spite of its showiness, only cut off air.

Link scowled at his reflection as he washed his face. The mirror was presenting him with his teenager face. 16 year old Link, the Hero of Time and destroyer of Ganondorf and his minions. He saw his own cold blue eyes; hidden behind them were scars that could never heal.
"Hinka? You need to hurry!"

Twilight, true to her word, had prepped a doctor's appointment for him. He was starving. She told him he could eat when they got back to the castle, but then he had chores to do. More than usual. She wanted him to dust, pull some weeds, water the plants in front of the castle, and deliver a bucket of letters to the post office. Afterwards, she wanted him back with her so they could go over some more Equish words.

Downstairs, Twilight called for him again.
"Hinkaaaaa! Time to go!"

Link looked at his reflection one more time. His youthful, nine year old self stared back at him. The physical scars he earned in the future did not follow him back in time. If one were to look at the boy from a distance, he or she would see a standard human child with no outstanding characteristics. That said nothing of the mental issues he knew he possessed.

To look into his eyes would bring to light the scars that he did bring back with him from his trials in the future. Humans cannot hide their emotional or mental trauma. True humans cannot, at least.
Some humans ain't human.

They never ceased to amaze him.

By now he was very used to seeing the strange contraptions that cool down houses. The Castle did not house the machines in the windows, however, but in the walls. Twilight said something about "Central Air," but it made little sense to Link. The air in the Castle was all over the place. Not just in the center.

The doctor's office was quite cool as well. When he entered he was greeted by a desk in the middle of a large room. The room had two seating sections. One had many toys and games for small foals to play with; the other a few books, board games, and a TV, presumably for the older children.Twilight smiled at him and directed him to the latter while she did some paperwork.

A grey pegasus with misaligned eyes smiled at him. By now many ponies around town had accepted him. There were still a few wary looks to be had, but the one who really accepted him with no qualms right away besides Fluttershy was the mailmare; the very same that was smiling at him now with her small daughter sitting next to her.

He smiled back. Link always had a deep respect for mail carriers. Not just anyone can do that particular job, after all. Ponyville had several letter carriers, whereas Termina only had the one. Poor guy actually lived in the post office. He had a bed there and all and was casing mail for the next day, even with the moon less than six hours away from impacting.
Link couldn't get too far into his musings, however. He was approaching the two when the mailmare's daughter projectile vomited onto the seat he was just about to take. Suddenly Link was less inclined to sit there. He didn't want to get some kind of weird horse illness.

It was just as well, for the mailmare (Link had to remember to ask for her name sometime) promptly picked up her child and hurried off to a nearby restroom.

"...Okay, I guess standing is the way to go," said Twilight. Link jolted a bit at her voice. Despite being a little fat, she really knew how to tiptoe around when she needed to.

Twilight smiled down again at him. "How is your leg? You can sit on my back if you need rest."

Link shook his head. His leg actually didn't even hurt a little at the moment. He took a step back as the stale smell of vomit began to reach his nostrils. Twilight's nose scrunched up as well.

It was about that point that two janitors scurried in to take care of the vomit. It was offending their princess! They couldn't have that happen. She knew Celestia and Luna, therefore it was only a matter of time before she was taught how to imprison those who earned her ire. Or banish them. Or imprison them in the place she banished them!

It was a cacophony of apologies and janitors being the best vomit cleaners they could be. Instead of impressing Twilight, however, they just thoroughly confused her.

When it was taken care of, they each bowed low before her and vanished. She leaned in towards an equally confused Hinka.

"...I'm not entirely sure those ponies work here."

Doctors were much different in Equestria than in Hyrule, Link learned.

Most ailments in Hyrule were treated by herbal remedies or tonics. It depended on the unwell party. Hylians and Gerudo, for instance, used many potions and powders made from ground up medicinal herbs. Gorons would burn up their own medicinal salves in magma baths, which they would relax in. The Zora had a special bath full of water with impressive healing properties, and the Deku were known to simply lie out in nature and bask in sunlight and rain.

Link carried around a small bag of smelling salts⁴ just in case. Not for him. You can't use them while you yourself are unconscious after all. It was just... you never knew in Hyrule when you might come across someone that really needed help, and one thing that Link loved to do was help people.

Doctors offices were mainly used to figure out what was wrong, and then it was a matter of giving the patient the salve he or she needed.

One thing Hyrule's doctors and Equestria's had in common, however, was the terrible artwork.

Seriously. What is it about doctors and clowns? Link hated clowns, and he was pretty sure most sane children did as well. Even Ganondorf allegedly hated clowns. Also cucumbers, but that's neither here nor there.

Equestria, while it still had its share of herbal remedies and salves (such as those used to patch him up), also relied heavily on technology, sharp needles, and bright lights.

Link never had a checkup before. Thankfully Twilight was allowed to sit with him while they waited for the doctor. A fake pony skeleton was set up in the corner, prompting Twilight to chuckle. Last year for Nightmare Night, she transformed herself into a lich and posed as one such skeleton model near a few garbage cans, as if she herself were trash. Whenever a pony passed by, she would turn her head and start talking to them.

"Hey, what's up?"
"Fine weather, isn't it?"
"Does this stand make my butt look big?"
"I have no bones about being boney."

She scared the daylights out of Rainbow Dash and even got Discord himself to recoil. It was hilarious.
Hinka was eyeing her curiously. She ruffled his hair.

"I'll tell you later. Now you tell me: how are you feeling about Ponyville?"
He blinked, then shrugged.
"Come now. You've been here for a bit now. What do you think?"

Link inwardly sighed. He was going to end up having to use his words again. Darn it.
"It nice. Strange but nice. I like smaller towns like this."
Twilight smiled. "You struck me as a small town colt. Never lived in a big city?"

He shook his head. Clock Town was a big city; bigger than Castle Town. He didn't like it that much. Too busy, and with the moon staring at everyone from just overhead...
"Maybe one day I can take you to Canterlot. See the sights, or my family. Maybe you'll see something you like! Hay, maybe my BBBFF could visit too!"
She smiled at him again.
"My brother will love you."
Link eyed her. "You have brother?"

She nodded. "I do! His name is Shining Armor. He's the Prince of the Crystal Empire, was a captain of the royal guard, and I'm also pretty sure he owns an appliance store. I can't be certain, but it makes sense. Why else would he have so many toaster ovens...?"

"Saria was the high captain of the Kokirian guard," he said to himself in Hylian. Twilight blinked.
"Hinka, say again? Equish please?"

He shook his head slightly. He didn't feel like talking.
Twilight frowned. "Please?"

Argh, the eyes. The puppy dog eyes each pony was so capable of pulling off! They were his one weakness! He probably would have caved and let Ganondorf have Hyrule had he employed such an underhanded tactic.

Sigh. "Saria. Kind of like big sister to me. She captain of our guard. Taught me almost everything I know."

He smiled. She truly was a great mentor. It was Saria that taught him to defend himself, and she honed his skills. It was she who perfected his triangle choke. An untrained opponent hoping to win by sheer strength, size, or intimidation alone would be in for a rude awakening. Or slumber, as the case may be.

It was thanks to Saria that he learned how to wield a blade, thanks to her that he learned the importance of a shield, thanks to her that he learned his survival skills in the wild.

It was thanks to her that he survived as the Hero of Time and savior of Termina at all.

Since her awakening as a Sage, she had to spend much of her time in the Sacred Forest Meadow praying. She was rarely ever seen around Kokiri Village anymore, and would only fleetingly answer Link's calls through her mystical song.
He did run into her fairy a few times in passing, however. Ko always told him that Saria was doing well and that she missed him dearly. Link remembered. The day he left on his fated journey and ended up here he encountered her again. He asked Ko to tell Saria that he loved her.

"She best friend. Raised me. Teach me respect nature and take only what needed. Teach me to fight and protect. How to play music. How to survive alone."

He held his hat in his hands and traced circles in it with his thumbs.
"How to do most everything."
"You miss her, huh?" asked Twilight. Link was silent for a moment.
"She make this hat for me."

Twilight draped a wing over his shoulders, as if he were upset. He wasn't really. He knew she was doing something very important. He just wished he could see her more often.

Heck, he would settle for just talking with her through the innate magic of the ocarina she gave him. Her song never worked on the Ocarina of Time. Unfortunately, the plain fairy ocarina was still very much broken.

"Need to fix instrument," he whispered. "She gave to me."
"It sounds like you really love her, Hinka. She sounds like a good pony. Err, human."
He smiled slightly.

"Tell you what: Why don't I set up a trip to Canterlot in a few days? Maybe the Princesses know of a way to fix your instrument? Don't get your hopes too high, but if anypony could do it, it's them."
He looked up at Twilight.

"You do for me?" he asked. She smiled.
"That's what friends do. They care about each other."
Link eyed her silently for a moment, then asked, "You care about me?"
Twilight smiled.

"Of course I do. You're a friend. You did something wrong last night, but everyone makes mistakes. Just ask Discord. If he ever turns up again, anyway."

...Who is Discord? Before he could voice his question, the door opened again. A very thick horse waddled into the room. It was a unicorn with a brown coat, glasses, and a small head. He was levitating a clipboard before him while he walked in, and then locked eyes on Link, and then Princess Twilight.

He froze for a second, then shrugged and lost interest. "I'm Doctor Peabody. I'll be performing your check up today," he uttered in a monotone.

Twilight blinked. Hinka blinked. Pinkie blinked. Peabody blinked. Saria blinked. Dusk Shine blinked. Some fuck named Dewey even blinked.

In her time as Princess, Twilight had grown accustomed to ponies she knew before ascension treating her like she was a Goddess herself. She wasn't. She was really extra sure she wasn't. She was just really good with magic.

When she needed a good and/or service, the provider gave it to her and more, usually as a trembly jello-legged mess who could barely string together sentences.

This doctor was one of the only ponies she didn't have to tell not to treat her any differently. He really didn't care. Complete zero fucks mindset.

He seemed to be reading her mind, for he shook his head. "You're not the weirdest thing I've seen today."
If an alien and a princess aren't the weirdest things to come through these doors today, then...
She decided she didn't want to know. Where in Tartarus was Discord, anyway?

Link was very much used to pain.

Be it physical or emotional, he knew it well. In his formative years he was just as sensitive to the stuff as any other normal child. Years upon years of fighting with his fellow Kokiri, wondering why he was the only boy without a fairy, yearning for parents that he did not have or know all changed things.

Link's mental pain was locked in a near perpetual stalemate with his own inner strength. A normal broken child could be consumed by depression and anger. Not Link. He fought tooth and nail every step of the way. He did whatever he could to give himself just enough of what he wanted; just enough happiness to keep himself from being gobbled up. He was very, very good at fighting and absorbing such pain, though he also believed it meant he was poisoning himself.

As for physical pain, Link was once hit in the head with a glass jar. It already had a crack in it, or else it wouldn't have broken on impact with the side of his head. His face was knocked to the side, but he made little noise. Instead, he slowly turned his head to look at his attacker, a now very nervous looking Mido.

What happened next put the snotty little shit to bed rest for two weeks.

It was possible to surprise Link and earn some pained screams from him. A brutal enough injury would cause them as well.

A needle in his arm was not a brutal enough injury. He even watched as it went in and his blood came out into the attached tube. He didn't even blink.

Twilight, however, failed to get the memo. In her eyes, he was a child, and children hated getting blood work done. She sat next to him the entire time, stroking his head and whispering soothingly to him.

"Be calm. Be calm. Be calm," she kept echoing to him.
"If I get any calmer, you're going to have to revive me off the floor," he muttered in Hylian.

Apparently Twilight's ears were sensitive, because she shushed him. "Don't shout. It's going to be over soon. Then you can have a nice lollipop!"

Link hated lollipops.

The procedure did not take very long. Link was complimented by the doctor for being a "big colt" about the whole thing.

Meanwhile, three rooms down a foal was screaming like he was being butchered. Link couldn't help but feel a pang of pity for the child. Though he himself was ~~too broken~~ above screaming like that over a small needle, he still knew discomfort and children often did not mix well.

When he was offered the lollipop (he HATED them), he refused it and pointed to the door separating the hall from the wailing child.

For the first time since he met the big horse, Doctor Peabody smiled. "You want to give him your lollipop?"
He nodded.
"Are you sure?"
Another nod.
"Positive?"
He blinked.

The doctor tucked the candy away in his coat's breast pocket.
"You're a very generous young colt. I'll be sure to get it to him."

He didn't feel very generous. He just didn't want the lollipop. They were basically just candy stuck to garbage. He was generously giving away his candy-garbage hybrid.

Twilight, however, didn't see it that way. She was positively beaming at him.

"I'm very proud of you for being so well behaved today, Hinka."

He looked up at her as they walked along. She smiled back down at him.
"You're no longer punished. Just be sure you don't do that sort of thing again. You really scared Spike."
Link rubbed his arm sheepishly.

"Having said that, how about we go to a diner? Just you and I."
"What's a diner?" he asked. Twilight flinched, but regained herself. With a smile, she levitated him onto her back.
"I'll show you."

Link remembered his first time spending a rest period at the Stock Pot Inn.

It all started when the Innkeeper, a kind red head named Anju, asked if he had a reservation. Link had been about to respond with the shake of his head, when Tatl blurted out, "Yes!"
Anju visibly relaxed.
"You do have a reservation? That's good. What is the name?"
Link opened his mouth to say that there was a misunderstanding, when Tatl again cut in.
"Link."

Anju began to look through a notebook. "Ah! Mr. Link. We have you booked until the day after the Carnival. Your room is the 'Knife Chamber' upstairs."

Link eyed her in confusion, then looked at Tatl, who didn't even seem fazed. He figured she snuck away and ordered a room for him or something. He figured that, if she could get into a screaming match with a mad wolfos (and win), she could get a room reservation at an Inn with no spots available.

The room was large. Two beds, a fireplace, a small bookcase, a nightstand, and a table.

A table with Link's first meal in ages. The boy all but dropped his equipment and walked right up to the food. It was still hot.

There was a soup, some bread, chicken, peas, and a baked potato.

It was disgusting. The chicken was dry as a bone, the soup tasted like salt, the bread was doughy in the middle, the peas were peas, and the baked potato had nothing on it. Link scarfed it down anyway, but it was anything but a satisfactory meal. He was sure to thank Anju regardless.

Fortunately for the boy, Anju was not the cook at this 'diner' of Twilight's. It was a bustling building with enough windows to be mistaken for a fish bowl. Music blasted out of the ceiling; tunes that Twilight's parents had been fans of when they were young. Veritable golden oldies.
"I love this place," said Twilight. "It practically screams vintage! The food is amazing too."

The two of them were directed to a booth. On the opposite end of the diner was another music machine. Fluttershy had one too; she called it a jukebox.

Twilight chuckled. "When I was young, my big brother and I went to a diner like this. They had a jukebox too. We put in a bunch of money and selected one single song 21 times. Then we ordered and waited for the chaos to unfold."

She grinned. "It was great."

Link gave a shy smile. Beside them, a bored looking stallion filled two glasses with water and left them at the table. Twilight opened a menu, but Link did not. He stared blankly at his. For all his progress in Equish, he was still missing many written words.

Twilight was about to begin reading aloud to him when the swell dressed yet still very bored looking stallion approached.

"Welcome to the Salt Lick. I'll be your server today. My name's Mr. Sir. Can I interest you in some of our specials for the day?"

Twilight was surprised. Another pony not showering her with praise and reverence that they figured she demanded? She was proud of him for his indifference!
"I think we would like that. Tell us!"

The waiter opened up a small black book and read for a moment.
"Okay, so we have Lobster Thermaredor. Excellent seasoning, cooked to perfection. Delicious."
Mr. Sir looked to the two for a moment, then continued.

"We have a gay lentil salad as well with frozen head of fish. The eyeballs are in there and the skeleton's popping out. It comes with a turnip and a spork."

Link looked to Twilight to make sure he was correctly hearing the waiter. She looked equally perplexed.

"We've also got stunned, but still alive wallaby. What they do is, they get a wallaby into the kitchen, and they stun it real good. It comes out still alive of course. It just doesn't know where it is."

"That doesn't sound legal," said Twilight.

"I'm not done yet. We have lamb killed by fire. They shave the wool off first, then take it into the lamb fire chamber. This way you can taste the fear."

The waiter turned the page in his black book.

"We have a delicious nacho selection. Basically just chips, five cheeses, some sour cream, salsa, and avocado. It's very popular."

Twilight smiled. "That sounds delicious. What else do you have?"

"Ah, there's also fries quatro queso dos fritos. Potatoes beer battered and injected with a five cheese mixture. It's almost too much for the standard palatte to handle. It's like a flavor seizure."

He shut his book for a moment.

"Just make sure you eat them all here. They do not travel well."
Twilight smiled. "I think we'll take that! What do you think, Hinka?"

Link smiled and gave a small nod.
"I have one more special to read off to you. We have..."

The stallion opened up his black book again, and was silent for a moment while his eyes traced the page. He was quiet for near a minute before he piped up again.

"...face."

"Let's go with the fries. Also, can you tell the manager I need to speak with him about some of these specials?"

Link was blown away by the food. It was very greasy too. He didn't feel comfortable eating too much food with so much grease on it.

It was only an appetizer too. His meal itself was a steak imported from a faraway land whose bovines were not sentient. Equestria, in spite of being a land mostly of vegetarians, was sure to import meats for its carnivorous inhabitants too. No such meat was from sapient creatures, though the specials that day might suggest otherwise.

The owner came out and explained to Twilight that the strange appetizers were a practical joke/game for patrons. If you chose one of the strange appetizers you were to get a free dessert. Or be reported to the police. One of the two.

All in all, it was a good lunch that did not require Link to gut and clean his meal before cooking it, and his golden rule was, if he didn't have to gut or clean something, it was a good day.

The first raindrops began to fall.

End of Chapter

Author's Notes:

1- Nearest translation to 'Hell's Gate.' There is no known translation of Gogoplata.

2- A hold that constricts blood flow to the brain. Difficult to lock in against a trained opponent, but far more effective than the oxygen-blocking Gogoplata.

3- Having managed to defeat Koume, a heavily injured Link was struck by a spell from the remaining sister, Kotake. He was sent sprawling to the ground and his blade clattered away from him. She approached to deliver the fatal blow, and Link, initially intending on using the triangle choke, decided at the last minute to switch to the Gogoplata- her neck seemed to be made for it. He held her in it for approximately five minutes before he was sure she would not revive, and allowed her to slump to the side. Her eyes were shut, and the only clue that she was dead was the small amount of blood coming from her mouth.

4- A collection of "salts" held before the nose of an unconscious person to arouse consciousness.

The specials were written after I got drunk and watched impractical jokers. I like them, so they're staying.

Next chapter covers a nightmare. The nightmare is this: You're forced to read my work.

Dear Hearts and Gentle People

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Link loved the Great Bay of Termina.

It was really an ocean. It extended out well beyond the horizon, but were you to cross over, you would find yourself in another land full of violent people. It was an inhospitable place that had gone to war with Termina several times in the past. A hundred years earlier, the two lands were close allies.

Then the revolution happened.

What was once referred to as The Divide lost its identity. It was now referred to as "Oceania" by all. Its citizens were near brainwashed by its government, a body so obsessed with control that it felt the need to control the past, present, and future.

Link was not a brilliant boy. Even he, however, saw the problems of Oceania's government. It would collapse within the next hundred years.

And yet, Link was fighting just as much for Oceania as he was for Termina. If the moon hit, the world ended. Not just Termina.

He wondered as he sat upon a floating dock on the water. Would those a land away even see the moon right now? Did they have any idea how near they were to Armageddon?

He steeled his nerves as he watched. The large rock had come far closer. It seemed to be inching ever closer at a more noticeable pace now.

Down below, the fireworks had long been going off. It almost seemed that Clock Town was attempting to escape fate by use of the small rockets. Hope was dashed as nothing changed but the proximity of the moon to the town.

Link watched with sadness as the fireworks, initially going off in such a frenzy that Link wondered if Majora herself felt concern, slowly tapered off. The people were resigning themselves to fate.

He wiped a tear from his eye. Just a few hours ago, he had visited the ranch on the outskirts of town, just off Milk Road. He'd made a habit of assisting Romani, the girl named after the Ranch, in destroying mysterious invaders that attacked the ranch in the night. Dark they were, and golden eyed. They wished to abduct the cows for unknown reasons, and would take Romani too if they had the chance. He never let it get so far, but he just knew.

He knew because when he first met Romani and her older sister, Cremia, it was the final day before calamity. The younger girl's eyes were almost lifeless. She spoke in a slur and kept grabbing her head as if it were killing her. It was a far cry from the happy, go lucky bubbly girl he'd had the pleasure of meeting in another time. An earlier time.

A better time.

All such times, however, had one thing in common: the moon hanging just overhead.

As it was, he'd been invited to have some supper with the girls and their guests: Anju, her mother, and her grandmother. It was a veritable feast with laughter and good times, but Link recognized it for what it was.

A last supper.

When the other guests had retired for the night (they gave tearful farewells and hugs to the girls and Link, for they knew they would not be waking up), he was alone with Romani and Cremia.

"Sister, can I please try some of the Chateau Romani? Please?"

Cremia blinked. Chateau Romani was the ranch's special blend of milk. It was almost like alcohol. Cremia swore it was magic, and because of its ability to get its drinker potted, was limited only to adults. Romani had tried to ask for it on a few occasions before, but never really made a fuss when Cremia said no.

Hmm? And what dream plays itself for this one?

Cremia looked to Link, then to the window. She shut her eyes in sadness, then put on a fake smile and looked to her sister.

"Well, okay. Just this once though. And then I want you to clean yourself up and go upstairs."

Romani lit up.

"Oh, thank you sister! I promise that tomorrow I'll do all the chores you assign me. Promise!"

Cremia, who was at the counter filling a glass with Chateau Romani, wiped a tear away.

"I'm sure you will, hun."

All was silent for a few moments.

"Romani?" asked Cremia. Her little sister looked to her. Cremia set down the glass in front of her and gripped her shoulders.

"I want you to know. No matter what happens, I love you. I love you so much. You're the best sister I ever could have asked for. You made me proud every day. I only hope I was even a percentage as good to you as you were to me."

The notes of finality in her sister's voice did not carry over to the childish ears of Romani. All she heard was gushing, and she gave the dismissive wave of her hand.

"Stop it, sister! You're embarrassing me in front of Grasshopper!"

Cremia gave a chuckle. Or was it a sob? She nodded.

"Forgive me. I'm just so blessed to have you. Now, drink your milk and go up to bed. My bed. It's yours for the night."

If Link never lived to see happiness again, he would go out knowing he saw it that night in the face of that little girl. She was positively beaming. In record time, she drank the offered milk and ran off to the stairs.

"G'night, Grasshopper! And you too sis! I'll see you tomorrow!"

With that, the girl hopped up the stairs. Stairs that would not be standing in the morning. Stairs that she would never again trot down.

When the door to the bedroom upstairs shut, Cremia began to sob silently. Link was unsure how to respond. He approached and put a hand on her arm and patted it gently.

He was unprepared when she turned to him and wrapped him in a great bear hug. She sobbed into his hat for precious minutes.

Child, let me in. Please.

When she was done, she set him down again.

"I'm sorry, kid," she said in a raspy voice. "It's just... she doesn't understand what's going to happen tomorrow. She sees the evidence but it's too terrible to comprehend for children. I'm not even sure you see the writing on the wall. Maybe you too don't understand what's going on. I won't take that from you any more than I have by breaking down like this before you."

She wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

"If you need a place to spend your night, you are welcome here. Romani took a shine to you, and come to think of it, I have too. You can stay in our room as well."

Link eyed her silently, as if to ask, "And yourself?"

She smiled, her eyes reddened from crying.

"I'll stay up. Someone's got to spend the night with Anju. Her wedding was to be tomorrow evening."

She gave a sigh. "I wonder where Kafei is..."

Link knew. He had seen it in a previous time, and on this day, he was not able to assist Kafei. He hated it. Link wanted to help everybody. He was the kid who freely gave up his own supper in Hyrule to the poor, and for much of his journey, Link was far from wealthy. Far be it from him to eat when the destitute before him starved. Being unable to help Kafei in this three day cycle hurt him. He had been knocked unconscious by a wolfos and woke up far too late.

Link did not give away Kafei's whereabouts as it would have caused chaos and disharmony among the people there in their final moments. Kafei decided that his final resting place would be the Stock Pot Inn, within the room he was to re-unite with Anju in. As it was in memory, he and Link had retrieved his special mask just a little bit too late.

The damnable thief that stole it had it hidden deep within his base inside a crate. One of many. There were hundreds of crates within his hideout and Kafei and Link spent near five hours that day searching before they found it. Link would stay behind for a few more minutes to try and confront the thief, but he seemed to disappear in there.

Let me in. Allow me to ease your mind.

When Link made his return trek to Clock Town in that cycle, it was about three in the morning. The moon was so close overhead that the rumbling from the earth was frequent. Dust from the lunar surface and rocks blanketed everything in a fine layer, and it continued to fall like a nasty snow storm. Link saw one puppy in town square; once vibrant and full of life, it was now motionless with red trickling from an ear. Nearby lay a large lunar rock with red staining its surface too.

Let me in, strange one.

He had no time to stop and give comfort to the guards who were trying hard to remain stoic in the face of doom. The rest of the town was nearly vacant. Only a few remained now.

He found Stock Pot Inn in a dark East Clock Town. The torches lighting the town had gone dark. There were no stars to light the sky up. They were obstructed by the moon. Some houses in the district were vacant now. Doors and windows were left open and Stock Pot Inn was no exception. Link entered the darkness, accompanied only by the light of his fairy companion, Tatl.

She lit the way up the steps to the final rendezvous room for Kafei and Anju.

For a fleeting moment, Link felt a sense of relief. There appeared to be two bodies in the room. Kafei stood before a woman in a wedding gown wearing a mask.

His heart dropped into his stomach when he saw the truth.

Kafei was there, yes. He was cursed into the form a child, but was otherwise unharmed. In his hand he carried a mask of his own; the mask he and Link had worked so hard to get back.

The other person was not a person at all. It was a mannequin. A mannequin that happened to be tailored to the same height and dimensions as Anju. The woman herself was nowhere to be found. Kafei did not take his eyes away from the mannequin. He was not crying. He seemed to be almost smiling.

"Isn't her bridal dress lovely?" he asked.

Link took a few more steps into the room. Kafei turned his head slightly.

"We promised each other when we were children that we would marry on the day of the Carnival of Time."

Link spared a look at the bridal dress, and then looked back to Kafei. Kafei's hand gently traced along the fabric.

Let me in.

"...But my promise... I couldn't keep it."

Link may not have then known a whole lot about romance and love, but even he could recognize the resignation and heartbreak in his voice.

"Go now, kid. You have done much for me, and though I may not have been successful on this day, I owe you a debt of gratitude."

He looked up at the statue's face once more.

"I will await the end here. You go back to that thief's hideout. It may just survive the morning. Don't be sad for me. If we may not marry in this world, then perhaps we will in the next."

Kafei's head bowed again.

"Rest in peace, kid."

There was a flash of light, and Link was back on the floating dock. The sun was about to rise, but that was not the cause of the light. Any clouds nearby retreated or were vaporized instantly as the moon kissed the Clock Tower.

"Kid? It's now or never. You need to play that melody!"

Link's eyes took on the strength of a cat's. He saw the Ocarina in the water, far below the waves. He might be able to retrieve it, but he would never be able to turn back the clock in time. The moon had already hit.

"Tatl, I apologize," he said softly. She was no longer with him. He looked up as the sky turned red. The heat was beginning to get to him. There was another flash, and he was blind. In the distance, he could hear an echoing boom rapidly fading up.

At last! Enough of this!

All at once it was over. The horrible sound was gone. The heat was gone. The feeling of foreboding was gone. Everything was gone. Say what you will about Majora, but at least she made it quick.

There was the chirping of birds. Link no longer felt himself rocking with the floating dock.

He dared open his eyes again.

He had not died. He was sitting upon the beach now. The sky was pink, but not red in a blaze. The moon no longer towered overhead. He saw it, a speck in the sky now compared to what it had been just moments ago.

There was one with him. He turned his head, and saw her. The one Fluttershy had told him of one night before bed. The one she uttered a prayer to in the night, imploring that his dreams be kept peaceful.

Luna, the Princess of the Night.

Dear Hearts and Gentle Ponies

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Link knew he was not a particularly tall boy. Many of his fellow Kokiri stood taller. Saria was probably the tallest in the woods. Mido was the only one that was actually smaller than he was. Even when Link went forward in time, he was still barely five foot five inches tall.

He actually felt a little better around the ponies, since he knew he had no chance of outgrowing any of them.

Especially princess ponies who have no grasp on just how tall they're supposed to be. He could sort of explain away being able to understand her words, being it was a dream and all. But her height? Just get to a reasonable size and then stop! How hard does that have to be?

Big purple moon butt pony was probably about as tall as the white sun butt one he met when he was recovering with Fluttershy. Maybe a bit smaller, but only some.

She smiled down at him.

"Does my size intimidate you, my otherworldly friend? I will accommodate for you."

Her horn glowed for just a moment, and she shrunk down to his size. Now they were at eye level. Could they all do that?

He'd have to ask Twilight.

"Is that better?" she asked. He rubbed an arm sheepishly.

"Our sister spoke of you before. She finds you to be interesting. Fascinating, even. Were there an Element of Courage, it would be embodied by you."

She smiled. "Her words."

Link looked down at his hand. The triforce did not react.

"I believe you may already know me through your fosters, but in case you do not, my name is Luna. Princess of the Night."

She looked up at the moon, then back at Link with mild worry. "...and Princess of Dreams. What brought on such a night terror, little one?"

Link shrugged. Luna's ears drooped slightly, but they perked up again.
"I understand. You are not comfortable talking to a stranger, are you?"

I'm not comfortable talking, thought Link. He sometimes wondered if his voice box could catch dust.
She smiled gently at him.

"This is okay. Mayhaps we can get to know each other in time. I seek a good kinship with all my little ponies. As you live here now, this includes you."

He crossed his arms. She wasn't expecting him to bow to her, was she? He didn't even bow to Princess Zelda when he met her. Kokiri bow to none.

She seemed to be reading his thoughts, because she gave her head a small shake. "You needn't worry about royal titles or gestures. Especially in your dream scape. This is your mind. Not mine. If anyone should be showing such respect, it is I. I'm but a visitor here."

As if to accentuate her point, Luna bowed slightly.

Link relaxed a little and smiled. Luna looked out towards the ocean once more.

"It's beautiful. That building out in the water, was that your home?" asked Luna.

Link shook his head, and Luna tilted hers.
"Hmm? Where do you come from?"

"Forest," he said simply. Luna smiled.
"A forest child. Sister and I always have loved the trees."
Link was quiet.
"You simply enjoy the water, then?" asked Luna.
Link shook his head. "Nature. I respect all of it."

She gave a nod, looking almost amused. Link found no humor, though.

Luna stood up, and turned about such that Link could climb onto her back if he desired.

"Come. Let us explore more of this place. It clearly means much to you, if it haunts your dreams so."
Link hesitated. Luna seemed to read his thoughts.

"If you are worried you are keeping me from my duties, rest assured you are not. We alicorns can be in many places at once."

Link smiled. When he was recovering at Fluttershy's and her animals were all going bonkers he could swear she would apparate around and be in multiple places at once herself.
"Well? Where shall we go first?"
Link knew exactly where to go.

The Southern Swamps of Termina were buried deep within a lush forest. When he was there, he encountered many a bug and parasite. He ended up needing a three day cycle to recover from some sort of illness. Tatl had forced him to go to the doctor, who had, in addition to diagnosing him with malaria, told him that he was also apparently fighting off consumption. Apparently he had a natural immunity for tuberculosis. Just not malaria.

The bugs were aplenty in his dream as well, but at the first sign of them, Luna created some sort of barrier between them and the insects. Link was grateful.

"I am of the unpopular opinion that swamps are positively beautiful. Most ponies dislike them. Some even want to see them drained," Luna said to Link.

He frowned. He wasn't the biggest fan of swamps either, but to do anything to cause damage to them was to do unneeded damage to mother nature. Doing so was taboo. It was okay to take what you needed, including some space in the trees, but it was vital to know where the line was.

The rule extended to animal life as well. It was fine to hunt what you needed, but you were to use everything in the animal that you hunted. Let nothing go to waste. Trade off any excess you may not need to better your neighbor, but do not leave something to rot.

"Child?"
Link gave his head a gentle shake. He looked up at the moon apprehensively. It was still far far away in the sky, where it belonged.

He was nudged by one of Luna's wings. "Tell me, what is the importance of this place to you?"

He nodded, then squinted. "I was raised in the forest. I don't know where I was born."
Luna stopped in her tracks.

"Mom and Dad died when I was a baby. I was raised by the Kokiri. Mostly by Saria. She was like a mom and a big sister all rolled into one. She practically ran the village itself."

It was true. In spite of what Mido would say, Saria was always the one the other Kokiri would turn to for advice or when they needed assistance. She often acted as a Judge when a Kokiri was accused of doing something wrong. She was excellent at remaining impartial even to those she loved.

Link smiled as he looked at the trees around him.
"Not so much forest as swamp, but pretty all the same."

His smile slowly left his face as he recalled the state he found the swamps in.

He had initially intended to seal away Majora's strength but ultimately spare her any more punishment. That changed when he got a good glimpse of what she had done to his beloved woodlands.

The stench of death hung heavy in the air and a strange mist burned at his eyes. He found extensive exposure actually brought harm to his vision that would only be reversed when he went back in time. When he took on the form of the deku, the damage was negligible or nonexistent. He could breathe easier, too. Tatl told him he could thank photosynthesis for that, but he didn't know what that meant.

The water was what made him sad. When he first arrived, the swamps were poisoned. The water burned his skin when he made contact with it. Dead fish and rotted animals floated in it in such quantities that in some spots, Link just couldn't see the water period.

This disrespect towards nature was what made him decide that potentially sparing Majora was out of the question. By her hand, the very heart of nature itself was destroyed. Even though he was able to reverse her influence and end the curse, the damage her assault did on the ecology of Termina would take years to recover from.

To disrespect nature was a mortal sin. Link would take it upon himself to deliver punishment. That was why he was so adamant that the mask be destroyed as soon as possible. He saw what she would do when she had free reign. He did not wish to see again.

Luna seemed to notice him fall silent. He patted her side, just like he did Epona when she was with him.
Luna smiled. "Shall we see this beautiful land from above?"
He blinked. As if in clarification, Luna opened her wings.

They visited on wings the lands Link had ventured only three days, but had lived in for months. They talked and played and explored. Link directed her to Snowhead, which was currently experiencing its spring months. He showed her the grave of Darmani, who he said was a "dear friend and a hero to his own people."

Luna found the respect the boy had for the dead worthy of praise. When they stood before the cave which served as the mock tomb of a great Goron hero, Link removed his hat as a show of respect. He explained to her that what was really buried beneath the grave was a hot spring and a casket full of Darmani's favorite rock snacks. They could not retrieve the body from the chasm he fell into¹. Link considered asking if Luna would help him do just that, but he did not wish to strain her with the heavy man. He wasn't aware at the time that Luna literally possessed the strength to move celestial bodies, so Darmani's massive frame would be of little consequence.

In the conversations Link had with Darmani's spirit in the mask, he quickly learned that, had the Goron hero managed to get into Snowhead itself, the curse would have fallen quickly. It was not something the proud Goron told him directly, but Link was able to piece together his immense strength and skill easily. Link believed that Darmani would have been able to defeat Majora herself in his stead. The Goron even offered to do so, but Link had sworn a vendetta against her once he bore witness to what she was willing to do to not only nature, but man.

He felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't given any of the spirits time to walk in his stead lately. He made a habit of putting on each mask and relinquishing control of his body to the spirits that slept within them. The Deku child adored the forest and would play and laugh the day away, Darmani enjoyed spending time in Goron City and even wrestled Darunia to a standstill, and Mikau enjoyed time in Zora's Domain, where he was well liked by Jabu-Jabu. As it was, Link had been too busy getting his affairs in order in the world he now found himself in that he didn't remember the friends he made. He resolved to give them some leeway in the woods nearby the castle, weather permitting. The deku child (Link learned his name was Neki) would be ecstatic. He wondered how Twilight would react to the deku boy.

Luna found it interesting that Link was capable of reading Goron script. She had a glimpse of some words the boy had written down for Twilight and they looked completely foreign to the lettering they now eyed.
The large gravestone simply said, "The Goron hero, Darmani the third rests his spirit here."
Luna saw it clearly, then. What respect Link showed was not necessarily just of the living for the dead.
It was the respect a warrior had for another warrior.

Luna couldn't help but feel concern.

Hinka next directed her to a large canyon. It was practically lifeless. Even the plants had a hard time blooming there. He told her of the battles that had been waged there, how most of the dirt underfoot had long ago been stained in red and how many were buried hurriedly in unmarked graves there.

It was known as Ikana Canyon, after its rulers and long dead culture of the Ikana Kingdom.

The two had continuously heard an eccentric song echo through the air and Hinka explained to her that so many had died there that the dead would rise were it not for the music. They did not stay in the canyon itself for long. Luna felt it best to take the child somewhere more lighthearted, though it was but a dream and could not harm him with her there to protect him.

She didn't see reason for a young one to know so much of death and warfare. She found it disgusting and, when she asked why he knew combat so well, he simply shrugged and said it was necessary where he came from.

She wished to see for herself. Carrying weapons was legal in Equestria when you were properly licensed, but tended to be unnecessary. The guards and police forces were very well trained and not exactly difficult to come by. Even teachers were highly trained and armed. Because of it, any attacks on schools were unheard of there.

The point of arming like that was to keep the foals safe; to eliminate exactly what Hinka had described: the need for children to carry any sort of weapon. Adults were meant to protect children and preserve their innocence, yet when she saw no innocence behind his young eyes she knew that she was with one whose authority figures had failed him. She knew little of where he came from, but she recognized a troubled soul when she saw one, and she saw one in him.

His heart was hurt. His innocence was gone. His soul needed healing. She knew that she could rest easy, however. The best ponies were already on the case.

Hinka had stopped talking. It seemed like he was very interested in war stories and combat in general. He was actually willing to talk about those topics at length as opposed to just a few sentences at a time. They explored the canyon for a short while, but when Luna asked if he wished to see the fortress she saw in the distance.
Link declined. He gave a shiver then. It was all Luna needed to know.

"You will awaken soon, little one. Where next would you like to go?"

Link looked to Clock Town in the distance. He felt he could do with seeing it again. But at the same time... there were two more graves he hadn't gone to yet. He had to visit Mikau's grave and Neki's grave still.

The words of the Zora came to mind. Mikau had told him during an outing on the Great Bay. Link had relinquished control to the musician and they were talking while Mikau swam.

It doesn't feel right to call you this, but kid? I don't know if I ever thanked you for what you did for me; for the band and Lulu's eggs. You risked your own life for the lives of those yet to be. You did exactly what I did, only you didn't get a knife to the belly for your troubles.

Mikau smiled, and dove out of the water, twirling about and enjoying the breeze on his face. Termina itself was only barely on the horizon now, but he always knew exactly where he was.

When it comes to your well being versus the well being of a kid, the kid comes first.
"In all situations," came the boy's response. "It's not so much heroic as it is the duty of those capable to protect those who can not."

And yet you yourself are out here alone.
Link was silent for a minute. Mikau frowned.

I don't mean to be insulting. I'm just trying to say that I'm sorry you didn't have a guardian with half the meddle you yourself do. Were things different I bet you'd have been taken in by any of the people you've encountered. Heck, Anju all but adopted you herself.

If Link had control of his body at that moment, he'd have blushed.
You can go to her, you know. She would love to take you in.

"I still have a wayward fairy to find."
Mikau sighed. This kid.

Just promise you'll consider putting your weapons down if you find a place that will house you. I do not mean a place that will tolerate you. I mean a place in which you feel loved. It's important.
"I always knew you were a big softie, Mikau."

The guitarist let out a wry laugh.
And I always knew you were a little turd.

They fell to silence for a few minutes as Mikau started back towards Termina.

I doubt you'll need reminding, but do what you have done. When it comes down to anything, the young get attention first.
The sun's rays reflected off the beach like a new gem.

Luna shuffled her feet nervously.

The way that tree looked... it almost looked like Hinka. It seemed so sad, too. It looked like it could start crying at any moment.

There was no light from the sun in the caverns below the town Link directed her to next. There was the glow of a few fireflies and some unusual fungi threw off some light, but it was poor lighting. Luna had to project magic into her horn and use it as a torch of sorts.

It made no sense to her. Didn't trees need her sister's sun in order to survive? This tree was quite dead; that was not the issue. What bothered her was, how did it make it past a seedling in the first place?

Her eyes wandered down to a bouquet that was resting just before the tree. She got closer and saw a few cards and long extinguished candles.

"His father loved him very much," offered Hinka.

Luna's eyes wandered to the boy. His gaze had not left the tree.

"Pray tell, child. What do you mean?"

He looked to Luna, then made a gesture towards the tree.
"He was young when he left this world. Younger than I am. He was seven."
Her blood began to run cold as she eyed the tree closely.

"Deku Scrubs love the sunlight. It gives them sustenance. They do not eat otherwise. I think she put him down here to deny him the two comforts he would have otherwise- when a Deku dies, it becomes a tree. When that tree is properly cared for, it can become something truly divine."

"Who is she? What did this to the child?"

He shook his head. "You shouldn't use her name without need. It was a murderous demon. He came across her and must have irked her, because she did this to him. She got what was coming to her in the end, but..."

Link thumbed at the hat in his hands and looked nervously at it.

"His name was Neki, and he was the child of the royal family's butler."
Link had a soft spot for the two of them. Noku, the Butler, was almost a father figure to him where Navi was his mother figure. He had a strange family.

Luna steeled herself and hid a dry sob well.

"Do you know who committed this sin?" she asked him. Link shrugged.
"She was evil incarnate. The monster saw mortals as playthings only, nothing more. She held no sanctity for life and attempted to destroy this land. Someone defeated her."

He frowned down at his hat, and found himself reciting something Majora herself had told him whenever he confronted her. He'd heard it so many times it wound up memorized.

"Men are born for games. Nothing else. Every child knows that play is nobler than work. He knows too that the worth or merit of a game is not inherent in the game itself but rather in the value of that which is put at hazard. Games of chance require a wager to have meaning at all."

Link felt light beginning to invade his consciousness. In his bed he stirred.

"Games of sport involve the skill and strength of the opponents and the humiliation of defeat and the pride of victory are in themselves sufficient stake because they inhere in the worth of the principals and define them. But trial of chance or trial of worth all games aspire to the condition of war for here that which is wagered swallows up game, player, all."

He could hear birds chirping again. The light was becoming blinding.

"War is the ultimate game because war is at last a forcing of the unity of existence."

He frowned once more at Luna, though he could scarcely see her now as his dream deconstructed itself.
"War is God."²

Luna did not count the session as too much progress. The child clearly knew much more than he let on and she was determined to get to the bottom of it. The session was a victory in one manner, though:

She now knew just how disturbed Hinka really was.

She gave her head a shake. In the distance, she swore she heard laughter.
End of Chapter

Author's Notes:

1- Darmani, in his resolve to destroy the beast plaguing Snowhead and his people, was not able to make it to Snowhead itself. While rolling for Snowhead, Darmani was surprised by an exceptionally strong gust of wind. It was rare for wind to be able to move his frame, but this gust managed to send him off course. He did his best to skid to a stop and unroll and caught the edge of the ravine with his fingertips, but before he could pull himself up, the rock he was gripping broke. Darmani fell into the ravine, where he caught a stalagmite with his belly before landing back first on the icy floor. Against all odds he was able to get back to his feet and he made it but five steps before collapsing again. The last thing he heard besides his raspy breathing was the taunting laugh of a fallen goddess...

2- Block quote from Blood Meridian's antagonist.

Here she comes again when she's posting shitty story chapters instead of wasting her time on Red Dead II.

Ahem. Next chapter covers some stuff and will be up sooner than this. I hope.

Storm of Songs

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The six were concerned.

They had taken to having supper together at one of their homes (usually the castle). They called it a "Family dinner" and it usually lasted several hours. They would talk about anything and everything. Link saw how much they cared for each other. Even he and Spike were expected to take part.

Link himself felt mixed about it. He liked the food and the company, but they often wanted to know about him. It meant a lot of awkward silence. They were actively trying to get him to speak more, but he was not having any of it.
It worried them. Hinka's mental health, which had been in question for them since they got to know him some, had seemed to be declining. He didn't seem interested in bringing harm to anypony, but then, he seemed not to be interested in doing much other than the neccessities. The only one who could get him really talking was Fluttershy.

Whatever was bothering him was something he would have to learn to open up about in time.

The others had greeted each other in their usual pleasantries while Link eyed a photo over the fireplace in the dining room. It had given him pause many a time, because in it were the six he was growing very familiar with, Spike, the whole freaking town, the princesses, a pink alicorn, a sheepish looking horse that looked an awful lot like Twilight with different color fur, and a green deer-horse-bug hybrid thing that reminded him of a carpet sample. Twilight had promised to introduce him to them someday, though he wasn't sure exactly who "they" were. If he asked he just got "friends" as a response.

"Hinka."

He let out a short gasp and looked to the voice. It was Fluttershy standing before him with a foreleg outstretched. Behind her, the others were talking. Usually one would say hello to him at a time. It was always Fluttershy first.

He smiled, and wrapped his tiny arms around her barrel as much as he could. She returned the hug in kind with a nuzzle on his head.

"How is your leg today?" she asked. He gave a nod, the smile not leaving his face. She gave him a pleading look.
"Words please?" she asked. The smile faded a bit, but he gave in. Only because it was Fluttershy.
"Leg is good. Not painful."

She smiled brightly at him. He wouldn't really talk much if he wasn't pressed. The ponies had all been working on getting him to talk more. Fluttershy told him it was because they were worried for him. He rubbed an arm sheepishly.

All at once the pink was in his face, grinning like the maniac she well and truly was. Link barely even flinched back this time. He was growing used to it by now.

"I heardja met Princess Luna! Well, in dream land. But not that dream land with the pink puff ball. The one where you go when you go to bed at night and that scary burned man with the stylish hat and claw glove-"

Link put a hand on her mouth, instantly stopping her tangent before it could gain much traction. It was something he'd picked up from Twilight whenever Pinkie behaved this way in front of her. She only grinned through his hand. In his time there, he'd become mostly calloused to her quirks.

Mostly.

"I have dream. I don't remember it so much now."

It was a lie, and he figured Applejack picked up on it- she'd been talking to Dash but her ear swivled in his direction when he spoke. You're not going to slip a lie past her. She was a nightmare to play Liar’s Dice with.

Pinkie's grin was suddenly replaced with a look of contemplation. She leaned closer and shut one eye, as if she were closely scrutinizing something worth being scrutinized as opposed to just him.

"Hmm..."
Hmm?
"HMMMM......"
Link suddenly took note of the pipe she had in her mouth, and the odd hat she now sported.
"Eep," he said.
"You remember your dream well. In fact, you remember exactly what you dreamt about," she accused. A bubble floated from the pipe.
"Pinks, lay off him. Dreams are pretty personal.”

Link eyed Applejack, who was giving him a friendly smile.
"If he wants to keep it to himself, let him keep it to himself. Some things are just too personal.”

He returned her smile with a nod of thank you. She winked at him and went back to mingling.
Pinkie gently turned his head to look at her once more. Her hat and pipe were gone, and instead she wore a gentle smile on her face. When you got through the bubbly exterior, she really was one of the sweetest horses you'd ever meet.
"Yeah, she's right. If you feel up to it, you can tell us. No pressure.”
She pulled him into a hug he returned, albeit at first hesitantly.
"I Pinkie Promise."

The ponies and drake sat at the dinner table in respectful silence.

The food was prepared by Rainbow Dash. It may not strike you that she is a good cook, but she's admitted before that cooking was a hobby of hers and the passion she had for it shone in her meals. She rarely ever messed up a dish. She especially never screwed up on Stir Fry Day¹.

They weren't sitting in silent respect of her cooking, however (though she may have liked to believe that). They sat quietly because, every supper for the past few weeks, Hinka had taken to making a prayer before eating in his language. The others never joined in; they felt it was more respectful of him to let him do what he needed to do in silence.

What little he did tell them about his religious beliefs revolved around three "Golden" Goddesses. He called one Din, the Goddess of Power. There was Ferrari², the Goddess of Courage, and finally there was Nix³, the Goddess of Wisdom. The three were sisters who brought a measure of stability and peace to the land he hailed from, which, before their intervention, was little more than a molten rock regularly punished by fire from the sky.

What Twilight translated it into was, "My home was in the midst of its late heavy bombardment when three Goddesses that may have been made of gold came around and fixed everything."

Hinka appeared to believe that the world was flat, too, and that the heavenly bodies orbited it. He'd drawn for Twilight diagrams of what he believed his world looked like as well as the stars around it. They resolved to teach him otherwise in time but weren't sure how he would handle it⁴.

By now, his knowledge of Equish had improved. He was able to hold good conversations, though he was by no means ready to make a speech. Some words continued to elude him.

Twilight had eventually requested that he teach her Hylian as well. It wasn't working so well- the vocal cords of the ponies were not suited to the pitches required for Hylian without spellwork, no matter how much she tried. All she was able to say was a standard greeting, an apology, and at one point she mistakenly uttered a grievous racial slur.

"So how have you been feeling lately, Hinka?"

His eyes widened slightly. Usually they went around the table for a simple discussion. Whenever they got to him, his answer was always a nod, shake of the head, or shrug of the shoulders. He looked up. All eyes were on him. Rarity had broached the question.

He gave a shrug, but Twilight, seated next to him, tapped his good leg.
"We've been through this," she said gently. "You need to use your words more. Please speak."
He blushed a bit and looked to the stir fry in his bowl.
"It sure would be nice to hear you speak some."
"Come now, darling. You can talk to us."
"Yeah! Talking's lots of fun! I do it alllllll the time!"
"Think about it. Not only are you an alien, you're a bilingual alien! How awesome is that?"
"I don't think you even said one word when we were doing chores earlier."

The only one who didn't say anything was Fluttershy. He looked to her, and she was smiling warmly at him. She mouthed the words "Go on" to him with a nod.

Was this an intervention? He took a breath to steady himself. All this so he could tell them how he was feeling? There were better ways to spend one's time than to listen to the woes of an unknown hero.

"I feel okay."

That answer was typically enough to those who made a conscious effort to ask how he was, but in this case, it did not seem to be enough. The ponies and drake leaned in a bit more, as if willing him to go on.

"My leg feels okay. My em- emot- feelings are... normal, I guess."
"Sweetie Belle has been asking for you. Would you like to see her and the others again?"
He gave a shrug by habit and cursed to himself in Hylian for it. They didn't give out to him.
"I like them. They are nice. If they don't mind a stick in the mud who am I to refuse?"
Twilight leaned into his ear.
"Please don't put yourself down. You're not a stick in the mud. You're a very good colt."
"I don't think so,” he muttered to himself in Hylian.
"Have you considered playing us any of your songs?" asked Twilight. "We'd love to listen if you would let us."

He felt a pang of sadness in his chest as he thought of his ocarina and, subsequently, home, but it didn't last very long. He'd learned long ago that there were some things just not worth dwelling on.
"I haven't played in a while. I would need to warm up. Maybe another time."
His words died, and the others were silent for a moment.
"What about Tatl?"
He looked up. What about her?
"You've mentioned another fairy in the past," said Fluttershy. "What did she mean to you?"
He blinked. "She..."
He sighed and put a hand to his head. Goddesses, he hated talking.
"She was mean at first. We fought a lot."
The others blinked collectively at him.
"You spoke fondly of her, Hinka. Almost as fondly as Navi."

He smiled despite himself.
"We didn't fight forever. We got off to a rocky start but warmed up to each other over time. She called me a friend for the first time when I saved- “
He clammed up. The others waited for his continuation. He took a sip of milk.
"When I helped her find her brother.”
Fluttershy smiled at him.
"You saved her brother from something?"
He was silent again. Twilight stroked his back gently.
"I, uhh... don't really want to talk about that."

Twilight nodded. "That's okay, Hinka. Tell us what you are comfortable telling us. Just please use your words."
He smiled gently at her.
"Her brother is funny. He likes to play tricks. His name is Tael."
Rainbow Dash snickered. "Tatl and Tael? What kind of names are those?"
Link eyed her. "Your name is Rainbow Dash."
She eyed him in surprise, and the others laughed.
"He's gotcha there, Dash," said Applejack.
Rainbow crossed her arms. "Making fun of a pony's name isn't cool," she grumbled. The others ignored her.
"How long were you with her?" asked Twilight.

There was a question. Because of how often they had to go back in time, Link wasn't sure if he technically knew Tatl for three days or three months. He shrugged.
"It's complicated. I can't really describe how long. Just that we wound up becoming good friends."
He rubbed an arm. "We parted on good terms. I kind of wish I could see her again."
He eyed Twilight shyly. "She saved my life once."
The others eyed him. He rolled down the collar of his tunic to show them a large bite scar at his clavicle. Everypony cringed. Instead of any words however, they listened intently. Hinka very rarely ever spoke of his scars, of which there were many on his young body but few on his face⁵.
"This was from a wolf beast⁶ We were searching for a cave because of a snowstorm and it got me."
He frowned a bit when Fluttershy's ears drooped.

"I had reached my limit. I felt that, if I didn't stop, I was going to freeze to death. I told Tatl, and she helped look for a place to rest."

When he said snowstorm, he meant nothing short of a blizzard. It was morning and yet the sun was hidden behind such a thick spread of clouds that it appeared to be night. The moon was not visible overhead.

Hinka frowned. He remembered Tatl had all but ordered him to get some warmer clothes before they even went to Snowhead. He wore a thicker hat made from wool, a scarf, mittens, his trusty green tunic under a brown fur coat, some fur pants and water-resistant boots.

Yet he was still freezing. There was something hidden behind those cold winds. There was dark magic blowing through the mountain and it only served to make things colder. It pierced the layers of fabric Hinka tried to protect himself with and wound up granting him pneumonia for his troubles.

"Watch your footing too, kid. Crevices like to hide under thin layers of snow. You misstep, and they'll never find your body."
"If I misstep, nobody will be alive to look."
"Point."
Tatl flew forward a few meters. It felt as though they'd travelled ages. Link worried he would have to reset the clock before he could even find his way to Snowhead.
"I think I see a small cave up ahead. No snow in it either. The Gods are smiling down on us."
"Angels on our shoulders," he responded.
"We're going to need that support. But I've seen some of what you're capable of."
"I've also seen what the Skull Kid's capable of."
She sighed.
"He's not. He's not capable of much. Skull Kid likes to play tricks, but he wouldn't dare do any of the things he's been doing. It's that mask. It's all got to be that mask."
"All the more--"

He was cut off with a yell and a snarl. Tatl whirled around to him in fright. He was in the claws of a juvenile wolfos⁷. It was still huge. Wolfos tended to grow large and fast.

It let out a roar in his face and he squirmed in its grip. Was this how he was going to go out? The beast opened its maw and rocketed forward for his throat.

Tatl intervened at the perfect time.

With all her might she threw herself into the side of his maw, knocking the bite towards Link's collarbone instead of his neck. It connected, but not where it wanted to connect.

In addition, Tatl's offensive startled the creature enough to loosen its grip slightly on Link's arms. It was all the opening he needed. While he groaned and bit back his pain, he kicked the wolfos in its privates. The result was the wolfos losing its grip on his arms, but the beast was not letting its grip on his collarbone go. Instead, it was tightening its bite.
It began to roll in a bid to disorient Link, but it was a futile effort. Link reached for the wolfos' face with two thumbs and finger fucked his eyes.

He fell silent. No need to ruin the dinner. He was kicking himself for even starting the story in the first place. Why not tell a story about the dog racetrack that he swore was somehow rigged? What about the cuccoos and the mystical Bremen mask? How about a tale of the dog in Clock Town that he swore was out to get him? He sighed.
"Sorry. Not appropriate story to tell any further."

"No."

He looked up. Rainbow Dash was near halfway across the table and looked to be totally engulfed in his story.

"You can't leave it like that. What happened next?"

The wolfos finally released its hold and Link had a reprieve. Unfortunately for him, a wolfos doesn’t need its eyes to hunt effectively. He drew his blade but could not lift his shield properly with his arm mangled.

"Come on, kid. Don't make me beg. I need to know!"

The wolfos held its nose up and turned to directly face him. The Hero prepared to leap aside and slice with his blade.
What he didn’t anticipate, yet knew he should have, was the wolfos being far more able bodied in the snowy conditions. It turned immediately after its lunge failed and blocked Link’s blade with one of its meaty paws.

Link just shrugged. "No spoil appetites. Not at dinner."
Rainbow crossed her arms and slumped back in her seat.
"Are you pouting?" he asked.

The other was used to open three more gashes along Link’s torso. It went for his throat again, but he managed to duck out of the way and stab it in the gut.

"My stomach can handle any story."
He looked to Spike, who had pushed his bowl away, though it did not seem like he was so upset with the story as he was with supper. Fluttershy was the one who looked to be turning green. Link wilted.

The beast let out a sharp growl and took him to the snow again. Link frantically did what he could to protect his neck and head from what was about to come with his arms; his blade had tumbled from his grip when he was tackled.

"Not everyone have same stomach."

The wolfos began to use its claws to try and hack him apart. The first few attacks did not cause noteworthy injury to Link, but soon Link’s arms were being mangled by the beast. Blindly he kicked upwards with one foot and managed to jostle the monster for a moment. It gave him enough time to free his legs and steal away one of its massive arms.

He looked to Spike and Fluttershy. "I'm sorry."

Fluttershy shook her head. "It's okay. I'm okay."
She took a few breaths, and then a sip of water. She grinned sheepishly at Hinka.
"See? All better."

Link locked the arm near his side and drew both his legs up and around its neck, interlocking his feet behind its head. When he was set, he released the arm and allowed the choke⁸ to set. All he had to do was survive the next thirty seconds.
The wolfos did not make it easy. It bit at his throat repeatedly but was just out of reach, and it struggled in his grip to free its trapped arm. However, the more it struggled, the tighter the choke became. With its free arm it tried to swipe at Link’s legs but could not find them in its blind rage. It managed to open a few more wounds on Link’s body as its own began to give out. The more time passed, the more confused and disoriented the beast became.

Spike groaned. "Don't we have any gems?"
Twilight cuffed the back of his head with a wing.
"Spike! You're being rude."
She looked to Hinka with worry. Do they let him finish his tale, no matter how graphic? Who would know for sure when he felt ready to tell it again?

The time it took the wolfos to lose consciousness felt like an eternity to Link. He did what he could to tighten the triangle as the wolfos lost its struggles and finally fell still.

"Hinka, maybe after we eat you can finish the story?"
"All done!"
All at the table looked at Pinkie Pie, who now appeared to be sporting a nearly pregnant belly while picking her teeth with a toothpick. She belched. Loudly.

He kept it in the choke for another minute or so, but it was far smoother this time around. When he was sure it wouldn’t quickly regain its consciousness, he cautiously released his triangle choke, rolled over his good shoulder to his blade, and retrieved it. Then, he continued until he found a cave to hide in.

Rarity, who until then had looked as still as a statue, let a look of disgust cross her face.
"Pinkie! That's disgusting!"
Rainbow pushed her bowl away. "I think I'm good."
Fluttershy did so and excused herself weakly for the bathroom.
Spike was too busy laughing at the top quality humor.
Twilight only stared daggers at Pinkie.
Applejack did so as well. "Award for biggest dinner faux pas goes to..."
Rarity stared at Applejack. The farm girl tilted her head. "Why you look so nonplussed?"
"I wasn't sure you knew what faux pas meant until you followed it up with nonplussed."
Applejack rolled her eyes.

"Oh! Excuse me," grinned Ms. Pie.

“...Tatl went to find help. A few rock people came and rescued me the next morning. Fifty-six stitches later, I was right as rain.”
“What happened to the wolf beast?” asked Fluttershy.
Link took a moment to rub a hand over the scar.
“Let him go,” he said softly. He didn’t look at them, though he could feel Applejack’s eyes boring into the top of his head. They didn’t need to know what he really did to the wolfos.

A few hours later, most everyone had said goodnight and gone home. Rainbow had a tight weather schedule she was covering over the weekend, Rarity was back logged on some dresses, Pinkie was to spend the weekend weighing the pros and cons of monetary inflation, Fluttershy promised to teach Scootaloo Krav Marega, and Applejack…
Before she left, she pulled Hinka aside to talk to him personally.

“Hey Sugarcube, I just wanted to thank you for sharing that story with us.”
He rubbed an arm sheepishly.
“You want to tell me what really happened to the wolf beast?”
He was silent and looked down at his feet. She tapped his shoulder gently.
“Hey, I’m not asking so I can give you a hard time for lying. I’m sure you have your reasons, and you don’t have to tell me if you’re not comfortable. I’m asking because I’ve got a feeling that telling somepony might help you a bit. Just food for thought. If you want to say what happened, I’ll be happy to listen. I don’t judge.”

“You would if you knew,” he accidentally said aloud. Applejack wasn’t moved.
“Kid, you’re talking to the pony whose big brother still cuddles with an old teddy bear he found in the street at night. Trust me, I don’t judge.”
He sighed to himself and squeezed his eyes shut.

“I killed him.”

She was silent. He finally looked up to her, anger in his eyes. However, the anger was not directed at her. It seemed to be directed to himself.

“I made sure he could not defend himself and then I cut his throat. I did sloppy job of it, and he not die immediately. He suffered more hurt than needed. I use his skin to warm myself and I leave his meat in the snow.”

She saw his hands ball tightly into fists. His knuckles were white. She gave him a hug. He did not move.

“He hurt you, Hinka. That wolf creature was surely aiming to kill, else you wouldn’t have killed him back, right? You were hurt and probably shaken up. It’s okay.”
She released him and looked him in the eyes again.
“What I’m concerned about is why you were in such a situation in the first place. How many have you killed, if you don’t mind my asking? You don’t have to answer.”
Hinka didn’t look away, but he shook his head. “I don’t want to answer that.”
Applejack nodded. “That’s alright, Sugarcube. But think about telling us more about your past. It can help to talk, and keeping these things bottled up is not healthy.”

Hinka looked at his feet. Applejack fixed his hat for him. She felt she was doing a good job of keeping a level head, but inwardly she was panicked. Did he kill any ponies? She didn’t think so, but she couldn’t be sure.

“You sure you don’t want to talk more about it?”
He was silent for a moment, and then smiled a fake smile up at her.
“Thanks for coming, AJ.”

End of Chapter

Author's Notes:

I'm alive. Sadly. I apologize for the delay. Personal life plus issues with my computer conspired here. A lot has been on my mind lately and sadly the quality of this chapter reflects that. Hopefully it was at least a little entertaining though.
Next chapter covers a storm and then Link chokes out Spike again and Spike is grateful for it. Sick pervert.

(1- Which is coincidentally on a Friday)
(2- Meaning literally "She who Holds", "Ferrari" is the nearest Equish translation to "Farore")
(3- Nearest translation to Nayru. Literal meaning: "The one that loves")
(4- *Some years down the line* "Hinka, the world isn't flat. It's round. It also orbits the sun. Only the moon orbits it naturally."
Link: Oh, okay. Didn't know that.
Twilight: *stunned horse staring*
Link: You okay buddy?)
(5- Most beasts and monsters in Hyrule and Termina aim for the body and the throat on attacks.)
(6- there is no translation for wolfos in Equish).
(7- Wolfos tend to grow large quickly, but live relatively short lives (3-4 years). Other than the ones tainted by evil, wild wolfos tend to keep to themselves and leave humans alone. It is possible to tame them when they are pups, but ill-advised, for they are voracious eaters.)
(8- Triangle choke)

Everything is Cool

View Online

Link gulped as he stared down the three.

They were the most important masks he owned. Each of them contained a spirit that he had become very close to, and though they could not speak with, see or hear him (or anything from the physical world) if he was not directly contacting or wearing them. Even so, he could feel them gazing down at him from the wall they hung on. It would have been lonely if they hadn’t formed connections to each other. Mikau and Darmani liked debating random issues and telling Neki stories.

“I’m sorry guys,” Link said quietly. The first raindrops began to fall.
“Recent events have been greatly occupying my time. I’ve not been able to even speak with you, much less update you or give you time to stretch your legs. I’ve not been a very good friend to any of you.”
A tear almost fell from his eye. He gathered all three masks in his arms.
“Sorry,” he whispered once more.

Instantly his mind was bombarded with three familiar voices.

Kid! Oh, thank goodness, we’ve been worried sick about you!
Brother, where have you been? Has someone harmed you? Who do I need to crush?
Link! I missed you so much! Where did you go? Huh? Was it fun? Huh?

The chatter of their voices in his head was refreshing, though always odd. If he mentioned the voices to anyone else, they would probably lock him up before he did harm to himself or others. He hears voices in his head. They council him, they understand.

They talk to him.

He sat on his bed with the masks held to his chest for close to an hour recounting his tales.
Why did you not call upon me? I would have made short work of those wooden beasts.
“Your mask was inside my pack. I did not have time to rummage around. It was dumb luck I didn’t lose any in the chaos.”
You should always carry us on your belt. That way we can always protect you!
Link smiled. Leave it to Neki to always put the needs of another before himself. He was not an average child.
What about the other mask; the one you used to seal away the fallen goddess?
Link squinted down at Darmani’s mask.
“I’m never using that mask again. It turned out I did not need to. I was saved.”
Yeah, who saved you? We’ve got to say thank you.
He smiled down at Neki. “I’ll let you stretch your legs soon. Before I do, though, I should explain something about my saviors…”

Link then went on to spend some time telling the story of recent events to his three most precious masks. He told them of his first hint that the trees were no longer the same ones he was familiar with at home (though being familiar with the Lost Woods is kind of a stretch). He told them of the anxiety masked by excitement he felt as he proceeded into the unknown. He told them of how uneasy and curious he was when the magic of the forest became so chaotic that it might rob him of the control of his spells.

He told them of what happened when his curiosity got the better of him and he attempted to cast his safest spell, Nayru’s Love, on himself- it immediately dissipated from around him and surrounded a random bird that he was pretty sure was still invincible.

He told them of his first encounter with a timberwolf. Most of all, he told them of his near death at the claws of a pack of the wooden beasts; how he nearly killed the largest bunny he’d ever seen. He told them of his rescue.

He told them of his rescuers.

Normally, if Link had something he wanted to tell Mikau, Neki, and Darmani about, they would ask questions here and there or make comments. They were dead quiet on this occasion. Even the chatty deku boy!

He sighed. “Okay, where’d I lose you?”
You didn’t. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head or something?
He blinked. “I was not under Mikau’s control at the time.”
Hey!
You hear what you’re saying though right?
“I know what I saw.”
It doesn’t sound like you do, kid. I’m with Darmani on this one. Maybe you’re more badly hurt than you thought?
I think you need to go home, brother. See if your friend from the forest will have an emergency meeting with you.

Link furrowed his brow.
“The magic of this place will not allow my teleportation spells to work. Or have you already forgotten?”
How can you be sure you weren’t just playing the wrong notes?
Link stared at Darmani’s mask.
“I’ve tried repeatedly.”
Then try again! I want to believe you brother, but you’re not making it easy. You’re describing brightly colored talking horses and claiming that they saved your life.
“You were willing to accept Hyrule as being a real place before I even took you there, but colorful ponies are where you draw the line?”
Darmani was silent while Mikau laughed.

I believe him.

Mikau fell silent as well and Link smiled gratefully at the deku mask.
If Link says he was saved by talking horseys, then he was saved by talking horseys. So, we have to say thank you to the horseys for saving him.
…Alright, I’ll bite. You’ve not lied to me before, kid, and I don’t think you will now.
He gave Mikau’s mask a nod and looked expectantly to the stubborn Goron.
Oh, alright. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. But I want to see one of them for myself before I admit you were right.
“You were worn by one of them.”
I was?
Link ignored him and looked to the deku again.
“Thanks, Neki.”
He could swear the deku was smiling. Before there were any responses, there was a knock on the door.

“It’s open,” he said in Equish.
What?
He blinked at Darmani. “It’s a pony thing. You wouldn’t understand.”
Before the Goron could retort, he set the masks on the bed as Twilight opened the door. She smiled warmly at him.

“Good morning Hinka. How did you sleep?”
Link gave a small smile back. “Okay.”
Twilight seemed to beam at him for using his words. Or word. Her gaze fell to the masks on his bed.
“Doing some redecorating?”
He glanced over at his masks.
“I cherish these masks the most.”
She tilted her head.
“Not the heart shaped one?”
He blinked and looked to his masks. She pointed at Majora with a hoof.

“Rainbow still feels bad for making you upset. She tried to wear that one, right?”
He shrunk back.
“I do not like that mask.”
“You don’t?”

He shook his head. In recent weeks, Majora appeared to be strengthening. He could sense the contempt she had for him as ever, but it felt as though it was stronger. She could regain however much strength she liked, though. She would remain powerless if not worn.
“Why not?” she asked.

He was silent for a moment. In the time he’d known Twilight, he learned that, while she was a wonderfully sweet and caring mare, she was also very curious and was known to obsess over anything that caught her interest. He was afraid that, if he told her of Majora’s capabilities and power now, she would either not believe him, or would attempt to experiment on it. Majora’s Mask was seemingly indestructible, but he didn’t know what her spells or experiments might do to it. What if they released the goddess within? He didn’t want her to ever enact her malice again, especially if he was right about her gaining strength.

Then again, Twilight did have an open line to Princess Celestia. Maybe she would have an idea of what to do with the mask? If he told Twilight the truth, either Twilight would think he was making it up, Majora would be accidentally released from her prison in a failed experiment or would be sealed away or otherwise destroyed by the Sun Goddess.

It was still a risk he was not willing to take.
“Hinka?”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to talk about her.”
“Her?”
He cursed to himself in Hylian and looked to Twilight with a frown. He pointed at what competed to be the worst mask in his possession.
“Majora’s Mask.”
“Majora’s Mask,” Twilight echoed. Her ears drooped. “It almost feels as if it’s staring into my soul."

She probably is, he thought to himself. Majora was probably attempting to will Twilight into wearing her mask. However, she had no power over those who did not put her on in the first place, therefore she had no influence over his plump purple legal guardian.

Twilight wrapped a wing around Link. She eyed him with concern.
“I won’t press you any further about it. However, if you do want to talk to me, I’ll be here. I think I speak for everypony when I say we’ve grown fond of you in the short time you’ve been here, Hinka.”
He smiled, and she smiled back. Then, she pointed a hoof at the masks beside him. “What about those? Are you comfortable telling me about them?”
He shrugged slightly. “Maybe one for now. Which do you want to know more about?”

Twilight scanned the three masks beside him, then pointed at the Deku.
“That one strikes my fancy, good sir!”
Link took the Deku mask in his hands.

“This is Neki’s Mask. Neki was a plant person. I don’t know how to say it in Equish, sorry.”
“Neki,” Twilight parroted. The name was strange on her tongue. She smiled at Link. “He sounds like someone very special to you. Did you make this mask?”

Link’s smile fell somewhat. “In a manner of speaking. It serves as a memorial of sorts for him.”

“He was a young child. Younger than me. I don’t know a whole lot about his final moments. He was murdered by a creature of great evil."
He felt a lump in his throat. He always tried to keep Neki’s story short because he would never finish if he went into too much detail.

“When a plant person dies, it becomes a tree. If that tree is well cared for, it can become something truly divine. Therefore, when a plant person becomes a tree, it’s not actually dead. It’s slumbering.”
Link spared a glance at Majora, his eyes full of malice.

“The one who killed him knew that. So, it made sure Neki’s tree was in a place where it would never get sunlight and would ultimately die. The killer received justice of sorts, but nothing permanent.”
He looked down at Neki’s mask.

“His father turned the dead tree into a shrine to the child. He goes there every day to mourn.”

He trailed off when he noticed it. Twilight had pulled him tight against her side.
Link, feeling uncomfortable, patted her side gently.
“Er… there, there… It’s okay. He is at peace.”
Twilight held him tighter.
“But are you?” she asked.
Link rolled his eyes to look at the collection of masks on his wall.
“It is what it is,” he said.
Twilight took a breath. “Not anymore.”

Eh?

She looked into his eyes. “You don’t have to know such violence anymore. Not here. You don’t need to wear a brave face. We’ll help you. We will support you.”
She smiled gently at him.
“You can be a child again. Let us do the heavy lifting.”
"I don't know how to," he said quietly. Twilight put a hoof on his hand.
"Then let us teach you."
He was silent again.
"Please, Hinka."

Link looked at his masks again.
“Can you let me go? I must hang the masks back up.”

Twilight released him, and he did so for all save the deku mask. He held it and looked out the window at the rain.
“I’d like for you to stay inside today, Hinka. It’s supposed to rain all day today. Maybe you and Spike can do something?”
Link glanced out the window again, and then back to Twilight.

“I’m going to make a few prayers and clean in here first.”

She gave a nod, then smiled at him again. “Remember what I said. Let go, begin again. We can help you if you just let us.”

The door shut behind her, and Link looked back at the wall of masks. Maybe Twilight was right. Maybe he could learn to regain his childhood again, at least to some degree. He already felt that Applejack’s words after last night's dinner were influencing him. He just told one of the horses the story of one of his best friends in the world. That was not something he ever really did before. Maybe he was being dumb? He'd have to think about telling them more.
It would have to wait, though. The rain was picking up. Link, smiling, held the deku mask to his face. Deku scrubs love the rain, after all.

The pain of the transformations was always brutal. Link never could stop the screams erupting from his changing mouth as his body felt like it was turning inside out. The transformation into Neki was probably the worst for him. It involved forcing his body to shrink a few feet and his skin becoming wooden. His hair would become a head of leaves and his blood would become sap. His lungs would burn, and he would initially begin to cough violently as they rejected oxygen in favor of any carbon dioxide they could steal away. Food in his stomach would feel like a lead weight that did nothing, for deku scrubs would feed by either drinking water or standing in the rain and allowing the sun to bathe them in its light when it was out.

Among the most jarring things for him was hearing his voice change from what he was accustomed to into the youthful squeaky voice of Neki. Once the pain settled, he looked at his surroundings. He didn’t manage to stop his screams, but he was able to mask them (pun intended) with the storm- the winds and rain were howling.

When all was done, Link climbed up onto the windowsill. He let himself out through the window and shut it behind him and leapt to a tree close by, and then climbed down to the muddy ground below. From the moment his bare feet hit the mud he could feel Neki eagerly trying to wrest control from him. Link nudged him back calmly, and he made his way for the trees nearby- the significantly safer wooded area near the castle known as Whitetail Woods.

“Alright Neki,” he said to himself. “We can’t be out here too long or else someone will probably come looking for me. But these trees should be nice and safe for us to play in.”

With that, he relinquished control of his body to the deku youth. His eyes almost seemed to light up; a feat given they always glowed orange.

Link would have smiled if he could. He could tell Neki was already in love with this place.
“It’s… it’s almost like home.”
Less of a swamp, but I see your point.
Neki took off Link’s hat to let the rain splash his head.
“Are the horseys here?” he asked.
I don’t think so. They should all be inside their homes right now. If you think you see one, hide. Most of them are excitable.
“Like party excitable?”
More like run around in circles screaming for help excitable. But I do know one that throws a good party.
“THANKS, HINKA!!!” came a pink-sounding voice from the distance.
“What was-“
Don’t even worry about it.

Neki ran around the trees for the better part of an hour. He’d come across a pond and, as his kind were wont to do, hopped across it on a toe. It was a skill Link had learned while he had been a deku, but Neki was far better at it than he was. Link could swear that the child could hop across the ocean and still have energy to spare.

“So, their names are Twilight Sparcow, Larry, Applesnack, Butterguy, Rapidash, and Stinky Wine?”
Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie.
“Are they nice?”
Very.
“If they’re so nice, why do you want to go home? They weren’t so nice to you there.”
As welcome as they’ve made me feel, I don’t belong here.
“My daddy used to tell me that I could belong anywhere if I felt liked. You could belong here too.”
Link’s voice was silent in Neki’s head.
“Especially since you seem to like Butterguy so much.”
I want to find Navi. I must ask her why she left.
“What if she has no answer?”
That in and of itself will be answer enough.
“What if you find her, and she’s super mean, and you can’t come back here?”
That is a question I can’t answer. Is closure or support more important?
“What’s closure?”
Something I granted you when I played that song.
“I wanna meet them too. The horseys.”
You will. Just not yet. They aren’t all available today.
“One day soon?”
Link did not want to answer the same question twice. They continued running about and playing in silence for short while.

I think we should head back to the castle.
“Five more minutes?”
You said that ten minutes ago. Please, Neki.
Neki sighed.
“Alright. But I get to meet the horseys before Darmi or Micky.”
Deal.

The transformation back to normal was also brutally painful to him. Imagine your skin being made of wood and abruptly becoming flesh again. Imagine your blood changing from sap into blood, and your body, built to survive in the world just as a plant would, rearranging everything so it may survive as an animal.

Why animal? Because a human is an animal too, of course!

The transformations never took more than a few moments, but they always felt like they lasted forever. Still, Link was more than willing to suffer such pain if it meant giving his friends a chance to live just a little bit longer. He wondered if their spirits would always remain within his masks, or if there would come a time that they would pass beyond the veil to what waits for all life. If that was the case, would they leave quickly, or would it be a slow passing? Link, as selfish as it felt, hoped they would not leave. He’d grown to love them dearly, and they him.

Link hanged Neki’s mask upon the wall once more and wiped a rain drop off it. Neki had been the one to scramble up the tree and through the window once more at Link’s direction. As he had hoped, nobody appeared to have entered the room while he was gone. He decided to go see if Spike really wanted to do something with him. They had been working more on their relationship lately. Spike seemed to have far more respect for him now than before Link choked him out.

The drake’s room was next to Twilight’s, while Link’s was on the opposite side of it. Twilight had assured him he was welcome to any other room if he decided he wanted to switch, but he didn’t want to have to take all his belongings and move them, and he rather liked the current location of his room. He knocked on Spike’s door.

“Come in,” answered Spike with a yawn. Link paused a moment. Had he been sleeping all this time?
He gave a smile to the drake when he opened the door. Spike blinked curiously.
“Hey, Hinka. You need something?”
“Are you doing anything?”
Spike blinked again. “I uhh… no. Why? You wanna hang out?”
Link nodded and Spike smiled. “Cool! I just finished rereading the first edition of Power Ponies. I’ll lend it to you sometime if you want.”
Link was quiet. Power Ponies?
“It’s a comic about superheroes fighting villains and saving the day.”

Link did not respond. He didn’t have any interest in reading more about heroics. Heaven knew he didn’t like talking about his heroics. Fluttershy didn’t even know that she was close with the Hero of Time and the Hero of Termina, mainly because Link did not see himself as a hero. He only saw himself as a monster who happened to do a few noteworthy good things in addition to bad things.

“Dude, you know that staring wordlessly thing Twi told you not to do? You’re doing it again.”
Link gave his head a shake. “Sorry.”
Spike blinked. “What’s on your mind? You wanna talk about it?”
Link shook his head. “It’s not important.”

Spike opened his mouth to respond but jolted at the clap of thunder outside the window. Link considered playing the Song of Storms to cancel out the rain, but apparently the weather was controlled by the ponies. The last time he used that song apparently resulted in weather controlling ponies getting chewed out by their bosses for “the creation of unauthorized rainstorms.” He still felt bad for that.

“Man, the weather team really went all out for this one. You get storms like this where you’re from? Other than, y’know, the snowy one from your story.”
Link chuckled. He’d seen far worse storms at home. How Hyrule wasn’t completely submerged underwater by now he would never know. He was tempted to build an ark a few times though but wasn't sold on the two of every animal idea. He'd have left mosquitoes and cats off.

“Eh. Sometimes.”
Spike eyed the scar on Link’s collarbone. He looked to a scar on the back of one of his claws that he got when he was young. He smiled and showed it to Link.
“Got this when I was a baby. I tripped over a book and fell into a shelf. One of the Princess’ snow globes fell and… yeah. But I only cried for twenty minutes!”

Link smiled politely. There was a squad of kids who went around helping people in Termina called the Bombers. Whenever they caught site of Link’s scars, they would try to tell him stories of scars they got in turn. Link rarely had time to listen. The Bombers liked to tell these stories especially when he was in a rush to do something. Like stop the moon from hitting their skin.

“Did you ever see other monsters?” Spike asked. Link’s smile shrunk. He nodded.
“There are far more monsters in my home. Dark hands¹, Man-eating plants² , toxic bats³ , Like-Likes⁴ … but none are as bad as the Skull Warriors⁵.

“Skull warriors?” asked Spike.
Link nodded. “Walking skeleton warriors. They’re very rare, but extremely dangerous.”
“Did you ever fight one?”

Link fell silent. There was a long slash across his back from an encounter with the creatures in the Sacred Forest Meadow shortly before he left for Termina. Two attacked him and he was saved only by his quick casting of Nayru’s Love. The shield spell granted him just enough of an edge to defeat the two of them, though they did manage to wear the shield down so much that it nearly failed.

“…You have a neat room,” he said.
Spike crossed his arms. “So you don’t wanna say?”

Link shrugged sheepishly. “I already said too much. Can we just do something else? I don’t want to talk about the creatures of my home.”

Spike was about to press him further, but he pulled back when he saw the look in Hinka’s eyes.
“Woah, just take it easy man…”

Rainbow loved working with the weather.

There was something about it that felt rewarding and ego boosting. Maybe it was the fact that without ponies like her, Equestria wouldn’t have weather to speak of? Maybe it was the simple fact that she liked getting rained on? She especially loved the rain.

Rainbow would never admit it, but the reason she loved rain so much was because, in Equestria, it often meant a rainbow was to follow. She loved rainbows. She was named after them anyway. Or as far as she was concerned, they were named after her.

The hours were great, the benefits were great, there was always some overtime available, and you spent a lot of your time flying too.

There were a few downsides, of course. When it got too crazy overtime became mandatory, which meant less nap time for her. The supervisors were not so nice to their workers all the time either. She remembered a time when she was still a clippy⁶ at the factory and she requested help from a supervisor, who barked, “Get it done!” at her and stormed off.

When things weren’t planned right or something unintended occurred? Oh, there was Tartarus to pay. She swore her ear was still ringing from the unscheduled rainstorm not too long before. Her supervisor chewed her out more than she’d been chewed out in the last 24 hours combined.

Still, the benefits outweighed the cons to her. The weather patrol gave her extended time off for her duties as a Wonderbolt and as an Element of Harmony, except for when things were bad, in which case the world would just have to do without being saved. It was amazing she still found so much free time. She was working three jobs- a strict nap schedule was a full-time job for her as well.

She grinned as she looked at the clouds, searching for any holes that were not meant to be there. Things were looking good! And she happened to be passing by Twilight’s Castle as well. She turned her head to look through a window to see if she could spot the egghead.

She stopped herself and stared.

Inside one room she could see Hinka on his back with his shin to Spike’s neck- was that the move the kid had used on the dragon not that long ago? He promised not to do that to him again!

She saw red. Nopony goes back on their word like that, and especially nopony hurts Spike without her say so! Alien or no alien, he was going down!

She flew for the window, but paused a moment as she recalled Twilight essentially enslaving her to write a letter the last time she broke in. She gulped and decided to open the window instead of crash through it. Lucky for her it was unlocked.

Before she could make progress inside, however, she noticed something odd. Hinka was holding Spike in his shin choke, yes, but… he wasn’t struggling. In fact, the two of them seemed to be talking about something like everything was normal.
“Wait,” asked Spike. “So, if I turned my head to one side, then I could breathe again. Isn’t that a reversal?”

“Turning your head to one side works when the move is early, or not fully locked. It’s difficult to do when the move is totally locked in.”

“Can I try the move?” asked Spike.

Hinka immediately released him and nodded with a smile. “Sure. But be sure not to make it too tight.”

Rainbow blinked. So, they weren’t fighting? She watched in awe as Hinka started to move Spike’s legs into the choke position and gave him instructions.

“Remember you need to grab an arm for this move to work too. If both arms are free escape is easy.”
She felt a smile start to pull at her face. It seemed to her Hinka wasn’t trying to hurt Spike. It looked like he was trying to teach him a grapple. It would certainly give the little drake an edge if he were ever accosted by another dragon or pony.

“Hey guys,” she said. They both looked up at her.
“Hey Rainbow! How’s the weather up there?” asked Spike.
She chuckled. “About the same as everywhere else in Ponyville. What’re you guys up to?”
Spike proudly pointed a thumb at himself. “I’m learning some of Hinka’s moves!”

Some? Who said anything about any others? All he asked for was the gogoplata!
“Cool! Mind if I stick around for a bit to watch? I still want to see that move.”
Hinka blinked. Why did she want to see it so bad? He could swear Rainbow had bragged about being a black belt in Karate. Was she trying to one-up Fluttershy?
He didn’t really think so. Fluttershy spoke fondly of Rainbow, and Rainbow Fluttershy. If they were rivals, they were very good-natured ones.

“If you want to,” Hinka said. Rainbow immediately took a seat in a bean bag chair.
“I’m not here,” she said, waving a hoof at them to go on.
Hinka turned back to Spike.

“This move requires some flexibility in your legs. Let me know if it starts to hurt.”
“Didn’t you say somepony got you in this move once?” asked Spike.
Link scoffed. “I didn’t say it only happened once. No, he and I fought on and off. Mostly on.”
Spike grimaced as Link moved his leg. One of Spike’s feet were planted on the ground while the other was over the top of his knee.

“Wow, it really is uncomfortable.”
“Do you want to stop?”
He shook his head. “I can deal with it.”
“Wait!”

Link looked over his shoulder at Rainbow Dash.
“Are we seriously going to gloss over that kid you fought? Details!”
Link blinked.

“His name is Mido and he’s a bully. It wasn’t personal to him; he treated everyone except Saria like that. I was just the village sc... scape... target is all.”

"But what about the fight?!"

"It's the darndest thing, but I can't remember," muttered Link.

Link remembered their first fight well. He was 7 years old and had trained with Saria to be better prepared for this sort of scenario.

The problem was, Mido was also very good at Kun-So and was more experienced. The two of them had gone back and forth for some time and a crowd had formed around them. It was Saria’s turn to man the general store, else she would have stopped the fight before it started.

“C’mon, No-Fairy. Is that all you’ve got?”

“Mido, stop this nonsense! Leave the poor boy alone,” demanded his fairy. He ignored her.

Link had a few scrapes at this point in the fight from being tackled to the dirt. Mido had a bruise here and there. Link’s face was okay so far, mainly because he was able to protect his head and neck each time Mido tackled him and began punching. Even so, he was growing quite tired. Mido, meanwhile, didn’t seem to be out of breath at all.

“You may as well take your licks now. Go cut a switch⁷ and we’ll forget this happened.”
Link didn’t move. He kept his arms up and went to strike a pressure point in Mido’s wrist. Mido himself grabbed Link’s hand and pulled him into his foot, forcing the wind out of the boy. Then, he pinched a pressure point in Link’s own wrist. He seemed to revel in the boy’s shouts of pain.

Abruptly, he let him go. Link clutched his wrist as the pain began to settle.
“You’ve barely even hit me. Hit me once, at least,” mocked Mido.
Link looked to him and threw a punch at his jaw which Mido took like a champ.

“There you go,” he said, and then he tackled Link to the dirt again and Link didn’t manage to block all the offense this time. Mido’s strikes to his face were brutal, but not enough to cause permanent injury.

With a final burst of energy, Link picked a foot up and kicked his rival in the gut as hard as he could. He popped up and took Mido to the dirt this time, throwing punches back and forth and trying to break his defense. Though Mido blocked well, a few of Link’s punches still made it through, and they bloodied his nose. Mido stayed down but managed to kick Link off him. Link stumbled backwards to his rear and the fight slowed. Mido was staring up at the sky while Link caught his breath and wiped some blood from his mouth. He checked his jaw. No teeth seemed to be loosened.

Link managed to get to his feet and was intent on throwing punches at Mido until the little shit was unconscious. He felt he was close, given his rival hadn’t moved from his back since he kicked Link away.

Link wasn’t expecting Mido to abruptly recover and pull his arm. Link fell to his knees as Mido held his arm to his side and trapped it there while he forced one shin under Link’s throat. Then, he pulled Link’s throat into his shin while he pressed back with it. Hard.

Instantly Link’s breathing was cut off, and it was agony for the 7-year old boy. He kept throwing punches and trying to free himself, but when Mido got someone locked in a choke, it was exceedingly difficult to escape.

Link remembered first seeing little white spots in his vision. He could taste copper on his tongue, and he kept trying to cough, but he couldn’t with Mido choking him. Link distantly heard Mido ordering him to tap and submit. Link refused.
Instead, with his free hand, Link showed Mido his little finger, and he did so until he lost consciousness in the choke. When Mido finally did let him go, he had a vague memory of blood seeping out of his lips.

Link rested his neck on Spike’s shin.

“Then, you put your hands on the back of your opponent’s head, pull down onto the shin while forcing upwards with it.”
Spike didn’t reply, nor did Rainbow. They were both eyeing him.
“What?”
“Do you get some sort of sick pleasure out of hinting at a cool story, but then not telling it?” asked Rainbow.
Link blinked. “There’s not much to tell. We fought, he choked me out. I got him back later.”

“Can you please just tell the story? I need to know!”
Link shrugged. “You’re not missing much. Maybe another time. I’m sorry I even said anything".
He turned his attention to Spike.
“I’m going to approach you this time. See if you can lock in the move.”

Rainbow eyed the two but wasn’t quite watching. Hinka just admitted to being assaulted by somepony at home until he lost consciousness, and he suggested that it was a repeat occurrence.

She squinted, because while they weren’t exactly the best of friends yet, she liked the kid! If anypony picked on him from here on out, she decided, they would have to answer to her. She had a similar deal in place for the Crusaders, especially Scootaloo.

She blinked. Link had managed to escape the choke and was wrenching Spike’s arm behind him⁸. Spike was in no pain it seemed, but he understood that something went wrong.
“What did I mess up?” he asked.
“You forgot to pin one of my arms to your side. Here, I’ll show you again…”
“Hey, kid.”
Link paused to look over his shoulder at Dash.
“Would you be interested in learning Karate from me with the Crusaders?”

Link had been wondering if he could ask Fluttershy for lessons of her own. He loved martial arts. It took him about two seconds to start nodding at her question.
“I’d like that.”
She smiled. “Cool! But on one condition: You must exchange some of your moves for mine. Deal?”
He smiled back. “Deal.”
“Hey Rainbow! Can I learn too?” asked Spike. Rainbow chuckled. “Sure! The more the merrier!”
Then, Rainbow looked at Hinka again.

“By the way, kid… you shouldn’t feel like anything you say is stupid. It’s good that you’re talking a little more. Keep it up, okay?”
Hinka blushed a bit.
“I should probably get back to work. The storm’s not going to manage itself, after all. See you guys later!”
With that, Rainbow turned tail and was out the window in a flash. Spike and Hinka stared.

“…So, did I ever tell you about the time I rescued Rarity from a bunch of dogs?”

End of Chapter

Author's Notes:

1- Nearest translation for “Wallmasters”, which like to grip ceilings and wait for prey to cross under them. They drop down and grab the prey, but if the creature is too big (like a human), they usually just casually toss it somewhere. By the neck.
2- Deku Babas are beings of dark magic that attempt to eat any living creature in their short vicinities. Because of their low maneuverability and fragile stems, they are widely regarded more as pests than as actual threats, though their bites are notorious for carrying infections.
3- Known for being especially dangerous in numbers, Keese are venomous bats that bite anything that encroaches on their territory. Keese venom will stop the hearts of small prey items and paralyze the muscles around the bites on larger creatures. Kokiri encounter them so frequently that they built up resistance to the venom, and some Keese have even been tamed as pets.
4- amoeba-like masses that are notorious for tanking incoming damage and overwhelming warriors. They engulf their enemies and secrete a stomach acid to try and digest their prey alive.
5- The reanimated bones of fallen humans, Stalfos are extremely tough, agile, and aggressive creatures. They possess the skill of elite warriors, regardless of what sort of person they were while alive (pacifist or otherwise). Only a handful retain the personalities they had before death.
6- Friendly Equestrian term for "Fucking New Guy/Gal"
7- A common punishment for Kokiri found to be guilty of some sort of miniscule trespass, the guilty party was to select a branch from anywhere in the forest of enough thickness as to not be too small and not break your spine. They were then to be struck in the back by the branch as many times as ordered by the judge. If the branch was too small, the Kokiri was sent back out to find another and would receive a beating from both sticks.
8- The Kimura lock can break an arm in extreme situations.
--
Can't believe how fast I banged this one out. Hopefully I can keep that pace.
Next chapter covers a fight between Link and Majora.

Mask of the Red Death

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“You’re the one who managed to disrupt my curses in the four corners of this land? Truly?”

Link growled lowly to himself but kept his shield up and his wits about him. He’d already been surprised by Majora once in this fight, and he didn’t want to have it happen again.

It seemed like an unspoken rule that the bad guy had to either go off on a tangent about why they were doing what they were doing and how they could not be stopped, or maybe instead they would make a showy entrance to the final battle with some evil laughter. Majora? Well...

When she retreated to the moon and Link followed, he found himself standing on the cratered surface and feeling disoriented by Clock Town above his head. It was so close he could nearly reach out and touch it. Majora, meanwhile, had seemingly vanished.

He wandered the moon for what felt like ages before she attacked. She appeared behind him and struck him with a tendril. The strike opened a gash on his back but it would turn out to be a minor injury by the end of this fight.
Link instinctively rolled forward and was on his feet again at a moment’s notice. He turned and faced the goddess.

“At your feet is a mask of mine,” she said. “How silly of me to leave it unattended. If you carry its untold power, maybe you'll live a few minutes longer. But if I retrieve it..."

Link, without breaking eye contact, cautiously picked up the mask but did not spare much look at it at the time. He didn’t have the intention of using it; just keeping it from her. He felt that Majora leaving it to him would be her own misstep.

His eyes widened and he screamed as dark voices began to invade his mind. The mask clattered down to the dusty floor below and he gripped his head tightly. Majora could have easily ended him there. She spared him for another moment instead. When an average mortal encountered that mask, it would crush their minds and render them permanently catatonic. It was supposedly brutally painful as well.

She watched in silent amusement as Link began to fall forward, only for him to move a foot to stop his descent. He screamed and screamed and screamed.

“You would do well to learn your proper place, slave.”

Majora moved her head forward and tilted it in confusion. Light began to erupt from his right hand. In an instant, Link’s battle with the darkness was won. He did not pick up the mask again. Instead, he took a few breaths and held his shield up. The Triforce of Courage glowed brilliantly on his right hand in which rested his sword.

Majora said nothing else, and instead snapped her fingers. The other mask wound up on his belt, but it did not seem to be causing him further distress.

Link chose that moment to charge forward with his blade held high, but Majora’s defense was instant. He rolled out of the way a moment before one of Majora’s tendrils struck. She flung them at such high speeds Link feared complete evisceration. She did not manage to strike him per se, but she did clip the sword and send it flying from his grip.

She was strange. Majora’s strikes were impossibly quick and calculated, yet she hadn’t uncrossed her arms and seemed to be lazily floating on her side while the tendrils coming off her back struck out at Link.

“Is this all the power you can muster? You mortals are an embarrassment. You don’t know how much control we truly have over you. When we say live, you live. When we say mourn, you mourn.”

She struck out at him again but was stopped by his shield; the shield which stood up to a direct hit from a battle-axe.

She pierced through it, and though she did not manage to strike Link, she did manage to fling the shield from his grip.

“When we say die, you die.”

Link had to rely on his instincts then, the triforce glowing brightly on his hand. He had to dodge a near constant assault by tendrils by simply leaping to one side or the other. If he dodged to the correct side, he’d live long enough to dodge again. If he leapt to the wrong side, he’d be eviscerated.

His eyes widened as Majora snapped two fingers. His sword, still some distance away, came to life. It was hovering, pointing blade first at him. He backflipped over another tendril, and saw the blade get flung towards his chest.

He screamed, and she laughed.

Luna loved admiring her work in the sky and changing things around up there for her ponies.

Most understand that she was responsible for the heavenly bodies, but few realized that she was not the initial creator of them. The stars in the sky were around long before her. And then she got her power... she used it to place a claim on all celestial bodies, all matter, all radiation but for the sun which was her sister’s. She moved the heavens as she wished and created a painting above the ground every night for her little ponies.

Luna looked to one especially red star that shone over Ponyville in the distance. That one. It was far enough from any life that it would cause no damage and would put on quite a show for her little ponies. The star had lived for millions of years, but now it’s time was up. She pushed just a fraction of her strength into her horn, and the star brightened by many orders of magnitude. It had gone supernova and would leave behind a rapidly spinning pulsar for her ponies to observe with their instruments.

Additionally, the supernova would even be visible in the day for a few weeks. Her sister was happy to oblige.

She loved the stars and she especially loved treating her citizens to a show. At least, those up to witness it.

She felt a sharp pain in her heart. Somepony needed her in the dream realm. Immediately.
Luna dropped her gaze from the supernova and located the dream. It was coming from Ponyville…

Majora’s laugh was constant. She’d done it. She’d killed the little mortal who thought it could measure up to her! The violence of her attack kicked up a ton of dust, but she not only killed it, she killed it with it’s own blade. Now she could get back to her actual game…

She heard movement.

“What’s this?” she asked. The dust began to settle, and Link struggled to his feet. He had no mortal wound to his torso and his blade was in its sheath. He had a bow drawn and an arrow nocked.

Majora only raised an eyebrow. That was all she could do before he shot her.

Instantly a current of godly energy surged through her, but the energy was not strengthening her. It was paralyzing her! This foreign energy… it had to have been…

Link loosed another glowing arrow¹.

Majora crumbled to the floor and Link closed the distance rapidly, doing his damnedest to strike down the rampaging mask. He drove his blade into her chest, leapt back, and called for the wrath of Din in one hand. He slammed it to the ground and a fireball erupted from it, engulfing Majora before simultaneously imploding and exploding.

Link was completely unharmed by the blast and was not injured by his own blade either. His body seemed to have a glassy blue force field surrounding it. Link nocked another arrow just in case.

Oh no… again?

He squinted his eyes as the dust began to settle. The mask remained on his belt. He could feel the dark energy coming from it tempting him...

“I will ask you again: Is that all the power you can muster?” asked a voice he did not want to hear.

He gasped as Majora levitated out of the cloud of dust once more. A dim red field² was surrounding her before it appeared to disintegrate. She was not harmed.

“I’ll admit you surprised me. I can sense a Goddess protecting you. The spell you’re using… Nayru’s Love, is it not?”

Link held his arrow taut. The glowing arrowhead flickered almost imperceptibly.

“You’re running low on magic. I can almost smell it. You’ll not be able to renew your shield, much less try to strike me down with holy flames again. But me?”

She snapped, and Link’s sword forced itself from his grip and began hacking away violently at his shield.

“I’ve not even used a fraction of my power!”

Child, please let me in. I’ll not let this nightmare haunt you.

Link crossed his arms over his chest as if it would protect him. He could feel the protective influence of Nayru’s Love beginning to wane, and cracks began to appear with each strike by his blade. On his back was a blade granted to him by a great fairy, but he feared moving to retrieve it. With his luck, the moment he moved the shield would fail completely.

It scared him. Nayru’s Love was supposed to be indestructible but for the passing of time! Ganondorf could crack and damage it, but even he couldn’t break through- he had to stall Link’s offense until it wore off in order to do damage. Yet Majora was hacking away at it with such ferocity that it was giving way.

He put a hand on the dark mask on his waist, and he listened to the dark voices whispering to him.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. There was a flash of light on his left, and Majora shattered the shielding effect of Nayru’s Love with one more strike from his sword- the shield simultaneously shattered and disintegrated into glitter. Link, as swiftly as he could, pulled the mask from his waist and began to move it to his face. Majora recovered and sent his sword to his heart once more. Link squeezed his eyes shut.

There was a loud “CLANG!” and a burst of brilliant green he could see through his eyelids. He dared to open his eyes again, the mask of the Fierce Deity inches from his face.

There was a black wing obstructing his view and keeping the sword from killing him. A dim green shield flowed over it, and he looked to the owner of the wing as the green shielding went to dust.

It was Luna, only she looked different. Her eyes were set, and her pupils appeared as slits, and she wore armor that Link doubted the sword he was given by the Great Fairy could pierce, never mind his refined Kokiri Sword.

She seemingly had a dark aura over her as well, but hers was far more controlled. Her eyes began to glow white.

Majora said nothing to her, though she was very much eyeing her.

“I feel your magic corrupting my moon,” said Luna, her horn glowing. “However, you are powerless before me in the dream realm. This night shall not last forever!”

Her horn appeared to glow brighter, and Majora appeared to break apart, as did the entire moon they were doing battle on. Link blinked and was standing in the middle of Clock Town again. The moon was high above him once more.

There was a flash from his peripheral vision, and he looked to Luna again. She had shed her armor and had shrunk herself down once more. Then, she looked at Hinka with concern.

“Hello again, child. How are your fosters treating you?”

Link rubbed an arm sheepishly. Luna frowned, and, with her magic, teleported the two of them to the top of the Clock Tower.

"I wish we did not have to meet under these circumstances. So let us try something fun instead of nightmarish. Are you familiar with the Game of Kings?"

Luna and Link sat before each other staring down at a chess board. Link had no idea what he was doing, but he was at least calming down again.

“Chess is a fine game of strategy that often concludes without bloodshed.”
She smiled at Link.
“There is an old film about a knight playing chess against death."
Link blinked. “Film?”
Luna gave a nod. “Yes! I’ve become quite a fan of several maretinees. What is your favorite film?”
“I don’t watch film or tv.”
“Truly? Most children love-“

Link crossed his arms and blinked.

“Right. You’re not most children.”
Luna moved a pawn forward.
“I think you would like a few films if you tried them. You’d be surprised.”
Link shrugged, and Luna was quiet a moment.
“Do you know how to play?”
Link shook his head. Luna smiled.

“This is a good game to exercise and better your mental fortitude. It requires intelligence and patience but is rewarding.”
“So, I shouldn’t be playing then?”
Luna chuckled. “If anyone, I shouldn’t be. I hear Pinkie Pie is one of the leading grandmasters of this game.”
Link stared.
“Yes, that Pinkie Pie. She’s undefeated as far as I know. I think you’ll make a good chess player with practice.”
She smiled. “Let me show you what I know…”

Link was confused.

Not so much about chess. It turned out he was a fast learner. He was confused because Luna made no mention of his dreams in the entire chess session they were having. It was refreshing, but also somewhat alarming. Was this a new tactic? He decided to use his words, much as he didn’t want to.

“Are you not curious about my dreams tonight?” he asked softly.
Luna moved a rook forward and captured Link’s bishop. She eyed him.
“I’m very concerned about them,” she said. “But you do not seem like you’re ready to share yet. Am I mistaken?”

Link captured Luna’s rook with his queen.

“You’re right. I’m just surprised is all.”
Luna moved her queen forward and captured Link’s final pawn in the process.

“Check. I want you tell me or anypony else soon. We have some time to spare but it is not eternal. Could you at least give me the name of that miserable creature you dreamt of?”

Link moved his King out of check and looked over the landscape of Termina. The view from atop the Clock Tower was breathtaking.

“Majora, the Fallen Goddess.”
“Majora,” uttered Luna in echo. Her muzzle scrunched up a bit. “Even the name is foul on the tongue.”
She gave Link a gentle smile. “Thank you for telling me. Remember, she cannot harm you here.”

Link wasn’t so sure about that. Maybe not in his dreams, but there was a reason he feared Majora more than Ganondorf. Part of him even believed if Majora were to have escaped into Hyrule, he would need to form some sort of uneasy alliance with the evil king first. He had no doubt that Majora and Ganondorf would have become mortal enemies had they met. If Ganon wore her mask, however… Link believed he wouldn’t stand a chance.

As things were now, however, he couldn’t help but worry about Majora and the Fierce Deity. He’d have to look at them for any signs of their powers leaking when he awoke.

“Nightmares like this must be ended here rapidly and with a tone of finality. However, my spells will fail in the face of something that truly terrifies one of my subjects. But nightmares and terror can be two different things. I did not know it before, but the more I look at you the more I am convinced these are flashbacks, not foul dreams.”

“This is why you must learn to open yourself up to those who have taken you in. Nopony will judge you for your fears or distress. If anyone were to do so, you only need to tell me and I will deal with it. But nightmares feed off of such terror, and they grow and become more advanced and they can gradually engulf the victim and bleed into the real world.”

She eyed him as she took her queen once more in concern.

“Hinka, please speak to somepony about these memories sooner rather than later. Nopony will judge you or think differently or will do anything you don’t want them to. It is still early; we can defeat this creature together before it becomes too powerful, and you can learn to be a child again."

She smiled at him.

"And if anyone would do harm to you, you tell them you're under the protection of the Solar and Lunar Sisters.³"

Luna moved her Queen once more, and Link could move no further.

“Checkmate.”

End of Chapter

Author's Notes:

1- Light arrows are arrows blessed by specific deities. Devastating against the undead and dark magic users, as well as those with unredeemable hearts, but only average against beings of light. Can pierce any shield spell used by one with a dark heart. Must never touch a dark arrow, for they will annihilate themselves and everything within approximately 5 kilometers.
2- Known as a “Godhood shield” or just “Godhood,” the shields come in three varieties: Green, which blocks and negates any attack, yellow, which blocks and negates most attacks, and red, which blocks and negates only attacks that could destroy the victim. Referred to as “Godhood” due to legend stating it is created by Gods for Gods. Do not wash with bleach.
3- The infamous Celestia and Luna "protection" racket was exposed some time after Link was whacked for failure to pay the two. The ponies began to call for impeachment until they remembered they were a diarchy and weren't supposed to know what the word impeachment was. So they settled for Celestia's "Cake and Movies" agenda instead and Equestria collapsed 200 years later.

Merry Christmas. We'll be covering the full fight with Majora in the future. But not next chapter. Next chapter is Link learning Karate from Rainbow.

Of Deities and Mortals

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Link awoke the next morning in cold sheets. He was no longer sweating but it was apparent he had been during his rest. He took the sheets off his bed and checked the closet for more.

When the sleep cleared more from his mind, he recalled what he had dreamt of that night. His head turned to the masks on the wall and he stared through them to Majora.

He growled lowly.

“You scum. Continue to haunt my dreams all you like. You have no power here.”
He could feel Majora gazing at him. His little finger faced her.
“I know you’re watching me.”

Link trailed off. Here he was, talking like Majora was animate. He wasn’t even certain she could hear him when he spoke¹. He gave his head a shake. Maybe the others were right. Maybe he did need to start opening to someone. It would probably be for the best.

Maybe he could talk a bit to someone today? He was pretty sure Twilight hadn’t given him all that many chores for the day. He just had to clean the owl’s cage (he hated Owloicious for a very valid reason²) and fetch some baked goods from Sugarcube Corner.

…Maybe he could talk with Pinkie about his concerns?

He immediately dashed that thought out of his mind. He liked Pinkie, but her name translated in his tongue to “The Pink Menace/Monstrosity” and nobody else’s name had a clean translation.

He sighed. Maybe he ought to keep it to himself? It’s gotten him plenty far after all…

He leered at the masks, but gasped. It wasn’t Majora’s Mask that drew his concern this time, but the Fierce Deity. Both it and Majora’s Mask were hanging over drawings of the Triforce he’d made and uttered many prayers over to bless them and help seal away their magic. They were centered perfectly (not because they needed to be for the blessing, but because Link was a little obsessive about things like that) when he went to bed the night before. This morning, the Fierce Deity had seemingly shifted several inches to the right, though it was still on the drawing.

Could someone have come in at night? No, his door was locked. It was always locked. Did he sleepwalk?

The Fierce Deity was mostly unknown to him. All he knew was he had to pray every night and day to silence the voices that had invaded his head ever since he laid a hand on that accursed mask. They were voices telling him to do terrible things.

He summoned his courage and began to softly utter a prayer to Farore under his breath. The voices had begun chanting something unintelligible to him lowly. He moved to fix the Fierce Deity’s mask, and as soon as he got within arm's reach of it, the voices began to shout- shout at him. They had only once done that before, and that was upon his first contact with the mask. He raised his voice in prayer to try and combat it. When he raised his hands to move the mask, however…

He shouted out in pain as a current ran through his body. His hands reflexively clenched down on the mask and he could not release it nor control his body. It felt like water was rushing under his skin with a tinge of pain that he knew was much more severe than it was letting on.

Nobody was home to help him. Twilight had taken Spike to run some early morning errands and let Link sleep in. Rainbow was coming to pick him up later. Nobody was going to come to his rescue.

The Triforce glowed brilliantly on his right hand at the opportune time. It had never reacted to anything this strongly before. When it asserted itself, the voices screaming at him immediately fell silent and the current flung Link seven meters across the room. He landed with a scream on his back. Pain shot through his leg. The Fierce Deity, meanwhile, had not even budged from the wall.

Link couldn’t move more than his head for the first few minutes. He was staring up at the ceiling and looked around at what parts of his body he could see. What looked like dark lightning arced across parts of his body periodically for a short while before ceasing. The Triforce continued to glow on his hand³. Gradually, his movement came back.

Link continued to utter his prayers as his ability to move came back. As soon as he was able to, he sat up and stared at the mask.

It had never reacted in such a manner before. His eyes wandered to Majora’s Mask and widened. Its eyes had begun to glow. He looked back to the Fierce Deity. Smoke was coming from the paper it was hanging over.

Link reached for the nearest thing he could find which happened to be a broom. He flung the mask off the wall with the handle. The triforce drawing was no longer smoking, but it was badly burnt. He looked to where the Fierce Deity landed- next to his bed. There was no more smoke coming from it. When he looked to Majora again, her eyes were glowing still, but fainter and fainter until they no longer were. He looked between the two masks, and, sighing, removed the ruined paper from the wall and set to work on another one. Link stuck the new triforce drawing to the wall near his bed, and then made another and stuck it next to Majora to act as an added buffer. He set one finger on the Fierce Deity. Nothing happened. Then, he picked it up and hung it on the wall far from Majora with the Triforce drawing next to it instead.

Leeches.

Rainbow sat reading a book⁴ while Link quietly ate the pancakes Twilight had left him. Rainbow had come not long after he washed up to pick him up for karate with the Crusaders. He was extra quiet while he ate.

He was trying to keep his nerves under control, but inside he was disturbed. The Fierce Deity had not once electrocuted him. Yet here, it had done so. It also had never moved on its own before.

Majora meanwhile, had seemingly gotten stronger as well. When that mask was inactive, it appeared as a normal mask, for all intents and purposes. The eyes never flashed on their own.

He blinked and paused in his chewing. Could it have been a matter of how close the masks were to each other? Back home, he always had at least one or two masks between them. If this theory of his was right, then the masks were drawing power from each other, somehow magnifying it, and sharing it amongst each other.

He observed Rainbow. She was still reading her book.

The Triforce dimly reacted.

Twilight had deemed it necessary to give Link an allowance for taking care of his chores. She did the same for Spike and was known for offering pay to her friends when they helped her out with something. None of them ever took her up.
Link tried to refuse pay from her before. The pouch of bits still somehow found their way into his tunic pocket. It made him feel like he was “the help” until Twilight told him it was because he made her proud when he did his chores. Link always checked if there was anything more for him to take care of before going off to do his own thing for the day. She didn’t always have extra work for him, but it’s the thought that counts.

He scowled as he rubbed a hand over his arm. The stupid owl bit him while he was cleaning the cage. It was at that moment that Link wondered what owl meat tasted like.

Both he and Rainbow paused a moment when they got within view of Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow pointed at Canterlot Castle in the far distance on the mountain.
“You should ask Twilight to bring you to the castle one day. The Princess always lets us use the cushiest rooms.”
Link blinked.
“Think about it. Didn’t your old home have, like, one room?”
Link nodded.
“The room she’d give you would probably be like a really high-end apartment. They’re huge. And the food is to die for. You’ll love it.”
He smiled slightly at her.
“If Twilight decides to take you, let me know. I wanna see if I can weasel my way in.”

He gave a nod. The two resumed their walk into the bakery. It was very busy. The line was nearly out the door if you were placing your order then and there. Twilight had made her order the night before, so the two just had to pick it up.
Before Rainbow could ring the bell on the counter, Pinkie all but flew out of the kitchen to meet them.

“Hiya guys! You here for Twilight’s muffin order?”
Link gave a nod. Rainbow nudged him gently.
“Words, kid. Use your words.”
He grumbled to himself. “Yes. What do we owe?”
“I’ll just ring ya up! Let’s see here… she ordered a dozen chocolate muffins, which works out to be twelve chocolate muffins and two red velvets!”
Link blinked. He wasn’t the sharpest child in the world at that point⁵, but last he checked, a dozen muffins were not fourteen muffins.

Pinkie grinned at him. “I threw those two extras in for you, little fella. I know you like them.”
He blushed slightly. Pinkie began to hammer away at the cash register. Link liked the noises cash registers made. He wondered if he would be allowed to use it if he stayed here long enough.

“And your grand total is… zero bits!”
Link shook his head immediately and reached for his bit pouch. Pinkie pushed it back towards him.
“No can do. Twilight did me a favor the other day, and I still owe you for cleaning up all the dishes when you were here not that long ago!”
She leaned in towards him, as if she was going to tell him something of utmost importance.
“In fact, can you come to the kitchen with me? Rainbow can wait here with the order and make sure the box doesn't get eaten. I guess the muffins could be too."

Rainbow held a hoof up to interject but lowered it and stayed silent. This was Pinkie they were talking about. She smiled as Pinkie led Link to the kitchen.

“Pinkie, please be quick in there!” called Mr. Cake. “We need all the help we can get here!”
Pinkie said nothing back. She waited for the doors to shut and Link to turn to face her again. Then, she picked him up and hugged him tight. Her fur smelled of frosting. Link was confused, but Pinkie seemed to know what he was thinking.
“I don’t know what happened, but I do know that something scared you today. So, Dr. Pie prescribes a hug a day to keep the frownies away!”
Link did not return the hug, but he did smile and let himself relax into it just a bit…

Rainbow had borrowed the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse for her karate classes. It was a huge treehouse that Link was immediately in love with. It even had a little doodle near the base that looked like one he had done on his own home when he was four. Mido tried to give out about it once and Saria immediately chewed him out.

Link looked all around the club house. They had a podium, several capes hanging on a rack, a small tv, a mini fridge, and many odds and ends dotted around the place.
“You should’ve seen this place before it was renovated. Whole thing was practically falling apart at the seams,” said Rainbow.

Link’s lips thinned. He knew well the maintenance that went into a house that was also a tree. He had to treat his house for termites so often he began to wonder if the Gods would allow him just one teensy forest fire.

“The others should be on the way,” said Rainbow. “Y’wanna watch some tv while you wait?”

He shook his head. Rainbow chuckled. “You’re a weird kid. Well, just do whatever you want for now. I’m not even sure Sweetie Belle’s going to make it. She’s sorta being screamed at for failing gym. Seriously, how do you fail gym? All you have to do is show up…”

Link, saying nothing, began to stretch and loosen up his muscles. Saria always trained him to limber up before they worked on his Kun-So. He reasoned doing so here would be a wise move.
Spike arrived a few minutes later munching on a sapphire. Link had to double take and make sure it wasn’t a blue rupee; not because it was his money but because it was mostly glass and probably not very smart to consume.
He waved to Link, who gave a nod back as he held his arm back in stretch.
“Hey Spike, make yourself at home until the others get here. Any word on Sweetie still making it?”
Spike grimaced. “I don’t know for sure if she’ll be here. I think her mom can be heard from the Crystal Empire.”
“I’m here! I’m alive!”

Rainbow facehooved. “Speak of the devil.”

Sweetie looked surprisingly in one piece. Link wondered why she was interested in karate if she wasn’t showing up at her gym classes. He also began to wonder if he was going to be enrolled in school at some point⁶
Sweetie grinned sheepishly at Spike, Rainbow, and Hinka. “So hi! How’s it going?”

Rainbow only shook her head. Applebloom and Scootaloo came together moments later. The girls exchanged greetings, and then walked over to Hinka.
“You look a lot better today,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah, y’feeling better? We’re awful sorry if we overwhelmed you. We didn’t mean to make you miss the fireworks at the celebration.”
Link gave a shiver. The fillies hung their heads.
“Sorry,” they said in unison.
Link put his hands out. “It wasn’t something you guys did. The fireworks scared me.”
“Fireworks? Why?” asked Scootaloo.

He had a brief flashback then to his first taste of Ganondorf’s power. He never saw him do it, but Zelda would describe to him as they fled the evil tyrant’s castle how he would wound and then execute any who stood in his way with his vile magic.
Link shook his head to clear it and to signal that he was done talking about it.

“C’mon, tell us! Maybe we can help!”
He shook his head again.
“Pleeeeaaaaaaase?” asked the three in unison. He swore they practiced this sort of thing.
“Girls, leave him be. He doesn’t want to talk about it.”
Link smiled gratefully at Spike, who smiled back at him.
“If he changes his mind, he’ll tell you. He’s talking a lot more lately.”
Link blushed slightly. He still hated talking.
The girls didn’t say anything back. Rainbow had decided it was a good time to start their lessons. She had everyone line up and face her.

All bowed except Link.

Rainbow immediately pointed to him.
“Don’t think I forgot our little deal. I want some of your moves in exchange for some of mine.”
Link hesitated a moment. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he did promise to show her…

“And since you don’t feel like bowing… why don’t you come on up and show us all what you know? I’ll go easy on you when I reverse you, okay?”
Link blinked.
“What if you can’t?” he asked.
She chuckled. This kid clearly didn’t know who he was talking to.
“Kid, I’m a black belt. I’ll get out. But if it makes you feel any better, if for some reason I can’t, I’ll tap your leg or something. Deal?”
He gave an uneasy nod.
“Good! Then it’s settled. Come on over and try to take me down in any move you like.”
This mare clearly didn't know who she was talking to.

They were dismissed from Rainbow’s class around an hour after it started and she was the first one out. Spike nudged Link’s arm.
“That was awesome. I’ve never seen Dash so disheveled before!”
Link blinked.
“How many moves do you know?”
“Can you teach us too?”
He shrugged.

“Dude, you got Rainbow Dash to tap out to six moves in under two minutes. How did you do that?” asked Scootaloo.
“Practice?” he offered. Every move he used on her were moves that had been locked in on him before. He nearly had his arm broken by the Kimura lock while in a fight with a Gerudo in the desert.

“How did you do that? What are you? Nopony shows Dash up like that in close quarters except Fluttershy.”
Scootaloo’s eyes widened. “Is that who taught you those moves?!”⁷
He shook his head, though he had been meaning to ask if she would teach him too.
“Where did you learn them then?”
“Saria,” he said with a small smile.
The Crusaders collectively blinked at him.
“Sorry for what?”
Link facepalmed.

Link sighed.

The others had left by now, and he was alone in the clubhouse. It wasn’t long before the distractions from kicking Rainbow’s flank the karate class left him, and he was thinking of the damnable masks once more. He thought of how lucky he was. If he did not bear the Triforce of Courage, he would have probably been killed long ago by either of the masks.

The Fierce Deity frightened him more than Majora. He knew Majora wanted him dead because he not only got in the way of her games, but also managed to defeat her. She was humiliated by a mortal, a creature she deemed as lesser than herself. It was obvious why she hated him, and he knew from his previous interactions with the mask what her goals were.

The Fierce Deity, however, gave him no sense of malice. If he eyed that mask, he felt it returning the gaze, but there was no anger, no hatred, no disgust, no joy, no sorrow- nothing. If he didn’t know any better, the Fierce Deity had no opinion on him. All he heard were dark thoughts and dark voices, but they were many. He believed they were corrupt shades that the Fierce Deity had killed in the past, but he did not believe they were of the spirit in the mask itself. Link did not believe he ever actually interacted with that spirit beyond his first internal battle with it.

He believed he could learn of or uncover some secrets about it if he used a Ouija board, but to do so was forbidden by Nayru and was considered a mortal sin due to the danger it introduced.

He put his hands on his head and squeezed his eyes shut. This was all becoming too much. He couldn’t fight alone. Not anymore.

Not anymore.

His eyes opened again. He didn’t have to fight alone anymore, did he? He knew six adults who were imploring him to open to them so they may help. He knew four children around his age who would try to help him too, though he wasn't sure how much of his past he'd be willing to share with them. They were far too innocent.

He was in a treehouse in the farm of one who might help him right now. He felt his heart begin to race. He’d never requested help like this before. He was raised to be fiercely independent.

It was time to try. He climbed down from the treehouse carefully and headed for the large house in the distance.
It was a trip that only took him a few minutes but felt like an eternity. His heartbeat dully in his ears. He knew he shouldn’t feel so anxious but doing what he was about to do was unexplored territory for him. He didn’t even tell Saria much of what he saw during his travels. She didn’t know he snapped the neck of a Gerudo woman, however unintentionally. She didn’t know he disarmed and killed a pirate in Termina with her own blade.

Goddesses, what that grave keeper did to the child in Kakariko and what Link did to him in vengeance...

She didn’t know.

His hand, shaking, went to knock on the door. It opened inward before he could do so. Applejack jolted, but relaxed and smiled at him.

“Well howdy, Sugarcube. How was karate? I hear you kicked Rainbow’s flank halfway to Cloudsdale.⁸

Applejack’s jovial mood dampened when she saw his face, though. He looked deeply conflicted but also determined. She tilted her head.

“Something on your mind, Hinka?”
He bit his lip and nodded. “I… I need to talk, please.”
Applejack opened the door wider and stepped aside to let him in. The apple trees were just going to have to wait.

Author's Notes:

1- He would later find out that Majora could hear a lot more than when he was speaking…
2- Link hated all of owlkind because they all reminded him of that bastard sage-owl who defaulted his “Do you want me to repeat myself” answers to Yes.
3- He only survived because of the Triforce.
4- Daring Do and the Bottle of Hard to Open Ketchup
5- He became very bright as he grew on account of living with Twilight.
6- I leave that up to you. Do you want to see Link in classes, or do you want him homeschooled?
7- ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Show me yo' moves.
8- Rainbow would insist she let him win, but also never asked him to spar with her again.

This chapter came out far different than I intended. I had to pretty much rewrite it because the original draft was such trash. Such is the nature of my writing, however.

Next chapter concludes the story.⁹

9- Next chapter does not conclude the story in any way, shape, or form.

Eyes Wide Shut

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Applejack often smelled of cinnamon.

It was not something you would expect from one like her. You would probably expect her to smell like these things called apples. She worked with them and loved to work with them, of course, but she loved her cinnamon and would often use it to finish off any apple-based pastries she made.

Her hat smelled of cinnamon. Her formal dresses smelled of cinnamon. Her home smelled of cinnamon.

Link, though he had spent very little time in the trees he adored after being taken in by the natives of Equestria, still always smelled of the smoked meats the Kokiri were well known for. His home smelled of many herbs he was fond of using to make the air nicer. Under it all, his hat smelled of Saria, though that was a scent only he would know here.

Link hoped to never forget her scent. She smelled of the trees and of honey.

Applejack sat quietly next to Hinka on the Apple family’s couch. She looked at the wall across from her and smiled slightly at the pictures upon it. Her brother, her sister, Granny, her friends and distant relatives, and even her parents smiled down on her.

She sometimes wondered if her parents were watching. Did they know Hinka? She had a feeling they would have loved him if they were still around. She had yet to introduce him to Granny Smith or Big Mac. Granny was asleep upstairs; Applejack could hear her soft snoring. Big Mac was on his way back from his vacation.

A cold nose nudged her side. She smiled and moved her foreleg so he might cuddle up to her. Then, she looked over at Hinka.

“I ever introduce you to this feller?”

Link, who had been holding his hat in his hands and thumbing at it, looked to her. He saw a wolfdog under one of her arms eyeing him curiously. His eyes lit up slightly and a hand instinctively went out to pet the dog, but he stopped himself from patting it on the head and instead went to stroke her neck so as not to be seen as a possible threat.

“This is Winona. She’s one of the smartest dogs you’ll ever meet.”
Winona leaned in as Link patted its neck from his awkward position. He had to lean over Applejack to do it, but he was, despite his mature personality, still a child, and one who loved dogs at that.
“She rescued a lost foal from the Everfree once. Timberwolves nearly killed the little guy. She had run off that day for whatever reason and stumbled upon him. She managed to escape them without injury, though the little guy wound up losing one of his forelegs.”
“How is he now?” asked Hinka in a soft voice.
Applejack shrugged. “I couldn’t say. He and his family don’t live here. They were visiting to see Twi’s castle and he decided to explore. Sort of like whatever it was you were doing when we found you.”

She frowned. “Only he didn’t have a sword or a shield, a bow or arrows. What are you, little guy?”
Link returned to his previous spot and looked down at his hat again.
“A monster,” he said lifelessly.

Applejack chuckled. “Monster? Like heck you are. You want to see a monster, make a mess at Rarity’s shop.”
He didn’t smile.

“I am. I was probably the most vicious monster to fight in the war against that evil tyrant.”
Applejack’s blood ran cold. “A war? Hinka, are you a child soldier?”
He shook his head, then, thinking better of it, nodded.

“It’s complicated. I fought to protect my home from that man’s tyranny. I failed. I fought to end his tyranny. I succeeded.”
Applejack didn’t make a sound. Winona whined softly, and she pat her side gently.
Link looked at her.

“You asked me if I killed any others when I told you of the wolf beast.”
She nodded. He squeezed his eyes shut.

“Every night when I close my eyes, I see their faces staring back at me. I look at my hands. One moment they’re fine. I blink, and they’re covered in blood that I can never wash off. The blood of monsters. The blood of animals.”
He took a breath to steady himself and looked at his hands. Only he saw the blood.
“The blood of my fellow man.”
Applejack inched towards him and put a hoof on his shoulder.
“How many have you killed?” she asked him softly.
He looked to the hat in his lap again. A tear splashed onto it.

“I lost count a long time ago.”
Applejack and Winona were quiet. Granny’s snoring had stopped as well. For a moment, all that could be heard was the ticking of the clock in the living room.
She put her arm around him and pulled him towards her. He did not resist.
“Have you ever killed an innocent person?”
He nodded. Applejack, to her credit, didn’t toss him away. Instead, she continued to hold him and waited for him to explain.
“I killed a woman guarding a fortress. I had to sneak through the fortress to get to the desert where the evil king had been born. I was trying to choke her until she passed out, then I was going to hide her behind a crate. She’d wake up with a sore back but would survive.”

Link pounded a fist into the couch.
“She moved funny and I resisted because I feared she was moving to stab me. Her neck snapped and she died on the spot.”

He looked to Applejack. “She and I were on opposing sides in this war, but she was otherwise a normal person, guilty of no other trespass against me than simply doing her job as a guard. She’s dead. Her family won’t see her again and there was no closure to be had. I escaped.”

Applejack patted his shoulder gently.
“Sometimes innocent people die. It’s an unfortunate fact, especially during war. I’m not trying to downplay it. I’m just trying to say that, though you did kill someone who may not have been a terrible person, it was not something you did willingly. She made a wrong movement while you were trying to spare her life. That death was a freak incident.”
Link didn’t respond.
“Okay, well how about this? What if she caught you instead?”
He looked at her.
“What if she found you? What would have happened?”
“I would have been thrown into jail. They probably would have wound up executing me as per Gannondorf.”
Applejack blinked.

“The tyrant.”
“He’d have called for the execution of a child? Just like that?”
“I swore a vendetta against him when he kidnapped Saria. Nothing would have pleased him more than to see me swing.”
Applejack was silent for a moment. Hinka appeared to be trying his hardest to hold his tears back. It was suddenly clearer why he did not like talking about his past.

It was apparent to her that Hinka didn’t just hate killing, he despised it. And yet he’d been forced to do it far too much in his short life.

“You’re just a foal, for Celestia’s sake,” Applejack whispered more to herself than to him.

“My point is this: If she was going to capture you for an… execution, then was she really all that innocent? I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead, but that’s the way I see it.”
Link said nothing. He only stared down at his hat. The two were silent for several minutes. Upstairs, Granny was snoring again; the only thing that woke her would be if you shouted her name. Any other noise or movement and she was dead to the world until she resurrected again.

“Am I keeping you from your chores?” he finally asked softly.
Applejack chuckled. “Nah. I deal with those trees every day. I think they can spare me for as long as our conversation takes.”
Link didn’t smile, but he looked up at her. Winona eyed him and tilted her head.
“Thank you,” he said.
“Ain’t nothing, Sugarcube. Please continue. I won’t tell anypony until you’re ready. This is all between you, me, and Winona.”
Winona barked. Granny Smith snored back.
Link sighed.

“I never fought in a war before, Hinka. The only one of us who have been to war is Fluttershy.”
He eyed her quietly. Fluttershy had mentioned it once before and had various photos of herself with other ponies and other creatures in green camo, as well as a Silver Star and a Distinguished Service Medal. Link prided himself in seeing these things; she kept it all locked up in her room and only allowed a select few in there. She did not like to talk about her service either, but nonetheless seemed like she had accepted whatever she may have had to do in the past.

“I don’t want to get into Shy’s stories, but I will say this: She’s one of the softest spoken and kindhearted ponies you’d ever meet. I know you agree.”
Applejack took a moment to pat Winona.
“Some ponies think being able to cry when you need and being able to show fear or talk when needed are signs of weak character. I say just look at her and you’ll know it’s untrue. Fluttershy is one of the strongest ponies I know.”
She smiled down at him again.
“I haven’t been there, but I know that war and combat are horrible things. People being ordered to do bad things for the greater good is terrifying. Then you have people seeing things they should never see…”
She pulled Hinka a bit closer.

“People also can heal physically and mentally from their wounds. You can heal too, little guy. That’s what we want you to do. We want you to feel better. It’ll be a long process, but it will be worth it in the end.”
Link was silent for several minutes more.

“You’re right and wrong,” he finally said. Applejack tilted her head.
“People can heal after seeing the horrors of combat; after being in the presence of death for so long. People can, people do. People do often. You’re right about that.”
He finally released the death grip on his hat and set it down on the couch beside him.
“But you’re wrong about something else.”
He looked to Applejack with a frown.
“The terrifying thing is what someone isn’t ordered to do.”
This time it was Applejack’s turn to be silent.

“It was a hot and humid day when I attacked the base of the pirate band in the Great Bay of Termina. They had stolen the eggs of a Zora woman who was so distraught she lost her voice and they killed her mate when he tried to retrieve them. I’d heard of it on the winds.”

Link was quite good at sneaking around and hiding in plain sight. His footfalls at their loudest only ever sounded like soft pitter patters, and when he consciously attempted to stay quiet, would not be heard over the sound of a ladybug passing gas.

His shield and sword both did fine jobs of reflecting sunlight. He ensured to keep his blade in its sheath and his shield was wrapped in a fibrous cloth he interwove with seaweed and caked sand onto. When he was done it was almost as well camouflaged as he was.

Link himself wore a fibrous suit he spent a small fortune on to help prevent himself from being spotted. He spent time interweaving seaweed and grass within it as well. The hood over his head provided his eyes with some shade, but the whole garment became extremely hot extremely quickly. Tatl called it a ghillie suit¹.

His time attempting to help the Zoras in Hyrule granted him another ability: the ability to hold his breath under water for about 3 minutes. It was exploited when he first entered the hideout and found four rapidly moving boats making a loud humming sound and emitting a black smog. As soon as he had an opportunity, he slid off into the water, and swam in the direction of what must have once been a pump of some kind.

There was no roof over much of the base, and a lot of marshes or grass that he was able to hide in. Sometimes the greens would become so short he would have to slow down and move mere inches at a time. Other times they were taller than he was, and he could move just a little bit faster. On several occasions, groups of the pirates would walk near him. Some got so close they nearly tripped over him. On those occasions he would lie still, hold his breath, and hope his heart’s pounding was only audible in his ears.

On the rare occasion that there was roofing over a room, there was also no grass or mud for him to hide in, but tiled flooring. In those rooms, Link would draw his sword and shield, and make his movements quickly but quietly.

He had refused to allow Mikau control over his form for most of his time in the base, because Mikau had not minced words when he said he would kill every single pirate in the fort. Link preferred leaving that to the Terminian guard. He wanted to either sneak past all of those in his way or to knock them out.

Mikau was furious with him until Link let it slip that most of the pirates looked an awful lot like someone he had killed before, and he didn’t want to do it again. The Zora, realizing he was essentially asking a child to murder for him, apologized profusely. Link accepted, though he also assured Mikau he’d take pictographs of the inside of this place once Majora was contained, and then hand them off to the authorities before he left for home.

He kept his word.

It was funny. The first time he made this trip, he managed to creep past the pirates without being seen. When he was gathering the pictographs he promised after he defeated Majora, however…

“It took me two and a half days to get all of the eggs. I didn’t sleep, I ate what crumbs or rodents I could find, and I sometimes drank drops of water per day.”

As he creeped into what looked to be the Captain’s room, he heard two footfalls behind him.
“That’s as far as you go!”
Link whirled around with his shield and sword up.
“A child? How did you get so lost in our hideout?”

Link said nothing. The pirate before him was tall; he only would have been taller had he been wearing Darmani’s mask. The man was over seven feet tall. She carried no shield of her own but instead two blades. Strange. He didn’t see her the first time he was here.

Kid, that’s her! That’s the one who did me in! Please, let me take control. I’ve seen her strategies and movements before. I’ll be more able to defeat her!

Link shook his head. No way. He didn’t want to kill this lady. He wanted no more blood on his hands.
The captain before him seemed to size him up.
“You’re well built for a child. I suppose you’d make for an excellent slave. Drop your weapons, and you’ll be allowed to live for as long as you are useful to us!”
Link took on a defensive posture and spoke back to her in ancient Kokirian: “ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ².”

If the pirate understood him, she made no acknowledgement other than laughter. She approached him with her blades in hand and struck out at him with such speed and grace that Link wondered if she was a dancer in her down time. These strikes did not make it through his shield.

Link attempted to counter by stabbing, but she weaved out of the way of the attack quickly. Every one of her movements were truly like a dance. She struck his extended arm with her elbow, and by reflex he dropped the sword. He looked at her just in time to see her other blade coming for his neck. He immediately dropped to a knee and deflected it with his shield.
By dropping to his knee, he also was able to prevent her other sword from finishing him. He would have left himself wide open otherwise.

Link swept his foot out at her, and he managed to make her trip. She fell to one side but rolled through. Link too rolled and retrieved his sword on the way up again.

He turned to face her, and an explosion of pain blossomed in his shield arm. A throwing knife was embedded in it. Link never learned how to throw knives.

He held his shield up just in time to deflect the second one. It would have caught him in the heart if he wasn’t careful. His arm throbbed but wasn’t bleeding all that much. He reasoned that the knife itself was preventing much blood from leaking.

The pain began to fade away as his adrenaline kicked in in force. Link ran towards her with his shield up and his blade up. By tossing throwing blades at him, she had to sheathe one of her twin swords. This left her especially vulnerable.

Kid, no! She’s going to be expecting-

Too late. She outstretched her foot and kicked at his shield hard, forcing it into his chest and sending him back to the floor wheezing. She knocked the wind out of him.

Link immediately shrunk himself behind his shield as she hammered away at it. He was rapidly becoming alarmed. He’d struggled in fights before, but he always came out on top.

She almost seemed to know his every move before he made it.

His thoughts were interrupted by his own screaming. She had retired one of her blades again and began forcing the throwing knife in his arm to move around and go deeper.
“Give up, kid! It doesn’t have to be like this!”

Link frantically sliced at her with his own sword, and by dumb luck managed to catch her in the leg. She shrieked and leapt off him. He looked to his arm now. It was bleeding much more.

Link didn’t have time to deal with the wound now. He got to his feet again and looked to her leg. It was a wide cut, but he only saw blood seeping from it, not spraying from it. This was good. It meant he didn’t clip her femoral artery. He still wanted to spare her if he could.

His idea was to use his shield mostly for offense as well as defense. If he could disorient her with it enough, he might be able to choke her out.

Kid, please let me help. You’re making the same mistakes I did.

“No!” he shouted. He cautiously approached her again and she struck at him once more. He surprised her by blocking the strike with his blade instead of his shield, and he bashed the shield itself into her exposed side.

Looking back, he knew that it was an incredibly stupid move but also very lucky. If she hadn’t been surprised by his counter, she could have killed him with her other sword easily. He didn’t make the same move again.

As it was, the counter managed to force the wind out of her instead. She was on her heels now, and Link saw it. He began bashing at her on the regular with his shield and not allowing a chance for her to strike back. She was on the defensive now. If she fell to her back, she was as good as done.

Fortunately for her, she had the balance of a cat and was known throughout the hideout for her grace in battle.
She finally had enough of his offense and forced him forward by crossing her swords in front of her and pushing her weight into his shield. He didn’t fall to the floor again, but it did make him stumble. She went to strike at the throwing knife with one sword, but he managed to dodge.

He couldn’t dodge her other sword though. It opened a large gash on his right leg above the knee, and by reflex it buckled.

Kid, it’s now or never! You need to let me help you! Look, I’ll try not to kill her, but I can’t guarantee it won’t happen. Sometimes they leave you with no choice.

She dropped one blade and gripped him by the throat. His breathing was cut off and she lifted him of the ground to meet her eyes. His free hand flew to hers and he tried to loosen her grip.

“I’m impressed. You lasted a lot longer than I thought you would. Once we break that spirit of yours, you’ll be a fine slave to sell.”

She began to walk towards another door with him in hand. Link’s eyes began to droop.

Please kid. This can’t be how your story ends. I’m begging you, let me help you!

Link did not respond. The door came closer and closer, and the darkness began to invade his vision.

What would Saria think?!

Link’s mind wandered to his friend. What would she think? She had told him that one day he was going to do great things. Was being enslaved one of those things?

No.

He couldn’t fail here. His pictograph had almost all the evidence he could have needed to destroy this place. He couldn’t let them get away with their crimes.

He gripped Mikau’s mask from his belt, and weakly held it to his face.

The pirate shrieked in surprise as she saw the transformation take place. His flesh became scaly, his body became more toned and he became taller. His bangs looked no different from his scales other than the same color as his hair had been. His arms grew two razor sharp fins, and in the chaos the throwing knife fell from his arm.

All in a moment, it was over. Mikau was still shorter than her, but not by much.
The shock left her face after a moment.
“You. I thought I killed you.”
Mikau held his arms up, fins prepared to strike back as blades.
“You shoulda checked your work,” he spat.
She drew her blades once more, and the two resumed their dance.

This time was different. Every move she made was matched by Mikau, and Link found himself in awe of the musician’s combat prowess. He was dancing. He would twirl around and block with his fins and whirl around to slice back.
She blocked many of his strikes, but a few managed to open gashes on her body. They were nothing life threatening.
Meanwhile, the wounds Link had received carried over to Mikau, and they put him at a disadvantage.

Mikau wasn’t backing down, though. Even when she did open new cuts on his body, he powered through. He fought back with such ferocity that Link had to think he probably would have been able to put Ganondorf down before he took the Triforce.

He fought with love, and with a father’s devotion. He fought with parental instinct. Mikau regularly checked on Link and made sure he was eating and taking care of himself, and he did so from when they first met- as he lay dying on the beach, he offered Link some jerky. Dying Mikau had some weird priorities.

Link began to wonder what would have happened if he arrived in Termina a day earlier. Had he done so, perhaps he could have saved the lives of Darmani or Mikau. Darmani had died about twelve hours before Link first arrived, and Mikau received his mortal injury a few hours before he arrived. Maybe he could have stopped them from making rash decisions and helped them go about things in a safer manner. He wondered how Majora would have reacted if not one, but three mortals came to confront her atop the Clock Tower.

He knew he never had a chance to save Neki. To do that, he would have had to come months ahead of time, would have had to happen upon the exact place Majora and the deku boy met, and would have had to surprise them both.

Mikau let out a yell and dropped to a knee. The pirate placed both blades to each side of his neck.

“I always tell my girls that once you kill someone, there’s no need to kill them again. For you, I must have to make an exception.”

Mikau, as quick as he could, summoned his own magic and forced an electric charge through his body. The current danced along the blades and into the pirate, and her grip tightened on the two of them as she shrieked in pain. He forced as much power into the blades as he could, until her body could take it no longer and it flung itself aside, her blades leaving her grip.

He had no energy to stand, and he slumped to the ground, gasping for breath. The wounds Link sustained earlier plus the battle itself and the use of his magic was exhausting. One of the pirate’s blades was just a few meters ahead of him, but it may as well have been kilometers. He began to pull himself towards the blade; he felt it would be more reliable to defend himself with than his fins until he got his strength back.

He was turned over onto his back by the pirate woman, who was panting heavily just like he was. Gerudo Pirates were always hard to kill. She steadied the throwing knife above his heart, and Mikau’s already sore and tired arms went up to stop her. He gripped her hands with his own and pushed back, but it was a losing battle. The knife sunk closer and closer to his breast, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

Images of the strange child warrior he’d grown so close to so quickly raced through his mind. Images of Lulu, of Japas, of Tijo…

Images of the eggs. Of his eggs.

He was fighting so that they may live, and that justice may be served to those who would bring harm to them.

He opened his eyes again. The knife was a centimeter above his scales when he finally managed to push back against her. He heard her straining to keep up, but he was managing to push her away. He rolled her off to one side so that he was atop her, and he reversed the blade so that it was facing her chest. Link too began to add his strength and determination to the mix, and with both working together, the blade kissed the pirate’s chest. Mikau shut his eyes; not to protect himself from the sight, but so Link wouldn’t have to see her breathe her last.

He could feel it though. He felt the resistance of the blade as it met bone then nudged through. He felt the quivering of her heart through the handle before it fell still.

He felt her breathe her last in his face. And when it was said and done, and Mikau relinquished control to Link once more, the boy fell to his rear, still in the form of the Zora, held his head in his bloody hands, and wept.

Link’s hat was damp from the sweat of his hands and the tears from his eyes. He’d picked it up again somewhere during that tale. He had rolled up the sleeve on his arm during and showed her the scar left over from the throwing knife. It looked awful.

Applejack had pulled him against her side and rubbed his arm comfortingly. She had many questions. Link had suggested there was one other with him during that fight. She would ask him about it another time, though. There was more he wished to say.

“Hinka, the way you describe it, that pirate was aiming to kill you.”
She cringed when she spared another look at his scar. Maybe Twilight knew a spell to remove scars? She didn’t know. She knew apples, not magic and medicine.
“Kill or enslave,” he muttered. She nodded.

“You ask me, she forfeited her right to live as soon as she struck out at you.”
Applejack squeezed him gently. “But I know that doesn’t make it better.”
She cringed again. She was not there when he was being treated after his attack by the timberwolves, but Zecora, Fluttershy, and Twilight had all suggested that the scarring on his body was indescribable. Zecora had outright begged them not to send him home, not that they could at then.

The more she listened the more she understood why he was so quiet, why he was so closed in on himself, and why he seemed to hate himself. She did not condone any of it and she never would.

The clock struck 5. With each chime, Granny snored back upstairs, as if she and the clock were having a heated debate.
“I can save my last story.”

Applejack shook her head. “Please tell me. I won’t tell anypony else. But first, how are you feeling?”
He shrugged at first, then blinked. “I feel lighter. I feel like a weight’s been lifted off my shoulders. But there’s still so much more I’m carrying.”
“Then give me one more of them weights. I’m an Earth Pony and a farm girl at that. Trust me, I’ll be able to handle it.”
Link was silent for a moment and wiped his eyes.
“There was an undertaker in the village of Kakariko by the name of Dampé...”

“The village was a few kilometers away from Hyrule Castle Town, the capital of my home. It sat nestled in the valley beneath an active volcano called Death Mountain. Hyrule Castle Town never slept. When the people went to sleep, the dogs would come out.

Kakariko was a quiet little village though. It was modest, and the home of one of the mysterious Sheikah of old, Impa. It was known for its cemetery. The Royal Family of Hyrule made it their final resting place. It’s supposed to be the place that I will be entombed when I make my final journey.”

Kakariko’s populace was so small that almost everyone knew everyone else. The only real enigma was the undertaker. He lived in a small shack in the graveyard which he always kept locked. He would occasionally come to town to buy himself some food or to buy alcohol. He loved Kakarikian Mead³.

Dampé was a hunch backed man with a lazy eye and a massive underbite. Who he really was or where he came from was not known to anyone else. He wore a simple brown shirt and matching pants and had a massive fleshy frame destitute of hair and all expression. He brought his shovel everywhere and, despite his frightful appearance, seemed to be pleasant company. He ran a small side business called “Dampé’s Heart Pounding Grave Digging Tour” which, in spite of the name, never involved the digging up of someone’s grave. Dampé would simply bury odds and ends at the foot of a few graves and leave it up to the customer to decide where he should dig. Whatever he dug up was yours to keep. It was usually just a blue rupee, though he did once accidentally dig up a fossilized fish that he had no idea was there.

There was a child in Kakariko who idolized him and wanted to be a gravekeeper too when he grew up. He would stalk the graves most days while Dampé slept (the man worked the graveyard shift because he thought it was funny) and would try to adopt some of his mannerisms.

The child was quite strange, but Link decided that he was a nice kid anyway. He always made a point to visit the boy at the graveyard on his trips to Kakariko, though he never did get his name.

The boy had a route he would stalk through the graveyard, and he was always calculated in how he managed the graves. He was known for pulling the weeds from the plots and bowing his head in respect for a moment. Though Link could not prove it, he could feel the appreciation of the dead.

The boy in the graveyard never did these things for award or recognition. He did them because he liked to. He could not see the evil in the world, and he had no reason to think any less of his fellow man, because the only ones he spent much time with were already in the dirt.

Though he idolized Dampé, he rarely ever saw the man. He was always fast asleep when the boy visited in the day, and his door was always locked.

Link himself and Dampé also rarely interacted, though, from what he saw, the man was nice if a little strange.
The illusion would come crashing down the evening before Link opened the Sacred Realm and played into Ganondorf’s hand.

Link had stopped at Kakariko on the way back to Castle Town so he could resupply. He was low on food and he wanted to get a new tunic as well; his favorite one reeked of whale gut courtesy of Jabu-Jabu and it wouldn't wash out. The rain began to fall when he got there and it became a downpour by the time he finished his chores. Navi hated rain. It made it harder for her to fly.

He never figured out why he went to the cemetery that day. He felt pulled towards it, as if the dead themselves were beckoning him to either kill him too or have him do them a favor. He looked to Navi for clarification.

“The dead are summoning you, Link. I’d be careful if I were you.” She knew better than to try and talk him out of it.

He could sense the foreboding in the air as each step brought him closer; it was the feeling of hair standing on end. He put a hand on his blade and walked until he looked upon the graves. Due to the rain his visibility was limited, but he could see nothing out of the ordinary yet.

The boy in the graveyard was nowhere to be seen, though. This was unusual. He often wandered the graves even during storms like this. If he was asked, he would gesture to the graves and say, “If they can stand a little rain, it’s only fair I do too!”

He squinted his eyes. In the distance, Link could see a Poe, one of the mysterious and mischievous spirits that often wandered the graveyard. Though many were hostile, some were benevolent; it was especially true of those in the Kakariko Cemetery⁴. The one he was eyeing was frantically pointing to his right…

“I don’t like this,” said Navi.

Link looked to the gravekeeper’s shack. His blood ran cold. Though nothing unusual was outwardly happening, he felt himself drawn towards it. He looked at the Poe once again, and saw it nodding and pointing in what appeared to be a panic. If it was enough to frighten the dead, Link felt he had no choice but to intervene.

He put his hand on the doorknob expecting it to be locked. Then he would turn to look at the Poe who would be pointing at him and giggling madly or approaching to try and bring harm to him. To his surprise, the door opened…

Applejack frowned. Hinka was shaking like a leaf in her embrace. She wanted him to finish his story, but she also didn’t want him to work himself up so much that he had a panic attack.
“If it’s getting to be too much, Sugarcube…”
Hinka shook his head. “No, I have to finish.”

He looked up at her, his eyes and jaw set. He took a breath to calm his nerves.

“The boy was lying on the gravekeeper’s cot. Dampé had disrobed and stood before him with his shovel in hand. A trace of blood was on the end. In his other hand was an empty bottle of mead. The gravekeeper was woozy…”

Link wasted no time. Behind him he felt the presence of the Poe⁵. Dampé had not noticed them yet.

In Link’s pocket was a handful of deku nuts. They doubled as snacks that never went bad and a poor man’s flash bang capable of blinding and disorientating those who looked upon them when they hit the ground. He looked to the Poe by his side, and the Poe looked back at him. They nodded to each other.

“Hey old man!” called Link. Dampé turned about to face them, and, upon seeing Link, opened his arms as if to embrace him against his terrible body.

Link covered his eyes with one arm and tossed the deku nut to the ground with the other. Dampé swore and stumbled, and he lost his balance and fell into the wall. Link sprinted past him and grabbed the boy’s hand. He appeared disorientated, but still alive. A bit of blood came from a cut on his head.

Link pulled the boy outside while the Poe swung its trusty lantern in a circle while Dampé slowly worked off the effects of the deku nut. The drunken man threw the bottle at the spirit while Link half dragged the boy, half ran from the shack towards town. The Poe vanished.

His legs were suddenly trapped, and he fell to the mud with a grunt. Navi shrieked; Dampé had tackled him. The boy, meanwhile, had managed to fall free. The fall seemed to jar some sense back into him, as he shook his head and looked around blearily.

“Run!” shouted Link. The boy did not need to be told twice. He ran as quickly as he was able towards town, and Link was pulled onto his back by the drunken gravekeeper. Navi bopped into the man’s head repeatedly while begging him to let Link go, but Dampé swatted her out of the air. Link’s concern for his fairy companion was immense, but so were the hands of the gravekeeper. He had Link by the arms and lifted him and began to stumble back towards his shack while grumbling about a special treat.

Link frantically tried to kick at him, but he was being held too far from the man’s body to connect. He began to utter a prayer to Farore for help, and help arrived in the form of a lantern impacting the back of Dampé’s head. The man let go of Link and fell to the muddy ground with Link atop him. He regained his bearings quickly and put a hand to one of Link’s arms. To his side was a large stone. Link wasted no time before his other arm was grabbed, and he took the stone and drove it into the side of Dampé’s head. The dull thud caused the man to release his hold on Link’s arm, and his eyes squeezed shut in pain.

Link, gripping the stone with two hands now, drove it down again into the head of the gravekeeper. He felt the man’s body spasm beneath him. He struck him again, and again, and again, and again. With each strike he felt less and less reaction from Dampé…

…and yet he kept going. He kept striking the man with the stone even as the Poe reappeared and tried to get him to stop. Gray matter had begun to leak from Dampé’s nose, and his breathing was labored.
“Link, please stop!”

Link struck him once more with the stone and it split into two pieces. He looked to Navi. Though he couldn’t see her, he could hear the worry and horror in her voice. He suddenly felt very small.

He turned to the Poe next to him and only then noticed he was hyperventilating. He collapsed into its arms. The Poe stroked his back gently as Navi stroked his head.

“I never saw the boy or his family again. The next morning, they left Kakariko. Dampé the Gravekeeper survived my initial attack, but he died of complications from it sometime afterward. I put him in a coma from which he never woke up.”

Link did end up meeting the gravekeeper again in the future. Dampé himself had become a spirit after his death and he appeared to Link to beg forgiveness. He appeared to be genuinely regretful of his actions that night and offered him his first hookshot as a sign of good faith, though he also admitted he knew it wouldn't undo the things he did.

Link told him that he was not the one he should be asking forgiveness from.

Winona whined and leapt from the couch as Applejack suddenly turned to Link and put both hooves on his shoulders. He eyed her quietly.

“Hinka, I need to ask: Did that man, or anyone else… touch you somewhere you didn’t want to be touched?”
Hinka stayed silent, and tears fell from his eyes. He shook his head.
“He was the first and last to try.”

A tear fell from one of Applejack’s eyes, but she did not break out into sobs. Everything until then had rang true to her, but she wasn't certain on that simple statement. Maybe he was being truthful? Maybe not. She cursed herself. The one time she could not afford for her truth-finding to fail her...
She cleared her throat.
“Know what I think, Hinka?”
He was quiet.

“I think you’re a hero. Not a monster. You risked your own neck to fight to free your country. You snuck into a guarded pirate fortress to ensure it was destroyed and to save the lives of kidnapped children. You were nearly accosted by a pervert trying to save his initial victim. You’ve continuously thrown yourself into harm’s way to protect your peers.”

She gave him a kiss on the forehead.

“A monster wouldn’t do those things. A hero would. And as proud as I am of you for doing these things, I don’t ever want you to put yourself at risk like that again. Okay? Can you do that for me?”

Link smiled through watery eyes and gave a nod.

“I can do my best.”

Applejack returned his smile and wiped a tear with the brim of her hat.

“That’s all we can ask, Sugarcube. As I promised, I won’t tell anypony else the stories you’ve just told me. However, I want you to think about telling the others. If you need help, you can come to me. But I’m getting ahead of myself. How do you feel now?”

Link thought of everything he told Applejack. He brought himself back to every grisly detail, examined every moment he told her of, every weight that had been on his shoulders.

…and he felt light. He felt a little cleaner. He could feel three demons that had haunted him for ages now; they were gone, if only for a time.

“I… I feel good,” he said, and for the first time in a long time, he did!

He had many more demons haunting him, many more terrors that weighed on his mind, but he learned a long time ago that some things were just not worth dwelling on when there was a good to celebrate, and sharing some of his burden with one of his new friends was surely a good he could celebrate for!

Navi always told him to focus on the good, because focusing on the bad only brings trouble. She was right.
He threw his arms around Applejack and hugged her tight.

“Thanks for listening, AJ.”

Author's Notes:

I've never written something like this before nor have I been so afraid to hit publish. I spent ages recently hammering away at the keys and trying to get things just right. And then I got to Dampé… I don't know how to feel about this chapter. So if I weirded you out or you otherwise hated it, I apologize for the offense. I can assure you though, next chapter is going to be far more lighthearted and hopefully more comedic. We're going to shuffle off back to Fluttershy's for a bit. I hope you stick around to see!

1- First designed by the Garo Warriors, the ghillie suit was designed with stealth in mind. Capable of being interwoven with grasses of the sea and land as well as dirt, when properly used it could hide an assassin or a thief in plain sight such that even a viper could pass near one without noticing. User must also have immense patience, as a well-guarded area often means moving inches per hour.
2- “Come and take them.”
3- The only drink to ever outsell Black Briar Mead.
4- The Poes of Kakariko Graveyard would sometimes try to test Link’s combat capabilities via surprise attack. By doing so they helped prepare him to more efficiently fight the undead in the future. Their impromptu training was invaluable when it came to fighting their more hostile brethren.
5- Poes can not enter houses unless the doors are open.

Soldier, Poet, King

View Online

Link was offered supper for the night by Applejack. He was reluctant at first but relented. She seemed mighty happy he agreed. Winona looked happy too, though that was probably because she’s a dog.

He wasn’t all smiles though. He was emotionally exhausted and very thirsty because of all the talking he did. Applejack
chuckled.

“Y’had a heck of a time so far, huh? Would you like some apple juice?”

He gave a grateful nod. “Yes’m.”

She smiled. “I’ll get you a cool glass, then go wake Granny. Old hag’s been sleeping like Rip Van Winkle."

She did as she promised, and Link thanked her. He stared into the glass while Applejack wandered upstairs. He never met Granny Smith, though he was reasonably sure he saw her in passing at his welcome party. Link wondered if anyone ever threw Pinkie a party. He decided he would ask Twilight another time.

He sipped at the apple juice. He always liked it. It was his favorite drink next to milk. Mido was slightly allergic to apples and would sometimes go into Link’s house and take his drinks but leave the apple juice. Link got sick of it one day and switched the regular drinks with apple juice.

Mido’s face broke out in hives and the swelling didn’t go down for two days. He also never took Link’s food or drink again.

He looked to Winona, who had been eyeing him while he drank. He patted her on the head.

“I hope your owner doesn’t think less of me,” he said in Hylian. “I don’t know if Ishould or not.”

He smiled at the dog.

“I hope you don’t either,” he said in Equish.

“Granny!!! Wake up!”

Link jumped and looked to the stairs in worry. Was she okay?

He heard an older woman’s voice reply indignantly, though he couldn’t make out the words. He blinked. That was certainly one way to wake someone up.

He made a mental note to never take a nap at Applejack’s house.

“…an old mare like that, and especially one who helped raise her grammy. Did you know she drinks?”

“Granny, everypony knows she drinks. I’m pretty sure the Princesses know she drinks.”

“Well, I don’t like it one bit. Her grammy would turn in her grave if’n she saw her now.”

“Berry’s Granny isn’t dead.”

“She isn’t? I’m shocked. If there was ever anypony with two hooves in the grave-“

The two turned the corner and Link saw Granny Smith for the first time. She was a green mare with what used to be an apple on her flanks, and her eyes looked like they were always in a squint, as if she’d stared at the sun her whole life.

Her skin was heavily wrinkled, and her mane and tail were white.

“Where’s Big Macintosh?” she asked. She was staring directly at Link, who blinked and looked confusedly at Applejack. How the hell was he supposed to know?

“Granny, he’s still on his way back from that vacation of his. His train got delayed.”

“Where did he go for his vacation? When are you gonna take a vacation, AJ? I swear you work more than any of us do. And where’s Applebloom? What’s for supper?”

Applejack put a forehoof to her face.

“He went to Manehatten- we talked about this. The girls and I have a vacation planned in a few months- we talked about this. Applebloom’s having dinner with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle- we talked about this. Supper’s tomato soup.”

“Not apple soup?” snarked Hinka more to himself than anyone else.

Applejack snorted. Granny spouted a series of consonants and she squinted her eyes a bit more.

“Good golly, what is that thing?”

Hinka rolled his eyes and showed her his little finger¹.

“Granny, this is Hinka. He’s that alien what Fluttershy’s bunny found in the Everfree.”

Granny’s eyes widened. “This is the alien?!”

Applejack gave her a deadpan stare.

Granny ignored her. “But he’s so….”

She took a few steps closer. “Tiny!!!!!”

Hinka showed her two little fingers.

Hinka’s head was bowed slightly and his eyes were closed. His hands were clasped together before his bowl and he softly muttered in Hylian. As she always did, Applejack stayed silent out of respect for his prayers. Granny only stared.

When he was done, he muttered one final word, and gave Applejack a nod of appreciation. She smiled at him.

“What was all that about?” asked Granny Smith.

“Hinka likes to say a prayer before he eats.”

“By babbling?” Granny Smith asked. He ignored her.

“He’s still learning Equish, Granny. That’s his native tongue.”

Granny gave a nod. “Good for him. Not too many kids pray like that these days.”

“He ain’t no normal kid. He’s very mature for his age.”

“How old is he?” Granny Smith asked. Applejack gestured towards him with a hoof.

“He’s right there. Ask him.”

Link blinked. He held up nine fingers, then swore to himself in Hylian. She was across the table from him, but she was also as blind as a bat.

“Sugarcube, Granny doesn’t have the best eyesight.”

“What’re you talking about? I can see just fine!” said Granny Smith, at the empty chair to her side.

“I am nine.”

Granny was silent for a moment.

“Ain’t that much younger than Applebloom or her friends, are you?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know how old they are.”

He didn’t particularly care, either. All he cared about was being treated as an equal.

“They’re good fillies. A bit hyperactive but if this town can reign Discord in, it can recover from whatever they cook up.”

Link was silent. Silent was still his favorite flavor.

“They all seem to really like you, Hinka,” said Applejack. “Applebloom thinks you’re really cool.”

Link was about to point out that they’d only met a few times but leave it to children to become so attached to another child so fast.

They were kind of cool too, he guessed.

Applejack walked him back to the castle. He was in better spirits than he was a few hours before.

“I want to thank you for being patient with Granny,” she said. “She’s well meaning, but she can be a bit much.”

She eyed Hinka in concern.

“Y’sure you don’t want to talk about anything else right now?”

He shook his head.

“Well, alright. If you change your mind, you know where to find us. I want to thank you for telling me what you did tell me today. You have my word that I won’t tell anypony else.”

He smiled in appreciation.

“Have a good rest of your night, Sugarcube,” she said. She tilted her hat to him and trotted off. Link waited until she was out of sight, and then opened the door.

Twilight was reorganizing one of the shelves as he walked in. He was pretty sure she’d already done that the night before. When she saw him, her eyes widened. She quickly left the shelf and approached him.

“There you are! I was beginning to worry. Spike came back from Karate ages ago. Where were you?”

She didn’t sound annoyed with him. Link could see relief in her eyes as well as concern. It was touching to him.

“I visited with Applejack,” he said. Twilight beamed at him.

“Good! How did it go?”

He gave a nod. “It was fine. We talked and had supper. I met her Grandma.”

Twilight smiled. “Granny Smith has a way about her. What did you eat?”

Only some of the best tomato soup he’d ever eaten before. Link loved tomato soup and could make an excellent version himself, but Applejack would claim it was due to a secret ingredient that hers was so good.²

Twilight looked out the window. The sun was beginning to set earlier. Summer was winding down. She smiled. Twilight loved summer, but she loved the colder months more.

“Tomorrow I don’t have any chores for you. Fluttershy does, though. She’s going to come around breakfast to get you, okay?”

He nodded.

“In the meantime, why don’t you go relax? Do whatever it is you want to do for the night!”

Anything?

He gave a nod of thanks and turned to the stairs. Twilight cleared her throat.

“Before you go, Hinka, I just wanted to say…”

He turned his head to acknowledge her.

“I’m really proud of you for stepping out of your comfort zone and spending some time with AJ. If I can ask, did you two talk about anything in particular?”

He was silent for a moment and thought back to the stories he told her.

“Nothing special. We just talked.”

He continued up the stairs, not awaiting a response.

Link’s room was locked whenever he left the Castle. He was willing to leave it unlocked so long as he was there. He did not keep it locked to protect it so much as he did to keep the masks safe. He couldn’t care less about what happened to his slingshot, for instance. Someone once walked into his home while he was lounging and reading in Kokiri Forest and took his slingshot from his nightstand and walked out.

Link just shrugged and went back to reading. The Kokiri who stole it awkwardly returned it after she realized that Link didn’t give two shits that it was gone.

His masks, on the other hand? They were extremely important to him. Back home, he always kept them locked away in a storage chest he bolted to the floor. The others occasionally tried to get into it, but they couldn’t bust the lock.

He wished he had that security while he was stuck in Equestria. He didn’t like leaving his masks up on display. He especially didn’t like leaving Neki, Darmani, or Mikau’s masks up like that. It felt like he was displaying the heads of conquered people, though he knew he was at no fault for their deaths.

He wound up asking the three late one night if they minded being hung up like trophies or if they wanted him to put them away in a container of sorts.

Neki and Mikau didn’t seem to care either way, but Darmani preferred being displayed. He didn’t want to be hidden away. Link resolved to leave them all up for now and ensure his windows were also always locked with the blinds pulled so no nosy pony could look inside.

Link stared at the Fierce Deity for a few moments. It looked inert once more. His eyes wandered over to Majora; it too appeared dormant. Maybe it really was a matter of how close to one another the two were?

The Triforce drawings remained in good condition too. No scorch marks this time. And the Fierce Deity didn’t even try to burn his room down while he was gone! He was so proud.

He turned his attention to the prideful Goron and picked it up off the wall.

“Darmani, could I ask your advice on something?”

The Goron hero was silent, uninterested in replying to a question with an obvious answer.

“How much is too much to share?”

The Goron had to think for a minute.

Well, it depends. If you’re one with a powerful hunger, then you should mind who you share with. Some will take more than others.

Link had to think for a minute. He was hungry for peace of mind, sure, but he wasn’t ravenous. He didn’t want to overburden anyone, and he especially didn’t want his war stories getting out.

“Do you think a farmer would spill the beans?”

I would be careful on what I share with a farmer. Their jobs are to grow and manage crops. It’s natural for them to spill beans.

“Who would you share with?”

I would probably start with someone small, like a child. They have less appetite in most cases and it’s more reasonable that way.

Link blinked. Appetite? Appetite for knowledge maybe? Gorons were weird.

“How much would you share?”

Depends on the kid. Some you can get away with just a little bit, and others you must pretty much just give the whole plate to.

“The whole plate?”

Or platter. It depends on what sort of meal we’re talking about.

Link facepalmed. “I’m not talking about eating, Darmani. I’m talking about old stories and memories.”

Oh.

Link shook his head in his hand.

Well, that’s different, then.

Link stared at the mask.

“What I’m saying is, I shared three of my stories with one of the natives here. One of the ones who saved my life.”

Ah, yes. The infamous colorful magic horse people.

“Coming from the spirit of a rock person,” he said in Equish.

What?

“Are you going to help me or not?”

I’m sorry. I don’t mean any offense. I’m just still struggling to comprehend this whole situation you found yourself in.

“As am I.”

Silence reigned supreme for but a few moments. Downstairs Link could hear Twilight chattering with someone, though he couldn’t make out the words.

I think it’s good you’re sharing your stories. Which ones did you tell?

“The Gerudo guard, the pirate, and the undertaker.”

Bad business. How did your friend handle it?

“She didn’t kick me out or have me committed, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Link could practically feel Darmani sigh.

I still want to see them.

“You can in due time. I haven’t even shown them the power of my masks yet.”

If these creatures truly exist, why not leave the Goddess and the Fiend to them?

Link looked to his door, and then back down at Darmani’s mask.

“Well, what do you know of the Elements of Harmony?”

Link stayed up late that night telling Darmani the tales that Fluttershy had told him. He told him of his fears. He was no mage, but he believed that the Elements specialized in either turning evil inanimate or separating it from the physical realm. If they tried to turn Majora or the Deity inanimate while they were dormant, he didn’t think anything would happen.

If they separated the spirits from the masks, however… Majora would once again find herself at her unparalleled strength, and he had no idea what would happen to the Fierce Deity.

Darmani, upon hearing his concerns, suggested he ask his friends questions about the Elements of Harmony and what they do. Link agreed, though he would have to do so slowly. He didn’t want them asking too many questions in turn.

He made a deal with Darmani. There was a picture over the fireplace in the Castle dining room of Twilight with her many, many friends. One night soon he would wear Darmani’s mask and show him the picture. The Goron would accept it as proof enough to stop pestering him to get help.

Link was already getting all the help he needed.

For the first night in a while, Link slept soundly. He did not suffer a night terror, nor did he awaken anywhere throughout. It was unusual. Normally, if he wasn’t having a nightmare, he was waking up in the middle of the night for one reason or another- maybe he heard a bump in the night, or he was compelled to check Majora and the Fierce Deity. Sometimes he would wake up to use the bathroom.

When he woke up the next morning, his blood ran cold. Before he even sat up, he knew that someone had come into his room. He instinctively reached under his pillow for his dagger which wasn’t there. He still didn’t know where his weapons were, not that he was terribly upset.

When he rubbed his eyes, he saw a butter colored pegasus eyeing one of the masks- one of the least threatening in his collection: the Bremen Mask.

He yawned and swung his legs over the side of the bed. The sound got her attention, and she turned to face him with an “Eep!”

“I’m so sorry to have come in uninvited,” she said. “I was going to wake you. You just looked so peaceful though.”

She smiled gently at him.

“You should show that side more often.”

He rubbed one of his eyes.

“There are some things in my past I can’t turn off.”

Fluttershy’s smile left her face. She looked down and scuffed at the floor gently with a hoof.

“Letting the past lie is tough. How did you sleep?”

Link gave a thumbs up. Fluttershy took a step closer.

“Words, please?”

He sighed.

“I slept well. Better than I have in a long time.”

She smiled brightly at him.

“That’s wonderful! I hear you spent some time with Applejack. And that you humbled Rainbow in Karate.”

He blushed slightly.

“I’m proud of you, Hinka. On both fronts.”

She pulled him in for a hug and she kissed the top of his head.

“Keep doing that, please. Come to any of us whenever you need if you want to talk. Nopony will say a word if you don’t want us to.”

“Even Pinkie?” he asked half-jokingly.

“Especially Pinkie. She loves to laugh and have fun, but she knows how to be serious when somepony needs her to be.”

She smiled at him again.

“But I have a feeling you’re tired of talking about yesterday. I was looking at your masks and I like this one. It almost gives off an aura of authority and leadership. What is the importance of it?”

She pointed to the Bremen mask with a hoof. Link chuckled.

“It’s a mask that I was given by a man who used to belong to an animal troupe. He stole it from the leader, who he says was a dog. He gave it to me for listening to his confession. It helps calm most animals into falling in line.

It works on the undead too,” he said. He looked up at Fluttershy.

“It’s called the Bremen Mask.”

“The Bremen Mask,” Fluttershy echoed. She smiled at Hinka.

“Some of the chores I have for us to do today involve some baby rabbits. Would you like to bring it?”

Link shrugged. Fluttershy’s ears drooped. “I really think you should. You’ll have fun.”

Link looked to the Bremen Mask again. He had no issues with it, and it was related to no foul memories. Link just felt he looked incredibly dorky with it on. Almost as dorky as he did with the Romani Mask.

Come to think of it, how come he was the only one in the milk bar that had to wear that mask? All the adults could drink whatever they wanted without wearing it.

His eyes widened. Did those bastards trick him because they thought he’d look cute in it?

He looked to Majora. “Maybe I should’ve let you destroy Termina,” he said in Hylian.

Link finished his morning prayer just as Twilight set down his breakfast before him. She and Fluttershy were going to eat with him and Spike had the day off, so he was sleeping in.

As always, they gave Link respectful silence while he prayed. When he was done, the three dug in.

“So, Starlight wrote me yesterday,” said Twilight.

“How is she?” asked Fluttershy.

“She’s good. She should be coming back in a few weeks. Her mom made a full recovery and her father landed a new job.”

“That’s wonderful news! What’s her Dad doing now?”

“Apparently, he’s a postal inspector³ now. He loves it.”

Link looked at Twilight, and then at Fluttershy, and then shrugged and went back to his meal. It wasn’t his conversation to be having.

“Hinka?”

Oh. Apparently, it was. He looked at Twilight.

“Starlight Glimmer is a student of mine. She’s been helping her family for the last few months because they’d fallen on hard times, but there’s a good chance she’ll be coming back here to live with us.”

Link was quiet. Twilight smiled reassuringly.

“She’s very nice. You’ll like her. I’ll let you know when I have more information, okay?”

He nodded.

Twilight frowned and tilted her head.

“No words today?” she asked.

He blinked.

“Still a little groggy,” he said. She smiled.

“Ah. Makes sense.”

She giggled. “I need to get you an alarm clock, lazybones.”

He smiled shyly.

“Promise me you’ll be good for Fluttershy?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, I’m going to be a picture of chaos and disharmony itself.”

Fluttershy giggled. “I don’t think chaos would suit you so well, Hinka. Unless you want lessons from Discord.”

He looked at her confusedly. Fluttershy smiled once more.

“Remember those stories I told you about him? Discord is very sweet deep down.”

Twilight laughed bitterly.

“I don’t think you can say that in the same sentence as his name.”

“Twilight,” she scolded gently. “He may have his moments, but deep down he is one of the kindest friends we have. He just gets carried away sometimes.”

Twilight shook her head with a smile. “Alright, alright. I guess he can be nice from time to time. Only… where has he been?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “I don’t know. I’d be worried if he weren’t immortal.”

The phone began to ring. He instinctively jolted.

“That must be my mom. Leave your dishes when you’re done! I’ll take care of them,” said Twilight. She excused herself and headed for the phone.

In the end, Fluttershy had managed to convince Link to bring the Bremen Mask with him. It hung on his belt as they walked. It was a beautiful day out and quite comfortable too.
“Now remember, Hinka: The most important thing for you to be doing here is having fun. Nocreature will hurt you so long as you don’t hurt them.”
He nodded.
Fluttershy’s cottage was in view now. Link could already make out Angel Bunny in the distance. He appeared to be tapping his foot with his arms crossed impatiently.

When they got closer, Link saw what the problem was: Angel’s food bowl was empty.

The second Angel laid eyes on Link, his grumpy demeanor vanished, and he became the absolute picture of a, well, Angel. Either he was still grateful to Link for saving his life, or he was downright afraid of him. Possibly both.

Link glanced down at the mask, and then at Fluttershy. She was smiling nervously over at Angel.

“I’ll be back in a moment, Hinka.”

She began to trot over to Angel, who was still being as well behaved as he could be. He smiled nervously at Fluttershy while she apologized for his empty bowl and took it inside to fill it. Angel gave his head a shake and waved a paw dismissively.

Link was confused. Did he really make everything that awkward? Sure, he looked different, but…

*POP*

Link stumbled back to his rear with a gasp.

Before him was an enormous mismatch of creatures. Was it a goat? A serpent? A bird? A pony? It had two different wings on its back, a lion’s paw for one hand and what looked like eagle’s talons for another, and a goatee. Its eyes were yellow and red, and both of different sizes. Fluttershy rushed back out the door and she let Angel's bowl clatter to the ground behind her. For a split second, Link saw rage in her eyes; she had hunched herself down and spread her wings level with the intruder, as if she were prepared to maim anything that might hurt the boy. It was the first time Link saw a demonstration of the training Fluttershy had, though it quickly evaporated when she realized what was happening. She loosened her stance and looked up neutrally.

The creature was taller than Fluttershy, so it towered over Link as well. Link instinctively reached for the blade on his back, though he knew it was not there.

“I’m baaaack! Oh, dear Fluttershy… don't ever let anyone tell you that vacation is not hard work. I cannot tell you how exhausting it was! Just finding a place for my hammock… do you have any idea how difficult it is to pitch a tent in between dimensions? Don’t want to go and offend any Gods and encroach on their territory… though I don’t think Amaterasu would have minded terribly.”

The creature (its voice told Link it was a male) snapped with his talons. A white wolf with red markings and a flaming green disc on its back landed before them. It looked to the three confusedly, then scowled at the mismatched creature before flicking its ink covered tail and vanishing.

“Hmm… perhaps I should’ve asked permission first. Or introduced myself. But enough about me! How are you?”

Fluttershy said nothing. She only stared daggers at the creature. For the first time, Link saw it visibly recoil.

“Eh… did I miss something important? Is this about the eggs in the attic?”

Eggs?

Fluttershy, holding her glare on the creature, held out a forehoof to the fallen Hinka behind him.

He turned about and acknowledged him for the first time. Then, he put his paw to his chin, as if contemplating something particularly important instead of just Link. He leaned forward and began to stare him in the eyes.

Link too scowled, and showed his little finger to-

“Hinka, this is Discord the draconnequs. Our friend,” said Fluttershy through clenched teeth.

The mismatch creature appeared perplexed. He seemed to pale for a moment.

“Were you the one who clinged to my coat tails on my last trip through the ether? That’s quite impolite young man.”

Link was silent. Fluttershy had mentioned him a few times. He was apparently a God of Chaos and Disharmony who had several times nearly beaten her and her friends and taken over Equestria as a whole. He was stopped only by the Elements and by Fluttershy being able to make friends with anything. Link believed he could stop him with the Master Sword too, though, given Discord was a God of Chaos, who was to say it would be a permanent stop.

At any rate, Link was, deep down, starting to like it in Equestria. He was putting down roots here, though he wouldn’t admit it. That was something he was never able to do before. He always wanted to move around and explore. He found his thirst for adventure quenched for far longer in Equestria than it had been anywhere else before.

He wasn’t, however, the type to stay home when he could be outside. Back in the forest, Link was notorious for going stir crazy if he had to be cooped up somewhere for too long. It was why he spent so much time in the Lost Woods. Saria would joke he’d even get a little stir crazy in the Lost Woods eventually too.

His eyes wandered over to the Everfree Forest. He began to wonder if they were the Lost Woods as seen from another dimension. Termina had an answer to them in the Woods of Mystery, though Link found those trees less inviting. When he walked those trees, he couldn’t see the moon overhead. Not knowing where the giant hunk of rock was scared him.

Discord snapped his talons in front of Link’s face. Link blinked a few times and looked up at him again.

“Not much of a talker, are you? You’re worse than that plumber.”

Link said nothing. Fluttershy sharply cuffed Discord in the gut with a wing. He let out an “Oof” as he began to physically deflate.

“Discord here can be a little much sometimes, but inside he’s a real softie. I hope you two become good friends too.”

Link looked at the pile of chaos that used to be Discord. A headstone had appeared behind him reading his name.

“If you could wait here a minute with him, I’d appreciate it. I have to fetch some food for the animals.”

Whether she was asking Discord to watch Link or Link to watch Discord was unknown, but Fluttershy walked off towards a shed in the distance anyway. Link looked to the pile of draconnequs. He could hear a faint version of "Taps" playing from somewhere on the wind.

Link, sighing, nudged the pile of chaos with his foot, then, when that didn’t work, he got a stick and poked it.

Discord chuckled a bit. “That tickles.”

Eventually Discord got bored and began to inflate himself again with an air pump.

Link only stared blankly.

“You do smell funny, you know.”

Discord appeared to be pondering something, and he sniffed audibly.

“Smells somewhat familiar. Trees. A lot of trees. Honey. Iron, freshly washed clothing, bandages, and…”

Discord sniffed again.
“Blood.”

Link was silent.

“Not the blood in your veins. The blood on your hands. You’re a killer, aren’t you?”

Link looked to his feet, his expression sad, then hardening. He eyed Discord.

“What business is it of yours? I’ve done many good deeds. For which do you intend to stone me?”

“I don’t.”

Link glared. Discord lowered himself to appear at eye level.

“I’m not accusing you of anything. I can also smell quite a bit of benevolence on you. You’re a good pony, aren’t you?”

“I’m no pony.”

Discord was silent a moment, shrugged, and snapped his fingers. Link was now a pony. An Earth Pony at that.

A normal person who was instantly and painlessly transformed into an alien creature might panic. Link was jaded to curses and transformation. He simply looked himself over, then eyed Discord again.

“As I was saying, I don’t mean to accuse you of anything. I’m only saying what I can sense, and I sense violence in your past.”

He snapped again, and Link was himself once more.

“I’m not judging you based on your past. Rather I’m judging whatever powers allowed for you to experience these things.”

Discord snapped again, and Link felt a strange fuzzy feeling around his head. He opened his eyes and paled; before him he was watching his battle with Odalwa. It quickly changed to a fight with Nabooru, then a fight with an Iron Knuckle, and finally he saw himself staring down Ganondorf with his blade in hand.

As quickly as it began, it stopped. The image vanished.

“You’ve got quite a bit of willpower, don’t you?”

Link looked up at him in horror.

“By that look on your face I’d say you saw some of your memories play out before you. They were supposed to play out for me too. Yet, I see nothing.”

He tapped his chin. “I wonder why that—”
Discord trailed off a moment and smiled at him.
“Ah. Maybe that’s the reason.”

Link stared blankly and Discord pointed at his left hand. He looked down.
The Triforce looked back at him.

“I suppose I’d better do a bit of studying on that symbol of yours.”
Before Link could say anything, Discord snapped his fingers and appeared to swallow himself.
“Toodles!”

Link only stared at the Triforce on his hand. Was it protecting him from Discord? Was it just reacting to the memories played back in his head?

What just happened?

He felt a hoof on his shoulder, and he jolted. Fluttershy gasped and pulled back.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you Hinka.”

He turned to her; his eyes still wide. She smiled gently at him.

“Discord’s a bit silly, but deep down he is a real sweetheart. I hope you become friends with him too Hinka.”

He blinked. Fluttershy tilted her head and frowned a bit.

“What’s wrong with your hand?”

He looked at the back of his hand. The Triforce looked back at him.

He put a hand over it and looked up at her.

“Where should I start with the animals?”

End of Chapter

Crazy as a Loon

View Online

As the weeks passed, there were some noticeable changes in Ponyville.

Now that Discord was back from “his vacation", he was routinely spotted wandering around town; often with Fluttershy and often without. He would wave to Link whenever he saw him as if they were old pals. Link only stared. He didn’t particularly care for Discord, but he didn’t hate him either. He figured if Fluttershy liked him, maybe he should give him a chance.

But Goddesses above, he could be a lot to deal with.

Link finally found a chance to make Darmani eat his words one day when Twilight went to spend some time with Rainbow Dash. Spike had gone to do some chores and it happened to be Link’s down day. The castle was a total ghost town. Link donned the mask and took on the form of the large Goron man- not quite as tall as a grown pony, but far taller than he would ever be when he grew up. Link wasn’t ready to show the others the magic of his masks yet.

When Darmani laid his eyes on the picture in the dining room, he didn’t believe it was real. Link directed him to the sitting room, in which there were many more such pictures. The stubborn Goron still called it some sort of witchery. Finally, Link wrested control away again, and walked towards a window. He looked outside at the many ponies flying and walking around.

Finally, Darmani believed him. The large Goron apologized for doubting him and pondered how he got so far from home. Link had no answer for that.

Darmani still told Link he needs some help. More than he could get from his three spirit friends. “I hope these creatures can get you the help you need, brother.”

“As do I,” said a voice from behind him. Link whirled around. Discord stood behind him, wearing a press reporter’s cap and holding what appeared to be a recorder of some sort.

“This just in: Non alicorn finds method to bridge the gap between the living and the dead, between right and wrong. How do you feel about that, Link?”

He held the recorder to Link’s mouth but received no reply.

“The cold shoulder again? You wound me. If you won’t grace me with a reply, then I will do the talking.”

Discord lazily tossed the recorder over his shoulder. It never hit the ground.

And Link, he couldn’t think of anything to say. For the first time in a long time, he was well and truly surprised. Shocked even. He eyed Discord blankly, while Darmani attempted to take control to deal with the situation.

“This is one thing you can’t punch your way out of, Darmani.”

Discord tilted his head a bit.

I can try.

“Darmani? Is that your name? I thought you were Link.”

Link was not able to reply before Discord continued. His eyes widened very slightly, and Link almost didn’t notice at first.

“No, I’m mistaken. There’s two of you in that vessel. The boy is in control, but there’s an elder too. I can sense you.”

Discord snapped his talons, and suddenly Link was in a back seat in his own mind. Darmani took the front.

Hey! Darmani, what gives? I told you you can’t punch your way out of this!

“I don’t know! I didn’t do this!”

“Of course not. I did.”

Darmani looked to Discord who had dropped all his playfulness and looked completely serious. He had his arms crossed and was staring at Darmani.

“What manner of creature are you?” asked Discord. He was speaking Hylian, though with a slight accent.

Darmani said nothing and only growled lowly at the draconnequs.

Discord’s stoic stare gave way to mild irritation.

“I’d advise you to answer me.”

Darmani said nothing but made a fist at his side. Discord held up his fingers again and made to snap them.

“Stranger, with one snap I was able to force you to the forefront of this child’s mind. What do you think I might do with another?”

Darmani was silent still and tightened his fist more. Discord raised his hand higher. The two stared each other down for what felt like eons. Somewhere, off in the distance, a dog barked.

“My name is Darmani. I am a Goron,” he finally said. Discord was unmoved.

“Did you misunderstand me or are you just playing stupid? I don’t care what manner of race you are. I care what manner of creature you are.”

Darmani was silent while Discord got within arm’s reach. Gods above, he could easily punch through him!

“What manner of creature possesses a child? A troubled one at that? Most importantly, what manner of creature possesses a child that my dear Fluttershy has grown so fond of?”

Darmani’s fist relaxed. “Huh?”

Discord eyed him coldly. “Your time among the living is at an end, Darmani. Fluttershy would never forgive me if I let this trespass against her precious young friend go unpunished.”

“I don’t think we’re on the same page,” said Darmani.

Discord raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not here to take his time among the living. I’m here to guide and assist him. He is my friend. A dear friend. I lend him my form to assist him in his life, and I control this body only when he allows it.”

Darmani made a fist again and pounded it into his palm.

“Or in this case, when you force me to.”

Discord was silent, but his paw began to glow with magic. Darmani dropped his fist to his side.

“If you will not listen to me, then hear the words from Link. If you are not satisfied then, do with me what you will. Only do not harm Link, or I’ll ensure you join me in the afterlife.”

Discord snapped his fingers, and suddenly Link was in control of himself again. He eyed Discord curiously.

“What are you doing?”

Discord blinked. “You were under some form of possession. Two souls in one vessel. That is not normal.”

Link pulled the mask from his face. One brutal transformation later, he was himself again.

“And what is normal about me?” he asked. Discord fell silent.

“I found the manner of creature responsible for Darmani’s death. I killed him with the fist he made before you. Darmani is my friend. He’s gotten me out of many jams that I would not have gotten out of alive otherwise. He gives me advice, and he simply wanted to see proof of where I was.”

Discord appeared to shrink back a bit.

“Besides, why would you care if I were under distress? From what I’ve heard you are a God of Chaos. Isn’t that the sort of thing that interests you?” Link asked.

“Distress? Distress is a range of emotions, sure, but it’s so boring! Besides that, it’s like I said before: If Fluttershy found out that I knew you were in trouble of some sort and I didn’t aid you, do you have any idea how she’d take it?”

Link fell silent and stared.

“She would give me that gaze and the shake of her head, she might say no to tea time with me. She might even sigh and tell me she was…”

Discord gasped.

“Disappointed in me!”

His mirth (if you could call it that) melted away and he looked at Link again.

“Methinks you should be careful what spirits you allow to share your vessel, Link.”

“I trust my friends.”

Discord’s eyebrows rose slightly. “You said friends. Not friend. Are there others?”

Link was silent.

“There are, aren’t there? Ooh it is like peeling an onion with you!”

Discord produced an onion from somewhere that had been made up to look like Link’s face, which he began to peel. He began to cry dramatically. Link only stared; arms crossed.

“You know,” sniffed Discord. “Many cry while peeling onions.”

As quickly as he started, he stopped crying.

“The trick is not to form an emotional attachment.”

He threw it over his shoulder.

Link gave a sigh.

“Is this your way of showing concern for my wellbeing?”

Discord blinked. “This isn’t how you do it?”

Link looked back down at the mask in his hands, then back at Discord.

“Well, thanks for checking on me. I’m okay though. Darmani is harmless.”

Excuse me?

“Okay, maybe he’s extremely dangerous, but he’s friendly.”

No ‘maybe’ about it.

“I can sense a request coming,” said Discord.

Link gave a nod. “I need you not to tell anyone about Darmani. At least, not yet. I have a promise to keep.”

Discord was suddenly filled with interest.

“Suddenly I am filled with interest,” he said. “A promise? To whom, for what, and from when? Spill the beans!”

Link took a step forward.

“I promised a late friend of mine not that long ago that he would get to meet everyone first, and I want to be the one who does it. He’s just a child. Younger than I am. I just don’t know when or how I should do it.”

Discord appeared in thought for a moment.

“Very well, I’ll keep your secret if you do something for me in exchange.”

Link crossed his arms. Quid pro quo.

“I have a rather large trick I intend to pull during Nightmare Night to sow a bit of chaos. How would you like to be my assistant?”

“If you’re planning to harm anyone, Darmani is going to knock you into next Tuesday.”

Discord shook his head, appearing somewhat offended that Link could even think that.

“Me? Harm someone? Never! I’m a good guy most of the time now! No, there will be no harm. Just some chaos. A prank, if you will.”

Link appeared to be more interested. Discord gave a mischievous smile, and leaned in to whisper his plan to the boy…

Link shut the door to the bedroom Twilight had afforded him and locked it. He’d hung up Darmani’s mask and told the others what had happened.

Neki was less than thrilled that Link “broke his promise” to the boy but was appeased when Link assured him that Darmani didn’t meet any of the ponies. Just some self-proclaimed Lord of Chaos who had an admittedly funny prank planned. It was good, because an upset Neki was absolutely impossible to deal with.

Now he had to go about his day.

He walked downstairs and followed his nose to the kitchen. Twilight had left some pancakes for him and told him to help himself. He hopped onto his seat (Twilight had promised him a higher chair without the need of books, but it wasn’t ready yet) and grabbed a fork and knife.

Just before his first bite, he heard a door shut in the distance, and some shuffling about. He didn’t expect her back so soon, and Spike was busy with Rarity. The others were all doing their own things for the day too. Nobody should be here.

He set the fork down but kept the knife. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but it was better than nothing.

He began to move in a crouch walk, one that he’d mastered over his time sneaking into places that were far better armed than he was. It was faster than crawling but remained quiet.

He followed his ears and heard a bedroom door open. It was a bedroom that was unoccupied. He knew for a fact that whoever was here was not a regular, nor was it someone he knew. He drew the knife a bit closer to himself and slowed himself down as he walked.

The disturbance seemed to get louder as if in greeting. He held the knife behind his back. If this intruder were to underestimate him, they’d be lucky if he only maimed them.

He whirled around the corner and saw a mare with a coat and mane not all that different from Twilight’s unpacking some essentials from a bag on the bed with a smile. She was a lighter shade of purple, Link guessed. Her cutie mark was similar but different to Twilight’s as well.

The more Link stared, the more he felt like he was looking at a sister she never mentioned.

The mystery mare finally noticed his presence and gave a gasp when she finally looked at him. Link only stared back.

“Eep! Sorry about that, I didn’t even see you there. I just get so absorbed in the things I’m doing it’s amazing I don’t walk into walls more often.”

She left her luggage and approached slowly. Link’s grip on the knife he’d concealed behind his back tightened.

“You must be Hinka. Twilight has mentioned you. I’m Starlight. Starlight Glimmer. I’m a friend of hers.”

Link’s grip on the knife loosened somewhat. He recalled her mentioning a mystery pony by that name not that long ago. She pulled him aside recently and informed him that Starlight would indeed be moving into the castle, but Link was not expecting her to do so quite this fast.

Link gave a nod. Starlight chuckled a little, but he sensed no hostility.

“Twilight mentioned that you aren’t much of a talker. I want you to know that my door’s always open if you ever need anything. Just let me know.”

He gave a small smile. Starlight attempted to peek behind him.

“Say, what do you have behind your back?”

“…then we can stop at Sugarcube Corner, and then we were thinking of going swimming! Won’tcha come, Hinka?”

He nodded. Nobody else was going to be coming to the castle, so it was either tag along with Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, or sit in his room throwing crumbled up papers and rocks at Majora’s Mask and the Fierce Deity.

He liked the thought of both, honestly, but the three fillies were marginally better company than the two malevolent spirits most days. Plus, that was his plan for after supper anyway.

Applebloom smiled down at him.

“Applejack says you’re probably gonna be enrolled in school with us.”

He blinked. “I can’t afford that.”

She giggled. “You’re funny, Hinka. I know you’re a year behind us, but Cheerilee teaches the classes in groups and you’ll be in the same class as us! That’s gonna be so cool!”

He looked up at her. Twilight never mentioned school to him, or if she did, he wasn’t listening at the time. He didn’t mind the concept of going, but he felt it would be quite awkward. A good amount of town had seen him out and about enough that nobody really stopped and stared anymore. Some of them had even gone so far as to give him a friendly wave now and again. Still, how’s he going to do with a room full of kids?

“Only, you need to watch out. We have a few bullies in class with us.”

He didn’t really react to that. Link had dealt with bullies for most of his life. He wasn’t afraid to defend himself or his friends, if necessary, but he wouldn’t be the first to throw a punch. When he was involved in an altercation, he always waited to be attacked first. It had been instilled in him as law throughout his time in Kokiri Village: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Link did not suffer fools lightly.

Link had to cut his own switch a few times, but Mido had been sent out so often the trees were just stumps after a while.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle met Applebloom and Link along the way. They exchanged greetings and seemed to be pleased that Link would be joining them.

“Hey, Hinka, how are you on a scooter?”

He looked at Scootaloo, puzzled. She was riding some sort of machine with four wheels, a long handle, and it was attached to a board from which the wheels were also attached. She wore a helmet, though there was no magic powering the machine. She kept having to kick off the ground and flap her wings to keep herself moving.

“Wanna try?” she asked.

Link eyed the thing. The handles were too high for him to reach.

“It’s too big for me, but thanks anyway,” he said. She gave a nod. “Yeah, I had a feeling. No offense, but you’re pretty small.”

He gave a shrug. She was right, and he could sense no mocking tone in her voice.

“Are y’gonna grow more like us?” asked Sweetie.

He nodded. “One day I’m going to be taller than everyone here. We humans start out small but get really tall.”

“How tall?”

He feigned being in thought for a moment. “Second floor of the castle or thereabouts.”

The fillies gasped. “Woah, is that true?!”

He was silent for a few moments.

“Not even a little.”

They chuckled for a minute, then asked him again. "How tall do you think you're gonna get?"

“Maybe as tall as you are now. Maybe a bit more if I’m lucky, but not by a lot.”

They were silent for a minute. “Well, don’t you worry, Hinka. If anypony starts treating you bad over your height or starts trying to hurt you, the Cutie Mark Crusaders will protect you.”

Link didn’t bother pointing out that anyone who treated him badly was going to have to crawl away by the time he was done with them, but he thanked them regardless.

“We Crusaders have to stick together, you know.”

He tilted his head. “Huh?”

The fillies looked at each other, as if conspiring, and then smiled at him in unison. “Noooothing.”

Like wondered if this was what Caesar felt like. Whoever that was.¹

Whatever they were talking about, it would have to wait. They arrived at the little clubhouse Link kicked Rainbow’s flank in, and one by one the fillies climbed up before asking Link to join them.

He hesitated. Part of him, the part that kept him alive all this time, was reluctant to climb up. It was an instinct he loved and hated. Yes, it kept him alive, but it also made him overly paranoid when he really shouldn’t have been.

It was shouting at him to run from the clubhouse, but Link decided to climb up anyway. The fillies were eerily quiet. The climb to the top felt longer than the final steps to the room in Ganondorf’s Castle where the evil king waited.

Finally, he climbed into the treehouse. The three fillies were at the opposite side wearing what appeared to be capes.

What the hell kind of cult was this?

“Today, Crusaders, is a momemtu- momemi- mom- really big day for us.”

Link took a few steps forward and reflexively reached for his sword, which wasn’t there. He kept his hand behind him and tried to call upon Nayru’s Love. He could feel the magic sparking in his hand, but this world was so magically saturated, he couldn’t maintain it. He intended to ask Twilight for help with magic, assuming he survived whatever the three fillies had cooked up for him. Sweetie Belle held another cape over her head and grinned up at it.

“I made this one myself.”

“You made all of these yourself, didn’t you?” asked Scootaloo.

“Yeah, but I did this one without Rarity’s help.”

“You did the others without Rarity’s help too.”

“Scootaloo, would you just- just- …. okay?”

Applebloom cleared her throat.

“Anyway! We’re tryna ask if you want to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Hinka.”

He blinked.

“Is this a blood pact or something?” he asked.

They exchanged a look.

“What does that mean?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Well, if you join, it just means you’ll hang out with us trying to help us get our cutie marks. We also sometimes try to help others with their cutie mark problems, like the one you had a while ago.”

“I had a cutie mark problem?”

They blinked. He quickly recalled voluntarily omitting the fact that the Triforce piece he bore was not a cutie mark.

“Oh, that cutie mark problem. Right.”

“Yeah! So, do you wanna join?”

Link looked upon the girls quietly. Did he want to join the three fillies in their insane bumblings which more often than not destroyed half of town? Did he really want to risk upsetting Fluttershy or the others by going along with the fillies on their adventures, which usually wound up going into the same woods he nearly bit the big one in?

Hell yes, he did.

He stepped forward with a nod and the girls squealed, then Scootaloo cleared her throat.

“By the authority invested in me by myself and the motel clerk my Dad keeps visiting whenever my mom tries to get him to help with my homework, I pronounce you the next member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

The three girls shouted “Yay!” at the top of their lungs, and Sweetie offered Link the cape.

It was big, red, and had what appeared to be a rearing horse on the back in gold. It wasn’t something he’d wear in his everyday clothing circulation if he got it himself, but his friends made it for him so as far as he was concerned it was the best thing in the world. He put it on with a small smile.

The four of them began to walk towards Sugarcube Corner, but Link didn’t keep the cape on. Sweetie had overlooked one thing and that was his size. It was as if he took one of the blankets from his bed and wrapped it around himself. He didn’t want to get it dirty for being dragged on the floor, so he folded it up and carried it. Sweetie apologized to him and almost seemed to be in tears, to which he assured her he was still very appreciative of the thought, and in a bid to make her laugh, told her the tale of his attempt at buying another tunic while not having slept for 36 hours. He dumped 300 rupees on it only to realize too late that it was an adult’s sized tunic. He’d just stumbled into the store, grabbed it without even thinking, and the clerk didn’t stop him.

To his credit, the fillies did giggle a bit at the story.

“So, what did you do with it?”

He kept it with the intent of using it for materials or just selling it somewhere else to try and make a profit, but when he took the Master Sword for the first time and woke up aged 7 years, he found that it would mostly fit him. Still a little big, but he wasn’t swimming in it. Let’s not mention that part.

Link just told them he took it a few towns over and sold it for 350 rupees.

When they walked into Sugarcube Corner, it was very quiet. It was a weekday, summer was just starting to wind down, and there was nobody at the front register. For a moment Link wondered if the place was closed until Pinkie poked her head out from the kitchen door.

She grinned when she saw them.

“Hi guys! I’ll be with you in a second, take a seat wherever you like!”

They sat in a booth by a window. Link ensured he sat with his back to the wall, as he always tried to. It was a habit he formed after surviving two assassination attempts by Ganondorf’s minions. Both occurred when he was resting or eating in a cheap restaurant, The first one nearly took because his back was to the door and the would-be killer nearly broke his neck. The second one was smoother because Link had his back to the wall and saw the trouble as it walked in. Ever since then, Link had outright refused to eat or rest anywhere if it meant he had to put his back to a door. He’d sooner go hungry or just keep working.

He sat next to Scootaloo. He was lucky the table was so low. They took to the menus.

“After we eat, should we go to the beach or the pond to swim?” asked Sweetie. Applebloom and Scootaloo shrugged.

“The pond’s gonna be smaller, but also probably quiet. The beach is big but also probably going to be busy.”

“Maybe we could do the pond instead? Now that I think about it, you don’t really like being around tons of ponies, right Hinka?” asked Applebloom.

He looked up from the menu.

“It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just a lot to keep track of.”

“Yeah, besides, DT usually goes to the beach with Silver Spoon, right? She doesn’t usually go to the pond.”

Link looked at Scootaloo. “Who is DT?”

“Diamond Tiara,” they said simultaneously.

Link nodded. Oh! That explains everything. Who the hell is Diamond Tiara?

“…and that is?”

“She’s a bully who goes to school with us. Constantly makes fun of us for being blank flanks.”

He blinked. The three fillies looked at their menus morosely.

“At this rate we’re never going to get our cutie marks. At least you have yours though, Mr. I-Attend-One-Fair-And-Poof-I-Get-My-Cutie-Mark,” grumbled Scootaloo.

“If it’s any consolation, I don’t have one either.”

They looked at him. “We got you one at the sum- "

“No, that’s not actually a cutie mark.”

They blinked collectively at him. “It’s not?”

He shook his head. He saw a bit of anger flash in their eyes. “Why’d you tell us it was then?” asked Applebloom.

“I never said it was. I just didn’t correct you when you assumed it was.”

They were silent, and Link sat up a bit more.

“My leg was bothering me that day, and I’d only then properly met you guys. You kind of scared me when I upset you, and I didn’t want to upset you further. So, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I led you to think this- “

He showed them the back of his hand, at which point the Triforce dimly glowed upon it. “-was a cutie mark.”

The three girls were silent for a few moments, but he saw the anger leave their eyes. They still seemed a bit annoyed, but he’d take that over full out fury.

“My big sister always says forgiveness is a virtue of the strong,” said Applebloom. “So, I guess I forgive you for lyin’.”

Omitting the truth, but…

“Yeah, yeah. It was a while ago anyway,” said Scootaloo.

“Do you know what this means, though?” asked Sweetie. “Now you can make it up to us by working twice as hard to find your cutie mark!”

He blinked. “You don’t understand. I can’t get a cutie mark.”

They were silent for a moment.

“Humans don’t get them.”

“So, what’s the thing on your hoof?”

“Hand,” he corrected. “It’s…”

He trailed off.

They tilted their heads. He put his other hand over the symbol.

“Is it a secret?”

He nodded, and he appeared to be deeply conflicted. “To everybody.”

“We promise not to tell anypony if you tell us.”

He wasn’t particularly concerned with them telling anyone. He didn’t think the grown-ups would believe them. He was worried about telling them, and them possibly asking for more information. These fillies, though they were taller and between one and 2 years older than him, were still just kids. He had no intention of telling them about the people he killed in his time.

The Triforce appeared to brighten somewhat. Though open to interpretation, Link felt it meant he was being granted the blessing of telling them a little about it. He took a breath and showed them the back of his hand. The Triforce glowed brighter, a proud relic that had helped a child stand up to its power-based counterpart.

“This is a piece of the Triforce. It is split into three parts…”

Link proceeded to give them a little background on his holy relic. He told them of the Triforce of Power, and how through its strength one could conquer a country, the Triforce of Wisdom, and how through its ingenuity, one could be granted great wealth. While Link was talking, Pinkie came by and took their orders, but didn’t stay to listen. Link didn’t comment on it.

He told them of the Triforce of Courage that he bore, and how, through its steadfastness, one could destroy any evil if given the means and time. He left out all heroics in his explanation. Spoke only on the triforce fragments themselves.

“Why are there evil ponies?” asked Scootaloo. “Why can’t everyone just get along and be good?”

Link looked at his bad leg.

“Who defines what is and is not good?” he asked. “Can you define good to me?”

“Well, it’s good. The opposite of being bad. Not doing stuff to hurt anypony. Doing lots of stuff to help everypony.”

“If everyone was good, wouldn’t that mean no one is good?” he asked.

“I don’t get it,” the fillies said simultaneously. Link continued. This was a topic Saria loved talking about.

“Think of your everyday life. If every single day was the happiest it could be, then the feeling is cheapened, and it is as if there is no happiness. You need to balance happiness with sadness for it to have meaning.

“If everyone is good, and doing the right thing, and there are no bad people, does that cheapen goodness? If one morality exists, so too must the other. If evil is the absence of good, it’s logically impossible not to think of good without also thinking of evil. Its opposite. Its contrast.”

The three fillies looked to one another. Link parroted one final thing Saria had routinely asked him:

"Which is better: To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?"

The food came.

There wasn’t much that Link was against doing. When you’ve done almost everything exciting a life could offer before you made it to the double digits, you tend to lose some degree of tact. One could argue that, had Link achieved perfection, there would be nothing left to chase. What if he was infinitely strong and each and every battle he engaged in ended swiftly and decisively with him as the victor?

What if he couldn’t be harmed, either because he was always on his toes or because he was simply impossible to harm?

The ending of his adventures in Hyrule and Termina would have been similar. He’d have defeated both Ganondorf and Majora, but without struggle- the latter may not even have survived in the mask in that case. Every minion he stood up to would have fallen quickly, and perhaps had he been perfect, he could have even prevented the deaths of Neki, Darmani, and Mikau.

Perhaps his young body wouldn’t be so pock-marked and scarred, then.

Link was, as it turned out, self-conscious of something, and that was his scars. Even on scalding hot days, he refused to take his tunic off, no matter if he were swimming. He disliked the feeling of wet clothing, too, so he often stayed out of the water whenever possible.

Such as now, for instance.

“Y’sure you don’t wanna swim with us, Hinka? The water’s great!”

He gave his head a gentle shake but kept a smile on his face. He instead chose to sit with his feet in the water. That was enough for him, and they were right. The water was great.

They’d decided to go to the pond instead of the beach. It was quieter there.

“Granny always says we shouldn’t swim until an hour after we eat or else we’ll get a cramp and drown,” said Applebloom. “Is that why, Hinka?”

“Bloom, that’s ridiculous. Maybe he just can’t swim. Is that it?”

He shook his head. “I’d prefer this is all. You three have fun.”

He instead sat and continued to watch as the fillies splashed and played together. He didn’t hate water. Quite the opposite, in fact. Link loved to swim, and before his journey, on his down days in Kokiri Forest in the summer, it was rare to not see him going for a dip in the pond. The Kokiri were all just a bit friendlier to him when they all swam together. Even Mido would occasionally engage him in small talk. Maybe that was what he loved about the water.

As he was now, though, he still loved water, and would take on the form of Mikau when needed if he had to perform a task of some sort that involved him. The scars on his body didn’t carry over to the other forms he could take; they instead had their own scars.

Link chuckled to himself. Drowning was almost a foreign concept to him. As a Zora, he had no trouble breathing in the water, and as a human, he’d been engaged in marine battles so often he taught himself how to hold his breath for up to 3 minutes in the water. He wasn’t drown-proof if it came down to a fight against a Zora, but against another human? Link was very at home in the water.

Suddenly he was under water. He heard a muffled shout from the surface, and he opened his eyes and looked at the shimmering light up above. It almost looked like…

Link would never forget the Water Temple.

It was a temple that wound up separating him from Navi, however temporarily. They found Princess Ruto, but she didn’t appear to notice them. Navi had volunteered to go get her help.

Splitting up was a big mistake.

There existed a tunic made of Zora scales that, if a human wore it, they might be able to breathe under water. Link, however, had been unable to locate one. The shop most known for having them had been forced to cut them from stock by Ganondorf. He had anticipated Link considering using one to undo his work on Lake Hylia.

Ganondorf was a very intelligent man, and that made him far more dangerous than the Triforce of Power ever did.

It didn’t deter him. Link went for the temple without the tunic.

The Water Temple always smelled of low tide, no matter how high the water was. Even so, he didn’t mind. Link had smelled far worse odors for far longer.

You never forget the stench of death. Link would swear that it was a unique smell every time. Every death, every murder is like a snowflake. Cold, unique, but also alike.

He and Navi had split up in a large main room in the temple. The room Link was in now was thoroughly disorienting.

He walked through the door and through some witchery or illusion appeared to be outside. He was ankle deep in water, and the sun shone overhead. The water he stood in seemed to extend forever in every direction. Behind him the door vanished.

Link drew the sword from his back and held his shield up, and carefully stepped forward. There was no sign of life aside from him. No birds chirped, no waves crashed, no wind blew.

All Link could hear was the sound of water sloshing as he walked.

He walked for an hour with no changes. He wasn’t even sure he was making progress.

The sun overhead remained in the same position as when he first entered the room. It felt as though time itself was at a standstill.

Link let out a gasp and fell. The water he stood in before he now waded in. There was no current to deal with, but he didn’t know how far he’d have to swim to make any more progress. He turned around. Maybe there was something he missed the other way. It meant a long walk, but he didn’t have a lot of options.

Standing where he was a moment ago were two black boots.

Black tights. Black tunic…

It was him. It looked like Link’s shadow had come alive. It stared at him silently and Link stared back.

It grabbed him by the tunic and pulled him out of the water, then threw him onto the ground. Link drew his blade while he rolled, and he heard another blade being drawn.

He turned to his quarry and instantly held up his shield; his shadow sliced practiced at him but he suffered no injury this time. He was prepared for most of the attacks used by his shadow, it even fought like him.

He wasn’t surprised when it kicked at his shield and attempted to follow through with a stab, but Link’s defense held.

“Hinka?”

Still, he knew that he couldn’t just live off a defense and would instead need to start fighting back. So, when he felt he had a moment, he attempted to stab.

His shadow reacted like he would have. It sidestepped, and used the edge of its shield on the inner part of Link’s elbow. His sword clattered into the water, and while he was reeling, the shadow managed to disarm him of his shield with its blade; the shield sunk into the deeper water.

Suddenly, Link was unarmed. His shadow was not. Still, he knew a few tricks he could use. His first order of business was closing the distance a bit more. He’d have a bit of a chance that way. Accomplishing that, he could move to the next part of his plan, which was to disarm his foe. So, he went for the sword arm and attempted to break the thumb. It was a kun-so move drilled into his head by the Kokiri.

Unfortunately for him, the shadow appeared familiar with kun-so, and managed to force him away after ringing his bell with the shield. Link rolled forward instinctively and avoided being run through, but his leg took a nasty hit.

Not good. The shadow appeared to be familiar with his fighting style, which meant it might have an answer to each of his planned attacks.

He wished he had his Megaton Hammer with him, but the bitch tried to drown him during his initial dive down to the temple. Once he found Ruto, he’d ask her to bring it to the surface for him.

Assuming he survived this encounter, that is.

He ducked another swing by the blade of his double and leapt aside to avoid his kick- that was one of Link’s favorite combos. The good news was, this double fought exactly like he did, so while it knew his moves, so too did he it’s.

He made another attempt at disarming his foe, but this attempt was even worse off than the last. His head was nearly taken by the counterattack. He’d have to find another way to fight back.

He avoided another swipe-kick combo and had an idea. There was a form of close combat he’d taken some time to learn from Darunia in the Chamber of Sages. It was the Goron answer to the Hylian’s Suikendo. Darunia called it Gun-kuk-do².

He growled to himself. Whenever Link had a moment to rest, he’d go visit the Sages he saved so far. Saria would help him ensure he never got rusty in Kun-So- as good as Link was at the martial art of the Kokiri, he never was able to defeat Saria. Darunia offered Gun-kuk-do one day after seeing Link’s tenacity in hand-to-hand combat. He was far from a master, but Link didn’t believe his double had any of the knowledge he’d earned from the Sages. He had to hope not, anyway.

His shadow began to charge him with its sword outstretched. Link’s Kun-So training was calling for him to leap to a side and either grapple the arm or strike out the legs. He could see that his double was ready to manuever against that.

Gun-Kuk-Do called for him to run towards his foe unprotected until the last second. Every instinct screamed at him to reconsider, but he knew no other choice. Link ran head-on towards his dark counterpart, and as he had hoped, there was surprise on its face. It hesitated in its own charge for half a second, and Link took the chance afforded to him to strip his counter of the most dangerous thing in its arsenal:

Its shield.

Why take the shield and not the sword? Because any Kokiri worth his salt can make the shield the more dangerous weapon. Link himself had beaten Ganondorf’s phantom and 63 lesser foes to death with his own.

With the shadow’s shield in his possession, Link swiftly equipped it and managed to block its next attack with it.

He then set his foot and waited for the kick.

His copy’s leg nearly folded around his set one. Though Link’s leg wasn’t broken, the pain was still enormous. His foe recoiled long enough that Link managed to take the sword as well. Before he could finish him off, though, both his foe, the shield, and the sword vanished, and all was silent once more.

Link began to look all around, both for his foe and his sword. He saw a shimmer in the distance and slowly approached it.

“Uh, Sweetie? Get your sister, something’s wrong.”

He was accosted from behind. Just like him, his shadow didn’t make a sound when it was in combat. Even at his loudest, Link’s footfalls never amounted to more than a soft pitter-patter. Even Darmani was very silent when Link walked in his place.

Before Link could properly react, his shadow had its arm around his throat. Link attempted to break the hold, but the rear naked choke was very hard to escape when locked in by a professional. His shadow wasn’t just blocking off his breathing, it was blocking off his blood flow too.

It didn’t matter how big or how mean a humanoid opponent was. 15 seconds of pressure on the carotid artery will knock you out. 15 seconds of pressure on the carotid artery could knock Ganondorf out.

That was what was starting to happen to Link. Darkness began to invade his vision’s edges, and his legs began to feel heavy. His attempts at freeing himself became more sluggish. He took a step forward, both to try and find some way to escape and to keep himself upright for just a second longer.

“Equestria to Hinka, you in there?”

That was when he saw the shimmer in the water. His shield. He had an idea.

He took another step forward into the water, and his shadow released its hold as it followed.

The darkness rapidly left him as his blood began to flow properly again, and he turned in the water and blocked a punch from his double with one forearm while countering with an elbow to the side of the head.

He went to press his advantage with another elbow but was caught by his double and took a punch to the mouth for his trouble. As he recoiled, he wound up with another punch to the mouth, but he caught his double’s leg when he went to follow up with a knee, and he pulled him in an arc around him, landing another elbow to the side of his foe’s head.

Their fight continued like that for a minute. Each traded blows with the other, blocking, countering, one strike slipped through, grapple attempts failing, both giving as well as they were getting.

But this copy wasn’t Link. It didn’t have the same comfort underwater that Link did. Gradually, the original overpowered the duplicate. His shadow threw another punch, but Link caught his arm under his own, and he caught the leg when it tried to kick at him again too. Link manuevered him under the water so he was facing away, wrapped his arm around the double’s throat, and locked it in the same choke it had tried to finish him with.

“Hey, Hinka? You okay? I dunno, Scoots. He’s in his own little world.”

The double flailed and did its best to free itself from his vice grip, but Link’s control over this marine battle was absolute. The fatal error his enemy had made here was allowing Link that extra step into the drink.

Its struggles began to fade away over the next 15 seconds. A flurry of bubbles came from its mouth and nose, and its hands left Link’s arm and began floating freely. Link kept the hold locked in for another few seconds just to make sure, and then he let his enemy gradually sink to the bottom. Then, he dove down and retrieved his shield before finally returning to the surface with a gasp. He heaved himself to the shallower water and lay in it breathing heavily for a moment before sitting up. The water began to vanish and the illusionary magic let up to reveal a room with two doors. Link looked to his side, where he’d finished off his shadow. The tiles there looked no different than anywhere else in the room.

Link got to his feet, pulled a dislodged tooth from his mouth, and threw it to the tiles. Then, he turned towards one of the doors.

Link was quite literally shaken from his flashback, albeit very gently. He wondered how long he’d been shaken for.

“Hinka? Hinka!”

Link’s eyes, until then unfocused into the distance, regained their light and he looked up. He felt a hoof on his shoulder and noted that he was soaking wet. The clouds had rolled in but no rain had fallen. Rarity was the owner of the hoof on his shoulder. Over her own shoulders he could see the Crusaders eyeing him with expressions ranging from confusion to worry to awe.

He looked himself over. No worse for wear, other than wearing a completely soaked-through tunic. What happened?

“That was awesome,” said Scootaloo.

Rarity shot her a look. “Now, now. There’s nothing ‘awesome’ about a friend in distress.”

“No, not that. What he did to Silver Spoon.”

Link’s blood ran cold. “What I… did?”

“She snuck up and dunked you into the water, and then you were all super flank kicker again, pulled her in with you, and she- “

“Is she hurt?” he asked worriedly. “Did she need a doctor? Did I break anything? Oh, Goddesses, no. No no no no no. Not again. No.”

He swore it was his shadow he was fighting! Not some innocent little child! He squeezed his eyes shut. This can’t be. Not again. He was hyperventilating.

Rarity pulled him into her barrel. “There, there, darling. Silver’s okay, you just scared her.”

A single tear slipped from his eye.

“Yeah, you didn’t do anything wrong,” said Scootaloo. “Did he girls?”

There was a chorus of answers in the negative.

“She tried to pick on you and you showed her that was a bad idea, that’s all.”

Rarity shot a look at the increasing cloud cover. Link's heart rate and breathing began to return to normal.

“Girls, I think it’s a good time to pack up and come back to the Boutique. The sky is about to open and it’s getting late.”

Rarity helped Link to stand. He felt she was right. He had enough excitement for one day. Now, he just felt drained. He picked his hat up off the ground and rung it out. Then, he turned to the castle.

He was stopped again.

“Hinka, what are you doing? Come along, darling.”

“Yeah, come to the sleepover with us!”

“Sleepover at Sweetie’s place!”

“Pillow fight when we get there!”

The girls erupted into a loud “Yay!” and he looked at them confusedly. Why on earth would they want him of all people at a sleepover?

Rarity smiled at him. “It’s going to rain something fierce very soon. I don’t want you walking home in that with a soaked tunic, you’ll catch your death. I have some spares at the Boutique. You’ll be nice and comfy.”

She didn’t leave room for argument and ushered him along with the others. The first raindrops began to fall.

“…and then she had the audacity to ask me if I had any dresses that were ‘Good.’ Excuse me? I’d sunk hours into that design. It was my best yet. If you’ll excuse me, that ragamuffin didn’t look like she’d know fashion if it snuck up and bit her.”

The rain really started to come down as they entered the Boutique. Rarity made them some tea as they talked about the events of the day. She had given Link a spare tunic and took his wet one to dry. He changed in private. The girls were dancing around Link’s episode.

While they talked, Rarity excused herself to the kitchen to call Twilight to tell her what was going on that evening. And what had gone on at the start of the day. And what she ate for breakfast. And how long she slept. And that she ran out of silk.

Come to think of it, Rarity was mainly just talking at Twilight.

Twilight hadn’t said anything so far besides “Hi Rarity, how are you?” That was where she went wrong.

After 40 minutes, Rarity finally decided to bring up Hinka’s little episode.

“Darling, I was hoping to talk to you about Hinka.”

“Hinka? Is he okay? Starlight just got back. She said she met him, but he went out.”

“He met up with Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom. They had some food and went to the lake for a bit. He wasn’t in the water. The girls said he was just dipping his feet in it when another girl from school pushed him in.”

“Was he hurt?”

“Not physically, but he did manage to make her fall in and punched her. The girls said she was mocking him and dunking him.”

“So he defended himself?”

Rarity smiled thinly. “Yes, and from what I heard, he stopped as soon as she’d had enough. However, he stayed under the water for a while. The girls pulled him out. He’s okay, but when they got him onto the shore, he…”

She sighed. Rarity had taken to making clothing for wounded guards or soldiers in hospitals a few years back. She liked how it felt to help them, but she saw some of the echoes of what a few of them had seen.

She was very familiar with the thousand-yard stare.³

“Rarity?” asked Twilight. “Is Hinka okay? Is he sick? Is he upset?” She was beginning to panic.

“When Sweetie came and got me, she said something was wrong with him. I came to the lake and found Scootaloo and Apple Bloom nudging him and trying to bring him around. He was awake but staring off into nothingness. He looked tensed, like he was ready to strike at something. His eyes, Twilight…”

“What’s wrong with his eyes?”

Rarity proceeded to explain the look he was giving off. His unfocused gaze, his pupils were pinpricks, his jaw hung slightly open, and he didn’t make a peep.

“Twilight, I don’t know what happened, but I’ve seen that look before, and I’ve only ever seen it on soldiers. I think that girl who dunked him accidentally triggered a flashback. Twilight, I think he might have- “

“Post-traumatic stress disorder,” came a hushed response from Twilight. “Oh, my goodness, oh no...”

“Twilight, I think you should look into getting him therapy. He’s going to need more help than what we can offer.”

Twilight had, in the end, agreed to letting him spend the night at Rarity’s. When the girls found out they erupted into cheering, but Link, being as reserved as he always was, simply watched.

The remainder of the evening consisted of food and games. He’d never had pizza before, and never had he ever played “Never Have I Ever”.

He also had to be taught the rules of truth or dare, he didn’t find makeovers particularly interesting (why did the nobles insist on wearing the stuff when it was just going to come off a few hours later, anyway? And did they know that most perfumes contained whale crap in them?)

He learned quickly how to play mediator when his fellow crusaders would come up with new plans for cutie marks. For instance, instead of trying to test plants to determine how poisonous they were by eating them, he suggested gardening instead.

Link did teach them a new card game that was popular among the fairies of Termina. Tatl taught it to him. It was called Caravan. Scootaloo took to the game like a fish to water, and it wasn’t long before she was outpacing him at it. He never was particularly good at that game.

It was still a lot of fun. More fun than he thought he’d have. Everyone here was so good at making him feel like a part of things; making him feel welcome.

Maybe this place wasn’t so bad after all.

Hours passed like minutes, and they found themselves being tucked into bed by Rarity. They were all sharing her bed, with Hinka in the middle.

“Goodnight, everypony. I do hope you sleep well. Tomorrow morning we’ll have some pancakes.”

She smiled at each of them before shutting the light off and closing the door.

Link had done his best to give the girls space in the bed, and tried to make himself as small as possible. None of them were having it.

With Applebloom on his left and Sweetie Belle on his right, they nudged inward until he was nestled between them. Scootaloo had gotten close too. He found out later this was just how young ponies slept when they were having sleepovers. It was herd mentality; safety in numbers.

“Goodnight girls,” said Sweetie. “And you too, Hinka. Thanks for hanging out with us today.”

There was a murmur of agreement.

“Sorry y’had such a rough time at the lake,” said Apple Bloom.

“Yeah,” said Scootaloo. “But you did a really good job on Silver Spoon. I think you even broke her glasses.”

Link was silent but smiled a bit. He felt his eyelids begin to grow heavy. The fillies around him conversed a bit more before one-by-one falling asleep. He followed soon after.

And, for the first time in a long time, he didn’t have a nightmare.

End of Chapter

Author's Notes:

Oops.
1- It’s a known fact that the conspirators kept their conspiracy from being discovered by conspiring conspiratorially directly in front of Caesar, and, when being asked what they were doing, smiling and answering in unison, “Noooothing.”

2- Style of high-risk, high-reward martial arts designed as an answer to Suikendo. Gun-kuk-do is very effective against soft-body targets such as the Zoras and the Hylians and has good effect on tough body targets such as other Gorons. It is a mix of grapples and strikes intended to kill or maim the enemy by being unorthodox and difficult to predict.

3- Also known as the two-thousand yard stare, this phrase is used to describe the dull, unfocused gaze of combatants who have become detached from reality, typically seen in soldiers who have seen the horrors of war or other types of trauma.

I'm not proud.

I don't even really know what the next chapter covers. I forget.

4 Hours of Excess

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Link was a very light sleeper when it came down to it. As he grew up, there would be times when someone would try to pull a prank on him while he was asleep, either good naturedly or not. He wasn’t always so light a sleeper, but he learned quickly.

When he was on his journey, there were days where Link was so into what he was doing that he would either not sleep for days at a time or would fall asleep with his eyes open. He covered 14 miles one night and got woken up by a stalchild that had come out to play with him, saw his state, and had to stop what it was doing to check if he was okay.¹

He was more than capable of detecting three clumsy fillies attempting to dog-pile him. His first hint that something was amiss was that the bed was empty and infinitely less warm than it had been that night. His next hint was clopping that was trying and failing to be silent, hushed whispering, and giggling.

He kept his eyes shut and pretended to still be asleep.

And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in the bedroom about the space of half a minute.

“BANZAI!” the girls shrieked. Link’s reaction was instant.

The girls had leapt and upon landing on the bed erupted into additional giggles.

“I got him!”

“No, no, I’ve got him!”

“That’s my wing, let go!”

“Huh? Wait a sec, what’s- “

Link cleared his voice. The girls untangled themselves and looked off the side of the bed. He was standing with his arms crossed, one bare foot tapping against the carpet. He had a small smile on his face, and his hair was an absolute mess.

The girls blinked simultaneously.

“Dude.”

“Good morning,” he said.

The girls simultaneously looked under their pile again, then back at him.

“How?”

Link tilted his head.

“How are you so fast?”

“It’s not that I’m fast. You three are noisy.”

They puffed up their cheeks a bit. “Are not!”

Link stretched his arms back and rolled one shoulder. Sometimes it got stiff. He sighed in relief when it popped. Rarity called them from downstairs. The fillies vanished in a blur and for a moment Link wondered who really was faster.

The quadrupeds most likely.

Applebloom reappeared in the room and yanked him out by the collar.

“Flour.”

“Eggs.”

“Sugar.”

Rarity had deemed them worthy to attempt making pancakes unsupervised. Each of the girls wore a chef’s toque. Link remained with his favorite green hat. Rarity had laundered his wet clothing the night prior.

The fillies decided to work on the pancakes with a surgeon-like focus. Hinka, though he was more than capable of cooking, had never made pancakes before. He did his part by washing the dishes and cleaning up as they worked.

It was probably for the best, since a cloud of dust would come up every time they added an ingredient. Sweetie was the one adding the ingredients and stirring. Scootaloo and Applebloom were fetching what was needed. Beside Sweetie on the counter was an opened cookbook.

“Chocolate chips.” Sweetie held a hoof out and Applebloom placed a bag of chocolate chips in it, but not before sneaking a few for herself.

“Chocolate chips.”

Link didn’t mind cooking either, but his version of cooking tended to equate to soups, stews, roasted meats and vegetables, and the like. For long trips, he often made himself pemmican², because it kept well and was sufficiently filling. In a pinch, he always carried a small jar of salted offal too, though he hated the stuff so much he wrote “Salted Awful” across the face of the jar. The jar was in his room at the castle. He sometimes opened it and wafted it under the Fierce Deity and Majora’s masks because it stunk to high heaven, they couldn’t move out of the way, and he found that to be very very funny.

Point being, he didn’t think the girls would particularly appreciate his fine cuisines. Especially not the salted awful or black broth.
“Cinnamon.”

Come to think of it, he wondered if Zelda would have had him summarily executed if she knew he brought a jar of offal the first time he met her. It wouldn’t have surprised him if bringing something so vile before royalty was seen as a war crime.

Not even Ganondorf would stoop so low.

Interestingly, the ranch girl Malon loved that he brought offal or Pemmican with him whenever he visited her; she thought it was cool he could cook for himself. He had a bit of a crush on her. The night after he had liberated the ranch from Ingo’s influence, she had him come back to celebrate.

She had no problem eating the black broth³ he had prepared. Interesting. A woman after his own heart.

“…to go with it. Like a nice drink! Hey, Hinka?”

He looked over his shoulder for a moment before going back to work on the dish he was cleaning.

“Rainbow Dash says you know how to cook. Do you know how to make any tasty drinks?”

He shrugged. Most of his cuisine valued function over form. He was good at making tea, come to think of it.

“Cool! Do you know how to make a fruit cordial?”

It seemed like everything fell silent in the kitchen for a moment. He stopped working on that particularly stubborn stain as he thought about how to answer the question, until finally he said:

“Be nice to him, I guess.”

Bad news. It turns out the Crusaders were not destined to make pancakes. Hinka was still impressed though. It’s not every day you find someone who can simultaneously cremate and undercook pancakes.

The first one didn’t come out that bad, admittedly. Beginners luck, he supposed.

The remainder came out black but goopy in the middle. Rarity elected not to touch any of them, but the girls and Link each had a quarter of the good one.

After that it was just cereal. Though she was stunned the Crusaders screwed up the waffles this badly, Rarity was all the same grateful that her home did not burn down again, and she was pleased with Hinka’s clean up job.

Shortly after they ate, Twilight came to pick him up and Hinka gulped. He was certain Rarity told her about his little spat with that random girl yesterday. No, he didn’t consider it a fight. In Link’s mind, it isn’t a fight until you’ve almost killed him. The last fight he had was with the Timberwolves, and as far as he was concerned, he lost that one.

Point being, Link remembered the incident with Spike not long after he first arrived here, and how upset Twilight was with them both afterwards. He didn’t want to deal with that again. Looking up at her while she issued her farewells (Hinka had already said goodbye to the Crusaders, who had gone back upstairs to play), he couldn’t see any signs of irritation. Perhaps that was because she was talking to Rarity, not to him. Maybe he was going to get it once they left.

He just hoped there were witnesses outside.

“…and then when you’re done cleaning the hallway, I need you to pack your bags.”

There it was. Clean up the place and then get out. So be it.

Twilight took a sip of a water bottle offered to her by Rarity, then put it in her bag.

“We have to catch the 5 o’clock train to Canterlot and can’t be late.”

Link looked up at her quizzically. “Train? Canterlot?”

She smiled at him. “That’s right! My big brother, his wife, and their daughter are going to be visiting my parents for a few days, and I’d like to introduce you to everypony.”

“What about Spike?”

“Spike’s already met them,” she quipped. “He mentioned something about a few days of nonstop comic books.”

She looked at Hinka again curiously. “By the way, are there any comics that you might find interesting? I’m happy to buy you any.”

What? Now he was even more confused. Where was the irritation? Surely Rarity told her what happened. Did she have a fever? Craving for cowbell? He guessed it was time to find out.

“Twilight?”

She smiled.

“Aren’t you upset?”

The smile went away, and she tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“Yesterday. Did Rarity tell you?”

She was quiet a moment and blinked. “Huh?”

Recognition flashed in her eyes. “Oh! Your fight with the filly yesterday?”

He nodded. Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder. “Yes, Rarity told me all about that, and no I am not upset.”

He was silent. “You didn’t start that fight, and I know you didn’t start the one with Spike either. You went too far in that fight, but Rarity spoke highly of your behavior in this one.

“That girl was trying to bully and belittle you. She was dunking you under the water even though you didn’t want to be in it, and she was calling you a lot of names according to the others. You acted only in self-defense, and above all, you stopped as soon as you sensed she had enough.”

She hugged him. “Hinka, you never have to worry about getting in trouble with me for defending yourself. Just don’t start fights and know where the line is.”

He cautiously returned the hug. “And quite frankly, I’m proud of you for standing up to that bully. And for your teaching Spike some of your moves.”

Link sighed. He’d asked Spike not to bring that up. Spike wasn’t particularly good yet, but he was learning anyway.

Now that Link thought about it, though, while he understood defending yourself against one, who in their right mind would pick a fight with a dragon?

Images of him picking a fight with Volvagia flashed through his head.

Oh yeah.

Twilight’s teleportation spell always left a smell of burning in the air for a few moments, and a stray bit of smoke here and there. She usually preferred to perform such magic outdoors but wasn’t above using it to get around in the castle. Taking the stairs all the way to the top most floor of the castle would take her over 20 minutes. Given Link’s small frame, it was more like 40.

Now though, she was teleporting all over the castle so quickly it was starting to set off a few smoke alarms.

Meanwhile, Link had already finished packing a bag. He took with him the Fierce Deity and Majora. If they were going to be away for a few days, he didn’t want to risk anything until he could store them somewhere safer.

He made sure to place them at the bottom of his bags. He could swear he could hear their muffled complaints. Well, Majora’s. The Fierce Deity hadn’t said word one to him since they “met.”

He hated Majora, but he was truly afraid of the Fierce Deity. Why Majora had such a mask in her possession escaped him.

He looked back at his bag. The others had offered to get him something bigger, but he preferred the green rucksack he came with. It was given to him by Malon after his old Kokiri hand-me-down from Mido tore.

His rucksack was old, ratty, and was stained with everything from molasses to blood. He’d done his best to get it all out, but it was impossible.

The bag was not pretty to look at, but it was a gift from a friend, and that was all that mattered to him.

There was a knock on the door. “Hey, Hinka? Mind if I come in?”

Oh. There was a voice he didn’t expect. He zipped up the bag and opened the door.

Starlight smiled at him. “How’s everything going up here? Twilight’s… well, you can probably smell the smoke.”

As if in reply, Twilight shouted something to the effect of “I’m going to be late for the train, get your sorry butt out of my house, Chrysalis!” A crash from downstairs followed. Both Hinka and Starlight elected not to investigate.

Starlight put a hoof to her mouth while she looked at the wall that held almost all his masks.

“You take after my own heart, Hinka. I love masks.”

She appeared in study of a long gray mask.

Hinka swallowed. That mask carried potent magic but was also among the most stable in his possession. The magic of that mask only worked in the mysterious temple of Ikana Canyon and was inert anywhere else. He couldn’t even feel the magic of the Everfree Forest reacting to it. It was good, too. That mask could make you as big as one of Termina’s Giants. He didn’t think the ponies needed to get any bigger.

She looked at him again. “Are you familiar with the Zebrican culture?”

He shook his head. She smiled.

“Many tribes in Zebrica consider masks to be holy relics. They’re often made in the image of departed Zebras, and are kept by their families. Wearing such a mask is believed to put you in touch with the spirit world. On special occasions, the family will take turns putting on the mask. They discuss with them the latest news, gossip, good and bad tidings, and the like.

“If a Zebra offers to let you use one of their masks, it is a very high compliment. It means they consider you as part of their family. If you touch one of their masks without permission, however, it is a grievous insult.”

“You speak as if you know them well,” said Hinka. She smiled down on him.

“I’m an Anthropologist. I wrote my dissertation on the Zebrican culture before I…”

She trailed off and looked away.

“…let’s just say I made some mistakes after that.”

Twilight had, when she was telling Hinka about Starlight, mentioned that she was a reformed criminal. Twilight stopped her from screwing around by showing her “the magic of friendship.” It was good, because she was time travelling while doing her utmost to either take over the world or otherwise destroy Twilight and her friends, and, according to Twilight, matched her spell for spell. Hinka wondered what would have happened if she won, and he had to free Equestria from her rule as well. The way Twilight described her, Starlight’s magical talent may have been either on par with, or in excess of Ganondorf’s.

He supposed it was a good thing Starlight was on the straight and narrow. For both of their sakes.

Starlight began to study another mask on the wall. Linen hung from the edges of that mask. He remembered well the soul he had to heal to receive that one.

“This is quite reminiscient of one of the Zebrican masks,” remarked Starlight. “Who gave this to you?”

“A troubled father. He was researching the undead and how to keep them in check.”

Link never found out what exactly Pamela’s father did to get cursed by the Gibdo. He didn’t think it was the bite that did it. Link had been bitten by Gibdos and Redeads around a dozen times throughout his time in Hyrule and Termina.

He also never found out Pamela’s dad’s name.

Ikana Canyon was interesting. Link found many ancient weapons laying about in it, and signs of ancient battles fought there. The place had such a violent past even the dead wouldn’t lie.

Link found many hastily dug graves from eons past, whose headstones were almost worn away. He took his hat off while he walked through the fields as a token of respect, and uttered the Kokirian Prayer of the Dead until he started to notice that more of the dead were standing instead of resting.

He found a large building with two musical horns coming from its roof surrounded by a horde of Gibdo. Link put his hand on his blade.

“Tatl, can you find me any way in or around?”

Tatl didn’t answer his question, instead patting his shoulder and flying off. Creatures such as Gibdo and Redeads held no interest in fairies.

Link frowned. There were too many Gibdos surrounding the house. The windows were holding together well. A water wheel was on one side of the house, but the river it fed from was dried up.

He was quite tense. While he was far enough from the Gibdo horde that he wasn’t paid mind to, he still felt eyes on him. He spared a look at the unsettling hood he was given by a few con artists running scams near Romani Ranch. It appeared almost identical to the hoods that the legendary Garos Warriors were said to wear in battle. He for a moment, considered putting the hood on; perhaps doing so would help him move forward. As his hand went for it, he felt his skin crawl, and he let his hand fall away again. Whenever he felt his skin crawl like that, it usually meant he would be in mortal danger if he proceeded with whatever he was doing.⁴

Tatl returned to him a few moments later, having done a lap of the building. She even checked the roof for good measure.

“The whole place is locked up and reinforced. I can’t tell for sure, but I think there’s someone in there. They might need help.”

Link drew his blade and took a step towards the horde. Tatl got in front of him again.

“Hold up there, kid. I may not be the kindest fairy in the world, but I’m not about to let you get eaten alive by those things.”

“If someone’s in there, I need to help them.”

“How much help will you be if you’re dead? You’re a force to be reckoned with, sure, but there’s too many here. Like I said, I’m not certain. Suppose you fight your way in there, get wounded, and there’s nobody to help?”

He took another step forward. Tatl bopped him in the forehead.

“Listen to me, kid. There’s got to be a smarter way to go about this. Look at the house.”

Link obliged. He took a good long look at the musical horns coming out of the roof, the barricades that were holding strong against the onslaught of the undead, and…

That water wheel. The river was dried up, but if he could find the source of the water, perhaps he could fix things there. The waters of life⁵in the land of the dead. Of course.

Link began to follow the dried river bed. In the distance he could see a cave. None of the horde paid him any mind. Once he got past them, things fell silent.

Very silent.

It was as quiet as place devoid of the living should be. He didn’t feel like an ambush was coming, and he was right: Nothing jumped out to attack him on his walk.

He still felt very unsettled. The golden triangles began to glow on his hand again. He kept a hand on his blade as he entered the cave.

In his experience, caves like this one typically housed many Keese, or a few Wolfos, or even a stray bear or two. He disliked entering deep cave systems. He came across a black bear once in Termina but was fortunate enough that it didn’t attack him. He backed away slowly while raising his shield and sword high in the air and waving them about, and started screaming at it at the top of his lungs.⁶It worked, the bear wandered away.

The cave was disturbingly empty. The air was stale and humid, like he had just missed the water. Was this one of Majora’s effects as well?

He stumbled forward but didn’t lose his footing. He was in what appeared to be a dried pond bed. A drop of water fell from the ceiling.

The temperature abruptly dropped, and a chill ran through Link’s spine. His hand instantly went to the sword.

“What business have you in Ikana Kingdom, land where only the dead roam?”

He kept his head on a swivel and glanced at Tatl. She shrugged at him and kept looking for the source of the voice.

They didn’t have to look for long.

A well dressed Poe appeared from above. It began to float a few meters above the middle of the pond bed. In its hand was a conductor’s baton, with a dim lantern in the other. It studied Link for a moment. Link found himself studying its mustache. Its facial hair was better kept than some humans he’d met.

“This is no place for one as full of life as you,” it said.

“We’re trying to figure out why the water is not flowing. Do you know what’s going on?” asked Tatl. The Poe barely spared her a glance.

“Water? The dead have no need for water. The living has no need for Ikana.”

Before she or Link could respond, the Poe continued.

“Or do you say that you wish to join the dead?”

Link’s hold on his blade tightened.

“That is fine,” said the Poe. “If that is the case, then sleep gently to the melody of darkness that the great composer, Sharp, shall play, and join the ranks of the dead.”

The Poe, Sharp, allowed no reply. It began to conduct music from out of reach of Link’s blade. Nothing was playing, and yet with each rhythmic movement of his baton, Link could feel his heart heave and skip a beat. His blade hand went to his chest, and he gasped.

“Kid? You okay? Wingshreds, you’re turning ashen! We need to get you out of here!”

Nothing was playing, and yet he could hear it. He could hear demons playing, and yet he could hear nothing.

His palpitations continued and worsened over the next few seconds. His head began to spin, he broke out in a cold sweat, and he was woozy. He considered loosing an arrow at his enemy. Anything to heal him of this song.

Healing…

He had an idea. What about music for music? Shakily, he took up his ocarina. Sharp paused in his conducting, momentarily curious as to what the boy planned to do.

The Song of Healing echoed through the cave, and Sharp recoiled a bit.

“Hm? Somehow, my heart is eased. This melody has a serenity to it.”

Relief began to fill Link’s aching chest, but it did not last for long.

“Yet,” Sharp continued. He brushed himself off and eyed Link again. “To one of the dead and darkness, like myself, a song like that no longer holds meaning for me.”

Link gasped and stumbled forward but did not fall.

“You shall end your futile resistance and quickly join the ranks of the dead.”

Not good. Back to square one. He had to think quick. What about…

The waters of life. Storms. Storms! That’s- of course! Oh, he was such an idiot. Link met Sharp’s brother, Flat, in a graveyard. He freed that particular spirit from a curse placed on him by, well, Sharp. His reward was a song that would control the weather; the same he played on his first night at Twilight’s.

Flat had requested that Link tell Sharp something. He recalled it for a moment and held a hand up at Sharp.

“Stop.”

Sharp paused in his conducting of the cursed soundless melody.

“So many say, but I never reconsider.”

“I have a message for you.”

Sharp began conducting again and Link fell to a knee.

“I care not.”

“It’s from your brother, Flat!” he exclaimed. Sharp stopped again. For a moment, the darkness enveloping this poe dissipated.

“Flat? My…”

He shook his head about, as if to clear it.

“That name is of no significance to me.”

Link, shaking, held up his ocarina once more. Blood began to seep from his nose.

“The thousand years of raindrops summoned by this song are my tears.”

Link gathered the remainder of his strength and played the song Flat had given him.

“The lightning that strikes the earth is my anger!”

Lightning struck outside, and Sharp dropped his conductor’s baton and gripped his head. Rain began to pour inside the cave.

“W-what is this? …This song?”

Link’s ocarina dropped into the muddying floor. He supported himself from collapsing completely with his hands. He gasped shallowly.

“N-no… it can’t be. This song…”

Above him, Sharp began to flicker and for a moment was no longer visible, but the cave remained cold. Though it remained so cold, the aura felt different. More positive.

The pond began to fill again, and the river started to flow.

“Flat, my dear brother…”

Link, shaking, looked up. Sharp had reappeared. He seemed different. His eyes, so calloused before, appeared to have light behind them once more.

“Forgive your foolish brother who dreamt of the revival of the royal family…”

He fixed Link with his kindly gaze.

“Ye who do not fear the dead, with my brother’s song you have broken the curse that was placed upon me. For that, you have my thanks.

We dead should not be lingering in this land. All of my rage, all of my disgust - It was a trick of the masked one who had upset things. If you truly do not fear the dead, I wish for you to go to the temple of this land, and sever the root of the evil curse that torments us.”

Sharp retrieved his baton, and he held it up for a moment. It glowed, and energy from it flowed to the fallen hero. It continued doing so until Link’s labored breathing was returning to normal, and his heartbeat was no longer erratic. Before long, he was able to stand once more. As he got to his feet, Sharp’s baton turned to dust.

“If you truly wish to help the dead, you must speak to the king of Ikana Castle. He is awaiting the one who will break the curse.”

Link looked to Tatl. She was checking his pulse and wiping the blood from his nose.

“I have made my final request.”

They looked to Sharp again, but he was already gone. Link turned his head partially at the sound of some unusual music…

Link was covering his ears.

The undead surrounding the building had vanished. The horns atop the building were loudly playing the most obnoxious song he’d ever heard. To his side, Tatl was covering her ears too. He gestured towards the house and Tatl sighed. She cast a modified Nayru’s Love to protect her senses, then entered one of the horns.⁷

He would have much preferred to leave that house to itself, given it no longer looked to be in any danger, but he still wanted to make sure it was unoccupied at least. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he never checked and it turned out there was someone that needed help.

He frowned for a moment and felt a shiver run down his spine. Link was courageous and more than capable of fighting the undead, but that didn’t mean he was fearless. He betrayed little in the way of hesitation, but just for a moment, his hands shook a little.

Tatl returned to him and got close to his ear. The music was so loud from where he stood, she had to cup her hands over her mouth and scream into his ear at the top of her lungs.

“The interior of this building is soundproof. One person inside that I can see. It’s a girl, she’s younger than you are.”

Tatl cleared her throat and continued. “She’s terrified and the doors are locked, but there’s a staircase to the basement and I spotted a small window before she caught me. It’s a tight squeeze, but if you leave your shield behind you might be able to get in.”

Link was about to mutter something about his intentions, but he knew he wouldn’t be heard. Actions speak louder than words, anyway. He approached the window and unbuckled his sword and let it clatter to the ground, and he did the same for his shield, his bow, arrows, backpack…

Tatl barely spared a look at his supplies before she tucked into his hat. In his hand she could see his ocarina and a few bobby pins, as well as his dagger.

She had seen Link pick locks a few times before. It was a skill he learned in Hyrule from Nabooru. He got good enough at it that he could pick most simple locks in under ten seconds.

This lock? It wasn’t a simple lock. Not at all. It was the most complex lock he’d ever dealt with. It was a harder lock to pick than the one that had separated him from Ganondorf!

Tatl cast her manipulated spell on Link to protect his hearing, and he smiled gratefully at her.

“This is a tough one,” she remarked. “What’s the deal?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “There’s something about the pins. I can get a few down, but if I move wrong, the pins I managed already pop back up.”

He felt a pin pop into place through the bobby pin, but two others pop back out of place.

“Wingshreds,” he muttered.

“Why don’t you just break it?”

“There’s a reason for the security,” he replied. “If I break the lock, I’m compromising the security of the house. If those monsters come back, nothing will stop them from entering.”

He dragged a finger along the window and frowned. “Besides, this isn’t normal glass. Feels like it’s shatter-proof.”

He kept manipulating the lock and swore again. Tatl approached one side.

“I almost had it,” he said.

“Scoot over,” commanded Tatl. “I’ll get it.”

Link did as was requested and not a moment too soon. The bobby pin broke apart as he removed it from the lock.

Tatl shut her eyes and held her hands out over the lock and felt the interior of the lock with her magic. A smile crossed her face. She knew this lock type. She helped the Skull Kid break into quite a few houses using this lock. They were some of the most difficult locks in Termina.

Not for the mischievous yellow fairy girl. Her hands, glowing with magic, slowly closed the distance between each other until they crossed sides, and she let out a breath.

She swiped both hands apart again quickly, and the lock clicked open.

She looked very smugly at Link, who, grumbling, tossed a red rupee at her.⁸

Link opened the window and hopped in. As was his capacity, he didn’t make a sound upon landing.

He was in a stairwell. Before him the stairs went up. He reasoned that was where the girl must be. He took a step forward and paused.

He heard something in the basement, and at the top of the stairs he saw a shadow.

He instantly withdrew behind the wall, but he heard footsteps approaching from the first floor.

The stairwell he was in was narrow. Not impossibly narrow but narrow enough.

He kicked up the wall and held himself in place at the top with his legs just before the girl turned the corner.

Below him, the girl blinked and looked at the window.

No signs of trespassers.

Meanwhile, up above, Link’s legs began to burn. They shook, but he managed to keep himself where he was.

The girl took a few steps to the basement but paused. She squinted and stared into the darkness for a moment or two before turning back up the stairs.

As soon as Link heard the upstairs door shut, he let himself fall to the ground again and sat with his back against the wall for a spell.

He wanted to check on the girl, but now he had to know what was in the basement. If it was one of those abominations, he’d get his weapons and deal with it. No idea how he was going to remove the body after, though. If it turned out to be nothing, he’d immediately turn around and check on the girl. She needn’t worry about his stealing anything. Link was no thief.

He descended the remaining stairs and felt his blood begin to run cold. His grip on the ocarina and dagger tightened. Tatl tapped him.

“Careful kid. I can sense something that needs to be brought to peace, but I can’t tell if it’s living or dead.”

He said nothing but squinted. It was very dark. All he could spot was a single lonely candle on a workbench. His eyes being adjusted to the light, he was at a significant disadvantage here. He could see no windows, and only the barest shapes of obstacles and furniture in his path. Though the basement wasn’t particularly large, it still felt like he was wandering it for ages.

A musty linen odor hung heavy in the air. Link brought his dagger up and looked over his shoulder; he could hear a creaking sound.

The girl was back. She was squinting into the darkness. Link immediately shied behind a large shelf among the cobwebs and spiders.

“Papa? The monsters outside are gone. The music box is working again. I think the water is flowing.”

She took a few steps forward and looked up at the shelf. Link cautiously peeked over one corner. A spider crawled across his hat and onto the shelf while another landed on his shoulder. He spared it a glance but couldn’t tell what it was. Tatl landed on his other shoulder.

“It’s a brown recluse. Female. Don’t scare her or she might bite you,” she whispered.

Link decided that the one-sided conversation on the other side of this shelf was more important than the brown recluse. In his peripheral vision, he could see it crawling closer to his collar. It stopped a moment on his neck, then continued until it was behind one ear. It left a sticky web behind it with each step it took. There it stopped, behind his right ear. Safe. Dark.

The girl seemed to rub her hand across the shelf. Odd.

“Papa, you can come out and play. They won’t take you away from me anymore. They won’t take you away and I can make you feel better. You know how you used to always be there for me when I was sick? Now I can do the same thing for you.”

Link carefully peered out from behind the…

Oh, Goddesses above.

It’s not a shelf. It’s a coffin. It’s a coffin! Was he in a Hall of the Dead⁹?

Out of his view he could hear a plate of some sort clatter to the ground gently. The brown recluse began to walk further up into his hair.

“Goodnight, Papa. I love you.”

The girl’s tiny footsteps echoed up the stairs once more, and when Link was certain he was alone (other than his unauthorized shoulder guest and the brown recluse), he dared to sneak out from behind the coffin.

As he came about one side, he heard the door creak open. Even his brown recluse companion fell still…

There was another gibdo standing with its back to him, but there was something different about this one.

He felt his breath hitch, and his grip tightened on both his ocarina and dagger.

The creature turned its head to him.

It wasn’t completely covered in bandages. Link could see hair, lips, a sickly-looking face but no signs of decomposition.

Even the groaning didn’t sound very much like that of a gibdo.

It slowly held a hand out to him and took a few steps towards him. He stepped back.

Something was very strange about this one. It wasn’t doing anything to paralyze him. It was advancing on him but it was restrained, as if it was in great conflict with itself.

Link found himself in conflict as well. The brown recluse was still crawling across his scalp. If he started a fight here, there was a good chance of startling the little spider and potentially receiving a bite. Link had a natural immunity to the venom of black widows, but not the venom of a brown recluse. Until the spider was gone, he could make no sudden moves.

Which meant no stabbing or slicing at this foe.

The creature gripped its head while its groans faded up and, in the stairway, stood the girl again. For the first time, she saw Link. She froze.

Link made a split-second decision. The Song of Healing didn’t help Sharp, but it might help whatever this thing was. He dropped his dagger and brought his ocarina to his lips.

The echo of his notes rang through the basement for a short while, and he noticed that the creature before him was no longer trying to advance. Its hands continued to clutch at its skull and it let out a shriek more befitting of the monster it was becoming. Light began to fill the room and it blinded everyone within.

It was over in a moment. Link saw a mask on the ground at his feet. It looked a lot like the face of a gibdo. He picked it up with one hand, and looked up at the monster.

There was no monster. Not anymore. It was a man in a white coat. He appeared disoriented.

“Huh? I…”

“Papa?”

Link and the man both looked at the girl. She took a few steps forward, her face hopeful. Tears began to well in her eyes.

“Pamela?”

The girl began to sob and sprinted to the man before wrapping her arms around his legs.

“Papa!”

And the man looked confused, but his conflict was over. He won.

“What have I been doing this whole time?” he asked.

The girl, in between her sobs, responded to his query.

“You’ve been sleeping, Papa. You were just having a bad dream, that’s all.”

Her sobs echoed through the basement, and the man crouched and returned the hug of his daughter.

“Pamela…”

Link had already taken a few steps towards the staircase. He paused before the first step, and looked at the two once more. After a second, he slowly ascended the steps without a word and left the house. The brown recluse was coaxed into his hand and then under the outside steps. As much as he would have liked to introduce himself to the two, there was far more to be done before this place could rest.

It wasn’t until they had gotten far enough from the strange house and the music had faded somewhat in volume that Tatl spoke.

“Hey, kid?”

He looked up at her in acknowledgement. She was smiling at him.

“It was big of you to leave that house after healing that man. I’m proud of you.”

That was the first time Tatl ever told him she was proud of him. He looked at the newly acquired mask in his hands, then to the dry well in the distance…

Link was drawn from his thoughts by a hoof on the shoulder. There seemed to be a pattern developing there.

He looked up at Starlight. She swallowed once, her horn glowing. He squinted.

After a few moments, the light of her horn faded, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “No signs of dark magic over you. How’d you resist the corruptive nature of the undead?”

Link tilted his head. What?

“Have you told any of this to Twilight?”

His eyes widened slightly. Had he been speaking his thoughts aloud? Starlight took his silence as an answer.

“I figured as much. I think you should tell her and the others about that, too. If there’s more on your shoulders than what you found in this Ikana Canyon, I’d mention that as well. You’re quite fortunate to have escaped the undead without being hurt.”

He chuckled wryly.

She smiled at him gently.

“I’m flattered you were willing to share with me, at any rate. Like I said, my door’s always open. Say, do you need an extra bag for your luggage? I see you only have the one.”

He shook his head. Link was quite good at packing everything he’d need for a journey efficiently. He could carry all of his arsenal and other supplies in a rucksack and a satchel. When he tripped and fell into Equestria, he was carrying only the necessities, which meant one rucksack, half empty. He also brought his satchels too in case he found something he liked, like a kitsune toy. Link liked the Kitsune. He was on good terms with them in Termina.

“Hinka! Hurry up and get down here, we’re going to be late!”

Starlight offered him his bag.

“C’mon, I promise you’re going to like the train.”

Starlight and Hinka hurried down the steps before Twilight had another outburst. He was fully expecting her to appear completely disheveled when they made it, but she was well put together.

She also only had two packed bags. Spike was going through the packing checklist with her one more time. Link stuck out his tongue. He hated checklist duty. Spike seemed to enjoy it, for some reason.

After Twilight was assured for what was likely the twelfth time that everything she needed was packed, she spoke a little with Starlight about what needed to be done in the castle. Spike smiled at Link and approached him.

“You’re gonna like Twi’s family. They’re super nice. Her dad’s into astronomy, her mom’s a writer, her brother’s a prince and the captain of the royal guard, and if he asks you who the best baseball team is, you tell him the Mareiners. He’ll love you forever.”

“Anything else I should know about?”

“Yeah, Shining and his wife Cadance have a daughter. She’s very energetic and doesn’t have full control of her magic yet. She’s not easy to scare, but, well…”

He breathed out slowly.

“No offense, Hinka, but you’re pretty scary.”

He shrugged.

“Anyway! Train ride’s going to be four hours to get to Canterlot. Not so far that you guys will need a cabin, but you might want to nap or something. I think you should try the window seat. Twi will give it to you if you ask. Shining, Cadance, and Flurry should be there already.”

“Where are they from again?”

“The Crystal Empire,” he replied. “A journey there depends on if the train’s stopping anywhere or going straight over. If they’re stopping, it’s no more than a three-day journey. If they aren’t, it’s more like a day and a half.”

Link didn’t reply for a moment. He hadn’t asked how long that particular trip would take. He decided to be polite. He and Spike’s relationship had improved substantially since he’d gotten here. No need to jeopardize that.

“Thanks, Spike. You’re all heart.”

He chuckled. “Anytime, dude. Want me to do anything special to keep your room tidy?”

Link shook his head. He was always tidy. His room was immaculate. He believed that was what won Rarity over so quickly with him. Apparently, Sweetie Belle was the opposite of organized.

“Hinka, are you ready?”

He turned his attention to Twilight and turned partially to show her the bag over his shoulder. She smiled and beckoned him to her side.

“Goodbye, everypony! We’ll see you in a few days!”

Link waved over his shoulder, but paused and slowly lowered his hand.

Next to the door, there was a bug-horse shaped hole in the wall.

Link’s familiarity with technology only increased the longer he stayed in Equestria. He was amazed by most of the things the ponies built, though he also remained stuck in his own ways. He disliked TV but didn’t mind the radio. He enjoyed the air conditioner but saw little need for portable phones.

He was very supportive of the use of trains for transportation. It beats the use of teleportation and your own two feet.

Link had never used the train before, but he had been introduced to them shortly after Twilight took him in. He wondered how long it would have taken him to get to Hyrule Castle Town from Kokiri Village if he used a train.

The train that was in the station was shining like a new rupee. It was well built and black with gold trimmings. The carriages were two stories, with Twilight pointing out the sleeper cars.

“We won’t need a sleeper car today, but you’re welcome to nap if you want.”

She smiled down at him. “I’ll wake you when they bring dinner.”

He looked up at her curiously. “Dinner? Does it have to stop somewhere?”

She shook her head. “They have a kitchen on board. This is the most luxurious train in Equestria. It’s also quite expensive, but money’s no issue.”

Twilight had, in the past, off handedly mentioned to him that her family was one of the wealthiest in Canterlot even before she became a princess. She wasn’t bragging so much as trying to convince him that his allowance wasn’t excessive, so stop trying to get her to lay off.¹⁰

There were many ponies around them at this station. By now, Link had been seen around town so often, even the most stubborn of the ponies had let go of their suspicions of him. He was on the receiving end of many friendly smiles and waves. He felt a smile pull at his lips somewhat. Ponyville was a lot more accepting of him than Kokiri Village was. They saw him as a friend. They saw him as a normal(ish) child.

They saw him as another pony.

He would never admit it to himself, but he was beginning to enjoy his time in Equestria. Sure, there was a chance that it was Stockholm Syndrome, but you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

He enjoyed the company he kept more so than being there, come to think of it. If he hadn’t made any friends, he doubted he’d be happy.

Heh. Happiness. In his darkest hours, he wondered if he’d ever be happy again. He disliked how it felt to wallow, though, so he made a promise to himself long ago to never mope and feel sorry for himself. He was alive, most of his enemies were not, and he always had the venerable Goddesses.

Someone blew a whistle and he jolted. Twilight guided him onto the train by her side. At the doors, a well-dressed stallion bowed to her.

“Good evening, your highness. Do you have your ticket?”

She reached into her bags with her magic and pulled out two, then moved aside slightly so he could see Link. His eyes widened slightly.

“Ah! Your highness, I believe there’s a mix up.”

She tilted her head. “Huh? This is the Excess Express train to Canterlot, right?”

“Yes, but you have two passenger tickets here.”

Twilight blinked confusedly. “Yes, one for me and one for Hinka.”

She gestured at the boy with her wing. The other ponies around the station started to look their way.

“I can get you the proper pet’s ticket. It’ll be kept safe among the other passengers’ animals during the trip. Pets are not permitted to sit in the passenger cab. They tend to make messes.”

Link had been mistaken for many things before. He’d been mistaken for one of Ganondorf’s minions, he’d been mistaken for an accomplished fisherman, he’d been mistaken for a Goron, Deku, Zora, Zelda, a stone, a bush, a grasshopper, and even a big green eagle by a drunk highwayman.

He had never once been mistaken for a pet before. He mentally added that one to the list. Fortunately, Link had been called pretty much every mean thing under the sun both during his journeys and before. He learned a long time ago that if he answered every slight, he’d never get anything done, so he compartmentalized.

If he wanted your opinion, he’d beat it out of you. If he didn’t want your opinion, he wouldn’t listen to what you said. He’d already half-forgotten what the stallion had called him when he learned that Twilight cared very much for insults. She cared more about insults directed towards him than he did. She took a step closer to the stallion.

“What did you just say?” she asked.

The stallion didn’t pick up on the venom in her words.

“Next time you ride with your pet, you should get a ticket for the pet cab. They’re as decadent as the rest of our cabs, but better suited for animals.”

She jabbed a hoof in his chest. “Now, you listen here! He is a legal Equestrian citizen just like you or me. I got him that ticket because he’s a passenger. Your job is to let us board as we have valid tickets and reason to be here!”

The stallion appeared to be alarmed. He needed to choose his next words carefully. He was dealing with a royal.

“Eh, of course Princess Twilight! No offense intended. I just feel that it might be more comfortable among its own…”

He trailed off when he saw the look on Twilight’s face. Link could swear he saw flames beginning to lick at her wings. He took a step back from her.

“I will not say this again: Hinka is an Equestrian Citizen. He may not be a pony, but he’s not a pet! He is a friend! He is a citizen!”

She got right up in his grill.

“He is my boy!” she shouted. “Now, punch these tickets and let us through!”

The stallion, shaking, did as he was told. There were more eyes on him than just hers and Hinka’s. Many of the other ponies were scowling at him; they had heard everything. He ushered them aboard and offered an apology to Twilight. She shook her head and led Hinka away to their seats.

Something about Twilight and her friends made him associate certain alcoholic beverages with each.

Applejack must like cider, given her rampant apple addiction.

Rainbow Dash struck him as someone who would enjoy a good old-fashioned beer.

Fluttershy? Drink? Please.

Pinkie probably had a fondness for vodka or maybe she mainlined battery acid.

Rarity? Wine. Easy.

Twilight struck him as another teetotaler.

He learned quickly that he was dead wrong.

Applejack liked cider, but she loved a good wine. Even then, she didn’t shy away from trying other things. When he asked her about her preference, she made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t having a drop until he was an adult. He made it abundantly clear in turn that he wasn’t even remotely interested in drinking the stuff anyway. He tried a sip of vodka courtesy of Tatl once and that was enough for him.

Rainbow Dash drank cider on occasion, but it was always alcohol free. He asked her one day and she simply told him she didn’t like the taste of alcohol.

Rarity was the beer drinker. Link was stunned by that revelation.

Fluttershy preferred rum and mentioned she acquired a taste for it in the army.

Pinkie liked tequila. She had a drinking hat that read “1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor” across the front.

Twilight, on the other hand, enjoyed bourbon and scotch. Not at the same time. She drank bourbon when she was feeling stressed about something and scotch when she was angry or upset.

None of the girls, however, drank to excess. They only drank for special occasions or for parties.¹¹

The train had just started moving and neither he nor Twilight said a word to one another. He was in the window seat, and she was in the aisle seat. An attendant had come down the aisle and took drink orders. Twilight requested a scotch for herself and milk for him.

He hadn’t looked out the window too much yet. His eyes were all but glued to Twilight. The mare he lived with the most. The one who had taught him the lion’s share of Equish. The one who he did errands for, ate with, played occasional games with, who he calmed when she was agitated and was calmed by when he had his flashbacks.

She called him her boy. Just like Spike. She’d never done that before. She had been plenty kind to him since they met, but he never knew just how much he had grown to mean to her in the months since his arrival.

Yet, the signs were there.

She always made sure he was fed; she dressed his wounds if he got hurt near her. She took him to the doctor and took care of him when he got sick. She comforted him when he was hurting, scolded him when he did something wrong, and praised him when he did something right. When something was bothering him and he managed to work up the confidence to bring words to it, she would drop whatever she was doing just to listen to him.

He didn’t even realize it until now: He had two moms if you don’t count Navi. When the hell did that happen?

Ponies, man.

He reached a hand out to her for a moment but hesitated. What if she meant something else? What if she did indeed consider him family, but not in the way he had construed it? What if he was walking into a potentially embarrassing conversation?

Past Link would have probably just kept his mouth shut, but present Link, though he was still very reserved and quiet, would actually open his mouth and say something unprompted now. He really had changed since he got here.

He tapped her arm gently instead of using his words. Okay, maybe he hadn’t changed all that much.

Twilight looked down at him with a smile.

“Hi! How are you feeling about the train so far, Hinka?”

He shrugged. She tilted her head.

“Still need time to take it in, don’t you? That makes sense. If you start feeling nauseous or anything let me know. I know a few counter motion sickness spells, and most of them don’t even turn you into a plant.”

His silence made her smile fade slightly. “Is something wrong?”

He cleared his throat and shook his head. “What you said to that stallion before we got on the train.”

Anger flashed across her features, but it faded. “Yes, and I hope you know that none of us think of you as anything less than a citizen. You are an equal here. You’re nopony’s pet.”

“No, what you told him.”

She was quiet for a moment. “What I told him? What did I say?”

Link sighed. She was going to make him say it, however unintentionally.

“You called me your boy.”

Recognition flashed across Twilight’s face, and she blushed slightly and looked away. “Oh! Of course, that. Yes, I call Spike the same thing. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

He shook his head. “It didn’t make me uncomfortable. It felt nice.”

She looked at him again, and he turned his head to the window. He had an idea why it was making him so emotional.

“It’s new to me, I guess. I mean, I’ve been called something like that before when Navi was with me. Saria was good at making me feel like I belonged. So did Tatl, in her own way. So did Neki, Darmani, and Mikau.”

“Neki, Darmani, and Mikau. I remember them. Who are these three to you?

He was silent as he tried to gather his words. He could have told her who Darmani and Mikau were again- he had done so a few nights after he told her about Neki. That wasn’t what she asked, though. She asked who they were to him. Nobody ever asked questions like that before he got here.

“They felt like different kinds of brothers,” he said after a few moments. “Neki was like a little brother. Innocent. Darmani was like a brother in arms, and Mikau a brother in guardianship.”

She smiled at him and rubbed his hand gently. “I think Spike’s starting to look up to you in much the same way as Neki.”

Link squinted. “Isn’t he older than me?”

“Yes, but you’re certainly the more mature one. Talking with you is a lot like talking with another adult…”

Twilight trailed off. His maturity was something that impressed her and the other girls greatly, but also made them feel sad. Children can be more mature than others, but what kind of children are as mature as Hinka?

The ones who were not given a choice but to grow up before their time.

And she knew. She knew there was little chance of him becoming a normal child. He seemed to pride himself on his reserved nature, and that was okay.

Strange as it was, she sometimes wished he would go against her desires, or those of the girls. Misbehave a little, be a kid. Spike did it enough that he could have written a book on the topic. Hinka? If somepony asked him to jump, his response would be, “How high?” She wanted him to do his chores, but also to be himself.

She was happy that he always spent his free time doing something instead of wasting away in the castle. He loved going outside. She’d never seen him watch TV or play the game console she got Spike last Hearthswarming. Pinkie had asked him about his gaming preferences (she was good at Mareio Party), but he expressed disinterest in them. He was very stuck in his own ways. He was a lot like her brother in that regard.

She moved her arm around his shoulders, and he cuddled closer to her and rested his head against her. She wrapped her wing around him with a smile.

Whatever his flaws were, or whatever she wished she would see him do, she still cared about him. She cared for him just like she cared for Spike. Nothing was going to change that. She liked him just the way he was.

She noticed that his eyes were drooping. He loved his naps. Must have been why Rainbow thought so highly of him.

“Sleep well, Hinka,” she whispered. “I’ll let you know when dinner comes.”

She hesitated a moment, then took a page from Fluttershy’s book.

She gave him a kiss on the head. “I love you.”

She wasn’t sure if he replied, or what he said if he had, but that was okay.

Everything was okay.

End of Chapter

Author's Notes:

1- Stalchildren are not necessarily evil creatures so much as they are playful spirits using their status of undeath as a chance to play games with passersby. Sometimes their games hurt.

2- A mix of plants and dried meat, occasionally with berries added to it that is a staple of any Kokirian household for use in emergencies. Tastes a bit like greasy beef jerky. When prepared correctly, keeps for 1 to 5 years. Offal wasn't supposed to smell, which made Link think that he was carrying around a weapon of bioterrorism more so than an emergency ration.

3- To relish in this dish, one must first understand Kokirian culture.

4- The Garos Hood can partially displace the wearer such that he or she can walk normally, but can do battle with the spirits of nearby Garos Warriors. Use of the hood can leave users with valuable intel, but only if they defeat the Garos Warrior spirit in combat. If the Warrior wins, the user will die. The spirit of one such warrior had its ethereal blade pressed to Link’s jugular while his hand hovered over the hood.

5- “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life, freely. – Revelation 21:6

6- Kokiri Forest had an occasional bear problem, but the children of the trees knew well how to deal with them nonviolently. Link encountered his first black bear when he was 4.

7- Though she didn’t like to brag about it, Tatl was a remarkable spellcaster. When Link described her ability to manipulate a spell she had never cast previously on the fly to Twilight, the alicorn wondered if Tatl could have outmatched her in a magical duel.

8- Tatl bet Link toward the beginning of their journey that she would pull her weight more so than any other fairy besides healing fairies. As much as he loved Navi, she was an intellectual more so than a hands-on partner.

9- Funerary structures found commonplace throughout Termina. The structure above is usually a house of worship or a simple living quarter for undertakers. The halls contain Termina’s deceased. The largest is below Clock Town. It extends in so many different directions that it’s very possible to get lost in one of them and never find your way out. That was the fate of the original Bomber 6.

10- Twilight elected not to tell Link about the morbidly obese bank account she opened in his name for when he turned 18.

11- They had a drinking contest once sans Rainbow long before Link arrived. Fluttershy drank all of them under the table and wasn’t even buzzed at the end of it. The mare could drink.

I think this chapter was cursed but not in the way they usually are. It was fun to write anyway between everything I've had going.

See you next chapter, I hope.

Sleepless Nights And Speechless Angels

by thelegendarytoothpaste

Prologue

Enter The Dragon

Flitter Flutter Pitter Patter

The Screams of Lonely Souls

A Haggler, a Pegasus, and a Mute

Super Hinka Sunshine

Slow Turning

Respite Fit For A Hero

Hinka Gets Shot By The Sheriff (Or, The Doctor Vs. Alien Kid)

Dear Hearts and Gentle People

Dear Hearts and Gentle Ponies

Storm of Songs

Everything is Cool

Mask of the Red Death

Of Deities and Mortals

Eyes Wide Shut

Soldier, Poet, King

Crazy as a Loon

4 Hours of Excess