Chapters Rarity was finally in her bed. It had been a long day. She woke up yet again in a panic at the smell of smoke, which she should have known was Sweetie Belle in the kitchen. After forcing down her sister's semi edible quisine, she went to work on her dresses. As it were, an important event was coming up in Ponyville, and many ponies were coming to her shop for dresses.
It was a long day for Rarity as she sewed, and cut pieces to sew with. She didn't complain one bit, and felt very proud of it. So, around noon, she flipped the sign for her shop to closed and went to Sugarcube Corner, and it was thirty minutes of talk with Pinkie Pie before her growling stomach reminded her to order something to eat. Munching on her muffin as she walked back, the most unruly little colt splashed her hooves as he ran by, getting them filthy with dirt and debris from plants.
She grumbled to herself as she walked back to Carousel Botique, ready to wash her hooves and get on with the day her patience was running out for. Upon walking in, she was greeted by a large mess left by three fillies she decided she wasn't in the mood to call out for it. Instead, she cleaned it, and then her hooves, and then got back to work.
She was now hungry from all of the cleaning, and instead of walking all the way back out again, she raided her fridge, making a daisy sandwich. Eating took the edge off of her nerves, and she got back to making dresses, along with the suit for the occasional stallion. Some of them were quite charming. None single though. Not that she minded. She was fine here, with her job and her sister.
Eventually, toward closing time, a pony walked in that she was very familiar with. Fluttershy had come to ask why Rarity had missed her day off. (If- If she was willing to tell. She didn't have to...) Rarity hadn't realized! She looked at her calendar and sure enough, it was Sunday. She had gone to work on a Sunday! She was flustered by this, but held it in, not wanting to explode in front of Fluttershy. The anger at her own mistake gave way to a melancholy. Eventually, after talking, Fluttershy left. Rarity was just tired at this point, but it was only seven. And somepony had to cook dinner.
She carefully perfected all of the ingredients, placed the food perfectly, and called Sweetie Belle down for dinner. She was surprised when two other fillies came down with her. How had they been so quiet?! Turns out, they had tried to get thier cutie marks in being quiet. She asked what the cutie mark would look like for a pony whose talent was being quiet, and Scootaloo said hopefully a ninja.
Rarity at that point told them all that being quiet might make for a decent talent, tricking them all into being quiet once again. Then, she finished her meal, locked her doors, put the rather restless fillies in Sweetie Belle's room, called the family members of the two visitors to tell them about thier whereabouts, and finally walked up to her room. Her bed.
Sweet, warm welcoming bed, begging her to go to sleep. She was practically begging along with it. She wriggled under the covers as carefully and precisely as possible, and here she was! Bed. Time to sleep. As sleep took her, she could practically feel herself falling into a warm embrace. It was relaxing. She calmly turned from her side to her back and smiled as the bed felt like nothing but air.
It felt like she had only been out a few seconds when she felt herself get dumped onto cold hard rock. It jolted her awake fast, because it hurt. She sat there a moment, slowly rolling over as the last of sleep left her, and inhaled a sharp breath as she rubbed a newly forming bump on the back of her head. Luckily, her mane hid it. She stood up, shook her head, and opened her eyes, expecting to see Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, or some other trickster.
Instead, she opened her eyes to a sky the color of bronze with no sun. Black and red clouds dotted it and it got darker as she looked up, more golden the closer to the horizon things got. It was like sunset all around her.
"Hello?" She called, wary of her surroundings "Where am I?" She turned to a sound in a forest of dead trees behind her, and was met by a giant pig faced bipedal creature in armor holding a spear. It walked towards her, menacingly, and she backed up, getting ready to bolt.
* * *
It just so happened that a certain young man had woken up in the light world, donned his hat, and was setting out to the dark world to further his dangerous quest. He looked in his mirror, and bang. He was there.
"Here we are! The dark world!" he said to himself, before something white caught his eye. At first he thought it was that wierd demon guy kicking around the white ball guy again. Instead, he saw a Moblin holding a terrified looking pony by the tail. She was screaming and her legs were running in the air as the creature gently poked her side with it's magic returning spear. Not cool!
So he kicked his whirlwind boots into high gear and sprinted at supersonic speed, slashing the moblin as he went by. It dropped the pony, now severely wounded, and dull as it was, didn't even see Link go by. Now enraged, it picked the pony up in it's hand, brought her to it's face and growled as she screamed and struggled.
* * *
Rarity was fully freaked out now. Something had just made this thing mad, and it was mad at her for it. As it snarled and brought her closer to it's face, she shut her eyes and prepared for the worst, right as it's growl cut off. They both looked down to see the tip of a sword poking through it's belly. It looked back up, seeming stunned, before bursting into ash.
She was coated in the stuff! she tried to wipe it off, but it was warm and clung to her, and, and...
"UUUUGGGgghhhhhh!" she exclaimed as she started to freak out.
* * *
Link sat there watching akwardly as the pony freaked out on the ground, trying to wipe the ashes off of herself.
"It only comes off with water, you know." at this, the pony froze and stared up at him. At first, she looked curious. Then suspicious. Then she stared with disgust at his hat.
"What in CELESTIA are you wearing on your head?"
Link picked her up, took her back to the light world, and washed her off in the nearest stream, much to her protest.
"My mane, you'll ruin my mane!-" Splash, "-Stop that! Oh my, how am I to curl it here?-" Splash, "-I said stop!" He did. "Put me down this instant, you ruffian!" Ruffian? Link had never considered himself a ruffian. That statement hurt. He gently set her down, and sat down, quietly staring at her. "What is wrong with you?"
That did it. "Nothing is wrong with me, stop complaining! First you insult my lucky hat, then you get mad at me for helping you wash off that ash, and then something is wrong with me? What is your problem, lady?"
"Rarity is my name, not 'Lady.' Please, refer to me as Rarity and stop whining!"
Link's voice got higher pitched and more nasal as he stuck his chin up in defiance. "THIS is WHINING! Oh, I saved you by killing that monster, how RUUDE! Why are you yelling at me, it's giving me a headache, I want to go home but I'm an outlaw, oh, woe is me, I have it SOO hard!"
Rarity was about to make a comeback when suddenly she paused. She had said something a lot like that once. His manner of speech right there reminded her of her. "I think we got off on the wrong hoof. Hello sir, my name is Rarity. Thank you for saving me." She used her magic to carefully dry off and style her mane. It wasn't perfect, but it worked.
"You can use magic! A magic pony!" He looked at her flank. "There are three rupees on your haunch! Were you sent by the goddesses to aid me in my quest to kill the dark lord Ganondorf?"
Rarity struck a face. "Huh?"
The perks of having a rupee detector
"So where is this Ganondorf fellow. Don't you think killing him seems a bit barbaric?"
"As barbaric as his goal to capture power from the goddesses to rule the land with an iron fist for eternity as king of the thieves?"
"Well, when you put it that way..."
"He used Aghanim, his closest follower, and let him die. He caused seven innocent maidens to be buried, alone, in the dark world, so he could open the gate to the dark world and let the darkness run rampant under only his control. He doesn't care for anyone but himself, and the only way to stop him will be to get the triforce before him. Coincidentally, it's probably the only way to get you back to your world as well."
"Oh." Rarity didn't want to be on the subject of Ganondorf any more. He sounded horrible. Suddenly, her magic picked up on something. It was a gem! She quickly felt around with her magic, and found it in a grass pile. She started to tug, but couldn't get it loose.
"What is it?"
"There's... A gem under here somewhere. If I can just move. This. Grass!... I can get to it."
"Here. Let me help." Link dug his sword into the ground, and uprooted the grass, and an armor clad warrior jumped out, surprising Rarity enough to magically shoot the rupee out of the hole, right through his helmet and head, causing ash to explode over both Rarity and Link. Rarity coughed as she hyperventilated, inhaling some ash.
"What was that all about?! How did he hide in there?! UGGHHhh! This ash is all over me again, it feels so WIERD."
"They hide like that a lot. Especially around Hyrule Castle. All monsters explode into that ash too. How did you know there was a rupee under there?"
"I can find gems with magic." Rarity huffed, slightly annoyed at Link's indifference to her surprise and disgust. That knight could have killed her, and now she was dirty!
"No need to get mad. I had your back."
"Oh?"
"Yeah." he sheathed his sword. "Come on. We're not far from a town where we can wash up and buy some supplies... If we have enough rupees." He jumped as Rarity used magic to make rupees burst from the ground all around them.
"Will this be enough?" She asked, "Because I've sucked this area dry."
After a moment of regaining his breath and ability to speak, he said "Yeah. That'll do. Now I know why you have rupees on your haunch."
They went to town and washed up in a small pond that Link called the fairy spring. The water appeared clean even after they washed off all of the ash, and it healed them both too. Afterwards, they went to the town of Kakariko, which was more of a village. Rarity couldn't find the shop.
"You don't read Hylian?" Link asked.
"I just got here."
"Right."
They went to the library, Link got an alphabet book, and simply walked out.
"Don't you need to check that out first?" Rarity asked.
"No." Link said. Rarity had no choice but to follow as he walked off without an explanation. Then, they went to the shop, and Link got red potions and food for both of them. They walked down the street, and someone suddenly yelled, alerting patrolling knights to Link's presence.
"Uh oh. Run!"
"You mean you weren't kidding when you said you were an outlaw?!"
"No, I wasn't kidding!"
"I'm in league with a criminal!"
"Oh, just run!" They both did, and finally had to stop, surrounded by guards. Link swung his sword, shooting a bolt of energy out at a knight, stunning him. Soon, they were surrounded.
"Duck, Rupee Haunch!" Rarity glared at Link, annoyed by this nickname, but ducked. With a yell, Link powerfully swung in a circle, instantly knocking back and vaporizing all the knights. Rarity watched as the whirlwind of ash slowly dissapated, almost like mist, for once not coating her.
"That was quite the technique!"
"I love the spin attack." Link said, and then handed Rarity the book. "Study up. In the meantime, know where any rupees are? I want to fill my wallet so we have plenty of food money!"
Dark waters and beautiful swords
"There it is!" Rarity said. What would have been a day's travel to the southern swamps of Hyrule had taken just a few minutes using Link's whirlwind boots. And now Rarity was staring at an old looking stone building that almost seemed like the head of some swamp dwelling beast.
"Good eye, Rupee Haunch!"
"I told you already, my name is Rarity!"
"Well excuuuse me! Now, how are we going to get to that... We're across the river from it." He jumped as there was a sudden flash on his right shoulder. Rarity, who was over his shoulder, was replaced by a little glitter and appeared on the other side of the river with a flash of the same color and more glitter.
"Swim across, I'll help you up this bank... Well, once you get past the mud, I mean."
Link looked down at his boots. "Well... I kinda..." His voice trailed off, and he muttered something Rarity couldn't hear.
"Say again?" He replied with more muttering. "Oh, come now, speak up." This time he was a little louder.
"Say it one more time. Just a bit louder."
"I can't swim!" Link yelled before sitting on the ground and sulking. Rarity was taken aback by his sudden hostility, but at the same time she had to stifle a giggle. Of course, water was the chosen one's weakness.
"Well then we'll just have to find a bridge, huh?" she teleported back to him. "That shouldn't be too hard, right?"
Link was sitting there, hugging his knees to his chest, and only responded with a sad, slightly angry "Hmm..." Rarity pressed her head against his side, gently pushing him.
"Cheer up, Link. It's not too big a deal. There's always another way to get past a river." He glared for a moment before his look softened.
"You're right, Rupee Haunch..." He got up, smiled at her, and started to walk. Despite her annoyance, she followed. At least he had a reason for this silly nickname. It wasn't random and stupid. His reasoning made sense. She looked back at the temple.
She sure didn't want to go into a dusty old dungeon filled with traps and monsters, but she would if it would get her home. The day was spent walking along the river. The countryside was beautiful. Hyrule was a wonderful place. A warm breeze blew gently through the air, making the temperature just right. If not for the monsters, the rugged and extremely filthy wilderness, and the looming threat of Ganondorf, Rarity might like this place. She looked behind her as they got up to the top of a hill and saw a large white castle, small in the distance.
"What's that?"
"That's Hyrule castle, the home of the royal family." Suddenly they were mobbed by knights. Rarity evaded their attacks, and watched as Link finished them all off. He didn't seem to mind, and gave his sword a little flourish when the battle was done before putting it away. It's look caught Rarity's eye for the first time. She didn't generally pay much attention to weapons, but this sword! The purple crossguard was accented perfectly by a gold gem at the base of the blade, and it was shaped into a pair of elegant yet robust curved wings.
The blade itself was elegantly curved to the wickedly sharp tip, and seemed thicker than most she had seen. A crest, three triangles forming a larger triangle, was near the base. It seemed to shimmer in the light.
"Your sword is beautiful."
"It's the master sword. The blade of evil's bane. No wicked things can touch it without harm."
"May I see?"
"Sure." Link said as he passively tossed the sword over his shoulder. Rarity watched the thing go point first through her chest and froze in shock, only mildly aware of her own shrill scream. She turned to the sword now behind her, then back to Link.
"What was that for?!"
"You wanted to see."
"Not like that! You could have killed me!"
"Are you evil?"
"Well... No."
"Then you had nothing to worry about." He picked the sword up and sheathed it, then started to walk off. After a while, they found a bridge, and crossed after defeating some patrolling knights. Then, they turned and followed the bank, going back towards the temple. Finally, it got dark, and they had to stop. Link used a lantern to start a fire with some wood he chopped. Then, he sat down.
"So... Today was fun." Rarity said.
"Sure was."
"What will happen in the swamp temple?"
"No idea. This is my first time going."
"You're dragging us both into a dangerous dungeon without the slightest idea what will happen? That's so reckless! We could both die!"
"Part of this quest is learning to not let things worry you. If they do, you'll stress."
"Fair enough." She laid down near the heat of the fire, and slowly went to sleep.
Rarity had been right. The swamp temple was old and dusty and full of cobwebs and just all around gross. They walked in, and then crossed a bridge before walking into a room sectioned into three parts with two levers on the far side. Some strange thing was flying around, bouncing off the walls. Link casually sprinkled dust on it and it became a fairy that floated away after healing them both. Not that Rarity needed it. Link had done all the work.
Link pulled one lever, and things fell from the ceiling. Curiosity took over Rarity and she went to look at one. That was the first time on this quest that she was hurt. The object exploded, knocking her into a barrier. Her coat was singed, and she was bruised, but even worse, the blast had ruined her mane! As it were though, she was too busy picking herself up off of the ground to worry about that just yet.
"Wrong one. Sorry." Link said to a rather annoyed Rarity as he pulled the right one, causing a nearby canal to flood.
"What did it do?"
"It flooded the whole place. Oh no... Water..."
"Don't you worry. There'll be a way around it."
Sure enough, the bridge was still there. They walked across. Rarity was confused. There were only two rooms! That was, until Link grabbed her and looked into a mirror. They were both in the sunset world Rarity had been found in. After killing two moblins and a plant creature that hopped around snapping it's jaws, they went back inside. The situation here was even worse! No bridge! Defeated, Link brought them back to the light world, and sulked.
"How am I supposed to do anything?"
"Cheer up. I'm sure there's a way around it. You know, for now we should probably go back to town and get more supplies. Especially more potions."
"Why potions?"
Rarity chose that moment to bring her current post-bomb condition. "Because I hurt and I'm all singed and look at my mane!"
"Alright, alright, let's go." With that, Link picked Rarity up, and ran on his whirlwind boots back to Kakariko. He was almost there when He tripped over a small white feathery mass, kicking it hard. The chicken-like creature stared at them both, and looked very angry.
"Oh no. Rupee Haunch, you need to run for the nearest building." A cloud of dust was coming over the horizon. "I'llmeetbackupwithyoulatergetinsidenowbye!" With that, Link ran screaming away from the chicken. Rarity was confused until suddenly she was being swarmed by a gigantic crowd of angry chickens pecking her to death.
"OW! Owowowowow!" Rarity began to run as the swarm intensified. She couldn't see much in the whirlwind of white feathers, and was running when she ran into a building. Quickly she ran inside.
She sat there regaining her breath, not yet noticing the hooded figure behind a crystal ball.
"Can I help you, miss?"
Rarity jumped, not expecting more noise. She would stay quiet if there was a storm of ticked off chickens outside.
"Sorry?"
"Can I help you? I can tell your fortune. I'll make it cheap. Say, twenty rupees?"
The statement took her out of her trancelike state. She found it rather odd that shops owned by... Whatever these were would just accept ponies as paying customers. It wasn't like Rarity didn't have twenty rupees though. And, after a traumatic experience at the feathers of fowl, she didn't see a problem with taking her mind off of things. So she took out twenty rupees and gave it to him.
He looked into the crystal ball. "Hmm... Quite the destiny you have ahead of you. Two worlds tied together by hoof and hand alike. A great journey by two shared. One wanting home, the other wanting not to be scared."
"What does that mean?"
The guy was silent.
"Hello?"
Still nothing.
"Sir, are you alright?"
Still, no answer, so she checked outside. The swarm of chickens had long since disappeared, so she went out. Time to find Link.
The solution and the flute
For the first time since arriving in Hyrule, Rarity was alone. And she was hurt because of those chickens. How had they swarmed like that? She decided to forget it and started to look for the shop that sold potions, after pulling up a rather large red rupee. She couldn't remember where the shop was though, so really she was just wandering around the town, annoyed by the fact that she couldn't read Hylian.
Then, she decided to just try a building. She found one surrounded by that hard to pull grass. Great. She started trying to uproot the grass, and finally just threw her rupee in frustration with magic. It cut through a whole line of grass, opening a path for her, before embedding itself in a window in the front of the building. Rarity rolled her eyes at her blunder, and pulled up more rupees so she could pay for the damage before walking inside.
But as soon as she entered, the window was fixed.
"Why hello. I haven't seen you here before. Sorry about my yard. It's a bit overgrown."
Rarity stared at him critically. "A bit?"
"Yeah, I've been meaning to get out there and pull those weeds. Thanks for visiting, Ms..."
"Rarity."
"Rarity! What a nice name. I'm always glad to have company to talk to. Would you like to hear an interesting story, Ms. Rarity?"
It was refreshing to be called by her name. He had her attention because of it. She sat down. "Sure."
"Alright. At the source of this river, far up and very hard to find, is a lake swimming with zoras."
"Zoras?"
"A race of waterfaring beings. It is said that they guard a very interesting treasure capable of turning people into fish."
Rarity giggled. "That sure would be interesting."
"That's what I'm saying!"
"I bet it would be very easy for somepony-"
"Somebody?"
"Oh, yes. SomeBODY could probably easily swim if they were a fish."
"I suppose you're right."
Rarity was sitting there, about to say something else, when she thought about the statement before instead. It could help a person swim. Link needed to swim to be able to beat the water temple! Of course!
"I need to find Link! Thank you for the story!"
"Any time, Rarity." With that, she ran out and found the yard once again covered in that pesky grass! She didn't have time for all that, so she teleported across it. Where was Link, anyway? Where had he run to? She was running to the first exit she saw, which happened to be the southern one.
She ran past a bunch of buildings, maneuvering around small cliffs, and finally couldn't go forward any more. A guard saw her.
"Stop! You have been associated with the outlaw Link, the kidnapper of Princess Zelda! You are to be apprehended immediately for questioning!" Rarity picked up her speed, running from the knight, and teleported past some tall grass to hide in a thicket. She heard music.
"Link? Link!"
She whirled, ran in the direction of the sound, and found a sight that transfixed her. It was a boy in green who at first looked like Link, but not quite. He was playing something that sounded like a flute, and was surrounded by animals. The sight reminded her of Fluttershy. Her throat caught with the thought of her friend, but she knew she had to carry on if she wanted to get home, so she walked forward.
"Hello?" she said as she got close. Suddenly the boy disappeared with a strange humming noise and the animals scattered in surprise. "What did I do? Where did you all go?" Upon getting no answer, she left the grove. She kept walking the direction she had been going, and saw a house, and outside was a green conical piece of cloth with a yellow band. But a knight that was right there spotted her.
"Stop! You have been associated with the outlaw Link, the kidnapper of-"
"I know, I know!" Rarity said as she dodged him and ran inside, picking up his hat in the process. "Link!" she yelled as she ran in, startling him.
"HAH!" he yelled as he swung around, swiping his sword, but it went through her harmlessly. "Oh. There you are, Rupee Haunch!"
His hair was a complete mess! It was wacky, like he had just gotten out of bed.
"Welcome to my house!"
After a moment of staring in shock at the mess atop his head, Rarity spoke. "Put your hat back on!"
Time passed as they both explained what had happened after the swarm of chickens- no, Link had said they were cuccos- attacked.
"And then I came to this grove." Rarity said, "And there was a boy playing the flute and all these animals were around him. When I got too close, he disappeared and the animals ran off."
"You found flute boy? His father lives in Kakariko village. Very sad about his son's disappearance. Can you show me the spot?"
"Sure." They walked over after Link defeated the knight that was outside. He quickly sliced through the foliage and they entered the grove, and there was the boy again. Link walked up, and the boy disappeared with that strange hum as the animals scattered.
"I know that sound." Link said as he pulled out his mirror. "I make that sound whenever we go to the dark world."
"Well? Let's go now and see what's going on!"
"Okay, okay." He picked Rarity up and used the mirror. They appeared in front of the same stump, but there was a very sad looking creature on it.
"After wandering into this world," it said without any provocation, "I was changed into this shape. Back in my world, I played my beloved flute day and night. There was a small grove there where the animals would gather when I played."
"That was you?" Rarity asked.
"Yes. I would love to see that place again. Before I came here I buried my flute there along with some flower seeds. Will you try to find it for me?"
Rarity opened her mouth, but it was Link that spoke. "We will." he said. The creature seemed to revive a little, and pulled out a shovel.
"Then I will lend you my shovel. Good luck!" With that, he handed the shovel to Link.
"We don't really need a sho-" Link covered Rarity's mouth.
"Thank you." He said to the creature as Rarity pulled his hand off of her mouth.
"Why don't you come with us?" Rarity asked.
"Did you find my flute?... Please keep looking for it." he replied.
"Come on, Rupee Haunch." Link said, "We should go find that flute." They warped back to the light world.
"We can't just leave him, Link!"
"He didn't care. He was dying."
Rarity got quiet. "What?"
"He isn't going to last. The most we can do is make him happy. I want to save him too, but... He's gone already. He's just holding on for one last song." Rarity sat down, staring wide eyed at the bare stump in the middle of the grove. "Can you help me find his flute?" he gently asked as he sat down and put a hand on her back. She slowly nodded, and then found it, in the northwest corner of the grove. It was blue and bulbous, more an ocarina than a flute. Rarity slowly handed it to Link.
"Thank you." he quietly said. "Want to stay behind?" She shook her head. Link nodded, reassuringly grabbed her hoof, and they teleported.
They walked up to the creature and Link handed him the flute.
"Thank you... But it looks like I can't play my flute any more." he let out a sad sigh. "Please take it." Rarity's eyes began to water. "If by chance you go to the village I used to live in, please give it to a tired old man you will find there... Well, my mind is getting Hazy." Rarity's eyes watered more. "Please let me hear the sound of the flute one more time."
"Of course." Link said as he pulled out the flute and started to play. It was a slow, sad song. Rarity finally started to cry as the creature gradually turned into a tree.
Rarity was still recovering from the shock and sadness of everything. After they finished playing the flute for Flute Boy one last time, they took it to his father. Luckily, Link knew who that was. Flute Boy's father let Link keep the flute. Now, after checking for guards, they were walking through town square together, and at this moment they were passing a bird statue that showed north, south, east, and west. Rarity opened her mouth and was stunned when her voice cracked.
"Link?"
"Yeah?"
"What other songs can you play on that flute?"
"Hmm... I don't know. I could improvise, I guess." He started to play the flute again, and they both jumped when his improvised song made the statue break. "I cracked it!" he yelled, and was going to start digging through his wallet to pay for expenses when the statue shattered, revealing a large white bird. It spread it's wings, screeched, and stared down at the two.
"What is that?" Rarity asked. She knew from experience that large taloned flying things were not to be messed with for the most part. Link was awestruck.
"It's a loftwing! Way back, before Hylians settled Hyrule, knights rode these things into battle! Wow, look at him!" he said, and then he chuckled.
"He's beautiful." Rarity replied. The loftwing had blue on the tips of his feathers, sky blue eyes, black talons, and his bill and legs were yellow. Other than that, he was white, about the same shade as Princess Celestia. Link probably wouldn't know that though. He walked forward, carefully trying not to scare the creature. He held out his hand to touch the bird, and it screeched again and flew away, battering them both with wind from it's wings.
"I was hoping I would get to ride him." Link said. "The flute brought him back to life. I wonder if he would respond to it. Maybe I could use it to call him." He played it again, and the bird, already small in the sky, turned and swooped down, grabbing Link, who just barely managed to grab Rarity. The bird was pumping it's wings in deep, powerful and fast strokes. They were dreadfully high in seconds. Rarity screamed.
"Don't worry! I've got you!" Link yelled, struggling to be heard over the wind. He did have her. That wasn't a lie. But the joy of flight got to the loftwing. With a happy screech, it did a corkscrew in the air, making Link lose his grip on Rarity. At first, she didn't realize she was falling. Then she felt the wind, realized what was happening, and screamed. She had enough sense to put a magic barrier on herself, and it became a cone shaped shield of light, reminding her of the spell the changelings used to survive their fall from the sky when they invaded Canterlot. She landed in a shallow stream, and the only reason she got up immediately was because the water was deep enough to submerge her when she was laying down.
She came up gasping for air, and shakily stood up to shake herself off. Before she could though, something hit her, knocking her over again and burning her. She was glad she landed in water, because the burn really hurt. She looked up just in time to see a fishlike head disappear below the water. It then popped up again, closer this time, and the rest of the creature came up as well. It walked on two legs, and had roughly the same build as a Hylian. It lumbered towards her, slower, and she realized she was cornered on a sandbar in the middle of a fast river. She pulled Rupees out of the banks, and had to use one to block a projectile from another creature. They were suddenly all around her.
She sent a rupee at high velocity through the advancing creature and ran downstream as the creatures followed her. Three popped up at once, and she had to swirl the rupees around her to block the projectiles. It was surprisingly effective. She then shot the creatures down with them. She decided to keep that technique right then, and kept running downstream, eventually reaching a large waterfall. The telltale whirlpool of a fish creature showed up past the edge of the shallow area. It was twice the size of the others. Rarity prepared herself for a fight as a large creature came out, looked at her and laughed.
"What do you want, cute little pony?" it said in a very deep voice.
"Don't come any closer!" she replied, swirling rupees around her aggressively.
"Whoa, who said I wanted to fight?"
"Well, all the others did."
"The others of my kind are still young, and hostile, and don't really recognize the value of diplomacy. Hello miss. My name is Zora. I guess, since I'm the smartest, I'm King Zora."
Rarity, although taken aback by this sudden display of politeness, still remembered enough of her etiquette to introduce herself.
"Hello, King Zora. My name is Rarity." She stacked the rupees on each other and hid them behind her back, because she really didn't need them. She was going to explain what had happened when she remembered a tale from someone in Kakariko village. "By chance, are you 'THE' zora living at the base of the waterfall that can turn people into fish?" At this, King Zora threw back his head in a hearty laugh.
"GWA ha ha ha ha! Who ever told you something so outlandish? No, I cannot turn people into fish. I am a zora, not a spellcaster. I guess, I do sell flippers that help bad swimmers get through the water easier. Figuratively, I guess that would make someone a symbolic fish."
King Zora had a point. "How much do you sell those for?"
"Five hundred rupees."
That was steep, even for a pony who could pull rupees of all shapes, sizes, and colors out of the ground, and really, she didn't have a place to keep flippers.
"King Zora, I have a friend who could really use those. Could I go get him and come back?"
"Of course, Rarity. Come back any time." With that, he dove under the water, leaving Rarity to turn around and start to make her way back to land.
* * *
Link was starting to get sick when the loftwing finally dropped him. He dizzily got up, and watched the bird happily fly up into the sky.
"Call you later! Get all of those backflips out of your system!" he shouted at it. It screeched in reply as it flew off. He looked at his surroundings, and just avoided a boulder rolling down a huge slope in front of a large volcano.
"Death mountain. Great." he said, and made a sprint for the nearest cave, dodging boulders and monsters. Finally inside, he lit his lantern and proceeded on.
The rupee swirl technique was proving to be quite effective. Rarity was finding that the crystals effectively blocked entities and projectiles alike. She had reached a bank, and thought it must be traveling west. Eventually, it turned south and she had to follow it back into the open river. The current pulled at her hooves, and made it hard for her to go, but sheer will and the need to keep to the shallows kept her rooted to the narrow path. Eventually, after quite a few short battles, and some burns, (A few shots from zoras had ricocheted past her defenses and hit her) she reached dry land, only to be attacked by pony sized crabs, while zoras continued to shoot at her.
She abandoned trying to fight the monsters and climbed the bank only to be set upon by some strange creature that kept shooting rocks with enough force to shatter one rupee at a time. She hurried past it as quickly as it could, and nearly ran into a creature that was waddling around looking like an upside down punching bag covered in ooze. There were three of the weird, slow things. She cautiously edged around them, but her tail brushed against one and she was electrocuted. She screamed and fell over, twitching for a moment before slowly regaining muscle control. Her breathing was labored and her breaths kept catching on themselves, and she felt dizzy. She practically fell down the stairs leading to a pit with nothing but two patches of grass.
She had to sit for a long time while she let her head clear. She ached all over, and wasn't keen on getting up and moving. Part of her wanted to lay there and bawl until her tear ducts were dry, but no one had said this would be easy. So, she got a hold of herself, got up, and pressed on.
Still, her stamina was low. She had to lift a pile of rocks out of the way and continue going. She was just trudging on, and had turned to her left when a voice rang out behind her.
"Stop! You have been associated with the outlaw Link, the kidnapper of Princess Zelda! You are to be apprehended immediately for questioning!"
"Oh no." Rarity muttered to herself as she turned to face the knight. She was in no fit state to outrun him, so she would have to fight him. She nearly screamed when he was already right in front of her. He swung the stick of his javelin and hit her hard upside the head before she could get her rupees out. At least he wasn't stabbing her. He must have really been set on catching her alive. She barely found the strength to kill him with a rupee, and moaned in disgust when the ash caught in the wind and stuck to her. No time to wash. She could feel herself slipping into unconsciousness.
She rounded a corner and found a fenced off yard. Beyond it she could see someone stirring a pot in the shade of a tree. She squeezed between some fence posts and shakily walked to the figure, shooting a rupee through the grass to make a trail and denting the cauldron.
"Please help..." she managed, before she fell as the world went black.
Link swung his sword at the advancing keese, making them poof into nonexistence. He was close now. The hard part would be getting up the ledge to the door. He had never done it before. He got to the ledge, and tried to jump up. Nothing. He had nothing to use as a boost either, and he couldn't use the master sword as a step stabbed into the wall or he would lose it. Something told him that would not be good. So, he sat there, unsure what to do. After a while, he just decided to try to climb it. It actually some nice footholds, and he made it up with relative ease, but then the wall collapsed. Something told him he wouldn't be doing that again. So, he walked out. Now he just had to make his way through the woods and then find Rarity. He hoped she wasn't hurt. As he started to walk, he decided to play his ocarina. After a while, he heard footsteps next to his. He looked and found the loftwing, waiting patiently for him to climb on.
"Finally ready to help, huh?"
The Witch and Link's First Real Flight
Rarity awoke to a warm, wet feeling, and tried to open her eyes. They were covered by cucumbers.
"Huh?" She slowly took the cucumbers off, revealing that she had a facial and a toweled up mane and was sitting in a large cauldron repurposed into being a hot tub. Before she could say "huh?" again, a small girl suddenly pressed a vial full of red liquid to Rarity's lips, causing her aches to go away. Red potion! Rarity sighed at the warm feeling as all her wounds healed.
"I would have let you drink it while you were still asleep, but it works best when one is awake and can register the healing."
"Thank you... But where am I?"
"Just a little witch's shack. We sell red, green, and blue medicine. Red restores health. Green restores magic. Blue restores both. Consider that little swig of potion a free sample." The girl giggled as Rarity looked around the place. It didn't look like just a shack, which was saying something considering Rarity's standards. The overall luxury of the place wasn't selling it.
"It took me forever, but I found a new set of eyelashes for you too."
Rarity just stared, baffled by this little girl who seemed so much more modern than the rest of Hyrule.
"Yes, I know about false eyelashes. My grandma found you passed out just inside the yard. And sure, we don't get many talking unicorns, but we know someone used to a life of luxury when we see one."
"Again, thank you." She leaned back in the cauldron with a sigh. "I haven't felt this good since I arrived here..."
"You were mumbling about a boy named Link."
"Oh yes?" Rarity's ears would have perked if they weren't being held down by the towel.
"Yeah. You know he's an outlaw, right?"
"Trust me, I know. Have you seen him around?"
"Just on posters. He came and bought a bottle of blue medicine once."
The girl helped Rarity out of the cauldron, and then they talked more. Rarity spent all her rupees to stock up on as many potions as she could, and not just red ones. She got a lot of green ones as well, because the less magically exhausted she was, the better. Before she could leave, a rather intimidating elderly woman with a pointy hat came in.
"After double toil and trouble, fire burned and cauldron bubbled... Made mushroom brew I did. Ah, I see our guest is awake. How are you, dear?"
"Very good. Your granddaughter would make for a great worker in a spa."
"Maple," the witch said, "did you even introduce yourself?"
"Oh! No, I... I forgot..."
"You seem to forget very important things." she turned back to Rarity. "I'm still teaching her her manners-"
"Hey!" Maple said, objecting to the witch's jab, but she was already on a roll.
"She's very young, you know, and doesn't quite understand etiquette yet-"
"Yeah I do!"
"Anyways, I'm Syrup, and this is Maple. She runs the shop while I mix brews."
Rarity chuckled. 'Maple Syrup.' "She's a very good shopkeeper, Syrup. I've already bought potions from her. My name is Rarity."
"Nice to meet you, Rarity. What do you do?"
"I own a fashion shop in, err... well, far away from here."
"Why don't you tell me more while we curl that mane of yours?"
Link climbed on the bird's back, chuckling nervously. He liked heights just a little more than he liked deep water. The loftwing spread it's wings as he found a place to hold on, finally settling on the base of the neck. Right then, the bird took off with one mighty flap of it's wings.
"Okay! We need to find Rarity! Understand? The pony I-"
SCREEECH!
"Okay, okay! You get it! Jeez..." As if to agitate him, the loftwing did a few corkscrews in the air. "Are you looking for trouble?"
The bird was good after that, and started to idly glide, riding the thermals. Link had to admit, it was great. He enjoyed the wind for a while, and the warmth of the sun, before getting to work. He started looking around. They were above Hyrule castle at the moment, and Link had to laugh at all the little guards walking around. It was nice, being so high up. He just hoped the loftwing would catch him if he fell.
As he started to look for Rarity, he realized he had no idea where she had fallen. Or if she had even survived. He could only remember the blue of water, which was just great. That meant either the river or lake Hylia. He combed both places but found nothing. It was going to be a long while. His bad mood was lifted slightly as he watched the sun set. It was time to call it a day. He didn't want to know what flew around at loftwing height during the dark. So, he landed, and watched as the loftwing flew off. Then, he started to build a campfire.
