Waking to a Change
Disclaimer: Do you seriously thin I own either of these?
Note: I have decided to keep most of the chapters for this series short. Roughly a thousand words each just because it is easier to write that way. It also helps that the story feels more right to me when delivered in snippets. As always please rate and review. [wait, fanfiction doesn’t have ratings… damn]
Chapter 2: Waking to a Change
Blackness. Not the uncomfortable dark that invaded his body when he was close to death, no; this was strangely warm.
Light invaded Link's vision when he tried to open his eyes. Everything was hazy and too bright for them.
He noticed that the pain he was in yesterday was lower, duller. He felt silken fabric brush against his skin, and the fluff of a mattress underneath him. Epona must have gotten him to a town; this wouldn't be the first time the little filly managed to transport him to a doctor, and chances were it wouldn't be the last.
He tried once more to open his eyes, successfully this time. Things were still fuzzy, but he could make out shapes. He looked around the room to get a feel for his surroundings.
Stone walls surrounded him, light in color… A castle, perhaps?
Link lost interest in everything else about the room as he spied a platinum mane when he turned my head. Epona was in the room with him, head resting on the bed as she slept. But she looked... different. Her head was larger, more rounded, and her muzzle was smaller.
"E-Epona?" he managed to ask before he broke out in coughs; his throat was as dry as desert sand.
On short notice, a glass of water was pressed into his hands, quickly emptied and leaving his throat feeling marginally better. Looking up, he saw another... horse? Pony? Either way, it was there, a dark shade of blue with a white mane and tail. "Hello, I am healer Bright Night. It is good to see you awake," she said with a female voice. "Do take it easy, though. You had extensive injuries and are lucky that none of them got infected."
He gave her a nod, mumbling out a small 'thank you'. A rustle brought his attention back to Epona, whose eyes, larger than he remembered, fluttered open and honed in on him. "Link, you're awake! I was so worried I knew that you were hurt but we were so far from town amd I was afraid you weren't going to make it this time," the filly babbled out, eyes glistening with tears.
He stared at her, unsure of what to do. Sure, this wasn't the strangest thing to happen to him – Farore knew I had met with stranger in Termina. But that was not the cause of his hesitance, no; the cause was Epona was crying over him. As tears slid down her cheeks, guilt stirred in him. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
Epona gave him a surprised look, before she leaned forward and wrapped him with her forelegs. "You silly boy, you don't need to apologize," she scolded, "just try not to get hurt so badly."
It was odd, but he leaned into the embrace. It had been almost two years since he last had a hug.
It… it was nice.
[Break]
Celestia sighed as she watched the child in the infirmary through the scrying mirror. He was very awkward about physical contact. Something she had seen pop up in a few of her knights when they went on solo campaigns. Why a child as young as this was suffering from such symptoms she didn’t want to guess. She had a fair idea as it was.
One did not rule for a few millennia and still believed that the world was sunshine and rainbows. No, she knew the world was far from a perfect place. It was a struggle just to keep Equestria as peaceful as it was. A warm breeze blew past her carrying the sweet sent of the castle flowers to her. She turned and trotted back into the throne room. The question as it was now was what to do with the boy.
She couldn’t very well let him leave, not until his injuries were healed at the very least. The next reason she didn’t want him to go was what the young mare told her about him. The boy fancied himself a protector. That was all well and good but apparently he was biting off more than he could chew. Given the scares she had seen on is body she was certain this wasn’t the first time he had done such either.
The final reason was the same reason Celestia protected her ponies so fiercely. He was a child, and as of last night he became a child under her care. Celestia would admit she had a bit of a mothering complex, given her age this should not be too surprising. You could have lived a full life and be on your death bed and that would barely be a fraction of Celestia’s life span.
“Princess Celestia!” A small voice squeaked out.
Celestia’s attention snapped back to reality as she looked for the source. There infront of her was her student, Twilight Sparkle; a prodigious foal who earned her attention at the age of seven with an impressive display of magic. She was looking up at her teacher with a grin that could light up the sun.
“I did it!” The little filly cried out in triumph.
Celestia lifted a delicate brow and look at her students latest assignment. A small ball was floating off the ground, not an impressive display because most unicorns have a talent with levitation. No what made this impressive was that Twilight was no longer providing power for the spell. An advance form of levitation that involved binding magic into the object. Something that normally only adult unicorns had the power for.
Smiling at her students handy work Celestia felt a bit of pride that the young filly just beat out the advanced class at the school she funded. “Very good Twilight, but you forgot something very important.” Celestia told the filly, noticing a large problem with the results of the spell.
“W-what?! What did I do wrong? I thought I had all the calculations right.” The little filly was on the verge of tears at the mere thought that she let down her teacher.
Celestia pointed a level hoof at Twilights face, then gently moved it forward and poked the dark ring under the purple filly’s eyes. “You forgot to sleep last night. You stayed up all night trying to get the spell right just to impress me right.” It was a statement, not a question. Celestia’s tone was motherly even though she was scolding her foolish student. Twilight had a tendency to forget about herself in her studies. “While I applaud your dedication you need to take better care of yourself. Being tired while casting magic can have dire consequences due to the risk of a miss-cast. No go back to your room and prepare for bed, I will be in to check on you in a few minutes.”
Twilight nodded before shuffling off to her room with a forlorn look on her face. When she was sure the filly was out of earshot Celestia released another sigh. She worried about the filly. The little unicorn was dedicated to her studies and it showed, not only in her ability with magic, but in the lack of friends as well. She would have to do something to change that.
Her thoughts drifted back to the child, Link, another one who didn’t know how to care for themselves properly. Maybe she should introduce him to Twilight. If nothing else it would be easier to keep track of both of them and make sure that they weren’t ignoring their health.
[Note: Hello to all my readers. I would like to take this time to thank you for viewing my stories. it make me happy. But the sad fact is I know I have problems in my writing. numerous little errors that crop up through my fics. In Responce to this a Plead for beta readers. I want to write professionally one day so I need help. I can't find all the flaws so I rely on you to point them out.]
