Link stood in front of the closed door to the Golden Oaks Library, and pointed at the unfamiliar mare. Navi, too, was in slight surprise to see somepony she didn't recognize. "Who's she?" he asked Twilight.

"Epona, this is my brother Link. The one I told you about." Twilight walked over to her brother and gave him a hug. He returned it, fixing his gaze on Epona. "Good to see you made it back safely."

"Glad to be back, and warm again. The north was a wasteland of ice and snow. But, it was well worth it." He looked around the room and saw Aj, Spike, Navi, and ... "Hey, I was told there'd be cake..." He let go of Twilight and folded his arms. "I can tell that didn't happen, what with the mess and all."

Twilight backed up a step and frowned. "Yeah... Last night was hectic. All of today is needed to clean up. But for now, You get yourself upstairs and shower."

"A bit direct, don't you think?" Epona asked her. "He just got home."

"He did, yes, but he's been gone long enough, and he needs a shower." Twilight pointed up the stairs as Link started walking. "And reorganize your inventory while you're at it."

"Sure..." Link got up the stairs and disappeared, leaving Navi with the others.

"So... What was that about?" Navi asked.

Twilight grinned and turned to her. "I'm glad you asked. I want to give Link a gift, and I know what it is now. I just need to tell you not to drop any hints I've gotten him anything."

"Wouldn't it be better keeping it from me, as well?"

"Ordinarily, yes. Telling you risks him finding out. But I want you in on it. For your advice." Twilight walked around and pondered, "I know the princess got him something. What was it?"

"A boomerang. A piece of wood that returns to the one who throws it." Navi looked up the stairs. "Something tells me that isn't the only reason you wanted him away from you..."

"Your perceptive quality does not betray you. Spike was sent to Canterlot from last night to this morning. Does Link know about that?"

"Nope. We didn't even see him there. ... Why would-"

"Not important," Spike interrupted. "Birthday presents are a secret. Only from who it's for though, so she talked with me about it." I can't let the changeling conversation escape me. "Her and Princess Luna both."

"Understandable." At least I can put some thoughts to rest. "8 more days, and he'll be 13. With that settled, I did say there'd be a cake."

Epona stood up from the couch and approached Twilight. "He's not what I expected. Where did you meet him?"

Applejack decided to sit and hear this story. Of how they met each other in the princess' castle 12 years ago. Link came down as the story reached its end. He chose to wear a normal shirt and shorts. Even his gear was left in his room, his pouches included.

"What'd I miss?" he asked.

Twilight turned and smiled, then tilted her head. "That... looks like casual wear."

"I'm off duty for the time being. Celestia granted me a reprieve from service. And allowed me to seek the keys when I see fit." Link sat on the couch beside Aj. "Epona, right?" A small nod. "I understand my sister lent you my bed. I hope you found it suitable? Despite it not being hers to give."

"I did, and I wanted to thank her for all she's done for me. I-"

"Excuse me? Not mine? Last I checked, you're only here to protect me."

"Not anymore. My mission ended. Protecting you is no longer my number one priority by order." Link leaned forward. "It is, however, still number one on my overall priority list."

"Then... you aren't bound by duty to keep me safe? Or stalk me? Or keep secrets from me?"

"Let's not get carried away. I'm still keeping secrets. A few of them. But don't worry. None relate to you. Anyway, back to what I was saying, you gave her my bed to sleep in, yes?"

"Yes. Because she slept on the couch one night, and then again last night. The one before last, I didn't want her to feel like an outsider." She turned and smiled at Epona. "Friends are worth it."

Link pointed at her. "Write that down and send it to the princess."

"Hm? Ah yes. A friendship lesson. 'It is important to make ponies feel at home, even if you don't know them very well. After all, friends are just ponies you haven't met yet.' An excellent lesson." She turned to her table and scrawled out a letter. "Spike?"

Joyful that the attention was taken off of his absence, he sent the letter away. "All done."

"Wonderful. thank you for helping me with this lesson, Epona."

"What was that about?" Epona asked her.

"Hmm. I'm here in Ponyville to learn about the magic of friendship. I'm sending reports to the princess every time I learn something valuable on the subject."

"On... orders?" A nod. "So, if I have this right, you are, by order of the princess, being my friend?"

"No, it's not like that, I assure you. I helped you because I could. I told you that..."

Link folded his arms and added, "At the cost of my bed."

"Come off it, will ya?" Aj interrupted. "Sure she let Epona use your bed, but let it go! You should be happy for yer sister bein' as considerate as she's been the last few days. Ah thought you, more than anypony, would be proud of her development."

He sat in temporary silence before responding. "I am proud. I just, wish I was here to see such effort being put toward something other than research. ... For once."

"That's understandable." She turned to Aj. "Now that Link's back, you are free to go."

"You say that as if Ah was a prisoner here. Heh heh." Aj stepped down from her seat and started for the door. "Oh hey. Since ye're back, how's about you an' Epona stop by the farm tomorrow? Got plenty of work for ya. Y'all can come too, Twi. If ya feel like. Don't worry, Ah won't make ya work or nothin'."

"I'll think on it." She turned to Link, who had a certain look on his face. "We ... may be a bit late though."

"Not a problem." She left and closed the door.

Immediately, Link turned to Epona, who backed up a step. "Epona, yes?" Another nod. "My sister tells me you're a traveler. And, for whatever reason, you're here in Ponyville. Hmm..." He stood up and paced around Epona, all the while analyzing her. "I'm willing to bet, that you don't have much money. Judging from the fact you're staying in a library instead of a hotel. And since you're here and not there, with a lack of funds, this was an unplanned stop, or you meant to stop here, but don't have enough to sustain yourself." Twilight sat and listened. "Your money issue could be the effect of coming from a small town. And because of that, you walked all the way here. That explains the need to recharge." Link looked directly at her. "Which leads me up to why. You are here, in Ponyville, looking for somepony or something."

Epona's jaw hung open at the surprising accuracy of his deductions. Twilight clapped her hooves. "Correct on all points. But one."

"Oh? Just one wrong? What could that be?" he wondered. "Hmm..." Link closed his eyes in thought.

"I'll let you figure it out."

"That's no fun at all, Twilight." Just then, a pink blur nearly knocked the door down and bursted into the room.

"I heard the word 'fun'!" Pinkie stated. "Where?! Oh, welcome back Link and Navi. How was Canterlot?"

Link stayed silent as he didn't expect her to show up at all. "He'll be better after he rests."

"Aww. I guess he's too tired for..." She sped outside and walked back in, pushing a cart with a cake on it. "cake. Twilight said there'd be cake, and I refuse to let the cake be a lie."

He looked over the cake and saw the "Welcome home Link" written in white frosting. "Impressive," Twilight commented. "How did you know I couldn't get a cake made with all that's happened? Were you ... eavesdropping?"

"No, silly. I saw him come back to Ponyville, and I couldn't smell cake from the library."

"O-oh. That makes ... sense. I didn't know you could make sense," Twilight questioned.

"I know, scary right? Aaaaaanywho, that cake should last a while. It's fairly thick with all the frosting I put on it." She looked over the cake. "Took me a few tries, only because I kept dropping the frosting in my mouth." She smiled and moved the cake to the table. Quickly, she pulled the cart to the door.

"Thank you Pinkie. From all of us. It was thoughtful." Link smiled at her.

"Absolutely." Pinkie vanished and closed the door with the vacuum she produced.

Twilight stood in shock at Pinkie's skill. "I'll never understand how she does that..."

"Might be worth looking into though. Could be f- ... interesting." Link took care to not repeat the word "fun", in case she would come back.

"Forgive me, but just what are you?" Epona asked outright.

Stunned by the sudden outburst, he answered slowly, "Me? Or ... her?" He pointed at Navi.

"Her." She looked over at Navi, who was standing on his head. "She looks so adorable."

"That is a fairy. Honestly, I'm not surprised you don't know. Aside from a select few, I don't know anyone who has seen one."

"Are they that rare?" she asked in response. Twilight nodded. "Wow... Which begs the question: where are you from?"

"One at a time, Epona. My turn. In what I figured out, what was incorrect?"

Epona looked at Twilight nervously. "Don't worry. You can trust him. Go ahead and tell him exactly what you told me."

Epona turned back to Link and sighed. "Okay... Just don't laugh." She took a deep breath, and repeated, "I was hiking in the mountains when I heard a song out of nowhere so I followed it to Canterlot where I met a really obnoxious pegasus. There we had a bit of relaxation and I heard it again so I followed it here. And as soon as I hear it again, I'll leave."

"Wow. Word for word, I'll attest to that," Twilight admitted. "Did you rehearse that?"

Epona shook her head as Link thought it over. "So, this song you heard... It came from this direction?"

"Yes. I understand if you don't believe me."

"I believe you, don't get me wrong. In fact, I'd be crazy not to believe what I've done."

Confused, Epona tilted her head and looked back at Twilight who just smiled. "I ... don't get it."

"I see why you let her stay, Twilight." Link smiled at Twilight and stood by the stairs.

"Well, I don't so explain it to me." Epona switched her gaze to Link.

"I think I'll just let you figure it out for yourself. And to help with that, can you fetch the morning mail? I'm sure it hasn't been picked up yet."

Epona thought to herself, How would that help me any? Nevertheless, she did as bid and went outside.

"Okay, now what?" Twilight asked.

"I imagine you'd know. I'm going to go upstairs, play the song I've played twice before, and if she's the one I've been calling, we'll know when she comes back in." Link walked up the stairs to his room and pulled out his ocarina. Carefully, he played the song as he's done before.

Twilight stayed downstairs and waited. So, he had her go outside so she wouldn't be in the immediate range. If she comes back in and says something about music, then she heard him play, despite the previous fact. Also, he left his stuff up stairs, ensuring he'd be far enough away from her. Makes me think he knew before his little investigative speech. "He's a genius, no two ways about it."

"Well, he is your brother. Not by blood, no. But still, he must have absorbed something to make him learn very quickly." Spike took a shot in the dark on his theory.

"Even if that were the case, he's too intuitive for a 13 year old. From the book I read, kids his age should still be in school. Half way through, if I recall correctly. ... I think there's another force at work here." The door opened behind her and Epona walked in, carrying the newspaper. "Welcome back."

" ... " Epona set the newspaper down beside the cake on the table and sat down. Link walked down and saw her. She turned to look at him and her eyes widened. "y-you..." Link got to the bottom step as Epona dashed to him and forced him on his back. She stood over him, keeping him from moving. "You! It really is you!"

"I ... beg your pardon?" Link asked.

"Don't hide it from me! I heard it clearer than ever. It's you, it has to be!" Epona pressed her face close to his and clarified, "You're the one who's been calling me! The one with the melody of my dreams! Admit it!"

Link was silent, but his smile said it all. Navi flew around her and asked, "Think you could let him up now?" Obeying, she backed off and helped him to his feet.

"Yeah. It's been me. I called you with this." He held up the blue musical instrument. "It called you here from a melody I thought up. I didn't know what I was doing, but if it was calling you here, then there must be a reason." He set it down and walked around her. "I'll admit this: you aren't what I was expecting."

"I could say that about the two of you," Epona responded. "A fairy and a ..."

"Hylian. I'm a Hylian."

"Hylian... You know, I may have heard the name somewhere... but for the life of me, I can't remember..." Epona wrapped him in a hug. "But I found you! That makes me so happy!"

"What will you do? Now that you found him, what's your plan?" Twilight asked.

Epona let him go from the awkward embrace and turned to Twilight. "With your permission, I'd like to live here." Twilight's, Spike's, Link's and Navi's jaws dropped at the notion. "If ... if that's ok with you... anyway."

"Um... Excuse us for a moment?" Epona wordlessly exited the library and closed the door, with a perky step. "Link, what are your thoughts?"

"Me? I say let her. She can still help at the farm when I'm not here, and even when I am, she can help you here, when I'm there helping Aj. Or vice versa. She could be there in my place while I help you here. Either way, I'm sure she'll be of great help. Besides, I want to know why the ocarina's melody called her specifically. What is her connection to my world?"

"I'd like to know too. Adding to that, she's without a cutie mark. At her age, that's .. unheard of but not impossible. I was thinking her talent might have to do with you. What do you two think?"

Spike walked closer and responded, "I say go for it. More help is great. And, since she's here for Link, you don't have to pay her anything."

"I agree. If she's here for Link, then she'd work with him for nothing. Of course," Navi turned to Link, "you'll most likely help her out when she needs it."

"Naturally. So, unanimous?" All of them nodded in agreement. "Good." He walked to the door and opened it inward, forcing an eavesdropping Epona to stumble in.

"Eh heh... so?" she asked shyly.

"Good news. We accept your offer. You'll live here with us until such a time comes when you decide to move." Happily, Epona danced around the room, careful not to knock anything over in the process.

"Just wait until my village hears of this! Ooooh, they'll be so excited for me!"

"About that..." Link added, "Your old house... do you have stuff you want to bring here?"

"Yes I do, but I can always go get it later. Why?"

Link offered her a smile. "Well, I could help with that. But I'll need a couple days to get it prepared for you." He felt another hug pull him in. "And another one."

Hastily, she let go. "I'm sorry, I just- I'm- You don't know how happy I am to have found you. You could be the key I need to get my own cutie mark!"

"Then on behalf of Golden Oaks Library," Twilight announced, "Welcome Home, Epona."

After a small scale party was had and the cake was eaten, the day winded down some time in the afternoon. The majority of which was spent shelving books in Twilight's specific order. With a big day ahead of them tomorrow, and as her previous bed was occupied by a Hylian, she rested her head on the couch. In her happiness, she couldn't fall asleep.

I found him. I actually found him. Now, with any hope, I can face my parents and be proud.

Next Chapter: Chapter 23: The Hidden Agenda Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 47 Minutes