Author's Notes:

Here it is, first chapter of my first story. Feedback and criticism welcomed. Let me know if you want to see more, because that's the kind of thing that motivates me to write.

Hope you all enjoy.

“Open your eyes…”

Light filled the room, washing out everything else before fading to a soft blue.

“Open your eyes.”

“Wake up, Link.”

Slowly, Link awoke. Water drained away from the rectangular, stone recession he found himself lying in, and slowly he sat up, taking in the room around him. Save for the soft blue above, the rest of the room was shrouded in darkness. He found himself wearing dark underwear, and nothing else. What had happened? Where was he? He searched his memories and found… nothing.

Rather than dwell on that fact, he stood up, stepping out of the – it wasn’t a bed, exactly, but he didn’t have a better word for it – and searching the room he had found himself in. The place was strange, walls covered in patterns of glowing orange constellations, interspersed with stone statues covered in swirling lines. However, his eye was drawn to a pedestal of sorts near a heavy stone door that seemed to be the only exit.

It was adorned with a circular pattern of blue lines, which glowed brightly as he approached. Abruptly, the middle of the pedestal raised upwards, and a glowing tablet lifted up from the middle. There was a stylized eye on the back that glowed the same blue as the pedestal, and he had a nagging feeling that he should recognize it, but no details came to him.

“That is a Sheikah Slate. Take it. It will help guide you after your long slumber.”

There was that voice again. Female, and somehow familiar. His eyes scanned the chamber again, but he still wasn’t sure if he’d really heard it, or if it was just in his head. Carefully, he reached out to take the tablet. As he held it, the middle of the device suddenly lit up, displaying the same eye symbol in the middle of the screen as on the back of the tablet before it switched to a readout full of text, as well as a small map.

He was distracted from examining it further by the pedestal flattening once more, and the door beyond it opening. Whatever this thing was – a Sheikah Slate, the voice had said – it seemed he was supposed to have it.

Attaching the tablet to his hip, he decided to venture through the door, and found a room beyond that seemed to be some kind of storage area. Lifting open the chests he found there, Link was surprised to discover a pair of pants and a plain shirt, which seemed to be in his size. That was something, at least. Newly dressed, he looked through the rest of the room. He found several alcoves set into the walls, most of which were empty, but a few which contained small, delicate figurines. There was a bird man covered in gray feathers with an impressive bow, a red fish-lady with a trident, a purple horse with a horn on its forehead, and several others. It took him only a moment to decide to take them with him. Whatever they were, they might come in handy down the line.

At the far door was another stone pedestal, this one glowing orange. But it had the same slot as the other one, and the voice was quick to confirm his suspicions.

“Hold the Sheikah Slate up to the pedestal. That will show you the way.”

A touch of the tablet turned the pedestal blue, and a strange, tinny voice issued forth.

Authenticating.

Sheikah Slate confirmed.

The door opened, and suddenly light poured in – real sunlight, brightening the dim blues of the room. As he shielded his eyes from the sun, the voice came to him one final time.

“Link… you are the light – our light – that must shine upon Hyrule once again. Now go.”

Link didn’t need to be encouraged to leave the dim cavern for the bright sunlight outside. He emerged from the long tunnel, and he was suddenly surrounded by beautiful, pristine wilderness. Running to the point of the ledge just outside, he found himself gazing down across a massive valley. Directly across from him, a massive volcano towered over the rest of the mountains, glowing lines of red lava and an ominous cloud above it visible even from this distance. Closer and to the left was a massive dark castle, surrounded by jutting rocks and mist. The rest of the valley was dotted with trees, grasslands, and scattered rocks and buildings.

For a moment he just stood there, taking in the majesty of it all. Only then did he notice that down the hill behind him stood another building, which looked very much like a cathedral. On the path towards it, he was startled to see the first other living being he’d seen – a man with a staff, standing by a fire. As he watched, the man appeared to spot him, turning away slowly and sitting next to the fire he’d built.

Link watched the man for a moment more, before realizing: this was the best opportunity he was likely to have to figure out just what was going on, where he was, and why he didn’t remember anything.

Trekking down the grassy ridge towards the fire, he took in the man’s appearance. He was old, that was clear just from the way he moved, and the full white beard that spilled down to his chest. He wore a worn-down purple shirt, with a full hood that obscured his face. The staff, which Link had at first assumed to be a walking stick, turned out to have a hook-like extension at the top, with a lantern hung from it – unlit, at this time of day.

As he approached the fire, it was the old man who spoke up first. “Oho ho! Well met, stranger! It’s rather unusual to see another soul in these parts.” Despite his age, his voice was booming and jovial, as full of warmth as his fire.

“Who are you?” Link’s response was cautious.

“Me? I’ll spare you my life story. I’m just an old fool who has lived here, alone, for quite some time now. What brings a bright-eyed young man like you to a place like this?”

Link didn’t have an answer to that, so instead he asked another question. “Where are we?”

“Answering a question with a question. That is fair enough. As I cannot imagine our meeting to be a simple coincidence… I shall tell you. This is the Great Plateau. According to legend, this is the birthplace of the entire kingdom of Hyrule.”

The man stood, turning away and pointing with his lantern towards the building Link had spotted earlier. “That temple there… Long ago, it was the site of many sacred ceremonies. Ever since the decline of the kingdom one hundred years ago, it has sat abandoned, in a state of decay.” The man sighed. “Yet another forgotten entity. A mere ghost of its former self…”

After a moment’s pause, he added, “I shall be here for some time. Please let me know if I may be of service.”

Link recognized a dismissal when he heard one. With a nod, he turned away, his own gaze drawn to the crumbling temple in the distance. At the very least, it seemed worth investigating.

As he continued down the grassy ridge towards the entrance to the temple, a strange liquid rustling set him on high alert. Out of the grass in front of him popped a strange creature – a being that seemed to be made entirely of blue jelly, save for a pair of ridiculously oversized eyes. The goo turned towards him as it rapidly advanced, oozing its way along the ground.

Link was suddenly aware that he lacked a weapon. His gaze flicked to either side of the path, and caught on an axe embedded in a nearby tree stump. It must belong to the old man, but he surely wouldn’t mind it being borrowed. A quick tug, and he had it in his hands. It was a woodcutter’s axe, clearly not designed for combat, with its long shaft and poor balance, but it would have to do. The slime creature was still rolling towards him, but it wasn’t particularly fast, giving Link time to turn to face it. Just as it prepared to leap upon him, he brought the blade crashing down on it. With a wet pop, the thing exploded, splattering blue goop everywhere around it.

Link flicked a few slimy droplets from his fingers, looping the strap of leather attached to the axe over one shoulder, affixing it to his back. He had a feeling he was going to need it, if the world was going to be full of creatures like that one.

Just beyond was the crumbling temple. It sat atop a small hill, and clearly used to have more than one building. There were several overgrown squares where nothing remained but foundation, and others where crumbling walls and twisted window panes still stood, some only barely reaching over his head. He crept through the ruins towards a set of steps leading up to the main doors when he spotted another creature blocking the way up.

This one seemed almost human, save for its stunted stance, bright red skin, and wide head with large batlike ears that stuck out to either side. It was wielding a short, thick club, and as he watched, its ears perked up and it turned to look at him. With no warning at all, it charged, club out and ready. Link met its charge with a swing of his axe. Despite the creature’s aggressive intent, it didn’t seem particularly skilled, as two hits with the axe sent it flying far enough that it dropped its club. Link quickly scooped it up, but the loss of its weapon didn’t seem to dissuade the goblinoid monster at all, as it picked itself up and rushed towards him again, squealing incomprehensibly. Link took a step back, before bringing his axe down a third time into the creature’s skull. It dropped, and in a puff of purple smoke it was gone.

Slowly, Link looked around for any more enemies. He still wasn’t sure where he’d come from, but he was starting to discover what he was: A warrior. Even with such a clumsy weapon, the rhythm of his swings, the easy steps as he positioned himself to attack… it was all muscle memory. The poor creature never stood a chance.

He continued up the wide stone steps and entered the temple courtyard… and stopped dead. Just beyond the outer walls, lying in a pile of rubble, was a massive, terrifying machine. It had to be almost twenty feet tall, even collapsed at it was, with a thick, circular body beneath a bucket shaped head and what looked like a single eye in the middle. Two clawed, spiderlike legs as thick around as his torso extended out from the main body; by their spacing it was meant to have four – the third was broken off near the base, and the fourth buried in the rubble if it was still present at all. Whatever it was, it projected an aura of danger, even though it was clearly long dead, patches of moss growing all over its body. Even still, Link stepped around it cautiously, on the off chance it might somehow wake.

A second goblinoid creature lurked at the top of the final set of stairs to the main entrance, but it was dispatched as easily as the first. He stepped into the building, looking around at what little remained of it. It was open to the elements, one wall almost completely torn away, giving him a view of more mountains in the distance, and the floor was covered with grass and broken pieces of stone. The roof was mostly intact, but littered with large holes on the side that lacked a wall. At the far end, a few steps led up to a raised dais, upon which several statues stood. All of them were the same general design – a bulbous, circular base with a smaller head, carved with closed eyes and a nose. Each had smooth arm-shapes clasped together in prayer, and small wings attached to their backs. There were seven in total – six small ones arranged in a circle around a much bigger and more defined statue in the center.

Link slowly stepped up onto the dais, taking in the patch of flowers strewn across it, colorful butterflies fluttering between them. Though long abandoned, this was clearly a place of worship, and he took a moment to lower his head respectfully in front of the main statue. It almost felt like there was a real presence smiling down upon him, but when he opened his eyes the statues remained unchanged.

Turning away and walking back down the steps, feeling oddly more at peace but with no further answers, he glanced down and took out the tablet on his hip, finally taking a moment to swipe through it. Though it had a number of screens he could flip through, most of them were blank, or labeled with some alien script he couldn’t read. The only thing that seemed to be working was the map, though the only reason he knew it was a map was due to it being labeled as such, and having a small arrow labeled ‘Current Location.’ However, there was something new there that he didn’t think he had seen upon his first glance – a glowing marker labeled ‘Follow the Sheikah Slate.’ Was it trying to tell him to go somewhere? He walked back to the entrance of the temple, watching the map this time, and was not surprised to see that the marker of his location moved with him. Orienting himself, it looked to be directing him further down the hill to his right, and he saw no reason not to follow it.

He passed more ruins as he walked, free standing pillars and fallen blocks of stone. There was a camp of more of the goblinoids that he spotted and avoided, but as the grassy hill gave way to sandy plains, the creatures seemed to become more and more numerous. Soon, he approached what appeared to be his destination – a strangely shaped hill jutting up sharply from the surrounding landscape, with a spindly spire protruding from the top of it. After taking out another goblinoid (this one with a sword and shield), he circled around the hill and quickly came across a crevice in its side. Nestled between the rocks was another pedestal, the same as the ones he’d seen in the chamber he’d awoken in.

He took out the Sheikah Slate once more, and placed it carefully into the matching slot. It slid in and glowed brightly, before the same tinny voice as before spoke once again.

Sheikah Tower activated. Please watch for falling rocks.

What.

A massive rumbling spread outward as the entire landscape around him began shaking, knocking him down. With a crunch of rocks, the room he was in suddenly exploded upwards, sending the strange hill flying outward in a hail of debris. It was all Link could do to hold on as the floor beneath him – clearly not natural rock – rose rapidly into the air. When it ground to a halt, Link found himself at the top of a massive tower, a hundred feet up in the air. A blue glow raced up the tower, before the panels and lights of the tower lit up.

Distilling local information…

A large, angular stone slab above his head glowed blue, lines of runic writing scrolling across its surface. A bead of blue liquid welled up at the tip, dropping down to land on the Sheikah Slate in a flash of blue light. On the map screen, the area around him glowed for a moment, before the black washed away to be replaced by a detailed map of the area, everything from the topography to the forests to the exact placement of the ruins.

Regional map extracted.

The pedestal extended out once more, presenting the Sheikah Slate towards him. He took it, and turned to look out across the valley once again...

“Remember...

“Try… try to remember…”

That voice again! Unlike before, this time it seemed to have direction to it. He ran to the edge of the tower’s platform, looking out across the valley for the source of the voice. Instead, all he saw was the dark castle. From this height, he could clearly see the swirls of red and black energy engulfing it. A roiling cloud of darkness surged up from the tip of the central spire, growing larger as he watched.

“You have been asleep for the past one hundred years.

“The beast… when the beast regains its true power this world will face its end.”

Abruptly, the cloud surged into shape, a great dark beast of red energy and thick smoke. It circled upwards into the air, and then turned to look directly at Link with glowing, hateful eyes. Its malevolence hit Link like a punch in the gut, and he sucked in a breath and took a step back, instinctively reaching for his sword–

And then, just like that, the beast faded into wisps of smoke and was gone, and he was left with his heart racing, staring at the dark castle and flexing his empty hand.

“Now then… You must hurry, Link. Before it’s too late.”

Link composed himself and stepped back from the edge of the tower. The pedestal didn’t want to interact with the Sheikah Slate any further, and the rest of the platform was bare save for bits of rubble. There was a hole in one side of the platform surrounded by a safety railing. He discovered the opening had a wide, latticed ladder leading down. Since it seemed to be that or jump, and he didn’t like his chances on the latter, he started down.

When he reached the bottom, a voice called out to him, and when he turned to look, he found the old man again – descending down from the mountain on some kind of glider.

“My my… It would seem we have quite the enigma here. This tower, and others just like it, have erupted across the land, one after another. It is almost as though… a long-dormant power has awoken quite suddenly.”

The old man’s gaze lingered on the tower for a moment. “If you do not mind me asking… Did anything… odd occur while you were atop that tower?”

Link raised an eyebrow. It was becoming more and more clear that this man – whoever he was – knew more than he was letting on. “I heard a voice,” he admitted, not sure just how much to tell him.

“Well now! A voice, you say? And did you happen to recognize this mysterious voice?”

“No.” Link didn’t add that he still felt that he should recognize it.

“I see. Well, that is unfortunate.”

The man turned, and pointed once again with his lantern. “I assume you caught sight of that atrocity enshrouding the castle.”

Link could only nod tersely over the roiling in his gut.

“That… is Calamity Ganon. One hundred years ago, that vile entity brought the kingdom of Hyrule to ruin. It appeared suddenly, and destroyed everything in its path. So many innocent lives were lost in its wake.

"For a century, the very symbol of our kingdom, Hyrule Castle, has managed to contain that evil. But just barely. There it festers, building its strength for the moment it will unleash its blight upon the land once again. It would appear that moment is fast approaching…”

The old man turned to give Link a hard, piercing look. “I must ask you, courageous one… Do you intend to make your way to the castle?”

Link’s face hardened, still remembering that feeling of Calamity Ganon’s hatred washing over him. But there was also that voice, and its desperate plea… He nodded once. “I do.”

The old man let out a short chuckle. “I had a feeling you would say that.” He gestured to their surroundings. “Here, on this isolated plateau, we are surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs, with no way down. If you were to try to jump off, well… no death could be more certain. Or more foolish.”

“Of course, if you had a paraglider like mine, that would be quite another story.”

“Paraglider?” Link pressed, suddenly intrigued.

“Oho! Piqued your interest, have I? Yes, I didn’t come soaring down here on my own feathery wings, you know! Worry not – I will happily agree to give you my paraglider. But not for nothing. Let’s see now… How about I trade it for a bit of treasure that slumbers nearby? Come. Let me show you something.”

The old man walked to a small nearby ridge, and Link followed him. In the distance, across a small river, he saw what the man must be talking about immediately: a stubby building, shaped like a cone with the top half inexpertly lopped off. Glowing orange lines covered the entire front wall of the building, making it impossible to miss. Link was certain it hadn’t been there before he had activated the strange tower.

“Do you see that structure there, the one shining with a strange light? It began glowing at the exact moment those towers rose up from the ground. I would think such a place might house some sort of treasure, wouldn’t you? Treasure for a paraglider. A fair exchange, I believe.”

Link resisted the urge to sigh, but in truth, he too was intrigued by the structure, and what it might contain. Nodding the old man, he set off.

The river was deep, but it was flowing slowly, and only twenty feet across or so. There had perhaps once been a bridge across it, but now only stone stubs remained. After evaluating it for only a moment, he swam across. It was a warm day, and his clothes would dry quickly. Climbing out on the other side, he approached the glowing building.

At this point, he was not surprised to see a pedestal in front of it. Touching his Slate to it produced the tinny voice once again, and a circle in the stone below him glowed blue.

Sheikah Slate confirmed. Travel Gate registered to map.

Access granted.

More glowing lines shifted from orange to blue, and the heavy horizontal bars of the door receded inward, revealing a tiny room, barely five feet on a side, with a circle set in the floor with the Sheikah eye symbol inlaid into the center. He entered, confused, and with a grinding sound, the circular floor descended into the ground, taking him with it.

After a long descent down a glowing blue tube, he finally reached the ground, and discovered himself to be in a massive chamber. Stepping out of the circle of blue light, he looked up, and found a lighted ceiling perhaps fifty feet above him. Before him, two steel slabs laid on the ground, looking like a massive double door, save for the fact that they were laid flat. Beyond them, the next room was visible through a metal grating, and to one side… another pedestal. Like the one in the tower, this one had a stone slab hanging above it.

Sheikah Slate authenticated. Distilling rune…

The slab glowed blue above the pedestal, and another drop of blue light welled at its tip before dropping down to land on his Slate. The screen lit up, and shifted to a new page that had been blank before, save for six empty boxes. Now it bore the heading ‘Runes’ and one box was filled in with a U-shaped magnet symbol.

Rune extracted.

The Slate was offered back to him, and he took it, reading the text below the rune. Magnesis, it was called. It claimed to be able to harness the power of magnetism to lift any metallic object. He stared at it for a moment, before his gaze returned to the steel slabs on the floor, which were big enough to weigh hundreds of pounds. His eyes flicked to the Slate and back again. Surely not.

Tapping on the rune, however, turned the screen into a viewport to the world, overlaid with thin red lines. Within that viewport, the steel doors glowed bright pink. He touched one – and glowing lines of energy suddenly lanced out from the slate to the piece of metal, now glowing gold. Startled, Link let out a yelp and took a step backward – and the door came with him as if it weighed nothing. It turned out that his initial impression had been correct: below the door was a large hole in the ground, previously hidden from sight.

Link lifted the door up, and then set it aside, before turning the rune off, the glowing lines vanishing. If this was the kind of power contained in this device… it raised all sorts of questions about who had created it, and how. For now, his only comfort was that it was granting its apparently considerable abilities to him.

He hopped down into the hole, which contained an artificial waterway with a path beside it. At the end of the path was a set of stairs, and as he climbed them he found himself in the next room. On one side was a wall of stone blocks stacked atop each other, with one metal one in the center. A quick application of Magnesis brought the whole thing tumbling down. Each block was taller than he was, but with the metal block in his power, it was as if they were made of foam.

In the next room, a strange automaton was waiting for him. It had an oblong, not quite spherical body, and three spindly legs. It was shorter than him, but not by much, and as he approached it curiously, he couldn’t help but think it seemed familiar.

As it turned towards him, revealing a single circular ‘eye’ in the center, he realized what it reminded him of: the broken machine at the temple. A humming noise emanated from it as the machine’s eye glowed bright blue, and his own eyes widened. Link dove to the side as it fired out a bright bolt of blue energy. It zipped past him to explode against the wall instead. Rolling forward, he pulled out his axe, and brought it down on the thing with a clang. It seemed unfazed, but several more hacks opened up a breach in its carapace, exposing wiring inside. His axe tore through it, and the machine fell. The energy building up within it began to shine through the cracks, and then it exploded in a shower of shrapnel.

Poring over the wreckage, still a little shaken, he found a few bits and pieces that seemed intact, and picked them up to take with him. Perhaps he could ask someone about these things later – at the very least, now he knew they were the kind to attack on sight.

With a quick magnetic tug, he pulled open the doors at the end of this chamber, and found himself at the foot of a short set of stairs. At the top was a box of glowing light, and inside it… a person? They were gaunt, almost to the point of being skeletal, and completely motionless. Their eyes were closed, but on their forehead was the same Sheikah eye symbol that was on his Slate. The eye symbol also graced the front of the blue box, albeit much larger.

Cautiously, he crept up the stairs, watching for movement. Nothing happened. He reached forward to briefly touch the symbol on the front of the cage of light. As he touched it, it glowed brightly and there was a sound of water dropping that reminded him of the stones that distilled information into the Sheikah Slate. A moment later, in a shimmering burst of light, the cage dissolved into nothing.

The person inside didn’t move, but he heard their voice in his head all the same.

“You have proven to possess the resolve of a true hero. I am Oman Au, the creator of this trial. I am a humble monk, blessed with the sight of Goddess Hylia and dedicated to helping those who seek to defeat Ganon. With your arrival, my duty is now fulfilled. In the name of Goddess Hylia, allow me to bestow this gift upon you. Please accept this Spirit Orb.”

A glowing sphere emerged from the monk’s chest, drifting through the air towards Link. When it touched his chest, there was a glow of white light and it was absorbed. It left a tingle where it vanished, and Link brought his hand to his chest. It wasn’t a bad feeling, certainly. It was just… odd.

“May the Goddess smile upon you,” the monk concluded. As their words faded, a glow suffused them, before their entire body dissolved into light and faded away.

Link stood there for a moment, looking at the space where the monk had been, before he too turned to leave.

When he made his way outside again, he was surprised to discover that it was night. It hadn’t felt like he’d spent that long inside the shrine. He didn’t have time to contemplate that, however, as he was once again hailed by the old man, who floated down to land in front of him with his paraglider once more.

“It seems you managed to get your hands on a Spirit Orb. Well done!”

Link blinked. “How did you know about that?” And why had the old man sent him down there if he’d known what the shrine contained?

“Clairvoyance! Oho, or perhaps just something similar.”

That wasn’t an answer.

“As one gets older, it can become more difficult to see what is right before one’s own eyes… However, that which was once hidden from view can often be crystal clear. But perhaps that is not true for everyone! Oho ho!

“The appearance of those towers and the awakening of this shrine… It is all connected to that Sheikah Slate you carry on your hip, there.”

The old man paused, and Link prompted him. “And?”

“It has been quite some time since I have seen that Sheikah Slate...

“Long ago, a highly advanced tribe known as the Sheikah inhabited these lands. The great power of their wisdom saved this kingdom time and time again. But their ancient technology disappeared long ago… Or so it is said. It is interesting, however, to think… how something like that survived all this time, hidden away in a shrine.

“These shrines are tucked away in numerous places all across this land. On this plateau alone, I believe there are still three more. Bring me the treasure from each of those shrines… and I will give you my paraglider.”

“Hey, that wasn’t the deal!” Link protested.

“Oh? Well, I suppose I changed my mind. I’m sure that won’t be a problem for a young go-getter like you. Since I’m feeling generous, I will also teach you a trick for finding shrines. It’s always best to survey the area by looking around from a high point. Let’s see here… How about you make your way to the top of that tower again?”

“Are you kidding?”

The old man laughed. “I am afraid not. But do not worry! I have another little trick to share with you for your effort. Take a look at the map on your Sheikah Slate. See those blue icons? You should recognize the cave where you woke, the shrine you just came from, and the tower. You can travel instantly to any of those places with the Sheikah Slate. Or so I heard quite some time ago… I do not know if it actually works as such.”

He turned away again, another dismissal. Link grit his teeth, but resisted the urge to lash out. Without that paraglider, he was stuck up on this plateau, and he couldn’t help but feel that cryptic as the old man was, he was trying to guide him down the right path. If only he could be less annoying about it. Still, if he really could travel instantly… Link looked down at the map again, before touching the icon for the tower.

Instantly, his entire body lit up bright blue, and his feet lifted from the ground. Before he could cry out or do anything, he dissolved into light.

The next thing he knew, he was at the top of the tower, the glow of blue fading from around him. He took a breath, trying to calm his racing heart, before he heard the familiar laugh. Standing next to him was the old man.

“I’m surprised it took you so long to catch up with an old man like me!” he announced jovially.

“What… how did you…” Link managed to sputter.

“Oho ho! Leave an old man his secrets. Now then… I wanted you to join me up here so you could use this as a vantage point to search for shrines. Did you know about the scope on your Sheikah Slate? Look through it, and you can stick a pin anywhere you’d like to mark on the map. You can use them as reference points on your travels.”

Link composed himself, and decided it wasn’t worth questioning the man further. He hadn’t given a straight answer yet, anyway. “Got it,” he said instead, bringing out the Slate and holding it up.

As much as he hated to admit it, the old man was right – with this vantage point, it was easy to pick out the glowing orange of the three shrines. When he tapped on them, a glowing pillar of light burst up from them on the screen. For a second he thought it might have applied in the real world as well, but a glance up quickly dispelled that notion. Still, when he used the slate as a viewfinder he’d always know exactly what direction to go, and on top of that, their locations were now marked on his map as well.

He glanced to the old man again, but he was just serenely staring out into space. With a sigh, Link set to work hunting down the other three shrines.

When he reached the bottom of the tower and took out the Sheikah Slate, he again noticed something new. The runes page had added a seventh box, and it was filled in with a new symbol – something called an Amiibo rune. It also had helpful text below it, explaining that it had detected that he had Amiibo on his person, and they could be used periodically to summon useful items. There was a helpful reference image, which he recognized: the strange little figurines he’d found in the chamber where he woke up.

He activated the rune, and a square on the side of his Sheikah Slate lit up. The screen helpfully informed him to touch the Amiibo to that point. He tried the bird-man with the bow first. There was a flash of light from in front of him, and a chest simply materialized out of nowhere. He opened it carefully, and inside he found a simple bow and a few arrows. A moment later, the fish-woman with a trident brought him a similar chest, this one with a spear inside.

He looked to the last figurine he’d grabbed – the purple horse. Perhaps it summoned a mount? With how far the other shrines were, that could be very useful. He touched it to the glowing pad.

This time, there was not a soft shimmer of a chest appearing. In fact, for a moment he thought it hadn’t worked at all. Then Link was thrown off his feet as an explosion left a charred circle in the rock in front of him.

Standing in that circle was a purple horse. Or, perhaps more of a pony, given its size. Its mane and tail were a darker purple with a pink stripe down the middle of each, and its mane was parted by a short, spiraling horn. Upon its back, two feathery wings rested, and there was some kind of mark on each of its flanks. He didn’t get a good look at it, because his gaze was drawn to its face – which bore large, expressive eyes that clearly held intelligence. Especially as they were in the process of widening in shock and fear. “What!?” It – no, she – yelled, spreading her wings and trotting in a circle as she took in the surroundings. “Where am I? How did I – I should have been able to resist, unless Celestia–” she paused, looking down at Link. “You’re not Celestia. Who are you? What did you do? What do you want? WHERE AM I?”

Link just stared in shock at the talking purple alicorn. “Uhh…”

The pony didn’t give him time to collect himself. Instead she was in his face, still shouting. “Answer me! You teleported me halfway across Equestria–” she interrupted herself again, looking at the surroundings once more. “–Or maybe further, and you had better tell me how you did it! And what you are! And why! And- and-!” Further words failed her, as she dissolved into large, gasping breaths.

Link slowly stood up, backing away from the apparently half-crazed pony. “My name is Link, and you’re in Hyrule,” he finally managed, answering the only questions he had answers for. “I don’t know how you got here. Or who you are. Or… what you are.”

The pony paused. “You do talk! Oh good. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and you somehow… summoned me! Or something! I’ve never even heard of anywhere called Hyrule, and nobody can teleport something across all of Equestria, and nobody should be able to teleport me except Celestia or Discord or maybe Luna-” Her voice continued to rise in pitch as she panicked. “That’s not possible this isn’t possible-”

Link took another few steps back, still not sure whether he should be reaching for a weapon. But thus far, despite her clear agitation, she wasn’t aggressive, so he’d give her the benefit of the doubt.

She had stopped speaking, but that was probably because she’d transitioned into hyperventilating. “Are you…” he started, but trailed off, not sure whether he actually wanted to finish that question. “Why don’t I set up camp,” he suggested instead.

This got the pony’s attention again. She seemed to have calmed down, at least a little, and just asked quietly, “Can you send me home?”

Link hesitated. “I… don’t know. I don’t think so.”

Twilight finally fell silent, and tears briefly appeared at the corners of her eyes. “Oh no.”