Link stretched in his treetop house as he did every morning, letting his muscles loosen and his tense feelings from overnight release. Blinking into the sunlight, he threw the window open and looked down on the small town of Ordon.
"Mornin', Link!" The Goat-Farmer, Fado, called from his customary position, as he did every morning. "Get out Epona, can you? The Goats are getting rowdy again!"
Link replied with a curt nod, hopping prodigiously down from his perch and running out the door. He may have only been seventeen, but he was strong.
It was what resulted of being the world's hero, after all.
He unhooked Epona from her patch in his large garden, and with a gentle whinny she allowed him to hop up onto her back and they rode into the town. Immediately the village children came out to say hello. It took longer than twenty minutes to get across town by the time he got to the stables for the goats.
Herding was so natural for Epona that all he needed to do was hold on. He occasionally whooped to send the goats running, and after a short amount of time they were all corralled expertly into the stables.
"Thanks again!" Fado said thankfully, and Link shot him an understanding smile before galloping back home.
"What to do today...?" Link murmured to himself, in his rarely-used, not-well-rounded voice. He found it easier to use body language, and after all, most people just assumed he was mute. He didn't much care. In a snap decision, he decided it was worth the trip, and after storing a note that he would be away, he collected a nice sack of supplies and stroked Epona's flank fondly before hopping up on his equine friend and beginning the long journey to the Arbiter's Grounds. Even if he knew Midna wouldn't be there, he could always check.
They rode off into the distance for the long trip, ready for what lay ahead.
The Arbiter's Grounds was a very plain place. Sandy and empty, with pillars and a large central area. He had left Epona down below, knowing her capable of surviving the harshest of situations, and walked up the spiral towards the very place where his friend through the darkness had left.
Standing near where the Mirror of Twilight had been, he stood, gently contemplating the place with the inner peace he had found. And yet he was disturbed.
Something had changed.
A brightness seemed to creep up on him, through the sun had already sunk below the walls of the Grounds, and he let his instinctive habits take over. He held one hand to his sword, his Ordon sword, and the light grew more.
At that point he was totally flabbergasted.
"Midna?"
"Miss me?" Midna quipped in her usual way, one long, delicate hand rising to her mouth. "Of course you did. You're a good doggie!"
"You know, your childish persona really does NOT match your image," Link commented, groaning inwardly at the (very slightly degrading) nickname. "But that doesn't matter." He raised an eyebrow. "Is Hyrule in danger again?"
"No." She said simply. "You just look really, really bored, so I decided to use the powers I gained from the mirror of Twilight to send you somewhere where you wouldn't be bored."
"Midna." He sighed. "I've spent too much time fighting, I think. I hunger for that, now, even though it pains me to say it. Is there really somewhere like that?"
"Not in Hyrule," she replied readily, twirling a delicate strand of hair with her pinky. "I was thinking other dimensions." She displayed with a regal wave of her hand. "Trust me. It's for the best."
"What about Epona?" Link murmured. "What if Hyrule needs me again?"
"It won't," Midna interjected. "You may not know it, but you are just one of many who are prime to rise to the challenge of defeating Ganondorf. You happened to be the one fate chose, and for that I am happy," Midna admitted. "but there are others who can carry the weight you once did. You are now free, so you should be able..." she gestured once more to the dimensional warp Link remembered, "... to do what really makes you feel alive."
"Fine," Link agreed. "I'll do it." He trusted Midna, and while she was infernally infuriating, she was also very intelligent: she deserved her throne.
"Then step on through."
And step through he did.