Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend of Zelda in any way shape or form.

Chapter 3: Epona's Song

Malon crept wearily to the straw mat where she slept and sank down onto it, grateful that the day was finally over. She had risen with the sun, and spent the early hours of the morning feeding the cuccos and collecting eggs before milking the cows. That last bit hadn't taken long. The cows never seemed to give much milk anymore, not since her father had gotten thrown out. She wished dearly that she could leave too, but Inigo would never let her get beyond the front gates. She was too valuable. If it weren't for Epona, Malon didn't know what she'd do.

After milking the cows, she'd let the horses out to pasture and filled the oat trough before going inside to cook Inigo's breakfast. He had come down just as she had started, and he'd quickly gone from sleepy to angry as he always did when a meal wasn't ready on time, and she'd gotten a beating for it. Inigo always seemed to find a reason to beat her for the smallest things. The rest of the day had gone in a similar fashion. Malon, going through her daily tasks, while being jeered at by the ranch hands Inigo had hired, which never seemed to do any work. Being late with dinner, and getting another beating before eating a meager meal of her own and letting the horses back into the stables, receiving a friendly little nuzzle from Epona in thanks. The only kind gestures shown to her by anyone on the ranch were from the animals, mostly the horses. And finally, onto her little straw mat in that old empty shed and under her thin little blanket to sleep and awaken to another day of the same.

The next morning found a bruised and tired Malon huddled in the stables. She'd risen late, and Inigo had beaten her again for it. He'd said something about a man of some importance coming to buy a horse today, and he wanted her out of sight while their 'potential client' was at the ranch. She'd been happy to do as he said, for once. She needed the extra sleep. But, as she lay in the straw of Epona's stall, sleep would not come to her. She kept remembering the dream she'd had the previous night. At first, her dreams had been kind to her, and had held no trace of Inigo or anything of the past few years. Instead, she had dreamed of a day years ago, when that boy in green clothes and with the fairy, Fairy Boy, she remembered calling him, had come to the ranch. How Epona had run from him, and how he had chased the horse all around the corral, until he couldn't run any more, and she'd taught him her mother's song. Epona's Song. And it had been just the three of them for a while, herself, Epona, and Fairy Boy. Then Fairy Boy had waved good-bye, and Inigo had come into her dream like an all-encompassing shadow. He kicked at her, and frightened Epona off. Then he'd beat her until she had grown into who she was today, when a ray of green light burst through the shadow that was Inigo, and a young, familiar looking man had stood in his place wearing green clothes and humming Epona's Song.

He had then offered her a hand and helped her to her feet and… she'd woken up. She'd heard the rumors that Princess Zelda had dreams that predicted the future, could this have been a dream like that? As Malon sat with her back to the wall, and her legs pulled up to her chest, she prayed silently that it was. She sat there for awhile longer before she heard the sounds of the front gates opening, and then the muffled voices of Inigo and someone else through the walls of the stable. They grew louder then quieter as they walked past the stables, and Malon crept towards the large double doors of the stable and pulled them open just enough that she could see out of them. Inigo and two other men were leaning on the fence of the corral, and Inigo was speaking; though Malon couldn't hear what he was saying, and the other men didn't really seem to be listening.

One of the men looked young. He can't be much older than me, thought Malon. Probably some lord's son or something like that. The other man was dressed in a servant's garb, no mistaking what he was. Inigo was pointing at various horses and undoubtedly pointing out each one's strong points, even though he knew next to nothing about horses. The other men didn't seem to be listening to him anyway. The younger man was instead just watching the horses run. Malon knew from the way he watched them that he was comparing them in his own mind, the way they moved, and reacted. Well, at least this one knows something about horses. I just hope he doesn't see Epona, thought Malon. If he did, he'd want her for certain. She was easily the best horse on the ranch; she was faster, smarter, had more stamina, the list went on. The only reason no one had already bought Epona was her wild nature. The kinds of people who could generally afford a horse like Epona wanted their new horse to be tame and complacent before they'd even handed over the rupees for it. But this guy… this guy was the kind of person that would've tamed Volvagia if the dragon hadn't been killed by the head of Ganondorf's invasion forces at Death Mountain. If he saw Epona, he would have her. Malon didn't know how she knew this, but she did. This guy would take the time. Quickly scanning the herd of horses for the red-coated mare, she was relieved to see that Epona was hanging back with the trailing, older and weaker horses as she sometimes did. Malon sighed with relief, then sucked her breath back in before it had barely gotten past her lips. The stranger was pointing at Epona. Inigo shrugged, then shouted at the horse, knowing she wouldn't respond to him any other way than by ignoring him. There was a short conversation between the two, and when they shook hands Malon's heart skipped a beat. Not Epona… she thought, but it was definitely Epona the man had just agreed to buy.

Before she knew what she was doing she had flung the stable doors open and was rushing at the men. She knew Inigo would give her the beating of a lifetime for this, but she didn't care. She couldn't loose Epona.

"NO!" screamed Malon, throwing herself to her knees before the stranger. "Please don't take Epona! She's all I've got left!" she sobbed.

"Get away from the prince you stupid wench!" shouted Inigo, grabbing her shoulders and roughly pulling her away from the stranger, now identified as the prince.

"I apologize my lord, she is a bit disturbed. She is the daughter of the former owner of the ranch. He died in an unfortunate accident a few years back, and I've let her stay here as a favor to the old man, rest his soul. He was a dear friend of mine." Inigo continued.

"LAIR!" screamed Malon. "You got my father drunk and tricked him into selling you the ranch for next to nothing! Then you threw him out because you hated him!"

"Silence girl!" shouted Inigo, throwing her to the ground, then finding himself staring down twenty-six inches of steel, and decided it was in his best interest to be nice to Malon for the time being. Malon, in the meantime, was stunned. She hadn't even heard the scrape of steel being drawn, and the sword's tip was barely even half an inch away from Inigo's throat, if that. The prince sheathed his sword, again without even the sound of steel scraping on steel, and offered her a hand. She hesitated for a moment, then took it and he pulled her up almost effortlessly.

"Dowl," he said, "take this guy back to the farmhouse and don't let him leave until I tell you he can."

The servant snapped to attention. "Yessir." He said, then hurried to lead Inigo back to the farmhouse. The prince then turned back to Malon, and pulling a leather pouch from his belt, poured out a handful of gold rupees and pressed them into Malon's hands.

"I'm sorry, but I'm taking that horse. Consider that payment."

He indicated the rupees. Malon looked at the gold-hued gems in her hands. There had to be at least seven hundred rupees in her hands. She threw them in his face.

"No sale. I don't care who you are, you can't have Epona." She said.

"Why not?"

"Because…" she scrambled through her mind for a suitable reason. "Because she already belongs to someone else." He has to accept that. If she already belongs to someone else, he just can't have her. But then, what if he asks…

"Who?"

Crap. Now what smarty? I need someone he'll never meet, but who? Well, I guess there's always-

"Fairy Boy." She said quietly, suddenly embarrassed. The prince just smiled to himself and turned to the horses, then pulled out a small blue ocarina, and brought it to his lips. And then he played. Malon's dream flooded back to her. Fairy Boy, Epona's Song, the man in green clothes, the grown up Fairy Boy. Epona trotted over to the fence and nuzzled his neck in a friendly fashion, and Malon just stood there in shock.

"Fairy Boy?" she said, even quieter than before. The prince smiled.

"The name's Link. It's nice to see you again Malon."

"You're the prince?" she asked, overcoming the initial shock. He just nodded. "But I thought the royal family were all gerudos. And what happened to your fairy?"

"All but one of the royal family are gerudos." He looked uncomfortable for a moment. "And I'd rather not talk about my fairy." He added. "What about you?" he said, changing the subject. "Is what you said about Inigo true?"

She nodded. "But I'd rather not talk about that right now either." She said, leaning on the fence. There was a long awkward moment of silence before Link spoke again.

"I'm taking Epona, Malon." He said quietly.

She just nodded sullenly. "I knew you would. I don't know how, but I always knew she was meant to be yours. It's just, just… she's all I've got left, you know? My mom died when I was really young, and Inigo kicked dad off the ranch with nothing but the clothes on his back, and knowing him he's probably dead too." She stared out at the horses again. "Forget I said anything. Take her. She's yours. I'll manage, somehow."

Link watched her in silence for a while. It was nearly noon now, and the sun was high in the sky. Link sighed to himself. It was hard to see Malon like this, especially knowing what she had been like the last time he'd seen her. Especially knowing he was about to take her one source of comfort on this whole damn ranch. She was one of the only friends he'd ever really had, and it was hard to think that there was nothing he could do for her. Hey, wait a second. He thought, I'm the prince, and heir to the throne. I can do as I damn well please, there has to be something I can do for her. Say…

"You know, I think I'm kind of tired from the trip today. Does the farmhouse have any guest rooms?"

Malon looked up at him, a little puzzled. What's he mean he's tired? It hardly takes any time to come here from the castle. I should know. Inigo makes me drag any milk the cows give up there, and it only takes a few hours. And that's including the trip back, and I have to carry the crate with me.

"Yeah, two."

"And where do you sleep?"

Malon hesitated before replying. What's he up to?

"In that shed over there." She answered after a moment, indicating the old building.

"Take a guest room tonight. My servant will use the other one, and I doubt I'll be sleeping tonight."

What the hell is he up to?

"Well, alright, I guess. But, why?"

Link smiled to himself. "I want you to be well rested for tomorrow. I have a feeling something big is in your future." He said, as he walked off back towards the farmhouse. Malon was still a bit confused, but she had a good feeling about this for some reason.

* * *

As the day wore on Malon didn't see much of Link, whom was talking with Inigo and wouldn't let her into the farmhouse for some reason. By the time she came in to make dinner, they were done, and neither would tell her what they'd been discussing. Link went outside as soon as he was finished eating, and after dinner when Malon went to do the dishes, Dowl wouldn't let her. He said he'd never gone so long without being given a menial task to perform, and it was a bit unnerving for him. So, instead Malon had gone outside to find Link.

When she found him, he was putting Epona through her paces in the corral. She was responsive and attentive, and reacting far faster than Malon had ever seen her react before. Link obviously knew his way around a horse. Night fell quickly and Malon retired to the guestroom.

How ironic. She thought to herself. I'm the one that lives here, and he's lending me a room.

She didn't bother to undress beyond taking off her boots and scarf. There was no point; she didn't own any other clothes. Looking out the window, she saw Link still riding Epona under the starlight. She sighed to herself, and continued to watch the two move together as if they were one being. The way they reacted to one another was incredible. If there had ever been any doubt in Malon's mind that Epona was meant to be Link's horse, it was gone now. After awhile longer, she went to sleep.

* * *

When Malon awoke it was still dark, and someone was standing over her.

"Link?" she muttered, still a bit tired.

The figure seemed surprised at the sound of Malon's voice, and stepped back into the moonlight pouring into the room through the window. The figure was that of a woman in a black, form-fitting body suit, holding a wickedly curved knife. The figure's confusion only lasted for a moment though, and she soon advanced on Malon again, holding the knife over her head.

Malon didn't bother with screaming. Instead, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and jumped out of it just in time to avoid the knife's plunge. A tacky coat of arms hung on the wall nearest her, and she pulled down one of the swords from it, and held the far too heavy weapon in front of her in a vain attempt at defense. The other woman remained silent as she moved in and deftly avoided Malon's useless swings of the sword, knocking the cumbersome weapon from the smaller girl's hands. The black clad woman stabbed at Malon's side, and she managed to avoid the blow more by luck than anything else, and ducked another attack, then dived under the woman's outstretched arm. She came up to her feet just in time to dodge another attack, and the other woman was obviously getting annoyed. As she dodged another swing of the knife, Malon thought she heard footsteps running up the stairs. Apparently the other woman heard it too, because she hesitated halfway through her next strike. As the footsteps grew closer, the woman took one last swing at Malon, then sheathed the knife so she could draw a sword that Malon hadn't noticed that was slung across her back until just that moment. The woman squared herself with the door, and leaped in a vertical slash that would have finished the fight before it began if anyone had been standing in the doorway when it opened.

Instead, as the woman looked up, she received a kick to the face, followed by a one-two punch to the solar plexus, and an elbow blow to the chin, ending with a leg sweep that left the woman lying flat on the floor in the hallway. Link stood over her. He wasn't even breathing hard as Malon stepped into the hallway.

"Who was that?" she asked. Link shrugged.

"No one in particular. Just some gerudo assassin. It seems my sister is still upset with me."

"Your sister?"

"Yeah. As near as I can tell, it's somewhat of a tradition among my family. You shouldn't worry though."

It took a minute for that to sink in.

"Wait, what?"