We haven't seen Epona doing sidequests in a while, but when Link isn't around there are other idiots that need guidance. Rauru does more sidequests than Link in this chapter even.

Link decided to muster up his courage and visit Hateno Village again. He'd also sufficiently cooled off his temper to avoid throttling the fashion designer for the destruction of his Ancient Armor. (Link also didn't want to admit it, but the helmet did lend itself to a mushroom shape. Not even Zelda would get him to say that.) Link wanted his graph paper and pencils because, although the Purah Pad was great for making designs, there were a few sketches he and Zelda had of some machines.

Link also made a quick stop at Gerudo Town as they'd been to Tarrey to make use of the breakdown service. Link gave the goddesses a prayer of gratitude for Buliara's temporary absence because sneaking sand seal plushies into the town without getting caught was nothing short of terrifying. He'd have rather fought a set of Gloom Hands at that moment. Rauru proved to be an excellent lookout and partner in crime. Were it not for the all-important issues of demon king extermination, the two of them would have made an excellent criminal duo. Link, inventory emptied of sand seals and heavier with some supplies, looked at the active shrines. They settled on Kakariko.

"Rauru, you are the best ghost ever. It is so obvious, why didn't I think of that?!"

"Ah, well, I am not sure about the best but I do try to assist where I can. What does the word 'obvious' mean?" Rauru said and Link obliged by pulling out the Purah Pad translator. While Link had a chat with Paya and Tauro, Rauru wandered off to read the slabs in the ruins. Especially the one people had cordoned off for safety reasons. Link discreetly notified Paya about the fake Zelda but they agreed to keep that on the down low as the imposter might waste time trying to waste Link's time.

At the moment, the opportunity to help historians polish their translations of old slabs was too good an opportunity to pass up. Plus, he liked hanging out with the Kakariko residents and tourists. Chatting with Paya and Tauro was pleasant way to pass time while Rauru read the different slabs of the Ring Ruins.

Link mentioned that he was only in Kakariko for a short stop and a shrine before checking out what was going on at Death Mountain. Rauru reappeared suddenly. His eyes were sparkling with delight, ears flicking in excitement. He slipped into the ancient Zonai language in his excitement. "Link! I n eedt he map! It's Mineru! Wene ed togetto Faron righ twa way!" Rauru's excitement wilted as he remembered. He calmed down and said in modern Hylian, "Oh. We still need to help the Gorons."

Paya and Tauro watched Link suddenly check out from the conversation. Link looked back to them. "Hey, Paya? Tauro? Thanks a lot, sorry I need to go check on someone real quick here."

Tauro said, "Well, all right? Thanks for your help with our research! Your theories on the Ancient Zonai people were most intriguing."

Paya, more in the know and also very much a Sheikah nodded knowingly. "Do take care, Master Link. May the Goddess watch over you and Rauru!"

Link ducked into the Shrine of Light. He'd already finished getting the orb but it was private and a place where he was certain Ganondorf wasn't going to hear a thing. Link placed the Pad between them with the translator mode enabled. "Rauru, you mentioned your sister?"

"The ruins were talking about her! I am sure of it!"

"Her expertise and advice would be welcome. I mean, there's got to be a better way to handle the joints on this design." Link pulled out the top secret blueprints, then the slightly less top secret blueprints. "We can just go right there."

"Link, you need to help the Gorons first." The other regional phenomena were terrible to behold and Rauru felt the situation would be terrible for the Gorons as well. "Mineru has been waiting a long time. She will wait more?"

Link shook his head. "I feel like I needed more orbs anyway. Eldin cooled down but what about the Fire Temple? You said it was in the depths?"

Rauru and Link went back and forth in their planning meeting for a while longer. Link and Rauru eventually looked at the sense in their plans. Link said, "You know what?"

"What?," asked Rauru, though he knew exactly where this was going.

"Let's speed things up more. Give me your irresponsible ideas."

"What do you mean, irresponsible?"

Link said, "You know exactly what that word means. I have some supplies and the depths have more Zonaite ores. You mentioned old mining facilities. If the Sage of Fire is not Yunobo, I will eat a dark clump raw. Yunobo is reliable and also he is in charge of a company that employs the finest engineers of Hyrule." Link knew some of the Gorons could do schematics for heavy duty machinery in their sleep.

Rauru looked at the blueprints and decided to let the responsible king brain take a break. Sonia was going to be mad. "Well, you could take time to catch fireproof lizards for elixirs or, well, there is an idea I had to cool off a car for safe exploration of volcanic areas..."

Link grinned. "See? You've been holding back. I've been holding back. We've probably got everything I need already if I stop overthinking this part. I'm also not going down into the Depths without plenty of light, but I..." Link stopped his train of thought before he broke the beneficial amnesia. A memory lingered of eons of darkness pressed into his amnesia, then was pushed back. "...I'm pretty sure the Shrine of Resurrection made me forget a lot of the time between my era and this one for a reason even though I'm sure I was asleep for that and the hundred year nap. I'm not sure what the Depths will do to my mental health though. Are Brightblooms going to burn inside the Fire Temple? What wildlife will there be in the Depths?"

The two men had fun coming up with impractical ideas, then ways to test impractical ideas. They planned to complete what shrines were right in their path and whatever shrines they already knew of because the Depths were going to be brutal. Mineru would be right on the list after getting the Fire Temple taken care of. Then, they'd have Mineru join the research for ways to NOT die from their own experiment. After a long strategy meeting, Link was convinced to go sleep in the inn while Rauru completed a sidequest for him. Rauru followed a cucco for Link while he slept. Once the blond knight woke up, Rauru notified Link of the little cave where the chickens had been hiding. Mission of the morning complete, Rauru took a nap himself as Link set the next part of his journey in motion.

One hour later, two Goron children were badly startled by the landing of a contraption composed almost exclusively of springs and spite.

Epona wasn't often taken completely aback by human behavior. As Link's horse, there was little which would shock her. Horses also were not big on clothing. That said, she was rather shocked to see a lack of clothing around the Foothill Stable. It was such a stark contrast to Hylian societal norms, especially since people needed as much protection from mishap as they could get. Epona eavesdropped like a champion snoop, then trotted off to the cave.

Epona stopped at the cave mouth where Sango and Drant were talking to convince themselves to go in whilst underdressed. When she heard "You didn't move either, Drant," Epona could not resist.

Epona let out the loudest neigh she could.

Sango jumped a good foot in the air. Epona enjoyed the mens' screams as the fear of Malanya gripped them before they turned to see a horse.

"What... Oh, It's a horse. I thought it was a monster."

Epona gave the two idiots a look that she hoped adequately conveyed the message, 'You two are stupid.'

"Man, I feel stupid. Here we are trying to conduct research on the monsters holed up in a cavern and we got scared by a stupid horse."

Epona conveyed her message harder, with a side of 'Excuse me, I am smarter than you.'

"Look at us. We're hardly geared up to deal with any threats."

Finally, they get that this is stupid. Epona thought to herself.

Drant then said, "If only someone could do this, show us how it's done. Well, then we could try without gear too." Drant saw the horse bob her head a little. she then pushed her way past the two men. "Wait, no, don't go in there!"

"Are you serious?" Sango made a grab for the saddle, but Epona shook the well-meaning hold on her. The men made a valiant effort but stopped cold when they remembered their lack of gear. While the men were deciding if they needed to charge in with the suicidal horse, Epona picked up a stick and mentally marked the first Horriblin to die.

Sango and Drant rapidly threw on their clothes and weapons as quickly as possible. The two men charged the entrance, but Epona was walking out of the cave. They relaxed. "Oh, hi! I guess we don't need to rescue you after all? Let's get you back to the Stable. Wonder who you belong to? Here, horsie. Come on." Epona broke into a run to avoid the grab again. The two men followed Epona all the way back to the stable where they were interviewed by Penn. They hadn't expected to be readily believed by one person. Then a couple stablehands believing them? That was even more shocking. Maybe there was some truth to their words about the Horse of Evil's Bane...

Notes: I'm sure there are other sidequests Rauru could do for Link. Maybe I need to poke around more in the game for random sidequests. In the meantime, he could totally help look for things like specific ingredients.

Tauro would INCREDIBLY envious Link has a primary source instead of a secondary one for history questions. If they tell him about the ghost. He's just happy to have someone so knowledgeable about what different texts could mean!