Link to Equestria

Chapter 1

 Fluttershy was staring at the wolf with a mixture of fear and concern. Twilight, however, had no concern for the wounded creature, glaring at him with eyes full of rage. The wolf glanced at Fluttershy and let out a low bark; she seemed to know how to handle animals. The single sound expressed his current situation: unfamiliar surroundings and people, previous encounters with a dragon, and finally, a single, important word. His name: Link.

 With that, Link turned on his heels and leapt for the window. It was shut, but the latch was unlocked, meaning it flew open at his touch. He landed outside on all four paws, not even stumbling at the sudden impact. Without missing a beat, he took off. His paws beat at the ground, propelling him forward with great speed.

 It didn't take long until he found himself ducking behind some sort of building in the outskirts of a town. Peeking his head around the side of the wall, Link saw more horses, of all colours and species. There were pegasi, unicorns, and some normal horses. The former two he only knew from mythology, but it wasn't the strangest thing to have happened to him.

 Link perked up and raised his nose as the scents of home hit him. While not the exact same, he could smell the earthy scents of a barn and other animals. Without thinking too much about it, he began slinking around behind the next row of buildings.

 Suddenly he decided to realise what a stupid idea undressing his wound was. The blood flowing from his side would both give any pursuers – namely Twilight – an easy trail to follow, and weaken him slightly. Growling angrily, he ducked behind some bushes and bit off as many leaves as he could. The blood stuck the leaves to his side, creating a makeshift bandage.

 Good enough.

~~~~~~~~~~

Slowly at first, Link continued to sneak around behind the houses, towards the farm smells. Soon, he found himself hiding behind a large apple tree, staring out at a large, red barn, complete with stables and orchard. The strong smell of apples invaded his senses: apples, apple pie, apple crumble, apple cider...

 Link shook his head to clear it before stalking across the ground towards the structure. So far only Fluttershy, Twilight and the dragon knew he was here, and he was determined to keep it that way. The sound of talking made him throw caution to the wind and take off at high speed, ducking into the stables just as two horses – one a foal – rounded the corner.

 "Now, now, Applebloom, I've already heard your cutie mark story twenty-nine times, I really don-" the first horse – an orange one with green eyes, blonde hair tied with red bands, white freckles, a cowboy hat and three apples on her flank – was interrupted by the foal, presumably Applebloom.

 "Wha- Sis! Don't you care anymore? I finally got my cutie mark!" Applebloom whimpered. She was pale yellow with red hair, orange eyes and a big pink bow on her head. Her 'cutie mark' was a pink, pale pink and red shield with an apple inside.

 "Of course I do!" the first pony told her sister firmly. "I just don't need you to round it out, okay?" Both ponies had a country accent.

 "Fine, Applejack." Applebloom pouted.

 "Good. Now, go help Big Mac collect in the apples, and then you can go find Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo and go play." Applejack smiled warmly. Applebloom grew a grin of her own, and rushed out of sight.

 "I love that filly to death, but everypony is getting tired of hearing that story over and over." Applejack sighed. Then she sniffed the air and turned to the stables. "I'm also tired of the stables getting dirty, even when they're empty."

 Link wanted to howl his frustration, but swallowed his anger and instead hid behind a large pile of hay. Applejack trotted into the stables, lifted a broom from the corner and began to sweep up the hay. Even from behind the haystack, Link could see the broom caught up every clump of mud and dirt, while leaving the clean hay almost completely undisturbed.