[EDITING] The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Overworld Chapter 25 - The Train Station

            …and across the fort towards the gate. A few troops were riding up as they approached. Zelda stopped and looked at Link. “Do you have a plan to get out of here?”

            Link pulled out the Ocarina of Time. He started playing the whistle he had made up when he got Epona. The song echoed out across the vast desert. Zelda said, “I don’t think Epona will hear you from here.”

            A neigh returned Link’s call. Zelda’s eyes widened as Epona came barreling across the desert towards them. Link grabbed Epona’s reins as the mare walked up to him. She snorted, and shook off the sand that clung to her sides. Her sides were heaving, but otherwise, the mare looked fine.

            “That is one impressive horse,” one of the troops said. “Where’d you get her?”

            “Lon Lon Ranch,” Link answered the man.

            “You’re kidding. The only horse they have like that is untamable,” another guard commented. “She sent me flying when I tried. I busted my arm, got me stuck in the medic tent for a month.”

            “So that’s the story now, is it? Last week it was a moblin that broke your arm,” the first guard said with a laugh.

            “Shut up,” the second grumbled, before walking off into the fort.

            The rest of the company laughed before they walked on into the fort. Link turned back to Epona. She whinnied, pride in her eyes as she watch them go. Link shook his head, and mounted the horse. He extended his hand back out to Zelda. Zelda gladly took it, and pulled herself into the saddle behind Link.

            “Can she make it to the edge of the desert by sunrise with the two of us?” Zelda asked.

            Epona snorted, insulted by the comment. Link said, “She just has to make it to the Sandsought Station. We can take the train from there. That can’t be too far, can it?”

            Zelda answered, “I guess not.”

            Link asked Epona on. The horse shook her head, before racing on across the desert. Link tried to keep Epona from pushing too hard, but the horse had something to prove. Link sighed and just help on tighter to the reins.

            The sun started creeping up over the horizon as the two arrived in Sandsought. The village was nearly invisible in the dark, the sandstone buildings blending in almost perfectly with the desert. A few Gerudos walked between the buildings, accompanied by a few Hylian guards.

            The train station itself was on the outskirts of town, fortunately on the side they were coming from too. It was the loudest part of the town this early in the morning, really the only thing that broke the silence. A train must have arrived not long ago, because there were still many young boys racing bags back and forth from the train station.

            Link dismounted Epona and helped Zelda down. She smiled and took a step back. She said, “Do you think they’ll board Epona?”

            “If the owner rides with the horse, then yes.”

            The two turned to face the Gerudo engineer. He said as he fiddled with tickets, “That’s just policy. Of course, if you can’t afford it, then you don’t have anything to worry about.”

            “I think we can afford it,” Zelda said. “I doubt you would want the King complaining about his daughter missing. He's expecting me this afternoon.”