I nibbled at the grass beneath my nose, expertly searching out the freshest, greenest blades. It was easy, since I had had lots of practice. It was all I ever did those days.

The human who had previously owned the ranch called me Epona. I liked the name - it sounded bold and proud, just like me. But he and his sweet daughter were gone, having left the ranch in the hands of the former stall-keeper. I didn't trust the being who had given the ranch to him - he was a dark man dressed in black and smelled of the desert. The dry, dead desert. I tried to warn the other horses of how dangerous he probably was, but they, too, had known no troubles their entire lives and refused to believe me, dismissing it as an irrational fear thought up by an inexperienced filly.

That was seven years ago. I sorely missed the little girl, the ranch owner's daughter, who often sang to me, who seemed to understand and appreciate my wild and fierce nature. Her mother's lullaby always soothed me and brought me in at night. It was obvious she loved all us horses.

But the stall-keeper didn't. He only cared about raising us to be petty show-horses, to give to the desert man. The only reason anybody ever came to the ranch anymore was to ride briefly on a horse in the pen. If a 'customer' came once, they rarely came back, since the stall-keeper often challenged them to a race and somehow beat them. Over the years, less and less people came. The spikes around the outside pen seemed to get taller and taller.

None of the other horses ever left the ranch, anyway, since none were being 'bought'. And I had lots of time to graze. (I apparently wasn't a favorite of visitors since I didn't let them ride me.) I was honestly very surprised I hadn't grown fat and lazy from the regular lack of exercise. Sometimes, I did a few laps around the inside of the fence, just to entertain myself, but that only seemed to make me antsy, so I proceeded to ignore nearly anyone who came to the ranch and kept to myself.

And so I grazed.

It was so BORING.

So AGONIZINGLY BORING.

I yearned, deep within myself, to run free across the beautiful land of Hyrule, to explore and roam around to my heart's content. But unless, by some miracle, the Forest-Child returned, I certainly wasn't going anywhere.

I paused for a moment in my meal to remember him. One day, seven years ago, one of the fabled immortal Forest-Children visited the ranch. He was very different from anyone who had come before him. Dressed in grass-green clothes, he not only had a bluish light-orb known as a fairy fluttering around his head, but he also learned to play my song on a small, round, cream-colored instrument. He and the ranch girl instantly became friends, talking in friendly tones before he approached me. I liked his gentle hands and warm blue gaze, but I especially noticed his scent. He smelled of trees, woods, and wild things growing freely in a lush and vibrant land. He spoke in soft tones to me and came back several times, every day, for quite a while. He would play my song on his instrument, stroke me, and even run alongside me in the outside pen.

I enjoyed every moment of those days.

Then, one day, he simply... stopped coming. The ranch girl didn't seem to know where he went, since she asked me a few times, never expecting nor receiving an answer.

I wondered the same thing myself - where had he gone? Had he found something more interesting and forgotten me? I often told myself it wasn't true, but that never brought him back.

Since then, I refused to let anyone, even the stall-keeper, so much as come close to me. I was Epona, the wild and free horse of the ranch, tamed by no one.

Things were so lonely around the ranch, though. Day in and day out, all I did was eat, sleep, and dream of a better life.

Or at least, until that day.

On that fateful day, just before noon, someone, for the first time in months, came into the ranch. I glanced at them from the corner of my eye, then stopped grazing altogether to get a better look at the stranger.

I was astonished - he looked just like the Forest-Child! He had grass-green clothing, brown boots, a bluish fairy fluttering around his head, and even from that far away, I could tell he had sandy blond hair. Just like the Forest-Child.

But it couldn't be true. According to local word, Forest-Children never aged, and this man was much, much taller than the boy who had befriended me seven years ago. As he approached the stall-keeper and talked to him, I noticed white clothing under the green and new shoes - er, gloves covering his forearms.

I narrowed my eyes. Perhaps this man had learned of my love for the Forest-Child and was going to attempt to tame me through pretending to be him? I snorted and returned to grazing. Some horses may be stupid enough to fall for something like that, but I certainly wasn't.

As the stall-keeper explained how to ride one of us, the impersonator handed him two blue gems and walked through the newly opened gate. I feigned disinterest as he approached one of the common horses and rode around for a bit. I huffed to myself in satisfaction as he attempted to jump the larger fence and failed as the tan horse refused to comply. I'm the only one here who can clear that, I thought smugly. Foolish man.

Just then, he noticed me. He stopped the other horse and stared at me for a moment, as though in disbelief. I grew suspicious - was he pretending to recognize me, to fool me into letting him ride me? My suspicion rose as he dismounted the other horse and slowly walked towards me, as instructed by the stall-keeper. When he got close, however, I immediately trotted away to another section of the pen. He tried unsuccessfully many times to mount me, and on the fourth time, I could hear the stall-keeper snickering.

I shook my head casually and went back to grazing, hoping the fake would choose another horse and leave.

But he didn't, to my great annoyance. He didn't try to get any closer, though, he just looked at me for a moment. The man glanced at the stall-keeper watching intently nearby - time was running out and he seemed determined to ride me. Good luck, I thought crossly. The only way I'll ever ride you is if you actually are the Forest-Child!

He stiffened suddenly, as if a brilliant idea had occurred to him. Reaching into his tunic, he pulled out a small, dark blue instrument very, VERY similar to the cream one the Forest-Child had. I refused to let curiosity get the better of me, however, and continued to munch on grass.

Then, he did the impossible.

Putting the instrument to his mouth, he played a beautiful, twelve-note song I hadn't heard in nearly seven years.

My song! My song!

That man was playing my song!

I jerked my head up, hardly believing what I heard. He knew my song! Perhaps this was the Forest-Child. Maybe, I realized, the Forest-Child wasn't one at all, but really a young Hylian all along!

Whinnying excitedly, I galloped over to him and let him approach me and stroke my black muzzle. He laughed happily and I blinked warmly at him, recognizing and enjoying the familiar feeling of those gentle hands. He looked at me with bright blue eyes and, though his clothes stunk of death as if he had walked through Castle Town, I smelled the faint aroma of woods, trees, and wild things growing freely. I even saw the small boy I had known in those cheerful eyes, like nothing had changed on the inside. Though his face and clothes were different, I knew that that was my Forest-Child.

Running his hand along my neck, he grabbed onto the horn of the saddle strapped across my back and mounted me. It took a moment to become accustomed to the weight of someone else on my back, but it wasn't uncomfortable and I didn't mind. The Forest-Child and I were together again at last.

Nudging my sides slightly with his legs, the boy urged me into a walk before I unexpectedly leaped in a gallop. He leaned forward over my neck, holding one hand out in the the air, and shouted, "Hyah!" squeezing my sides again. I put on an extra burst of speed and expertly leaped the fence in front of me. A rush of adrenaline coursed through me - this was what I had been waiting for for seven years! I called to the heavens with glee, racing around the pen. The other horses paid no attention to me and ignored me, but I didn't care. I couldn't care less!

I was free! Free at last!

But my joy was cut short as the stall-keeper jeered at my rider, warning him that he was not going to let him stay any longer. Slowing me and bringing me to a halt in front of the stall-keeper, the boy talked to him for a minute or two. Hearing the challenging tone in the stall-keeper's voice, I realized that he was once more offering to race. I flattened my ears and bared my teeth slightly. The wretched, stuck-up, pompous stall-keeper would finally get his just desserts - his cross-bred, lazy mule was no match for me!

I watched him saunter away to retrieve his steed and I pawed the ground anxiously. The boy riding me leaned over in the saddle and patted my neck, speaking soothingly. I nickered softly, to show him my appreciation of returning to me.

Shortly after, the stall-keeper's 'horse' and I stood next to each other, lined up for the race. A whistle sounded from somewhere - I've NEVER been able to figure out where - and off I flew, neck-and-neck with the stall-keeper, who kept having to slap his mount repeatedly to keep up. The boy only had to encourage me a few times, on the rare occasion that our rival passed us, since we were smart and kept to the inside of the 'track', making our distance to run much shorter. My thick legs were naturally stronger than that thin mule's, so even though it knew the way around the fence better than I, I had the advantage of stamina on my side.

Together, the boy and I beat the stall-keeper in the single lap around the fenced area I usually stayed in. Resisting the urge to rear and sing out my victory to the sky, I allowed the boy to guide me back to the gate of the pen. He and the very off-put stall-keeper exchanged words, then, before I knew it, the boy had climbed atop me again. As he lined me up for another race, he whispered in my ear, "Ingu has bet you on this race. If we win, you'll come with me."

My heart skipped a beat. Leave the ranch? Leave the ranch? It sounded too good to be true. But if my freedom was on the line, then there was no way I'd ever lose the next race.

The stall-keeper's mule eyed me suspiciously, looking like it was ready to actually put effort into winning. But I stared him down defiantly, knowing that I was going to try twice as hard to succeed. I could feel it in my soul - my fate was with the boy, running freely across Hyrule.

And that petty pack-mule was not going to change that.

When the whistle blew once more, I was gone. The grass beneath me and the fence beside me blurred into dull streaks as I tore across the field, legs pumping. I went so fast that a few horses actually stopped to look up and watch me destroy the pathetic mule called my adversary. I could hear some talking to each other:

"Look at her go!"

"Is that Epona?"

"I've never seen a horse run so fast!"

"Wow..."

"She takes after her mother..."

"Go, Epona!"

Just like the last horse that spoke, a few more began to cheer for me, calling out to my rider and I. Even with the weight of a nearly full-grown Hylian on me, I was still the fastest horse in all the ranch.

My chest burned as we neared the gate, but I put on a final burst of speed, easily overtaking the mule from the start. The stall-keeper followed behind and screamed in defeat. He leaped off his mule, pulling at his hair in anger and shouting incoherently. The Forest-Child pulled me to a stop and listened to the man's ramblings with a concerned expression.

Then, to my alarm, the stall-keeper ran to the ranch entrance and drew the tall gates closed, yelling nasty things and ending with the insane and ridiculous threat to never let my rider or I ever leave the ranch again.

Neither of us had to say a word, or even exchange a glance. There was only one way out of the situation.

I slowly backed up, perpendicular to the gate. When I was a satisfying distance away, the Forest-Child spurred me forward. I reared with a rallying whinny and launched across the grounds. The stall-keeper trembled slightly at my approach, then finally lost heart and ducked as I jumped and flew over the gate.

Out of the ranch.

To freedom.

To freedom!

With my beloved Forest-Child, Link.