“U-u-u-unbelievable!!!”



Link heard the self-proclaimed great Ingo screech from over his shoulder as he easily raced past the finish line well ahead of him, riding atop Epona with the wind in his hair, the eager horse not even close to out of breath. He turned to Malon, watching from the sidelines, as she erupted into cheers and raced to hug him as he dismounted from her beloved horse. She had been silent throughout the race for fear that he might just lose, and incur the wrath of Ingo for failing to support him, but the moment it had been clear that Ingo had no chance she lost all inhibitions, and gushed over the two of them as Ingo trotted over the finish line in defeat.

“Invalid! It’s invalid! I won’t recognise it!” Ingo bleated, interrupting the two as he nearly fell off his horse trying to get out of the saddle. “You must have cheated somehow! That wild horse shouldn’t listen to you in the first place!”

“Link won fair and square, Mr. Ingo.” Malon put her foot down and her hand on her hips. “You made a promise, now stick to it!”

“Quiet! Or I’ll, I’ll…” Ingo turning redder than Malon had ever seen him before, his fancy clothes stained with sweat and veins popping from his forehead. However, Malon finally found herself without fear, and stood defensively in front of the two.

“Or what? You’ll kick me out like you did my father?” Malon said boldly. “Then you’ll have nobody to stick up for you when Lord Ganondorf comes asking what happened to that horse you were boasting you were preparing just for him!”



“Sh-sh-sh-shut up!” Ingo stammered, as if he couldn’t get enough oxygen into him fast enough for how angry he was. “If it’s come to this, then…”

Suddenly, the colour drained from Ingo’s face. His bulging vein faded, and his pallor returned to its usual healthy tan. The young man and woman couldn’t help but almost take a step back, the mood swing more worrying to Link than most of the monsters he’d faced so far.

“You’re right, a deal is a deal.” Ingo said, all venom gone from his voice, moving to a tone that Malon recognised as the type he usually used when he was trying to flatter a customer. “I lost fair and square, as the young lady said! Don’t mind me, I simply get a bit too competitive every now and then. Call it a ranch owner’s pride!”

He calmly, casually strolled up to the two, placing a hand on each shoulder.

“The horse is yours, my boy.” He said sweetly. “However…”



“However…?” Malon said uncomfortable, feeling his hand was placed a little too heavily.

“Lon Lon Ranch will incur quite a loss from losing this horse. I don’t suppose we could consider the race proof that you’re worthy of riding such an unruly horse, and that the cost of the race goes towards a down payment?”



“Mr. Ingo! You can’t seriously be asking him to pay full price after all that.” Malon protested.



“She’s right.” Navi chipped in. “You can’t just change the rules just because you lost!”

“Not full price! You wouldn’t be able to afford what I was planning to charge Lord Ganondorf for them.” Ingo chortled. “No, I was thinking more about, say, a new cow?”



“That’s not particularly cheap either, Mr Ingo.” Malon said with a frown.



“He doesn’t have to pay all in one go, I was thinking he could pay it off as he goes. I’ll include all services for taking care of the horse free of charge! A premium package like her is high-maintenance, you know!”  

“I think we might have to indulge him on this one, fairy boy.” Malon rolled her eyes and sighed. He was a better businessman than her father, if nothing else. “I doubt he’ll let you back into the ranch otherwise.”

“Then we have a deal!” Ingo beamed, then turned to fix his gaze on Malon.

“And Malon, despite being his collaborator, I’ll forgive your attitude.” He said, unable to hide some of that bitterness. “If you hadn’t calmed me down, I’m sure he’d have just run off without paying a rupee. But I’d like to ask a favour of you as well.”

“Alright?” Malon was getting a bad feeling, but had no choice but to continue.

“I’d like you to replace the horse.”

“As in find you a new horse?” Malon was confused. “I don’t think there are any owners around here selling.”



“No, I’d like you to replace the horse.” Ingo repeated. “Just replace it.”

“Um, sure?” Malon said, and Ingo flashed a toothy grin. “I suppose we can support one more now that Epona is gone, and it’ll be breeding season soon…”

“Then may I consider this a done deal, a settled contract, a mutual agreement?” Ingo said rather insistently, leaving the two confused and ready to say just about anything to get him off their backs.

“Call it whatever you want, as long as you hurry up and take your hands off of us!” Navi spoke for Link, who nodded and shot Ingo a look that said his patience for his antics was wearing thin. He didn’t mind compensating the ranch for Epona, particularly when he often found himself with more treasure than he knew what to do with. But it was better to leave amicably

“Very well then! Pleasure doing business with you! KYAAAAAA!!!”

Ingo shrieked like a banshee without warning, and Malon would have fallen back in surprise had he not had such an iron grip on her shoulder, the two crying out as it felt like an electric shock had coursed down the greedy ranch-owner and into their bodies.

“You fools! Like I’d let you run off with my horse! Nobody gets the better of the great Ingo!” Ingo guffawed, shaking a few black sparks free from his fingertips before smugly stroking his moustache. “I’ll have you two pay me back and then some!”

The two were doubled over, Link grunting and Malon whimpering as the two felt like something was moving under their skin, 

“What did you just do to them!?” Navi cried, the two unsteady on their feet, stricken by disorientation and their vision swimming as Ingo carefully backed away from them.

“You’ll find out in a second, my dear fairy!” Ingo continued laughing. “Oh, I knew this spell would come in handy! Associating with Lord Ganondorf has more perks than you’d think!”

Malon was on her hands and knees already, while Link managed to stay steady and fixed his blurry eyes towards Ingo, reaching for his sword. However, although his hands brushed against the handle of the Master Sword, he couldn’t seem to close them around it. After a few unsuccessful attempts, it was starting to feel like he couldn’t close his hands at all, that they were so stiff he couldn’t move his fingers. He held up his hand before him, his glove falling off as he stared in horror at what could clearly no longer be described as a hand at all, at least not after a few seconds of watching it transform.

His four fingers had fused together into two large ones, the thumb shifting with an audible crack to the back of it, and the two large remaining fingers turning black and shiny. They looked remarkably like hooves, no, they were hooves! His sword-wielding days were over in an instant, holding up two useless hooves at the end of his, for now, still otherwise human arms. He stumbled awkwardly, forced to kick off his boots and press two matching hooves, formerly feet, into the dirt.

“Link, my hands! They’ve-” Malon cried out, cutting herself off as she realised that Link was in the same sorry state as her, the two awkwardly falling to all fours as they were unable to balance themselves on their new hooves. She also noticed that his long, pointy nose was starting to flatten and broaden, while his ears gained a fuzzy white coat and started to round out.

In addition to his animalistic traits, Link was undergoing another strange transformation. His tunic began to feel tight against his chest, two huge lumps forming over his pecs, soft and heavy.

“Mmm-moo!” Link instinctually moaned as they popped the seam of his collar, his eyelashes growing and his voice going from low-pitched to high as he moaned a few more times, tongue hanging out as he collapsed onto his sensitive new breasts. He mooed one last time as something very important vanished from between his legs, and were it not for her ever-broadening nose, she would have looked almost as feminine as Malon. She convulsed on the ground as a second pair of breasts began to grow beneath the first, pushing her up off the dirt a little as her clothes struggled to contain her new assets.

Malon, on the other hand, had her breasts start to flatten as her ribcage pushed out, her chest turning barrel-shaped as her ears turned floppy and soft as well, a shape that she would have recognised as distinctly horse-like had she been able to look at herself. Her arms cracked against as the straightened out, becoming thinner and growing out to match her legs in length. She couldn’t see it, but a tail had sprouted from above her behind and was tickling her thighs, which were starting to grow a thin, furry coat that spread from the point of her tail out to her legs, where she was also trying to remove her now uncomfortable boots. She could see it spreading down her hoof-ended arms, the same auburn red as her hair.

She tried to cry out, to demand answers from Ingo, but all that came out was a whinny as her face began to elongate, her nose flattening as her jaw seemed to extend outwards, mouth and nose almost at equal lengths, quickly gaining a layer of fuzz as the fur spread up her neck. Her ears seemed to creep upwards until they were on top of her head peeking out from her hair. Her body seemed to widen as the barrel shape spread, her attractive hourglass figure rounding out as it became purely animalistic. Her dress tore entirely as her torso changed shape, all of her clothes falling to the ground in tatters as not a single thing left on her fit her body’s new horse-like shape.

Link was similarly expanding, mooing over and over as pulses of pleasure hit her new breasts, a centre of sensation that was closely but surely creeping downwards, seemingly sliding in a manner as uncanny as the rest of her transformation. Link, with enough cognisance left to realise that she had gone from a man to a woman, wondered exactly what she was turning into, and had no power left in her to do anything but let it play out while Navi panicked and fluttered around her. Her green tunic and white tights were in shreds below her, while a number of items were scattered about. His sword, shield, bow, a handful of bags, and several bottles. One, ironically enough, still filled with Lon Lon Milk.

She clenched her teeth together as her face grew out and down, feeling light brown fur tickle her cheeks as she experienced the same growth as Malon. Her breasts finally finished their migration, the four distinct lumps merging together into one large udder as her nipples grew out and out, squirting out milk as they finished forming their new function. Looking somewhere between cow and human, she began to lean rapidly towards the cow size as her body went from strange but attractive to a human with unconventional tastes, to forming a similar barrel shape in what could unflatteringly be called a large rectangle, mass poured onto her body. She tried to struggle onto fall fours and stay upright, but her arms and legs seemed to be receding in comparison to Malon’s extending, until four relatively stubby legs held aloft a huge, bulky body. Her eyes widened apart as her desperate human eyes turned black, Malon’s changing as well as the two finalised their transformations, looking at each other with horror and confusion.

Before Link stood a beautiful foal, much taller than her and a beautiful auburn colour. To an untrained eye it was difficult to discern their gender, and the only recognisable piece left of her was an unusually familiar hairstyle for a horse.

Before Malon stood a plain, rather bloated looking cow with heavy udders and a dull expression, Link’s eyes straying away from her towards some nearby grass, stomachs rumbling as she felt a tightness in her udder that was rapidly becoming in need of relief.

Shocked and disoriented, the two hadn’t quite lost themselves, and were jolted back to awareness as Ingo carefully approached the two new farm animals, confident that there was little they could do to him in such a state.

“I was really hoping to avoid having to do this to you, Malon. This spell was given to me to deal with any who would resist Lord Ganondorf’s rule and attempt to hide out here, so you would have known eventually, but who would have thought it’d be you first!” Ingo said, sounding not sorry in the slightest as he addressed her first. “You were a hard worker, and now I’ll probably have to hire some new hands and find where I put my old overalls. Besides, threatening to do this to you was the whole reason why I was able to drive out your stupid father in the first place! Maybe I’ll offer him the chance to take care of you and save myself some trouble…”

Malon attempted to say something back, but all that came out was a whinny. She could barely walk straight, but the moment she started to move towards Ingo, he was more than prepared for the idea that she would immediately simply trample him in retaliation.

“Now don’t get any funny ideas, dear.” Ingo said, defensively moving towards his very confused horse still with its saddle on, ready to climb on and ride for dear life if anger overrode reason. “If you do anything to me, who’ll change you back? For that matter, who’ll take care of you? If you keep quiet, I might think about changing you back in a few weeks!”



Malon was forced to come to an obedient halt, pragmatism in her nature no matter the situation. All she could do was gnash her teeth and huff, hoping to think of something soon. She’d known that Ingo was bad, but she never would have thought that he was capable of something like this!

“And you!” Ingo approached Link much more confidently. Link could do little more than shuffle about, half-distracted by hunger and pressure as she tried to get used to her heavy new existence. ““I’d heard that some boy in green had been giving Lord Ganondorf some trouble lately! I’m sure he’ll forgive me in an instant if I tell him I’ve taken care of that little problem for him! Perhaps he’ll even handsomely reward me!”

Navi had just regained enough composure to start yelling at Ingo, only to be scooped out of the air and sealed by a cork in one of Link’s very own bottles.

“I’d sell you, but I don’t think anybody would be able to stand the noise!” Ingo said. “I suppose I’ll have you keep our green friend in his place. I might even let you out if you play nice! Or perhaps not, you might tell somebody. Maybe I’ll ask Lord Ganondorf how to turn you into a horsefly…”

Link mooed, wishing somebody would hurry up and milk her before she started thinking about doing anything else about her situation. Something about being a cow made her feel so heavy, both in terms of her clumsy body and in her head, clashing with the panicked majority of her brain. The lethargy was already starting to slow her down, as her mouth unconsciously drifted towards a patch of grass.

“Now, to business.” Ingo said, clapping his hands together. “As I promised, that wild horse does belong to you, and you may ride her as you please, not that I’ve ever seen a cow riding anything! I’ll have you pay off the cost drop by drop until… Well, who knows just how much Lord Ganondorf might have paid for her, anyway? And Malon! We’ll consider this a punishment for now, and figure out just what to do with you later. Perhaps I’ll turn you back once we can afford another horse. Then again, breeding season is just around the corner…”

–

It was another sunny day at Lon Lon Ranch, and Link found herself with little to complain about. The sun was warm, the grass was tasty, and she’s already been milked, leaving her to her own devices until it was time to bring her in for the day. She wasn’t quite sure how long it had been since her transformation, as every day seemed to blend together, and she’d soon given up on trying to count it by nights or by milkings. What did it matter, anyway? Ingo showed no sign of turning her back any time soon, so all she could do was keep eating, sleeping, and producing milk. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Navi, although Ingo occasionally complained about how much noise she made, and how it was a hassle soundproofing his room where he kept her hidden so that the hired hands couldn’t hear her. 

As it had turned out, Ganondorf had never appeared at Lon Lon Ranch, as he unsurprisingly considered Ingo far too below himself to particularly care about. Ingo however lived in fear of it, and occasionally told Link and Malon that it was necessary to continue keeping them this way, just in case Lord Ganondorf came past. Link wasn’t sure if it would be better or worse if he did, at this point, as Ingo went from talking about presenting Link to Ganondorf as a prize to hoping that he wouldn’t, as Link was their best producer of milk and in the long run probably more valuable to keep at the ranch. Even better, Ingo said, would be if Ganondorf asked him to keep Link in place, which seemed like the most likely outcome to Link, as he doubted that Ganondorf had the patience or the facilities to store a cow just to gloat about it.

Ingo had, for all his faults, a surprisingly gentle hand when it came to milking and had taken it upon himself to keep their fattest, most valuable cow well maintained, Link had found, whether that be brushing her coat or arguably overfeeding her. He’d even stated that he enjoyed a hard, honest day’s work more than standing around barking at workers, which would have been a nice thing for him to realise before turning him into a cow, in Link’s humble opinion.

Malon had more spirit than the easily succumbing Link, although her spirit had little place to go. Even if she ran off into Hyrule Field or tried to take refuge at Kakariko Village, she’d been totally unable to communicate, her hooves too clumsy to even attempt writing, and she would inevitably be led back to Lon Lon Ranch for safe-keeping. She’d soon given up entirely, hoping that eventually Ingo would restore her. She did secretly enjoy being a horse, something that she’d fantasised about as a child if only to know what it was like, and now she supposed she couldn’t complain about it. She did her best to keep herself occupied with keeping the other horses well exercised even when they were feeling lazy and the new farmhands had found that the horse seemed to be almost leading them around at their jobs at times, but suspected nothing beyond that she was an unusually clever horse. Ingo was too fearful of what she might say if she was turned back, and she was starting to worry about how often she was looking at some of the ranch’s stallions as they approached breeding seasons, wondering if she might find herself making some irreversible decisions…

Link on the other hand, grew less attentive by the day. She’d tried to make her unhappiness clear to Ingo, but had quickly fallen into a routine of obediently following all of his commands. She justified it to herself, telling herself that if she kept him happy and produced a lot of milk, she might reach the end of her vaguely defined contract and be turned back. And if Malon was turned back first, she might be able to convince him too. Therefore, there was nothing for her to do but repeat over and over. If it wasn’t for Malon frequently approaching her, trying to get any sort of reaction out of her, she might have gone entire days without thinking about anything but her base needs. Eating, sleeping, getting milked, over and over again…



Perhaps, Malon was never turned back and never managed to negotiate Link being restored to normal, if Navi never managed to escape and find help, she might end up being nothing more than an ordinary cow after all…