• Published 28th May 2021
  • 5,509 Views, 58 Comments

A Marked Question - Greatazuredragon



Cutie Marks are a central point of pony culture. They are celebrated as the culmination of a pony’s special talent. As such, Singing Blossom couldn’t help but ask herself, what did her three new friends’ Cutie Marks mean?

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Of Symbols and Symbolism

Of Symbols and Symbolism

Walking through the dirt path that led towards the clearing where her big sis was training under Mister Ganondorf’s care with a picnic basket carefully balanced atop her back was a young yellow-coated filly. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she thought about what she intended to do.

Singing Blossom was a filly on a mission! As she walked through the small woods around the village, she couldn’t help but think that far too often something seemed to happen that stopped her from getting the answer to what she sought! But now it would be different!

Her mom asking her to bring lunch to Ganondorf and Forest was the perfect opportunity! There would be no one to interfere this time, what with how far away the clearing was, and with the food to keep Mister Ganondorf there and preventing him from leaving, she would finally manage to get the answer to what his cutie mark meant!

With a solemn nod, Singing picked up the pace, eager to get to the clearing as fast as possible so that she could find out what the three golden triangles that were her new friends’ cutie marks really meant.

As she finally reached the clearing, she stopped for a moment to take in the sight before her. Forest was splayed upon the ground breathing heavily, her body covered in sweat, looking really, really tired. So, just like always after her lessons were over. By her side, looking completely untouched and fresh while giving her downed big sis an assessing look, with a hint of respect in his golden eyes, was the large brown-coated stallion that was her target.

So far so good, everything was as she expected!

What was unexpected, was the green-coated pegasus calmly talking with Mister Ganondorf, and the white-coated unicorn by his side that was looking from Forest to Ganondorf with a hint of curiosity in her blue eyes. That was not part of her plan.

For a moment, Singing hesitated. This was way more ponies than she had initially expected. But then her eyes fell upon the golden triangles that adorned Mister Link and Miss Zelda’s flanks. The sight of two more cutie marks, so very similar to the one the large earth pony had, made her firm her resolve. There was no backing down now.

She would have her answers!

“Hi, I brought lunch!” she cheerfully exclaimed, bouncing into the clearing. The idea that she was finally going to have her question answered filled her with enthusiasm. “I thought only big sis and Mister Ganondorf would be here, so I don’t know if there will be enough food for everybody! But then again, mom made a lot of food! Now that I think about it, she made way too much food for just two ponies! I wonder if she knew that Mister Link and Miss Zelda would be here! So maybe there will be enough food! Guess we will have to eat first in order to find out if there is enough food or not!”

As her enthusiastic, rapid-fire speech filled the clearing, her three new friends looked her way with various types of smiles on their faces. From Miss Zelda’s polite and kind smile, to Mister Ganondorf’s big and open one, to Mister Link’s tiny but very amused one. She hadn’t even known that there could be so many kinds of smiles but a few days ago! Learning new things was always cool! Adding her own beaming smile to the collection, she placed the basket down and grabbed the blanket on top, though the fact that Forest simply groaned on the ground instead of putting her own smile forward herself was kinda sad.

“Thank you for bringing lunch to us, Singing,” Zelda politely said to the tiny filly as her horn glowed blue. A moment later, her magic had grabbed hold of the blanket and extended it on the ground so neatly that there wasn’t a single wrinkle visible upon it. Magic could be really neat!

“You are welcome!” she happily replied, starting to take in the sandwiches and other foodstuffs Beautiful had packed and giving them to Mister Link as he moved to her side and proceeded to help to place them on the blanket. This was good, because there really was way more food than for just two ponies in there. How did her mom know that Mister Link and Miss Zelda would be here? Perhaps she could solve that mystery after getting her answers here!

“What the little Princess said, squirt,” Ganondorf added with a laugh as he briefly hoisted Forest from the ground and placed her atop one of the corners of the blanket. Her sister had no reaction as he did so, save for her cheeks getting that funny crimson color that they seemed to be getting so frequently these past few days. Her big sis could be so silly at times!

“Hey, Mister Ganondorf, I have a question,” she asked after a few moments while giving a pair of sandwiches to the large earth pony.

“What is it, squirt?” Ganondorf asked, placing the first sandwich in front of Forest before promptly taking a bite of the second one. Meanwhile she gave some food to Zelda, who politely thanked the filly.

“What does your cutie mark mean?” she eagerly asked him, looking at the large earth pony with big soulful eyes.

“Din’s fury, this name again,” Ganondorf grumbled in a barely audible tone of voice, causing Miss Zelda to let out a small chuckle by his side as she daintily took a bite of her sandwich. Giving the white-coated unicorn a brief aggravated look, Ganondorf then turned his gaze towards Singing before simply answering. “Power, the meaning of the symbol upon my flank is power.”

Tilting her head to the side, Singing tried to understand how exactly a golden triangle could represent power. Giving Mister Ganondorf’s cutie mark a good long look, as if it could solve her confusion for her, the yellow-coated filly tried to link that concept with the mark. A moment later she decided that she wasn’t having much success. And so, voiced her confusion.

“So all three of your cutie marks mean power? And how does a large golden triangle made of other smaller golden triangles mean power anyway?” she confusedly asked, tilting her head to the other side, as if a different angle could give her the answer to this puzzle.

“Not quite young Singing,” Zelda said while putting her sandwich down upon the blanket and giving Singing a warm smile. “The symbol that we share is called the Triforce.

“Its whole story is long and complicated, and as such, it can wait for another time,” Miss Zelda explained to Singing, her tone of voice greatly reminding the tiny filly of when Old Oak was teaching her about a new poultice or remedy. “But, basically, it is a very old symbol from our homeland, and it symbolizes the merging of power, courage, and wisdom into a united whole.

“Have you perhaps noticed that for each of us a single triangle is brighter than the others?” the white-coated unicorn asked while gesturing with a hoof towards her own flank, where the bottom left triangle was indeed brighter than the others.

“Yes, I noticed that!” Singing immediately replied, firmly nodding her head.

“That is because each of the three triangles represents a different aspect of the Triforce,” she continued with a chuckle, her hoof briefly mussing Singing’s mane. “Mine would be wisdom, Link is courage, and Ganondorf’s so happens to be power.”

“The best of the three by far!” Mister Ganondorf boisterously declared, cutting off the unicorn’s explanation.

“Debatable, even at the best of times,” Miss Zelda immediately shot back with an annoyed huff as she gave the large earth pony a look that Singing usually received from Beautiful after doing something her mom thought was silly.

“Would you care to repeat that, Princess?” Mister Ganondorf asked with a fanged smile as he placed his own food down and got up, cracking his neck one way and then the other.

“Your inability to understand my words already proves my point by itself,” Miss Zelda replied as her eyes narrowed, also getting up for some reason. “Wisdom is the most important of the three by far. For without wisdom, how can one prosper?”

“Oh, don’t kid yourself, Zelda. Wisdom without power is useless!” the brown-coated earth pony loudly boasted as he slowly approached the white unicorn, his golden eyes looking straight into Miss Zelda’s narrowed blue ones. “What good is knowing what you must do and how to do it, if you don’t have the power to actually do what has to be done?”

“Power without wisdom is nothing but an illusion and a fallacy, and you know it, Ganondorf!” was Miss Zelda’s prompt rebuke, as she too approached Mister Ganondorf until their muzzles were almost touching each other. “Without the wisdom to act as a guide, all that power accomplishes is to turn people into unthinking brutes that believe raw strength is the answer to all problems!”

“And without power to back them up, all that wisdom accomplishes is to turn people into trumped-up scholars that cannot get anything done!”

Soon the two started to bicker and argue about which was better, wisdom or power. A moment later, Mister Ganondorf had dared Miss Zelda to prove her words with actions; all of it was accompanied by a few words that Singing had never heard before, which nonetheless seemed to cause Miss Zelda’s eyes to narrow even further.

Soon afterward, both ponies were leaving the blanket behind as they moved towards the center of the clearing, eyes locked against each other before, with a surge of motion, they started to spar against each other. Singing watched wide-eyed right next to a still barely responsive Forest, and a calmly eating Mister Link, who just so happened to be finishing his fourth sandwich.

As the earth cratered and bolts of blue magic filled the air, Mister Link finished the last bite of his sandwich, and after grabbing a napkin to clean his mouth turned to Singing and spoke.

“What they both mean, Singing, is that each of the three aspects have their own uses and abilities,” the green-coated pegasus calmly explained, his blond mane swaying in the slowly strengthening breeze, not really paying any mind to the confrontation between the two other ponies happening but a few meters away. “But, while each of the three are indeed quite mighty in their own right, it’s only when the three are together that they can truly soar.

“Just think. You have a problem that needs solving, but while you know what to do, you lack the strength to do it. Not much will be accomplished, right?” he asked to his now very attentive audience; Singing, who was also not really paying much mind to the spar despite how the earth was quaking, it being something that also happened fairly often nowadays, fiercely nodded her head, since that made sense. “And even if you know what to do, and have the strength to do it, not much will be done unless you are brave enough to go and do what needs to be done.

“But likewise, if you have the courage to act, but lack the other two traits, things won’t work that well now, will they?” he serenely continued. Singing’s eyes widened in realization as she got what Mister Link meant.

“Just like when big sis fought those meanie gryphons!” Singing happily exclaimed, all but jumping into place in excitement. “While she was quite brave and tried to fight them off, she wasn’t strong enough to do it, nor did she have a plan to deal with the situation!”

“Precisely, she had courage, but lacked wisdom and power,” the pegasus firmly stated, a proud smile on his features, even as the sound of wood cracking thundered in the not-so-far distance.

“And that’s why she is now training with Mister Ganondorf so that she can fix that!” the filly proudly declared, quite happy that she had solved the mystery.

“Indeed,” Mister Link agreed, both of them all but ignoring the sounds of the still ongoing spar. “Remember this, Singing, for, when Courage, Wisdom, and Power work together in harmony, very few things cannot be achieved.”

Thinking about this newfound revelation, of how three very different things could work together, helping each other grow, and creating something that was far greater than each alone, Singing came to a single conclusion.

“That’s really neat!” she cheerfully proclaimed as she looked at the green-coated pegasus by her side, a beaming smile on her face even as she shivered a little due to a sudden gust of wind.

“Yes, Singing, it is indeed really neat,” Mister Link agreed with a small smile of his own, as he lightly tousled the filly’s mane with a wing, before resting said wing atop her small body as if a makeshift blanket in order to protect her from the cold wind that was now blowing.

Nestling herself closer to Link, quite happy with her new warm blanket, Singing accepted the sandwich that was being offered to her, relaxed, and got back to watching Ganondorf and Zelda continue to play together, quite happy that she had finally gotten the answer to her question.

Author's Note:

This Omake was Richmaster’s gift as the holder of the 3000th comment in TPoF. He wanted a scene where Singing finally got her answer to the question she had made in chapter five about what the Triforce Wielders’ Cutie Marks meant, and here we are.

I really liked how this shaped up, to the point that this is now Canon to the main story, making this the second Canon Omake I have written, right alongside ‘A Will of Iron’.

Hope you all enjoyed it.

Comments ( 58 )

Una pregunta con respecto a ganondorf.
Que tan grande es en realidad ¿es tan grande como big mac o le hace competencia a luna?

Además ¿existe la posibilidad de que el árbol de la armonía tenga sus bases en la espada maestra de link?

A very good answer. You write a very good Link.

It's ALWAYS such a treasure to see two story lines that should NOT work together mesh so well

This was so cute and sweet!


10836583
agreed!!


10836540
A very good answer indeed!


10836535
uh what?

And Link once again showing why he's the best of the Triforce Trio when it comes to children. Those experiences from the Hero of Twilight are coming in handy.

And I did enjoy this too, aye. :)

Quick grammar note: if the same person continues speaking past a paragraph break, you don't close the quotes. You do, however, begin the new paragraph with fresh quotes.

10836535
Ganondorf is slightly bigger than Big Mac in size. :eeyup:
As for the Tree of Harmony? I don't want to give spoilers, but I can say that I won't be following Canon in regards to it. In this AU the Pillars did not create the tree,
10836540
Glad to hear you liked it. :heart:
10836583
Yeah, that's always a joy. :pinkiehappy:
10836603
Indeed. :scootangel:
And Las_piedras asked about Ganondorf's size in comparisson to Big Mac, and if the Master Sword will have anything with the creation of the Tree of Harmony.
10836624
Indeed. Of the three he is the best in dealing with the little ones in my opinion. Though, oddly enough Ganondorf takes the second spot in the list, with Zelda as the last. :pinkiecrazy:
10836626
:pinkiehappy::heart:
10836627
I am aware of that. Though, aparently one such ocasion slipped by my in the chapter... :derpytongue2:
Edit: found it.

“Indeed,” Mister Link agreed, both of them all but ignoring the sounds of the still ongoing spar . “Remember this, Singing, for, when Courage, Wisdom, and Power work together in harmony, very few things cannot be achieved.”

Unless I'm forgetting something, Zelda and Ganondorf never earned the full Triforce like Link did in Skyward Sword.
I think Ganon might have had all the Triforce and used it to create The Dark World in Link to the Past, but he more took the other two pieces from Link and Zelda since LTTP takes place in the Fallen Hero Timeline.

“Your inability to understand my words already proves my point by itself,” Miss Zelda replied as her eyes narrowed, also getting up for some reason. “Wisdom is the most important of the three by far. For without wisdom, how can one prosper?”

Power without Wisdom will often lead to destruction.
Power without Courage will never be used.

Wisdom without Power can never accomplish anything.
Wisdom without Courage will never try to accomplish anything.

And Courage without Power or Wisdom is no different from foolishness.

10836670
I recall hearing that Zelda is implied to have the full Triforce in Breath of the Wild, in the context of why Smash Ultimate Link no longer has Triforce Slash.

“That’s really neat!” she cheerfully proclaimed

Indeed it is :twilightsmile:

10836670
It varies wildly from timeline to timeline and from game to game if I'm not mistaken.
10836711
Precisely. There is a reason why it makes so much sense that the Three have to be together for the Triforce to become the Allmight Artifact of legend. Only one, or even two of those caracteristics by themselves are not enough for a harmonious whole. :scootangel:
10836717
I'm not sure. She does the whole 'sealing light' thing, but it felt more like it came from her Goddess Hylia blood than the Triforce.
And I don't think there is an oficial stand yet. :applejackunsure:

10836731
Don’t forget her half of the light force

Wow that was a pretty good answer from link and I do like how Ganondorf and Zelda always fighting with each other this was a pretty interesting story keep up the good work

10836887
Half?
Also, do we know that wasn't Hylia's power manifesting some?

10837092
Vati has the other half, also why not both

10836887

light force

That sounds like a DC super power. :rainbowkiss:
10837062
Happy to hear you liked it. :heart:
10837092

Also, do we know that wasn't Hylia's power manifesting some?

It hasn't been oficially clarified yet, so its up to interpretation.
It is canon that Zelda is a direct descendant/reincarnation of said goddess though.

10837099
Sorta an artifact, kinda like the powers link gets from the champions in breath of the wild

It's weird that we know a lot more abilities Power and Wisdom gives its user but for Courage it's close to none. As far as we know, Courage can repel evil influences (Twilight Princess) and some say that with the Triforce of Courage, Link has mastery of all kinds of weaponry. From swords to improvised weapons. Aaaand that's all we know :( I hope BotW 2 could explain its power more or am I missing the point of the power of Courage? :twilightsheepish:

10837130
It also aparently prevents Link's hat from falling off his head no matter what crazy acrobatics he is doing. :trollestia:

10837200

Ohhhh ffffffff you right 🤣
UPDATE: His hair gains its own gravitational field as a wielder of Courage.

10837212
Unexplained and odd hair/mane based powers... the acidental similarities between Link and a certain pink mare just keep growing, don't they? :raritywink:

You know, it's funny: for all Zelda's pontificating and Ganondorf's boasting, it always seems to be Link that has the best grasp of what Wisdom and Power truly mean. I guess there's really something to be said for practical experience.

10837283
:eeyup: Having the universe basically throw everything it has, and the kitchen sink, at you at a semi regular basis aparently does wonders to broaden one's world view and give you plenty of life experience. :trollestia:

Everything about this was amazing; I'm really glad I asked for it.

Singing was adorable as ever and it's always fun to see Ganondorf and Zelda bicker like this but Link's profound moments where he gives a measured approach almost steal the show for how much it resonates.

Thanks for writing this

10837344
Awesome to hear you enjoyed it! :heart:

10837200
And yet it wasn't enough to keep it attached in transit to another dimension...:trollestia:

An interesting story, I imagine that the triforce will end up creating the elements of harmony and these will have the same function as the medallions of the sages. So each pillar would be a sage and the maine 6 will also end up being sage. :twilightsmile:

10837096
2. Fair
1. Is Vaati still around in Hyrule? If this takes place after FSA, I don't see how he'd still have half the Light Force after getting beaten up for the 3rd time by Link.

10837511
i.imgflip.com/jfnha.jpg
10837534
Don't want to give spoilers, but I'll admit that the Pillars won't create the Tree like they did in the show canon.
10837933
Not sure to be honest. I never played the games that had Vaati as the BBEG, so all the info I have about him is second hand. :twilightblush:

Wow, Link and Singing are such good friends. Courage is probably the weakest of the three and yet with courage Link has grown wiser than Ganondorf and more powerful than Zelda creating a good equilibrium. After all to push yourself past your current limits you have to have, to quote Rainbow Dash, “the courage to fail”.

10838005
I thought he was RiP.

Boy your stories are pretty popular I seen it like on the popular or feature

10839305
Yeah, it still surprises me at times. This is its third day in the Featured Box. :raritystarry:

10839331
Pretty cool huh even your other previous stories I see them as well

Is this the first confirmation of Link talking?!? Or am I massively forgetful?

10851804
Heh, no he has talked in TPoF before. :scootangel:

10852168
Okay! It was probably just the shock of him speaking that got to me. Was playing one of the older games earlier that day :twilightblush:

Something I would love to see is characters reaction to links ability and willingness to eat almost anything, for example sharing a meal of gems with a dragon with everyone else just looking shocked and confused as he chows down on literal rocks(heck I wouldn't be surprised if Link actually knows how to make Goron cooking and uses that to get some dragons on their side)

10869390
That's a very interesting idea. Especially since its canon that he actually did eat Goron food at least once. :scootangel:

*pumps hoof* here here!! to seeing link eat most anything put in front of him!
and I mean things other beings are willing to eat, not just random things...link is a pony now. not a super goat:pinkiehappy:

10870980
Grogar resents that remark. :derpytongue2:

10871277
Don't you mean resembles?

"Indeed,” Mister Link agreed, both of them all but ignoring the sounds of the still ongoing spar. “Remember this, Singing, for, when Courage, Wisdom, and Power work together in harmony, very few things cannot be achieved.”

Harmony... It's my Headcanon that that is what the 4th Upside-Down Triangle in the Centre of the Triforce is. Something that only exists when the 3 other forces are in perfect balance.

10970058
Yeah, I could see that working. :twilightsmile:

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