Awakening

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The area was pitch black, darkness surrounding him at all sides. There was no noise at all, giving the place an unsettling atmosphere. Link was usually not scared by these types of things, but even he had to admit that this setting was sort of creepy. The darkness seemed to stretch on for miles in every direction.

Link noticed that he was tired, taking heavy, labored breaths every second. Blood flowed freely from the cuts that he sported around his body. The sword he held in his left hoof had many chips and cracks, ready to shatter at any moment. He didn't know where he got his injuries, only just that he had them. The green tunic he usually wore felt heavier than normal, clanking as he walked forward. It was because he looked through one of the tears in his clothes that he saw he wore damaged chain mail armor underneath.

He walked forward clumsily, occasionally tripping over himself before picking himself right back up again. Nothing revealed itself as he continued walking, which started to frustrate him. Where was this place and why was he in it with the stuff he had in this condition? For what seemed like hours, Link saw something.

Somepony was just standing there, back turned, doing nothing. Link couldn’t really see anything the pony had in the dark environment. Nevertheless, he started to slowly walk up to him.

“Mister! Sir! Can you help me? What is this place?!” Link shouted as walked to the pony. The pony didn’t respond for a bit. When Link was a small distance away from him did he finally turn around. When he did, Link’s eyes widened.

The pony’s face was completely black with no distinguishable features on it whatsoever. It just looked at Link for a moment before it started changing. It’s body grew smaller as its head popped out ears. A black tendril came from its body before morphing into a sword just like Link’s. It sprouted clothes, morphing it into a perfect black replica of Link’s tunic and strange hat. Link just watched in horrified silence, his eyes getting wider and wider by the second as the creature continued to transform. When it was done, Link gasped.

He was looking at a perfectly identical version of himself, if it weren’t for the fact that this thing was all black instead of green like he was. Two red dots glowed from each side of its face. Link guessed that those were the creature’s version of eyes, though it didn’t help him get rid of his fear in the slightest. Then the creature opened its mouth. Instead of regular flat teeth that a pony would usually have, the creature had sharp, pointy teeth with saliva sticking at the edges of his mouth. The dark monster then started to step towards Link.

“Die,” it whispered as it advanced toward Link slowly. Link slowly started to back up, deciding whether to run and risk provoking it or to just stay here.

“Die,” it said again, a little bit louder this time as it started to walk faster.

“DieDieDieDieDieDie!” the creature shouted once again with growing intensity. Its slow hoofsteps started to turn into a run.

“DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!” It was now fully upon him.

“DIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!” It screamed as it lunged toward Link. Link yelped before bringing the sword in front of his face and-!!!

“WAKE UP LINK!”

SPLASH!

“WAAGH!” Link’s eyes shot open as he sat up abruptly, panting heavily from his recent nightmare. Water dripped from his blonde mane on to his clothes. He shook his head left and right, spraying water everywhere in his attempt to clear his water filled eyes. When his vision cleared up, he saw a green earth pony looking down at him with a frown on his face.

"You were sleeping," his father deadpanned, making Link flinch. It wasn't a question. It was a statement, like saying the sky was blue.

"I... Er...well?" Link tried to say before he was immediately shushed by his father

"Save it," he said before he started to glare at him. "You knew that there was going to be a big storm tomorrow night and that we have to pick all these apples before the storm knocks them all down, didn’t you?”

“Yes…” Link mumbled before getting up and brushing the dust off his green tunic. He adjusted his lucky hat and then followed his dad to the big orchard behind the house. He thought about his recent nightmare. He never really dreamed when he was asleep. Even when he was having a nightmare, Princess Luna came and destroyed it quickly before leaving. Link also noticed that he had way less nightmares here, rather than that damned orphanage he used to stay at. Yes, he was adopted. If that wasn’t clear then the horn that rested upon his forehead made it obviously clear enough that he wasn’t part of the apple family, at least not by blood. All the apples were Earth ponies.

He started to remember his days at the orphanage, how he was scared and lonely during the time. How everyone bullied him because of the strange hat he wore. How he would see everyone’s face brighten up when an adult pony came along, and then become sad again when they left with a different colt or filly. Link was quite used to this scene and even thought that he would stay here forever after watching more ponies picking up foals and fillies, but it all changed when he came.

A stallion by the name of String Apple came along to the orphanage one day. His reason for being here was quite obvious. Anypony’s reason for visiting the orphanage was quite obvious. He was a tall stallion with noticeable muscles. Link could see every female’s eyes in the orphanage trailing over to to him. He walked up to the staff administrators and started to talk with them. Link, along with the other foals, peered around the corner, as they usually do when a new stallion or mare comes into the orphanage.

After he was done talking to the staff he started to walk around. He occasionally looked around at the small colts and fillies at play with his eyes. He initially found it strange that the stallion didn't try to hold a conversation with any of them. Just a few short words before he excused himself. It was when the stallion walked near Link that they locked eyes. It was an electrifying moment. Link felt like his whole soul was being searched under his gaze. Analyzed. Calculated.

Then the stallion turned around and left.

Link then let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He hadn't felt that nervous in long time. He didn't even get that nervous when his babysitters yelled at him for not doing his chores. He later found out that the stallion left without picking any foal, confusing many of the fillies and colts, including him.

"What's his problem? Trying to get our hopes up and then just leaving like that?!" One of the colts said, huffing angrily.

"Maybe he's just getting things ready back at his home?" One of the fillies said. "It would make sense, especially if he's going to choose one of us."

"It's probably gonna be me," the same colt boasted. "Who wouldn't want to pick me?"

"How about all those other adults that chose everypony else." the filly retorted. The colt just turned around and pouted, before looking over to where Link was standing. "It's not like he'll choose gnome head over there, just standing alone everyday!"

Link immediately started walking away, but not before hearing a "coward!" ring through his ears. He just wanted one break from it all but nooo, He had to live with these idiots. Link understood the fact that some ponies' personalities change when they lose their parents at a young age, but it didn't mean that he had to like it though. He then climbed to bed and fell asleep immediately.

String Apple came back the next day. Instead of just looking around like he did yesterday, he was talking to the young ponies. Link didn’t know what the stallion talked to the children about and he certainly didn’t mind him, till the stallion came up to him again. Link was just eating his lunch, alone as usual, before he spooked him from behind.

“Hello there.”

“Woah!”

Link almost threw his sandwich in the air as he quickly turned around to see the mysterious stallion standing behind him.

“Hello there,” he said again before looking at him. His stare wasn't as analytic as it was yesterday, but it was still there, hiding under the layer of pleasantry his eyes was trying to give off right now. “My name’s String Apple. What’s yours?”

“Link, sir,”

“Nice to meet you Link,”

Then they started to talk. Link couldn’t remember what they exactly said to one another except for that one question he asked on why his accent wasn’t like the rest of his family. It was common knowledge that the Apples had a very big family and had a southern country drawl that they mostly used in their speaking.

“Its because my wife lived in the big city,” he answered, his gaze suddenly turning sad. “I learned to speak properly so that I could impress her parents. Unfortunately, she died due to an illness.”

Link didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to say sorry because he knew that the stallion wouldn’t want to hear it. He went through the same phase ages ago. He knew what it was like to lose someone you loved and how everypony usually reacted to it when you told them. They said they understand what they were going through; that they would help them.

But that was the problem.

They didn't understand. They couldn't help them. Well, they probably could but the way they were going about it didn't help them at all. Link understood this, and he had a feeling the stallion in front of him did too.

They talked a bit more. Nothing special, just their likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc. But Link noticed that while they were talking that stallion observed him, like he did to him. He knew the stallion was storing every word he said to judge his personality and morals. Link would know because he did the same thing. Instead of talking, like the other colts and fillies his age would do, he would observed. He saw the world like a puzzle. Each little bit of information in a problem would fit together to make the picture more clearer. After they were done talking, String left the orphanage. But Link had a feeling that something big was about to happen.

After about five days, Link was called to the reception area. When he walked there, his eyes widened as he saw String talking to the receptionist, who was called Caretaker. Caretaker was a white mare with a red mane. Her cutie mark was of two hooves holding a bundle of blankets. She was one of the only ponies that he liked. She was really nice and took extra care of him during his darker days. If it weren’t for her probably, he would have gone into a deep depression. She was the closest thing he had to a mother, since his real one died when he was born. Caretaker wasn’t like that to him only though. Everypony loved her because of her soft and kind personality.

“Hi Link,” Caretaker said in her usual soft voice. “Do you know who this is?”

“String Apple,” Link answered before nodding respectfully in his direction. He nodded back, but Link noticed that his eyes held amusement rather than his usual analytic gaze. Apparently something was up, due to the giggle Caretaker made before looking over to String, then back to Link.

“My my, aren’t you formal today Link.” Caretaker laughed. Her laugh made Link smile a bit. He liked to hear it, especially if he was the one who made her laugh. “Always so respectful to everypony. Wouldn’t you agree Mr. String?”

“I agree,” String said before smiling at Link, startling him. “He has been most respectful during our conversation yesterday.”

“That’s good to hear,” Caretaker said, before her face hardened. “So, do you want me to tell him or do you want me to do it?”

“Wait a moment, tell me what exactly?” Link asked, confused.

String nodded to Caretaker, which she then lowered her head to Link’s level. “Link, String Apple is going to be your new father.”

Silence immediately filled the air. Link could hear the small gasps coming from the foals that were hiding around the corner, before the others shushed them.

Your new father.

New father.

Father.

...What?

“You okay Link? You didn’t say anything at all ever since you woke up," String asked, jarring Link back to reality. He hadn't realized that they were already at the orchard.

"Sorry, was just thinking about something," Link said. String hummed in thought.

"Must be some serious thinking if it got you distracted," his father teased before going ahead into the orchard. Link just huffed angrily before following him. Rows upon rows of apple trees greeted them as they walked deeper in the small valley. Link thought that this orchard was very big, only for his dad to tell him that Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville was three times bigger than this.

"There is enough time for us to still do our requirement, so no magic. Got that Link?" His father said before he started to buck the trees, knocking the apples off the branches.

"Fine," Link said as he went to the shed near them and got out the buckets. Though his father had learned the ways of the city folk, his heart still laid with the Apple family. Their policy of pure hard work with no magic short-cuts came with that too.

He positioned the buckets under the smaller trees and got to work. The hot sun blazed as Link worked, sweat pouring from his face down to the green fur on his body. Link's mind wandered once more as he worked, this time thinking about his first Apple reunion.

He remembered being terrified at the time. Scared at the possibility that his new family may not like him. His father tried, and failed, to calm him down. Link had done everything he could. Wash and brush his fur, wash his mane, etc. He was about to cut his long mane when his father intervened, telling him that everything is going to be just fine. That didn't help him in the slightest though.

When they finally got there to the meeting in Appleloosa Acres, Link was sweating bullets. He kept on gnawing on his hoof as he walked over there, with his father swatting his head and telling him not to do that. When they arrived, there were only a few ponies there. Soon, more came and mingled around. Link kept close to his father the hold time, feeling self-conscious of himself whenever some looked his way. Then came the announcements.

Link couldn't remember what some of the reasons were for holding the reunion, but he knew that he was one of the main ones. So when he was introduced to the crowd, he certainly did not expect clapping and cheering. Link found that he socialized with his other family members quite well. They even told him that he looked like an Apple, save for his long mane and the fact that he was a unicorn instead of an Earth pony. He was talking to rather old pony, Granny Smith, he thought the name was, when his father popped a question at her.

“Where is Applejack, Applebloom, and Big Macintosh? Did something happen to them?” his father asked, concern laced in his voice.

“They’re fine. They got tah do th’ work at home. Big Mac’s sick n’ all and the apples
got tah be bucked before sundown if we don’t want tah be behind schedule” Granny said before ruffling Link’s mane. “Now that ah think about it , yer look to be about ah year older or two than Applebloom, aren’tcha?”

“He is,” Link’s dad confirmed before he grinned at Link. “I say that this meeting was a success, don’t you think?”

“It certainly surprised me.” Link admitted as he looked up at his father, grinning as well. “Didn’t think it would go so well.”

“Told you not to worry,” his father said before waving everypony goodbye. “Let’s go home, shall we?

“Yup,” Link said before he followed his father to the train station. However, his thoughts were interrupted once again when he heard his father shouting.

“Hello Caretaker! It's been awhile, hasn’t it?” At the mention of Caretaker’s name, Link immediately brightened up. Caretaker often visited them randomly, which was always welcomed by Link and his father. Link told his father of Caretaker's kindness and he told him that she was welcomed here all the time.

Link quickly ran from the tree he was working and started to search for her. When he found her, he saw the both of them chatting with each other.

"Carrie!" Link cried out, using the nickname he gave her sometime ago. "Carrie" turned around and smiled at Link.

"Link!" she cried out before she rushed at him and nuzzled him. As soon as she did so, though, she wrinkled her nose and turned her head. "Phew! You stink! Take a bath!"

Link smiled sheepishly while he rubbed the back of his head with his hoof, "Yeah, we had a lot of work today and you see what that made me into now."

Carrie laughed, "Well I certainly can't say that it's not good for you. Look at all the muscle you got from this hard work. I wonder...you trying to impress the mares?"

"EEWW!! NOO!!" Link shouted before jumping back. He stuck his tongue at her, making her laugh even more.

"Seriously, you both act like children," String deadpanned, making the both of them look at him.

"And you need to lighten up," Carrie said. "Besides, Link technically still is a child, so let him be one."

"Not on this farm," String said proudly. "Everyone here's a self-respecting stallion."

Carrie smirked, "Then explain why your 'so called stallion' is picking flowers right now?"

String frowned, "Wait, what?" He looked over to find Link picking random flowers in the field. "Oi! Get back here! You're making me lose this argument!"

"Huh?" Link said as he picked up one last flower and ran up to them. "I was just collecting flowers for her."

"That's sweet of you." Carrie said, before eating them in one, big bite. Link looked on, horrified with what he'd seen.

"Guess that's the end of that," String said before looking at the setting sun. "I think we should call it a day. We did a decent job today and we should finish up by tomorrow. You gonna come along, Caretaker?"

Carrie yawned, "Don't think so. Got stuff to do at home."

"How is your folks at home though?" String asked. Link then saw hurt and pain flash through her eyes before it was gone. She seemed to shudder for an instance before it was gone. Link chalked it up to his imagination.

"They're fine," Carrie said quickly before she frantically looked at the sun again. "I must go now. See you later!"

Link and his father waved her goodbye before heading over to the place they call home.

"...Link..."

Link froze. He turned around to see if Carrie was playing a prank on him, but she wasn't there anymore. Link, once again, thought it was his mind playing tricks on him again.

"Help...me"

Okay, so his mind was definitely playing tricks on him now. He didn't hear that voice through his ears. He heard it in his head.

"Only...you...can..."

"Is something the matter? You just stopped all of a sudden," String asked as he stopped to look over a Link, who was standing several feet behind him. Link shook his head.

"Did you hear something? I thought I heard somepony speaking." Link asked.

"No, I didn't hear anything. You're being paranoid so hurry up and take a shower. Caretaker was right, you do stink."

Link shook his head, diminishing all thoughts on what just happened moments ago. He then focused on what was going to be for dinner tonight. He loved his father’s cooking. He looked over to his father, only to find him staring at him as well.

“She would’ve loved you, you know,” He murmured quietly to himself.

“Who?” Link asked, wondering why his father spoke out of turn. He usually didn’t do that.

“My wife,” He answered solemnly. “If she were here now, I know she would have loved you.” Link looked surprised at that.

“Can’t you just have a baby instead of adopting one?"

His father sighed, “She was infertile.”

“What?”

“It means that she and I couldn’t have babies, even if we tried.”

"Oh,” Link felt the need to stop the conversation right now, but his father continued it.

“We were deciding to go to the orphanage down the dirt road from here,” String said as his eyes narrowed. “The one that you came from. I have a feeling that even if she were still alive, we would have picked you still.” Link’s surprise grew even more.

“Really?” Link asked as his father gave him a smile.

“I initially picked you because of the fact that you understand. You understood everything that was going on with me, even if I didn’t tell you it. Me and you were alike on so many levels. We both hated pity, people trying to go their way to help us when we don’t want help. We both had a mutual understanding of each other, whether we knew each other like best buds or distant strangers.”

Link still kept the surprised look on his face, but nodded. He then noticed that they were now in front of his house, “Looks like we’re here. Call taking shower first!”

Before his father could protest, Link already rushed upstairs, throwing his tunic and hat in the air, and stepped into the hot, inviting water. Link like living here. It was a simple life that he wanted to leave. He didn’t care about finding his cutie mark like the other ponies his age would still try to do. He knew that he probably wouldn’t get a cutie mark about apples anyway, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to live his life here and nothing will ever change that.

Right?

The Oncoming Storm

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Link groggily woke up as he looked outside of his window. The sunrise happening right now looked exactly like yesterday’s sunset, except for the fact the sun was going up instead of going down. He immediately jumped down from his bed and went to the bathroom to do his usual morning routines. He was almost done brushing his teeth when he heard his father calling from downstairs.

“Hurry up Link! We have to collect all these apples before we get hit by the big storm we’re having tonight!”

“Coming!” Link called to him as he rushed down stairs. He found his father eating his breakfast quickly. He threw a sandwich over to Link.

“Hurry! If you can eat fast, we may have enough time to finish collecting all the apples today. We don’t want that storm knocking them all down!”

“Yes sir!”

After they both finished their breakfast, they hurried over to their field. White flashes could already be seen through the clouds.

“The pegasi are already starting to prepare it. We really need to work fast before they start assembling the more troublesome parts of the storm,” String murmured as he looked up at the sky. Link only nodded as the both of them rushed toward the orchard. Half of the trees were already bare of any apples, showing their progress from yesterday.

“Can I use my magic?” Link asked. He rushed over to the shed in the middle of the orchard. He picked up all the buckets in there and tossed them over to String, who immediately placed them under the trees.

“Yes, you can use magic! Now stop dawdling and help me out here!” Link quickly nodded before he levitated the rest of the buckets to the rest of the trees. The day was spent bucking trees and quickly levitating buckets. The wind started to pick up halfway through their work, worrying them.

“We better hurry up if we want to finish,” his father said, which made Link grunt in acknowledgement. By the time they were nearly finished it had started raining and the wind was powerful enough to shake the trees a bit.

“Let’s head home. Wouldn’t want you to get a cold. Levitate those apples back to the house, will ya?” String said while carrying a few buckets himself. Link nodded while he levitated the rest of the buckets back to the house. They ran back to the house, with Link stopping every once in awhile to pick up the apples he dropped within his levitation. They entered the house dripping and completely wet.

“Cut it close there, right pal?” String said to Link with a small grin. Link tiredly smiled back. His whole body ached with pain. He never worked this fast before in a long time. He yelped as his window was filled with light for a moment, which was quickly followed by a loud boom.

“Seems like the thunder already came,” String said quietly. “Come, let’s get you all dried up.” His father started to dry Link up with a towel, to which Link squirmed under. “Keep still will ya? It’s hard enough without you creating trouble.”

“Sorry,” Link said. When he was all dried up he and his father started to store the apples in their storage room. When they were all done, String started to cook. The aroma that started to waft to the living room made Link's mouth water immediately. When his father set the bowls on the kitchen table, Link had already ran in and started to attack his food with a fierce, predatory gaze.

“Have you ever thought of traveling the world Link?” his father asked Link quietly, causing him to look up at him in between mouthfuls. Link quickly gulped and shook his head.

“Nope. Never thought about it. I like it here,” Link answered before he resumed eating. “Why? Is something the matter?”

His father shook his head and smiled. “No. I just wanted to get to know my son better.” Link smiled at that. Afterwards, the two ate mostly in silence, occasionally making a comment about something before resuming to eat. Suddenly, his father’s face hardened.

“I knew I forgot to do something. I forgot to lock the door in our cider cellar, which means i’ll have to go back in the rain.”

“What!” Link stood up, almost knocking over his now empty bowl. “You can’t do that! Do you know how far away it is! In that storm too!” As if to prove his point, a flash of lightning appeared in the sky which was closely followed by a loud rumble. His father’s cider cellar was not near his house. His father told him that he simply couldn’t afford to enlarge his basement, so he used that small abandoned warehouse that was down the road as a replacement. Link didn’t visit it often because his father usually took care of things concerning cider. He knew where it was though.

“I’ll be fine,” String assured. “I’ll just quickly run over there and lock it up. Now, it is time for you to go to bed” Link protested, but his father quickly pushed him upstairs and into his room. He then tucked Link into bed. “Go to sleep now.”

“But-”

“No buts mister.”

Then Link’s eyes started to close against his will. No! he couldn’t sleep! He had to stop his father from-!

Link was fast asleep before he knew it.

XXX

“Link...wake up.”

Link heard that voice in his head again. He groggily opened one eye before shutting it again. He simply wanted to sleep, can’t somepony ask for that much.

“Wake up...now.”

“Go away,” Link mumbled before turning over, shifting to a more comfortable position so he can sleep again.

“WAKE UP NOW!!”

Link’s eyes shot open as he abruptly sat up. He had a small headache from the small outburst that was in his head. Link shook his head before he climbed out of his bed. What was that all about?

“Cider...cellar.”

Link’s eyes widened as he remembered what his dad did. He would question the voice in his head later. This was much more important.

Link rushed downstairs to see if his dad was there. When he was down, he noticed that his dad’s cloak was gone. He looked up at the clock next. It was one after twelve. He had slept for one hour.

“Hurry...to...cellar.”

Link agreed with the voice in his head and pulled out his smaller cloak. After he put it on, he rushed to the door before he stopped. Link went to the closet and brought out a lamp. He quickly lit it up and rushed to the door. He opened it and stepped outside, where he was immediately pounded harshly by the wind and rain.

“Hurry...to...cellar.”

Link ran down the road the road in the direction of the cellar. Lightning flashed countlessly as the rain and wind pushed against him. Link would make it to the cellar. He just had to.

“Hurry...inside cellar.”

Link arrived to where the once-abandoned warehouse was at. The door to it was opened. Link immediately stumbled inside where the rain stopped falling against him, leaving him wet once more. After he tried to dry himself to the best of his ability, he stepped further inside. Rows of cider barrels were lined up in a neat, organized fashion. There were a few cobwebs on some of them.

“Downstairs...go to.”

“Downstairs?” Link echoed as he looked around. There was a downstairs to this place? Link never noticed. Then again, he never came here in the first place.

“Downstairs…in...corner.”

Link took the voice’s advice and started looking in the corners. Sure enough, he found a hatch. Light peeked out of the corners of the hatch, signifying to Link that something is down there. Link immediately opened it and started to climb down. His ears suddenly picked up on something. He could hear a faint yell from below

“Wonder what’s that all about?” Link asked himself as he scaled down the ladder. “Seems like a pretty big fight.” The noise grew in volume the lower he went. The walls also got dirtier with more cracks appearing on it. Vines grew from the cracks and curled around itself. All in all, the place looked like a dump.

When Link was at the bottom of the ladder, the walls suddenly shook. Tiny bits of debris fell from the ceiling due to the force.

“Hurry…around…the corner”

Link quickly ran down the corridor where the light shined around in the corner. The shouts and clangs increased as he got closer. When he got there, he peeked out of the side of the corner. What he saw shocked him.

He saw his father holding a sword and shield, defending against many black balls of magic and then striking. He had cuts everywhere, blood flowing freely down his body. Link only watched with growing horror as he watched his father get even more battered by the second. It was then Link noticed the other pony his father was battling against.

Most of the pony’s face was covered by the big red hood that was attached to his cloak. Link immediately knew it was a unicorn due to the fact that he was throwing spells left and right at his father. The red cloak he wore had a big, purple eye on the back of it.

Suddenly, the cloaked pony knocked the sword and shield out his father’s hoof. He slammed him against the wall and stabbed him deeply with a dagger. Time seemed to stop as the cloaked pony kept holding the dagger deep into his father’s stomach, then pulled it out with a sickening shlick. Blood dripped from the dagger as the cloaked pony chuckled darkly and ran off into the darkness. When he ran off, Link immediately ran to his father.

“Link?” his father coughed, looking at him. “What..are...you doing here?”

“I grew worried and set out to find you,” Link said as he frantically looked over his father’s injuries. He had never seen him so beaten and weak before. His father always stood strong and brushed off any injuries that came to him. To see his father in this condition was a little more than shocking to say in the least.

“You...shouldn’t have come here” his father said weakly while moving himself over to sit up. Link pushed him back down gently.

“Don’t push yourself!” Link shouted, tears already starting to pool in the corner of his eyes. He held his father in a more comfortable position in his hooves. “Everything is going to be just fine!”

“You and I...both know that isn’t true,” his father said as he stroked Link’s mane slowly. “There...isn’t...much time left.”

“Don’t say that! Everything will be alright! Everything has to be!” Link shouted. He felt something wet trail down his cheeks. He immediately knew it was his tears.

His father was crying as well, “My...only regret...was that I...didn’t see you grow up. I will not...be able to...take care of you...now.”

Link just cried harder as his father continued to stroke his blonde mane. He didn’t want his father to go! Just when he finally had a family, it was taken away from him once again. What did the universe have against him?

“You have...to be brave...Link,” his father said. “Just know that...I am extremely...proud of…you.” Just after he said that, his hoof fell from Link’s head. The thud that it made when it hit the floor felt like it was a thousand times louder than it was supposed to be.

“No…” Link whispered as he saw the light in his father's eyes slowly dim. “Nononono. This isn't how it goes. Wake up.”

When his father didn't budge, Link shook him thoroughly, "Stop fooling around! Wake up!"

Link finally screamed as he started shake his father even more now. “WAKE UP!! WAKE UP!! WAKE UP!! WAAAKKE UUUP!!!!.”

Link started to cry even harder as he dropped his father. “Wake up…” Link whispered pathetically as he buried his head into his hooves and sobbed into them. He kept on crying until he remembered who did this to him. That red cloaked pony. He did this. He was the one who made him all alone again. He was the one who took everything away from him again. He was going to pay. Pay for what he had done.

Link stood up from his father’s dead body and looked at the sword and shield lying a small distance away from him. He picked it up with his magic and levitated it over to him. Somehow, it felt very familiar and right when he held it. Link did a few test swings with the sword before sheathing it on his back. His eyes burned with fiery determination. A spark lit inside of him and caught fire, and it wasn’t going to be extinguished anytime soon.

“Hurry...down the hall.”

Link wordlessly nodded at the voice in his head. He wiped off his father’s blood off his hoof and ran off into the darkness.

XxX

The cloaked pony ran off into the darkness, dodging any rats or snakes that came his way. He stopped in a random room to take a short break.

“Stupid earth pony. Got in my way while I was on an important mission. Now I’m going to be late because of him,” the cloaked pony muttered before he pulled out a small pouch from his pocket. He opened it to reveal a small orange stone, glinting in the little light the room provided. “Good, I still have it. Now I just need to deliver this to the boss safe and sound and he’ll reward me.”

Just as he was about to leave, a mad cackling was heard in the room. The cloaked pony got ready to fight until the object revealed itself. An unknown amount of different colored blobs appeared right in front of him, all carrying different colored lamps that matched their color scheme. They all chuckled darkly before starting to circle around the pony.

“We have arrived, master,” one purple blob said as he floated over to him. “We await your orders now, master.”

The cloaked pony smiled, “So you choose to arrive now, my ghost squadron. You came a bit too late, as I had a small scuffle on the way here. It was no trouble,of course. But it was a waste of my magic, something that I’ll need later on.”

“Forgive us, milord,” the purple ghost said as he knelt by the cloaked pony’s feet. “We will be faster next time.”

“Bah! Whatever! Just patrol these areas until I give you the telepathic all clear,” the cloaked pony told them. “Once everything is clear, return to me. Kill anypony that is here, got it?”

“Yes master. We will go at once master!”

“Good. Now scram!” the ghosts immediately went into different rooms, patrolling and watching for anypony that dare come this way.

The cloaked pony nodded before immediately dashing away. He didn’t need to waste anymore time with this mission. He already knew that his boss will be very displeased because of his tardiness. He then suddenly grinned to himself. Nothing could possibly go wrong now.

XxX

Link walked forward into the dark rooms, the lamp in his mouth giving off a dim light that barely allowed him to see. He could hear the tiny skitters and squeaks the rats made as they ran past him and climbed into the holes in the wall. Link gulped before moving on. He had to be brave. His father told him to be brave and the least he could do for him was to uphold his last, dying wish.

Suddenly, his ears perked up. He heard a faint hissing noise behind him. That was the only warning he got as he immediately whirled and slashed upwards with his sword, slicing the snake in half at the last moment. Blood splattered against his tunic, making him queasy. He held in his sickness as many more snakes jumped up at him. Link went by his instinct, slashing upwards, sideways, butting a few of them away with his hilt, and stabbing downwards. When he was done, many slashed up snakes were lying on the floor, joining together to create a small pool of blood.

“Did I do this?” he whispered to himself. He looked at the dead snake corpses and walked by them, taking care not to step in their blood. Link had never picked up a sword in his life before. Yet, it just came naturally to him, like he had done this all his life. He quickly diminished his thinking from his mind and focused on the task at hand.

“Hurry…”

Link continued onward, lighting up any torch towers that he came by with his lamp to light the room better. He finally got to the door and opened. With the limited light his lamp gave him, he was able to locate the next torch tower and lit it up. When the torch was lit, Link froze.

He saw two blobs enter the room just as he lit up the torch tower, both of them holding different colored lamps. When Link lit up the torch tower, both of them noticed him immediately.

“Hey, what’s a foal doing here?” the purple one asked to the green one.

The green one shrugged, “Beats me, what do we do with him?” It was at this time that Link came to his senses and spoke the one question in his mind.

“What the heck are you?” Both the purple and green blobs looked at him.

“We’re ghosts, obviously,” the purple ghost answered before he looked over at the green ghost. “So what do we do with him? Do we leave him? He’s just a little foal. He can’t possibly hurt us.”

“Are you kidding!?” the green ghost asked incredulously. “Master has asked us to kill anypony that we see. If we leave him, we risk being punished by him.” The purple ghost’s eyes widened in realization.

“You’re right. Let’s kill him quickly, yeah?” When Link heard this he got into a defensive stance, his sword levitating above his head menacingly. He strapped his shield to his right hoof since it was too heavy for him to levitate.

“Awww! The poor little baby thinks he can fight,” the purple ghost mocked before rushing towards him. Link immediately jumped away when he swung his lamp. Somehow he knew that if he were to get burned by that fire in the lamp, it would spell his end for him. Link dodged another swing made by the purple ghost before he jumped and slashed at him. The ghost immediately turned invisible as Link’s swipe passed by him harmlessly. “Fool! I can be intangible if I want to! You don’t stand a chance!”

Link swore and dodged another swing made by the green ghost. Both of them were cackling with glee as they rushed towards him. Link swung at them again, only for them to pull out their cheap, invisible move.

“Having trouble?” the green ghost taunted him while Link grit his teeth. He swung again to no avail, as they turned invisible once more.

“Stop that!” Link cried out, frustrated. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he thought about his next move.

“You think we’ll just lay at your mercy? You just delay the inevitable by dodging us all day.” The purple ghost laughed menacingly. Link just yelled in frustration and charged blindly at them. The purple immediately knocked him back, making him fly and slam into the wall. “That’s it, keep on getting angrier. Let it cloud your judgement!”

Link just shook his head and waited for his vision to refocus. He levitated his sword and shield back to him and stood in ready stance.

“I’ve got to say, I admire your courage boy.” The green ghost said as he looked over at Link. “Most foals your age would wet themselves if they saw us attacking them. Yet you just stayed and tried to attack us back with no fear at all!”

Link just stared angrily at him while he grit his teeth. The ghost was wrong. He was scared, badly. He just pushed it to the side because of his wish of avenging his father. These two were in the way of his mission so that’s why he needed to take the both of them down.

Suddenly, the whole area dimmed. Link immediately realized that the torch tower he lit fizzled out. The ghosts seemed to realize it too. The purple ghost smirked.

“Quick! Throw your lamp at him! Retrieve it afterwards and you’ll know what to do next!” the purple ghost shouted to the green ghost. The green ghost’s eyes widened as he smirked too. They both threw their lamps at Link, who jumped away in time. The fire in the lamps suddenly grew in size as it illuminated the room, then fizzled out, leaving darkness in its wake. It was then at this scary moment that Link realized that they did it on purpose just to get the room dark. His tiny little lamp barely lit his surroundings. He quickly levitated his sword into his hoof as he quickly looked at his sides.

“We can see in the dark, you know,” a voice whispered into Link’s ear before he felt something slam into the side of his head. He flew over to the wall and smacked right into it, making his senses dull and hazy. The lamp skittered away from him, leaving his surroundings in total darkness.

“I’m right here you know,” a voice whispered from behind him before he slammed Link into the wall again. Link spat out the blood that slowly filled in his mouth. He felt something was stuck in the side of his cheek and pulled it out. It was a glass shard. Just seeing it made Link angry. These ghosts were just smacking him around as if he was some insignificant plaything to them. They were beating him with a lamp no less! Link slowly got up from the ground and weakly levitated his sword, going into a ready position.

“Alright, enough playing around. It’s time to end this.” The ghost said as Link heard a quick swoosh somewhere around him.

“BEHIND YOU!”

Time seemed to slow down as Link whirled around and stabbed blindly in the darkness. He heard a small gasp of shock and a hissing noise before the ghost erupted into green flames. The flames illuminated the room for a quick second to let him see the purple ghost with a shocked expression on his face and his lamp, which was fortunately near the torch tower.

Link rushed towards the lamp and immediately started to light up the torch tower with it. He also swung blindly with his sword while he lit up the tower so that the ghost can’t get near him. When the tower finally lit up, Link saw the purple ghost with a furious expression on his face.

“YOU BASTARD!! I’LL KILL YOU!!” the purple ghost shouted before he rushed at Link. Link smirked before he twirled around the ghost. He quickly knocked the ghost down with the hilt of his blade and pointed it at him.

“Be more angry. Let it cloud your judgement,” Link said emotionlessly before he stabbed downward, making the ghost explode into purple flames. Link breathed heavily as he felt something warm trail down from his head and onto his face. He dipped his hoof in the liquid and saw it was his blood. He immediately wiped it away from his face and rubbed it on the ground, creating a red stain. He never knew ghosts could actually be hit by physical objects. He did learn that they could be intangible if they wanted to, but not forever. Link stored this piece of information for later.

“What the heck was that all about? I heard screaming from here.”

Link froze when he heard a voice coming from the room to his right. There was more here? He was in no condition to fight another one.

“Hurry…”

Link quickly extinguished the torch tower to make the room dark again so that the ghosts won’t see the evidence of a battle here. He picked up his small lamp and quickly ran into the other room. He saw some ghosts patrolling around the area in same formation. Link decided to take the safe way and sneaked behind them, occasionally killing one from behind if they were alone in a room. Link continued his routine until he saw another ladder. He looked up to see the hatch was left open.

“Finally!” Link muttered quietly as he tried to climb up the ladder. He slipped on the ladder a few times before he caught himself quickly and continued to climb up to the hatch.

XxX

The cloaked pony was almost there. Just a few more minutes and he was in the clear. Just then, he felt a sudden decrease in the dark magic levels in the area. It can only mean one thing: somepony was killing off his ghost squadron. The cloaked pony cursed. He didn’t want to deal with another meddlesome brat. He quickly checked his pockets and pulled out the pouch again to check if the stone was still there. He quickly pocketed the pouch and went outside. The storm had decreased to a light rain. He could see the damage it had done, toppling over a few trees with broken branches everywhere. He was about to continue before he heard a yell. The cloaked pony quickly pulled out his dagger and countered the blade that was about to strike him.

XxX

Link tried to land another strike at the cloaked pony before he was kicked away. The force of it took his breath away as he slammed against the tree. Red spots danced around in his vision before it quickly faded away.

“A foal? What the hell is a foal doing here?” the cloaked pony asked as he advanced on Link. “I don’t have time for you whelp! Get lost!”

Link shakily stood up and brandished his sword again. “You killed my father. Just for that, I can never forgive you!” Link yelled and charged again, only to be blown back once more. He slammed against the ground and skidded for a bit.

“Battling against you is a waste of my time. Be grateful that I spared you. If I had more time, I would have killed you on the spot,” the cloaked pony said before he ran off. Link tried to get up, but fell down immediately. The injuries he sustained were finally starting to get to him. Darkness enveloped his vision as Link slipped into unconsciousness.

XxX

The purple cloaked pony waited impatiently in their temporary meeting place as he walked around in a circle for the thousandth time. He suddenly growled out and stomped his hoof impatiently.

“Where is he!” he roared as he looked at the red cloaked ponies, making them shiver slightly in fear. “He’s already late! We can’t wait here forever!” He stomped his hoof again into the ground, adding a little more power into it to make a small crater.

Just then, the messenger he had been waiting for stumbled upon their meeting place. He gasped for air as if he ran a few miles, which he probably had, nonstop. The purple cloaked pony glared menacingly at him, making him cower in fear. “Where have you been!? You’ve been way past your deadline! You’re lucky that I decided to spare you because of how important this mission is!"

“Forgive me boss. I ran into some complications on the way here,” the messenger said while bowing his head repeatedly at the purple cloaked pony’s hooves. The cloaked pony then smiled a bit too sweetly.

“What sort of complications, dear messenger?” he asked sweetly, making him go white in fear.

“There was an earth pony and a unicorn foal trying to stop me. I killed the earth pony but-” the messenger started to say before he was interrupted by the purple cloaked pony.

“YOU WHAT!? YOU KILLED HIM!? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, DRAW ATTENTION TO OURSELVES!? WE WANT TO ACHIEVE THE OPPOSITE OF THAT! THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A STEALTH MISSION!” he screamed. He slapped the messenger across the face, blowing him across the floor. The messenger yelped as he held his bleeding cheek. The purple cloaked pony sighed while holding his head in his hooves. “Just please hand me the stone we were looking for. I need a drink after this.”

The messenger nodded quickly before he started to search his pockets. He frowned as he started to check his other ones, then his back ones.

“Messenger?” the purple cloaked pony said in his sweet voice again. “Where is the item that I requested you to bring to me?”

“It seems...that I lost it...boss,” the messenger said slowly as he gulped. The cloaked pony just smiled creepily.

“And how did you lose it, messenger?” the cloaked pony asked in his sweet voice. The messenger concentrated for a moment before he seemed to remember.

“I got it! It must’ve been when I was battling that green unicorn foal! He made me lose it! Now that I remember it, I think he mentioned that the pony I killed was his father,” the messenger cried out triumphantly, before fizzling out under the cloaked pony’s gaze.

“And is the green unicorn dead, messenger?” the cloaked pony asked sweetly still. The messenger frowned and shook his head.

“No, there wasn’t enough time to kill him,” the messenger said slowly. The cloaked pony just nodded his head. Then he started to chuckle quietly. His chuckles then grew to full blown out laughter. Everypony in the area watching this took a step back. The cloaked pony’s laughter died down, before both his hooves shot up from both of his sides and started to choke the messenger.

“YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT! YOU HAD ONE JOB! ONE SIMPLE, BUT IMPORTANT JOB AND YOU FAILED!” the cloaked pony screamed at him once more before he slammed him into the ground. The messenger pony started to cough and wheeze, trying to regain his lost breath while the cloaked pony walked around, stomping violently into the ground.

“This is great! Just great!” the pony moaned before putting his head into his hooves. “Once that colt wakes up, he’ll probably dance around, telling fantastic stories about how a pony in a red cloak killed his father! How stupid can you possibly be!?”

He sighed as he calmed himself down, “Just get out of my sight you worm.” The messenger nodded quickly before he got up. Just as he was about to go, he was called on by the cloaked pony once again. “One more thing before you go.”

The messenger turned around, only to be met by a dagger to the gut. He screamed as the cloaked pony twisted the dagger around in his gut and pulled it out, before driving it into a different spot. The other ponies in this room watched in silent horror as the pony kept on stabbing him over and over again. A pool of blood started to form on the ground. When he was done, he dropped the messenger on the ground, now dead.

“Great, I got blood on my fucking hooves!” he said as he wiped them on the ground. He looked over at two red cloaked ponies, who flinched when his gaze landed on them. “Burn the body immediately. We can’t leave any evidence here.” The two nodded immediately before picking up the body and carrying it away. The cloaked pony looked over at the rest of the group.

“Let this be a lesson to you all on how you should never fail me,” he said grimly, making the ponies nod at once.

“Yes master! Of course master!”

“Good. Now get moving! we need to cover distance if our plans are to still succeed. We don’t need that stone, but it would be much better if did have it. That way I can guarantee that no one would try to stop us.” the ponies nodded before immediately dashing off into the darkness. The cloaked pony shook his head.

“A green, unicorn colt huh? I wonder…”

To Sunset Village

View Online

(Celestia’s POV)

The sun shined down on the big city of Canterlot. Ponies could be seen happily trotting around, chatting with their neighbors, shopkeepers, etc. A huge castle could be seen looming ahead of the city, gleaming in the sunlight. It stood proudly on the mountain, seen around for miles on end.

In the throne room inside the castle stood a tall, white, regal pony. Her rainbow-colored mane swished gracefully and methodically in a non-existent wind. Her golden regalia shined in the sunlight that shone through the windows. Her cutie mark was a bright, golden sun, symbolizing her mark of power. Everything about her just screamed royalty to everypony. That, and the fact that she is one of the only alicorns in existence. This mare’s name was Celestia. More commonly known as Princess Celestia to her subjects. The ruling mother figure of Equestria was currently bored. You would think that one of the most revered figure in Equestria would get a little more excitement now and then. But because she did such a good job at ruling, at enforcing the laws and mannerisms of her country, that it left her to deal with the petty squabbles somepony would usually have against another pony everyday. Sometimes, she wished for something exciting to happen. Something that would keep her busy altogether. Once she thought this, she immediately dismissed it. Celestia remembered the consequences of thinking such things.

Too bad she got her wish anyways.

It had happened on this afternoon while she was dealing with a particularly angry brown pony when she felt it. A disturbance in the magic force. Normally, she would feel disturbances all the time. May it be foals and fillies having their first magic surge or a pony that accidentally used too much magic into a spell and ended up exhausting themselves. But this disturbance was different. It felt malicious. It felt malevolent.

It felt dark.

Celestia immediately stiffened when she felt this great change in the magic. Her eyes darted right and left, suddenly alert. This feeling wasn’t the same as when the previous villains, such as Tirek and the now-reformed Discord, came. This felt darker. More evil than the rest. It was far stronger than what the previous villains use to be. As quick as it came it was gone, leaving no trace of it ever being there in the first place.

“Are you alright, your majesty? You seem a little tense all of a sudden,” The pony in front of her said, causing her to blink. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she completely forgot about her ongoing task.

“Fear not, for everything is fine. An urgent matter suddenly came, needing to be fixed immediately. I’m afraid that I’ll have to reschedule this meeting with you for another time. This needs my attention immediately,” She responded, quickly looking at the guard that stood on her left side. She nodded at him and he nodded back, an unspoken conversation swapped between them. “One of my guards will escort you out of the palace.”

“But-!” the pony started to protest before he quickly shut up at the stern look the guards gave him. He quickly nodded. “I understand, your majesty.”

Celestia resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the honorifics. She never did like it when her subjects did it to her. “Wonderful. I shall contact you later.” The pony quickly bowed and walked off, guard in tow. Celestia sighed to herself and quickly got off her uncomfortable throne. As she walked away, her right guard gave her a questioning glance.

“I will be fine. I am only going to my sister’s chamber. Can you also close the day court for me? A pressing matter has come to my hooves and it has to be solved right away,” The guard quickly gave a swift salute and hurried off. Celestia quickly walked through the twisting halls to her sister’s bedroom. On the way there, any passing maids or nobles staying at the castle temporarily bowed to her. Celestia ignored this and approached her sister’s bedroom.

Luna’s bedroom door consisted of dark blue with twinkling stars spreading out everywhere. The middle of it had a white crescent moon, shining the brightest out of all the stars painted on there. It was a true masterpiece of art. One so deserving as to just put it on the princess' bedroom door. The artist who made the painting jumped for joy when he heard that his painting was gonna be used by royalty.

Celestia nodded at the two guards standing in front of her sister's door, "Step aside. I need to see Luna immediately." The guards nodded and stepped to the sides at once, giving her clear access through.

Celestia stepped through and opened the door. The room that greeted her was big and spacious. Instead of the usual yellow and white color scheme that she usually had for her room, this one was dark blue with small streaks of black. White specks were painted on the ceiling, surrounding the crescent moon on the middle of it. On the bed laid Luna, who was sleeping in a rather undignified position.

Celestia giggled when she saw her. Oh how she could tease her about this! This was probably one of the reasons why she doesn't like it when she's in her room. She rid her head of any unnecessary thoughts. Fun can come later when this matter is resolved.

"Luna? Wake up Luna. I need to talk to you for a moment," Celestia said quietly as she gently shook her. Luna yawned before turning over to her side. She batted Celestia's hoof away and kept on sleeping.

"Leave us...to sleep... dear sister." Luna muttered before she started to snore again. Celestia shook her once more with a little more force.

"This is urgent. Wake up now." She said a bit more forcefully. Fortunately, Luna's eyes slowly opened up before Celestia magicked her out of the bed and into a random lake.

“What… is it dear sister?” Luna yawned as she slowly sat up. “Why wake us up early?”

Celestia sighed. Luna was not going to like this one single bit. “I fear darkness has returned to Equestria, much stronger than before.”

XxX

Darkness surrounded him once more as Link quickly realized the atmosphere was exactly the same as his last nightmare. It didn’t have the same eerie feeling like last time though. It was more neutral.

“Realize…”

“Huh?” Link looked around in confusion. “Who’s there?”

“Realize… the path you...must take.”

“What path?” Link asked, still looking around. It was that voice again from when he was down trying to find his father’s killer. “Just what are you?”

Suddenly, there was a small speck of golden light to his right side. It formed around into a... triangle?

“Find...the three...keys.” the voice said as the golden light started to get brighter and brighter by the second. “For if you don’t...everything will fall...into RUIN!”

“GAAAH!!” Link screamed as the voice shouted out its last word. His head exploded with pain as he fell, writhing about. “NO! NO! NO! NOOO-

-OOO!!” Link screamed out loud. He suddenly sat up, water splashing everywhere. His vision was blurry as he tried to rub his eyes. The pain in his head soon faded to a small throb as his vision finally cleared up. He found himself staring at a rocky ceiling. Steam poured from the hot water around him. It was then he realized that he was soaking wet, his green fur and blonde mane making a continuous drip drip into the water. He looked over to the side and saw his green tunic and hat folded up neatly on the rocky edge.

“I see you have finally awoken. Rise, young one,” said a female voice behind him. Link turned around and felt his eyes widen. In front of him was a big mare in a white dress. Vines wrapped around her dress as it glowed a soft green. But this wasn’t the reason why Link was staring. No, it was the fact that she was floating in midair with no wings at all. He heard her giggle.

“So, you find my appearance interesting for you to stare this hard, do you not?” the pony(?) giggled, causing Link to snap out of his stupor. He blushed in embarrassment.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to! I ju-” Link tried to say before he was shushed by the pony.

“I was just messing with you. I haven’t had a laugh in a few eons,” she said, laughing even more at Link’s incredulous expression.

“Did you just say eons!!? You were alive for that long?” Link exclaimed, looking at the mare in wonder. She giggled again.

“Of course. After all, I am immortal,” She said, causing Link’s jaw to drop before he picked it back up.

“That’s impossible! Only the alicorn sisters are immortal!” the pony smiled at Link warmly.

“You’ll find that there is a lot more immortals out there than those two,” she said. “I haven’t introduced myself, did I? You can call me the Great Fairy.”

“Great Fairy. Got it,” Link mumbled. He tried to wrap his head around the huge influx of information given so suddenly, but found his mind more muddled than ever before. First, he fights ghosts that can disappear and can still be harmed by physical objects. Then, he has that dream of the voice, if he can call it a dream in the first place. Then, he meets this...fairy that claims she is immortal?

“A lot to take in at once, isn’t it?” the Great Fairy asked when she saw Link go deep in thought. “I would imagine so, since my kind hasn’t shown itself for thousands of years till now.”

“There’s more of you?” Link asked weakly before thinking of the prospect of meeting even more big, floating mares like her. The mare only giggled.

“Would I break your mind if I introduce you to fairies?” she asked innocently as small balls of light started to emerge behind her. Link only stared in fascination before he looked at her with a hard gaze.

“This is a dream,” Link announced as the small fairies started to circle around him in wonder. “None of this is actually real.”

“What about that other dream you had? You can’t have a dream in a dream,” the Great Fairy argued, making Link’s eyes once again go wide.

“How did you know about my dream?” Link asked. The big fairy rolled her eyes.

“Dream watching isn’t necessarily a hard thing to do. All it takes is concentration and bypassing the subconsciousness without harming or waking up the host. You still believe this as a dream?” the Great Fairy smugly as she looked straight at Link”s eyes. Link looked down.

“If this isn’t a dream...then my father really is dead, isn’t he?” Link said suddenly before tears started to flow down his cheek. The Great Fairy just stared straight at him as he occasionally took glances at her.

“You seek my sympathy, don’t you?” she suddenly asked as Link looked at her, confused. “I don’t give it to the weak-willed.”

“I’m not weak!” Link yelled, splashing water as he moved around. “Who said I needed your sympathy anyway!?”

“You looked at me, expecting me to comfort you. There is no such thing as comfort in the world we live in now,” She said coldly. Link was surprised by her sudden change in attitude. She seemed like a nice pony.

It was true though. Link did actually expect her to comfort him or at least say some soothing words.

“I see you are realizing now,” The Great Fairy said as she saw Link’s expression change. "This world is not a kind place for the weak-willed. Why do you think it is the parents who take care of their children? It is because the children are weak-willed. The parents, who have already endured the hardships of life, are strong-willed. They help build up their child's will so that they can survive the horrors that lay outside."

"It just seems so...unfair," Link said softly before he dried his tears. The Great Fairy looked at him sadly.

"It pains me greatly to say this, but you will find that the world is always unfair." She said. "Most ponies who aren't prepared usually die out here." Link flinched when he heard that. The Great Fairy suddenly smiled at him.

"But you aren't like most other ponies, are you?" she said. "I sense your will. Despite your innocence, you possess an indomitable determination. Something that is rare and valuable in a pony. You showed it when you stormed through the bottom passageways to find who killed your father."

“How did-” Link started to say before he was shushed again.

“I know many things, young one. It is best not to question it,” she said gently. Again, Link was confused on her sudden change in attitude. Do all immortals act like this?

“How do I not become weak again?” Link said with a sudden fierce look in his eye. The fire that was almost snuffed out within him roared to life again, blazing more so than ever. The female immortal chuckled when she looked at his expression.

“By becoming stronger.”

I know that! I’m asking how should I do it?”

“Forgive me. I meant that as a broad statement. Strengthen everything within yourself. Your body, your mind, your intellect, etc. Every single shred of information, knowledge, and muscle you gain will strengthen your will in this world. Collect as much as you can. Build as much as you can. That is all that I can tell you.”

“Oh.” was all Link could say as he took in the speech he just heard. He was going to need everything he got now that he was on his own. He still couldn’t believe all this had happened though. It just came by too fast for him to comprehend anything.

“What is your goal now? Will you wander aimlessly, or seek out comfort with the rest of your family? The choice is now up to you, young one.”

Link thought about it. It didn’t take much time, “I want answers. I want to know why my father was murdered that night. I want to know who exactly did this to him. Once I find out, I will hunt him down.”

The Fairy frowned. “That is not my recommended path you should take, but if it keeps you going then stick to it.”

“Why isn’t it the recommended path?” Link asked indignantly. The mare in front of him sighed.

“Revenge is never a good thing. Not now, not ever,” she said firmly. Link shook his head.

“I want to find out what happened to him! Nothing you say is going to stop me,” The mare sighed again.

“It is not my matter on how you choose to go in your journey. You will learn later. I will tell you where you should start though. Go to a place called Sunset Village. From there you will start making your own decisions. Follow the dirt path near and continue on it. You should arrive there soon.”

“Ok,” Link said firmly. Sunset Village sounded like a nice place to be. He shook his head of this thought. No, he needed to gather more information, just like the Great Fairy said. He needed to build up his will.

“You can return to this fountain to heal you once more if you are wounded. It shall fix you up and be one of your places where you can relax peacefully while you heal,” The mare said. Link nodded in gratitude.

“Thanks!” he said brightly. This would help him immensely. Who wouldn’t want free healing services. “Where is it though?”

The fairy smiled, “I gave you enough leverage when I brought you here and healed you when you were unconscious. Show me that you deserved to be healed again by finding this place.”

“What! But that is un-” Link started to say before he snapped his mouth shut. He almost said that it was unfair. He remembered the speech she gave about the world being unfair. Maybe this was one of her lessons? Given what the mare told him, he would have to abide to her terms. It was technically her spring anyways and she could do whatever she liked with it, including denying free healing services. Link just sighed. “Ok, fine. I will find this place again. Mark my words.”

“It is not easy to find this place. Rarely anypony comes to this place. When they do, they can never find it again. Where do you think the legend about fairies came from anyway?” She said with slight amusement.

“I will find this place again,” Link insisted. “Then I will be the first to prove you wrong.” She smiled even wider.

“I look forward to that day,” Link nodded before he closed his eyes. The Great Fairy then started to wave her hooves in a hypnotic way. Link felt himself getting drowsy as his eyes slowly closed. Before she completed her spell, she quickly said “Oh and if you find my sisters, tell them Sunset said hi. You can also use their fountains as well if you find them.”

Before Link could comprehend what he just heard, he teleported away. Once he did so, the other fairies started tinker and clang like all fairies do. Some sounded irritated while others sounded like they had a question to ask.

“I know,” the Great Fairy murmured as she looked at the spot where Link had just disappeared from moments ago. “I also suspect he may be the one we’re looking for.”

XxX

Link woke up again and yawned. He felt well-rested and was completely raring to go. He also noticed that his sword and shield, along with his hat and tunic, were on him again. That was a relief. He thought he had left it behind. He started to check the contents he had on him when he stopped.

Link pulled out a small, brown pouch. It was sealed tightly like the pony that had this didn’t want to lose it. A note was attached to it as well:

Something to thank you for the company.

-Great Fairy

Link smiled. She wasn’t so much of a bad pony once he thought about it. She was just trying to teach him a lesson. Link then looked over at the pouch. He opened it and a small, orange stone spilled out of it. Darker orange markings made a peculiar pattern over it. Link admired the stone for a moment before shrugging and putting it back into the pouch. A gift was a gift and he certainly wasn’t going to waste this one. He packed up his things and started to look for the dirt path the Great Fairy told him about.

Link kept on searching when he felt his ears perk up suddenly. A shrill scream sounded through the forest. Link quickly ran toward the direction the scream was from. He immediately hid in the bushes when he arrived. What he saw made his eyes go wide.

A mint green unicorn mare was being held hostage against a tree with a knife at her throat. Her cutie mark was of a lyre, hinting to Link that she most likely loved to play music. The other pony that was holding her was a dirty, brown earth pony. His cutie mark was of a bag with a gold coin on it. The earth pony grinned, showing his yellow teeth to the world.

“Stop struggling there, miss,” he said mockingly as the unicorn in front of him tried to break free. “Just hand me all your valuables and I might let you go.”

Link had heard enough as he silently crept from the bush he was in towards the pony. The pony continued on, oblivious to the fact that Link was behind him. “If you don’t give me those valuables this very second, I’ll slit your throat!”

Link was almost behind him now. He caught sight of the mare’s eyes and watched them widen for a moment. Link held his hoof to his lips as he made the universal sign of silence. The mare’s eyes trailed back to the pony as it kept ranting on. Link then carefully levitated his sword over the pony’s head.

“Time’s up! Now it's time to-” he said before the sword bashed him on the top of his head hard. When his grip loosened on the mare, she bucked him as hard as she could. The thief went skidding across the ground, unconscious.

“Thanks for that,” the mare said before she wiped her forehead. “You came at a really lucky time. In a few moments, I would’ve been killed."

“It was no problem,” Link said as he wiped his own sweat of his forehead. He looked at the mare, only to find her looking back at him as well.

"Aren't you a little young to be carrying a sword and shield like that?" she questioned. Link just shook his head.

"Well, if you say so. My name's Lyra by the way," Lyra told him. Link nodded.

"My name's Link."

"Nice to meet you Link. What are you doing around these parts if I may ask?"

"I'm looking for a village called Sunset Village. You know where that is?"

"Oh! I'm traveling there as well. You want to go together?"

"I don't see why not."

Link packed up his stuff before he froze. The thief was missing! So was his shield! When he looked back into the forest, he saw the thief quickly running away, his shield on his back.

"Get back here!" Link yelled before he started to chase him. Lyra held him back though. "Why'd you stop me?! I need my shield!"

"You'll get lost in the forest," Lyra argued. "Then you'll have to deal with more of them. He isn't the only one there. You can buy another one when you get to the village.”

Link just sighed. He was already having problems and he barely even set foot anywhere. “You are weak-willed.” The Great Fairy’s words echoed through his mind. He grit his teeth.

“We should get going now. By the time we get there, it’ll probably be evening,” Lyra said as she started to walk. Link frowned but followed after her. After sometime, they found the dirt road that led to the village.

“Oh! I never got to thank you, did I?” she said as she looked over to Link. Link looked back, confused.

“You did. Immediately after we knocked him out.”

“I mean thank you properly,” She started to look through her bag. “Here. I know it's not much, but I think you can find a use for it.” She pulled a small harp out of her bag. “It’s a pretty old thing.”

Link stared at the small, golden harp in awe. “But I can’t take this.”

“Sure you can. After all, you did save my life,” Link looked at her weirdly.

“But all he was gonna do was steal from you,” Lyra scoffed.

“Do you seriously believe that? The only reason I struggled against him when he said that he was going to steal from me was because I knew that he was going to kill me afterwards. Think about what would happen if he were to let me go?”

Link thought about it for a moment. It does make sense when he put more thought into it. Why spare her? If that thief did, then she would run and get the royal guards after him. Killing her would silence her and he could get rid of the evidence while simultaneously getting what he wants. Link also wondered if this is what the Great Fairy meant about the world being unfair. How, even though the thief promised something as important as somepony’s life, he would break it in an instant for his gain. The thought made him sick.

“Just take it already,” Lyra said, snapping Link out of his thoughts. “My foreleg is getting tired from just holding this. It’s called the Goddess’ Harp by the way.”

Link took it with hesitation and strapped it on his back, over his sword. “Thanks.” Lyra nodded and walked ahead, a little faster than usual. Link followed her. They walked in silence for sometimes. The closer they got to the village, the deeper the sun dipped down into the horizon. A brilliant hue of orange and pink spread across the sky. The horizon shined bright behind, showing both of their shadows in front of them.

“Where are your parents? I’d imagine they would wonder where you are?” Lyra asked suddenly. Link felt a pang of sadness in his heart when she mentioned it.

“They’re...gone.”

“Oh... I’m sorry. Why aren’t you in the orphanage then”

“I hate the orphanage. It sucks there,” Link said angrily as he stomped ahead. Memories of the other colts and fillies bullying him came back to him. “I’m never going back there as long as I live.”

They fell into an uncomfortable silence after that. It lasted all the way until they finally saw the entrance. The whole village seemed peaceful. Some of the ponies were chatting while some were entering their houses, ending their days. There was a small cliff facing towards them a little ways sideways.

“You wanna know how Sunset Village got its name?” Lyra asked. Link nodded eagerly. Lyra quickly walked toward the cliff and climbed it, Link in tow. When they got to the top, Link could see the bright sun slowly dipping down into the horizon. The colors in the sky slowly faded to black as he continued watching. He honestly had never seen a more beautiful sunset than this.

“You got the answer,” Lyra said smugly while Link nodded rapidly. They continued to watch the sunset dip down into the horizon, transforming the day into the night. The day became darker as the moon finally rose high above their heads.

BONK!

Suddenly, something hit the back of Link’s head. He skidded over to the edge of the cliff, his vision fuzzy. He heard Lyra’s screams and ignored it. He tried to concentrate on his opponent. One pony advanced towards him, his sword in attack position. Link levitated his own sword in front of him. A fierce expression spread across his face.

The pony suddenly swung so quickly that Link barely had any time to counter it. Their swords clashed against each other. It was a test of strength between them now. It was obvious who was winning. The pony was close to knocking Link’s sword out of his magic range when Link held on to it with his other hoof also, adding more strength into his push. It didn’t really help much. When their faces were in close proximity, Link saw the pony's eyes were a deep black. It was unheard of, a pony that had no color in his eyes. Link kicked out with his back leg and got the pony’s other leg. He took advantage of the pony’s small moment of weakness and pushed the sword away from him and rolled around him. Now the pony was the one near the cliff.

Link then swung, only for the pony to counter it, then knock the sword out of his hoof. The golden colored armor he wore shined in the moonlight. Wait...gold colored armor!? This was a guard! Why did he attack him?! They were supposed to protect ponies, not attack them!

The guard growled in an animal-like way as he advanced towards him. Link could only watch helplessly as the guard suddenly raised his sword high, then swung down. Link closed his eyes, waiting for his end. This was how he went out? Only one day in the real world and he was already dead. Was his will really that weak?

Suddenly, an earth pony that was wearing dark blue robes jumped down, spear in hoof. He quickly blocked the attack on Link and counterattacked, sending the guard flying away from the cliff’s edge and from Link. The guard quickly leapt to his feet and swung his sword once more. The brown colored pony easily blocked the attack again before smashing the butt of his spear into the guard’s face. While the guard was disoriented, another guard came up. His sword levitated above him, showing that he was a unicorn.

The unicorn quickly swung his sword at the pony, only to be met with the same fate as the last one. He quickly shook off the attack and surrounded the pony with the first guard. They both quickly started slashing at the pony, who skillfully dodged or blocked them. Link watched in fascination as he watched the pony beat the guards like they were nothing. He looked to the side and saw Lyra. She was holding both of her hooves to her mouth with her eyes wide with horror.

The pony knocked both of them back and whacked their heads simultaneously, making them go unconcious. Link exhaled a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“That finally did it then,” The pony said as he stood up on his hind legs, using his spear for support. He wiped his sweaty forehead as his blue robes billowed in the wind. He then turned to Link. “My name's Orca. Nice to meet you."

Orca's Acceptance

View Online

“So, you want me to train you?”

It had been an hour since Link was attacked. They were now sitting inside Orca’s house, which was near the cliffside. The first floor was a dojo, many weapons lying about here and there. Link’s head was bandaged with his horn poking a hole through the wrappings. Those guards really got him with a nasty hit on his head.

“Of course! I couldn’t beat those guards, but you just dealt with them as if they were nothing! You didn’t even get scratched!” Link said in excitement. He watched with stars in his eyes as Orca did a little twirl with his spear.

“I was good, wasn’t I?” he said boastfully. Link nodded his head rapidly in agreement.

“If you would please excuse my interruption, but can somepony at least tell me that I’m not going to get arrested for this?” Lyra asked. She gestured over to the unconscious guards lying next her. Both of them had rather large lumps on their heads with an expression of pure bliss on their faces. One of them started drooling, causing Lyra to inch away from them. Orca chuckled.

“You won’t get arrested, my dear. If anything, they should be the ones behind bars. They illegally assaulted you and Link when they were supposed to be protecting you. In fact, they will be serving an even harsher punishment because they are royal guards. They just broke their honor code of not hurting anypony of innocence.” Orca’s eyes suddenly narrowed. “You are innocent, right?”

“We just came in town.” Lyra said, exasperated. “We didn’t do anything.” Orca nodded his head slowly.

“I believe you. Sorry about my prying. You just can’t trust anypony these days. Bandit activity has increased lately and few have become more daring, sneaking and stealing from this town right under our noses.” Lyra gasped.

“That’s terrible! Have they caught them yet?”

“No, but you can definitely see why. The royal guards are acting up.” Link’s eyes widened at that.

“What do you mean by acting up?” Link asked curiously. Orca turned to look at him.

“I mean by what just happened an hour ago. Well, maybe not exactly because what happened to you was far more aggressive than they usually were.” he explained before he looked up thoughtfully. “They were getting more aggressive. Some went as far as to insult the mares here greatly. It’s strange because of the fact that guards are trained to be silent, but deadly. Nothing can break their concentration and they rarely speak. Then all of a sudden, they start insulting random ponies. After we confronted them, they would act like they lost their memories.” he shook his head. “Its really strange.”

“You haven’t told us why you haven’t caught them yet.” Link pointed out. The eyes were back on him again.

“The royal guards refuse to. They keep claiming that nothing is wrong. Something is up with them and I intend to find out what.” Orca said with determination. Link’s eyes widened as he suddenly remembered something important back on the cliff.

“I think I may have something to speed up you search.” Link said. Everypony immediately turned to him, making him more self-concious.

“Well, what are you waiting for boy? This is a serious matter so spit it out!” Orca said impatiently.

“Calm down! It’s just that while I was fighting them, I noticed their eyes were deep black. I’m not stupid enough to know that it isn’t a normal eye color. Check them right now.” Link said as he went to the guards. He opened one eyelid slowly to show that one of them had green eyes. He went to the other one where he revealed the other guard had blue eyes.

“Sounds like a possession spell to me, but all of those were lost in time.” Lyra said thoughtfully. She put her hoof to her chin. “The spell’s effects are described exactly as you said Link, but the problem is that all of them are gone. Not even Princess Celestia herself remembers any. Or if she does, she refuses to give any details about them."

“Are you sure that the eyes were black?” Orca asked, getting in Link’s face. “This is very important information, one that is even worth bringing to Celestia herself.”

“I’m sure of it.” Link said firmly as he slowly moved away from Orca. Orca’s face was grim.

“I fear that there is a bigger picture here.” Orca said in a grave tone. “But I don’t know what.”

“Urrgh...what happened.?”

Everyone froze when they heard an unknown voice near them. They all turned around to face the royal guard, who was just starting to wake up now. The royal guard yawned and turned to face them. His eyes widened.

“What the-!” he said in alarm before he reached for his side, only to grasp nothing. He saw Orca pull out the sword, twirling it around in his hoof. “Give that back! You’re all under arrest for assaulting a royal guard!”

“I don’t think so, my friend.” Orca said in an amused tone before he put the sword down. “You will be under arrest for assaulting these two young ponies here.” The guard’s eyes widened.

“B-but I didn’t-” he started to say before he was shushed immediately by one stern gaze from Orca.

“Save it!” Orca suddenly barked, startling Link and Lyra. “I want to know what is happening these past few weeks! First, you deny any claim of anything happening to this village while on patrol, which is obviously not true! Second, you started getting all stabby around the locals around here! Then you assaulted these two innocent ponies! And you know that I would never hurt your head Storm Bringer! You’re like a second grandson to me! Yet, you just fought me with the intent to kill not too long ago on that cliff! What has happened to you all?!”

Storm’s head went lower and lower during Orca’s rant. He was trembling all over. “I...I did all of that?”

“Yes you did.” Orca said with a huff. He was breathing heavily now that he was done with his speech. Link and Lyra’s eyes were wide with fear as they watched the two ponies interact with each other.

"B-but I... I don't remember any of that." Storm mumbled with his head still down. Orca stamped his hoof down angrily.

"You still have the nerve to use that excuse! Why you no good-"

"Wait!" Link cried out as he suddenly got in front of Storm with his forelegs spread out, blocking Storm from Orca. Orca just snorted.

"Why wait boy? He attacked you!"

"Let's hear his side." Link insisted. "My father always told me to listen to everypony's story first when there is a problem then analyze the details." Orca's eyes widened.

"I almost lashed out-" he said in alarm before suddenly lowering his head down. An ashamed expression settled on his face. "Forgive me. I broke one of my own codes of honor. I almost lost my patience. I spread word of being patient to my students when I'm only impatient. How hypocritical of me."

"Now that we're all cool here," Link said before he looked over at Storm. He had a surprised expression on his face. "Let's hear what you have to say."

Storm fearfully looked up into Orca's eyes. "I stand by my earlier statement. I truly don't know what happened. I was just hanging out with my buddy here when everything started getting hazy. Then I just felt a spike of anger within me when I saw...green? I'm not sure what that was about but then I finally found myself here. I'm telling the truth! Honest!"

Orca looked into Storm's eyes deeply, then sighed. "Okay. I believe you. I'm going to give you the benefit of doubt."

"Really?! Thank you so much! I won't let you down, my teacher!" He said joyfully. Orca nodded.

"I only hope I'm making the right choice." he said. Storm then looked over at where Link and Lyra was.

"I'm sorry for attacking you both. Hope you both can forgive me." He said sincerely. Lyra snorted.

"It's gonna take a lot more than that to make me forgive you." she huffed angrily. "You just attacked us. You could've killed us! Think about that for a moment."

"But Lyra, he could've been under mind control. Even then, he still apologized for his actions!" Link said, surprised by Lyra's words. Lyra looked down on him.

"It may be easy to forgive for you, but it is not easy for me. I normally am nice but when something happens to me, it makes it hard for me to trust again."

"But-"

"Leave it." Storm said, surprising Link. "I understand her actions. You are still young and may trust a bit easier. But who says that I won't attack you again? Lyra is wise to be cautious."

"I wonder why you got angry at green though..." Lyra mumbled to herself. Meanwhile, Link was not amused by Storm's comment.

"I'm not young!" Link said indignantly. Orca just ruffled his mane.

"You are and you know it." Link just huffed angrily and turned around. Orca chuckled. "Now about your training..."

"You're training him!?" Storm said, surprised. "Are you sure? He's still so young!" Link just glared at him angrily. He defended this guy and he pulls this off. Just when he thought they would've probably got along okay.

"Yes I am. Unlike the others I have trained, I have never seen this one's courage. When a foal as young as him would've been scared mindless from a royal guard attacking them, he stood his ground and actually started to fight. He actually held on longer than expected against you due to his size! He also has talent. Have you ever been trained before Link?"

"No." he answered. "I never was trained. It just...came to me."

"Raw talent then, which is even better." Orca said, nodding in approval. "Not even trained and he already can hold himself against a trained royal guard."

Link blushed in embarrassment. He didn't even do good back there. Storm had decimated him. Nevertheless, Orca continued.

"I also can see that there is an almost unconquerable determination residing within him. He had enough courage to go against you and had the determination to hold out on his own. He has a lot of potential." Suddenly, Orca's face hardened. "He does have a lot of flaws though. He is reckless and headstrong to go directly against you. His sword style is unrefined, choosing to go swing-happy instead of reading his opponent's movements and calculating his own moves. All of these can be fixed with training, if he accepts."

"I accept." Link said immediately. The fire within him roared with new heights triumphantly. His eyes held a fierce gleam of determination. He was not going to fail! He was going to rise, with his willpower conquering the world. He will survive, despite many of the odds that may go against him.

"Good!" Orca roared as he walked over to the wooden fish that was on his wall and pounded against it hard. The whole room shook as many things could be heard shattering upstairs. Orca and Storm suddenly paled.

"GODAMMIT!! CAN'T I JUST STUDY IN PEACE YOU STUPID FUCKERS!!!"

An angry little, brown pony trotted down the stairs looking very angry. He shared some resemblance with Orca, despite having a larger than normal head. Link and Lyra immediately went to the corner as Orca and Storm shared looks of defeat and just hung their heads.

"YOU LITTLE SONS OF THE DEVIL!!! ALWAYS POUNDING YOUR STUPID, FUCKING-" Suddenly, all the yelling became muffled as Link felt two things plug his ears. He looked up to see Lyra blocking his ears, giving him a weak smile. Her face looked a little bit greener than normal despite her fur color. Even Orca’s and Storm’s face looked a little green. Not that unknown pony’s face though. His was bright red. Link wondered why Lyra covered his ears.

Lyra’s horn suddenly flared to life, picking up Orca's spear. She used the butt of the spear to smash it against the big-headed pony's...well head. She kept on smashing him against it, much to Link's horror. Lyra then unplugged her hooves from Link's ears.

"HOW DARE YOU USE SUCH LANGUAGE IN FRONT OF ME AND THIS POOR CHILD!!" She screamed, making Link plug his own ears again. "UNACCEPTABLE!"

"What's going on here?" Link asked wearily, looking at Lyra and Orca. Orca then cleared his throat.

"This is my brother, Sturgeon." He said awkwardly as he pointed to the mismatched lump on the floor. Those are sure some nasty bumps and bruises. Link felt sorry for him, despite his earlier behavior. He didn't even know what he truly did wrong to deserve such punishment.

"What did he do?" Link asked as everypony looked at him. Lyra scratched her head awkwardly.

“He used...questionable language in front of you.” Lyra laughed nervously. Link nodded his head, but then frowned again.

“What’s fuck mean?” Everypony winced at that question.

“Nothing!” Lyra said hurriedly. She was sweating now. Link narrowed his eyes but laid off the subject for now.

“Sooo...about my training?” Link asked slowly. Orca’s eyes widened.

“Right! About that...are your parents okay with this?” he asked. Link immediately averted his eyes.

“He doesn’t want to talk about it.” Lyra said quickly. Link shot her a grateful gaze. Orca nodded his head.

“I see…”

“Ohhh, my head…” the pony named Sturgeon grumbled as he slowly got up. Everypony looked towards him. “What...happened?”

“What happened was that you felt the maternal wrath of a mare beating you up due to your dictation of impolite words.” Orca answered dryly. Sturgeon glared at him for his sarcastic response. He then looked around to find Link and Lyra staring at him. Lyra had a hard look on her eyes.

“I’m assuming the one that smashed my outer skull was that mare over there, but who’s the runt?” he asked, making Link grit his teeth.

“My name is Link and I am not a runt!” he said angrily. Sturgeon snorted.

“Then what does that make you then?” he sneered, making Orca intervene.

“He is my new pupil.” he answered, making Sturgeon’s eyes go wide.

“You can’t be serious?” Sturgeon said incredulously, making Orca’s eyes narrow. “This child is too young. You can’t possibly train him at this age.” Link was getting tired and angry from all these comments. Can’t anypony have a little faith in him at least?

“I can and I will.” Orca said defiantly. “He has a lot of raw potential, just waiting to be crafted into one of the most deadliest swordsponies in history. You, of all ponies, now what it is like to be shaping young ones’ potential.”

“But that’s for education.” Sturgeon insisted. “You’re talking about training a child into a swordspony. Education and Sword fighting are two very different things.” Link just about had it with the discussion.

“Excuse me, but this is MY decision, so it is my CHOICE to go into this. Even if it is long or painful, nothing will make me stray from this path.” Link said angrily. Sturgeon was silent for a moment.

“This child is different from the others, brother.” Orca said gently. “I can just see it.” Sturgeon finally answered.

“I will trust your judgement for now.” he said before looking at Link. “Be careful. Orca’s training may seem slow at first, but it will pick up pace until he will break you. That is all have to say.” He then turned back to the stairs and started to go up.

“Could you bring some food back to Link here? I bet he hasn’t eaten dinner yet.” Orca called. Sturgeon paused, before nodding and climbed up the rest of the stairs.

“He’s an odd one.” Lyra finally said, making everyone look over at her. Link had forgotten that she was still there along with Storm. Storm walked over to Link and ruffled his mane.

“Seems like you’re Orca’s new student, huh?” he grinned, making Link laugh nervously. Orca looked over to Lyra.

“Do you need something to eat? I imagine this whole ordeal has been stressful.” Lyra shook her head.

“Nah, I’m fine. Which reminds me of why I’m in Sunset. I’m visiting my grandmother. I imagine myself that she must be worried sick about me.”

“Well then go right now. You are welcome back here anytime. Well, welcomed back by me at least. I think Sturgeon still holds a grudge against you, given that he gave absolutely no attention to you when he found out.” Lyra laughed nervously at that.

“I’ll see you later Link. If you want, I can tell you more about that harp and even give you lessons.” she said as she rushed out the door. Link waved goodbye to her.

“She gave you that harp?” Orca asked as he pointed to the harp that was on the shelf. Link nodded. “It’s a pretty old thing.”

“That’s what she said also.” Link said as he looked over at Orca. “When does my training start and how long will it take?”

“You’re training will start tomorrow directly and it will take a whole month.”

“A WHOLE MONTH!?”

“You heard me right.”

“And it won’t be easy.” Storm added with a slightly sadistic grin. “Will I be able to help train him also?”

Orca smiled the same grin Storm had. “Of course.” Link was now thoroughly creeped out by the both of them.

“We will both spar tomorrow, as you are already tired and hungry. It will give me an idea of where your abilities lie at and where your specialties are.” Link nodded at that. “Good, now get some rest. I think we have some leftovers for you.” He then looked at the still unconscious guard in the corner. “Get your buddy guard out of here Storm. I will be having some words with him as well.” Storm gulped as he looked at his partner guard.

“I pity your soul.” he murmured to him before looking back at Orca and Link. “I’ll see you two later.” He then hastily made his way out of Orca’s living space, awkwardly carrying the guard over him. Orca then looked over at Link.

“Let’s show you your temporary room shall we?” Link smiled at him.

“Let’s do it.” They both went upstairs.

XxX

Link yawned as he went downstairs to Orca’s training room. He had removed the bandages from last night and put on his usual tunic and hat. Orca had woken him up early for his duel test with him. The both of them had ate their breakfast quickly as they went downstairs. Link’s sword was strapped behind him as Orca held his spear at ready. Storm greeted them when they were down.

"Ready your descent into hell?" Storm asked, grinning widely. Link nodded immediately. He didn't know what hell was though. Storm eyes then widened as he immediately pulled the shield from his back and handed it to Link. "I wanted to give you this in apology for last night's events. I heard from Lyra that you saved her, but in doing so your shield was stolen. I wanted to give you this one. Royal guard edition."

Link looked in awe at the shield. "But-"

"I ain't hearing any of that." he said with a small grin. "I also heard from Lyra that you can be a stubborn one as well." Link just shook his head in defeat as he admired the shield. It was definitely a royal guard edition. A big sun was in the top right corner while a big crescent moon was on the opposite one. Bright colors of pink, green, yellow, and blue blended in the top right half near the sun. The moon’s half had a mix of dark blue, black, and purple. It looked amazing. It must’ve taken an artist to do all of these shields the guards use.

“I don’t know what to say.” Link said in astonishment as he looked up at Storm. Storm nodded with a small smile. “Thank you.”

“You can thank me with an amazing battle today.” he said. Orca nodded as well as he got on one side of the training hall.

This was it. His one moment that would decide what he was going to be trained in. He levitated his sword and strapped his shield to his right hoof. He got into a battle stance on one end of the training hall. Orca held the spear menacingly as he went into his own battle stance.

“Ready for this?” Orca asked as he pawed the ground. Link just smirked confidently at him. His fire roared and danced around wildly as the same fierce glint in his eyes returned. He spoke the two words that would start this duel:

“Bring it.”

Orca let out a battle cry as he jumped forward, surprising Link. He jumped back in time before Orca could hit him. Link raised his shield to his face as Orca once more swung his spear. They collided with a loud clang. Link swiped his sword at Orca, only for him to block it easily. Link slashed over and over again, but to no avail as Orca either dodged or blocked the attack. This led Link to jump back and wait with his sword and shield raised to his face.

“You’ve got good instincts, young one.” Orca said as he rushed forward suddenly. “But instincts alone can’t save you in a fight!” Link’s sword and Orca’s spear clashed together. They both held their ground defiantly, unwilling to give up. Link failed to realize Orca’s hoof suddenly pushing forward, sweeping his other legs off the ground.

“ARGH!” Link grunted as he hit the dirt. The shield slid from his right leg, skidding across the floor. He looked over at his shield, then at Orca. “He got my shield away from me!” And it seems he's guarding it. He'll tear me to shreds if I go near it! he thought.

“Realizing your demise, Link?” Orca taunted before lunging towards him once more, putting Link on the defensive. Orca smashed the butt of his spear on Link’s face, causing him to fly away and skid on the dirt. Link immediately jumped up and tried to ignore the pain in his head. He quickly thought up of an idea to get his shield back. He charged forward and swung wildly. Orca blocked every one of his strikes, but it caused him to move back. He went far back enough to be near the shield.

“Good!” Link thought triumphantly as he reached his goal. Orca smiled suddenly.

“You have a pretty good plan there Link, but I’m afraid I have to end it.” Orca picked up the shield with his back hoof and tossed it away from him again. He front-flipped over Link, causing him to be between the shield and Link once more. Link fumed angrily.

“How’d you know?” Link asked as he grit his teeth. Orca chuckled.

“I’ve been training my whole life. Not only does my body work against my opponent, but my mind does as well. My mind is constantly at work as well as my body during a fight. While your mind is concentrated on keeping you alive, my mind is working, trying to find any evidence or clues as to what your next plan is. The sudden glint in your eyes in the direction of your shield hinted your intentions. After about a few steps in did my mind realize what you’re doing and devised a plan of my own. Sword fighting isn’t just about fancy tricks and blocking. It’s about the mind also constantly at work. Only the best swordsponies can think accurately and fight flawlessly at the same time.”

Link clenched his teeth. Orca was right, he was thinking about fighting. But that was the problem. He wasn’t supposed to be thinking of fighting. He was supposed to fight second-nature while thinking of multiple approaches depending on the situation he was in. This was tough business.

“I’m afraid I must end this.” Orca said as he suddenly lunged forward. Link tried to block but Orca knocked his sword away. He held his spear point at Link’s throat. “You have fought well, but in the end, the mind always is the best weapon there is. If we never had the mind, then we would never even learn to sword fight.” It was then at this moment that Link realized the Orca just toyed with him. He didn’t even bring some part of his power out. Link was batted away again.

Orca must’ve noticed the sudden look in Link’s eyes. “Don’t be like that child. I have trained in this art for many years. Storm too. You just started out and it is natural that you would lose like this.”

“That sure was one battle.” Storm whistled as he got a wet cloth. He handed it over to Link. “I haven’t seen an untrained youngling fight like that in my life ever! You could maybe classify as an intermediate.”

“Don’t fill the boy’s head with that nonsense.” Orca said sternly as Link wiped the sweat off his face. “I don’t need an egotistical student here.” Storm nodded and looked at Link.

“He still has more potential. I think he’s even better than me when I was his age or even older!” Storm said as he ruffled Link’s mane. Link shook his head in embarrassment. Orca nodded.

“He does have more potential than you. I wonder…” Orca said as he looked behind Link. Link shied away from him.

“What are you looking at?” Link asked as Orca shook his head.

“To see if you have a cutie mark or not.” Orca answered simply. Link looked at him in confusion.

“Why would you look there?” Orca chuckled in amusement.

“You have much curiosity inside you. That is good.” he said as he continued to chuckle.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Link said. Storm’s eyes widened for a bit then returned to their normal size. He shared a look with Orca, confirming his suspicions.

“Let’s get you cleaned up now.” Orca said. “You have a long day of training ahead of you.”

“I still have to train today?!” Link asked. He was already tired and bruised and it was still the morning! Orca nodded.

“Yes, now move along now. Let’s get you patched up.”

“Quit shoving me!”

“Well, if you don’t move then how am I supposed to patch you up?” Link just snorted angrily while Storm laughed and left to do his patrol. Link just sighed. He was not going to enjoy this one, single bit.

(Caretaker’s POV)

Caretaker hummed along the road to the cider cellar. It was a nice and beautiful morning. The birds chirped and the small morning breeze ruffled through her red mane. She looked positively cheerful this morning. She yawned as she continued down her path. She couldn’t wait to meet Link and String. She loved spending time with them, since her home life isn’t exactly hospitable…

Caretaker shook her head of any dark thoughts. She was on her way to meet one of her favorite ponies. Link’s childlike behavior with him acting like an adult was absolutely adorable to her. She already walked over to their house and knocked on the door. Nopony had replied so she assumed they were at their cider cellar.

Caretaker arrived to find the door open, but no noise came out of it. Now she looked on in confusion. There was always some talk between Link and his father, whether it be meaningful or random. Caretaker went inside to find nothing.

“Now this is completely strange.” she thought to herself as she continued to explore the room. Cider barrels were lined up in a completely organized fashion, but there was spider webs sticking on the corners of them. It made the place look older than it actually is. She then noticed a small trap door in the corner. "Wonder what's that all about."

She went to it and started to climb down. The farther she went down, the more grubby it got. Vines seeped out of the cracks as rats occasionally scurried down the hallway. She finally made it down to the bottom passageways. Torches barely lit the floors as she traveled along the hallways. "This doesn't look like part of the cider cellar."

She then went around the corner. What she saw made her eyes go wide. She screamed as loud as she could when she saw String's dead corpse, his dried blood spread out everywhere.

Author's Notes:

This chapter has been edited as of 10/8/16. If there are more errors in the chapter, please notify me in a PM

So Link is finally getting trained by Orca. Speaking of this, next chapter, I will be explaining Link's fighting style. It is actually very different from the fighting style from the games, due to the fact that Link is a unicorn and he uses magic to levitate his sword. I will tell you this: once Link runs out of magic power, he can only use either the sword or the shield. He can't use them at the same time due to the fact that he walks on four legs, like how all ponies do. I'm still actually developing the style so I'll get back to you on that. On another unrelated note: this story has finally hit over 10 likes!

...now that may not be a big deal to you all but it sure is to me. It tells me that I'm starting off on the right track. I want to thank you all for your attention and give me feedback on this story if you can. Construction criticism is always welcome. Point out any mistakes you see and I will see you later.

Training and Legends

View Online

Sling!

Slash!

Whoosh!

“Again, your second strike wasn’t as fluid as it should be.”

Sling!

Slash!

Whoosh!

“Again, your second strike is still not fluid while your third strike was really slow. Be faster.”

Sling!

Slash!

Whoosh!

“Again, just because I said so.”

Storm and Sturgeon was right. Orca’s training was hard! It didn't help that Orca was also a perfectionist. Link hated those at school.

“Break time!”

And when those heavenly words came out of his mouth, Link gracefully flopped to the floor. He was panting with sweat shining all over his body.

“Ah come on! It wasn’t that hard!” Orca said. He slapped Link on the back, causing him to groan. His whole body was sore and in pain. Link remembered the conversation he had with Orca about his training.

XFlashbackX

“Your natural abilities with the sword hint at an affinity to a very old fighting style you could learn. Your average unicorn swordspony won’t use it due to its difficulty. I couldn’t even learn it because it was only for unicorns, but I do know how to teach it.”

“What is it?” Link asked. Orca shook his head.

“It's true name was lost a long time ago as it was handed down in my family for generations. All I can tell you is that it consists of both holding the sword with magic and your hooves. You can use your hooves to enhance your attack while using magic can grant some special effects when you swing. We can add to it since you will be using a shield as well.”

“It's that old!?” Link exclaimed in astonishment. Orca nodded.

“I'm green with envy,” Sword said as he stood by Storm. Steel Sword was a grey unicorn with a spiky black mane. His mark showed off a chipped sword in a slashing motion. He was also the unicorn that attacked Link that night, but immediately apologized for it once he found out. He didn't remember any of it either. Lyra still didn’t forgive the both of them though. “When I asked Orca about that, he said I didn’t have the natural affinity for it.”

“What’s up with affinities to fighting styles anyway?” Link asked. Orca just chuckled.

“Everypony has a certain affinity to certain style if they want to learn to fight. Some might use dual knives for more in the defensive-counterattack side while some can use their bare hoofs to just attack and block objects.” He explained. Link looked up, deep in thought.

“Does that mean if I don’t have a certain affinity to style I want to learn, I can't learn it?” He asked.

“No, it doesn’t. It is extremely hard to, but you can learn it. I'm afraid you can't truly master it unless you train every single day for a long period of time. It isn’t impossible, but extremely difficult and time consuming. It is recommended to learn your natural style.”

“And you got a good one Link,” Storm piped up. “The style you’re about to learn is really good.”

“I have to admit, I did not expect you to get this style.” Orca murmured, surprising Link. “That style is really complex. It combines both fluid moves gracefully and fierce at the same time and uses a lot of flexibility. It can also conduct magic into some of its basic attack schemes as well as rely on the user’s speed to dodge the attack. The counterattacks to this thing is what truly makes it stand out though. Each counterattack hits a certain place that can definitely be a weakness in every creature. It took me a while to understand this pattern before I could be able to teach it, which I couldn't do because everypony either had a different affinity to something else or will not want to fight.”

“Wow,” Link said once Orca’s explanation was done. He was going to learn all that!?

“Don't you think that it will not be easy,” Orca warned. Link looked up at him, confusion evident on his face. “Because you have shown this affinity, we will most likely have to train you longer than our planned month. This sword style is one of the hardest there is which should motivate you to work harder. Understand?”

“Yes sir!”

“Then what are you waiting for? Train!”

XEnd FlashbackX

It had been one week since he heard his analysis and he tried really hard. He did! But he just couldn't meet up to Orca’s standards. He wondered if he ever could with the pace he was going at.

“Don't give up!” Orca had barked at him when he saw Link’s fallen expression one time. “What kind of swordspony do you want to be with that weak resolve?! Continue!”

So Link would continue. He slashed, parried, blocked, and counterattacked. It certainly wasn't easy and he certainly did get new bruises everyday, but he continued. It was almost like routine to him now. With each day in passing, he felt his confidence go up more and he was able to stand on his hooves longer when he sparred with Orca or Sword.

Lyra also visited him occasionally. She always said something about how she owed him and gave him lessons on how to use the Goddess Harp, but he didn't buy it. He got better at it under her teachings and even played a short song with her for the village folks, to which they were generally happy about.

That’s another thing: the town itself. Link was initially surprised when everypony welcomed him. It was no surprise to them when Orca said he was teaching him. They were surprised at how young he was, but quickly dismissed it. It was just like the Apple reunion all over again.

So Link would train and go out occasionally, conversing with the village folks he met by. They weren't too picky on his personal information. They didn't even ask about his parents, which Link was grateful for. Previously, he was scared of talking to all the adults, thinking they were more mature and intimidating than him, but he soon found out that some were more like him than he thought and he was pleasantly surprised to find that he shared a few passing interests with some.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Orca pulled him up in standing position.

“Break time’s over,” He said with a smirk. Link inwardly flinched at himself when he noticed Orca's somewhat sadistic gaze. He didn't notice the time pass by so quickly, even though break period wasn't really long in the first place.

“Aw come on!” Link complained as he got up. He could barely feel any magic inside him. Orca just shook his head in disappointment.

“This style may be better than most, but it also requires more attention and training because of it. We also need to teach you some of the weaknesses of it. Every style has a weakness and it’s best if you learn most of them if you want to face against future opponents,” Link grunted in acknowledgment and raised his sword with his hoof this time. “Let's work on your parries and blocks.”

And they trained some more. Link blocked and parried with his sword and shield while Orca delivered the attacks. Hours had gone by while Link and Orca still trained, Link being really tired and sweaty. Sounds of metal clashing against each other filled the air as they continued. Orca called a halt when it was evening.

“You’re progressing faster than I expected. That’s good because if you keep up at this rate, you may be able to finish by the end of this month.”

“Yes!” Link shouted, pumping his hoof up in victory before he immediately started to groan and slumped down on the dirt. He sustained a fresh batch of new bruises every time he trained, this session being no exception. He hoped that the end of the month came soon.

“Come with me,” Orca suddenly said as he walked towards the door. Link groaned even more.

“Why should I come?” Link whined as he remained on the floor. He would sleep right then and there if he could. Anything to get away from this pain. Orca walked over to him and yanked him up once more.

“Because it is unbecoming of you to just lie there. No honorable swordspony of mine is going to just do that,” He answered, dragging Link along with him. Link mumbled something about stupid teachers and reluctantly followed after him.

“I need to get some groceries and would appreciate it if you would help,” Orca said. Link nodded absentmindedly. All he was trying to do was to stop thinking of the soreness of his muscles. He then noticed a mare walking by him, holding flowers. She kept her head down, but Link saw the tears that flowed through her eyes as she trudged by him.

“Why’s she sad?” Link asked when he knew she was out of earshot. Orca’s face turned grim.

“Her husband was a royal guard like Storm. He died in a bandit attack not too long ago, before you came. I think her husband’s ceremony was over and she’s going to pay her final respects at the graveyard.”

“This place has a graveyard?” Link asked, astonished. He walked around here a lot but he didn’t see a graveyard anywhere. Orca shook his head.

“It’s on the far side of town and not many people go there to see it. I don’t recommend you go, Link. It wouldn’t be good for your young mind,” Link frowned at that but said nothing afterwards. They continued to walk towards the marketplace when Link heard a familiar voice shout at him:

“Hey Link!” Link saw Lyra walking towards him. “I didn’t see you there. You’re always cramped up in that house. I can hear you training even from here!”

“Hey Lyra.” Link greeted as Orca nodded. “How’ve you been?”

“Better.” She said, waving her hoof passively. “ I just wanted to tell you that I’m going back to Ponyville tomorrow morning. I don’t want to keep my friends waiting.”

“Oh.” Link said as he realized that he didn’t want her to go. She made his days here somewhat bearable, even though he wasn’t here long. “That’s...great."

“How’s the harp?” Lyra asked, oblivious to Link's dull response. Link shook his head and smiled.

“It’s fine. Not a scratch.” Link said. Lyra sighed.

“I wanted to thank you again for back in the forest.” she said softly. Link just looked at her with a confused expression on his face.

“Why? That was so long ago and you already did,” Lyra just shook her head.

“You don’t know how important my life is to me. Everyone’s life is important to them. You may think it’s no big deal, but it sure is a big deal to me,” She sighed again. “And I brought down the mood again. That’s no fun. Want to walk with me and talk more?” She offered. Link looked at Orca, who nodded his approval.

“Go ahead. She’s leaving here and you may not see her again in a long time. You deserve a break,” Orca said with a smile. Link smiled back before he walked away with Lyra.

“Are you sure you don’t want the harp back?” Link asked, hesitating. He never did like taking things from other people. It was also her special keepsake for goddess’ sake!

“It should be enough payment for what you’ve done for me. In fact, let me tell you a legend about that harp.” Lyra said as she looked towards Link.

“There’s a legend to that thing?” Link asked. Lyra laughed.

“Not really a legend. Just a story my grandma told about the harp when she gave it to me. It went like this":

XxX

Three golden goddesses descended down from the heavens and shot across space. Their names were Din, Nayru, and Farore. They were told as the three most powerful beings of the universe. Din, carrying the flames of life, burned the land anew and created the red earth. Her power was raw and untamed as she banished the black world this once was into the land it is now today. Nayru, with her infinite wisdom, created the souls and laws of the universe this world would follow. Farore, with her everlasting courage, created the vessels the souls would inhabit and inspired them with bravery, making them go to new heights in discoveries and exploration. They created the lands and realms this world keeps within and went back to their rightful birthplaces in the heavens above, never to be seen again.

XxX

Lyra finished with a dramatic pause before she looked over at Link. Link was wide eyed and his ears was up, drinking the words spoken to him. “So, what do you think?”

“I think it’s amazing!” Link exclaimed. He then looked confused. “But what does it have to do with the harp?”

“My grandma said that the goddess’ used this harp once in order for them to aid in their creation of the world and it was left here as one of their gifts.” Lyra said. “Why else is it called the Goddess Harp in the first place?” Link nodded, satisfied with the answer. He looked up at the sky to find it getting dark.

“It’s getting late now. I should probably go,” Link said as he looked back at Lyra. Lyra smiled.

“I hope I get to meet you again. Bonbon wouldn’t believe that I got saved by a mere foal! See you later!” She said, waving goodbye. Link ignored the playful jab and waved back as he walked by back to his cliffside. He then slumped his head down. Time for him to go back to training. He almost wished he went back with Lyra.

(Applejack’s POV)

Applejack was sweating by the time she was done bucking apples. She watched as the sun steadily went down and was slowly replaced by the moon. It was a signal for her to get going. She didn’t want to miss her granny’s cooking. She would start ranting to her about manners and how she should be early about everything again. She looked back at the orchard and hurried over to the barn.

“Yer almost late again.” Granny Smith said as she waved her cane over at her when she entered the barn. “That ain’t like you.”

“Sorry Granny,” Applejack said as he lowered her head. “Ah lost track of th’ time. Cider season’s about t' start and we still have all these apples to go through.”

“Y' work too hard child,” Granny chided. She slowly rubbed Applejack’s mane affectionately. “Y' need to rest more. Do you want ah repeat of what happened last time?” Applejack winced at that. She remembered how she screwed the whole town over because of her pride. She definitely did not want a repeat of that.

Applejack snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a large thump on the roof of the barn, followed by a yelp and another thump near the door. Applejack rolled her eyes. It must’ve been Ditzy. Rainbow wouldn’t be flying this late outside. Granny Smith opened the door.

“Hi Ms. Smith! I got a letter for you!” Ditzy said, her eyes still spinning from the two hits. She rummaged through her bag and handed over an envelope towards her.

“But we have a-” Applejack tried to say before Ditzy clumsily zoomed off. She saw her hit herself on a lamppost before shaking it off and flying once more “-mailbox.”

“Crazy one, she is.” Granny Smith chuckled before opening the letter. She pulled out the piece of paper and started to read. Her reaction while reading it worried Applejack.

Granny’s eyes started to get wider and wider before tears started to come from her eyes, dropping onto the paper. She started to weep openly. Applejack immediately started to comfort her, not knowing what was going on. Her Granny almost never cried, so what was on the letter to make her do so?

“What’s goin’ on?” Applebloom asked as she walked downstairs. Her eyes widened when she saw Granny Smith crying. “Why’s granny crying like that big sis’?”

“I don’ know Applebloom,” Applejack murmured before Big Mac came into the room also. He said nothing to the both of them as he slowly started to read the paper. His eyes became wider and wider as well before he just sat there, staring at the paper with a thousand-yard stare. Applejack had never seen these reactions on them before. She took the letter from Big Mac and started to read it herself.

Dear Ms. Smith

We regret to inform you of the tragic event of what has happened to your second son. He has passed away due to many stab wounds. It is suspected that he was murdered two nights before as it was reported from Caretaker, also reported to be one of his close friends. We also regret to inform you that Link, who we know has been adopted into your family, is nowhere to be-

The letter was too botched up by Granny’s tears to be read any further, but Applejack could tell what the rest of the words were. She felt herself going into shock as Applebloom took the piece of paper from her hoofs and started to read it for herself.

The Tombstone

View Online

“Thank you for coming again Link,” Petal said as she walked toward the graveyard. Link followed her closely, the Goddess harp on his back. He also had his sword with him. Never left home without it. Link nodded.

“It’s no problem,” Link answered easily. Petal was the mare he passed by in town a week earlier. She was a pink mare with a smooth red mane that curled inward at her forehead. She had a cutie mark of a white flower with one petal left on it. The rest of the petals were fluttering down from it. He looked at his own flank, wondering when he’ll get his own mark.

“You’ll get it soon,” Petal said suddenly, startling Link. “I was just as anxious when I was your age.”

“I know,” Link spoke, looking forward again.

“I don’t know how I can repay you for this. I’m taking time from your training so you can do this for me.”

“Like I said before, it’s no problem,” Petal frowned.

“Orca didn’t seem too happy about you leaving your training and for you to go to the graveyard,” Link winced at that. Orca definitely was not happy about him going. He was going to pay for it big time once he returned.

“I’ll be fine,” Link said, not even believing his own words. “This shouldn’t take much time either.”

“It shouldn’t. All I want to do is sing for my husband while you play the harp,” She said as she started to walk a little faster. That was her request to him. Since Lyra left a week ago, she had asked Link to play since the song required the harp and he was the only one in town that could play decently. Link silently thanked Lyra for giving him lessons so that he could get away from training, even if it was for a short while. “I wanted to give him one last gift before I go.”

“It’s my pleasure to help you out,” Link replied with a smile. They walked in a comfortable silence after that. It seemed that the pegasi weren’t done with the storms, as it began to lightly rain. A breeze swept by, ruffling both of their manes as they finally saw the gates to the graveyard. The ‘a’ in graveyard was missing on the gates. “Not a pleasant place to be, huh?”

“Almost no graveyard is,” Petal answered. “It holds the one place where everypony’s loved one is resting in the afterlife.”

“What about grave robbers?” Link asked. “Don’t they disturb their rest?” Petal shook her head.

“It is a requirement for graveyards to be enchanted to keep petty thieves like them away,” She answered. They entered the gates and into the graveyard. A thick fog seemed to descend down upon them as soon as they entered. Gray headstones littered the ground with dead flowers laying on the patch of dirt in front of it. Each inscription had a insightful saying along with the accomplishments and name of a pony. The fence surrounding everything had barbed wire twirling around it. Nopony else was there but the two of them, giving Link a sense of loneliness and skittishness. He nervously tugged the hilt of his sword, but refused to unsheathe it. Alarm bells rang off in Link’s head everywhere as his danger instinct from Orca went crazy. Was this why Orca didn’t want him to come here?

“There it is,” Petal said, startling Link badly into almost making him trip himself. She was pointing to a certain gravestone with the others in its row. The gravestone had a different design to it than the others. Vines seemed to be carved out in the stone while its inscription was written in cursive. The flowers were buried in front of it instead of just lying there in a bundle, like the rest of them. The rain poured a bit more when they approached it. Link could already see that Petal was holding back tears as she lifted her head up high. Link levitated his harp and was in ready position.

Then Petal started to sing. There was no lyrics, but just a combination of high notes and low notes that mixed surprisingly well. Link plucked the strings in his harp in contrast to her voice. Link could tell that the song was supposed to be cheerful and somewhat upbeat, but the way she was singing it now produced a soft, mournful feeling. Link ignored the raindrops against his fur and continued to play. By the time she ended in a soft high note, Link was wet with his mane matted against his forehead. Petal sighed.

“I’m sorry for not being there for you. I’m sorry for always arguing with you when I now know that you were trying to protect me and our child all this time. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” She said as she let the tears flow. She cried into her hooves as Link watched on sadly. He took note that she said that she had a child of her own and resolved to meet her. Both their fathers are dead, murdered by scum of this very world. They were the same.

Creak!

Link suddenly stood up as he didn’t realize that he backed away from Petal and had started to lean on one of the gravestones in the yard. He knew that he should’ve paid more attention and was about to move it back in place when he froze.

Drip, Drip.

Now it was raining outside and he did hear the rain splattering on the ground, but this drop was hollow. It sounded like if you were to drip some water in a spacious cavern, not when you were outside and it was raining. Link pushed the gravestone a bit more as more rain dropped into the tiny hole the grave had produced, making more of those hollow drops. He was shocked at what he found.

It was a step.

Steps were part of a staircase, so why did this one have it? Link was cut out of his thoughts when he heard Petal sniffling towards him. She drooped her head down in apology.

“I’m sorry that you saw me like this. I promised myself that I would get over it…” She said softly before she was waved off by Link.

“It’s fine. I know his death is still fresh. I myself haven’t got over my father’s death…” He started to say before he trailed off. Why did he tell her about his father so easily? It just came out of his mouth without him even realizing it. Petal’s eyes widened.

“Oh, so you’re like Flora then,” she said as she looked to the side. Link cocked his head.

“Flora?” he asked. Petal’s eyes widened.

“My daughter,” she explained. “She technically lost her father too.” Link nodded his head and looked at the sky. Looks like the rain won’t let up anytime soon. Petal sighed.

“I’m leaving Link. You coming?” Link looked at her.

“I think I’ll stay here for a bit,” Link said, looking at the might-be tomb. Petal nodded and walked away. Link put his harp on his back and looked at the rain with an annoyed expression. Orca actually prefers the rain, as it gives him an excuse to train Link more; Link prefers the sunlight to get out of training.

He shook his head of any unnecessary thoughts and advanced towards the gravestone. He looked at the inscription and frowned. It was full of characters and symbols that Link had never seen before. Could it be that it wasn’t a pony that was buried here and it could’ve been a zebra. Link heard that they had their own language. Nevertheless, he started to push against the stone, but paused again. He knew that this was wrong, but nopony ever has a staircase under their graves. He battled with his conscious for a moment before his curiosity got the better of him and he finally pushed the stone, revealing a staircase indeed. Link looked left and right, concluded that nopony was there to see him and descended down into the darkness.

Like the last time he went below the surface, the walls around him started to get cracked and chipped. Link was surprised when he found a lit torch. He could sense some enchantment on it, but he couldn’t tell what it was exactly. Orca, though being an earth pony, also taught him how to sense other magic presences nearby, may it be some residue or a unicorn themselves. Link grabbed the torch to get a better lit view of his surroundings and continued to go down below. The weird characters that were shown above were now surrounding him at all sides on the walls. Link wondered what story it might be telling. Maybe of this zebra’s accomplishments? If so, then this zebra must’ve done a lot of things with his/her life as it continued down for a long time.

Link finally arrived at a stone door. It was sealed completely shut. Spiders ran up their cobwebs as soon as Link approached near them. When he got close to the door, it opened with a small groan, shuddering as it receded up into the ceiling. Link was surprised. He didn’t see any doors that opened when somepony approached it automatically. It only fed his curiosity even more as he walked past it and into the room it guarded. Link’s eyes widened as he saw what was in the room.

Skeletons were strewn all across the floor in various positions. The skeletal structures were also different from each other, indicating that they were different species. Link saw a diamond dog skeleton against a wall, cuffs chaining him to said wall. It looked like it was trying to get out, his theory proven further when he saw there were deep scratch marks made into the stone wall next to the skeleton. Link also found a spear jutted into a ground, piercing through a ribcage. Bones were strewn around it as Link deduced it was probably part of the ribcage once. Link also saw a skull near it and found that it was a pony’s, making him shudder. The whole room gave him a sense of helplessness, like he was all alone here with nopony to back him up. If he were to die here, he felt he would just become another skeleton, another attraction to this place. He shuddered at the thought. This whole place gives him the chills. Much different than seeing a haunted house, compared to the real thing. Link was never scared of haunted houses anyway.

On the bright side, he didn’t feel bad about invading this place now. Clearly it wasn’t a grave for one pony, since there is obviously more than one creature here. It only served his thinking to grow more. Why had nopony discovered this? Was it because of their morals of believing this to be a tomb for somepony that they thought they were respecting this pony? Or was it that they were wallowing in their own self-despair every time they come to this graveyard? Link continued to ponder this until he heard a small screech.

Link looked up and saw a small bat perched on the ceiling. It screeched at him again, saliva dripping from its mouth. It then flew down at him menacingly. Link levitated his sword and swiped upward. He sliced the bat in half, making its blood splatter on the ground below. That wasn’t it though, as more bats started screeching and diving at him. Link levitated the torch behind him as he remembered Orca’s training. He let his instincts naturally flow through him as he sliced upwards, downwards, and on both of his sides. Soon, ten dead bats on the ground, making a pool of blood together. Link was about to congratulate himself when one bat sat on his torch. Link stared at it blankly as it caught fire. He then yelped as it dived towards him, it’s beating wings blazing with fire. Link had no time to dodge as the bat bit down on his shoulder. He yelped in pain as he could feel the heat of the flames against his skin as he quickly batted the bat away and slashed sideways with his sword, cutting it in half. He then quickly rolled and patted down his flaming fur. It was extinguished quickly, much to his relief.

"What were those things?" Link thought to himself as he looked at the dead bats on the floor."I’m pretty sure regular bats can’t survive being on fire."

Link went up to their corpses to examine them more closely before he froze.

“Keese…”

Link’s eyes widened in surprise as he heard the soft, feminine voice in his head again. Just as he heard it, it was gone. He then thought about what he had heard. The voice said keese. Was that this creature’s name? If it was, then how much more does this voice know? It seemed to know the way of every pathway he had taken and even gave him advice on occasion. Just what was it?

"Anypony in there?"Link thought, hoping to get a reply. Much to his disappointment, he didn’t. He tried three more times before giving up.

Link then noticed a doorway leading to the next room and frowned. This was no ordinary tomb, he already got that. It seemed to be hiding something, but what exactly is it? Why would somepony build a place like this? And why would many creatures die trying to get here? It seemed the more he thought about it, the more questions would spring up in his mind. Link approached the door and it opened automatically as he stepped through. Many stone blocks were strewn about in this room, confusing Link.

"Why would this be here?" Link thought to himself as he looked at the stone blocks. "They aren’t that big either, but just enough for me to climb over it." Link looked and saw the familiar stone door frame, but frowned when he saw the stone blocking it. He looked at the other stone blocks, studying their formation. He suddenly got a light bulb moment.

These weren’t just any stone blocks! This was a puzzle! Link could see from the way these stone blocks are laid out that if he were to move some of them, he could make a clear path to the door. He also saw that he would be barely able to push or pull them. He then set to work, pushing and pulling the blocks to create a clear path. When he was done, he patted himself on the back for figuring it out. He was also thankful for all the training he did with Orca and the apple-bucking he did with his father. Without it, he probably wouldn’t even have the chance to even budge these blocks and inch. He was grateful that these weren’t as big as the door frame, or otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to push them at all.

The stone door opened for him as the others did and he stepped through. This time, he saw a sight that almost made him step back to the other room and almost make him flee back to the village.

Small grey ponies were just standing about with their heads down. That wasn’t what startled Link though. It was the fact that they had absolutely no fur at all and their skin was rotting and tearing away. They also subtly swayed in place, making it feel even more spookier than it already was.

“Redeads…!?”

Redeads? Link thought as he looked at the zombie-like creature. Is that what they were called? Link was startled by the amount of alarm the voice said it with. It was almost like as if the voice had met it before…

Link shook his head and concentrated on the...thing before him. It didn’t look that menacing to him. The pony-thing looked so thin and fragile. What harm could it possibly do to him?

He immediately regretted ever saying those words.

Once Link stepped near it, the pony snapped its head around, eyes glowing red. It let out a shrill scream that pierced through the air. Link froze at the sound. He dropped his torch on the ground, making it fizzle out. The creature then slowly started to advance towards him. When Link saw this, he tried to move, but found that he couldn’t. He was literally frozen, helpless as the creature continued to get closer and closer to him. His muscles were rigid, shaking slightly as if he was freezing when the creature extended his hooves. It started to hold Link in the air and choke him. Link flailed around as the creature opened its maw, green saliva sticking from each of his teeth. Link's magic flared out of fear.

Wait...he can use his magic! Link levitated his sword and sliced the creature, only for it to bounce away. What happened!?

Due to the interference, the pony-creature backed its head away before trying to get bite him again. Link found himself able to move again. He levitated his sword to his hoof with great difficulty before slicing its neck halfway through. The creature relinquished its hold on him as it fell to the ground, creating a pool of green blood. Link crashed to the ground, coughing and gasping for air as he tried to stand up. What just happened?! Why couldn’t he move?! And why did his second strike work and not his first?!

“Magic resistance…”

Link’s eyes widened at that. Did that mean that when he levitates his sword and strikes, it won’t work? He looked at the sword he was levitating right now and returned it to his left hoof. Looks like magic was useless here. He sheathed the sword on his back next to his harp.

Link then frowned. The voice knew the creature’s strong points at, so it must know its weakness.

As if to answer his question, the voice replied, “Light.”

"What do you mean by light?" Link asked in his head. He was only met with silence. He asked again to no avail. He looked around at the other so-called “redeads” and saw more of them. He could not risk going against them since he was supposed to learn more about using a sword with his hoof next week with Orca. Assuming he made it out alive out of this tomb. He still wasn’t leaving. Seeing the redead sealed his purpose of staying here. Who would use such foul monsters in order to guard something. Was it really that valuable?

Link dismissed all thought from his mind and concentrated around his surroundings, searching for a way around the redeads. He then noticed the foul stench emitting from the green water. He hadn’t noticed it before. He was probably too busy concentrating on the redead to look at anything else. He tentatively put his hoof near it, only to pull back when he felt a subtle layer of warmth coming from it. Its best not to risk it. Link slowly walked around the redead, hoping to not alert them of his presence.

Unfortunately, that didn’t work. As soon as Link stepped one step too close to the redead, it snapped its head towards him. Link immediately ran, alerting all of the redead in the room.

“Crap!” Link said as he approached the stone door. The automatically started to open slowly, much to Link’s frustrations as the redeads started to get closer. “Are they walking faster!?”

They were indeed walking faster. Some even dipped into the water, steam immediately hissing and coming from their skin as they melted, but it didn’t seem that they really cared.

“C’mon, C’mon!” Link said frantically as he banged on the door. The stone door finally rose up as Link scurried through it. The stone door shut down below, causing Link to sigh in relief. Only to freeze again when he saw the room was exactly like the other one.

“Ah come one!” Link cried out in frustration before he immediately closed his mouth. He didn’t want to alert any of the redeads here. There seemed to be a lot less redeads here, much to Link’s relief. He didn’t want to deal with them. If they had froze him back there, he would’ve been dead.

That brought another question to his mind. How did they freeze him? Did he freeze because he looked into their eyes or because he heard their scream? Or did they freeze him just because he was in vicinity of them? The thought made him shudder for a bit.

Link decided to try the second option, since he didn’t want to fight with his eyes closed. He stuffed his ears deep into his hat and spoke random noises. He was barely able to hear them, much to his delight. He then started to creep around them. Steam from the strange water curled around him as he walked around them. He got around one and was about to get around the other. Just before that happened, he heard them scream.

The scream was muffled a lot and he froze, but for only a short time. He immediately unfreezed and held his sword in reverse-grip as the redead advanced towards him slowly. He slashed at its legs, causing it to fall down abruptly. Then he started to stab its head. He stabbed it over and over again, driving his fear and hate into every strike. He pulled his sword out of his final strike when he knew it was dead, or at least decapitated enough to not do any damage to him. Then he started silently congratulate himself. It seemed the redead’s scream was how it paralyzed its victims.

Link looked at the narrow pathway at the end of the room. He was sure that it was the one holding the treasure. Link crept up toward the redead and bypassed it into the unknown room.

Link adjusted his hat as he entered the narrow passageway. When he hit the end, he saw to pools of the green liquid, making the small room full of steam. He looked and saw a gravestone similar to the one above ground. Link felt enraged. This was what he had worked and survived for! He looked at it and saw the same strange looking characters above. Beneath it was four lines with symbols going on each of the different lines.

...Wait a moment. This wasn’t part of the unknown language! This was a song! He recognized the notes on it. He looked at the harp on his back. It seemed to shine more so than usual, as if it was reacting to something.

Link pulled the Goddess harp from his back and levitated it and got into ready position. He tentatively plucked a few notes from the stone to find it actually created a small melody, signifying that this was meant to play on the harp. Link then finally decided to play. He strung the notes softly and slowly. It was a beautiful melody. It almost sounded like a lullaby…

Link stopped on the final note and looked at the harp. He thought he saw it sparkle for a moment, but dismissed it as the stress from his mind from going against those redeads. He turned around, but looked back at the stone inscription. Why would somepony go through all this trouble to hide this. It really was a beautiful melody. Link also noticed something below the song notes. It looked to be a small, crescent moon, with what seemed to be like a black ink stain painted behind it. Link’s eyes widened in realization.

This was Princess Luna’s cutie mark! What was it doing here? Link shook his head from all thoughts as he looked back at the room he was in. He was gone a long time, longer than he should’ve been. Orca is probably searching him right now.

Link quickly walked and crept around the redeads. Unfortunately he was careless enough to step near one. The redead snapped toward him and screamed. Link’s eyes widened because of the fact he could hear it clearly. Then he felt it. His ears was out of his hat. Link pulled them out when he adjusted his hat before he played the song. He cursed himself for being stupid.

The redead walked towards him as it reached out with its rotting hoofs. He then started to choke Link again as its mouth descended down his shoulder. Link screamed when he felt the redead bite and immediately flared out his magic. The levitating sword bashed the redead so hard that its head flew out of its neck. It fell in the pool of liquid, melting within its contents.

Link was breathing heavily as he checked his shoulder. The bite had sunk in deep with a few teeth still sticking on. Ignoring the pain, Link immediately ran, jumping over the pools. He didn’t care that he alerted the redead. He didn’t care about anything but getting home. He quickly stuffed his ears in his hat as he approached the door. He slipped under it as soon as it was his height. The redead in this room had repositioned themselves in the same places. Link immediately ran in a straight line. Dodging the pools of liquid and occasionally freezing for a short time due to their screams before running back out. He levitated his sword back to him as he sliced a redead’s neck right next to him before it could scream and kept on running towards the door. The door opened automatically and as soon as it rose up enough Link slipped through.

One redead managed to get in before it closed, but Link had enough. He sliced the redead’s legs, causing it to fall. He then jumped up and stabbed the redead’s head deeply. Blood splattered over his clothes as he pulled his sword out. He panted heavily before dropping to the floor. There were so many close calls that he dealt with. He slowly got up and walked out of the cleared stone pathway.

Link payed no mind to the skeletons before him as he exited out of the tomb. He looked tiredly at the stairs as he climbed up, each step more daunting than the last. Link cheered silently in his head when he saw light above.

Link climbed upwards to find that it had stopped raining. It was still cloudy though. He pushed the gravestone back barely, not wanting anypony else to experience the horrors that laid within. He looked at the gravestone before him, and promptly spat on it. He didn’t care if that song was precious to anypony. This place can go to tartarus!

“Link! Link, over here!” Link heard somepony call out to him. He squinted because his vision started to get blurry. It looked like Steel Sword.

“I’ve finally found you,” Sword panted. He looked to Link. “Where were you! You were gone for three hours! You don’t look so good either.”

Link paid no mind to his last comment as he focused on his second one. He was gone for three hours! Orca was going to kill him! Not if he died now though. Link didn’t know why he felt so weak right now.

“What the heck!? You’re wounded!” Sword shouted. He touched Link's shoulder, making him hiss in pain. “Holy shit! It’s sizzling!”

Link looked over at his shoulder to confirm his blurred vision that it was indeed boiling. Link felt the whole world go black as he heard the muffled yells of Sword.

XxX

Link woke up and yawned. His blurry vision cleared out to reveal he was in a house of some sort. A mare was right next to him, mixing up something.

“Ah, you’re awake!” the mare said joyously when she looked over at him. “We were worried about you.”

“How long was I out?” Link asked wearily. He looked around to find his sword and harp was not near him. “And where’s my sword and harp?”

“You were out for eight hours, young colt. And to answer your second question, you’re items are safe, I assure you,” the mare said. Link’s eyes widened. He was out for eight hours. Orca was definitely not going to be happy.

“Drink this,” she ordered. She handed Link a strange concoction. Link gulped it down, only to frown in distaste. It tasted nasty! Immediately afterwards, he felt himself re-energized. Despite the disgusting taste, the medicine did its trick.

“I’ll go get the others. They will definitely want to know that you’re awake now,” the mare said before she left. Link looked at himself and noticed there was one small bandage on the burned shoulder, but a lot of them on the bitten shoulder.

After a moment, Orca entered along with Sword and Storm. Link flinched when he saw him. Now he was really going to get it.

“Do you know how long you were gone!?” Orca roared at him, causing Link to lower his head in shame. Sword and Storm backed away a bit. “Do you have any idea how worried I was!”

Link blinked. He had expected him to yell something about training. Orca just sighed.

“Just don’t let it happen again” he said softly. “I don’t want to lose another student again.” Link was shocked at hearing that. Some of his students had died? Link never had though that before.

“So you went on an adventure Link,” Storm grinned dryly. “What happened to make you get all those injuries?”

“I would like to know as well,” Sword put in. His face looked tired. “It is completely strange of you to get these types of injuries.”

“I played around with fire for a bit in the village.” Link lied, looking at the three of them nervously. “Then I went outside to extinguish the fire and dull the pain with rain. Then I found myself in the graveyard once more before a snake bit me, making me feel weak. I was unconscious then.”

Link grinned nervously as Orca looked into his eyes deeply. Link lied easily, despite coming from the element of honesty’s family. Orca sighed again.

“Don’t let it happen again.” Orca said sternly while Link breathed a sigh of relief in his head. Sword and Storm shared looks with each other before looking at Orca. Orca then headed out, but stopped before he exited the house. “This doesn’t mean that you’re getting out of training though. We’ll find a way.” Link groaned while Sword and Storm laughed. All three of them then exited out of the cottage. He was lucky that they believed his lie. He didn’t want anypony to go to that place and see what he had seen.

Link sat there for a moment before looking around. He spotted his sword and harp on the shelf before levitating it over to him. He then jumped down and winced at the sharp pain his bitten shoulder gave. He walked outside, where he could see the orange sun setting. The pink and orange contrasts of the sky gave way to the darkness of the night. Link could see the moon slowly rising up. For a second, he saw Princess Luna’s cutie mark flashing in the sky.

"Looks like my questions won't be resolved," Link thought, looking over at his harp. But I will find the answers, soon."

Link levitated the harp from his back as he got into ready position, with his harp levitating in magic near him while his two hooves were on the strings. He strummed a few notes as the sun settled into the horizon. He then began to play the beautiful melody he unintentionally memorized, letting the notes float through the wind.

XxX

Celestia continued to raise the sun down, allowing her sister, who was on the high balcony, to raise it up. She was in the royal gardens while doing this. It had become sort of their custom. The pony that had to lower their respective celestial bodies had to do it in the gardens, while the other did it on the balcony. She finally lowered her sun into the horizon and gazed peacefully at the moon slowly rising up.

Then she heard it. It was very faint, not being able to be heard by anypony without trained ears, but Celestia had that ability. It was a soft melody, one Celestia would appreciate if it weren’t for the fact she knew this melody already. It was a melody she hadn’t heard in a thousand years. One that she desperately wished to know, but sadly was lost in time before she could ever learn it. But here it was, just flowing gracefully in the wind.

“It couldn’t be.” Celestia whispered to herself as she continued to listen to it. “It just can’t be.”

No matter how many times she wanted to deny it, she had heard it. Celestia nervously looked up at Luna, who was still too busy concentrating to lift the moon. Luna would certainly have a fit if she had heard it. She heard the melody abruptly stop as the breeze fizzled out.

“Could it be?” Celestia said to herself as she looked up at the bright crescent moon.

Misadventures in Sunset

View Online

“Remind me why I’m here again?” Link asked as he looked at Flora. Flora just snorted before she adjusted her glasses.

“You act as if the library is the bane of your existence,” she said as she looked all the books around the room. “You should really read more books.”

“I’m a swordspony, not a scholar.” Link said flatly as he moved on ahead. He could hear Sturgeon chuckle softly to himself as he walked behind them. He then looked back at Flora, who seemed mesmerized by all the books. Her mane was the same exact color as her mother, but had green fur instead of pink. She also had glasses, accentuating her “nerdness” as Link liked to call it.

“How goes your training Link?” Sturgeon asked. Link looked back at him and groaned.

“Orca is an absolute slave driver. You’re seriously lucky that you are smart or otherwise you would be on the ground sweating.” Link said. His bruises helped prove his point.

“Another reason on why you should read,” Flora said before smiling slyly. “It would do some good for that pea-sized brain of yours. You seriously seem like one of those stereotypical muscle guys who are super hot and strong, but are dumb at the same time.”

“Strong and hot huh? Thanks for the compliment,” Link teased while Flora just blushed and turned her head defiantly. Sturgeon just laughed and said something Link couldn’t hear, but he had a good idea of what he said when Flora’s face turned an even brighter red. He just laughed a bit more before calming himself.

“How’s that spell going for you?” Link asked Flora, making her turn her head back at him. “You’ve been trying to make one, aren't you?”

“Yes, and it's going great! I should be finished soon!” Flora said enthusiastically. Sturgeon chuckled at his student and said something about how proud he was of her.

“What does it do?” Link asked. He noticed that she never even spared any idea of what the spell would do. As a unicorn himself, he was curious. Flora just shook her head mockingly though.

“Not telling!” She said in a cheeky tone, making Link groan for a bit. So she was acting like that now. Why couldn't she have made it easy for him?

“Flora! I see you’ve come back!” Link turned to see a middle aged stallion walking over towards them. He had a green mane with white fur. His posture and glasses gave him a sophisticated look as he walked towards them. Link just sighed again. This guy reminded him of some noble. He hated those types immensely. “And Sturgeon as well! What brings you here?”

“Its nice to meet you again,” Flora said. Sturgeon followed after her and bowed his head. Link looked at the greeting in interest as the librarian made a small chat with them. The librarian’s head swiveled around to him and his eyes widened.

“Do my eyes deceive me or is that Orca’s apprentice?” the librarian said as he made his way over to him “Never would’ve pegged you for a reading type! What’s your name.”

“Its Link,” he answered. “And I am not a reading type. I just came here with Flora.”

“I see,” The librarian said before clapping his hooves. “You’re the first swordspony apprentice to come here, so I bid you welcome!”

“Thanks?” Link said uncertainly. The librarian just nodded before going off and helping more ponies. Link looked around and saw many ponies checking out books or reading there in general. Link never really went to the library. Though, he really did like mystery novels. He liked how the detectives would solve puzzles and link everything together, such as evidence, a pony’s personality and actions, etc.

“How’s the shoulder?” Sturgeon asked, startling Link a little. “It doesn’t hurt?”

“It’s fine,” Link answered casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal. Truth was is that he still had a few nightmares over it. He would wake up in cold sweat sometimes since Luna didn’t come to destroy it. Guess she can’t destroy them all. “It wasn’t really that big in the first place.”

Sturgeon raised an eyebrow at this. “But I heard the extent of your injuries by our healer. She said you had a burn on your shoulder as well as an unknown toxic substance embedded on your other one as well. I wouldn’t mind if it weren’t for the ‘unknown’ part that she added,” Sturgeon adjusted his glasses and narrowed his eyes a little at him, making him nervous. “She has an up-to-date book on poisons and the fact that she couldn’t find one for this intrigues me. There is no snakes here and all the ones we do know we have documented the poison from snakes as well, so why couldn’t we find one for the one you had?”

Link was now sweating a little. He should’ve known that Sturgeon would be a little suspicious! If it weren’t for that redead and its stupid unknown poison then he wouldn’t even be in this situation. He tried to deflate it immediately. “I don’t know.”

“I believe you do know something,” Sturgeon said. His face then softened considerably, surprising Link. “But I won’t pry it from you. Its obvious that this has shaken you up quite a bit and this secret doesn’t seem to be hurting anypony.” He then laughed at loud, attracting some of the ponies’ attention. “And it looks like I caused the mood to be tense. I assure you that I had no intention of making you nervous, my boy.”

“Okay I guess,” Link said, laughing nervously. He learned a long time ago that ponies can be serious one moment, then pull an entire 360 another. He learned not to question it anymore and just deal with it. Sturgeon then walked away from him, waving as he did so.

“I’ll look for Flora now. If you want to check out a book, just come for me,” He called, making Link nod an affirmative yes. He then looked at the many rows of books, all separated by different subjects and genres. The shelves towered over him, making him look very small in comparison. Some ponies even needed ladders just to get to some books. He didn’t think that a tired old village like Sunset would even hold this many books. He walked forward when he suddenly tripped.

His head hit the bookshelf hard, making it wobble for a moment. Link immediately got up and panicked, searching for a way that would make the shelf stable again. The shelf stopped wobbling after a few seconds, much to his relief. However, a book fell from the shelf and hit Link on the head, making him fall down again.

“Ouch!” Link cried out as he tried to get up, rubbing his head. He looked at the book that caused him pain and levitated it in front of him. He was surprised to find it really dusty and old. It looked like it would fall apart at any moment, due to some of its spine hanging out and torn, ripped cover it showed. The front of the book had an unknown language scribbled on top of it with some scribbles of what looked to be like weird symbols. What stood out more was the three triangles that showed on the cover, some of it gone or torn due to age probably. He scratched his head and turned the page, only to find that nothing was written in it.

“Why would somepony go to the trouble of making this thing if they weren’t going to write in it at all?” Link asked himself as he levitated the book around. The back cover looked to be as torn as the front one. Some red stains covered it, extremely faded and dry. Link was alarmed when he smelled the familiar copper smell of blood. He quickly looked around. Nopony really noticed him when he banged his head on the shelf. He opened the book again, only to gape as he saw something written in it. Link swore he saw the pages blank when he opened it the first time.

The language seemed to be written in yellow, only dark enough for him to read on the faded paper. It seemed to be also glowing subtly, but Link dismissed that as the trick of the light. He also saw some of the language he knew written on here. Link read more of the contents to find himself pleasantly surprised. This book seemed to act like a translation guide, like how some books translated the gryphon and zebra language. Though, Link didn’t know what language this book was translating.

“This is most interesting,” a voice said behind him, making Link yelp and immediately shut the book. Dust flew from the book as he turned around to find the librarian staring at him with a small smile.

“It is most interesting indeed,” the librarian continued, plucking the book out of his magic. “That you would pick this book. The Book of Mudora I think they called it.” He turned a few pages in the book with an amused expression on his face.

“Why is it so interesting?” Link asked, intrigued. Was there something special about this book? Despite the fact that he knew that the words weren’t there the first time he opened it, it didn’t seem all that interesting. The librarian only laughed as he returned the book to Link.

“Archaeologists found this a long time ago,” he started to answer, making Link pay attention more. “It was a big find at first. Nopony knew the language in front of the book. The strange symbols didn’t help satisfy their curiosity either. But what confused them the most about this book is,” he paused for a dramatic effect, making Link sit in anticipation. “That there was absolutely nothing written in the book.”

Link frowned at that. What had this librarian said? That there was nothing written in this book? If he came the first time Link opened this book, he would have believed him. But now there was obviously some words there. “What are you talking about?”

“There’s nothing in this book,” the librarian answered again. He was frowning a little now. “It should’ve been obvious since I saw you open the book.”

“There is something in there,” Link insisted, now thoroughly confused. Why was this librarian insisting that there was nothing in there? He was staring straight at the pages for goddess’ sake! The librarian took it from him again and flipped through it quickly. His frown deepened in doing so.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” the librarian said, his tone now a little irritated. “There is nothing in this book other than tears and dirt.”

“Are you blind?” Link asked incredulously. He took the book back from him and showed him the pages. “There is something written in here.”

“Now I like a little game or two but this is getting to be a bit much, don’t you think?” the librarian asked dryly. Now Link was starting to get a little irritated.

“There is something written in this book,” he insisted once more, shoving the book into the librarian’s face. “It is YOU that must stop these mind games.”

“There is nothing in here,” the librarian said again. Link could see that the librarian was barely concealing his anger, confusing him. Did this pony actually believe that there is nothing written in this book?

“Yes there is.”

“No there isn’t.”

“Yes there is.”

“No there isn’t”

“YES THERE IS!”

“NO THERE ISN’T!”

“YES THERE IS!”

“SHUT UP NOW!”

The librarian seemed to have enough, as he picked up Link and walked him towards the entrance. He threw him out the door effortlessly, making Link skid across the ground. He then slammed the door, making Link get up and groan while rubbing his backside. Stupid librarian. Why didn’t he see the words inside? Link wished that he had the book now. Something like that isn’t normal at all. As if fate had answered him, the door opened once more and the book came flying out, hitting Link on the head once more as he gracefully flopped back on the ground. The librarian’s head poked out of the door angrily.

“Keep your stupid book!” he spat out before slamming the door again. Link smiled at the barely audible shushing behind the door and what also seemed like hair ripping out of something. He got up and dusted himself off before picking up the book. He opened it to find the letters shining mockingly at him. He frowned and closed it.

“That was certainly a way of getting out of a library,” a female voice said dryly behind him. Link looked around to see Flora smirking at him. Sturgeon looked at him in disapproval and shook his head.

“I’m going to be telling Orca about this,” Sturgeon muttered, making Link look at him with a horrified expression. He then looked at him questioningly. “What was that all about anyway?”

“Stupid librarian told me there was nothing written in this book when there is,” Link said angrily. Flora took the book from him and started to flip through the pages. “You can see them clearly, can you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Flora said, peering at the pages closely. “The librarian was right. I can’t see anything in here.”

Link’s jaw dropped and he looked at it again behind her. The words were right there in their yellow pigment. Sure it was yellow but it was dark enough to see clearly. “I can see them clearly right now.”

“You sure you’re okay Link?” Flora asked uncertainly. She adjusted the book so that they can see it even more clearly. “I think something’s wrong with your vision since I still don’t see anything.” Link looked at her incredulously before grabbing the book in his levitation and floating towards Sturgeon.

“You see something, right?” Link asked hopefully. One part of his mind told him that his efforts were futile, but another still told him that it was irrational for him to be only seeing this. It wasn’t like he was insane or psychologically impaired or something. This isn’t a hallucination. His hopes shattered when he saw Sturgeon close the book and shake his head.

“I don’t see anything Link,” Sturgeon said, making Link sag down visibly. “But I do believe that you see something.”

Link’s head snapped up in surprise. “Really?”

“You’re obviously are not insane and is just telling us that you are seeing things,” Sturgeon said with a hoof to his chin. He looked up to the sky as his face screwed up in concentration. Link immediately knew that he was doing his ‘thinking pose’. Link rarely saw him use it in the time he spoke to him though. “Perhaps the poison is doing this?”

“It isn’t,” Link said, shaking his head. “They said they removed it completely before it could travel anywhere else in my body. There is no way that it can be in my head now.”

“This is most intriguing indeed,” Sturgeon said as he looked down at him. “But I can’t seem to find the answer right now. What does it say in the book anyway?”

“Its some sort of translation guide,” Link said, opening the book again. “But I don’t exactly know what language this translates from.”

“Mind writing down some of the words then?” Sturgeon asked. Link nodded and drew some characters with his hoof on the dirt. The aspiring scientist and scientist himself looked with rapt attention as Link continued to draw the characters, raising their eyebrow occasionally at some out of place mark he put on. When he finished, they saw a plethora of characters and symbols all connected together. It was unknown where the words ended and where it began. “I don’t recognize this language. What does it say?”

Link looked at the book again and began to translate, “No sin shall forgo punishment of the weakest kind thou hast created themselves.” Link looked at it confusingly. “What does that mean?”

“It sounded like how no corrupt noble will take a small punishment of their own creation if they committed a crime,” Sturgeon explained, then looked at the symbols on the dirt closely. “Does it tell you how to speak it?”

“No it doesn’t,” Link said, suddenly nervous. He now felt like he was being interrogated for something he did wrong, even though he did nothing. Sturgeon then sighed and rubbed the dirt clean, restoring it to its former image. Link looked at him with a confused expression until he answered.

“I can’t really explain it,” Sturgeon said, looking a bit downcast. He then looked at Link directly, making him gulp. “It seems to me that you’re the source of most of the mysteries here.” Link did not miss the very subtle jab in that sentence and frowned instantly. Sturgeon shook his head. “But I guess I’ll look into it later. It isn't important now.”

Link was surprised, but nodded in acceptance. He found that he didn't want to drag this any further than now. He just nodded tiredly as the three began making their way towards their respective homes. They stopped at an intersection.

“See you later,” Flora said tiredly, waving back to him. “And get rid of that stupid hat! I would burn that thing if I could.”

“Never!” Link said playfully before making his way up to the cliff, Sturgeon following closely behind him. The setting sun casted a shadow of the big house over them as they entered, where Link promptly remembered he had training with Orca again. Just great.

(Next morning)

Link stretched and yawned while tending to his newest bruises. Since he was nearing the end of his training, Orca was not going easy on him at all. In fact, Link thought he was being even harder than before. He still didn't waver though. He still had to complete the goal the Great Fairy gave him. He felt a breeze go through him as he tried to reach for his hat.

...Why did he feel a breeze? He was inside the house and he was pretty sure that he locked the window.

His eyes snapped to attention when he saw his window opened carelessly, moving slightly to the wind. He also couldn't find his hat.

He scrambled out of his bed and looked around rapidly, panic already taking over him. Where was his hat?! And why was the window open? He ran downstairs to greet a slightly surprised Orca.

“What’s gotten you into a rush?” Orca asked with a confused expression. It currently looked like he was in the middle of doing some stretches before he was interrupted. Link spluttered in a flurry of words, none of which made any sense. “I can’t understand what you’re saying. Slow down a bit.”

Link calmed down enough to say, “Somebody stole my hat!” Orca looked at him with a surprised expression before putting a hoof to his chin.

“Does anypony dislike you here?” he asked, patting Link on the back when he saw he was about to hyperventilate. Link shook his head rapidly before taking deep, relaxing breaths to calm himself down.

“Not that I know of,” Link said, doing his own rapid thinking. Nopony really disliked him here. Link doubted that the librarian from yesterday would go so far with him either. It just didn’t make any sense. Then Link remembered something from yesterday.

“You should get rid of that stupid hat,”

“Flora!” Link yelled as he immediately ran out of the house. Orca followed him closely behind as he continued to where Flora lived. Link barged through the door, scaring Petal.

“OH!” she yelped when the door slammed open. She calmed down when she saw Link entering her house with Orca. “What brings you here Li-”

“No time,” Link interrupted her, turning everything upside down in the house. He searched everywhere, blocking out Orca’s explanation to Petal.

“Flora is upstairs, but why would she have your hat?” She asked, only for Link to ignore her and immediately go upstairs. The adults followed him closely behind until they reached a door that was obviously Flora’s room, if the signs on her door that warned them of any hazardous material in the room and that they should keep out. Link ignored the signs and broke in, also scaring Flora. His eyes immediately noticed his precious green hat near her.

“LINK!” Flora yelled out, startled. “W-what are you doing here?”

“Why do you have my hat?” Link demanded, getting close to her. The visible fear on her face didn’t faze Link as she stepped back. She bumped into her table, making her flare her magic in fear. The chemicals on her table toppled over and crashed to the ground, making pink smoke suddenly gush everywhere. Orca pulled Link back in time while Petal screamed for Flora. There was a coughing fit for a few moments before the smoke cleared, revealing Flora looking relatively unharmed.

“FLORA!” Petal screamed, immediately scooping her into a hug. “Are you ok?!

“I’m fine mom. None of it got on me,” she answered, trying hard not faint due to lack of air. Meanwhile, Link got hold of his hat and was staring down at it blankly. Orca saw what Link was seeing and had an expression of deep surprise on his face. The two females turned them and saw their expressions.

“Why did you take Link’s hat?” Petal demanded, crossing her hooves and started to use her ‘you’re in trouble’ look. Flora looked down shamefully.

“I wanted to prank Link. I wouldn’t do anything to it, I swear!” she said frantically. Petal just looked at Flora more with that stern look before Flora sighed and mumbled something else.

“What did you say?” Petal asked. Flora mumbled something again, making Petal raise her eyebrow. “I didn’t quite catch that.”

“I also wanted to see Link without his hat on,” Flora said embarrassingly. Petal just shook her head and turned to Link.

“Are you ok?” she asked him, concern lacing her voice. She was only met with silence as Link continued to stare down his hat. “Is anypony in there?”

“What,” Link started, making Petal and Flora snap up in surprise. “Did you exactly work on with that spell?”

“A space-time spell,” Flora said flatly, making Petal’s jaw drop.

“That is an extremely dangerous kind of spell! Why didn’t you ask me beforehand first?” Flora looked away at her mother in embarrassment. Petal just sighed and looked at Link again. He still looked down at his hat. “Why did you want to know, dear?”

“Look,” was all Link said as they huddled around his hat. His hat was long, but you could still see the end of it. Now it was just plain darkness, like what the top of a bottomless pit would look like. “What exact space-time spell did you want to create?”

“One where it could make a storage space seem bigger on the inside than outside,” Flora said, looking at the hat in amazement. Link looked up and walked over to her desk. Everypony in the room watched in anticipation when Link held her desk lamp and dropped it in his hat.

It went in.

It went in. It also seemed like the hat had taken no space at all. Link flapped it a couple of times before reaching into it once more. He pulled the desk lamp out again, making everypony’s, including his, jaw drop at the miracle. Flora immediately started crying tears of joy while Orca and Petal looked at her in amazement. They looked back and forth from the hat to her, looking at them like they shouldn’t even exist in reality. They all finally broke out of their stupor and voiced their own reactions.

“Damn,” Orca said, looking very impressed. “Wait till’ I tell Sturgeon that one of his students created a space-time spell.”

“My baby girl created a space-time spell!” Petal cried out, dancing around the room, repeating the same line over and over again.

“Is this my hat?” Link asked, looking at said hat in front of him right now. He tentatively put his hoof in, only for it to go as deep as his shoulder. He went no further than that, scared that he might accidentally get sucked into it. Flora just kept on crying while trying to take deep breaths. It was obvious that she never felt this deep of an emotion before. She even admitted that she didn’t even cry at her dad’s funeral, but only felt immensely sad. Link looked at her, then back at the hat. He put it on to only see it flop backwards like it usually did. He sighed in relief.

“Looks like you got yourself a bottomless hat,” Orca said, rubbing Link on the head. Link was scared for a moment that he was going to get sucked in, but was relieved once more when he didn’t feel himself go deeper into his hat. He would never have guessed that this would happen to his hat of all things.

“How much can it hold?” Petal chirped, making everypony look at her with wide eyes. That did raise up another question. Just how much can this hold? Flora got a familiar gleam on her eye as she went to her desk and got her notebook.

“Guess the tests aren’t over,” she muttered before she snapped her head up suddenly and looked at Link. Her expression turned to an apologetic one, bowing her head before him. “I’m really sorry that this happened to you Link. I didn’t mean to do this to you, honest.”

When Flora started to sniff and tears of sadness started to pool around her eyes, Link couldn’t find it in himself to stay mad and immediately comforted her. “It's fine Flora. This may actually prove to be useful to me in a way.”

“I’m glad,” Flora said with a big smile. “Are you ok with me testing how much this weighs?”

“As long as it doesn’t rip through,” Link answered before a grin of his own appeared. “So what are we waiting for?”

The next hour or two was spent putting various amount of objects of all sizes into his hat. It surprisingly held on and seemed to not gain any weight at all. Sturgeon quickly found out as he went to Flora and whooped with joy. It wasn’t too long before he joined in on the activity, occasionally asking himself questions nopony had the answer to. It also proved to be profitable to Link also since Orca unintentionally forgot about his training. That would give him time to heal all his bruises luckily. Link felt bad at first but said to himself he would train harder later when all his injuries recovered. The two brainiacs of the group wrote a lot of notes, constantly breaking their quills in half due to their excitement.

It had gotten late and Link’s hat was securely on his head once more. The sun was setting and Link and Orca was saying goodbye to Flora and Petal. Today was a prosperous day for them, since Link got his modified hat and Flora got even more closer to perfecting her spell. It was indeed confirmed that Link’s hat was bottomless, since no matter how many heavy things they put into it, it just stayed the same mass. Link could also call upon any item he wanted by just thinking it and reaching into his hat. He had found this extremely useful and had stored his sword and shield in it for safekeeping.

“See ya Link. Thanks for the research!” Flora called back as she waved towards him. Link waved back as the both of them went their separate ways. Despite Link being pissed at first, he found this to be very exciting and couldn’t wait for what was in store for him next. What’s more is that he didn’t even have to train today! It wasn’t like he didn’t want to, but he figured that he would have to finish it anyways. As if on the subject of training, Orca spoke up to him.

“We did miss our training session today, didn’t we?” Orca said in a mock, questioning tone as he exaggeratingly put his hoof to his chin. Link paled immediately. He had hoped that Orca wouldn’t figure out! Orca looked towards him mischievously and laid it on him. “Looks like we have to remedy that by training extra long right now!”

Link went to bed a very unhappy colt that night.

(The next day)

Link watched the mare feed the chickens on his break. He had usually taken to visiting some of the places in town when Orca let him out. He would sometimes watch and simply observe some of the things that struck his fancy at any random moment of time. This time it was just watching the chickens.

He watched them play and flap around, generally giving the mare a hard time. He idly touched his hat on his head. He had taken to do that sometimes since he found newfound interest in it ever since yesterday. His sword and shield was in it right now, but Link had a feeling that he might put a lot more into it soon. It would also help to keep up appearances, since nopony would expect a colt with a bottomless hat full of weapons to walk by them. It was better to remain incognito at times. Flora also said that she might need to remedy the formula to the spell more since what had happened yesterday was a pure accident. Even though she got tons of information yesterday, she wanted to check it over to see if it was dangerous to other objects. For all they both knew, it could work on only green, pointy hats. Her mother still wasn’t pleased with her still working on it though.

Link noticed the mare approach him and moved himself to greet her. She bowed her head swiftly at him.

“I noticed you watching me there,” the mare said with a smirk. Link was about to introduce himself when he was immediately shushed by her. “I don’t need no introduction from ya. You’re that new swordspony apprenticed to Orca, right? Link was it?”

Link nodded his head. “Seemed like I gained some sort of reputation around here.”

“It's not everyday that Orca accepts a new student, especially one as young as you,” the mare said with a wave of her hoof. “You can call me Cluck if ya want. Everypony calls me that.”

“Okay then,” Link affirmed. He then studied the mare in front of him. Cluck was a green maned pony with white fur. Her cutie mark was unsurprisingly a bunch of chickens with feed on the ground. It didn’t take a genius to know what her talent was.

“What brings you around here?” She asked with a tilt of her head.

“I never knew Sunset had a farm here, so I thought I should check it out,” Cluck chuckled at that.

“Well you see it now! We raise all sorts of animals, like chickens,” she said, gesturing to the ones behind her. Link only nodded in understanding. Cluck suddenly looked nervous, making Link look at her with a confused expression.

“You aren’t one of those ponies that judge easy, right?” she asked, making Link raise an eyebrow. He nodded nevertheless. “Good, so can I tell you a secret?”

“Is it bad?” Link asked, making her go wide eyed and shook her head with rapid succession.

“No! No it isn’t!” she said immediately, making Link’s eyebrow go up even further. She bit her lip before talking again. “Its just something that I want to get off my chest, but it's embarrassing to say.”

“I’m listening,” Link said eagerly. He wasn’t a gossiper, but he had been stressed by his father that mares kept a lot of closely guarded secrets. The fact that he was going to hear one randomly right now got him to pay attention.

Cluck looked left and right and whispered in his ear, “Sometimes, instead of calling the chickens by their actual name, I like to call them cuccos!”

That totally was not weird at all.

Link blinked before nodding slowly. So this is what a mare’s secret sounded like. It looked like his father was being melodramatic over something so small and ridiculous. Link shook his head and made the zipper motion with his lips. The mare happily squealed and hugged him briefly.

“Thanks Link! You have no idea how much I wanted to say that and see if people’s opinion would change about me!” Not like he had an opinion about her before in the first place. “Oh, and do not hit the cuccos! You will regret it.”

Link blinked once more at the ominous comment. He stared at the retreating mare's back before looking at the ground in thought. Now that flared up his curiosity. What would happen if he did hit one of the cuc-chickens? He found a nearby stick and picked it up. He hopped over the fence with ease and approached it. All the chickens went into their home while one lone chicken still kept on scavenging for food. Link crept up behind it, and immediately swatted it.

The event that followed had Link never underestimate the power of chickens ever again.

The chicken immediately squawked and ran around in circles. More squawks followed and he found the chicken pen blast open with chickens struggling to get out of the small opening. He could also hear more squawks in other directions. One popped out the window out of a nearby house. Three popped more out of a random bush. One blasted from underground and took to the sky with the rest of its brethren. Link could only gape with an open mouth as all the chickens gathered and started to fly. They flew up to the sky, creating a big shadow over him. Then they all started to descend down into him. Link could only say three words before his inevitable doom arrived:

“Oh my goddess…”

Author's Notes:

Sorry for a late chapter. I suddenly found myself distracted and busy (*cough* Fallout 4 *cough*) so I put this off for a while. I suddenly got some inspiration and finished this all in two days. I hope you guys can forgive me. On another note, I finally answered one of the biggest questions ever: how link was going to hold all those items. I finally answered it! MWUHAHAHA! As usual, see a mistake and I'll fix it. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Give me your feedback on how you feel about this chapter, as I love seeing your responses. I had a lot of fun writing that last part, hehehe. This is one of those passive chapters and it will reoccur sometimes, but I can happily promise that there will be some action next chapter though, so be excited for that! I will see you later my readers, so stay alert.

Bandit Attack!

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“You angered the chickens, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Hit one of them with a stick?”

“Apparently.”

“It was stupid of you to not listen to their warning.”

“I know.”

Link was currently lying down on his bed. Orca was hovering over him, applying some healing cream to his bruises. The chickens didn't hurt him to badly, but it did leave him with some nasty bruises. It was even more painful than when he was training with Orca. “You should’ve listened to their warning.”

“I know,” Link said, gritting his teeth. Orca had been nagging with him ever since he came back with the farmer supporting him. Despite that, he still made him train! At least he was going a bit easier with him than the other times. “I didn't know that was going to happen!”

“I don't blame you,” Storm said, flipping through the newspaper. The evening light shone through the window, making him glow orange. “It says here that all the animals are starting to act abnormal.”

“How abnormal?”

“Several reports say that when they entered one of the more wild areas of the world, they immediately get viscously attacked by many animals,” Storm frowned as he flipped through another page. “It also says here that there are many witnesses that claim that when they saw a predator and prey together, they just pass by each other without any confrontation. There’s something going on here, but the press says that they can't give any speculations about it. Direct order from the higher ups.”

“They can't even guess?” Link asked incredulously. He hissed in pain as Orca rubbed a particularly sore spot on his stomach.

Orca frowned as he took the papers from Storm. He flipped through them himself before gesturing towards Storm and started tapping one part of the paper. “There’s also some sightings of some supernatural creatures too. But that’s all they say before going on a completely different topic.”

“Guess this is something that even royalty wants to cover up,” Storm mused, looking at the paper from behind. Link sat up with some difficulty to take a look too. One picture showed a blurry shadow of some bipedal creature walking in a forest. No other distinguishing features were shown except for two distinctive red eyes on each side of its face. Link frowned before doing his own thinking. His eyes widened after some time.

“You don't think another enemy is attacking, do you?” Link asked. Link had heard of the previous attacks, like the changeling invasion of Canterlot and Tirek suddenly appearing. He wasn't near any of those areas to feel some of the effects of them fortunately.

Orca shook his head, “I don't think so, since it would be a matter of national emergency. Why would they cover up something like this in the first place?”

“It probably was just some random sighting,” Storm said. “Orca is right, they would alert us immediately.”

“Guess so,” Link muttered. The room then dimmed suddenly, making everypony look out the window at the darkening sky. The moon moved out of the horizon with the stars, softly glowing in the sky.

“It's getting late,” Orca said while yawning. Storm also yawned and got up.

“I'll see you guys later,” he said with a small wave as he exited out the room. Orca nodded before looking back at Link.

“You’re training is almost over,” he said melancholy, surprising Link. “Won't be long before you’ll be ready to tackle this world upfront.”

“Thanks for everything,” Link said abruptly. He felt a weight of sadness in his stomach when he said that and didn't bother even to try to get rid of it. He looked down at his lap. “Thank you for everything. For taking me in and training me. For providing me with food and patience when I was being a bit slow. Thanks...For caring.”

He blushed in embarrassment, but didn't take back his words. Why would he take back his words when all of them were true? He hadn't felt like this since...his adoptive father was still alive. Link wished he could go back in time, just so that he could say the same words to him as he said to Orca.

Orca just nodded and patted his head, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Link whispered back. He snuggled in his blankets while he heard Orca’s hoofsteps go out of his room and lightly close his door. Link wondered what tomorrow would be like, since it was his last day here.

What Link didn't realize is that tomorrow wouldn't be the last day he saw Orca, or that he would go through a groundbreaking change in his life.

(In the afternoon)

“Guess it's time,” Orca said as he walked towards Link. Link stood in front of him, his back arched proudly with his sword and shield out of his hat and on his back. Storm and Sword, along with a few other guards that trained under Orca, stood around him in similar positions. Even Orca himself had his spear strapped to his back. They were all standing near the cliffs use, a sight to where many other guards got their coronation by Orca before.

“You excited?” Sword whispered to him, his armor gleaming in the sunlight. Link shook his head.

“More like terrified,” he answered as Orca finally stood in front of him. He straightened his back more, if that was even possible, and looked at him straight in the eye. Link remembered to not let the opposite pony see his uneasiness. One of the many lessons Orca taught him.

It was obvious enough to him that Orca was trying to intimidate him, but saw that Link wasn't falling for the scare tactic. He nodded his approval.

“It is time,” he announced, making the guards stand straight to attention, “to begin!”

The guards stomped their approval and Storm whistled. Link started to sweat nervously, pulling on his collar to let some air in.

“You have started about a month ago,” Orca began, pacing in front of him. “You were nothing but a child with incredible instincts. You even defended yourself successfully against Storm’s attack,” Storm laughed sheepishly at that, but stayed silent when Orca continued. “But your skills were unrefined and wild, something that is not acceptable in a swordspony.”

Orca stopped and looked at Link intently, making him gulp. “So you seeked my aid, and I offered it with no hesitation. No mistake was made that day as you trained diligently and skillfully, something no normal colt your age would not do. Of course there was some complaints here, but they are acceptable considering how hard I put you through.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “I actually trained you harder than most of the guards here, as I believed you could handle it. My assumptions were not wrong.”

Orca turned around at the guards behind him. “Stand attention!” Their hoofs and swords immediately straightened and unsheathed with a sharp shing! They immediately surrounded Link, making him look around in wonder.

“Swords up!” Their swords immediately shot in the air, all connected in a circular spiral above him.

“And down!” The swords descended down onto him. They all touched his horn at the same time, making Link shiver at the contact. They stayed like that for a moment before releasing their poses. The guards stepped back and stood in their previous positions. Orca walked in front of him and unhooked his spear. He too touched his horn at the tip.

“You will suffer many hardships from now on,” Orca said, his spear still touching Link’s horn. “But I trust that you shall go through them with a proud scar and your head held up high. I am proud to now announce you a-”

“AIIIIGHHEEEEEE!!!”

A shrill scream pierced through the air as all the guards, including Link and Orca, stiffened. They all ran down the hill quickly. Once they were in distance, Link was horrified with what he saw.

Multiple ponies were running around with many other ponies holding some sort of weapon. He saw them slash the citizens down and take some of them whilst tied up. Orca immediately yelled in anger.

“GET DOWN THERE!” He roared as the guards immediately got out their swords and started to repel the invaders. Orca twirled his spear in his hand and looked at Link.

“I guess it's time to see if those skills you learned can help you here,” Orca grunted before charging down with a fierce battle cry. Link watched in amazement as he took on five enemies at once, taking down each of them before moving on.

“Come on Link!” Storm yelled over to him, snapping him out of his stupor. “We need all the help we can get!”

Link nodded before he too charged down the hill. He saw some guards get up on the guard towers and pick up something, which he later realized was a bow and arrow. They picked off the bandits one by one.

Link ran into the fray and heard some shouting behind him. He turned to see a bandit coming to him.

“A little colt eh? An easy target for me,” the bandit said, licking his lips. He charged at Link and tried to swing with his machete, to which Link dodged and immediately unsheathed his sword with his magic. He slashed towards the bandit, effectively slicing his stomach.

The bandit howled in pain as he clutched his stomach. He glared a Link with a blazing fury, which made Link retaliate with his determined one.

“You’re dead now!” The bandit growled as he charged towards Link. Just as he was about to slash him, an arrow flew past Link’s head and lodged itself in the bandit’s throat. The bandit immediately fell to the ground while holding his throat, choking on his own blood. Link looked at the guard in the tower with shock, but the guard ignored him, shooting other targets at other guards in trouble. Link immediately dismissed it and ran to find more bandits.

He saw another one trying to climb up another tower, with the guard too busy trying to shoot down the pegasi bandits with his bow. Link immediately started to climb it, trying to catch up to the bandit. He levitated his sword above the pony and slashed his front hoofs, making him scream in pain and fall. Link winced as he heard some bones crunching as the bandit impacted the ground. He looked up to see the guard nodding his approval to him quickly as he continued to aim and fire his shots. Link slid down the ladder, taking care not to touch the downed bandit near the base and ran off to find some more in trouble.

He ran to find one bandit trying to break into a house through the door. Link could see some ponies looking frightened through a window. When he got closer, he saw that the ponies in the house were Petal, who was holding Flora closely with a random colt hiding behind them. When he saw this, his vision turned to red. The flames within him exploded in a frenzy, also turning red in rage.

His yell of anger alerted the bandit, who turned towards him. He then smiled mockingly as he said something Link could not hear. When he charged, he slashed quickly at Link, immediately tearing through his shirt and making a cut through his skin. But seeing his own blood only fueled his rage as he charged towards the bandit. The bandit tried to slash again, but Link jumped over him. Instead of slashing, he lodged the blade in the pony’s head, holding it tightly with his hooves. He then stabbed downwards again, not giving the bandit any mercy. He got up as he removed his sword with a sickening squelch!

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!!” Link turned towards the voice to find two more bandits side to side. One was armed with a dagger while the other was armed with another machete. One of them looked ready to burst. “That was my freakin’ brother! I’ll kill you for this!”

Link just levitated his sword and shield in front of him and stood in ready position. The bandit ran at him and slashed him heavily, making Link hold out his shield and block the strike. He quickly rolled around the guard and jumped up, stabbing him in the back. The pony screamed as he went down onto the ground, flailing his limbs about. The bandit’s screams awakened Link from his rage. He blinked when he saw the dead pony and the ground, before looking horrified and scrambled back. The squelch the sword made when he pulled it out did not help him calm down either.

D-Did I do this? Link thought as he looked at his hoof. It was covered in blood, but not his own. He looked up at the window of the house. When he saw the scared expression on Flora’s face, his resolve crumbled down immediately. The burning flames he had dimmed to a low glow as he looked at the identical expressions in the window. Their main expression was fear. They were scared of him. I-I'm a monster.

While Link was thinking his thoughts, the bandit looked on in shock at what had just happened. His expression quickly contorted to one of rage though.

“You bastard! I’ll kill you slowly and painfully!” he snarled, snapping Link out of his thoughts. He threw the dagger, which made Link try to use his shield to block. He was too late as the dagger scraped against the edge of his shield and found it buried in his chest. He screamed as pain exploded all around his chest. Luckily, the dagger was only half-buried in his chest, not enough to kill him. But Link found it was barbed, making it hard to pull out.

He quickly heard another yell as he saw the bandit charge towards him. He shakily got to his feet, his eyes fluttering as he tried to stay conscious. He heard another familiar yell and a guard crashed himself against the bandit. His sword was buried to the hilt, blood flowing to the ground. Link couldn't hear the scream the bandit made as he fell to the ground. The guard approached him, concern etched on his face.

“Are you okay!?” He yelled, making Link realize that the guard was Storm. He nodded his head tiredly, his vision already starting to go black. Storm started to drag him through the ground. To where, Link didn’t know.

“Orca!” Storm yelled, continuing to drag Link Orca stabbed his spear downwards, immediately killing the enemy he was fighting. Link looked at the blood splurting out of the body with a dull expression. “Orca! Link’s hurt!”

Orca stopped what he was doing and looked at him with wide eyes. He ran over to them and and touched Link’s wound. In doing so, he cursed himself profoundly.

“Dammit!” He said, stomping his hoof on the ground. “How could I forget!? I forgot to give you some armor! It's a miracle that you fought for this long without getting hurt!”

“No time for self loathing!” Storm snapped, propping Link up to a nearby house wall. “We need to find a medic!”

“All of them are tending to the others!” Orca cried out desperately. He looked at the dagger in Link’s stomach and reached out for it. He immediately pulled his hoof back, “I don't want to make this anymore worse.”

“Is somepony hurt there?” One pony asked. Link recognized it as the healer who healed him last time. “Oh, that looks bad.”

“Ya think?” Storm said sarcastically. He pointed his hoof at the dagger. “Can you heal that?”

“I can,” the mare started before pursing her lips, “but it will be extremely painful. Hold him down for me.”

Orca and Storm restrained Link’s limbs. The mare then grabbed the dagger and started to pull it out. Link’s eyes widened and he let out a painful scream. Once the dagger was done, the mare called for a unicorn. One came and she started to instruct him to close the wound. Orca and Storm watched in amazement as the shallow cut in his stomach immediately closed up, leaving no trace that it was ever there in the first place. In doing so, the unicorn collapsed, panting heavily on the ground.

“You used all your magic on that one,” the mare said, shaking her head. “You need to learn to regulate it more.”

“That was a training medic?” Storm asked incredulously. He looked at the panting unicorn with a small glare. “What would've happened if he messed up?”

“Nothing too bad,” the mare assured, waving her hoof in an offhand manner. “The only bad thing it would do is it would fill his magic radiation limit.” Storm nodded before turning to Link.

“How are you doing, Link?” Storm asked. Link struggled to nodded. He suddenly felt a super boost, like he could go fight again at any moment.

“RETREAT!” Link heard one bandit yelled as all of them suddenly stopped and started to run out of the village. The remaining healthy guards ran after them, trying to cut down as many as they can.

“They're retreating!” One guard whooped as he ran after them. “Look at them run with their tails in between their legs!”

The other guards also whooped as the bandits left. Some started dance and hold the injured guards hoofs, shaking them in a funny attempt to cheer. Link smiled weakly before dropping it back to a frown when he remembered what had happened earlier. Storm was also dancing and was singing like an idiot.

“CALM DOWN EVERYPONY!”’ Orca roared, making all the guards stop and stand attention. Link also looked up at Orca, alert. Link also thought that there was something wrong. Link heard of raids like these, but this seemed different. A bad kind of different.

“What is it?” Storm said with a confused expression. The other guards had one as well. Orca shook his head before clearing his throat.

“This wasn’t some random raid,” Orca said, his tone urgent. “We’ve had some problems with these bandits before, but it was never this bad.”

“Are you saying-?!” Storm started to say, his eyes wide. Orca nodded.

“This was organized,” Orca announced, looking at all the guards. There were some gasps along with many whispers. “This wasn't a random attack. Somepony ordered this, and I bet it must be their boss.”

“This is bad,” Storm said. He pursed his lips and looked around worriedly. “We can’t handle another attack like this. Not with all these innocent ponies around.”

“We certainly can’t protect them both,” Orca agreed. He took a deep breath before letting out his answer, “So that’s why we’re going to be raiding their camp.”

“WHAT?!” Some of the guards yelled with disbelief. Even Link looked at Orca like he was crazy. One of the guards came up to them.

“Are you sure that’s wise?” the guard asked. Orca nodded his head calmly.

“I can’t tell you what to do,” Orca said. He then looked at one particular guard. He was dressed differently from the others, with silver armor rather than the standard gold. A gold badge was placed on his chest, accentuating his authority. Orca walked up to him. “I can’t tell you what to do because you’re under the royal command. But you can, if you choose to follow my advice.”

“I agree,” the pony said with a firm nod. “If you think this is the best course of action then I shall trust your judgment.”

“I’m glad you agree,” Orca said with a smile. He turned to the guards once more. “We shall leave first thing in the morning.”

“What if they attack us when we’re gone,” one guard said worryingly. “We can’t handle another attack like that with less stallions.”

“I doubt they would do that,” Orca said with a frown. He put up his hoof to his chin in his thinking pose. “They lost some stallions in that raid. Just in case, I will assign a select few to guard here.”

Orca started to count out the guards that will go with him during the raid. Some of the guards looked worried while some others wanted revenge for the attack. Lastly, he turned to Link. “You will also come with me.”

Link froze as his eyes went wide. Before he could voice his objection, somepony else did it for him.

“Oh no he isn’t,” Sword said angrily, pushing his way through the guards. Link felt his heart drop when he saw Petal and Flora trail behind. “There is no way in tartarus that we’ll let him go!”

“And why is that?” Orca asked calmly. Link saw that Orca’s expression was completely blank, almost like he was expecting this. Storm breathed in deeply before he went on his angry rant.

“Why not?! WHY NOT?! He is too young for goddess’ sake! Nopony his age should be facing dangers like this. You may think he is ready, but I certainly don’t. I even saw him with a knife to his chest but had to ignore it and keep on fighting! How can you be okay with your feelings, putting Link into this kind of situation?!” Storm panted heavily, his chest visibly going in and out. His eyes almost seemed red as air went through his flared nostrils. Orca didn’t even bat an eye during his speech. If anything, he looked more amused of the entire ordeal.

“He is more than ready to face this,” Orca said slowly, smiling towards him. He smiled at Link, causing him to shy away. He then frowned at that but continued. “Given his performance during the raid, I would say he could handle it. It would also be good for him, handling these types of situations. He would need it later on in his journey.”

“Journey?” Sword asked. He looked at Link with a confused expression. “You mean he isn’t staying here?”

“He isn’t” Orca affirmed. Sword opened his mouth but Orca cut him off, “I know you may feel that Link is not up to the challenge, but he is. How well did he do out there Storm?”

“He did well, considering he didn’t have any armor,” Storm said. He added the last part with an accusing tone at Orca. Orca merely shrugged off the obvious insult.

An obvious mistake made on my part, but I assure you that I have everything under control,” Orca said, looking at Sword. Sword glared back at him, clearly challenging him. The two inched closer to each other until Link spoke up.

“I-I don’t think I’m ready for this,” Link confessed, making everypony look at him with a surprised expression. He shrunk down under the stares when Orca came up to him.

“Why don’t you think you’re ready?” Orca said with a frown. Link looked at the ground before gulping and looking back up at Orca. Link steeled his nerves and started to speak.

“I don’t want to say because you’ll think I’m a monster,” Link said softly, causing Orca’s eyebrows to raise up.

“You have to let it out sometime,” Orca said gently. Link looked back at the ground nervously.

“It's just…that I killed some of those ponies out there,” Link said, looking on the ground shamefully. “I know that guards do it too, but the problem here is that I didn't feel anything while doing it. In fact, I almost felt happy doing it.”

“I didn't think of that,” Orca said with a solemn look. “That must have not been easy for you.”

“Quite the opposite actually,” Link said with a bitter laugh. “I'm surprised at how easy it actually is.”

“But you aren't a monster for doing it Link,” Orca said gently, putting his hoof on Link’s shoulder. “Those were bad ponies out for blood.”

“But I am!” Link suddenly cried out, startling some of the ponies there. “I killed them so brutally, without any remorse at all! Heck, even Petal and Flora were scared of me!”

Petal flinched behind Storm’s back. Orca turned around and faced her with a small glare.

“Is that true?” Orca demanded to a shocked Petal. Petal shook her head furiously.

“Why would I be scared of you?” Petal asked softly, slightly shrinking under the glare Orca was giving her. Link looked up at her again.

“I saw how you looked at me through the window,” Link said. He could see the appalled look on her face again as he remembered how he had killed the bandits. He shuddered and diminished the images from his mind. Petal’s expression softened immediately.

“Oh Link,” she said, pulling him into a small hug. Link looked up at her in surprise as she returned his expression with a small smile. “I was not scared of you. I was scared for you.”

Link frowned, “Scared for me?”

Petal nodded as they separated. “I never was scared of you. I was worried that you got hurt. It wasn't exactly a clear view from the window and when I saw the blood on you, I panicked badly.”

“So you aren't scared of me,” Link asked, trying to confirm his answer. Petal nodded and giggled.

“No, I wasn't. I do admit that I was appalled at the idea of taking a life away before, but I had to change when I married my husband, since that was what he did for a living basically.”

Link nodded, immensely relieved. He didn’t have anypony thinking he was a monster fortunately. He still did have a few questions left though.

“Killing isn't bad then?” Link asked. Orca shook his head.

“It is only bad when you do it unjustly,” he said, going into his teacher mode. “If there is even a single doubt when you are about to kill somepony, then don't. Always give them the benefit of doubt before you know they are truly bad. Then can you finally have the authorization to kill. Just don't do it too much though. It'll still give me a heart attack if I hear a child I know has been slaughtering random thugs left and right.”

“I get it,” Link said, nodding his head. He then turned towards the rest of the guards. “In this case, I shall be joining the raid!”

Multiple cheers could be heard throughout the crowd. Sword shook his head in disapproval but didn't comment on anything. Petal looked like she was struggling between a smile and frown. Link grinned at the attention he was getting and looked at Orca. Orca looked back at him with a smile.

“Now that we got rid of another one of your personal demons away,” Orca said before turning towards the crowd. “QUIET DOWN FOOLS!”

Everypony suddenly got quiet, standing to attention instantly. Orca nodded his head and paced back and forth.

“There is much we need to do in so little time,” Orca said in a grim tone. “The pegasi are to fly up and try to locate the camp. Once you find it, map it out as best as you can without getting count. We will need to know as much as we can so that we will have an advantage.”

The pegasi guards nodded and immediately took to the skies, some carrying out map and quills. Orca then looked at the group staying behind from the raid.

“You guys alert the citizens of what we are up to and see the damage report. Calm them down to the best of your ability.” The group saluted and ran off. Orca turned to the next group.

“The raid will be in a few days. Gather the supplies so we can start sooner. This will not be easy, but we must show them an example of why they shouldn't mess with us.” A big cheer came from the crowd before they walked away too. The silver armored guard approached Orca with an amused expression.

“I hope you aren't trying to steal my job,” he said with a small smile. Orca laughed sheepishly

“Sorry about that. It was a spur of moment kind of thing,” he answered. The guard nodded and turned to Link. Link grinned up at him nervously.

“So you're the famous Link,” he said with a grin, causing Link to blush in embarrassment. “Orca’s new student. I heard all about you from the others.”

“I haven't seen you around before,”

“I mostly am out of the village with the other guards. Our common area isn't exactly near here either,” he then flicked his hoof in front of him, startling Link a bit. “I heard of the praise Orca gives you, which is amazing enough since he rarely praises anypony,” his eyes narrowed down at him, making Link sweat a little. “I expect you to be an asset on this mission, not a liability. You got that?”

“Yes sir!” Link said with a salute. The captain nodded and walked away.

“My name’s Silver,” he called back. He then ran off with the other guards into the setting sun. Link turned towards the village and frowned. It wasn't completely destroyed and on fire, but he could see a few collapsed towers with some doors broken in some of the houses. The medics were still treating the wounded civilians.

“They took some during the raid,” Orca muttered quietly. Link’s eyes widened for a moment before he just settled to nod. Now that he thought about it, he actually wanted to join the raid now. It would be a perfect test on how he would survive in the real world. Orca started to walk past him.

“Come Link,” he said, pointing him to the house. “We have a lot to do now.”

Link nodded and followed him. Orca was right; they had a lot to do now.

(Somewhere else)

A red maned mare stared at the house in front of her. She could see a small orchard in the back, the apples now freshly grown on the trees. The house shadowed over her, blocking the orange light from the sky. This used to be a place where she loved to go most, but now it was a place where yet another painful memory sat. The fun she used to have here, talking with String and playing with Link. Where are you Link?

“Isn't it a surprise to see you here,”

“What do you want?” Caretaker said bitterly at the familiar voice. She distinctly remembered that voice. It was somepony she never wanted to see again. But whenever something bad happened to her, the mare behind her seemed to be there.

“Running away from your problems isn't the solution,” the mare said behind her. Caretaker still refused to meet her, causing the mare to chuckle. “Still as stubborn as ever I see.”

“I can do whatever the hell I want,” she said indignantly. The mare still chuckled at her, infuriating her even further.

“What of it cousin?” The mare asked, saying the last word mockingly. “Still ashamed of your heritage?”

“That heritage caused my mother to be killed!” She spat out, finally turning towards the mystery pony in rage. “It was the reason of why my whole life is miserable!”

“That doesn't change the fact that you’re still ours,” the mare argued back, her blue mane swishing over her forehead. “And that you still are afraid of doing the right thing.”

Caretaker said nothing to that. She just lowered her head in anger, openly growling. The mare sighed.

“I know who lived at this house,” she said, causing Caretaker’s head to shoot up in surprise. “I believe the owners’ names were Link and String, am I correct?”

“And why would you need to know that?” Caretaker asked. The mare said nothing, but looked up at the sky.

“They're watching him,” the mare said, pursing her lips. “Link, I mean.”

“Link’s still alive?!” she asked incredulously. Hope started to rekindle inside her. “But who are they?”

“You know exactly who they are!” the mare said angrily, startling Caretaker for a bit. “And if you would just stop that self-pity nonsense, this would’ve been so much easier.”

“But where is he?” Caretaker asked desperately, suddenly getting in the mare’s face. “Is he alright? How is he doing?”

The mare shook her head, “He’s fine...at the moment.”

“What do you mean?” Caretaker asked. “And why would they be interested in Link? He’s just a normal boy!”

“We have our suspicions,” The mare started to say, pushing Caretaker’s face back. “And if they are true, then Link is in great danger. If it is true, then this Link is anything but normal.”

“Something big is happening,” Caretaker said quietly. She had known that it would happen during her era, but was too scared to admit it. She had been running away from this ever since she was a teenager, but she probably knew deep down that she would have to stop and walk back. It was a terrifying thought to her.

“If you want to protect him,” the mare said, holding her hoof. “Then your best chance is to join us.”

“I don’t think I have a choice anymore,” Caretaker said, taking her hoof. She had never known that it would come to this. To take the hoof she had been running from all these years. But if it was to protect the one she loved most, the only pony she loved most, then she would do it.

“Welcome back, Shionne,” the mare said, smiling openly. She then looked at her flank. “It would be best to get rid of that now. Never thought you would choose that symbol in the first place.”

Caretaker nodded solemnly and put her hoof to her flank. Slowly, she started to tear the fake cutie mark away. The blanket picture floated to the ground, leaving a new one in place.

“That’s so much better,” the mare said with a small smile, looking at her own cutie mark. “From now on, you are ours.”

The new cutie mark showed two knives crossed together. Both knives had runes all traveling from the blade to the hit. But the most distinguishing part, was the red teardrop eye symbol in the background.

Departure

View Online

It was the dead of the night with the moon shining brightly. The camp glowed in the light of the campfires set up in it. Many ponies could be seen limping or dragging other ponies to various tents. Those with medical experience tried to the best of their ability to heal the wounded ponies, but would sometimes be too late. Many had died since the day of the failed attack. Some rearranged their mismatched, salvaged armor while others sat around the main campfire, letting their minds wonder many ideas.

Overlooking these ponies was their leader. It was easy to tell him apart from the others from the way he looked, stood, and the fact that he was doing nothing to help out. He watched them with a grim expression. They couldn't suffer anymore losses like this again. He didn't know that despite their surprise attack, the guards still beat them without losing any of their own. The thought of it made him sick. Luckily those other ponies saw one pegasi guard spying on them before quickly flying away. That could mean that they could be attacking.

He grinned to himself as he saw those that were still in shape working, fixing traps in the oncoming attack. He would catch those ponies off guard and take them hostage. Then he would show them off to the world. To show them that they weren't so invincible with their guards and that they could be next. It would be the day where he would make their mark showing that he didn't listen to some petty pacifying alicorn’s rules. Weakness was in compassion where it could be ruthlessly crushed by brute force.

“Your army is a pitying sight to see,” a voice said coolly behind him. ”It makes me wonder if you’re even ever going to hold our deal straight.”

“Who’s there?” the leader growled out, whipping behind him. He relaxed when he saw who it was. “Oh, it's only you, purple cloak.”

“Some respect would be nice,” the purple cloaked pony said to him calmly. He waved off the red cloaked guards, relieving them of their defensive positions. “But you don't really respect me, do you?”

“You didn't uphold our deal,” the leader said defiantly. “What makes you think that will make me respect you?”

“A deal I made when I asked you to attack that village and a certain somepony in it,” Purple cloak countered, smiling within his hood when he saw the leader grit his teeth in frustration. “But you failed miserably it seems.”

“How did you-” the leader started before being shushed by the pony in front of him.

“I have my ways,” purple cloak said with a dismissive wave of his hoof. “But it still is obvious, due to how high your troops’ morale is right now. I would guess they would be jumping and dancing, getting drunk over alcohol.”

“We got a plan,” the leader grunted, looking over at his tent. “We took some hostages in that fight, so they would most likely come back for them.”

“Hostages!” Purple cloak cried out suddenly, startling the pony in front of him. “That’s a cute idea. I still use hostages too. A great way of manipulating somepony to do something for you, yes?”

“Er...Yeah,” the leader said hesitantly. “We also want to show the world that they could be next. That their princess isn’t some all powerful being that could protect them all.”

“So you plan on making an example out of your hostages,” purple cloak said with a smile. “Something like torture? To show them they aren’t invincible and can experience intense pain beyond any mental comprehension?”

“What!?” the leader cried out in disbelief. “Heck no! I just wanted to show them that they aren’t safe. That’s just cruel. What kind of sick fuck would do that anyway?!”

“So you don’t torture them?” Purple cloak asked. The leader shook his head vehemently. Purple cloak just sighed. “That’s... disappointing. It really is.”

“I may be a bandit but I have morals too, you know,” the leader said.

“Not for long, no…” purple cloak said under his breath. Unfortunately, the leader caught that.

“What did you say?” he asked, his ears twitching. Purple cloak snapped his head up.

“Nothing! Nothing…” he said. He nudged the red cloaked guards beside him. They closed their eyes for a moment before shaking their heads. “So let’s hear about how you’re going to catch them off guard.”

“Okay then,” the leader said uncertainly. He looked back at the ponies at work. “We plan on making traps around the place. We saw some pegasi guards spying on us so we know for certain that they will be coming for us. We will be waiting for them.”

“Traps huh?” Purple cloak asked. “How lethal are they? How many ponies do they kill at once?”

“They...don’t kill,” the leader said, now highly disturbed by the pony in front of him. Just what kind of psycho was he dealing with? “We plan on capturing them and also showing them to the world. Then will they finally realize how dark this world is.”

“Don’t kill huh?” Purple cloak said. He shook his before putting his hoof to his chin. “I’m somehow even more disappointed than before. But that will change soon. You will realize your mistakes.”

“You’re really starting to creep me out now,” the leader said with a horrified expression. He shook his head and diminished any negative thoughts. He really needed this pony’s help regardless of how cruel he may seem to be. “I will complete your end of the deal soon. More time is all that I ask.”

“About that,” purple cloak said. The red cloaked guards beside him nodded their heads simultaneously. “I want to cut the deal off right now.”

“What do you mean?!” the leader asked angrily. All the ponies looked up from their work to see where the outburst came from.

“You heard me,” purple cloak said calmly. The leader stepped towards him threateningly, but the two red cloaks stepped and hissed at him, causing him to go back. “I don’t tolerate failure well. I wasn’t even going to work with you in the first place.”

“Then why make the deal?!” the leader asked. He clenched his teeth and felt blood drawing out of his tongue. The purple cloaked pony laughed out menacingly before turning around with a dramatic swish of his cloak.

“I thought you would complete this one simple objective,” he said. The ground started to rumble a bit but the leader didn’t care. “If you fail to burn down the village, then at least kill the specified pony I asked.”

“Why would you want to kill some insignificant colt?!” the leader asked. The ground started to rumble even more now. Clouds started to block the stars in the sky. “What purpose would that serve?”

“That colt is not insignificant,” the purple cloaked pony said quietly. “He will become a big nuisance in the future if the legend is true. It’s not something a petty mortal like you would understand.”

“You’re talking to me like you’re immortal,” the leader stated matter of factly. He froze when he saw the purple cloaked pony raise his hoof up. The leader rose to the air and started choking. “H-how-!?”

“This is merely one of my powers,” he said, cackling in delight. “But on to another different topic. My deal has changed.”

Lightning struck from the clouds and to the camp. The ponies screamed and started to run. But a bubble rose from the ground and surrounded them all. More red cloaked ponies started to surround the camp, their horns all glowing. The purple cloaked smiled, his creepy white teeth visibly showing from his hood. The leader dropped to the ground. He looked around in a startled panic.

“What are you doing to us?!” He screamed, banging his hoof against the barrier. Similar ponies were also screaming, banging their hoofs against the wall of magic also.

“I thought you would like to see what you were dealing with before your demise,” the purple cloaked pony said, still keeping the creepy smile on his face. “But to answer your question, my deal has changed. Instead of me helping you, you shall help me.”

The red cloaked ponies inched closer. The barrier shrunk, making the ponies come closer to each other. When they were all gathered up, the purple cloaked pony halted them.

“You did well,” he told them, now coming up to the bubble. He grinned at the terrifying looks all the ponies gave them, especially at the one the leader gave him. “But now it's my turn.”

The purple cloaked pony then rose his head up before holding it down to look at the leader again. “It’s nothing personal, I assure you. I understand that you want to make a mark in the world, but I have to make my own mark. Our goals are not so different but at the same time they are. And you will help me achieve it.”

With that final word, he casted the spell. Everypony inside the bubble eye’s immediately dulled for a moment before brightening up again. They stood straight at attention, even the ones that are wounded.

“Looks like another new addition to my quickly expanding army has grown,” he said with a grin. He looked up at the moon, which was rapidly descending down into the horizon. “Let us go. Surely those pesky guards will come looking for this camp soon, and I don’t want to be anywhere near it when that happens. Make sure our newest...experiments…are following us as well. I'll make sure to leave a surprise when the guards come here.”

(Later in Sunset)

The sun shined on the village, but it wasn't calm or peaceful this time. Ponies tried to fix their broken houses while groups of guards marched around. Others were rushing to get their gear ready for today’s raid. Orca was getting ready himself, as was Link to the best of his ability.

“Come on Link,” Orca urged, nudging him out the door. “We have to go get you to the blacksmith.”

“Why though?” Link asked. “And stop pushing me!”

“I have to give you that armor I promised,” Orca said, coming out of the door. A subtle clink clank could be heard within his robes as he walked out on the streets. “You will be getting the same kind I am wearing right now.”

“Which is…” Link asked before breaking off intentionally. Orca chuckled and ruffled his mane.

“You'll see,” was all he answered.

Link just shook his head and looked at his surroundings. Everypony looked grim today, not at all their usual carefree expressions they usually wear. He could even see more guards too. They walked around in packs and were on high alert, darting their eyes left and right as if bandits could jump out at them at any moment. Seeing this, Link felt sort of sad himself. These ponies were living their regular way of life freely, like he was. But it was changed so suddenly and now everypony’s on alert, like he is now. He can sort of relate to this.

“We’re here,” Orca said, suddenly stopping. Link bumped into him and rubbed his head. He looked up at the shack and found that it was indeed the local blacksmith’s. He didn't even notice himself arriving here.

“So you’ve come Orca,” a gruff voice said inside the shack. The door opened to reveal a very buff black earthpony. Link’s eyes widened at the size of him. He could be even taller than Big Mac! Well, he didn't even know since he never even met his cousin before. Just rumors on how he was taller than normal.

The earthpony looked down at him, making him gulp. “This the runt you ordered this for? I got it back in the shack so follow me.”

Orca nodded and started to walk behind him. He gestured for Link to follow him, which he did quickly. The inside of the shack itself was not impressive, but the array of weapons on the wall next the anvil was. Link could see the weapons edges had no marks at all, signifying that they weren't used. Despite that, it was very good quality.

“I see you’re impressed there,” the blacksmith said. Link nodded and kept on looking at the various types blades. The blacksmith laughed. “Well looks like you got good taste. Most ponies think that this is very scary while the more noble ones said they were very bland. I only make good weapons here, not some ornaments on a wall. A good combating should know that jewels and designs-”

“-will only make the blade heavier and won't serve any purpose at all, unless it's a magic container of sorts to create special effects,” Link answered, still looking at the blades. Fighting wasn't the only thing Orca taught him.

The blacksmith looked at him in surprise then laughed again. “You finally got a good student here Orca. Don't trade him away.”

“Considering it was me who taught him that,” Orca said with a smile. “But we were here for a different purpose I believe.”

“Right,” the blacksmith answered. He went into a room and came back out with a strange piece of clothing. At least that's what Link thought until he heard it clang against each other.

“What is that?” Link asked in wonder, holding the strange piece of armor in front of him. “I've never seen this type of armor before.”

“I don't usually make it,” the blacksmith said. “But I made an exception since Orca here is a good friend of mine. Plus I heard where you are going to go. What kind of cruel pony would I be to refuse armor to a child in this situation?” The blacksmith frowned. “Speaking of which, why are you taking him to it in the first place? It would put your student in great danger.”

“I...don't know,” Orca said. He suddenly looked alarmed and confused at the same time. “Link, I don't think you should-”

He froze suddenly. It seemed that he was in deep thought, but Link couldn't distinguish the expression in his eyes. It looked… Blank.

“No, never mind,” he said, shaking his head. “It'll all be fine. I have it under control. I'm sure Link will be fine.”

Link frowned but left the subject to fade. He would question it later. He looked at it like a puzzle, but he couldn't find the pieces to it in the first place. Maybe something would come up later? But for now…

“What is this armor again?” Link asked, waving it in front of Orca. Orca looked down at him and Link studied his eyes once more. They looked normal for now but he couldn't tell what all the indecisiveness was about.

“I didn't tell you about that huh?” Orca said. He cleared his throat and started to explain, “That there is chain mail armor. It isn't your usual armor as it is incredibly flexible but is still able to protect you to a degree. I figured it would suit you since the sword style you use involves you to move around a lot and most armor doesn't allow that.”

“I understand.” Link said, nodding his head. He looked towards the blacksmith. “Thank you for making this for me.”

“You can thank me by kicking those bandits sky high,” the blacksmith grunted. Link nodded and turned to leave before he felt a hoof on his shoulder. He looked back to see the blacksmith stopping him for some reason.

“Actually, can you do something for me?” The blacksmith asked. Link nodded. “Good, then can you do this small favor?” He went inside the room and came out with a fairly large bag. “I heard that you were leaving the village. I want you to do deliver this for me to another blacksmith I owe. He lives out near the plains. You’ll know him when you see him. Just ask if his name is Amino.”

“Okay then,” Link said. He took the heavy bag from him and took off his hat. He dropped it in and the hat ate it up without taking anymore mass. The blacksmith raised an eyebrow at this but didn't comment on it.

“Take care out there,” the blacksmith said, waving them goodbye when Orca and Link left the shack.

“How does it feel?” Orca asked when he saw Link walk around awkwardly. Link could hear the same clink clank his armor made under his tunic. “I’m wearing the same type of armor too, you know.”

“It feels...weird,” Link said as he pulled out his collar again and looked at the armor pressing against his fur. “It isn’t heavy or anything but it's definitely something that I will have to get used to for sometime.”

“Understandable,” Orca said. They walked until the found a crowd of organized guards. The commander stood in front of them, looking at Orca with a small glare.

“You’re late,” he said flatly. Orca just chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

“I had to get armor for Link,” he answered, bumping Link on the back. The clang was audible enough for Silver to hear and he nodded.

“Let's not delay,” he said. “Bring me the guards who scouted the camp!”

Two pegasi guards came up to him and saluted. Silver saluted back.

“I trust you have the map layout with you?” He asked. The two guards nodded before sharing an uneasy look between them. Unfortunately for them, Silver caught that. “What's wrong.”

“Nothing sir…” One of them said. “It's just...here. Look for yourself.”

They both handed over the maps to Silver reluctantly. Silver looked through it before his eyes bulged out. He handed back the map angrily. “Just what the hell is this!?”

“We didn't have a writing pad sir so we had to make it as neat as possible…” The other guard said before trailing off at the venomous look Silver gave him. Link looked over Silver’s back to see the paper. It was very crudely drawn with words barely legible. The lines were squiggly and out of place.

“I guess this is the best we have to work with,” Silver sighed, hoof palming his face. “Make copies of these. We're leaving in an hour.”

“I still don't approve of this,” a new voice entered. Sword approached Orca with a small glare before looking towards Link with a worried expression. “Do you seriously think he is ready for this?”

“I am certain,” he said with a firm voice before he looked confused. “Or am I? No, I am certain.”

Link raised a brow at this. Orca was acting indecisive again. This was really not like him. He would need to look into this more.

“If you say so,” Sword said. “I only request to be close to him during it. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time.”

Link looked nervous at that but shook his head. It won't happen again because he has armor now. He pulled up his sleeve to see the chain mail armor fitted right against his fur. Sword saw this and sighed.

“At least he has armor this time,” he said, relieved. “Something he should’ve had last time.”

Orca ignored the jab and looked at Link. “Everything will be fine now, I promise.”

“Link!” called a familiar voice. Link turned around and was pleasantly surprised to find Flora along with Petal running towards them. They stopped in front of him and started panting for a bit. Petal looked down at him when she caught her breath up. “Be careful Link. I don’t like the idea of you going on this trip, but since you are anyways, I just wanted to wish you luck.”

"Me too!” Flora chirped. “You better not die Link. I’ve already seen too much of it already.”

“Flora!” Petal said, horrified. “Don’t say such things. He will not die.”

Link just smiled at the interaction and looked up at the sky. He suddenly frowned. He knew something will happen there, even though he didn’t know where the feeling came from. He somehow knew something will happen when they arrive at the camp, and it will be anything but good.

“I sense a great danger approaching…”

(Later)

Link trudged through the forestry along with the rest of the guards. It was actually the same forest that he went through with Lyra. Orca and Sword were beside him, looking around. They jumped at the smallest sounds and said to him that one can never be too careful. Link also met up with Storm sometime ago and found that he was staying at the village.

Rustle

Snap!

Orca, Sword, and the rest of the guards whipped their heads around only to find rabbits bouncing away. Surprisingly, they ran right through the group. The guards stumbled to make room as the rabbits bounced in between their hoofs. Though, one rabbit in particular stopped and sniffed around. It turned its head around to look at Link for a few moments before bounding away.

“That was weird,” Orca said, going in his thinking pose. “Rabbits are usually shy around ponies like us.”

“Never mind that,” Sword said, looking at the sky. “Look!”

Everypony turned to look their heads up. The could see a smoke trail in the direction they’re heading to.

“It must be the bandit camp,” Sword said, his face lighting up with a determined grin. “Let's hurry along. I want to surprise the poor bastards.”

Everypony nodded silently and they started to quietly jog. When they were close, Silver called a halt.

“I want one pony to sneak in there and tell me their position,” Silver whispered. All the ponies moved aside to reveal one somewhat scrawny guard.

“Wait what?” he said, looking around. “Oh, come on!”

“Keep it down!” Silver shushed him. “You’re the smallest and most fastest. You’re perfect for this.”

“If you say so,” he mumbled. He then slowly walked into the bushes and into the camp.

“Now I want the rest of you to disperse along the perimeter,” Silver said. “It would be better to attack from all sides than from-”

“What the fuck?” Called the scout from earlier. Silver’s eyes widened before he angrily looked over the bush.

“What do you think you’re-” he started to say before his eyes bulged out of their sockets. “Doing?”

“What's the matter?” Sword asked before he walked out into the camp. Link followed along too, as well as the group. “What is this?”

The whole camp was deserted. Some tents were still set up while others were collapsed. The clearing of the forest was big no doubt, but there was absolutely no sign of any bandits.

“This is absolutely strange,” Orca said, looking around in confusion. “Did they leave knowing that we would be coming?”

“Impossible,” Silver said. He scoured the ground and rubbed it. He shook his head. “I don't see any tracks here. Pony hoofs should be heavy enough to imprint on this dirt. It would even be hard to get rid of it too.”

“Magic maybe?” Link suggested. Orca shook his head immediately.

“I know a few things about magic and that is that no magic could be large enough to teleport Everypony out of there.”

“They even had injured ponies,” Silver said, now looking inside the tent. “They couldn't move so soon. They even left their supplies here. Why would they do that?”

Link and Sword followed Silver in the tent. What he said was true. There were many sleeping bags and medical supplies here. Link looked around to see a sight he thought he would never see again.

“My shield!” He cried out. His old shield was sitting out in the corner, sporting a few dents on the cover. Link rushed to it and picked it up. It was his old shield all right. The thief that stole this must've been a bandit for him to find it here.

“That's your old shield?” Sword asked. “That decrepit old thing? I heard from Storm that you lost it sometime ago. Good thing he gave you a new one since that thing wouldn't even last a sword strike.

“It was my father’s though,” he said quietly. He took off his hat and dropped it in. Sword was right, it wouldn't do well in battle in the condition it was in now. Link cursed the bandits that used it. For now, he would keep it with. After all, he did have a bottomless hat with him.

“I'll never get used to that,” Sword sighed when he saw Link put the shield in his hat. “Makes me question if logic is actually real.”

“Most impressive,” Silver said, also looking at the spectacle. “That would be most useful if we had more of these. Too bad that girl could only make one though. And by accident too.

“Most scientific achievements were accidents.” Link reminded him, walking out of the tent. Silver followed along with Sword.

“Makes me wonder about logic even more,” he said. “Ponies who dedicate lives to this sort of thing lose to ponies just slipping and casting random magic. How troublesome.”

“Which is a why I'm not a scientist,” Link said.

They gathered around in the center. Orca looked at the center campfire. It was still smoking in the air, the trail that they followed here.

“Did you find anything?” Silver asked when they approached Orca. He shook his head.

“None of this makes sense,” he murmured. He looked back at the campfire. “This must've been recently put out if it is still smoking, yet nothing is here. The other guards found what was remains of unfinished traps, signaling that they were expecting us but something happened after then. Just what exactly happened still alludes me.”

“I couldn't find anything either,” Silver admitted. They talked for a moment while Link listened in, not really able to give any suggestions.

“I sense something…”

Link’s head snapped up in surprise. Orca and Silver noticed this.

“Something wrong Link?” Orca asked with a worried expression. Link didn't answer.

“It wasn't clear this time,” Link thought to himself, his eyes closed in focus. “What do you mean you sense something?”

“You alright Link?” Orca asked again. Link snapped out of his thoughts and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“Just thinking,” he said with a nervous laugh. Orca looked at him again before he resumed his conversation with Silver.

“I sense something...over there.”

The wind pushed Link’s head to a certain direction. He widened his eyes at this.

“Over there?” He asked the voice in his head. He then felt a strong sense of certainty and rightness wash through his body. “Guess so then. Will it be dangerous?”

The voice didn't respond for a moment before answering, “...92% chance of danger imminent.”

“Okay then?” Link thought to himself. He cleared his throat, catching Orca’s attention.

“Do you mind if I go over there for a bit?” Link asked innocently. Orca looked surprised and confused at this.

“That's an oddly specific location to pick,” Orca said. “But I don't think you should-”

“You will…allow us to go…”

“I think it is fine,” Orca said, his hoof to his chin. “But don't wander too far from here.”

“Okay,” Link answered. He started walking in the direction where the voice “sensed” something. He walked over to the edge of the camp and looked around.

“I don't see anything,” he thought to himself.

“Must go deeper…”

Against his better judgement, Link entered the forest once more. He looked around the forest shrubbery, alert. He felt something here as well now, and it was not friendly. He heard something rustle behind him. He snapped his head towards the noise just in time for a back creature to jump at him.

Link helped as he fumbled for his sword. He barely blocked the strike with his now levitating sword. He found that the creature in front of him had a machete with a wooden sword. It's features were strangely piglike with hooves for feet. It glared at him with a fierce expression before raising his machete once more.

Link levitated his shield and blocked the strike. He heard more rustling behind him and found two more of these pig creatures had joined the fight.

“Moblins!” The voice said with alarm. Again, Link wondered if the voice, whatever it was, had met these creatures before. Link had heard of manticores and cockatrices, but never something like this before.

Link dodged a strike from moblin #2 and rolled around to face all three of them in front of him.

“Moblin are...brutes,” the voice said, still barely audible. “Will rush in...dodge and strike…”

Link got enough information he needed. He waited and stared down the moblins in front of him. Finally, moblin #3 was impatient enough to come at him. The moblin swung its machete down onto him. Link dodged by front flipping over him, but he didn't realize the other moblin also raising its machete. He sliced Link while he was in mid jump. Link yelled in pain but was able to deeply cut the moblin he originally dodged. The moblin squealed before dropping to the ground.

Link dropped and rolled around them to be facing them again. He quickly felt his back and was a little alarmed when he felt it a little wet. His armor took most of the damage but he took some as well.

He diminished all thoughts from his mind when he saw a moblin rushing at him. He rolled around it this time and attacked the one that was staying behind. The moblin squealed in surprise but didn't fall down. It swung its machete but Link front flipped over him. The moblin ended up attacking the moblin in front of it while Link slashed its head. The moblin finally let out one last squeal before falling flat on its face. Link turned around to face the last one, who was clutching its back tenderly.

It turned around and growled. Link arched his back and hissed in pain. He couldn't roll or do any other counterattacks with this wound. He then tried his luck and lunged forward with a stab. The moblin quickly sliced Link’s stomach before taking the blade of the sword all the way to its hilt in his chest. Link hissed as he felt the burn on his stomach and quickly clutched it. Surprisingly, all the moblins burst into dark smoke and snaked away further into the woods. Link was too tired to chase after it and collapsed into the ground. He panted as he quickly heard hoofsteps coming his way.

Orca and Sword busted into the grove, looking around wildly. They quickly found Link and went to him.

“What happened here?” Sword said frantically. Link coughed again.

“Some wild animals attacked me,” he got out as he slowly got up. Orca ushered him to stay down but he ignored it. “I scared them away.”

“It was lucky you did, Orca said, believing his lie once more. Link really felt bad about lying again. He didn't even know why he was doing it!

“Let's get him back to the camp. It was smart of us to bring a few medics here.” Orca urged as he half-carried, half-dragged Link. Link wasn't as wounded as he was during the bandit attack and was wide awake this time. Guess the armor did help him. Immensely so.

They arrived at the camp. Many guard’s eyes were wide as two ponies made their way. He recognized them as the two healers who healed him before. What were the chances?

“You really need to stop getting hurt,” the mare said, shaking her head. “Lucky for us it isn’t serious this time.”

She lifted up his tunic and looked through the armor at the wounds. “You know what to do now.”

“You sure he is good enough to be healing regular ponies?” Sword asked as the stallion powered up his horn.

“It won’t do him any harm,” the mare assured him. He looked at the unicorn again. “Now cast it!”

The unicorn nodded and casted the spell. Instead of feeling relieved or his wounds close up, he immediately felt extremely tired. His eyes struggled to keep open as he looked at the worried faces around him. He quickly heard a -”Idiot! You casted a sleeping spell! How-!?” before blackness overtook him.

(In the mindscape)

Link woke up to see a familiar darkness around him. His hat and clothes were still with him. Seeing nothing else to do, he walked around. After walking a certain distance, he saw a very blurry figure.

The figure was mostly blue and was too distorted to be made out by a shape. It kept on flickering and buzzing, as if losing connection. The figure finally looked towards him.

“I have been expecting you,” the figure said. Link was surprised to find it use the same voice he had been hearing in his head all along. “I imagine you have many questions now.”

“What are you?” Link asked as he approached the figure. The figure seemed to stare back at him impassively. “How do you know these things? What are you doing here?”

“These will be answered in time,” the figure said. “I calculated that you would soon stray from your true purpose. Your emotions are clashing against each other in an illogical way, making you not think straight.” The figure shifted itself as it flickered again. “I have contacted you this way to prevent that.”

“My true purpose?” Link asked. “And what do you mean contact me this way?”

“You shall know your true purpose soon, but not now,” the figure answered. “As for your second question, who do you process is the one that made you fall asleep?” Link’s eyes widened but the figure continued. “Who do you process was the one that made your master quickly change his action? And lastly, who do you process was the one that made you lie all this time.”

“That was you?” Link asked incredulously. The figure nodded as it floated closer to him. Link stepped back as it floated directly in front of him. Up close, Link could see the figure more clearly. It looked to be a pony, but it obviously was now. Its other features were too distorted to describe though.

“My initial subject has strayed to a different one,” it said. “I am here to guide you to your original goal.”

It levitated Link’s hat to it. The pouch that he received from the Great Fairy floated up from it. The figure then untied the knot and revealed its contents.

“It is lucky of you to receive this stone. It will progress us to our journey much more faster.” the figure said, twirling the stone around. Link could see the designs on it twirl around methodically. “Everything will be revealed soon.”

“Wait, us?” Link asked. The figure stopped twirling the stone and returned it to the pouch. It deposited it into the hat and levitated it back onto Link’s head.

“...I will join your journey soon,” it said, levitating closely to Link again. “But that is in the future. For now, you must find these.”

Suddenly, Link felt his head explode in pain. He screamed as he saw two pictures in front of him, one depicting a blue stone while the other depicted a green one. He felt both of them burn in his memory permanently. Once it was done, he collapsed against the dark floor, panting heavily.

“I’m sorry master,” the figure said, almost looking sympathetic. “But I must ensure that you will never forget your true goal. Your journey will never truly progress until you find these items.”

“What’s...wrong with you?" Link gasped out, looking at the figure. The figure flew towards him and Link felt something touch his cheek.

The figure almost looked at him sadly before floating away from him. “My time runs short. You will understand why I did what I had to do. But there is too much dark energy around you to keep on connecting."

Link got up to see the figure floating away. “We will see each other truly when you complete your goal.”

“Wait!” he called out, now starting to run after her. “Just what is my goal? Why are you here?"

“I will contact you later on your journey,” the figure said. Link finally got close to her and lunged out. “Just remember...this. I...am calling for you, master. I...am...calling.”

Link jumped at her to only find her disintegrate against him. He started falling through the darkness…

(Back at Sunset)

Link gasped as he abruptly woke up. His sheets fell off the bed as he quickly felt his forehead. The two images of the stones were still in his mind. He could recall every single detail of it, from the design to where it was chipped. He shook his head and got down from his bed. He looked at his chest to find it completely healed. He felt around his back to find the same as well.

Of course he still had many questions in his mind. Questions that would never be answered until a long time apparently. That frustrated him. It was obvious enough to him that he was a part of some event. Exactly what it was still confused him. The voice said that she would join his journey and that he was straying from his path. The Great Fairy also said that he was traveling the wrong way. Just what exactly was bad about trying to find his father’s killer and why he did it? Link shook his head and went downstairs.

Orca was talking with Sword and Storm at the table. Sturgeon was reading a newspaper and surprisingly Petal and Flora was there too. He saw them in the kitchen, preparing something. Orca was the first to notice him.

“Nice of you to join us, Link,” he said casually. Sword and Storm turned around with wide eyes while Petal and Flora immediately came out of the kitchen.

“Are you alright?!” Storm asked a little too eagerly. “Orca told me what happened.”

“I’m fine,” Link said, yawning a bit. He looked out the window to find the familiar orange of the evening. “How long was I out?”

"A few hours," Orca answered. Link nodded before another question popped in his mind.

"Did we find the hostages?" Link asked.

Immediately, the mood went down considerably. Orca looked down at the table as well as Storm and Sword. Petal looked worried with Flora.

"No, huh..." Link said, also feeling down. Orca closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nostrils.

"Silver filed a report," he said, massaging his forehead. "The other guards are coming here to investigate. But you shouldn't worry about that. You should worry about tomorrow, since you will be leaving."

“Yeah…” Link said quietly. He went to the table and sat on the remaining chair.

“Are you sure it is wise to leave tomorrow?” Sturgeon asked with a raised brow. “You just finished healing.”

“I have something important to do,” Link said firmly. “It can’t wait.”

“I understand,” Orca said. He got up and went outside with Link following him. The both of them went to the cliffside to where they first met. Storm and Sword stood beside them, as well as Flora and Petal. They all watched the sunset together for the first time. They watched as the sun went down and Link knew, that when the sun came up, he will have to test his will. Tomorrow, his will and determination will be tested against the world. Tomorrow, when the new day comes, will come a new adventure.

(In the morning)

Link was packing all his stuff. His hat was securely on his head with his tunic all nice and clean. He was wearing his chain mail armor underneath his tunic, all repaired and nice. Orca gave it to the blacksmith and he repaired and even made it tougher. Link grinned as he ran downstairs, completely excited and nervous at the sametime. Orca was waiting for him, as well as the others. Flora waved at him excitingly.

“Ready for your grand adventure?” She asked sarcastically. Link laughed and gave her a grin.

“Always,” he said. Orca just shook his head, amused.

“Don’t get yourself in trouble,” Petal warned him, putting her hooves to her hips. “Seems like you always run into something dangerous in one way or another.”

Link just laughed sheepishly at that. Orca grabbed a chair and made him sit in it.

“What is it?” Link asked, confused. Orca smiled.

“I just wanted to revive an old tradition of mine,” he said as he went inside the kitchen. He came out with some supplies. “Are you ready?”

“Okay?” Link asked hesitantly. “What is this tradition anyways?”

“You’ll see,” Orca said, holding a strange object. Suddenly, Link felt his left ear being pulled as he felt two sharp things clipping into it.

“OW! What the heck are you doing?!” Link asked, struggling to get out of the chair. The same thing happened with his right ear, except he only felt one painful clip. He got out of the chair and rubbed and rubbed his ear. In doing so, he felt two metallic bands attached to it. “What the heck did you do to my ear?!”

Flora giggled while Petal held out a mirror for him. He saw two blue earrings on the top of his left ear and one on top of his right. “What is this?”

“An old tradition my own master did,” Orca said. He pushed back his short white mane to reveal earrings of his own on his ear. “He would place two earrings on the ear which hoof that pony was dominant in. You use your left hoof mostly so that’s the side I put two earrings in.”

“I didn’t sign up for this,” Link muttered. Flora giggled at his response. “You knew about this, didn’t you?”

“Maybe,” she said mysteriously. Link sighed and touched his earrings. It made him feel like a damn rebel or something like that.

“Now that we got that out of the way,” Storm said at the door. “Why don’t we wish him bye now?”

“Right,” Orca nodded. He opened the door. “Lead the way, Link.”

Link nodded and started to walk down the cliff. He was surprised at the many number of ponies waving him goodbye. He waved them goodbye also.

Soon they arrived at the exit. Link took a deep breath and turned to face the ponies that helped his training immensely with a sad face. They all had their own sad faces. Orca stepped forward and gave him a roll of paper.

“This will serve your journey well,” he said. Link opened the paper to find it was a map. When he located where he was, his eyes bulged. He was all the way on the other side of the map! He used to live way out east. Now he’s mostly in the west, near the rock farms. Just how far did the Great Fairy teleport him?

“I guess we all have some things to say now,” Storm said, snapping Link out of his thoughts. “Initially, I thought that you weren’t up to the challenge of Orca’s training. But you pleasantly proved me wrong. I saw you power through it even with your many complaints. I saw how you did during the ambush and was amazed to see a colt as young as you fighting so professionally. I only say to you to keep on improving.”

Flora stepped forward, “I wanted to thank you, for all the help you have given me. I have been working on that spell on your hat for a long time. Even though it was only an accident, you still helped me. You also became my friend, and I don’t really have that many here…” she trailed off when Link gave her a hug.

“I understand,” Link said with a smile when he stepped back. Flora shook her head and smiled back. Petal stepped up.

“You are a very brave child, Link,” she said. “And you’ve helped me in more ways than before. I wanted to thank you for helping me give my final wish to my husband with your harp. I want to also thank you for protecting us when the bandits ambushed us. I don’t know how to repay you…”

“You don’t have to,” Link said. “I wanted to thank you also for helping me realize a few things in life as well.”

Petal nodded and looked towards Sword. Sword shrugged.

“Storm here took all of it,” he said with a sheepish smile. “I just wanted to say sorry again for attacking you on that cliff.”

“I already forgave you,” Link said with a small frown.

“Yeah, well I wanted to do it again. It seemed fitting with the mood.” Sword said. “Say, if you meet Lyra in your travels, could you tell her that I’m still expecting her forgiveness as well?”

“Of course,” Link said with a nod. He finally then looked at Orca. The stallion that taught him all he knew about fighting and the world. Orca finally stepped.

“I don’t really have any words to say,” Orca said. “Like Storm here, everypony else stole them. I only want to say that you are far from the master swordspony that I know you can be. I expect you to return with improved skills. Give me the fight I’m looking for all these years.”

“That’s a promise,” Link said with a determined look on his face. He looked at all of them again and sighed. “I guess this is goodbye now.”

“Guess so,” Storm said with a grin. “Take care of yourself out there Link. I’d hate to find you only to be a red splat on the ground. I would be ashamed to say I knew you.”

“I promise that as well,” Link said with a laugh. He then turned around and walked out of the village. He then started running. He started to run faster and faster while smiling. A few tears shed from his eyes and he let them fall. He wiped his face and looked at the sky. The sun shined brightly at him. He had many questions that he will get answers to. But he ignored them for now as he laughed in the air. Only one excited thought filled his mind, “My journey finally begins now.”

(Back with the others)

Orca looked on as Link ran until he was nothing more than a small dust trail. He heard somepony blowing his nose and found Sword with a tissue.

“Are you crying?!” Storm said incredulously, laughing as hard as he can. “Jeez, I didn’t know you liked the colt that much.”

“Shut up!” Sword said indignantly. “I always hate sad goodbyes like this!”

Orca could see Petal and Flora giggling at the scene and smiled. He looked at the dust trail once more. “This won’t be the last time we see each other again, Link. That is my own promise to you.”

Fairy of the Forest

View Online

The room was dark and gloomy with only two torchlights lighting the room. Two concealed ponies stood guard, their katanas at their side. In front of them was a stand, like the one you would find at a court. One pony was sitting on the judge’s seat, looking forward expectantly. Footsteps filled the room as two more ponies appeared with one on the middle. The pony on the stand smirked.

“So you finally show yourself...Shionne,” the pony said with a thin smile, her voice raspy. “I knew you would eventually come here. After all, nopony can run from us for a long time.”

"Yet, I gave you a good run for your money, didn't I?” Shionne said sarcastically. The pony on the stand frowned.

“Only because you used our training methods to escape,” the pony said patiently. “Our family’s training method, which can fool another one of our clan as well, if needed to be.” The pony then leaned forward, using her hooves as support. “That could be counted as a betrayal, you know?”

Shionne grit her teeth as she let the implications sink in her head. She hung her head down shamefully. The pony looked at her sympathetically.

“I understand how you feel,” the pony said, causing her head to snap up at her in surprise. “It is hardly rare for some pony to lose their family member during this, and considering what your father is now…” She trailed off. Old, painful memories started to resurface in Shionne’s mind as she struggled to keep the tears from falling from her face. The head pony sighed.

“You are fully aware what is going on now, do you?” The pony asked urgently. Shionne shook her head.

“I know you know,” the pony said, causing Shionne’s ears to fall flat on her head. “I think it is now confirmed, for everypony.”

“It's coming, isn't it,” Shionne's whispered. “The rumors I'm hearing. They can't surely be true?”

“I'm afraid it is,” the pony said solemnly. She got up from the stand and started to walk up to her. “The endless cycle of hatred and greed that was lost during time. I'm afraid that it is beginning once again.”

“You can't mean-!?” One of the guards ponies started to say before she was shushed.

“I'm surprised too,” the head pony said. “I would never even think that the prophecy would pass during my lifetime. Yet it is, which now reminds us of why this clan still exists.”

“That group is rising,” Shionne's said bitterly. The head pony nodded.

“We need to prepare,” the head pony said. “We need to combat the darkness that is surely to come. This clan may be dying, but I would rather go down fighting.”

Shionne nodded with rest of the ponies before biting her lip. She looked up at the head pony nervously.

“I have one last request-,” she started to say before she was waved off by the pony.

“I know about that colt,” she said, shocking Shionne. “The person who I sent to you told me all about him.”

“Then do you know where his whereabouts are?!” She asked frantically. “You sounded like there was something going on with him.”

“There is,” she said, looking serious. “We will indirectly protect him by fighting them.”

“But why would they be interested in him?” Shionne asked. “It doesn't make any sense! What did he do to them to warrant their attention?”

“He didn't necessarily do anything,” the head pony said, almost looking sympathetic. “He just exists with a soul that was used against them before, we believe.”

“That doesn't make any-” she started to say before the blood drained from her face. “You don't mean-!?”

“I curse the higher ups that decided to try to get rid of Equestria’s darker side,” the pony said angrily, stomping the ground. Dust particles rose up in a mushroom cloud around her. “Out of all the mistakes the Alicorn Sisters could do, this is the worst one. Not Discord, not Tirek, but this.”

“It can't be…can it?” Shionne whispered quietly. Link couldn't possibly play a part in this. He was just too young and innocent to be part of plans and machinations thousands of years older than him.

“We must go,” the pony said urgently. “Now only time will tell what will happen next. Discard that old name you used to use. We will be needing your services soon.”

She walked off into the darkness. The other ponies followed her. Shionne just stood there, dumbstruck with the implications of what her only considered sibling could be. Be careful Link.

(Somewhere else)

The sun shines brightly as the birds chirped cheerfully. The leaves on the tree swished occasionally by the breeze passing by. The clouds remained unfiltered in the sky. The peace remained undisturbed when a small green colt walked by.

Link smiled and let the wind mess up his mane. Feeling the warm sun on his back with the occasional wind blowing by left him in a very peaceful state, not found back at Sunset or at his apple orchard. Link now knew why travelers liked to take the long way instead of going on a train somewhere. He know wondered what else he was missing out on.

He looked at his map once more. It seemed like he was now traveling in the Whitetail Woods. The map itself wasn't really that detailed. It had a few key markers on there with a set of pathways to get to them. The legend was small and there was no distance marker. He frowned at that and rolled it up again. It would seem that he would have to get a better map once he comes to the first town. Guess he would have to use this for now.

He rolled his map and put it back in his hat. His sword and shield was out in the case he encountered anything that would attack them. This time, he was ready. He was also ready for that red cloaked pony, whoever he was. He will find him, no matter

Gurgle Gurgle…

Link heard a growl and immediately held his stomach. He widened his eyes in fear. He forgot to pack something to eat! Was he that excited about going on a journey that he forgot something to pack mandatory essentials for the trip itself? Link took off his hat and reached his hat in, hoping that he at least kept some food in it. He usually did when he wandered around Sunset and suddenly felt like eating something. “Hm? What’s this?”

He felt a papery substance and lifted it out of his bag. It was a brown bag with a note attached to it.

Brought you something to eat since I knew you wouldn't remember

Flora

“Thanks Flora!” He said gratefully as he immediately dove in. He remembered to leave some left in case he needed to eat something again.

Just before he was about to put the bag back again, something fell out of it. Link caught it in time due to his quick reflexes. Well, what’s this?

Link held up the can in wonder. The covering tape was peeled off except for a few white marks left there. The lid had a few holes, meaning he had to shake it in order to get the contents inside. Link did just that and found some strange orange pellets in his hoof. Since it was in his lunch bag, Link popped them in his mouth-

-and promptly spat them out, coughing and gagging. Just what the heck was that!? Why would she give him these horrible things!? Link ran deeper in the forest and found a small clearing containing a lake. He quickly rushed over it and drank the cool water. The horrible taste immediately washed away, coming along a feeling of relief. Link didn't know what those were but he certainly wasn't eating them again. He dumped the rest of the food(?) into the lake. The rest of the orange pellets floated along the surface, eaten by many fish and other water life in it. Link rubbed his tongue again to get rid of the spicy feeling and left.

“Man, these are good!”

Link froze and turned around, his hoof to his sword. He didn't see anypony else in the clearing, yet he definitely heard a voice behind him. It wasn't that voice in his head because it was...in his head. It also sounded female while this one was male. Link was also pissed at the voice for obvious reasons.

He looked back at the lake. It seemed a big orange fish was finishing off what was left of the food(?). It lapped all of them up happily and turned towards Link. It flashed him a grin, making Link blink in surprise.

“You the one that had these?” He asked. “If so, then thanks! These are definitely better than the usual grub I have!”

Link stared at the fish, not believing his eyes in that moment. He really shouldn't be surprised anymore. He fought against pig creatures, had a “voice” in his head and was now seeing a live fish talk. Guess he still hasn't seen it all.

“Your welcome?” Link said hesitantly. The fish nodded his head enthusiastically before tilting his head with a questioning look.

“I don't see much of anybody around here,” he said. “What brings you around here?”

“I'm going to the nearest town,” Link said. “Now if you would excuse me, I need to get there quickly.” Link took the map from his hat and looked through it to get back to his original pathway.

“Is that a map!?” The fish said excitedly, flipping from the water in the air. Link looked at him weirdly. Well...as weird as a talking fish can get. “My race is known for their mapmaking skills! Can I see it?”

“What?” Link asked incredulously. “Wouldn't you just get it wet?”

“Not us!” The fish said proudly, puffing out his chest. “Just show it to me. Despite us only being water creatures, we know many places in the land that nobody else knows about.”

“You’ll pay if you tear this,” Link muttered as he held out his map. The fish nodded before looking at his map. He frowned.

“This is what you call a map!?” The fish asked incredulously, startling Link. “This is an insult to every map in the world! How dare you call this so?”

“What's wrong with it exactly?!” Link asked, annoyed. He backed away slightly when the fish splashed around in his rant. The fish calmed down and took two deep breaths. He looked back at the map almost painfully.

“I can't stand to see it in such a poor state,” the fish said. “For your information colt, it's just a piece of paper with a few important locations on it. Where’s the lush environment!? Where’s the places of the wild? Heck, it doesn't show any locations of water. It doesn't even have a legend or a distance marker. Do you even know how far you walked from your starting point? Better yet, do you even know how far your destination is? That's how poorly drawn this map is.”

Link looked at the map sheepishly. He remembered all of that in school when he was learning geography. Guess Orca didn't learn all of that when he was young. He probably was training all of his youth, which would explain his lack of knowledge on certain subjects, unlike Sturgeon who could explain it all easily.

The fish sighed, “Well, I can't just leave you out here high and dry. Hold out your map and wait a moment.”

“What're you going to do?” Link asked suspiciously, holding out his map. The fish dived back into the water. After a moment, it exploded out with a marker in its mouth. It began to draw at supersonic speed, making Link’s eyes bulge out in disbelief. Afterwards, it splashed back into the lake.

“What do you think?” The fish asked smugly. Link looked at the map with shock. What was once a dull, colorless map was now filled with detail such as trees and lakes. Miniature drawn cities were near their name marks and the pathways became much more visible. There was even a map legend and distance marker. Though there was something off about this…

“This doesn't look finished,” Link said, peering at the paper closely. It was incredibly detailed, but there was a few blank spaces on it with just filler items. The fish shook his head in amusement.

“You think I would draw the whole map for free?” He said. “Sorry pal, but that ain’t how it works. You can't do anything for free nowadays.”

“But I didn't pay anything to you this time,” Link said. The fish shook his head.

“Oh yeah you did!” He said, waggling his fin. “You gave me that heavenly fish food! Oh, I hadn't had that in a long time. I missed the spicy feel of it.”

“That was fish food!?” Link thought, horrified. It explained it's awful taste. Why would Flora give him that? Probably as some sick last laugh thing.

“If I get more food, will you finish it?” Link asked. The fish put his fin to his chin and shook his head.

“Nope!” He said cheerfully. Link just looked at him.

“But you said-”

“I know what I said, and our policy is that only one fish can only draw for you once,” Link frowned at that.

“Our policy?” He asked. The fish nodded.

“There isn't only one of me, you know,” the fish said. “We aren't exactly well known, but we have at least one of us in each body of water. If you wanted, go to my other brethren. We’ll help you out.”

“Is there any catch?” Link asked suspiciously. The fish shook his head.

“We don't do this for anybody so be grateful,” the fish said, crossing his fins. “We also hear a lot of things along the road, despite us being in water. So if you want to hear us gossiping fish, we’ll tell ya what’s going on now…for a reasonable price of course.”

Link rolled his eyes. The fish apparently noticed this and quickly kept on speaking.

“Which we will give you for free if you ask to draw your map,” he said hastily. “We only meant that if you want to hear it again, then you got to pay. Welp, I finished my end of the bargain. Later!”

“Wait what end-” Link started to ask before the fish splashed back in the lake. He sighed in frustration. Just when he finally had one of his problems solved, he was left with a another question that needed answering. Apparently, the fish had an employer that specifically gave him orders to help him out. Why would somepony be helping him out? What did they gain to do so?

Link shook the questions from his mind. It didn't matter for now. All that mattered is that they were helping him out. He would like to meet these ponies but his most important goal was to find the ponies that killed his father. He quickly felt a small wave of disappointment within him but didn't know where it came from.

He looked at his now detailed map again and found the shortest route back outside the woods again. But he suddenly felt like he wanted to go back to the forest. Like there was something important there. He shook his head. He knew of only one thing that could do that.

“Something important...awaits you there,” the voice said within his mind. Link frowned at that.

“Oh, and exactly what?” He said sarcastically, crossing his hooves over his chest. “Something important enough to actually contact me? I’ve been trying to ever since our ‘talk’ a few days ago.”

“You are mad,” the voice said matter-of-factly. “The reason of your anger is the lack of information you received that day.”

“Dang right!” Link said angrily. “I’m tired of being left in the dark! Can somepony give me some clue as to what I’m getting into?! I’m pretty sure normal colts don’t have a voice in their head unless they were insane, which I’m seriously considering to be due to what’s been happening for the past few days.”

A moment had passed before the voice answered, “The legend,”

“What legend?” Link asked. “I don’t really like vague answers.”

“The green mint mare told you it,” The voice said. “That is all I can say.”

Green mint mare? Link suddenly had a light bulb moment. It must be talking about Lyra! “Why can’t you tell me more?”

“I fear that you will stray from the path if you hear the whole truth,” the voice said apprehensively. Link then felt a surge of confidence flow through him. Why would the voice be confident at the moment? “Along the way, you will also learn the truth about your father.”

“I will?” Link asked excitedly. This was the piece of news he was waiting for. He would always lie awake at nights back at Sunset, thinking about the pony who killed his father.

“It is along your pathway,” the voice said. “But it is not at the end of it. That I assure you.”

“Not at the end?” What could possibly make him go out and explore even further? Could the answers he receive make him want to go out even further? Or did he have a different purpose, like all the other supernatural beings suggested? He also thought about the other clue the voice talked about. He remembered the legend clearly, but that left even more questions rather than answers.

“I have spoken too much,” the voice said. “Now will you honor my request and go back in the forest? I have already answered your questions.”

More like not really answer anything but this was probably all that he was going to get now. Guess he would have to take what he can and work with it. “Fine, but it better be useful.”

The voice didn’t respond. Link grumbled and re-entered back into the forest. The orange color of the sky started to shine between the leaves, making Link realize that it was getting evening. He better hurry and find whatever it was he was supposed to find.

“What am I supposed to look for anyway?” Link mumbled to himself as he pushed a few branches out of his way. He then suddenly felt a small magic pressure somewhere.

Orca had taught him to sense magic presences at will despite him being an earth pony. It would be an important skill if he didn’t want to fight any unicorns. For the pegasi and other earth ponies, he would either listen for some wing flaps or some hoofsteps. Though, while Link could sense the magic presence, he could also feel that it was far away. For something to have a magic pressure felt from some distance away could mean that it had a bigger reserve than he had ever seen. It could also be dangerous, but his curiosity won over him and he started to follow the trail.

Once he arrived, he only saw the regular forestry he had been seeing back where he came from. It didn’t really change other than the trees becoming more abundant the further he went in. He also spotted a few ledges here and there with small logs on the ground. He continued to search and sighed in frustration.

“I can feel it,” Link said gritting his teeth. He searched the ground and air. “I can feel it here, but there is absolutely no- WHAT THE HECK?!” His ponderings got cut off as he fell through the floor.

He screamed as he kept on falling through the darkness. After a moment, he saw a light down below and was gently lowered to the floor, much to his surprise. He quickly looked around the dark room. Leaves were strewn out everywhere around him, making him realize that he just fell through a leaf trap. He kept his hoof at his sword as he crept forward in the room.

The room suddenly brightened. Link covered his eyes to avoid getting blinded before tentatively uncovering them. His eyes widened at the sight in front of him.

A spring was laid out before him. The pillars surrounding it had multitudes of colors flashing about, though Link didn't know where the colors came from. A small fountain was placed in the middle of the spring, spewing out and splashing against the water around it. Link quickly heard a soft, but familiar, giggle and gripped his sword tightly. His eyes widened when a big mare appeared before him, flying without wings. Link quickly recognized who this was.

“The Great Fairy!” he said, his eyes still as wide as a frightened deer’s would. He quickly remembered his promise and grinned widely. “I have found you!”

“It looked like you did find me,” The Great Fairy said with a small grin. “I applaud you for trying to find my magic signature. Only experienced unicorns can track a magic signature down.”

“I found you, despite you telling me that I never would,” he said as he pointed a victorious hoof towards her. “Guess immortals can be proven wrong.”

“Telling you before?” The Great Fairy asked, tilting her head a little.

“You told me that it period be very hard for somepony to find a fairy fountain,” Link said, confused by the Great Fairy’s response. The Great Fairy shook her head in amusement.

“I never recall ever meeting you before,” she said, floating closer to him. “I am sure that I would remember a young face like that.”

“You’re joking,” Link said. “I specifically remembering you challenging me to find this place again.”

“It would seem that you have found one of my sisters,” The Great Fairy said. “It would explain why I do not recognize you.”

“Oh,” Link said. He then remembered what the other Great Fairy had requested him. “Sunset says hi.”

“You found Sunset then,” The Great Fairy said. Her eyes took upon a look of joy. “It has been eons since I saw her last. It seemed that she still retained her serious and competitive behavior. She always did like the sunset, so maybe that is why she sent you near here.” The Great Fairy turned towards Link. “What did she promise you to make you want to return to her fountain?”

“She promised me free healing services,” Link said. “She somehow found me after I lost a battle and took care of me. We then talked for a little before she sent me on her way.”

“I see,” The Great Fairy said, her hoof on her chin. “So that’s why you don’t know the location of the fountain, despite being there before.”

“Will you tell me where it is?” Link said with sparkly eyes. The Great Fairy laughed, confusing him.

“It has been many centuries before I have seen my sister having fun. Perhaps I will play along to this game,” she said joyously.

“Come on!” Link said in frustration. The Great Fairy laughed again and ruffled his hair, suprising him.

“You found my fountain on your own so you could use my services,” The Great Fairy said. Link looked up at her with wide eyes again.

“Really?” Link asked. When the Great Fairy nodded, he whooped joy. “WOOHOO!!”

“Though, I don’t think you can come here all that often,” The Great Fairy said, shattering Link’s mood. “Your travels will make you go far, so unless you have a form of quick transportation, I’m afraid that you can only use my fountain unless you were nearby.”

“Ah crap,” Link said, realizing what the Great Fairy was saying. “Way to ruin my triumph.”

“All is not in vain,” The Great Fairy said with a kind smile. “I will give you this gift to balance out your efforts in getting here.”

“Really?” Link asked before narrowing his eyes. “Is there some sort of catch to this?”

“It pains me to hear that a child as young as you would ask such a question,” The Great Fairy said sadly. “I am different than my other sisters and am giving this to you out of kindness.”

“Different?” Link asked. The Great Fairy smiled.

“They don’t trust the mortals of this world nowadays,” The Great Fairy said. “After a certain event happened in the past, we have clouded ourselves from the mortal world, fading from everypony’s memories and living on in only legends.”

“Doesn’t it bother you to be all alone like this?”

“Not necessarily. The fairies from the other springs come and talk to me for a bit and update me on the world. And I’ve lived long enough to the point where a few eons feel like a few seconds.”

“Still... “ Link said. The Great Fairy looked at him with an amused expression.

“No need to feel any sympathy for me,” she said gently. “I will be fine.”

“Am I the first pony to visit you?” Link asked.

“Yes, you are,” she said, frowning a little. “Why do you ask?”

“Why me?” The Great Fairy frowned a little.

“I do not understand,” she said. Link closed his eyes tightly and opened them again.

“Why does this stuff happen to me?” he continued. “I meet two forgotten goddesses, beat monsters that have never been seen before and…” He trailed off. “Why am I the only one that has seen these things?”

The Great Fairy didn’t speak for a moment. She took on a pained expression and shook her head.

“You have an extremely rough journey ahead of you,” she murmured sadly, floating towards him. She touched his cheek, making him flinch. “But this time, for one so young to take the burden.”

“What are you talking about?” Link said, backing away from her. The Great Fairy seemed to snap back to her former self and laughed nervously.

“Just the ramblings of an old immortal,” She said. “Now, I haven’t given you your gift yet, right?”

“Yeah?” Link said. He knew the Great Fairy dodged the questions yet again, like the voice did. What was it about him having a great destiny? It seemed the more information he gathered, the more questions came than answers. He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw the Great Fairy charge a green orb in her hoofs.

“You ready?” The Great Fairy asked.

“Ready for wh-” Link started to ask before he was blasted by that green ball of energy. He skidded back on the ground, coughing and gasping. He felt his magic swirl around within him chaotically, trying to merge with the green orb. It settled down after a few moments, leaving him feeling nauseous. He winced when he felt himself get picked up by the Great Fairy’s magic.

“Are you alright?” She asked with a worried expression on her face. Link slowly shook his head as he felt his stomach contents flip upside down while the blood rushed to his head. It took nearly all his willpower right then and there to not throw up all over her. She may be nice and kind but he didn’t know how she would react to that.

“Let me help you,” The Great Fairy said. One of the little fairies immediately went up to him. He was surprised to see that in the midst of the glow stood a pony with insect wings. It looked at him curiously with wide eyes before nodding. It flew around his body, instantly refreshing him as it did so. The Great Fairy levitated him slowly back onto the ground.

Whatever that fairy did seem to work as he felt his nausea disappear. He also felt his back and was surprised to feel the scratches he made while sliding on the ground disappear too.

“My children have the power to heal somepony back to full health,” she said. “My children wander far over the world, so they can help you out if you meet them at some time. They can’t replenish your magic though…”

“You’re okay with letting them roam free?” Link asked with a raised brow. “What if somepony finds one of them. You did say that you would want to keep yourself hidden.”

“I’m sure that they are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves,” The Great Fairy said. “Now onto more important things. About your gift…”

“What exactly did you give me!?” Link blurted out, interrupting her. He blushed, embarrassed at what he did. “Sorry. You can continue.”

“I gave you the right to use a forbidden spell,” The Great Fairy said.

“Which is…” he said, urging her on with his hoof.

“Farore’s wind.” She said. “It is one of the only wind spells in Equestria.”

“Farore? Like that one from the legend?” Link asked. He remembered that name from Lyra’s story! This was the second time he had heard it now. Why would a spell be named after a mythical goddess? Perhaps the creator took inspiration from the story?

“Yes,” The Great Fairy answered uncomfortably. She pursed her lips before continuing to explain, “It is a spell that would allow you to control the wind in any direction you want.”

“A wind spell?” Link asked, not really paying attention to her explanation. He was more focused on the fact that the spell had the name of one of the goddesses from the legend. The voice said that he was connected to it also. Link felt himself get angry. Curse his stupid curious nature! Now he had even more questions that needed answering!

The Great Fairy watched Link’s facial expressions change in amusement. “You would do well to listen right now. I’m teaching you how to use the spell.”

Link snapped out of his jumbled thoughts. “Huh? Oh, sorry about that.”

“Just imagine your magic flowing around you gracefully,” The Great Fairy flew around in the air. “Imagine it just taking you awaaaay.”

“That didn’t help at all,” Link deadpanned. The Great Fairy chuckled nervously.

“It feels like that,” she said. “Just imagine yourself like it and you should get far.”

“Okay then?” Link said uncertainly. “I’ll be sure to try my best then.”

“Evening is almost ending,” The Great Fairy said. “It would be best for you to leave right away. You are in a hurry, right?”

Link’s eyes widened. “Oh crap! I completely forgot! I wanted to get out of this forest by nightfall! Thanks for reminding me er..." He scratched his head. "Do you have a name I can call you? Calling multiple ponies 'Great Fairy' seems weird."

“You may call me Forest," The Great Fairy said. "And Don’t worry about your problem. I will teleport you near the exit of the forest,” The Great fairy assured. She suddenly started to levitate him, startling him a little. “Farewell. Know that you will always be welcomed here.”

Link nodded and waved her a goodbye. She closed her eyes in concentration and teleported him out of the fountain. The bend in space and reality quickly repaired itself while a little magic residue left over. She panted a bit and shook her head. “I must be really out of practice if I’m a little tired from teleporting him for a short distance.”

“I can agree on that,” a voice said behind her. The Great Fairy turned around to see an orange fish cheerfully waving at her. He splashed back into the water and came back up again, splashing the Great Fairy a little. “Wassup?”

“Still as cheerful as ever,” she said, rolling her eyes. The fish chuckled.

“I always laugh since I hate being upset,” he answered before a serious expression settled on his face. “Now, I did what you had asked for the colt.”

“I thank you for honoring my request,” The Great Fairy said with a bow. The fish waved his fins frantically, sweating a little.

“None of that now!” he said hastily, wiping the sweat off his face. “A goddess bowing down to me! That doesn’t settle my nerves right.”

“I feel that you have a question for me,” The Great Fairy said, tilting her head a bit. The fish nodded.

“Why did you want us to help him?” he asked, crossing his fins over his chest. “You know it's been eons since we have ever broken surface in front of a pony. You can’t seriously be thinking that this colt-!?”

“I can feel it,” she said, making the fish shut up immediately. “His presence was familiar, despite we never meeting before. I can also sense his determination. It is unlike any other that has been seen.”

“We’ll find out sooner or later,” the fish said. “Us animals are looking all over for him. If he truly is the one we’re looking for, then we’ll find out tonight.”

“Why tonight?” The Great Fairy asked, confused. The fish looked at her incredulously.

“You’re senses truly have dulled over the years, hasn’t it?” The fish asked. “Don’t you feel them?”

The Great Fairy closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt her magic sweeping over the forest before she felt it. She snapped her eyes opened, fearing taking place in them. “Oh no…”

“We’ll soon find out if he might be the one tonight,” The fish said, nodding his head. “All I can say is that this has gotten a lot more interesting…”

(Back with Link)

Link woke up gasping. He looked around to see the sky already dark and the moon high in the sky. Hundreds of stars lit up the sky, twinkling brightly. Link got up and yawned before checking all his things. He would have to do some research soon because he finally had a stepping stone as to what was going on. But he would have to concentrate on that later. His first priority is to get out of the forest. His danger senses flashed numerous amount of times, but he chalked it up to his nerves being jittery. He never did like being in a forest at nighttime in the first place.

Link quickly found the trail to the exit and yawned again. He reminded himself that after he was out of the forest to find someplace to sleep. He also added that he would have to get some sleeping materials for his journey.

He quickly ran through the trail. He continued to run, but failed to see the many red eyes that lurked in the shadows.

Author's Notes:

IMPORTANT NOTE: Farore's wind is not used as a teleport spell in this story. It is more like a wind guiding one.

Chapter is out! Mostly a filler but I can definitely promise some action going on next time so look forward for that! My usual requests from last time applies here so if there is something that needs fixin, I'm here.

I also realized a few things last chapter about location. Link will be traveling to different locations so this is the map I'm using it for:

Of course everything in this map is filled out, where in Link's current one is not. Just imagine something like this when he pulls it out.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE: Link will not be going to any of the big cities, such as Baltimare or Manehatten. He might go to Canterlot though...

Constructive criticism is always welcomed. Leave a comment on how you feel about this chapter and I'll see you later

Surviving the Night

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(Canterlot Castle)

The council room was bustling with small talk as a few nobles made their leave from their personal meetings. Princess Celestia was sitting at the head of the table, looking tired. Princess Luna herself even decided to attend the meeting, much to the surprise of everypony else. She looked equally out of energy as her sister. It had been a long day for both of them. It seemed that the ponies’ problems suddenly spiked up. The sudden hostility of the monsters didn't help them either.

Currently across from Celestia was one of her trusted generals. He too was even suffering from the situation they were in now. A group of other guards sat around them, all wearing their stoic and serious expressions. Celestia looked across at her sister. Luna nodded and cleared her throat to speak.

“We are here to hear thy reports about the problems the other settlements are having,” Luna announced regally, reverting to her old English speech. Celestia coughed into her hoof, though it suspiciously sounded something like “Proper language”. Luna blushed embarrassingly and cleared her throat once more.

“What we...Er...What I mean to say is I would like to hear the reports the other settlements gave us,” Luna said in a much quieter voice. The general nodded and got out a scroll from his bag.

“We did receive some reports,” the general confirmed, shuffling through his scrolls. Celestia yawned tiredly.

“Hopefully some good news?” Celestia offered. She was tired of hearing the complaints the nobles had about their problems. Those greedy ponies only ever come to her so that they can become more rich themselves. She did love her little ponies as if they were her own children, but she wished they would learn that there were more pressing matters to attend to than their petty squabbles. Unfortunately, the guard shook his head no.

“I'm afraid not,” he answered. He pulled out one particular scroll and started to read. “The attacks by the unknown creatures has been steadily increasing over time. We can't even study them as they just explode into flames or black smoke everywhere when we kill them.”

“Is there any particular target?” Celestia asked.

“It seems like Appleloosa is the one that got hit the hardest,” he answered, squinting at the scroll even more. “It says here that they get attacked every other day. All the other settlements only got attacked a few times, though it wasn't enough to spread awareness to the citizens. The guards seem to be in control there.”

“Is there anything else?” Luna asked. The general nodded.

“There has also been a big scaled invasion,” the general said. “It's at a place called Sunset Village. I personally never heard of the place, but a guard from that group apparently gave me a report about it.”

“Was it monsters?” Luna asked, alarmed. If these monsters were smart enough to initiate an attack, then they would have to plan accordingly. But the general shook his head once more.

“Not monsters, but bandits. They were able to repel the attack successfully,” the general said, much to Celestia’s relief. But the general peered at the bottom of the scroll and widened his eyes. “But the strange part is when they found the bandit camp in the next few days, there was no sign of them inhabiting the camp in the first place.”

“What!?” Luna asked incredulously. She slammed her hoof down on the table, making a few guards jump. “That is impossible! You must be lying.”

“I'm afraid that this is no lie,” the general said shakily, adjusting a few parts of his armor that got undone when he jumped. “They’ve also experienced the same guard problems that we do now.”

“The one where the guards would randomly attack citizens?” Celestia asked. The general nodded.

“They also said that their guards did the same. Afterwards, they also said that they claimed memory loss; exactly same as here.”

“The strange thing of it all is that I feel no magic interference here,” Celestia said, putting a hoof to her chin. “And I know for a fact that the guards won't turn on us for no apparent reason. What is going on?”

“I wish I had a clue,” the general said with a shrug. “But these Sunset guards believe that they have a few details on what a irrational guard might be.”

The general pointed towards one guard. The guard nodded his head and walked over across from the princesses. The guard’s helmet visor was down, covering most of his face.

“There have been a few details about this situation,” the guard said monotonously. “But unfortunately are not credible.”

“What!?” The general asked in disbelief. “Why not!?”

“The information came from an unreliable source,” the guard continued in his same, dull tone. “More specifically, a green colt and a slightly irate mare. They claimed to see a difference with the guard’s appearance, but we ruled it out since they were attacked at night. We believed it may have been the moonlight messing with their vision.”

Luna glared at the guard at the moonlight comment and was about speak before the general beat her to it.

“So you have nothing!?” The general shouted, furious. He walked up to the guard and poked him in the chest threateningly. “You have the gall to say the most useless speech ever and think it's alright!? Every moment is a moment where somepony could be in danger and you have the guts to waste our time!?”

“Stand down now!” Celestia ordered before the situation could be escalated even further. She took a deep breath to calm herself. “There is no point in this argument.”

“My apologies, princess,” the general said, bowing low. “I won't blow up like that again.”

The other guard bowed down too, but didn't say anything. Celestia sighed and put a hoof through her sparkling mane. They were going through some troubling events. Now is not the time to be fighting each other.

“Send a relief squadron to Appleloosa,” Luna ordered for her sister. “Report back to us if any other places need our help.”

“Of course,” the general said before looking at the pony next to him. The guard looked back at him, his visor hiding whatever emotion he could be feeling right now. “You will be part of that squadron. Consider it your chance to actually do something useful for once.”

The guard only nodded, still not saying anything. The general nodded to himself, satisfied. He turned back to the royal sisters. “We will not fail you.”

With that, the guards immediately piled out of the room, bowing on their way to the doors. The sisters only watched until the last guard was out of earshot. Luna turned towards her Celestia, worry etched on every feature of her face.

“Could this all be what thou has sensed a while ago,” Luna asked quietly, reverting back to her old speech. Celestia said nothing for a moment, before finally answering.

“I believe so,” Celestia said tiredly. She looked at her sister to see a shocked expression settle on her face. “But I don’t know what it is, yet. It could be an evil we faced before or an entirely new one.” She shuddered, remembering the feeling she had when she felt the malicious intent in the throne room. “Whatever it was, It is a lot stronger than the things we fought before.”

“Could the elements handle it?” Luna asked. Celestia looked down at the floor.

“I honestly don’t know,” she confessed, making Luna’s eyes widen. “All those other times, I knew that they could’ve handled it. But this enemy’s different. He’s actually planning something, unlike the others. And for the first time, I’m afraid of what his goals might be.”

While the sisters were talking, the guards were walking down, talking and whispering about what they were going to do before they were relocated. Everyone but that one guard with his helmet visor over his face. He was quickly confronted by the general.

“I don't know why, but I don't like you,” the general said bluntly, glaring hard at the pony in front of him. The guard said nothing, standing stoically in place. “I expect you to not be a liability in this mission. Understand?”

“Yes,” the guard answered robotically. The general nodded and pushed past him. The guard said nothing and looked around to see if anypony else was there. When the coast was clear, he activated his horn.

“Did you get all that?” He asked, his voice much more quieter than before. He heard some mad cackling in his head.

“Yes I did,” a mysterious, male voice answered within the guard’s head. “And this will be useful to us. While we may not be assigned to the right place, I believe that I can still turn this situation to my benefit anyway. Continue on with your own mission.”

“Of course,” the guard said. He removed his helmet visor. He had a normal face like the other guards. But the most distinguishing feature was his eyes...and the deep black color that inhabited them.

(Link’s POV)

It was now the dead of night and Link was tired. He was literally running on fumes and the constant warnings his danger sense flashed at him didn't help at all. He felt like he was being watched from all angles. But if there were any enemies watching him, why didn’t they attack yet? It didn’t help ease Link’s sleepy mind at all. It was a miracle that he didn’t even collapse on the road right now.

“I can’t go on like this anymore,” Link finally said, rubbing his eyes. He could see the exit of the forest, but he didn’t have the stamina to go on further. He probably should have rested earlier and not have ran all the way. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked around for some decent resting places. He found a tree which seemed to have a sturdy branch low enough for him to reach. He climbed it using his sword as a holding place and laid on the branch, his eyes already closing.

Clack Clack

A moment later, Link opened his eye irritatingly and closed it again. But the sound grew louder and louder, causing him to stuff his ears in his hat.

“Why can’t you just leave me alone!?” He shouted when he got up and looked down at whatever was making the noise.

Needless to say, he wished he hadn’t.

When he looked down the tree, he didn’t see anypony there in the first place. He saw what appeared to be animated pony skeletons banging themselves against the tree. Their red eyes bore into his own as they repeatedly continued slamming themselves against the tree, almost making Link lose his balance.

“What the heck am I looking at?!” he thought as he looked down at the skeletal ponies. But he received no response from the voice. He tried asking again to no avail. Looks like he was going to have to find out on his own.

The skeletons banged themselves against the tree once more. The tree shook as a few leaves fell from their branches. Link heard a swift crack and looked to see his branch about to snap off.

“Oh my-?!” Link started to say in panic before the branch gave way. He immediately unsheathed his sword and slashed in mid air, making one of the skeletons fall into a pile of bones. Before the other ones could react, he spun his sword around in a quick spin attack, slashing at the others around him. They too joined the bone pile. Link sheathed his sword and looked at the pile of bones.

“These must be the ones I sensed earlier,” Link thought, inspecting the bones. “They were literally driving me crazy.”

Suddenly, the ground started to rumble. Skeletal hooves stuck out from the ground, trying to pull themselves up. The pile of bones behind him started to float up, restructuring themselves into the ponies he had thought he defeated before. He readied his sword once more, preparing himself for the onslaught.

“Just what are these things?!” He asked himself as he dodged one swipe from the skeleton. He rolled around and slashed from behind, cutting through the bones easily. “And why are their bones so easy to cut? I thought they were harder than diamonds!”

He slashed another horde of skeletons down, but they just kept on reanimating themselves. Some of them did it in different shapes too. One skeleton had five legs while another had three heads. Some of them were harder to deal with while some were easier. Soon, Link was forced to levitate his shield and go on the offensive.

He blocked another strike and parried a slash with his sword. He did a spin attack to get rid of the skeletons trying to surround him temporarily and got out of the circle. He did a quick count of how many enemies were there.

“There’s no way I can take them all,” Link thought, trying to keep himself steady as the ground shook again and even more hooves blasted through the dirt surface. He could climb some trees, but he would get surrounded quickly. Plus, it would only benefit him if he had a long range weapon he could use when he was on higher ground, which he didn’t. He grit his teeth in frustration, seeing no options. “Is this where it ends for me? I can’t die now!”

Link readied his sword and shield, waiting as the skeletons advanced towards him. If he were to go down now he would prefer it fighting and screaming till his last breath. He prepared himself for the attack.

ZAP!

Suddenly, a green beam exploded from the sky, making all the skeletons fly. Some of them even bursted into green fire, much to Link’s surprise. His confidence quickly rose. “They can be killed! But what exactly killed them?”

A small pony jumped down into the fight, answering Link’s questions. The pony’s horn immediately lit up and blasted a small green beam into the other skeletons. All of them turned into a pile of bones. Once the remaining skeletons either burst into green flames or were a pile of bones, Link was able to take a good look at the pony who saved his life.

Link was able to tell it was a female from the shoulder length, purple mane she had. Her robes were black as well as her pointy hat. When she turned around, he saw that she had a black fur color and was really young. She was probably older than him by a few months or years even.

“You okay there, greenie?” She asked, making Link snap out of his thoughts. He couldn’t see her facial expression because of the dark. “What were you thinking taking on a horde of animated skeletons like that!? Did you purposefully try to look for them?”

Link shook his head immediately. “No, they just attacked me randomly. I was just taking a nap when they just appeared.”

“So you encountered them too,” the slightly bigger filly said. “I don’t know how you survived for so long, but you wouldn't've had any more time if I hadn’t came along.”

“Thanks for that,” Link said gratefully. The filly waved off his apology.

“Whatever,” she said. “I only came because I was destined to save you.”

“Destined?” Link asked. The filly nodded.

“See, I had my fortune told just a bit earlier. Don’t ask why this late but it told me to take care of something green or a terrible misfortune will happen to me!”

“That sounds like a load of crap,”

“Hush, will you?! So when I heard green, I became furious. I ain’t tending to nopony’s garden, ya hear me! So I flew out in anger and I must’ve not been paying attention since I flew so far. I was about to turn back when I heard your loudmouth making a lot of noise and decided to help out.”

“But I didn’t shout at all,” Link thought before he remembered a key detail from the story. “Wait, you flew? You don’t even have wings!”

“But I have this,” she said smugly. She reached her hoof to the sky and immediately a broom appeared. Link’s jaw dropped at the sight when the broom started to float upwards, dancing around in the night sky. “I’m a witch, you see.”

“A witch?!” Link said in alarm. He fumbled for his sword and held it out in front of her threateningly. The filly stared at the blade impassively. “I thought they were extinct!”

“They were,” she confirmed. She slowly pushed the blade away from her face. Link held it close to him. He continued to stare at her suspiciously. “But I’m one of the last of them. And I’m not evil. If I wanted you dead, then I would’ve left you to die to those zombie skeletons.”

Link sheepishly sheathed his sword. “I’m sorry. When I was at school, they taught us that witches were bad ponies.”

“I only live with my grandma,” she said. “I’m not a full witch yet. Just a junior. My grandma’s the one that’s teaching me how to handle the ropes.”

“There’s another one?!” Link asked in disbelief. “Is she good like you?”

“She ain’t evil also,” she said, glaring at him lightly. “Though, she says everything as if it's a riddle. It's annoying really.”

Before Link could respond, the ground shook again. His moment of peace and quiet was ruined as more skeletal hooves reemerged again. He unsheathed his sword and shield and levitated it in front of him defensively. The filly ignited her horn and stood by his backside.

“My name’s Irene by the way,” she said, glaring at the monsters behind Link. Link nodded his head, staring at the monsters advancing towards his front.

“I’m Link,” he answered. He was still tired from sleep deprivation and found himself occasionally lowering his sword too low before picking it up back again. He sported some small cuts the skeletons had made from the previous attack, but they weren’t too serious. He would still have to be careful, even though he had Irene by his side.

Irene was the one who made the first move. She started by blasting that green beam of hers directly at the skeletons. It tore through them, collapsing them into a pile bones. Link started hacking and slashing at the skeletons on his side. He too only made them turn into piles of bones.

“How do you kill these things?!” Link asked as he stopped a few skeletons from reanimating. Irene continued blasting them away, but only received the same results as Link.

“I don’t know!” She yelled back. Her magic signature on her horn brightened up considerably, lighting up the area around her. “Let me see if they have any weak spots!”

Link only grunted as he dodged another skeleton’s swipe. He receded away and slowly approached them again in caution. The skeleton swiped at him and he jumped, preparing to flip and slash at the monster from above.

Suddenly, a skeletal hoof shot up from the ground, grabbing Link’s back hoof while in mid jump, preventing him from performing the counterattack. It pulled and slammed him back into the ground. Link grunted in pain as his vision went blurry. The skeleton in front of him swiped again and cut through Link’s back.

Link yelled in pain as he tried to slash at the skeleton, but quickly stopped as he felt his back hoof in pain. He saw the skeleton’s head rising from the ground, biting his back hoof hard. It prevented him from moving anywhere.

The skeleton moved to make another slash, but quickly exploded as Irene’s magic beam pierced through its chest. It exploded into flames this time, instead of piling on the ground. Link quickly jabbed at the skeleton head on the ground, piercing through its eye hole. It let go of him as Link quickly scrambled away from it. He hissed in pain as he accidentally applied too much pressure to his back hoof.

“I found its weak spot!” Irene said gleefully. “But it’s hard to see. You have to increase the brightness on your horn.”

Link added a bit more magic to his horn, increasing the light in the aura around his sword and shield as well as his horn. The area around him became more visible as well as the skeletons. Now that the area was bright, he thought he could see something inside the skeletons’ ribcage…

“See that dark orb in their chests,” Irene said. Link looked at her as she blasted another skeleton directly through the chest. It bursted into flames instead of reanimating. “That’s their weak spot!”

Link nodded and got up, carefully minding his back hoof. He would be a lot slower without his back hoof, but he had to stay in front of the skeleton to stab it anyways. He then felt something warm on his back. He felt it and winced when he felt a sharp pain register in his nerves as well as something wet in his hoof.

“Nasty wound huh?” Irene said, bumping her back to his. He winced when he felt the pain again. “Don’t worry about it. After we get rid of all these monsters, we’ll get you to my grandma’s. She knows how to brew some healing potions.”

Link nodded his head gratefully, not wanting to waste his energy on speaking. He jumped forward and stabbed a skeleton through the chest. The skeleton burst into flames, much to his satisfaction. Soon, the tides have turned. The skeletons were the ones that were getting battered all over the place instead of the victims. Link’s back hoof still bothered him as well as his back, but he blocked it out. Soon, the skeleton numbers thinned out until there were only a few left.

“Is that the only spell you know?” Link asked when he saw Irene shoot another skeleton to its death with her laser blast. He didn’t really see her use anything else while fighting.

“No,” she answered back. “I know a few minor curses, but I can’t use them when the target is already cursed.”

“Wait, these skeletons are cursed?!”

“Yeah, I can feel them. They weren’t like this by nature,”

“Who could’ve done this?” he muttered to himself. He stabbed the last skeleton, making it burst into flames. Both of them watched the flames until it petered out, leaving a burn mark on the ground. They looked around wearily, tired from the numerous amounts of skeletons attacking them. Link could barely feel the magic in his body. He had never drained it to this point of near empty before in his life. It really didn’t feel good, that’s for sure.

When they thought that no more was coming, Link unceremoniously plopped to the ground, immediately dropping his sword and shield on the ground in front of him. He finally felt the full blast of pain from his back and hoof, making him almost go unconscious right then and there. He heard heavy panting right next to him, showing him the Irene was also giving into the aftereffects of the battle.

“Pretty...rough battle...huh?” Irene said to Link, falling down to her knees as she tried to regain her breath. Link didn’t even react. He simply didn’t have the energy to do anything at all. Irene ruffled through her robes and pulled out a green flask. She drank half of it before offering some to Link. Link stared at the foreign object, not knowing what it was.

“Drink it up,” Irene urged him, bumping the bottle on top of his head. “It’s a potion that my grandma makes me carry around in emergencies. It helps regain your magic. I can barely feel anything within you so you need this.”

Link weakly lifted his head up, putting his lips to the rim. He let the green liquid trail down into his mouth. When it reached his taste buds, his eyes widened as he immediately felt the urge to spit it out.

“Don’t spit it out!” Irene said. She closed his lips up forcefully and tilted his head backwards. Link drank the potion reluctantly. After a moment, he got an energy boost, immediately standing up again. That potion didn’t taste very good, but it had some extraordinary effects!

“I never regained this much energy in such a short time before,” Link said in amazement. He looked at Irene, who confusingly enough was still kneeling on the floor. “Didn’t the potion make you get any energy too?”

“My magic radiation limit was almost full by the time I got here. I flew so much that I didn’t realize I was drinking the potions to keep my broom flying,” she said, panting a lot less now. She opened her robes up to show the empty bottles inside. “You never had your magic this drained before, haven’t you?”

“How did you guess?” Link asked in surprise. Irene let out a little giggle.

“I have to practice a lot of spells as a witch,” she said, looking up at the sky. “I’m a really stubborn pony, so I practice my spells until I master it or I run out of magic. The first time I ran out of magic, I reacted the same way as you did. After it happened a few times, I could control my fatigue.”

Link nodded, then frowned. Earlier, she said something about magic radiation. He never heard of this before.

Before he could think about it any further, the ground rumbled again. A hoof shot through the ground once more, but it was twice as big as the other little ones they were facing. The skeleton pony popped out of the ground, wearing a helmet while also equipped with a sword and shield. It glared its red eyes at them menacingly. A second skeleton pony popped up right next to it, equally as armed and big as the first one.

“OH COME ON!” Irene yelled in exasperation. Link didn’t mind her yelling. He was feeling the same way as well. “Haven’t we dealt with enough of these things?!”

Link levitated his sword and shield as Irene painfully got up. Link still felt the blood on his back as well as his maybe-broken hoof. Link immediately ran up to one of them, ignoring the throbbing pain in his hoof, and quickly slammed his shield into its shield while locking swords. Both of them tried to overcome the other, though Link could feel his strength quickly failing him. His sword finally got knocked out of his hands as the bigger skeleton’s sword ripped through his armor and through his chest. Link didn’t bother to hold back his scream as he weakly levitated his shield up to block the second strike. He successfully blocked it, but the shield almost slammed into his face from the force of the blow and how weak he was.

Irene wasn’t faring so well either. She blasted a beam at it. The skeleton lifted its shield up and bounced it back, hitting her straight in the chest with her own attack. She fell down, bolts of green electricity arcing around her body. The skeleton advanced towards her, his sword glinting evilly in the moonlight.

When Link saw this, he felt another sudden energy boost go through him. He looked at his own opponent and ignited his horn. Instead of his usual green aura, his horn glowed bright gold. His left hoof glowed gold too as a certain symbol flashed on top.

“FARORE’S WIND!” He shouted as a blast of wind erupted seemingly out of nowhere, blowing the skeleton away from him and pinning it to a tree. Link quickly got up and threw his sword. It traveled along with the momentum of the wind and slammed itself directly into the skeleton’s chest. It promptly burst itself into azure flames. Strangely enough, it didn’t burn the tree at all.

Link wasn’t done there yet though. He immediately shot his hoof towards the other direction. The wind immediately changed direction, blowing itself in the position of where the second skeleton was. The sword flipped itself and shot past Link, missing his face by a few inches. It embedded itself in the skeleton’s back, piercing it deeply enough for it to go all the way to its chest area. It blew up into flames too, leaving a shocked Irene behind.

Link fell to the ground, his sudden energy boost gone. His horn’s golden aura faded as well as his hoof. He could see the blood spilling from his chest onto the ground while his vision constantly blurred. While Link laid on the ground, Irene looked at the colt who saved her life in disbelief. She felt a huge energy signature emit from him, bigger than any other she had ever seen. She felt Twilight Sparkle’s energy signature and it was enormous. Yet, it couldn’t even compare to what she felt now.

As quick as she felt it, it was gone. Her mind finally registered the fallen Link on the floor and her eyes widened. She shakily got up and ran over to him. His eyes were barely open and she saw the new wound on his chest. She quickly tore strips of her robe off and tied it around his waist and back so he wouldn't lose anymore blood. She also did it for his hoof as she saw him limping without it.

She conjured her broom up and carefully placed Link on it. She hopped on it and started to fly. Hopefully she had enough magic to make it to Ponyville. She looked back at her passenger and saw him sleeping. She knew he was hiding something, but she didn’t exactly know what. She quickly shook these thoughts out of her head and concentrated on the direction to Ponyville.

“Things just got a lot more interesting,” she muttered, taking another look at Link before zooming off to Ponyville.

Ponyville

View Online

The sunlight beamed through a window, shining on Link’s face. He groaned as he opened his eyes, exposing them towards the blinding light. He stretched his body, only to wince as pain wracked through his muscles. He looked down and found his whole midsection along with his back hoof bandaged. A few parts of it was still stained with dried blood. He heard some hoofsteps and found Irene carrying a basin full of water. She looked surprised to see him awake.

“Well look who woke up!” She said with a grin. She sat the basin down towards his bed and sat right next to him. “You’re made of some tough stuff! To be able to survive and wake up so soon after that.”

“How long was I out?” Link asked wearily, rubbing the drowsiness out of his eyes.

“About the whole night maybe?” She answered uncertainly. “You were in really bad shape. By the time I arrived, my grandma was barely able to fix you up. Gave me an earful while she was at it.” She chuckled at that, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. Link frowned.

“This is your home?” He asked, looking around. “Where is it?”

“On the outskirts of Ponyville,” Irene said. “It’s about a 20 minute walk from here to the entrance.”

“How did you carry me?” Link couldn’t imagine her levitating him all the way to Ponyville. Irene giggled and her broom appeared right next to her.

“Forget that I’m a witch?” she said smugly. Link chuckled sheepishly and rubbed his head. He made a move to get out of the bed, only to hiss and recede back into the covers when he felt some pain go through in his back hoof. “Looks like we still have to take care of that. Hold on, I’ll get my grandma.”

She walked out of the room and returned a moment later with a taller witch in black robes. Her face was covered by her witch hat. When she lifted it up, Link’s mind registered the black and white stripes that ran down her whole face. She had three golden hoops covering her neck as well as one on each ear as earrings. Link then realized that he was staring at a zebra.

“Greetings stranger,” the zebra said with a mysterious aura around her voice. Her eyes scoured his form and then rested on his eyes, giving him a piercing look. “I assure you that you are in no more danger.”

Link raised a brow, sweating a little, “Thanks...I guess?”

“Can you not talk in rhymes?” Irene pleaded, facehoofing. “I don’t want him to think we’re weird.”

Though, the zebra ignored her. She walked up to him, not breaking eye contact. “Zecora is my name. Who do you claim?”

“Er...Link ma'am,”

“Link, is it? You sound a bit rigid.”

“He needs to be fixed up,” Irene interrupted, staring at Zecora with a flat look. Zecora looked at her expectantly, making her sigh.

“You want to make everything a lesson, don’t you?” she muttered before standing up straight. She walked to the shelf and grabbed a bottle filled with red liquid and a roll of bandages. She walked back over to Link. “Hold still. This may hurt a bit.”

“What do you me- YOWCH!!” he started to say before yelling as Irene ripped out the bandages on his back hoof. Link bit down on his tongue hard as to not scream anymore from the sudden patches of fur being ripped out of his hoof. She then slathered the red liquid out of the now exposed wound. “Take out the bandages to expose the wound and rub the healing potion over it. Happy now grandma?”

Zecora shook her head. “You forgot one important thing. It would’ve hurt the patient more than just a little sting.”

“What?!” Irene demanded, completely oblivious to Link’s pained face. Zecora walked up to Link and felt his forehead, minding his horn. She felt around for a bit more before turning to Irene.

“You forgot to check for magic radiation. Without checking it, his health will drain like a holed basin.”

Irene’s eyes widened. Her horn immediately blazed to life and Link felt something search through his body, disturbing him a little. He heard Irene let out a little sigh as she let her horn die down.

“What was that?” he asked, feeling up his body. Irene looked at him and Link could see her sweating, an aftereffect of an adrenaline rush.

“I was checking your magic radiation level,” she explained, panting a bit. “Luckily, it was low enough to accept more of the magic potion.”

Link adopted a confused expression on his face, “What’s a magic radiation level?”

He had been wondering about that for a while. He heard the medic back at Sunset Village use it and Irene when they were taking a break from fighting the monsters. Though, he felt a little self conscious when Irene looked at him as if he was crazy.

“You don’t know what magic radiation is?!” she cried out, making Link wince at his lack of knowledge. “And you’re a unicorn? What have you been learning all these years?!”

“I was raised by an earth pony,” he defended himself, making Irene’s eyes widen. Link then frowned. Irene made it sound like it should be common knowledge, though Link never heard the word ever used before all the crazy stuff happened. “Should I know it?”

“You should, if you’re a unicorn,” Irene said. “But if you were raised by an earth pony, then I guess it makes sense.”

“Magic radiation is foreign magic in the body,” Zecora spoke up. “Never make consuming lots of it a hobby.”

“What my grandma means to say is that magic radiation limit is how much a pony’s body can take of foreign magic,” Irene explained. “Everypony has their own magic signature, even pegasi and earth ponies. It’s possible to transfer that magic into somepony else’s body, though it is extremely harmful to. Because of this, consuming a lot of different magic into your body can make you very sick.”

“What’s this got to do with that potion?” Link asked. He remembered she only freaked out after she put the potion on his hoof. Irene noticed this and started to wrap a new set of bandages over his hoof.

“The potion has magic in it to accelerate healing,” she said, closing the bottle with a cork. “More specifically, my magic. It enters your body to make you heal faster, but you can only have so much different magic inside of you before the potion actually harms you instead of healing you.”

“I see…” Link muttered. It did actually make some sense. Instant healing must have some drawbacks. The concept of just instantly having full health from drinking a small potion without any repercussion was ridiculous and overpowered, no matter how awesome that sounded.

“I don’t think you can take anymore of this today,” Irene said. “The amount of radiation in your body during the night was dangerously close to exceeding your limit. Don’t drink anymore for now.”

Link nodded and got out of bed. Surprisingly, his hoof didn’t hurt at all, even when he added pressure on it. He looked around and saw that his tunic was on a clothes line through the window. Zecora noticed his gaze and walked to the shelf. She grabbed the sword and shield from it along with his hat. Link took it gratefully and dropped the sword and shield in it, making the both of them gape at him like a fish.

“Bottomless hat,” he answered, making them release their expressions. Irene shook her head.

“I’m not even going to ask,” she said, walking out of the room. Link followed her to the clothes line, where he levitated his tunic to him.

“My armor is still in there,” he said, before looking surprised. “It isn’t even damaged!”

“Be grateful for that thing. If it weren’t for that armor, we’d still be picking bone chips out of your hoof,” Irene said with a giggle. Link took out the armor and dropped it in his hat. After all, it would look weird for a colt to be clanking about with each step in the middle of town. Zecora stood beside Irene, wearing an unreadable expression. Link turned to them both and bowed his head low.

“Thanks for everything. If it weren’t for you guys, I wouldn’t know where I would be,”

“You better be! You still aren’t done with your treatment though. Come back in the evening. Your magic radiation should’ve lowered by then.”

Link nodded and looked at the dirt pathway. It seemed very far away from town. “Why do you live here anyway? Why can’t you just live in town?”

“Our home used to be in the Everfree Forest. Though some monsters came like an unwanted tourist. Our home got wrecked, forcing us to leave and accept.”

“Still doesn’t explain why you would be out here,” Link said. Irene tapped her hooves nervously together, biting her lips.

“You see, it's kind of like your first reaction to when I revealed I’m a witch,” Irene explained. “Some folks... don’t take us witches kindly. It’s the reason why I know a stun spell and keep my horn activated whenever I go into town. Everypony can’t be like you and accept us.”

Link winced at the prospect. “I’m sorry. It must’ve not been easy for you.”

Irene waved off his apology, “Don’t feel any pity for me. I don’t appreciate it. I already accepted the fact that not everypony has to like me. At least you and a few others accept who I am and that’s enough for me and Grandma.”

“Alright then,” Link said uncertainly. He then walked off the dirt path, raising his tunic above his chest to hide the bandages. “I’ll see you later.”

He walked along the path for a few minutes before he heard a “WAAIIT!”

He looked behind him to see Irene running towards him. She stopped and panted once she reached him.

“I *pant* forgot to give you *pant* this,” she reached into her robe to pull out a… bell?

“What do I need this for?” Link asked, holding it in front of his face. It didn’t look like anything special. Though, Link could feel some sort of enchantment emanating from it.

“It’s for when you need my help,” Irene said. “It’s tied to my magic. I still have to take care of you, greenie.”

Link remembered the talk she had with him while they were fighting the skeletons, “You still going on about that stupid fortune? That’s all a load of crap.”

“Not for witches,” Zecora said behind him, making him yelp in surprise and back away. “It is very important we listen to the prophecy’s wishes.”

“Fortunes are very important to us,” Irene glowered at him, daring him to prove her wrong. “Don’t diss that for us.”

“Okay! Okay…” Link said, holding his hooves up in a placating manner. “I still believe this fortune telling is all phony, but I won’t deny some help. What can you do to help me?”

“I can transport you to faraway places on my broom,” she huffed, still ticked off by his previous answer. She flicked her hoof, making her broom appear alongside her. “Don’t call me all the time though. I ain’t your personal carriage. I still have a life to attend to so don’t be surprised when I don’t come a few times. The bell is tied with my magic so I’ll know where you’ll be when you ring it.”

“Thanks!” he said gratefully, stashing away the bell for later. Irene nodded and started to walk back with Zecora.

“Remember to come back in the evening!” she called back to him, making him shout back about how he will be there. He looked back at the dirt path and followed it.

“Guess I’m entering another town,” Link thought as he approached the entrance. “I wonder what will happen here?”

He approached the entrance and already saw a bunch of cottages lined up in an orderly fashion. Link could see the many ponies bustling about, greeting and talking with each other. He had never seen so many ponies in just one place, and he was on the outskirts of town! “This sure is different from Sunset Village.”

He walked around, taking in the many sights the place had to offer. He did draw in a few looks because of his clothing, but they shrugged it off almost immediately and went back to their own business. It was kind of hard to believe that Irene was scared to go here. Link also saw a couple of guards walking around in small groups, their spears ready at their back. Guess other towns had to have their own platoons too.

After some time had passed and he walked for quite a while, he reached to one simple conclusion: he was lost.

“How can somepony find themselves around this place? It’s like a freaking maze!” Link wondered, still aimlessly walking about. As if to make things worse, his stomach started to growl. “Great, now I’m hungry. I don’t have any means of getting food and I have to use the money Orca gave me sparingly.”

He walked over a bridge and entered a circular area. A cone-shaped building sat right in the middle of it with many ponies entering it at once. Link could only guess that this was the town hall.

“Maybe I could explain my situation?” Link said to himself before immediately dismissing the idea. “No, they wouldn’t cut corners. What reason would they have to believe me anyway?”

He approached a fountain and saw a few bits in it. He considered stealing some, before cutting that idea as well. “I won’t steal anything. I still have my morals to believe in.”

His stomach protested against his statement. “Though I could still use them to buy some good food.”

“You and me both buddy,”

“Yeah,” Link replied dreamily before he blinked. He looked back at the fountain to see a small orange fish looking back at him.

It raised a fin in greeting, “Wassup?”

Link didn’t even hesitate to reply, “Hi there.”

“It looks like you aren’t even surprised to see me,” the fish said. Link rubbed his eyes.

“I’ve met your kind before,” Link explained. “They said I would meet other fish like you and if I do, you will draw...me...a map.”

Link trailed off, his eyes getting wider and wider as he said the last few words. He looked back at the fish as if it was his saviour, which, in a way, it was. The fish looked back at him nervously.

“Did he now?” he said, poking his fin together. “But you need to give me something first.”

As quickly as his hope rose, it crashed down into the deep dark pits of his heart. He realized that he didn’t have anymore fish food. However, the fish continued.

“But I overheard your dramatic speech earlier,” he said, wagging his fin. “I’m much more lenient than my other family members so I’ll give it to you for now.” The fish dropped back down into the water and splashed back up with a piece of paper. “Good thing I had one premade. I’ll give you two days to owe me. I’m looking forward to my payment.”

“Thanks very much!” Link grabbed the map and looked at it. Now that he had a closer look, Ponyville was actually very well organized. It must’ve been the random twists and turns he took that led him to be lost. The town square, the area he was in, apparently connected to every district. What he was interested right now was the marketplace. He would have to find a good sleeping spot outside though.

“There are many places that you should check out,” the fish said. “If you think you're at a place on your main map, maybe some of my brethren can give you a detailed map of the place if you're nearby a lake. Just bring fish food though.”

“I guess so,” Link said, stashing the map away in his hat for later. “Thanks for this again.”

“You still owe me,” the fish warned. “If you don’t get my food within the deadline, then I’ll warn the rest of my brethren to not give you any information.”

“How can you warn them? You’re in an isolated fountain.”

“Don’t question us. We can speak fluently, unlike other creatures, and have unique magic. That proof for ya?”

“Fair enough,” Link shrugged, only to hold his stomach again. He really needed something to eat. “Gotta go!”

“Remember your promise!” He heard the fish call back at him. He could only hope that nopony else heard that.

He rushed off into the marketplace in search of a cheap restaurant. He pulled the emergency funds that Orca gave him and counted it. Looks like he only had enough for one measly meal. He would have to buy random fruits and vegetables from stalls and hoped it would suffice for the day.

While he was thinking these thoughts, he didn’t pay attention to where he was going. He ended bumping into some mare. “Ow! Sorry about that ma’am.”

“It’s fine,” the mare said, turning around to look at him. When they both made eye contact, both wore an expression of shock at the same time.

“Is that you Link?” the mare asked. Link grinned back at the familiar face.

“I could say the same thing about you, Lyra,” Link said joyfully.

“I can’t believe I’m seeing you here!” Lyra gushed, bringing him into a small hug. Link hugged back with equal force. “What have you been up to?”

“Well…” Link started to say before his stomach decided to interrupt at that time. “Urrgh…”

“Seems like you’re hungry,” Lyra said before clapping her hooves together. “I know! Why don’t we catch up while having some lunch. I’m starting to get a bit hungry myself.”

Link nodded immediately and let her take the lead.

(An hour later)

“No way!” Lyra exclaimed when Link was done with his story. “You mean to say that there was a huge raid on the village right after I left?!”

“Yup,” Link nodded his head and dove into his food once more. He then leaned back and burped, relishing in the feeling of a full stomach. “It happened right when Orca was coronating me too.”

“Is my grandma okay?” Lyra asked, concerned.

“There weren’t any losses that day, so I’m pretty sure she’s fine. If just a little traumatized.”

“That’s a relief,” Lyra looked at the window, suddenly feeling sad. “Hearing that makes me feel extremely grateful. There are other folks that don't have the same luck as me.”

“What do you mean?”

Lyra sighed. “Do you know a pony named Applejack? Wait, don’t answer that. Who doesn’t know her.” She chuckled dryly. Meanwhile, Link inwardly panicked at the name.

“Applejack’s here?!” Link thought frantically before realizing something. “How stupid am I?! Ponyville’s only on the main map because it’s the home to the legendary elements of harmony! That includes my older cousin! I’m so screwed!”

“You okay Link?” Lyra asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. “You went a little pale there.”

“Sorry,” Link apologized. “I just...was thinking about what happened during the raid. I fought in it too, ya know.”

“Oh right!” Lyra said before hanging her head. “I’m sorry I made you tell me. It must’ve been a horrifying experience for you.”

“It’s fine,” Link waved it off, but was hesitant about what he was going to say next. “What were you saying before?”

“Applejack,” she said again, looking at the window. Link looked in her direction and was surprised to see a barn on a hill far away. “It probably isn’t my business to say, but recently something happened to her uncle and cousin. They found the uncle’s dead body, but they couldn’t find the colt’s. Other than that, Appleloosa has been getting pounded by monster attacks. Applejack just left to help out at their farm. We’re hoping that nothing else had happened to her family.”

“I’m sorry,” Link said. Outside, he kept a calm expression, though it was a completely different story on the inside. His family was here, and he really didn’t want them to find him. It was already a miracle that one of his cousins wasn’t here. All he had to do was steer away from the other two. Applebloom and Big Macintosh, he thought they were called.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Link? You’re shaking in your seat,” Lyra pointed out. Link froze and looked down. He felt his forehead and realized he was sweating.

“Never better!” Link said nervously. Lyra looked at him and was about to speak before he was saved by the ringing of the door.

Link quickly looked to see who it was and saw a mare with white fur. Her mane was curly with three colors: blue, pink, and white. Her cutie mark consisted of a piece of candy. The mare’s face brightened when she saw Lyra.

“Lyra!” The mare exclaimed, walking over to Link and Lyra. “I’ve been looking for you! Did you forget to meet up at the park with me?”

“Bonbon!” Lyra shouted, walking over to her as well. “Sorry about that. I was catching up with a friend.”

The mare called Bonbon settled her gaze on Link. “Is it him?”

Lyra nodded. “Yeah. His name is- mmph!?”

Link quickly blocked Lyra’s mouth with his hoof and said the first name that came to his mind. “Rift! My name...is Rift! Nice to meet you Bonbon.”

Lyra spat out Link’s hoof. “Rift!? What are you-?!”

Link quickly forced Lyra’s lips shut as he let a nervous grin settle on his face. Surprisingly, he can be very specific with his magic under stress. He looked around and saw everypony staring at him.

Bonbon looked shocked at first before she looked at him weirdly. “Why’d you shut Lyra’s mouth like that?”

“She was about to say something demeaning about me,” Link lied, wincing as he did so. Link, the biggest liar in the world, was related to the element of honesty. How hypocritical. "But I can't let anypony know my real name. One pony that knows my real name can blab to Applejack. I can imagine the following events after that won’t be pleasant at all.”

He let go of Lyra’s lips and stood back, sweating nervously. Lyra dusted herself off and glared at him.

“That was completely unnecessary...Rift,” Link mentally cheered at her cooperation. He made a quick mental note to get her something to show his appreciation. “I wasn’t going to say anything bad about you.”

“Yeah well…” Link said before he shrugged. “I don’t take any risks.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Rift,” Bonbon said. Though, Link could still see her giving him that strange look again. Lyra, on the other hand, completely ignored everything that just happened.

“Did you come here by yourself?” Lyra asked. Link nodded his head yes. “Do you know where you're staying then?”

“I plan on staying in the park,” Link answered, completely oblivious to Bonbon’s surprised expression. “I’ll bet there are some nice trees there. I’ll plan my next move later.”

“Not gonna happen,” Lyra said immediately. It was Link’s turn to be surprised.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re staying with us,”

“Lyra!” Bonbon exclaimed in a surprised tone. “We can’t just offer random ponies to stay at our house!”

“Lighten up Bonbon,” Lyra retorted. “Besides, he is the colt I told you about who saved me in the WhiteTail woods.”

“He is?!” Bonbon looked at him closely, causing him to take a step back. “I guess it’s alright then…”

“You don’t have to,” Link protested, waving his hooves frantically. “I don’t want to impose…”

“Nonsense,” Lyra said, shutting down his argument. “I won’t allow you to sleep outside. Especially since you’re injured.”

“How did you get those anyways?” Bonbon asked.

“Monster ambush,” Link replied. “Considering what happened out there, I was really lucky. Zecora was able to heal me up though.”

“Looks like she didn’t do a good job…”

“My magic radiation limit was almost filled up, so she asked me to come by again in the evening.”

They all left the restaurant. Once they were out, Lyra slowed down and kept pace with Link.

“What was all the ‘Rift’ stuff about?” she whispered. Link looked around for any potential eavesdroppers before whispering back.

“I’ll explain later,” he said. “But the shortened version is that there is a specific somepony here and I don’t want them to know I’m here as well.”

He ignored her confused expression and walked further along.

“Right then,” Lyra said. “Me and Bonbon have some business to attend to. Do you have a map...Rift?”

Link reached in deep into his hat and pulled out of his map. He regarded their awed expressions with a sigh. “I’ll explain about my hat later.”

“Er...Okay then,” Lyra said uncertainly. She fished out a quill from her purse and drew a circle in one of the districts. “This is where we live. Explore around for a bit before coming back, got it?”

“Yes ma’am,” Link said with a salute. “And thanks again for everything. I’ll stop by Zecora’s place first though. I'll repay you back.”

Lyra nodded. “No problem. And don't worry about it. I'll see you later."

With that, the two mares departed. Link waved them goodbye before looking at the map. “Now where to next…”

So Link wandered around Ponyville during his time. No matter where he went, he would always find each area filled with ponies. He once found himself near the apple farm and steered clear before anypony saw him.

After sometime, he found himself lying on the grass near the outskirts of Ponyville. He let the breeze mess up his mane and was about to fall asle-

“AAIIIEEEEEEE!!!”

Link’s eyes snapped open and he looked towards a sky. He only had a moment’s glance before something red blocked his vision of the sky. It flew over him, the screaming continuing to pierce the air. He saw it fly overhead the nearby forest and disappeared into the woods. After a few seconds, he heard whatever it was crash. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one that noticed it.

“What was that?!”

“I know those voices! Those were from the infamous Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders!? But Applejack and Rarity aren't even here!”

“What were they doing?”

“I’m not going into the Everfree! After what the monsters did to Zecora’s hut, I’m not going to go one step into that blasted forest!”

“What are we going to do then?”

Link heard the comments around him with great interest. “Sounds like this forest is no ordinary forest. And the three screams I heard are no mistake either. Guess I’ll go check it out for myself.”

While everypony was arguing and shouting, they didn’t notice a green colt, now equipped with a sword and shield, slink into the forest.

(Somewhere Else)

“STOP IT!! PLEASE, I’M BEGGING YOU!!”

“Will you shut your trap already? Jeez, this is so troublesome.”

In a middle of a dark room was a bubbling cauldron with a cloaked pony. But this was no ordinary pony. Instead of the usual red cloak, he had a white cloak on him. He was standing over a cauldron filled with a bubbling red liquid. The disturbing part was the other pony hanging over him, completely covered in blood and cuts. The droplets of blood rapidly dripped into the cauldron, steaming as it did so.

“How is it going?” A voice said behind white cloak. White cloak turned around to see the purple cloaked pony behind, his red eyes visible through his hood.

“Incredibly slow,” white cloak drawled. He looked up at the tied up pony, who was shaking in place. “Nuh uh. No. Bad boy. You’re spilling your blood all over the floor.”

White cloak levitated a knife stained with rust and blood and was about to stab the pony again when Purple cloak grabbed his hoof.

“We don’t need the subject dead now,” Purple cloak said, his creepy grin flashing through his hood. White cloak seemed to be unfazed and chose to groan instead.

“This whole thing is so stupid,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “Why does blood only retain its magical properties outside the body if the host is dead? It makes it so much more harder to drain it all.”

“I personally think it’s more fun that way,” Purple cloak said cheerfully. “The screams they make when you stab them. The harmonic sound of blood hitting the cauldron in little droplets. The even louder screams when you stab them once more to speed up the blood flow. I think the best part is when you increase their life force with magic just to keep them alive. They can’t even commit suicide in their state!”

“You always did have a strange sense of humor, boss man,” White cloak said. “Why do you need all this blood anyways?”

Purple cloak’s expression darkened immediately. “I want to practice an ancient spell my master taught me way long back. I never bothered to perform it, until a few doors opened in my head and I saw the usefulness in this spell. For now, I need all of the pony’s blood in order to perform it. Once I’m done practicing, I want to be able to do it with only a few droplets.”

“Which means we’re going to have to extract more blood from other subjects,” White cloak said. At Purple cloak’s nod, he groaned once more. “Why me?”

“You have the most precise magic control here, next to me. You would be perfect for collecting all those blood droplets on the ground. I did say I need all of the pony’s blood to perform it. Once I can use less blood, you can be a bit...careless,” Purple cloak answered. “And as much fun as it sounds, I have much more important matters to take care of.”

The tied up pony coughed up more blood, making White cloak flare up his magic and catch it in midair. He dropped it into the cauldron.

“And you’ve just proven my point,” Purple cloak said. The tied up pony turned his head slowly at him, his chest heaving. His eyes were completely glazed over. “Oh joy! It looks like he lost all of his sanity.”

“At least it will make it a lot easier for me,” White cloak said. He levitated the knife back up and slashed once more, making the blood droplets fall faster. The tied up pony didn’t even scream this time. “Much more better.”

“I will see you later, my loyal apprentice,” Purple cloak said. “Contact me once you’re done. I would like to start as soon as possible.”

“Will do, boss man,” White cloak said, saluting. Purple cloak nodded and walked out of the room.

“This spell can change the tide to my favor,” he muttered to himself. “After all, what’s better to match the strength of your biggest threat other than himself.”

Author's Notes:

Screw Zecora's rhyming! I'm pretty sure half the sentences didn't even rhyme with each other XD. Other than that, I'm back guys! After a much needed break from my work and this, I give you this. My plot is all organized again with only a few details needed to be implemented. For now, I will give you this. I apologize for being late, but I got held up with a lot of work. Seems like I need to do some explaining now.

Magic Radiation! I added this feature because I thought instant healing from a potion would be too overpowered. It's mainly as a restriction and it definitely is not restricted to just magic potion. Many other variables are added as well, which will be seen later. Other than that, I got nothing.

Thanks for waiting guys! I will see you later next chapter.

The Everfree

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The tree leaves blocked out any rays of sunlight, leaving the forest’s atmosphere dark and ominous. Link trudged through the fallen leaves, his back hoof aching slightly. He guessed the potion’s effect must be wearing off by now. He ignored the fact and kept walking along. If somepony wasn’t going to go and help who ever fell into this forest then he would have to do it himself. He couldn’t just stand by when nopony was helping. So he mustered whatever strength and courage he had left and entered this place.

Link could see why nopony wanted to enter this forest in the first place. The atmosphere alone was filled with a light purple fog, curling around him as if it was alive. His danger senses were tingling rapidly, making him dart his eyes rapidly. He followed the dirt trail in between the trees as he was sure he would get lost if he went into the woods. It is because of how he was lost earlier was why he noticed the odd details in his surroundings as landmarks he might use later to help him get back.

Snap Snap

Link froze as his ears flickered suddenly. He narrowed his eyes, trying to peer through the fog. He could make out a small shadow in front of him. It appeared to be quadruped and quite large as well. The fog prevented him from seeing any more details. He saw the animal rear its front legs up and its body above its middle area warped a bit.

“ROOOOAAAARRR!!!!!”

Link heard the distinctive cry with wide eyes. His fur was standing on their edge as his ears pressed themselves to his head against his will. He steeled his nerves and tried to calm himself, only to go back into the same position when he saw the shadowed figure getting bigger, indicating it was going in his direction.

He quickly dove into the bushes. He pressed his ears against his head willingly this time as to hide himself better as he raised his eyes out of the bush. What saw him made him quake all the way down to his hooves.

A big creature with a face of a lion blocked his view. Its red mane spiked around its head as it bared its fangs. Link also saw its tail swish around, immediately seeing the barb on the end of it with even more fear. Its jagged claws on the end of its paws were stained red with blood, probably from its earlier meal. All these details clicked together in Link’s head as he suddenly knew what kind of monster he was looking at.

“A manticore!” he exclaimed in his mind. “Of course with my kind of luck, I’ll be encountering one just as I enter the damn forest. What are they doing out here anyways? I thought they were deeper into the forest.”

The manticore growled as it raised its head. Link saw its nostrils flare out as he heard it take several breaths inward at a fast rate. Link then realized what he was doing with wide eyes and dug his hoof into the dirt, slowly raising it to rub it on himself. He hoped it would be enough to cover his scent.

The manticore looked around for a second before setting itself on the ground, curling up into a comfortable position. His breathing matched the pace with the creature’s breathing: slow and steady. He could see his chest popping out and felt his sweat drop from the intensity of the situation. “Looks like the manticore went to sleep. Now’s my chance to escape!”

He trudged along the bush leaves as quickly and quietly as he could and legged it when he thought he was out of hearing range. He let out a deep breath let his shoulders sag. “No way am I going in this forest ever again.”

“You were lucky to get out of this situation alive. Your chances of survival if the manticore decided not to sleep and sniff more were 0.2%.”

“Huh?” Link looked around before he realized the familiarity of the tone of voice. “Is that you?”

“Judging by the way you speak as if you are speaking to somepony, yet there is nopony around you suggests you are speaking to me,” the voice said. Link just blinked.

“Where were you!? I haven’t heard from you in days and you certainly didn’t help out when I needed it most with the skeletons!” Link accused. He felt a bland wave of emotion flow through him.

“Too much dark energy was around you," the voice said simply. “I can't keep contact with you all the time.”

“Alright then. Any reason you’re here now?”

“This forest isn't usually like this. The magic in this area has too much interference, which is disturbing the natural life cycles around here. Though, recent statistics show that the population for both predators and prey have stayed the same instead of decreasing.”

“You want to investigate then,” Link said.

“In a way,” it said. “But we will achieve nothing here. Why do you pursue this path, despite the dangers that will sure be here.”

“I can't stand by while somepony needs my help,” Link said, gritting his teeth. “Sure it might not benefit me, but I received help from other ponies as well. I’m gonna make sure to repay them someday.”

“...just like what my old master would do,” the voice said softly.

“You say something?” Link asked.

“Unnecessary thoughts,” the voice answered. “I feel something dark ahead of you. Be on guard.”

Link nodded as he felt the presence of the entity leave his mind. He fiddled with the hilt of his sword as he continued on the pathway. After sometime, Link saw something through the fog. He continued walking towards it until the fog cleared out to reveal a…

“What is that?” Link thought to himself. A broken wooden structure was right in front of him. It looked circular in nature with the door broken down in front of it. Almost all of the roof fell inwards with the windows shattered. A sign stood in front of it with cobwebs. “This must be Zecora’s hut. Those monsters sure did a number on it. I don't even know why ponies would live in these type of places.”

“You’ll find there are a lot more ponies you will think that would live in these types of places,” the voice responded. “Each of their reasons vary for these types. Zecora is a witch who can make potions. It would make sense she would need to live close to the necessary ingredients for some of them.”

“I guess I should move along,” he said when he saw deep claw marks on the side. It seemed the fog also grew thicker the deeper he went in. He would need to find those ponies fast or risk getting lost. He also didn't know what time of day it was. It could be evening for all he knew.

“I feel something even closer,” the voice said. “Our objective is a little more deeper. Let us move fast.”

Link moved around the broken hut and found the dirt pathway to end right here. He gulped and moved onwards against his better judgement.

“AIIIEEEEEE!!!!”

Link heard the scream pierce through the air. He quickly ran through the woods, disregarding the fact he would most likely get lost that way. He arrived onto the scene to see three fillies surrounded by what looked like wooden wolves. They had twigs and branches sticking out of their body with leaves as eyebrows. He also saw the three fillies huddled together, shaking rapidly in place. He unsheathed his sword and threw it in right in front of them, making them scream once more. The wooden wolves backed off at the sudden movement, snarling at it. Link jumped in and pulled it out, holding the shield over his face.

“Get out of here!” He shouted at the fillies. “I'll buy you some time. I'll be with you shortly...maybe.”

“B-but you’ll get hurt by the timberwolves!” The pink and white one shouted back. “What-”

“JUST GO!” He roared. All of them jumped up straight and legged it. He looked back at his opponents when he heard the sound of hoofsteps recede. “The things I do sometimes…”

The timberwolves growled and prowled around him. Link looked back at them with equal ferocity. Link looked around and counted at least three timberwolves. He levitated his sword and shield, watching their movements closely. The timberwolves seemed to be doing the same thing, their wooden skin screeching against each other as they all encircled him. Link made the first move, jumping up and slashing down on the one in front of him.

BANG!

His sword bounced off harmlessly off their wooden skin. The timberwolf growled and got up on its rear legs, slashing at him. He backflipped in time to dodge and raised up his shield, going on the defensive. The other two prowled around the one he just attacked. They both stood up on their hind legs too, growling at him.

“Wooden Wolfos!” the voice cried out in alarm. “Their skin is extremely tough to break through! Their backside is their weakness, but don’t touch their blood.”

“That’s just great,” Link thought sarcastically as he dodged another slash. “What happens if I touch their blood?”

“You will get stuck,” The voice answered. Before Link could ask what she meant by that, the timberwolves lunged again. Link spun around them and tried to slash at one, but the others blocked his way. “Wolfos also work in a team if there are more present. Slash them one by one to lower their numbers.”

“You couldn’t have told me that earlier?” Link circled around them. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he thought of a way to separate them. He quickly got an idea.

“Let’s hope this works…” he muttered to himself. He started going to the side. As he suspected, only two of them followed him. “Perfect.”

He made sure to circle around until he was near his intended position. As soon as he saw an opening, he rushed at the third one.

SHLACK!

Link sliced open the third timberwolf’s back, exposing the yellow liquid that dripped from it rapidly. It seeped down on its blade, firmly sticking it to the timberwolf’s back. “What the heck!? Is this tree sap!?”

“It is more potent than tree sap!” the voice warned. “Watch out!”

Link was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't even realize that the timberwolves were making their counterattack. The one he had just attacked backhanded him, making him fly over to another one that was ready to slash at him. He quickly raised his shield and blocked the slash. He quickly jumped back and watched. It took a moment for his eyes to refocus. The two Timberwolves were ready to strike again, but he saw the third one standing on all of its paws, limping. He also saw his sword hanging from its back by some tree sap. “What a fine mess I'm in…”

“You didn't need to stab so deep in,” the voice scolded. “See how weakened that one is by one strike? If you pulled it in a full arc, it would surely be dead by now.”

Link gritted his teeth and held up his shield. He tried getting closer, but they both blocked him. He then realized he was in range of his sword and tried pulling it with his magic. The timberwolf howled in pain as the tree sap stretched out of its body to where Link was. Unfortunately, the other two realized what he was doing and rushed at him, making him lose his concentration and go on the defensive. “I don’t have any other weapons on me! What do I do?!”

“Their other weakness is fire,” the voice said. “But we don’t have that with us.”

The injured timberwolf howled again, making its comrades look at it. Link saw that it was lying on the ground now, panting heavily. The tree sap oozed out of its back, almost covering his sword. He held his eyes on it, a determined look settled in it. “Let’s try that again while they’re distracted.”

He got closer again and started tugging again with his magic. The timberwolf howled again, making Link flinch as his ears started to pain. It was much easier for him to pull it out this time. It flew to his range and he quickly slashed at the one on his right. Splinters flew out of its skin as the sword easily cut through, making the monster disperse into many twigs and leaves. The injured timberwolf also dispersed when Link pulled out his sword, making him have only one opponent left.

While he was busy recovering, the timberwolf slashed from behind, slicing through his back. Link held in his scream as he whirled around, raising his shield to block another strike. He jumped backwards, ignoring the pain and wet feeling in his back and concentrated on his opponent. “Just one more and I’m home free!”

The timberwolf reared up on its paws and started to howl. Link folded his ears against his head to block out the piercing screech. He felt a wave of alarm go through him.

“Its howl!” the voice shouted within his mind. “It's trying to call more of its brethren here. End this now!”

Link nodded and held his tree sap covered sword over his head. He front flipped over the monster, slashing on his way to its back. The slash interrupted its scream and chose to whirl around instead. He blocked their claws and held it there. The timberwolf bit the top of his shield, making its way over to Link’s face. Link yanked his shield away and stabbed upward, catching his sword deep into its fleshy mouth. Tree sap spurted from the stab, completely covering his sword and hoof. A pained wail escaped from the timberwolf’s throat, blowing back Link’s face. It got down on the ground, the sword still stuck in its mouth, and thrashed around pitifully. After a while, it burst into a pile of twigs and leaves like the other two, the area around it drenched in liquified tree sap. Link levitated his sword out and cleaned it, panting heavily from the battle.

“They can’t lose too much of their blood,” the voice said. “While our bodies can lose some, they can’t afford to lose even a little cup’s worth. Their bodies try to compensate for this with tough armor. But all armor has a weak spot.”

“I’m definitely not fighting them anytime soon,” Link said, still panting heavily. He looked around and found something red hiding in the bushes. He walked over to it and picked it up. The red cloth was all torn up with the stick poles all over the place. “What is this thing?”

“I am not sure,” the voice confessed. “But it must belong to those fillies we saved. Store it within your hat to return it to them.”

“They better be grateful about this,” he said, dropping the thing in his hat. “I almost died right here.”

Suddenly, he heard another howl in the distance. The howls soon multiplied in numbers as a chorus was heard.

“You should probably get going right now.”

“Agreed!”

Link immediately ran from the spot. He stopped at Zecora’s hut to gain his breath and inspect his injuries. A dark red spot had started to form on his tunic, steadily growing bigger. Link himself started to grow tired as his eyes constantly blurred then refocused. He shook his head to get rid of the fatigue. “I’ll ask Zecora and Irene to heal me again. I seriously am asking them for too much though.”

The purple fog came back and blocked his vision once more. He clenched his teeth and held his head down, supporting his body weight on it. Suddenly, he heard a familiar roar followed three screams. He groaned when he realized what must’ve happened.

“It seems like they have awoken the manticore. Hurry fast so we can get their fast.”

“I swear these situations happen at the worst moments ever,” he grumbled to himself. He had enough energy to run again, ignoring the pain in his back as it flexed with each step. He arrived onto the scene to see the manticore glaring at the fillies fiercely. He readied his sword and shield and joined the fight with a yell. The manticore reared back at the sharp object, opting to observe instead. Link once again turned towards the three idiots.

“You have a penchant for getting trouble, huh?” he said sarcastically. “Get out of here now! And don’t run into any more monsters! I don’t know how much more I can take!”

“H-how did you beat-?!” the yellow and red filly started to say before she was interrupted by Link’s yelling.

“WHAT ARE YOU STANDING FOR!? RUN!” Link screamed as he dodged a swipe from the manticore’s paws. All of them yelped and nodded again, dashing away. He sighed and looked at his large opponent. It looked like it was ready to leap at him at any moment. “I’m pretty sure I’m in over my head on this one…”

“Get out of there now!” the voice urged. “You aren’t skilled enough to take on this beast.”

“Can anyone take on this beast?! he screamed in his mind. He narrowly dodged another attack. “Its speed is unbelievable! I think it would catch up to me even if I try to run away!”

The manticore roared again and raised his paw up. Link held up his shield up as the paw smashed against the metal surface. Link immediately fell flat against the manticore’s immense strength. He could feel the object that was supposed to protect almost crush his ribs. He released a set of coughs when the manticore released its press. He struggled to get up as he tried to regain his vision.

SHRRRK!

Link coughed out a glob of blood. He felt three claws enter from his chest and leave from his back. Everything became silent except for the drops of his own blood on the ground. He stared at the claws stuck into his chest in shock, unable to comprehend what had just happened. The manticore pulled its claws back, making Link flop into the ground. He couldn’t feel any pain go through his body. He just stared at the growing blood stain on his tunic. His vision already started to go black. “W-what just happened?”

The voice did not respond. His vision was now unreliable, completely blurry to the point where all the colors mixed in like some mixed in water color painting. His vision suddenly was filled with a flash of pink before his eyes closed fully.

(Sometime Later)

Link opened his eyes and yawned. He looked around sleepily, rubbing his eyes. His eyes suddenly widened and he looked around rapidly to see the same forest setting as before.

“Did I die?” He asked himself hysterically. He looked down at his chest to see the tunic just fine. His chainmail didn’t break through and he practically felt no wound on his chest either. He felt up his back to find it the same condition. “Am I in the afterlife?”

“You’re not dead at all, dummy.”

Link whirled around, trying to find the voice. “Who’s there?!”

“A little higher up,” Link looked up to see a pink ball of light with wings floating in the air. “Much more better.”

“A fairy?” Link asked, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. The fairy bobbed up and down. Apparently its way of saying yes.

“You are Link, the boy of green. Am I correct?” the fairy asked. Link nodded blankly, his mind not believing the situation. He was sure that he had died. He know he saw that manticore stab him directly through the chest. He shook his head of the memory and shuddered. That was an experience that he wasn’t going to forget anytime soon, no matter how much he wanted to. He felt a few light bumps on his head and focused his attention on the fairy.

“Pay attention, clown,” it snapped. “I don’t know why I’m the one doing this. Nor do I particularly want to, but I got elected anyways. The Great Fairy wants to see you, for whatever reason.”

Link blinked at its attitude. “There’s a Great Fairy here?”

“So you do know what a Great Fairy is. At least you know some common sense,” the small fairy said. Link hid his frown that threatened to appear on his face and chose not to say anything. “Don’t know why she wants to see YOU of all ponies, but I can’t question her. Not in the state she’s in anyways.”

“Okay, what’s your problem?” Link asked, not even trying to hide the displeasure in his face anymore. He didn’t like how this fairy addressed him like he was some dumb animal. “I don’t even know you, yet you blow up on me like I just murdered your sister or something. What the heck?!”

“Why should I have to answer?” the fairy said arrogantly. “I seriously don’t know why our spectacular mistress wants to meet you. If you can’t even defeat that manticore then what honor do you have of meeting with our mistress?!”

A tick mark appeared on Link’s head. “Well I’d like to see you try fighting that thing! It wasn’t exactly easy on my part you know!”

“Me fight that large thing? You out of your mind?!” the fairy shot back. “And I had to heal you after you got defeated. You know how much magic I had to use on you?!”

“Wait, you healed me?” Link asked in shock. That piece of information was new to him. The fairy bobbed up and down again.

“How do you think your injuries disappeared?!” the fairy said. “Afterwards, you sat your dumb ass down on the ground and went straight to sleep. You how mad I was when you did that?!”

Somewhere around here, a donkey felt the sudden urge to punch a mythical creature normally from fairy tales.

Link was about to fire back when he realized something. “What time is it?”

“Probably evening,” the fairy huffed, pissed that Link wasn’t even paying attention. Link’s eyes widened.

“I have to go now!” He said, immediately rushing down the path. “Crap! Everypony’s probably waiting for me!”

“Hey!” the fairy shouted after him. “Get back here!”

Link didn’t slow down. After sometime, he stopped suddenly and looked back behind him. The fairy was nowhere to be seen. Now that he thought about it, the fairy did save his life. That was a debt he could probably could never pay back. He also learned that there were ponies that thought life was the ultimate gift to them, like Lyra. He felt like a jerk now.

He turned around only to see the object of his thought. The fairy panted. He then looked up at Link angrily.

“What...was that...for?” the fairy panted. Link hung his head in shame.

“I guess I got the best of my anger,” he said sheepishly. “Thanks for healing me by the way. I should’ve said that earlier.”

“Whatever,” the fairy huffed. “I don’t need your thanks! What would become of me if I accepted it?”

Link’s jaw dropped. “I’m trying to thank you here if you didn’t notice! Why are you being so hard to deal with?!”

“There are some things you still need to learn about life, colt,” the fairy said. “You can’t please everybody. And I’m certainly not pleased with you.”

Link huffed and walked past him. “I should’ve left you in the forest.”

“Where are you going now?” the fairy asked. Link just harrumphed and walked out of the forest. The fairy followed along. “You better answer my-?!”

The fairy suddenly stopped talking. Link looked at him in confusion and saw him rapidly hide behind Link’s head.

“You didn’t tell me there were going to be so many ponies around,” he hissed. Link’s eyes widened in realization.

“Get in my hat,” he ordered, taking it off and pointing at the black nothingness. The fairy looked offended.

“Get in that stuffy thing?” it asked indignantly. “Over my dead- hmmmmph?!”

Link stuffed the pink fairy into his hat and squashed it over his head. He felt the fairy struggle and fly around in it. “What are you doing?”

“Fly upwards,” he said. He heard some more muffled flapping and jingling in his hat.

“Why should I- Oh my…” he heard the fairy say. “What the heck?!”

“Just stay there until I get to your mistress later,” he said. Oddly enough, the fairy’s shout reverberated around the hat like how it would sound if somepony yelled in a large, empty room. “My hat is bottomless, so roam around or whatever. I don’t care.”

“Oh no you don’t!” the fairy disagreed. “We’re going now!”

Link smirked at the echoing voice. “What can you do? You can’t go out in daylight or you’ll stick out. You don’t want to be seen don’t you?”

“...sneaky bastard,” the fairy mumbled, making Link grin. “Fine. We’ll go at night when everypony is asleep.”

“A deal,” Link smiled at his victory over the arrogant fairy.

“I’m going to explore this place,” the fairy said. “So don’t bother me- is that a book over there?!”

“Have fun. Just don’t be scared when I suddenly pull something out,” Link sighed in relief at the lack of noise. He was already getting annoyed by that fairy’s voice. “All I need to do is find Irene and-”

“There he is!”

“Are you sure that’s him?”

“Who else would wear an outfit like that?”

Link groaned at the familiar voices. “I just can’t catch a break today, can I?”

He turned around to face the three fillies he saved earlier. He sighed and decided to get it over with. “What’s up?”

“How did you do that? Where do you come from? Is that a sword?!” the orange filly said at a fast pace before the pink one slammed a hoof into her mouth.

“My apologies,” she said. “My friend here doesn’t know any manners. We have to introduce ourselves first Scootaloo!”

“Ah man!” Scootaloo said. “No need to be so picky about it.”

“Anyways, Ah’m Applebloom,” the one with the bow said.

“I’m Sweetie Belle!” the pink one said enthusiastically.

“You can call me Scootaloo!” Scootaloo said nonchalantly.

“So that’s your names,” Link said with a pleasant smile on his face. “Well, it's nice to meet you!”

Link was all happy and friends on the outside, but the inside was all panicky like at that shop with Lyra. “That’s Applebloom!? Of course with my kind of luck, I would save her which would want her to associate with me! Whatdoidowhatdoidowhatdoido!?!”

“You okay?” Scootaloo asked. “You’ve gone a little sweaty there.”

“I’m fine?” Link said a little too quickly. “Never better!”

Applebloom raised a brow at that, making Link sweat even more. She opened her mouth before she was interrupted by Sweetie Belle.

“What’s your name?” she asked. Link remembered the fake name he had used a while ago.

“Rift,” he answered. “You can call me...Rift.” At least the name sounded cool enough.

“Rift huh?” Scootaloo said. “That was so cool what you did back in the forest! Maybe not as cool as Rainbow Dash but definitely close!”

“Rainbow Dash?” Link asked. As far as he knew, she was the element of loyalty.

“You know? The one and only Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo said excitedly. Link nodded his head, pretending to go along with her statement. “Is that a real sword and shield on your back! Can I see?”

“Sorry,” Link said. He grabbed both items and dropped it in his hat. Though, he could’ve sworn he heard a “You bastard!” when he did. “This isn’t something to play with.”

He looked at their expressions and immediately resisted the urge to groan when they stared at his hat.

“H-how’d yah do that?” Applebloom asked.

“I’m a magician,” he answered back sarcastically. He resisted the urge to facehoof when he saw their sparkly expressions. “Just kidding.”

“You sure do have a lot of neat stuff,” Sweetie Belle said. “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you from around here. Are you from here?”

“Not really,” Link said, scratching the back of his head. “I’m a traveler with somepony you see. I got this hat in one of our travels.”

Link then realized something and pulled out his hat again. He pushed his hoof through and rummaged through it. He pulled out the tattered red object. “Which reminds me. Is this one of yours?”

“Our glider!” all three of them cried out. Link tilted his head.

“Glider? Is that how you crashed into the Everfree?” he asked. Sweetie Belle nodded.

“We were all riding it when we spun out of control,” she explained. “We didn’t get our hangliding cutie marks though…”

“All of you were riding this?” he held up the tattered mess. “It looks way too small for all three of you guys to fit.”

“Yeah well…” Scootaloo said sheepishly. “Guess it didn’t work out then.”

“Want it back?” Link asked. All three of them shook their heads.

“You can keep it,” Scootaloo said. “You saved our lives, and this is the least we can do. Even though it is a pretty...cheap and broken...thing now.”

“I have an idea!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “You can go to my sister’s shop tomorrow! I’m sure she can fix it up for you.”

“Thanks I guess,” he dropped the broken hang glider in his hat. “I’ll be sure to visit.”

“Hey, greenie!”

Link’s eyes widened and he looked up. Irene was floating on her broom, looking extremely pissed off. She levitated down and hopped down, immediately bonking Link’s head with her hoof. He held his head in pain as he readied himself to receive her wrath. “Where the heck were you!? Do you know how long it's been?!”

“I’m sorry,” Link scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “I was on a...little adventure.”

“Some adventure it must’ve been,” Irene huffed. “You were injured too! You should’ve...huh?”

Link saw her looking at his back hoof. She inspected it a bit more before rounding up on him again. “What the heck?! Why’s your hoof all healed. In face, everything’s healed!”

“I had a little help,” Link admitted. He heard a little “that’s right!” in his head and sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“I can wait a bit,” she said. Though, she was interrupted by three fillies who were feeling a bit left out.

“Hey Irene!” Sweetie Belle called out. Irene turned around and widened her eyes.

“Oh not you guys again,” Irene facehoofed. “For the last time, I’m not going to join your little cult! You can worship your cutie marks all by yourself, but don’t drag me into this!”

“We’ve stopped asking yah ah while back,” Applebloom said. “Which reminds me. Wanna join our group Rift?”

“He will not,” Irene said firmly. “Wait, Rift? What are they talking about Li- hmmph?!”

“Don’t call me that nickname,” Link lied, sweating nervously again. The three fillies tilted their heads.

“What nickname?” Scootaloo asked. Link immediately thought of the most demeaning names he could think of and picked one.

“...Fairy boy,” he said in defeat. He felt like punching himself after he said it.

The three fillies immediately laughed out loud, making him feel even worse. He could feel Irene even making a few chuckles.

“Fairy boy?!” she guffawed through his hoof. Link just sighed.

“I take offense to that!” Link heard the fairy say in his hat. He nonchalantly shook his head around, making his hat flap. “OW! Motherfucker!”

Link then leaned in close to Irene’s ear. “Just call me Rift for now please? There’s somepony here that I don’t want finding out that I’m here as well. I’ll explain more tomorrow.”

“The things you make me do,” Irene muttered before smiling sweetly. Link removed his hoof from her face, only for her to bonk his head again. “Don’t do that ever again.”

“Noted,” Link said in a daze. He then shook his head and looked at the sky. “It seems like we have to go home now.”

“I expect a lot of answers from you...Rift,” Irene said before she summoned her broom and zooming off into the distance. The fillies stopped their laughter and caught their breaths. They all looked at the sky too in alarm.

“I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow,” Link said before walking off.

“Where will you be staying?!” he heard Sweetie Belle shouting after him.

“Lyra’s house!” he called back. He then got out his map and looked for it. His stomach growled. “Ah man. I’m starving. I better eat soon.”

Link then raced towards Lyra’s house, wondering what would happen tomorrow.

Nightly Encounter

View Online

The forest scenery flew by him as he constantly dodged the tree branches and bushes in his way. He heard the footsteps of his pursuer catch up to him quickly. He heard it roar once more and looked behind him in fear. The manticore loomed over him, it's bloodstained teeth bared. The claws unsheathed out of its paws, glinting evilly in the little light the forest provided. He looked at the claws in fear as it rushed at him in slow motion. His body also moved in slow motion, failing to get out of the sharp bone’s way. Before he got stabbed, a dark circle appeared under him. Fire circled around him as a hand shot up and grabbed him, pulling him to the darkness.

“Such a pity,” he heard a voice say. It sounded as if two swords were clashing against each other constantly: short and sharp. Two red dots glared at him malevolently from the pit. “Such a young colt. To die this early. You didn't even accomplish anything either. What a waste.”

The hand then pulled him in the dark circle. He struggled against the circle’s pull, yelling in pain when the hand tightened around his body.

“Venturing in a world where cruelty knows no bounds,” the voice whispered directly in his ear. “Such naive behavior should not be allowed. DIE!”

The hand then pulled him in the darkness. He struggled and choked in the hand’s hold-!?”

THUNK!

“OW!”

“Took ya long enough to get awake,”

Link opened his eyes slowly to see the pink menace hover over him. The white moonlight shined through his bedroom window of Lyra’s house. He found that he was on the floor. The fairy glared at him harshly.

“Did you forget about our promise?” he asked. He hovered over him and bonked himself on Link’s head. “Get your clothes on.”

“What?” he asked, still disoriented from the nightmare. Seemed like Princess Luna didn’t show up to expel it again. That was the third time in a row.

The fairy sighed. “It was a good thing you woke up anyway. You were tossing and turning all night. But aside from that, we got a Great Fairy to visit.”

“Oh right,” Link quickly put on his hat and tunic and rubbed his eyes to get the drowsiness out. He was about to approach the door before he froze. “I can’t wake Lyra up like this.”

“Go through the window,” he said. “I’ll show you the way to the spring. It isn’t that far from here.”

Link nodded and opened the window. He hung from the ledge and gently dropped down. He looked around to see that it was completely deserted and motioned the fairy to come down as well. He gently glided down and started to fly, Link following close behind him.

“At this point, I don’t even care if my mistress chose you or something,” he murmured to Link. Link perked up in interest. “I just want her to be okay.”

“What happened to her anyway?” Link asked. He looked around to find that he was in the park now. “You make it sound like something happened to her.”

“Something did happen to her,” the fairy said. “I can’t really explain what it is though. You’ll have to see in order to understand.”

They both got out of the park and started walking closer to the edge of town, making Link grope out his back before realizing that he left his sword at Lyra’s house.

“Just where is this spring anyways?” Link asked. He felt extremely vulnerable without his sword. The fairy just hushed him and continued on. After sometime, they arrived at a very dingy looking house. It was completely run down with broken windows and a partially broken roof. He saw the fairy go in without hesitation.

“It’s in here,” the fairy said. “Don’t tell me you think this is haunted.”

“It could be, since I fought ghosts before,” Link said. He remembered the time when he had fought those ghosts down in the cellar pathways. He quickly shook his head when he remembered how his father looked, bleeding and helpless on the floor. He took a deep breath. “Let’s get this over with.”

He entered the house and followed the fairy. The inside looked exactly as it did outside: all broken and dusty. The fairy climbed over a piece of debris that blocked the basement stairs. “This place is good for hiding our fairy spring. Nopony usually comes here and it would be a waste of money to demolish this building, since it’s so far out of town anyway. We could always move but our mistress likes being near town, seeing all the ponies bustle about and hearing a bit of news of the outside world while she’s at it.”

“Just show me where to go,” Link climbed over the wooden mess and descended downstairs. When he reached the floor, he saw a big hole in it.

“What are you waiting for?” The fairy asked. He started to fly down. “Jump down.”

The fairy flew down the hole. Link could see the light from its aura get smaller and smaller until it disappeared. Link gulped and took a few steps back. He ran forward and jumped in the hole. It was because Link had done this before, he didn’t scream. It didn’t make it any less terrifying though. Luckily for him, the spring came by faster than expected and he gently floated just as he reached the bottom. He looked around to see the spring surprisingly busy. Pink fairies like the one with him floated about, seemingly crowding something. He couldn’t see where the Great Fairy was though.

“I have brought the one the Great Fairy requested!” His fairy announced, causing a small chorus gasps and banter to run through them. “Let him through so he can speak.”

All the fairies moved apart to reveal another set of pink fairies pressing against themselves tightly. Though, there was something different about these fairies other than the ones crowding around it…

“Go on,” the fairy urged, bumping against Link’s head. “She’s waiting for you.”

“The Great Fairy?” Link asked. “I don’t see her anywhere.”

The fairy bumped into him again anyways, causing him to walk forward. The fairies formed two lines on each side of them. He could hear their pleas.

“Please save our mistress!”

“Is that the one? Is this colt the one going to fix her?”

“You have to help us please! If our mistress requested you, then you must be special!”

“Help what exactly?” Link thought. “I don’t see the Great Fairy anywhere.”

He approached the different bundle of fairies at his fairy’s urging. He could see the difference between them clearly now. The were much more bigger and much more solid. They also didn’t give off a blinding light aura, exposing their body structure. Link wondered if this is what the fairy’s truly looked like, but he had to admit that they do look kind of ugly then…

The swarm of fairies in the middle approached them, spinning rapidly in a circle. He could see all of them kept their attention towards him, unnerving him a bit.

“Greetings hero!” All the fairies said in a chorus of high pitched voices. They all circled around him rapidly again, making him feel dizzy. “I knew you would come.”

“Err...who are you exactly?” Link asked. The fairy with him bonked his head again, making Link glare at him.

“You still don’t know who she is?!” He hissed at him in a lower voice.

“Could you spare me the trouble then?” Link whispered back, annoyed. The fairy sighed.

“That’s the Great Fairy idiot!” Link’s eyes widened as he darted his head towards the numerous fairies floating together. “Yeah, you look surprised now. I thought I told you that something happened with her.”

“You did but…” Link trailed off. The group of fairies all sighed together.

“Yes, I know my condition is unique,” she said. “My body has been separated by an unknown force. Luckily, I was able to retain at least one-half of my body. But I need at least three-fourths of my parts in order to rejoin together in a smaller version of myself.”

“Why did you call me then?”

“Because of the fact that you’re the only pony that knows about us and is still connected with the outside world. My fairies can’t go out and search without the fear of being exposed. So I call upon you with a plea: will you go and please find the rest of my body?”

Immediately, the rest of the fairies murmured about this new development. Link felt another bonk on his head from the fairy.

“What!?” The fairy with him said. “Why him!? He’s just a stupid little colt!”

Immediately, some others started to agree with him, with a few fairies defending him.

“HUSH!” The Great Fairy shouted. Silence filled the room as all the fairies complied with their mistress’ order. The Great Fairy split her group and made them fly so that one part of her body confronted a group of regular fairies. “This colt is the only way we can preserve our secret and accomplish the task at the same time. Plus, I can sense the mark of my other sisters on him. I have pretty good reasons to trust him, don’t I?”

“That still doesn’t cover that he’s still a colt,” the fairy retorted. Link quickly grinded his teeth in anger at the fairy’s continued mistrust of him. “If he can truly-”

“Stop this now!”

The fairy froze mid-insult. “That voice?!”

The other myriad of fairies moved away to show one fairy. It flew up to him and got up in his face.

“Why don’t you give him at least one chance? You were no better than him, yet I still gave you a chance, dear.”

“Dear?!” Link looked at the second fairy in astonishment. All the other fairies started to snicker at the scene.

“But I-” his fairy tried to counter before he was shushed again.

“When will you learn?” the female fairy sighed. “At least give him a chance. I actually believe my mistress’ words, unlike some other people here. The Great Fairy already explained what was going to happen before hand so why are you all complaining now?”

“Fine...honey.”

“Honey!?” Link looked at the other fairy in astonishment. He has a wife? Link found it hard to believe that anypony liked him at all. Much less find himself a mate. He quickly shook his head and looked back at the Great Fairy. He saw that she had an amused look on her many faces.

“I believe that it is settled,” they all gathered back and hugged together tightly again. “You will accompany him to find the rest of my parts in town. I trust you will not raise a fuss?”

“Yes mistress…” the male fairy said dejectedly. Most of the Great Fairies smiled.

“I hope you would understand that this task won’t go unrewarded…” At that, Link’s head perked up. “But you would do well to master your gift from my other sister first.”

“That wind spell?” He asked. The Great Fairies nodded. “Er… I don’t even know how to do it in the first place. How should I go about it?”

“There are places called libraries for a reason,” The Great Fairies said sagely. Link blushed at that, not having thought of going to one in the first place. “It is a great source of knowledge. I understand they are not your favorite places to go, but I assure that you will be surprised at how much knowledge of the world you can gain just by reading a few of the right books. It will not help you just with your spell, but your journey as well.”

“I’ll help as best as I can then,” Link said before wincing. He was planning on leaving town as soon as he found some fish food for his informant, but it looked like he would have to stay a little longer.

“Then it is settled,” she said. “I will give you as much time as you need to find my other parts. They will be wandering all over town. Make sure that nopony sees them when they are hovering over to you, as their motor skills are clunky from being separated from the main mind, which is me. I will see you later, hero.”

With that, the Great Fairies all dissipated, leaving nothing but the other crowd of fairies.

“I trust that you will be well,” the female fairy said. “Just...don’t cause any unnecessary trouble. Everyone knows how much trouble you tend to attract.”

“Stop that!” The male fairy said, embarrassed. “Our little guest here doesn’t need to hear that!”

All the other fairies laughed while Link gave out a few chuckles of his own. The female then flew over to Link, catching his attention.

“I’m sorry for my mate’s attitude,” she said. “But I really hope you can find it in your heart to help us. I think you can already see how much we care about our mistress and how we feel about her condition.”

“You can count on me!” Link said with a grin. Even though he wouldn’t be leaving town as soon as he thought he was, helping others always made him smile himself. Plus, he would be getting something out of it so…

“Come on, colt!” The fairy said. “We’ll search later in the morning. We can’t look if the both of us are tired.”

The fairy flew up the ledge, only to come back when he realized Link couldn’t fly.

“Anyone want to help me teleport him?” He asked sheepishly. All the fairies gathered around Link and started swirling around him. He then felt everything go black while his insides sloshed all over the place. He reappeared outside the broken house, struggling not to spit out whatever was leftover in his stomach.

“First time teleporting while you were awake?” The fairy asked. At Link’s queasy nod, he sighed. “Yeah, that happens sometimes.”

After Link’s moment of nausea passed, he yawned.

“Let’s get back to Lyra’s place before she recognizes I’m not there,” he said sleepily. The fairy nodded and they started to walk back to town. “I’m surprised. I didn’t know you had a… mate is what it's called?”

“I’m surprised myself,” The fairy said, much to Link’s astonishment. “I never seemed to be the type to get a mate, but she came along. It's- what was that noise?! Hide!”

Link’s ears registered the frantic tapping that came from the ground and immediately hid in a conveniently nearby bush. The fairy besides him lowered his glow brightness, almost to the point of lighting out. He stuck his head out to see somepony in a cloak rushing out of the forest. The figure looked left and right frantically, almost as if it was scared of being followed before. The cloaked being then made a sigh before slowly going towards town.

“What are you waiting for?!” The fairy hissed at him. “Go after it!”

“Why?”

“Our mistress doesn’t remember much about how she got cursed. Just that it was done by somepony in a cloak.”

“You’re suspecting it's that guy?” Link asked. The fairy nodded venomously.

“Go before he disappears!” The fairy floated outwards, flying around where the cloaked pony once stood. “He left track marks! We can follow it to wherever that guy is heading to!”

Curious and alarmed, Link made his way towards the fairy. He inspected the ground and indeed saw the liquidy tracks on the ground. He dipped his hoof into it and sniffed it, though immediately recognized the familiar coppery smell of it.

“Blood…” he whispered before his eyes widened and he immediately dug his hoof into the ground, wiping off the remaining vile liquid that stuck to his leg. “Oh my goddess!”

“No doubt about it now,” the fairy said before quickly flying in the direction of town. “There’s still time to catch him! Hurry up!”

Link immediately ran towards the fairy as it flew close to the ground, searching for marks. He noticed that the marks got less and less noticeable as he reached town. Though, it seemed the fairy could still track it.

“On the other side of town,” the fairy urged him. “On the outskirts. Let’s catch him before he tries to enter the forest or leave town again.”

Link nodded and got out his sword from his hat. He quickly sheathed it as he followed the fairy, leading him to what appeared to be a small cottage. It ran uphill with a small lake beside it. He quickly noticed the cloaked figure climbing up the hill, clearly tired out from whatever he was doing before.

“HEY! YOU THERE!” The fairy shouted. The cloaked figure froze and slowly turned around. Though his face was still concealed, Link could see that he had a very long, pink mane. “YEAH YOU OVER THERE! WE FINALLY CAUGHT YOU!”

“W-wha-” the figure said in a feminine-like voice before being shushed by the fairy. The fairy got up in his face.

“We know what you did to our mistress,” the fairy said. The figure shook his head vehemently.

“B-but I didn’t do anything!” The cloaked figure said, making Link realize that this pony was actually a girl instead of a boy. “W-who was y-your mistress? P-please don’t hurt me!”

“I’m going to do much worse than that!” The fairy roared. “Fix what you have done to our mistress right now and I might consider mercy!”

“Hold on-” Link tried to say before the fairy started on him too.

“Don’t you try to stop me!” The fairy said. Though, Link wasn’t about to be pushed away from the fairy this time. He could practically see the tears already coming down her face.

“Why don’t you listen to me first!” He yelled. “Your mate said something about giving ponies second chances! Why are you already disregarding that!”

“...you did NOT just bring my mate into this,”

“Yeah I did! Let’s hear her out first before making any assumptions!”

“...fine. But if she kills us because we let our guard down, I’m blaming you.”

“Fine,” Link said before turning towards the cloaked figure. “First off, what’s your name?”

“I-It's Fluttershy,”

“Didn’t quite catch that. Can you speak a little louder please?”

“Fluttershy,” the mare said a little louder, shocking Link.

“Fluttershy?!” He repeated. “As in the element of kindness?!”

The mare nodded and lifted her hood up. Sure enough, the tear-stricken face of Fluttershy looked back at him, just like it did in the newspaper articles and history books. He looked at his fairy companion and found he went dead silent.

“W-what’s your name?” Fluttershy asked, snapping Link out of his thoughts.

“Call me Rift,” he said, smoothly transitioning over to his fake name. As far as he knew, all the elements of harmony were friends with each other, including Applejack. He couldn’t risk anything with Fluttershy either, even though all the second-hand sources told him that she was as harmless as a butterfly. “What are you doing so late out?”

Fluttershy looked to the side, “I-I cannot say,”

“But there is blood on your hooves,” Link pointed out, making Fluttershy flinch. He could still see and hear the subtle drops of blood dropping on the dirt floor. It honestly started to get more annoying than horrifying. “How am I supposed to think you are not some murderer?”

“I was checking o-on my animal friends in the forest,” Fluttershy confessed. “My friends keep telling me not to go, since the forest has gotten so dangerous in such little time. B-but I get so worried about them that I go anyway, but I was too late this time.”

He did remember reading about how she loved animals like they were her own children so he could at least confirm it was true, since he was hearing it from Fluttershy himself.

"I'm sorry for reminding you of that," Link said. He knew what it was like to think of a death of a loved one. Hearts may heal over time but the thought of it doesn't get any better. The fairy suddenly flew up to Fluttershy, his wings drooping more noticeably.

“It seemed that I was mistaken,” the fairy said. “I’m really sorry for putting you on the spot like this, even when I knew what your nature was like. Besides, the Great Fairy mentioned something like a purple cloak instead of a brown one anyway.”

“You could’ve mentioned that earlier and save us all this trouble,” Link said annoyed. “And it took you this long to figure out you’re in the wrong?”

Fluttershy blinked before turning sparkly-eyed. She zipped up towards his fairy companion. “I have never seen your species before! You look more like a parasprite, but you can talk. What’s your name?”

Both males froze. “She saw me, didn’t she?”

“She totally did,” Link confirmed, nodding his head. Both of their eyes widened before they both started panicking.

“I d-don’t understand,” Fluttershy said, reverting back to her shy personality. “I-is that a bad thing I saw you?”

“I’m… not exactly supposed to be seen by other ponies,” the fairy explained. Fluttershy only tilted her head. “It's… complicated.”

“I s-still don’t understand,” the fairy sighed, clearly annoyed and looked towards Link, who only shrugged his shoulders helplessly in this situation.

“Just don’t tell anyone,” the fairy said seriously. “You know our secret, but we know yours too. If it does come to it, I will make Rift tell your friends that you still go into the forest.”

“Don’t bring me into this!” Link cried out, shocked that his companion could even suggest that. “I don’t want to blackmail her!”

“P-please don’t tell my friends!” Fluttershy said. “I d-don’t want them to know I’ve been lying to them!”

“Promise to keep my secret safe?” The fairy said. “It's extremely important to me that no one knows about our kind. We will speak more of this later, but me and my temporary partner here are tired.”

“Should I Pinkie Promise?” Fluttershy asked. Link raised an eyebrow.

“Pinkie Promise?”

“Something that our friend does in order to make sure we don’t break our promises. You DO NOT want to break a promise like that ever.”

“No need for that,” the fairy said. “I trust that we will keep our secrets to ourselves. We will see you later when we can.” With that, the fairy flew back into his hat. Link felt him snuggle up in his mane before everything went still. He looked at Fluttershy apologetically.

“Sorry for my...friend,” friend was a very loose word to use. “When he wants something done, he will do whatever means necessary to complete it.”

“It’s f-fine,” Fluttershy said shakily. “Me seeing him must’ve been r-really important f-for him to act this way. Though, why is he okay with you seeing him? Y-you can answer that only if you want to of course!”

Link smiled dryly. “I’m afraid I don’t want to, unfortunately. Like he said before, it's complicated.”

Fluttershy nodded before frowning. “Rift, was it? I h-haven’t seen you around before?”

“I’m new here,” he answered, transferring back to his fake story. “I’m a traveler with somepony else, see? I’m currently staying at Lyra’s place for now. I would love to talk more, but I am also tired. I will see you later to discuss more about this.”

“I see,” she murmured. “I g-guess I will see you later also.”

Link nodded and waved her goodbye before leaving himself. He felt a shuffling in his head as the fairy appeared before him again.

“I can’t believe she saw me…” the fairy mumbled. Link glared at the glowing ball.

“You could’ve handled the situation more calmly you know,” Link said. “Fluttershy was nearly about to cry openly!”

“I did what I had to to conserve my species identity,” the fairy said indignantly. “This is more important than you may think it is.”

“Another thing: Fluttershy mentioned your name before and I realized that I don’t know it myself. Would you mind telling me what it is?”

“Us fairies don’t have names,” the fairy said. “We each have a unique magic frequency that we can recognize by ourselves, so names are never a problem.”

“Isn’t it tough though?”

“Not really. We do still use a form of nicknames for our mates, the normal ones being dear and honey as seen...before…” The fairy blushed in embarrassment. Link ignored it as both his eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

“It’s getting tough for me,” Link confessed. “Do you have anything for me to call you by?”

“I don’t care to be honest,” the fairy replied. “Call me whatever you want.”

Link grinned evilly, making the fairy beside him gulp. “I will regret saying that, won’t I?”

“In due time,” Link said, the cheesy grin still on his face. The fairy groaned and re-entered his hat as they approached Lyra’s house.

(At Sunset Village)

The moon shined upon Sunset Village as midnight approached. Sounds of construction could be still heard as various buildings were being restored to their former glory from the bandit raid a while ago. The only other pony awake was a royal guard sitting near the cliff-side, looking at the scenery with a sigh.

Sword continued looking at the sky with a dull expression on his face, his front hooves crossed behind his head. He was lying down on the soft ground, the blades of grass tickling his back as the wind blew by occasionally. A flurry of thoughts went through his head before it came back to one main stream.

“Why am I the one stuck here?” Sword thought to himself angrily. He tried to flatten his black mane down in frustration. He took a deep breath to calm himself. Getting angry over nothing won’t do him any good. “Besides, I knew what I was getting into when I signed up to be a royal guard. I knew from the last years of my life and what happened from that incident that I wanted to get strong. To be powerful enough to protect everypony from danger. I have grown into a good swordspony, yet why am I still not satisfied?”

“Brooding again, I see.”

“Hey Orca,” Sword greeted his teacher. He sat up as Orca plopped down beside him, a concerned look on his face. “What’s up?”

“I find you sitting out here more and more,” Orca said. “Frankly, it's starting to worry me. You know you can tell me anything, right?”

“I know that,” Sword said wearily. “I’m just...thinking about more things than usual now.”

“Letting those thoughts out to other people can be beneficial,” Orca said. “Mind telling me what’s on your mind?”

“...I feel frustrated,” Sword confessed. Orca leaned forward in interest.

“About what?” He asked when Sword wasn’t responding. Sword snapped up again.

“I...just don’t feel strong enough,” He said. “I’ve trained and trained all this time. I’ve been getting stronger and stronger by the day. Yet, I still feel as if I’m nowhere close to where I can be.”

Orca was silent for a moment, before responding suddenly, “I think I know what your problem is.”

“You do?!” Sword said before he was shushed by Orca.

“You’re reaching your limit here,” Orca said. “It’s only a matter of time that you would outgrow this village.”

“You mean go on a journey?!,” Storm said, catching onto the hint quickly. “Like Link?”

“Go inside,” Orca ordered, abruptly changing the subject. “Dwelling here will only make you sleep deprived the next day. It’s no use trying to think about it now. We’ll talk more about this later”

“But-?!” Sword tried to argue before he was shushed by Orca again. “Fine.”

Sword stumbled down the hill with Orca watching him from the hill. When he was out of sight, Orca sighed.

“Your problem isn’t that you’re not strong enough,” Orca thought as he watched the crescent moon in the sky. “It’s that you’re reaching your limit. There is only so much that this small village can provide you with to get strong before you reach a stopping point. I let go of Link because he already reached his limit within the month’s time I trained him. But the truth is with you that you reached your limit a long time ago. It was only a matter of time I suppose, that I couldn’t keep you here any longer.” Orca sighed again as he made way towards his own home, the dark thought still plaguing his mind.

Author's Notes:

I'm really sorry for this late update! I was just too busy and when I did have some free time, didn't have the motivation to write anything. Nevertheless, I give you this to continue on my story. This was a bit rushed so if you see any mistake, help an author out, will ya? Also, while I was playing Majora's Mask 3d, I saw an excellent part of the game I think I should add to the story. And this is a pretty major change so, plot rewrite again! I found it to make much more sense than the last one in my opinion with this new addition, so be excited for that! Also, got a lot of other new ideas to be incorporated with that idea so its basically an idea with my spin on it. I'm also playing through Twilight Princess for the first time in HD so I may add some elements from it later again.

Thanks for your continued support and I will see you later next chapter!

The Fairy Pieces: Part One

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“You seem awfully tired,” Lyra commented as Link yawned for the third time at the table. “Did you get a goodnight’s rest?”

“Somewhat,” Link responded. He adjusted his hat firmly on his head when he realized it was drooping again. “It was...eventful.”

"Did it have anything to do with...that guy?” Lyra asked hesitantly. Link had explained to Lyra his totally untrue version of his story yesterday. Fortunately for him, he thought about what to say beforehand instead of making up details on the spot. He still hated not being able to tell the truth though.

“Nah,” Link responded easily. “Just some nightmare.”

Lyra frowned, “Our princess should’ve taken care of it then.”

“She didn't come these last few times for some reason,” Link said. “I wonder why…”

“I see you two are already awake,”

Link and Lyra both looked up to see Bonbon coming down from the stairs. She joined them both at the table. “What are you guys going to be doing today?”

“I’m not that busy,” Lyra said. “You heading to work?”

“Yeah,” Bonbon responded. “It would help if you get a job too. Paying this rent by myself isn’t exactly easy, you know.”

“I know,” Lyra said sheepishly. “But they don’t exactly have any jobs that need any harp players around here. You’re lucky to be working at a place where your cutie mark actually helps you.”

Bonbon sighed, “If you really have nothing to do, then can you watch Link until I get back?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Link piped up. “I have a lot of business to do here. I’ll be back by evening at the latest.” He felt a subtle shake in his hat, knowing that his temporary partner agreed.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Lyra said. “Just be careful.”

“Will do,” he said. “I’ll see you later.”

After saying his goodbyes to the both of them, he exited the house into the fresh morning air. Even though it was just the start of the day, Link could see all kinds of ponies conversing with each other and going about their business. He smiled at the scenery before walking at a slow pace.

“What should I do first?” he whispered to his fairy companion. The fairy tucked under his hat shivered.

“We need to take care of Fluttershy first,” he answered. “I want to make sure that she doesn’t think that last night wasn’t some crazy dream or hallucination that she should share with her friends. Afterwards, we can find the rest of the Great Fairies. I can practically feel them in town.”

“Wait, feel them?”

“I have a…sensory ability, if you can call it that. I can sense magic presences much more better than other species.”

“Do all fairies have this?”

“Just me as far as I can tell. Maybe this is why my mistress wanted me to go with you?”

“Probably, but let’s hurry to Fluttershy’s first. We can discuss this later.”

After their short conversation, Link raced to Fluttershy’s house. He still remembered where the small cottage was from last night.

“That's strange…” He suddenly heard the fairy mutter in his head. Link stopped and looked at his head.

“Do you have something to share?” Link asked. He felt the fairy shuffle around in his mane.

“I feel something...weird...in that direction,” The fairy said. Link raised a mental eyebrow.

“At Fluttershy’s house?” he asked. He felt the fairy nod in his mane. “Do you think it could be a Great Fairy piece?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “We were heading there in the first place. Let’s just move on and see if we can investigate while we can talk with her.”

Link nodded his approval, only to rub his head sheepishly when the fairy cursed him out again for shaking his head. Nevertheless, as soon as he arrived, he knocked on the door. It opened to reveal...nothing?

“...” Link just stared at the empty space before him before he felt a light kick on his leg. He looked down to see a small bunny looking angrily at him. Its paws were at its hips with its foot tapping impatiently.

“Uhhh… Hi?” Link said uncertainly. The two of them stared at each other, the atmosphere tense and uncomfortable. Which was why he was grateful when Fluttershy came.

“A-angel bunny dear? I-Is somepony at the door- oh!” Fluttershy looked at Link in surprise when she arrived. “R-rift! It's you!”

“Hello Fluttershy,” Link greeted pleasantly. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable this time, so he put a smile on his face and steeled his nerves “How are you today?”

Fluttershy blinked, “I-I’m fine?”

“I think you already know what I'm here for,” Link said. Fluttershy nodded and picked up the bunny. She stood aside.

“Come on in,” she said, gesturing him in. Link walked in only to gape at what he saw.

Animals. That was the only word he needed to describe her house. All kinds of creatures of all sizes ran all around. Multiple bird cages were hung from the ceiling, housing what seemed to be some pretty sick birds. Mice ran through many holes made on the walls while some other bunnies seem to hop through on the floor. Link could only guess that the bigger animals were outside. He was honestly surprised Fluttershy can sleep through this noise. Though, he figured they probably slept through the night with her.

Though all that chattering stopped as soon as Link stepped into the room. He found himself under scrutiny by all of the creatures currently in the room. He started to sweat as it took all of his willpower to not run away.

“I apologize for the mess,” Fluttershy said, snapping Link out of his thoughts. He looked back to see her fidgeting again. “E-everyone tells me that I keep too much animals around.”

“It’s fine!” Link said, rapidly waving his hooves in front of him. “It's your life so you can do whatever you want with it!”

He sighed in relief when he saw Fluttershy brighten up. At least he can confirm that Fluttershy did indeed love animals with all her being. He turned back to see the animals still looking straight at him, unnerving him again.

“Let’s get straight to the point,” he said shakily, in an attempt to ignore the animal’s creepy looks. Strangely, Fluttershy didn’t seem to notice their stares at all. Maybe they did this whenever somepony comes over? “I wanted to talk about last night.”

Link lifted his hat, causing the fairy to hover over him and fly by his side. Fluttershy stared at the fairy in awe.

“We just wanted to discuss this matter more with you,” Link said, ignoring the heated glare he felt from his back from his fairy companion. “I think you already know that we didn’t explain everything properly yet.”

“So it was real,” Fluttershy said. Her eyes were sparkling again like last night. “I never thought I would see a fairy in my life.”

“And it should've stayed that way,” the fairy huffed. “But, due to unfortunate circumstances, here we are, in your house, discussing about the very thing that should’ve been kept a secret.”

“Let’s not start another fight again,” Link said, glaring at the fairy. The fairy turned the opposite way in defiance. “We just wanted you to keep quiet about this. We told you this yesterday, but we still wanted to make sure. You promise you won’t tell anyone?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” she said automatically with various amounts of motion with her hooves. Link looked at her weirdly but chalked it up as her own way of promising him.

“Thank you for your time,” he said formally. “Now, me and my partn-”

Before he could say anything, a loud wailing sound can be heard throughout the house. The animals immediately diverted their attention from Link to whatever was screaming.

“Oh!” Fluttershy straightened up suddenly. “I-I’m really sorry, but can you excuse me for a second?”

Fluttershy immediately went upstairs. After sometime, the wailing stopped with Link being able to hear Fluttershy’s soothing coos from upstairs. When she came down, the animal she held in her hooves shocked Link and his fairy companion.

“I’m sorry for the-” she started to say before she was interrupted by two shouts.

“A GREAT FAIRY PIECE!?” Both of them immediately ran over to her. The ugly fairy shied away from them, wriggling deeper into Fluttershy’s hooves. She shied away from them too.

“A...Great Fairy Piece?” She asked. Link’s eyes widened when he realized that she was in the same room.

“I...uh…” Link stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse that would still keep her in the dark.

“It’s part of our secret business here,” his fairy companion intervened, saving him from speaking. “So just hand over that fairy here and no trouble will come your way.”

“W-why should I?” Fluttershy eyes’ suddenly narrowed, surprising the both of them. She held the fairy away from them. “What are you going to do with it?”

Link noticed that she stopped stuttering and decided to play this very carefully. “No harm will come to it. We just need to...return it to its home.”

“You shouted out its name,” Fluttershy said suspiciously, her eyes still in narrow slits. “By home did you mean a poacher’s bounty!?”

“No!” Link denied, sweat pouring down his face like bullets. This was getting out of hand way too fast. He could practically feel the animals’ glares starting to heat up his back. “There are more of them around here! We just need to find them all.”

“Listen mare,” The fairy said slowly. Link saw a small tick mark on top of him. “You don't possibly know what you are getting into. Our business is our business alone. Do you know anything about this creature at all?” Fluttershy opened her mouth but froze. “Exactly. We know what they are capable of. We know exactly what to do with them.”

“So they won't get...hurt?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes wide and round. The fairy moved up to say something before faltering at her puppy eyes.

“Yes,” he said gently. “It won't get hurt.”

She stared at them more before deciding that they were trustworthy enough. She slowly handed over the Great Fairy piece to them. It then bolted from her hands and clung to Link, startling all of them.

"So it likes you…” Fluttershy said softly before closing her eyes. “...take care of it please.”

“Of course,” Link said with a smile. He opened his hat and ushered the Great Fairy piece in, his fairy companion following behind it. “If you find anything else like this, can you please notify us. These fairies are lost and need to be found.”

Fluttershy nodded shyly, “If there’s anything I can do to help, just ask.”

“There’s no-” Link started to say before his eye caught sight of a certain object. “...Actually, can I have some fish food over there?”

“Fish food?” Fluttershy asked. “Do the fairies like that?”

“Nah, Its for a...debt of mine,” Link answered uneasily. “If I could have some, it would be great.”

Fluttershy nodded and handed over some packets of fish food. Link nodded gratefully and exited out of the door. “Please help those poor creatures.”

“Count on it!” Link affirmed with a grin. He then walked on the dirt path to Ponyville.

“Honestly that mare,” The fairy sighed in his hat. “Thinking we were hired by some poacher. HA! You’re just a colt. And she just found out recently that fairies existed. Who else could’ve known?”

“You have to look at it from her perspective,” Link said. He entered the town and headed in the direction where the fountain was. “You know that she is extremely protective of her animals. And the Great Fairy piece looks nothing like you regular fairies. Actually, it looks like an ugly minotaur baby.”

“You take that back!” The fairy cried out in defense of her mistress.

“You know it’s true though,” Link said. He smirked at the fairy’s silence.

“...Fine,” he said. “But enough of that! Why did you need the fish food anyway? It reeks in here because of that!”

“Are you aware of those mapmaking fish?” Link asked. He heard a small gasp, signaling him that he did.

“They actually helped you?!” The fairy’s tone was disbelieving, making Link narrow his eyes. “That’s bullshit! No way did they do that! After what the ponies did to them, they wouldn’t surface to make them a map!”

“What do you mean?” Link asked. The fish who had made him his first map said something about how they didn’t surface for ponies for some reasons, which intrigued him since the fairy said something that connected.

“Never you mind!” he barked. “...some things should stay a secret.”

Link frowned at that but didn’t pursue. He knew there was more to everypony that meets the eye, but he did get frustrated sometimes with all the secrets that were kept from him. Something had happened to these creatures. That much he could gather. But why were they hiding? What had happened to them to make them so isolated from society?

He didn’t realize he had arrived at his destination until he bumped into the fountain. He looked down to see the fish already surfacing, a big grin on his face. “Ho-?”

The fish wagged his fin at him as if he was berating him. “Never underestimate us fish and our love for fish food! It’s literally been ages since I had some, but I knew you would keep your bargain! Now gimme!”

Link opened his hat and sprinkled the food in the fountain. The fish immediately swam around, getting all the pieces before resurfacing. He burped loudly, making Link wrinkle his nose in disgust.

“I gotta have some more of that later,” the fish sighed happily. “But seriously, thanks. I’ll be sure to tell my friends about you. See ya!”

With that, the fish delved back under water. Link could see the silhouette of the fish through the water before it suddenly disappeared. He blinked and looked closer. He splashed some water and even checked the stony surface. No sign of the fish.

“...Why am I not even surprised anymore?” Link muttered, moving away from the fountain.

“You actually got the fish’s help,” the fairy said incredulously. Link remembered his previous conversation and smirked.

“You believe me now?” Link said smugly. He felt his hat shake around a bit.

“You’re something else, colt,” the fairy said. “First, you fight a manticore and barely survive. Second, you got requested by the Great Fairy herself! Now you made connections with the mapmaking fish, the only creatures that know this land the best despite living in water.”

The fairy laughed out loud, but Link did not. That list just reminded him that he had a lot to learn before he could truly understand what had happened to these sentient races and the biggest question of all: How he was factored into all of this.

“Wait, don’t go there!” he heard the fairy yell in his hat. It must be him trying to take care of the other fairy.

“Something wrong?”

“That damn Great Fairy piece! It was about to get tangled in your broken hang glider. It still is trying to touch it now! Speaking of which, why don’t you get that repaired now? It should be useful for your journey.”

“We may find some clues along the way,” Link added, walking out of the central square. He continued to walk before he stopped sheepishly. “...Do you know where that shop is again?”

“You’re hopeless,” the fairy sighed. “I’ve got your map right here. Just let me read out the directions to you.”

With his partner’s help, Link was able to find the place that those three fillies talked about.

“Are you sure this is the place?” Link asked. He looked at the cylindrical building with skepticism. It sure didn’t look like a sewing place. It looked more like a carousel shop than anything else.

“I’ve been in this town longer than you, so don’t you dare question my knowledge about this town,” the fairy hissed. “Now stop stalling and get that tattered mess fixed. The fairy piece is still trying to suck on it.”

Link grumbled a bit before walking up to the door. With the ruined hang glider on his back, he took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

“Cooommiiingg,” called a dainty voice. Link groaned. He could already recognize the nobility accent the female used. He shook his head from such thoughts. Maybe this noblemare was nice.

The door opened, snapping Link out of his thoughts. He looked up to see a mare with a stylish, curly purple mane. Her coat was white with a cutie mark of three diamonds.

“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique,” the mare said brightly. She looked down to see Link staring at her. “Where we sa-?!”

She faltered and her face quickly changed from pleasant to horrified. Link adopted a confused expression on his face when the mare stood like that for a while.

“Are you okay?” he asked after sometime. The mare snapped out of her trance and bowed low.

“My sincerest apologies,” she said. “It's just your outfit. It’s...It’s…”

“It's what?” Link prompted. The mare seemed to want to gush out from the way her face was strained.

“It's...HIDEOUS!!!” She finally blurted out. Link’s jaw dropped.

“Excuse me?” He said, obviously offended. He could hear the fairy laughing his tiny ass off inside his hat, rolling around in his long mane.

“The coloring is all wrong!” she said hysterically. “Why would you want to wear a color the same as your fur?! That tunic also looks ghastly. That belt around it doesn’t go with the theme at all! Don’t get me started on that hat! Those sort of hats went out of style ages ago! Just where did you get that abomination!?”

“GAHAHAHAHA!!” The fairy laughed in his hat, making Link’s eyes twitch. “Oh my goddess! This is just too precious! I’m glad that I’m not the only one around here who thinks you have an ugly mug!”

“She’s talking about my clothes, goddess dammit,” Link whispered through his clenched teeth. After the fairy showed no signs of stopping his laughter, Link shook his head again to make his hat flap around.

“OW! You conniving bitch! WAIT, DON’T CLING TO ME! FUCK, NOW IT'S SUCKING ON ME! OH SHIT!”

Link mentally laughed at his companion’s suffering. Satisfied with his revenge, he turned back to the mare. Luckily, she was still going on about his clothes to know what was going on between him and the fairy.

“You done now?” he said with narrowed eyes. He didn’t really know how to run a business but he most certainly knew that the employee wasn’t supposed insult the client’s clothes within thirty seconds of their meeting. He honestly didn’t know how this mare still had a business. She was lucky he didn’t know anypony else that could fix his hang glider.

“Most certainly not!” she huffed. She used her magic to pick him up, which startled him. “We need to get you a change of clothes. NOW!”

“Let go of me,” he cried out. He tried to break out of her magic to no avail. “This can be counted as a kidnap, you know!”

“Not for an emergency like this!” she argued. She levitated Link inside. The inside was a cylinder like the outside. Many mannequins were on display with different types of dresses. There were many coat hooks with some clothes in a plastic wrappings, which Link presumed to be her orders. The whole area looked pink and girly, which made him even more uncomfortable. He should’ve found somepony else to fix his hang glider.

As soon as the crazy mare put him down, he levitated a broom near him and held it horizontally like a spear. He jabbed a few times in her direction, causing her to step back. “Get away from me you crazy mare!”

“What brought this on? I’m only trying to help!” she tried to move in only for Link stab out again. He seriously didn’t know what this mare’s problem was. She even has the gall to look insulted when he refused her help!

“Big sis? What’s with all the commotion?” a familiar voice asked from above. Sweetie Belle emerged from the stairs and looked down. “Do you need help...with…anything…”

She faltered at the scene happening below. She had seen her sister handle all of her orders with minor errors. She had even seen her deal with the occasional irate customer, which was what she had been expecting to see. Instead, she saw some familiar green colt levitating a broom like a spear while her own sister’s horn flared, both of them in battle positions and yelling war at each other. She looked at the colt again and she realized why he was familiar.

“Rift, is that you?!” Sweetie Belle grinned and rushed downstairs. She saw the tattered hang glider on his back. “You actually took my advice!”

“Wait, Rift’s here?!” Two more voices called out. Link groaned, knowing who exactly those voices belonged to. Sure enough, Applebloom and Scootaloo raced downstairs to meet him. What a fine mess he was in now.

“You two know him?” the mare asked, the magic in her horn dying down. The three nodded furiously.

“He...er...helped us out with something extremely important,” Scootaloo said, shooting Link an apologetic look.

“That’s right!” Applebloom agreed. She was sweating a bit while the other two were glaring at her. “Nothing happened at all!”

“Hmmm,” the mare stared at them suspiciously before sighing. “I guess there is nothing to worry about. You didn’t help them with anything bad, did you?”

“Don’t ask him questions like that big sister!” Sweetie Belle whined. Link’s eyes widened at what she said.

“She’s your big sister?” Link asked. Both of them nodded together.

“We haven’t introduced each other,” The mare said. “My name is Rarity and I can presume that your name is Rift?”

Link’s eyes widened even more. This was Rarity, the element of generosity? Didn’t seem like it. Nevertheless, Link didn’t let his surprise show and nodded his head.

“What was that yelling about earlier?” Scootaloo asked. Rarity gave Link the stink eye and turned towards them.

“Just me trying to offer some fashion advice to your friend, who reacted in the least pleasant way may I add.”

“You dragged me here against my will!” Link shot back. “I never asked for anything!”

“What did you want in a fashion shop then?” Rarity asked smugly. Link reached for his back and pulled out the hang glider.

“I wanted you to fix this thing,” Link said. “If you’re too busy…”

“Not a problem,” Rarity said cheerfully. She plucked the hang glider out of his grip with her magic and inspected. “I’ll even do it free of charge since you are new here...and as an apology of sorts for earlier. I can get a bit...eccentric...when I see something I don’t like.”

“Understatement of the year,” Sweetie Belle whispered loud enough so Rarity couldn’t hear. Link and her friends snickered quietly.

“I believe I should have it done by tomorrow!” Rarity said. “Come see me tomorrow in the morning to pick it up. It shall be better than it was before!”

With that, she went upstairs with his hang glider, leaving him alone with the three fillies.

"Sorry about not telling what really happened," Scootaloo said. "I know you maybe wanted some credit for you saving us, but I don't exactly want to get in trouble for going into the Everfree Forest again."

"Its fine," Link assured. "I didn't want to get in trouble either, so its a good thing you kept your mouths shut."

A few minutes of silence went around before Scootaloo broke it again.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m leaving. I heard Rainbow Dash was going to practice on the fields and I don’t want to miss it! See ya!” Scootaloo ran out the door.

“Hey,” the fairy suddenly said. “You know that feeling I had earlier at Fluttershy’s house?”

Link’s eyes widened, “You telling me you’re feeling it now?”

“Another Great Fairy piece is close by,” the fairy murmured. “VERY close by.”

Link looked around and his expression fell, “Oh goddess…”

Sure enough, there was another Great Fairy piece, wedged in between some cabinets. It seemed to be struggling to get out.

“You were to busy with your fight while I was too busy prying this stupid fairy off of me to notice it,” his companion said. “For now, try to look inconspicuous while getting it.”

Link looked back at the girls talking to each other and his target. He started inching towards the fairy.

“Oh! I almost forgot you were here Rift!” Sweetie Belle said. She pulled him away from his target. “Let me show you how things work here if you’re staying.”

“Ah’ll help too,” Applebloom said, following along. Sweetie Belle gripped Link’s leg and pulled him away from the fairy piece.

“Shit! You’re getting away from it! We need to get it as quickly as we can before they see it!” The fairy warned inside his hat. “If you get closer to it, it should sense the other fairy piece in your hat, which will attract it towards us, making our jobs a little easier.”

“Don’t you think I already know that?!” Link whispered, making sure the girls didn’t hear anything. They were talking about how the Carousel Boutique worked, with Link pretending to pay attention while he eyed the fairy piece slowly. His eyes suddenly widened. “Wait, don’t tell me-?!”

The fairy piece finally got wedged out of the small cabinet space and started roaming around the shop.

“Crap! We cannot let them see it! Get it, NOW!”

“We stacked the dresses in this pile to…” Sweetie Belle was saying, turning towards the fairy’s direction.

“W-wait!” Link cried out, jumping in their line of vision. He heard a startled squeak come from the fairy behind and quickly backed up, trying to crowd the fairy to a wall.

“W-what is it?” Applebloom said, obviously startled as well. Sweetie Belle looked a bit ruffled from his outburst as well.

“Well…” Link quickly tried to find an excuse and groped behind him in a desperate attempt to catch the fairy. His attempts failed as he groped nothing but thin air.

“Uhh…” his companion shifted nervously in his hat. “You might want to look the other direction.”

He looked behind the girls only to see the fairy about to knock over a group of mannequins.

“If you’re done interrupting me, as I was saying…” Sweetie Belle turned the other direction, to which Link panicked badly.

“NOOOOOO!” He immediately dived towards the fairy, accidentally crashing into the mannequins. All of them tumbled down on the poor colt and fillies. Both of them screamed as they collapsed under the heavy dresses.

In the midst of the chaos, Link tried to find the fairy piece. “Where is the little devil now? I swear when I get my hooves on you…”

He found the fairy struggling in a dress sleeve. He quickly grabbed it and held up his prize. “Gotcha!”

“What was that all ‘bout, Rift?” Applebloom asked, nursing a bump on her head. “That wasn’t funny at all.”

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle agreed, also massaging a similar bruise in the same area. “I can see why you didn’t make a good first impression with my sister.”

“Crap!” He quickly hid the fairy piece behind his back. “Sorry. I thought there was...something...there.”

Applebloom narrowed her eyes. “Even ah know what yer saying isn’t true. Why are actin’ suspicious now? And what are you hidin’ behind yer back?”

“I-I don’t know what your talking about?” Link said weakly. Fortunately for him, luck was on his side today.

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity called from upstairs. “Where did you put that red roll of thread? I know you used it for a project for school. And why was there yelling earlier?”

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked up. “It's upstairs in my room! And the second is nothing you should concern yourself about!”

Using his goddess sent distraction, he quickly stuffed the fairy piece in his hat and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible.

“Back to what we were saying,” Sweetie Belle pointedly glared at him. “What was all that about again?”

“I’m sorry, but I really thought I saw somepony hiding there,” Link said with a fake smile. Sweetie Belle sighed.

“You’re as bad a liar as Applebloom and Applejack,” Sweetie Belle stated smugly. She and Link levitated the mannequins back to their proper places with Sweetie Belle giggling all the way. “It's like we can say you’re both related or something.”

Link flinched while Sweetie Belle laughed again. Applebloom looked indignant.

“We’re not that bad liars!” She tried to defend. “At least we can detect any lie when we see one.”

“Not really, ever since that loophole was found,” Sweetie Belle retorted. Applebloom fumed while Link looked interested.

“A loophole?” he asked, intrigued. Sweetie Belle nodded.

“Even though Applejack is the element of honesty, there is a way to get by her natural lie detecting skills,” Sweetie Belle stated matter-of-factly. “Though you’re going to need a great deal of luck and thinking in order to do so.”

“Must yah tell everypony ‘bout that?” Applebloom asked, annoyed. “It defeats the whole purpose of my big sis’ bein’ the element of honesty in the first place.”

“You can actually lie to Applejack?!” Link asked incredulously. During his family gathering, everypony boasted about Applejack being the supreme lie detector. The fact that there was a way to get by that would be extremely useful in other cases as well.

“Its called the lyin’ check,” Applebloom answered. “Something that yah never need to know ‘bout.”

“No, he will need to know it,” Sweetie Belle argued. “What if she asks him what we were doing yesterday? Admit it, you used the lying check to get by her. If you hadn’t, you would’ve been grounded and at home now instead of here. What if she finds him and asks him what happened? We all know that she’s still suspicious on what happened. She still isn’t in the best of moods, even though she came back yesterday morning. There is a chance that she might punish you even more because of that.”

Applebloom gulped and looked towards Link guiltily. “Fine. I’ll tell yah. But only because ah don’t want her to be stressed out even more. Goddess knows she needs more things to worry about ever since the...incident.”

Link felt like asking what happened but had a feeling on what she was talking about, and he did not want to lie to her again. “Go on.”

Applebloom took a deep breath, “It’s simple really. Yah have to use a bunch of half-truths and white lies to get by. Sure she might get suspicious but only if yah use too much. And yah must have a blank expression on yer face when answering the questions, only changing yer expression to the appropriate emotion or mood of an answer.”

“Is that all?”

“No, there’s more. Yah HAVE to answer truthfully once in awhile. Mostly to throw her off the scent, so to speak. Be careful on what questions yah want to answer truthfully. One faulty piece of evidence can blow yer whole cover.”

“I see…” Link said, seemingly in deep thought. Applebloom said it seemed simple, when it was extremely complicated once you get in depth. The biggest hidden problem was the time. An answer must be thought up in the timeframe of mere seconds while taking account of all the things Applebloom said to blow her off the cover. If a question isn’t answered in a set time, which is usually immediately, suspicion may arouse. That was the last thing you want when trying to lie to somepony.

“Ah pray yah never have to use this on somepony,” Applebloom said. “Like they say, with great power comes great responsibility.”

“Not power, but knowledge in this case,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile. “Which brings us back with what you were hiding from us.”

“Uhh…” Link said, quickly looking for a way out. “I really don’t have time for that. Thank you very much for fixing my hang glider! I’ll come back tomorrow morning to pick it up. Gottagobye!”

With that, he zoomed out of the shop as fast as he could. A dust cloud appeared from where Link used to be with the door swinging both sides rapidly. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were looking at his previous position, a deadpan set on their faces.

“That boy is hiding something…”

“Sure is. Nopony can be an amazing swordspony that can beat timberwolves and survive a manticore attack like that. Heh, mysterious but shy…”

(Back on the road)

“I swear all that luck will come and bite you back on your ass, just you see. And I will be laughing hard on the sidelines, taking pictures,” The fairy laughed. Link, too tired to retort, just trudged along. Though, he thought he heard an offended bray somewhere…

“Where is our next lead?” Link asked. He felt some shuffling on his head.

“No, do NOT go there! And you, stay over there! As for you, my furry little friend, I have a faint signal on the edge of town. Two actually, whom are very near each other. I ain’t complaining since it makes our jobs easier.”

“Just lead the way,” Link took the directions the fairy gave him and found himself walking on bumpy path of the outskirts. “How are the two doing there?”

“The two resorted to sucking on me, which is weird and disgusting since this is my mistress we’re talking about so hurry it up! Take a right turn here!”

Link did what he asked and started to go uphill. After the hill became a bit steeper, he froze. “N-No way…”

“Oi! Why’d you stop? We are closer to accomplishing our goal so hurry up and get it out of there!” The fairy yelled at him, though to no avail as Link’s brain shut down at what he was seeing.

“...Goddess dammit!” Link grit his teeth while his eyes hardened. “Out of all the places…”

“What’s the holdup here?!” the fairy said. He peeked underneath Link’s hat. “It should be sim- oh. Oh.”

The reason for their expressions was right in front of them, was the Apple Family Ranch.

“I told you!” the fairy said gleefully. Having known about Link’s predicament with the Apple family, he started flying around his hat, bonking his head mockingly. “I told you all that luck would bite you in your ass! And look at how hard it bit too! Good luck sneaking around!”

Link just grit his teeth and stared at the barn hard. “Of course with my kind of luck, two of the pieces would be here of all places! I thought I could actually avoid this place. Guess I thought wrong.”

“What’re you waiting for?” The fairy asked. “The faster you go, the faster you can get away from this place. That’s how I see it at least.”

Link took a deep breath and started walking. “Where exactly is it there?”

“It's in that barn,” his fairy companion said. “It shouldn’t be too hard. Get it and run!”

Link gulped and crouched low. Even though it was daytime, he tried to hide himself as best as he could. He hid behind the wheelbarrow in front of their plain looking house and looked around. It seemed as if nopony was here, but he wanted to play it as safely as he could. When he confirmed nopony was around, he quickly dashed into the barn.

“Look quickly!” the fairy said. “I can feel it somewhere around here.”

The barn itself was huge. A stack of tools were laid against the wall while a pile of hay sat in the back. He decided to try his luck with the tools first. He sorted through them as carefully as he can. Suddenly, he tripped over a rake, which slammed into his back into the process.

“OWCH!”

CRASH!

All the tools fell down on top of each other, resulting in a loud clash. Link froze, worried that somepony heard him.

“What are you waiting for?!” the fairy asked him. Link could feel his tension too. “Check the hay pile!”

With that, Link rushed over the hay pile and quickly dug through it like a maniac. A bead of sweat ran through his face as he rushed all over the place, intent on getting out of there as soon as possible.

“Over there!” the fairy whispered. Link looked at his direction and saw the two of them. Both of them seemed to be cuddling up to each other, fast asleep. He would’ve thought the scene was cute if he wasn’t under so much pressure at the moment. He quickly scooped them up without waking them and deposited them in his hat.

“They’re both of asleep,” his fairy said, relieved. “That makes things even more ea- What was that?!”

Link froze, his ears high and twitching.

Thud Thud Thud

Hoofsteps.

“Get down!” the fairy hissed at him. “I hear two sets coming here. Make yourself scarce in the hay!”

Link immediately did so, his heart pounding. More sweat started trailing down his face, one even going into his eye. It didn’t bother him at the moment as he started to pray that they wouldn’t come in here. Apparently his prayers weren’t answered, as he heard one come in here. He heard some shuffling with the tools he knocked over making clicking sounds against each other. He lifted his head up a bit and opened his eye a bit.

“He’s huge!” was the first thought that went through Link’s mind. It was true. A big, red stallion filled his vision. He saw him poking and prodding the tools with a concerned expression on his face. “Is that…Big Macintosh?!”

"Somethin’ the matter, Big Mac?” he heard a female voice call out. For one scary moment, Link realized that must’ve been Applejack.

“Nothin’!” Big Mac called back. “Jus’ some tools that fell over!”

After he rearranged the tools, he left the barn. Link didn’t leave his hiding place until he stopped hearing both of their hoofsteps. Once he thought they were in the clear, he emerged from the haystack.

“That...was one of the most stressful moments of my life,” Link commented.

“I agree,” the fairy said. “Let’s get out of here.”

“I want to get out of here too,” Link let out a breath he had been holding.

“Ah don’t think so,” a certain female voice said behind them. Link sucked in the breath he just let out again. “N-No...It can’t be…”

“She’s right behind us, isn’t she,” the fairy said in a deadpan voice. Link nodded slowly and turned around. Sure enough, he was staring at Applejack’s hard, cold eyes. “Looks like we’re in for it now.”

“How about we start with why you’re hidin’ here, hmmm?” Applejack said, her eyes burning through his. Link gulped. It looked like he was going to be utilizing Applebloom’s advice earlier than he thought. This was really going to be one of the most stressful moments of his life.

Author's Notes:

If you guys haven't read my blog yet, then let me say it right now again. Words cannot describe how sorry I am for postponing this chapter. I had all these assignments and exams due, and when I was finally done, I just went low for a while. This story was on a short hiatus without me telling you and I am sorry for that. But since school's out now, I have a lot of time on my hands, which means I can work on this story a lot more. I don't know how often I will update but I will keep my promise on finishing this story. Now on to more important things.

DID YOU SEE THAT NEW ZELDA TRAILER?!! I never knew nintendo had the guts to break so many traditions for this new game, and I'm honestly glad they did. It looks amazing and it will be a definite buy for me. The name sounds a bit weird but I'm warming up to it. "Breath of the Wild." Let's hope for a good clean release.

Back to the story, this chapter is in parts. I simply couldn't find anyway to expand this chapter for Link to find all the pieces at once so I decided to add a cliffhanger, heh heh. Also, I decided on what the Fairy's name is going to be, but I couldn't find any place for it in this chapter, but I know it will be revealed in the next one. What is it you may be wondering? I'm not telling you cause I'm evil like that, heh heh.

Nevertheless, thanks to all you guys who stuck through with me through this small hiatus and believed I'm not dead. More chapters will come soon, that is a given. Please give some constructive criticism in my lagging area as always. See ya later my readers!

The Fairy Pieces: Part Two

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“Ah’m waitin’,” Applejack said, her stern expression burned permanently in Link’s mind. Link’s senses were suddenly hyper. Details that he would have previously not noticed were now standing out more. Anything, just anything to look at but Applejack’s face.

“Now you’ve done it,” The fairy whispered in his hat. “You can’t bullshit your way through this one.”

“I know goddess dammit!” Link thought in his mind. He was vaguely aware that his tunic was starting to get drenched in his sweat. He had a thought that if he had worn his chainmail armor, the whole thing would’ve been clanking because of how bad he was shaking right now.

“Um…” he started to answer. He quickly racked through his brain for Applebloom’s advice. He needed a vague truth or white lie. He quickly steeled his expression and hoped he wasn’t sweating anymore. “I...was looking for something.”

Applejack raised a brow, “What were yah looking for?”

“Drat! What do I say now?!” Link thought frantically. “I was looking for some small animal that ran in here.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes, making Link gulp. “Yah can cut with the lies right now. I can tell when yer not bein’ truthful.”

Link froze. “What did I say that tipped her off?”

“You idiot! The great fairy pieces aren’t animals. They are part of a sentient being! Stupid!” The fairy hissed in his hat. Link groaned, having missed that small detail.

“I was looking for...somepony,” Link said, wincing when he looked up at Applejack’s eyes. “I thought they had ran in here.”

“Ah didn’t see anypony run in here,” Applejack frowned before a look of realization spread across her face. Link hoped she didn’t think what he thought she thought. “Speaking of ponies, ah don’t believe ah know you, and ah know everypony in town! What’s yer name?”

Link gulped as he felt his temperature shoot up. This was the moment he was afraid of during his entire journey. It was even worse since he didn’t know if his fake name would count as a half-truth or complete lie.

“My name…” Link mumbled pathetically. His eyes darted around the room, trying to find inspiration for his next response. His ears were pressed to his head against his will. His legs started to shake subtly along with his whole body. The moment of truth was at hand. Link had never been so afraid of telling the truth in his whole life. “My name is…”

“Rift? What are you doing here? Big sis’ too!”

“Thank you so much Applebloom! May the goddesses above bless you!” Link cried in happiness internally. Sure enough, Applebloom was standing in front of the entrance of the barn, a confused expression on her face. Meanwhile, another being didn’t share Link’s happiness.

“GODAMMIT! YOU BULLSHITTED YOUR WAY THROUGH AGAIN! WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND RANDOM CLOSE SAVES!?” The fairy ranted in his hat. Link couldn’t help it. He snorted without meaning to, desperately trying not to laugh. He already knew the fairy was pissed off by his seemingly goddess level luck, but this was seriously pushing it.

“Applebloom?” Applejack asked, walking closer to her. “I thought yah were at Rarity’s place. What’re you doin’ here?”

“Scootaloo left early, so ah thought I should come back home,” Applebloom responded. She looked over at Link questioningly. “What were you doing with Rift?”

“Ah found him in the barn looking for somethin’,”Applejack said. She turned to Rift. “So, yer the pony mah sister was talking bout’. Nice to meetcha!” She slapped his back hard, making him cough out in surprise. This was a complete turnaround from her previous behavior. Link learned that he would never get mares, immortal and mortal alike.

“Ah’m grateful for yah to spend some time to help Applebloom an’ her friends on their project,” Applejack said, nodding appreciatively at him. Link raised an eyebrow at the statement.

“Project?” He looked over at Applebloom and saw her smiling nervously at him, her eyes telling him to go with it. “Oh I see. That was probably what Applebloom told her sister so that she wouldn’t get in trouble.”

“It was no problem,” Link said, still carefully minding his words. “She...seemed like in trouble so I...helped.”

Applebloom shot him a grateful look, to which Link shot back with his own, much to her confusion. Applejack looked at him with her ears folded in.

“We...may have gone off on the wrong hoof,” she said before she perked up again. “Mah name’s Applejack, co-owner of Sweet Apple Acres. Nice to meetcha Rift!” Applejack held Link’s hoof and shook it rapidly, making him dizzy.

“I-it’s n-nice t-to m-meet you t-too,” Link tried to say, the constant up and down motion of his hoof making his voice echo. Once she had released his hoof, he wrung up it up and down to dispel the pain.

“Applebloom? Applejack? Y’all are here?” a new voice called out.

“We’re here!” Applebloom called out. Link froze in shock.

“That voice...it can’t be-!?” Link thought frantically. He looked over to confirm his suspicions. Granny Smith was standing with Big Mac at the barn entrance, holding her cane. “Oh dear goddess…”

“I wonder how you’re going to weasel out of this one,” the fairy grumbled. Link ignored him as he tried to think of ways to still stay undercover. The only pony who actually saw up close at the reunion was here. Link tried to hide most of his face under his cap while the Apple family talked amongst each other.

“Who might this young one be?” Granny Smith asked. Link flinched as Applebloom and Applejack pushed him forward to meet her.

“This here’s Rift!” Applebloom said. Link raised his face up, but still kept it hidden within his hat. He thought he saw something flash through Granny Smith’s eyes but dismissed it as his imagination acting up under stress. “He’s new to Ponyville!”

Granny Smith looked at him for a moment before she smiled, startling him. “It’s very nice to meet yah, Rift. If yah need anything, come to us.”

“So she doesn’t remember how I look like,” Link thought as he shook hooves with Granny Smith and Big Mac. “Don’t know whether I should feel relieved or insulted by that.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Link said, shifting around nervously. He walked out of the barn with them. “But I think I overstayed my welcome here and I still have some other business to conduct. I’ll see you later?” “Hopefully never.”

“Stop by here when you can!” Applebloom called out to him as he left the Apple Farm rather quickly.

“Wouldn’t count on it…” he mumbled to himself but still smiled and waved. The fairy shuffled around in his hat, obviously annoyed.

“Mark my words, colt,” he said, breathing heavily. “All that luck you’ve been shitting out lately will go straight back up your ass in due time. Mark my words…”

Link just rolled his eyes and continued forward back to town. Despite his almost traumatic experience, he still had a task to do. Those Great Fairies weren’t going to find themselves.

“I don’t think I can survive another experience like that,” Link thought to himself. His fairy partner was right. He was pretty lucky but he couldn’t rely on luck all the time. “I definitely don’t want to encounter them again. At least not yet.”

Meanwhile, the very ponies he was thinking about were having opposite thoughts.

“He’s a strange colt, isn’t he?” Applejack said. Applebloom nodded in agreement. Big Macintosh just shrugged his shoulders, staying true to his reputation of a stallion of few words.

“He’s nice but I know he’s hidin’ somethin’,” Applebloom said. “Other than that, I don’ mind if he comes over a few times.”

“Let’s not pry too far into his business,” Applejack warned. “Ah don’ mind if he comes here too, but don’ go askin’ him bout’ that kind of stuff, okay?”

“Fine,” Applebloom grumbled. They all shared a small laugh. While everypony else chuckled, Granny Smith only smiled sadly. She looked back at the dirt path leading to Ponyville.

“His business is actually more connected to you more than you think,” Granny Smith thought, her eyes suddenly narrowing at the retreating figure of their newest guest. “You may think you have me fooled, but I never ever forget the faces of my grandchildren. Apples treasure family more than anything else after all.” She sighed through her nose and started to walk back to the house, her cane oddly shaking in her hoof along the way. “But it is because the Apples love their family that they would go great lengths to protect them. Despite being an outsider, I believe you have a heart of an Apple, Link. I will play along to your facade for now. The secrets that surround your father’s murder will be revealed soon. All in good time.”

XxX

“Do you sense any other Great Fairies?”

“We only have one more to collect. I will tell you as soon as I find them,” the fairy huffed. It was very obvious that the fairy was still pissed about what happened back at Sweet Apple Acres. Link thought it was pretty childish of the fairy to think that way.

“Shouldn’t you be happy that everything turned out alright instead of becoming a disaster?” Link asked, annoyed. “I might not have been able to look for your mistress if I was caught.”

“I’m mad because of how your luck seems to save you right at the perfect moment,” the fairy responded. “Honestly, you seem like somepony from a storybook or something. Nopony as young as you should be surviving in the situations you get yourself into.”

“Trust me, I don’t want to have any danger as well,” Link said. “Trouble seems to always find me.”

“Understatement of the year,” the fairy quipped. Link just grumbled as he entered upon the market area.

“You find anything yet?” Link asked again. Instead of the expected denial, the fairy bobbed up and down in his hat.

“A faint signal near here,” the fairy said. “And about time too! I’m getting tired of staying with you in this stuffy hat. The quicker the better!”

“You always find a way to insult me in each response,” Link sighed, more or less used to the fairy’s behavior. “Just show me the way.”

The fairy complied with his demand and told him the directions. He walked through the market area to find a store that seemed to be in the shape of a gingerbread house. Various candies were used to be spelled out into letters.

“Sugarcube Corner…” Link read out before facehoofing. “This is a public area, isn’t it?”

“Yep,”

“The Great Fairy piece is also in there?”

“Got that right,”

“Fantastic…”

Link entered the store. He was surprised to find the inside to be shaped like any other candy shop. It was rather plain which was alright with him. Very few ponies were inside, which was even better. Less ponies to worry about if they saw any Great Fairies.

“Its definitely somewhere around here…” the fairy murmured in his hat. “But where exactly?”

Link walked deeper into the store and looked around. Everything seemed to be ordinary.

“Maybe it’s at the back of the shop,” the fairy murmured before suddenly perking up. “Wait! It's close to us now! Behind you!”

Link whirled around only to see his vision fill up with pink hair. He immediately jumped back, startled by the sudden invasion of space. A pink mare stared at him with big blue eyes, her smile reflecting the lights in the shop.

“Hi there!” she greeted cheerfully. Link stared back at her, still in shock to reply back. “My name’s Pinkie Pie! What’s your name? I don’t know who your are, which is strange since I know everypony here! ButwaitifIdon’tknowwhoyouarethenthatmeansIhavetothrowapartyforyoubutIdon’thaveenoughsuppliesbutIcouldjustgetthemfromsomewherethenIwould…”

“This is Pinkie Pie? I read that she was energetic but…” Link thought, ignoring her continued banter. “This is on a whole other level.”

“andthentherewascakeeverywheresoitwashardtocleanupafterourselvesand…” Pinkie Pie continued before Link suddenly raised a hoof. She stopped talking immediately, her smile still bright. Surprisingly, she didn’t look offended.

“Err…” Link found himself in an awkward silence. He desperately tried to find someway to restart the conversation.

“Wait a minute…” he thought. He looked at Pinkie Pie again. She was still smiling at him pleasantly, waiting for him to say something. ”The fairy detected another piece behind me but…”

“I could've sworn it was behind me,” his partner whispered in his hat, as if he was answering Link’s thoughts. “I still feel it now!”

“Pinkie Pie...right?” Link started cautiously. The pink mare nodded her head vigorously. Her eyes displayed a surprising amount of innocence and wonder.

“That’s right!” She said enthusiastically. Then her eyes grew even bigger, if that was even possible. “I've never seen you before! And I know everypony in town! Are you new here? Wait, that's a stupid question. If I've never seen you before and I know everypony in town then you must be new here! Are you-?”

“One at a time please!” He threw up his hoof again, silencing her once more. “Can you go a bit slower-”

“Oh!” She suddenly interrupted him. She started twitching in random places.

“Now what!?” Link thought in exasperation. He continued to watch her twitch uncomfortably. Surprisingly, nopony seemed to notice.

“Twitcha twitcha twitcha,” she continued, her eye vibrating. “Oh! A different pattern. Oh I see…”

“What does she see?” Link was definitely getting more and more weirded out. He idly wondered if the fairy shared his thoughts.

“Oh!” She was decidedly done with her spasm. She looked at Link seriously, surprising him. The atmosphere suddenly went tense. He didn't dare say anything.

“This…” Link started to sweat at a faster pace. He found his eyes were glued to hers. Those blue eyes seemed to turn red. An unknown pressure seemed to weigh down on him. It took all his willpower not to turn his legs into jelly at that very moment. “This...feels nothing like when I was with Applejack. What...is with this intensity!?”

“Child of courage,” she suddenly said. Link looked at her, back straight and eyes wide. None of his actions were of his own will. It was pure instinct. “Weapon of power. The locked wisdom.”

Pinkie Pie looked like she was in a trance. Her face was devoid of emotion. Link looked and he swore her eyes were red now. “Two avengers rise from the fall of their masters. An eye drops of red tears. The ice shall melt, revealing an eternal fire. Warmth shall spread north while cold shall spread south. Night’s song shall illuminate the day. Three keys will unlock a dying weapon of good and a former weapon of evil. Two powers will rest as one, bringing forth the third lost to this world. A retainer of harmony will show the truth, hiding behind the lies of our eyes.”

Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped. She started coughing and wheezing. Link didn't say anything. He couldn't do anything after what he had heard. The whole experience was nightmarish, seemingly taken straight out of a horror movie. It was eerily quiet. He looked around to see nopony in the shop. He could've sworn there were ponies earlier.

“Those words…”

“Huh?” Link thought. He definitely recognized that robotic female voice. “Is that you?”

“I appear before you once more, master,” the mysterious voice answered his question. “I apologize for my...absence. I imagine there are many things you are feeling about my return.”

“Damn right!” Link silently raged. The voice left him when he had a lot of questions to ask. “Where were you!?”

“Increased contact with you has become dangerous, master,” the voice replied. “I humbly apologize for the inconvenience I have caused with my leave.”

“Why has it become dangerous?” Link asked before remembering where he was. “Wait, I'll ask you later. There are more pressing matters at hand.”

“What...the fuck was that?” The fairy asked, voicing the question before Link could.

Pinkie Pie seemed to be stable. She took a deep breath and looked at him.

Her eyes were blue.

“What...was that?” Link gasped out. The oppressive force was gone now, leaving him feeling drained and tired. Pinkie Pie just looked at him with a confused expression on her face.

“What was what?” She asked innocently. It took all of Link’s leftover strength not to scream at the girl.

“Did you remember anything what you said at all?” Link asked calmly. Pinkie shook her head.

“I remember my Pinkie senses going off…” She started. Link wondered just what a Pinkie Sense was. “And then everything just went black and I saw you staring at me like you were...scared at me.” She sniffled at the end.

Link wasn’t surprised. The whole event was terrifying. Even he wanted to forget it now. “So she doesn't remember anything. Fantastic.”

“Is it true?” She asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Are you...s-scared of me?”

Link blinked. “She must really be hurt by me.” He unknowingly smiled despite everything that happened. “Guess she really does want everypony to be happy.”

“No,” he answered, hoping that he didn't sound overly familiar. “I actually hope we can be...friends.”

At that word her whole expression brightened up instantly. Link was surprised at the quick change of emotions. “Seriously, do all mares have this quirk? I will never ever understand them.”

“I would love to be friends!” She said enthusiastically. “Oh wait! I don't even know your name yet! We can't be friends if I don't know your name!”

Link involuntarily flinched, though Pinkie didn't seem to notice it. “You can call me...Rift.”

“Rifty it is!” Pinkie said. Link inwardly blanched. His cool name had been cutified. “Let’s become best frie-”

At that moment, two growls could be heard. The guilty ponies held their stomachs in hunger. Link realized it was almost lunchtime.

“...you hungry?” Pinkie asked the obvious question with Link answering with an embarrassed nod. “I could serve you if you want! I can enjoy lunch with my two new friends!”

“Oh I don't want to impose,” Link immediately declined before he frowned. “Wait, two new friends?”

“Uh huh,” she affirmed. “You and my other best friend. I can introduce you to him! Or her. I don't know which one is right.”

She ruffled her bouncy hair. It wiggled for a moment before a certain pink creature flew upwards into view. Link’s jaw dropped. He could feel his fairy partner bouncing excitedly in his hat.

“The last great fairy piece!” he said in hushed excitement. Link was amused at how childish the fairy was acting. He usually was the one that put Link down and tried to act like an adult. “It's here! The last one is here! We can finally save my mistress!”

“How are we going to get it away from her?” Link whispered to the fairy. The fairy immediately stopped dancing around.

“...you ass,” he mumbled, making Link grin. He ignored the sudden offended bray he heard outside. “You couldn't let me have my fun any longer?”

“You're the one who always ruins it for me,” he answered. Satisfied with his temporary win, he tried to look for a way to get the fairy and still keep Pinkie in the dark. He was startled when he found a plate full of food shoved right in front of his nose.

“Eat up!” Pinkie said, her bright smile. Link just shook his head.

“I'm sorry, but I don't exactly have any money,” Link said, turning his pockets inside out. Pinkie Pie just laughed.

“This is for this one time for my new friend,” she said. Link was about argue further before his stomach disagreed with him. He blushed as he took the plate and started ravaging through it, leaving nothing behind. “Thank you.”

“You're losing track of your target,” the fairy suddenly hissed. Link almost choked. He had momentarily forgotten about the great fairy piece. He saw it hovering around Pinkie’s head. “Get it quickly so we can save my mistress!”

“So where did you meet your new friend?” Link asked. He was trying to lead the conversation so Pinkie can give it up willingly.

“Outside!” She answered. She rubbed the great fairy piece affectionately. The piece flew a bit closer towards her. Link could hear the protective growl his partner made when Pinkie touched it. “Poor thing was wandering all around the town before I found it. It stuck around with me so I thought it wanted to become friends!”

“Pinkie…” Link paused. He had to word out his next phrase carefully. “...don't you think it might be lost? That its family is looking for it?”

Pinkie’s eyes widened and she looked at the great fairy piece with a hint of sadness. “I-is that true? Are you really lost?”

The fairy piece spluttered before launching a glob of goo at her face.

“You totally are! I should've tried to find your home immediately,” Pinkie continued, completely unfazed by its actions. “I'm such a bad friend…”

“No need to worry!” Link said quickly. He did not want another crying mare at his hooves. “I think I saw its friends somewhere near here!”

“Really?” She asked. Link nodded his head. “Can you take him then? I can't leave the store. Most ponies come here for dessert after the lunch rush comes.”

He nodded his head quickly and opened his hat. He ushered the fairy piece in before Pinkie could see anything inside his hat. “I'll go right alway. Thank you for the lunch! I will repay you.” Before he could leave, he remembered something. “Oh! Before I go, can I make you promise something?”

Pinkie looked at him, surprised. “What, new best friend?”

Link but his lips and looked around. “Can you not mention that I took this fai- creature back to its home.”

“I'll Pinkie Promise,” she said. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

Link looked at her weirdly. He remembered Fluttershy did the same exact thing. He shrugged his shoulders and waved his hoof. “Thanks and goodbye!”

Pinkie waved goodbye and said something, though Link couldn't hear her due to him rushing out of the store as fast as possible. After he ran, he stood there, gasping in the middle of the street.

“Finally…” he huffed. “The task...is finally complete.”

“We finally did it!” the fairy cheered. Link smiled in spite of himself. He had fulfilled one promise. He then frowned. Though he acted like it, he couldn't just forget what had happened with Pinkie before they became friendly with each other. The memories of when she said those phrases and the intense atmosphere made him shiver.

“Who was that girl?” the voice asked him. Link’s heart gave out a big thump, startling him.

“Is that you?” Link asked. He felt a wave of confirmation flow through him. “I guess so. That was Pinkie Pie, an element of harmony.”

“Element...of harmony?”

“Yes. They were the ones that saved the world many times from big threats.”

A short silence permeated through the air. “Word memorization complete. Scanning to make copies of memory.”

“What?” Link asked. “What do you mean by that?”

“It is none of your concern, master.” The voice said. Link felt the familiar feeling of frustration come back to him. “It pains me to hide these things from you, but it must be done if you are to go on the right path.”

“There you go with your paths again,” Link angrily thought. “I just wish you can reveal everything to me already.”

“Everything requires time,” the voice said. “But there is one piece of advice I would like to give you.”

“What is it?” Link asked. He felt a wave of uncertainty wash through him.

“...be wary of Pinkie Pie,” the voice said. Link immediately frowned but stayed quiet. “There is...something about her that makes her stand out from others. A distinct aura in her...”

“What do you mean by that? Or are you going to keep your reasons to yourself?

“Your annoyance is justified, but I do not know the reason myself.”

“Oh,” Link felt somewhat stupid in that moment. He felt some amusement from his mysterious informant.

“I must go now,” the voice declared suddenly. Link’s eyes widened.

“When will you be back?”

“I do not know. Contacting you is already dangerous. I do not know who will be tracking me.”

“Tracking you?”

"I must go now. I look forward to when we can talk, master.”

“W-wait!” Link said before stopping. He sighed. “I guess I'll see you later...uhhhhh.” He felt even more amusement enter his thoughts, making him blush in embarrassment. “I don't even know your name.”

“My name…” the voice mused. Link felt a wave of nostalgia flow through him this time. “It has been a long time since with have heard it with my own audio processors…” A short silence followed after. “Very well. You may call me...Fi.”

“Fi?” Link asked. He felt of jolt of emotions run through him all at once, leaving him gasping. He regained his composure after some time. “What was that!?”

“Forgive me, master,” Fi said. Her tone sounded sad. “It has been...too long since I have heard my own name. You are almost a carbon copy of my old master. Hearing it with your voice...sounded exactly like my old master calling me.”

Link didn't know how to respond to that. Fortunately, Fi broke the tense atmosphere for him. “I must leave now, master. I look forward to our next meeting.”

With that, he felt the connection between them fade away.

“-ink! Link, can you hear me!” The fairy called inside his hat. Link blinked, brought back to reality.

“What do you need?” He asked. He heard the fairy sigh in relief.

“Finally!” He said. “I've been calling your name but you wouldn't respond. It was like you were in some sort of trance or something.”

Link let a smirk play on his lips. “Was the great and almighty fairy actually worried about me? I feel so honored!” He heard the fairy splutter in his hat.

“Whatever! I wasn't worried about you! I was only worried because you are the only pony that can actually bring the fairy to my mistress!” The fairy huffed. Link just sighed. He thought about his earlier comversation with Fi. He finally got the name of his mysterious voice. He felt surprisingly satisfied. He was one step closer to figuring what was going on with him.

“Fi huh?” He thought in his mind. He rolled the name around his mind a couple times. “Speaking of names…”

“You can do whatever you want,” Link blinked when he heard that.

“What?”

“You can do whatever you want,” the fairy repeated. “The spring is closed at this time. Do whatever you want for now. I'll take care of the fairy pieces in your hat.”

Link frowned. “Why is it closed at this time?” He could literally feel the fairy rolling his eyes.

“We don't want any unnecessary ponies coming around there while they're up and about, do we?” He answered. “Use common sense for once.

“Hmm,” Link then remembered what he was about to do. “I did remember you saying that I could name you whatever you want…”

The fairy quickly panicked inside his hat. “W-what!? When did I promise that!?”

“Yesterday,” Link narrowed his eyes. “Don't tell me you're going to break your promise.”

He heard the fairy sigh inside his hat. “Dammit, I did promise, didn't I…”

Link grinned, “Are you ready?”

The fairy didn't even hesitate, “Hell yeah I'm ready! I can take any crap name you can give me!”

“Hold on, let me think of one,” Link put on his thinking pose. A lightbulb appeared over his head. “Oh yes. This is perfect.”

“Lay it on me,” the fairy dared. Link grinned maliciously.

“Alright then, I SHALL DUB THEE!” A short pause. A few ponies from the side looked at him but he didn't care. Salvation was upon him. “LINK JUNIOR!”

Silence filled the air. The fairy broke it in the only way he knew how. “That has got to be the most dumbass name I have ever heard. How you ever let that...thing...in your head is beyond me. Hell, I bet it's beyond anyone.”

“And it's your name now,” Link grinned. The fairy continued to rant.

“The sheer...stupidity...that has just entered my ears made me lose a few brain cells.”

“And it's your name now,” Link repeated, his shit-eating grin still on full blast.

“I'm pretty sure I lost a few IQ points with just those two words.” He started sobbing. “Oh goddess! Why do you have to punish me in this way? Making me pair up with him.”

“And it's your name now,” Link repeated again, his grin not fading a bit. The fairy finally registered his words in his mind.

“No way in hell am I accepting that name!” The fairy roared in his hat. Link became annoyed as well.

“And why not?” He asked heatedly. The fairy bonked his head hard, making him rub it in pain.

“Did you seriously ask that question?” The fairy asked incredulously. “I would’ve accepted any name. Heck, I was expecting something demeaning, like calling me stupid or something. But you took it to such a sheer level of wrongness that even I can't comprehend it! Me! An adult! You must be sick in the head to ever come up with those two disgusting words. Naming me as your junior. Huh! Who do you think you are?”

“Well what do you want to do?” Link huffed childishly. Looks like his salvation would have to wait for another time.

“Isn’t it obvious?” The fairy asked. “I make a name for myself.”

“What!?” Link cried out. “But I was going to name you!”

“After what I found out going through your head, you don't deserve a second chance!” The fairy said. “Hmmm, what is a good name for me…”

“Not fair…” Link whined. He was this close to revenge. He wanted to be the one with the last laugh.

“There's still time left,” he reminded himself. “You have until night to have the last laugh. Then you won’t ever see him again. Salvation shall be mine!”

“I found it!” The fairy shouted triumphantly in his hat. Link raised an eyebrow.

“So what'll it be?” He asked. Though he didn't show it, he was actually interested in what the fairy would name himself.

“Better than your piece of shit name,” the fairy shot at him. A short pause followed after. “It will be Meriadoc.”

“Meriadoc?” Link asked. He tested the name a few times in his head. “Doesn't sound much better than mine.”

“Shut up!” The fairy said. “The name was from one of the Great Fairy’s story she used to tell us. A band of adventurers going to a forbidden place. Meriadoc was one of their names.”

“Hmmm…” Link was in deep thought. Another lightbulb appeared over his head. “Merry it is!”

The fairy spluttered. “Merry!? Don't butcher my name!”

“You ready to go, Merry?” Link playfully sang out. He could hear the frustrated groans coming out of his hat.

“It's Meriadoc, dammit!” The newly named Merry shouted back in frustration. “Don't make my name all cutesy!”

“Sorry, can't hear you Merry,” Link said, purposefully drawing out his name to mock him. Merry just huffed inside his hat and didn't say anything. While it wasn't what Link exactly wanted, it would have to suffice for now. “Score one for me!”

Link looked at the sky. The sun was descending down to the horizon slowly but he still had some time before he would go back to Lyra’s house. “How much more time till the spring opens?”

“A couple of hours at most,” Merry grumbled. “Tell you what, I'll wake you up at night. That way nobody will see us going into the house. Then it will be the last day I see you, Rifty.”

Link stopped and coughed. He glared up at his hat weakly. He could feel the fairy grinning cheekily at him. Guess it wasn't his score after all.

“Another late night,” Link sighed, still miffed by Pinkie’s nickname. “Fine. I'll be done with your deal and can get out of your hair.”

“Damn right!” Merry agreed. “I'm pretty sure I got dumber just sticking around with you.” Link just shook his head in exasperation.

“I guess I should head home right-!” Suddenly, Link’s ears perked up. He thought he heard something. “That familiar voice...it can't be!?”

“What's wrong?” His fairy partner asked, only to suddenly yelp as Link ran forward. “What are you doing!?”

“Not now!” Link barked, effectively silencing him. “Dammit, I know she told me that the villagers didn't like her but…”

He arrived at the outskirts of the town only to widen his eyes in horror. Four ponies surrounded Irene. Irene herself was lying on the ground, beaten up and bruised. A trail of blood dribbled down her mouth and forehead. Despite that she still maintained a look of defiance on her face. Link looked around desperately. The ponies that walked by either hurried along or hid to watch.

Link crept closer behind them. He cringed when he saw one of them kick her repeatedly. Irene coughed out some blood.

“...stupid bitch. Just won't die, will she?” He heard one of them say. He grit his teeth but refrained from doing anything. The guards were blocking their view of each other. Link needed a clear understanding of their positions in order to initiate a surprise attack.

“The little fucker tried to zap me! Can you believe it!? Zebra lovers like you should just stay on the ground, groveling at our hooves,” he heard another sneer. Link quietly strapped his shield to his right hoof while handling his sword with his magic. Link found out that it saved magic power by not levitating the shield around him all the time in battle.

He crossed the field sideways, still in crouch position. Now that he got a good look at them, he saw two guards and two villagers. “The villagers should be easy to beat, but those two guards…”

Steeling his resolve, he suddenly rushed at them. He flipped his sword and smashed the hilt at the back of villager one’s head. He quickly crumpled down, alerting the other three of his presence.

“What the-” villager two started to say but Link quickly slashed at him, interrupting his sentence. Unfortunately, his sword was blocked by guard number two. All of them jumped away from each other. Link stood over Irene protectively, his eyes darting between his opponents, trying to asses their strength.

“L-link?” Irene coughed out. He didn't turn back to look at her. One moment of weakness could be his demise. “W-why are you…”

“You're my friend,” Link quickly answered. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the two guards brandish their swords. “I can't just stand by and watch my friends get beat up like that.”

He looked back at his opponents. They glared back at him.

“What the-!?” One of the guards said, surprised. Link could hear the obvious feminine tone she had. “He's just a little colt! What are we standing around for?” The other two agreed with her and charged.

The villager was easy to deal with. He just smacked him with the flat of his blade, making him retreat and hiss in pain. “Heh, what a wimp.”

The guards were much harder to fight. The female guard descended upon him so suddenly that he barely had enough time to raise his shield. The weapon scraped the edge of his shield but was still enough to block it. “What speed! Just what kind of training did she do to get that fast?”

Link could tell that the other guard was used to taking hits rather than dishing them out. His strike was slow and predictable. Link easily ducked under the blade and tried to lash out at his hooves. The guard unexpectedly seized his blade. He gripped it harder, the edge of the sword not cutting through his skin at all. Link quickly smashed his shield on the guard’s face, allowing him to loosen his grip enough to take his sword away.

He jumped back to where Irene was. He noticed the guards walking around him on opposite sides. Orca’s teachings quickly flew through his mind.

“They know I can't protect my back and front at the same time,” Link thought, gritting his teeth. He circled around Irene protectively. She had fallen unconscious during his exchange with the three of them. “They also know I can't protect Irene at the same time. If they get to her, they can use her as a hostage. Dammit, what should I do!?”

The villager came rushing at him again, his hoof extended. Link sidestepped easily and butted his hilt against his head. He immediately fell like his other partner.

The female guard rushed at him just as he was done dealing with the villager. She slammed the flat of her sword into him. Link quickly grabbed Irene and shielded her while he slid on the ground. He coughed out some spit before standing back up again. The quick guard descended upon him again. She slashed downwards, aiming at his back. He quickly pivoted around with his back hoof, parrying her sword. Her flinch was all the time he needed to smash his shield against her face, quickly following up with a slash to the stomach. The guard grunted as she jumped back, nursing the shallow cut.

“You'll pay for that, colt,” she snarled. Link paid no mind to her words. He lifted his hoof up and tilted it towards him, taunting her to attack him. She took the bait and rushed forward. This time, he was ready.

He sidestepped earlier than he usually would. Correct in his calculations, the mare zoomed right past him with a battle cry, exposing her back. Link whacked the hilt of his sword to her neck, finally disabling her. He wiped the sweat from his forehead as she fell to the ground. “For all the speed she puts in her strikes, it surprisingly isn't strong. She must have trained for quick kills to vital spots.”

He looked back at the last guard. It seemed that he waited out the fight. Link glared at him, walking forward menacingly. The guard heeded his challenge, raising up his own sword.

Link began the first move. He rushed at the guard and circled behind him. He slashed at his back, only for his sword to bounce off of his armor harmlessly. The guard immediately whirled around. He smashed the flat of his blade against Link’s face. Link jumped back and snorted, blood and mucus flying out of his nose. He gingerly touched it and winced. “My nose almost broke with that one strike! It's a miracle that I'm even conscious right now.”

Link’s vision started to blur. The guard started to charge at him slowly. Link dodge around and looked around frantically. “In all the fighting, I've somehow lost Irene! I can't see anything right now so finding her would be a pain.”

The slow guard rushed at him again. Link’s senses were too disoriented to do a parry. They locked swords instead, a battle of strength that Link knew he was losing. He stared at the face of his attacker and his vision cleared for a moment. His eyes widened.

The pony’s eyes were black.

Blam!

Before he could think of anything in this new revelation, a trail of rainbow smashed into the guard. He flew all the way and smashed into a tree, toppling it over. Link noticed somepony else standing there. The way it reared its wings made Link instantly know it was a Pegasus.

“Awww yeeeaaahh!” His savior cried out in victory. “Rainbow Dash saves the day once more! Let me hear it! Let me hear it!” A few cricket chirps broke the pause. “Oh shit! Tend to the injured first!”

The now-revealed Rainbow Dash looked towards him. Link stumbled, trying to maintain his balance. “This is Rainbow Dash?”

“You alright?” Rainbow asked. Link nodded, wincing in pain. “No you aren't. That was a pretty stupid question to ask. That snout definitely should not be turned that way. Here, it's better to fix the problem early on.”

“Wait what are you-?” Link was about to ask before Rainbow quickly snapped his snout into place. Link screamed in pain, dancing away from her while holding his nose. He didn’t even know that his nose was turned that way in the first place!

“Jeez, calm down,” Rainbow grumbled, holding her ears. She looked around and widened her eyes. “Is that-? Zecora’s granddaughter!” The pair rushed over to where she was lying at. Link was relieved to find that she was okay.

“Thank goddess,” Link said, exhaling. Rainbow Dash looked at him sharply, making him flinch.

“Did you do this to her?” She asked sternly. Link quickly shook his head, ignoring the protests of pain his nose made.

“N-no! There were these four ponies that were bullying her and I tried to stop them! Pleasedon’tkillme!” He hid his head under his hooves. He knew he was sort of acting childish right now but he had seen what that mare had done to that stallion. He had the thickest armor Link had ever seen yet she just smashed into him just like that, knocking him out in one hit. He could not take on an opponent like that right now.

“Whoa whoa! Calm down for just a second,” Rainbow said, waving her hooves in a placating manner. She seemed to be flustered by his actions. “I believe you. There's no way a simple colt like you could've done all this damage. I also saw that guard attacking you.” She looked around and saw the unconscious bodies. She whistled in respect. “Damn, you did all this? You even took out one of our best guards. That earth pony definitely was fast. Well, not as fast as me of course.”

Link blinked. Now where had he heard that before…

“Hold on, Twilight can handle this,” Rainbow said. “She can teleport everypony out and heal everypony good. I'll get her here quickly.”

Rainbow Dash zoomed away, leaving him with Irene. His eyes were wide because of how fast she flew and away and how he was going to be meeting one of the four princesses of this land.

True to her word, Rainbow Dash teleported here in a purple flash with Twilight Sparkle.

“I swear if this is another one of your pranks-!” Twilight seemed to grumbled before her eyes widened. She looked around at the unconscious bodies before she finally rested her eyes on Link. “Oh my goodness!”

“I told ya I wasn't lying!” Rainbow Dash smirked triumphantly. Her expression turned serious. “So stop dawdling and teleport them already! You aren't an Alicorn for nothing and this colt here needs some medical attention. Don't worry about me, I'll fly back to the library.”

Twilight seemed to be on the verge of tears. “O-oh goddess. Is that Irene?”

“Move!” Rainbow barked. Twilight jumped as her horn flared to life. Link’s vision started to turn purple, a familiar pulling feeling starting to take hold of him.

“Oh not aga-” he started to say before everything turned purple.

He and the others teleported at the library. Two seconds later, Rainbow flew in through the window. Link’s face turned to a more prominent green than his natural fur color and hurried to a corner. He promptly threw up the contents of whatever Pinkie had fed him in the afternoon.

“Eeeewwwww…” Link turned back to see Twilight and Rainbow wrinkle their noses in disgust, though there was some sympathy in their eyes. “First time teleporting?”

He shook his head, still feeling queasy. “I did...teleport before but I...didn't get this sick.”

Twilight’s horn lighted up and Link’s nausea immediately disappeared. “That should help for now. Don't worry about the mess. I'll have Spike clean that up later. Though, I do want to know why everypony is either unconscious or injured.”

“Can this wait until after everypony’s healed? Don't mind all the ponies bleeding on the floor?” Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically. At Twilight’s continued glare, she sighed. “Alright, I’ll give you a short version. Ponies were bullying Irene again only they got her good before she was able to stun them. This colt here saved her and knocked out two of the regular folk and that female guard. That big guard gave him some trouble before I zoomed in to rescue him. Happy?”

Twilight frowned when she turned back to Link. He flinched under her glare. “Is that true?”

Link froze, unable to say anything. The weight of the situation finally hit him all at once. Here was Princess Twilight Sparkle, standing right in front of him in her regal Alicorn self, interrogating him about a possible case of assault. He honestly never thought he would meet one of the three royals that help keep this land in peace. He had been taught that they deserved no higher honor in this land. He gulped and gathered his courage.

“N-no y-your majesty,” he stuttered. For added measure and respect, he bowed low, ignoring the small popping sounds coming from his back. “I s-swear that I never did such a thing!”

Twilight’s expression softened. Though it was quickly replaced with annoyance when Rainbow Dash started laughing. Hard.

“Now I know you didn't attack Irene,” Rainbow dash said, gasping to regain her lost air. “You’re not from here, are you? I've personally haven't seen you around and I basically know all the colts and fillies myself!”

Link shook his head, though he winced because of his nose. Twilight noticed this and walked up to him.

“Did you forcefully try to put his nose back in place, Rainbow?” Twilight asked, touching it gingerly. Link hissed in pain. “Your back’s scraped up too.”

Link blushed at that. He had forgotten to put on his chain mail armor before rushing to save Irene.

“I can fix all this,” Twilight said with a firm nod. “But this will hurt. A lot.”

“What-?” Link started to ask before Twilight’s horn flared up. His nose started fixing itself while making some very audible bone snaps. The skin on his back started to regrow itself painfully. Link bit his tongue to keep from screaming while Rainbow and Twilight cringed. Link was about to say something angrily before he realized who performed the spell. He bowed low again. “Thank you, your majesty.”

“You can hold a lot more magic radiation than most your age,” she noted, surprised. “It made it a lot easier to heal you.”

Link felt up his completely-healed back. Suddenly, they heard a groan and immediately turned to the source of the noise. “Irene!”

They all rushed over to her. Irene blinked her eyes slowly before looking at them. “W-what just happened?”

“What happened was those stupid pony supremacists beat you to a pulp,” Rainbow growled, startling Link. “Honestly! I thought Twilight made it clear that she doesn't tolerate racism in this town. Yet look what happened to you!”

“It's fine,” Irene said weakly. Twilight’s horn started to glow again, fixing up her bruises. “I just didn't act fast enough in time. Good thing...Rift was there with his fancy shmancy sword tricks to help me out.”

Link’s eyes widened as he remembered something important. He felt up his back and found nothing. “My sword and shield! It's gone!”

“You probably left it at the field,” Rainbow assured. “I can go get it back quickly.”

“Wait,” Twilight frowned. “Are you talking about real swords and shields? You are way too young to be handling those! You could get hurt!”

“Relax Twi,” Rainbow said. Link raised an eyebrow at the nickname. “This isn't your average colt playing pretend guard with his friends. He actually knows how to handle the stuff. He even beat one guard! That is awesome. Well, not as awesome as me but-”

“I get your point,” Twilight interrupted. “I'll see for myself.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and zoomed out the window. She came back two seconds later. “Oh, it looks like Zecora is coming. And boy does she look mad! Be ready to expect her Twi,”

Twilight nodded and Rainbow Dash zoomed out again. After another moment the library doors burst open. Zecora stood in front, her cloak billowing in the wind and her eyes red. Despite the warning they received, they still weren't prepared for what came next.

“WHO HAS HURT MY LITTLE LAMB!?” Zecora yelled. The sheer intensity of her voice caused Link and Twilight to be blown back. An owl flew in after her, settling on a perch at the top of the library. “I SHALL MAKE SURE THEY ARE ETERNALLY DAMNED!”

“Calm down, Zecora!” Twilight yelled back. Zecora walked into the library, her eyes stern. She quickly rushed over to Irene and gave her a small hug, minding her injuries. “I can see you received the letter Owlicious delivered.”

“Your owl got rid of all my pests. I thank you, but I am of need of rest,” Zecora said quietly. Irene chuckled, causing Zecora to turn her head sharply at her.

“Still don't let up on the riddles?” Irene asked with a small smile. Zecora breathed through her nose deeply.

“Are you alright? Or do we need to go to a hospital tonight?” Zecora asked. Twilight coughed quietly, causing everypony to look at her.

“She will be fine in the morning,” Twilight said. She gestured over to Link. “I guess you should be thanking him. Rainbow told us he saved her.”

Zecora turned around and finally noticed Link in the same room. She bowed her head gratefully. “We meet again, young colt. It is good to see you are still as strong as a steel bolt.”

At that moment, Rainbow Dash entered through the library door. She was carrying the sword with her teeth while the shield laid on her back. “Sorry it took so long. It was starting to get dark outside, making it hard to find.”

Link nodded his thanks at her. He took his belongings and rubbed his cheek against them possessively.

“Miiiiinnnneeee~” he sang in bliss. Everypony in the room looked at him weirdly.

“I still don't believe you should have a sword,” Twilight said again. “You could get hurt using that.”

Link smirked as he detected a challenging tone in her voice. He twirled the blade around him expertly, minding his surroundings. He ended his masterful display by flipping it two times before sheathing it. He heard a whistle from Rainbow.

“Now that,” she said, gesturing over to him. “Was awesome.”

“I...do have to admit that it was impressive,” Twilight said, flustered. Link blushed from the praise.

“Thank you for the compliments, your majesty,” Twilight fidgeted uncomfortably when she heard that.

“Please don't use the honorifics,” Twilight said. Link looked at her, confused. “I know I'm a princess and all, but I do prefer my real name over all those. Just call me Twilight.”

“Alright then...Twilight,” Link said uncomfortably. It didn't sit right with him, calling one of the most revered figures in the world so casually.

“It's good to know that some unicorns are training to be guards instead of some fancy magical engineer,” Irene said. “Even though cutie marks dictate our special talent, some just aren't enough to make a good living. We are in need of some unicorn guards anyway.”

“Right,” Link said nervously. “Training to become a guard. Totally.”

“I hope I don't disturb our hand,” Zecora said. Everypony turned towards her. “But for my Irene, I refuse to not take a stand!”

“Hold on a minute,” Twilight said. “Guards are trained to be stoic and unbiased in every situation. The villagers are understandable, but I simply refuse to believe that the guards acted like this randomly. Let me conduct a spell check on them right now.”

Twilight’s horn lit up again, surrounding the still unconscious bodies in a purple glow. Link observed her quietly while she worked. “So this is an Alicorn…”

She wasn't all that scary as he initially thought she’d be. Even though he had read that she was kind and considerate, if a bit bookwormish, the things she and her other friends had done had left him with the impression that they were these impressive figures that would tower over everypony else. He had thought that for all the mane six, but meeting the stuttering Fluttershy rid him of that notion. The others weren't so bad either. He was still scared of Applejack, but that was for different reasons. All of them seemed rather down to earth and normal save for a few big differences. Ponies Link thought that he could get to know with little trouble.

Twilight deactivated her magic. She had a troubled expression on her face. “I-I can't detect anything!” She cried out in frustration. “It doesn't make sense. There are absolutely no signs to show why this happening! I can't count how many times a guard has started to attack a random civilian. I don't want to have to suspect the whole guard regimen, but that is what it seems I must do since I can't tell when another guard will go rogue!”

Link raised an eyebrow throughout the whole rant. “Guards attacking random civilians? It's happening here too?”

Irene sat up with some difficulty. Zecora tried to push her down again but she waved it off. “You shouldn't blame yourself over it. We've reported this to the princesses many times, but even they have no idea what's going on.”

“Irene's right,” Rainbow said. She bumped her hooves together, a determined expression settling on her face. “If only we just had one lead! Maybe then we could solve this problem.”

“No lead?” Link thought. He slowly raised his hoof.

Twilight turned to him. “Did you want to say something?”

“It was just...um…” Link started to say. “I think I might have something.”

“Really!?” Twilight jumped towards him, their muzzles almost touching each other. “If you have anything, please tell us! Even a theory can help!”

“They had black eyes,” Links said quickly, startled by the sudden invasion of space. “I was locking swords with that big guard. I saw his face and his eyes were completely black.”

Twilight moved away from him, deep in thought. “Are you sure this is true? This information is worthy of bringing to the princesses themselves, you know?”

“Orca said the same exact thing,” Link thought, chuckling to himself quietly. “Yes, I am completely sure.”

“I am not satisfied with this outcome,” Zecora said, her eyes closed. “I most definitely need a bottle of rum.”

“I don't like it either,” Irene said. She slowly got on her hooves and winced. “But it's the best we got so we’ll just have to take it. At least we got more information about our guard troubles. Maybe the next time we come to this town, it will be safer for us.”

Link continued to hear the rest of the conversations until he felt his hat shuffle. He moved away from the others inconspicuously and looked up at his hat. “Did you need something?”

“The spring should open soon,” Merry whispered. Link could feel the fairy pieces fly around his hat excitedly at the mention of it. “Find a way to go to it. I want to get out of here as fast as possible!”

Link nodded and suddenly cleared his throat. Everypony stopped and turned towards him.

“It's getting quite late and I need to return home,” he said, looking out the window. The sky was dark, the moon shining brightly in the sky with many stars. “Is there anything else you needed?”

Twilight shook his head. “No and you're right. We can continue this discussion tomorrow. Whoever is taking care of you must be worried sick right now!”

Link nodded his head, thinking of Lyra and Bonbon. He would get a stern talking to once he got home. But resolving the fairy case was much more important. “Yes. Thank you again...Twilight.”

Irene walked up to him shakily and pointed her hoof in his face, surprising him. “You have a lot to answer for,” Irene said heatedly. “Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for you saving me. But there too many confusing things going on. Some of them revolve around you and I want to solve them once and for all. I'll talk to you about it tomorrow.”

“Okay...then,” Link said, fidgeting nervously. He sighed in his mind. It seemed that he had gotten caught in one of his own web of lies. He would need to think of a way to evade her questions tomorrow, while still getting her to cooperate with him.

Irene nodded in satisfaction and walked back. Link tried to ignore the confused and pointed looks everypony else gave him after her confrontation. He really couldn't stay in this town long. Keeping up a facade around so many ponies really took a toll on his mental strength.

“I will see you later,” he said quickly. He made his way towards the door. “Hopefully my lead will help you!”

He quickly exited the library before anypony else could say goodbye. Irene nodded towards Zecora.

“We shall take our leave too,” Irene said, tugging on Zecora’s cloak. “I hope you punish those guards real good. Bye!”

They left the library as well, leaving Rainbow and Twilight alone with the pile of still unconscious ponies.

“His name is Rift, isn't it?” Rainbow asked. She put her hoof to her chin and gained a thoughtful expression. “I heard Scootaloo talking about him. She seemed really grateful to him, more so than usual. I wonder what he did for her…”

“Hopefully nothing too bad,” Twilight said. She looked at the door and frowned. “He seems like a nice colt, but there is something about him that I can't put my hoof on. Something about him that either of us don't know.” She paused for a bit. “His behavior was like as if he was acting something out.”

“You’re going too much into detail again,” Rainbow grumbled, annoyed. “Remember the last time you did that? He probably had a way different life than most other colts his age. You're acting as if he was some criminal or vigilante of the night.”

Twilight frowned some more before sighing. “You're right. I guess I am going way into depth with just a few details. He was also nervous because of meeting me. I need to stop this bad habit.”

Rainbow Dash smiled at her victory. “I'm glad you understand. It's getting pretty late now. Gotta fly!” She zoomed out of the library in a burst of rainbow. The wind from her acceleration caused all of Twilight’s notes and papers to fly over the place. She groaned and tried to pick up everything with her magic. Seems like she wasn't the only one with a bad habit.

XxX

Link quickly found the path to the outskirts again. He looked up to see the now completely dark sky. The crescent moon seemed dim compared to other nights. Barely any stars were shown up in the sky. It still was a beautiful sight but it could not compare to other nights he had seen. Maybe Princess Luna was having an off day?

He followed the dirt road leading to the old abandoned house. It was just yesterday that he had visited this place. Link was surprised that he was able to find all of the fairy pieces in just one day. Merry couldn't detect any others in town so they assumed they were done. Then Link would be done with his task and he can finally leave this blasted town. Staying near the Apple Farm had him on edge the whole time in case he accidentally ran into them in broad daylight.

He arrived at the old house and entered carefully in fear the whole structure would collapse. Merry flew out of his hat, his pink glow lighting up the area around him. He flew around in excitement.

“Home sweet home!” He yelled with a big whoop. The call echoed around in the wide, empty space. “My place of peace. Now just to give back the fairies to my mistress and we can get out of each other’s hair.”

Link nodded in agreement. He climbed through the debris once more and climbed down the stairs. The same hole was in the basement, seemingly endless like his hat. Merry quickly flew through it. Link hesitated but jumped.

After a moment, a light appeared at the bottom. Despite having done this twice before, Link found himself clenching his eyes shut and flinching. He gently floated down and touched the ground. He opened his eyes and saw the beautiful sight that is the fairy spring. When he floated down, all the fairies that were present started to chatter among themselves. Merry flew down and joined his kind, just as excited as they were.

“Have you found all of them?” Many fairies asked at once. “Please save our mistress!”

“Calm your yapping!” Merry barked. Many of the fairies backed off at once, though they looked annoyed. “What do you think we came here for?”

“We don't know why you're so angry,” one fairy retorted. “We had to wait here all this time while you got to go out and find them! Just because we don't have that special sensing talent you have doesn't make you better than us!”

Merry was about to say something, but someone beat him to it. “SILENCE!”

Everyone froze. They looked to see a fairy glowing red. She then floated up to Merry. “Fighting amongst ourselves will do nothing. I am happy to see you safe, dear.”

Link blinked. He had forgotten that Merry had a mate.

“I'm uh...fine, honey,” Merry said. Merry looked extremely nervous, glowing green in fear. “Nothing...was going on.”

“Is that so?” His mate said, her voice eerily sweet. Her comforting aura turned dark and malicious, making her appear bigger than the rest of them. Despite not being the target of such anger, Link involuntarily shivered. He could see all the other fairies, including Merry, hug together in fear. “Then tell me to my face that you were not picking a fight with the others just now, hmmm?”

“No sir!” Merry cried out in fear. Link wanted to laugh but held it in in fear that such a terror would be directed at him. “I did not mean to sir!”

“Who are you calling sir?” The female fairy turned back into pink, but the foreboding atmosphere remained. Merry spluttered.

“No...uh...ma’am...uh…” If it wasn't clear enough already, this fairy was utterly whipped by his mate.

Link suddenly felt daring. The scene before him was just too sad to watch. “H-hello,”

“What!” The fairy turned to him. Link was about to brace himself before everything faded away, leaving a comforting, soothing aura. The fairy herself stopped shaking. “Oh! It’s you Link!”

Link blinked. He looked around, up and down. Where was the monster before?

The fairy turned even pinker, if that was even possible. “I'm sorry you had to see such a...shameful...display. I trust you have been taking care of my mate?”

Link blinked some more. He was serious, where had that terrifying creature scamper off to? “Y-yes I have been. He is not harmed at all.”

The fairy looked happy before suddenly zooming at his face. Link fell down on his flank, startled. “But you're not okay! Some cuts are on your nose and back! My foolish mate must've forgotten to heal you after you protected him from whatever danger you faced.”

Link turned and felt his back and nose. He was surprised that the fairy was able to see his back through his tunic. “They are fine now. It was healed recently.”

“Very poorly in my opinion,” the female fairy huffed. “Whoever did this obviously isn't skilled in healing magic. They left it unfinished. Here, let me heal it for you.”

The fairy circled around, showering sparkles all over him. He immediately felt his back and nose heal whatever Twilight couldn't get to. It wasn't painful like before. It felt more like a huge weight has been lifted off his back. He finally felt at ease, whereas before he was tense because of the chance he might run into one of the Apples. “All done. You poor dear. Having all those injuries for just a small colt! Be more careful from now on, ‘Kay?”

Link nodded in an almost dreamlike state. It had been a long time since he felt like this.

He snapped himself out of his bliss when all the fairies looked at him as if he was a God that descended down to earth. “What?”

Merry floated up to him. “It's nothing. Get the pieces ready. Our mistress shall be arriving soon.”

Sure enough, a familiar horde of ugly fairies appeared before him. He felt the fairy pieces start going wild in his hat. He took it off and closed it so they wouldn't escape.

“You have returned, hero,” the many fairies announced. Every fairy stood to attention at the squeaky, yet authorative voices. Even Link felt his back straighten up. “It seems you have completed your task.”

“Yes,” Link replied. He opened his hat and allowed the pieces to return to their owner. They quickly flew to the rest of their brethren. All of them rejoiced amongst each other, circling and dancing.

“Finally,” The Great Fairies said. There was a tone of immense relief in their voices. “I can finally be...complete again.”

Suddenly, a white glow covered all of them. They started to merge into a big, white blob. The white blob then formed into a shape of a pony. The light filled the whole spring, blinding Link and all the other fairies still there. Once it died down, the Great Fairy appeared in all her glory. She descended down until she just barely floated above the ground.

“It is nice to be in this form again,” the Great Fairy cheered. She flew around the spring as the other fairies cheered and danced in celebration. Link himself was smiling, happy for finally completing his task. The Great Fairy floated in front of him. She exudes an aura of kindness and gratitude. “I deeply appreciate the effort you went through to get my parts back. It must’ve been hard to remain incognito while searching for those pieces.”

“You have no idea,” Link thought to himself. “It was. I don't want to sound greedy or anything but you did say there was going to be a reward…?”

“Ah, yes.” The Great Fairy said in realization. “That.” She put her hoof in her chin in a very obvious thinking position. “Hmmmm…”

“You didn't even know what the reward was gonna be from the beginning, did you?” Link deadpanned. The Great Fairy chuckled to herself, embarrassed.

“Even immortals make mistakes?” The Great Fairy said, her face all cutesy and adorable. At Link’s blank stare, she sighed. “To tell the truth, I didn't even know what I can give you. I would give you another spell, but you didn't even master Farore’s Wind yet. You didn't study at the library like I asked you to, did you?”

Link blushed in embarrassment. He hoped he could've gotten by her! “Errr...no.”

“Then you better stay one more day,” The Great Fairy ordered. Link’s eyes widened in fear.

“B-b-but…!” He spluttered. The large fairy flicked her hoof and a zipper appeared on his lips, shutting it tightly.

“You aren't going to argue out of this one,” The Great Fairy scolded. If it weren't for the fairy floating, the whole scene looked akin to a mother scolding her child. “I already know about the Apple Family thing. Don’t ask how I know, immortals like me just do. Mastering Farore’s Wind can help you get a wide range of abilities. Plus, the other fairies can be able to grant you access to the other spells. But to perform Farore’s Wind, you must understand the spell’s components itself. That is where the library will be useful.”

Link grumbled to himself when the zipper disappeared. He hated reading. He didn't get how he must read in order to perform the spell, but if the Great Fairy said it will work then he must try it out.

“One day,” Link said, holding up a hoof. “Just one more day. I don't like being on edge like this all the time. The sooner I'm out of here, the better.”

The Great Fairy nodded. “That is understandable. Now that this whole problem has been solved, let us move on to other matters.” She turned towards Merry. His wings seemed to stiffen up and beat slower. “Come on here, young one.”

Merry immediately flew up and stood to attention. “Y-yes mistress?” He answered her call, his voice quavering slightly.

The Great Fairy smiled at him. “You have done me a great service. I have never been so proud and appreciative to one of my little fairies before.”

“Y-your praise is too much for me, mistress,” Merry said in a deep voice. Everyone in the room clapped their wings or hooves together softly. “But, however, I have another task for you.” Merry bobbed up and down automatically. “This goes for you too, Link.”

Link raised an eyebrow. “But I thought that you didn't have anything else for me to do here.”

“Not here,” The Great Fairy corrected. “It spans all across Equestria.”

At that, Link’s eyes went wide. He was sure Merry’s reaction was exactly the same also. “What do you mean.”

“I do not know how my other sisters are doing,” The Great Fairy roamed around the spring, deep in thought. “Thanks to you, Link, I now know that my sisters, Forest and Sunset, are doing well. But there are many of us laying across Equestria. It would spell disaster if they were in the same predicament I was in.” She paused and looked at the both of them. “Which is why I want Merry to travel with you, Link.”

Silence filled the spring. The fairies muttered amongst each other. It was Link and Merry themselves that broke the awkward atmosphere.

“WHHAAAAAAAAAT!?” They both yelled. Even the Great Fairy cringed at their volume.

“Y-you want me to go with this dolt!?” Merry cried out in disbelief. “I had to bear him for two whole days! That's enough to make anyone go insane! Why would you do this, my mistress!?”

“Well excuse me for being me! You don't exactly see me jumping for joy either!” Link retorted. Both of them butted their heads against each other, fierce expressions on their faces.

“ENOUGH!” Merry and Link sprang apart from each other, standing firm at the Great Fairy’s authorative voice. “I do not understand why you would oppose this idea so vehemently! Both of you are acting like children.”

“I am a child,” Link pointed out. He shut his mouth with a little “eep!” when he saw the Great Fairy turn her red eyes to him.

“The reason being for this idea is because I do not know if my sisters have a fairy with the special talent Merry has. Since you will be traveling, you are bound to run into more of my kin. If they have the same kind of trouble I had, at least you and Merry can help them. You have to be careful around some of my sisters, though. Some still don't trust ponies to this very day. The three you have met, including me, were lenient since we live near civilization. And don't think your help will go unrewarded.

“I understand,” Merry said dejectedly. He perked up, his wings beating vigorously. “I will not fail you, mistress.”

“I'll help too,” Link said. He looked up to Merry. “I guess we'll be in each other's hair longer.”

“Yes,” Merry grumbled. “Though it might not be so bad traveling with you…”

“What was that?”

“Nothing you need to concern yourself about.”

“It's settled then,” The Great Fairy said. “You two will travel and find the rest of my sisters. Please report your findings to me when you return to town.”

“Of course, mistress,” Merry said with a bow. She smiled

“You better do what I asked you to do for that spell, Link,” the Great Fairy said.

“Fine. I'll go to the library,” he grumbled, saying the word library as it was the most vile thing to ever exist.

The Great Fairy smiled before the rest of the fairies swarmed her, asking her many questions. “One at a time, my little fairies.”

“Guess I'm stuck with you for a little while longer, Rifty,” Merry grumbled. “The goddess above sure knows how to pick my nerves.”

“She knows how to pick my nerves to, Merry,” Link said in the same tone. Merry’s mate flew up to them, her wings flapping excitedly.

“Oooohhh! You guys named each other,” she said excitedly. Link looked at her weirdly and Merry sighed.

“Yes. This infernal pony just insisted upon it,” Merry replied.

“It's still nice,” she said before frowning. “But I was almost sure you would choose your name as Meriadoc. You always did love that character in the story.”

“Yes!” Merry cried out in happiness. “You understand-!”

“But I like Merry more,” his mate interrupted him. “After all, Meriadoc is just...a really weird name.”

“...huh?” Merry said, his hope dropping drastically. His mate continued without mercy.

“It's just so...old sounding!”

“Ghk!” Merry looked like he got punched in the gut.

“It's just out of style! Nobody in their right minds would name their babies Meriadoc! Much less themselves.”

“Argh!” Merry’s left wing bent at an odd angle, making a snapping sound.

“I'm pretty sure if I were to find out my mate’s name is actually Meriadoc, I would divorce immediately.”

“Ugh!” He started twitching in pain, his head steaming as the incomprehensible words entered his mind.

“It's just stupid!”

“Urk!”

“Too complicated!”

“Gah!”

“And weird to say!”

“ARRRRGH!”

“But I'm glad that you decided to call yourself Merry,” his mate ended, not knowing the brutality of her words. She looked down at the mutilated mess on the ground that was Merry. “Huh? What's wrong dear?”

Link couldn't hold it in anymore. He laughed hard at his partner’s fate. The whipped fairy laid on the ground, his body bent at odd angles and foam dripping out of his mouth. His eyes were unfocused, giving him the look of a madstallion.

“Nobody…understands...my pain,” he gasped out. Link laughed harder, garnering the attention of the Great Fairy. She flew over and looked at the exaggerated scene.

“Oh my,” she said, though there was some amusement in her voice. “This certainly won't do. Here, this should help.”

Some sparkles surrounded Merry. He immediately shot up then flew around shakily.

“Ugh…I had a terrible dream,” he said groggily. “My own mate said that Meriadoc was a terrible name.”

The mate in question was about to open her mouth before Link plugged it with his hoof. “Nope! That was just a dream!”

“Some dream it was,” he muttered. Link smiled nervously before remembering something important.

“Oh crap! I gotta go right now!” he said, grabbing Merry and running to the hole in the ceiling. “Crap! Lyra and Bonbon are going to be really mad!”

“Let me teleport you in front of their house,” the Great Fairy said. “It's the least I can do.”

Link nodded, not caring about the nauseating effects it will create afterwards. He said his goodbyes and closed his eyes before he glowed softly, then disappeared.

The Great Fairy smiled. “It is getting late, my little fairies. I advise you to rest now.”

The fairies nodded and dispersed. The Great Fairy sighed and wrung her head back. “Such an eventful day it was, isn't it, my friend.”

“Guess I can't really hide from you,” the mapmaking fish rose to the surface. He had an uncharacteristically grim expression on his face. “Hello to you too, old friend.”

“You know what happened today,” it was a statement. Not a question.

The fish laughed. “You kidding? I was in the sink when that whole nightmare fiasco happened.” He huffed at the side, grimacing when he remembered the whole experience. “Mare really needs to wash her sink after cooking something.”

“It seems fate has been written once more,” the Great Fairy said gravely. “Relay me all the words you heard in that shop.”

“Before I do, answer my question,” the fish said. “Did you really send your best tracking fairy just to find your sisters?”

The Great Fairy was silent for a moment. “No,” she admitted. “There is something more to...Merry...than what meets the eye.”

“Such as,” the fairy prompted. The Great Fairy turned her grave eyes to him.

“Such as seeing the Truth,” she finished. The fish spluttered.

“You can't be serious!” The fish cried out in disbelief. “He can see through the Lies!?”

“Not entirely,” The Great Fairy said. “But just enough to move along Link’s journey.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “For the reincarnation to be so young. I still cannot believe it.”

“Fate does whatever it wants,” the fish said, shrugging his shoulders. “But I do believe I have a prophecy to tell you, don't I?”

XxX

It was nighttime at Canterlot. The moon glowed dim with few stars in the sky. Princess Celestia's noticed this as she stood out the balcony.

“Wonder what has upset my sister this time?” She asked herself. Truth be told, she could not get any sleep. Ever since the afternoon, she had been on edge. Many things weighed her mind down, enough to make concerned ponies point out she literally had bags under her eyes at day court. The situation on Appleloosa, the new dark presence in Equestria, and those rogue guards were on the front of her mind.

She shook her head. Her job as princess was progressively getting worse and was showing in the day court. Staying true to their greedy little minds, the nobles tried to take advantage of this situation politically. Whenever she saw such a problem arise, she shut it down immediately. But all actions had consequences, since some unsavory rumors about her started to spread around shortly after she did this.

She sighed to herself. Maybe it was time to have a little chat with her little sister. She had something much more darker in her mind to ask her little sister.

Though it seems she was not the only one with a troubled mind. After finding out her room was empty, she went to the dining hall and found her pacing around, her brow furrowed. Her face lighted up immediately when she saw Celestia.

“Sister!” She called but then frowned. “What are thou doing up at this hour? Thou should get some sleep!”

“Language, Luna,” Celestia said tiredly. She let a small smile play on her lips when she saw Luna stutter before she composed herself. “It's been a long time and you still haven't had a grasp at the common tongue yet.”

“I apologize, sister,” Luna said, bowing her head low. “Lots of things plague...my mind. I revert to the old tongue under stress.”

“No need to tell me that,” Celestia said. Her smile disappeared. “What has been troubling you?”

“Dream walking,” Luna muttered. Her face screwed up in frustration. “We...er...I find myself unable to diminish some nightmares. Again.”

“Is it those two again?” Celestia asked. Luna nodded tiredly. “You never tell me what's in those nightmares. Are you willing to share what's got you so scared about them now?”

Luna looked at her sister before sighing. “Even I myself can't decipher it. One thing is I can't track it. Those two ponies are anywhere in the world but I can't pinpoint their location.”

Celestia frowned. “That certainly is a problem. Have sensed anything...malicious...about these two ponies?”

Luna shook her head, “Nay, sister mine. I believe them to be innocent. Just under the work of some complicated spell even I can't break.”

“Can you tell what happens in these nightmares?” Celestia asked. Luna nodded.

“The first pony didn’t have a standard nightmare,” she explained. “But I could not see anything at all. But the second…” She shivered and hugged herself. “Is not pleasant at all.”

“What happens sister?” Celestia asked urgently. She had known Luna for a long time and she was never scared of any dream ever. For this one to actually get a response out of her…

“One thing is this wasn't a nightmare,” she said. “More like a...memory flashback.”

Celestia’s eyes widened. It was worse knowing whatever had her scared actually happened and was not a work of fiction by the mind.

“It was too hazy for me to see, but I could hear a lot of screaming.” Luna said. “There was a lot of...red mixing with blue. There was also a lot of...ice. Ice was everywhere. The atmosphere was terrifying. Then everything went black with a final cry of a colt calling out to his parents.” She closed her eyes and exhaled. “It seemed this memory happened when this stallion was a colt.”

“How horrible,” Celestia said softly. Luna nodded her head.

“Quite,” she agreed. “Though, thou hast yet to tell me what ails your mind.”

“Just the usual,” Celestia answered. “Appleloosa, guards, and the rest.”

Luna nodded before frowning. “Sister, I have question if I may ask?”

“You just did ask,” Celestia joked. Luna pouted and turned away. “But in all seriousness, what is on your mind?”

Luna looked uncomfortable before she decided to just spit it out. “Have you felt the magic presence midday?”

The atmosphere immediately became chilly. Celestia narrowed her eyes, making Luna even more uncomfortable. She finally bowed her head and turned away from her, brooding.

“So it was enough to wake you up,” she muttered. “...Tell me what you felt from it.”

Luna had a confused expression on her face but relented anyway. “It felt neither malicious nor comforting. What is it, sister mine?”

“I do not know,” Celestia admitted. “I wish I could make sense of all this.”

“Darkness has come to Equestria once more,” Luna muttered. “And it isn't like others. It is waiting for something.”

“That it is,” Celestia agreed. “But we can't do anything to alert the general public for now. There are others that would benefit from the chaos this information may cause.”

Luna closed her eyes, but opened them once more in surprise when Celestia touched her shoulder.

“I also have a question for you.” Celestia said. “You know I trust and love you, yes?”

“Implicitly so,” Luna replied. “Why do thou say this, sister?”

“Because it seems you don't extend the same trustworthiness to me,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

“How can thou say something like this!?” Luna said, reverting back to her old speech in shock. “Thou were the one that brought us back from the moon and help adjust to life in this age. How can thou say we don't trust thee with our lives!?”

“Really then?” Celestia asked. “Then I hope you don't mind me asking a question.”

“Ask and we shall give the truth!” Luna declared. Celestia smiled. Her trap was set.

“Oh really?” Celestia asked once more. “I want ask a certain question about a certain somepony we haven't seen in awhile.”

“Yes?” Luna asked. Not long after did her eyes widen in horror. “Sister, thou don't mean-?!”

“I do,” she said. “And I know you know something so please keep to your promise and answer truthfully.”

She breathed in deeply and looked into her little sister’s grief stricken eyes. She didn't want to do this. She didn't like doing this. This was her little sister, who was currently cowering under her hard gaze. She didn't want to intimidate Luna this way but it seems it was the only way if she wanted a straight answer.

She breathed in and out and decided to stop stalling.

“Where is Discord?”

XxX

Shionne looked around at the room she had been in when she was only a little filly. There was no toys or novelties in here. Just the same bed and dresser she used so long ago. It brought back painful memories once more. She closed her eyes and wished the images would just leave from her head.

She heard a knock from the door. “Come on already! The great elder wants to speak with the two of us!”

Shionne opened the door to see the face of the blue haired pony that brought her back. Miyu stared back at her, her grin still in place. Two crossbows were strapped over back in an odd fashion so she could still use her wings. A cutie mark of two crossbows crossing each other with the familiar backdrop of the eye rested on her flank.

“Are you brooding again?” Miyu asked in exasperation. “You know that isn’t healthy for you.”

“Whatever,” Shionne mumbled, pushing past her. Miyu harrumphed and turned away, her nose in the air.

“Still giving me the cold shoulder,” she said with a pout. Shionne rolled her eyes. She was more or less used to her behavior by now. “Come on. The elder is waiting for us.”

They walked through the twisting tunnels to the council room. Shionne tried not to let Miyu’s staring bother her. She knew she was fascinated by her. The child prodigy that could even go out on missions with the adults. The one that took the clan training seriously with no complaint. The one that was named the shining example of discipline and grace.

Shionne snapped out of her bitter thoughts when they arrived. They could see the old mare look at them seriously from the stand.

“I trust your remedial training has been going well?” The elder asked, straight to the point. Shionne nodded wordlessly. They couldn’t send one of them out with only rusty sword skills to rely on after all. “Then I have an assignment for the both of you.”

Shionne perked up at that. She could sense Miyu’s excitement as well. “Already?”

“Yes,” she answered. She looked at the paper in her hand in disgust. “There have been several sightings of that group near this area. I want you to investigate and see if these claims are true. Be careful around there. Make sure you’re not seen by anypony.”

“Permission to speak, elder?” Shionne asked. She took the paper from the elder’s hand and looked at it.

“Permission granted.” The elder said. Shionne peered at the paper closely, her eyes narrowing.

“This seems like some backwater village,” she said. “But it seems you don’t like this place too much. What happened, if I may ask?”

“There are too many bad memories of that place,” she snarled suddenly, startling the both of them. “Too many bad ponies...all caused by him.”

“When do we leave?” Miyu asked.

“By first light,” the elder answered. “Hurry and pack up now. And I must say this again. Be careful. There are many eyes watching around, even if it is some village.”

“Understood,” Shionne said. Internally, she was frowning. She had signed up for this just to search for Link, not investigate some silly rumor. But she knew what she was getting herself into when she asked for help. Help them first and then they will consider helping her.

“Come,” Shionne said to Miyu. She followed behind closely. “Let us do what the elder has assigned us.”

XxX

Darkness permeated through the air, save for a few candles lighting up the tunnels. The air was filled with stench of corpses and blood, for that was all that laid in these caverns.

White Cloak floated another dried up dead pony and threw it in the pile. He walked back and checked on the current cauldron. It was full with blood. He untied and levitated the pony from the ropes above the cauldron. He threw him into the pile. The pony flopped with the rest, his eyes glazing over as death came to claim him. He turned back to the tunnel.

“MASTER!” White Cloak called into the darkness. “CAULDRON’S FULL!”

Purple Cloak trotted forward from the tunnel, muttering to himself listlessly.

“I'm so close,” he cackled as he went up to the cauldron. “This one try should work. I'm sure of it.”

“That's what you say all the time,” White Cloak retorted. “I seriously advise you to give up, master. These experiments are beginning to get dangerous. That last explosion almost killed us.”

“I'm close to figuring it out,” Purple Cloak repeated. “Shut up and let me concentrate.”

Purple Cloak’s horn started to glow. The blood in the cauldron turned black, raising up and setting next to them in a blob. It started to take shape until a snout and hooves formed. Dark red eyes filled it's sockets as its ears flickered to life. A dark shape rested before them once the transformation is done.

Purple Cloak immediately collapsed from exhaustion. White Cloak caught him, staring at his master’s creation at all. “I-it actually worked…”

The dark pony looked towards Purple Cloak, who was still gasping and wheezing at the ground. He regained his composure and looked at his accomplishment gleefully. “Do you know see what I’m trying to accomplish?”

White Cloak shook his head, still staring at the pony shaped figure in awe. “While I must say your feat is amazing, I still fail to see why we need it.” e resembles the pony you just drained?” Purple Cloak pointed out. White Cloak looked closer and widened his eyes. “Yes, you realize now. This spell allows me to literally clone ponies using dark magic. They will gain all of that pony’s properties and still also have the capacity to grow stronger on their own.”

“This will work on anypony?” White Cloak asked. Purple Cloak nodded.

“Yes and no. I do not know what the spell would do if the golden blood of the immortal is used, but any mortal is safely within our limits,” Purple Cloak said cheerfully. “But I’m still not complete yet.”

“What more is there to do when you have a spell as powerful as this?” White Cloak asked incredulously. Purple Cloak wagged his hoof like he was berating a colt.

“You’re letting your arrogance get in the way of your logical thinking again, my little servant,” Purple Cloak said. “It still takes all of the pony’s blood to work. I doubt ponies would just let us suck them dry like vampires so easily. Like I said before, I need to be able to use only a few drops of blood.”

“I see,” White Cloak murmured. “I have a question for you master on a completely unrelated note.”

“Yes?” Purple Cloak asked. White Cloak shuffled around nervously.

“What...was that powerful magic presence I felt earlier in the day?” He asked slowly. “It was unlike anything that I felt before.”

“Oh. You mean that one,” he said in a bored tone. “Let’s just say that it was fate working in our favor.”

“What do you mean by that?” White Cloak asked, confused. Purple Cloak narrowed his eyes and waved his hoof over the dark pony. It immediately dissipated into smoke, absorbed by Purple Cloak.

“Nothing, my little servant,” he said. “Nothing at all.”

Author's Notes:

So I may have been a little late again. Okay maybe not a little wait but 8 weeks wasn't that bad, right? Oh who am I kidding? I promised you guys that I would upload this chapter way long back and I didn't. From now on, I'm not promising anything regarding chapter updates or schedules. I'm extremely sorry for the long delay, but I can't guarantee that I won't do it again. Now that the dreary stuff is over, let's talk about this chapter.

This chapter is frickin' huge! Easily surpassing my other one by a longshot. I didn't have time to edit this so if you find any mistakes, please tell me so I can fix them. I also wanted some feedback on that fight scene. I still find myself doubting that I can write proper fight scenes and want your feedback on where I can improve. I also want to know your thoughts on this chapter of course.

I'm uploading this really late so I don't have much more to say. Thank you for those that have kept on sticking with this story despite the long delays. I still don't plan on canceling this story anytime soon. See you later, my readers.

Edit: I just wanted to add that I thought the whole Applejack confrontation seemed awkward to me, as well as the Shionne part. Does anyone else think so? Like I said before, I couldn't really check over this like I wanted to. Thanks for all your support!

Relocation

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Sword sat up on suddenly on his bed, his heart pounding and sweat rolling off his body. He frantically looked around before he realized he was in his room and sighed in relief. He remembered all the details of his dream a bit more clearly than he liked to. He remembered how the blood sprayed everywhere. The screams of pain. The shivering cold.

Sword quickly shook his head, diminishing the hateful images from his mind. That was long ago, but it seemed that no matter how many times he tried to let go of the past, it still clung to him. Showing him what happened that night over and over again.

Sword knew that he wasn’t going to get any sleep after that and he wouldn’t try either, in fear those images would haunt him once more. He climbed out of his bed and traveled out the door. He walked from his home and climbed up the hill near Orca’s home. He stared at the forestry beyond. The moon shined over ahead, its pale light making his surroundings look ethereal. Sword had always liked the night. It calmed him and made it easier for him to think. He couldn't imagine why Luna turned out the way she did all those years ago when she controlled this beautiful aspect of nature.

“Guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see you out here.”

“Orca,” Sword simply said, turning towards his aforementioned teacher. Orca sat next him and shook his head.

“Why are you out here?” He asked. Sword just shrugged his shoulders, continuing to look beyond the village. “That dream huh?”

“It's been plaguing my mind every night now,” Sword mumbled, slouching. “Every night I am forced to relive the death of my former life. A life that I could’ve had if I acted differently.”

“There was nothing you could’ve done,” Orca assured. “You were just a small colt back then. You couldn't do anything if you had tried.”

Sword looked unconvinced. Orca sighed in frustration.

“You can’t just keep this bottled up,” He said. “What is it that you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” Sword confessed. “A part of me wants to find out why it happened. But another part is too afraid to know. That I would break down if I found out.”

Orca just nodded. They sat in a comfortable silence of sorts, watching the moon slowing descend into the horizon.

“Go get some sleep,” he suddenly said. Sword turned to him, a confused look on his face. “Silver had an announcement to make in the morning. All the guards will be gathering around for it. It’s best if you are in top form for it. Whatever he needs to say could change your life for better or for worse.”

“I don’t think I will be able to,” Sword admitted. At Orca’s look, he sighed. “But I’ll try. Thanks for trying to console me.” He trudged away back to his sleeping quarters, his head hung low.

“You may not believe my words now, Sword,” Orca thought sadly as he watched his receding back. “But I assure you what I said was the truth. I only hope you come to realize that yourself someday.”

XxX

True to Orca’s word, Silver did want to make an announcement that morning. One of the guards had woken him and told him that the meeting would take place at the cliff near Orca’s house. He quickly got ready after he promised he would be there. By the time he arrived, a crowd formed around the edge with many guards deep in discussion.

“Sword! Sword!” He turned to see Storm waving to him frantically. “Over here!”

Sword maneuvered his way to him, minding the guards he passed. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” Storm replied. His eyebrows furrowed in concern. “What about you? You don't look so good…”

“I didn't get as much sleep as I would've liked to,” Sword admitted. He tried to go back to sleep, but was still too scared that the dream would come up again. Granted, whenever he thought about it, the images would show up in his mind anyways, making him lose in either situation.

“Is something wrong?” Storm asked. Sword blinked and realized his face was downcast in a sorrowful way.

“Its...nothing,” Sword answered. He knew that Storm didn’t buy it, judging from the suspicion still lingering in his eyes. He didn’t pursue the matter any further, fortunately for Sword. Suddenly, everypony went silent and raised their hooves in a salute. Sword quickly raised his hoof to do his own when he saw Silver taking his position in front of them.

“As you all know, I called you here for an important announcement! As of yesterday, I received orders from the two princesses themselves!” Everypony unintentionally straightened their backs at the news, disbelief permeating through the air. Silver continued, oblivious to the change. “They have ordered us to be relocated to Ponyville within two weeks! We will receive further instructions there.”

Everypony immediately burst out to chatter. Sword himself was in shock. In all of his living years, he had never left the village. Not for a short visit since he had no one to visit outside and certainly not as a tourist. His duty was here at the village, protecting everypony he cared about within it. Why did the princesses care to send such an order to some small village anyway? The situation didn't feel right to him.

“QUIET!” Everypony immediately fell silent. Silver cleared his throat and pointed at the letter. “These are orders from the rulers themselves! We are guards! Listening to the princesses is our top priority!”

“We can't just leave this place!” Sword shouted back. A collective gasp came from the rest of the guards but he didn't care. His superior or not, he couldn't just leave his home unguarded. “We just received a full scale attack not too long ago! What if another one happens again while we're gone?”

“Y-yeah!” Another guard shakily agreed. He immediately quailed when Silver turned his angry eyes to him.

“I agree,” another guard said. “My parents live here. The whole reason I joined the troop here was to protect them. I'm not exactly fulfilling my dream if I just waltz off without them.”

“But the princesses themselves ordered it,” The guard beside him retorted. “The whole point of becoming guards is to protect Equestria as a whole. Not two ponies that gave birth to you! It even states that we had to listen to them no matter what in the job contract. Are you so daft to sign it without even reading the fine print!?”

“You take that back!” The insulted guard rushed forward and clocked the other guard in the face. Pure chaos followed afterwards, with guards choosing one of the two sides and brawling for a decision. Sword himself joined while Silver and Storm tried to diffuse the situation.

“STOP THIS NOW!” Everypony immediately stopped what they were doing and froze. Silver himself straightened his back and saluted. Orca stood in front of him, his hooves crossed and eyes blazing. His robes billowed in the wind, making him appear more bigger and menacing than he actually was.

“What...exactly is this?” He started, his tone soft but nonetheless intense. Sweat began pouring down every guard’s face. Sword was pretty sure some pissed themselves.

“Just a minor misunderstanding,” Silver answered professionally. Even the great and stoic Silver flinched when Orca shot up towards him, his hoof pointing towards his chest accusingly.

"A minor misunderstanding?! A MINOR MISUNDERSTANDING!? IS THAT WHAT YOU CALL IT NOW!?” He screeched. His words hurt Sword’s ears physically and mentally. “YOU ARE GUARDS THAT DIRECTLY SERVE THE PRINCESSES THEMSELVES! CAN YOU HONESTLY CALL YOURSELVES TRUE GUARDS NOW!?”

“...He’s right,” Sword conceded. Despite that, he maintained an indignant look on his face. He was in the wrong this time but he still stood his ground on his position. “But we can't just leave the village. Not after what happened recently.”

“I understand, but you plan to resolve this by fighting?” Orca fired back. “If you thought with your brains rather than your hooves, you will find that there is a simple solution to this problem.”

Silver raised a brow skeptically, “And what may that be?”

Orca sighed in exasperation, “Honestly, how you, the leader of the guards, did not find it is beyond me.” He straightened up and cleared his throat, garnering their attention. “We leave one-half of the guard here while the other half answers the higher ups’ call.”

Silence reigned over the cliffside. It was a simple solution like Orca said, but the implications of such statement had a huge effect over them.

“Will that be enough to defend the village?” Silver asked. Orca nodded.

“We were able to repel the raid easily enough for our numbers. We would just have to be more careful from this time on.” Orca replied. “More importantly, who will be the one to lead the troops back in the village?”

“I can take care of that. Amethyst!” Silver barked. A purple pegasus guard straightened up and stepped forward. The silver badge on his chest signified he was an officer. “You’re getting a temporary promotion! Take care of our brothers staying behind!”

“Yes sir!” He shouted back with vigor. He puffed his chest out in pride and stood next to him. The other officers looked a little jealous but relented and saluted him, along with the other guards.

“I trust you will be able to sort who is going where then?” Orca said. Silver nodded confidently and turned around, mumbling to himself. Somepony tapped Sword’s shoulder and he turned around to see Storm with a worried look on his face.

“I don’t like the sound of this…” he muttered. Sword looked around and saw all the guards with the same tense expressions. “Why would the princesses themselves suddenly call on us now? This sounds suspicious…”

“That’s what I’m trying to say,” Sword said. He glared at Silver’s back. He currently holds everypony’s fate now. Based on his decision, he could have his whole life changed in just mere seconds.

“I would never have thought you would be somepony to worry about this,” Orca said behind him. Sword jumped in surprise and turned towards his mentor. Orca’s eyes were twinkling and he had a small smile on his face. “I always thought you would want to see more of the world.”

“I did,” Sword admitted. “But only when I know that everything will be alright back here. That bandit raid has got me too worried and suspicious for me to leave just yet.”

“I guess I can understand that,” Orca sighed. He turned towards Storm. “What about you Storm?”

Storm turned to him and put his hoof to his chin. “It wasn't exactly my dream, but I did wonder from time to time...” He shook his head and stared back at Orca evenly. “But I feel my duty is here for the same reason as Sword. That much I know.”

“I know you two feel that way,” Orca said calmly. “But I just want you to be prepared for what may happen next. Silver’s a stubborn one when he makes a decision. A good and bad trait if I have to say for myself. Your path can go either way now.”

Sword was about to respond before he was interrupted by Silver clearing his throat loudly. The whole cliff said fell into a hush and the oppressive atmosphere returned.

“Whatever decision made here cannot be taken back! I don’t want to hear any whining and crying on whoever is picked! Don’t even think about trying to change my mind either! Understood?!” Silver barked. All the guards lifted their hooves in a salute, but more than a few looked uneasy. Some were even biting their hooves. “Good! Here is the list for the people who are being relocated!”

Silver then started to list off the names. The more names that were called, the tighter Sword’s hooves gripped into the ground. Then his vision tunneled.

“And Sword and Storm! Did everypony hear me clearly?!” Silver called. The guards that were picked stood still in shock, including Sword. “I SAID DID YOU HEAR ME?!”

All the guards reluctantly raised their hooves in a robotic salute. Sword clenched his teeth and started to walk up Silver. He was held back by Storm.

“Do you have any comments to make, Sword?” Silver said tersely. Sword struggled against Storm’s hold.

“Calm yourself!” Storm hissed in Sword’s ear. “You’re being way too out of line today! What do you think will happen if you attack Silver?”

Sword froze and thought upon Storm’s words. “No…” he replied to Silver dejectedly.

“Good. I recommend you go back to your place before any problem arises.” Silver walked away to answer some other guard’s questions, leaving Sword still confused and wary.

“Are you okay now? Storm asked behind him.

“I’m...fine,” Sword answered, uncertainty in his tone. He stared at Silver’s back. His anger dissipated and only left behind emptiness. “...I think.”

“You think?” Orca asked. “Are you sure you’re feeling well? I can understand you are angry about Silver’s decision, but the look on your face is something I have never seen before.”

“I'm fine,” Sword reassured. “Really, I am. I guess I just need some rest.”

“There’s some time before we have to leave,” Storm said. “Why don't you pack your belongings? Nothing too heavy now!”

“Thanks Storm,” Sword said tiredly. “I guess I got some things to think about for now.”

“...You know. Not everything will be as bad as you think,” Storm suddenly said. “The village will still be in good hooves and we can explore the world like you would gush about when we were colts! Why do you want to stay in the village so bad? It’s not like there is some major attachment you have to it or is there?”

Sword had nothing to reply back with. The sheer truth of what Storm said at the end really hit him where it hurts. Storm scratched his head, oblivious to the impact of his words. “I guess you should head back now. Sorry for keeping you.”

Sword nodded and walked away from the two of them. His mind was swimming with questions and confusion. He shook his head and blamed it on his fatigue. He did just realize that today would be his last day here. He also didn't hate Silver like that. Sure he was annoyed with some of the decisions he made and how he was extremely stubborn and serious all the time, but something within him just snapped as soon as he heard it from his mouth. He thought upon Storm’s words again and thought about looking at the situation in a positive light.

While Sword was heading back to his home, Storm and Orca stared at his back, both tired from the events despite it only being morning.

“I hope he doesn't overexert himself,” Storm said, a worried expression on his face.

“It's expected that he would act this way,” Orca replied. “Such a big change happening so suddenly would invoke a reaction out of anypony.”

“Yeah but…” Storm said, remembering how Sword had looked like. “I don't think that was a normal reaction anypony would have.”

“Maybe so,” Orca said. He seemed distracted, his eyes raking over the village. Alarm briefly flashed through his eyes before it disappeared just as quickly. “Speaking of Sword, why don't you get start packing too? From what I know of Silver, he won't make you stop walking till you’re halfway there! Remember to keep any special keepsake safe.”

“Okay then. Thanks,” Storm walked away as well, following Sword’s path. Orca narrowed his eyes in certainty. This was not good at all

“Of all the things that should appear now, why should it be this?” Orca murmured to himself in annoyance. He went back to his house, worry now lingering in his mind.

XxX

“Time does fly by,” Storm commented, looking at the orange horizon. Sword and Storm were standing on top of the cliff, staring at the shimmering skyline which this village was named after. Small saddlebags laid on their sides with their swords on their backs. “Shall we head back?”

Sword nodded wordlessly and walked down the cliff. He was still conflicted the events happened earlier. His relocation and Storm’s words were on the forefront on his mind. Thinking about that also brought his dream back to haunt him, adding on to his anxiety.

“I really need come to terms with this,” Sword thought to himself, hearing the imaginary screams roar through his ears. He shook his head and followed Storm. They reached a gathering were the other guards were staying. Some were hugging their loved ones in tearful goodbyes while others looked excited at the prospect of a new environment.

“Sword! Storm!” Sword turned around and found Petal huffing in front of him, much to his surprise. He and Petal became friends after Link had left and was surprised that they both shared some interest in the same subjects. He wasn't trying to move on to her after her husband had died, mind you. But she was a helpful pony when needed to be.

“How’re you doing, miss Petal?” Storm asked. Petal smiled as she regained her breath and straightened up.

“I'm fine. I wanted to know how you two are holding up?”

“Could be better,” Sword answered with a shrug. “I'm not exactly fond about this whole ‘moving to another place’ thing.”

“Same,” Storm agreed. “But I should've expected this. We are part of the military under the princesses.”

“Good thing my husband isn't here now, huh?” Petal joked. Both of them winced at her joke but Petal didn't seem to mind. It seemed that she was finally starting to move on from him. The thought made Sword smile inwardly.

“Now if only I could move on from my own darkness,” he thought bitterly. “Wait, bad Sword. No dark thoughts. You're among friends now.”

“Mom!” A squeaky, feminine voice called out. “Don't just leave me behind like that!”

Flora burst onto the scene, collapsing in front of her mother. Half of her body was covered in ash and her mane was messy. “Man, exercising sucks! How do you guards do this thing everyday?”

“Another failed experiment, Flora?” Sword asked, a sweat drop forming on his head at her appearance.

She lifted her head up and groaned. “This is so frustrating! No matter how perfectly I try to recreate the accident, none of it works! Look!” She reached in her saddlebag and pulled out a bunch of green hats. All of them were mutilated and burned. The tailor that made them would've cried at the sight. “Is it because I got the proportions of the hat wrong? Or the quantity of magic? Darn it, I knew I should've asked Link to borrow his for some more time!”

“I think Link had a right to fear for his hat,” Sword thought, looking at the green rags. “I wonder how he would react to this.”

“Yes, she has been…adamant about recreating that,” Petal said, her eyes twitching. “Explosion after explosion. Not caring at all what her dear mother thinks about all this.”

“I told you not to worry about it,” Flora said, irritated. “I’m sensible enough not to do it inside while standing back at least 500 hooves away with protective gear.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that I still worry about you every time you do it,” Petal shot back. Flora said nothing to that, making Petal straighten with triumph.

“Well, you caught us just in time,” Storm said. “We were just about to depart. I wonder how Ponyville is at this time?”

“I heard it's a pleasant town,” Sword replied. A worried expression quickly appeared on his face. “But I still have a bad feeling about this.”

A shrill whistle filled the air, making them all flinch. Sword turned to see Silver gesturing them all over.

“I guess it's time,” Sword said, a dry smile on his face. “It was nice seeing you two again.”

“We’ll see you two off at the gates,” Petal said. They nodded and headed towards Silver. The rest of the guards also crowded around him.

“You all say your final goodbyes?” he asked. With many dejected nods, he continued, “This is a very big change. Don't you think I am not aware of this. Personally, I’m not all for this either.” A few heads raised up, eyes wide and blinking. “Don’t look so surprised! I have ponies I don’t want to leave here too. But the princesses themselves called on us. Instead of another higher authority guard, it was the princesses that sent this to us. There is no doubt that we are not the only ones that received this message. They must be gathering us for something important. We all know that something has been stirring of late, such as those rogue guards and those bandits. Maybe now they want to take action against this.”

Now that Sword heard Silver’s reasoning, it started to make sense. They couldn’t be the only ones called upon. They were too small a force to do anything. Coupled with all the weird reports and incidents, it was a wonder that they weren't called upon earlier. It almost convinced Sword that he should leave to help the other ponies.

Almost.

“Anything on your mind?" Orca said behind. Sword just turned his head wearily, not even surprised. It seemed his teacher was popping up in the most unexpected places often today.

“I told you I’m fine,” Sword replied. “You don’t have to peek over my shoulder every chance you have.”

“We’re not little colts anymore,” Storm put in. “We may have lived under your watch all this time, but we can take care of ourselves now.”

“Oh really?” Orca said, raising an eyebrow in amusement. “I wonder how you would react if I said I was coming with you?”

Sword choked while Storm’s jaw dropped in disbelief, “N-no way…”

“Of course!” Orca laughed. “I can’t just leave my pupils like this! Or…” A malicious glint entered his eyes, making both Sword and Storm gulp in fear, ”You would object to me coming with you?”

“W-what about the other guards y-you taught that are s-staying here?” Sword asked shakily, the little courage he had letting him speak. It died when the dark aura around Orca increased.

“Do you object to me coming with you?!” Orca said, his voice demonic. The two cowardly guards shook their heads, their fur standing on edge like a scared cat’s. All the darkness immediately disappeared and Orca smiled, sunshine and flowers radiating around his whole being. “I knew you wouldn’t mind!”

“Why would Silver allow him to come?” Sword whined in his mind. As if to respond to his thoughts, Silver approached them.

“Yes,” Silver interrupted, his voice indignant. “He did insist on coming with us very adamantly.”

“Oh?” Orca’s smile immediately turned dark. “Would you happen to have changed your mind then?”

“N-not at all!” Silver denied immediately, fear momentarily showing on his face. He immediately straightened himself to maintain his dignity. “I think we stalled enough. Let us go.”

“Oh. That’s why,” Despite Silver being their superior, he was still scared of Orca just like everypony else.

The whistle blew again and all the guards crowded around the gates.

“Take a good long look, for it may be your last for some of you,” Silver said grimly. Sword inwardly shivered at that. “Now formation! March!”

Sword immediately got in his place. Luckily, Storm was placed right next to him. He also saw Orca marching along the front with Silver. Shouts of goodbyes were heard throughout the air from guards and other ponies staying back at the village.

“Take care of yourself, Storm and Sword!” Petal shouted at them. “Don’t get into any trouble!”

“Say hi to Link for us if you meet him!” Flora also shouted.

“Will do!” Storm called back. He grinned at Storm. “You ready for a new adventure?”

Sword nodded with a little more certainty. Despite his worry for the village, he couldn’t suppress the excitement he felt when he was a colt. Each step increased the butterflies fluttering in his stomach and all his worries momentarily vanished. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.

XxX

Shionne immediately straightened up and looked towards the crowd of ponies sharply. Startled, Miyu looked up to Shionne, her hoof to her bow. “Is anything wrong?”

Shionne shook her head. From what she and Miyu could gather, the guards were being transferred to another garrison. She didn’t understand all the ceremonious anger and drama that ensued after the announcement. It was just moving to another place. It happened all the time back at the clan, but that wasn’t what interested her. Hope started to rekindle inside her as she felt some much needed relief from all the events that happened to her.

“Link... ” she whispered to herself, staring at the filly who shouted his name. “I will find you. No matter what."

Author's Notes:

Alright, it wasn't that long I was absent, right? What, a measly seven months? Oh who am I kidding? I'm really sorry for the huge delay. School has been kicking my ass ever since it started and when I did have free time I was just too lazy to do anything about it. Not to mention writing this chapter was such a pain in the ass. I can't really say anything about an update schedule and I'm not going to make false promises anymore. The chapters will come out when they will come out. But enough of making excuses nobody is going to care about, let's get right on to the good stuff.

Breath of the Wild came out.

HOLY SHIT IS THAT GAME AMAZING!

That's really it. I'm not going to spoil anything but that game expands so much on the lore that I actually wanted to rewrite this whole story because of it. I convinced myself not to actually do it and stick with the plot but there will be some references added to it for those that played, mark my words.

CHANGES

There is one major change to the chapter Ponyville. For one thing, the mapfish will not be directing Link towards neighagra falls. I was initially going to put the first "dungeon" there but I decided against it. The other chapters will also have hints of Shionne's insecurities and Sword's nightmare since I felt that I introduced those way too suddenly. I'm still planning on how to add those in without changing the chapter so I will update this author's note when I finally do.

Other than that, how was the chapter? I really was not kidding when I said that this chapter gave me so much trouble. I'm afraid that there are a lot of things that don't make sense plot and grammar wise. Please let me know your thoughts and I will see you later my readers.

Legend of Zelda: Hero of Equestria

by Klearsky52

Prologue

Awakening

The Oncoming Storm

To Sunset Village

Orca's Acceptance

Training and Legends

The Tombstone

Misadventures in Sunset

Bandit Attack!

Departure

Fairy of the Forest

Surviving the Night

Ponyville

The Everfree

Nightly Encounter

The Fairy Pieces: Part One

The Fairy Pieces: Part Two

Relocation