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.