//------------------------------// // The Fairy Pieces: Part One // Story: Legend of Zelda: Hero of Equestria // by Klearsky52 //------------------------------// “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.