• Published 12th Nov 2019
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The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Link's Awakening. - Ganondorf8



The legend continues as Sunset Shimmer explores the mysterious Koholint Island.

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Chapter 2: Around Mabe Village.

Author's Note:

Disclaimer: I do not own anything regarding the Legend of Zelda, the Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and My Little Pony: Equestria Girls. These are the properties of Nintendo and Hasbro respectively.

Time for some of that early game shenanigans... exploring a village.

Cast of characters appearing in this chapter:

Sunset Shimmer: Link
Princess Twilight Sparkle: Fairy Partner
Starlight Glimmer: Marin
Sunburst: Tarin
Bulk Biceps: Sale
Applebloom: Joonya
Sweetie Belle: Kidoh
Vignette Valencia: Grandma Yahoo
Discord: Grandpa Ulrira

The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Link's Awakening.
By Ganondorf8.
October 30, 2019.
Chapter 2: Around Mabe Village.

"I'm off to the Mysterious Forest, Marin!" Sunburst announced to the entirety of Mabe Village.

"You didn't need to let everyone know what you're doing, Tarin." Starlight moaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I sometimes question why you do such things in the first place knowing full well how our business doesn't have to be heard by everyone else."

"Did you say somethin'?"

"Huh? Who me?" Starlight then assumed an innocent look that came off as her being absent-minded. "No, I didn't say anything, Tarin. You must be hearing things." She then stopped with the look and adopted a more serious expression. "So you're going to look for toadstools again?"

Sunburst nodded. "You know me all too well."

"I ought to since I am your daughter and all."

"Toadstool pickin' has always been my thing around here." Sunburst said, showing off the toadstools in his backpack. Some were showing signs of decay and Starlight hoped he would throw them away before they went bad. "Besides, I feel like having some for dinner tonight! I know you aren't too keen on them, Marin, so maybe I could find you something else to eat, or you could actually try them."

"I'd rather not eat them."

"Suit yourself."

"How long do you plan on being gone this time?"

"Why, Marin..." Sunburst began. "You make it sound like I don't know how to judge time let alone figure out when to come home."

Starlight, arms folded, leaned forward as a means of intimidation. "The last time you went to pick some toadstools, you were gone for three days and by the time you came back, you looked as though you had gotten lost or something." She then pointed to a chest of drawers near Sunburst's bed that was filled to the brim with toadstools. "Keep this up and the forest is going to run out of toadstools. Besides, why not use what you have? Why go there to get more?"

"I'm just compelled to go get some."

"This is a losing argument isn't it?"

"You worry too much, Marin."

"Someone has to."

Sunburst then placed his hand on her shoulder. "I might not be the most insightful person around, but I know what my priorities are... most of the time. I'll only be gone for about an hour or so before coming back. Finding them toadstools has become a might hard these days. I'll be lucky enough ta find even one let alone two. If'n you see that Sunset Shimmer, tell her where I've gone in case she's curious about me."

"I wonder if she will figure it out."

"Figure what out?"

"The secret of the Mysterious Forest." Starlight answered. She grabbed a piece of paper and presented it to Sunburst. On the paper was the drawing of what looked like a key but one end was shaped like a creature's tail. Sunburst had no idea what to make of it but Starlight certainly did. "They say that this key is hidden somewhere deep in the forest and can open up a cave just north of the beach. No one has ever been in there before and I was curious as to what it contains. Sunset Shimmer definitely looks like she might have an interest in finding secrets but maybe that's just me talking."

"That is you talkin'!"

"Can I help it if I'm interested in her?"

Sunburst raised an eyebrow though he avoided laughing or making any kind of remark in case it offended Starlight. He knew her way of thinking and despite his laidback attitude, he knew better to overstep his boundaries. "Whatever that Sunset Shimmer does is her own business. I admit that I am a bit curious about her but I reckon she prefers to keep to herself." He then stepped outside of their home and looked upwards at the clouds. "Reckon it'll be a perfect day for toadstool pickin'. Who knows? I might just try one there and then instead of waitin' to get back home and eat it. What about you, Marin?"

"Me?" Starlight then used her innocent look again. "I was thinking of maybe going into people's homes and smashing their pots for the fun of it." As soon as she said that, she waggled her finger and laughed it off much to Sunburst's confusion over the matter. "Did I say that? No, you must be hearing things. I definitely didn't say anything of the sort. I think I will go the statue in the village square and practice my singing. If Sunset Shimmer pays me a visit when she comes back from Toronbo Shores, maybe she will tell me about herself."

"Yer more curious than I am."

"I can't help it!"

"It's not good for your health."

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After thinking things over and consulting with Princess Twilight on the matter, I decided to explore as much of Toronbo Shores as possible. While going back to Mabe Village was essential in progressing the adventure, the beach might hold something of value that would otherwise be lost were I to ignore it. Besides, I also needed to understand the lay of the land as I currently lacked a map. Fortunately, Her Highness said that she would keep track of where we have been on this island by making a makeshift map. It would gradually fill in as we explore more of our surrounding until it was finally complete.

She also suspected that the library would also house a map of the island for convenience sake. I promised we would check out the library in greater detail upon going back to the village as I knew better than to deny Princess Twilight a chance to explore a new library. I'll admit that my own curiosity of what it contained was pretty strong. Now that I had both a sword and shield, monsters wouldn't be a problem unless my sword was useless against anything with, a thick hide, could use the terrain to its advantage, or something far worse. Another thing I would require was money.

One golden rule of any adventure was to have the means of buying items from shops. Though I couldn't even begin to remember much of the stuff I purchased during my previous two adventures, I knew that I needed money. How much money? I wouldn't know until I actually went into a shop and saw what they had. There should be a shop somewhere in the village so paying it a visit was a must. Then again, a shop could be down here on the beach. The likelihood was pretty slim but you never could tell when it comes to adventure. The money would come from defeating monsters and opening treasure chests so I had a lot to do.

Heading across the beach, Princess Twilight and I encountered some large crabs scuttling about. According to Her Highness, they don't have a specific name so we both agreed to call them Giant Crabs for novelty sake. She did say that they would damage me upon contact and are surprisingly durable, one hit with my sword wouldn't be enough. They weren't much for attacking anyway so they weren't exactly dangerous, but defeating them could give me rupees, the currency that this video game world enjoyed. A couple of Giant Crabs came close but several sword swings took them out with one of them leaving a green rupee behind.

"One down, countless more to go." I said to myself as I picked it up. I had no idea if the wallet I had--something I didn't figure out until that exact moment when I picked up the rupee off the ground--could be upgraded or if it was just the one size for the adventure but I had one for money storage. "Here's hoping there will be larger rupee amounts aside from one otherwise it'll take days if not weeks to collect enough rupees. Heck! I don't even know how much anything at the shop costs so I could be wasting time." I really should've gone to the shop at the earliest opportunity rather than go down to the beach.

Another monster then appeared, rising up from the sand. This one had four spikes on top of its head and looked like a mass of jelly given how rubbery its body was. I raised my shield where it collided into it before sinking back down. Princess Twilight knew what this one was called, a Leever. She said they lurked underground in areas filled with sand and would pop up to attack anything that ventured into its territory. I do recall encountering some in previous adventures but perhaps my memory of them was faint because they weren't all that memorable compared with other monsters I had seen in the past. Rather than deal with them, I allowed them to move on past, or whatever constituted for their movement.

"I hope you're not going to be avoiding monsters all the time." Princess Twilight said.

"Not all of them are being aggressive." I said.

"True, and while I don't exactly approve of attacking whatever gets in your way, you will need to destroy them." It felt weird hearing Her Highness say such things, but I knew she was only trying to tell me the truth in a way that wouldn't upset me. She knew how this adventuring would affect my psyche and was doing her best to show me the positives. "Some monsters will make attempts on your life and you must be prepared for them."

"Is it like that for you back in Equestria?" I wanted to quickly retract that statement but found that I couldn't.

Princess Twilight sighed. "Sometimes, I wish monsters would choose a more friendly path as opposed to simply being aggressive. I know they can't help it as it's in their nature but you'd think they would have some semblance of common sense."

"And the villains?"

"They can make a choice."

"Not all of them did."

"And look what happened to them." Princess Twilight paused to think about something and I knew what it was. She was thinking about Tirek, Chrysalis, and Gozy Glow, the three villains who almost brought Equestria under their dominion, and who refused friendship to enter their hearts. Now they were a stone statue for practically eternity, forever frozen in place for eons until someone declares them deserve a second chance at life. "At least those three weren't killed despite their intention of doing so to everyone else."

"But then this world is different from Equestria."

"Yes, you do have a point."

"You know that I need to talk to you sometime about your coronation among other things, right?"

Princess Twilight nodded. " I know, Sunset. I've actually been meaning to talk to you about it as well, but I didn't have the time what with needing to repair the castle, getting all of the various accommodations in place, table and seating arrangements for various creatures, etc."

"You look like you're about to freak out."

"Can you really tell?"

I nodded. "I know you, Twilight, and I know your mannerisms. I will talk to you about it but perhaps at various intervals during this adventure. No fair in saving it all for a massive stress dump later which wouldn't do either of us any good." I had to change the subject which is when I noticed a building on top of the next ridge. It stuck out like a sore thumb seeing as there were no other buildings in the area. "That building up there could be a good place to check out." Continuing our beach trek was bearing little in the way of progress so once we were done visiting this place, we would go back the way we came and check out the library.

"Thanks Sunset."

"For what?"

"For changing the subject, giving me some space, and for being a good friend."

"It's the kind of person I am and besides, I had a very good teacher who taught me so much." I said, smiling. I then walked up to the building and a sign out front revealed that the place was called 'Sale's House O' Bananas'. It was named well since there were trees bearing bananas on their branches situated on either side with one of them housing a monkey who wasn't keen on seeing me. It began tossing coconuts yet none of them hit me so it had merely wasted its time and quite possibly food. "Judging from the location, I'm surprised this place doesn't get many visitors if any at all."

"Bananas are seen as an acquired taste."

"Who told you that?"

Princess Twilight blushed. "Princess Celestia..."

I rolled my eyes. I should have known that it was my old teacher who would've told Her Highness about that. Princess Celestia had this strange fascination towards bananas though no one, not even her sister, Princess Luna, ever figured out the reason. It was one of the princess' more bizarre qualities which most ponies in Equestria didn't understand. Among the different kinds of fruit that are transported around Equestria, bananas were very rare as only specific locations grew them, namely tropical locations. Don't even get me started with import fees. I heard those were a real pain to deal with.

Upon entering the shop, I heard a familiar sounding voice... "YEAH!"

Even Princess Twilight recognized it. "Only one pony says 'yeah' like that."

Standing in front of us near several crates of bananas was Bulk Biceps. Whether he was a human or a pony, he stood out for his absurd physical prowess compared with all those around him, yet despite this, he was really gentle. He wore his usual attire that I saw him wear at Canterlot High but also a hat made out of straw. If he wanted to depict himself as living in the tropics and being surrounded by tropical décor, wearing a hat would definitely do it. If I remembered my previous adventures, he portrayed giant character so it felt strange seeing him at regular size like me.

"Welcome! YEAH! Welcome to Sale's House O' Bananas!" Bulk Biceps said.

"Thank you." I said.

"I'm Sale and this is my house!"

I decided to go along with it. "You have quite the variety of bananas."

Again, Bulk Biceps used what could arguably be his iconic word. "YEAH! I have a huge assortment of bananas, but I don't get many customers around here as I'd like. At one time, people from the nearby village came here in droves for my bananas, but when those monsters started to infest the area, only the bravest come here."

"That sounds terrible." Princess Twilight said.

"Now I have so many bananas that I don't know what to do with them."

Princess Twilight then had a thought. "What about monkeys?" I was surprised Her Highness knew what a monkey was. Then again, Equestria was a kingdom teaming with all kinds of animals including exotic ones, and in her letters she said that the pony version of Fluttershy had an animal sanctuary. Such a place having monkeys around would make sense as to why she knew what one was. Or, she was using some kind of divine magic to figure it out. "Surely, you would allow them to take your bananas."

"YEAH! Well... I would but monkeys don't usually frequent this area of the island."

"What about the one just outside?" I asked.

"That one is more interested in coconuts than bananas."

"Oh."

"I do know of a small group of monkeys though." Bulk Biceps then looked at his inventory of bananas before hollering out a 'yeah'. He then looked at a picture of something, mumbled to himself, and then looked at me again. "Somewhere east of the village is a castle where monkeys like to hang near. What are they doing there? Who knows? No one really knows what monkeys get up to. I suppose if you were to give them some bananas, they might do something."

"Can you give me some bananas?"

Bulk Bicep's eyes then lit up. "YEAH! I mean... I can but I need something first."

"Do you need money?" Princess Twilight asked.

Bulk Biceps blinked and tilted his head to one side momentarily. "Money? No, I don't sell my bananas. I prefer to trade. Maybe that's another reason why people don't come here that much anymore. Do you have any canned food?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Canned food! YEAH!"

"That is what you said, right?"

"Selling bananas isn't my actual hobby." Bulk Biceps answered as he licked his lips. "My hobby involves collecting rare and unusual canned food. Sure, it sounds strange but then you haven't met my brother. He's an artist who lives in the Animal Village on the opposite end of the island. YEAH! Ahem! Yeah, strange hobbies do run in the family. If you have any canned food, give it to me and I'll give you some bananas. Good deal? YEAH!"

I shrugged my shoulders, an indication that I had no canned food, but I had to know more. "Why canned food?"

"What can I say? I just love the stuff."

I frowned but made sure he didn't notice. "So... If I were to get you some canned food, would you give me some bananas?"

Bulk Biceps nodded feverishly. "YEAH! YEAH! I'll do that for you. Now, if you want to get some premium canned food, you should talk to Madam MeowMeow. She is a pet lover who feeds her pets canned food as often as possible. She lives in the village north of here so she's the one to talk to. I don't particular care what kind of canned food it is so long as I can satisfy my belly."

Nodding slowly whilst presenting a nervous grin, I said that I would come back later with the canned food that he wanted, and stepped backwards until I was outside. That's when I stuck out my tongue in disgust. Did he honestly want dog food!? When he mentioned pets, that was what immediately came to mind. But, I supposed if it would get me some bananas for the road, then who was I to question Bulk Bicep's tastes. I didn't encounter anyone by the name of Madam MeowMeow--the name was definitely on the nose with her fascination for pets--so perhaps someone in the village would know of her.

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"CRRAACCKKLLEE! FWWOOSSHH! You called upon me, master?"

"We detect a presence on the island that did not exist before until now."

"What is it?"

"An outsider, one from beyond the ocean, has come to this island."

"Is that going to be a problem, master?"

"For now, they are of no threat to us, but they will become a problem should they collect that which you and the others guard."

"The instruments? No one on the island has ever bothered to try and collect them. They are all too content with living out their lives in ignorance since they don't know what this island really is."

"Such ignorance can be placed upon you."

"I don't understand."

"No... We do not expect you to understand the nature that is the Nightmare. Already, one of those who exists has been thinking about awakening the dreamer. At first we thought this to be an error but she has proven otherwise. She and their kind must never know this island's secret. Our dominion must remain intact. The binding must remain intact. Should this one continue her misguided approach, we shall have to kill her. We will allow one of the dark ones to handle such a simple task."

"And what of the outsider?"

"We do not fear them."

"I never asked that, master."

"Listen well to our words. The outsider is of no threat to us so long as they do not start collecting that which the Nightmare guard. Should they do this, our grip will loosen and all we have sought will become nothing more than a dream. Should this outsider enter the Tail Cave, the Moldorm must kill them, and things shall continue as always. Our power has enhanced it, just as it has enhanced you and the other Nightmares."

"About Moldorm, master."

"Yes?"

"He's... not particularly bright."

"All of you are mindless drones in our eyes."

"As you say, master."

"You shall use our power to commune with the other Nightmares and inform them of the outsider. They must know that this one poses a threat to us. Protect what you guard from them otherwise they will destroy you. Our power cannot save you from destruction. Keep our words in your mind at all times."

"As you command."

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On the way back to Mabe Village, I decided to do a bit of grinding. I'm a video game player so grinding is practically second nature to me. Princess Twilight didn't understand what that meant (I think she did but might have forgotten) so I explained it to her. By going back and forth between two areas, I could continuously defeat monsters in order to obtain rupees and purchase any items at the shop. Her Highness reminded me of what she said about not liking me attacking these creatures despite it being a necessity, yet I reminded her she was entitled to speak her mind and not hold it in.

In total, I spent about ten minutes and accumulated roughly twenty rupees. In addition to the one I picked up on the way to Bulk Bicep's location, I had twenty-one. What would that allow me to buy? Honestly, not much if anything at all. Again, I hadn't seen what the shop had in terms of stock so going there and seeing for myself would let me gauge as to how much grinding would be necessary. Deep down, I was praying for good pay-outs from treasure chests. From what I remembered, higher valued rupees were inside of treasure chests so finding them was essential, no ifs and or buts.

Since I couldn't jump up to the higher ledges, I had to walk back to the village via the long path. Along the way, I noticed some strange holes in the ground that looked like they went nowhere. Peering down into one, I saw nothing but infinite darkness so falling down into one wasn't in my best interest. At least Her Highness didn't have to worry about such things as she could fly and wasn't pinned down. It wasn't all bad though. I got to take in more of the beautiful scenery of Koholint Island despite seeing only a small portion. I hoped this would be a consistent thing.

Upon entering the village, I entered the library in order to give it a better comb over. Princess Twilight flittered about, her eyes glossed over seeing so many books, and waiting to see what kind of knowledge we were going to uncover. Her happiness quickly dashed after checking several books on two shelves and I asked her what was wrong. She told me that the books on the four shelves contained no words. In fact, they didn't have any titles. They were simply there for cosmetic purposes. That didn't sound right so I grabbed a book to see for myself, and sure enough, it had blank page.

I checked another book... the same result. I checked another... same thing. I checked a third... again, the same thing. I was completely dumbfounded by this discovery though that wasn't how Her Highness felt. She felt angry that she had been cheated out of vast knowledge. To be fair, I couldn't really fault her for being like that. While my desire for knowledge wasn't at levels of insanity like Princess Twilight's, I did desire to indulge in my curiosity every now and again. Since the vast majority of books were utterly useless, we turned our attention towards the eight on the individual tables plus the one on top of the bookcase.

Princess Twilight immediately checked that latter one first since I couldn't climb up there (I mean, I could but some strange force was preventing me). Unfortunately, she was too small to open it but she did manage to read the name of the book, 'The World of Colour', an odd name to be sure. Colour was all around us so why have a book dedicated to it? I could've run at the bookshelf to knock the book down (I actually couldn't even run as again, a strange force was stopping me) but instead I looked at what else was there. One was about advanced fighting techniques, another on item management, and a third on music.

Then I checked the next one. "How about that, Twilight?" I announced. "This one features a map of Koholint Island.

"Let's take a look." Princess Twilight said.

I opened the book and a detailed drawing of the entire island was presented before us. "Not as big an island as I was expecting."

"At least we now have an idea of what we've got to deal with later."

I pointed to a tall tower in the northeast corner. "I take it that this is where you came into this world from?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "Yes. As you can see, Sunset, that tower stands out pretty well compared with everything else shown here. It looks to be the tallest landmark on the island barring the mountain range the tower is situated on. Like I said before, I couldn't see any way inside but maybe we'll get a chance when the time comes. There are also two shrines over here near some sort of rapids, a desert, a swamp, a forest, and a castle."

"That must be the place Bulk Biceps mentioned."

"It's not that far from here."

"But..."

Princess Twilight looked confused. "But what?"

"If I know this video game franchise (I'm starting to at any rate), I'm going to need something important before I can access the path to that castle." I answered. It was like that during my previous two adventures (I don't recall the exact details) so it happening this time was a given. I really wanted to take this map with me but again the strange force prevented me from picking the book up (What was with this force anyway? I'm getting really vexed here) so I'd have to memorize as much as possible and rely on my own map for guidance. Her Highness was better with maps so I could simply ask her.

There was only one book left and Princess Twilight flittered over to it. Her eyes lit up upon seeing it. "Sunset! Look at this!"

"What is it?" I asked as I walked over.

"This last book is called 'Dark Secrets of Koholint Island'." Princess Twilight answered. She had that look in her eye of curiosity but I was a bit more hesitant. A book with that kind of name could mean big trouble, but it could also mean important information that we could use for this journey. "What do you think, Sunset? Should we read it? I know my curiosity is strong but don't open it unless you really want to."

"Um... Let's go for it." I then opened the book only to be surprised by its contents. "What in Celestia!?" Yes, Princess Celestia's name was used as a noun, and her name was ideal in this situation. "I can't see what the words say! Can you?"

Princess Twilight got as close to the book as possible without plastering herself up against the pages. She shook her head to confirm that she couldn't read it either. "Not even my current size is enough to figure out anything. Unless you can find something that can make these words bigger, there's nothing we can do with this book. I suppose a magnifying glass may work but who would carry one of those on an island like this?"

"Not exactly a common item."

"It's all I could think of."

Crap! Who in their right mind would make the words in a book so tiny that you needed a magnifying glass!? I supposed that this was intentional since learning about any dark secrets this early on would make the overall experience less fun. Despite the library having little in the way of reading material, it did have valuable information I needed to come back later in order to uncover. I could also come back to check the map every once in a while in case I needed to remind myself where a particular location was. Leaving the library with a dejected look on my face, I turned towards the two children who were throwing a ball.

I immediately recognized the one on the left as Applebloom and the one on the right as Sweetie Belle. If I was right then Scootaloo wasn't far away since all three of them tended to be categorized together. In previous adventures, they were always separated from each other so it was nice to see at least two of the Cutie Mark Crusaders (In Equestria while in the world I called home, they are simply The Crusaders) having fun. I was impressed with how they kept tossing the ball back and forth without ever dropping it. In terms of what they were wearing, they wore simple clothes, a usual thing for common villagers.

"We was both wonderin' when you would pay attention to us." Applebloom said.

"Sorry if we aren't exactly stand out characters." Sweetie Belle added.

I bowed slightly before addressing them. "Sorry but I was busy trying to get to the beach."

"Not much is down there aside from some really scary monsters." Applebloom said.

"According to the other villagers, those creatures have been getting nasty for some weird reason." Sweetie Belle said. Even as they were talking, they continued to toss their ball back and forth which coloured me impressed. "We figured you are new around here since you're different from everyone else we know. Nothing wrong with that but you do have this air of mystery surrounding you."

"We're both kids so we don't know any better."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing." I said.

Applebloom nodded as she tossed the ball. "We've been thinkin' 'bout going over to the Trendy Game to see if we can win that 'Yoshi Doll' that our little sister would love. But we don't no money and besides, reckon that game is mighty difficult. Unless y'all have excellent concentration, ya ain't gettin' anythin'."

"I heard that the shop has gotten in some new items, Joonya."

"What!?" Applebloom exclaimed as her eyes lit up. "What are y'all talkin' 'bout, Kidoh?"

"One of the prizes is this weird looking seashell." Sweetie Belle answered, catching the ball but this time holding on to it. "I've heard mama and papa talk about how collecting seashells can make someone very happy. There's even a house somewhere beyond Mabe Village dedicated to seashells but none of us have ever seen it. I hear there are at least fifty of them located across the island but don't take my word for it. I'm just a kid."

"Any other prizes?"

"Suhni said that when she went in there last time, they also had some kind of giant heart, and even a stone slab."

"Where does the owner find such things?"

"I don't know but it does sound exciting."

"Reckon those prizes are bound ta get people into that shop and spend all their rupees." Applebloom said. She then briefly looked in my direction hinting that she suspected that I would be interested in what was on hand at this shop. In truth, I was interested in the giant heart though a part of me wanted to know about the stone slab. "Kidoh? Aren't y'all 'spposed ta give this girl some kinda message or somethin'?"

Sweetie Belle then turned to face me. "Marin said she was looking for you. If you want to know where she is, she is by the statue of the famous Rooster of Mabe Village. She goes there to practice her singing. Why does she do this? Don't ask me. I guess so long as it makes her happy then it makes us happy too. Anyway, we need to get back to doing what we were doing when you got here."

"Come speak to us again sometime."

A part of me felt uneasy around Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. They both appeared oblivious as to what was happening around them, but at the same time they had great insight even if they were depicted as children. I then remembered a 'Yoshi Doll' being mentioned as a prize at this Trendy Game place. Yoshi is a video game character associated with Mario, but why was he being represented in a completely different franchise? It wasn't a matter of me not understanding but rather questioning something that smelled like a crossover promotion. A part of me did want to win the doll though. Who knows? It might prove useful sometime.

Walking back into the village, I decided to make my way over to where this rooster statue was only for my attention to be caught by someone who I knew, but not that well due to her attitude and lack of appreciation towards friendship. Holding a broom and sweeping the ground in a cheerful manner was Vignette Valencia, a girl obsessed with online popularity that she never understood friendship until Rarity was the first person to offer it to her. She still had a lot to learn but she had showed signs of progression last I checked. In my opinion, Vignette was more towards being a drama queen than anything else. Huh... No wonder Rarity liked her.

"Yahoo!" Vignette shouted.

"Is this the one you told me about who had a magical phone?" Princess Twilight asked.

I nodded. "Equestrian Magic escaped from the portal and corrupted her phone. It allowed her to teleport people to other locations although she only managed to get the one location to work with her phone."

"Compared to what I've faced, you and your friends have been lucky."

"We have more modern conveniences as opposed to ancient evils."

"Call me jealous."

"Don't be." I then turned to Vignette. "Um... What are you doing?"

"Me? Why, I'm sweeping everything I come across." Vignette answered. She paused for a moment to show off her broom before resuming her work. "You would be surprised as to how dirty this village and even this island can be. Every time it looks like I'm done, somewhere else gets dirty and I have to go and clean it. At this current pace, my broom's thistles will wear out leaving me with no means of doing what I do around here."

"Then why not slow down?" Princess Twilight asked.

Vignette then laughed. "Aren't you a funny one! If I did that then everything would just get dirty again. By the way, my name is Grandma Yahoo! My name may sound funny to a pair of youngsters like yourselves but my husband has always appreciated it."

"You're married!?" I asked with a concerned look.

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"It's just that..." I decided to stop talking because once again I knew that bringing up anything sensitive would just make everything awkward. Vignette had the appearance of an eighteen year old but was dressed like someone who was in her sixties or seventies. I chose to try a different tactic in the hopes of getting some information out of her. "Ahem! Do you think you can help me and my friend out? We're looking for some information and the library didn't exactly provide us with much."

"The Mabe Village Library only has enough information for someone of the adventuring type." Vignette said as she stopped sweeping before resting her arms on her broom. "We usually don't go in there since my husband provides us with all the help we need. He may not look like much but he's a fountain of knowledge. Ulrira can tell you just about anything you want but he does have this weird quirk about him."

"Weird... quirk?"

"I think it's best for you two to actually go and see him in person." Vignette answered, sighing. "I do love him very much but Ulrira really needs to come out of his shell. See this house right here?" She then pointed her broom at a house that was right next to all of us. "Me and Ulrira live here though I'm rarely at home what with my cleaning taking up so much of my time, but Ulrira never leaves home and prefers to rock on his rocking chair. Once you've spoken to him, come back outside and talk to me again. I'll explain anything he says that you don't quite understand."

Vignette sounded a little dubious but I chose to take her word for it. Walking around to the front of the house, I could hear the sound of someone rocking back and forth in addition to them mumbling some words. The weirdest thing I heard though was a sound of a telephone. Most people these days used cellphones or iPhones to communicate with people but hearing a phone from decades ago was completely unexpected. Could it be that this Ulrira used such an ancient device (Okay, perhaps I was exaggerating on that)? Now I was really curious to learn more about him.

Upon entering the house, Princess Twilight exclaimed at the exact same time. "Discord!"

"Um..." Was all the reply we got.

Sitting in the rocking chair was Discord, the Lord of Chaos, and now a truly reformed villain. Despite some of his recent actions according to Her Highness, Discord had proven himself a true friend. To see him here of all places certainly took me by surprise, yet it was his calm demeanour that truly surprised me. Rather than causing a scene, bending reality to his will, or doing something beyond our understanding, he was simply sitting in his chair, and looking rather pale. Was he sick? He didn't seem to be but one could never tell with him. On a table next to him was a telephone as I expected but something felt off.

A few moments ago, he was mumbling something as I heard him from outside, yet the moment I came in here, he had gone deathly quiet. I thought about walking back outside in order to see what he'd do next as a means of a test but chose not to. Like Vignette, Discord was dressed like an old man (Technically, he was over 1,000 years old so I wasn't wrong) and even had a pair of glasses in his shirt pocket. As I continued looking at him, he continued to look limp until he eventually turned his head to the side. Normally, Discord craved attention so it felt weird seeing him wanting to not look directly at me.

I waved in an attempt to start a conversation. "Hello there."

Discord waved in response but his hand movement was clearly nerve-wracking for him. "Um... err..."

"He's having trouble talking." I said to Princess Twilight.

Princess Twilight nodded. "Maybe he's too nervous to speak to us directly? I know this sounds weird given how we're looking at Discord but since this isn't 'him', but maybe we should leave and speak to Vignette again as she suggested."

"You may be right."

Discord then leaned forward slightly. "Um... How to say... Please call... Outside."

That was all I needed to hear to get the hint that he wouldn't talk to me in person. To think that Discord would end up being shy in this world. If this were Equestria, he'd have ripped apart the fabric of reality whilst changing his appearance to whatever suited the current scenario he had created. In order to talk to him properly, I had need of a telephone but where would I find one on an island in the middle of nowhere? How would a phone even work? Did I remember how such an old device even worked. So many questions and while there were answers, they weren't exactly simple.

Leaving the house, Vignette greeted me with a shaking motion of her head. "Judging from your expression, you found out Ulrira's quirk."

"How do you live with that?" Princess Twilight asked.

"It took many years for me to figure that one out." Vignette answered. "As you saw, Ulrira is incredibly shy and doesn't like talking to people in person. He's even like that with me which does make our relationship awkward. But, he managed to find a workaround that not only benefitted him but everyone across the island. About fifteen years ago, Ulrira went around building telephone booths into trees and having the wires connect back to him. He got to speak without needing to see anyone and people could talk to him for advice on just about anything that was on their mind."

"He built telephone booths?" I asked.

"There should be about a dozen or so across the island."

"Wow..."

"So yes, if you wish to speak to Ulrira, it must be through one of the telephone booths."

"And where can I find one?" Vignette then pointed to a tree that had an image of a telephone on top of it causing me to slap my forehead in response. "Oh!" Princess Twilight chuckled at my blunder much to my chagrin and I eventually giggled as well.

"Are you sure he built them fifteen years ago?" Princess Twilight asked.

"He might have had some help from the Animal Village." Vignette answered. I was wondering why Her Highness asked that question but then I noticed the reason why. Vignette appeared confused by the question and looked to want to be somewhere else. "It's been a long time since so my memory is a little hazy. Anyway, if you want to speak to Ulrira, it has to be by telephone, but know that he tends to drag on just because he's happy talking to someone. I must get back to cleaning up around here so please excuse me. Hopefully, my broom doesn't give up on me now when I'm so bogged down by work."

As she resumed cleaning and made sure to move away from us, I turned to Princess Twilight and asked her why she questioned Vignette's accuracy. She said that she wanted to test her to prove a theory but so far she didn't have enough evidence to come up with an ideal conclusion. I pressed for more information and she replied by saying Vignette's answer was solid but something felt off about it. Aside from that, Her Highness couldn't say anymore. I had my own suspicions but mine were more towards the island in general as opposed to just one person as it was with Her Highness, but perhaps we could eventually pool our resources together.

Walking over to the telephone booth, I entered it and was surprised to see that the only thing inside was a single telephone resting on top of a table. There was nothing else of interest so it felt weird seeing such an ancient device being propped up like it was. Princess Twilight asked me to explain to her what a telephone was and I struggled with explaining it. I told her that people used to use these a long time ago as a means of communication but improvements with technology made them obsolete aside from people who insisted on using them and not embracing modern conveniences.

Upon approaching the telephone, I picked it up and for a brief moment, I felt embarrassed. I mean, I've never used one before until now (Cellphones were way more convenient and had so many bells and whistles) but this was a perfect opportunity since very few of these existed back home and were owned by very eccentric people. I then realized Discord never gave me his number. How was I supposed to phone him without it? The answer then quickly became apparent as the phone lacked any dialing numbers (They were referred to as rotary phones) and was simply connecting me.

BRRIINNG! BRRIINNG!

"D'oh ho ho! This is Grandpa Ulrira!" Discord answered on the other end.

"So this is your preferred method of talking?" I asked.

"I just can't help talking to people over the phone."

"I've heard that you are knowledgeable of all things on Koholint Island."

"There is nothing about this island I don't know about." Discord said. Now that he was speaking to me via phone, he sounded exactly like he normally did only without the reality bending that he was well known for. "Anyway, ask me anything about this island. If you ever find yourself lost, feel free to give me a call."

"Don't hang up!" I had a feeling he was planning on doing that so I made sure to bring it up before he did it."

"Sounds to me that you're lost and don't know which way to go."

Even though I actually did, I chose to humour him. "Yes, I do need help."

"D'oh ho ho!" Discord laughed, the sound of his rocking chair echoing through the phone. "Have you ever been to the Mysterious Forest. Lots of strange things happen there all the time since it is mysterious and all. You should look for toadstools that grow there and give one to the Witch who makes Magic Powder. I know she would love it if someone could give her a toadstool."

"Why would I need a toadstool?"

"You never know when it might come in handy."

"Anything else?"

"I was planning on saving this one for later, but you sound like you really could with some help." Discord began laughing which made my temper flare up but I knew he was only trying to help in his own way. "Ever been to the Trendy Game in Mabe Village? They have a 'Yoshi Doll' that's all the rage these days. I hear that Mamasha is looking for one to give to her child and is willing to reward anyone with a ribbon."

"A ribbon."

"You have to start somewhere."

"Anything else?"

"Oh ho ho! I can't give you everything all at once. If I did that, you'd either forget it all or you'd make the journey too easy."

"Guess that does make sense."

"I hope you call me via phone as often as possible." Discord said, his chair no longer rocking. "If you need help, I'll tell you what I know, but if you really need help, you can always ask that fairy that flitters about around you. Bye!"

CLICK!'

"He hung up."

Princess Twilight then comforted me. "Don't feel bad about it, Sunset. Discord gave us some pretty good information and he was right about me giving you more help since I'm always on hand while he's stuck using one of those telephones. Now, he said that we need to find a toadstool in the Mysterious Woods." She landed on my shoulder and began going through her thinking of the solution phase. "Ah-ha! Sunburst would know something since that backpack of his looked crammed to the brim with toadstools. We just need to talk to him."

"Do we even know where he is?"

"No, but Starlight definitely does."

"Okay, and where do you suppose she is?"

Her Highness then looked down at the telephone and I immediately knew what she was thinking about. I couldn't possibly ask Discord to tell me where to find Starlight. Sure, he was a fountain of knowledge but asking him about where to find one person felt extremely lazy. No, I had to find Starlight on my own. Since she looked like someone who rarely went anywhere, she was likely still in the village (Good thing it was such a small village). Leaving the telephone booth, I began looking around for any signs of Starlight. Sure enough, I spotted her standing next to a statue singing.

About ten seconds later, I was at the statue and it depicted a rooster of some respite. According to an epitaph near the base of the statue, it read that this was the final resting place of the legendary 'Flying Rooster'. It also said that no one was permitted to open up the grave and disturb the bones. While I was tempted to satisfy my curiosity, I ignored it and focused my attention on Starlight, who was singing to herself with only a dog running about for company. She had an excellent singing voice I must admit yet what she was singing sounded slightly familiar. Had I heard it before? Or maybe a variation of it?

Upon seeing me, Starlight stopped singing. "I see that you're carrying around a sword."

I nodded. "It was on the beach where you found me."

Starlight was ecstatic. "How wonderful! I hope that you stab as many of those creatures as possible, over and over, no remorse."

"What!?"

"Huh?" Starlight then gave me an innocent look. "I didn't say anything. You must be hearing things. I certainly didn't say anything sinister." I had no idea if this was a quirk that the character she was portraying did or whether some aspects of her old way of thinking were coming back to the surface, but I made sure to pay some snippet of attention towards it just in case it happened again. "By the way, Tarin went to the Mysterious Forest." Now Starlight was acting like herself. "If you want to speak to him, you'll have to go there. He said that he won't be back for a few hours."

"How convenient that he'd be there."

"As for me, I'll be standing right here in front of this statue singing my song. It's a lovely song isn't it?" Starlight said. She began to sing using her beautiful voice which caused the nearby dog to start barking in unison. It seemed her song had quite a powerful effect on animals. Suddenly, she stopped and looked at me. "This song is called 'Ballad of the Wind Fish'. Why is it called that? No one knows for certain but I like the name."

My jaw dropped. I had heard that name before! In my last adventure, it was a song that was performed by the Indigo-Gos (I was amazed that I actually remembered the name of their band since it had a long time since then) though it only resulted in me obtaining one of many masks. Starlight could potentially be a major character in this world so learning more about her song and even how to play it could prove essential. Right now, I needed to focus on the task at hand, going to the Mysterious Forest and finding Sunburst. It sounded like a simple enough task but I knew better than that. I knew it wasn't going to be easy.

Leaving Starlight to her singing, I headed west back to where the library was and then turned right where I saw the massive expansion that was the Mysterious Forest. Given how dark the tops of the trees were, it looked pretty foreboding though I had been through my share of forests. Besides, it's not like I would be going in there with bravado. I had the means to protect myself and I had Princess Twilight to turn to for guidance. My resolve set, I walked towards the entrance of the Mysterious Forest only for a hooting sound to stop me, and the arrival of Flash Sentry atop his owl.

To Be Continued.

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