Link and Emmy walked all the way back through the Lost Woods and to the house of the acting boss. Along the way, Link practiced turning off and on his new power of magic sight. When the two got to the house, the former stepped in first and saw the filly sitting at the end of the long table, alone. Everypony else had gone about their day. "Welcome, friend."

"The temple is safe again," Link assured. "Why did Emmy say that magic wouldn't work near there?" he asked. "I mean, Equestrian magic."

"Because we tried. We tried to fly near it, but we couldn't. We couldn't teleport in, either. Simple as that. Why?"

Link took a breath. "No reason in particular, but I was able to use all the magic I wanted. No restraint."

Emmy laughed. "Did I not tell you he was perfect for the job? Eh? Eh?" She started nudging his hip to hype him up some. "Link is the best there is, and he's our good friend. He should really be given access to the store, right? Buy some stuff for the long road?"

The acting boss sighed. "You really want to give him that access? Fine. He can. But, he would have to trade something of equal value, or provide proof of worth."

"I saved your village. How much can I get for that?" Link asked, crossing his arms.

"Quite a lot. Maybe you should go looking for yourself." The acting boss gave a sly smile. "Go on, hero. Go get your new toys from the shop."

Link and Emmy walked out of the house and spied the shop from his memories. He approached and looked up at the balcony. "Wouldn't somepony need to be up there? Watching over the village?"

"Boss lady does that when the actual boss is around."

"And where did he go, anyway?" Link asked, looking over at Emmy.

Emmy gave it some thought. "I think... he's at home. See, when he refused to accept my return, he put it to a vote and said that if the majority of the town was okay with my return, he'd step down from office. Well, I'm here and he's not. But the village was up in the air about who to vote in for the next boss, or even if we should, since my stay isn't permanent. So we appointed an acting boss for as long as he is on leave."

Link raised his eyebrows. "Ah, that's... one way to do it." He walked into the store and looked at his new surroundings.

The inside was just as cavernous as he remembered it to be. There was a log table with a pair of benches. A familiar unicorn colt gave a simple wave to Link while he was sitting at the table. Some stumps were next to a side table with a hole leading to the entrance to the Great Forest Treant and the store shelves. The shelves had seeds and sticks of all sizes and in varying quantities. The same chunks of wood were piled along the right wall this time, just beside the hole in the wall, and in neater stacks. The jars of herbs were still on the counter. Two candles were lit on the counter. There was also a bag of seeds just off to the side with a number 30 written on a tag. Link looked more closely at the colt behind the counter. "Hey there." Link offered a small wave.

"Hi yourself, tall guy." The colt hopped up on the counter to get eye-level with Link. "Really tall guy. What you want?"

"I want to know what you got for sale."

"Can't sell to you. You did nothing worth my wares."

"Boy, I saved your village. The temple in the forest is safe now, and you're welcome," Link dropped.

"What you did?" the colt asked for clarification looking at Emmy.

"Yep. He sure did. He saved us, so at least tell him what you have," Emmy responded.

"Hmm..." The colt's head twisted about the various things in the room. "I got you sticks. I got you seeds. Fancy seeds. Do good things with seeds and sticks." The colt gave a pause. "Not much else, though. Mostly those two."

"Seeds and sticks, eh? What do the seeds do?" Link asked, eyeing the bag marked 30.

"Seeds grow, make food and full bellies too. May you cook or plant them. Maybe throw them. Maybe give them. Many things done with my seeds."

Link pointed at the bag of 30. "And which is that?"

"That is bag of throw seeds." The colt hopped down and hefted the small bag of seeds to the counter with a clatter. "These seeds are flashy seeds. They flash bright when struck against something. I show!" He reached behind the counter and pulled out a seed just big enough to hold in his tiny hoof and chucked it against the far wall. It erupted in a brilliant flash of light. "See?" The colt made several repeated gestured with his forelegs toward the impact spot.

Link had shaken off the blinding flash that resulted from the toss. "I'll take it."

"Take? No, I give." He pushed the bag toward Link. "For save the village. Is yours." The colt wore a big smile as if he'd grown them himself and sold them for the first time.

Link looked at the 30 on the tag. "And what of the tag?"

"That is number inside the bag. 30 throws of flashy seeds, come back for refill. I have best seeds."

"Alright." Link took the bag and put the whole thing in his pouch.

"Oooooh," the colt said, hopping on the counter, but laying down to see the pouch. "What's this?" he asked curiously.

"Personal storage. Thank you for the seeds."

"You welcome and welcome any time, yes." The colt waved goodbye as Link and Emmy left the store.

Out of earshot, Link hunched over. "He reminds me of Pinkie Pie, and she's exhausting enough."

Emmy laughed. "Well, enjoy those seeds. They may not grow on trees, but there's enough of them here to keep you well stocked." They went on their way to the Great Forest Treant's remains.

They arrived at the withered tree, with its mouth still opened from the time he went in as a kid. But there was something new. A sapling had broken ground near the base of the tree. Just a stem and two leaves, but they were green with life. Link approached carefully and looked down at the sapling. Then he tried to look with his new power at the ground and saw a line of magic running from the bottom of the tree to the sapling, where it balled up.

The sapling shot out of the ground and flung Link back so hard he flew off his feet. He looked up at the bulbous sprout that emerged from the ground. "You scared me," he said, turning off his sight.

"I did? Ah, My apologies, friend." It saw Emmy with its black eyes and said, "Child of the forest is here too? Happy to see you."

"Emmy, you know this thing?"

"Sure, I guess. It's got the same magic as the Treant, so it's probably its next life." She walked up to it. "Great Treant Sprout, I'd say."

"I like that name," it admitted. "You, friend." Clearly addressing Link. "You saved the village, yes? For that I thank you."

"Just doing what I had to, you know. Nothing special," he tried.

"You're more special than you think you are. After all, it took a great power to even bring you here from Hyrule."

Link's eyes opened wide. "You know where I'm from?"

"I do. Because I am linked to the Great Trees across different worlds. Yours included. Though there, I'm the Great Deku Tree. And I watch over a forest not unlike this one." The sprout paused. "I even know what happened as to the reason you are here. Would you like to hear it?"

"Absolutely," Link replied immediately. He shifted to sitting properly and listened intently.

"Okay, well, for starters, you're from Hyrule. You knew that. As to the how, it is due to the magic inside your Great Deku Tree. It cast you through a rift in space and brought you to Equestria. As for the why..." It paused again. "When you were sent here, it was during a war in your world. Between the desert thieves and the kingdom of Hyrule's royalty. It spanned the field, so your mother and father took you deep into the woods, at great risk to their lives, and willingly gave you to my counterpart."

Navi flew in front of Link. "Actually, now that you know this... I believe you're ready to hear the words they left with me to give you when you were ready to hear them."

Link narrowed his eyes at Navi. "You knew my parents?"

"Yes and no... I only interacted with them for a brief moment. But I remember them, yes." She cleared her throat. "Are you ready to hear their words?" Link nodded. "Okay then. Your mother wanted to apologize for bringing you into a world at war. And she is sorry for not being able to stay a family for very long. Even so, she made sure to say that she loves you no matter where you go. She said she wants you to eat healthy and make friends, and be kind. Even to the less deserving.

"Your father also had words. He said he loves you too. And it was for that reason that he agreed to send you away. He says that if there are friends who stand behind you, be the shield that protects them. If you gain allies that stand at your side, give them your respect. And for those who dare oppose you, that you grant them no quarter. For those that seek your guidance, speak well. To those that ask for mercy, grant it. And though he had no idea where you were off to, he said he'd always be right here." She flew forward and tapped his heart.

Link looked down at the spot she tapped. "Huh..." A moment of quiet. "And is that all they said?" Navi nodded. "What happened to them after?"

"I don't know what happened to your father," the sapling answered, "but your mother tried to escape the forest, and... well, she got lost. She never made it out. So she wandered the forest for the rest of her life."

"She walked aimlessly to the ends of her life huh?" he said so plainly it was almost concerning. "And my father's an unknown."

Navi nodded. "And then we were sent to Twilight's room at the castle. And the rest is history."

"Sure, but it's not everything. Come back again, and I will tell you another story," the sapling offered. "When you are ready to hear it."

Link stood and looked to the exit, then at Emmy. "When I'm ready... I might... take a while."

"Hey, you alright?" Emmy asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good. Could you give me a lift back to Ponyville? It's a long walk."

Emmy hovered next to him. "We need to teach you how to teleport."

"It's on my to-do list," he added, holding out his hand. "Next to the fountain in the center if you could."

"I'll do my best." She took his hand and vanished with him and Navi, reappearing next to the fountain. "Tell you what, give me a song whenever you wanna talk, okay?"

Link nodded. "You got it." He watched her vanish. Link looked at his surroundings and saw many of the ponies scrambling for one thing or another. "Eh?" Link walked to Town Hall and found Angel Bless at her desk with the strong smell of coffee in the air. "You've been awake a while I take it?"

"Link! You're back at just the perfect time, I tell you what." Angel Bless got up from her desk and walked over to him, looking him over. "Your outfit could use a mending... But that's not important right now. We've got a problem."

"What is it this time?" he asked. "What can I do to help?"

Link learned of his past. And got the bag of Deku Nuts. He'll use those wisely. ;)