//------------------------------// // Prologue: Fallen // Story: Legend of Zelda: Twilight's Moonfall // by Darkened Paradise //------------------------------// Prologue: Fallen Twilight Sparkle sighed as she traveled through the dense wood of what she believed to be the Everfree Forest. Each crunching leaf, every snapping twig under her black hoof only proved to remind her of what she had just lost... Flashback Twilight couldn't believe it. Here she was, standing before her mentor, her friends and her brother, claiming that the Cadence that stood before was a fake, and they outright abandoned her! Her friends turned their backs, her teacher dropped her where she stood, and worst of all... Her brother. Her B.B.B.F.F...just told her to not even show up at his wedding. And the only one left...was the very mare she accused. All she did was stand there, looking concerned. Perhaps...Twilight was wrong? The thought of her potentially destroying everything she had worked hard on caught up to her, causing her to stumble on the stairs and cry. “I'm sorry!” Twilight sobbed, falling to the floor. “I-I-I didn't mean to-” As her hot tears fell across her face, a set of soft hoof steps made their way to her, and pulled her into a gentle hug. Looking up, Twilight saw the face of her old foal-sitter looking down at her, a soft smile on her face. “Don't worry about it Twilight,” the older mare said, nuzzling her neck. As Twilight returned the affectionate gesture, Cadence continued, whispering in her ear. “You will be!” As the purple mare's eyes shot up in realization, Twilight felt a sharp pain on her neck for an instant, before being roughly pushed away. Then Cadence began to scream. “GUARDS!” she cried, pointing at Twilight, who looked around in confusion as guards started to pour into the room. “SHE'S A CHANGELING!” Just as Twilight raised her hoof to call them off, a small green flame caught her eye. It started small, but then started to grow at an alarming rate, more small flames appearing all over her body. Panicking, she tried calling out in help, but her voice was slowly being choked out and replaced with a whistling and clicking sound. The entire time, Twilight felt as if she were being dragged through a burning forest, by a company of soldiers in full sprint. To make matters even worse, the other members of the Elements of Harmony, her brother, and Celestia had returned. “What the hay!?” Rainbow Dash cried. “What the heck happened to Twilight!?” “That thing isn't Twilight!” Cadence cried, a fresh wave of tears and hysterics coming from her. “That monster must have taken her place!” “GET IT!” Shining Armor ordered, just as his soldiers finally decided to take initiative and attack. In desperation (and confusion), Twilight ducked and weaved underneath the swings, tearing her way through the ranks with uncontrollable bursts of speed. Before she left chapel, she could see a clearly distraught Cadence crying on the shoulders of her brother. As their eyes met, Twilight saw a small flash of green. That was the last thing Twilight saw before running for her life. -End Flashback- Somehow, she had made it out of Canterlot, alive and relatively (or rather, physically speaking) undamaged. Twilight looked around and sighed, the sound coming out like a whistle between her two fangs. The sound of wheels turning made her ears perk up, and she slowly stalked her way over. Ducking through the mists, she found a small cart being pulled by a zebra dressed in a purple and white dress like robe, with golden strands of cloth adorning his chest and back in a triangle like design. The zebra (a male if Twilight were to guess), sighed and looked over his cart, blowing his straight black and white hair out of his eyes. “I do so hope this trip was worth it,” Twilight heard the zebra mumble, as he pulled out a sleeping bag of some kind. “This marriage festival thing better sell well or else I'm done for!” Going back to his cart, he ruffled through it, before his eyes widened , screaming, “OH NO, NOT AGAIN! WHAT BLOODY BRAT STOLE THAT MASK FROM ME!?” Her ears perking up at the zebra's cries of worry and fear, Twilight slowly made her way to said zebra, careful to not make a sound. Unfortunately, her black insect like hoof snapped a dead branch, causing the stalkee to get up and look around. “Who's there!” the Zebra cried, pulling out a dagger from his card. “'m 'armed! 'Ome ou' 'ow!” Silently cursing her luck, Twilight stepped into the light, her blue and green eyes flinching slightly at the bright light of the fire. Before she could even do anything the mysterious Zebra just stood there in silent shock, letting the dagger fall from his mouth. As the metal hit the earth with small 'clanging' noise, Twilight found herself facing fire, the Zebra having ditched the dagger in favor of burning tinder from his makeshift camp. Just as Twilight came dangerously close to having her eyes burned out, her back hooves found nothing solid to stand on, and she fell backwards, screeching all the while. While she fell, Twilight's eyes widened at the sight of the bright, neon lights that resembled the various ponies she had seen before fly past her. Before she could see anymore, her muzzle rammed face first into a hard bark, sending her tumbling into an oversized flower. Not recognizing this particular flora, she got back up on her hooves, looking around. If she had fur, the hairs on the back of her neck would shoot straight up as the sound of a chilling, foal-like laugh began to fill the room. A bright light flashed over the scene before her, revealing a small floating filly (or was it a colt?) wearing raggedly old oversized clothing over its tiny body and a heart shaped technicolor heart-shaped mask adorned with three spikes on each side with, two more on the top. To add the finishing touches, the yellow eyes seemed to pierce the darkness with a strange ethereal glow. “Hello,” the floating creature said, apparently lying down on thin air as if it were a bench of some kind. “You look funny, kinda like a thrown out toy that has no use.” Twilight, for whatever reason, felt her ire spike and she got low, pawing at the flower and hissing. “Oh, come on. Really? It was only an honest joke,” the floating foal continued, tilting its head from side to side. “Or does it hurt that your owners are no longer loyal to you? That they felt it was in their best interests of their kind and generous heart to throw you away?” Twilight started growling. Who did this filly think it was, talking down on her!? She wasn't some kind of pet! She'd show her a lesson it'd never forget! “Do you really think you can beat me?” the filly asked, getting up slightly. “Don't make me laugh! As I am now, you can't even touch me! Here, let me show you!” The small foal stood up, the eyes of the mask glowing with a disturbing yellow light as laughter bounced all around the room and into Twilight's overly sensitive ears. Waves of energy began to pour off of the mask, and the eyes seem to tunnel their way into her very soul. When she was able to find herself once more, Twilight found herself in a black dark forest, the ground covered in the flowers that she was just standing on. A slight rustling came from beneath them, as one by one they emerged from the earth, ponies of varying shades of earthen green and brown yet all sporting a flower on their heads. Soon, she found herself surrounded, as all of these strange ponies shuffled from side to side, shoving her around with their bodies. As the a sweet scent started to come from their flowers, Twilight broke from the surrounding bodies and made a run for it, her ears folding in to cut out the rustling of leaves, yet it got louder with each passing second. When Twilight allowed herself a chance to look back, she saw a giant version of the plant like ponies, towering over her. With a mighty roar, it stamped its hoof on Twilight, slamming her face into the ground. She slowly pushed herself up, feeling an alien sensation slowly spreading over body. At that moment, the former unicorn-turned-changeling felt as if something was forcefully attaching itself to her face. She tried to scream, but it continued to push its way down her throat and spread all over her body, covering her black exo-skeleton with some muddy like substance. Pressure built up on the back of her skull, making her whimper with each passing second. With a scream, Twilight felt the back of skull burst, releasing all the pressure behind her. She collapsed on the flower in front of her, her tears staining her face as she took in labored breaths. “Huh?” she heard the small mask wearing foal grunt in confusion, before bursting out into raucous laughter. “That’s a more fitting look for you!” it laughed, pointing at Twilight with one hoof as it used the other to keep the mask in place. “Much prettier than that scary bug face you were wearing earlier!” Groaning, Twilight looked up in confusion, only to see the small foal laughing as it floated deeper into the cave system. Getting up, she rubbed the back of her head, only to feel this strange flowery protrusion there. Panic rising in her stomach, she gazed into the reflection on the water's surface, and nearly fainted on the spot. Staring back at her was a small, green earth pony with streaks of brown adorning her face right underneath her red and yellow eyes in the form of tears, as well as brown streaks stretching across her neck. Her mane was a dark forest green, reaching to her shoulders, but was just topped off with a large flower bud resting at the back of her head, with various other vegetation growing from it. Turning around, her tail had become an intertwined layer of green vines, topped with a long green leave, and her flack bore the mark of bright pink flower, with her original star cutie mark adorning one of its petals. Biting back a scream of frustration, Twilight ran after the mask-wearing foal, stumbling several times over her tiny legs, not being used to suddenly becoming a tiny filly once more. Eventually, she found herself in a tunnel of sorts, the sides just barely lit with torches and ending at a door. With a gulp, she pushed the door open, only to be greeted by darkness. She heard a familiar voice chuckle from before her, and looking up, she found the zebra that had pushed her into this whole mess, smiling at her. “You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?”