Living Mark of Courage

by Moowell

Triangle Connection

I have two siblings. My brother, sister and I have worked together over the millenia, raising the world from its infancy and growing it into a prosperous place. Yet even with the many good things that we have brought, my brother has frequently grown restless and thrown the world into chaos. He has seduced many evil men with the promise of his power. He has destroyed villages, massed armies of vile beasts, and even conquered entire realms through his vassals.

My sister stands guard against him, and through her wisdom, the land remains peaceful. She has appointed noble and mighty families to govern the valleys, the mountains, and the waters. She has placed a clan of virtuous people to quietly watch from the shadows, defending and guarding the royal family with their strange magic. Even so, even she cannot always protect her people with the system she has in place, and sometimes she deems it wiser to allow my brother to have his way with with world, lest everything we've done be ruined.

My role in this has always been to maintain balance between my siblings. When my brother grows restless and causes destruction, and my sister becomes powerless against him, I step in and raise a man of character to stand against my brother's vassals. A man with the courage to stand against them, even when conventional wisdom would tell him to back down and submit to their power. I defend this man personally until such a time that he can stand on his own and fulfill the destiny I give him. And when he finally defeats my brother's schemes, my brother, sister and I return to our balanced state, and the world returns to harmony.

While the times and battles have changed over the millenia, this cycle remains constant. My brother rises, my sister falls, I weaken him enough to restore balance. Sometimes, it takes both me and my sister to finally bring my brother down, but the outcome has always been the same. Balance has always been restored, even if we have needed to seal him away to do so.

This time, however...

This time, we were the ones defeated and sealed away...

~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight put down her quill and examined the parchment before her. After checking it several times, she smiled and called, "Spike!"

A moment later, the little purple dragon walked through the entry to the stairs. "Hey Twilight. Need something?" Then he saw drawings on the parchment she held in her magic. "Nope. Not gonna do it."

"But I haven't even told you what I want yet."

"I already know! You want me to test some spell that's supposed to allow interdimensional travel or something like that." Twilight stared at him, mouth agape.

"Not travel, connectivity. This spell will-- Wait, how did you know? I haven't told anypony yet!"

"You sleep talk." Twilight looked at the floor sheepishly, then shook her head.

"Please, Spike," she begged. "I need you to be my number one assistant right now, okay?"

"Twilight, if something goes wrong, there may not even be a number one assistant left. Don't you think you should practice on something, I don't know... not alive, first?"

"Don't be silly. I've gone over the calculations more than a dozen times, and everything is perfect. There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of," she replied calmly. "Besides, this spell requires a living being to bear any results. A potted plant can't reach into a separate dimension very well, now can it?"

"Can't you do it yourself?" Spike asked.

"You have no idea how badly I want to try this, but I can't. I have to know that I can fix it if something were to go wrong."

"And I don't want to risk my claws trying to reach into something that I don't know will give them back!"

"But Spike!" she shouted.

"Find somepony else to do it. I'm going to Rarity's."

Spike slammed the door on his way out, leaving Twilight both flustered and exasperated. She was at the very end of perfecting a spell for opening the space between dimensions, but she had no one to help her test it. She couldn't risk trying it out on herself or her friends, in case something happened and the Elements of Harmony were needed. Spike just walked out on her. Who else could she turn to? She felt like she could only rely on herself at times like these. If only there were more of... actually...

"NO!" Twilight thumped herself in the head, driving out the dangerously stray thought. "It was bad enough with Pinkie Pie. I don't even want to imagine a multitude of aimless unicorns with my ability running around. I'll just have to find somepony that's willing to help me." Twilight walked downstairs and outside.

"Watch out!" Two moments later, she found herself staring at the sky after tumbling down the path in front of the library. "Way to go, Scootaloo. You killed Twilight!"

"No I didn't! See, she's groaning." Twilight groaned and climbed back to her hooves. "I'm sorry, Twilight. I didn't see you in time." She shook her head to clear the stars. All she managed to do was make herself dizzy and fall back to ground.

"You didn't kill her, but you definitely broke her!"

"You two go an' get mah sis," said Apple Bloom. "Ah'm gonna stay an' take care o' Twilight. Ah'll meet y'all at the clubhouse." The three nodded and went about their tasks. "Come on, Twilight. Let's get ya inside." Apple Bloom helped Twilight to her hooves and walked her inside until she reached a nearby stool. "Can Ah get ya anythin'?"

"I could use some water..." Apple Bloom was gone and back in a flash with a cup of water in her hoof. Twilight accepted it and drank it slowly, careful not to drool on her fur.

"Ah'm real sorry 'bout that, Twilight. Ah tried to get Scoots to slow down, but ya know how she gets," Apple Bloom said nervously. "Is there anythin' else Ah can do to make it up to ya?" Twilight put a hoof to her chin.

"Well, there is one thing you could do for me..." the lavender mare answered. Just then, Applejack burst through the door.

"Twilight! Ah heard about the crash. Are ya a'right?" she asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine," Twilight said. "Apple Bloom has been taking care of me."

Applejack's face beamed. "That's mah sis, fer ya. Always willin' to help a pony in trouble."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that," said Twilight with a sparkle in her eyes. "I need an assistant for a spell I'm perfecting, but Spike is... out of the house."

"Sorry, Twilight. Ah'd love to help ya, but Ah've gotta get back to the orchard. Zap Apple Season's comin' up mighty quick," AJ explained.

"Then would you be willing to let me borrow Apple Bloom for a bit? It won't take long."

Applejack eyed her suspiciously. "That depends on what yer tryin' to do."

"I'm trying to tie a pocket dimension to a living creature."

"What's that mean in plain pony?"

"Unlimited storage. She could carry every apple harvested from your orchard for the next twenty years, and they would all still be as fresh as the day they were picked." Applejack just shook her head.

"Ah dunno, Twilight. Sounds too good to be true, if ya ask me."

"Maybe she'll even get a 'Magician's Aide' cutie mark?" At those words, Apple Bloom stopped meandering and stared, and Applejack knew she had lost. Apple Bloom stared up at her big sister with the largest puppy eyes and the smallest widdle frown she could muster.

"Oh, all right." Apple Bloom bounced around the room, grinning ear to ear. "Just make sure she's home in time fer supper."

"I will!" Twilight called as Applejack walked out of the tree. "Thank you for doing this, Apple Bloom."

"Do ya really think Ah'll get mah cutie mark?" she asked.

"It's possible. Now, just wait here for a moment while I get my notes." Twilight disappeared with a flash. A few seconds later, she walked down the stairs, checking her parchment several more times to be completely prepared. Once she was satisfied, she set them down on the step and glanced at Apple Bloom. "Are you ready?"

"Ready!"

"Okay. Just stand still for a moment."

Apple Bloom nodded and became stiff as a board. A swirl of magic built up around Twilight's horn, glowing brightly before firing into Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom rose into the air as the purple beam infused itself with the filly. Even through her excitement, she managed to stay perfectly still. After a moment, a flash erupted from the filly, knocking books off shelves, pictures off the walls, and Twilight off her feet. She fell to the floor in a heap.

"Apple Bloom, are you okay?" Twilight asked as she stood up and brushed herself off. "Do you feel any different?"

Apple Bloom climbed to her hooves, shook her head, and opened her eyes. "I don't think so... Wait a minute!" Her head flashed back to her flank, but there was no mark. "Aww... Nothing's changed." She looked back at Twilight. "What were ya tryin' to do, again?" she asked, but Twilight was already lost in her thoughts.

"Hmm, if I adjusted the amount of magic... changed the pitch... maybe crystals..." Gone. If there was one word to describe the state of Twilight's attachment to reality, that would be the word.

"Okay, well, if you're done with me, Ah guess Ah'll uh... just be goin' then." Apple Bloom backed out, eying Twilight in hopes that she would still have something for her, but no such luck. She was still muttering to herself and scribbling when Apple Bloom finally shut the door behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~

A strange creature dressed in green from head to hoof shouted a battle cry as it charged a beast. The large, pig-like monster and the smaller creature fought each other mercilessly: the creature with its sword; the monster with a long pitchfork thing. The creature did its best to attack the monster's tail, as that was the only part it could really reach, while the monster swung powerfully with its weapon.

Suddenly, the monster struck the creature, knocking it far through the air and making it drop the sword. Then the monster leapt and landed in front of the creature, pointing its weapon at the creature's throat.

"I suppose I should thank you. Without you, I would never have collected the Triforce." Suddenly Apple Bloom found herself staring down the end of the wicked blade. "Your rulers died at the edge of my blade, and now you will too." The monster pulled its arm back and grinned maliciously, never turning the point away from her. Apple Bloom screamed as it thrust forward...

~~~~~~~~~~

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!"

"Apple Bloom!" Thumps came from just outside the door before it flew open with a slam against the wall. "Apple Bloom, are ya okay?!" Applejack stood at the door with large, purple bags under her eyes.

"Er..." Apple Bloom found herself back in her room, under her blanket on her bed. "Ah'm okay. It was just a bad dream. Sorry Ah woke ya."

"If ya need anythin', let me know, okay?" Apple Bloom nodded and Applejack left. The filly watched the door for a little while longer, trying to get rid of the memory of the dream.

Comments

[Thaums]

As a big fan of Legend of Zelda, I'm going to read this.

And it better be good.

[Thaums]

It was... okay. Though I have no sudden urge to track and see where this is going.

[Moowell]

2425829 Well, thanks for reading anyways What about it was off-putting?

[Thaums]

2426840
I'm not sure. It gave me no urge to keep on reading. Thats all.

[Moowell]

2426850 Thanks. I'll work on it to try and fix that.

[MexicaKnight]

Not bad, I'm not a big Zelda fan but I think this is going to be a good story

[Moowell]

2428093 Thanks for the encouragement

[Telly Vision]

LoZ...
You have my attention.

[Starcat5]

About time I got off my flank and read through this fic. One chapter down... Forty-something to go.