//------------------------------// // Getting heavy equipment // Story: The Legend of Celestia: Twilight Princess // by Kaliann25 //------------------------------// Getting heavy equipment “Applejack! Applejack!” called Apple Bloom, as she greeted her sister. “I’m glad yer’ back! And Miss Epona! So glad you’re still here! I wanted to talk to ya’!” “With me? Oh, I am flattered!” smiled the mare from Hyrule. “We followed yer’ advice, Miss Epona! Sweetie, Scoots and mah’ were ready, and adventure found us!” Epona blinked surprised. “Oh, what happened?” “Ya’ see: on the back on the school there’s a small storage room. Nopony goes in there because it’s full of giant moths. They attacked us, but Scoots was great using that wooden sword. Then Sweetie joined her with the slingshot ya’ gave us. The moths tried to overpower us, but then A’ jumped and held them with the shield. We thought it couldn’t get any better, but then, we found an old piggy bank from ten years ago, with more than a hundred bits inside. And since we kicked out the moths, Miss Cheerilee allowed us to keep it. But A’m not gonna spend those bits! Those are proof of our first great adventure!” The two older mares smiled to each other. At least there was some adventure for those who seek for it in Equestria. “Eeyup, the girls had an interesting morning.” said Big Mac, approaching. “What about ya’ two?” “Leaving aside the weirdo who guarded the last dungeon, A’m starting to get used to it.” explained Applejack. “That guy was indeed, the weirdest final boss I’ve ever seen.” Agreed Epona. “But I’m glad we’re doing this quick. Link used to take at least an entire day to clean up a dungeon.” Apple Bloom smiled. “A’ can’t wait for dinner time for Miss Epona to tell me everything!” Applejack frowned silightly. “Hey, don’t ya’ prefer yer’ older sister to tell ya’ as she always does?” asked the cowgirl. Apple Bloom shook her head. “Applejack, A’ love when ya’ tell me yer’ adventures. But Miss Epona makes it sound so great. And also, she’s gonna go home when this ends. Right, Miss Epona?” Applejack couldn’t argue with that. But also, she just realized Apple Bloom was right. Her new friend will leave her soon, and if she was honest with herself, Applejack didn’t want that. She loved to spend time with Epona. “You know what?” asked Epona. “I don’t want to leave Equestria. I won’t stay forever at Sweet Apple Acres, but I would like to stay around. I’m sure Link won’t mind.” Applejack smiled at her. “Maybe not forever, but yer’ welcome to stay with us until you find a place. What do ya’ think? So you can tell stories to Apple Bloom.” Epona smiled at Applejack. She really liked this new friend. “Thank you, AJ.” “By the way, the beavers are building a new dam. Can you take care of them, Epona?” asked Big Mac. Both mares giggled, but went to action. But this time, there was no need to destroy the dam. As soon as they saw Epona, the beavers gasped in fear, and swim as fast as they could to escape. Sweet Fog, Midna’s horse, had no problem. One more time he stayed with Fluttershy. They spent the night without incidents. As for Link and Midna, they stayed at Twilight’s. Midna said that she wouldn’t stand Lyra’s questioning for another night. So both warriors were at one of Twilight’s many extra rooms, watching at the forest in the distance. Also, from where they were, they could clearly see the anti-natural shade of orange on the sky, caused by the Realm of Twilight. “So, this is where I’m going to live. The Twilight.” Said Link, on his hylian form, as he watched the scary, but beautiful sight on the sky. Midna, also in her regular form, looked at him, worried. “Are you sure about that, Link? I don’t want you to feel like I’m forcing you. This was only an offering.” Link smiled at her. “You’re not forcing me to do anything, Midna. I miss everything about our time together. I miss the action. I miss the adventure. And, for Hylia’s sake, I even miss the wounds.” Midna couldn’t help but laugh. “The wounds? For real?” Link nodded, as he looked at her. The moonlight made Midna’s eyes glow beautifully. The young hylian blushed, as he gently placed a hand on Midna’s cheek. “And, of course, I miss the company.” Midna’s beautiful aquamarine skin turned slightly purple when she blushed as well. Link knew it was the time. He took a deep breath, to gain some courage, and said: “Midna, I love you.” Midna blinked surprised, but in the end she surrounded him with her arms. It was a little uncomfortable for her, since she was taller than Link. And, she was floating thirty centimeters above the ground. She landed, and took Link’s face between her hands, as she kissed him deeply. “I love you too.” A new day started for the group, but, from the very beginning, Twilight knew something was wrong. Mostly because she woke up because of the orange light that came through her window. Still half asleep, Twilight used her magic to open the window, and jumped to see what was going on. And most to her surprise, the Realm of Twilight have advanced to the edge of the town. “It can’t be…” mumbled the lavender alicorn. “What’s going on?” asked Spike, getting into the room. “Look! It’s almost here!” said Twilight, with a scared whisper. “What’s the meaning of this fuss?!” asked Minda angrily, in her imp form. “Look!” said Twilight, pointing a hoof to the window. “It’s almost here! I thought we were trying to stop this thing!” “And we are.” said Midna, coldly. “If you haven’t noticed, it’s been three days, Princess. If we weren’t restoring your Tree’s power, your little town would been swallowed already.” Twilight shivered. “Don’t be such a crybaby and look at the bright side, dumbass.” said Midna after a while. “Bright side? There is no bright side! The Twilight is about to absorb my home! How can you say there is a bright side?” “You have time to evacuate your citizens before it’s too late, moron.” said Midna. “If only Zelda would had this chance, things had been different for her, and the people of Hyrule.” Twilight shook her head, trying to calm down. “You’re right. You’re right. Sorry.” “Hurry to evacuate your people, and then, we’ll move to the next temple.” said Midna, with a shrug. Twilight nodded, and teleported to do as the Twilight Princess said. It was relatively easy, all the ponies agreed to leave at the incoming danger of the alien Realm trying to merge with their own. The only incident worth to mention was that the flower-trio were too busy shaking in fear to pay attention to anything that Twilight had to say. “The horror, the horror!” “The desolation!” “Everything is lost!” But, after put them to sleep with a spell, they were easy to carry and put on the next train to Canterlot. And finally, the girls, and the Hyrule Warriors, were able to get into Twilight’s balloon to move to the Pie family rock farm. “I can’t wait to see my parents! Do you think they would like to see me?” asked Pinkie Pie. “Surely.” said Twilight, with a smile. “But you know we can’t stay long, right?” asked Fluttershy softly. “Now that the Twilight have almost absorbed Ponyville, we can’t waste our time.” “I know, but at least I can stop to say hi, right?” asked Pinkie Pie, with a smile. “Of course!” assured Epona. “After all, we need to interrogate your folks to see where can we find the temple, right?” “Right!” They arrived to the farm, where Igneous Rock received them. As stoic and serious as the rest of his family. The old earth pony reminded the girls of Maud for some reason. Like they were family or something. “Welcome to the Pie family rock farm.” said the brownish earth pony. “What kind of rocks are you looking for?” “Daddy!” shrieked Pinkie Pie, hugging the farmer. “How are you?” Igneous Rock blinked in surprise, but he recovered soon. “Pinkamena Diane Pie, you should write us. I’m glad to see you here. Are these your friends?” Pinkie nodded excitedly. “Yes they are! I think you already know Applejack, right? I would happily introduce them all to you, but we’re kind of in a hurry. We’re trying to save Equestria from a horrible fate.” “Is that so?” asked Igneous. Most of the ponies didn’t notice, but Pinkie could clearly see he was worried. “What kind of fate?” “Not important right now.” said Pinkie. “But daddy, can you tell us if you have seen something weird on the farm lately?” The rock farmer shook his head slowly. “No, I’m sorry. I haven’t seen nothing out of the ordinary. But, what about your friends. Are they interested in buying some rocks?” Epona shrugged. “I’m not that interested in rocks, but, if you have some dynamite, or bombs, I would definitely buy some.” Igneous made a small nod. “Yes, we have bombs. How do you think we break big boulders, huh? Marble! You have clients!” The younger of the Pie sisters appeared with a shy smile. “Oh, Pinkie Pie. Is nice to see you! Ehem… did your friends need… bombs?” “First things first.” said Midna, opening her pouch. “Do you accept gems?” Marble examined the rupees with expert eye, gasping at the green ones. “Whoa, these are especially valuable. I would accept those, but I don’t have enough change.” “How many bombs can we purchase with a green rupee?” asked Wolf Link. Marble gasped, noticing the big predator for the first time, but calmed a little when she noticed everypony were used to the wolf’s presence. “Ehem… up to forty bombs. But nopony needs that many.” “Do you have enough in storage?” asked Epona. “Ehem, yes… I think… we have more than three hundred but…” Link and Midna gave Marble two green rupees. “We’ll take eighty!” “What?” “You heard us.” said Midna. “Eighty bombs.” “But…” “It’s alright, we always use lots of bombs.” explained Epona. “And this is the first place in Equestria where we find some.” “But eighty bombs…” “We do things goron-style. Big deal.” said Epona. Marble wanted to ask what was going on, but, her sister asked her to hurry. So, in the end, she gave the travelers two huge bags of bombs. “Thank you.” “You’re welcome!” said Marble, examining the rupees. “Are you going to be alright?” “Yeah, no problem!” said Link. “We’re used to the bombs.” When the pony left, Fi emerged from the Master Sword. “Master, should I start looking for the dungeon’s entrance?” “Go on!” commanded Link. As always, Fi scanned Pinkie Pie’s aura, and Midna turned Link and her back to human form. Link wielded the Master Sword, and Fi went back inside. With the dowsing skill, Link leaded the way to a big quarry, sealed by two giant rocks. “And, apparently, we have to blow up some things.” Chucked Epona, as she took one of her new bombs. “You don’t mind, right Pinkie Pie?” “Of course not! But let me do it, it sounds like fun!” said the pink earth pony, as she took her party cannon. She aimed the weapon to the rocks, and charged a bomb. “Fire in the hole!” And she shot. The Pie family was having breakfast, when the explosion resounded all over the farm. “Did that come from the northwest quarry?” asked Maud. “Yes…” said Igneous Rock, with a stoic expression. But, his family knew he was very worried. “Who would be stupid enough to open the entrance?” asked Limestone. “Well, Pinkie Pie and her friends just purchased a bunch of bombs.” said Marble, worriedly. “We sealed that place for a reason! What are they thinking?” asked “Obviously, they don’t know what they’re doing!” said Maud. “I’m going to stop them before it’s too late.” Even if her tone, and face seemed calm, she was really worried, and charged at full speed through the door. Maud stopped at the quarry’s entrance, completely exposed. “Great.” said Maud, with a grim expression. “What are you the six thinking?” Maud got into the quarry, thinking about the horrible creatures that lived in there. Strange skeleton ponies, wearing light armor. Floating skulls, and strange bats covered in fire. “Pinkie Pie!” she called. But, when she got in, she found three bipedal creatures, each one taking care of the monsters. One, with a sword. The other one, using an enchanted mirror. And the third one, was using her legs, hard as steel, destroying the monsters in a strange dance. A bunch of the skeleton ponies, Stalfos, tried to attack Pinkie and her friends from behind, when a Mare in some kind of spinning-thing took care of them. Along with a threstral with a dagger on his mouth. Finally, before the astonished (even if her face said otherwise) Maud, Midna turned Link and herself into a wolf, and an imp. “Okay: the same thing as always.” said Midna. “Link, Fi and me are going one way, you six, Epona and Fog for other. We’ll try to locate the compass, the dungeon map, and the dungeon’s object to defeat this Titan. Any questions?” “No, we know what to do.” said Rainbow. “Oh, maybe one question. Where are we supposed to go? I don’t see any door, or anything.” “Hey!” called Maud. They all turned to her. “Maud! What are you doing here?” asked Pinkie Pie, happily. “What are you doing here, Pinkie Pie? We sealed this place for a reasons! It’s full of monsters!” said the older of the Pie sisters. “I know. This is where we’re supposed to be, Maud. These temples are here only to test our strength!” explained Pinkie Pie. “My friends have passed theirs already. This one is mine to explore!” “But it’s too dangerous!” insisted Maud. “I see you took care of the monsters, but look Pinkie Pie. There’s nowhere to go.” “We’ll see about that.” said Twilight, using her horn as a flashlight. Rarity joined her, only to find two torches on the wall. After exchanging a look with the warriors of Hyrule, Twilight turned on the torches on. A small melody, like a flute, sounded, and a chest came out of nowhere. Excitedly, Pinkie Pie jumped over the chest, and opened it. It were more bombs. “What?” “Aw, A’ was hoping for some more bits.” mumbled Applejack. “Is not that bad. It’s a hint for what we need to do.” explained Link. “What do you mean?” asked Fluttershy. Link and Midna, and she turned them back into their human forms. Link began to hit the walls with the Master Sword, until he found a spot that sounded empty. “Epona!” he called. The hylian steed smiled at this, and put a bomb where Link said. The bomb exploded, revealing the way. A wave and sulfur hit everypony. “That wasn’t me!” giggled Pinkie Pie. “This is not a good time for jokes!” protested Rarity. “Look!” Before them, they saw a bunch of stairs… descending into what it seemed like a lava pit. If that wasn’t enough, several rocks, big enough for a pony to walk over, were floating on the lava pit. The “Sooner or later, there would be a fire temple.” mumbled Epona. “As long as we don’t walk into a submarine temple, I won’t complain.” said Link to Midna, who nodded. “Yeah, that was exasperating.” Maud blinked, indifferent. “That’s it. You are not going in there, Pinkie Pie. “But Maud!” said Pinkie. “No buts. We’re leaving.” said Maud, grabbing her sister’s hoof. Maud was stronger than Pinkie Pie, and had no problem dragging Pinkie out of the quarry. “Wait!” called Twilight. “We need Pinkie! This is her dungeon, after all!” “Look for somepony else’s sister!” replied Maud dryly. A hand made of black stone blocked Maud’s way out. Maud turned to Midna, who held the Mirror of Shadows toward her. “I need to keep my sister safe!” Pinkie shook her head. “No Maud, Equestria needs me.” Maud frowned. “Pinkie Pie, you are coming with me. You’re not jumping to a pit of lava, not under my watch!” “Maud, almost all of my friends have faced tests to prove their worth to Equestria. It’s my turn!” “If all your friends have to face a giant, ancient monster, would you?” “Shall we tell her?” whispered Dash to Fluttershy. “Still, I’m not going to lose Pinkie Pie.” said Maud. But the stone hand didn’t move. “Let us go!” said Maud. Fi popped out in front of her. “Excuse me, but we find your request unacceptable. We need Pinkie Pie with us, all the time. If she doesn’t face the Titan of Laughter herself, nopony in Equestria will be safe. Including your sister.” “But I…” “May I suggest you join us for this temple? That way you can be sure of your sister’s security, and, you have our word nothing will happen to her. Right, Master? Mistress?” Link and Midna nodded. “You have the word of the hero of Hyrule.” “And the Twilight Princess.” Maud finally made a defeated sigh, and nodded. “I don’t understand what you’re saying, but I guess you’ll protect her. Fine then, but I’ll keep an eye on my sister.”