(Gore and Profanity tags added to this chapter)
The next few minutes were chaos.
Most of the group scattered, ducking under attacks from the dark creatures. The only ones that still stood were Bon Bon, Link, and Epona, the last of whom reacted first to the assault.
She spun in place, lashing out with her back hooves. Her shadow anticipated the attack, rapidly whirling around and returning the same attack. The two ponies collided sharply, sending sparks flying through the air. Epona let out a sharp yelp of pain, leaping forwards.
“So that’s what that feels like.” She muttered.
Link ducked under a swipe from Dark Link’s sword, trying to get around to the back of his enemy. The shadow twisted around, keeping his face towards him.
“WATCH OUT!” Lyra yelled, crashing into Link and knocking them both to the ground. Link’s shadow ducked down as well, just in time for a vertical beam of pitch-black to go whistling over their heads.
Link could feel an unbearable chill as it passed.
Dark Link hissed a warning at Dark Lyra, who had been the one to launch the attack. She offered an apologetic hiss in return, then fixed the real Lyra with a menacing glare.
“Lyra, why don’t you attack her?” Link asked, leaping to his feet in time to dodge a blow from his dark form.
“She’s...it’s...” Lyra shrugged helplessly, terror in her eyes.
“You have to fight.” Link insisted. “You don’t have a choice.” Lyra swallowed nervously, backing away from Link as his shadow advanced once again.
Link leapt into the air, managing to clear Dark Link’s head. There was a high-pitched whistling noise, as well as something barely nicking his back hooves, and Link realized that he’d narrowly avoided a strike from his shadow’s sword.
In the split second of time he’d gained when he landed, Link checked up on the others. Epona had reared onto her hind legs, beating at Dark Epona with her front hooves—rather like the way Link had seen horses fight at Lon Lon Ranch before. Saria was running away from her shadow, occasionally glancing behind her in panic. Dark Saria was following at a leisurely pace, seemingly in no hurry to end her prey. Vinyl had collected herself enough to attack her dark from, and was swinging the small blade of the Kokiri sword wildly left and right. Her shadow seemed to have adopted her fighting strategy—wild and uncontrolled. Bon Bon had thrown herself fully into the fight, launching flurries of impressive kicks and punches towards Dark Bon Bon. Lyra seemed to have worked up the courage as well, and was jets of sparkling gold at her shadow. And Octavia had taken the same path as Saria, running from Dark Octavia as fast she she could.
Link turned his attention away from the others, focusing on his own opponent. Dark Link lunged forwards with a slice, which Link quickly blocked with his own sword.
“Two can play at that game.” He growled.
Dark Link’s eyes narrowed, and he attacked with renewed vigor, forcing Link to leap backwards—he didn’t think he could hold up against the force behind the blow. His shadow was much more balanced than he was, and seemed to have already mastered wielding Biggoron’s Sword.
“Look out!” Bon Bon’s shout of warning was partnered with a clinking, rattling sound, and Link darted backwards again. He was just in time to avoid the deadly point of the hookshot, which hurtled past him at a high speed. It gave a jerk as it reached the end of it’s flight, chain temporarily going slack, then retracted just as quickly as it’d come out.
Link sprang over the retreating chain, swinging his sword in a downwards strike.His shadow was prepared, however, raising it’s own weapon in an effortless block. Their blades locked together, each shoving at the other with all their might, both refusing to step down.
A high-pitched scream of fear temporarily distracted Link, and he risked a glance towards where it came from. Saria was trapped against one of the invisible walls, finally having reached the end of space she could retreat to, and her shadow was looming menacingly over her.
I have to help her…Link thought, giving a grunt as his dark form shoved harder against his own blade.
He put his balance in jeopardy, swinging his hind leg around and kicking Dark Link in the stomach. The shadow flew back, caught by surprise.
Link stepped forwards as far as he could, lashing out with his sword. The tip of the blade just barely caught Dark Link in the chest, tearing easily through the black tunic and skin beneath. The shadow hissed in pain, falling back, temporarily out of commission.
Link leapt away, galloping for Saria. He slammed head-first into her unsuspecting shadow, sending her flying through the air. A shiver ran over his body as his shoulder made contact with the small body—it was freezing.
Dark Saria flipped over in mid-air, landing on her hooves with a snarl. Link moved protectively in front of the real Saria, holding his sword at the ready.
The shadow leapt forwards. Link slashed at her, but she ducked under his blade, planting a forceful kick on his ribs.
Dang it, why is she so small? Link bit back a yelp, whirling around and trying to find her.
Taking advantage of not only her miniature size, but also Link’s temporary confusion, Dark Saria ducked under him again and kicked his legs out from underneath him.
Link rolled forwards, springing back up again. The shadow circled him warily, snarling angrily.
There was a sudden flash of light, and Dark Saria’s head jerked forwards with a painful-sounding snap. She whirled around to see the real Saria standing up, holding her slingshot with a scared but determined expression.
A freezing cold body slammed into Link’s, purposefully knocking him to the ground. He managed to recognize it as his own shadow, who had struck while he was distracted by Saria’s.
Link rolled over, knocking his shadow off his back. He leapt up, grabbing his sword, and managed to strike another blow on Dark Link’s foreleg.
The shadow growled angrily, staggering back onto his hooves. He seemed much less reluctant to wield his sword now, trickles of smoke leaking from the wounds on his chest and foreleg.
“WATCH OUT!” Epona hollered. Link automatically ducked—and it was a good thing he did, because the body of Dark Epona flew through the air, slamming into his shadow. They both rolled over, crashing into the invisible wall and falling to the ground.
Link used the precious time he’d gained with this to check up on the others.
Darunia was engaged in an earth-shaking tussle with his shadow, who looked worse for the wear. As Link watched, Dark Darunia was slammed into the ground, forced down with the sheer weight of the real Darunia. Link bit back a shudder at the terrifying enraged expression on Darunia’s face—he’d forgotten just how dangerous his Sworn Brother could be if he wanted.
Epona was galloping towards the groaning forms of her and Link’s shadows, who were disentangling themselves. She seemed to be favoring her left foreleg, and there was a cut streaked across her cheek, dried blood smeared into the fur of her face.
Lyra was locked in a fierce magical duel, beams of gold and black weaving around the two. Every now and then one of them would pull out the Megaton Hammer—whether shadow or real—launching a bone-crushing blow that was usually dodged. They seemed to be the most evenly matched—right down to the amount of damage each one had sustained.
Bon Bon had her dark form in a headlock, and was struggling to remain dominant in the fight. Dark Bon Bon was fighting against her living counterpart as hard as she could, yanking herself from side to side in an effort to free herself.
Dark Vinyl was nowhere to be seen—Link guessed she’d already been defeated. It didn’t entirely surprise him, given the amount of power Vinyl put behind every strike from her side.
The white Unicorn was currently battling Dark Octavia, occasionally aided by Octavia herself—who looked like she had no idea what she was doing.
A flash of light in Link’s peripheral pulled his attention to Saria, who was continuing launch vast numbers of Deku seeds at her shadow. Dark Saria staggered to and fro, dazed and blinded by the constant flashes and tiny puffs of smoke.
Epona gave a loud yell, and Link turned around in time to see her force her shadow against the wall. She turned, bucking her hooves against Dark Epona’s unprotected body.
There was a sickening crunch, and the shadow’s eyes widened with shock and pain. She coughed, and a puff of smoke trickled from her mouth. Epona’s dark form dissolved into a cloud of black ash, blowing away and disappearing.
Link’s shadow finally regained it’s feet, turning and charging towards him. Link blocked it’s attack, then tried for one of his own, only to have his sword rebound against the other’s.
The two Links backed a few feet away from each other, eyes narrowing simultaneously. They were at a stalemate, waiting to see who would attack first.
As it would turn out, neither of them struck the next blow—that action was reserved for Bon Bon. The hookshot buried itself in Dark Link’s side, causing him to give a loud screech of pain. He gasped and stumbled to the side, digging his hooves into the ground in an effort to hold against the force of her hurtling towards them.
Bon Bon collided sharply with Link’s shadow, sending him crashing backwards, then back-flipped to land on her hooves. She took up a position next to Link, eyes narrowed and hookshot held at the ready.
Dark Link heaved himself upright, huffing painfully. He attempted a weak swing towards Link, which was easily blocked. The mere force of that made him cry out in pain, stumbling back.
This is sad. Link thought, watching his shadow’s pitiful attempts to regain control over his trembling limbs. I should put him out of his misery. He swung his sword up and around, and this time Dark Link was too weak to stop it. The blade sheered cleanly through his neck, and he had melted into smoke almost before his decapitated head hit the floor.
At almost the same time, there was a massive, earth-shaking thud, and Darunia gave a triumphant yell. Link glanced over to see him standing over his shadow form, who’s head was bent at a wrong angle. Dark Darunia faded away, the same way as Link and Epona’s shadows had. Now all that was left were Saria’s, Octavia’s, and Lyra’s dark forms.
Epona leapt to the defense of Saria, who seemed to be starting to tire. The smaller shadow slid under the larger pony’s defenses, kicking her back legs out from underneath. Epona fell heavily to the ground, giving a grunt of pain.
Saria shot another seed at her shadow, but the dark form was catching on and managed to dodge it. Link tried for a swipe at her, but she ducked under his blade again. Link had learned from last time, however, and kicked her away when she tried to attack his unprotected midriff again.
Bon Bon raised herself on her hind legs, preparing to join the fight. Dark Saria noticed, spinning around and preparing for attackers on all sides—but then a boomerang slammed into the side of Bon Bon’s head.
Her eyes rolled back and she collapsed, face-planting in the water.
“SWEET LUNA ON A TRICYCLE I’M SO SORRY!” Octavia screeched.
Luna on a what? Link galloped over to Bon Bon, nudging her over so she wasn’t muzzle-down. He glanced up, deciding to take another moment to check up on the others.
Their condition had barely changed. Vinyl was still locked in combat—quite literally, as her sword was locked with Dark Octavia’s boomerang. Vinyl’s battle strategy—if Link could even call it that—didn’t seem to be working with her this time. She looked rather the worse for wear, and it didn’t seem like Octavia’s shadow was even remotely close to tiring.
As for Octavia herself, she was galloping for the fallen Bon Bon to retrieve her weapon. Link bit back a sigh—she clearly needed to be taught how to properly use it. But that was a matter for another time.
Lyra seemed to be faring nearly the same as before, still exchanging blows with her evenly-matched shadow. Lyra’s approach to the combat seemed to be getting more and more confident, instead of the timidness with which she’d began the battle.
Someone slammed into Link’s back, knocking him forwards. Judging by the minimal weight as well as the chill that ran over his body from the touch, it was Dark Saria.
Her forelegs wrapped around Link’s throat, constricting his airways.
He coughed, rolling onto his back and trying to shake her off. Her grip tightened, making him gag. His chest convulsed as his lungs desperately tried to suck in air, but to no avail. Darkness bubbled in his vision, threatening to overtake his senses.
Suddenly, there was a loud, crunching thud, and the pressure was relieved. Dark Saria slid off Link’s back, dissolving into a cloud of smoke.
Link gasped, inhaling deeply. The air scraped against his raw throat, making him cough.
A large yellow hoof loomed in his vision, and Link looked up to see Darunia.
“Thanks.” He rasped, taking the offered limb. The Goron heaved him upwards, brushing remnants of ash off the blue tunic.
“I’m just sorry I didn’t act sooner.” He apologized. “It was hard for me to strike a blow—that thing looked so much like Saria…”
Link nodded uncomfortably. To be honest, he’d barely thought of that. All he saw in the shadowy creatures were monsters—nothing even close to the companions he’d come to know and care for.
“The battle’s not won yet.” Epona declared, limping over to them. “We’ve still got two more.”
“Better than eight.” Link sighed. “Hey, you okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” Epona insisted, curling her right foreleg underneath her. “I just...got caught without warning.”
“What’s next?” Saria asked, trotting shakily over. She had an uneasy expression on her face.
“Darunia, can you and Saria go help with Dark Octavia?” Link said. “Epona and I can help Lyra.”
“Roger that.” Darunia said, giving a salute. “Er...what about Bon Bon?”
Link looked towards the unconscious mare, startled. He’d almost forgotten about her.
“…she’ll be fine.” He decided. “For now. Let’s go!”
They all turned, charging back into the fray.
Dark Lyra caught on to the approaching ponies right away, whipping a beam of magic towards them. Link ducked down, sliding under it, while Epona managed to leap over. Though, as she was trying to keep weight off her injured leg, she stumbled as she landed, forcing Link to steady her.
“Help!” Lyra begged, pulling up a force field just in time to deflect a deadly jet of black.
“HYAAAH!” Link gave a loud yell, leaping mightily through the air. He swung his sword downwards, directly over the black Unicorn—then rather ungracefully met with a black force field, which turned away the point of his blade before slamming into his face. He rolled off the dome, falling to the ground with a groan.
Not how I imagined that would go...he thought, groggily raising his head.
“Watch out!” Epona called from where she’d taken up a position on the other side of Dark Lyra. Link rolled out of the way just in time for the shadowy hammer to slam into the ground inches from his head, causing a mini earthquake. He stifled a yelp, scrabbling onto his feet and backing away.
“I can’t land a blow!” Lyra cried, her voice aggravated. Epona lunged forwards in her own attempt at attack, but was repelled by a force field again. Her hooves clattered against the black barrier, sending off sparks.
Link quickly made a decision, spinning around and galloping towards the other fight being waged across the room.
“Saria!” He called, trying not to dissolve into a coughing fit. “Toss me the slingshot!”
The Kokiri made note of his request, whipping her head to the side and throwing it across the room. She ducked under an attack from the boomerang, attempting to land a kick on Dark Octavia’s lower body—eerily similar to what her shadow had done—but the black earth pony managed to block her, knocking her backwards.
Link caught Saria’s discarded weapon in his mouth, dashing back to the fight with Dark Lyra. He balanced on his hind hooves—something that was starting to feel more natural—and held the handle between his two front hooves. Using his mouth, he loaded a Deku Seed into the pouch, pulled it back, then let it fly.
Dark Lyra easily dodged it, shooting him a smirk. Her eyes glimmered, seeming to say something to him: Is that the best you have? Pitiful.
Link bit back a growl, reloading the slingshot. Before he could fire, Lyra’s shadow shot a beam of magic at him, forcing him to drop the seed and duck.
Epona lunged forwards again, beating at the barrier that had instantly sprung up at her approach. Dark Lyra gave a hissing, snarling laugh, but Epona firmly continued, sending showers of sparks raining onto the ground.
Darunia gave a cry of pain, but Link was too preoccupied with Dark Lyra to do anything more than acknowledge it in the back of his mind.
The force field remained in place, even with Epona’s incessant attacks on it. Lyra charged forwards, slamming the point of her horn into the straight into the barrier. It pierced through, making the shield explode in a shower of sparks.
The three attackers were thrown backwards—Lyra’s shadow was merely forced to the ground.Link slid across slick floor, dazed. Dark Lyra staggered to her feet, smoke trickling across her face. Before she could launch attacks on any of the downed warriors, Epona leapt upwards, dashing over and bucking her in the chest.
Dark Lyra slammed into Link, sending them both rolling backwards.
Link groaned, dragging himself into a sitting position. Lyra’s shadow jerked her head backwards, trying to impale him with her horn. Link yanked his head to the side just in time, locking his forelegs around her throat.
Lyra’s shadow slammed her elbows back, desperately trying to dislodge him. Link winced, ignoring the battering and pulling her farther backwards.
Dark Lyra made a gurgling, choking noise, switching to trying to pry his forelegs from her neck. Her attempts grew weaker and weaker, eventually pausing all together.
She dissolved into ash, leaving him to slump back, arms empty.
Link’s whole body ached. Bruises were rapidly forming on his limbs, especially where Dark Saria had kicked him. His throat was raw and pulsed with pain—also courtesy of the shadowy Kokiri.
For one that had been so small, she certainly had been deadly.
Vinyl gave a loud, annoyed scream, causing Link to turn in alarm. He caught sight of the remaining battlers—Darunia was lying on the ground, clutching a deep gash in his left hind leg. Saria was hovering over him nervously, a bruise on her face from where she’d been knocked aside.Octavia had given up, retreating to behind Darunia, and was watching Vinyl battle her shadow with a guilty expression.
Vinyl herself seemed to be reaching the end of her patience. She gave a wild swipe, only to have it turned aside by a clever move on Dark Octavia’s behalf.
Having knocked the sword to a place where it wouldn’t be much of a worry, the shadowy earth pony moved in on Vinyl’s vulnerable body, catching her across the cheek with the sharp metal edge on the front of the boomerang.
Vinyl stumbled back, trying to wipe the blood away, but only succeeded in smearing it across her white fur.
I should help her…Link tried to get up, but his bruised limbs refused to cooperate.
“DAMN YOU!” Vinyl lunged forwards, burying the Kokiri Sword up to it’s guard straight into Dark Octavia’s body. The real Octavia didn’t even seem to notice the language uttered in front of Saria’s young ears—she flinched as if it was she that had been stabbed, clutching her midriff with a terrified expression.
Her shadow stumbled backwards, a look of shock and agony chiseled onto it’s twisted features. Trickles of smoke dripped from her mouth, and she faded away, leaving the Kokiri Sword to clatter to the ground.
“Finally.” Link sighed, relieved. Epona trotted over, offering her right-hand foreleg to help him up. Link gave her a look and pushed it back, not wanting to injure it further. Epona shrugged, limping back, giving him space to stagger to his feet on his own.
“Is everyone okay?” Link asked, trotting over to the others, Epona and Lyra following him. They all nodded, gaze fixed on Vinyl.
The white Unicorn was staring at the Kokiri Sword, chest heaving. Her magenta eyes burned with a strange flame—they almost looked…red.
“….Vinyl?” Link said. With the call of her name, she seemed to snap out of it, jerking upwards with a startled expression.
“You okay?” Link repeated. She nodded, brushing a lock of disheveled mane out of her face.
“Perfectly fine.” She trotted over, picking up the sword again. Link didn’t miss the way Octavia flinched at the clinking noise it made, or the way her wide and frightened eyes tracked it through the air as Vinyl levitated it before him.
There was a loud clatter, and the bars covering the door slid upwards. With a flash of light, a chest appeared near the tree in the middle, causing ripples to spread over the water.
This time, Saria was the one to trot over and open it, revealing a key. The key was large and heavy, decorated with a red gem.
“That’s the Boss Key.” Link explained, taking it as Saria handed it to him. “Now we can get to the Boss Fight and finished this accursed temple.”
The others raised eyebrows at Link’s unusually vehement tone.
“…sorry.” Link said, shaking his head. “I don’t know what got over me. I just can’t wait for us to be done.”
“So, know we’ve got more fighting to do?” Vinyl groaned. “But we just finished!”
“I know.” Link sighed. “I just wish we were in better condition.” His gaze roved over the group. Bon Bon was still lying several feet from them, out cold. Lyra’s horn had cracks along it, presumably from when she’d made the dark force field explode. Both Darunia and Epona had leg injuries, though Epona’s seemed to be more related to a twisted ankle, while Darunia was covering a blood-seeping gash. Saria had numerous bruises, and Vinyl…
…well, Vinyl had definitely looked better.
“Well, you can be.” Saria said, flipping open her own inventory. “I have elixirs and heartfruits for us.”
“Heartfruits?” Darunia echoed, raising an eyebrow.
“More commonly known as hearts.” Link said. “They help replenish energy and heal injuries.”
“I’m not quite sure what to do about her, though.” Saria nodded towards Bon Bon.
“Bon Bon!” Lyra yelped, apparently just noticing her unconscious friend. She galloped over, shaking her by the shoulders. “Speak to me!”
“I’m sure she’s perfectly fine.” Octavia said awkwardly, causing the others to jump and look at her. It was the first time she’d spoken since the end of the fight. “I may have...knocked her out by accident.”
Lyra shot the Earth Pony a glare.
“Sorry.” Octavia whispered, shrinking away. This was a reaction Link found odd for the high-mannered mare.
“It’s fine…I guess.” Lyra sighed, brushing back her mane. “I know how to her wake her up, anyway.” There was a flash of magic from her horn, and Bon Bon jolted upright with a yelp, startling everyone.
“Sorry, Bon.” Lyra apologized. “You were kind of…unconscious.”
“Sweet Celestia my head.” Bon Bon’s face contorted in an expression of agony and she doubled over, pressing her hooves to her face. “What happened?”
“Somepony doesn’t know how to use a boomerang.” Lyra mumbled.
“Well, I’m sorry!” Octavia protested. “You try throwing a weapon with your mouth! And besides, why on earth would I know how to use a boomerang? I don’t go on adventures, I play the goddess-damned cello for Celestia’s sake!” She immediately clapped a hoof over her mouth, staring at Saria in shock and horror.
“I’m sorry.” She squeaked.
Link raised an eyebrow at the group.
“...are you sure you’re okay?” He said.
Octavia nodded, rubbing a hoof against her forehead with a pained expression.
“I’m fine.” Lyra insisted. “I can’t speak for Bon Bon, though.”
“I’ll be fine.” Bon Bon sighed. “Don’t worry about me.”
There was a second of awkward silence.
“Well…um…I have elixirs for us.” Saria said again. She reached into her inventory, extracting a few bottles filled with red substance, as well as a few crimson-colored, heart-shaped fruits. She passed them around—Epona, Darunia, Bon Bon, and Vinyl got the elixirs, though Link had passed up his to give it to Bon Bon in the first place. Link, Saria, and Octavia got the heartfruits—though Lyra had grumbled that since Octavia was barely injured, she didn’t even need it.
“How did you manage to stay practically unscathed?” Link asked.
“I...don’t know…?” Octavia looked down, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.
“She ran away.” Vinyl said, the cold tone of her voice making everyone jump. “That’s literally all she did. She ran away till I came to help her, again.”
“Seriously, again?” Lyra sighed.
“Why are you beating me up about this?” Octavia demanded. “Oh yeah, I’m used to fighting ponies who know how to copy my every move, including moves I don’t even know how to do. And I’m also totally okay with killing somepony who looks just like me.”
“Bon Bon had no trouble with it!” Lyra snapped.
“Oh, so just because your best friend was fine with murdering another pony, I should be too!” Octavia retorted. “And just why was she so good at fighting that pony, hm? No normal, innocent civilian of Ponyville should be able to do that!” Lyra jerked back, a shocked and insulted expression on her face.
“Guys….” Link interrupted. “You do know that those weren’t actually ponies, right? They were just reflections...”
“They didn’t seem like just reflections.” Saria piped up, giving a shiver. “Watching myself die by the hands of my friend…even though it wasn’t really me…I don’t know what to think.” Darunia gave her a worried look. Saria shot him a faint, reassuring smile.
“They didn’t seem like reflections to me, either.” Bon Bon admitted. “Link...what exactly were those things?”
Link sighed. He was hoping that he didn’t actually have to tell them this, but…it seemed as if he had no choice now.
“They were…a physical manifestation of the darkness within us.” He said quietly. “Facing the evil within ourselves is probably one of the hardest things we’ll face on this quest. It was…for me, at least.”
The others looked down, eyes wide with shock as the fight that happened before came into perspective.
“So those things…were us.” Lyra said.
“Yes, in a way.” Link gave an exhausted sigh, rubbing his face with a hoof. “They had consciousness and intelligence just like us…they shared every memory…”
“I just killed a pony.” Vinyl whispered, her eyes glued onto her reflection in the watery floor. “I just killed my sister.”
“Half-sister.” Octavia corrected in a quiet mutter—Vinyl didn’t seem to hear her.
“No, you didn’t.” Epona said. “You just conquered the worst parts of yourself and Octavia. There was nothing in those creatures worth saving. In fact, Vinyl, the fact that you managed to defeat yours first is quite admirable.”
“…I was worried about Octavia.” Vinyl admitted. “I…didn’t want her to get hurt…I wanted to hurry and help her in any way I could.” Octavia looked up, surprised.
“Well…” She said uncomfortably. “Thanks.” Vinyl nodded, not meeting the eyes of the other pony.
“…so.” Link said. “Now that things are talked out, are we ready to go now? We have the boss key, we can go defeat the boss and save Ruto, then return to Ponyville.”
“To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure if I want to rescue that Rito girl.” Lyra muttered.
“Ruto.” Link corrected.
“I hate to agree with Lyra’s statement, but...I agree with Lyra’s statement.” Bon Bon sighed.
“I wish we could just skip over her and find the next Sage!” Saria snapped. Everyone looked at her, surprised by her angry outburst.
“Why do you wish that?” Link asked, uncomfortable with where this conversation was heading.
“I’m sick of her arrogant attitude.” Saria continued. “It drives me crazy—she’s not special, she’s not better than us, no matter what she thinks.”
Epona frowned slightly, looking closely at Saria.
“Oh.” She gave a sputtering noise that it took Link a second to recognize—but then he realized Epona was laughing.
“You’re jealous.” She said.
“W-what?” Saria protested, looking hot and indignant. “I’m not! She just drives me up the wall!”
“Hey.” Link jumped in. “I know that...you all may not have had the greatest first impression of her…”
“You kidding?” Lyra raised an eyebrow. “‘The body of thiskind of beast is anythingbut becoming.’” She quoted, face scrunching up in an impression of Ruto’s.
“Okay, okay, I get it.” Link rubbed a hoof against the bridge of his nose. He was beginning to get a headache. “But…it’s not exactly nice of you to be talking about her like this, okay? She is royalty, and she will be traveling with us—”
“It’s not exactly nice of her to be so rude to us either.” Saria interrupted, a stubborn expression on her face—an expression that Link knew too well.
Hylia give me patience. Please.
“She’s not usually so rude, you know.” He said, in a last ditch effort to support the Zora princess. “Look…all I’m asking is if you could try giving her a second chance. It’s not that hard.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned to Epona.
“We need to leave.” He said. Epona nodded in agreement, and the group trotted for the door, enveloped in a frosty silence.
It didn’t take them long to make their way back through the temple, eventually arriving at the door to the boss fight.
The journey had been anything but comfortable. Everyone was still tense from the post-battle argument, so there had been no interaction other than what was necessary.
Bon Bon and Lyra were avoiding Octavia, but the musician was avoiding Vinyl for some strange reason. Vinyl herself was staring at the ground, a troubled expression on her face. Saria was avoiding Link, and refused to meet his eye any time he looked at her.
In all, Epona and Darunia were the only ones who still seemed to be in a somewhat-good mood. Link himself was stressed out from the sudden inability of the others to get along, as well as the fact that Saria refused to acknowledge his existence any more.
Link pulled out the boss key from his inventory, stuffing it into the massive, decorative lock and giving it a twist. The chains clattered loudly as they dropped to the ground, and Link flinched at the sound.
The door creaked open slowly, revealing a hallway veiled in darkness.
“Ready?” Link asked, as he’d done before almost every room earlier.Epona and Darunia nodded, and there were one or two tentative nods from Lyra and Bon Bon, but for the most part the group remained in chilly silence.
Link sighed. So much for the teamwork they’d all had earlier.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” He muttered, trotting forwards. The others followed him, and they vanished into the shadows beyond.
The heavy door creaked shut behind them, shutting off any means of escape.