After a good night, Sweetie Belle and Link were fresh for a new day of adventures exploring dungeons and fighting monsters. Under the goodbyes of the Kokiris, they left the village and the forest, finding Epona where they left her at the entrance. After petting her a little, Link climbed on her, followed by Sweetie Belle who sat on the horse's rump.
Navi reminded them that they should return in the Temple of Time so Link could return to the past to search whatever was hidden at the bottom of the well in Kakariko village, so they journeyed toward Hyrule Castle Town. Upon reaching it, the area immediately darkened, reminding them of the state of the town.
They left Epona before the broken drawbridge and traversed the moat to enter the town. When they saw that the ReDeads were back everywhere, Link had the idea of using the Sun's Song, which had for effect to stun all the ReDeads, and Sweetie Belle took the occasion to kill all of them rapidly, opening the path to the Temple of Time.
They entered the building, Sweetie Belle seeing for the first time the inside of it. despite everything outside, the interior still looked like nothing was wrong. Not a single trace of destruction, or even of dust, could be seen on the walls and the checkerboard floor. The stones that were the key to the Sacred Realm were still present on the pedestal for them.
She could feel the divine power in this place. It was probably what protected it from Ganondorf's rampage, for now.
There was also a large pedestal with the symbol of the Triforce like the one in front of the forest Temple in the middle of the room.
When they passed the still open doors leading to the Sacred Realm where the Master Sword's pedestal was, they found Sheik waiting for them.
"You destroyed the wicked creatures that haunted the temple and awakened the Sage..." he began. "But there are other Sages who need your help. In order to awaken all the other Sages, you must become even more powerful. You must travel over mountains... under water... and even through time..."
Link nodded as Navi said "We were just about to place the Master Sword back in the pedestal like you said. We have something to do in the past."
Sheik nodded. "In matter for you to return here quickly, I will teach you this song... The song to return to the Temple of Time... The Prelude of Light..."
Link and Sheik then both took their instrument, and the Sheikah teached the Hylian the song. As they played the song, a light appeared above them, bathing the room in its warmth.
"As long as you hold the Ocarina of Time and the Master Sword, you hold Time itself in your hands..." then said Sheik once they were done. "Now, if you wish to return in your original time, place the Master Sword in the Pedestal of Time. But remember what I said."
Sweetie Belle nodded. "I won't be able to come, I know." She then placed a hoof under her chin. "But I was thinking of some possible solutions. Maybe if I shrink myself and go in his clothes like Navi sometimes do... Or maybe if I sing the Song of Time... while holding him as he plants the sword if I have to..."
Sheik repeated Sweetie's gesture as he thought about it. "Going in his clothes wouldn't work. Navi would return to the past with Link because she also slept seven years with him, but it wasn't your case." He then looked back at the filly. "As for the Song of Time... It can let you go to the past, but it would depend of the Goddess of Time. Maybe she will let you follow Link, or maybe she won't. You can't be certain."
"Oh. So the real power of the Song of Time is to call the Goddess of Time in hope that she will allow to time travel. Darn, here goes my possible time travel solution. Mmh... Now I wonder if it can be used to call Gods of Time in other universes," she thought aloud before she looked at Sheik. "At least, I can try to use the song now and see if the Goddess of Time will let me go to the past with Link. If she doesn't..." She shrugged. "Then I will just wait there or go kill some ReDeads outside."
This made both Link and Sheik chuckle before Link moved to plant the Master Sword in the pedestal. Sweetie Belle went to sit beside him and began to sing the Song of Time just as Link planted the sword. A blue light then surrounded the both of them and everything was plunged in light. When the light disappeared, Sweetie Belle opened her eyes and looked at Link to see if it worked.
And yes, it worked. Link now looked as tall as the Master Sword planted in the pedestal, and his Hylian Shield looked very huge on his back. He also had a more juvenile look.
Yes, it was Link when he was eleven years old. They both successfully traveled seven years back in time.
But then, why was Link looking that tall compared to her? She should be about half his size now, but to her, he still looked almost as tall as he was when he was adult.
Link briefly looked at himself before his eyes turned toward Sweetie Belle and widened a little. Then, he grinned.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who got rejuvenated by this time travel."
"What?" Sweetie said only to remark that her voice was even more high-pitched and squeakier than previously, and her eyes widened in understanding.
Link giggled at her reaction, and Navi began to circle her as she playfully said, "I didn't think that you would become even more dangerous by going to the past. But look at you now, people and monsters will die of heart attack just by looking at you."
To this, the now six-years old filly answered with a pout, and the next instant, Navi dropped to the ground with a "Urk!" making Link laugh even more.
Sweetie Belle giggled too. "Be lucky I didn't rejuvenate all the way back to a newborn foal, or trust me, you wouldn't have lasted one second." She then looked at Link with puppy dog eyes. "Right, Link?"
Link quickly put a hand over his eyes and looked away. "Arg! Don't look at me like that!" He then dramatically put a hand on his heart. "Arg... I'm dying... The Gods will have to find someone else to defeat Ganondorf..." And he dropped on the ground with a "Bleh!"
Sweetie Belle raised her forelegs. "MWAHAHA!!! I killed the Hero of Time! Everyone will fear my cuteness! And I will rule the world as the most adorable overlord of all time!" She retained the pose a few seconds before she dropped in laughter. "No thanks! I'm already queen of a kingdom in another world, that's good enough for me!"
Link and Navi both laughed as they got up from the floor before the Hylian said, "Wait, you're queen?" in shock.
"Yeah, long story. But no need to call me queen, your majesty, or whatever. I don't care about this, and I'm not ruling yet anyway. There's a regent in my place for now. And really, I'm only queen because a king gave me the title after we killed the previous ruler who had become evil."
"I would like to hear this story. Sounds interesting," Link said.
"You have no idea. I will recount it to you while we go to Kakariko Village if you wish."
Link nodded before he equipped himself with a smaller sword and a wooden shield, both of Kokiri origin.
They then left the temple, and Link smiled when he saw the not yet ruined town around. It was slightly damaged by Ganondorf's raid before he got the Master Sword, but it wasn't destroyed yet. The sky was still clear, Death Mountain didn't seem about to erupt, and Hyrule Castle was still present in all its beauty in the place of Ganondorf's Castle.
Of course, he knew that it was only a matter of time before Ganondorf came back and assaulted the town with an army of monsters and the full power of the Triforce.
When they reached the market, it was bursting with activities. People were everywhere, shopping, talking to each others, and there was even a couple who danced. Despite what happened, and what will happen, the citizens of the town still lived without care in that calm before the storm.
Then, a woman spotted Sweetie Belle, and the next thing she knew, she had to escape a crowd of people wanting to snuggle her, and Link was on the floor laughing.
Link obviously didn't have Epona at this time, so they simply walked to Kakariko Village, Sweetie Belle recounting how she became Queen of Floralia on the way. About Sectonia and her fall into madness because of a cursed mirror. Of her foalnapping and how her friends traversed many trials to save her. Of the fight against her brainwashed-self followed by the one against Sectonia to save the world.
To hear that the queen couldn't be saved from her madness was saddening, but Link knew that, despite their best efforts, not everyone could be saved, like he couldn't save the Deku Tree.
He also understood that the filly beside him really had shown only a small fraction of her powers and that the Deku Tree sprout was right, Ganondorf should be worried.
Eventually, they arrived at Kakariko Village.
Seven years ago, the village wasn't yet as big as it was in the future, having not yet taken in the citizens of Hyrule Castle Town who had escaped, although some houses were already being built. And without the threat of Death Mountain nearby, the village was as peaceful as it could be.
And of course, the well wasn't dried yet, as the heroes saw when they walked to it after losing several minutes because of Sweetie Belle being snuggled, petted, and pampered by several people on the way.
Six-years old Sweetie Belle really was too adorable for her own good. It was already limit when she was twelve-years old, but now...
"Well, time to do your show Link," said Sweetie Belle before she pointed at the windmill.
Link nodded. "Wait for me there."
As the Hylian walked away, the filly looked at the windmill and muttered "The poor guy..." When Link entered the building, she couldn't hear him play the Song of Storms, but she could tell when he played it as the wheel began to spin faster and faster a few seconds later. Link then quickly ran out of the building in panic under the screams of the man muffled by the sound of the rain and thunder. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle saw the well being drained.
When Link joined her, Sweetie Belle pointed at the well. "It worked!"
"Great! Let's go then," Link said before he began to go down the ladder inside the well.
Sweetie Belle jumped in it after him and arrived first, noticing that this time the tunnel was clear. No boulders blocked the way.
When Link arrived at the bottom, they both entered the tunnel only to quickly reach what seemed to be a dead end with a very small passage. Too small for an adult to crawl through.
"Seems like even if we had managed to come here in the future, you wouldn't have been able to continue without my help," remarked Sweetie Belle.
"One point for the kid-side," said Link to this.
Link then crawled through the passage, followed by Sweetie Belle who didn't need to crawl. In the other side, they then just had to jump down a small ladder to reach a corridor.
To their horror, the corridor had some dried blood covering the walls, and for a reason that was probably not good, there were chains hanging from the walls and ceiling. As for the floor, it was actually a grid
"What the heck is this place?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"No idea," Link answered. "Navi?"
"I-I don't know, and I don't think I want to know," said the fairy.
"There was a house, right?" reminded Sweetie Belle. "So... This was the house's underground?"
"You are right," agreed Navi. "But then... Was the Sheikah living here a psychopath and this place where he tortured his victims under the nose of everyone?"
"This famous man who could see the truth that the old man talked about?" wondered Sweetie Belle as she thought about how they learned that there was something at the bottom of the well. They had been questioning the citizens of Kakariko Village to find the object needed to enter the Forest Temple and an old man told them about a man who had an eye that could see the truth who lived once where the well was now. They weren't sure if it was a real eye or an object, but if it was an object, then it was probably hidden in the well, and it could be very useful. "If this guy really was a psycho, then it's no wonder that they razed his house and put a well in its place to hide... this. Now I fear to see what is next."
Link, who was now holding his sword, gulped. "Me too."
Despite this, they continued. However, after dealing with a Skulltula, they didn't go far before reaching a dead end with a skeleton lying against the back wall, at the side.
Sweetie Belle eyed the skeleton, daring it to get up and attack them. Seeing that it didn't, she then looked around. "There's probably a hidden passage, or mechanism, or whatever. This can't end here."
"Wait, I hear something," suddenly said Navi before she flew to the skeleton. "I can hear the spirit of this skeleton. He says "Find the Eye of Truth". You were right, this eye that could see the truth is an object."
Link crossed his arms as he thought about this. "Mmh... So... An object that can see the truth..."
"That means that it's an object that can reveal the lies that our eyes can't see," concluded Navi. "Like illusions, or invisible objects."
"Of course! That's obvious!" shouted Sweetie Belle. "And if this is like with the Forest Temple, then this means that this place will be full of illusions and invisible stuff, and we will need this object to reveal them! Like..." She pointed at the wall behind the skeleton. "This wall! Now I'm sure that it's an illusion, or at least part of it!"
Having the same conclusion, Link approached the wall and attempted to touch it with his hand, only for the hand to pass through it as if the wall didn't exist. With a nod to Sweetie Belle, he then passed the wall, followed by the others.
The next part of this seemingly new dungeon was pretty much in the same style than the previous hallway, only the floor was made of stone bricks instead of being a grid. It really looked like a real dungeon, including chains hanging from wooden planks against the walls. Just in front of the entrance was a small pit filled with water coming from two small streams at the left and right. And a big Green Bubble passed before it and followed the right stream before disappearing around a corner.
Sweetie Belle looked at the water. "If this place is as filled of illusions as we think, then I propose that we walk in the water. Like this, we won't risk to fall into a pit."
"I agree. If there is a pit in the water, even if it is camouflaged by an illusion, the water will still pass through the fake floor so we will see it," Navi said. "But now, we must choose a direction. Left or right?"
In the end, they randomly chose right. Following the stream, they followed the same path than the Green Bubble they saw earlier and rounded a corner to the left. Not minding the green Bubble further in front of them, they continued to follow the stream, passed beside a grid without door behind which a Like Like (a cylindrical yellowish gooish monster that could eat objects like shields) could be seen, and rounded another corner to the left where Sweetie Belle finally killed the Green Bubble with a beam while passing in front of a scary picture that apparently said "Danger below".
Link threw a Deku Nut under the picture, and the nut fell through the floor, revealing it to be a pit hidden by an illusion. Meaning that they did well to walk in the water. There really were hidden pits in this dungeon.
Not minding a small passage where Link would have to crawl through, they then reached the origin of the stream, or streams as it also seemed to be the origin of the other stream, meaning that they would have also ended up here if they had taken the left.
So this place had formed a square.
The water was coming out of the mouth of a weird statue head in the wall, and a Triforce symbol with a blue center could be seen under the water.
Link immediately understood what he had to do as he took the ocarina and began to play a song. Then, as if by magic, water stopped to come out of the mouth of the statue, and the water present in the room began to drain, including in the small pit below the statue.
"What was that song?" asked the filly.
"Zelda's Lullaby," answered Link. "It's actually a song transmitted in the Royal Family that Zelda taught me. As you saw, it activates mechanisms and opens paths. So it seems that the King participated in hiding this place."
Sweetie Belle nodded in understanding.
If the water drained here, then it meant that the water in the pit at the entrance was also drained, certainly allowing them to reach an important room. So they returned to the entrance, this time by the left path, passing beside another small pit with metal grating above it. they hesitated to see what was beyond that pit, but they decided to see first what was in the pit in front of the entrance, so they continued. They also saw a door that didn't seem to be able to be opened from this side, unless they had to walk on a switch to open it.
Back at the entrance, they jumped in the now empty pit and found a small chest containing bombs as well as a small passage, again. They went through it, killed another Skulltula, climbed some vines, and passed a metallic door.
The new room was absolutely scary. The ground was littered with bones, more were in the walls, and there were weird pale and long bloody arms with hooked hands rising from the ground, not moving as the hands were open toward the ceiling.
This room was obviously the den of some bloodthirsty terrible creature, but said creature was nowhere to be seen. However, judging by the arms, it was hidden underground, probably waiting for a victim to be caught by one of the arms.
Sweetie Belle sent a sharp wave to cut one of the arms to see if it would make the monster come out, but it didn't work, and a new arm quickly replaced the sliced one.
"Seems like one of us will have to bait that thing out," observed the filly.
Link sighed. "I'll do it."
The boy then approached one of the arms and, faster than he could blink, the arm grabbed his head, and an horrifying pale creature came out of the ground beside him.
The nightmarish creature looked like a fat zombie without legs, with small pink arms without hands, and with a long neck with a lipless bald head that showed to all its dentition, and like the arms coming out of the floor, its body was covered in bloodstains.
As the thing slowly advanced toward Link who was struggling to free himself from the hand grabbing him, it stretched its jaw, readying itself to bite the boy's head.
That was forgetting Sweetie Belle who jumped on the bent neck of the monster, behind the head, and sliced it, beheading it. She then immediately jumped from its neck as the body dropped lifelessly on the ground along with the arms, green blood flowing. A big chest then appeared in the middle of the room.
Sweetie Belle then got goosebumps as she looked at the corpse of the monster. "I have seen some really creepy stuff in my adventures, but that thing easily reaches the top five. What a horrible monster."
"It was a Dead Hand," informed Navi. "Probably one of the most terrifying monsters that can be found. Thankfully, they are very rare."
"Yeah, thankfully. Are you alright, Link?" she asked to the boy.
"Yeah, the hand barely hurt. Thanks for the save," replied Link before he petted the filly. Then, he opened the chest, finding in it some purple object with a lens with the drawing of an eye on it. "That must be what we search, a lens that reveals the truth." He immediately tested it, seeing that it worked as he was able to see an invisible chest in the room. He could even see through the chest, seeing that it contained a golden rupee (worth two hundreds rupees). "I already love this object."
"So, we have this... Lens of Truth. This means that we can now see the illusions. Should we continue to explore this dungeon with it?" asked Sweetie Belle.
Link nodded. "There may be other useful treasures."
So, with the help of the lens, they continued their exploration of the place and indeed found some more treasures, although none as important as the lens itself. Thanks to the lens, they could see the fake walls and floor, discovering secret room. They also explored the secondary passages they had spotted earlier but hadn't minded. Sweetie Belle also flew into one of the pits previously hidden by the fake floor to see where they led and discovered another floor with a pit filled with green poisonous water and several paths.
In the lower floor was a map of the dungeon, and in a small secret room behind bars, they found the compass. They also found some keys here and there that let them reach other treasures. However, they ended up having to fight more monsters including ReDeads, Wallmasters, Gibdos (mummy monsters), the Like Like they had seen earlier, some Fire Keeses (bat monsters in fire), and even a Beamos (a statue with a rotating eye that fired a beam that Link could only destroy with a bomb). By the same occasion, Sweetie Belle discovered the existence of Bomb Flowers, which were plants with bomb-looking fruits that could explode, so they could be used as replacement bombs to save real bombs.
By the time they left the well, they were richer by some rupees, some more ammunition like Deku Nuts for Link, and even a spare Hylian Shield in case a Like Like manages to eat his current one. Link also got a fairy that he put in one of his bottles.
Sweetie Belle wondered about the moral of trapping a fairy in a bottle, but apparently, it was okay. If Link was knocked out, the fairy would come out of the bottle to heal him, saving his life.
With the lens in their possession, they returned to the Temple of Time to return to the future.