//------------------------------//
// Chapter 30: Return of Former Forces. 
// Story: The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Link's Awakening. 
// by Ganondorf8 
//------------------------------//

The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Link's Awakening.
By Ganondorf8.
April 10, 2021.
Chapter 30: Return of Former Forces.

Even though I had been warned ahead of time, I honestly wasn't expecting to be faced with such a massive layout for this dungeon. I felt completely overwhelmed by how many rooms there were. Not even the Eagle's Tower or the Face Shrine were this big! I never really thought about it before until no, but having a vague glimpse of what each room looked like gave me an idea of what could be waiting for me. Sure, I couldn't see the exact details what with most rooms being slightly faded out yet this was meant to keep in suspense. Did I appreciate this? Not at all!

What I could make out was that only a small number of rooms had lava in them. Considering that Princess Twilight said that this dungeon was inside of a volcano, I was honestly expecting more lava to maintain the overall theme. I supposed I shouldn't complain about something which could kill me instantly. With so many rooms, the Nightmare could be hiding anywhere and I'd never know it until it was too late. That's why finding the Compass was also a priority as it'd give me both and end goal and show each treasure chest location as the dungeon item was also necessary.

As I continued looking at the map, I had to question who decided to build a dungeon inside of a volcano. This wasn't my first time going through something like this as I recalled going through something similar during my first journey though my memories of that adventure continued to be hazy. Anyway, the point was building a dungeon in such conditions was just insane period! One of the outer walls could break away causing lava to come gushing forth which in turn would destroy everything (It made me wish I had any kind of immunity to lava) and leaving nothing but a mess.

I put the map away and as I did, I knew that I would be relying on it more than any other I had acquired. Hopefully, it was heatproof otherwise if it were to burn to ashes or somehow fell into any pools of lava... Just thinking about such outcomes made me shudder. Back to the matter at hand, by coming this way, I had trapped myself though that wasn't really an issue since I had Manbo's Mambo, but using that was taking the easy way out. Surely one of these blocks could be pushed in order to give me a way to get back to the first rooms without needing to warp there.

Pushing some of the blocks in hopes that one of them would move, I was surprised when one did and it sank down into the lava. I needed to remember that it was the fourth one from the lava to my left so as to not waste any time pushing the wrong one by accident. Looking back at the device, I wanted to try it again in hopes of creating another path that could take me somewhere else. I also felt it was going to become a common occurrence around here so mastering its controls was in my best interest. The cracked wall was clearly hiding something and looked out of place.

Taking out a bomb, I placed it in front of the cracked wall and it exploded revealing the way forward. In the next room, I could see three Peahats sleeping on the other side of some blocks, and was surprised that they could survive in such an environment. Heading right, I quickly discovered that it lead to a dead end and a pool of lava which was the same one from the previous room. Heading back the other way, there was a staircase which went downstairs into a tunnel. Entering it, the heat was starting to get to me but I shook it off knowing I needed to be stronger if I was going to survive.

Upon taking a single step forward, I stopped when something launched itself from the lava below. "Yikes!" I shouted as a fireball with eyes almost roasted me before it plunged back down into the lava. "What in the world was that!?"

"That was a Lava Bubble." Princess Twilight answered.

"Why does that name sound familiar?"

"It's also known as a Podoboo."

I wanted to pound my head against a wall when Her Highness mentioned that name but refrained from it. This was another enemy from the Mario series though it actually made sense being in this world as it didn't stand out. Instead, it fit in pretty well. "I take it I can't defeat this thing?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "It's an obstacle that must be avoided. It will try to leap forth from the lava in order to surprise you. The damage it inflicts is minimal but the main issue is that they can knock you into the lava from whence they come from."

"How can I survive getting hit by a fireball?"

"You'd be surprised as to what you can be hit by."

"I've already seen plenty of that already."

Coughing, Princess Twilight returned to the matter at hand. "There is about a three second gap every time they drop back into the lava and leap forth again. Use that to your advantage and you can safely cross this room without getting singed. Patience is required here, Sunset, otherwise things will get hot pretty quick."

If that was meant to be a joke, Her Highness did a terrible job of it. Looking ahead at the different pools of lava, I could see at least five Lava Bubbles (I was going to refer to them as such from now on) with the latter two requiring me to get past them by using some ladders. Suddenly, I began to feel woozy as the heat began getting to me again. Shaking it off, I took out the Roc's Feather and prepared myself. When the Lava Bubble leapt upwards from the lava before dropping back down again, I jumped over and landed on the next platform just as the second one leapt forth.

All five came forth from the lava at once so there was no need for me to figure out five different patterns. Jumping past the next couple of pits, I reached the ladders and saw just how small most of them were. One slip up and I would accidentally plunge into lava. I wished that I were a Goron right now as they loved walking about in lava and would make this ordeal an easier experience, but I knew I couldn't as that ability came from a different adventure. Waiting for the Lava Bubbles to leap upwards, they did so only to quickly drop down again due to the low ceiling.

Once they were gone, I jumped and grabbed the ladder closest to me before shimmying along and reaching the one that would get me out of this tunnel. Climbing up it and re-entering the dungeon, this next room featured pits, pots, a locked door, and four Ropes that were minding their own business. I could also see a chest and I wanted it as it was sure to contain something I needed. Picking up a pot, I tossed it at a Rope which defeated it instantly. While it was a nice change of pace seeing weak monsters, this was merely the calm before the storm.

Using the remaining pots to defeat the Ropes, the door unlocked which allowed me to progress further, but first I opened the chest and took out a Stone Beak. Finding this early was also a blessing as I was certain I'd need help with whatever devious puzzles lurked ahead. Choosing to head north rather than go back through the tunnel with the Lava Bubbles, I walked around the chest and entered the next room where both doors locked themselves. At this point, I wasn't surprised whenever it happened as it meant having to face against something difficult.

Sure enough, I was seeing that 'difficult' in the form of Rover. "Huh? What's this thing doing here?"

Princess Twilight stared at it with a puzzled look. "That's the monster you defeated in the Face Shrine."

"But why is it here and now?" When I defeated Rover before, it left behind a warp panel indicating its status as a mid-boss, a naming convention I hadn't used throughout this adventure thus far, so would the same thing apply here?

That's when Her Highness realized something. "The princesses warned us about this! They said that you were going to face off against those you've faced before in this dungeon and this is what they meant. If Rover here is any indication, I'm sure you know what else could be waiting in any of the remaining rooms."

Oh crap! That means I've got to fight all of the mid-bosses from the previous dungeons. "Um... Does that mean I have to fight say... Cozy Glow again or the Master Stalfos?" I chose those two as my examples as they both really pushed me to my limits when I faced them in their respective dungeons. "I'm not liking the idea of having to fight these guys again for a second time."

"No, I believe Cozy Glow and Master Stalfos were one-time only opponents."

"Whew!"

"I don't think Turtle Rock is that cruel of a place." Princess Twilight then took a closer look at Rover. "Hmmm... It looks like nothing has changed with Rover. That means don't expect it to suddenly unleash any new attacks, having some kind of alternate form, or even behaving in a different manner. If this remains true of the others, you can just apply the same strategies you used before provided you remember them. After all, some of these monsters you haven't seen in a very long time and you might need a refresher on them."

"So I should do what I did against Rover the last time?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "Yes. You do remember what you did before, right?"

I nodded. "I need to toss that ball at it in order to do damage. Come now, Twilight! You should give me credit! Sure, I've been forgetting more and more about my first adventure, but you can forgive me since it was a long time ago."

"Just thought I'd test you."

Not the kind of test I was expecting from her. I knew that I did forget some things, but there were other things I made sure to never forget because they could be applied to my own life and they happened to be very memorable. With so much going on in my mind, I did have trouble focusing on what was deemed important, but then everyone had a lot going on in their heads. Humanity was often about trying to handle multiple events all at once with the vast majority just being unable to handle it all choosing to focus instead on what they viewed as more important.

So far, Rover hadn't made any movements which gave me a moment to figure out what to do. If this was the same fight like last time, it wasn't going to take me long to defeat it again and continue on. I then thought about what other mid-bosses could be lurking about in the dungeon. Some of them were pretty simple once their attack pattern had been figured out while others almost killed me because of how devious they were. I was really hoping for the former especially since I was going to be fighting quite a few of them before I was done here.

It then picked up the Heavy Ball that was to its right and began bouncing around with it above its head. As I recalled, I needed to use the ball against it in order to inflict any kind of damage. It eventually tossed the ball at me which sailed over my head and landed in the corner of the room. Picking it up using my own strength, Rover turned around and bounced away prompting me to chase after it. Princess Twilight was right that this fight would be like before as it was doing exactly the same things it did last time.

Tossing the ball, it hit Rover from behind before bouncing and coming to a stop in the northwest corner. It then managed to get to the ball before I could when it then picked it up and began chasing me again. Raising my Mirror Shield, it tossed the ball where it bounced off and landed to my left where Rover lifted it up again. Tossing it straight away since I was standing right next to it, I got hit in the chest which made me drop to my knees. Yeah... Even the pain hadn't changed from last time. Before I had a chance of retaliating, I got hit again upon it picking up the ball and tossing it again.

If this was a sign of things to come, the other mid-bosses were going to be a nightmare. What was even worse was the fact that there had to be a brand new one hiding somewhere in the dungeon. However, I couldn't think about that as I had this problem to deal with. The Heavy Ball landed next to me which I then picked up prompting Rover to turn and bounce away again. As much as this was somewhat cute, it was annoying more than anything else as all it did was prolong things. I sighed before chasing it and then tossing the ball which smacked it in the back again.

"I'm doing this a lot faster than last time." I commented as I picked up the ball again.

"Since you've done this before, you know exactly what to do."

"It makes me think that perhaps Rover and the other returning mid-bosses are just here to slow me down."

Her Highness looked at me with a perplexing look. "Mid-bosses... Right! I remember you calling them by such a name during the last adventure. Surprised that you never referred to them at all by that distinction. Guess you must have forgotten about it or never really took it to heart."

I blushed as I tossed the Heavy Ball which hit Rover for a third time, this time in its face or whatever constituted as such. "I guess in the heat of the moment, I never considered giving them the title of mid-boss since I just saw them as stronger monsters compared to the rest of them. Guess they were deserving of that at least. Anyway, do you think Rover will be gone for good once I've defeated it again?"

Princess Twilight shook her head. "No... It's going to re-spawn in this very room after you've explored some later rooms. When you defeated the Hinox in Eagle's Tower, I mentioned that there was a chance that it could re-appear though it never happened. Unless you don't need to come this way in the near future, you might have to fight Rover again."

"Seriously!?"

"You know I'm serious."

Having to fight Rover a third time was definitely something I wanted to avoid. If this was going to be the case with the other returning mid-bosses, this dungeon was going to be truly heavy on both combat and surviving. I knew it would take longer than the others but I didn't expect anything like this. Why was it that these final challenges had to go completely insane by throwing every conceivable thing at a person just because it would be amusing seeing them go through familiar experiences? Sighing, I knew complaining would do nothing. I was here and just had to grin and bear it.

Suddenly, I got smacked in the chest due to focusing on my grievances instead of on Rover. Dropping to my knees, I clutched my chest and watched as it bounced over and picked up the Heavy Ball again. Standing up, I turned and ran this time as it chased me before tossing the ball which hit me in the back causing me to stumble for a few moments before regaining my balance. The ball landed by my feet which was pretty convenient so I picked up and now it turned and bounced away. Rather than chase after it, I tossed the ball as hard as I could and somehow managed to hit it from behind even when it was on the other side of the room.

The fourth hit turned out to be enough as Rover began exploding several times before disappearing in one final explosion. This caused all doors to become unlocked and a fairy appeared where Rover had been. Grabbing it, my health was restored though I wasn't feeling good on the inside. After all, I had only defeated one returning mid-boss. There were still many others waiting for me to reach them and I had no idea where they were located. I had to be extra cautious from now on otherwise I could suddenly find myself completely taken by surprise.

"One down... Many more to go."

"You can defeat them all again, Sunset."

I sighed. "It's not that I'm bothered about but rather the fact that they've all gathered here in the final dungeon."

"This is something you were warned about."

"I know..." I sighed once again. "I've got no problem beating them all again. I just wished it had been in one of Zecora's custom dungeon challenges instead of in a main one. What makes this even worse is that there's still the main mid-boss lurking around somewhere in here."

"That explains why no warp panel appeared when you defeated Rover."

"Only the true mid-boss of a dungeon leaves one of those behind."

"And since this dungeon is larger than all the previous dungeons, you've definitely got your work cut out for you this time." Princess Twilight then changed the subject. "You should take a look at the map to see where we are. It might help us figure out which way to go next."

Nodding, I took it out and peered at it. "Okay... The tunnel we took brought us down here to the turtle's bottom right foot. If we go left from here, we'd end up back in the room where we saw that Vire. Heading north doesn't seem to go anywhere or maybe it does and I just can't see it right away. Twilight, could you mark this room as being where Rover was. I want to remember this so as to avoid coming back through here as best as I can."

She nodded and made a note on the map without causing any damage before I put it away. Choosing to head north, I entered the next room where the door once again locked behind me. Ignoring that, I raised my shield upon a Beamos firing its laser at me. It bounced back and struck the eye causing it to shut down. With that taken care of, I looked around to see if there was another exit. Sure enough, there was one in the form of a staircase in the northwest corner. I could also see a switch hidden underneath a pot which should unlock the door when pressed. To my left was an Owl Statue so I needed to see what it had to say.

Heading left across some rather narrow stretches of floor, a pair of Green Zols popped up from the ground. I defeated each one with a simple swing of my sword yet only one of them dropped a green rupee which I grabbed before it plunged into the abyss though it wasn't a big deal if it had since rupees weren't as important now. Approaching the statue and taking out the Stone Beak, I pressed it against the statue to hear what it had to say. 'Fill all the holes with the rock that rolls. This is the key!' Rock? Did it mean that device from before that filled in the lava which allowed me to cross?

Hmmm... Now this was information that would definitely come in handy. I had a sneaking suspicion that there would be more of those devices scattered about the dungeon and this statue pretty much confirmed it. Removing the Stone Beak and putting it away, pressing the switch to unlock the door was tempting but I wanted to see what lurked down below in the next tunnel. Heading down the stairs, I couldn't see much what with a wall blocking my path, but I could hear sounds of footsteps coming from below. Walking up to the edge, I saw a small ladder with a moving platform underneath it.

Waiting for the right moment, when it did, I climbed down and onto the platform. Good thing too because if I had missed, my butt would've been skewered by spikes. There was also a Goomba which walked right through the spikes without touching them. I didn't know if this was a glitch or some weird anomaly but I felt jealous that it had such an immunity while I had to avoid it at all costs. Reaching another ladder (A longer one mind you) and climbing up it, I took out the Roc's Feather and jumped from platform to platform making sure to avoid the Spark rotating around one of them. 

At the end was yet another ladder which I climbed in order to re-enter the dungeon once again. In this next room, there was no staircase to take me back down to the tunnel which meant it had either been a one-way staircase, or a puzzle needed solving. My instincts were leaning towards the second option as I had encountered two Arm-Mimics. While they weren't that much of a threat, they definitely hit hard if I accidentally bumped into them due to being stupid. Remembering how best to handle them, neither one moved until I did and began corralling them near me.

Holding out my sword, I began to charge it up before unleashing a Spin Attack which defeated both at the same time  revealing the staircase back to the previous tunnel. However, I was more interested in the door that never locked when I came in. Before I could do anything else, a fireball hit me from behind followed by another one. Turning around, I could see that the torches were shooting them at me. Ignoring them, I went north through the door and entered the next room. If there was a pot convention around here, this was it as I could see so many.

There were also two Sparks that were trapped by the pots so for the moment, I had a chance to catch my breath and think things through. Taking out the map again, I looked to see where I was and immediately felt disappointed. "The next room over is where we started! Are you kidding me!?" Sure enough, the entry room was right next to this one. "Have we gone in a complete circle here?"

Princess Twilight then looked at the map. "It does appear to be the case. I had a feeling Turtle Rock was going to be confusing, but I wasn't expecting it to be like this. I know you want to warp back to the beginning using Manbo's Mambo, but perhaps you should try and see if you can access any of the rooms near this one. You might find something useful or maybe find another means of progressing further towards the front of the turtle."

Upon seeing the locked door to my threat, I didn't see the same kind of enthusiasm. "Maybe I should warp back to the start just in case." I then gazed at all the pots and thought perhaps there was a switch hiding underneath one just like before. "Okay, I'll see what I can do to make some progress."

"Be sure to watch out for those Sparks."

I began picking up some pots and tossing them at other ones to smash them all thus speeding up the process. "So far, I don't see anything." I then got hit by a Spark which caused me to drop a pot where it landed on my foot. Wincing in pain, I took out the Boomerang and tossed it at both, defeating them, and making two fairies appear. Grabbing both which made my foot immediately feel better, I continued picking and tossing pots until I uncovered a switch. "Figures it would be underneath the last one to pick up!"

"How unlucky but at least you managed to find something."

"I suppose so."

"I've been noticing that the lava has been affecting you."

"Humans aren't meant to be close to such things." I then began to stumble about due to the heat of the lava affecting me. This caused me to press the switch which unlocked two of the doors before I stumbled backwards and fell on my butt with a thud. "I guess small rooms like this make things even worse regarding the lava." I then noticed Her Highness looked perfectly fine in comparison to me which made me feel both curious and annoyed. "How are you putting up with so much heat?" I said upon getting back up on my feet.

"As a fairy, I'm immune to such conditions."

I just stood there for a few moments without saying a word. I then responded in a defeated manner. "It makes me wish that I could be a fairy as then I wouldn't be suffering from the temperature increase. Or better yet, be wearing some clothes that prevent the heat from affecting me!"

"If you were a fairy, who would be the chosen hero?"

"Well..." I answered as I pointed at Her Highness.

"Guess I should've seen that coming."

"Anyway, I'll see what's in the room to the right." Without the pots, it was easy enough for me to just walk over and enter the next room. In fact, I wanted to go through the door quickly as this heat was really beginning to get to me. The next room contained a chest without anything guarding it which made me suspicious. Unfortunately, there was even more lava so once again I began feeling woozy. "Twilight... It's getting harder for me to handle being in rooms filled with lava."

"This could be a problem especially if the Nightmare is in a room with lava."

I hadn't thought of that before but now that Her Highness mentioned it, I felt rather ill all of a sudden. If the Nightmare was in a lava filled room, with how I was being affected by the intense heat, it would be an absolute disaster for me. I needed to find some way of getting used to it. For now, I needed to focus on making my way through the dungeon. Opening the chest, smoke billowed out from it before a Green Zol jumped out and bumped into me. Crap! A fake chest! Defeating it, I took out the Roc's Feather and jumped across a river of lava before continuing on and entering another room.

My quick reflexes stopped me from stepping into an abyss prompting me to move back and falling down on my butt again. Getting up, I could see another device on the other side of the room which meant I had gone the wrong way. What made it even worse was that I remembered what the Owl Statue said about filling in the holes. There was going to be an important item that would appear upon solving this puzzle and that meant defeating Rover for a third time. It was my worst case scenario! I knew backtracking would become a problem in this dungeon but I was expecting a different outcome.

Grumbling under my breath, I began to make the long trek back to this room but doing so from the other side. Heading back the other way and jumping over the lava river again, I entered the next previous room and ignored the pots since nothing was in any of them. Heading south, I ignored both Arm-Mimics as I had since made the staircase appear so defeating them was pointless. Going back down into the tunnel and using the Roc's Feather, I jumped across each platform before landing on the moving platform just as it had reached my side so again my butt was saved from getting poked.

Climbing up a couple of ladders and entering the dungeon again, I raised my shield as I remembered there was a Beamos in this room. Like before, the laser bounced back and struck it which caused it to shut down. The Green Zols then popped up from the ground intending on blocking my path but were quickly taken out with two sword swings. Breathing heavy, I entered the room where Rover had been and was prepared to fight it again. To my surprise, it didn't make an appearance. I must not have gotten far away enough or explored more rooms to make it appear here. Whew!

Taking the left door, I was back in the room with the device but was now on the correct side. "Okay, so I need to use my mind in order to control this?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "If this were a video game, you would be using a controller in order to make it move. Since this is real life, you need to use your mind. Before you do anything though, you should take a closer look at the formation of this abyss. If what that Owl Statue said is true, you need to fill in every single space until the abyss has been covered up completely to succeed.

I rolled my eyes at her video game reference before focusing on the task at hand. "What would happen if I end up doing this wrong?"

"Just leave the room and come back."

"Is it really that simple?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "Just because something looks complicated doesn't make it so."

"And what about Rover?"

"It shouldn't re-spawn but if you're unsure, you might want to solve this puzzle the first time."

"Such confidence."

"It's my job."

Looking at the shape of the abyss, I could tell that I needed to cover up the top of it before making my way down and covering up what remains. I needed to focus on making sure not to make a mistake otherwise I'd be forced to start over again. At least I could push the device forward as something told me it wouldn't move initially with mind power. Pushing it forward and focusing my mind, it began covering up the abyss which continued to impress me knowing I was creating actual land from nothing.

Weaving it upwards to reach the top, I accidentally moved it downward which caused me to lose my concentration and the device hit the side where it vanished. Cursing under my breath for my bad luck (So much for my good fortune lasting all that long), I went back to Rover's room where it still hadn't come back before turning around and heading back into the previous room where the abyss had been restored to what it was originally thus removing my blunder. If Her Highness hadn't been right, I'd have been denied whatever item would appear from solving this puzzle.

Pushing the device to get it moving, I concentrated my mind on making sure to get it right this time. It weaved its way up to the top covering the abyss with tiles and this time nothing went wrong though I couldn't become overconfident. Once I had covered up the top, I began moving the device down which was when I noticed how everything else needed to be covered up. This puzzle wasn't difficult provided you figured things out quickly. Weaving it along and filling up the final spaces, the abyss had been transformed into proper ground which also gave me a shortcut of sorts.

Upon solving the puzzle, a small key dropped down and landed on the other side of the room. Walking across the now complete floor, I picked it up and pocketed it. I had no idea where I could use it but having it made me feel more confident as I wouldn't be blocked from progressing straight away. Taking out the map again, it was clear that there wasn't much else I could do unless I defeated that Vire back in that one room. Either that or use that first device in order to see where else I could reach. In any case, I had to try both directions but it came down to which one was more important.

Thinking it over, I decided to defeat the Vire. My heart was telling me that I needed to defeat it in order to access the western side of the dungeon. I was about to take out the ocarina before looking at the map again and seeing that I could reach the room in question just by continuing heading west. Putting away the map and heading west, I jumped over the lava river with the Roc's Feather, the heat began affecting me resulting in tripping on nothing and falling flat on my face.

Getting back up, I kept on walking and into the next room with all the pots. Something I didn't notice my first time in this room was a flying Magic Powder icon situated in the center of the room. Considering how rarely I've been using the stuff, grabbing it wasn't really important. Besides, it'd mean having to free the two Sparks that were trapped. I'd rather not do that given the heat was causing me problems again. Weaving in-between the pots and walking through the door, it locked behind me but more importantly, the Vire was right in front of me and looked to be ready for more.

"Do you remember how to defeat this monster?"

I nodded. "I just need to bounce back its fireballs, right?"

"Yes, in order to make it dive down at you."

"I just hope this heat doesn't get to me."

Her Highness didn't know how best to respond to my concerns initially but eventually came up with something. "You need to try and see how long you can last in such rooms. Think of it as a test of endurance. You become more adjusted the longer you last."

"Am I going to enjoy this?"

"Not in the least, but no one ever said it would be enjoyable."

Again, if I had the power to become a Goron, or was wearing clothes that were heat resistant. I wouldn't be having this problem right now. Come to think of it, I remembered how spending too much time in such heat was seen as detrimental to my health to the point of death. Shuddering at remembering such anguish, I focused on defeating the Vire before this heat could really make me feel uncomfortable. Her Highness was doing her best at giving me much needed confidence but there were some things not even speeches could help deal with. I just wanted to get out of the heat as soon as possible.

It then shot its fireballs at me and I reflected them away with my shield. While I didn't hit it with them, it was enough to make it dive down in order to attack using its sharp claws. Striking with my sword, it backed off before shooting more fireballs at me which hit my shield before reflecting off and this time hitting it, knocking it back though apparently not doing any damage. Diving back down in retaliation, it hit me with its claws but before it could fly away, I managed to hit it again where it split into two large bats which started flapping about. These had to be the Big Keese Her Highness said would appear upon a Vire's defeat.

Both then flew at me and I responded by swinging my sword defeating both. Huh... That was a lot easier than I thought it was. Having a more powerful weapon certainly helped which made me think that going through Turtle Rock with just a regular sword would've been utterly foolish yet not an impossibility. If I were more confident in my abilities, I'd have refrained from getting the stronger sword. I was more focused on surviving as opposed to wanting to prove some kind of point and go in with little in the way of equipment.

Upon defeating the Vire, both doors unlocked which now allowed me to access the western rooms. Heading left into the next room, I was immediately hit by the laser beam of another Beamos. Aside from three Ropes, three blocks, and even more lava, there was nothing else about this room that stood out. Why did there have to be more lava? I was really starting to hate how there was so many rooms where it flowed through unimpeded. Oh well. Raising my head, I waited for the eye of the Beamos to rotate around when it fired at me again where I then reflected it back, shutting it down upon getting hit.

As I defeated the three Ropes, I felt rather sorry for them. They weren't doing anything and there I was taking them down all because the way forward was locked. They even made a cute noise whenever they got hit which further added to my guilt of attacking them. I couldn't let such things get to me. They were monsters and used their appearances as a means of making me lower my guard. Still... I just felt bad for them. No doubt this was Fluttershy's influence at work here and it was appreciated. Perhaps in another world, Ropes were much kinder and weren't seen as monsters.

Entering the next room, the doors once again locked, but I was more concerned with what was in here, and I wasn't happy about it at all. "Another Hinox!?"

"Notice that this one is blue in colour?"

I nodded. "If I remember, the first one was orange and the second one was red. Does this mean this one is just as strong as the other two were?"

"Correct."

"And here I thought each one would be stronger than the last."

"Different colours of the same monster don't always denote strength."

"At least this time there are no holes to give me trouble."

Princess Twilight agreed by nodding. "Since you have a much stronger sword, you should be able to defeat this Hinox quite quickly. Think of it as your reward for going through so much trouble collecting those Secret Seashells by going off the beaten path. Also remember that it can re-spawn if you explore enough so do keep that in mind. For what it's worth, you might be able to ignore it entirely in the future if the doors remain unlocked."

Unlike Rover's room which was off to the side, this room was more towards the middle of the dungeon. I might be forced to come back through this way later which would mean having to fight it again. Once it finally took notice of me, it  began stumbling forward where it immediately grabbed me before I could react. It then tossed me behind its shoulders where I crashed into the back wall and slumped down in a slight daze. Getting up, I quickly had to dodge a few bombs that got tossed my way which each exploded.

It then stumbled at me again but I struck it with my sword though it didn't stop it from grabbing me a second time. I was then tossed forward, hitting another wall, and slumping down before getting up again. The Hinox then threw another bomb where it exploded with the impact knocking me back into the wall hitting my head instead of my back. Laying on the ground in a daze, I began thinking about all those times where my body took such an awful beating. How I managed to walk away from such beatings continued to amaze me as clearly I shouldn't have survived most of them.

Getting up again, it tossed a third bomb which I avoided before walking up to and hitting it with my sword. I was about to do so again when it grabbed me and threw me forward where I hit a different wall with my head. Again, most of these wounds should've killed me. If not for the blue tunic, these wounds would've been much worse. Once I was back on my feet, it stumbled towards me and I hit it again which turned out to be enough. Coming to a sudden stop, it began flailing its arms in a frenzy followed by exploding several times and then disappearing in a final one.

"Wow... I did defeat it quite quickly."

"Having a stronger sword does help."

"I'll say it does."

"By the way... Are you alright?"

I needed a moment to fully regain my composure before I could answer. "You'd think I just suffered some serious head trauma but I'm surprisingly fine. If not for this world's physics and the fact that we're in a different world, I'd have been dead way back at the start of this adventure."

"You did take some heavy blows to the head."

"I'll recover once I can regain some health." Upon saying that, I noticed a fairy having appeared where the Hinox had fallen. "Speak of which..." I grabbed it which restored my strength and caused my head to stop throbbing in agony which is had been for some time. "Since I defeated two mid-bosses in a different order than when they were fought originally, I can definitely say with absolute conviction that dungeon order got thrown out the window."

"Which means there's no way of knowing what one you'll encounter next."

"Or where for that matter."

"Are you going to take a look at the map again?"

I nodded. "Needing a constant reminder of where I am in a dungeon this big is going to be essential." Taking it out and looking at it, I was starting to make my way towards the other back foot of the turtle, but what made me happy was there was no lava to be found in any of the upcoming rooms so I could slightly relax knowing the heat wouldn't be an issue at least for the time being. "Hmmm... I can see a keyhole icon here in the central room."

"There's also a locked door nearby."

That dimmed my hopes. "Guess I need to find another small key somewhere." I then put the map back in my pocket and sighed heavily. "This might take a bit."

"I'm sure you'll find one eventually."

"I could really use the Compass right about now." It then dawned on me that the Hinox wasn't guarding anything of value. In fact, it's only purpose was to impede my progress which was pretty typical at this point. "I'm appreciating having a stronger sword more than ever now." Her Highness didn't understand what I was talking about at first but she quickly deduced the meaning behind my words in relation to not getting much from the previous fight.

Heading into the next room, I came across another device. Unlike the previous puzzle, this one was way more simple. It then begged the question of why there was a harder one back there and an easier one over here? Maybe it was best for me not to question it and just accept it. Pushing the device, I focused on keeping it in a straight line before having it turn to the right then to the left before having it turn left again and continue going south until I had filled up the abyss. Messing this one up would've just been plain embarrassing so I'm glad I solved it on my first attempt.

When the device disappeared, a chest materialized to the right of where I was standing. Opening it up, I took out a red rupee which made me feel conflicted. Having more money was never a bad thing as I never knew when I'd need more supplies that couldn't be found by grinding for them. However, considering how close I was to the end, rupees weren't that important as opposed to say getting my hands on a new item or something useful like the Compass  I doubted a puzzle like this would've given me an item as it was way too easy. No, the usual method involved defeating a mid-boss instead.

Choosing to go north, I entered a room where it was so dark that I had trouble seeing anything. Luckily, the slithering sounds of a couple of Ropes warned me that they were present. There were also two torches yet I couldn't reach either one on account that barriers were blocking me. I took out some Magic Powder and tossed it at a torch where it didn't even come close to igniting it. This caused both Ropes to slither towards me and I defeated both with a sword strike each leaving me to try lighting it again.

"Nope! The powder just can't reach it!"

"Then you need to find something that can light torches from a distance."

"What did you have in mind?"

Princess Twilight had to take a moment to figure out what I could potentially use here. "Hmmm... The only thing that comes to mind would be some kind of magic wand." My immediate reaction was a 'seriously' one which made her laugh in response. "Yeah, I know what you mean, Sunset. After all, wands are pretty archaic and we unicorns and alicorns rely on our horns in order to use magic."

"But... Since I can't use my magic nor can you use yours, a magic wand does make sense."

"I suppose you're right."

"Plus, it's the closest thing I'll get to use in terms of magic."

"You just need to find where this wand is hidden."

I sighed. "Given how big this dungeon is, that could take quite a while. Besides, it's highly likely to be guarded by the true mid-boss which means I need to find it which by process of elimination would mean finding the wand shortly after. In the mean time, could you make a note of this room? I know I need to come back here since why have a puzzle like this that requires a specific item if there isn't something valuable that you get for solving it in return?" I took out the map and pointed at my current location. "Also, could you mark where the Hinox was fought for future reference too?"

"Note of this room taken!" Princess Twilight announced as she made two marks on it.

Putting the map away again, I went back to the previous room only to see that the puzzle had been reset back to the way it was. "Huh? I thought that it would be solved for good considering it was a puzzle."

"I guess it was just a temporary solution."

"It makes sense since there are two ways to go."

"If this happened here, I'm willing to bet it's going to happen with the other devices as well."

While it was unfortunate that these device puzzles reset themselves, it was just a minor inconvenience. After all, there were far worse puzzles I had overcome including those that relied heavily on using physical prowess to overcome them. A part of me was curious as to how this was even created given the island didn't have much technology but the answer likely had to do with the Wind Fish thinking it up and wanting to see if anyone could figure it out... Or perhaps the Nightmare was responsible. Either way, it wasn't really important overall.

Pushing a block because I knew it had to move, I approached the device and pushed it. Focusing my efforts on solving the puzzle again, the abyss was slowly covered up with ground until there was no more of it. Just before continuing on, I did notice a second block on the other side of the room that was just on its own. No doubt that it could be pushed in order to reach the door as well as the device. Convenient? I'd say so though whether it was practical remained to be seen given my location and all.

Heading south into the next room, there was another chest though it was being guarded by two Sparks and surrounded by some small holes. In front of me hovering on the other side of another hole was a flying heart icon though I didn't need since I had full health. The chest definitely had me curious as to what could be contained within it yet something was gnawing in my mind saying it wouldn't be worth it. Jumping across the hole with the Roc's Feather, I accidentally landed on one of the Sparks which did give me a slight jolt in return. Choosing to focus on them, I whipped out the boomerang,  hitting both and defeating them.

Picking up the two fairies that appeared, I opened up the chest and took out a purple rupee. Again, I had mixed feelings. If I had been more inclined towards going through those custom dungeon challenges Zecora had, collecting rupees would make sense seeing as I'd need to restock on supplies constantly in order to get through them all. But, since that would take a very long time and I had every intention of finishing this adventure, finding money just didn't seem all that rewarding. Had this been earlier on where money proved problematic, I'd be singing a much different tune.

Jumping back across and entering the next room, the doors locked behind me and I encountered my next mid-boss where I drew a complete blank. "Um... Which one was this again?"

"This would be the Spike Roller."

I scratched my head in confusion. "Can you tell me about this one again? I mean, when was the last time I even fought this one?"

"Way back in the first dungeon."

My jaw dropped slightly. "Whoa... That explains why I don't remember this one. It also amazes me that whoever came up with this wanted to bring back a mid-boss from way back then given that I'm much stronger now than I was back then."

Princess Twilight nodded. "I'd consider this more of a surprise encounter and it had the desired effect. Anyway, Spike Roller, as its name implies, will roll the spiked bar you see on the ground at you. It won't do much damage but it will roll back the other way and can catch you off guard if you're not careful."

"Anything else?"

"If I remember from before, it will bounce around in an attempt to damage you."

"I'm guessing it won't take long for me to defeat it?"

"Do you want me to answer that question?" Princess Twilight asked with a sarcastic tone in her voice.

Sarcasm aside, Her Highness was right about this not taking very long though I felt foolish for asking the question in the first place. I just needed to remember that stronger swords did more damage though I had yet to use the sword beam which I could use when at full health. To be fair, I had actually forgotten all about it seeing as it was getting harder and harder to maintain full health what with so many monsters and traps doing what they could to bring it down and ultimately killing me. Of course, not all monsters were affected by a blade and some had higher stamina than others did.

As I thought about the sword beam, I decided to try it out just to see what I could do with it. Before Spike Roller had a chance to do anything, I swung my sword and a beam of light shot out from it taking me by surprise. It was so sudden that the beam sailed over its head and hit the back wall where it sputtered out. I didn't think it would come out so quickly and with such precision but as expected, I messed up big time because of course I would. Practice was definitely needed if I intended on using this technique more often but using it on a mid-boss was a terrible idea.

Before I could use another sword beam, Spike Roller pushed the spiked bar along the ground forcing me to pull out the Roc's Feather and immediately jumping over it. Performing a successful leap and landing safely, I winced upon feeling a sharp pain on my ankle. Looking down, I could see that it got caught on a spike which made it bleed. The injury wasn't too bad though I cursed myself for focusing on one thing and ignoring another. Placing the feather on my belt and jumping back over the bar as it came the other way, I prepared for the next attack which should happen soon enough.

Pushing the bar again after it got back to its starting point, I jumped over it and slashed it though it began bouncing around in an effort to both confuse me and inflict some damage of its own. It then pushed me with rather large hands and continued pushing me towards the bar as it was rolling back before I got hit in my ankle again. Wincing from the pain, the bar continued rolling before being pushed towards me for a third time. Jumping over it, I slashed it twice and was about to get in a third when I started getting pushed back again.

Despite pushing me, I managed to hit it again which ended up being enough to defeat it. As it began to explode, it's body started to jiggle which made me feel nauseous, but it soon passed when it disappeared in a final explosion leaving behind a fairy. Upon picking it up, the wounds on my ankle healed and all three doors unlocked. Now that I defeated a third mid-boss, I was beginning to think that this whole re-match thing wasn't as bad as I initially thought. Sure, it was inconvenient as their main purpose involved slowing me down but so far this plan had failed.

"That went pretty well."

"Aside from your ankle getting hurt, I must agree."

"You can blame Spike Roller for being aggressive."

"I also saw that you used a sword beam for the first time... With less than impressive results."

I blushed with embarrassment. "I totally botched that."

Princess Twilight shook her head. "No... You did the best you could with what information you were given. I have to place blame on Adagio as she should've showed you the correct way to unleash a sword beam. My guess is that she assumed she didn't need to teach you anything thinking it was common knowledge or something. Perhaps I can provide some pointers so that you can avoid such embarrassment later."

"Oh? You can show me?"

"Maybe not with an example but through words."

"You can pretend you're holding a sword."

Her Highness looked at her hands and realized that she could show me what to do. "Okay! Since I went and made such a bold claim, I might as well see it through. Watch carefully as you're only going to see this once." She pretended to stand in a fighting stance before swinging her arms forward whilst showing great control. She then repeated this a few times before finally stopping when she began to blush a bright red. "I can't believe I just went and did that. Don't tell anyone otherwise I'd never be able to show my face in Equestria again."

I closed my eyes and waved my hand. "Your secret is safe with me. Besides, what you did was actually very generous. I believe I got the gist of what you were trying to convey despite the obvious humiliation." Swinging my sword and focusing my willpower, I fired a sword beam that sailed across and hit the back wall in a matter of moments before doing it again. I fired a few more just to see if what I did hadn't been a fluke. "Wow! This is a pretty cool technique."

"And if you never got your stronger sword, you'd have never known about it."

"When you put it that way, you're right."

"Despite the drawbacks it has, the sword beam can be useful in the right situation."

Yeah... I actually wasn't fond of its restrictions despite knowing that they were necessary to prevent anyone from abusing it. Sure, being able to shoot beams from a sword with no limits would defeat most monsters without any effort and yet it was also seen as an easy way out of most problems. Where was the challenge in that? I know I've complained at times when things got too intense but even I knew about doing things without resorting to cheating. It was only deemed honorable cheating when using it in order to accomplish something and there were no other options available.

Focusing on the task at hand, I had two potential rooms that could house things I needed to progress further, one to the north and the other to the south. Choosing to head south, I entered a room with a chest which looked like it was unguarded at first until I noticed something in the bottom right corner. It was a Vacuum Mouth, a monster I hadn't seen for quite some time and one that could prove troublesome. Moving towards it, I was suddenly enveloped in its vacuum-like field and began getting dragged towards it.

Two Green Zols then popped up from the ground next to the chest but were quickly consumed by the Vaccum Mouth with me about to become the next victim. Swinging my sword repeatedly as a means of hitting it, another sword beam fired which defeated it in one hit. Not exactly what I intended but it worked out all the same. Walking up to and opening the chest, I took out the Compass which pleased me immensely. Not only would I see where the remaining chests were hidden, the Nightmare's location would also be revealed. A good thing too since its location had been on my mind for a while.

Speaking of which, I took out the map to see what had been added to it. The location of the Nightmare was all the way in the head of the turtle. I had a long way to go given how I had only explored the southern rooms so far. Seven chests were unaccounted for though this didn't include any keys that would appear upon completing any puzzles. Aside from the other room I hadn't gone into, there wasn't anywhere else I could go aside from the central room. I could simply warp back to the start and make my way there or just go there casually and not be lazy about it.

Putting the map away, I went around the barrier and heading back into Spike Roller's room, before doing anything else, I asked Princess Twilight to mark down the location where I fought it for future reference though coming back this way any time soon wasn't in my current plans. Once Her Highness had used her magic after I took out the map yet again, I put it away again then entered the northern room where I encountered another Vire. The Compass made a noise indicating there was a key in here so defeating it was required. There were several holes so hopefully I wouldn't end up dropping into one.

Shooting fireballs in my direction, I raised my shield and reflected one back where it hit it. Screaming, it dove down and managed to hit me though I quickly responded by hitting it with my sword where it then retreated before shooting at me again. Dodging them and then another volley, I then reflected a third which didn't hit it though it did dive down again in order to get up close. Hitting it caused it to split into two Big Keese which immediately flew away leaving me wondering why they chose not to stay and fight. In any case, the door unlocked which caused a small key to drop down from the ceiling.

"Guess it's time to go back to that central room again."

Princess Twilight nodded in agreement. "It's the only place that you haven't fully explored though you should be able to get much further with those keys. Now, do you want to take the long way back or would you prefer to use Manbo's Mambo and take a shortcut instead?"

"I'll take the long way."

"Any particular reason?"

"It's not that far back and warping would be considered being lazy."

"If that's what you want to do, I won't persuade you otherwise."

It wasn't really that far back! If anything, it would just take me a few minutes provided nothing got in the way such as the Hinox coming back. Re-entering the Spike Roller's room and heading to the left, I entered the next room where I again ignored the flying heart icon. I supposed I could just collect it as it would take but a moment yet my health was good enough to survive whatever was coming up. Even in a dungeon like this, the smallest of mistakes could cost me everything and I couldn't afford to make one now when I'm so close.

Entering the room with the device, the puzzle had been reset once again. As I recalled from the map upon collecting the Compass, the room which had the torches that I couldn't light up contained a chest so going back there later was required. Hopefully, it wouldn't take long for me to find this supposed magic want Her Highness believes I'd find. Pushing the other block that could be moved, I braced myself for battle upon entering the Hinox's room. To my surprise, it didn't show up which meant I didn't get far enough away for it to re-spawn. Once more I dodged a potential roadblock.

Heading south into the next room, I immediately felt the temperature rise as I was reminded that I was inside of a volcano. Ignoring the Ropes, the Beamos managed to fire its laser at me which was reflected back with my shield and shut down upon getting hit. Entering the next room, I was one room north of the entrance, so if I wanted to leave to pick up something, the option was available. But, there was no need so instead I focused on what was before me, namely, a Vire that could be ignored as both doors remained unlocked.

Remembering that the Roc's Feather was still on my belt, I jumped over the river of lava and went north and entered the central room again. "See? That didn't take very long though I could've done without any lava."

"You just need to get used to it."

"I don't know if I can."

"You're going to need to seeing as many of the rooms up ahead have lava in them."

In my mind, I wanted to outright refuse but I knew that I couldn't. "Fine! I'll see what I can do about that!" To say that I was upset was an understatement. At least she could go about the dungeon without a care in the world while the same wasn't true for me. Sometimes, fate could be absolutely ruthless. Upon calming down, I began to focus on figuring out which way to go next. "Can you see anywhere else I can go?"

Flying ahead, Princess Twilight flittered about for several seconds before coming back to me. "There is a staircase to your right though if you can't get any further in that direction, you might end up getting stuck and be forced to backtrack a little. I also saw one of those key blocks at the northern end of this room but the way is hindered by some blocks. I have a feeling they can be pushed so you should try and see what happens."

"Anything else?"

"Not that I could see."

"Hmmm... Not many options to take I gather."

"At least you have something."

"Yeah..." I then thought about the staircase Her Highness mentioned a few moments ago. "If I were to see where that staircase goes, would I truly be stuck and be forced to backtrack or maybe even use Manbo's Mambo? Or, is it possible that I can get myself out of it?"

Thinking over what she witnessed whilst flying, Princess Twilight had an answer. "Well... I did see that you could jump down from one ledge to another..." And this was where the drawback was about to rear its ugly head. I could tell she was leaning towards that direction based on the tone in her voice. "It would take you into a previous room meaning you'd have to make your way back here again."

"A small sacrifice to pay."

"Glad you see you're so accepting of it."

"After what I've seen so far, backtracking isn't so bad."

"No, I guess not."

Walking up to the device, I pushed it and focused my mind on making it turn to the right in order to create a path to the staircase. Walking along the path I had created, I was about to head upstairs into a tunnel (A first for this adventure) when I noticed the path continued onwards. Looking back and forth between my options, I went with the second one and kept walking until I found another staircase as well as a cracked section in the wall. Choosing to take the staircase upwards, I entered a tunnel where the temperature suddenly dropped. It felt like being inside a freezer what with how cold it felt and soon I began to see why.

In front of me were a large assortment of ice-like blocks arranged in two large clusters. I touched the one that was closest to me and immediately pulled my hand back over just how cold it truly felt. As far as I could tell, there was no way to progress any further this way. None of this made sense at all! How could there be chunks of ice within a volcano!? I then took out a bomb and placed it in front of the ice block before climbing up a ladder to get away from the blast radius. It exploded seconds later and nothing happened. I suspected the rest of my items weren't going to be effective so I needed something warmer.

Still... It just baffled me that there was ice that blocked my path. I'd have been more accepting had it been lava flows but this took the cake. Perhaps the staircase that I ignored initially would also lead into a tunnel with similar conditions? If so then this way was impossible for the time being. My teeth began chattering so I went back into the warmth of the dungeon and examined the cracked section. It was hidden quite well out of the way which made me wonder what could be beyond it.

Taking out another bomb and placing it in front of the crack before stepping backwards, it exploded seconds later to reveal a path forward. Entering the next room, I was surprised to find it empty apart from a Crystal Switch. "Twilight? Do you suppose this was hidden here on purpose?"

"Considering how off the beaten path this room was, I'd say yes."

"That means there are those orange and blue tiles somewhere around here."

"Most likely."

"By the way, what do you make of those ice blocks?"

Thinking it over, Her Highness nodded slowly before sighing. "Definitely an obstacle I wasn't expecting to see especially around here. Knowing you, you've already complained about it doesn't make sense so I won't repeat anything." I knew she couldn't read minds but knowing how accurate she was made me feel slightly uncomfortable. "Anyway, there's nothing you can do about the ice until you can find a way to melt it."

"The dungeon item perhaps?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "Most likely the case."

"Guess I might as well go back and take the other path." I then walked up to the Crystal Switch and activated it. "Yeah... I'm not going to take any chances and hoped that this was the right decision." I then noticed another cracked section of wall indicating there had been a second way to enter this room. "Let me look at something quickly." Taking out the map and looking at my current location, it seemed that heading south would take me one room left of where I had fought Rover. I didn't even see a crack when I made my way through that room which explained why I never took much notice.

Then Princess Twilight looked at the map. "Guess we both should've paid attention huh?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"What about that other staircase?"

"Something tells me there's going to be ice blocks in that tunnel too."

"It does sound plausible."

Taking out the ocarina, Her Highness knew what I was about to do and had no objections. Playing Manbo's Mambo, I was wrapped in a bit before disappearing. Unlike using the song outside and needing to focus on where I wanted to go, there was only one place to go in a dungeon which did make things easier. Moments later, I was back at the entrance where once again I felt tempted towards leaving and picking up some extra items since I had the money. Again, I put such thoughts out of my mind.

Heading north back into the room where I found my first Vire, it had once again returned and immediately shot its fireballs at me. Ignoring it and jumping over the river of lava with the Roc's Feather, I continued north and entered the central room and made my way over to the device before taking a look at where I needed to go. The pool of lava was shaped in a way where one side was lined with blocks that could potentially be pushed. I needed to create a path that stopped right next to the correct one.

Since I couldn't exactly see that far ahead, it boiled down to guessing. It wasn't as bad as I was making it out to be since I could just leave the room and then come back in order to try again and get it right. Pushing the device, I focused on making a straight line though turning it right and then left at one point as it needed to end in-between two blocks. Upon finishing the path, somehow, I succeeded which surprised me as usually I had to do something like this a few times before it worked out. Walking across my path, I could feel the heat of the lava once again make me feel woozy. 

Upon reaching the other side, I felt like wanting to collapse and take a nap since the heat was getting too much. No mere mortal was meant to endure such conditions! Shaking my head, I pushed the block to my left and it submerged into the lava. I could tell this was the wrong way as I could barely make out a dead-end. Pushing the other block where it too sank into the lava, I walked forward and saw the key block Princess Twilight mentioned earlier. Inserting one of my small keys into the top and turning it left, it disappeared leaving me with choosing either left or right.

Choosing left, I encountered the three Peahats I saw when I was here last, yet they still hadn't noticed me. From what I could tell, heading in this direction would lead me to another dead-end. Was this meant to confuse me by luring me down a path only for it to amount to nothing? I took out the map and checked to make sure I was right about this. Sure enough, there was nothing over here so it was a dead-end. I thought about defeating them but there was no reason. They weren't doing anything so attacking them would just make me a bully.

Putting the map away and walking back, I then watched a pair of fireballs shoot out in front of me. Turning around to see where they came from, I could see a Vire that looked like it wanted to catch up. As it continued throwing its projectiles, I reflected them back with the Mirror Shield but I wasn't having much success as it was pretty narrow and the lava was still an issue. Choosing to focus on not wanting to collapse from the heat, I jumped over a small river of lava with the Roc's Feather, grabbing a flying heart icon unintentionally before unlocking the door with my last key.

In the next room, I stopped upon witnessing two Blade Traps slide towards and collided with each other. "I hate it when those things attempt to catch me by surprise. It's easy for you, Twilight, as you can fly, but I have to constantly watch to make sure I don't lose my ankles."

"It seems Turtle Rock has brought forth the worst things you've seen so far."

"And it's only going to get worse from here."

"As we've both discussed, this is the final dungeon."

I then turned my attention towards the staircase. "Where do you suppose that will take me?"

"You won't know unless you try."

Waiting for the Blade Traps to move again, they both hit each other again with a loud clank when I walked past as they were moving back to their original positions. Picking up a pot and tossing it aside, I went up the stairs into the next tunnel where I noticed something strange. "What is that thing jutting out from the wall?" On the opposite side of a pool of lava was some kind of statue resembling a bird-like creature yet it didn't look like any bird I'd ever seen. I looked up on a whim and saw another one looking straight down. "What's up with this?"

"A long time ago, these were once heads of a character named Bowser." Princess Twilight then scratched her head. "I have no idea what this 'Bowser' is, Sunset, but I have a feeling that you do."

I nodded reluctantly. "Yeah... I know who he is. He's another character from the Mario series." While I was annoyed at there being another reference of that series making its presence known in this world, it was something that used to be but had now been replaced with something else. "To be honest, I'd rather have Bowser's head than whatever those things are supposed to be."

"You can latch onto them with your Hookshot in order to get across the lava."

"At least they're good for something."

"So will you?"

Nodding, I took out the Hookshot, fired it at the statue, and pulled myself across the lava where I landed safely on the other side. There were a couple of Goombas in here and I stepped on one where it dropped a heart. This was something I forgot they did which could potentially mean using them in order to gain back some health without completely going overboard. Climbing down a ladder, I entered the dungeon and walked south where I reached another dead-end. There was a chest located on a ledge way too high for me to reach along with four different flying icons.

"Is this all there is?"

"It looks like it."

"It's basically just a replenishing station."

Her Highness knew what I was talking about even if my choice of words sounded weird. "I guess you could say that these are here to give you some much needed help if you're running low on any of them. It's weird that these were placed so far into the dungeon and at a dead-end no less but it's still a welcomed sight. You've got one of each of the four flying icons but coming back here over and over isn't exactly an ideal solution."

"And the chest?"

"You've got to approach it from a different direction."

"Guess I should collect these icons huh?" I asked as I looked up at each of them. "I mean, I came all this way looking for other items and also progression but I should pick them up just to be safe. You never know when you might need them for something later."

Using the Roc's Feather, I jumped up and collected all four icons though I didn't know if I need arrows since I hadn't used any for quite some time. Oh well. No sense in letting this opportunity go to waste. As for the chest, Her Highness reminded me that the Compass had marked it down so remembering it's location was easy. Regarding these icons, they were here for a reason which hinted that arrows and bombs were going to be needed later. Magic Powder? Probably not anymore especially if the dungeon item is going to make it obsolete.

Walking back into the tunnel, I stomped on the same Goomba again where it dropped a heart. Approaching the ladders, I used the Roc's Feather to jump up and grab the bottom rung and just as I was about to climb, two Lava Bubbles emerged from the lava, scaring me as I didn't even know they were there. Once they dropped back down into the lava, I used the Hookshot again by pulling myself across by using the other bird-like statue. Climbing down the ladder and entering the dungeon, I ignored the pots in addition to the Red Stalfos and pressed my back against the rotating door.

It flipped me around to the other side and I was in a room with a lot of blocks which all had cracks on them. They looked suspicious but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary though an Owl Statue slightly hidden thanks to the darkness on the back wall might tell me more. There was also a locked door indicating there were monsters to fight. Three Green Zols then popped out of the ground and began bouncing towards me where I swung my sword and defeated them. The door unlocked so I could continue on but first there was a matter of getting my hint.

I approached the statue, took out the Stone Beak, and listened to what it had to say. 'To defeat the monsters who hold the key, attack them from a higher place'. That wasn't what I was expecting. In fact, this hint left me confused as it didn't specify what monsters were guarding it. "What do you make of this, Twilight?"

"Definitely one of the more cryptic clues you've gotten from an Owl Statue."

"What monsters do you suppose they are?"

Princess Twilight shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. Suffice to say, you need to defeat every monster you come across from now on and not simply ignore them. Or, you find the right ones that have the key and defeat them."

Once again, I didn't like the sound of that. If I had been told what to look for, this would be easy. Instead, I had to check every room including ones I had already cleared. My hope was that the monsters in question were coming up soon and weren't annoying. I was about to go through the door when Her Highness began bopping me on the head. "Is there something else you wish to tell me about?"

Nodding, she pointed down at the ground. "There appears to be some kind of pattern in the ground but these blocks are covering it up. Since there is a flying bomb icon floating over there... Surely you know what to do."

Looking at the ground for myself, there was indeed a pattern, and I was about to leave before attempting to figure it out. Sarcasm aside, I knew Her Highness was referring to bombs as these blocks could only be destroyed by explosives when they were cracked (Good thing I went off the beaten path and found that replenishing station). There were ten blocks but I could surely destroy a few at once with some careful placement. I began taking out bombs and placing them where they could do the most damage and when each exploded, they destroyed multiple blocks. After several of these, the pattern was revealed to be an arrow pointing left.

Walking up to the section of wall where the arrow was pointing to, I tapped it with my sword a few times and it made a dull sound. As I recalled, whenever you hear a wall make that kind of noise, it can be blown up with a bomb. A shame this was a technique I hardly ever used but then this situation rarely came up for me. Taking out another one, I placed it on the ground before stepping back. When it exploded, it revealed another room beyond it. Entering this new room, I couldn't see a thing due to it being so dark.

I could make out a couple of torches which needed the Magic Powder to light them up. I felt stupid because I thought I didn't need to use any anymore and yet here was a puzzle that required its use. Maybe I ought to think twice before underestimating any of my items. There was something else at the far end of the room but I couldn't make out what it could be. Princess Twilight opted to fly across and see what was there and upon coming back several seconds later, she said it was another key block. Well, this room was a bust as without a key, progressing any further this way was impossible.

Heading back the other way and then going north, the next room was definitely threatening based on what was laying directly at my feet. "Yikes! Look at all those cracks in the ground! I don't think I've ever seen so many in one place!"

Princess Twilight nodded. "Hmmm... This does appear to be a test of how fast you can clear out a room of monsters without causing the floor to collapse. If you take too long, the ground will break and you'll plunge to your death in the darkness. Or, you might re-spawn back where you're standing and simply take some slight damage. If you want my opinion, neither option is pleasant."

There were two Gibdo shuffling about on the cracked ground on the other side of some blocks. "How are those Gibdo able to walk on that floor without anything happening? I call this unfair to an extreme!"

"I have to agree that their defiance of reality is annoying."

The Compass then made its noise. "And there's a small key in here too!"

"This isn't going to be easy."

I then kicked one of the blocks hard with my foot. "If these weren't in the way, I could just toss bombs at them and not have to worry about the floor." There was a flying heart icon and a flying Magic Powder icon above the cracked floor yet neither of these could help me here. "There must be something I can do..." I then looked down at my sword and remembered that I could use sword beams now. I was at full health thanks to picking up that flying heart icon either so it was feasible. "Let's see if a sword beam can do the trick!" I swung my sword only for it to hit a block and fizzle out.

"Guess that's a no there."

I wasn't deterred. "Looks like it's Plan B."

"And what, pray tell, is Plan B?"

"Go in there and swing my sword like crazy in hopes of defeating them before the floor breaks."

Her Highness was flabbergasted at my idea as it clearly reeked of recklessness, but there weren't really any other options we could think of that would work. "Um... I'm not sure acting like a lunatic is such a good idea, Sunset. But, you do have the stronger sword so these Gibdo will go down a lot quicker. Hmmm... If you can defeat them fast enough, perhaps this idea does sound like it could work."

I then realized where she was going with this and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I see what you mean, but it's not like I have any other choice here. Sometimes, you have to take stupid risks knowing that you can't think of anything else."

"Whatever you do, don't use bombs!"

That went without saying. I did consider using Bomb Arrows but now that idea was sunk knowing how fragile this floor truly was. The Gibdo continued shuffling about though whether or not they noticed me remained to be seen. After waiting for a few minutes, it was clear they weren't going to make any sudden moves so it fell onto me to bring it to them. Gulping, I stepped onto the cracked floor and walked around the blocks where I began attacking them but right off the bat I could hear the sounds of crumbling beneath my feet.

Hitting the first Gibdo repeatedly as well as pushing it back in the process, it went down after three hits, and that's when the floor broke and a large hole appeared. I panicked as there was less ground to work with not to mention I needed a clear path back otherwise I'd be boxed in. Chasing the other one who had shuffled over to the other end of the area, it turned around and bumped into me where I felt its undead touch raking my soul. It wasn't as bad as the ones I had faced in previous adventures but it still felt terrifying. What was just as terrifying was more of the floor collapsing giving me even less to work with.

I attacked it before it could touch me again and defeated it in three hits. This caused a small key to drop down from the ceiling and land on the one patch of ground that wasn't cracked. Talk about irony. With what little floor I had left, I weaved my way back over to the door just as the last remnants collapsed leaving nothing but a bottomless abyss. As I picked up the key and gazed upon what happened, it ultimately didn't mean a thing. I could leave right now and come back in again and it will be as it was before. I didn't want to think about it as I knew it wouldn't make me happy.

With key in hand, I thought about going back to that key block, but instead I went left and entered the next room where I found the one mid-boss I didn't want to see again. "Not these guys again!" Sure enough, there were two Dodongo Snakes blocking the way.

"I think we both knew they would show up again."

"I'll make this quick."

The Compass then made a noise which Her Highness alerted me to, but when she saw that there was a ledge up above, she put two and two together. "Sunset? I think we've just found those monsters that the Owl Statue hinted at."

"Oh... Oh no!"

To Be Continued.