//------------------------------//
// Chapter 20: Ganondorf's Castle; Face the Dark Lord! 
// Story: Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers [Parallel Quest] 
// by Cyrus Colter 
//------------------------------//

Zelda was amused, although curious, about what Sweetie Belle said and Link's reaction. Link, being a girl? Well, she supposed that it could have been useful to him to pass the Gerudos without problems, but were they talking about him really becoming a girl, or just disguising him as one? Could Sweetie Belle really do this? Without the help of the Triforce? Maybe Zelda should have observed the filly a little more as Sheik. Also, Link doing a drama about being a girl would have been funny to see. It’s not like she intended to correct them by telling them that she hadn't really been a boy as Sheik.

Link glared at Sweetie Belle before he looked back at Zelda. "I'm glad that you are alright, princess."

Zelda smiled warmly at him. "I'm sorry for worrying you. I had to disguise myself to hide from the King of Evil. Please forgive me..."

"We understand, princess. Don't worry," Sweetie Belle reassured. "I don't want to think how things would have gone if Ganondorf had gotten his hands on the Triforce of Wisdom."

Link and the Bages nodded.

"Thank you," said Zelda before she went to explain something about what happened seven years ago, and what she did.

When Ganondorf attacked the castle, and when Zelda escaped with the help of her attendant, Impa, she saw Link and entrusted the Ocarina of Time to him, believing that as long as Link would have it, Ganondorf would never be able to enter the Sacred Realm. But then, when Link took the Master Sword, he was plunged into a seven years-long sleep, leaving the Sacred Realm open, which Zelda hadn't predicted. And so, Ganondorf took the occasion to enter the now open Sacred Realm, take the Triforce, and turn the Realm into a realm of evil before conquering Hyrule.

"I passed myself off as a Sheikah and hoped that you would return. I waited for seven years... And... Now you are back. The dark age ruled by Ganondorf the Evil King will end! The six Sages will open the sealed door and lure Ganondorf back into the Sacred Realm. I will then seal the door to the Sacred Realm from this world. Thus, Ganondorf the Evil King will vanish from Hyrule. Link... In order to do this, I need your courage again. Please protect me while I do my part again. And here is a weapon that can penetrate the Evil King's defenses... The power given to the chosen ones... The sacred Light Arrow!"

Zelda then raised her arms, and a circle of light appeared around her. Light gathered above her arm, materializing into an arrow with a yellow crystal that she gave to Link, giving him the ability to fire arrows of light.

Then, suddenly, the whole temple began to shake. As the heroes and the princess began to understand what was going on, a purple crystal came from nowhere and trapped Zelda as the familiar voice of Ganondorf resonated. 

"Princess Zelda... you foolish traitor! I commend you for avoiding my pursuit for seven long years. But you let your guard down... I knew you would appear if I let these kids wander around!"

Link attempted to save Zelda by hitting the crystal, but the Master Sword only bounced on it. However, Rota powered up, her hair and eyes flashing blue as she forced her fist through, then pried the crystal apart alongside Sweetie Belle, freeing the princess.

"What?!"

“OK. Triforce of Power, no joke.” Rota said as her eyes and hair returned to normal. 

Sweetie Belle nodded. "Yeah, that crystal was solid. You alright, Princess?”

Zelda took a big breath to calm down as Link went to her side, ready to protect her. "Yes. Thank you. I'm sorry, I let my guard down. But it won't happen again."

The shaking gained in intensity as they could hear Ganondorf growl. "It seems like the Triforce of Courage isn't the only thing that I underestimated. To destroy that crystal...You were still hiding a lot of power despite everything you demonstrated."

"You have no idea, Ganondork!" shouted Sweetie Belle.

"Ganond...?!"

"Ganondorf!" shouted Link. "Your reign of terror will end tonight! I swear on the Goddesses!"

There was a few seconds of intense silence as the shaking stopped before Ganondorf replied calmly. "Very well. Come to my castle." Suddenly, everything shook again, the intensity so great this time that parts of the temple began to crumble.

"Let's get out of here!" shouted Zelda.

The group quickly ran out of the temple back to the marketplace where Sweetie Belle and the Bages quickly killed the ReDeads here. Then, there was an intense light at the top of the tallest tower of Ganondorf's castle.

"That is if you can reach my castle!" they could hear Ganondorf yell before a huge fireball was sent from the castle at them. The group quickly ran out of the impact area, the ball destroying a huge section of the marketplace including the path leading to the Temple of Time. At the same moment, the group could see countless Stalchildren (small skeletons the size of children) approach from the path leading to the castle.

"Princess. I recommend that you remain at our side to avoid any further attempts from Ganondorf to kidnap you," said Link as he took his weapon.

"Don't worry. We will protect you," said Sweetie Belle.

Zelda giggled. "Thank you, but I can fight. I was trained by Impa." She then looked at the approaching army of monsters with worry. "But I am not certain that we can pass all these monsters. I only see Stalchildren, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are other monsters closer to the castle."

Rota grinned at that. “Let them come. More of an opportunity for me to test this new power for a bit, at least,” She said before ascending to her God Ki Super Saiyan state, her hair and eyes turning a glowing sapphire blue.

Marko smirked at the transformation. “Super Saiyan Blue. Guess one of the goddesses was impressed with you, sis,” he commented as he summoned his sword.

Zelda looked at the form in wonder. "A gift from Din. Your brother is right, the Goddess was impressed."

"The monsters won't matter for me and the Bages," reassured Sweetie Belle. "Link, however... Well, you weren't bad against the Gerudos, but you still took a small beating."

"Monsters aren't as skilled as Gerudos," Link said. "Don't worry for me. At worst, I still have fairies."

"Alright. But I hope that you won't mind if the Bages and I take most of the fun. You wouldn't want to reach Ganondorf out of breath," Sweetie Belle said with a grin before she materialized her ten swords.

Meanwhile, Zelda infused her arms with magical energy, readying herself. "Thank you for the thought."

Then, the first Stalchildren entered the marketplace, and the two Hylians, one alicorn filly, one Saiyan and one Human charged at them.

Sweetie Belle reached the monsters first thanks to her speed, and she began a deadly dance with her ten swords levitating around her, slicing dozens of monsters in a few seconds. To the swords, she added her hooves, punching and sending balls of energies, killing even more monsters.

Rota used a similar tactic, covering her limbs in Ki and using that to cut through the monsters, along with blasts of her own. The Saiyan then vanished and reappeared on the other side of the horde she’d been attacking, the monsters all falling apart at once as she moved on to the next group.

Marko slashed with his sword, cutting through swathes of monsters as more still burned from the waves of fire that surged with every swing. He then threw his sword so it spun like a buzzsaw as he began blasting every monster around him in a circle with fire lances and explosive energy blasts. Once he was done blasting, he caught his sword and swung with a rising cut that unleashed a wave of fire.

Link was behind them, beginning to swing his sword around at any monster that survived the trio’s assault. Zelda was at his side, helping him, destroying the monsters attempting to attack from behind with blasts of energy from her hands. Then, when she saw a small group of four Stalfos approaching, she sent a strange little ball of red energy that she controlled to slowly make it float to them. When the ball reached the Stalfos, she then made it explode, not killing the Stalfos but sending them on the ground where Sweetie Belle finished them one after another.

"Was that Din's Fire? It doesn't look like the Din's Fire I use," Link said in wonder.

"I have better magical control, so I can use Din's Fire, Farore's Wind, and Nayru's Love in ways you can't," explained Zelda. To demonstrate her point, she then used Nayru's Love, the crystal enveloping her and stopping all attacks from the Stalchildren from reaching her. But not only it did that, but the crystal also rapidly spun around her, hurting the monsters that it hit before disappearing.

"Nice!" said Link.

Zelda then eyed Sweetie Belle as the filly rained explosive beams in a large area in front of her, killing countless monsters including a whole pack of Wolfos and some Lezalfos. "But she's clearly beating me in this domain. She may actually be even more powerful than Ganondorf with the Triforce of Power."

"She is," confirmed Link. "In the Water Temple, there was a challenge where we had to defeat doubles of each of us. Her double... used a powerful explosive attack that blew up the whole lake and even more. The Goddess of Time had to intervene. And the worst part? When we did the challenge again, this time in pocket dimensions to avoid a repeat of this disaster, she and the Bages finished their fights well before me, and she looked as if she hadn't fought at all. As if she very easily defeated her double when it took me everything to defeat mine. If they had wanted, they could have gone to defeat Ganondorf right away. There was even that owl who said that her power rivals that of the Gods. Especially since Rota got that form."

"And this really seems to be the case. They demonstrated skills, with weapons, magic and even their own bodies, far beyond both yours," said Navi. "We can be happy that they’re friendly."

Zelda decided to approach Sweetie Belle, quickly followed by Link. The filly, at this moment, was facing two Iron Knuckles. She managed to grab the battleaxe of one of them, then used it to slice the disarmed Iron Knuckle vertically in half before she threw the axe at the other, beheading it.

"Are you a Goddess?" Zelda asked the filly at this moment.

“Not yet," answered Sweetie Belle.

A whole column of Stalfos, ReDeads, and Gibdos was approaching, but Rota appeared in front of them, a blue energy ball in each hand, and used them to launch energy missiles at the horde, the blasts sending bits of the monsters flying all over.

“‘Not YET’?!” Zelda repeated.

"Long story," said the filly at this before she killed a Stalfos and used its shield like a frisbee to behead a few other skeletons.

By now, they were already halfway to the castle, and the number of monsters was diminishing as they were slaughtered by the heroes, mainly Sweetie Belle and the Bages. At this moment, more giant fireballs were sent from the tallest tower of the castle, adding to the chaos. Lightning also began to rain all around the castle from the dark clouds above.

One of the fireballs came right at the heroes, and Marko intercepted it, slicing it into several smaller fireballs that rained all around them, burning the monsters instead.

"The short one is that I got lucky enough to become friends with a God, and he showed me how to become very powerful. Then, I ascended into an alicorn, pretty much mortal Gods in my realm, and became even more powerful. Thanks to what I became the alicorn of, I'm now bound to eventually ascend into a God. The weapon and fighting skills, however, came with lots of training, a lot of determination, and many adventures and battles against powerful opponents. From strong, powerful and skilled friendly rivals to a Dark God passing by eldritch abominations with god-like powers and even a reality-bending supercomputer... Uh... Advanced technology stuff."

"And... You are the alicorn of what, exactly?" asked Zelda.

Sweetie Belle smirked as her shadow suddenly extended in a wide area around her, and all monsters caught in it disappeared in it, never to be seen again. "Void."

"Void? As in darkness?"

"True Darkness, Nothingness, from which everything came and toward which everything goes. The space between universes. By being the Alicorn of the Void, I have very great control over the Void Energy that comes from it." Sweetie Belle could see the hunger to know more in Zelda's eyes. She had seen the same eyes from Twilight. "How about I tell you about the void after we are done with Ganondorf? Speaking of... we're here!"

"What?"

Zelda looked around, and to her shock, they were already in front of Ganondorf's castle. In the area around them were the remains of countless monsters of all kinds, mainly Stalchildren, all the way to the town. Not a single monster was still alive. The Princess of Hyrule hadn't paid attention at all. She hadn't even remarked that she had stopped fighting as she talked with Sweetie Belle, who had her ten weapons back at her side.

The castle was now looming above them, floating above a large crater. They were facing the entrance, but it was out of reach for Link and Zelda. As they began to wonder how to enter it, they suddenly began to hear a voice.

"Can you hear me? It's Rauru, the Sage. We six will gather our power to create a bridge to the castle where Ganondorf dwells... The castle's keep, which is known as Ganon's Tower, is protected by six evil barriers. Bring down the six barriers, and you will be able to confront the Evil King."

Then, balls of light of different colors rained from the sky in front of the heroes and materialized a bridge of light to the entrance.

"Thank you, everyone," Zelda said before they advanced on the bridge and entered the castle.







Inside the castle, an organ could be heard being played, giving a good "evil ambience" to the place. The group ran down some stairs in a hallway and reached a door, Sweetie Belle destroying two Beamos on the way while Link, Zelda and the Bages (Rota having powered down to her base form, for now) killed some Stalchildren that guarded the place.

After the door, they entered the main room of the castle, a pathway going up and down stairs surrounding the central tower of the castle. The tower was surrounded by a powerful barrier that even Sweetie Belle wasn't sure if she could destroy. The shield was powered by six beams of energy colored like the elements of the temples: yellow for light, green for forest, red for fire, blue for water, purple for shadow, and orange for spirit. The beams were coming from prisms above doors with the symbols of the corresponding element/temple above. More Stalchildren were present everywhere in the room along with countless Keeses.

Deciding to go counterclockwise, they went to the right and passed the door with the forest symbol. It led to a round room where they had to fight a simple Wolfos that was rapidly killed, materializing a chest with a blue rupee. They then had to light five torches (one being above the exit door), which was also rapidly done between Sweetie Belle, Zelda and Marko's magic and Link's fire arrows, opening the exit door.

Then was a room with a bottomless pit, with only a few platforms here and there. They had to go from platform to platform to collect five silver rupee while being careful of the fans that were on the walls. A Beamos, in the center, was quickly destroyed by Rota to make the task easier. Also, they had to press a switch to make a small pillar with Longshot targets appear so they could reach one of the rupees.

In the room just after, it was only a matter of firing a light arrow at the sphere surrounded in green energy, destroying it and allowing Saria to use her power to weaken the barrier before transporting the group back to the main room.

Moving to the right, they went down stairs and opened the door representing the Water Temple.

Well, more like it represented the Ice Cavern seeing what awaited them behind. The room was entirely covered in ice, with stalactites and stalagmites, including some stalagmites surrounding a familiar blue fire. There was also a chest containing a blue rupee, some Freezards rapidly destroyed, and a wall of red ice blocking the exit.

"Do you still have the blue fire in one of the bottles?" asked Sweetie Belle.

Link took the bottle in question and showed it, the bottle still containing the blue fire from the Ice Cavern. "Yes, I still have it. I was starting to think that we wouldn't need it." He then went to use the blue fire on the red ice blocking the exit before taking another blue fire just in case.

The room after was a room like in the Ice Cavern where they had to push blocks of ice around. A First block had to be pushed to fill a hole, and a second block then had to be pushed toward a ledge with red ice at the top. The red ice melted, and they were able to press a rusted switch with the hammer, opening the exit.

Then was the room with the sphere surrounded in blue energy. Like the previous time, Link fired a light arrow to destroy it, allowing Ruto to use her power.

Next was the Shadow Temple door. It led to a huge cavern that glowed purple with a bottomless pit covered by a purple mist. While Sweetie Belle killed a Green Bubble, Link used a fire arrow to light a torch, making a path appear. While Link and Zelda traversed the path with the aid of the Bages, Sweetie Belle opened a chest containing a blue rupee before joining them. On the new platform, Zelda dealt with a Like Like, letting Link shoot another fire arrow on one of the torches again to make the path to the next platform appear. There, Sweetie Belle let Link use the Lens of Truth to see the invisible paths, one leading to a rusted switch that opened the exit, the other leading to said exit. On the way, Link had to jump on a platform further down to press another rusted switch to make a big chest drop. When Sweetie Belle opened the chest, she got what was certainly called the Golden Gauntlets (seeing how they had gold on them, like the Silver Gauntlets had silver on them). She gave them to Link when he came back with the Longshot. By the same logic as the Silver Gauntlets, the Golden Gauntlets will let Link push and pull even heavier objects.

After that was the room with the sphere covered in purple energy. It was promptly destroyed, letting Impa use her power.

Next was the Fire Temple door, leading to another large cavern, this one filled with lava with only a somewhat narrow zigzagging path and some platforms on it, including three of these platforms that sank in the lava once someone stepped on them. Here, they had to collect five silver rupees. To their annoyance, it turned out that the zigzagging path was also sinking, so they had to hurry up and not remain on it. Thankfully, Link had the winged boots, Sweetie Belle and the Bages could fly, and Zelda could use Farore's Wind to teleport.

While moving on the path, they had to watch out for Red Bubbles suddenly jumping out of the lava. They rapidly got a first rupee on a sinking platform, then another on a round platform with a pillar spewing two streams of fire while spinning. A third rupee was under a huge and heavy pillar of stone that Link was able to grab and toss thanks to his newly obtained Golden Gauntlets, and a fourth rupee was on another round platform with a Fire Slug. Then, they were able to use the tossed pillar as a platform to reach the last rupee on another sinking platform.

With the five rupees, they could enter the room with the sphere (after using the Longshot to reach it). They destroyed it, letting Darunia do his job.

After Fire came Light, but first, Link had to grab and toss another pillar of stone blocking the door. The room after it was another round room with six chests. Having a bad feeling, they used the Lens of Truth to see what was in the chests, also seeing that there was an invisible Skulltula in the center of the room and some invisible Keeses. They did well as, while they weren't able to see what was in the chests to their annoyance, they found out that all the chests that hadn't a Keese on them were traps. The others contained rupees and arrows. Finally, when they killed all the enemies, another chest containing a key appeared in the center. They used the key to open the exit.

The next room was just a small hallway with a Triforce symbol where Link had to play Zelda's Lullaby to make a chest containing another key drop, and the key was immediately used.

The last room before the sphere was another round one with two boulders circling a central platform. Again, they had to get five silver rupees to continue. Two were in the center, two were in alcoves, and one was on the central platform, reached with the Longshot.

They didn't immediately reach the sphere after that. They had to use the Lens of Truth to find a hidden passage leading to it. With the sphere destroyed, Rauru could use his power (letting Sweetie see how he looked, a chubby old man, for the first time).

Last was the Spirit Temple door. The room behind was... dangerous. There was a Beamos in the center, which was alright, but what was less alright were the four Armos statues here and there, each with a Spike Trap between them and the closest wall. A fifth Spike Trap was also moving back and forth behind the Beamos. And of course, there were silver rupees right in the paths of the Spike Traps, forcing them to move some of the statues (after destroying the Beamos) to have time to get the rupees without being hit by the Spike Traps when the statues were too close to the walls. A last rupee was above where the Beamos had been, and Link had to use the Longshot to reach it.

The next room had them having to fight two Fire Slugs. Hitting a crystal present here dropped a chest containing Bombchus. Link had to use a Bombchu toward bars so the bomb could climb them, reach the other side, and hit another crystal to open the door beside the bars. Passing the door, they then eventually reached a room with four suns and a hole in the ceiling blocked by a lot of spider webs. Zelda and Marko used their magic to burn the webs, letting sunlight come from the hole (although one could wonder where the sunlight was coming from since the sun was covered by dark clouds outside the castle), and Link used the Mirror Shield to deflect the light on the suns. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle and Rota had to deal with Wallmasters (it was pretty much their specialty at this point). Three of the four suns burst into fire when hit with light and didn't do anything. The exit opened only when Link found the right sun.

The last sphere was then destroyed, and Nabooru could use her power.

When the group was sent back to the main room, they saw the barrier break, letting them finally access Ganon's Tower.

"Before we go," said Sweetie Belle. "When we were battling all these monsters outside, I noticed a secondary path at the right of the castle. I used a shadow to have a look here and there was another of these pillars that Link now can grab with the Golden Gauntlets. It certainly leads somewhere."

"So close to Ganondorf's castle?" wondered Navi.

Link shrugged. "I might as well go have a look. There could be something useful against Ganondorf."

Zelda and the Bages nodded. If there was even a small chance of finding something that could make the fight against Ganondorf easier, they should take it.

So they quickly exited the castle, followed the direction given by Sweetie Belle, and found the path with the pillar at the end. After tossing the pillar, they discovered a tunnel that led into a Fairy Fountain with a Great Fairy. And none other than the Great Fairy of Courage enhanced Link's defensive power, reducing the damage he will take from now by half!

"Wow! I didn't expect that we would find something THAT useful!" said Sweetie Belle.

"Me neither. Thank you, Sweetie Belle, for finding this path," said Link.

“I’d definitely say that was worth the detour,” Rota said.

They returned inside the castle and entered the tower (the entrance being inside the mouth of the sculpted head of a monster). Inside the tower, they ran up some stairs in the left, eliminating some Fire Keeses on the way, and passed a door at the top that led to an arena with two Dinolfos (pretty much like Lezalfos but stronger and better equipped). They were still easily killed however, and the group continued climbing the tower to the next room.

They now had to face two Stalfos easily killed too. Killing them not only opened the way, but also let them reach a fancy chest with a Big Key. After climbing more, they then entered a third arena with three Iron Knuckles, one in white armor, one in black armor and one in gray armor.

They weren't much better than the Dinolfos and Stalfos. Sweetie Belle killed one in two seconds, and Link and Zelda easily got rid of the second while Rota and Marko eliminated the third one. After defeating them, they climbed more stairs and reached the golden-locked door.

They opened it.

And entered a large room with a central pillar and three exits, two of which were barred. The organ was very clear now. Ganondorf was just above!

They went to the only exit that wasn't barred and opened the door. Then, they climbed a last set of stairs before they opened another door.

Ganondorf's room... was immense. A huge chandelier was far above under a stained glass, monstrous gargoyles looked down at them, and there were large windows everywhere in the walls. Before the heroes, up some stairs, was the giant organ they heard since they entered the castle.

And playing it was the Dark Lord himself: Ganondorf.

Suddenly, both Link and Zelda felt something in their hand, and as they looked, they could see their Triforce part glow.

Ganondorf stopped playing.

"The Triforce parts are resonating... They are combining into one again..."

The heroes all exchanged glances before they carefully advanced. The filly and the Hero of Time had their weapons ready, the Princess had magical energy enveloping her arms, ready to send a spell and the Bages stayed ready to surge their power.

"The two Triforce parts that I could not capture on that day seven years ago... I didn't expect they would be hidden within you two!" Ganondorf then let out a dark chuckle. "And now, finally, all the Triforce parts have gathered here!" With a dramatic flip of his cape, he turned around to face the group. "These toys are too much for you! I command you to return them to me!" he shouted as he raised a fist, showing the Triforce of Power.

The next instant, waves of darkness hit the group, but they resisted. But with all this darkness, Navi was forced to remain away from Ganondorf.

With a cackle, Ganondorf then jumped from the organ toward the group who quickly ran away while the organ disappeared. Ganondorf then punched the ground as he landed, destroying the red carpet and causing some of the blocks forming the floor to fall, creating a central platform of two by two blocks. Finally, a really big, heavy-looking sword appeared in his hand as he looked between Link, Zelda, Sweetie Belle, Rota and Marko, deciding who to attack first.

Rota didn’t give him time to choose as she lunged for the Gerudo King. Ganondorf readied to slash her, only for Rota to flicker step behind him and send him stumbling with a kick to the back before jumping away to avoid getting struck by the warlock’s backhand. Link took this occasion to join Ganondorf too and managed to land a hit before he and Ganondorf clashed. Link then made a quick move to the side, letting Ganondorf's sword hit the ground, before slashing him on the side, only to be punched on the cheek hard enough to send him to the ground. Ganondorf readied his sword, only for Marko to appear and slam an elbow strike into the tyrant’s gut. He followed up with an uppercut to the chin and a hook to the cheek before Ganondorf grabbed his next strike and threw him to the side.

A powerful beam suddenly hit Ganondorf from behind, and he quickly turned around and deflected a second from Sweetie Belle. With a large jump, he came to her with a downward slash that the filly avoided before she bucked him right in his crotch.

Ganondorf held back a yell of pain and kicked the filly. Sweetie Belle jumped away to avoid it, but Ganondorf then sent a ball of energy at her. She slashed at it and sent the ball back at him, and he punched the ball back at her. Before this could evolve into a ping pong game like in the fight against the fake Ganondorf, the Dark Lord was suddenly hit from behind by a light arrow, stunning him. Sweetie Belle, Link, Zelda and the Bages quickly took the occasion to hit him with everything they had before he recovered and suddenly elbowed Zelda before he covered a fist in darkness and attacked Link who jumped away.

It was only at the last second that Ganondorf saw that Link had left a bomb at his feet, and the Dark Lord was blown a few steps back by the explosion before he also took a Din's Fire from Zelda, an energy beam from Rota, and a lightning bolt from Sweetie Belle then was sent flying backwards by a boot to the torso by Marko. Suddenly, Ganondorf’s sword was covered in fire, and he slashed the air several times, sending many fiery waves at his five opponents, four of whom did their best to block or avoid them.

Marko simply used his fire immunity to power through the waves and punched the tyrant in the jaw. Ganondorf lashed out with a pommel strike to the gut, driving the air from the superhumans lungs, only for Marko to grab the arm and drop, unbalancing Ganondorf right into a knee strike from Rota.  Marko then charged forward, driving Ganondorf back-first into a pillar only to take a knee to the chest and a forearm smash to the back, knocking him to the ground. The Warlock then sent an energy ball to clash with one that Rota sent at him.

After the clashing blasts exploded, the next thing Ganondorf knew, as the smoke cleared, he was hit by a light arrow, stunning him, and he was assaulted from all sides again. Eventually, he enveloped a fist in darkness and struck the ground, sending a shockwave of darkness that sent the heroes flying, giving him space. He then jumped back on the central platform, floated up, raised an arm, and sent countless projectiles of darkness everywhere in the room. It didn't work, each of the heroes having a means to shield themselves from them. Seeing this, Ganondorf assembled energy and flew toward Sweetie Belle. The filly barely flew out of the way, and Ganondorf hit the floor instead, causing the block it hit and the ones around it to fall. His attempt was rewarded by an uppercut to the chin that sent him flying right into the chandelier, and they both crashed back on the central platform.

Ganondorf blew his way out of the remains of the chandelier with a shockwave, and Link jumped to land in front of him to have another go. And this time, he signed to Sweetie Belle, Zelda and the Bages to let him fight, and they accepted with a nod.

So the Hero of time and the Dark Lord began to duel on the central platform, mainly with their swords, but also using whatever other tricks such as magic, objects for Link, and punches and kicks for Ganondorf. The Dark Lord was slashed dozens of times, but each hit only phased him a little. On the contrary, Link wasn't hit a lot, but each time that it happened, it took a lot from him.

Then, when Ganondorf did a horizontal slash, Link took the occasion to jump on his sword before planting his sword in the Dark Lord's torso, dealing a lot of damage. Not done yet, he used the torso to jump away from Ganondorf, and in the middle of the jump, Link took the bow and fired another light arrow, stunning him. Link then continuously slashed at Ganondorf until he was forced to jump away by a desperate swing of the Dark Lord's sword.

But it seemed that Ganondorf finally reached his limit as he dropped his sword and began to cough up a lot of blood, a hand on his torso.

"The Great Evil King Ganondorf... beaten by these kids?" He was particularly eyeing Link who managed to defeat him in their duel, even though Sweetie Belle and the Bages also did a lot of damage in the fight. "Link...!"

Then, he screamed and began to glow, and the whole room shook and fell apart as everything was plunged in light. When the light disappeared, they were now somehow on the roof, very damaged, and Ganondorf fell on the floor.

Zelda sighed. "Ganondorf... Pitiful man... Without a strong, righteous mind, he could not control the power of the Gods... and..."

She was interrupted by the whole castle shaking and beginning to crumble. Quickly, Sweetie Belle teleported them outside, and they watched as the building sunk into itself until nothing remained but ruins.

"It's over... It's finally over..." sighed Zelda in relief and joy.

But then, as Navi apologized for not being of any help in the battle, they heard something in the ruins of the castle. Carefully, Sweetie Belle, Link and Rota went to investigate, leaving Zelda and Marko on the bridge that connected to the castle's back entrance that they hadn't been able to access previously.

Then, a wall of fire appeared and surrounded the area, separating the trio from Zelda and Marko. Ganondorf, still alive, then flew out of the ruin, his eyes glowing yellow, rasping hard. He then raised his right hand and called for the Triforce of Power. His body then began to glow, and to transform.

Before the heroes, Ganondorf grew in size, and his shape changed. His skin became a dark shade of blue with fur covering some parts, his feet turned into hooves, a long scaly tail appeared, and the head became the one of a pig or a boar with sharp teeth poking out and two large horns coming out of the sides. Finally, two giant swords materialized in his hands as the beast landed.

"I am the Demon King! I am... GANON!!!"