//------------------------------// // To Sunset Village // Story: Legend of Zelda: Hero of Equestria // by Klearsky52 //------------------------------// (Celestia’s POV) The sun shined down on the big city of Canterlot. Ponies could be seen happily trotting around, chatting with their neighbors, shopkeepers, etc. A huge castle could be seen looming ahead of the city, gleaming in the sunlight. It stood proudly on the mountain, seen around for miles on end. In the throne room inside the castle stood a tall, white, regal pony. Her rainbow-colored mane swished gracefully and methodically in a non-existent wind. Her golden regalia shined in the sunlight that shone through the windows. Her cutie mark was a bright, golden sun, symbolizing her mark of power. Everything about her just screamed royalty to everypony. That, and the fact that she is one of the only alicorns in existence. This mare’s name was Celestia. More commonly known as Princess Celestia to her subjects. The ruling mother figure of Equestria was currently bored. You would think that one of the most revered figure in Equestria would get a little more excitement now and then. But because she did such a good job at ruling, at enforcing the laws and mannerisms of her country, that it left her to deal with the petty squabbles somepony would usually have against another pony everyday. Sometimes, she wished for something exciting to happen. Something that would keep her busy altogether. Once she thought this, she immediately dismissed it. Celestia remembered the consequences of thinking such things. Too bad she got her wish anyways. It had happened on this afternoon while she was dealing with a particularly angry brown pony when she felt it. A disturbance in the magic force. Normally, she would feel disturbances all the time. May it be foals and fillies having their first magic surge or a pony that accidentally used too much magic into a spell and ended up exhausting themselves. But this disturbance was different. It felt malicious. It felt malevolent. It felt dark. Celestia immediately stiffened when she felt this great change in the magic. Her eyes darted right and left, suddenly alert. This feeling wasn’t the same as when the previous villains, such as Tirek and the now-reformed Discord, came. This felt darker. More evil than the rest. It was far stronger than what the previous villains use to be. As quick as it came it was gone, leaving no trace of it ever being there in the first place. “Are you alright, your majesty? You seem a little tense all of a sudden,” The pony in front of her said, causing her to blink. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she completely forgot about her ongoing task. “Fear not, for everything is fine. An urgent matter suddenly came, needing to be fixed immediately. I’m afraid that I’ll have to reschedule this meeting with you for another time. This needs my attention immediately,” She responded, quickly looking at the guard that stood on her left side. She nodded at him and he nodded back, an unspoken conversation swapped between them. “One of my guards will escort you out of the palace.” “But-!” the pony started to protest before he quickly shut up at the stern look the guards gave him. He quickly nodded. “I understand, your majesty.” Celestia resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the honorifics. She never did like it when her subjects did it to her. “Wonderful. I shall contact you later.” The pony quickly bowed and walked off, guard in tow. Celestia sighed to herself and quickly got off her uncomfortable throne. As she walked away, her right guard gave her a questioning glance. “I will be fine. I am only going to my sister’s chamber. Can you also close the day court for me? A pressing matter has come to my hooves and it has to be solved right away,” The guard quickly gave a swift salute and hurried off. Celestia quickly walked through the twisting halls to her sister’s bedroom. On the way there, any passing maids or nobles staying at the castle temporarily bowed to her. Celestia ignored this and approached her sister’s bedroom. Luna’s bedroom door consisted of dark blue with twinkling stars spreading out everywhere. The middle of it had a white crescent moon, shining the brightest out of all the stars painted on there. It was a true masterpiece of art. One so deserving as to just put it on the princess' bedroom door. The artist who made the painting jumped for joy when he heard that his painting was gonna be used by royalty. Celestia nodded at the two guards standing in front of her sister's door, "Step aside. I need to see Luna immediately." The guards nodded and stepped to the sides at once, giving her clear access through. Celestia stepped through and opened the door. The room that greeted her was big and spacious. Instead of the usual yellow and white color scheme that she usually had for her room, this one was dark blue with small streaks of black. White specks were painted on the ceiling, surrounding the crescent moon on the middle of it. On the bed laid Luna, who was sleeping in a rather undignified position. Celestia giggled when she saw her. Oh how she could tease her about this! This was probably one of the reasons why she doesn't like it when she's in her room. She rid her head of any unnecessary thoughts. Fun can come later when this matter is resolved. "Luna? Wake up Luna. I need to talk to you for a moment," Celestia said quietly as she gently shook her. Luna yawned before turning over to her side. She batted Celestia's hoof away and kept on sleeping. "Leave us...to sleep... dear sister." Luna muttered before she started to snore again. Celestia shook her once more with a little more force. "This is urgent. Wake up now." She said a bit more forcefully. Fortunately, Luna's eyes slowly opened up before Celestia magicked her out of the bed and into a random lake. “What… is it dear sister?” Luna yawned as she slowly sat up. “Why wake us up early?” Celestia sighed. Luna was not going to like this one single bit. “I fear darkness has returned to Equestria, much stronger than before.” XxX Darkness surrounded him once more as Link quickly realized the atmosphere was exactly the same as his last nightmare. It didn’t have the same eerie feeling like last time though. It was more neutral. “Realize…” “Huh?” Link looked around in confusion. “Who’s there?” “Realize… the path you...must take.” “What path?” Link asked, still looking around. It was that voice again from when he was down trying to find his father’s killer. “Just what are you?” Suddenly, there was a small speck of golden light to his right side. It formed around into a... triangle? “Find...the three...keys.” the voice said as the golden light started to get brighter and brighter by the second. “For if you don’t...everything will fall...into RUIN!” “GAAAH!!” Link screamed as the voice shouted out its last word. His head exploded with pain as he fell, writhing about. “NO! NO! NO! NOOO- -OOO!!” Link screamed out loud. He suddenly sat up, water splashing everywhere. His vision was blurry as he tried to rub his eyes. The pain in his head soon faded to a small throb as his vision finally cleared up. He found himself staring at a rocky ceiling. Steam poured from the hot water around him. It was then he realized that he was soaking wet, his green fur and blonde mane making a continuous drip drip into the water. He looked over to the side and saw his green tunic and hat folded up neatly on the rocky edge. “I see you have finally awoken. Rise, young one,” said a female voice behind him. Link turned around and felt his eyes widen. In front of him was a big mare in a white dress. Vines wrapped around her dress as it glowed a soft green. But this wasn’t the reason why Link was staring. No, it was the fact that she was floating in midair with no wings at all. He heard her giggle. “So, you find my appearance interesting for you to stare this hard, do you not?” the pony(?) giggled, causing Link to snap out of his stupor. He blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to! I ju-” Link tried to say before he was shushed by the pony. “I was just messing with you. I haven’t had a laugh in a few eons,” she said, laughing even more at Link’s incredulous expression. “Did you just say eons!!? You were alive for that long?” Link exclaimed, looking at the mare in wonder. She giggled again. “Of course. After all, I am immortal,” She said, causing Link’s jaw to drop before he picked it back up. “That’s impossible! Only the alicorn sisters are immortal!” the pony smiled at Link warmly. “You’ll find that there is a lot more immortals out there than those two,” she said. “I haven’t introduced myself, did I? You can call me the Great Fairy.” “Great Fairy. Got it,” Link mumbled. He tried to wrap his head around the huge influx of information given so suddenly, but found his mind more muddled than ever before. First, he fights ghosts that can disappear and can still be harmed by physical objects. Then, he has that dream of the voice, if he can call it a dream in the first place. Then, he meets this...fairy that claims she is immortal? “A lot to take in at once, isn’t it?” the Great Fairy asked when she saw Link go deep in thought. “I would imagine so, since my kind hasn’t shown itself for thousands of years till now.” “There’s more of you?” Link asked weakly before thinking of the prospect of meeting even more big, floating mares like her. The mare only giggled. “Would I break your mind if I introduce you to fairies?” she asked innocently as small balls of light started to emerge behind her. Link only stared in fascination before he looked at her with a hard gaze. “This is a dream,” Link announced as the small fairies started to circle around him in wonder. “None of this is actually real.” “What about that other dream you had? You can’t have a dream in a dream,” the Great Fairy argued, making Link’s eyes once again go wide. “How did you know about my dream?” Link asked. The big fairy rolled her eyes. “Dream watching isn’t necessarily a hard thing to do. All it takes is concentration and bypassing the subconsciousness without harming or waking up the host. You still believe this as a dream?” the Great Fairy smugly as she looked straight at Link”s eyes. Link looked down. “If this isn’t a dream...then my father really is dead, isn’t he?” Link said suddenly before tears started to flow down his cheek. The Great Fairy just stared straight at him as he occasionally took glances at her. “You seek my sympathy, don’t you?” she suddenly asked as Link looked at her, confused. “I don’t give it to the weak-willed.” “I’m not weak!” Link yelled, splashing water as he moved around. “Who said I needed your sympathy anyway!?” “You looked at me, expecting me to comfort you. There is no such thing as comfort in the world we live in now,” She said coldly. Link was surprised by her sudden change in attitude. She seemed like a nice pony. It was true though. Link did actually expect her to comfort him or at least say some soothing words. “I see you are realizing now,” The Great Fairy said as she saw Link’s expression change. "This world is not a kind place for the weak-willed. Why do you think it is the parents who take care of their children? It is because the children are weak-willed. The parents, who have already endured the hardships of life, are strong-willed. They help build up their child's will so that they can survive the horrors that lay outside." "It just seems so...unfair," Link said softly before he dried his tears. The Great Fairy looked at him sadly. "It pains me greatly to say this, but you will find that the world is always unfair." She said. "Most ponies who aren't prepared usually die out here." Link flinched when he heard that. The Great Fairy suddenly smiled at him. "But you aren't like most other ponies, are you?" she said. "I sense your will. Despite your innocence, you possess an indomitable determination. Something that is rare and valuable in a pony. You showed it when you stormed through the bottom passageways to find who killed your father." “How did-” Link started to say before he was shushed again. “I know many things, young one. It is best not to question it,” she said gently. Again, Link was confused on her sudden change in attitude. Do all immortals act like this? “How do I not become weak again?” Link said with a sudden fierce look in his eye. The fire that was almost snuffed out within him roared to life again, blazing more so than ever. The female immortal chuckled when she looked at his expression. “By becoming stronger.” I know that! I’m asking how should I do it?” “Forgive me. I meant that as a broad statement. Strengthen everything within yourself. Your body, your mind, your intellect, etc. Every single shred of information, knowledge, and muscle you gain will strengthen your will in this world. Collect as much as you can. Build as much as you can. That is all that I can tell you.” “Oh.” was all Link could say as he took in the speech he just heard. He was going to need everything he got now that he was on his own. He still couldn’t believe all this had happened though. It just came by too fast for him to comprehend anything. “What is your goal now? Will you wander aimlessly, or seek out comfort with the rest of your family? The choice is now up to you, young one.” Link thought about it. It didn’t take much time, “I want answers. I want to know why my father was murdered that night. I want to know who exactly did this to him. Once I find out, I will hunt him down.” The Fairy frowned. “That is not my recommended path you should take, but if it keeps you going then stick to it.” “Why isn’t it the recommended path?” Link asked indignantly. The mare in front of him sighed. “Revenge is never a good thing. Not now, not ever,” she said firmly. Link shook his head. “I want to find out what happened to him! Nothing you say is going to stop me,” The mare sighed again. “It is not my matter on how you choose to go in your journey. You will learn later. I will tell you where you should start though. Go to a place called Sunset Village. From there you will start making your own decisions. Follow the dirt path near and continue on it. You should arrive there soon.” “Ok,” Link said firmly. Sunset Village sounded like a nice place to be. He shook his head of this thought. No, he needed to gather more information, just like the Great Fairy said. He needed to build up his will. “You can return to this fountain to heal you once more if you are wounded. It shall fix you up and be one of your places where you can relax peacefully while you heal,” The mare said. Link nodded in gratitude. “Thanks!” he said brightly. This would help him immensely. Who wouldn’t want free healing services. “Where is it though?” The fairy smiled, “I gave you enough leverage when I brought you here and healed you when you were unconscious. Show me that you deserved to be healed again by finding this place.” “What! But that is un-” Link started to say before he snapped his mouth shut. He almost said that it was unfair. He remembered the speech she gave about the world being unfair. Maybe this was one of her lessons? Given what the mare told him, he would have to abide to her terms. It was technically her spring anyways and she could do whatever she liked with it, including denying free healing services. Link just sighed. “Ok, fine. I will find this place again. Mark my words.” “It is not easy to find this place. Rarely anypony comes to this place. When they do, they can never find it again. Where do you think the legend about fairies came from anyway?” She said with slight amusement. “I will find this place again,” Link insisted. “Then I will be the first to prove you wrong.” She smiled even wider. “I look forward to that day,” Link nodded before he closed his eyes. The Great Fairy then started to wave her hooves in a hypnotic way. Link felt himself getting drowsy as his eyes slowly closed. Before she completed her spell, she quickly said “Oh and if you find my sisters, tell them Sunset said hi. You can also use their fountains as well if you find them.” Before Link could comprehend what he just heard, he teleported away. Once he did so, the other fairies started tinker and clang like all fairies do. Some sounded irritated while others sounded like they had a question to ask. “I know,” the Great Fairy murmured as she looked at the spot where Link had just disappeared from moments ago. “I also suspect he may be the one we’re looking for.” XxX Link woke up again and yawned. He felt well-rested and was completely raring to go. He also noticed that his sword and shield, along with his hat and tunic, were on him again. That was a relief. He thought he had left it behind. He started to check the contents he had on him when he stopped. Link pulled out a small, brown pouch. It was sealed tightly like the pony that had this didn’t want to lose it. A note was attached to it as well: Something to thank you for the company. -Great Fairy Link smiled. She wasn’t so much of a bad pony once he thought about it. She was just trying to teach him a lesson. Link then looked over at the pouch. He opened it and a small, orange stone spilled out of it. Darker orange markings made a peculiar pattern over it. Link admired the stone for a moment before shrugging and putting it back into the pouch. A gift was a gift and he certainly wasn’t going to waste this one. He packed up his things and started to look for the dirt path the Great Fairy told him about. Link kept on searching when he felt his ears perk up suddenly. A shrill scream sounded through the forest. Link quickly ran toward the direction the scream was from. He immediately hid in the bushes when he arrived. What he saw made his eyes go wide. A mint green unicorn mare was being held hostage against a tree with a knife at her throat. Her cutie mark was of a lyre, hinting to Link that she most likely loved to play music. The other pony that was holding her was a dirty, brown earth pony. His cutie mark was of a bag with a gold coin on it. The earth pony grinned, showing his yellow teeth to the world. “Stop struggling there, miss,” he said mockingly as the unicorn in front of him tried to break free. “Just hand me all your valuables and I might let you go.” Link had heard enough as he silently crept from the bush he was in towards the pony. The pony continued on, oblivious to the fact that Link was behind him. “If you don’t give me those valuables this very second, I’ll slit your throat!” Link was almost behind him now. He caught sight of the mare’s eyes and watched them widen for a moment. Link held his hoof to his lips as he made the universal sign of silence. The mare’s eyes trailed back to the pony as it kept ranting on. Link then carefully levitated his sword over the pony’s head. “Time’s up! Now it's time to-” he said before the sword bashed him on the top of his head hard. When his grip loosened on the mare, she bucked him as hard as she could. The thief went skidding across the ground, unconscious. “Thanks for that,” the mare said before she wiped her forehead. “You came at a really lucky time. In a few moments, I would’ve been killed." “It was no problem,” Link said as he wiped his own sweat of his forehead. He looked at the mare, only to find her looking back at him as well. "Aren't you a little young to be carrying a sword and shield like that?" she questioned. Link just shook his head. "Well, if you say so. My name's Lyra by the way," Lyra told him. Link nodded. "My name's Link." "Nice to meet you Link. What are you doing around these parts if I may ask?" "I'm looking for a village called Sunset Village. You know where that is?" "Oh! I'm traveling there as well. You want to go together?" "I don't see why not." Link packed up his stuff before he froze. The thief was missing! So was his shield! When he looked back into the forest, he saw the thief quickly running away, his shield on his back. "Get back here!" Link yelled before he started to chase him. Lyra held him back though. "Why'd you stop me?! I need my shield!" "You'll get lost in the forest," Lyra argued. "Then you'll have to deal with more of them. He isn't the only one there. You can buy another one when you get to the village.” Link just sighed. He was already having problems and he barely even set foot anywhere. “You are weak-willed.” The Great Fairy’s words echoed through his mind. He grit his teeth. “We should get going now. By the time we get there, it’ll probably be evening,” Lyra said as she started to walk. Link frowned but followed after her. After sometime, they found the dirt road that led to the village. “Oh! I never got to thank you, did I?” she said as she looked over to Link. Link looked back, confused. “You did. Immediately after we knocked him out.” “I mean thank you properly,” She started to look through her bag. “Here. I know it's not much, but I think you can find a use for it.” She pulled a small harp out of her bag. “It’s a pretty old thing.” Link stared at the small, golden harp in awe. “But I can’t take this.” “Sure you can. After all, you did save my life,” Link looked at her weirdly. “But all he was gonna do was steal from you,” Lyra scoffed. “Do you seriously believe that? The only reason I struggled against him when he said that he was going to steal from me was because I knew that he was going to kill me afterwards. Think about what would happen if he were to let me go?” Link thought about it for a moment. It does make sense when he put more thought into it. Why spare her? If that thief did, then she would run and get the royal guards after him. Killing her would silence her and he could get rid of the evidence while simultaneously getting what he wants. Link also wondered if this is what the Great Fairy meant about the world being unfair. How, even though the thief promised something as important as somepony’s life, he would break it in an instant for his gain. The thought made him sick. “Just take it already,” Lyra said, snapping Link out of his thoughts. “My foreleg is getting tired from just holding this. It’s called the Goddess’ Harp by the way.” Link took it with hesitation and strapped it on his back, over his sword. “Thanks.” Lyra nodded and walked ahead, a little faster than usual. Link followed her. They walked in silence for sometimes. The closer they got to the village, the deeper the sun dipped down into the horizon. A brilliant hue of orange and pink spread across the sky. The horizon shined bright behind, showing both of their shadows in front of them. “Where are your parents? I’d imagine they would wonder where you are?” Lyra asked suddenly. Link felt a pang of sadness in his heart when she mentioned it. “They’re...gone.” “Oh... I’m sorry. Why aren’t you in the orphanage then” “I hate the orphanage. It sucks there,” Link said angrily as he stomped ahead. Memories of the other colts and fillies bullying him came back to him. “I’m never going back there as long as I live.” They fell into an uncomfortable silence after that. It lasted all the way until they finally saw the entrance. The whole village seemed peaceful. Some of the ponies were chatting while some were entering their houses, ending their days. There was a small cliff facing towards them a little ways sideways. “You wanna know how Sunset Village got its name?” Lyra asked. Link nodded eagerly. Lyra quickly walked toward the cliff and climbed it, Link in tow. When they got to the top, Link could see the bright sun slowly dipping down into the horizon. The colors in the sky slowly faded to black as he continued watching. He honestly had never seen a more beautiful sunset than this. “You got the answer,” Lyra said smugly while Link nodded rapidly. They continued to watch the sunset dip down into the horizon, transforming the day into the night. The day became darker as the moon finally rose high above their heads. BONK! Suddenly, something hit the back of Link’s head. He skidded over to the edge of the cliff, his vision fuzzy. He heard Lyra’s screams and ignored it. He tried to concentrate on his opponent. One pony advanced towards him, his sword in attack position. Link levitated his own sword in front of him. A fierce expression spread across his face. The pony suddenly swung so quickly that Link barely had any time to counter it. Their swords clashed against each other. It was a test of strength between them now. It was obvious who was winning. The pony was close to knocking Link’s sword out of his magic range when Link held on to it with his other hoof also, adding more strength into his push. It didn’t really help much. When their faces were in close proximity, Link saw the pony's eyes were a deep black. It was unheard of, a pony that had no color in his eyes. Link kicked out with his back leg and got the pony’s other leg. He took advantage of the pony’s small moment of weakness and pushed the sword away from him and rolled around him. Now the pony was the one near the cliff. Link then swung, only for the pony to counter it, then knock the sword out of his hoof. The golden colored armor he wore shined in the moonlight. Wait...gold colored armor!? This was a guard! Why did he attack him?! They were supposed to protect ponies, not attack them! The guard growled in an animal-like way as he advanced towards him. Link could only watch helplessly as the guard suddenly raised his sword high, then swung down. Link closed his eyes, waiting for his end. This was how he went out? Only one day in the real world and he was already dead. Was his will really that weak? Suddenly, an earth pony that was wearing dark blue robes jumped down, spear in hoof. He quickly blocked the attack on Link and counterattacked, sending the guard flying away from the cliff’s edge and from Link. The guard quickly leapt to his feet and swung his sword once more. The brown colored pony easily blocked the attack again before smashing the butt of his spear into the guard’s face. While the guard was disoriented, another guard came up. His sword levitated above him, showing that he was a unicorn. The unicorn quickly swung his sword at the pony, only to be met with the same fate as the last one. He quickly shook off the attack and surrounded the pony with the first guard. They both quickly started slashing at the pony, who skillfully dodged or blocked them. Link watched in fascination as he watched the pony beat the guards like they were nothing. He looked to the side and saw Lyra. She was holding both of her hooves to her mouth with her eyes wide with horror. The pony knocked both of them back and whacked their heads simultaneously, making them go unconcious. Link exhaled a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “That finally did it then,” The pony said as he stood up on his hind legs, using his spear for support. He wiped his sweaty forehead as his blue robes billowed in the wind. He then turned to Link. “My name's Orca. Nice to meet you."