IV - Role Reversal
Role Reversal
Lying perfectly still in a vain attempt to not aggravate the bruises covering her weary body, Forest Blossom cursed herself for her arrogance and carelessness as she laid inside the crude cage the filthy flying beasts had shoved her in.
She was a pretty mare with a burnt orange coat and a violet mane, her looks never failing to turn stallions’ heads her way, not that she had ever overly cared about her appearance anyway. No, like her cutie-mark of a proud wild tree at full bloom could easily attest, while she liked her looks, her strength had always been what she had prized above everything else.
Forest had always prided herself on her ability to traverse the woods around the village with ease, she had always bragged to everybody that could hear that nothing could ever approach her within said woods without her notice, and she had always boasted that even should any being by some miracle be able to do so, that they would find nothing but a swift end beneath her strong hooves.
So of course she had outright scoffed at Sure Shot’s offer of help when the ranger had offered to accompany her and her sister on their little foraging trip this morning.
After all, why would she ever need the other mare’s help? She was more than strong enough to protect both her sister and herself from any forest beast that may cross their path. And while the skirmishes between the pegasi and the unicorns were growing worse by the day, the rumors of earth-pony villages being attacked kept growing wilder and wilder, and the whispers about how the chancellor was being pressured more and more by both sides in taking a side in the growing conflict, it wasn’t like anypony really cared about a small hamlet in the middle of nowhere. They would be fine.
How that thought burned within her now. All her bravado and strength, it all had availed her for nothing as the cursed beasts had descended upon them like a flock of vultures, as they had been foraging for the rare wild herbs Old Oak, the ancient stallion that was the village herbalist, had asked them to retrieve.
Well, at the very least there was the cold comfort that she got something right in the end; no pony was interested in their forgotten little village.
She had been collecting some elderberries while listening to Singing excitedly talking about her apprenticeship under Old Oak, when the disgusting half-breeds had attacked them with no prior warning.
Even though she had been caught unawares she had attempted to fight them off. Despite knowing that she simply could not win against six armed gryphons she had still thrashed and bucked, attempting to use her beloved strength to at the very least buy her little sister a chance to get away.
It really didn’t matter to her that her little sister had gotten her cutie mark more than two moons ago already; Singing Blossom was still a filly in her eyes and simply had no business having to endure such a perilous situation. And if getting her out of there meant gaining quite a few new bruises and cuts, or even something worse, then by Faust it was her duty to try and do so. But it had all been for nothing, her desperate attempt at giving her little sister a chance of escaping to alert the village, all for naught.
So much for her vaunted strength, so much for her lauded skill, for no matter how skillful one was, in the end only a fool would face down naked steel with nothing but their bare hooves, and no matter how strong one was, in the end it was simply impossible to tear down metal with nothing but sheer physical strength.
And the small whimpers that were coming from the figure huddled close to her side sharing the cage with her only made everything worse, as they reminded her that she hadn’t even been able to manage to allow her little sister to escape the filthy beasts.
Fighting back the burning feeling of tears in her eyes and ignoring the pain from the collection of bruises and cuts that were covering her body, she futilely attempted to comfort her little sister, hugging Singing Blossom as best as she could with her pained body,
The worst part was that she knew that soon the cursed beasts would raid their village. She knew far too well what the savages were doing, that the group of gryphons that had attacked them were scouting the area in order to make sure no pony sounded the alarm early, taking down and capturing any pony that worked or ventured outside the village, making sure that no warning ever reached the settlement about the incoming attack. And what was worse, she knew that it would work.
The only other pony that regularly braved the woods was Sure Shot, and after the way she had brushed off her offer earlier, Forest bet that the sea green mare would be either at her little cottage sulking or drinking at the tavern while grumbling about young upstarts.
Which meant no one would see the raid coming, and that come nightfall, their village, their home, would be sacked and burnt to the ground.
And so there she laid, body bruised and pained, as she silently fumed at her own powerlessness. She stewed in worry, unable to do anything about the fact the damned gryphon war band was planning to attack their village.
She could barely move her body without feeling pain all over, which meant that any chance of escaping and alerting everypony about the coming attack was a forlorn hope at best. Even now that there were only a few of the damned beasts strutting through the tents of their camp, there was simply no way for her to even free her sister so that she could try and escape.
She was powerless… and she hated that fact with all her being!
And even worse, the fact that most of their captors weren’t here was due to the fact that they had departed to take down a group of ponies that one of their scouts had apparently spotted. And the mere idea that said group could be actually out searching for her and her sister, worried because they were late coming back, made her want to scream in frustration at it all!
“What the… Hey, you, what do you think you are doing?!” she heard one of the damned beasts screeching in clear confusion.
Shaking herself out of the slight stupor her dark train of thoughts had led her to, she slowly raised her head to see what was happening, a small movement by her side showing that Singing was doing the same.
She watched with muted confusion the scene before her eyes, her mind trying to make sense of it all. The three armed gryphons that remained at the camp were pointing their swords towards a large pony that was calmly trotting straight towards them, as if he had not a care in the world.
And he was quite a large stallion, easily the largest Forest had ever seen. His large dark brown body was covered in muscles, his legs thick and sturdy looking, and his chest and barrel appeared as if they had been chiseled from stone. All in all, alongside his rugged looks and deep crimson mane, she had to admit that the strange pony was quite the looker.
Not that his good looks would serve him for anything in this situation. Just as his muscles would serve him little against three armed gryphons. Like her own strength had served her for naught, she knew that he too would fall before the beasts.
“You, mud-pony! Get down on the ground now before I end your pathetic existence!” one of the gryphon raiders commanded, moving closer to the brown earth-pony and placing his sword near his neck.
“Hmm, guess this is the place after all,” the stallion muttered to himself, completely unconcerned by the fact that a steel blade was all but pressing against his neck as he took in the tents and the supplies they held for a moment before moving his gaze towards where she and her sister where being held.
“Are you fucking deaf! Hug the ground, mud-dweller!” the feline avian shouted as he pressed his blade against the stallion’s neck, clearly angered by the fact that he was being ignored.
And yet, the stallion seemed unable to comprehend the seriousness of his situation, for despite having a blade literally pressing against his neck, he simply gave the gryphon holding the sword a cocky smirk, completely unconcerned by the fact he was about to die.
“Well then, better mop this up before the others finish with the stragglers,” she heard him speak, moving his right hoof towards the naked blade all the while still completely ignoring the gryphon holding a sword to his neck. “Wouldn’t do to let the Kid take down more of you than me, after all.”
Forest swiftly closed her eyes while hugging her sister closer and making sure that she couldn’t see what was about to happen, now quite sure that the crazy stallion was about to get himself killed.
She waited in silent dread for the wet sound of steel slashing through flesh and the muted thump of his body hitting the ground to reach her ears, of an innocent, if apparently slightly crazy, pony being killed by those filthy beasts. All the while cursing her own powerlessness.
She most certainly did not expect to be greeted by the sudden, sharp echoing sound of metal being snapped in two, nor for the sudden deluge of confused, perplexed and slightly panicked curses coming from the flying beasts.
Opening her eyes she took in what was happening, only to blink in confusion as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. The stallion was casually inspecting a long length of polished metal, one end sharpened to a point and the other ending at a ragged mess of torn and crushed metal. It almost looked like the sword the gryphon had been pressing against his neck, now that she thought about it.
“Seriously, don’t any of you filthy mongrels have a decent blade?” the stallion asked, disgust clear in his tone of voice, hard eyes moving towards a pole-axed looking gryphon that was staring with wide eyes at the hilt and about three inches of a blade he was holding on his talon.
“What the…?!” the flying beast started to say, only for his words to be transformed into a pained squawk, as a brown hoof suddenly impacted his chest with enough strength to send the creature flying into one of the trees circling the camp.
Watching wide eyed, Forest Blossom took in the unbelievable sight happening before her eyes. As the magnificent looking stallion blocked the spear thrust of the second gryphon like it was nothing, the wooden shaft of the spear actually shattering due to the strength of his hooves, and dodging the wild slash of the third beast with such ease that it looked like he had barely moved at all, he then took the filthy mongrels down with one blow each, none being able to withstand the sheer power of his blows for even a moment.
Forest Blossom had no idea how this could possibly be happening, how she had been transported to what looked like an old tale regarding the long lost Age of Legends.
And yet, as she watched entranced as the mysterious stallion come towards their cage, his crimson mane flowing freely on the wind and a fanged smirk playing across his rugged muzzle, and as he casually bent and ripped the iron bars of the cage they had been trapped in as if they were nothing but dry twigs and not two inches of solid metal, freeing them from captivity with the same ease as he drew breath, as she fought down a incandescent blush, Forest realized a single truth.
As she stared at his strong muscles and sure gait, at this embodiment of power incarnate, despite her bewilderment and confusion she knew without a shadow of a doubt what this stallion was.
A hero.
Looking at the two mares that had been trapped inside the metal cage he had just ripped open, Ganondorf, Lord of Darkness, King of Thieves, wielder of the Triforce of Power, found himself in the slightly unprecedented situation of having no idea what to do next.
Freeing them from their cage after dealing with the pathetic feline avians had been more an instinctual response than anything else. He had simply seen two young equines stuffed into a far too small cage, a cage that was not even appropriate for transporting equines safely at that, with the slightly larger one also being covered in bruises and welts, and the Gerudo in him had immediately all but demanded he do something about the completely unforgivable situation!
For a race of proud horse riders and breeders, such poor treatment of any equine was simply inconceivable! He had killed for far less than that! Din’s fury, most of his former subjects had killed for far less than that!
It was only after ripping out the iron bars trapping the two young mares and seeing the undeniable intelligent light shining within their eyes that he remembered that those were not two young regular equines, but that said ponies were in all likelihood actual sentient beings.
Which brought forth his current little conundrum.
Sure, he knew far too well how to treat a horse, pony, or basically any ride-able equine creature there was. He had done it countless times before after all. By the Three Golden Goddesses! Some of his best childhood memories actually took place either at some stable grooming his newest warhorse or riding one equine or another through the glowing shifting dunes of a desert or another! Treating newly freed captives from a bunch of slavers, or even interacting with them for that matter? Now that he could safely say was a first for him.
The fact he couldn’t exactly be called social even at the best of times also wasn’t really helping.
The younger one, a tiny thing with a light yellow coat and a deep violet mane, seemed to be fine for the moment, thought the way she was looking at him with wide sparkling eyes and a slightly opened mouth was kind of odd. Choosing to ignore that little oddity, he passed his eyes over her body one more time checking for any apparent injuries, and finding none he decided that it should be safe enough to ignore her until either he had an epiphany regarding how to deal with the whole situation or Link and Zelda stopped taking their sweet time mopping up the remaining scouts from the gryphon war band and came here to deal with the social stuff for him.
The older one was another matter altogether, the burnt orange mare was covered in bruises and cuts, and while none of them seemed life threatening, the open wounds were an obvious infection risk just waiting to happen. The way she was looking at him with slightly hazy eyes, drawing short quick breaths as if she was out of air, and the rosy coloration that was slowly taking over her muzzle showed him that maybe she could already be running a fever or something.
Which would be a real bother. He had never really rescued anyone before, after all, so letting one of the first two beings he had ever rescued die to some stupid illness would be kind of anticlimactic, especially after putting forth the effort of freeing them in the first place.
As he took a step closer in order to inspect her wounds more closely to see if he should do anything about it, the way her cheeks were now completely flushed with blood made him wonder if he should check her temperature or something.
Sadly healing magic was something he had never truly researched in depth, so even if he ignored the fact he was still trying to figure out how to properly cast spells through his new body, healing them with magic was a dead end option for him anyway. And somehow he had the niggling feeling that his preferred method of dealing with his own injuries, flooding the wounded area with raw magic and ignoring it until it stopped bothering him, wouldn’t really work that well in this case.
Wracking his brain, he tried to remember if he had ever learned how to dress a wound or anything of the sort, only to draw a complete blank. The fact that he normally had a whole bunch of minions assigned to such mundane tasks, and that he sincerely couldn’t remember the last time he had ever been sick for that matter, also probably wasn’t helping.
Blinking his eyes, Ganondorf realized that he had been staring at the two mares for more than a minute or two in complete silence as he pondered about what to do. And that that was probably quite the faux pass regarding how to treat rescuees, simply stand there staring at them instead of actually helping.
Thankfully the Princess wasn’t here to see that, or the mare would probably start ranting at him for being insensitive or some other such nonsense. But then again, if she had been here from the start, that would mean that he wouldn’t have to be the rescuer in the first place, which would have avoided the whole issue altogether.
He probably should say something, but what? Or would it be better to try and deal with the injured one first? Taking her out of the cage and covering the wounds with something couldn’t really hurt, right? Though he vaguely remembered someone once saying that you shouldn’t move an injured person without due cause. Which, in his personal opinion, was utter nonsense, after all he had fought with a sword sticking out of his gut and other such wounds on more than one occasion and nothing had come of it. So how could moving someone with a few light injuries be a problem?
Letting out a small snort he wondered how the Kid did this all the time while making it look so easy. For he had just barely done it once and was already sporting a small headache for it! Perhaps he should ask for some pointers in the future, there had to be a trick or two he was missing that would make dealing with this mess easier after all!
His unhelpful musings were thankfully cut short as the tiny yellow filly next to the larger mare decided to break the awkwardly long silence under her own terms.
“That was awesome!” the filly boisterously yelled, darting from the other mare’s side and towards his far larger brown form with a very respectable speed. “They were like, roar, you will not pass! And then you were like, out of my way! And then…”
Following the small filly happily bouncing all around him with a small sense of befuddlement as she energetically told him about a very imaginative and colorful retelling of his actions of a few minutes ago, all of it accompanied by impromptu vocalized sound effects and wild gestures with her hooves for emphasis, he wondered how he should react to this new development.
All the while the fact he still didn’t really know what to do with the injured pony kept pestering him like an annoyingly persistent fly.
“T-thanks a lot. I really can’t say that enough,” the orange coated mare said in a slightly shaky voice as she slowly pushed herself upright, a few grimaces of pain briefly crossing her features before she pushed them aside with willpower alone, something that Ganondorf definitely approved of. Letting anyone realize how injured you were was a great way of asking for them to come finish the job, after all.
Seeing her step out of the cage with slightly shaky legs made that little bit of medical advice about not moving while injured drift by his mind for a moment, before being swiftly tossed aside. If the mare had the strength and will to move despite her injuries then that was more than good enough in the Dark Lord’s opinion, no matter what nonsense the so called scholars had to say about it.
“What they were going to do with us… do to my little sister…” the orange mare started to say, something that sounded alarmingly like a hiccup lurking on her tone of voice and an even more alarming shine on her eyes. Until, with a fierce head shake, she thankfully seemed to regain her control before Ganondorf was forced to try and deal with a crying female, much to his relief.
“My name is Forest Blossom and this is my little sister, Singing Blossom,” she introduced herself and the enthusiastic little filly that was still jumping around him, before dipping her head in a small but heartfelt bow. “You have both my and my family’s eternal gratitude.”
“No problem,” he grumbled after a moment, realizing he was probably expected to give an answer. And after another he also realized that he should probably introduce himself as well. “I’m Ganondorf.”
“Weird name,” the tiny yellow pony happily proclaimed with the suicidal sincerity and eagerness of youth, to her older sister’s clear horror and the King of Thieves’ slight amusement.
He had never been one for the stupid rules of etiquette and decorum that plagued the nobility, personally preferring a far more direct and blunt approach, something that had served him well on more than one occasion. Din’s wrath, he remembered more than one time when he avoided a fatal, and far more importantly extremely embarrassing, mistake due to the simple fact that his elite minions felt no compunction about saying one plan or another was utterly stupid and would never work.
Tunnel vision was a thing, and having nothing but bootlickers that feared doing anything but curtsy and throw useless fancy speech one’s way had the nasty side effect of aggravating the problem, as such he had long since completely abandoned the trappings of formality that enshrouded most positions of power.
So the filly’s words didn’t really bother him, point in fact he could even see her point. For if their names were the norm for this realm then both his and Zelda’s name would probably sound a little odd to the ponies.
“But you are really strong mister! And really, really big! How did you get so big and strong? Will I be that big and strong when I grow up?” The fact the little bouncing yellow thing earnestly praising him with sparkling eyes was rather adorable also helped him forgive her a little bit, not that he would ever admit that out loud. “Not even big sister is that strong! So you are still amazing even with a weird name!”
Not to mention that whatever slight anger he might have felt had been swiftly derailed due to the fact that the tiny pony’s eyes were literally sparkling, as in there where tiny shiny stars twinkling inside them, much to his slightly confused bemusement.
“Singing!” the older mare hissed at her younger sibling, receiving a mutinous ‘What?’ for her efforts in trying to ensure the continued survival of the younger generation by preventing it from possibly angering him.
A logical path of action, but really unnecessary at this point in time, and as such he decided to intervene before the mare aggravated her injuries further, since he had noticed that her hiss was more than partially due to pain as she swiftly moved towards the yellow bouncing ball of fluff.
“It’s fine, she is just a filly after all,” he curtly said, all the while pondering about the fact that his Gerudo instincts and knowledge in regards to how to correctly treat and care for equines could probably be a bother later on while dealing with this new species.
“Thank you, good sir,” the mare said with heartfelt sincerity, giving him a dazzling smile, the little ball of fluff by her side immediately imitating her with an equally shining earnest smile.
Brutally beating down the part of his brain that wanted to offer them an apple or other such treat while reminding himself that they were not pets, Ganondorf concluded that his Gerudo raised instincts would be a bother after all.
“But while I’m thankful for both your help and understanding, I fear we must leave here as fast as possible! A large group of gryphon raiders departed some time ago planning to attack a group of travelers and it won’t be long before they are back!”
Stopping her from trotting away by firmly placing a hoof on one of her shoulders, while noticing that her fever was apparently growing worse due to how red her face was turning, he decided to inform them there was no need to rush and exert themselves before she made her situation worse in regards to her injuries.
“There’s no need, my companions and I have already dealt with the warband, they are just hunting down the last few stragglers and remaining scouts before coming here themselves,” he firmly spoke, the fact he could now actually sense both the Princess and the Kid calmly approaching their location giving even more weight to his words. “So take it easy until they get here so that we can deal with those injuries.”
Forest simply gave him a startled look, as if she couldn’t believe that they had already dealt with that sorry excuse of a warband. Her incredulity lasted until her eyes fell upon the gryphon’s sword he had snapped in half, at which point she simply nodded, not even a trace of doubt still present on her features.
They waited in silence for a few moments longer, until a frightened little whimper coming from the, up to this point, hyperactive ball of happiness, swiftly followed by Singing Blossom running to hide behind her sister, made Ganondorf immediately spin around while lowering his center of gravity slightly to provide him a more stable form so that he could react to any possible attack, sharp golden eyes searching for whatever unspoken danger that had scared the little filly. The fact that Forest had let out a small angry hiss while taking a clearly self-taught but still decently solid looking beginner’s battle stance right in front of the filly, despite her wounds, only reinforcing the notion that a new danger was at play.
And yet, no matter how hard he searched or strained his senses, the fact remained that there was simply nothing to either see or sense. No sign of danger, no threat whatsoever, nothing at all to explain the two females’ current actions.
Nothing but the green coated pegasus and the white coated unicorn that had just appeared at the far side of the clearing and had started to calmly trot towards them before noticing their reactions and taking battle stances of their own, sharp blue eyes searching both the trees and the sky for whatever danger could be lurking there.
After another moment fruitlessly searching his surroundings, Ganondorf traded a slightly confused look with both Zelda and Link. The curious and slightly confused looks that they were giving him in turn showing that they too hadn’t found anything even remotely wrong.
Turning his gaze back to the mare and the filly hiding behind her, which he noted to his growing bewilderment had yet to relax from her battle stance and was glaring at the two ponies that were now once again moving towards them, if at a far more careful trotting speed as they kept searching their surroundings for something they all could have missed, he decided to ask what she thought she was doing.
“Right, believe me when I say that there is nothing out there, if there was, one of us would have sensed it by now.” He spoke with utter certainty, knowing that there were precious few beings skilled enough to escape the sharp senses of even one of them, much less the senses of all three Triforce Wielders. “So, what exactly got you all worked up?
“Them!” the orange mare quietly hissed to him, as if she were trying to prevent Zelda and Link from hearing her words.
“What about them?” he asked in curiosity, not trying to modulate his loud echoing voice in the slightest and noting with some incredulity that she had subtly moved herself and her sister to place him between them and the approaching forms of his two old friends.
“They are a pegasus and a unicorn!” she once again hissed while briefly giving him an incredulous look, as if saying that that should be obvious, before returning her wary eyes to the incoming duo.
“Really, I would have never guessed!” he cheerfully replied with a hint of sarcasm, now thoroughly confused by the fact she was giving the two do-gooders the evil eye while hiding behind him of all beings. “Those are the companions I was talking about, Link, Zelda, meet Forest and Singing Blossom.”
“But, but… but you are an earth pony!” Forest incredulously stated as she finally stopped glaring at the duo in order to look at Ganondorf as if he had just sprouted a second head.
“Is that so? Good to know,” the King of Thieves readily replied, this time sincerely, glad to have the question regarding his species name answered without much effort on his part.
“Oh, and by the way, Princess, we got a wounded one here. We could use some of those healing spells of yours,” he shouted to the wielder of Wisdom, quite happy with the fact that at least one little conundrum could now be solved as the Princess hurried her pace towards them. Now he only had to try and figure out why Forest was openly gaping at him.
Perhaps Link could explain that to him later, or why Forest had been acting so oddly for some time now for that matter. Goddess knew the Kid was way more socially adept than the Dark Lord would ever be.
Stats
Page generated in 0.031 seconds
Total duration
649 users online
573,395 hits today, 1,309,201 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
YAY! I love this story!
Best part of this chapter somehow was Forest Blossom and Singing Blossom's reactions to Link and Zelda and hiding behind Ganondorf of all beings
I have the biggest grin on my face right now
Really hope we'll get a scene where Ganondorf approaches Link for advice about heroic actions and how to deal with them. Just thinking of how awkward it would be is making me chuckle.
Also, I know it's still early in the story, but I can't help but feel like there may be a "Romance" tag being added later on as the story progresses.
Link is more socially adept?! Oh poor poor Ganon... He has never personally witnessed the numerous times when all Link did was give the silent treatment. Which kept working somehow...
9067933
I like to think that it worked because Link had a Godly Charisma modifier.
Link: "It's simple. You're a Hero."
Ganondorf: "Say what now? I could swear I heard the capitalization when you said 'hero'."
Link: "Well, you did say that you wanted to break away from the role that you've been forced into so many times before. I think this new role suits you."
Zelda: "Link! Him? A hero? You've always been the hero!"
Link: "You do know that it's possible for there to be more than just one Hero, right? I've worked on teams before, with others just as capable as I. Sometimes even more so, even."
Ganondorf: "You're still doing that audible capitalization thing, Link."
Zelda: "How is that what you fixate on!? He just called you a hero! You don't do the hero thing!"
Singing Blossom: "He is so a hero! He saved us from those meanies!"
Link: "See? Hero. Capital 'H' full stop."
Ganondorf: "Well, I suppose it would be different."
Zelda: "Yes. Yes it would. And what roles do we have in this tale, Link? I certainly don't want to be the villain or the monster. And certainly not the damsel in distress again. I've done that far too many times already."
Link: "We're the Hero's companions, of course!"
Forest Blossom: "You ponies are very strange..."
Eeeexcelent. Ganon is going to be in high demand from all the lusty female earth ponies. Loved them reacting to him as a hero. This is going to only get better as the story progresses. I look forward to them meeting the wandering Celestia and Luna.
9067969
Ha YUS now just have the heroes run into the military just so Gannondorf can say all their weapons are shite.
Ganondorf processing mode of saving Forest and Blossom....loading....executing....answer generated....error.....confusion detected......reanalyzing.......processing complete: how do good things?
Haha good ol' piggy is getting some hero work done!
9067969
all of my yes!
I am greatly enjoying the story, and I eagerly await the next chapter. One small issue I have though is the almost undefined time period. I say almost since this obviously is taking place some time before the Unification period, maybe only a few years before. So I ask, what is the current time period so far?
9067890
Loved it! 
9067927
Thanks!
9067917
I loved that scene too.
Glad you are liking the story so far.
9067929
Both are definite possibilities, yes.
9067933
And despite that he is still the most socially adept of the three of them...
9067954
9067969
9067994
Indeed.
9068002
He needs to upgrade his core program from Villainy.exe 978 to Hero.exe 101.
This story is (awesome)2
And no one can tell me I'm wrong!
Glorious. I started laughing the moment Ganondorf walked into the clearing and didn't stop until the end of the chapter. I can't wait to see how this all plays out for Ganondorf the Hero. I foresee many knowing grins from Link and incredulous stares from Zelda once they notice how Forest is reacting to him.
And now, editing time! There was one instance of repetition I saw:
You only need one of those two instances of 'personally', the other is unnecessary. Though if you decide to keep the first one it should be offset with commas.
And the other is the use of the word 'for' at the beginning of sentences, specifically in instances like this:
It's not technically wrong, but it does sound odd (especially in this case since you're repeating the word back to back). That particular sentence structure is archaic and slightly formal, so it's pretty much never used unless that's the tone you're trying to convey. In regular narration for a story like this, it sounds out of place. If you do decide to change it, just like the thing with the word 'personally', just take out the 'for' and the sentence will still be correct.
9068015
They are near the brink of the Windigo/Hearts Warming incident, just about a year or so from that point in time.
9068033
I'd argue that he only needs to remove one "for" in that line, as otherwise the sentence would be grammatically incorrect. The line itself
is incomplete without a single "for".
This chapter was riotously awesome! Let's just start with that. I loved how Ganondorf is finding himself at loose ends trying to figure out how to hero, while also having to constantly remind himself that his Gerudo upbringing is not helpful in how to interact with equines that are fully sapient persons, not animals.
From her section at the start of the chapter, I get the impression that Forest Blossom is someone who's going to try to apprentice herself under Ganondorf. Her focus on her powerlessness in the face of the griffon warband, and later her referring to him as Power Incarnate (a title that I think he'd rather like) tends to indicate that she'll want to learn from him so that she'll never be in that situation again.
On top of this, we have a remote earth pony village for the trio to turn into a base of operations once Ganondorf, Link, and Zelda manage to bull their way through the ponies' distrust and fear of the other tribes. And the three of them, due to their past roles, are already very well attuned to how the three tribes can work together and be a stronger whole because of it. I am half expecting frustrated members of the other two tribes that are at the bottom end of their own pecking order due to no fault of their own may eventually end up seeking out this town that will become a fortress ran by an earth pony warlord, a unicorn battlemage, and a pegasus commando.
YES! Another chapter! And a fine one at that.
Loving this story so keep up the good work my good man
SHIP IT! SHIP IT NOAOOOOOOWWWW!
YYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS that has to be the Mare for Ganon I suppose and I somehow already like her.
I enjoy it that he seems not to understand the situation.
I also like it that he isn't assuming right away that she would be in love with someone or him. I know that is just where most minds went to right away, but how do they want to know that half of the time.
I'm so happy with this story at the moment, it is one of the only few stories at the moment that make me happy to see them.
I mean I wanted to say that I keep reading this story last, because I haven't been assuming something bad with this story so far, while I have other stories where I'm maybe just waiting for the next akward thing to happen or something bigger which would ruin it for me.
Long story short I was glad to get another chapter and even gladder when seeing this came with a potential love interesst for Ganon. I would totally like to either see Forest acting proudly and trying to get him to notice what a good catch she is with her muscles and everything, or acting unusual clumy and being totally out of character while being near him.
Now to Zelda and Link, I would like it if they are maybe still wary of them, I think it would probably be a bit more difficult to change such an uuhhhmmm trained view on the world. I mean that it would hard to change from "other Pegasus and Unicorns are bad", to "hey they helped me, I think they are alright".
I also like it if that kind of social problems stay there for a while if they mean not the biggest drama for the main chars.
9068032
9068097
Thanks! Glad you are liking it!
9068033
Thanks for the heads up, already fixed both of them.
And glad you like my 'Ganondorf the Hero' idea.
9068096
9068146
The shipping shall not be denied!
You know, I completely forgot that this was set before the events of Hearth's Warming. That blindsided me real good.
The story's going great, keep up the good work!
I love the reversal for Link and Ganon here in Equestria. Ganon is finally the Hero saving those two with his ridiculous strength, yet he has no idea what to do afterwards in normal(well sort of normal) social situations. While Link on the other hand is used to the Hero role and knows how to work with others, yet he can never talk(at least in the games) just grunt, yell, and scream.
Maybe the role of their group in this Equestria can be fore-runners of the unification of all pony tribes. They are going to attract a lot of attention working together like they are right now in pre-unification times.
Also, I cant help but imagine the three of them gathering a huge following over time since they are already legendary heroes and their strengths from Hyrule carried over to some degree. They then use this following to start their own empire, Ganon at the lead as the "tough-but-fair" king, Zelda as his advisor to make sure he doesn't go overboard, and Link will of course be the head of their Army. When Celestia and Luna hit the scene, they would have their minds blown that their own plan has kind of been put into action and even proven it is very feasible.
I have to admit. I love your interpretation on Ganondorf. Strong as all hell but despite the memories of dozens of lifetimes he is still socially awkward. And considering how he has been forced to the same role every time, the awkwardness is actually believable.
9068169
Yeah, Link and Zelda will have to deal with the fact that earth-ponies see both pegasi and unicorns in an antagonistic light at best on this era.
And I always thought that Ganondorf, the sole male amidst all the Gerudo, wouldn't really understand romance, or even social situations revolving around it for that mater, what with basically having to be the father to his whole tribe.
9068202
Glad you liked it.
9068211
Indeed.
But there is another thing, besides being a party composed of unbelievably strong and skilled members of each tribe, that is going to draw a lot of attention to the trio. The fact that they share the exact same cutey mark, the symbol of their shared destiny.
I wonder if we can give this author the Triforce of Awesome - it's 20% cooler - for this great piece of writing.
I'm loving this, and I can't wait until they get into the wider world. Crazy mayhem and Gerudo politics will ensue.
I just realized that Ganon’s twice the size of Big Mac if he can tank all the bandits.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FINALY UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9068230
Being a part-time King of Thieves, part-time absolute ruler of a desert dwelling all female race, full time Dark Lord kinda doesn't leave much time left for proper socialization practices.
9068276
Thanks!
9068285
9068284
9068279
I love how Ganondorf's oblivious to Forest Blossom's slowly building crush. Time to see how unicorns and pegasi earned the hatred of the earth pony hamlet.
9068034 Oh shit, that makes sense...Now I wanna see Zelda meet with either Starswirl the Bearded or Clover the Clever.
9067969 Very nice.
9067969
I have nothing to add. This is perfect.
BWAAAHAHAHAA!
*sigh* ...That chapter title fits perfectly, by the way.
Gannon smiled as he finished re-telling the Ponyville foals about his first job as a hero, they seemed to love that one the best, even more then how he and his best friends became Alicorns. Speaking of his friends he idly wondered how Link and Zelda were doing in the Crystal Empire dealing with a certain troublesome stallion, Sombra if he remembered right. Oh to see to look on the wannabe kings face when his friends take him down, heck to see Celestia and Luna's face when they see his friends beat them to another Hero gig.
Hehe just a random blurb to pop into my head while i was reading this awesome chapter! Keep up the great work!
9068303
You are not the only one...
Nice little snippet. 
9068321
9068337
Thanks! It's always a bit of a chore finding an appropriate title for each chapter, but it's definitely worth the hassle.
9068353
9068033
I did miss the extra 'personally', but I debated over whether to change the 'For, for'. In speech, the two would sound different, which is why I let it go in editing.
9068439
Thanks!
I laughed out loud when she called Ganon a hero
Congratulations, Ganondorf, you've just encountered your first Outside Context Problem: Romance. You don't even know it's what you're dealing with yet!
All in all another great chapter that's left me wanting MORE!
That 'battle' was priceless
I'm having such a fun time with this one! Is it Pre- Unification or a Post- Golden Age timeframe? Either way very nice choice in your timelines.
Thanks for sharing this with us!💗
9068232
I just hope the teasing about a romance with him was a real option and no matter how, it can and probably will happen later.
While I think they will probably be together for quite a while no matter if a sequel will show something different if this goes well enough, but even if I could see it happening, I'm not sure if I need Zelda as his advisor forever and whatever the one comment mentioned Link to be.
I mean I don't mind them to help him and stuff, but I could totally see some of the earth ponies trying to fill in the position of being important in his potential kingdom.
I hope if they have to interact with the princesses, being Alicorns or not, that they are either as strong as them or that Link and Ganon for whatever reason (maybe even Zelda) have a fight with them and win or hold them off really effectively.
I mean maybe for whatever reason Celestia isn't without a mistake here and one of them or both see them as Villains for a moment and.....well I haven't thought that far, I just mention what comes in my head right now.
Good night, I'm pretty much gone the whole day tomorrow.
9068062
I probably phrased my post poorly (that's what I get for writing things right before I head to sleep), but that's what I meant. The first 'for' is the archaic one, and the second is essential.
9068770
Ohh. Got it.
9068596
Glad you liked it.
9068607
i.imgflip.com/jfnha.jpg
9068624
Heh, yeah, I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the poor feline avians. Almost...
9068667
Glad you are enjoying the story.
And this takes place pre-unification, about a year or so before the first hearts warming eve.
9068732
Don't want to give too many spoilers, so I'll just say that our trio will remain a trio for the foreseeable future.
9068443
Yeah, that's one of those that you can go either way with. it's not technically wrong, so it just depends on what sort of tone and style the author is going for.
I foresee Ganon trolling the HELL out of Zelda with this role reversal, for as long as possible.
Ganon - "I am but a simple wandering warrior, with little interest in power or leadership." Zelda promptly falls over, frothing at the mouth in consuming anger. Ganon ignores her as the other ponies wonder what happened to her, not seeing his smirk of amusement.
Or - Years later, after the three had settled, Zelda was awoken one morning by the sound of Ganon screaming in fear. Quickly rushing out of her home, she dashed over to his home, not seeing Link facehooving just inside the home. "Ganon what is it?" The Lord of Thieves, Prince of Darkness, wielder of the Triforce of power looked over at her from the sink, an expression of incomprehensible loss on his face. "I can't..." Zelda consolingly patted him on the shoulder, not seeing Link start shaking behind her. "You can't what? Can I help?" Ganon looked at her, his expression unchanging. "I can't eat... bacon." He managed to hold the expression for a moment, before chuckling softly in amusement, watching Zelda's myriad of expressions. Five minutes later, the Prince of Darkness was running full tilt down the road, Link beside him. "Just as well, I was bored with that home anyway." Linki glanced back at the unicorn running after the two of them, idly dodging a bolt of pure power thick than his body. "There are better ways to get her help in demolishing your home." "Yeah, but most of those involve you and a bedroom. I am doing what I can with what I got." Ganon cackled and ran faster as Link tripped and tumbled, leaving him to his girlfriend's 'mercy.'
Ganondorf's new title, Master of Trolls.
Two things came to my mind today.
1) While on the road/trail/fields the CHAMPIONS OF THE TRI-FORCE! (a.k.a. the three weird ponies) are escorting a number of ponies still suspicious of the other tribes. When seemingly out of nowhere, Ganon starts humming a tune. Followed by Link then eventually Zelda. An acapella is formed! To much merriment of foals and Heroes! And further confusion of mares and stallions.
2) Once upon a time long ago, the Heroes of the Tri-Force went separate ways for reasons known only to themselves. Yet each once came to rest upon a spot, whereupon the magic of the land encased and enshrined them in three mystic temples! The Temple of Courage rests within a flying forest, ever moving though you may find it by climbing a giant beanstalk. The Temple of Power lays within the desert beneath a lava-veined mesa. The Temple of Wisdom is bound high upon a mountain strewn with hundreds of waterfalls. Pass their tests and awaken the Heroes in times of great calamity!
Starswirl writes that this should not be done because his pottery collection kept getting smashed.
"...Cutie Mark Crusader Legend Hunters Yay!"
Mfw dirty racists.