Water and Shadows Pt. 1
The entire lake drained, swallowed into the depths of black chasm. It left Link clinging to the edge of a slippery spire of rock, water coursing off him, several feet above the wet sand and tangled weeds that made up the lake bed.
Oh, great.
Link carefully relaxed his hind legs, sliding his hooves along the surface of the rock. They met with a slight indent, providing minimal relief to his tense forelegs.
“Okay…” He muttered to himself, trying to crane his neck and look downwards. “Easy…”
With slow, cautious movements, he relaxed his left foreleg, trying to bring it down. This way, he could eventually reach the bottom.
Without warning, his hooves slipped on the slick rock, causing him to fall.
“No!” Link cried, reaching out for the spire, but there was no place for him to find a hold that would stop his plummet. He crashed to the ground in an undignified spray of wet sand, his yelp muffled by the muddy water that splashed into his face. He was unharmed, thankfully, for his fall had been cushioned by the tangled net of weeds that covered the ground.
“Ow.” He groaned, carefully sitting up. A painful lump was rapidly forming on his head, emblazoning where he’d fallen on it.
“Link!” A panicked cry made him turn his head, wincing at the movement. He watched the group of his friends run up to him, struggling through the slew of wet sand and tangled waterplants.
“Are you okay?” Saria asked, checking him over. “Where were you hurt?”
“Nowhere.” Link sighed, wiping mud off his face. “I’m fine. Don’t worry!” Saria reluctantly retreated.
“What the heck happened?” Epona asked, raising an eyebrow. “We were standing at the shore, and….the water just decided to go on vacation.” She glanced up at the yawning cavern mouth before them. “And what is that?”
“Well...” Link said, standing up. “Call me crazy, but I think we have a temple to explore.”
“A what?” Octavia asked.
“A temple.” Link repeated. “Also known as a dungeon.” The Ponyvilleians gave him blank looks.
“It’s a big building full of puzzles.” He sighed. “Do…you ponies not have that here?”
“What kind of land has a bunch of random buildings full of puzzles just lying around?” Vinyl snorted.
“That’s not normal?” Epona frowned, a quizzical expression on her face. Link shrugged. Vinyl shook her head.
“Well...” Darunia said. “I suppose we need to go in?” He eyed the temple entrance nervously.
“Yeah, we do.” Link confirmed the Goron’s suspicions with a nod. “Is there something wrong?”
“I don’t...particularly like water.” Darunia admitted. “Mainly ‘cause I can’t swim—I’ll sink like a stone!”
“Welp, you don’t need to worry, buddy!” Lyra gave him a cheery wink. “I’ve got you covered on that!” Darunia didn’t look very reassured.
“Any more objections?” Link asked. “We really should go.”
His question was met with silence as the others turned, looking towards the entrance.
“All right.” He said, moving to face the same direction. “Let’s go, then.”
The group marched forwards, entering the dark.
The first obstacle they faced was….water.
Somehow, the temple was even further underground than the entrance, leaving them standing on a ledge several feet above a massive building filled mostly with water. There was a square-shaped structure set in the center, a wide walkway bordering it’s edge.Even though they were deep underground by now, light filled the air, filtering from some unseen window in the rocky ceiling above.
There was a loud clicking noise from below. Link glanced down.
A Tektite crouched on the surface, spindly legs twitching as it bounced for them, sending ripples dancing from it’s feet.
“What the heck is that?” Octavia’s tone was disgusted, and she stepped away from the edge of the platform.
“That’s a Tektite.” Link informed her. “Don’t worry—they’re relatively harmless. They’re mostly just annoying, to be honest.”
He turned and leapt off the platform, ignoring the startled shouts from the others as he splashed into the water only a few feet from the enemy. A stroke or two helped him reach the solid ground of the walkway, and he scrambled up onto the cold stone, whirling around as the Tektite clicked it’s warning again.
It made a leap for him, but he pulled out the Biggoron’s sword, slicing it cleanly in half. The two halves of the Tektite dropped onto the water, disappearing in a puff of black ash. Link snagged the green rupee it left behind, tucking it into his wallet.
“All right!” After a brief scan of the area, Link called up to the others who still waited above. “It’s safe to come down now!”
“You do remember I can’t swim, right?” Darunia retreated from the edge of the platform, a nervous expression on his face.
“Don’t worry.” Lyra promised. She looked at the water, a frown of concentration coming over her face. Her horn lit up with a shimmering golden light, and a freezing wind seemed to blow through the temple. Link shivered. With a slow creak, ice crept over the water, freezing it completely solid.
“All right.” The mint-colored Unicorn wiped beads of sweat off her brow, a triumphant smile on her face. “We can jump down now. Darunia first, while the ice is strongest.”
The Goron swallowed nervously, clambering carefully over the edge of the platform. He clenched onto it with his hooves as best he could, sliding slowly down the wall, stretching out to his full height. Once again Link was reminded of just how large and powerful his Sworn Brother was.
Darunia let go of the platform, dropping heavily onto the ice. It creaked dangerously beneath his weight, making the group draw a sharp breath—a breath they let out when the ice held. Darunia picked his way across the makeshift platform, skidding slightly, but safely reached the solid stone where Link was.
Now it was time for the others to make their way down. Vinyl and Bon Bon both chose to jump—the latter landing a lot more gracefully than the former. Lyra and Octavia slid down the wall in the same way Darunia had, landing with a slippery thud. Saria was reluctant to go, as the way seemed much farther for one so small, so Epona lowered her down with her front hooves.
There was a moment of panic when Epona—the last one down—broke through and disappeared with a splash. Thankfully she popped up seconds later, teeth chattering from the magical chill, and made it safely to the walkway.
“Okay…now for the matter of weapons.” Link began rifling through his inventory. “Do you guys want the same ones as last time? That is, when we defeated Volvagia?”
“Yes!” Vinyl cheered. Lyra nodded, a grin on her face. Bon Bon agreed with a nod as well, one much calmer than Lyra’s.
“Okay...hookshot.” Link tossed the weapon named out first, and Bon Bon caught it in her front hooves. “Now for the Kokiri Sword.” That Vinyl held in her magenta-tinted magic. “And last but not least, the Megaton!” This last weapon went to Lyra, who seemed all too happy to hold it again.
“Hey...” Saria said, her voice thoughtful. “Do you still have that fairy slingshot?”
“I do.” Link raised his eyebrows in surprise. He wasn't expecting Saria to ask for a weapon.
“Well...” Saria sounded timid. “Can I…use that? I want to help.”
“Absolutely.” Link gave her a smile. “I’m glad you do.” He tossed Saria the slingshot, and she caught it in her mouth.
“All right.” Now he turned to Epona and Darunia. “Do you guys need any weapons? I don’t have much left, but…”
“Does it look like I need a weapon?” Epona scoffed. Then, without waiting for a response, she continued. “No thanks. I’m good.”
“I…don’t even know how I’d hold one.” Darunia admitted. “I’m sure I’ll survive without one.”
“Fair enough.” Link chuckled. He then turned to Octavia, who was standing awkwardly to the side, watching the others testing out their new weapons.Bon Bon had creatively used some rope (where on earth had she gotten that?) to create a makeshift belt that held the hookshot to her side, and Saria had figured out how to hold the slingshot in her front hooves, pulling the pouch back with her mouth.
“What about you?” Link asked. Octavia jumped at being addressed. “Do you want to use something?”
So you can stop hiding behind Vinyl, he mentally added.
“Well...” Octavia tapped a hoof to her chin, looking tentative. “What do you have?”
“Hmm...” Link dug through his inventory. “I have a bow and arrow, several sticks, a boomerang, bombs, two bottles, and a headband with bunny ears.”
“A headband with….what?” Octavia raised both her eyebrows, looking alarmed.
“Bunny ears.” Link shrugged. “It helps me run fast.”
“Okay then...” Octavia said. “Do you really consider a bottle to be a weapon?”
“Never underestimate a bottle.” Link said firmly.
“I guess I’ll go with…the boomerang?” Octavia decided, still looking unsure. “I mean…I don’t really know what else I could use…”
“Whatever you think works for you.” Link said, holding it out to her. “Maybe later, I can teach you how to really use it.”
Octavia cautiously took it from him, craning her neck out and very gingerly clamping her jaw down on the end of it. Bon Bon noticed and trotted over to her, using what was left of her mysterious rope to make another belt for Octavia.
“Okay.” Epona said, once she’d finished. “We ready to go now?”
“Yup.” Link nodded. “I know where to go—I remember most of this temple from my first run-through.” He sighed. “Prepare yourselves for a lot of walking. And a lot of water.”
“Should we be worried?” Vinyl asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s just long.” Link sighed. “Very, very long.” He shook his head, bringing himself back to the current matter. “Okay. To start, we need to go underwater—how are we going to manage that?”
“Piece of cake.” Lyra said, a smirk on her face. “Well...actually not. More like a piece of toffee—hard to chew. But I digress. If Vinyl can give me a power boost with her magic, I can create a force field that should keep out water.”
“Sounds good.” Link agreed. He looked to Darunia for confirmation. The Goron swallowed, looking nervous, but gave a nod.
An aura of shimmering, rippling magenta covered Vinyl’s horn. She gave a loud yelp as it was ripped from her, swirling towards Lyra like a mist. It was absorbed by the magic already decking out Lyra’s horn, and the aura of gold swelled, becoming more orange in color.
There was a bright flash, and a large, bubble-shaped force field appeared, becoming the same unusual shade of tangerine that Lyra’s magic had been.
“Wait.” Saria frowned. “How is the shield going through the stone?”
The others glanced down. Sure enough, the glowing bubble that currently encased the group passed through the stone below their hooves, pushing back the water where it touched.
“I altered the spell so it only affects objects with a certain molecular structure.” Lyra said. The others blinked at her.
“Wha?” Vinyl asked.
“It’s solid to ponies and water, but nothing else.” Lyra sighed.
“Oooooh!” The group said in unison, understanding dawning on them.
“I didn’t know you could do that!” Bon Bon said.
“I did go to school with Princess Twilight, you know.” Lyra mumbled.
“So...should I be helping?” Vinyl commented. “Ya know, doing something to maintain the mole cubic jar structure and all that?”
“Molecular.” Lyra corrected, rolling her eyes. “And no, I can hold it for now. At the most, I may need you to occasionally open a pathway for others to get in and out of the force field, but since you’ve given me that boost I needed to spark the field, I can keep it in place.”
“Great.” Link said. “Now...um…can you let me out so I can show you the way…?”
“Yeah, sure.” Lyra nodded towards the other Unicorn in the group. “Vinyl, to open a hole in the field, you need to light your horn and stick it straight into the wall.Focus on enlarging the field of magic around your horn, almost as if you’re creating your own force field.”
“Cool.” Vinyl said, huffing out a breath. “Okay. I got this. I think.”
“Just make sure your horn is lit.” Lyra warned. “Otherwise this thing will blow up in our faces.”
“Kay.” Magenta sparked on Vinyl’s horn, and she carefully inserted it into the wall of the field. A hole appeared, shimmering around the edges with the color of Vinyl’s magic.
Link carefully stepped around the Unicorn, slipping through the gap. Once he was through, Vinyl stepped away from the wall, and the hole snapped closed with a popping noise.
“All right!” Link said. “Follow me.”
He turned, diving into the water. The weightless feeling of being underwater rushed over him, along with a pressure on his lungs. It took him a second to relax, reminding himself that he could breath, he wasn’t going to drown.
Somehow, without realizing, his instincts had taken over and planted the iron boots on his hooves. Their weight pulled him lower, dragging him towards the bottom of the temple.
A muffled splash from above told him that the others had followed. A large shadow appeared, casting Link into darkness, and he struggled to move away from beneath the force field before he was crushed.
Eventually, they touched down on the sandy ground, sending up a gentle cloud of silt. Link had to stifle a laugh at the others in the force field—they’d all rolled to the bottom of the bubble. Darunia was crushed beneath the others, Saria was trying to stay on top to avoid being crushed, and the Unicorns were struggling to keep their horns away from the edges of the force field.
After they’d rearranged themselves and got situated, Link motioned for them to follow him. He made his way across the ground, heading for the place where he knew he was supposed to. The others rolled their hamster ball of magic behind him, throwing themselves against the walls to keep it moving.
There…was no door.
Link froze.
There was, without a doubt, supposed to be a door there. He remembered it clearly—the door lead to a hallway, and that hallway lead to a room with two unlit torches—it was where he’d met Ruto again after all those years…
And there was no way he could forget that.
After a second, he began tapping the wall, searching for the door. It had to be here somewhere.
“Is there something wrong?” Lyra’s voice was warped and muted by the water, but he could still hear her. Link ignored the question, continuing to search along the length of the wall where the door should be.
After a second, he confirmed it—there really was nothing there. Link turned around, trying to figure out how to tell the others.
“What’s going on?” Octavia called from where she was stuck behind all the others. “Why are we just standing here?”
An idea came to Link. With the tip of his hoof, he wrote the word “door” on the sand, and added an arrow pointing towards the wall. He then drew his hoof across the word, slashing it out.
“Oooh. There’s no door?” Epona asked. Link nodded, grateful there was someone who could translate him.
“Is there supposed to be?” Darunia asked. Link nodded again.
“So...what now?” Bon Bon asked.
“I assume Link will do what he normally does.” Epona said. “Wander around aimlessly till you find somewhere you’re supposed to go?” Link gave a sheepish grin, nodding once more.
“Lead the way.” Epona grinned. Link took a deep breath, then set off in a random direction, searching for another door on the bottom floor.
It wasn’t long before he found one—one leading to a hallway very similar to the one that should have been.
Is this where I should go? Link wondered. Did I mess up, or something..?
There was quite a bit of shuffling as those in the force field tried to figure out how to fit through the door. Eventually they all managed to crowd into the hallway, forming an awkward, double-layered single file—or what vaguely resembled one.
They trotted along the passage, eventually entering a room at the far end, and the others could spread out within their force field.
An iron grate slammed closed over the entrance behind them, locking them in the room. Enemies swarmed the floor—clam-like creatures who hissed angrily, mouths widening to reveal strands of sticky pink stretching out inside.
“What the heck are these things?” Lyra asked, looking alarmed.
“They’re called Shell Blades.” Epona explained, watching them with wary eyes. “You have to aim for the soft spot inside their mouth to defeat them!”
How does she know all this? Link wondered. He made an attempt to draw his sword, but it was too large and unwieldy to use underwater. He instead reached for a spare arrow, clenching the wooden shaft in his jaw.
The nearest Shell leapt for him, spinning in midair so the sharp spikes on it’s back were pointed straight at it’s target. Link dodged to the side, letting it soar gracefully past him and clatter to the ground. It turned again, readying to attack once more,and he took the opportunity to lunge forwards with the arrow.
He managed to stab the inside of it’s unprotected mouth, and the creature split in half, crumbling into black ash that dissipated in the water.
One of the enemies lunged for those sheltered in the force field, causing a panicked shifting of bodies. Epona shoved the others aside, slamming her hooves down on the Shell, and it shattered to pieces.The last one was promptly dealt with by Bon Bon, who used the hookshot to spear the inside of it’s mouth when it was opened to attack them.
Wow, Link thought. She picked up that weapon fast.
The iron bars over the doorway slid upwards, vanishing into the stone ceiling, and the way out was opened again. Light shimmered in one corner, and a wooden chest appeared. Link put the arrow back into his inventory, trotting over and tugging open the heavy lid.
Water rushed into the previously-empty cavity of the interior, thrusting out a small metal key. Link quickly snagged it, wincing as he bit down a little too hard.
“That’s a key.” Epona explained to the others, once again making Link wonder just where she had learned all this. He had talked to her a lot when she was just a horse, but had he really bothered to explain what a key was? “It opens a locked door somewhere in the temple.”
“Oh!” Saria said. “I think I know where! There was a locked door up where we first started…do you think we should go back there?”
Link nodded in response to Saria’s question, slipping past the force field and back into the hallway.
“Here we go again.” Lyra groaned.
Once again, they all had a bit of difficulty trying to squeeze through the hallway again. Link was glad that he wasn’t in the force field…
Eventually, they managed to make their way through, and spread out slightly once back in the open space of the ground floor.
Link paused for a second, tapping a hoof to his chin as he tried to figure out how to get the others back up to the highest platform again. It would be simple enough for him, but for those trapped in the force field…not so much.
He sighed. He had come to the realization that in order for the others to get back up, they would need to pop the force field.
“How are we going to get back up?” With impeccable timing, Vinyl’s voice rang out with the question. Link frowned for a second. Now there was just the trouble of figuring out how to tell them. He pointed at himself, then pointed inside the bubble, a questioning look on his face.
“Sorry, not possible.” Lyra said. “Not without breaking the force field, that is.”
Link frowned thoughtfully. He pointed at the force field, then mimed sticking a pin inside a balloon.
“You want us to pop it?” This time it was Bon Bon who deciphered him. Link nodded.
“I still can’t swim!” Darunia chimed in. Link gave a warped-sounding groan, facehoofing. He’d forgotten about that.
“Is that the only way of getting up?” Epona asked. Link shrugged helplessly. As far as he could tell, it was. Epona frowned, tapping a hoof to her chin in an almost identical movement to Link’s.
“Okay. Are any of us strong enough to tow Darunia up?” She turned to the others.
“Maybe a few of us could.” Bon Bon offered.
“And us Unicorns could use magic as well.” Vinyl pointed out. Lyra nodded.
“Okay.” Epona said. “Bon Bon, Lyra, Vinyl and I will help pull Darunia upwards. Saria, you can also ride on my back, if you need to. How’s that sound?”
“I can swim.” Saria insisted. “I’ll be fine.”
“All right.” Epona took a deep breath. “Are we ready?” There was a communal nod of agreement.
The aura of magic on Lyra’s horn fizzled, fading away. There was a loud pop, and with a flash of quickly-quenched sparks, the magical barrier disappeared. Water crashed into the empty space, battering the group with currents that threatened to scatter them.
They all managed to get a hold on Darunia, who was heavy enough to stay in place. Once the water had settled, Epona waved at the others to follow her, gripping Darunia’s foreleg and pulling him upwards. Bon Bon followed suit, gripping the Goron’s other foreleg. There was a rush of multicolored bubbles from the two Unicorns, and Lyra and Vinyl floated upwards by themselves, bracing against Darunia’s sides. Link swam over to the others, helping lift Darunia as well. Octavia and Saria locked forelegs, helping each other upwards.
Eventually, they broke the surface. Everyone except Link inhaled deeply, dragging air into their lungs. They helped Darunia over to the platform, then crawled up themselves, wringing out sopping manes and checking to make sure weapons were still in place.
Link gave them all a second to recover their separate breaths, then moved on to the locked door in the center of the wall behind them—the door indicated by Saria. He stuck the key into the heavy padlock that lay at it’s center, twisting it to the side.
It vanished, and the lock dropped to the ground, allowing the door to slide open.
“R-ready?” Link asked, coughing slightly as his voice broke. It’d been a while since he spoke.
The others nodded, following him through the entrance.
This time, they were in the structure centered inside the temple.Water filled a majority of the space—the only thing that was really visible were the damp stone walls and the platform that lay directly across from them. More objects—other platforms, perhaps?—were submerged, but Link couldn’t see clearly enough to identify what they truly were.
“Wait here.” Link said.
He crouched, preparing himself, then sprang across the distance, aiming for the other platform.
His front hooves just barely reached it, and his front half crashed painfully on top of the solid level, but his back half slid into the chill of the water.
“Link!” Saria cried, sounding worried.
“I’m fine.” In contradiction to his words, Link winced a little. The rough stone had scraped the top layer of skin off his hooves, and tiny bloodstains appeared on the platform. He just hoped Saria wouldn’t see.
Link clambered up, biting back a yelp as the abrasions on his hooves stung painfully.
The wall next to him was emblazoned with a decorative picture of the Triforce, telling him exactly what he needed to do here. He pulled the Ocarina of Time from his inventory, preparing to play.
When he did play, he was struck with a wave of longing for the green fields of Hyrule—Zelda’s Lullaby always seemed to do that for him.
Link loved this song. It hadn’t been the first one he’d learned—Saria’s Song held that place in his heart—it was the melody of the royal family, clearly marking him as a messenger from them. Not to mention he’d learned it from the princess herself.
When he was young, he hadn’t realized the full gravity of that situation. He’d barely even known who the princess was, having just come out of Kokiri forest, exposed to the world for the first time. The only thing he’d known was that she was…rather pretty.
And now…the song of the princess, her lullaby….he was playing it.
The stone trembled beneath his hooves, accompanied by a loud, rushing, roaring noise. The water surrounding him frothed and heaved, slopping over the edge of the platforms. The others shied away from the waves, alarmed, but Link welcomed their cool relief on his scratched hooves.
The water level sunk lower, vanishing into some unknown place, revealing levels below that had otherwise been hidden by the depths.
“Wait...” Once Saria had got over her awe of the changing water level, she glanced down. “You’re stuck.”
“Nope, I’m not.” Link assured her. “Hey, Bon Bon, see that target on the wall?” He pointed to a circular mark near the Triforce. “Can you shoot it with the hookshot?”
“Um...sure.” Bon Bon complied with the request, and went flying through the air, landing lightly next to him.
“Okay, now we both can get back.” Link said. “Just aim for the—”
“Here.” Bon Bon handed him the hookshot. “Hold this.”
“Uh…okay?” Link took it from her. “What’s up?”
Bon Bon didn’t respond, instead crouching…then gave a mighty leap into the air. Lyra shrieked in terror, but her friend made it safely across, landing on the other platform inches from the edge.
“Bon Bon.” The mint Unicorn gasped, clutching her heart. “Never do that again.”
“Sorry.” Bon Bon gave her a sheepish grin.
Link crossed the gap again with the hookshot, then gave it back to Bon Bon.
“All right. Let’s see what areas opened up.” He made his way back out, the rest of the group filing behind him.
Outside the water had vanished as well. They now stood three stories above a stretch of empty wet sand. Link shuddered, trying not to think about what would happen if any of them fell.
“What’s next?” Darunia asked.
“Well, if my dungeon-diving senses aren’t getting rusty, there was a door over this way blocked by a floating box.” Link lead them around the nearest corner. On the other side, a Tektite waited, but Link kicked it away easily.
It fell off the edge of the platform. Link didn’t wait around to see what happened to it.
“Called it.” He grinned. There was a door there, now accessible to them.
He breathed deeply, attempting to calm his nerves as he took a small step backwards.
“Wait a second, Link.” Vinyl said. “You’re not going to—”
Without waiting for her to finish her sentence, Link leapt forwards, soaring across the deadly drop beneath them. He landed lightly on the narrow ledge that bordered the door, clinging tightly to the wall.
After a second, he carefully moved sideways, sliding the door open. He slipped inside, holding the door open with a hoof.
“Okay, come across!” He said.
Lyra was first, easily leaping across and trotting into the next room. The others followed—Darunia had some trouble getting through the door, and there was a harrowing moment when he slipped slightly…but they all made it through fine.
Link gave a sigh of relief, finally letting the door slide closed. It slammed shut, iron bars crossing over the entrance.
“Not again!” Link groaned. “As if this dungeon wasn’t bad enough…this is going to be one of those dungeons, isn’t it?”
The room was relatively large, lending enough room for the group to spread out. A treasure chest was placed on one end of the room, surrounded by a ring of crackling fire. Enemies appeared, crawling for the group—massive, burning slug-like creatures.
“These are called Torch Slugs.” Epona warned. “When the fire on their back is extinguished, they’ll run away. They need to be destroyed before they relight!”
“Got it!” Lyra said. Link couldn’t help but feel that what Epona said was extremely, extremely familiar.
Vinyl attacked first, slicing at one with the Kokiri Sword. The flames on it’s back sputtered out, and it let out a croak of alarm, slimy body rippling frantically as it tried to escape.
“HahaaAAAah!” Vinyl gave a cry of victory, swinging the blade wildly over her head. It cut into the body of the enemy with a satisfying squish, and the Torch dissolved, disappearing in a puff of black ash.
Darunia defeated the next one by inhaling deeply, blowing out the flames with one massive breath. When it tried to run away, he slammed his hooves down on it, crushing it easily.
Link defeated the final one in the same way Vinyl had defeated hers, excepted with less….vigor.
Interesting. He thought. So the size of rooms and platforms have adjusted to fit a larger group, but not the amount of enemies….
The iron bars over the door vanished, and the ring of fire around the chest flickered out. Link tugged open the chest—a much easier task out of water than in it—and found a scroll of yellowed parchment inside. He rolled it open, finding a detailed map inked on the other side.
“Sweet!” He said. “This is the dungeon map. Okay…there’s another place we can reach from the top level!There’s a door on the opposite side from this room.”
“Why do dungeons involve so much dang running around?” Vinyl sighed.
“I have no idea.” Link admitted.
He gave a sigh. This could take a while.
Many hours passed.
They’d been through several rooms, killed several enemies, and solved several puzzles. The dungeon was very different than the one Link had experienced in Hyrule—the puzzles were much more difficult, requiring several minds to solve rather than one.
And the group was much better at dungeons than Link thought they would be.
Octavia was surprisingly good at solving puzzles, and had noticed several patterns in rooms where the others hadn’t. Vinyl had come up with many, many, many unusual, out-of-the-box ideas that had actually worked. Lyra had a never-ending zeal that drove them all forwards, but Bon Bon was always there to balance that out—making them pause, think, and keeping them from rushing head-first into traps. Darunia often came up with simple, clear solutions where the others were overthinking, and Saria used her small size to her advantage, slipping into places the others couldn’t reach. Not to mention she was a lot handier with the slingshot than Link had thought she’d be.
And Epona….
Epona was almost as good as Link was. It was almost as if she’d been through all these places firsthand.
“Hey, Link.”
Link was jerked out of his thoughts by Bon Bon’s voice. The group had been walking along a long hallway, and now they paused in front of a locked door. Epona took the key they had won from the previous room, inserting it into the lock and giving it a twist. The chains dropped away, lock falling to the ground with a clatter, and they all entered the room.
The room was exceptionally strange. There seemed to be no ceiling or walls, and the floor was a glassy stretch of water that reached on forever. A single, lone tree sprouted from the center of the room(?), it’s bone-pale branches sleek and leafless.
“What the heck is this place?” Saria asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Forget what is this place, how is this place?” Vinyl said, dashing off to the side. “We’re still inside a building! How are there no—? Ow!”
She sat up, dazed, rubbing her muzzle with a pained expression.
“Yep.” She said. “There are walls.”
The others scattered, trotting away to investigate. The door had locked behind them, so clearly there was something they needed to do in this room—there was only one door, after all.
Link frowned, glancing down at the floor. He knew there was something out-of-the-ordinary about this particular place, he just...couldn’t recall just what it was. He’d been through so many temples, they all seemed to blur together in his mind.
The floor below his hooves was shining and flawless, even with the tiny ripples marking it’s surface. It was perfect…undisturbed by any reflection…
Wait…
Reflection…
With a jolt, Link remembered the room. He glanced frantically towards the tree in the center, the tree that seemed so innocent and unassuming, yet held dark power. Saria stood near there, approaching the trunk curiously.
“Saria!” Link cried. “Look out!”
The Kokiri whirled around, looking alarmed…just in time for the dark form of a shadowy creature to leap from the surface of the water, looming above her.
Time seemed to slow down.
From the corner of his eye, Link saw Epona pounding across the ground, heading desperately for Saria, who was still standing and staring at Link with a worried expression, unaware of the danger lurking above her. The dark creature brought it’s hooves down in a pointed blow, aiming for Saria’s unprotected head. If it had struck her, it would definitely have split her skull open and killed her.
Luckily, Epona reached her first. The Earth Pony leapt forwards, bowling the creature over seconds before it would have struck. Saria let out a shrill scream of alarm, dashing away as they rolled over. There was a cold, angry hiss that sent chills up Link’s spine. The creature vanished into the water, leaving nothing but a soaked Epona and a Saria trembling with fear.
“What the heck was that???” Octavia screeched, glancing around nervously. Saria rushed for Link, hiding behind him as she scanned the ground with a terrified expression. The others trotted over, some looking concerned, others grim.
“It’s okay, Saria.” Link said. In reality, he had been terrified. If the enemy had managed to reach Saria before Epona had…
He smothered the shudder trying to force it’s way through his limbs. He didn’t want to scare Saria.
Epona trotted over, shaking her sopping wet mane out of her face.
“Thanks.” Link told her. Epona barely nodded, her gaze fixed on the ground, eyes narrowed in scrutiny.
Link stepped carefully away from Saria, gently pushing her back when she tried to follow him. He approached the tree, drawing his sword.
The figure appeared again, sprouting from the ground, sudden and startled enough to make Link jolt backwards a little.
The figure was a pony, the exact size and stature as Link, even wearing an identical outfit. Every aspect of the pony was black—it’s clothes, it’s skin, even the locks of it’s mane that stuck out from beneath the pointed hat that emblazoned it’s head. The eyes on it’s face were soulless red, a hungry glow emanating from them.
“It’s….you.” Lyra realized, her voice a hoarse whisper as she glanced back and forth between Link and his Shadow.
“It’s not.” Link insisted. “It’s just a shadow, and we need to defeat it as soon as possible! There’s no way it can stand against all eight of us—!”
He was interrupted by another figure forcing it’s way from the watery ground. It strutted closer, a menacing air of confidence about it’s stride.
“Is that me?” Epona gasped.
Dark Epona gave a hoarse, grating chuckle, pulling up beside Dark Link. The two began circling the group, watching them with glowing, narrowed eyes.
And that was when Link noticed that none of the group had reflections.
Oh sh—he thought.
Six more figures erupted from the water beside the tree, water droplets flung from cold black limbs, six pairs of menacing eyes glaring at the group of their living counterparts.
The dark forms of Lyra, Bon Bon, Vinyl, Octavia, Saria, and Darunia began circling with Dark Link and Epona, pausing when they faced their real forms.
“Watch out...” Epona whispered.
Unearthly screams echoing from the shadows’ mouths, as if it was some twisted form of a battle cry. They lunged forwards, raising dark weapons, ready to attack.
Ah....the temple we all know and love DETEST WITH EVERY BONE IN OUR BODY.
Water and Shadows Pt.s 1 and 2 were originally going to be all one chapter, but then I started writing the Shadow Link bossfight, and........before I knew it I'd written about seven or so pages of combat. 
The page amount will probably be way less when I type it out, but didn't want to dump a 6,000 word chapter on ya'll or something. XD
Sorry it took me so long to get this out.....turns out I hate writing the Water Temple as much as I hated playing it. 
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Welp, looks like I still dumped a 6,000 word chapter on you. Sorry about that.
JUST REMEMBER IT WOULD HAVE BEEN LONGER.
Woot! Dark Link and Dark Epona! Awesome
That cliffhanger though! Great chapter, looking forward to the next one.
10051606
And Dark Saria and Dark Darunia and Dark Lyra and Dark Bon Bon and Dark Octavia and *INHALE* Dark Vinyl. *gasp gasp* Let me tell you, you have no idea how many characters you have until you write an eight on eight combat scene..........
This level we can agree on, it's long and boring but the Water Temple in Majora's Mask, is a different story. It's long and actually challenging.
10051633
Jeez. That sounds hectic.
10051650
It really is.......
I think I'm going to cut the chapter down so that it only focuses on one or two characters at a time. Cause keeping track of all eight is getting really confusing....
Of course Epona’s going to pick up a thing or two from Link. She’s been Link’s partner for most of the games.
Either Epona is being possessed by Navi, or Link talks a lot in his sleep.
10051652
That's fair and it does give you a chance to put more thought into how each character reacts to their Shadowganger
Neck
remove the "Y"
Space
And as always from me your proofreader, the chapter was great, tho why you didn't make it all one big chapter as I love those is beyond me.
10052133
Thanks! Fixed.
I felt like the whole thing together was a bit much. XD The chapter's already 6,000 words.......probably would've made it 8,000 or something. XD
The ponies have adjusted to killing.
10052189
Well, killing mindless monsters that resemble nothing more than insects.....
10051708
I was thinking very much the same thing. Maybe they fused and Epona is just the dominant personality or something?
Everyone/pony has a dark side. But I can't help but feel like the Shadow fight is a chance to... bring that out a little. It's one thing to fight a reflection of yourself, but it's another to be fighting... well, yourself proper. One who knows how to push your buttons and your darker impulses that you bury deep within.
10052450
Exactly. That's I'm aiming for.
Calling it now, Navi is either possessing Epona or has fused together.
I knew Navi was Epona!
i always forgot about the path in the tower / middle part in the water temple, other then that i found the temple to be easy, and just slightly annoying when i forgot the path and had to restart the entire thing
Never Ever Ever
How does one play an ocarina with hooves?
There’s incorrect BBCode formatting here.
10323864
Thanks for catching that.
As for the ocarina, I described how Link plays it in one of the earlier chapters (the second one, to be exact). It's a bit awkward, but he can still play it.
It took me a long time to get through the Temple I have to use the guide book to get me through this dungeon or even on YouTube because I was just so sick of being stuck in that level
This is when we going to see Shadow Link here and that means the others will see their dark side of themself as well
Yep just like how I remember this Temple is really a pain in the neck so link and the others got them self into the water temple so link has to figure out how to get through all this puzzle and everything but this time he's not alone but it still doesn't make anything easier because this Temple is still a pain to figure it out and I do like how everybody has their own skills and teamwork while getting through the temple and not only that Epona really knows a lot about this Temple including the enemies and I wonder how but anyway after a couple of rooms and puzzles they finally came to this room where there's a tree island in the center in the room but once they got there their shadow counterparts all ready to attack link and the others
This made me laugh more than it should have