The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Link's Awakening.

by Ganondorf8

Chapter 14: To Swim Like a Fish.

Author's Note:

Disclaimer: I do not own anything regarding the Legend of Zelda, the Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and My Little Pony: Equestria Girls. These are the properties of Nintendo and Hasbro respectively.

When swimming about underwater, beware of giant fish with massive appetites.

Cast of characters appearing in this chapter:

Sunset Shimmer: Link
Princess Twilight Sparkle: Fairy Partner
Princess Celestia: Spirit Princess
Autumn Blaze: Manbo, Child of the Sun Fish
King Sombra: Ghost

The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Link's Awakening.
By Ganondorf8.
December 7, 2019.
Chapter 14: To Swim Like a Fish.

I couldn't believe what had just happened! A key which I needed to unlock the door in front of me dropped down from above only to fall into a hole in the ground and making a loud splash indicating that it got submerged into some deep water. Because of my apparent inability to swim, the key was now lost and unless I could learn how, I wasn't about to collect it any time soon or even at all. Whoever thought of this idea had to have been sadistic or at the very least crazy. No wonder video games tended to bring out the worst in people. It was stuff like that which caused them to want to break something.

Have I been there before? All the time. In fact, I won't deny that I've broken my share of controllers out of sheer anger over how cheap a video game could get when it came to questionable decisions. My friends know about this unfortunate shame of mine and they have helped me calm down to the point where I no longer want to smash the controller up against the wall (It had been about four or five months since breaking my last controller), but the frustration still remained. Just because some players appreciate such twists doesn't mean it will be appreciated by others.

As I continued to sit on the floor and grumbled over not being able to get that key, I thought about all which I had been through so far on this journey. Compared with the previous two, this one was surprisingly tame which had me wonder if Ganondorf was showing me some pity. The Demon King showing pity... Never thought I'd think of that kind of connection. Still, why send me to this world in particular? My previous journey to Termina (Surprised I remembered that name) was a doomed world where everything would end in three days, and the one before that, Hyrule (Really surprised I remembered this one), showcase Ganondorf's rise to power.

Compared to those two worlds, Koholint Island was much more peaceful and didn't have any thought-provoking decisions where the fate of everyone rested on my shoulders should I make the wrong choice. A false sense of security? Had the Demon King lapsed in judgement? Maybe but there were still many questions that remained unanswered. Why want me to become his servant when there are far better candidates who possess what he's looking for? Sure, I am quite powerful in the magical sense, but I lack physical prowess in that I don't have herculean strength or a super brain.

Looking at Princess Twilight, who was concerned with me, she was pretty much the same as I was. Her magic and intellect were naturally better than mine because she completed her studies while I abandoned them for a while only to come back to them later. She also lacked physical prowess but then she didn't really need it due to being a scholar. Was it possible that the two of us were simply an option he could rely on as a bonus and instead had a far greater plan? That did sound plausible yet it was only my opinion. Without actual evidence to back up my claim, my thoughts on the matter were just that, thoughts.

Getting back onto my feet because I had gotten over the small key problem (It was because of my thoughts on Ganondorf), I could only imagine what the Demon King's next move was going to be. I could never hope to read the thoughts of one who had lived for millennia not to mention who could foresee just about everything. If only there was a sign of some kind as to what he was going to do next, I could perhaps find a way to prepare myself. But, that would be nothing short of a miracle at this point. There wasn't anything I could do other than continue on with this journey and see it through to the end.

Walking over to the hole where the key fell into before making a splash, I leaned over in order to see if I could actually see where it was. I could barely make out the deep water but the lack of light down below made it too murky for me to see anything else. Since nothing could be done without the ability to swim, I had no choice but to abandon that key and hope that I could acquire it later. Walking south with a heavy heart, I entered the next area which contained an Owl Statue that wasn't embedded into the wall. There was also more deep water along with a pair of Spiked Beetles and a Water Tektite in the distance to my right.

Inching a little bit further, I could see that there was an additional Water Tektite as well as a treasure chest, but the latter was inaccessible due to deep water surrounding it. Again, I couldn't do anything about it but it wasn't a key in the very least. If it had been, the Compass would've made its usual sound so it had to have contained rupees which were necessary for me to purchase that bow from Aria. Raising my shield, I flipped over both Spiked Beetles before hitting each of them twice with my sword, defeating them leaving just the Water Tektites though neither showed any signs of wanting to skate on over and attack me.

Ignoring them, I walked up to the Owl Statue, took out the Stone Beak from my pocket, and placed it where it needed to go. 'The glint of the tile will be your guide...' I immediately began to scratch my head. "Twilight? Do you have any idea what that meant?" I asked as I removed the Stone Beak and placed it back in my pocket.

"I'm not sure to be honest." Princess Twilight answered. "From what I've seen of the hints these statues provide, they always give you information that's helpful for the dungeon you're currently in. If this consistency rings true then these tiles it mentioned should be coming up later on. I'll make a note of what the statue said for further reference. On a different note, is everything okay?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You were pretty upset when that key fell into the water."

"I just got so frustrated over such a design choice."

"I'm afraid I don't follow."

To Princess Twilight, video games were an absolute mystery to her because they didn't exist in Equestria. I could probably give her an entire semester dedicated to them but I didn't have the time to go into complete detail so I had to wing it. "This world was made by those who are gifted with incredible skills but they chose to make some questionable choices that could easily cause frustration which can lead to anger. I know my explanation is pretty bad but just trust me on this. We are in a video game and the gifted ones I just mentioned created it with some special magic that doesn't exist in Equestria."

Princess Twilight's eyes then lit up. "Now you've really got to tell me more when you have a free moment."

"Oh I intend on giving you quite the lecture."

"I look forward to it." Her Highness then changed the subject back to her coronation which took me by surprise. "I was thinking that if you do manage to come to the coronation, you could bring along some food native to your world. I know there was some things which I absolutely loved but can't get them in Equestria due to them not existing there. Whether other ponies will like them remains to be seen but I'd appreciate it."

"I should be able to bring a couple of things over but not too much as I do have a budget you know."

"That's where I could lend you some money and you'd be buying stuff on my behalf."

"Equestrian currency doesn't work in my world, Twilight." That caused Her Highness to blush and I laughed. "Considering what you've done for me, I'd buy the food myself and bring it over and you wouldn't have to pay me back. I don't think I can bring over any beverages seeing as going through the portal does involve spinning around a lot which would cause it to get spilt. No, I think snacks and maybe some fancy food is in order."

"You will come to the coronation, right?"

"If I get an invitation, nothing will stop me barring a magical emergency."

"Then I should make a physical and mental note to send you an invite."

Continuing south, three more Water Tektites appeared (This dungeon was practically a breeding ground for them) though I couldn't ignore them as they skated over towards me prompting me to get my sword ready. I swung once which took out one then again which defeated the other two though the rupees they dropped ended up falling into the deep water where they disappeared because I couldn't reach them due to my lack of swimming. Now I really needed to find what this dungeon item was. A little bit further south was a Peahat which took off from where it was resting and began fluttering about.

Ignoring it since I didn't see the need to fight it, I jumped over two gaps of deep water using the Roc's Feather and continued on but not before defeating another Water Tektite which was blocking the way forward but that quickly changed when another skated south and blocked my path. Swinging my sword, I took it out where it dropped a green rupee which I could collect as it didn't plunge into any deep water, but then my eyes noticed a switch by a locked door on the other side of the deep water. No way could I make that jump so once again, this was something I had to ignore for now and come back to later.

In the next section, three Peahats were on the ground before they started floating around. I could also barely make out a staircase located on an upper ledge (I had to jump in order to confirm that was what it was) as well as a treasure chest. Weaving my way through the Peahats and ignoring them (I mean, I could attack them since they were monsters but because they were more inclined on ignoring me, I should just leave well enough alone) I next encountered a Sword Stalfos, a Shrouded Stalfos, and a Red Zol. Huh... Quite the assortment even though I had fought them all before in previous dungeons.

Attacking the Shrouded Stalfos since it had the ranged attack, I defeated it but was then struck in the stomach by the Sword Stalfos. Fortunately, my tunic was undamaged and the wound wasn't too serious but I responded in kind by raising my shield as the Sword Stalfos attacked again, its attack got parried leaving it helpless, and I struck it twice defeating it before turning my attention towards the Red Zol. I kept on attacking as it first split in two and both halves were gone leaving me free to open up a chest they had been guarding. To my surprise, I had opened another trap chest as it contained a Green Zol.

Before it could even leap out of the chest, I attacked it and defeated it before moving on to the next section. "Well... We don't have to worry about finding those tiles as here they are in all their glory." Before me were five tiles with two of then located in deep water and while I could easily jump over to reach them, something about their arrangement felt off. "The statue said the glint of the tile would guide me, but I don't see any glint. What is a glint anyway?"

"Think of a glint as a sparkle."

I then rolled my eyes. "Nice segway into yourself."

"You needed a good example."

"Still, none of them are glinting."

"Then there must be another set of tiles in this exact formation elsewhere in the dungeon." Princess Twilight said as she flew into my pocket and took out the Dungeon Map. "You can actually see some of the things in each room though not to the exact detail." Her Highness then pointed at the current room we were in with the tiles. "See? You can just barely make them out and it looks like more are just a short distance away. Unfortunately, this map doesn't showcase any glinting so you still need to figure that one out."

I then looked at the map. "The locked door with the switch next to it goes to one of those key blocks."

"Another thing for later."

"Where could that dungeon item be!?"

"There aren't many unopened chests left that you can access."

"So that should nail it down to either this one here or that one there." I said as I pointed at two potential chest markers on the map. "One of those chests is actually coming up with the other being in another room. I hope the item is in the chest closest to us otherwise it will be the other one." No doubt that this was how one used a Dungeon Map in order to check on everything constantly so as to not overlook anything. I then looked at where the Nightmare was situated again to remind myself of its location. "I still need the Nightmare Key which remains unaccounted for."

"It will probably be in the last treasure chest you find."

Her Highness wasn't wrong about that. The Nightmare Key's I had been finding in the dungeons were almost always the last chest I needed to open. Sure, it wasn't quite suspenseful since I knew which chest contained it due to how opened chests no longer had their markers on the Dungeon Map, but it was still cumbersome because of having to go to pretty much the last possible location. I'd have preferred getting the Nightmare's Key early on so as not having to worry about finding them later on. I doubted my preference would ever become a thing as previous experience mostly proved me right.

Defeating three more Water Tektites which had since skated over to me, I left the room with the tiles by heading right and upon entering the next room, the Compass beeped which meant the dungeon item was in the other chest much to my dismay. Of course it was going to be in that one! Of course it would! Crap! Avoiding another Spark, I opened up the chest containing as expected, a small key so now I could go back and unlock that other door but I decided on exploring this room a bit further in the hopes of not missing anything. There was a block which well, blocked one direction, and the other direction stopped at a dead end.

Before I could see what was on the other side of the stones that blocked me (They were the dead end), two statues located out of reach and probably out of bounds began shooting fireballs from their eyes. I knew not to stick around so I backed away until I was no longer in range of the fireballs. Once again, I had to backtrack back to a previous area but hopefully, most of the monsters haven't re-spawned though ones defeated early on probably have. A shame that I couldn't see those other tiles but those fireballs weren't something to mess around with and I had no magic to deal with them.

Heading back to the previous room, again, these tiles didn't glint so I needed to get to the other ones. Since I couldn't reach the others from this side, I needed to get to them from the other side... which immediately left me feeling confused. Taking out the Dungeon Map again, I looked at it whilst backtracking though I did look forward every few moments as I didn't want to accidentally run into something. The one locked door I ignored earlier would allow me to get to the other side of those fireball shooting statues but I'd first need to go through a couple of rooms.

As I continued backtracking whilst avoiding Peahats and jumping over patches of dark water, I looked at the room where the Nightmare was again, and something I hadn't noticed before suddenly became apparent to me. The room in question was incredibly small. The Nightmare was either incredibly tiny compared with what I had already faced or the fight would be taking place in a different room. If this dungeon hadn't already confused me, it had finally succeeded. Again, I would find out for certain upon getting there and seeing for myself. Putting the map away, I continued on backtracking until I was back where I needed to be.

The two Red Zols from before had re-spawned as expected and I took them out in a quick manner only for the small key that dropped down into the water earlier repeating the process much to both my annoyance and surprise. Did I really need to see that again? All it did was reaffirm my dislike of why such things happened in video games. I could explore those stairs I ignored earlier since I was now on this side and wouldn't be blocking myself, but I really wanted to see what was on the other side of this locked door. Unlocking it with my key and entering the next room, my body immediately froze upon seeing what was in there.

"Twilight? What in Celestia is that!?" Standing in the upper left corner of the room was what looked like a giant octopus with large eyes and several tentacles but it clearly was anything but that.

"That would be the mid-boss of this dungeon."

"At least I'm making some progress." I then noticed that the creature hadn't made a move which made me wonder if it lacked any vision. "Do you think that creature is blind? Or maybe it hasn't noticed me yet?"

"I'm going to say the other option is true." Princess Twilight answered. "Anyway, this creature is known as a Hydrosaur. You might think that the obvious weak point has to be those giant eyes, then you'd be wrong because they along with the front of it are protected by a thick armour. You can't penetrate it with anything in your possession. To defeat it, you must attack its backside which is surprisingly soft."

"How can I hit it from behind?"

"One option would be to use the Pegasus Boots and somehow manage to keep up with it."

"I take it there are other options?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "You could also jump over it with the Roc's Feather but that would require a precise jump otherwise it will hit you. One other option which is considered to be the easiest is to wait for it to pass by before striking the side but you need to be positioned correctly or else your sword bounced off its armoured front leaving you vulnerable to getting run over. I should also mention that it will change direction every time you hit it so be prepared for when it does that. Considering how narrow the paths are in comparison with its large size, you're going to have a lot of trouble."

"I figured as much." I then sighed. "I might be forced to use Sugar Belle's medicine."

"If that happens, you can just go back to her and buy some more."

Upon noticing me, the Hydrosaur began moving and I was surprised to see that it was pretty fast for a giant octopus like creature. It then charged into the wall where it stopped momentarily before turning left and proceeding to charge forward. That gave me some ideas on when to attack it from behind but first I needed to actually get behind the thing otherwise I couldn't do much of anything. I began walking around the room making sure every now and then that my eyes were focused on the Hydrosaur and not lose track of it and surprisingly it was easy for me to get around to the otherwise because it stopping whenever it hit a wall worked in my favour.

I kept on walking around whilst managing to keep up with it (I was surprised that it hadn't noticed me coming up from behind) but when I swung my sword in order to hit it, it then moved causing me to cause under breath before I followed along. Fortunately, it hadn't gotten far ahead so when it hit the wall again, I struck it from behind. It spun around several times in a rapid fashion and continued moving but now it was doing so backwards. Opportunity was certainly knocking for me here. I went the other way and was waiting on the other side when suddenly it came to a screeching halt, turned around, and went the other way.

I had no chance of avoiding it since it did something I wasn't expecting. The Hydrosaur quickly darted around the room and ran over me which caused me a lot of pain. It's weight definitely matched its size as I felt like I had been run over by several cars all at once. As I got back onto my feet, it had already gone around the corner and was mere seconds away from running over me again, so dashing along with the Pegasus Boots, I hit the wall this time which was bad timing as in the moment, I had forgotten that hitting a wall stunned me for a moment which was enough time for the Hydrosaur to run over me again.

"Gah!" I shouted from underneath the thing.

"Sunset!"

It then got off and continued moving around. "I'm okay, Twilight. This is nothing new for me." I got back onto my feet again only my legs buckled a little. It was true that I had experienced pain much worse than getting flattened by a giant octopus monster. Over the course of these adventures, I had been electrocuted, impaled, set on fire, slammed into walls, slammed into the ground, beaten to within an inch of my life, cursed, and other things I couldn't remember. Being run over like this was probably on the lower end of the scale when it came to what I had endured via pain.

"You need to try another tactic if your current one isn't working."

"What do you suggest?"

"Anything other than what you were doing!"

Not exactly the best advice Her Highness had given me but she was right in that I needed another strategy and quickly. The Hydrosaur in the meantime had made its way around on account that I had gotten back onto my feet slower this time so raising my shield, my hope was that it would either get bounced back or I would get bounced around a little without taking any damage. It hit my shield but didn't get bounced back (In hindsight, I knew this wouldn't work given how big it was) but instead it pushed me back into the wall though stopping short of crushing me by a few inches.

As it went around the corner, I decided to go with the same strategy I was doing before (I was stubborn when it came to what I wanted to do) but I used the Pegasus Boots in a sparing manner where I would stop before hitting a wall, that way not hitting it and stunning myself. Dashing forward, I stopped at a wall, turned, and dashed again only to stop at the next wall, turn, and continue dashing. No matter how fast it was moving, I kept up with the Hydrosaur until I struck it in the back by dashing into it. That caused some damage only for it to turn right around resulting in my getting run over again.

"Ugh!" I said after it got off of me. "I kind of deserved that."

"Your strategy worked better this time except the Hydrosaur reacted differently."

I got back up again. "It's hard to avoid getting hit by it."

"You might have to endure such hits."

"I'm not intentionally being reckless you know!"

Princess Twilight nodded. "I know that, Sunset. It's just sometimes you do need to get hurt in order to eventually overcome what you're fighting. Now don't think this is me endorsing such an idea because it's utterly stupid in every sense of the word, but I think you've gotten the idea by now."

Her Highness was right about me needing to take hits sometimes. If I kept on wanting to avoid everything and not leap straight into the heart of things, I wouldn't get any experience nor any confidence about future fights. Sure, this did play into Ganondorf's notion of making me suffer but in this case, I was willing to endure the punishment rather than have it forced onto me. Choosing to walk around the room and not dash instead, I eventually caught up with the Hydrosaur, attacking it from behind and it turned around before running me over yet again with its large frame.

Getting back up, my legs buckled again as it meant that I was starting to take too much damage. Even though I had Sugar Belle's medicine, I didn't really want to use it this early and against a strong monster that wasn't the Nightmare. But, such things were out of my hands so I ought to be thankful for her blessing. Pursuing the Hydrosaur by dashing again as a means of changing up my strategy to confuse it, I dashed into it from behind causing it to move backwards before screeching to a stop and then coming at me. I was ready this time in that I went the other way and it began chasing me around.

Despite how fast it was, it couldn't keep up with up and eventually stopped and turned around when it got bored. I then turned and began chasing it only for it to suddenly stop and turn around where I got run over yet again. It was desperate now since I had hit it a few times which meant I only had a few more to go. Now I was really having trouble standing up which meant I probably had one or two hits left before I would die. Despite Sugar Belle claiming that her medicine would kick in when I ran out of health, it's not like I had a chance to try and see if it worked. If it didn't, I really would be dead.

At that point, I had gotten tired of chasing after the Hydrosaur so I opted to try the third strategy Princess Twilight mentioned. Positioning myself up against the wall, I waited for it to come around and when it did moments later, I attacked its behind just as it moved by. In response, it turned around and ran me over and I slumped to the ground. Just like that, death had taken its hold over me. For that brief period, it felt like everything had ended but then my body twitched and I got back up, my health having been restored. Sugar Belle's medicine worked but maybe she should make the effects upon death less gloomy.

I had a temporary moment of invincibility which I remembered from my previous adventures whenever I used a fairy to bring myself back from the brink. I used this opportunity to attack the Hydrosaur after it had run me over though it did turn around and ran me down again. Getting up again albeit faster, I waited for it to come around and when it brushed past me, I hit its back again which turned out to be the final hit. The Hydrosaur began exploding several times before it exploded in a spectacular fashion which unlocked both doors. A fairy appeared which I approached and it healed my wounds. Lastly, a portal appeared which I could use to warp back to the start of the Angler's Tunnel.

"That was a lot harder than I thought."

Princess Twilight then began bopping me on the head repeatedly. "I didn't think Sugar Belle's medicine was going to work but it did!" She then calmed down. "This does mean you need to see her again if you want to have more of it. That means you need to defeat the Nightmare without a safety net as it were."

I breathed heavily. "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. In the meantime, I guess during that battle, I ended up applying all kinds of strategies in the hopes that one of them would actually work."

"It's a good idea to try different methods in order to find what works."

"Yeah, and it ended up with me getting run over... Repeatedly."

"How does your body feel?"

I answered Her Highness by stretching a couple of times. "A little stiff but I'll manage. That wasn't the worst thing I've had happen to me and I hope that it doesn't happen again, but knowing my luck, it's going to with something much worse down the road." Swinging my sword around for fun, I then began walking forward. "Let's keep going and hope that I find this dungeon item because I really need it now." Entering the next room, I immediately moved as two blocks began closing in on me where I entered, the same with two similar blocks by the exit of the room. "Now that's new!"

"Do you see that strange lever over there?"

I nodded. "Does it have to do with those blocks?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "If you grab and pull it backwards, the blocks will pull themselves apart, but they will slowly come back together once you let go of it. Even if you had even greater strength, you won't be able to stop those blocks from moving towards each other. Timing is important here as there's also a Spark moving about in the room and it could prevent you from reaching the next room."

"Guess it's time for me to perform some physical labour."

"It shouldn't be difficult for you."

"I'll ignore that." I said sarcastically. Avoiding the Spark which was rotating around a stationary block, I walked over to the lever, grabbed its handles, and began pulling on it with all the strength I could muster up. At first, it didn't look like I was making any progress but that soon changed as the lever slowly got pulled. "Sheesh! This thing clearly hasn't been oiled! It's like pulling a rusted switch which had been in disuse for decades!" Once the lever couldn't be pulled anymore, I let go and started making way over to the other door before the two blocks in front of it came back together. I managed to make it just in time as they collided. "Whew! That was way too close for comfort."

"You're not safe yet."

"What do you mean?" My question was answered in the form of statues above the treasure chest shooting fireballs at me. "Okay, that's just mean." Not only were there fireballs being flung at me, two Red Zols were hopping around by stairs, and both doors had locked themselves. "If the dungeon item is in the chest, then it's being guarded by some powerful forces, as in the statues."

"Nothing you have can stop those statues so you need to avoid their fireballs."

Raising my shield, two fireballs came at me but bounced harmlessly off. On a side note, I noticed that the eyes of the two statues attacking me were moving in response to where I was moving thus allowing them to keep track of my movements. Whoever designed them knew what they were doing. Before they could fire more fireballs, I attacked the Red Zols which split them up into their smaller pieces and I attacked those causing both doors to unlock. Even better, both statues stopped attacking me, their eyes moving back to where they started effectively shutting both down.

Opening up the chest, I took out what turned out to be Flippers. Both were yellow in colour with blue sections which would cover up my ankles. "You did suggest that a possible item would be flippers and that's exactly what I got here. Honestly, I was expecting something more epic but I'll take what I can get."

"Now you can finally swim in deep water."

"I should've been able to do that from the start."

"Unlike the Pegasus Boots, the Flippers aren't going to be on you at all times." Princess Twilight said. "I mean think about it. If you were to wear these everywhere, you would walk a lot sooner and frankly, it would just look ridiculous. They will automatically appear on your feet whenever you go into any deep water so there's no need to worry about where they're going to go. You could say that they will appear magically."

"Do I get to carry them on my person?"

"Yes but you won't have to change them in and out."

Attaching the Flippers to my belt, they certainly looked cool and while I was relieved that I could finally swim, I still think I should've been given that ability at the start. Still, now I could access areas I couldn't before both in this dungeon and across Koholint Island. While this was a very good item, Flippers had restrictions where outside of water or any place without water meant that they were useless and would be nothing more than another piece of equipment. One question still concerned me... Could I dive with them? What I mean is that could I breathe underwater after diving unlike my previous adventures where I couldn't? Only way to know for sure...

Going through the south door, I found myself in a room where I immediately recognized the stones which blocked me before when I was here earlier. I knew this because of the now opened treasure chest. My eyes were fixated on two things, the tiles on the ground and two creatures scuttling back and forth that were wearing masks that covered their faces. Neither one had noticed me so I had a moment to plan my next move, but then I noticed that one tile was glinting in a bright light. The Owl Statue mentioned the glint would be my guide so now its words were about to make sense.

"What are these creatures?"

"They are called Helmasaurs."

"Those masks look pretty sturdy."

"It protects their faces from all manner of attacks but not their backsides."

"Can I at least pull off their masks?"

"You can but you need a special item to do that which you currently don't have.

I grumbled under my breath. "Of course I don't have it." The two Helmasaurs were moving pretty slowly and weren't exactly paying much to attention to me. I supposed their masks weighed them down and removing them would make them more faster but also more hectic as they would be trying to survive at all costs. Since I couldn't remove the masks right now, I waited for both to turn their backs towards me and attacked with my sword. One hit wasn't enough but two was and both went down with the latter dropping a Piece of Power. Strange how these weren't coming up often given how they were a temporary power enhancement.

Picking it up, I felt the power flow through me despite how temporary it was, and then I turned my attention to the glinting tile. Could this help me with solving the room with the other tiles or was this also a puzzle? Stepping on it, the glint then moved over to the tile opposite of the one that I just stepped on so I walked over and stepped on it where it then moved to the one south of my position. Now the Owl Statue's advice was making sense. As I stepped on this next tile, the glint moved to the middle tile... A guide made of light that would give me an answer. Stepping on the next one, it finally moved to the last one.

When I stepped on the final tile, all five glowed brightly which caused the door to open. Princess Twilight then said that I needed to remember the order in which I stepped on the tiles because it was a procedure I needed to repeat with the tiles I had seen previously. Heading south and defeating two Green Zols who popped up, I then had to avoid fireballs being shot by statues and these ones couldn't be shut down so avoiding them was my only option until I was out of their attack range. I then encountered deep water which was the perfect opportunity to test out my new flippers to see how they worked.

Jumping into the water, the flippers magically appeared on my feet and I began swimming. The water wasn't too hot or too cold so I could swim about for hours if I wanted, but I didn't have the time to be messing about. Swimming east, I found myself back in the room south of where I fought the Hydrosaur and where that one key dropped into the water below. Now that I had flippers, I could finally do something about it. Taking out the Dungeon Map, I found my position and quickly scanned it to find the staircase I needed, and sure enough, it was to my right... the stairs that were blocked in order for me to progress.

Heading east, I ignored the monsters for the time being and went down the stairs to an underground passage. I jumped onto a platform before jumping off of it and the Compass beeped which it really didn't need to as I knew there was a key down here given what happened before. "Wow... It wasn't as deep as I thought it would be." I said as I looked down and saw the key at the bottom of the water. "

"Now comes the test to see if you can breathe underwater."

"How did you know I had been thinking about that?"

"I figured you would."

Princess Twilight was a psychic!? Nah! She knew what I was thinking as she probably had the exact same thoughts. Since this was the true test for the flippers, I jumped into the water and immediately sank down to the bottom. I could freely swim about without my equipment bogging me down and could even swing my sword which meant underwater combat was now a possibility yet I didn't how often it would happen on this journey. I then realized that I could breathe underwater, a huge plus if there ever was one. Now I didn't have to worry about drowning as it wasn't going to happen. A major improvement from my previous swimming experiences.

Grabbing the key and getting out of the water where the flippers returned to my belt, I made my way back over the platform and up the ladder where I was attacked by the monsters who I had previously ignored. The Sword Stalfos tried attacking but I raised my shield, parrying its attack and responded with my own. One hit defeated it with another hit defeating the Star that had unintentionally moved towards me. I decided against attacking the Red Zol on account that it was on the other side of the blocks and I wasn't about to go out of my way just for one simple monster.

Heading back to the deep water, the effects of the Piece of Power wore off and I was back to regular sword strength. I really hope that I would get more of those pieces in the future along with the Guardian Acorns because both items have proven beneficial. Swimming in the deep water and heading back to the previous room, the block that looked suspicious could be pushed and so I did just that allowing me to continue on, but not before getting hit by a couple of fireballs. It was fortunate that these weren't powerful magic otherwise I'd be on fire right now or perhaps even worse.

And then I walked back into the room with the other tiles. "Okay, I should remember the order they went in."

"If you've forgotten, don't worry about it as I remember."

I smiled. "I knew you would remember."

Princess Twilight smiled. "Memorization is one of my special qualities outside of magic you know and I'm not bragging about that. Now, unlike the other set of tiles, these ones have no glint to indicate which one is next in the sequence. I know you remember the order, Sunset, but first those Water Tektites need to be taken care of. If you take too long in stepping on a tile, the entire puzzle resets and you will need to start all over from the first one. Thankfully, this should be the last time this kind of puzzle should appear."

"Until something much worse comes along."

"You're not wrong."

"Looking at those Water Tektites, I wished I had a ranged attack."

"You will once you've saved up enough for the bow." Princess Twilight then remembered something and began bopping me on the head. "There are two chests you couldn't open before due to not being able to swim but now you can access them thanks to the flippers. Do you want to get them now or sometime later on? If each contains rupees, it should bring you closer towards the total you need."

Had Her Highness not mentioned that, I'd have probably ignored those two chests but now I needed to go back and open them. First, I needed to deal with this puzzle while it was still fresh on my mind. The three Water Tektites then skated towards me by moving forward and diagonally depending on where they were and three sword strikes defeated each one leaving me free to solve this puzzle without any further interference. Remembering the pattern, I stepped on the tiles, each one glowing blue in response including swimming to the two that were in the deep water, and upon stepping on the final tile, it caused a staircase to appear.

Walking over and heading down them to the underground passage below, I climbed down the ladder and upon reaching the floor... WHAM! Something massive dropped down and crashed into the ground before going back up again. "Was that a Thwomp!? Yep! Another Mario related enemy was here in this world though it looked different from the Thwomps that plagued Mario in his games. "You know, I'm not going to be mad about this one since it isn't an exact likeness to the source material."

"This is a Spiked Thwomp."

I slapped my forehead. "How original."

"These traps exist in these underground passages waiting for those like you to come along." Princess Twilight then used her hands to show an example of what would happen if I were to step underneath a Thwomp complete with a sound effect. Granted, I knew what would happen since I've played Mario games in the past, but I wasn't about to deny her the opportunity for some fun. "If you inch close enough, it will drop down out of reaction and then you can move past it when it goes back up. Or, you can use the Pegasus Boots to simply dash past if you don't want to deal with it."

"I noticed that the top of it had a smooth surface."

"You should be able to stand on it then."

Her Highness did say use the Pegasus Boots and I wasn't about to say no to that. Dashing forward, the first Spiked Thwomp came crashing down only for it to completely miss me and its look of disdain towards me made me smile. The other one then dropped down but it also missed because I had dashed underneath it. Since this one I needed for a makeshift platform, I climbed the ladder and waited for it to drop down which it did seconds later. I jumped on top and then jumped to the ledge as it rose back up and climbed the other ladder where I found myself back in a familiar area only now I was higher up.

Walking south, I opened the chest and took out the Nightmare Key. With this and the small key, I was ready to take on the Nightmare, but there were those two chests remaining that were unaccounted for. If not for needing rupees, I would ignore the chests but I needed them otherwise getting the bow would be impossible. Going back and then jumping down below, I ignored the Peahats and went right, walked past the locked door where I had to go and continued right before jumping into the deep water and swimming to the chest. I was lucky as nothing got in my way due to the Water Tektites having skated away.

This first chest contained fifty rupees which was nice but now came the problem of really backtracking in order to get the other chest. Since I really needed the money, I had no choice but to go for it. Jumping into the water and swimming north, I was back where I had been before with the underwater key, walked right, pushed a block forward, walking south, dashed and jumped over the abyss, continued dashing south before entering the water. When you ignore a lot of things, backtracking isn't really bad at all but then you feel guilty for having ignored it compelling you into wanting to deal with it all.

The Peahat that guarded the chest then floated away because I had entered its territory leaving me to open it which contained another purple rupee. In my opinion, one hundred rupees was quite a lot of money but nothing compared to the 300 rupee reward from the previous dungeon. If my calculations were correct, I still needed another 300+ rupees and with few places remaining that I knew about where there were chests, grinding was becoming more and more of an option despite having reservations over it. Maybe I ought to explore more often rather than wanting to focus on the main objectives.

Now that all chests were opened, I went back to where I needed to go. First, I swam north and out of the water, dashed forward and jumped over the abyss, pushed the block forward to allow me to continued, ignored the re-spawned monsters, went west, then south, ignored more re-spawned monsters, swam in the water which allowed me to skip a couple of spots near the southern end and finally arriving at my destination, the locked door that had the switch in front of it. Yeesh! No wonder this dungeon was annoying. All that water was problematic but it paled in comparison with backtracking a couple of times in a row.

"Time to finally finish this dungeon." I said as I was catching my breath.

"All that backtracking tire you out?"

"I just find it tedious, Twilight."

"I'm beginning to see why."

"By the way, are there any other tips you can give me for using the flippers?"

"You know most of what there is but let me think on it for a moment." Princess Twilight began concentrating and soon had a thought to share. "You'll probably have to eventually handle underwater combat so let me tell you what I know. When underwater, you can use your sword but no other item will work. You can swing your sword in just about every possible direction provided you're not swimming at the bottom of the water."

"How often do you think I'll be fighting underwater."

"Hard to say, Sunset."

"Not much?"

"Maybe, but we won't know until we get further into this adventure."

Jumping into the water and swimming over to the switch and pressing it when I got out, the door unlocked and in front of me was the key block. Walking up to it, I inserted the final small key and turned it which made the block disappear. I then went into the underground passage which was completely submerged in water but it was the familiar looking monsters that made me very upset but not entirely surprised. Swimming about were three Cheep-Cheeps, another enemy from the Mario series though these ones lacked any colour whereas they came in a variety of colours including green, red, blue, and even gold.

"I'm not going to say it."

Princess Twilight nodded. "I figured you knew what this monster is but let me explain anyway. Cheep-Cheeps swim back and forth minding their own business but they can get in the way which makes them rather annoying. In terms of attacking you, they prefer to remain docile so you can attack them if you want. Oh, they can also swim up and down. It should take one sword hit to defeat a Cheep-Cheep."

"At least they're not bad here as opposed to their source series."

"I'll take your word for it."

Once I was in the water, I waited for the Cheep-Cheeps to make their respective moves. As Her Highness said, some swam back and forth while others up and down. Approaching each one in turn, they didn't acknowledge my presence and continued swimming about. A part of me didn't want to destroy them but they were monsters in this world which meant I shouldn't feel too guilty. Swinging my sword and swimming forward, each Cheep-Cheep went down without any effort though none dropped anything for me. (They were named well) Once they were all taken care of, I climbed up the ladder at the end of the passage and entered a new area.

At first it looked like I couldn't progress anywhere but upon seeing a path to the left, I walked that way over to be stopped by a block. Since it could be pushed, I decided to check out what this room had in terms of challenges. Aside from several Red Zols, there wasn't anything else. Pushing the block forward which opened up the path, I attacked the Red Zols where each split up into pieces and I attacked those until they were defeated. Before unlocking the door, I picked up each pot and tossed them where they smashed and revealed Recovery Hearts which I collected out of a belief of needing them.

Unlocking the door and entering the Nightmare's room, I was confused by the lack of an actual arena. "Um... How am I supposed to fight the Nightmare?" I asked as I scratched my head in confusion. "I can't fight anything in here!"

"I don't think you're supposed to."

"What do you mean?"

"Look there." Princess Twilight then pointed to a staircase in the middle of the room. "It looks like the Nightmare is in an underground passage. I believe this is the first time you've had to fight one of the Nightmares like this. In any case, you must go down there."

Heading into the underground passage, I was taken aback by what I found down there. "Water... It's a massive pool of water!"

"Good thing you asked me about additional techniques regarding the flippers."

"I wasn't expecting that I had to fight underwater." I then looked into the water in hopes of being able to see the Nightmare but I couldn't on account that the water was way too deep and the lack of lighting also was a problem. "I'm going to say that this Nightmare is either an even bigger octopus, bigger than that Hydrosaur, or a giant fish which would make sense given that this is 'Angler's Tunnel' and there is a kind of fish named an Anglerfish." Jumping into the water, I allowed myself to sink downwards until I stopped upon seeing a faint light coming from behind a cracked wall. "I think we've found it."

The Nightmare then swam through the crack, revealing itself in all its glory, and it turned out that the latter suggestion I made was true. It was a giant fish that had a glowing light on top of its head which was connected via a membrane of flesh. Judging from initial impressions, I pretty much knew the location of its weak point but whether it would be easy for me to reach was a different story. The rest of its body was that of a typical fish but exaggerated in that scales were all over its body, it had numerous fins especially on top, and its giant eyes creeped me out. As for intelligence... I couldn't determine if it had any... Yet.

"I know you're the Nightmare." I said, calling out to the fish.

"BLOOOP! BLOOOP! GLUB! GLUB! OGGGH! FOOOOD! BLOOOOP! GLUB!"

"So much for intelligence."

"BLOOOP! FOOOOD! ME HUNNNGGRRY! GLUB!"

"Do you have a name?"

"FOOOOD! GLUB! GLUB!"

"Ugh! This is getting us nowhere!"

"ME ANGLER FISH! BLOOOP! BLOOOP! GLUB!"

You've got its name." Princess Twilight said.

"All it cares about is seeing me as food and I'm not about to let myself get eaten by this thing." I said. The Nightmare, which called itself the Angler Fish, immediately charged forward, the sharp fins on top of its body cutting me slightly, before it crashed into the wall. "Wow... It really only cares about eating." Rocks then suddenly dropped down from above which immediately told me what this fish was trying to do. If it couldn't eat me directly, it would soften me up first.

"As you already saw, the Angler Fish will charge at you using its body as a weapon, but you can easily avoid by swimming." Princess Twilight said. "Granted, you're not as fast underwater compared with being on dry land, but then it's not that fast either so you do have some advantage. Also, I'm sure you've figured out where its weak point is so attack it constantly before it swims away. Oh, and unlike the Hydrosaur, when the Angler Fish hits the wall, it won't get stunned and will immediately turn around and swim back... like it's doing right now!"

Her Highness' warning came a little late as the Angler Fish swam right into me causing some damage. Luckily, by doing that, I was able to strike the light on its head with my sword though upon hitting it, it suddenly got paralyzed which made no sense. Hitting the wall didn't stun it but hitting its weak point did? No sense in figuring that out so I continued attacking the weak point until the Angler Fish regained its senses. It then swam forward but stopped a couple of inches from the wall before turning around again and swimming forward where it eventually hit the other wall causing more rocks to fall.

Dodging the falling debris, I then sank down in order to avoid the Angler Fish as it came at me again. Was this seriously all it was going to be doing? The fact that this was underwater combat made me think it was going to be a tough battle but apparently I wasn't having much trouble at all aside from being surprised. Swimming back up a little, I then attacked its weak point, stunning it again, and attacking it even more before it regained its composure. It then made a loud noise which at first I thought was it getting mad because of how much damage had been inflicted, but that thought soon disappeared when a smaller fish came from beyond the cracked wall.

"BLOOOP! GLUB! ANGLER FRY! FOOOD! HELP GET FOOOD! GLUB!"

"What is that thing?" I asked.

"As it just said, that is an Angler Fry." Princess Twilight answered. "These are its minions which appear whenever it calls on them. They won't attack you directly and instead will just swim about though they will damage you if you make contact. One sword hit is enough to defeat it. If anything, the Angler Fry is merely a distraction as well as an additional obstacle for you to watch out for."

"GLUB! FOOOD! BLOOOP!"

"This is just pathetic." I moaned.

"You do have to admire its dedication." Princess Twilight said.

"I actually feel some sympathy towards it."

"How so?"

"I'll tell you later."

The Angler Fry then swam towards me but before it had a chance to do anything, not that it would according to Her Highness, I attacked it with my sword and it disappeared. It seemed that my actions didn't faze the Angler Fish in any way so perhaps it didn't care for its minions. The Angler Fish continued swimming back and forth which allowed me to attack the weak point a few more times but then it charged forward, striking me with those fins (Despite how easy this looked, those surprise attacks were exactly that), before hitting the wall again and more rocks fell.

It then made its loud noise which summoned another Angler Fry to join the battle but I took it out the moment it appeared though this proved to be a mistake as the Nightmare charged again, striking me directly with its body, and then hitting the wall again. It turned around and was about to swim when I attacked the light which stunned it again. I repeated my assault and to my surprise, it still kept on going. I guessed it had high stamina which compensated for its lack of being an actual threat. Upon recovering, the Angler Fish made its sound but this time, two Angler Fry appeared.

"BLOOOP! GLUB! HELP NOW!"

"You know that isn't going to do you much good, right?" I asked.

"BLOOOP! FOOOD!"

"Why do I even bother talking to you?"

"GLUB! ANGLER FRY! ATTACK!"

"Um... That's not what they do."

"BLOOOP! GLUB! GET!"

The two Angler Fry swam about but rather than ignore them and take some unnecessary damage, I attacked them, defeating both before sinking down again when the Angler Fish swam by and crashed into the wall. Avoiding the debris and swimming back up, I attacked its light though it didn't get stunned and continued swimming about when it made its sound and called forth two more minions which really showed how desperate it was. The Angler Fry came in as before but out of a sense of sympathy towards them for being used as sacrifices, I ignored them and focused on the Nightmare.

Attacking the light again caused it to be stunned and I continued attacking in hopes that this would end it. To my surprise, it refused to go down and upon regaining its senses, I swam after it to maintain my pressure. Unfortunately, I swam a bit too close and it turned around, slamming into me again which left me feeling stunned. I shook it off and waited for my chance which happened seconds later as the Angler Fish charged into the wall bringing more rocks down from above. Attacking the light once more, it still wasn't enough as it turned around but I wasn't about to stop so I continued attacking until it finally stopped.

"BLOOOP! GLUB! FOO... FOOOD!"

"Not today I'm not!"

"BLO... BLOOOP! G... G... GLUB! BLO... BLOOOP!" Both of the Angler Fry disappeared in puffs of smoke which saddened me but then the Angler Fish began exploding numerous times before exploding in one final explosion leaving me as the sole victor. A Heart Container then appeared behind me so I swam over and picked it up, its warmth making me feel stronger knowing that I had defeated four Nightmares now. I had nothing else left down here so I swam back up to the surface, climbed out of the deep water, and went back up the ladder into the previous room where the door had unlocked.

"That was more annoying than anything else." I said as I shook myself free of excess water.

"You said that you felt some sympathy towards the Angler Fish."

I nodded. "Even though it used those smaller fish to do its dirty work, all it really wanted was some food. I don't think it even wanted to guard the instrument and instead be content with consuming food. But, my sympathy pretty much ends there because at the end of the day, I had to defeat this Nightmare."

"It makes you wonder why Grogar is doing all of this."

"Yeah... We still don't know what his motives are."

"Maybe we'll find out once we get closer to the end."

Going through the unlocked door into the final chamber, it then locked behind me, but my eyes were fixated on the next instrument which lay before me. It was a harp of incredible beauty that sparkled in an otherworldly light just like with all the other instruments I had acquired. Walking up to it, I thought about playing it for kicks but chose not too as I had next to no experience playing a harp. If anything, Rarity would likely play this as she would call it divine beyond all known reasoning. I picked up the harp and held it above my head before looking around to see where Princess Celestia was as she said she'd be here.

"You have acquired the Surf Harp!" As if on cue, Princess Celestia appeared behind me, her gentle nature a pleasing sight given what I had been through. "It has been some time since we last saw each other, Sunset Shimmer, and Twilight Sparkle. Judging from your appearance, you have become much stronger though know that the trials ahead will be even more difficult than what you've already witnessed."

"I've already accepted that fact." I said.

"With four instruments in your possession, you are now halfway towards completing your quest to awaken the Wind Fish."

"I doubt Grogar is happy about that."

That name took Princess Celestia by surprise. "What!? Grogar!? Is he in this world!?" I then explained what Princess Twilight and I knew about what Grogar had been doing though mainly from my perspective since he appeared in my dream and not Her Highness'. "You must be ever more careful if Grogar is aware of your actions, Sunset Shimmer. He will no doubt use his remaining Nightmares to stop you at any cost. If you prevail against them, he will have no choice but to confront you himself." She then looked at me which made me feel uneasy at first but then her smile removed those fears. "I believe there is a way to make this journey of yours less stressful."

"You do?"

Princess Celestia nodded. "In the graveyard of this island, there is a hidden dungeon below which can grant you an incredible gift. However, I do not know how you gain access to this dungeon, but perhaps there is a book which can give you the solution. You have the necessary item to get this book as well as the items necessary to complete this dungeon. It is an optional location which you don't need to explore but it could prove helpful."

"I think I know where to find such a book."

"Excellent." Princess Celestia began glowing. "Now, listen well to these words. Bay... Your road goes into the bay. With the ability to swim like a fish, you can now reach your next destination but before you can do so, there is someone who is waiting for you. Before entering this place, did you see a cave that featured carvings above its entrance? Go there and meet one who can make travel easier."

"I'm liking the sound of that."

"There is one other thing."

"What's that?"

"Do not be frightened when you see it because you must calm its spirit." Princess Celestia answered. I had no idea what she meant by that last bit but she began to fade away which meant her time here was over now. "When next we meet, it shall be in what they call Level 7." She turned towards Princess Twilight. "I know you've been worried about your upcoming coronation, but you need not allow it to consume you. Everything will work out in the end, Twilight, no matter how bad things might be." She turned back to me. "I am expecting you to be there in attendance and welcome the new ruler of Equestria. Now, allow the Surf Harp to play its tune as it whisks you back to the outside world."

Princess Celestia then disappeared as the Surf Harp began playing, its sounds felt like I was standing on the beach and listening to the ocean. Everything suddenly went white and moments later, I was back outside of the Angler's Tunnel. Now that I could swim anywhere, the first thing that came to mind was swimming right and seeing if there was anything in that direction because curiosity beckoned me. I swam right and kept on going until I reached a cave entrance which could only be reached in this manner. Entering and discovering nothing, I was about to leave when I noticed a Piece of Heart submerged underwater.

Diving down and picking it up, its warm embrace made me feel stronger and I was happy that I came this way. Leaving the cave, I swam all the way back to the dungeon entrance before swimming left until I reached the cave with the fish carvings above it. Swimming inside, it was dark at first but then light suddenly appeared and before me was quite a sight which made me almost want to draw my sword. Before me was quite a large fish though not as big as the Angler Fish was, yet it was the person sitting on top of it who had my immediate attention due to not knowing who it was.

"Twilight?" I whispered so as to not sound rude. "Do you know who is sitting on top of that fish?"

"I've never met her in person, but that's Autumn Blaze, a Kirin." Princess Twilight answered.

"A Kirin!?" I exclaimed in a whisper. "I thought they didn't exist."

"They do and Autumn Blaze is perhaps the most eccentric among her kind." Princess Twilight rolled her eyes which meant what she said was accurate. "The Kirin used to live in peace until their emotions went out of control resulting in them changing into Niriks, creatures consumed with rage. As a result, they were exposed to the Spring of Silence as a means of removing such feelings though it meant not being able to talk anymore. Autumn Blaze found the cure and regained her voice, and with the help of Applejack and Fluttershy, every Kirin has regained what they once locked away."

"How eccentric is she?"

"She's like Pinkie Pie to an extent."

"Say no more."

"I was wondering when you would finally make your way over here." Autumn Blaze said as she entered a relaxed pose on top of the fish. "I was like waiting so much that I was afraid of dying from sheer boredom. Can deities like me even die? I wonder if I should be concerned about that. Do you mind if I quickly look into this matter? Promise I'll get back to you as soon as possible." The fish then made a huff which caused Autumn Blaze to focus on the task at hand. "Okay, okay! I didn't mean to go off topic! Welcome to my pad. Sorry if the water isn't to your liking but my buddy here needs it. I am Manbo, child of the Sun Fish. Actually, we're both Manbo." She pointed at both herself and the fish.

"Okay..."

"Don't be confused as that happens all the time with me."

"I was told to come here and see you."

"Before we go any further, do you have an ocarina?"

I nodded. "I've got one in my pocket."

That made Autumn Blaze very excited. "Okay, you've got to show me some of your playing skills, right now! Come on! Bring it out and play a mean one!" The fish then huffed again and she waved her hands. "Sorry for going off script there, buddy. What I mean to say is that show me the ocarina and I will teach you my song. I've been sensing how you've been progressing on this island--Don't think of me being creepy as that won't help at all--and you could do with faster travel." She then whistled and two smaller fish appeared from below. "Take out your ocarina and get ready for some mambo!"

I swam back knowing that her fish needed some space before taking out the ocarina. Autumn Blaze then swayed her head back and forth as all three fish made sounds as music notes appeared in the water. I had no idea what was going on but I chose not to say anything and allow them to finish whatever this was. At certain points, I could swear they were saying the word 'mambo' in a gargling manner as the big fish rolled its eyes around in different directions. It eventually got more intense as the music got louder and Autumn Blaze began clapping which all culminated with what could be described as a final finish where everything just stopped with a weird drum sound.

The ocarina then glowed signalling that I had learned whatever that was. "Okay, what did you teach me?"

"Manbo's Mambo." Autumn Blaze answered as she sat back up. "Admit it! You loved our choreography, right? We've been working on that for months and only just recently worked out the final kinks which were holding us back." The fish huffed again only this time in a more pleasant manner which made Autumn Blaze smile. "You got that right, buddy! This was our best session yet! Even Mamu, reclusive as she is, would have loved that!"

"So what does your song do?"

"When you play my mambo, you can warp to a warp point around the island."

"You're kidding!"

Wagging her finger, Autumn Blaze laughed. "If I was kidding, we wouldn't have done that little show for you. You can also warp to a pond that the people of this island named after me, my own little pond out in the middle of nowhere. Oh yeah! Try playing this song in dungeons, too. Normally, I wouldn't have allowed my special place to be a possible warp point but today's a special day so I'm including it. Score for you! Now you've got all kinds of places you can reach provided those warp points have been activated. I assume you've been activating some otherwise you've been having a really hard time."

"I've activated at least four of them."

"Then my song will be incredibly useful to you, cha-cha-cha!"

"What was that for?"

"It means good-bye."

"Oh."

Autumn Blaze then stood up. "You should have two songs in your repertoire, as in, what you've learned. Pretty awesome! I mean, of course it's awesome because those songs are going to be incredibly useful otherwise why bother learning them." The fish huffed once more and she shrugged whilst closing her eyes. "Buddy, you need to let me finish these thoughts because how else is she going to learn. Anyway, there is one more song you can learn but good luck finding Mamu. She's become a recluse in recent years but I heard she is somewhere in the Signpost Maze. Do I think you should visit that place? Maybe but it might be too weird for you."

"I'll be fine."

"Don't blame me if you get lost in there."

The fish then turned around and swam into the darkness taking Autumn Blaze with it leaving me with a lot of questions. Who was Mamu? What was a Signpost Maze? Where was it located on Koholint Island? Was it even required? Since I couldn't ask her to answer those questions, I had no choice but to leave and make my way to the next dungeon. Swimming back out of the cave, I swam left because I had no where else to go and after swimming south, I eventually swam into the grounds of Kanalet Castle though I was restricted to the moat and couldn't gain access to the grounds itself.

"Autumn Blaze was... Interesting."

"Like I said, she's eccentric." Princess Twilight said.

"At least I can now warp around freely."

"Though you can only warp to points you've found."

"A minor inconvenience."

Princess Twilight then motioned me to stop. "Um... Sunset? You might want to turn around and look behind you... right now." I had no idea what Her Highness was talking about and initially I ignored her and resumed swimming until she began bopping me on my head repeatedly. "You really need to stop and take a look behind you, Sunset. I'm not trying to trick you or anything but you really need to see this."

I turned around and my heart came to a stop. "WHAAAAH!"

Floating behind me was a ghost and not just any ghost. It was a ghost in the form of King Sombra. From what Princess Twilight told me about him, Discord brought him back from the ether, but not he had more personality as opposed to saying few words that all revolved around crystals and the ponies of the Crystal Empire. This time, King Sombra didn't stop talking and had a real high opinion of himself. In other words, he was a major braggart. Still, to see him here must mean that Ganondorf had powers similar to the Lord of Chaos when it came to bringing back those who had been destroyed or were lose in the ether of the great darkness.

"Hello..." King Sombra said.

"Where did you come from?" I asked in a nervous voice.

"I appeared... Just a few moments ago."

"That... Doesn't answer my question correctly."

"Your friend noticed me... But you ignored her until you had to pay attention."

I looked at Princess Twilight and nodded my head slowly as a means of letting her know that I should've listened straight away. Granted, this encounter with King Sombra was awkward given how I was swimming in water. "So... What brings you here? Surely you must have something in mind otherwise why would you be here?"

"I'm going... To follow you."

"What!?"

"I'm going... To follow you." King Sombra said, his corporeal form glowing slightly which made me really nervous. "I'm going to follow you... And I will be sticking with you until I have been satisfied. In other words... I want you to help me."

To Be Continued.