The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Link's Awakening.

by Ganondorf8

Chapter 18: A Game of Cat and Mouse.

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.

The hunt is on... And it's going to be an annoying one.

Cast of characters appearing in this chapter:

Sunset Shimmer: Link
Princess Twilight Sparkle: Fairy Partner

The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Link's Awakening.
By Ganondorf8.
January 5, 2020.
Chapter 18: A Game of Cat and Mouse.

"What!?" I exclaimed. "You think I'm going to be a pushover or something?"

Master Stalfos shook its head, the rattling of bones making me uneasy. "No. It's just that you clearly don't resemble a warrior. Sure, you possess a sword, a shield, and various tools a warrior would use, but this means nothing if you lack the skill to use them all properly."

I felt offended by those remarks. "Okay, so I started off with next to no idea what I was doing, but that was back in my first ever adventure doing something like this. I've improved a lot since those early days and you'll find me to definitely be of the warrior mentality you're thinking of." I hated it when people insulted me for my abilities. It was because they were either jealous or believed me to be unworthy of having them. I've had to go through an awful lot to reach my current place in life seeing how I used to have everything until reality gave me a taste of my own medicine.

"Have I touched a nerve?"

"You might have."

"Already, you are showing signs that you are not a warrior." Master Stalfos said as it swung its sword around in a sharp arc. "A warrior would never allow emotions to get the better of them as emotions indicate weakness. Perhaps it's best if you went back home and forgot all about pretending to be something you're not. It would save you from getting yourself killed and it would mean me not having to stop to such a degrading level."

I was that close to losing my temper when a thought came to me. "What would it take to convince you otherwise?"

"Proof!"

"Come again?"

"You claim to be a warrior yet you lack proof." Master Stalfos answered. "Do you have the means to show that you have accomplished what you claim? And no, words alone aren't enough as anyone can say that they are something and believe that others will accept it." Despite being a large monster, Master Stalfos knew how to get under someone's skin by using the right choice of words. "For instance, the sword in your hand. You could claim that you've slain numerous creatures yet without it showing signs of having blood stains, you could potentially be lying to me."

"I've defeated countless monsters!"

"Not good enough."

"Okay, how about all of the items I've collected."

"You could have been given those out of pity or perhaps you have stolen them."

Sheesh! Talk about having an answer for everything. That's when I decided to really turn the heat up. "What about instruments?"

"Explain!"

"I have four Instruments of the Sirens."

Master Stalfos then glared at me. "You are in possession of half of the instruments the Nightmares had hidden away? Such a bold claim but can you prove it?" I then took out each instrument, laying them carefully on the ground, and making sure they were close to me at all times just in case it tried something funny. I then picked them back up and put them away without uttering a single word. It then struck its sword into the ground with a deafening thud. "That explains why you have come here. You are here to claim the instrument that lies deeper within the Catfish's Maw."

"Now we're getting somewhere."

"I was wrong about you." Master Stalfos then thrust its sword forward until it was mere inches from my throat. "I shall kill you here and take the instruments you possess so that the Wind Fish can never waken."

Master Stalfos then attempted to cut me down right there and then only I raised my shield just in the nick of time. Upon its sword colliding with my shield, I got pushed all the way back to the other side of the room. From that one maneuver alone, I could tell that this Stalfos was powerful if it could do that with just one swing. It continued swinging its sword in a sharp arc before suddenly jumping over to where I was standing. Upon landing, it swung its sword which hit me in the back causing me to get pushed forward until I was back where I initially started though with a nasty wound on my back.

"Are you alright?" Princess Twilight asked.

I nodded as I got back up. "That was painful but I've had worse."

"You need to find a way to break through the Master Stalfos' defences."

"That isn't going to be easy you know."

Princess Twilight nodded. "Using your shield to parry its sword won't work as this monster clearly knows that technique and is immune to it. Despite how sharp of a swing it has in addition to having a large attack radius thanks to wielding a large weapon, you should be able to strike when its guard has dropped. You don't need an explanation of that, Sunset, as you've clearly done something like it before."

Again, Her Highness was correct about me having done this in the past. I've fought against Stalfos that were nearly as big yet way more ruthless in their fighting. Just the thought of thinking about them from my first journey sent chills down my spine. Master Stalfos felt like a pre-cursor to those previous ones so I needed to approach this fight as though I were fighting one of those Stalfos from the Forest Temple (I again surprised myself by actually remembering such information). As long as this guy couldn't perform a jump attack (Another thing I remembered from before), I should be fine.

Approaching it carefully, it then jumped over and attempted to attack me in the back again but I raised my shield to deflect the attack. Like before, the knockback from its sword pushed me forward though I managed to stop myself from colliding with the wall. Turning around to face it again, it began swinging its sword and I started to look for an open spot where its guard would drop. At first it was difficult for me to spot anything as it jumped to where I was standing forcing me to think about dodging more than anything, but then I went back to looking and then the weakness practically appeared in front of me.

When it was swinging its sword, there was a brief moment where it was completely vulnerable on the left side of its body due to swinging so sharply. It lacked the speed to raise its shield to block an attack in that fashion which was a blessing for me. Master Stalfos then swung its sword in a sharp arc which I avoided by quickly stepping backwards and then moved forward before striking it with my own sword. Instead of getting damaged, it merely collapsed in a heap on the ground leaving me wondering what I had to do next. I began panicking as I honestly had no clue what to do until my brain sent me a message.

The Owl Statue from the previous room mentioned about how I could use a bomb in order to defeat a skeleton if my sword didn't work. I guessed that I initially shrugged off the advice believing it to be pointless since Stalfos were always defeated with sword strikes, but this clearly didn't apply to Master Stalfos, an enhanced skeleton. Knowing that it would eventually pull itself back together, I took out a bomb and placed it on the ground in-between the bones of my opponent. It then exploded causing some damage prompting it to quickly get back up.

"What in the world did you just do!?" Master Stalfos exclaimed.

"Finding your weakness." I answered.

"No one has ever managed to find that before."

"Looks like I'm different from them."

Master Sword slammed its sword into the ground. "That was nothing more than a lucky hit! You will not be so lucky next time! Come! Face me!"

"You've gotten it riled up now." Princess Twilight said.

"Will that make things tougher now?"

"Not necessarily." Princess Twilight answered whilst shaking her head. "From what I've seen of this Master Stalfos, it doesn't really have much in the way of attacks preferring to go with massive sword swings in hopes of inflicting as much damage as possible, or jumping to catch you by surprise. I'd say this is going to be an easy battle unless it suddenly changes its tactics which would mean adapting to such changes quickly."

"How many bomb explosions will it take?"

"I don't know."

Before I could respond to that, Master Stalfos jumped over to where I was, and slashed me in the stomach causing me to get knocked into a wall. Since it was a sudden swing after it had landed, the power behind the swing wasn't that strong so I didn't take as much damage. (Had it been a direct swing with its power put into it, I'd have likely been sliced in half and I doubted Sugar Belle's medicine could perform the miracle of attaching body parts back together) Picking myself back up and informing Her Highness that I was okay, I raised my shield only to get pushed back again after Master Stalfos connected with its sword.

Sure, getting pushed back was annoying but at least I wasn't getting hurt by it. It then jumped over to me before swinging its sword yet this time I ducked down to avoid getting hit and responded by attacking its rib cage. Master Stalfos collapsed into a heap as a result of my sword strike and I placed a bomb in-between the bones where it exploded and inflicted more damage upon it. I then thought about skipping the use of my sword and go straight into the bomb, but upon a second glance at it, it could use that giant shield to block the explosion or perhaps use its sword to knock the bomb back at me.

Upon putting itself back together, I immediately attacked it in hopes of being able to knock it down before it had a chance to do anything. Unfortunately, it responded to each of my blows by using its shield to deflect them. Knowing that this method was clearly not working, I backed away in and waited for the next giant sword swing to come my way, but instead, it jumped over to where I was and responded by swinging its sword. I stepped back to avoid getting hit but then it jumped again and swung a second time upon landing where I avoided that too.

I then waited until Master Stalfos swung its sword in the sharp arc before attacking the rib cage again. (It didn't have to be the rib cage as any part of its body looked like it could crumble apart at any moment yet the cage was the most obvious spot) It collapsed again and I placed another bomb in the bones where it exploded seconds later. It got back up but this time it began stomping its foot in frustration. I was expecting a more fierce challenge now it had taken some damage but instead it began backing away towards the wall as though it were about to run away.

"Enough!" Master Stalfos shouted.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"You're much stronger than I thought you were."

"So you're running away?"

Master Stalfos nodded. "All those who fought me were worthless creatures, yet you have proven to be a challenge though not by much. Still, this fact is clear to me. If I continue fighting against you, I'm going to end up being destroyed. Consider this a tactical retreat and not an act of cowardice. I have no doubt that you will not leave this place which will no doubt be your undoing. Such a stubborn streak deserves nothing less than death."

"You're not going anywhere!"

"Can you stop me though from leaving?"

I shook my head. Despite wanting to say otherwise, he had me dead to rights. "This isn't over you know."

"Oh but it is."

"I'm going to find you."

"Why even bother?" Master Stalfos asked as it put away its sword. "You have no reason to chase after me. I am not the one who is guarding the instrument that you seek. That honour goes to the Nightmare, who is far stronger than I am. My advice? Leave this place now! If you don't, you deserve to die!" With that, Master Stalfos leapt upwards towards the ceiling and disappeared among the shadows leaving me alone to contemplate what had just happened.

"He ran away." I said as I stood there in surprise.

"At least you didn't take too much damage." Princess Twilight said.

"I guess so."

"Is something bothering you?"

I nodded. "I can't hide anything from you, Twilight, but yeah, I am bothered. Why would Master Stalfos say that we have no reason to chase it down? Whenever someone says something to that effect, you know that they have something that you want. Hopefully, I'm wrong here but considering how certain events have transpired, I'm not going to be surprised if it did end up being the case. On another note, what Master Stalfos said about the Nightmare also has me worried."

"You can't really worry about the Nightmare until you encounter it."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Princess Twilight then began bopping me on the head. "You've defeated five Nightmares already, Sunset. Sure, some of them were ridiculously easy while others proved to be quite difficult, but the fact is that you defeated them and have become stronger because of it. You shouldn't let this dungeon's Nightmare get to you before you even know what it is. What you were told by Master Stalfos could either be the truth or perhaps it was its way of instilling doubt into your head, but whichever one it is, don't let it become a problem. All you can do now is keep going and deal with the Nightmare when you get there."

"Nice use of philosophy." I said smiling.

"I did run a school you know."

"Touché."

Despite not defeating Master Stalfos, both doors had since unlocked enabling me to continue. Would I encounter it again? Maybe but that was a bridge I would cross when I eventually got to it. Opening the door and entering the next room, my eyes immediately noticed a treasure chest that was completely unguarded. If previous experience had told me anything, it was that defeating a mid-boss (Even if it ended up running away on account of unwilling to fight anymore) meant gaining access to the dungeon item. It also told me to anticipate any and all possible outcomes.

Opening the chest, I was shocked to find that it was empty save for a piece of paper at the bottom. Reaching in and taking out the paper and holding it in front of my face, I began to read what it said. "If you've opened this chest, you've discovered that it's gone and you're furious. I've got what was inside this chest with me. If you want this item, come and get it from me if you can even find me! I doubt you'll succeed. Sincerely, Master Stalfos."

"Sunset?" Princess Twilight asked in a nervous voice. "Are you okay?"

I nodded slowly and sighed. "Yeah... I'm fine."

"For a moment there, I thought you were going to explode into a fit of rage."

"Just because something like this happened doesn't mean I'm going to lose it." I said as I placed the paper back into the chest. "Sure, a lot of stuff has pissed me off but I've gotten better at keeping my temper under control. Besides, I had a feeling the dungeon item wasn't going to be 'that' easy to pick seeing as we've only just started this dungeon. I will admit that I'm impressed that Master Stalfos did something like this to begin with. You don't get this kind of scenario come up very often." Then it dawned on me. "Now I have a reason to chase after him! I need to get whatever was in this chest."

"It's not going to be easy to track him down."

"True as we don't have any hints aside from the coloured tiles on the floor."

"I'm still trying to figure that out."

"No need to rush, Twilight."

"In any case, all you can do right now is to continue through this dungeon until you find Master Stalfos again." Princess Twilight then flew into the treasure chest in order to scan over the piece of paper it had left behind. "The note said that the item would make Catfish's Maw an easier experience for you, Sunset. That means you need it to progress and perhaps use it in order to defeat the Nightmare." She flew back over and landed on my shoulder. "Depending on when you need this item, finding Master Stalfos may or may not be a priority, but we won't know until you've made enough progress."

No doubt that this whole situation had become a game of cat and mouse with Master Stalfos with it being the mouse and I the cat. I needed to figure out the solution to this puzzle otherwise I was never going to get through this dungeon. Even if I did end up finding it again, there was no way of knowing whether it would give up and give me what I needed or whether it would run away or fight until it dropped. I was beginning to think that this dungeon was relying heavily on padding in order to mask the fact that it was relatively small compared to what I had previously experienced.

Stepping away from the chest, a pair of Green Zols popped up from the ground. Had I been in a bad mood, I'd have taken out my aggression on them, but I was pretty calm since I was expecting this kind of thing to happen. Instead, I defeated both monsters with a single sword swing making sure not to accidentally hit the wall or anything. Before thinking about my next move, I picked up the four pots nearby in order to get some hearts since I did take damage against Master Stalfos. There were two ways I could go... Either north to the next room or down a flight of stairs to another underground passage.

Choosing to check out the underground passage, it consisted of a flooded basement with platforms suspended in the air by chains attached to the ceiling. It certainly didn't look pleasant and a part of me thought that this was the wrong path to take. Without the Dungeon Map, I was forced to rely on my gut rather than seeing what rooms I hadn't visited. Going back up to where I was before, I walked north and into a section where it split off into three directions, north, east, and west, yet the way was blocked by five blocks with the one in the middle being the most obvious blockade.

"What do you make of this, Twilight?"

Princess Twilight floated over to the blocks and gave them a good checking over making sure to avoid the Sparks that was moving about. "Okay, so this is what has to be done in order to progress further." She clapped as though she were congratulating herself and all I could do was roll my eyes as she came back. "You need to push that block several times in order to get any further. When you push it, it will be stuck in place but when you come back here, it will have reset allowing you to push it in a different direction. The direction in question depends on where you entered this room from."

"That sounds needlessly convoluted."

"It's all you can do."

"And that switch over there?" I asked as I pointed to the obvious switch.

"It will unlock that door over there."

"Guess the only way I can go is left."

"You've got the strength to push that block, Sunset." Princess Twilight said as she pretended to flex her muscles. "With or without the Power Bracelet, blocks like these are easy enough to push around."

Why Her Highness did that was something I didn't want to know, but at least she was praising me for my natural strength as opposed to what the Power Bracelet gave me. Granted, my strength paled in comparison to Applejack. She had so much strength, she could lift up an entire house without breaking into a sweat? Could I do something like that? Sure... If I wore several Power Bracelets at once. While having all that power didn't quite connect with the Element of Honesty, it was likely because Applejack had performed physical labour for most of her life what with living on a farm and all, and it was a reflection of that.

Pushing the block forward, I immediately stepped back as the two Sparks crossed each other's paths before both went to the right allowing me to go left and avoid them. I continued walking left before suddenly stopping as two Blade Traps shot out from either side of me and clanged against one another before my eyes. My heart raced as both traps moved back to their previous positions but I wasn't about to stand there and do nothing so I walked forward only to get hit by the Star monster which was busy moving about. I quickly attacked and defeated it before it could anything else only for a Sword Stalfos to come along and stab me with its sword.

It then tried attacking again only for me to parry it with my shield and responding with two sword strikes defeating it. Neither monster dropped a Piece of Power or Guardian Acorn which made me wonder when I would get either of these temporary power-ups. Then again, I didn't need the acorn quite as much seeing as I was wearing the blue tunic which boosted my defence though it didn't mean absolute immunity from damage. Looking around, there was an abundance of green crystals in addition to two more Blade Traps though I was more concerned by the crystals as why were they even in a room like this?

Thinking it over for a few moments, I concluded that the crystals weren't suspicious and probably were in the room to provide me with some cover. I could destroy them by dashing through each with the Pegasus Boots but that would've been a waste of time. Ignoring them, I went north alongside a narrow stream of water and into the next room which was completely submerged in water including a deep section which I most likely could dive down using the Flippers. Four Water Tektites were skating about prompting me to see if I could avoid fighting any of them yet couldn't see one.

Walking into the room, all four monsters turned and skated towards me in a single row. Holding out my sword, I performed a spin attack which defeated all four at once with the last one dropping a Piece of Power that dropped into the deep water. I hated when that happened as it meant it was gone forever even if I were to try and dive underwater to get it. I wished I hadn't thought about it since one came at such a bad moment. Looking at the deep water, I sensed that I needed to dive down there but whether it was now or later was what needed to be determined before taking my next course of action.

Mulling it over, I decided not to dive down in case it either lead to a dead-end or I needed the item that Master Stalfos had in its possession. Princess Twilight did decide to make a note to remind me to come back here later on. Heading north again, I entered the next room where a series of blocks prevented me from continuing on though a locked door also indicated that progression wasn't possible. There were two Green Zols and a Spark lurking about on the other side, but as far as I was concerned, I had to backtrack to where I was before and come here on the other side. Fortunately, it wasn't that bad of a backtracking.

Heading back the way I came past the deep water and past the green crystals, I was soon back in the room with the five blocks. The Sparks were now located on the other side of the middle block so I could ignore them for now until I came back here again. Pushing the block forward, I now could go north though I chose to ignore the switch as it wasn't going to useless for a while longer. Heading into the next room, it looked like clustered what with so much happening all at once. A small gap greeted me immediately though I could easily jump over it, but beyond it were a couple of monsters, and to my right, a chest could be seen yet it was out of reach.

"Do you think I can perform a running jump to get to that chest?"

Princess Twilight shook her head. "You don't have enough room to gain enough speed to make such an attempt. If anything, it probably serves as part of a puzzle that you can't do anything about until you find that dungeon item."

"So far, we haven't seen Master Stalfos anywhere."

"It has proven to be quite elusive."

"I hope it hasn't fled the dungeon."

"I sincerely doubt that!"

"You never know, Twilight."

"Master Stalfos is still in the dungeon, Sunset." Princess Twilight said. "Monsters like that are bound to remain in the dungeons they are found in and can't leave even if they really wanted to. It's all a matter of finding it eventually as it can't hide from you forever."

"The question is... What is the solution?"

"I'm not sure."

I then changed the subject. "So... Your coronation. Do you have your own crown yet?"

Princess Twilight shook her head again. "Well... I do have the one I've been wearing for formal occasions, yet Princess Celestia said that I would be getting a special crown which will become part of my royal personage. I prefer the current crown yet she was insistent on me getting one that was truly my own and best represented me. When I tried to ask additional questions, she focused on other things leaving me to wonder just what kind of crown it will be."

"You must be looking forward to the coronation."

"In my own way."

I could tell Her Highness wasn't being honest when she said that. Also, she was looking away from me at that moment further reaffirming my suspicion. I had a feeling she wasn't ready for such a momentous occasion and while I had a pretty good idea what it involved, I chose not to talk about it in case it upset her. Instead, I went back to the crown. "I hope your crown has your cutie mark on it. I know you love having it slapped onto everything you own."

"Kind of like you?"

I nodded. "Kind of like me."

"Anyway, I don't know what my final crown will look like."

"Had I stuck with my studies, I'd have probably been next in line to succeed the princesses."

"Do you still wish you were?"

This time, I shook my head. "Like I said before, Twilight, my time has come and gone. I had my chance but blew it because I lacked humility and I doubt I'll ever get another one, but it's something I've accepted. You are the ruler that Equestria needs and deserves. In another reality somewhere out there, I'd be the next ruler right now while you would be doing something else, but again, that's another reality. We're in this one where you are the ruler-to-be and not me. You'll be an excellent ruler, Twilight. Equestria is in safe hands, err, hooves, with you at the guiding force behind it."

"Thank you, Sunset."

I knew Her Highness needed to hear that in order to boost her confidence but also to help her prepare for the eventuality that becoming the ruler meant leaving Ponyville and moving back to Canterlot on a permanent basis. The capital couldn't change cities as Canterlot ponies would complain about it endlessly. It also meant not seeing her friends as much as she currently does and I knew she wasn't prepared for such a massive shift. Hopefully, she'll gradually adjust herself to the change otherwise her reign could become problematic right from the start which would throw Equestria out of whack.

Getting back to the adventure at hand, I jumped over the gap only to face off against two Shroud Stalfos and a Star which was moving back the other way leaving the former two to charge at me. Two sword strikes were enough to defeat both leaving just the Star but then I decided to try something different. Picking up a nearby pot, I tossed it where it smashed against the Star as it came back, and took it out in one shot but not before pushing it back quite a ways. Perhaps I ought to do this more often in order to defeat monsters from a distance or needing to defeat them quickly.

It turned out that my own words were about to be put into immediate action as another Star was moving towards me along with a Sword Stalfos. Both monsters must have been out of my range of vision so I couldn't see them until I got close enough. Picking up a second pot, I tossed it at the Stalfos, defeating it in one shot even though it tried to use its shield to deflect the pot though it ultimately failed. As for the Star, rather than use a third pot, I decided to use my sword instead as why stop using what was arguably my most effective means of taking out monsters. One strike of my sword defeated it leaving me to continue on unabated.

Before heading into the next room, I could see a floating Recovery Heart as well as another treasure chest yet both were out of reach. How was I supposed to reach these when not even the ability to run and jump over gaps was enough? Ignoring both objects, I went into the next room and was back in the room where my previous visit resulted in a dead-end. The door was still locked but now I had an easier chance of figuring out how to unlock it and continue on. The Spark unfortunately was on this side so I made sure to keep an eye on it so that it didn't bump into me too often but it wasn't the main problem here.

Moving forward, two Green Zols popped up from the ground yet I quickly dispatched of them only for the door to not unlock. Normally, defeating all monsters in a room would cause the door to unlock... Except that I hadn't defeated them all. There was still the one Green Zol left that was hiding underground on the other side of the blocks. Did I have to somehow get back on that side, defeat the remaining monster and quickly make my way back to this side? Impossible! Not even with the Pegasus Boots could I do something like that... Unless I was completely missing something oh so obvious.

I began pushing the blocks in hopes that one of them could be moved. At first, none of them seemed to want to budge until the last one moved forward upon me pushing it (It was always the last one in these kinds of situations) and I struck pay dirt. Making my way over to the other side of the room, the remaining Green Zol popped up and I defeated it which caused the door to become unlocked. Ignoring the Spark which was still moving around, I entered a familiar room in that I had seen it a couple of times now. It had the same skull motif on the ground but featured three coloured tiles this time.

"Twilight?" I began. "Does this give you any ideas?"

Princess Twilight nodded before quickly shaking her head. "Yes and no, Sunset."

"How can it be both ways?"

"For one thing, this is the third room we've come across that features these coloured tiles and skull pattern." Princess Twilight answered. "Sure, this is becoming a pattern yet it still doesn't explain the significance behind them."

"I might have an idea."

"Do tell."

I began counting on my fingers as I offered my explanation. "So far, we've seen three rooms with skull motifs on them and each had coloured tiles. One had one coloured tile, the second had three, and the third had four. All we're missing is a room that has two coloured tiles. If we find that missing room, I can go back through each of them in the correct order which might make something happen." It was right there when I realized my idea had some glaring holes in it. "On second thought, that doesn't sound like the solution. Crap! If only I could understand what that Master Stalfos meant about its hiding place."

"We might yet get an answer to that."

"Really?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "Yes, but first we need to find Master Stalfos." Her Highness then slapped her forehead. "That's it! What you just described, Sunset, was the solution to this puzzle... But only part of it. I can't believe I didn't notice this until you went on that little tangent of yours. Like I said, we need to find where Master Stalfos is and then check to see what's on the ground."

"Finding it has proven difficult."

"It has to be somewhere around here."

Since there was nothing more I could do in this room, I entered the next one to find my way blocked by two pots. In front of me was another flying Recovery Heart which I could do with getting as I had taken some damage. Walking up to the pots and looking over them, I could see two Red Stalfos and a Yellow Stalfos guarding a chest. None of them had noticed me but I had no intention of charging into them since the red ones were especially dangerous what with their ability to throw their own bones at me. Instead, I would use the pot throwing mechanic and hoping I would connect correctly.

Picking up a pot, I went around the corner and tossed it where it hit one of the Red Stalfos. It was defeated and disappeared in a puff of smoke prompting the other two to make their way over with the remaining Red Stalfos throwing bones which I blocked with my shield whilst the Yellow Stalfos tried jumping onto me. Swinging my sword made both jump backwards in order to avoid getting hit and they continued to jump back until they trapped themselves in a corner enabling me to defeat both with two hits each. I quickly went back and grabbed the heart by jumping with the Roc's Feather before opening up the chest and taking out the Dungeon Map.

"Finally!" I exclaimed upon unfurling the map. "Now we can see what this place is like."

"This is... An interesting shape." Princess Twilight said as she scratched her head. The map of the Catfish's Maw looked like either a catfish or some kind of weird creature neither of us could figure out what. On the one hand though, the rooms with the skull motifs and coloured tiles were fully displayed so it came down to finding the remaining room. "The Nightmare is located over here on the left side yet I can't quite see a clear way for you to get to it."

"I've still got plenty of chests left to open."

"Until you can figure out a way to reach them, they will remain inaccessible."

"Curse that Master Stalfos!"

"The only way you can go now is to the right in that room with the five blocks."

I groaned. "I've got to backtrack all the way over there!?"

"It's not that far, Sunset."

Again, I groaned. "It's the principle of the thing, Twilight. Backtracking is never any fun in video games especially when it happens on a regular basis. I know this doesn't make much sense to you since you've never played a video game before, but trust me on this one, okay? Besides, I mean no offence and I'm not belittling you or your intellect in any way. It just so happens that this kind of thing is my expertise and I pride myself as an avid gamer."

"This could prove to make for an interesting research paper."

"What could?"

"If I find some free time, I'll come pay you a visit and you can show me these video games."

I rolled my eyes. "How about that? A new video gamer is on the verge of being born. You'd best make that visit before your coronation as I don't think you'll have any free time once you assume the throne if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are any indication."

"In that case, I'll have plenty of free time."

I wasn't going to question Her Highness on that. She knew the two sisters a lot better than I did and if I understood her comment correctly, she was saying the sisters didn't do much in terms of protecting Equestria and were more fixated on lounging around in the castle and perhaps gorging themselves on cake. How did I come up with such an explanation? I had no idea but it sounded like that's what happened. Maybe I ought to visit Princess Celestia more often in order to get her side of things and perhaps one day ask her to come back to my world since she will have stepped down from the throne by that point.

That was something I've always wanted to do... Have Princess Celestia experience my world even if only for a short while. In the past, I've never been able to ask her due to not wanting to show my face before her during the time neither of us were on speaking terms. Since our reconciliation, she had simply been way too busy with numerous royal duties though deep down I knew she wanted to see where I had spent so much time away from Equestria and from her. Once Princess Twilight ascended the throne, I could ask Princess Celestia if she was up for it though whether Princess Luna had a similar inkling remained unknown.

As I began making my way back to the room with the five blocks, I continued to think about what Princess Twilight's life was going to be like when she assumes the throne. For one thing, she would have to navigate through numerous treaties since she had gone out of her way to bringing the other creatures together. Each tribe would want their own share and to ensure that they were treated with respect and on equal footing with ponies. Among the creatures, the Changelings were pretty easygoing along with the Seaponies. Yaks were known for having strong mood swings whilst Griffins were money hungry and Dragons were often aloof.

There were other creatures including Kirin who needed to be handled delicately because of their Nirik personalities, and Centaurs who were rumoured to live in a kingdom somewhere in the desolate wastes beyond most forms of civilization. Few knew of centaurs other than Lord Tirek but perhaps one day ponies might meet them provided they weren't as bad as he was given he got turned to stone in the end. Other creatures were out there such as Diamond Dogs, Abyssinians, and Deer yet these three were rarely seen by ponies, and yet there were some creatures who merely existed as legends and nothing more.

I made sure to go back the long way as I knew I needed to activate that one switch in order to unlock the door in the room with five blocks. Fortunately, none of the monsters re-spawned but it meant they would eventually do so on the inevitable backtracking of the backtracking. Yes, this was a thing that happened in video games too. Upon jumping over the small gap and reaching my destination, I stepped on the switch which unlocked the door and then pushed the block forward and create a path. The two Sparks then came towards me but I managed to jump over both thus avoiding any damage.

Entering the next room, both doors locked behind and in front of me, but I was more interested in what was on the ground. "Twilight... Do you see what I see?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "The same skull motif but with two coloured tiles."

"But what does it mean?"

"Maybe you should ask Master Stalfos."

"I don't even know where it is."

At that moment, my question was answered as Master Stalfos dropped down from the ceiling. "You... You were able to find me!? How did you achieve this!? I thought you would've been killed by now!"

"Guess I proved you wrong, huh?"

Master Stalfos slowly nodded in return. "I know why you decided to pursue me. It is because of the item in the treasure chest which I took Yes... I know because you reacted to my words one such as you would... Anger... Rage... The desire of wanting something so desperately. These emotions and more drive you on, but you will never claim your prize so long as it remains in my possession."

"Then I'll just have to defeat you."

"Can you though?"

I nodded. "I can... As long as you don't run away like a coward."

That made Master Stalfos angry. "What!? I did not run away from you! I merely retreated because I wasn't prepared to face you. Unlike other opponents, you have done what they could not... Prove to be an annoyance! I've rested myself since our previous encounter so now I can fight at full strength rather than limp about."

I then gave it a smug look. "Sure... I'll go along with that."

"Perhaps your defeating of the Nightmares was nothing more than mere luck."

"What does that mean?"

"Your words belie you." Master Stalfos answered. "You enjoy talking down to others as though they were beneath your notice. Rather than working on your swordsmanship, you prefer witty banter that is best saved for a tumbling act by someone who is clearly incompetent. Perhaps you are not a warrior after all but instead you are a clown? Maybe? I suppose we shall soon find out."

Master Stalfos began swinging its sword in a sharp arc and it was immediately apparent that it was repeating the same maneuvers from the previous encounter. Was this going to be one of those instances where I would be forced to fight the same opponent multiple times in order to get something of great importance? Also, each time I would fight said opponent, it was the same battle without any changes? Has this video game really stooped down to such a level? I groaned under my breath knowing that this appeared to be so. Great! This isn't what I needed at all! I mean, it made this easier but still, why even have it to begin with?

It then jumped over to where I was and I managed to avoid it by moving out of the way before it could strike me from behind. Turning around, I waited for it to swing its sword before striking the spine this time as opposed to the rib cage from last time. It immediately collapsed to the ground where I placed a bomb among the bones and backed away when it exploded. Getting back up onto its feet, Master Stalfos decided to change its tactics by raising its shield before moving forward. With its shield raised, I couldn't attack its body so I had to wait for the opportunity to come my way.

Eventually, it lowered its shield and swung its sword where I responded by swinging my own immediately afterwards. I then placed another bomb among its bones and it exploded where it caused more damage. Already, this was pretty pathetic seeing as it was essentially the same fight as before even if it had decided to alter its fighting style a little bit. It got back up and raised its shield again before moving towards me. Since a part of me felt curious about it, I decided to find out what would happen if I were to attack the shield while it was moving about like this.

Hitting the shield, it retaliated by pushing me back a little before swiping me using its sword at full power. I was sent flying into the wall where I dropped to the ground, my stomach having a nasty gash across it from where its sword connected. Luckily, it wasn't bleeding all thanks to having an increased defence, yet what happened was something I deserved as I was being way too cocky and thought this would be an easy enough experience. Getting back up, I shook it off and quickly moved to the side as Master Stalfos jumped over and landed in my previous spot before swinging its sword and missing entirely.

It then raised its shield and moved forward only this time I wasn't going to respond in kind. Instead, I kept moving backwards making sure to check behind me so that I didn't accidentally trap myself or anything. It lowered its shield and swung its sword for me to attack it after the swing had occurred. I placed another bomb down where it exploded moments later causing more damage only for it to then stand back up and stomp the ground with its foot again. No doubt it was going to run away again yet I intended on making sure that wouldn't happen only to discover that I couldn't move.

"Why can't I move?"

"It is my power that keeps you at bay."

"There's more to you than appearances suggest."

"I am the Master Stalfos!" It declared. "I am the strongest of all Stalfos! I possess powers that none of them have!"

I then started to get serious. "Anyway! I've defeated you so hand over the dungeon item you stole!"

Master Stalfos shook its head and laughed in an eerie manner. "You did not defeat me, girl! You have merely forced me to retreat again. I miscalculated and I lost!" It then took on a different tone in its voice. "I cannot believe you have forced me to retreat for a second time, and yet, there is something I must know. Why do you even want this item in the first place? It's not like it will do you any good."

"I need it to complete my quest."

"Ah yes, your quest to collect the Instruments of the Sirens."

"At the rate you're going, you'll probably run away the instant I see you again."

That made Master Stalfos furious though it quickly changed its tune knowing full well that it couldn't carry out an actual threat against me. "I will take my leave and you won't ever find me again. If you do, I will make sure that it will be for the last time. Once you are dead, no one will ever be able to wake up the accursed Wind Fish." Master Stalfos then leapt upwards into the shadows above which caused both doors to unlock. No doubt I had triggered a nerve that time seeing as it definitely wanted to kill me there and then.

"It's gone, Twilight."

Princess Twilight nodded in agreement. "Yes, so now you need to go and find it again."

"Have you figured out the solution?"

"If we hadn't entered this room, I'd still be stumping my brain over the problem." Princess Twilight then tapped her head as a means of showing accomplishment, and also reminding me of how smart she really was. After all, she did dedicate her early years towards doing research of all kinds. "Now that I've seen all four rooms of this nature, I know where you can find the Master Stalfos. Remember when you first fought it? It was the room where there was only one coloured tile on the skull motif. This time, there were two coloured tiles, and the next location would be?"

I gasped. "The room with three coloured tiles!"

"Exactly!"

I lowered my head in shame. "How did I not figure out something oh so obvious!?"

"Don't feel bad, Sunset." Princess Twilight said as she comforted me. "It took me this long to figure it out as well. Normally, it would've taken me a couple of minutes had I been given more information, but I had to work with what I could. Anyway, the Master Stalfos should now be in the room with three coloured tiles believing it has eluded you. You just need to get back over there and hopefully defeat it this time and acquire what it stole from that treasure chest earlier."

I took out the Dungeon Map in order to remember where the room in question was. "Here it is! It's next to the room where I got this map from." I then had to address a couple of things that were on my mind regarding Master Stalfos and my journey. "Twilight... Do you think I'll defeat Master Stalfos this time or will it escape again and hide elsewhere? Also, will this chase ever end as it's starting to get a little tiring? Second... It knows about what's going on regarding Koholint Island and especially about the Nightmares. Is there anything I can get it to reveal its knowledge?"

"To answer question one... That depends on what the Master Stalfos does next." Princess Twilight answered. "It may decide that it can't keep avoiding you and want to finish you off in a final conflict. This would be your preference as without that item, you won't be able to progress any further through the Catfish's Maw. To answer question two... It might be willing to share its information were it defeated for good, but it all depends on actually doing that."

"I was afraid of that."

"Don't let the Master Stalfos intimidate you."

"I'm not."

"Good as clearly it's the other way around."

"You think so?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "The Master Stalfos has this bravado about it all because it kept on defeating those who came into this dungeon. Its previous opponents weren't very strong or perhaps they lacked specific qualities or items or maybe it was a combination of these factors. You've proven to be different from the others as you've bested it twice now in combat and it clearly doesn't like being defeated by a human. On the one hand, having to run away means the Master Stalfos will start getting desperate which could make things more difficult, but on the other, it will be thinking about surviving at any cost."

"When you say it like that..."

"I think the challenge of this monster comes from hunting it down and not getting killed by everything else."

"If you hadn't figured out the solution, I'd probably still be going around this dungeon looking for it."

"There are only so many rooms you can access."

"True."

Princess Twilight then reminded me of something that I didn't like to hear. "You do realize that you need to backtrack to the room with the three coloured tiles, right? Not only that, you'll need to backtrack to the final room the Master Stalfos can appear in which is located on the other side of the dungeon. Granted, you can use Manbo's Mambo in order to warp back to the beginning since it is an option. Remember, Sunset... You have a lot of items in your inventory so don't believe you don't have the means to progress unless you don't have what's required to actually progress."

Backtracking... Even though in this case, I had no choice but to do it in order to get the dungeon item, I still despised the idea because all it did was pad things out. Sighing and mumbling under my breath over how much backtracking infuriated me, I entered the previous room and pushed the block forward in order to gain access to the north path again, making sure to avoid the two Sparks who continued making their way around the room. Heading north again, I wasn't surprised at seeing the monsters from before having since re-spawned, but at least it wasn't anything serious seeing as they were easy enough to deal with.

A shame I lacked a projectile weapon that wasn't a bomb as I could pick them off from this side instead of jumping over and confronting them, and while I could ignore them, I didn't want to run the risk of getting overwhelmed as I knew there were other monsters ahead that weren't in my range of sight. Using the Roc's Feather to jump over the gap and landing on the other side, I immediately took out the Star monster since it would be the most annoying to handle. The two Shroud Stalfos reacted by throwing spears at me which I blocked using my shield before defeating both with two sword strikes each.

Moving forward, the other Star monster and the Sword Stalfos began to move forward, and when I defeated the former, it dropped a Piece of Power which I picked up. It felt like it had been forever since my sword last felt this temporary power-up, but I wasn't complaining as monsters would go down a lot quicker. Unfortunately, I knew that this increase in power would have no effect on Master Stalfos as it could only be damaged with bombs. Using my temporary power-up, I took out the Sword Stalfos in one hit after parrying its sword attack by using my shield, I continued forward into the next room which was the one that was locked.

Since it hadn't been that long, the door was still unlocked though the monsters had re-spawned as they were the ones who forced the door shut to begin with. Ignoring these creatures as defeating them served no purpose, I went through the door and was back in the room with the three coloured tiles as both exits then locked. If Princess Twilight was correct and I was certain she was, Master Stalfos was in this room, and that meant it could no longer hide from me. Looking around, I could see no sign of it but I knew it was around so I decided to let myself be known.

"You can come out of hiding!" I shouted at the top of my voice. "I know you're in here!"

"Let's hope that it is."

"I know it's here, Twilight, as you'd never steer me wrong." I then shouted out again. "No point trying to hide from me, Master Stalfos! There's no where you can hide from me in this dungeon now!"

A few moments later, Master Stalfos dropped down from the ceiling. "So... You've figured out the solution to where I am hiding. I must admit that I'm surprised you were able to figure it out. Why do you continue chasing me?"

"I want that item."

"Are you that determined to acquire it?"

I nodded. "What can I say? If it will help me out then I will get it no matter how long it takes. You know... If you hadn't stolen it from that treasure chest in the first place, I wouldn't be chasing you all over this dungeon trying to get it. I'd have left you alone since you wouldn't have been of any use to me, but that ended up not happening since you clearly went out of your way to make sure I would chase you. If you think about it, this whole mess could've been avoided if you had just not pull off such a stunt." I then changed the subject. "Now! I've got questions and you have the answers!"

"And what makes you think I will answer them?"

"Because if you don't, I can always beat them out of you."

"Sunset!?" Princess Twilight exclaimed.

I quickly winked at her as I addressed Master Stalfos. "Considering this is the third time we've met and I've defeated you in our previous encounters, I figured you would be hard pressed to want to deny me anything. You've pretty much accepted that I am a warrior even if my methods are different from the kinds of expectations you had hoped for so I believe I deserve answers a warrior would like to know."

Master Stalfos tilted its head back and forth a couple of times before responding. "Your logic makes little sense but you do make a valid point. Very well. I shall answer just one question."

I knew it wouldn't answer a question about what the Nightmares were doing so I went with the next best thing instead. "What can you tell me about the Nightmare who guards the instrument within the Catfish's Maw?"

"You speak of the Slime Eel."

"Slime Eel?"

Master Stalfos nodded. "It is a fearsome creature! Compared to me, it is far more ruthless. If you were to go off and fight it, it would devour you with ease. But... If you were to uncover its weakness, you might yet prevail, but your chances of success are pitiful. No one has ever defeated Slime Eel nor will it ever be defeated. There! I have answered the question you asked of me. Now, the time for talk is over as we must fight again."

I could tell that Master Stalfos didn't want to fight me again. It's sword arm was twitching and its head quickly darted from side to side. Why was it insistent on me fighting it again when clearly it knew better? Was someone forcing its hand? If so then the main suspects were either this Slime Eel or Grogar. In any case, I stood ready to fight it for the third time, and that meant only a couple of changes would take place compared with my previous encounters against it. Like before, it began by performing a sword swing though it wasn't nearly as sharp as before. Could it be that I didn't give it enough time to prepare?

Upon it swinging its sword, I responded by attacking it in the rib cage (I was apparently going back to familiar territory here) causing it to collapse, and like before, I placed a bomb amongst the bones which exploded moments later causing damage. From my perspective, this had become extremely monotonous to the point where I wasn't enjoying the experience, and I suspected this was also true for it. It could simply surrender right now and hand over the dungeon item and I could be on my way just like that but no! It was determined to halt my progress no matter what.

As it got back up, it jumped over to the other side of the room before raising its shield and moving towards me. Before, it would jump to where I was standing so perhaps it realized its previous tactic just didn't work. Granted, this new one wasn't going to work either as I could easily work around it given how the predictability here. Keeping my distance since I knew what would happen if I attacked, Master Stalfos lowered its shield and began swinging its sword using the weaker arc but also at a slower speed than before. Yep... It definitely hadn't had time to prepare for me seeing as I found it quicker than expected.

After another moment where I made it collapse after attacking the rib cage and blowing it up with another bomb, it pulled itself back together and jumped back to where it was originally standing before jumping again where I decided to try something different. I often wondered if I could attack monsters when they were jumping to catch them by surprise and thus disrupt their attack pattern yet I never put it into practice on account of thinking it couldn't be done. After landing, it swung its sword in a slow moving arc (It looked really pathetic at that point) before jumping again, but this time I swung my sword during the apex of the jump.

My hit connected and Master Stalfos collapsed to the ground. I quickly placed a bomb and backed away where it exploded and inflicted more damage. Was that it? Had I finally defeated this monster and secured my prize? No! Instead, it got back up and began stomping its foot on the ground yet again. "Since when can you perform such an advanced technique as attacking something when it is airborne?"

"I've gotten a lot better at doing this over time."

"Perhaps what you've been saying does have a ring of truth to it."

"And now I've defeated you for a third time."

Hearing me say that made Master Stalfos stomp its foot again. "How!? How do I keep on losing to you!? My skills are far superior to yours!" It then started to realize that perhaps it wasn't as powerful as it claimed to be. "Fine! I accept the fact that you have proven your abilities as a warrior but know that you have not truly defeated me. As long as I remain alive, you will never obtain the item I stole from that treasure chest."

"Look! You've lost so why accept what dignity you have left and just give it to me."

"Never!"

I shrugged. "You know... Neither of us can keep on doing this forever."

Master Stalfos nodded its approval. "I agree with you on this one, girl. This battle between us will never end so long as you continue to be persistent. I'm going to retreat once again and go to a place where I can rest up. I doubt you'll find me that quickly!"

"Then just surrender already!"

"I will not!"

"Ugh!"

"It seems you have trouble maintaining your composure." Master Stalfos said as it leaned its head closer to me. "That could prove to be your undoing when next we meet or perhaps against another creature or maybe against a force far beyond your mortal mind. A true warrior doesn't let emotions cloud their judgement. To do so would only invite defeat or even death. Perhaps you still have a ways to go before anyone proclaims you a warrior! It doesn't matter to me but maybe I have struck a nerve with you." It then leapt upwards into the shadows of the ceiling which then unlocked both doors.

"Wow... I didn't think it would insult me."

"It must be getting desperate." Princess Twilight said.

"Yeah..."

"Why did you say you would beat the answers out of it?"

"I was trying to see if I could intimidate it seeing as it did the same thing to me when we first encountered it." I answered. "Unfortunately, my bluff didn't quite work out as I didn't get answers to all of my questions. Besides, resorting to such measures would mean going back to the way I used to be before you showed me another way."

"While you were pretty bad back then, bluffing your way through something is actually a tactic."

"Not a very effective one."

Princess Twilight nodded. "It depends on the kind of monster you're fighting. Some might lack intelligence thus bluffing them is easy and it allows you to get by without any kind of bloodshed involved. Others are more intelligence and can't be tricked so other tactics are needed. If they happen to be exceptionally powerful, fighting might be the only option provided you're extremely confident that you can prevail." Her Highness then changed the subject to what I had to do next. "Now, you need to chase down Master Stalfos! You know where it is hiding, Sunset, so you know what must be done."

"I can use Manbo's Mambo to go back to the start of the dungeon, right?"

"Yes and it will cut down on some backtracking but not all of it."

"It's better than going back the long way."

"This is true." I then took out the Ocarina from my pocket and placed it to my lips. "You know... I kind of feel sorry for Master Stalfos. It could've given up a long time ago but instead it chose to willingly continue with this mess despite knowing it would eventually result in its destruction. It certainly has pride oozing from every part of its undead body though that can be problematic as you become immune from ignorance. Maybe I could learn something about losing my pride since keeping it around causes pain." I then played Manbo's Mambo and focused on wanting to go back to the start of the Catfish's Maw.

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Pinkie Pie, in the meantime, had just had her happiness shattered upon realizing that Ganondorf was right about how her antics weren't always funny and that sometimes her efforts only made things worse. She thought she was making people laugh along with her but not everyone appreciated the kind of humour she delivered. I'll admit her humour didn't always settle with me and our friends would vouch for me on that, yet we knew Pinkie was only doing what she thought was best for everyone. When it came to laughter, you needed to be prepared ahead of time rather than play it by ear and hope it would all work out.

Her poofy hair then went flat as Pinkie's joy got sucked right out of her. "I... I didn't mean to make Sunset mad during the Post Crush concert. I was only trying to make her happy by playing harmless pranks while we waited for the concert."

"And yet you ended up doing the opposite of that." Ganondorf said.

"Am I really this annoying?"

Ganondorf nodded. "You claim to represent laughter and you believe yourself to be doing an incredible service, but the truth is that you instead cause emotional pain to those all around you resulting in their dreams being shattered. Such misery they experienced reflects poorly upon you, laughing one. Though you do end up fixing the damage caused by your humour yet only only the physical damage is repaired. The emotional damage remains there forever, gnawing at those who were afflicted until it wipes away what remains of their hope. If this is meant to make others happy, you clearly have failed at representing your element."

Pinkie Pie slowly nodded. "You're right... I have failed."

"Laughter is meaningless."

"Yes... It's meaningless."

"The child deserves someone better than you."

That made Pinkie Pie's hair poof back to its proper form. "Huh? Sunset Shimmer deserves better? I've made her happier than she's ever been!" She then began to think about those moments and at first, she was fighting back against Ganondorf much to his surprise, but then the negative moments kicked in and her hair went back to the flat condition it was along with her colours fading from pink to gray. "No... There were times I made her miserable which made her think about when she used to be a horrible person. Sunset's past was horrible! I should know as I was involved in parts of it."

"Even now, the child dwells on her troubled past."

"How can that be?"

"You and the others remind her of it even though you do not intend to."

"It's my fault!" Pinkie Pie at that point had completely succumbed to Ganondorf's will. Though she put up a valiant effort, it wasn't enough as the Demon King proved to be far more powerful than her Element of Laughter. "Sunset Shimmer... I'm sorry! I should've respected your past and not made you feel terrible about it. I only caused you pain! You deserve a better friend! Why!? Why does my humour end up making people hate me instead of laugh with me!?" She then calmed down and simply shrugged her shoulders in utter defeat. "Okay... You win... Ganondorf, was it? You've proven your point. I've lost all joy in my life."

"You will not resist?"

Pinkie Pie shook her head. "I don't have the will to oppose you."

Ganondorf laughed as he began to drain Pinkie of some of her magic. "You proved stronger than the other two, laughing one, but in the end, your efforts were in vain as my power far exceeds your own. Your unique abilities still have potential so perhaps I could use them in ways you never could." Once he had finished taking enough of her magic, he snapped his fingers and Pinkie was paralyzed once again before being sent back to join my friends. "Three are down and only three more remain. Now... Who shall be next?" Ganondorf looked at who remained before smiling a cruel smile. "Ah yes... You are ideal." He snapped his fingers again and brought forth my next friend.

"What!? What in the world happened?"

"You are the next to have her magic drained... Generous one."

What!?" Rarity exclaimed. "What have you done!?"

"The magic each of you possesses is strong but is wasted by your lack of understanding its true power." Ganondorf answered. "Therefore, such magic deserves to be used by one who understands power and knows how to use it... That someone... Being me!"

"Give back their magic!"

"And you believe you can threaten me?"

That immediately shot down Rarity's efforts to stand her ground so she quickly improvised. "Darling! I simply don't understand why you are targeting us so. I know we happen to be friends with Sunset Shimmer but that shouldn't mean we have to suffer for it. What has she ever done to the likes of you?" Ganondorf responded by creating a ball of fire in his hand which then showed Rarity some of my actions during my previous adventures which left her stunned. "How... Did she actually do such uncouth things? That outfit... Ugh! So tacky and so like an adventurer!"

"How amusing."

"What is?"

"You cannot accept the fact that your friend does things that make you turn your nose."

"Preposterous!"

Ganondorf laughed. "And yet you did just that when you criticized what you saw the child do. You care more about appearances than anything else which tells me that you are shallow and only care about those who look good enough to be seen. Their personalities and feelings mean nothing to you, generous one. You only care about their appearances and whether you are able to bask in their presence to further your own selfish ambitions. Generosity... Perhaps this Element was wrongfully bestowed upon you and in reality, your Element should have been 'Selfish', 'Self-Absorbed', or perhaps something far worse."

"Ha! You cannot prove anything!"

"Oh, but I can."

"I doubt that you wretched beast!"

"Nothing is beyond my reach, generous one." Ganondorf said as his eyes began to glow. "I will show you just how wrong you are and when I am finished with you, your life will be forever shattered with no hope of it ever being pieced back together again. Now... I believe there are some incidents that occurred over time where your selfish nature proved to be the most dominant facet of your existence which in turn caused you to betray those closest to you. This combined with arrogance, jealousy, disdain, malice, and far worse than these ended up shattering what is called friendship to the point where it almost couldn't be repaired."

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Through the magic contained within Manbo's Mambo, I found myself back at the beginning of the Catfish's Maw. Before proceeding, I took out the Dungeon Map and checked it to see which room I needed to go to in order to find Master Stalfos yet again. The room in question was located west of where I assumed the instrument was located; (They were often in rooms directly north of the room where the Nightmare was) quite the distance which meant Master Stalfos had likely regained its strength. Knowing that I had no choice but to backtrack all the way over there, I walked forward after putting away the map.

Entering the next room, I took out the Red Zol in one hit thanks to me still being under the effects of the Piece of Power, but when I defeated the Helmasaur in one hit, the effect wore off which meant I could only deal normal damage against monsters. While it was disappointing that I lost my sword's effect, I still had my permanent defence boost until I chose to go back to the Colour Dungeon and change tunics. Princess Twilight in the meantime made sure to remind me about the treasure chest that was still out of my reach but didn't mark it down on the map since it already had a mark in the form of a chest.

Moving on to the next room, I decided to ignore the Keese as they were nothing more than an irritant, but I did focus on the Helmasaur as it could prove to be trouble seeing as I hadn't seen what it could really do. When it noticed me, it immediately charged forward and I was too slow in raising my shield resulting in it smacking into me with that helmeted face. Was it a painful wound? Not really indicating that Helmasaurs lacked offensive power but it did have incredible knock-back seeing as the helmet was made of metal. I got pushed into one of the statues resulting in my back getting bruised but I shrugged it off and defeated the Helmasaur when it turned away from me.

Entering the next room, I decided to use the Roc's Feather and jumped over both Helmasaurs before either one had any idea what happened. Upon landing, I turned around and saw that neither one had noticed my presence and continued to ignore me. Smiling, I went down the stairs into the underground tunnel only to remember that this tunnel had the weights which needed to be pushed down accordingly so that I could move across and not be forced to start over again. From what I recalled, there were two sets of weights for me to overcome, yet it was the second group that were the tricky ones.

The first and third weights were connected with each other while the second and fourth weights were connected of this second group. I must admit that I surprised myself for remembering something I only went through once before and having done so when I first started this dungeon. Using the Roc's Feather, I jumped across the first group of weights with ease so now it was down to the second group. Remembering the order, I jumped on the weight and allowed it to drop down which caused the third weight to slowly rise up in response. Once both were at a reasonable height, I jumped to the second weight and it began dropping down while the last one began rising up.

Jumping across the remaining weights once they were all lined up, I climbed up the ladder and was back in the room with all the dark crystals. The good thing is that the puzzle was still solved so I didn't need to push any of the blocks and unlock the door. (It was already unlocked) The bad news was that the Red Stalfos and Yellow Stalfos had re-spawned and could potentially block my progress and force me to have to deal with them first. Looking at the room's layout, I could just charge my way through instead. Using the Pegasus Boots, I dashed through the crystals and past all three Stalfos and into the next room.

When the door locked itself behind me, Master Stalfos dropped down from the ceiling. "You again... As if I was expecting anyone else."

"You've no where to run this time!" I shouted.

Master Stalfos nodded. "No matter where I go, you continue to chase me down without end. While you clearly have shown to want to keep on going, I am getting tired of this pointless game."

"If you had given me the item a lot sooner, you wouldn't be feeling this way."

"But I couldn't do that."

"Why not?"

"Though I am a warrior, I am also a monster." Master Stalfos answered. "As a monster, it is my job to prevent those like you from progressing too far. Unfortunately, you have proven far more problematic than what the Nightmares originally thought. They believed you would be dead as early as Moldorm but clearly they were wrong about that and pretty much everything else regarding you."

I immediately snapped back. "Ah-ha! You do know about the Nightmares!"

"Since we're at this point, I suppose I can answer any questions about them."

"What are their plans?"

"Perhaps such a thing is already in place and you're oblivious to it?" Master Stalfos answered. The way it said that made me think that perhaps it was true. Had the Nightmare's desires already come to fruition? If so then I was clearly behind and needed to figure it out and fast. "Judging from that expression of yours, my answer wasn't to your liking. How unfortunate that you've yet to understand what the Nightmares have been doing."

"Why not tell me more?"

"I don't intend on answering anymore questions."

"How come?"

Master Stalfos then raised its sword. "Let's just say that you will eventually stumble onto your biggest concerns. I'll leave it at that in hopes that it leaves you completely unhinged for a time. Now... We shall fight one more time but this time, I have no intention of retreating. This will be my last stand where my life could possibly come to its end but I will make sure to use every last ounce of my power. I've been holding back some of my strength but now you'll get to see it for yourself."

To Be Continued.

Comments

[The great witch Elaina]

Dear author
Can you please fix your majora's mask? Thank you