The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Link's Awakening.

by Ganondorf8

Chapter 22: More Power!

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.

It really is just a big face.

Cast of characters appearing in this chapter:

Sunset Shimmer: Link
Princess Twilight Sparkle: Fairy Partner
Starlight Glimmer: Marin
Sunburst: Tarin

The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Link's Awakening.
By Ganondorf8.
February 14, 2021.
Chapter 22: More Power!

As the three Wizzrobes began appearing and disappearing whilst using their magic in-between, I began to think about a way to defeat them. Princess Twilight had already stated that my sword only stunned them and they were immune to most of my items so that left me with few options. Had they noticed me, I'd have retreated back to the previous room but for the moment, I could maintain my position without fear of suddenly getting surrounded on all sides. From my initial observations, whenever they reappeared, it was always in the same place as when they disappeared.

Not only that but they only fired their magic directly in front of them. They couldn't unleash it in say, for example, all around them, and only one blast at a time instead of firing multiple bursts of magic. Huh... The more I thought about it, the more it dawned on me that they weren't as bad as I thought they were. It was Her Highness' words that left me feeling they were going to be too much for me and making me feel helpless. Granted, I couldn't underestimate them given they had appeared now in this stage of the journey. Usually, games loved saving the more powerful monsters until much later in order to increase the difficulty.

In hindsight, I could've just ignored them and go straight for the open door, but I wanted to know what was behind the locked door that would only open upon their defeat. I also had a feeling that whatever was behind that door would involve progress so ignoring it wasn't an option. Princess Twilight then offered me a suggestion of using a Spin Attack in order to stun all three Wizzrobes at the same time and follow up with an item. Spin Attack!? Had I completely forgotten that I had it? I did... Didn't I? All that time, being swamped by so many monsters, I could've made things so much easier. In my mind, I felt like a complete idiot.

With that knowledge in hand (I couldn't believe I forgot about it), I began to think about what item I could use. Anything magic related was obviously out and I doubted they were going to stick around for me to use a bomb or even the Hookshot. The Pegasus Boots merely aided my sword so that was out too leaving only the bow as my option. Wow... After complaining so much about how much it cost, it continued to prove its worth in more ways than one. I just needed a moment to get an arrow ready seeing as I only had a limited supply.

Choosing to move forward with bow in hand after taking it out, the Wizzrobes disappeared only to reappear and surround me. I had no time to use my shield to defend myself and was quickly hit by magic from each one. If not for the blue tunic I was wearing, I'd say the damage would've been a lot worse. My skills with switching between items on the fly was pretty bad and obviously on full display here but I couldn't let that be an issue. When they next appeared, I fired arrows without taking my ammunition into consideration. Yeah, definitely not a good idea to fire discriminately in hopes of hitting a target.

My arrow volley surprising defeated two of them leaving the remaining one on its own. I'd have thought that it would've retreated upon seeing the defeat of the other two but I supposed fleeing was viewed as an act of cowardice unbecoming of a monster. After disappearing and reappearing in the same place (This aspect of their attack pattern was going to pay off very much later on), it fired magic which did hit me and I responded by firing an arrow which wasn't enough. I then waited for it to repeat its vanishing act before firing another arrow which defeated it.

Upon the defeat of the third Wizzrobe, the locked door opened and I breathed a sigh of relief. "That went better than expected!"

"You did it, Sunset!" Princess Twilight exclaimed happily.

"Don't celebrate too soon." I said as I waved my hand. "Those Wizzrobes were regular monsters which means they'll respawn like most of the other ones do. I'll probably have to fight some more later so this isn't so much a victory as it is a temporary reprieve."

That made Her Highness feel a bit dejected. "But you should feel proud that you defeated some stronger regular monsters."

"It makes me wonder what the Nightmare is this time."

"You won't know until you get to it."

Entering the now unlocked door, I encountered a treasure chest, and upon opening it, I took out a purple rupee. "That's fifty more rupees for whatever I have to save up for next." I then noticed another elephant statue next to the chest and I sighed. "Yeah... I had a feeling that the door would lead me to a place of progression." On the other side of the chest was another doorway but I wasn't going there any time soon without more strength in my arms.

"You really need to get your hands on that stronger Power Bracelet."

"Twilight? Could you make a note of this room for later?"

"Of course." Princess Twilight answered as she nodded. "I'll be sure to do so once you find the Dungeon Map. In the meantime, the only direction you can go right now is back to the previous room and then through that door you could've taken right off the bat."

Heading back into the previous room, the three Wizzrobes didn't re-spawn and that was because I had only just defeated them. They were more likely to come back once I had progressed a bit further in order to hinder me. Walking through the other door, I encountered a Spark and a Mini-Moldorm though there wasn't much space. Ignoring the Spark and taking out the Roc's Feather on a whim, I jumped over the Mini-Moldorm (It wasn't guarding anything so defeating it was merely for pride and maybe a heart or rupee) and continued on before stopping at a wall with the only possible path being to my left.

In the next room was another elephant statue along with a Crystal Switch. "I haven't seen one of those for a while."

Princess Twilight quickly observed the floor and pointed out what she saw by bopping me on the head. "Look there, Sunset. These four orange tiles will rise up when you hit that switch so you might accidentally block yourself from progressing. Then again, this might end up happening later as I'm sure there are other switches like this one throughout the dungeon. I feel there's going to be a lot more backtracking needed."

"More than what there already is?" I asked. Her Highness nodded slowly and I lowered my head. "I really hate backtracking! But... I guess this is routine by now with it becoming worse the further you go." There was also a Shy Guy in the room and if I remembered them from before, they loved to mimic my movements and could only be attacked from behind as their faces acted like shields. Maneuvering myself carefully and holding my sword out to charge it up (I intended on using the Spin Attack way more often now), the Shy Guy eventually had its back against mine and I unleashed the spin which defeated it.

"That didn't accomplishment much, Sunset."

"No, but it gives me some breathing room." I then noticed another panel with a pot symbol on it covering up a door and I sighed. "I really need that Power Bracelet!" I felt frustrated being unable to progress because of requiring something which was likely well hidden.

"I know how you feel but you need to remain calm."

"Yeah, you're right."

"For now, you just have to keep on going from room to room until you find what you need." Princess Twilight then flopped down on hat. "I know it's stressful not having what you need to accomplish something but getting worked up over it will only add unnecessary stress. Believe me, I do that all the time and I'm supposed to be the ruler of Equestria."

Is it no wonder that Her Highness is one of my closet friends? If not for her, I'd have winded up going down a path of self-destruction. She was right about me needing to keep my cool. Since both paths that were accessible were going in the same direction, I picked the one on the left and entered the next room with more orange tiles along with some raised blue ones with several pots behind the latter. I could also see a locked door, a path heading north, and a crack in a wall to my right. So many choices and I needed to choose the right one or else become lost.

Defeating a Green Zol that popped up from the ground, I decided to take the north path as it was the most accessible and obvious. It immediately turned to the right and I could see another room below on my left. Both doors were locked and stuck in-between four pots were what appeared to be horse heads, the kind you'd see on a chess board. I shuddered as initially my thought process was that someone had decapitated innocent horses but I was glad to be mistaken. Moving on as there was no way I could reach that section of the dungeon, the path stopped at a dead-end with an Owl Statue.

I cursed as without a Stone Beak, I couldn't understand what the statue was saying. At the very least, I got to see another room from above. This new room went south with the only features being another elephant statue and a winged bomb icon which I could use to replenish my bomb total if I were to jump and grab it. There was nothing left this way so I walked until I was back in the room with the crack in the wall. Looking around to see if there was anything I missed, I couldn't see anything that looked suspicious, so I began picking up the pots and smashing them.

Collecting a heart and some bombs from them, the final pot had a switch underneath it which I pressed and it unlocked the door. I walked into the next room and was stopped by some more raised blue tiles. I could see another Crystal Switch in front of me that I couldn't reach along with a chest to my right and a flying arrow icon (It acted just like the winged bomb I saw earlier) opposite where the chest was. Again, I got angry as I wasn't making any real progress and Princess Twilight told me to remain calm, so I counted to ten in my head and walked back into the previous room.

Walking up to the crack in the wall (My only path forward at that point), I took out a bomb, placed it in front of the crack, and stepped away before it exploded. Walking into the now accessible room, I accidentally tripped and landed flat on my face. "I can't see a thing in this room!" I said as I got back up.

"There should be some torches nearby that you can light." Princess Twilight then looked down at both my belt and pockets. "Do you have enough Magic Powder, Sunset?"

I then took out the Magic Powder and opened it up to see how much of it I had. "Wait a minute! I picked some up during the River Rapids! I should be at max capacity since I haven't used any for quite some time. Not sure why you asked, Twilight but it does pay to keep tabs on your ammunition. Now I just need to find those torches and hopefully not trip up or worse, walk into something and stubbing my toes." There were several Green Zols in the room and unlike me, they could see perfectly fine which gave them a slight advantage.

"I can see a torch a little ways to your left, Sunset."

Heeding Her Highness, I walked left and got hit by one of the Green Zols. I quickly defeated it with a sword strike before lighting the torch. "That's much better... And there is another elephant statue. Ugh! This is really starting to get annoying!" I walked up to the statue only to find that it wasn't blocking my way, but to make certain, I tried to look underneath it and there were no hidden stairs. Okay, I felt a little bit better now knowing it was just a decorative piece. Lighting the other torch, the room was crowded thanks to numerous blocks but I couldn't see a way forward.

"Perhaps there is more to this room than appearances suggest?" Princess Twilight was doing her best to keep my calm though I was struggling not to lose it.

The only thought that came to mind was to get rid of any remaining Green Zols. Quickly scouring the room to make them appear, I took out each of them with the last one's defeat revealing a hidden staircase. Stepping down into another underground tunnel, everything suddenly turned bright green. "Is it just me or did things suddenly get warm?"

"They did and much more." Princess Twilight pointed at a giant green orb with eyes that was bouncing around. In fact, there was another one bouncing about a short distance away along with some Goombas yet it was the former that were way more concerning.

"What in the world are those!?" I exclaimed.

"These are Giant Bubbles and you'll be happy to know that these are the only two of their kind." Princess Twilight answered, her hand covering her eyes when the one nearest to us bounced by and almost blinded her. "Nothing can hurt them so they're nothing more than an obstacle you need to avoid. Obviously, touching one will damage you so let's not find out just how much. Also, their slow movement is easy to figure out so getting hit shouldn't be a problem."

"You make it sound like I will get hit." I moaned.

"When you're in a bad mood, you do tend to become quite reckless."

I couldn't argue with facts like that. When the first Giant Bubble bounced back the other way, I took out the Roc's Feather and jumped over a Goomba then climbed up a ladder only to stop halfway as it bounced back towards where I was, its bright mass missing me by mere inches. Climbing up and onward, the other one was coming my way so I waited until it flew over my head and then jumped across the remaining ladders, and up another one to enter another section of the dungeon. My jaw dropped upon seeing raised blue tiles blocking my way along with a Mini-Moldorm that couldn't reach me but that was the least of my concerns.

"Twilight..."

"Yes, Sunset?"

"I need to scream for just a moment."

Nodding, Her Highness turned away and covered her ears as I screamed such a bloodcurdling scream, the entire room vibrated and I think the entire dungeon had heard it. After about several seconds, I stopped and Princess Twilight looked back to see what had happened. "Did that make you feel any better?"

"As a matter of fact, it did." I answered with a smile. "It feels good venting out one's frustrations."

"It looks like you can't go this way right now."

"At least with this one, the solution can be quickly remedied by hitting the Crystal Switch." I was about to go back through the tunnel when I suddenly stopped and realized that it wasn't quite that simple. "If I were to activate the switch, I'd be blocked from getting back here. There must be another one somewhere." I turned to Her Highness. "Twilight? I'm going to warp back to the beginning of the dungeon rather than go back through the tunnel with those Giant Bubbles. They just creep me out."

"That's not a bad idea, excluding the Giant Bubbles." Princess Twilight said. "You weren't that far from the entrance prior to going through the tunnel so you only need to do a little bit of backtracking here."

Taking out the Ocarina and playing Manbo's Mambo, I warped back to the entrance of the Face Shrine and immediately went left back to the room with the Wizzrobes. As I had expected, they had since re-spawned though for now, I could just ignore them since I couldn't do anything past the locked down without a better Power Bracelet. Moving past them before any could fire any magic, I went north and to the left and was in the Crystal Switch room. The Mimic had also come back so I ignored it as well and moved on to the next room which had the now blasted hole in the wall.

Heading west again, I was again blocked by the raised blue tiles. "Not sure why I came back here since I can't do anything."

"Oh yes you can."

"And that would be?"

Using her hands, Princess Twilight pretended that she was throwing something and while I thought she was being cute, she was actually telling me that I could throw a projectile in order to hit another Crystal Switch located in the corner of the room. I thought of using an arrow but the tile would likely get in the way. I then took out a bomb which prompted a thumb's up from Her Highness (That's what she was getting at with her hand movements) and I tossed it where it exploded although I unfortunately came up short as the explosion didn't activate the switch.

I tried again with another bomb but did a running start where it flew much further than the previous one and when it exploded, the switch activated reversing the two sets of coloured tiles though now there was a problem. I couldn't go back the way I came though it wasn't that much of an issue since I needed to move forward anything. As soon as I took a step forward, three Wizzrobes popped up from the ground and had surrounded me where I got hit by each one's magic. I could just leave and ignore but something told me they were guarding something important so I had to fight though this time I was ready.

Charging my sword, they appeared and I responded with a Spin Attack though not quite fast enough as I still got hit by their magic. With each one stunned, I quickly switched to the bow and began firing two arrows at each since that's what it took to defeat one Wizzrobe. I took down the first one but the other two disappeared after breaking free from their paralysis. Charging up my sword again, both reappeared and I unleashed another Spin Attack, stunning them before switching over to the bow and defeating both with two arrows each.

"Okay, I'm getting a little quicker with switching between items." I said as I put the bow away.

"You could stand to be a bit more faster since you did take some damage."

"Yeah, I suppose so." I then cut myself short as a treasure chest materialized on the other side of the room. Walking over and opening it up, I took out the Dungeon Map and unfurled it before chuckling over what the layout looked like. "I suppose it was to be expected given what this place is called."

Princess Twilight then looked at the map for herself. "The dungeon layout is in the shape of a face. Huh... No wonder you were chuckling, Sunset. Good thing you found this sooner rather than later as now I can mark down that one room where you were blocked by an elephant statue." She then counted the total number of rooms there were in the dungeon before gulping in response. "This is the largest dungeon you've been in so far but navigation is going to be easy. For example, that room where you used Manbo's Mambo was two rooms south of where you found the first Crystal Switch."

"In other words, I didn't progress as far as I thought."

"You really need that Power Bracelet upgrade."

"But where could it be?"

Looking at the map and remembering what I had seen so far, Princess Twilight shrugged. "At the very least, you're blocked from accessing the right side of the dungeon but perhaps you can get over there from one of the rooms on the left side? Or you could try going back to that previous room the tunnel with those Giant Bubbles lead to since you hit the Crystal Switch and reversed the tiles and find out what's in that mystery room." She then noticed some rooms connected with the 'eyes' of the face and bopped my head which got my immediate attention. "Those eyes are actually rooms."

"Do you suppose they will be important?"

"Every room in a dungeon is important no matter what it may or may not contain."

While I'd have personally contested that given previous experiences, Princess Twilight was generally correct about the usefulness of dungeon rooms. I supposed after getting trapped in rooms filled with monsters, traps, or something worse, I've grown to despise some designs. Her Highness, after all, only gets to advise and give me moral support. She doesn't have to endure what I've been through. Am I jealous that she has been coasting through? Yeah as I'd have much preferred an easier time but then life never was like that no matter what people would prefer.

Before leaving the room, I jumped up and grabbed the flying arrow icon since I used several to defeat the Wizzrobes. In the next room, there were even more orange and blue tiles with the latter raised and to my left was a flying heart icon. In front of me, there was a door which suddenly locked with another pot symbol panel. For the moment, I couldn't reach the pots to my right so I focused on restoring some health. Jumping to grab the icon, I could feel my health returning but I then got hit by a Green Zol which popped up from the ground where I had landed which mitigated my recovery a little.

Defeating it, two more popped up and I took care of them with a sword swing each, then leaving me to ponder what to do next. Taking out the map, there were two rooms to the north so I had to come back later once I could find another Crystal Switch. Putting it away, I headed right, and entered a room where a staircase was inaccessible by those creepy face statues (And one torch) but could be reached from the other side. Luckily for me, a chest was accessible on my side and upon opening it, I took out a Stone Beak. I could now go back and listen to what the Owl Statue had to say but first, I went north a little only to be stopped by more face statues.

On the other side of them was another chest and it looked like that pot symbol panel was the only way to reach it. I went back a couple of rooms to where the second Crystal Switch was located and fired an arrow upon taking out the bow which changed the blue and orange tiles around. Heading back the other way to the pots, I picked one up and threw it against the panel smashing it to pieces where I walked north and entered a room with more blue and orange tiles. The latter were currently blocking progression north but they were keeping two Sparks from coming my way.

Aside from two elephant statues which I needed to use in order to smash another pot symbol panel, I walked to the right as it was my only option. As expected, I was now where the chest was and upon opening it, I took out a Compass. There was also another Crystal Switch to my left but in front of me was a Star (I hadn't seen this monster in quite some time) which I defeated with one hit from my sword. Heading up the stairs to the switch, I thought it over for a few seconds before choosing to activate it and hoping I made the right choice.

Heading down the path and jumping to grab the flying bomb icon, I turned left and was on the other side of the room with those horse heads. Okay, now I was starting to get somewhere though I was still limited without that Power Bracelet. I continued onward where I turned left and found staring at so many orange tiles on the floor. "Wow... There are so many orange tiles in this room."

"Good thing you activated that Crystal Switch."

"I wanted to ignore it but my gut told me to hit it."

"And your curiosity paid off."

Before I could say another word, the compass made a sound. "A key! Now I can make some progress!" In front of me was a Bubble which was moving about and while I did have the means to defeat it (Hooray for Magic Powder), there had to be way more than just it. Walking forward, two Wizzrobes popped out of the ground. "I knew it!" Both of them fired their magic which I barely managed to avoid by side-stepping. No doubt these two were guarding the key so charging up my sword, they reappeared and hit me again before I used the Spin Attack to stun them both. Before I could switch over to the bow, the Bubble hit me which gave both enough time to disappear.

I charged my sword again and stunned them both right as they appeared and switched to the bow again where I defeated both with two arrows each. Both dropped hearts which I picked up and then a small key dropped down from above and landed on one of the few tiles that weren't orange. Taking out the map again, I could see where I had to go to use the key but it would involve plenty of backtracking to get there. I thought about using Manbo's Mambo to save me some time but I chose to backtrack instead just in case there was something I missed that could now be obtained.

Heading back the other way, the map still in my hand, Princess Twilight asked to take a look at it and I obliged. "Okay, the Nightmare mark is on this room right here so we now know where it is, but getting there is still a massive question we need to answer. As for where you can go now, the only room left is that one beyond where you emerged from the tunnel that had those two Giant Bubbles. It's all I can think of as a possible means of progression."

"But the way was blocked by those tiles."

"Maybe they are down now since you've activated additional Crystal Switches."

"How many of them have I seen in this dungeon?"

"Three though I'm certain there are a few more."

"And here I was about to ask you to mark them down on the map." I said as I put it back in my pocket. "I mean, if there are more of them to be found, I've got plenty of chances to run into one when they are needed." I then remembered the Owl Statue from earlier whose words I couldn't hear due to not having the Stone Beak. "You know, I could go to the Owl Statue and hear what it has to say."

"If I remember, that's just a little ways off from the tunnel."

Making my way back to where the Compass was, I ignored the Crystal Switch and the Star and went back to the previous room where the Sparks were now moving about more freely due to activating the Crystal Switch. Slipping past one of them and then walking in-between two blue tiles, I quickly moved forward and avoided getting hit by the other one. The Green Zols had re-spawned (As expected) but I ignored them and kept on moving entering the room where I found the map, ignored the Wizzrobes as fighting them was pointless though there was one small problem and it involved one switch.

"I need to activate the switch to get back to the room with the bombed wall."

"Avoid the Wizzrobes first of all and use an arrow to activate the switch." Princess Twilight said. "Then you need to activate it again to switch the tiles back and then you need to do it a third time whilst using a bomb so it can activate it before the arrow hits. I know it sounds confusing and it honestly really is, but then you should've expected this, Sunset. This world is no longer playing nice and instead is throwing plenty of curveballs at you designed to test your wits."

"Not the first time I've done this, Twilight."

"I know but I just wanted to remind you."

"And I appreciate it." Avoiding the magic of the Wizzrobes, I took out the bow, walked to the wall where the door I needed to go through was and fired an arrow which changed the tiles around but now came the tricky part (So many unnecessary steps in my opinion) made more difficult what with magic flying about. Activating the switch again by firing another arrow, I changed the tiles back before taking out a bomb, running across and dropping it next to the switch, then I back and fired another arrow which hit just moments after the bomb exploded. None of it made sense but I had changed the tiles around to be more in my favour.

"My idea worked."

I scratched my head as I walked back into the room with the bombed wall. "I don't know how you managed to figure that out, Twilight, but I'm glad you did. What amazes me is that I did it all in just one attempt and whilst avoiding getting hit by magic."

"You're much tougher than you give yourself credit for."

"I suppose so."

"But you still have one more Crystal Switch to hit."

My eyes then bugged out a little. "Say what now?"

"If my calculation are correct, the orange tiles are currently up." Princess Twilight answered. "If you were to go through the tunnel with the Giant Bubbles now, you'd be stuck as soon as you reached that one room and be forced to come back here and change the tiles around yet again." Her Highness could tell that I was getting fed up with hitting those switches but assured me I had to do it this way because she had worked it out. "By hitting it once more, you should be able to reach the mystery room which has been taunting you. Okay, not exactly taunting but you know what I mean right?"

I had no idea how she had figured all this out in such a short period of time but I wasn't about to start questioning her intellect. Heading south to where the first Crystal Switch was and ignoring the Shy Guy, I took out another bomb and dropped it by the switch moved to the other side of the orange tile. When it exploded, the switch was activated and changed the tiles one more time. Hopefully, this would be the last time I would have to activate multiple Crystal Switches but I wasn't going to hold my breath on it. Now that all of that had been taken care of, I could finally make the progress I'd been needing.

Heading back and through the bombed wall, I ignored the Green Zols since the staircase was already revealed and when I went down the stairs to the tunnel, I covered my eyes due to how bright it was; Princess Twilight did the same. Watching the Giant Bubbles movements carefully, I waited for it to bounce the other way and then I moved forward using the Roc's Feather before stopping when it came back. Avoiding it, I continued jumping until I stopped when the other one came along, its shining mass nearly blinding me as it had almost done to Princess Twilight earlier.

It went over my head and I quickly climbed up the ladder to get out of there and back into the dungeon. On a side note, I hoped to never have to go through that tunnel again as my eyes wouldn't be able to take it. To my surprise, Her Highness' calculations proved correct as I could now progress thanks to the blue tiles being down. Unfortunately, the Mini-Moldorm was still around and apparently there were other monsters in the room that I didn't see previously. Upon moving forward, two Wizzrobes appeared and fired their magic. Okay, I was getting sick and tired of seeing them show up everywhere.

I attacked the Mini-Moldorm before it could do anything, defeating it which left only the two Wizzrobes. Princess Twilight then made a suggestion of using bombs in order to defeat them in a single blast. She told me that they were immune to bombs and I called her out on that and she responded by saying she hadn't fully assessed their abilities at the time. She then gave me another bit of advice. If I were to move towards them and then move back, they would disappear and reappear in the same place thereby keeping them in place. Where was this information when I needed it earlier?

Following her advice, I moved towards them just as their magic whizzed past me, took out a bomb, and dropped it as soon as they disappeared before I moved back to avoid getting caught in the explosion. Moments later, they reappeared (What felt like moments actually felt like hours) where my bomb exploded defeating both at once and unlocking the door to the mystery room. While that was a more difficult method because of needing to get close, the results definitely were worthwhile though I couldn't rely on it always. Bombs needed several seconds before exploding which could give a monster time to get away from the blast radius.

I turned to Princess Twilight. "Okay, your method worked, I'll give it that, but why didn't you say something about it before when I faced other Wizzrobes?"

For her part, Her Highness had no excuse and she knew that. "It's my fault that I failed in my duty as your partner to give you advice when you needed it." I was afraid that she was about to cry over this but she didn't which took character though I could tell she was upset at herself. "It was a major lapse of judgment which could've resulted in you getting seriously injured or even killed."

"Was your assessment wrong?"

"It was though I chose to hide it because I'm not supposed to be wrong."

"Twilight... Everyone can be wrong you know." I said with a smile though deep down I was annoyed that she didn't tell me sooner. Yeah, I was going to forget all about it but for the moment, it was going to linger about for a while. "No need to be ashamed to admit you were wrong about something. I've done this how many times on this adventure? If I were the one giving you advice, you'd have been killed countless times already."

"That made me feel better though your choice of words is questionable."

"It's all I could think of."

Princess Twilight just stood there and blinked a few times before shrugging her shoulders. After being in my company for so long, she had learned to accept that I sometimes had a weird way of saying things though I personally thought there was nothing wrong with them. She then changed the subject. "So... Decided to ignore the Owl Statue did you? You were so adamant about it and you ended up coming here instead." I had a feeling she would bring it up. I thought at first she was going to give me the look that screamed disappointment but instead her look was one of confusion. "Like I said, it's just a little ways off from the tunnel."

"I wanted to check out that mystery room first otherwise I'll never stop thinking about it."

"While I've nothing against you making a last minute decision, I wish you could've told me."

And with that, Her Highness had turned my own thoughts against me. Did I deserve that? Oh definitely! Did it make her feel better? I'd say so since she was trying so hard not to laugh but couldn't help it. It was moments like this that made me appreciate what friendship was all about. Entering the next room which happened to be the mystery room, I was disappointed as it comprised of two elephants statues which were blocking one of those flip panels (It had been ages since I last saw one), a chest on one side and a lone pot on the other.

"Well this is anti-climatic."

"If you open that chest..." Princess Twilight began. "You should get what you need to finally be able to make some much needed progress. It's obvious that you'll find it in there since there's no other means of progression except for that small key and I doubt that will get you much further."

Walking up to the chest and opening it, I took out what was indeed, a stronger Power Bracelet. This one had gold surrounding a red gem embedded at the top and it immediately appeared on my arm replacing what I had been wearing since the Bottle Grotto. "I don't seem to feel any different, Twilight. Are you sure this is going to help me get around here? Maybe I've become numb after using enhanced strength so many times."

"Thanks to that new Power Bracelet, you can lift up an elephant... Or an elephant statue."

"Is that so?" I then walked down to the elephant statues and stood in front of one. "Twilight? This is going to sound really immature of me... No... It will be immature, but do you think I could have a little bit of fun with this newfound power?"

"If it's what I think it is, you deserve it so knock yourself out."

I cracked my knuckles (I'm not going to make a habit out of this), grabbed the elephant statue, and lifted it up above my head without any issues. I then began dancing around like a complete moron and shouted that I could perform any physical feat thanks to my new power. Yes, I knew this was completely out of character for me but after enduring so much since entering this dungeon, I wanted to cut loose for just a moment. If Pinkie Pie were here right now, she'd have definitely given her approval. In fact, she'd have probably gone and done it herself because it was something fun.

Once I had gotten my fill, I tossed the elephant statue aside where it smashed into pieces. I then picked up the other one and tossed it because I wanted to. "That felt great! I've never had power like this before!"

"Weren't you a Goron in the last adventure?"

I nodded. "Well, yes, but I couldn't lift up something as heavy as an elephant."

That made Princess Twilight laugh though she stopped after a few moments. "I forgot to mention something important. Those elephant statues can actually be thrown at other such statues and both will get smashed to pieces. You might want to try it out sometime if you're feeling curious. Now... If I remember rightly from the map you found, going through that flip panel will take you back to the first Crystal Switch thus completing a loop. You can either check the Owl Statue or leave it and focus on finding places where that Power Bracelet's strength can be used to make new progress."

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"Tarin! Tarin!"

"Oh Marin! You've finally come back from your trip to the Animal Village." Sunburst said.

Starlight Glimmer, in a chipper mood, approached him as he stood next to the statue of a bird in the center of Mabe Village. "I would've come back a couple of days ago, but the animals were so happy to hear my song that I couldn't leave until they felt they had enough." She then looked at him with a glare that made him feel very uneasy. "You didn't go and pick any weird mushrooms again did you?"

Sunburst shook his head. "I haven't been mushroom pickin' ever since Sunset Shimmer found me in the Mysterious Forest a few days ago."

"That's strange."

"How is that strange, Marin?"

"Nothing has ever stopped you from wanting to go and pick mushrooms." Starlight then went quiet which left Sunburst feeling worried that his daughter (Yes, in this world they are in fact father and child respectively) wasn't feeling well but then she suddenly took on a more serious look. "Tarin... Can I ask you a question?"

"A question?" Sunburst was taken aback by this. "Since when have you ever been ta curious type? Oh well. I 'sppose asking me a question won't hurt."

"Have you ever... Wondered what life would be like beyond this island?" Starlight shook her head as though she were having trouble coming up with her question. "No, that's not what I meant to ask. Let me try again. Have you ever considered that the way things are going now are just boring?" She paused again and began pacing about back and forth as though something was preventing her from saying what she wanted to say. Sunburst felt like saying something but she spoke up before he could. "I've got it! Tarin... Do you wish you could leave this island and explore the world beyond? I've often dreamt of doing the very thing myself."

Sunburst at first didn't know what to say but when he did, he was having trouble coming up with the words as he didn't want to upset her. "Um... That's nice... I think? But... I've never known you to want to think about somethin' like that. I mean... I'm not sure I follow."

"Let's just say that Sunset Shimmer has inspired me."

"Did she now?" Sunburst smiled as he sat down to rummage through his backpack. "I had a feelin' that girl was somethin' special, Marin. I mean sure, we don't really know anythin' about her and it's not like we've been able ta ask since she's always runnin' around, but she's definitely enriched your life though how did she inspire ya?"

"Well..." Starlight looked up as far as she could until her eyes gazed upon the Wind Fish's egg. "I've made a decision, Tarin! I'm going to go to Mt. Tamaranch and sing my song in front of the Wind Fish's egg."

That made Sunburst perform a double-take. "What!? You want to go where!?"

"I want to go to the Wind Fish's egg." Starlight answered, her hand clenching into a fist, her expression one of sheer determination. "I... I have this wish in my heart. It's always been there but never once did I pay it any thought until Sunset Shimmer came here. Now, I want to go to the egg and sing my song, 'The Ballad of the Wind Fish' so that the Wind Fish can make my dream come true. My wish..." She then mumbled under her breath to keep her desire from being heard. "Tarin... I'm going to go up there and nothing you say can change my mind. I have to go, I must go."

"Marin..."

"Yes, Tarin?"

"You sure say some strange things ya know!"

Normally, Starlight would've reacted by giving him another cold stare (Or something worse) but instead she ignored him and focused on the egg. "Sunset Shimmer..." She began to say to herself in deep thought. "You are the greatest thing to have ever happened on this island. If not for you, I'd have never felt sensations like what I'm feeling. I... I want to be like you and follow wherever my heart leads me. I don't know what will happen when I sing in front of the egg but it's something that I must do. I want to leave this island and never look back." Turning back towards Sunburst, she then changed the subject. "Did you know that Sunset Shimmer needed money?"

"How could I've known since that's the first time I heard it."

"She needed rupees and I acquired them for her."

"And how did ya do that?"

Starlight was initially silent before answering. "I have my ways, Tarin, but I'm sure you don't want me to bore you." She then looked at the statue of the bird. "I'm going to wait here because there's this feeling in my heart that Sunset Shimmer will want to learn more about this statue." Sunburst shrugged, picked up his backpack, placed it on his back, and walked off leaving his daughter to ponder over feeling that were way over his head. "I will go to the Wind Fish's egg... Not right now but I will go there."

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Entering the room where I found the first Crystal Switch, I put my new-found power to good use by picking up the elephant statue and throwing against the pot symbol panel, smashing both and allowing me to reach a room that I couldn't get to previously. There was another statue which could be used on another panel which would take me back to another previous room (I believed it was where I first encountered the Wizzrobes) but I was more fixated on the chest nearby. Opening it up, I took out a silver rupee that was worth one hundred rupees so my money issues were continuing to become an non-issue.

Jumping to grab the flying heart icon, Princess Twilight then reminded me of the Owl Statue as well as something I couldn't do without the stronger Power Bracelet in the northwest corner of this dungeon. Heading back to the previous room and hitting the Crystal Switch to change the tiles, I walked north and continued heading in that direction before turning right and walking along past the room with those horse heads before stopping. I quickly took another look at them and noticed one horse was black and the other white. I didn't understand what that meant so I ignored it though I'd probably eventually find out.

Reaching the statue, I took out the Stone Beak and I placed it where it needed to go and it responded to me. 'Enter the space where the eyes have walls...' I had no idea what that meant but Princess Twilight made sure to make a note of it for later. "Eyes having walls..." I said to myself... "I've never even heard of such a thing." Putting away the Stone Beak and heading all the way back to the previous room, I went left to the room with the map and as expected, the Wizzrobes had re-spawned but I didn't need to fight them.

Taking out the bow, I fired at the Crystal Switch which changed the tiles, and then I dashed as fast as I could by switching to the Pegasus Boots to avoid getting hit with magic. I could've used another arrow but there was no need as I remembered there was another one up ahead. Moving on to the next room, I headed right as that was where the next Crystal Switch was located just past where I found the Compass. Activating it and backtracking a little, I avoided the Sparks and picked up one of the elephant statues before smashing it against the pot symbol panel destroying both.

In the next room, I found two more of those horse heads. "Now that I'm getting a good look at these things... They really do look like chess pieces."

"Is this another custom from the world you call home, Sunset?" Princess Twilight asked.

"You mean you've never played chess before?"

Princess Twilight initially shook her head but then shrugged followed by scratching her head. "I think we have a similar game in Equestria but I could be wrong as the only two who were ever known to play it were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Neither of them intended on passing it down to other ponies so there's not much in the way of information."

I wanted to say something to that but refrained so I instead explained the basics of chess. Had I gone into more detail, I'd have been talking for practically forever given how extensive it really was. (A few minutes passed) "And that's how chess is played. Now then, these horse heads resemble the Knights from chess but I don't know why one of them is black and the other white."

"Now this is where I step in!" Princess Twilight announced, the sign that she was about to flaunt her knowledge and possibly make me feel inadequate. "Apparently long ago, these horses had to be thrown where both had to land face up in order for something to happen. It proved too difficult a challenge so it got changed where you now throw one onto one of those panels on the floor. Sure, it's not as exciting but it does mean progression becomes much quicker. You can easily pick them up thanks to your enhanced strength so give it a try."

"This ought to be interesting."

Before I picked one up, Princess Twilight flew in front of my face. "There is one catch! When you throw these heads, you have to treat them as though they were the Knights in this chess game you speak of. If you don't then throwing them will do you no good."

Good thing Her Highness warned me beforehand otherwise I'd have gotten frustrated in a matter of minutes. Picking up the black horse head and walking over to the panel on my right, I stopped one tile down and two tiles back from the panel (The movement of a Knight) and threw it only for it to bounce off the wall and land on its side. Okay, something was clearly wrong here as that should've worked... Unless I had to move back a bit further. That made no sense! But, since when did a video game ever make sense? Picking up the horse head again, I stood three tiles back from the wall and threw it where it landed in the panel and the eyes briefly glowed.

Picking up the other head and doing the same thing, it landed on the panel which caused the door behind me to unlock which I did know it locked in the first place. "Huh... So I had to solve that puzzle in order to leave this room. That's okay I guess... But, I could always use Manbo's Mambo."

"I think this puzzle was meant to test you on how to use this particular mechanism for later in the dungeon."

"Oh yeah..." I said as I remembered seeing the other horse heads near where that Owl Statue was. "Guess I really shouldn't rely on Manbo's Mambo to get me out of situations that are easy to figure out."

"Besides, you'd end up having to backtrack to where you were before especially if you missed something."

Walking up to the chest and opening it, I took out another silver rupee which made me happy, but then I noticed a set of stairs that went up to the next floor. No... If I recalled, this dungeon only had one floor. I took out the map in order to confirm this and it was true. Did the Face Shrine have a second entrance? If so then where would I end up upon taking it? Putting the map away, I walked up the stairs and instead of entering another room, I found myself back outside. To be specific, I was back on the River Rapids course. To be even more specific, I was on the island that was inaccessible.

"Now this is what I call convenient!" I exclaimed before taking a look around. "And it's actually nice seeing these rapids from a standing-still perspective." That's when it hit me that the dungeon was located underneath the rapids despite the entrance being located at the bottom. "Wow... I just realized how big the Face Shrine really is." I always thought dungeons had no parameters but that clearly wasn't so."

"Since you did leave the dungeon, playing Manbo's Mambo here will give you access to the various warp tiles you've encountered."

"I don't want to do that."

"I know, Sunset, but I thought I'd mention it just in case."

Remembering that there was a chest on this small island, I opened it up and took out a Secret Seashell. "Look here, Twilight! Another one of those Secret Seashells. I do find it odd that one was hidden in this manner but I guess it's meant to be a reward for good exploration." Deep down, I had hoped for some more rupees but this was just as important though considering I needed at least twenty from what Adagio mentioned, there was still a long way to go before reaching that number. "So does that give me eleven now?"

"I believe its the latter."

I definitely needed to collect more of these seashells though it involved exploring which again was something I hadn't done much of. Princess Twilight had suggested that I either go to the Seashell Mansion before or after the Face Shrine yet I ended up doing the latter since I already made quite some progress through the dungeon. In any case, I needed to go there to see what reward I would get from Adagio. I remembered her giving me some hints on where to find a couple of seashells but I apparently didn't bother to go look for them. Hopefully, she was understanding and not upset.

Heading back down the stairs and into the Face Shrine again, the voice in my head from before repeated its information of me being in the dungeon. An oversight? Maybe but then most dungeons only had one entrance though I wouldn't call where I came from another entrance. It was more like a hidden location for anyone who was curious enough to explore. Taking out the map and looking it over, I had explored the entire left side of the dungeon. There was still plenty of room left to explore which I now could thanks to having collected that small key and having a stronger Power Bracelet.

Ignoring the Crystal Switch, I took out the ocarina, played Manbo's Mambo, and warped back to the beginning of the dungeon. I thought about leaving and getting some medicine given how I had taken a lot of damage despite wearing the blue tunic, but I was feeling confident and so I chose to continue. Heading to the right and entering the room where I first saw the elephant statues that once annoyed me, I thought about picking one up and smashing it into the other, but there were those two Blade Traps which were still present and getting sliced wasn't on my to-do list.

Choosing to do what I did before, I used the statues as shields to protect me as I crossed the moving floor. Both traps moved when I approached each one in turn only to be blocked by the statues as they were too strong to be broken by mere blades. Getting through unscathed, I entered the next room and remembered that this was where the tiles would rise up and fling themselves at me. Since I had already completed this room earlier, the door was already unlocked which meant I didn't need to deal with the tiles. Moving on just as I heard the sound of a tile rising up, I was back in the room with the locked door.

"Which way do I go now?"

"Either option will lead you into a new room." Princess Twilight answered. "It all depends on whether you want to use that small key now or wait a little and use it later if you end up being unable to progress the other way. In any case, you need to find the Nightmare Key which has to be somewhere on the right side of the dungeon."

"I feel like breaking something."

"That's a nasty way of thinking!"

I chuckled. "I know, Twilight. I was being a little mischievous. I didn't mean to worry you." Since it was obvious that I wanted to go to the right, I picked up an elephant statue and threw it at the pot symbol panel smashing both into pieces. I then walked forward and entered the next room where the door to the north was immediately locked. Not only that, the door to my right also locked as did the one I entered the room from. Yeah... It was pretty obvious that I was about to experience some combat. At least I could replenish some arrows by jumping up and collecting the flying arrow icon.

"Sunset!" Princess Twilight announced. "I can see a treasure chest up there on that platform!"

I looked in the direction Her Highness was pointing at and could see the chest with my own eyes. "Hmmm... It looks like I need to access it from the room to the south. A chest in that kind of location could be containing the Nightmare Key or something else."

Moving forward, I quickly panicked when four Wizzrobes appeared and fired their magic. Each one was positioned in a diagonal line which looked cool in principle but was also annoying as they had more attack coverage. They then disappeared prompting me to apply the strategy Her Highness told me which involved the use of a bomb. Walking forward, they reappeared and I got blasted by their magic but I endured whilst taking out a bomb and placing it down on the ground before moving back. They disappeared and three were defeated when my bomb exploded upon their return.

The remaining one vanished so I took out the bow and waited for it to return. It did and I quickly fired two arrows in succession, defeating it and causing all three doors to unlock. Wiping my forehead, I felt that battle could've gotten much worse but I was fortunate that things didn't go that way. I went through the south door as going that way would bring me back around to the chest and the door locked behind me upon entering the next room. There was an Owl Statue to my right thought it was hidden cleverly behind a pot but it was the weird formation of tiles that left me confused.

There were also two Stars which couldn't get me as the blue tiles were keeping them trapped, but they also prevented me from reaching the chest. Walking over to the pot, I lifted it up and tossed it aside before taking out the Stone Beak in order to listen to what this Owl Statue had to say. 'Hop on top of the crystals to move forward'. Again, another cryptic hint, but this one was easier to solve simply by looking at my surroundings. The way this room was set up what with stairs leading up to a dead-end platform and the arrangement of the tiles, I needed to find and hit a Crystal Switch to change their positions and cross over by using the orange tiles as platforms.

Using arrows, I defeated both Stars which unlocked the door and I went back to the previous room where I jumped to grab the flying arrow icon which I apparently missed before to replenish my ammunition. Looking back at the chest, I cursed myself for not hitting any Crystal Switches as it felt like it was taunting me, but I knew I'd come back eventually so it was just a matter of time. Heading north since it was also a possible direction, I entered a room where much of the floor was covered in water. How did this water even get down here? Could the dungeon's ceiling be leaking?

Defeating another Star with a sword swing, I then avoided a Spark and went down the stairs into the water where it wasn't deep. Okay, that was good as had the water been deep, I'd have been unable to fight against two Water Tektites that were swimming about. Since each took two hits to defeat, I waited for them to approach before swinging. Defeating one gave me a rupee and the other a Guardian Acorn and I picked up both with the latter giving me extra defence. Walking forward, Princess Twilight pointed out a key block on a high up platform along with a regular block which could possibly be used as a Hookshot target.

"I can see another chest up ahead though its guarded by a few Water Tektites." Princess Twilight said. "There's also another chest on the platform above though you need another small key to remove that key block since you need the key you have for that locked door from earlier."

"It's strange that there aren't as many small keys this time."

"Not all dungeons need a large number of keys, Sunset."

"Key Cavern comes to mind." I said as I frowned.

"I agree that one had too many and you even had one that went unused." Princess Twilight said. I remember that! I wasn't allowed to take it with me as it left my inventory upon leaving the Key Cavern after collecting the Sea Lily Bell. A shame I wasn't allowed to take keys from one dungeon and then use them in another. Her Highness then continued. "I have this feeling you're going to be given more run-arounds thanks to this dungeon's layout."

I didn't like the sound of that one bit. I had to do such a thing in order to get the stronger Power Bracelet, but having to do it again, especially to reach the Nightmare. My opinions of this dungeon were already pretty low and what Her Highness had suggested only made it go even lower. "You'd think one of these later dungeons could just be simplistic rather than throwing about who knows what in hopes of somehow making it stick?"

"Guess not." Princess Twilight said with a defeatist tone.

Sighing, I switched over to the Pegasus Boots and charged across the water, taking out two of the three Water Tektites before crashing into the chest. Recoiling from that collision, I turned around and was blindsided by it when it swam into me before I swung my sword a few times which defeated it. At that moment, the Guardian Acorn's effect wore off and I was back to my prior defensive boost. These temporary power-ups didn't last all that long which begged the question why they were even a thing. Oh well. I supposed I had to take whatever advantages were available. The Compass then made a sound though it was pointless since I knew what was in the chest.

Opening it, I took out a small key which gave me two of them; one for the locked door and the other for the key block from earlier. That's when the Compass beeped again informing me that the chest on the platform above contained either the Nightmare Key or another small key. Until I could make my way up there, I had to leave and come back later, a recurring theme around here which was frustrating. Since I couldn't do anything else, I went back the other way by using the Pegasus Boots to make things a bit quicker though I ended up crashing into the wall giving myself some recoil in the process. After that, I switched to my regular boots.

Heading up the stairs and avoiding the Spark, I was back in the previous room and then went to the one before that with the locked door. Walking up to it and using the key, it opened and I entered a room which had a blatantly obvious cracked section located on the back wall. There were also two Red Zols located in-between four pots with two on each side so I attacked them where they split into two pieces prompting me to attack the new ones until they were defeated. Picking up the pots and tossing them, they shattered with all of them containing recovery hearts which I picked up.

"Okay! Time to blow up that crack in the wall!"

"Wait, Sunset!"

"What is it?"

"I've been watching how you use your bow and bombs for a while now and have come up with something you might be interested in." Princess Twilight answered. She then used her magic to draw a crude picture on the ground which resembled an arrow but with a bomb on the end of it. "I know my drawing skills aren't the best out there, but this is a Bomb Arrow. If you combine both your arrows and bombs, you create this combination which can cause a ton of damage upon impact. Granted, not all monsters will be affected and if you run out of one type of ammunition then you can't use it."

"I'm surprised you didn't mention this to me before."

"At the time, you only had bombs but no bow."

"Good point."

"Anyway, you should try out a Bomb Arrow but don't get carried away with it." Why would Her Highness say that? The point of using something like a Bomb Arrow would be to use it as much as possible and make things easier. Then again, there had to have been some side-effects hence her insistence on me not going crazy. "Remember that you're not immune to your explosions so going wild could potentially cause you to accidentally hurt yourself." Okay, that was the reason.

I was about to move forward when I suddenly got hit in the arm with a fireball. "Where did that come from?"

Looking around quickly to find out what hit me, Princess Twilight then ordered me to get back in which I did, and good thing too as another fireball then hit the very location I had been standing in. "The two torches by the back wall are capable of shooting fireballs. I'm not sure if you've seen this before but either way, your shield can't stop those fireballs, but if you had a special shield, one designed to deflect objects that normally can't be deflected, you'd be able to. These torches are rare so you won't encounter them that often but be cautious around any torches just in case."

Taking out the bow and holding it in one hand, I took out a bomb and held it in the other. Looking at both items, it didn't seem possible that they could be combined together, but I wasn't about to question Her Highness' wisdom again. Nocking an arrow and then placing my bomb onto the tip (It looked ridiculous in my opinion), I fired the Bomb Arrow and it exploded on impact, destroying the crack in the wall and revealing the way forward. Wow! For something that looked awkward, there was no denying that it was powerful. Heading into the next room, the doors in front of me closed and it was pretty obvious as to why.

"What is that!?" Standing or sitting (I couldn't really tell) in front of me was a strange creature with one eye that bore a slight resemblance to Slime Eye (From the Key Cavern) but also a fish, a dog as I could hear some faint barking coming from it, and a whale though its tail consisted of a red ball. Yeah... I had no idea what this thing was. Next to it was a large metal ball that could be its toy.

"This creature is known as Rover."

Seriously!? Her Highness got the name Rover from that!? "That doesn't look like a dog to me, Twilight."

"While it does behave like a dog, Sunset, this creature is a serious threat." Princess Twilight said. "It will flop around on its stomach in order to pick up that heavy ball over there and then chase you around with it before throwing it at you in order to inflict some damage. It's immune to all forms of attack what with having a rubbery hide, but if you were to use your new strength and pick up that ball yourself, Rover will run away and you can chase it down and throw it at it. Despite its appearance, it's got quite the throwing arm."

"I can only use that ball against it?"

"Yep."

"Well this is awkward."

"It's going to come down to whoever gets the ball first."

Putting all my equipment away, I braced myself for what was going to be an unusual fight. I had never fought a monster without being able to use any of my items, but I supposed I was due to try it out at least once. Rover then bounced towards the ball (It sure was fast for its shape) before picking it up and bouncing towards me. I turned and began to run where it kept up surprisingly though this wasn't exactly good for me. I continued running until the ball smacked me in the back which caused me to fall flat on my stomach. Her Highness wasn't kidding about its throwing arm. It felt like I got hit by a truck or something.

Getting back up, I watched as it picked up the ball again and came my way. I thought of trying to use my sword to make it drop the ball but it was immune to my weapon so again I had to run away. After bouncing behind me for a few seconds, it threw the ball where it barely missed my head, ricocheted off of a wall and landed harmless on the ground. I managed to reach the ball first and picked it up (It was remarkably light though that's because I had enhanced strength) where Rover immediately stopped, turned around, and began bouncing away since it no longer had the advantage.

I chased after it where I threw the ball only to miss and it landed on the ground in the corner. Cursing my dumb luck, Rover was able to pick it up and began to chase me around again much to my displeasure. After a few moments, it threw the ball where it hit my legs and I promptly fell and landed on my stomach again. Whilst the damage from the ball wasn't too serious, the fact that it was even happening made me upset. I got back up again only to be knocked down again due to it getting to the ball first. Okay, this was really getting out of hand especially if I couldn't react fast enough.

It then got to and picked up the ball again before throwing it since I was close enough to where the ball landed last time. Rolling on my side, I managed to avoid getting hit and got back up before the ball stopped at my feet. Picking it up for myself and chasing Rover, who began bouncing away, I threw the ball where it hit it in the back of the head where it then ricocheted off another wall before coming to a stop. We both looked at each other and then at the ball since we both needed it and began running (Or bouncing in Rover's case) towards it where I got there and picked it up again.

"How many times do I have to hit this thing with the ball?"

Princess Twilight shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure but if I were to take a guess, I'd say not many as I doubt its rubbery hide can take being hit by such a heavy object."

"I hope its soon as this is starting to get stupid!"

Her Highness then made an observation. "As long as you continue to hold that ball above your head, Rover will keep its distance which can help you plan out a course of attack or maybe even giving yourself a breather. Oh, and before I forget, don't run into Rover directly as you will take damage, but I'm sure you figured that out beforehand."

A part of me felt sorry for attacking Rover as it looked innocent compared to other monsters and it acted like it was merely playing around. However, I had no choice but to defeat it otherwise my progress in the Face Shrine would come to a screeching halt. Its little barking-like noises were cute I had to admit but I quickly shook my head. I must focus on the task at hand. As Her Highness had said, holding the ball kept Rover away from me, but I was surprised about this behaviour. Most monsters would've used some other attack in order to make me drop this ball but it didn't do anything.

"Can this monster do anything else?"

"Not that I know of." Princess Twilight answered. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason..."

Talk about having a one-track mind. Now fighting against Rover made me feel even more sorry but again, I had to get such thoughts out of my head. Could this be what the Nightmare in this dungeon wanted? If that were the case, it was a devious ploy, but one that was clearly working in its favour. I then thought about the Nightmare that was waiting for me to reach it. Would it be stronger than the Slime Eel or would it be disappointing? From what I've observed fighting them, it's a mixed bag in terms of difficulty though I'm not complaining as I preferred easier opponents.

Finally deciding to throw the ball, it hit Rover in the back of the head and then it proceeded to pick it up and began chasing me again. I had to be honest. The premise behind this battle was a neat idea in theory and I was relying on other means besides a sword, but the execution was clearly bad. All that was happening was a weird back and forth with a heavy object and not much else. This could've either been something else or avoided altogether. Rover then tossed the ball which I dodged where it landed on the ground and I immediately picked it up.

At the very least, this was giving me a chance to really make use my new Power Bracelet. Throwing the ball at Rover and hitting it again, I was able to pick it up on the rebound and threw it again only to miss and hitting the wall instead. It then bounced over and picked it up where it immediately threw it which struck me in the chest, and here I thought getting hit in my back was rough but the chest was even worse. Placing my hands on my chest, I dropped to my knees in pain and was hit again in the back which knocked me over. Whilst the blue tunic gave me better defence, it didn't stop the pain from being real.

I was getting back up when the ball came flying at me again so I ducked and rolled along until I was at a safe distance before getting back up. Rover then bounced over to the ball, picked it up and bounced after me like always. Choosing to push past the pain (Otherwise I'd be here for longer than I needed to be), I dashed towards the wall where it then tossed it and it ricocheted off the wall once more then landing near my feet. Picking it up (Even this was painful), Rover turned and bounced away and despite my chest writing in pain, I gave chase knowing this had to end now. I then threw the ball where it hit it in the back which caused it to come to a stop.

Wiggling about, I thought Rover was undergoing some kind of transformation, but instead it began exploding numerous times before a final explosion defeated it. This caused a fairy to appear, the door to unlock, and a blue warp tile to also appear. "Even the ball disappeared." I said as I watched the heavy simply popped like it were a balloon.

"Are you alright, Sunset?"

I grabbed the fairy and my body immediately felt better. "That fight was just awkward, pure and simple."

"How is your chest feeling?" Princess Twilight asked. "You clutched it pretty badly near the end there. It makes me wish that I could actually do more for you than simply give you advice and the occasional pep talk."

I waved my hands back and forth. "Trust me! You don't want to have to through the physical pain that I endure."

"Well... Maybe not get hurt every three minutes." Her Highness then began laughing only to quickly stop upon seeing the glaring look I had on my face. "Ahem! In any case, you defeated Rover and can now use the warp tile to go back to the entrance of the Face Shrine and back again. Considering how large this dungeon is, it could to be a useful shortcut. In fact, do you want to leave in order to get any medicine?"

"No, I'm going to continue on." I said whilst shaking my head.

"Okay, but do take my words to heart."

Heading into the next room, there was a flying bomb icon, two elephant statues, and an open door. "This feels too easy, you know what I mean?" I took a few steps forward then immediately got my sword and shield ready for combat only for nothing to happen. "Okay... This is too easy."

"I guess the dungeon is giving you a slight reprieve."

"I'm okay with that because I know it's only going to get tougher from here." Picking up the elephant statue on the right, nothing happened so I tossed it aside. Then I picked up the other one and it revealed a hidden staircase where it once stood. "Not much of a puzzle, don't you think?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "I have a feeling you were meant to ignore the door in front of you and the statues. I mean, you could still go north and see where it goes or you can take the stairs and find out where they go." Her Highness then scratched her head and tilted her head in confusion. "Why ignore a door? In fact, why create such a simple puzzle? None of this makes any sense!"

"Welcome to my world."

"What do you want to do?"

"I'll see where the door goes first." Heading north, I found myself in a very familiar looking room. "Twilight? Isn't this the room that I was in before the one that had Rover in it? I'm sure of it." There were four pots, two on each side, a hole in the wall, and four torches, one in each corner... I had definitely been in here before. "What in Celestia just happened!?" I walked back through where I came from and was back in the room where I had used my first small key. "Did I just experience some kind of teleportation magic?"

"Let me take a look at the map again." Princess Twilight said. I took it out and she combed through it before reaching a conclusion. "According to this, the door that you went through doesn't lead anywhere. There is no room beyond it. Instead, you were taken back to a previous room. I'm not sure why this was created but it's caused a mere inconvenience. It wasn't any kind of magic but it did prove effective."

I was about to lose my temper but refrained as I only went back a few rooms. "At least it didn't send me to an area of the dungeon that would've required me to backtrack." I then looked down at my belt at the pouch that contained the ocarina. "Of course, I could've used Manbo's Mambo in case I got really stuck somewhere." I then looked at the map and sure enough, the door did in fact lead nowhere. "Guess I'm a fool for being tricked like that."

"At least it wasn't a serious setback."

"No, I suppose not."

Heading back through the rooms until I was back in the one with the staircase, I glared at the door that lead to nowhere before heading down into another underground tunnel. There were spikes, ladders, Sparks, and Goombas all throughout, quite as assortment of obstacles though nothing I couldn't handle. Taking out the Roc's Feather, I began jumping across making sure to avoid getting hit as that could've caused me to get knocked down onto the spikes and I'd rather not have my butt get punctured. Upon getting past the monsters, the next section involved ladder jumping as there was one platform below with spikes surrounding it on both sides.

But before that, there was something I needed an answer for. Taking out the map, I began looking at it which prompted Princess Twilight to speak up. Why are you looking at the map in a place like this?"

"Because something has been bugging me."

"What's that?"

"I never did figure out what that Owl Statue meant about 'entering the space where the eyes have walls'." I answered as I poked the map repeatedly with my finger. I did this gently as it'd be utterly stupid of me to accidentally rip it to shreds via incessant poking. I haven't seen anything like that throughout the dungeon so did I miss something?"

"Oh... I'm surprised you didn't notice that you did figure it out."

"I did?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "It was something you figured out before the fact but you never noticed it until you brought it up." She then pointed at two rooms on the map which were the 'eyes' of what the dungeon represented, that being a face. These two rooms couldn't be seen at first on the map and were considered nothing but blank spaces, but you uncovered them by entering each eye by bombing your way in. Does that make any sense to you?"

"I think so?" I said in a confused manner.

"I wouldn't let it concern you, Sunset."

I then looked at the map for myself and indeed the two rooms Her Highness mentioned were in fact eyes on the face of the Face Shrine. Wow... I couldn't believe that I had solved a confusing riddle by doing absolutely nothing. At least I was able to figure out what the other Owl Statue said so I didn't feel like a complete idiot. Putting the map away in my pocket and turning my attention towards the ladders, I needed perfect jumps so that I could grab each subsequent ladder and not land on the spikes. The platform down below was basically a saving grace in case I blundered.

Grabbing the first ladder and climbing down a little to give myself some more space (I didn't want to hit my head on the ceiling), I jumped to the next ladder but failed to grab any rungs resulting in me falling, but fortunately, I grabbed one at the very last minute, saving myself from being fatally poked. With my heart beating against my chest like a jackhammer, I continued by jumping to the next ladder successfully but on jumping to the last one, I missed the rungs again but I managed to recover by grabbing one (I was cutting it way too close) at the last minute which made me feel relieved.

Climbing up the ladder, I re-entered the dungeon and discovered another key block in the corner of the room which went north. That meant I needed to find another small key as there was that other key block which required one. There was also a door to the south but my eyes were focused on what was on the ground, namely, the tiles that would attack me. I could head south and avoid getting pelted but I felt I could get something in here by facing the tiles. One of them then began rising up which pretty much forced me into a defensive position and preparing for the incoming storm.

To Be Continued.