The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Link's Awakening.

by Ganondorf8

Chapter 23: Facing the Face.

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.

Just when you thought boss fights couldn't get any weirder...

Cast of characters appearing in this chapter:

Sunset Shimmer: Link
Princess Twilight Sparkle: Fairy Partner
Flash Sentry: Owl
Princess Cadance: Spirit Princess

The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Link's Awakening.
By Ganondorf8.
February 19, 2021.
Chapter 23: Facing the Face.

As the first tile sailed through the air and broke upon impact with my shield, the Compass then made its sound to indicate that there was a small key in this room. Okay... Why did it make a sound now when I'd been in here for at least a couple of minutes? Choosing to ignore this weird oversight, the next tiles rose up and flung themselves at me but like the previous one, my shield proved too resilient and they broke. Princess Twilight then bopped me on the head, telling to look down and that's when I realized what was going on.

Unlike the other room with the moving tiles, there was no ground underneath these ones. As more tiles continued to rise up, I was getting less and less ground to walk on. If there had been monsters in here, I'd have likely fallen into one of those holes. Once I had finished enduring the onslaught, a small key then dropped down into the room, landing on a floor tile with a weird design on it. Looking down at the ground, I felt like I was walking on a piece of swiss cheese what with so many holes, but I needed to jump carefully and take my time.

Taking out the Roc's Feather, I jumped over several holes making sure to time my jumps carefully and picked up the key. The door to the south had never been locked so I was curious as to what was in that direction, but having the key meant I could unlock the key block and make further progression. Thinking it over for a few seconds, I decided to check out the southern room as it could provide a shortcut or reward me for wanting to explore. Jumping across the holes, I entered the next room where I immediately got pulled forward by a powerful force coming from the room's center.

Running in the opposite direction to avoid getting sucked into the void that was a Vacuum Mouth (I was surprised that I actually remembered its name), I smiled since two Green Zols popped up from the ground and they were promptly pulled into it. Despite that happening, I couldn't progress due to the door remaining locked so there had to be other Green Zols hiding on the other side of the room. As I walked over to that side, I was pulled again but stayed close to the wall as it acted like a buffer.

The remaining Green Zols weren't as fortunate and got pulled into the Vacuum Mouth which also unlocked the door. It made sense that I couldn't defeat it (The Vacuum Mouth) as it would've either pulled me into its form or the abyss that was surrounding a platform it was located on. Heading back the other way before I could be sucked up again, I entered the next room which featured several blocks, another abyss, and a strange creature that comprised of a single large eye that was rotating around in a circle. There was something about it which brought back memories of my previous journey but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Princess Twilight then filled in the blanks. "Be careful, Sunset. That's a Beamos over there in the corner."

"You mean the rotating eyeball?" I asked.

"Yes." Princess Twilight answered as she nodded. "You have encountered these before during your last adventure, but they were far more advanced compared to this one but still deadly. If it spots you, it will fire a single laser beam in your direction. Don't try to defend yourself with your shield as it's not strong enough. Nothing you have can defeat it so all you can do is avoid that eye. Luckily, it rotates around so it's not always looking at you."

"How do you remember what I've seen from something I haven't done in months?"

"I have a remarkable photographic memory."

"Well that makes one of us!" I said under my breath as I felt dejected.

"By the way, can you take out the map again?" I did as Her Highness asked and took it out where she immediately examined it before batting it with her thumb. "Ah-ha! Just as I thought! If you go north from here, you'll be one room south of where the Nightmare is. Since you don't have the Nightmare Key, going any further this way is pointless unless you wanted to see what lies ahead."

"So I came this way too soon!?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "Pretty much."

Once again, my curiosity had caused me to take a wrong direction, but it wasn't a complete loss. I had to come back this way once I had the Nightmare Key so I'd given myself a sneak peak of the Beamos. Looking at the map, I confirmed the Nightmare was indeed up ahead but as Her Highness said, going any further was pointless without that key. Besides, there were a few rooms on the far right-hand side of this dungeon which remained unexplored and the key had to be in one of the two treasure chests, or in the one I skipped over initially.

Leaving, I was back in the room with the Vacuum Mouth and ignored it though it once again tried sucking me towards it yet I hid behind a torch to avoid that before it paused long enough for me to get by. In the next room, the tiles were surprisingly back in their original spots (This wasn't the case with the other tile room) but when one began to rise up, I ignored it knowing what was about to happen next and ran across before inserting the small key into the key block. As it disappeared, I was suddenly hit in the back by a tile. While it didn't really hurt, I felt annoyed that I did get hit.

The next room beyond the key block was a familiar one. "Look up there, Twilight! There's the Owl Statue from before!"

"You're right!"

"Now I'm starting to come full circle with this dungeon."

"Since you only have a few rooms left to explore, I'd say you can wrap things up here very soon."

"Unless I end up getting blocked by something." I said whilst wagging my finger. "You know such things happen to me all the time, Twilight, and I expect something like to happen here because this world loves it."

"You can overcome it."

"Just like that?"

Smiling, Princess Twilight nodded. "Nothing can stop you, Sunset!"

While Her Highness having such confidence in me gave me strength, sometimes I felt she overdid it. Sure, I'm the heroine but I'm not perfect. If anything, I'm a flawed individual who scrapes by through a combination of luck, courage, having exactly what I needed, and even more luck. I just wished Her Highness wouldn't give me quite so much praise. I intended on keeping this to myself because it would make her sad if she knew I didn't always appreciate her positivity.

Then again, given what I've been enduring, I needed as much positivity as I could get. Walking forward, I jumped up and grabbed a flying bomb icon (I actually didn't really need it but you could never have enough) and then avoided a pair of Sparks which were moving around the room. There was also an elephant statue which I picked up and carried over to a pot symbol panel which was covering up the way forward. Good thing I noticed that out of the corner of my eye otherwise I'd have to leave and then come back in order to re-spawn the statue.

Smashing the statue against the panel destroying both, I entered the next room where both doors locked themselves. I remembered this room from before as it was the first time I saw the horse heads though I didn't know how they worked at the time. It was a bit more cramped but I didn't think it was going to be an issue since the horse heads had a weird throwing mechanism. Noticing the panels hiding underneath some pots, I picked one up and tossed it into the others, smashing them all and collecting a recovery heart and two green rupees.

Picking up the white head and positioning myself accordingly (I still had a slight issue of needing to be three spaces back instead of two which was the correct movement), I tossed it at the panel where it landed safely before turning to face the front where its glowed. I then picked up the black head, got into position, and tossed it where it landed, turned around, and its eyes glowed to signal success, both doors unlocked allowing me to continue.

The next room was where I had found the Compass on the other side of the face statues but this time, I was on the other side and now had access to the stairs which had previously eluded me. Heading down them into another tunnel, I could see some blue spiked creatures on the ceiling. Each one had a single eye that were looking straight down yet it appeared they hadn't noticed my presence. "Twilight? What can you tell me about these things?"

"These are known as Thwomps..." Princess Twilight then stopped talking.

"What's wrong?" I asked with a concerned look.

"They are based off of a creature which appear in the world of Mario." Princess Twilight answered. She knew how I felt about monsters being taken from another video game though it had been some time since this last happened. "Huh..." Her Highness was surprised by my lack of a reaction to her previous statement. "And there I was expecting an angry rant from you."

I sighed. "At this point, I should just accept the fact that this is even happening."

"Monsters from other games?"

I nodded. "No sense in complaining about something you can't even control." I then paused before continuing. "It's also because I stopped caring about it and not because of what we found out in that other shrine." I sounded like a horrible person upon saying that I didn't care so I quickly addressed it before Her Highness would take things the wrong way and say something she would regret later. "Complaining doesn't do anything to change things so accepting it and moving on is all I can do. Does it annoy me? Yes, but I'm more focused on finding the next instrument."

"Okay, then I can continue."

"Please do."

"As you can see, Thwomps are covered in spikes which makes them invincible." Princess Twilight said. "The reason they are looking straight down is that they will drop down when anything walks underneath them." She then gulped and I knew what she was going to ask next so I chose to do it anyway before she could. I knew she wanted me to trigger one in order to give me a further explanation. I stepped underneath a Thwomp before quickly moving back when it turned bright red and dropped remarkably fast where it crashed with a soft thud. "That's what happens when something walks under them."

"But that impact was soft." I said whilst recovering.

"Despite being made of stone, they are surprisingly light in this regard." Princess Twilight then blushed. "I also like how you knew I was going to ask you to step underneath the first one all because I gulped."

"You're not very subtle you know." I said as I rolled my eyes.

Princess Twilight giggled before brushing it off. "I don't try to me if I can help it. Anyway, there's no way you can walk under all of them as they drop very quickly. You'll need to use the Pegasus Boots to get by. Fortunately, these are the only Thwomps here so you don't need to get used to this. Also, if my calculations are correct from what I've seen of the dungeon's layout, you need only go through this tunnel once."

"Are you sure about that?"

"You can use the warp panel or Manbo's Mambo once you get the Nightmare Key."

While that was true, I wanted to go back to that room where I couldn't reach the chest because of not having activated a Crystal Switch. I'm sure Her Highness knew I wanted to do that but said it the way she did knowing how much I hated backtracking. Come to think of it, I had to backtrack through that one tunnel anyway in order to reach the Nightmare. To be honest, it wasn't that big of an issue despite my opinions on the matter. Switching to the Pegasus Boots, I ran forward and as each Thwomp changed colour, it dropped down, crashing into the ground with a light thud (It sounded very cute).

Running into the side of a raised platform which brought me to a stop, I could see three more Thwomps up ahead with one being lower on the ceiling than the other two. Using the Roc's Feather, I jumped only for the first one to change colour indicating that it was ready to drop at a moment's notice. Dropping down slightly, I dashed forward when all three dropped and crashed. It was slightly stressful knowing how fast they were but it proved easy as their reaction time couldn't keep up with speed. Heading to the end of the tunnel, I climbed up a ladder and re-entered the dungeon.

The first thing I noticed, aside from the doors locking (I'm no longer surprised when this happens), were some monsters I hadn't seen in a long time. "Pols Voice!" I exclaimed. " I recall them being rather difficult to defeat."

"You do have the means to defeat them really quickly." Princess Twilight first pointed at my bow and then at the pouch that contained the Ocarina. It was the latter which left me confused as what could music do here? "Pols Voice are vulnerable to arrows. One arrow can defeat it instantly and can go through multiple ones if they are lined up properly. I don't know if I've told you this next bit but I will anyway just to be safe. Because of their large ears, Pols Voice are very sensitive to noise. Why not play a song on the ocarina? It will have to be 'Ballad of the Wind Fish' as 'Manbo's Mambo' would teleport you back to the start of the dungeon."

"Music can beat them!?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "It sounds strange but its true."

"Now this I've got to see." Keeping my distance, I took out the ocarina and played 'Ballad of the Wind Fish', the song that Starlight Glimmer taught me. While I wanted to make better use of the song given the importance behind it according to her, knowing it was good enough I suppose. Hearing it with their ears, the Pols Voice all disappeared in a puff of smoke which caused both doors to unlock. "Wow... Music is a lot more powerful than I thought."

"More than destroying evil Equestrian Magic?"

I couldn't come up with a worthwhile response to that and Her Highness gave me the biggest smug I'd ever seen coming from her. Changing the subject, I then looked at both directions and where each could lead me. "So... Should I go north or south?"

"If you're not sure, take out the map."

I took out the map and looked at it again. "Okay, there's a chest up there on the very top of the map, another one slightly to the lower left, and the one at the bottom which is the one I had to ignore because of not having the tiles in the right positions." The two that were closer to my location were very tempting and it wouldn't take long to get to either of them, but I was also considering going back to find another Crystal Switch. Gah! This was so nerve-wracking! "I wish I had planned this out a bit more!" I had no idea which chest contained the Nightmare Key.

"Had you encountered another Crystal Switch along the way, you would've eliminated one of the chests thus reducing your current stress." Princess Twilight then lowered her head. "I guess my idea of activating the switches in order to maneuver them to save you some time ended up backfiring slightly."

"It was bound to happen."

"It should be simple enough to turn this blunder around."

"Yeah... I think I can make something work."

That something would most likely involve some backtracking. Once again, I hate having to do that but there wasn't much of a choice for me here. If the Nightmare Key wasn't in one of the two chests closest to me and was in fact in the one I ignored, I'd have to look for a Crystal Switch which would mean going back to previous rooms to find one. A shame the map didn't mark down Crystal Switch locations as that would make my life much easier.

Getting back to what direction I wanted to go in, I decided to go north because something compelled me to go that way. Heading north into the next room, I was surprised at seeing so many blocks. There was a couple of Sparks which needed to be jumped over along with some pots which I hoped contained rupees or hearts as I could do with these. Or, better yet, another Guardian Acorn to boost my defence just in case. There was also another flying bomb icon in the center of the room which made me curious as to why there so many of this particular icon. It felt like bombs were necessary for something.

Picking up a pot, I tried to jump using the Roc's Feather, but I couldn't take it out with my hands already full, and I ended up getting hit by a Spark which caused me to throw the pot automatically. Hmmm... While that was annoying, I supposed there was some kind of benefit to be found. Moving along as the Spark had reached the end of its path, turned around and began chasing me, I continued picking up and throwing pots. Upon reaching the icon, I jumped up to grab it, and resumed lifting pots though I did end up getting hit by another Spark before reaching the door.

In this next room, the door locked behind me and I could see that it was the same setup as it was on the opposite side of the dungeon. There were two more horse heads and I could see one of the panels was hiding underneath a pot. There was also a Star moving about on the other side of some blue tiles and that's when I expressed great joy. I was happy to see that there was a Crystal Switch in this room so now I could do less backtracking than expected. Finally, there was a chest which could be accessed as the orange tile was down, but it didn't contain the Nightmare Key as the Compass didn't make a sound.

The first thing I did was open up the chest and I took out a golden rupee. "Is this what I think it is?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "This is a Gold Rupee which is worth a whopping 300 rupees! Since you were having money troubles, this rupee has pretty much gotten rid of that problem and should give you enough money for any remaining purchases you need to make."

My jaw dropped when Her Highness said '300'. Then my excitement faded when I made a realization. "If only I had gotten a rupee like this a lot sooner then I wouldn't have needed to have gotten those rupees from Starlight." I felt guilty knowing she had gone out of her way to get me some even though she refused to reveal how she acquired them.

"The thing is, Sunset, Gold Rupees are very rare." Princess Twilight said in her lecturing voice. "Finding one in a dungeon is also rare as they are usually hidden in a secret location that requires you to go out of your way to find it. They are also given to those who are successful in overcoming incredible odds." She quickly did a calculation using her hands before coming up with an answer. "With this sudden wealth increase, you've got roughly 680 rupees."

I couldn't say a word when she gave me that number at first but then I managed to overcome that. "Too bad I'll be using these rupees seeing as I've been told about needing to make an expensive purchase." It was Princess Luna who told me about that though she couldn't exactly say what it was. Perhaps Princess Cadance might be more willing as she said she would be meeting me in this dungeon.

"No sense in hoarding so much wealth you know."

Considering that she was a princess, she had a ton of wealth due to her station, but it sounded like she either didn't have access to it or did but chose not to let it define her. Putting the rupee into my wallet, I walked over to the pot, lifted it up, and tossed it aside and exposed the panel. I picked up the black horse head, stood in the correct position, and tossed it only for it to bounce off of the wall and landing next to the chest. I then tried again and it bounced off the wall a second time. Picking it up, I couldn't understand what was happening until it occurred to me just what I was doing.

It could only be thrown straight and to the right, not the left. How I didn't realize this sooner made me annoyed because I had almost freaked out because it wasn't working. Now knowing what to do, I went back to the chest, turned my back to it, and tossed the head where it landed on the panel, turned around, and its eyes glowed. Mumbling under my breath, I picked up the white horse head, moved into position, and tossed it where it landed into place. After turning itself around and its eyes glowed in response to being in place, the door unlocked.

Before leaving, I needed to take care of the Crystal Switch so that I could get that one chest I ignored. Taking out the bow, I fired an arrow at the Star, defeating it though I could've just ignored it. Firing another one, the coloured tiles changed position so now the Owl Statue's words about jumping across the platforms could be done. Heading back into the previous room, I had to go through with picking up and tossing pots again. Sometimes, I wished I didn't have to redo what I had already done but this was apparently a pretty common occurrence in video games.

Avoiding the Sparks this time around, I made my way back to the next previous room and the Pols Voice hadn't re-spawned. I was actually glad they hadn't even though I had the means to defeat them without any real effort. Entering the next room, both doors locked and I froze upon seeing what was in here. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Princess Twilight wasn't as shocked as I was. "Huh... I wasn't expecting the Dodongo Snakes to show up again."

As Her Highness said, two Dodongo Snakes, the same monsters that gave me headaches back in the Key Cavern, were now here in the Face Shrine. "I had problems dealing with them the last time so why are they here now?"

"I don't know but you need to defeat them in order to progress." Princess Twilight answered. She then noticed some stairs on the other side of a small hole in the ground and bopped me on the head to get my attention. "If you jumped over there and go up those stairs, you can leave this room if you run out of bombs. That's not likely to happen as you have plenty of them considering you did pick up ten of them just recently."

"Doesn't change the fact that I didn't want to see them again."

"Not much you can do about that." Her Highness then pointed down at the ground. "This time around, you've got some holes in the ground so you can't just run all over the place. However, this does mean the Dodongo Snakes don't have as much maneuverability so getting around them will be easy. Also, bombs that get thrown into those holes are gone forever so make sure each one counts."

"This is going to take me a while."

"Yes, but you know what to do right off the bat."

"Will Bomb Arrows work on them?"

Princess Twilight shook her head. "No, but kudos to you for actually thinking about it. Dodongo Snakes are immune to bomb explosions because of their thick hides so you can only damage them from within. Their mouths don't open up long enough for a Bomb Arrow to get shot into them. I do suggest focusing on one at a time rather than alternating back and forth but in the end, it's up to you on how best to approach this."

"I'd rather not fight them at all."

"Again, not much can be done about it."

Why did it have to be the Dodongo Snakes!? To be fair, they weren't really difficult to defeat as all they did was move around, open their mouths, close them up again, and repeat that process. My one issue with them? They forced me to use more bombs than necessary. I'd have taken any of the stronger monsters on the island over them. Heck, I'd even go up against Rover again if it meant not having to fight these things. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen which meant I had no choice but to fight them and hopefully for the last time (That was my hope at the very least).

Turning to my left, I was immediately startled by one which was sitting (Or whatever it was supposed to be doing) right next to me. It opened its mouth and I responded with a bomb which it consumed before it exploded and inflicted some internal damage. Okay, I'll take this one out first so I'll ignore the other for the time being. The first snake shook off the explosion and then began moving again where I stepped aside and allowed it to move by unheeded. It then turned to the right before doing so again and I followed along in order to get out in front.

It then opened its mouth and I took out another bomb but it closed its mouth before I had a chance to toss it. This was why I hated fighting these monsters because the window of opportunity was so narrow. It also didn't help that their slow movement made waiting to attack unbearable. I then noticed something about them I never noticed before or maybe I did and merely forgot all about it. Every time they moved, their mouths would open and then close shortly afterward. Had I truly been ignorant all this time? Sighing, I realized that I needed to be more attentive regarding my surroundings.

Moving in front of the Dodongo Snake, I dropped a bomb (Tossing wasn't a good idea despite my first one being successful) only for it to ignore it by turning to the right. I remained calm knowing this was just how they moved and losing it would've just made things worse. Heading around to its front, it turned left so I groaned slightly and went in front of it again and dropped another bomb. This one got swallowed where it exploded and caused more internal damage. Okay, things were going better than expected excluding how they kept changing directions at the worse time.

Speaking of which, I had lost track of the other one, but it didn't matter as it ended up pushing into me with its gaping mouth. I almost fell into a hole only for my feet to bring me to a stop at the very last moment. Regaining my composure, I wisely chose to ignore it and focused on dealing with the other one as it had been damaged twice. Both were now moving about together before the one I was targeting turned south and moved in-between two large holes in the ground. I then went left and then down to the bottom of the room to intercept it (There was also more room) and dropped a bomb though its mouth closed.

Cursing for not getting the timing, it moved forward again and I dropped another bomb which it swallowed, and upon the bomb exploding, it popped like a balloon whilst leaving behind a fairy for my troubles. Yeah... I just couldn't get used to seeing it pop like that. Grabbing the fairy to restore my health, I began to focus my attention on the other Dodongo Snake which was moving around near the northeast corner. I thought about calling it over either by shouting or whistling but it was doubtful that it would even notice my cries preferring instead to go about at its own pace.

"You're handling this rather well." Princess Twilight commented on a whim.

"I'm just trying to get through this as fast as possible."

"But you're a lot calmer than you were last time you fought Dodongo Snakes."

"If I act irrationally, I end up wasting bombs." I said. Before I could continue or Her Highness could say something, the other Dodongo Snake was coming towards me. I walked up, dropped another bomb, and stepped back only for it to explode without it consuming it. "See what I mean, Twilight? I'm doing my best to remain calm but when you see something like that happen, you can't help but get incredibly frustrated."

"Remember that you have more bombs than you did then."

"That's true but it's the principle of the thing."

"You also have those flying bomb icons which do re-spawn after you go through a few rooms."

No matter what I said, Princess Twilight had an answer for it, and it showed that she had done her homework. She was right about the bomb icons since they gave me back ten bombs and I could only carry thirty of them at a time. Maybe the stress of having to deal with Dodongo Snakes had gotten to me? I then began thinking about how there were so many opportunities in the Face Shrine to replenish my bombs. Was it because of this encounter? No... That couldn't be right despite the obvious evidence. Maybe the Nightmare? It was possible yet it wasn't a reliable answer.

The remaining Dodongo Snake had since gone around the holes and was now coming my way again. Walking up to it, I dropped another bomb which it consumed this time and it exploded inflicting damage. On a side note, I was a bit disturbed about how its body inflated every time a bomb exploded whilst inside of it. It just made me uncomfortable. It then turned to the left and began moving back up past the left large hole so I walked up the middle to get in front of it though it then turned right. In my mind, I felt like losing my temper but I refrained knowing it was just behaving like it normally would.

Moving in front of it again, I dropped another bomb which it didn't consume. It then moved forward and I dropped another which did go in. It exploded but it shrugged it off before moving on though it did cough up some of the explosion. Rather than chase it, I decided to wait for it to come around again. Despite how it took for it to do so, I actually felt relaxed as I waited. Being in a rush only caused me to make mistakes not to mention make me feel irritable. I must have been bad to be around by some people if my attitude was like that. Princess Twilight was used to it so she was an exception.

It came around and I dropped one more bomb which it swallowed. The bomb exploded which made the Dodongo Snake pop revealing a fairy and this unlocked both doors. No warp panel appeared but then Princess Twilight explained it to me. "Only one warp panel can appear in a dungeon at any time. If there were multiple ones, it would make things too easy and also confusing as you wouldn't know which one to take. Yes, they count as special monsters (The correct term was mid-boss) but because Rover guarded the panel, defeating the snakes simply gave you progression."

"I suppose I can accept that."

"On the subject of the Dodongo Snakes, has your opinion of them changed?"

I shook my head. "No it hasn't!"

"That's understandable."

"I will admit that I did better against them this time as opposed to before." I then wiped my forehead due to sweating and not because I was afraid. "I'm hoping that I don't fight them again, but something tells me it's going to happen. It's a weird feeling that makes you want to throw up." I then took out the map again to confirm my location in the dungeon. "The next room is the one whose floor had been flooded so we're back in the same place again."

"But you have an advantage." Princess Twilight added as she pointed to the small key dangling from my belt. "If you hadn't gone into that water room originally, you'd have been forced to do so now and also be forced to backtrack here. Remember what we saw when we were here before?"

I pictured the water room in my mind and sure enough, I remembered the key block and the platform it was on being too high to be reached. Good thing I chose to explore it when I did. Heading into the room, I was now on an upper platform which was opposite of where the key block was. "You were right about it being an advantage."

"Had you not have the key, you'd be jumping down right about now."

I breathed a sigh of relief. It's not like backtracking was something I absolutely despised even though I had often thought about it that way. I knew that there were times where it had to be done because it meant coming back to a previous place with an item or information you didn't have previously. That kind of backtracking was okay as it would eventually lead to progression and I'd be closer to reaching my final goal.

If it wasn't for those warp panels allowing me to get across the island, I'd have honestly chosen to given up. Yeah, I've walked across much larger places but I always complained about them. I was glad Princess Twilight could put up with my whining. Then again, I had to put up with her whining though hers was more practical given how she wanted to help me more than simply being a source of wisdom while mine were more immature in nature. Between us both, I complained way more than she did.

Taking out the Hookshot, I aimed at the block on the other side and pulled myself across. Using the small key on the key block, it disappeared and I walked forward until I came to a most unusual sight. "Why are there all these pots surrounding a chest?" The Compass then made a sound indicating that this was where the Nightmare Key was located but if it was here, what was in the remaining chest? A Star then came hurdling towards me and I defeated it by swinging my sword. "Anyway, like I said, what's up with this?"

"I'm not sure, but there is an Owl Statue which might give you an answer."

"Since this is the chest with the Nightmare Key... What's in the one I ignored?"

"The most likely answer is money." Princess Twilight answered. She then paused because something came to mind that she hadn't considered when she made that statement. "But, since when would a chest containing a special rupee require such a complicated puzzle to be solved first?"

"Maybe it's something else?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "Perhaps but the question is whether you want to see what it is. It's not that far from where we are so you can easily take a quick detour." She then gazed up at me before turning towards the chest. " I know you've kind of made it a habit of making sure all treasure chests have been opened and I do commend you for having such consistency, but maybe you should ignore it and go straight to the Nightmare."

It sounded like Her Highness was worried about my safety and I was okay with that as it was her job. At the same time, however, I had to take some risks because if I didn't then I wouldn't be able to learn from those experiences and better myself as a person. "No, I'm going to open up all treasure chests... Including that one."

"Okay..." Princess Twilight felt dejected but ultimately nodded as she knew I wasn't going to change my mind. "I trust your judgment."

Picking up a pot and tossing it aside, I then took out the Stone Beak and placed it on the Owl Statue where it began speaking to me. 'To open a treasure chest, use the pots around it'. Removing the beak and putting it away, I stood there in disbelief over what I had been told. It sounded incredibly stupid, but then I knew there was truth in those words so I wasn't about to brush them off. "I need to use one of these pots. Before I do that though, let me try something first." I attempted to open the chest only for the lid to be stuck firmly tight.

"You can't open it?"

I shook my head. "No. Not even with my enhanced strength could I make the lid budge." I then scratched my head before picking up a nearby pot. "I seriously have to use one of these in order to get the Nightmare Key? It's rather pointless if you think about it since every other chest was easy to open."

"Not necessarily true, Sunset." Princess Twilight said as she pointed to the Owl Statue. "If you didn't find the Stone Beak and had come all this way, you'd have been completely stumped. Granted, missing the beak was next to impossible since the chest it was in wasn't hidden and it's possible that you could've figured this puzzle out by dumb luck. Unless you didn't care about wisdom or I wasn't here for you, you'd have been lost even with the beak."

"Who doesn't care about wisdom?"

"Those who think they know it all."

That one must have really hit home for someone somewhere out there, but I could understand what Princess Twilight was getting at. If you don't need wisdom and you think you can figure things out on your own, all the power to you as you clearly thought you knew best. There was nothing wrong with needing a little help though it took both courage and wisdom to ask for it given how some were prideful. I would always need the wisdom of Her Highness and Princess Celestia (I couldn't ignore her) since I knew how difficult life could get by acting on my own without guidance.

Picking up a pot and tossing it at the chest, the lid popped open and the Nightmare Key was spat out which landed in front of the Owl Statue. "I wasn't expecting it to get spat out like that let alone at all. I'm not complaining mind you but still, I wasn't expecting it." I then noticed another Crystal Switch which I must have ignored this entire time, but I didn't need it since the blue and orange tiles were already in the positions they needed to be. " I guess this switch is here in case you need it for an emergency."

"And you don't need it as there are no puzzles left that require them."

"Except for that one by the remaining chest." I said as I winked.

"Which you've already solved as you activated the previous Crystal Switch in the room where you found that gold rupee."

"I like it when things go my way."

Princess Twilight nodded. "It also helps to plan ahead which is why I am such a good influence on you." Was that her way of saying that she was the source behind my current good fortune? If so, I wasn't going to complain. Her Highness was entitled to brag every once in a while and show off how good she was in any given situation... So long as she's in full control and not in a complete panic. She then continued. "Now, Sunset... You should be able to get back to the remaining chest by heading south. You can ignore any monsters since you've unlocked the doors."

I wanted to ask her something regarding bombs, an issue which had been on my mind for some time, but I chose not to say anything for the time being. A better opportunity would be in the room before the Nightmare since my concern related to it. Heading back the other way, I jumped down to the water soaked floor, and was immediately bumped by the Water Tektites which had long since re-spawned, the damage being minimal. Since I couldn't swing my sword in such a narrow passageway, I switched over to the Pegasus Boots whilst getting hit again, and dashed forward and through them before hitting the wall.

Recovering, I went up the stairs, avoided the Sparks, and entered the next room where I fought four Wizzrobes. They all popped up but fired their magic in the wrong direction before disappearing again. A miscalculation? Whatever it was, I could get by without any problems. I could've jumped to collect the flying arrow icon but decided against it as I hadn't been using the bow lately. Heading south again, I reached the room with the tiles that I could cross and the Owl Statue's words now made sense.

With the orange tiles up, they now served as platforms to reach the chest. Ignoring the two Stars, I went up the stairs, took out the Roc's Feather, and began to jump across the tiles though I had to be careful as they were small compared with what I usually used for platform jumping. After a near mishap where I almost fell off (It would've been a mere inconvenience since I could just go back and try again), I reached the other side and jumped due to a Blade Trap waiting for me. Jumping over it and heading north as it pursued me, I re-entered the previous room and approached the last chest.

Opening it, I took out a can of tuna. "Wait a minute... A can of tuna? That can't be right."

"What is tuna exactly, Sunset?"

I was shocked. "You don't have tuna in Equestria!?"

"You know as well as I do that we don't have such a thing."

I slapped my forehead. How could I have forgotten that Her Highness and everyone else in Equestria had never heard of tuna? "Let me explain before this gets even more ridiculous than it already is. In the world I call home, there are those who place tuna, the remnants of fish, into cans so that they can sell them to consumers." I didn't like going into such talk as it could get awkward very quickly but Her Highness appeared to get what I was saying. "I don't eat tuna so I wouldn't know how it tastes. Anyway, what is a can of tuna doing in a treasure chest?"

Princess Twilight took a closer look for herself. "This isn't a can but rather some secret medicine."

"What!?" I then looked at what I'd found and sure enough, the words 'secret medicine' were on it via a label. "How did one of Sugar Belle's medicines end up here? Mind you, this is beneficial since there's no reason to pay her a visit." That's when I started to feel guilty. "Still... I feel bad that I got this for free." I know what I said was bonkers given what I had to endure to find this but Her Highness knew what I was saying.

"Think of it like this..." Princess Twilight began. "You worked very hard to find this medicine and even though you didn't pay for it or see Sugar Belle, I am certain she is happy knowing that you've got some of her medicine on hand. Besides, you do remember what she said about you only being able to have one dose of her magic medicine, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah... What about it?"

"If you had come across this chest and were already carrying some medicine..."

It then occurred to me what Her Highness was getting at. "I wouldn't be able to take this new medicine with me."

Princess Twilight nodded. "Correct! You'd have to leave it behind and close the chest up. Essentially, you'd have wasted your time which in turn would've made you feel humiliated and outright disappointed. Good thing that isn't the case here."

While her choice of words could've been a lot better (They were very close to home on a personal level for me), I was fortunate that I found some magic medicine. Given that I was soon to face off against the Nightmare, I needed an extra means of survival in case it ended up killing me like the Slime Eel had done in the last dungeon. "Guess all that remains now is going to the boss room."

"You won't need to use Manbo's Mambo this time." Princess Twilight reached into my pocket and took out the map herself, the first time she had done so. "Sorry to have done that but I really wanted to get my point across. As you can see, the warp pad where Rover was is just a couple of rooms away. I'm sure you don't need me to explain the rest."

If I played it and went back to the beginning of the dungeon, I'd be further away from where I'm ultimately supposed to go. Taking the map from Her Highness, I looked at it and saw that I only needed to backtrack a short distance (Roughly four rooms). This was totally fine for me considering it wasn't like that in previous dungeons. Of course, there was the one room before the Nightmare which I hadn't explored which could change things in an instant. I just had to hope the room didn't contain another strong monster otherwise I'd be in quite a bind.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Um... I'm not sure why you want to punish me, Mr. Ganondorf..." Fluttershy began. "I haven't really done anything bad in comparison to my friends." She then took on a more serious look which unfortunately went against what she was trying to go for. "Sure, they've made some mistakes but we overcome them and become much stronger for it. I'm saying you can't use whatever tricks you're using on me."

Slapping his forehead, Ganondorf began to laugh. "What kind of amusing talk is this? You believe yourself to be truly innocent, kind one? Such a bold claim has made me laugh in a way I never thought was possible."

"See?" Fluttershy said as she smiled. "There's no reason to punish me and my friends."

He continued laughing until he slammed his fist which caused the entire room to vibrate. "Arrogant girl! You and your friends are associated with the child, she who is destined for far greater things! For that, you must be made to suffer so that her will can be broken." He then turned to my friends. "My words seem to have confused you all so allow me to explain so that you can understand. Sunset Shimmer... The child... The bonds you have with her are strong and thus make her more powerful. She cannot grasp that her potential is limitless."

"That's because Sunset Shimmer doesn't care about power!" Twilight Sparkle shouted.

"Ah, but she does, magic one."

Applejack then intervened. "What yer sayin' is nothin' but bunkus! We know Sunset used to crave power at one time in her life, but that was a long time ago and she has changed a lot since them days. Heck! I reckon y'all have no idea what kind of person she truly is. These days, she cares about her friends and wanting to do the right thing."

Then Twilight added on. "Sunset isn't the kind of girl you think she is!"

"Heh... Heh... Heh... Do you all really think you know the child's true inner thoughts?" Ganondorf asked. My friends all shook their heads as they talked amongst themselves which allowed him to laugh before turning towards Fluttershy. "I will deal with you presently, kind one, but know that you will not be spared." He turned back to my friends. "Power is a force one cannot deny. Once you have sampled its taste, you can never be rid of such a sensation. The child is merely lost and I shall awaken her potential whether she is willing or not. But... That does not mean she is the only one."

"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"There are others who are like her."

"That don't make a lick of sense." Applejack said.

Ganondorf laughed. "Of course it would not to those who cannot see beyond the veil." He then looked back at Fluttershy. "It seems none of you understand the truth... How unfortunate, and yet, I had foreseen it. Talking anymore about it would be a waste of my time as it would just go above your feeble minds. To think that your world relies upon you to save it from forces beyond their comprehension. Destiny was desperate to have chosen you."

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

Fluttershy then stared at the Demon King. "How dare you speak to my friends like that!? You ought to be ashamed of yourself! You can torment me as much as you want but don't you ever speak that way about them again!"

Ganondorf then responded with his own stare, his piercing gaze so sharp, it trounced her stare reducing her to being meek. "You are fortunate that I need all of you alive, kind one, otherwise you'd all be dead right now. If you did not possess your powers, you'd all be nothing more than fodder for the dark creatures who serve me. Kind one... You claim to have done nothing wrong, and yet I can see an event from the past, one which involved animals."

"How do you know about that?"

"There is nothing I do not know!"

Fluttershy then tried to focus on something else but it was too late. "No... I don't want to remember that incident."

"It is the one sin that weighs heavily on you more than any other." Ganondorf snapped his fingers and she could see something no one else could. "Your friends need not know of what you have done as it yours alone to endure." He then looked at them. "The kind one has succumbed just like all of you have before her. She believed that she cared about her precious creatures but this was a sin that she had been hiding from the world and to herself. I know one of you knows what I am talking about so if you want the others to know, now is the time to speak up."

Rarity then spoke up. "There... Was an incident back when we were all really young. Fluttershy thought she was helping those animals but instead they caused plenty of damage and a fair number of them... I'd rather not say because I think you know what happened. The rest were perfectly fine but she was so scarred by the incident that she repressed it from her memories and never spoke about it."

"How do you know about it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I was with her at the time." Rarity answered. "Wild animals can be scared so easily and well, you know how Fluttershy is around all animals."

"Enough!" With a wave of his hand, Fluttershy was returned to my friends and was also freed of his power. "And now you are the only one who remains, magic one." Ganondorf was then taken aback when Twilight suddenly broke free of the magic she and my friends had been trapped in before using some of her own against him. He immediately caught it in his hand and crushed it effortlessly. She then tried again and this time he swatted it away. She tried one last time only for him to take the hit and was unaffected. "Are you quite done?"

Twilight nodded. "I guess I am."

"Magic one... It is said that you possess the strongest power of all among your friends."

"I've been told that."

Ganondorf laughed. "For someone of your age, your grasp of magic is most impressive. However, I have practiced it for millennia! You are but a speckle of dust compared to me, but then unlike your friends, you also possess something else. Do not attempt to feign ignorance as you already know the answer." Twilight then dropped to her knees as the Demon King trapped her once again in his magic. "Yes... You know what you once were. Even though you despise that creature, its essence continues to linger deep within. Once one is tainted by evil, it can never be removed no matter how much they try."

"No..." Twilight said as she shook her head. "I'm not that way anymore! She's gone forever!"

"She is not gone." Ganondorf said in a slow voice. "She remains within you even now. Her essence is something that is of no further use to you. It has become nothing more than an empty husk devoid of anything other than the yearning for more power. It is something that must be given a new purpose. I shall therefore take this essence from your very being. I desire it for my own purposes and it shall be mine."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jumping down from where the chest was and landing on the ground, the four Wizzrobes appeared and fired their magic. All four shots hit me and while I thought about retaliating, it was more important for me to head over to the Nightmare. Ignoring them and entering the next room, I went north and then north again through the hole in the wall and entered the room where Rover had been. Before moving on, I looked down at the warp panel and felt bad that it wasn't going to be of any use given how my progression went. Not everything could be used it seemed.

In the next room, I used the Roc's Feather to jump up and grab the flying bomb icon. Heading into the tunnel, I jumped across making sure to avoid the Sparks as the threat of sharp spikes below was still an issue. Once I got passed them, I had to deal with jumping across the ladders. I know I'd done this recently but given how I had problems before, I was expecting the same thing to happen. Walking up to the first ladder and grabbing the rung, I took a deep breath before jumping...

And I missed the rung of the next ladder. I quickly grabbed a lower placed rung and pulled myself back up. Like I said, I was going to have the same problems as before and sure enough, it just happened. At least I was consistent although it wasn't something to be proud of. I then jumped across to the remaining ladders and for some reason, I didn't slip up which made me question my luck. Re-entering the dungeon, I immediately went south just as the tiles began rising up from the ground and were about to move towards me.

In the next room, the Vacuum Mouth was still there, and it began to suck me towards it, but I ran in the opposite direction and towards the door before moving on. Now I was back to where I needed to be and with the proper items in my possession. The Beamos was still here and I had to be careful dealing with it. As Princess Twilight mentioned to me before, my shield couldn't stop its beam so avoiding it was my only option. Walking up and pushing one of the blocks, it moved forward which put me in direct range of the monster where fired its beam as its eye was now looking at me.

It zipped past me, missing by mere inches before the eye resuming looking around. "That was way too close for comfort!"

Princess Twilight nodded. "While the beam won't inflict too much damage, it moves so quickly that it's almost impossible to react to it. By the way, you should know that these blocks can actually protect you from getting hit by it."

"Really?"

"Again, Princess Twilight nodded. "Yes. I didn't mention it before since you had to leave this room anyway. Now that you have to progress forward, it's best for you to know this information and apply it. Also, the way forward is still locked so there has to be a monster hidden around here."

"It can only be one thing... A Wizzrobe."

"Or a Green Zol or maybe a red one instead?"

No... I had a feeling it was going to be a Wizzrobe. They had a tendency to show up in the worst locations and this room was no exception. At that moment, my feeling was proven correct when one popped up from the ground and fired its magic at me. I was surprised that only one appeared as they were usually in groups but I wasn't about to complain as this was going to be more manageable. Taking out the bow, it reappeared and I fired a couple of arrows which defeated it and unlocked the door.

I then ducked as the Beamos fired another beam at me (I really needed a better shield if I were to face them again in the future) before its eye turned away from me. I took the opportunity to push another block forward where it fell into the abyss though no sound of it hitting the ground could be heard. Yeah... This was why I didn't want to fall into any holes. It would be a fate worse than death. Entering the next room, there were eight torches with one on each side remaining unlit which looked suspicious. There were also two Sparks moving around which felt like a pretty bad last means of defence.

"What do you make of the unlit torches, Twilight?"

"If you want to use your Magic Powder to light them, you can though I'm not sure what it will do."

Taking out the Magic Powder, I walked over to the torch on the left and lit it up though the only thing that happened was make the room brighter. I then walked over to the other one and lit it up which brightened things even more and caused both Sparks to disappear in puffs of smoke. Each one left behind a fairy which I happily went after and upon regaining my health, I stopped moving because I needed to ask my question. "Twilight... Why do you think there have been so many opportunities around here to stock up on bombs?"

"I'm not sure seeing as the stronger Power Bracelet was what you need for progression."

"I just find it odd that there were so many chances."

"You did need bombs in order to defeat the Dodongo Snakes."

I nodded. "I know but I feel as though they weren't the main reason." I then looked at the Nightmare Door. "Maybe I need bombs for the Nightmare? I know that sounds pretty farfetched given we have no idea what it looks like, but why give me so many ways to keep my bomb totals up to snuff?"

"Only one way to find out." Princess Twilight answered as she tilted her head towards the door.

Walking up and taking out the Nightmare Key, I inserted it into the lock and turned it, unlocking the door. Entering the room, the door locked behind me and I was surprised that there was nothing here though this wasn't my first time experiencing this. Looking upwards, I couldn't see anything so unless it was invisible, there was nothing here. In each corner of the room was a pot and acting like a border on the floor were different coloured tiles which already made me feel uneasy. If this was a means of making me nervous, it was clearly working.

"There's nothing here!"

"Hey dummy!" A voice called out.

"Was that you, Twilight?"

"No and I'd never call you anything like that." Princess Twilight answered.

The voice then called out again. "I've been waiting for you for quite some time! I heard from my fellow Nightmares that you came all this way just to get your hands on a little old instrument that I just so happen to be guarding."

Her Highness definitely heard it that time. "At least we know it's in this room."

"Where are you?" I asked.

"Wow! You really are a dummy if you haven't figured it out yet."

Now I was starting to get angry. "Why don't you show yourself already!"

The voice then responded. "I'm already here! It's just you're too stupid to realize that you're not looking in the right place." Again, I had no idea where the voice was coming from and it was clearly getting fed up with me. "Okay, just look down in front of your feet. If you can't figure this out then you're hopeless." I did as the voice asked and looked down to see a face appear in the floor. It then blinked a couple of times before giving off a loud laugh and opened its eyes fully. "About time! I'm Facade and welcome to what will surely be your end!"

"WAAAAH!" I shouted.

"Weren't expecting anything like me, were you?"

I shook my head. "You're... A giant face in the floor?"

"Yep, you're definitely a dummy!" Facade continued laughing and then it began to say something that felt out of character for a Nightmare. "Hey dummy! Need a hint? You sure could use one after that display. My weak point is..." It then stopped upon realizing that I had come here to defeat it. "Whoops! There I go again! I just can't help talking so much. One of these days, it's going to cost me dearly, but not today since you'll never figure it out."

"I've got a pretty good idea as to what I need to do here."

Facade then glared at me. "So you think you know already? Well, if that's the case then I need to make this quick! Okay, let's see if you can handle these tiles. I'm betting that you won't survive but if you do, I've got something else which I'm not telling you!" As it stood (Was it standing?) there or whatever it was doing, it kept its eyes on me as the first tile began to rise up from the ground. Unlike before where only one tile moved, another one was suddenly rising followed by another.

"This isn't looking good, Twilight."

"You need to focus on protecting yourself from those tiles." Princess Twilight said.

Raising my shield, I was able to repel the first tile only for the next one to hit me in the back since it was coming at me from behind. I turned around to face anymore coming from that direction only to get hit again on my side. It was clear that I had no way of deflecting every last tile as they were flying across the room in every direction. In the meantime, Facade continued watching my movements, its smile creeping me out along with the fact that it was a face in the ground. That's when it started making sense. The dungeon's layout including the name were an allusion to the Nightmare.

As more tiles were coming my way, I blocked some of them and was hit by others. I had no idea how many I had gone through but it felt like a never-ending storm. Even when I do survive this bizarre onslaught, I still need to figure out how to defeat this thing. Based on what it said in response to me knowing its weak point, I believed that bombs were going to effective. If they weren't the answer then I would really be in trouble. More tiles came at me and I was showing signs of exhaustion but I had to keep going.

Another tile then hit me in the back and I dropped to my knees. Facade had been laughing every time I got hit and seeing me fall must have been sheer bliss for it. Getting back up, I raised my shield and deflected another tile only to get hit in the side by another (At least none were hitting me in the head). A few more tiles came at me before they suddenly stopped altogether. Breathing a sigh of relief, I had endured the onslaught but not without taking some damage. Facade, in the meantime, had stopped smiling and I was concerned as to what it was going to do next.

"How about this!" It said as it quickly pointed at all four corners of the room. The four pots then rose up and came flying at me (I hadn't seen this kind of thing happen since the last adventure) and I responded by using my shield to deflect them. Once all four pots had shattered, it didn't sound all too happy. "You managed to survive the onslaught of tiles."

"Bet you weren't expecting me to survive were you?"

"Maybe you're not quite the dummy I thought you were."

"I'm ready for whatever you have next for me." I said. So far, I was still feeling pretty good despite having been hit by various tiles but I couldn't underestimate this Nightmare for even a second.

"Since you're just dying to know what I've got next, I'll stop talking and let you see it for yourself." Opening its mouth and letting out a brief scream, the ground in front of it began to disappear leaving behind holes. These then started to follow me around which prompted me to run away in hopes of not falling down one. More holes appeared which had me feeling very worried that I was about to die but they eventually stopped before they all disappeared as well as Facade.

"What in the world was that?"

"This is Facade's means of doing away with you." Princess Twilight answered.

"By using holes?"

"Unlike normal holes, if you fall into one of these, you'll take some damage and then reappear roughly in the same place." Princess Twilight answered. That made no sense at all and Her Highness could tell I was confused. "I don't like saying it like this but in order to get my meaning, you'll need to fall into one of those holes."

"You want me to do what?"

Before Her Highness could answer, Facade reappeared and began to create more holes in the ground. I went left in order to avoid them only for one to form in front of me and I plunged into it. Normally, this would've killed me, but I reappeared instead one space south of where I had fallen. I also felt a little weaker but that was a minor issue. It's just like what Princess Twilight said and it still didn't make sense. Then again, this was a Nightmare's power at work. It wouldn't surprise me if they could do things beyond the realm of reality.

When Facade disappeared along with the holes, Princess Twilight checked to see if I was okay. "And that's what happens when you fall into one of 'those' holes. Try not to make a habit out of it otherwise you're going to be using that magic medicine a lot sooner than you want."

"Thanks for the tip." I said as I shook myself off. "So how am I supposed to fight a face?"

"Even though it didn't reveal its weak point, I think it's pretty obvious as to what it is."

It only took me a second to realize what she meant and I slapped my forehead before groaning. "Ugh! I've got to hit it in the face! It's so blatantly obvious!" At least that riddle was solved though I'm ashamed I couldn't see it straight away. Now came the riddle of how I was supposed to hit it. "Most of my items aren't going to work are they?"

Princess Twilight shook her head. "Not even your sword can damage the ground."

That's when it clicked. "Twilight! That's it!" I then looked at the Bomb Bag I had attached to my belt. "I remember in my previous adventures that I could destroy certain sections of floor in order to uncover secrets. I know I've not done that on this journey but then there hasn't been any reason to do so. Anyway, perhaps that very principle can be applied here? What I mean is I should use bombs and blow up its face. After all, I had so many chances to stock up on them."

"A good theory but maybe try one of your other items first just in case."

Nodding, I waited for Facade to reappear and it did so in the northeast corner of the room where it summoned more holes and I responded by taking out the bow and firing an arrow at its face though nothing happened. I fired another arrow only for it to also fail. It began laughing before taunting me by saying that my effort was pathetic. Why did I choose to go with something I knew wouldn't work? It was to give off a false sense of security and to see if my theory might have been wrong. Putting the bow away, I pulled out a bomb but before I could throw at it Facade, it disappeared again.

Reappearing in the northeast corner again, I tossed my current bomb and it exploded before hitting the ground (That's what happens when you hold onto it for too long). I took out another one and tossed it over the holes where it landed and exploded inflicting some damage. That made Facade react in a very negative fashion. "GAAAH! Did you just use a bomb to hurt me!? How did you know what my weak point was? How did you know to use something like that!?"

"I just thought about it and it clicked." I answered.

That made Facade mad. "You're going to regret doing that!"

"And what can you do about it?"

"I'm going to kill you quickly! That's what I'm going to do!"

Because I had used a bomb to hurt it, Facade's hole summoning had been disrupted which made them disappear in addition to itself. It then reappeared in the southwest corner which is when I noticed that it taunted me for about two seconds. That could give me a moment to drop a bomb on it before moving away and avoid falling into any holes. Speaking of which, I wasn't paying attention and ended up falling into a hole before reappearing next to it and taking more damage. Much like all of the other Nightmares before, I was taking unnecessary damage due to being incredibly sloppy.

Appearing in the southwest again, Facade taunted me which is when I took out a bomb and planted near it. I then moved away knowing that the holes would follow but to my dismay, it dropped into one and was immediately lost. Once again my luck was just horrible! I then waited for the holes to stop and the Nightmare to disappear along with them while cursing my luck. It appeared in the center of the room whereby it taunted me and I dropped my next bomb right on top of it. It exploded and caused more damage along with stopping the next set of holes.

"How many hits does it take?"

"Hopefully not that many." Princess Twilight answered.

"I should have enough bombs, right?"

"Yes... Provided you don't make too many mistakes."

I knew Her Highness was going to comment over how I missed hitting Facade. She was right about not making any further mistakes as if I were to run out of bombs, prevailing here would've been impossible. Still... I couldn't help it if my luck produced some unfortunate results. Anyway, I then had another idea on how to battle it. Rather than wait in one place for it to appear, I should just move about and give myself an extra second to get a bomb ready. I might also be able to manipulate where the holes would begin appearing.

Running around in circles (It was way more awkward than it looked), Facade showed up in the northwest corner and I happened to be right nearby. Dropping another bomb on the ground next to it and then running away, it exploded and got hit again. I could tell that it was really mad now as those eyes were filled with hatred. If I had one issue, it was that it took way too long for a bomb to explode. All it did was make me feel wracked with stress. Made me hope that someone out there could make a bomb that had a short fuse or one which can be detonated remotely.

Disappearing once again and reappearing in the southeast corner, I didn't get there on time and so I tossed my next bomb. It bounced off the wall and exploded harmlessly leading me to get taunted by Facade. It then reappeared in the same place which was convenient as I dropped my next bomb where it exploded on its eyelid. Ouch! Even I would be mad if I experienced pain like that. Running around some more, it was becoming obvious that I was getting fed up with how long this was taking. Again, I liked the concept of using something other than a sword but it needs good execution.

"Am I done yet?" I asked as I moaned.

"I think it's still got some fight left."

"You bet I've got fight in me!" Facade shouted from somewhere.

"Surprised you can still say anything after getting blown up so many times." I said.

That only fueled Facade's anger. "It's time we finished this and by finished I mean you! You've got to be on your last legs yourself." It was surprisingly wrong there. Despite having fallen down its holes a few times, I was physically fine which normally wasn't an issue. It was my mental state which had been weakening. I needed this fight to end in the next couple of minutes or else I could lose my mind. It then appeared in the center and I managed to drop another bomb on its face, and also fall into another hole which spawned below me.

Five hits wasn't enough as it still kept on going. It appeared in the northeast corner and I tossed my next bomb which fell into another hole. Not being deterred, I tossed another which bounced off the wall and exploded harmlessly after bouncing a couple of times. The holes caught up with me since I got distracted by my throw so I ended up falling into it and getting hurt once again. Reappearing next to where I fell, I was starting to feel weak. I knew I wasn't going to die as I had the magic medicine but I didn't like it when my body felt like a ton of bricks on top of my shoulders.

Facade appeared in the northwest and I stumbled towards it due to exhaustion, and then I tripped when my legs gave out causing me to fall flat on my face. I had taken out another bomb at that precise moment and I threw it by accident. It somehow landed on its face and exploded which made it scream in a bloodcurdling manner. "ARRRGGGHH! You... You managed to defeat me! Guess I'm the dummy now for having lost to the likes of you."

I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I got onto my feet. "That lasted way longer than it needed to."

"You've defeated another Nightmare!" Princess Twilight shouted.

"This one wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be."

"Well... You didn't use that magic medicine."

I nodded. "That's true though it was a good idea to have it just in case things suddenly took a turn for the worst." Even though the medicine didn't get used up, I could save it for a future dungeon or use it before then and purchase some more from Sugar Belle. "Only two more instruments to collect and I can finally finish this journey and change things back to the way they're supposed to be."

"Hey!" Facade called out.

I turned to face it who was clearly in a lot of pain. "And what do you want? You've been defeated and that means I claim the instrument. I will admit that you put up quite a fight despite what you are." I then remembered the Slime Eel said something before it was destroyed and it looked like Facade wanted to do so as well. "What do you want to tell me?"

"It's important so listen up!" Facade responded, its voice already growing weaker. "I know I can't stop you from getting the instrument but think about this for a second. If you go and wake up the Wind Fish, everything on this island will be gone forever! And I do mean... EVERYTHING!"

"Even me?" I asked in a nervous voice.

"Yes... Even you!"

"I've read the mural in the other shrine and I know this island is just an illusion."

Facade then laughed though it was stifled what with it struggling to maintain its presence. "Or is it? Considering that you've spoken to so many people, collected all those items, and experienced plenty of adventures, I wouldn't call any of that illusions." I then turned my eyes away upon hearing those words and it laughed again. "It seems I struck a nerve or is it because you don't know what the truth really is."

"But, it can't..."

"Are you willing to let an entire island cease to exist?" Facade's voice was now growing really faint. "Keep going... If you do... You may not like what you find... I guess... You were the... Dummy in the end after all... How... Fitting..." Going silent, it began exploding numerous times before disappearing in one final explosion. The sixth Nightmare (Seven if you include the one in the Colour Dungeon) was no more but its final words had affected me in a way I hadn't expected.

"Sunset?" Princess Twilight asked. "Are you okay?"

I remained silent as the doors unlocked and a Heart Container appeared near where Facade had fallen. In my mind, different thoughts were trying to grab my attention but I couldn't discern which were real and which were false. Combining that with the knowledge gained from the mural and what Flash Sentry said, I had no idea what to believe. There was no doubt that I had to finish this journey but whether my heart would allow me to do so remained to be seen.

After keeping silent for a few more minutes, I finally spoke up. "Sorry about that, Twilight. I just needed a moment to think through what Facade just said."

"What did you conclude?"

"I don't know what to do."

Princess Twilight then sighed. "I suppose the only option is to just keep on going. Believe me, Sunset! I know what you're going through right now. I've seen and heard everything just like you have and I've been questioning it all, but I know that allowing it to weigh down on you isn't healthy. Without knowing every side of the story, you're just going down a path which could potentially be fatal." She then paused and coughed. "Sorry for saying it like that but it was the best example I could think of."

I shook my head. "No... You needed to say it like that... " I then smiled. "Thanks Twilight."

Picking up the Heart Container, my health was restored and the warmth it provided made me feel a lot better. Her Highness was right. I needed to focus on my goal and not be bogged down. It wasn't going to be easy but I had to do my best. Entering the final room and the door closing behind me again, I could see the instrument right in front of me... A triangle... One that had a piece of what looked like coral on top of it. Walking up to the instrument and placing my hands on it, I picked it up and held it above my head.

"You have found the Coral Triangle!" I recognized the voice of Princess Cadance and sure enough, the Crystal Princess appeared before me in her radiant gown from before when last I saw her. "Judging from that look on your face, you've experienced things that no one in your position is meant to know." She the turned to Princess Twilight. "The same thing can be said about you."

"Princess Twilight smiled before looking glum. "We've learned of the truth behind this island."

"I was afraid that you would find out, and even then, you were destined to know."

"Can you tell us if this island is real or not?" I asked.

Princess Cadance sadly shook her head. "I'm afraid that I am not allowed to give you that answer even though I wish to, but do not get discouraged as you will know when the time comes. There is someone out there who will reveal everything."

"It's not the answer I wanted but I suppose I can accept it."

"By the way..." Princess Cadance began by changing the subject. "I sense that you possess a Magnifying Lens. With that, you can read the small text in that one book within the library of Mabe Village, but the lens does have another purpose or two. There is someone living in the Animal Village who is invisible because of what they truly are. If you can see them, they will guide you to a location on the beach where you can find a weapon of incredible power."

"Why not tell me where to find this weapon?"

"I'm not allowed to tell you."

"What can you tell me?"

For a moment, I thought that would've offended Princess Cadance, but she shrugged it off and smiled. "I believe Luna told you something about you needing a lot of rupees to obtain something you needed later. While I can't provide you with specifics, I can tell you that you need exactly 300 rupees. Remember that number. Also, you need to traverse a maze where you must follow the directions."

"300 rupees!?" That wasn't as bad as what I had to pay for the bow but still, that was a lot of rupees. "Do I really need this thing that badly."

"Without it, you will never finish this adventure." Princess Cadance answered. "If you need further advice, you know who you can contact. Now... My time is almost up and I need you to know this... 'Mountain... Something calls... From the mountains...' There is more of the mountains that remain unexplored."

"Can you tell us anything else?" Princess Twilight asked.

"You really do need to speak up more often, Twilight."

"I know, but anyway, my question?"

Princess Cadance began to fade away which meant her time here in the dungeon was over. "Once you have the thing you need, speak to the one who has been guiding you. Lastly, listen carefully to Flash Sentry as he will provide a very important clue. I'll see you two again when you've reached the very top of where you're going next. Now... Let the Coral Triangle play!"

As she disappeared, the Coral Triangle began to play its sounds, and it felt remarkably calm. As everything began getting engulfed in a bright light, I had much to think about. The Magnifying Lens was more useful than I thought and I needed to explore more of Mt. Tamaranch; in particular, the highest elevations. I also needed Discord's help in finding some kind of maze. It was unfortunate that she couldn't tell me about what Facade had said but then a certain someone might be able to give me an answer.

Finding myself back outside of the Face Shrine, I was about to make a move when I heard the familiar flapping sounds of Flash Sentry's owl. Sure enough, it appeared from the east and settled down onto a platform before Flash Sentry petted it and looked at me. "The Spirit Princess has told you much it seems, child. However, there were some things that were beyond her and now you feel lost."

I nodded. "You could say that."

"Though there is much I cannot share with you yet, I can give you an idea of what you need."

"You seem to be bothered by something."

Flash Sentry sighed. "The many monsters of this island fear that the Wind Fish is about to awaken. They have been aggressive in the past but have now taken on even more violent methods with which to prevent anyone from awakening the dreamer. Child, you must know that their power is real! Should they choose to use it, they could conquer the island and destroy their foes. That day may come soon!"

"Are you serious!?"

"They know that you are getting closer to your goal."

"I knew they were desperate to stop me but I didn't think it was that serious."

"Child... You must continue your quest to find all eight instruments." Flash Sentry said. He then pointed up towards the top of the mountains though I couldn't tell what he was pointing towards as it was too far away. "Do not allow their power to frighten you. Now, go to the mountain tower! Fly like a bird!"

"Fly... Like a bird?"

"It will become clear once you have followed the clues."

With that, he urged his owl to take to the skies where both traveled west until they were out of view. Flash Sentry's last words were what Princess Cadance told me to pay attention to and I clearly couldn't see what it was. If I were meant to fly, I'd have been given wings and also become an alicorn. Now that the Face Shrine had been completed, I needed to figure out which way to go next. Before doing any of that, my next objective had to be to come to an understanding of all the hints I had been given. I needed to do this otherwise the thought of getting lost would become more of a reality.

To Be Continued.