Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers

by Lucar

Chapter 16: The Water Temple Part 2

Author's Note:

I did a little correction in the previous chapter about the real reason why the South passage in the second level of the main room couldn't be reached.

Link stared dumbly at the giant mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke in the distance. One moment, he had been about to fight some black and transparent doppelganger, and the next, he was back on top of Death Mountain, on a cliff, watching as about a fourth of Hyrule suddenly exploded and most of the rest was ravaged by the force of the explosion.

"What... What happened?" Navi finally asked what was in his mind.

Sweetie Belle didn't answer directly however. The filly was sitting just beside Link, groaning loudly.

"Pretty much what would happen if I decided to go all out without care..." she eventually answered. "That double of me used one of my most powerful attacks, and now, here you go..." She waved at the disaster. "A kingdom even more in ruin than before. The good side? The monster is dead and the Zoras are saved. The bad side? Hyrule now has a giant crater instead of a lake-which will fill up with time to become an even bigger lake-, a big chunk of the forest is destroyed, the Lon Lon Ranch is gone, a good part of Kakariko Village must now be looking like Hyrule Castle Town, and Ruto and a lot of other people must be dead." She groaned again. "Why did there have to be a fight against a double? If I had known, I wouldn't have entered this room! I just wanted to help!"

Link looked sadly at the filly as tears began to show in the corner of her eyes, and he began to pet her to calm her. "It isn't your fault. We just got unlucky to encounter such a challenge."

Then, suddenly, everything flashed and they felt themselves floating as the ground disappeared under them. Not long later, they felt floor again, and the world came back to them.

To their shock, they were back inside the Water Temple, in front of the door leading to the place with the doubles, as if all this disaster never happened.

"It must be the Goddess of Time!" Navi immediately understood. "She brought us back in time! It must have really been bad if she intervened personally."

Link snorted. "You don't say..."

At this moment, they began to hear a divine feminine voice speak to them in their mind. "I personally apologise for what happened," she said, sounding VERY annoyed. "Farore placed this challenge to test the both of you without thinking or taking precautions concerning your power." They quickly understood that she was mainly talking to Sweetie Belle while including Link in the conversation. "I will have a word with her. If you still wish to pass this challenge, then pass this door with the Hero of Time and you will both be transported this time to different pocket dimensions instead of an illusionary room. If you don't, then just let the Hero of Time pass the door alone and wait. May the rest of your quest not have further incidents like this one." And at this, the voice stopped talking to them.

Sweetie Belle sighed in relief. "Thank you, Goddess of Time! And slap Farore for me, please!"

Link rubbed his head. "Huh... So I guess that we can continue our quest. So, will you go fight your double?"

"Weeeell... I guess. Should as well. I need to relieve some anger from this whole incident."

"Alright."

So the two of them passed the door, and Sweetie Belle found herself back on the infinite ocean with ruins and the small island. Only, this time, there was no fog, Link was somehow gone, and the entrance and exit door weren't here.

She walked toward the island, but stopped before fully crossing it. There, she closed her eyes, took a big breathe, and grinned as her horn glowed and a song began to play.

Her grin grew, and she materialized one of her beam swords before she began to advance, her eyes opening, revealing that they were now entirely black, filled with darkness.

"Look, here, is a little pony
Ready to show to this crowd,"

When she stepped back on the water, she immediately remarked that her reflection had disappeared, but she didn't mind it as she continued to advance and to sing, her mane and tail turning into fire while a powerful aura of energy covered her.

"Be ready, because this filly..."

The beam sword then turned into pure darkness as she readied to swing it.

"Is gonna cause you..."

Without warning, she brusquely turned around and gave a large vertical slash with the sword at a speed close to light.

"To be cowed!!!!"

Just with this slash, she sliced in two the explosion caused by the Dark Sweetie Belle using the Crash Ability again...

And the Dark Sweetie Belle...

And the whole pocket dimension in front of her, causing it to start to collapse.

She then turned off the beam sword and sent it back in her own pocket dimension while her eyes, mane, and tail returned to normal. Little by little, the pocket dimension disappeared around her, returning her inside the Water Temple, inside a truly huge room entirely empty. The only particularity was the presence of water covering the floor.

Link wasn't here yet.

Stopping her song, she sat down, waiting for the Hero of Time to be done with his double, feeling much better.

Link appeared a few minutes later, looking visibly tired and hurt. Obviously, the fight against his double didn't go as smoothly as Sweetie's. The Hylian quickly took his healing potion and his magic-replenishing potion before he remarked the filly's presence.

"Looks like you didn't have as much problem against your double as me..." he stated.

Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I have some tricks that she couldn't mimic. I took advantage of this."

Link chuckled at this. "I have a feeling that I don't want to know."

"Yeah, you don't want to know. Now, let's go, the exit is open."

Link nodded, and they advanced toward the previously barred exit door and passed it. At the other side, they ended up in a smaller room with just a big chest and a Time Block. Link opened the chest and got a new Hookshop that was longer, the Longshot.

"Now, I will be able to reach all the targets," said Link.

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle sung the Song of Time, making the Time Block disappear and revealing a hole to jump in.

"That's nice! Now we will be able to reach the ledge to the door leading to our target. But before, we still must get the Big Key."

They both jumped in the hole and dropped in a cavern with a river that they had to jump in to continue. Following the current, they had to avoid many vortexes on the way. At the end, to continue, Link had to climb on a small platform and fire an arrow at an eye-interrupter to open a gate. He then used the Longshot on a chest that was behind the gate to rapidly reach it and open it to get a key as Sweetie Belle followed him. Following the path eventually led them back in the room with the statue of a serpentine dragon with a crystal in the mouth. From here, they returned in the main room of the temple.

Now, thanks to the Longshot, they could explore rooms and passages Link couldn't reach before. The fastest to explore was the South passage of the second level that Link couldn't enter because of the gate closing too quickly.

But first, they had to lower the water to the second level so they could reach the eye-interrupter and fire at it with the bow. So they first returned in the room where they found Ruto and lowered the water to the first level. Then, they entered the pillar and climbed until reaching the second level where they raised the water. Thanks to this, they will be able to hit the eye-interrupter thanks to the platform floater now being just in front of it. They then circled the pillar to the South part, went on the platform floater, and Link fired an arrow at the eye-interrupter before using the Longshot on the target behind the opened gate to enter the passage before it would close.

In this passage, they just had to push the block they had pulled at the beginning, letting them reach a room that was behind it. In the room was a chest with a key.

This left the last unexplored passage: the North one in the first level. With the water already raised, all they needed to do was to jump in the water (Link with the boots) and to enter the passage before popping out of the water in the next room. There, they discovered a Longshot target, and Link had to climb on a ledge to reach it and pass above spikes that blocked the way.

Using a first key to unlock the door her, they entered a room where they had to traverse a large pit full of water with strong currents. There were some vortexes, a lot of Blue Tektites, and even rolling boulders at the bottom in case Link had the idea of using the boots to traverse. First, they killed the Tektites, and from there, they carefully swam to the other side where they went to the next room.

It was another room with water, this time in a lower lever. There were some Stingers (small manta-ray-like enemies) that they killed before they could jump out of the water to attack, and they spotted a switch in the water. However, it was one of these switch that were only activated when something remained on it. The heroes remarked that a part of the South wall was cracked, and another part was looking weird (hitting it with the sword confirmed that it could also be destroyed). Destroying the two parts with bombs, they revealed a U-shaped passage with a block. So Sweetie Belle entered the passage by the right to push (or rather kick) the block until a corner. Link then entered the passage by the left and pulled the block until it was out. After that, Sweetie Belle kicked the block again to make it fall into a hole right on the switch. This had for effect to raise the water level for them to reach the exit.

The door was barred behind them after they entered the next room, and the exit was too. It was rather simple to open and reach it however. They just had to step on a switch to make the bars disappear and jump from water pillar to water pillar that had activated through a pit to reach it before the bars returned. There were two Blue tektites at the end, but Sweetie quickly dealt with them.

Passing the door, they were back in the room with the rolling boulders, in one of the alcoves from which the boulders (and the water) came. There, they waited for a boulder to pass before they jumped in the water into an underwater passage that led to a locked door, out of water. In the room behind the door was the fancy chest containing the Big Key. From there, it was easy to return to the main room. However, with the water only raised to the second level, the dragon statue with the Longshot target wasn't raised so they couldn't reach the ledge to the final room. So they first had to go all the way back into the alcove with the blue plate to raise the water to the third level.

With the water raised, Link was able to use the Longshot on the statue and to go on the ledge. They then just had to climb a sloping hallway while avoiding Spike Traps on the way withing sliding back down before reaching the door with the golden lock.

They opened it and entered the last room of the temple.

The room had a large pit filled with water with four platforms in it. Spikes also were on the walls at ground level all around. Navi immediately felt something wrong with the water and warned them that it wasn't natural. So, keeping an eye on the water, they jumped on one of the platforms.

They saw something moving in the water and followed it with their eyes. The thing revealed to be some kind of orb that could not only move freely in the liquid, but that could also control it as it raised some water to form some kind of tentacle with the orb inside. The tentacle then attacked them, but it was easily avoided. It was quickly clear that the orb could only form one tentacle at a time...

"Really? That's all?" wondered Sweetie Belle. "After the fake Ganondorf and Volvagia, it's really disappointing."

Link simply shrugged before they avoided another tentacle. Link then grabbed the Longshot and managed to get the orb out of the water before hitting it with the sword. The orb, however, quickly bounced back in the water.

Sweetie Belle sighed, materialized a Poké Ball, and let Volta out. "Volta, use Thunder Shock in the water. Don't stop, and be careful of the water tentacles."

"Yes, Sweetie Belle!" Volta shouted excitedly before she began to send electricity into the water. The electricity spread in it, electrifying the orb. It attempted to stop her with a tentacle, but the Pichu easily avoided it and Link even used the occasion to Longshot the orb out of the tentacle before slashing it. When the orb returned in the water, Volta immediately resumed her attacks. Sweetie Belle didn't even judge necessary to intervene more.

Between Volta and Link, the orb was quickly destroyed, and the water in the room disappeared into the ceiling before a familiar blue light appeared in the center.

Volta bounced in joy. "I did it! I did it!"

Sweetie Belle petted her and congratulated her before calling her back in her Poké Ball that she put back in her pocket dimension.

"It was supposed to be one of Ganondorf's top monsters?" asked Navi.

"Apparently," said Link. "My double had been harder to fight than that thing."

Stopping thinking about this disappointing monster, the heroes entered the blue light and, like previously, they were transported in a crystal to the Chamber of the Sages. This time, the blue pedestal glowed with the blue light, and Ruto appeared in it.

"Link..." she began. "I would have expected no less from the man I chose to be my husband."

"You have to tell me how this happened by the way," Sweetie Belle said to Link while giving a tap to the back of his leg, making the Hylian blush.

Ruto giggled at the scene before she continued. "Zora's Domain and its people will eventually return to their original state. As a reward... I grant my eternal love to you." She blew a kiss at Link at this, winking, making the Hylian blush even more, to Sweetie Belle's amusement. However, Ruto's expression turned sad. "Well, that's what I want to say, but I don't think I can offer that now. I have to guard the Water Temple as the Sage of Water... And you... You're searching for the princess, Zelda?"

"Uh..."

"Hah! You can't hide anything from me!"

"Waaaait... Do I smell a love triangle?" asked Sweetie Belle as she looked mischievously at Link. "What a ladykiller. I'm frankly not surprised."

Link groaned. "Stop... Please..."

Both Sweetie Belle and Ruto laughed.

"Princess Zelda is alive, I can sense it, so don't be discouraged," reassured Ruto once she calmed down. "I can tell that nothing will stop you in your quest for justice and peace... You must take this medallion... Take it respectfully!"

She then raised her arms, and a blue medallion appeared above Link who took it.

"I guess I won't be able to keep you, Sweetie Belle," then said Ruto to the filly who giggled at this.

Sweetie Belle quickly used her powers to create a plushy looking like her before she gave it to the Zora princess. "You can't keep me, but you can keep her. Take care of her."

Ruto giggled and took the plushy. "I will. Thank you."

It was then that everything was plunged in light.

"If you see Sheik, please give him my thanks. Ok?"

---

They appeared back on the island in Lake Hylia that was slowly filling back up. There, they found Sheik who was observing the water. They immediately ran to him, and Link passed Ruto's message.

"Ruto wanted to thank me? I see... We have to return peace to Hyrule for her sake too. Don't we?" Sheik waved at the lake as the water finished to raise. "Look at that, Link, Sweetie Belle. Together, you two and Princess Ruto destroyed the evil monster! Once again, the lake is filled with pure water. All is as it was here."

Sweetie Belle looked at the lake. "It's really beautiful."

However, as both Sweetie Belle and Link observed the beauty of the filled lake, Sheik stepped back. When the heroes turned toward him, he was already gone. They however heard someone plunge in the water.

"And he's gone. So, I guess this leaves two temples. But where do we go now?" wondered Sweetie Belle.

"I don't know," answered Link before he approached a pedestal that read "shoot for the morning light." However, it was starting to get late in the afternoon.

After Link read the pedestal for her, Sweetie Belle wondered, "Do we use the Sun's Song, or do we camp and rest here?"

"I wouldn't mind a rest," replied Link. "And I'm hungry. We haven't eaten since this morning. There's a fishing spot not far."

"No thanks. I tasted meat once and it was horrible. I will install the camp while you go fishing."

Link nodded and went to fish.

And so, they spent the night on the island. Link eventually returned with some fishes and, apparently, a 'new' song. He met an old scarecrow friend, and now, thanks to a song, he could invoke another scarecrow in some places that he could use as a Longshot target. He supposed that it was the song he should have played back in the Fire Temple to reach that elevator.

While they ate, Sweetie Belle asked him the story of how Ruto chose him as her husband, and despite the embarrassment, Link told her. They then talked about various stuff before going to sleep early, making sure that they would wake up at the sunrise so Link could do what was written in the pedestal.

Comments

[Spellflame]

So the clone couldn’t control void matter, Makes sense what percentage of sweeties powers of the clone have anyway?

[Lucar]

10669298
She could actually control it. Sweetie Belle just powned her with a Soul Song which the clone couldn't do.

[The Kelduo]

The beam sword then turned into pure darkness as she readied to swing it.

Just with this slash, she sliced in two the explosion caused by the Dark Sweetie Belle using the Crash Ability again...

And the Dark Sweetie Belle...

And the whole pocked dimension in front of her, causing it to start to collapse.

Overkill? ...Nah. More like revenge.
Dark Sweetie learned the hard way that she can't win against alicorn Soul Song Sweetie Belle if Sweetie knows what's coming!

Also, you misspelled pocket.

" Is gonna make you... "

" Very cowed!!!! "

You should change the lyrics so that they say "Is gonna cause you..." "To be cowed!"

[Lucar]

10669386

Overkill? ...Nah. More like revenge.
Dark Sweetie learned the hard way that she can't win against alicorn Soul Song Sweetie Belle if Sweetie knows what's coming!

She would have lost either way. The instant Sweetie Belle started the Soul Song, it was game over. In her Soul Song mode, she could defeat Void by herself.

Also, you misspelled pocket.

You should change the lyrics so that they say "Is gonna cause you..." "To be cowed!"

Corrected and done. Thanks.

[The Kelduo]

10669404
Actually, I initially thought of saying "because Dark Sweetie can't sing a Soul Song" instead of "if Sweetie knows what's coming".

[Lucar]

10669407
Yeah, this is what Dark Sweetie gets for being a silent character.

[Spellflame]

10669304
Why not?

[Spellflame]

10669413
Wait, no voice?

[Lucar]

10669545
More like she just doesn't talk. In Ocarina of Time, when we defeat Dark Link, he screams in agony before disappearing. So it must be the same with Dark Sweetie Belle. She can scream and do other simple sounds, but I don't think she could talk.

[Spellflame]

10669549
That is the most hilarious way a character has ever been nerfed

[Windy0]

10669549
So I guess the one update a day streak is over, huh.

[Lucar]

10671496
It was bound to happen eventually that I wouldn't be able to finish a chapter in one day because of one reason or another.

[Windy0]

10672003
Do you need any help with the current chapter?

[Skulljack17]

And so, they spent the night on the island. Link eventually returned with some fishes and, apparently, a 'new' song. He met an old scarecrow friend, and now, thanks to a song, he could invoke another scarecrow in some places that he could use as a Longshot target. He supposed that it was the song he should have played back in the Fire Temple to reach that elevator.

Yaaaay Scarecrow friend! Him and Sweetie Belle would make the best dancing buddies, no doubt in my mind!