The Legend of Luna: Ocarina of Friendship

Chapters

Peaceful daily life
Darkening horizons
Fight for life

Peaceful daily life

In the darkest of night, one pony will bring the light of hope to an otherwise doomed land.

Chapter 1: Peaceful daily life

The sun rose as it always did in the Kokiri Forest, it's rays filtering through the thick layer of leaves to create an almost otherworldly atmosphere to the small village nestled deep within the forest's confines. Within this village named after the forest it resides within, a single pony's eyes flutter open as the morning's sunlight invades her home. Gentle teal eyes look to her open door as she squints her eyes, obviously trying to wish the sunlight away. After the sun showed no signs of retreating, the pony pulled herself out from under her sheets. A small filly with a light grayish purple coat and a light blue mane that ran almost to her back stretched in her simple room, trying to shake off the night's sleep, her small wings stretching their full length as well.

After stretching, the pony looked around and decided that it was time to start her day, her horn glowing with magic as she floated over a small tunic that was a shade darker than her coat. She smiled at the attire, remembering how it was made for her by a very dear friend of her's. Floating the tunic over her head, she gently eased herself into it, making sure not to put her horn through the fabric, a fate that many of her outfits had already befallen. After finally working it down her body, she finished slipping the last few feathers out the perfectly sized holes that her friend had made so that her wings could be set free. Satisfied, she turned to her open door and nodded to herself. "Let's get the day started, Luna," she told herself before heading out the door.

Luna now stood on the ledge up in the tree that her home was made into. Her home was much different than any of the other homes in Kokiri Village, being the only one that was off ground level. This of course being because Luna was the only Kokiri with wings, a fact that many would not let her forget. At that moment, Luna realized that she could hear a soft noise beneath her, a noise that most would pass of as nothing more than the wind but Luna recognized as a gentle "Hello."

A quick glance down confirmed that her yellow coated, pink maned, earth pony friend stood below her, staring up at Luna with a happy smile. "Good morning Fluttershy," Luna called down to her friend before jumping from her home, her wings spreading as she glided to the ground. Her wings were too small to be able to actually fly but Luna had no problem in gliding for short distances.

"Oh, good morning Luna. Did you sleep well?" Fluttershy asked in her usual, gentle voice.

"Very well," Luna lied. Lately she had not been sleeping too well. Strange nightmares plagued her sleep lately and the more infuriating thing was that when she awoke from the nightmares, she could never remember what they were about.

If Fluttershy could tell that her friend was lying, she did not let it show. Instead, she turned her Cyan eyes towards the heart of Kokiri Village. "So, um, what would you like to do today?" Fluttershy asked, "we could go relax by the stream or perhaps you would like to go see some of the animals near the Lost Woods??"

"You know I don't much like the Lost Woods, Fluttershy," Luna cut in, "but going for a dip in the stream sounds really nice." She flashed her friend a big grin as Fluttershy happily nodded. Both ponies set out at a brisk trot, staying at each other's sides as the two had done for as long as they could remember. It only took a few minutes before the sound of flowing water could be heard and shortly after that, the ponies had arrived at the small stream that ran through the center of Kokiri Village. Luna was slightly surprised that they had not run into any other Kokiri on their way over, but Luna didn't mind as she welcomed the peace and quiet.

However, her peace was not to last. "Well good morning Bird Brain!" the voice cut through the quiet like a knife through a fresh loaf of berry bread.

Luna sighed before looking over to the source of the voice, a pure white earth pony with a wooden shield cutie mark. "Hello Angel," Luna said as flatly as possible, trying to convey her distaste for having to deal with the arrogant pony so early in the morning.

"Didn't you know that this part of the stream is for REAL kokiri? You know the kind that actually HAVE a dragon fairy?" Angel smirked as he mocked Luna, his own dragon fairy floating lazily around his head.

Luna felt her cheeks flush with anger for a moment as she tried to not let Angel's words get to her. But it was true, not only was she the only kokiri with wings but she was also the only kokiri that did not have a guardian dragon fairy. Even her friend Fluttershy had one, even though she usually asked him to stay hidden when around Luna in consideration of her feelings. "I don't want to start this today Angel," Luna said, trying to keep the hurt his words always brought out of her voice. Why wasn't she used to this by now?

"Ohhhhh, what's the matter, Bird Brain? Can't stand that you aren't a real kokiri?" Angle's words cut through to Luna's heart.

As Luna felt her turmoiled feelings starting to rise, Fluttershy moved between Angel and Luna with a determined look in her eyes. "Stop saying such mean things to Luna!" Fluttershy demanded.

Angel visibly twitched, remaining quiet for a few moments before turning around. "Tsk, whatever," was his only response.

As Angel walked away, Luna looked to her friend as Fluttershy sat down heavily. "Ohhhh," Fluttershy fumed quietly, "why does that Angel have to be so mean to you all the time, it makes me so mad."

'At least he didn't bring up my blank flank' Luna thought to herself, knowing the only reason he hadn't was because of Fluttershy's own blank flank. Angel would never make fun of Fluttershy. Luna moved over and sat down without a word and pushed herself gently against her friend, knowing the contact would calm her down. After several long minutes, Fluttershy gave a shaky sigh and leaned into her friend, not liking the angry part of herself that showed itself whenever someone made fun of her friends.

For several long minutes, the two friends remained together, not saying a word. Finally, with a rumble from her belly, Luna looked over with a sheepish smile, "I think some breakfast is in order."

Fluttershy giggled at her companion's expression and stood up, "I just gathered some fresh dandilions this morning before meeting you. Why don't we go and have some sandwiches?"

Before Luna could say a word, another rumble, much louder than before, erupted from her stomach, answering the question for her. With a laugh, the two set out in the direction of Fluttershy's home. Signs of life were finally starting to be seen from the village as the two trotted side by side. Ponies began emerging from their homes, looking for whatever task they happened to have to do this particular day. As the duo reached Fluttershy's house, a loud clacking noise filled the air throughout the village. Fluttershy looked in the direction everyone knew it was coming from. "Oh, it sounds like Miss Cheerilee already," she said cheerfully. After ducking into her house for a few moments, she reemerged with a parcel dangling from her mouth. Quickly setting it down, she turned her large eyes on Luna. "Could you please take this to Cheerilee? Um, if you want to, that is." Fluttershy started to look away, looking a little nervous about asking her friend to do something for her. "I could get some breakfast ready for us while you do that."

Luna smiled, thinking to herself about how cute her friend was when she became flustered but then spoke up to put her friend to ease. "You know I'm always happy to bring Cheerilee her breakfast. Otherwise, she might forget to eat again and pass out. Then who would be our 'brave protector'?" Luna said with a playful smile.

Fluttershy's expression shifted from nervous shyness to an overjoyed smile almost instantly. "Um, thank you. I'll go make your favorite sandwich while you do that." With one final smile, Fluttershy turned to her home and strode in, leaving Luna alone.

With the thoughts of a good breakfast waiting for her upon the end of her usual errand, Luna quickly scooped the parcel up in her mouth and ran for the home on the other side of the village, the one that layed closest to the Lost Woods and where the sounds of woods striking wood at a furious pace could be heard. This particular home belonged to Cheerilee, the guardian of Kokiri Village against anything that may wander out of the Lost Woods. The reason she was trusted with such an important task, despite being an earth pony, was her unmatched skill with the sword. As Luna drew closer, she could see Cheerilee outside, her wooden practice sword held firmly in her mouth as she danced around and struck the wooden practice dummy with such grace that, as always, Luna was left awestuck for several moments. After admiring the deadly dance in front of her for a few more moments, Luna snapped back to reality with a loud rumble from her stomach. The sound was loud enough that even Cheerilee heard it, stopping in mid swing to see where the noise had come from. Upon seeing Luna, a soft smile broke in the corner of Cheerilee's lips as she set her sword down. "Good morning, Luna. What brings you here?" she asked in a soft and cheery voice. A voice that would almost make one forget the deadly display that had just been shown.

After setting the parcel down at Cheerilee's hooves, Luna replied, "Fluttershy asked me to bring you your breakfast."

The grin on Cheerilee's face grew even larger as she bent down and sniffed the parcel. Her eyes widened in delight and she bounced up and down happily, looking more than a little silly. "Blueberries!" she exclaimed joyfully before tearing open the top of the parcel, revealing the tasty treasure within, "Fluttershy is really going to spoil me."

The smell of the sweet berries hit Luna's nose and her stomach cried to her angrily once more. "Well, you have a good morning Miss Cheerilee." She suspected that her words were not even heard though, as Cheerilee had half of her face buried in the pile of berries and was happily munching away. Turning and walking back in the direction of Fluttershy's tree, she found her pace slowly increasing. She gave her usual hellos to the random Kokiri who she passed along the way but would not allow herself to slow down. Her mouth started to water at the thought of Fluttershy's food. Within a few minutes, she was knocking politely on Fluttershy's door before letting herself in. She could hear the activity coming from the kitchen so she trotted back to find Fluttershy putting the finishing touches on three, perfect looking dandilion sandwiches. "Did Miss Cheerilee like her breakfast?"

"She says you are going to spoil her so I think that's her way of saying 'thank you'." Luna replied as she hungrily grabbed one of the sandwiches with her magic, levitating it over and taking a large bite out of it. She practically melted as the taste exploded in her mouth. "I will never understand how you find such amazing tasting food," Luna marveled before taking another large bite.

"Oh! Um, I guess I just always know where to go in the Lost Woods to find things," Fluttershy replied with a blush. She loved when her friends enjoyed her food. "I just follow my hooves."

Luna quickly finished her first sandwich and scooped up the second, working through it just as fast as the first. Fluttershy only looked on with a smile on her face, nibbling on her own sandwich.

Little did either of these ponies know that the peace that they were enjoying was quickly going to be shattered.

Author's note: well, here we have it. This is my first bit of writing after a struggle with writer's block that spanned almost 5 years. Still feeling really rough around the edges and out of practice so constructive criticism and suggestions are always appreciated. Hope you guys enjoyed my work and I look forward to bringing more to you all.

Darkening horizons

Chapter 2: Darkening horizons

Deep within the Kokiri Forest, there stood the peaceful village of Kokiri. The residents lived in general peace, only having to deal with the occasional beast that wandered into the village. Standing over the village was it's guardian, friend, and life giver: the Great Granny Smith Tree. The Great Granny Smith Tree had watched over this place longer than she could remember. She was there when the first Kokiri had made the forest their home. She was there during their hardships. She was there for their joyous days. She watched the Kokiri grow and prosper and came to love them as her own children. Yet as the Great Granny Smith Tree stood there as she had for ages, she knew she would not be able to be there for the ponies that had come to rely on her forever. She felt the darkness building all around her and she knew that if there was going to be any hope of her children surviving the coming darkness, she would have to make her move quickly. "Spike," mumbled the ancient tree, casting her gaze around her clearing, "where did ya get off to, Spike?"

A tiny, purple orb of light descended from Granny Smith's leaves, an apple core falling to the ground from where it had been resting. The creature made it's presence know to the ancient spirit by moving in front of her. Upon closer inspection, one would see that the ball of light was actually a dragon fairy, resident creatures of the Kokiri Forest who long ago made a pact with the forest ponies and now accompanied them as companions and friends. "Right here Granny Smith, is anything wrong?" Spike inquired in a slightly high pitched voice that carried only the faintest hint that this dragon fairy was male.

"The darkness ah feared has finally started to rear it's ugly head," the tree spoke slowly, making every word ring through the tiny creature before it, "ah need ya'll to go into the village and bring me back the pony with no dragon fairy."

Spike, of course, knew the pony in question. Everypony knew of the strange filly. Spike had even once ventured out and watched Luna for a short time, curious to see a pony with wings. He noticed that even though most kokiri would treat her with general kindness, it was obvious that nopony actually accepted her except for one timid looking yellow kokiri. Spike snapped out of his thoughts and gave a quick salute. "I'm on it!" he stated before turning out zipping out of the glade. Flitting around the now lively village, Spike found himself looking from one pony face to another but he could not find the one that he was tasked to locate. Stopping briefly, he thought about where he might find Luna. As he thought, the delicious smell of fresh dandelions hit his nose and Spike momentarily forgot about his mission, his wings taking him to the source of the delicious smell.

Inside Fluttershy's house, Luna had realized just how much of a pig she was being in front of her friend and decided to slow down and enjoy the flavor of what little sandwich she had left. Just as she was about to take a smaller bite, however, a purple blur filled her vision for just a moment and she quickly realized that her sandwich was now gone. Looking around, she saw the last of her sandwich disappear into the mouth of a smaller, purple dragon fairy. "Hey," yelled Luna, startling her friend out of her own little world, "that was mine!"

It only took a moment of scanning for Fluttershy to spot the dragon fairy that Luna was now glaring at angrily. "Oh my, the poor dear must have been hungry, was that enough to fill you up?" Fluttershy asked in her normal, caring voice.

"Oh come on, he already had enough to eat out of MY sandwich," complained Luna but quickly stopped before continuing. She had learned long ago that it was never a good idea to get between Fluttershy and her love of creatures. She closed her eyes and shuttered at the memories of when Fluttershy was denied the right to care for a small group of animals. The rage in her screams still left her with nightmares to this day. Her anger having ebbed away, she opened her eyes to find a tiny pair of green eyes staring right back at her.

The two continued their silent and slightly awkward stare down before the dragon fairy flitted up a little bit and exclaimed, "oh my gosh I found you! Hey, the Great Granny Smith Tree has summoned you for an audience, it's no time to be just sitting around looking dazed. Come on! You're coming with me, let's go!"

Luna continued to sit there, trying to process what the little creature was saying when she felt Fluttershy grip her in a tight hug. "Oh my, Luna, you finally have your own dragon fairy. Isn't that just wonderful? And the Granny Smith Tree wants to see you personally, what an honor." Fluttershy was practically glowing from the happiness she was feeling for her friend.

Luna finally snapped out of her daze, blinking a few times at the slightly confused looking dragon fairy. "My dragon fairy? And The Granny Smith Tree wants to see me?"

"Whoa whoa whoa there. Slow down. I'm just here as..." was all Spike could get out before the yellow earth pony jumped up with surprising speed and caught him in a hug, locking away any chances at escape.

"Oh this is so wonderful," gushed Fluttershy, tears streaming down her face in her happiness, "you finally came for Luna."

Spike sighed, utterly defeated. The one thing he could never fight against was a mare's tears. "Yep, that's me, companion of ol' Luna over there," Spike said after forcing a smile, trying to get away from the overjoyed pony. After looking at the slowly growing look of hope on Luna's face, he knew there really was no turning back. He had never really had a problem with the thought of becoming the partner of a kokiri, he just never thought it would happen so unexpectedly. Finally getting away from Fluttershy, he looked over at Luna. "Come on, we can't leave Granny Smith waiting." With that, he flew over positioned himself on the top of her head, finding a nice, comfy spot atop her mane. 'Maybe this won't be so bad' he thought to himself.

By now, Luna's heart was up in her throat. So much was happening all at once and she felt that if she slowed down to think about it, her mind wouldn't be able to handle it. So with a quick smile and nod over to Fluttershy, Luna dashed out the door. She galloped through the village, a giddy smile spreading across her face. 'Things are finally going to change' she told herself 'I'll finally be normal. I'll finally fit in with the rest of the village.' She could see the large entrance to the glade of The Great Granny Smith Tree getting closer when her way was suddenly barred by the one pony that Luna had forgotten about. His presence quickly ending her state of euphoria. Angel now blocked her way.

"Where do you think you're going, Bird Brain? Only real kokiri get past here to see The Great Granny Smith Tree," Angel looked down at Luna with the same smirk he always did but was slightly surprised to see a mischievous smile spreading across her face.

This was it, this was where she would finally be able to have her revenge. "You mean like this?" she asked, tilting her head forward to show Spike, who was still gripping onto Luna's mane tightly. He wasn't yet used to the jerky feeling of riding a pony compared to the smoothness of his flying.

"Yeah, we need passed," Spike managed to squeak out,"summons from Granny Smith."

"What?!" exclaimed Angel, staring at the dragon fairy in disbelief. He gritted his teeth, looking left and right before finally saying, "well, you still can't get through because you don't have anything to defend The Granny Smith Tree with. To get past this point, you'll need a sword." His face had regained it's former smirk, not giving Luna her desired victory.

"What do you mean you won't let us past?" Spike flew up from Luna's mane, absolutely vivid, "we have urgent summons from The Great Granny Smith Tree and you're slowing us down!" Spike was shouting by that point but Angel only stared the small creature down defiantly.

"I'm the protector of this passage and if I say you don't get through without a sword, then you aren't getting through without a sword!"

After a few moments of staring at Angel, Luna sighed and turned around to leave, knowing that just talking would not change Angel's mind. She trotted away, her mind abuzz with furious thoughts directed at the white pony who dared block her. "Can you believe him?" Spike piped up, "who does he think he is? And why did you just give up like that? Where are you going? We need to get to the Great Granny Smith Tree now!"

Luna didn't turn to look at Spike as she replied, "we're going to give him what he wants." If Angel wanted to see a sword, then he was going to get exactly that. Luna felt a determination which she had never known filling her as she strode through the village with a hard look in her eyes. But there was only one place she knew of that had a blade. And that was the building that now loomed in front of Luna. The home of Cheerilee. Luna quickly spotted the purple pony at the side of the home, resting from her morning exercises. Trotting up to her with as much confidence as she could muster, she called out, "Miss Cheerilee!"

The guardian pony opened her eyes and looked over at Luna, a smile quickly spreading across her face. "Luna, you're back already?" Cheerilee noticed the look in Luna's eyes and the smile slightly dropped, "is everything alright?"

Deciding that dancing around the subject would get her nowhere, Luna simply said, "I need a sword."

Cheerilee was left dumb stuck at this for several moments. While several ponies had approached her, asking for training, she never would have expected this from a pony like Luna. Normally, she would just send the pony away but something in Luna's eyes stopped her. "Tell me what's happened and then I will consider your request."

For the next few minutes, Luna told Cheerilee what had occurred in the short time since they had seen each other this morning. Spike popped up every few moments to add in his two bits and finally Luna ended with, "that's why I came to you, you are the only way I could think of to get a sword. Will you help me?"

Cheerilee remained silent as she pondered the events that had been laid before her. A summons from The Great Granny Smith Tree was a very serious matter and while she knew that if she simply accompanied Luna to the passage, she could make Angel stand aside. However, Cheerilee felt something was very wrong with all of this. A sword might not be such a bad idea. With a nod, she made her decision. "I will give you a sword," both Luna and Spike's faces lit up, "on one condition." Cheerilee continued, rising from her sitting position. The smiles quickly disappeared, being replaced with a look of dread from Luna, she didn't like the sound of that.

"What condition?" Spike asked.

Walking over to the side of her home, Cheerilee grasped one of her wooden practice swords between her teeth before tossing it over to the stunned filly. "You're going to have to prove to me that you are worthy of holding one of my blades by striking me at least once."

Luna's jaw dropped, fear quickly filling her heart. She watched as Cheerilee took another practice sword and moved into an open area, her eyes never leaving Luna's. "Come on Luna, you can do that. Right?" Spike said in an encouraging tone.

Luna knew that she had no chance at beating Cheerilee but she also knew that if she didn't, she would be denied her chance at her future. Steeling her nerves, she levitated the sword in front of her with her magic. Cheerilee frowned at that. "That's not a good idea Luna."

Luna was confused, how had she already made a mistake? She used to sneak behind her home and pretend she was a warrior like cheerilee with long sticks she would find. She knew that she could move anything faster with her magic than if she tried to simply hold it. Cheerilee saw the look of confusion and sighed and in a blur, kicked a random rock in Luna's direction. Startled, she just barely managed to catch the rock with her magic an inch before it struck her face. This, however, caused her to drop the sword to the ground. With nearly blinding speed, Cheerilee lunged forward and struck Luna across the head, causing stars to explode in front of her eyes. "Dead," she stated simply, waiting a few moments for Luna to become clear headed. As Luna looked up to yell at the swordsmare, she quickly cut her off. "You can't hold more than one thing with your magic yet, can you?" Holding her sore head and biting her tongue, Luna simply nodded. "And while you are busy holding your sword with your magic, what if an enemy does exactly what I just did?" Luna couldn't deny the wisdom of the words. "You will hold the sword as I do," she ordered as she moved back to original spot. Luna shakily stood and retrieved her dropped weapon, this time holding it firmly between her teeth.

For the next 30 minutes, Luna attempted to strike the nimble fighter using anything her creative mind could think of.
It was to no avail however, as Cheerilee effortlessly jumped to and fro, dodging every attempt. Luna was quickly become exhausted and running out of ideas. 'Maybe I'm really NOT good enough to do something like this.' Luna shook her head, banishing the traitorous thought from her head. She locked her eyes on the pony before her once more and stared with a look of savage determination. 'If only I could find just one opening, I could...' her thought was interrupted, however, as a purple blur shot past her and stopped just short of Cheerilee's eyes. Spike had watched all of this with a growing feeling of impatience. Granny Smith was waiting on him and he was just sitting there watching Luna struggle against an obviously superior opponent. It had only been at that moment that he had made his own decision. If he was going to be a partner to this little filly, he was going to have to start helping her in any way he could. This brash move surprised Cheerilee as she reared back on her hind legs. Luna saw the moment she had been waiting for and she leaped forward, beating her wings to give her a boost of speed. Cheerilee, however, knew by instinct that the attack was coming and jumped straight up. Lune felt the tip of her weapon brush her opponent's hoof as she fell forward, her energy finally drained. Luna gasped for breath and sweat poured down her body as Cheerilee landed heavily next to her. Spike flew down to check on Luna as Cheerilee stared down at the heaving filly. Luna saw the stare and felt her heart break as Cheerilee turned and, without a word, walked into her tree home.

She had failed. She wasn't good enough after all. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she choked back a sob. Rolling into as tight a ball as she could, she wanted to disappear from the world. Spike wanted to say something but could think of nothing at all. Neither heard the hoofsteps returning. "Why are you crying?" The question snapped Luna back to reality as she quickly looked up, seeing Cheerilee looking down at her with a compassionate smile. Cheerilee bent down and nuzzled against Luna's cheeks, wiping the tears away. "Shouldn't you be happy?" she asked.

Luna turned her eyes away. "I couldn't hit you. I didn't pass," Luna forced back another sob as she said the words.

"Really?" Cheerilee asked, "because I distinctly recall you hitting my hoof." Luna looked up in surprise. Surely a

graze like wasn't enough to impress Cheerilee. Tilting her head back, Cheerilee pulled something that she had carried on her back. Luna's eyes widened as she that it was not only a sword, but the famous Kokiri Sword, a weapon that was said to have been used by the very first guardian of the Kokiri Village and was considered a true treasure. Setting the weapon down only long enough to nuzzle Luna's head once more, prompting her to stand, Cheerilee picked the sword up once more and positioned it across Luna's back, noting with a smile how it seemed to fit just perfectly in the space between Luna's wings. After securely tying the sword around Luna's body, Cheerilee stepped back to admire her work. The dark blue of the sheath seemed to match Luna's coat perfectly. "It's almost like it was made for you," Cheerilee remarked.

Luna, finally coming out of her stunned silence, looked up at Cheerilee with a look of wonder in her eyes. "Is it really alright for you to give me this?"

"I have a feeling that you are going to need this sword in the coming events, hold it with pride. I have another gift for you before you leave as well. Lift your right hoof." Luna did as instructed and Cheerilee moved forward, bringing out what looked like a beautiful silver chain with numerous smaller chains dangling from it. After a few moments, she had clasped the silver chain around Luna leg, just above her hoof. Luna looked at it, marveling at it's simple beauty as Cheerilee spoke up once more, "This bracelet has been passed down in my family since before memory. It hold the power to shrink objects for use later. All you have to do is hold the desired object to one of the attached chains and the object will be transformed into a charm. All you have to do to make it return to normal is pull it back off the chain."

Luna stared at the wonderful gift, absolutely speechless. Cheerilee wrapped Luna in a tight hug. "You're destined for great things, I know it," Cheerilee whispered to Luna, "now go and prove it to everyone." Cheerilee released Luna and, with tears of happiness springing forth from her eyes, Luna turned and began running back in the direction of The Granny Smith Tree's glade.

Luna cried happily the whole way through the village, her former fatigue forgotten in her joy. Only the sight of Angel waiting in the distance caused her to slow down and compose herself, wiping the tears from her eyes. With a glance up at Spike, the pair nodded and strode forward.

Angel quickly moved to block the advancing mare just as he had done earlier. "Didn't I say that you couldn't come through here Bird Brain? You got feathers in your ears now?" Luna only smiled as she turned, showing Angel the Kokiri Sword strapped across her back. Luna would have been lying if she said she didn't get a certain pleasure from the stunned look that filled the colt's face. "Wha- bu- tha- how do you have that sword!?" Angel finally managed to say.

"Don't matter, you said she needed a sword to get past you," Spike stated, getting in front of Angel's face, "as you can see, Luna's got a sword to get your albino flank out of the way."

Angel stood motionless for a few moments before bowing his head with a look of defeat. As he moved to the side, Luna swear she heard Angel mutter, "first Fluttershy, then a summon by Granny Smith herself, and now even the Kokiri Sword? It's not fair. Why won't anyone see all that I do?" Before Luna had a chance to feel sorry for the broken looking pony, he whirled around with a look of anger in his eyes and shouted, "I'll still never call you a real kokiri BLANK FLANK!" With that said, he turned and ran off into the distance.

"Eh, don't listen to him, he's just jealous," Spike floated lazily down to Luna's field of vision, "now come on, Granny Smith's been waiting way to long for us."

Luna nodded as Spike positioned himself atop Luna once more. Luna stared at the large entrance, her heart hammering in her throat from excitement. After taking a deep breath, Luna stepped forward toward her destiny.

Author's note: Changed a few things around with the legend of zelda universe here with this chapter. I felt that shields at this point would be an odd thing to introduce so Angel didn't request one. This doesn't mean that there will be no shields however. It just means they will be brought in in later chapters. I also needed to think of a way the inventory system would work here when I thought of the charm bracelet. It's a little bit of a nod to the old Zelda cartoon and I just loved the thought of how well it would work. Again, if anyone notices anything wrong with the chapter or have something you might want to add, please feel free to leave a comment about it. I am always looking for feedback with my stories.

Fight for life

Chapter 3: Fight for life

Luna strode forward through the small tunnel made by the thick foliage. Her heart was hammering heavily in her throat. Here she was, a lonely little filly about to gaze upon the spirit that had gaurded the Kokiri since their birth. She still couldn't believe all of this was happening. As she approached a bend in the path, she could see a gentle light shining. Spike jumped from her head and flew ahead, leaving her sight for only a moment until she made the turn and her heart stopped. Standing before her, the mighty Great Granny Smith Tree towered above her. Luna had never even imagined her to be this wondrous. She heard something clearing it's throat next to her and turned to see Spike floating next to her. With a tilt of his head and a smile on his face, he said, "Luna, meet the Great Granny Smith Tree." As he then flies up in front of the large and gentle face of the tree, he said gently, "I brought the filly as you asked Great Granny Smith."

"That ya' did, Spike. 'At's a good dragon," she replied softly, "well get over here child and stop yer gawking. We haven't got all day."

Surprised out of her stupor, Luna quickly moved forward, craning her neck back to look up into the face of her protector. "I-I've come as you asked, Great Granny Smith Tree, i-in what way may I help you?" Luna asked, wonder quickly being replaced by nervous energy.

"Calm down child, you look as nervous as a rabbit in a wolfos' den," the ancient tree chuckled gently as she looked down at the tiny filly. Her heart grew heavy at the task she was going to place onto the shoulders of such a little filly. "Dear, sweet Luna. You have grown so much. I'm afraid we are about out of time however. A dark, evil storm is brewing quickly and has already turned it's sights on me." Fear quickly started to build on young Luna's face as the Granny Smith Tree continued, "your sleep lately ain't been all too peaceful, now has it? The same dream coming back again and again?"

As she spoke, Luna's eyes widened as flashes of memory pass before her eyes. The dreams quickly and suddenly coming back to her. A flash of lightning. She finds herself standing before a great wall made of rock and wood. The wood lowers itself, revealing what looks like a town beyond. An orange mare gallops past with a beautiful white filly on her back. The filly turns and locks her magenta eyes with her's for a fleeting moment and then they are gone. A noise draws her attention back to the entrance and she is met with the horrible sight of a tall mare as black as the darkest night. The nightmarish pony turns cold, heartless eyes upon her. The mare's wings snap open, blocking out the sky itself as the blackness engulfs her before the nightmare ends.

Luna's eyes dilated as fear from the dream flooded her mind. She struggled to keep her breathing in check as the Granny Smith Tree continued, "It is not a coincidence, child, that you are having these dreams. Yur sensitive to the dark. You can feel it coming," the Granny Smith Tree hesitated a moment before continuing, "and I've called ya'll in here to fight it!"

Luna looked up in confusion. "Me?!" was all her over clocked brain could manage to spit out. She started to lose control of her breathing at this point, causing her to take large gulps of air.

The Great Granny Smith Tree was silent for a time before softly saying, "Luna, a great and evil mare is trying to bring about the end of everything child. I'm sick. The evil one has sent one of her minions inside of me and I no longer have the strength to fight it off. I'm so terribly sorry to ask you this but I need your help. Will you please help this old tree and fight?"

The fear in young Luna's heart suddenly melted away at those words. As she worked over Granny Smith's words in her head, a spark of courage lit within her. Here was the guardian spirit of the Kokiri, the very one that had always watched over them like they were her very own children. And she needed Luna's help. With a nod of her head, she raised her eyes to the Great Granny Smith Tree. "I'll fight."

A proud smile spread across the tree's face as she gazed down at the courageous filly in front of her. "Ah've left something for you within me that should help you. Ah wish I coulda given it to ya straight out but I'm just so plum tired now. Hurry now." The Granny Smith Tree opened her mouth wide, creating a doorway for Luna to enter. Luna stared at the dark entrance as Spike floated down, coming to rest in Luna's mane.

"Don't forget about me, can't forget your new partner is gonna help you out too! Not gonna fight alone ever again," Spike exclaimed.

Luna smiled at Spike's declaration before running full tilt into the entrance of The Great Granny Smith Tree.

Inside, both Luna and Spike marveled at the spacious chamber hidden within. They stood in a tall room must have easily extended up through half of the Great Granny Smith Tree. A winding path extended from the wall all the the way to the top. "Whoa," they said in unison. "This can't be natural," continued Spike, "this almost looks carved out. Do you think that the monster did this?"

Luna nodded as she strode forward. She knew that she didn't have the time to be marveling so she moved towards the start of the rising path. Before she could reach it however, a noise coming from the shadows caught her attention. She barely had time to react as a tiny, three legged creature that vaguely resembled a blue bear darted forward. It's claws only met air though as Luna jumped straight up. Her heart was in her throat as she got a good look at the creature. Her sudden return of fear made her freeze up, which caused her to fall and land directly on top of the creature. By shear luck, her hooves came down at the base of the creatures skull, breaking it's neck and killing it instantly. Luna quickly shot backwards, her heart still pounding erratically as she stared at the now still beast. "Wa-was that it? Was that the monster?"

Spike fluttered over, his eyes aglow as an ancient magic of understanding rose within him. "No, this was just a small fry. Something called a Ursaling." Luna's heart fell as her hopes of an early victory were dashed. Spike opened his mouth to continue but before he could say another word, a small blue fire enveloped the dead ursaling and within moments, nothing remained of it's body. The pair was silent for several seconds, both staring at the now empty spot. "Okay, that was just plain creepy," Spike finally said.

Luna could only nod her head before turning and drawing her sword. She got lucky this time and she knew it. She did not want to be taken by surprise again. Spike quickly took his spot in Luna's mane before she started up the rising path. She walked for what felt like an eternity. Every silent moment dragged on in her mind forever. After making it about half way up the path, a scuffling noise was heard ahead of her. She looked in the direction of the noise and found three ursalings shuffling towards her quickly. She got down into a ready stance, her sword in her mouth as she eyed them. She suddenly remembered a similar situation where Cheerilee fought off three attacking timberwolves. In her mind she pictured the graceful dance of death that the swordsmare displayed and she moved forward to meet the first ursaling. She ducked under it's swiping claw, her sword meeting it's middle as it was cut in two. Using her momentum, she then spun around, doing a full spin, catching the second beast by surprise and separated the monster's head from it's stubby neck. Seeing the sudden demise of it's kin, the final ursaling froze just long enough for Luna to leap up, driving her sword through it's chest.

Luna panted heavily as the strange blue fire claimed her fallen prey. A smile of confidence crossed her lips. She did it! She could do this! She beamed proudly as she pulled her sword from where it had gotten stuck in the floor. "WOW, that was awesome!" yelled Spike as he flitted back and forth, "they were all like 'RAR!' and you were all like 'WHOOSH!' and then they were all like 'BLARG!' So cool!!"

Luna blushed slightly at the excited dragon fairy's words. "Come on, we gotta keep going." Spike, with a silly grin still plastered on his face, took his seat on Luna's head before she continued on, a new sense of confidence in her stride as she spotted a door at the very top. 'That must have been what the three were guarding' Luna thought to herself as she approached the door and opened it.

Inside, her heart slightly sank at what they found. At the far end of the room, on the other side of a long pit, was a large treasure chest that looked like it was made of part of the tree. "That must be the gift from Granny Smith!" exclaimed Spike as he flitted forward but stopped as he spied what was at the bottom of the pit. Jagged spikes ran along the whole length of the floor of the pit, promising death to anything that fell within. "But how are you supposed to get over to it?"

Luna was already looking around the room, taking everything in and trying to find some way to continue. She may be able to jump pretty far in thanks to her gliding but that expanse was too much even for her. There were three torches around her, only one of them lit, casting an eerie darkness around the room and making it hard to full see anything above them. She swore she saw movement however so she looked around to try to find some way to make the room brighter. She spotted her solution quickly as she trotted over to a long, jagged piece of wood sticking out of the wall. She sheathed her sword and took the piece of wood in her mouth. After saying a quick and silent apology in case this was about to hurt, she gave a tug and yanked the wood from the wall. Now armed with her new branch, she walked over to the burning torch, lighting the end of her stick ablaze. Knowing she didn't have long, she quickly trotted over to the unlit torches, spreading the fire to each of them.

Tossing the piece of wood down into the pit as it was reduced to ashes, she looked around at the now lit room. She quickly found that she was right about the movement in the ceiling as a large spider descended to hand about halfway across the pit. The pony and spider stared at each other for several moments before quickly turning around. It looked in that direction for a few seconds before looking back to Luna. It continued as Spike's eyes lit once more. "Smith spiders. Paranoid creatures that always have to look around them to make sure an enemy isn't behind them."

The constantly turning enemy gave Luna a sudden idea. A crazy smile crossed her lips as she started backing up towards the door. "You may want to hang on," she stated as she stared at the smith spider. Her timing would have to be perfect if her plan was to work. She remained still for a few turns of the spider, getting it's rhythm down in her head. As it began it's turn away from her, she shot forward like a bullet, launching herself into the air towards it. Before it had a chance to turn back, Luna landed momentarily on the stunned creature's head, pushing off of it for a second leap. Luna's eyes narrowed as she approached the ledge. Almost falling short, the small filly grabbed the edge of the ledge and pulled herself up quickly. Her heart once again beating quickly, she took a moment to marvel that her plan had actually worked. She looked back to find that her kick had caused the smith spider's delicate thread to snap, sending to spider to it's death below. "There goes my way back," she muttered to herself as she turned her attention back to the chest.

Walking up to the chest, she marveled at how it was even bigger than she was before popping the top of it up. Looking inside, she found something she had only seen once before in Miss Cheerilee's house, a slingshot. The Y shaped piece of wood holding a strip of elastic between it's prongs connected to a ring of wood that looked about the right width for her hoof to fit through. She lifted the small weapon out of the chest and tested the ring. Luna was shocked when the ring suddenly shrank down to perfectly fit her hoof. She lifted it up and examined it, liking the new feeling. As she looked at her new weapon, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning her attention to it, she found what looked like a switch with an insignia of an apple of it nestled near the ceiling on the other side of the pit. Her angle from the other side had left it hidden until now. Filled with curiosity, she looked around until she found a small pebble at her feet. Loading the rock into her new slingshot, Luna took careful aim, not fully sure if she was doing it properly. Her first shot fell short of her target and luna grumbled silently as she loaded another rock, aiming higher this time. This rock, however, hit just to the right of the switch. Finding only one more rock near her, Luna pulled back on the elastic and let the projectile fly. It hit square on and Luna jumped up, giving a loud cheer before she was silenced by a rumbling.

Before she could wonder what was going on, a platform fell from the ceiling, creating a comfortable bridge across the pit. "Nice shot!" marveled Spike. Now beaming with pride and feeling like nothing could stop her, Luna trotted across the bridge. "But what do we do now?"

Luna stopped just short of the door, the question sinking in. There had only been one path and one door that they had seen. Where was this monster that she was supposed to be fighting? It's not like there was really anywhere for it to hide. Turning the question over in her head, Luna exited the room, walking over to the edge of the spiraling path and sitting down. Was there something she could have missed? Her eyes darted down across the large room but she saw no other door, no other path. As her eyes scanned the path once more, something caught her attention down in the middle of the floor at the base. She had not been able to see it when she had entered because of her angle but now from her higher vantage point, it looked like a tiny pinpoint of light on the floor. Like she was looking at a lamp through a screen of some sort. "Do you see that?" Luna asked her partner.

"See what?" inquired Spike as he looked in the direction where Luna's hoof pointed to. After several silent moments of staring at the floor, his eyes widened as he shouted, "a fake floor! I bet there's more stuff deeper down. Come on, let's go down there and see if there's a switch or something that'll let us through." Spike fluttered over and slipped into Luna's mane but was confused when the pony didn't move from the ledge and only continued to stare down at the floor below.

"We don't have time for that," she finally spoke up as grabbed the slingshot in her teeth and removed it from her hoof. After holding the item to one of the hooks on her bracelet, she watched as it shrank down and took a metallic sheen to it as it transformed into a charm. With her new gift safely stored away, Luna started backing up, her eyes locked on the ledge.

"Luna, what are you doing?" Spike asked in a somewhat nervous tone. 'She couldn't possibly be thinking of doing something that stupid, right?' Spike's silent question was quickly answered as Luna ran forward and leapt off the ledge, going into a sharp dive straight at the center of the floor below. Spike held on for dear life as they neared what he thought would possibly be the end of his partner's short adventure. At the last moment, Luna thrust all four of her hooves forward, making contact with the thin floor. The shock traveled through her small body that the wind was knocked from her lungs and dazed her. But her efforts payed off as the floor burst from the impact, sending her and a terrified Spike into a now tumbling free fall before hitting a small pool of water below. As Luna floated to the surface, a now drenched and very angry Spike shot out of the water, shaking himself dry quickly. Luna struggled to paddle to the edge of the pond, her body almost having seized up from the two impacts. Dragging herself to dry land, she allowed herself to slump down, her body taking in deep gulps of air trying to recover from the hit.

"What the BUCK were you thinking?!" shouted Spike angrily as he flitted down into the sight of Luna, "you could have killed yourself and then what? We'd all be done for!" Spike continued to ramble on as Luna slowly got her breathing under control.

Forcing herself to her hooves shakily, she turned to the now silent Spike. "Still alive though," was all she said with a light smile.

Spike crossed his arms and frowned heavily, "even still, if you do something stupid like that again and get yourself killed, I'm going to kill you."

Luna giggled at the dragon fairy's concern and nodded her head, "deal." With that out of the way, Luna finally looked around at her surroundings. She found herself standing in a massive chamber. The pond she had fallen into separated the chamber into two parts. On the side she was on, there was a simple door to her left. The other side, she noticed was raised from the water in a way that she couldn't get over to it. Luna spied a large door on the other side of the chamber and she felt deep down that that was where she needed to be.

"Guess there's nowhere to go but over here," Spike stated before flying over to the door on her left. Simply nodding, Luna walked over to the exit, Spike flitting once more down onto Luna's head as she drew near. Opening the door, Luna found herself in a long hallway. She quickly spotted another door at the far end and started trotting down the hall, only to stop as a strange bush like creature popped up from the ground in front of the door. Spike didn't even need magic to know this one. "It's a smith shrub. They're normally just pranksters who don't leave their safe haven deeper in the forest. What's one doing in here?"

As if to answer his question, the smith shrub yelled in a high scratchy tone, "none may pass!" before spitting a seed the size of Luna's head at them. Luna nimbly dodged to the side only to find another seed already speeding towards her. She dodged left and right as the shrub continued it's onslaught. Growing frustrated at this annoyance, Luna reached out with her magic, grabbing ahold of a seed as he flew to her side. A midnight blue aura enveloped the projectile, stopping it in midair. The smith shrub stopped it's firing in shock as it watched it's own seed be launched back at it. It couldn't sink back into the ground fast enough and was hit with enough force to separate it from it's safe ground. Before the shrub could get's to it's stubby feet, Luna was bearing down it with her sword drawn. The creature's eyes widened as it gave a little screech of fright. "Please don't kill me! I was just following orders!"

"Who's orders?" asked Luna, bringing the tip of her sword closer to the cowering monster.

"It was Boss, if we didn't listen, we would have been killed on the spot. But let me go and I'll tell you a secret." Luna thought for several seconds on if she should trust the smith shrub or not before pulling her sword away. "Boss is a night creature who can't handle the light."

"That's it?" asked a rather annoyed Spike.

"Yep!" called the smith shrub as it leapt back into it's hole, "later! I'm outta here!" And with that, it was gone.

Luna still found herself annoyed but knew that every little fact could help out. Even though her confidence thus far told her she would be fine. Striding to the door, she opened it to find a fairly sized, circular room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. On the opposite side, Luna spotted what looked like a small tunnel. She decided that there was no time to just sit there and wonder so she walked into the room, only to have the door slam shut behind her. As she whipped around to look at the door, she heard scratching noises above her. Looking up, she found the ceiling to be covered in ursalings. "Buck," was all Spike could say before ursalings started raining down on them. Luna quickly drew her sword and leapt forward to a safe area, cleaving a falling ursaling in two as she did so. Looking around at all of the monsters as they filled the room, Luna couldn't help a manic smile to cross her lips as she leapt towards the first batch of victims.

Spike was amazed as he held on for dear life. Luna tore through the ursalings with a savageness that he had never seen before. It was only a few short minutes before Luna stood in the middle of an empty room, panting heavily. The last of the mysterious blue fires disappeared, taking with it the last mutilated corpse that had fallen before Luna. Sheathing her sword, Luna began laughing hysterically. The adrenaline coursing through her veins along with her newest feats in battle left Luna feeling like nothing at all could touch her. Spike quickly became worried for Luna's sanity. Luna's laughter stopped abruptly as she looked at the tunnel ahead of her. 'Whoever this 'Boss' monster is, I'll take them out in a heartbeat just like I did these beasts' Luna told herself with a confident smile plastered on her face. With that thought, she quickly moved to the tunnel, finding she could easily kneel down and crawl through. Once through the tunnel, she found that she was on the side of the chamber with the pond. Looking over to the large door, her smile grew to an almost sadistic level as she walked forward. Spike wanted to say something but found himself afraid to bring the attention of this new side of Luna to himself.

Opening the large door, Luna strode into the dark room beyond. Luna could not to the other side but she felt that the room she now found herself in was massive. Bringing her magic into her horn, she lit the room with the soft glow of her magic. What she saw made her breath stop in her throat. Laying before them was a massive bear that looked to be made of the night sky itself. Stars twinkled across it's hide as Luna stared at the sleeping monster. The beast's slumber was not to last, however, as Luna's light reached it's closed eyes. As they slowly opened, the bear rose to it's feet, casting it's gaze down to the little filly that stared at it in wonder. Spike's eyes began to glow and he said in a terror filled whisper, "Ursa Minor."

Ursa Minor's roar filled the chamber as it's hide became brighter, filling the chamber with light. The roar shook Luna from her stunned wonder as her eyes quickly narrowed, drawing her sword quickly. Standing up on it's back feet, the bear swiped it's large paw at the intruder, Luna barely managing to dodge to the side as the claws gouged the floor where she had just stood. Needing a moment to think, Luna ran around to the monster's back, hoping to buy herself a few moments to think. She knew that she needed to get at the head but there was no way for her to get all the way up there. Quickly yanking her slingshot from her bracelet with her magic, the item grew to it's normal size as she slipped it around her hoof. Loading her weapon with wooden shrapnel she found on the floor from Ursa Minor's attacks, she let loose her attack. Her aim was dead on but her hopes fell slightly as she saw that it did nothing more than annoy it and alert it to where she was.

With surprising speed for such a large monster, Ursa Minor spun around and swung for Luna once more. It only found air however as Luna flapped her wings to help her jump back quickly. As she backpedaled, she tripped over something and hit the ground. Taking a chance to glance down at what had tripped her, she saw what looked like a large nut and her smile returned. Luna had always loved a good prank and immediately recognized the nut. It was a smith nut. A completely harmless thing but when struck against a surface, it emitted a bright flash and a deafening bang. Seeing her chance, she grabbed the seed with her magic and dashed to the side, dodging yet another deadly swipe from Ursa Minor. Fitting the seed into her slingshot, Luna took aim and let it fly. Her aim was perfect as the seed hit right between Ursa Minor's eyes and went off just as planned.

The stunned monster fell down, hitting the ground as it clutched at it's blinded eyes, roaring in pain. Luna was once more filled with confidence as she ran towards the beast. Before she could reach her target however, the bear made a blind swing and finally connected, launching the filly through the air and slamming her against the far wall. Luna's world was suddenly filled with more pain than she had ever known. She slumped to the ground as her legs gave out beneath her. She was having trouble breathing. She looked over with bleary eyes as she saw Ursa Minor rise to it's feet, looking over in her direction, it's eyes now filled with rage.

All of the confidence drained from Luna's heart and was quickly replaced with fear. She suddenly understood just how serious all of this had been. She understood just how lucky she had been up to this point. And as Ursa Minor charged forward, baring it's teeth, she understood with a chill that she was about to die. That thought rang in every corner of the young filly's mind as the beast grew closer. As she stared her oncoming death in the face, Luna's mind blanked and she screamed, the sword falling to the ground. Her terrified screams continued as he magic suddenly grabbed ahold of the fallen sword and launched it forward in an instinctual move to survive. Ursa Minor never saw it coming as the sword pierced through the roof of it's open mouth, exiting out the top of it's skull and embedding itself in the ceiling. It was dead before it even hit the ground.

As Luna stared at the fallen monster, still not fully understanding what had even happened, the monster erupted in blue flame, burning down until not a trace of it was left. Luna continued to stare at the now empty space, still not fully believing that she was still alive, as a pillar of light appeared in the center of the room. Luna struggled to her hooves, limping towards the light, stopping only long enough to yank the sword from the ceiling with her magic. As Luna entered the light, she felt a sense of weightlessness as she floated up, the light carrying Luna away from the sight of her first, great battle.

What the little pony didn't know was that it would not be her last.

Author's notes: AND WE'RE BACK EVERYPONY!!! My deepest apologies on this chapter taking so long. I hope that it still is up to the expectations some seem to have for it. This was the first chapter that included actual battle so I hope to hear how you all liked it. I purposely made the first dungeon rather simple. As Luna continues on, the dungeons will, in true Legend of Zelda tradition, become longer and much more complicated. If you spot any errors or if there are any problems you have with the chapter, PLEASE feel free to say so in the comments. I am always looking to make my work better. I hope to get the next chapter out much faster.