Valley of Seers, Hyrule...
The heroes stood next to one another. Each of them ready for what they thought to be the final battle to save their world: Lana, Impa, Shiek and the Chosen Hero, Link, spared each other a glance, having a plan in mind. But as they were ready to close the Gate of Souls, and with it destroying the army, a purple circle opened up beneath them, and Lana flipped high in the air, leaving the remaining three heroes confused on what was happening.
Link and Shiek looked at the back of their hands curiously, seeing their Triforce glow. Impa wondered how it was that Shiek managed to get her segment but decided against on asking. Lana's eyes went wide at what she was seeing.
"Shiek! That's-" she paused once she saw the Triforce segments fly off them and into the air.
In front of the Gate of Souls was Cia, who raised her part of the Triforce so that the remaining two pieces could merge with it and lowered her arm once they did with a glow. The villainess laughed, "Hahaha! How nice of you to bring the Triforce of Wisdom as well!" she said while walking down the stairs. She believed the missing Princess Zelda to have the piece, but was happy to see Shiek had it in her place, making her plan a lot easier to enact.
The four readied their weapons again, as Cia looked at the Triforce pieces, "That means I have all three pieces..." she purred, seeing said pieces float.
"Behold... the awesome majesty of the completed Triforce!" she cackled, her mask covering her expressions.
Lana bellowed at her friends, "No! Link, run!" and so he and the others did so.
Meanwhile, a dark voice called to Cia as she merged the Triforce pieces together. "Cia... The time to call the fragments of my spirit is NOW!" it ordered.
"Yes... I can feel them seeking me out..." Cia whispered. Haaaaaaahh!" she screamed, releasing a burst of dark purple energy.
The heroes made a distance as Cia released the energy, reating a vortex in the sky and an explosion that altered the very terrain they stood on. Lana spoke, "Everyone, gather around me!" the three walked near her, wondering what she had in mind.
Then, Lana threw her book in the air, it glowing, jumped up to catch it and slammed her fist on the ground, creating a spell that covered the four in a forcefield as the explosion of magic passed them. In it, they saw visions of what was happening.
In the vortex, a flying piece of land descended. In another part of the land, the grass and life was replaced by a mountain. And in a third part, segments of darkness covered it as a castle formed. Three different timelines had merged into this one.
Back with Cia, she called out, "Gate of Souls... Hear my voice... And open!"
The dark voice spoke again, "My spirit will be freed!"
The dark sorceress raised her hands, creating a small Gate of Souls within the locales of the three fragmented areas. And by doing so, exposed each one to her dark magic. Three strange orbs in chests flew off and merged with her body. The voice chuckled, "Good work, child..." he said. "Three fragments of my spirit have been returned... The only piece that remains is the one trapped by the Master Sword."
Cia raised her head, feeling the enhancements of the fragments power her up.
Lana knew what was happening. And she explained that a Gate of Souls opened in each of three fragmented eras. And so, they decided to split off to free these timelines from Cia's plot. The merging of eras and worlds must be stopped.
But this isn't their story. For this magic had affected another set of worlds. Two to be exact. And soon, they will discover what was happening as heroes show up there.
Twilight's Castle, Equestria...
Twilight Sparkle raised her eyes from her book, seeing a light purple unicorn walk into the room. "Hi, Starlight! How did your visit with Applejack go?" she wondered. Her student walked in, seemingly happy. She had sent the unicorn on a brief lesson on friendship, and that started by seeing if she can bonds with her friends. It was a very recent change for her, being a mentor for another to learn what she once did,
Starlight smiled, "It went great. She had me help around the fields for a bit and then had a quick meal."
"That's wonderful. I told you it'd be alright." Twilight said, the alicorn proud of her student.
The unicorn sighed, "I know, but you should know why I was hesitant. I'm still starting out in learning friendship. I didn't think any of your friends can forgive me after what I've done. Especially--" she cut herself off once Twilight sat up in her chair from leaning.
"Starlight, we've been over this. You've shown regret over what you've done. With what could've happened in that timeline. That proved that you were worth saving. If I didn't have faith in you, I wouldn't have taken you under my wing."
Starlight sighed again, "I know, but it's just something I can't get over though. The spell I used risked the entirety of Equestria and even the planet! After you saved the town, I grew bitter to the point of where I nearly brought extinction!"
"That's why I tried to help you. You were blinded by rage." Twilight explained.
The unicorn gazed at the ground, "...But what if something happens still. What if there were after-effects?"
"If there were after-effects, we would've seen them by now." the lavender alicorn assured.
"...You're probably right... But it's something that bugs me. Time travel is fickle."
Twilight rolled her eyes, "Believe me, I know how tricky that can be."
Starlight raised a brow, "Y-You do?"
"Yes, but that's not something I'm proud of." Twilight decided to wave away with a hoof, desiring to change the subject back onto its original topic.
"Anyway, as I told you when you first agreed to these lessons, we're with you every step of the way. You're already doing good in your lessons. You befriended Trixie and reunited with Starburst after so many years." Twilight reminded her student proudly.
Starlight grinned, "Thanks, Twilight. But it's still weird to me."
It was true for her. After practically being a tyrant, Starlight refused Twilight's offers for friendship during her last scheme. But after seeing what she could have done, she changed her ways. She believed that she was beyond redemption and that nopony should be her friend. Yet Twilight was here and offering to teach her.
"Don't worry." Twilight said, hearing the door creak open again.
Peeking through was a small purple dragon, his claw on the edge of the door. "Hey, uh, Twilight, Starlight?" he called out in a very quiet whisper, hoping that they could hear him.
"Yes, Spike?" Twilight replied. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah. Why are you whispering?" Starlight added.
Spike gestured for the two to follow him. Deciding to do so, the dragon led them to the outside of his room where he quietly spoke again, "So, I was on my way to take a nap after helping Rarity with her order. Again. But then I opened up my door and found something sleeping in my bed. I have no idea what it is."
"Open it quietly in case it's still sleeping." Twilight said.
The dragon nodded, and opened the door. The ponied and drake peeked inside. Twilight and Starlight's eyes went wide at what they saw on Spike's bed.
It appeared to be a bipedal creature with a large head and a small body, it wore a green tunic and a floppy hat that covered its closed eyes. Resting next to it was an assortment of items: a sword, a leaf. A brown rod and a shield that laid underneath its arm, with a strange crest on the center of it. Deciding that looked at it enough, the door closed, leaving the three to discuss whatever it was that slept in the room.
"What the hay was that?" Starlight quietly asked through gritted teeth.
"I don't know!" Spike responded.
Twilight led the three back to the library room so they could talk louder without worry of waking the stranger. Once they were in there, Starlight closed the doors while Twilight used her magic to grab as many books as she could to get information. Each book hovered in a magenta aura, with the alicorn looking through each one briefly. "There's next to nothing that can give us a clue as to what that was. I don't know if will attack on us at sight."
"He looked harmless honestly." Starlight replied.
Spike gave her a deadpan stare, "Did you not see the things he had next to him? He had a sword!"
"...It could be a toy! He looked like a child honestly." defended the unicorn.
Twilight nodded, "You're right, but it didn't look like any child I've seen, even from that other world."
"Yeah. That's why I was so confused. I thought something came through the mirror without changing somehow, but it just looked... Strange." Spike responded, crossing his arms.
"...Other world?" Starlight questioned.
"Yes." Twilight answered, "Spike and I travelled to another world, with ponies that looked like taller versions of what we saw, and met Sunset Shimmer, a unicorn blinded by jealousy before she too saw the error of her ways. She's there with doppelgangers of my friends as well in a school."
"Why does this story sound familiar?" Spike mumbled, referring to Starlight's redemption.
Then, something got Starlight's attention. "Uh, Twilight?" she called out. "One of your books is glowing and vibrating. Why?"
In a hurry, Twilight trotted over to the pile, opening the book on top, reading its contents as fast as she could. "Spike! Starlight! I have to go somewhere real quick. If you need me, write in this book!"
"Huh? Where are you going?" Starlight wondered, holding the book in her magic grasp.
"That other world I mentioned. They mentioned someone randomly appeared and I think they might be connected. I just want to investigate!" Twilight revealed.
Earlier, Canterlot High...
Sunset Shimmer leaned back on the base of the statue, "Feels great to be back here."
"Yeperoo! I love hanging out here on Fridays!" Pinkie cheered, sitting atop the base, swinging her legs happily.
"I'm just glad it's the weekend." Rainbow sighed in relief.
"Ah agree with ya there, Dash. Darn tests throwin' me fer a loop." Applejack grumbled.
"They weren't so bad," Twilight said, adjusting her glasses.
"Well, that's because you study every waking moment of that day!" Rainbow replied.
"Rainbow Dash," Rarity scolded, "Did you even study?"
That made Rainbow quiet, and Rarity gave her a smirk, "As I thought."
"So, um... What do we do now?" Fluttershy asked.
Sunset raised a hand, "First of all, we need to check back here in case some more Equestrian magic leaks into this world. This place seems to be a magnet for things like that."
"Yeah! Luckily we haven't had anything since the Friendship Games!" Pinkie added.
"Don't remind me." Twilight whispered. The guilt continued to build on her, especially after what she did in order to satisfy her curiousity once and for all. It took Sunset's words to assure her that she could no longer be isolated from the rest of the world, like someone did for her.
Rarity frowned, "You know she did not mean to offend you, dearie."
Pinkie nodded, "Sorry."
"N-No, it's fine, Pinkie. I know." Twilight assured.
"Hey... Does anyone hear that?" Sunset asked.
"Hear what?" Fluttershy replied.
"aaaaaAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Then out of nowhere, something landed face-first onto the grass next to the girls. Dizzy, the strange spun his head before shaking it, getting his bearings. "Huh?" the stranger, seemingly a young boy, looked up. He stood up immediately, and innocent and confused look on his face.
"A boy fell out of the sky?" Twilight asked.
The boy in question wore a green tunic, a sword in hand, a shield on his back, and a wide assortment of strangeky designed masks strapped to his being.
"What kind of tunic is that?" Rarity asked. She saw the boy huff in annoyance at the comment.
Sunset looked down, "Who are you?"
The mysterious boy gave her his shield and Sunset looked at the writing beneath the strange language. "Link?"
Link nodded happily, taking the shield she gave back. While Link dusted himself off, the girls spoke, with Sunset being the first one. "Do you think this has anything to do with Equestria?"
"Well, in my opinion, it wouldn't hurt to find out," Applejack commented.
"He looks friendly." Fluttershy said.
"Yeah, but a boy falling out of the sky is a little strange." Twilight added, "We just can't ignore that."
"Was there a portal we missed?" Rarity wondered.
"No clue! But he could totally help us if he's friendly!" Pinkie called out.
Link tapped his foot impatiently, but paused once he saw Sunset reach into her bag to pull out a book. She wrote into it before putting back instantly. "Okay, I juat wrote to the princess." Link raised a brow at the wording, "I told her about what happened that he's not going to hurt anybody,"
The boy nodded, raising his hands defensively. Now he wondered how he ended up in this strange world in the first place.
