It was finally done.
After weeks of will crushing traveling, bone breaking fighting and mind blowing puzzle solving, we finally did it. The journey had come to a dramatic and unusual end, but at long last I could rest without fear. The Demon King that tormented this land long ago and his loyal weapon that wished to take the spirit of my friend were now sealed inside the sacred weapon of the goddesses.
For once, things were starting to look good for me. Zelda, or Hylia as I should call her now had woken up in Groose's arms the moment my sword went through the king's chest. When she entered the door with Groose on her side she started to cry of what I could only guess was happiness, after all not every day you get your spirit sucked out by a demon sword to resurrect the incarnation of evil.
"Link... thank you. I think it's over... Finally... it's all over." said Zelda with tears falling from her eyes. She looked even more beautiful than before if that were even possible, I didn't hold back and ran towards her. When I reached her I embraced her in a hug, wanting nothing more than to comfort her, to make her feel like she was safe at last.
"Nice going you two, You guys were amazing in this little adventure I like to call the Legend of Groose." said Groose as he walked towards Impa, if we were in Skyloft I might've gotten just the tiniest bit annoyed; scratch that, I probably would've gone beserk on him, but after everything he's done, the courage he showed when standing up to Ghirahim, the wisdom he showed when he built the Groosenator and the power he used to save Zelda's body from being reduced to nothingness.
He has earned my respect, and he's a hero in my eyes.
"That's a little joke." said Groose in a low voice. I couldn't help but chuckle a little bit, he really does have a great sense of humor. Between some of Zelda's sobs I managed to hear a chuckle, he really knows how to lighten up any situation.
"Joke or not, your contributions to our efforts were heroic. You have my thanks." said Impa with the closest thing I've seen to a smile filling her face.
"Awww... well, you know. Just glad I could make myself useful. I'm happy things turned out great." said Groose as he rubbed the back of his head from embarrasment; and I thought only Zelda could get him that embarrassed. Once again, he did do a great job at helping me save the world so he deserved nothing less for his actions.
"Hey, so things look pretty sewn up here. What do you say guys? Ready to head back to our own time?" said Groose as he turned around towards us with a wide grin in his face. "Grannie was really worried about you two. We don't want to keep the old girl in suspense too long."
I looked at him and nodded entusiastically, finally I would be able to return back to my home, to Skyloft. I would be able to sleep peacefully without having to be worrying about a demon sword slaying me in my sleep; I would be able to talk again with Pipit and Karene, but most importantly, I would return with Zelda. I started to walk towards the gate of time when my sword reacted strangely; Fi emerged from it quicker than she had done anytime before and faced both Zelda and me.
"Hylia, your Grace... Or prehaps you prefer "Zelda." It pleases me to know you're safe." said Fi in her same monotonous voice I had learned to love. I was slightly supicious of the gesture, it's unnatural for Fi to go out of the sword to tell her a simple "Oh I'm glad you're fine." Too bad my suspicions were proven correct when she faced me and said.
"Master... I must speak with you."
I nodded grimly and saw Fi gliding slowly to the pedastal in the other side of the temple, Zelda gave me a confused look while I followed Fi slowly; many ideas of what was about to happen filled my mind but none of them got even close to the truth. Once we arrived at the top of the pedastal, away from the view of my friends, she remained quiet for a while. I was about to nudge her to see what was wrong, but then she began to speak.
"Master Link, you have successfully protected the goddess reborn and defeated Demise, fulfilling your role as the hero of the legend." said Fi in a voice slightly slower than normal. Now I was getting worried; I might've felt glad that I was a hero among other things, but her voice unnerved me and gave me chills.
"My purpose here is complete." continued Fi, the words she would say next would shatter my heart.
"Therefore, I ask you to dissolve our arrangement as master and servant." said Fi as she gestured at the pedastal. "Drive the sword into the pedastal and I will return to the sword to enter a sleep without end."
"N-n-n-n-no." I said much to my amazement, since I was a little kid I had been unable to talk and relied on written language and signs to make people understand me. Fi flinched slightly at the sound of my voice but regained her composure seconds later to continue speaking.
"Master... it is time to conclude our necessary companionship." said Fi with her voice being interrupted constantly.
"N-n-no... please." I said to Fi with a begging expression, after all of our adventures together we had to go our separate ways. I should've seen it coming from a long distance, or perhaps I did see it, but I decided to live in denial rather than accept the truth. She didn't hear me and entered the sword without hesitation, leaving me in a daze due to the fact that I managed to talk and that she would have to leave forever.
"L-link... I know it's too much to ask from you, but you need to do it." said Zelda relucantly. I turned around and nodded at her, even though I hated to do it, someone had to. That's what makes heroes different from others, they carry the burden nobody else would even dream of carrying.
I lifted the sword above my head with terrible hesitation, all the while I thought of just letting the sword drop and walk away. I never begged for this responsability, why do I need to get rid of my friends? Also why does she get the worst part? Fi has done nothing more than follow the will of the goddesses, can't they let her have her own happiness for once.
"Master... I'm... happy...doing this... thank you... for the memories." said a voice in my head; or at least I thought I heard it. Before I could change my mind, I thrusted the sword into the pedastal. A bluish light began emmanating from it, while this was happening I felt the strangest sensation inside of me.
"I'm sorry Master... please forgive me..." said the voice which I now recognized as Fi's, while I was confused by her words I felt something pulling me towards the sword. I tried letting go but it wouldn't budge at all, while the hold was getting harder I began feeling fear for the second time in my adventure, the first one being when Zelda lost her spirit.
"Help!" I yelled. I saw Groose looking at me behind the door of time with a confused expression, probably due to my newfound voice. When he saw the light show underway he started running towards me, Zelda did likewise and started pulling me away from the sword.
"Link! Let go of the sword!" said Zelda with concern as she tried pulling me away, when Groose arrived I thought for a moment he would be able to help me, but I didn't feel the grip getting any weaker.
"Link! You're... fading!" yelled Groose as he pulled me even harder, for a moment I thought that my arm was about to be ripped out of its socket but seconds later I couldn't feel Groose pulling me. I looked at my arm to see that it transformed into blue energy and started flowing into the gate of time.
"Impa, what's going on? Why is this happening to Link?" asked Zelda with tears in her eyes, unable to stand it any longer I began using my newfound speech to try and calm them down.
"Z-zelda, d-d-don't cr-cry..." I said with great effort, Zelda looked at me with amazement while I managed to smile slightly.
"The hero is no longer needed, therefore he too will have to go." said Impa with the slightest hint of regret, those words hurt like no other. Did that mean that I was just a tool of the goddesses? To be discarded when the danger had passed and everything was back to normal?
"You didn't tell us anything like that! Hang on Link, I'm sure we'll get you out of here!" said Groose as he tried pulling one of my fading legs. After they faded up to my knees, he fell over to the ground in defeat, to see my friends broken in this way brought me close to tears.
"Groose, y-y-ou're a g-g-good f-f-friend. T-t-t-take care o-of her." I said with difficulty, he looked at me and nodded with determination, I looked towards Zelda, searching for the right words to tell her. The reason of my constant fighting was standing in front of me and I would be unable to be with her.
"Z-z-z-zelda." I began saying, only my head remained now and I needed to tell her... something. She looked at me with hopeful eyes, but before I could talk I felt myself flying away from the sword. I felt their gazes on me as I flew into the door of time.
The journey was the same as if I had entered the door under my will, for a moment I had the hope I was just being sent back to the future. I would arrive and everyone would be there, telling me that I was such a dumb skyloftian for falling for that one; but I was proven wrong when I saw the path coming to an end ahead. Once I went through it was as if I were floating in the middle of nothingness, I tried moving but found out I couldn't do so; I was trapped in a limbo or so I thought for a couple of seconds.
Suddenly, I was falling. I recognized the feeling from the countless of times I jumped off my Loftwing. Speaking of which, I wonder who'll feed her now that I'm gone... I hope someone looks out for her. After falling for a while I began to get bored, how can you get bored of falling you may ask yourself. It isn't that hard, when time seems to have stopped for you and the scenery never changes you will start to get bored.
I don't remember how long I fell, I had no way to tell the time in here, which made it even more surprising when I made contact with the ground. It wasn't a strong fall, but the shock from it did give me a huge fright.
And a bruise on the head.
I was very disoriented to say the least, but the first thing I noticed was the change of ilumination compared to the void, the light seemed natural unlike the one in the void. The building seemed familiar but at the same time it felt as if I had never been here before. I tried to stand up and investigate, but the moment my hands left the ground I felt myself lose my balance and fall on my back, hard.
"That didn't go as swiftly as I though it would." I whispered to myself as I tried standing up again, only to fall back one more time. Each time I fell, I tried standing back up with even more determination than before. Sadly, determination can only do so much and each time I thought I had finally figured it out, I lost my balance and fell again.
"Stay! Up!" I yelled as I tried to stay straight. I ended up on my back and unable to walk, it was in that moment that I noticed my lack of hands. In their place were some furred stumps without any fingers, to be honest I yelled at that moment.
"What in Hylia's name am I?" I yelled as I managed to stand on all fours, afterwards I tried to walk to the window in order to see myself. It was in that moment when I noticed my surroundings were very familiar; take away the crumbling pillars, the lack of nature and it was a perfect replica of the temple back at home.
"The Temple of Time." I whispered as I walked very slowly, it was hard walking any faster because I would lose my balance and fall over, I actually fell many times on my face, sides and even my behind. I liked the Temple of Time, it had a nice ring to it that The Sealed Grounds lacked, after what seemed like several minutes I managed to reach a window of the temple and I finally saw what I was.
A four legged beast with a horn sticking out of his head, not too bad looking but strange. I still had my clothes and my hair so that kind of made me feel a bit better. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't gone on my quest to defeat Demise, I would've fainted right there; now that I've done things I only thought possible in my dreams, being a beast didn't seem so bad. Out of the corner of my eye I saw several yellow eyes staring at me from the forest outside, one thing I learned was that yellow eyes were always a bad sign, especially when they shine in the dark.
I turned around to explore the temple to see what had changed, for starters the Gate of Time was gone, killing away all of my chances of escape right away. The tree was no longer in its place, instead there was a stump of where the tree of life used to be.
The thing that surprised me the most however, was that the Master Sword was still in the pedastal, not a single edge seemed chipped away from here. Deciding that I would need it to protect me from all the strange things out there, I walked towards it and tried grabbing it with my stumps. It immediately slipped from my grasp and made me lose my balance for a while, luckily the sword didn't move and I managed to hug it with both of my stumps to stop me from falling.
"Phew! That was close." I whispered quickly to myself, I kept pulling the sword with my stumps with no success. I think it was mainly due to the fact that I didn't have any fingers since the sword escaped constantly from my grip.
"Some hero I am, not even able to reclaim his weapon." I said as I sat down while panting heavily, while I rested for a moment I started to think. About Skyloft, Fi, Zelda, Groose and the others, yet even when I was thinking of them a question appeared every time, making me stop thinking about those I left worried to death.
"How did I get here? Or even better, why?" I thought to myself as I began feeling slightly drowsy.
I'm sure by now that Fi had something to do with it, but it seemed as if she was forced to do so. It's hard trying to think this way, now that I think about it, she was really useful in these kind of situations. Always having at least a clue as to what to do, remembering things I would've otherwise forgotten in seconds and warning me of dangers that I sometimes ignored due to their insignificance.
"I think I'll sleep for a while, I don't think there's much I can do now, tomorrow I'll find a way to get back home." I said to myself as I began to lie down on the floor. It didn't take so long for me to start feeling sleepy, the battle against Demise finally catching up to me. Before I entered the realm of sleep, I saw a couple of saddlebags thrown on the floors with some familiar items on them like my whip and my shield; at least I still had them.
"It could be worse." I said to myself. "Though talking to myself might be a bit of a problem, not that I mind but back in Skyloft people like that were often seen as strange."
"I hope this is some sort of dream..." I said before falling asleep on the cold stone floor.
"Are you sure this is such a good idea Twilight? They're just little fillies and colts after all." said Cheerilee as she was walking behind the group leaded by the princess' student.
"I'm sure of it Cheerilee, it will be an enriching experience for your students." said Twilight Sparkle as she gave her a small smile. "And some mares." she added while looking at an aquamarine unicorn who was jumping from joy.
"I can't believe I'm going to the Everfree forest! Weee!" said Lyra Heartstrings as she jumped around the group of ponies, earning several strange looks from the bystanding ponies. However, many of them knew about her obsession with imaginary creatures and simply gave her an encouraging smile.
"I still think this isn't such a good idea, what if something happens to one of my students? We should head back to the classroom to plant a tree, that should teach them enough about the flora." said Cheerilee nervously. It wasn't so much because of the students, it was actually due to her own personal experience with the forest. Everything had been going great at the classroom, it had been a teacher's evaluation day and her evaluator was none other than Twilight Sparkle.
They had been viewing a lesson about the different types of plants when Scootaloo metioned seeing a strange plant at the Everfree Forest, at the mention of that she just couldn't resist and she said that many strange plants grew in the Everfree Forest. The classroom began yelling at her, literally begging to be taken to the scariest place in all of Equestria apart from Tartarus.
Under any normal circumstance she would've declined, but Twilight Sparkle told her that she would make the necessary arrangements to go. She tried making some excuses but for every argument she had, Twilight had three. In the end she had to go for "The Pursuit of Knowledge."
"Does the world hate me? Why can't knowledge be someplace less scary; like the library or Sweet Apple Acres." thought Cheerilee to herself grimly, the outline of the forest starting to become visible in the distance.
"I insist Cheerilee, I can guarantee you that we will have the best protection you can ask for in all of Ponyville." said Twilight Sparkle in a reassuring tone. Cheerilee gave her a fake smile while she shivered slightly; on the other side of the crowd, some ponies were listening to a story Lyra was telling them.
"The legends say, that in the middle of the forest. There are some ruins, where strange creatures used to live many millennia ago. They were called.... humans." said Lyra to the group who gasped in amazement at her tale, she smiled at their reaction and continued speaking.
"They stood on two legs like this." said Lyra as she stood on her hind legs. "And used the other two to create things that could make you smile, things that could make you laugh." she said while walking around them on two legs, she suddenly turned around and glared at one unlucky filly in the eyes. "Things that could make you cry."
"Pft, as if! Humans aren't real, they're just a story made up by ponies to scare little foals." said Diamond Tiara from the middle of the crowd. Lyra rolled her eyes, that was the most common answer she received whenever she told anypony about the new species.
"Yet all stories have some truth in them, right?" said Lyra to the filly as she stood again on all fours and started hopping around the crowd.
"Lyra, we're just going to the edge of the Everfree forest to see some of the flora." said Twilight. Her words seemed to fall on deaf ears since Lyra kept hopping around them like Pinkie Pie normally does.
"I will find some humans, I will find some humans." sang Lyra with happiness as the group was approaching the Everfree forest, on the outskirts of the forest were none other than Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
"Hey sis!" yelled Applebloom from the crowd.
"Hey sugarcube!" replied Applejack as she waved at her sister, Rainbow Dash cleared her throat at the crowd, hoping to gain their attention. The little ponies ignored her and started muttering some rumors about the forest between them.
"Are we really going into the Everfree forest?"
"My dad says that a three headed dragon lives in there, and feasts on little colts and fillies."
"I heard that Nightmare Moon's ghost lives in the forest!"
"I remember somepony telling me that there's supposed to be a treasure in the deepest part of the Everfree forest."
"My mom once told me about an army of ponies dissapearing in there many years ago."
"Ahem!" said Rainbow Dash in a louder voice, that did the trick as the crowd lined up, big mares included. After seeing that everything was in order she began walking from one edge of the crowd to the other.
"Now, you're about to go into the Everfree forest as a part of a field trip. You have probably heard many terrible things about the forest, well fear no more because we're here to tell you that they're all true." said Rainbow Dash, earning several gasps from the crowd and a facehoof from Twilight. Rainbow Dash laughed loudly at their reactions while Applejack glared at her for sacring the group like that.
"Stop it Rainbow, can't you see you're scaring the poor things?" asked Applejack as she took a step towards the shivering crowd of students. "Now listen here, on the edge of the forest there's nearly nothing to fear, but if anything should happen Rainbow and I here will take care of it."
"And that's why Lyra is here too, you have nothing to worry about. With 2 unicorns, a pegasus and 2 earth ponies nothing can go wrong." said Twilight as she set the example and entered the forest first, Lyra followed her closely and little by little, the crowd entered the Everfree Forest.
End note: Veredict?
The Temple of Time Part I of III
Author's note: Due to this chapter turning out to be so long, it has been divided into 3 parts. Enjoy Lyra's diary.
Dear Diary.
Today has been a most unusual day to say the least, I have mixed feelings about it but I think everything went well considering all that has happened. In fact I think it's kind of surprising we managed to return back home in one piece, but I'm going off topic here; first let me write what happened before.
It all started yesterday, when Twilight asked me to go with Miss Cheerilee's classroom to the Everfree Forest, I didn't have to be asked two times. a few days ago I had considered planning another expedition to the forest, looking back at my plan, I don't think I would've been able to find any other pony to go with me looking for something believed to be a fairy tale.
Twilight led the way into the forest, I was the first of the group to follow her. Sure I was afraid of the Everfree Forest just like anypony else, but my curiosity was bigger than my fear. I heard hoofsteps following me and I saw Rainbow Dash and Applejack leading the crowd of students and a teacher into the forest. All the while I was begging in a low voice that we would walk just a little big deeper into the forest.
"We're here; deep enough to see many plants, but close enough to stay clear from the majority of the dangerous creatures." said Twilight as she stopped, much to my disappointment.
"Come on Twilight, I'm sure we can go deeper; how about the ancient castle in the middle of the woods? I hear there's a story behind it." I told her as I used my begging expression, it worked 1 out of 2 times and I really hoped it would work on Twilight Sparkle.
"Lyra, we can't endanger the students like that!" replied Twilight as she looked at me mildly dissapointed; at least I think it was, it's hard reading Twilight's expressions. While she gave me a small lecture about my obligations as a protector of the ponies, Cheerilee was giving the students a speech about the crimson rose. I remember that one from a book I read yesterday actually, it is said that the rose blooms when in the presence of true love. After Twilight was done with her speech I insited one last time on the subject.
"But Twilight, we must do it! It's for the future of science, knowledge, the both of them together!" I told her with determination, hoping that this new approach would make her see things my way, if anything it made her laugh at me. I hate it when other ponies do that, but this time I had an ace up my sleeve that would make her at least curious. Before I had a chance to show it, she raised her hoof to stop me and said.
"Lyra, I can assure you that there's nothing else in that castle. I've been there and I can tell you with complete confidence that there's nothing there and even if there was, your muhams wouldn't be there." said Twilight to me, for a moment I hesitated because of her answer. It barely managed to hit a nerve, but the important thing was that it managed to hit. I think that was the moment I felt close to giving up hope on my search, this time I felt like she was right. She had been to the castle along with her other friends, surely she would've seen something there wouldn't she?
Then I remembered, I had the proof, I had the book and I know secrets of that castle that Twilight can only begin to imagine.
Was I being selfish? Did I wish to risk all those fillies and colts just to look for something that I'm not even sure exists? No, I didn't want anypony else to get hurt for me. Those thoughts were swarming across my mind and in the end, they all converged into a single thought that would define my next actions.
"You're right Twilight." I told her with a serious expression, for a moment a look of surprise filled her face but was quickly replaced by one of her comforting smiles. The kind of which are supposed to make ponies feel better about themselves; before she could talk however, I stopped her.
"I can't endanger the students that way, it would be very selfish from me. For even suggesting that, I'm sorry." I said to her, earning the looks of some students of the crowd. She started to look quite relaxed from my answer, that changed after I told her what I was planning.
"That's why I've decided to go alone." I told her as I began walking to the path of the Everfree Forest, I hadn't even moved ten steps when Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood in my way.
"Are you crazy Lyra? The Everfree forest isn't just a stroll in the park, it's the most dangerous part of Equestria!" said Twilight as she began walking towards me, I began backing up to where Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood.
"Now stop right there sugarcube, what're you thinking going into the middle of the Everfree forest all by yourself?" asked Applejack as she began to approach me, I looked at Rainbow Dash to see that she was doing the same thing. I had seen enough movies to know that they were planning on surrounding me along with Twilight.
"Last time you went there, we lost you for 5 days. Bon Bon went all crazy and began bossing us around town to look for you, it was like super assertive Fluttershy all over again!" said Rainbow Dash with a small frown. Geez. did Rainbow have to bring that up? I mean, not that I need reminding of what happened once she found me, but you know that story diary. A kick to the face, a severe scolding, the law of ice for a while and then hugs; way too many hugs.
"This time I have a map!" I told them as I waved it in their faces. It had cost me a whole month of social life and reading through a mountain of books just to sketch this map, it clearly showed the approximate locations of the Timberwolves, Manticoras and the Hydra, Not only that but also the canyons and other natural obstacles were portrayed. I drew a path with a green marker in order to remind me of the safe path I should follow. Twilight snatched it quickly from me and started to look at it, the students' attention was now on us rather than on the crimson rose or Miss Cheerilee.
"Map or not, we're not taking any chances. It's for your own good sugarcube." said Applejack as she was mere centimeters from me. I couldn't see a way out of it now, Twilight had the map and I was surrounded by two of the strongest mares in Ponyville.
"Rainbow! Look out behind you!" yelled one of the fillies, Rainbow turned around to look for what the filly pointed out; while she was looking for anything I saw the filly winking at me with a sly grin. I mouthed a thank you, snatched the map from Twilight's hoof and made a run for the path.
"Lyra! Come back here!" yelled Twilight in surprise as she started to follow me.
"Hold on Twilight, you keep an eye on the ponies. I'll get her!" said Applejack as she stopped Twilight, at that moment I began to run even faster. Not only was I running away from one of the strongest and fastest mares in Ponyville, but one of the only ones who uses a lasso. I didn't look behind me once and kept on running, sweat dripping down my forehead as I did my best to take a path that would make her crash against anything.
"Now sugarcube, don't make me do this the hard way." said Applejack as she followed me, never slowing down her pace. Luckily she didn't appear to have her lasso with her otherwise my adventure would've ended right there. I jumped through several trunks, some branches and even made tight squeezes through some bushes, even with all of that she managed to keep up with me and was even getting closer. Guess working on the field is really rewarding on the physical department.
I had to think of something fast and the result isn't something I'm proud of, the Poison Joke field was a short distance ahead and after seeing from far away the effects on some of the ponies, I thought it was my best shot against Applejack. I ran straight towards the field and as expected, Applejack followed me.
"I can keep doing this all day sugarcube, just stop and come with us. We won't hurt you but I can't say the same thing about the forest." said Applejack as she quickened her pace, by the sound her hooves were making I knew that she was nearly on me. Luckily I saw the field of Poison joke just a few meters away, Applejack noticed too as I heard her hoofsteps getting slower than before.
"Lyra stop! Those flowers aren't a joke!" yelled Applejack with a concerned tone, before I even touched a flower I used a spell I had saved just for these occasions. I kind of teleported myself behind her and when she approached the Poison Joke I may or may have not pushed her. The effects this time were instantaneous and she was reduced to the size of a small fillies' toy.
"I'm sorry Applejack, it's the only way I could think of stopping you." I told her as I picked her up with my magic and deposited her in my rucksack, much to her annoyance as she was struggling all the way inside the side pocket.
"Don't worry, I'll take you to Zecora's. You didn't actually think I would leave you alone in the forest right?" I asked her. Her response consisted in many inaudible squeaks, I sure am glad that I didn't run into her on my way back into Ponyville or else I would've been in big trouble. Fortunately for me, Zecora's hut was quite near to the field of Poison joke so I arrived without straying far from my planned path. When I stood outside her hut I took her out of the pocket and deposited her in front of the door, I knocked quickly, hoping to get a quick answer from the zebra, such was the case as she opened the door in mere seconds. Though I had only met her on a few ocassions I think she's a pretty cool zebra; very unique too.
"Lyra Heartstrings, what a surprise. I invite you, to come inside." said Zecora as she looked at me with a gentle smile as always.
"Hello Zecora, I'm in a bit of a hurry so I can't go inside, but I came here because Applejack touched Poison Joke and I happened to be passing by when that happened." I told her as I pointed to the squeaking pony under me, Zecora shook her head in slight dissapointment while looking at Applejack. I sure was glad she couldn't hear what she was really saying.
"Have no fear my little mare. The remedy for this joke isn't quite rare." said Zecora as she entered her hut quickly. I took the chance and ran off in the direction I came from, using the map as a guide I was back on track in no time. Though I do feel a bit guilty about leaving Applejack with Zecora, what I found in the temple makes up for it.
The walk through the forest was as uneventful as a trip to the market, a trip to the darkest and most dangerous market in all of Equestria, but still nothing bad happened to me. Ha! Take that fate, in your face! After crossing the wooden bridge I found myself in front of the castle, the doors were huge and I mean Canterlot Castle huge! The sun was in the middle of the sky so I decided to get over with it as soon as possible to return home before dinner.
I slowly opened the door to the castle and walked inside, it was exactly as I read in the book but even more beautiful. Sure the windows were broken and the pillars were covered in moss, but for me it was like paradise. The old pedastal of the elements of harmony was there, but that wasn't what I was looking. I walked on the pathway that led to the faraway tower in which the battle against Nightmare Moon took place, or at least I think it took place there... it smelled like evil; or moss.
When I arrived I saw parts of Nightmare Moon's armor scattered around the floor, instead of the normal grey color of the walls, these ones were black and they seemed to be emmiting energy... it sent shivers down my spine as I made my way into the central pedastal. All the while I was very alert of my surroundings, the atmosphere was one of terrible danger and it screamed at me to get out of there. I ignored my senses and took out The Book, that book was the one that got me this far.
The name of the book is unknown even to me, but I like to call it The Book, makes it sound very important. In there I found an old text in a language so ancient even Twilight Sparkle was unable to do the translation; which is why I looked far and wide for anything that could help me find out what it said. My efforts were rewarded on my tenth consecutive night in the Canterlot Royal Library, there was a note hidden in the pages of "Basic Spells 101," hey I was desperate diary! The note had the symbols in the book written in it alongside its modern translation.
After the excruciating month of translation, I managed to end up with a whole page of the book filled with notes. The beginning said.
"To open the first door, sing the story of old. On the beloved instrument of the goddess, you will play the first song."
If I had been left with the text by itself I would've gotten nowhere, but it seemed as if The Book wanted me to go. On the back I found 4 different musical sheets and each one of them had titles I could understand! Talk about giving me a break from all that translation, if it gave me a headache imagine poor Bon Bon navigating through all of my notes. The songs were; The Ballad of the Goddess, Farore's Courage, Nayru's Wisdom and Din's Power; talk about strong names. As for the instrument of the goddess, it was a lyre! Lucky me!
"Alright, here goes nothing." I said to myself as I began to play the song in my lyre, to be honest I don't consider myself a good singer but I did my best effort on this song.
"en daʃeʋu, no be̞ ʃo̞ndʊ tʏe̞ ʃʊtʊ keuænu sa le̞"
The normally dark and withered stone walls began shining with a blue light that wasn't there before, the central pedastal began rising from the floor and a spiral staircase appeared underneath it, lighted by some torches on the wall. The text wasn't kidding when saying this temple had some ancient magic in it, most surprising of all I didn't see any lamps on the wall when I arrived.
I stared at the light show in wonder and after a while of looking I slowly made my way to the staircase and started to descend into the deeper levels of the temple. All the while I was looking at the walls searching for any inscription or drawing that could be translated into anything else. Any clue that could show me proof about the existance of humans or anything related to them, before I even realized it I had arrived into another chamber with torches burning on the crystal green walls.
"This is amazing! Just for discovering this I can silence Twilight and the others for good, they'll see I was right all along!" I said as I pumped my hoof into the air. I quickly scanned the room and found some platforms over a seemingly bottomless pit, on the other side of the pit another platform with the three triangles could be seen; deciding that I needed another clue, I opened the old book once again and searched through the underlined sentences.
