Chapter 8

The Iron Knuckle is among the nastiest of Hyrule’s enemies. Covered from head to toe in armor, brandishing a blade heavier than a collection of Twilight’s favorite books, and able to take on an entire force of the Equestrian Royal Army and win, it was a formidable foe.

Celestia had touched upon a plan. “Connor, that thing’s huge. Perhaps if we force it back into the Portal, it’ll create a disturbance in the singularity large enough for me to seal it once and for all!”

Connor nodded. “Sure, like plugging a drain.”

The alicorn frowned.  “But how can we force that creature backward?”

This was true. The knight stood well over Connor’s head, and with all the armor it was wearing, it was easy to imagine it strolling casually through gale-force winds without a problem. Not much could make it go anywhere.

Still, Connor intended to try.

“I’m on it, Princess,” he said, before drawing his sword and shield and charging at the creature.

The Iron Knuckle finished off another wave of ponies, and turned as it saw Connor charging at it with all the force he could muster. The monstrous enemy made a sound equivalent to a chuckle in the human language, and raised its axe to strike Connor down.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!”

The Knuckle paused. Something else foolish enough to attack it?

Out of the sky came a yellow and pink blur, flying faster than she had ever flown before. She dive-bombed the knight and began to fly around its head, distracting it. The monster swatted this way and that, trying to stop the annoying pest that was attacking it. One of its massive hands swung sideways, and, while it was unable to catch the elusive Pegasus, it did manage to backhand Connor, who flew several feet sideways, and landed on the ground unconscious.

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“Connor…. Connor…. Can you hear me?”

Connor opened his eyes to find himself floating in a dark purple expanse, with a doorway of bright light before him, and another doorway behind. The darkness proceeded on in all other directions for as far as Connor could see.

The voice he had heard was coming from the second doorway. Connor squinted, and made out an outline of a person coming through the brightness. It was-

Connor’s mind reeled. “You? Why? What?”

The teenager in the green tunic smiled slightly. “No time. This is important. By the way, thanks for stealing my Big Key.”

“Sorry.”

“S’kay. But you need to know a few things. One, don’t worry about Hyrule. I’ve got that under control. My destiny, all that. But you have another destiny. When you were talking earlier? About “something sending you here”? Well, it was a good guess.

You were sent to that land by the Goddess, to save its inhabitants. You were meant to appear to help them against the other hordes coming. Without you, they’ll fail. The Goddess rescued you from Phantom Ganon and used the opportunity to send you out of Hyrule, into Equestria, and farther, so you’d be beyond the reach of any monsters.

It was hoped you’d take to your surroundings and join them, which you did. You have thanks from higher powers.”

Connor had many questions. “Wait, so the forests… they are linked! The Portal in Hyrule is in the Lost Woods!”

The young man with the strange triple-triangle design on his hand rolled his eyes. “Of course. Didn’t you notice the similarities between them, Connor? You’re a smart person.”

“Alright, fine, but then what about-“

The Hero of Time held up his hand. “No more. You’re still asleep now, and you need to get up. Someone- or should I say some mare- needs your help. This time, you’ll have no more backup. Good luck, Connor.”

The brightness began to fade in on Connor as he was drawn backwards into the doorway leading back to Equestria. The lad turned to go back through the one leading to Hyrule, then stopped.

“Oh, one more thing. Iron Knuckles have a slit in the back of their armor that should be large enough for your blade. A bit of a design flaw, don’t you think?”

The brightness surrounding Connor was now absolute, and his only option was to return to consciousness.

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Sounds revolved around Connor, enveloping him in a cacophony of turmoil. He rolled over on his side and brought a hand to his head, to cradle the throbbing he felt there. He didn’t want to get up; it was too early. He squeezed his eyes tighter shut, thinking, Later….

A high-pitched feminine cry caused him to rethink his decision to rest longer. He sat up and his eyes snapped open. Reality came rushing back at him like a train, filling his vision and brain with the images around him. Everything came into focus, and the memories of the past few hours came on the run, distributing themselves across his brain with the businesslike manner of a good secretary filing papers. He got to his feet. He needed to finish this.

The Iron Knuckle had finally succeeded in capturing the yellow mare, and held her in its giant fist as if wondering whether to crush her or simply step on her. Fluttershy squirmed and shrieked, but to no avail.

Connor, picking up his sword from where it had fallen next to him, pulled himself together. The backhand had certainly put him out, and he was sore all over, but no bones were broken, and he had business to attend to.

“HEY! JERK!! PUT HER DOWN!!”

The behemoth paused, and looked around. It saw Connor, and somehow recognized him as the small being that had been yelling at it earlier. It casually tossed Fluttershy aside, raising its axe to face the Hylian again.

Connor watched helplessly as the unconscious body of the pegasus tumbled through the air- only to be caught by the magic of Princess Celestia, who set her down gently out of harm’s way and then teleported to Connor’s side, careful to keep back. The Portal was sucking things in with greater force now, though it seemed to be focused mainly on the Princess. She kept away from it as she spoke in his ear.

“Its armor is enchanted, any magic used to pierce it fails. Any ideas?”

Connor nodded grimly. “Forget using your magic to fight him for now. I just need you to push him down. Can you do that?”

The Princess of the Sun nodded. “Absolutely. Now?”

“No. I’ll tell you when.”

With that, Connor once again charged the knight, who was waiting for him. Connor watched the axe carefully this time, and when he saw it about to come down, he threw himself to the side.

The axe buried itself in the ground from the sheer force of the blow, and the Iron Knuckle paused momentarily to free it. That was all the time Connor needed to pick himself up from where he had dived and dart around the back of it. He wasted no time in finding the chink in the armor he had been advised about, and, with all the force and anger he could muster, drove his blade in as far as it would go, lodging it up against bone . The titan stiffened, then began to turn, screaming in rage and anger.

Connor dodged again and shouted for all he was worth. “NOW, PRINCESS! FLIP HIM!”

Celestia complied, and the white aura of her magic engulfed the enemy, causing him to fall backwards onto Connor’s blade. The hilt touched the ground and dug in, becoming a fulcrum. The knight’s weight caused it to rock back up on the other side, not unlike a seesaw, now with only the hilt and its head touching the ground.

Connor saw a chance. “ONE MORE TIME, PRINCESS!!!!”

The magic surrounded the giant again, and this time he was pushed backwards to topple onto his face, the blade sticking out from his back with the hilt pointed towards the sky.

This, however, was not Connor’s main intention. What he had intended was to get it closer to the magic link between the worlds. He noticed that the Knuckle’s feet were now just touching the Portal. A tendril of magic reached out and grasped the monster’s leg, then another. It began to be drawn backwards into the rip between the worlds, filling the hole.

Connor realized he was about to lose his sidearm. “My sword!”

Celestia heard him, and used her magic to withdraw Connor’s blade before it was enveloped by the Portal. She tossed it next to him, and then closed her eyes to focus on shutting the Portal.

“CONNOR! He’s large enough! I can close it! Get through it, NOW! I can only hold it so long before it breaks free! You can still return to Hyrule!”

He stood before the Portal, feeling the suck of it on his clothes, and he could almost see the Lost Woods beyond it, and, just through them, his house…. Home…

The Hylian took one step towards it, then another. Then another. He reached out to touch the magic, the energy sending out another feeler to grasp him. He was going-

“Connor! Um…. Don’t….”

That voice.

With a great effort, Connor wrenched his hand back from the Portal and looked around him. He saw Fluttershy rising to her hooves, swaying slightly, but nonetheless awake and alive. Her face was full of pain and longing.

“Don’t go… Connor… Please…”

Connor gazed at her, his eyes filling with tears. Then he glanced back to the Portal, seeing his old life there, his house, his land. His heart filled with indecision.

Celestia broke in, in a frenzy of panic. Her horn was glowing so brightly it was hard to look at.

“CONNOR!!! YOU HAVE TO GO NOW, OR NEVER!!! I CAN’T HOLD IT ANY LONGER!!!”

Connor turned back to Fluttershy. Her eyes were wide, the widest he had ever seen them, and tears glistened under them.

Connor looked back to the Portal, and made a motion toward it-

He kicked the Iron Knuckle the rest of the way into the magic, and then turned from it. Turned away from Hyrule, turned toward Equestria.

Toward Fluttershy.

“Seal it, Princess.”

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