The inside of the fortress entrance hall wasn’t lit—which hinted at the trouble inside. The walls of the fortress proper were made of black basalt, not luminous stone—though there were luminous stone carvings inset into the walls, they weren’t lit. The water was murky—they could see, but only just, and if it wasn’t for the light from the two unicorn mares’ horns, they wouldn’t be able to see at all.

Skyward brought out the silversteel bow and quiver filled with arrows and Rainbow Dash’s wing blades…with some fitting, the two Equestrian mares were now equipped for battle. The wing blades had been adjusted for fin fighting instead of on her wing-fins on her back—the transformed pegasus mare had to watch where she was swimming, due to the long, curved blades she now sported on her fin, but it meant she could fight back if she had to. The central hall path split into two—one path going left, the other right. Neither side showed signs of a gate or barrier, but the water was so gloomy it was hard to tell.

The bluesteel unicorn mare pulled her sword and swam forward—she stopped short of the entrance proper. She sent her ball of light into the room, and expanded it slowly…

It revealed a largish room with three more corridors. The room itself seemed empty—more black basalt with unlit luminous stone shells inset into the wall. Rarity nudged Skyward with one hoof and pointed at the room’s entrance. Skyward shrugged and tapped her sword meaningfully, pointing at the empty chamber. The two unicorns turned to their third member…

Only to find she wasn’t there!

The two unicorn mares looked at one another in panic and swiftly swam back down the corridor to the other passage—this one curved to the right. Skyward in the lead, Rarity behind her, the two unicorn mares soon heard shouting from Rainbow Dash as they shot through the water and into the next corridor…which widened out considerably into a much larger room than the other one they had seen. Rarity’s light globe expanded, lighting the entire area up in a brilliant flash.

This room also had an air pocket—they could just see the shape of ledges and platforms above them in the water. However, the platforms in the water held an enemy Skyward had only read about—yet resembled a certain snarling, snapping plant like creature Skyward was all too familiar with, considering she lived initially in a forested area.

It looked like a Deku Baba—a type of carnivorous flytrap like plant capable of eating a pony if it grew large enough to do so…with a purplish blue head, razor sharp teeth, pinkish red ‘lips’ and a long, spiked tongue. The stem was somewhat brittle, which made it perfect torchwood when the Baba’s stem was cut, and the leaves could be used in salads or stews.

However, this was a type of Deku Baba called a Bio Deku Baba—an aquatic sort that lived in lakes, swamps, ponds, pools and slow moving brooks, and disguised themselves as harmless, hardy lily pads…or even underwater fortress grounds, apparently.

Two of them were harassing Rainbow Dash—one of them was still attached to its lily pad, and the other had clearly been slashed from its stem. The changed pegasus pony was unable to move up or down too much—either way, she was going to get bitten or eaten if she moved the wrong way. She was only able to keep them at bay by flipping her tail—aiming slashes with the wicked blades attached to her fins.

The second one was the one going after the transformed pegasus mare proper—when cut, a Bio Deku Baba didn’t just die. No, it sprouted ‘legs’ and ‘eyes’ and swam/scuttled after its prey proper. Skyward swam forward; using her sword proved to be too slow and ineffective underwater. She was able to use her shield to fend off the snapping creature, however.

But Rarity nocked an arrow and aimed it with her magic—silversteel bows and arrows were decent on land…

But downright lethal in water. The streamlined bow and arrow design was meant for aquatic combat, and the first arrow struck its target neatly in the head, severing the head from the stem. It died with a garbled shriek, a small stream of greenish ichor, the head floating away from the body, which had gone limp as wet seaweed on the shoreline.

Looking up, Skyward aimed her horn at the first Bio Deku Baba and fired off an ice spell. The vile aquatic monster had no time to cry out before it was engulfed in solid ice…unable to attack, much less breathe. Skyward breathed out a sigh of relief before she looked over at Rainbow Dash.

“Art thou all right, Rainbow Dash?”

While her words were a bit garbled in water, they could still hear and talk to one another. Rainbow Dash nodded, slumping down against the cool stone floor in relief, the fin-blades making a muffled clang against the stone.

“I thought you guys went that-a-way, so I went down the hall. Next thing I know those…those things were attacking me!”

Skyward shook her head at her polychromatic colored friend. “Those ‘things’ art called Bio Deku Baba. Vile aquatic plants that wilt feed fish or even on ponies if anypony gets too close, Zoran or otherwise. Stay close to us, Rainbow Dash—but good work, cutting one of them down. And Rarity, fine shooting, that. Thou art a natural.”

Rarity beamed, twirling her bow and tossing her head in pride, before looking up at the surface. “What could be hiding up there?”

“Keep thine guard up. This is far from over.” Skyward said grimly as she slowly began swimming upward, the other two following close behind her. The bluesteel mare breached the surface first, glancing around suspiciously.

The room in question was larger than the one below it in the water—the walls were made entirely of luminous stone, and it was glowing softly with a gentle blue light. Platforms dotted the surface of the pool they were in, and there were two sides to the pool.

The right side had a broad, sky blue-tiled poolside platform and an arched doorway that led deeper into the fortress—the hallway was lined in blue tiles also, and it curved around to the left.

The left side had slate blue tiles on its exit ledge. It also had an ornate looking doorway done in the same pearlescent stone as the archway outside the fortress, the Zora seal engraved right on the door with sapphire and diamond inlay. Large pearls and sapphires decorated the entranceway on either side, making it look like crashing waves cresting on either side of the magnificent gate. However, this entrance was locked with a huge golden lock with translucent golden chains hanging from the lock itself…proof nopony was getting in there unless they had the key.

“Oh yeah. Like that doesn’t scream ‘boss room’ riiight there,” Rainbow Dash muttered, pointing at the huge door with the ornate gold lock and chains covering it with one hoof.

Skyward nodded grimly—she didn’t know what sort of monster lay behind that door, but she prayed to the Goddesses none of her friends would perish in the attempt to slay it. What was more, her sword was semi-useless underwater. She was going to have to rethink her arsenal for fighting underwater, aside from her magic.

Rarity swam over to the left side and laid her hooves on the blue slate tile. “But how are we ever going to get up there? We have fins now, and…”

While the white unicorn mare was pondering their situation, Skyward had swam back down and turned, powering herself towards the platform. She leaped out of the water—and the second her tail came free of the cool, salty liquid…

Her fins turned to legs, and she landed on the slate tiles with a crack and a series of clicks due to her armored hooves…

But she was still soaked through from the sea water she’d come out of, and wet slate tiles plus armored hooves did not mix. She yelped and slid, ending up against the wall with a thud and she mumbled curses as she flopped to her side, shaking her head and groaning quietly.

Rainbow Dash popped up on Rarity’s left side, wincing at the crash Skyward had made when she hit the wall. “Oww…that’s gotta hurt.”

Rarity shot the pegasus mare a look before looking back towards their friend. “Skyward! Oh dear me, Skyward, are you all right?”

“A-aye…mayhap one shalt not take a leap from the water next time…”

Rainbow Dash heaved herself out of the water—the transformation reversed itself, her fins returning to her hind legs. The wing blades appeared on her wings proper, neatly fitting themselves in her plumage. She shook herself dry as Rarity levitated herself from the water—her own fin shifting back to hind legs and her curled, wavy purple tail.

“Well…now where to, girls? We can’t go that way for obvious reasons,” the ivory unicorn mare murmured, gesturing at the ornate sealed door.

“Duh—we go that way,” Rainbow Dash snorted, pointing at the other door at the other side.

Rarity lifted a hoof. “Hmm. There were three more passageways from the other corridor we went through below the water…”

Skyward lit her horn and formed a rudimentary map of the Fortress they were in. “Well…either we descend back into the water to see what the other passages hold…”

“Or we could see what’s behind door number 4?”

Rarity facehoofed. “Ugh, how shall we ever decide?”

Skyward frowned, thinking hard. Splitting up was an unbelievably bad idea. Blooded and seasoned warriors they were but she had no intention of letting them wander about in this dangerous place alone. Trying to figure out where to go in this place was about as fun as trying to uproot strangleweed.

“How about we flip a Bit and see? Celestia, we go through that door. Luna, we go back down and check out whatever you guys found?”

Rainbow Dash suggested, and the other two looked at one another and nodded.

“That sounds like a fine idea, Rainbow Dash.”

“Hath thou a Bit on thee, Rainbow?” Skyward asked, tilting her head. Rarity produced one from her saddlebag, and using her magic, flipped it. The little golden coin danced in the air, turning end over end, until it hit the floor…

“Luna. We go back below then,” Skyward mused, glancing over her shoulder back at the water.

The three mares splashed back into the water—there was no need for them to recast the incantation. If somepony had the medallion on their person, the spell would work for the pony and their allies with them. They swam back to the room with three corridors, and took the one in the center…

But were forced to turn back considering it was barred shut. The second one was on their right, and it wasn’t barred, but it led upwards a good way until they surfaced in a circular pool.

The room surrounding the pool was covered in shells on the walls. The floor was made entirely of sand, soft and giving under their hooves. Skyward glanced upward…

She tugged on Rarity’s mane and nudged Rainbow Dash—and put a hooftip to her mouth. She pointed upward…

Both Equestrian mares’ eyes widened when they saw the huge shell high above them. The shell was a great swirled cone shaped shell, colored a deep purple streaked with red and blue…and there was something in it, considering the hefty claw that peeked out briefly before being drawn back in. The three mares ducked back down into the water, all the way back down the vertical corridor to the central room.

“What the HAY was that?!” Rainbow Dash burst out, glancing over her shoulder with pinprick eyes.

“That was the biggest hermit crab I have ever seen!” Rarity gasped, and Skyward shook her head.

“Nay…one shalt bet that is one of the monsters that Ganondorf’s vile curse left behind, no doubt. Damn one for leaving the Megaton Hammer with the Goron ponies…t’would come in handy against that…that thing…”

“Well, let’s try the last corridor. Maybe there’s going to be something useful in there against that crab?” Rainbow Dash suggested, and the three mares swam forward into the last one. They swam past spiked walls, careful not to touch the razor-sharp spikes. The corridor opened into another underwater room—this one had a series of shell shaped crystals in the floor… six in all.

But the three mares could see that the crystals weren’t just set into the floor. They also had connecting groove lines in between them, and when Rarity pushed one with her hoof experimentally, it moved, sliding towards the next shell. When the shell connected with the other shell, it lit up and the other moved diagonally towards another one.

It was a puzzle.

Rainbow Dash looked at the walls, and she nudged Skyward. Once she got the bluesteel mare’s attention, she swam over to the leftmost wall and gestured at it. The Haylian mare swam over and inspected the pattern of inset shells in the wall…they were shaped like a seven-pointed star. However, when they counted the shells below them once more, they then noticed that one shell was missing. Sure, the piece that was supposed to be holding the shell was moveable, but, it did nothing when it impacted another shell.

“I’m thinking Mr. Big Shell back there likely has the shell piece we need to complete the puzzle,” Rainbow Dash mused, and Rarity nodded. Rarity looked at the other wall—this one had a carved mural in it also. This showed a huge shelled hermit crab with its pincers raised in a menacing fashion. But the fashionista regarded the rest of the mural. The next panel showed the crab bringing its pincers down in a hammer like strike, trying to hit the Zoran pony who was attacking it…

“Girls! Look at this! I think this may give us our answer!”

The two other mares swam over to the ivory finned female and Skyward regarded the mural closely, looking at the last panel. The last panel showed the crab raising its pincers again, however…the Zoran pony in the mural was holding a strange device. The device in question had a handle with a small switch on its top. From the front of the device came a long, sturdy looking chain, the end of it showing a wicked looking hooked spearhead.

“Ohh! That’s the Longshot! That’s what you need to pull that crab out of his shell!” Rainbow Dash cheered, clapping her forehooves together.

“How is this done? The panel showeth not how to pull the creature from its confines,” Skyward replied, studying the mural closely.

“Easy! See, it’s lifting its pincers, which means it has to come out of its shell, right? When its out of its shell, it’s vulnerable. That means you can use the Longshot to fire it right…here!”

The rainbow finned mare pointed at the exposed head and the eyes of the massive hermit crab. “Once you got a lock on it, you can rush in and hit it!”

“But where is it, Rainbow Dash? Without that device, we cannot hope to overcome that…that vile creature!” Rarity cried.

“Mayhap it may be located in the chamber off from the ‘boss room’,” Skyward mused, pointing back the way they had come. The three mares swam back down the chamber, through the main entrance hall—more Shell Blades had come in from the outside, and the trio were forced to take them down as a result. Rainbow Dash would sweep in and come around while the Shell Blade’s ‘mouth’ was open, and her fin blade would slice neatly through the adductor muscle, while Skyward and Rarity held the Shell Blades in place and forcing their ‘mouths’ open for the transformed pegasus mare to make the killing shot.

A Bomb Fish swam in from the outside—Rainbow Dash tackled Skyward out of the way of its frenzied trajectory when it spotted the Haylian mare and began charging towards her, the dark sphere in its open maw blinking crimson over and over again, each pulsation more rapid than the first. The Bomb Fish swam into the far wall…and EXPLODED with a powerful, albeit muffled BOOM.

But to their surprise, instead of merely leaving charred fish remains and a blackened scorch mark on the wall…the wall crumbled away, showing a hidden passage behind it. Skyward took point, lighting her horn…but there was no need. This passage lit up as soon as the wall fell away in chunks of weathered stone, piling to the sides of the new doorway, the shell shaped ‘lamps’ showing the way into the next corridor. The three mares swam into the corridor—this one was wider than the others. The room that they emerged into was akin to an indoor beach of sorts…there was sand here, a few Shell Blades, and rocks dotting the room. Atop the sandy incline was another door…and…

“Watch thyselves!”

Skyward lit her horn and fired off another ice spell at the approaching enemy that was swiftly drifting towards them---it looked like a translucent floating blue and pink jellyfish, with two long scythe like pinkish tentacles draping from it. Because it was see-through they could easily see its inner organs through the bluish membrane that surrounded it. However, it was clear that it could channel electricity, because it began crackling and fizzing with golden white sparks the second it got close to the Haylian mare. She missed, but ducked out of the way as it raised its tentacles to swipe at her.

“Watch out! Don’t hit that Bari when it’s electrified! That’s gonna really leave a mark if it hits you!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“How dost one kill these…Bari?”

“If you’re gonna use your sword, be careful, they split into smaller ones called Biri, and then you got double the trouble! Maybe if you use your Frost Lance spell, you won’t have to use your sword!”

The ice spell had hit the creature and froze it solid. It dropped to the sand and rolled away into the seawater pool. The three mares swiftly exited the liquid, resuming their true forms as they approached the door. Rarity and Rainbow Dash made swift work of the Shell Blades on the shoreline—in the water they were somewhat slowed, but on land they were slightly faster. They approached the doorway, and it slid upwards at their approach.

Skyward poked her head in and looked around warily; the room in question looked like a huge mist filled room, and there was water covering the floor, not deep at all, just barely covering their hooves. There were also short platforms in the room—not too tall, anypony could jump onto one easily enough. She slowly came into the room, drawing her sword with a slow hiss of metal clearing the sheath.

“Hold it.”

Rainbow Dash put a hoof on Skyward’s armored shoulder and pointed at the center of the room. Skyward narrowed her eyes—she couldn’t quite make out what the odd, shifting shape was in the middle of the room. She almost couldn’t see it…whatever it was…

“Girls, whatever are you staring at…”

Rarity came up quickly behind Rainbow Dash and Skyward…and as a result pushed all three of them into the room. Bars of steel slammed down on the doorway behind them…and the figure in the center of the room moved forward…

Glowing, menacing crimson eyes…

A pure black coat, akin to that of a starless night…

An ebon spiraled horn rising from the center of the figure’s forehead, that blazed to life with a menacing crimson aura…

Dark gray and light gray streaked mane and tail…

Dark armor, hoofcups, and helm that was polished to a high gleam…

And a black sword, complete with crossguard, hilt and pommel, the blade just as long and sharp as…

The shadowed figure leaped at them—Skyward brought up her own sword and blades crossed with a loud hiss-CLANG of steel and a shower of sparks considering how hard the blades had slammed into one another. The darker pony pushed forward, trying to press the attack, but Skyward shoved backwards, going face to face with…

HERSELF.

“No way! That’s…that’s Dark Time Link!” Rainbow Dash shouted, having flown up into the air from the shadow pony’s charge.

“More like Dark Skyward! Look, the shadow pony looks just like her!” Rarity called back to her friend, who was hovering in midair close by.

Skyward was face to face with her own shadowy doppelganger and she didn’t like what she was seeing one bit. The face looking back at her was undoubtedly her own—only…more menacing, less friendly, and crueler, considering the vicious sneer the shadowy version of herself had. The two ponies sprang apart, circling one another…

Skyward charged forward—so did her dark double. Swords met again and again, the song of dancing steel ringing in the chamber. She brought up her shield, bashing her dark twin in the muzzle, and yelled in pain when a lance of crimson light erupted from the doppelgänger’s horn and struck her in the shoulder, heating her armor there and undoubtedly leaving a burn mark. She lit her own horn and retaliated in kind, a Solar Lance spell that made her dark twin snarl in pain and lock blades with her once more.

The fight continued, sword and shield being used in a continuous dance of attack and defense. For each move Skyward made, her double mirrored it, making it exceedingly difficult for her to land a blow on her doppelgänger. Dark Skyward did not speak, but the terrifyingly bloodthirsty grin on her muzzle said it all; she expected her light twin to tire and die soon.

But Skyward had one advantage her dark double didn’t…and that was her friends. Unnoticed, Rarity had gotten onto one of the platforms and was taking aim with her silversteel bow. She drew a bead on the dark unicorn…

In rapid succession, three arrows streaked forward and slammed right into the shadowed unicorn’s unarmored flank—but instead of blood, liquid shadow seeped forth from the wound. Dark Skyward howled in pain, a guttural sound and whirled, aiming another spell at the white unicorn mare…

Only to cry out in anger and agony as Rainbow Dash divebombed her, snatching her helm off and pitching it aside, exposing Dark Skyward’s head. The dark unicorn aimed a blast of destructive magic at the cyan pegasus mare, but Rainbow Dash dodged the blasts, sticking her tongue out at Dark Skyward and blowing the loudest raspberry she was capable of. Then she turned around and smacked her own flank with one forehoof, a mocking smirk on her muzzle.

“Nyah nyah! You completely SUCK at aiming, ya know that! I know foals who can throw snowballs better than you!”

This served its purpose—to piss off Skyward’s dark twin, and the black and gray unicorn crouched, ready to leap to deliver a savage jump strike….

But in her fury and need to take down the two impertinent ponies who had dared to challenge her, Dark Skyward had forgotten completely about Skyward herself. Seeing the opportunity her friends had opened for her, the bluesteel unicorn mare teleported behind and off to the left of her dark nemesis, raised her sword high…

And brought it around in a vicious arc, cleaving straight through her doppleganger’s neck—a devastating killing blow.

But as she delivered the deathblow, Dark Skyward shrieked, an echoing cry of anger, pain and terror, and collapsed backwards on her side…

Only to fall right through the water that barely came up to the middle of their hooves. The room then rippled around them, revealing craggy walls without shells embedded in the walls, but the water didn’t evaporate beneath them. Where Dark Skyward had fallen, was a softly glowing luminous stone carved into a shell—the missing puzzle piece.

But Skyward ignored the glowing shell, bowing her head and keeping silent, her sword and shield clattering to the floor in front of her. Yet, that went unheeded as she stared at her reflection in the shallow water in front of her. Seeing her dark doppelgänger had impacted her deeply and had shaken her to her core. Oh, Goddesses knew she tried to be valorous and selfless to anypony she met, however…

Looking into those burning red orbs had scared her badly. To think that such darkness hid below the surface…

Was she truly worthy of her five-time great-uncle’s legacy? What darkness did she herself conceal behind her own visage?

She didn't want to know--nor did she want to find out.