“Another swordsman approaches, then.” The dark voice of Ganondorf echoed through the halls he walked. The only light available to him was the source made of smoke and fog he held in his hands. In it danced the image of the warrior donned in a kasa with the samurai and pony just beside him.

“His garb reminds me too much of the Hero,” the Dark King spoke lowly to the image, his thoughts being produced aloud. “But if that is all they share in common, it is all I must endure.”

He cupped his hand as he finished, extinguishing the light source. Darkness quickly surrounded his heavily armored form, trapping him a sea of sightlessness. His pace never slowed.

Instead of producing another source of illumination, Ganondorf drew his blade, raising it until it was above his head. For a moment he could not see his own actions, sure of them only by the sound of singing steel and heavy footfalls.

But then, just as he had silently commanded it to, his sword began to glow.

It was a soft light, hardly anything more than the light of a firefly in mid-summer’s night. So shallow was its luster that Ganondorf could not even make out his own arm with it. He pulled his lips into a grin.

His grip on the hilt of the sword strengthened, clenching at the bound leather till it squealed in protest. It began to shake lightly in his hands, the soft light it produced waving under his influence. But the stronger and longer the Dark King held the blade, the brighter the light became.

The soft glow became a satisfactory brightness, but then continued into a harsh hard light that threatened to blind the Gerudo. He did not let go of the blade. Instead, with just a small flick of his wrist, requiring only a miniscule amount of his gargantuan strength, the light changed.

It instantly lightened the room without harming the Dark King’s eyes or leaving corners hidden. Looking around, Ganondorf found himself exactly where he wanted to be. He showed his teeth in a cruel smile as his surveyed the purple crystals around him.

“Now,” he spoke in a rumbling tone, raising his free hand as he spoke. It vibrated slightly as he held it outwards, shaking it with great control. Smoke rose from the ends of his digits twisting and forming above his palm. When it stopped growing, it continued to spin, but with a moving image held within the circling smog.

Ganondorf stared at the image of a girl, a boy, and their pets behind them.

“How will these children fare in the Dodongo’s Realm?”

“This is excitin’!” Apple Bloom cheered from the back of the dragon, smiling broadly as the group continued to walk down the tunnel. “Ah’ve never rode a dragon into a cave with two humans before!”

“Yeah, I bet not many have,” Hiccup spoke in a subdued tone next to her. He rubbed his hand over Toothless’s black scales, feeling the rumble of the creature as he did so, “Probably a short list.”

“Kinda the exact opposite of this cave,” The girl leading them spoke. Their eyes turned to her just in time to scoff at the empty air, “I mean seriously, how much longer do we gotta walk until at least see a grub pod, maybe a skag or two?”

“Never, never sounds good,” Hiccup interjected with a raised hand. It earned him a snake eye from the pig-tailed red-head. Either through experience or pure apathy, it didn’t faze the boy, “I’d much rather find the way out, maybe a shaft up. Heck, I’d settle for a landmark at least.”

“Landmark?” Gaige restated from in front of him, twirling just long enough smirk at him. From experience this time, Hiccup knew what was coming next. “Oh, there are plenty of landmarks. There’s rock, more rock, more jagged rock, and look!” Her mechanical hand pointed towards the wall, nothing spectacular or obvious about it. “I think that rock is even browner than the last one!”

“Really?” The filly questioned sincerely. “It looks the same ta me.” Hiccup chuckled, more at the growl that came from Gaige than the oblivious words of Apple Bloom. “What? Did I say somethin’ wrong?”

“No, you’re fine, honest.” The boy assured her waving his hand as he did so.

The group returned to an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the light footfalls of the boy and girl, and the heavy stomping of the dragon with them. The cave stretched endlessly forward, and endlessly back as well. And, just like Gaige had said, every rock wall and ceiling they passed looked exactly the same.

“Starting to think we went the wrong way.” Gaige mumbled ahead of them, her normal hand scratching at the back of her head. “Wish I had my ECHO display with me. At least then I’d be able to make a relatively accurate map of these damn caverns.”

“Whoa!” Hiccup let out raising his hands. He quickened his pace to reach next to the girl. He grabbed Gaige’s human arm, turning her towards him as they stopped moving. “Hold on, you can’t talk like that in front of her.” Hiccup’s free hand motioned towards the filly on his dragon’s back, earning the green gaze. Her eyes Apple Bloom, who subsequently crooked her own head in confusion.

“Oh,” the word slipped quietly from the teen’s lips.  “Yeah, my bad.” She let out a small sigh. Her mechanical arm rose to her face, two of the steel digits pinching the bridge of her nose before slipping downwards.

Gaige put a small grin on her face as she walked back to Toothless, wryly avoiding the dragon’s narrowed eyes. Apple Bloom followed her curiously, walking over the broad back of the dragon as the teen rounded the beast.

“Uh,” Gaige began, her mechanical hand holding her hip as her regular one wiped at her forehead, just beneath her goggles. “Sorry about my language back there. I’m not used to being around kids.” Apple Bloom only had confusion about her features.

“Yer language?” The filly asked, “What did ya say? You were just mad, right? I mean, mah sister gets the same way with a stubborn apple. Mah brother’s a bit more calm about it, but then again, there ain’t an apple in the orchard he can’t pick.”

What Apple Bloom said and what the engineer heard were two very different things.

“U-Uh yeah, right,” Gaige let out getting over her shock as quick as she could. She put on her best smile before she spoke again. “You seem pretty alright with… this.” Her hand waved at the cavern as she spoke.

“This? This is cool! It’s just like Ah’m crusadin’ for my Cutie Mark!” The filly cheered happily, lightly bouncing on her hooves. Toothless shot an angry look towards Hiccup. The boy could only raise his hands and shake his head, ridding himself of fault.

Gaige, however, seemed to reciprocate the filly’s excitement.

“Cutie Mark? That’s awesome!” she genuinely answered. “You’re trying to find your special talent, right?” Gaige may as well have predicted the future, what with the way the farm filly’s eyes brightened and her smile widened.

“That’s right!” Apple Bloom all but yelled with a jump, earning a disgruntled snarl from the dragon she was on. “Me and mah friends try just ‘bout every day ta get our Cutie Marks. We’ve done everything from flower planting ta sky diving.” Hiccup already felt this conversation slipping from his interest. Gaige, however, couldn’t get enough.

“You’ve got friends helping you?” The engineer questioned with no indication of letting up her excitement. “This is too cool! It’s just like the show I used to watch as a kid!”

Gaige leaned over the dragon, placing both of her hands on Toothless as she moved herself closer to the filly. The dragon was not amused. Hiccup, thankfully, was quick to notice.

“I’m sorry buddy.” He whispered to Toothless, putting his head over the dragon’s head. “I’ll get you a whole basket of fish when we get out of here, eel free.” The massive green eyes of the dragon rolled at the words before narrowing at the teen. “I promise, really. I’m gonna need my own pile of comfort food after this is over.”

“So you haven’t tried autonomics yet?” Gaige spoke up, earning the attention of Hiccup again. “I could totally help you and your friends with that! It’s easy once you understand the proper electrical conductivity of certain materials and the proper method for wiring regulators and insulators to reduce the likelihood of false-tripping or over-heating the board.”

Hiccup concluded that he didn’t miss anything, even when she was speaking.

“Well, Sweetie Belle might be able ta handle some of that. She’s a walkin’ dictionary.” Apple Bloom smiled broadly at her friends name. “Scoots might have a hard time, but she’ll put her best hoof forward ta try. It’s just what she does.”

“Oh my god my heart is going to explode soon,” Gaige whispered under her own breath, beaming as she set her head against the dragon. She lifted herself up quickly, “I really gotta meet your friends, hell, your whole family! So we gotta get out here as fast we can.”

Gaige finally started speaking Hiccup’s language.

“Yes! Finally!” The exasperated viking agreed, throwing up his arms as he did so. “Let’s get out of here as fast as we can! Good!”

“Is somethin’ wrong?” Apple Bloom asked the boy, walking over the dragon again until her hoof was between his scaled ears. Hiccup could feel the fire in the dragon’s eyes.

“No, no, nothing’s wrong. Just thrown across worlds and into different dimensions. Happens all the time, I’m sure.” He let out a sigh, wiping his face down with his hand. “And all I wanted to do this morning was just get out of that dragon pen…”

Toothless took notice of his human’s annoyance, pushing at the thin body of the teen with his nose. As expected, the force, no matter how little it was for the dragon, was easily enough to nearly push Hiccup down. Instead of annoyance, however, he was only smiling.

“Nothing’s wrong bud, not between us.” He put both of his hands beneath the Night Fury’s jaw, watching as his sharp eyes relaxed into near perfect squares. “Just… a heck of a day, right?”

The dragon gave a low roar and lolled his tongue out, smiling toothlessly up at Hiccup. It made the teen chuckle.

“Ah still can’t believe he can’t talk.” Apple Bloom spoke up from atop the Fury. “Spike talks all the time, and he even reads too!” Hiccup gave the filly placid nod of his head.

“Yeah well, I’ll have to ask him how he does it. Cause Toothless here just knows what I’m telling him. I’m lucky to be able to understand him.” The dragon twisted his head at the human’s words, once more overpowering the human with minimal effort. It didn’t hurt Hiccup in the least.

“Seems like ya understand him already.” The comment caught Hiccup by surprise.

The teen’s green eyes looked up at the filly, who was looking down at him with a neutral face, like nothing was wrong or surprising. When his gaze fell down to Toothless, he saw the same thing, then even more.

In Toothless’s massive green orbs, Hiccup saw more than just what he was feeling, he saw a connection, he saw a friend. He saw someone that was willing to die for him, and Hiccup knew he was willing to do the same.

“Yeah,” Hiccup let out lightly. “I guess we do.” He scratched at the top of the dragon’s head, feeling the force of the Night Fury leaning into his palm.

“Guys?” Gaige raised her hand, silencing the conversation. Pony, human, and dragon turned towards her, her own gaze focused on the path ahead of them. “I think I see something.”

The rest of their eyes followed her, looking down the cavern’s path. And indeed, just like the redhead said, there was something up ahead, something that was a loose rock or chunk of dirt; distinguished this time by having more than just two shades of color.

“Wonder what that is.” Hiccup spoke up, his legs already moving him towards the object. Toothless was right behind him, his large black form walking in tune with the Viking, Apple Bloom subsequently following on top. Gaige wasn’t any more than a few feet behind them.

The closer the group drew to the object, the more confused they were. It became clear what it was, but why it was here, they had not even a guess. It was a figurine, sitting on the ground like a misplaced ornament. A pair of golden symbols were held between its front two appendages, and a red fez on top of its head.

It also had fur all across its body with a small red vest tugging at its chest.

“Is that…” Apple Bloom began, leaning over the dragon with her forehooves. “A monkey?”

“Yeah,” Gaige admitted as she reached the doll. She leaned down towards it, grabbing the small toy in her mechanical hand. She couldn’t help but grimace at the open lipped grin it was giving her.

“That’s just creepy.” Hiccup let out. Toothless rumbled lightly as he finished, likely agreeing with the teen. “But… who put it there? I don’t bet on much, but I’m pretty sure that doesn’t belong here.”

“No kidding?” Gaige spoke sarcastically, giving a lopsided grin to the teen. Hiccup just rolled his eyes, all too familiar with the treatment. “Well it’s not loot, but I bet someone wants this.”

“Maybe it’s her.”

For some reason, Hiccup hated the way that sounded, especially since it came from the youngest member of their group. He looked towards Apple Bloom, with a slight grimace, attempting to prepare himself for whatever he saw.

The filly had her hoof extended towards one of the walls, pointing at what appeared to be another outcropping of rocks. But when Hiccup and Gaige turned their gaze towards said rocks, they saw something else sticking against the hard surface. Truth be told, both teens wished they hadn’t seen it.

It was a piece of parchment stuck to the wall, wedged between small groups of rocks. It had the same color as the stone, differentiable only by the black ink written across it. The size of the letters varied, one taking up a quarter of the page and the rest barely making a paragraph in size. But what they meant was obvious. The word “Wanted” helped.

But none of that was what irked the teens. Instead, it was the picture that was drawn across the paper, printed in oddly vivid colors and more than inappropriate amounts of detail.

Even with seeing grins from Vikings after slaying a dragon, Hiccup was sure he didn’t want to be anywhere near the girl on the paper. Gaige, who was just in the company of some of the most daring and adventurous people across the entire universe, was sure the girl would irk more than just a sense of dread in them.

“She’s creepy.” Apple Bloom spoke from behind the boy and girl. The two shared a look before chuckling at one another.

“Aw, that little filly is kinda cute.” Jack mused before he took a long sip of from his soda. He let out a breath of satisfaction when he was finished. “Kinda reminds me of butt stallion. Maybe I’ll decorate her with diamonds when she’s burned to hell. Nah, probably have to stitch her up with diamonds. Those beasts down there like to blow themselves up a lot afterall.”

“An astute observation father,” The electric voice of Angel spoke from behind the man. “Chances predict a 64% likelihood of death by traumatic force before hemorrhaging.” The facts made the masked man giggle.

“Yeah, that sounds about right. Too bad we can’t record this stuff. Might make me another billion dollars. Nah, more like two billion, definitely.” Jack took another mouthful of popcorn after he finished, his heterochromatic eyes looking over the display.

He spat it all out as an alarm blared through the chamber.

The screeching of the alarm echoed off the metal walls, shaking the sheets of steel. The steel-gold colorings of the wall were drowned beneath the flashing of a red light. Jack’s own pop and popcorn went flying into the air as he jumped from his chair.

“Warning” Angel’s voice spoke through speakers strewn across the room. “Unidentified specimen on trajectory course for Hyperion Island. Estimated number: Six. Size: Immature Skag. Weapon Capabilities: -”

“Enough of the numbers! Bring them up on screen!” Jack yelled his order to his daughter. “And turn off that damn alarm!”

“Processing orders.” Not but a blink of an eye after Angel spoke did the alarms stop, turning the chamber back into its cold colors of steel and gold. Another breath of time later, the screen in front of Handsome Jack turned away from the musings of the tunnel group.

Instead, the screen turned to an image of the skyline, detailing what could be called a brilliant day. Jack didn’t give the sight more than a passing thought. Instead, his heterochromatic eyes scanned the screen carefully, looking over the thatched roofs houses on the ground, the tree line around them, the mountains in the distance, seeing everything but what he wanted.

Then, they appeared.

Tiny dots against the mountain that was his floating island, shimmering across the sky. Their pattern was well practiced, like the detailed programming in his own code. Their formation was a twisted V pattern, perfectly working with one another against the drag of pushing the air.

Jack would have marveled at the sight, if he weren’t laughing to tears instead.

“Oh my god!” He wheezed between his laughter. “Look at that! They’re literally leaving a trail of pixie dust behind them! HA HA! They’re farting pixie dust!”

His hand clutched around his sides as he rolled in his chair, pushing against the steel arm rests to keep himself from falling to the ground. His laughter was forced, coming off in large heaves followed by gulps of air. His was the only voice to echo through his massive chamber.

“Analyzing potential threat. Analysis complete.” Despite his daughter’s words, Jack was still getting over his own laughter. “Enemy hostiles likely group designated ‘Wonder Bolts:’ Pegasus specialized and trained in military-like conditions for airborne or agile hostiles.”

“Oh they’re airborne alright!” Jack let out with a yelp of laugher. “Their high enough to be crapping out crystals!” His laughter returned with vigor, echoing through the hollow hall. His daughter spoke on, unphased.

“At current projections, the enemy units should reach Hyperion Island within 46.7 seconds. Should the hostiles be eliminated father?” Handsome Jack was waving his hand in the air, fighting against himself to be able to speak. He took in a few deep breaths, trying to still his still trembling gut. It didn’t stop the near maniacal grin across his features.

When he did stop, he settled with looking at the screen.  Watching as the faint dots trailed by multi-colored dust began to grow across the screen. He nodded his head as his eyes narrowed, imaging something he only wished he had the company to share it to.

“Angel,” he spoke his daughter’s name. “Turn their mist red.”

“Processing orders.”

Celestia released another sigh.

She was not tired or weary. If anything, she had more energy inside of her now than she knew what to do with. Not even was she overwhelmed, what with so little happening about her now. All she could do from her forced perch was stare down at her kingdom, unable to help it.

Another sigh was released, but this time, it was from Link.

Her gaze turned to the Hylian, currently leaning against their prism prison. His head was bowed, arms balancing on his drawn legs. Only recently did he stain the diarch’s coat with his tears and now he was sitting in his silence.

Celestia had no words for him, because there were no words that could right the wrong that was done to him. Centuries of loss and patience had taught her that much. All she could do now was wait. Wait for him, but near him. The company of others made the passing of one easier to bare.

The diarch could only hope her presence alone was enough for him.

She turned her attention to the monolith beneath them, staring down at it with no less disdain than before. For every sight Celestia had witnessed across the sides of the floating mountain, she felt a twinge of hatred and disgust.

The hatred was for her enemies, the beings that had so easily and so joyously trapped her and her ponies, playing with them like dolls in a house. Her disgust was for herself, for allowing it to happen.

A rustle near her perked her ears, causing Celestia to turn her head towards Link. The Hero of Time was moving, his head raised and one hand falling to the floor. He was still for a moment, a look far from sorrow across his features. One of his blue eyes was squinted, the other open a touch wider. His lips were flat, caught in neither a frown nor grin.

His ears, however, were moving.

There were twitching, as Celestia’s own ears would at a sensitive sound. The diarch watched as he gave a push with his hand, lifting him from the floor and back to his feet. The look of confusion across his face did not change.

“Link?” She questioned him. “What is it?” Instead of with words, as Celestia knew he would not speak, he turned from her. His back faced the diarch as he placed the flat of his hands on the purple crystal surrounding them. Celestia heard the soft thump as his head was pushed against its walls.

He was still for a moment, but only a moment. When Link turned back to her, he no longer a look of confusion on his features, but surprise. Celestia was interested before, but now she was worried.

“What do you see?” She asked as she trotted the two steps necessary to reach his side. Link’s hand motioned towards the wall he was leaning on, lightly tapping on its sturdy yet transparent walls. Taking the message, the diarch leaned as far as her horn would allow.

It was enough to see the trails of dust forming in the sky. She recognized them instantly.

“The Wonderbolts!” Celestia spoke with no concealment for her joy. “They’re heavily trained members of my guard, specializing in aerial assaults or large anomalies. I knew they would come eventually.” The diarch tapped her hoof as they flew towards the monolith, their flight pattern alternating as they deemed necessary.

“I can see Captain Spitfire at the head, and Lieutenant Soarin and Fleetfoot flanking her.” She spied a glance towards Link, watching with relief as a smile found its way to his silent lips. “If they are patrolling the monolith, it’s only a matter of time before they discover a method to free either us or our friends inside.” The Hylian nodded towards her before returning his gaze towards the flying ponies.

That was when Celestia saw his face fall. She took note of it instantly.

“What?” She questioned again, looking towards the Wonderbolts, searching for anything that could possibly give the knight reason for dread. Celestia saw nothing. “Link, what do you see?”

Link pulled his fingers back until only his index finger was extended, leaning on the purple prism. It traced downwards, stopping only when its edge was no longer aimed at the pegasi, but at the monolith they were flying towards.

It took only a glance for Celestia to see it.

One of the massive screens across the floating island was changing. It wasn’t falling to the ground, as would cause unending alarm and fear in the currently trapped diarch, but instead was folding. Like curtains to a window, the black surface was being pulled away, revealing mechanisms within that Celestia did not recognize.

They were large, though not as massive as the island that contained it, but each was easily a match for the size of a full-grown dragon, if not more. They were sleek and colored gold, detailed only by their sharp edges and flat surfaces. Each one extended from wall face, reaching out like a claw, but far straighter, and at their ends was not a point, but a hole.

They were hollow and deep as Celestia could see into them, like perfectly circular caverns gauged into large pillars of steel. She would have marveled at the amount of metal, as she had never seen such a use for them before. She would have wished to examine them, as they were as alien to her as the new creatures currently playing with her ponies.

But that was before they started to glow, and thus, creating a pit of unease within her stomach.

“What are they doing?” She whispered, turning to Link with the hopes that he knew. “Link, what are they doing?” The Hylian was only able to shake his head, without thoughts or words for what they were.

Celestia turned her eyes back to the hollow pillars, watching as they empty centers emitted a light that only grew brighter with time. For every moment the light grew, the weight inside her chest grew a bit heavier. Her pink eyes turned back to the Wonderbolts.

They must have noticed the objects, as their formation changed. It had broken into a scattered form, each putting much distance between the other. It was either a diversionary technique or preparing for avoidance maneuvers, either way, it was tactically sound.

That was what Celestia thought up until beams of light began to shoot at the pegasi.

A horrified gasp echoed in her crystal prison as red lasers shot forward from the cannons, piercing the air with deadly accuracy. They screamed past the spread-out pegasi, just barely missing them. Instantly, the trails behind the Wonderbolts began to twist.

The shots of red light were fired sporadically, the hollow pillars shooting at alternating intervals that kept the pegasi from advancing. Celestia watched in terrified fascination as the her expert guard flew in agile patterns, avoiding the light with all of their training at their disposal.

But it wasn’t enough.

Celestia felt her eyes widen in abject horror as one of the beams slammed into one of the Wonderbolts, exploding in a sparkling display of red. The pegasus’s trail ended where the light hit. Not even cloth remained in the air.

Link slammed his fist against the crystal prison, his teeth pulled back in a snarl. Celestia felt her limbs freeze, appalled by what she had witnessed. Her eye shook as she continued to watch the deathly lasers fly.

Another Wonderbolt was hit, an explosion of red once more shimmering in the sky as it made impact. Then another, and another. For everyone that fell, Celestia felt her mouth dry, felt her chest heave. She had not eaten in some hours, possibly a day, and here she was ready to relieve the contents of her stomach.

The bright red beams continued to fire from the monolith, shooting at the two pegasi left in the air. Like the masters of the sky that they were, Spitfire and Soarin continued to dodge and weave through the fire, manipulating the currents of the air to their advantage.

They flapped their wings until they flew high, attempting to rise higher than the lasers could allow, only to turn tail and dive towards the ground, attempting to force gravity to accelerate them. But they weren’t fast enough. None of them were.

Spitfire was hit first, her wing nicked by one of the lasers. The trail of embers that was known to follow her flight path suddenly ended. Her controlled dive became a free fall. Soarin joined unwillingly, his tail burned to crisps by another stray beam of light. The clouds that followed his path stopped.

Then, and only then, did the lasers stop firing, forcing Celestia and Link to watch as the two pegasi fell to the ground below, not even able to cushion their fall.

With all the ceremony as before, the hollow tubes of death retracted into the monolith, the screen folding back over them. In just a moment, it appeared that nothing had changed, that the sky was still empty save for the island floating within it. There were no pegasi in the air, and no remains to say that there ever were.

Celestia released the bile from her stomach, Link leaning his head against their prison.

“Oh! That was quite a show.” Discord had his claw above his eyes, shielding his mismatched gaze from the sun’s rays. “I bet that gave those ponies quite a scare, all the way down to the ground.” The draconequus snickered at his own statement.

“But as fun as half-time was, the show must go on!” He lowered his claw long enough to twist in the air, where he extended both of his forelimbs to great length at his side. Discord’s grin was as sharp as ever.

“And I can’t wait to see the end of a princess.”

He watched as the dark screen showed the image of Princess Luna, curled over the ground with a dark guardian above her and broken assailant beyond her. Despite the seemingly clear turn for the diarch’s better, Discord did not let his joy falter.

“Spies,” he mused. “They always have a trick up their sleeves.” Next Chapter: Darkness In Light Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 40 Minutes