Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers [Parallel Quest]

by Cyrus Colter

Chapter 21: Ganon The Demon King.

The beast was looming before the heroes under the darkness of the clouds, his features barely visible, only his glowing eyes which glared at them with pure malice.

Then, with a roar, Ganon charged at them through the ruins.

Sweetie Belle met his swords with hers, but Ganon's strength was such that he easily knocked them out of the way despite the filly using her ten beam swords at once, five for each of Ganon's swords. She still sent one of her swords to slash at Ganon's torso, but to her shock, it didn't have any effect.

The three heroes then quickly avoided another attack from Ganon, Link rolling to the beast's hooves before he slashed at them, only for the Master Sword to not have any effect either. He then had to run away as Ganon attempted to crush him under his hoof. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle continuously attacked Ganon, but each of her attacks were met with failure to hurt the Demon King.

Rota then charged in to try for herself, powering up to Super Saiyan Blue. Using an after-image to feint for the torso, the Saiyan rocketed into Ganon’s jaw, surprisingly harming the beast, and causing him to stumble backwards. Ganon recovered quickly, however, slapping Rota away with a back hand.

Rota caught herself in midair as Marko cried from across the fire, “HEY!” Once he had the others' attention, he said, "The head and the tail! Try to hit the head and the tail!”

Sweetie Belle looked at the head, then at the tail, seeing that the tail didn't seem to be as solid as the rest of the body. And both she and Link had seen Ganon’s reaction to Rota headbutting his chin. "Of course! Thank you Marko! Link! Try to use the light arrow on his head!"

Zelda then said, "There's magic in this fire that is stopping us from traversing even with Farore's Wind! Sorry we can't help more!"

Rota reassured them with a quick, “You’re fine!” as Link nodded to both Sweetie Belle and Zelda, jumped back to avoid a swing of Ganon's left sword, and took his bow before firing a light arrow right on the crystal that was part of the crown on Ganon's forehead. It had the effect of stunning the beast, and Sweetie Belle and Rota took the occasion to savagely attack respectively the tail and the head until he recovered only two seconds later and spun with his swords, knocking Sweetie Belle's swords away and forcing the Saiyan-filly duo to fly out of range.

Ganon then glared at Link and suddenly jumped toward him, smashing the ground. Link avoided him with a roll, ensuring that he was behind Ganon, and quickly attacked the tail once before he ran away to not be hit by the counterattack. But then, Ganon raised his swords, covered them in electricity, and with a vertical swing, sent the electricity at Link in the form of a disk that he barely avoided by jumping to the side.

Rota flicker-stepped to Ganon’s tail, grabbed it and pulled as hard as she could, the Demon King roaring and struggling against the Saiyan. Sweetie Bell tipped the scales in Rota’s favor by ramming into the top of the beast’s head, sending him sprawling to the ground as the Saiyan then powered up further, electricity emitting from her aura as she ascended to a Blue equivalent to Super Saiyan 2, her hair growing out a bit as she began spinning Ganon by the tail before flying upwards while still spinning and then releasing the Dark lord, sending him crashing into the ruins of the castle, destroying them even more.

With a roar, Ganon leapt from the ruins and, with shocking speed for his size, closed the distance between himself and the heroes, blocking Sweetie Belle and Rota’s beams and blasts with his swords and arms. Link, meanwhile, took the opportunity to get behind the beast, only to be forced to shield himself when Ganon suddenly turned around while slashing at the Hero of Time. He managed to block in time, but was still sent backwards from the force of the blow. Sweetie tried going for the tail, but ended up getting batted away by it.

As Ganon brought one blade down on Link, who rolled aside to dodge it, Rota flew at the Demon King and punched him in the cheek while Link climbed up his arm and then slashed the beast's head with the Master Sword.

Hitting the head with the Master Sword was the most effective against Ganon. It even stunned the beast to the point of making him kneel, causing the wall of fire to disappear, and Link took the occasion to attack the head again, joined by Sweetie Belle and Rota while Zelda and Marko entered the arena before the fire returned.

Ganon got up, roared, and sent several disks of electricity at the heroes and at Zelda before he jumped toward the princess who used Farore's Wind to teleport away behind him, and she quickly attacked the tail with bursts of magic before teleporting again.

Before Ganon could decide what to do next, he was punched in the face by Marko, who’d powered up to his own Super form, his hair glowing orange and his eyes burning red, with a Flame and Ki infused fist, making him flinch, before Sweetie Belle fired from her horn a beam made of the same light than the light arrows, stunning the Demon King!

"Since when can you do that?!" shouted Navi while Link used the occasion to attack the tail before running away.

"Since I was finally able to get the hang of this light and holy energy and to copy it!" answered Sweetie Belle with a big smirk.

"You can copy the light of the Gods?" shouted Zelda in disbelief.

"I can copy EVERYTHING! That's the void for you! Everything that exists comes from the void, so I can use the void to do everything!" She then grinned at Ganon and fired more beams of holy light at him.

With a roar, Ganon deflected all of them with his swords while he accumulated dark energy in his mouth and fired another powerful beam at the filly who teleported out of the way. Ganon then put an arm in the way of a light arrow fired by Link before he breathed several fireballs that went after the heroes. Rota and Marko took the occasion to fly above the battle and rain energy blasts onto the beast’s head while the others tried to keep his attention on them. Ganon, however, charged dark energy into his mouth and then swept it across the sky, trying to hit one of the Bages. But then, Sweetie Belle conjured a fist shaped shield below Ganon’s chin and used it to punch his mouth closed, causing an explosion of energy that left him stunned again. Link and Marko used the occasion again to attack the tail while Sweetie Belle and Rota slashed and blasted at the head.

Ganon then fell on his knee again, weakened, and Zelda took the occasion to use her most powerful light magic on him.

"I'm using my power to hold the Evil King! You use your sword and deliver the final blow!" she exclaimed before she was left drained. Using this magic took everything she had left.

Link's Master Sword then began to glow, feeling that it was time to end the Evil.

So Link slashed at Ganon's head several time before he planted the sword in through the crystal on the forehead.

Roaring in agony, Ganon stood up and began to slash around wildly.

"Six Sages... Now!" yelled Zelda before she summoned a ball of intense light.

In the Chamber, the Sages used their power to open a vortex to the Sacred Realm.

And Ganon disappeared in it, the Sacred Realm becoming his prison.

Sweetie Belle, Link, Zelda, and the Bages then found themselves in an infinite expanse of sky in all directions, somehow standing on an invisible floor.

Sweetie Belle didn't question it. With all that holy magic stuff they used, getting transported to a sky realm to have a little post-Evil-Overlord's-defeat chat wasn't a surprise, and the Gods probably had something to do with it.

"Thank you, Link... Thank you, Sweetie Belle… Thank you, Rota… And thank you, Marko… Thanks to you, Ganondorf has been sealed inside the Evil Realm!" began Zelda. "Thus, peace will once again reign in this world... for a time."

"Yeah..." Sweetie Belle began with a frown. "Ganondorf still has the Triforce of Power. I fear that he may eventually break the seal and escape."

"But this won't be before several centuries... I hope," Navi said.

Link sighed. "I suppose that nothing can be done about this..."

Zelda sighed too. "And all of this is my fault..."

"Why do you say that?" Link asked.

"I tried to control the Sacred Realm. I was young, and I couldn't comprehend the consequences. Ganondorf entered the Sacred Realm and took the Triforce of Power, becoming a threat that will plague Hyrule for generations. And I dragged you into it too," Zelda said as she looked at Link.

"It's alright," Rota said. "You wanted to do what was right to stop Ganondorf from entering the Realm and taking the Triforce, and you were just a little girl. Nobody holds it against you."

"But at least, I want to make up for my mistake," said Zelda before she looked back at Link. "You must lay the Master Sword to rest and close the Door of Time... However, by doing this, the roads between times will be closed..." She then extended her hand toward him. "Link, give the ocarina to me..."

Link understood what she wanted to do. "You are going to bring me back to seven years ago."

Zelda nodded. "Even a little before, before Ganondorf could enter the Sacred Realm. You will warn my past self and my father of his threat... and all this tragedy will be avoided. And you will be able to live the life that was stolen from you."

Link took the ocarina and stared at it, then at Sweetie Belle and the Bages.

"So I guess this is goodbye?" Rota asked.

"Unless you find a way to use the Song of Time and go back in time without the help of the Goddess of Time, it seems like it," answered Link with a sad smile as he gave the ocarina to Zelda.

Sweetie Belle then frowned in thought. "Actually, I may not need. If you are able to stop Ganondorf before he could enter the Sacred Realm, then this will create a split timeline, becoming a parallel universe. Then, all I will need to do is to find this universe to find you again. The hard part will be finding the right universe among the infinite parallel versions of this universe... Wait a minute..." She facehoofed. "Of coooourse! Link, bring us with you!"

"What?"

"You see, I come from an absolutely unique universe in the whole multiverse. It would be long to explain, but to put it simply, this universe doesn't even have a past or a future, it only exists in the present. No time travel unless it is to return before the time-split point from which my universe was born. I can't call past or future versions of me to join me because there is only me. Follow me until now?"

"I... think?" said Link with hesitation.

"Yes, I understand," Zelda said with a nod.

“Observation 27 of Time Travel: The Fabric of Time won’t allow unique individuals to interact with themselves from another point in the same timeline, with exception to Acausal Beings, molding the timeline in question to make it so they are not able to,” Rota and Marko rattled off simultaneously.

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow at the siblings’ near-automated response.

“Our whole family has connections to our universe’s entity governing time,” Rota said, hoping it would satisfy Sweetie Belle’s curiosity. “Anyway, you were saying?”

"Right. So if I go back in time with Link, then... Darn, how to word it... Despite the time travel, I will be able to return to my universe and I will know where his universe is. I will not need to search. Bringing the Bages mostly makes sure they don't left behind."

"But then, you will return to your universe seven years younger," warned Zelda.

"That's no problem," said Sweetie Belle with a big grin before her age suddenly regressed until she was six years old. "I can change my age at will! And I should be able to do something similar for the Bages."

Link, Zelda and the Bages jaws all dropped before Link gave her a deadpan look. "Then why did you remain a six-years old when we got back in time?"

"Because it was fun! And it didn't change anything in the end!"

Link and Marko facepalmed, while Rota and Zelda giggled.

"And you know what this means too?" asked Sweetie Belle as she looked back and forth between Link and Zelda. "That I could bring Link back from his universe to visit you, Zelda, and vice versa!" She then frowned again, this time in annoyance. "I just need to find a way for you to communicate to me through dimensions. I really need to start to think about this if I want to keep contact with all the friends I will make in my adventures."

She was then grabbed by Zelda who hugged her and petted her in thanks (and not just because six-years old Sweetie Belle was adorable). "I am happy to hear this, Sweetie Belle. So this won't be a final goodbye."

Sweetie Belle nodded before she flew out of Zelda's arms and returned to her normal age beside Link who began to pet her too, with the Bages.

Zelda then began to play her lullaby with the ocarina, and the four heroes were enveloped in a blue light as they began to float before everything flashed.

"See you soon..."

---

They were back in the Temple of Time, in front of the Pedestal of Time. The Master Sword was already back in it, and the column of blue light disappeared.

After looking around a bit, they looked at each other, seeing that they were now seven years younger, that they were back seven years to the past. How long before Ganondorf's attack? They weren't sure.

Then, they exited the Master Sword's room, and since the gems weren't on their pedestal as Link hadn't placed them yet, the doors closed behind them.

"So you're gonna warn the royal family about Ganondorf. Then what?" asked Sweetie Belle as she returned her and the Bages to their normal ages.

"I need to verify when exactly we are. Depending on that, I may have to go help the Great Deku Tree, help the Gorons, and save Ruto inside Jabu-Jabu again. If we are early enough, then this may not be needed. Then, well... I'm not sure..." Link said with a sigh. "I guess that I will see. But I don't think that I will be able to do as Zelda said, live the life that I would have lived without all these events. I just... can't... Not after all this..."

"Yeah. Going through something like that really changes a person. I went through something similar. After going through adventures and fighting monstrous abominations, I just can't settle on a 'normal' life. Or I wouldn't be here. I guess this is up to you to find out what you will do with your life from now on."

Link nodded. "So, will you return to your home now?"

"Yeah, now that it's over. I don't think that you will need us to stop Ganondorf. Without the Triforce of Power, he isn't that dangerous. And also, I have school to go," she finished with a giggle. She then hugged Link, nodded at Navi, and opened a rift. "Goodbye! See you next time!" And she passed it.

---

The rift dropped Sweetie Belle and the Bages in her chamber in the Carousel Boutique, and she quickly saw through the window that it was night outside. Silently, she led Rota and Marko outside, the former keeping her eyes pointed at the ground and shut, letting Marko guide her to Twilight’s Castle. The filly then verified the date on the calendar and saw that it was the night from Sunday to Monday.

Perfect timing! She didn't miss school!

And a quick check of a nearby clock let her know that it was a little over 3AM.

Well, she may as well go have a quick nap. She couldn't wait to recount her adventure to her friends.

Author's Note:

Quick head's up: I will not be doing Undertale for the arc after the next chapter, due to personal reasons.

While this is a good thing for diversity of events, I still need to decide what will be taking it's place. I will put up a blog post at some point asking anyone interested for their suggestions.

Comments

[Cyrus Colter]

11888348
I hope someone at least acknowledges any of the potential references thrown into the fight.

[Lucar]

Darn. Ganon forcing Rota to go SSJBlue2. And he is small fry compared to other enemies like Mewtwo, without forgetting Master and Crazy Hand. Rota may have to discover new SSJ forms, or learn Ultra Instinct.
11889856
Sorry, I haven't seen the references.

[Cyrus Colter]

11889898
Bear in mind, Saiyans gain strength with training and fighting.

Rota, in particular, has an advantage that will be explored in the next chapter.