Cover art, by swagmu.
The Power of Freedom is a crossover between The Legend of Zelda and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic written by Greatazuredragon. The story can be found here,
and is currently in progress.
Ganondorf is bored and tired with the destiny set before him by the gods of Hyrule. Reincarnate, go after the Triforce, plunge the world into darkness, kidnap Princess Zelda and battle Link for the fate of Hyrule. Lather, rinse, repeat. Deciding to break the cycle, he orchestrates a ritual that launches him and his fellow Triforce wielders away from Hyrule, escaping from the chains that bound them.
Accepting the cost of turning into a pony, Ganondorf and his friends-slash-enemies begin their journey across the world they've landed on. With the events of the Hearth's Warming tale starting to play out, Hyrule won't be the only place where their exploits are left behind.
There is also an AU fanfic called Golden Crusaders, in which the Triforce wielders—long after their new lives have reached their end—are reincarnated as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Currently in progress.
Tropes seen in The Power of Freedom include:
- All of the Other Reindeer: Wonder Bolt is ostracized by his squad—and Wind Shriek in particular—on account of him being a half-breed, one of his parents being an earth pony. He slowly becomes more respected in events following the first windigo attack.
- Bag of Spilling: The main trio's supplies and weapons are scattered across the land upon their arrival. Some of them are found by the locals, with Link's ocarina being found by Star Swirl. Others, such as the Master Sword, are still missing.
- Composite Character: Each of the three protagonists are treated as having access to the memories of their past selves in their timeline, and as such are the sum total of their experiences and abilities.
- Curbstomp Battle: A squad of fifteen armed and hostile pegasi (sans Wonder Bolt, who's just armed, not hostile) versus Link, who is both unarmed and is encumbered by a filly on his back. Link picks the squad apart, and would've soloed them all if Ganondorf hadn't decided to finish them himself.
- Dirty Coward: The pegasus squad leader Wind Shriek cuts and runs when it looks like the fight against the Windigos can't be salvaged. His actions immediately paint him in a negative light compared to the more courageous Wonder Bolt, who not only stays to the bitter end but rallies the rest of the squad to keep fighting.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Most of the assumptions made about the protagonists fall into this vein.
- Forest Blossom immediately believes that Ganondorf is a hero after he rescues her from griffon bandits. It's a funny thing to think about the Zelda franchise's most common antagonist.
- Forest's fellow villagers think that Link is a Storm Caller on account of his stated ability to control the weather with music, shortly before he first performs the Song of Storms. While not inaccurate, in a way, it's still not the truth.
- Zelda is believed to be a 'war mage'—powerful and competent unicorns whose magical know-how is second only to the Archmage Star Swirl—by Fierce Breeze and her squad. No one has yet told them that she is actually former royalty.
- Everyone Has Standards: During their one-sided battle, Wonder Bolt abandons several attack avenues against Link upon determining that they would endanger the little filly that's hanging onto Link's back.
- Flaming Sword: Ganondorf borrows a hamlet's forge to create a "temporary" broadsword for himself, enchanting it with the ability to unleash waves of fire. The sword becomes his weapon of choice against the windigos.
- Fun with Acronyms: After Zelda expresses her worries about Hyrule's state in light of her disappearance, Ganondorf insists that they will be fine: Freaked out, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional. Zelda later turns it back on him after he says that he's "fine" following a bad dream.
- Hammerspace: While this is Link's bread and butter, he begins teaching Singing Blossom how to pack away items the same way he does. Most of those who see this in action are nonplussed and come to the conclusion that the bags are enchanted.
- Light 'em Up: Zelda enchants Sure Shot's arrows, embuing them with holy light to give her a fighting chance against the Windigos. The ranger is warned that overuse will drain her magic and completely exhaust her, but she accepts it for the sake of protecting those she cares about.
- Oh, Crap!: Most of Wind Shriek's squad have this reaction when they conclude that Zelda is a war mage, one of the most powerful warriors that the unicorns can offer. Zelda does nothing to correct them.
- Reasonable Authority Figure:
- Old Oak, the elder of the little hamlet that the Triforce wielders first arrive at, recognizes that they were responsible for thwarting a griffon attack and doesn't let tribal prejudice ruin interactions between the involved parties.
- While strict, Fierce Breeze is both competent and cares about her squad, which is a sharp contrast to her direct superior Wind Shriek. Following the initial encounter with the windigos, she grants Wonder Bolt a field promotion and trusts him to deliver an emergency message to Pegasopolis.
- Skewed Priorities: Ganondorf notes that Link has always gone through life at his own pace, with a mindset that makes sense only to himself. On one occasion, he delayed their final clash for the fate of Hyrule just to go fishing.
- Spanner in the Works: Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf serve as this to pre-Hearth's Warming politics. As they are powerful members of their respective tribes who are not at each other's throats and are fully capable of working together, many of those who interact with them are surprised and stunned at their familiarity and relative lack of animosity. In addition, Link's ability to control the weather with music threatens to up-end society when the ramifications set in.
- The Stoic: Link has his emotions under more control than either Ganondorf or Zelda, and simply never lets circumstances bother him too much due to his past experiences. A tiny frown from him is equatable to a full scowl from someone else.
- Tempting Fate: A positive occurance takes place after the windigos attack. When a wandering bard is stuck trying to protect a village from them, he complains to himself that since life isn't a play, it wasn't like unexpected help would miraculously show up to turn the tide at the last moment. While the thought's still in his mind, Zelda, Ganondorf and their allies hit the windigos like a hammer and hold them off long enough for everyone to evacuate.
- Took a Level in Badass: All three Triforce wielders, who were already talented and powerful in their own rights, gain these after their transfer across worlds.
- Ganondorf's high power and durability are boosted by his transformation into an earth pony, letting him no-sell a magic blast that would've at least bruised him previously.
- As a pegasus, Link goes from "very fast" to "blistering". A squad of opposing pegasi with military training, one of whom is no slouch in the speed department, can't keep up with him.
- After becoming a unicorn, Zelda can gather magical energy more quickly and strike with much more force if required. She and Ganondorf note that the aforementioned magic blast would've needed considerably more time to prepare back in Hyrule.
