The Legend of Equestria: Majora's Mask

by xombiekilla

Chapter sixteen: Dawn of the Second Day (III)

Dawn of the second day:
48 hours remaining

The group of heroes found themselves in a precarious situation. They had infiltrated the Amor Fortress to rescue the hippogriff eggs and search for their friends. However, a stroke of luck occurred when they noticed a hornet's nest hanging above Cadenza's throne. All they needed was a way to knock it down to clear the room and escape with the last egg and Twilight.

Hero, the group's leader, knew that his fins would attract too much attention, and thus, his plan would fail. In a moment of quick thinking, Pinkie Pie dug into her mane and pulled out a slingshot. Everyone at the party knew it was best not to ask questions about Pinkie's actions. She focused her shot with a rock from her poofy mane and said, "I'm gonna shoot the hive down, Pinkie Pie style."

With a snap, the rock smashed the hive, and it loosened from its support onto the ceiling. "I swear that it's so difficult to find competent help these days—" Cadenza's tirade was rudely silenced as the hive fell into Cadenza's lap, catching her by colossal surprise, "—U-Uhhh... Oh no." Her complexion paled from fear as the nest disturbed, and dozens of beady, rage-fueled eyes stared back at her.

"Kkyyiiaaahhh?! No! Don't sting me!" Cadenza threw the hive behind her and shrieked, and she bolted up from her throne and hastily made her way out as the angry swarm chased her out of her quarters. In haste, she dropped the key that went to Twilight's shackles.

Applejack kicked open the wide-gated vent connecting to that room as she shouted, "Yeehaw! The cavalry has arrived!" The party then entered the room to greet Twilight.

"Girls! Hero! I'm so glad to see you guys. Where's Starlight? Please tell me she's okay?" Twilight looked concerned. Rainbow then spoke to Twilight while undoing her bindings.

"We don't know, Twilight. We found you by chance. Believe it or not, we were here for another reason."

"Those Hippogriff eggs?" Twilight asked as if she already knew.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Rainbow asks, knowing her, and she has an idea as to how.

"They wouldn't shut up about it; they were adamant about selling them, just deplorable." Twilight visibly shook with rage, "Hippogriff eggs are susceptible to drastic temperature changes. We need to grab that last one and leave this place." She looked at the hippogriff standing before her and gawked, "H-Hero? Is that you? What happened to you?"

Hero explained that he had multiple masks of dead creatures he healed for them to pass on. "Oh my... that means that... this form that you have is... an actual dead hippogriff?!" Hero solemnly nodded at this conclusion.

"I know, right? This world is nuts, Twilight. He can now be a changeling, a yak, and a hippogriff," Rainbow said to Twilight almost excitedly.

"Rainbow, as curious as I am about this for research purposes, we have no time to waste here. We need to get these eggs back safely." Everyone hailed their agreement as they left the captain's quarters with all seven hippogriff eggs. When they exited, they saw the captain, Amor Cadenza, up onto a ledge of the balcony of her quarters, trying to shoo away the angry hornets that were trying to assail her as she glared at them.

"Go away. Leave this place. You've made your point! Just take the eggs and her and go!"

"I can't stand to look at this poor excuse of Princess Cadence any longer, guys. I hope she gets what she deserves." Twilight was oddly cold about this, but seeing how lousy this version of Cadence was, she immediately knew that this wasn't the one she knew and fondly remembered. As they made their way out, the other pirates were more interested in helping their captain rather than chasing the group of heroes as they successfully fled the Amor Fortress.

---

They all swam to the Ocean laboratory that Hero had instructed them to visit near the water of the Great Bay Coast. Hero entered the laboratory to meet a lab pony there. As they all entered, he saw all seven eggs and was surprised to see Hero unscathed. He exclaimed, "How did you manage to do this? Never mind that. Here's the tank of purified water. Put the eggs in it, now!" Hero followed the instructions, and as soon as they all sank into the water, cracks appeared on each egg. "Woah?! They're hatching! Witnessing the birth of new life is always a delight," The lab pony exclaimed in awe.

The baby sea ponies burst forth from their shells like tiny balls of exploding light. Twilight couldn't help but gawk at them, "Aww... they're so cute and sweet-looking. The marvels of life. They're forming into rows. Their bodies are posed like... musical notes... but why?" Twilight was pondering over this until Rainbow spoke up.

"Hero, get your instrument ready. I think they're trying to deliver a message. They want you to copy their positions from left to right." Hero took out his ocarina, which was in the shape of Mikau's instrument, a seashell-encased guitar. "Oooh... nice." Everyone reacted positively as they spun around in the weightless water in approval.

They were left, high, left, right, bottom, left, and right positions as Hero played the New Wave Bossa Nova Song. A calming, refreshing, blue magic aura surrounded Hero's body. Everyone present felt the stimulating effects of this magical energy. The whole team felt their burdens ease and their bodies relax while their motivation soared. When Hero finished his song, the hippogriff babies appeared more at ease. They all looked towards him, possibly mistaking him for their father, Mikau.

"That song was simply beautiful, darling. My body and mind both feel so relaxed," Rarity expressed her content with a long sigh of approval.

"Yeah, Rarity. I feel better and ready to take on the world right now." Pinkie was hopping about the room with glee.

The team then saw the laboratory owner with his head tilted down and him trying to wipe away his tears with his hooves, "That song was the very one that Silverstream's mother would sing to her to calm her down if she was distressed. Her children must have formed this song because they sensed that she was in turmoil now; Mikau told me that she was silent in a deep depression before he left to fight those pirates."

"Oh dear, that's so sad. My goodness." Rarity then tilted her head down in a moment of somber composure.

"That's just awful. She's both the lead singer of their band and a mother who's lost her husband-to-be and her children to pirates. I can't imagine what she's going through. We must help her, see what we can do for their kingdom." Twilight was firm as their decision was made; their quest was to head to the undersea kingdom of Seaquestria in Great Bay.

They all said their goodbyes to the owner as they left the ocean laboratory.

---

"Okay, everypony. I have studied hippogriff magic, so I can use a spell to make us all into sea ponies, except for Hero. Since he's already a hippogriff, that wouldn't be necessary."

"Ohh... so we're all going to be sea ponies again? Oh boy!" Pinkie was hopping around in excitement.

"There's only a small problem with that, Pinkie; we can be sea ponies, not hippogriffs. So, we'd need to stay in the water during our time transformed," Twilight informed Pinkie who in turn nodded.

"Couldn't we resurface as ourselves and be sea ponies when we're in water like the hippogriffs do?"

"Well, I'll see if I can weave that into my magic, Rainbow. But I cannot promise anything."

"Sure. I'll take my chances if it's from you, Twilight, 'cause I trust you."

"Thanks, Rainbow," Twilight truly appreciated the unwavering trust her friends had in her for her to use her magic on them.

"Yup. No problem, Twilight."

Twilight then created her spell by weaving together transparent runes with her horn and drawing the necessary components for the seapony hybrid spell. There was a cascade of flashes before the colorful light show faded away as the ponies looked at themselves to see that they were all sea ponies. They swam with jubilation at the free feeling of exploring the watery depths of the Great Bay as they made their way toward the rest of the other sea ponies and followed them to their kingdom.

"Be careful; this water is highly contaminated by mercury while we're in here, so stick close and do not get lost in that underwater fog; follow the signs; those should lead us to Seaquesrtia," Twilight said. Once they swam to the underwater entrance, doing their best to remain together through the dense water, they went through a cave-like tunnel into their kingdom. As they surfaced, they saw an underwater kingdom with parts not submerged in water. Hippogriffs and sea ponies alike enjoyed each other's presence here.

"Fascinating. It's like an undersea temple and cave system here. It's so beautiful here." Twilight and the rest of her friends, plus Hero, were taking in the sights of this place as they made it to the land part of their kingdom, and all the ponies reverted to their standard forms as they advanced down the main corridor.

In this central atrium was a risen throne that took the form of an open oyster with a magnificent regal hippogriff sitting on it. She immediately noticed the group, her eyes narrowing at Hero suspiciously as if she knew something wasn't right by looking at him. "Mikau? Have you returned? You seem different to me for some reason. My dearest daughter needs you to comfort her right now. I'm sure you still remember what makes her very happy. Especially now since she's never spoken to us, not even me."

"He does. Queen Novo, right? I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship."

"I did not ask for you to speak for Mikau as I know he can talk perfectly to me as he had before. Now, Mikau, I trust you know what to do, so I'll leave you to it."

---

Hero nodded and proceeded to the rear of the atrium, towards the back tunnel outside of Seaquestria. As they all looked on, they saw her standing there, gazing out at the endless ocean. She was silent and unable to speak. She turned to look at Hero, surprised, but remained silent as her eyes drifted back to the sea.

"Say, M-Mikau... Try that song from the lab we were in earlier," Twilight whispered to Hero. He nodded and took out his guitar to play. She noticed Mikau's seashell guitar and then looked back out to the ocean. Hero played the New Wave Bossa Nova Song as blue waves of revitalizing energy swirled around his body and then around Silverstream's throat as she began to sing along with Hero's music midway through the song. Her voice was smooth, gentle, and serene, like an angel's. She finally began to feel like herself again and seemed less depressed.

"M-Mikau? What's happening? Did you get my babies back for me?" Hero nodded in affirmation, to her immediate relief. "Oh, thank goodness. My precious babies are safe." Suddenly, a massive tremor shook the area as a huge island surfaced under the waves. It turned out to be an ancient shell with a head peeking out. It was an old tortoise. This giant tortoise also had two palm trees that grew on his back as he spoke to them in a gravelly and ancient tone.

"Oohh... awake so soon? Why, hello there, everyone. I have been asleep for seven hundred years since that wonderful melody last awoke me."

"Who are you?" Twilight asked, looking up at the tortoise spirit with curious eyes.

"I am the Great Protector and Guide of the Seas. My job is to keep the oceans safe for everyone. Unfortunately, I sense a great evil in the Great Bay Temple. This is terrible for our survival, and the worst part is that it is committed by evil magic that I cannot dispel by myself."

"We will help you out. This will help the hippogriffs survive. Are you ready, Hero?" Hero nodded, and Twilight and the rest of the group cheered, ready to advance to the temple to fix this mess.

"That's excellent news. Hop onto my back, and I'll safely guide you to the temple and back again."