The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Majora's Mask
By Ganondorf8
September 12, 2016
Chapter 25: The Wizard's Ice.
Twilight and I hadn't been in this temple for even five minutes before getting stuck at a problem. Each of the three doors had something that was blocking them and I needed to get said obstacles out of the way to be able to get anywhere. The first door had a padlock on it so I knew that a key was needed--where I could find one would prove challenging. The second door was covered with a large chunk of ice and I knew that touching it would result in me being frozen for several seconds. The final door was perhaps the most intriguing despite having iron bars blocking the way.
Of the three, it was the one with the iron bars that seemed the most logical to open. A thought then came across my mind. Was it possible for me to lift up or even remove the iron bars using my strength? That would definitely solve this problem but what if it doesn't work and I merely waste what little precious time I had?
" I wish I could use my magic." I said, folding my arms and pouting.
" Well, get over that right now." Twilight said sternly.
" You didn't have to say it like that."
" Sorry, Sunset, but I knew you were going to say something along those lines."
" Was I too obvious?"
" No, but you need to think about it this way. When you were journeying around Hyrule according to what you told me, you used your magic far more often than your items. I believe you became too dependant on using magic and you didn't learn anything that could be applied in future endeavours. That doesn't apply in this world as your magic--mine too--has been blocked. Magic is fine and all but relying on it too much only serves as a crutch." Twilight answered. Her Highness was right. I didn't want to accept her answer but I knew that I had to.
During my previous journey, I used magic for just about anything. Even when I could've used the Kokiri Sword during those early stages--along with those other items--I instead used magic without ever taking the time to try what I had received. It was as though in my mind, magic was all I needed. Everything else was just a collectible that I carried around to use as necessary to overcome something magic couldn't.
Unicorns and alicorns in Equestria used their magic in their everyday lives, yet some used it so much that they became lazy and refused to do things the natural way. They lost focus on what it meant to use magic and instead became far worse for it. You needed to strike a fair balance between using magic to solve a problem and your own skills doing the same thing. The lazy ones were treated with disdain because they abused their gift of magic.
I am reminded of something Princess Celestia once taught me. Despite thinking myself superior back then and believing that her lessons were nothing but pointless speeches, she did tell me about what could happen when a unicorn relied too much on their magic. Not only did they become lazy, they also lost themselves to magic and became corrupted with wanting power above all else--the perfect combination that could cause a unicorn to become evil.
Wow... She knew me a lot better than I knew myself, yet continued to teach me all because she felt that I was destined for greater things. The more I dwell on my past and what went wrong, the more I wanted to kick myself for being so stubborn and thick-headed.
No wonder I struggled so much in Hyrule. Had I used what was intended, I wouldn't have wound up going through the painful experiences that I felt. It would've still been a challenge to accomplish my goal, just not to such an extreme. So far in this adventure, the experiences I learnt have been utilized--despite some obvious blunders in the early going--yet why would Her Highness say that I didn't learn anything when I actually had done? Was she trying to teach me a lesson?
" Heh, I see through your deception, Twilight." I said smugly.
" I was beginning to think that you wouldn't have figured out my intentions."
" So why claim that I didn't do something when I clearly did?"
" The look on your face told me you were having doubts, so I did what I usually do in these situations and that's apply learning."
" Thanks."
" Magic is a part of you, Sunset, and always will be, but you can't allow it to dictate your life. You need to be able to do things without using it to speed through something by means of a short-cut just to get it done." Twilight said. She then floated over towards something that was lying on the ground, yet I didn't notice because of how it blended into the ground so seamlessly. She bobbed up and down to get my attention. " I think this will allow us to go through the barred door."
" How did I miss something like that!?"
" Again, the thought of relying on magic blinded you, Sunset. In the previous temple, we experienced something similar to this whenever we got locked in a room, but here it's the path ahead that has been blocked." Twilight answered. I took several steps forward and without warning, the White Wolfos that was hiding on the ground leapt up.
It began to run around in its bid to rip its claws into my back, but I knew what it was doing and did everything I could to keep my eyes on it. Suddenly, it jumped over me, turned around, and leapt at my back, yet I responded instinctively by dropping down onto my hands and knees, my back becoming rock-hard. The White Wolfos' claws connected with my back, snapping upon impact, the pieces scattering across the room. Before it could react, I punched it hard in the stomach where it burned away to nothing.
" What did I just do?" I asked as I got back onto my feet.
" It appears Gorons have a defensive mechanism that occurs whenever they are threatened."
" In English, please?"
" Remember when you used that oversized shield when you were a Deku Scrub?" Twilight asked. I nodded my head--I only used that shield a few times to protect myself from the stinging tails of those Dragonflies. " Your back becoming rock-hard is the Gorons equivalent of that. Instead of having a shield that you hold for protection, your body acts as both a weapon and a shield."
" The only issue I have is that I can't see anything."
" Yes, because you're on your hands and knees whenever you need to take a defensive stance. It will certainly help you when things get difficult, but you shouldn't rely on it too much as you need to see what is happening around you." Twilight said. At that moment, the iron bars rose up, unlocking the door, so I walked over to it and entered the next room--the door raised and lowered rather than swung open. A familiar sound I remembered from my previous journey caused me to fold my arms and shiver in place. "Sunset? Why are you acting like that all of a sudden?" Twilight asked having noticed my reaction.
" I remember that noise."
" What noise?"
" The one coming from those ice monsters over there." I answered, pointing my finger at three creatures. Each one was made of solid ice that you could see through, and every once in a while, they breathed a blast of cold air for several seconds before stopping. None of them were moving but that didn't matter as I recognized them from when I explored that frozen cave to acquire an important item--my mind was fuzzy regarding some details but was mostly accurate.
I then noticed a treasure chest frozen in a block of ice near the one closest to my location. It could contain something useful but I had no intention of going anywhere near those things without the proper means to destroy them with. Being frozen myself for a few seconds courtesy of their freezing breath is an experience I'd rather not go through again.
" Those creatures are called Freezards. Despite not moving from their positions, they have quite the range when it comes to their breath. Arrows don't have any effect on them so picking them off from a distance is out of the question, yet they are susceptible to fire. One shot of fire will melt them in an instant or you can attack with a sword or even use those fists of yours although doing so will require a few hits." Twilight said. Fire... Of course it had to be the one thing that my magic represented. Now I really wish that I had my fire magic but then that would just make me appear lazy and not wanting to do things properly.
" If only I had fire to hit them with."
" For now, it's best to just avoid them unless you feel gutsy enough to fight them." Twilight said. She took a look around the room to see what was up and bopped me on the head when she figured it out. " See that walkway that goes in front of the Freezards? Just like how you climbed up the mountain, you'll need to roll across and over a small gap to reach that other walkway over there. Luckily, the path is caked in snow so you can easily build up enough momentum." I hadn't paid a word to what Her Highness said as my attention was focused on something inside of a bubble. " Sunset! Did you even listen to a word I said?" Twilight asked angrily.
" No."
" Why not!?"
" I was looking at that bubble down there."
" Huh?" Twilight looked in the direction of the bubble and felt a magical force coming from within it. " It's a Stray Fairy! I forgot that we need to find all fifteen of them in here and return them to the fountain to restore Adagio back to normal. I'm so sorry for snapping at you, Sunset. I thought you were ignoring me on purpose."
" Sorry for not saying anything."
" The first thing you need to do is to free that fairy and lure it over here. I don't think I need to tell you how to do that now, do I?" Twilight asked. That was her way of saying this was an easy solution without actually saying anything. I think Twilight's adopting some of my mannerisms from hanging around me too much--it was also true in reverse.
Pulling on my face to take the Goron Mask off--I couldn't use the Hero's Bow while in that bulky form--I changed back to normal, flipped my head back--and my hair--and put the mask on the ground. I hoped my aim hadn't gotten rusty since it had been some time since I last used the bow for anything. I took it out along with the Great Fairy's Mask--it was needed to lure any Stray Fairies over--putting on the latter and aiming the former at the bubble. The Stray Fairy was located in a rather small nook surrounded by walls so I had to aim very carefully so as to not waste any arrows. I was lucky to have gotten some by rolling through snow mounds on the way up here.
Once I felt confident that my aim was sound, I let loose an arrow that sailed down towards the bubble only to hit slightly short of the target--it hit the column below and not go flying off in a random direction. I nocked another arrow and fired at the bubble without aiming, and surprisingly it connected causing a loud popping sound to echo throughout the room. It hadn't drawn the attention of the Freezards, but the Stray Fairy was freed where it immediately floated over to me and disappeared into my body.
I put the Hero's Bow and Great Fairy's Mask away, picked up the Goron Mask, walked back a few steps and put it on my face. I didn't want to fall into the area below the walkway I needed to traverse--there was a lava pit down there that I noticed while I was aiming at the bubble with my bow--so I made sure to stay away because of what my body goes through during this particular transition. Once again, I began stumbling about as the mask began to take affect, but a chance encounter that involved slipping and falling on the ice enabled me to finish the change without plunging off the side.
Getting back onto my feet as Darmani, I took a closer look at the walkway. It was certainly narrow yet wide enough for a Goron to roll across, yet the Freezard's breath could reach the centre of it. To make it across safely, I had to roll when they were paused in-between their breaths and in a straight line. Going too soon or too late would result in getting frozen and rolling at an angle would mean rolling down to the lava floor below. I used my fingers to formulate a quick calculation to determine the precise direction I needed and to see how far back I needed to go to build up my momentum.
Curling into a ball, I began rolling forward on the snow before continuing on the bridge, but just as I produced my spikes, the Freezard that was next to the one that was by the frozen treasure chest decided to breathe out its frozen breath much sooner than anticipated. I had no chance at changing direction and got blasted by the cold. I rolled down below and across the lava pool before smacking into the wall, unfurling myself in the process.
" That didn't go very well." I said as I got back up.
" Your timing was off, Sunset, but we did learn something."
" What's that?"
" Apparently, you can survive in lava while as a Goron although I don't know for quite how long. It's not what I would call an advantage per say, but it might prove useful to remember it in case we come across something similar later." Twilight answered. The lower area didn't really seem all that much unless you were an avid fan of lava, yet a ladder on the far end indicated that I could get myself back out--my assumption that I would be trapped down here quickly disappeared. I rolled across the lava until I reached the other side and began climbing the ladder--it was longer than I thought--until I reached the top where I found myself back at the start of the walkway.
This time, I made sure to check the patterns of the Freezards for any discrepancies. Each one fired three blasts of cold every two minutes although the one in the middle that got me before fired an additional blast of its frozen breath. I had to pay close attention to that one to ensure that it didn't hit me again otherwise I'd never get out of this room.
After doing a few more calculations on my fingers, I curled up into a ball and waited for the irregular Freezard to fire its cold breath. Once it did, I rolled on the snow to build up my momentum, across the bridge, produced my spikes, and leapt across the gap just as it was about to fire again. Luckily, there was a crate on the other walkway that stopped me from plunging back down below again.
On this side, there was another gap that I had to leap over to, yet it connected to a flight of stairs that went up to the next floor. To my left was a door with the middle Freezard to the left of that, yet before I could make a decision, Twilight bopped my head to get my attention on something.
" What's wrong?"
" I can see a Stray Fairy trapped in a bubble over there next to that Freezard." Twilight answered. I looked over at another walkway and there was the fairy in question. " I don't think you can leap that small gap while as a Goron as you know they drop like rocks, so perhaps becoming a human is in order."
" What of the Freezard?"
" It looks like none of them can tilt their heads around, so you can easily hack it to pieces without having to worry about being attacked."
That was a sigh of relief in my mind as I didn't want to get frozen. Grabbing my face and pulling on it again--I was starting to get annoyed with having to switch back and forth between forms so frequently--I took off the Goron Mask and flipped my head back as per usual before looking at the small gap in-between the two walkways. It wasn't really that threatening yet falling down below meant wasting time coming back up here, time that wasn't on my side.
Since I had more flexibility as a human coupled with the training I had to do to prepare myself to compete in the Friendship Games, I jumped to the other walkway, drew out the Razor Sword, and slashed the Freezard to pieces in a single stroke.
Without hesitating, I popped open the bubble releasing the Stray Fairy where it entered my body upon me making contact with it. With that out of the way, I had to decide to go up the stairs or through the door.
" Which direction should I take, Twilight?"
" I suggest the door."
" Any particular reason why?"
" I've got this feeling that the door will lead us to the heart of this temple, and by that I mean the central chamber that connects everything together." Twilight answered. That was certainly a bold proclamation from Her Highness, yet my heart was compelling me to take the door.
Jumping back across the small gap, I walked up to the door making sure not to accidentally walk in front of the Freezard, opened it, and entered the next room where I came upon a truly foreboding site. Once again, Twilight had proven herself correct by following her gut instincts. The room contained numerous walkways above my head that went around the edge of the room along with jutting out towards the centre. I suspected that those walkways connected to additional doors so that meant I'd be coming back here many times. I couldn't even see what was on the ceiling due to how high everything went.
In front of me were several narrow walkways that culminated at a strange platform in the centre, and apart from a staircase that went down and the door I entered from, the remaining doors had blocks of ice covering them. I inched over to the edge and looked down to see at least six small lava pools below--I could see three blue coloured platforms that were below the one that the walkways lead up to.
" Wow... I'm just in complete over seeing this."
" It looks like this temple will be an uphill climb, Sunset."
" Why do I have the feeling I'll need to master Goron rolling?"
" Because of those walkways above us that go around the edge of the room?"
" Yeah."
" We'll deal with them when we eventually get up there, but for now it looks like the only direction you can go is down to the level below. I'm not sure if you want to unless you feel like exploring for the sake of it." Twilight said.
" There might be something down there that may prove useful."
" I suppose you have a point. If you want to go down there, you can either use those stairs or roll down to the ground below as a Goron. I would definitely advise against just dropping down for obvious reasons, but the choice is yours to make." Twilight said. She didn't really need to tell me that part about not falling. That was something I found out for myself the hard way on my previous adventure--I still had some scars from some of the more severe ones.
In any case, I planned on changing back into a Goron because those lava pools were more easy to traverse in that form as opposed to my current one. I shuffled backwards towards the door, took out the Goron Mask, and put it on my face. Once again, I stumbled about although not as bad as before--I might be starting to get used to it--and soon changed back into Darmani before looking down below by walking over to the edge of the walkway. Part of me wanted to be dumb and just roll off the side, but then my brain got that idea out of my head so I took the stairs down.
As soon as I reached the lower level, the temperature immediately started to pick up due to the lava pools--it was like this back in the previous room with the Freezards only it was much warmer here--making it a sharp contrast to what this temple consisted of. There was a switch partially submerged within the lava that I noticed, so I brought it to Twilight's attention by pointing at it. " Huh? Now that's what I call convenient if not a little bizarre, but it's up to you if you want to press it or not."
" It couldn't hurt I suppose." I said. I walked over to the switch and pressed it causing a treasure chest to appear also partially submerged in lava--who knew that both wood and stone could survive in lava--but the instant the chest materialized, something emerged from the lava. A skull with wings covered in flames began to bounce around, yet I stayed where I was until it disappeared by jumping into another lava pool.
" That was a Red Bubble. Unlike the blue variation that appears out in Termina Field at night, this version prefers to live in hot places. It can suddenly pop out of the lava without warning and attempt to ram into you, but if you use your shield or similar defensive techniques, you can block its attack. It will lose its fiery protection and bounce around harmlessly until you either destroy it or let it go back down into the lava." Twilight said.
" So I should just ignore it?"
" If your health is running low or you don't feel like dealing with it, then yes, you can do that."
I remembered encountering these things somewhere in Hyrule. While they didn't exactly cause me any problems, they were a disaster waiting to happen as one wrong move would result in getting hit by one unintentionally. There was no telling when one would appear so all I could do was just walk around as normal and hoped one didn't decide to pop out from the lava just to get in my way. The treasure chest upon walking over to it was a small one of no particular significance, and my first instinct was that it would contain nothing but rupees. I mean, a chest containing rupees wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Unlike in Hyrule, there were quite a lot of things I needed to buy that required rupees, so finding them, especially in chests, was a blessing although sometimes it was nice to get something that was more practical. I opened it up and a Stray Fairy floated out of it before entering my body. I guessed coming down here proved beneficial as now there were only twelve more to locate. Just as the fairy entered my body, I was caught by surprise when another Red Bubble--maybe the same one as before--popped out from the lava, burning me slightly before bouncing away like a lunatic.
The burn wasn't really all that much, but I attributed that to being a Goron. I'd have taken a bit more damage as a human or maybe even less since I had a slight immunity towards anything fire based--I didn't know if the latter fact applied in Termina--yet the damage was one that would build up over time. I had no healing fairies or potions so taking things slowly was necessary to get through each room until I found a means to procure health.
Walking back to the stairs and up them to reach the upper level, I was about to go back through the door to the previous room with the Freezards, but stopped upon noticing another door that wasn't locked or covered by anything. Had I somehow missed this one during my initial scan? In any case, I walked over and entered another room that was smaller in scope, yet something immediately caught my attention and was to my left.
" Strange that these two blocks are stacked like this." I said, eyeing them carefully.
" I'm guessing you can move them, but perhaps they serve another purpose?"
" What else could they be for?"
" Why don't you look around the room for a few moments? I don't sense any monsters in here so you're safe to do a little bit of exploring." Twilight answered. Turning my attention towards the room, I noticed that there were two cliffs on either side with a single door located on the left. That meant there was a way to get up there from another direction yet I didn't see any point as there was no additional door or stairs.
As I walked forward towards the end of the strange snow-like floor, I almost tripped when my feet suddenly fell into a slightly dipped groove in the ground that was hidden underneath the snow. Dropping down to my knees, I began pressing the ground to see if there was some kind of switch and there was. If I were to step on it, I doubted anything would happen as my weight might not be enough--Gorons were heavy but some things were even heavier--yet I had an idea. I walked back to the two blocks and pulled them out from their hole in the wall, revealing a hidden chamber behind them.
Through a series of pushes and pulls to get the blocks to their intended destination--the pulling was the result of fixing a couple of blunders I made--I pushed the blocks into the groove, falling into place with a soft click. A small chest materialized on the other side so I knew something important had to be inside otherwise why even bother going to so much trouble pushing some blocks around? Also, I realized that the blocks now served as a platform but it meant nothing if I couldn't find my way up there.
Since there was nothing left for me to do, I was just about to leave when I remembered the hidden chamber behind the blocks. I walked into there and discovered another chest although this one looked to be made of a better material compared with the other one--it had a gold rim on it while the other didn't--opened it up and took out a small key.
" Finally!"
" At least now we can unlock that door and see where it goes."
" Guess we've got to take the long way back."
" Not necessarily. I don't believe Flash Sentry ever mentioned this, Sunset, but the Song of Soaring does have an additional function. If you were to play that song in a dungeon, you can warp yourself right back to the entrance." Twilight said.
" Really?"
" Yes, but you might miss out on important things if you do so. I suggest that you check every last possible thing before choosing to warp back to the start again. You might have missed something the first time." Twilight answered. Now that was quite the useful piece of information, yet how did Her Highness figure that out without ever being given a hint about it from Flash? Come to think of it, why didn't she mentioned anything about it before back in the previous temple?
Had I known that a lot sooner, it would've resulted in less backtracking as far as the temple was concerned. " Before you go and play that song, why not see where that other set of stairs lead to. You know, the one in the room with the Freezards?"
" Twilight... Um... Never mind."
" Is something wrong?"
" I was wondering why you didn't bring that up before."
" To be fair, I'm not sure why I never said a word to you. I assumed you already figured it out, but even then I had my doubts that the Song of Soaring could work inside a temple like it could outside in the world." Twilight said.
It may have taken a long time for me to learn of something that would save me some time, but at least I learned of it now instead of say in the next temple where such information would be relatively worthless. Putting the key in my pocket--the pants of my tunic still had them even when in this form--I went back to the previous room with the Freezards and realized that I needed to jump across another small gap to be able to climb up to the next floor. I grabbed my face, pulled on it to take the Goron Mask off, flipped my head back, put the mask away, jumped over and walked up the stairs when I immediately stopped upon seeing a very strange sight.
In the middle of the room was a large platform that certainly looked suspicious, but it was the weird creature running around that piqued my curiosity. It looked like some kind of giant rat with a deranged look on its face, yet its tail had a strange blue sphere on the tip. A second one soon appeared and followed in the footsteps of the first one by running around on the floor and even the walls. So far, neither one noticed my presence, but I could also smell small traces of gunpowder. Was my nose playing tricks on me? Maybe, but then there could be something more to this that I wasn't seeing.
" What in the world are those things?"
" Those are Real Bombchu."
" Um, I don't think so, Twilight. I've seen what real Bombchus look like and those things definitely aren't them." I said. I quickly explained to Her Highness that Bombchu were a special type of bomb produced in Hyrule that resembled a mouse. It could travel along the floor, walls, and ceiling until it blew up upon making contact with its target or after not hitting anything for a while. It was the next stage in the evolution of bombs yet the one drawback was how expensive they could get. " Unless you had the money, you couldn't use them, but even then some places only sold a limited amount."
" That's fine and all, but those are Real Bombchu."
" I beg to differ."
" What I mean is that those creatures are literally Bombchu. As in, what the bombs were based on according to Tatl's memories."
" Really?"
" Yes. Anyway, when they see you, the Real Bomchu's tail lights up causing it to go on a suicide course until it makes contact with you. If you bounce it away using your shield, it will explode disappearing in the process and causing no damage. You could also try avoiding them but it's better to parry them away just to be safe." Twilight answered. So these things were actual Bombchu? I wondered if this was what inspired Hylians to make them or was restricted to just Termina.
Either way, caution was important as getting blown up wasn't my idea of fun--it wouldn't kill me but it would hurt. Raising my shield up, I slowly walked forward in hopes that I would get the attention of either Real Bombchu. All of a sudden, the nearest one came running at me using its stubby little legs, its tail lighting up--it turned out the sphere on its tail was in fact a bomb--but I remained firm. It collided with my shield by ramming its face into it, bounced back a few feet and exploded upon landing on the ground.
The explosion's size was quite extensive so even if I were to bounce it away, I had to keep my distance in case I got caught in the blast radius. The other Real Bombchu had since decided to run up the wall for some reason--not that I was complaining--so I walked towards the platform and discovered a large treasure chest was hiding to its left. I took a moment to take a look around in case there was something I might have missed. I could see a switch covered in ice hanging high up upon the wall with a walkway going around the room's perimeter, but I noticed the familiar freezing breath that only a Freezard could exude from its body.
" Do you see that switch up there, Twilight?" I asked, pointing my finger up at it.
" It's frozen."
" I think I might know what we'll find here that constitutes as a dungeon treasure."
" Really? Do tell."
" No, not yet. It's just a theory right now, but if I find some additional evidence then I'll be sure to let you know." I said. In my mind, there was only one item that I believed would help me deal with so much ice, and it was something that was available to be in Hyrule. I never bothered using it because of having magic, but perhaps now I could use it as intended and make up for my obvious shunning. I opened the chest and took out a map, my eyes bursting with excitement. " Yes! We've got a map! Now we see how big this place is. " Twilight and I looked closely and discovered that Snowhead Temple comprised of five floors.
The central room was present on each floor indicating what I suspected was true. Many of the remaining rooms connected to the central one in different places, so it was one that we would be visiting many times before finally getting to the end. Overall, the number of rooms in this temple was about the same as what we encountered back at Woodfall Temple, but much bigger in scope and far more connected.
" Here... Let me mark off the places where we found the Stray Fairies." Twilight said, using her fairy magic to make tiny marks so as to not damage the map."
" The next thing we need is a compass. That way, we'll know where the other treasure chests are in addition to where source of the mountain's problem lies."
" Do you want to use the Song of Soaring to take a short cut back to the entrance of the temple?"
" No, I'd prefer to go back to the entrance via walking. Sure, using that song would save some time, but what's the point in doing that if it means skipping out on something? I'd rather do things as intended and not take an easier path. Besides, I might have missed something." I answered. Her Highness smiled at me and I knew that she expected me to take the proper path instead of the short cut. Actually, I wanted to use the Song of Soaring in case the chest didn't contain a map, but since it did, finding my way back was simpler.
I quickly looked around to see what became of that other Real Bombchu--it was now running on the ceiling--before making my way over to the staircase, and walked down it to the previous room with the two blocks.
" Shoot! I can't believe I didn't wake up at the crack of dawn! I thought them there Cuccos would've crowed at the sign of first light! Reckon I ought to speak with Grog about this when I next seem 'im. Anyway, Romani? Where are you? Come on! We've gotta get started on our chores quickly before we get swamped with too much work!" Applejack shouted as she ran out of the house, closed the door, and into the luscious fields of Romani Ranch. " This is no time fer games, sugarcube! Them cows ain't gonna milk themselves ya know! Romani? What in tarnation is that girl doin'?"
" Something wrong, Cremia?"
" Huh? Grog! Just the man I need ta see." Applejack answered. " Why didn't your Cuccos crow at dawn like they're 'spposed to?"
" That's what I've been trying to find out myself. I woke up later than usual due to none of them crowing this morning."
" What about them little chicks?"
" They're not big enough to start crowing."
" Y'all don't suppose they went missing or somethin'?"
" Those Cuccos are my pride and joy, Cremia! If any of them have gone missing, I... I... I don't know what to do. I know that I put them away in the barn last night before heading off to bed, so maybe they're still in there? As for why they didn't crow at first light..."
" Funny you should mention the barn. I was just about to head over there myself. Romani hasn't been answering me and I reckon she stayed up late or somethin' playing those silly games of hers." Applejack said. She took off her Stetson hat, scratched her head feverishly for a few seconds, and put it back on her head. " I swear that girl is really pushing my patience these days, Grog. I've been workin' hard gettin' the cows milked in case I can finally deliver some milk to Clock Town, yet all she's been doin' is shooting down balloons all because of some ghost stories she heard."
" She still thinks ghosts come here at night?"
" Only on the eve of the Carnival of Time." Applejack answered, slamming her hands down on a nearby crate. She then pushed it along a few feet in an attempt to cool off, but she found that it made her feel even more tense. " I keep tellin' her that there's no such things as ghosts who go around the ranch abducting cows, yet she refuses to listen."
" Maybe she needs to take a break from doing chores."
" Are y'all kiddin' me!?"
" With all the work you two have had to do since the unfortunate incident, maybe it finally proved too much for her?"
" It has been a couple of months since then, hasn't it?" Applejack then walked over to the barn and placed her hand on the doorknob before turning to face her companion. In her eyes he was definitely concerned about the mental strain that seemed to be apparent on her little sister, yet she didn't feel that way but instead felt annoyed. " I got over our loss so there's no reason why she hasn't done ta same!" She opened the door, walked into the barn, and dropped to her knees upon witnessing what awaited her. " What in the hay!? The cows... Where are the cows!?"
" What's wrong?"
" Grog! Get in here, quick! The cows are gone!"
" What!?"
" The cows are gone!" Applejack shouted. Grog immediately ran into the barn to witness what she was looking at. Normally, there were eight cows that slept in the barn at nightwhen it was time to go to bed, yet there were no traces of them anywhere. A light shining down from above prompted both Applejack and Grog to look up at the roof, and they discovered ithad disappeared.
" Where is the roof? How could it have vanished? What in the hay is goin' on 'round here?" She got onto her feet and started looking around in hopes of finding an answer, and that's when her foot bumped into a small bow that someone had dropped. Applejack dropped to her knees again when she recognized what it was.
" Isn't that the bow Romani's always carrying around?"
" Was she in here when whatever happened to the cows happened?"
" I'm sure there's a logical explanation."
" Romani! Romani! No! My little sister's gone along with all the cows!" Applejack then burst into tears upon realizing that her sister had been right all along. She didn't want to believe that there were ghosts, yet they existed and had taken them along with her little sister. " Why... Why didn't I listen? Why did I have to be so stubborn and ignore the warnings she gave me? If I had listened to her, none of this would've happened."
" I... I don't know what to say."
" Romani!!!!"
" Calm down, Cremia! No need to lose your composure!"
" How can you say that!? My little sister's gone! I've lost everything!" Applejack shouted! She continued crying for a few moments whilst cradling the bow her sister used before wiping away her tears and standing up, her hand clenching the bow tightly to the point where it was about to break in two.
" Maybe Romani was able to get away before whatever happened to the barn happened? I know it doesn't sound all that positive, but it's the best thing I can say given the current circumstances."
" I hope y'all are right, Grog."
" That's all we can do, Cremia."
It took some time for me to walk all the way back to the main entrance of Snowhead Temple--I now regret not following Her Highness' suggestion of using the Song of Soaring to get there quickly. In the room with those Freezards, one of them froze me for several seconds in an ice block. While I did eventually break free by sliding down to that lava pool below, the fact that I got frozen was most unpleasant. Then in the entrance room itself, I got attacked by the White Wolfos, but things quickly got out of hand when those White Boes decided to come down the passageway and attack me from behind.
Despite getting through that little--more like big--obstacle, the fact of the matter was that I could've warped back to the start, defeated the White Boes on their own, and then focus my efforts on beating the White Wolfos without any problem. In any case, I used the key to unlock the door that I couldn't get through before and entered a room that featured the same snow-like floor that was found in that other room that housed the key.
This room had another large chest seemingly located in the center although something told me in my mind that there were monsters around waiting to strike. I also saw a few large chunks of ice that were covering up some objects that I couldn't quite see. Finally, I could see what looked like a door at the opposite end of the room, but it might have been something else that only looked like a door.
" Sunset! I can see a White Wolfos hiding behind the ice chunk to your right." Twilight said.
" I see him." I said.
" Also, this white floored looks like it's made of ice."
" I thought it was that snow-like floor we found before."
" No, this appears to be ice, so I suggest you be careful when fighting that White Wolfos. You don't want to slip and fall now, do you? Then again, I'm sure it's not going to be good for that monster anyway." Twilight said. If there was one thing I disliked more than snow, it was ice because of how easy it was to trip, fall down, and land hard on your butt. At least here, I was a human so I could use my shield to reflect the White Wolfos' claw swipes.
I walked onto the icy floor and immediately I slipped although I quickly regained my balance. The White Wolfos in the meantime had noticed my presence and ran out from behind the ice chunk before lunging with its claws. Raising my shield, the claws bounced off although it didn't deter it from continuing with its assault. Blow after blow came crashing against my shield, yet it just couldn't get by thanks to my protection being made of steel instead of wood.
After a while, it tried to leap over me to attack me from behind, but I knew what it was trying to do. In a quick fashion, I took out my sword, whipped around just as it landed, and struck in the back defeating the White Wolfos. As it burned away to nothing, the next course of action involved opening up the treasure chest. Before I walked over, I took a moment to make sure there wasn't anything else hiding somewhere--it was clear.
At the chest, I opened it up and took out a compass before pocketing it and taking out the map. Through the power of magic, several treasure chest icons appeared all over it along with a skull mark that appeared on the highest level indicting that the source was up there.
" Looks like we've got a lot to do before getting to whatever is behind the snow outside." Twilight said, eying the map very carefully.
" I thought this dungeon was going to be as easy as the last one, but I guess I was wrong."
" Don't feel discouraged, Sunset. Sure, things look pretty bad right now, but it will get better once we start putting the pieces of this puzzle together. Now, according to the map, there should be a stairway at the end of this room, but all I can see is a wall." Twilight said. Upon a closer inspection, what I thought was a door was in fact a wall that looked out of place compared what we could already see.
" It's got a crack in it."
" That means you can use a bomb to blow it up."
" I don't think I have any with me." I said. I quickly rummaged through my items in hopes that I had a bomb, but sadly I didn't have any on my person. " Shoot! I don't have any bombs, so that means the only thing I can use is the Blast Mask." I reached into a pocket and took out the mask in question. " Normally, I'd prefer not to use this because of getting injured when the explosion happens, but what other choice do I have?"
" Here's a suggestion. Why not raise your shield just before you detonate the mask by using its power? That might prevent you from getting hurt--" Twilight answered. She suddenly stopped talking upon hearing a tiny squeaking noise coming from somewhere nearby. " Do you hear what I'm hearing, Sunset?"
" What is it?"
" It sounds like a Stray Fairy, but I can't see anything suspicious other than those two pots above the entrance to the stairway." Twilight answered. I looked up and saw the pots in question on either side that looked completely out of place with the rest of the room.
" The fairy must be in one of those pots."
" You need to set it free, but be sure to wear the Great Fairy's Mask. I don't think you can reach it from this position and that wall looks like it's impossible to climb. A simple arrow will shatter the pot so you should have no problems." Twilight said.
Taking out both the Hero's Bow and Great Fairy's Mask, I put on the former and aimed at the pot with the latter. Unlike what happened in that other room where I missed such an easy shot, this one proved to be no challenge; my arrow sailed at an upward angle, freeing the Stray Fairy from its imprisonment, and it sailed down and entered my body. That's when I noticed what was trapped within the chunks of ice. One contained a switch while the other contained a block. Whatever was going on, I couldn't do anything about it until I could find a means to melt the ice--it did give me another clue as to what kind of item I would find here.
" That should be my fourth, right?"
" I believe so, yes."
" I'm glad that you mark them down on the map, Twilight, as I'm already forgetting how many we've saved."
" It can be cumbersome given that we have other things occupying our minds. In any case, you can now focus on destroying that wall using the Blast Mask."
Putting away the bow and Great Fairy's Mask, I took out the Blast Mask and looked down at it. As I held it in my hands, I feared what could potentially happen if I were to use it without raising my shield to prevent me from being caught in a potential explosion. While I didn't want to say no to that Old Lady who gave it to me after stopping Lightning Dust from robbing her, perhaps I should've asked her if it were possible to tone down the power contained within it. Sighing, I put the mask on, walked over until I reached the wall, raised my shield, and detonated it causing me to get pushed back several inches as the wall blew apart.
Her Highness was correct! I didn't get injured from the explosion, yet there was a downside that became apparent. By using my shield to protect myself from the blast, I also prevent the blast from having the kind of radius that it should have. So, to keep myself safe, I had to get really close to whatever needed to be blown up. Taking it off and putting it away--it faded in and out several times due to being used, I walked up the stairs and entered a room that felt a lot colder than the previous ones.
Was I slowly succumbing to the cold or was I just experiencing it slower than what others would? My thought quickly changed to avoidance as something fell down from above and shattered on the ground.
" What the heck was that?"
" Look up, Sunset." Twilight answered. I did so and my body froze upon seeing numerous icicles hanging on the ceiling, some bigger than others. " Some of those icicles will drop on their own if you get too close, but others look like they won't move unless you can jar them loose. Maybe you can shoot them with an arrow like you did when we initially entered the mountains from Termina Field." My attention turned towards several platforms that stuck out of the ground with a couple having chunks of ice on top, yet they surprising had those large icicles hanging above them.
" I think I need to use those icicles to break the ice chunks."
" Like you did before."
" Don't chastise me for something I only did once."
" True, as you haven't done anything like it since."
" By the way, what do you suppose is up with that ice over there?" I asked. I pointed towards some ice hanging on the wall in a peculiar location. It looked out of place with everything else, yet I couldn't see a reason other than it was suspicious.
" When in doubt, try to see if it's what it appears to be."
It took me a moment to figure out that Her Highness was hinting at me to use the Lens of Truth--she could've been a bit more subtle--so I took it out and peered through the lens to see if there was anything strange about the ice. It looked normal despite where it was hanging, but what surprised me was that there was a hidden nook above with a treasure chest. It must have been important if someone had decided to hide it so carefully. To reach the nook, I had to jump onto a couple of platforms and jump over to it.
I walked to the closest platform--it was low down on the ground enough for me to climb onto--and got onto it before jumping up to the next one--it was slightly higher than the first one was--making sure that I had the Lens of Truth active. From there, I jumped and landed in the nook, opening the chest revealing another Stray Fairy. That gave me five already and I hadn't even explored a fourth of Snowhead Temple. The thought of collecting them would be easy never registered in my mind; quite the opposite. I believed it would be a challenge in that some were going to be hidden so well, I'd need to think beyond usual means to located each and every one.
Jumping back to the second platform, I put the lens away and switched over to the Hero's Bow. The next few platforms each had an ice chunk on top of them and some had items contained inside that should be free for me to collect when I shatter the ice. Looking up, I aimed at an icicle that was directly above the next platform I needed to use, fired an arrow that shattered the base, and it dropped down and smashed the large chunk to pieces revealing a red rupee. While getting money at this point wasn't as important as getting hearts, it was still useful in case I needed to buy something or deposit any rupees at the bank next time I was in town.
I repeated this process with the remaining icicles by aiming my now and firing arrows at them to shake them loose. Some required more than one arrow due to being quite stuck, but they eventually would drop down and smash the chunks into pieces releasing more red rupees. Since I didn't want to be too greedy--I also wanted to focus on my mission--I collected only the initial red rupee and jumped from platform to platform until I was standing on a fairly large platform. A locked door could be seen to the right indicating that there was key hidden somewhere in this room.
" I don't suppose the Lens of Truth can help me here?"
" No, but there has to be something we're not seeing." Twilight answered. She floated ahead of me to think about this puzzle, and smacked face-first into a large mound of snow that happened to be nearby. " Gah! What is this thing doing here!?"
" Strange that there's a snow mound here of all places."
" You could either blow it up with the Blast Mask or punch it as a Goron."
" I'm going with the latter here." I said, putting my bow away and taking out the Goron Mask. While it had only been about ten minutes since I last became Darmani, it felt like it had been forever. Maybe I was missing the power that came from being a creature that possessed tremendous strength--I was missing it. I put the mask on my face and only stumbled forward a couple of steps before I changed into a Goron through the mask's magic.
Turning to face the snow mound, I punched it, smashing it to pieces, revealing a treasure chest that I opened up, and took out a small key. Usually, keys were located far away from doors and required some backtracking, yet this one was in the same room as the door itself. I wasn't complaining as backtracking was something I didn't enjoy, but at the same time it was like whoever made this puzzle didn't put in much effort if it meant finding what was needed to unlock the door was close by. Oh well. No point in worrying about something that was beyond my realm of understanding--video games weren't my thing.
With the small key held firmly in my hand, I dropped down to the floor, walked over to the door, and unlocked it before opening it. The next room consisted of a snow filled area in-between two large larges that each featured strange circular switches. Before I could take in everything that was around me, strange objects started falling from the ceiling. It didn't take long for me to realize they were White Boes as they began swarming about the snowy ground.
" Remember what I said about them attacking in a group."
" Do I really need to fight them though?"
" It looks like as long as you don't walk onto the snow, they'll remain down there and attempt to jump up here in vain. Now I need to tell you something that I'm sure you most likely forgot about. Those circular switches can't be activated by normal means. Just standing on them will do nothing so this is where a Goron Pound is needed." Twilight answered. I stared at Her Highness with a confused look on my face. Goron Pound? What in the world was that? " Yep. I knew you forgot, Sunset. Luckily, I took the liberty of taking a mental note of what was written on Maud's gravestone when we healed her tormented soul."
" You remembered something I only glanced at once?"
" It pays to be highly educated."
" There's that smugness showing again."
" Ahem... Anyway, you read what Maud left behind on her gravestone, and one of those techniques was something called the Goron Pound. If you curl up into a ball, you can leap slightly into the air and come crashing down destroying weaker monsters while stunning stronger ones. It can also be used to activate switches like the ones you see all across this room, but you are vulnerable whilst airborne." Twilight said. I didn't recall ever reading that, but if I did then I had forgotten as Her Highness pointed out to me.
Sometimes, I wished she didn't have to rub in the fact that she completed her studies at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns whereas I went to another world in disgrace. " I didn't mean to make you feel bad, Sunset, so I apologize."
" It's alright."
" The Goron Pound should be a useful technique."
" Only way to know is to try."
" It looks like you'll need to switch between being a human and Goron in order to reach all of the switches. All I can say is to not lose your cool when trying to figure out how this puzzle works." Twilight said. She knew me well enough to remind me about losing my temper.
First, I looked closely at the different circular switches scattered about. There were two pairs of switches: three that were yellow and two that were blue. My instincts told me that hitting one would affect the other so I needed to keep tabs on what happens to the other switch when I hit its partner.
I walked up to the yellow switch, jumped onto it, curled up, and leapt into the air before crashing down. The impact was enough to destroy several White Boes that happened to be nearby--the Goron Pound had quite the attack range if it managed to hit them where they had gathered--in addition to activating the switch. It sank into the ground and caused two other switches to rise up including one that blocked the door. The one switch that rose now acted as a platform but it involved jumping across a small gap to reach it, so I grabbed my face and took off the Goron Mask--I'm glad Twilight warned me that I would be changing between forms constantly.
Once I was human, I jumped across the gap, landed on the platform, and jumped again to the other side. On this side, I could see one of the two blue switches, so I put my mask back on, went through the transformation--complete with some stumbling about--became Darmani, jumped onto the switch, curled up into a ball, and pounded it into the ground. This caused the other blue switch to rise up leaving me confused as to what to do next. Luckily, I quickly figured that I had to pound the yellow switch I used to get to this side. I walked over to it, curled up, and slammed it down causing the first yellow switch to rise up and the third one to drop.
Pulling my mask off and changing back--this was pretty exhausting--I climbed up the raised blue switch avoiding the remaining White Boes, jumped onto the ledge, and was just about to walk through the door when something caught my attention.
" I can hear another fairy." I said cupping my hands to my ears.
" Your hearing must be pretty good for you to notice that."
" It's coming from above." I looked up at the ceiling and noticed that part of it looked darker than the rest--it looked like water had eroded it for quite some time. " Strange... That one part of the ceiling looks different as though it were hiding something." My gut was telling me it wasn't real, so I took out the Lens of Truth and looked through it to see what was really going on. In an instant, that part of the ceiling disappeared to reveal that it went up even higher, and also containing a bubble that had a Stray Fairy trapped inside.
" Now that's a clever place to hide one."
" Do you suppose Starlight put it up there?"
" I'm not really sure if she did it or if it was the work of whatever brought about the cold snap outside."
" I might as well save it since we do need all of them to restore Adagio." I said. Did I sound like I only cared about saving the fairy because it would help out in return when they were all gathered together? That wasn't my intention! I hoped Her Highness didn't think of me as selfish or something like that. Sometimes, I wish that I thought things through before speaking out.
Sighing heavily, I took out the Great Fairy's Mask and put it on my face. I never knew until now that the hair on the mask wasn't synthetic like the hair seen on other masks or on those cheap wigs. No, the hair felt natural. It showed that whoever crafted the mask--most likely the Great Fairy--wanted anyone who wore it to experience what it was like to be her despite not having the ability to use her vast magical powers. At least, I think that was what it was. With it on my face, I took out the Hero's Bow, aimed upward at the bubble, and fired an arrow only for it to sail past and embed itself in the ceiling behind it.
I almost felt like throwing my bow on the ground in anger, but I knew that would only cause Twilight to scold me for losing my temper. My skills had gotten better--thanks in large part to training for the Friendship Games--but it felt like I still needed some improvement in using such a simple skill as firing an arrow. Knowing that complaining would solve nothing, I aimed at the bubble carefully before firing an arrow only for it to hit the ceiling again. Maybe I was starting to lose patience because of what was coming upon finishing this temple. The thought of facing Ganondorf echoed in my mind.
In all the excitement--or lack thereof--I forgot that I would soon be facing him in battle. Twilight knew what he was like from what I told her about him, but being told about him is nothing compared to actually seeing him in person. The aura he exudes was enough to choke anyone to death in a matter of moments. That aura represented the purity of darkness, hatred, malice, and evil all at once. No one should have a power like that, yet Ganondorf did and it was very real.
Most who had that amount of power became corrupted by it, but he was different from them. I don't know how but he retained control of his sanity despite wielding all that power. Perhaps he was stronger than most?
For now, I couldn't allow myself to be distracted by the thought of fighting him. If I showed any kind of doubt, Her Highness would only be concerned--she had her own problems to deal with that involved the safety of Equestria. I fired one more arrow that connected with the bubble, bursting it, and freeing the Stray Fairy. It immediately sensed that I was wearing the Great Fairy's Mask and floated down to me before entering my body. Twilight quickly jotted down that this was the sixth one that we had found on the map.
Since there was nothing else of interest to be found--those additional red rupees were tempting but I didn't need them--I walked over to the door, opened it up, and entered the central chamber again at a much higher level--I refrained from looking down as I didn't want to fall from this height. The only way onward involved going across a large gap by rolling off of a ramp in front of me covered in snow. On the other side of the gap was another walkway that lead up to a stairway covered by ice.
To the right of it was a snow-covered slope that went around a corner and stopped at another door that wasn't covered by anything. Did I have to roll across on that slope? It was something I hadn't tried before, yet the alternative was a deep plunge.
" You'll need to become a Goron to get across to that door over there."
" How far down is it to the ground below?" I asked, making sure not to turn my eyes downward.
" It's a pretty steep drop so I wouldn't mis-judge your trajectory."
" You seem calm about being this high up above the ground."
" When I first became an alicorn, I struggled with basic flying skills--I also made my fair share of crashes. I couldn't even look down at the ground without freaking out! It took me some time before the idea of flight became second nature to me. Besides, I'm a fairy in this world so I'm used to flying around already." Twilight said. I wasn't sure if that last part was a jab against me, but I ignored that and focused on getting across the gap.
I had since put away the Great Fairy's Mask and Hero's Bow--before entering the central chamber--and took out the Goron Mask before putting it on. The usual stumbling about occurred during the transition between human and Goron, but I made sure to quickly press my hands against the wall just in case something went wrong. Within a few moments, I had become Darmani again, curled up by the door, and began to roll along the snow-covered walkway.
The momentum I gained from rolling quickly resulted in my spikes producing from my body and I sailed over the gap to the other side before crashing into a tiny section of wall in-between the frozen ice and the slope.
" I've got to work on stopping." I said as I got up onto my feet.
" You're liable to give yourself a concussion if you keep doing that."
" Tell me about it."
Since I had no other choice but to keep going, I curled up again and rolled along the slope, making sure to stay as close to the wall as possible so as to not roll off and down to the ground. There was a brief moment where I almost did that--nearly giving myself a heart-attack in the process--but I managed to maintain control and came to a stop in front of the door.
I opened it and entered a large room that looked pretty ordinary aside from four strange coloured panels in each corner of the room. " What do you suppose those are?"
" I'm not sure but I can sense a powerful magic radiating from them." Twilight said. She then began flying about in a mad panic upon realizing that the way out had suddenly become blocked by iron bars. " The door has been sealed! We're stuck in here with whatever is emitting that magical power." A maniacal laughter then started echoing around the room, prompting me to begin looking around to find out who or what was causing it.
" You can hear someone laughing, right?"
" We're not alone."
" I can't see who's doing it!" I said, my nerves becoming more panic-ridden. Suddenly, a bright light flashed from one of the panels illuminating the room in an eerie glow. This was followed by a strange looking old man wielding a large staff emerging from the panel. His robes flowed elegantly, the staff emitted a fiery blue hue that resonated with power, and his expression--despite being weird what with that face--bore a desire to subject me to powerful magic. Before I had a chance to properly assess the situation, the man began to run in place before disappearing. " Who or what was that?" I asked when he vanished.
" That was a Wizzrobe, an ancient sorcerer who can teleport around the room using those strange panels on the ground. You need to be very careful here, Sunset. He will appear from one of the panels and use his staff to fire a magical spell at you. If you get hit by that magic, it will inflict a lot of damage and who knows what else." Twilight answered.
" How am I supposed to keep up with him?"
" If you get too close when he appears, he'll quickly disappear and move to another location." Twilight answered. Before she could continue, the Wizzrobe appeared to my right, taunted me by moving in place, and fired magic from his staff. It landed a couple of inches in front of me and turned into a patch of ice that grew in size before stopping. I could see the vapours rising up from it indicating that it was particularly freezing in nature. " So, this Wizzrobe is a practitioner of ice magic. Fascinating..."
" Not from where I'm standing."
" You need to watch him closely and wait for the opportunity to strike."
" When will that happen?" I asked. The Wizzrobe then appeared in the upper left corner of the room, and was about to fire another magical ice blast my way. " I should probably keep moving and not become a sitting duck for him to freeze." Her Highness nodded and I moved away just as the icy blast from the Wizzrobe struck where I had just stood, the cold wind being felt across my back. I ran towards where he was standing but he quickly disappeared before I could reach him.
He next appeared in the lower right corner, and since my "running" wasn't exactly up to snuff, I curled up into a ball and rolled over just as the Wizzrobe was about to fire off another magical spell. I got to him before he could fire his magic and punched his stomach but then he disappeared and reappeared in the lower left corner. Grumbling, I rolled towards him only for him to teleport away just as I arrived. This was already starting to get on my nerves. It appeared that being a Goron didn't help when he runs away to avoid being attacked. I also didn't get what Her Highness was saying about waiting for the right opportunity.
When the Wizzrobe reappeared in the upper right corner, I immediately rolled over and accidentally veered off slightly to the left, hitting the back wall. Luckily, his magic went in a different direction so I was safe for a few moments.
" Things aren't going very well."
" Fighting someone who moves about so quickly is difficult in this body."
" You did punch him once, though."
" That was a lucky hit."
" So what will you do?"
" I've got to fight him as a human. I may not be as powerful as I am like this, but at least I'll be fast enough to keep up with him." I answered, grabbing my face. As I was pulling off the Goron Mask, the Wizzrobe reappeared and decided to take advantage of my temporary distraction.
He fired another magical attack, striking me just as I changed back to a human, and I was frozen in a block of ice with Twilight looking on in horror.