//------------------------------//
// Mask of the Red Death 
// Story: Sleepless Nights And Speechless Angels 
// by thelegendarytoothpaste 
//------------------------------//

“You’re the one who managed to disrupt my curses in the four corners of this land? Truly?”

Link growled lowly to himself but kept his shield up and his wits about him. He’d already been surprised by Majora once in this fight, and he didn’t want to have it happen again.

It seemed like an unspoken rule that the bad guy had to either go off on a tangent about why they were doing what they were doing and how they could not be stopped, or maybe instead they would make a showy entrance to the final battle with some evil laughter. Majora? Well...

When she retreated to the moon and Link followed, he found himself standing on the cratered surface and feeling disoriented by Clock Town above his head. It was so close he could nearly reach out and touch it. Majora, meanwhile, had seemingly vanished.

He wandered the moon for what felt like ages before she attacked. She appeared behind him and struck him with a tendril. The strike opened a gash on his back but it would turn out to be a minor injury by the end of this fight.
Link instinctively rolled forward and was on his feet again at a moment’s notice. He turned and faced the goddess.

“At your feet is a mask of mine,” she said. “How silly of me to leave it unattended. If you carry its untold power, maybe you'll live a few minutes longer. But if I retrieve it..."

Link, without breaking eye contact, cautiously picked up the mask but did not spare much look at it at the time. He didn’t have the intention of using it; just keeping it from her. He felt that Majora leaving it to him would be her own misstep.

His eyes widened and he screamed as dark voices began to invade his mind. The mask clattered down to the dusty floor below and he gripped his head tightly. Majora could have easily ended him there. She spared him for another moment instead. When an average mortal encountered that mask, it would crush their minds and render them permanently catatonic. It was supposedly brutally painful as well.

She watched in silent amusement as Link began to fall forward, only for him to move a foot to stop his descent. He screamed and screamed and screamed.

“You would do well to learn your proper place, slave.”

Majora moved her head forward and tilted it in confusion. Light began to erupt from his right hand. In an instant, Link’s battle with the darkness was won. He did not pick up the mask again. Instead, he took a few breaths and held his shield up. The Triforce of Courage glowed brilliantly on his right hand in which rested his sword.

Majora said nothing else, and instead snapped her fingers. The other mask wound up on his belt, but it did not seem to be causing him further distress.

Link chose that moment to charge forward with his blade held high, but Majora’s defense was instant. He rolled out of the way a moment before one of Majora’s tendrils struck. She flung them at such high speeds Link feared complete evisceration. She did not manage to strike him per se, but she did clip the sword and send it flying from his grip.

She was strange. Majora’s strikes were impossibly quick and calculated, yet she hadn’t uncrossed her arms and seemed to be lazily floating on her side while the tendrils coming off her back struck out at Link.

“Is this all the power you can muster? You mortals are an embarrassment. You don’t know how much control we truly have over you. When we say live, you live. When we say mourn, you mourn.”

She struck out at him again but was stopped by his shield; the shield which stood up to a direct hit from a battle-axe.

She pierced through it, and though she did not manage to strike Link, she did manage to fling the shield from his grip.

“When we say die, you die.”

Link had to rely on his instincts then, the triforce glowing brightly on his hand. He had to dodge a near constant assault by tendrils by simply leaping to one side or the other. If he dodged to the correct side, he’d live long enough to dodge again. If he leapt to the wrong side, he’d be eviscerated.

His eyes widened as Majora snapped two fingers. His sword, still some distance away, came to life. It was hovering, pointing blade first at him. He backflipped over another tendril, and saw the blade get flung towards his chest.

He screamed, and she laughed.



Luna loved admiring her work in the sky and changing things around up there for her ponies.

Most understand that she was responsible for the heavenly bodies, but few realized that she was not the initial creator of them. The stars in the sky were around long before her. And then she got her power... she used it to place a claim on all celestial bodies, all matter, all radiation but for the sun which was her sister’s. She moved the heavens as she wished and created a painting above the ground every night for her little ponies.

Luna looked to one especially red star that shone over Ponyville in the distance. That one. It was far enough from any life that it would cause no damage and would put on quite a show for her little ponies. The star had lived for millions of years, but now it’s time was up. She pushed just a fraction of her strength into her horn, and the star brightened by many orders of magnitude. It had gone supernova and would leave behind a rapidly spinning pulsar for her ponies to observe with their instruments.

Additionally, the supernova would even be visible in the day for a few weeks. Her sister was happy to oblige.

She loved the stars and she especially loved treating her citizens to a show. At least, those up to witness it.

She felt a sharp pain in her heart. Somepony needed her in the dream realm. Immediately.
Luna dropped her gaze from the supernova and located the dream. It was coming from Ponyville…



Majora’s laugh was constant. She’d done it. She’d killed the little mortal who thought it could measure up to her! The violence of her attack kicked up a ton of dust, but she not only killed it, she killed it with it’s own blade. Now she could get back to her actual game…

She heard movement.

“What’s this?” she asked. The dust began to settle, and Link struggled to his feet. He had no mortal wound to his torso and his blade was in its sheath. He had a bow drawn and an arrow nocked.

Majora only raised an eyebrow. That was all she could do before he shot her.

Instantly a current of godly energy surged through her, but the energy was not strengthening her. It was paralyzing her! This foreign energy… it had to have been…

Link loosed another glowing arrow1.

Majora crumbled to the floor and Link closed the distance rapidly, doing his damnedest to strike down the rampaging mask. He drove his blade into her chest, leapt back, and called for the wrath of Din in one hand. He slammed it to the ground and a fireball erupted from it, engulfing Majora before simultaneously imploding and exploding.

Link was completely unharmed by the blast and was not injured by his own blade either. His body seemed to have a glassy blue force field surrounding it. Link nocked another arrow just in case.

Oh no… again?

He squinted his eyes as the dust began to settle. The mask remained on his belt. He could feel the dark energy coming from it tempting him...

“I will ask you again: Is that all the power you can muster?” asked a voice he did not want to hear. 

He gasped as Majora levitated out of the cloud of dust once more. A dim red field2  was surrounding her before it appeared to disintegrate. She was not harmed.

“I’ll admit you surprised me. I can sense a Goddess protecting you. The spell you’re using… Nayru’s Love, is it not?”

Link held his arrow taut. The glowing arrowhead flickered almost imperceptibly.

“You’re running low on magic. I can almost smell it. You’ll not be able to renew your shield, much less try to strike me down with holy flames again. But me?”

She snapped, and Link’s sword forced itself from his grip and began hacking away violently at his shield.

“I’ve not even used a fraction of my power!”

Child, please let me in. I’ll not let this nightmare haunt you.

Link crossed his arms over his chest as if it would protect him. He could feel the protective influence of Nayru’s Love beginning to wane, and cracks began to appear with each strike by his blade. On his back was a blade granted to him by a great fairy, but he feared moving to retrieve it. With his luck, the moment he moved the shield would fail completely. 

It scared him. Nayru’s Love was supposed to be indestructible but for the passing of time! Ganondorf could crack and damage it, but even he couldn’t break through- he had to stall Link’s offense until it wore off in order to do damage. Yet Majora was hacking away at it with such ferocity that it was giving way.

He put a hand on the dark mask on his waist, and he listened to the dark voices whispering to him.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. There was a flash of light on his left, and Majora shattered the shielding effect of Nayru’s Love with one more strike from his sword- the shield simultaneously shattered and disintegrated into glitter. Link, as swiftly as he could, pulled the mask from his waist and began to move it to his face. Majora recovered and sent his sword to his heart once more. Link squeezed his eyes shut.

There was a loud “CLANG!” and a burst of brilliant green he could see through his eyelids. He dared to open his eyes again, the mask of the Fierce Deity inches from his face.

There was a black wing obstructing his view and keeping the sword from killing him. A dim green shield flowed over it, and he looked to the owner of the wing as the green shielding went to dust.

It was Luna, only she looked different. Her eyes were set, and her pupils appeared as slits, and she wore armor that Link doubted the sword he was given by the Great Fairy could pierce, never mind his refined Kokiri Sword.

She seemingly had a dark aura over her as well, but hers was far more controlled. Her eyes began to glow white.

Majora said nothing to her, though she was very much eyeing her.

“I feel your magic corrupting my moon,” said Luna, her horn glowing. “However, you are powerless before me in the dream realm. This night shall not last forever!”

Her horn appeared to glow brighter, and Majora appeared to break apart, as did the entire moon they were doing battle on. Link blinked and was standing in the middle of Clock Town again. The moon was high above him once more.

There was a flash from his peripheral vision, and he looked to Luna again. She had shed her armor and had shrunk herself down once more. Then, she looked at Hinka with concern.

“Hello again, child. How are your fosters treating you?”

Link rubbed an arm sheepishly. Luna frowned, and, with her magic, teleported the two of them to the top of the Clock Tower. 

"I wish we did not have to meet under these circumstances. So let us try something fun instead of nightmarish. Are you familiar with the Game of Kings?"



Luna and Link sat before each other staring down at a chess board. Link had no idea what he was doing, but he was at least calming down again.

“Chess is a fine game of strategy that often concludes without bloodshed.”
She smiled at Link.
“There is an old film about a knight playing chess against death." 
Link blinked. “Film?”
Luna gave a nod. “Yes! I’ve become quite a fan of several maretinees. What is your favorite film?”
“I don’t watch film or tv.”
“Truly? Most children love-“

Link crossed his arms and blinked.

“Right. You’re not most children.”
Luna moved a pawn forward.
“I think you would like a few films if you tried them. You’d be surprised.”
Link shrugged, and Luna was quiet a moment.
“Do you know how to play?”
Link shook his head. Luna smiled.

“This is a good game to exercise and better your mental fortitude. It requires intelligence and patience but is rewarding.”
“So, I shouldn’t be playing then?”
Luna chuckled. “If anyone, I shouldn’t be. I hear Pinkie Pie is one of the leading grandmasters of this game.”
Link stared.
“Yes, that Pinkie Pie. She’s undefeated as far as I know. I think you’ll make a good chess player with practice.”
She smiled. “Let me show you what I know…”



Link was confused.

Not so much about chess. It turned out he was a fast learner. He was confused because Luna made no mention of his dreams in the entire chess session they were having. It was refreshing, but also somewhat alarming. Was this a new tactic? He decided to use his words, much as he didn’t want to.

“Are you not curious about my dreams tonight?” he asked softly.
Luna moved a rook forward and captured Link’s bishop. She eyed him.
“I’m very concerned about them,” she said. “But you do not seem like you’re ready to share yet. Am I mistaken?”

Link captured Luna’s rook with his queen.

“You’re right. I’m just surprised is all.”
Luna moved her queen forward and captured Link’s final pawn in the process.

“Check. I want you tell me or anypony else soon. We have some time to spare but it is not eternal. Could you at least give me the name of that miserable creature you dreamt of?”

Link moved his King out of check and looked over the landscape of Termina. The view from atop the Clock Tower was breathtaking.

“Majora, the Fallen Goddess.”
“Majora,” uttered Luna in echo. Her muzzle scrunched up a bit. “Even the name is foul on the tongue.”
She gave Link a gentle smile. “Thank you for telling me. Remember, she cannot harm you here.”

Link wasn’t so sure about that. Maybe not in his dreams, but there was a reason he feared Majora more than Ganondorf. Part of him even believed if Majora were to have escaped into Hyrule, he would need to form some sort of uneasy alliance with the evil king first. He had no doubt that Majora and Ganondorf would have become mortal enemies had they met. If Ganon wore her mask, however… Link believed he wouldn’t stand a chance.

As things were now, however, he couldn’t help but worry about Majora and the Fierce Deity. He’d have to look at them for any signs of their powers leaking when he awoke.

“Nightmares like this must be ended here rapidly and with a tone of finality. However, my spells will fail in the face of something that truly terrifies one of my subjects. But nightmares and terror can be two different things. I did not know it before, but the more I look at you the more I am convinced these are flashbacks, not foul dreams.”

“This is why you must learn to open yourself up to those who have taken you in. Nopony will judge you for your fears or distress. If anyone were to do so, you only need to tell me and I will deal with it. But nightmares feed off of such terror, and they grow and become more advanced and they can gradually engulf the victim and bleed into the real world.”

She eyed him as she took her queen once more in concern.

“Hinka, please speak to somepony about these memories sooner rather than later. Nopony will judge you or think differently or will do anything you don’t want them to. It is still early; we can defeat this creature together before it becomes too powerful, and you can learn to be a child again."

She smiled at him.

"And if anyone would do harm to you, you tell them you're under the protection of the Solar and Lunar Sisters.3"

Luna moved her Queen once more, and Link could move no further. 

“Checkmate.”

End of Chapter