Missing Moon
“Not too shabby,” Ganondorf mused out loud as she inspected the makeshift forge her unawake self had been using. And, all in all, she had to admit to being pleasantly surprised.
Oh, sure, the setting was makeshift at best! But still, for something done without a hint of previous experience while being guided by what basically amounted to nothing more than gut feelings, her unawakened self had done a pretty decent job when all was said and done. Definitely better than what most gryphon smiths could do, from what she could remember.
As Ganondorf turned her back to the forge proper and started towards where she kept what tools she had so she could check them as well, the yellow-coated filly couldn’t help but muse about what she had discussed with her fellow Triforce Wielders earlier today. What, by Din’s mighty flame, could have happened to Moonbutt?
In the end, they hadn’t managed to reach any kind of conclusion about what had happened to the night-themed alicorn, or even why exactly it seemed that no one was aware that Sunbutt even had a sister in the first place before the sun had started to set and their families had decided it was time to take them home.
And hadn’t that been a rather unpleasant surprise! She sincerely couldn’t even remember having had a curfew before, ever.
Scrunching her nose slightly as she inspected what tools she had available to work with, the Wielder of Power had to admit she wasn’t exactly thrilled with the prospect of having to adhere to the rules set by the elders of the family. But at the same time, they were family. And that was important.
Sure, from what she could remember from the memories of this life, her new family wasn’t exactly restricting her movements or stopping her from pursuing her hobbies, much to the contrary, in fact. As long as she went to school, did her homework, and completed her chores, not only was she basically free to do whatever she wanted with her free time, but her elder siblings and the family matriarch would more often than not support and aid her in such endeavors. The makeshift forge she was currently inspecting being a prime example of that. But nonetheless, the knowledge that she had to be home before a certain time each night wasn’t something she could say she really enjoyed.
The Gerudo had never really cared about such restrictions, after all. Freedom and independence had always been a sticking point to the desert dwellers, and as such her minders rarely raised a single eyebrow if she spent days at a time without so much as setting a foot inside her personal chambers as she grew up. But then again, the fact that the ponies didn’t expect their young to reach a temple in the middle of a haunted desert and then make it back alive as a rite of passage into adulthood probably had something to do with that. Cultural bias and all that rot, as the little Princess would probably say.
Giving a light kick to the old anvil set to the side of the barn, and nodding in approval at the very solid sound it made, Ganondorf decided she would postpone her decision about what she felt about this new development until a moment when it impacted her negatively. Her current family was easily the best and most nurturing one she had ever had, period. And as such, she would extend to them the benefit of the doubt for the time being. No need to create a problem where may well be none.
Nonetheless, family issues aside, in the end, she and her fellow Triforce Wielders had decided to meet again the following day so that they could try and dig up any information as to what may have happened to Moonbutt. The fact that it would give their new families time to calm down from the slightly eyebrow-raising way in which they had acquired their ‘emblems’ was another plus with said plan.
Seriously, both Applejack and Rarity had been far too excited with the prospect of making a joint cuteceñera to celebrate the three of them getting their Triforce Pieces back.
A shiver ran down her spine as she thought about the name the silly ponies had given to this little coming of age celebration of theirs. Cuteceñera… by Din’s crimson flame, why did the ponies insist with their gods forsaken cutesy naming schemes even after all this time? Truly, her attempts to fix that during her last life had apparently been a complete wasted effort.
Shaking her head in a vain attempt to banish the name from her mind, the Wielder of Power continued her inspection of what she had to work with in regards to forging.
Stupidly silly names and unresolved mysteries could wait. Right now she had to assess what she had to work with in order to fix Big Mac’s plow. A promise was a promise, after all.
“I can’t believe that I missed it! I really wish that we had managed to be there!” Holiday bemoaned as they finished dinner, for the third time since they had arrived home. “Oh, my dear, I hope you can forgive us for that!”
“Don’t worry auntie, there is nothing to forgive, you were busy, that’s all.” Link calmly interjected, equally for the third time in an equal period of time, as she promptly started to help her other aunt, Lofty, to remove the dirty dishes from the table.
“Thanks, Scoots,” Lofty said with a small smile, as the very tired-looking yellow-coated pegasus accepted the dishes the young filly was offering her and placed them into the sink. “And you know that it simply wasn’t possible, Holly dear. Not with how swamped with work our office currently is.”
“But, but still…” the earth pony attempted to say while fretting, clearly seeking an argument against what everypony in the house knew were simply basic facts. They were busy with work, and that was it.
“I understand, auntie, really,” the orange-coated filly said with a small smile before proceeding to nuzzle her aunt’s side reassuringly.
“Oh, I don’t know what my brother did to earn such a marvelous daughter,” Holiday outright cooed while nuzzling the young pegasus back, a small smile overtaking her worried features. “You are always so mature and understanding! We really don’t deserve you, dear.”
“Don’t say that, you are a great family too,” Link said with a firm nod of her head as she gave her aunt a serious look. And she meant it. Her current family was easily one of the best she had ever had in all of her lifetimes.
Sure, the fact that more often than not in said lifetimes most of her family tended to be dead before she reached double digits of age kinda lowered the bar considerably. But her pony family always tried to make time for her and did their best to show that she was loved and mattered to them no matter how overworked they were. What else could she ask for?
“And we are happy to have you too, little one,” Lofty warmly said with a chuckle while mussing Link’s mane with a wing. “Now hop along, you still have an hour or so before bedtime. Go and enjoy it.”
Link simply raised an eyebrow in response, before tilting her head towards the dirty dishes on the sink in a silent question. Washing the dishes after dinner was one of her chores, after all.
“Not today,” the older pegasus promptly replied, more than used to her niece’s quirk of asking and saying things silently from time to time, as she proceeded to Holiday’s side in order to give the mare a hug with a wing. “You earned your cutie mark today, Scootaloo. Go and play, I will deal with the dishes.”
After giving her aunt a long look, Link simply nodded her understanding. And, with a final nuzzle to a now happily smiling, but still slightly teary-eyed, Holiday she left the kitchen.
Trying to not listen as Lofty started to calmly reassure Holiday, Link walked through the carpeted corridors of their home. The vibrant colors, cozy furniture, and several photos and pictures spread everywhere filled the house with a warm and light feeling that the filly always enjoyed. Yes, having a whole and unbroken family was a precious gift by itself. The fact that they loved her back only added to that.
With a small smile firm on her muzzle, she reached the end of the corridor and opened the door to her room. Immediately her attention fell upon the posters that seemed to occupy every inch of wall space that was not in use. Posters depicting pegasi doing impressive aerial stunts or posing while wearing blue uniforms with yellow highlights. A group of flying stunt performers linked with the equestrian military that her unawakened self had been more than slightly enamored with. And even now, she had to admit that the show she had seen them perform a few years back had been very impressive.
Entering the room proper, Link wasted a moment wondering why the posters gave him a slight feeling of familiarity that went beyond the memories of her unawakened self. Something about their uniform’s colors, and the group’s emblem, made him think that she should recognize them from somewhere. After another moment she dismissed it as inconsequential, at least right now. If it was important, she would remember it later.
With a small chuckle, she hopped atop her bed and turned around. But before she could do anything else her eyes fell upon the large windows now right in front of her, which showed that night had well and truly fallen by this point.
She stared out the window, and at the very nice view of the outskirts of Ponyville it gave her, for a long moment. Blinking once, she tilted her head slightly to the side in order to get a better angle, but what she was seeing remained the same. After another moment she nodded her head, sure that what she was seeing was indeed correct and not a trick of the light or something like that.
“Well, that wasn’t there before,” she mused out loud as she kept staring at the shining nearly full moon slowly rising on the horizon. A shining moon that was no longer the spotless silver disk she remembered from her previous life, instead carrying upon its surface what looked like the abstract image of a horned female equine.
“Nothing! There is absolutely nothing!” Zelda outright hissed in lieu of a greeting the moment she had laid eyes upon her and the no-longer-green wonder at their seats at the corner of the classroom.
Ganondorf and Link traded a confused look for a moment due to Zelda’s curt manners. The twitching brow, gritted teeth, and mildly manic look the white-coated filly was sporting were not something either of them were used to seeing. Or well, at least not used to seeing without a lot of effort on the Dark Lord’s part first.
“What?” Ganondorf simply asked, deciding for the blunt approach while banishing her musings about if she had to change her title to Dark Lady or something now, or if the original title encompassed both genders. Normally she would bother the little Princess about such things, what with Zelda being basically a walking encyclopedia, but considering that she looked like a pressure cooker about to explode Ganondorf decided said musings could wait.
Applejack would be very cross with her if she managed to level the school building on only her second day of classes.
“I agree with Apple Bloom’s query. Please, elaborate,” Link serenely agreed with the Wielder of Power, though, the slightly raised eyebrow the Wielder of Courage was sporting showed she was also surprised by the normally prim and proper Princess’ loss of composure.
“There is absolutely nothing about Luna in any of my history books!” Zelda hissed as she forcefully placed her saddlebags at the empty seat between the other two fillies, clearly visibly affronted by this turn of events. “From Gibberish Monger’s “Full Guide to History”, to Blank Scroll’s “Summary of the Old Age”. From Official Scribe’s “Compendium of History”, to Proper Grammar’s “Great Encyclopedia”! None of my books so much as mention the fact that Celestia ever even had a sister! Much less talk about Luna in any shape or form!
“It’s almost as if she has been purposely erased from history! As if someone had gone through every history book in existence and censored her very existence!” Zelda continued in a tone of voice that left little doubt she dearly wanted to get brutally creative with whoever had dared to do such an affront to knowledge as altering history books. Even if she thought that the motivation was a little weird, Ganondorf had to admit that seeing Zelda so bloodthirsty made her slightly proud. The little Princess had really come a long way. “It’s a travesty! Who would even do such a thing!?”
“Celestia?” Link pointed out, head tilted to the side as the young pegasus' pondered about this new information. “She is still alive, after all. So, unless there is some memory altering effect at play that erased Celestia’s memory of her sister, the only reason Luna would not appear in any book is if she wanted it that way.”
“I thought of that,” Zelda promptly replied as she took several deep breaths in order to calm herself. Though, the Wielder of Power noticed that there still remained a fairly murderous look on the unicorn filly’s eyes. Something she definitely approved! “But why would Celestia willingly erase her younger sister from history?”
“A coup perhaps? If Celestia decided she wanted to be the sole immortal ruler of Equestria and got rid of Luna at some point after our passing that would explain it,” Ganondorf reasonably pointed out with a firm nod, her large red ribbon wobbling along with the motion. “Though if that’s the case, then I really have to give it to Sunbutt for her acting skills. I would’ve never suspected her to have it in her to pull such a stunt! Much less successfully at that! I didn’t think she had it in her!”
“Possible, but unlikely, as you said, it would be a massive deviation from her usual personality and way of acting,” Zelda replied, resting her chin upon a hoof as she pondered about this new mystery. But before anything else could be said, Link interjected.
“I wonder if this has anything to do with the silhouette of a mare that’s now on the moon?” Link calmly mused, making her two companions stop talking.
Blinking in slight befuddlement, Ganondorf traded a look with Zelda as they both realized that, yes, the memories of their current selves did explicitly tell them that the moon did sport a large silhouette that resembled a mare’s face, something that most definitely had not been there millennia ago.
Unfortunately, Cheerilee had chosen that moment to enter the classroom to start school, preventing them from discussing this further for the moment.
With a very put upon sigh as their teacher started the class, Ganondorf grabbed pen and paper and resigned herself to a few hours of boredom. She really wished she could avoid this whole ‘school’ business as the useless thing it was, but sadly Granny Smith would never allow her to do so. The old mare really thought that school was important, and would be extremely disappointed if Ganondorf were to ditch.
The sacrifices one must make for the sake of family.
As they approached the town’s library after school had ended for the day, Zelda did her level best to rein in her temper. She prided herself in her control and ability to keep a level head. That was helped by the fact that very few things could really set her temper off, Ganondorf when she decided to be particularly annoying being one of the rare exceptions. The purposeful destruction of knowledge was another!
Taking another deep breath as she closed her eyes, she did her level best to ignore the little voice in the back of her head that was suggesting she head immediately to Canterlot, barge into Celestia’s throne room, and loudly demand the alicorn to explain what in Nayru’s name she thought she was doing!?
The fact that said voice sounded suspiciously like Ganondorf made it easier to ignore. But even so! To forget one’s past was to doom oneself to repeat it! She was certain that she had broached said topic with Celestia before! By the Three Golden Goddesses, even Star Swirl at his most insufferable knew that!
Sure, Zelda knew that she hardly had the full picture. There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why Celestia had acted as she did. Though, she personally doubted it. There was simply no justification in altering centuries of history! What was the mare thinking?! Celestia was supposed to be the reasonable one of the two sisters, for Nayru’s sake!
“That’s a tree,” Ganondorf deadpanned, cutting her musings short. Blinking her eyes, Zelda realized that they had indeed reached their destination, the enchanted tree that served as the little town’s library standing but a few meters ahead of the trio.
“Yes, the Golden Oaks Library, perhaps now we will be able to shed some light upon this mystery,” Zelda firmly said with narrowed eyes, before promptly proceeding to power walk into the living building.
“The library is a tree. A Treebrary,” Ganondorf kept muttering as she followed after Zelda alongside Link. “Din’s fury, what is it with the ponies and their love of puns?”
Paying no mind to the Wielder of Power’s complaints about the ponies’ inability to name things, Zelda walked past the small desk where Codex would normally stay. The absence of the old librarian made her feel a hint of sadness for a moment, but nonetheless, she soldiered on undeterred. She demanded answers and she would have them!
“Do you really think any of the history books here will have any more information about what may have happened?” Ganondorf dubiously asked as they proceeded to the back of the library, apparently done with bemoaning the ponies naming conventions. “After all, if Celestia did overthrow her sister I doubt she would be as careless as to leave anything in a public archive.”
“True, I doubt that any of the history books here will be of any use. That’s why we are not going to use history books,” she firmly stated as they approached the section she had been aiming for.
“Ah, by Din’s eternal flame, please tell me you are not implying what I think you are,” the earth pony filly bemoaned when she saw the section they had arrived at. For, high above them, at the very top of a large bookshelf filled with tomes, was clearly written: Folklore and fairytales.
“There is no way to know without checking, but considering the mark on the moon and the lack of any official mention of Luna, there are two possibilities,” Zelda clearly stated, already moving forward to search amidst the books. “Either it was indeed a coup, and as such old stories will be the best chance of something having survived a censor’s purge. Or it’s something else, in which case once again old stories will probably be our best bet in finding any clues about it.”
With a loud groan, and complaining all the while, Ganondorf moved forward to help with the search, Link right beside her.
For several moments they searched in silence, well, relative silence that is, considering that Ganondorf was still complaining. Until their search was stopped as Link let out a slightly surprised hum.
“Found something, kid?” Ganondorf hopefully asked, both her and Zelda raising their heads to try and see what Link had found.
“Not really, just an interesting little bit of trivia,” was the Wielder of Courage’s immediate reply. And yet, despite her words, the pegasus filly kept reading the tale she had found.
“Okay, spill. What did you find?” the yellow-coated earth pony curiously asked, as she dropped the book she had been searching through to approach and get a better look. A moment later Zelda found herself doing the same, her curiosity getting the better of her too.
“The Three Guardians, a Hearth’s Warming Tale,” was Link’s dutiful reply as she continued to read, clearly engrossed by what she was seeing.
“What?” Ganondorf asked in clear surprise, something that was shared with Zelda.
“It’s a story about how three ponies: Earthbreaker, the earth pony; Farseer, the unicorn; and Stormcaller, the pegasus; joined forces despite their differences to fight against the windigoes, holding them back as the Founders of Equestria evacuated the ponies south,” Link continued, a tiny smile on her muzzle as she continued to read.
Now even more curious, Zelda swiftly moved forth alongside Ganondorf, both of them placing their heads at each side of Link as they started to read as well. And so, for the next several minutes they forgot about their search for answers regarding the missing Alicorn of the Night, as they engrossed themselves into a heavily romanticized tale of their first adventure upon this land.
Having spent far too much time reading a foal-friendly rendition of one of their past adventures, a very bemusing situation if she was being honest with herself, Ganondorf had to admit that she had enjoyed the read. The fact that she approved of the nickname that storytellers had come up with for her previous life also helped. They returned to their search for anything that could help explain Moonbutt’s disappearance from history. And finally, after far too long for her tastes, they seemed to have found something.
“The Mare in the Moon. What a stupid name to give to a prophecy!” Ganondorf grouched as they finished re-reading the tale slash prophetic warning. The fact that the title of the other bit of info they had found was “Elements of Harmony, a Reference Guide” really didn’t help.
“It’s a foal’s tale, Apple Bloom. They are all named like that,” was Zelda’s distracted reply as she swiftly re-read the entire tale, probably memorizing every word of it as well while she was doing so, the little bookworm.
“Yeah, but still,” the earth pony shot back, not really willing to admit that Zelda may have a point. “They still could have come up with a better name!”
“Maybe, but not important,” Link replied as she also re-read about how a night-themed alicorn was corrupted by her jealousy and some mysterious dark force, forcing her day-themed sister to banish her to the moon with six magical trinkets. And if that wasn’t a poorly made allegory to Luna and Celestia Ganondorf would eat Applejack’s hat! “So, how likely do you think this is true?”
“Doesn’t matter, we are not getting involved,” the Wielder of Power firmly replied before any of her companions could get any ideas about the subject.
“Apple Bloom! How could you say such a thing?” was Zelda’s scandalized reply. Ganondorf was not exactly proud to say that it took her a moment to remember that was her new name. Not that that would change her stance on this matter.
“Zelda,” the earth pony filly said, purposely using the mare’s old name to make her understand she was completely serious. “The damn prophecy is, for once, not about us three. That is very clear despite all the stupid flowery speech about stars, elements, and whatnot. Especially in the part saying how there are six of them instead of three.
“This is not our problem. And besides, the prophecy is very clear about its happy ending, far more than anything we used to get involved with!” she continued implacably as she started to pace back and forth in front of her fellow Triforce Wielders. She had dragged them to this dimension to escape exactly this type of circumstances! To be free of the meddling of Fate! And by Din’s crimson flame, she would make it so that stayed that way! “So I say we should just let fate play its course, and allow someone else to be destiny’s chew toy for a change!”
“But-” Zelda started to say, only for Ganondorf to swiftly move towards her until their muzzles were almost touching and stopping her short.
“Have you forgotten what happened the last time the three of us messed around with fate bound artifacts?” she hissed while purposefully giving the Triforce symbol upon the white-coated unicorn’s rump a look. Don’t get her wrong, she wouldn’t trade her Triforce of Power for anything! But she really could’ve done without the many, many headaches that had followed the acquisition of said Triforce Piece. “Do you really want to mess around with some Harmony Artifact doohickeys of unknown nature? Or have you even considered how these Elements might react to our Triforce Pieces?”
“Well, no, but-” Zelda once again tried to interject, but Ganondorf would have none of it. Like she would allow such an opening in her arguments as to allow Zelda to fill it full of holes with such silly things like logic and reason!
“But nothing!” she firmly replied, pressing a hoof against a now annoyed-looking Princess’ mouth. “The prophecy is clear. Let the six plucky heroes find the magical trinkets, Luna gets purified of whatever dark force based power boost she failed to contain like a complete amateur of the dark arts, problem solved! No need for us to get involved!”
“What if they fail?” Link very sensibly pointed out as she calmly watched Zelda and Ganondorf’s antics, much to the earth pony’s annoyance. She hated logic, especially when it was used against her arguments.
“Point,” Ganondorf very reluctantly said with a loud groan of annoyance. She swiftly thought about the possibility of the heroes failing their prophetic quest, which was, sadly, a real possibility, what with how she had managed to win more than once in the past against Link and Zelda. Luna was a decent combatant and had a keen mind, so unless whatever had possessed her and her prolonged imprisonment had addled her mind she couldn’t simply dismiss the possibility of the mare’s victory. Which would be a real bummer, since she didn’t think there was a way to make her family’s apple trees grow without sunlight, after all.
“Okay, so, we make preparations just in case the new band of plucky heroes fails, but otherwise I repeat: Not. Our. Problem!” she forcefully stated giving Link her fiercest glare. Not that that seemed to have much of an effect on the infuriatingly calm pegasus who simply shrugged with her tiny wings.
“Fair enough,” was the Wielder of Courage’s simple reply.
Ganondorf gave the orange-coated filly a long suspicious look. That agreement had come far too easily for her peace of mind. Especially since she knew that Link had a serious problem with leaving things be. But before she could do anything else, Zelda finally decided that she had enough with Ganondorf keeping her quiet by pressing a hoof against her mouth.
And so, the very next moment, the young earth pony found herself being tossed through the air by the equivalent of a magical battering ram being wielded by a very pissed-looking unicorn filly.
Suffice to say, not much more was accomplished in the following minutes.