//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: And Today Was Going so Well // Story: The Legend of Zelda: Lost Memory // by Darklinker1231 //------------------------------// 'Ok I know this is my first time inside a castle but, WHERE THE HECK ARE WE GOING.' Tael thought loudly to himself as Link followed Spike through the castle, Tael tried to keep track of where they were going but everywhere they went it looked exactly the same that he ended up getting confused. Link however was enjoying the little walk to his new room, he looked around at the interior of the castle, and he never seen such a cleaner looking castle, well one he could remember and he couldn't remember if he had been to any other castle. He then decided to may as well enjoy the one he was in and not get caught up in something that small. "So, Link was it you've been the main thing the girls have been talking about for a while, it must really suck to not have your memory." Spike said trying to start the conversation with the colt who's been quite quiet. "Yeah it's been strange, but I'll probably get over it." He said staring at the dragon. Link didn't know why but seeing a dragon didn't really bother or surprised him that much, it was weird but this whole day so far has been strange for him. "Well here we are." Spike said opening a door into a empty yet furnished room. Link walked into the room and looked around, it had the essentials a bed by the window, a bookshelf in the wall a couple shelves on the wall and a nightstand by the bed and a small table. Link wasted no time as he ran and jumped onto the bed and laid down. "Yes a comfy bed, this is the best." Link said as he laid sprawled out "I feel this is all I need right now." He said with a goofy smile on his face Spike laughed a bit at the colt's reaction "Guessing you haven't slept on good bed in a while." Spike said as he stared at him. 'Well aside from the hospital bed, Link has been sleeping on the ground for a while. One thing I know for sure Link loves to sleep but he absolutely adores sleeping on beds especially comfy ones.' Tael thought shaking his body side to side 'Can't believe one of the few thing he remembers is his love for sleeping.' "Oh man I just want to fall asleep all day right now." Link said happily as he closed his eyes and relaxed "Well don't stay asleep too long now, I'm sure you're hungry so I'm gonna make you a snack." Spike said, to which Link nodded absentmindedly as he slowly fell asleep. Spike seeing that Link had fallen asleep left the room quietly closing the door behind him. He sighed as he walked towards the kitchen "He'll be fine by himself." He said After a few minutes had passed and he was sure the coast was clear Tael flew out from under Link's hat, he sighed resting his body onto the bed. He looked out the window staring out into the town. "This place is so different, sure Termina and Hyrule had some species that Hylians thought were strange, like the Gorons, Zora and heck even us fairies. The difference being that in both those worlds the horses didn't really talk back or act as sentient, they were just animals. And the way we got here, at least the portal to Termina was a long fall after you enter a log in some mystical woods, the one that brought us here to this Ponyville it just up and showed up out of nowhere and in the middle of a fight no less." He sighed "Darn it we're gonna have to stay here till Link get's everything sorted out. We're on a quest to find his friend and I promised I would help. Tatl went through a lot to save the world, I just want to repay him for all he's done." Tael looked up into the sky "Oh sis I hope you and Skull Kid are doing fine without me, I promised I'll be back soon and I want to keep that promise." He looked at Link "I just hope it's before he gets in too deep, the last thing we need is Link staying here forever." He stared down at the town then back at Link who was comfortably asleep. Tael smiled and chuckled "At least he remembers one of things he loves most." He said slowly closing his eyes as well falling asleep by the window sill *** "Look Storm I know it's bad but come on you gotta give me props, I fought a chimera with an injury and barely noticed. That has to mean something right." Steel said with a small grin on his face as he sat on his bottom bunk bed in the guard's barrack "It means you have an even thicker head then I previously thought and that's saying something." Storm said removing his helmet "You were lucky the only thing you got from that chimera slamming you onto the ground was coughing blood, especially with how much force was used, thank goodness the doctors managed to help best they could." He said giving his partner and best friend a blank look Steel chuckled a bit "Yeah I guess you're right, but hey at least no civilians were hurt but makes you wonder why that thing was in Ponyville of all places." Steel said rubbing his chin with his hoof "You think it was looking for something or somepony perhaps revenge." He said ominously Storm sighed, Steel while his best friend did have a very active imagination; which is the reason he comes up with very strange conclusions "It doesn't matter now that it's gone and we shouldn't worry about it anymore it won't be coming back to bite us in the flank." Storm finished removing his armor and setting it on the top bunk over Steel's bunk "Anyway's I'm going for a walk, take some time to relax. I'll be back later." He said walking out of the barracks Steel watching as he left. "He needs to really find something to loosen, maybe I should be the one to find out what it is. What hobby would he even like." Steel rubbed his chin with his hoof then shrugged "I'll get on that later I have more pressing matters to deal with." Steel reached into his bag and pulled out a small portable console, he turned it on and set it down "I've been waiting all day to beat this level." He muttered as he began playing. *** Storm sighed as he walked along one of the roads, the sunset covering the town in orange hue, stalls were closing as were some stores. He was was staring straight ahead as he hummed a small random tune to himself as he walked, enjoying the look of the town 'Everyone is so happy here it's a bit infectious, It's pretty hard to keep a straight face while on duty with all these ponies being so happy.' Storm stared up into the sky 'It has been a while since I really flew, maybe I should.' He opened up his wings and began flapping as he flew up into the orange sky, he stared down at the town once he was high enough 'Jeez for a town so small it sure has a lot to offer.' He thought to himself 'I guess this is another point for you dad if you hadn't told me to sign up for the guards I probably wouldn't have been able to come here.' Storm then sighed as he stared forward 'It's been a while since I've seen everyone, I hope I'm not missing too much. I wonder if Gale got any big music thing coming up wouldn't want to miss that little filly play something, is Jet still not used to working at the weather factory did he get a promotion. Mom must be relieved to have one less child to deal with.' Storm landed on a cloud and stared down 'I guess this is one of the downsides of moving out.' He laid down and stared down at the town 'Getting homesick, maybe I'll visit soon.' He yawned a bit and slowly closed his eyes to rest a bit. Unfortunately that lasted for a solid ten seconds before he heard a scratchy voice "Hey buddy kinda need that cloud gone if we want clear skies." Storm opened his eyes to see Rainbow Dash floating above him "You gonna move or should I just kick it out from under you." She said "O-oh right sorry about that." Storm flew off the cloud as Rainbow bucked it making it disappear "There all done for today's work, should go report this later." She said looking over at Storm "Hey you're one of Twilight's guards right?" She asked "Yes I am, Storm Guard is the name, my name I mean." He answered a bit awkwardly. "And you're Rainbow Dash." He said "That's me." She said a bit smug then looked at Storm "Hey I thought you royal guards had to be all stiff and no emotion." She said turning to face him "That's only when we're on duty with a princess or at the castle, off duty and other times we can show that we aren't stiff as you put it and show emotion normally." He answered looking away from her. Storm didn't really feel comfortable talking to somepony so famous when he was just a simple guard. It would go like almost every encounter he had with a pony since he joined the guard who tried to strike a conversation with him. A pony would strike a conversation about him or his job when he was off duty, then after a bit they would get bored and just hoped he finished talking soon so they could leave and never bother with him. It didn't bother him much, he enjoyed his job and if others couldn't well that wasn't his problem, but this was somepony else entirely somepony famous who had saved Equestria multiple times. He had never felt this nervous before when he was having a conversation. Storm then realized Rainbow Dash was talking to him, he quickly shook his head refocusing on the mare in front of him "I thought you were off duty and suppose to show emotion not go all stiff." She said, a joking tone in her voice "Sorry got lost in my thoughts for a second." He chuckled blushing a bit from embarrassment "What was your question?" "Well I was asking you how you guards can keep that straight face of yours all the time, I tried to make two guards try to break out, but they weren't budging till I got a phoenix involved." Storm raised his brow wondering if she was talking about the Phoenix from the castle, he ignored it seeing as it wasn't important "Training and lots of it, that's the best I can tell you, you have to be training to be in the guards to understand." He said "Really they make you guys practice to stay still and do nothing, that must have really sucked." She said with a smile "What about those weapons you guys have, you ever use them?" "Well unless there is a major threat we don't." She chuckled "Yeah I guess that would make sense but seeing as how peaceful Canterlot is compared to this place, but don't you worry with us around you guys won't have to worry too much." She said with a small wave of her hoof. "Yeah you're right about that." Storm said as he stared straight ahead with a blank look. Rainbow noticing the look she nudged him "Hey maybe when me or my friends aren't around you and the other guards can take care of things here." She said with a smile hoping that would cheer him up He smiled a bit "Thanks." He said "I should be going back soon don't want to stay out too long." He said Rainbow nodded in understanding "Yeah I should be going too, we should hang out soon, maybe you can tell me more about guard stuff." She said Storm stared at her looking a bit surprised but then he nodded "Oh sure and maybe you can tell me all about your adventures and other feats." "I was going to anyways, but I guess I'm gonna have to now that you asked." She said "I'll see ya around Storm." She then flew off, Storm watching till she disappeared into the sky, he sighed then flew down towards the ground and began walking back to the castle 'Maybe I should interact with others more.' He thought to himself. *** Link slowly opened his eyes as he felt the warm sun rays on his eyes causing him to groan from the discomfit. He tried turning in his sleep to ignore the light only for him to fall off where he was sleeping. Link pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes ridding himself of any grogginess. He stood up and looked around realizing he wasn't in his new room but instead a small area with just a tree and flowing water that went through some sort of drain. There also seemed to be a frog jumping up and down occasionally croaking everytime it did . "Wait where am I." He said as he looked at the bench where he had fallen off from, he noticed a door in one of the walls but he wasn't sure if anyone lived there. "This is weird." He walked up a hill arriving at a central part of town. He looked around watching as many ponies were working some carrying large planks of wood on their shoulder and some giving orders to them. He walked down from where he was watching them go to work, not looking where he was going he bumped into someone "Oh sorry." Link said looking at the pony he bumped into; who was smaller then him. The pony stood up and ran away from Link who noticed a number three on the back of a shirt he was wearing. Link simply shrugged and continued walking through the main part of the town. He smiled "Seems they're preparing for something." Link said softly to himself and he was right as he noticed many different stalls opening up while some workers were setting up fireworks. Foals were also running around some wearing masks, Link had found it quite strange but it must be normal for the place he was in heck maybe it was tradition. Link then felt something underneath his hat, reaching up with his hoof he removed it as a small creature similar to the one who saved his life came out, although this one was different instead of a purple color this one was a light yellow. It began making strange noises that sounded much like a bell but from the way it was trying to speak it seemed to be in a hurry or worried. "What's wrong, I'm guessing something is wrong or you wouldn't really sound like it, but you mainly sound like a bell to me and well." He noticed the creature giving him an annoyed look "Oh sorry, so what's the problem?" He asked causing the creature to sigh and gesture with her eyes to look up, but all he saw was clear blue skies "There's nothing up there I don't see what the problem is." He said then noticed something on top of the clocktower. "Wait what's that?" He asked He squinted his eyes trying to get a better look saw that it was another pony wearing a strange yet for some odd reason ominous mask. Link eyes then widen as the moon appeared just over the town and began slowing coming down, he stepped back in fear as the moon came down on the top of the tower. He looked around but no one seemed to notice or care as if they didn't believe it was there. Then in a instant he was blasted away in a fiery explosion. All Link could do was scream as he was blown away from the fire, the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was a childish laugh that seemed to echo. *** Link sat up and gasped breathing a bit heavily as he woke up from the dream he just had. He looked around seeing that he was still in the room he was given. "Just a dream." He said, beginning to calm down "It felt so real though, like I was actually there." He sat on his bed for a few minutes before falling back down on his bed. He sighed and rubbed his face with a hoof he stared out the window and saw it was starting to get dark the sun disappearing behind the horizon and the moon slowly rising. For some reason the moon he was staring at seemed much more calming then the one in his dream. As the moon shined sending a bit of a light into the room he noticed the creature that had been accompanying him was asleep. He thought of shaking the small creature awake but went against it, deciding to let him have his rest, he removed his hat and placed it over Tael. He nodded then walked out of the room. "Just need to take a small walk, that'll clear my head." He said to himself, his stomach then growled a bit "And get something to eat when was the last time I ate." As Link walked through the halls he realized he didn't take time to think which way to go "Did I really memorize this place, shouldn't I be getting lost from all these doors and multiple paths." He sighed and shook his head "Guess I had a great memory before I forgot who I was." As Link walked through the halls of the castle he stopped when he heard a scream "Something's wrong." Link began running towards the source, he didn't know why but he felt a certain urge for him to go and help whoever had just screamed. Standing in the center of the room was a strange yet familiar looking creature, it's body seemed to be made entirely of wood, it had spines that were going from its back all the way to the bottom of a tail that was also made of wood they however were made of leaves instead of wood, like the rest of it's body. Then there were its eyes which were a orange color with small light green pupils and it's mouth was open in a O shape that wouldn't close. The creature saw Link "Link, please get help." It spoke in a distorted voice that sounded familiar to him, Link then realized why this thing looked familiar to him "S-Spike what happened to you?" He asked the transformed Spike "I don't know." He said "All I remember was the mask attaching to my face and." Before Spike could finish what he was saying Twilight had ran in "Spike what happe-." She stopped and gasped once she saw the condition Spike was in. She stared at him in shock for what she was seeing "Twilight thank Celestia you're here you gotta help me please something happened." He said running up to Twilight making a strange squeaking noise as he moved. He stopped and put his wooden claws onto her "I found a mask and it turned me into this please tell me you can fix this." He said hopefully as he stared up at her "Spike I have to figure out what this is first." She said trying to calm the wooden dragon "Tell me what happened, and from the beginning" She said stepping back to stand next to Link Spike nodded and took a deep breath and sighed "Okay here's what happened" *** Spike hummed as he walked towards the kitchen, set on giving Link something to eat. "Wonder how long its been since he went without food, might as well finish this quick and get back to my room and." Spike stopped "I left that mask out in the open better put it somewhere safe just in case." Spike turned around and began running back to his room. When Spike arrived he saw the mask right where he left it, he walked over and picked it up holding it in front of his face "Sorry about leaving in the middle of our conversation, had to take care of something real quick." He smiled "You weren't too lonely right." He asked the mask which then responded by glowing twice "That's good I'm sure it's weird being a mask right." He said "Speaking of which how are you able to understand me, are you alive or something?" Spike stared at the mask for a few minutes frowning at the mask being unresponsive "Hey it's alright you don't have to answer that, I shouldn't have asked anyways you going to be okay?" The mask's eyes glowed once but they were much more dimmer then before a sad atmosphere coming from it. Spike frowned he must have hurt the masks feelings, even if it was just a sentient mask it made him feel really bad. He sighed "I'm sorry I hope you aren't too upset over what I said." The eyes glowed twice causing Spike to feel a bit better "Thanks I'll try and make it up." He said with a confident tone. Spike looked around "Anyways I have to make Link something to eat and I need to put you somewhere safe, you don't mind me leaving you alone for a bit longer. I'll be back as soon as I can." The masks eyes glowed twice, now back to it's normal brightness causing Spike smile to grow wider by a bit As Spike looked around for a safe spot to place the mask it had begun to glow but it was very dim which went unnoticed by Spike. It began to shake a bit in Spike's claws but he was too preoccupied to notice again. After a minute the mask glowed brightly shining most of the room in a white light. Spike noticing finally gasped as the mask floated out of his grasp, and in a instant it shoot towards Spike going for his face. The mask turned in mid air into the hollow side and attached to his face, Spike had no time as he felt his entire body begin to change. Spike stumbled backwards his back against his small bed, he groaned as he began to feel his body changing, some of his bones grew smaller but not by much. Soon wood began growing all over his body covering his scales from the top of his head to the bottom of his tail. Spike groaned, the transformation causing him some discomfort and pain but not much since the changes were small. Soon the transformation finished causing Spike to fall back onto his bed falling unconscious from the overexertion. However just before he lost his consciousness he heard a small squeaky and distorted voice "Oh no." *** "And when I woke up, this is the first thing I saw. Twilight I don' feel right please tell me you know some spell that can fix this. Twilight sighed as she looked at Spike new body, he was pretty much a timber dragon now and wasn't sure how a mask could cause that. Right now though, she needed to help spike from this dilemma "I'll Ty and find something Spike, I never seen anything like this, just be careful." She said then walked out intent on finding a solution. Spike looked at Link "Talk about a strange weekend huh pal." Spike said to Link then shaking his head letting out a long sigh. That action then caused a bubble to form and shoot from his mouth, it flew across the room and hit the wall leaving a sticky substance . "That's new and messy." Link had remained silent as he stared at Spike, he just couldn't help but feel like he knew what this creature was but he was undecided if he should be cautious or sad it was so strange. "Maybe it's best to just wait things out and maybe you should stay away from fire considering your new body." "Gee you think." Spike said with a annoyed look on his face "and why can't I close my mouth it hurts having it open like this." He said putting his wooden claws on the snout and trying to close it but failed to do so, he however manages to cause spikes to pop out his head causing him and Link to jump in surprise "whoa maybe this isn't so bad after all." He said then remembered he was made of wood and not a dragon anymore "I still hope Twilight can find a way to fix this." All Link could do to help was nod