//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: So What is it That You Do // Story: The Legend of Zelda: Lost Memory // by Darklinker1231 //------------------------------// Link arose from the bed and stretched, seems no matter where he went the sun would always make sure it would glare at his face preventing him from having the sleep he deserved. Getting out of the bed with a thud, he stood up and stretched his legs, he scratched his head and noticed his hat was missing. He looked around and saw it on a nightstand, he picked it up and looked inside. He gasped, Tael was nowhere to be seen inside the cap. He looked around the room for the parasprite, when he couldn't find him in the room he ran out and began looking for his friend. Link ran downstairs and then into the kitchen, he panted and looked around for the sprite. He gasped as he saw Tael on the table in another glass jar with a frightened look on his face. Once Tael noticed his friend he began pounding on the glass "Please let me out, I don't like being in jar." Link grabbed the bottle and removed the top letting him out. "Ok Link once we figure out this language barrier and go back home we are gonna figure out how to take healing fairies with us without putting them in bottles. And why am I even bothering, you still can't understand me." He said as he looked at Link's smiling face. "I guess it doesn't matter." He said going back under his hat. Link smiled and was about to go back to the room till he heard somepony clear their throat. Link turned around noticing Granny Smith along with Apple Bloom standing at the doorway. Link stared at the two and coughed into his hoof when neither parties made a move. "Mind tellin' us what you're doin' with that there parasprite." "And why are you hidin' it?" Apple Bloom asked looking at his hat. Link unsure what to do or say as he looked at the two ponies, didn't move a single bit. "You okay or do ya need help again?" Deciding not look like a bigger goof, he cleared his throat "Well you see, I was in this hospital, and when I woke up he was there with me. Ever since then we've been together and I guess he's my friend." He said giving her a shortened version of the whole story "Also if you don't mind can we keep him a secret, after last time and now. I can tell he's not all that welcome." Granny Smith remained silent "You trust this little thing to not cause any trouble." She said to which Link responded with a confident nod. The matriarch of the Apple farm moved closer to Link and leaned in a bit too close as she stared him in the eyes. Link kept his eyes on her feeling a bit nervous as she analyzed him. Her frown soon turned into a smile "Well then why don't ya both get to table while I rustle you two somethin' to eat." She said walking over to the fridge to get started on the food. Link looked at her for a moment before sighing. He looked over at Apple Bloom who was reaching for his hat. She pulled her hoof back and laughed nervously. "Sorry just wanted to see the little guy. Never seen one up close without them eating everything in sight." She said rubbing her foreleg. "It's alright, but from the few days I've known him, he doesn't do well around others he doesn't know and vice versa." He said "Best to give him his space, which is very little considering he's in my hat." He said adjusting it a bit. "I understand, now come on, let's get ya something to eat, I'm sure you're hungry." She said walking to help her granny. Link stomach grumbled causing him to nod "Very." He said as he went to have a seat at the table. *** Later Link sighed and patted his stomach, having just finished eating what he could say the best meal he's had in a long while. He wiped his mouth and sighed "That was a delicious meal, thank you for the food Granny Smith." He said as he looked over at the elderly pony who had given him such a fine meal. "Aw shucks it was nothin' just feeding a youngin' like I always do." The elderly pony said as she finished cleaning up the dirty dishes. "Can't really have our house guest be hungry, especially after he's gotten into the big pony beverage cabinet." She said looking at him "Which is why I gotta ask, what kind of irresponsible pony left a drink that youngins' like you aren't supposed to have?" Link stayed silent for a moment "No one really, I just had milk which tasted really good, more than usual, I think. Then all of a sudden, I barely remember anything that happens after that. I'm just as confused as you are." Link sighed as he answered what had happened before his drunken walk through town. "Hmm that is mighty strange, I suppose it's best for ya to stay off the milk for a while." She took a seat in front of him while Apple Bloom took a seat next to Link "Now Link, while I ain't too keen on lettin' ya go off on your own, you should really head back to where ya stayin' less you want to worry your caretaker." Link nodded in agreement "Yeah I should, they probably don't know where I've been since I left." He stood up and bowed his head "Thank you for your hospitality Granny Smith, I hope I can repay it." He said causing the old mare to chuckle. "No need to thank me youngin', or repay me, us Apples are always ready to help anypony in need." She replied to which Link nodded simply, though he still felt a need to repay them in any way he could. With that, Granny walked him to the door and opened it "Just take the path and you'll be back in town in no time." Link nodded and began walking once he gave his goodbyes to the two. Walking along the path he heard the sounds of somepony following him as he walked, he stopped to look back and saw Apple Bloom coming up behind him. "Sorry just remembered I had somewhere to be, and thought I may as walk with ya till I get there." She said. Seeing no problem, Link agreed and kept walking with the filly. "So Link you gonna start coming to school anytime soon?" Apple Bloom asked, due to not seeing the colt in school before and thinking he may join her and the others soon. Link raised a brow, for some reason when she mentioned this school, he didn't really seem to know the word "I don't know really, haven't been here considering I just got here. I guess I could ask about this school." He said "Yeah here's hoping to seein' ya again real soon." The two reached the small gate separating the farm land from the town "Well I'll see you later." She said giving him a small wave as she walked off in a different direction, Link gave her a wave back and looked around "Hmm now where is that huge sparkling castle, shouldn't be too hard to find." He muttered softly and began walking in what he hoped was the right direction. *** Storm was quite honestly surprised at how quickly the residents had fixed the damages caused by that chimera attack. When he had heard about Ponyvilles track record of fixing damage caused by monsters in no time he was a bit skeptical. Seeing it first hoof though made him really realize how accustomed the ponies have become of the town destruction situation. "This town has really earned its reputation, maybe things would be interesting like Steel said. Though for his sake I hope he doesn't get into too much trouble, he may be a hard worker yet he always jumps straight into a problem without thinking of what to do first." Storm let out a small chuckle as he remembered all the high jinks his friend had gotten into, especially the times he was dragged into it; Storm while a focused and responsible guard was by no means a stiff 24/7. As Storm continued his patrol he had noticed a familiar figure up ahead, squinting his eyes to try and get a better look he figured out who it was. It's the lost colt he and the other guards were were looking for yesterday as ordered by the princess. Though from the looks of it, he was lost in a different meaning of the term this time around. Storm wasn't really sure if he interact with the foal, from what he's heard this colt came out of nowhere and has no background information on his past, nobody knew much about him and they weren't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Some rumors had popped up between the guards some he didn't really find believable. "Maybe I should go check see if he's okay. Wouldn't want to start another search party for him already." He muttered to himself before trotting towards the yellow colt. Link was looking around obviously stumped on where he was supposed to go now. He had been walking around for a bit though he couldn't really recognize where he was, so no using familiarity to find his way back to the castle. His ears twitched as he heard Storm walking over to him, he turned his head towards the guard with a bewildered look on his face wondering what he could want with him. "Hey you're uh." Storm had only realized that he didn't know the colt's name, he listened to rumors but not to what name they gave him. "That kid everypony was looking for yesterday right." He finished not sure what else to say. He wasn't good around foals he didn't know, family he was but that's because he had a cheat known as his mother to help him out with that. Now though he had to wing it by himself, hopefully he didn't come off too awkward. "Yeah, my name is Link." The colt informed the guard Storm nodded simply, strange name for a colt but he wasn't going to judge him for it "So you seem lost, you looking for somepony or is it something else?" He asked trying to see if he could help the colt out in anyway he could. "Uh sure, I'm sorta lost and could use the help finding my way to the castle." Storm nodded and gestured to follow him as he began heading towards back to the castle. Link followed close behind the guard. The two walked in silence not sure what to say to the other. Link didn't want to pry into the older pony's business and Storm wasn't sure what conversation he could have with the colt. Link who wasn't really liking the awkward silence was trying to figure out something to talk about without being too much of a bother to Storm. "So uh." Link then realized he didn't know the guards name, Storm took note of this and cursed silently to himself for being rude. "It's Storm Guard, just call me Storm." Storm said. "Oh right gotcha." He said taking a moment to remember his name. "So Storm what's the armor you have on for?" Link asked Storm gave a small chuckle at Link's question "It's the armor of a Royal guard. Well it's more of a uniform then armor but it's required that the royal guard ponies wear it when serving under a princess. Royal guard ponies don't ever really need to worry about wearing these for armor in case of an attack." Storm looked back at Link noticing he had a confused look on his face. "Equestria being peaceful most of time except with the occasional threats that we don't cannot handle ourselves are there to protect the princesses even if they don't need it. We royal guard ponies are also required to keep the peace among ponies and protect them as best we can from these threats though with less then positive results. " He said not really affected by the meaning of his words. "Really then why do ponies work as a guard's pony for the princesses if it's usually peaceful?" "Everypony has their reasons, Some wanted to guard the princesses because they are fiercely loyal to them, others thought the job was easy and simple enough for them something for them not to worry about it. Few are in it for the glory thinking they could make a big name for themselves." Steel came to mind when Storm had said that. "A lot however are doing it due to either being in debt to somepony and not really having a job to pay or their current job isn’t paying them well enough. The job of a royal guard pays very well if it’s just you or if it’s you and your family." He gave a small smile as he remembered how many ponies had lived a much healthier and happier life because of the job of serving the Princesses. "That goes to show one of the many ways the princesses have their subjects health and well being to heart. As for myself I wasn’t going to offer much help to my old job anyways, not with better ponies working the same job but hey doesn't really bother me, would rather work as a guard then a storm adviser. Too much pressure to have ponies rely on me to make sure nothing bad goes on when making storms. I decided to go with guard instead, half my name already applies so may as well, plus I did want to be a guard when I was colt." He said with a small shrug. Sure there were a few problems, the early hours he had to be awake, the long and boring patrols, the seemingly short day offs and really no time to visit family. Link nodded at the guard’s explanation and began thinking to himself. Did he used to have a job, was there something he was good at or was he just a talentless pony, why did the mention of princesses cause a faint image of somepony he thought he recognized but the image didn’t stay long as it slipped from his mind in an instant. With a small sigh at the brief memory and its disappearance he decided to ask another question so they wouldn’t go back to an awkward silence. “So who exactly are these princesses you’re guarding?” Link asked the guard. Storm had continued walking a bit after hearing that question, after a minute or two he decided to respond. “You really must not live around here if don’t know the princesses.” Link looked away from pony embarrassed that he even asked the question “Hey no need to feel self-conscious it’s just not really something you hear too often from anypony really, The princesses are after all quite well known across Equestria and beyond so you don’t usually find a pony who doesn’t know them. What do they teach you foals in school nowadays?” “I don’t really go to school either, I’m kind of new to this whole place and how it works.” Link replied as he folded his ears back a bit causing Storm to look at him ‘Maybe that’s a matter to bring up to Princess Twilight.’ Storm thought to himself and nodded “I guess I can give you the basic run down on them, it goes like this, first there’s Princess Celestia raiser of the sun and co ruler of Equestria, then Princess Luna who raises the moon and creates the stars in the sky also being the sister of Princess Celestia and co ruler alongside her, Princess Mi amore cadenza who spreads and heals love between ponies who rules the Crystal Empire up north and Princess Twilight who I’m sure you are familiar with who is the Princess of Friendship and spreads the ideals of friendship with her friends the elements of harmony across Equestria and Ponyville.” He said giving a brief description of each Princess and their duties to fulfill. Link took in the information about the Princesses he got from Storm and began thinking some more, there were a lot of Princesses ruling the land together, this place was stranger than it looked yet he didn’t really feel all that out of place when dealing with strangeness as if he were already accustomed to it. Storm had begun doing some thinking to Link’s education dilemma, sure the colt was young but how could no pony hear of them, they were quite possibly the most well-known beings in the world right now; their status as Alicorns had also made sure of that. Now though with Link saying he doesn’t know of them it could mean a possibility of reasons, he’s lying, he lives in a ghost of a town where almost no news is reached to the ponies or other creatures living there, or he was quite out of this world but in reality only Steel could believe that one. Storm was pulled out of his thoughts upon seeing the castle in the distance, seems he was in his thoughts for a quite a bit if they made it here already. “Alright I’m sure you can find the rest of the way to the castle from here on out, I suggest not getting lost on the way there.” Storm said with a bit of joking tone in his voice causing Link to pout a bit at the stallion’s comment. “I got to get back to patrol so you take care now.” He said patting the colt’s back before turning around and walking back with Link giving a small nod and a simple “goodbye” To him. Link watched the guard leave for a moment before he began making his way towards the castle, making sure he doesn’t get lost on the way towards it. *** Spike enjoyed his naps, they were a reward he enjoyed giving himself from a hard day of work and a much a needed recharge to his batteries. He also enjoyed what came with these naps of his, dreams that he always enjoyed taking part in. Each dream different yet still great, dreams of him doing heroic deeds that only he could accomplish, being a well-known celebrity in other places besides the crystal empire, some romantic dreams with a certain alabaster unicorn and maybe a few dreams about him growing wings and flying through the open and fresh sky. The dream he was having now though was unlike any other dream he’s had to date especially the unfamiliar location he was in. From the looks of it he was standing in front of a Palace of some sort the outside colored red and green the colors colliding halfway vertically on a white line, the water was different from what it normally looked like, instead of a clear blue color the water here was a bit murky. Spike jumped a bit as he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at who or what it was. Standing next to him was a wooden creature that could possibly be related to what he had turned into. This one was much taller than he was, on top of his head were two round bushes of leaves possibly to give the illusion of hair, he also had two long leaves on his round mouth one on each side which gave him a very nice and fancy looking mustache along with two leaves on his chest on a small stump which looked like a bowtie. He stared at the creature wondering what he could possibly want with him. “Come now son, His majesty is waiting for us and we should not keep him waiting.” The strange tall creature said as he began walking towards the palace, leaving Spike behind with a confused look on his face; Son, was he having a dream about having a parent if so why that and why now, sure the thought of his parents had come into mind from time to time but he couldn’t care, as far as he was concerned Twilight’s parents were the closest he’s had and they were great and while Twilight was around to take care of him just as much she was more like a big sister. Spike looked at himself, he was back to normal so at least his dreams kept him the same but that's when he noticed something strange. There was some strange water and he didn't know why but something seemed off. When he stepped closer to the water he saw what was so strange and off. Instead of finding himself in the water he instead found the reflection of another strange wooden creature, this one’s face matching the one of the mask. What could this mean though was he having a dream related to the mask or was this the mask's dream, was the mask alive or something. Did it have a conscious of it's own or was this the creature the mask was based on? Maybe just maybe he was acting a bit crazy and this was just a weird dream he was having but he wasn't sure right now with all the weird stuff going on. “This is so weird, why would a mask have dreams like this?” He muttered to himself and looked around, taking notice of another thing. Nothing was moving, the clouds in the sky the water or even the weird tall creature from before weren’t moving; it’s as if the world had come to a halt and he didn’t know why. Taking a step towards the creature to check if he was okay, the creature began moving again along with the rest of the world. Spike stopped in surprise and saw that everything had stopped moving yet again. “Hmmmm so everything only moves when I move huh. Let’s test that out.” Taking a few steps backwards thinking the events would reverse he was surprised to see that nothing had moved still. "Whoa, there's nothing here. That's really weird and not something you usually see." Spike rubbed his chin in thought and looked behind him at a doorway. “I wonder.” Walking towards the doorway he was suspecting to find out more about where he was but as he walked into an empty white space. Looking left and right he realized it was an endless empty white abyss. “This is so weird, just what kinda dream is this.” He said walking back towards the taller creature, he walked closer and the world had begun moving again. Spike then figured that he must follow this strange being if he wanted to move anywhere. The two had continued walking, Spike taking in the palace looks, everything seemed to be made of wood just like the creatures walking around inside including himself. He and the taller creature soon arrived in the throne room where Spike looked around seeing more strange creatures, two had caught his eye though. In the back of the room was one larger than all the rest with a weird scepter in hand and what must be a crown made of leaves just like everything else, and next to him was one exactly his size with a dress made of leaves as well. "Man does everyone of these weird wood things use leaves for everything." “It’s rude to call us things you know.” A voice next to Spike spoke causing the dragon to yell in surprise and jump a little, turning towards the voice he saw another creature, this one looking exactly like his reflection before “Deku, we’re called Dekus if that helps you identify better.” The cre- deku spoke as he looked at him. This is one weird dream and how did he read his thoughts. “This isn’t a dream and I can hear them because we’re connected through the mask.” Spike then looked at him confused for a moment before realizing who this was in front of him “Wait you’re the mask, the one I’ve been talking too!? Spike said as he stood dumbstruck at who was in front of him. The deku laughed a bit at Spike’s reaction. “Yup that’s me, it’s nice to meet you Spike right?” The deku asked checking if he got the name right, Spike nodded in response to let them know they were right. “This is amazing, I didn’t think somepony was actually inside this mask, sure when your eyes glowed I was bit suspicious but now this just confirms it. Oh man I have so many to questions to ask.” Spike said in an excited tone as he looked at the Deku. "Ask away dear friend.” He said with a smile as he looked at him. “Ok first I gotta ask what are you doing being a mask, from the looks of it you seem to have an actual body of your own.” Spike asked gesturing to him right now. “If it’s too personal I can understand if you don’t want to tell me.” The deku nodded “it’s fine Spike, I got over this some time ago.” He said though Spike could have sworn he heard a bit of a somber tone in his voice “It was a long time ago but well when I was out visiting the clock town I encountered an imp, he wanted to play, have some fun but I was real nervous not being around different creatures before. That's when he put a curse on me, one that deformed my body and froze me into place the last thing I remembered at that moment was him laughing before everything went dark. Next thing I know I’m on the floor as a mask. I don’t know what happened between those two events at the time but it was not pretty when I did find out." He said staring at the ground for a bit. Spike frowned as he listened to the story, it was something he really didn't expect to happen, especially someone so small and young. "So you're just a mask now, with no way going back to normal?" He asked "None at all, my soul is embedded inside the mask never to leave ever, it get's lonely without your friends or family." Deku said as he looked at the taller deku "My dad probably doesn't even know where I am since I disappeared. I would never have the chance to race him again, those times were the best, he was the best." He said with a sad sigh "Still haven't gone over it, it's been so long since then." Spike felt sadness for the Deku, this was quite the story he was listening to what kinda of place does this sort of thing happen. "So I'm guessing this is your dream huh." Spike said looking around "Nope, it's a memory of me and my dad, he brought me to the palace with him, it was a fun time, the princess was really nice and the king told me stories about my dad while he worked for him. It's a day I could never forget but it's been so long now." "Oh I'm sorry to hear that you must really miss him." Spike questioned to which he nodded Sensing they needed a change in subject Spike decided to ask another question "So do you Deku's have any special powers, I learned that you guys can grow your limbs back." "Oh yeah we got plenty of abilities." The deku said making a complete mood switch "While our species aren't the most dangerous of foes we still are not to be messed with, for example check this out." With a small spin and twirl sharp thorns had popped out all over his body causing Spike to jump back in surprise. "Whoa that is so awesome!" Spike said walking over and touching one, though he pulled his finger back and shook it as it caused him some pain. He sucked on his finger due to some blood to leak a bit "And sharp, I hate to be the guy to fall into those." He said with a small chuckle The deku laughed and nodded as the thorns went back inside "Our feet are also sharp too." He dragged his foot along the ground causing a long line to appear behind it. "Wow is any part of your body not sharp." Spike said with a small chuckle "What else you got?" He asked the deku who giggled softly. "Also our bodies are super light, we can float with these giant twirling flowers and can even skip over water though it's kind of limited, but trust me when I say this. Skipping over water can be really fun if you don't drown." He said his tone slowly becoming more joyous. Spike smiled as he listened to the deku, learning more about him was certainly very interesting. "Well as you know we deku's can regrow parts of our body when we lose them, but we also have this special magic we like to use to help us with certain things." He took a deep breath and began to blow a bubble slowly causing Spike to back away not wanting to be anywhere near the weird and kinda disgusting looking thing. When the bubble had grown to full size he shot it to the ground leaving a large spit puddle. "Now since you're a dragon mind breathing fire on this." Spike while confused with the strange request did it anyways to see where this was going. When he blew a small flame to the spit spot it had caught on fire and began spreading "Us deku's can spit out either deku nuts to push back or blind foes or we can use this special magic to let loose flammable spit bubbles great when dealing with larger foes and such but very few know how to use them." "That's pretty amazing to be honest, I always thought small stuff like us weren't all that special to be around, that we get in the way of others." Spike spoke as he sat by the flame and stared at it "So how did you end up in Twilight's room and for how long?" Spike asked the deku "I don't really remember how we got there but I'm sure I was there for more than three days though but it's all sorta of hazy right now not much I can really remember or can remember." "Oh I'm sorry to hear that, well if you ever do remember anything let me know, so I can help you out anyway I can." Spike said with a confident tone in his tone, one that made the deku feel at ease and calm; That just maybe everything was going to work out in the end. The tone sounded familiar too reminding him of the young blonde human that had kept him company. With that thought the deku suddenly remembered something very important. "Spike I have to ask you something important." The deku said as he looked the dragon "One thing I remember for sure is the person that I was with before I arrived here. I can't remember all of it but I know he has blonde hair, blue eyes and pointy ears." Spike rubbed his chin in thought, the only pony that could really fit that description so far was Link but he couldn't be the one, or could he, maybe when he figured out how to go back to normal, he could show the mask to Link maybe he would recognize it. Spike then noticed the dream was beginning to slowly fade away, he looked at the deku before him "Guess this meeting is over for now." He said standing up and looking at him with a bit of saddened expression "It was great to meet you." He said "I'll still be with you don't worry, the mask will connect us through our minds, It's sorta like I was your conscious and stuff like that." He said with a reassuring nod "Well if you and I are going to be talking through minds, then I need to give you a name. You know, so I can recognize you better instead of calling you the Deku all the time." Spike said. The young Deku nodded, he never really did have a name, his species after all were identified by the wood patterns on their body, sorta like how you identified a trees age by the number of rings it had when you chopped it down "I got it, how does Timber sound." Spike suggested with a small smile. The now named Timber stared at Spike, the name while not original for a wooden creature such as the deku it was meant for, still meant a lot to him "That sounds really good Spike." Timber said his tone oozing with joy at something he never really had before. Spike smiled at the Deku's joy and chuckled "Well here's to new friends." Spike said offering a claw for Timber to shake Timber stared at the claw and gave an enthusiastic nod as he shook the claw. At that moment the scene slowly began to fade away the last thing Spike saw was Timber's joyful expression on his face. *** Spike yawned as he slowly woke up, rubbing his face to get rid of the drowsiness in his eyes, he looked at his claw; still made of wood, guess his dreams is the only place he could go back to normal. He sighed and laid back to stare at the ceiling for a moment, he kept staring at his claw and began to concentrate. Maybe if he focused he could pop out thorns too. 'Maybe it would be easier if you just think of thorns coming out of your body instead of just trying to push them out.' A voice rung out in Spike's head causing him to yelp in surprise and look around the room before realizing who it was "And maybe not so close to your face." "Yeah maybe you're right Timber." Moving the claw away from his face and sitting up, he just thought of a thorn popping out of it and was surprised as a thorn popped out from his palm, that was really simple and easy. "Whoa now that's cool." He said and looked at his blanket, he carefully moved his hand towards it but it was easily pierced by the thorn "And dangerous, maybe I shouldn't use this around other ponies so I don't send them to the hospital." He said drawing the thorn back in with a simple thought. Getting off his bed he looked at himself and thought for a moment "I gotta show Twilight this she's gonna flip when I tell her about what we are. Something I know that she doesn't this is gonna be fun." Standing up and getting out of his bed, Spike made his way towards the Library where Twilight was mostly likely. *** (?????) "Peaceful times are a concept that many ponies strive for. It's something that can take the stress off many ponies, let them relax knowing that such a time means there will be no danger no feeling of impeding doom, they can go on with their lives with not a care of the world. Equestria after all was a prosperous land ruled by fair rulers, the kind that care about their subjects, the one who make sure that everypony had a purpose and support from friends and family and with saviors ready to tackle any threat there is. What more could such a peaceful place ask for." A sigh was heard as the sounds of old floor board squeaked withe every step taken due to how loud each squeak was from each step the house must have been very old and abandoned "Something exciting that's what, peace is great to many but soon enough it get's boring the threats that loom over Equestria are such things that can spice up the life make everything better and not boring. Those didn't last long, however, before they were defeated, the only times Equestria can get exciting only to be thwarted a hour or two later." The squeaking had stopped as the speaker stood still in the darkness of the room, the only sounds heard were the sounds of the ponies outside. "The mistake each one made, they happened whenever those six ponies were around. Those ponies would always be ready, always prepared to fight off a threat and when things seem to be in the villains favor they are soon defeated. " "I couldn't afford to make the same mistakes they had done. My work had to be planned, be prepared, or else I can kiss my fun times goodbye. I had this idea going on in my head for such a long time but until now I was ready to begin what I have sought for so long. Excitement thrills exhilaration, all emotions I loved to feel but can only come in go during certain times. Those times were too few and far between. I'll however remedy that situation by making those times myself I won't let anypony get in the way of my fun, I worked too hard for this. Manehattan will be the start of my journey and from there on who knows where I'll go next but I know one thing." From the tiny bit of light in the room a small mask was the only thing noticeable in the room. It was of a simple design, a shape of a small ball with a hole in one spot easy for anyone to put their face through, on the front of the mask was a poorly drawn skull. While simple and goofy looking as if it were for a child this mask was no play thing. The one holding it gave a small grin as he stared at the item in his hand. "With this mask with me, I can cause my fair share of fun and destruction and be able to make a quick getaway, nopony would ever be prepared for what I have got planned. Everypony in Equestria will know what my goal is and they will realize my greatness for bringing excitement into their boring plain lives. I will show them all, just for you my benevolent master." Turning towards the other presence in the room, the only distinguishing feature that could be noticed from this figure were it's glowing yellow and red eyes. He let out a small chuckle "Do your job well, and you shall have all the glory and excitement you want to fill your life." Putting a claw hand on his shoulder, Majora grinned "And remember the more chaos and destruction the quicker my power grows to make sure you can do this forever." Majora grin grew in size as he began the steps to reclaiming his strength. *** Link may have remembered anything from before he lost his memory but he felt like right now he had probably made one of his biggest mistakes, in front of him was a test with many different questions on it, he stared at the paper than looked up at the pony staring at him. Twilight was sitting patiently a clipboard and quill floating next to her covered in her magical aura. He looked back down at the paper and looked at the first question. He stared at it for what felt like an eternity and with Twilight staring it felt even longer. Maybe asking about what a school was may have been a mistake on his part but he never expected an outcome like this to happen. After a couple minutes Link looked up at Twilight one more time and took a deep breath. "I can't read." The expression on Twilights face was unreadable to Link mostly likely due to it bearing down on his nerves, he didn't move or say anything until she responded "This." She started, setting down the clipboard and quill "Is something I never thought I would ever encounter. A pony that can't read equestrian, doesn't know who the princesses are or even what a school is. Just where did you used to live before." She said and began thinking to herself. Link just looked at her while she was lost in thought, was this really a big deal was it not normal of him to know these facts she told him about, just where did he come from was his biggest question at the moment. Twilight soon finished thinking and looked at him with a straight face "Link I don't know what to say, this is just unacceptable I can't have the thought of somepony not knowing these basic components of everyday walking around. You need school that I know for sure but I can't sign you now. I'm just going to have to teach you some important lessons of my own till you're ready." She said slowly starting to sound enthusiastic about teaching the young colt. Though for some reason Link felt a bit of unease, what's the worst that could happen it's just learning some stuff. "Now then Link I think it's best if you went off to bed now, tomorrow we start a whole new day of learning, oh with the stuff Spike told me all about the deku's and now you there's so much stuff to do now." She said and began trailing off and at that point Link thought it was time to go before he was roped into anything else. Getting off of his chair Link left the room silently and sighed. "Is it really that bad that I don't know any of the stuff Twilight questioned me on, is it really that strange." He stared at his hooves as he walked and sighed. He really felt out of place in this town but he hoped that he could better adjust maybe then things would be simpler for him. "Well if that's what it'll take for me to better adjust then I will do it." He concluded with a nod and began to walk with a bit more spring in his step, maybe this will fun for him in the end. Tael groaned as he flew out of Link's hat "I never felt so tired from listening to someone talk." Tael said resting atop Link's head. He sighed and looked down at Link. Maybe it would be best if Link learned more about this world, in his current condition he was by no means ready to go out into their world. They had to learn all they could then they could find a way home that would be a lot more easier then walking around without any sense of direction or reason. Link continued walking through the halls of the castle, he had recognized some bits of the hall that led him to his room but even still he was a bit lost. As he made a turn he had run into somepony else, causing him to hit his head against something hard cold and made of some type of metal. Rubbing his face Link looked up to see who he had bumped into. In front of him was a guard, one that he had recognized from the day before. Tatl seeing that he wasn't noticed yet quickly hid underneath Link's cap to hide "Hey you okay, didn't see ya there." Steel said as he looked at Link "Hmm no noticeable damage, and nothing dizzy right?" He asked the young colt just to make sure he was alright. Link nodded to confirm that he was fine, it didn't really hurt him that much after all. "That's good wouldn't want to hurt a small colt like ya." He said as he stood up straight. taking time to take in Link's appearance a question popped into his head. "Hey aren't you that new colt everypony has been talking about lately? You know the one that appeared out of nowhere." He asked Link nods in confirmation at what the guard said. 'Am I really that big of a deal just because I came out of nowhere?' He questioned to himself before bringing his attention back to Steel. "Well glad to meet the colt everyone has been talking about. I'm Steel Blade nice to meet ya." He said with a small grin. Link gave a smile "I'm Link, and it's nice to meet you too Steel." "So Link I'm sorry but I have to ask. Are any rumors true, did you come from a portal or did you suddenly end up in the Everfree forest through unknown means?" He asked the small colt who gave him a confused look "I don't know but give me some time to ask someone and I'll get right on answering that." He said. Steel nodded in response and understanding and decided to ease off on interrogating the colt. He didn't want to make him uncomfortable "So Steel you're one of the guards here right." "That I am my little friend. Steel Blade of the royal guard previously serving under Princess Celestia and currently serving under Princess Twilight. A fitting name to a fitting occupation don't you think." He said with a hint of pride in his tone. Link smiled at the guard's enthusiasm "So Steel what's it like being part of the royal guard?" Link asked feeling a bit more curious about the job. "I heard some things from Storm Guard but not much." "Well there's not much I can really tell. If Storm already spoke to you about the job there isn't really much I could say. Although I guess I could give my version about it. Let's walk while I tell you about it." Steel began walking again with Link following by his side. "Royal guards pretty much are what you expect them to be. Guards that are there to guard the princesses of Equestria. Sure a princess may not need a guard since they can very clearly handle themselves with the vast amount of powerful magic they have but we still try our best to protect those that watch over their subjects." He smiled "While I did join to protect them from threats, I also feel like I can make a name for myself through doing this. I always read those stories about great Royal guards fighting amazing battles to protect Equestria and the Princesses they believe in. I grew up hoping one day I could be like them, have my name in stories so I could new ponies could aspire to be a great royal guardsmen." He said giving a happy sigh as he got a faraway look in his eyes. Link stayed quiet and allowed him to dream, he was really liking the conversation they were having. "Do you really think you can do it, become a famous guard?" Link asked having high hopes for him to do so. "Yeah I do actually, sure the other guards may think I'm a loser or dreamer or some crazy pony but I've been working hard." He smiled and gestured to his side showcasing a sword strapped to the side of his armor. "I've actually been having some practice with this and I do mean real practice. I want to be ready to fight back against the next threat Equestria comes under. I want to fight for those ponies that I want and need to protect no matter how dangerous. I shall protect my home and serve till the very end as they say in those books." Steel said with a smile. "Sure that chimera did a number on me but I'll be fine, things will work out for me in the end and I hope they do for you too." He said looking at Link with a small smile "New place you don't know where you really are or why you're here but just know this. I hear Ponyville is one of the best places to make friends so if ya feel alone go make a friend with somepony. Also if you ever feel bored, drop by when I do my sword practice, it's always good to have some support." Steel said with a smile on his face as he ruffled the colt's hair "I'll see you around Link, hope you can adjust well to life here in Ponyville, trust me you'll get real used to it soon enough." With that Steel went on his own way leaving Link behind As Link watched him leave he smiled and started to feel better about the situation he was in. Things wouldn't be so bad and there was a much brighter side of things. He just had to make the best of it and he was going to. With a small spring in his step and a bigger smile on his face he walked back to his room ready to tackle the next day.