Chapter 71: Midnight's Last Stand
The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Majora's Mask
By Ganondorf8
September 18, 2017
Chapter 71: Midnight's Last Stand.
I felt annoyed to say the least. Moondancer could have sent me back to the base of the giant tree that served as the one defining feature of the moon but instead she sent me back to the beginning leaving me to make my way back over there. I suspected this was going to be a regular occurrence with these children so I knew there was no sense in complaining about it and instead just dealing with it. I sighed and began walking forward whilst checking my inventory because of what Moondancer wanted from me in order to play her little game. It felt weird not having those two masks in particular yet I wasn't entirely upset over it.
That's because I never really used those two masks or if I did, it was only for a brief moment in order to accomplish a specific task. It then dawned on me that certain masks ended up doing nothing more than gathering dust in my inventory while others were used constantly because of needing their power to get through difficult situations. Had I been more open and willing to use certain masks even when they wouldn't have proven useful, I could have done so and not felt so much guilt in the process. You never know when to appreciate something until you lose it forever and lose out on the opportunity.
Did I really have to hand over my masks in order to play games with the children of the moon? A part of me didn't want to give up on what I had acquired--often through great endurance on my part--but the other part favoured the idea as it meant eventually acquiring that which I needed all of the masks in the first place, the ultimate mask, that which had become synonymous with this journey despite not knowing what kind of mask it would be. Hopefully, it would be what I needed to return everything to normal and perhaps it could stand up to the power Ganondorf possessed.
As I approached the tree, I noticed that Moondancer was no longer running around the base with the other children. I felt saddened knowing that she would never return as her purpose had been concluded but there was no turning back for me. At this stage, I had to keep going in hopes of being able to defeat Majora's Mask and saving this world. Speaking of which, the child who wore Majora's Mask still sat alone at the base of the tree while the other children continued running around with a care in the world. Upon a closer inspection, they bore a striking resemblance to Starlight Glimmer.
How I managed to miss that surprised me but that was her hairstyle sticking out from behind that accursed mask and yet it made no sense as she was unconscious when I left to come up here to deal with the mask. Perhaps it was projecting an image of Starlight because of how she was the only one who had worn the mask this entire time? Or perhaps it saw her as more than just a puppet despite discarding her like one when she no longer was deemed useful? In any case, if I were to talk to her, would I forced into a final showdown? I supposed I could deal with her now though I would be at a disadvantage despite having so many masks at my disposal.
Nothing was stopping me from challenging her yet I felt compelled to collect the ultimate mask before doing anything else. Upon reaching the base of the tree, Majora's Mask, or rather, Starlight, looked in my direction as though she were trying to lull me over in hopes of perhaps goading me into fighting her before I was even ready. I struggled to turn my gaze away from her own but it proved to be in vain. Her gaze proved more piercing and I slowly walked towards her, Princess Twilight pulling hard on my ears to stop me from going any further and doing something that would ruin all I had worked so hard to acquire.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on perspective, Her Highness decided to do something drastic much to my annoyance. She bit me on the ear of all things! I never thought she would rely on using such a vulgar means of getting my attention, but she did and despite her small size, her bite was very powerful resulting in me screaming nearly at the top of my lungs but it was enough to snap me out of Starlight's gaze. I then immediately turned around and refrained from looking back in her direction but then I clutched my ear--she bit my right ear--and checked to ensure it wasn't bleeding or anything.
I then glared at Princess Twilight. " Why in the world did you bite me in the ear!?"
Princess Twilight shrugged. " I didn't know what else to think of."
" You could have pulled on my hair or better yet, flown out in front of me to grab my attention."
" My pony instincts took over!"
" I have no doubt about that."
" Well, you needed to snap out of it, Sunset, as you were heading towards Majora's Mask." Twilight said. " I know you need to ultimately defeat it to save Termina but you can't fight it until the ultimate mask is in your possession."
" That's Starlight, Twilight."
Princess Twilight blinked. " Are you serious?"
I nodded. " Look for yourself."
Princess Twilight quickly looked in the direction of Starlight before looking back at me. " Wow... You're right. That is Starlight sitting there at the base of the tree. But, wasn't she unconscious back on top of the Clock Tower? How did she manage to get up here?" I then explained my theory to Her Highness and she nodded upon my finishing. " In any case, we must keep our distance until we have dealt with the other children before we talk to her. I don't think she can do anything in her current condition but I could be wrong as I know absolutely nothing as to the power of Majora's Mask."
" That's why I intend on asking her right now."
" What!?"
I scratched my head. " It's not the best plan I could think of but I figured she may be willing to say something if I were to engage in conversations. Besides, I doubt the other children will do it as it's clear they have no intention of talking to her. Don't worry, Twilight. I've no intention of fighting Majora's Mask until I get my hands on the ultimate mask. Granted, I wish the mask was in my possession right now given what we've seen Starlight do throughout this journey but I'm sure she will just want to talk instead of fight." That last bit didn't sound right at all but I had to say something so that Princess Twilight wouldn't feel worried about my current course of action.
" Alright but don't do anything reckless."
I rolled my eyes. Being reckless at times had resulted in me making the situation even worse but at the same time acting in such a manner resulted in things working out for me and allowing me to progress further. I personally couldn't help but be reckless as I was stubborn when it came to wanting things to go my way. Guess it was the result of how I felt insecure during those days where I struggled to adapt to living in a world that had no magic. To survive, I couldn't show any weakness. Doing so would have prevented me from manipulating everyone but perhaps having weakness would have done me some good.
Back then... I had to prove myself superior to everyone else in the world I called home. That meant hiding my insecurities by pitting friends against one another so that I could dominate them without any effort all while showing no weakness. I acted recklessly resulting in almost getting exposed so I used others to serve as my shield and prevent any of my actions from coming back to bite me in the butt. In my mind, I didn't care what had to be done so long as I achieved success. Again, that was my stubbornness playing its part as I simply refused to believe I was their equal.
Since those days, I've changed and now I see everyone as being equal to me despite having some special gifts in the form of both intellect and magic. I still had my stubbornness that resulted in me being reckless yet I can channel it a little to allow me to succeed at something that otherwise would have been impossible before. Sure, it's not the best approach to go with as there are clearly better options but some aspects of my personality will never change no matter how hard I try. You could say those aspects are permanently hard-wired into my being and no amount of upgrades will change it. I'm thankful for it because without my reckless behaviour, this journey would have ended much sooner.
Walking up to Starlight, she continued looking up at me though I made sure to keep one hand behind my back so that I could draw my sword if necessary. Despite looking innocent, she was anything but that. " Um... Hello there." I said. I was making it up as I went along as I didn't know what to say to her.
Starlight didn't respond at first but when she did, she pointed her finger at the remaining three children. " One of them has left. I don't know what made them want to leave but it makes me feel sad knowing they won't be coming back."
I gulped knowing that I was responsible for Moondancer leaving. " I'm not sure why she left."
Leaning forward, the eyes of the mask on Starlight's face began to glow. " You aren't being sincere with me. But, I will allow it anyway as it shows that you and I have something in common despite you being inferior. Say, would you like to play with me? I haven't had any fun in quite some time and it's no fun since the others refuse to play."
" Um... I don't think so."
" Why not?"
" I need to do something first."
" That's a lousy excuse."
" I'm being sincere this time."
Starlight turned away from me. " You're boring! Why don't you go and play with the others instead? Leave me to wallow alone for eternity!"
I knew that she was upset but deep down I could sense that a powerful rage was boiling within her prompting me to slowly back away. Starlight, or Majora's Mask, seemed bent on wanting to have fun at the expense of someone else's life and didn't like not having her way. In a weird way, she was right about how she and I had something in common, and it was our respective stubborn streaks. Shuddering, I couldn't handle such a horrid thought and immediately shook my head to remove the image before leaving her to focus on one of the remaining children of the moon. I would confront her but not until I had that mask.
Of the remaining children, the one I needed to focus on next was the one who wore the mask that I received upon defeating Goht. Fortunately, this child was easy to spot as the mask featured a rather lifeless metallic face when compared with the other three. This child, on occasion, performed some cartwheels as though they were athletic but since their true intentions remained mysterious, I was better off not wanting to know in case I accidentally offended them. Approaching them, they looked at me for a second before continuing to perform cartwheels, their identity unknown to me.
But, not to Princess Twilight. " That's Night Glider!"
" Someone else who I don't recognize."
" I'm surprised it took us this long to finally encounter her."
I waved my hands to get her attention. " Who is she, Twilight?"
Princess Twilight blushed. " Oh right! You've never seen her before." I frowned before she coughed. " Ahem! Night Glider is the last of the main ponies who the pony versions of our friends and I met when we first visited Starlight's village after my castle received the Cutie Map. Sugar Belle, Party Favour, and Double Diamond were the other three and they along with Night Glider helped us get back our cutie marks when they were stolen by Starlight back when she was more villainous. We met the others earlier and I'd been wondering when we were going to run into her. Glad it happened instead of not happening."
" That didn't explain much."
" She was very courageous from what I remember."
" Anything else?"
" She'd give Rainbow Dash a run for her money."
I laughed. " Okay, so she's one of those Pegasus ponies who takes pride in her flying?"
Princess Twilight nodded. " She is also very loyal though sometimes she can be rather creepy in her delivery. I mean no disrespect to her but that's how she came across before and after she got her cutie mark back from Starlight. Anyway, you should talk to her and see what she has to say but make sure you have a mask ready to give to her as I think she will ask you for one much like how Moondancer did when you talked with her."
I moaned. " Do I have to give up another mask?"
" If you want the ultimate mask, you must play their games and paying them with a mask is the only option."
" At least she will only want one."
" Let's hope so."
I walked up to Night Glider who continued to perform cartwheels but when she saw me approach, she suddenly stopped what she was doing and immediately ran up to me and I backed away out of fear that she would attack me despite her being unarmed. " Did you see those amazing maneuvers? I'm the only one who can do anything like that around here. It keeps me from getting bored since not all that much happens here. You've got to admit that it's a pretty nice day right?"
I slapped my forehead. " Did you honestly just say that?"
" Is that a problem?"
" Your friend said something similar."
" That's because it's true."
" You guys really don't know what's happening outside the moon do you?"
Night Glider shook her head. " For one thing, we don't know what is beyond this field. For another, we have no intention of knowing as that leads to curiosity and everyone knows what happens when you choose to be curious. Finally, for a third, this place is the best even though it gets so boring. By the way, I don't believe I've ever seen you around here before or if I have, you don't look like someone I would be familiar with."
" Let's get this over with."
" What do you mean?"
" Do you want one of my masks?"
Hearing me say that made Night Glider jump for joy. " You have masks!? Awesome! I didn't think a mask saleswoman would come here of all places but then you guys are known to travel to far-off distant lands in order to sell your wares to those who desire them for their own purposes. Now that you mention it, I do smell the scent of masks exuding from your body but don't think of that as a problem."
" Okay, let me give you a mask."
" I don't want any that contain spirits or something like that."
Rolling my eyes, I reached behind my back and took out a mask at random. To my surprise, I had taken out the Troupe Leader's Mask. I then recalled what I had to go through to obtain it from Big Macintosh despite his attitude at the time. While he was irritable what with his troupe having had their performance cancelled at the Carnival of Time, I ignored him whilst using all four of my bodies to help Miss Pommel perform a sound check. She was sad that the Indigo-Gos weren't playing at the carnival either but it didn't stop her from wanting to know what it would have been like. A shame I never used this mask so I had regrets over not using it on those related to Big Macintosh.
I handed the mask over to Night Glider. " Will this do?"
She took it from my hands before holding out her own. " More!"
" What do you mean?"
" I want more masks."
" Are you serious!?"
Night Glider nodded. " If I wasn't then I wouldn't be asking you now would I? I want you to give me another mask and before you ask me why I need a second one, it's because I want to have more than one as you look to be someone who is willing to give them away for practically nothing. Besides, it's not like they are going to be wasted or anything. I promise the masks will be taken care of like they were my own children."
" That isn't a particularly compelling argument."
" I want more masks."
I sighed. " Fine!" I reached behind my back again and took out the Keaton Mask. This was the mask that Tender Taps wore to keep his identity hidden as he tried desperately to get back the mask that Lightning Dust stole. While I never used it for the purpose it had been created for, it was filled with the hopes of one who had been given terrible hardship against his own free will. I handed over this mask to Night Glider and hoped she didn't want anymore. " That's two of my masks right there."
" I'm satisfied now."
I breathed a sigh of relief. " So what happens now?"
" You're a very nice person for giving me two masks." Night Glider answered. " You do have a weird way of doing things but I suppose we all have our quirks. Why don't we play a game of hide-and-seek? I'm going to hide and your task is to find me in the place we're about to go to. I would have us play our game here but one tree isn't really much and would make for one lousy game if you want my opinion. Anyway, let's get our game started."
Just like before with Moondancer, everything went white and I didn't black out from it as a result. I had no idea where Night Glider was going to send me but hopefully it would be a better place than where I was sent to last time. I was teleported to another location where I dropped down from the ceiling in a beam of blue light. Immediately, I folded my arms due to a cold chill that suddenly afflicted me. I thought about keeping myself warm--I realized that my lack of warm clothes made that pointless--only to turn my attention to where Night Glider had sent me. I was in another cave like before only it was much different from the one Moondancer sent me to.
No wonder I felt a cold chill just now. There was ice everything hanging on the walls and the ceiling though this wasn't my main concern. No, my main concern involved the ridiculous looking pathway that was presented before me. A single narrow walkway went forward, stopped at what appeared to be an open treasure chest, turned left, reached a second chest, and turned right before heading off into the infinite darkness. There were also strange tiles on the ground that glowed though what they were remained a mystery. Other than that, I had no idea what I was supposed to do.
The ice on the walls reminded me of Snowhead and the narrow pathway looked like it could be easily traversed by anyone, but that's when I noticed the obvious gaps strewn about every now and again on the path. Tiny ramps before each gap told me all that I needed to know. A human had no chance of making it through this place alive. In fact, no tribe could make it other than a Goron indicating that this game required me to become Darmani. A pattern was beginning to form here. The first cave involved using a Deku Scrub and this one required a Goron, and that meant the next one would likely be Zora related though the last one could be anything.
" Quite the difficult path." Twilight said.
" I guess Night Glider wanted a serious game." I said.
Princess Twilight nodded. " Yes. These children seem to want to test your various forms in ways you've never had to consider before. I assume you've already figured out that you will need to rely on the power of your Goron body for this?" I nodded and Her Highness smiled. " Good so I suggest you change so we can begin trying to understand what the nature of this challenge is."
As I took out the Goron Mask, Night Glider's voice began echoing all around. " Welcome to my game of hide-and-seek!"
" Where are you?" I asked.
" I'm somewhere around here but you have to find me first."
" What kind of challenge is this?"
" Do you like rolling?"
I nodded whilst shrugging. " I guess."
" Well, if you can roll your way through this obstacle course, you might be able to find my hiding spot." Night Glider said. " But, you might need to gain some weight as I don't think your current look is going to work around here. If you somehow fall off and plunge into the abyss, you won't die but instead return to the start where you can try again. Oh, and be sure not to slip on some of the icy sections. You know what will happen so you don't need a reminder."
" Thanks for the warning."
" I hope you don't catch cold otherwise I won't get more masks when you're done."
As her voice disappeared, I couldn't help but think that these children only cared about getting my masks as opposed to my overall safety. At any rate, I had an idea as to how I was going to tackle this challenge though to be honest, I didn't really want to go through with it. It's not that I was afraid but rather I thought it was tedious more than anything else. Why have me go through something that was clearly not a typical game of hide-and-seek? I would have preferred going through a very difficult maze filled to the brim with monsters as opposed to this but it's not like I had a say here. These children were clearly dictating my every move and I had to go along with it.
Placing the Goron Mask on my face, I quickly dug my feet into the ground to prevent myself from stumbling about. As my body shimmered from human to Goron, I resumed thinking about what I had to go through to be able to reach wherever Night Glider was. If this cave was the same as the previous one was, there had to be a Piece of Heart hidden off the beaten path somewhere along with some Gossip Stones. Sure, I didn't need their information as I had every mask but I was curious as to what each one said--it was a guilty pleasure for me at that point to listen to them.
Upon becoming Darmani, I was about to curl up into a ball when Princess Twilight stopped me. " Before you go rolling, Sunset, you might want to take a closer look at this track to give yourself an idea as to what you'll be doing." I took her advice and looked at the part of the track that was visible to us. It looked innocent enough but I knew there was more to it than appearances suggested. " You need to roll in a straight line and bounce off those chests or you might accidentally plunge into the abyss below."
" I've never had to roll in a straight line before."
" Think of this challenge as a test of precision."
" Okay..."
" What I mean is that you need to maintain a steady course without straying for even a second." Twilight said. " Since this track is razor-thin, you can't afford to roll wildly so precision is needed here. If not for the fact that you have infinite attempts to do this, your first mistake would have been your last. Because we can't see the entirety of this track, much of this will boil down to trial and error."
" You make it sound like this will be easy."
Princess Twilight offered up a weak smile. " I'm just trying to keep a positive attitude, Sunset. I've never seen anything like this before and while I am curious as to who came up with this track, I know now's not the time to be oogling over something that's just begging to have research time dedicated to it. Maybe I'll be able to get something before we leave so as to not waste such an opportunity."
Again, I rolled my eyes. " I'm sure you'll get that chance."
Princess Twilight squeed with glee. " Then let's get this started."
The first thing I did was punch some nearby pots with each containing large Magic Jars. " Hey, Twilight? Do you think this is a sign of things to come?"
Looking at the remaining Magic Jars, Princess Twilight nodded slowly. " A simple roll isn't going to cut it if these Magic Jars are presented to you right at the start. You're going to be barrelling down this course with spikes in tow so let me remind you that precision is necessary here. Don't let the pressure get to you, Sunset, as remember that Night Glider has given you an infinite number of attempts to get through this."
Walking up to the beginning of the track, I positioned myself as best as I could in hopes that I was in a straight enough line. Since I had no means of measuring my position, I had to wing it in hopes that I was positioned correctly. Curling up into a ball, I began rolling along until my spikes protruded from my body before jumping over the first gap before hitting the opened treasure chest--a part of me was curious as to what could have been in it at one time. Bouncing off of it, I turned left over a second gap but I panicked and lost control resulting in me plummeting into the abyss below.
Everything went black and my first instinct was that I had died but instead I found myself back where I started in this cave no worse for wear. I was a bit frustrated over having failed just as soon as I had begun but I knew not to fall into despair otherwise my confidence would have been shattered. Whether I was positioned correctly or not didn't matter as I fell into the abyss so that meant trying again. This time, I couldn't panic as all that did was disrupt my momentum. Walking up to the track and adjusting myself until I felt I was in the right position, I curled up and began rolling until my spikes protruded.
I easily cleared the first jump as before as well as bounce off the treasure chest correctly, but when the second gap came up after turned left, I maintained my cool and leapt over before hitting the next chest and turning to the right--I also got a better look at those strange tiles I saw earlier but they still were a mystery to me. The next section of the track consisted of jumping over several gaps though it proved difficult to keep straight as I could plunge into the abyss if I were a smidgen off, but I got past before bouncing off another chest and turned right where I jumped across yet another gap.
My eyes then spotted a walkway that jutted off from the track just before a couple of large pots so I smashed through them and came to a sudden stop. Uncurling myself, I walked back and picked up the large Magic Jars from the pots before assessing my current position. The walkway lead up to a platform that housed two Gossip Stones and one of those strange tiles but otherwise nothing unusual could be seen. I assumed I would be attacked by a monster lurking about in the darkness but it quickly became clear that they weren't any and that this was a test of precision as Princess Twilight had previously stated.
Taking my time so as to not accidentally walk off, I walked along until I reached the Gossip Stones where I got a closer look at the tile. The overall shape of it reminded me of an eyeball--the circular part certainly looked like it--and while I was curious as to what would happen if I were to step on it, I shook my head to remove my curiosity. I didn't want to get kicked out of here before finding Night Glider so avoiding this and the other tiles on the track was my best bet. Taking out the Mask of Truth and holding it, I placed my hand on the first Gossip Stone and listened to what it had to say.
It said: "The dancer's spirit that appears night after night in the great field seems to have a mask which causes one to dance." It took me a moment to conclude that it was referring to Kamaro's Mask, which I acquired what felt like a long time ago, from Zephyr Breeze. From what I remembered, I did use it once to help out Indigo Zap and Sunny Flare with a problem they had that revolved around dancing. Chuckling to myself, I thought I was weird for having danced in such a bizarre manner but I did enjoy it as I had never danced before in my entire life--maybe I would dance sometime again in the future?
I then walked over to the other Gossip Stone and placed my hand on it. "It seems a woman so inconspicuous she can be seen only through the Lens of Truth has a mask which also is completely inconspicuous." I knew without having to think that this Gossip Stone was referring to the Stone Mask. It was one of the more useful masks I had used on this journey in that it made me invisible to most monsters and even some humans--like the Gerudo Pirates for instance. Sugar Belle needed a Red Potion so that she could be seen again but I never did figure out if she got outside of the Pirates Fortress in the end.
" It looks like we're about halfway through."
" What makes you say that, Twilight?"
" I can see something off in the distance that looks like a door." Twilight answered. " Something important has to be over there as I can also see part of the track thought it's made of ice as opposed to the dirt that you've been rolling on since you started. I suspect that the end goal is over there but perhaps further exploration is needed."
" Why not just go straight for the end?"
Princess Twilight gave me a smug look in response. " I know you well enough, Sunset, where you have an innate curiosity to want to find out where certain paths will take you. I know you won't admit it but you do tend to check out every last possible nook out of curiosity."
I blushed. " Okay... You've made your point."
" I suggest heading back onto the track and resume rolling from over there." Twilight said, pointing to a section of the track where another walkway went across the gap and it lead to another gap that lead to the ice section. " You will need to get those spikes of yours out immediately as there are a couple of sharp turns you need to make without bouncing off of any treasure chests and you can't afford to take them slowly but I know you can do it, Sunset."
Putting the Mask of Truth away and using another walkway that connected back to the track, I walked over and looked down into the abyss below out of curiosity. I was so glad that I could fall down there and end up going back to the beginning of the cave--in this case I appreciated the fact that I could backtrack instead of dying. Shaking my head to rid myself of some nerves, I crossed back over to the track and made my way back as far as possible so as to give myself plenty of room to roll. Looking at what I had to go through next, I needed to go around some corners though without any guardrails to keep me from falling.
Breathing deeply, I curled into a ball and began rolling until my spikes protruded from my body again. Luckily, I was smart to begin rolling at an angle so I avoided the first corner that was right at the start but I quickly tilted left to avoid plunging into the abyss only to straighten myself in time to jump across a gap. I succeeded and tilted again turning to the left--I almost fell because of losing control slightly--smashed through some more pots, collecting the large Magic Jars that came from them, and turned the next corner before finding myself rolling along what was considered to be a straightaway in racing terms.
Jumping over three gaps including the one that I needed to use to reach the goal, I maintained my balance--though it was getting more stressful--and bounced off yet another treasure chest before turning left. I had no idea where this path was leading but I knew it was about to end as there was nothing left in front of me other than another Gossip Stone which I ran over upon jumping over one more gap and smacking into a column. Turning around to survey the slight damage I caused, the Gossip Stone remained planted in the ground before popping whilst making its usual giggling noise--I never could get used to hearing such a noise without cringing.
Using the Mask of Truth upon taking it out from behind my back, I placed my hand on the Gossip Stone to hear what it had to say. "It seems the person who is conscientious about being on time can see into the boxes that enable people to keep in touch with other people's feelings." Just hearing the word "time" and "boxes" meant that the Gossip Stone was referring to what Aria gave me before she fled for her life, the Postman's Hat. If only she were that nice in reality and not in this world but I knew things had to go back to the way they were before even if it meant friends becoming enemies and vice versa.
Turning around, I then noticed a Piece of Heart lying on the ground nearby. Once again, Princess Twilight was right about suggesting that I explored a little more of this cave instead of heading straight for where we assumed Night Glider was hiding. Grabbing the Piece of Heart and holding it up above my head, I felt the warmth that exuded from it resulting in my strength increasing just a little bit more. With that out of the way, I could now make my way over to the goal though I first needed to figure out how to get there. I couldn't go back the way I came as the ramps were only one direction so then I looked around to see if there was another path.
Sure enough, there was one to the south--left of the Gossip Stone from where I entered this section of the room from--but it required me to jump over one more gap. Before curling up, I looked to see where I could go from there. I was surprised to find that this track looped back on itself in that it went back to the section of track with the walkways that connected to the central section--the Piece of Heart was just a mere bonus for anyone who was willing to explore a little bit further. Curling into a ball, I rolled along and jumped over the gap just as my spikes appeared before quickly stopping as continuing on would have taken me into the abyss--I couldn't go back to the start as again the gaps were one way.
Doubling back slightly, I carefully walked across the walkway and around the tiles so as to not step on them until I stood before the final walkway. On the other side of what was the final gap to jump was a door though the pathway leading up to it was made of ice as Princess Twilight and I confirmed a short time ago. While my Goron body could handle cold conditions without any trouble, I was nervous as I could slip on the ice and into the abyss forcing me back to the beginning and having to go through everything again. I mean, it wasn't all bad but I'd rather not fall down a second time.
Positioning myself carefully so as to maintain a straight course, I curled up into a ball, and began rolling forward. My spikes protruded from my body as always and I was able to easily clear the gap only for me to suddenly uncurled myself and began slipping. The ice was extremely slippery compared to the ice I endured back in Snowhead so I struggled to keep myself from slipping and falling into the abyss. After what felt like forever, I chose to take a risk by diving to the ground in hopes of sliding up to the door. Sure, it looked absolutely humiliating to some extent but it proved effective as I managed to reach the door even if I did slam into it face-first.
Princess Twilight was surprised. " Wow... I didn't think you would do something like that, Sunset."
I breathed heavily as I got back up. " I was desperate to do anything to prevent myself from falling into the abyss."
" You could have just accepted it and gone through the track again."
" I'd rather not."
" Fair enough."
I then wiped my brow. " At least we managed to make it to the end despite some obvious hiccups along the way."
Princess Twilight nodded. " This challenge pushed your skills as a Goron to the limit. I think you rose up to the occasion considering you only had to restart this twice because you panicked so you can hold your head up high. Oh, and before I forget, you should take your mask off before you talk with Night Glider. Remember what happened when you tried talking to Moondancer whilst being a Deku?"
She definitely didn't appreciate me having a different body that's for sure. Grabbing my face, I pulled off the Goron Mask, changed back to normal, and flipped back my hair before my feet began sliding on the ice due to being human now--I should have taken it off in the next room instead of out here. Opening the door and entering the next room, I was in a similar room to that which I entered upon finding Moondancer, a room with questionable wallpaper along with nothing but a worn-out carpet. You'd think these children of the moon would be in better looking locations but I supposed it didn't really bother them all that much.
" Looks like you found me." Night Glider said as she waved to me before performing a backflip.
" What kind of a game was that?" I asked.
" I never said it was one of those basic games of hide-and-seek."
I slapped my forehead. " I... I... I just..."
Night Glider laughed. " No need to be afraid to express your opinions. You found me fair and square so that means you win! I would give you a prize but there's nothing really up here that you would want so I guess a congratulations is all I can give."
" You want more masks don't you?"
" You must be psychic."
" No... I pretty much figured you would since you have similar mannerisms to the previous child."
" When you've lived here for as long as we have with only ourselves for company, things can become rather mundane which is why we all decided to try applying some unique quirks to our personalities to make us stand apart from one another." Night Glider said. " I'd say it worked out well since none of the others are capable of performing the kinds of acrobatic feats that I can do constantly. A shame that one lonely child never wants to play with us and instead prefers to sit there all alone. I can't help but feel sorry for her but I'm not going to be the one who breaks the ice as she honestly creeps me out."
" I spoke to her before coming to you."
Night Glider was surprised to say the least. " Talk about having guts! I don't know why you wanted to speak to her considering how morbid she can get but at least you're still standing instead of being somewhere else. And yes, you are absolutely right about me wanting to have more masks. If you want to go back to the giant tree, I'm going to need to have two masks from you so please let me have them without delay."
Groaning under my breath, I reached behind my back and took out two masks at random. In one hand was the Garo's Mask, the very mask that was my key to entering Ikana by defeating the Gorman Sisters in a horse race. Sure, I didn't use it all that often apart from summoning the Garo, but when I did use its power, I learned some valuable information though it had to be earned through battle. My other hand was holding Don Gero's Mask, what I acquired by giving food to Photo Finish who otherwise would have starved to death. I never did use this mask for anything so it ended up being nothing more than a collectible but at least she didn't go hungry.
So far, I had given up six masks to both Moondancer and Night Glider. Not including the three transformation masks and the ultimate mask, I only had fourteen masks left so hopefully the remaining two children would be kind enough to allow me to keep some for my eventual final showdown. And yet, deep down in my heart, a voice was telling me that I was likely not going to have any masks left by the time I was done with the children. Handing over the masks to Night Glider who gleefully took them, I knew I still had a ways to go before getting to face Majora's Mask.
" Are you satisfied?"
Night Glider nodded. " You definitely know how to please. Before you go, I would like to ask you a question. It's nothing serious or anything but rather, I'm curious as to what your answer is so please be sincere with me. What makes you... happy?"
" What makes me happy?"
" Yes."
" Lots of things."
" Be specific."
" My friends--my family as I refer to them--make my very happy as they are the most important thing in my life." I said. " I'm also happy that I get to use Equestrian Magic like they do after fearing I would never get that chance ever again and being able to live a wonderful life."
" Then answer me this." Night Glider said. " If that makes you happy, then does it make others happy too?"
" Of course as my friends love having me around."
" I am satisfied."
" Does this mean you will disappear now?"
Night Glider nodded. " My purpose here is at an end and you have proven to be quite the intriguing character. The only thing I have left to say to you would be to never judge your convictions by remaining true to them even when others question it. Now I will send you back where we first met so I hope you enjoy the company of the others. I still say avoid talking with that one child but I have a feeling you're going to have to converse with her eventually."
Everything then went white and I blacked out as a result. As Night Glider's image faded from my vision, I couldn't but think that she was perhaps a little too energetic for her own good given that it reflected in her personality. To be fair, I had never met her Equestrian counterpart in the same vein with regards to Moondancer, so my opinions were somewhat one-sided without having a good understanding of the other side of the equation. At any rate, there were only two more children left and I suspected they were going to be more difficult to deal with for reasons that currently eluded me.
When I opened my eyes moments later, I found that I was back where I started on the moon like before. While I was annoyed with having been sent all the way back here last time, I was much more accepting of it this time. It's not like they meant to send me back here, forcing me to make my way over to the tree again, but rather it was a divine power that was causing it that they probably either didn't know about nor had any control over it. Knowing there was nothing else I could do about it, I began walking forward in hopes of reaching the tree before something could go wrong.
Perhaps the weirdest thing was that time wasn't moving at all up here on the moon. Was it because time was eternal? If so then that explained why the children lived the kind of existence they did as nothing around them held any meaning what with time not moving and instead being stagnant. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes if it meant existing in a perpetual state that never went anywhere. Looking at my inventory, the loss of my masks was certainly heartbreaking as they each had a spirited connection to those I had helped when no one else could but I knew I couldn't be sentimental when so much was at stake.
Just as I reached the tree after a long walk--it was starting to get pleasant--everything started to rumble as a result of the tremors that continued occurring. I remembered that the moon back in Termina was still being cradled by the Four Giants and there was no way of knowing how long they could keep it up before they collapsed. I was going as fast as I could with regards to getting what I needed but perhaps I could stand to move quicker and not make them feel any less comfortable. Heck, if anyone was suffering more than the Giants, it was the people as their very existence was mere moments away from being snuffed out.
Starlight then spoke out which caught me by surprise. " Another of the children has gone and left, haven't they?"
I nodded. " Yes."
" You are making them leave... Why?"
" I'm only playing their games." I answered. " They are leaving of their own accord."
" I cannot stop you from playing with them even though they never want to do that with me." Starlight said. " In truth, I am jealous of the fact that they are having fun whilst I remain here on my own without anyone wanting to give me attention. I'm also jealous of how you have embraced them by giving them those pathetic masks of yours. If you didn't have any of those, you would be ignored just as much as I am. Why are you making me feel even more miserable than I already am?"
" If I am making you upset then I'm sorry."
Starlight scoffed. " Like I will believe the likes of you."
" But it's true."
" Leave me alone."
I knew there was nothing I could do to change her mind. " Alright... I'll leave you alone for now."
As I began walking away, Starlight looked up at me before saying something. " I hope that you get killed at the hands of the dark ones that await should you speak to the one whose mask you recently witnessed." I then turned around when she said that resulting in her laughing. " Have my words scared you? Good! Your misery is what will make me feel so much better so by all means keep going with what you call fun."
While her words meant little in the one sense since she didn't have the means to carry it out, I couldn't help but be concerned with what she said. I knew for certain that the next challenge would be one that involved testing my abilities as a Zora in ways I couldn't even begin to imagine yet the last one still remained unknown. It could be a challenge designed to test my three transformations or it could be something dedicated to my true self. In either scenario, I would be pushed to my limit so I needed to be prepared for what was to come. I was prepared of course as I made sure to bring along potions though so far I didn't have need of them.
The next child I needed to speak to was the one who was wearing Gyorg's Mask on their face. It didn't take long for me to find them, however, as the mask in question had those large gills that stuck themselves out on either side of its face. As I approached the child, they suddenly stopped and looked up at something prompting me to do so just to see what they were focusing on. I couldn't see anything unusual and I suspected they had tricked me and were snickering at my expense but instead they continued looking up at the sky. This child seemed to have a fixation on the sky which I thought was commendable but ultimately futile as it never changed.
Upon a closer inspection of the back of the child's head, I immediately recognized who it was--for once. The third child of the moon was none other than Lyra Heartstrings though she didn't really like having her surname spoken as she said it always annoyed her. While she appeared to be an ordinary girl from Canterlot High, she had an unusual quirk that revolved around doing absolutely absurd things out of nowhere. In a sense, Lyra was like Pinkie Pie but not so much random but rather more absurd. That wasn't a negative against her as it added to her charm yet she could stand to be more normal like many other people are.
Princess Twilight then told me that the pony version of Lyra had this weird obsession with hands though most just ignored that aspect of her. I could understand why a pony would be curious about hands if they had gone through the portal much like I and Her Highness had done, but Lyra hadn't had that opportunity so how she would know what hands were made no sense unless she encountered a creature who had them. The only thing that was missing was her best friend, Bon Bon--Sweetie Drops was either an alias or her real name but she chose to go with Bon Bon--who was always with Lyra no matter what she did.
Approaching Lyra, she noticed me and turned to look in my direction. " Well... You're a new face around here."
" I couldn't help but notice you were looking up at the sky a moment ago."
" Just seeing that beautiful sky makes me feel so very happy." Lyra said. " I know it never moves anywhere but I can't help but feel enchanted by it. It's like nothing else around me matters though I know I'm only kidding myself."
" Why say that?"
" Nothing ever happens around here."
" Yeah... I've already noticed that."
Lyra sighed. " All we children do around here is run about with no real sense of direction around this giant tree. You'd think there would be things to do up there yet none of us can reach those high-up branches as they are too high up for us to reach. Not only that, the girl who is sitting there by her lonesome at the base of the tree has been nothing but a misery for as long as any of us can remember. I don't understand why she chooses to isolate herself all because we don't want to see that weird mask she has. Come to think of it... You actually bear a striking resemblance to that mask."
My jaw dropped. " How is that possible!? I've never been to this world before until now."
Lyra shrugged. " Beats me but I see it as more of an uncanny coincidence than anything else. I suppose it doesn't really matter seeing as the rest of us keep our distance from that one all because she refuses to play with us. She views our games as boring and instead prefers fights to the death. Ugh! I'll never do anything like that though my friend over there does seem to crave action that could constitute towards fighting." She then looked up at the sky again for a few moments before looking back down at me. " But, I won't let such thoughts upset me as there's no point in complaining."
" Why is your friend fond of action?"
" I don't know but she often talks about wanting someone to try the ultimate challenge."
" Sounds suspicious."
" The rest of us said that about it though she ignored our concerns." Lyra said. " The weather is so nice around here that I always end up forgetting about my troubles and instead focus on staring up at the sky. By the way, I know what you have been doing around here with regards to the others. You've spoken to that miserable wretch at the base of the tree a couple of times and while I won't question why you would talk to her, I recommend leaving her alone as all she will do is cause misery by spreading it over to you. Also, you've been handing out masks, something that I've got to get in on."
" I knew you would want my masks."
" Who wouldn't?"
" What do you mean?"
" Everyone loves wearing masks." Lyra answered. " In fact, I don't know anyone who has said the opposite! Sure, you're only pretending to be someone else but isn't that the whole point of wearing one? The thought of getting to play a part is nothing short of majestic in its own way. I'm not going to simply ask that you give your masks to me without getting something in return as that just wouldn't be fair so how about getting to play a game with me? You get to do something extraordinary and I get my hands on what you've got. We both end up winning with no one losing."
I smiled. " You certainly have your ways of making your game sound interesting despite me having an idea as to what it will be."
" You already know?" Lyra asked, pausing for a few moments. " Even better! That will make explaining things a whole lot easier once we begin assuming you are able to give me what I want in the way of masks so how about you give me three of those masks?"
I sputtered. " Three!?"
" Will that be an issue?"
" No... No... It's just that you surprised me."
" Three masks is more than enough."
" Alright... I'll give you three."
I was afraid that this was going to be the case. Moondancer wanted one mask from me to play her game and one mask for me to leave whereas Night Glider wanted two masks for me to play and two masks for me to leave. With Lyra wanting three masks, I knew that the remaining child was sure to ask me to hand over four masks. If I had my calculations correct, I would be left with only the three transformation masks in my possession which wouldn't be enough to take on Majora's Mask. If I was to receive the ultimate mask after going through all of these different challenges, giving up everything else would have been worth it.
Reaching behind my back, I first took out the Postman's Hat, which I obtained from Aria as I thought to myself about earlier courtesy of the Gossip Stone. She really was truly dedicated to keeping to her schedule even if it meant not having the time to make friends with anyone. A life like that was one I wouldn't want to have because of how I used to be before friendship entered my heart but then Aria wanted that life and she was happy with it. I handed the mask over to Lyra before taking out the next one, the Couple's Mask. This was the last one I had to acquire yet it required doing so much and interacting with so many people.
Good thing I was able to use it for its intended purpose otherwise I would have complained about getting something that didn't do anything. Handing this mask over to Lyra, I reached behind my back one more time before taking out the third mask she wanted, the Gibdo Mask. This one proved essential as I needed it to progress past all those Gibdo in the underground tunnels below Ikana. Twilight Sparkle's father in this world, Soarin, gave it to me through no fault of his own all thanks to the Song of Healing but perhaps he will learn not to be quite so curious in the future as he could avoid getting cursed.
Upon giving Lyra the third mask, she bowed slightly in gratitude. " Thank you for giving me so many masks."
" The game is hide-and-seek, right?"
Lyra nodded. " Yes but I wonder if you will be able to handle what I have in mind."
" Probably."
" Since you know that we'll be playing hide-and-seek, we might as well go to the place where you must find me." Lyra said. " I hope that you're not afraid of getting wet as there is going to be a lot of water involved."
Everything then went white as I felt my body being pulled to another location, yet what Lyra said about there being a lot of water had me concerned. I knew that being a Zora was going to be essential but I had no idea to what extent. In other words, I was prepared but also unprepared for what she had in mind. Dropping down from the ceiling in the same blue light as before upon entering the next cave, I found myself surrounded by what appeared to be dulled out metallic walls where on occasion, water could be both seen and heard dripping down onto the ground. To my right was a pool of water with an underwater path at the bottom indicating where I had to go.
I couldn't see what was down the path so I was essentially going through this blind until I figured out the correct route to take. The surroundings combined with the strong current circulating in the water reminded me of my experiences in the Great Bay Temple--I would rather forget about what happened there for as long as I lived. Knowing that I needed to be a powerful swimmer to survive the strong current--and anything else that might lurk down there underwater--I took out the Zora Mask and was about to place it on my face when a loud noise made me drop it where it landed with a loud clanking sound on the ground.
" Nervous, Sunset?" Twilight asked.
" I heard a noise which startled me."
" This place does give me the creeps I must admit."
" Not to mention the water passageway."
Princess Twilight nodded. " Looks like you will need to master your swimming abilities in order to find Lyra. At least you won't have to worry about falling into the abyss as this place seems to be closed off to that sort of thing."
" For that I am thankful."
" Hello?" Lyra called out from somewhere.
" Where are you?"
" Oh you can hear me!" Lyra answered. " I was afraid that my voice wouldn't be able to reach you. Anyway, I said that I hoped you weren't afraid of getting wet as that is the main challenge you must overcome if you are to find me at the end of this underwater passageway. The path starts out as a single line before it splits off into two directions followed by splitting into more directions and finally splitting into even more directions until you reach the end where you will get sent back to the beginning of the tunnel."
" So this is like some kind of underwater maze?"
" You could say that but there is more to it than just swimming through the current." Lyra answered. " You should pay attention to your surroundings whilst swimming about down there otherwise it's possible you might miss something important."
" Got it!"
" Do you have gills?"
" Um... No..."
" Then you might have trouble breathing down there."
" I'll be fine."
" You certainly have bravery written all across your face." Lyra said. " Have as many attempts to make it through this underwater maze as you like until you either find me or choose to give up in which case I will win. Above all else, have fun and make sure you wipe your feet when you're done."
I had no idea if she was being serious or not but I now had a better idea as to what I needed to do. Just getting to her location wasn't enough. Instead, I had to solve some underwater puzzles in order to find the right route to take or else be forced to endure an endless underwater loop until I got it right or gave up. I suspected the Piece of Heart was located in a different section of the maze so I had to figure out where to go to find it before finding her. In any case, I didn't have to worry about narrow pathways or an endless abyss but I did have to worry about succumbing to any kind of water pressure.
Placing the Zora Mask on my face, I immediately squatted down and watched as my body shimmered from human to Zora. When I let out a blood-curdling scream later--I really wish that didn't happen--I became Mikau once again before jumping into the water where I was dragged forward when I noticed a Crystal Switch to my right. Swimming over to it and striking it with my fins, the sound of something opening up somewhere else could be heard further ahead but I had no idea where it was. Since I had no other direction to go but forward, I continued swimming until I reached a point where the path split into two directions.
Without taking the time to think--the strong current didn't help things either--I chose to take the path to the right in hopes it would lead me somewhere. I swam down that path and took in the dullness that surrounded me courtesy of the walls. It felt like I was swimming through a large pipe that would take me to the ocean or to my destination which is what I was hoping for, that being Lyra locations. The tunnel then opened up to a slightly larger area whilst heading up to a nook which looked suspicious. I dove out from the water and landed on the nook to discover yet another Gossip Stone.
Crap! I had taken the wrong path so now I had to go through the sequence again. Before doing anything else though, I took out the Mask of Truth and held it firmly whilst placing my hand on the stone to hear what it had to say. "A large and colorful being seems to have a mask that calms those scattered in temples..." That was an obvious reference to Adagio who had portrayed each of the Great Fairies with her first incarnation, the Great Fairy of Magic, giving me the Great Fairy's Mask that helped me to reel in all of the Stray Fairies. Definitely one of the most useful masks I had used until of the three transformation masks.
Jumping back into the water, I swam off into the darkness where everything went black and I found myself back at the beginning of the tunnel. Cursing under my breath for having gone the wrong way, I jumped back in and began swimming forward until I reached the crystal switch only to discover that I needed to activate it again as it had since turned itself off--somehow. Using my fin to activate the switch, the same sound from before could be heard further ahead but again I didn't know where it was. Swimming forward after the sound stopped, I decided to head left and see where it would take me.
Much like the other path, this one opened up to a slightly larger area complete with a nook but this time there was a door instead of a Gossip Stone. Given that I had absolutely no idea where I was going, I figured on trying the door just to see where it would take me. Diving out of the water and into the nook before accidentally rolling into the door--my swimming really needs to get a lot better sometimes--I quickly looked around out of a sense of curiosity. Whatever had opened before from activating the crystal switch had to have been rom here as the signs of something heavy had been marked on the ground by my feet.
Opening the door, I entered the next section which looked exactly the same as where I just came from apart from the green pot in front of me. If I had ignored the door and taken the other path, would it have caused me to go back to the beginning? Walking up and smashing the pot, I picked up another Magic Jar only to notice another crystal switch lurking underwater. I decided to go with a different tactic as I wasn't confident enough in jumping in and activating it at the same time. Extending out my fins and getting as close to the edge as possible without falling in, I aimed at the crystal switch before firing my fins at it.
This caused something else to open up further ahead so once again I had no idea what it was. Jumping into the water, the only direction I could go was forward so I continued swimming until it opened up into a large room with several columns but my eyes were interested in the three possible directions to take. " Which path do you think is the right one?"
Princess Twilight shrugged. " I have no idea, Sunset."
" That doesn't give me much confidence."
" It's going to boil down to taking a guess and hoping you picked correctly."
" And if I choose the wrong path?"
" You'll have to go back to the beginning and try again."
I gulped. " While this isn't as bad as what I went through in the previous cave, being pushed about by these strong water currents is starting to take its toll on me. Being a Zora doesn't mean having complete immunity to these kinds of conditions. A shame that we don't have a map or something that could tell us which path is the correct one. Not only do we need to find where Lyra is hiding in here but also where we can find that Piece of Heart. I'm not going to leave until I have found both."
" Then what would be the most logical path?"
" Well... Straight would be too easy and going left would mean following the course."
" So you think those two paths are wrong?"
I nodded. " Going right would be unexpected considering we've been going left this whole time so far."
" Then right it is."
Swimming forward, the current began pulling me forward yet I managed to tilt my body to the right, allowing me to swim down the right-hand tunnel. I had no idea if I made the right choice or not but I would find out soon enough. The tunnel eventually opened up just like before and at first I thought I had screwed up and would have to start over, but upon seeing a door in the nook just ahead of me, I smiled knowing that I chose the correct path. Diving out of the water into the nook--and crashing into the door--I opened the door to find myself in the same place again. Just how big was this tunnel anyway!?
I smashed the pot to collect another Magic Jar and extended out my fins as I suspected there was another crystal switch to be activated. Sure enough, my suspicion was correct as there was one down there in the water. Firing my fins, I activated the switch causing something else to open up further ahead--this was starting to get very annoying--before I jumped back into the water to continue on until I reached the next part. This section opened up vertically instead of horizontally leading me to wonder where the next paths would go in terms of their directions--would I have to go up or down or straight?
Upon getting closer to the end of this section, I was surprised at seeing the three possible directions. " I was just thinking that the next directions would go either up, down, or straight but I didn't think it would actually be true."
" This could very well be the final stage, Sunset."
" Which means one path leads to Lyra, one leads to the Piece of Heart, and the other to nothing."
" You need to pick the right path."
I began thinking about it. " Going up seems like it would lead to Lyra as she would view herself as being on top of everything."
" That's not the impression I get." Twilight said. " But, you do have a point in that she would be above the other paths so we should take a different one. Going down would be a reference to death so that path would lead you to the dead-end resulting in being sent back to the start." I had no idea how Her Highness could associate death in such a manner but I had no intention of arguing with her over it.
" So the middle path then?"
Princess Twilight nodded. " That does seem to be the correct choice for the Piece of Heart."
I began swimming again whilst keeping in a straight line so that the current would take me down the middle path. I almost got pulled into the bottom path but I managed to swim fast enough to maintain my course and travelled down the middle path where it opened up to the same area I had seen more times than I liked. You'd think there would have been more in the way of variety but I supposed it was meant to whittle my confidence down until I surrendered--I wasn't about to. Diving out of the water and into the next nook, I was happy upon seeing my prize, the Piece of Heart along with a Gossip Stone.
Taking out the Mask of Truth from behind my back, I placed my hand on the stone to hear what it had to say. "The mask that sees into people's hearts seems to be near the strange, shining, gold spiders..." So this Gossip Stone was referring to the Mask of Truth itself, the very mask I was holding in my hand. I had to cleanse an entire house of Gold Skulltulas in order to get it from the man who had been cursed by them. It wasn't a difficult challenge but it did prove annoying at times given that some of them required me to have specific items that existed beyond Woodfall so I was wise to have gone there much later rather than sooner.
Picking up the Piece of Heart after putting the Mask of Truth away, I felt the warmth coming from it, making me stronger still, only to be reminded that I had to go through the entire course again to reach Lyra. It was the one drawback with taking the middle path but at least I had memorized the course so getting lost wasn't going to happen. Jumping back down into the water, and letting the current pull me into the darkness, I soon found myself back at the beginning which meant having to activate those crystal switches again--it also occurred to me that activating them was what was letting me progress further.
Diving into the water and activating the first crystal switch using the side of my fin, I began to make my way through the tunnel for the third time, heading down the appropriate tunnels, activating additional crystal switches, diving out of the water into those nooks so as to go through the doors, and collecting big Magic Jars from smashing those pots. Despite knowing which way to go, I wasn't thrilled with the whole prospect of having to go through it all again just to reach Lyra. I had a strong notion to give her a piece of my mind for making me do this but she didn't tell me to seek the Piece of Heart out so that was my fault if nothing more.
By the time I finally made it back to the final section, I swam upwards in hopes that was truly where Lyra was. The tunnel twisted about here and there from time to time until it opened up just like before and in front of me was another nook with a door at the end of it. Diving out of the water--I didn't crash into the door this time--I grabbed my face, took off the Zora Mask, and flipped back my hair before opening the door. To my surprise, Lyra was waiting there--I chose correctly--for me but I first needed to catch my breath as swimming for so long despite the current had taken its toll on me a little.
" You managed to find me." Lyra said.
" So... much... water..."
" Most would have drowned after a couple of minutes but you persevered in the face of adversity."
" I'll never go near water again."
Lyra laughed. " I know you were lying just now. You did well to find me despite using one of those masks that contains a spirit. Yeah, I know you became a different creature just to make it through those underwater tunnels. If not for that ability, I'd say you would have drowned not long after starting. You'll go near the water again soon enough because what you experienced won't happen again. Or it might but who am I to determine such things. Anyway, you won my game and without losing sanity."
" You thought I would go insane?"
" Most would have."
I groaned. " Ugh! Can we please get through the rest of this?"
" Yeah, I can understand your annoyance."
" You want three masks correct?"
Lyra nodded. " I know they mean a lot to you but I really want to take them off your hands. Besides, it's not like you have any attachment to them other than sentimental reasons but those will always be with you. No one can take those away no matter what they try and do."
" Why do you want my masks?"
" Why?" Lyra asked. " You could say that I want to know what it's like to pretend that I'm something else. I know I brought this up earlier when we first met but I never attributed it to myself because I thought it would offend you. Having numerous masks would give me plenty of opportunities to find the ideal combination that would give me the best experience of pretending to be something I'm not. Sure, it sounds both pretentious and selfish but I really need more masks otherwise I'd be limited in scope. You can keep those masks that have spirits in them as they don't suit me."
I couldn't help but find Lyra to be adorable in a sense. Even though this wasn't the true her, she always knew how to remain positive no matter what hardships befell her. It was that kind of optimism that was severely lacking back home especially when everyone experienced a bout of despair. Lyra should consider having classes dedicated to making people feel more positive about themselves. Anyway, I reached behind my back and took out the Bunny Hood. I remember getting this by helping out Garble by making his chicks grow up into adults back at Romani Ranch but I wish I had used it far often. It would have made certain ordeals a non-issue.
The next mask I took out from behind my back was the Captain's Hat. This one proved essential as I needed the Stalchildren to give me access to the caverns that were below the graveyard at night to learn the Song of Storms--I didn't like fighting that Iron Knuckle down there. Captain Keeta was honourable even when he finally rested in peace after conveying to me his final orders for his men but perhaps he shouldn't have been so hard on himself just because he lost one battle. The final mask I took out was Romani's Mask. Applejack needed help as I recalled and those Gorman Sisters were determined to prevent her from making her delivery. I got this mask and was made an adult in the process.
" Here you go." I said as I handed over all three masks.
" This will definitely make my own dreams come true."
" I guess you have to go now, huh?"
Lyra nodded. " You finished my game and gave me enough masks that will keep me happy for a long time. Because of that, I no longer have a reason to be here so yes I will have to leave much like the previous children of the moon before me. Before I go, I want to ask you something. The right thing... What is it?"
" What do you mean?"
" Think of it like this." Lyra answered. " If you do the right thing, does it make everybody happy?"
I needed a moment to come up with an answer. " That all depends on your own actions. Sometimes, you do something right but not everyone will appreciate it. Instead, they choose to condemn you resulting in one questioning their overall worth. I'd say it's impossible to please everyone but it shouldn't be a detriment to prevent you from trying to see if you can succeed at it."
" A good enough answer."
" I wasn't deceiving you."
" If you had then I would have done something nasty which you wouldn't have liked." Lyra said. " Anyway, time for you to go back to where you came from. There should still be one more child running around the tree but be cautious as she can be extremely feisty. Remember that I did say she loves seeing action."
Everything went white as Lyra faded away and once again I blacked out. Upon awakening moments later, I found back where I started on the moon once again. At least they were consistent when it came to sending me back here so I wasn't as upset over it as I was before. There was only one child left running around the tree's base and they were wearing the mask that belonged to Twinmold, yet it was the temple itself and not the monster that tested my resolve on a physical, mental, and emotional level. And yet, both Starlight and Lyra had warned me of how this last child acted so I needed to be cautious just in case something went wrong.
As I made my way back over to the tree, I knew that I would have to give up my remaining non-transformation masks to the final child thus leaving me with the only three masks they didn't want to take from me. How was I supposed to defeat Majora's Mask with only three masks in my possession? Unless it handed over the ultimate mask, my chances of defeating it had been dwindling since the very beginning. When I reached the tree, the final child was punching its base as though they were obsessed with testing their strength. I could tell they were hardcore so maybe a similar rhetoric was in order?
I walked past Starlight only for her to call out to me. " Another child has left, haven't they?"
Without looking at her, I answered her. " Yes."
" You really want me to remain all alone don't you?"
I shook my head. " That's not it at all!"
" Then you should have left them alone and not played their childish games." Starlight said. " Had you not come here, I would still have them running around the tree doing whatever they consider entertainment. Sure, they would have ignored me but I would have at least accepted their presence. Why did you come here anyway? It's clear that you obviously don't belong here and there's nothing around here for someone like you."
" I'm here to..." I said before stopping. I couldn't let her know that I came here to stop her so I had to say my intentions carefully. " I'm here to stop the world below from being destroyed by this very moon."
Starlight snorted. " Like I care about something like that."
" Guess I've nothing more to say to you."
" You know..." Starlight began. " For some reason, I am beginning to feel intrigued by you despite how you've made me miserable. Maybe I'm not thinking straight or I am but just can't see it yet but there is something about you that I can't get my mind over." She then looked away from me. " Bah! What do I care about the likes of you anyway? Leave me alone!"
Leaving Starlight to continue wallowing in her misery--whether or not she had figured out that I had come to stop her once and for all remained to be seen--I made my way over to where the final child was still punching at the base of the tree. I could tell straight away they were fascinated with combat as punching something repeatedly was a means of improving one's punches as well as their speed and dexterity. I've never considered doing anything of the sort as I preferred something less violent but then I supposed I could relate seeing as I had been fighting monsters throughout this journey.
Before I could greet the child, Princess Twilight's jaw dropped. " Ember!?"
" And who is that?"
" She's the Dragon Lord."
This time my jaw dropped. " What!? Dragon Lord!? Since when are you familiar with dragon culture, Twilight? I thought no pony has ever seen the dragon's homeland given how dangerous they can be because of their aggressive nature."
" Before all of this started, the pony version of Rarity and I followed the dragon version of Spike to the Dragon Kingdom." Twilight said. " There, we witnessed an event that determined who amongst them would become their new leader, the Gauntlet of Fire. It was a fierce competition which tested them to their limits and while Spike actually won as a result of friendship, he was only Dragon Lord for a few moments before handing it over to Ember, daughter of the previous Lord. Other than her having a very feisty attitude, there is much about her that I don't know about so I can't really give you that much information."
" What can you say about her?"
" She can be very aggressive especially if you get on her bad side."
I gulped. " This could be difficult."
" Remember that I just described the Equestrian version of her." Twilight said. " This version of Ember could be very different or at the very least, possess some similar characteristics with her true self. On a side note, I am curious as to why she has a human form despite being a dragon. The dragon version of Spike became a dog when he went through the portal to the world you call home so why was Ember given special treatment?"
I shrugged. " Don't ask me as not even I understand how the portal works."
" Guess I will figure it out eventually, just not today."
Choosing not to respond to Princess Twilight--she had just gone off into her own little world--I turned my attention towards Ember. " Um... Excuse me..."
" About time you finally came over to me." Ember said as she looked in my direction. I couldn't tell what expression she had on her face due to wearing Twinmold's mask, but if I could wager a guess, it would be either sheer annoyance or a smug look. " What made you want to speak me after everyone else, huh? Was it because I intimidated you? You needn't be scared of the likes of me provided you keep me amused."
" So you're the last one?"
Ember nodded. " Yep! I must say that it's nice having fresh meat around."
" I've been told you crave action."
" There's nothing to do around here." Ember said. " So I keep busy by punching this tree over and over to let loose some of my stress. None of the others share my love of action and instead just prance about and it makes me sick to see them waste their potential. The biggest offender is the girl who continues sitting by herself over there. I thought she would be as obsessed with action like me but instead she just mopes about thinking us being worthless."
" You seem more spirited than the others."
" I want to see a good fight!"
" But, I think you have to make me find you in a game of hide-and-seek."
That made Ember gag. " Don't remind me of such a stupid thing! I actually wanted to challenge you to something more exciting, filled with action, bloodshed, and possibly more but instead the others said that was too intense and violent. They wanted me to play hide-and-seek with any who came here. Bah!"
" I'm up for your idea."
" I knew you would as you've got that sword."
" Shall we begin?"
Ember then thrust out her hand. " Whoa! Before we get to that, you first need to give me some masks. Just because I love action doesn't make me a one-dimensional character. I happen to have a soft spot for masks so if you want to take on some powerful opponents, I need the goods if you catch my meaning." She then lowered her thumb indicating how many masks she wanted. " I'll accept nothing less than four masks."
" Figures you wanted that many."
" Take it or leave it."
I was so close to acquiring the ultimate mask at this point that I couldn't refuse her ultimatum. Reaching behind my back, I first took out the Blast Mask. I got this one after helping the Old Lady from the Bomb Shop by preventing Lightning Dust from stealing the Bomb Bag she was personally delivering to the shop. Maybe her son should have gone instead or had gone with an escort. A shame I only used the mask on a couple of occasions because of not getting any bombs. The next mask I got from behind my back was the Bremen Mask. I still found it strange that the likes of Discord in this world had been with an animal troupe which is how he originally got it.
Even though it helped animals mature, I had more fun using it on those servants of Igos du Ikana. Next, I took out Kamaro's Mask. All he wanted was for someone to teach his dance to others so that he would have a legacy though he was weird in his delivery. Again, I should consider taking some dance classes or something when this is over as I enjoyed the experience. The last mask that I gave Ember was the Giant's Mask. Without this one, I never would have defeated Twinmold. While it's power was immense, it was also limited in that it could only be used where I fought it below the Stone Tower Temple.
" There you go!"
" And here I thought you were going to back down."
I shook my head. " I'm after something special so I need to do this."
Ember laughed. " So you're willing to risk your life for whatever this thing is you're babbling about? Wow... Talk about gutsy! Then I have to give you a real challenge! I hope you brought along some potions or something like that as this isn't going to be a picnic."
Once more, everything went white as I found myself being pulled to another location. I was honestly worried that Ember was going to give me a monster that I couldn't overcome but she didn't seem like the sort of person who would do that. Granted, her attitude made me think she wanted to see me die but perhaps she just wanted excitement Upon arriving at my destination, I was surprised to find myself standing in front of a door. The décor of the room looked very exquisite though I couldn't let my guard down. I was dealing with Ember, a dragon who respected those who possessed great strength.
" That went better than I thought." Twilight said.
" What do you mean?"
" Ember can be a difficult person to talk to because of her dragon heritage."
" She did seem somewhat arrogant."
Princess Twilight sighed. " Most dragons are like that, Sunset. They pride themselves on showing off their strength as a means of earning respect from their peers. Whoever is the strongest amongst them becomes their leader who then rules over them with intimidation. A weak leader would be immediately overthrown because they would lack true ferocity in comparison to other dragons. Perhaps Ember will finally make her people understand that strength isn't everything."
" One can only hope."
" Yo!" Ember called out from somewhere. " I know you can hear me so answer back right now!"
" Is this your challenge?"
" You got it!"
" Where are the monsters?"
" In each of the following chambers, you will have to fight against a powerful opponent." Ember answered. " They are those that you have probably battled before so think of this as mastering them so that you can prove how dominant you really are. You'll also have some puzzles to solve that revolve around explosions but I don't care about that. I mean, I never asked to have such things in this but the others insisted on it because they enjoy testing the minds of others. Bah! Action is all anyone really needs!"
" I think I'll manage."
" There's something else..."
" What's that?"
" I can sense a dark power coming from one of those rooms and I didn't put it in there." Ember answered. " It seems to have a grudge against you but if it gives me the action I crave, who really cares what it is. Anyway, I'll be waiting at the end of this gauntlet so have fun and don't get yourself killed."
As Ember's voice faded away, I had a suspicion I knew what she was talking about, but how could she still be alive after what happened? She was consumed by Twinmold, her life being snuffed out in the process, but perhaps she managed to survive and was determined to finish what she started? I shook my head. No... I had to believe that she had joined Sunset Demon in an eternal sleep and wouldn't bother me any longer. Turning my attention to the door before me, I couldn't help but appreciate the stain glass motif. It felt like I was in a church though I knew this was meant to be a display designed to weaken one's defences out of a sense of innocence.
Before opening the door, I went and smashed all of the pots that were located on either side of it. I acquired some Magic Jars on one side and green rupees on the other--the latter wasn't going to do me any good given that I gotten everything I needed--though I had hoped for something better. Opening the door and entering the next room, I had to cover my eyes due to how colourful it was. Whoever put these tiles in here clearly had no concept of brightness not to mention fashion sense. It looked like an artist had sculpted it badly yet I couldn't let it be distracting given that I could be attacked at any moment.
" Quite the colourful room." Twilight said.
" It looks terrible." I said.
Princess Twilight nodded. " Yes, but you have to admit that there is an unusual charm about it. In any case, the door we just entered the room from has locked behind us with iron bars and the door in front of us has the same thing."
" What do you suppose is waiting for us?"
" It could be anything."
A familiar noise then came from the ceiling so I looked up and watched as a single Dinofols dropped to the ground. It breathed a burst of flame from its gaping maw before swinging its sword a couple of times and letting out a scream. My reaction spoke for itself upon seeing it. " You have got to be kidding me. This is the first monster that I have to fight? I was honestly expecting something a lot worse."
" Maybe Ember wanted to start you off with something easy?"
" I guess but this isn't going to take very long."
" Especially since you have the Gilded Sword now which inflicts four times the damage of the Kokiri Sword." Twilight said. " I'd say you can take the Dinofols out in two hits, one if you perform a jump attack though it might not let you do that because of how fast it can move. You could use the Great Fairy's Sword instead in which it will only take a single blow to defeat it, but, I'll leave that decision to you, Sunset."
Choosing to go with the Gilded Sword--I wasn't going to waste the gift Adagio had given me on this thing--and slinging the Mirror Shield onto my arm, the Dinofols darted forward and swung its sword which collided with mine. It kept doing this repeatedly in hopes of connecting but I instead struck its chest when it dropped its guard causing it to reel back a little which took me by surprise. I knew that my sword had gotten stronger when I had it re-forged but I never expected anything like this. The Dinofols then breathed out flame causing me to raise my shield to protect myself from the blaze but it took the opportunity to side-step around and hit me from behind.
I got knocked forward--not enough to fall face-first on the ground--only to quickly whip myself around where my sword clashed with its. Our blades collided several times after this before the Dinofols got the upper hand by using more force to disrupt me. It then swung its sword only for it to bounce off of my shield allowing me to strike it, and it turned out to be enough as it collapsed after uttering a whimper onto the ground before disappearing. This unlocked both doors allowing me to continue though I will admit that I was pretty sloppy as I shouldn't have gotten hit once seeing as it was a weak monster in comparison to what I had in terms of equipment.
" Guess we underestimated it."
I sheathed my sword and placed my shield behind my back. " I guess my confidence cost me a little."
" Being confident is never bad unless you let it consume your mind."
" Makes you wonder what Ember has in store for us next."
" Considering she expects a strong showing from you, I doubt she has filled this place with weak monsters like say Octoroks, Tektites, and Dodongos." Twilight said. " If anything, I'd say you'll be going up against the strongest monsters that were rarely seen on our journey."
I gulped. " Oh no... I think I know what one of them is."
" What?"
" The Iron Knuckle."
" It's possible."
If there was an Iron Knuckle waiting for me further ahead, I wasn't looking forward to fighting it. Even though I did have a much stronger sword than I did the last time I fought one, they were still extremely dangerous because of how big of an attack range they had along with dealing so much damage with their axes. Knowing there was no turning back given the reward that awaited me for doing this, I walked over and opened the door to enter a tiny room that housed a Gossip Stone. This must have been some kind of safe room meant to prepare me for the next challenge.
Taking out the Mask of Truth, I placed it on my face and began talking to the Gossip Stone. It then said this to me mentally: "She of high class and manners who lives in the swamp has a useful mask that distinguishes scents..." The Mask of Scents... I truly wished that I had gotten to use it but it just wasn't meant to be. I enjoyed racing against Mrs. Cheerilee but deep down I felt like I had wronged her by not using it for its intended purpose, and now, it was in the hands of Moondancer who had since disappeared. Sometimes, I felt like I could have done things differently when it came to specific items.
Opening the door after putting away the Mask of Truth and walking past the Gossip Stone, I entered the next room where I immediately came to a stop upon seeing someone standing there with their back to me. " I was wondering when you were going to get here, Sunset Shimmer."
" Midnight Sparkle!" I exclaimed, my jaw dropping and my eyes opening wide. Before me stood Midnight Sparkle who turned to face me and I was shocked to see that she had seen better days. Both of her wings had been burnt to the point where she could no longer use them, her left arms was bloody and completely immobilized, both her legs had been hacked to pieces, and she had a massive scar running from her right eye down to her chest. " What in the world happened to you?"
" I survived!"
" I can see that."
" When that insect-like creature consumed me in the Stone Tower Temple, I believed that I could easily overcome it and make my escape." Midnight Sparkle said. " But, something unexpected happened and it was because of the dark power I had acquired. A side-effect caused me to suddenly lose much of my magic leaving me vulnerable to that creature's digestive tracts. I thought I could escape but then it suddenly exploded and I was caught in the blast. Before it was completely gone, I got spat out where I plummeted down and crashed into a desolate wasteland where I sustained more injuries until I managed to climb back up to where I had been consumed."
" How did you get up here?"
" I saw the four giant creatures and knew you had something to do with it."
" And you somehow managed to make it up here?"
Midnight Sparkle nodded. " My wings were badly damaged whilst in that creature but I had enough left in them to fly me all the way to the town those giant ceatures were standing around until they finally gave out and I crashed into the tall tower." She then showcased her wings by flapping each one though it made her wince with pain. By pushing them to the limit, she caused them to burn until there was nothing left other than the basic structure. " That strange glowing light brought me here to this place and so I've been waiting here for you. I was about to give up hope but then you came through that door."
" You're in no condition to do anything."
" That's what you think!"
" Don't tell me you still want to finish things?"
" I may be barely clinging to life but I've got enough power to kill you."
Sighing, I rubbed the bridge of my nose. " Despite everything you've done to me, Midnight Sparkle, I have no desire to kill you. Besides, you look as though you could collapse at any moment without me needing to deal the final blow on you. Also, I've gotten much stronger so your chances of beating me are near impossible."
Raising her bloodied arm, Midnight Sparkle stomped her foot several times though it was the sight of her blood dripping from her arm that caught my attention. " My plans of acquiring all of the Equestrian Magic by killing you and your friends has failed. I've got nothing left now which means I no longer care about what happens to this fractured body even if it means I die by your hand. Think of this as me going on a suicide run. I'm likely not going to survive much longer but by taking you with me, I'll have the last laugh."
" You really are serious aren't you?"
" I'll kill you even if it means killing myself."
Princess Twilight then spoke up. " So you're willing to throw everything away?"
" I've got nothing left."
" Just because you've been battered doesn't mean you should waste what you've been given." Twilight said. " The fact that you're still alive albeit just barely is a sign that fate gave you a second chance. Granted, you shouldn't even exist because Twilight Sparkle was changed back to normal freeing her in the process from being you, but I suppose even a creature filled with the lust for power deserves to live."
" I don't need your pity, Princess Twilight."
" Maybe you are beyond saving."
Midnight Sparkle took a step forward only to wince again in pain. It was clear to both myself and Princess Twilight that she was in no condition to start picking a fight but it seemed she was determined to see this course through even if it meant losing her life. " I'm going to fight you, Sunset, and you will fight back because I will make sure you can't leave this place unless you meet my challenge."
I sighed. " Alright... I'll fight you, Midnight Sparkle, but don't say I didn't warn you."
" Who said I was going to fight you right now?"
" But you just said..."
Midnight Sparkle laughed. " I'm going to let you progress through whatever it is you're supposed to be doing and then face you when you're done. It will give me some time to heal my wounds though I doubt it will be all that much given my body is barely keeping together." Raising her non-injured hand above her head, magic began flowing around it and I knew that she had something horrible in store for me. " I've still got some Equestrian Magic left and I intend to use it to make one of the monsters further ahead more powerful than ever before. If you can prevail against it, then you get to finally fight me."
" Only you would want to win by any means." Twilight said.
" If I'm going down, I'm taking you and Sunset with me."
Turning around, Midnight Sparkle slowly walked up to the door, mumbled some words, and the iron bars rose up allowing her to walk through before they closed again. I was honestly expecting her to walk through the door or disappear through some shadows but I guessed her weakened body couldn't cope. I had hoped not to see her especially after what she did to Sunset Demon but destiny had decided that she would live long enough for the two of us to finally resolve things. I suspected she would enhance the Iron Knuckle further ahead and if it were true, I was going to have the fight of my life against it.
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Even After being Devoured by Twinmold, She continues to follow on using Cheap Tactics. Having Sunset Fight Monsters she helped strengthen, making them weaken Sunset and confront & Deliver the Final blow when Sunset is too weaken to fight back. A Cowardly Tactic from the Pitiful Shadow. *Sigh* Unfortunately we'll have encounter her again in the Sequel.
Yep, That was the Reaction I was expecting Sunset to give off when she had to give-up a Number of Masks for each of the Moon-Children. But it'll be worth it once Sunset Completes the Final Trial. I Wonder what her next reaction will be when she finally acquires the "Fierce Deity" Mask and She Remembers it from her Adventure in "Ocarina of Time".
Well this should be interesting. Personally, I'm kinda jealous of Sunset. That enhanced Iron Knuckle sounds like a great fight!
8435500
When did the Fierce Diety mask show up in Ocarina of Time?
8435540
Chapter 34 & 35.
Chapter. 34 is when Sonata/Happy Mask Saleswomen let Daring-Do/Scientist of Lake Hylia hold on to it for her to do research on it and meeting Sunset again after 7 years.
Chapter. 35 Before Sunset headed to the Water Temple, Sunset decided to take a break at Daring-Do's Lab and becomes curious about the Mask Daring-do is studying. Daring gives Sunset her reports about it looks almost like Sunset's face, possessing a Strong Dark Power and figuring out it's name.
8435627
Ah. I'd forgot about that, thanks.
8435500
And notice that I included Ember of all characters? This was to be expected given that her personality made perfect sense to a child hiding in a dungeon filled with strong monsters in each room.
Midnight Sparkle surviving was something I had planned for a long time yet kept it under wraps but as you read, the cat is out of the bag so now her conflict with Sunset has reached its final stage.
8435627
Very clever that you remembered that from a long time ago. I'll be honest in that I actually forgot all about that scene, but as soon as I read what you said, those memories came flowing back to me and I recall what happened. Guess it's time to make the reference to end all references with the Fierce Deity's Mask...
...but first, Sunset has to deal with the Garo Master--the same one from before--again, a stronger Iron Knuckle, and Midnight Sparkle though the latter is barely hanging on given what she went through.