This is but one of the legends of which the people speak...
Long ago, there existed a kingdom of great peace and prosperity. Ruled by two regal sisters who held Harmony in their hearts, it flourished and became a beautiful land. However, many years ago, disaster struck this peaceful realm.
A child with darkness in his heart came across an ancient, forbidden power. Using this power, he attacked the helpless ponies of the peaceful land. He almost succeeded in killing everypony in the kingdom and ending the world. However, when all hope had died and the hour of doom seemed at hand...
A mare with a brightly colored mane appeared as if from nowhere. She called upon the Magic of Evil's Bane, and used it to stop the child and restore Harmony to the land. She became known as the Hero of Time and sacrificed herself for peace across the whole world. Those that were left behind rebuilt the land to its former glory, and the Hero's tale was passed down through the generations until it became legend.
However...
The child's hate was so great that he was resurrected into a new body. His evil plans returned with him, threatening once again to destroy the world. Though they were scared and frightened, the ponies of the land did not run from their fate. Instead, they turned towards the remaining regal sister, the youngest, for guidance.
What became of that kingdom...? None remain who know.
The memory of the kingdom vanished, but the legend survived on the wind's breath. One day, the good ponies of the world hope to discover the kingdom's fate and complete the legend. For now, however, it is but a story, a myth. A tale of old.
Princess Luna looked up. The one who had spoken, a member of her royal guard, looked upon her with a sadness in his eyes. The dim light from the fireplace casted long, flickering shadows around him.
The Princess of the Moon sighed. "No, Tarin. It never has and it most likely never will." She shook her head and got up from where she had been laying on her bed. "I am delaying the inevitable at this point. If this does not happen now, I fear I will not have the strength to do what must be done later."
The guard lowered his head.
"Ponies are dying, my love. What would you have me do?"
He gazed up into her eyes. "Fight him yourself. Send your guard after him. Find another way. There is always another way."
She shook her head. "Not this time, my love."
He glared at her. Her eyes were sympathetic, but unfaltering. He sighed. "Very well. You have made your mind, and as your royal guard and husband, it is my duty to support you."
She smiled. Removing Tarin's helmet, she kissed his forehead. "Thank you, my love. In these dark times, you mean the world to me. But we have to go."
He nodded. "I'll prepare the carriage."
She held up a hoof. "No. I want us to be the only ones."
"Very well." He closed his eyes and felt his lover's hoof grasp his own. When he opened his eyes again, they were standing on the edge of a small clearing within a dense forest. He gazed warily into the gloomy fringes of his surroundings and shivered slightly, ruffling his feathers.
Princess Luna and Tarin strode forwards through the grass. The cold night wind whistled past the pair as the dead leaves of Autumn danced around their hooves. As the Princess approached the center of the clearing, she noticed that Tarin had been falling behind, seemingly lost in thought. She turned towards him with a curious expression on her face. "My love?"
He started, blinking hard. Shaking his head, he gazed up into his Princess' eyes. "S-Sorry, Princess. It's just that...I mean..."
He gulped. "Is this really it? The Hero of Time's grave?"
She stepped forwards, nuzzling him gently. "Do not be afraid, my love. As long as I stand by your side, you have nothing to fear."
He took a few deep breaths and stood straight up. "...Okay, Princess. I'm ready."
They turned their sights back to the center of the clearing. Once they reached it, they were greeted by a huge mound of rubble. Broken planks of wood, crushed stone bricks, jagged shards of glass, and an enormous clock face, now rusted from age, lay before them. In the center of the wreckage, a small circle of the wreckage had been cleared away. Stepping carefully over the ruins, they saw a small, flat stone set into the earth with a simple inscription:
Here lies Rainbow Dash Element of Loyalty Savior of the World Hero of Time
Princess Luna closed her eyes. Her horn began to glow with a midnight blue aura. The sounds of the forest died away as the spell took affect - the wind ceased to blow and the leaves laid still upon the grass. Slowly, the ground before them began to shift and glow with an otherwordly light. As the spell grew in intensity, Luna began to sweat profusely. Just as her horn began to spark, her knees crumpled, and she was caught by Tarin before she hit the ground.
"It's alright, my love...just hold on for a little while longer..."
A single tear fell from the Princess' cheek.
"Please...you are our only hope..."
The light grew brighter and brighter, then finally stopped altogether. The sounds of the forest resumed their duties - the wind, the leaves. The Princess let out a breath she had not realized she had been holding. Her vision blurry, she looked towards the ground that lay before her.
"Princess!" cried Tarin.
The earth shifted restlessly. A section of dirt bulged upwards and broke, revealing a blue hoof punching through the soil. The first hoof was followed by another hoof, which was followed by a head, until finally, a mare lay before the couple, gasping and panting. Her head rose up, revealing a pair of rose colored eyes along with a mane that held every color of the rainbow.
"L...Luna...?" The mare's eyes darted back and forth between the Princess and her guard. She coughed. "W-What's going on? D...Did I...?"
The Hero faced away from Tarin in stoic silence. The guard had teleported the two of them along with the Princess back to Canterlot castle nearly an hour ago. Tarin had explained what had been happening to the Hero - how she had fought the evil child, how she had given her life for peace and harmony, and finally, how she had gone down in history as a legend. She had yet to say a single word. The crackling fireplace cast a somber light over the pair, dimly lighting their faces and casting long shadows across the lavish walls and floor of the room.
"Look, this wasn't my first choice either. I do not agree with my wife's judgement on this matter, but she believed that this was our only option. So I must support her."
Again, the Hero remained silent.
"For Luna's sake, are you even listening to me?"
The Hero turned to face Tarin. "I heard you."
"So...what will you do?"
Her gaze fell. "What would you have me do?"
Tarin gritted his teeth together. "I told you...Princess Luna wants you to fight the Skull Kid."
She looked up, her eyes half lidded. "Is that a fact." She walked across the room to a bed. Upon it lay the Princess, her breathing shallow, her mane devoid of its usual color. The Hero placed a hoof on the Princess' neck. She felt a faint pulse. "Is that a fact..."
"That's what I said!" he snapped at her. "My wife has just sacrificed much of her magical power to bring you back from whatever dark recess your spirit had escaped to! It will be weeks - perhaps months - before she is even well enough to walk! We have already evacuated the city...." He pointed up at his caramel colored horn. "...and I can only pray I am strong enough to manage the day and night cycle until she is well enough to resume her duties as this land's Princess! I implore you, Hero, think of my situation here!"
The Hero slowly turned away from the Princess. She stared at Tarin with a look of pure malice in her eyes. As she shuffled towards the royal guard, he faltered and stepped back.
"No," she said quietly. "You think of mine. I was at peace. My work in this world was finished. I was enjoying eternity until your Princess Luna brought me back into this...this..."
She stomped her hoof on the floor so hard that the wood cracked. "This HELL! For three days, I endured loss, pain, and payed the ultimate price at the end of it all! I watched as families were torn apart, wilderness and civilization alike reduced to rubble! I witnessed the murder of my dearest friends with my own two eyes! For three whole days..."
She placed her hooves on either side of Tarin, pinning him against the wall. Her voice fell to a deathly whisper.
"Do you have any idea what I went through? And now you want me to experience that again? No..."
She brought her hooves back to the ground, her body trembling. "No. This isn't my battle, my fight, or my problem."
She stormed towards the balcony, and as the wind blew her mane across her face, she turned to look at Tarin one last time. "And whatever you do, do it quickly. Because if what you told me is true, then this is the night of the third and final day since he's appeared. Day and night cycle?" She let out a bitter laugh. "You won't stay alive long enough to raise tomorrow's dawn."
And with that, the Element of Loyalty, Savior of the World, and Hero of Time flew off into the night sky, her prismatic tail lashing through the air behind her.
Tarin was silent for some time.
Finally, the guard's steely resolve broke, and he fell to floor and cried. He cried for his fate. He cried for his Princess.
And he cried for his land.
~~~~~^~~~~~
Rainbow Dash touched down on the cobblestone streets of Canterlot. Half of the streetlights were out, and the rest were flickering unsteadily. They cast the only light on the city, as every house, hospital, and skyscraper was dark and silent. Her footsteps were loud and heavy, echoing through the silent town. As she walked along, she muttered to herself.
She could have been walking for hours or minutes, for all she knew. As she turned a corner in the street, her foot struck something in the gutter. Falling down into a puddle of water, she shakily stood up again and turned back to see what had caused her fall. A young filly sat on the ground, rubbing her head.
"Owww..."
Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head, spraying water droplets into the street. "My bad, kid. I'll watch where I'm going next time."
"Oh, don't worry about it. Oof..." the filly stood up, stretching. "I probably shouldn't have been playing in the street anyways."
"Uh...okay. Well, see you later." Rainbow Dash turned to walk away, resuming her muttering. "Stupid kid...doesn't even know not to stay out of the road..."
"WAIT!" the filly called out.
Rainbow Dash jumped and turned back around to face the child. The foals's eyes were as wide as dinner plates.
She began to stutter. "T...That mane...that tail...that cutie mark..."
Rainbow Dash gave the filly a strange look. Then the realization hit her. "Oh, no..."
"Are you the Hero of Time?!"
The mare shuffled awkwardly. "W-Well..."
The filly ran up to Rainbow Dash. "Oh please, oh please, oh please tell me that you are!"
She sighed inwardly and cracked a nervous smile. "Y-Yeah, kid. I'm the Hero of Time, alright."
"YAY!" The filly began to hop around on the spot in joy. She flew forward and tackled Rainbow Dash to the ground, hugging her.
"Whoa, there kid. Calm down. Heh..."
"It's you! It's really you!" The filly pulled Rainbow's face right in front of hers. "I can't believe it! I almost didn't think you'd come! But now we've all been rescued!"
Rainbow Dash blinked. "Rescued...?"
The filly's face fell slightly. "Y-You are going to stop the evil child, right?"
Confused, Rainbow Dash helped the filly to her feet.
"Y-You see, when I was a foal, my mommy used to tell me this really cool story. It was called The Legend of the Hero of Time. It was about a mare who looked just like you who fought this bad guy called the Skull Kid and saved the world."
Rainbow's eyes widened.
"My mommy told me that it was just an old mare's tale...b-but then, a few days ago, this weird pony in a scary mask appeared. H-He started attacking Equestria. He called himself the Skull Kid, just like in the story..."
Hey, Rainbow Dash!
"A-And then the moon started falling...just like in the story..."
Ugh...not now, squirt.
"My mommy told me that...she told me that..."
Aw, come on! Just one lesson! I promise it won't take long!
"She told me that everypony was going to die..."
...Alright, squirt. I can't stay mad at you anyways.
Awesome!
"B-But then I remembered the other part of the story..."
Just like that, squirt. You've got it!
W...Whoa...
"The part with the Hero of Time..."
I'm flying! I'm flying, Rainbow Dash!
You sure are, squirt!
"And I thought that if I was really good...and if I prayed extra hard to Princess Luna..."
...Big sister?
...Yeah?
"T-That the Hero might come back to save us again..."
...I love you.
...
"D-Did my prayer come true? Are you here to save me and my mommy?"
The filly felt a hoof on her shoulder. She looked up into the mare's glistening eyes.
"Hero...why are you crying...?"
"...It's nothing..."
...I love you, too...
"Don't worry, kid. Tell your mom that the Hero of Time's got this one covered."
And with that, she took off once more into the night sky.
Rainbow Dash touched down gently on the clocktower's roof. It hadn't exactly been difficult to find where he had been hiding. Scratching the back of her neck, she replied.
"Yup. I wouldn't have thought that she'd have the guts, much less the power. But here we are."
"...How did you know where to find me?"
She looked out over the city of Canterlot. Once loud and bustling, a solemn mood hung in the air, giving the once glorious skyscrapers a tall and eerie look. A faint ticking noise could be heard from where Rainbow Dash stood, and she and her adversary were on the tallest building save the royal castle itself. "Call it a hunch."
She turned back towards the Skull Kid with a smirk. "By the way, how did you come back? Last I remember, you were fresh out of immortal deities."
"Do not lecture me, Rainbow Dash." The Skull Kid strode out into the moonlight. In the dim, shining light, she could just make out his burlap coat and his wooden shoes. A moonbeam danced across the face of his purple mask as he stared menacingly at her. "If we're going to do battle, we might as well finish this now."
"...That's it?"
He was silent.
"The last time we met, you talked down to me. You insulted my friends and my homeland. And now, nothing? Do I worry you that much?"
The tension between the two began to grow. "You do not worry me. I will win this fight."
"I won once."
"You got lucky once."
The two began to circle one another, carefully stepping across the stone floor. The Skull Kid moved rigidly, his wooden shoes clicking and clacking against the floor. Rainbow Dash stepped easily, her hooves moving lightly and quietly. Both of the combatants were waiting for the other to make the first move.
"Something has changed about you."
Rainbow Dash smirked. "Well, I'm not dead anymore. That's a start."
The Skull Kid shook his head slowly. "No. It is something else. You no longer possess the same power as before. Where is your mask?"
"Don't need it."
He stopped dead in his tracks. "...You don't have the mask?"
Rainbow Dash rolled her neck, popping her joints. "Nope. I wouldn't have had time to look for it anyways. My best chance of winning lies in this fight, here and now."
Again, he was silent. His muscles loosened and he stood up from his fighting stance, walking straight towards Rainbow Dash.
Warily, Rainbow Dash took a step back. "Hold on. What are you trying to pull?"
The Skull Kid sighed. "And to think I expected a challenge..."
Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. "You want challenge? Come and get it!"
She shot forward, thrusting her hoof towards the Skull Kid's mask. He effortlessly stopped her punch with his foreleg, gripped her hoof, and smashed it downwards into the floor.
"AH!" Rainbow Dash was now leg deep into stone, the hoof she'd just punched with totally immobilized. She whipped her head up just in time for the Skull Kid to jab her in the face. It should have only been a swift, light strike, but her face exploded in pain. Crumpling to the ground and blinking away the red dots from her vision, Rainbow Dash pulled on her trapped leg to no avail, at the Skull Kid's mercy.
He wrapped his hooves around her midsection and wrenched her up from the ground, throwing her up towards the starlit sky. Leaping up to meet her, he stretched back his left arm, which had begun to crackle and pop from the purple energy coursing through it. Rainbow Dash had barely opened her eyes when his hoof dug into her stomach like a rocket. In a blinding flash of light, Rainbow Dash was launched across the rooftops of the city. She saw streetlights whipping below her like fireflies, and was dimly aware that, to survive, she would need to fly.
But she was shooting through the air far too fast. Although she tried to open her wings, they remained pinned to her sides. She saw the houses steadily growing larger and larger. She closed her eyes and braced for the impact.
Rather, she braced for the explosion.
When she hit, the world narrowed down to her body and the pain it was enduring. Every ounce of her being was in agony. The experience was so intense that she lost the ability to even think. Her entire body went limp, waiting for it to end.
After lying there for what felt like hours, she felt coherent thought return to her. She felt a faint rush of wind, a clatter of wood on stone. She opened her eyes and saw the blurry image of the devil himself - purple, with huge eyes. Huge eyes, yellow and red with green pupils. Spikes. Long, evil spikes coming off the sides of his face.
"HERO!"
Rainbow Dash's ear twitched. Summoning up all of her strength, she dragged her head across the ground until it faced a certain young filly.
"YOU'VE GOTTA GET UP, HERO!"
"Beat it, kid," he said. "You'll get yourself hurt."
Rainbow Dash's pupils widened. Somewhere in her mind, she felt a rumbling noise. Like a waterfall, it grew louder and louder. She let it flow through her, washing away her fears, her regrets, her injuries.
"YOU CAN DO IT! I BELIEVE IN YOU!!"
A spark went off.
"...How did you get your mask, Skull Kid?"
He turned away from the child and looked back at her. He froze.
"You...there's no way...no one could have survived that..."
She smirked. "You didn't answer my question." Knees shaking, she began to stand up. She looked at the Skull Kid directly in his eyes.
"But...how?! I punched you halfway across the city!"
Rainbow Dash began a chuckle which turned into a cough. After clearing her throat, she answered the Skull Kid.
"The mask you use houses an evil power. Even without a mask of my own, I can feel it. And if there's anyone with evil in their heart..." she lifted up her hoof shakily. "...It's you. The mask is drawn to you like a magnet. It's natural. Not just anyone can control that thing."
Her head dropped towards the ground. Her voice grew quiet and raspy.
"And I get the feeling the same applies to the Fierce Deity's Mask."
The Skull Kid stepped backwards. "No...there's no way...there's no way..."
Rainbow Dash threw her head up and shouted at the stars.
"YOU'VE KEPT ME WAITING LONG ENOUGH! SHOW YOURSELF AND HELP ME WIN THIS FIGHT!!"
She waited, panting from the effort of yelling. Blinking, she searched the city around her for a sign, for something, anything.
And all she saw was the filly.
Her eyes widened. "...Wait..."
The filly smiled sweetly and trotted over to the mare.
She stumbled backwards. "W-What is this?!"
"Be not afraid," replied the filly. "I had to know if you were the true Hero. It was merely a test."
The filly placed her hooves on the mare's shoulders.
"You passed."
And with that, the filly embraced the mare. The filly's body began to glow with a white light. As it grew brighter, Rainbow Dash felt strength returning to her limbs. She felt her blood flowing faster and faster and faster. She felt her head clearing, shaking off the cobwebs left behind from the impact.
She felt alive.
"Dumb kid..." she whispered under her breath. "But better late than never, I suppose..."
The Skull Kid could only watch on in horror as the filly's body finally disappeared completely, the white light enveloping Rainbow Dash and shielding her from the Skull Kid's view.
"RAAAAAGH!!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Loose pebbles that had been lying around her began to levitate up into the air, and as the ground beneath her began to tremble, the mask flew ever closer to her face.
Until finally, it connected.
The Hero of Time opened her golden eyes.
"Let's finish this."
She shot forward, throwing a right hook at his face. He blocked it and sent a jab of his own. After parrying it to the side, the Hero let out a shout and headbutted him in his chest. The force of the impact set him flying backwards, his shoes causing sparks to appear as they skidded across the cobblestone road. Growling under his breath, purple energy began to crackle and spread all over his body from the mask on his face. He stomped the ground with his hoof, causing a line of stalagmites to shoot up from the street.
The Hero leaped up into the air, narrowly avoiding one of the spikes, and kicked off the wall of a nearby building towards the Skull Kid. As she barreled towards him, white hot energy began to charge in her front hooves. The air around her crackled with ozone as her legs connected with his chest. Wings blurring, she propelled the two of them forwards, grinding his body into the road and leaving behind a deep divot in the stone. Finally, their progress was halted when the pair reached another building, and an explosion of dust shot up into the air along with a deafening bang as his body connected with the wall.
She leaped back onto the sidewalk, coughing and panting. She stared at the cloud of dust, waiting for something to happen. Quicker than she could react, he leaped out of the smoke and axe kicked her jaw, sending her flying upwards. Looking to her side, she dimly remembered the clocktower - the first clocktower - shooting past her as she fell to the ground. This time, it was shooting the other way.
Wait for it...
She felt the power within her begin to build. He shot up into the air after her. The distance between the two shortened rapidly.
Wait for it...
He was nearly upon her.
WAIT FOR IT...
He was suddenly directly in front of her, readying his hoof for his final blow.
NOW!!!
She released all of the energy she had been holding in with one enormous strike. The white energy of the Fierce Deity's Mask speared his body through and through. Purple smoke began to gush from the eyeholes of his mask.
"YOU'LL NEVER WIN! DO YOU HEAR ME?! SOMEHOW I'LL RETURN!! SOMEDAY I'LL BE BACK!!!"
The Hero laughed at the face of the devil.
"I think I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."
And with that, Majora's Mask exploded in a cloud of purple dust. Skull Kid's body disintegrated along with it.
The battle was over.
The Hero of Time was victorious.
She landed on the ground gently, a smirk still on her face. The gloomy atmosphere gone, she started to laugh to herself, panting and chuckling so much that her chest started to hurt. Finally she fell backwards and laid down on the ground.
"Well...that's over with."
She was answered by a cold wind.
"...Is that it? It is over, right?"
She looked to her left and saw the faint image of a small filly gazing at her sadly.
"...Yeah."
"...I suppose it can't be helped."
The Hero sighed. She could feel the last of her spirit leaving her. All power comes with a price, after all. And her mask's price was high.
"...Hey."
The Hero glanced over at the filly. The child smiled and brushed the Hero's mane away from her eyes.
"I get the feeling we'll be seeing each other again."
The Hero smiled.
"...I'd like that. But at the same time..."
She smiled. Not a cocky smirk - just an ordinary, simple smile.
"...I think I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."
And with that, Rainbow Dash - Element of Loyalty, Savior of the World, and Hero of Time - left our world.
As the Legend of the Hero of Time goes, after the evil child returned to continue his evil desires once more, the ponies of Equestria turned to their Princess for guidance. She, in turn, called out to the Hero of Time's Spirit.
Through some miracle, the Hero replied.
After regaining her lost powers, the Hero of Time did battle with the evil child. Their duel was fierce, and legend tells that it was an incredible sight to behold. They did battle until the child finally fell to the Hero's might. However, the Hero's strength had all but faded, and she passed on soon after her victory.
However, her deeds were by no means forgotten. There was a great ceremony held by the Princess herself to honor the Hero's service to her land and world. The Hero's body was buried in the royal cemetery, next to the ruling Princes and Princesses of the past.
As time went on, the memory of the battle faded from the land's mind. As generations passed, even the new rulers reached a point where they no longer believed in the Hero's Legend.
But though I have grown old, I still believe in the Hero and what she stood for.
As do all who hold power, wisdom, and courage in their hearts.
