Princess Zelda was wheeled into a special suite at Canterlot Hospital by Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze. The suite was protected by an anti-villain barrier so that villains would not be able to sneak in and grab her. "I trust you'll feel comfortable here," said Gentle Gust. "It's... very nice," whispered Zelda. Then she gasped as she felt another sharp needle go into her right arm. "It's just an IV, Zelda. No need to be alarmed," assured Gentle Breeze. "We're putting you here in this special room so you don't get abducted in the middle of the night," she went on to explain. "This room is protected by a barrier that cannot be seen with the naked eye."
"It stops villains like Ganondorf from coming in," added Gentle Gust. "Like the Great Deku Tree used to do?" asked Zelda. "Pretty much, yes," answered Gentle Breeze. "We're also doing this to get an official diagnostics."
"It'll also monitor your vital signs with a little help from AJ Gadgets," said Gentle Gust. "How can AJ help?" asked Zelda. "He's not a doctor."
"What I mean is, AJ will be using his thought projections to look inside your memories and he'll combine his magic with ours to take pictures of them." Zelda nodded and sighed. "This is all going to happen while I'm asleep?"
"That's correct," replied Gentle Breeze. Zelda sighed. She was glad that Benny wasn't forcing her to be queen. But she also wondered if Sonic would be okay with it. "All of Hyrule plus Equestria will be wondering about me," she whispered. "Don't worry about it, Zelda," replied Gentle Gust. "I'm sure everypony and everycreature will understand that you're not feeling well. We need to stabilize your mental health. In fact, we're going to decide whether you can have the coronation at all." Zelda sighed in defeat. "We love you, Zelda!" called Link. Zelda smiled weakly over to him. "I love you too," she said. Then, with tear filled eyes, she was put in her specialized hospital room.
Elsewhere in the hospital, Star Tracker came up to the front desk clerk pony. "Hello, young sir," she smiled. "How can I help you?"
"I... I'm looking for... Princess Zelda," whispered Star Tracker, nervously shuffling a hoof on the floor and not making eye contact. "Well, she's about to rest now," replied the desk clerk pony. "This wouldn't be the best time for visitors." Star Tracker sighed. Just then, Gentle Gust appeared. "Hello there," he said. "Can I help you?"
"I wanted to visit Zelda," sighed Star Tracker. "But... I guess..." He looked at the floor. Gentle Gust smiled. "Well, if you want to visit Princess Zelda," he said. "It might be best if you wear one of these." With his magic, he presented a germ proof suit. "This will keep all germs away from you."
"Will it scare her?" asked Star Tracker, worriedly. "It shouldn't," said Gentle Gust. "Zelda has seen doctors and scientists wearing these while we were taking her to her room. So it should be okay." Star Tracker smiled with relief. He put on the germ proof suit. "That's not too big for you, is it?" Gentle Gust asked. Star Tracker moved his legs around. It was a little big. He nodded. So, Gentle Gust gave him another one that fit him much better. Star Tracker smiled. "Where is she?" he asked. "The room can be found two doors to the right that way," said Gentle Gust. "Just to warn you, she is still not mentally stable. If she has another attack, give me a call." Star Tracker nodded.
Meanwhile, Zelda's friends could see that they were somewhat forgiven by the princess. "I think she's starting to forgive us," said Rainbow Dash with relief in her voice. "I... I just hope what we said back there was true."
"Of course," smiled WALL-E. "I'm glad Benny is willing to bend the rules of how to keep the Sparks Crew going," said Jasmine. "There was no rule against me having two jobs, right?"
"No way, girl," said Beast Boy. "If Zelda would rather stay as princess, that's fine. She shouldn't have to move either. She should stay where she's happier, in Hyrule Castle."
"Or," said Merna. "The new castle is where her princess duties are and Hyrule Castle is where her home is."
"I was just thinking the same thing," said WALL-E.
A little while later, Link, Tails and Amy appeared. WALL-E quickly zoomed over to them, followed by Zelda's friends to hear the news. "How is she?" asked Peach. "She's resting," replied Amy. "Her blood work came back normal, so that's good. Now, we just have to wait until Zelda's diagnostics is ready."
"That's going to be in the morning," said Tails. "So what should we do, yo?" asked Beast Boy. "The activity that Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze suggested," replied Sonic. "Unpacking whatever is most important and keeping it at Hyrule Castle. Then, when she comes back, she'll have a sense of normalcy." The friends smiled. "We can help too, if you'd like," said Link, offering his services to the girls. "I mean, we're also close to Zelda and we want to do everything we can to help her feel better. We know some things that Zelda will want to hold onto. What do you say?"
"Sounds good to me," said Jasmine. "It'll be a nice little teamwork activity for us. And they did say a group activity would be good for the healing process, right?"
"For sure," said WALL-E. "But who will stay with Zelda tonight?" asked Peach. "A-and help her recover her blood?" stammered Rainbow Dash. WALL-E chuckled. "Rainbow, Zelda's not going to get killed, silly," he said. "The doctors suggested that Zelda should be left alone." Rainbow Dash was about to protest. "But," WALL-E continued, interrupting her. "She'll be in good hooves and they'll watch over her all night long. It's going to be okay."
Peeking through the door, Star Tracker tiptoed on his hooves into Zelda's room quietly and up to her bed. He wasn't sure what to say to greet Zelda. "Excuse me?" he whispered as quietly as he could. Zelda woke up and screamed. "Who's there?" she cried. "I-it's just me, Star Tracker," Star Tracker whispered. "I just wanted to wish you well." Zelda was still surprised by her unexpected visitor. "W-w-w-what are you doing here? You scared me!" she exclaimed. "Sorry," Star Tracker apologized meekly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise." That was enough for Zelda to stop fretting. "Then, why are you here? How did you get here?" she asked. "I travelled a long way to get here," replied Star Tracker. "I live in a remote village in Equestria in a deep, lush forest." Zelda cocked her head in confusion. "So you walked here?" she asked as Star Tracker sat in a chair nearby. "Yes," replied Star Tracker sheepishly. "But one day, when I heard how much you miss me, I felt sort of bad. So I had a long talk with my mom and dad about it and they seem to think that I became your best pony friend."
"So what did you do?" asked Zelda. "I decided to move closer to Hyrule," said Star Tracker. "We had a long discussion about it and decided that I should move to Haneto Village, so I can be closer to you." Zelda listened to everything and she began to realize that she really had missed Star Tracker. After all, she hadn't seen him at all since the Zeppelin cruise. "It's nice that you're going to move closer to me," Zelda sighed. "I forgot to tell you I'm sorry for stepping on your hoof."
"That was an accident," replied Star Tracker. "I know you didn't mean to, princess."
"Yeah. But I still feel bad for it. I could've really hurt you. I... I could've broken a bone. And there's something else that's been greatly bothering me." Seeing tears form in his best human friend's eyes, Star Tracker struggled to find out what was happening. "He... he... did this... to me," Zelda whispered. "Who did?" asked Star Tracker. Then, Gentle Gust came into the room. "Is everything all right?" he asked. Star Tracker shook his head, pointed to Zelda and left the room. Gentle Gust was at her side in a minute. "Oh no. Zelda! What's wrong?" he asked. "S-sorry," Zelda whimpered. "I... I just..."
"Shh. Shh. It's all right," Gentle Gust declared softly. "Just let it out. We're here for you."
"He... he did this to me," cried Zelda softly. "Who did?" asked Gentle Gust. But Zelda didn't answer. She just broke down and sobbed.
...
...
Back at Hyrule Castle, her family and friends went through the boxes containing all of Zelda's things, trying to figure out which ones should stay at the castle and which ones should go to the new castle.
"Why does Zelda have to move anyway?" asked Rainbow Dash. "It's like we're trying to make her feel at home there."
"Well, seeing her like that is really hard, yo," said Beast Boy. "It's hard for all of us," said Rainbow Dash. "I mean, we're basically sending her away..."
"We are not sending her away, Dash!" interrupted Beast Boy. "You don't needs to assume that. But I think somecreature else might be partly to blame for what Zelda's going through."
"You mean Mario," Rainbow snarled, immediately deducing who the little shapeshifter was thinking about. "I mean, what was he even thinking? Freeing some of the worst villains to build Zelda's confidence? I hate that he set her up! He crossed the line! He should take the blame for the Tree of Harmony's destruction. That never would've happened if he hadn't brought Zant back."
"Hmm. I sees what you're saying, Rainbow," said Beast Boy. "And I gets what you mean, girl. If WALL-E decides to have Mario turned to stone, I wouldn't be too surprised. Zelda almost got banished to Seaquestria because of him. Peach did break up with him a long time ago after all. So it looks like we's all agreed that Mario went too far."
"He needs to be punished for it!" yelled Rainbow Dash. "I know, Rainbow," said Beast Boy. "Geez. Calm down." Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. "You're right. I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just so mad about what Mario did." Beast Boy sighed. "I know," he said. "Don't worry. WALL-E will make things right. He always does."
...
Not far away, in Zelda's bedroom, Jasmine and EVE were looking through Zelda's dresses and other clothes. Jasmine came across dresses for special events, some created by her. "She might need some of these in her new castle," said Jasmine, folding some of the fanciest ones. "We should make sure she knows we're not giving them up. I can't stop thinking about Mario though."
"Why not?" asked EVE. "Because he frustrated us when Peach was reforming him!" said Jasmine. "I know we should trust Peach to keep Mario's attitude under control, but I can't help but wish we'd never given him a second chance. The Tree of Harmony wouldn't have been destroyed if that were the case." EVE sighed, looking at Zelda's dress from her brother's wedding. She could remember what happened when Tirek had destroyed the Library of Time and stolen the magic from unicorns, pegasi and Earth ponies. "I know what you mean, Jasmine," she sadly declared while putting the dress down. "I'd like to shoot Mario with my blaster arm. What he did to Zelda was wrong! She would've been banished because of him! I thought he wanted to be friends again, but clearly that was not the case. He just wanted to frustrate everybody with his attitude and he's certainly done a good job with that. Friendship clearly means nothing to him."
...
...
WALL-E couldn't rest after returning from Canterlot Hospital. He was hard at work, forging a crown with seven jewels in it that looked just like the elements of harmony. In his mind, it was the perfect way to ease the pain of a power shift and keep the elements of harmony with his daughter. "Hmm. Yes," he said to himself. The jewels weren't the actual elements of harmony. They just looked like them. "With these, it'll feel just like she has the elements of harmony with her. When she looks at Benny wearing them, it'll be just like he's keeping the elements safe for her. I'm sure he'll be happy to do so." Just then, Impa arrived. "Your highness, bad news," she said. "I just heard that Zelda had another attack..."
"What!?" WALL-E cried out in shock. "She got attacked? But that's impossible! I thought they put her in a villain proof room!"
"No," sighed Impa. "I mean, she had a mental attack."
"Oh dear," said WALL-E. "It's that bad, huh?"
"Yeah," said Impa. Then she saw the crown with the seven jewels in it. "Seven jewels? There were only six elements of harmony."
"The seventh one is the Sparks Crew symbol. It's for Benny, but I made it so that it looks like the elements of harmony are still here and Benny is keeping them safe when he becomes prince."
"Wow. So this is Benny's new porpose, huh?" said Impa. "Yes," said WALL-E. "He'll be the new adventure leader and this is part of his porpose."
"How will this help Zelda?" asked Impa. "Because when she looks at Benny wearing the crown, she'll feel like the elements of harmony are still here and she won't be so sad about them not being around."
"Oh, I get it. I think," said Impa. "But not having to be queen is going to help too." She took a while to think about WALL-E's plan. "So, about Zelda's mental attack, Gentle Gust says that Zelda's mind is more damage than we all thought." WALL-E thought for a second and began to realize who should be blamed for putting Zelda in this current situation. "Are you thinking about Mario?" asked Impa. "Yes!" replied WALL-E. "Mario almost had my daughter banished by bringing back Zant who brought back Sombra. Oh, I feel so terrible for accusing Zelda for leading Sombra to the Tree of Harmony. What have I done?" Impa was slightly disturbed at WALL-E's distraught tone. "Now now, WALL-E," she said. "You were just angry at the time because you didn't know the whole story. But I understand that Mario deserves some punishment for what he did."
"Yeah. Cause if it wasn't for Mario, Zelda wouldn't be like this!" WALL-E screamed out. "It's all his fault for putting Zelda in this situation! It's his fault we don't have the elements of harmony anymore!" WALL-E threw himself on his back and flailed his robotic limbs. Impa could see that he was crying quite loudly. "WHAT HAVE I DONE? I ALMOST BANISHED MY POOR LITTLE GIRL! I LOVE HER SO MUCH!"
"WALL-E, it's okay," said Impa softly. "We can fix this." WALL-E panted for a bit before he caught his breath. "Impa, get a platoon together," he said. "I want Mario arrested right now!" Impa wasted no time compiling with WALL-E's request.
...
...
Star Tracker returned to his house in Haneto Village, groaning with exhaustion. He wondered who Zelda was thinking about and what had they done. "Could this have something to do with losing the elements of harmony?" he wondered to himself. "What if it was me? What if I'm the one to blame?" For a moment, he bit his hoof in fear. "No," he said to himself. "She said 'he' did 'this' to her. But who was it?" Star Tracker racked his brain, trying to figure out what Zelda was trying to tell him. "What could it be? Who could it be? Sombra?" Star Tracker wondered. "I thought Sombra was the one who destroyed the Tree of Harmony." Then he had a realization. "Wait. Maybe Sombra is the one Zelda was thinking about." Star Tracker was satisfied, thinking he had solved the mystery of Zelda's troublesome situation.
However, that was not who Zelda was thinking about. Maybe Zelda would tell him who it really was when she was discharged from the hospital.
"Wait a minute," said Star Tracker. "I thought the crystal heart banished him to the ether. How did he come back? And how did he find the tree of harmony in the first place? Whoever brought him back must've had a magic powerful enough to bring back the dead. Grogar? No. Grogar is a legend. Unless it was someone who learned one of his spells." Star Tracker suddenly gasped. "Mario." Star Tracker realized that Mario must've had something to do with Sombra's return. How Mario brought Sombra back, he wasn't sure. but there must've been a connection somehow. And Star Tracker was sure that with time, he might find it. He thought about Zelda's most feared enemies: Jinx, Ganondorf and Zant. Then he began to realize where the connection was. "Mario pretended to be Grogar and brought back Zant, Ganondorf and Jinx. And since Zant is one of the only few villains whose magic is strong enough to bring back the dead, he must've been the one who revived Sombra." Now Star Tracker understood the connection between Mario and Sombra. "I can't believe Mario's the bad guy now," he sighed.
...
...
Princess Peach was exhausted when she returned to her castle. She was looking forward to a good night's sleep, but when she was crawling into bed, she noticed someone was already there. "Huh?" she said. She pulled off the covers and let out a loud shriek. "Mario? What are you doing here?" she cried. "My ears. They reek-a of guilt," replied Mario. Peach could smell his sweat. "First of all, you need to take a shower," she said sternly. "And put some clothes on. It's annoying to find you sleeping in my bed without clothes on! Plus, it's disturbing. You know I don't find it impressive! Why are you still doing this?"
"To give you more chances to look at Mario's a-perfect body," Mario answered. "And as for Zelda, I heard all about her situation in the hospital."
"Because of you!" snapped Peach. "You hurt Zelda's mind by freeing all those villains. What were you thinking!?"
"I wanted Zelda to see that she is capable of being queen," Mario said matter-of-factly. "If she sees that she's capable of battling three baddies, plus Sombra, then she'd realize that she does have what it takes to be queen."
"Well, you almost caused Zelda to be banished! She, I and all the other girls would've been banished to Seaquestria and it's all your fault! You should've known Zelda didn't want to be queen. Yet you decided to bring Zant, Jinx and Ganondorf back by pretending to be Grogar, and YOU! HURT! MY! BEST! FRIEND!"
"Don't-a forget Zant brought back Sombra," added Mario. "It was never my intention to hurt your best friend, but my plan backfired. I failed to see the flaws of it and was completely unaware of the danger I put you all in."
"Then maybe you should be turned back to stone!" snapped Peach. "There's no way WALL-E will spare you after what you did! And I refuse to vouch for you or give you another chance, no matter what you say. Rainbow Dash was so right when she said you were tricking me into not using the elements against you." She sighed. "I should've listened to her. And all of my friends actually. They were just looking out for me, and I accussed them wrongly. What have I done?" Before Mario could add his own lecture, there was a knock on Peach's door. Mario soon figured out that he was in trouble. Peach fluttered over to the door and opened. Impa was there and so was M-O and PR-T. "Peach, is Mario here?" asked Impa. Peach nodded and motioned to Mario, who was just nearby. Impa groaned. "Sorry," said Peach, sheepishly. "I should've warned you that Mario's not wearing clothes."
"Don't worry about that," said Impa. Then, to Mario, she said "Mario, put some clothes on and come with us," in a stern tone of voice. "You are under arrest for the events that nearly caused the banishment of Princess Zelda and her hospitalization!" Mario did as he was told. "I'll never forget you, Peach," he said as the guards placed cuffs on him. But Peach just crossed her arms in annoyance. She refused to say goodbye or even talk to him.
...
...
Mario paced around his cell they put him in. He thought about his plan to test Zelda and how it backfired. Just then, he heard the sounds of little robot treads approaching. When he saw a little robot carrying a scepter and wearing a crown, he had a good idea of what was about to happen. "Mario," WALL-E coldly greeted. "I assume you know why you're here?"
"If you're-a going to turn me to stone, then get it over with," said Mario, almost pleadingly. So WALL-E did. One zap of his magic scepter and Mario was turned back into stone. WALL-E twirled the scepter and put it on his back. "There," he said. "Now he can't do anymore harm." Satisfied that he had confronted the main source of the damage head on, WALL-E went off to the hospital to visit his daughter.
...
...
While Zelda slept in her hospital bed, Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze looked at AJ's thought projection. As they watched, they saw a vision of Zelda's memories play on the screen.
"Ready, sister?" asked Celestia, boldly. Luna nodded as Zelda lowered her forcefield. "W-w-wait!" she called. "W-what are you..." But niether of alicorns heard her as they fired their magical blasts at Cozy Glow. However, she used the bell to absorb the magic and take it away, causing both princesses to scream loudly in pain before they fell to the ground. "NOOOO!" cried Zelda, rushing to the princesses.
"And pause," said Gentle Gust as AJ did as he was told. "Good," said Gentle Gust as he took a picture with his magic. "Poor Zelda," sighed Gentle Breeze. "She really thought Cozy Glow killed the princesses. It even looks like it by the way they were positioned." AJ shuddered. "I know. I'd feel scared too if somecreature did that to someone I rely on for safety. But I guess with the elements of harmony gone, that's why they asked me to be Ponyville's protector. I'm their only hope." Both unicorn doctors nodded in understanding. Then, at Gentle Gust's instruction, AJ resumed the flashback.
"You know what's stronger than friendship, Zelda?" Chrysalis gloated through Jasmine's forcefield. "FEAR!"
AJ paused the flashback as Gentle Gust took another picture. "Perfect," he said. "Did you notice how scary Chrysalis looks in that picture. "She's trying to inflict fear into Zelda, making her weak minded. And she succeeded."
"That's because the elements of harmony are gone," said AJ. "Right?"
"Oh, not just because of that," said Gentle Gust. "But because of Celestia and Luna having their magic drained."
"It's really painful to lose your magic," said Gentle Breeze. "And maybe some of that fear never left Zelda. It might explain why she suffered a breakdown when her friends put her coronation over her feelings."
"Maybe they wanted her to work on not freaking out," said AJ. "Well, that's part of the reason," said Gentle Gust to AJ. "But the other part is that they were scared too."
"Should I continue the flashback?" asked AJ. "Not yet," said Gentle Gust. "I just remembered something Zelda was trying to tell me how 'he' put her into the situation. I think I know who it is."
"Who?" asked Gentle Breeze. "Look at who else was in the picture," said Gentle Gust. AJ zoomed in and saw none other than Mario. "Mario?" he questioned. "Yeah," said Gentle Breeze. "He looks scared, like he was just as much of a victim as Zelda was."
"He was probably afraid that his plan wouldn't work," Gentle Gust declared. "He wanted Zelda to take WALL-E's place on the throne and was so caught up in his obsessions that he didn't see the consequences of his actions and that they caused more harm than good."
"I'd like to blast Mario with one of my gadgets!" AJ snarled. "Now calm down, AJ," said Gentle Breeze. "We shouldn't blame Mario for the whole situation. This might have happened before his plan took place. The idea of becoming queen might have been what pushed Zelda over the edge."
"But Mario's so annoying," AJ declared. "Let me show you another flashback." So they did. AJ pulled up another thought projection that captured another memory from Zelda's head.
"So, my teacher and my Pop Pop have decided that I have... to retire," said Benny. "Breaking news," Mario said, jogging over in a reporter's suit. "Benny Bubbles is retiring early!"
AJ paused the vision as Gentle Breeze instructed him to look at Zelda's face, completely filled with shock and anxiety. "The whole thing is like a snowball," she told him. "But it wasn't snowing that day. Was it?" AJ asked in confusion. "AJ, it's a figure of speech," Gentle Gust chuckled. "It means that Zelda's anxiety had a little trigger and it just got bigger, like a snowball." AJ chuckled, feeling silly for taking the expression literally. "But why would Zelda get anxious about Benny retiring?" he asked. "This must've been planned for a long time," said Gentle Gust. "He must've told WALL-E about it first before Zelda. And she must've panicked when she realized she would be asked to be queen. Mario must've fanned the flames even further."
"But there was no fire," AJ commented. Gentle Breeze chuckled. "It's another expression," she said. "It means, when there's a bad situation, someone makes it feel worse than it already was, like fanning the flames."
"Oh yeah," said AJ. He fast forwarded the flashback and they took notice of Mario disappearing while Zelda was having a meltdown. "This must be when he started to plan the whole set up to build her confidence," said AJ. "Actually, you might want to fast forward a little more," said Gentle Gust. And AJ did. He stopped at the part when Zelda and her friends were talking at the castle. "There's Mario again," said AJ. He fast forwarded it a little bit more until Mario disappeared in the flashback. "That's when Mario's set up plan begins," said Gentle Breeze. "And did you notice how he smiled the first time, just before he took his leave?" AJ rewinded the flashback to right before Mario's first disappearing and looked carefully at the grin on Mario's face. "Hmm. He looks more serious to me," said AJ. "Like a serious kind of smile."
"That definitely looks like he wanted Zelda to be crowned quickly," whispered Gentle Breeze. "And in doing so, he unknowingly sent the snowball roll even faster in Zelda's mind." AJ nodded in understanding. "Perhaps we should question Mario personally in order to get to the bottom of why he did what he did," Gentle Gust concluded. "Only then can we truly understand how this all came to pass and what must be done to resolve it."
...
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. "Who could that be?" Gentle Breeze wondered. "I'll get it," said AJ. He opened the door, revealing WALL-E with his crown and scepter. "Hello, WALL-E," AJ greeted with a smile. "I'm just helping these two doing an assessment on Zelda, so you should wait a little longer."
"Can I just ask how she's doing?" asked WALL-E. "They sedated her," explained AJ, gesturing to the sleeping Zelda. "I'm helping those two study her mind with my thought projection magic, and they want to ask Mario to help us understand what's happening here."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible," said WALL-E. "I turned him into stone."
"You did?" asked AJ. "Yes," replied WALL-E. "Well, did you question Mario first before turning him into stone?" asked Gentle Breeze. "Yes. My guards interrogated him in the dungeons while I was helping my family prepare for the big battle. They told me everything Mario told them while Zelda and her friends were celebrating after the battle. This is what I can tell you."
Ever since Mario found out that Peach and Zelda are best friends, he saw something about Zelda that made him think that she was more powerful than his ex-girlfriend, her family and her teachers. So he felt like he had to test her, by pretending to be sick to see if Zelda was willing to go to the ends of Equestria to help a friend. With every test she was given, she passed with flying colors. He didn't realize what taking the throne would mean, from leaving Hyrule Castle and moving to the Castle of Time, not to mention being away from her friends. He figured that they could get through the whole process together.
"Unfortunetely, Mario's plan backfiring was way beyond my control, even if I hadn't blamed Zelda for the destruction of the Tree of Harmony," WALL-E sighed. "He just wouldn't think about the consequences that affected my daughter's psyche. I'm sorry. I probably should've asked you first, huh? I just... hope my daughter wakes up soon. I know Rainbow Dash thought Zelda was going to get killed from the bloodwork." AJ chuckled. "Don't worry. These two know exactly what they're doing. Zelda will wake up some time in the morning."
"And we understand why you turned Mario into stone," said Gentle Gust. "Thank you for telling us the information we needed, WALL-E."
"I just felt like it was the right way to set things right for my daughter," said WALL-E. "I made a promise to be a better father, and I wanted to do whatever it takes to protect my little girl, even if it means making a hasty decision."
"Don't worry, your highness," said Gentle Breeze. "We completely understand."
"Yes, whatever you feel is right is okay with us because it's your decision. And I think that was more than enough information tonight. Thank you, your highness. And well done protecting Zelda and being so brave."
"It's not like the time when I misinterpreted Eva's check up for torture," said WALL-E with a chuckle. "This is serious."
"Now that you told us everything you could tell us about Mario and his plan," AJ explained. "These two and I are going to review everything tonight. But it's them who's going to give the official diagnostics in the morning." WALL-E gulped. "And no, in case you're wondering, we're not stealing Zelda's soul," AJ continued. WALL-E just chuckled sheepishly and he left. "You can stay here with Zelda if you'd like," said Gentle Breeze to AJ. "Give us a call if something goes wrong, okay?" AJ nodded. "Sweet dreams, Princess Zelda," he whispered. When the doctors were gone, AJ was left alone with the princess of Hyrule. He sat down next to her and stroked her hair, hoping for the best of WALL-E's little girl. "No matter what happens," he whispered to the sleeping princess. "I'm right here for you, just like your daddy."
...
...
The next morning, the sun came up and AJ looked at Zelda, who was still asleep. He hoped the diagnostics on her fragile condition would come soon. A moment later, the door opened and Zelda's closest friends stepped in. "How is she?" asked Benny softly. "Still resting," AJ whispered, looking at Zelda. "I hope she wakes up soon." Just then, WALL-E came back, having put away his royal equipment. Impa was also there. "WALL-E and I are here for Zelda's diagnostics," Impa remarked. "All of us were affected, but Zelda was on my mind all night."
"We're all thinking about her," WALL-E said to Impa. "I couldn't sleep ever since finding Mario in my bed," Peach whispered with a yawn. "Where is he anyway?"
"I turned him into stone," WALL-E answered to Peach's surprise. "Don't worry. He won't cause any more harm to your best friend ever again." Peach smiled, knowing that Zelda's psyche would be safe. Impa then looked out the window and saw Zelda's friends outside the hospital. She gestured WALL-E to come look. "What are you looking at, captain?" asked WALL-E as Impa pointed to the window. WALL-E saw all the creatures standing just outside it. "What are they all doing here?" he asked. "I... kinda sort of told them about Zelda's situation," Rainbow Dash answered, rubbing her leg sheepishly. "Almost everycreature in Hyrule came here to support Zelda."
"You'll find all of the kids from Hero Elementary too," added Jasmine. "There was the same kid who'd lost her powers to coconut, sending Zelda her best wishes."
"That's Sara Snap," said Sonic. "She slept in the shrine of resurrection to get her powers back in twenty four hours, but there's no telling when she'll run into coconut again. There's also Lucita Sky, Turbo Tina, Rubberband Robbie, Invisigirl, Freeze Louise and Petie Heat." At that moment, Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze entered the room. Everycreature froze, knowing that it was time for Zelda's diagnostics. "It will take a few minutes for Zelda to wake up," Gentle Gust cautioned. "Would you like us to tell you now or wait for her to wake up?" Before anycreature could say anything, Zelda murmured lightly as she slowly opened her eyes. The princess of Hyrule was waking up. She cleared her throat weakly. "What... what's everycreature..." she whispered, but was unable to finish her sentence as Sonic and WALL-E sat next to her. "Sonic...?"
"Shh. I'm right here," Sonic whispered as Beast Boy rubbed Zelda's head with a linx's paw. "We're right here for you." Everycreature took a deep breath and gave their attention to Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze. "Alright," Gentle Gust began. "We've been conducting tests on your friend, daughter and teammate and have come to the conclusion that Princess Zelda has, among other issues, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD for short." This caused everycreature to feel their hearts sink. Princess Zelda, the person that had inspired them all, was diagnosed with a severe mental illness that would bring anycreature, human, pony or robot, to their knees. One that had no known cure!