A boy, turned Deku, stood on top of a tall tower. A laughing figure hovered over him, the huge moon looming beyond that.
A fairy chimed in the boy's ear as he stared helplessly up at the laughing Skull Kid.
"Link! Do something!"
The boy didn't respond. He could only stare.
The fairy chimed in frustration, ringing back and forth, her bell tones almost pleading.
"Somebody! Anybody! Goddess of Time, help us! We need more time!"

That last word did it. Shaking himself awake, the Deku Kid pulled out a set of panpipes.
"Huh?" said the fairy. "When did you get that instrument?!"

The Deku Kid didn't answer. Slowly, he played a note, then another. The Skull Kid jerked in surprise, and he flew down at Link to stop him. It was too late.
As the notes echoed louder and louder, the world fell away, and Link and the fairy, Tatl, fell backwards into a timeless white mist.

Clock Town ~ Dawn of the First Day

A young boy, clad in green, stepped out of the door guarding the workings of the central tower in Clock Town. In his left hand was an instrument: a blue ocarina. In his right, a strange mask, the mask of a Deku Kid. He had been freed from the curse of the mask only a moment ago, and was still recovering from the shock.

He wasn't prepared for what he saw. Clock Town was— whole again. The Moon was high up in the sky. A bunch of carpenters carried heavy beams over near the Clock Tower, with Craftsmaster Mutoh yelling at them to get a move on.
"W-what just happened?" Tatl chimed. "Everything has..."
The postman ran past, shouting, "Service Announcement! There will be no mail delivery during the Carnival of Time, three days from now!"
"...started over..." the fairy said, slowly trailing off.

The boy shrugged, and made to run to the nearest gate. Now that his sword was back where it belonged, the gate guards would surely—
"HEY!"

The yell came from close by. Link blinked, looking around until he spotted the source.
Near to the door of the Clock Tower, something had tunneled out of the ground. It looked like a giant mole, wearing overalls, a strange yellow hat, and a perpetually aggrieved expression. He waved the pickaxe he was carrying and motioned for Link to come over.

"Hello! Um... allow me to introduce myself," the mole said. "The name's Resetti. Mr. Resetti. Have we... met before? In Hyrule Field or something? Yeah... whatever. Anyway! Let me just say thanks for buying this game, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask."

Link and the fairy looked at each other.
"I don't know what he's talking about," Tatl chimed quizzically. "Do you?"
Link shrugged.

The mole continued. "Ummm... on behalf of everyone at Nintendo, I... ummm... what was the next part? Huh? Awwwww, forget it! That's enough! Let's get down to business, whaddaya say? Because you may not know it, but you and I got issues to discuss."
Mr. Resetti paused to clear his throat. "First, let me tell you just what it is I'm doin' here. Just so there are no 'misunderstandings' later on.
You, my friend, played the Song of Time, didn't you?! Huh? Maybe by accident, maybe on purpose, but you played it."

Link and Tatl looked at each other again.

Mr. Resetti kept chatting. "Or maybe you didn't, huh? Maybe the Goddess of Time just pulled you back without saving. Sound familiar?"

"Um, well—" Tatl chimed.

"Whaaaat?" Mr. Resetti interrupted. "Sorry, what was that? I didn't catch that last bit. Did you just say I'm right? You did what I said you did?"
He paused for dramatic effect.
"AH-HAH!" he said, waving his stubby arms frantically. "All right, you listen, and listen good, 'cause I get real angry when I gotta repeat stuff I gotta say. Playing the Song of Time... it's like... pressing an emergency call button. You press it, and I gotta come read you the riot act. See?"

"Hang on a minute!" chimed Tatl. "We had to play the song or the Moon was going to hit Termina!"

Mr. Resetti sighed and placed one arm over his face. "OK, look. Forget about other games for a minute, will ya? I'm here to suggest that you try and play this game, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, without playing the Song of Time. I mean... is there a Song of Time in your world? Hyrule? There isn't, is there?"

"Well—" Tatl chimed.

"Of course not," Mr. Resetti said. "That would be stupid. Not being able to do things over again? That's...called life, and you best get used to it. Lemme just give you some examples of what I'm talkin' about. Suppose you played the Song of Time over and over and over just to find an item or to erase an unfortunate incident...? Sound familiar?"

Link and Tatl both automatically looked up at the Moon.

"See, Link," Mr. Resetti said, "This is just the kind of juvenile and disgustin' style of gameplay that we want you to avoid. Where's the satisfaction in cheatin' through life? Take everythin' as it comes. In its own time. Enjoy it all. That's what's important."

"That's enough!" Tatl chimed. "If we hadn't played the Song of Time—"

"Look, I know what you're thinkin'," Resetti broke in, "'Whether I play the Song of Time or not should be up to me. After all, it's my ocarina!' Sorry. Rules are rules, OK? Know what I'm sayin'? Let's not make a big deal out of this. End of discussion."

Link went to walk away.
"HEY! Wait a sec!" Mr Resetti said. "Not done yet. Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. This being our first meeting, I'll let ya off easy, all right? Think of this as a friendly warning from me to you. But you gotta promise me: don't do it again. I'm serious here. From now on, the Song of Time is completely off-limits!"
Mr. Resetti took a breath, then finished. "So, um... yeah. Here's hoping I don't have to come see you no more. Now...

SCRAM!"

And Link did.