A Child's Insanity: Behind the Mask

Celestia cried over the small bundle in her arms. Her mane a soft, bright pink that hung over her face and the bundle of misery she held. She cried and grieved over the small boy of the colt in her grasp, the tears dripping onto the lifeless creature with the only thing he had was his mothers white coat and his fathers two mismatch horns.

Who wouldn’t be sad? Holding your own sons corpse can cause quite the misery.

Celestia sat in her office, her mane a pattern of pink blue and green. But unlike when in the presence of important figures, her mane was cascaded down her back and somewhat in front of her shoulder and rested on her amble bust. She wore a simple white dress and golden jewelry.

She looked down at the latest offer from another greedy noble and she just let out a scoff and denied the offer. She then let out a sigh and leaned back into her plush chair and rubbed her temples. Suddenly she felt a magical signal heading for her office and saw a blue crescent moon glowed in front of her desk and in a flash of light, Luna stood there with a worried look.

“Sister, we have a problem.” Celestia could feel the beginning of a headache forming.

“What is it Luna?” She asked and Luna gulped and took in a shaky breath.

“Tia...Discord was able to trick me and Rarity into helping a creature escape the grasp of a changeling hive and it...it...it radiated Chaos and Disharmony...like a draconequus!” Celestia’s eyes widened and she could feel sweat form on her forehead. “Sister...Discord found a human.”

Thats the last thing Celestia heard before passing out.

Light sank into the two black holes of the mask that lay on top of a certain human teen. That same teen let out a small groan and slowly sat up, the mask sliding down his face and onto his lap. He slowly reached up and rubbed his working eye but left the other alone.

He slowly got to his feet, grabbing the mask, and looked around. He was in a large orange orchard, the bright colored fruit seemed to intrance him as he ran over to the nearest tree he could get to and picked one and quickly devoured it. He felt the orange slid down his throat but when he thought it would enter his stomach, he just felt more hungry.

He let out a low growl before grabbing another orange and taking a bite. When he swallowed the same thing happened and he felt a small ball of rage swirl inside him and a heat build up in his chest and he let out a huff and turning towards the east and stomping away, not noticing the floating grey smoke dissipating from where he just was.

He continued the walk towards the east and finally noticed something that could lead him to civilization. A dirt road that split in three directions could be seen and there was also a sign that pointed towards the roads. One read ‘southfield’ the second was ‘northfield’ and the last read ‘Farm’.

Nicholas read over the signs and decided that the farm would most likely hold somepony. He walked for an hour or so before he heard the screams and he recognised that scream. It was the scream of fear, the scream of helplessness.

The scream of a victim.

He grew a large smile and dashed off towards the sound and saw it was coming from a large orange barn and a wolf made of wood red wood was trying to beat the door down. The creature had a slender barrel and its legs were longer than the wolfs he had fought in the arena.

He then felt his instincts take over and let his mouth split into a grin before plunging his finger into his dead eye, sending shots of pain and adrenalin through his body. He let out a roar towards the wolf who snapped his heads towards War but didn’t even get a chance to growl before his body was launched into the air with a well placed kick.

The wolf let out a yelp and slammed into the ground but quickly got up and growled at the small but strong human. It let out a snarl and sprinted towards him, surprising War at the speed the wolf had. His surprise quickly turned to instinct and he waited for the beast to get close before pulling his fist back and upper cutting it.

The wolf yelped but recovered quickly enough to see the two outstretched hands grab its head and a foot be placed on its shoulder. It then felt its head being pulled and its neck slowly tour off and the body fell to the ground, leaking tree sap onto the grass.

War grinned madly and felt his eye slowly seal up and the adrenalin slowly wear off and he let out a sigh. He then looked over to the barn door and called out in a young voice, “Its safe!” He waited for an answer and was greeted by the door slowly opening and a mare poke her head out.

She had a dark orange coat and light red mane with a few pink stripes in them. She was wearing a black T-shirt and long blue jeans and her left ear was pierced. When she saw Nicholas and the dead timberwolf she put two and two together and a large smile formed on her muzzle.

“You...saved me?” She asked with a small sob. Nicholas looked at the mare and raised an eyebrow at the show of sadness. He just answered with a nodded and was surprised when the mare tackled him into the ground. He was about to snap her neck but she just nuzzled her muzzle into his neck and cried.

Nicholas just stood as still as he could and tried not to sneeze as her mane tickled his nose. ‘What do I do? This has never happened in the Arena!’

Snap her neck! Bite her throat out! Stab her back! Do it War!

No! You know what to do! Hold her! Comfort her! Do it Nicholas!

You are a killer War! A monster! Act like it and end her!

Nicholas, you are no monster or killer! You are a person who is needed!

He listened to the two female voices and felt a headache form in his head until...he slowly wrapped his arms around the mare and slowly rubbed her back. She cried harder while whimpering gratitude towards Nicholas. Soon though she started to calm down until she finally stopped and climbed off him while wiping her eyes.

“I-Im sorry, I’m not usually that...emotional” She said with a small chuckle. He just gave her a small smile.

Tell her your name.

Or just kil-

Say ‘kill her’ and I will slap you.

Bitch

There was suddenly a loud crack.

Ow! That hurt!

I warned you.

“My name is…

War!

Nicholas!

...Mask, my name is Mask. Its nice to meet you.” She smiled and held out a hand which he shook.

“My name is Babs Seeds and...well I would be a bit smaller but...do you know what poison joke is?” Mask shook his head, “Then...nevermind. Please come in, I wouldn’t want my saver to leave without a gift.” She gave a giggle and walked inside a house that had orange wood as a wall and a red roof.

She wants the D

Do I need to slap you again?

No ma’am.

Thats what I thought.

The interior of the house gave a very homey feeling, with family photos of dozens of ponies and the house itself had orange wallpaper. She led Mask over to a red couch that had a glass table in front of it and a fireplace in the corner of the room.

He then heard hoofsteps heading towards him and looked over to see Babs walking into the living room with a tray of orange slices and orange juice. She set the tray down and Mask nodded a thanks before taking an orange slice and popping it into his mouth  and swallowing.

Just like with the oranges he had devoured before, the moment it got to his stomach it seemed to disappear. He let out an unknotest growl and grabbed the glass of orange juice and put it to his lips.

NO! DON’T!

He almost dropped the glass when he heard the voice and sat it down. He then looked at Babs and saw her looking at his hand. He raised his eyebrow and looked where she looked and finally noticed that throughout the whole ordeals he had been holding on to the mask.

“Whats with the mask?” She asked and he started to think of an excuse for the deadly mask.

“Its...a family heirloom, my family make masks and this is the first one I made.” He said with a small smile while showing...the completely different mask. The mask was pure white with a smile for the mouth and two eyes that showed joy.

Your welcome.

He shook his head and Babs smiled. “That must mean a lot to you…” She slowly grew a somber look.

“What's wrong Babs?” Mask asked and she grew a more troubled look.

“Its...my parents. They left a while ago to go and get the cure for the poison joke...that was three months ago, after a family reunion we were at.” Tears slowly dripped from her lime green eyes.

“They were kidnapped by a pack of diamond dogs and...sweet Celestia I miss them so much.” She held her head in her hands and cried. Mask felt a fire build up in his chest and let out a growl. He suddenly stood up and Babs looked at him with confusion.

“Where are they?” He asked in a more...demonic voice.

“I-In the diamond hollow mines, in town-” She didn’t even get to ask one question before Mask burst from the house and towards the large town that looked like Manhattan but more...ponified. But he didn’t pay attention, only one thing was on his mind.

‘Kill Them’