My Little Pony: Masks are Magic

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue

Chapter 1

“Why hello there! I’m the Happy Mask Salesman, and I sell masks all over the world.”

“Why would I have any use for a mask? Seems a bit fishy to me.”

“Oh, my. Do I seem shady? Suspicious? I bring happiness, trust me,” the mysterious man says, the grin never leaving his face, his red hair combed neatly to each side of his head, parted through the middle.

You are Anonymous, and you’ve been wandering this strange land for a long time.

“Perhaps instead of buying a mask then, you would like to become a seller of masks as well? Oh, wonderful, my own little apprentice mask salesman!”

“Look, I’m not interested in your strange little masks. Now if you would please leave me alone, I’m not interested.”

“Oh, come now,” the salesman chuckles, taking out a mask and putting it on. “Selling masks is like selling happiness to others! See? This little one looks happy, doesn’t he?” he says, pointing to the mask on his face.

It was a strange-looking mask, like a yellow fox of some kind.

“Not interested.”

”But why would you deny happiness to others? After all, these are no ordinary masks,” he says, taking out another one, this time some kind of rabbit ears. “For example, this one has magical properties that lets the wearer run very fast, see?” he chuckles, zipping a quick lap around you.

“Why would I be interested in selling these masks? Why don’t you?”

“Well, that’s where the problem lies,” the salesman rubs his hands together. “While I do enjoy selling masks, I am a very busy man. So in a few days time, I will need to leave this place, and the happiness that I will be able to bring can only go so far…”

He places his hands on your shoulders. “But that’s where you come in, my boy! You can carry on my philosophy and sell the masks in my stead!”

You sigh. “Fine. If it’ll get you to stop bugging me about it, I’ll sell one.”

“Splendid! I have your first mask right here,” he says, taking off the yellow fox’s mask, and handing it to you. “This is called the ‘Keaton Mask’. I’m sure you will bring great happiness to whoever you sell it to,” he says, once again the grin never disappearing.

“Fine,” you groan, taking the mask and looking at it, walking away.

“I will be here when you get back,” the salesman says, waving. “Have faith, Anonymous…”

You quickly turn around, and he’s gone.

“…How did he know my name?”

You’re a bit disheartened by this; but you continue moving, until you reach a sign with a town on the horizon. “…Ponyville…?” You walk down the trail, until you enter the outskirts of the town. It seems fairly rural as far as towns you’ve seen before.

Unfortunately, as you walk through the town, it’s completely deserted. “Huh… wonder where everyone is?”

You suddenly hear the pitter-patter of small feet scurrying across terrain, before the slam of a door.

You turn to the sound, but nothing is there. “This is… weird…” You continue walking through the city, to the town square.

“What do you think it is?” a pink, curly-haired pony asks, turning to a purple pony with a pink highlight through its hair.

“I’m not entirely sure, Pinkie,” the purple pony replies; she is a unicorn, and the horn on her head gives off a faint glow, closing the curtain they were looking through.

“Ah reckon he’s from far away. R’member Zecora and how everyp0ny acted when she came ta town?” an orange pony with her mane and tail tied back into ponytails (no pun intended) says, eyeing the strange creature from a crack in the curtain.

“Well, I have to say, his taste in clothing is rather… bland,” a white unicorn with curled, purple hair sighs, “I mean, really? A plain-white shirt and… and…” she trails off, before quickly looking back to the crack in the curtain with the orange pony, “What IS that material he has on his lower half? I simply MUST know!”

“Um… are you sure that’s such a good idea?” a yellow pegasus with long, flowing pink hair asks a bit timidly, her wings folding to her sides. “What if he’s… dangerous?”

“Ah, I could take him!” a blue pegasus grins, flexing her hooves in the air while floating with the help of her wings.

“Alright, I have a plan…” the purple unicorn looks to the other five ponies, gathering them around…

Where the hell is everyone?

“Hello? Anyone out there?” you call out to the empty town, turning to look for any sign of movement. After a few minutes, you give up and walk over to what you believe is the town hall, sitting on the step and taking out the fox mask from earlier. “Huh… wonder what that salesman saw in me that would make me do his dirty work for him…?”

You groan in frustration, glaring at the mask.

It almost looks like it’s smiling back at you.

Just like that “Happy Mask Salesman” did.

You grunt in anger, before throwing the mask as far as your arm could sling it. It lands with a loud *clank*, and jumps a few times before landing face-up on the ground around 10 meters from you.

You close your eyes and lean back, staring up at the sky. Hm… it’s a clear sky today…

Rain.

You have no idea how it happened, but all of a sudden you dozed off, and now it’s pouring rain.

What’s worse, the mask you threw is gone. You didn’t even hear footsteps or anything.

Now you’re standing under the overlaying roof of the town hall, with no mask, and your clothes are completely soaked.

This day is just going PERFECTLY…

You curse out the salesman for making you do this.

…Wait a minute, he’s not making you do anything!

“Hah! That’s it; I’ll just not sell any masks. He can’t make me, especially in this barren town. There’s not even anyone here!”

“I beg to differ.”

You nearly jump out of your skin when you turn around and see, lo and behold, the Happy Mask Salesman.

“What the- when the hell did you get here?!”

“I’ve been here, you just never bothered to look in this direction,” he says, and still the grin never leaves his face.

“Well, what are you doing here?”

“I see that you do not have the mask that I gave you,” he says, holding out his hand. “Which obviously would mean that you’ve already sold it! Now, may I have the payment you received for it? You may keep a 35-percent sum as payment for selling it.”

Your eyes widen; you don’t have any money! “Um… well…”

“Hm? What’s the matter?” the salesman looks up to your face. “You… did get a payment, didn’t you?”

“…No.”

For the first time, you see him open his eyes.

And it’s not the face you want to see. It’s as if he’s angry, but he can never change his mouth’s expression. He places his hands on your shoulders. “Now… the first part of becoming a salesman is being able to get payment out of your buyer, Anonymous,” he says, your eyes locking in a deadlock stare.

…Holy shit, it’s like he’s piercing right through you…

“Now, go on and get that payment, Anonymous,” he says.

“Well, um… how much should I charge?”

“That, my dear boy, is completely up to you!” the salesman’s happy expression returns once again, patting your shoulders. “Part of being the salesman is being able to barter and compromise with your buyer for a price you can both agree on!”

You sigh.

“Alright, fine; as soon as this rain stops, I’ll go out looking for it.”

“Oh, but by then who knows where the mask could have gone off to?” he says, standing up and hoisting the huge pack of masks onto his back. “You should start looking quickly, otherwise the mask will be lost forever… and nobody will be happy,” he says, before walking off, in the rain, around the corner and out of sight.

“Wait, what?”

You quickly dash off around the corner, only to see…

“He’s gone. Again.” You’re completely soaked all over again. “…Shit.”

You walk back under the town hall, and peer out from under the overhanging ceiling at the sky.

Looks like the rain’s starting to let up now, you can head out without getting too wet. Except… you have no idea where to start looking. As the sky starts to clear, you see a silhouette moving in the shadow of one of the buildings, before quickly scurrying off.

“W-wait, hey!”

You hurry off towards the silhouette, only to come up to empty air by the time you get there.

You look around; there’s a door right there. Well, might as well knock, huh? You walk up to it, and quietly knock with the tips of your fingers three times.

You put your ear to the door, and you can hear faint whispering on the other side.

“Excuse me? Um… I’m looking for something I lost. It was a yellow mask, with big fox ears on it.” You step back as you speak, and you can hear the shuffling of feet around behind the door.

“Who are you, and why have you come here?” a female’s voice asks.

“Finally, someone… well, I’m not entirely sure why I’m here, but my name is Anon-”

“Then why don’t you just… go? Just go and don’t come back!” the voice exclaims, and you hear feet shuffling away.

“Wait, but-… Why are you all so afraid of me?!” You walk up to the door, and knock on it once again. “Please, I just want answers… I’m not here to hurt anyone, I promise…”

You hear faint whispering once again, and then the voice calls to you once again. “You promise that you’re not here to hurt us?”

Finally, you’re getting somewhere.

“Yes, yes a thousand times, yes!”

You exclaim, a smile curling on your face for the first time since arriving.

The door slowly opens…

…To a strange, plum-colored creature with mulberry hair. It…

…Hooves?

“Well, if you’re trying to-”

Her words fall on deaf ears. You’ve fainted from shock.

Chapter 2

“…He’s been out… not wo… leep is be…”

You hear a female’s voice muttering as your mind wanders.

What was it you were doing before falling asleep…?

Yes, now you remember… the mask had gone missing, and you were looking for it.

The mask… the mask…

“You should find that mask, Anonymous. I require my payment one way or another,” you hear the salesman’s voice in your head.

And then, as it fades away, you hear the creepiest chuckle you’ve ever had the displeasure of hearing. Your eyes instantly shoot open, bloodshot red.

“Oh, you’re awake! You gave us quite a scare,” a female’s voice comes from above you.

Your eyes take a few seconds to focus and adjust, however when they do you swear you’re hallucinating. You reach your hand up and touch the strangely colored creature.

It has fur, and is… talking?

This is a weird hallucination.

“Where… am I?”

“You’re in Ponyville!” you hear an even higher-pitched female’s voice call out from the other side of the bed.

You turn your head and, lo and behold, there’s another one bouncing on the other half of the bed.

“Now now, Piña Colada, you shouldn’t do that to our guest, he’s been through quite a lot now,” the larger creature smiles at the smaller one, who obeys and leaps off the bed.

“So, where’re ya from, mister?” the smaller one asks, walking around to your side of the bed now.

“Um… I can’t remember…” You look up at the ceiling, trying your best to remember, but to no avail.

“What? Oh my, I hope you didn’t hit your head too hard,” the larger creature smiles, holding out its… hoof? “I’m Berry Punch, by the way, and this is Piña Colada,” she says, smiling down at the smaller creature.

You slowly reach over and shake the hoof with your hand. The smaller creature looks at the appendage with wide eyes. “So what’re those? They don’t look like any kind of hooves I’ve ever seen before!”

“Well, that’s because they’re not hooves, because I’m a human. Humans have fingers and toes.” You slowly sit up, but quickly regret the decision, due to your head spinning.

Berry Punch quickly moves to help you sit up properly. “I’m terribly sorry about all of this,” she says, smiling a bit awkwardly. “It’s just that you’re new, and well, we’ve never seen anything quite like you before, we weren’t sure what exactly to make of you. After all, you’re definitely not any sort of pony I’ve ever seen before.”

Your eyes widen. ‘Pony?’ Did you hear that right? “Wait… so you’re a… pony?”

She chuckles and looks at her hoof. “Well, I’d hope I’m a pony, otherwise I’m not entirely sure what I would call myself.”

…Great. A world where you’re the alien. Just fucking great.

“Wait, the mask!” You just remembered again, you need to find that mask. Both of the ponies jump a bit at your sudden outburst. “Did either of you happen to see a mask lying out on the road? It was yellow and looked like a fox.” You put your fingers up on your head, imitating the long ears of the mask.

Berry Punch thinks for a moment, but it’s Piña Colada who answers. “Oh! I know that one!” she exclaims, scurrying off. She comes back a few moments later, wearing the fox mask on her face. “Heehee! I thought it looked funny, so I picked it up and took it home with me! It was starting to rain so I didn’t want it to get wet or anything,” she says, walking up to you and leaping up onto the bed. “Don’t I look funny?”

You smile, and chuckle a bit. “Yeah, I guess you do. But I really need that mask back; I’m supposed to find someone to sell it to…”

“Oh! I’ll happily buy it off you,” Berry Punch smiles. “My little sister simply loves it, as you can tell. I’m sure we can work something out.”

Your eyes widen, and your smile grows. “Oh, thank you! He’ll finally leave me alone after I bring him the money…”

Berry Punch raises an eyebrow. “Who will leave you alone?”

“Long story.”

“…And there you go, 12 bits!” she smiles up at you, placing the coins onto the table.

You’re now standing up and realize that these ponies only come up to a little higher than your waist; the smaller ones barely past your knees. “And there you go, that ‘Keaton Mask’ is all yours now.”

“Yay!” Piña Colada exclaims happily, running up to you, hugging your leg. “Thank you, I’m so happy now!”

You smile and reach down, patting her on the back of the head.

Happiness…

Was this what the salesman was talking about? It felt good; knowing that behind that fox mask there was a happy young filly.

And you helped make it happen.

Suddenly, there’s a knock at the door and it breaks your train of thought.

Berry Punch turns to look at you. “You should probably hide, Mr. Anonymous; at least until it’s safe to come out.”

You nod, and quickly make yourself hidden inside the pantry as she goes to the door, opening it.

You watch the door as it opens through the crack in the door.

Inside, come 6 more ponies of different colors.

“Hello Berry, we were wondering if you’ve seen that creature around here somewhere,” the purple one turns to look at her, and Berry gives a nervous smile.

“No, nope! Haven’t seen him here!” she exclaims rather quickly.

”Right…” the purple one turns around and closes her eyes. The horn on her head begins to glow.

…Wait. Horn?

The door hiding you is swung open, revealing you in your entirety to the ponies in the room.

There’s a moment of silence between all of you, nothing even being spoken.

After a few moments, you raise your hand up. “Um… hi-”

“GET HIM!” the purple one exclaims, tightening her eyes shut as the orange pony steps up, rope in teeth, and lassos you, trapping your arms and slamming you to the ground.

“Gah, what the-!”

“I’LL BE ASKING THE QUESTIONS HERE!” the pink one with the curly hair yells, pulling out a lamp from seemingly nowhere and shining the light directly onto your face.

You close your eyes tight, shielding them from it; damn, that lamp is bright…

“Now who are you?” the pink one asks, peering right at you, the rest of the ponies in the room gathering around.

“I’m… Anonymous.”

”Uh huh. And where are you from, ‘Anon-e-moose?’”

“…Anonymous. And I’m not sure where I came from.”

“A likely story!” the orange one growls, tightening the rope.

“Gah- I’m serious!”

You fight against the bindings, but it’s no use, she has your arms pinned.

“I’ve not any idea how I got here! I’ve been wandering through a forest for three days, for crying out loud!”

The ponies stop, and the pink one pulls the light away.

“Three days? Inside the Everfree Forest?”

“If that’s the forest that’s over on the outskirts of the town, then yes!”

You look up at the ponies, all of which seem to have different expressions now.

…Compassion?

”Oh, you poor thing…” the yellow one with wings floats over to you, rubbing a hoof on your head. “It must have been terrible for you…”

…A winged pony?

“Fluttershy, what do you think you’re-!” the blue, winged one exclaims, flying over, but is stopped by the white… unicorn?

“He’s obviously been through much, Rainbow Dash,” the white one turns and looks at the floating blue pony. “He wouldn’t hurt a fly, especially with everypony here with eyes on him. Applejack, if you would,” she smiles at the orange pony.

She nods, and releases the ropes holding you down.

You slowly and cautiously stand up, stretching your limbs a bit. “Ugh… damn, that was uncomfortable…”

Berry Punch gasps a bit, and covers Piña Colada’s ears behind her masked face with her hooves.

…Whoops.

“Er, sorry…” You scratch the back of your head, embarrassed.

“Well, what’re we gonna do with ‘im?” the orange pony turns to look at the purple one. “Can’t jus’ leave ‘im here, right?”

“Oh, that’s quite alright. I was already on my way out of town anyway; I did what I came here to do.”

The yellow pony looks up at you. “Are you sure, Mr. Anonymous? I mean, if you need a place to stay somewhere in Ponyville for the night, you’re more than welcome-”

You shake your head, smiling. “No thanks; I’ve had enough adventures for one lifetime. Now then, to find that salesman…”

You begin walking towards the door, when you’re stopped by something tugging on your leg. You turn and look down; it’s Piña Colada.

”Thanks again for the super cool mask, mister!” she exclaims.

You smile and nod, kneeling down to give her a proper hug, before standing once again. “Thank you all; but for now, I’m off to meet with the salesman and return to my home.”

They all wave; you smile and wave back before walking out of the house, and out into the open air.

Seems like the rain’s stopped. Things are looking good so far.

Chapter 3

You head out towards the town square, feeling like a total boss. You sold the mask, you got the money, and now all you need to do is find… the…

…Fuck, you have no idea where he is.

Well, there goes your good mood.

As you walk through the streets, you see the ponies slowly easing their way out of their houses, eyeing you with strange and perplexed expressions. My god, all the colors…

One of them walks up to you. She’s a mint-green pony with a… harp on her flank?

What the…?

“What exactly ARE you?” she asks, a bit cautiously.

“My name is Anonymous, and I’m a human.”

She eyes you up and down. “What’s your favorite food, Anonymous?”

“Oh, that’s easy. It’s bacon.”

…

It takes you a total of seven seconds to finally process what you just said. By that time, it’s too late; her eyes have widened and she steps back a few steps, before running off. She whispers something to another pony with a curly, orange mane, whose eyes also widen just as the first one did, and the word quickly spreads around before they all once again hurry back inside their houses.

…Nice going, Anonymous.

You sigh and shrug it off, continuing on your way to the outskirts of town. After around fifteen minutes, you finally reach it.

“Alright, ‘Happy Mask Salesman’… where are you?”

You hear the insidious chuckle from behind you, and you quickly spin around.

You nearly shit your pants as you jump out of your skin, seeing the same creepy grin you’ve come to expect. Despite you seeing it on him multiple times, it never ceases to freak you the fuck out.

“What the hell, man?!”

“Oh? Did I scare you? I’m terribly sorry, I never meant to,” he says, bowing at almost a complete 90-degree angle to you before standing upright once again.

How the hell does he manage to keep perfect balance despite that giant fucking thing on his back?

Dude must be fucking ripped under that outfit or something.

“…Yeah. Anyway, I’ve gotten you the money you wanted.”

You take the coins out of your pocket and hand them to the salesman.

“Ten… eleven… twelve!” he smiles at you. “Very good, my boy! A successful sale of a very fine mask.” Sweet, you’re in the clear. “Now, tell me about the buyer. What happened when he or she received the mask?”

…Damn. So close.

You proceed to fill him in with all the details about Berry Punch and Piña Colada that you can remember.

“Ah, selling the mask to a child,” he says, brushing his chin with his hand. “And you tell me she loved it?”

You nod. He places his hands on your shoulders and grins happily.

…Not that you can tell the difference or anything.

“Wonderful! You’ve had a taste of what it feels like to give and receive happiness!” he exclaims. “Did it feel good, Anonymous?”

You think for a moment, before nodding and smiling with your eyes closed, mimicking the salesman. “Y’know what? It kind of did.”

He lowers his hands back to in front of his chest once again. “Now then, are you ready for your next sale?”

Your eyes shoot open. “W-what?!”

The salesman chuckles, reaching into his pack and pulling out another mask. “This one is called the ‘Captain’s Hat’; it represents the courage and leadership of those in command of others,” he says, handing you the mask.

The mask, sure enough, is a hat, however rather than a normal hat you would expect, it’s a hat made of bones.

The skull on the front has no bottom jaw, but you chuckle a bit at the fact that it almost looks like it’s smiling.

“B-but I only said one-”

“I want you to sell this mask next,” the salesman says, handing you a few coins. “This should be payment enough for selling that mask.”

Five coins… whoa, that’s a lot more than the percentage that the two of you agreed on!

“Wait, this is a lot more than…”

“Oh, is it?” the Happy Mask Salesman looks down at your hand full of the coins. “You must forgive me, I’ve always been terrible with mathematics,” he chuckles, looking up at you again.

Bullshit. You can almost see the sarcasm dripping through his teeth and to the ground.

Seems this guy is a pretty okay dude after all.

You smile, and close your hand, putting the hat on your head. If it makes you money, might as well. “I’ll sell this mask for ya, don’t you worry.”

He nods, and smiles up at you. “I have faith in your abilities, Anonymous,” he says, turning around.

While turning, you catch a glimpse of a… strange looking mask. “Hey, what mask is that?” you ask, pointing at the mask on the bottom-left of his pack.

It’s in a heart-shape; however it has two spikes on the top of each curve, and four on each respective side of the heart. The eyes are a yellowish-orange, and the entire design of the blues and reds and yellows…

…It gives you a menacing feeling, as if you’re being crushed on all sides.

He turns to look at it. “Oh ho ho, you’re talking about this one?” he asks, pointing at the demonic-looking heart mask.

You nod.

“Oh my, that mask I’m afraid isn’t for sale, my boy,” he says, taking it off the pack and holding it in his hands. “For you see, this particular mask is important to me, and for that reason I must never sell it.”

“Why’s it so important to you?”

He holds it up to you. “Do you see the strange designs on the front? These are the markings of an ancient tribe, known for using masks like these in its hexing rituals.”

Your eyes widen. Why hadn’t you ever heard of this before?

“Fortunately, the tribe died out long ago, and their rituals forever sealed away. However, they left one small thing behind,” he says. “This mask is named ‘Majora’s Mask’, for the name of the spirit sealed within it.”

“Sealed inside it?”

“Yes, my boy; the tribe would sacrifice evil doers and seal their spirits inside masks, and use their power for furthering their goals…”

You’re a bit creeped out by the mask.

“But, there’s not any reason to worry now! Nobody will get this mask; I’ve gotten ahold of it, so there is no need to worry. Especially not against some sort of pony creature, they can’t hurt you.”

Oh, you beg to differ…

“Well, yeah… I’m just gonna be going now, then…” You turn around, and begin walking.

“Farewell, Anonymous… I have faith in you…”

As you walk towards down, you swear you can hear another, much more sadistic-sounding voice coming from behind you… “Kekeke… soon, very soon…”

You turn around to where you heard the voice come from, but there’s nothing there. “Hey, what was that?” You look around for a few minutes, finally coming to the conclusion that the salesman is, once again, gone without a trace.

How the hell does he do that?

Chapter 4

You head to town once again; this time as you walk through the streets, the ponies seem less fearful of you.

…That’s not to say that’s a good thing.

They’re all giving you strange, almost angry looks. Was it something you said?

…

Oh right. The whole ‘bacon’ incident.

Would have been convenient for you to remember what you learned about herbivores in biology class in high school.

“Hey, you!” a voice snaps you back to reality.

You look around, before your eyes land on the source of the voice.

It’s a small yellow filly with ruby red hair and a bow in it.

You point your finger at your chest. “Me?”

“Yeah, you!” she exclaims, quickly galloping over to you. “I heard about what you did.”

“What I did?”

”Don’t play dumb!” she pouts, “Ya gave Piña Colada that fox mask!” Well, looks like she doesn’t know about the fact that you’re an omnivore.

“Yes; what of it?”

“Um… ya got any more o’ those?” she points at your head. “Those mask things?”

You smile and nod, taking the Captain’s Hat off of your head, placing it on hers, just above her bow. “There ya go. Heh, you look like a natural-born leader in that hat!”

She beams up at you. “You really think so?”

You nod and both of you share a laugh. “Y’know, I’m selling that if you want to keep it. It’s called the ‘Captain’s Hat’, and it’s only… hm…”

You think hard about this for a moment. “How does 9 coins sound? I think that’s pretty fair, don’t you?”

She grins and nods. “Sure! Just lemme get mah sister real fast, she’s got some!” she exclaims, handing you the hat back and scurrying off. “Don’ move a muscle!”

You chuckle and nod, sitting down on a nearby bench. “I’ll be right here waiting for you when you get back, alright?”

The filly nods, before quickly galloping off around the corner.

You wait for around two or three minutes before she comes back around again, this time with an excited grin on her face. “Woohoo! C’mon Applejack, yer takin’ forever!”

Out from the corner, behind the filly, comes an orange-colored…

…Oh sweet merciful god, it’s the orange pony from before that lassoed you.

She looks up from her sister to you, then back to her sister, and you, and finally walks up to you. “…What’re you still doin’ ‘round here?” she asks, looking up at you with a puzzled face.

“Turns out I have more masks I’m supposed to sell.”

You sigh, smiling and taking out the Captain’s Hat. Hopefully it’ll be the last one you have to worry about. “So this is the one that you said you wanted, right?”

The younger filly looks up at you and nods. “Yup! That’s the one!” she exclaims, bouncing excitedly.

The orange pony looks at it, before shrugging and taking out a hand…

…hoof-ful of coins?

Eh, whatever. She gave them to you one way or another. “Alright, that’s nine coins…”

“Bits, actually,” the orange pony says. “They’re called bits. It’s what we use ta buy stuff here.”

“I see… Heh, well, either way, the Captain’s Hat is now all yours!” You place the mask onto the younger filly’s head, and she jumps around happily.

The orange pony smiles at her sister, and then up at you. “By the way, Ah’m Applejack,” she says, holding up a hoof.

“Nice to meet ya. I’m Anonymous, but you probably already knew that,” you smile, shaking her hoof with your hand.

“Y’know, if yer gonna be stayin’ a while, y’all might need a place ta stay. Applebloom, ya think we have enough room up at the farm for Mr. Anon-ee-moose here?” she asks, turning and grinning at her younger sibling.

”Uh huh!” the filly exclaims, looking up at her new gift. “Especially if he has more stuff like this!”

”Well, whad’ya say, partner?” she asks, turning back to look at you. “Need someplace ta stay?”

Hospitality is never something you should turn down, especially when it’s Southern hospitality.

If it’s anything like it was on Earth, you wouldn’t want to anyway.

“Heh, y’know… now that I think about it, I really don’t have a place to stay, now do I…?” You scratch your head nervously.

The younger filly smiles up at you. “Ooh! So does that mean you’ll stay with us on the apple farm? You can meet Big Mac and Granny Smith!” she exclaims happily.

Right.

“Sure; I hope it’s no trouble-”

“O’ course it isn’t! We’re happy ta take ya in if ya need a place t’ stay,” Applejack says, smiling up at you. “Now c’mon, we don’ have all day,” she says, walking off with her sister.

“Oh, I’ll catch up with you two in a little while; I have to make a quick stop and I’ll be right there.”

“Alright, well, y’all know where the farm is, right? It’s on the outskirts o’ Ponyville, ya can’t miss it!” Applejack says, smiling at you.

You smile back and nod, waving as the two of them walk off. “I really hope they don’t find out about him…”

“Find out about who?”

GOD DAMN IT.

EVERY FUCKING TIME.

You spin around and you see that same damn grinning face.

“My my, are you alright dear boy? You’re acting as if you’ve seen a ghost or something!” he exclaims, though like always, the grin never leaves his face.

Yeah, if only he knew.

…Which he probably did. “It doesn’t matter; I sold that mask, can I please go now?”

He seemed a bit taken aback by this remark, judging by the body language.

You’ve given up trying to read the salesman’s face; it never fucking changes.

“But, my boy, you’ve only just begun! We still have happiness to spread throughout the world!” he exclaims, placing his hands on your shoulders. “You’ve only just scratched the surface! Think of how much happier you can make everyone with these masks!” he says, taking out another smiling mask, a bomb-shaped one, all sorts of different masks.

Except…

…That strange heart-shaped spiky one.

Why do you keep thinking about that thing? It’s just a mask.

You sigh. “Fine. One more. But ONLY one more. Got it?”

You point your finger right in his face.

“Oh ho ho, I understand completely,” he says, putting the masks away, all but one. “This one, my faithful apprentice, is the ‘All-Night Mask’. Like the name says, this one has a little bit of magic in it; this will keep you awake, no matter what you’re having to sit through,” he chuckles.

“All night?”

“As long as you keep the mask on, you’ll stay awake! And when you want to sleep again, just take it back off,” he says, patting your shoulders again. “Now go on and make me proud to call you my apprentice!”

He smiles and waves as he walks away.

Nope, this time, you’re going to keep an eye on him. He’s not going to get away without you seeing him.

He stops for a brief moment, turns, smiles and nods, and then goes on his way…

…Before dissipating into thin air.

There are not enough “what”s in the world to fully describe your situation.

Fortunately, at least you don’t have to worry about him anymore.

Time to get some Southern hospitality. Hopefully it’s not a trap of some kind…

Chapter 5

That was too weird.

He didn’t even take the money? What’s the big idea? Oh well, you don’t have time to dwell on this; time to find that farm those two ponies were talking about. “Alright… now where’d they go…”

You continue eyeing the different buildings and signs, trying to make sense of the ponies’ awkward handwriting on some of them.

…Or is it “hoof-writing”?

“Damn, I can’t understand a thing these things say…” you mutter, peering at one of them closely. It looks like some kind of butchered English-Russian combination of letters and symbols. “Gah… guess I have to learn it the old-fashioned way…”

Context clues.

…Fuck that.

Alright, time to find a pony and ask for directions. You spot a gray-colored pegasus with a blonde mane floating around in the air, seemingly aimlessly. You still find it hard to believe that they actually exist, but there’s one right in front of you. “Excuse me… could you give me directions to the farmlands? I seem to have gotten lost…”

“Oh, that’s okay mister, it happens to me all the time!” she exclaims, turning around to face you.

…Great. Her eyes are derped; no wonder she gets lost so easily.

“Um… so you know the way?”

“Of course! C’mon, I’ll show ya!” she exclaims, floating around in a circle around you, before heading off down the road the opposite way of which you came.

…Did you take a wrong turn?

Or does she not know her way?

“Is this… the right way?”

“Mhm! If you’re going to Sweet Apple Acres, why would you be traveling down this road?” she asks, turning to look at you with one eye, the other eye keeping its watch on the road in front of her. “Everyone knows it’s this way, after all!”

“Alright, I’ll take your word for it…”

Two hours of aimless wandering later…

…

You took her word for it.

You idiot, you shouldn’t have done that. Now you’re lost, with a derp-eyed pony, in the middle of Ponyville with no idea where you’re going.

And the sun is going down.

“Uh oh… looks like we’re lost…” she says, her head drooping a bit.

“You think?”

“Hm… oh! I know! You need to go see Twilight Sparkle! She knows where everything in all of Equestria can be!” she exclaims, smiling up at you and landing on her hooves.

“…Why would I need to do that?”

“You said you were lost, right? Well, I’m sure Twilight has some sort of map or compass or something for you to use so you don’t get lost again!” she practically beams up at you.

“Alright… where can I find her?”

“Oh! I know this one for sure!” she grins, turning around and walking, listing a bit lazily to the left as she walks. “She lives in a giant tree-library thing; you can’t miss it, even if you do get lost!”

You’re a bit reluctant to believe her a second time…

But if she’s right, this could be your chance to not only learn where everything is, but give you a chance to learn some of the writing of the ponies themselves.

She did say that it was a library, after all. “Alright, let’s go.”

“Yay!” she jumps into the air, and flaps her wings a few times to float along the ground. “I’ll show ya where to go!”

Another three hours later…

God.

Fucking.

Damn it.

This is the last time you trust this pegasus with directions.

“We’ve been wandering for hours. I’m going on my own this time.”

“I’m sorry… it’s just it’s so dark out now, I can’t really see much of where anything is,” she says, landing and turning to look at you with a sad look on her face.

You sigh, leaning down to pat her head. “Don’t worry about it. At least you gave it your best shot. But I need to find a place to stay, and quickly; the night air is getting a bit chilly…”

The pegasus tilted her head with a puzzled look, then looked at her wings, flapping them a bit. “Doesn’t seem that cold out for me.”

“Well, that’s probably because you have fur covering you. We humans, on the other hand…” you lean down and show her your bare arm, “We don’t have much fur to keep us warm.”

“Ohhh… so is that why you wear clothes all the time?”

You nod.

She giggles a bit. “So a human… never heard of you guys before. What’s it like?”

You smile as the two of you continue walking. If she’s not guiding you anywhere, at least she’s making for some interesting conversation. “Well, I was a pretty normal guy before coming here. Then all of a sudden I woke up one day and I was in a forest. Don’t remember much else other than that.”

“A forest? You mean, the ‘Everfree Forest’?!” she exclaims, her eyes widening and looking up at you.

My god, is this the first time her eyes have been straight? You nod slowly, as both of you continue walking.

“Whoa… for how long?”

“Three days.”

“Three days? In the Everfree Forest?!” she gasps, “How’d you pull that off?”

“Survival tactics I learned in scouts when I was… I think I was five or six years old when I started…”

Never thought that stuff would ever come in handy. Boy, were you ever proved fucking wrong.

“Well, that’s really interesting, Mr… um… what was your name? Heehee, I kinda forgot.”

“Anonymous; and I don’t think I ever got your name, did I?”

She grins up at you. “I dunno, either; my name’s Ditzy Doo, but some ponies just call me ‘Derpy’ for short, because of my eyes,” she says, pointing at her face as her eyes spin around in various directions.

You chuckle a bit, before looking up at the path you’re following.

A large tree with a door on it slowly comes into view.

“There it is!” she exclaims, pointing and flying ahead. “That’s Twilight Sparkle’s library!”

You follow on foot, quickening your pace a bit as she flies towards the door. She slows down and lands, before knocking on the door with her hoof, you standing behind her. You hear lazy shuffling around, followed by the taps of feet on the other side as someone comes to the door.

The door opens, and a small, reptilian creature stares up at you with lazy eyes for a few seconds, before widening and stepping back a few steps. “What… who are you?” he asks, his voice trembling a bit in intimidation.

“Spike? What’s the mat-“ you hear a familiar female’s voice cut off as her eyes set on your taller figure slowly easing your way into the library, taking care not to hit your head on the top of the doorway.

Oh, it’s the purple pony from earlier; that explains it.

“What? What’re you doing here?” she asks, looking up at you. “I thought you were leaving town?”

“Yeah, well… funny story about that…”

“He got lost, so I brought him here for a map, or compass, or something, to help him get around!” Derpy exclaims, smiling at the unicorn.

”I see… well, I guess we can’t just throw you out, now can we?” she sighs. “Come on in, you need a place to stay for the night?”

You smile, obliging and walking in. Derpy nods at you, before flying off into the night sky.

There are books lining every single wall of this place. Impressive.

“Mr. Anonymous?”

“Oh, um… yeah…”

The purple pony sighs and turns to look at the reptile. “Can you fix up the spare bed for him tonight, Spike?”

He nods at her, eyeing you closely as he walks up the stairs, to what you believe is the bedroom.

“So you need a map, then?” she asks, and your attention focuses back to her.

“If it’s not too much trouble; I tried going to the farmlands earlier today, but I had no idea where I was going.”

“Oh? Which way did you go?”

“East.”

”Ohhhhhh…” she chuckles a bit. “You went the wrong way.”

“I noticed.”

“Sweet Apple Acres, if you are going from the center of town, is to the south-west. I’m surprised you didn’t see it sooner; it stands on a rather large hill,” she says, looking around her bookshelves for a decent map of the town.

“Well, from what I can gather, the forest I came from was on the north-western side, because I do remember seeing the top roof of what I think was a barn in the southern distance when I first entered the town.”

“Oh? Did you happen to see a small cottage on the edge of the forest? That belongs to Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus from earlier today,” she says, finally finding a folded paper and levitating it over to you. “There you go, that should cover most of everything you’ll need,” she smiles. “Now then, I’m not sure about you, but I’m going to go ahead and get some rest. Feel free to look around the library if you like.”

You smile and nod, placing the map in your pocket. “Thank you for this, really.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all; it’s always good to help out someone in need.” She begins walking up the stairs, then turns to look at you. “When you’re ready, your bed is up here, across from mine and Spike’s. Good night, Mr. Anonymous.”

“Good night, Miss Twilight Sparkle. Thank you again for everything.” You smile and wave as she walks up the stairs. You walk over to one of the bookshelves, picking out a book.

“Time to learn the writing of these ponies…”

The mask…

THE MASK…!

You’re falling.

Falling into a dark hole.

Two large, orange eyes open in the air above you, and a sick, maniacal laughter rings through your head.

”I shall… consume… consume everything…” a deeper, monstrous voice rumbles throughout the abyss.

A large mouth opens up, and you’re sucked into it.

You wake up with a scream.

Chapter 6

“Mr. Anonymous?! What happened?”

Oh yeah; you must have fallen asleep while reading. You can see a small indent in the huge book you were reading where your face was. You made some progress into learning the writing style, but it was still fairly alien to you. It was strange, yes; but at least you were scratching at the surface.

…Until you dozed off, that is.

“Um… Mr. Anonymous?” you hear a female’s voice above you.

You look up; it’s the purple pony from earlier. She has a surprised, worried expression on her face. “Sorry, I… it was just a nightmare, nothing else.” You were partially telling the truth, but it was a lot weirder than that. The dream felt more… real?

The pain you felt during said dream still lingered slightly despite waking up. You grip your temples, rubbing them and your eyes.

“You should get some real sleep, Mr. Anonymous. It’s the middle of the night, and it’s not good to work with no sleep; trust me, I know,” she says, letting out a heavy sigh.

You nod and stand up, but you’re stopped mid-movement when realization hits you like a ton of bricks.

That mask the salesman gave you is supposed to keep you awake no matter what, huh?

Time to put it to the test.

You pull out the mask and stare at it for a few moments.

”What’s that?” she asks, looking at the mask.

“It’s called the ‘All-Night Mask’; supposedly, it should keep me from falling asleep.”

She lets out a stifled giggle. “That’s silly; how could a mask do something like that? Even when it’s enchanted, magical items can only go so far…” she says, rubbing one eye and walking down to you, examining the mask closely herself.

“Well, only one way to find out.”

She nods, and then you lift the mask up to your face. Almost immediately, you feel a rush of energy though you and your eyes widen, eliminating any semblance of drowsiness from your body as the mask takes its effect on you. “Whoa… I feel great! Like I could do this for hours!”

You quickly sit down and open the book, scanning the pages and processing it at speeds you thought you’d never go.

The mask, it really works!

After nearly ten minutes, you’ve finished reading through the huge book you were reading, and you sit back, cross your hands behind your head, and turn to the purple pony.

The expression on her face was enough entertainment for this entire endeavor to be worth it.

You give her the most shit-eating grin you can. “So. What do you think?”

She shakes her head quickly, and turns around. “But magic… magic shouldn’t be able to do that!” she exclaims, turning back towards you. “You… how did you get this mask?”

Wait.

Wait Anon.

Wait just a fucking minute.

“I have a bunch of them. I’m a…”

DON’T YOU FUCKING DO IT, ANON!

“…mask salesman.”

…Great. Smooth move, Anon.

“A mask salesman? What other masks do you have?” she asks.

Well, you got yourself into this, Anon. Think fast. “I have many masks, but unfortunately this is the only one I have with me at this time; the rest I’ve hidden away somewhere.

“Oh? What if somepony were to find them?”

“Trust me. Nobody would dare try something like that.” You doubt anyone WOULD try something like that, especially with the salesman guarding them.

And that creepy.

Fucking.

GRIN.

She nods, sitting down next to you, still eyeing the mask.

You take notice of this, and take it off.

Almost immediately, you’re overtaken by a great feeling of tiredness.

“Looks like it really works, doesn’t it?” she asks, smiling up at you.

You nod, and hand it to her. “I’m selling this mask right now if you want it. Only 14 bits and it’s all yours.”

“Oh my, I couldn’t do that…” she mutters, but still stares at the mask, never making eye contact with you.

“Are you sure? You could try it out yourself before you buy it, if you like.”

Try it, before you buy it. Smooth.

“Would that be okay?” she asks, finally turning to look at you.

“Sure; but for now, I think it’s time I got some sleep…”

She giggles, and nods. “You look tired. Here, follow me,” she says, and you politely oblige, walking up the stairs despite your feet feeling like lead blocks.

You see the bed that she had set up for you, and you immediately use all of your remaining energy to run towards it.

You’re out before you even hit the pillow.

You slowly open your eyes, and it’s still dark out.

Luckily for you, sleep entailed actual sleep, and no nightmares this time would stop you from getting it. You lift yourself up, looking around.

That pony from before was gone.

…Great. She made off with your mask while you were sleeping. Smooth move, Anon. Try it before you buy it, what the hell were you thinking? Now you’ve got to go back to the salesman, and tell him you fucked up.

Again.

You remember what happened last time. And you’ve promised yourself that you’re going to suppress that memory as soon as you can.

You step out of bed, and walk over to her bed. It looks like that reptile companion of hers is still sleeping. You lightly tap on its head, and it slowly stirs awake.

“Wha… huh? What’s going on?” he mutters, rubbing his eyes with his front claws.

“Do you know where the pony went? I need to find her.”

“Huh? Oh, uh… she was in the lab, last time I checked…” he said, still half-asleep. You assume that’s also why he hasn’t freaked out yet from seeing you.

“Can you tell me where it is?”

“Uh huh… yeah… sure, it’s in the basement,” he says, slowly getting to his feet, walking down the steps to a door, knocking on it before opening it. “Hey, uh, Twilight? Yeah, that human-thing’s here and wants to talk to you,” he says lazily, turning to look at you. “Hey, you’re alright,” he says, holding up a fisted claw to you. “You might sleep a lot more than us, but you’re cool. Plus, Twilight seems to like ya, too, after you gave her that mask thing.”

You smile, and the two of you bump fists, before you walk down the steps to the basement.

Once you get down, you see the purple pony from last night, hard at work with some sort of insane calculation on the chalkboard.

“Hey, so you like that mask then, I take it?”

She turns to look at you, and grins. “Like it? I love it! I’ve already solved three of the problems that I was having with this machine, and I’m looking to solve three more by morning!” she exclaims, walking over to you.

“That’s very impressive. Now, about the payment for it…”

“Are you kidding? Take them! Take all of my bits, just… let me have this mask!” she says, throwing coins left and right at you.

You could get used to this.

You laugh and nod, leaning down to pick up the coins. Wow… there’s at least 20 here, probably more! “A pleasure; just remember, you’ll need to take that mask off and get some sleep sooner or later.”

She nods. “I’ve already scheduled days for me to catch up on sleep,” she says, holding up her calendar.

…Wow, she’s going to be at this for a while.

“Thank you for this mask, it’s going to make me so much more efficient!” she smiles, walking over to hug you. “You may be different to some, but I can see you can be quite the good person deep down. Besides, with masks like these, I have a feeling you’ll be able to make a living here as a mask salesman in no time.”

You smile and hug her back.

“Thanks a lot for letting me stay the night; that was more than enough thanks.”

“Oh, the night? Silly, you were in bed all day! You came here at night on Thursday, it’s…” she turns to look at the clock, “9:38 PM, Friday.”

Holy shit. You never thought your body was tuckered out THAT much.

“But that’s alright. After all, I don’t mind. It’s always nice to get visitors every once in a while. In fact…” she says, pulling up two fairly small, yet cushioned chairs, and sitting down on one. “Would you mind if I got to know you a little bit better? This mask will be able to help me be a lot more efficient, but it’s nice to take some time to just sit down with a friend and just talk.”

You sit down in the other chair, and smile. “Yeah.”

“So, Mr. Anonymous, where are you from?”

You sigh, and stretch your arms, getting comfortable.

It was going to be a long night.

“Well, I’m from a planet called Earth…”

Chapter 7

“Wow, that’s really interesting! So you just woke up one day and you were in the forest?” Twilight asks.

The two of you had really gotten acquainted during the past few hours. You actually had a lot in common, it seemed.

“Yeah; I survived for three days on berries and fresh water from a small pond I found there.”

True story. You actually found a small pond after going nearly 2 days without water. It was the most beautiful sight you had the pleasure of beholding.

“Wow, incredible… what was it like in there? I’ve never heard of anyone aside from Zecora surviving in the forest on their own.”

During the hours that the two of you have been talking, she’s told you of all of the adventures that she and her friends had shared together. The defeat and conversion of Nightmare Moon and Luna, the Sonic Rainboom that the rainbow pony, who you learned was named Rainbow Dash, performed…

It seemed that things were a lot more interesting here than they were in your world.

“It was… well, like any other forest that I had traveled in before during a kid. It’s more or less what you described and saw when you went in with your friends, but in a much larger, denser volume.”

“What about poison joke? Did you ever walk into any of that?”

You shake your head. “Nothing like what you described, at least.”

However, after everything that’s happened to you the past few days, you doubt the validity of that statement.

“Oh… I see…” she mutters, looking up at you. “Hey, Anonymous, I’m a bit curious. What are other humans like… well, back on your world?”

“Well, they look a lot like me, really. Some let their hair grow out, others shave it all off, some are buff, some are slim… you really get all ends of the spectrum back on my world.”

“Interesting… and what about females?”

You’re a bit surprised by the change of subject. “Well, women are typically more slender than men, more of an hourglass-shape, really.” You stand up and demonstrate with your hands along your sides to show her the shape.

“Huh. That’s actually very interesting. I’ll have to look into that…” she mutters, almost inaudibly.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing,” she giggles, waving her hoof. “Now, I think it’s a bit late to be selling masks, wouldn’t you agree?” she asks, looking up at the clock.

Wow, time flies when you’re having fun talking with someone. It’s already 2:20 AM.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“You go on ahead and get to bed, Anonymous; I’ll come up in a bit.”

You nod, standing up and walking up the stairs to your bed.

Wow, she was really interesting, wasn’t she? The two of you had a lot to talk about; economics, science and mathematics, you never got this sort of intellectual stimulation since college.

And even then, most of that stimulation was at parties… oh god, the parties…

You drank so much at those parties back then; you thought your body was never going to forgive you. But your liver was a total bro, and held steadfast through those difficult times.

One good thing about going to this world; no more student loans to pay back.

You chuckle, landing on the bed once again and closing your eyes. You never thought talking with someone else would take so much energy out of you. Your mind slowly begins to wander as you drift off to sleep…

“…Twilight? What’re you doing?”

“Trying something out.”

“Why are you-”

“Shh…! Spike, you’re going to wake him up…!”

“Eh, whatever, I’m going back to sleep…”

“You do that.”

You feel a slight shift in the weight of your bed, which causes you to stir a bit.

You slowly open your eyes, and look back into…

Purple eyes.

Purple HUMAN eyes.

Purple NAKED HUMAN eyes.

Control yourself, Anon.

Don’t freak out.

SERIOUSLY MOTHERFUCKER, DON’T FREAK OUT.

You’re freaking out.

Silently.

CALMNESS MOTHERFUCKER, DO YOU FEEL IT?

Nope.

“Morning, Anonymous,” she says, the sun just now beginning to shine from the horizon.

Yep, it’s morning. Early morning. You probably got around… 3 hours sleep?

She’s smiling at you with the most bedroom-looking eyes you’ve seen since you arrived here.

Which isn’t really saying much, with all things considered.

She’s fully human from head to toe, with purple hair and a pink highlight through it just like her mane was that night. Judging from her face, she was mostly Asian, though you saw a few other racial features in her face.

And looking further down, her body was just like you described human women to look like.

And her boobs. Oh god, HER BOOBS…

You’re unsure whether this is a good or bad thing.

“…What happened?” Your face at that time was almost enough for her to burst out laughing.

“Surprised? Good, I wanted to surprise you. I worked all night on this spell, but finally managed to get it work like I wanted. I have to say, moving these up here was a bit of work…” she mutters, poking her breast. “Usually they’re further down, but I think this gives me more of that…” she grins, motioning with her hands like you did that night, “hourglass figure?”

What do you do, Anon?

“Oh , hello there, I’m the Happy Mask Salesman. I travel the world in search of rare masks to add to my collection.”

…

“Creepy? Yes, well, I suppose it’s not every day you see someone like me walking around in this world.”

…

“What’s this I have in my hands? Oh, it’s nothing you need to concern yourself with. But, since you asked…”

…

“Can you hold it? Oh my, that’s not a very good idea. For you see, this mask… it’s called Majora’s Mask.”

…

“Why can’t you hold it? Because, child, this mask while being very powerful, is very dangerous. It has the power to grant the wishes of anyone who chooses to wear it… but you see… it has a terrible curse! This mask is haunted by the spirit of a monster once sealed away long ago by the ancient ones…”

…

“No; wait, what are you doing?! No, don’t take that! My mask… oh no, something terrible is going to happen because of this, I just know it…”

Alright, for those who want to see what -really- happened once Twilight surprised Anonymous at the end of the chapter, go here.

WARNING: SEXUAL DESCRIPTIONS, DO NOT CLICK IF UNDERAGE.

Good. Now that I've safely warned you, nothing can possibly go wrong!

Chapter 8

The air was heavy with the scent of sweat.

The reptile had since decided that rather than stay in his bed and watch the two of you, he’d instead enjoy actually getting some sleep. So he left down to the basement, where he would be able to sleep without having to hear the two of you.

You, on the other hand, were completely spent.

The two of you were resting on the bed now, Twilight curled up to your side.

Was it being stranded in this world that convinced you to go through with this?

Or was it the fact that she was human?

Would you have done what you did if she were a pony?

It’s too late to be asking yourself those questions. But one thing is clear.

You just got some. And damn, did you enjoy it.

She curls up tighter next to you, her body warming yours as you two lay there on the bed. “Mmm… hey, Anon, how was it?” she asks, looking up at you.

You smile down at her, pressing your lips softly to her forehead. “Wonderful.”

She smiles back, moving so that her head rested on your chest as the two of you continued staring into each other’s eyes, relishing in the silence between you. “…We should probably get up,” she says at last, breaking the tranquility the two of you had.

You smile and nod, slowly sitting up, holding her slender figure in your arms as you do so.

She grins, giving you a peck on the cheek before hopping up, walking down the steps while swaying her hips back and forth with the happiest smile on her face that you’ve seen.

You stand as well, grabbing your clothes and slipping into them, before walking down the stairs behind her.

She walks over and knocks on the basement door. “Spike, it’s time to wake up!” she exclaims in a fairly calm tone, before walking over to you. “So, what would you like for breakfast, hm?”

You remember how they reacted when you said you liked bacon.

You’re NOT going to make that same mistake twice.

“Hm… do you happen to have waffles in this world?”

She ponders this for a moment. “No, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that. What are they?”

You get a grin across your face. Oh, you’re about to rock her world with this. “Here, I’ll show you. Where’s the kitchen?”

“Right over here,” she says, leading you to it. “What do you need?”

“Alright. I need flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, vanilla…” You go over the list of supplies, while Twilight swiftly moves through the cupboards, grabbing each item and placing it on the counter.

“Next, I need an ice-cube tray, and use of an oven. We’re gonna have to improvise a bit on the cooking since I assume ponies don’t have waffle irons.”

She nods, quickly running into the basement to get an ice-cube tray.

Spike comes walking in sleepily, rubbing his eyes. “Ugh… hm, what’s going on?” he asks, turning to look up at you.

“Making waffles.”

“Making wha…?”

“Delicious tasty waffles.”

He shrugs, climbing up onto the counter. “Anything you need me to help with?”

“Do you cook?”

“Yup! I help make breakfast every day!”

You nod, handing him all of the cooking supplies and quickly running through all of the measurements you remembered in your head. “I need you to get me one and three-fourths cup flour, two tablespoons of sugar, one tablespoon baking powder, two eggs-”

“Um, maybe just one at a time?” he asks, his head spinning a bit trying to register all of the numbers.

You nod quickly, taking the supplies from him and arranging them onto the counter.

“Alright, first we need to get a large bowl and mix all of the dry ingredients into it.”

“Check!” he exclaims, bringing you a fairly good-sized bowl and spoon.

“Nice.” You proceed to measure and dump all of the dry items into the bowl and stir them around a bit while giving the next instruction. “Next, we need to dump the wet ingredients into a separate bowl and beat them until they’re mixed together.”

”Got it!” he gives you a thumbs-up with his claw, before scurrying off to get another bowl.

Twilight comes in just as he leaves, carrying a fairly large clothes iron with her. “Got the ice-cube tray!” she exclaims, putting it onto the counter.

You ponder for a moment why ponies would need such a tool, but decide not to question it much. “Alright. Spike’s gone off to get another bowl; we’re going to mix all of these together soon.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she grins at you. “What exactly are we going to do when we cook it?”

“Well, because we don’t have a proper waffle iron, I’m going to improvise a bit. Could you use your magic to mold the batter into a disk-shape?”

She nods. “I can, but that would mean that my human form would have to disappear,” she says.

Damn, you have to choose, Anon.

Human, or waffles?

…

Silence between you two.

“…I can change back right after.”

“Yeah, do that.”

She giggles and snaps her fingers, causing a purple aura to slowly form around her, before a large, bright light shimmers from her body as it transforms back into its pony self.

You have to shield your eyes from it, but it only lasts a few seconds.

“Alright, let’s do this,” she says, just as Spike returns with another bowl.

You nod, taking the bowl and pouring the rest of the ingredients into it.

“You have an egg beater anywhere?”

Twilight nods, levitating the utensil over to you.

You proceed to beat the hell out of the mixture until it was all one color. “Next up we combine the two.”

Twilight nods, her horn glowing and hovering the bowl of wet ingredients into the air, before slowly pouring the mixture into the larger bowl with the dry ingredients.

“We’ll need to mix them until-”

“Allow me,” Twilight grins up at you, her horn glowing a bit more intensely.

Almost instantly, the mixture in the bowl began to swirl together, slowly getting faster with each circulation.

You step back as Twilight concentrates on her spell, the glow slowly becoming more and more intense as the mixture spun faster.

“Alright, Twilight, I think that’s enough…”

…No response. She continues to spin the mixture.

“Twilight, I said that’s eno-”

You turn to look at her, and you notice something a lot weirder about her.

She has no pupils.

…Or iris, for that matter.

Just blank, white eyes.

And the glow continues to get stronger.

“HIT THE DECK!” Spike exclaims, diving under a nearby chair as small pieces of the batter start shooting off in random directions.

You do the same, and just in time; it’s not even two seconds later that the entire room explodes in delicious batter-y goodness.

“…What happened?”

You slowly stand up, your entire backside covered in sticky, pale-white liquid.

Spike peeks out from under the chair. “Is it safe to come out now?”

You nod at him, and both of you walk over to Twilight.

“Hey, you alright?”

She’s not moving.

…

“…Okay Twilight, that’s enough messing around, let’s get this cleaned up…”

Still no movement.

“C’mon Twilight, let’s go!” Spike exclaims, walking up and shaking her.

Still nothing.

…

“…Twilight?”

The day before…

“Wow, that was so scary… but I’m proud of myself,” a quiet, timid voice mutters, hidden from sight. “I finally became more assertive! I showed him!” she exclaims, holding up the fruits of her work.

A large, heart-shaped mask with four spines on the sides, and one on the top curve.

“Now, what exactly is it…? Some kind of mask?” she asks no one in particular, peering at the intricate markings, before stopping at the eyes.

“Maybe…” she mutters, turning it around and placing the mask on her head. “Heehee! It’s a bit big, but-”

She never even finished the sentence.

Everything goes silent, save for the wind rushing through the treetops.

“…Kehehe…”

The masked pony quickly dashes off into the forest, disappearing with a mischievous chuckle.

Chapter 9

“You gotta help her! Please, Anonymous!” Spike pleads, looking up at you with sad reptilian eyes.

You nod, quickly moving her out of the kitchen, and out into the main room, laying her out to be able to check her body signs. You place your hand on her neck, trying to find a pulse.

There! You found it. “It’s faint, but it’s still there.”

Spike’s looking from over your shoulder, his eyes never leaving the still body in front of the two of you.

You turn to look at him, smile, and place your hand on his head. “She’s going to be alright. But I’m going to need you to do exactly as I say. Is that clear?”

He nods quickly, stepping back off of you. “What do you need me to do?”

“One moment. I’m going to check her airways, make sure she’s at least breathing before we do anything.” You lean down to her mouth, placing your ear to it.

You hear faint gasps for air, which let you know she’s still at least conscious. “Alright. She’s still conscious, too; that’s a good sign. But…”

You look at her horn. It’s charred on many of the sides, probably from losing control of that spell. “She’s still going to need medical attention. Spike, can you go let someone know that we need to get her to the hospital?” You turn to look at him for a response.

He nods. “I’ll tell Rainbow Dash, she’s faster than anyone here right now,” he says, scurrying off.

“Quickly, go!”

You turn back to Twilight, and cup her head in your hands. “Stay with us, Twilight, you understand me? Don’t give in, no matter what.”

…

Where am I?

Everything’s dark.

Except… I hear a voice.

It’s faint… it sounds like…

…

Is that Anon?

Anon? Where are you?

I can’t see anything…

“Kehehe…”

Who’s there?

“You think he cares about you? No pony ever cared about you!”

Who are you?

“Wouldn’t you like to know? I’m closer to you than you think… Kehehe… haha…”

Your voice… it’s so familiar… but…

…It’s different…

“Don’t think I’m done with you quite yet. There’s still so much I can do, this is barely a fraction of my power…”

What?! What are you talking about?

“Twilight? Twilight!”

Her eyes are open, but they’re jittering around.

What’s going on?

“Anonymous? Is that you?” she asks finally, her eyes fixating on you.

“Yes, yes it’s me; don’t worry, you’re going to be alright…” You reach out to her, but she smacks your hand away.

“How could you let something like that happen to me?! What kind of friend are you?”

“…What? What’re you talking about?”

”Letting my spell lose control like that, knocking me unconscious… what friend just lets another friend do that to themselves?!”

“Look, Twilight, we’ve all been through a lot this morning-”

“Oh, is that right? Tell me, Mr. Anonymous, did you get knocked unconscious from that spell? Because if it weren’t for you suggesting some new breakfast food, we wouldn’t have been in that situation!”

“Twilight, I…”

“‘Twilight, I…’,” she mocks. “Come on, are you going to do anything else besides wallow around in your uselessness?”

That’s enough.

You stand up. “I suppose last night meant nothing to you, then?”

“Meant something? Get out of here, Mr. Anonymous. I don’t want to see your face ever again!”

You feel a lump in your throat.

You swallow it, turn around, and walk out the door, slamming it behind you.

Not even ten seconds pass by before you see a blue pegasus swerve past you to get to the library. “Hey, watch where you’re going!”

You don’t even acknowledge her comment as you walk.

Keep walking. Until you reach the outskirts of town once again.

You want to go home.

You want to leave this place.

And if it weren’t for that damned salesman, you wouldn’t be in this situation…

“My boy! Please, you must help!”

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. You turn around, an angry scowl on your face.

“What do YOU want?”

“Please!” the salesman quickly places his hands on your shoulders, catching his breath. “Something terrible has happened!”

Your scowl does not fade; your gaze is unforgiving. “Hasn’t enough already happened because of you and your masks?!”

He looks up at you.

…Wow. This is the first time you’ve ever seen him… frowning?

Or at least, what you THINK is frowning; the edges of his lips are the only things curving downwards.

It creeps you out a bit.

Reminder: get brain bleach once this is all over.

“Anonymous. I know you’ve not been very open to being a mask salesman, despite all that I’ve put you through,” the salesman says, bowing his head. “But you must do this! I cannot get my mask back on my own!”

Don’t do it, Anon.

Don’t you fucking do it.

“Fine. What happened?”

God damn it, Anon.

The salesman’s smile returns, and you instantly regret your decision. “It was dark out, so I wasn’t able to get a very good look at who it was, but someone made off with my most precious mask!” he exclaims, turning around to show you the empty space on his pack.

Wait, it was that evil heart-shaped one?!

“What did they do? What did they look like from what you could see?”

“Well, from the voice I could tell it was a female, yes. Definitely a young woman. Or…” he snickers, “Pony, in this case.”

You sigh.

“Ah, yes. She had a long mane, and from what I could tell she had yellow fur. Does this sound familiar to you?” he asks.

Come to think of it…

“Yes. Yes it does.”

“Excellent! I will leave the retrieval to you, then?” he grins at you. “This will be your first true test; a salesman must not let a buyer steal a mask from them. They must always be able to get the mask back by any means necessary,” he says, his eyes opening once again, the two of you locking eyes.

…Damn, that still creeps you out.

“Alright, fine. I’ll get your damn mask back. But in return, you have to return me to my own world.”

“Wonderful! Now, you must remember, this is a very dangerous mask. Very powerful,” he says, shaking your shoulders a bit to emphasize with each syllable. “You must not let its power corrupt you. I have faith in you, Anonymous,” he smiles at you. “I know you’ll get the mask back.”

You groan on the inside. Why do you always do this? Why do you always have to be the good guy?

“Yeah, yeah… fine…” You rub the bridge of your nose. “So is there anything I need to know about the mask?”

“It’s the spirit of an ancient, sadistic beast that consumed the souls of its victims. It’s a very dark, powerful mask. But, the mask is dependent on the spirit of the one it possesses,” he says, stepping back. “The mask has already been weakened previously by another. However, that does not mean that you can treat it as any less of a threat.”

You nod. “So are you saying that it could manipulate the minds of others?”

He nods back. “Very possible. Especially if the mind is very weak at the time.”

Your eyes widen.

You know what happened to Twilight.

“I have to go.”

He nods. “Yes; go, Anonymous. Oh, one more thing,” he says, reaching into his pack and taking out a mask. “If all else fails, use this mask as a last resort…” He hands the mask to you, and you nod, tucking it away, hidden from sight.

Just once, you’d like to lead a life of SOME normalcy.

But nooooo, fate always has to come back and bite you in the ass.

“Thank you, my boy! Your reward for this will be beyond comprehension…” the salesman says, as he then turns and begins walking away.

“Wait, salesman, wait! How do I beat the mask? Do I take it off the wearer or something?”

“Have faith…” the salesman’s voice trails on the wind as he vanishes once again. “You will know what to do when the time comes…”

Well, great. Now you’ve got something you REALLY need to take care of.

First things first, though; make sure Twilight is alright.

Hopefully that outburst from earlier wasn’t anything like the salesman said it was…

You walk back to Ponyville, looking around for any pony that could lead you to the hospital.

Any except… Oh no, here she comes…

“Heya, Mr. Anonymous!” she exclaims, grinning as she flies over to you. “Where’re ya goin’?”

“Trying to find the hospital. I don’t have time to be messing around; have you gotten any word about Twilight Sparkle’s condition?”

“Twilight? Oh, she’s in her library still!” she grins proudly. “She said something about… hm… ‘Not wanting to have anything to do with that human’, and then she slammed the door,” Derpy says. “Wait… aren’t you a human?”

You’re already long gone by the time she finishes her train of thought.

”I gotta stop doing that…” she mutters, floating off.

Chapter 10

“Twilight?!”

You’re banging on the door to the library.

No answer.

You sigh, stepping back a few steps from the door. Let’s see… two windows, one door window…

You sit cross-legged, waiting to see the sign you’re expecting. With eyes like a hawk, you closely examine each door, window, crevice… Anything they could look out of to see you.

Bingo, there it is. The slitted eye of a dragon, along with the smallest hint of a claw, holding the blinds up to look at you.

“Gotcha.”

You stand up, walk over to the door again, and Spike quickly retreats back into the tree. “I know you’re in there, Spike! I just want to talk, that’s all.”

You hear quiet mutterings inside the dwelling.

“I saw, and hear you, Spike; you might as well let me in.”

You wait a few moments.

No answer.

“I’ll give you to the count of three, Spike; otherwise, I’m forcing myself in. One…”

You hear the pitter-patter of feet scurrying around the floor of the tree.

“Two…”

Still nothing at the door. You rear your leg back.

“Three!”

You bring it up, and you kick with all your might.

Only, you hit nothing but open air…

Ohgodyourbalancefuckfuckfuckfuck

You just barely save yourself from doing the splits right over the head of the baby dragon.

“Whoa, dude!” Spike yells, ducking his head, just barely dodging the kick. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“…Breaking in?”

Spike leans back up, snorting. “Dunno what got into your head, but you wouldn’t have ever pulled it off even if you tried with all your might.”

“Oh? And what makes you say that?”

He knocks on the wood. “Only pony that I’ve ever seen strong enough to knock down THIS door is Applejack, and MAYBE Rainbow when she’s going at top speed,” he grins up at you.

“…Oh.”

Ouch. Your pride.

“So, why’re ya here, Anonymous?” Spike asks, curious.

“Twilight. Where is she?”

Spike shudders a bit. “Downstairs. She’s been down there for a while… not letting anyone else down there; she’s locked the door with some kind of magical spell,” he says, walking you over to the door to the basement.

“Any way we can break it?”

Spike shakes his head. “I’ve tried everything about magic that I know; which, now that I think about it, isn’t very much…”

You nod. “What if I try opening it?”

“Worth a shot. Go right ahead,” Spike says, shrugging.

You nod, taking a step back, before ramming your shoulder into the door.

Ouch. Your actual body.

It worked, though; the door flew open…

And you tumbled down the stairs, landing in a crumpled heap at the bottom.

Damn, this is just not your day.

“Hello, Anonymous…”

You look up to see…

“Twilight? What’s going on here?” You get to your feet, looking around the basement.

It’s covered from top to bottom with strange machinery the likes of which you’ve only seen in old pictures of computers that would fill the entire room of a business or something like that.

“You’re just in time, Anonymous; I was just about to go and find you,” she says, still turned around, her face hidden from you.

You turn to look back at her. “Well, that’s good… listen, Twilight, I think I know what happened back there with your mag-”

“You’re a phenomenon in and of yourself, Anonymous…” she says, finally turning to face you. “And I intend to find out just what it is that makes you said phenomenon…”

Her hair in the front is completely tattered, and her fur is matted all along the front. It looks like she hasn’t gotten any sleep for days. And her eyes…

She has a crazy look in her eyes… they’re…

…They match the color of the heart-shaped mask’s eyes perfectly.

“Twilight, wait; you’re not yourself… please, let me help yo-”

“Help? ME!?” she lets out a cackling laugh. “Why would you do such a thing, when my mind is so clear now!” she exclaims, her horn glowing a thin purple pigment. “It’s all so obvious. And it’s all thanks to this mask here,” she says, levitating the All-Night Mask to you.

“Twilight, what exactly are you doing here?” You slowly and cautiously walk over to the table next to her, looking at everything that she has written down.

It’s all completely gibberish to you… what has she been doing all this time?

“Twilight, I’m going to have to ask you to stop whatever it is you’re doing here… it’s not good.”

“Stop?! But I’ve come so close now!” she exclaims, looking up at you with angry eyes, one eye twitching slightly. “There’s only one test left for me to perform, and everything will make sense!”

“And what test is that?”

She grins, her horn glowing again and slowly, various knives and sharp utensils begin to float up in the air. “Live dissection.”

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE. RUN LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER, DUDE. NOW.

“Twilight, you can’t do this! I’m a sentient being just like you are!”

She giggles in the most mischievous, devilish tone you’ve heard from her yet. “Science demands that I do it! It’s the pursuit of ultimate knowledge that must push the very foundation of morals for the sake of understanding and objectivity!”

“But there’s just a point where morals have to take hold, Twilight! What you’re saying is taboo in most forms of scientific discovery!”

Her expression turns to one that looks much more serious. “What would you ever know about science? You’re not in the position that I am in right now. But don’t worry,” she says, brushing the blades of two knives together, “You’ll not feel a thing.”

This bitch be crazy.

“I’m sorry, Twilight, but I’m not going to let you cut me up. I’ll fight back.” You quickly look around, and find an empty vial, smashing the bottom and holding it up like a broken beer bottle.

Twilight laughs. “How do you expect to defend yourself with something like that?”

“I don’t.”

You throw the broken vial at her, and proceed to make a mad dash for the stairs.

“Get back here, Anonymous! You’re not going to get away that easily!” she yells, sending deadly projectiles every which way at you.

One of them grazes the back of your thigh as you run, slicing through your pants and creating a large gash along it. Despite the pain, you continue up the stairs.

”No you don’t!” Twilight growls, and instead of firing them directly from the side at you, she launches the projectiles up the stairs, hurdling directly for your back.

You fall to your stomach, barely dodging them, and you feel a few hairs from your head fall off from the projectiles as they graze the back of your head as you go down.

Luckily, you don’t feel any cuts on your head, so it’s time to keep moving.

You move on all fours up the stairs, quickly making it to the foyer of the tree-library, free of any more deadly blades she would fire at you.

“Spike?! Spike, where are you?”

You hear whimpering and shivering in the corner.

You turn and see Spike, curled up in a fetal position in the corner, shivering uncontrollably, his eyes wide and slitted pupils so slim you can barely see them.

“Spike? What’s the matter?” You quickly rush over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He’s freezing; his core temperature’s down way too low to be safe.

“Spike, you’ve gotta listen to me; what’s happened?”

His eyes slowly turn up to look at you, and you notice that they’re trembling trying to focus.

Damn, this isn’t good…

He slowly and cautiously lifts his claw up, and points a finger to the other side of the room.

You slowly turn your head and the sight you see before you is unlike anything you’d expected.

There is a yellow-colored pegasus with a long, hot pink mane, standing on the other side.

And on its face, with those same ghastly orange eyes… is the mask that had been stolen from the Happy Mask Salesman.

”Hello, Anonymous…”

Chapter 11

You’re a bit shaky due to the adrenaline of running.

Y’know, because you’d be dead if you didn’t.

The yellow pegasus with the mask laughs. “Oh, I see. You’re shaking in your boots at the sight of me, aren’t you?” she snickers, slowly walking forward.

Those eyes… those creepy, orange eyes…

“What did you do to Spike?!” You grit your teeth in anger, moving between her and the reptilian creature.

“You’d be surprised. Despite being able to breathe fire and other elements, dragons are actually cold-blooded. Did you know that?”

Your eyes widen a bit.

“That still doesn’t answer my question, though.”

She sighs, obviously annoyed. “Really, Anonymous? You haven’t figured it out? And to think I took you for smarter than the average monkey…” she giggles, floating up in the air with her wings. “Very well, I’ll tell you what I did. Dragons, as you know, have large, armored scales that protect them from any sort of attack. But did you know that they also protect them from large changes in the weather?”

She continues floating toward you, and you stand up, holding your ground.

“Unfortunately for little Spike, he’s just a baby dragon, so his scales aren’t fully grown yet,” she says, lifting her mask up to show you her true face as she gives you a devious grin. “Does it make sense yet, or do I have to continue?”

You notice that her irises are the same as Twilight’s were before…

Speaking of which.

You hear hooves rushing up the stairs. She’ll be at the top soon.

“Listen, I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a second crazy psycho-lunatic after me, and frankly? I don’t like the prospect of being cut up. So if you’ll excuse me…” You begin to walk forward, but she holds up a hoof.

“Sorry, Anonymous, but I can’t let you leave so soon. Not when the fun is just starting,” she says, grinning at you before lowering the mask down onto her face once again. “Besides, you’re the main attraction! And it’s all thanks to the Happy Mask Salesman, isn’t that great?”

You raise an eyebrow. “What’re you talking about?”

“Oh, come now, Anonymous, I know he gave you something with a great amount of power. I can feel it,” she says.

Aaaand, here comes Twilight. Great…

She leaps up through what remains of the door you smashed down, and looks at you with a maniacal grin. “Now, Anonymous, don’t run… we’ve just gotten started on our studying…” she says, levitating three large, sharp knives in the air around her.

“Oh, Twilight, it’s you,” the masked pony turns to look at her. “Anonymous and I were just having a few words, that’s all.”

Twilight turns and looks at the pony with wide eyes. “…Fluttershy? Is that you? What happened?”

“Yes, it is; and this mask here is wonderful, it gives me so much power to use! Look, I can do magic too!” she exclaims, and her head begins to shake in a circular motion as she levitates, and you can see small pink and red movements through the air as she does so.

It’s at this moment that Twilight lets out a shrill cry of pain. It fills you with a sense of dread as your eyes slowly trail back to her, and she’s…

…she’s encased in stone.

No… it can’t be…

“That should keep her from interrupting our discussion. Now then…” she says, turning to look at you. “What’s that you’ve got, Anonymous? Take it out so I can see it for myself.”

…

“No.”

She eyes you for a moment, before landing. “Alright, I see you’re going to be stubborn about it. Very well, I suppose I’ll take it by force.”

“You won’t, because you can’t directly harm me without damaging what you’re looking for. So what’ll it be?”

You thought you saw her head twitch for a second there. “I have powers beyond your very comprehension, Anonymous. Do you honestly think I cannot do mental harm? It’s quite simple, really; Twilight knows all about it, after all.”

…

“You… you’re the one who did it to her?!”

“I thought you would have figured it out before all this happened, Anonymous. The salesman… he DID tell you what kind of things I’m capable of, did he not?”

You hesitate for a moment. “…No, he didn’t.”

“Well, that’s a shame. Because it would have come in very handy for you. Too bad,” she says, and she floats up into the air again, this time the air growing even colder.

You hear the shivering grow louder.

…Oh no.

“You… why are you bringing him into this? He’s just a baby dragon!”

“Until you hand it over, it’s just going to make him worse off. So, what’ll it be?” she asks, snickering at you. “Hand over the mask, or continue to let the temperature drop and let the poor, defenseless baby dragon freeze to death?”

You’ve heard enough.

“How about neither?!”

You quickly sprint forward at the pony, rearing your fist back for a punch.

You bring it forward with all of your might.

…And you hit air.

“Oh, Anonymous! Over here,” she says, and now she’s to your left, standing next to the statue of Twilight. “She is quite beautiful, isn’t she? Remarkable craftsmanship, if I do say so myself,” she says, brushing the bottom of her hoof against Twilight’s chin.

“Step AWAY from her!”

You growl out angrily, clenching both fists and your teeth in rage as you charge once again.

“Ah ah ah, Anonymous,” she taunts, before the mask’s eyes glow and you’re sent hurdling back into a nearby bookcase. “One more step, and you can forget about the two of them returning to normal.”

Your eyes widen.

“What do I have to do to make you stop this?”

She thinks for a moment. “I’ll make things interesting for you. Meet me at the edge of the Everfree Forest, near my cottage. For every minute I spend waiting, the temperature in here will drop two degrees. Bring the power I sense with you, or the temperature drops as close to absolute zero as I can make it.”

You consider your options.

“…Alright. I’ll do it.”

“Very good, Anonymous; now then, I really should be going. There’s so much mayhem to cause, I don’t know where to start! Just follow the trail of destruction and you’ll find your way to my cottage. Have fun!” she says, before vanishing with a flash of light and a cackling laugh.

You pick up your bearings, and walk over to Spike. “Don’t worry, Spike; I’m going to fix everything. Just hang in there.” You kneel and place your hand to his head.

He looks up at you, nodding with a smile despite the uncontrollable shaking caused by the cold.

You smile down at him, before standing once again and walking over to the statue that was once Twilight.

You stare into the blank eyes of the one you were with the night before. “Twilight… I’m going to get you back to normal. You’ll be your old self again, I promise.”

You lean down, giving the statue a hug, and despite the coarse feeling of stone against your skin, you feel… as if her spirit were there with you, cheering you on.

You smile, standing up and turning to the exit. “I’ll come back as soon as I take care of everything. I swear.”

You take one last look at the two of them, nod, and sprint out in the direction of the large forest.

The forest you came here from.

The forest that holds all of that evil within its borders.

Two degrees for every minute that passes. You’ll have to work fast.

Chapter 12

Damn, that pony was right. You can easily tell which way her cottage is.

You see the edge of the forest in the distance as you continue running across the roads, while buildings and foliage are in complete ruin all the way to the outskirts of town.

In the distance, you see a small cottage that has been ruined and now has an eerie aura coming from it. It’s as if the very presence of evil itself was emanating from it.

…Probably because that’s where that pony with the mask was.

You manage to get up to the bridge in front of the cottage, crouching down to where you were out of sight as you surveyed the area.

It didn’t look like she was outside at all.

Great. That means you have to go INSIDE the cottage…

This doesn’t give you many chances of escape should it become a necessity.

You sigh, and take a moment to gather yourself.

No fear, Anonymous.

You hope that whatever god is watching over your sorry ass gives you the strength needed to protect them.

Twilight… and Spike…

You stand after a few moments, and begin walking the final distance between you and the cottage.

“Ohoho… he’s off to confront that little demon… now for the real show,” a shadowy man watches from the forest, a grin plastered onto his red-haired head.

”If I can only get that mask back… I’ll no longer have a need for this world. I just keep moving on… Ho ho ho ho…”

This is it.

You reach your hand forward, and you slowly push the already-ajar door open to a dark, deserted room.

You slowly take a step inside, and quickly notice things that are immediately different about this place than what you remember seeing when you first caught a glimpse of it when arriving in Ponyville.

For one thing… the stench of something foul reeks in this place. You can’t put your finger on exactly what it is, though.

You make note of that as you continue walking through the house.

You return to the living room after making a full sweep of the house, making sure not to trip on any unhinged boards or hit your head on loose pipes.

…It doesn’t look like she’s in he-

“Hello, Anonymous. So glad you could join us,” you hear the same menacing female voice from earlier as she walks to the door, closing it with one of her hind legs, the eyes of the mask glowing the ghastly orange you knew it for.

Well. Looks like she was hiding in the dark of the corner.

She’s standing between you and the doorway. Just wonderful.

”Did you bring the power I sensed, like you promised?”

You smirk, doing your absolute best to keep your cool. “Wouldn’t you just sense it on me anyway?”

The pony thinks for a moment, and then nods. “I suppose I just wanted to hear it escape your lips first,” she says, walking forward. “Now then. Hand it over.”

You nod, kneeling down and reaching into your bag. You can almost feel the aura coming off of this pony. It’s… horrifying.

You’re just about to pull it out, when both of you are distracted by a blinding flash of light.

“That is enough. I will not tolerate this any longer,” a commanding voice echoes around both of you.

The masked pony’s gaze is transfixed on the bright light as two large, pristine figures emerge from it.

One is a white pony, with both a horn and wings. She’s wearing a golden crown and other various adornments, and her mane flows as if all of the sun’s rays were stored within her. On her flank, a large sun-shaped marking is clearly visible as the light slowly diminishes.

The other pony has darker fur, and her eyes and mane are a glowing blue, as if made from the night sky itself. She wears similar adornments to the white pony, however rather than gold, they are a black, almost onyx color.

“We will not stand idly while you continue to harm the ponies of this land,” the white one speaks once again, this time her horn glowing a golden aura, illuminating the living room in its glow.

The masked pony is visibly shaking now. “No… no no no no! I WILL NOT BE UNDONE!” she yells, and lets out an ear-shattering shriek as she levitates in the air, the entire room shaking as the powers within it clash against each other.

“There is no stopping it. You are powerless against us,” the darker pony shouts, as her horn glows a bright cobalt blue, before both ponies launch two large, powerful beams of light at the mask, hitting it square in the center as it lets out its shrill cries.

You’re completely shocked at the sight you’re seeing; who were these two ponies? Were they the two ponies that Twilight told you about?

…Twilight…

You knew what you had to do.

Unfortunately, the power crackling within the air was preventing you from doing any sort of action, lest you be sent flying back into a nearby wall or worse… through one.

You didn’t like the prospect of being impaled by nail planks. You decided that it was probably in the best interests of everyone that you didn’t get involved at this point. You didn’t need to worry the two princesses any more than they already were.

“What?!” the darker one exclaims, her eyes widening.

The mask, it was… pushing them back?

What the hell was going on?

“Kehehe… You’ll have to do better than that, princesses…” a darker, much more sinister voice echoes around the room, as the gold and dark blue beams of energy were slowly pushed back to their sources.

The white pony’s eyes are wide with surprise. “But… how? How did you do that?”

“I have control over powers that you could never even fathom, Princess Celestia.”

Alright, the white one is Celestia, which means the darker one is Luna…

“As a matter of fact…” the masked pony laughs, landing on her hooves. “Why don’t I show you?” she exclaims, stamping her hoof on the ground, cracking the floor under it.

There is silence for a few moments.

…And then you feel a low rumbling.

“If you know the legend, you should know what is happening,” the masked pony says, chuckling to herself as the rumbling slowly becomes louder and more intense.

Luna’s eyes widen, and she looks up to the ceiling. “No!” she exclaims, as the rumbling gets to a point where part of the roof caves in, and you stare wide-eyed at the massive expanse that is…

…the moon.

It… can’t be…

It’s the moon, and yet… it’s not.

The same orange, ghastly eyes that are on the mask are plastered onto the moon’s demonic expression.

“Ha ha HAH! If it’s something that can be stopped, then just try and stop it!” the masked pony exclaims, laughing in hysterics as the three of you stare blankly at the moon as it comes barreling down towards the center of town.

“No, I won’t allow this!” Luna exclaims, and her horn glows a bright cobalt blue once again, her body straining under the immense power she is exerting herself against. “Won’t… let it… happen…”

You decide that now is the time to act. With the masked pony’s attention focused on the two alicorns, you quickly charge her, taking hold of the mask.

You hear a blood-curdling scream as you rip the mask from her face, pushing her to the ground and throwing the mask as far as you can away from you.

The yellow pegasus that was under its control looks up at you with the same orange-sclera eyes as before, glaring up at you with her eyes fully open and bloodshot as she cries out in pain, before fainting under you.

…

No movement, but she is breathing. That’s good. One problem out of the way.

Now, to focus on the moon.

You turn and notice that both Celestia and Luna are both focused completely on the moon now, using both of their magics to hold it back.

They’ve managed to slow it, but you know they can’t keep it up forever…

“We will try to get closer to it, sister, and see if that does not help!” Luna exclaims, flying out of the house in the direction of the giant moon.

Celestia’s nods, and her eyes slowly wander to you, before smiling. “Thank you, creature, for all of your help. I honestly don’t think we could have done this without you,” she says, walking over, her horn still glowing its golden aura.

You smile and bow your head. “You’re… Princess Celestia, aren’t you? Twilight Sparkle told me a lot about you.”

She nods. “So then you have befriended my student, the Element of Magic?” she asks.

You nod.

She smiles, lowering her head down to you. “Then come with us. We still may need your help,” she says.

Your eyes widen, but you do not falter; not here. “Oh, wait, almost forgot.”

You quickly run over and pick up the mask you pulled off of the pegasus earlier.

This was the mask that caused so much strife.

You weren’t going to let it cause any more.

Time to go stop moonfall.

Chapter 13

You and Celestia both reach the center of town, and see Luna managing to hold the moon back herself. Looks like getting closer to it really worked after all.

“Sister! We have been able to hold it back, but we do not know how much longer we can hold out!” Luna exclaims, seeing the two of you approaching. Celestia nods, and you watch as she approaches her sister, adding her power to holding the moon back.

…My god, it’s actually working! You watch as the moon, though slowly, is pushed back up into the sky.

Ponies from all over who were hiding in their homes are watching from windows as the princesses push it back into the sky.

You hear cheering from all over.

You smile. It’s really over with.

You approach the two princesses, looking at each of them with a proud grin on your face. They turn their heads and nod at you, smiling back.

“I’m happy this is finally over, Anonymous. I don’t think we could have done it without your help,” Celestia says, smiling at you.

“Yes, we thank you, Anonymous, for all you’ve done,” Luna nods, while both of their horns continue to glow.

You nod back, and then turn and look at what remained of the cottage. “I just hope that pony from before will be alright…”

Celestia nods. “Fluttershy will be just fine. The power of the mask was too much for her, and it very easily overwhelmed her… If she had the force of will to control it, she might have been able to stop it from causing so much destruction…”

You nod.

“Certainly… she had far too many flaws to use MY power…”

…

You feel a shockwave of pain rush through you as you collapse to your knees.

“Anonymous?! What’s wrong?” Celestia asks, her eyes widened in surprise.

The mask…

You shouldn’t have taken it with you…

It floats out of your bag, and levitates in midair. “A puppet that cannot perform its role is mere garbage… but you…” its voice echoes around the three of you as it circles in the air, “You have great power. Perhaps you would make a better puppet than she would?” the mask asks.

Celestia stands between you and the mask. “I will not allow you to make a puppet out of Anonymous,” she says, her expression quickly turning to one of divine fury.

“Oh, I wasn’t talking about that monkey,” it says, laughing. “I have far greater interest in the two of you.”

Suddenly, long red tendrils lash out of the back of the mask, wrapping themselves around both of them. Both Celestia and Luna are struggling in the bindings while the mask acts as a centerpoint for the tendrils.

You stand and begin to charge towards them, but are cut off from the pain, falling to one knee once again. “No…”

“Now, this one here has divine power in every sense of the word,” the mask says, moving itself towards Celestia. “Power like this would certainly come in handy when causing the destruction of this land.”

It then turns to Luna. “But this one… this one already has tasted the power of darkness, and is much more susceptible to it…” its voice rumbles, before letting out a shrill cry as it releases Celestia and plants itself onto the head of Luna.

“NO!” You run forward despite the pain, but you are pushed back by a large shockwave of power as Luna lets out a blood-curdling scream as the mask takes hold of her.

“Sister…” Celestia mutters, her horn glowing a more intense golden color, “Forgive me…”

She launches a ray of light at Luna, but it quickly dissipates as it reaches the aura around her.

”What?!” Celestia’s eyes widen in terror. “This can’t be… I put all of my energy into that attack…”

”Sister…” Luna mutters, slowly walking forward. “Don’t think we have forgotten about what you did to us… about how you banished US to the moon…” she growls in rage, stomping a hoof down. “Let us see how YOU like it instead!”

The moon’s gaping maw opens wide, and you see its suction wrap around Celestia. She fights it, flying downward, but she’s like a seagull in a hurricane as she is swallowed up by the moon.

“And now, for you…” Luna mutters, turning to look at you.

You glare angrily at her. “Do it. Just get it over with,” you say, your eyes filled with hatred for that damned mask.

“Oh, you don’t want to play anymore? How sad…” she mutters, walking towards you, until her face is just inches away from you, the mask’s orange eyes staring into yours.

The two of you stay like that for a few moments.

…

“…You’re an interesting guy. You’re like a fly, buzzing around,” she says, stepping back a few steps. “Let us play a final game.”

You growl angrily. One more game, huh?

“Hm… what to play…” she mutters, placing a hoof to her chin. “Ah! Tag! Tag is a fun game!” she exclaims, flying around you in a circle a few times before landing once again around ten feet in front of you. “Winner takes all. How does that sound, hm?”

She turns to look at you. “Oh, and you’re on a time limit,” she says, pointing her hoof up at the moon as it once again begins its descent onto Ponyville.

You nod and reach into your bag, taking out the mask the salesman gave you.

“Let’s play.”

You put on the mask.

Immediately, you feel all of your pain rush away as the enormous power stored within the mask takes over. “Do not worry, Anonymous. I will take this opponent on from here,” a calm, yet powerful male voice echoed in your mind.

You let this voice wash over you and watch from an out-of-body perspective as your physical self begins to change.

Gone are your normal clothes. In their place is a white outfit, with a large chestpiece made of some kind of metal you can’t even fathom. On one breastplate, there is a symbol of a triangle, and a crescent moon on the other.

Your normal hair color and length is gone, and in its place your hair is a silky white, and draped down past your shoulders.

Your eyes are now a pure white pigment, and are glowing with the power of the mask. Two painted red lines decorate each cheek, with a blue design draped across your forehead.

On your arms are sleek, armored gauntlets that cover up to your elbow, while your shoulders are protected by under-armor, covered by the cloth of the white garbs.

You also have grown massively, too; at least two feet taller than you usually are, you are now over eight feet tall, and your body’s muscle mass has increased to larger proportions than normal to accommodate the larger size.

Despite looking from the outside in, you can feel the power radiating from you as well.

You can beat this demonic mask once and for all.

You are a deity. A god. A spirit of pure vengeance.

And this mask will not hold back your rage.

Not after everything it has done to you.

Celestia… Luna… Ponyville… Spike… Twilight… They were all under your protection now.

The protection of the Fierce Deity.

Chapter 14

“Majora. You deal with me, now.”

Even from your out-of-body position, you can feel the power of that evil mask radiating from Princess Luna.

Wait… He wasn’t going to hurt Luna in the process, was he?

“Do not worry. The pony will not be harmed,” the voice says, as the deity raises his arm outward to his side.

“You will not bring harm to this land any longer.”

His hand begins to glow, and from it, a long, glowing beam of pure light began to form into the shape of a sword. As the glow dissipates, it reveals a double-helix shaped sword, one blade a light blue, the other a teal green. The deity takes this sword in hand, and presses the tip of the blade to the ground.

“You forget your place, you scum!” the masked Luna growls angrily, before her horn glows a much darker, almost completely black color mixed with her normal cobalt aura, and fires a large, concentrated beam at the deity.

His eyes flare open, and the blast is dispersed around him, dissolving into the air. “In your mayhem you have grown weak. You do not have the power you had during our last encounter.”

Incredible… he didn’t even flinch!

“I will not be mocked by you!” the masked Luna floats into the air. “I’ll destroy this whole town and all of the creatures in it!” she yells, raising her hooves to the sky. “Swallow everything and leave nothing left!”

“That is enough out of you.”

She looks down at the deity, and he picks up the sword out of the ground.

“All of my vengeance. All of my fury. All of my power will be used to protect these creatures. I will not allow the events of the past to repeat themselves!”

He lets out a loud roar, before leaping up into the air with his sword, taking the masked Luna by surprise and slamming the sword into the mask in a downward cleave, sending both the mask and Luna plummeting to the ground with a loud crash.

…Did he do it?

Both of you are looking at the crater he made; the dust cloud was still lingering.

…

You see a silhouette of Luna as she stands, though you can tell that she’s having trouble keeping herself up.

“Ke he he… Alright then, but know this; if you kill me, you will kill this helpless pony in the process as well!” she laughs, floating once again into the air.

“I’m not going to kill you, Majora.”

Luna tilts her head a bit, puzzled by this.

“I’m just going to keep beating you until I can rip that mask off myself.”

You can visibly see her shaking in anger, before letting out a shrill cry and charging at the deity.

He scowls, bringing his sword around once again for a second cleave, this time in an upwards motion. It smacks Luna square in the chin, and sends her flying once again; this time, into the side of the moon itself.

“No! No! No!” she shouts angrily, raising her hooves into the air, “I will NOT be humiliated like this again! I’ll kill all of us if I have to!”

The deity grunts, before his sword begins to glow.

“Burn in the fiery pits of hell, you worthless ing-” she begins, but is cut off when she looks down at the deity. “No, not again!” she exclaims, stopping her speech and holding her hooves out in front of her.

He lets out a loud roar, before quickly slashing his glowing sword through the open air, sending blades of pure light through it and slamming them into Luna, crushing her against the moon’s surface with each strike.

In her dazed state, she is unable to defend herself against the attacks, and the deity uses this opportunity to leap up into the air and onto the moon, standing upside-down on the surface of the moon while watching as the blades hit Luna’s helpless form, weakening the mask’s power.

After the final strike, the deity reaches down quickly, gripping his gloved hand on the mask and pulling on it with a force that could break the gates of Tartarus down in one move.

This succeeds, and he quickly lurches back and slings the mask as far from Luna as his arm can throw.

It doesn’t go very far, however; it recovers quickly and after a few moments is back on course with the deity and Luna.

Despite her injuries, Luna manages to stand, and her gaze when she sees the deity is one of both shock and horror.

“Can you fly down to the ground?”

She snaps out of her fearful state, and nods. “Yes, we can. But do you expect to fight against that power alone?”

“Yes. Go.”

“But-”

“I will not say it again. Go.”

She looks down at the ground a final time, and nods. “Very well. And… thank you,” she says, as she levitates down slowly, making sure not to strain her already injured body any further. She lands, and a group of nearby ponies quickly tend to her, bringing her a safe distance away from the battle, into the refuge of one of the untouched buildings.

The deity and the mask both levitate to the ground now, a standoff between two god-like beings sending crackles of pure energy through the air. “Burn to ashes.”

He holds his hand up to his right shoulder, and from it a small, red gem begins to glow. Almost instantaneously, fire erupts in all directions, engulfing both deity and mask in an inferno orb.

The shrill cries of the mask’s spirit can be heard even through the intense swirling flames, and as the inferno dissipates, you can see the mask, charred and tattered, begin to pulsate with energy.

“No… no, you don’t play fair!” it yells, and long, red tendrils once again flow from the back of the mask as it expands in size, nearly double the size of the deity’s torso. “Fine! I won’t play fair either!” its voice echoes, and suddenly you see three more masks appear in the air.

Wait… those are the masks that you sold to the ponies!

The Captain’s Hat, the Keaton Mask, and the All-Night Mask!

They’re levitating around Majora’s Mask, a single bolt of lightning connecting the three of them. “I can be just as unfair as you can!” Majora cackles, and the three masks charge for the deity, spinning quickly around him, the electricity building in the air.

“Freeze in eternal cold.” He raises his hand now to his left shoulder, and a light blue gem engraved on his other shoulderguard begins to glow. This time, rather than fire, it is a blizzard-like spell, freezing everything it touches in solid ice.

It has a shorter range than the fire, however, and only engulfs two of the three masks before the last one breaks off from the others, floating alongside Majora’s Mask.

He raises his sword and plunges it downward, splitting the frozen Pirate’s Hat in two, before picking the Keaton Mask up and crushing it in his hand. “Using other masks for your own disgusting purposes… you’ll pay dearly for this.”

Majora laughs. “If you feel so bad for them, then why not join them and find out for yourself!” it says, and the red tendrils lash out at the deity.

He holds his hands forward to deflect them, but they manage to wrap around his arms, trapping him.

“After all, it’s like what they say… if you can’t beat them, join them!” The final remaining mask charges at the deity in a suicide-like attempt to weaken him, charged with electricity. It strikes him square in the chest, and he lets out a loud roar of pain as the electricity courses through him, destroying the remaining mask in the process.

Majora lets out a maniacal laugh as more tendrils lash out and trap his arms, causing him to drop the double-helix sword to the ground.

After the pain subsides, the deity falls to his knees.

Oh no… he can’t be done… not now…

He grins, grabbing any tendrils he can get ahold of.

“Just kidding.”

That sly motherfucker.

“What?! What do you mean? That attack should have brought you down for sure, I saw it hit you head-on myself!” Majora exclaims, trembling.

“Exactly. It hit me head-on, all right. Head-on, right into my chest armor. Didn’t feel a thing.”

“You… you don’t play fair at all!” Majora exclaims, letting out another frustrated scream. “No! No! No!! You can’t win, this is MY game!”

“That’s just it; it’s all a game to you. You toy with living beings for your own amusement. But the second you’re up against something you can’t handle, you run with your tail tucked between your legs.”

He chuckles. “Though, in your case that metaphor doesn’t really apply, now does it?” He puts his hands together, gripping any of the tendrils he can get ahold of, pulling Majora’s Mask slowly but surely to him. “Now… it’s time I make you pay for all that you’ve done to this world. All of the pain you’ve caused.”

The mask is visibly struggling now, trying to get away.

“Everything you’ve done… it just BURNS me up inside…”

“No… no no no! Not again!” the mask pleads, struggling even harder but to no avail.

“SO much that I will not stand for any more of it!”

“Nooo!!”

The red gem on his shoulder begins to glow much more intensely this time, and from it flames erupt, the gem acting as a kind of flamethrower as the mask becomes engulfed in it.

You hear its shrieks and cries of pain as the deity once again puts the mask through the inferno spell, and as the fires die down, the cries only get louder.

“No! I won’t let you get away with this!” the mask exclaims, and it retracts all of its tendrils back into the mask.

You see the mask begin to pulsate once again with power and vibrate intensely.

Suddenly, two long, slender legs sprout out of the bottom of it.

Then, two arms.

And finally, a small head with one large, bulging eye and two horns.

It stretches its legs before speeding off around the town square, almost untrackable to the naked eye.

Holy shit, it’s fast…

The deity seems unphased by this, and picks up his sword once again, charging into the fray.

As the new form of Majora runs, it makes a sound you can only describe as a chicken’s cuckoo-ing…

Fucking weird, man.

“What’s the matter? Come on, catch me if you can! Hya ha ha!!” Majora taunts the deity, before stopping and firing off a barrage of energy balls at him, and then sprinting off again.

The deity absorbs these attacks, though you can tell that they do affect him much more than the previous attack did.

“You can’t run very far… when you have no legs to run with.”

He holds his sword with both of his hands now, closing his eyes and sensing his surroundings.

“Come on, you’re boring! So slow!” Majora exclaims, stopping and firing off another barrage of attacks at the deity, trying to catch his attention.

The deity flares his eyes open, and with a swift strike, blows through the energy blasts and cleaves deeply into Majora’s leg.

It takes a few moments for Majora to register that it had been hit, but by then it was too late. With another clean swipe of his sword, Majora’s legs were now gone.

It falls over, shrieking in pain, and the deity slams his foot down on one of the eyes of the mask.

“And now, your chaotic streak will end.” The deity raises his sword high above his head, the shadow above them blocking out all traces of light.

Oh right, the moon…

Oh fuck, the moon!

How the hell is he going to stop it in time?!

Majora lets out another frenzied wail, and its body begins to pulsate again under the deity’s foot. “I like playing games…” it mutters, and swiftly tendrils begin to lash out of the bottom of the mask once again, reforming the legs. “Everyone does…” The limbs begin to glow red as Majora’s power skyrockets once again, and the deity jumps back a few meters as Majora transforms a second time.

“Everyone…” its mutter turns into a low, menacing growl, as a head sprouts from under the eye. The head has various horns lining its face, and its eyes are a swirled green with a purple-colored sclera, in addition to the bulging eye on the top of its head. Its mouth was locked in a constantly open state, with jagged sharp teeth and what seemed like a bottomless pit beyond them.

”Except you!” it roared, lashing its hands out, and two whip-like tendrils extended to un-natural lengths, easily enough to reach any point in the town square with ease.

“No more games, then.”

The two charge at each other, a final bout deciding the fate of all of Equestria…

…No. The world.

You watch as the two god-like beings duke it out like nothing before.

However, you can tell that the deity is easily keeping the upper hand in this fight. Despite that, Majora continues lashing out with its whip tendrils, even managing to cut the deity’s cheek and tear some of the cloth on his outfit.

It doesn’t even faze him; it just makes him even angrier. “The nightmare ends here, Majora!” The deity brings his sword up and cleaves it down, the shockwave tearing through Majora causing a blinding flash of light as it rips the demon apart piece by piece, until nothing remains but the mask itself, landing on the ground with a loud, clanking noise.

It’s finally over. The deity has won.

“I knew that one day I would face against him once again,” the deity’s voice echoes around you, and suddenly you’re sucked from the real world into a strange, calmer world.

There’s a field. You look off, and it seems to go on for miles.

You turn your head and see a massive tree, as well as two figures under it. One standing, the other sitting, curled up into a ball.

You walk over to them, and as their features come into view, you see it was the deity standing, and a small child crouched under the tree, wearing a mask.

Majora’s Mask.

“What?! Aren’t you going to finish him off?”

“There is no need. He is already broken, both in mind and spirit,” the deity says, scowling down at the child. “It was all a game to him. But when innocent lives were brought into it, he went too far.”

“So… you’ve faced off against him before?”

“Yes. But that was… a long time ago. It was a darker period. A similar bout to this one…” he says, turning to look at you, “With the same result.”

You’re a bit puzzled by this. “So doesn’t this mean that he’ll just try this again?”

“Possibly. But it will take a lot longer for his spirit to gain the confidence needed to pull a stunt like this again,” the deity says, walking over to you and placing a hand on your shoulder. “Thank you, Anonymous. You provided a means for our bout to at last be finished.”

“Yes, and at last I can finally get my mask back…”

…

Fuck. He’s standing right behind you, isn’t he?

You turn your head slowly, into that same creepy grin you know him oh-so-well for.

You jump back a few steps, away from the salesman.

“I’m so proud of you, Anonymous! To think you would be the one to use the mask’s power to stop the evil contained within Majora’s Mask… I couldn’t be happier!”

He walks over to the masked boy, and begins to reach out for the mask…

When a sword plunges down in front of him, inches from his finger and nearly sends him into shock.

He looks up, the grin still on his face, while the deity glares down at him. “Get out of here, troublemaker! It is because of your carelessness that the events of the past repeated themselves!” the deity growls angrily at the salesman. “You do not have the right to carry these masks with you if you cannot perform your roles as a salesman and keep them from those who would use them to do harm!”

The salesman steps back a few steps, giving a final bow as his body dissipates into the air, his chuckle echoing as he fades away.

The deity turns to you and nods, smiling. “Thank you.”

You feel your entire body collapse upon itself as you are sucked back into the real world, and you open your eyes.

You’re back.

Epilogue

You’re back to normal.

You push up, and manage to roll over onto your back.

Because of this, you now feel pain in every muscle and joint in your body.

But… at least the moon is gone.

You turn your head to one side, and then the other. It looks like the masks are gone as well.

That’s good. It’s finally done and over with…

“There he is!” you hear a female’s voice exclaim, followed by the sound of hooves rushing over to you.

“Are you alright?” a unicorn guard asks, looking down at you. “Can you move at all?”

“Every bone and nerve in my body is screaming. Other than that, I’m just peachy,” you grit your teeth, grinning sarcastically at him.

The guard chuckles a bit. “Alright, we’re going to get you to a better place to get healed up. How’s that sound?”

“Wonderful.”

“There will be no need for that, I will take care of him myself,” you hear a familiar voice speak calmly, followed by the sound of soft hooves walking over.

Princess Celestia, as well as a recovering Princess Luna. “Thank you human, for all of your help,” she says, as her horn glows the golden aura that you’re familiar with seeing. Almost instantly you feel the pain in your body become soothed by the magic.

“Yeah, it was nothing… and my name is-”

“Anonymous? Yes, my student sent me a letter recently regarding a strange new species. She likened it to… ape-like, but without fur and more intelligent.

“Oh.”

That’s right! You almost forgot about Twilight and Spike…

Oh shit, are they alright?!

“I have to go, quickly.” You try to sit up, but are met with a spike of pain impaling through your spine. You fall back down onto the ground.

“Let me accompany you, Anonymous. In your current state, I don’t think you have the stamina to reach her library alone,” she says, smiling down at you.

“But Princess-” one of the guards begins to interject, but is cut off by a raised hoof from Celestia.

“Both of us will come with you. It’s the least we can do after everything you have done for us. Right, sister?” Celestia says, turning to Luna and nodding.

Luna smiles and nods back, turning to look at you. “We will make sure no further harm comes to you.”

Well fuck, you just got a personal escort by the two princesses of Equestria. Don’t you feel special?

You probably would if it weren’t for the fact that her magic was still working and you still felt the pain.

“Let’s go.”

It takes around twenty minutes for the three of you to reach the library; you ended up having to have Celestia carry you on her back the last half of the journey there.

You feel a bit guilty for having to ask so much of them, but then again, your body says otherwise.

While on the journey there, you and the princesses have a discussion about your time here, how you met the salesman, what happened when you sold the masks, and then finally your first encounter with Majora’s Mask, inside Twilight’s house.

“Oh my, that sounds awful…” Luna turns to look at you. “We can only hope that things can be returned to normal.”

Finally, the three of you reach the door.

Celestia knocks on it with her hoof.

…

Fifteen seconds pass, and not a sound.

“…Twilight?”

Luna’s horn glows, and slowly the door opens to reveal a dark room.

No…

There, standing in the light of the window…

A hoof made of stone.

“It didn’t work…”

You slip off of Celestia’s back, crawling on your hands and knees despite the pain, over to the statue that was once Twilight Sparkle. As your eyes adjust to the darkness, you see the same shocked, horrified expression that was on her face when she was first transformed into stone.

And all of it was your fault.

You were too late.

You may have defeated Majora’s Mask, but the terror and chaos it inflicted remains unchanged.

“Twilight…”

You begin to fight back tears now as you press your forehead against hers, the cold and lifeless stone uncomforting to your woes.

Celestia and Luna both walk inside, Celestia’s horn glowing and lighting a few candles and lamps, revealing the rest of the room.

Spike himself had no better fate; his body was completely frozen over, his eyes wide and body curled up as tightly as he could make it to protect himself from the inevitable freeze of Majora’s power.

“We were too late… they’re gone…”

Your head falls to the crevice of Twilight’s neck, the adjoining part between her neck and the rest of her body. You’re unable to fight back the emotions held inside now, and tears slowly begin streaming down your cheeks.

“No, we are not.”

You hear the hum of magical energies, followed by the sound of hooves walking over to you and tapping the stone. Your eyes, blurry from the tears, can only watch as Luna’s magic dances across the stone body of Twilight, and as it spreads, the familiar purple fur slowly returns. You widen your eyes and you fall back in surprise, watching the sight before you.

Like Luna, Celestia is also using her own magic, but on Spike, creating a large, golden orb around him.

You see the color slowly returning to both petrified creatures, and after a minute or two, the magic fades around them.

Twilight blinks a few times in surprise, looking around. “Princesses? What are you doing here? Where’s-”

She turns, and sees you laying on the floor, various cuts and bruises dotting your body.

She rushes to you. “Oh my gosh, what happened?! Anonymous, are you okay?”

You chuckle weakly, smiling up at her, small tears in your eyes.

“Yes, Twilight. I’m more okay than I’ve ever been in my life.”

And everyone lived happily ever after.

Except for Fluttershy, who had to go through rigorous physical and mental therapy to recover after she woke up from the mask’s control.

All because she decided to steal a mask.

She shouldn’t have done that.

Fucking Fluttershy.

End.