Behind the Emerald Mask

She was inconsolable. The Cakes had tried cupcakes, muffins, tarts, donuts, every known sugar known to Ponykind, but nothing would break Pinkie out of her funk. It had started innocently enough, a simple "Tail twitch." But that's where simplicity ended and confusion began. Even her "Doozies" did not have the chaotic twitching and twisting that had become Pinkie's body for the rest of that morning, and once it was all said and done, the, to an outside observer, epileptic pink pony had just sat down and done something her friends and employers had not seen in a long time. She bawled her eyes out with a mixture of fear, sadness.... And perhaps even a tiny bit of what could only be described as rage.

Mr. Cake would nervously speak up. "Pinkie, what's wrong? I've never seen you like this. Is something going to happen? Are you alright? Are... are the foals alright?"

Mr. and Mrs. Cake gave a glance to the stairs, subconciously hoping beyond hope that the two little foals, thier darling filly and colt Pumpkin and Pound, would be alright. Mrs. Cake would lean in to nuzzle Pinkie after a few seconds of silence, hoping to remind her, gently, that they were there and waiting for a reply. To thier great relief, Pinkie would nod to the foals being alright. The Cakes loved their children dearly, and had grown protective of the twins. And the only pony they allowed to babysit them was currently sitting in the kitchen, bawling her eyes out.

The cakes merely looked at each other in fear at what Pinkie said next. "Someone is going to be hurt... and I don't think parties are going to help."

To the cakes, it was as if Twilight Sparkle had just called Celestia fat. Is was as if Spike had called Lady Rarity hideous. It was worse then if Rainbow Dash had ripped up her Wonderbolt's collection. No, this was on a level of Applejack hating apples. This was pure blasphemy coming from the pink party pony, and all they could do was get the "closed" sign on the entrance before Mr. Cake ran off to try and find Pinkie's friends, stunned at what he saw outside.

It had been otherwise bright and sunny Monday morning. Ms. Cheerilee had just started her class, the foals inside eager to learn from their favorite teacher.  Most of the market ponies had already started up their stalls for the day including a certain honest apple farmer. The other stores were beginning to open up their shops, and a small clamoring as ponies went about their day could be heard, turning into a usual, calm drone of noise. In fact, it would seem the only pony still asleep in the entire village was the Princess' student, still sleeping off an all night study bender. But that was before they saw him.

The sight before them caused almost unanimous fear and concern, for what he represented was what the ponies feared the most.  His horn was jagged and broken near the tip, his coat matted with blood and grime from his long journey. One eye appeared damaged beyond repair, and for now his jaw hung limply, obviously broken in whatever happened to him. Burns and cuts, most still bleeding, lined his sides and flank, almost completely obscuring his form. Not even his cutie mark was visible, if the being before them even had one. With one final growl of pain, he collapsed.

Ponies did what ponies do in this situation. They screamed. Lily in particular, a flower stall vendor, had some particularly interesting statements involving Discord and Timber Wolves. Luckily, the noise attracted some calmer minds, and the injured pony was brought to the hospital. So it was with a heavy heart that Nurse Redheart welcomed the newest patient into her care.

Nurse Redheart cleaned him up with a care and efficiency few could emulate. She washed out his wounds and bandaged him up to the best of her ability, but parts of him were simply too far gone. His cutie marks were unsalvageable, the damage far too severe. She was surprised to discover she could save his eye, but it would be years before he'd ever be truly "healed" in that sense. His horn would regrow, but the nerves were currently shot and it would be weeks before he could use even basic telekinesis without massive headaches. Thankfully, despite the wounds, it would seem his hooves had been untouched, and other then a few minor cuts from his long journey they were completely fine.

That only left the matter of discovering who this pony was, and the Nurse had made that her own personal project as he lay unconscious in her bed. She'd taken the liberty of borrowing as many records, both local census and farther out to at least Camelot of unicorns, matching his description to markings noted in the scrolls before her. He was somewhat large for a unicorn, but not incredibly so. His fur was a dark grey while his mane seemed to be a dark brown. His only truly noteworthy aspect was a single green "mask" of emerald fur on his muzzle and around his currently sightless brown eyes. Eventually, she'd find a colt that met the description, one Emerald Mask.

It would appear that Emerald Mask had once been a "local," but his family were nomadic and he'd never actually spent time in the city of his birth.  And that's where the trail seemed to end. She knew he had a mother and a father, one Steel Charmer and Diamond Cascade, and apparently had siblings, but she could not find records of the siblings in her notes, and sadly the mother and father's last records were discovered in the obituaries. Perhaps Twilight or the Mayor could help her in this endeavor at a later time For now though, her patient needed to rest, and she needed to care for him.

My Little Pony, My Little Pony

Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh…..

My little Pony

I used to wonder what friendship could be

My little Pony

Until you all shared its magic with me

Big adventure

Tons of fun

A beautiful heart

Faithful and strong

Sharing kindness

It's an easy feat

And magic makes it all complete

You have my little ponies

Do you know you're all my very best friends?